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Now that you’re a Black Whistle, a lot more options open up. For one thing, you can now fast travel up to the 5th layer. What’s more, you can now fast travel from the 3rd and 4th Layers, too. It also costs less Health and Fullness to fast travel.

Now that you can fast travel from layer 4, you can also complete the Nanachi quests more quickly. What’s more, by fishing Hamashirama in the 5th Layer, you’ll no longer be stuck on the one requiring Hamashirama Meat. While you’re at it, you can take a quick trip to the Hidden Hot Spring to take some more relics up with you as you fast travel back up. The relics that Nanachi gives as rewards are usually those that you can find on the 5th layer. You’ll want to hold on to some, as you’ll need at least 5 of each, for a reason we’ll get into later.

Eventually, you’ll reach Nanachi’s Quest 10, in which Nanachi requests 3 Horizontal Layer Board, 5 Vertical Layer Board, and 5 Fox Bone. If you’ve been stocking up on relics, this shouldn’t be much problem. The reward for this one is Nanachi’s Helmet. There seems to be an oversight which allows you to go through the quests again and eventually get another Nanachi’s Helmet. So, unless this gets patched, you can get two.

I understand that a lot of fans are going to want to wear Nanachi’s Helmet on principle. For its weight, it offers some decent defense, and has three equip slots. However, it doesn’t have a light, and takes a lot of time and effort to get to. Personally, I prefer Hablog’s Hat at this point, but if you’ve gotten Nanachi’s Helmet, you’ve earned the right to wear it.

You have more options with your skill points. As usual, you can increase the weight capacity of your backpack so you can take more of that sweet loot back with you at a time. But I highly recommend Skinner, because that will double what you get from fallen primeval creatures, including what you fish up. This is huge.

Armor upgrades from 4-Star Items include the Bone set and the EX Warm set, and Relic Synthesis (Mid Class) grants High level relic weapons that will make some bosses much easier, and a new High relic armor set.

Guild HQ has more quests. Accept them all. Even if you don’t complete them, there’s nothing to lose in accepting them.

The Supply Shop has two new sets of armor: the Feather set and the Agile set. There’s also new weapons. The Caravan Fleet has a new set of armor as well, the EX Warm set. There are a couple new charms.

As for which armor I recommend, I’d say go for the Feather set. You don’t get to upgrade it until you get to White Whistle, but when you get there, you’ll be able to upgrade it to an armor set with an excellent combination of defensive ability to weight. Ambitious players may go for the Relic (High) set, but they’re an upgrade of an upgrade, which is a lot of trouble to go to for something that’ll just become obsolete when you reach the final rank.

Or, if you’re thinking ahead and you’re sure you want the best Relic armor when it becomes available, you could instead go for the Agile set. Once you reach White Whistle, the set can be upgraded again to the Agile (Black) set, then upgraded again to the Relic (Special) set. What you go for depends on whether you prefer high defense or more room in your bag.

But the most noteworthy of the Caravan items is the Type 4 Energy Rations, the best food item in the game. They’re light, and restore lots of Health, Fullness, and Energy. The main drawback is that they’re expensive, but it becomes easier to stock up on them with time.

At Laffi’s Shop, there’s a quest that has Hablog’s Hat as a reward. It’s actually not a bad hat, so if you already have the Feather or Agile hat, you might want to chest it until White Whistle, when you can upgrade them. You’re also rewarded with the Hamashirama Pot recipe, which Nanachi loves, and is not a bad recipe to go with until you have an easier time swinging Type 4 Energy Rations.

Laffi also starts selling Zutsugi Root, which you had no problem gathering, anyway. Yay.

Now, onward to adventure!

Near the entrance of the 4th Layer, in the Goblets of Giants, a sidequest opens up which initiates if you draw close to the purple exclamation point. There is a strong boss here, so if you’re not ready for it, you can avoid it by walking along the edge of the platform its on.

OPTIONAL BOSS: Orb Piercer
This battle works basically like any other Orb Piercer, in that it has only one attack, with a ridiculously distant area of effect. The emergency dodge is the only thing that seems effective to avoid it, but not always. Perhaps you have to dodge in a certain direction, like backwards. It does a lot of damage, and causes a special poison condition that does a lot of damage at a time. If you strike its face, you cause a moment of recoil. If you follow it up with one more well-timed strike, you might deny it an opportunity to attack, which is kind of cheesy, but still requires some timing.

The prize for winning is a Thousand-Men Wedge, but you’re expected to return it to Guild HQ, and when you bring it there, you lose it. But if you have it equipped to a piece of armor when you go to the Guild HQ, they won’t take it, but the quest will still count as completed, anyway. This Thousand-Men Wedge stacks with the one you get from Ozen, so if you have both equipped, you do HUGE damage with even weak weapons, but your Fullness drops much faster. So, don’t leave them equipped if you don’t plan on fighting for a while.

At some point, Jiruo will ask to go with you to Ozen at Seeker Camp. With fast travelling, this becomes trivial.

To initiate your Main quest, just climb down into the 5th Layer’s Sea of Corpses 1 to initiate a cutscene. Then your new Main quest becomes Head to Ido Front.

You’ll probably like the 5th Layer. The relics here are really valuable, the creatures here, while dangerous, are easy to avoid, and the map layout is easy to comprehend. What’s more, the Swarm Shockers (Blue) that spawn in when you spend a lot of time in one area aren’t aggressive, so you can take your time fishing if that’s what you’re up for.

There are certain spots in areas like Sandy Ice Area 1 which are large, round, and flat, and might start to crack with a little walking on them. If this happens, get off of them. If they break, Stingerheads will emerge, and if you’re right on the center when it breaks, it’s an immediate Expedition Failed.

In the northeast part of Hail Jail, near the pond, there is an optional boss that has a random chance of spawning with each dive.

OPTIONAL BOSS: Interference Device #5
There’s really not much to this boss. If you’re using the strongest Relic gun, you might defeat it pretty quickly, especially if you’re at a high level. This boss has a chance of respawning with each dive, which is great considering its potential rewards. Upon defeat, it will reward you with random relics. Most of them are relics that you could obtain from the other layers, but you have a small chance of obtaining more Thousand-Men Wedges this way. There is also a small chance of obtaining a Star Compass, which isn’t that great, but it’s the only way to obtain Star Compass in this game, which might matter to you if you’re a completionist. To save scum for the relic you want, first determine whether this boss appears on the current dive. If so, restart from an auto save, then use a mail balloon right before initiating this battle, for convenience.

Ido Front can be accessed by going from Sea of Corpses 1 to Sea of Corpses 2 to Eternal Garden to Hail Jail to Sandy Ice Area 1 to Ido Front. There, you can enter Ido Front Internal.

This is it; it’s time to confront the Sovereign of Dawn, Bondrewd the Novel. If you remember everything you’ve heard about him, you might think that Bondrewd is some kind of monster. As it turns out, he’s worse than you might have thought: He has a fetch quest for you.

Five each of Maze Twine, Double-Bell Ball, and Spiraling Heat Stone. If you’ve been doing the Nanachi quests, you’ll have a slight head-start. Each of these are relics that you can find in the 5th Layer. If you’re down to the last two and are getting frustrated looking for the last ones, you can resume from an autosave if a sparkling red ore near an autosave didn’t give a relic you wanted.

Once you have all the relics you need, you need to bring them all to Bondrewd in Ido Front Internal. They’re heavy, so you’ll want room for them. You’ll also want to be combat ready, because a fight begins once you return to Bondrewd, relics in hand.

BOSS: Bondrewd the Novel
If you have at least one Thousand Man Pin equipped, this battle will probably be too easy, and you could probably just finish it up by running up to Bondrewd and swinging away until he stops doing mean stuff. Otherwise, you’re going to want to have relic weapons and plenty of healing items. If you hate quicktime events, you’re going to want to finish him quickly, because one of Bondrewd’s attacks, Gangway, can hit you anywhere you’re standing, and can only be avoided by quicktime event. His melee attack is a swing from his tail, which has a decent range. He also has a ranged attack, Far Caress, which begins as a dark sphere surrounding your character, which then shrinks around them. You can avoid this with Emergency Dodge. Once you’ve done enough damage, a quicktime event initiates in which you must mash a button. Fail it, and the battle continues with Bondrewd gaining a little more HP. Otherwise, you’ve won.

Once Bondrewd is defeated, you’re rewarded with two items: Prushka’s Hat and a replica of Bondrewd’s whistle. The hat is probably lighter and provides less defense than what you might be wearing, and doesn’t have a light. It’s more of a trophy item than a practical equip. As for the whistle, it increases arm and leg injury resistance when equipped to a piece of armor. Not bad.

But it’s not over yet, because there’s one more battle. It’s up to you to prepare or face the final boss, head on. If you’re ready, proceed from Ido Front Internal to The Altar.

FINAL BOSS: Tiare
Tiare is your size, and he’ll run about, trying to draw close with his hatchet. He uses a combo attack similar to the way you can if you’ve been spending Skill points on your weapon. He can also unleash a burst of energy that radiates in all directions, with little warning. The plus side to this is that after the attack is complete, you get a huge opportunity to attack. Like with Bondrewd, once you’ve whittled his health down, a quicktime event initiates in which you have to mash a button. If you fail it, the battle resumes, with Tiare regaining a little bit of health. If you succeed, the battle is over, and you’ve won.

After the battle ends, you’ll obtain a Life-Reverberating Stone, but you’ll need to approach the pod to gain the benefits associated with becoming a White Whistle. Doing so will make the credits roll.

Once the credits roll, you’ll get to save the game, and can resume from this Clear Data on the surface as a White Whistle. You’ll also have a replica of Lyza’s White Whistle in your inventory. This can be equipped to a piece of armor to increase your critical hit rate.

Congratulations on becoming a White Whistle!

For those who might become adventurers, there is a choice: Death, or unfulfilled longing. Which one is more dreadful? For those who are adventurers, the choice is already made. What awaits those for whom even death is not a deterrent? That is decided by the adventurers.

To Part 8: White Whistle

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Back to Part 5: Moon Whistle (Part 1)

Making it to the 4th layer, you’ll still be a Moon Whistle, so shop inventory doesn’t seem to change, and you’ll have access to the same skill trees as before. You’ll be able to fast travel into the 4th layer, but you still won’t be able to fast travel out of the 3rd Layer, so when you begin your dive into the 4th Layer, be prepared for the return trip through the third. Also, just diving into the 4th Layer takes a lot out of you, so you’ll probably want to bring plenty of eggs just to offset the cost of the trip.

A Hunting Party side quest becomes available, and it’s pretty simple, as it only requires going to the 1st Layer. It’s a quick battle that ends with a simple quick-time event. Also, if you found the missing Moon Whistle that Marulk asked you to find in the 3rd Layer, and treated his injury, you can take his letter to Marulk and complete this quest. If not, don’t worry about it. You can beat the game without taking on this quest, anyhow.

Like most layers in this game, the 4th has one that you’re better off avoiding, if you can. In the 4th, that would be the Orb Piercer. This nasty critter has tons of health, and has a nasty attack that’s fast and has a long area of effect that can hit, even from a seemingly-safe distance. What’s more, they also inflict a special poison condition that takes away more HP at a time than red poison, and can only be healed with a special kind of antidote or by returning to the surface. Usually, avoiding these is not a problem, but there is a possible Orb Piercer spawn location on a route in a 4th layer questline, so it’s not a bad idea to bring along some extra Mail Balloons and trying to find an opportunity to sneak around it.

Before journeying into the 4th Layer, it’s recommended to bring plenty of Ropes, because shortly into it, you’ll initiate a questline which will require lots of ropes just to get around. You can find Rhombus Thorn Plants that can help offset the use of Ropes, however.

If you have any questions as to whether the events in this game are canon, this questline should answer them. As you enter the 4th Layer, you’ll encounter Riko, who wants a certain herb, and won’t allow you near her until you have it. It’s nearby in the Goblets of Giants. Bring it to her, and she’ll join you as you both search for Reg. This can last a while, and involves some fighting, so be sure you come prepared with lots of food and weapons.

Just for bringing the Spring Bringer herb to Riko, you’ll be gifted with Old Cave Raider Hat. It’s like Marulk’s hat, but with a bit more defense, but Marulk’s hat still provides more light.

The layout of the Goblets of Giants seems to sometimes change on subsequent visits, so don’t be surprised if you sometimes see a different layout.

That aside, you’ll find Dechuanga’s guide along the way, in the Giant Vine bridge. This concludes the 4th Layer Investigation, so continue with Riko. Hopefully, the game didn’t decide to spawn an Orb Piercer along the way. If so, use a Mail Balloon to make a place to resume from in case things go wrong as you try to get around it.

The journey takes you to Eternal Fortunes. Here, you’ll have a battle against a Kudara. After that, Riko will task you with finding 2 Hard Meat and 2 Eternal Fortunes. The Hard Meat is a drop from the Kudaras that are nearby. After you’re done, it’s back to the Goblets of Giants. The questline concludes with 2 battles against groups of Horncriers (Subspecies), which puts some wear on your weapons. But your prize for all this is the Scaled Umbrella, which doesn’t have much attack, but high durability. As far as I know, it’s the only one you get.

After your playdate with Riko, you’ll be near the entrance to the Goblets of Giants, so go ahead and make an autosave for yourself by using the entrance, if you want, just in case something goes wrong.

It’s possible to meet Nanachi in this game. The method is so obscure that many players aren’t even aware that meeting Nanachi is possible. To do it, you need to have no one in tow, so finish up the Riko questline. Then, you need to take a fall that normally does lethal damage. Taking a fall from anywhere where you’d normally use a rope may suffice, as there’d have to be a solid surface below.

Once the cutscene is over, you’ll have access to Nanachi’s Hideout, which can be accessed near the entrance to Goblets of Giants. There are many perks to having access to this place. Nanachi has quests which involves seeking out various items or ingredients, or Nanachi will request a prepared meal. You can give Nanachi just about any prepared meal, and the better the meal, the better Nanachi’s response. The reward for the meal is a high-grade relic, so give Nanachi the best you have to offer. Among the best items are Laffi’s Special Lunch and Hamashirama Hot Pot. Eventually, Nanachi will request Hamashirama Meat, which can only be obtained in the 5th Layer, so if you want to complete them all, they’ll have to go on the back burner.

From Nanachi’s Hideout, you can access Hidden Hot spring, where you can get some easy relics. You can also access Crystal Valley from here, so you’ll have a quick route through the 4th Layer.

Back on the surface, if you visit Guild HQ, you’ll find that Habolg has recommended you for Black Whistle. But there’s a condition: Go to a location in Deep Tree Remains by yourself and make it back alive. By now, you should know what that means: It’s another boss battle! You’re going to want to bring a lot of food for the trip there and the trip back. You’ll also want to be well armed. If you save two Relic Pickaxes for the battle, that’ll be plenty.

To get to the boss, fast travel to 4th Layer, then go from Goblets of Giants to Nanachi’s Hideout to Hidden Hot Spring to Crystal Valley to Giant Vine Bridge to Eternal Fortunes to Deep Tree Remains, where the boss can be found. This might sound like a long trip, but you’ll only be in most of these areas briefly. Head to the Main Quest marker on the map to initiate the battle. No prize for guessing the boss’s identity.

BOSS: Interference Device #4
As with the other ones, no need to scan it, this boss will be automatically added to your notebook. This guy is easy. He’s got a wave-motion cannon that he can sweep side-to-side, so be sure you’re not in front of him when he fires it off. He lets off a burst of flame right before firing it, so you only have a brief window to get some melee attacks in. But that’s it, that’s all the boss can do. His attacks do a lot of damage, but they’re predictable.

Once you defeat this boss, poke your head in the 5th Layer so you’ll have a fast travel point later on. Then, it’s time for a return trip. Returning through the 4th Layer the way you came is pretty easy. As for the 3rd Layer, here’s the video again for if you don’t already have the path memorized:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NUDVFpGvIg

The trip back is kind of long, but think of it as a victory lap. Enjoy your new Black Whistle!

To Part 7: Black Whistle

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Back to Part 4: Blue Whistle

As a Moon Whistle, you can now fast travel to the 3rd Layer. What’s more, it now uses less HP and fullness to fast travel. And if you so much as poke your head into the 4th Layer, you’ll be able to fast travel there, too. This part of the guide focuses mainly on your adventures as a Moon Whistle in the 3rd Layer. You won’t be able to fast travel out of the 3rd or 4th Layers until you are a Black Whistle, and that’s still a way’s off.

For one thing, you have another batch of quests at the Guild HQ which encompass the 3rd and 4th layers. Accept them all.

The supply shop carries a lot of new items, but are mainly either lighter or somehow more effective. You can actually get a lot of mileage out of the weaker weapons, but you might want to bring one or two different varieties of stronger weapons to switch between for stronger enemies. There’s also new armor sets: the Mesh set and the Bone set.

Laffi’s shop sells more indredients and items, the best of the new options probably being Adult Onigiri, as it’s light and gives more energy, which is great if you run low on energy while climbing. Other than that, you’re still well off relying heavily on Boiled Eggs and Crumbled Boiled Eggs. But make something unusual if it appeals to you, as you do have plenty of options available.

The Caravan Fleet has begun stocking the Warm armor set, as well as Special level charms. If scanning primordial creatures is your thing, a Telescope is now available, which can scan from longer distances, and can zoom.

Now for the Skill trees. Under Cave Raid, spring for Gatherer first. It’s more awesome than the description implies. You’ll get double what you forage from plants and other miscellaneous pickups. You’ll get enough to craft a rope from one Rhombus Thorn Plant, and each Broken Mail Balloon you find will give you enough materials to craft a Mail Balloon. You’ll also get to enhance the ability to wall climb, to the point that the walls in the earlier layers will become nearly trivial. Really, all skills in the Cave Raid tab are must-haves.

Under Craft, the 3-Star Items allows for upgrades to the Mesh set, while Relic Synthesis (Low Class) allows for crafting relic weapons, which are heavy and hit hard. Maybe you’ll want one, which can help big against powerful enemies such as Foreign Cave Raiders, in the event that they ambush you. It also allows you to craft Relic armor. Again, I don’t bother much with crafting ammo because you can just buy it and that seems like less trouble.

For Battle, prioritize upgrading Dodge and whatever weapons you prefer. If your melee weapon of choice is the pickax, focus on that, and if your range weapon of choice is the Bow, focus on that.

For recommended armor, I’d say go with the Mesh set and its upgrades, aside from Marulk’s Hat if you prefer it for its illumination. The Warm set upgrades are heavier, but provide not much more defense. Relic armor looks impressive, but doesn’t provide much defense relative to its weight and the resources that go into them, which include relics and the already-upgraded Cook set. Considering that it’ll become obsolete once you hit Black Whistle, the Relic armor set probably isn’t worth the trouble, and you’ll probably find yourself preferring the weight allotment of the Mesh set for longer dives.

Now be warned: The 3rd layer can be confusing for those who don’t know it well. And making matters worse is that there are many vertical locations, so the map isn’t going to help much in some cases. But it helps to have a route memorized, and if you can find that route, getting back to the second layer (and thus the surface) becomes much easier.

s gwilly on YouTube has an unlisted video in which he demonstrates a route from the room where you battle the Boss to the second layer, which requires 1 Rope to complete. Here is the URL to the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NUDVFpGvIg

If you can memorize that path, you’re going to be in great shape. And don’t worry, the 4th Layer is going to be much easier.

There is a quest that can be activated at Seeker Camp in which you search out herbs with Marulk. Because you can fast travel to the 3rd layer, you can easily access Seeker Camp from Heaven’s Waterfall by simply turning around at the entrance to the 3rd Layer. As part of this quest, you’ll have to fight an Ottobas. Run away to avoid its charge, and be cautious about attacking from the side, as it can get on its side and roll. It’s not much trouble if you have a Relic Pickax, and defeating it takes a quicktime event. It doesn’t provide much time window, so pay attention. This is a great opportunity to complete the quest from the guild to defeat an Ottobas. Once Marulk’s quest is cleared, Marulk will give you another optional quest concerning finding a cave raider lost in the 3rd Layer. There isn’t much need to worry about it.

But if you’re up for something to worry about, you’ll get an optional boss battle if you were to go to Ozen’s Room and talk to her.

OPTIONAL BOSS: Ozen the Immovable
You can make any number of attempts at this boss until you win, and if you lose, it’s not a Game Over. But don’t get the idea that this battle is easy, as the typical player won’t be ready for this, even with the optimal gear available at this point.

Ozen can speed towards you, then grab you with her arm. If this connects, she’ll throw you straight up, high enough to inflict the strains of ascending. You’ll take damage upon contact with the floor, and lose stomach contents. Sometimes, the strains don’t kick in. I’m not sure what affects this, but may have to do with the fact that this battle takes place on a slope, and running about on it might increase susceptibility to the strains when thrown. Ozen can also lift boulders, and what she does with them determines how she attacks. She can just throw the boulder, which is easy to avoid. But if she crushes it in her palm, she’ll fire a conical spray of debris, which can be avoided with an emergency dodge.

At this point, Ozen’s damage output is too high, and yours is too low. It’s probably a better idea to come back to this after you become a Black Whistle. But the rewards for completing this battle are great. For one thing, you get Ozen’s Umbrella, the best hat in the game, even if it’s a little heavy and doesn’t have a light. You also get a Thousand-Men Wedge, an item that pushes your Attack stat into the sky when equipped, making even your weakest weapons catastrophic. It may even make the rest of the game too easy. You also get a replica of Ozen’s whistle, which increases HP when equipped.

Whether you go for this battle now or later is your call, but you’re probably better off putting it off.

There are a few optional quests that start appearing at this point. One involves a boy in the classroom who lost his father’s keepsake, another is from Jiruo, concerning a relic in the second layer, and Laffi has a quest for delivering a letter to Seeker Camp. None of these concern going deep into Hell’s Crossing, so they should be simple enough.

Anyhow, this is about the time in which you may start running into Foreign Cave Raiders. They’re enemies that appear in groups, and have access to weapons such as pickaxes and guns. There are spawn points where they may randomly appear, but they won’t appear unless you’ve triggered them. Whether they appear at a spot is determined randomly each time you enter the Abyss. When defeated, they tend to leave some nice drops, such as sophisticated weapons and prepared meals. But if you’d rather not deal with them, then try to memorize where you bump into them, and try avoiding those spots.

When you get the quest for High Temp Ecology Study, it helps to know that there’s actually an alternative entrance to the 3rd Layer that leads directly to the Cold Heat Layer. When fast traveling to the 3rd Layer, go back through the entrance to Heaven’s Waterfall. If you climb down into the fault, you’ll find an entrance to another location on the 2nd Layer called Updraft Wasteland. You can access the 3rd Layer’s Cold Heat Layer from there. As dangerous as the place looks, avoiding the lava spouts is no problem, just keep an eye out for the boulders. It’ll take a couple ropes to get you to the quest point, but by this time, you should have a stock of about ten ropes in your standard kit without being told to bring them. At this point, their weight and the funds needed to buy them are becoming increasingly trivial, so be in the habit of having plenty on you and replenishing them between dives.

Once you enter the small room, you’ll be unable to leave until you defeat 6 Mountain Spinner (Ice). If you didn’t bring enough weapons to complete the task, you’ll be stuck. A Relic Pickax is recommended, here.

The 3rd Layer introduces a new vexation that thankfully only appears in The Great Fault, Trapped Pirate Ship, Quadruple Pit, and Rock Slide Hall, and only outside: the Madokajacks. These things make climbing in these areas a nightmare, unless one doesn’t spawn near you. Because of these, you don’t want to waste time climbing. They are hard to avoid, thanks to the fact that they have hit boxes that are too big for their frames. They do a lot of damage, and if you’re climbing, you’ll probably take lethal damage from the fall. You can try killing them, but they have a lot of health, and you’ll pretty much need ranged weapons. So, for the most part, you’re better off avoiding them unless there’s some trick to them that hasn’t been figured out.

Anyhow, onto the first Main quest of the 3rd Layer: Investigate the Third Layer. First, head to Quadruple Pit. You can reach here if you continue on from your High Temp Ecology Study quest. Just continue from the Cold Heat Layer to Glass Layer. Near the bottom of the room, you can climb to a narrow corridor that’s blocked by ice that’s destroyed by simply sounding your whistle. Remember the boy who lost his father’s keepsake? You’ve found it. Just avoid the Crimson Splitjaw and climb up to a room with an ice block in the middle. Sounding the whistle again will start a small cutscene that will reveal the way to Quadruple Pit. Just inside, you’ll find Detchuanga (indicated by the yellow whistle on your map). Continue the video above from 8:30 if you want to return to the surface from here. The journey is short, but complicated enough that a visual guide helps more than an explanation.

The next point point of interest for Third Layer Investigation is in Trapped Pirate Ship. Reaching it is mostly simple. Fast travel to third layer, but turn around back to the 2nd Layer. Remember how you could then go down from Heaven’s Waterfall to the Updraft Wasteland? There’s another entrance to the 3rd Layer if you keep going down from the entrance to Updraft Wasteland. This leads to The Great Fault. Oh the left, along the wall, you’ll find some caves. The furthest one over leads to Trapped Pirate Ship. Make a rope, and go down into the cave below to initiate a cutscene with a couple familiar characters.

The Main quest Third Layer Investigation and High Temp Ecology Study converge in the Freezing Hot Mines, which is accessed via Rock Slide Hall. To get there, you’ll need to climb down lots of walls where Madokajacks may appear. It takes some exploring the internals of Rock Slide hall, but you’ll be on the right track when you follow a long tunnel down.

Shortly after entering the Freezing Hot Mines, you’ll be unable to escape until you defeat 1 Mountain-spinner (Fire) and 3 Rock-lickers. After that, your ecology research and the request from Jiruo will be complete!

Your Third Layer investigation concludes with a boss battle, which initiates when you access the yellow whistle on the map.

BOSS: Interference Device #3
This one is airborne, and will fly about. It will occasionally stop, and make pillars of lava appear, which are indicated by red circles as warning. You can damage this boss by jumping and swinging your weapon, but sometimes you’ll be able to hit it from the ground without jumping, despite the appearance of distance. This one isn’t too hard, but don’t get hit, as the lava inflicts red poison. Red poison drains HP. As with the previous Interference Devices, it will be automatically added to your Notebook.

As your reward, you’ll gain access to the 4th layer, and your Main quest becomes Fourth Layer Investigation. Hooray for progress!

If you do enter the 4th Layer and travel a short distance, you’ll initiate a quest line that you’ll be unable to end until it’s completed, so unless you’re willing to commit to it right away, just poke your head in to make a fast travel point, then follow the route in the video above to quickly return to the surface.

To Part 6: Moon Whistle (Part 2)

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Back to Part 2: Fundamentals of Cave Raiding

From the title screen, you can select options to change the settings to what you’re comfortable with. You’ll be able to do this once you’ve started your game, so there’s no pressure. It might be better to put off messing with the controls until you’ve spent some time controlling your character. Just go with what’s intuitive for you.

To get things started, at the title screen, select Start New Game. Because of course. From here, you have the option of two game modes:
Hello Abyss
Deep In Abyss

You can select Hello Abyss if you want to, which acts as a sort of tutorial that follows an early part of Riko’s story with her as the protagonist. However, this guide doesn’t cover it. It’s your choice.

After a brief cutscene, you proceed to the character creation screen. You get to name your cave raider, design various aspects from the options available, and even select their voice. If at any point in this guide I use the name Aki, I’d be referring to the protagonist.

Nat says that “Plenty of kids wish to join the orphanage”. Just how bad are the parents in Orth? Anyhow, scope Aki out with the bell rank, because it doesn’t last long. That aside, this Raul kid seems plenty spirited. I can hardly wait to see how he develops!

Anyhow, from your room, you’ll be able to save the game from the journal, access the trunk, and change Aki’s appearance at the mirror.

Tips for Red Whistle
Each time you level up, you get points to spend under the Skills tab in the menu. At first, you don’t have any of these, but once you start leveling up, here’s what I recommend prioritizing: Pretty much everything in the Cave Raid category, especially under Climb and Backpack. Under Battle, Emergency Dodge and whichever of the melee weapons you prioritize. I recommend Pickax, but it doesn’t change your play experience much. If you’re wondering when to fret over Box in the Craft tab, consider doing so when the trunk in your room is nearing capacity.

By the time you reach level 13, you can aquire all Red Whistle skills, though you probably don’t have to. For example, you probably don’t have to bother with Hatchet skills if you don’t plan on using one much.

If you need EXP, your best source is to complete quests, so when you can access the guild, accept any and all quests that may be available. Remember, progress towards quests doesn’t count until you’ve first accepted the quest! You can also get EXP from Relic Appraisal. It’s recommended that you keep at least a few of each kind in the trunk, as they may come in handy for crafting and quests.

Recommended armor is the Rescuer set. Don’t worry if you aren’t able to afford it right away, since the starter set will suffice for most of what you’ll face at the outset. Once you spend a point on 1-Star Items (Craft tab), you’ll be able to upgrade these using Hemostatis Leaf and Red Guaze Poison, so it’s not a bad idea to stock up on these items. In fact, there’s a possible Hemostatis Leaf spawn point in plain sight of the entrance to the Abyss, so if you wanted, you could simply exit and reenter to scum for as many as you care for.

By the way, if you come across any Bird Eggs, hold onto them, as there will be a quest that requires 5 for completion.

Of what’s available at Laffi’s shop from the start, Salt will be the most valuable. It’s cheap and light, so stock up.

The first cave raid is a simple set of quests which involve going to certain locations, watching the cutscenes, and then returning to Jiruo once prompted to. The first raid involves climbing, so exercise judgment to try not to climb beyond your potato kid’s stamina.

At this point, you’ll have more money, so spend it wisely on the supplies you need, and save up for any armor you might want. Usually, the best armor is what’s crafted, which provides incentive to occasionally spend points on Items in the Craft tab.

The next story mission is to find an unexplored area. There is no hurry to do this, so you can go on expeditions just to gather up relics and complete quests for more experience. When you’re ready for this quest, go from Netherworld Gate to Waterfall Gondola to Stone Ark to Jumping Rock. Taking this route requires 2 ropes at Jumping Rock, so be sure to have some in your kit. The destination is indicated by a yellow whistle on the map. It’s recommended that you bring some weapons with plenty of durability remaining, and some ingredients needed to make some food (which you can aquire during the quest without much problem).

Once you travel to the point indicated, you’ll be stuck in a cave with Tiare, unable to leave. When you have another cave raider in tow, they can act autonomously, including defeating enemies, which you can then dismantle for resources. This is not a bad thing to take advantage of. Keep in mind that they have a health bar, and if it runs out, they’ll be unavailable for a short time until they respawn.

First, climb down to the rock pile with the yellow exclamation point. After some dialogue, climb back up. You can make the climb with the help of some ledges. Go to another exclamation point. After Tiare’s character develops some more, all you have to do is cook something. Anything. You don’t even have to hunt any Man Toyers or obtain ingredients from them, but you can go about it that way if you want. Hablog shows up, and it’s mission complete, and you’ll be taken back to the Orphanage automatically. If you’ve watched Dawn of the Deep Soul, then you’ll probably recognize the obvious foreshadowing.

The next quest is First Layer Investigation. The description isn’t specific, but you can get this quest underway by traveling from Netherworld Gate to Waterfall Gondola to Tree/Fossil Abode to Wind-Riding Windmill. Here, you’ll find Detchuanga. He’ll send you to look for another cave raider, who’s also in the Wind-Riding Windmill. Go to him, and the quest will automatically conclude, and you’ll be brought to the surface.

After this, Nat will ask to go cave raiding with him and Dorothea. This is your next main quest, so go ahead and accept. When you next enter the Abyss, Nat and Dorothea will be in tow, which will make things a little easier (banter aside). Head to the Waterfall Gondola. After triggering the cutscene there, head to the Stone Ark and trigger another cutscene there. The next destination is in the Wind-Riding Windmill. You can reach it by climbing down a bunch of ledges and taking the gate to Multilayer Hill, then taking a nearby gondola to the Wind-Riding Windmill. You can complete the whole trip without using any ropes. You get a Feather Helmet like Nat’s as a reward, which is strictly worse than Rescuer Hat (Blue) that you’re probably already wearing aside from an extra accessory slot, so stow it in storage as the trophy item it probably can be considered. As far as I know, you don’t get another.

For the next main quest, go to the classroom and talk to Jiruo. You get to mission with Tiare, towards Grand Bridge Way. Bring weapons with you, as there’s a fight at the end. You can get there pretty simply by going from the Netherworld Gate to Waterfall Gondola to Grand Bridge Way.

At the destination is a simple battle with a Silkfang. It’s quick and easy, and you can probably do it with no problem with the weakest weapon. Avoid going right in front of it, and don’t walk directly into one of its threads, and you should be fine. Once you’ve reduced it’s HP, you get a simple quicktime event. Fail it, and it’ll come back with a little HP. Pass it, and you’ve won.

At the classroom, there will be another Main quest. Remember how I told you to hold onto Bird Eggs? If you already have them, great! If not, it’s time to do some hunting. You can get these from those small birds. I already had a couple, but got the rest that I needed from the Forest of Temptation in the second layer, which is probably more trouble than you need to go to, but there’s technically nothing keeping you out of the place even if you’re still a Red Whistle.

Your next main quest is… three more quests. Red Whistle is kinda quest-heavy, isn’t it? Here’s what’s needed:
Laffi wants 3 Demonfish Liver
The Guild wants you to deliver parts to the big gondola
Jiruo accompanies you to a destination in Twin Falls

If you haven’t gotten a Fishing Pole until now, now’s the time. You can fish up Demonfish in Twin Falls, where you’re going with Jiruo anyway, so you may as well go for it while you have the opportunity. Demonfish are drawn to Lugworms, so get a bunch of them.

You can reach the destination in Twin Falls pretty easily if you bring plenty of Rope with you. Just head from Netherworld Entrance to Twin Falls. You’ll probably use about 4 or 5 ropes along the way, but bringing 10 might be safe.

How you reach the Waterfall Gondola is up to you. But as soon as you’ve completed Jiruo’s quest, you can move on to Grand Bridge Way and then to Waterfall Gondola from there. If you’ve managed to get three Demonfish Livers along the way, then that’s all three quests in the bag. If the fish weren’t cooperative, just leave and return to refresh their numbers. Just mind the wear on your Fishing Pole, they can break just the same as your weapons.

The next mission, Search for Tiare, takes you to the Waterfall Gondola. All there is to this is to go to the spot, and the story advances.

The next main quest can be found at the Caravan Fleet. Mio wants 5 each of Red Gauze Poison and Burnt Blue Poison. If you have some in your chest already, then there you go. Otherwise, it’s time to hunt some in the Abyss. Among the rewards is the famed Type 4 Energy Rations, which is the best food item in the game (putting aside that it tastes like a wall). You don’t get to buy more until much later in the game, so until then, it’s kinda too cool to use. But whether you do is up to you. Further the story by visiting the Caravan Fleet then Guild HQ.

There’s just one more Main quest to do as a Red Whistle, so talk to Jiruo in the Classroom to accept it. That description, though. Tell me there’s a boss battle without telling me that there’s a boss battle.

A previous version of this guide stated that you need to scan the boss to obtain its Notebook entry, and that you don’t get another chance. You actually don’t have to. The boss’s Notebook entry is automatically added.

Bring plenty of healing items and weapons with you, and perhaps also a Mail Balloon to use right before drawing close enough to battle, in case things go wrong and you want to make another attempt right away. You can find the boss in Multilayer Hill, right near the entrance to the 2nd Layer.

BOSS: Interference Device #1
The main trick to this boss is to stay away from it’s large right arm, which can swing forward for a lot of damage, and can also stretch straight ahead to reach a long distance. It can also swing about as a distance attack, so you’re not necessarily safe if you’re not directly in front of it. You can emergency dodge its attacks, and because its attacks do a lot of damage, you might want to practice doing that. It possible to beat this boss by just running up to it and hammering away until its HP is gone, but you might have to be pretty strong to pull this off. I was at about level 20 at this point, and used an ordinary Pickax.

After the battle, you’re automatically taken back to the surface. This seems to be the only Interference Device that automatically takes you back to the surface in this manner. This would seem to be a convenience, but it means that you can’t take this opportunity poke your head into the second layer to make a fast travel point, but you can still do this later if you haven’t already done so.

Enjoy your promotion to Blue Whistle!

To Part 4: Blue Whistle

Back to Walkthrough Menu

Back to Part 1: Introduction

Made In Abyss: Binary Star Falling Into Darkness is a survival game that is mission driven, and the player is given plenty of freedom at the outset of the main campaign to explore the game’s main setting, the Abyss, and in most cases, the player can explore the Abyss autonomously.

This chapter is intended to present the player with some basic principles that would make their expeditions into the Abyss easier. These are some general pointers that increase the likelihood of a successful expedition, that being one in which your potato kid lives.

First, don’t go picking fights that you don’t have to. In most action adventure games, you can reasonably expect to beat most bad guys that you encounter. In Made In Abyss, you’re usually better off avoiding any primeval creatures that you don’t need to fight. If fighting it doesn’t count towards a mission, and its potential drops aren’t needed, you’re usually better off conserving health and energy. Besides, some of the primeval creatures that you encounter are far beyond what the typical player’s abilities would be at the point that they encounter them. There can be exceptions for hunting for food, but you’d generally avoid something that can easily overpower you as far as that goes.

Think about it: if you were to spend a few days in the woods, would you think it a good idea to take a hatchet and attempt to fight some wild bears? The more sensible thing would be to avoid the bears. This game is kind of like that, except you do get strong enough to fight the stronger primeval creatures at some point.

For each whistle rank, there’s usually one or two armor sets that I can recommend. One might be a light armor set that doesn’t offer much protection, and the other might be heavier but offers much better protection. Which one you bring will depend on the kind of expedition that you plan for. One is where you plan on bringing back lots of relics, in which case you want to bring the light armor set and go somewhat easy on supplies, and the other expedition is where you expect to do some fighting, and you’re probably better off bringing plenty of food and healing supplies, too. Whatever set of armor you’re not wearing, you’re generally better off keeping in the chest at the orphanage, or it’s likely to just weigh you down. Also, some armor sets can be purchased from the Caravan Fleet rather than the typical Supply Shop, so it’s not a bad idea to check on each of the shops as you rank up. Considering that buying and upgrading two armor sets per rank can get resource-intensive, you’re better off just going with the armor set that goes best with your style.

When you return to the surface, you completely heal, and your weapon durability completely refills. Take advantage of this by keeping a few different weapons, keeping an eye on their durability, and switching to something else when one weapon is on the verge of breaking. This is a very cost-efficient approach when weapons and upgraded weapons get quite expensive or resource-intensive.

Now, for the items that I recommend bringing on most expeditions. There is some variation based on your objectives, but these are the basics. As mentioned above, it’s usually to your benefit to bring a few different weapons with you, such as different varieties of pickax, bow, or machete. You usually want to go with one each of a few melee weapons that match what you decide to specialize in, except for maybe a stack of the cheapest kind, which you wouldn’t mind breaking and moving on to another in the stack. The exception would be a more combat-centered expedition, where it might be a better idea to bring more of the heavier, harder-hitting weapons.

Speaking of, the weapons I recommend most are pickax and bow. You can go with machete instead of pickax, if you prefer, as they are pretty similar in battle. There is a gun, but it’s inaccurate unless you’re close to your target, and it’s usually not worth using until late-game. You can change your mind as to what weapon you specialize in, but you’ll probably want to increase your level so you have more points to spend on skills.

If you’re bringing a projectile weapon, be sure to bring ammunition, or it won’t do much for you. You can craft your ammunition, but it’s generally easier to just buy them. If you bring a bow, I recommend Blue Poison Arrows when available, as some large primeval creatures can be poisoned, which makes for some cheese tactics. If you bring a gun, Explosive Bullets are great for damage output, but are available later in the game.

Bring salt with you. And plenty of it. It’s light (only 5g per count), and is an ingredient in many simple recipes. If you’re in a tough spot and low on food, you’ll often be able to save your expedition if you can kill some easy game and prepare it with salt. Keep in mind that you won’t be able to make a dish unless you already learned the recipe.

And while we’re talking ingredients, Bird Egg is an ingredient for Boiled Egg or Crumbled Boiled Egg. Of the two, Crumbled Boiled Egg is much better. Carry plenty of these on you, they’re great for their weight, and the ingredients are common. Not only do they restore your health, they also fill your tummy up, making expeditions last longer.

In addition, you’ll want a little food that’ll give you a boost in energy (the blue food icon). This will come in handy in circumstances in which you’re stuck on a wall and on the verge of running out of energy. Cooked Insect is perhaps the easiest one to access, but you might get other food items as a reward for completing quests before you learn the recipe to make them yourself.

There are a few medicinal items that can come in handy in a bad spot, so it’s not a bad idea to bring at least one or two each of Red Antidote, Blue Antidote, Paralysis Antidote, and Bandage. You might not use them very often, but they’re light. Generally, it’s better to have and not need, than to need and not have.

Ropes, and to a lesser extent, some Pitons. From what I can determine, there’s no functional difference between Self-Made Ropes and the ones that you can buy at the store, so there’s no huge reason to turn your nose up at the ones that you make yourself. But if money isn’t an issue, you’re generally better off with store-bought, because they’re a bit lighter. You won’t need the pitons as often, but it’s not a bad idea to have at least a couple in your kit. On some runs, such as much of the second and fourth layers, you could use a lot of rope.

At least one fishing rod, and a little of each bait that’s available. Considering that it’s easy to find bait near fishing spots, you probably don’t need to go overboard buying bait, unless you plan on doing something like setting an expedition aside to focus down on fishing. In any case, the bait is light weight. Just mind the durability of your fishing rod; you might need more than one if you plan on fishing heavily.

If you want, you can get some charms to help reduce the likelihood of poisoning or injury, which you can buy from the Caravan Fleet. These items can be equipped to sets of armor that are slotted for them. Later in the game, you’ll find other items that you can equip instead, such as replica White Whistles or certain relics. To unequip these, go to the Status screen, and under Clothing, highlight the charm, then press the button indicated for Remove on the screen.

Monocular, and later, Telescope. These can also be purchased from the Caravan Fleet. If you plan on filling out notebook entries, you should bring one of these with you. But if you don’t care, then it’s not necessary.

Usually at least one Mail Balloon. If things go sideways, you’ll be relying on Auto-Saves, or you can just resume from the journal at the Orphanage. Mail Balloons allow you to save during an expedition, with some limitations (you’re not in immediate danger, and there’s open air in your general vicinity). You can craft these from broken mail balloons that you find, so it might not be completely necessary to buy these.

When cave raiding, it’s the red, sparkling deposits that you usually want, since they’re more likely to have valuable relics. You can hear these “sparkle” when close by, which is tethered to Environmental Volume in the options. Some players turn the BGM volume off or down to make it easier to hear this.

In Binary Star, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Here are a few more pointers that can help your potato kid survive their expeditions, or otherwise thrive:

Frequently go to the guild headquarters and accept every quest that’s there. You have no reason not to. Actions such as gathering as conditions for competing quests only count after you’ve accepted those quests. You can gain plenty of EXP and money from quests, so go accept those quests.

Most relics that you find don’t do anything for you in their current state, but can net you piles of EXP and money for turning them in to Relic Appraisal. It’s not a bad idea to trunk five to ten of each relic, which can come in handy when you get the option to craft relic armor pieces and weapons, and some quests require that you turn in certain relics. Yeah, they threaten to string up those who keep relics for themselves, but from what I can tell, they don’t actually follow through on this threat in Binary Star, so go ahead and stash some relics. Each layer has a different set of relics to uncover, so by the end of the game, you’ll have quite an inventory.

Between expeditions, Kiyui might ask for a shiny stone. Only the blue and yellow stones will make him happy. If you give him what he wants, he’ll give you a piece of material at random from a small pool (such as Limber Scales and Shellfish Shell). It’s not a bad idea to stock up on these stones so you can keep returning to him for more materials, if you want such materials. What he gives is random, and it can be otherwise hard to find Limber Scales in the early game, when you might want them to upgrade armor, so it’s not a bad idea to save-scum for the material that you’re after.

As you level up, you’ll get more points to spend on the Skills tab. Under Battle, focus mainly on Dodge and whatever weapons you plan on focusing on, ignoring the ones that you’re not bothering with. If you spend points on Gun, but don’t use any guns, those points won’t be doing anything for you.

As for the Cave Raid tab, these are pretty much all non-negotiable. You want them all. Backpack is best, as it allows you to carry more gear, Climb is great because it means you get better at climbing, which is a huge part of the game. You want all the Gather options, as soon as they’re available. These abilities are not translated well, but what there is to know is that most of them double the amount you pickup, first of what you gather, one makes it harder for fish to get away (not a big deal), then pickups from fauna and fish, and finally things that you mine, such as relics. To double pick-ups is a real game-changer, so go for these as soon as they’re available. But when it comes down to it, each of the Cave Raid abilities are great.

Then there’s Craft. For some reason, Box is included among the Craft skills. If you’re running out of trunk space, then go with Box. The ability to cook meals is great, but a lot of the recipes are kind of redundant. You’ll generally be fine going up to Smoked Dishes in the Meal section. But Items are high priority if you’re wanting to make Relic Armor sets. Bow and Bullet isn’t a big deal, because you can just buy Ammo.

You might be okay not upgrading armor for much of the game. In many cases, such as the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Layers, crafting armor beyond what you can buy at the store may be overpreparing for bosses that aren’t all that hard, and upgraded armor usually becomes obsolete when you rank up.

To Part 3: Red Whistle