Crescent Lake

You can come to Crescent Lake as soon as the canal is open, but in order to be given the CANOE, you must have defeated LICH. Crescent Lake is located on the east side of the continent. The nearest port is on a peninsula northeast of the town.

You can reach Crescent Lake in one of two ways. The faster route is to sail south from Melmond, around the land mass containing the Earth Cave, and then west. The edges of the world wrap around, and you will soon find yourself in the vicinity of the Crescent Lake port. The other option is to sail south from Melmond and follow the coastline east, possibly stopping at ElfLand's southern port to resupply on the way. This is a longer trip, but Ocean encounters should be no trouble for you at this point.

Don't think your journey is over when you reach the port. You have to walk through the dangerous wilderness south and west, around the south side of the titular lake, to reach the safety of town. Many monsters from the Earth Cave make another appearance here, especially the beefier ones such as TROLLS and GIANTS and BULLS (oh my!). The only new foes in the area are PEDES, which are similar to GIANTS but can appear in groups numbering as many as four. Since town is nearby, don't hesitate to use any spells you have against the monsters in the area.

Crescent Lake

Crescent Lake contains level 6 magic and a variety of Silver equipment, but the most important feature of the town is the Circle of Sages. To find it, walk between the magic shops in the northeast part of town, then follow the path into the forest to the east. The sages, including Lukahn, will reveal much more about the plot of the game than you are currently aware of. If you've defeated LICH, you will be given the CANOE, which allows you to travel on rivers. It also lets you dock your SHIP in river mouths, which opens up some new possibilities.

New Equipment

The only item on sale here that is sold anywhere else is the Silver Sword you may have purchased in ElfLand. Despite that, you should have found most of the items on sale here while using the mystic KEY, or in the Earth Cave. The Silver Sword is still the best available weapon, and worth purchasing if you aren't using it already. The Silver Axe is a decent alternative if your FIGHTER has reached level 16, but you'll find one for free in Gurgu Volcano anyway. The Silver Hammer and Silver Dagger are the best available weapons for your Wh.MAGE and Bl.MAGE, respectively, so buy them if you aren't using them already.

The Silver Shield, Silver Helmet, and Silver Gauntlet are all nice upgrades for your FIGHTER, though of the three only the Silver Gauntlet should be new. You'll find one for free in Gurgu Volcano, so it's an easy item to pass up if you're strapped for cash. The Silver Armor is a nice upgrade for your RedMAGE, offering decent Absorb with a reasonable Evade penalty. (Though if your goal is to minimize Evade penalties, the Silver Bracelet from Melmond is arguably better.)

The most interesting new piece in Crescent Lake is the Buckler, a shield offering only 2 Absorb for the price of 2,500 G. It is significant because it is the first shield that can be used by THIEVES and RedMAGES. It's better than the Cap or Gloves, so if you're running out of inventory space (especially while gathering treasure), feel free to drop or sell those and keep the Buckler.

Spell Selection

Level 6 spells become available to your Wh.MAGE and Bl.MAGE at level 16, but RedMAGES can't learn any of these spells until they become RedWizzes. All of the white magic is good, but even a Wh.MAGE can't learn EXIT until the class change. This is an extremely important spell, though, so make sure you leave a slot open for it! Choosing which spell to forego is tricky. SOFT is good to have, but 25 SOFT Potions are probably better and will cost just as much. FOG2 and INV2 are great defensive spells, but you will eventually find the White Robe which can cast INV2 for free. It's a spell you can afford to pass on if you want to learn SOFT, but don't pass on FOG2.

Level 6 black magic is not nearly as interesting. LIT3 is great, especially later in the Sunken Shrine, but it's not particularly effective in the near future except to overpower River monsters. QAKE and RUB are KO spells, neither of which is all that impressive. QAKE affects all targets and is Earth-elemental, while RUB affects one target (and is slightly less accurate) but is Death-elemental. The last spell, STUN, is an oddity, causing paralysis with 100% success if the target doesn't resist Status and currently has less than 300 HP. This spell becomes less useful as your party grows in power and 300 HP becomes an amount you can tear through in a round, but for now it has its uses if you look for them.

Even after the class change, RedWizzes have limited spell options. They can (and should) learn LIT3 and EXIT, but the only other choices they have are FOG2 and INV2. Either one is a good choice, though I'd recommend FOG2 if you don't already have a Wh.Wiz that can cast it.