Treasure in the Sunken Shrine

Sunken Shrine

You can reach the Sunken Shrine via the submarine at the east end of the southern road if you have the OXYALE. You will find a variety of Aquatic creatures here, and your LIT2 and LIT3 spells will be very useful. You may want to give your Wh.Wiz the Zeus Gauntlet so they can provide steady offense. The only enemies you will encounter here that are not vulnerable to Lightning are the dangerous WATERS (which are vulnerable to Cold) and GHOSTS (which are vulnerable to HARM spells and Fire like all Undead).

If you've earned the Class Change, the Sunken Shrine is likely your first opportunity to use the EXIT spell. Doing so will teleport you just outside Onrac, where you can use the local Inn and/or Clinic as necessary, and even restock at the Item Shop. With such a convenient means of recovery, don't hesitate to use EXIT if you get in trouble.

As with other large dungeons, you will want to make two trips into the Sunken Shrine. However, this time your paths are entirely divergent: you can choose to head to the treasure-filled top floor, or descend toward an encounter with KRAKEN, the Fiend of Water. Since the path to the treasure is shorter, easier, and features great rewards, it is best to follow that first.

Sunken Shrine 3F

Unlike most dungeons, you will find yourself starting on the middle floor of the Sunken Shrine. This floor features a central path flanked by a series of rooms, but there's very little to find here. A room to the east contains 2,000 G, while a larger room to the west contains 9,900 G. Other than that, the only landmarks of note are the staircases. The stairs to 4F are found to the northeast, while the stairs to 2F (and eventually, KRAKEN) are in the northwest corner. Your immediate destination is 4F.

There isn't much variety to the monsters found in the Sunken Shrine, but they will appear in many different combinations. The encounter to watch out for on 3F is against a NAGA which may be accompanied by a WATER. The NAGA is a Spellcaster with plenty of HP. They will open battle with LIT2 and follow that up with various debuffs. You can't flee from this fight, so ALIT can be a useful defense in the first round if you manage to cast it before the NAGA goes. The WATER complicates this battle, as they are foes (like their cousins the EARTH and FIRE) that are best handled with physical attacks. The NAGA's debuffs can make this difficult. Cold spells can be useful here, since WATERS are the only creature in the Sunken Shrine vulnerable to them.

The other new monsters are generally less threatening, but often appear in large groups. SeaTROLLS may look intimidating, but their LOBSTER and SeaSNAKE companions are the real threat. LOBSTERS are your first priority, then SeaSNAKES, and finally SeaTROLLS. The Zeus Gauntlet really shines in these battles.

The largest physical threat comes from GrSHARKS, who can appear with either a normal SHARK or a WzSAHAG. The WzSAHAGS are nearly as powerful, and should generally be taken out first. Despite their name, they don't use magic or any special abilities. WzSAHAGS also appear with large groups of R.SAHAGS, which should be handled with LIT2 or the Zeus Gauntlet. These battles serve mostly to waste your time, not your resources. You can't run from these groups, not that you'd need to.

Sunken Shrine 4F

4F is a sprawling area with a number of fantastic treasures to find. The encounters are similar to those found on 3F, with two new enemies thrown in for variety. The first are the powerful GHOSTS, which appear in large packs and have a devastating attack that causes Paralysis. Hit them with whatever HARM spells you can spare, as well as FIR3 or FIR2. Some of the items found on this floor will also help with these battles, but expect to take damage no matter what you do—especially since you can't run from them.

BigEYES also appear on this floor, accompanying GrSHARKS. They have high HP but low defense, and spend a lot of actions causing Paralysis and Darkness to the party. They aren't much of a threat, but you may still want to take them out before their GrSHARK allies simply because their abilities are annoying.

The only other new encounter on this floor is against groups of WATERS. You can't run from them, so you'll have to duke it out. WATERS have powerful attacks that can add up in numbers. As before, use of Cold spells can be useful since they aren't effective against other monsters in the Sunken Shrine. Don't hold back, because there are no enemies found on 5F.

The stairs to 5F are located in the southeast corner, but don't head there just yet. Head west from the entrance and you will find a large central crescent-shaped room. There is a chest in it, but it contains only 20 G. Head north and east from this area to find a room containing the Opal Armor, a fantastic upgrade for your KNIGHT which offers resistance to Lightning.

The rest of the treasure on 4F is found in a trio of southern rooms. In the southwest, you'll find a Light Axe. It's not an impressive weapon when wielded in combat, but it casts HRM2 when used as an item. This can be helpful against GHOSTS, but don't expect too much. Head east from that room and take the northern path to find the Mage Staff, a weapon that casts FIR2 when used as an item. This will be of much more use going forward, and is another tool to use against GHOSTS. The final chest, located in a room near the stairs to 5F, contains 12,350 G.

Sunken Shrine 5F

The top floor of the Sunken Shrine contains no encounters, so you are free to collect treasure and speak to mermaids at your leisure. The layout of this floor is a bit tricky to figure out, because it wraps around. Most of the chests contain Gold, though you'll also find an Opal Shield, a PURE Potion, and the powerful Opal Bracelet in the main area. The Opal Bracelet offers the best Absorb of any armor available to mages and wizards. You probably want to give it to your Wh.Wiz to make sure they stay alive to heal everyone else.

To find the final treasure room, you need to head north from the staircase, following a small path between two northern rooms. This leads to a path leading west to the final room. Here you'll find the Opal Gauntlet and Opal Helmet as well as the ultimate prize for this trip, the SLAB. With the SLAB, you will be able to complete a series of quests culminating in gaining entrance to the Mirage Tower.

Once you've opened the 13 treasure boxes on this floor, it's time to leave. Cast EXIT if you have it, and prepare for a much longer and tougher trip to the bottom floor of the Sunken Shrine.