Chapter 3 Walkthrough

Lake Bresha

You’ll start off Chapter 3 in Lake Bresha with a tutorial on Paradigms. Throughout the game we advise using a very specific Paradigm method for the optimum number of attacks in a given amount of time. Check it out here.

Watch some cutscenes, where Hope rages and whines, until you find yourself controlling Lightning.

After you trigger a couple of cutscenes, you’ll be introduced to the Crystarium, FFXIII’s method of leveling. As above, we have a section devoted to this; check it out here.

We recommend you keep your party on Relentless Assault (Snow as Commando, Lightning and Vanille as Ravagers) or Aggression (Snow and Lighting as Commandos, Vanille as Ravager) for the time being. Equip your players accordingly (Commandos – Strength boosting equipment, Ravagers – Magic boosting equipment).

Note: While the Crystarium is capped (for the moment), it would not hurt to get a bit of CP and invest it into your primary roles before the next boss battle. As discussed in the Crystarium section, we advise you specialize your 3 primary party members in two of their roles and let the others accumulate CP for a while.

Run forward, and take a left at the fork. Defeat the monsters and grab the Treasure Sphere containing the Pearlwing Staff for Vanille. Equip it, as it raises Vanille’s magic, and run back out.

Now run up the right side of the fork. Grab the 7 Chipped Fangs in the Treasure Sphere on the right, and press on up the wreckage. When you reach the top, run forward to the alcove on the right side of your minimap to find 200 gil. Run forward to trigger more cutscenes.

You now get to view the Tutorial on Manual Commands and Executing Partial Commands.

Note: To execute commands manually, go to ‘Abilities,’ and choose your attacks yourself. To repeat the same manual commands, hover over ‘Abilities’ and hit right on the D-Pad or Joystick, and hit X (PS3) or A (XBOX360). Each time you change Paradigms the memory is wiped from the repeat command, so it’s only helpful when you are going to be sitting on one Paradigm.

Note: To execute partial commands, hit TRIANGLE (PS3) or Y (XBOX360). This lets you release as many attacks as your ATB Gauge supports at the current moment, instead of waiting for the whole ATB Gauge to fill up, and then attack. Also, to cancel out of attacking, just hit CIRCLE (PS3) or B (XBOX360). This will take you back to your main battle screen, so you can go to ‘Items’ and use a potion, for instance.

Run forward and take the right fork. Take down the group of enemies to obtain 5 Cie’th Tears from a Treasure Sphere. Continue down the left path, and take a left at the next fork. Kill the group of Breshan Bass to access a Treasure Sphere containing a Silver Bangle. You’ll probably want to equip this on one of your party members.

Head back to the main path, and run down past the Save Station to trigger a cutscene. Follow the waypoint forward, and pick up the Phoenix Down on the left side. From the Phoenix down Treasure Sphere, head back to the main path, and move forward a few paces and into the right inlet, where you receive 50 gil, then proceed forward past the two Pantherons.

After killing those two Pantherons there will be another Treasure Sphere on your left, containing 8 vials of Strange Fluid. Proceed forward taking a left at the next fork for another Treasure Sphere (Guarded by PSICOM). It contains the accessory Magician’s Mark. Equip this to Vanille to raise her magic by 20.

Jump up the main path towards the waypoint, and stop to save at the Save Station. Prepare for a boss fight, including equipping your characters as best as possible and using the Crystarium. Once you’re ready, run forward to trigger a cutscene, which will lead you into a boss fight with Manasivn Warmech.

Defeating Manasivn Warmech

Paradigms

Relentless Assault

Snow	-	Commando
Lightning	-	Ravager
Vanille	-	Ravager

Aggression (2)

Snow	-	Commando
Lightning	-	Commando
Vanille	-	Ravager

Solidarity (2)

Snow	-	Sentinel
Lightning	-	Commando
Vanille	-	Medic

Mystic Tower

Snow	-	Sentinel
Lightning	-	Ravager
Vanille	-	Ravager

Strategy

Start off in the Solidarity Paradigm. With Snow as Sentinel, you’ll take significantly less damage, and Vanille will keep your party healed. When your party is at full health, switch to Mystic Tower to begin raising his Chain Gauge. Jump back and forth between Solidarity and Mystic Tower to keep your party healed, and your ATB Gauge charged for attacks. After a couple of these switches you should Stagger him. Staying on Mystic Tower (while the enemy is Staggered) for another full round of attacks will significantly raise your Chain Gauge, and we’d recommend it. That way, you can do more damage when you change to Aggression. Jump back and forth on your Aggression Paradigms to do some hefty damage while he’s Staggered, changing to Solidarity when you need to heal. You’ll probably have to Stagger him twice, but this battle won’t take too long.

You’re now with Lighting, Vanille, and Sazh.

Head up the winding path. After killing the three Breshan Bass (the first enemies you see), take the right fork to obtain 5 vials of Strange Fluid from a Treasure Sphere. The area immediately below you is guarded by Pantherons. Kill them, and run down the left path to loot 2 Treasure Spheres. The first contains 240 gil, and the second contains Deneb Duellers, a magic boosting weapon for Sazh. Since he can only be a Ravager right now, you should equip it.

Run back, and take the other path (the right fork) to proceed. Kill the six Breshan/Bloodfang Bass after you step off the bridge, and follow the right path to get for another Treasure Sphere. This one contains 6 vials of Enigmatic Fluid.

Press onward, following the waypoint. Examine the ship to your left to see a short cutscene.

There is a group of four Pantherons across from the downed ship, guarding a Treasure Sphere containing 7 Wicked Fangs.

Now continue down the path to face the hord of Breshan/Bloodfang Bass. Blitz will take out most of the Bloodfangs on the first hit, making the battle a little easier. Proceed across the bridge, past the Save Station.

Now you receive a Technique Tutorial while fighting an Alpha Behemoth.

Note: Technical Points (TP) are used for special abilities, such as Summoning and Libra, and will be regained slowly by achieving good battle ratings (5 Stars) or by executing a full ATB gauge of attacks. The yellow bar and number below you’re leader’s green HP gauge indicate current TP, the max being 5. You’ll find these special abilities under the ‘Techniques’ command while in battle.

After you’ve killed the Alpha Behemoth, go up the right path, starting a step or two behind you, and obtain a Librascope. Now follow your waypoint forward to trigger another cutscene.

Move forward, dispatching the PSICOM Trackers if you feel like it. After fighting the three Watchdrones, take the right path to loot 2 Digital Circuits. Run down the bridge, dispatching the three PSICOM, and climb up the cliffs.

When you reach the first fork, follow it to the left, looting 2 flasks of Paraffin Oil and 50 gil as it loops around to rejoin the main path. When you reach the top a few seconds later, head to the right side and jump onto the little ‘F’ shaped section to loot 3 lengths of Insulated Cabling. Then continue past the Save Station for more cutscenes.

Run through the Watchdrones, and pick up 30 gil ahead on the right. Shortly after, you’ll pick up 6 Begrimed Claws.

You then arrive at the Gates of Antiquity.

At the top of the stairs run into the right inlet to loot 600 gil. Proceed to the top right corner of this square shaped area (from the Alpha Behemoth, take the right path, then run straight forward) to grab 2 Digital Circuits. Kill the three Watchdrones and PSICOM Ranger, and move up the fallen bridge.

Run down the first flight of stairs, and turn right into the alley to grab 7 Begrimed Claws. Proceed down the second flight, hugging the left side through the courtyard to grab another Treasure Sphere in the far corner. This one contains an accessory, Spark Ring. Now run on up another set of stairs, picking up three potions.

Run up the next flight of stairs. Just to the left of the Save Station, you have the choice to ‘enter.’ This shortcut skips a substantial amount of running and fighting, but you miss looting Milerite, a component necessary for upgrading different weapons/accessories. The best choice is to use the passage, and run then run back through two groups of enemies to loot it. You save yourself just a little running, and don’t have to fight half as many enemies. Hit SQUARE (PS3) or X (XBOX360) to bring up the map if you’re having trouble figuring out which way is ‘back’ – you’ll want to run towards the Save Station located above you (in the map view).

Now, facing outward from the shortcut passage, run up the right path. Kill the two PSICOM, and loot Ferroelectric Film. Run up the stairs, grabbing 2 Librascopes to the left of the Save Station, and a Phoenix Down behind it, and press on towards a cutscene and boss battle.

Defeating Garuda Interceptor

*The first little battle is easily won, so we’re skipping straight to the second fight with him.

Paradigms

Relentless Assault (2)

Lightning	-	Commando
Sazh	-	Ravager
Vanille	-	Ravager

Diversity

Lightning	-	Commando
Sazh	-	Ravager
Vanille	-	Medic

Strategy

Garuda Interceptor immediately throws up ‘Barrier,’ and makes doing damage difficult until you’ve staggered him. Look out for his ‘Hellstorm’ attack, because it does some major damage to a single character. Switch to Diversity when you see it coming so that you’re quickly healed.

Start off in Relentless Assault. Use it to Stagger him and to deal damage while he’s Staggered. Switch off to Diversity when you need to heal. It’s a pretty straightforward battle, and shouldn’t prove too difficult.

Your Crystarium has now expanded! You don’t get a chance to see it yet, but you will soon. Watch some cutscenes, and you’ll be back with Snow. It throws you straight into battle – so now can be a good time to utilize the ‘Retry’ feature if you’d like to adjust his equipment. You can do this by pressing Start, and then pressing Select, and choosing ‘Retry.’

First up, some PSICOM. Keep Snow as a Commando, and use potions when necessary. After this little skirmish comes the first Eidolon Battle. Don’t worry, it starts out with a Tutorial.

Note: There is usually a ‘trick’ to defeating Eidolons. Certain spells or abilities can charge the Gestalt Gauge more than others. Our guides will point these skills out when this is the case.

Note: Your lead character is always doomed at the start of battle when you're fighting an Eidolon. This means you have 180 seconds to fill the Gestalt Gauge. When the Gauge is full, hit SQUARE (PS3) or X (XBOX360) to win the battle.

Defeating Shiva Sisters (Eidolon)

Paradigm

Snow

Sentinel

Strategy

Keep Snow as a Sentinel throughout the battle, because the trick here is the Steelguard ability. Whenever Nix attacks while this ability is in engaged, her Gestalt Gauge will charge significantly. The Gestalt Gauge is located under the Eidolon's name. The other sister, Stiria, will heal you throughout the battle, so you never need to worry about your health. Keep using Steelguard, and the battle with be yours. Hit SQUARE (PS3) or X (XBOX360) when the Gestalt Gauge is full to finish the battle.

You’ve now gained the use of Snow’s Eidolon, Shiva.

Watch some cutscenes, and arrive at Chapter 4.

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Chapter Walkthroughs>Chapter 3