Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals: Top 10 Deadliest Ancient Cave Encounters RANKED!
Lufia II: Rise of The Sinistrals's Ancient Cave is one of the toughest dungeons in any RPG. The cave has 98 floors filled with randomized enemy encounters, many of which, if not prepared for correctly, can wipe out your party and force you to restart from the first floor. In this list, we will be counting down the ten most difficult encounters in the game's longest dungeon. I will not include the Master Jelly on this list however, as it literally cannot harm your party.
#10 - Gold Gorem x3
Encountered B64-B68
If it wasn't already evident, Lufia II has one of the best English translations out of any RPG released in the past 40 years. These things almost certainly won't kill your whole party, but they are quite annoying to try to deal with when you're sixty floors into the cave. These things are very hard to slay, as they have 521 HP and 342 Defense and no elemental weaknesses. In fact, they resist all elements, which means many of the Blue Chest weapons that you've collected will not be effective, and you most likely won't be able to hit for over 150 damage against these gilded fiends. However, they aren't nearly as bad as some of these other enemies on the list, as their offensive capabilities aren't anything to write home about and they can easily be dispatched with the Fatal Pick. If you're equipped with a higher-level healing spell, such as Stronger or Champion (which you should be by Floor 64), then you don't have much to worry about as long as you remember to heal when your HP is running low.
#9 - White Dragon x3
Encountered B64-B68
These frigid wyverns are encountered on the same floors as the Gold Gorems, but unlike those things, the White Dragons may actually have a chance of ending your run if you run into them unprepared. These things have very high agility (190) which means they will almost certainly go before all of your party members (unless you have Artea). Their Cold Stream attack can do a lot of damage to your party, and if you get unlucky or fail to heal before the fight, then these dragons might ruin your run. They only have 550 HP, however, so if you get a preemptive strike and have your Fire-elemental Blue Chest weapons equipped, they shouldn't be too difficult to kill.
#8 - Orky x2
Encountered B70-B72, B76-B78
These Hydra-like enemies are quite powerful, as their health is much higher than most other enemies in the Cave. Orkys have 2800 health and can attack EIGHT times per turn. If you don't get in first or if you can't take down one of these monsters in the first turn, your party could be battered by sixteen pretty powerful physical attacks. Without proper armor, such as the Mirak Plate or Ruse Armor, this could be problematic. However, these aren't the hardest enemies to kill, as they are weak to Thunder, so your Sky Swords will do a ton of damage to them. They are also susceptible to the Fatal Pick, so while they have a high amount of HP, it isn't too hard to whittle it down. These multi-headed creatures are only able to be encountered in pairs, but if you could find three or four of these things at one time, they would certainly be higher on the list.
#7 - Sphinx x2
Encountered B65-B67
During my run, I had a really bad encounter with a couple of Sphinxes that confused half my party and Selan with her Fatal Pick instakilled Maxim. Sphinxes have the Riddler ability, which casts Confuse on your entire party (albeit with a relatively low success rate). They can also cast Coma, which can put members of your party to sleep, rendering them useless. Sphinxes have no weaknesses, and over 1200 HP, so they are pretty difficult to kill. Their agility is quite low, however, so with powerful Blue Chest weapons and/or the Fatal Pick, you should be able to end the battle within a couple of turns. If you're unlucky, these monsters could end your run, but the majority of the time they won't pose too much of a threat.
#6 - Ninja x3
Encountered B44-B46
Ninjas are quite quick (132 AGL), and possess a wide array of powerful moves. Their Knife Thrower attack can deal significant damage to the whole party, and, perhaps their worst attack, Guillotine, can instantly kill a party member with a 60% success rate. Ninjas have no elemental weakness, but that doesn't matter as they have only a measly 340 HP. These things can wreak havoc on your party, but they are encountered relatively early on in the dungeon compared to the other entries on this list, so it makes sense that they aren't quite as deadly as these next five encounters.
#5 - Silver Dragon x2
Encountered B81-B83, B86-B98
Ah, the infamous Metal Dragons. These dragons have loads of health (in fact, Silver Dragons have slightly more than Gold Dragons) and have two actions per turn. However, it isn't difficult to "Get in First" if you know what you're doing, and if you don't, you can always just flee and try again as their agility is only 140, which should be far below your fastest party member at this point in the dungeon. The Silver Dragons' Diamond Dust can be absolutely brutal and if you get hit thrice by this attack without being able to heal, say goodbye to all your hard work you've done on that run of the Ancient Cave as you will surely die. If you have the Fatal Pick equipped, you can take out one of the dragons in the first turn easily if you got a preemptive strike. If the instant-kill doesn't work, you could run away from the battle and run into it again. But without the Fatal Pick, things get a little more interesting. Weapons strong against dragons, such as the Lizard Blow and dark weapons, such as the Gades Blade, can do lots of damage to these metallic dragons. If you can quickly get rid of one of these silver menaces, it shouldn't be too hard to get rid of the other. While these dragons are not easy, they are not that difficult to kill, especially if you have the Fatal Pick.
#4 - Archfiend, Leech
Encountered B72-B87
Two enemies with instant-death spells? This battle sure will be frightening. Both the Archfiend and Leech are able to cast Destroy, as well as other powerful offensive magic spells such as Black Thunder, Ice Valk, and Thunder. And, for some reason, it is completely impossible to get a preemptive strike in one of these encounters. Archfiends have 1735 health and a weakness to Light, so if you give Guy a Fry Sword you should be able to take care of these things with relative easy. That is, if you don't get instakilled by the Leech's Destroy spell. Archfiends have 166 agility, which means that most likely only Artea will act before them. And even that doesn't compare to the Leech and its whopping 220 AGL! This demonic creature WILL act before you and CAN obliterate your whole team instantly. The only thing that can save you from the onslaught of Destroy spells is the nullifying effects of the Ruse Armor and uncursed Dark Mirrors. But unless you manage to find like eight of those things, don't uncurse them because it will half the defensive capabilities. These battles can be rough, but the Archfiend can be done away with by, you guessed it, the Fatal Pick.
#3 - Gold Dragon x2
Encountered B87-B98
Perhaps the most famous enemy in the Ancient Cave, the Gold Dragons encountered on the last 12 floors of the lengthy dungeon can pose quite a threat to unexperienced or unprepared players. Like the Silver Dragons, these enemies are easy to sneak up on and get a preemptive strike. Gold Dragons get THREE actions per turn, including the brutal Stardust Blow attack that can wipe your party members if you aren't healed up beforehand. However, Gold Dragons still have very low agility for this point in the dungeon, meaning your entire party will act before them. These dragons have very high defense (370) and resistance to all elements excluding Shadow, which is effective against them. If you are going through the dungeon without using the Fatal Pick, then these things may be much more difficult to kill. But I have only beaten the Ancient Cave once and used the Fatal Pick, so I cannot judge that here. Gold Dragons can do a lot of damage, but it is easy to run away from them and recuperate if things go awry. And that cannot be said for the final entries on this list.
#2 - Dark Sum'ner x4
Encountered B87-B98
Another strangely-named enemy (I know 65c816 assembly is hard, but come on, is it really that hard to have one more character in the name?). The Dark Sum'ner has a flabbergasting 300 agility, meaning that all four of these dirtbags will have their turns before your team. And it doesn't help that they have two actions each! If you mess up and get ambushed by these fiends, prepare to be blasted by sixteen attacks of various flavors. Dark Aura is quite simply, weaker than my calves after an uphill run. Bolt does a respectable amount of damage to the whole party, but not so much that you will be seriously endangered by it. They are also able to cast Perish, which is much less accurate than Destroy, but can still be scary if it's used multiple times in one turn. And to add insult to injury, if you kill just a couple of these necromancers, they will summon backup, and it happens that one of the enemies they can spawn in is the dreadful Leech! Dark Sum'ners don't have much HP though and are weak to light, so if you get in first you can dispose of two or three of these things before they get a turn. But even getting behind these things is so difficult in and of itself. And, even if their appearances may be deceiving, the Fatal Pick is effective against these dumb dudes.
#1 - Leech x2
Encountered B67-B71 (I'm unsure if this is accurate, please correct me if it's not)
Oh boy, as much as I love their game, I think that the designers at Neverland should be arrested for assault with a deadly weapon because, no joke, this encounter with two Leeches almost sent me into cardiac arrest. No malice there, I think it's a me problem but MAN these things must've came straight from the depths of heck. While they have low HP and Defense, they are very quick and have some absolutely devastating attacks. Black Thunder and Ice Valk can do almost 150 damage to the whole party, which is a lot for this point in the dungeon. If you're lucky, one of the Leeches might cast Mirror, basically rendering their turn useless. Leeches can also do two physical attacks, which don't do too much damage, so they can't be that bad, right? No, because these physical attacks have a chance to poison, confuse, or put to sleep the party member that was attacked! And to top it all off, they can cast our favorite spell: Destroy. The spell hits your whole party with a 50% success rate per member, which is absolutely stupid. When I took this screenshot, I failed to get a preemptive strike and got immediately hit by Destroy from both Leeches, which managed to kill my whole party apart from Selan (THANK YOU Ruse Armor for your instant-death protecting capabilities). I then got hit by Black Thunder and Ice Valk and somehow managed to survive on like 40 HP to use Regeneration IP move and revive my whole party to defeat these things. Since they are undead, the Fatal Pick is absolutely useless against Leeches and I swear these things are the living (or dead, rather) embodiment of depression and they will haunt my nightmares for the remainder of my days.
Credits
I must give credit where credit is due.
Kriegspyre's Ancient Cave Guide
Auron402's Ancient Cave Survival Guide
Telago's Guide and Walkthrough
RealCritical's Ancient Cave Reference
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