Mission Name
 3-3 - The Road Forks
Locations
 Carpender's Landing and Attohwa Chasm
Level Cap
 uncapped
Estimated Time
 3-4 hours (including cutscene time)
Special Items:
None
Difficulty:
 Low. Either your main job can solo this or you can do it with a friend (or you're really low level and need to do some seriously leveling before getting even close to Al'Tiaeu)
Medicines Needed:
 Aspirin, for your inevitable headache while trying to climb the mountain.
Recomended Jobs:
 You, as your main job. Bring a friend or two if you're not in the 60s
Brief synopsis:
 A lot of running around for very little reward. In Capender’s Landing, kill a NM. In Attohwa Chasm, kill a NM then climb a mountain within an hour. Lots of cutscenes before and after both parts.


This is an annoying, awkward mission that makes me want to slap some SE programmers. It is actually two chapters within one mission. There are lots of cutscenes then an NM, then some more cutscenes. Take your highest level job and a friend, and don’t plan anything afterward. They’re both very easy, just long.

After the final cutscene in 3-2 you are told to go to Sandy, Windy, and Bastok. Bastok is the final stop, but you can do the San'doria and Windurst parts in either order. You can even start one, stop it, do the other, and complete the first one. Whatever you want, just get them both done. I'll cover the San'doria part first.


3-3A: Emerald Waters

3-3A1 - Vicissitudes

Cutscenes:
Zone
 NPC name
 Location
North San'doria
 (none)
 zone in
North San'doria
 Arnau
 (M-6)
North San'doria
 Chasalvige (L-6)

3-3A2 - Descendants of a Line Lost

The next part is in Carpender's Landing, and it has an uncapped NM fight. As with any NMs, whoever is in your party can fight the monster even if they are not on the same mission as you are.

Enter from the (E-6) Jugner’s Forest entrance and go to (H-10) to find an Elvaan cowering pathetically behind a rock. If you talk to him after getting all the prereq stuff done, he’ll sic this Overgrown Ivy malboro NM on you. I’m convinced I could solo it as a WHM75, but I’ve always gone with someone else and we always totally destroy it. It attacks fast, but not very hard. As long as you're a high enough level you can solo it without problem. If you’re feeling cowardly, grab a friend for this part. Kill the silly plant and finish your cutscenes. The Windy part is the meat of the mission.

3-3A3 - Louverance

Cutscenes:
Zone
 NPC name
 Location
South San'doria
 Hinaree
 (B-6)


3-3B - Memories of a Maiden

3-3B1 - Comedy of Errors

Cutscenes:
Zone
 NPC name
 Location
Windurst Waters
 (none)
 zone in
Windurst Waters
 Ohbiru-Dohbiru (J-9)
Windurst Walls
 Yoran-Oran (E-5)
Windurst Waters
 Kyume-Romeh (F-10)


3-3B2 - Comedy of Errors

Cutscenes:
Zone
 NPC name
 Location
Windurst Waters
 Honoi-Gomoi (E-7)
Windurst Walls
 Yoran-Oran (E-5)


That's a lot of running around! And no, I didn't make a mistake. Both 3-3B1 and 2 are called Comedy of Errors. Anyway, we're off to Attohwa Chasm this time. You get into the Chasm from the Maze of Shakrimi. The entrance is on your map, and if you don’t have a map of the Maze of Shakrimi by now, I don’t know how you got this far in CoP. Once in the Chasm head northeast over a stone bridge and through some caves into a large open area. You will see a mound in the center, and there are lots of twisting broken paths through the rock.

I highly recommend heading north clockwise around the mound, spamming /echo <pos> until you find you are in (K-8). Then work your way through the labyrinth until you find some Loose Sand. You have to be right on top of it, and when you check it, an antlion name Lioumere appears.

He’s even weaker then the Ivy, but he’s a coward. When wounded he’ll retreat back to the sand get some powerful regen that will basically take him to full health. Thus the reason I recommend double teaming him. Voke or stun or sleep or SOMETHING when he starts to back, and he will return to fight you. Don’t even try to pull him away away from the sand. He won’t go very far. Annoying, but eventually you’ll get him.

Climb the Mountain

The rest you can solo if you need to. Check the Loose Sand again for a key item Mimeo Egg. You are now on the clock. You have one hour to climb the nearby mountain. Every fifteen minutes that pass, you will get an ominous message about how dim it is getting, until it breaks entirely and you need to start over.

Climb the mountain? Wait, what the heck?


See that hill that the Brimster and I are looking at. That’s “the mountain.” There are ledges surrounding it that you need to run up. You can easily fall off the side and at some points you need to drop down a bit. You’ll cross bones and stuff, and it’s a pretty annoying trip. Approach the mountain from the area near the Loose Sand,
pick a ledge and start your way up.


There is only one way up. There are guides for this too, but if you’re stubborn and want to do it yourself, here are some tips:
Brimah and I made it up on our first try in about 15 minutes once we spend an hour trying to figure out what the heck “climb the mountain” means. If your hour expires go back to the Loose Sand for another key item. You don’t need to fight the NM again. If you fall or get totally stuck, make your way to the outskirts, then work around to the Loose Sand and approach the mountain from that area.


Get to the top and you’ll toss the key item in and get three feather key items, which you use for the rest of the mission. I’m sure most of you will vow never to help anyone climb that thing again.

Cutscene:

Zone
 NPC name
 Location
Windurst Walls
 Yoran-Oran (E-5)

3-3B3 - Exit Stage Left

Cutscenes:
Zone
 NPC name
 Location
Port Windurst
 Yujuju (M-6)
Windurst Waters
 Tosuka-Porika (G-8)
Windurst Walls
 Yoran-Oran (E-5)


After completing ALL of the cutscenes for BOTH parts above, talk to Cid.

Cutscene:
Zone
 NPC name
 Location
Metalworks
 Cid
 (H-8)


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