As soon as you emerge out of the Crypt from repairing the Spark Tower, you will hit a button that lowers some metal spikes. Go through the nearby burrow hole, to the north, and up the stairs on the right. You should see something sparkling on the ground next to the large tree, so dig it up to find it was a Bonestone Gem. In the upper left corner, you will see two Kear Locks, so get rid of them if you have the means and collect the stone head here. Remember that as soon as you pick up the stone head, a ghost will appear and come after you.
As long as you don’t drop the head in a pit, you will be fine. You’ll be taking this head back to near the beginning of the Knight’s Rest area, so it’s not a short trip. If you need a break from the ghost, toss the stone head on the ground and it’ll give up for the time being. It’s pretty clear that you cannot use any exits that require burrowing here, which means the path is easy to figure out. When you get to the area with the spear-throwing enemies near the entrance, take the stairs going down to see the two NPCs you might have saw earlier.
Quickly head to the right side and toss the head at the vacant spot on the one statue. This lowers the spikes on the left side, allowing you to open the one chest on the next screen, containing a Spark Container! If you purchased the one from the shop, then you should now have three Sparks in total. Return to the previous screen and climb the rope you lowered earlier in the bottom right. The cracked gravestone right at the top of the rope yields a Bonestone Gem when destroyed (missed this earlier).
Buckler’s Bluff¶
You’re mostly done here, but there is one more thing you can do at the entrance, but you want to grab a specific Sidearm first. Return to the bridge that had the spikes on them, which spawned two flying enemies upon lowering them, and go north on the eastern side. You should have lowered the rope here, giving you easier access to the eastern side of the river. Continue upward, to the row with the moving gear going back and forth, and jump to the right, over the pit there. This puts you on another screen and allows you to get the Drill Driver Sidearm.
(1 of 4) You’ll want to grab the Drill Driver sidearm from this spot in the Grassland.
Return to the entrance of the Knight’s Rest area, with the Underlab, and unlock the Kear Lock to the left. You can burrow into the Buckler’s Bluff area, where the Drill Driver will come in handy for crossing these large gaps. After the first two sections, you’ll have to climb some ropes, with some turrets firing at you, while also avoiding the moving gears. Save the candles around to replenish your Joules, in case they run low, then keep trying until you get to the very top. Once you do, you’ll find a chest sitting there that contains a Joule Box upgrade.
We’re almost done with this short page, so it’s time to return to Ossex now. You want to go to the exit at the High Street section, and when you get there, you’ll be attacked by someone named Maxi.
Maxi Boss Strategy¶
Maxi can be quite the annoying boss here, since he likes to jump around a lot, so getting hits in on him will prove to be difficult at times. He will generally always do a small jump, followed by a bigger jump, then will use one of his attacks. The main attack he uses is a big whip, similar to your Nightstar (if you’ve used this). His version is a lot longer, though, so it has a pretty good range. It’s not a good idea to try and attack him when he uses his whip, since he’ll pretty much start moving again right away. As his health gets lower, he will sometimes strike twice with the whip, so be wary of that.
Outside of that main attack, you will see Maxi toss some axes, pretty much the same as your Volt Hatchet Sidearm, with it also doing the shockwave thing when it hits the ground. He typically throws 2-3 of them at a time, but can sometimes do 4. You will also see Maxi do like a shotgun blast after some of his whip attacks, with a big spread of projectiles. They go a good ways across the screen, but the spread is wide enough that you should be able to move in between them to avoid damage. You will also see Maxi attack with his whip sometimes, but leave it out and move around while it’s sitting there, and slitering around like a snake.
The best times to attack Maxi will likely be after his shotgun blast and axe throws, as he will sit there for a few seconds before moving again. You don’t want to get greedy, either, as he will start moving again and you don’t want to run into him. For defeating Maxi, you will receive a Trinket Bag Upgrade, giving you another slot for equipping Trinkets.
Dugin Sidequest, Part 1¶
Find an Underlab and restore your vials, then return to where you fought Maxi. Go south of there, past the screen with the plethora of bushes and turrets, to the one area where there was an NPC “moonbathing.” Go here after finishing your first Spark Tower and you will see Ack and Dak here instead. Things will happen and you’ll be fighting Dugin? after some conversation. The battle is pretty much simple, since Dugin just jumps across the arena. The biggest pain, though, is that both Ack and Dak’s attacks can hit you, so you need to watch out for them, too.
You can go to this spot after the first tower to find Ack and Dak fighting Dugin.
Note that the two’s attacks can actually harm you, so avoid them.
Bring down Dugin here and the pair will thank you, then run off to continue their hunt. That about wraps up things here, so the next stop will be the Western Wilds.
Jarrod started writing walkthroughs for games in 2002, and has been playing games since he was three years old, on the original NES. He is a huge fan of JRPGs and platformers, with Chrono Trigger being… More about Jarrod Garripoli
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