Chapter 10 - The Heart of a King
Walkthrough
The end of chapter 9 was a horrible one, finishing things off with the death of Noctis’ beloved and the loss of Ignis’ eyesight – the situation the group are currently in is looking more and more hopeless by the minute, but the friends much push on one way or the other.
Off the Rails
The next chapter starts off with the group travelling in a train to their next destination: Tenebrae. Things don’t start off great for the 4 lifelong friends, as some infighting quickly starts to occur about their general situation and it leaves Noctis left on his own to try and cool down from the recent events.
To help cool down a little more Noctis goes for a little wonder around the train. Since the train and all of its cars are quite small and narrow, feel free to explore from one end to the other to find a number of free items that you won’t want to go amiss. You know you will be going in the right direction if you pass by Gladio and from then on you mostly just have to listen to any conversations going on and locate any more items. There’s not much else you can do in this quest, so explore and eavesdrop as you see fit until the train finally comes to a stop at Tenebrae and the next quest starts up.
The Heart of a King
When you step off the train, you’ll be tasked with having a little bit of a look around before you make any leeway into this quest, so have a quick look around for any items or merchants that you might want to buy from. After all, the weapon merchant will have some new weapons for you to purchase and equip for your group and considering that the enemies are only going to become more and more difficult with each passing chapter, it’s best to improve where you can.
Once you are ready to make a move, head towards the nearby elevator that will take you down into a quarry. You can’t go just yet, as Ignis will pipe up and ask if you would prefer to keep him with you or leave him behind for this one. Doesn’t matter too much what your decision is either way, but in Ignis’ current state he can’t fight at all; so keeping him with you or leaving him behind is more a question of your character, rather than anything else. Enter the elevator after the little talk and find yourself in the deep, dark, abandoned quarry!
After the group has taken a step out of the elevator, head down towards the right where you will soon come across some level 29 monsters that aren’t a big fan of greatswords or pistols or even ice, so you shouldn’t have any problems dealing with them at all.
Looking at the map, it will say for you to head towards the north, where in the way you will soon find a disused piece of machinery. To move it out of the way you’re going to need to head back to where you find those enemies first of all and look for a control panel to a generator – this is how you’re going to be moving the machine. Right now, though it’s missing a pretty important part to make the whole system work: a key!
Head towards a muddy slope in the general direction of the quest marker and before you know it you’ll find yourself near a campsite and right near that is a shed. Inside that shed is a key, but before you can quite get to it you’ve got a few more enemies that will be requiring your attention. Slay them, head to the shed, and get the key; but do not head back down just yet!
Look to your left and climb up a relatively tall slop – just past that you will find a very large toad, but isn’t a big fan of machinery, ice, or polearms; so after a few strikes and some decent dodges you should be just fine to carry on. Near there you should find one of the two generators, so give it a quick push and then head back down the slope to locate the original one you found – with your brand new key in toe. Interact with the other generator that you originally found and the machinery will finally move out of your way and will let you pass into the Royal Tomb.
But before you walk through the entrance, Gladio will want to have a word with you and will have a question; a question that you will need to answer accordingly for a certain buff:
- Answer with resolve – Increases Vitality by 50%
- Answer with frustration – Increases Strength by 50%
Be aware that as soon as you get just a little bit too close to the entrance of the tomb, you will be tasked of dealing with a level 38 boss. This boss is weak to a fair amount, such as greatswords, machinery, fire, and ice – so your choice of weapon isn’t too dire for this fight. An aggressive but careful approach is a recommended tactic for this fight; just be aware that when you knock down its health all the way, the thing will practically revive itself and become that much more deadly this time around.
Carry on fighting the beast until you knock his health down once more and watch as it quickly starts to regenerate its health back again. This time Ignis will suggest retreating, so run away from the fight and give the group a chance to concoct a plan. The plan will basically require you to kill the boss all over again, but a brand new technique that plays out through a cutscene will finally bring it down for good. From there, you can enter the royal tomb and acquire the Katana of the Warrior. As soon as you’re happy to leave the quarry, head back to the start of the dungeon, take the elevator up and board the train to move onto the next chapter.
Plot
- See also: Plot
Chapter 10 - The Heart of a King
Chapter 10 kicks things off pretty close from the end of chapter 9, where a whole host of important story-based actions occurred, with the two main ones being the murder of Lady Lunafreya and Ignis’ unfortunate loss of sight. As chapter 10 starts off, we find the 4 friends sat on a moving train, sitting in silence until the atmosphere is soured that much more by some in-fighting between them; a major consequence of recent events that leave Noctis feeling he isn’t good enough. Gladio reads him the riot act and that after all the 4 of them have been through, especially in Ignis’ case, the last thing Noctis should be doing is moping about like a teenager. Following on from that fight, the gang split up on the train and Noctis goes for a little walk among the carriages to cool down somewhat.
Eventually the train comes to a stop at its destination and the lads are all in search of the next Royal Tomb for Noctis to acquire the weapon that’s held within; even if the friends are doing as little talking as possible amongst one another. Soon enough they take an elevator down to an old mine, where the supposed tomb is being hidden and even with Ignis and his lack of eyesight, he ensures the gang that he will be tagging along with to help them in whatever way he can. Despite his efforts, however, Ignis can’t do too much in the forms of combat, but will offer up strategic advice as best he can to his friends throughout the trek of the mine.
The 4 do their best to push on as best they can, whilst helping Ignis avoid any potential problems in the immediate vicinity, up until they come across a hideous creature known as the Malboro. To begin with it seemed like a typical foe for the 4, but it soon turned out that general physical attacks weren’t doing the trick, as the beast had yet to be slain. After Ignis makes the strategic move to regroup and devise a plan, they find a way to defeat the creature – by lobbing a grenade down his throat and hoping that does the trick; of which it does.
The Malboro was effectively guarding and hiding the Royal Tomb behind him and after his defeat Noctis is free to pick up the next Royal Arm for his arsenal: Katana of the Warrior. Before the friends decide to move on, they all have a heart-to-heart and Ignis promises to stick with the group and aide them as best he can, unless Noctis – the future king – says otherwise and makes the decision. Ignis explains to Noctis that a king cannot simply sit and watch others make the decisions for him, so it is completely his decision on what should be done about Ignis. Noctis understands the situation he’s been thrust into, but realises that the journey without one of his best friends is not a feat he wishes to witness and as such makes sure that he stays with the group – regardless of his eyesight.
After their discussion, they head back to the train station to start moving onwards, having a few little jokes here and there to lighten the mood. Alas, even as they climb onto the train having a bit of a chuckle and a laugh, it seems that Ardyn has no intentions on letting up any time soon, because even though the 4 of them may not even notice him there – he appears to be always watching them in some way.
Commentary
In comparison to chapter 9, this one is a little more on the slow side, but it shows the human side of the 4 friends and even though they may have been beaten down again and again; they all understand that for the safety of the world they know and love that a weakened resolve is not going to be the thing that stops their quest; not even in the slightest.
