Unnatural Selection?
Ayla is locked into your party for this chapter; choose your third member freely. You can take Ayla to Spekkio at the End of Time, but she won't learn magic - it predates her existence on the planet. If you haven't already, stop by the Trading Hut for the best available weapons and armor.
Fly your Dactyl to Tyranno Lair - the silver building in the center of the continent. Press Select to view the world map if you need bearings. You'll notice the Sun Keep to the northeast; you can't do anything there yet.
Tyranno Lair
Entrance hall. Clear out the first room of Cave Apes and Reptites. Enter the right skull and descend the stairs. Fight Reptites in the next room; you can open the jail cell to free prisoners, but Kino will open it later anyway.
Rescuing Kino. Fight a couple more Reptite groups and Ayla will bust Kino out of his cell. Grab the Mid-Ether inside, then follow him to the entrance. He opens the left skull so you can proceed.
Switch room. Step on the floor switches on either side to send monsters tumbling below; this lets you skip those fights. Take the right path through a door to find two eggs. The left egg contains a Hi-Potion. The right egg teleports you back to the old jail cell with the fallen monsters waiting - avoid it unless you want the fights.
Teleport maze. Take the left path through a door to find a room full of teleport squares. Some trigger fights; some transport you around. The worthwhile items are the Triceratopper helm and Mesozoic Mail. The other treasures (Potion and Athenian Water) are skippable. Experiment with the squares to find them, then exit via the northwest stairway.
Sealed door puzzle. Walk east past a sealed door to find a room with two switches. The left switch spawns monsters; the right switch opens a skull. Go through the skull and flip the wall switch to unseal the door.
Boss: Nizbel II
Head through the sealed door. You can talk to Nizbel II if you want, but he'll attack when you try to go north. Save and use a Shelter first.
Nizbel II
Nizbel II fights like the original but with increased speed - you can't drown him in Lightning like before. His defense lowers each time he's shocked and rises each time he's physically attacked.
- Never use normal attacks - they raise his defense
- Each Lightning hit lowers defense more; damage increases by ~200 each time
- Use Volt Bite (Crono + Ayla) for massive damage
- When he releases stored electricity (~180 damage to all), defense resets
- Keep HP above 200; have Frog/Robo ready to group heal
- With Rage Band equipped, his group attacks trigger counter-attacks for 400-1200 extra damage
- By fight's end, you'll see 1400+ damage hits if you never used physicals
Upper Tyranno Lair
Save and heal after Nizbel II. Head up through another area with a sealed door.
Three-switch room. Enter the right passage to find three floor switches:
- Center switch: Creates a save point (use this)
- Right switch: Spawns 2 Terrasaurs
- Left switch: Creates pits where the save point and Terrasaurs would appear
If you fall in either pit, you'll end up in the previous room next to a sealed door - possibly with Terrasaurs for company.
Opening the path. Go through the skull, grab the Hi-Ether from the egg, and flip the wall switch to open the sealed door. Head through the center door to reach Azala's throne room.
Pre-boss area. After Azala finishes talking, collect the Mid-Ether and Triceratopper from the room. Equip the helm immediately. Save at the center switch room if needed, then head into the back.
Boss: Azala & Black Tyranno
The massive Black Tyranno awaits with Azala commanding from above.
Azala
Azala uses Teleportation (~70 damage) to drop rocks on party members and Psychokinesis (~70 damage + sleep chance). When she dies, Azala Break hits everyone for ~30 damage and inflicts HP Down.
- Target Azala first - Tyranno's defense is up and it has 4x the HP
- Azala is weak to Lightning and most magic
- Physical attacks don't work well on her; use Crono's Lightning
- Don't forget to Charm the Magic Tab before killing her
Black Tyranno
The Black Tyranno is heavily resistant to physical attacks until it starts counting down. When the countdown reaches 0, it unleashes a powerful fire breath attack.
- After Azala falls, the Tyranno counts down: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...
- During countdown, defense drops - unload with physical attacks
- Rage Band counter-attacks trigger on each countdown number
- At 0, fire breath hits everyone for 100-300 damage (reduced by Ruby Vests)
- Heal to full before 0 hits; use Crono's Life if available
- After fire breath, defense goes back up - use normal attacks to conserve MP
- Wait for the next countdown, then repeat
Lavos Awakens
After defeating the Black Tyranno, something streaks across the sky and crashes into Tyranno Lair. Ayla names it Lavos - "La" means fire, "Vos" means big in her language. Azala stays behind to be wiped out with the Reptites as the extinction event begins.
New Gate. Kino arrives with the Dactyls and your party escapes. Save in the overworld, then enter the Tyranno Lair Ruins. A new time gate has appeared where Lavos impacted - the intense energy distorts time and creates gates. Step through to travel to 12,000 B.C. and the Kingdom of Zeal.
Treasure Summary
| Item | Location |
|---|---|
| Mid-Ether | Kino's jail cell |
| Hi-Potion | Left egg after switch room |
| Triceratopper | Teleport maze room |
| Mesozoic Mail | Teleport maze room |
| Potion | Teleport maze room |
| Athenian Water | Teleport maze room |
| Hi-Ether | Three-switch skull egg |
| Mid-Ether | Azala's throne room |
| Triceratopper | Azala's throne room |