The Heart of the Matter  

ir·re·gard·less (Är'Ä-gärd'lÄs) Pronunciation Key
adv. Nonstandard
Regardless.

[Probably blend of irrespective and regardless.]

Usage Note: Irregardless is a word that many mistakenly believe to be correct usage in formal style, when in fact it is used chiefly in nonstandard speech or casual writing. Coined in the United States in the early 20th century, it has met with a blizzard of condemnation for being an improper yoking of irrespective and regardless and for the logical absurdity of combining the negative ir- prefix and -less suffix in a single term. Although one might reasonably argue that it is no different from words with redundant affixes like debone and unravel, it has been considered a blunder for decades and will probably continue to be so.

there realy need to update the information on this mission.

Its not at all easy to follow.

I finally completed this as a Lvl 12 Mithran Thief. I was still getting attacked by the Gobs, Blade Bats and of course the Baloons. It took a few trips in, taking each step at a time and getting killed a lot.

When I went to collect the recharged orbs, I did a lot of running away from about 10 linked mobs in 2-3 minutes without my Perfect Dodge. I nearly made it out alive, but at least I returned to my home point with all the recharged orbs.

OK, bit of a newbie here. Tried to do this quest last night with a black mage friend of mine. I have the orbs, got to the tower, got to the places to place the orbs...but couldnt set the orbs. I tried targeting the 'gizmos' but cant seem to get them to accept the orbs. Can someone give a confused newbie a hand?

Edited, Sat Jun 18 15:24:24 2005

The Heart of the Matter - This quest takes a while to do, it’s very helpful to have a partner or two. I wouldn’t do this one alone unless you’re at least level 10, bring some potions.

Start by getting the quest from the guards at the gate, the gate in Windurst Woods is closest to the Manustery so you may want to start there. The guard will tell you to go to the Manustery in Windurst Woods. (H-9) Go in the north tower of the Manustery and talk to Apururu, who will debrief you on the quest. The mana orbs of the Cardians are failing and she needs you to recharge them. She will give you six uncharged orbs and instruct you to go to the south-eastern Horutoto Ruins in East Sarutabaruta. (J-11) She warns you that it would be better to go with a group, which really is a good idea.

You’ll have to go up towards J-9 to get to J-11. When you arrive at Marguerite Tower, talk to the Tarutaru inside at the top of the stairs. She will give you the “Star Charm”, which you will need to open the Magic door. If you don’t talk to her, you won’t be able to complete the quest.

Be careful when you go into the ruins, there are Gobs everywhere that will aggro and link and Blade Bats that will most likely aggro you. This is why it’s nice to have a group.

You need to place an orb on each of the six pedestals to recharge them. There are four pedestals in the main chamber of the ruin, at each corner of the room. There are also two pedestals hidden behind Cracks in the wall on either side of the main chamber. (H-8 and H-9) I would suggest doing this in a clockwise or counter-clockwise order so you don’t necessarily need to keep track of which ones you’ve done. It may be easier to do the four in the main chamber first, fighting gobs and bats as you go and then go to each of the side rooms. Because, in the side rooms there is a Balloon (an ill-tempered Jack-O’-lantern looking baddie that may give you some trouble) and sometimes there’s also a Goblin Weaver.

When you’ve placed all of the orbs on a pedestal it's time to head to the Crack in the wall at the back of the main chamber. (I-8) There will be another Balloon inside and possibly a Gob, kill them then select the door at the back of the room and watch the cut scene.

When the cut scene is over, you need to collect all of the mana orbs that you put on the pedestals, you’ll most likely have to fight all of the Gobs, Bats and Balloons that you fought before. Once you’ve collected all six of the orbs you’ve technically completed the quest, so if you die on your way out you can still go to the Manustery to talk to Apururu and finish up. However, if you get all the orbs and make it out of the ruins you get to watch another cut scene before going back to Apururu. The next time you visit the guard at the gate, you will receive rank 1.3


Edited, Tue Apr 5 11:36:16 2005

I finished the quest talked to Apuru heard the music but did not change from Rank 1. Why is that?

Dont u get the key from the monestary thing? cause i asked the guard at the Horutoto Riuns but she didnt give it to me pls help >.<

I was able to finish this solo at level 10 with my BLM.

What I found was that at most, you'll have to take out 2 goblins in a row. They're pretty easy, and usually die with one aero and a stone (I have 18 + 7int),

The trick with the balloons is not to fight them. I was able to sneak by them.

Basically, wait until they move to a corner (and are facing that corner), then run up to the gizmo (or door) and use it.

I did die a couple of times. However, I pretty much made back the XP I lost killing the goblins in there. (I think I'm going to get level 11 here :) The first time was discovering that I couldn't kill a balloon, the second time was when I got teamed up on by some blade bats.

There were two other groups running around in the dungeon while I was doing this mission, so I didn't even see a single Balloon. Odds are that if I did, I would die a quick death. I did, however, get attacked and killed by two aggro goblins who spawned just outside a cracked wall, and were waiting there after I had collected my last orb and left the secret passage. :/

After receiving the mission information from the gate guard, head over to the Manustery as instructed. Go in the left door and talk to Apururu, who will debrief you on the mission. The mana orbs of the Cardians are failing and she needs you to brave the depths to recharge them. She hands you the six uncharged orbs and instructs you to head over to the southeastern Horutoto Ruins, which is in the middle of the left side of J-11 in *East* Sarutabaruta. She warns you that it would be better to go with a group, and you would do well to heed her advice.

Once you arrive at the entrance to the ruins you will see two NPCs, a Mithra that stands in front of the ruins itself, and a Tarutaru that is inside the tree, but still in Sarutabaruta -- talk to that one. She will give you the Star Charm, which is needed to open the door to the magic room. If you do not talk to her, you will not be able to complete this mission. Now, let's look at the map.

 
                   |---M---| 
                   |       | 
                   |       | 
                   |_     _| 
                     |   | 
                     |   | 
                     |   | 
           |---------|-C-|---------| 
           | O                   O | 
           |                       | 
           |                       | 
           |                       | 
  -----    |       |-------|       |    ----- 
 |     |----       |       |       ----|     | 
 |         |       |       |       |         | 
 | O       C       |       |       C       O | 
 |         |       |       |       |         | 
 |     |----       |       |       ----|     | 
  -----    |       |       |       |    ----- 
           |       |---E---|       | 
           |                       | 
           |                       | 
           | O                   O | 
           |-----------------------| 

E is your entrance into the main area. Once you enter the ruins, you will go straight, and then turn right. This is a long staircase and at the bottom you will be in the main room of the ruins, as indicated of the map.

C are the cracked walls that lead into the hidden areas. Click on them to open them.

O are the mana orbs and their pedestals. You will visit each pedestal twice.

M is the magic door. This is the door that requires the Star Charm.

OKay, you've made it into the main area. Now, the reason you need a group (unless you're around level 17~) is two things:

1) The goblins are numerous and nasty. They link like crazy and spawn *very* quickly. The Blade Bats are also aggressive and will attack you without prompting, just like the goblins. The Battsue Bats are nothing to worry about.

2) The Balloon. This is your primary concern. If this sucker uses self destruct right off the bat or even just when you have him half dead -- game over. They are weak against Fire, and the first person that receives that will be the Black Mage at level 13. They are tough and have high defense, attack, evasion, and a lot of other nasty tricks. The Balloons almost never come by the door, so you can enter the rooms and heal by the door before you take them on.

Now, on with the mission.

You need to go up to each pedestal and click on each mana orb. This action places an orb onto each fitting so that you can recharge them. I would suggest either getting the ones in the main hall first and then going after the ones in the side rooms (as these are guarded by a Balloon, and sometimes a Balloon and Goblin Weaver) or place them all in a clockwise or counter-clockwise fashion. This helps you to place them all and not forget one.

Once you have placed all of the orbs, then it's time to head to the back door. As indicated by the map, the door is opposite of the entrance, so if you see the stairs and are lost just take two right or left hand turns. Defeat the Balloon inside and then click on the door. A cutscene will play.

Once the cutscene is finished, you must gather up all of the orbs back from each pedestal. Again, I would either get the ones in the main hall first then the side rooms, or gather them in a clockwise/counter-clockwise fashion. Once you have gathered all six, head back to the entrance.

Now, one of two things will happen to round out your mission.

1) You make it to the exit intact and alive. A cutscene will play, and then you head back to Windurst Woods. Go to the Manustery and talk to Apururu, who will thank you for undergoing the mission and she's glad you're alright.

2) You die before you get the the entrance. This is common and you do *not* fail the mission, not matter what anyone will tell you. The only difference will be that you do not see the cutscene and Apururu's message to you will be slightly different. Once you have achieved rank 2, you can visit one of the bards by the gates if you want to see the cutscene.

Congratulations! Mission 1-2 of Windurst is now finished :)

~Russell "Russellius" Cox
23 Black Mage
10 White Mage
Carbuncle

I don't know if this is new or not, but cardian guards are in the outer ruins now. As a lvl 8 monk, I died about 3 times without ever being able to run through. I'd get swarmed with all the magic they cast.