Dungeon you can enter after clearing Shuten Trail Mid.

Show Saigo the Torn Manuscript over at the beach West of Napus Village
to transform it into the Ancient Manuscript, and then place the Manuscript
on the small shrine next to the waterfall in the upper-right corner of Napus Village.

Just as the name implies, many stronger monsters that
weren't present in the first two trails will make an appearance.

The items you find in this dungeon are generally better than the first two trails,
and you can synthesize using Mixers, so it's worth entering despite the added challenge.

It's possible to clear this dungeon without carry-in items,
but you'll likely struggle if you're not a seasoned wanderer.

※ Perfect Wood cannot be found in this dungeon.

• Overview
• Important Items
  • Weapon
  • Shield
• Floor Guide
  • Waterfall Basin (1-2F)
  • Mountain Cave (3-4F)
  • Hoof Rock Wall (5-6F)
  • Dark Night Cavern (7-8F)
  • Shuten Halfway
  • Cliff Wind Hole (9F)
  • Ancient Ruins (10-11F)
  • Headwater Cave (12F)
  • Sacred Silver Peak (13-14F)
  • Queen Spider Nest (15F)
• Golden Interval
• Monsters
• Monster Table
• Items

Overview

Bracelets with helpful effects can be found on the ground in an unidentified state.
For example, Scout Bracelet allows you to see where items and enemies are on the map.
Bracelets can shatter in Shiren 2, so unequip them when you don't need their effects.

Synthesis is now possible thanks to Mixers and Synthesis Pots being available.
Mixers appear between 9-11F, so aim to synthesize there using items you found earlier.
Unlike Mixers, Synthesis Pots can't combine different categories. (ex: Weapon + Grass)
Unequip Pierce Bracelets before throwing a Synthesis Pot at a wall.

Golden Intervals can be found starting with this dungeon.
Golden Stairs may be buried in a wall between floors 3~6F, and lead to a bonus area.
You likely don't have a way to break walls to search for the stairs at this point in the game,
but once you reach Onigashima, you can obtain and use Great Hall Scrolls.

The first half of Shuten Trail Hard has "Good" grade materials,
and "Perfect" grade materials can be found during the second half.
"Perfect" grade materials take up 2 inventory slots, so it can be helpful to bring Mamo.
If you just want to hurry through the story, the most efficient route would be
Shuten Trail Hard for the first half, and Shuten Trail Mid for the second half.

Important Items

Weapon

Aim to create a Katana+5 with the 三 and 回 seals as a base.
Select from options like ド, 仏, 目, or 幸 for the remaining 3 synthesis slots.
If 回 is too difficult, you can substitute it with multiple 弟.

You might be able to obtain a Dotanuki or Spark Sword from a Surprise Pot on 15F.
If you do so, go ahead and switch to using it as a main weapon instead of a Katana.

You could use Secret Phrases to obtain a Kabura's Blade, Homing Blade, and Angel Seed
to create an extremely powerful weapon very early, but it breaks the balance of the game
and can ruin the experience of the story, so it's not recommended to do so.

Shield

Aim to create a Beetle Shield+5 with one 皮 and at least 3 弟 seals as a base.
Other options are somewhat limited at this point in the game,
but you could add a バ seal to increase your damage output a bit.

Use a Leather Shield as a base instead of a Beetle Shield if you want
to prevent the loss of upgrade value due to rust.

You could use Secret Phrases to obtain a powerful Fuuma Shield very early,
but again, it breaks the balance of the game so it's not recommended to do so.

Floor Guide

Waterfall Basin (1-2F)

Monsters include Mamel, Pit Mamel, and Chintala.

You shouldn't have much trouble dealing with them at this point.

If you're feeling adventurous, throw Happy Grass at a Pit Mamel to level it up
into a Cave Mamel, and then use items like Dragon Grass or Knockback Staff,
or throw Gitan or a shield with at least 5 defense to one-shot it and gain 500 exp.

Recommended to get Shiren up to level 4 before proceeding to 3F.

Mountain Cave (3-4F)

Piko Hammer and Sluggy make an appearance starting on 3F.

Piko Hammer's attacks deal ~10 damage if you don't have a shield equipped.

Sluggys appears between 3~5F, and can lower Shiren's strength with their licks,
so use projectiles to defeat them from a distance if possible.

There's a 30% chance for Golden Stairs to be hidden in a wall between 3~6F.
See the Golden Interval section of this page for details.

Hoof Rock Wall (5F)

Hunt Zaloklefts between 6~8F for items.

Watch out for Bow Boy's ranged attacks.

Dark Night Cavern (7-8F)

This is where monsters begin to hit pretty hard.

Tiger Tosser, Boy Cart, and Warukichi deal 15~20 damage per hit if your shield is weak.

If the floor is one large room, head for the stairs instead of trying to collect items.

Continue to hunt Zaloklefts for items if you're able to take on the other monsters.

Shuten Halfway

Hone your weapon at the Blacksmith, and buy healing items and food at the Trader's Shop.

Keep in mind that you can select Shuten Trail Easy or Shuten Trail Mid
from Shuten Halfway if you're finding Shuten Trail Hard to be too difficult.

Blacksmith

The Blacksmith can erase synthesis seals and repair cracked bracelets,
so remember that if you synthesize a wrong item or if a favorite bracelet cracks.

Trader's Shop

Cliff Wind Hole (9F)

Mixers appear, and with it comes the ability to synthesize equipment.
Mixer's HP and attack increase with each item it swallows.
Use Dragon Grass, Shadow or Slumber scrolls, Knockback Staff, etc.

Synthesize an Herb, Otogiriso, and Life Grass onto a weapon to create a Healing Sword.
It has an exceptional ability that restores HP equal to 1/3 of the damage you deal.
Try making it if you have the items on hand, or come back for it later.

"Perfect" grade materials can be found for the remainder of the dungeon.
They take up 2 inventory slots, so you may struggle to carry them without Mamo.
Mamo can carry up to 5 "Perfect" grade materials if you use all of their inventory space.

Ancient Ruins (10-11F)

Monsters include Mixer, Ironhead, and Golem, along with Kengo on 11F.

Both Ironhead and Golem are Cyclops type monsters,
so a Cyclops Killer (目 seal) will allow you to deal x1.5 damage to them.

Ironhead can attack targets up to 3 tiles away in a straight line,
so you'll want to move up and down or left and right to avoid damage.
It can level up into a Chainhead if it defeats a monster, so be careful where you stand.

Kengo's special attack flings your equipped shield away, making it fly behind you.
Either defeat it using projectiles, or unequip your shield to avoid losing it.

Mixer's spawn rate is lower than 9F, but there should be enough to finish synthesizing.

Headwater Cave (12F)

Rematch against the 3 Water Striders from Shuten Trail Mid.
However, the exit is open this time, so you can ignore them if you want.
If you do fight them, be sure to save some items for the later boss fight.

Side note, but the Water Striders will stop spawning once you clear Onigashima.

Sacred Silver Peak (13-14F)

Monsters include Wolf Droid, King Tusker, Whirlwind, Bat Kangaroo,
Stone Beast, and Bone Dragon.

Wolf Droid tosses bombs at Shiren that deal damage in a 1-tile radius,
so it can easily level up by defeating other nearby monsters with explosions.
The difference in stats between Wolf Droid and Gorilla Bot is immense,
so you likely won't stand a chance if you try to fight it. Just run to the exit.

King Tusker can swing a Seal Staff for its special attack.
Shiren won't be able to read scrolls or eat grasses when he is sealed.
Hold B + A to step in place if you want to quickly recover from the status.

Whirlwind moves at double speed, and can attack twice per turn.
It shouldn't be too bad if you synthesized multiple 弟 seals onto your shield earlier.

Bat Kangaroo swings a Swift Staff at other monsters to increase their action speed.
Defeat it fast or you'll end up surrounded by monsters moving at double or triple speed.

Queen Spider Nest (15F)

Boss fight against Queen Spider and Armor Spiders.

Armor Spiders will continue to spawn as long as Queen Spider is alive,
so you'll want to move into a hallway right away before you're surrounded by them.
All Armor Spiders will vanish when Queen Spider is defeated.

An easy way to defeat her is to eat Warp Grass to warp to the boss room,
and then read a Blaze Scroll or swing a Fire Staff and wait until she burns up
while staying out of her attack range.

Another easy option is to read a Shadow Scroll and deal damage to her
while she spends time attacking the shadows.

※ An item called Surprise Pot appears on this floor, often dropped by Armor Spiders.
It contains monsters, items, or pent-up anger that creates an explosion.
Rare items can be obtained from it, including Happy Grass, Dotanuki, and Heal Bracelet.
Go ahead and throw the Surprise Pots you find at a wall after defeating Queen Spider,
but be ready to take on Armor Spiders if they happened to be inside the pot.

※ Queen Spider and Surprise Pots will stop appearing here after clearing Onigashima.
You can still obtain Surprise Pots by summoning Armor Spiders with an ally Summon Ninja.
Once summoned, make the spiders trip to drop items using an ally Armordillo.
Though you can find better items elsewhere once you reach post-game,
so it may be more effort than it's worth.

Golden Interval

Strategy

There's a 30% chance for Golden Stairs to be hidden inside a wall tile between 3~6F.
You'll return to Shuten Trail Hard 7F after exiting from the Golden Interval area.

It's best to wait until you unlock Onigashima so that you can obtain Great Hall Scrolls
to make searching for the stairs easier, but if you're determined to find it before then:

• Use the Pickaxe you can obtain from a Secret Phrase.
• Roll Cannonballs at the wall to break wall tiles with explosions.
• Synthesize a shield with 爆 (Blast Shield) and multiple 弟 (Otogiriso) seals,
  and level up a Boy Cart into a Pop Tank and have it destroy walls.
• Swing a Knockback Staff toward a Landmine to trigger it against walls.

The range of monsters varies a lot for the Golden Interval of Shuten Trail Hard.
You'll want to prepare for the worst case scenario of Wolf Droid leveling up
into a Gorilla Bot, or Ironhead leveling up into a Chainhead.

Onigiri can't be found, so bring enough food to last the entire trip.
There are usually many Heaven and Earth scrolls and Synthesis Pots,
so it's a good area to visit to strengthen equipment if you're struggling in Onigashima.

Onigiri Sword and Froggo Whip are exclusively found in treasure chests
at the end of this dungeon's Golden Interval.

Synthesizing Onigiri Sword onto your main weapon will make hunger a non-issue.

Golden Interval Items

Monsters

Monster Table

Dungeon

Golden Interval

Items