Previous installments
- Gretchen Leigh plays Lunar: The Silver Star | Evil forces take heed!
- Gretchen Leigh plays Lunar: The Silver Star | Stop trying to make "fetch quest" happen
- Gretchen Leigh plays Lunar: The Silver Star | Big Meribia, 3AM
With your new party configuration of Alex, Nash, and Nall, you head off to Vane, the magic city that floats in the sky. Nash lets you know that you'll need to get there via the Fountain of Transfer, which is just a bit south of Meribia. But first, you'll likely want to grind a little bit more to buy magic restoratives, because the next dungeon will once again force you to rely on magic.
Once you get back out on the overworld, it becomes clear that Alex and Nash are a formidable team. Alex packs more physical power, while Nash is the stronger magic user. But both are well-rounded characters, with Alex's healing spells and Nash's skill with ranged weapons giving each a unique advantage. Nash is much more useful than Ramus; you'll be steamrolling the overworld foes. As you head further south towards the Fountain of Transfer, you'll see Vane floating overhead, a nice touch.
When you get to the Fountain of Transfer, Nash once again leaves the party. Before Alex can enter Vane, he needs to pass the Trial Cave, which will test his magic skills to make sure they're good enough to continue his magic studies. Naturally, Nash can't help Alex with that, so he simply heads directly to Vane.
The Trial Cave is the biggest dungeon since the White Dragon Cave. It has numerous winding passages and dead ends, although in most cases you'll at least be rewarded with a treasure chest for going off the beaten path. If you've prepared decently, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. There isn't much in terms of strategy; just spam Alex's fire magic and make sure to heal and restore his MP regularly. There are two bosses: a pack of four giant dogs and a mushroom tentacle thing. These don't offer much in the way of surprises and can be easily taken down with the same fire magic as the regular enemies.
Once you reach Vane, you'll catch up with Nash, who mentions that he wants to find Alex a magic tutor before scurrying off to meet with his master, Ghaleon, who also happens to be one of the Four Heroes who fought alongside Dyne. You'll want to meet Ghaleon soon, but first you have a new city to explore.
Vane is one of the most memorable and beloved locations in the Lunar series. Not only is it important in The Silver Star, it also plays a crucial role in Eternal Blue. You'll learn more about the history of Vane and the world of Lunar at a library and hear some rumblings about the Vile Tribe, an evil group that lives on the forsaken Frontier. You'll also learn a bit about two more important characters: Lemia, another one of the Four Heroes who is the head of the Magic Guild, and her daughter Mia, who Nash apparently has a crush on.
You can briefly meet Mia if you head to the Silver Spire, a tower in the northwest corner of Vane. While Alex's Dragon Ring reacts upon entering the Silver Spire, neither he nor Mia is able to break a magic curse that prevents them from proceeding past the ground floor. Alex can also go around to some of the classes being held on the Magic Guild campus to attempt to gain admittance, but he's unable to join without a letter of introduction. Guess it's time to find Nash and Ghaleon.
You know right away that Ghaleon is an important character, because not only is he introduced with a full screen portrait, his introduction is voiced. While Ghaleon is ostensibly one of the Good Guys at this point, he has an ominous air about him. Nonetheless, there's no reason to question his motives... yet. Ghaleon decides that he will help Alex get into the Magic Guild in exchange for completing a task: There's a man claiming to be the next Dragonmaster on an island off the shore of the fishing village of Lann. Since this imposter is nothing but a nuisance to the Guild and the people of Lann, Alex can prove his worth by taking care of him. Easy peasy, right?
At this point, you can optionally take Nash along or go it alone, but there's no reason to not take Nash. So with your reformed party of Alex, Nash, and Nall, you head off to your next quest.
This is another stretch of the game that's focused primarily on worldbuilding and exposition. We get a glimpse at the bigger picture of Lunar, a world that's deeply steeped in magic, and start to piece together more about how Vane, the Dragons, the Four Heroes, and the Goddess Althena all fit together. We've met, or at least heard about, all of the major characters now, and we'll soon be meeting the last two major party members, Jessica and Kyle. Things are starting to heat up!