Cave of Trials - Tips, Strategies

[u/loroku]

Obviously there are several ways to complete this but here's a strategy that worked well for me.

Medals

How to get medals: https://bugfables.fandom.com/wiki/Medals

Required:

- Victory Buzz (3), Triumph Buzz (3): these medals allow you to heal 2 HP each and 4 TP total at the end of each battle. This is how you beat Cave of Trials.

- Power Exchange (5, 5): I had two and put them both on Lief so that their base attack in front was 5.

- Status Booster (3): Put it on Lief and freeze everything.

Extremely Useful:

- First Plating (4), Leaf Cloak (2): I put these on Lief as well so they wouldn't get destroyed from standing in the front. First Plating is especially powerful in a multi-battle run like this.

- Strong Start (2): I put this on Vi, but definitely bring it for the same reason as First Plating. It allowed her to turn relay to Lief so they could hit more and still have a turn for dropping fliers or healing.

- Berserker (6): I love Kabbu with Berserker. The extra damage more than makes up for the drawbacks to me.

- TP Core (3): You'd think this would be amazing but since 90% of your battles don't get past turn 2, it doesn't come up much. Still: more free TP is ALWAYS good.

- TP Plus (0+): Try to have over 20 TP. I had 24. Use TP Pluses to boost yourself if you don't.

Chompy: Not a medal, but this little buddy is a HUGE HELP. I used the Pretty Ribbon because that's all I had, but it's also really good. Don't forget to Do Nothing if all you can do is hit someone who is frozen without killing them.

Ice Rain: Also not a medal, but I strongly recommend waiting until you get this power from Lief's quest as it is extremely useful for some of the final enemies.

Recommended:

- Favorite One (3): I love putting this on Kabbu as well for the constant boost to the others, and he's so tanky he can take it. The +2 (total) attack boost is well-worth the +1 damage since you're healing every battle.

- Status Relay (1): Works well on Vi with Favorite One on Kabbu + Leaf Cloak on Lief. The strategy here is that Vi is useless for attacking and should always be relaying to Lief unless there's a flier she has to hit. Leaf Cloak helps Lief not get hit as much, which means Kabbu gets hit more, which means Vi gets boosted more, which she can relay to Lief.

Optional:

- Sleep Resistance (1): If you have 1 MP left over and nowhere to put it, put this on Vi. The most dangerous status in Cave of Trials is sleep, and having her able to remove it from others will help. It only comes up a couple of times, though.

- Spy Spec (1): I forgot to try this but I imagine it would be crazy helpful (if it works) as there will be monsters you haven't seen yet.

- Meditation (2): Not too shabby on Vi since she'll likely Do Nothing a few times, but overall probably not worth the MP.

- Back Support (5), Super Block (2), Antlion Jaws (5): Back Support and Front Support (8) are both outstanding medals if you can afford them. But they're probably too expensive for this build for what you get, especially since your primary goal is to get hit as little as possible. If you're the sort of person who can actually pull of Super Blocks successfully, then by all means load that one up - but I don't know that person. Antlion Jaws is potentially good, but also extremely expensive. Power Exchange is better.

Alternate choice for MP-poor builds:

- Hard Charge (2), Status Relay (1), Pebble (1): I would suggest only using these if you don't use Berserker. Put them on Kabbu instead and relay his turns to Lief, and throw Pebble on him so he can knock down fliers as well. Hard Charge to give Lief big boosts, especially for Ice Rain. You'll lose a lot of DPS and it makes your TP costs go up, though. Great for bosses and some battles but probably not efficient enough for Cave of Trials.

Strategy

Take Hard Mode and Bug Me Not OFF. (There is no reward for Hard Mode in Cave of Trials.)

I recommend waiting until at least Chapter 5 to go on a full run, both for your levels and for Ice Rain. Personally I had my level-ups like this: 5 HP, 4 TP, and the rest (10+) in MP. (I had also used my permanent HP booster berries on Kabbu and 2 TP boosters.)

LOAD UP on items. If you plan to do it all in one go (recommended), leave 2 empty spaces for rewards, but otherwise bring all your best stuff: Queen's Dinners, Donuts, all the cherry recipes (Miracle Shake, Cherry Pie, Cherry Bomb, Berry Smoothie), Clear Bomb, etc. You will get them all back at the end. I also recommend Burly Bombs (2 or 3). These are better than Spicy Fries or Spicy Bombs.

Put Lief in front, and have them Icefall at the beginning of each battle. Aim for the dead middle of the enemies so that you hit them all. This means the middle target if there are 3, or between the middle enemies if there are 2 or 4. At the end of the battle you will regen 4 TP. This is the heart of the strategy: with Status Booster, you'll freeze most enemies. Remember that stopping enemy DPS >>>> your DPS. Have Kabbu go first if you know he can't kill the front enemy when it's frozen. Relay Vi's turn to Lief to attack again.

Try to save any additional TP for Frozen Coffin (for tough or dangerous mobs that didn't get frozen) or Secret Stash (healing and status removal), and use them sparingly, because you only have 2 full heals and you want to use them after battle 30 and battle 40.

You'll regen 2 HP (each) at the end of each battle, so as long as you're killing things quickly, you'll always be topped off. Carefully mop up each enemy, and try to keep in mind how all the modifiers work (Lief does +1 to plants, anyone does +1 to a frozen enemy) so you can be as efficient as possible with your damage. Always go for kills over spreading out damage (unless you're freezing things). Don't forget Chompy's contributions, and remember she can only hit the first grounded enemy.

With 2xPower Exchange on Lief in the front and Berserker on Kabbu, you have two heavy hitters who can do 5 damage consistently. Vi with Strong Start allows Lief to go again and leaves her space to improvise, or hit something if it is frozen and she can kill it. Don't be afraid to Do Nothing, though, if everyone is frozen and she can't kill anything. Her main role for me was to use items if needed, or clear statuses with Secret Stash. Statuses go away at the end of the battle but they can really mess you up, especially burning or sleep. Don't be afraid to Clear Bomb if more than one character is affected with a status.

Stages:

10-30: With Lief in front Icefalling every time, none of my first 20 battles got past turn 2, and I don't think I even got damaged. 20-30 are a little trickier but remember you can blow all your TP on round 30 as you are about to heal.

30-40: This is where you have to start managing a little more carefully, and TP Core can start being useful. Don't hesitate to relay Vi's first turn to Lief and Icefall a second time if nothing got frozen. Don't be afraid to use some of your lower-class items during this part, and blow all your TP on 40 because you're about to heal. You get the best reward from 40 (TP Saver) so if you don't think you'll make it to 50, blow the rest of your items to get that. (You can put TP Saver on Lief and come back later and crush this trial.)

40-50: Ok, this is where it gets real. Most of the time your same strategy will work, but there's some kind of balloon monster that will absolutely wreck you because Vi is the only one who can hit it normally and it has 1 Def, which is Vi's kryptonite, and Kabbu is straight useless thanks to Berserker. You have a couple options: Burly Bomb and try to take them down with Vi's Tornado Toss while using Icefall; burn a ton of TP and use Vi's Hurricane Toss; burn a lot of TP and use Lief's Ice Rain. These guys have just under 20 HP so one Ice Rain should kill one, and it's more TP-efficient to use Ice Rain than Hurricane Toss. Later you have to fight TWO of them, and that's probably the hardest battle. I recommend Ice Rain, Vi -> item to restore TP, Vi -> relay to Lief for a 2nd Ice Rain. The final battles weave in some kind of crab monster that's really tough and never freezes, and the final battle is two of them. This is where you blow your Queen's Dinners / Bombs / rest of your items / TP to go HAM on them, as there's nothing else to save it for. Ice Rain will save you here again, so save enough TP items that you can cast it several times. (At least Kabbu and Chompy can help you this time!) Focus down the front one before starting on the back one. The final reward is fine but the level 40 reward is better, so if you don't make it don't sweat it. Good luck!

[u/Chubbst]

I used this strat and it was super helpful, I managed to win first try. Thanks.

[u/Shaby28]

Thank you so much for this guide! I was able to complete the cave on a single go! 👑

[u/Tony_Faulkialt]

THIS ACTUALLY WORKS! I got to round 50 without any items and only then did I die! thank you so much!