The Lava Ruins (Rune Factory Frontier)

Quick Info
Season: Summer

Monsters: Ant, Killer ant, Monster Box, Elefun, Ghost, Duck, Furpy, Ignis, Mini-golem, Summer, Little Wizard, Autumn, Hammer Troll, Buffaloo, Minotaur

Ores: Scrap Iron, Iron, Copper, Silver, Gold (on last floor only)

How to Unlock: Defeat the Griffon, get a Tree Rune stone and put it in the sapling on the mountain path

Boss: Mimic Slime (starts at level 43)

Recommended Equipment:
 * Head - Feathered Hat or Cat Ears
 * Neck – Dew Pendant or Heart Pendant
 * Torso – Furry Belt
 * Arms – Any of the Elemental Rings, or a Para Ring if you can make it
 * Weapon – Defender or Durandel (Icifier is optimal, but difficult to make at this point in time)

Walkthrough
Compared to the Green Ruins, the Lava Ruins are packed full of nasty snags that will try to harm or hinder your journey through the perilous dungeon. Coming prepared with food and Energy drink S. is a very good idea. The Ruins can be found on the "Mountain Trail" area near the observatory and the Cornucopia trees. You will not be able to enter them until you've successfully defeated the boss of the Green Ruins. Once the Griffon has been cleared, you may notice that the little sprout that was growing near the entrance has grown somewhat. Investigate it and talk to Kanno while he nearby to learn more. Then, procure a Tree Rune Stone from Candy and bring it to the sapling. Soon, you'll be able to enter the next dungeon.

B1F
Right off the bat you'll be stormed by Ants and Killer ants. After these are dead you'll probably notice that there is an obstruction in the form of some rock slates beside a powder keg. These are EVERYWHERE in the Lava ruins, so get used to them. To activate the powder keg, hit it with a tool or weapon, then get the heck out of dodge as the explosion will harm you greatly, if not knock you out in a single blow. The area to the direct right of the entrance is a little maze of enemies, treasure rooms, and one of these frustrating staircases that will take you to a collection of locked rooms that you won't be able to access. After going past the first powder keg section, you'll meet some more ants and have choice of ways to go. Taking the stairs to the left will lead to some Elefuns, plots of land, and treasures, and going to the right loops back to that tiny maze previously mentioned. Going north however will lead you past a pit of lava to another junction of roads. The stair case is the way to a treasure room blocked by a boulder (you won't be able to break this without a Golden Hammer or better) and the other way goes to a room or another powder keg. The powder keg room is a trap with some Monster boxes, so head north and fight through the Ants and the Ghost. Right is just a crop room, so continue left, past the Ghosts and onto B2F.

B2F
After heading down the stairs, you'll soon meet some blue Chitters called Furpys. Dispose of them and head into the large central area. There will be some annoying little Ducks here, so be cautious. Going to the right you'll find a rock which you can smash with a golden hammer to get through to a little shortcut. Going left you'll be presented with two choices: up or down. Up leads to a treasure room with Ignises and down is to some Mini-Golems (watch out for those). Go right from the golem chamber and back into the central area. Going south from here leads to nothing but more treasures and some enemies. Instead, go right past the powder keg and mine rocks. The door north is the way to some more Mini-Golems and Mining, so go south past the little stream and up the small stairs, making a direct right when you come to the junction. Ignore the south pathway and keep going straight until you meet some Golems. Run through the northern door and you'll come up to the staircase leading to the next floor.

B3F
This is where the Ruin starts to get a little tricky. Since this is such a large floor filled with many dead ends, I'm only going to describe the way to get through it. It shouldn't be too difficult to explore for treasures or crop-rooms, so I'm leaving that up to you. Run north from the entrance of the floor and down the large set of stairs to the left. Follow the zig-zag pathway until you reach a powder keg. Detonate it and continue up the stairs, past the Mini-Golems and Ignises. After going up the steps, turn south and battle your way through the Ignis and his Little Wizard partner. You're going to need to use the powder keg to get through, but proceed with caution. The Little Wizard near the keg can perform a magic trick that will keep you rooted to the spot for a few moments; not something you want happening if a Powder Keg has been set off. Head down the stairs and through the first door you see, continuing past the Golem and Little Wizard into the next room. Hit the powder keg here and go through the newly opened door. Run past the next keg and up the stairs through the Wizards, then keep going north. Stop for a moment to examine the little Powder keg that has been placed on the mechanism. These are going to come into play later, but for now feel free to experiment. You set them off by using your hammer. Don't linger too long, though, because now you're about to meet one of the friendliest enemies in the game: The Hammer Troll. These nasties will not hesitate to murder you and dance upon your limp corpse, all while laughing merrily. Seriously, watch out for them. Using a hammer attack can sometimes stun them, but it's really better just to run the heck away. Go down the staircase to the right and past the next Troll and onto the next floor.

B4F
Going to the left or down here just leads to a convoluted collection of pathways and tough enemies, so if you're trying to get through, ignore it all together and go to the right. However, if you're here for Uzuki's quest, hit the explosions mechanism with your hammer, go past the trolls, to the room on the left, past the Summers, through the mine rocks, past the trolls and finally south to the locked door. If you went right, you'll come to a boulder blocking your path which a silver hammer can take care of. The treasure chest here usually contains copper. Next you'll see some trolls and a large boulder. Ignore them for now and head down the stairs. Here is where you'll want to be quick about getting to the staircase to the next level, because if the four Buffaloos that appear here start to swarm you, you'll be toast in a matter of moments. Head on down the stairs and onto the next floor.

B5F
The first thing that we come up against is another one of those curious boulders. To set these loose, you'll need to hit the mound of sand below them with your hoe. Once they have been loosed, watch out! These things can kill you easily with a single touch, so do this carefully. Try not to stand in front of the boulder, but to the side and as far away as you can manage. This particular boulder will destroy the obstruction in your way and you can continue on. Be aware of the Weagles that will come to attack you, though. Next move on until you see a few Dark Slimes and another Weagle. Try to kill these as quickly and cleanly as you can because they make it hard to continue if you leave them alive. Now that that's taken care of investigate the mechanism twice to make it turn an about face, then activate it with your hammer. Move south from here, then down the staircase on the left-hand side. Go past the Minotaurs and the Weagles and continue down the next staircase. You'll meet some more Minotaurs here. Now, what you want to do is to release that boulder that's blocking the staircase to the right of this platform, but that's easier said than done with Minotaurs and Weagles attacking you left and right. It's best to make sure those are all dead and gone before trying to get past the boulder. Once the boulder is gone, go up the stairs and pass through the chamber to the right. After ascending another staircase, run north past the Dark Slimes and mine rocks, past the mechanism and down the hall to the left until you see another boulder. You should know what to do by now. Careful not to touch the boulder at all from any side as it trundles along destroying everything in its path. Follow along behind it slowly to reach the final staircase.

B6F
Nothing to really say about this floor. Just a few land plots, some rocks where gold is seldom found, and the boss door.