Ball of Light Quest

Acquiring the Ball of Light is the main, overarching questline in the game. It spans most of the game and requires visiting many locations, requiring, at times, other quests to be completed in order to access certain parts of the questline. The quest guide, here, will be divided up between each glass shard's acquisition, of which there are eight in the whole game.

### Glass Shard #1

The first shard is found in an underground cave beneath Runweld. In order to get access there, though, you have to do a bit of running around and reunite some lost lovers. Start out by going into the western building complex and entering these stairs:

You'll find a guard in pink armor, go ahead and talk to him. He's pretty blunt, but he probably has his reasons. Go back up the stairs and then talk to this woman nearby:

From there, you'll want to travel to Yaston. Head to the western part of town and when you see a building opening with two gray-armored guards, go south, past them. At the four-way intersection, head west. You'll find stairs leading down, take them. In the jail, go talk to the guard in pink armor, and then return to the original guard in Runweld, as his tune has changed since the last time you spoke with him. When he lets you through, go check the tombstone, and then go speak to him again. Return to Yaston once more, and then go speak with the woman shown here:

Return again to Runweld, and speak to the guard there to let him now what you've discovered. Finally, return yet again to Yaston, and you'll find the two happily reunited. Speak to the guard and he'll give you the Standard Key, and share with you some other details. Now that this is out of the way, you can actually go and find the shard.

Go back to Runweld and instead of going down the stairs where you originally met the guard, open the south door and take the sandy path outside, which is lined by trees. A secret entrance to the staircase on the other side is revealed if you check the tree as shown:

If you feel that you're prepared, head down the stairs. Be aware that the monsters down there can come in very large groups at times and may be overwhelming, so be sure you're sufficiently prepared for some decent battle slog, depending on your level and combat ability. To locate the glass shard, you'll want to navigate to the southwest corner of the dungeon, avoiding holes along the way. The spot you're looking for will look like this:

Drop down into the hole indicated, and then drop into the hole on the next floor as well. You'll see a swirling portal nearby, but instead, go and find a chest in the northeast corner of the room, which contains the first glass shard. Once acquired, step into the portal and it will take you to a healing pad fountain, just east of the stairs back up to Runweld. Congratulations, you're on your way to putting back together the Ball of Light!

### Glass Shard #2

Shard #2 can be found in Thenton Tower, which is a short distance northwest of Thenton. Thenton Tower is a considerable maze, and to find the shard, you'll need to go down into the basement and then come back up to a spot that isn't accessible any other way. To start off with, just inside the tower, go a short distance north and take these stairs:

The path is pretty linear from there, so follow it for awhile all the way through the various floors, until you end up in a square room with a single chest in the corner:

Check the chest for its loot, but then check the chest again to find a secret passage into the basement! There are multiple staircase in the basement, but only one of them leads to where the shard can be found. You'll want to go west from the starting four-way intersection, and your goal is to go around the outside edge of the room (go west until you have to go north along the west wall, then east along the north wall, and south along the east wall, then finally west along the south wall) until you can access this staircase:

From there, the path is once again pretty linear, and, after a bit of traveling, you should eventually find yourself in a solitary room with a chest that contains the second shard!

### Glass Shard #3

Shard #3 is obtained while doing an early section of the quest to obtain a ship, and since you need a ship to progress in the game, it cannot be missed.

### Glass Shard #4

To find this shard, you'll need to travel to Ellysvya and speak to a boy in one of the houses:

He mentions that his parents were left behind in a cave and wants you to go and find them. The cave in question is to the south of the town, but in a roundabout sort of way. From the town, you'll need to go east until you can go south, then south until you can go west, in something of a backwards 'C' shape. You'll come upon the cave eventually, as seen here:

Once inside, there are several staircases leading down to choose from, but the one that specifically leads to the boys' parents is in the southeastern corner of the starting floor. Go south a little ways, then east between the water, following the stones that make up a path on the floor, until you hit the east wall of the room. You'll notice that there's a section of the floor that *kind of* looks like water, but isn't, as seen here:

This is ice, and can be walked on; follow it south along the wall to find a staircase:

From here, the path is pretty straightforward, if very winding and twisty. You'll eventually come upon this room, which is where you need to be:

Check the corpses, then return to Ellysvya to talk to the boy. He will give you a Snowglobe, and when you use it, Glass Shard #4 will fall out of it.

### Glass Shard #5

For shard #5, you must have completed the quest enabling you to sail a ship, as the town of Agotrop, which is surrounded by a river east of Runweld, cannot be entered without one. To get to Agotrop, enter your ship on the shoreline southwest of Runweld, then hug the coast eastward until you come to the river, and follow it north until you arrive at the town:

The cave right next to it is where we'll find the next glass shard. With your ship, head inside the cave. For the entirety of this trip, you'll need to stay in your ship, as the shard cannot be reached on foot. Head north, and at the first intersection, go east. At the second intersection, go southeast. Follow the water south from here, ignoring all east branches/intersections along the way. When you pass this strange anomaly in a nearby body of water, make note of it, as we'll revisit it later:

Follow the water around as it eventually turns east, and at the next intersection, go north. Follow it around until it stops at a small section of land with a chest:

The chest contains shard #5!

### Glass Shard #6

Remember that anomaly you saw on the way to get shard #5? That's where you'll find shard #6. If you've just finished grabbing shard #5, hop back in your boat and backtrack to the intersection just before you saw the anomaly, and go east instead of south. Follow it a short distance to find the strange whirlpool, and enter it.

As soon as you enter the whirlpool, your ship will float down a small waterfall into a cave subsection. At this point, be very careful, as continuing south will send you down another waterfall and miss this shard entirely, forcing you to go through Agotrop Cave all over again to get back there. As soon as you float down the first waterfall, go west a square, then south two squares, to hit dry land. Talk to the bunny girl, and she'll hand over glass shard #6:

### Glass Shard #7

In order to find shard #7, you'll need to have obtained access to D'Ankra. Inside the castle town, head to the far west end to find a person in this house:

From here, the premise is very simple but very repetitive. You need to talk to Shay, stay the night, leave the town, and then re-enter and repeat the process. You'll need to do this many times, and gradually, Shay's dialogue will change on subsequent visits. Eventually, a 'time skip' will occur, and Shay will direct you to talk to the child that is now in the same room. Do so, and they will give you shard #7!

### Glass Shard #8

In order to obtain the final glass shard, you'll need to do a few other things for a few other people, first. Starting off in Runweld, go visit and talk to an old man in his yard, through this home and out the other side:

He asks about his daughter and requests that you investigate for him, mentioning that she might be in Yaston. Go there, and right at the town entrance, talk to this girl:

From here, head to Beacom and go into the Cabaret. You're looking for the dance producer here, speak with them several times to get the whole story out:

Go down the stairs where Serena is dancing (she is the head dancer you spoke to before, on your last trip to Beacom to acquire a ship) and speak to her. Return to Runweld and speak to the old man and agree to commit wanton murder. Return to Beacom and the Cabaret, and speak to Serena again. Afterward, go back once more to Runweld and speak to the old man a couple of times. He will send you off to the Cave of Trials, which is found by sailing east from Manarch. You'll eventually hit an island whose west side is encased in mountains, with a shrine nearby. Park the boat, and the shrine has a priest for revivals and an inn for healing. Note that you must run the Cave of Trials solo, as groups are not allowed to enter. The entrance is a short distance east of the shrine.

The first portion of the Cave of Trials has a unique puzzle in which different colored sections of the floor change your directional commands. Use the following chart to determine what color changes what 'normal' directions (red floor) to 'new' directions (other colored floors):

If you accidentally walk off the edge, you'll land in a basement area where you can find a way back up and try again from the start. You'll need to be patient and tread carefully, watching the colors on the floor and adjusting your directional commands accordingly. Eventually you'll find your way across, where another puzzle awaits.

The next puzzle forces you to cross under the watch of several statues, which will push you off the edge if you choose the wrong path forward. Each statue has exactly one 'forward' route that can be taken successfully (except for statue #8, which is the same as statue #1), as indicated in the chart below:

The blue circles in the above chart indicate the correct location under the statue that needs to be traversed in order to avoid being pushed off. This means that, for statue #4, you will have to walk *into* the statue in order to bypass it (it will move for you), as it is at the very top. To mix it up further, you will run into sections of floor with different colors, and must use the directional-change chart above to navigate these floors past the statues. If you are pushed off, you will again have to climb back up from a lower floor, but it will put you at the start of the second puzzle, so that you do not have to redo the first puzzle again. Take your time and watch which row you're walking through, making sure it lines up correctly for each statue's requirement.

Once you reach the other side, take the stairs heading down. You'll find a path littered with corpses, and speaking to any of them will cause an angry spirit to manifest and attack you. Continue along the way to a furnished room with a lone corpse. Talk to the corpse and it will also attack you. When you win this fight, however, he will give you the Ancient Cutlass.

Leave the Cave of Trials and return to the old man in Runweld to hear more of his story; make sure you have all of the glass shards in your inventory when you do so, otherwise he won't continue past a certain point. One he discusses an island to the Old World, go outside and board your ship. Use the Ancient Cutlass and follow its lead; it will guide you to a dark patch of water, as seen here:

Note that this 'patch' is constantly moving and will never be in the same place twice, hence the need for the Ancient Cutlass to find it each time. Enter with your ship to be taken to the Shrouded Isle. Park your boat at the island's coast and go a short ways north to find a shrine, which hosts a portal at one end. Entering the portal will take you to a ruined library within a cave, which you will need to navigate to reach the other side. Be careful while traveling, if you fall off the edge (the black space) you will die instantly! You may need to prepare a bit for this cave, the monsters down here are considerably meaner than the ones prior, with a few of them having damaging spells that can hit your whole group at once.

Eventually you will come out the other side and find yourself in what used to be Alefgard, now know as "The Old World". From the shrine, head a short distance north to find a broken bridge. Inspect it, then return to the old man in Runweld. Talk to him a couple of times, and then head to D'Ankra. Head to the northwest part of the town, and talk to the man in the building as shown:

Speak with him a couple of times to find out that he is an architect, and to hear a story about a high-powered weapon and an ancient magic, then head north, into the castle, to see the king. Go up a few flights of stairs inside the castle to find the king, and speak with him. Afterward, speak to the chancellor (in the same room). Leave the 'town' section of D'Ankra and go out to the entrance where the pink-armored guards are stationed, then walk around the outside edge and north along the castle perimeter, all the way north. You'll find a house in the far back with a woman in it:

The woman is a shopkeeper, and you'll want to buy a shovel and some overalls from her. Leave D'Ankra and head to Hillock. Go north to the farmer standing guard over the farm entrance, and equip the overalls to be allowed past. What you need to do from here is dig up a total of 20 beans from the farm (which is very large), but there's an odd catch and way to go about it. Every square/rectangle of green veggies on the farm is considered one 'plot' of land, and on any squares within that plot, it is possible to dig up some beans. But once you dig them up, you'll find no more beans in that 'plot' and you'll need to move on to another one. To dig, equip your shovel and use it while atop a square of veggies. If you find beans, it will add them to your inventory, and if not, move to another square and try again. Unfortunately, you'll also have to deal with monsters jumping you from time to time. Scour the farm until you find 20 beans (it's going to take time and patience), and then head to Manarch.

At the entrance, hug the castle wall and go around the west side of the castle. Keep going north along the castle's edge until you see a staircase in the sand:

Enter the stairs and follow the path around until you come upon a balcony overlooking the throne room with a seedy-looking figure there. Talk to him a couple of times and he'll package the beans up for you to take back to the king of D'Ankra. Return to D'Ankra and speak to the king, then speak to the chancellor. Return to the Architect, but before you speak to him and have him join your party, read the following warning:

**Make sure you are the party leader when you talk to him, as he will join your party for for awhile and be required to properly be flagged for the questline as it proceeds. If you are not the party leader, but he joins you under the lead of someone else and you proceed to complete the next several steps, it will not flag you properly for completion and the Ball of Light questline will break at this point, as the old man in Runweld will no longer progress his dialogue to where it should be, to allow you to proceed. This will require Staff intervention or another player to help you proceed! You don't have to run this part of the quest solo, but if you talk to the Architect to get him to join your party in this step, make sure you are the leader to get proper quest credit!**

Return once more to the chancellor to get a release order for the Architect's family, and then return to the first floor of the castle. In the bottom right corner, find stairs leading down into the jail:

Speak to the jailer and he will release the Architect's family. From here, you'll need to find the Shrouded Isle again, using the Ancient Cutlass to pinpoint the location. Head through the cave and go to the Old World again, and inspect the broken bridge now that the Architect is with you. He'll fix it up on the spot, allowing you to cross!

Head north and eventually you'll find the ruined town of what used to be Rimuldar. Go inside (there is a Return/Wyvern Wing waypoint here, too!) and use a wyvern wing or the Return spell to go to Rimuldar, which will summon your boat to the moat surrounding the town. Board your boat and bring it around to the north side of the town, which will make you enter the town on your boat, along the channel surrounding its outer edge. Guide your boat through the water westward, then south, and east along the bottom until you find a chest:

Grab the book in the chest (just lore and story), but more importantly, go north through that gap in the wall to find another chest that was blocked off from the normal entrance into the town. You can't open it normally, but apparently the Architect used to be a thief at one point, because he pops the lock handily and finds exactly what he's been looking for inside. He learns what he needs from it and gives it to you. From there, head a little ways north to find a cave in a small swamp:

Enter the cave and head north, ending at a grated door that you don't have a key to open. There's also a chest behind a locked door that you don't have a key to open, either. Return to D'ankra at this point, and remove Agasi from your group. Leave the town and come back to get him to show back up at his house, then go and talk to him. He'll thank you for your help and disappear. Go and speak to the king, who will give you the Magic Key. This key is needed to open the door in the Swamp Cave with the chest behind it, which just-so-happens to contain the final glass shard!