Last Updated on Jun 27, 2023
Every guide I’ve found which tells one how to access the Ruin Depths in the Calm Lands is wrong! They all show some elaborate method for unlocking it which includes sending L5 birds 1, 2, and 3, then 2, 3, and 4, then 1, 3, and 4, then 1, 2, and 4, after sending 4 of each previous level out. And they always insist that you must send them ALL to the Calm Lands.
Here’s why it’s bullshit:
- You can send them anywhere you’d like.
- You need only send four of each level (maybe fewer, I haven’t tried fewer) – once the four L5s return, exit and reenter the ranch. Boom – the Depths are now open.
- Only Chocobos with max potential will work, so if your Chocobo can’t get to L5, it’s pointless to dispatch it, but don’t release it because it still helps to keep the runners from running away.
- You also only need to fight 7 battles between batches.
Notes about acquiring access to the ranch:
- If you don’t help Cassie catch a Chocobo and subsequently fight the Chocobo Eater in Mi’ihen Highroad in chapter 1 and talk to Clasko in Mushroom Rock Road in chapters 1 and 2, you won’t be able to access the Chocobo Ranch because he won’t be in Mi’ihen Highroad in chapter 3, so you can’t pick him up to take him to the Calm Lands.
- If you don’t pick him up from Mi’hen Highroad in chapter 3, you won’t be able to access the Chocobo Ranch.
- If you don’t take him to the Calm Lands in chapter 3, he’ll jump ship in chapter 5 and head for the Calm Lands himself, so as long as you get him on board, your set.
