Phoenix monster line

Offical art of Phoenix

The Phoenix, Fire Bird, and Wonder Bird are species of monsters found in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. These monsters, resembling birds flying very close to the ground, are palette-swapped variants of each other that have differing levels of power and defense and are fought in different locations in the game. This monster line is notable because all three of its members yield far more more experience points than any other monster that can be encountered in the wild.

Phoenix

A Phoenix is a variant with yellow plumage. Statistically, this monster has 281 HP, 80 PP, 344 Attack, 112 Defense, 243 Agility, and 31 Luck. It acts twice per turn, a very unusual and powerful trait for a monster that is not a boss. In terms of resistance, it has a Mars Resistance rating of 193, Venus and Jupiter Resistance ratings of 100 each, and a Mercury Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Mars-based attacks with a power rating of 125.

A Phoenix uses these battle commands:

• Regen Dance: Used 100 out of 256 times, this is a Monster Skill that fully revives another monster that was slain earlier in that battle. It visually resembles a series of holographic feathers coming out of the user.
• Fire Dance: Used 41 out of 256 times, this is a Monster Skill that resembles the user projecting a billowing plume of fire at a single target (the same visual as the Salamander Rod’s Unleash effect, but not the same damage output), inflicting a Mars-based attack equal to its normal physical attack multiplied by 1.3.
• Supernova: Used 35 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that generates a huge, extended explosion of fiery energy at the entire party, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 150 and a range of 7. It consumes 31 of its user's PP.
• Inferno: Used 29 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that causes a large group of fire balls to spread out from the user and strike the party, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 140 and a range of 5. It consumes 23 of its user's PP.
• Fiery Blast: Used 23 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that creates a moderately large explosion, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 110 and a range of 5. It consumes 19 of its user's PP.
• Flee: Used 17 out of 256 times, this enemy has the ability to attempt to Flee the battle, thereby removing it from the battle if successful, but your party is not able to defeat it properly for gaining any EXP and coin rewards.
• Attack: Used 11 out of 256 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.

Felling a Phoenix yields 3,750 EXP and 286 coins, and there is a 1/64 chance that the monster will randomly drop a Water of Life. If felled by the effect of an offensive Mercury Djinni, its rewards increase to 4,875 EXP and 286 Coins, and the chance it will randomly drop its item becomes 1/16. In The Lost Age, Phoenix is battled in Magma Rock.

With the highest Agility rating of the monsters in the Northern Reaches and Magma Rock, two actions per turn, an array of widely damaging area-of-effect Mars Psynergy, and a tendency to revive another monster on its side of the field to full health, the Phoenix is the most formidable random monster at Magma Rock. It is even more dangerous if it is fought in the Northern Reaches area as soon as you arrive in the Great Western Sea. There, the Phoenix could be a real threat to your 4-member party, but its very high EXP rating means that some players might want to fight it to level up.

Fire Bird

A Fire Bird is a variant with violet plumage. Statistically, this monster has 303 HP, 98 PP, 376 Attack, 124 Defense, 259 Agility, and 32 Luck. It acts twice per turn, a very unusual and powerful trait for a monster that is not a boss. In terms of resistance, it has a Mars Resistance rating of 193, Venus and Jupiter Resistance ratings of 100 each, and a Mercury Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Mars-based attacks with a power rating of 125.

A Fire Bird uses these battle commands:

• Regen Dance: Used 100 out of 256 times, this is a Monster Skill that fully revives another monster that was slain earlier in that battle. It visually resembles a series of holographic feathers coming out of the user.
• Fire Dance: Used 41 out of 256 times, this is a Monster Skill that resembles the user projecting a billowing plume of fire at a single target, inflicting a Mars-based attack equal to its normal physical attack multiplied by 1.3.
• Searing Beam: Used 35 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell where the user shoots out a large laser-like beam of fire, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 170 and a range of 7. It consumes 36 of its user's PP.
• Supernova: Used 29 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that generates a huge, extended explosion of fiery energy at the entire party, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 150 and a range of 7. It consumes 31 of its user's PP.
• Inferno: Used 23 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that causes a large group of fire balls to spread out from the user and strike the party, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 140 and a range of 5. It consumes 23 of its user's PP.
• Flee: Used 17 out of 256 times, this enemy has the ability to attempt to Flee the battle, thereby removing it from the battle if successful, but your party is not able to defeat it properly for gaining any EXP and coin rewards.
• Attack: Used 11 out of 256 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.

Felling a Fire Bird yields 5,838 EXP and 304 coins, and there is a 1/64 chance that the monster will randomly drop a Water of Life. If felled with the effect of an offensive Mercury Djinni, its rewards increase to 7,589 EXP and 395 Coins, and the chance it will randomly drop its item becomes 1/16. Fire Birds are battled in the later portions of Mars Lighthouse.

The Fire Bird is more or less an incremental improvement over the Phoenix, including in EXP, which it yields at least 2,000 more of than the Phoenix. As a random monster in Mars Lighthouse, it can easily be considered the most damage-dealing of the monsters even though the Aka Manah has the most durability and the highest physical attack rating. The Fire Bird also has the the highest Agility rating of the monsters in Mars Lighthouse. A player that does not bother with optional dungeons will likely view the Fire Bird as the most damaging, yet most rewarding monster to battle. However, it is not as dangerous or rewarding as the Wonder Bird.

Wonder Bird

A Wonder Bird is a variant with turquoise plumage. Statistically, this monster has 424 HP, 102 PP, 510 Attack, 190 Defense, 285 Agility, and 34 Luck. It acts 3 times per turn, making it the only monster in the game that is not a boss to do so, and this makes it a very fearsome opponent. In terms of resistance, it has a Mars Resistance rating of 193, Venus and Jupiter Resistance ratings of 100 each, and a Mercury Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Mars-based attacks with a power rating of 125.

A Wonder Bird uses the following battle commands:

• Regen Dance:Used 100 out of 256 times, this is a Monster Skill that fully revives another monster that was slain earlier in that battle. It visually resembles a series of holographic feathers coming out of the user.
• Fire Dance: Used 41 out of 256 times, this is a Monster Skill that resembles the user projecting a billowing plume of fire at at a single target, inflicting a Mars-based attack equal to its normal physical attack multiplied by 1.3.
• Pyroclasm: Used 35 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that causes four fiery pillars explode through the party, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 180 and a range of 5. It consumes 29 of its user's PP.
• Searing Beam: Used 29 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell where the user shoots out a large laser-like beam of fire, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 170 and a range of 7. It consumes 36 of its user's PP.
• Supernova: Used 23 out of 256 times, this is a Psynergy spell that generates a huge, extended explosion of fiery energy at the entire party, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 150 and a range of 7. It consumes 31 of its user's PP.
• Flee: Used 17 out of 256 times, this enemy has the ability to attempt to Flee the battle, thereby removing it from the battle if successful, but your party is not able to defeat it properly for gaining any EXP and coin rewards.
• Attack: Used 11 out of 256 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.

Felling a Wonder Bird rewards you with an astounding 8,622 EXP and 333 coins, and there is a 1/128 chance that the monster will randomly drop a piece of Dark Matter, making it the only infinite source of this forgeable material in the game. If felled with the effect of an offensive Mercury Djinni, its rewards increase to 11,208 EXP and 432 Coins, and the chance it will randomly drop its item becomes 1/32. Wonder Birds are battled in Islet Cave, in the linear area accessible only by using the Teleport Psynergy found near the end of the game at Mars Lighthouse.

With three separate attacks per turn, this enemy is a much stronger version of the already powerful Fire Bird and can constitute a legitimate danger to the party, depending on what level the party is. But as its EXP rating should indicate, it is also the most desirable random monster in the game to seek out and slay. Some players will spend hours in Islet Cave engaging in repeated battles with Wonder Birds in order to level up quickly, and, at the same time, collect extra pieces of Dark Matter. If two Wonder Birds battle your party at the same time, felling one Wonder Bird may cause the other to use Regen Dance and revive it, whereupon it can be killed again for more experience. Felling a Wonder Bird three times can yield upwards of 25000 experience; so long as the Wonder Birds do not flee, massive amounts of experience can be generated using this method. Of course, the fact that the Wonder Bird can flee and deny you your experience can occasionally be frustrating. If a link transfer or gold password data transfer is used to transfer items from Golden Sun to Golden Sun: Lost Age, many players will use the Lure Cap from Golden Sun in hopes of encountering more Wonder Birds.

Category:Monsters that drop rare items

Cultural References

Phoenix

Origin: Egypt, Greece

The phoenix in Egyptian and Greek mythology was a sacred bird. It was said to live for 500 or 1461 years, depending on the author. At the end of its life, it builds a nest made from sticks of cinnamon, frankincense and other spices on the highest palm tree in the city of Heliopolis and then ignites it. The bird and the nest are soon reduced to ashes and a new-born phoenix arises from the ashes.

Fire Bird

Origin: India, Egypt, Greece, Russia, and Persia

There are several types of fire birds in mythology, but the most noted ones are the Garuda (India), Bennu (Egypt), Phoenix (Greece and Egypt), Zhar-Ptitsa (Russia), and the Huma (Persia). It can also be considered an allusion to the Firebird Suite, a musical composition by the great composer Stravinsky.