Tephra Cave

The future doesn't belong to you! For those who have not completed games in the Xenoblade Chronicles series, this page contains spoilers regarding the plot. Discretion is advised.

Tephra Cave
Tephra Cave
Information
Type	Area
Located	Inside Bionis' right leg
Connects to	Colony 9, Bionis' Leg
Music	Tephra Cave

The Tephra Cave (Japanese: テフラ洞窟, Tefura dōkutsu; English dub: /ˈtɛfrə/) is a large, cavernous area in Xenoblade Chronicles. The cave is located inside the Bionis' right leg spanning from the right calf to its kneecap. It must be navigated at least twice throughout the game, once to reach the Cylinder Hangar and once to reach Bionis' Leg. It is first reached via Tephra Cave Entrance at Colony 9. Tephra Cave is the first area where Ether Crystals can be mined.

Story

This cave network is the main path from Colony 9 to Colony 6 and the rest of Bionis. A permanent squad of the Defence Force is within the complex. Another path links the cave with the Cylinder Hangar which rests above Colony 9.

Reyn has been tasked with gathering Cylinders to operate a Mobile Artillery that has crashed into a house in the Residential District of Colony 9. The actual Cylinder Hangar appears to be part of a larger ship, which Shulk theorizes was made by Homs.

After the Mechon assault on Colony 9, a previously sealed door has now been unsealed. Shulk and Reyn use this new path to reach Colony 6. While in the cave, they reach some dead travelers. They decide to allow them to "return to the Bionis", leaving the corpse in a body of water. After this, they decide to rest, while they comment on the lack of travelers on the caves. After Shulk wakes up, he catches up with Reyn, and they are attacked by a group of spiders, which take Reyn hostage. Shulk tries to catch up with him, scared because of a vision he saw with Reyn being killed by a big spider. After a long chase, he manages to catch up with Reyn just before he is killed by the spider. In an act of desperation, Shulk manages to unlock Monado Shield and saves Reyn. Together they manage to kill the beast and safely exit the caves, but not before theorizing that the spider was the reason why nobody from Colony 6 had reached Colony 9 for a while.

After the events in Mechonis Core, a new area of Tephra Cave opens up, which contains enemies of level 90 and up. The new path can be found at Vilia Lake, where there were previously rocks blocking the path. The new area also contains a Giant ruin.

Landmarks and Locations

Landmarks

Map of Tephra Cave Ground Floor and First Floor

Landmarks GF

• Tephra Path
• Mag Mell Ruins
• Rear Entrance
• Spring of Grief

Landmarks 1F

• Vilia Lake
• Bafalgar Tomb (Secret Area)

Landmarks 2F

• Heavenly Window (Secret Area)

Landmarks 3F

• Leg Pass

Locations

Map of Tephra Cave Second and Third Floors

Locations GF

• Caterpile Nest
• Escape Pod Bay
• Warehouse 2
• Tephra Cavern
• Hidden Warehouse
• Forgotten Cave

Locations 1F

• Emergency Warehouse
• Soothsayer's Crypt
• Prayer Room
• Bone Corridor

Locations 2F

• Trader's Stopover
• Arachno Feeding Lair
• Arachno Queen's Nest
• Kneecap Hill
• Path of Absolution

Point of Interest

• Sacrificial Altar

Mining

1. Near Spring of Grief [Ice]
   • Ether Def Up I
   • Chill Attack I
2. NE of Vilia Lake [Earth]
   • Muscle Up V
   • Attack Stability V
3. S of Vilia Lake [Water]
   • HP Up I
   • Poison Defence I
4. In the Forgotten Cave [Earth]
   • Poison Attack V
   • Poison Plus V
   • Divine Protect V
   • Bleed Defence V
5. NW-most deposit on 2F, no nearby locations or landmarks [Fire]
   • Blaze Plus V
   • Slow Resist V
6. Near the Heavenly Window [Fire]
   • Strength Up V
   • Bind Resist V
   • Initial Tension V
   • Revival HP Up V

Enemies

Normal Minor Enemies

• Air Vang
• Arachno Pod (normal)
• Arm Bunnit
• Cave Skeeter
• Clap Bunniv
• Cute Caterpile
• Desert Krabble
• Director Arachno (normal)
• Eater Caterpile
• Iron Bunniv
• Jewel Krabble
• Medium Skeeter
• Mell Lizard
• Night Wisp
• Noble Brog
• Officer Arachno
• Plane Bunnit
• Prom Skeeter
• Singing Brog
• Tephra Lizard
• Weather Flier
• Willow Bunniv
• Wind Vang
• Worker Arachno (normal)

Post Mechonis Core:

• Brabilam Vang
• Dorsiar Lizard
• Falsel Bunniv
• Fascia Bunniv
• Femuny Wisp
• Hanz Pod
• Jada Arachno
• Jadals Arachno
• Panasowa Arachno
• Rhoen Quadwing
• Sonicia Gogol
• Vilae Arachno
• Young Brog

Quest Exclusive Enemies

• Devoted Arachno
• Dim Wisp
• Greedy Arachno
• Lurker Brog
• Lurker Krabble
• Resolute Arachno
• Zealous Arachno

Post Mechonis Core:

• Satisfied Gogol

Story Exclusive Enemies

• Arachno Pod (story)
• Captain Arachno
• Director Arachno (story)
• Soldier Arachno
• Worker Arachno (story)

Unique Monsters

• Cellar Bugworm
• Gluttonous Eugen
• Mining Patrichev
• Solid Konev
• Wallslide Gwynry

Post Mechonis Core:

• Erratic Goliante
• Judicious Bunnitzol
• Musical Vanflare
• Plump Sprahda
• Protective Torquidon
• Reckless Galdon

Quest Exclusive Unique Monsters

Post Mechonis Core:

• Dazzling Tolosnia
• Firework Geldesia
• Reckless Zanden

Boss

• Arachno Queen

Heart-to-hearts

• "The Legend of the Spider"
  • Shulk and Reyn - Cloudy Affinity
• "A Scene Revisited"
  • Reyn and Fiora - Heart affinity
• "Glowing in the Night"
  • Dunban and Riki - Cloudy Affinity

Collectopaedia

Main article: Tephra Cave Collection

Quests

Main article: Tephra Cave Quests

Etymology

Tephra (from the Ancient Greek τέφρα, téphra, meaning "ash") is a term used in geology for the fragments of material thrown into the air by a volcano in eruption that settles on the surrounding areas (also knowm as pyroclasts).

Trivia

• In the area of the buried crashed ship with a straight hallway, two unlocked doors and one locked door along the side, there is a glitch that can be exploited as soon as the party reaches Tephra Cave, which allows Shulk to push either Reyn or Fiora against the right corner of the locked door, and then try to wedge between the door and the party member. If executed correctly, it is possible to clip through the door, reaching areas like Vilia Lake that shouldn't be accessible under after the attack on Colony 9. At the time, this entire area is clear of monsters, which won't appear until after the attack on Colony 9. However, the Bionis' Leg cannot be reached without first defeating the Arachno Queen, which will not appear until the proper sequence of story events reach this location. The glitch is documented on YouTube, and can be exploited both in the Wii version of the game and in unpatched versions of the New 3DS version of the game.
• There is a sequence break available very early in the game that allows the party to cross the foot barrier between the ledge above Vilia Lake and the Path of Absolution. If used in combination with the aforementioned door glitch, this sequence break is even accessible before the attack on Colony 9, and the same YouTube video documents both exploits. This particular exploit involves climbing up the vines to the ledge above Vilia Lake and then provoking a Cave Skeeter below into a battle. One character needs to be pushed off the ledge after the battle begins and is allowed to be defeated by the Skeeter, then the Skeeter is allowed to fly up to the ledge and defeat the other non-controlled party member (if the party has three members), before focusing its attack on the party's lead character. At this time, this surviving party member must flee the battle with the Skeeter still in pursuit and draw the Skeeter towards the barrier before the Path of Absolution. This party member then has to attempt to jump up the barrier at the exact same time the Skeeter attacks, and if the character also auto-blocks at the same time, the impact can knock them up onto the higher platform where they have full access to the Path of Absolution. From there, the party has unobstructed access to large areas of Tephra Cave that should only be accessible after the Mechonis Core event, and reaching the Heavenly Window and Bafalgar's Tomb grant huge experience payouts that can instantly advance an early game party by dozens of levels. The exploit itself is made easier if Reyn is in the lead, if the party at least level 8 (but not high enough for one of the party members to easily defeat the Skeeter), and if all party members except Reyn have had their armour removed. Since the areas beyond the Path of Absolution should not be reachable early in the game, these locations are also clear of all monsters until after the Mechonis Core event, and it is then possible to fast-travel to Heavenly Window or Bafalgar's Tomb, gather Collectables, and mine nearby Rare Ether Crystals at the player's leisure.

Gallery

Map of Tephra Cave

Mining Spots in Tephra Cave 1

Mining Spots in Tephra Cave 2