Archylte Steppe (Final Fantasy XIII-2)

Archylte Steppe is a vast grassland in the world of Gran Pulse. In Final Fantasy XIII-2 it is visited in an unknown time period, and is inhabited by a village of hunters who have a weather-controlling device. There are thus four "versions" of the steppe, as the enemies fought are different depending on the weather. There is no sign of Cocoon on the horizon.

Though the Archylte Steppe appeared in Final Fantasy XIII, none of the area is reused for Final Fantasy XIII-2, and it is thus effectively a different area.

Datalog
''The Archylte Steppe is a broad plain located in a remote corner of Pulse. The few explorers who reach the steppe return with reports of a tribe of fiercely independent nomadic hunters who have lived off the land here for centuries, cut off from the rest of human civilization.''
 * Travel Guide: Archylte Steppe
 * Area Information

The actual location has not been made public, but tourists with a bent for adventure might consider renting an airship and putting together their own expedition.

''Some believe that the hunters are descendants of the original inhabitants of Pulse, while others claim they are a lost tribe of Cocoon. If you could get close enough to win their trust, they might tell you their story.''
 * From the Editor's Desk:

Story
Serah, Mog, and Noel travel here to fix an anomaly affecting the Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF, and find themselves in a sandstorm-filled field. They come across a hunters' settlement that has a weather-changing device.

After earning the hunters' trust, by defeating a pack of Goblins and retrieving wool, they are taught how to use the weather machine. They uncover the Faeryl, a monster sucking up Miniflan. The path to the Faeryl is blocked by a Long Gui, but Serah and Noel use the device again to remove it, as it doesn't like thunder. They fight the Faeryl, and upon defeating it discover that it accidentally ate an artefact, which meant whatever Miniflan it would swallow would be transported to the Sunleth Waterscape. With artefact in hand and the paradox seemingly solved, the two return to the Sunleth Waterscape.

Component farming
There are several notable "farming" locations for the components needed to level up the Paradigm Pack monsters.

In the areas of Stonestump Wastelands and Grave Ridge (Sunny), there are plentiful Buccaboo Aces that drop the Grade 3 biological monster component Potent Orb.

In Clearwater Marsh (Rainy), the player can encounter Hedge Frogs, Mud Frogs, Swampmonks, and Caterchipillars, all of which drop Potent Essence, a Grade 4 biological monster component.

In Clearwater Marsh (Sunny), the Microchu spawns in mass numbers, allowing the player to collect many Potent Crystals, as well as the rare item component Sunpetal, making this the best location for farming Grade 5 biological monster components. It is also reasonably frequent during the rainy season, allowing the player to collect a number of Potent Crystals at the same time as collecting Potent Essences.

The Vampire Cie'th on Grave Ridge, Stonestump Wastelands, and the Clearwater Marsh (Stormy), offer a 20% chance of dropping Potent Generators, making them the only realistically farmable choice for this Grade 5 mechanical monster component.

Weather
There is a weather-controlling device in the hunters' settlement the player can use after doing an errand for the hunters. Archylte Steppe weather controls:


 * Cloudy = Up + Up
 * Rainy = Up + Down
 * Stormy = Down + Up
 * Sunny = Down + Down

The player can use the golden cactuar waypoint that appears as a tornado on windy weather to teleport the party to the west side of Archylte Steppe. Sheep are found roaming the plains in cloudy weather. Stormy weather makes only Cie'th to appear on the plains.

See the Enemies section for what enemies spawn in each weather.

The three Gigantuars
To unlock the Time Gate covered with chaos found on the steppe, the player must defeat three Gigantuars. These are the cactuar statues found in the Archylte Steppe. One is found on the Stonestump Wasteland in any weather. There is another in Clearwater Marshes (northeast) behind a rock. It needs to be uncovered with Moogle Hunt in sunny weather. A third statue is found in Clearwater Marshes (Central) that needs to be uncovered with Moogle Hunt in rainy weather.

Areas
In the northeastern side of the Steppe there is a nomad village where hunters live and possess a device that can change weather on the steppe.


 * Plains of Eternity
 * Sanctorium
 * Nomad Camp
 * Grave Ridge
 * Stonestump Wastelands
 * Clearwater Marshes

Enemies
The appearance of enemies depends on the area's weather. Defeating the Ochu during rainy weather, Long Gui during sunny weather, Immortal during cloudy weather, and Yomi during stormy weather, earns the player the "Big Game Hunter" achievement/trophy.

Weather can be changed by moving the levers on the weather machine in the hunter's camp.

* The required action that causes a boss to reappear on the Steppe is to return to the Nomad Camp, shift the weather away from the desired boss, exit to the Historia Crux, reenter, and shift the weather back to the favorable condition for the boss's appearance.

Musical themes
The Archylte Steppe has multiple themes, with each playing depending on the type of weather. During sunny weather, the two electronic themes "Plains of Eternity" composed by Naoshi Mizuta and with vocals performed by Joelle, serves as the background theme, while its non-lyrical counterpart, "Plains of Eternity -Aggressive Mix-" plays whenever enemies appear. For rainy weather, the "Gapra Whitewood" theme plays. During cloudy weather, the "Vile Peaks" theme plays, and for stormy weather, "Will to Fight" is the background theme.


 * Lyrics
 * Our prayers meet no matter where we're going
 * In unison, they beat, the sky is glowing
 * Above our thoughts, we'll find a key together
 * To fill the day with all the things we treasure


 * A crystal view, I'll follow you
 * An open gate invites me through


 * Our prayers meet no matter where we're going
 * In unison, they sing with love
 * Above our thoughts, we'll find a key together
 * To fill the day with all the things we treasure
 * All we treasure


 * A crystal view, I sing to you
 * And in my sleep, you softly speak
 * In stormy seas, or sunny blue
 * I'll remember to trust in you

Creation and development
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega has a concept art that depicts the capital of Cocoon, Eden, crashed to Archylte Steppe after the events of Final Fantasy XIII. This idea was never used. Other concept artworks depict Archylte Steppe in 900 AF covered in a vast city with a building reminiscent of the government building in Eden in Final Fantasy XIII. This area would have had two versions: daytime and sunset.

There were also plans to have a downloadable scenario to take place in the Archylte Steppe where Snow would have ridden his Shiva Sisters motorbike across the steppe, killing monsters, but this idea was abandoned.