Xichra's Lair

This is the final level and the final boss that you'll face in Ferazel's Wand. It's been a long and interesting journey which you spelunked through giant caves, swam in a fast-moving river, fluttered like a leaf in a gale-force wind, braved hypothermia in icy caves and then dared third-degree burns with a chasing fire wall. Now you must face the boss of all of the Manditraki, the creatures who pillaged your home and hurt or even killed your fellow Habnabits. Do not let your heart quiver with sadness or your hands be heavy with fear, but read this guide for assistance on how to kill Queen Xichra, queen of the Manditraki.

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Before you make your way to Queen Xichra, you'll have to do some stocking of your supplies first or you'll never survive the encounter. Get as many health and magic potions as you can and make your way to the River of Fears and back to where you first met Nimbo. If you don't remember (it was a long time ago) just swim to the left and go in the last door before the exit. First you'll see Dimbo in Picture 1, which you'll remember saving from The Labyrinth. Go to the right of this room and you'll meet Nimbo. He will be so grateful to you for saving his brother that he'll give you a full supply of Fire Seeds and Ziridium Seeds. You will need both of these in the battle ahead. Now, instead of having to get the seeds every time Queen Xichra kills you, go to a level where you kept a Save Point. I went to the Goblin Chief level since there is a Ziridium Brine pool at the entrance and I didn't use that Save Point. Before you face Queen Xichra, switch to the Ice Wall spell because you're going to need that in the first few seconds of facing Queen Xichra.

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You must have interrupted Queen Xichra during her daily flying lessons in Picture 4 because she immediately sends out two Purple Goblins to politely escort you out of her chamber. You see the remains of them in Picture 5. By showing them the business end of your wand, Queen Xichra becomes a bit impressed with your abilities. I don't know about you, but I didn't like it when she called me her friend in Picture 6. She then shows you a few tricks of her own. She starts out with sending boulders from the sky in Picture 7. They are relatively easy to avoid as they are not close to each other and follow a regular pattern. She also sends Fireballs at you which are tough to dodge since they are close to each other and often come at you from the side.

Queen Xichra hovers overhead and there doesn't seem to be any spell that works against her. This is where your ample supply of Fire and Ziridium Seeds come in handy. Just get on the ledge to the right or left of the Dragon Cannon and put a Fire Seed in them when Queen Xichra is on the screen so that she gets hit. After a few hits, Queen Xichra becomes even more serious about escorting you out of her chamber.

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Every few moments, a ton of arrows fly out of both sides of the screen as you see in Picture 8. If you are good with using your shield, you can use it to deflect most of the arrows. The arrows fly from both the left and right so if you're blocking to the right, there will be arrows from the left that you can't turn around and block in time. Still, if you can deflect some of the arrows you'll be in better shape then if you couldn't. Later on you'll also face red spiked balls that fall on your head as in Picture 9. They are a lot tougher to avoid since they fall faster and there is less of a gap between them. It's possible but it's pretty tricky.

So what do you do to hurt Queen Xichra who is still fluttering like a butterfly and stinging like a bee (sorry for these puns but in this case it's appropriate)? By this time the Dragon Cannons are rotating but you still have need of them. Get on the platform and when the Dragon Cannon is pointing to the southwest (for the left Dragon Cannon) or to the southeast (for the right Dragon Cannon) and Queen Xichra is in the aim of the Dragon Cannon (you'll soon find what this is), hold the up button and toss a Fire Seed into the Dragon Cannon. After just a few hits, Queen Xichra will fall to the ground as she is in Picture 10. This was the best screenshot I could take at the time, but ideally you want to be as close to Queen Xichra as possible. You then quickly switch to the VBlade and fire as many times as you can. You have just a second to hit her or else she gets airborne with no damage. It seemed to me that if I managed to hit her when she was on the ground, she'd stay on the ground for a longer time which enabled me to fire 4 or 5 VBlades before she started flying again. How many times you need to do this depends on how many times you can hit her with a spell before she starts flying again. You can tell when you're close by the background changing color and Queen Xichra also starts flashing. You then find out a shocking piece of information but she gets back up and starts flying around frantically.

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At this point, the Dragon Cannons are spinning faster and Queen Xichra is flying around faster so this is the perfect time to use all of your Rings of Smiting that you've been saving. When you can see the entire Queen Xichra, use one Ring of Smiting and if she stays in the screen, use another one. If Queen Xichra flies off the screen, the Ring of Smiting won't work so it's better to wait a second than wasting a Ring of Smiting. You probably won't run out of them since I just used a few (I think 4) before Queen Xichra fell to the ground for good in Picture 12. Notice how dark the background has become by this time.

Now you're treated to the conclusion of this epic story by the next three storyboards. First, the defeated Queen Xichra and then the triumphant Ferazel and finally the somewhat open-ended ending to Ferazel's Wand. Will there be a sequel? Many fans hope that one is in the works but no one knows and if they do, they aren't telling. I for one hope that a sequel will be released so that more of the story can be told and because I had a great time playing.

Defeating Queen Xichra is very tricky and you'll undoubtedly use all of your Health Potions and Resurrection Necklaces in your battle. If you're feeling frustrated because you just can't seem to defeat her, there is a bug that you can exploit. Get on the left ledge and jump over the left Dragon Cannon, hold left and you will run in place. Jump up and continue running to the left until you make it to a hidden ledge. You're safe from all of the falling objects (boulders and red spiked balls) and the flying arrows. You will also be safe from most of Queen Xichra's Fireballs and the ones that can hit you, can be easily deflected with your Magic Shield. With the right timing, you can jump and toss your Fire Seeds or Ziridium Seeds at Queen Xichra, fire at her with the spell of your choosing, and then get back on the hidden ledge to remain relatively safe from harm. Remember that this is a bug and the wall was not meant to be used in this way, only to prevent you from leaving the level. It is possible to kill Queen Xichra without using this bug, but it's quite a bit more difficult. Good luck either way!