This area is flush with side quests and unique monster types, and as such it makes a great place to gain a few levels. You will begin in the Plains of Eternity area, which funnels into the Nomad Camp area through a small path ahead. Walk up the steps and speak to an NPC named Tipur located by the waypoint marker to obtain a map of the area.

Speak to him again after obtaining the map to add the Goblin Fragment quest to your log. Jump down off of the cliff to follow the waypoint marker, which will lead you into battle with three Goblins, a Miniflan, and a Chocobo. Of these, the cute Chocobo is actually the biggest threat, as he has high attack power. Kill off the Chocobo first, then wipe out the weaker enemies with ease. You shouldn’t need to heal, so the Relentless Assault Paradigm is a safe bet here. You will receive a Chocobo crystal and the Goblin Fragment. After the battle, touch the red Cactuar statue in front of you to obtain the Crimson Crystal Fragment and transport yourself back to town. These red Cactuar statues are scattered all about The Archlyte Steppe, and act as teleporters to bring you back to town from the farthest reaches of the area. You won’t always receive a Fragment for using one, but they are very helpful when trying to track down the area’s numerous sidequests and monsters, which you will want to do here soon.

Return to the hut and speak to Tipur again. After he thanks you, head down the stairs and speak to Myta, who will give you another quest. She will ask that you collect three different types of wool from the sheep that roam the area. The three sheep that you need to examine won’t be hard to find, as they will be marked with speech bubbles. Instead of collecting their wool right away, however, you should opt to explore the area a bit more and cash in on some side quests.

You can seek out all of the Cactuar Waystones to obtain more Fragments and experience points. Doing so will also open up the ability to ride Chocobos on the map. You should have already activated one after the battle with the Goblins, so only four remain. Two are located in the Grave Ridge area in the far southern corner of the map. Before leaving the Nomad Camp, find the weather machine on top of the central building and flip both switches to the up position, changing the weather to cloudy. One of the Cactuar Waystones can only be found when it is cloudy outside. Now go to Grave Ridge. Use Moogle Hunt in the upper right hand corner of the area to find the first Waystone, which will give you an Azure Crystal. Head to the left side of the map and use Moogle Hunt again when you see an odd wind effect occurring to reveal the next Waystone, which will give you a Forest Crystal.

Use the first Waystone to teleport yourself back to the Nomad Camp area and change the weather to stormy by positioning the left arrow down and the right arrow up. Now proceed to the Clearwater Marshes area, which makes up the far left hand side of the map. In order to get there you will need to cross through the Stonestump Wastelands. There will be a large variety of new enemy types patrolling the area, so try to take the chance to capture a few for your Paradigm Pack.

Note that there will be a green Cactuar statue sitting in the middle of the Wastelands. You may have seen similar ones in Grave Ridge. DO NOT activate these yet. They may look like Waystones, but in fact are completely different. These green statues are Gigantuar Statues, and activating them will initiate a battle against a very powerful Gigantuar, the likes of which your party likely cannot defeat yet. You will make return visits to the Archlyte Steppe, so battle them then.

When you arrive in the Clearwater Marshes area, keep heading straight towards the edge of the map. You may pass by two Gigantuar Statues, but again, don’t bother activating them yet. The Waystones you are looking for are located towards the back end of the map, along the top and bottom edges. You will have to use Moogle Hunt to reveal both of them. The first will yield an Amber Crystal, while the second will provide you with a Violet Crystal. While you’re in Clearwater Marshes, make a pit stop at the cliff on the northwestern side of the map. Looking down below the cliff will reveal a ledge with a Wild Artefact on it. Use Moogle Throw to get it, and then use the Waystones to return to the Camp.

Now that you’ve done just about all you can do in The Archlyte Steppe, it’s time to wrangle some sheep. Head to the south of the village to find the sheep roaming in the plains. Each type of sheep that you need to catch will have a speech bubble over its head. When you attempt to get close, however, they will flee. Steer them towards walls, rocks, and other hard objects to cut the chase short, then tap X/A quickly to shear their wool when you’re close enough. Return to Myta to learn about the weather device, which you should have already messed with a little. Use the device to cause a heat wave by positioning both levers down. Speak to Tipur, and then return to the weather device again. A powerful enemy blocks your path to the waypoint. Instead of fighting the creature, you should simply change the weather and drive it away. Move the right lever up to switch the weather to stormy.

Now would be a good time to level up, as you are about to fight another boss. After entering the Crystarium, leave the Nomad Camp area and head into the Plains of Eternity area. You are looking for the Sanctorium area, which is the little boot sticking off of the Plains of Eternity on the southeastern end. Head there to initiate the battle against Faeryl.

Boss Battle: Faeryl

Faeryl is a powerful boss, and one who will not hesitate to unleash devastating attacks against your party. Use the Delta Attack Paradigm and control Serah. Faeryl is weak against Ice and Lightning attacks, but will absorb Fire and Wind; because of this, you should always choose your attacks manually and not allow the Auto-Battle function to take over, just in case. The Chain Gauge will fill slowly but surely. As  soon as it does, be ready to switch to the Relentless Assault Paradigm. Upon staggering Faeryl, use Relentless Assault to bring the boss’ health down swiftly.

You will receive a Black Hole Gem and 3,500 experience points for killing Faeryl. A treasure chest will also appear nearby, a reward for your performance in recent Live Trigger Events. Enter the Historia Crux and travel to Sunleth Waterscape.