Masters Locations & Walkthrough
Throughout Breath of Fire III you'll find unique NPCs which call themselves Masters. Masters will teach your characters different abilities that you can use Skill Inks on to transfer between characters as well as change what stats increase and decrease when someone levels up. You can use Skill Inks by making a Campfire with your team and inspecting the book.
Most of the Masters in BoF 3 require you to complete a minor task before they'll teach you anything; this guide will talk about any requirements in detail along with where each Master is found. In addition to that, each Master has information about the stat changes on each level up and the skills they teach you.
For those of you who don't feel like spending the time thinking about which Masters are the best and why, I have included a quick list for you below this paragraph. This'll tell you which character you should apprentice to whom and why.
Ryu: Bunyan when he is a child; Giotto as an adult. The AP boost from Giotto is huuuuge for Dragon Form.
Rei: D'lonzo throughout a majority of the game, Hachio or Ladon later to learn the abilities.
Nina: Mygas for the first part of the game when you're a kid until she learns the abilities. Fahl for a few levels to build Defense and Ladon later in the game for Aura or Emitai for Stats.
Momo: I recommend you Apprentice Momo under Deis and/or Emitai that way she can learn some attack abilities. Also, under Fahl for a few levels to raise her Defense.
Peco: Yggdrasil for the first part of the game; Hondara after you get Peco back or Durandal.
Garr: Bunyan for the entire game. Maybe I would have switched him to someone else if I wanted to teach him some skills.
That's what I did for my Breath of Fire III playthrough as far as Masters go! Don't forget that you don't need apprentice the character you want to learn abilities on under the Master that teaches them. Skill Inks are very useful for the Master system since they let you exchange skills between characters quite easily. The character's you have in your team frequently you'll want to look for Masters that give good stat changes with each level up. Don't apprentice them to a Master that has terrible stat changes for too long or you'll gimp them.
It's also important to keep in mind that while there are Masters that teach you damage dealing abilities - NONE - of them teach you healing abilities. That leaves Momo as the only person in your party who can heal. Hint hint, if you're spoting Momo as a main member of your party it might be important teaching her damage dealing abilities too!
Mygas - Wizard Master
Requirements: After you defeat the Nue Mydas will appear in the Yraall Region. In order to Apprentice under him you'll need to give him all of your Zenny, even if you have just 1 Zenny he'll accept you... So try to spend as much money as you can before you talk to him!
I recommend that you apprentice Nina under Mygas when you're a kid to learn all of his spells. Keep Nina under him for the stat changes too until Deis becomes available. When Nina isn't using Mygas, Momo is a good alternative.
Stat Changes
AP +1
Intelligence +2
Power -1
Defense -1
Teaches Skills
(Levels under tutelage needed) <Name of Skill> - What the Skill does
(1 Level) Frost - Attacks 1 target with Frost Damage
(4 Levels) Meditation - Raises Int when used x2
(6 Levels) Magic Ball - Attacks using a solid ball of Magic
(8 Levels) Typhoon - Wind attack against all targets
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Bunyan - Fighter Master
Requirements: After Rei, Teepo and Ryu are split up and it's just Ryu speak with Bunyan and he'll Apprentice you - not other requirements.
I recommend that you apprentice Ryu under Bunyan for the first part of the game. He'll benefit a lot from the bonuses that Bunyan gives. After Garr joins your party and you learn all of Bunyan's skills for Ryu, I recommend that you put Garr under Bunyans tutelage forever. Garr has a low amount of AP anyway and Intelligence, he benefits greatly from Bunyan's stat increases.
Stat Changes
HP +2
Power +2
Defense +1
AP -2
Intelligence -3
Teaches Skills
(2 Levels) Risky Blow - Crits if the enemy is hit
(5 Levels) Focus - Raises Pwr Stat when used x2
(8 Levels) Super Combo - Press the buttons as they appear on the screen to do more damage; Attacks 1 target
(10 Levels) Disembowel - Fatal Blow; Decreases Max HP
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D'lonzo - Catburglar/Thief Master
Requirements: You must have 15 different types of weapons in your inventory for D'lonzo to accept you as an Apprentice.
I put Rei under D'lonzo's tutelage for the majority of the game. Her bonuses to Agility and Power help Rei out the most. The only other person I would teach under this master would by Ryu, but that would only be temporarily to boost his Agility. It's also recommended you use a Skill Ink and give Steal to someone else other than Rei since he has Pilfer.
Stat Changes
Power +1
Agility +1
HP -1
AP -2
Accuracy Increase ???
Teaches Skills
(2 Levels) Monopolize - Steals all EXP
(3 Levels) Intimidate - Cancels one targets movement
(4 Levels) Steal - Steals an item from the enemy
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Yggdrasil - Tree of Life Master
Requirements: You can only talk to this tree by using the character Peco.
I put Peco under Yggdrasil until Ryu grew up and recruited everyone back to the team. I only recommend Yggdrassil long enough to learn all of the skills he has available, his Shield skill I recommend using Skill Inks on and putting it on a character you use in your main party. Having a skill that boosts everyones Defense is extremely useful and not many characters get one.
Stat Changes
Ap +1
Defense +1
Intelligence +2
HP -1
Power -2
weak vs flame
Teaches Skills
(2 Levels) Sanctuary - Dispells all Support Magic
(5 Levels) Recall - Casts a random Magic Spell
(8 Levels) Shield - Raises all targets Defense
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Fahl - Defender Master
Requirements: Complete the 'Contest of Champions' story plot line. Also, win 30 battles in a row and he'll accept you as an Apprentice.
In the first part of the game, I put Nina under Fahl's tutelage to boost her defensive capabilities. After Nina I put Momo under his tutelage; each of them spend no more than 8 levels under Fahl - just long enough to really boost their Defense but not so long that the negative Intelligence hurts them.
Stat Changes
Hp +4
Power +1
Defense +3
Agility -3
Intelligence -3
Teaches Skills
(2 Levels) Charge - Deals damage that's altered by your defense stat
(4 Levels) Counter - Automatically counter attack when using
(6 Levels) Resist - Invulnerability for a single turn
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Durandal - Cowardly Master
Requirements: None, just speak with him to be Apprenticed.
Durandal is actually a decent Master for the first part of the game when one of your character's is without a Master and there aren't any available which look fitting for him/her. If you're a perfectionist you probably won't want to use him since he does have random stat changes, in that case I would recommend sticking him on a character you don't care about (like Peco) to learn his skills which will unlock Hondara.
Stat Changes
The stat changes for this Master are completely random.
???? +1
???? -1
Teaches Skills
(1 Level) Unmotivate - Target loses will to fight
(2 Levels) Feign Swing - Take a practice swing
(3 Levels) Backhand - Attack one target; non-lethal
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Giotto - Fisherman Master
Requirements: You need to catch enough Fish in the Fishing side quest to become a Rodmaster. You only increase your points by catching new fish; if you catch a Bass that's 25cm and one that's 23cm the 23cm won't raise your total points. In order to raise your rank quickly I recommend you fish at each of the different locations long enough to catch most of the unique fish there. Just doing this will get you Rodmaster.
I honestly believe this is the best master for Ryu for arguably almost the entire game. The only way I would recommend switching masters is if you really want to raise Ryu's stats towards the end of the game. Giotto's HP and AP boosts allow Ryu to stay in Dragon form for 2 - 3x longer than he would without him as a Master.
Stat Changes
HP +4
AP +3
Power -1
Defense -1
Agility -1
Intelligence -2
Teaches Skills
(2 Levels) Trump - Usable at 0AP; casts random spell
(5 Levels) Berserk - Raises Power for 3 turns then you die
(8 Levels) SuddenDeath - Casts Death on a random target
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Hondara - Priest Master
Requirements: In order to train at Hondara you'll first need to learn all of the skills from Durandal. Once you do that, Hondara will be willing to teach you.
I trained Peco under Hondara after learning all the skills on him at Yggdrasil. It doesn't really matter what character you train under Hondara, although i would recommend it be one of your least important characters. His stat bonuses aren't too good. Only his skill Benediction is worth the time at this Master.
Stat Changes
Ap +1
Intelligence +1
Power -2
Holy UP
Teaches Skills
(2 Levels) Purify - Cures Poison
(5 Levels) Kyrie - Destroys Undead (Includes some bosses)
(8 Levels) Benediction - Restores all dead members
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Emitai - Wizard Master
Requirements: Emitai is found nearby the Mine where Ryu was found both times during the game as a Whelp/Dragon. Give him 10,000 Zenny and he'll offer to become a Master to someone in your team.
I'd recommend you train either Nina or Momo under Emitai, depending on which of these two characters you plan to use more. I chose to train Momo under him that way I could get her some offensive magic spells to go along with her heals.
Stat Changes
Ap +4
Intelligence +4
Power -2
Defense -2
Teaches Skills
(2 Levels) Barrier - Raises one target's Magic Def
(4 Levels) Mind Sword - Attack with Magic Sword
(6 Levels) Enlighten - Riases the caster's Intelligence
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Deis - Ancient Sorceress
Requirements: After you free her from her prison at Angel Tower you'll be able to apprentice under her when you visit her at Mt. Zublo... So long as you tell her she is pretty in her snake form.
I personally apprentice Momo under Deis so that Momo can learn a bunch of good damaging spells. All she gets is Quake and Ragnarok throughout the game regularly, the only way to get her more damage dealing skills is through a Master. The alternative is to mentor Nina under Deis, but she already gets a butt load of damaging spells.
Stat Changes
Ap +3
Power +1
Agility +1
Intelligence +3
HP -3
Defense -3
Teaches Skills
(2 Levels) Inferno - Flame attack vs all targets
(5 Levels) Blizzard - Frost attack vs all targets
(8 Levels) Myollnir - Electric attack vs one target
(11 Levels) Sirocco - Flame & Wind attack vs all targets
(15 Levels) Celerity - Abilities up; usable at fixed times
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Hachio - Wyndia Castle Kitchen
Requirements: He needs the following ingredients for a recipe, Swallow Eye, Beef Jerky, an Angler, a Martian Squid. The Angler is fished up from the Fishing Spot in the Urkan Region near Tidal Caves; use a Float to catch it. A Martian Squid is fished up from the Fishing Spot near Mt. Myrneg, use a Worm to catch it.
It's up to you whether or not you want to bother with Hachio at all, I personally didn't since he doesn't really have good abilities and his requirements are a pain in the butt to fulfill. If you decide to apprentice under Hachio, only stick around for his abilities. His stat changes leave much to be desired.
Stat Changes
Hp +2
Power +2
Defense +1
AP -1
Agility -1
Intelligence -1
Teaches Skills
(2 Levels) Mighty Chop - Attacks one target and ignores Defense
(4 Levels) Demonbane - Attacks one target, deals extra damage to Devils
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Bais, Lang, Lee, Wynn - Fountain in Wyndia
Bais: Found in the Duana Mines near the giant Dragon Chrysm
(3 Levels) Chain Form - Sets all character's Speed to the character in front of the formation. This is the most useful Battle Formation the kids will teach you.
Lang: Found in the Wyndian Royal Family graveyard behind a tombstone
(3 Levels) Cupid's Lyre - An item
Lee: Found at the Eastern Checkpoint, behind the wall and to the left.
(3 Levels) Magic Form - Increases the Intelligence of the Party Member in the back by 50%. Decreases Intelligence of Party Members in front by 25%.
Wynn: Found in Junk Town on the lowest level behind a building.
(3 Levels) Refuge Form - Gives your entire party 1 HP per turn.
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Ladon - Dragnier
Requirements: In order to unlock Ladon as a Master, you must obtain every Dragon Gene in the game. Once you do, all you need to do is go and speak to the wall in Dragnier above where you enter the town from the teleporter.
Ladon has one of the strongest attacks in the game, Aura. He also offers decent + stats on each level up... However he has the worst negative stats of all Masters since he makes sure that whomever is apprenticing under him gains no +Health or +AP. Since how long Ryu can stay in Dragon form is directly related to how much AP he has - you might not want to apprentice him to Ladon.
Stat Changes
Power +2
Defense +2
Agility +1
Intelligence +2
HP -6
AP -6
Teaches Skills
(3 Levels) Mind's Eye - Raises to-hit % temporarily
(5 Levels) Holy Strike - Holy attack for 1 target
(7 Levels) Ward of Light - Raises Def and Counterattack Chance
(9 Levels) Aura - Holy Attack against 1 target; Power x2
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Meryleep - Wandering Faerie
Requirements: In order to unlock Meryleep you'll need to complete a brief sidequest from her which involves retrieving the Flower Jewel. For more information on this sidequest head over to my How to Unlock Meryleep Guide.
Out of all the Masters in Breath of Fire III, Meryleep has the best abilities that she can teach members of your party. Shadowwalk is an amazing ability for the melee members of your team and War Shout is one of the only abilities available in the game that lets you raise your entire groups Power in just 1 turn.
Stat Changes
Agility +2
HP -1
Power -1
Defense -1
Teaches Skills
(2 Levels) Charm - Increases chances of finding item
(5 Levels) Shadowwalk - Warp attack; critical blow
(8 Levels) War Shout - Raises your whole groups Pwr