In Chrono Cross, you cannot normally just buy upgrades to gear with gold — you will need to find them out in the field, or have a blacksmith craft them for you. While many of the best upgrades are found in the end-game, during your progression you’ll need to track down crafting materials. One such rare material is the Carapace. Here’s how to get and use the Carapace in Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition.
Carapace is a monster drop from enemies typically located in the mid-game. There are a few monsters early on that can drop it, however — mainly Swamp Bugs which are located in the Hydra Marshes. However, they can be a little tricky to track down, and so you may be more inclined to get them via an easier (but more expensive) way. Most material shops carry Carapaces for trade — but it’ll cost you 32 total levels of Elements.
Elements can be found from monsters, in chests, or bought with gold, but 32 levels is a pretty expensive price to pay. We recommend buying, or finding, Magma Bomb or other similar 2-cost Elements. These only run you 100G per purchase, and you will only need 16 of them to trade for a total of 1,600G. Carapace can then be used to forge gear — namely, Leena’s weapon upgrades.
