Evermore High Secrets: Gomi's Tower Chests, Sterling Boss Exploits & Hidden Alchemy in Secret of Evermore

Most players sprint through Gomi's Tower chasing the next story beat, which is exactly why the Evermore High secrets tucked inside it get missed. This vertical stretch of Secret of Evermore — the sewer maze beneath Gothic, the climb up Gomi's Tower, the Sterling boss fight, and the dragon flight home — hides rare enemy drops, three genuinely useful alchemy formulas, and one of the most exploitable bosses in the game. Whether you're replaying Secret of Evermore, released for the SNES in 1995 by Square's American studio, or experiencing it for the first time, these Evermore High secrets will save you hours of backtracking and a small fortune in wasted healing items.

What the Evermore High Secrets Actually Cover

In this guide, the Evermore High secrets are shorthand for everything packed into the highest-altitude stretch of the Gothic region's mid-game. After you drop the Verminator in the sewers and meet the true Queen, the inventor Tinker hands you the Knight Basher axe and points you toward his brother Gomi for a way back into Ivor Tower. The only road there runs straight up.

Here's the full route, step by step:

Before you climb, a word on the Knight Basher. Player experience consistently credits this axe with trivializing the sewer maze, because it smashes the debris barriers that previously forced you through the long way around. As one detailed Secret of Evermore playthrough archive put it, it takes the maze out of the maze. Community reports note the Lance technically deals more raw damage, but for this stretch, the Basher's utility wins.

Gomi's Tower Enemy Stats: Farm Smart, Not Long

Gomi's Tower introduces two new enemies, and knowing their numbers changes how you spend your time. These figures come from documented player experience rather than an official strategy guide, so treat them as reliable community-sourced data:

A few practical takeaways:

• Dragoils are the better farm target. Sixty gold coins and 150 EXP per kill is a solid rate for this point in the game, and thirty damage per hit is the worst a non-boss has dished out in a while — so don't get careless.
• Skip Insect Incense on Gore Grubs. The game doesn't classify them as insects, so the formula whiffs completely. That's wasted ingredients every time.
• Ignore the 12.5x gold outlier. Yes, one Gore Grub allegedly dropped 125 coins instead of 10, but that's a fluke. Expect the baseline and farm Dragoils instead.
• Keep Explosion cycling while you melee. Its per-tick damage stacks up passively while you swing.

If you're grinding your way through these Evermore High secrets, remember that the tower's real reward isn't the gold — it's what you unlock at the top.

Sterling Boss Fight: Stats, Attacks, and Cheap Counters

The crown jewel of the Evermore High secrets is the Sterling encounter. He's essentially the Timberdrake's bigger, meaner, red cousin — a palette-swap boss with a genuinely obnoxious gimmick that punishes careless casting. Here's what you're walking into:

Three strategy notes from community runs:

• Lean on magic hard. With 3,200 HP but paper-thin magic defense, Sterling folds to spells at a rate physical attacks can't match. Player experience shows magic damage here is dramatically more efficient than axe work.
• Time your Super Heal. It fully restores HP, but the cast animation drags compared to basic Heal. Start it between exchanges, never mid-Fireball volley.
• Don't panic at the ending. For once, the game doesn't kill the boss — Sterling stands back up, the palette swap isn't even hidden, and he agrees to fly you home. That's not a bug; it's the fast travel you just earned.

The Alchemy Payoff: Three Formulas Worth the Climb

The Evermore High secrets payoff isn't just the dragon — it's the formula kit you assemble on the way up. All three additions come from this stretch and stay useful deep into the endgame:

Explosion deserves special praise. Community reports consistently rank it among the best mid-game formulas because the ingredients restock trivially right where you're fighting — you can level it up without going out of your way, and each level bumps the per-tick damage noticeably. Lightning Storm, meanwhile, asks for just one Iron and two Ash, which is almost insulting for how hard it hits a magic-soft boss like Sterling. Stockpile ingredients before you talk to Gomi, because once Sterling sweeps you over the countryside, there's no flying back for supplies.

Common Mistakes on the Evermore High Secrets Route

Plenty of players bungle this stretch in the same ways. Avoid these and the whole climb gets cheaper:

• Grinding Gore Grubs for gold. Ten coins per kill is not a strategy. Farm Dragoils.
• Wasting Insect Incense on Gore Grubs. They're not flagged as insects. The formula does nothing.
• Casting during a Sterling grab. He's invulnerable while carrying the hero. Every spell started mid-grab is ingredients down the drain.
• Skipping the ingredient stockpile. Iron and Ash for Lightning Storm, plus whatever you use for Explosion — buy and gather before the boss door.
• Chasing every single chest. There are several scattered through the tower, and at least one famously contains nothing but an Acorn. Per player experience, your mileage on chest rewards will vary wildly.

Run the route cleanly and you'll exit with a full formula kit, a dragon taxi on call, and the impostor sitting on Ivor Tower's throne squarely in your sights.

FAQ: Evermore High Secrets, Answered

What are the Evermore High secrets in Secret of Evermore?

They're the hidden value packed into the game's high-altitude Gothic stretch: the Knight Basher shortcuts in the sewer maze, Gomi's Tower enemy stat exploits, the Sterling boss counters, the Explosion and Lightning Storm formulas, and the dragon flight that serves as your ticket back to Ivor Tower.

How much HP does Sterling have, and what's his weakness?

Player-documented runs put Sterling at 3,200 HP with very low magic defense. Magic is dramatically more efficient than physical attacks here — which is exactly why grabbing Lightning Storm before the fight matters.

Do you actually kill Sterling?

No, and that's part of what makes this fight memorable. The battle ends with Sterling still standing — the game doesn't even bother hiding the palette swap — and he then flies you back toward the confrontation with the fake Queen.

Is Gomi's Tower optional?

No. The tower is story-required: Gomi is your only route back toward Ivor Tower to deal with the impostor on the throne. The chests and grinding inside are optional, but the climb itself isn't — and the Sterling ride afterward is the fastest trip home you'll get.