Canal fortress

[Bluestun]

I seem to be stuck with the Canal Fortress quest. I have done this part before, but for some reason in the current playthrough I cannot do anything but fight the gate which is way too tough for me. I started the Cat quest, but when I go to the thieves hideout I get kicked out for some reason. I heard there is supposed to be someone in the canal fortress pub that can also get you in but they are not there for me. I even tried clearing out the gemstone mine to trigger the time skip to see if that somehow changed things but it did not. As I said this didn't happen to me the first time but I don't think I did things differently....

[Toph]

If you decided to assault the gate first, you lose the other two options. Unfortunately, I think you're stuck with trying to beat the gate at this point.

It's not exactly ideal but it may be time for a premature NG+.

[HandBanana]

This is the exact same situation I had. I ended up just doing a NG+.

[Toph]

On a side note, the gate battle is an early chance to spark some nice techs thanks to the respawning Gargoyles.

If you go along with having Cat help you sneak into the fort, you can still fight the gate. Just make sure Cat shows up to the cabin and shows you the secret entrance to the fort. Once this is done, you can attack the gate, learn some techs, and flee from the battle.

Cat will stay put and reveal the entrance regardless after this point.

[T0AD]

Hey, I know this is a real old post, but found it because I got stuck in the same situation! Apparently you do not have to ever do the canal fortress to finish the game.

You can go Saigo Village > East Oublette > Toba > Atlanticus > purchase item from the Witch. From there the witch will tell you about the desert, and you'll be able to reach the rest of the world from there.

[sabeerareeb™]

Bruh l paid the guy in the bar and made it to the 3rd floor and died
Then with cats help took 5 mins to beat