Change fate and face Lavos

Objective: Replace Crono at the instant before his death.

1. Speak to Gaspar for the Chrono Trigger/Time Egg. If needed, win Crono's Doppel Doll from Norstein Bekkler at the Millennial Fair, then collect it from Crono's house.
2. Take the doll to Belthasar's Nu at Keeper's Dome so three Poyozo Dolls can stabilize Death Peak's winds.
3. Climb Death Peak, defeat three Lavos Spawns by attacking only their heads, and push the final empty shell into place as a ledge.
4. At the summit, use the Time Egg. The party swaps the Doppel Doll for Crono and returns him alive.

Major encounter: Never strike a Lavos Spawn shell: its counter is severe. Target the head, and heal before each Needle attack.

Objective: Resolve optional quests and prepare the final party.

1. Ask Gaspar about each unfinished lead. Complete the Sun Stone, Ozzie's Fort, Cyrus's grave, Fiona's forest, Geno Dome, and Rainbow Shell routes.
2. Use the charged pendant and Epoch to finish sealed-chest upgrades. Complete Lost Sanctum only on editions that include it.
3. Choose whether to clear the Black Omen. Entering it in 1000 A.D., then 600 A.D., then 12,000 B.C. preserves the most repeat opportunities.

Objective: Defeat Lavos's shell, inner form, and true core.

1. Reach Lavos through the End of Time bucket, the Ocean Palace/Black Omen route, or by flying the Epoch into 1999 A.D. The Epoch crash skips the shell but destroys the craft.
2. Against the outer shell, defeat the sequence of earlier-boss patterns, then destroy the Lavos shell form.
3. Inside, rest and save if your route permits. Defeat Lavos's humanoid body, then target the right pod in the final formation: it is the true core and revives the other parts.
4. Eliminate the center body, wait for the right pod to lower defense while reviving allies, and unload your strongest attacks before it closes again.

Major encounter: Status protection, Haste, and party-wide healing matter more than a small defense increase. Preserve MP restorative items for the core.

Objective: Understand the ending you triggered and unlock New Game+.

1. The ordinary ending changes with Crono's rescue status and whether the Epoch survives the approach to Lavos.
2. Alternate endings depend on defeating Lavos during specific chapter windows, usually through New Game+ and the right-hand Telepod sparkle.
3. DS-derived editions add a post-game Dimensional Vortex and Time's Eclipse route with an additional ending.