The Walkthrough and Battle Tactics Guide; WoR
Version 1.2
Djibriel, June 2006
"Who says life is fair?"
- Final Fantasy VI ad
..."The "OC guide to beating the game while rabid and one-armed making clever
use of a wall"
- Imzogelmo
Contents
No number: Contents
Foreword (11/14/2005, by Imzogelmo)
1.0 Version History
2.0 Introduction
3.0 Set-up of the document, and slang you're going to start recognizing
4.0 Walkthrough (includes link)
5.0 Game Options: As boring as a concrete floor in math class (link)
6.0 Characters. Poor saps. (includes link)
7.0 Game mechanics; real quick, I promise (includes link)
8.0 Not Infrequently Asked Questions (includes link)
9.0 Espers and their Magicite
10.0 Final Fantasy VI Junkie links
11.0 Credits; People I love because they've done things I wanted them to do
No number: Disclaimer
**********************************
Foreword (11/14/2005, by Imzogelmo)
**********************************
The year was 1994. Until that time, humanity seemed a bleak existence --
why, the 20th century alone saw the world ravaged by two world wars, a tense
period known as the Cold War, and various regional conflicts. Finally, in the
latter decades of the century, a new ray of hope emerged -- the video game.
Instead of fighting and killing one another, now mankind could do so
vicariously or, if it was preferred, two could team up and do battle against
a fictional foe.
Like all forms of expression, the video game underwent many reformations
(or generations) before the recipe became "just right." Several genres of game
sprang into being: platform games, shoot-em-ups, action/adventures, sports,
puzzlers, fighting games, and RPGs. Each type of game appealed to a different
type of player or interest, and all the while advances were being made both in
capacity of games' data and complexity of the hardware used to run it. By the
early 1990's, the types of presentation that would work with a given genre
were well-established, and players could afford to specialize in a particular
genre without narrowing the field of games too greatly.
That brings us back to 1994, or, as Nintendo called it, "The year of the
cartridge." In that year, _Final_Fantasy_VI_ was released, and there was much
rejoicing. The genre was RPG; the fictional foe was the evil Emperor Gestahl,
and later, the pompous nihilist Kefka. Sure, there were other RPGs before it,
but none that struck the perfect balance of character similarity vs. diversity,
importance of storyline vs. gameplay, and plot linearity vs. non-linearity. The
depth of characters and robustness of the game engine (plus the time investment
required to fully explore the nuances of the game) made this one of the highest-
rated games in terms of replayability. Furthermore, the vivid graphics and
moving musical score made it a complete experience, not just a game.
"But it is just a game!" I hear someone in the back say.
No, it is not just a game. In the fast-paced world where information is old
as soon as it can be emailed, a video game generally has a very small window of
time that it is considered new or exciting. For the early history of video
games that may not have been so true, but for the entire history of this game,
the internet has been a very influential medium for discussion among players.
For many fans of the series, this is still the greatest game, in spite of the
hype surrounding some of its successors. So no, it is not "just a game" --
it is a culture. And like many great cultures, it needs great works to
explain, enhance, and record its story.
To document every piece of useful (and no-so-useful) data on a culture --
that's a difficult task. Many approximations have come forward, but always
they have had inaccurate, inconsistent, or insufficient information. That is
not meant as an insult on previous guides -- like I said, it's difficult.
Much information has been uncovered through deliberate playing and replaying
of the game, through hacking its internal code and data, and through combined
effort of its many fans. This guide seeks to improve upon and surpass all
previous attempts. This guide seeks to be the great work of which I speak.
This guide covers _everything_.
**********************************
1.0 Version History
**********************************
Version History:
- Version 1.2 (07/08/2006)
I mentioned that Tri-Dazer is a good idea versus Umaro, which it isn't as
Umaro absorbs Ice-elemental attacks. Fixed.
Expanded and most notable corrected the Charm description. I said that
a Charmer can switch Charmees, which is not the case; the second target
of a Charm attack just won't be hit until the first one has died.
Expanded on how to obtain more Genji Helmets and why I list five
characters with Genji Helmets and two with Red Caps in section 4.70.1. In
fact, now that I mention it, I gave a Genji Helmet to Cyan where there was
a Circlet earlier; when I looked over it I noticed it's entirely possible,
and how I love to spite people :P
Added section 8.16, Siegfried/Ziegfried.
Fine, you pansies. Added the controversy about Owzer in section 4.61.2
I rewrote 4.71.1, "Kefka's Tower: Preparation and explanation". Boy, was
that crappy. The current writing gives you exactly what all three parties
face in both scenarios (Party #1 going left or right) to clear up any
confusion.
Updated Thanks and Credits section.
Unbelievable; I missedn an ENTIRE SECTION. You're all almost as braindead
as me for not noticing before I did. Section 10.0 "Final Fantasy VI Junkie
links" has been added, and what previously was section 10.0 is now section
11.0. Sure, section 10.0 may be a Copy/Paste from the other half, it's
still important if you ask me.
Removed some rubbish I had placed at the very end which concerned itself
with to wide a margin (81 on several occasions!).
- Version 1.1 (07/05/2006)
First revision. They're always the most rough ones.
I made a lot of spelling and grammar corrections, obviously. Fixed the
ones that were pointed out to me.
Some spacing problems, too. Fixed, again.
Corrected the amount of Coral needed in Ebot's Rock. It's 22, not 21.
Updated Thanks and Credits section.
Added the attacks of both KatanaSoul and Master Pug in their respective
sections. Whoops...
Noted the Nut Eater/Rhodox & Poppers connection which may explain their
resistance to the Suplex Blitz technique.
Added the existence of an X-Potion in Cyan's Dream. I forgot a treasure,
shame on me.
Added a religious note on Goddess and her background/symbolic role.
Added section 8.15, Timeline
Added RNG evaluation on all bosses.
Added a note about the spikes in the Phoenix Cave.
Added the existence of a few bugs, including
- MagiTek Armor in Cyan's Dream may linger after its apprioriate
appearance
- Magic Urn responds to the wrong statuses
- Spikes damage Petrified characters
Added some Anthology Bestiary information on Woolly, NecroMancrs, Kiwok,
Guardian and Allo Ver.
- Version 1.0 (06/30/2006)
Initial Release
**********************************
2.0 Introduction
**********************************
I was tired. And I was sick and tired of always being sick and tired.
I can't really tell you when it started, because I wasn't around when it did. It
probably started innocently...a friend invited a friend over to come play his
new SNES game. "That armored guy with the sword is awesome!" a pimple-cheeked
girl with glasses but with a radiant smile would say. "Dispatch kills everything
he touches!" she would add. The guy would sigh.
"This guy is much better. He kicks all kinds of ass with Fire Dance. It looks so
cool, too!" This boy, who'd later grow up to be one of the most successful
failures of his lifetime, loved Sabin with all his teenage heart.
Neither knew that they started a great tradition. And by 'great', I mean
'unwanted and horrible'. Illiterates would somehow manage to drool over the
keyboard in such a way it created a post that stated that Gau sucks. Good men
wasted good time countering said horror. Locke was awesome because of his Speed,
only he wasn't. Cyan has great equips, only he doesn't. Or did he? Gogo was
awesome because he could equip any skill by going to the status screen. But that
was just practical on paper, some said. Others wept over this statement, which
they considered a lie fueled by hate and lack of a social life. Others had a
social life and claimed that it wasn't all that important as long as you had
fun. Heh.
In short: there were debates. And here's something funny to consider; you'd
think that numbers, data output, logical solutions and expectations would be
beyond personal interpretation. A common Dutch saying states, "one cannot
argue about opinions". That's the biggest load of feces ever to hit the scene
of sayings, I think. You can argue about opinions; you can't argue about facts.
So, you'd think that in a game where the same Dispatch in the same situation
always results into the same damage output, there'd be little place for debate.
Ugh.
Besides, it was time somebody took this task upon himself. There's so much known
about this game, yet even the best walkthroughs were almost entirely, but not
quite, unlike the walkthrough they were supposed to be. So here it is! I've
prophesized on numerous occasions that I would never write a document like this
on the basis of the fact I would go bat-shit crazy and wouldn't be able to
stop typing, making the document a behemoth of unreadable gibberish (most likely
consisting out of Relm fetishism and little bits of info nobody in their right
mind find amusing).
But what is the document you're seeing? Does it really contain everything? Is
it some kind of Hitchhiker's Guide to FF VI? The Encyclopedia CCLV VIea? The
Kamog Sutra, where you'll learn all about Tantric Gameplay (lasts for hours;
winning the battle is NOT the main goal)? I think the best mental image of the
document can be extracted from all the following possible titles that have
passed the revue while creation was still a process of the present:
(by PrattDaBard, of which the last part of his name is more apt than the middle
part will reveal)
"The Spoiler-Filled Walkthrough"
"The Ecumenical FF3 Encyclopedia"
"The Compendious FF3 Companion"
"The Un-Restricted FF3 Reader"
"FF3: an Exhaustive Exhortation"
"The All-Inclusive FF3 Compendium"
"The Far-Reaching FF3 FAQ"
"FF3 for Fools"
"A Discursive Dissertation on FF3"
"A Panoptic FF3 Primer"
"FF3: The Liberal Lexicon"
"The Hefty FF3 Handbook"
"The Full FF3 Folio"
"Djibriel's Dictionary"
(by Imzogelmo)
"Everything You Always Wanted to Know about FF3 (But Would've Got Flamed for
Asking)"
"640 KB Ought to be Enough for Anybody" (ed: 640. Heh)
"The FF3 Bible"
"Detailed Journal of Information By Resolute, Industrious Exploratory
Learning" (ed: I especially loved this one, people with thinking brains can
figure out why)
(by Assassin)
"Mages are from Thamasa, Warriors are from Doma"
"An Idiot's A-Z guide to FF3: from Albrook to Tzen"
"Gestahl: The Man, the Dog, the Legend"
"101 Easy Pet Care Tips for your Emperor"
"Just Hold it 'til Vector: A Globetrotter's Guide to Bladder Control"
"I Feel Safe in Suits: Gary Newman's Easy Tutorial to Dancing in MagiTek"
"Djibriel's Humility Fest"
(by Hollywood Narrator)
"A Cyan Lover's Least Favorite Guide"
"That One Guide That Doesn't Worship the NP Guide"
--Warning
This is my fourth document meant for public release, and as I was with the
other three, I'm pretty excited about it. My other projects will both be very
helpful for this guide; while the Level # Lore Guide will be only moderately
useful, and the Sketch Guide just managed to confirm what everybody already
knew, a lot of walkthroughs contain a string of question marks concerning Gau
and his Rage ability. My Rage Guide taught me exactly what to fill in
those question marks.
Now, I've basically gotten two kinds of responses about the Rage Guide. Most of
it was very positive, and I'm thankful for that. It's great to see the document
being linked to all the time (get this: almost as often as the How to Blitz
Guide!). But there are a few who've said that my guide contains a major flaw;
I'm too talkative. I elaborate and fill it with too much information. You see,
there's a reason for that. Everybody has his own personal little fetish; mine
is Final Fantasy VI. I've played the game to death and know far more about it
than could ever be considered healthy. I want all that information to shine
through in my documents, as I personally think it's awesome to know all those
things. Also, I tend to waste lines on introductions, puns, and other stuff that
could have been left out. That's mostly for personal pleasure. As the bored,
soulless eyes of your high school math teacher can tell you, explaining stuff
that's incredibly basic to you tends to be less fun than, say, sharing a beer
with friends or having incredibly awesomely crazy sex... with a woman.
You're looking at the most complete walkthrough that exists out there. I can
make that statement without false modesty. But if you're repelled by overly
verbose descriptions, if you like your walkthroughs clean and quick and to the
point with tables and abbreviations and all that, there are other documents for
you.
One that's generally been called the best one before this one was written is
Atom Edge's Walkthrough. It can be found at GameFAQs, but is at the time of
writing three years old. Slightly outdated, but it features all of the commonly
asked questions and lists a lot of more obscure items.
**********************************
3.0 Set-up of the document, and slang you're going to start recognizing
**********************************
First off: if you have a question, I've answered it. That's the premise we're
working with here. If the question you have seems oddly GENERAL to you, as in:
is of influence through the entire game, you won't find it in the Walkthrough;
you will find it in the FAQ at the bottom. So, if you want to know about stats,
or what-does-this-do or something, go there.
Question: I noticed you used the terminology from the older SNES versions. I
hope you're aware of the fact there are PAL-versions available in Europe and the
US, and the US have even seen an Anthology release where it's offered together
with FFV. Why not adapt the names to that game? They're slightly different,
and as they were changed from the original, obviously what was meant to happen.
Yes, I am aware. Sadly so, in fact. I think Master ZED said it best when he
mentioned how he took the PSX port as a personal insult. They did close to
nothing to fix old bugs, inserted a couple of new ones, raped Ted Woolsey's
legacy by using the entire translation with a couple of minor changes while
removing his name from the credits, and gave us a game with sound and graphics
INFERIOR to the SNES game that was released five years prior to the PSX release:
SNES:
Release Data
Final Fantasy VI Square Enix 04/02/94 JP
Final Fantasy III Square Enix 10/20/94 US
PAL version:
Release Data
Final Fantasy VI (w/FFX Demo) Sony Interactive Studios America 03/01/02 EU
Final Fantasy VI Square Enix 03/11/99 JP
Anthology:
Release Data
Final Fantasy Anthology Electronic Arts 05/17/02 EU
Final Fantasy Anthology Square Enix 09/30/99 US
Also, Anthology has three different names for each monster; In-battle the names
were shortened to 9 characters, in the Rage List there were with the normal
ten, and in the Bestiary they were a shocking 8. All SNES names can be easily
recognized when you've only been playing/are playing Anthology, as it doesn't
take a genius to know that Mithril and Mythril is the same material and that a
Fenix Down is the same as a Phoenix Down.
To conclude, the PSX blows. The SNES has died, long live the SNES!
Slang:
Ctrl + F:
That most holy of combos, and the road to salvation. Had enough of the ridicule
of those more adapted to today's lifestyle than you? Have you been bossed around
by the 'elite' for far too long? Don't take it out on the naturally superior,
but Physician, heal thyself: Ctrl + F is the search function. Learn to love it
like your long-lost little brother.
ST:
Single-target. It targets a single target.
MT:
Multi-target. It targets multiple targets, in most cases all.
LLG:
Low Level Game. A playthrough in which the level of the characters is kept
as low as possible. The current lowest score has been an average of around 7.2,
ranging from 6 to 13.
NMG:
Natural Magic Game. Called a challenge while it's really not, it just prevents
you from equipping Espers and items that teach spells. Naturally learned
Magic and Lores are allowed.
!Special:
It's great to have an obvious distinction between spells and Special attacks,
the modified physical attacks that either set a status effect, do x times
as much damage as the normal physical attack, or drain HP/MP. Every Special
I've listed in this document (that's quite a lot) is preceded by an
exclamation point to identify it as such. My Sketch Guide already featured
this. The exclamation point doesn't find any feedback in the game whatsoever,
and isn't canon in the current other documents out there, but I felt it was a
good idea.
ID (Instant Death) attack:
Instant Death attacks are attacks that check for the Instant Death protection
bit. Most of the time, these attacks set Wound (Doom, Snare, etcetera), but
other attacks also use this feature, most noticeably percentage-based attacks
like Demi and Cyclonic. Several Petrifying spells will check for ID next to
Petrify protection, and the oddball Overcast and the level-halving attack
Dischord also check for it. The X-type ID of the Assassin, Trump, Striker,
Wing Edge and the dicing effect of the Scimitar also check for ID protection.
The following attacks are ID attacks:
Roulette, Break, Demi, Doom, Quartr, W Wind, X-Zone, Atom Edge, True Edge,
Demon Eye, Cleave, Slash, Antlion, Cave in, Cockatrice, Snare, Snowball, Sonic
Boom, Air Anchor, Chain Saw's ID attack, X-Fer, Condemned, Dischord, L.5 Doom,
Roulette, Blaster, Cyclonic, Grav Bomb, Overcast, Shimsham, SabreSoul, Star
Prism
Note that this makes Joker Doom the only Wound-setting attack that doesn't
check for the bit, and Dread the only 'normal' Petrify-setting attack that
doesn't check for ID protection.
**********************************
4.0 The Walkthrough
**********************************
If you're confused by the fact that this document's first Walkthrough chapter
is chapter 46, I'd like to remind you of the fact that the first half of the
walkthrough is in another document. Thank you for your patience.
4.1.1 Prelude: The attack on Narshe
4.1.2 Prelude: The newly dug mineshaft
4.1.3 Prelude: The battle with Whelk
4.2.1 Old Man's House
4.2.2 Escape through the mines
4.3.1 Defending Terra from Marshal
4.4.1 Classroom for the Beginner
4.4.2 Traveling to Figaro Castle
4.5.1 Figaro Castle
4.5.2 Fighting off MagiTek power
4.6.1 Traveling through Figaro Cave
4.7.1 South Figaro
4.7.2 The Overworld Map around South Figaro
4.8.1 Sabin's Hut
4.8.2 Mt. Koltz
4.8.3 The battle with Vargas
4.9.1 Traveling to the Returners' Hideout
4.9.2 The Returners' Hideout
4.10.1 Escaping over the Lete River
4.10.2 The first fight with Ultros
4.11.1 Choosing a scenario
4.12.1 Scenario Terra/Edgar/Banon: Lete River continued
4.12.2 Scenario Terra/Edgar/Banon: Traveling to Narshe
4.12.3 Scenario Terra/Edgar/Banon: Narshe
4.13.1 Scenario Sabin: Meeting Shadow and finding the Imperial Camp
4.13.2 Scenario Sabin: Imperial Camp and Doma
4.13.3 Scenario Sabin: Telstar and Imperial Camp continued
4.14.1 Scenario Sabin: Traveling to the Phantom Forest
4.14.2 Scenario Sabin: The Phantom Forest
4.15.1 Scenario Sabin: The Phantom Train
4.15.2 Scenario Sabin: Specter and the Phantom Train continued
4.15.3 Scenario Sabin: The battle with GhostTrain
4.16.1 Scenario Sabin: Traveling to Baren Falls
4.16.2 Scenario Sabin: Baren Falls
4.16.3 Scenario Sabin: Traveling over the Veldt to Mobliz
4.17.1 Scenario Sabin: Mobliz
4.17.2 Scenario Sabin: Recruiting Gau
4.17.3 Scenario Sabin: Veldt Hunting
4.17.4 Scenario Sabin: Crescent Mountain
4.18.1 Scenario Sabin: The Serpent Trench
4.18.2 Scenario Sabin: Nikeah
4.19.1 Scenario Locke: South Figaro
4.19.2 Scenario Locke: Secret Underground Passge of South Figaro
4.20.1 Scenario Locke: Traveling to Figaro Cave
4.20.2 Scenario Locke: Figaro Cave
4.20.3 Scenario Locke: The battle with TunnelArmr
4.21.1 Defending the Esper from Kefka
4.21.2 Rider
4.21.3 The battle with Kefka
4.22.1 Narshe
4.23.1 Traveling to Kohlingen and optional trip to the Veldt
4.23.2 Figaro Castle
4.24.1 Kohlingen
4.25.1 Traveling to Jidoor
4.25.2 Jidoor
4.26.1 Zozo
4.26.2 Chainsaw Riddle and Zozo continued
4.26.3 The battle with Dadaluma and meeting with Ramuh
4.27.1 Magicite and Owzer's Mansion in Jidoor
4.28.1 The Opera House
4.28.2 The Dream Oath (Celes' Opera Performance)
4.28.3 Stopping Ultros
4.28.4 The second fight with Ultros
4.29.1 The Blackjack
4.30.1 Albrook
4.30.2 Traveling on the Southern Continent
4.30.3 The Imperial Base near the Mountains
4.30.4 Tzen
4.30.5 Maranda
4.31.1 Vector
4.31.2 Imperial MagiTek Research Facility; MagiTek Factory
4.31.3 Imperial MagiTek Research Facility; The Pit
4.31.4 The battle with Ifrit and Shiva
4.31.5 Imperial MagiTek Research Facility
4.31.6 The battle with Number 024
4.31.7 Imperial MagiTek Research Facility; Mine Cart Ride
4.31.8 The battle with Number 128
4.32.1 Escaping Vector
4.32.2 The battle with the Cranes
4.33.1 Zozo; Terra's Flashback
4.34.1 Airship Exploitation: Sraphim
4.34.2 Airship Exploitation: Auction House: Golem and ZoneSeek
4.34.3 Airship Exploitation: Locating Grenade
4.34.4 Airship Exploitation: Obtaining Gaia Gear
4.34.5 Airship Exploitation: Intangir
4.34.6 Airship Exploitation: Veldt hunting
4.34.7 Intermezzo; Espers 101
4.35.1 Narshe
4.35.2 Lone Wolf persecution and recruiting Mog
4.35.3 Dance lessons, including Water Rondo
4.36.1 Cave to the Sealed Gate
4.36.2 Coin Toss and Cave to the Sealed Gate continued
4.37.1 Esper rampage; Snake eyes
4.38.1 Vector; Imperial Palace
4.38.2 The Banquet
4.38.3 Items of the Imperial Base near the Cave to the Sealed Gate and
Setzer's cutscene
4.39.1 Albrook
4.40.1 Traveling to Thamasa; Crescent Island
4.40.2 Thamasa
4.40.3 The Burning Mansion
4.40.4 The battle with FlameEater
4.41.1 Leaving Thamasa
4.41.2 Crescent Island's Eastern mountains
4.41.3 The third fight with Ultros
4.41.4 Relm and the Espers' gathering place
4.42.1 Epilogue
4.42.2 Leo versus Kefka
4.43.1 Airship Exploitation: Rage and Lore hunting
4.43.2 Airship Exploitation: Doma Castle
4.44.1 Preparation for the Floating Continent
4.44.2 Imperial Air Force
4.44.3 The fourth fight with Ultros
4.44.4 The battle with Air Force
4.45.1 The Floating Continent
4.45.2 Gigantos and the Floating Continent continued
4.45.3 The decisive battle with AtmaWeapon
4.45.4 Kefka's Betrayal
4.45.5 Escape from the Floating Continent
4.45.6 The battle with Nerapa and Exit
The magical gateway to said document:
http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/file/final_fantasy_iii_l.txt
Table of Contents:
4.46.1 Intermezzo; The Solitary Island
4.46.2 Intermezzo; Saving Cid
4.47.1 The World of Ruin
4.47.2 Albrook
4.48.1 En route to Tzen
4.48.2 Tzen; the Light of Judgment
4.48.3 Tzen; the Collapsing House
4.49.1 The Serpent Trench
4.49.2 The tail of the Serpent Trench; Mobliz
4.49.3 The fight with Phunbaba
4.50.1 The head of the Serpent trench; Nikeah
4.51.1 South Figaro; Gerad and the Crimson Robbers
4.51.2 Pursuing Gerad and the Crimson Robbers
4.51.3 Pursuing Gerad and the Crimson Robbers; Cave of Figaro
4.51.4 Pursuing Gerad and the Crimson Robbers; Figaro Castle
4.51.5 The fight with the Tentacles
4.52.1 Figaro Castle
4.52.2 En route to Kohlingen
4.53.1 Kohlingen
4.53.2 Dragon's Neck Colosseum
4.53.3 Daryl's Tomb
4.53.4 The fight with Presenter
4.53.5 The fight with Dullahan
4.54.1 Airship Exploitation: Visiting Maranda
4.54.2 Airship Exploitation: The Overworld Map
4.54.3 Airship Exploitation: Master Duncan; completing Sabin's training
4.54.4 Airship Exploitation: Obtaining Palidor
4.54.5 Airship Exploitation: Visiting Jidoor
4.54.6 Airship Exploitation: The Auction House
4.54.7 Airship Exploitation: Fanatics Tower
4.54.8 Airship Exploitation: Thamasa
4.54.9 Airship Exploitation: Dragon's Neck Colosseum
4.54.10 Airship Exploitation: Doom Gaze
4.55.1 Narshe
4.55.2 Narshe's Snowfields; the battle with Ice Dragon
4.55.3 Narshe's Snowfields; the battle with Tritoch
4.55.4 Umaro's Cave; the battle with three Pugs
4.55.5 The battle with Umaro
4.55.6 The Moogle Raid
4.56.1 The battle with Phunbaba
4.57.1 Following the pigeon
4.57.2 Mount Zozo
4.57.3 The battle with Storm Drgn
4.57.4 Cyan Garamonde
4.58.1 The Veldt
4.58.2 The Cave of the Veldt and Allo Ver
4.58.3 The battle with SrBehemoth
4.59.1 Thamasa and the Colosseum once again
4.61.1 Jidoor; Owzer's Mansion
4.61.2 Owzer's Mansion, the Magic House
4.61.3 Owzer's Mansion, the battle with Chadarnook
4.62.1 Obtaining Strago
4.62.2 Bulking up the Thamasian Two
4.62.3 The battle with Dirt Drgn
4.62.4 Gungho's assignment; Ebot's Rock
4.62.5 The battle with Hidon
4.63.1 Another Colosseum trip
4.64.1 Doma Castle
4.64.2 Cyan's Soul
4.64.3 Cyan's Soul; the battle with the Dream Stooges
4.64.4 Cyan's Dream; the Phantom Train?
4.64.5 Cyan's Dream; Mechanical mines
4.64.6 Cyan's Dream; Doma Castle
4.64.7 Cyan's Dream; the battle with WrexSoul
4.65.1 The road to the Ancient Castle and the fight with Master Pug
4.65.2 The Ancient Castle and the battle with KatanaSoul
4.65.3 The battle with the Blue Drgn
4.66.1 Triangle Island
4.66.2 The world inside of the Zone Eater
4.66.3 Wake me up before you Gogo
4.66.4 The Steal command regained
4.67.1 Phoenix Cave
4.67.2 The battle with the Red Dragon
4.68.1 Locke Cole
4.68.2 Narshe revisited with Locke; Ragnarok and Cursed Shld
4.68.3 Gau and his father
4.69.1 The Fanatics Tower and the battle with White Drgn
4.69.2 The battle with MagiMaster
4.70.1 End-game character evaluation
4.71.1 Kefka's Tower: Preparation and explanation
4.71.2 Kefka's Tower: Reconnaisance
4.71.3 Kefka's Tower: The source of all Magic
4.71.4 Kefka's Tower: The Final Battle
4.72.1 The Ending
4.73.1 The proverbial postcoital cigarette
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.46.1 Intermezzo; The Solitary Island
**********************************
Rise and shine, commander. Rise and shine.
Location: Solitary Island
Party members: Celes
Opponents: Peepers, EarthGuard, Black Drgn
No words can be used to describe the blasphemy of Kefka's act. By moving the
Statues he has shook the very foundations of this world; earthquakes, tremors,
eruptions and floods ensued. While trying to escape the Floating Continent, the
Blackjack was torn apart from under your feet.
Celes Chere, ex-General of an Empire that may not even exist anymore, wakes up
in a dirty shack. One year has past the face of time; by a stroke of coincidence
the person who found her and took care of her was none other than the person
who did so during her Imperial-flavored youth: Cid. Cid himself, now, seems
weakened and doesn't seem to possess much will to carry on whatsoever. The
entire population of the island has either passed away or has killed themselves,
so Celes takes it on herself to take care of him for a while; at least it will
keep the ghosts of the past away.
Preparation: Celes is entirely unequipped, so you should help her out a little
in said regard. As far as Relics go, make sure she is equipped with either an
Amulet or Ribbon, as one of the monsters on the Solitary Island uses !Bone-
Powder, which turns a character into a Zombie. This is an instant Game Over
if it hits, so protect yourself from it.
Monster formations:
(wastelands)
Peepers, Peepers (10/16)
Peepers, Peepers, Peepers (6/16)
(desert)
EarthGuard, Peepers, Peepers (10/16)
Black Drgn (6/16)
Peepers are silly buggers that don't so much classify as monsters as they do
dying animals on a rotten world. With 1 HP and inherent Seizure, they more
likely than not will perish before they make a move. If they do manage to take
a turn, it's either Battle, !Tail (Battle * 1.5), or Pearl Wind, for which
Peepers don't have enough MP for.
EarthGuard only has one attack: !PoisonTail, which sets Poison. However,
EarthGuard shares the fate of Peepers: 1 HP, inherent Seizure. Wandering into
the desert without an Amulet or Ribbon is incredibly stupid, so !PoisonTail
shouldn't affect you.
Black Drgn is the only actual opponent with a fighting chance on the island.
The first turn can already feature Sand Storm; the second turn Sand Storm and
!BonePowder. Sand Storm is the thing to watch out for; Celes is by her lonesome,
so she takes quite some damage here. You can instantly defeat Black Drgn by
casting a Life spell on him. Personally I don't consider it a shadowy tactic
when the undead monster in question lacks Death protection (like Black Drgn),
but if you don't want to go for it, you can cast Stop on him (perhaps combined
with Slow so that it really takes its sweet time to wear off) and pound on him
in the meantime with Fire 2.
Note: Peepers have a rare Elixir steal and EarthGuard have a rare Megalixir
steal. Right now, this is of no consequence, as you can't steal; later I'll
point it out again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.46.2 Intermezzo; Saving Cid
**********************************
Now, you'll have to watch out for Cid's health. There's a hidden health bar for
the guy, which you need to maintain. If you manage to take it up to 256, Cid
becomes permanently healthy; if you allow it to drop down to 30, he will die.
Here's how it goes down:
Cid's health starts at 120.
Every second you spend in any place that isn't the Overworld Map, Cid will
drop his health bar down by 1.
On the beach, there are fish you can catch. You can simply try to grab them
when they come near the tiles you can stand on. There are four types of Fish:
Fish (slow moving). Decreases Health bar by 16 when fed to Cid.
A Rotten Fish (medium speed). Decreases Health bar by 4 when fed to Cid.
Just a Fish (medium speed). Increases Health bar by 16 when fed to Cid.
A Yummy Fish (fast moving). Increases Healthy bar by 32 when fed to Cid.
All of these are Rare items. Once you've captured a kind of Fish, there's no
way to get rid of it other than feeding it to Cid.
The effects of the Fish you have caught are cumulative; if you have captured
a Fish, a Rotten Fish, and a Yummy Fish, Cid will gain (-16 - 4 + 32 =) 12
points of health.
231 - 255 My dear, I ... feel I'm not going to be around much longer...
201 - 230 CELES, thanks for all you've done for me!
161 - 200 HackAck!! I feel a little better!
121 - 160 Cough...wheeze...I can't bear this any longer...
91 - 120 I...I'm not long for this cruel new world ...
61 - 90 My worst nightmare is to think of you alone here on this wretched
island ... hack ... wheeze!!
31 - 60 Cough...hack...ACK!! While I can still talk, I...wheeze...pant...want
to thank you...cough!
0 - 30 Good-bye...
Whether or not Cid lives or dies has little impact other than, you know, it's
Cid who lives or dies and Celes who reacts to it. Regardless of your efforts,
Celes will get off the island fairly quickly:
-----
Cid lives
-----
After you've surpasses the 256 limit on Cid's Health bar, he's been successfully
saved from death and he'll say: "I feel much better! Thanks, Celes!" and leave
the bed.
CELES: What's up?
CID: CELES...the project that kept me going over the past year is down below.
Go have a look at it!
At this point, you can indeed take the look Cid urges you to take. It's a raft!
CELES: Granddad.
CID: CELES... You must leave this place. You have to find your friends!
CELES: I know... But I'll bring 'em all back to meet you!
CID: That LOCKE fellow, too, no doubt...
(Switch to the beach, where Celes has dragged the raft to. She waves Cid goodbye
and leaves the island)
-----
Cid dies
-----
After you've hit 30 or below and Celes is in the room, Cid will say
"Good-bye...". If you enter the room with Cid's health at 30 or below, Cid will
be dead.
(Cid:) ... ...
CELES: Granddad. You have to eat, or else...
W...what's the matter?
CELES: Cid...
CELES: No...NO!!
CELES: Granddad, ANSWER ME! Tell me you're just joking!
(Celes flees the cabin, crying. Slowly, she crosses the Overworld map to a cliff
to the north, which you could enter earlier. Here, she finds a lifeless bird.
By examining it, a memory of Cid arises)
CID: Those others who were here...when they were feeling down they'd take a
leap of faith from the cliffs up north...perked 'em right up!
CELES: Everyone's gone.... Even LOCKE, who promised to watch over me...
The world's slowly ebbing away...
Celes, closing her eyes, hesitates a moment. Then, she throws herself off the
cliff.
In the American version, Ted Woolsey was forced to make Celes' moment here a
'leap of joy'. What you're seeing here though, is Celes giving it all up and
trying to commit suicide. In the Japanese game, she remembers Cid's words on how
almost everybody has killed him or herself, of which one has dove off this
very cliff. Nintendo at the time felt this was unfit to release to the American
audience and had the Remake team change it to a more...positive moment.
Celes comes too at the same beach she used to catch fish on. A bird is beside
her.
CELES: Phew... Why did you nurse me back to health? Did I ever ask you to help
me?!
CELES: A bandana??? No...it can't be...
CELES: Hey, you! Where'd you get this?! Is the person who healed you still
alive? Answer me!
(The bird flies off)
CELES: He's alive... LOCKE's still alive!!!
If the unexplained magical healing properties of the bird confuse you,
the Japanese game just states the bird protected Celes. How it did THAT exactly
is as mysterious as healing her, though.
If you go inside Cid's shack now, you'll find a letter on the ground. By
examining it, you'll learn it says:
You need to leave! The others are surely waiting for you! Find the stairs
next to the stove. Down them lies your road to freedom.
Love, Granddad
After pulling the raft from its resting place, Celes stands on the beach and
laments.
CELES: I'll make you proud of me...Granddad...
(Off she goes.)
- The debate over Cid's life is surprisingly adamant when you take into
consideration that it doesn't really affect gameplay. Most people tend to think
letting Cid die is the best way out of the situation; not only is catching
fish a tedious enterprise, the consequences of Cid's demise give depth to the
character of Celes. Others try to keep him alive for the sole reason that he
is one of the major NPCs and this game's Cid.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.47.1 The World of Ruin
**********************************
Location: Southern Continent
Party members: Celes
Opponents: Mesosaur, Gilomantis, Peepers, Chitonid, Gigan Toad, EarthGuard,
Black Drgn, Osprey
Staying on an island with nothing but sickly animals to keep you company is
not what anybody would consider leading a rich and fulfilling life. It's time
to see how badly this world has turned out; if the Empire is still standing
with Kefka leading it, if any of that rogue squadron of Returners has survived;
in other words, if there is still hope.
Preparation: You can take your Zombie-protection off now if you want.
Replace it with something that protects against Petrify for now (Ribbon or Jewel
Ring will do). Try to apply the Clear status ASAP as it protects you from
anything if you're smart. Since the enemies here are actually worth a damn,
you'll want to equip a Morning Star and move to the Back Row if the whole Vanish
thing isn't working out for you for whatever reason.
You wake up near Albrook. You can go in right now, but for now, I'll give a
quick run-down on the monsters here.
Monster formations:
Grasslands
Mesosaur, Mesosaur (10/16)
Gilomantis, Mesosaur (6/16)
Wastelands, east
Lunaris, Lunaris (10/16)
Chitonid, Gigan Toad, Gigan Toad (6/16)
Wastelands, west
Lunaris, Osprey (10/16)
Osprey, Chitonid, Gigan Toad (6/16)
Forest
Mesosaur, Mesosaur, Mesosaur, Mesosaur (10/16)
Gilomantis, Gilomantis, Mesosaur (6/16)
Desert
EarthGuard, Peepers, Peepers (10/16)
Black Drgn (6/16)
Mesosaur is a small dinosaur whose name is derived from the prefix 'meso', which
means 'middle'. Mesosaurea in our world were little swimming buggers 'famous'
for being the first land-based animals to return to the sea; in this world, they
are Battle/Special cannon fodder with a weakness to Ice. This is note-worthy;
dinosaurs and lizards in general have a weakness to Ice. Mesosaurea will use
Escape unless they are by themselves, in which case they'll stand to fight. !T.
Lash causes Seizure.
Gilomantis use Battle. When they are targeted by Fight, they sometimes use
!Sickle, which is a more advanced way of inflicting damage or something. I
wonder, if not with their sickles, how they normally attack you. They seem to
have a wicked sharp stinger; maybe they slash with it. Regardless, they are kind
of boring.
Heh. Gigan Toads are cool. See, they're toads, and they're gargantuan. This
makes them inherently violent, attacking with Battle, !Croak (damage), Slimer
(sets Slow, looks spiffy), and Rippler. Rippler is an attack of utmost danger,
but Gigan Toad lacks the MP to pull it off.
Lunaris is Lobo WoR style. Rather than using !Bite to inflict damage, they use
!Face Bite to blind (although I can't imagine a bite to the face that blinds
and doesn't actually hurt as well). Stuff to plow through.
Osprey is the only monster that actually is worth a damn right now. Not only
can it pull off a !Beak attack in its third turn to petrify you, it will rarely
retort with a Shimsham attack if you use Magic on it.
Chitonid is normal Battle/Special stuff (!Carapace damages. Also, !Carapace
refers to a dorsal section of an exoskeleton or shell, in a number of animal
groups!) with one annoying habit: if it's by itself, it can counter any
damaging attack with Sneeze. This tends to come into play if you employ a fatal
MT attack to the entire monster party. Take out Chitonid first.
Just walk around here and kill stuff with your attacks. Should you have Clear
status and lose it again due to Slimer, Sneeze, or Shimsham, re-apply it. Kill
Chitonid first, never use Magic on Osprey, and don't linger with Gigan Toads
and you should be invulnerable.
Eh...yeah. You'll want to go into Albrook now.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.47.2 Albrook
**********************************
Location: Albrook
Party members: Celes
Opponents: None
Welcome to Albrook. It's nice to see there are still some signs of civilization
left. It's time to gather some info on this strange new world; after all, it
can't be expected everybody took a full year's nap.
Weapon Shop:
Flame Sabre 7000
Blizzard 7000
ThunderBlade 7000
You should be both familiar with and possessive of these weapons, but if you
for one reason or another want to have more of them, you can buy them here.
I'd be a tight-ass about my cash right now if I were you, though. These weapons
should be noted for their great use with the Throw command; they are basically
elemental Ninja Stars; if you have great amounts of cash in the future, you can
Throw these for insane damage if the target is weak against the element. For
now, keep hold of your GP.
Armor Shop:
Gold Shld 2500
Bard's Hat 3000
Green Beret 3000
Gold Helmet 4000
Gold Armor 10000
Nothing new here, and nothing you should specifically want any more of.
Relic Shop:
Sprint Shoes 1500
Atlas Armlet 5000
Earrings 5000
Barrier Ring 500
MithrilGlove 700
True Knight 1000
Wall Ring 6000
Jewel Ring 1000
These must be tough times if a Relic shop owner can get away with selling
rubbish like this. If you don't have a Jewel Ring or a Ribbon, definitely buy
a Jewel Ring here.
Item Shop:
Potion 300
Tincture 1500
Fenix Down 500
Revivify 300
Remedy 1000
Sleeping Bag 500
Smoke Bomb 300
Warp Stone 700
If the Floating Continent was harsh on your supplies, you can restock some now.
Make sure you have some Revivifies, and Sleeping Bags are, at the moment,
cheaper versions of Tents, as you're traveling by your lonesome.
Hidden Items: If you haven't picked them up in the WoB, there's a Potion in
the barrel next to the Inn, a Tincture in the pot in the Weapon Shop, an
Elixir in the clock in the Relic Shop/Cafe, and a Warp Stone in one of the
crates on the docks. Also, two empty chests in the Armor Shop.
Smiling happy people, walking on sunshine. Only kind of not. Albrook turned
into a rather depressing mess of a town. The situation is bad. Kefka is ruling
the world. Monsters abound. Albrook's part, once a thriving capital of aquatic
travel and trade, is derelict. Your only hope is the rumor of a man who
passed through Albrook recently, a man with the same shimmer of hope in his
eyes. Hardly constructive, but worth a shot. The Japanese game makes specific
mention of a 'monk' here. Albrook doesn't seem like a place to hang around in
anyway.
It's time to leave. It's time to see what became of Vector, Maranda, and Tzen.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.48.1 En route to Tzen
**********************************
Location: Southern Continent
Party members: Celes
Opponents: Mesosaur, Gilomantis, Peepers, Chitonid, Gigan Toad, EarthGuard,
Osprey
Back on the Overworld Map, you'll soon notice that Vector is no more and has
been replaced by a tower. This is Kefka's seat, from where he rules the
world. That's nice. Maranda has been broken off the continent to the west.
Luckily, Tzen is still there.
Note: As soon as you enter Tzen, you'll be sucked into a side-quest from
where you'll emerge with Sabin. If you don't want this, or are not ready yet
(you'll want the Jewel Ring/Ribbon now), don't enter Tzen and skip the next
part instead. It is strongly recommended to dive into Tzen rather than skipping
it, and the game pretty much counts on you doing so, but whatever floats your
boat I suppose.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.48.2 Tzen; the Light of Judgment
**********************************
Location: Tzen
Party members: Celes
Opponents: None
When you step up the stairs, a disaster occurs! The Light of Judgment hits the
town, and it quickly becomes clear that a child is trapped in one of the
collapsing houses. Holding up the mansion is a familiar face: Sabin Rene Figaro,
wandering heir to the throne of Figaro! It's good to see him still alive, but
the situation asks for action. Leaving is impossible, as a citizen will ask you
to stay and help: "Come on!! Please help!" As soon as you stand in front
of the door Sabin will start talking to you and a timer will start, so let's
see what you can do beforehand:
Before you enter the house to save the child, you *can* get some healing at the
Inn (you won't spend the night, but you'll get some sparkly action going on)
and you can shop at the three shops Tzen has to offer.
Weapon Shop:
Kaiser 1000
Poison Claw 2500
Flame Sabre 7000
Blizzard 7000
ThunderBlade 7000
Fire Knuckle10000
It's nice to have two of each Claws. The Kaiser are too weak at this point so
you can ignore it; if you don't have two Poison Claws stock up until you do,
and you're bound to miss at least one Fire Knuckle. Grab it, as a boss battle in
the future can use double Fire Knuckles.
Armor Shop:
Gold Shld 2500
Beret 3500
Tiger Mask 2500
Gold Helmet 4000
Power Sash 5000
Gold Armor 10000
Berets for sale, so you could buy one if you missed it at the FC. The rest of
the merchandise here is old news.
Relic Shop:
DragoonBoots 9000
Sneak Ring 3000
Black Belt 5000
Back Guard 7000
Sniper Sight 3000
Peace Ring 3000
Jewel Ring 1000
Amulet 5000
Sneak Rings for sale are new, but they don't help you. What you do want is a
Jewel Ring if you still didn't buy one. Last chance, honest.
Item Shop:
Potion 300
Tincture 1500
Green Cherry 150
Fenix Down 500
Echo Screen 120
Revivify 300
Sleeping Bag 500
Super Ball 10000
In this time of turmoil, an entirely new item has appeared in the Item Shop:
the Super Ball. Unseen by many, shunned by many, forgotten by many, the Super
Ball is an item that deals damage in combat to random target for a random
amount of damage. To be more precise:
Super Ball deals 256, 512, 768, 1024, 1280, 1536, 1792, or 2048 HP damage
against 1, 2, 3, or 4 randomly decided targets. If it the same monster is
targeted twice by Super Ball, he is hit twice, meaning that the damage can
exceed 2048 HP.
In short: Super Balls are very expensive, entirely random and most of the time
not impressive enough to warrant its usage. Yes, in theory a Super Ball could do
a total of 4 x 2048 = 8192 damage against a single target, which is insane at
the moment, but I've never seen it do even remotely that kind of damage. Buy one
if you want to fill your inventory, but you won't find a lot of use for them in
most circumstances.
When you're done shopping while everybody else is panicking, try to save the
child by entering the house. For curiosity's sake, I've listed the responses
of the running townsmen and women if you manage to catch their attention:
(Guy) Must have irritated Kefka...
(Merchant) There are monsters inside! They keep petrifying everyone who goes in
to help. You using suitable Relics?
(Old man) We resisted Kefka, so he unleashed his Light of Judgment on us!
(Old woman) Hurry, or the house'll collapse!
Before you get near the mansion, set Celes up like this:
Break Blade/Blizzard/ThunderBlade/Flame Sabre
Gold Shld
Mystery Veil
Gold Armor/Gaia Gear
Black Belt (vital!)
Jewel Ring/Ribbon (likewise!)
As soon as you stand in front of the door, you'll have your conversation with
Sabin and the timer (6:00) will start running. If you are still outside of the
house while the timer runs out, you get a Game Over: your screen will display
Sabin saying: "I...I...I'm losing my grip...Keep up the fight, brother!" in
an entirely black background. It doesn't matter if you're outdoors or indoors:
Game Over, man. Better get in there and save that child.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.48.3 The Collapsing House
**********************************
Location: Tzen, Collapsing House
Party members: Celes
Opponents: HermitCrab, Pm Stalker, Scorpion
Preparation: Black Belt and petrification protection, right?
Monster formations:
Scorpion, Scorpion, Scorpion (10/16)
HermitCrab, HermitCrab, Pm Stalker (6/16)
The Scorpion is the main annoyance in this house while the HermitCrab is the
most dangerous. Meeting three Scorpion monsters will make you want to use MT
magic violence, but their Magic Defense is through the roof, you don't have
any barrier-piercing attacks at your disposal and using Fight three times takes
a long time when time is of the essence. Hence the Black Belt; Scorpions will
use !Doom Sting (sets Condemned) followed by Battle, so there's plenty of
physical attacks to take advantage of, especially because Celes is alone
anyway.
HermitCrab have two attacks to fear. The first is Net; you may remember it
from your fight against Marshal way, way back. Net stops, which is bad if you
want to hurry (you want to hurry). They won't use it until their third turn
though, so no worries as you will have killed them by then. Their other
dangerous attack is !Rock. It petrifies, and is only used when a HermitCrab is
alone and damaged by you. Sadly, this scenario includes MT killing everything
on the battlefield. Protect yourself from ridicule and enjoy that Jewel Ring or
Ribbon I advised you.
Pm Stalkers are cannon fodder with a nice name; Pm stands for Post Mortem.
Still stalking. They will use Drain, which is sad as this prevents total
invulnerability by means of Vanish. It tends to do either 0 or 6 damage (6 is
the damage a single Seizure hit takes). That's it. You can take them all out
with an MT Fire 2 spell or Ifrit's Inferno.
Use Fight and enjoy your counters during Scorpion battles, and MT Fire 2 spells
or similar kinds of violence will suffice against everything else.
Note: If you started this scenario later, you should have more characters.
Edgar's AutoCrossbow is very nice against the Scorpions, so you don't really
need the Black Belt on anybody. Make sure everybody is protected against
Petrify though. I could talk and talk about your options if you have other
characters, but since this entire bit was designed to be doable with only
one character, a full team will have so little trouble here that explaining
what to do would be insulting your position as a person capable of abstract
thought.
If you walk through the hallway, you'll come across a chest at the end. This
contains a Heal Rod; make absolutely sure you grab it. Turn left and you'll
see a chamber with a chest in it. The chest contains a Pearl Rod; go out the
same way you got in. Continue to the left and you'll see two chests. The one
in reach contains a Tincture, the one near the stairs downwards contains a
monster-in-a-box (Pm Stalker, Pm Stalker Pm Stalker, Pm Stalker).
Go down the stairway and go up the high living room or whatever it is. The
right chest contains a Magicite shard, in the middle is the kid (grab it),
and the left chest contains, again, the same monster-in-a-box of four Pm
Stalkers. The one room here you didn't pass through contains a Drainer in a
chest. Grab it if you like. Leave this mess.
Upstairs is one chest you missed, to the bottom: It contains a Hyper Wrist.
Grab it if you have the time, there's really no use for yet another one of
these Relics. Sell it or something. If you're done, get out.
Outside, the kid is safe and so is Sabin. There's hope! Yata! Etcetera. Sabin
joins the party.
If you haven't bought Sraphim yet, now's your chance to do so for only 10 GP.
The world's going to heck in a hand basket... just look at this weird stone!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.49.1 The Serpent Trench
**********************************
Location: Overworld Map
Party members: Celes, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: Mesosaur, Gilomantis, Chitonid, Gigan Toad, Osprey
This part, again, is optional. You get another Esper out of it, an encounter
with another of your friends, and a boss battle. If you want to press on
immediately, there's no rush and you can always get back later.
In the tail of the Serpent Trench lies Mobliz, a town that has been fried by
the Light of Judgment earlier. Maybe it's time to take a look? It's not
exactly on your way, but... do you even have someplace specific to go now?
Preparation: Equip an Amulet or Ribbon on Celes and Sabin! One of the monsters
can turn you into a Zombie in the very first turn, and you'd be surprised how
easy a Game Over is to obtain.
Monster formations:
Grasslands
Mesosaur, Mesosaur (10/16)
Gilomantis, Mesosaur (6/16)
Wastelands, east
Lunaris, Lunaris (10/16)
Chitonid, Gigan Toad, Gigan Toad (6/16)
Wastelands, west
Lunaris, Osprey (10/16)
Osprey, Chitonid, Gigan Toad (6/16)
Grasslands, Serpent Trench
Bloompire, Bloompire, Lizard (6/16)
Bloompire, Bloompire (5/16)
Buffalax (5/16)
Wastelands, Serpent Trench
Buffalax, Delta Bug, Delta Bug (10/16)
Delta Bug, Delta Bug, Delta Bug, Delta Bug (6/16)
Forests, Serpent Trench
Bloompire, Bloompire, Lizard (6/16)
Bloompire, Bloompire (5/16)
Buffalax (5/16)
Three new monsters on the Serpent Trench:
Buffalax are sickly animals that attack out of desperation. If you wait for four
turns he'll swap his normal Battle attack with a !Riot, Battle, Battle combo.
Gasp thrice! !Riot is merely Battle * 1.5, so there's Nothing to worry about.
If he's hit by a Magic spell, he might counter with Sun Bath. So don't.
Delta Bug uses Battle, !Rush (Battle * 1.5) and Mega Volt. Mega Volt is entirely
too weak to worry about, but it does remove Clear status, and that's annoying.
Let's see here... its name comes from the Greek symbol Delta, which was a
triangle. I'm introducing you to a whole new world here, am I not? MT Fire 2
spells and/or the Fire Dance Blitz is the way to go.
Bloompire are the most dangerous enemies here. They can start the fight off with
Battle or !Energy Sap, which sets Zombie. The second turn can feature the Bio
spell, which you don't want. The thing about Bloompire is their defenses: 254
Defense, 254 Magic Defense. They compensate by having only 12 HP, but still.
Since they're undead, the best way to penetrate those defenses is by an MT Cure
spell on them. Celes is bound to know it. Otherwise, MT Fire 2 spells and Fire
Dance can get the job done if tweaked a little. See how good your flaming is
to learn if this is a better option for you.
Whenever Delta Bug appear, Fire Dance is a good idea to clean them all up in
one go, as is an MT Fire 2 spell, if you lack Sabin. Buffalax too is weak to
Fire-elemental attacks, so if you find a lone Celes facing one, just go with
that element and hope he doesn't use Sun Bath. Bloompire is best disposed of
with an MT Cure spell (on them, obviously). It's a good idea to cast Vanish
on yourself; while the second turn of both Delta Bug and Bloompire can remove
your Clear status with Mega Volt and the Bio spell, respectively, you shouldn't
let it come that far.
Find the bridge to the Serpent Trench and walk up to the tail. When you're
almost there, you can find a Chocobo Stable in the forest just south of the
town of Mobliz. Regardless, you're here: Mobliz.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.49.2 The tail of the Serpent Trench; Mobliz
**********************************
Location: Mobliz
Party members: Celes, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: Phunbaba
Lores: Blow Fish
[PHUNBABA1-LINK]
Preparation: There will be a boss battle here, so I want you to prepare for it.
Ideally, you have Sabin with you, who I suggest you give a Hero Ring, Genji
Glove, and two Poison Claws. Equipping Golem on either will be a good asset.
Just keep Celes the way you like her, but make sure she can use Runic.
If you don't have Sabin, the next battle will be very tough. Equip a Wall Ring
and a Hero Ring, and save on the Overworld Map. Definitely have Golem on Celes
if she's flying solo here.
When you enter Mobliz, two dogs will start barking and a kid comes running out
of a house before re-entering it. Before you follow him, grab the Fenix Down on
one of the three barrels by the other burned house. You can take a nap in the
bed of the abandoned Relic Shop for HP/MP restoration.
When you enter the house, you can grab the Elixir in the clock if you didn't in
the WoB. Go down the stairs to find a whole bunch of kids, Duane and Katarin and
...Terra! But as the cutscene progresses, you'll learn the situation is more
complicated than 'hey-ho, let's go', and Terra refuses to leave. When you go
outside (before you do, make sure you're fully equipped for the fight), a kid
will come screaming in that Phunbaba is coming! You heard about Phunbaba in
Albrook, a demon from the ancient world. Terra goes out to defend the children.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.49.3 The fight with Phunbaba
**********************************
Phunbaba (# 1)
Level: 26, HP: 60000, MP: 10000
Absorbs: Lightning, Weakness: Poison
Special: !Solar Plex: Battle x 3
Sketch : !Solar Plex, Battle
Control: Battle, !Solar Plex
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Battle, !Solar Plex, Bolt 2, Bolt 3, Blow Fish
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions
This battle is a scripted battle. Terra won't be able to deliver any damage
as Phunbaba is blessed by the same kind of invulnerability as WoB Guardian was.
Terra can slave away with physicals: 0 damage. She can cast Fire 2, Bio, and
Drain: 0 damage (although she'll obtain HP from Drain). Terra is supposed to
lose here. So, don't use Morph or Elixirs or anything.
There is a way to circumvent the fixed outcome of the fight, and that's by
using Vanish/Doom. This is only possible in the SNES versions though, as Square
made the Vanish spell miss against this Phunbaba in the PSX versions.
But it doesn't matter if you lose or win by cheating (it doesn't get you any
items or MP either); the outcome will be entirely the same. Terra will be lying
on the ground, facedown, and whoever came for her (most likely Celes and Sabin,
but anything is possible) comes to her aid.
Phunbaba (# 2)
Level: 26, HP: 28000, MP: 10000
Absorbs: Lightning, Weakness: Poison
Special: !Solar Plex: Battle x 3
Sketch : !Solar Plex, Battle
Control: Battle, !Solar Plex
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Battle, !Solar Plex, Bolt 2, Bolt 3, Blow Fish, Escape
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions
Joker Doom: No.
The game prevents you from spinning 7-7-7 in this battle.
This is better. Phunbaba will start the battle with a physical, be it either
Battle or !Solar Plex. Then, he'll start using Bolt 2 and Bolt 3 spells;
finally, he can use Blow Fish, which is ill received, as 1000 damage is nothing
to laugh at when it's coming for you. Phunbaba's name, if you're wondering,
comes from the old Babylonian heroic poem 'Gilgamesh'. He was a monster there.
He got killed, too.
If you have a Celes/Sabin team, have Sabin use his dual Poison Claws for great
damage. Don't bother with Celes her damage output; have her on Runic standby.
Both should start the battle by calling up Golem's Earth Wall if they have him
equipped. If Sabin is weak, you should break the Runic guard to cure him. Smack
Phunbaba with Sabin's fists until he runs off.
If you have a solo Celes party, summon Golem to start, and fill all other
turns by casting Bio (or, lacking Bio, Ice 2) as quickly as you can. Fighting
this guy with Celes only is a risk as no matter what you do, Blow Fish is very
dangerous and Phunbaba can kill you. If you're low at HP, sneak in an X-Potion
or Elixir.
Any other team needs little guidance; you've obviously been around the world,
have collected at least four characters, and have better equipment than you need
to have. Bio spells come in handy. What else is there to say? Setzer can't spin
Joker Doom here. The best Dance is Earth Blues, while the home dance, Wind Song
is nigh worthless. Vaporite absorbs Bolt 2 and Bolt 3 while dealing acceptable
damage, although a purple Mag Roader Rage with a Wall Ring is better.
After Phunbaba storms off, Terra once again claims she won't be able to fight
for you. When you try to leave, the kid at the entrance gives you your first
new gem of happiness: the Esper Fenrir. The Japanese game makes mention of the
Fenrir Magicite being a part of Phunbaba's dropped necklace. Equip it if no
other Espers appear to teach better spells at the moment (X-Zone is nice, but
not as strategic as Stop, Vanish, Mute, etc.).
Note: If you already found the Falcon at this point, you can simply leave
Mobliz and return to finally put a permanent stop to Phunbaba and recruit Terra.
Read all about that here: [PHUNBABA2-LINK]
Leave. We're going to the head of the Serpent Trench now; you can grab a Chocobo
if you want in the Chocobo Stable in the forest.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.50.1 The head of the Serpent Trench; Nikeah
**********************************
Location: Nikeah
Party members: Celes, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: None
Monster formations:
Desert:
Black Drgn (always)
Welcome to Nikeah! Being pretty much the least important town in the entire WoB,
some have chosen to mock it for its useless northern part where only the Inn is.
Truly, Nikeah is not the best-looking town you've come across so far, but the
in-game equivalent of total blasted doomsday just happened; I don't think we
can judge less-then-perfect aesthetics right now.
Weapon Shop:
Rune Edge 7500
Flame Sabre 7000
Blizzard 7000
ThunderBlade 7000
Enhancer 10000
You probably already have at least one Rune Edge (either from grabbing the
chest in the Moogle Cave or from Stealing it from Number 024 back in the day),
but they are actually for sale now. Don't buy them; even with their MP-driven
auto-critical they are not as strong as a normal blow from the great new weapon
that's also for sale: the Enhancer. Grab three. What does the Enhancer do? First
off, it gives a +7 bonus to your Magic Power, which is very nice, Also, it
grants the wielder an extra 20% MBlock, which in this game, with the Evade bug
and all, is very, very nice indeed. I suggest you grab three and put two of them
on Celes with a Genji Glove. The Enhancer really is a great weapon, and could
be considered a weapon you want to keep equipped until the very end of the game
in certain scenarios.
Armor Shop:
Diamond Shld 3500
Bard's Hat 3000
Green Beret 3000
Diamond Helm 8000
Gaia Gear 6000
Power Sash 5000
Diamond Vest12000
Entirely new items for sale in this Armor Shop! Victory galore. I'd grab
one Diamond Shld, but don't equip it on Celes as her dual Enhancers will be
much nicer. Ignore the Diamond Helm entirely; there are better helmets out there
still (Mystery Veil, Bard's Hat, Green Beret). Grab ONE Diamond Vest and give it
to Sabin. There'll be something nicer for Celes in a short while and Diamond
equipment is crazy expansive (who would've guessed, huh).
Relic Shop:
White Cape 5000
Cure Ring 8000
Zephyr Cape 7000
Gale Hairpin 8000
Hyper Wrist 8000
Beads 4000
Amulet 5000
Czarina Ring 3000
"You took one look at me and thought I was a loser, right? You're obligated
to buy from me now!" Oddest sentence of the entire game, if you ask me. Anyway,
his merchandise isn't very special, except for the fact he has Beads for sale,
whose only use lies in saving them up for the next Mardi Gras. Also, Cure Rings
for sale; they were 20000 GP in the Auction House, so it's a relative bargain
here. Cure Rings still suck though, and you could've gotten all the Cure Rings
you ever wanted back on the FC. Other items for sale that previously weren't
include Zephyr Capes (useless; White Capes are better period), Gale Hairpins
(one is enough), and Czarina Rings (Cute, those trigger-spell-when-Near-Fatal
Relics, but hardly useful).
Item Shop:
Potion 300
Tincture 1500
Soft 200
Fenix Down 500
Revivify 300
Remedy 1000
Sleeping Bag 500
Tent 1200
Stock up if you want.
Word on the street says that Figaro Castle has had an accident and that the
South Figaro ferry is about to leave. However, if you talk to the captain of
the ship, hoping for a lift, he tells you the ship belongs to the Crimson
Robbers, the thieves that escaped the cells of Figaro Castle when it had the
accident. They're in the Cafe.
In the Cafe, talking to all of them reveals their story. Stuck in jail, they had
the fortune of being freed by sandworms. Their boss perished, but their new
leader Gerad will lead them into Figaro Castle to get their booty back. The
thieves all leave the Cafe, but on-board they are still waiting for Gerad,
who's still somewhere in town.
When you walk into town, the lost king of Figaro is seen! However, he insists
he is Gerad, the cunning leader of the Crimson Robbers. It seems the fact
'Gerad' is an anagram of 'Edgar' is mere coincidence. Follow him every time
he tries to walk off, and eventually you'll sneak onto the ferry.
Note: A lot of people find it strange that Sabin doesn't specifically react to
this semi-Edgar. One could blame the fact Sabin isn't a mandatory character
at this point, but few know there actually IS a line for Sabin at this point,
it's just never accessed in the game. Here it is:
SABIN: What's going on, here? Brother!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.51.1 South Figaro; Gerad and the Crimson Robbers
**********************************
Location: South Figaro
Party members: Celes, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: None
South Figaro had only a taste of freedom again when the world collapsed. Invaded
by the Empire, martial law, a king who has run off leaving other people to
govern, an apocalypse; South Figaro has had it rough. But the people here
haven't given up hope. They're rebuilding the houses, managing their affairs as
good as they can. We could admire this kind of determination.
Weapon Shop:
Trident 1700
Stout Spear 10000
Enhancer 10000
Gold Lance 12000
The only new item here is the Gold Lance. As you could guess, it's a Lance
stronger than the Stout Spear. While I think the Gold Lance looks kinda nice in
combat, I would still prefer the Enhancer over the Gold Lance any day, so I
won't tell you to buy one now, as in the next boss battle, the weapon with the
highest Bat. Pwr will be automatically equipped, being the Gold Lance rather
than the Enhancer (which is the one you want). Although nothing will be said,
you'll get a 50% discount if Edgar is your leading party member.
Armor Shop:
Diamond Shld 3500
Bard's Hat 3000
Green Beret 3000
Diamond Helm 8000
Gaia Gear 6000
Diamond Vest12000
DiamondArmor15000
I told you to hold off buying new equipment for Celes in Nikeah: the Diamond
Armor is the reason. I suggest you buy two if possible; your GP will be running
fairly low by now, but you'll thank me for it in the future. You could try
selling some stuff you're sure you'll never use again, such as Hyper Wrists,
Beads and the like. Although nothing will be said, you'll get a 50% discount
if Edgar is your leading party member.
Relic Shop:
Goggles 500
Star Pendant 500
Fairy Ring 1500
Amulet 5000
RunningShoes 7000
Wall Ring 6000
Cure Ring 8000
Czarina Ring 3000
There's nothing here that you want. 2 RunningShoes will be nice in the future,
but you should already have at least two of them from chests. More importantly,
make absolutely sure you don't leave before you have enough Amulets to protect
four party members against Zombie (Ribbons also do this). This is vital.
Although nothing will be said, you'll get a 50% discount if Edgar is your
leading party member.
Item Shop:
Potion 300
Tincture 1500
Eyedrop 50
Echo Screen 120
Fenix Down 500
Revivify 300
Remedy 1000
Tent 1200
Stock those stockings if your stockings need stocking.
The first time you arrived here, there was plenty to do. Now, the action in
South Figaro is slightly less. Points of interest:
- The four members of the Crimson Robbers can be found all over town. Here's
what they have to say:
"We're storming Figaro Castle! That treasure's rightfully ours!" (two)
"Some guy came through here a little while ago looking for some secret
treasure."
"Souvenir of the Empire, anyone?!" (Standing over at an abandoned MagiTek Armor)
The middle line there is rather odd for a thief that just escaped from jail,
got to Nikeah and now just returned to South Figaro. In addition, a
'normal' South Figaro inhabitant says "We may be thieves, but at least we
have goals in our lives!" There's no saying for sure, but it's likely those
lines were accidentally swapped around.
- A couple sexing each other up in the trees at the edge of town can be
disturbed if you want to: "For each life lost, a new one arrives to fill the
void! Okay! Nothing's gonna stop us!" (guy runs off) & "Oh...! That person!"
(girl runs off)
- Commander and Vector Pup opponents can still be found in the dungeon where
Celes and Locke escaped from in the WoB. This is obviously an error as there's
really no story-related reason for them to be there anymore.
- The little daughter of the richest man in town, who mentioned the Clock Key
earlier in the WoB, now talks about jumping and turtles. Crazy talk from a crazy
person, probably.
- Duncan is still alive! His wife informs you that he's meditating just north
of Narshe. If there's some time in the future, we should definitely get Sabin
to Duncan. We owe that to Sabin.
When you find Gerad in the room of the Inn, he'll immediately leave and take
the Crimson Robbers with him, still insisting that he is not Edgar. Still,
Edgar or not, you'll want to follow him to see what his plans for Figaro Castle
are. If it's Edgar, you'll want to know what the hell is going on; if it's not,
we should defend the property of Figaro in Edgar's absence.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.51.2 Pursuing Gerad and the Crimon Robbers
**********************************
Location: Overworld Map (Figaro Desert)
Party members: Celes, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: Sand Horse, Maliga, Latimeria, Nohrabbit
Preparation: If you have Float, cast it on your party. That's about it.
Grasslands
Nohrabbit, Nohrabbit, Nohrabbit (always)
Wastelands
Maliga, Maliga, Nohrabbit, Nohrabbit (always)
Desert
Maliga, Maliga, Maliga (6/16)
Sand Horse, Sand Horse (5/16)
Sand Horse, Maliga, Maliga (5/16)
Forest
Latimeria (10/16)
Latimeria, Nohrabbit, Nohrabbit, Nohrabbit (6/16)
Nohrabbit is one of the few enemies in the game with a Magic Power high enough
to supercede that of your characters (30), but you needn't fear; the only
spells these guys cast are Cure, Cure 2, and Remedy, and for some reason unknown
to man they cast it on you... when hit by Fight. Under normal circumstances
you'll find them smacking you with Battle or !Carrot (Battle * 1.5, and the
name is subject of ridicule by itself), but when bunnies would want to cure you
upon slaughter is just silly. There were healing bunnies in FF V as well, but
they tended to actually help themselves. Maybe it's a reflex reaction?
Maliga is just an upgraded version of Exocite. Battle, !Scissors, a chance
at a double !Scissors when they are alone. !Scissors is boring Battle * 1.5
shtuff. Exocite were water-based, but these wretches occupy the deserts; they
are weak against Ice and Water.
Latimeria resembles Anguiform, but that's where the similarities end. Anguiform
had an exceedingly strong Special; Latimeria has the normal Battle * 1.5
!Wind-Up attack. Instead of being a creature of water and using Aqua Rake,
Latimeria uses Magnitude8 on a regular basis. Weak against Lightning and
immune to ID. Finally, Discovery Channel Fact: a Latimeria is a fish! Why the
hell they made it a land crawler defies reason.
Sand Horse is the most dangerous enemy here. Under normal circumstances they
will repeatedly use Sand Storm or possibly !Clamp (Battle * 5!), and if they're
alone they start using Battle. You'd assume they would want to keep their
stronger attacks for the more dire situations, but oh well. Sand Horse is weak
against Ice and Water like most desert dwellers, but its most prominent weakness
is Rasp; it dies automatically when its MP reaches 0, and with only 100 MP,
any Rasp spell should do one in.
Float should circumvent Latimeria's Magnitude8, so just pound away there. Use
Fight on Nohrabbit whenever you can, their healing will do you a lot of good.
The only threat is Sand Horse; do them in with a Rasp spell or something you
know will do significant ST damage. Summoning Bismark will take care of them,
but you probably have better things to do than equip that sub-par fiend of an
Esper.
Enough dilly-dallying around. There really isn't anything on the entire
continent that deserves our interest, so let's head into the Cave of Figaro,
where we can assume the Crimson Robbers also headed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.51.3 Pursuing Gerad and the Crimon Robbers; Cave of Figaro
**********************************
Location: Cave of Figaro
Party members: Celes, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: Humpty, Cruller, NeckHunter, Dante
Preparation: A lot of monsters here will try to set the Confuse status on you,
so equip Relics that protect against Confuse like Ribbons or Peace Rings. This
is quite important, especially now that your characters are getting stronger;
while you freeze in panic your twirling characters may cast X-Zone on themselves
and give you a Game Over.
Cave of Figaro
NeckHunter, Cruller, Humpty, Humpty (10/16)
Dante (6/16)
Recovery Spring
Humpty, Humpty, Humpty, Humpty (6/16)
NeckHunter, NeckHunter (5/16)
Dante (5/16)
Corridor from Recovery Spring to Figaro Castle
NeckHunter, NeckHunter (6/16)
Humpty, Humpty, Humpty (5/16)
Cruller, Humpty, Humpty (5/16)
The first thing you see in the Cave of Figaro is an old acquaintance: Ziegfried!
He explains its wise to stay behind and let him - master swordsman that he is -
clear all the monsters out of your path. He goes off to complete this goal, but
remembering your previous encounter with him it's more along his alley to keep
you out of his way while he goes off to collect treasure that you would normally
obtain. No time to linger and wait for something to happen, time to press on!
Note: No matter how long you wait here, nothing will happen.
Humpty is just really, really fat. Never mind that jolly Buddha or that figurine
of the goddess of fertility; Humpty is a grotesquely obese little bugger with as
much to offer to the eye as a festering wound. Battle and - ugh - !Hug (sets
Confuse) are among his arsenal. Also, he's undead. What wretch has taken it onto
himself to revive only the broadest of men?
Cruller knows spells. One to be exact: Fire 2. I'd love to comment on other
features of it, but... what the hell is it? A glibbering mass of goo and
internal organs, or so it seems. Humpty at least had the decency to be overly
disgusting in a humanoid form; Cruller can't even take that to its defense.
Anyway, Cruller can start battles with Fire 2 and Battle, and if you keep him
around long enough he can use Slimer and !BrainStorm (sets Confuse). Weak to
Fire.
NeckHunter uses !Mad Sickle (sets Confuse) and Battle. That's about it. They're
probably supposed to be thieves or something; humans in dungeons almost never
make sense in RPGs. They're susceptible to ID, they're Floating, and they're
weak to Poison.
Dante. Named after the Italian writer of La Divina Commedia (which is said to
have been one of the sources of inspiration for this game by some fans), Dante
is kind of weird. He's Undead, but doesn't absorb Poison. In fact, he's weak
against it! His attacks consist out of Battle and !QuartzPike (Battle * 3), and
he rarely counters Magic spells with L. 3 Muddle. Dante is slightly more durable
than the other enemies in the cave, so it might be nice information to have that
the Life spell puts a stop to his existence. Stop, ironic enough, also puts a
stop to his existence, but it'll wear off so you'll want to hurt him in the
meantime.
Here's the strategy. The theme of this dungeon is 'Confuse'. Almost all enemies
can set it, and with new spells such as X-Zone, Confuse gets all the more
dangerous. Wear Peace Rings and/or Ribbons to prevent the horror. Boost Sabin's
Fire Dance or perhaps even Air Blade (which he learns at level 30) with a pair
of Earrings or a Hero Ring; Fire Dance offs all Humptys and Crullers. Celes
can take care of the remaining NeckHunter with her Enhancer(s). If Dante is
ever encountered, Life, Stop, or whatever normally works. This cave isn't
too difficult to plow through.
You know what the cave looks like. If you have left all the chests alone (and
I've been advising you to do so, haven't I?), they should now contain an Ether,
an X-Potion, and a very awesome Hero Ring. A HERO RING, rock on! Just walk to
the other end; once you get there you'll notice its blocked, but you'll also
notice the Crimson Robbers know a way into Figaro Castle regardless.
Also: The guy once had a turtle.
After the Crimson Robbers have disappeared and Ziegfried has followed them,
you're free to pursue both by jumping on the turtle. Use the action button for
that. You can think back to the little daughter of the richest man in South
Figaro again; this is the second time she's given good advice.
In the next room, you'll find an empty corridor with four chests that already
have been looted. Darn that Ziegfried. Press on; we might be able to catch up
with him.
In the next room, a crossroad! If you go up, you'll come across Ziegfried
opening a chest. As soon as he spots you, he runs off with the contents of the
chest, never ever to be seen again. You can't follow him; just let him go. If
you press on you come across what appears to be a dead end; a hidden passage to
the bottom lets you exit, though.
And then, the scenery changes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.51.4 Pursuing Gerad and the Crimon Robbers; Figaro Castle
**********************************
Location: Figaro Castle
Party members: Celes, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: Humpty, Cruller, Drop, NeckHunter, Dante, Tentacle,
Tentacle, Tentacle, Tentacle
Preparation: Keep the Peace Rings/Ribbons on there.
Figaro Castle basement
Humpty, Humpty, Humpty, Humpty (6/16)
NeckHunter, NeckHunter (5/16)
Dante (5/16)
Engine Room
Humpty, Humpty, Humpty, Humpty (6/16)
Drop, Drop, Drop (5/16)
Dante (5/16)
As soon as you enter, relief washes over you like a giant sea of...water. It's
Figaro Castle. Gerad seems oddly sympathetic towards a swooning local before
running off. Seriously, can we even still assume Gerad is *not* Edgar? But why
this farce?
Drop is probably Edgar's home-built security system or something, there's no
other explanation of automatic mechanical beings here. They do nothing but
use !Mad Signal every turn, which sets Confuse if you let it. If you use
Fight to damage it, it'll counter with Battle. Refrain from that, and kill
them with Magic spells (they're weak to Lightning-elemental attacks) and
Blitz techniques.
Pushing on will take you up the stairs, but you can't go out of the castle or
on the exterior; we're submerged here, remember? The only choice is to walk
into the engine room, which was hitherto forbidden territory. You'll come across
Figaro soldiers all over; obviously, the lack of food and fresh air has taken
its toll.
Simply ascending two stairs will take you into a room with four chests
containing, from right to left, a Crystal Helm (don't bother equipping it), a
Gravity Rod (what is it with Rods that new ones always appear when nobody can
equip them?), which is an Earth-elemental weapon that randomly casts Quartr,
an X-Potion, and an Ether. If you enter the door to the far left, you'll be
able to go up some stairs, enter a door, and grab a Regal Crown, which you
should equip on Sabin if he is around.
Trace back your steps to the room with the four chests, and enter the middle
door. Pass through the corridor and behold: the engine that drives Figaro
Castle, it's best-kept secret. However, the engine seems to be crawling with
...something. It must be the source of Figaro Castle's inability to move around
lately. The Crimson Robbers themselves seem rather worried by it.
Before you gently tap the shoulder of Gerad and kindly ask what the hell is
going on here, you should know that this is the only room in the game where
you can find Drop enemies. Their Rage is useless and they are entirely
uninteresting other than their elusive nature.
Talking to Gerad means the start of a boss battle, so let's prepare.
RunningShoes disables a large part of the boss' strategy, so equip them on both
Sabin and Celes if possible. Wall Rings and/or Relics that provide immunity to
the Poison status will come in handy as well. Summoning Golem and/or Fenrir is a
great idea, as is Siren. So, the following party will be greatly prepared:
Celes
Enhancer
Diamond Shld/Mithril Shld
Mystery Veil
DiamondArmor
Wall Ring
RunningShoes
Esper: Golem/Siren/Fenrir
Sabin
Fire Knuckle
Diamond Shld/Mithril Shld
Regal Crown
Diamond Vest
Wall Ring
RunningShoes
Esper: Golen/Siren/Fenrir
This is a forced Side attack by the way; know that the battlefield will
look like this:
Character #3 Tentacle Tentacle Character #1
Character #4 Tentacle Tentacle Character #2
If you didn't pick up Sabin in Tzen earlier, it's possible that you engage in
a 'Side attack' while only attacking from the front (Edgar is automatically
placed in the first slot convenient, so he'll be either #1 or #2 {if Celes was
in #1} if you didn't pick up Sabin).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.51.5 The fight with the Tentacles
**********************************
There are four Tentacles in the upcoming battle:
Tentacle (bottom-right)
Level: 31, HP: 7000, MP: 800
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Fire, Weakness: Ice, Water
Special: !Seize: sets Slow
Vulnerable to: Poison, Petrify, Mute, Slow
Attacks: Battle, !Seize, Poison, Bio, Seize, Discard, Entwine
Tentacle (bottom-left)
Level: 32, HP: 6000, MP: 700
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Water, Weakness: Fire
Special: !Seize: sets Slow
Vulnerable to: Poison, Death, Condemned, Slow
Attacks: Battle, !Seize, Poison, Bio, Seize, Discard, Entwine
Tentacle (top-right)
Level: 33, HP: 5000, MP: 600
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Lightning, Water
Special: !Seize: sets Slow
Vulnerable to: Poison, Petrify, Mute, Sleep, Slow
Attacks: Battle, !Seize, Poison, Bio, Seize, Discard, Entwine
Tentacle (top-left)
Level: 34, HP: 4000, MP: 500
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Earth, Water
Special: !Seize: sets Slow
Vulnerable to: Petrify, Slow, Stop
Attacks: Battle, !Seize, Poison, Bio, Seize, Discard, Entwine
Vanish/Doom: No
Immunity to Clear status (all four opponents).
Joker Doom: Yes
Nothing the Tentacles use screws with the RNG.
What's the point of this battle? There are four Tentacles. It gets rather
confusing because each Tentacle has its own set of status immunities and
elemental properties. But there is one thing that all Tentacles have in common;
the attacks they perform, of which the most noticeable is the Seize, the attack
both !Seize and Entwine are centered around.
What does Seize do? Seize grabs a character and renders it completely helpless.
During a period of about 30 seconds, the Tentacle that used Seize holds the
character and drains it from its HP. It's a weird little formula. It's
non-elemental and barrier-piercing and has a 5/8 chance of dealing about 60 HP
of damage every interval (which means that damage is taken less regularly if
the Tentacle is slowed and more often if Hasted).
Tentacles just use their normal attacks: Battle, !Seize to set Slow, Entwine
as an MT means of setting Slow, Poison and Bio. If they're damaged, they have
a 33% chance of countering with Battle. However, whenever a character is
Slowed, a Tentacle will always use the Seize attack and will grab the character
from which it drains HP. The Tentacle that has grasped a character doesn't
perform attacks, and the character that is Seized cannot act. This lasts for
about 30 seconds, at which point the Tentacle will use Discard to remove all
the effects of Seize. Slow was removed when the Seize attack was used.
This is why RunningShoes are so nice: with inherent Haste, both !Seize and
Entwine will never work and thus Celes and Sabin will never be Seized during
the battle.
Start the battle off by summoning one or both of your physical protection
Espers, Fenrir and/or Golem; both protect against Battle and, more importantly,
!Seize. Employ Edgar's Bio Blaster to Poison up to three of the Tentacles. If
one of your characters has Siren equipped, send her out to stop the Poison and
Bio spells of two of the Tentacles. Now the MT offenses and defenses have been
cast, it's time to kill off one Tentacle at a time.
Cast Doom on the bottom-left Tentacle to dispatch it instantly. Obviously, the
newly acquired X-Zone also works, but Doom's Hit Rate is superior and the
Doom spell is more MP-efficient.
If you summoned Siren, the most dangerous Tentacle right now is the top-left
Tentacle, as that's the only Tentacle capable of casting Poison and Bio. Cast
Stop if you have it, and focus Edgar's Drill and Sabin and Celes's level 2
spells on it until it dies. If you didn't summon Siren, you should cast the Mute
spell on both the bottom-right and top-right Tentacles. If this isn't an option,
it's best to kill the most fragile Tentacle first: the bottom-right Tentacle.
Drill and Ice 2 will kill it very quickly.
Now, the remaining Tentacles are left to your imagination. Don't bother to
use Antidote when a character is Poisoned; the battle won't take that long, so
sticking to Cure 2 spells to keep your HP up will suffice. If Sabin knows Air
Blade, stick to that, have Edgar focus on his Drill attacks, and keep Celes
around to whip out a level 2 spell that isn't absorbed whenever possible
(when Doom or X-Zone has taken care of the bottom-left Tentacle, Ice 2 is
absorbed by none of the Tentacles).
The fight against the Tentacles can be a pain, but only if you don't prepare
properly. You'll pull through.
When the battle is over, Edgar will explain his situation. If Sabin is around,
he'll say "Don't treat us like strangers anymore!". The Crimson Robbers will
split the scene with their treasure, assuming Gerad must have been eaten by
the Tentacles. Edgar decides to let them go (the Japanese game makes clear their
'booty' was useless rubbish anyway) and shows he wants to stop Kefka like the
others.
SABIN: There's only one little problem, eh, brother!
As soon as you can move, equip Edgar with two nice Relics. His headgear will
probably be the Crystal Helm you picked up earlier; you can swap it with a
Green Beret or Sabin's Regal Crown if you want.
In the treasure chamber, you'll see eight emptied chests. Looks like the
Crimson Robbers had quite a lot of items taken from them by the Figaro law
enforcement. On the armor in the middle, you can find a Soul Sabre, which is
basically an MP-version of the Drainer. It also has a 25% chance of casting
Doom with every hit. There's no real reason to equip it, so let's get out.
When you emerge from the engine room, the old man who handles subterranean
travel will say "Nonsense! It's been fixed! Next stop, the surface!" I always
thought this was a weird line until I realized it's probably supposed to be
a reply to Sabin's words he spoke over at the engine.
Thus, Figaro Castle rises amidst the golden sand of Figaro Desert. But we've
already seen there's nothing more here, so before you do anything else I suggest
you take Figaro Castle to a shiny new continent: time to travel to Kohlingen
once more.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.52.1 Figaro Castle
**********************************
Location: Figaro Castle
Party members: Edgar, Celes, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: None
Welcome to Figaro Castle! It's been a rough day, so I suggest you take a nap
for some free healing. If you didn't see the Figaro brothers cutscene earlier,
Sabin will be off as soon as you advance up in the castle and you can't access
the two towers of the castle because two soldiers are telling you to take a
nap. They're not being very subtle over at Square.
During the night, a cutscene. I won't bother describing it as it's mandatory,
and you can look up additional info in the characters section. Needless to say,
childhood nostalgia grabs the Figaro brothers, and the memories of days long
gone only strengthen their resolve to stop Kefka.
One of the girls in the guest room tells you about the Cult of Kefka. If ever a
loved one of a person in the Cult would come to its aid, however, he or she
might just snap out of it. Interesting.
Item Shop:
Potion 300
Tincture 1500
Antidote 50
Eyedrop 50
Echo Screen 120
Fenix Down 500
Remedy 1000
Tent 1200
What can I say? If you need anything, grab it here. If you have Edgar as your
leading party member, you get a 50% discount.
Weapon Shop:
AutoCrossbow 250
NoiseBlaster 500
Bio Blaster 750
Flash 1000
Debilitator 5000
Drill 3000
A new Tool is for sale here! If you didn't Steal a Debilitator during the
battle against the Cranes or Air Force, here's the thing for 5000 GP. And it's
only 2500 GP if you have Edgar as the leading party member.
Now, let's get the hell out and see what's happening in Kohlingen.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.52.2 En route to Kohlingen
**********************************
Location: Kohlingen
Party members: Edgar, Celes, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: Harpiai, Deep Eye, Bogy, Muus
If you're still enjoying the sun of Figaro, it's time to take Figaro Castle
to the other side of the oceans. When you arise and leave the castle, you'll
notice three dots on your Map: one to the north and two to the west. To
the north is Dragon's Neck Colosseum, which I'll discuss later. To the west,
there's Kohlingen and Daryl's Tomb. The northern-most one is Kohlingen. You
want to go there now. Who knows what kind of interesting things are awaiting
you there (I do, for one)? There's nothing for you now at Daryl's Tomb anyway;
it's just a featureless bulge in the ground which offers no exciting activities.
Harpiai looks pretty dangerous; the last time we saw a sprite that big on a
random encounter was the dreaded Behemoth. Harpiai's a big wimp though, so
no worries! It uses Battle, !Nail (Battle * 1.5, you shouldn't ever see it
unless you're waiting for it as it may appear every fourth round), Aero, which
admittedly hurts pretty badly (it's like a Wind-elemental MT level 3 spell),
and Pearl Wind. With 1500 HP, all you should do is kill it pretty quickly.
It's weak to Wind-elemental attacks, so Sabin's Air Blade technique gets the
job done, as does the usual violence.
Deep Eye is one of those odd monsters that attacks you, and continues to use
Escape every other turn. Every first turn they may lunge at you to use Battle
or let you sink into that hypnotizing eye of theirs to use !Dreamland
(sets Sleep). And yes, every second turn means 33% Escape. Kill them all
quickly with Fire-elemental attacks such as an MT Fire 2 spell and Fire Dance.
The interesting thing about Deep Eye is the fact they make for a Rage that
uses the Dread attack, but the special property of Dread (only checks for
Petrify protection, not ID protection) isn't important right now, so I'll
talk about it later.
Bogy is boring. !Oogyboog (Battle * 2) sounds kinda retarded too. Inherent
Safe and immunity to ID attacks makes it slightly durable, but since in the
extended period of time Bogy is allowed to live it accomplishes nothing of
significance, you can just pound away until it dies.
I'd love to give Muus a little credit as life is tough enough if you lack
a backbone in the literal sense of the word. You'd miss out on massages,
which if you ask me is like sex, only it doesn't make a mess or anything and
you don't have to pay for it/have awkward moments when you break up/actually
do anything yourself if you don't want to (Editor's note: the writer of these
lines is nowhere near as much a chauvinistic pig as he would have you believe).
But in the end, it's clear as day that Muus is as staggeringly dumb as
2006's Samuel L. Jackson flick 'Snakes on a Plane'. It may randomly use Pep Up,
also as a counter to your Magic spells. Muus will never use Pep Up when it's
the last monster standing on the field, and will solely use Battle and !Gunk
(Japanese roots: Icky Sticky Goo) to set Slow. Like Flan monsters, Muus nulls
the effect of every elemental attack that isn't Fire-, Ice- or Lightning-
elemental.
In the end, the only attack that could hurt you if protected by Clear is
Harpiai's Aero, and quick acting and/or Mute setting prevents it from
occurring. Sabin's Fire Dance Blitz technique helps against the Deep Eyes
where his Air Blade is very effective against Harpiai.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.53.1 Kohlingen
**********************************
Location: Kohlingen
Party members: Edgar, Celes, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: None
Kohlingen! The last time you passed through here on a mission you were trying
to find Terra. Right now, you're pretty much trying to find everybody.
Kohlingen is another example of a city in despair. Nothing seems to work out
anymore in this world.
Points of interest in Kohlingen:
- A girl mentions a man with a 'quaint' way of talking passed through Kohlingen
recently. This must be Cyan! It's good to hear that old man is still kicking.
We should pick him up when we have the chance, never mind his sub-par skills
in combat ;).
- To the north, a woman and a little girl are staring at a tile. They planted
some seedlings there, and are trying to see if anything comes from it. Results
so far have been disappointing. If you stand on the tile, they will reprimand
you and you quickly jump off.
- An old woman can show you a flashback of WoB Kohlingen. Ah, nostalgia...
- A Narshe Guard tells you that Narshe has been forsaken and completely overrun
by monsters. Poor Mog...
- The old man who told you earlier of his crazy (younger, btw) brother who
wanted to build a Colosseum now praises him as a visionary; apparently, the
Colosseum has been built! We should definitely check it out some day. Also, a
mean guy is fighting there looking for a weapon called the Striker. Handy info,
lady. We're always looking for interesting new ways to be murdered.
- Sadly for Celes, Locke isn't anywhere to be seen in Kohlingen. The man who
preserves Rachel figures he's returned to his quest of finding the restoration
relic to revive Rachel.
But the main attraction in Kohlingen is waiting for you in the Pub, drinking
his troubles away: Setzer Gabbiani. What was once a dashing pirate with more
bravado than the entire city of Jidoor combined is now a broken man burping
into his wine, brooding over his lost wings.
Celes snaps him out of it; the sight of a beautiful woman hasn't lost its
appeal for Setzer, apparently. Hope fills his heart, and he mentions another
airship, in a tomb nearby. He shows you the way. We've got us another mission
statement!
On your way out, you run across the Narshe guard again, who has also been
inspired by Celes's words. The mysterious Esper that was dug up at the very
start of the game is still in Narshe. We might just be able to wake it up
and harness its power in the struggle against Kefka!
Item Shop:
Potion 300
Tincture 1500
Antidote 50
Fenix Down 500
Revivify 300
Remedy 1000
Sleeping Bag 500
Tent 1200
Buy some Revivifies; 20 is a nice amount of have. Surely, you have Relics to
protect against Zombie so you don't need to heal the status, but you can never
be too safe when it comes to Zombies. If Night of the Living Dead has taught
us anything, by the gods, it is that.
Armor Shop:
Diamond Shld 3500
Bard's Hat 3000
Green Beret 3000
Diamond Helm 8000
Diamond Vest12000
DiamondArmor15000
More of the same, but now that Setzer has joined your party you can use some
more of it. I suggest you buy a DiamondArmor and a Diamond Shld; the Green
Beret is still a superior Helmet to the Diamond Helm, and doesn't cost you
anything.
Weapon Shop:
Darts 10000
Dice 5000
Trump 13000
Enhancer 10000
Gold Lance 12000
There are three weapons of interest here, and two new weapons for Setzer for
sale! I'll discuss the Dice last, as they require the largest introduction.
- The Trump weapon is oddly misnamed by Ted Woolsey; they look like darts
in-battle, while a later weapon called the Doom Darts look like cards. The
PSX version has this sorted out again, calling Trump the Doom Darts and vice
versa. If this whole thing confuses you, take a look at section 8.13 for more
information. At any rate, the Trump has the X-type Instant Death ability, like
the Assassin Dirk. The next dungeon will be crawling with Undead enemies, making
the Trump entirely useless. They'll have some use in Colosseum though, so if
you feel like going there in a moment, buy two.
- The Gold Lance could be bought earlier, but I advised against it as you would
want the Enhancer its +7 Magic Power and + 20% Magic Block. Since the Jump
command is about to take a great power-up and Lances are, as opposed to the
normal 50% boost, twice as effective with Jump, you'll probably want the Gold
Lance for Edgar.
- The Dice are a very weird weapon. Allow me to pass judgment first; the Dice
are not worth it. The Dice completely ignore any normal kind of physical damage
formula (which is why they are always placed all the way down when choosing
a Weapon in the Equipment screen), and instead do the following:
When attacking with the Dice, two dice will be rolled on the target. The
result of the dice determine the damage in the following manner:
First dice roll * second dice roll * 2 * level
Sadly, the Dice are rigged against Setzer, much like his Slot command is
rigged against him: 1, 2, 3 and 4 have a 3/16 chance of being rolled, while
5 and 6 only have a 2/16 chance of being rolled.
Fighting with the Dice makes for an unblockable, barrier-piercing attack (as
the target's Defense isn't factored in the damage calculation whatsoever).
While the Dice will be ideal in a bit, they are a consistently poor choice of
weapon as the damage output is, on average, inferior to your normal weapons at
this time.
You should buy one, though, as 5000 GP isn't that much and you'll want
to use them before you get another chance to buy them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.53.2 Dragon's Neck Colosseum
**********************************
Location: The Colosseum
Party members: Edgar, Celes, Optional: Sabin, Setzer
Opponents: a'plenty
[COLOSSEUM1-LINK]
Welcome to the Dragon's Neck Colosseum, a monument to combat. Fighters from all
over the world gather here to test their skills against each other, as do
several creatures. The stakes? Rare relics, priceless weaponry, the greatest
of armor. Whatever you have, it can be found at the Colosseum at least twice
as sturdy and sharp.
First, let's scout around here. Ultros is a receptionist now; he warns you about
Chupon and is a pest like usual, but doesn't attack you, in a surprising turn of
events. The real Siegfried resides in a room where he warns you of his
imposter (yes, you can fight Siegfried in the Colosseum, but not now). The last
Imperial soldier is also here, and he gives you a hint about 'talking to the
Emperor twice'. Strange, since the Emperor is quite thoroughly dead. In the
Japanese game, this soldier mentions he gave this info to a certain friend of
his earlier, a friend with a bandana.
How does the Colosseum work? You bet an item. An opponent will rise to meet
your challenge, always the same opponent for the same item. You'll lose your
bet item regardless, but if you win, you'll be given an item in return, an item
often greater than the one you bet in the first place. If you cast Warp in-
battle or are Sneezed out of the battle, you'll keep your bet item.
Your characters act like they are Confused, but attack the 'normal' targets.
That means that characters in the Colosseum will never use Item, Revert, Throw,
Control, Slot, Leap, Def., or Possess. Item and Throw are great to have listed
as such, as you don't have to have a chance of using that single Megalixir or
throwing a unique weapon away. You can't run successfully in the Colosseum
(you'll just start running but will never get anywhere - you don't take any
turns though) but the Warp spell does work.
Not all items can be traded for superior weapons here; most weak or common
items will pit you against Chupon, who will promptly use Sneeze to end the
battle (you can defeat him, but it'll take a long while before you'll even come
close). If Chupon Sneezes you away, the battle is considered a draw and you'll
keep the Item you wagered.
At this point, here's what you can do to make your life better:
Easy wins:
Fenix Down - Magicite Opponent: Cactrot
Elixir - Rename Card Opponent: Cactrot
Doable wins:
Flame Sabre - Ogre Nix Opponent: Evil Oscar
Murasame - Aura Opponent: Borras
Tintinabar - Exp. Egg Opponent: Dark Force
Ribbon - Gold Hairpin Opponent: Dark Force
Gold Hairpin - Dragon Horn Opponent: Evil Oscar
Hardly doable wins:
Charm Bangle - Dragon Horn Opponent: Retainer
An explanation on the new items you can obtain here:
The Rename Card is a 'secret' item that can only be found by fighting at the
Colosseum. It enables you to rename one of your characters, after which it
disappears.
The Ogre Nix is a very odd weapon. It's stronger than what you've seen so far,
and uses MP to inflict Critical hits. It can deal an incredible physical blow
for only 12 to 19 MP a hit. In fact, it deals more damage on a critical blow
than two Enhancers. Sadly, there is also a downside to the Ogre Nix. Namely,
it can break while being used, and the chance is pretty big: an average of 28%.
Here's how that's decided:
[0..(last digit of attacker's HP + 1)] = 0
At any rate, you don't really want to risk losing your precious Ogre Nix; on
the other hand, if you can't use it, what good does it do for you? There is one
way to circumvent the whole breaking thing without it losing its charm; use
the Black Belt! When countering, the Ogre Nix will never break. So, the best
way to use the Ogre Nix is equip it on Celes and/or Edgar, stick to level 2
spells and/or Tools and swing the Ogre Nix in self-defense.
The Aura is simply superior to the Murasame. If you're disappointed by the
sudden lack of legendary weaponry in your inventory, don't fret; the Aura is
actually the Masamune, stupidly translated by Ted Woolsey.
The Exp. Egg (Experience Egg) doubles the Experience Points gained by the
wearer. Two Exp. Eggs don't stack, and ONLY the wearer receives twice as many
Experience Points.
The Dragon Horn is a beauty. Whenever the wearer uses a Jump command (by either
wearing DragoonBoots or by being picked up by the Palidor Esper you'll receive
in a while), the wearer won't come down once, but twice, thrice or sometimes
even four times. Here are the odds:
75% chance for 2 attacks
18.75% chance for 3 attacks
6.25% chance for 4 attacks
- Fenix Down - Magicite Opponent: Cactrot
Equip Setzer with the Dice you bought in Kohlingen. Relics, equipment, it's not
needed. The Coin Toss Relic is a negative factor as that could make him win
while losing some money as opposed to making him win without any downsides.
Every time Setzer's turn comes up, he tosses out his Dice and wins.
- Flame Sabre - Ogre Nix Opponent: Evil Oscar
Equip Sabin with two Fire Knuckles and a Ribbon. If Evil Oscar uses Sneeze,
the battle is over and you'll still have your Flame Sabre. Eventually, Sabin's
Fire Knuckles will pound Evil Oscar into burning pulp and you'll have won a
new sword, the Ogre Nix.
- Murasame - Aura Opponent: Borras
Equip Sabin with two Poison Knuckles and a Black Belt. Make sure you Save, as
this battle will be over soon, regardless of its outcome. All Sabin needs at a
decent level is two Fight commands; all that Borras needs if Sabin is at a
decent level is two !Uppercuts. The Black Belt increases your chances at killing
him before he kills you.
- Tintinabar - Exp. Egg Opponent: Dark Force
Dark Force has about 9000 HP, and has a 1/4 chance at using Pearl Wind. Odds
are you don't have the offensive strength to take him down before he takes you
down. What you'll want to do is rely on your Instant Death weapons, as that's
what Dark Force is susceptible to. Setzer's Trump weapons, if possible paired
up with a Genji Glove, can take him out easily, as can a Soul Sabre.
- Charm Bangle - Dragon Horn Opponent: Retainer
Retainer's three bad habits are all Instant Death-related. He has a 25% at
using !Tradeoff every turn, which kills you. He also can cast Condemned,
giving you only a limited time to off him. But the worst part is that he will
always use !Tradeoff when he dies. High Magic Block increases the chance
to circumvent that guaranteed !Tradeoff, but you won't be able to deal enough
damage in that case. If you really want to give it a shot, my personal luck has
always been with Sabin, dual Poison Claws, and a White Cape. It's a slim chance,
but it's as good as it gets at this point and the Dragon Horn is really
awesome.
- Ribbon - Gold Hairpin Opponent: Dark Force
If you think you really don't need full Ribbon coverage (and you really
don't, to be honest), you can bet a Ribbon for a Gold Hairpin when fighting
a Dark Force (possibly for swapping it with a Dragon Horn later).
- Gold Hairpin - Dragon Horn Opponent: Evil Oscar
If you chose the Gold Hairpin over Mog earlier or decided you weren't going
to use that Ribbon anyway, you can easily trade your Gold Hairpin for a Dragon
Horn right now. For strategy, just take a look at what I said earlier.
At any rate, do what you feel like investing time in and leave again. We
have an airship to recover.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.53.3 Daryl's Tomb
**********************************
Location: Daryl's Tomb
Party members: Edgar, Celes, Setzer, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: Orog, Osteosaur, Mad Oscar, PowerDemon, Exoray, Presenter, Dullahan
First room
Osteosaur (10/16)
Orog, Orog (6/16)
Orog, PowerDemon, PowerDemon (1/16)
Main room
Mad Oscar, Exoray (6/16)
PowerDemon (5/16)
Exoray, Exoray, Exoray (5/16)
Preparation: The theme of the dungeon is Zombie! Of the five random encounter
monsters present in this dungeon, four have the power to turn your characters
into a Zombie. This is serious business, so you should definitely equip Relics
to prevent this madness, even though the monsters here drop Revivifies like
it's going out of style.
Osteosaur. Osteo means 'bone', so it's an apt title. He sure looks rather
terrifying; he appears in my top 10 rather-not-meet-IRL list anyway, just below
2004 pop idol Ashlee Simpson. Osteosaurea have three attacks. Battle and !Fossil
(sets Zombie) should be obvious, but ChokeSmoke is an entirely new attack.
ChokeSmoke sets Zombie, but only hits characters with the Wound status. In
other words, it can only revive characters as Zombies. Used without intelligent
AI script, it's almost always a wasted turn. Osteosaur is your run-of-the-mill
undead opponent, weak against Fire and Pearl and whatnot. No biggy.
Orog looks awesome. Every turn, it can use up to three (!) !Zombite attacks,
which set Zombie. When damaged, it may retaliate with Battle; if harmed by
Magic spells, a Bio spell may be sent your way. Aside of their looks and
awesome Zombifying skills, Orog is rather boring. He's undead like almost
everything in here, and has the normal weaknesses for it too. May drop an
Amulet (12.5% chance) as opposed to the standard Revivify.
PowerDemon's Special is called !Daze Dance and, in a shocking change of style,
drains HP rather than setting Zombie. So, does PowerDemon lack the power of
Zombie-setting? Nay, not at all. The rarely seen Soul Out attack can target
a single character and turn him or her into a Zombie. Yawn. Furthermore,
PowerDemon has 'Flare' written all over it, in its Rage, Sketch, and Control
attacks. Luckily, PowerDemon will never actively use it against you.
Exoray are the most common in here. They can use Battle, !DoomPollen (sets
Zombie), and Virite, but they will only use Virite when alone. Since you should
be covered in either Amulets or Ribbons, Virite's Poisoning effect will be
lost on you, sticking Exoray with a weak, inaccurate Poison-elemental attack.
Stick to what works against them, as they are as undead as the rest.
The only living enemy in Daryl's Tomb is Mad Oscar. They are the most sturdy
of the monsters here and use, besides Battle and !Drool (sets Seizure), Sour
Mouth, an attack that sets Dark, Poison, Imp, Mute, and Muddle and can be
learned by Strago in the future. Even with an Amulet, that turns one of your
characters into a sleeping Imp that cannot even cast the Imp spell.
I suggest dual Fire Knuckles on Sabin, as he will kill every target with it
on a remotely decent level, including Mad Oscar. A Black Belt/Ogre Nix combo
on Celes works very nicely (make sure she's in the Front Row here). If you
didn't bother to grab the Ogre Nix at the Colosseum, just give her an Earrings
Relic (or Hero Ring, obviously) and spam Fire 2 spells all over. Edgar can use
Tools to inflict consistent damage (give him dual Enhancers if you
like). His DragoonBoots/Dragon Horn/Gold Lance is less intelligent as you'll
need one of those Relic slots for an Amulet/Ribbon. Setzer is the weakest link
at the moment. GP Rain does more damage than 7-Flush/Chocobop with double
Earrings behind them, so if you ever wanted to use GP Rain now's the time.
You can't logically have double Earrings anyway, as you'll want an
Amulet/Ribbon in there somewhere. Don't attack with Setzer's Trump, as that
will just revive every monster but Mad Oscar (who IS susceptible to its
X-type Instant Death).
Push through the first room. Make sure you meet an Osteosaur here, as well as
an Orog. Both have acceptable Rages you might just want to use.
As soon as you enter the main chamber of the tomb, you'll notice you can go
in five different directions. Oh, the difficulty! I'll tell you where you want
to go though, so no worries. First, let's dive into the bottom-right path for
some quick chesty action: it's a Genji Helmet, the strongest piece of heavy
headgear in the game (and Crystal equipment hasn't even appeared on sale yet!).
Equip it on Setzer or Edgar; it even beats the disgustingly over-used Green
Beret.
Now, get in the top-right room. This looks like just a tombstone in a deserted
room, but examine the tombstone and another passageway opens! It leads to
a skeleton button of some sort. Push it to raise the water level in a room.
Trace back your steps to the main room, and dive into the bottom-left room.
You'll come across a chest (Crystal Mail, something for Celes, Setzer, or
Edgar), go down some stairs and come across another chest (Czarina Gown). The
Czarina Gown is a Relm-exclusive piece of Armor that, sadly, isn't all that
good. You can bet it later for a Minerva bustier at the Colosseum though, which
is pretty much the best option for some characters including Celes. Enter the
door to come in a watery room with another skeleton button. Press it to open
a door you can't reach. Trace back to the main room, and go through the door in
the middle, leading inwards.
Here, another turtle! Had you not pushed skeleton button # 1, you couldn't have
stepped on the turtle. Now, the faithful reptilian carries you across.
On the other side, another skeleton button! Press it, and the water level of
the room you pushed skeleton button # 2 in raises to your aid, carrying
another turtle. But don't hop on just yet. Go down for now, and you arrive in
a room with four tombstones.
ERAU QSSI
DRLO WEHT
Collect all four inscriptions, and have a look at it. From bottom-right to
top-left, backwards, it reads 'the world is square'. I've always found this to
be the surprisingly beautiful jewel in the unholy and disgusting crown of Ted
Woolsey. This is supposed to be the final revelation Daryl had while piloting
her airship, the revelation that cost Daryl her life: not only is the Overworld
Map square, which she might have seen from high above, the name of the company
that created the game was at the time also Square, which would make the world
'Square' as well.
In the Japanese version, it was an entirely different pun. One way, it read
'rest in peace'. The other way, it read 'rot and wither'. Very dark. Very
gothic.
Go back to the main room, and find the top-left room. Had you examined the
tombstone in this room earlier, upon choosing to carve something would have
given you a "Nothing appropriate comes to mind..." Now, you get to choose
between the four inscriptions you read earlier. Start from the beginning of
the backwards sentence (THEW, OLRD, ISSQ, UARE) and you'll be rewarded with the
Game Over music and the secret of the hidden Exp. Egg in Daryl's Tomb:
Find the "Exp. Egg" hidden in a back room in the third basement...
Go to the room where you found the Czarina Gown (bottom-left room, down the
stairs) and find the hidden passage to the chest there. Obviously, this was an
option from the start, but I always thought this puzzle was pretty neat and
didn't want to spoil it for you. >:)
Go back to where you traced back for the inscriptions, and cross the water
with the turtle. You'll enter a new room, with a Save Point and two chests.
The right chest contains a Man Eater dirk.
The Man Eater deals double damage to every opponent with a humanoid appearance.
To learn about the opponents this includes, follow [MANEATER-LINK]
Now, MT Float your party, because the left chest contains a monster-in-a-box,
Presenter, which uses a ground-based attack. Make sure Float is set, and be
sure to equip Shoat (Golem's nice too).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.53.4 The fight with Presenter
**********************************
Whelk Head (Presenter Head)
Level: 31, HP: 9845, MP: 1600
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Dragon Claw (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Lightning, Water, No effect: Poison, Weakness: Fire
Special: !Petriblast: sets Petrify
Sketch : !Petriblast, Battle
Control: Battle, !Petriblast
Vulnerable to: Petrify, Death, Condemned, Mute, Sleep, Slow, Stop
Attacks: Battle, !Petriblast, El Nino, Mega Volt
Presenter
Level: 19, HP: 9230, MP: 1600
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Dragon Claw (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Lightning, Water, Weakness: Fire
Status: Float
Special: !Hit: Battle x 1.5
Sketch : !Hit, Battle
Control: Battle, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Petrify, Death, Condemned
Attacks: Battle, Blow Fish, Mega Volt, Giga Volt, Magnitude8.
Vanish/Doom: Yes
The shell only. You'll only get one Dragon Claw though, so it's a bad move.
Joker Doom: Yes
Blow Fish screws over the RNG. It won't use Blow Fish until the second turn
though, so you should be able to set up Echo Screen/Joker Doom before it
comes around.
There are a few oddities about this thing. First off, it's supposed to be a
scary Whelk upgrade, at which it fails. Second, notice how the shell is
Floating but the head isn't? The tale of a creature whose head was too heavy
to carry hasn't been new since Catoblepas, but I've never seen it applied to
a snail before. Presenter also made an appearance in the 1996 Square game
'Bahamut Lagoon' which never hit the shores of America. Same name, same sprite,
has a tendency to appear when you destroy buildings with Thunder-techs.
Also, the game designers made a little mistake we're going to exploit here; we
were never supposed to obtain more than one Dragon Claw from this fight, but
we're getting two. Just watch me.
The AI script of the head is simple. If you damage the head two times, it'll
retract into its shell, disappearing from the battlefield. It'll remain there
for 20 seconds, at which point is comes out again. It'll use Battle,
!Petriblast, El Nino, and Mega Volt without too many difficulties to it, so be
ready for any of them at all times.
The shell attacks by itself, and is no longer just an object of counters.
Battle, Mega Volt, and Blow Fish may appear at all times, and especially Blow
Fish should be watched out for. When the head has been retracted, it'll stop
using these attacks and switch over to Magnitude8. Whenever the shell is
damaged, it has a 33% chance at retorting with Giga Volt.
The strategy we're aiming for is simple. If one of the parts dies, the other
one dies as well, but will NOT give us the item. Thus, if we want both Dragon
Claws (and we certainly do, as Presenter is the only source for Dragon Claws
in the game), we have to kill them both at the same time.
First, our defenses! If you didn't cast Float earlier, do so at the start of
the battle. ZoneSeek helps against Mega Volt, Giga Volt, and El Nino. Golem
and/or Fenrir protect against Battle and !Petriblast. You could have Celes on
Runic stand-by for Mega Volt and Giga Volt, but it's not worth it. Now, let's
kill this snail.
Since both targets are susceptible to Instant Death attacks and Petrify, the
two best strategies are using X-Zone and using Shoat's Demon Eye. However, we
don't want to take any chances, do we? First, if you have the Vanish spell,
cast it on the shell to ensure that X-Zone/Demon Eye will hit it. Remember,
this is NOT a bug exploit; the shell is susceptible to ID attacks, and
setting Clear just makes sure it hits, what it was always supposed to do.
Sadly, we can't apply Sleep or Stop to make sure X-Zone/Demon Eye works on
the head, because both attacks check for the target's Stamina (in which case
those steps are ignored). So, we'll just have to take our chances here. Since
Demon Eye is more accurate than X-Zone, it takes preference. If the head is
missed, I suggest you reload the game.
When you're done, equip both Dragon Claws on Sabin. They are Pearl-elemental,
so they still do massive damage to everything in the tomb. Not that it's really
that big of a deal now, since we're about to leave it; in the next room, we
finally come across the tombstone of Daryl herself. Examining it triggers a
boss battle, which in my opinion is one of the better yet more redundant boss
battles of this game.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.53.5 The fight with Dullahan
**********************************
Before you do, I want you to throw around your equipment and Relics, as
Dullahan (the boss) is rather tough and entirely unlike the random encounters
you've been facing so far.
- If you have a Dragon Horn, throw it on Edgar with some DragoonBoots. Equip
a Gold Lance. Put him in the Back Row.
- The boss is weak against Fire-elemental attacks, so Sabin's dual Fire
Knuckles will take good care of him here. Give him a Hero Ring (or Atlas
Armlet) and RunningShoes to accompany his bashing.
- Celes' Ogre Nix/Black Belt set-up, if you had it, will be useless. She will
be using Runic almost non-stop, so equip her defensively. Dual Enhancers are
a good choice. Since Dullahan is pretty fast, I suggest RunningShoes on Celes
to keep up with his spell casting.
- Setzer should just run utility. Give him the Coin Toss to make sure he can
just do constant damage when he doesn't need to do anything else. Two sets of
Earrings and the Slot command also do the trick, but this isn't nearly as
strong at this point and wastes more Relic slots.
Also, make sure that none of your characters possess a level that is evenly
divisible by the last digit of your party's gold. I'll explain why later.
Dullahan
Level: 37, HP: 23450, MP: 1721
Steal: Genji Glove(rare), X-Potion (common)
Absorbs: Ice, Weakness: Fire
Status: Float, Haste
Special: !Morn Star: Battle x 2
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Battle, !Morn Star, Cure 2, Ice 2, Ice 3, Pearl, L? Pearl, Reflect???,
Absolute0, N. Cross
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: Yes
Pearl messes with the RNG. It doesn't use Pearl until its second turn though,
not counting its L? Pearl attack he starts the fight with. In other words, it's
no big deal as you can set up Echo Screen/Joker Doom well before that happens.
Dullahan is badass. Although he looks like he'd rather impale you with that
lance of his any day, he's an almost exclusive spell caster with inherent Haste.
Both his spells and Magic Power are relatively strong, so expect a challenge
here. Its name comes from an ancient spirit from Irish mythology: a headless
horseman who only travels to collect somebody's life. Its carriage is made of
bone, its horses have flaming eyes, and it will stop at nothing...
Dullahan always starts the battle off with L? Pearl. This is a strong Pearl-
elemental attack, in terms of power similar to level 3 spells. Its drawback
is that it will only hit targets whose level is divisible by the last digit
of your GP. This is why I told you to make sure that it never hits; it leaves
quite a mark.
Under normal circumstances, he'll just focus on his three main spells, being
Ice 2, Ice 3, and Pearl. When he detects any characters in your party with
the Reflect status, he'll use Reflect??? on your entire party. It will display
"???? on wall-protected person", setting Dark, Mute, and Slow on every character
with the Reflect status. If he dives beneath 10240 HP, he'll use Cure 2
instantly once. If he passes through four normal turns, he'll regain the
ability to cast Reflect??? and/or Cure 2 if the situation calls for it. Finally,
whenever you hit him, there's a 33% chance he counters with Battle. Oh, my.
If you damage him eight times, he'll get four turns where he uses nastier
spells. Ice2 and L? Pearl can make another appearance, but so can !Morn Star,
Absolute0, and N. Cross. You can't Runic your way out of these new spells,
which makes them harder to stop. N. Cross, while being vulnerable to Runic,
is the most dangerous of the five.
N. Cross sets the Freeze status ailment, which you could already encounter in
the fight versus Naughty, who could set it with Cold Dust. N. Cross is MT, but
uses an 'interesting' way to determine if it hits or not. After it checks if
it hits or not (after Clear, Magic Block, the usual), it randomly misses from
0 to 4 characters. This makes sure that even when all characters are normally
hit, you'll almost never see a party entirely frozen. That is good, as it's
basically mega-Stop and you cannot protect against it AT ALL. Remember that the
fastest way to dispel the Freeze status is to hit the party with a Fire-
elemental attack; the Fire spell is obviously the best one.
There are two strategies you can employ. I'll list them both, as both should
be perfectly fail-safe if you know what you're doing. Here they are:
Strategy # 1: Hit Points
This is the strategy where we use violence to end Dullahan. First off, let's
set up our available defenses. ZoneSeek is nice should Absolute0 make an
appearance, as is Golem or Fenrir for !Morn Star and Battle counters. Have
Celes use Runic, continuously. If she isn't wearing RunningShoes, make sure
you cast the Haste spell on her. Now, let's get to the violence! Your main
damage dealers here are Sabin and Edgar. Sabin should be in the Front Row with
two Fire Knuckles. If Celes is absorbing one of Dullahan's spells, sneak a Bserk
spell on Sabin for increased damage. If Edgar is equipped with the Dragon Horn,
have him Jump. If not, stick to Tools; you can see what I want to do with him.
Setzer should just stand by and use Potions on hurting characters.
Since Celes should pretty much absorb all of Dullahan's attacks, you should be
safe from his attacks. In the end, you should prevail.
Strategy # 2: Magic Points. Or I suppose they are Mana Points, as you get Magic
Points after battles. Whatever.
Dullahan dies if you rasp away his MP. Thus, the entire offensive arsenal you
get to use in this strategy is Rasp. The advantage of the strategy is that if
you have two to four Rasp casters, you'll find that the battle is over far
quicker. Its downside is that it DOES require that many Rasp casters, and that
since Rasp is vulnerable to Runic, you can't protect yourself against Dullahan's
attacks and have to regularly heal.
On a normally raised party, I find both strategies equally satisfying; it's
your pick, really.
After you've defeated Dullahan, a passageway will be opened. Walk behind the
tombstone to enter the final part of this dungeon, a long stairway leading
downwards that is as much descending into Setzer's memory as anything...
This tells the story of two rivaling friends. Setzer was about 18 here; not
yet a gambler, but an airship enthusiast with the dream of building the fastest
ship in the world, a dream he shared with his friend Daryl. Sadly, Daryl
pulled an Icarus on Setzer and wrecked herself, together with her airship, the
Falcon. Funny: the Japanese version of 'Or do you like chewing in my wake?' is
'Or do you like staring at my ass?'
Upon ascending from the waters, Celes will spot - gasp - a bird. In the sky!
A bird in the sky! This must be an omen. She quickly urges you to follow it,
to the town of Maranda. So Setzer does.
When you fly around, there's a change you'll be attacked by the monster called
Doom Gaze. Doom Gaze will drop the Bahamut Magicite, which teaches the Flare
spell. There's no reason to not obtain these skills right away, but it's better
to get some new equipment before you take the guy on. If you want to know
about Doom Gaze now, take a look at [DOOMGAZE-LINK]. Make sure that you save
ASAP once you get the Falcon, since you never know when an unprepared party
meets up with this flying fiend.
Another important note: if you really, truly want to gain access to Gau ASAP,
that can be done. All you have to do is get rid of a party member, fly over
to the Veldt and meet him there. However, how do you tell a party member to
buzz off without his/her feelings? If you have a Warp Stone or a character with
the Warp spell, fly over to Kekfa's Tower, descend into it and Warp out. Setzer
will be piloting the Falcon by himself now, and you can go below deck to
assemble a team of your choosing. There you go.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.1 Airship Exploitation: Visiting Maranda
**********************************
Location: Maranda
Party members: Edgar, Celes, Setzer, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: None
Welcome to Maranda. The last time you visited Maranda it was one of the
occupied towns, generally featureless, safe for Lola, the girlfriend of the
wounded lad in Mobliz.
A lot of random information is blurted out by the townspeople here. A thief
mentions he visited the tower of the Cult of Kefka, and one of them used to
mumble 'to the right of the treasure chest' in his sleep. Since none of the
thieves ever made it past the first room, we should examine that place should
we ever get there.
Now, the bird turned out to be a carrier pigeon for Lola; according to Aishya,
the girl running circles below Lola's house, she's been receiving a lot of
letters lately. Once you enter her house, you find dozens of silk flowers here.
Also, a letter seemingly written by the wounded lad in Mobliz, but that's
impossible. Somebody must be posing as him. Accept the 'mission' of sending a
carrier pigeon out as a reply so we can track the source of this imposter.
The pigeon flies across the ruined lands of this new world until it reaches
a town to the north of Jidoor, and although the world map has changed a lot,
this town can be none other than Zozo.
Weapon Shop:
Gravity Rod 13000
SwordBreaker16000
Falchion 17000
Fire Skean 500
Water Edge 500
Bolt Edge 500
Inviz Edge 200
Shadow Edge 400
You've already found a Gravity Rod, and since it was entirely uninteresting
back then I'm sure you can figure out you really don't need another one. The
SwordBreaker is a new Dirk not suited for any of your characters. Sadly, the
SwordBreaker took a serious blow from the Evade bug; since it's main advantage
was a + 30% Evade - which obviously won't be affecting anything now - it's
just a useless piece of Battle Power. The Falchion is useless as-is too, but
there's one large reason why you should buy Falchions. You see, they can be
bet at the Colosseum for Flame Shields. And Flame Shields can be bet for Ice
Shields. So ideally, you'll just buy four of them and transform all of them into
Flame Shields (you don't really need Ice Shields if you have Flame Shields as
Flame Shields nullify Ice-elemental attacks). Forget about the Skeans for a
moment; you have nobody to Throw them now anyway.
Armor Shop:
Crystal Shld 7000
Crystal Helm10000
Oath Veil 9000
Dark Gear 13000
Tao Robe 13000
Crystal Mail17000
Maranda features Crystal equipment! Excellent! Buy two Crystal Shields if you
don't want to go for Flame Shields at the Colosseum later on, and two pieces of
Crystal Mail as well. Equip them on those that can use it. The Oath Veil is
probably supposed to be the ultimate girly helmet, but since it's inferior to
both the Circlet and the Mystery Veil, just leave it. A nice set of Dark Gear is
great for Sabin. The Tao Robe is pretty much the programmer's solution to the
fact that Strago and Relm really didn't get any store-bought pieces of armor
(monster hides like Chocobo Suits and Tabby Suits are never store-bought). Also,
it's the ultimate equipment for a character not yet introduced, but we'll solve
that problem when we get there. The Crystal Mail is boring yet superior to
DiamondArmor, so get that for characters who still carry around that ancient
piece of rubbish.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.2 Airship Exploitation: The Overworld Map
**********************************
Location: The Falcon
Party members: Edgar, Celes, Setzer, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: Brachosaur, Tyranosaur, Harpy, Tumbleweed, Reach Frog, Hoover,
Cactrot, Crawler, Sprinter, GloomShell, Geckorex, Spek Tor,
Mantodea, Prussian, Zone Eater, Doom Gaze
"Take a few steps...you're bound to run into one!"
Yes, the random battles on the Overworld map. Now that you practically START
with the Falcon before you've explored so much of the Overworld Map, you never
actually need to fight these guys. However, there are quite a few monsters here
you won't find anywhere else, so even if it's for something trivial as a full
Rage list or just for meeting them, I'll try to give a run-down on which
enemies appear where. You can skip it if you want to.
In other words: needless violence against grazing animals! It's a shame there's
no option in this game where you can simply stay on the Falcon while blasting
level 3 spells on defenseless livestock down below.
Here's a neat little navigational chart for you if you're ever lost on where
to go. Yeah, so it's no Paint Shop Pro, but I tried my best and one of today's
most famous writers already said you couldn't bake a pie out of shit no matter
how hard you try.
1 2
6
4 7 8
3 5
9 A B
C
D
E F G
H K
I J L
M
N P
O
1 - Dragon's Neck Colosseum
2 - Duncan's House
3 - Daryl's Tomb
4 - Kohlingen
5 - Figaro Castle (location 1)
6 - Narshe
7 - Crazy man's house
8 - Triangle Island
9 - Figaro Castle (location 2)
A - Nikeah
B - Doma Castle
C - Cave of the Veldt
D - South Figaro
E - Zozo
F - Fanatics Tower
G - Mobliz
H - Jidoor
I - Opera House
J - Maranda
K - Tzen
L - Kefka's Tower
M - Albrook
N - Solitary Island
O - Thamasa
P - Ebot's Rock
For the record, the grasslands are the green tiles, the wastelands the grey
ones.
***
South-eastern continent (Thamasa):
Grasslands & Forest:
Harpy (10/16)
Harpy, Prussian (6/16)
Wastelands:
GloomShell, GloomShell, GloomShell (10/16)
Prussian, GloomShell (6/16)
Harpy:
Attacks physically with Battle and !Grip. Harpy rarely uses Aero to attack as
well. When hit by a Magic spell, it might counter with a Battle or Cyclonic
attack.
GloomShell:
GloomShell is weak to Ice-elemental attacks and acts like the HermitCrab
monsters you faced earlier (with Celes most likely, trying to save that kid in
Tzen); Battle and the Stop-setting Net attack are used, and when a single
GloomShell is non-fatally damaged it may use !Rock, which sets Petrify.
Prussian:
Uses nothing but Battle and !Bear Hug to attack physically. Prussian is pretty
boring, but it has a kick-ass Rage for Gau to offer (Land Slide, no elemental
weaknesses) so make sure you meet one.
***
South-western continent (Jidoor, Zozo, Maranda)
Grasslands:
Crawler, Crawler, Crawler (10/16)
Geckorex, Geckorex, Reach Frog (6/16)
Desert:
Hoover (10/16)
Cactrot (6/16)
Forest:
Reach Frog, Reach Frog, Reach Frog, Reach Frog (10/16)
Mantodea, Mantodea (6/16)
Wastelands:
Crawler, Crawler, Crawler (10/16)
Mantodea, Sprinter, Spek Tor, Spek Tor (6/16)
Reach Frog:
Ol' RF here is pretty famous among the bug hunters of this game; with the broken
Rippler attack that swaps more statuses than it should (such as cuties like
Morph, Rage, Dance, and Shadow's Dog Block) and the ability to use a Jump
attack, this is probably the most bug-infected opponent you face. You shouldn't
notice them if you're playing 'normally' though. RF uses Battle or !Tongue
(Seizure) the first round, a Jump attack the second, he'll come down the third
turn, and uses either Battle or Rippler the fourth. Loop from there. RF is weak
to Ice-elemental attacks and vulnerable to ID attacks, so do whatever floats
your boat there.
Hoover:
Without over-leveling, Hoovers are strong enough to kill you. They give 5 Magic
Points and quite a lot of Experience Points, but you probably want to stay out
of the desert at this moment.
Hoovers are dangerous and prone to cause you pain, death, and mild discomfort.
They're big defensive weakness is their lack of Death Protection, which should
be exploited. Causing HP damage is just going to cause mean double Sand Storm
counters and their amount of MP is too large to deplete every time you
encounter one. Note that Hoover is protected from Petrify, so Break's superior
Hit Rate to Doom isn't going to help you. Avoid percentage-based attacks, as
they allow counters. You may think that I'm being anal about these counter-
attacks. This is entirely justified, make no mistake. While Sand Storm is an
attack that is easily evaded, it's still three times as dangerous as Hoover's
physicals. You'll simply want to evade it. If you have all characters protected
with Thunder Shlds, Paladin Shld, and/or Minerva or simply 128 MBlock%, it
doesn't really matter what you do as you'll laugh in the dusty, non-existing
face of Sand Storm. What has an eye, but no face? A tornado. Amaze your friends!
Cactrot:
Cactrots give 10 Magic Points, which make them great spell teachers. However,
not every character can easily dispatch them, and since they share the desert
with the Hoover enemies, reaping the benefits at this moment may be too
dangerous for your team.
Cactrots are little 3 HP buggers who use Blow Fish on you every turn (and ten
times Blow Fish in a single turn if you wait to long killing them). At this
stage, Edgar can easily take care of them with a Drill or Chainsaw attack, or
have Sabin unleash a Pummel Blitz technique. Setzer's Dice work too. Everything
else misses if it can, or will do only 1 HP worth of damage.
Crawler:
Crawlers stand out because they are so very, very annoying. They rank up there
with those guys who chew their gum too loudly, or obnoxious girls who just
don't get that yes, you can get too pushy, especially if you manage to accompany
every word you say with a little bit of spit that goes flying in my face, thank
you very much. Crawlers use Battle and !Feeler, which sets Poison. When alone,
Crawlers start to use the level-halving Dischord attack and Raid, which drains
HP from you (if it isn't obvious). Ice-elemental attacks and ID attacks are
their bane, and MT Confusion (such as the Noiseblaster) is a great move, as they
will start using Step Mine on each other.
Sprinter:
If you Confuse them, they start using Cyclonic on themselves! Sprinters are
vulnerable to such ID attacks. They may use Pearl Wind to restore HP, !Drainbeak
which strangely enough drains MP (it tends to do nothing since they hardly
ever consume their own MP), and of course attack physically too. They may drop
(1/8 chance) an Imp's Armor, a piece of armor that absorbs Water-elemental
attacks and has EXTREMELY grand Defense and Magic Defense, although it only
grants the Defense aspect when the wearer has the Imp status. You can read more
about all this here: [KAPPA-LINK].
Geckorex:
Another land-roaming lizard that mainly stands out due to it being the source
for another piece of Imp equipment, that being the TortoiseShld it rarely
drops. Geckorex is a basilisk of some sort; it attacks physically and uses
!Petriglare to set Petrify. In Rage, Control and Sketch attacks, petrification
abilities run rampant. It's immune to Petrify, obviously. Ice-elemental attacks
as usual (all lizards are weak to the element) and non-Petrification inducing
ID attacks work too. Geckorex have 5000 HP and are quite sturdy, so you might
want to take advantage of that.
Spek Tor:
Spek Tor is a ferocious little critter that pounces into combat despite the
fact an emo singer's bad hair day could knock it out cold. With 250 HP and no
special amount of defenses, Spek Tor will be gone very soon from the
battlefield. When you confuse them, they may use Acid Rain, which kills them
all. Spek Tor grants Ragers a great skill in the Blaster attack, which is
an ST/MT ID attack that, unlike pretty much every other ID attack, doesn't
check for Stamina. This doesn't mean much except for the fact that Stop/Blaster
and Sleep/Blaster combos DO always work. Spek Tor attacks physically only,
by the way, so nothing to mention there.
Mantodea:
Theoretically, Mantodea is merely Battle/Special cannon fodder. I should
mention here that Mantodea's Battle attacks have the power to one-hit destroy
a single character by pure damage output. You'll want to avoid that, and when
hunting in these regions, the Clear status is definitely a plus. !MindReaper
just takes away MP, but since Mantodea NEVER uses MP-reliant moves, it'll
always do 0 damage unless you used Rasp or Osmose on the massive mantis.
***
Triangle Island:
Zone Eater (always)
Zone Eater:
Yeah, you'll want to lay off this guy for a while. Not that it's going to kill
you, but strangely enough, it will transport you to a dungeon where you'll
plenty of monsters that probably will kill you at this stage of the game.
There's no good reason to dive in there now.
Now here's an odd monster indeed. It absorbs Ice-elemental attacks, is weak
against Pearl-elemental attacks, and nullifies all other elements. And all it
seems to use is a rare Demi spell and the Engulf attack. Engulf is pretty much
the same as Sneeze; it removes a single character from battle. If you run away
with some characters 'in the body of Zone Eater', you'll just find them in
your party at the end. If you kill the thing after some of your characters
have been eaten, likewise.
However, if your entire team fell victim to the Engulf attack, you'll find
yourself in one of the worlds this Zone Eater ate; a cave, filled with
humans (or at least, humanoids) bent on your destruction for some reason
that doesn't involve logical thinking. Best to be on your guard.
***
North-eastern continent (Dinosaur forest, crazy man's hut):
Grasslands:
Sprinter, Sprinter, Spek Tor, Spek Tor (10/16)
Tumbleweed, Tumbleweed, Tumbleweed, Tumbleweed (5/16)
Mantodea, Sprinter, Spek Tor, Spek Tor (1/16)
Wastelands:
Crawler, Crawler, Crawler, Crawler (6/16)
Crawler (1/16)
Crawler, Crawler, Crawler (5/16)
Forest:
Tyranosaur (10/16)
Tyranosaur, Tyranosaur (5/16) (fixed Pincer)
Brachosaur (1/16)
Brachosaur:
This is THE strongest random encounter in the game, and you absolutely
positively don't want to mess with one at this time. It has the properties
you'd expect: over 46000 HP, extremely high level (77), immune to every single
status ailment you could throw at it including ID attacks and some very, very
strong Special in !Swing (Battle * 6). Next to Battle, which you'll normally
see (and which leaves quite a bruising all by itself), it can use some very
strong attacks and spells, including Disaster (which it can MT, sets Dark, Imp,
Condemned, Mute, Muddle, and Float), Meteor (non-elemental barrier-piercing
spell that hurts a lot), Sneeze (a god-send in this battle, as it means you
get to embrace the sweetness of life for a little longer), and Ultima. Ultima is
like Meteor only so much stronger it'll do over 5000 HP worth of damage to every
character you have. Unless he or she is alone, in which case you'll get to
see the novelty of a monster inflicting 9999 damage to a character.
In the future, you could beat Brachosaur with Relm's Control skill, a few
other dirty tricks or just plain kill the bastard with violence before it can
do the same to you. There's a decent enough reason to do so too, as it has
a rare Ribbon for Stealing and a rare Economizer drop too (sets the MP cost of
every Magic spell and Lore technique to 1). Now, however, this is not an option.
Tyranosaur:
The opponents in the fabled Dinosaur Forest are tough. Brachosaur is a rare
freak occurrence, while Tyranosaur are dangerous enough as-is. Tyranosaurea have
incredible physical strength, which is especially bad since not only can they
channel this in a !Bite attack (Battle * 8), they also occasionally double-team
your party from both sides, and that is NOT as sexy as it sounds. When a monster
attacks from behind, its physical attacks will do more damage and become
unblockable (although Interceptor and Golem can block these attacks, the Image
status is useless in this aspect). On top of that, Tyranosaurea have the power
to cast the Meteor spell, which damages the entire party for over 1500 HP.
To stop this madness, cast a combination of Sleep and Slow on these dangerous
dinosaurs and pound away with magical attacks. Ice-elemental attacks are the
bomb, so Ice 2 and Ice 3 spells and Tritoch's Tri-Dazer really put the hurt
on these babies.
I wouldn't advise going in the Dinosaur Forest right now, but if you HAVE to
have an Imp Halberd right now, Save beforehand and make sure you know how to
make your opponents snooze the battle away. If not, there's no chance you'll
survive an encounter.
Tumbleweed:
These strange creatures fall easily to L.5 Doom attacks, though you won't be
able to cast it if you've followed the walkthrough so far. They use Battle and
!Blinder, which sets Dark. When alone, a Tumbleweed may use Lifeshaver to
recover HP. They're weak to Fire-elemental attacks and vulnerable to ID, so
take advantage of the knowledge that you have.
***
Northern continent (Narshe, Duncan's House)
Grasslands:
Geckorex, Geckorex, Reach Frog (5/16)
Reach Frog, Reach Frog, Reach Frog, Reach Frog (5/16)
Mantodea, Mantodea (5/16)
Mantodea, Sprinter, Spek Tor, Spek Tor (1/16)
Wastelands:
Crawler, Crawler, Crawler, Crawler (6/16)
Crawler (1/16)
Crawler, Crawler, Crawler (5/16)
Nothing new here. I can absolutely understand you're anxious to get the boring
stuff out of the way and start pumping up! How does an all-game ultimate Blitz
technique sound?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.3 Airship Exploitation: Master Duncan; completing Sabin's training
**********************************
Location: The Falcon
Party members: Edgar, Celes, Setzer, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: None
We have our wings back! And as opposed to last time we got some improved
transportation situation, we have almost the entire world left to explore.
The story obviously directed us to Maranda, but not only is there so
much to do before following the carrier pigeon to Zozo, some of it is even
easier than the quest we were put on in Maranda. So, allow me to give you some
pointers as to where you want to go first.
Duncan is alive! His wife told us that, and Sabin probably is anxious to see
his old master again and hear how it went down. Duncan's wife told us that
Duncan was meditating north of Narshe. If you can't find Narshe right now,
it's on the continent to the north of the 'head' of the Serpent Trench. Narshe,
like it was before, is a dent in the mountains on the map. To the northeast
of Narshe, you can find five trees on the map that form a Greek cross (+).
Duncan's located on the middle tree.
If you bring Sabin here, Duncan will come out and laugh off Sabin's worries.
He'll then proceed to teach Sabin the eighth and final Blitz technique, the
ultimate martial arts attack: Bum Rush. Sabin would have learned to perform it
himself at level 70, but this sure is quicker. Bum Rush is, contrary to what
you would believe, a MAGICAL attack, meaning that it can (and should) be boosted
by Earrings. It's barrier-piercing and non-elemental and extremely strong, far
surpassing anything the rest of your party can do right now (except maybe a
lucky 4-hit combo with the Dragon Horn, but Bum Rush is constant).
The Japanese game calls it the Illusion Battle Dance, which as you would expect
is a lot cooler sounding than its American incarnation.
If you go to Duncan with a party lacking Sabin, you'll see him jumping around:
"Look out! Move! Cough...wheeze... Darn this old body... Hey...you deaf?"
By accessing the menu when Duncan has leapt once or twice, you can make him
restart; this way, you can have him jump into the black void around his house...
Man, that's WAY deep down Lewis Carroll's rabbit hole if you ask me. :P
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.54.4 Airship Exploitation: Obtaining Palidor
**********************************
Let's see how (the corpse of) Cid is doing! If you find Cid on the Solitary
Island, you'd think he would grab the opportunity of flying over to civilized
areas; you can't take him, however. If he lives, he'll just say, "I feel much
better! Thanks, CELES!" and continue to walk around his little cabinet like a
senile. If he died, his letter is still there. Who would've moved it?
Then again, who put it there in the first place? Mysteries.
Time to ponder them over at the beach. But gasp, something has washed ashore:
a piece of Magicite! 'Tis Palidor, one the greatest summons the game has to
offer and a great Haste 2 spell tutor. You'll like it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.5 Airship Exploitation: Visiting Jidoor
**********************************
Location: Jidoor
Party members: Edgar, Celes, Setzer, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: None
Let's fly over to Jidoor for a moment now. Jidoor is still a thriving town,
filled with people who find the end of the world a moderate inconvenience and
an interesting new art theme. I don't think you need to be even near white
trash to hate these guys with a passion.
Walking around town, you hear that the bird you saw is one of the many carrier
pigeons that have been flying to Maranda lately. Way back, when the world was
still a shining square of happiness, Sabin and Cyan met up with a wounded lad
in Mobliz who corresponded with his girlfriend in Maranda by means of these
feathered friends. Sadly, Mobliz was hit by the Light of Judgment, and the
wounded lad was killed.
The other story of the day is concerning Owzer. Something is up with the guy;
he had a fine new painter arrive at his house - a little girl. Could this be
little Relm Arrowny? If you let Shadow live on the FC, you can already dive
into Owzer's Mansion for the answer to that question, a dungeon, a boss, a new
Esper and a character regained. I've got it planned for later times, but if
you're impatient, you can take a look at [OWZER-LINK]. For now, you'll want to
buy a few things here regardless:
Weapon Shop:
Man Eater 11000
Partisan 13000
Crystal 15000
Sniper 15000
Interesting new weapons here! Allow me to describe them. You know the Man
Eater. When fighting certain foes, a double Man Eater strike will be superior to
whatever you have, but these foes are generally not too much to worry about, so
buying another one is probably a waste of money. The Partisan is superior to
the Gold Lance, which means an upgrade for our new Dragoon Edgar. Buy one. The
Crystal is just another plain sword whose base power is inferior to the Ogre
Nix but superior to the Enhancer; it doesn't give any stat boosts and there's no
real reason to attack with it. Don't buy it and stick to Enhancers or Ogre Nix/
Black Belt. The only interesting feature about the Crystal sword is that
General Leo equipped it when he fought Kefka. The final weapon is the Sniper.
It's an upgrade over the Hawk Eye, with the same 50% chance of doing 1.5 times
as much damage against normal enemies and triple damage against enemies with
the Float status. It's a great weapon to equip, but nobody right now can use it
so just forget it for now.
Conclusion: Buy a Partisan, than leave. :P
Armor Shop:
Circlet 7000
Dark Hood 7500
Crystal Helm10000
Dark Gear 13000
The Circlet is a nice Helmet with an all-round stat boost: +2 Vigor, +1 Speed,
+3 Stamina and +4 Magic Power (which really is the only important one).
Everybody can equip one, but everybody but one has superior Helmets at this
moment (Celes's Mystery Veil, Edgar/Sabin's Regal Crown, Genji Helmet), so just
buy one and stick it on the unfortunate sap who still went with that ancient
Green Beret. The Dark Hood is rubbish, superior to the Circlet in Defense by
1 single point and inferior to it in all other ways. Forget about the Crystal
Helm as well. A set of Dark Gear for Sabin is nice, though. In short: buy one
Circlet and a set of Dark Gear if you didn't buy Dark Gear earlier in Maranda.
Item Shop:
Potion 300
Tincture 1500
Fenix Down 500
Revivify 300
Remedy 1000
Warp Stone 700
Sleeping Bag 500
Tent 1200
Buy stuff, it's good for you. Weren't you paying attention to the voices in
your head? LIVE BUY CONSUME DIE.
Relic Shop:
Czarina Ring 3000
Guard Ring 5000
Atlas Armlet 5000
Cherub Down 6300
The interesting new Relic called 'Guard Ring' sets Safe on your character.
Basically, the Relic cuts the damage of physical attacks by 1/3, always. Sadly,
physical attacks are past their prime at this stage of the game, so its
usefulness is kind of low. If you like the thought of a physical powerhouse who
can withstand all blows, buy and equip one to whomever you feel should benefit;
you're better off focusing on offense though.
If you plan to use Gau, there's something you can do make absolutely sure you
get one of his best Rages relatively quickly; enter Owzer's Mansion, read the
diary if you want, turn on the lights near the stairs and examine the flower
painting for a fight with three Nightshade enemies. This only applies if Shadow
survived the Floating Continent; if he didn't, the house will just be lit and
empty for now. More information can be found at [OWZER-LINK].
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.6 Airship Exploitation: The Auction House
**********************************
Location: The Auction House in Jidoor
Party members: Edgar, Celes, Setzer, Optional: Sabin
Opponents: Bags of hot air with too much money
The Auction House got a makeover! New items are for sale here. No longer does
that talking Chocobo bother you. Sadly, TWO new useless items have been added
to the collection: an Imp robot and 1/1200 of an airship. Debates rage over
the fact if this is a piece of the Blackjack or a scale model of an airship;
OBVIOUSLY it's the latter and the other side is stupid in the head, but it's
up to you what you want to see in it. Regardless, you cannot buy either of
these items. The reason you're here is the Hero Ring. You can buy ONE Hero Ring
here, for 50000 GP. The Zephyr Cape is also exclusive, but since the Zephyr
Cape is more expensive here than in WoR Nikeah (3000 GP more expensive, in
fact), don't bother shooting for it here. Once you buy the Hero Ring, it won't
appear again. If you didn't buy the Espers earlier, you'll want to do that now,
too, although I don't see why you should've skipped on that earlier.
- There's a 50% chance the item up for bidding is a Hero Ring. If you already
bought it earlier, or the item isn't the Hero Ring, we continue.
- Then, there's a 50% chance it's a 1/1200 of an airship. You can never buy
this 'item' no matter how much you pay, as the father will always buy it. But
if this item isn't the 1/1200 of an airship, we continue.
- Then, there's a 50% chance it's the Golem Magicite! Nice. Try to buy it. If
you already bought it earlier, or the item isn't Golem, we continue.
- Then, there's a 50% chance it's the ZoneSeek Magicite. Good. If you already
bought this item, or if it still isn't this item, we continue.
- Then, there's a 50% chance it's a Zephyr Cape. If you already bought this
item, or if it's not the Zephyr Cape, we continue.
- If it's none of the above, it's an Imp Robot. Period. You can never buy the
Imp Robot, as the father will always buy it.
So in the end, if you haven't bought any of the pieces of Magicite yet, the odds
will be as following:
Hero Ring 50%
1/1200 of an airship 25%
The Magicite Golem 12.5%
The Magicite ZoneSeek 6.25%
Zephyr Cape 3.125%
Imp Robot 3.125%
If you bought both Espers, but not yet the Hero Ring:
Hero Ring 50%
1/1200 of an airship 25%
Zephyr Cape 12.5%
Imp Robot 12.5%
If you bought the Hero Ring and both Espers:
1/1200 of an airship 50%
Zephyr Cape 25%
Imp Robot 25%
Yeah, that means you can completely raid the WoR Auction House until nothing
but useless junk is left. Don't worry; if another person buys a piece of
Magicite, the Hero Ring or the Zephyr Cape, it will have a chance of appearing
next time you pay the Auction House a visit. Prices are as follows:
Hero Ring 50000 GP
The Magicite Golem 20000 GP
The Magicite ZoneSeek 10000 GP
Zephyr Cape 10000 GP
That means, by the way, that the Zephyr Cape is ridiculously overprized in the
Auction House, as it's just 7000 GP from the small merchant in Nikeah. If you
don't have enough money, fly the Falcon to the desert south of Maranda, where
you'll be able to make a lot of quick cash.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.7 Airship Exploitation: Fanatics Tower
**********************************
In Figaro Castle, we heard about the Cult of Kefka, which is located in the
middle of the Serpent Trench, where they have erected a giant tower in Kefka's
honor. From thieves you've heard there are treasures unheard of up there, but
the going is rough. Trying to climb the tower right now would be stupid, but
we can take a look regardless, right?
What the hell? It seems that one of our former party members, Strago Magus,
has lost his heart in despair. One of the Cult of Kefka, he doesn't respond
to you at all. We heard earlier that a loved one should be able to break through
this self-inflicted barrier. If we could manage to find Relm, we should bring
her over here to see if we can break the spell on Strago.
The thieves here are sitting at the foot of the tower, not because they think
Kefka is their Speshul Boy but rather because of the treasures on the tower;
so close, yet so far... It's revealed the most wondrous thing is at the very
top, and one of the thieves offers you a secret for the insane sum of 100,000
GP. This is what he has to say if you pay his the full price:
Hooey!!!!
Right, here's the scoop:
Beneath the Desert of Figaro lies an ancient castle loaded with treasure.
By the way, an old man who lives in the Weapon Shop in Narshe is looking for
you...
One more stop before Maranda, the last populated city we haven't been to yet:
Thamasa!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.8 Airship Exploitation: Thamasa
**********************************
Sadly, neither Strago nor Relm is present, so all we can do here is take a look
at the equipment they have to offer and talk to the townspeople.
One woman mentions how Ebot's Rock is above water. As soon as we can convince
Strago back on our side, we should bring him back to Thamasa. There's another
mention of Doom Gaze, but that's about it. Pay your respects to General Leo's
grave for a moment, and then go shop.
Armor Shop:
Mystery Veil 5500
Circlet 7000
Dark Hood 7500
Light Robe 11000
Diamond Vest12000
Do you remember I told you about the Tao Robe? Well, the Light Robe is like the
Tao Robe, only inferior in every single way. Do I hear somebody say 'redundant'?
Yes, I believe I do. It was me. If you want to have as many Items as possible,
buy one. If not, don't. All other items are familiar to you.
Weapon Shop:
DaVinci Brsh 7000
Gravity Rod 13000
Pearl Rod 12000
Trump 13000
Gold Lance 12000
Man Eater 11000
Shuriken 30
Ninja Star 500
Like all Brushes, the DaVinci Brush is about as useful as a 'hurt me' sign in
an ass-kicking contest. You can buy one or two Pearl Rods extra as they make
great equips for Strago and Relm once you get them and everybody can break them
(there's actually a brilliant moment to break Pearl Rods, against Doom Gaze).
All the other weapons have been revealed to you. I also want you to buy some
Ninja Stars; they turn into nice items at the Colosseum, and make nice attacks
when you obtain Shadow. 99 Ninja Stars are actually *less* costly than that
single Hero Ring you purchased in Jidoor, so don't feel too irresponsible when
you overstock on them.
Relic Shop:
Barrier Ring 500
Fairy Ring 1500
Wall Ring 6000
Jewel Ring 1000
Czarina Ring 3000
Guard Ring 5000
Peace Ring 3000
Cure Ring 8000
Rings! RINGS! For the love of God, they have every Ring Relic available. Except
for Hero Rings. And Sneak Rings. And Memento Rings. And Cursed Rings. And Rage
Rings. And Relic Rings. Oh shucks, so they don't have every Ring Relic
available. Give me some credit for distracting you from seeing that I don't have
anything useful to say about this Relic Shop!
Item Shop:
Potion 300
Tincture 1500
Fenix Down 500
Revivify 300
Remedy 1000
Smoke Bomb 300
Sleeping Bag 500
Tent 1200
Potions! POTIONS! For the love of...I'm not getting away with this trick again,
am I? How about another movie quote concerning consuming items? Choose Potions.
Choose a chest. Choose a command. Choose Smoke Bombs, Crystal Mail and matching
Helmets. Choose your future. But why would anyone want to do a thing like that?
Now, get out. It's time for one more trip to the Colosseum before we dive into
an actual dungeon for a change.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.9 Airship Exploitation: Dragon's Neck Colosseum
**********************************
Location: The Colosseum
Party members: Edgar, Celes, Setzer Optional: Sabin
Opponents: a'plenty
Welcome to the Dragon's Neck Colosseum, a monument to combat. You've had a
nice trip around the world, so it's time to bet your newly acquired prizes to
gain more prowess in combat.
Easy wins:
Rising Sun - Bone Club Opponent: Allosaurus
Doable wins:
Czarina Gown - Minerva Opponent: Sky Base
Tack Star - Rising Sun Opponent: Opinicus
Bone Club - Red Jacket Opponent: Test Rider
Flame Shld - Ice Shld Opponent: IronHitman
Sniper - Bone Club Opponent: Borras
Aura - Strato Opponent: Rhyos
Strato - Pearl Lance Opponent: Aquila
Hardly doable wins:
Ninja Star - Tack Star Opponent: Chaos Drgn
Falchion - Flame Shld Opponent: Outsider
Rename Card - Marvel Shoes Opponent: Doom Drgn
An explanation on the new items you can obtain here:
The Rising Sun is a Full Moon upgrade. It's weaker than the Sniper Special
weapon and can only be gotten *later* than it. It's a passageway item at the
Colosseum and should only be collected for that very purpose.
The Bone Club is equally useless. Only one character, Umaro, can equip it, he
comes with one and cannot be (un)equipped anyway. Another passageway item
collected for completion and betting at the Colosseum.
The Minerva is the piece of Armor you'll wind up keeping on Celes and Terra
for the remainder of the game because it's the BEST armor in the game. Fire,
Ice, Lightning, and Wind are nullified, and Water, Earth, Pearl, and Poison
only deal 50% as much damage. To top it off, it grants the wearer an
all-round stat boost (+1 Vigor, +2 Speed, +1 Stamina and +4 Magic Power for
dessert) and 10% additional Magic Block. Its special effect is granting
the wearer 25% extra MP. In other words, you'll want this on your armored
girls.
The Red Jacket is Sabin's ultimate Armor. Sadly for Sabin, it's the second-
worst piece of ultimate Armor in the game. It nullifies any Fire-elemental
attack and is superior to Diamond Vests and Crystal Mail and all that, but
comes nowhere near other end-game pieces of equipment and has no special effect.
It's also useful on Edgar for a short while, I might add.
The Ice Shield is a shield that, well, absorbs Ice-elemental attacks. It
nullifies damage done by Fire-elemental attacks, and the wearer will receive
twice as much damage from Wind-elemental attacks. It teaches the Ice 2 spell
at a x5 rate and will cast an unblockable, barrier-piercing Ice 3 spell when
used in combat, after which it breaks. Its Defense rate is 1 point above that
of the Flame Shield, which basically serves the same purpose. It's inferior to
the Crystal Shield in terms of Defense and Magic Defense, but the elemental
properties and the extra 10% Magic Block makes it come out superior in my book.
The Strato, or Ame no Murakumo (Sword of the Billowing Clouds, or shortened as
Heaven's Cloud), is the strongest weapon from Japanese mythology. In FF VI,
it's a rather uninteresting weapon and the third-strongest weapon Cyan gets to
lay his hands on without crossing the border of weapons he can normally equip.
It's a very simple upgrade in Battle Power over the Aura.
The Pearl Lance is a Pearl-elemental Lance that gives a +3 on Magic Power
and has a 25% at casting Pearl every time you Fight with it or on every
last Jump attack the wielder makes. The Pearl Lance is argued to be the best
Lance out there, because the only one higher in Battle Power doesn't have a
random spell casting applied.
The Tack Star is the ultimate throwing star. It eh.... yeah, it damages. A lot.
You can't really buy them anywhere, they are hardly ever found in chests, and
they only appears as a rare steal on a late-game enemy, so the Colosseum is your
source for them.
The Flame Shield is a shield that, well, absorbs Fire-elemental attacks. It
nullifies damage done by Ice-elemental attacks, and the wearer will receive
twice as much damage from Water-elemental attacks. It teaches the Fire 2 spell
at a x5 rate and will cast an unblockable, barrier-piercing Fire 3 spell when
used in combat, after which it breaks. Its Defense rate is 1 point below that
of the Ice Shield, which basically serves the same purpose. It's inferior to
the Crystal Shield in terms of Defense and Magic Defense, but the elemental
properties and the extra 10% Magic Block makes it come out superior in my book.
Marvel Shoes are grand. They set Safe, Shell, Haste, and Regen on a character.
This will make him or her take only 2/3 of the damage every attack normally
does that isn't barrier-piercing, grants an immunity to Slow and Seizure, and
basically makes sure that a character will stick around longer and act faster
than he or she normally does. Marvel Shoes are great filler Relics; while
Marvel Shoes take a spot that a Hero Ring can't take, some prefer the
defensive route to the offensive one.
- Czarina Gown - Minerva Opponent: Sky Base
75% of the time, Sky Base will cast Doom. Sky Base is also vulnerable to
Instant Death attacks. Grab a Wall Ring and equip it, and send in a warrior
with weapons with ID properties; Setzer's Trump or the Soul Sabre will do.
If your character attacks, Sky Base can counter with up to FOUR Blaster attacks.
If your character damages Sky Base without killing him, the battle is over.
So, start running as soon as you enter the fight! Your character will just run
and never attack. He won't succeed in running away, and just Reflect the Doom
spell to win.
- Rising Sun - Bone Club Opponent: Allosaurus
Allosaurus is weak, but has a 1/3 chance of casting Doom. Equip a Wall Ring
to reflect it back at him (he's vulnerable to ID). Any strong attack will take
him out.
- Tack Star - Rising Sun Opponent: Opinicus
Opinicus is a joke. He has little HP (3210), little Defense, and a weakness
against Pearl-elemental attacks. Sabin with two Dragon Claws, a Black Belt,
and Gaia Gear is almost sure to win. His Slide attack will be absorbed by
the Gaia Gear, so the only worry is Surge, of which Sabin can take at least two
before rolling over and dying. If you want to be really sure, try getting
an Ice Shield first so you absorb both Slide AND Surge.
- Bone Club - Red Jacket Opponent: Test Rider
It's better to wait until after you've gotten yourself an Ice Shield so you
absorb Flash Rain. If you have a Titanium to equip or perhaps a TortoiseShld,
that works too (Flash Rain is Ice/Water, despite it's Lightning-elemental
looks). Edgar would make a nice Dragon Horn Dragoon with an Ice Shield in this
fight. Test Rider isn't really something to worry about.
- Flame Shld - Ice Shld Opponent: IronHitman
IronHitman has little HP and weak defenses. Sending in Sabin with dual Dragon
Claws and a Black Belt will guarantee you victory unless Sabin pulls off a
Spiraler.
- Sniper - Bone Club Opponent: Borras
An alternate route to Bone Clubs and Red Jackets. Fighting Borras has been
described earlier. Take a look at [COLOSSEUM1-LINK].
- Aura - Strato Opponent: Rhyos
Rhyos is a mean upgrade from the Chimera. He can use Surge (strong), Aero
(even stronger), and Flare Star, which will kill you unless you have any way
of nullifying it/absorbing it. Send in a character with a Flame Shield, as he or
she will be protected from both Surge and Flare Star. An Ice Shield is not as
smart as Aero will do double damage to such a target. Dragoon Edgar works
best.
- Strato - Pearl Lance Opponent: Aquila
Aquila is a big bird. It uses Battle, !Flap, Shimsham, and Cyclonic. You can't
protect against the latter two yet, so just send in Dragoon Edgar and hope for
the best. If you don't have him, I regret to inform you that ID attacks don't
work against this bird and you won't win the battle.
- Ninja Star - Tack Star Opponent: Chaos Drgn
Chaos Drgn has three attacks that are prone to screw you over. !Cinderizer will
kill you if it connects. Disaster turns you into a Confused Imp, which pretty
much settles the score. Meteor is just very strong. You won't' be able to take
two and live through it. Your best bet is to send it Dragoon Edgar and hope for
Battle/Meteor. Chaos Drgn has quite some HP but weak defenses, so while in most
cases you'll die, you really want to pull through a few times to get to the Red
Jackets in the end.
- Falchion - Flame Shld Opponent: Outsider
Outsider is vulnerable to ID, and that's your savior. Outsider uses Battle,
!Ruin, Flare, and X-Zone. !Ruin kills you if it connects. X-Zone kills you if
it connects. Every time you hurt Outsider, he's going to respond with Shurikens,
Ninja Stars, or Tack Stars down your throat. Send in Setzer with dual Trumps and
a Black Belt and you should be winning more battles than you lose. Sadly, you're
just gonna have to rely on the X-type ID kicking in, or else you'll see Setzer
eating dust like it's 311 B.C.
- Rename Card - Marvel Shoes Opponent: Doom Drgn
Doom Drgn has four attacks: Battle, which normally wouldn't be that much of
a disaster, yet will prove fatal in most cases in this battle. N. Cross, which
has a small chance of freezing you. S. Cross, which is a strong Fire-elemental
attack. And Fallen One, which is an unblockable attack that sets your
character's HP to 1. Equip a Flame Shield (Red Jackets or Ice Shield won't be
sufficient) on Dragoon Edgar. The only way you can be killed is receiving a
Battle attack at 1 HP. You just need to pray that doesn't happen and that
S. Cross heals you back up whenever you reach that level.
To finish off, an impression what my team looks like at this point:
EDGAR
Pearl Lance Flame Shld
Regal Crown Red Jacket
Dragon Horn DragoonBoots
SABIN
Dragon Claw Ice Shld
Circlet Red Jacket
Hero Ring Earrings
CELES
Enhancer Enhancer
Mystery Veil Minerva
Hero Ring Genji Glove
SETZER
Trump Ice Shld
Genji Helmet Crystal Mail
Hero Ring Earrings
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.10 Airship Exploitation: Doom Gaze
**********************************
Location: The Falcon
Party members: Edgar, Celes, Setzer Optional: Sabin
Opponents: Doom Gaze
Lores: Aero, L.5 Doom
To find Doom Gaze...yeah, finding Doom Gaze tends to be a pain. There are 4096
'tiles' on the Overworld Map. Doom Gaze possesses one of them. If you cross that
tile with the Falcon, Doom Gaze will attack you. Doom Gaze will remain on the
same tile until you fight him; if he escapes, he'll possess another random tile.
Altitude doesn't matter.
You'll just want to fly around, searching for him. Make SURE that you watch
your levels; Doom Gaze will instantly kill any character whose level is
divisible by 5, so a group where two or more characters are vulnerable to L.5
Doom should be trained a little. Listen to some good music while you're at it;
Searching for friends (the theme playing when flying the Falcon) gets
repetitive after a while. May I suggest Soulwax, partly because they're awesome,
partly to boost European economy? If you're playing a ROM, you can download
Terii's Doom Gaze finder here (it's dead easy):
http://www.rpglegion.com/ff6/dgf/index.htm
When you find him, you'll fight him.
[DOOMGAZE-LINK]
Doom Gaze
Level: 68, HP: 55555, MP: 38000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Poison, Weakness: Fire, Pearl
Status: Float, Shell, Safe
Special: !Bane Claw: sets Poison
Sketch : !Bane Claw, Battle
Control: Battle, !Bane Claw
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Battle, Ice 3, Doom, Aero, L.5 Doom, Escape
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions. HOWEVER, Vanish/X-Zone, Vanish/Atom Edge, Vanish/True Edge,
Vanish/Cleave and Vanish/Snare all result into the final bit of 'Doom Gaze has
died' not being set (as that's his final 'counter', so to speak), meaning that
you won't gain the cutscene at the end. This means no Bahamut Magicite either.
What you DO get: Doom Gaze will have gained back all HP and will be still
available for you to defeat, so you'll have gained nothing in the end. Other ID
attacks won't result in this situation, so Vanish/Doom and Vanish/Antlion and
such are all fine.
Joker Doom: Yes
Free RNG shooting, as nothing Doom Gaze uses complicates matters.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
"When the world was ripped apart, many long-sealed monsters were released...
Phunbaba...Doom Gaze..."
"I saw Doom Gaze soaring through the sky! I'd rather take an acid bath than
fight that thing!"
"I saw a monster floating in the sky! It looked just like a fish."
"You're gonna love this! Doom Gaze can't restore his HP after battle!"
You've heard it all over the world... Doom Gaze soaring over the skies of this
new world, terrorizing all in its path. An ancient demon who knows no remorse;
no satisfactory pack of unlikely heroes can let this go on. Doom Gaze is a
relatively simple, yet tough opponent, so prepare well.
Doom Gaze will start every battle by using L.5 Doom; Safety Bits and Memento
Rings protect against it if your level is right (or wrong, depending on your
interpretation), but you likely don't have the former and can't use the latter.
Doom Gaze may cast an Ice 3 or Doom spell the first turn, and may cast Doom or
use Aero the second. After every two turns (not counting the initial L.5 Doom),
Doom Gaze has a 66% chance of using Escape to flee the battle. When damaged,
it may counter with Battle, as all bosses tend to do.
So there's inherent Safe and Shell, a weakness to Fire- and Pearl-elemental
attacks to consider, he absorbs Ice- and Poison-elemental attacks and no status
ailment vulnerabilities to exploit. How are we going to take this guy down as
good as possible?
Breaking Rods was always powerful, but against Doom Gaze, they're a blessing;
since spells executed by breaking Rods gain a barrier-piercing property, you'll
be able to break Fire Rods for a barrier-piercing Fire 2 spell and Pearl Rods
for a barrier-piercing Pearl spell (the latter is much more powerful). Dragon
Horn Jumps with a Pearl Lance are pretty powerful (though it suffers from Safe),
but if you're still working with the Gold Lance, you should stick to Atlas
Armlet with Drill/Chain Saw. Bum Rush is also barrier-piercing so that works
real nice. Setzer's GP Rain surpasses other forms of his damage output.
For other characters: Terra, Celes, and Relm should cast Fire 3, Pearl, Fire 2
(in that order of power), Umaro should NOT be equipped by a Blizzard Orb as
Doom Gaze absorbs Storm; Rage Ring/Atlas Armlet is the way to go. Never mind
Mog's Dances, they're far too weak here; Dragon Horn Pearl Lance Jumps or
his strongest spells are the alternatives. Gau's Io-induced Flare Star will deal
9999 damage every Flare Star while nullifying the effects of Aero; Gau's
PowerDemon Rage will cast Flare, which is decent enough, and with the inherent
Undead property, he won't have to fear the Doom spell. Strago should stick to
Step Mine (or GrandTrain if he has it), Shadow should throw Pearl Rods or
Flame Sabres (Pearl Rods are stronger) or plain Ninja Stars if you don't have
any elemental weapons to abuse, and Gogo is probably best off Raging Io if
possible or throwing out Bum Rush attacks. Locke with ValiantKnife delivers
barrier-piercing damage anyway and Cyan should stick to Atlas Armlet-boosted
Dispatch attacks (the only other barrier-piercing attack he has is Quadra Slice
and we can't wait that long).
Note: I know that Flame Shields are even stronger than Pearl Rods. By a small
margin though, that much is true, but Pearl Rods are far easier to acquire in
bulk and are less useful in other battles.
Sorry for the text-behemoth. The theme here is SPEED. You probably have only
two turns to damage the thing, and you can heal afterwards anyway. Equip Wall
Rings on everybody and go all-out offensive with your strongest attacks. When
a character goes down, revive him or her; you shouldn't have to bother with
healing. A combination of Wall Rings and Thunder Shlds or Minerva bustier
gets you immunity to the Doom and Ice 3 spells (bounce off) and the Aero attack
(Wind-element is nullified).
Doom Gaze will take a long time to take down if you're not breaking Rods, and
you may have to find him quite a few times if your level is low. However, once
you defeat him, you'll gain the Magicite remains of the Bahamut Esper. That's
good! Not only does the god-king of all dragons teach Flare at a x2 rate
(Flare is very powerful, barrier-piercing and non-elemental!), his summon
attack Sun Flare is EXTREMELY powerful, barrier-piercing, and non-elemental.
You'll enjoy him on your side. Trust me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.55.1 Narshe
**********************************
Note: The story wanted you to go to Maranda and follow the pigeon to Zozo, and
I sent you around the world to optimize your equipment, learn Bum Rush, etcetera
and so on. I haven't sent you in any dungeon. However, for various reasons, I
believe it's better gameplay-wise to dive into Narshe first and get down in
Zozo second. You get Mog and an entirely new (and hidden) character out of it,
you get access to level 3 spells, and get a Relic that allows you to circumvent
random encounters, giving you access to some items that you weren't supposed
to obtain yet. It's really a sweet deal all in all, but you ignore the story
flow here, and miss out on one little detail of the story as well (which I'll
give when the time comes, but you won't see it on-screen).
Whom to bring? People with Ice-elemental protection other than shields are
preferred if you don't have enough shields to cover for the entire party. The
Minerva bustier (Celes, Terra) or Snow Muffler (Gau, Mog) are examples.
Otherwise, characters that can deal strong Fire-elemental damage are good to
bring along.
Location: Narshe
Party members: Edgar, Celes, Setzer Optional: Sabin
Opponents: Test Rider, Wizard, Nastidon, Psychot, Mag Roader (yellow),
Mag Roader (brown), Red Wolf, Tritoch, Ice Dragon
Lores: None
Everything started at Narshe and its Esper. Although the Esper is still
residing in the snowy mountains, Narshe has changed a lot. Arvis is most
likely dead; we haven't heard from him since the Empire backstabbed you while
Terra and Locke were searching for the Espers near Thamasa. The Narshe Guards,
always a force of justice, have been utterly destroyed altogether.
Narshe:
Nastidon, Red Wolf, Red Wolf (5/16)
Red Wolf, Red Wolf, Red Wolf (5/16)
Test Rider (5/16)
Nastidon, Nastidon (1/16)
Northern mines and first cave of Western mines:
Mag Roader (yellow), Mag Roader (yellow), Mag Roader (brown) (10/16)
Mag Roader (yellow), Mag Roader (brown), Mag Roader (brown) (6/16)
Western mines:
Wizard, Wizard, Wizard (5/16)
Wizard, Wizard, Psychot, Psychot, Psychot (5/16)
Red Wolf, Red Wolf, Psychot, Psychot (5/16)
Psychot, Psychot, Psychot, Psychot, Psychot, Psychot (1/16)
Nastidon's don't absorb Ice-elemental attacks. They don't even use them. They're
just silly Battle/!Grab cannon fodder. They have inherent Safe, so they're more
or less similar to those Bogy enemies you encountered earlier. The way to go
is MT magical attacks; they're weak against Fire-elemental attacks.
The same goes for Red Wolf. Attacks include Battle and !Rush (Battle * 1.5).
They will, to me, be forever infamous because they are one of the two
monsters that give a Battle/Special Rage with Death Protection. They are
entirely uninteresting as opponents, however.
Test Rider is another Battle/Special opponent. Its Special is !Gold Lance
(Battle * 3). Much like its palette swap Rider, Test Rider will counter
Steal (and in his case, also Capture) attempts with a !Gold Lance strike.
Sadly for Test Rider, there really isn't a good reason to try to steal his
items (a rare Partisan) so he won't be doing anything with it. When Sketched,
Controlled, or Raged, Test Rider suddenly grants access to Flash Rain, but
he will never use it on your party.
The brown Mag Roader is inherently Hasted like the red Mag Roader was.
The first turn consists out of Battle or !Rush (Battle * 2), the second
turn out of Fire-elemental spells (Fire or Fire 2). Due to a bug, the brown
Mag Roader takes over a part of another monster's AI script (Wild Cat),
causing it to counter all damaging attacks with a chance at Battle, and
rarely using Fire Ball when damaged while alone.
The yellow Mag Roader lacks the purple Mag Roader's inherent Safe. What's
left is a monster that's all facade and only possesses skill in rolling over
and dying. It uses physicals in the first turn (33% !Wheel), Ice spells in
the second (Ice and Ice 2).
Wizards are annoying. They are mages in the classical sense of the word,
almost exclusive spell casters while sporting low Defense and high Magic
Defense. They use annoyer tactics; they cast Mute or Osmose (first turn), Rasp
or Stop (second turn), or Muddle or Sleep (third turn). When they are hit by a
spell themselves, they can counter with !Doom Step, which sets Zombie. They're
also remarkable for their items: they have a common Ice Rod and a rare Thunder
Rod for stealing and a rare Fire Rod drop. They're the only source for these
three elemental Rods in the WoR (apart from the rare Ice Rod on Spectre on the
Veldt...bleh).
Psychots are coalescences of psychotic energy. And they hate you. The thing
to remember about them is that they absorb Fire; none of your current massive
damage dealers deal Fire-elemental damage, but still. Ice is their weakness.
I'd like to make some neat brain freeze puns, but I can't think of any. Just
do it.
L.4 Flare works on every single one of the above enemies! Sadly, you probably
lack access to the Lore command. Instead, Sabin's Air Blade should be pumped
up as much as possible (you probably already had an Hero Ring/Earrings combo
on Sabin, but if you hadn't this is the time to make it so). It kills and/or
severely cripples most enemies here, and those that remain can be taken care of
with Edgar's Flash, an MT level 2 spell, whatever. Test Rider and Psychot are
the only notable exceptions; you're better off with a Bio spell or with the Rasp
spell against TR (Test Rider dies when its MP reaches 0), and an MT Ice 2 spell
is the way to go versus large Psychot groups.
Before you go into the derelict city of Narshe, you can visit the Classroom
for some free healing. Also:
"Welcome to this classroom. We'll be here for you even if the world should
crumble."
That's just nice. We were told that the owner of the Weapon Shop was looking
for us. Sadly, the door is locked, and as Lone Wolf told us, only a treasure
hunter could pick that lock. Lacking Locke, we can do nothing but leave the
town of Narshe again and dive into its mines; perhaps Mog is still around, and
is willing to offer us his help.
Remember how you snuck into the town of Narshe with Terra, Edgar, and Banon
and came across the Moogles doing so? We're going to do just that. Just follow
the path; there are no new surprises. The Security Checkpoint is gone, however.
Eventually you'll come across Mog. If you didn't rescue him in the WoB, he'll
get his introduction scene again:
Kupo!!!
Don't scare me like that!
(naming screen)
If you did recruit him in the World of Balance, he'll get smart on you and
say:
MOG: Kupoppo! You're alive! I thought you were all feeding the worms, kupo!
Kupohoho! Let's go!"
Regardless, after Mog says he's a friend of the sasquatch that you could have
spotted during the World of Balance, the screen fades to black for a while. If
you had three characters, Mog will now be in your party; if you had four
characters, he'll be waiting for you at the Falcon. If this happened (and it
most likely did, as you've been a good boy), go find the Falcon and switch Mog
with whomever you want out of your party. Honestly, I think Setzer is the
weakest link at this point, but as Mog makes a great Dragoon, you can switch
one Dragoon with another and switch Edgar out of your team.
Regardless, do examine the wall Mog was staring at when you found him. You'll
receive the Moogle Charm, a little crystal ball given to Mog by his now
deceased girlfriend, Kuku. No wonder our little furry friend was lost in
thought...
The Moogle Charm is a great relic. It has no use in-battle whatsoever, but
does grant you one small thing; it allows you to circumvent random battles
entirely. A blessing for every SNES player and downright immediate salvation
for PSX players, the Moogle Charm has its tactical use. You can dive into
dungeons and grab great items that you weren't supposed to receive until you
were man enough to tackle the dungeon itself. Put in practice, this usually
means the items of the Fanatics Tower (except for the prized object at the
very top of it) and a lot of items from Kefka's Tower.
If you left the Rune Edge in the WoB, grab the Ribbon in the chest in this
room.
Armed with Mog, it's time to head into the mountains and locate the dormant
Esper that you haven't been able to properly contact since the beginning of the
game. Head out of the mines and head into the mountains, like you did when you
first tried to rescue Mog. Exit by the normal exit, which enters into Arvis'
old house. On your way, you should pass two chests. If you didn't rob them of
their contents earlier, they should contain an Elixir and a Pod Bracelet, which
is a poor man's version of the Marvel Shoes (it only sets Safe and Shell, not
Haste and Regen like the Marvel Shoes add to that).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.55.2 Narshe's Snowfields; the battle with Ice Dragon
**********************************
Snowfields:
Wizard, Wizard, Wizard (5/16)
Wizard, Wizard, Psychot, Psychot, Psychot (5/16)
Red Wolf, Red Wolf, Psychot, Psychot (5/16)
Psychot, Psychot, Psychot, Psychot, Psychot, Psychot (1/16)
If you want to abuse the Moogle Charm now, skip ahead to [MOOGLE-RAID]. Don't
worry; both dungeons you'll be visiting will be visited later for another
good reason. For a quick list if what you'll obtain from raiding the Fanatics
Tower and Kefka's Tower:
Fanatics Tower: a Force Armor, an easy battle with the White Drgn from which
you'll win a Pearl Lance upon your victory, a Genji Shld, a Safety Bit, and the
Air Anchor, which is Edgar's eighth Tool.
Kefka's Tower: a Red Cap, a Nutkin Suit, a Gauntlet, a Coronet, the Fixed Dice,
a Minerva, a Tack Star, an Aegis Shld, a Force Shld, an easy battle with the
Gold Drgn from which you'll win a Crystal Orb upon your victory, a Force Armor,
and a Ribbon.
With Mog in your party, get back into Narshe and go find the snowfields. This
is your first chance to learn Mog's last Dance (save it for me... eheheh), the
Snowman Jazz. It's a rather crummy Dance considering it's WoR-only, but Surge
looks sweet and works especially well against the Psychot monsters you find
here.
In the snowfields, you'll find the Ice Dragon.
Ice Dragon
Level: 74, HP: 24400, MP: 9000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Force Shld (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Weakness: Fire
Special: !Hit: Battle x 2
Sketch : Fire 3, Ice 3
Control: Battle, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Poison, Mute, Berserk, Confuse, Slow
Attacks: Battle, Surge, N. Cross, Absolute0
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: Yes
Nothing Ice Dragon uses influences your RNG. It's your call.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance to obtain one of the following:
Crystal
Crystal Shld
Crystal Helm
Crystal Mail
Go ahead and gawk at those status vulnerabilities if you like. However, I can't
say that the Ice Dragon is the weakest of the eight brethren; as you'll see in
the future, Gold Dragon is about as silly, while White Dragon is even worse. Ice
Dragon can be fairly easily screwed over though. Sadly for Ice Dragon, his
element is easily absorbed, his amount of HP rather low, and his status
vulnerabilities downright horrible, but I'll try and treat Ice Dragon with the
same amount of dignity I firmly believe everybody deserves. Except for Nerapa,
obviously.
What does Ice Dragon do? He can use all three spells normally. If you damage
him, he might counter with Battle. If he dies, he might use one final Surge
attack before rolling over, but that's about it. Honestly, Ice Dragon might
very well be THE least interesting boss in the game.
How to stop him? There are tons of ways! It doesn't really matter who you
bring here. All you need is the Bserk spell and the Esper that teaches it,
Phantom. Set Berserk on Ice Dragon, summon Phantom, and sit back. Use Poison
or Bio to set Poison on the freezing fiend, and even Haste if you like; it will
only speed up the Poisoning, as you're immune to everything he does. If you
brought Mog, make sure you don't execute a Dance; the only one that doesn't
have an inherent chance to remove your Clear status is the Dusk Requiem, which
is pretty much useless (3/16 chance you'll damage him once you get it working).
Gau's (or Gogo's) Io-induced Flare Star attack will do 9999 damage every time
it appears at any level the caster is on, while Leafer or the purple Mag Roader
make Gau and Gogo absorb the Ice-elemental attacks without any equipment. If
you brought Edgar, you can tease the Ice Dragon by trying to make Poison his
weakness (if you get it, Poison will take off about 3200 damage a hit at the
peak of its glory).
If you have the equipment and the status ailments to throw around, Ice
Dragon is a joke. If you don't, his Absolute0 and Surge attacks will hurt
real bad. The Mute status effect prevents N. Cross and Absolute0. If, for some
reason, you don't opt for Bserk/Phantom, try setting Slow, Poison, and Mute (a
neat way of doing this is casting Rflect on the guy and have Strago/Gogo
execute Reflect???, but that's just novelty). Equip the easily obtained Ice
Shields, Flame Shields, Snow Mufflers, and/or Minerva bustier and you won't feel
a thing from Ice Dragon's attacks. Golem should be more than sufficient for Ice
Dragon's physical attacks, but you can humiliate him extra by summoning
Fenrir over Golem.
Once you've defeated the Ice Dragon, you'll receive a Force Shield.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.55.3 Narshe's Snowfields; the battle with Tritoch
**********************************
Pushing on, you'll come across a Save Point where you can use a Tent if you
need one. In the next screen, you'll walk across a bridge that takes you to
the mysterious Esper from the beginning of the game, the same frozen entity
that prompted Terra to morph into her Esper form earlier and (possibly)
overlooked Lone Wolf's taking hostage of Mog. As you come near it this time,
it seems that the Esper has had it with the waiting itself. An eerie glow
surrounds it, and Tritoch the Esper attacks you.
Tritoch
Level: 62, HP: 30000, MP: 50000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Nullifies: Lightning, Poison, Wind, Pearl, Earth, Water,
Weakness: Fire
Special: !Hit: Battle x 1.5
Sketch : !Hit, Battle
Control: Battle, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Ice 3, Rasp, Cold Dust
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: Yes
Rasp and Cold Dust both mess with the RNG. Since Tritoch can use Rasp in the
very first round (has a 66% shot at it, actually), you're probably hard-pressed
to successfully pull of Joker Doom in this battle.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Tritoch is attacking you. That's not very nice of him. Luckily, he has very
little to damage you with. Ice 3 is his only offensive spell, and as most of
your party is easily covered in Flame Shields, Ice Shield, or Minerva bustier,
the spell will do nothing to them. If you lack the above equipment for all
characters, it's worthy of notice that the Thunder Shields and Force Shields
both halve damage done by Ice-elemental attacks (and the Force Shield grants
the wearer inherent Shell, reducing the Ice 3 spell by another 33%).
What Tritoch does is all very basic. He attacks normally with the above three
spells, although he hardly ever uses Cold Dust just like that. Whenever Tritoch
is hit by a Fire-elemental attack, he has a one-third chance of casting Rasp.
Also, whenever Tritoch is hit by either SwdTech, Tools, Blitz, Lore, Sketch,
or Rage, he has a one-third chance of casting Cold Dust to freeze the violator.
The strategy the game wants you to follow is clear. Fire-elemental Magic is the
key. You will mainly be casting Fire 2 here. Sabin's Fire Dance is weaker
on a single target and may allow a Cold Dust attack, but if Sabin lacks Fire 2,
just go ahead. If you brought Gau, the Toe Cutter Rage (Shrapnel) works great
because it inherently absorbs Ice 3. A Rage like Scrapper is also great,
providing you can combine it with an Ice Shld or Snow Muffler on the Rager. The
Io Rage is even better as it will consistently deal 9920 damage every time Gau
uses Flare Star and inherently nullifies Ice-elemental attacks, but it's
unlikely you have it at this point.
There's little strategy involved, as the battle as too easy. If you somehow
didn't bring any equipment with elemental properties, ZoneSeek can help you
out there. Haste on the entire party (now with the Haste2 spell, brought to you
by Palidor) can shorten the time a character is Frozen; hell, just cast a Fire
spell on the afflicted and watch him turn back to normal. Celes' Runic can
absorb the Ice 3 and Rasp spells; it won't be necessary if you prepared enough,
but if you haven't it's a great idea.
As soon as you defeat Tritoch, he starts talking! Blast, he could've done that
earlier and saved us a lot of trouble. "You know Terra, you're a half-Esper, and
the Empire is evil and has abused you. Go side with the Returners. Here's my
Magicite, it teaches level 3 spells so you fry anything on your path. Good
luck! Oh, and don't stick Skittles up your nose."
Regardless: an opening in the cliff. You can hop into it. RPG wisdom tells us
that the 'No' option isn't going to get us treasure.
A note on Tritoch: He teaches level 3 spells, which is sweet; sadly, he does so
at a x1 rate which is decidedly slow. So Tritoch's summon attack, Tri-Dazer,
will actually be your strongest magical attack on character as Celes and Terra
for a while. Tri-Dazer, though, is an odd attack; it's tri-elemental; Fire-,
Ice- and Lightning-elemental and about as powerful as a level 3 spell. How does
this work? If a creature absorbs one of the elements, it absorbs the entire
attack. If a creature nullifies one of the elements, it nullifies the entire
attack. If a creature is weak against one of the elements, it is weak against
the entire attack. So, you'll want to use Tri-Dazer against enemies that are
weak to Fire, Ice, or Lightning, but don't absorb or nullify any of them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.55.4 Umaro's Cave; the battle with three Pugs
**********************************
Location: Umaro's Cave
Party members: Optional: Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Setzer, Mog
Opponents: Pug, Tomb Thumb, Anemone, Ceritops, Poppers, Kiwok, Pugs, Umaro
Lores: Step Mine
Whom to bring? Mog is great, as he's needed to obtain the 'sasquatch muscle' you
meet later on. Otherwise, the same people that did well in 4.55.1 will do well
again here; the main danger of the cave monsters is Imp-setting where you need
White Capes/Ribbons for anyway.
Upper two levels
Poppers, Poppers, Poppers, Poppers (5/16)
Kiwok, Poppers, Poppers, Poppers (5/16)
Kiwok, Ceritops (5/16)
Pug (1/16)
Umaro's room
Anemone, Anemone, Anemone, Anemone (5/16)
Ceritops, Tomb Thumb, Tomb Thumb (5/16)
Anemone, Anemone, Tomb Thumb (5/16)
Ceritops, Ceritops, Ceritops (1/16)
Poppers are Rhodox palette swaps. Like Rhodox, they're un-Suplexable; I continue
to wonder if they're just sitting in holes in the ground or ripple into our
existence from a maddening rift in the space-time continuum. If this question
doesn't confuse you, the Poppers' Stone attack may; they have a 33% chance of
using it in their second turn. Not only does the Stone attack set Confuse on
a successful hit, it will also completely make you to eat dirt if your
characters are level 33; it's the same level as Poppers, and as you know, Stone
deals 7.5 as much damage when the level of the caster and the target as equal.
Just make sure this doesn't happen by taking them out ASAP; they're weak to
Fire, so Fire Dance or the newly acquired Tritoch can help. NoiseBlaster also
works like a charm. An MT charm, to be precise. :P
Another theory I'd like to credit Suonymona for mentions that Rhodox/Poppers
are this game's version of FF V's Nut Eaters/Skull Eaters. They're both
squirrel-like in appearance the colors are consistent (brown for the weaker,
grey for the stronger). Since Sabin has a childhood fear of 'Nut Eaters', maybe
the Rhodox' and Poppers' non-Suplexable nature doesn't come from the fact they
are unable to be lifted, but rather comes from the fact Sabin can't bring
himself to perform the attack on them. This wouldn't explain Gogo's behavior,
though.
Kiwok are boring. Their Special, !Pick, sets Imp. Weak against Fire like
everything in the cave, it doesn't really matter if you torch them or just
use other kinds of violence. The Sketch command has a 3/4 shot at pulling
Cyclonic from this freaky bipod, which works against both Kiwok and Poppers.
Kiwok are called 'leaders of the little monsters' by the Anthology Bestiary.
What that's supposed to mean is left to anybody's imagination.
Ceritops are pretty sturdy with inherent Safe, Death protection, and the ability
to absorb your Lightning-elemental attacks. They're weak against Fire and really
don't do anything special AI-wise (Battle and !Pal Maker, which sets *gasp*
Imp), so take your time, they're not very dangerous. They have a mouth-watering
Rage, though (inherent Safe, Lightning-absorption, ID protection, Giga Volt).
Pug. The Tonberry. The notorious creatures that look like they're waddling over
for a hug yet intend to flay the flesh from your skull while you're still alive.
They have a lot of Hit Points (8000) for a normal monster and possess two very
strong attacks. Every round, it will use Step Mine. Since Step Mine is
unblockable, non-elemental, and barrier-piercing, there's no protection from it.
I can't predict how much damage it will do, but 1700 is a fair guess, I'd say.
Every time you damage a Pug, it will counter with a !Cleaver attack, which is
eight times as strong as his normal Battle attack (which he never uses) - an
incredible blow - AND another Step Mine attack. It slaughters you left and
right! How to deal with one? The trick is the Imp status! Turn it into an Imp
with the spell or Sour Mouth. It'll start to do automatic criticals now, so if
you're not under the influence of Clear you should do so ASAP. Now, you can just
pound it without fear. The quickest ways to a dead Pug are Fire-elemental
attacks and the Deep Eye Rage. Since Pug is immune to ID attacks, but not to
Petrify, most petrification attacks will fail where Dread will work. It has a
rare Tintinabar drop, which is pretty spectacular, but as a Pug encounter by
itself is rare enough, it's hardly a good source to find them.
Anemone are pretty passive enemies. When with other monsters, they will merely
use !Imp Touch every now and then, which sets Imp. If they've been damaged,
they will heal themselves a little with Mega Volt; they both are weak to the
element and absorb it, so not even the Debilitator can make Mega Volt hurt an
Anemone. If an Anemone is all by itself though, it'll start to use Giga Volt on
the party every turn, so you'll want to avoid that. Weak to Fire, like you
suspected.
Tomb Thumb are monsters I find specifically annoying for no apparent reason.
Their Special is called !Dash, and it doesn't set Imp; it sets Haste! That's
why they use it on themselves every second turn, too. Otherwise, it's just
physical attacks when they're with others or Imp Song when they're alone. You've
only seen Imp Song as a counter-attack so far, so I should point out that Imp
Song is actually an MT attack.
So, slap on as many Ribbons as you have and give White Capes to the other
characters. You don't want to be turned into an Imp, and Ribbons are nice
in the aspect of Confuse-protection for Stone. Summon Phantom at some time or
just cast Vanish a couple of times; invulnerability is the goal here. Poppers'
Stone isn't cast until the second round and Giga Volt and Imp Song only when the
enemies in question are alone (don't allow it). Pug's Step Mine is unavoidable,
but you can set Imp, possibly revive the fallen characters, and quickly re-apply
Clear. Fire-elemental attacks rule here, but the only strong one you probably
have at this point is Tritoch's Tri-Dazer. Fire 3 spells clean house though.
Umaro's Cave is a cave with two themes. The first theme is out-battle, and it's
pitfalls. Bloody, bloody pitfalls. They're not there to make you land on
poisoned spikes or anything, but they do keep you from getting treasure. The
other theme is Imp. Every monster here has the ability to turn you into one
of those blasted Kappa water sprites.
When you land, you have access to three parts of the cave. The far right one
just leads you to a pitfall, so you have no business there. The one in the
middle leads you to a chest with an X-Ether (the upper chest). Grab it and then
return to the first cave you entered. Now, enter the far left cave-mouth. Make
sure you don't stand on the two dark tiles there, as they are pitfalls. Walk
around until you get a random battle. Make sure to end it with four characters
with the Clear status. Siren is nice to equip as well, but only necessary if
you can't set Imp or Mute in any way. Now, open the chest. As you may have
guessed, 'tis a monster-in-a-box.
Pugs (x3)
Level: 62, HP: 30000, MP: 50000
Steal: Minerva (rare), Win: Minerva (rare)
Absorbs: Water, Weak against: Fire
Special: !Knife: Battle x 8
Sketch : !Knife, Battle
Control: Battle, !Knife
Vulnerable to: Imp, Mute, Slow
Attacks: Battle, !Knife, Pearl
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: Yes
Pearl messes with the RNG, but it's only used as counter to the Magic command,
so you won't see it if you're going for Echo Screen/Joker Doom.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Imp Halberd
TortoiseShld
Titanium
Imp's Armor
Pugs are the more powerful yet more easily defeated version of Pug. They simply
walk up to you and use Battle every time they take a step. If they're right in
front of you - have taken eight steps - they use !Knife and return to their
original position. If you hit them with a Magic spell, they counter with Pearl.
Their Pearl spell is fairly weak and not even a direct threat, but it does
remove the Clear status, which opens you up to their physical attacks.
When you fight them, do whatever you want, so long as you make sure you stay
under Clear. Mute the lot, cast an MT Bio, and cast a Haste 2 spell on them to
speed up the Poisoning. They're weak against Fire, so the newly acquired summon
attack, Tri-Dazer, packs a nice punch. The battle really revolves around
staying invincible. Gau's Io Rage is really grand, as the Pugs' level is really
high. You know what hurts by now, I assume. If you have a character with the
Steal command, you could try to nick a Minerva if you don't have two yet; the
only situation in which you need more than one Minerva is a team that features
both Terra and Celes, but it doesn't hurt. Do know that due to the Pugs' high
level and the Minerva being a rare Steal, it really makes for a small chance of
success.
Once you're done, you cleared the entire top floor so it doesn't matter if you
go back to the first cave and enter the middle cave-mouth to descend the stairs
to the lower level or just fall through a pitfall. Regardless, find the Gauntlet
in the chest here and push on. It's an easily maneuverable cave and you should
reach the stairs before long. Ascend to find a switch. Ignore it; it triggers
a pitfall right where you're standing. The next switch also does this, but
allows you to enter a new part of the cave.
This is the room of the sasquatch that Mog and various townspeople from Narshe
were talking about earlier. The stairs up just lead to the point where you
could see Umaro the sasquatch in the WoB and forces you to fall down there. It's
a long hike back, and we still have work to do here. Examine the bone carving
in the middle of the room to find a piece of Magicite in it! Once you choose
to remove the remains of Terrato from the carving, an enraged yeti comes for
you! You should know better than to mess with art...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.55.5 The battle with Umaro
**********************************
Umaro
Level: 33, HP: 17200, MP: 6990
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Weak against: Fire, Poison
Special: !Tackle: Battle x 3
Sketch : !Tackle, Battle
Control: Battle, !Tackle
Vulnerable to: Poison, Berserk, Sleep, Slow
Attacks: Battle, !Tackle, Jump, Item (Green Cherry), Snowball, Surge, Blizzard,
Lode Stone
Vanish/Doom: No
Immunity to Clear status
Joker Doom: Yes
Snowball and Lode Stone mess with the RNG, but neither is used in the first
40 seconds of battle, so you should be fine.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
So, you've had three major battles with relatively easily defeated monsters with
a weakness to Fire, so the game designers decided to add something new here.
Sadly, the game designers lost the dictionary and forgot the meaning of the word
'new', and as a result Umaro is, yet again, a relatively easily defeated monster
with a weakness to Fire.
Umaro employs all kinds of freaky attacks to try to damage you. Normally,
he'll use Battle, !Tackle, and Blizzard. He uses physical attacks only when only
one character is alive, but I see no reason for that to occur other than in a
SCC. Every 40 seconds (when 2 or more characters are alive), Umaro will either
use Snowball (an unblockable ID attack that halves the target's current HP and
sets Seizure), Surge, or Lode Stone (ID attack that takes off 75% of the targets
current HP). Umaro may counter Fire-elemental attacks with either !Tackle or
Blizzard, and every other kind of damage with !Tackle. Every third time Umaro
is hit by a Magic spell, he'll use a Jump attack.
The interesting part of this fight is the Green Cherry Item. When you
use it on him or he uses it himself (automatically when he reaches 10240 HP),
he will glow red and the following message will appear:
"Power 100 times up!
Defense up
Mag Def up
Speed up
Recovery up"
This means that Umaro sets Safe, Shell, Haste, and Regen on himself. Sadly for
Umaro, he has Seizure immunity, so you never get to see Regen in action. The
appearance of the Green Cherry means Dispel time for you! Dispel will remove
all of his power-ups (so will Strago's Rippler Lore, by the way).
Umaro is a very easy opponent. Since he has Berserk vulnerability, you can set
it with the Bserk spell, summon Phantom, and effectively win the match right
there. If this is not amongst your pool of options, combining Sleep with Slow
should really cripple him too. If status ailments are too cheap for you, Umaro
is simply weak enough to defeat with damaging and healing when appropriate.
Fire 2 spells work just fine, as does Sabin's Bum Rush, Dragon Horn Jump
attacks, you name it.
After the battle is over, Umaro will be sitting in a corner, looking sad and
pummeled. But hey, you broke his statue and, dunno, pummeled him, so I guess
that makes sense. If you walk over him, don't be afraid; he won't attack you
again. If you didn't bring Mog, he'll just go "Ooh..." and continue to sit
there. If this happens, you can just return to get Mog and talk to him later;
he'll still be sitting there.
If you did bring Mog though, he'll go talk to Umaro. In a stunning display of
taking advantage of the mentally disabled, Mog orders Umaro to join your cause.
He'll stomp off to find the Falcon and wait there for you. You don't have to
have Mog in your party to use Umaro, and using a Green Cherry on the character
Umaro has no special effect over removing Imp like it always does. If you would
like to learn more about Umaro, follow [UMARO-LINK].
Umaro, as a character, is generally considered the weakest character in
the game. His stats are awesome, that's not the problem, and his Tackle and
Character Toss attacks are nothing to scoff at. Not to mention the fact that
with the two Relics made specifically for him (the Rage Ring and Blizzard Orb)
he absorbs Fire and Ice while nullifying Lightning, taking care of the three
basic elements in the game. Then why is Umaro still considered the weakest
link?
First off, you can't access his equipment. He's stuck with a feature-less,
non-elemental Bone Club in his right hand and the Snow Muffler. Granted, the
Snow Muffler is arguably the best armor to be 'stuck with', but this means that
Umaro cannot adapt to a situation. He needs at least one Relic slot for a
sufficient damage output, which doesn't help him. He can't learn or cast
Magic like all the other characters, and can receive no Esper boosts, as he
can't equip them. He's uncontrollable from the beginning, so he can never react
to a surprise KO with a Fenix Down or fall back as a utility character.
In short, Umaro is a completely one-dimensional character. This immediately
explains his popularity by many first-time players; it's hard to go wrong with
him. Every character can be tweaked to be superior to Umaro, but you have to
know how in some cases, while it's impossible to go really wrong with Umaro;
you bring him into battle; he'll do impressive damage.
For now, if you've followed the walkthrough so far, you'll have neither the
Rage Ring nor Blizzard Orb, so the best Umaro right now is one equipped with
an Atlas Armlet (Hero Ring works, but Umaro won't benefit from the increase
in magical damage) and a Gauntlet. Since Umaro comes without a shield anyway,
the Gauntlet raises both the offense (his normal physicals only, not Tackle
and Character Toss) and defense of the raging snowman.
Now, you can just cast the Warp spell to get out. Or walk, do whatever pleases
you. The path Umaro took is the only way to leave Umaro's caves.
Note: You just obtained Terrato as well. Terrato isn't as powerful as Tritoch,
almost nothing is weak to the Earth element and he doesn't hit Floating targets,
but Terrato's Earth Aura *is* stronger than your level 2 spells so it's a nice
Esper to summon for Terra/Celes/Relm/Strago if they haven't learned any truly
powerful magic yet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.55.6 The Moogle Raid
**********************************
Location: Fanatics Tower
Party members: Mog, Optional: Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Setzer, Umaro
Opponents: None
Lores: None
Note that this section is entirely optional and in fact hardly what you're
'supposed' to do, feel free to skip it. It's the abusing of a no-encounter
Relic to gain all sorts of late-game treasure from two dungeons you're not
quite ready for. It *really* helps out.
[MOOGLE-RAID]
The following needs you to have Mog in your party, equipped with the Moogle
Charm. It's the entire point of the quest, silly! Since you'll be walking
anyway, might as well equip Sprint Shoes.
The first stop is the Fanatics Tower. We see Strago prancing 'round like before,
but now we go right past him, onto the Tower.
On the first part of the stairway, there's a door we can enter. Enter and raid
the chest; it contains a Safety Bit. The Safety Bit protects the wearer from
Instant Death-magic; it's basically a Memento Ring for everybody. But wait a
minute, didn't that thief in Maranda mention how one of his companions mumbled
'to the right of the treasure chest'? The thieves can never have gone too far,
so you'd better check it out. Press the action button when standing to the
right of the treasure chest. Something rumbles, and when you leave the door
another one has appeared below you! When you enter this one, you can find
a chest containing an Air Anchor, Edgar's most rare Tool.
The Air Anchor does the following. Once an enemy is hit by the Air Anchor, it
is allowed one more turn, after which it dies. It never misses, unless the
target is immune to Instant Death attacks. The Air Anchor also deals damage,
which is entirely redundant (as no damage will be done if it misses, and the
damage is useless if the target dies the next round anyway). I myself have
always liked the Air Anchor because it never fails and you can focus attacks
on other opponents while you know the Anchored one has been taken care of;
others will claim the Air Anchor is a scrubby Tool that allows for another
attack while so many other ID attacks like Doom/Snare/Atom Edge do not.
While in the Air Anchor room, remove your Moogle Charm and walk around! The
only battles here feature Magic Urn. Not only do they heal you with a multitude
of potions, they also Escape on their own after a while. They have a kick-ass
Rage (allows Gau to absorb all eight elements regardless of equipment and
immunity to all status ailments while casting Cure 3 half the time), so you'll
want to meet them at least once.
We press on! The door in the second part of the stairway contains a Genji
Shield, which is a nice enough shield; third-best Defense in the game (lower
than the legendary Paladin Shield and oddball TortoiseShield), respectable
Magic Defense, and 20% Magic Block added to the wearer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The door in the third part of the stairway contains the Stunner, the most
powerful Dirk for Shadow. It has a 25% chance of casting Stop every time a
strike is made, but gives nothing in terms of fringe benefits. Famous for
Colosseum tactics against the likes of Chupon and Siegfried, who are both
vulnerable to the ailment and very hard to defeat by other means. The room also
features the White Dragon; you can defeat him now if you want for a Pearl
Lance: [WDRAGON-LINK].
The door in the fourth and last part of the stairway contains a Force Armor.
The Force Armor is a great piece of armor, especially for those characters
that have no other interesting pieces to equip (Locke, Cyan, Edgar, Setzer, and
Shadow). It doesn't really have that much on Defense (inferior to Crystal Mail),
but it's quite good on Magic Defense (only inferior to Genji Armor, rare
Snow Muffler and oddball Imp's Armor), has great elemental advantages
(50% Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, and Earth-elemental damage) and an added 30%
Magic Block.
The Force Armor is inferior to the Minerva in every way except for the MBlock,
so don't equip it on the girls; it's a genuine toss-up for the boys, though.
The Genji Armor is sturdier in both the Defense and Magic Defense department
and gives all-round stat boosts to boot; the Force Armor makes for a more
evasive character that is better suited to deal with elemental magical attacks.
I prefer the Force Armor for non-specific boss battles and the Genji Armor for
random encounters myself, but it's up to you.
The top part of the Tower, where the 'wondrous' item lies, should be off-limits
to you at this point; you can try to defeat the boss, but it's an enormous
hassle to defeat the guy at this stage. If you want to try the pain-in-the-ass
way (which for emulator users means juggling with Sonic Dive and for console
players hours upon hours of MP-draining), skip ahead to [MAGIMASTER-LINK]. If
not, just hike all the way back, which is my least favorite part of this game
by far.
Next and final stop, Kefka's Tower!
Put Mog with the Moogle Charm in party # 1, and fill up the other two positions.
You won't be using them, so don't worry about which characters to take.
Walk around with Mog. You'll first come across a chest containing a Coronet,
which boosts the wearer's Magic Power by 4 and raises the success rate of the
Control ability (Relm's upgraded Sketch). Walking on gets us into a familiar
area, a part of the Imperial Palace. Open the chest for the Fixed Dice (which
makes Setzer eternally more appealing than he was so far).
The Fixed Dice are Dice, but better. Dice sucked always, but the Fixed Dice is
a better damage dealer than Setzer's other weapons on average (unless extreme
circumstances appear, but meh). The main differences include
the fact that The Fixed Dice have THREE Dice to multiply with, and upon the
situation of three equal rolls (1-1-1, 2-2-2, etc.) the outcome is once again
multiplied by the number rolled. Finally, the damage output of the Fixed Dice
aren't cut down by the Offering, so Setzer can deal four of these attacks from
the Back Row with the relic equipped.
Now, walking on will get you to a dead end, so either use a Warp Stone, the
Warp spell, or switch to one of your characters and touch the Crane to get out.
Now, put Mog in party # 2 and continue raiding.
The first chest you find is rather messily stacked on the background in the
second room. It contains a Minerva. Continue to find a split in the road. Go
up to grab the Tack Star in the chest, and then go down. You'll find yourself
in the jail of the Imperial Palace, where Kefka was locked up when you were
on the mission to find the Esper for a peace conference. A monster sits in
Kefka's jail; ignore it for now and get out. You'll fall down. Go up the
stairs to find two pipes. The right one takes you back to the Tack Star room,
the left one allows you to continue. You'll find a Force Shield in the chest
you see upon tasting fresh air again. Go down; don't bother with the two doors
for now, and get to the far bottom-left to find a Force Armor in a chest. Get
back to the two doors. The left one takes you to a button on the floor and
a chest containing a Ribbon. Get out and take the right door. You can find
the Gold Dragon waiting for you here, but no more chest contents. If you have
the Bserk and Vanish spells, you can take him with Mog only; an average party
at this point also can. If you want to take the dragon on now, take a look at
[GDRAGON-LINK]. Warp out.
Now, get Mog in party # 3. Walk downwards. Going to the right will clearly take
you past three chests: a Red Cap (awesome), a Gauntlet, and a Nutkin Suit.
Continuing down the logical path will eventually take you to a part of the
derelict MagiTek Factory. Pick the chest for a Hero Ring and try to find the
Aegis Shield hidden to the south. If you're playing on an emulator, simply
disable layer 2 to see the path. If you're a console player, do the following:
Go down into the darkness to the left of the spinning whatever-it-is.
- Go all the way down
- Go all the way to the right
- Go all the way down
- Go 1 step up
- Go all the way to the left
- Go all the way down
- Take a few steps to the right and grab the Aegis Shield
- Go back into the darkness and go all the way to the right
- Go up and to the right until you don't go any further
- Go all the way to the left, and all the way up to re-appear
This is it! You've raided Kefka's Tower as far as you could. There's plenty
more, but you'll need three thoroughly prepared parties to go further so
there's a time for that later.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.56.1 The battle with Phunbaba
**********************************
Location: Mobliz
Party members: Optional: Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Setzer, Mog, Umaro
Opponents: Phunbaba
Lores: Blow Fish
Whom to bring? Celes is great to bring; Runic is nice if you don't have enough
Wall Rings to satisfy the entire party, and Celes's Minerva nullifies Phunbaba's
Lightning-elemental attacks. Sabin is a great addition to your team as he'll be
able to a lot of damage without disturbing him from his sleep with Bum Rush.
Gau's not very useful, as his random physicals will disturb Phunbaba from his
Sleep status, and the same goes for Umaro.
Assuming you haven't fought Phunbaba earlier, you still have some things to do,
which you can read about here: [PHUNBABA1-LINK]
Assuming that you fought Phunbaba earlier and talked to Terra in Mobliz:
[PHUNBABA2-LINK]
This is a good time to check in on the kids in Mobliz again. That pigeon can
wait for just a little bit longer (don't worry, we'll get with the pigeon next)
and the last time we saw Terra, she wasn't doing so hot. Personal problems,
loads of responsibility, and the ancient demon Phunbaba stampeding around would
get the average nineteen-year old girl down, I'm sure.
As soon as you enter Mobliz, nothing happens. The dogs have gotten used to you,
so they don't bark. Descending in the orphan's shelter will teach you that the
three older kids in town are gone; it seems that amidst all of the disaster,
safe sex wasn't a priority for Duane and Katarin. Katarin's pregnant, Duane
had thought of a better future than sitting in a dump of a town with his
knocked-up 17-year old girlfriend like so many fine young men of our generation,
and Terra... Where the hell is Terra? Best search around town.
The Relic Shop's derelict, although there's a nice bed for you to sleep in if
you feel like it. The only other standing house contains a dog that quickly
sneaks off behind a bookcase and Duane, who laments. Follow the dog and you
discover the haven within the haven; Terra and Katarin have retreated here to
discuss the existence of the baby. Duane comes in to apologize for his 'awful
husbandry'. Note that the 'husband' part was part of the localization; teenage
pregnancy is bad enough, but in a couple that's not married yet? Unheard of,
according to Square.
At any rate, Phunbaba attacks again. Duane sticks to Katarin, Terra refuses to
fight once more, and the kid asks you to rid the world of Phunbaba once and for
all. With ten young eyes pointed at you, do you really have a choice?
Before you go out, make sure you're properly equipped and healed up. Wall Rings
will really help here, especially if you lack the Runic ability on your team.
Obviously, people with a Thunder Shld and/or the Minerva bustier don't need a
Wall Ring, as they absorb (Thunder Shld) or nullify (Minerva) Bolt 2 and Bolt 3
anyway. If you brought Umaro and already found a Blizzard Orb, equip it on him;
not that his Storm attack is specifically strong in this battle, but the
Blizzard Orb nullifies Lightning-elemental attacks.
Phunbaba (BabaBreath)
Level: 31, HP: 26000, MP: 10000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Lightning, Weak against: Poison
Special: !Solar Plex: Battle x 3
Sketch : !Solar Plex, Battle
Control: Battle, !Solar Plex
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Battle, !Solar Plex, Bolt 2, Bolt 3, Blow Fish, BabaBreath
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: No
It's impossible to spin 7-7-7 in this battle; the game prevents it.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Phunbaba (final)
Level: 31, HP: 26000, MP: 10000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Lightning, Weak against: Poison
Special: !Solar Plex: Battle x 3
Sketch : !Solar Plex, Battle
Control: Battle, !Solar Plex
Vulnerable to: Sleep
Attacks: Battle, !Solar Plex, Bolt 2, Bolt 3, Blow Fish
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: Yes
Blow Fish messes with the RNG, but he doesn't use it until the third turn
anyway.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
This isn't all that difficult, so I'll make it kinda quick. You rush out of
the house to find Phunbaba approaching. You do battle with him. The first
round, he'll throw a Battle or !Solar Plex attack. The next round consists out
of Bolt 2 or Bolt 3, and the third round is Bolt 2, Blow Fish, or Battle.
It loops. As soon as it hits 15360 Hit Points, it'll counter the first attack
you throw at him with a double BabaBreath attack. BabaBreath is a Phunbaba-only
attack that's exactly the same as Sneeze; it only looks different. Phunbaba
targets two random characters and blows them away. They will also be removed
from your party and can be found at the Falcon later. Here, the battle ends.
If you somehow managed to completely circumvent this event by doing more than
15360 damage in one turn, he'll use BabaBreath only once and die. This is odd,
as the thing going on here is that you can't really handle Phunbaba. Sure, you
pound on him for a while, then he disables two of your characters just like
that.
On the offense, Phunbaba is temporarily resistant to the Sleep status so that
doesn't work. Focus on your strongest attacks; Sabin's Bum Rush, Mog
and Edgar's Jump attacks, Setzer's GP Rain attack (his Fixed Dice are
stronger if you have them), Cyan's Quadra Slam technique, what have you. If you
brought Gau to the scene, !Catscratch at decent level (30 and above) is the best
bet versus Phunbaba for Gau. Tyranosaur's Meteo's decent, followed by Harpiai's
Aero and Trilium's Bio. Vaporite absorbs Bolt 2 and Bolt 3, which is a great
defensive choice if you didn't bring Wall Rings or a Runic user. Keep in the
back of your head that Vaporite is undead, though. Rhinox isn't, but that
really kills Gau's offense in the matter. Woolly absorbs the Lightning-elemental
spells and has superior offense in Ice 3, but chances are slim you chose to
pick up Gogo before Terra. Your Mages and lesser-trained characters have the
Bio spell to use, and if any character has learned Quake than it is pure Magic
(don't forget to cast Float, obviously).
Note that since this battle fades out rather than actually ends, Strago won't
be able to learn any Lores (aka Blow Fish) from this battle.
Anyway, despite your perfect set-up and the little amount of damage Phunbaba
will be able to do, you still get your face handed to you on an IKEA silver
platter according to the storyline. No fair.
So, Terra comes to save you! Sensing that her friends are in danger or something
cheesy like that, she rushes to the rescue, unleashing the Esper within herself
on her way. Round two.
Now, you stand there with one or two less characters you picked beforehand, but
with a permanently Morphed Terra as a replacement. Just continue to attack him.
If Terra knows the Bio spell, have her use it. Since Terra doesn't have a Wall
Ring and likely lacks the Minerva bustier as well, it can be a good idea to cast
Shell or Rflect on her in this battle, even though she already takes half as
much damage from the attacks due to her Morphed state. The Sleep status ailment
works now, so have one of your characters cast it if possible and focus on
magical attacks only. Before long, Phunbaba will fall.
Interesting tidbit: this is actually the only battle in the entire game you can
see the fallen Esper Terra sprite in. In normal situations, Terra will
automatically Revert when she is killed, but not so in this battle.
After the battle, the kids of Mobliz rush out of the houses to celebrate the
victory, but instead of their Mama, they find a naked purple furry. They hide
behind barrels for safety. One of the toddlers recognizes Terra and all
surround her. Terra, meanwhile, has concluded that pacifism isn't the way to
enlightenment and decides to fight for her loved ones, the children of Mobliz.
When the scene is over, we can leave Mobliz behind; we can only hope that all
will go well for them, and that the upcoming baby will never represent this
world reborn when the credits roll.
I wouldn't get my hopes up for that last one, by the way.
An important note to make before we really go back on the Falcon, by the way,
is the fact that as of now Terra will receive TWICE as much Morph time for
every Magic Point she gains. That's awesomely sweet. Terra is entirely like
Celes on her set-up and the way you should treat her; teach her Bahamut's,
Terrato's, or Tritoch's spells, and equip the Minerva on her no matter what you
have in mind.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.57.1 Following the pigeon
**********************************
Finally, it's time to get on with the story and get busy with the pigeon you
were prompted to deal with all these aeons ago.
Whom to bring? The Minerva bustier is great against the boss you'll fight, so
Celes and Terra are nice choices if you have up to two Minervas. Sabin is still
a magical powerhouse, but Dragoon Edgar, Dragoon Mog, and Fixed Dice Setzer
are pretty powerful too. If Gau has something like Magic Urn or Woolly, I'd
bring him along. Never mind Umaro. It comes down to the characters you have
proper equipment for, really.
First stop, if you still remember, is Maranda, where the carrier pigeon first
took us. Some pigeons surround Lola's house, and as we enter we find the entire
room covered in beautiful silk flowers. Lola claims that her boyfriend, the
wounded lad in Mobliz has sent them all, but we just visited that place; that
poor guy was killed when Kefka attacked the town with the Light of Judgment.
So, who has been deceiving this girl, keeping her hopes up? Examining the
letters reveals that the handwriting of it resembles the handwriting of Cyan,
who like no other, knows the pain of loss.
Lola asks you if you can attach her reply to a carrier pigeon. Accept, and
you'll receive the Rare item "Lola's letter". You can examine it to read the
first two lines (Thanks for all the flowers, I'm worried about you...) Go
outside and find the pigeon waiting for you near Lola's house; attach the
letter (obviously, you'll lose it) and you'll see it fly across the Overworld
Map to Zozo. It seems our characters have incredible eyesight if they can track
a single bird that far.
Jump on the Falcon and fly over to Zozo. Zozo still houses the same opponents
as it did in the WoB, but I'm not going to comment on them again, as they're no
real threat to you anymore. In Zozo, you find the pigeon resting for a bit near
the entrance; pushing it a little makes it fly on, over, and behind the Small
Tower. Up there, you may remember one of the doors being rusted shut; you
could climb up there and experience this fact if you want to, but we're better
off looking on the ground for help. Besides, didn't that one guy in Maranda
say how the honest merchant here might be able to help us out one day?
The honest merchant is willing to help us for a price; for 1000 GP, we can buy
some Rust-Rid. He won't sell you the Rust-Rid if you haven't sent the pigeon
all the way, so make sure you did that. The Rust-Rid is a Rare Item you gain
if you pay the man. Climb up the stairs, and find the door that was rusted
shut. You use the Rust-Rid, and presto: a new dungeon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.57.2 Mount Zozo
**********************************
Location: Mt. Zozo
Party members: Optional: Terra, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Setzer, Mog, Umaro
Opponents: Ursus, Luridan, Scrapper, Punisher, Borras, Storm Drgn
Lores: Aero, Pearl Wind
Caves
Ursus, Punisher (6/16)
Borras (5/16)
Ursus (5/16)
Bridge slope
Punisher, Scrapper, Punisher (6/16)
Luridan, Luridan, Luridan, Luridan, Luridan, Luridan (5/16)
Borras (5/16)
Slope before Cyan's settlement
Luridan, Luridan, Luridan, Luridan, Luridan, Luridan (6/16)
Luridan, Luridan, Luridan (5/16)
Borras, Ursus, Scrapper (5/16)
Borras are upgraded HadesGigas. They don't use Magnitude8 and don't absorb
Earth-elemental attacks either; they're just really powerful physically and
have a lot of HP. It has a very nasty Special in !Uppercut, which is five times
as powerful as Borras' Battle, and has two chances of attacking you every turn.
Finally, they have a rare Muscle Belt steal; the Muscle Belt is a Relic that
raises your max. HP by 50%, which really helps you defensively. They're nice
targets for a Dread attack (has ID protection but no Petrify protection) too.
Punishers are boring. They're stronger versions of the Harvesters you met down
in Zozo, but not nearly as interesting. They counter Steal with Steal. You can
Steal a common Rising Sun or rare Bone Club from them, which are limited to
them and Colosseum appearances. They take two turns attacking normally, and
a third turn in a frenzy of !Pummel (Battle x 2) and up to two Battle attacks.
They're Floating, like all thief opponents, and weak against Poison, like all
humans.
Scrapper are strong Brawler-type enemies, but unlike Brawler and Iron Fist lack
the ability to utilize the Stone attack. They have inherent Haste and attack
with either Battle or !Knife (Battle x 1.5). They also counter any damaging
attack with either Battle or !Knife. They have a rare Thief Glove steal. Great.
In the Sketch, Control, and Rage department, Scrapper has access to Elf Fire,
but he won't use it normally.
Luridan's crazy! Just crazy, I tell you! It knows two silly terrain attacks
only normally accessible through Mog's Dances. On the third turn, he may use
Harvester (removes Dark, Poison, Petrify, Mute, Muddle, Seizure, Sleep, Slow
and Stop), and on the fourth turn, it may use Kitty (MT, sets Haste). Exactly
why a violent delta-shaped bug like Luridan has power over nightingales and
young felines is left to anybody's imagination. On every non-Harvester/Kitty
turn, Luridan will either use Battle or !Horn (Battle x 2). Since Luridan
tends to travel in large packs of either three or six, the continuous pounding
gets rather painful on the whole. They can be quickly dispatched by a decent
MT Fire 2 spell, and Gau's MT magical violence in Harpiai's Aero also works
wonders (Quake misses...why are they Floating?).
Ursus are bears. They don't damage you; they just Steal GP from you. This was
never a problem with other monsters that did this (Harvester, Dadaluma), as
they never ran, so you just got the money back in the end. Ursus, however, will
flee the second turn when given the chance. He'll try to Steal from you in the
first turn, and counter any damaging attack you throw at him with a shot at a
Steal attack, so chances are you really want to take him down ASAP. Sleep, Stop,
and Berserk all work on him, and they're weak to the Fire element.
Also, there's a trick with Ursus you can't execute now, but will be able to do
later. Bring Relm with the Cat Hood equipped, and have either Relm herself or
Gogo Control an Ursus. Now, just go ahead and damage it a little with something
minor like a Bolt spell, and heal him afterwards. Some of the time, he'll
counter with Steal. Now, since Ursus will Steal an incredible amount of money
over time, and the Cat Hood doubles all GP obtained, you'll get your own money
back twice. I'll remind you when you have the Cat Hood. :)
All of the attacks of the monsters in Mt. Zozo are physical, so all you have to
do is summon Phantom once or cast Vanish enough times to cover the entire
party and you're more or less done until you reach the Storm Drgn here. For
some trivia, all monsters have a high Evade rating. You don't notice due
to the Evade bug, but you were really supposed to lay off the blockable
physical attacks here.
As you enter, you'll find a giant cave with wooden bridges going everywhere
and nowhere. If you go up, you'll reach a dead end because both bridges here
have collapsed. Go all the way to the left to find a chest containing an Ice
Shld. If you go down a little, you'll find a wooden bridge going down and a
chest containing a Red Cap, a brilliant piece of headgear that raises HP by
25%. I love and suggest it on every character that's not wearing a Mystery
Veil at this moment. Follow the bridge downwards and it'll take you to
a long set of stairs going down, to the left, past a chest containing a
Thunder Shld, and eventually up again.
The Thunder Shld is the best elemental shield there is. Unlike its Flame and
Ice brethren, it has no elemental weakness, and next to absorbing Lightning-
elemental attacks and nullifying Wind, it also halves damage done by Fire-
and Ice-elemental attacks. I'd advise it over, say, the Genji Shield if your
set-up can use some elemental resistance.
Going up will get you past a chest with an Aegis Shld. Boy, the treasure
in this dungeon really rocks, I tell you. The Aegis Shld is a shield primarily
for magical attacks; its Magic Defense is better than the Genji Shld and
its Magic Block% is also higher (40% is better than 20%, no?). It's not as
good as defender against magical attacks as the Force Shld, and not as good
against physicals as the Genji Shld, but it's a great shield on both areas.
Although its lack of elemental properties makes it primarily a great choice
for people who get their elemental properties from other sources (in other
words, that's mostly Minerva wearers, people with the Cat Hood, or Force Armor).
Outside, in the opening to the far left, you'll find a chest with a Gold
Hairpin. The other exit takes you outside on the slopes of Mount Zozo, over
a bridge. In the next cave, you find a Save Point and a button tile. If you
stand on the button tile, a chest you can't reach opens to release the Storm
Dragon, who flies freely around. Equip Minerva's and Thunder Shlds where
possible now, and Golem/Fenrir and ZoneSeek are great to have around to summon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.57.3 The battle with Storm Drgn
**********************************
Storm Drgn
Level: 74, HP: 42000, MP: 1250
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Force Armor (always)
Absorbs: Wind, Weakness: Lightning
Status: Float
Special: !Wing Saber: Battle x 3
Sketch : Pearl Wind, Aero
Control: Battle, !Wing Saber
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Battle, !Wing Saber, Aero, Wind Slash, Rage, Cyclonic
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: Yes
Nothing Storm Drgn uses messes with the RNG.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Crystal
Crystal Shld
Crystal Helm
Crystal Mail
Storm Drgn is the toughest dragon out of the bunch, and the specific scourge of
the average LLG players, because one of Storm Drgn's attacks is the
non-elemental, unblockable Rage attack, which you can't prevent Storm Drgn from
using. Luckily, you probably have at least one Minerva wearer in your
party at this point, and you just found a Thunder Shld you can equip on any
given party member (except for Umaro, useless piece of muscle that he is), so
you have at least two party members that nullify the Wind element.
Storm Drgn can use three attacks normally: Battle, Wind Slash, and Rage. Rage
and Wind Slash are about alike in power and they're both unblockable. Rage,
however, is non-elemental where Wind Slash is Wind-elemental. As soon as
Storm Drgn dives beneath 15360 Hit Points, he'll drop Wind Slash and Rage for
more physicals (he'll start using !Wing Saber here): Aero and Cyclonic. Aero
is about 1.2 times as powerful as Wind Slash, but 2.4 times as powerful when
used on a single target (which will only happen if all the other characters are
Wounded or in the air due to a Jump attack). Cyclonic, as you know from Wyvern
and Wirey Drgn, is an MT percentage-based attack that will remove 93.75% of the
targets current HP. Memento Rings and Safety Bits block the effects of Cyclonic,
as do Rages with the ID Protection property.
At the start, summon Golem or Fenrir to protect against the physical attacks
Storm Drgn uses. ZoneSeek's Wall really helps against Wind Slash and Rage,
but you should invest in individual Shell castings if you don't have ZoneSeek
ready. Now, you'll want to use Rasp a few times to take care of Storm Drgn's
MP; when it's gone (you can check with Scan, or keep track with a calculator),
Storm Drgn won't be able to cast Aero or Cyclonic in it's 'dangerous' phase. If
one of your party members has learned the Haste 2 spell from Palidor, by all
means.
Now, just start beating him! Terra's Morph can help boosting the damage
of her spells (and halve the damage done by the magical spells, even though
only Rage should ever damage Terra is you've played your cards right). Since
Storm Drgn is weak against the Lightning-element, Bolt 2, Tri-Dazer, and Bolt 3
all hurt very nicely. Storm Drgn is rather strong and not to be taken lightly,
especially since he won't succumb to your status ailment spells, but with the
proper set-up, you shouldn't have a lot of problems.
When the fight ends, you'll have defeated another dragon and obtain a Force
Armor, which is great against magical attacks and halves the damage done from
Fire-, Bolt-, Ice-, Wind-, and Earth-elemental attacks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.57.4 Cyan Garamonde
**********************************
After the battle, you can simply pursue you path without any kind of difficulty.
Eventually, you'll reach a room filled with the same silk flowers you found
in Lola's house, and a letter on a desk that reads:
Dear Lola,
I am writing to beg for your forgiveness. I am guilty of perpetuating a terrible
lie... I have only now realized the error of my ways. I hope I can correct a
great wrong. Your boyfriend, who you thought was in Mobliz, passed away some
time ago. I have been writing in his stead... We humans tend to allow the past
to destroy our lives. I impore you not to let this happen. It is time to look
forward, to rediscover love, and embrace the beauty of life.
You have so much of life left to live...
CYAN
Also, there's a locked chest. When we leave through the opening to the right,
we see Cyan send a letter and recite a poem; when he notices you, he declares
his alliance to your cause once again and freaks out about you seeing his
silk flowers and reading his letters. It seems the year of solitude has hardly
changed him. If you brought three characters, Cyan is now in your party; if
not, he'll be waiting on the Falcon for you.
If you go outside, you'll see something shimmering; it turns out to be the
key to Cyan's secret chest. You can go back in and open the chest. You'll find
two books here: a Machinery Manual (Japanese game: Machines for Dummies,
Machines explained through comics, Overcome your fears of machines today and the
Big Book of understanding machines) which supposedly cured Cyan's fear of
machines and a "Book of Secrets", of which he's very possessive. If you have
Cyan in your party at this moment, he'll make a small scene in which he takes
this item from your party leader. The Japanese game just called this "Book of
Secrets" a naughty magazine. So it's a fact, poetry-writing heart-broken samurai
get lonely too. :P
If you take Cyan to Lola, he'll exchange the "Everything's going swell here in
Mobliz"-letter with the letter you read in Mount. Zozo. Lola will talk a little
about her feelings and exclaims how she wants to meet this man who wrote all
the letters; if you brought Cyan and at least one other party member, he or
she will be about to break the secret when Cyan steps in and prevents the truth
from surfacing, telling Lola to enjoy life.
Case closed.
Cyan, if you've been following the program a bit, probably learned two new
SwdTech skills in your absence. Empowerer (which you may have already seen in
the WoB, level 24) is an attack that drains both HP and MP in a single strike
using some dragon-related power. It's strong enough to restore Cyan back to
full in both aspects if you don't level too high, so unless the damage drained
is hampered by the target, it's a great restorative move. Stunner is basically
Cyan's version of Sabin's Air Blade, much like Dispatch is Cyan's version of
Sabin's Pummel. Stunner is slightly stronger, non-elemental, and has a rough 55%
chance of setting Stop if the struck opponent is still alive and vulnerable to
the ailment: it's a random 140/256 chance ignoring any kind of Magic Block or
Evade stat.
With Quadra Slam still being there for you, Cyan's SwdTech skills truly are
something to fear; it's the bloody charge time that holds you back. Waiting for
SwdTech # 6 takes a really long time; even if you skip to all the other
characters and input the commands for their long-animation attacks, Cyan won't
always be done charging when the other characters are done, and at this point,
the opponents have often already been defeated.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.58.1 The Veldt
**********************************
Location: The Veldt
Party members: Optional: Terra, Cyan, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Setzer, Mog, Umaro
Opponents: a'plenty
Lores: a'plenty
The Veldt has altered a bit. You no longer have access to the town of Mobliz
when walking on the Veldt, Crescent Mountain has disappeared and a new cave,
mysteriously called the Cave of the Veldt has appeared.
It's been quite a while since you picked up some new Rages, so I suppose it's
time to go check up on our friend Gau again. You won't have to rescue him or
do anything special to recruit him; just go fight on the Veldt with any party
that has a free spot and he'll have the same ol' 57.5% chance of appearing
like always. You've met a great load of monsters, so I'll give a quick rundown
on the good ones you can look for:
Behemoth (Meteor)
Ninja (absorbs Poison, inherent Float, Water Edge)
Wirey Drgn (inherent Safe and Float, Cyclonic)
EarthGuard (Big Guard)
Mesosaur (Step Mine)
Gilomantis (ID protection, Shrapnel)*1
Osteosaur (absorbs Poison, Undead, X-Zone)
Orog (absorbs Poison, Undead, Pearl)*2
PowerDemon (absorbs Poison, Undead, Flare)
Red Wolf (ID protection, !Rush (Battle x 1.5))
Mag Roader (brown) (inherent Haste, L.4 Flare)
Ceritops (absorbs Lightning, ID protection, inherent Safe, Giga Volt)
Luridan (inherent Float, Land Slide)*3
Scrapper (absorbs Poison, inherent Haste, Elf Fire)
Black Drgn (absorbs Poison, Undead, Storm)*4
Punisher (inherent Haste and Float, Bolt 3)
*1 Shrapnel is a non-elemental magical attack about as powerful as a level 3
spell. Under Rage, it randomly changes between an ST and MT spell, much like
Fire 2, Giga Volt, and attacks like that.
*2 Pearl is a Pearl-elemental spell that you will later learn from an Esper.
It's slightly weaker than a level 3 spell.
*3 Land Slide is an ST non-elemental barrier-piercing attack that's about
1.25 times as powerful as a level 3 spell on a single target. Superior to
Flare in all ways, it was already Mog's second-strongest Dance attack.
*4 Storm is exactly what you get when you invent an Ice-elemental Skean and
make it not a Skean. Notable as one of Umaro's attacks, it's his strongest
Ice-elemental attack until Gau gets his greedy little hands on Woolly.
On how to use Gau in the WoR: It's a common notion that while Gau rocks people's
socks in the WoB with his incredible offensive abilities, he's just a tank in
the WoR while the offense is lacking. This is only partly true, however. For
fairly far into the WoR, Gau's special attacks are still powerful enough to
make most forms of MT damage pale in comparison. The most noticable picks on a
good ol' fashioned MT violence Gau are:
ChickenLip/Cluck. You should have ChickenLip from the WoB, but Cluck is just
a slight alternative (absorbs Poison, but lacks ID protection). Quake never
misses unless the targets floats, and also hits your side, so you'll want to
make sure to always have Floating characters when using this Rage. When the
opponents get hit and you don't, this is pretty much the best choice you have.
Meteo is about as strong as Quake, hits all enemies and all enemies only AND is
non-elemental. What's the problem then? Not only is obtaining Meteo slightly
more of a feat then Quake is (you'll have to go in the woods and fight yourself
a Tyranosaur), it also misses 20 % of the time. That's bad. On Floating targets,
or when Quake doesn't work for any other reason, I suggest Meteo over pretty
much everything else because of its pure power.
If you can use neither, there's a slew of options waiting for you that are
pretty good but not quite as good as ChickenLip-Cluck and Tyranosaur. Harpiai's
Aero is a Wind-elemental level 3 spell on all targets. Gilomantis shares its
power and is non-elemental, but may appear ST or MT which adds a level of
randomness. As for ST damage, Prussian's Land Slide is a great option, as is
Punisher's Bolt 3. The Punisher Rage will also induce Gau with auto-Haste and
auto-Float, which doesn't hurt its case in the slightest.
Always boost by Earrings!
If you feel like your new Gau has been pumped up enough, find the newly formed
Cave of the Veldt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.58.2 The Cave of the Veldt and Allo Ver
**********************************
Location: The Cave of the Veldt
Party members: Optional: Terra, Cyan, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Setzer, Mog, Gau
Umaro
Opponents: Rhyos, Toe Cutter, Allo Ver, SrBehemoth (living), SrBehemoth (undead)
Lores: Condemned
Monster formations:
Toe Cutter (10/16)
Toe Cutter, Toe Cutter (5/16)
Rhyos (1/16)
Whom to bring? Gau's a great choice here, as you can practice his new Rages
here (which are great if you have some of the proper ones). Edgar's excellent to
bring if you got his Air Anchor already and also great if you don't, as is Relm
(although you probably don't have her yet). In Edgar's absence, Mog's a nice
addition as well; it's about the Pearl Lance here. Celes's Runic ability comes
in handy in the boss battle here too. For the random encounters, those who have
learned Fire 3 are excellent.
Toe Cutter is a big nasty Gilomantis upgrade. Toe Cutters absorb Ice-elemental
attacks and have ID protection. To top it off, they have just enough HP to
survive most MT spells, so it's hard to clean them up easily. On the offense,
they're nothing to worry about; they just use Battle over and over again,
countering every attack with a 33% shot at !Doomsickle (drains HP). Take them
out with Fire- or Wind-elemental attacks. Sabin's Air Blade works really well
on them, Cyan's Tempest Knife hurts them badly (although you'll want a Genji
Glove/Hero Ring combination to ensure death), and L.4 Flare also hits the spot
(the little brown Mag Roader's Rage allows Gau to cast it; it's all the way to
the bottom of the Rage list). Air Blade and L.4 Flare should be boosted by
Hero Rings and/or Earrings.
Rhyos are very elusive, but pretty dangerous when you do encounter them. They
have over 7000 Hit Points, no weaknesses and have ID protection, so they'll stay
a while when you meet them. For three turns they'll just attack physically,
but on the fourth turn Rhyos will get all fired up. He'll start with !Rage
(Battle * 2), and use three of the following attacks: Blizzard, Fire Ball,
Giga Volt, Magnitude8, or Aqua Rake. Three, that hurts pretty bad. You can stop
this madness by casting a combination of Sleep, Slow and/or Stop on the monster,
stopping his actions entirely (if you lay off of the physical attacks).
Gau's Rages in the Cave otV: Harpiai works wonders on the Toe Cutters, but the
brown Mag Roader with L.4 Flare (bottom) is grand on all monsters here. Quake
is less desirable because it removes Clear even when Floating, and Meteo may
miss.
As soon as you enter, you'll see a familiar yet inhuman face: Interceptor! He'll
retreat into the cave, so you'll want to follow him. To the right is nothing
anyway.
In the next room, you'll meet a group of four hunters who live in the cave.
They'll talk of Gau and tell you that he won't approach if you're with four
party members. One of the members will talk about a 'frightful dragon' that
no human is able to defeat. He's not talking about one of the elemental dragons
here, but about a rare random encounter: the Brachosaur, the most dangerous
random encounter in the game. I'll talk about that bastard when we get there.
In this same room is a chest that contains the Rage Ring, a Relic that allows
Umaro to absorb Ice-elemental attacks (which he already did anyway due to the
irremovable Snow Muffler on him), nullify Fire-elemental attacks, and add the
Character Toss attack to his options. To learn more about the Character Toss
attack, take a look at [UMARO-LINK]; it's basically an improved Umaro Tackle,
a non-elemental barrier-piercing physical attack that requires another party
member to work. Me, I like to believe he shouts, in Sasquatch gibberish: "MAN
TORPEDO" before every hurl. That would amuse. Leave through the door. The Rage
Ring takes care of all the elemental resistances Umaro is ever going to get,
and with the added offense, you really want the Rage Ring on Umaro at all times.
You'll end up in a place where you can go to the bottom and to the left. To
the left (you'll have to navigate blindly for a few steps to reach it) is a
chest containing a monster-in-a-box, the deity of Death called Allo Ver.
Allo Ver was never supposed to be a one-time battle, but due to a formation
mix-up, this is the only time you'll fight him. He was supposed to appear on
the Veldt, providing you with Magic Points in this battle and providing you
with more Tiger Fangs before the final dungeon, but he does neither.
Allo Ver
Level: 19, HP: 8000, MP: 8000
Steal: Tonic (common), Potion (rare), Win: Tiger Fangs (always)
Absorbs: Poison, Weakness: Fire, Pearl
Status: Undead
Special: !Dead End: sets Death
Sketch : !Dead End, !Dead End
Control: Battle, !Dead End, !Dead End, !Dead End
Vulnerable to: Petrify, Death, Condemned, Confuse, Slow
Attacks: Doom, Condemned, Atomic Ray
Vanish/Doom: Yes
Note that Allo Ver is Undead, so Doom will just restore his HP.
Joker Doom: Yes
Atomic Ray screws over the RNG, but you shouldn't see it be used anyway.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Remedy
Remedy
Remedy
Remedy
Here's the deal. Every turn, Allo Ver will use Doom, Condemned, or do
nothing. He also may counter every damaging attack you make with a Doom spell
as well (33%). If you allow him to live for more than a minute, he'll cast
eight consecutive Atomic Ray spells, which coming from his rather spectacular
Magic Power (50!) means death to everybody who isn't specifically protected
from Fire-elemental attacks.
Don't bother with damage. The weakness of Allo Ver is ID attacks. As soon as
you enter battle, have somebody cast Break or X-Zone. You may want to revive
a character if he fell to Allo Ver's first turn Doom spell, but Break is
definitely the way to go. I don't recommend Edgar's Air Anchor because Allo Ver
may counter the Tool with a Doom spell, which you don't want. Regardless, Allo
Ver is really more of a regular enemy than he is a boss, so you shouldn't have
any trouble with him. The Lich Rage makes any Rager invulnerable, as Doom and
Condemned will heal the Rager and Atomic Ray will be absorbed.
After you've defeated Allo Ver, you can equip the non-elemental Tiger Fangs on
Sabin if you like (if only for the extra increase in Magic Power), and trace
back your steps a little and take the southern path this time. The path will
take you a long way, but eventually you'll come across a room with a chest
and a switch. The chest contains the Striker. The Striker is a rather
feature-less weapon with the Assassin's X-type ID ability.
It's a weapon you heard about earlier; a 'mean guy' in the Colosseum was looking
for it. That's of little concern to you at this time; we still haven't found
Interceptor yet. If you touch the switch, a new path opens up for you to take.
Once you take the path: shock and awe! It's Shadow, and he's not looking
healthy. If you didn't wait for Shadow at the Floating Continent, he's not
here, but it will be Relm who's lying facedown on the rocks on the cave. In
both cases, Interceptor will be standing guard, waiting for you to come over
and help the both of them. Ascend the stairs, and you enter a room with a Save
Point. Do your Save Point stuff and enter the room.
While you're examining the wounded person, you're attacked from behind by a
behemoth-like monster. Bollocks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.58.3 The battle with SrBehemoth
**********************************
SrBehemoth (living, blue)
Level: 43, HP: 19000, MP: 1600
Steal: Murasame (rare), Win: Jewel Ring (rare), ThunderBlade (common)*1
Absorbs: Ice, Weakness: Fire, Poison
Status: Undead
Special: !Evil Claw: Unblockable Battle + Removes Reflect
Sketch : !Evil Claw, !Evil Claw
Control: Battle, !Evil Claw
Vulnerable to: Imp, Slow, Stop
Attacks: Battle, !Evil Claw, Ice 2, Ice 3, Pearl, Imp, Meteo
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions. However, I'd like to point out that using Vanish in combination
with X-Zone, Odin's Atom Edge, Raiden's True Edge, the Cleave SwdTech or Snare
would have rather bad results; it will prevent the second SrBehemoth from coming
around, which will rob you of a Rage and the ability to obtain more than one
BehemothSuit and Snow Muffler as opposed to infinite. Since the BehemothSuit is
the best armor for Relm and Strago, and the Snow Muffler the best armor for Gau
and Mog, you really don't want this to happen.
Joker Doom: No/Yes
You can't spin 7-7-7 in this battle; the game prevents it. As soon as you
face off against the second SrBehemoth, 7-7-7 becomes an option.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
*1 Note that the game data says that this guy gives you a BehemothSuit 100% of
the time, which is how it is supposed to be. However, they overlooked something
with the data concerning the switch between the two SrBehemoths, so the items
from the first SrBehemoth get grabbed from some random data location. In the
US SNES versions, this means you either get a Jewel Ring or a ThunderBlade.
I currently have no information about the Japanese game or the PSX port,
although I've heard rather unconfirmed mentioning of a ValiantKnife and an
Oath Veil. My ROM image copy of RPGone's version 1.2 translation had a rare
Ninja Gear and a common ValiantKnife, but I dare not say if that goes for all
of their patches or the Japanese game in general.
SrBehemoth
Level: 49, HP: 19000, MP: 9999
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: BehemothSuit (always)
Absorbs: Poison, Weakness: Fire, Pearl
Status: Undead
Special: !Hypno Gas: sets Sleep
Sketch : !Hypno Gas, Fire 3
Control: Battle, Battle, Battle, Battle
Vulnerable to: Death, Condemned
Attacks: Battle, !Hypno Gas, Doom, Meteo
Vanish/Doom: Yes
Note that the yellow SrBehemoth is Undead, so Doom will just restore his HP.
Joker Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Cursed Ring
Cursed Ring
Thornlet
Relic Ring
The blue SrBehemoth, despite his appearance, is almost a pure spell caster.
He'll normally attack with Ice 2, Ice 3, and Pearl spells which all hit with
considerable force. If he hits 10240 Hit Points, he'll get more Ice 3 spells
than before and throw Meteo in the mix, which hurts a bundle (around 1000 on
every character, pretty much the same force Intangir used to throw Meteo
attacks on you).
If a character of yours is under the influence of Reflect, he'll target the
character and use !Evil Claw to remove the Reflect status (the message "Effect
of "Rflect" vanished" will appear) and return to his normal AI script. If
multiple characters are under the influence of Reflect, he'll go down from
character #1 to character #4, switching between !Evil Claw turns and normal
AI script turns. Note that characters with Wall Rings still yield the "Effect
of "Rflect" vanished" notion yet keep the status.
If SrBehemoth is turned into an Imp, it'll respond to that by changing its
AI Script. He'll now receive auto-criticals from being turned into an Imp and
start using two Battle attacks every turn for three turns, after which it'll
cast the Imp spell to try and remove the Imp status. He won't try to do this
if he has the Reflect status at this moment, though.
If SrBehemoth is hit by the Pearl spell, he'll counter with Meteo period. Sadly,
due to a bug, this overrides the other normal counter, that of having a 33%
at countering with Battle on every other damaging attack, so the next attack
will also be countered with a Meteo attack. In other words, the Pearl spell
eventually sends two extra Meteo attacks down your throat, so don't do it. The
Orog and White Drgn Rages cast Pearl; ignore them.
What to do? The best way to deal with the blue SrBehemoth is a combination of
Imp and Stop. Now, give it everything you have. Cast Haste 2 to speed up the
process. Summoning Fenrir or Golem helps protect against stray physicals from
his side. Fire 2 and Fire 3 really hurt him. Gau's Scrapper Rage gives Gau
inherent Haste and makes him use Elf Fire; it's great for the battle. If you
don't have access to either the Imp or Stop status ailments, Celes's Runic can
really help if you brought her. Bum Rush, Fixed Dice, Dragon Horn Jumps,
you know what works.
When you finally defeat SrBehemoth, he'll ripple away and the battle is over.
But no! SrBehemoth's hatred for all things good has allowed him to survive
death itself and return as an undead being to try to wreak havoc once more.
Oh noes. Everybody runs to the other side of the screen, but don't fear; your
Row is still intact (even though it doesn't look like it and it'd be entirely
logical if Row hadn't been intact), so you don't have to change.
This SrBehemoth is a little simpler. He'll just use Battle, !Hypno Gas, the Doom
spell, or Meteo. He won't use Doom until the second turn, and Meteo until the
third turn (after which he resets back). If he successfully uses !Hypno Gas
on a person, he'll target that person next for four consecutive Battle attacks
(of which the first one is sure to land). That's about it.
The undead SrBehemoth's one weakness is the ID attack. He can be killed by
X-Zone, Snare, and the Air Anchor Tool, and is hurt by Slash, Demi, you name it.
Since SrBehemoth's first turn isn't dangerous and he has no dangerous counters,
the Air Anchor really is a great option to use. The Dusk Requiem coming from
Mog houses both Cave In and Snare which both truly cripple the massive menace.
Since SrBehemoth is Undead and lacks ID protection anyway, the Life spell is a
glorious option; the Life spell also works on Undead with ID protection mind
you, but here it feels less like raping the system. :) When the battle is over,
SrBehemoth will ripple away again. He's now a rather indestructible monster that
roams the Veldt, attacking you every now and again. He leaves a BehemothSuit
behind every time you meet him though, so it's really not all bad.
After the battle, you'll crouch down and your party's leader will say: "We
can't do anything for her here. Let's take her back to Thamasa using the
airship." apparently Woolsey let Shadow die on the Floating Continent and found
Relm here, prompting him to use 'her' in the translation. Forum newbies have
grabbed the opportunity at many occasions to point out that Shadow is actually
female, which simply isn't true; this was never his line. In the PSX game,
this was 'fixed'; the line is now turned towards a male subject, making Relm a
boy. Oh Square remake team, is there anything you can't mess up?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.59.1 Thamasa and the Colosseum once again
**********************************
Location: Thamasa
Party members: Optional: Terra, Cyan, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Setzer, Mog, Gau
Umaro
Opponents: a'plenty
Lores: None
Back in Thamasa, we're helping the poor wounded character through a difficult
dream. Here's the dream if you rescued Shadow from the Cave on the Veldt:
(Clyde leaves a house that resembles Strago's house in Thamasa. A dog
follows him and tries to stop him)
You came to fetch me...
But I won't be coming back...
I want you, and the girl, to live in a peaceful world...
(Clyde leaves. The dog, after looking back at the house and barking, follows
him)
Now, here's the dream if you left Shadow to die at the Floating Continent and
found little Relm Arrowny in the Cave on the Veldt:
(Strago and Relm are standing on the top floor of their house in Thamasa)
Papa...?
Where'd he go?
Is he ever coming back?
(Strago looks down, not answering)
The character will now just lie in bed, recovering from the wounds.
SHADOW: No need to worry. It's just a scratch. Also, he's gonna stand guard,
so you just relax.
RELM: I'm still a bit groggy... But I'm okay. Interceptor always makes me
happy!
That's great. You're back in Thamasa now, but there really isn't anything new
to do here since the last time you visited the place, so just leave. As soon as
you leave Thamasa, the character you rescued will depart as well. Shadow will
have departed for the Colosseum, as indicated by the guy who previously talked
about Doom Gaze: "If you're looking for the man dressed all in black, he left
for the colosseum.".
If you saved Relm things will be ever so slightly more complicated.
She can now be in Jidoor: "One day, a man working for an aristocrat in Jidoor
came and took that young woman back with him!". However, it's not a fixed
occurance. In order to make Relm appear in Jidoor, you need to step on one of
three specific tiles and exit Thamasa, re-enter, step on one of those tiles
again, and exit again (which is a given). This process sounds far more unnatural
than it comes to most players; one of these tiles lie on the stone path leading
out of Thamasa to the southern exit, so as long as you follow that one, you'll
be fine.
It's time to go pick them up, I'd say.
Shadow's just a stone's throw away. Fly the Blackjack to the Colosseum, and
remember that notion about the Striker. Once you bet it, you won't find a
monster fighting you for it (after you've fought this battle, or if you haven't
met the criteria so far, this'll be Chupon), but the merciless mercenary
himself: Shadow. Shadow is a complete pushover; unequipped, unarmed, and unable
to use the Throw command in the Colosseum, Shadow is pathetic. But it doesn't
even matter if you win or not; whether you win, lose (equipped a Heal Rod or
something, right?), or Warp out of battle with the aptly named spell, Shadow
will join you afterwards. And it's permanent this time (Shadow fans: yata!).
Poor Shadow, though; his only joy in this world left is to fight. At least we
can turn this into a positive force now that he intends to face Kefka himself.
And boy, does he do it well! Skeans are very strong, and now you have the
finances to really buy them en masse. Especially Fire Skeans often nail
elemental weaknesses, so buy lots of those and a few of the other ones to make
them feel appreciated.
Now you're here at the Colosseum, you might as well bet the BehemothSuit
nobody can equip yet for the Snow Muffler. I told you earlier how to defeat
the Outsider that guards it, so go find it if you're having trouble. The Snow
Muffler is awesome, absolutely awesome equipment for both Mog and Gau.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.61.1 Jidoor; Owzer's Mansion
**********************************
Location: Jidoor
Party members: Optional: Terra, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Setzer, Mog,
Gau, Umaro
Opponents: a'plenty
Lores: None
[OWZER-LINK]
First off, to enter this dungeon, you must have done two things. You must've
either saved Shadow at the Floating Continent, or let Shadow die there and have
saved Relm from the SrBehemoth in the Cave on the Veldt. If you let Shadow die
and haven't saved Relm yet, Owzer's Mansion will be empty, yet lit up, and the
Nightshade and Dahling paintings will not respond to your presence.
Whom to bring? Uncontrollable characters are very poor in the boss battle at
the end, so I'd advise against Gau and Umaro. Also, due to the time delay, I'd
add Mog to the category as well as neither his Dances nor his Jump attacks are
very useful there. Minerva wearers are favored once again, and if you already
have a character that can Steal, that'd be grand (although the chance is small).
I'd go for something like Terra, Shadow, Celes, and Sabin, but it's up to you.
Shadow is AWESOME in this dungeon; Earrings-boosted Fire Skeans kill pretty
much everything, and the boss is weak to Fire, too.
When you enter the house, it will be dark inside. No sign of Relm or Owzer to
be seen. Obviously if you saved Shadow earlier you don't even know Relm is
supposed to be here, but you'll never get more evidence than you have now and
you'd get all pissy if I entirely skipped two characters because the game
doesn't tell you where they are.
When you try to ascend the stairs to go to the art collection, a mysterious
force holds you back. Stay...away...yeah, we're not going to listen to that.
When we're at the foot of the stairs again, a diary appears. Here's Owzer's
diary:
- Just spent an absolute fortune. It's my largest painting yet, so I won't be
able to put it with the others. I'll decide later where to display it.
- An artist came from Zozo today. He wanted me to see his work. What a waste of
time.
- Bought a new stairway lamp at the Item Shop. Expensive, but one flip of the
switch and everything's bright and cheery.
- I invited over an artist from Kohlingen. About as talented as a bucket...
- Something's happening to me. It started when I had that picture painted... And
I've started hearing odd noises coming from downstairs.
That's just swell. Something's up all right. At least we discovered how to get
the room back to normal; just flip the switch on the stairway lamp and the room
will light up, and you'll be able to proceed up the stairs. There are three
paintings worth discussing here.
The first one is the painting of the pink flowers. When you examine them, they
will come alive and attack you! Note that once you've completed this dungeon
and you haven't fought the NightShade enemies yet, the painting won't respond
anymore. It's a battle with three NightShade enemies, which are well known
through their Rage; both the Rage and the AI Script of these flowers feature
the Charm attack. Charm sets a Confuse-like status, with a few differences.
- First off, since it's not the Confuse status, you can't protect against it.
Charm works on *everything* as long as it connects (Charm has a Hit Rate of
80, meaning that it'll have but a rough 80 % chance of connecting on a target
with no Magic Block).
- Second, the character or monster affected won't show any indication of being
under the influence. Monsters won't look the other way, and characters won't
spin right round.
- Third, it's not dispelled when you use a physical attack.
- Fourth, the Charm spell creates a bond between the Charm caster and the
target. If the 'caster' of the Charm attack dies, the affected target will
turn back to normal. If the caster of the Charm spell tries to attack with
Charm on another target, it'll miss as long as the other Charmed target is
still alive. Due to a bug, when one Charmer 'steals' the Charmee of another
Charmer, this other Charmer - while not having a Charmee anymore - won't be
able to Charm another target until his stolen Charmee is dead.
Needless to say, Charm cripples every boss as it will completely disable their
AI Script and they will start to attack themselves. Anyway, using Charm in
a boss battle is just evil and sucks the fun out of the entire deal... so just
don't use it.
Back to NightShade. They're immune to every status ailment you throw at them,
and can use Charm on the very first turn. What you'll want to do is go head-on
with every kind of strong violence you have; they're specifically vulnerable to
Fire-elemental attacks, so Fire Skeans, Tritoch's Tri-Dazer, and Fire 2 work
very well. They have a rare Nutkin Suit for Stealing, but as this battle is
pretty dangerous you'll probably don't want to bother. Just hope that they'll
stick to their Battle and !Poison Pod (sets Poison) attacks for the most part,
and that characters hit by Charm will stick to weaker attacks.
The second painting of interest is the painting that has replaced the Ultros
painting in the WoB; it's the portrait of Emperor Gestahl that he didn't
want, so Owzer decided to buy it and hang it up here. The 'last Imperial
trooper' at the Colosseum told you to talk to the Emperor twice, so examine the
portrait twice; the second time, you'll obtain the Rare Item "Emperor's Letter",
which reads as follows:
The treasure is hidden where the mountains form a star...
Could this be the grand treasure of the Empire, the ancient relic with
restoration abilities? We should definitely inform Locke once we find him, or
we may even meet him while we're there, who knows. Regardless, now's the time
to press on.
The picture of the lovely lady comes alive as well, as two Dahling opponents.
Dahling use their first turn to set a status ailment, with either the Mute spell
or the !Sightless Special, which sets Dark. The second turn will feature either
the Ice 2 or Bolt 2 spells. When a Dahling has been damaged, she may use a
Cure 2 spell *on the attacker*. I'm pretty sure that the AI scriptwriter
intended for Dahling to use the Cure 2 spell on herself but forgot that counter
attacks are typically carried out on the attacker, regardless of the spell's
initial targets. Dahlings are nothing to fear. They have a rare Moogle Suit
Steal. You'll notice this is a theme in this dungeon; most monsters have an
animal suit Steal. Dahling are, unlike most paintings, weak against Poison and
not against Fire, so you can use Bio or strong attacks of other kinds to
dispatch them.
Once you defeat the Dahlings opponents, the painting will be entirely destroyed
to reveal a door. Enter to find more darkness and a stairway going down.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.61.2 Owzer's Mansion, the Magic House
**********************************
Location: Thamasa
Party members: Optional: Terra, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Setzer, Mog,
Gau, Umaro
Opponents: Wild Cat, Crusher, SoulDancer, Vindr
Lores: None
Monster formations:
SoulDancer, SoulDancer, Crusher, Crusher (6/16)
Vindr, Vindr (5/16)
Vindr, Vindr, Wild Cat, Crusher, Crusher (5/16)
Wild Cat are cats. They have a rare Tabby suit steal, and they attack
physically. Due to a bug, they may use Fire Ball when alone (this was never the
intention; Fire Ball was supposed to be a rare brown Mag Roader counter).
Normally it just attacks with Battle and !Pounce. Its name might ring bells
of that nasty Fidor Special, but Wild Cat's !Pounce is unassuming (Battle * 1.5)
and shouldn't be feared.
Crushers look unassuming. Fact of the matter is, they're really kind of not.
2095 HP isn't that unassuming, !Blow (Battle * 5) isn't that unassuming, and the
Lifeshaver attack it uses when alone isn't that unassuming. It has a common
Super Ball steal which makes it the only random encounter enemy here that
doesn't have an animal suit for stealing. Kill it with fire; if you brought Gau
his brown Mag Roader Rage (L.4 Flare) can really put a dent in their hides.
SoulDancer is supposed to be a magician of some kind; with a stellar (for
monsters) Magic Power of 30 and up to three spells in its Control menu (Drain,
Osmose, and Fire 2) it seems likely that she will also attack magically, right?
Wrong. She attacks by Throwing Dirks. You may still remember the last time you
met an opponent with this ability; it was Dadaluma, and it was obscenely strong.
You should survive the weaker Dirks, but the stronger ones (the strongest one
being the Assassin) can do up to 1750 worth of damage, and remember that it's
almost always non-elemental (Air Lancet is Wind-elemental so Thunder Shld
wearers and Minerva wearers take no damage from it), barrier-piercing,
Row-ignoring, and unblockable damage. The Image status doesn't help, and Golem
doesn't catch the flying blades; only the Clear status can make you avoid the
attacks of SoulDancer. This is what she'll do:
1st round: Dirk or MithrilKnife
2nd round: MithrilKnife or Guardian
3rd round: Air Lancet or Thiefknife
4th round: Thiefknife or Assassin
(loop)
Also, she counters any damage done to her with !Red Dance, which drains very
little HP. She has a rare Moogle Suit steal too. Ways to cripple her include
Berserk, Confuse, Sleep, and Stop. NoiseBlaster and Stray's Cat Rain help
tremendously.
Vindr are the strongest of all small birds. And with 885 HP, the same
petrification abilities through !Beak like Cirpius and the so-so Acid Rain
set in Control, Sketch, and Rage, that's not all good news for the small
birds in general. If for some reason you have trouble killing them in one
shot, Fire is their weakness (as it is of all small birds). They have a rare
Chocobo Suit steal, befitting of their feathered nature.
Strategy is simple yet again: have everybody under the influence of Clear, and
don't let Wild Cat and Crusher enemies alone. Invincibility is nice.
As soon as you've descended the stairs, you find more paintings. That's just
great. These don't seem so threatening though; how could you be attacked by
a painting of a door or a chair? But the joke's on you... If you get to close to
the painting of the chair, the painting will suck you in, onto the chair,
where you'll be attacked by a previously absent old lady. The old lady turns
out to be a SoulDancer accompanied by her four cats. How's that for a
stereotype? If you smack her around, she'll take her place on the chair and
leave you alone. After you leave and re-enter the room, it'll just be a
harmless painting of a chair again.
When you continue, you see two doors. The left one leads to a chest containing
a Moogle Suit! The Moogle Suit is just another animal suit, stronger than the
Chocobo Suit but weaker than the Nutkin Suit. It nullifies Poison though, and
gives a nice +5 on Magic Power. The best part, though, is the fact it changes
the in-battle sprite of the wearer into that of a Moogle, which is totally
sweet and has given seed to over a dozen 'weird glitch' topics from
people who didn't make the Moogle Suit-Moogle sprite connection.
The right door takes you to...three more doors. Nice. First, make sure you go
around the doors and grab the hidden Relic Ring that lies there. The Relic Ring
is a Relic that makes the user of it undead. This basically means that healing
spells will hurt and the Doom spells and the eventual effect of the Condemned
status will restore HP back to full. It can make for a nice combo if the
equipped also has a weapon with X-type Instant Death; he or she can always
restore his/her own HP back to full with one swing of a blade. Anyway, between
the three doors, you'll want to pick the far left one. If you enter one of the
others, you'll find yourself being thrown out of the door painting you saw
earlier. If you've completed this dungeon, you won't even be able to enter
the other two doors; they'll just be locked.
Just continue, and don't wonder where you are. It doesn't make sense. When you
enter a door, you'll suddenly find yourself in a new area with...floating
chests. If you stand on the shadow of the floating chests, they'll come down and
you'll be attacked; in every instance, it'll be a single SoulDancer and four
Wild Cats. You won't get from the chests what the game says:
What it says: 2000 GP Potion Ether Remedy
What it is: 293 GP Tonic Tincture Soft
If you're done toying around with the floating chest and gawking at the painting
of Maria that appears to change every time you look at it, go examine the
picture of the battle armor; it will be another battle, with a creature called
Still Life.
Still Life pretends to be a semi-boss, but is not. It looks very weird, he's got
that much going for him; it appears to be a cloud of smoke with green lips
that comes from behind a painting. It has four attacks up its proverbial sleeve:
Battle, !Bane Kiss (sets Poison), Lullaby (an MT Sleep-inducing attack that's
admittedly annoying), and Condemned, which Still Life uses to counter every
blow he takes. Go all out with strong attacks against him; Bum Rush,
Fire Skeans, Tri-Dazer, you know what hurts. He has a rare FakeMustache Steal,
the Relic that turns Relm's Sketch ability into Control. You'll meet Still
Life on the Veldt, so you'll be able to Steal one later if you want to. Just
pound him now, he doesn't have enough HP to make Condemned a nuisance.
Once Still Life has been defeated, a door will appear. The door, as you've been
getting used to now, leads to more doors. Use the Save Point to your advantage
and take the door to the right; the door to the left will throw you out of a
door somewhere in a wall you saw earlier.
You've finally found Owzer now, but he's changed quite a bit; from your average
aristocrat pretty boy, he's changed into a coughing blob of a man who looks
surprisingly much like Jabba the Hutt. Or any other Hutt, I guess they're all
alike.
Another theory states that the scholar-type guy you meet in the WoB isn't Owzer
at all, and that Owzer always was a generally inhuman fat blob with a frogface
for no apparant reason. Who apparantly lives somewhere in his house where other
people can't reach him and despite his wheezing, sickly appearance went out of
the house on a fairly regular basis to locate artists. It's not my theory, so I
may sound slightly subjective here...then again, it *is* a silly theory :P
When Owzer came across another piece of Magicite in the Auction House, he
bought it and felt the irresistible urge to obtain a painting of the Esper
therein contained. The large painting of the Esper Starlet created by Relm
came alive like all of her artwork, but with an added problem this time; the
demon Chadarnook arrived, enticed by the magic of the Magicite and the painting.
He possessed the living Starlet painting and started to have an evil influence
over all of Relm's paintings, the reality within Owzer's Mansion and finally
Owzer himself.
Relm, by the way, is still painting the painting; it's not quite done yet, as
you'll learn later. Regardless, it's time to remove the evil demon Chadarnook
from the living Starlet painting to save the life of Owzer so you can take Relm
with you. Owzer begs you to keep the Starlet painting intact. Whatever.
Before you talk to him, equip Thunder Shlds on as many characters as possible.
Non-Minerva wearing characters take priority, as the Minerva bustier nullifies
the Lightning element (which is what concerns us here). The Force Shld and Force
Armor both halve damage done by the element, and Umaro's Rage Ring nullifies
the element, even though that furry muscle package is quite useless in this
battle. Protection from Water and Ice is also nice, as Flash Rain may appear in
the next battle, although Lightning takes priority. The TortoiseShld, Titanium,
Imp's Armor, and Snow Muffler allow you to absorb the attack, while the
Minerva bustier also nullifies it. It's a real dang shame Umaro's uncontrollable
nature is, in fact, uncontrollable by nature, as the combination of his
inherent Snow Muffler and the Rage Ring really takes care of the majority of
the opponent's attacks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.61.3 Owzer's Mansion, the battle with Chadarnook
**********************************
Chadarnook (Starlet)
Level: 37, HP: 56000, MP: 9400
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Pearl, Water, Weakness: Fire
Special: !Doom Kiss: sets Condemned
Sketch : !Doom Kiss, Battle
Control: Battle, !Doom Kiss
Vulnerable to: Slow
Attacks: Battle, !Doom Kiss, Lullaby, Charm, Phantasm
Vanish/Doom: Yes
Both targets are vulnerable to the Clear status.
Joker Doom: No
Spinning 7-7-7 is impossible in this fight.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Chadarnook (Demon)
Level: 41, HP: 30000, MP: 7600
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Lightning, Weakness: Fire, Pearl
Special: !Hit: sets Condemned
Sketch : !Hit, Battle
Control: Battle, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Slow
Attacks: Battle, Bolt 2, Bolt 3, Flash Rain
Vanish/Doom: Yes
Both targets are vulnerable to the Clear status.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Interesting trivia; the Japanese game showed much more skin on the Starlet
image. No nipples or anything horrifying and ungodly like that, but still, more
skin.
Now here's an odd encounter. It's a living painting of the Esper Starlet,
possessed by the demon Chadarnook. Even if you don't care about art in general
or Owzer's pathetic pleas, there really isn't any point to damaging the
painting; as soon as Chadarnook is exorcized, it won't be a threat anymore. So,
the strategy is clear to us; wait until Chadarnook shows his face, and hurt
it until it dies. We've been doing an awful lot of hurting so far, so we should
be prepared soundly.
You'll start out facing the Starlet painting. It'll use either Battle or the
dreaded, blasted Charm attack. Fortunately, the effects of Charm are undone
whenever your opponent changes, so it's not as much a bother as it could have
been. After that first turn, the demon will make itself known.
Chadarnook attacks with Lightning-elemental spells (Bolt 2 and Bolt 3) and the
confusing Flash Rain; sparkly as it may look, it's actually Ice- and Water-
elemental and has nothing to do with Lightning. He won't use Flash Rain until
he starts getting weaker though; when he hits 15360 HP (after taking 14640 HP
worth of damage, in other words), to be precise. The demon Chadarnook will
always hide when he has been damaged five times, and after 40 seconds.
Unfortunately, (and possibly unintentionally), it seems that the Starlet
painting's timer is also used when Chadarnook checks his 40 seconds, so if you
faced Starlet for 35 seconds and the monster changes, Chadarnook will only be
there for a second or five before returning. This is particularly frustrating,
as you'll have put in all your commands as soon as Chadarnook appeared, making
you attack Starlet a few times in a row.
Attacking Starlet is bad. Not only is it pointless (as soon as you deplete
Starlet's HP, she'll just regenerate; she's immortal), it's rather dangerous, as
Starlet has a mean counter. 33% Battle, 33% not doing anything, and 33%
Phantasm.
Blast Phantasm. Seriously. It's an MT attack that sets the super-duper-special
HP Leak status on a target, which can only be seen in this battle. It's the same
as Seizure, only it's so dangerous because it ISN'T Seizure. This means you
can't protect from it with Relics, you can't override it by setting Regen, and
you can't cure it in any way. As soon as HP Leak is set, any current Regen
status (even if it's from a Cure Ring or Marvel Shoes) will be removed. Trying
to set the Regen status on a character with the Regen spell or Kirin's Life
Guard attack will accomplish nothing. All in all, the constant HP dropping gets
annoying quickly, and even dangerous if you don't watch your HP. Don't be afraid
to spend some turns healing even when it isn't immediately necessary.
Starlet, by the way, will also attack normally after her first appearance; her
arsenal consists out of Battle, !Doom Kiss (sets Condemned), the dreaded Charm,
and the surprisingly crippling Lullaby, which (as you know) sets Sleep on all
characters.
So what to do? You should be covered in equipment that protects against
Chadarnook's Lightning-elemental spells, and possibly against that Flash Rain
attack too. Patiently wait out the first turn against the Starlet picture, than
quickly throw whatever you have when the demon appears. He is extremely weak
to Fire-elemental and Pearl-elemental spells, as he has a weakness to the
element and its Magic Defense really isn't that stellar.
Terra and Celes's Fire 2 and (preferably) Fire 3 spells will really hurt
Chadarnook (Fire 3 takes priority over Pearl, too), but keep in mind that
because Chadarnook absorbs Lightning-elemental spells, Tritoch's Tri-Dazer will
be absorbed. Shadow's Fire Skeans should be boosted by Hero Rings and Earrings
to ensure a lot of damage, although it should be noted that the much more
expensive Flame Sabres will hurt much more. Setzer should throw his Fixed Dice
around if possible; if not, Fire 2, Pearl, and Fire 3 take priority over the
Coin Toss-induced GP Rain. Sabin should stick to Bum Rush regardless of his
spell selection, where Edgar is probably better off sticking to Drill unless
you're really sure that when he lands from a Dragon Horn Jump, he'll be landing
on the demon (in which case, with the Pearl Lance, he'll be doing a LOT of
damage). The same really goes for Mog; his Dances are useless, as he will also
attack the Starlet painting when he's in a trance. Stick to spells if you don't
want to risk Jump attacks (or just plain don't have the right equipment). Cyan
is horrible, as often before, as his charge times mean you waste a lot of time
in a battle where speed is top priority. Gau and Umaro (while certainly
hard to take down) suffer from the uncontrollable nature. Gau should stick to
his Magic spells if possible, while Umaro should be... Yeah, killing him in the
middle of battle seems a little harsh, so you might be better off setting Stop
on him if you for some reason defied me and brought him here.
You can't do anything when Charm connects, and you can't do anything when
Phantasm connects. Fenrir/Golem will help against the physicals (especially
!Doom Kiss can be a pain), while the Haste 2 spell is an asset as always. If
you have a few characters unprotected from Chadarnook's attacks, ZoneSeek's
Wall attack can help. Basically, throw up your barriers and go all-out
offensive when the demon is around while making sure your HP stays in the four
digits at all times where possible.
After you've defeated Chadarnook, all will return to normal. You'll learn that
Chadarnook was probably enticed by the 'weird stone' Owzer bought at the Auction
House, and he asks you to take it. It's on the right part of the shelf. With
Starlet, you finally gain access to the Cure 3 spell! Relm also follows you out.
It's possible you now have access to Relm's upgraded special skill: Control!
If you want to learn all about it, check out [CONTROL-LINK].
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.62.1 Obtaining Strago
**********************************
Location: Fanatics Tower
Party members: Relm, Optional: Terra, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Setzer,
Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: None
Lores: None
You learned from a man in Figaro Castle that people under the spell of the Cult
of Kefka could be freed by meeting a loved one; with Relm in your party, we can
try to turn Strago Magus back to our side. At the sight of the little girl,
he leaps up in joy; no single word about his year of despair crosses his lips
as he demands a primary spot in your party. Just like all the other characters,
he joins your current party if there's room for him, and is placed on the Falcon
if there's not. Regardless, the next parts of this walkthrough will be
dedicated to raising both Relm and Strago to acceptable and even respectable
levels of might on the battlefield, so I suggest you make a party that includes
Relm and Strago (and no uncontrollable characters).
If you were wondering, you still don't really have what it takes to tackle
the top warrior of the Fanatics Tower, so it's useless and rather suicidal to
go all the way up there.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.62.2 Bulking up the Thamasian Two
**********************************
Location: Fanatics Tower
Party members: Relm, Strago Optional: Terra, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes,
Setzer, Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: a' plenty
Lores: Aero, Blow Fish, Big Guard, Dischord, Sour Mouth, Pep Up, Rippler
First, I want to look at the Control command. There's a respectable chance you
gained access to it so far; if you obtained a FakeMustache from mugging
Still Life, or already dove into the Zone Eater dungeon that I'll discuss quite
a bit later in this document, you have this command at your disposal.
[CONTROL-LINK]
Control allows Relm to control a monster. What does this mean? The monster will
stop its normal AI script. It'll still use counters though. Relm's hold over
an opponent's psyche doesn't end until the opponent in question is attacked
physically or either the Controlled or the Controllee obtains one of the
following status ailments: Sleep, Confused, Berserk, Death, Petrify, Zombie,
Freeze, or Stop.
The chance of Control working is exactly the same as Sketch working, and
is based on both the Controller's level and the level of the opponent you're
trying to Control. The Coronet Helmet raises Relm's Control success percentage,
where the Beret raised Sketch success rate.
When Relm is controlling a monster and it's her turn to act, you'll get the
choice between the four (or less) Control commands of the monster she's
controlling instead. The Control commands are also the ones a monster randomly
uses when Muddled, and most of the time there's some reason to the attacks
found there. Regardless, Control can be a strategic choice when you know what
monsters are worth controlling; most of the time the 'monster stops attacking
until I say so' is the sweetest part of the deal, but sometimes the Control
commands really include some sweet attacks like Cold Dust, Flare Star,
Death-setting Specials, and the like. Control is great to get a particularly
powerful enemy out of the way (Brachosaur comes to mind), or to have an
unlimited amount of Steal attempts without you having to worry about a thing.
I'd say that for the loss of a Relic slot, a Relm with a good Magic arsenal is
better off with a second Earrings than with a FakeMustache; I'll mention the
usefulness of the Control ability when it should be mentioned. For now, if you
have a FakeMustache, equip it, as the Control ability helps getting you Lores
(although it won't grant access to Lores you couldn't already obtain anyway;
it just makes life easier).
Two more notes; if you used Mog's Moogle Charm to raid Kefka's Tower earlier,
you should have a Coronet by now. Equip it for increased Control chances. Also,
the Japanese name of the FakeMustache is "Dancho's Mustache"; Dancho was the
name of the Impresario of the Opera House. Why a taped-on mustache allows you
to control monsters is beyond logic. I'd mention something about Adolf Hitler,
his mustache, the Germans, and how they're the missing link between animals and
human beings if I wasn't so scared of the "Du werdest eine Krankenschwester
brauchen"-like retorts.
Now, it's time to reap the benefits of this strange new world; new monsters,
new attacks, new Lores. I'll discuss them step by step.
- If Strago hasn't yet learned Blow Fish, take him to the desert just south of
Maranda, where Cactrot will use it every single turn it attacks. Make sure you
can take Cactrot out after he uses Blow Fish, though. With Relm on your side,
both Sketch and Control grant access to Blow Fish itself, which kills the
Cactrot.
- Now for one of the greater Lores you'll find: Aero, the Wind-elemental MT
level 3 spell-like attack. Find a Harpy near Thamasa; you can't NOT fight
a Harpy in the forests. Sketch gets you a 75% shot at Aero, you can find
it with Control, and you can even wait for it to use the attack randomly.
Harpiai near Kohlingen may also use it randomly, and can also be forced to use
the spell through Control.
Aero is slightly more powerful than a level 3 spell in both MT and ST
situations. Don't let the Wind element blow you away (heh); very few enemies
are actually weak to the element, and those tend to be weak monsters too.
But don't be discouraged; even though teaching Strago the level 3 spells is
a good idea for elemental flexibility, Aero should be Strago's main form of
attack unless elemental properties declare otherwise (or if you know L.4 Flare
can connect). This is all until you get Strago's strongest Lore GrandTrain, but
until then, Aero is for you.
- If you missed Pearl Wind for some obscure reason, you can also find it on
Harpiai (uses randomly) and Sprinter (uses randomly).
- The Pep Up attack is entirely pointless and about as useful as jamming a
pencil up your left eye socket and running around in a classic 'Kiss the cook'
outfit while religiously chanting Madonna's breakthrough single Holiday. In
other words, you'll never actually use it, but it's fitting of Strago's
character. Near Kohlingen, you can find Muus ad infinitum; just wait for them
to use Pep Up. You can force them with Control, but unless they're alone it
shouldn't take them long. Don't Sketch them; Relm executing Pep Up will kill
her.
Yeah... Pep Up fully heals the targets MP, removes all negative status ailments
except for Imp and Freeze (I'm counting Berserk as negative for the moment), and
heals the target for the same amount of HP as the target currently has (which
seems odd). The downside? It kills the caster and removes him from battle
entirely. When Strago casts Pep Up, his role on the battlefield is over. Really,
you should be very, very desperate if you use this attack.
- Sour Mouth can be learned from Mad Oscar in Daryl's Tomb near Kohlingen. It's
wise to equip Relics that protect against Zombie in the short while you're
in the Tomb. Sketch will get you a 75% shot at Sour Mouth, its in Mad Oscar's
Control menu and he'll use it pretty often when he's alone. If you meet any
Orog opponents down the way, L.5 Doom offs him quite carelessly.
Sour Mouth sets a lot of status ailments: Dark, Poison, Imp, Mute, Confuse, and
Sleep, to be precise. It's ideal if you want to cripple an opponent but don't
quite know what he's protected against; with Sour Mouth, you're bound to hit him
in some form or another. A funny thing about Sour Mouth is that while it may
set Imp, the sprite of the monster will not change because of it.
- Big Guard. You'll really want to go with Sketch here. If you're really scared
of the Sketch bug, make sure that you're either level 23 or level 16 and up
with a Beret equipped. Meet an EarthGuard in the desert and Sketch it. A 75%
chance of the painting using Big Guard. You can also quickly cast Stop on it,
if the first character coming up knows the spell and isn't capable of using
Sketch. If for some reason you really don't want to use Sketch, you can also
meet it once, make Gau learn the EarthGuard Rage on the Veldt, and keep Strago
around for when Gau casts Big Guard through the EarthGuard Rage.
Big Guard is, quite simply, pretty neat. It sets both Safe and Shell on all
party members, even in a Side Attack. It's a superior version of the ZoneSeek's
Wall attack I've been mentioning so often; the MT Safe isn't that useful with
Fenrir and Golem around, but certainly doesn't hurt you a bit.
- The last Lore easily obtainable for now is Rippler. First, make sure your
party is covered in the Clear status. Now, fly over to Jidoor and enter the
forests to the north. Mess around until you meet up with four Reach Frogs.
They have a 33% chance of casting Rippler every third turn; that's after the
landing from their Jump attack.
Rippler trades statuses. It takes all of the statuses of the caster and removes
them if possible (Relic/equipment-induced statuses will remain) and applies it
to the target is possible (immunities may prevent it). In turn, it takes all of
the target's statuses and removes them if possible, and sets them on the caster
if possible. Ideally, Rippler trades YOUR status ailments for THEIR positive
statuses. Sadly, Rippler is prone to all kinds of more or less disturbing bugs;
the most obvious one being that it trades far more statuses than it was ever
supposed to, giving you the ability to trade Terra's Morph status
(Muddle/Rippler) on other characters, as well as Shadow's Dog Block. A monster
taking Dog Block from you and than dying will remove Interceptor from you
PERMANENTLY. Another character stealing Dog Block from that very same enemy or
directly taking it from Shadow by means of Muddle/Rippler will obtain
Interceptor equally permanently. Just make sure you don't lose him forever, you
wouldn't want that. Ideally, if you don't mind to abuse bugs, you'd want
Interceptor on Gogo in the future (he can use the extra protection, and his
superior equipment-boosted Magic Power makes sure Interceptor hits extra hard).
Rippler as an attack isn't exactly hot stuff. It can copy some positive statuses
from a few rare bosses such as Poltrgeist (Image, Float, Haste, Safe), Goddess
(Haste, Shell), and Doom Gaze (Float, Shell, Safe). Oh yeah, and the Rippler
attack is the only way to get rid of Countdown status (not counting completely
random attacks such as Wild Bear).
So for a quick reference, the Lores you could have obtained so far include:
Condemned Big Guard L.3 Muddle Rippler
Roulette Revenge Step Mine Stone
Aqua Rake Pearl Wind Dischord Exploder
Aero L.5 Doom Sour Mouth
Blow Fish L.4 Flare Pep Up
This section is called 'Bulking up the Thamasian two', so you might be
wondering by now how we're going to bulk up Relm. There are three things that
can be done to her (eh... gameplay-wise), and they're all equipment. One's
the BehemothSuit; if you don't have two already, make sure you spend a while
on the Veldt as there's NO doubt you'll run into one or two SrBehemoths before
long. The BehemothSuit is also for Strago, by the way. The second thing we'll
be doing for Relm is defeating another elemental dragon for his great item
drop, but we'll get to that in a minute.
No, the only thing we can really do for Relm specifically now is obtaining her
best piece of headgear. +2 to Speed, +4 to Magic Power, 10% extra Magic Block,
Superior Defense and Magic Defense to every other helmet (except for oddballs
Thornlet and Titanium), and 50% damage reduction against Fire-, Lightning-,
Ice-, Pearl-, Earth-, and Wind-elemental attacks. And, if all that wasn't
enough, it doubles the GP gained from random battles. If that doesn't sound
like a sweet deal, there is no pleasing you.
How to get it? It's Colosseum material. The opponent is the Allosaurus, an
unassuming giant lizard whose only dangerous attack (the Doom spell) can be
easily circumvented with a Wall Ring. The trick here is to find the item the
Allosaurus is willing to fight for: an Imp Halberd. There are two ways to find
them, and both are nasty at this point. One is finding a Mantodea (your best
bet is the forest to the north of Jidoor) and trying to steal one. It's a rare
steal, and your best thief you currently have is Shadow with a double
Thiefknife equip, which isn't that great. Chances are very low. Make sure you
are all set with the Clear status, as otherwise Mantodea's physicals will rip
you apart VERY quickly. You can increase your chances a little by abusing the
bug that is Vanish/Dischord. Keep the Mantodea you're stealing from healed, as
you don't want it to die without giving you the Imp Halberd first. You can go
on for eternity without danger of dying, but it will probably take a long time
indeed.
The other option is the rare, 12.5% chance drop the Imp Halberd is for the
Tyranosaur in the Dinosaur forest to the north of the Veldt. Tyranosaurs are
extremely dangerous random encounters that are widely known for the fact they,
in tandem, give the most Experience Points of any random encounter in the game.
On the second turn, they may use Meteor, which will take off about 1500 HP worth
of damage on every character. Quickly cripple them with a Sleep spell or the
Sour Mouth Lore, and kill them as quick as you can with Ice-elemental spells.
Don't bring uncontrollable characters, as they will snap the Tyranosaurs out of
their snoozing (sure, Dance won't, but Dance sucks here). If you meet a
Brachosaur, run like a madman. Save often, as Brachosaur is this game's Warmech.
It presents death unto you, if you catch my drift. I'd consider the Mantodea
method far superior, honestly.
- Imp Halberd - Cat Hood Opponent: Allosaurus
Equip a Wall Ring against his Doom spell, and a Star Pendant, Fairy Ring, or
Ribbon against !PoisonClaw. The reflected Doom spell may work on Allosaurus,
but it doesn't really matter, as Allosaurus is too weak to give special
thought to.
Now, let's go find the ultimate rod of the game, which carries Strago's last
name and is the sure-fire drop of one of the elemental dragons, the Dirt Dragon.
Before you go, make sure you have Cherub Down Relics for those characters that
can't equip Gaia Gear. If you sold some of it, you can still buy more in the
Armor Shop in South Figaro.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.62.3 The battle with Dirt Drgn
**********************************
Location: The Opera House
Party members: Optional: Terra, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm, Strago,
Setzer, Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: Dirt Drgn
Lores: None
There's commotion in the Opera House? Only one year after the Wandering Gambler
threatened to kidnap the star of the Dream Oath, a dragon saw it fit to enter
the Opera House and make it his den. Or something; I don't know what the hell
the Dirt Drgn wants with the artistic bags of hot air of this place. Regardless,
dragons are dangerous and need to be killed with violence.
Equip Cherub Downs or Gaia Gear on every character before you go in. If you
have Gau in your team and a decent Float-inducing Rage (Harpiai, Ninja, Hornet,
Luridan, to name a few), he shouldn't need one, as Rage-induced Float status is
equally irremovable.
Do you remember the four switches in the right wing of the Opera House? If not,
here's a modified copy/paste from the best guide released in years:
Switch 1 Switch 2 Switch 3 Previous Super Switch.
Switch 1 makes a sound like a dog barking.
Switch 2 turns out the lights in the opera hall, causing the crowds to make
little eyes in the darkness. Funny!
Switch 3 opens a hole directly under you, causing you to slide on stage! Where
you previously immediately got off by hopping on the heads of the crowd,
bursting into the entrance hall of the Opera House, where the lead character
would then strike a pose and say 'Surprise!', you'll now be granted access to
the subject of the Impresario's distress, the Dirt Drgn.
Dirt Drgn
Level: 53, HP: 28500, MP: 16500
Steal: X-Potion (rare), Win: Magus Rod (always)
Weakness: Wind, Water
Status: Float
Special: !Honed Tusk: Battle x 5
Sketch : Magnitude8, Bolt 3
Control: Battle, !Honed Tusk
Vulnerable to: Poison, Sleep, Slow
Attacks: Battle, !Honed Tusk, Quake, Magnitude8, 50 Gs, Slide
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: Yes
Nothing Dirt Dragon uses has an effect on the RNG. Yippee.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Crystal
Crystal Shld
Crystal Helm
Crystal Mail
The Dirt Dragon is fairly unique; he's the only elemental dragon that doesn't
absorb his own element (instead, he uses the Float status to circumvent almost
all Earth-elemental damage). Why they chose to do this is beyond me, as even
with Quake healing, Dirt Drgn wouldn't have been that crazy of a challenge.
We may well never know.
Every 20 seconds, the Dirt Drgn will use his 50 Gs attack, a Dirt Drgn-only
move that removes the Float status on all targets. Irremovable Float, like the
one given by the Cherub Down and Float-inducing Rages, will not be removed.
Given the fact that Earth's G is, as you might expect, 1 G, 50 G is plain
crazy; you'd effectively become 50 times as heavy as you normally are. Shadow
would suddenly become 7250 lbs, for instance. But enough with the first-grade
science.
He has a one-third chance of countering any damage done to him with the dreaded
!Honed Tusk attack, which really is quite strong. Any other attack he uses is
either Battle or ground-based; Quake always misses Dirt Drgn himself, and the
Magnitude8 and Slide attack should either miss or heal you if you've been
smart up until now.
Start the battle off by throwing up your barriers. Golem and Fenrir are
particularly useful, as the only real threat in this battle should be Dirt
Drgn's !Honed Tusk and Battle attacks. Strago's Big Guard should also help in
that department. Haste 2 is great as always, and Kirin doesn't hurt either.
Cast a combination of Sleep and Slow on the Dirt Drgn as well; remember that
Sleep can also be set with Strago's Sour Mouth attack, which also sets Poison
on the Dirt Drgn. Now that you've been bulked up plenty, and the Dirt Drgn is
vulnerable in his extended slumber, it's time to start the magical offense.
If you want to keep Dirt Drgn sleeping, keep Gau busy with Magic spells. Back
Row Gau with 255 Defense and a Float-inducing Rage is invulnerable, but it may
come at the cost of fallen party members. If you don't really care too much,
as all characters are either draped in Gaia Gear or protected by Cherub Down,
I should mention that Rages like Harpiai, Ninja, Hornet, and Luridan really help
(especially Harpiai). Strago's Aero packs a proverbial wallop, and Shadow's
Water Edges are pretty strong. If you don't care for the Sleep status, Thrown
Blossoms are extremely painful to Dirt Drgn. Sabin's Bum Rush still gets the
job done as always, and is superior to Air Blade even though it doesn't exploit
a weakness. Mog's Water Rondo is a superior alternative to Jump attacks if
you're going for a snoozing Dirt Drgn. His Wind Song is also an option; Wind
Slash is weaker than El Nino, but you might prefer Wind Song's 6/16 Sun Bath
to Water Rondo's 6/16 Plasma attack. All other characters should just stick
to Magic spells. Umaro should be kept AWAY from this battle, as usual. His
presence makes the Sleep status strategy rather impossible.
After you've defeated the Dirt Drgn, you'll obtain a Magus Rod, which gives the
same +7 Magic Power as the Enhancer does, but gives a 30% Magic Block bonus
where the Enhancer only gives a 20% increase. The Magus Rod is sweet and
is to be preferred over all other rods.
Now we've gotten all the normal Lores we can easily gather, and optimized our
equipment, it's time to dive into Thamasa for two things; Strago's ultimate
Lore, and some quality Esper time that both Thamasians desperately need and
deserve. Just for kicks, I'll give you an example of what my Thamasians look
like at this point:
Strago
Magus Rod Thunder Shld
Circlet BehemothSuit
Hero Ring Earrings
Relm (Magic-focused) Relm (Control-focused)
Pearl Rod Aegis Shld Pearl Rod Aegis Shld
Cat Hood BehemothSuit Coronet BehemothSuit
Hero Ring Earrings FakeMustache RunningShoes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.62.4 Gungho's assignment; Ebot's Rock
**********************************
Location: Thamasa
Party members: Relm, Strago Optional: Terra, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes,
Setzer, Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: Warlock, Displayer, Slatter, Cluck, Eland, Hipocampus, Opinicus,
Hidon, Hidonite, Hidonite, Hidonite, Hidonite
Lores: GrandTrain
Whom to bring? Strago is mandatory, really. You just obtained Relm, and her big
weakness is her lack of Esper time, so why not help her a little and bring
her along as well? Thievery is nice to have access to at some point of the
next dungeon, so either Shadow or Locke/Gogo is a welcome addition. Ragers
are welcome as well, so why not bring Gau?
To the north of Thamasa, on a small island, is Ebot's Rock. It's closed for
now.
As soon as you cross between the Armor Shop and the Item Shop, Relm will get
excited about being back in Thamasa. However, not all is well at the home
front; Gungho, Strago's former battle partner, took on Hidon, the legendary
beast Strago hunted together with Gungho when he was young. Hidon was
submerged under water together with the entire Ebot's Rock, but now that it
has resurfaced, Gungho went ahead and tried his best. Now, he's been defeated
and is bed-ridden. After listening to Gungho's pleas, Strago decides to go,
and after a while, accepts Relm's help.
Note that after this part, Strago is required to actually complete the dungeon
that is Ebot's Rock. Relm, however, is not.
(First cave, Save Point area, and Living chest area)
Slatter, Warlock, Eland (5/16)
Slatter, Slatter (5/16)
Warlock, Cluck, Cluck, Eland, Eland (5/16)
Hipocampus, Cluck, Cluck, Cluck (1/16)
(Main room)
Opinicus, Opinicus (5/16)
Displayer (5/16)
Opinicus, Hipocampus, Eland (5/16)
Hipocampus, Hipocampus, Hipocampus (1/16)
There's a theme here; warp stones in the dungeon, and every monster here has
both a rare Warp Stone steal and a rare Warp Stone drop. That's just nice.
And it's dark like a black steer's tookus on a moonless prairie night.
The Warlock is an annoying little...warlock. Evil and vile throughout, it
makes a mockery of the holy light by attacking with the Pearl spell, which is
all it uses for attacking. It may try to drain back some of
his lost MP with !MagicDrain, but he'll be attacking you with the Pearl spell;
rarely over !MagicDrain normally, constantly while alone. The Warlock's Defenses
are also very strong; Defense is high, Magic Defense extremely so. Barrier-
piercing attacks should be your main priority against him; you might even use
the Stop spell to make sure he doesn't hurt you in the meantime.
The Displayer needn't worry you. It looks dangerous, but 'tis not. It may
randomly use ChokeSmoke on the second, fifth, eighth (etc.) turn but it will
be a wasted turn like always; it's Special is called !Rib, and unlike what you
would expect, does Battle x 2 damage rather than setting Zombie. Common Undead
weaknesses in Fire and Pearl.
Slatter BEARS a close resemblance to Prussian, wouldn't you agree? See, it's
funny because... Oh man, I'm too funny to BEAR with. Again! If you haven't
figured out that I'm stalling because Slatter are rather boring, you haven't had
enough sleep. They attack with Battle and !Choke (Battle * 1.5). They're not
very powerful with it. The only interesting thing to say about them is the fact
they take a distant liking to percentage-based attacks (75% Shimsham through
Sketch, Cave In through Rage) while being immune to it themselves.
Cluck are upgraded ChickenLip. Weak to Ice like their WoB brethren, but they
also absorb Poison-elemental attacks. They have Quake written all over them,
in Sketch, Control, and Rage alike; they'll have a 33% at using it when alone.
Every second turn when not alone, Cluck has a 33% chance at using !Lick, which
sets Petrify and is to be avoided.
Elands...the little bastards are weak versus Lightning, and attack with Battle
and !Stench, which sets Confuse. Unlike Humpty, they're not Undead, and that's
why they don't absorb Bio attacks either; Control, Sketch and Rage all grant
access to the spell. Eland is Dutch for moose. Don't do drugs!
Hipocampus is nothing. Hippocampus is a lot of things: a mythical sea horse,
half horse (the front) and half dolphiney-like or whatever (the back). It's
the Latin name of the family of seahorses too, and it's also a part of the
brain (humans have two Hippocampi). Hipocampus is nothing but a monster in FF
VI. It attacks with Battle and !Clamp, which sets Seizure. It may counter
any Magic attack with the Poison-/Water-elemental Acid Rain which sets Seizure,
and any other attack with the much more powerful Ice-/Water-elemental Flash
Rain attack. Both attacks also feature the Sketch and Control possibilities,
and Rage features Flash Rain. The best way to deal with them is by casting
Rasp; they have 82 MP and will die from sub-zero MP, leaving them unable to
use final counters.
Opinicus is another name derived from a chimera-like fictional monster; head
of an eagle, body of a lion, the tail of a camel. Or, like, a stupid suffering
fanged bull, like in this game. They are VERY similar to Buffalax, almost so
much there's no doubt it's intentional; just like Buffalax they will use
nothing but Battle for four turns before letting loose with Battle, Battle,
!Riot, which once again is Battle * 1.5 like Buffalax' Special !Riot. When hit
by Magic, Buffalax responded with Sun Bath; Opinicus responds by casting Wind
Slash. The main difference is the fact that Opinicus is Undead, with the
standard elemental properties of Undeads too.
So, the strategy is clear. Cast Float on everybody to protect against a stray
Quake attack, and make everybody invisible with Fader of Vanish. Now, don't
let Cluck be the last monster on the battlefield, don't cast Magic on Opinicus,
and kill Hipocampus with Rasp and you're invincible here until Hidon.
On the dungeon:
You missed them so far, right? Blasted, damned-for-all-time in-dungeon warp
stones. Oh yeah, and it's real dark here, so naturally you can't see further
than a few tiles around you. Great, now all we need are some annoying enemies
at every corner we'd rather not fight since we're busy carrying around key
items to actually get anywhere and we've found one of the more frustrating
dungeons of the game.
Here's the deal. The first warp stone (not capitalized to differentiate from the
item Warp Stone) takes you to a living, talking chest that won't grant you
passage since he's hungry. He's also a chest, lacking opposable thumbs,
abstract thought, or even the most rudimentary of senses. Let's face it;
bossing around other people to bring him food is really his most effective way
of feeding himself. Your task here is to feed him enough Coral, the stuff of
magic you find in the chests all around Ebot's Rock.
In every chest, there's an equal 25% chance you find one of the following:
1 piece of Coral
2 pieces of Coral
3 pieces of Coral
5 pieces of Coral
The talking chest will let you pass on two conditions. One: you need to have
Strago. If you don't have Strago in your party, you can feed him all you want,
but won't accomplish anything, either for you or for the chest. He eats, like
so many young people of our time, because he's unhappy. It's a destructive
and endless cycle of finding consolation in the very weakness he despises.
I yap. Two: You need to feed him 22 pieces of Coral IN ONE GO. If you feed him
18, he'll send you off for more, and you still need to feed him 22 pieces of
Coral again.
So, while you scurry off to find a pencil and a slip of paper to write down how
much Coral you're finding all around, I'm going to try to explain how the
layout of Ebot's Rock is constructed.
Just kidding. Every warp stone has up to four different locations it can warp
you to. They're all in the same room, and in most cases there's only one
warp stone to walk towards after possibly raiding a chest. There's no possible
advantage of knowing where you are; warp, open chest, warp. Repeat if necessary.
In the end, you'll have your 22 pieces of Coral and you can go 'find' the
talking chest. It's up to luck how soon you come across it, obviously. Feed him,
and you're allowed to continue.
Finally, Hidon! The mere sight of the horrid creature sends shivers down
Strago's spine. Can we assume Strago knows that this creature can teach him
the most powerful of Lores, the fabled GrandTrain? The Japanese game sure
mentions it, so it's time to pound him for great, sweet justice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.62.5 The battle with Hidon
**********************************
Hidon
Level: 43, HP: 25000, MP: 12500
Steal: Thornlet (rare), Warp Stone (common), Win: Warp Stone (always)
Absorbs: Poison, Weakness: Fire, Pearl, Earth
Status: Undead
Special: !Hit: Battle x 1.5
Sketch : !Hit, Battle
Control: Battle, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Slow
Attacks: Battle, Poison, Bio, GrandTrain, Virite, ChokeSmoke, Raid
Vanish/Doom: Yes
Since Hidon is Undead, Doom will restore the bastard. Use X-Zone if you want to.
Joker Doom: Yes
Virite and Raid both screw the RNG, but they won't be used by Hidon unless he's
alone. Go right ahead.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Hidon attacks with Battle and Bio. That's what he does. He has a 33% shot at
Bio there, and a 66% one at Battle. If you hit him with something, he has
a small chance of countering with the Poison spell. Whenever a character dies
in-battle (as in, the Wound status), Hidon will try to revive the fallen
character as a Zombie with the ChokeSmoke attack, which will fail if the fallen
character is immune to the Zombie status ailment. When Hidon is alone, his
first turn will be spent on glowing an eerie yellow and attacking with the
magnificent Lore GrandTrain, which will deal between 900 and 950 damage on your
sorry ass. After that, you'll notice that Hidon is particularly mean when he's
by himself; he'll start attacking with all kinds of crazy spells, including
Virite (the MT Poison-elemental attack that misses a lot yet looks funky) and
Raid (the non-elemental HP draining spell). 80 seconds after the last Hidonite
perished, Hidon will call all Hidonites back into existence if all fell. If
you kill them all again, Hidon will cast GrandTrain again, and then revive them
again.
Throw up your barriers where possible (Haste 2, Big Guard, Golem/Fenrir, Kirin)
and set Slow on Hidon. Evasion of physical attacks is doubly important, as all
the Hidonites will try to set nasty status ailments on you with their Specials.
Now, it's time to take care of the Hidonites. While Bahamut's Sun Flare attack
is by far the best way to take care of them all at once, well-timed doses of
Cyan's Stunner attack, possibly paired with Edgar's AutoCrossbow or Flash
Tools, should get the job done. The most difficult Hidonite to dispatch of is
the one in the lower-left corner; inherently Reflective, absorbs all elements,
ID protection. Shadow's stronger throwing Stars work well against him, as does
Strago's Step Mine attack, Setzer's Fixed Dice, and Edgar's Drill. Also, don't
forget to throw around stealing attempts until you've stolen something from
Hidon; the common steal is a meager Warp Stone, but its rare steal is the
Thornlet, an elusive item that, provided you choose the Ragnarok sword over the
Ragnarok Esper in due time, can only be found here.
The Thornlet is a piece of Headgear that's odd. The only thing it has going for
it is the fact that its Defense is superior to everything, not including the
Titanium on Imps. On the downsides, the Thornlet grants inherent Seizure to the
wearer (thorns inflict pain) and has NO Magic Defense whatsoever. The Thornlet,
as my verdict says, should be ignored. Your only reasons for getting one could
be completing your Item list as much as possible and betting it later for a
Mirage Vest.
Now, behold the power of GrandTrain! As soon as that's all over, it's time to
defeat this wretched being. Tritoch's Tri-Dazer attack, Fire 2, Fire 3, and
Quake spells really hurt, as does Shadow's Fire Skean. Having Shadow Throw a
Flame Sabre, Gravity Rod, or Pearl Rod hurts Hidon very badly. Mog or Edgar as
Dragon Horn Dragoons paired with a Pearl Lance also deal great amounts of
damage. Mog should definitely refrain from using Dances; the Dusk Requiem
sucks. Bum Rush and Fixed Dice are reliable as always. Strago and Relm
themselves really need to use their Magic skillset; if Strago's selection is
extremely poor, I would suggest Aero or Step Mine. Obviously, if Strago is
level 43, his Stone attack beats all other options (except for Fire 3). Cyan
should probably stick to his Quadra Slam SwdTech skill, unless he has Fire 3.
Why you would want to train Cyan enough to have him learn a level 3 spell
boggles all normal minds, but I suppose it's a possibility. Gau has a few
options, but most of them are kind of odd. Scrapper is nice enough, as it
allows Gau to absorb Poison, Bio, and Virite. Inherent Haste and Elf Fire
is good enough too. If you're not too concerned about that Poison ailment,
have Gau engage ChickenLip (don't forget to cast Float on yourselves beforehand,
since ChickenLip uses Quake). Finally, Magic Urn turns Gau into an ever-
present tank that heals your party. Nice. And Umaro? Just let him go, man.
After the fight, Strago will giggle like a little girl and run off to tell his
friend. Gungho seems surprised and oddly vital when hearing the news, and both
growling old men stay up late to celebrate. Relm, like the stereotype demands,
is smarter and more mature than her old grandpa, and explains to the moronic
player that, gasp thrice, Gungho was faking his wounds.
When the player regains control over the party, you may or may not notice that
the party hasn't been healed from the fight against Hidon, although they did
spend the night in Thamasa. Possibly some of your characters are still poisoned,
so you might as well take them to the 1 GP Inn and heal them with a decent
nightly rest. Ah sleep, thou sweet mistress.
A pretty important note here: outside of Strago's house, Gungho will walk
around. Normally he'll just ask you if everything's okay, but every time you
talk to him, there's a 12.5% chance that he'll say: "Hidon's appeared
at Ebot's Rock again!". As soon as Gungho says this, Hidon will indeed
appear on his original spot. To reach him, you'll have to gather another 21
Coral for the living chest that has also reappeared. Re-fighting Hidon is
only important if you either haven't learned GrandTrain from the first fight
or need a Thornlet, possibly to wager at the Colosseum for the odd Mirage Vest.
It should also be noted that after the first time you defeat Hidon, Strago is
no longer required to find Hidon.
Now, you probably taught Relm at least the level 3 spells or Flare while still
being equipped with that awesome Cat Hood and possibly the awesome Magus Rod,
and Strago has the best MT damage of any character at the moment, so we can all
celebrate their Thamasian existence.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.63.1 Another Colosseum trip
**********************************
Sure, why the hell not, eh? Most of the below described items are "provided
you have them" or "provided you want them", but I have to put them somewhere
and this seems like a nice place. I'll go easy on you and start out with the
really helpful ones!
Megalixir - Tintinabar Opponent: Siegfried
Heal Rod - Magus Rod Opponent: Pug
Thornlet - Mirage Vest Opponent: Opinicus
Cat Hood - Merit Award Opponent: Hoover
Minerva - Czarina Gown Opponent: Pug
Snow Muffler - Charm Bangle Opponent: Retainer
Nutkin Suit - Genji Armor Opponent: Opinicus
Sneak Ring - Thief Glove Opponent: Tap Dancer
Gauntlet - Thunder Shld Opponent: Vectagoyle
Genji Glove - Thunder Shld Opponent: Hemophyte
You should know all items except for the Merit Award (if you're rusty on what
they do and where to get them, you can Ctrl + F the document). The only reason
you should want to trade in a Minerva for a Czarina Gown is when you have more
than two Minerva bustiers and you want to have all items in the game at the end.
I've never found a good use for the Gauntlet, and in my opinion the Genji Glove
has outlived its usefulness as well, but there are a lot of players googoo for
Genji Gloves, so they may not agree with me when I say you can turn those
Relics into the awesome Thunder Shlds (save one of each if you're going for
that 'perfect' end-game item list). You CAN steal Thunder Shlds in the final
dungeon, but it's a long way there.
- Megalixir - Tintinabar Opponent: Siegfried
Siegfried has three attacks: a 50% chance at Battle, a 25% Shrapnel which is
rather painful, and a 25% HyperDrive, which kills you. There's NO circumventing
it other than Runic, which isn't reliable enough. HyperDrive is a non-elemental
barrier-piercing magical attack that cannot be Reflected. Coming from Siegfried,
hyped as the greatest warrior that isn't in your team or called Kefka Palazzo,
it delivers around 7200 damage. Your best bet is to take advantage of his
vulnerability to the Stop status; equip on Shadow the Stunner, DragoonBoots,
Dragon Horn, and as much MBlock% raising equipment as you can put on the guy.
If you're in luck, a random Stop spell coming from the Stunner will kick in
and disable Siegfried long enough for you to kill him.
And yes, that's a gun he's holding. Sweet, eh?
- Heal Rod - Magus Rod Opponent: Pug
- Minerva - Czarina Gown Opponent: Pug
Pug is a bastard in the Colosseum. The trick here is that he will counter any
damage done to him with both !Cleaver (Battle * 8) and a Step Mine attack.
Death doesn't stop him from countering, and as it's highly unlikely you'll be
able to survive two Step Mine attacks (not even mentioning the !Cleaver attack
here), you must take down Pug in one shot, which is hard, as he's quite durable
and not vulnerable to ID. Obviously, he also attacks normally, with Battle,
!Cleaver, and the Break spell. First off, you'll want a Wall Ring, Jewel Ring,
Ribbon, Safety Bit, or Memento Ring to protect against Break. Second, make sure
you can survive the !Cleaver/Step Mine combo; Muscle Belts and Red Caps increase
your HP for Step Mine, and you'll either want to evade or nullify !Cleaver
entirely, so a high MBlock percentage or 255 Defense does the trick. On the
offense, the Offering is almost required, either with the Fixed Dice or a
ValiantKnife, whatever you have.
- Cat Hood - Merit Award Opponent: Hoover
Hoover is, if I'm not mistaken, the toughest enemy out there that's still
vulnerable to ID. This is really what you'll want to take advantage of. He'll
randomly use Battle, !Crush (Battle * 5), Sand Storm, and Quake. Every damage
done will by countered with up to two Sand Storm attacks. Equip a Cherub Down
for the Quake spell, and a Thunder Shld to nullify the Sand Storm attacks. If
you can pair this with 255 Defense (on Mog), you can't lose. If you can't
obtain invulnerability, it's best to go all-out offensive; Offering, possible
Genji Glove, and weapons with either the X-type ID property or the
Scimitar. Remember that the random Doom spell from the Soul Sabre and the Doom
Darts won't work with the Offering.
- Snow Muffler - Charm Bangle Opponent: Retainer
I discussed Retainer earlier, but the situation's so much different now I'd
like to mention him again; get your MBlock as high as possible on a character
that's bound to inflict a lot of damage on the guy. Fixed Dice, Offering,
Force Shld, Force Armor, Bard's Hat, and White Cape. The chances are pretty
good Setzer will outlive a Retainer this way.
- Sneak Ring - Thief Glove Opponent: Tap Dancer
All Tap Dancer does is Battle, !WaistShake (sets Confuse), Slow 2, and Haste 2.
255 Defense and a Peace Ring/Ribbon to protect against !WaistShake and you're
set.
- Gauntlet - Thunder Shld Opponent: Vectagoyle
Battle, Giga Volt, Aqua Rake, and Blaze. A combination of Thunder Shld and Red
Jacket takes care of all the powerful attacks here, so send in Edgar with this
equipment and you're set. Sabin's good too, though he might use Spiraler.
- Genji Glove - Thunder Shld Opponent: Hemophyte
Hemophyte looks pretty neat, but that doesn't stop him from sucking all-round
in the Colosseum. Battle, !CursedGaze (sets Seizure), and Shock Wave are all
too useless to worry about, and Pearl can be reflected by a Wall Ring. Equip
one and win.
- Thornlet - Mirage Vest Opponent: Opinicus
I discussed Opinicus earlier, so I won't do that now.
This could also be a great time to discuss the Merit Award. What does the
Merit Award do? It allows the wearer to equip any weapon and any armor except
for animal hides (Relm/Strago equips), the Snow Muffler, and the female-only
equips (Minerva and Mystery Veil among others). It does take up a Relic slot
though, so what characters would benefit enough from the expanded pool of
options to sacrifice a Relic slot for?
- Sabin's weapons are nothing special. A few minor stat boosts, that's all.
In addition, his best armor is the Red Jacket, which next to nullifying
Fire does nothing special and has a sub-par Defense and Magic Defense rating.
An Enhancer/Magus Rod rather than the Tiger Fangs and a Genji Armor as
opposed to the Red Jacket can really help him out both offensively and
defensively.
- Gau has all the Defense and Magic Defense he could ever dream of, so it's
just the weapons that's important here. Yes, with the Merit Award, Gau can
suddenly equip weapons! In general, I've found that the Sniper (store-bought
in Jidoor) is the best option for Gau to wield; it bumps his Battle Power up
to the maximum of 255, randomly (50%) deals 3 times as much damage to
Floating targets and 1.5 as much to other targets, and it's easy to acquire.
Sadly, Gau cannot equip the Merit Award in the PSX releases of this game.
- Finally, Gogo can use the boost in armor as well; the Tao Robe and Dark Gear,
both tied as most Defensive armor (Tao Robe is flat-out better, though), are
even worse than the Red Jacket. The Genji Armor fits him nicely, and it gets
a lot easier choosing SwdTech this way (although you shouldn't, as it blows as
hard as ever).
Most players kinda frown upon using the Merit Award as it has the potential of
turning every character into a clone of each other. And yes, with the Merit
Award, a combo of Illumina, Force Shld, Bard's Hat, and Force Armor is all too
easy to pull off. I just figure that this way, we're still tasteful while
helping out the characters we love. :)
Gau and the Merit Award (and Gogo a little, sure):
So for the entire WoB and a large chunk of the WoR, Gau has been a guy who uses
an insanely strong magical attack 50 % of the time. But hey, times have changed;
all your characters are capable of this insane MT violence and Gau just has his
255 Defense to back him up. Does this mean he is offensively crippled? NO! Or
yes, if you're playing PSX. The key to offense on Gau in the latest stages no
longer comes from overpowered Rages. It comes from the Merit Award.
I can divide this section in two parts. First off, there's the Wind God. Wind
God Gau is easily set-up: give him the Merit Award and a Tempest for a weapon,
and have him Rage Stray Cat. Gau's physicals rise in power, there's that in the
first place. However, the Wind Slash attacks he produces are also affected by
the !Catscratch damage multiplier, so when a Wind Slash kicks in a !Catscratch
attack Gau performs what's basically a 192 Base Power MT attack with NO split
damage. To compare, Aero on multiple targets effectively has a Base Power of 62.
That's pretty freaking insane. Combine the Wind God with the Offering to have
him rise to unspeakable levels of damage (when he isn't whipping out puny
physicals). If no Offering is present, a Hero Ring works well enough.
But it needn't stop there with the Merit Award fun. Against bosses, pick an
elemental weakness and equip a weapon accordingly. Pearl Rod !Catscratches hurt
a LOT when they're hitting a weakness, let alone the Pearl x 4 that may kick in
25 % of the time. On Floating targets without elemental weaknesses (or multiple
on different parts, such as in the final battle), the Sniper rules supreme.
Versus human bosses, the Man Eater is also a great option as it works just as
well as exploiting a weakness.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.64.1 Doma Castle
**********************************
Now, there are a few side-quests left before there's really nothing better to
do than break into Kefka's domain, and we've still got a disturbing lead to
follow before we can answer to Celes's desperate wishes to reunite with Locke.
With Cyan on our side, the fact that demons appear to roam around in Doma Castle
has some meaning; we could check it out at the very least. Where's Doma Castle
you ask? You can ask the old lady in Maranda, but I'll tell you anyway: to the
east of the 'head' of the Serpent Trench, where Nikeah is located.
Make sure that you have quite a few Green Cherries and Fenix Downs, and if
you're planning to bring Shadow (which is a good idea), make sure you have
over 30 Fire Skeans as well.
Location: Doma Castle
Party members: Cyan, Optional: Terra, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm, Strago,
Setzer, Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: None
Lores: Condemned, Roulette, Pearl Wind, L? Pearl
Cyan is mandatory for this part. I can see from your shocked faces that after
all the Cyan-bashing I did in the past, not only are you all heavily convinced
of the fact he's horrible, this is also the reason you never really bothered to
raise him. Little to no Esper time, no doubt? Not to digress; you don't really
have to fight with him. :P
Whom to bring? Terra is especially nice; I really advise you to bring her.
You're probably sick of Strago and Relm by now, but if you want to take
advantage of their newly acquired powers, be my guest; GrandTrain really is
powerful, and there's a new Lore to be learned here as well. Shadow is great,
as his Throw attack is targetable. The same goes for Setzer, but only if you
have his Fixed Dice. Do NOT bring along Gau and Umaro; they'll have major
trouble with the final battle here, which also means that YOU will have major
trouble. I wouldn't really advise Edgar and Mog either, as the final battle is
yet again an annoying peek-a-boo situation where you don't want to sit around
waiting for them to come crashing down when you don't want them to.
As soon as you enter Doma Castle, nothing seems odd. But hey, both the guy in
Thamasa and the young man in Nikeah mentioned that the demons came after
nightfall. If you haven't found the Doma Castle treasures in the WoB, you can
do so now: You can find an Ether, an Elixir in the alarm clock in a bedroom,
an X-Potion in the room Cyan found his dead wife and son in, and when you go
outside on one of the walls, you can find a little room with a Fenix Down and
some Beads. If you're done raiding the halls of the dead, find the bedroom
where the option of sleeping will be presented to you. Do so if you're ready
for the dungeon. Make sure you have a decently powerful character in the fourth
slot (or in the third if Cyan's in the fourth slot).
When the night has ended (don't worry, you've been healed), you will all get
up. But wait, what's this? Cyan remains silent. When you go over to check on
him, three creatures that look like little boys appear. They introduce
themselves as the Dream Stooges, being Curley, Larry, and Moe. This is all a
reference to the Three Stooges with the same name, a well-known American comedy
act in the forties. Regardless, the Dream Stooges leap into Cyan's mind.
Or something, whatever. You'll quickly notice this entire ordeal is 73% Lewis
Carroll, 26% water, and a tiny bit of magic.
You leap after them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.64.2 Cyan's Soul
**********************************
You start out with the character that was in the fourth slot of your party when
you went to sleep; if this was Cyan, it'll be the character in the third slot.
If you brought Gogo the mimic here and don't start out with him, you can see
him lying around mimicking Mog's colour scheme; while this fits his role of
copycat nicely, it's most certainly a bug. There are detached stairways of
unidentifiable material all around the place and a lot of doors. The entire
room looks like you've been sniffing Ether (and you might have) recently, and
you're by yourself.
Location: Eh...Doma Castle, technically? Hopefully?
Party members: Optional: Terra, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm, Strago,
Setzer, Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: Allosaurus, Critic, Pan Dora, Parasite, Barb-e
Barb-e, Critic (5/16)
Critic, Pan Dora, Pan Dora, Pan Dora (5/16)
Allosaurus, Parasite, Parasite, Parasite (5/16)
Allosaurus (1/16)
Allosaurus is a crazy dino, that's for sure. It does nothing but try to
poison you, and let's be honest with ourselves here Allo; that's just not very
honorable for a giant lizard with fangs and claws, now is it? At least try to
eat them. At any rate, the only thing it'll try to do to you is use !PoisonClaw
and attack with Virite. Allosaurus is weak against Fire- and Pearl-elemental
attacks and is vulnerable to ID attacks. The Anthology Bestiary mentions that
Allosaurus is 'normally' human, but transforms into an Allosaurus in-battle,
spewing poisonous breath (Virite).
Critic is your gal if you neglected Strago a little during the WoB and brought
him along for this ride. Every first turn may feature Roulette (33% chance),
every second turn may feature the as-of-yet unseen L? Pearl (33% chance), and
every third turn may contain Condemned (33% chance). If you want to, wait
around until she has taught these Lores to Strago. Other attacks include
Battle and !Slip Seed, which sets Seizure. She's a rare breed, having no
palette swaps whatsoever. She's also rather weak defensively; Condemned
shouldn't worry you, Roulette is a nuisance that's quickly recovered from and
L? Pearl, should it connect, won't do all that much damage (about 550 when
hitting multiple normally-equipped targets, 1100 on a single one).
Pan Dora is Undead. Also, while they look like the least dangerous enemy,
they're the worst. There are two attacks you have to watch out for; Evil Toot
may set one out of the following status ailments on every party member: Dark,
Poison, Imp, Condemned, Berserk, Muddled, Seizure, and Slow. Since they always
appear in triple formation here, it can be quite bad if one or two character(s)
have to swallow up to three Evil Toot attacks. Ribbons are a must. The other
attack that's nasty is Absolute0; it's a straightforward Ice-elemental attack,
but can deal about 500 damage to multiple normally equipped characters and
1000 on a single one. Revenge shouldn't be that much of a concern.
Parasite are Aspik palette swaps. They're almost entirely alike. They attack
with Battle and !Mind Stop, which sets Stop (Aspik's !Numbspines also did this).
Every Fight command will be countered with a 66% shot at Giga Volt, which is
a strong attack but fails to impress here, as Parasite's Magic Power is a
stunning 1. 1000 HP and weak to Fire-elemental attacks.
Barb-e smoked in the Japanese game. She stopped for the US kids, though.
Smoking is bad for you! Ranging from bad breath and yellow teeth to an empty
wallet, smoking is nothing but trouble. It's also damn well enjoyable after a
long day might I add. Barb-E resists all status ailments (maybe she can get
away with smoking due to Lung Cancer immunity, I dunno), and has an annoying
tendency to use an Imp spell at the start of every battle. Her second turn
may feature either the Drain spell or the Love Token attack. About Love Token:
Love Token forces the affected character to take physical hits for the caster,
like the caster is a Near Fatal character and the affected has a True Knight
equipped. The affected will only absorb Fight/Battle and Special attacks; other
attacks, physical or not, will be ignored.
Anyway, heal the Imp status if it was set and then pound her as soon as
possible with your strongest attacks. Any damage done will be countered by a 66%
shot at !Slap, which sets Mute. Barb-e's Defense is rather poor and she's weak
to Poison-elemental attacks, protected from ID, and immune to every status
ailment but Slow and Stop.
Whatever character you brought, it's vital you equip a Ribbon on him. Status
ailments like Stop and Muddle are NOT nice when you're by yourself.
Fire-elemental attacks are really strong, so Tritoch's Tri-Dazer, Fire 3,
Fire Skeans, and Fire Dance should help you combat these pests. That Ribbon
really is necessary; it protects against Barb-e's Imp and !Slap, Allosaurus's
attempts at poisoning you, and Pan Dora's Evil Toot horror. If you're shooting
for a full Rage list for some reason, make sure to encounter Critic and
Allosaurus here as you won't be able to return to this place later. The other
monsters can be found at other locations, too.
They should encounter any enemy they want to here while they can, because you
can't go back to this place after you leave...
When you wake up, it's near a Save Point so you can save. To the left are three
doors. It would take a very large block or boring text to describe where all
the doors are leading, so here's a neat schematic!
#0: Starting point, #1 (left door), #2 (middle door), #3 (right door)
#1: Character, #4 (door)
#2: #12 (door to the right), #13 (door to the left)
#3: #8 (left door), #10 (right door)
#4: #5, (top door) #6 (bottom door)
#5: #8 (left door), #10 (right door)
#6: #7 (door)
#7: #5, (top door) #6 (bottom door)
#8: #9 (door)
#9: #8 (left door), #10 (right door)
#10: Character, #11 (door)
#11: #12 (door to the right), #13 (door to the left)
#12: Save Point, #1 (left door), #2 (middle door), #3 (right door)
#13: Final door, battle with the Dream Stooges.
Explanation: both of your unconscious characters are guarded by a Dream Stooge.
When you arrive, the Dream Stooge chickens out and runs off, as he's without
his brothers; you reunite with your fallen comrade in arms and press on. If
you found both characters, you can trigger the battle with the Dream Stooges
at the final door; if you haven't collected all characters, nothing will happen
there.
The easiest path through this madness is this:
#0 - #1 - #4 - #6 - #7 - #5 - #10 - #11 - #12 - #13
In plain English: Walk over to the three doors, and pick the left one. You
scare off the Dream Stooge and find a character here. Leave through the door.
Take the top door in the next section, which leads to two doors right next to
each other. You'll want to take the right door, which leads to another Dream
Stooge, who runs off and reunites you with your final character. Exit through
the only door here, and walk over to the door to the far right in the next
section. This door will lead you to the final door, standing between three...
things. Out leap the three Dream Stooges, ready to do battle.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.64.3 Cyan's Soul; the battle with the Dream Stooges
**********************************
Curley
Level: 47, HP: 15000, MP: 2000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Fire, Weakness: Ice, Water
Status: Float
Special: !Hit: Battle x 2
Sketch : !Hit, Battle
Control: Battle, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Sleep
Attacks: Battle, Fire 2, Fire 3, Slow, Stop, Mute, Rflect, Life 2, Pearl Wind,
Delta Hit
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Larry
Level: 47, HP: 10000, MP: 2000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Wind, Weakness: Fire
Status: Float
Special: !Hit: Battle x 2
Sketch : !Hit, Battle
Control: Battle, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Death, Condemned, Mute, Confuse, Slow
Attacks: Battle, Ice 2, Ice 3, Rflect, Delta Hit
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Moe
Level: 47, HP: 12500, MP: 2000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Lightning
Status: Float
Special: !Hit: Battle x 2
Sketch : !Hit, Battle
Control: Battle, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Berserk, Stop
Attacks: Battle, Bolt 2, Bolt 3, Safe, Haste, Rflect, Shell, Cure 2, Delta Hit
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: Yes
Mute and Life 2 could screw with your RNG, but Mute won't be used by Curley
until the second turn and Life 2 only appears when either Larry or Moe bites
the dust.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Curley is the strongest of the three Dream Stooges, and also the most vital
one to take down. He has a random shot at casting Pearl Wind every now and
again, which heals the other Stooges and himself. Even worse, he will cast
Life 2 on a fallen comrade when he notices they're down. He'll attack with the
status-inducing spells when all three brothers are alive, and with the
Fire-elemental offensive spells when a comrade has been slain (which is a
useless bit of the AI script, as Curley will always immediately make sure this
is never the case with Life 2). When he's hit four times by a Magic spell,
he'll cast Rflect on himself and start bouncing Fire 2 and Fire 3 spells
off himself. When all three Stooges are alive, he'll cast Delta Hit every
30 seconds; Delta Hit is an unblockable ST attack that sets Petrify
(doesn't work on targets immune to Petrify, obviously). He has a 33% chance
of countering any of your attacks with a Fire 2 spell.
Larry is the weakest of the three Dream Stooges; his amount of HP is the
lowest and his status vulnerabilities are horrible; as if Death wasn't enough,
he's an almost exclusive spell caster susceptible to Mute, and Confuse is
crippling too. He's the Ice-elemental of the three. Like Curley, he'll cast
Delta Hit when all three Stooges are there and 30 seconds have passed since
the beginning of the battle/the last time Delta Hit appeared. He'll cast
Rflect when he's hit by Magic four times and start reflecting Ice 2 and Ice 3
spells off himself. Larry will normally just attack with Battle; he'll
start using Ice 2 and Ice 3 spells when one Stooge is down. He'll counter with
a 33% Ice 2 spell. The interesting thing about Larry is that he may run away
in the middle of a battle. When one of the Stooges is down, and Larry has
been hit by four Magic spells, he'll run away. After 30 seconds (if you haven't
won the battle yet), he'll return; his HP is back to maximum, but MP hasn't
changed and any status ailments you might've set are still there.
Moe is the middle child, and the only one without an elemental weakness. His
bane is the Berserk status, and he has the Lightning-element. Like his
brethren, he casts Delta Hit after 30 seconds, will cast Rflect on himself
after four Magic spells, and start casting Bolt 2 and Bolt 3 on himself which
bounce off; normally he uses support spells (Safe, Shell, Haste, and Cure 2),
but he will start to cast offensive spells (Bolt 2 and Bolt 3) when one of
the Stooges is down. Might counter any attack with a Bolt 2 spell. The boring
one of the three.
A note about Delta Hit: when the global battle timer reaches 30, the first
Stooge to act will attack with Delta Hit. After that, the global timer is
set to 0, so the other two Stooges won't use it. In other words, every 30
seconds only ONE Delta Hit will appear, not three.
How to fight this battle? Set Mute on Larry (the Mute spell is obviously the
most prominent way, but Strago's Sour Mouth is also a highly acceptable means;
it'll also set Confuse) and Berserk on Moe (with the Bserk spell, possibly).
Don't kill off Larry with a quick Doom spell just yet; our main priority is
Curley. Cast a Sleep spell on him (once again, Sour Mouth works there) and
pound him with magical attacks, preferably Ice-elemental attacks. When he's
dead, abuse Larry's vulnerability to ID attacks and dispatch of him quickly.
What you have left is a Berserked Moe who is no threat whatsoever.
It's really an easy battle; barriers like Big Guard, Haste 2, Moon Song,
Earth Wall, and Life Guard are nice, but really not necessary. You don't get
any items for beating the Dream Stooges, but you'll get 6 Magic Points.
After you've killed the Dream Stooges, you've taken care of the problem you
came 'here' for, but you still have to find a way to get out of here. The
door the Dream Stooges guarded is still open, so you might as well pass
through.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.64.4 Cyan's Dream; the Phantom Train?
**********************************
Location: Eh...Doma Castle, technically? Hopefully?
Party members: Optional: Terra, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm, Strago,
Setzer, Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: Samurai, Rain Man, Suriander, Pan Dora, Parasite, Barb-e
Lores: None
Inside the cars:
Rain Man, Rain Man (5/16)
Samurai, Rain Man, Rain Man (5/16)
Barb-e, Samurai, Suriander (5/16)
Suriander, Pan Dora, Parasite, Parasite (1/16)
You're now somehow traveling through Cyan's mind, searching for a way out.
You're on a train now; since Cyan has really little experience with mechanical
things, it's safe to say this is a memory of the Phantom Train. We'd best
be on our guard; Cyan's mind is not devoid of the demons that torture him,
and they don't leave us alone either.
A few new enemies here. Samurai are very odd. Weak to Poison like most humans,
their Defenses are horrible. And I mean just horrible. Worse physical Defense
than Flan enemies, worse Magic Defense than Ultros #4. Every second turn they
may use !Fatal, so take them out quickly. It'd be very hard to take them out
slowly, mind, but you never know. ID-protected, by the way.
Rain Man are crazy on the elementals. Weak to Ice, Pearl, and Water, almost
every character should be able to nail these guys' weaknesses one way or
another. They attack with physical attacks (!Umbrawler sets Sleep) and Flash
Rain, the MT Ice-/Water-elemental attack. Not very strong, but strong enough
to worry about. When Rain Men are alone, they'll use Bolt 3, which is even
more of a nuisance. Their vulnerable to the Confuse status, so the NoiseBlaster
and the L.3 Muddle Lore keep them busy while you kill them.
Suriander surely surprises scarce sources; boring beyond borders, bestowing
bruises by Battle, sometimes Sneeze. It also uses !Yawn (sets Sleep).
ID-protected. The bloated creature is weak to Pearl-elemental attacks and
vulnerable to the Sleep status, so if you want to make sure none of your
characters get blown away by his omni-counter Sneeze attack, take advantage of
that.
( LOCOMOTIVE )
( SAVE POINT CAR )
( MAZE CAR ) - Contains an Ice Shld
( LUMP OF METAL CAR ) - Contains a Genji Glove and a Flame Shld
( SAVE POINT CAR )
( INACCESSIBLE )
To the right of you is a train car you can't enter. You can go up the ladder,
but it serves no purpose. To the left of you is a train car, desolate of
everything but a Save Point. Just pass through it.
When you're outside again, you'll see a quick cutscene where Cyan escapes
from a ghost, oddly similar to the scene in the game where Sabin and Cyan
escape the ghosts. You can't enter the new train car until the scene is over.
You can use the ladders to completely circumvent this car, but you don't want
to do that, as you'll miss out on two treasures and an important hint.
This new train car brings a chest, firmly locked away between two crates and
a hole in the floor. When you flip the switch to the right of it, the left
crates will move. However, after 4 seconds the crate will move back if you
haven't raided the contents. If you fight a battle left of that crate (in the
immediate horizontal line) the crate will move again; alternatively, if you
enter the menu screen immediately to the right of it (stand next to the crate),
it will also move.
The easiest solution would be flicking the switch twice; at the second time the
right crate will move, no questions asked, and will remain there until you
leave the train car. The chest contains a Genji Glove.
Further on is another chest, but you can't reach it; an empty chest will always
block your path. The trick is to walk over to the closed chest to the right;
opening it will get you the Rare item 'Lump of Metal', which you can use to
pin the empty chest to the ground and walk around it to grab the Flame Shld
in the chest.
Finally, make sure that you flick the other switch in this train car too; three
out of the six chests will close (flicking again will open them all up again),
and the book says: "Memorize the positions. This knowledge might save you."
Very well:
0 0 x
x x 0
0 = Open
x = Closed
This next train car is a nasty one. It's a maze, with three switches that all
change the furniture to block off your path and/or the other switches. Grab
the Ice Shield and the X-Potion in the slightly hidden chest first. There are
four switches in this car; the left-most switch isn't important right now, so
it's
#1 #2 #3
The order to handle the switches in is this:
#3, #1, #3, #2, #3, #1
Now, your path is blocked off again by a wall, and there are six chests here,
not unlike the chests you saw earlier. Flicking the switch appears to do
nothing whatsoever. Close the chests like you saw earlier:
0 0 x
x x 0
0 = Open
x = Closed
Flicking the switch will clear the path. You can walk outside to find another
train car with a Save Point, and finally the caboose; the switches here do
absolutely nothing. When you leave the room, you will warp out of this train
and into a new section of Cyan's Dream.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.64.5 Cyan's Dream; Mechanical mines
**********************************
Location: Eh...Doma Castle, technically? Hopefully?
Party members: Optional: Terra, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm, Strago,
Setzer, Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: Sky Cap, PlutoArmor, Io
Lores: None
So, this is the part where Cyan's still lingering fear of machines resides.
Hulking, steaming technological horrors lunge for you, and the worst part is
that your abilities are crippled by the fact that you are, in fact, riding
one of those mechanical monstrosities yourselves. Yes, you're all covered in
Imperial MagiTek Armor. Terra is the only character that will be able to use
all eight attacks. If you brought Gogo, give him the Fight command in the
Status menu so he can use MagiTek as well. Umaro (and Berserked characters)
will randomly choose a Beam-class attack and will never use Heal Force.
Monster formations:
Io (6/16)
PlutoArmor, PlutoArmor (5/16)
PlutoArmor, Sky Cap (5/16)
PlutoArmor attacks with Battle, !Crash (Battle x 2), and Tek Laser. When it's
alone it'll start using the nastier machine attacks you'll be recognizing by
now: Launcher and Shrapnel (and Tek Laser, still). When hit by Fight, it may
counter with either Launcher (on the entire party) or Shrapnel (on the attacker
itself), but this is only possible on the Veldt or when combining the Imp
and Berserk status ailments on a character (which you don't really want).
Shrapnel really is powerful and Launcher annoying as hell (for those of you
that forgot, Launcher = 8 x Demi on random targets), so don't let PlutoArmor
alone.
Sky Cap is much less dangerous. It'll use R.Polarity and Tek Laser. When alone,
it may start to attack with Missile - but compared to PlutoArmor's Launcher,
that's nothing - and !SlipAnchor, which sets Seizure.
Io is most noticeable for its Rage, which allows the Rager to attack with
Flare Star. It will either do nothing (66%) or attack with !Crush (Battle x 3)
for three consecutive turns; !Crush isn't that powerful. The fourth turn, it'll
either use WaveCannon or Diffuser. Io's a little harder to take down, but
little threat.
The strategy, you ask? There's little, here. Know that the Beam attacks are
about as powerful as level 2 spell, so if you have level 3 spells they'll be
more powerful than the MagiTek attacks. You'll always want to switch between
Heal Force and Bolt Beam in this dungeon, as Bolt Beam hits the weakness of
all the enemies here. TekMissile is more powerful than Bolt Beam though, so
Terra should stick to that. All enemies can be taken out by Terra's X-Fer, and
both PlutoArmor and Sky Cap fall for Confuser. PlutoArmor can be crippled by
status ailments such as Mute, Stop, and Berserk while Sky Cap really isn't a
threat at all.
Just walk around a while, there's only one path to take. As soon as you
discover that you're walking around in circles, turn back and approach the
situation from a different angle; start walking counter-clockwise. Eventually
you'll arrive at a slope you haven't seen before, and you'll see Cyan cross
a bridge. As soon as you try to follow him, the bridge will collapse
underneath you.
Awesomeness: the game gives a MagiTek Armor to your leader in the dungeon. If
you switch leaders, the new character will also gain MagiTek Armor, but the
other character won't lose it. When you exit this part, the MagiTek Armor is
taken from the leader, but not from the other three character. Thus in the next
scene in this section, those characters will appear in MagiTek Armor in the
cutscene. Neato!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.64.6 Cyan's Dream; Doma Castle
**********************************
Location: Eh...Doma Castle, technically? Hopefully?
Party members: Optional: Terra, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm, Strago,
Setzer, Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: Samurai, Rain Man, Suriander, Pan Dora, Parasite, Barb-e
Lores: None
You fall into a recognizable room; the guest chambers of Doma Castle, where
you spent the night before Cyan was invaded by the Dream Stooges. You've gained
a mission objective now; next to simply escaping Cyan's mind, it seems that
his personal demon can be actually battled; WrexSoul, a composite monster
made up of angry spirits, is its name. It's time to seek out this demon, so
Cyan can find redemption, and you can get the hell out.
(Everywhere, including the Save Point room and the throne room)
Rain Man, Rain Man (5/16)
Samurai, Rain Man, Rain Man (5/16)
Barb-e, Samurai, Suriander (5/16)
Suriander, Pan Dora, Parasite, Parasite (1/16)
When you can move again, it's time to fulfill the request of Elayne and Owain,
Cyan's wife and child. They're right, he doesn't deserve this, sub-par combat
skills be damned! When you walk around, you can find three small cutscenes
which all show a proud moment out of the past of Cyan Garamonde, retainer to
King Doma.
Outside, near the moat, to the left:
(Cyan and Owain are jumping at each other, the sound of metal on metal)
(Cyan:) Excellent concentration! With a little more practice, you'll be
Doma's best fencer!
(Owain:) Yippee! Papa praised me! I'm gonna go tell Mama!
Outside, near the moat, to the right:
(Cyan and Owain by the side of the moat)
(Owain, jumping up and down:) Papa...fishing is boring!
(Cyan:) This is part of your training. We must all learn patience.
(Owain, calming down:) I love fishing!
Inside, in the room where Cyan found Elayne and Owain dead:
(Elayne:) Sweetheart... ... Do you love me?
(Cyan, spazzing:) What do you want from me? A soldier doesn't say things
like that!
(Cyan, calmed:) I... ...I...loveth you. ...More than anything...
(Owain, appearing from the bed:) I heard that! Yipee! "I loveth you...I loveth
you!... Papa loves Mama!"
(Elayne:) Owain!! Hush!!
(Owain:) I heard that!
(Owain runs off)
If you haven't gotten the treasures from Doma Castle in the real world so far,
you can even obtain them here: you can find an Ether, an Elixir in the alarm
clock in a bedroom, an X-Potion in the room Cyan found his dead wife and son
in, and when you go outside on one of the walls, you can find a little room
with a Fenix Down and some Beads.
WrexSoul is waiting for you in the throne room, sitting on the throne with
Cyan lifeless on the ground next to him. The confrontation is inevitable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.64.7 Cyan's Dream; the battle with WrexSoul
**********************************
WrexSoul
Level: 53, HP: 23066, MP: 5066
Steal: Memento Ring (rare), Win: Pod Bracelet (always)
Absorbs: Fire, Pearl, Weakness: Ice
Special: !KarmicBlow: sets Condemned
Sketch : !KarmicBlow, Battle
Control: Battle, !KarmicBlow
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Battle, Bolt 3, Zinger
Vanish/Doom: No
Immunity to Clear status
SoulSaver
Level: 41, HP: 3066, MP: 566
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Fire, Pearl, Weakness: Ice
Special: !MagicDrain: Drains MP
Sketch : !MagicDrain, Battle
Control: Battle, !MagicDrain
Vulnerable to: Petrify, Death, Condemned, Berserk, Confuse, Slow
Attacks: Battle, !MagicDrain, Fire 3, Ice 3, Bolt 3, Rflect, Cure
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: No
You can't spin 7-7-7 in this battle.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
WrexSoul is obviously the main baddy here whom you'll have to defeat. The
ironically called SoulSavers are the goons. At the start of the battle,
WrexSoul will cast Zinger and leave the battlefield to invade one of your
characters. He won't re-appear for you to damage him until the character
he invaded receives Wound, Petrify, or Zombie status. When he's out he'll
just sit there for a while, attack with Battle or casting Bolt 3. When either
one or two SoulSaver(s) has the Reflect status, he'll cast Bolt 3 on it so
it'll bounce off to your party. Like any proper boss, he'll counter Fight with
a 33% shot at Battle.
The SoulSavers are the bane of this battle. Virtually immortal, they'll
regenerate as soon as you kill them off. Normally they'll just sit there,
slinging the level 3 spells at your with ridiculously small amounts of effect.
Whenever they hit 16 MP or less, they'll use !MagicDrain to drain you of your
MP (and with a 50 Battle Power, their !MagicDrain is really quite strong).
They'll cast Rflect on themselves as soon as WrexSoul is around, allowing him
to cast Bolt 3 on them for damage on you. On all other turns that WrexSoul is
around, they'll spend time casting Cure spells on WrexSoul for double-digit
amounts of healing (in other words; neglectable).
Before the normal, honest tactics, the usual method of winning this battle is
casting X-Zone. The SoulSavers restore themselves over and over again, but
when you successfully suck both SoulSavers into the parallel dimension with
X-Zone, they can't do that and you'll just win the battle. The downside here
is that you won't win the Pod Bracelet from WrexSoul, as you never actually
defeat him.
Normally, you'll just want to completely ignore the SoulSavers. Minerva
wearers take no damage and anybody with an elemental shield should take
very little damage all-round anyway (ThundrShlds are the best, as Bolt 3 is
cast most often). First, throw up the usual barriers; Haste 2, Earth Wall,
Big Guard, Moon Song, Life Guard, whathaveyou. Now, just check each character
by killing him/her and reviving him/her. Strago can commit easy suicide with
Exploder (careful: Pep Up removes him from the battle; you don't want that).
Shadow can throw Ninja Stars or Shuriken to do unblockable and non-elemental
damage, while Setzer's Fixed Dice serve the same purpose. If you don't have
these characters, just go ahead with spells and Fight attacks where you can;
Flare and Break are great for killing party members (provided it hits); Flare
has a superior Hit Rate, but with Break you've actually killed a party member
and can bring him/her back without any HP loss with a Soft or Remedy Item or
Remedy spell. If the targeted character doesn't have too much MBlock,
Strago's Stone attack can probably take him/her out in one hit; remember that
Stone does 7.5 times as much damage when the target shares the caster's level,
which is a likely case.
Whenever WrexSoul appears, act fast and furious! His Magic Defense is a
stunning 220, which makes sure that if a magical attack isn't barrier-piercing,
it'll have to be an Ice 3 spell coming from Morphed Terra to do a lot of
damage. Breaking Ice Rods and/or Ice Shields nets you barrier-piercing attacks,
so if you lack power in your team that's an option. Ideally you'll want to
stick to targetable attacks: Setzer's Fixed Dice, Shadow's Ninja Stars
(Blizzard Swords hurt a LOT), and Edgar's Drill are good ones. Barrier-piercing
attacks can even by MT'd; Sun Flare, GrandTrain, and Gau's Tyranosaur-induced
Meteo attacks hurt badly. If you have the Flare spell, it's better than an
Ice 3 spell if you have the choice. The pure magicians here should cast
Flare or Ice 3, or simply resort to attacking. If Strago hasn't learned
GrandTrain (or Quasar) yet, Step Mine is his best option (dual Ice Rods are also
an option here, if you don't mind unusual set-ups). Celes's Runic really doesn't
help that much, as the level 3 spells aren't a real threat, so just keep on
attacking and healing with her. Sabin's only hope at leaving a mark is Bum
Rush, with which you can only hope will hit WrexSoul itself. Umaro just rage.
In the end, the WrexSoul battle isn't really dangerous; it's just very
annoying, especially if you have your characters geared towards Magic Block
and are doing quite well in the area. Your own characters can be surprisingly
hard to take down.
After WrexSoul has been defeated, Cyan will have a chance to talk to his
departed wife and child. They gave him the courage to face his pain and
despair, but even then, it turned out it was too strong for him. With your
help though, he has exorcized WrexSoul. The love of his wife and child
transforms into the image of a blade, which Cyan grasps...
Back out, in the real world, the blade has been added to your inventory as
a lousy Aura Knife, and now that Cyan has cleared his soul and redeemed himself,
he'll gain control over ALL the SwdTech skills he hasn't acquired yet, up to
#8, Cleave. Contrary to fairly popular belief, he won't just learn Cleave;
he'll learn all SwdTech skills. It's likely you'll gain SwdTech skills #7
and #8 at this point. Number 7, Quadra Slice, is a physical, barrier-piercing
attack that hits four times and is pretty powerful; a level 40 Cyan with a
Hero Ring will reach a total of 8000 damage. Cleave is just Instant Death to
everything that's vulnerable to it. The trick with both moves is that while
they are grand, you really have to wait to reach them, even by inputting the
commands of the other characters first.
As a finishing touch to this scenario, you can walk into the throne room and
find the Magicite remains of the Esper Alexandr, the only Esper to teach
the Pearl spell.
If you play the game like me, you turned the Murasame you found on the Floating
Continent into an Aura, the Aura into a Strato, and the Strato into a Pearl
Lance a long time ago, and this Aura is the first strong Knife you see again. Do
turn it into a Strato at the Colosseum (fight a Rhyos) if this is the case;
Cyan will appreciate it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.65.1 The road to the Ancient Castle and the fight with Master Pug
**********************************
Location: Figaro Castle
Party members: Optional: Terra, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm,
Strago, Setzer, Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: Figaliz, Goblin, Enuo, Master Pug
Lores: CleanSweep, L.5 Doom, L.4 Flare, L.3 Muddle, Step Mine, Dischord
If you had paid one hundred thousand GP to one of the thieves at the foot of
the Fanatics Tower, you'll have heard of an ancient castle somewhere under the
desert of Figaro, which is supposedly loaded with treasure. Now we're not
greedy, but for eh...improved success chances or something; it'd be a good idea
to take a look.
Whom to bring? The theme of the next dungeon will be magical resistance.
The caves leading to the castle and the castle itself will be filled with
monsters with inherently Reflective tendencies and crazy Magic Defense, making
any non-barrier-piercing magical attack useless. The Pearl element is very
strong here, though. Pearl Lance Dragoons are great. So is a Sabin with dual
Dragon Claws, suffering on the Defense as he may be in that case. Gau and Umaro
are decent choices too, as their uncontrollable nature is no hindrance
whatsoever in the next part of this fine game. Strago can learn Rippler,
Blow Fish, and Dischord here, which is hardly a point, as he can learn
all three on the bloody Overworld Map too; but he can also learn L.3 Muddle,
L.4 Flare, L.5 Doom, and Step Mine here (if you missed it earlier), as well as
a Lore that's probably new to you, CleanSweep.
Make your team and fly the Falcon over to Figaro Castle, which is probably
on the Kohlingen side of the sea at this point. Send it over to the Figaro
desert, and it will reach a bumpy part of the journey where the old man
piloting the castle will ask you if you want to investigate. Boy, do we ever.
Walk over to the dungeons, where the hole the sandworm that freed the Crimson
Robbers created is still present. You can use it exit the castle and enter the
caves leading to the Ancient Castle.
(All three caves, but not the Save Point room)
Enuo, Goblin, Figaliz (6/16)
Enuo, Enuo (5/16)
Goblin, Figaliz, Figaliz (5/16)
Figaliz is short for Figaro Lizard. They're entirely too much like Crawler
enemies, only much harder to take down. !Gunk causes the Poison status, and
they'll use either Raid or Dischord. He doesn't have a weakness to the Pearl
element, so I would suggest barrier-piercing magical attacks and physical
attacks of any kind; ID-attacks such as Gau's Wild Cat-induced Blaster attack,
X-Zone, and Cyan's Cleave SwdTech will get the job done. Remember that Figaliz
is Reflective though, so Doom and Break will bounce.
Goblin is a nasty enemy that delights in attacking physically with some force.
Battle isn't that tough, but !Zap (Battle x 4) really packs a punch. Whenever
a Goblin is alone, he will start casting L.3 Muddle, L.4 Flare, or
L.5 Doom every second turn, and a shot at Blaze in between. Control, Sketch,
and Rage are filled up with level 3 spells, too. Their Defense is horrid, so
their respectable 5555 HP isn't as bad as it seems. Abuse Goblin's weaknesses
by attacking with Pearl Lances, Dragon Claws, and Pearl Rods. The random
Pearl spells won't do anything, but the physical strikes themselves will get
the job done nicely. ID attacks works as well.
Enuo is a boiling glob of slimy mucus with certain powers over water. Normally
it'll just attack with Battle or !Slime, which sets Slow. When an Enuo is
alone though, it'll use Aqua Rake or CleanSweep, a new Lore for Strago.
Wretched Defense, weakness to Pearl and ID attacks; abuse them at your heart's
content.
CleanSweep is an MT Water-elemental Lore for Strago. You're probably wondering
why you need another one of those; Aqua Rake is already there. The trick is
that:
A, CleanSweep isn't partly Wind-elemental,
B, CleanSweep hits both sides in a Pincer attack, and
C, while CleanSweep is weaker, it doesn't split damage on multiple targets,
making it stronger than Aqua Rake versus multiple targets. Aero beats both
by far, so it's more or less trivia knowledge, but hey.
In the room you first enter, there are two chests. To the left is a chest
containing a Wing Edge, the strongest 'Special' weapon for Locke. It's main
selling points are a + 7 to Speed, the Assassin and Trump's X-type ID property,
and the fact it deals the same amount of damage from the Back Row. The chest
to the right contains an Ether. There are three exits below; it doesn't
really matter which one you take, but the middle one and the far right one
take you directly to a monster-in-a-box while you have to walk around for it
when leaving through the far left one.
If you came in through the middle door, don't fret; you can walk through the
wall to reach the chest you see. The chest you see to the top-right of this
cave is the chest containing Master Pug, the toughest monster-in-a-box you'll
find in this game.
Master Pug
Level: 73, HP: 22000, MP: 1200
Steal: Megalixir (rare), Elixir (common), Win: Graedus (always)
Absorbs: Water
Special: !Cleaver: Battle x 8
Sketch : !Cleaver, Battle
Control: Battle, !Cleaver
Vulnerable to: Poison, Sleep, Slow
Attacks: Battle, !Cleaver, Bio, Fire 3, Ice 3, Bolt 3, Pearl, Quake, W Wind,
CleanSweep, Step Mine, WallChange
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: Yes
Pearl and W Wind both screw over your RNG, but won't be used on MP's first turn.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Master Pug is very mean. He'll start the battle off with a Battle attack, but
then the madness begins. Every 15 seconds, Master Pug takes a step forward.
After seven steps he'll use !Cleaver on a random character and retreat
halfway, meaning that he'll just have to take four more steps after that to
reach the position where !Cleaver is used.
Every step is accompanied with the ever-frustrating WallChange attack. Master
Pug casts his spells in conformation his weakness, not unlike Number 024 way
back in the day. Here's what he'll use:
Weakness to Ice: Fire 3 (66%)
Weakness to Fire: Ice 3 (66%)
Weakness to Wind: Bolt 3 (66%)
Weakness to Pearl: Bio (66%)
Weakness to Lightning: W Wind (66%)
Weakness to Poison: Pearl (66%)
Weakness to Water: Quake (66%)
Weakness to Earth: CleanSweep (66%)
One of the worst parts, though, is his Step Mine counter to every damaging
attack you perform. Depending on your actions and style of playing this game,
that can do a lot of damage.
The way to victory lies in his status ailment vulnerabilities. Cast Sleep on
Master Pug, and pair it up with Slow as well. If you have enough people with
control over the Rasp spell, you might try removing all his MP first; better
safe than sorry, right? If you're done with that or simply don't want to
bother, start attacking him with magical attacks. Physical attacks will wake
him; stick to magical ones only. It's highly possible you manage to kill him
before he even wakes up once. If he does wake up, just cast Sleep again;
Strago's Sour Mouth Lore also works (sets Poison too, by the way).
When you're done, you win a Graedus, a Pearl-elemental Dirk that can be
equipped by pretty much everybody. It's a powerful weapon but doesn't have any
interesting properties. Its Pearl-elemental nature can make it useful in
this dungeon, though.
The only other chest in this cave contains the Doom Darts, Setzer's most
powerful 'normal' weapon. Like the Wing Edge, it deals the same amount of damage
from the Back Row and has the Assassin's X-type ID property, but it doesn't
boost any stats. In the PSX releases, you'll find the Trump here; it's the
same weapon, but called Trump in the recent releases (while the WoR Kohlingen
store-bought Trump is called Doom Darts there).
You'll want to exit to the left of the screen to find another cave with two
chests. They contain an X-Potion (to the left) and a shard of Magicite (the
one to the bottom). The big feature here is the grand stairway leading into
a random encounter-less room with a Save Point and another stairway going up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.65.2 The Ancient Castle and the battle with KatanaSoul
**********************************
Location: The Ancient Castle
Party members: Optional: Terra, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm,
Strago, Setzer, Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: Samurai, Suriander, Lethal Wpn, Boxed Set, Figaliz, Goblin, Enuo,
Barb-e, KatanaSoul
Lores: CleanSweep, Blow Fish, L.5 Doom, L.4 Flare, L.3 Muddle, Dischord, Rippler
(Outside of the Ancient Castle)
Goblin, Figaliz, Figaliz (6/16)
Goblin, Goblin (5/16)
Barb-e, Samurai, Suriander
(Inside of the Ancient Castle)
Lethal Wpn (5/16)
Boxed Set (5/16)
Boxed Set, Boxed Set, Figaliz, Figaliz (5/16)
Boxed Set, Boxed Set, Boxed Set, Boxed Set (1/16)
If you forgot, Barb-e, Samurai, and Suriander could all be encountered in Cyan's
Soul, so I won't have to explain them here. You can Ctrl + F to 4.64.2 if you
want to learn about them.
Lethal Wpn looks totally badass. With 9200 it's got quite the amount of HP,
it's immune to every status effect except for ID (and Condemned) and has some
nasty attacks up its sleeves. Normally this is where I say he will normally
use Battle and !Metal Arm (Battle * 2) when he's with other monsters, as that's
what his AI script says. However, you ALWAYS encounter this thing by itself,
so it'll just randomly use Missile, Launcher, or Diffuser. Launcher is
the worst out of the bunch (Diffuser may hurt if your Magic Defense/resistance
to Lightning isn't all that hot). You'll want to use ID attacks against the
fellow; he's inherently Reflective like almost everything here, but X-Zone
flies right past that, as does Gau's Wild Cat/Spek Tor-induced Blaster attacks,
his Rhodox-induced Snare, ID coming from weapons like the Assassin and Striker,
etc. If you lack all that, focus on Lightning- and Water-elemental attacks
that defy the existence of Reflect; Water Edge, Tri-Dazer, Aqua Rake, you know
what to do.
Boxed Set is a sweet enemy as well. Inherently Reflective and Floating, you'll
be hard-pressed to take this guy out with any kind of magical attack (as you're
used from monsters around here). Normally a Battle/!Mirror Orb (Battle * 3)
zealot, he'll switch to Cold Dust and Meteo when alone. Meteo will hurt real
badly, just across the 1000 HP line. Cold Dust induces Freeze like always and
is a pain in the ass. A common weakness to Pearl-elemental attacks and ID
attacks combined with a low Defense rating should make it obvious how to
treat this bugger. You can Mute them, so if you're not sure about them you
could always summon Siren or have Strago use a Sour Mouth attack to stop them
from using their most dangerous attack. Of special note is the fact that both
L.3 Muddle and L.5 Doom will work on these guys (also on the Figaliz monsters
often accompanying them). If you brought Strago, you're in luck.
When you approach the derelict halls of the ancient castle, once the proud
monument of a civilization destroyed in and by the War of the Magi, the
character most suited to know the legend will speak of the attack, and the
legend of the magnificent battle between Odin and a powerful sorcerer of his
time. Maybe we will be able to find the remains of Odin inside?
Before you enter the main hall, there are two more or less hidden doors to
the left and right of the large doors. To the right is an already open door
leading to a chest containing the Punisher. The Punisher is a weapon that you
haven't seen since Banon wielded it, and now it's special power can finally be
seen. Like the Rune Edge and Ogre Nix, it has an MP-driven auto-critical.
It doesn't have any real uses except if you brought Relm or a GrandTrain-less
Strago along in this dungeon, as it's the strongest attacking Rod there is
(although the Pearl Rod is hitting a weakness most of the time at this point).
To the left is a chest containing the legendary Offering, one of the most
talked-about Relics in the game. Guarding this item is a monster-in-a-box,
KatanaSoul. I talked about Master Pug being the toughest monster in a box, but
KatanaSoul is up there, competing for that title.
KatanaSoul
Level: 61, HP: 37620, MP: 7400
Steal: Strato (rare), Murasame (common), Win: Offering (always)
Weakness: Poison
Special: !SlayerEdge: sets Death
Sketch : !SlayerEdge, Battle
Control: Battle, !SlayerEdge
Vulnerable to: Poison, Confuse
Attacks: Battle, !SlayerEdge, Blow Fish, Shock Wave, Item (Fire Skean), Item
(Water Edge), Item (Bolt Edge), Throw (Ashura), Throw (Imperial), GP Rain
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: Yes
Blow Fish and Water Edge screw over the RNG. Water Edge has a 33 % chance of
being KatanaSoul's starting attack.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
First off a note of doom: KatanaSoul is unique in the fact that he's a monster
in a box you can run from. Doing so hurts your game though; you won't be
able to fight him when you return to the chest, and thus you'll miss out on the
Offering you win when you're still living and he's not.
KatanaSoul is the perfect hybrid between a Samurai and a Ninja, as will become
apparent by his AI script. Normally, his attacks will consist out of Battle,
any of the three offensive ninja scrolls (Fire Skean, Water Skean, or Bolt
Edge), and Gale Cut, Blow Fish, or Shock Wave. This isn't half bad for an
opponent, but nothing spectacular either. It's when he's aggravated that he
becomes lethal. When you battle him for longer than 40 seconds, he'll pump
himself up. The message "KatanaSoul's power up!" will appear, and he will self-
apply the Image and Reflect statuses, making him immune to every blockable
Fight attack for the duration of Image and most Magic spells for the duration
of Reflect. He'll also try to set Haste, but with inherent Slow immunity it
will fail. Sad thing.
He may counter Fight, Magic, and Lore with a Battle, but that's not the purpose
of his counter script there; when hit six times by Fight, he'll use
!SlayerEdge on a random party member, which is a simple one-hit Wound attack
with an admittedly poor Hit Rate of 100. When hit three times by either a
Magic spell or Lore attack (this includes 1 Lore and 2 Magic, for instance),
he'll Throw either an Imperial (weakest ninja Dirk) or Ashura (weakest 'katana'
Knife) at a random party member, doing about 8000 damage to him/her. He'll then
spend the next turn using Setzer's GP Rain, dealing exactly 915 HP worth of
damage to four party members (1220 to three if one is still down from the thrown
blade).
KatanaSoul's glaring weakness it the combination of vulnerability to the
Confuse status and its own Special, !SlayerEdge. By setting Confuse with the
Muddle spell, Strago's Sour Mouth Lore, Stray's Cat Rain, Edgar's NoiseBlaster,
or whathaveyou, KatanaSoul has a 50% chance of killing himself with
!SlayerEdge. Sketching nets you a 25% shot at !SlayerEdge too. Exploit this
weakness for a far easier battle.
If you're looking for more of a challenge or for some other reason don't want
to muddle the poor warrior into defeat, here's what you'll want to do. First,
throw up your barriers. Focus on the magical side; Big Guard (for Shell) or
ZoneSeek's Wall, Haste 2, Kirin's Life Guard, etc. Golem and Fenrir help
against !SlayerEdge, but you shouldn't see it directed at you anyway.
Now, let loose with your characters. There's no reason to use Fight, Magic, or
Lore on KatanaSoul. Terra, Celes, and Strago should really just wait out this
battle. Attack with Bum Rush Blitzes, Cyan's SwdTech skills (Quadra Slice is
nice), Jump attacks, the Drill Tool, etc. If you're really unlucky and
brought all the wrong characters, just Fight (!SlayerEdge every sixth Fight
attack isn't all that bad). When KatanaSoul powers up, Dispel removes all three
positive statuses immediately. If you want to be evil, you can break the
no-Lore rule one time and steal all three with Rippler (provided Strago's not
prancing around with something like a Pod Bracelet or Marvel Shoes).
After KatanaSoul dies, you'll receive an Offering! The Offering is often
misused and - dare I say it - abused. So, it's time to sit down and discuss
the Offering a little.
What does the Offering do? It makes Fight attack four times in a row rather
than one. It also makes every Fight attack become unblockable. The Offering
Fight is also smart; it will never hit defeated opponents when there are
still living ones on the battlefield. That's all good.
It also removes random spell casting (but not Tempest's Wind Slash) and
criticals (including MP-driven criticals), which is kinda bad in most
situations.
The downside is that it halves the power of EVERY physical attack of the person
equipping it. This makes sure that every person equipped with the Offering
would better stick to Fight as things like Quadra Slice, Drill, Suplex, and
Pummel all halve in power.
An often-heard combination is Genji Glove and Offering, allowing for eight
physical strikes. Is it really that good? It delivers quite a lot of damage
most of the time, and it looks flashy to see eight attacks in a row. However,
you sacrifice two Relic slots and the ability to equip a shield here, and
that's a lot of sacrificing. And is the damage really that good? Hardly. It's
up there with a single Bum Rush, Quadra Slice, and luckier Dragon Horn Jump
attack, sure, but that's about it. And once again, you're really being hurt
defensively here.
Then what are the better uses of the Offering? The odd weapons. The damage
outcome of the Fixed Dice isn't cut by the Offering, so Setzer equipped with
the Offering and the Fixed Dice will become exactly four times as powerful as
a non-Offering Fixed Dice Setzer, all for the loss of only a single Relic slot.
The same goes with Locke's ValiantKnife, but I'll explain about that weapon
when you get there. Cyan's Tempest Wind Slashes won't decrease in power either,
but even when all four hits turn into a Wind Slash attack, the damage won't
be stellar. Weapons with the X-type Instant Death feature (and the Scimitar)
don't lose their ID properties, so you'll have four consecutive shots at a 25%
immediate dispatch. Thiefknives still attempt to steal and Hawk Eye/Sniper will
still randomly inflict more damage.
A quick note about the Thiefknives: the game can only store a single stolen item
per attack, so if you combine the Offering with Thiefknives you'll only obtain
the last item you succesfully stole. All others have been removed from the
monsters but are not in your inventory.
Let's press on. Inside, it'll be just a big hallway you have to cross. The
next room is the throne room, with the statue of Odin in the middle of it.
Petrification was the quickest strategy versus Odin in FF V, for trivia
knowledge; now, you can add the Odin Magicite to your inventory by talking to
the statue. The pathway to the right, right next to the thrones, takes you to
a room with two chests: a Blizzard Orb for Umaro and a Gold Hairpin for
absolutely nobody in particular.
Also to the right, a little south of that very pathway is another pathway
leading to the queen's room. There's an X-Ether in the bucket, but what
really draws your attention is the sparkle on the bookcase. It turns out
to be the queen's diary; it seems that the queen and Odin had a little
romancin' air going on there. If Terra is in your party at this point,
she'll step away from the party to look sad and say,
"Love between a human and an Esper..."
At this point, one of the scholars up in Figaro Castle will change his line to
this:
Ancient texts I'm studying speak of a 1000 year-old city beneath the sand.
I wonder what this means, "...when the queen stands and takes 5 steps..."
The Queen's throne is the one to the right. Face the throne, take five steps
downwards, and press the 'action' button to make the castle rumble and shake
for a slight moment there. Now, re-enter the queen's room to find that a
stairway has appeared, leading even further down.
This new hallway is devoid of random encounters, but there are two things
of interest here; first, the petrified remains of the queen herself. If you
have collected the Magicite of Odin and interact with the statue, a tear
will come from the stone to drop upon his remains, turning it into Raiden,
the Odin upgrade with the superior summon attack in True Edge and tutor of
the awesome Quick spell.
Also, the Blue Drgn.
If you have any Imp equipment (TortoiseShld, Titanium, Imp's Armor), throw
it on! The Blue Drgn is all about Water-elemental attacks, and that's what
Imp equipment absorbs. Don't equip Ice Shields, as Aqua Rake will hit twice
as hard when you don't have any Imp equipment; Flame Shlds are even worse,
as they are weak against Water-elemental attacks in general. Thunder Shlds are
great as they null the effects of Aqua Rake (as it's part Wind-elemental) and
halve all damage done by Flash Rain (as it's part Ice-elemental); Force Shlds
halve the damage done by Water-elemental attacks in general, too. Minerva
wearers shine once again; they null Aqua Rake and Flash Rain and halve
damage done by all other Water-elemental attacks. Snow Mufflers of Gau, Mog,
and Umaro will allow them to absorb the Flash Rain attacks. Relics protecting
from Seizure (that'd be Ribbon, Cure Ring and Marvel Shoes) are great, too.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.65.3 The battle with the Blue Drgn
**********************************
Blue Drgn
Level: 65, HP: 26900, MP: 3800
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Scimitar (always)
Absorbs: Water, Weakness: Lightning
Special: !Hit: Drains MP
Sketch : Blaster, Ice 3
Control: Battle, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Poison, Slow
Attacks: Battle, Slow, CleanSweep, Aqua Rake, Rippler, Acid Rain, Flash Rain
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: Yes
Blue Drgn won't use attacks that screw over the RNG. As long as you don't
either, you'll be fine for the J. Dooming.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Crystal
Crystal Shld
Crystal Helm
Crystal Mail
As soon as the battle starts, the Blue Drgn will attack with CleanSweep. If
Strago is in your party and hasn't learned CleanSweep from either the Enuo
random encounters or the Master Pug enemy yet, you're set. Normally the
blasted creature will attack with Battle and Acid Rain; believe me,
Seizure will get very annoying very quickly if you don't have protection
against the status. When Blue Drgn dives beneath 16384 HP, he'll also start
attacking with Aqua Rake and Flash Rain. Every 40 seconds, Blue Drgn will
have stored enough water for a CleanSweep attack as well. All in all, you
will be continuously pounded by MT attacks. Every Magic spell or damaging
attack may be countered by Battle, as usual.
The difficult part of Blue Drgn's AI script is the Rippler spell. To put it
simply (or as simply as possible), Blue Drgn will use Rippler IF:
1: One of your characters has the Haste status. If so, target that character;
if more than one character have the Haste status, he picks the first one
he meets when going from top to bottom.
2: If Blue Drgn isn't already affected by the Haste status.
3: If Blue Drgn isn't affected by the Safe status.
4: If it has been two turns ago (not counting the 40-second CleanSweep attack)
that Blue Drgn used Rippler.
If all those conditions are met, Blue Drgn will cast Slow on itself and
proceed to use Rippler to try to steal the Haste status and give you the
Slow status instead.
So what to do? Throw up the boring old blah-blah barriers; Big Guard, Wall,
Life Guard, Earth Wall, Moon Song, whathaveyou. If you brought Shadow, you do
NOT want him to be the victim of Rippler (Interceptor could be stolen).
Don't apply the Haste status. Attack with Lightning-elemental spells if
possible; Tritoch's Tri-Dazer isn't absorbed, so that works; Bolt 3 is
stronger, though. Bolt Edges work great, but ThunderBlades are even more
(read: obscenely) powerful. The same old still works. The mages should
stick to Lightning-elemental attacks. Edgar makes a good Dragon Horn
Dragoon, as usual. Sabin's Bum Rush beats all, like usual. Setzer's GP Rain
is still stronger than Slot, while the Fixed Dice (especially when paired
with the Offering) is superior to both of them. Cyan can't really do his
job as usual (you can set him up as a utility man). Gau's Aspik Rage
allows him to absorb all Water-elemental attacks while making him attack
with Giga Volt, a strong Lightning-elemental attack that will really
hurt Blue Drgn. Actaneon and Exocite also allow Ragers to absorb Water-
elemental attacks.
You know, it's not really that the Blue Drgn is weak; no, with regular MT
magical spells with some power behind them and no crippling status
vulnerabilities, the Blue Drgn is a fairly solid contender. It's just that
it really begins to show here that your characters are growing more overpowered
by the day. If Bum Rush and Dragon Horn Dragoons weren't enough, you get to use
Fixed Dice/Offering, equip armor like the Minerva and Cat Hood, and get access
to all the awesome no-questions-asked attacks such as GrandTrain and Bum
Rush.
When you have defeated the Blue Drgn, you'll be rewarded with the Scimitar,
one of Ted Woolsey's biggest goofs. The Japanese name of Odin's attack is
'Zantetsuken', 'Iron Cutting Blade'. The Scimitar was also called Zantetsuken;
the Scimitar is therefore Odin's weapon. The link is lost on the average
American/European gamer though, as Scimitar/Atom Edge doesn't ring any
immediate bells other than the slicing effect of both. Anyway, it's the only
non-Knife weapon Cyan can equip and pretty much his best option (for all that
there his 'ultimate' weapon is slightly stronger, it has no neat side-effects
like the Scimitar does).
With Raiden obtained and the Blue Drgn defeated, there is nothing for you here.
You can leave this place and tell the old man in Figaro Castle to advance with
the castle. You can revisit this place any time you want to, as every time you
travel under the sea with Figaro Castle the old man will be surprised by the
oddness of the stratum. That guy must have trouble remembering his wife's
birthday. "You never get me anything nice," she probably complains, but no...
He loves her dearly and means her no harm.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.66.1 Triangle Island
**********************************
Location: Triangle Island
Party members: Optional: Terra, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm,
Strago, Setzer, Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: Zone Eater
Lores: None
Monster formations:
Zone Eater (always)
"The island is home to a monster that could suck up an entire ocean. What do
you suppose might happen if it sucked you inside? That much I don't know!"
Now here's an odd monster indeed. It absorbs Ice-elemental attacks, is weak
against Pearl-elemental attacks, and nullifies all other elements. And all it
seems to use is a rare Demi spell and the Engulf attack. Engulf is pretty much
the same as Sneeze; it removes a single character from battle. If you run away
with some characters 'in the body of Zone Eater', you'll just find them in
your party at the end. If you kill the thing after some of your characters
have been eaten, likewise.
However, if your entire team fell victim to the Engulf attack, you'll find
yourself in one of the worlds this Zone Eater ate; a cave, filled with
humans (or at least, humanoids) bent on your destruction for some reason
that doesn't involve logical thinking. Best to be on your guard.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.66.2 The world inside of the Zone Eater
**********************************
Location: Zone Eater cave
Party members: Optional: Terra, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm,
Strago, Setzer, Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: Covert, Ogor, Wart Puck, Karkass, Tap Dancer, Woolly
Lores: None
You find yourself within the Zone Eater cave. To the north is a beam of light;
you can use this whenever you want to leave the innards of the Zone Eater
and face the light of day again. However, for now it might be interesting
to intrude ever further into the bowels of this strange creature. Who knows
what oddities of another world we may find here that may help us in the
struggle against Kefka.
Preparation: A lot of elemental attacks and status ailments are thrown around,
but rather than using full force you'll want to play it defensively this time.
A Thunder Shld is a grand on everybody you can find; NEVER use Ice Shlds and
Fire Shlds, as the former is weak to Wind Slash and the latter is weak against
the Water Edge (and both will appear here). Equips Ribbons where possible;
you'll want something to block Ogor's !Zombite (Zombie) and Karkass's !Figaro
Tea (Imp). The Ribbon also protects against the Woolly's !Frenzy, which sets
Berserk, but that's not really a threat.
Monster formations:
All caves except the last:
Karkass, Karkass (5/16)
Wart Puck (5/16)
Tap Dancer, Covert, Covert (5/16)
Woolly, Woolly, Karkass, Karkass (1/16)
Gogo's spot:
Ogor, Ogor (5/16)
Covert, Ogor (5/16)
Wart Puck, Wart Puck (5/16)
Tap Dancer, Woolly (1/16)
Do you remember those Ninjas from the Floating Continent, bane of our being
that they were? Coverts are like super-Ninjas. Though you'd think that a ninja
smart enough to dress in DARK garments would be inherently superior to those
flailing along in bright-red outfits (screws over the entire 'hide in the
shadow' theme ninjas tend to carry around), Coverts can be a real pain,
especially since Coverts lack the Ninjas main defensive weak point; Covert is
immune to ID attacks. Every odd-numbered turn will be either a physical or Wind
Slash, and every even turn he'll throw a Skean at you (all three may appear).
MT'd, Wind Slash and the Skeans are equally strong. When hit by a Thrown weapon,
Covert will respond by Throwing a Shuriken or Ninja Star of himself; avoid this
at all cost. Finally, every Fight attack may make Covert use !Disappear on
himself, which sets Clear. Cast Sleep, Stop, Slow 2, or Bserk to stop their
magical MT attacks and off them quickly; they're NOT weak to Lightning as the
Ninjas were, but they are weak to Pearl so the appropriate Pearl spell will
serve you well here coming from a decent caster.
Ogor is annoying, as he will use up to three !Zombite attacks every turn,
which can quickly turn very fatal for you if you're not protected from Zombie.
When hit by a Magic spell, Ogor has a 33% chance of countering with the Bio
spell, and every other kind of damage may be countered with a Battle attack.
Ogor is weak to Lightning- and Pearl-elemental attacks, and both Stop and
Bserk will stop him from using those blasted !Zombites.
Wart Puck: the only non-humanoid enemy in the cave. As much Battle/Special
cannon fodder as they come this far in the game. !Yawn sets Sleep and is
randomly used next to Battle, every turn. When hurt, Wart Puck may counter with
an annoying Sneeze attack, so you'll want to take Wart Puck out in one shot to
make sure nobody misses out on Magic Points. Immune to ID and every status
ailment except for Sleep, your best bet is an ST Fire 3 spell as Wart Puck is
weak to Fire-elemental attacks.
Karkass, like all Ing palette swaps, is a pain. The only Undead random encounter
immune to ID attacks (outside of the Fanatics Tower); Karkass is the superior
opponent. Every Fight attack may be countered by Battle, every Magic spell
will be countered by either a Bolt 3, Break, or Flare spell, and everything
that damages Karkass and is neither Fight nor Magic will be countered by a
Lifeshaver attack. In between of all the counter-attacks, Karkass will only
use !Figaro Tea, which sets Imp. Use Life spells to take them out cleanly,
and strong Fight attacks also work (you'll want to avoid the magical counter-
attacks, they're quite strong). Since Karkass is weak against Pearl-elemental
attacks, so next to Fixed Dice, Pearl Lance Dragon Horn Dragoons are very nice
(note that Jump will be countered by Lifeshaver if the Karkasses survive the
slaughter).
Tap Dancer uses Battle and !WaistShake, which seduces and confuses you.
That'd about it. You don't want to see them appear as they are always paired
with two Coverts, but they're not very dangerous themselves. If you have
Shadow or Gogo Throw something at them, they will counter by Throwing either
an Enhancer or Crystal sword, so just don't use Throw on them and you'll be
fine.
"This enemy might look like a pierrot entertainer, but his lunatic performance
puts victims into a Frenzy."
Woolly is one of the most elusive monsters in the game, as they only appear
randomly at a 1/16 rate in a few rooms where you'll want to breeze through.
As an opponent, they're not very unassuming unless you're very unlucky; they
will just use !Frenzy, which sets Berserk, and when they're targeted by Fight,
they'll counter with Battle. These guys want to counter you into submission
or whatever, I don't know what they're deal is. Anyway, they're big thing is
elemental absorption; they absorb all elements except for Fire (weakness) and
Pearl (normal reaction). There's no reason to be equipped with ANY weapon that's
not non-elemental or Pearl-elemental at this point, but anyway. Woolly make
a great Rage, casting Ice 3 randomly and absorbing six elements (the Fire
weakness tends to be overruled by Gau's Snow Muffler), so you don't want to
leave this place until you've encountered these guys at least once if you're
a Gau fan.
Let's get through this!
Take the stairs down. You'll see another set of stairs going down, but it'll
just take you to a blocked-off path. You'll want to go to the right, to a
crazy pathway of unstable wooden pathways with strange green men walking on
them. Whenever these cretins get a hold of you, they'll push you off the
pathway, so you'll want to jump when they're not around. You'll want to get
pushed off a least once though. This way, you'll reach the other side of the
blocked-off cave below to gather the Ether and the Red Jacket lying there.
Anyway, here's what the room looks like:
======= ==========
=====x===== ===x==
0= ==x=== =====00=== =====
= - Pathway
0 - Chests
On the pathway, there are two chests next to each other: Genji Armor to the
right, and a Magical Brsh for Relm to the left (like all Brush weapons: utter
crap). The Genji Armor is the ultimate heavy-class armor. Minerva is better
by sheer elemental resistances and the MP + 25% bonus, but the Genji Armor
is all-round the most useful armor for the heavy-equipment guys (Locke, Cyan,
Edgar, Setzer, and surprisingly, Shadow). It tends to be outclassed by stuff
like the Force Armor against bosses (for elemental resistances and MBlock and
all), but all in all, Genji Armor is awesome.
To the far left is a chest containing a FakeMustache. You could have obtained
this thing earlier by stealing it from Still Lifes, but this is the sure-fire
way of getting access to Relm's Control ability. If you want to learn about
that, take a look at [CONTROL-LINK].
If you safely crossed the bridges, you'll now wind up in a room with a Save
Point, devoid of monster formations as rooms like those usually are. Do your
stuff, and equip some Sprint Shoes. Even if you're playing on an emulator I
suggest you in-game Save here, as I've misjudged my actions in the past and
saved just over my own death... Which is bad.
In this next room, I should note first off that there are no monster
formations. Second, you can't access the Menu in this room. Third, there's a big
fucking ceiling falling down every few seconds. If you are crushed under the
ceiling, it's an instant Game Over. You don't want that. So, that's what
the Sprint Shoes are for.
Sprint to the left, and grab the contents of the first chest in sight, a
Zephyr Cape. Wait for the ceiling to fall, and before it moves back up again,
grab the next chest, a Hero Ring. Wait in front of it until the ceiling
drops and rises again. Now, sprint as far to the left as you can, take one
step back and two down. You'll be caught safe in a hole in the ceiling now.
Watch the ceiling rise and fall like the chest of your sleeping lover, and
make a run for the final chest, containing a Tack Star for Shadow. Don't wait
now, just exit below.
There's a little, meaningless cave here with some monsters again! Leave.
A jumping puzzle now. First, take the one-chest path to the left and the two-
chest path above you to reach the pathway near the button; you can jump on the
platform with the action button. It'll extend to extra tiles of pathway: one
for you to leave, and one to reach the treasure. Jump off. Take the same one-
chest path to the left, another one-chest jump, and then a one-chest jump up to
the chest containing a Thunder Shld. Now go around again until you can jump on
the platform with the button again; just take the one-chest jump the left
instead, leading you to a door.
Except for a whole new set of new monster formations without any new monsters,
the point of interest here is the creature draped in fabric standing there.
It's Gogo, the last character you will recruit in this game. After introducing
itself as a master of the simulacrum, it will decide to both hone its own
skills and help you on your quest by joining you in your cause. It'll join
your party now; if you were traveling with less than four characters it'll now
be in your party, if not, it'll be waiting on the Falcon for you.
Gogo's all exciting! If you want to learn about the odd thing that is
supposedly human, you might want to check out [MIMIC-LINK]
For now, you can either use a Warp Stone or the Warp spell to get back out.
Or, just hike all the way back and find the pillar of light waiting for you,
if you lack warping means (it's the only way to travel!).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.66.3 Wake me up before you Gogo
**********************************
Location: The Falcon
Party members: Gogo Optional: Terra, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm,
Strago, Setzer, Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: None
Lores: None
Just a little talk about what you should do with Gogo now (and for the pun;
I'm mighty proud of it). The best armor Gogo can equip is the Tao Robe, which
stinks. It gives a + 5 to its Magic Power and + 10% MBlock, so it's not all
bad, but compared to the other best equips it's pretty darn lame. You can buy
one in Maranda for 13000 GP. Its other pieces of equipment? It can equip the
Magus Rod, which is hands down its best option ever. As far as Helmets go,
try to counter its lack of durability in most cases with more HP; if you have
a Red Cap, Gogo will like it a lot. If not, just go with what gives the best
Defense/Magic Defense (Genji Helmet/Dark Hood). Since it has NO elemental
resistances whatsoever this way, and it comes nowhere near pulling off the
Force Shld (a Defense rating of 130? Are you insane?), I suggest a Thunder
Shld. An Aegis Shld is an acceptable substitute, although it'll lack anything
elemental-related with that set-up.
As far as Relics go, something to boost its magical damage output would be
fine, and something to help it out defensively (Pod Bracelet, Marvel Shoes,
hell, even Guard Ring) really helps.
What skills to give to Gogo? Let's face it; the thing isn't too hot on the
stats. Worst Vigor out of the final bunch (worse than Relm), third-worst
Speed, second-worst Magic Power. So, what have we in the end? A utility
character, mostly.
This makes the Magic skillset excellent for it, as a lot of spells don't
depend on your Magic Power to be effective (status spells, ID spells, reviving
spells, etc.). Plus, while Magic tends to lack in pure power to other damaging
skillsets (which is countered by the high Magic Power of the Magic wielders,
mind, and I'm not counting Ultima and all), it does feature the four most
common weaknesses (Fire, Ice, Lightning, Pearl) in quite some power, and it's
targetable.
Gogo makes as adequate a Stealer as Locke. It can equip the Sneak Ring, and
only the character's level is used in the Steal chance, so there's no problem
there.
Gogo will probably never use SwdTech. Not only does it require you to use a
blade with the SwdTech ability (probably the Graedus), which means getting rid
of the awesome Magus Rod, the ability just plain sucks when you have a free
choice in the matter.
Tools on Gogo is fairly acceptable. However, now that we can freely choose
between skillsets, Drill/Chainsaw is just outclassed by Throw and AutoCrossbow,
Flash outclassed by GrandTrain and Air Blade, and we don't get excited over
MT poisoning anymore either. What's left in Tools? MT unblockable Confuse
from the NoiseBlaster, which is nice enough. Not a top-tier choice in my
opinion, but you can work with it.
Gogo doesn't make as great a Throw ninja as Shadow, but Throw is just plain
awesome. Targetable, very powerful, all elements can be applied, you name it.
Great for bosses really, as you don't want to waste too many resources on ST
damage.
Rage is good on Gogo. Not because of the damage output, as Gau's damage
output started to decline a while ago, and just because Gau gained tank
abilities in return doesn't mean the 50% usage of a spell most characters
can surpass all the time doesn't suck all of a sudden. Flipside, Rage grants
Gogo the elemental resistances and status immunities the frail thing so
desperately needs. With a large enough Rage library and knowledge over it,
you can ditch the Thunder Shld for an Aegis Shld and send him away.
Blitz is Gogo's trump card when it comes to damage. Blitz was designed to work
well on a character with sub-par Magic Power: Sabin. Now, Gogo has even lower
Magic Power that Sabin, but his equipment tends to favor his Magic Power; with
the assumed Magus Rod/Tao Robe combo, that's a +12 on Magic Power right there.
Bum Rush hurts a LOT, and Air Blade isn't too bad.
Lore's eh...multiple status effects from Sour Mouth is great, Big Guard is
great, Pearl Wind isn't directly influenced by Gogo's bad stats either, and
GrandTrain is pretty darn powerful so even when Gogo's GrandTrain is inferior
to Strago's, it still hurts. Yeah, Lore is a good option, although you'll find
that most of the weaker Lores (Aero, L? Pearl, CleanSweep) just come out like
a wet fart from Gogo.
I'm not going to discuss Sketch, Slot, Dance as that's all WoB/early WoR
GP Rain skillsets designed to be outclassed by other means of damage output
(Jump, Magic, Fixed Dice). They're all bad. Runic, in the end, is too
situational to discuss here.
In the end, something like this works:
Mimic
Magic/Rage/Tools
Blitz
Lore
Blitz for ST damage, Lore for MT damage, protection, healing and status ailment
setting, Magic for pretty much the same purpose only superior or inferior in
some ways, and Mimic if something cool just happened (Sun Flare, something
like that).
The choice there depends on what you have and what you know. If your
surrounding party members know quite a few decent spells, Magic is probably
the best one out of the three. If you have the Rages and know your stuff,
Rage is the more strategic option. If you lack good spells and never really
bothered with Rages, Tools is a nice fallback option.
Anyway, this was Gogo. Hope you have fun with the androgynous little bugger.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.66.4 The Steal command regained
**********************************
Location: The Falcon
Party members: Gogo. Optional: Terra, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm,
Strago, Setzer, Mog, Gau, Umaro
Opponents: a' plenty
Lores: None
So, we've just gotten the Steal command back. No more crossing fingers with
Shadow's Thiefknives, unsupported by Sneak Rings; Gogo can Steal as often as
it likes, without inflicting damage, with twice as much success as Shadow ever
had thanks to the Sneak Ring it can equip. Here's a list of worthwhile Steal
moments you so far lacked the abilities for:
Owzer's Mansion:
Dahling: rare Moogle suit, common Empty
Wild Cat: rare Tabby Suit, common Empty
Crusher: rare Empty, common Super Ball
SoulDancer: rare Moogle Suit, common Empty
Vindr; rare Chocobo Suit, common Empty
Daryl's Tomb:
Mad Oscar: rare X-Potion, common Empty
Zone Eater cave:
Covert: rare Tack Star, common Shuriken
Ogor: rare Murasame, common Ashura
Wart Puck: rare Dried Meat, common Flail
Karkass: rare Soul Sabre, common MithrilBlade
Woolly: rare Hardened, common Imperial
Cave of the Veldt:
Toe Cutter: rare Empty, common Poison Rod
Cave to the Ancient Castle:
Enuo: rare X-Potion, common Empty
Mt. Zozo:
Scrapper: rare Thief Glove, common Empty
Punisher: rare Bone Club, common Rising Sun
Borras: rare Muscle Belt, common Potion
Ebot's Rock:
Hidon: rare Thornlet, common Warp Stone
Veldt:
White Drgn: rare Pearl Lance, common X-Potion
Nightshade: rare Nutkin Suit, common Empty
Still Life: rare FakeMustache, common Empty
Pm Stalker: rare X-Potion, common Empty
Pugs: rare Minerva, common Empty
Overworld:
Brachosaur: rare Ribbon, common Empty
Tyranosaur: rare Imp's Armor, common Empty
TumbleWeed: rare Titanium, common Empty
Reach Frog: rare Tack Star, common Potion
Lizard: rare Drainer, common Empty
Peepers: rare Elixir, common Empty
Geckorex: rare TortoiseShld, common Empty
Spek Tor: rare X-Potion, common Empty
EarthGuard: rare Megalixir, common Empty
Mantodea: rare Imp Halberd, common Empty
Prussian: rare Full Moon, common Empty
Muus: rare Magicite, common Empty
Of special interest:
- The animal suits you can steal in Owzer's Mansion eventually lead to a Genji
Armor in the Colosseum, which is pretty much the best armor for Locke, Cyan,
Edgar, Setzer, and Shadow. The animal suit here that takes the least time to
turn into a Genji Armor is the Moogle Suit from the SoulDancers. You can
Control them, and/or cast Dischord to increase your chances of success.
- Four Ribbons are grand, but be sure to bring Control along for Brachosaur, as
you will die if you don't. Once you've Controlled one, you'd better be level
28 as otherwise, you'll never be able to Steal, Sneak Ring or not. You might
want to use Vanish/Dischord to increase your chances as Brachosaur's level 77
is pretty difficult to overcome. Vanish/Dischord is still a bug though, so if
you think that's yucky, you don't have to.
- Be sure to have four pieces of Imp equipment. Best to steal four Titaniums
from TumbleWeeds. Since they'll never use magical attacks unless they're
alone, you can set Clear on your entire party and steal all four before you
start to kill them.
- Imp Halberds from Mantodea. If Shadow with the Thiefknives wasn't working for
you, you can try again to obtain some of these odd weapons. They're awesome
material to Throw as they have a stellar 254 Battle Power, and they turn into
Cat Hoods (which turn into Merit Awards) at the Colosseum. Sweet!
- Trying to Steal a FakeMustache from Still Life is the only way to having
more than one character with the Control command.
- Ogor is the source of Pearl Lances and Strato, if you don't have enough of
those. Steal until you've found a Murasame, and bet in the Colosseum until
you've won the weapon you want.
- EarthGuards are the fabled sources of a rare Megalixir, the item that
restores HP/MP back to full for the entire party in-battle. However, since
EarthGuards have inherent Seizure and only 1 HP, you usually only get to take
one shot at it. You can counter this by casting Stop and Slow (Stop first);
since the Stop status halts all other interval-based effects, Seizure won't
damage EarthGuard so you can have more Steal attempts. Slow just prolongs
the moment. Sleep doesn't stop Seizure from taking damage, were you
wondering.
- Muscle Belts are Relics that increase your HP by 50%. They're great for
those characters that fail to deliver on the defensive side (Sabin and Gogo)
to increase durability in battle. Sadly, they're a rare Steal from Borras,
and he has a normal Potion in the common slot. You'll just have to try a lot,
I suppose.
Done? You might want to dive into the Colosseum one last time now, or hunt some
Rages on the Veldt, I dunno what you feel you've neglected in the past.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.67.1 Phoenix Cave
**********************************
Location: Where the mountains form a star...
Party members: Optional: Terra, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm,
Strago, Setzer, Mog, Gau, Gogo, Umaro
Opponents: Uroburos, Phase, Parasoul, Chaos Drgn, Sea Flower, Aquila,
Necromancr, Trixter
Lores: Blow Fish, L.4 Flare
Long, long ago, almost a year, you met a man in the Auction House in Jidoor
that talked about a relic that could 'bring back wayward spirits', but he
had to admit only in the Imperial capital of Vector a relic like that existed.
We haven't met this object of great power yet, but a hidden letter in the
painting of Emperor Gestahl mentioned 'the treasure', lying somewhere where the
mountains form a star. It's more than likely this is the same item, and it's
also possible this is the item Locke has been searching for. We can use all
the power we can get, and with Locke still nowhere to be found, it doesn't hurt
to join him in his quest. Once we get the relic he's searching for, we may be
able to find him.
The Phoenix Cave is indeed hidden where the mountains form a star; just north
of Tzen, where you found Sabin earlier, a large mountain range has a hole right
in the middle, where you can use the 'cancel' button to lower two teams of
four characters down into the dungeon.
You know, this is the first time that it occurs to me it's probably just a
volcano. Square calls it 'Phoenix Cave' and you just stop thinking...
Whom to bring? It's kind of a toss-up. On the one hand, the stronger the
characters you bring, the easier a time you'll have in this dungeon. And make
no mistake, even though it lacks a proper boss battle at the end, this is
pretty much the Zozo/Floating Continent of the WoR; you're used to the royal
treatment, and all of a sudden the battles heat up and you're in danger again.
On the other hand, this is the last dungeon before we dive into the final one,
so you'll want to train the ones you've been neglecting so far. I tend to take
the eight characters with the lowest level, but you might like to bring the
stronger ones and level the weaker ones later.
You now have two parties to control; use the Y button to switch between the
two. Know that there's no shame in sharing the really great equipment between
the two groups; the Offering is a one-of-a-kind Relic you might like on Setzer
AND Gau while they're both in another party; the same goes for items like the
Red Caps, the Gem Box, the Illumina, and the Paladin Shld (although you should
not have them yet).
Basic floors:
Phase, Phase (5/16)
Phase, Parasoul, Necromancr, Necromancr (5/16)
Trixter, Trixter, Necromancr (5/16)
Aquila, Chaos Drgn, Chaos Drgn (1/16)
Lava floors:
Trixter, Trixter, Trixter (5/16)
Sea Flower, Sea Flower, Sea Flower, Sea Flower, Sea Flower (5/16)
Chaos Drgn, Uroburos, Sea Flower, Sea Flower (5/16)
Uroburos, Sea Flower, Sea Flower (1/16)
Most of the enemies here absorb Fire-elemental attacks and are weak to Ice.
Poetic irony that this cave is therefor extra accessible by the one member who
wants it the most, Celes Chere?
You'll recognize Uroburos from its palette swap Bloompire. Uroburos shares its
incredible defenses, but isn't Undead so a Cure spell on them won't work. This
time around though, you have plenty of barrier-piercing attacks you can utilize
to straight-up murder their asses. Like most enemies in this cave, Uroburos
absorbs Fire-elemental attacks, and has a rare Fenix Down to both Steal and
find afterwards. Oh yeah, on the offense he uses Bio spells every second
turn and !Doom Touch (which sets Zombie) on the fourth. Loop afterwards,
obviously.
Phase uses Battle and !Smirk, which sets Stop. When alone, it'll start using
Blow Fish which deals 1000 damage as always, and whenever it's damaged it'll
have a 33 % chance of retorting with Blow Fish too. Try to take them out in
a single shot; Ice 2 and Ice 3 spells work like a charm.
Parasoul are annoying as they may use their Special !Spin Slice on their first
turn, which sets Confuse. Every second turn may feature the Ice-/Water-elemental
Flash Rain, which should be absorbed or nullified by a large portion of your
characters by now. When alone, it will start to use El Nino on you, which is
about twice as powerful. Weak against Ice and vulnerable to ID.
Chaos Drgn attacks rarely, but when it does it's probably bad. Most of it's
turns are spent doing nothing; the only exceptions are its second turn and its
seventh turn, after which it spends another five turns waiting before looping.
Its second turn has a 33 % chance of Chaos Drgn using Disaster, an attack that
you probably haven't seen; it can be MT'd and sets Dark, Imp, Condemned, Mute,
Muddle, and Float. Its second turn has it use !Cinderizer one-third of the time,
a Special that sets Death.
Sea Flowers are kinda annoying. They often attack in large numbers and have
quite a few Hit Points (4200) for cannon fodder. Also, their Special !Feeler
sets Poison. Mass Ice- and Lightning-elemental attacks are the way to go;
X-Zone also gets the job done very nicely.
Aquila is famed for its rare Steal, the Economizer, a Relic which cuts MP usage
for EVERY Magic spell and Lore technique down to 1. Trivia: this means it
actually raises Reflect??? its MP cost, as it normally takes 0 MP to cast.
Anyway, Aquila has mean physicals (!Flap hurts especially bad), absorbs Fire
and sometimes uses Cyclonic out of the blue. It may counter damage with a 33 %
chance of using a Shimsham attack (which you can have Celes absorb with her
Runic blade, just to be on the safe side).
Necromancrs, according to Anthology, are unfortunate mortals that have been hit
by a !ZombiStick attack. They're like vampires; a spreading plague over the
lands. Necromancrs are extremely dangerous, make no mistake about that. Why?
They can use !ZombiStick on their very first turn, which obviously sets Zombie.
That's annoying enough, but it doesn't stop there. Every time Necromancr is
damaged, even if it IS fatal, it may counter with a Demi or Quartr spell on the
character that damaged it. Also, when only a single Necromancr is alive, it will
drop its normally physical-oriented AI script and randomly cast Doom, X-Zone and
Flare spells, which are all bad. Their Flare spells deal around 1000 damage. The
way to go at them is Life spells: Necromancers are Undead. Since Life spells
don't damage you won't have to worry about the counter-attacks, so as long as
you make sure no Necromancr is left alone you shouldn't need to see their wrath
in action.
Trixters are the only opponents in this volcano that don't absorb Fire. They
like to use it, though. They'll normally use Fire 2 spells for the hell of it.
If you use Rflect spells, they'll get into all kinds of crazy shenanigans, too.
If any of your characters has Reflect status, they'll start casting Cure 2,
Rflect and Haste spells on you; if any of them has the Reflect status, they'll
start casting Fire, Fire 2 and Fire 3 spells on themselves. Very fun. They
have incredibly high Magic Defense, so stick to physical attacks, especially
Pearl-elemental ones will be succesful.
Let's make the first party you act with Party #1, and the other party, Party #2.
Easy enough, right? Let's dive into this volcano! Since most of the 'puzzles'
in this dungeon consist out of clever switching between the two parties, I've
taken the liberty of including a double hard return every time you switch
parties; it's an eyesore in the FAQ, but really helps in my opinion.
Note about the spikes in the cavern: they deal 400 damage every time you land
or walk on them. They disregard status ailments, so Petrified character may
still be hurt by them. Also, the spikes will NEVER kill a character; if a
character has 400 HP or less, it'll set the amount of current HP to 1.
Party #1: Walk inside of the cave. There are no enemies on the cliff, but there
is the crane of the Falcon waiting for you; you can grab it any time
you like to return to the Falcon with all characters aboard.
Find the pressure tile inside and stand on it; it should open a
pathway. When you get off the tile it closes again, so you'll have
to stay put. Change to the other party.
Party #2: Walk inside, and enter the newly opened door. On the other side,
there's spikes to the top-right, a chest to the left and a passage to
another pressure tile to the bottom-right. If you try to get the
chest, you'll fall down through a gap in the floor onto some spikes,
which deliver 400 HP of damage to your entire party. If you did this,
you can go around to the bottom, up the stairs and stand on the
pressure tile to permanently extend a bridge to the chest, which you
can now open for a Wing Edge. Later, you'll be able to do this
without taking 400 spike damage. Regardless, you'll want to move your
party on top of the pressure tile right above the pressure tile #1
is standing on, and switch to the other party.
There are two options here:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Option A, the shorter route which deals out-battle damage to your party:
Party #1: Take the party over the spikes. If you're smart, you can minimize
the damage to 800 a character (two spike-tiles). Go down (ignore the
spike-guarded chest (it's empty) and go to the right and up. Stand
on the pressure tile there, go back, and trace down the pathway. Go
all the way (you'll find an empty chest along the way) and switch.
Party #2: Walk over the spikes (they'll deal a total of 1200 damage to your
party). Go down the stairway to the left. If you haven't picked up
the Wing Edge in the chest, do so now. If you have or if you're done,
jump over the newly formed tiles.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Option B, the longer route which doesn't deal out-battle damage to your party:
Party #1: Go up until you, not far from your starting point, come across
another pressure tile. Stand on it to remove the spikes that were in
#2's way earlier. Switch.
Party #2: Walk across the disappeared spikes. To your left is a stairway going
down; you can use it to enter a lower level, so you can re-appear
again to claim your Wing Edge chest on the other end. The other
path, a wooden bridge over the lava, is broken off for now, so if
you grabbed the Wing Edge earlier, there's no reason to go down here.
On the upper level, you'll want to walk to the far right, where you
come across a stairway leading to another pressure tile. It removes
some spikes in the area #1 is standing in. Switch.
Party #1: Finally, some real action with #1! Walk over the disappeared spikes
until you come across a stairway. Past the stairway is some more
removed-spikes pathway to a chest, but the chest is Empty! You never
know, maybe some random scoundrel or even Ziegfried might have
emptied these chests, but maybe it was Locke? Regardless, turn back
and descend the stairway. On the lower level, there are two
paths; ignore the right one for now, as to the left is an (empty)
chest and a pressure tile which causes some rocks to rise out of the
lava, creating a pathway for #2. Switch.
Party #2: Go the left and descend a level. Now, jump over the newly raised
rocks to the other side, and again to reach the new area. On the
other side, there's a chest with some spikes in front of it. You can
bet your life and limbs to open it, but it'll just appear to be
empty as the other chest, so don't. Before you enter the narrow
passage, notice the pressure tile near the big rock blocking your
path to the right. Stand on it, to cause another passageway to open,
blocking yours. Switch.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Party #1: There's really no other way to go but down, following the path across
the lava. You'll come across another chest, but it'll be empty like
the others. Pressing on, enter the passageway #2 created for you. Go
around and ignore the path leading over the spikes. Step onto the
pressure tile, which restores the passageway to make room for #2.
Switch.
Party #2: For #2, there's a Save Point to the left, but you'll just want to
stand on the pressure tile just there.
Party #1: Move up and to the left, over the disappeared spikes. You'll come
across a stairway. Go down the stairway to the lower level. A
jumping puzzle now! Jump over the rocks to the left, below and to the
right. Now, the first jumping option takes you to an empty chest; the
other one takes you to a stairway going up again. You'll come across
a skeleton switch; flip it to allow all the water from the upper
level to flow over the lava, solidifying it so you can walk on it.
Going down the little stairway just shows you that you won't be able
to go on any further, so switch.
Party #2: To the far left, there's another pressure tile. Stand on it to clear
the path for #1.
Party #1: Don't go all the way down below so far; there's a boss battle here,
and you'll want the free option between your two parties. Go up the
little stairway, and you'll see three pressure tiles: one up, and two
below. You'll want to hit the single one. Switch.
Party #2: As soon as you get off the pressure tile, you'll clear your own path
to the other side. You can just go one way, which will take you to the
solidified lava. You can now get to the unopened chest in the middle,
which in a shocking turn of events isn't empty but contains a Ribbon.
Go up the stairway that you couldn't get to by jumping over the
rocks, and you'll find yourself on the upper level once more. Walk
under the ceiling that blocks your view over your characters, and
you'll reach a dead end; or not, as #2 created a pathway for you by
raising the two rocks. Jump to the other side. Now, occupy one of
the two pressure tiles that are right next to each other. Switch.
Party #1: Get off the pressure tile and occupy the other pressure tile that's
has been left. A pathway will clear. On the other side, you'll find
a stairway leading to the exit of this dungeon.
Party #1 or #2: Can go fight the roaming dragon here now. I should note that
it's keeping itself near a chest here, which contains a Dragon
Horn that you might find interesting.
Party #2 or #1: Continue down the only path you can follow. Eventually, you'll
find the last person you were missing: Locke Cole. And
he just reached his life-long ambition too; the lost relic that
is able to restore life, the Magicite remains of the Phoenix
Esper. The scene switches to the village of Kohlingen.
Note that you can return here later if you want to; there will be a red
sparkle to the right of the Phoenix Esper chest. This is merely a warp sparkle
that you can use to return to the Falcon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.67.2 The battle with the Red Dragon
**********************************
Red Dragon
Level: 67, HP: 30000, MP: 1780
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Strato (always)
Absorbs: Fire, Weakness: Ice, Water
Special: !Eraser: Unblockable Battle + Removes Reflect
Sketch : L? Pearl, Fire 3
Control: Battle, !Eraser
Vulnerable to: Poison, Confuse, Slow
Attacks: Battle, !Eraser, Fire 2, Fire 3, Flare, L.4 Flare, Fire Ball,
S. Cross, Flare Star
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: Yes
Flare, Fire Ball and S. Cross all screw with the RNG. Fire Ball can be used on
the first turn.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Crystal
Crystal Shld
Crystal Helm
Crystal Mail
The Red Dragon is red, and lives in a volcano. He's a Fire dragon, in other
words! You'll be laughing now, I assume; not only have you already spotted
his weakness to the Confuse status, the Fire element is the one most easily
protected against. The Red Jacket, Ice Shld, Minerva, and Blizzard Orb nullify
it, the Flame Shld and Rage Ring absorb it, and if those resources aren't
enough, the Force Shld, Thunder Shld, Cat Hood, Snow Muffler, and Force Armor
all halve damage done by the element. Yeah, even though the Red Dragon tries
to counter this by employing Flare spells and the L.4 Flare attack, he's still
fairly easy.
Every 40 seconds, Red Dragon will use a particularly powerful attack; either
S. Cross, Flare Star, or L.4 Flare. Flare Star still deals Fire-elemental damage
based on your level, S. Cross is just a strong MT Fire-elemental attack and
L.4 Flare deals non-elemental barrier-piercing damage to every character whose
level is divisible by 4.
Normally, Red Dragon switches between Fire 2 (66%) and Fire Ball (33%). When
he reaches 10240 HP (which is after having absorbed 19760 HP damage), he'll
switch to Fire 3 (66%) or a Flare spell (33%). All these spells except for
Fire Ball can be Reflected, but that may not be the wisest action to take;
every character under the influence of Reflect will be targeted every second
turn by !Eraser, from top character to bottom character, just like the living
SrBehemoth and his !Evil Claw attack. !Eraser removes the Reflect status, but
not when the status is inherent (through Wall Rings or Rage). Like most bosses,
the Red Dragon has a 33% Battle counter to every damage he takes.
What to do? He has a fairly low amount of MP, and all his dangerous attacks
need MP to function. In his less dangerous phase, throw up your barriers (summon
Fenrir and/or Golem, Kirin's Life Guard is useful as always, Haste 2, Big Guard,
you name it). When you're done, start casting Rasp! You can check if he's
out of MP with Scan if you can't keep track yourself. You should have crippled
him before his first 40-second attack comes around. Now that Red Dragon is
nothing but a big lizard of fire, attack him with attacks. It doesn't really
matter, as he's pretty much done by now, but the strongest attacks tend to
be Ice-elemental ones; the Ice 3 spell, thrown Blizzard swords (or Water
Skeans), the usual Bum Rush and Dragon Horn Jump attacks, whatever works. Note
that Tri-Dazer is absorbed, though. You can toy around with Confuse if you want,
but it's not necessary.
At the end, it's an easy battle. The Strato you get is little to celebrate, as
you should be neck-deep in the buggers if you ever had the wish to do so.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.68.1 Locke Cole
**********************************
Locke re-enters the party after having finally completed his life-long task
and finding it to be a futile effort. However, he barely seems to mind; he's
been released, not crushed. With him he brings the remains of the Phoenix
Esper, and the treasures of the Phoenix Cave he collected along the way;
an X-Potion, a Fenix Down, an X-Ether, an Elixir, a Flame Shld, and Locke's
primary source of pride, the ValiantKnife. Note that there were but four
empty chests in the Phoenix Cave; the Fenix Down might have been a rare drop
from a monster, but we're still left with a mystery item. Bleh, who the
hell cares? :P
First off, if you haven't yet gotten Gogo by now, this is where the Steal
command re-enters your game. If you want to work it, go check out section
4.66.3 to learn what Steal can do for you now.
Locke has returned to your team! Defensively, there are few things to say.
He has the more or less standard equipment options, which he shares with the
likes of Setzer, Cyan, and Shadow. The Genji Armor is his strongest option,
which is nicely complemented by the Thunder Shld for elemental resistances.
If equipped with the ValiantKnife, the Red Cap is especially nice on Locke, as
it indirectly boosts its average damage output with the ValiantKnife.
On the offense, there are three weapons worth nothing for Locke:
The Sniper. Remember the Hawk Eye from the late WoB? The Sniper is exactly that,
only with updated Battle Power to make a stand in the WoR. No stat boosts,
but it does hit for 1.5 as much damage 50%, and three times as much damage
against Floating targets.
The Wing Edge. His strongest normal weapon. Back Row compatible, +7 to both
Vigor and Speed (which both matter little), +1 to Stamina, +2 to Magic Power
and the Assassin's X-type Instant Death ability. There are two in this game,
so you could Genji Glove it up if you want. Nice if you're going out to Steal
anyway, but this time Locke CAN dish out damage like other characters, and
that's because of the:
ValiantKnife. The first noticeable feature of this awesome weapon is the fact
it is barrier-piercing. Every strike is stronger than a Pummel or Dispatch
attack coming from him. The second feature is even more important; every strike,
(max HP - current HP) damage is added to the damage you're doing. In other
words, that's what Revenge does; the more hurt Locke is, the more damage he'll
do. It's prone to FF VIII Limit Break-fever - let's walk around while we're
all busted up so we can do three times as much damage as usual - but it does
work. The disadvantage over the other two weapons is the fact it isn't Back Row
compatible and doesn't give any stat boosts.
So, we're complete! Time to take on Kefka? There are two more things to do
here, and we're going to get a few VERY broken items/abilities out of it. Like
that, dontcha?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.68.2 Narshe revisited with Locke; Ragnarok and Cursed Shld
**********************************
Location: Narshe
Party members: Locke, Optional: Terra, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm,
Strago, Setzer, Mog, Gau, Gogo, Umaro
Opponents: Test Rider, Nastidon, Red Wolf
Lores: None
Welcome to Narshe! Lone Wolf tipped us off earlier; only a true treasure
hunter could pick the locks of these houses. When Narshe was abandoned for
reasons never explained in the game, the inhabitants were clearly planning to
return, as they locked their stores and houses carefully. Meh, those items
won't be needed by them when Kefka kills them all, so it's only logical we
should be able to take them all. Besides, we need to find the owner of the
Weapon Shop anyway; the thief at the bottom of the Fanatics Tower, where we
found Strago, told us he was looking for us.
Buildings locked include the following:
The Inn. Unlocking this building will get you nothing.
The Item Shop. Same here; there are neither salesmen nor leftover items here.
The Relic Shop. Derelict like a plundered tomb.
The Weapon Shop. Go around the counter and descend the stairs. Here, you'll
find the owner of the shop. He shows you a piece of Magicite, and offers to
forge a weapon out of it. You can choose between the Ragnarok Magicite and the
Ragnarok Sword here. For a full comparison between the two, I suggest reading
up on them in section 8.10; for a detailed explanation of the powers of the
Ragnarok Esper's summon attack, follow [METAMORPH-LINK].
In short: The Esper's summon attack is pretty crappy but does grant access to
some rare items you could otherwise get only a very limited amount of, while
the Esper also teaches Ultima at a x1 rate, which is the strongest spell in
the game. On the other hand, the Ragnarok Sword gives + 7 on all stats except
for Speed (where it grants a +3), randomly casts Flare, deals MP-driven constant
criticals and gives 30% MBlock. You can bet it at the Colosseum for the
Illumina, which gives +7 on all stats, has the same MP-driven criticals ability,
randomly casts Pearl with twice the power of a normal Pearl spell (due to the
automatic criticals; Flare doesn't get to enjoy a power boost), has Back Row
compatibility and gives 50% MBlock.
I'd advise the sword unless you're really bent on a 254-item list, as you can
learn Ultima in another way.
The house above the Relic Shop has been empty throughout the WoB, but now you
will find an old man sick in bed. He gives you the Cursed Shld, a possessed
shield of awesome power, but useless now due to a curse. It's up to you to
break it and unleash its awesome abilities if you're up to the task.
The curse is broken when the shield is equipped on a living character other
than Gogo for 256 battles. It doesn't matter if the character dies during the
battle, as long as he or she is alive at the end of it. Gogo can't uncurse
the Cursed Shld as the counter is semi-tied to gaining Magic Points, which
Gogo doesn't gain at all.
Equipping the Cursed Shld is bad. It makes the equipped character weak to all
elements, and LOWERS all stats by 7. Also, it gives the equipper inherent
Muddle, Berserk, Seizure, Mute, and Condemned. You wind up with a Berserked
character that hits you every turn with a physical and dies after a while.
You can either counter these effects with a Ribbon/Relic Ring combo (the
Ribbon protects against all but Condemned, and the Relic Ring makes sure you're
revived when the counter reaches that final 0), or get it to work to your
advantage by equipping the Heal Rod and possibly the Offering for mad healing.
There's a little vintage strategy I want to mention here: Relm/Strago/Gogo,
Cursed Shld, no Ribbon, Heal Rod, possibly Offering. Every turn, this character
will heal random characters. Yeah, it's kinda cute, but the fact it never
got an official name such as 'Spinning Right Round Relm' or 'Top Man Strago'
or something like 'Whirlwind Wee Girl' kinda should tip you off on the fact
that it's not all that useful.
The Paladin Shld is awesome. It allows the equipped to absorb Fire, Ice,
Lightning, and Pearl while nullifying the effects of Earth, Poison, Wind, and
Water. In other words, the wearer becomes entirely immune to elemental attacks.
Add to that the second-best Defense rating (TortoiseShld on an Imp beats it) and
third-best Magic Defense rating (TortoiseShld and Force Shld beat it) and + 40%
MBlock and you've got yourselves the ultimate shield right there. The big bonus
on top of all this is the fact it teaches Ultima at a x1 rate to the wearer.
The quickest way to uncurse the Cursed Shld is fighting battles on Solitary
Island. If you want some kind of extra meaning to the hours on the Solitary
Island, you can bring Locke, Gogo, and Shadow to try to steal as many Elixirs
(and possibly Megalixirs) as possible. If you want to go into the desert, be
sure to equip Amulets or Ribbons to protect against EarthGuard's !PoisonTail
and Black Drgn's !BonePowder.
As far as (the) Ragnarok goes, you should take a look at [RAGNAROK-LINK] if
you went with the Esper. If you went with the Sword, you absolutely want to
trade it in for the Illumina at the Colosseum; aside from Ragnarok's random
Flare being non-elemental and Illumina's random Pearl being Pearl-elemental,
there is NO reason to stick to the original sword;
- Ragnarok - Illumina Opponent: Didalos
Didalos attacks with Battle, Flare, Flare Star, and Blaster. If you equip a
Wall Ring and a Safety Bit/Memento Ring, Flare, and Blaster are not a threat
anymore; a Flame Shld/Ice Shld or the Minerva bustier takes care of Flare Star
and the Fire Wall Didalos sometimes uses to counter Fight attacks with. Battle
is all that's left, and that's nothing to worry about. Don't send in Relm;
her Sketch attacks will usually make a Quake spell appear, which hurts her
as well.
Obviously, from now on, I won't be assuming that you have either the Illumina
OR the Paladin Shield; choosing the Esper over the Sword is a legitimate
choice, and obtaining the Paladin Shld is quite a bit of work.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.68.3 Gau and his father
**********************************
Location: Shack of Gau's father, northern continent
Party members: Sabin, Gau, Optional: Terra, Locke, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Celes,
Relm, Strago, Setzer, Mog, Gogo, Umaro
Opponents: None
Lores: None
This is just a cutscene you're getting nothing out of, but still builds the
character of Gau and strengthens the relationship of Gau and Sabin, so it's
worth watching. It's kinda funny too. Relatively speaking. You'll want to bring,
ideally, Locke and Edgar to accompany Sabin and Gau, as that'll net you the
most individual cutscenes.
If you brought Sabin to the crazy man in the shack by himself earlier, the
following conversation will occur:
AGED MAN: Oh, hello again! Yep, you were tops!
SABIN: That's why we...
AGED MAN: Quick! Fix that chair! Then you can use it to reach the roof.
At this point, Sabin leaves the house, the party splits up, and Sabin says:
"You don't suppose... Can this be GAU's father?"
When you bring both Sabin and Gau to the crazy man, this will happen (with the
same conversation preceding it):
SABIN: You don't suppose... GAU, could this be your father?
GAU: Uooo...
SABIN: Come on, GAU. It's true, right?
GAU: ...fffatherrr...?
SABIN: Yes. This is definitely your father.
GAU: ......??? ...GAU's...father?! Oooogauooooo!
SABIN: Right!! Let's go tell your father the news! He needs to know you're his
son!
SABIN: Just a minute... We can't just go there with you looking like this.
SABIN: I know! Let's go to Jidoor and give you a make-over!
(The gang is now at the Inn in Jidoor. Gau is standing at the table)
SABIN: No, GAU! Don't eat with your fingers!
GAU: Yaoooo...
SABIN: Don't say "Yaoooo" when you mean "Yes!"
GAU: Ho!
SABIN: ......
(The gang is now at the Item Shop in Jidoor. Everybody's busy)
(If you recruited Terra:)
TERRA: How do you like these? Wait! What about those?
- "Hm...oh well..."
TERRA: Did you say something?
(Sabin freaks out and hides behind the counter)
- "N...no! Nothing..."
- ...Uh huh...
(Always)
CELES: Which is it gonna be? Oh! This is nice...but...Do you think it becomes
GAU?
- "Well..."
CELES: What?!
(Sabin freaks out and hides behind the counter)
- "...Nothing..."
(If you recruited Cyan, and he is not in your active party:)
CYAN: What a jaunty hat!
- "Not at..."
CYAN: Wait a minute! Where's the hat?
"......"
(Always)
(Gau now wears what appears to be some ridiculously bright red suit)
SABIN: This is it!
(GAU:) Me go to funeral?
SABIN: Perfect! Functional yet sporty! Done!
"I don't think..."
(If Setzer is not in your active party:)
SETZER: Phew! Completely lacking in fashion...
SETZER: Excuse me, sir. Could you order some clothes like the ones I'm wearing?
Impossible!
SETZER! How dare you think of sticking him in that kinda getup?!
(If both Edgar and Locke are in your active party)
(Gau now wears a 3-piece tuxedo Armani'd be proud to weep over)
EDGAR: I got it! A tuxedo, silk hat...and... ...a rose in his teeth!
LOCKE: I think that's overdoing it just a bit...He should have a bandana on his
head!
(Gau pretty much now wears what Locke is wearing, admiring the red bandana
on his head)
EDGAR: What's so great about a bandana? Most of the time I see 'em tied around
dogs at the beach!
LOCKE: HEY! What do you mean by that?
(Locke attacks Edgar, and sounds of punching and eventually the good old
cartoonish birds-around-the-head sound the Muddle spell makes)
When returning to Gau's father, there's is also another check made. This
dialogue can also be accessed outside the Gau-centric cutscene, but there's no
other logical time to visit this guy so I wanted to include it here.
Whenever you have obtained the Emperor's Letter after talking twice to the
portrait in Owzer's Mansion in Jidoor, but before you have recruited Locke,
the following dialogue will appear when you talk to the old man:
AGED MAN: The repairman, at last!
"Uh, no. I was wondering if you knew anything about Emperor Gestahl's map..."
AGED MAN: Map...?! Everyone's askin' 'bout that map!
Pardon?!
AGED MAN: Little while ago, some guy wearin' a bandana asked for the map. So I
told him!
W...where is it?
AGED MAN: It's where the mountains form a star-shape! You should have just come
out and asked me. No need to be shy!
For the record, this 'map' is never mentioned outside of this cutscene, and
neither is there ANY information about why our characters apparantly decide
this guy should know something about Gestahl's possessions and he actually
does. It's just weird.
The rest of the cutscene is as mandatory, as it is sad, so I won't be giving
the information away here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.69.1 The Fanatics Tower and the battle with White Drgn
**********************************
Location: Narshe
Party members: Optional: Terra, Locke, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm,
Strago, Setzer, Mog, Gau, Gogo, Umaro
Opponents: White Drgn, Magic Urn, L.10 Magic, L.20 Magic, L.30 Magic,
L.40 Magic, L.50 Magic, L.60 Magic, L.70 Magic, L.80 Magic
L.90 Magic
Lores: None
Welcome to the Fanatics Tower! We've probably been here before; if not for some
Moogle raiding, we picked up Strago here with Relm earlier. Regardless of the
actions you've taken so far, I've mentioned the Fanatics Tower quite a few
times so far, always advising you to wait with fighting the final opponent on
the very top. Now, it's time for the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny:
we're going to tackle this huge erect symbol of Kefka's manhood.
Monster formations:
Fanatics Tower inside:
L.90 Magic (5/16)
L.50 Magic (5/16)
Magic Urn, Magic Urn (6/16)
Air Anchor room:
Magic Urn, Magic Urn (always)
Top and fourth tier:
L.90 Magic, L.80 Magic (5/16)
L.80 Magic, L.80 Magic (5/16)
L.90 Magic, L.60 Magic (5/16)
Magic Urn, Magic Urn (1/16)
Third tier:
L.60 Magic, L.30 Magic, L.10 Magic, L.10 Magic (5/16)
L.70 Magic, L.70 Magic, L.50 Magic (5/16)
L.70 Magic, L.50 Magic, L.40 Magic (5/16)
Magic Urn, Magic Urn (1/16)
Second tier:
L.50 Magic (5/16)
L.40 Magic, L.50 Magic, L.60 Magic (5/16)
L.30 Magic, L.20 Magic, L.10 Magic (5/16)
Magic Urn, Magic Urn (1/16)
Bottom tier:
L.10 Magic, L.20 Magic (5/16)
L.30 Magic, L.30 Magic, L.30 Magic (5/16)
L.40 Magic, L.20 Magic, L.20 Magic (5/16)
Magic Urn, Magic Urn (1/16)
Magic Urn is a kinky enemy. Well...enemy? If it does intend to harm you in the
first place, it seems to assume you're undead. The first turn, it'll use either
a Remedy item or a Tincture, the second turn a Potion or Elixir, and the third
turn a Tincture or an Ether. If any of your characters has Wound set, it'll use
a Fenix Down on it (due to a bug, it'll respond to the Reflect status in the PSX
versions). If one is Petrified, it'll use a Soft item (due to a bug, it responds
to Safe in the PSX versions). After it has used an item, it has a 33% at fleeing
the battle using Escape; it'll also sometimes flee when you damage it. With
100 HP, absorption of all elements and status ailment invulnerability, it's
difficult to harm the thing without killing it. If you have trouble accepting
help or simply want to speed things up, the only way of killing these things is
Bserking a character, casting Drain, Meteor, or Ultima or summoning Bahamut,
Maduin, Ragnarok, or Palidor. If you smell great Rage potential here, you're
absolutely right.
L.10 Magic casts level 1 spells every turn, and will counter any damage done
to him by either a Slow, Stop, or Haste spell. They're undead, and have the
normal Undead weaknesses: Fire and Pearl, while absorbing Poison. Vulnerable
to Mute, non-Reflective, Floating. No threat to a Wall Ring party.
L.20 Magic casts ID attacks. Demi, Quartr, and Break the first turn, Demi,
Quartr, and X-Zone the second turn (loops afterwards). X-Zone is the most
dangerous by far. He counters every damage done with either a Rasp, Muddle, or
Safe spell. Weak to Poison, vulnerable to ID, Reflective. One of the more
dangerous enemies here to a Wall Ring party; make sure you take them out
quickly.
L.30 Magic casts level 2 spells, and will counter every damage done with either
an Imp, Osmose, or Rflect spell. Weak to Poison, absorbs Pearl, non-Reflective.
L.40 Magic casts Drain, Break, or Vanish every turn. He will counter
your attacks with either Mute or Sleep. Floating, weak to Lightning, absorbs
Poison, non-Reflective, vulnerable to Mute.
L.50 Magic is your typical undead mage, casting Poison, Bio, and Doom the first
turn, and spends the next turn casting either Remedy (33%) or Dispel (66%)
on a monster. When damaged, it will retort with either a Bserk, Slow, or Haste 2
spell. Undead, weak to Fire and Pearl, absorb Poison, vulnerable to ID and Mute,
non-Reflective.
L.60 Magic casts Quake, W Wind, and Pearl. When damaged, he'll cast Osmose,
Slow 2, or Regen on a single character. Weak to Fire-elemental spells, absorbs
Ice-elemental spells, Floating, vulnerable to ID and Mute. Non-Reflective.
L.70 Magic casts the level 3 spells. When damaged, it'll respond with
Sleep, Rasp, or Shell. Absorbs Fire, weak to Ice and Water. Reflective, but
vulnerable to ID and Mute.
L.80 Magic is finally an opponent with some sophistication; she's a lady, after
all. She'll cast Cure 2, Remedy, or Haste when a character is Reflective. If
that's not the case, but a monster is Reflective, she'll cast level 3 spells
on all monsters. If nobody on the battlefield has the Reflect status, she'll
just go with Poison or Bio spells. When damaged while characters around have the
Reflect status, she'll counter with Cure 3, Cure, or Life 3 (which
can't be Reflected...poor confused gal). When damaged while monsters with the
Reflect status are around, she'll cast Stop, Dispel, or Pearl on a monster. If
she's damaged with NO Reflective targets around, she'll do nothing. Weak to
Poison, non-Reflective, vulnerable to ID.
L.90 Magic is the strongest random encounter here. The first three turns
may feature Flare, Meteor, or Merton. Meteor is the most dangerous of
these three, but Merton is especially annoying, as L.90 Magic absorbs Wind.
Every fourth turn, the guy can cast a Dispel spell and up to three Flare spells.
When damaged, he may counter with Stop, Bolt 3, or Life 3. Reflective, Floating,
vulnerable to Stop.
So yeah. I've never found much satisfaction in the Fanatics Tower specific
kind of challenge, but maybe you're going bananas behind your screen, I dunno.
Here's a set of small tables to remind you of the opponents weaknesses:
Reflective Undead Floating ID-protected
L.10 Magic - Yes Yes -
L.20 Magic Yes - - -
L.30 Magic - - - -
L.40 Magic - - Yes Yes
L.50 Magic - Yes - -
L.60 Magic - - Yes Yes
L.70 Magic Yes - - -
L.80 Magic - - - -
L.90 Magic Yes - - Yes
Mute, Bserk, Stop:
L.10 Magic: Mute, Bserk
L.20 Magic:
L.30 Magic: Bserk
L.40 Magic: Mute
L.50 Magic: Mute, Stop
L.60 Magic: Mute
L.70 Magic: Mute, Stop
L.80 Magic:
L.90 Magic: Bserk, Stop
How to handle them:
L.10 Magic: a Life spell
L.20 Magic: X-Zone or Break spells (bounce off Wall Ring characters)
L.30 Magic: Break spells
L.40 Magic: Mute
L.50 Magic: a Life spell
L.60 Magic: Mute
L.70 Magic: X-Zone or Break spells (bounce off Wall Ring characters)
L.80 Magic: Break spells
L.90 Magic: Stop (bounce off Wall Ring characters)
On the whole, especially against the weaker opponents, you may just want to
go all-out offensive. Spells such as Meteor and Ultima never fail to deliver
damage no matter who the opponent is, and since nobody absorb Lightning-
elemental attacks, cast Bolt 3 on all four or your Wall Ring characters to
hit them.
Whom to bring? That really depends. Know that the Fanatics Tower is very
special, and that ascending the tower means that you will temporarily lose
all your skills except for Magic. Obviously, those with high Magic Power are
favored, but much more important is how much you built up your Magic skillset.
If somebody knows Ultima, bring him or her along no matter what else he or
she has going on; next to that, Meteor, Flare, Bolt 3, Stop, Mute, Life, and
curative and restorative spells are pretty much what you'll be wielding, so
you'll want to bring those with you. Typically, assuming their Magic skillset
is roughly the same, you'll want something like Terra, Celes, Relm, and whoever.
If only one or two characters know Ultima, bring Gogo along so it miraculously
knows Ultima too.
Preparation: Wall Rings are VITAL. You WILL want a Wall Ring on every
character. Inherent Reflect status makes climbing the tower much easier, and
is a very important factor when fighting the strongest mage this world has to
offer, MagiMaster. Also, know that you'll be casting and receiving Magic spells
only, so that Battle Power of weapons and Defense rating of equipment is
pointless. Equip accordingly. Ribbons are very nice as well, by the way, as
a lot of status ailment spells will be coming your way, sometimes reflected
off barriers thus penetrating your magic shield of justice and sunlight you
call a Wall Ring.
Also, make sure you cast Float on the party. A surprise Quake is easily
countered but can be equally painful.
Notes: At the Fanatics Tower, Fight is turned into Magic and every secondary
skill disappears. Item's still there, but that's it. If you send Gogo up there,
give it the Fight command as that'll turn into Magic (while its Magic command
will be removed). Umaro doesn't suffer a bit from the Fanatics Tower's
strange effect, as he will perform normally. When Berserked, characters will
just use Fight.
On the first part of the stairway, there's a door we can enter. Enter and raid
the chest; it contains a Safety Bit. The Safety Bit protects the wearer from
Instant Death-magic; it's basically a Memento Ring for everybody. But wait a
minute, didn't that thief in Maranda mention how one of his companions mumbled
'to the right of the treasure chest'? The thieves can never have gone too far,
so you'd better check it out. Press the action button when standing to the
right of the treasure chest. Something rumbles, and when you leave the door
another one has appeared below you! When you enter this one, you can find
a chest containing an Air Anchor, Edgar's most rare Tool.
The Air Anchor does the following. Once an enemy is hit by the Air Anchor, it
is allowed one more action, after which it dies. It never misses, unless the
target is immune to Instant Death attacks. The Air Anchor also deals damage,
which is entirely redundant (as no damage will be done if it misses, and the
damage is useless if the target dies the next round anyway). I myself have
always liked the Air Anchor because it never fails and you can focus attacks
on other opponents while you know the Anchored one has been taken care of;
others will claim the Air Anchor is a scrubby Tool that allows for another
attack while so many other ID attacks like Doom/Snare/Atom Edge do not.
The only battles in the Air Anchor room feature Magic Urn. Not only do they
heal you with a multitude of potions, they also Escape on their own after a
while. They have a kick-ass Rage (allows Gau to absorb all eight elements
regardless of equipment and immunity to all status ailments while casting
Cure 3 half the time), so you'll want to meet them at least once.
We press on! The door in the second part of the stairway contains a Genji
Shield, which is a nice enough shield; third-best Defense in the game (lower
than the legendary Paladin Shield and oddball TortoiseShield), respectable
Magic Defense and 20% Magic Block added to the wearer.
The door in the third part of the stairway contains the Stunner, the most
powerful Dirk for Shadow. It has a 25% chance of casting Stop every time a
strike is made, but gives nothing in terms of fringe benefits. Famous for
Colosseum tactics against the likes of Chupon and Siegfried, both vulnerable
to the ailment and very hard to defeat by other means. What the room also
features is the White Dragon.
[WDRAGON-LINK]
White Drgn
Level: 71, HP: 18500, MP: 12000
Steal: Pearl Lance (rare), X-Potion (common), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Pearl
Special: !Hit: Battle x 1.5
Sketch : Flare, Pearl
Control: Battle, Pearl, Pearl, Pearl
Vulnerable to: Mute, Slow, Stop
Attacks: Pearl, Dispel
Vanish/Doom: Yes
No restrictions.
Joker Doom: Yes
Of course, the first time you fight him, it's on the Fanatics Tower where Slot
is not available. On the Veldt, it's still possible. Pearl screws over the RNG,
too, and may be used on the very first turn.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Crystal
Crystal Shld
Crystal Helm
Crystal Mail
Wow. There is SO little I can say about White Drgn here. He casts up to three
Pearl spells every turn. When hit by a Magic spell, he has a 66% chance of
countering with a Dispel spell. And that's it. You've seen a palette swap of
the guy earlier, honestly, trying to drone on gets kinda embarrassing right
now.
He casts nothing but spells, and is vulnerable to Mute. That's all there is to
it, just cast a Mute spell and you're done. You don't have to bother with Slow,
Stop, and all that, just cast Mute and attack the guy with offensive spells.
If you're getting low on MP, use Osmose. Try not to swallow anything sharp
while playing, it's the only situation I can imagine where a loss is actually
possible. If you brought either Locke or Shadow, equip Thiefknives and go for
White Drgn's item, as both are nice.
If you arrived here with a solo-Mog party, the strategy is only slightly
different; since you don't want to take any chances, be sure you're equipped
with a Wall Ring. If Mog doesn't know the Mute spell, equip Siren so Mog can
summon her for her Hope Song attack. Now that White Drgn is at Mog's mercy,
just attack until he's dead.
When you're done, you get a Pearl Lance from an event afterwards. This is to
make sure you don't get a Pearl Lance every time you see the White Drgn on the
Veldt: YES, the cretin appears there! Makes quite a solid Rage too, casting
Pearl and ID-protected and all.
The door in the fourth and last part of the stairway contains a Force Armor.
The Force Armor is a great piece of armor, especially for those characters
that have no other interesting pieces to equip (Locke, Cyan, Edgar, Setzer, and
Shadow). It doesn't really have that much on Defense (inferior to Crystal Mail),
but it's quite good on Magic Defense (only inferior to Genji Armor, rare
Snow Muffler, and oddball Imp's Armor), has great elemental advantages
(50% Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, and Earth-elemental damage) and an added 30%
Magic Block.
The Force Armor is inferior to the Minerva in every way except for the MBlock,
so don't equip it on the girls; it's a genuine toss-up for the boys, though.
The Genji Armor is sturdier in both the Defense and Magic Defense department
and gives all-round stat boosts to boot; the Force Armor makes for a more
evasive character that is better suited to deal with elemental magical attacks.
I prefer the Force Armor for non-specific boss battles and the Genji Armor for
random encounters myself, but it's up to you.
Welcome to the roof of the Tower, where the 'wondrous' item lies. Enter the
little room to find a chest. As soon as you stand in front of the chest,
a bit is set; when you leave the room, with or without the contents of the
chest (the Gem Box Relic), you're going to be surrounded by members of the
Cult of Kefka and a wizard will come for you, so be prepared.
The Gem Box (or Soul of Thamasa, as it was called in the Japanese game) turns
the Magic command into X-Magic. This means that you can cast TWO spells in
one turn. This is obviously great, and best applied to those who rely heavily
on their Magic skillset. The only drawback is the fact that you will lose
the ability to summon the Esper you have equipped. The Gem Box is totally
sweet, and a kind, loving mistress who's not afraid of the leather if you're
not, I might add.
[MAGIMASTER-LINK]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.69.1 The battle with MagiMaster
**********************************
So, we've battled mages from level 10 to level 90; at the very top was Kefka's
most treasured item, a gem-covered box containing the very soul of the town
of Thamasa, home to 1000 years of Mage Warrior generations. This prized relic
greatly enhances magical capabilities, allowing you to prepare two spells
simultaneously and casting them in quick succession. The treasure is guarded
though, by what may just be Kefka's strongest henchman. The ultimate mage:
MagiMaster.
Yes, after all the pompous introductions, I suppose we'd better slap him
around a little bit until he allows us to leave.
MagiMaster
Level: 68, HP: 50000, MP: 50000
Steal: Crystal Orb (rare), Elixir (common), Win: Magelixir (always)
Special: !Hit: Battle x 1.5
Sketch : Battle, Battle
Control: Battle, Ultima
Vulnerable to: Berserk
Attacks: Fire 2, Ice 2, Bolt 2, Bio, Fire 3, Ice 3, Bolt 3, Doom, Ultima, Mute,
WallChange
Vanish/Doom: No
Immunity to Clear status
Joker Doom: Yes/No
Do note though that you can NEVER use the Slot command on the Fanatics Tower,
so you won't actually be able to spin 7-7-7 in the first place.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Yesh. First turn, he casts a level two spell. Then, he casts a level 3 spell.
Then, he casts TWO level 3 spells. After that, another double cast of two level
3 spells. Another turn after, a single level 3 spell, and his last turn
before turning back to the level two spells can consist of Doom, Bio, or
Mute. All of this is coming from a spectacular 50 (!!!) Magic Power, which
means that you absorb the attack, have the Reflect status, or die a
gargantuanesqually painful death. If MagiMaster has the Reflect status himself,
he will bounce a level 3 spell off of himself every turn; MagiMaster will
never self-apply the status, and there's no reason for you to cast it.
You may have noticed that every spell MagiMaster uses is reflectable; and yes,
that they are. However, the thing with MagiMaster is that not only is the
ULTIMATE mage, he's also fiercely loyal to Kefka. So it's only logical that
MagiMaster would be able to cast the strongest spell in the game, Ultima;
and he won't let you go before casting it. As soon as you kill the MagiMaster,
he will cast Ultima. It will deal between 5400 to 6100 damage to all of your
characters, and unless you've overleveled (level 53 with Muscle Belt, 58 with
Red Cap, 67 without any HP boosting equipment), that's just going to kill you
deader than Grandma's infamous road kill surprise.
Let's go through a few situations now:
- You're followed the walkthrough, or know Life 3 at the very least:
Keep yourself draped in Wall Rings at all times, as it will mean you are
invincible. Do NOT attack MagiMaster; as soon as you do this, he will use
WallChange, and he will start countering all your attacks with WallChange
making him that much harder to take down. He will also counter to his own
spells reflected back at him. If you just keep still, he won't start using
WallChange, not even under the torment of his own attacks. Cast Life 3 on all
your characters, and just wait this one out. Eventually, when MagiMaster has
killed himself, he'll cast Ultima, everybody dies and is subsequently revived;
you're free to go.
- You don't have Life 3:
This one's a tricky pony. You can cast Rasp over and over and over again
until his 50000 MP are all gone; he won't be able to cast Ultima now. You'll
have to keep him alive this way. This is easily done by casting the Bserk
spell on MagiMaster while casting Vanish or summoning Phantom to protect
yourself. Now, Rasp away. It'll take a very long while. You can check his MP
score with the Scan spell. When he has less than 80 MP, you can kill him.
There you go.
Alternately, you could just damage a lot and summon Palidor; the trick here is
to kill MagiMaster with one or more characters in the air. Ultima won't hit
them, so you win. If you want to do this, carefully keep track of his HP with
Scan; for optimum damage output, you'll want to equip barrier-piercing weapons
where possible (Atma Weapon on Terra/Celes/Edgar/Locke, ValiantKnife on Locke,
Fixed Dice or Dice on Setzer) to try and circumvent MagiMaster's crazy 250
Defense.
- You don't have Rasp...and you don't have Palidor either. Da-amn Tiffany,
your personal fetish for self-inflicted torture is your business, but I'd
suggest you try to keep the painful situations to a minimum. Of course, it's
not that I myself mind but it's just that you're kind of a disgrace to
everybody *around* you and quite frankly, I can only take so much before I
just leave you and your issues alone to enjoy myself on the beaches of
Florida.
Eh...yeah. Last chance, honest. Equip a character (Terra, Celes, Edgar) with
a Wall Ring, Genji Glove, Rune Edge/Ragnarok/Illumina, and the Soul Sabre. The
MP-critical weapon in the Right Hand, the MP draining weapon in the Left Hand.
Now, cast Bserk on MagiMaster, Clear on your party, and Bserk and Haste on
your magical weapon character. Every turn, he or she will attack and deal
(12...19) MP damage. If you're setting this up so you can go do something else
in the meantime (I trust you have taken a liking to your sanity?), Bserk a
Heal Rod character to make sure MagiMaster doesn't die from the physical
blows. Honestly, this is going to take AGES.
- You don't have that either?
Why in God's name did you see it fit to come up here anyway? I suppose pulling
the power on your SNES right before MagiMaster casts Ultima stops him from
using it. If you're reading this and hope for yet another strategy as this is
the situation you're in, I somehow don't think you thought your cunning plan
all the way through.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.70.1 End-game character evaluation
**********************************
So, I'll be discussing characters here as they perform at this point, just to
give you some comparison. I won't be advising Illumina or Paladin Shld, as I
can't expect you to have it. Most Relic slots will be left empty if no Relics
are vital to the set-ups we're going for (DragoonBoots/Dragon Horn and all
that are mentioned, as is Rage Ring on Umaro, as not equipping it is folly).
As far as the Illumina goes, you'll want to give it to Locke, as the girls
really don't need it, and Edgar has enough damage potential too. The Paladin
Shld is best given to a character that otherwise needs Thunder Shlds to gain
elemental advantages; characters such as Strago, Gogo, and Sabin come to mind
(especially because they really enjoy the defensive increases).
A note about the Genji Helmets here. Genji Helmets are often the best helmets
you can land on a character, yet they are rare. End-game, you have two Red Caps,
a Coronet, a Regal Crown in your inventory; all can be turned into a Genji
Helmet at the Colosseum (Red Cap - Coronet - Regal Crown - Genji Helmet). Red
Caps are superior to Genji Helmets in my opinion, the Coronet is usable in an
NMG and the Regal Crown is plain garbage in the end. You can have up to five
Genji Helmets in the end, but you'll probably want to end up with two or three.
In the suggestions I list, I list five character with a Genji Helmet, as well
as two with a Red Cap. This isn't possible per se. However, you can switch the
Genji Helmets between groups, and with the party recommendation I give it's
entirely possible. In the final battle, hey, you can't. Circlets are the best
back-up helmets. Gau is the only one who has specific use for a Genji Helmet,
since disregarding oddities such as the Paladin Shield, Thornlet and Merit Award
Crystal Helmet, he needs it to reach 255 Defense.
Terra Terra (alternate 128% MBlock set-up)
Enhancer Enhancer
Aegis Shld Force Shld
Mystery Veil Mystery Veil
Minerva Force Armor
- White Cape
- White Cape
Vigor: 32 Vigor: 31
Speed: 36 Speed: 34
Stamina: 29 Stamina: 28
Mag. Pwr: 53 Mag. Pwr: 49
Bat. Pwr: 147 Bat. Pwr: 147
Defense: 200 Defense: 145
Mag. Defense: 180 Mag. Defense: 206
MBlock%: 87 MBlock%: 137
Absorbs: Absorbs:
Nullifies: Fire, Ice, Nullifies:
Lightning, Wind
Resists: Poison, Pearl, Earth, Resists: Fire, Bolt, Ice, Wind, Earth
Water
Terra kicks all kinds of ass late-game; she gets to wield all the best equips
out there; I won't count on the Illumina, but I *will* count on the Minerva
armor. Late-game Terra nullifies four elements and takes 50% from the other
four. Her main point of offense is her Magic skillset, obviously, meaning that
she can fling the four of the most popular elements to be weak against - Fire,
Ice, Lightning, Pearl - with considerable force. A level 3 spell coming from
Terra is going to leave a mark coming from her horribly bloated Magic Power,
and her MBlock% isn't too bad either.
Her alternate set-up is shooting for > 128% MBlock. Her Defense suffers
greatly but with only Red Dragon's !Eraser, SrBehemoth's !Evil Claw, Doom's
!Demon Rage, and Tentacle being able to hit you in the first place, that's of
minor concern. Doesn't hog Illumina or Paladin Shld either, so that's a bonus.
Locke
ValiantKnife
Thunder Shld
Genji Helmet
Genji Armor
Muscle Belt
-
Vigor: 42
Speed: 43
Stamina: 33
Mag. Pwr: 31
Bat. Pwr: 159
Defense: 215
Mag. Defense: 169
MBlock%: 12
Absorbs: Thunder
Nullifies: Wind
Resists: Fire, Ice
Pretty much the only remarkable feature of this set-up is the fact it includes
the Muscle Belt. Locke lacks any real awesome armor (in fact, he's pretty much
the schoolbook average Defensive character), so the Muscle Belt doesn't hurt to
boost him there. In addition, the more HP Locke has to lose, the more power he
can channel into that blue blade of happiness he carries around, the
ValiantKnife. Nothing much else to say, really; Locke can really enjoy the
Offering if you're looking for that other Relic to accompany the Muscle Belt.
Note that Red Cap doesn't stack with the Muscle Belt when it comes to HP
boosts. Locke's primary concern is his complete and utter lack of MBlock%,
which doesn't quite fit an agile thief such as our Byronian hero, but this is
his best shot.
Cyan
Scimitar
Aegis Shld
Genji Helmet
Genji Armor
-
-
Vigor: 45
Speed: 31
Stamina: 35
Mag. Pwr: 28
Bat. Pwr: 233
Defense: 220
Mag. Defense: 190
MBlock%: 41
Absorbs:
Nullifies:
Resists:
I don't really like this set-up, but then again, I don't really like anything
on Cyan (or should be something exceedingly heavy and/or spikey, heh). It's
as good as it's going to get, though. Defense, Magice Defense and Mblock are
all normal. The only point of debate is the weapon of Cyan. Some claim that
since Dispatch outdamages the Fight command at all times, you should only
consider using a weapon that has an added effect, be it either Scimitar's 25 %
slice effect or Tempest's 50 % Wind Slash attack. If slicing is any kind of
option I find a Doom spell far and away superior, and Wind Slash? A 48 Base
Power magical attack coming from CYAN? Nay, while the above philosophy is
actually sported by some respected peers, I find that Fight's targetable nature
is often more useful than Wind Slash or random ID, so stick with your strongest
weapon, also when you should find the more powerful yet featureless Sky Render
in the near future.
Shadow
Thiefknife
Thundr Shld
Genji Helmet
Genji Armor
-
-
Vigor: 44
Speed: 44
Stamina: 32
Mag. Pwr: 36
Bat. Pwr: 111
Defense: 216
Mag. Defense: 171
MBlock%: 29
Absorbs: Lightning
Nullifies: Wind
Resists: Fire, Ice
What can I say about Shadow here? Apart from his weapon, his defenses are
entirely standard. You'd expect something more evasive and less durable for a
Ninja, I'm sure, but this is what the game gives us. You can take Shadow any
ol' way you like; give him two Earrings and watch his magical Skeans perform
decently; give him a Hero Ring and a Hyper Wrist (due to Throw, actually fairly
effective) and watch feable Shuriken clean house; pass on both Force Armor and
Force Shld to make for that mad-dodging-Ninja you might think would fit him, I
don't really care. Shadow has, as is befitting of a true cold-hearted warrior,
no actual weaknesses to defend or extreme strengths to exploit, so have a field
day with him.
Edgar
Pearl Lance
Force Shld
Genji Helmet
Genji Armor
DragoonBoots
Dragon Horn
Vigor: 59
Speed: 30
Stamina: 34
Mag. Pwr: 32
Bat. Pwr: 214
Defense: 176
Mag. Defense: 210
MBlock%: 51
Absorbs:
Nullifies:
Resists: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Earth, Water
Canon Hiryuu Dragoon Edgar, I'd say. Obviously there's always the choice which
(if any) piece of Genji equipment is replaced by an item that grants elemental
properties. I liked this one the best, as it gives Edgar superior Magic Defense
(honestly, 210 is really good), and while his Defense is lacking here, his
status as Dragoon makes sure he will take far less physical hits than other
characters anyway. Inherent Shell coming from the shield is nice icing on the
proverbial cake, and 51% MBlock is plain solid. Edgar is mainly working his
Jump attacks here, which means he's pretty limited to rather uncontrollable
and random Pearl-elemental damage, but he's very good at it. The only non-Magic
skills Edgar may still use are NoiseBlaster and Air Anchor (possibly Drill if
you want to go for a sure and quick kill when you know the enemy is weakened
enough).
Sabin Sabin (Merit Award set-up)
Tiger Fangs Enhancer
Genji Shld Genji Shld
Red Cap Circlet
Red Jacket Genji Armor
- Merit Award
- -
Vigor: 59 Vigor: 54
Speed: 44 Speed: 41
Stamina: 47 Stamina: 44
Mag. Pwr: 32 Mag. Pwr: 42
Bat. Pwr: 241 Bat. Pwr: 161
Defense: 209 Defense: 222
Mag. Defense: 143 Mag. Defense: 170
MBlock%: 24 MBlock%: 44
Absorbs: Absorbs:
Nullifies: Fire Nullifies:
Resists: Resists:
Yes, with the Red Jacket as your ultimate armor, you can't expect to be very
well suited to take hits, and with a grotesquely low Magic Defense as 143 that
quickly becomes apparent. It was a toss-up for me between Thunder Shld and
Genji Shld; Sabin could use the elemental properties, sure, but switching means
that Sabin's Mag. Defense lowers to 121, which is just plain unacceptable.
Since in this game extra Defense matters more if you have high Defense in the
first place, Sabin will like the Red Cap better than the Genji Helmet's
superior defenses. Defense is more or less okay-ish, slightly lower than most
characters. Horrid MBlock too. On the offense, Sabin is basically a two-trick
pony; Air Blade for MT damage and Bum Rush for ST damage. Unless you know it'll
do the trick or you have a good follow-up move, Air Blade is pretty obsolete
in the final dungeon; you want to kill or disable, not randomly throw damage
around (it ain't Seiken Densetsu III, folks). Once again, Sabin relies on his
Magic Power, so stick at least one Hero Ring/Earrings on him (he will also like
defensive Relics such as Pod Bracelet and Marvel Shoes. Muscle Belt works, in
which case you should swap the Red Cap for a Genji Helmet).
On the alternate set-up: some players frown upon the Merit Award, but I feel
it will help Sabin greatly in the final parts of this game. At the loss of
a single Relic slot and Fire nullifying, Sabin gains here + 10 Magic Power,
13 Defense, 27 Magic Defense, and 20% MBlock. I say Sabin wins here. Replace
Enhancer with Magus Rod where possible for 10% extra MBlock and 33 extra
Battle Power.
Celes Celes (alternate 128% MBlock set-up)
Enhancer Enhancer
Aegis Shld Force Shld
Mystery Veil Mystery Veil
Minerva Force Armor
- White Cape
- -
Vigor: 35 Vigor: 34
Speed: 37 Speed: 35
Stamina: 32 Stamina: 31
Mag. Pwr: 50 Mag. Pwr: 46
Bat. Pwr: 151 Bat. Pwr: 151
Defense: 202 Defense: 142
Mag. Defense: 178 Mag. Defense: 199
MBlock%: 89 MBlock%: 129
Absorbs: Absorbs:
Nullifies: Fire, Ice, Nullifies:
Lightning, Wind
Resists: Poison, Pearl, Earth, Resists: Fire, Bolt, Ice, Wind, Earth
Water
Celes is entirely like Terra with some very, very subtle stat differences and
one major one; Celes has 2 extra inherent Mblock, which means that she needs
10 coming from equipment to reach that perfect 128. This, again, means that
Celes can pull off Terra's road to perfect evasion while still making room for
a Relic. That's good!
Relm Relm (alternate 128 MBlock% set-up)
Magus Rod Magus Rod
Genji Shld Force Shld
Cat Hood Cat Hood
BehemothSuit Tao Robe
- White Cape
- White Cape
Vigor: 32 Vigor: 26
Speed: 42 Speed: 36
Stamina: 28 Stamina: 22
Mag. Pwr: 61 Mag. Pwr: 60
Bat. Pwr: 179 Bat. Pwr: 179
Defense: 216 Defense: 146
Mag. Defense: 186 Mag. Defense: 193
MBlock%: 69 MBlock%: 129
Absorbs: Absorbs:
Nullifies: Nullifies:
Resists: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Resists: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Pearl,
Wind, Pearl, Earth Earth
61 fricking Magic Power! Yeah, Relm is a PURE Mage end-game. Sketch sucks
beyond all human comprehension, and her physicals are nothing compared to her
magical damage output, meaning she won't actually absorb or nullify anything,
which is a darn shame - she will still take less damage than most characters.
On the alternate set-up: a perfect MBlock% set-up. The good thing here is
that she only needs ONE item you may want on another character to get there;
everything else is either store-bought or pretty much Relm-focused anyway.
Great Magic Power still, and her elemental resistances don't suffer either.
A far greater set-up than the 'basic' one if you have the goods to spare.
Strago
Magus Rod
Thunder Shld
Circlet
BehemothSuit
-
-
Vigor: 36
Speed: 32
Stamina: 28
Mag. Pwr: 51
Bat. Pwr: 178
Defense: 195
Mag. Defense: 147
MBlock%: 47
Absorbs: Lightning
Nullifies: Wind
Resists: Fire, Ice
Yes, as you can see, late-game Strago's Magic Power doesn't differ much from
Terra's, even though the old man's less magically adept than the moody
shapeshiftress ever was; you can thank the Magic-boosting equips for that.
Strago is inferior to Terra in his role as Magic wielder, but where Terra has
Morph, Strago has Lore. This is only partially useful late-game; Big Guard,
Pearl Wind to heal through Wall Rings and Runic, and GrandTrain if Strago is
Ultima-less. I'd say in the end, Strago isn't the hottest mage around, but
since his Lores do add a certain degree of extra flexibility that Terra lacks,
even though it's mostly on paper, Strago isn't completely outclassed. Pretty
bad Magic Defense though, especially considering Strago is a mage himself.
Setzer Setzer (Imp set-up)
Fixed Dice Fixed Dice
Genji Shld TortoiseShld
Genji Helmet Titanium
Force Armor Imp's Armor
Offering Offering
- -
Vigor: 36 Vigor: 36
Speed: 32 Speed: 32
Stamina: 32 Stamina: 32
Mag. Pwr: 29 Mag. Pwr: 29
Bat. Pwr: 19 Bat. Pwr: 19
Defense: 207 Defense: 255
Mag. Defense: 182 Mag. Defense: 234
MBlock%: 51 MBlock%: 31
Absorbs: Absorbs: Water
Nullifies: Nullifies:
Resists: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Resists:
Wind, Earth
Right. I had a hard time deciding between Thunder Shld/Genji Armor and
Genji Shld/Force Armor; the first one has great Defense and handles Lightning-
and Wind-elemental attacks better, this one resists more elements and has a
higher Magic Defense. Since magical attacks tend to be more dangerous end-game,
this won the fair-day goose. Solid Defense, solid Magic Defense, pretty much
standard MBlock, and the Fixed Dice. Setzer will be throwing the Fixed Dice
for damage. That means that he's entirely random, especially when paired with
the Offering, as you can't target specific enemies either that way.
On the alternate set-up: Yes, this will need you to have the Imp status set.
Perfect Defense, stunning Magic Defense, Setzer will just be a lot harder to
take down. His bane here is status ailments, as 31% MBlock isn't that high, and
since you need Imp, you can't equip a Ribbon. He'll lose his Magic skillset
too, so unless you have three other characters with decent Magic skillsets,
the tradeoff might not be worth it.
Mog
Pearl Lance
Genji Shld
Circlet
Snow Muffler
DragoonBoots
Dragon Horn
Vigor: 31
Speed: 37
Stamina: 29
Mag. Pwr: 42
Bat. Pwr: 210
Defense: 255
Mag. Defense: 195
MBlock%: 42
Absorbs: Ice
Nullifies:
Resists: Fire
The reason I'm going with this set-up is simply the fact that gosh-golly Colonel
Sanders, I'm afraid we're running out of Genji Helmets. This isn't much of a
concern to Mog, though. This is his Dragoon set-up, and it's pretty much his
only choice, as the little guy doesn't have the equipment to back him up as a
great mage. Perfect Defense, great Magic Defense, very acceptable Magic Power
should you want to sneak in a spell or like to see a Pearl spell employed on
that ever-precious final Jump attack. A tad scrawny on the 'elemental
protection' category, but with nigh-200 Magic Defense, it's not that bad.
Gau Gau (Wind God set-up)
- Tempest
Thunder Shld Genji Shld
Genji Helmet Crystal Helm
Snow Muffler Snow Muffler
White Cape Merit Award
- Offering
Vigor: 44 Vigor: 44
Speed: 38 Speed: 38
Stamina: 36 Stamina: 36
Mag. Pwr: 34 Mag. Pwr: 34
Bat. Pwr: 109 Bat. Pwr: 200
Defense: 255 Defense: 255
Mag. Defense: 195 Mag. Defense: 193
MBlock%: 48 MBlock%: 48
Absorbs: Ice, Lightning Absorbs: Ice
Nullifies: Wind Nullifies:
Resists: Fire Resists: Fire
In my opinion the Thunder Shld/White Cape combo is superior to Genji Shld/
whatever Relic you want for a 255 Defense set-up; he's better with the elements
and gains immunity to two nasty status ailments. Genji Shld gives more Magic
Defense though. If you're REALLY into Rages, Genji Shld is superior, as you
don't need the shield's elemental properties since you know how to self-apply
them at every turn. Anyway, this set-up turns Gau into a tank; 255 Defense means
immunity to physical damage that's not barrier-piercing, and 195 Magic Defense
is very high as well. Very nice elemental attributes too, and standard amounts
of MBlock. On the offense, Gau really doesn't have a lot to offer anymore;
Rages tend to be inferior to Magic by now, so he'll just be casting spells with
far less power than characters such as Celes and Relm. Gau shines on the
defensive side, though.
On the alternative set-up: Wind God! Rage Stray Cat; you'll have a 25% chance
of a 200 power Wind-elemental physical, 25% chance of a 48 power Wind Slash
attack, 25% chance of a 800 power Wind-elemental physical (Catscratch), and
25% chance of a 198 power Wind Slash attack, which is comparable to Crusader's
Purifer attack without it hitting you. With the offering, you'll have FOUR
hits, each sporting the above odds. The physicals will be halved in damage, but
the Wind Slash attacks will not be. The Wind God is very, extremely, obscenely
strong and needs to be taken advantage of. I picked a Crystal Helm for his head
since you may want to save the Genji Helmets for other people, and giving one
to Gau really doesn't open up any other options concerning 255 Defense.
Gogo
Magus Rod
Thunder Shld
Red Cap
Tao Robe
-
-
Vigor: 29
Speed: 33
Stamina: 22
Mag. Pwr: 38
Bat. Pwr: 181
Defense: 174
Mag. Defense: 120
MBlock%: 56
Absorbs: Lightning
Nullifies: Wind
Resists: Fire, Ice
Yeah, Gogo does NOT take hits very well. The Genji Helmet over the Red Cap
would have helped its defenses somewhat, but the 25% HP boost will help Gogo
better in the long run. Thunder Shlds elemental resistances really help Gogo's
survivability, but it's best to stick a protective Relic on it nonetheless;
if you go with Muscle Belt, swap the Red Cap for a Genji Helmet. For the
offense, Gogo should totally go with Throw on bosses and Bum Rush on randoms.
Umaro
Bone Club
Snow Muffler
Rage Ring
-
Vigor: 62
Speed: 33
Stamina: 46
Mag. Pwr: 37
Bat. Pwr: 198
Defense: 217
Mag. Defense: 158
MBlock%: 15
Absorbs: Fire, Ice
Nullifies: Lightning
Resists:
Yes, Umaro's stats are pretty good, but it's a shame that we can't really take
advantage of them. Umaro's Defense is above average, but the flip side of the
coin is that you'll want him in the Front Row to deal better damage with his
Fight attacks. Magic Defense is obviously sub-par; better than the likes of
Gogo and Sabin (and even Strago), but still sub-par. Absorbing or nullifying
the three basic elements is great, but on the offense, Umaro is both
strategically unfit AND too weak to still make a good party member, even with
the previously named advantages. Umaro is still superior to Magic-less Relms or
poorly raised Gaus, though.
So, that's my say on the characters at the final stage. I'm sure your undying
love for everything Sabin might make you want to disagree with me, but I think
this is a fairly solid objective view on the task at hand.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.71.1 Kefka's Tower: Preparation and explanation
**********************************
Right. When you're fully prepared to tackle the final dungeon, you can fly
over there. What does 'fully prepared' mean? Well, the following are nice
additions to your party:
- Make sure you have good equipment on everybody. Crystal Mail and Mithril
Shlds are unacceptable.
- Fenix Downs are great. Not every character may know a Life spell, and you
will want to respond ASAP to fallen allies.
- You should have more GP than you'll know what to do with. Buy some
ThunderBlades, Blizzards and Flame Sabres in the Albrook Weapon Shop. They
make great ammunition for Shadow and Gogo against the many bosses you'll
be fighting.
- Speaking of GP, do you remember L? Pearl? NO enemy in Kefka's Tower will
ever drop an amount of GP that's not divisible by 10. This means that when
you set the last digit of your GP stack to 1, you'll gain an MT
Pearl-elemental attack that's as powerful as a MT'd level 3 spell. The
easiest way of reaching #######1 GP is by obtaining and selling Magicite
shards, which sell for 1 GP a piece.
Team recommendations:
Locke Setzer Gau
Relm Terra Cyan
Strago Edgar Mog
Shadow Sabin Celes
This is the best overall formation I could come up with. Why is that? Let's
take a look at my genius:
Locke, Terra, and Celes are all on different teams. I figured that Edgar was
least likely to use the Illumina (it doesn't go with the Dragoon set-up), and
this way you'll always have a place for the Illumina.
Locke, Setzer, and Gau are the characters that will benefit the most from the
unique Relic that is the Offering; this way, none of them will ever have to
go without it as you can switch it around.
The first party is focused around the Control command, although you don't have
to use it in order to make the party effective. You can Control monsters with
Relm and Steal 'til you drop with Locke. Strago can learn more Lores with Relm
around (although the difference should be neglectable at this point), and his
presence and Shadow's makes for every kind of attack you could want (magical,
physical, targetable ST, non-elemental MT). Besides, the Thamasian Two will
like fighting in the same party.
The third party is focused around Cyan. The poor bloke needs it, to be honest.
Gau can move automatically during boss fights (which are the only fights
where SwdTech will be useful without the Quick spell), and Mog will spend time
in the air as well. Set a Rage on Gau, have Mog Jump, Celes perform a spell,
and maybe a monster will use a spell to follow up; Cyan should be around Stunner
and Quadra Slice by now. The party could use a little more targetability on the
whole, but Celes can do that if you want. It's a very defensive team too; Cyan
is the only one who isn't either a 255 Defense tank or a Minerva wearer.
The second party is basically what's left. Edgar, Setzer, and Sabin can't target
very well (unless you trade in offensive power; Edgar's Tools and Setzer's
Fixed Dice without the Offering are perfectly targetable), but the team
consists out of three of the easiest characters to use and the only one who
isn't a fan-favorite, Setzer, has the broken Fixed Dice/Offering combo to work.
The Figaro brothers, plot-wise, is nice too.
The above is assuming you want to take all twelve 'character' characters with
you, and not the hidden characters that can't equip Espers. You can replace
Gau with Umaro if you want, and Gogo can pretty much take over every character
in the teams, provided you give him the right skills and equipment (Merit
Award necessary). With sufficient Esper Boosts, Gogo and Umaro will probably be
the two character you want to leave behind anyway; I'd personally favor Gogo
over Cyan but I think I've made my dislike for his fighting prowess perfectly
clear plenty of times so see it as bias.
Here's a quick rundown on what the three parties will face. Half-way there's a
switch for party #1. Going left or right affects the paths of all three parties,
so I'm giving both scenarios here.
#1 will know the most random encounters in the first part of the dungeon, but
doesn't face any bosses before the left/right choice. If #1 goes left, these
will have to face off against Doom; if #1 goes to the right, they'll have to
face Goddess.
#2 will meet Atma and the Gold Drgn. If #1 goes to the left, #2 will also
face Goddess; if #1 goes to the right, these will face off against Poltrgeist.
#3 will have to defeat Inferno and the Skull Drgn in their travels. If #1 goes
left, these will have to face Poltrgeist; if #1 go to the right, they'll come
across Doom.
Party #1 will fight the most random encounters, but won't fight any bosses.
I'd say the #3 party sees the toughest road ahead of it; Inferno is one of
those Number 128/Air Force-esque "One Main Man And Two Parasitic Lackeys" bosses
which tend to take a lot out of the party.
This walkthrough has Party #1 go to the left.
For the ideal set-up, you DON'T want Locke in Party #1 (it'll ruin his chances
of seeing Guardian, and you'll want him to Steal from it), and Strago will
probably want to face Doom so you'll want him to be in Party #1 as long as you
follow this walkthrough. If you make an alternate choice, stick him in #3.
All done?
Ready.
Set.
Go.
"It shinnied up like a monkey on a stick - and suddenly its face was pressed
against the tough plastic sheet Will Hanlon had put over each of the pages in
his book. Beverly screamed again and this time Eddie joined her, although his
scream was faint and blue-breathless. The plastic bulged out - later they would
all agree they saw it. Bill saw the bulb of the clown's red nose flatten, the
way your nose will flatten when you press it against a windowpane.
'Kill you all!' The clown was laughing and screaming. 'Try to stop me and
I'll kill you all! Drive you crazy and them kill you all! You can't stop me!
I'm the Gingerbread Man! I'm the Teenage Werewolf!'"
- King, Stephen (1986) It
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.71.2 Kefka's Tower: Reconnaissance
**********************************
Location: Kefka's Tower
Party members: Optional: Terra, Locke, Cyan, Shadow, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Relm,
Strago, Setzer, Mog, Gau, Gogo, Umaro
Opponents: Retainer, Dark Force, Steroidite, Doom Drgn, Mover, Madam, Vectaur,
Brontaur, Land Worm, Scullion, Evil Oscar, Outsider, Hemophyte, Dueller,
GtBehemoth, Vectagoyle, Fortis, Junk, Innoc, Didalos, Veteran, Sky Base,
IronHitman, Prometeus, Inferno, Rough, Striker, Gold Drgn, Skull Drgn
Lores: Condemned, Roulette, CleanSweep, Aero, Blow Fish, Big Guard, Revenge,
Pearl Wind, L.5 Doom, L.4 Flare, L.3 Muddle, Reflect???, L? Pearl,
Step Mine, Dischord, Sour Mouth, Pep Up, Rippler, Quasar, Exploder
Since Kefka's Tower is so incredibly large, knows such an incredible variety
in monster formations, monsters and areas, I'm going to lay the monsters down
for you when you reach a room where you start meeting them, okay?
Kefka's Tower (garbage slopes):
GtBehemoth, Evil Oscar, Vectaur (6/16)
Vectaur, Vectaur, Vectaur, Vectaur (5/16)
Brontaur, Evil Oscar (5/16)
Kefka's Tower (garbage caves party #1):
GtBehemoth, Vectaur, Vectaur (10/16)
GtBehemoth, Evil Oscar, Vectaur (6/16)
Kefka's Tower (Imperial Castle):
Dark Force, Dark Force (10/16)
Outsider, Outsider, Madam (6/16)
Kefka's Tower (Facility rooms):
Junk, Junk, Junk (6/16)
IronHitman, IronHitman, IronHitman (5/16)
Dueller, Fortis (5/16)
Ri-hi-hight, let's get this baby cracking. Naturally, since you're in the final
dungeon and all, you're assuming that these cretins are going to be very, very
tough on you. You're kinda semi-right. They can be mean if you let them, but as
that went for quite a few other monsters out there there's nothing to really
worry about. Since the How-to-Blitz topics have been at a steady 472.3 to 1 rate
to the How-to-defeat-Kefka topics, I've always known that idiots tend to get
filtered out early, so you're capable and all. Let's discuss, man to man.
Vectaur is short for 'Vector Dinosaur' or something mind-numbingly unoriginal
like that. They like to attack physically (this includes !Tusk, which is just a
tad stronger than Battle) and use Fire Ball. They're weak to Ice-elemental
attacks like all lizards, but also to Water, so a CleanSweep attack isn't a
half-bad idea if you like using obscure attacks to hit elemental weaknesses.
They're immune to ID attacks, and you can Sketch (75%) and Control them for
Pearl Wind attacks, which may help you.
Evil Oscar is spunky and nasty. These nasty plants attack physically only under
normal circumstances. When hit by a Magic spell they have a 1/3 chance of
attacking with a !Demon Kiss attack, which sets Death. When alone, they will use
Sour Mouth, like their tomb-dwelling Mad brethren. They absorb every element but
the Fire element, to which they are weak like good little plants. They are
vulnerable to every status ailment too, including Death, so use that to your
advantage. Note that while Magic is usually a big no-no versus these guys, they
will do nothing once they are dead, so FATAL Magic spells yield no counters.
If you're sure you're going to do more than 7000 HP of damage or just cast
Break, Doom, or X-Zone, there's nothing to worry about.
GtBehemoths like to think of themselves as bigger, better versions of Behemoths,
but in reality they really, truly are. They attack physically and with the
Meteor spell (shaves off about 1500 HP, which is quite painful) and counter any
damage done by !Hay Maker (Battle * 4). They're weak to Ice like normal
Behemoths, but they have ID protection, which certainly makes their omni-counter
all the more annoying. Thankfully, they are vulnerable to Sleep and Stop. It's
a good idea to set one of them before attacking as !Hay Maker hurts. I should
add a final note about the fact you can't run from them. Oh yeah, and you can
steal rare Tiger Fangs from them. Tiger Fangs are fairly pointless on Sabin by
this point, especially if you already have one, but you might appreciate the
novelty behind having more than one. If your one of those Sabin + Genji Glove +
Offering + dual Tiger Fangs crazies, be my guest.
And stop reading. You have learned nothing.
Retainers may very well be familiar faces to you as you could've brawled with
them in the Colosseum. They're not quite as annoying in 'real life', but they
come bloody close and that's bad enough. They attack physically, often two times
every turn. Every fourth turn, a Wind Slash attack may make its appearance,
sometimes even two in a row. The kicker, as always, is that !Tradeoff attack it
pulls out of thin air every time you kill it. The strategy to use here is the
Imp status; set Imp and kill them. The Imp status will transform their physicals
into automatic criticals, but it's worth it. They have the Aura Knife as a rare
steal; you shouldn't need any at this stage of the game, but you can change them
into Strato Knives at the Colosseum, which are stronger weapons for Shadow to
Throw than Tack Stars.
Dark Force is generally hailed as the ultimate Lore resource, and that's for a
good reason too. Dark Force uses all the Lores available to Strago except for
Big Guard, ForceField, GrandTrain, and Pep Up. CleanSweep can only be accessed
by Dark Force when they are Confused or Controlled. Since this means that Dark
Force can throw a wide array of nasty attacks your way, you'll want to kill
them as quickly as possible. ID attacks work, and especially. L.5 Doom is great
to accomplish their deaths. Lacking this, X-Zone and Break spells are your best
options. If Strago lacks Lores at this stage, here's Dark Force's AI script for
the ultimate learning experience:
1st turn randomly: Condemned, Roulette, Aqua Rake
2nd turn randomly: Revenge, Pearl Wind, L.5 Doom
3rd turn randomly: L.4 Flare, L.3 Muddle, Reflect???
4th turn randomly: L? Pearl, Step Mine, Launcher
5th turn randomly: Dischord, Sour Mouth, Imp Song
6th turn randomly: Aero, Blow Fish, Exploder
7th turn randomly: Rippler, Stone, Quasar
Loop
The two Lores that you are likely to not know at this stage are Reflect??? and
Quasar; the former is a ridiculously horrible attack that sets Dark, Mute, and
Slow on every Reflective opponent on the battlefield (which would have been
mildly useful one hundred years ago, while scouting the Ancient Castle, a place
you have no business returning too), while Quasar is just a non-elemental,
barrier-piercing attack that would have been extremely fine hadn't it been for
the fact that GrandTrain is better in every relevant way but MP cost.
Madam is a tough opponent, and as she often appears with two Outsiders, things
look even grimmer. I'd say that every battle with a Madam/double Outsider
formation is more dangerous than most of the boss battles you have to engage
in this dungeon. Madam is difficult to describe, as what she basically does is
throw powerful spells around is a manner loosely related to her current
situation. Any time she is damaged, she may cast either Cure 2 on herself/her
party, the Meteor spell on your party, or both. When all monsters are
Reflective, she'll cast Cure 3 on YOUR party, which makes no sense whatsoever.
Getting the enemy party Reflective, though, takes a lot of effort in a situation
where you get nothing out of a Reflective enemy party, so that scenario
shouldn't present itself. In no particular order, the spells she can cast (all
on the targets you'd naturally assume): Cure 2, Cure 3, Remedy, Life 3, the
level 3 spells, Flare, Pearl, Safe, Shell, Regen, and Haste. Oh yes, and she
rarely throws in a completely useless !Sightless attack to blind a character.
All in all, you want to stop those spells. Imp, Berserk, and Stop are all ways
to do just that. Make it a priority when facing that dreaded Madam/Outsider/
Outsider combo, as a Bserk spell never fails.
Outsiders are THE most universally damaging opponents in this game. Not the most
dangerous, as they are easily dispatched, but with inherent Haste, the ability
to use the Throw command every turn, and a Throw counter to every non-fatal
attack you perform, they're more than likely are going to sneak at least ONE
blade down your throat. Every turn, they either Throw a ninja blade or a katana
in this order:
Imperial or Ashura
Kodachi or Kotetsu
Blossom or Forged
Hardened or Tempest
Striker or Murasame
When damaged by the Fight command, any Outsider will respond with a Shuriken;
at every damaging attack that's not a Fight command, they will respond with
either a Ninja Star or a Tack Star. Funnily enough, Outsiders appear to have a
strong yet bizarre sense of honor; if they have not succeeded in killing your
entire party by the time they Throw either a Striker or Murasame, they will
kill themselves with their !Ruin attack. Whenever you meet Outsiders, you want
to stop their actions immediately. You may Confuse them with the NoiseBlaster
of the L.3 Muddle Lore to divert their attention for a moment before attempting
to kill them using X-Zone or Break. They have a rare Break Blade Steal. If, for
some unthinkable reason, you want to go for them, cast Stop to make your life
a lot easier.
IronHitman's sprite doesn't bode too well for it. And nay, with 2000 Hit Points,
physical attacks and the Dischord Lore there's no reason to fear these tiny
metallic soldiers. They're weak to Lightning. They succumb easily to an MT
Bolt 3 spell, a Tritoch summon, a Bolt Edge, or something along those lines.
Junk is scrap metal with just enough self-conscience to explode when you come
near. That's basically what they do; at the slightest hint of danger, they
sacrifice themselves by using Exploder or Pep Up. There's also a chance that on
the first turn will have them do nothing; if this is the case, there's a small
chance they will use !Parallout on themselves on the second turn, which sets
Clear. Regardless, act fast when you meet them. 2000 HP of damage to a character
isn't something you were really waiting for, so make sure you take them out
ASAP. They're weak machines. Bolt 3 spells and Bolt Edges galore.
Fortis. That's Latin for 'strong' if you don't mind the possible grammatical
inaccuracy. They attack with Fire Ball, Snowball, and Missile. Fire Ball is
entirely too weak to worry about, especially since most of your characters
either absorb or take reduced damage from the attack. Missile is annoying when
it hits, but Snowball especially stands out, as it's unblockable, and it's
unlikely you have characters running around with Safety Bits or Memento Rings.
When struck by a Lightning-elemental attack, Fortis will respond with a !Double
Arm (Battle * 1.5) and Battle attack. Obviously the Battle attack is supposed to
be part of the whole !Double Arm ordeal there.
Where do these armors come from? Who makes them anymore? Who'd be demented
enough to ride around in one to protect a guy like Kefka all day? Senseless as
they may be, Dueller can be a real pain. They have the ability to cast L.4 Flare
and L.5 Doom, and since you don't really prepare for them, you may suddenly
find two of your characters facedown before you blink twice. Whenever damaged,
the Dueller may counter with a Shrapnel attack, which is nasty enough too. The
Mute status followed up with ID spells is the way to go. Dueller has a Chainsaw
as a rare steal, so if you never bothered to grab the thing in Zozo, you can
try your luck here.
You'll start out with Party #1, which is good enough. Walk down to come across
two conveyer belts; the left one goes down, the right one goes up. You could
attempt to go up a conveyer belt not going in your direction; you'll get set
back a tile. With the Moogle Charm, this could potentially catch you in an
endless loop that builds your Step Mine damage output all the way up to 9999,
but seriously considering this is unhealthy, so I won't mention it again.
In these slopes of the garbage tower, you'll see a chest; it contains a
Coronet. By now, it's rather outdated when it comes to defenses; it boosts the
chances of Control working, but I'd say the Cat Hood is better even when you're
using Control.
Next room; more slopes, more conveyer belts. Enter the door with the
flashing yellow triangle above it.
This is recognizable! It's a part of the former Imperial Palace. It seems
Kefka formed his garbage fortress around the former seat of Emperor Gestahl.
How deliciously ironic. You'll start meeting new enemies here (Retainer, Dark
Force, Hemophyte) and will come across a chest containing the Fixed Dice. If
you haven't gotten them before, Setzer must have sucked throughout the entire
World of Ruin; this is his shot at redemption.
The Fixed Dice are Dice, but better. Dice sucked always, but the Fixed Dice is
a better damage dealer than Setzer's other weapons on average (unless extreme
circumstances appear, but meh). The main differences with the Dice include
the fact that there are THREE Dice to multiply with, and upon the situation
of three equal rolls (1-1-1, 2-2-2, etc.) the outcome is once again multiplied
by the number rolled. Finally, the damage output of the Fixed Dice aren't
cut down by the Offering, so Setzer can deal four of these attacks from the
Back Row with the relic equipped.
When you leave the room, you're outside again. Not for long though, as you
quickly dive back in a door. There's more Imperial design here (and more
new enemies, being Junk, IronHitman, Dueller, and Fortis), but you don't
recognize this. It seems you've been halted in your progress; you can see a
switch on the other side, but there's nobody to press it. Let's wait this one
out, gang. Switch to party #2!
Kefka's Tower (garbage slopes):
GtBehemoth, Evil Oscar, Vectaur (6/16)
Vectaur, Vectaur, Vectaur, Vectaur (5/16)
Brontaur, Evil Oscar (5/16)
Kefka's Tower (garbage caves party #2):
Brontaur, Brontaur (10/16)
Evil Oscar, Evil Oscar, Evil Oscar (6/16)
Kefka's Tower (Imperial jail cells):
Hemophyte, Retainer (10/16)
Retainer, Retainer, Dark Force (6/16)
Kefka's Tower (Imperial stairway):
Mover, Mover, Mover (10/16)
Steroidite (6/16)
Kefka's Tower (Facility rooms):
Junk, Junk, Junk (6/16)
IronHitman, IronHitman, IronHitman (5/16)
Dueller, Fortis (5/16)
Kefka's Tower