The Advance Walkthrough and Battle Tactics Guide; WoR
Version 1.0
Djibriel, December 2007
"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 1.0 (02/01/2008)
That's much better. The walkthrough now spans the World of Ruin from
beginning to end, including the Dragon's Den, the Soul Shrine and
Omega Weapon. The added chapters include 7.74.1 t/m 7.77.1. In addition,
some clarification was given on certain GBA-only bugs, such as
Leap/Gigantuar and the item duplication bug.
- Version 0.9 (01/06/2008)
Initial release. This document is primarily a kind of upgrade over my
FF VI walkthrough for the SNES. Version 1.2 was used as a basis. You can
check the SNES document for a longer version history. The version number
is 0.9 to indicate that it is not complete yet; the Dragon's Den and
Soul Shrine sections are still to be written. In addition, I've decided to
boycot the KO label and just call it Death; it may not be as retarded as
Psyche, but I still don't like the sound of it.
**********************************
2.0 Introduction
**********************************
Hi, I'm Djibriel. 'Sup?
A very important thing to realize about this document is that it's a
translation of a SNES-based document which can be found elsewhere on this site.
Too bad for you lot it was done by the document's original author, that being
me, so you have little room for complaining about translation 'errors' and my
apparant inability to capture the original document's air. Don't forget, oh
perfect reader, I know you better than you know yourself >:)
The original document was first released in November 2005, and we're roughly
two years down the road now. It may seem weird to some that 'simply 'adapting
the original 1381 kB file took about as long as writing the monstrosity in the
first place, but you'd be surprised at how much work it is! Saint Jerome and
Ted Woolsey would've shared my pain I'm sure, had they not both passed away 16
centuries ago.
At the very start of this document I'd like to mention that none of this would
have ever happened if there weren't so many righteous characters out there who
advised my walkthrough to people on the message boards, who e-mailed me just to
say they enjoyed the FAQ in one way or another or otherwise made me feel like
I didn't spend all this time just for personal enjoyment... I had a market to
work for. Hotels around the globe replaced their Holy Bible with a printed
version of the Battle Tactics Walkthrough. Rumors have comely women carry
snippets of my guide in their panties to feel sexier and more confident. Like
Stephen King and Robert Jordan, I had to struggle to deliver my ultimate work
before Death's ever-fickle hand took me in its grip. Before you, you see the
results. The all-inclusive Walkthrough and Battle Tactics Guide for Final
Fantasy VI Advance.
But what is this document you're seeing? Does it really contain everything? Is
it some kind of Hitchhiker's Guide to FF VI Advance? The Encyclopedea CCLV VI
Supremea? The Cosmog 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 of the original document 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 Ecumencial 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 Numan's Easy Tutorial to Dancing in Magitek"
"Djibriel's Humility Fest"
--Warning
At the time of writing I have written four documents in total, all meant for
Final Fantasy III for the SNES and/or Final Fantasy VI Advance for the GBA.
Though the Level # Lore and Sketch Guides are more novelty knowledge than
anything, grabbing my Rage Guide off the shelves could be a worthy addition,
even though all directly important information is given in this document as
well.
My style is verbose. This document is meant for players who like to take their
time for games, who like to know background information, a little extra
suspense, detailed explanation for equipment choices and technique formulas.
It doesn't matter if you're a first-time player or a veteran FF junkie as it
gives both basic descriptions and advanced info, but as long as you like to
dive in there, it's cool.
However, 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. The one I'd like to specifically
mention is the one written by Lufia_Maxim. As you can read in its final
chapter, it was greatly influenced by this very, at the time untranslated
document. It's got all but the useless info and it's only half the size, so he
must've been doing something right.
**********************************
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.
Obviously, this document will use the new translation used by the GBA version
of the game. Boo for Ted Woolsey, give it up for Tom Slattery!
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
GBA:
Release Data
Final Fantasy VI Advance Square Enix 11/30/06 JP
Final Fantasy VI Advance Nintendo 02/05/07 US
Final Fantasy VI Advance Nintendo 06/29/07 EU
Slang:
Ctrl + F:
That most holy of combos, 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 which 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 which 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.
Instant Death attack:
Instant Death attacks are attacks that check for the Instant Death protection
bit. Most of the time, these attacks set Death (Death, Snare, ectera), but other
attacks also use this feature, most noticeably percentage-based attacks like
Gravity and Cyclonic. Several Petrifying spells will check for Instant Death
next to Petrify protection and the oddball Cloudy Heaven and the level-halving
attack Dischord also check for it. The X-type Instant Death of the Assassin's
Dagger, Viper Darts, Ichigeki, Wing Edge and the dicing effect of the
Zantetsuken also check for Instant Death protection.
The following attacks are Instant Death attacks:
Roulette, Break, Gravity, Death, Graviga, Tornado, Banish, Zantetsuken (Odin),
Shin-Zantetsuken (Raiden), Demon Eye (Catoblepas), Oblivion, Tiger, Antlion,
Cave in, Cockatrice, Snare, Snowball, Sonic Boom, Air Anchor, Chain Saw's one-
hit KO attack, Banisher, Doom, Dischord, Lv. 5 Death, Roulette, Blaster,
Cyclonic, Gravity Bomb, Cloudy Heaven, Shamshir, Sabre Soul, Star Prism
Note that this makes Joker's Death the only Death-setting attack that doesn't
check for the bit, and Dread Gaze the only 'normal' Petrify-setting attack that
doesn't check for Instant Death protection. In addition, while Diabolos' Dark
Messenger attack and Gravija are both percentage-based attacks, neither checks
for immunity to Instant Death attacks.
(Enemy) Meteor, (Umaro) Snowstorm:
Both Meteor and Snowstorm, as attacks, have two incarnations in this game.
There's the Meteor spell, an unblockable spell that deals non-elemental
barrier-piercing damage to all targets. And then there's the enemy attack
Meteor, which is blockable to the point of being rather inaccurate but a lot
more powerful. When I'm talking about the spell Meteor, I'll just call it
Meteor. The enemy attack Meteor is called "(enemy) Meteor" in this document to
differate between the two.
In addition, there are two kinds of Snowstorm attacks. The enemy attack
Snowstorm, which is a weak MT Ice-elemental attack used by the Megalodoth
monsters at the beginning of the game. And then there's Umaro's Snowstorm,
which is far stronger but not Umaro-exclusive. Gau has access to the attack
through, for instance, the Black Dragon Rage. The first will be called
Snowstorm, the latter "(Umaro) Snowstorm".
Redux:
The Dragon's Den features eight new elemental dragons. They're called exactly
the same and they look exactly the same. To differate between the two sets of
dragons, I've given the Dragon's Den version the title 'Redux'. It sounds
cool, and it helps :) It's Latin for 'brought back', and if anything, it
references Apocalypse Now: Redux, which is an awesome movie.
**********************************
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 Ymir
4.2.1 Old Man's House
4.2.2 Escape through the mines
4.3.1 Defending Terra from the Guard Leader
4.4.1 Adventuring School
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 Lethe River
4.10.2 The first fight with Ultros
4.11.1 Choosing a scenario
4.12.1 Scenario Terra/Edgar/Banon: Lethe 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: The Imperial Camp and Doma
4.13.3 Scenario Sabin: Satellite and the 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: Apparition and the Phantom Train continued
4.15.3 Scenario Sabin: The battle with the Phantom Train
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: 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 Tunnel Armor
4.21.1 Defending the Esper from Kefka
4.21.2 Hell's Rider
4.21.3 The battle with Kefka
4.22.1 Narshe
4.23.1 Traveling to Kohlingen and optional trip to the Veldt
4.24.1 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 the 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
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 Observation Post
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: Seraph
4.34.2 Airship Exploitation: Auction House: Golem and Zona Seeker
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 Allied Narshe
4.35.2 Lone Wolf persecution and recruiting Mog
4.35.3 Dance lessons, including Water Harmony
4.36.1 Cave to the Sealed Gate
4.36.2 Gil 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 Observation Post and Setzer's cutscene
4.39.1 Departing from 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 Flame Eater
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 Ultima Weapon
4.45.4 Kefka's Betrayal
4.45.5 Escape from the Floating Continent
4.45.6 The battle with Nelapa and Exit
The magical gateway to said document:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/file/930370/51030
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 The Collapsing House
4.49.1 The Serpent Trench
4.49.2 The tail of the Serpent Trench; Mobliz
4.49.3 The battle with Humbaba
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 Crimon Robbers
4.51.3 Pursuing Gerad and the Crimon Robbers; Cave of Figaro
4.51.4 Pursuing Gerad and the Crimon Robbers; Figaro Castle
4.51.5 The battle 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 Coliseum
4.53.3 Darill's Tomb
4.53.4 The battle with Angler Whelk
4.53.5 The battle 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
7.54.4 Airship Exploitation: Obtaining Quetzalli
4.54.5 Airship Exploitation: Visiting Jidoor
4.54.6 Airship Exploitation: The Auction House
4.54.7 Airship Exploitation: Cultist's Tower
4.54.8 Airship Exploitation: Thamasa
4.54.9 Airship Exploitation: Dragon's Neck Coliseum
4.54.10 Airship Exploitation: Leviathan
4.54.11 Airship Exploitation: Deathgaze
4.55.1 Narshe
4.55.2 Narshe's Snowfields; the battle with Ice Dragon
4.55.3 Narshe's Snowfields; the battle with Valigarmanda
4.55.4 Umaro's Cave; the battle with three Tonberries
4.55.5 The battle with Umaro
4.55.6 The Moogle Raid
4.56.1 The battle with Humbaba
4.57.1 Following the pigeon
4.57.2 Mount Zozo
4.57.3 The battle with Storm Dragon
4.57.4 Cyan Garamonde
4.58.1 The Veldt
4.58.2 The Cave of the Veldt and Death Warden
4.58.3 The battle with the Behemoth King
4.60.1 Thamasa and the Coliseum 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 Earth Dragon
4.62.4 Gungho's assignment; Ebot's Rock
4.62.5 The battle with Hidon
4.63.1 Epic of Gilgamesh; Get Rich or Die Tryin'
4.63.2 Epic of Gilgamesh; the battle with Gilgamesh
4.63.3 Another Coliseum 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 battle with Master Tonberry
4.65.2 The Ancient Castle and the battle with Samurai Soul
4.65.3 The battle with the Blue Dragon
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 the Cursed Shield
4.68.3 Gau and his father
4.69.1 The Cultist's Tower and the battle with Holy Dragon
4.69.2 The battle with the Magic Master
4.70.1 Finding the hay in the needlestack; the battle with Gigantuar
4.71.1 End-game character evaluation
4.72.1 Kefka's Tower: Preparation and explanation
4.72.2 Kefka's Tower: Reconnaissance
4.72.3 Kefka's Tower: The source of all Magic
4.72.4 Kefka's Tower: The Final Battle
4.73.1 The Ending
4.74.1 The Epic-Level challenge: Mission Briefing on the Dragon's Den
4.75.1 The Epic-Level challenge: The Seals of Ice, Wind and Earth
4.75.2 The Epic-Level challenge: The Seals of Water and Fire
4.75.3 The Epic-Level challenge: The Cloister of Trials and the Seal of
Darkness
4.75.4 The Epic-Level challenge: The Seal of Heaven
4.75.5 The Epic-Level challenge: The Seal of Lightning and the Treasure Room
4.75.6 The Epic-Level challenge: The battle with Kaiser Dragon
4.76.1 The Soul Shrine
4.77.1 Omega
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.46.1 Intermezzo; The Solitary Island
**********************************
Rise and shine, commander. Rise and shine.
Opponents:
Peeper, Land Ray, Black Dragon
Miscellaneous items: Elixir (rare Peeper steal), Megalixir (rare Land Ray
steal)
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)
Peeper, Peeper (10/16)
Peeper, Peeper, Peeper (6/16)
(Desert)
Land Ray, Peeper, Peeper (10/16)
Black Dragon (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 Sap status, they more
likely than not will perish before they make a move. If they do manage to take
a turn, it's either Attack, !Tail (Attack * 1.5), or White Wind, for which
Peepers don't have enough MP.
Land Ray only has one attack: !Poison Tail, which sets Poison. However,
Land Ray shares the fate of Peeper: 1 HP, inherent Sap. Wandering into the
desert without an Amulet or Ribbon is incredibly stupid, so !Poison Tail
shouldn't affect you.
The Black Dragon is the only actual opponent with a fighting chance on the
island. The first turn can already feature Sand Storm; the second turn Sandstorm
and !Bone Powder. Sandstorm is the thing to watch out for; Celes is by her
lonesome, so she takes quite some damage here. You can instantly defeat Black
Dragon by casting a Raise spell on him. Personally I don't consider it a shadowy
tactic when the undead monster in question lacks Death protection (like Black
Dragon), 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 Fira.
Note: Peepers have a rare Elixir steal and Land Ray 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 (A delicious fish) (fast) - Increases Healthy bar by 32 when fed to Cid.
Fish (An ordinary fish) (medium) - Increases Healthy bar by 16 when fed to Cid.
Fish (A foul-tasting fish) (medium) - Decreases Health bar by 4 when fed to Cid.
Fish (A fish) (slow) - Decreases Health bar by 16 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 foul-tasting fish), and (A delicious fish), Cid will gain (-16 - 4
+ 32 =) 12 points of health.
231 - 255 I can feel my strength returning.
201 - 230 Celes... Thank you for taking caring of me like this, day after day...
161 - 200 *cough*... I'm starting to feel a lot better.
121 - 160 *cough*... *hack*... I just can't seem to shake this thing...
91 - 120 I'm afraid...I may not be long for this world...
61 - 90 No matter what happens to me...you mustn't lose hope! *cough*...
*wheeze*...
31 - 60 *cough*... *hack*... Celes...while I can still talk, I...*cough*...
want to...*wheeze* ...thank you...*gasp*!
0 - 30 This is the end for me...
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'm all better now! Thank you, Celes!" and
leave the bed.
Celes: What is it?
Cid: Celes... I finally finished the little project I've been working on at
night. Go on downstairs and take a look!
At this point, you can indeed take the look Cid urges you to take. It's a raft!
Celes: Granddad...
Cid: Celes... You have to leave this place. I'm sure your friends are still
alive somewhere, waiting for you!
Celes: ...I know they are. I'll go. But I'll be back! And I'll bring them all
back to see you! Cid: You bring that Locke fellow, too, now, you hear?
(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 "This is the
end for me...". 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... Wh-what's the matter? Granddad...
Celes: Cid...
Celes: No! ...No!!! You promised you'd stay here with me!
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: The other people who were here with us all gave up hope... One after the
next, they flung themselves from the northern cliffs in despair...
Celes: Everyone's gone... Even Locke... There's nothing left for me in this
world.
Celes, closing her eyes, hesitates a moment. Then, she throws herself off the
cliff.
In the American SNES 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.
Celes comes too at the same beach she used to catch fish on. A bird is beside
her.
Celes: Uhhhn... Were you watching over me? Why would you want to help someone
like me? I've already given up hope...
Celes: This bandana... It couldn't be...!
Celes: Hey, little bird... Where'd you come from? Is the person who wrapped your
wound still alive? Please, tell me...!
(The bird flies off)
Celes: He's alive... Locke's alive!
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 must leave this island. Somewhere out there, your friends are waiting for
you. Go down the stairs by the stove. The road to your freedom awaits...
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
**********************************
Opponents:
Fafnir, Killer Mantis, Peeper, Murussu, Gigantoad, Land Ray, Black Dragon,
Luna Wolf, Rukh
Miscellaneous items: Elixir (rare Peeper steal), Megalixir (rare Land Ray
steal)
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
Jeweled Ring will do). Try to apply the Invisible 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)
Fafnir, Fafnir (10/16)
Killer Mantis, Fafnir (6/16)
(Wastelands, east)
Luna Wolf, Luna Wolf (10/16)
Murussu, Gigantoad, Gigantoad (6/16)
(Wastelands, west)
Luna Wolf, Rukh (10/16)
Rukh, Murussu, Gigantoad (6/16)
(Forest)
Fafnir, Fafnir, Fafnir, Fafnir (10/16)
Killer Mantis, Killer Mantis, Fafnir (6/16)
(Desert)
Land Ray, Peeper, Peeper (10/16)
Black Dragon (6/16)
Fafnir stems from Norse mythology, being a greedy dwarf turned dragon to better
hoard his treasure, being ultimately slain by the hands of your generic Norse
hero. In this world, Fafnir is Attack/Special cannon fodder with a weakness to
Ice. This is note-worthy; dinosaurs and lizards in general have a weakness to
Ice. Fafnir will Flee unless they are by themselves, in which case they'll stand
to fight. !Tongue Lash causes the Sap status.
Killer Mantis use Attack. When they are targeted by Attack, they sometimes use
!Kama, 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. Gigantoads are cool. See, they're toads, and they're gargantuan. This
makes them inherently violent, attacking with Attack, !Croak (damage), Sticky
Goo (sets Slow, looks spiffy), and Rippler. Rippler is an attack of utmost
danger, but Gigan Toad lacks the MP to pull it off.
Luna Wolf is Silver Lobo WoR style. Rather than using !Bite to inflict damage,
they use !Face Chomp 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.
Rukh 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 Shamshir attack if you use Magic on it.
Murussu is normal Attack/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 Snort. This tends to come into play if you employ a fatal
MT attack to the entire monster party. Take out Murussu first.
Just walk around here and kill stuff with your attacks. Should you have
Invisible status and lose it again due to Sticky Goo, Snort or Shamshir, re-
apply it. Kill Murussu first, never use Magic on Rukh, and don't linger with
Gigantoads and you should be invulnerable.
Eh...yeah. You'll want to go into Albrook now.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.47.2 Albrook
**********************************
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:
Flametongue 7000
Icebrand 7000
Thunder Blade 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 Fuma Shuriken; 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 Gil.
Armor Shop:
Golden Shield 2500
Priest's Miter 3000
Green Beret 3000
Golden Helm 4000
Golden Armor 10000
Nothing new here, and nothing you should specifically want any more of.
Relic Shop:
Sprint Shoes 1500
Gigas Glove 5000
Earring 5000
Barrier Ring 500
Mythril Glove 700
Knight's Code 1000
Reflect Ring 6000
Jeweled 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 Jeweled Ring or a Ribbon, definitely buy
a Jeweled Ring here.
Item Shop:
Hi-Potion 300
Ether 1500
Phoenix Down 500
Holy Water 300
Remedy 1000
Sleeping Bag 500
Smoke Bomb 300
Teleport Stone 700
If the Floating Continent was harsh on your supplies, you can restock some now.
Make sure you have some Holy Water, and note that 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 Hi-Potion in
the barrel next to the Inn, an Ether in the pot in the Weapon Shop, an Elixir in
the clock in the Relic Shop/Cafe, and a Teleport 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
**********************************
Opponents:
Fafnir, Killer Mantis, Peeper, Murussu, Gigantoad, Land Ray, Black Dragon,
Luna Wolf, Rukh
Miscellaneous items: Elixir (rare Peeper steal), Megalixir (rare Land Ray
steal)
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 Jeweled 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
**********************************
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: "Please help him! I'm begging you!" 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 Knuckles 1000
Venom Claws 2500
Flametongue 7000
Icebrand 7000
Thunder Blade 7000
Burning Fist 10000
It's nice to have two of each Claws. The Kaiser Knuckles are too weak at this
point so you can ignore it; if you don't have two Venom Claws stock up until you
do, and you're bound to miss at least one Burning Fist. Grab it, as a boss
battle in the future can use double Burning Fists.
Armor Shop:
Golden Shield 2500
Beret 3500
Tiger Mask 2500
Golden Helm 4000
Power Sash 5000
Golden 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:
Dragoon Boots 9000
Thief's Bracer 3000
Black Belt 5000
Alarm Earring 7000
Sniper Eye 3000
Peace Ring 3000
Jeweled Ring 1000
Thief's Bracers for sale are new, but they don't help you. What you do want is
a Jeweled Ring if you still didn't buy one. Last chance, honest.
Item Shop:
Hi-Potion 300
Ether 1500
Green Cherry 150
Phoenix Down 500
Echo Screen 120
Holy Water 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) All this, just because someone acted against Kefka's will...
(Merchant) There are monsters inside that house! They keep petrifying everyone
who goes in to help. You'd better have some relics that'll keep you
safe!
(Old man) We refused to bow down to Kefka, so he unleashed the Light of
Judgment on us!
(Old woman) Hurry, or the house'll collapse!
Before you get near the mansion, set Celes up like this:
Stoneblade/Icetongue/Thunder Blade/Flametongue
Golden Shield
Mystery Veil
Golden Armor/Gaia Gear
Black Belt (vital!)
Jeweled 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 can't...hold out... ...any longer... Brother...the rest is up
to you!" 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
**********************************
Opponents:
Zokka, Nightwalker, Scorpion
Container contents:
Blood Sword, Ether, Healing Rod, Holy Rod, Hyper Wrist, Magicite Shard,
Monster-in-a-box (Nightwalker x4), Monster-in-a-box (Nightwalker x4)
Preparation: Black Belt and petrification protection, right?
Monster formations:
Scorpion, Scorpion, Scorpion (10/16)
Zokka, Zokka, Nightwalker (6/16)
The Scorpion is the main annoyance in this house while the Zokka 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 Attack three times takes
a long time when time is of the essence. Hence the Black Belt; Scorpions will
use !Lethal Sting (sets Doom) followed by Attack, so there's plenty of
physical attacks to take advantage of, especially because Celes is alone
anyway.
Zokka have two attacks to fear. The first is Net; you may remember it
from your fight against Guard Leader 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 Zokka is
alone and damaged by you. Sadly, this scenario includes MT killing everything
on the battlefield. Protect yourself from ridicule and enjoy that Jeweled Ring
or Ribbon I advised you.
Nightwalkers are cannon fodderg. 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 Sap hit takes). That's it. You can take
them all out with an MT Fira spell or Ifrit's Hellfire.
Use Attack and enjoy your counters during Scorpion battles, and MT Fira 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 Auto Crossbow 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 Healing Rod; make absolutely sure you grab it. Turn left and you'll
see a chamber with a chest in it. The chest contains a Holy Rod; go out the
same way you got in. Continue to the left and you'll see two chests. The one
in reach contains an Ether, the one near the stairs downwards contains a
monster-in-a-box (Nightwalker, Nightwalker, Nightwalker, Nightwalker).
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
Nightwalkers. The one room here you didn't pass through contains a Blood Sword
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! Yatta! Etcetera. Sabin
joins the party.
If you haven't bought Seraph yet, now's your chance to do so for only 10 Gil.
With the world falling apart like it is, I guess it doesn't do him much good to
hold on to this glowing stone...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.49.1 The Serpent Trench
**********************************
Opponents:
Fafnir, Killer Mantis, Murussu, Gigantoad, Black Dragon, Luna Wolf, Rukh,
Delta Beetle, Vampire Thorn, Lizard, Devoahan
Miscellaneous items: Blood Sword (rare Lizard steal)
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)
Fafnir, Fafnir (10/16)
Killer Mantis, Fafnir (6/16)
(Wastelands, east)
Luna Wolf, Luna Wolf (10/16)
Murussu, Gigantoad, Gigantoad (6/16)
(Wastelands, west)
Luna Wolf, Rukh (10/16)
Rukh, Murussu, Gigantoad (6/16)
(Grasslands, Serpent Trench)
Vampire Thorn, Vampire Thorn, Lizard (6/16)
Vampire Thorn, Vampire Thorn (5/16)
Devoahan (5/16)
(Wastelands, Serpent Trench)
Devoahan, Delta Beetle, Delta Beetle (10/16)
Delta Beetle, Delta Beetle, Delta Beetle, Delta Beetle (6/16)
(Forests, Serpent Trench)
Vampire Thorn, Vampire Thorn, Lizard (6/16)
Vampire Thorn, Vampire Thorn (5/16)
Devoahan (5/16)
Three new monsters on the Serpent Trench:
Devoahan are sickly animals that attack out of desperation. If you wait for four
turns he'll swap his normal Attack with a !Rage, Attack, Attack combo. Gasp
thrice! !Rage is merely Attack * 1.5, so there's nothing to worry about. If he's
hit by a Magic spell, he might counter with Sunbath. So don't.
Delta Beetle uses Attack, !Slam (Attack * 1.5) and Megavolt. Megavolt is
entirely too weak to worry about, but it does remove Invisible 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 Fira spells and/or the Rising Phoenix Blitz is the way to go.
Vampire Thorn are the most dangerous enemies here. They can start the fight off
with Attack or !Life Drain, which sets Zombie. The second turn can feature the
Bio spell, which you don't want. The thing about Vampire Thorn 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 Fira spells
and Rising Phoenix 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 Beetle appear, Rising Phoenix is a good idea to clean them all up
in one go, as is an MT Fira spell, if you lack Sabin. Devoahan 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 Sunbath. Vampire Thorn 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 Beetle and Vampire Thorn can
remove your Invisible status with Megavolt 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
**********************************
Opponents:
Humbaba
Container contents:
Phoenix Down
Lores:
1000 Needles
[HUMBABA1-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 Phoenix 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 Humbaba is coming! You heard about Humbaba in
Albrook, a demon from the ancient world. Terra goes out to defend the children.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.49.3 The battle with Humbaba
**********************************
Humbaba (# 1)
Level: 26, HP: 60000, MP: 10000
Absorbs: Lightning, Weakness: Poison
Special: !Solar Plexus: Attack x 3
Sketch : !Solar Plexus, Attack
Control: Attack, !Solar Plexus
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Attack, !Solar Plexus, Thundara, Thundaga, 1000 Needles
This battle is a scripted battle. Terra won't be able to deliver any damage
as Humbaba is blessed by the same kind of invulnerability as WoB Guardian was.
Terra can slave away with physicals: 0 damage. She can cast Fira, Bio, and
Drain: 0 damage (although she'll obtain HP from Drain). Terra is supposed to
lose here. So, don't use Trance or Elixirs or anything.
There once was a way to circumvent the fixed outcome of the fight, and that's by
using the Vanish/Doom trick. This is only possible in the SNES versions though,
as Square made the Vanish spell miss against this Humbaba 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.
Humbaba (# 2)
Level: 26, HP: 28000, MP: 10000
Absorbs: Lightning, Weakness: Poison
Special: !Solar Plexus: Attack x 3
Sketch : !Solar Plexus, Attack
Control: Attack, !Solar Plexus
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Attack, !Solar Plexus, Thundara, Thundaga, 1000 Needles, Flee
Joker's Death: No.
The game prevents you from spinning 7-7-7 in this battle.
This is better. Humbaba will start the battle with a physical, be it either
Attack or !Solar Plexus. Then, he'll start using Thundara and Thundaga spells;
finally, he can use 1000 Needles, which is ill received, as 1000 damage is
nothing to laugh at when it's coming for you. Humbaba'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 Venom 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 Earthen Wall if they have him
equipped. If Sabin is weak, you should break the Runic guard to cure him. Smack
Humbaba 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, Blizzara) as quickly as you can. Fighting
this guy with Celes only is a risk as no matter what you do, 1000 Needles is
very dangerous and Humbaba 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's Death here. The best Dance is Earth Blues, while the home dance, Wind
Rhapsody is nigh worthless. Spritzer absorbs Thundara and Thundaga while dealing
acceptable damage, although a purple Magna Roader Rage with a Reflect Ring is
better.
After Humbaba 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 Humbaba's dropped necklace. Equip it if no
other Espers appear to teach better spells at the moment (Banish is nice, but
not as strategic as Stop, Vanish, Silence, 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 Humbaba and recruit Terra.
Read all about that here: [HUMBABA2-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
**********************************
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.
As soon as you enter Nikeah, you are assaulted by a strange man who turns out to
be an ex-Returner. This guy is GBA-exclusive! Boy, aren't you giddy with odd
anticipation right now! The good man introduces the existence of the four GBA-
exclusive Espers Leviathan, Cactuar, Gilgamesh and Diabolos.
"Hey, aren't you...? You were with the Returners, right? Me, too! I thought
everyone else had been wiped out! I don't know if there's anything I can do for
you now, but I did hear something you might be interested to know...
Apparently, four Espers escaped from that Magitek Research Facility not long
before you guys snuck in there. There's no way of knowing if they're still
alive, but if you could find them, I bet they would lend you their power!"
Weapon Shop:
Rune Blade 7500
Flametongue 7000
Icebrand 7000
Thunder Blade 7000
Enhancer 10000
You probably already have at least one Rune Blade (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 two. 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% Magic Evasion, which is very, very nice indeed.
I suggest you grab two and put one on Celes. The Enhancer really is a great
weapon, and will serve you well until the very last parts of the game.
Armor Shop:
Diamond Shield 3500
Priest's Miter 3000
Green Beret 3000
Diamond Helm 8000
Gaia Gear 6000
Power Sash 5000
Diamond Vest 12000
Entirely new items for sale in this Armor Shop! Victory galore. I'd grab
two Diamond Shield, though it's likely either Cels or Sabin will be dual-
wielding at the moment. Ignore the Diamond Helm entirely; there are better
helmets out there still (Mystery Veil, Priest's Miter, 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
Angel Ring 8000
Zephyr Cloak 7000
Gale Hairpin 8000
Hyper Wrist 8000
Prayer Beads 4000
Amulet 5000
Princess Ring 3000
The kid's merchandise isn't very special, except for the fact he has Prayer
Beads for sale, one of the most useful Relics in the game, not to mention their
'special effect' during Mardi Gras. Also, Angel Rings for sale; they were 20000
Gil in the Auction House, so it's a relative bargain here. Angel Rings still
suck though, and you could've gotten all the Angel Rings you ever wanted back on
the FC. Other items for sale that previously weren't include Zephyr Cloaks, Gale
Hairpins (one is enough), and Princess Rings (Cute, those trigger-spell-when-
Critical Relics, but hardly useful).
Item Shop:
Hi-Potion 300
Ether 1500
Gold Needle 200
Phoenix Down 500
Holy Water 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 Pub.
In the Pub, 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: Is this some kind of joke, Edgar?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.51.1 South Figaro; Gerad and the Crimson Robbers
**********************************
Container contents:
Elixir, Holy Water, Phoenix Down x2, Tent x2, X-Potion
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
Heavy Lance 10000
Enhancer 10000
Golden Spear 12000
The only new item here is the Golden Spear. As you could guess, it's a Lance
stronger than the Heavy Lance. While I think the Golden Spear looks kinda nice
in combat, I would still prefer the Enhancer over the Golden Spear any day, so I
won't tell you to buy one now, as in the next boss battle, the weapon with the
highest Attack Power will be automatically equipped, being the Golden Spear
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 Shield 3500
Priest's Miter 3000
Green Beret 3000
Diamond Helm 8000
Gaia Gear 6000
Diamond Vest 12000
Diamond Armor 15000
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 Gil 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
and the like. Although nothing will be said, you'll get a 50% discount
if Edgar is your leading party member.
Relic Shop:
Silver Spectacles 500
Star Pendant 500
Fairy Ring 1500
Amulet 5000
Hermes Sandals 7000
Reflect Ring 6000
Angel Ring 8000
Princess Ring 3000
There's nothing here that you want. 2 Hermes Sandals 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:
Hi-Potion 300
Ether 1500
Eye Drops 50
Echo Screen 120
Phoenix Down 500
Holy Water 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:
- "Not too long ago when I was out sailing, I saw a huge shadow pass by beneath
the water." An NPC reference to one of the four new Espers; the king of the
seas, Leviathan! You can't find him yet, though.
- The four members of the Crimson Robbers can be found all over town. Here's
what they have to say:
"We're breaking into Figaro Castle! That treasure belongs to us!" (two)
"A young guy just came through town searching for a legendary treasure with the
power to bring back the dead." (Pub)
"We won't stop till we get our treasure back!" (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 "Those men may be thieves, but at least
they're working towards a goal. We could learn a thing or two from that." which
in the SNES was about himself (we may be thieves, etc.). 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: "Lives may be lost, but new lives can be born as well!
I'm just doing my part!" (guy runs off) & "Oh...! I can't believe him!" (girl
runs off)
- Commander and Vector Hound 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
**********************************
Opponents:
Sandhorse, Cancer, Oceanus, Desert Hare
Preparation: If you have Float, cast it on your party. That's about it.
Monster formations:
(Grasslands)
Desert Hare, Desert Hare, Desert Hare (always)
(Wastelands)
Cancer, Cancer, Desert Hare, Desert Hare (always)
(Desert)
Cancer, Cancer, Cancer (6/16)
Sandhorse, Sandhorse (5/16)
Sandhorse, Cancer, Cancer (5/16)
(Forest)
Oceanus (10/16)
Oceanus, Desert Hare, Desert Hare, Desert Hare (6/16)
Desert Hare 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, Cura, and Esuna, and for some reason unknown
to man they cast it on you... when hit by Attack. Under normal circumstances
you'll find them smacking you with Attack or !Carrot (Attack * 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?
Cancer is just an upgraded version of Exocite. Attack, !Pincer, a chance
at a double !Pincer when they are alone. !Pincer is boring Attack * 1.5
shtuff. Exocite were water-based, but these wretches occupy the deserts; they
are weak against Ice and Water.
Oceanus resembles Anguiform, but that's where the similarities end. Anguiform
had an exceedingly strong Special; Oceanus has the normal Attack * 1.5
!Corkscrew attack. Instead of being a creature of water and using Aqua Breath,
Oceanus uses Magnitude 8 on a regular basis. Weak against Lightning and
immune to ID.
Sandhorse is the most dangerous enemy here. Under normal circumstances they
will repeatedly use Sandstorm or possibly !Clamp (Attack * 5!), and if they're
alone they start using Attack. You'd assume they would want to keep their
stronger attacks for the more dire situations, but oh well. Sandhorse 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 Oceanus' Magnitude 8, so just pound away there. Use
Attack on Desert Hare whenever you can, their healing will do you a lot of good.
The only threat is Sandhorse; do them in with a Rasp spell or something you
know will do significant ST damage. Summoning Bismarck 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
**********************************
Opponents:
Humpty, Cruller, Neck Hunter, Dante
Container contents: Hero's Ring, Hi-Ether, X-Potion
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 Banish on themselves
and give you a Game Over.
Monster formations:
(Cave of Figaro)
Neck Hunter, Cruller, Humpty, Humpty (10/16)
Dante (6/16)
(Recovery Spring)
Humpty, Humpty, Humpty, Humpty (6/16)
Neck Hunter, Neck Hunter (5/16)
Dante (5/16)
(Corridor from Recovery Spring to Figaro Castle)
Neck Hunter, Neck Hunter (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. Attack 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: Fira. 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 Fira and Attack, and if you keep him
around long enough he can use Sticky Goo and !Brainstorm (sets Confuse). Weak to
Fire.
Neck Hunter uses !Mad Sickle (sets Confuse) and Attack. 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 Attack and !Crystal Lance (Attack * 3),
and he rarely counters Magic spells with Lv. 3 Confuse. Dante is slightly more
durable than the other enemies in the cave, so it might be nice information to
have that the Raise 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 Banish, Confuse gets all the more
dangerous. Wear Peace Rings and/or Ribbons to prevent the horror. Boost Sabin's
Rising Phoenix or perhaps even Razor Gale (which he learns at level 30) with a
pair of Earrings or a Hero's Ring; Rising Phoenix offs all Humptys and Crullers.
Celes can take care of the remaining Neck Hunter with her Enhancers or a Poison
spell. If Dante is ever encountered: Raise, 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
Hi-Ether, an X-Potion, and a very awesome Hero's Ring. A HERO'S 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
**********************************
Opponents:
Humpty, Cruller, Dropper, Neck Hunter, Dante, Tentacle, Tentacle, Tentacle,
Tentacle
Container contents:
Crystal Helm, Hi-Ether, Gravity Rod, Royal Crown, Soul Sabre, X-Potion
Preparation: Keep the Peace Rings/Ribbons on there.
Monster formations:
(Figaro Castle Basement)
Humpty, Humpty, Humpty, Humpty (6/16)
Neck Hunter, Neck Hunter (5/16)
Dante (5/16)
(Engine Room)
Humpty, Humpty, Humpty, Humpty (6/16)
Dropper, Dropper, Dropper (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?
Dropper 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 !Crazed Signal every turn, which sets Confuse if you let it. If you use
Attack to damage it, it'll counter with Attack. 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 Graviga,
an X-Potion, and a Hi-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 Royal 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 Dropper 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.
Hermes Sandals disables a large part of the boss' strategy, so equip them on
both Sabin and Celes if possible. Reflect 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 Shield
Mystery Veil
Diamond Armor
Reflect Ring
Hermes Sandals
Esper: Golem/Siren/Fenrir
Sabin
Burning Fist
Diamond Shield
Royal Crown
Diamond Vest
Reflect Ring
Hermes Sandals
Esper: Golem/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 battle 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: !Stun: sets Slow
Vulnerable to: Poison, Petrify, Silence, Slow
Attacks: Attack, !Stun, Poison, Bio, Grab, Release, Entwine
Tentacle (bottom-left)
Level: 32, HP: 6000, MP: 700
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Water, Weakness: Fire
Special: !Stun: sets Slow
Vulnerable to: Poison, Death, Doom, Slow
Attacks: Attack, !Stun, Poison, Bio, Grab, Release, Entwine
Tentacle (top-right)
Level: 33, HP: 5000, MP: 600
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Lightning, Water
Special: !Stun: sets Slow
Vulnerable to: Poison, Petrify, Silence, Sleep, Slow
Attacks: Attack, !Stun, Poison, Bio, Grab, Release, Entwine
Tentacle (top-left)
Level: 34, HP: 4000, MP: 500
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Earth, Water
Special: !Stun: sets Slow
Vulnerable to: Petrify, Slow, Stop
Attacks: Attack, !Stun, Poison, Bio, Grab, Release, Entwine
Joker's Death: 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 Grab, the attack
both !Stun and Entwine are centered around.
What does Grab do? Grab seizes a character and renders it completely helpless.
During a period of about 30 seconds, the Tentacle that used Grab 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: Attack, !Stun 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 Attack. However, whenever a character is
Slowed, a Tentacle will always use the Grab attack and will seize the character
from which it drains HP. The Tentacle that has seized a character doesn't
perform attacks, and the character that is Grabbed cannot act. This lasts for
about 30 seconds, at which point the Tentacle will use Release to remove all
the effects of Grab. Slow was removed when the Grab attack was used.
This is why Hermes Sandals are so nice: with inherent Haste, both !Stun and
Entwine will never work and thus Celes and Sabin will never be Grabbed during
the battle.
Start the battle off by summoning one or both of your physical protection
Espers, Fenrir and/or Golem; both protect against Attack and, more importantly,
!Stun. Employ Edgar's Bioblaster 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 Death on the bottom-left Tentacle to dispatch it instantly. Obviously, the
newly acquired Banish also works, but Death's Hit Rate is superior and the
Death 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
Silence 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 Blizzara 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 Cura spells to keep your HP up will suffice. If Sabin knows Razor
Gale, 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 Death or Banish has taken care of the bottom-left Tentacle, Blizzara 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 "You could've told us.". 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: Let's go shake things up again!
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 Royal 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 Blood Sword. It also has a 25% chance of casting
Death 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
**********************************
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:
Hi-Potion 300
Ether 1500
Antidote 50
Eye Drops 50
Echo Screen 120
Phoenix 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:
Auto Crossbow 250
Noiseblaster 500
Bioblaster 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 Gil. And it's
only 2500 Gil 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
**********************************
Opponents:
Sandhorse, Cancer, Marchosias, Deepeye, Bogy, Mousse
Miscellaneous items: Magicite Shard (rare Mousse steal)
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 Coliseum, which I'll discuss later. To the west,
there's Kohlingen and Darill'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 Darill's Tomb anyway;
it's just a featureless bulge in the ground which offers no exciting activities.
Monster formations:
(Desert)
Cancer, Cancer, Cancer (6/16)
Sandhorse, Sandhorse (5/16)
Sandhorse, Cancer, Cancer (5/16)
(Grasslands)
Marchosias (10/16)
Mousse (6/16)
(Forest)
Marchosias, Deepeye, Deepeye (6/16)
Deepeye, Deepeye, Deepeye, Deepeye, Deepeye, Deepeye (6/16)
Mousse, Mousse, Mousse (5/16)
Wasteland:
Bogy, Bogy (10/16)
Deepeye, Mousse, Mousse, Deepeye (6/16)
Marchosias looks pretty dangerous; the last time we saw a sprite that big on a
random encounter was the dreaded Behemoth. Marchosias' a big wimp though, so
no worries! It uses Attack, !Talon (Attack * 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 White Wind. With 1500 HP, all you should do is kill it pretty quickly.
It's weak to Wind-elemental attacks, so Sabin's Razor Gale technique gets the
job done, as does the usual violence.
Deepeye is one of those odd monsters that attacks you, and continues to use
Flee every other turn. Every first turn they may lunge at you to use Attack
or let you sink into that hypnotizing eye of theirs to use !Dreamland
(sets Sleep). And yes, every second turn means 33% Flee. Kill them all
quickly with Fire-elemental attacks such as an MT Fira spell and Rising Phoenix.
The interesting thing about Deepeye is the fact they make for a Rage that
uses the Dread Gaze attack, but the special property of Dread Gaze (only checks
for Petrify protection, not ID protection) isn't important right now, so I'll
talk about it later.
Bogy is boring. !Growl (Attack * 2) sounds kinda retarded too. Inherent
Protect 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 Mousse 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 Mousse is as staggeringly dumb as
2006's Samuel L. Jackson flick 'Snakes on a Plane'. It may randomly use
Transfusion, also as a counter to your Magic spells. Mousse will never use
Transfusion when it's the last monster standing on the field, and will solely
use Attack and !Gunk (Japanese roots: Icky Sticky Goo) to set Slow. Like Flan
monsters, Mousse 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 Invisible is
Marchosias' Aero, and quick acting and/or Silence setting prevents it from
occurring. Sabin's Rising Phoenix Blitz technique helps against the Deepeyes
where his Razor Gale is very effective against Marchosias.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.53.1 Kohlingen
**********************************
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 'charming' man passed through Kohlingen recently, a man who
kept calling people 'thou'. 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 Coliseum now praises him as a visionary; apparently, the
Coliseum has been built! We should definitely check it out some day. Also, a
mean guy is fighting there looking for a weapon called the 'Itchy Gekcy'. 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. In other words: find the treasure, and you'll find
Locke!
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:
Hi-Potion 300
Ether 1500
Antidote 50
Phoenix Down 500
Holy Water 300
Remedy 1000
Sleeping Bag 500
Tent 1200
Buy some Holy Water; 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 Shield 3500
Priest's Miter 3000
Green Beret 3000
Diamond Helm 8000
Diamond Vest 12000
Diamond Armor 15000
More of the same, but now that Setzer has joined your party you can use some
more of it. I suggest you buy a Diamond Armor and a Diamond Shield; the Green
Beret is still a superior Helmet to the Diamond Helm, and doesn't cost you
anything.
Weapon Shop:
Darts 10000
Dice 5000
Viper Darts 13000
Enhancer 10000
Golden Spear 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 Viper Darts has the X-type Instant Death ability, like the Assassin's
Dagger. The next dungeon will be crawling with Undead enemies, making the Viper
Darts largely useless. They'll have some use in Coliseum though, so if you feel
like going there in a moment, buy two.
- The Golden Spear could be bought earlier, but I advised against it as you
would want the Enhancer its +7 Magic Power and + 20% Magic Evasion. 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 Golden
Spear 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 Gil 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 Coliseum
**********************************
[COLISEUM1-LINK]
Welcome to the Dragon's Neck Coliseum, 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 Coliseum 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 Coliseum, 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. Also, he mentions
he passed this info to a bandana'd friend of yours. And within strange aeons, we
may yet find Locke...
How does the Coliseum 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 Teleport in-
battle or are Snorted 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 Coliseum will never use Item, Revert, Throw,
Control, Slot, Leap, Defend, 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 Coliseum
(you'll just start running but will never get anywhere - you don't take any
turns though) but the Teleport spell does work.
Not all items can be traded for superior weapons here; most weak or common
items will pit you against Typhon, who will promptly use Snort to end the
battle (you can defeat him, but it'll take a long while before you'll even come
close). If Typhon Snorts 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:
Phoenix Down - Magicite Shard Opponent: Cactuar
Elixir - Rename Card Opponent: Cactuar
Doable wins:
Flametonuge - Organyx Opponent: Great Malboro
Murasame - Masamune Opponent: Glasya Labolas
Tintinnabulum - Growth Egg Opponent: Dark Force
Ribbon - Gold Hairpin Opponent: Dark Force
Gold Hairpin - Dragon Horn Opponent: Great Malboro
Ward Bangle - Dragon Horn Opponent: Yojimbo
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
Coliseum. It enables you to rename one of your characters, after which it
disappears.
The Organyx 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 Organyx. 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 Organyx ; 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 Organyx will never break. So, the best
way to use the Organyx is equip it on Celes and/or Edgar, stick to level 2
spells and/or Tools and swing the Organyx in self-defense.
The Masamune is stronger than the Murasame but lacks the Evasion boost, which
with Cyan's Fang Bushido is really the only use you'll get from one of his
weapons. However, the Masamune can be traded for a Murakumo, which can be
traded for a Holy Lance, so if you think you can defeat the Glasya Labolas, the
Gorgimera (by betting the Masamune) and a Galypdes (by betting the Murakumo),
you could try to get it now. Note that Gorgimera is unbeatable unless you've
really overleveled, hence its exclusion on the list above.
The Growth Egg doubles the Experience Points gained by the wearer. Two Growth
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 Dragoon Boots or by being picked up by the Quetzalli 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
There are two ways of getting a Dragon Horn; by betting a Ward Bangle you'll
get yourself one hard fight, but by betting the Ribbon and subsequent Gold
Hairpin (or unlikely, betting the Gold Hairpin you chose over Mog earlier),
you can get by with two or one easy fight(s). The Dragon Horn is really a sweet
Relic, so pick one.
- Phoenix Down - Magicite Shard Opponent: Cactuar
Equip Setzer with the Dice you bought in Kohlingen. Relics, equipment, it's not
needed. The Heiji's Jitte Relic is a negative factor as that could make him win
while losing some money as opposed to making him win without any downsides. You
know, because Slot won't be used in the Coliseum? Every time Setzer's turn comes
up, he tosses out his Dice and wins.
- Flametongue - Organyx Opponent: Great Malboro
Equip Sabin with two Burning Fists and a Ribbon. If Great Malboro uses Snort,
the battle is over and you'll still have your Flametongue. Eventually, Sabin's
Burning Fists will poundGreat Malboro into burning pulp and you'll have won a
new sword, the Organyx. An alternate strategy includes Setzer with two Viper
Darts, as Great Malboro is vulnerable to ID attacks.
- Murasame - Masamune Opponent: Glasya Labolas
This is a battle of persistance. With the new and improved (read: working)
Prayer Beads, you can stuff a character with some Prayer Beads, stick him/her
in the Back Row and wait for it. GL has incredible Evasion himself, so you'll
have to count on unblockable/magical attacks to land, such as Bio, Setzer's Gil
Toss, Edgar's Tools, etc.
- Tintinnabulum - Growth Egg Opponent: Dark Force
Dark Force has about 9000 HP, and has a 1/4 chance at using White 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 Viper Darts, if possible paired
up with a Genji Glove, can take him out easily, as can a Soul Sabre.
- Ward Bangle - Dragon Horn Opponent: Yojimbo
Yojimbo's three bad habits are all Instant Death-related. He has a 25% at
using !Eye for an Eye every turn, which kills you. He also can cast Doom,
giving you only a limited time to off him. But the worst part is that he will
always use !Eye for an Eye when he dies. Prayer Beads increase the chances
you'll avoid his final counter dramatically, so equip them. Sabin with two
Venom Claws is capable of doing enough damage most of the time.
At any rate, do what you feel like investing time in and leave again. We
have an airship to recover.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.53.3 Darill's Tomb
**********************************
Opponents:
Borghese, Skeletal Horror, Malboro, Cloudwraith, Exoray, Presenter, Dullahan
Container contents:
Crystal Mail, Genji Helm, Growth Egg, Man-Eater, Regal Gown, Monster-in-a-box
(Angler Whelk)
Miscellaneous items: Dragon Claws x2 (Angler Whelk Drop and Angler Whelk shell
Drop)
Monster formations:
(First Room)
Skeletal Horror (10/16)
Borghese, Borghese (6/16)
Borghese, Cloudwraith, Cloudwraith (1/16)
(B2F)
Malboro, Exoray (6/16)
Cloudwraith (5/16)
Exoray, Exoray, Exoray (5/16)
(B3F)
Cloudwraith, Exoray, Exoray (6/16)
Malboro (5/16)
Malboro, 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 Holy Water like
it's going out of style.
Skeletal Horror. He sure looks rather terrifying; he appears in my top 10
rather-not-meet-IRL list anyway, just below 2004 pop idol Ashlee Simpson.
Skeletal Horrors have three attacks. Attack and !Moldy Bone (sets Zombie) should
be obvious, but Crypt Dust is an entirely new attack. Crypt Dust sets Zombie,
but only hits characters with the Death status. In other words, it can only
revive characters as Zombies. Used without intelligent AI script, it's almost
always a wasted turn. Skeletal Horror is your run-of-the-mill undead opponent,
weak against Fire and Holy and whatnot. No biggy.
Borghese looks awesome. Every turn, it can use up to three (!) !Zombie Touch
attacks, which set Zombie (gasp). When damaged, it may retaliate with Attack; if
harmed by Magic spells, a Bio spell may be sent your way. Aside of their looks
and awesome Zombifying skills, Borghese 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 Holy Water.
Cloudwraith's Special is called !Mysterious Dance and, in a shocking change of
style, drains HP rather than setting Zombie. So, does Cloudwraith lack the power
of Zombie-setting? Nay, not at all. The rarely seen Soul Extraction attack can
target a single character and turn him or her into a Zombie. Yawn. Furthermore,
Cloudwraith has 'Flare' written all over it, in its Rage, Sketch, and Control
attacks. Luckily, Cloudwraith will never actively use it against you.
Exoray are the most common in here. They can use Attack, !Deadly Pollen (sets
Zombie), and Venomist, but they will only use Venomist when alone. Since you
should be covered in either Amulets or Ribbons, Venomist'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 Darill's Tomb is Malboro. They are the most sturdy
of the monsters here and use, besides Attack and !Drool (sets Sap) Bad Breath,
an attack that sets Darkness, Poison, Imp, Silence and Confuse 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.
Note that Bad Breath falls to a larger bug introduced in the GBA games; attacks
which *also* set the Imp status will fail entirely when Imp immunity is
registered. This means that while a character wearing a White Cape should still
be vulnerable to Bad Breath's other effects, Bad Breath will miss alltogether.
I suggest dual Burning Fists on Sabin, as he will kill every target with it
on a remotely decent level, including Malboro. A Black Belt/Organyx combo
on Celes works very nicely (make sure she's in the Front Row here). If you
didn't bother to grab the Organyx at the Coliseum, just give her an Earring
Relic (or Hero's Ring, obviously) and spam Fira spells all over. Edgar can use
Tools to inflict consistent damage (give him dual Enhancers if you
like). His Dragoon Boots/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. Gil Toss does more damage than Prismatic Flash/Chocobo Stampede
with double Earrings behind them, so if you ever wanted to use Gil Toss 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 Viper Darts that
will just revive every monster but Malboro (who IS susceptible to its X-type
Instant Death).
Push through the first room. Make sure you meet an Skeletal Horror here, as well
as a Borghese. 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 Helm, 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 (Regal Gown). The
Regal 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 Coliseum 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 (adopted by Slattery). This is supposed to be the final revelation
Darill had while piloting her airship, the revelation that cost Darill 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 Growth Egg in Darill's Tomb:
I have hidden the Growth Egg in the side room on the third basement level...
Go to the room where you found the Regal 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,
Angler Whelk, which uses a ground-based attack. Make sure Float is set, and be
sure to equip Catoblepas (Golem's nice too).
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4.53.4 The battle with Angler Whelk
**********************************
Angler Whelk
Level: 31, HP: 9845, MP: 1600
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Dragon Claws (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Lightning, Water, No effect: Poison, Weakness: Fire
Special: !Petriblast: sets Petrify
Sketch : !Petriblast, Attack
Control: Attack, !Petriblast
Vulnerable to: Petrify, Death, Doom, Silence, Sleep, Slow, Stop
Attacks: Attack, !Petriblast, El Niņo, Megavolt
Angler Whelk (Shell)
Level: 19, HP: 9230, MP: 1600
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Dragon Claws (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Lightning, Water, Weakness: Fire
Creature Type: MP Kill
Status: Float
Special: !Hit: Attack x 1.5
Sketch : !Hit, Attack
Control: Attack, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Petrify, Death, Doom
Attacks: Attack, 1000 Needles, Megavolt, Gigavolt, Magnitude 8.
Joker's Death: Yes
There are a few oddities about this thing. First off, it's supposed to be a
scary Ymir 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. Angler Whelk 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 Claws 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 Attack,
!Petriblast, El Niņo, and Megavolt 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.
Attack, Megavolt and 1000 Needles may appear at all times, and especially 1000
Needles should be watched out for. When the head has been retracted, it'll stop
using these attacks and switch over to Magnitude 8. Whenever the shell is
damaged, it has a 33% chance at retorting with Gigavolt.
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, and we won't meet another one until the very very very last of 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. Zona Seeker helps against Megavolt, Gigavolt, and El Niņo. Golem
and/or Fenrir protect against Attack and !Petriblast. You could have Celes on
Runic stand-by for Megavolt and Gigavolt, 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 Banish and using Catoblepas' 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 Banish/Demon Eye will hit it. Remember,
this is NOT a bug exploit; the shell is susceptible to ID attacks, and
setting Invisible just makes sure it hits, what it was always supposed to do.
Sadly, we can't apply Sleep or Stop to make sure Banish/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 Banish, 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 Holy-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 Darill herself. Examining it triggers a
boss battle, which in my opinion is one of the better yet more redundant boss
battles of this game.
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4.53.5 The battle 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 Dragoon Boots. Equip
a Golden Lance. Put him in the Back Row.
- The boss is weak against Fire-elemental attacks, so Sabin's dual Burning Fists
will take good care of him here. Give him a Hero's Ring (or Gigas Glove) and
Hermes Sandals to accompany his bashing.
- Celes' Organyx/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 Hermes Sandals on
Celes to keep up with his spell casting.
- Setzer should just run utility. Give him the Heiji's Jitte 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
Creature Type: MP Kill
Status: Float, Haste
Special: !Morning Star: Attack x 2
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Attack, !Morning Star, Cura, Blizzara, Blizzaga, Holy, Lv. ? Holy,
Reflect ???, Absolute Zero, Northern Cross
Joker's Death: Yes
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 Lv. ? Holy. This is a strong Holy-
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 Gil. 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
Blizzara, Blizzaga and Holy. When he detects any characters in your party with
the Reflect status, he'll use Reflect ??? on your entire party. It will display
"Holy cast if level is divisible by ?.", setting Darkness, Silence and Slow on
every character with the Reflect status. If he dives beneath 10240 HP, he'll use
Cura instantly once. If he passes through four normal turns, he'll regain the
ability to cast Reflect ??? and/or Cura if the situation calls for it. Finally,
whenever you hit him, there's a 33% chance he counters with Attack. Oh, my.
If you damage him eight times, he'll get four turns where he uses nastier
spells. Blizzara and Lv. ? Holy can make another appearance, but so can !Morning
Star, Absolute Zero and Northern Cross. You can't Runic your way out of these
new spells, which makes them harder to stop. Northern Cross, while being
vulnerable to Runic, is the most dangerous of the five.
Northern Cross sets the Freeze status ailment, which you could already encounter
in the fight versus Naude, who could set it with Freezing Dust. Northern Cross
is MT, but uses an 'interesting' way to determine if it hits or not. After it
checks if it hits or not (after Invisible, Magic Evasion, 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. Zona Seeker is nice should Absolute Zero make an
appearance, as is Golem or Fenrir for !Morning Star and Attack counters. Have
Celes use Runic, continuously. If she isn't wearing Hermes Sandals, 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 Burning Fists. If Celes is absorbing one of Dullahan's spells, sneak a
Berserk 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 Hi-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 could be Mana Points.
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 Darill. Sadly, Darill
pulled an Icarus on Setzer and wrecked herself, together with her airship, the
Falcon.
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
Deathgaze. Deathgaze 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 Deathgaze now, take a look at [DEATHGAZE-LINK]. Make sure that you save
ASAP once you get the Falcon, since you never know when an unprepared party
meets up with