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).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Niño, 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 Niño, 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 Niño. 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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 this flying fiend.
Another important note: if you really, truly want to gain access to Gau ASAP,
that can be done. All you have to do is get rid of a party member, fly over
to the Veldt and meet him there. However, how do you tell a party member to
buzz off without his/her feelings? If you have a Teleport Stone or a character
with the Teleport spell, fly over to Kekfa's Tower, descend into it and Teleport
out. Setzer will be piloting the Falcon by himself now, and you can go below
deck to assemble a team of your choosing. There you go.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.1 Airship Exploitation: Visiting Maranda
**********************************
Welcome to Maranda. The last time you visited Maranda it was one of the
occupied towns, generally featureless, safe for Lola, the girlfriend of the
wounded lad in Mobliz.
A lot of random information is blurted out by the townspeople here. A thief
mentions he visited the tower of the Cult of Kefka, and one of them used to
mumble 'to the right of the treasure chest' in his sleep. Since none of the
thieves ever made it past the first room, we should examine that place should
we ever get there.
Now, the bird turned out to be a carrier pigeon for Lola; according to Aishya,
the girl running circles below Lola's house, she's been receiving a lot of
letters lately. Once you enter her house, you find dozens of silk flowers here.
Also, a letter seemingly written by the wounded lad in Mobliz, but that's
impossible. Somebody must be posing as him. Accept the 'mission' of sending a
carrier pigeon out as a reply so we can track the source of this imposter.
Note that you'll briefly get the Rare item Lola's Letter:
"Thank you for always sending me flower! How are you feeling? I'm worried about
you..."
The pigeon flies across the ruined lands of this new world until it reaches
a town to the north of Jidoor, and although the world map has changed a lot,
this town can be none other than Zozo.
Weapon Shop:
Gravity Rod 13000
Swordbreaker 16000
Falchion 17000
Flame Scroll 500
Water Scroll 500
Lightning Scroll 500
Invisibility Scroll 200
Shadow Scroll 400
You've already found a Gravity Rod, and since it was entirely uninteresting
back then I'm sure you can figure out you really don't need another one. The
Swordbreaker is a great new Dirk for a few characters you haven't obtained at
the moment; since it grants the wielder +30% Evasion, it has great situational
use. The Falchion is useless as-is, but there's one large reason why you should
buy Falchions. You see, they can be bet at the Coliseum for Flame Shields. And
Flame Shields can be bet for Ice Shields. So ideally, you'll just buy four of
them and transform all of them into Flame Shields (you don't really need Ice
Shields if you have Flame Shields as Flame Shields nullify Ice-elemental
attacks). Forget about the Scrolls for a moment; you have nobody to Throw them
now anyway.
Armor Shop:
Crystal Shield 7000
Crystal Helm 10000
Oath Veil 9000
Black Garb 13000
Magus Robe 13000
Crystal Mail 17000
Maranda features Crystal equipment! Excellent! Buy two Crystal Shields if you
don't want to go for Flame Shields at the Coliseum later on, and two pieces of
Crystal Mail as well. Equip them on those that can use it. The Oath Veil is
probably supposed to be the ultimate girly helmet, but since it's inferior to
both the Circlet and the Mystery Veil, just leave it. A nice set of Black Garb
is great for Sabin. The Magus Robe is pretty much the programmer's solution to
the fact that Strago and Relm really didn't get any store-bought pieces of armor
(monster hides like Chocobo Suits and Tabby Suits are never store-bought). Also,
it's the ultimate equipment for a character not yet introduced, but we'll solve
that problem when we get there. The Crystal Mail is boring yet superior to
Diamond Armor, so get that for characters who still carry around that ancient
piece of rubbish.
"Do you know what a cactuar is? I'd been hunting the little varmints last time
I was out in the desert, when all of a sudden, a huge one attacked me! A monster
of that size has to have some good treasure. I'd bet my right eye on it!"
Near the entrance of Maranda, an odd-coloured NPC is waiting for you. I'm not
saying that just because he's got a different color he's inferior or anything.
Don't get me wrong. It's just...you know, it's so obvious he was imported,
that's all. And he really does do a good job cleaning, picking fruit and taking
care of the local Cactuar problems, and he sends his family back home good
money, so nobody's complaining.
Right! Anyway, he's talking about one of the four new Espers as you might have
guessed. You can meet the requirements for fighting the required fight easily
enough, but there's just no chance you'll defeat *raspy voice* The Gruesome
Gigantuar now, so I won't bother describing everything related to him just yet.
If you want to learn about the strongest sentient succulent right now, visit
[GIGANTUAR-LINK].
Okay, no, we're done here. Let's go.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.2 Airship Exploitation: The Overworld Map
**********************************
Opponents:
Brachiosaur, Tyrannosaur, Vasegiatta, Tumbleweed, Leap Frog, Slagworm,
Cactuar, Crawler, Sprinter, Zokka, Basilisk, Lycaon, Greater Mantis, Purusa,
Zone Eater, Deathgaze
Miscellaneous items:
Celestriad (rare Brachiosaur drop), Impartsian (rare Tyrannosaur drop and
rare Greater Mantis steal), Reed Cloak (rare Sprinter drop and rare
Tyrannosaur steal), Ribbon (rare Brachiosaur steal), Saucer (rare Tumbleweed
steal), Tortoise Shield (rare Basilisk drop and rare Basilisk steal), X-Potion
(rare Lycaon steal)
"Take a few steps...you're bound to run into one!"
Yes, the random battles on the Overworld map. Now that you practically START
with the Falcon before you've explored so much of the Overworld Map, you never
actually need to fight these guys. However, there are quite a few monsters here
you won't find anywhere else, so even if it's for something trivial as a full
Rage list and Bestiary or just for meeting them, I'll try to give a run-down on
which enemies appear where. You can skip it if you want to.
In other words: needless violence against grazing animals! It's a shame there's
no option in this game where you can simply stay on the Falcon while blasting
level 3 spells on defenseless livestock down below for Experience Points.
Here's a neat little navigational chart for you if you're ever lost on where
to go. Yeah, Paint Shop Pro it ain't, but I tried my best and one of today's
most famous writers already said you couldn't bake a pie out of shit no matter
how hard you try.
1 2
6
4 7 8
3 5
9 A B
C
D
E F G
H K
I J L
M
N P
O
1 - Dragon's Neck Coliseum
2 - Duncan's House
3 - Darill's Tomb
4 - Kohlingen
5 - Figaro Castle (location 1)
6 - Narshe
7 - Crazy man's house
8 - Triangle Island
9 - Figaro Castle (location 2)
A - Nikeah
B - Doma Castle
C - Cave of the Veldt
D - South Figaro
E - Zozo
F - Cultist's Tower
G - Mobliz
H - Jidoor
I - Opera House
J - Maranda
K - Tzen
L - Kefka's Tower
M - Albrook
N - Solitary Island
O - Thamasa
P - Ebot's Rock
For the record, the grasslands are the green tiles, the wastelands the grey
ones.
Monster formations:
***
South-eastern continent (Thamasa):
(Grasslands & Forest)
Vasegiatta (10/16)
Vasegiatta, Purusa(6/16)
(Wastelands)
Gloomwind, Gloomwind, Gloomwind (10/16)
Purusa, Gloomwind (6/16)
Vasegiatta:
Attacks physically with Attack and !Talon Grab. Vaegiatta rarely uses Aero to
attack as well. When hit by a Magic spell, it might counter with a Attack or
Cyclonic attack.
Gloomwind:
Gloomwind is weak to Ice-elemental attacks and acts like the Zokka monsters you
faced earlier (with Celes most likely, trying to save that kid in Tzen); Attack
and the Stop-setting Net attack are used, and when a single Gloomwind is
non-fatally damaged it may use !Rock, which sets Petrify.
Purusa:
Uses nothing but Attack and !Bear Hug to attack physically. Purusa is pretty
boring, but it has a kick-ass Rage for Gau to offer (Rock Slide, no elemental
weaknesses) so make sure you meet one.
***
South-western continent (Jidoor, Zozo, Maranda)
(Grasslands)
Crawler, Crawler, Crawler (10/16)
Basilisk, Basilisk, Leap Frog (6/16)
(Desert)
Slagworm (10/16)
Cactuar (6/16)
(Forest)
Leap Frog, Leap Frog, Leap Frog, Leap Frog (10/16)
Greater Mantis, Greater Mantis (6/16)
(Wastelands)
Crawler, Crawler, Crawler (10/16)
Greater Mantis, Sprinter, Lycaon, Lycaon (6/16)
Leap Frog:
Ol' LF here is pretty famous among the bug hunters of this game; with the broken
Rippler attack that swaps more statuses than it should (such as cuties like
Trance, Rage, Dance, and Shadow's Dog Block) and the ability to use a Jump
attack, this is probably the most bug-infected opponent you face. You shouldn't
notice them if you're playing 'normally' though. LF uses Attack or !Tongue
(Sap) the first round, a Jump attack the second, he'll come down the third
turn, and uses either Attack or Rippler the fourth. Loop from there. LF is weak
to Ice-elemental attacks and vulnerable to ID attacks, so do whatever floats
your boat there.
Slagworm:
Without over-leveling, Slagworms are strong enough to kill you. They give 5
Magic AP and quite a lot of Experience Points, but you probably want to stay out
of the desert at this moment.
Slagworms are dangerous and prone to cause you pain, death, and mild discomfort.
They're big defensive weakness is their lack of Death Protection, which should
be exploited. Causing HP damage is just going to cause mean double Sandstorm
counters and their amount of MP is too large to deplete every time you
encounter one. Note that Slagworm is protected from Petrify, so Break's superior
Hit Rate to Death isn't going to help you. Avoid percentage-based attacks, as
they allow counters. You may think that I'm being anal about these counter-
attacks. This is entirely justified, make no mistake. While Sandstorm is an
attack that is easily evaded, it's still three times as dangerous as Slagworm's
physicals. You'll simply want to evade it. If you have all characters protected
with Thunder Shields, Paladin's Shield, and/or Minerva Bustier or simply 128
Magic Evasion %, it doesn't really matter what you do as you'll laugh in the
dusty, non-existing face of Sand Storm. What has an eye, but no face? A tornado.
Amaze your friends!
Cactuar:
Cactrots give 10 Magic AP, which make them great spell teachers. However,
not every character can easily dispatch them, and since they share the desert
with the Slagworm enemies, reaping the benefits at this moment may be too
dangerous for your team.
Cactuars are little 3 HP buggers who use 1000 Needles on you every turn (and ten
times 1000 Needles in a single turn if you wait to long killing them). At this
stage, Edgar can easily take care of them with a Drill or Chainsaw attack, or
have Sabin unleash a Raging Fist Blitz technique. Setzer's Dice work too.
Everything else misses if it can, or will do only 1 HP worth of damage.
Crawler:
Crawlers stand out because they are so very, very annoying. They rank up there
with those guys who chew their gum too loudly, or obnoxious girls who just
don't get that yes, you can get too pushy, especially if you manage to accompany
every word you say with a little bit of spit that goes flying in my face, thank
you very much. Crawlers use Attack and !Feeler, which sets Poison. When alone,
Crawlers start to use the level-halving Dischord attack and Leech, which drains
HP from you (if it isn't obvious). Ice-elemental attacks and ID attacks are
their bane, and MT Confusion (such as the Noiseblaster) is a great move, as they
will start using Traveler on each other.
Sprinter:
If you Confuse them, they start using Cyclonic on themselves! Sprinters are
vulnerable to such ID attacks. They may use White Wind to restore HP, !Osmose
Beak which strangely enough drains MP (it tends to do nothing since they hardly
ever consume their own MP), and of course attack physically too. They may drop
(1/8 chance) a Reed Cloak, a piece of armor that absorbs Water-elemental
attacks and has EXTREMELY grand Defense and Magic Defense, although it only
grants the Defense aspect when the wearer has the Imp status. You can read more
about all this here: [KAPPA-LINK].
Basilisk:
Another land-roaming lizard that mainly stands out due to it being the source
for another piece of Imp equipment, that being the Tortoise Shield it rarely
drops. Basilisk attacks physically and uses !Stone Gaze to set Petrify. In Rage,
Control and Sketch attacks, petrification abilities run rampant. It's immune to
Petrify, obviously. Ice-elemental attacks as usual (all lizards are weak to the
element) and non-Petrification inducing ID attacks work too. Basilisks have 5000
HP and are quite sturdy, so you might want to take advantage of that.
Lycaon:
Lycaon is a ferocious little critter that pounces into combat despite the
fact an emo singer's bad hair day could knock it out cold. With 250 HP and no
special amount of defenses, Lycaon will be gone very soon from the
battlefield. When you confuse them, they may use Acid Rain, which kills them
all. Lycaon grants Ragers a great skill in the Blaster attack, which is
an ST/MT ID attack that, unlike pretty much every other ID attack, doesn't
check for Stamina. This doesn't mean much except for the fact that Stop/Blaster
and Sleep/Blaster combos DO always work. Lycaon attacks physically only,
by the way, so nothing to mention there.
Greater Mantis:
Theoretically, Greater Mantis is merely Attack/Special cannon fodder. I should
mention here that Greater Mantis'Attacks have the power to one-hit destroy
a single character by pure damage output. You'll want to avoid that, and when
hunting in these regions, the Invisible status is definitely a plus. !Mind
Reaper just takes away MP, but since Greater Mantis NEVER uses MP-reliant moves,
it'll always do 0 damage unless you used Rasp or Osmose on the massive mantodea.
***
Triangle Island:
Zone Eater (always)
Zone Eater:
Yeah, you'll want to lay off this guy for a while. Not that it's going to kill
you, but strangely enough, it will transport you to a dungeon where you'll
encounter plenty of monsters that probably will kill you at this stage of the
game. There's no good reason to dive in there now.
It's an odd monster indeed. It absorbs Ice-elemental attacks, is weak against
Holy-elemental attacks, and nullifies all other elements. And all it seems to
use is a rare Gravity spell and the Engulf attack. Inhale is pretty much the
same as Snort; it removes a single character from battle. If you run away
with some characters 'in the body of Zone Eater', you'll just find them in
your party at the end. If you kill the thing after some of your characters
have been eaten, likewise.
However, if your entire team fell victim to the Inhale attack, you'll find
yourself in one of the worlds this Zone Eater ate; a cave, filled with
humans (or at least, humanoids) bent on your destruction for some reason
that doesn't involve logical thinking. Best be on your guard.
***
North-eastern continent (Dinosaur forest, crazy man's hut):
(Grasslands)
Sprinter, Sprinter, Lycaon, Lycaon (10/16)
Tumbleweed, Tumbleweed, Tumbleweed, Tumbleweed (5/16)
Greater Mantis, Sprinter, Lycaon, Lycaon (1/16)
(Wastelands)
Crawler, Crawler, Crawler, Crawler (6/16)
Crawler (1/16)
Crawler, Crawler, Crawler (5/16)
(Forest)
Tyrannosaur (10/16)
Tyrannosaur, Tyrannosaur (5/16) (fixed Pincer)
Brachiosaur (1/16)
Brachiosaur:
This is THE strongest random encounter in the game, and you absolutely
positively don't want to mess with one at this time. It has the properties
you'd expect: over 46000 HP, extremely high level (77), immune to every single
status ailment you could throw at it including ID attacks and some very, very
strong Special in !Spin (Attack * 6). Next to Attack, which you'll normally
see (and which leaves quite a bruising all by itself), it can use some very
strong attacks and spells, including Disaster (which it can MT, sets Darkness,
Imp, Doom, Silence, Confuse and Float), Meteor (non-elemental barrier-piercing
spell that hurts a lot), Snort (a god-send in this battle, as it means you
get to embrace the sweetness of life for a little longer), and Ultima. Ultima is
like Meteor only so much stronger it'll do over 5000 HP worth of damage to every
character you have. Unless he or she is alone, in which case you'll get to
see the novelty of a monster inflicting 9999 damage to a character.
In the future, you could beat Brachiosaur with Relm's Control skill, a few
other dirty tricks or just plain kill the bastard with violence before it can
do the same to you. There's a decent enough reason to do so too, as it has
a rare Ribbon for Stealing and a rare Celestriad drop too (sets the MP cost of
every Magic spell and Lore technique to 1). Now, however, this is not an option.
Tyrannosaur:
The opponents in the fabled Dinosaur Forest are tough. Brachiosaur is a rare
freak occurrence, while Tyrannosaur are dangerous enough as-is. Tyrannosaurea
have incredible physical strength, which is especially bad since not only can
they channel this in a !Bite attack (Attack * 8), they also occasionally
double-team your party from both sides, and that is NOT as sexy as it sounds.
When a monster attacks from behind, its physical attacks will do more damage and
become unblockable (although Interceptor and Golem can block these attacks, the
Image status is useless in this aspect). On top of that, Tyrannosaurea have the
power to cast the Meteor spell, which damages the entire party for over 1500 HP.
To stop this madness, cast a combination of Sleep and Slow on these dangerous
dinosaurs and pound away with magical attacks. Ice-elemental attacks are the
bomb, so Blizzara and Blizzaga spells and Valigarmand's Tri-Disaster really put
the hurt on these babies.
I wouldn't advise going in the Dinosaur Forest right now, but if you HAVE to
have an Impartisan right now, Save beforehand and make sure you know how to
make your opponents snooze the battle away. If not, there's no chance you'll
survive an encounter.
Tumbleweed:
These strange creatures fall easily to Lv.5 Death attacks, though you won't be
able to cast it if you've followed the walkthrough so far. They use Attack and
!Blinder, which sets Darkness. When alone, a Tumbleweed may use Lifeshaver to
recover HP. They're weak to Fire-elemental attacks and vulnerable to ID, so
take advantage of the knowledge that you have.
***
Northern continent (Narshe, Duncan's House)
(Grasslands)
Basilisk, Basilisk, Leap Frog (5/16)
Leap Frog, Leap Frog, Leap Frog, Leap Frog (5/16)
Greater Mantis, Greater Mantis (5/16)
Greater Mantis, Sprinter, Lycaon, Lycaon (1/16)
(Wastelands)
Crawler, Crawler, Crawler, Crawler (6/16)
Crawler (5/16)
Crawler, Crawler, Crawler (5/16)
Nothing new here. I can absolutely understand you're anxious to get the boring
stuff out of the way and start pumping up! How does an all-game ultimate Blitz
technique sound?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.3 Airship Exploitation: Master Duncan; completing Sabin's training
**********************************
We have our wings back! And as opposed to last time we got some improved
transportation situation, we have almost the entire world left to explore.
The story obviously directed us to Maranda, but not only is there so
much to do before following the carrier pigeon to Zozo, some of it is even
easier than the quest we were put on in Maranda. So, allow me to give you some
pointers as to where you want to go first.
Duncan is alive! His wife told us that, and Sabin probably is anxious to see
his old master again and hear how it went down. Duncan's wife told us that
Duncan was meditating north of Narshe. If you can't find Narshe right now,
it's on the continent to the north of the 'head' of the Serpent Trench. Narshe,
like it was before, is a dent in the mountains on the map. To the northeast
of Narshe, you can find five trees on the map that form a Greek cross (+).
Duncan's located on the middle tree.
If you bring Sabin here, Duncan will come out and laugh off Sabin's worries.
He'll then proceed to teach Sabin the eighth and final Blitz technique, the
ultimate martial arts attack: Phantom Rush. Sabin would have learned to perform
it himself at level 70, but this sure is quicker. Phantom Rush is, contrary to
what you would believe, a MAGICAL attack, meaning that it can (and should) be
boosted by Earrings. It's barrier-piercing and non-elemental and extremely
strong, far surpassing anything the rest of your party can do right now (except
maybe a lucky 4-hit combo with the Dragon Horn, but Phantom Rush is constant).
The Japanese game calls it the Illusion Battle Dance, which as you would expect
is a lot cooler sounding than its American incarnation.
If you go to Duncan with a party lacking Sabin, you'll see him jumping around:
"Duncan: Move it! You're in my way! *cough*... *wheeze*... Darn this old body of
mine... Won't do what I tell it to anymore..."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.54.4 Airship Exploitation: Obtaining Quetzalli
**********************************
Let's see how (the corpse of) Cid is doing! If you find Cid on the Solitary
Island, you'd think he would grab the opportunity of flying over to civilized
areas; you can't take him, however. If he lives, he'll just say, "I'm all better
now! Thank you, Celes! " and continue to walk around his little cabinet like a
senile. If he died, his letter is still there. Who would've moved it? Then
again, who put it there in the first place? Mysteries.
Time to ponder them over at the beach. But gasp, something has washed ashore:
a piece of Magicite! 'Tis Quetzalli, one the greatest summons the game has to
offer and a great Hastega spell tutor. You'll like it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.5 Airship Exploitation: Visiting Jidoor
**********************************
Let's fly over to Jidoor for a moment now. Jidoor is still a thriving town,
filled with people who find the end of the world a moderate inconvenience and
an interesting new art theme. I don't think you need to be even near white
trash to hate these guys with a passion.
Walking around town, you hear that the bird you saw is one of the many carrier
pigeons that have been flying to Maranda lately. Way back, when the world was
still a shining square of happiness, Sabin and Cyan met up with a wounded lad
in Mobliz who corresponded with his girlfriend in Maranda by means of these
feathered friends. Sadly, Mobliz was hit by the Light of Judgment, and the
wounded lad was killed.
The other story of the day is concerning Owzer. Something is up with the guy;
he had a fine new painter arrive at his house - a little girl. Could this be
little Relm Arrowny? If you let Shadow live on the FC, you can already dive
into Owzer's Mansion for the answer to that question, a dungeon, a boss, a new
Esper and a character regained. I've got it planned for later times, but if
you're impatient, you can take a look at [OWZER-LINK]. For now, you'll want to
buy a few things here regardless:
Weapon Shop:
Man-Eater 11000
Partisan 13000
Crystal Sword 15000
Sniper 15000
Interesting new weapons here! Allow me to describe them. You know the Man-
Eater. When fighting certain foes, a double Man-Eater strike will be superior to
whatever you have, but these foes are generally not too much to worry about, so
buying another one is probably a waste of money. The Partisan is superior to
the Golden Spear, which means an upgrade for our new Dragoon Edgar. Buy one. The
Crystal Sword is just another plain sword whose base power is inferior to the
Organyx but superior to the Enhancer; it doesn't give any stat boosts and
there's no real reason to attack with it. Don't buy it and stick to Enhancers or
Organyx/Black Belt. The only interesting feature about the Crystal Sword is that
General Leo equipped it when he fought Kefka. The final weapon is the Sniper.
It's an upgrade over the Hawkeye, with the same 50% chance of doing 1.5 times
as much damage against normal enemies and triple damage against enemies with
the Float status. It's a great weapon to equip, but nobody right now can use it
so just forget it for now.
Conclusion: Buy a Partisan, than leave. :P
Armor Shop:
Circlet 7000
Black Cowl 7500
Crystal Helm 10000
Black Garb 13000
The Circlet is a nice Helmet with an all-round stat boost: +2 Strength, +1
Speed, +3 Stamina and +4 Magic Power (which really is the only important one).
Everybody can equip one, but everybody but one has superior Helmets at this
moment (Celes's Mystery Veil, Edgar/Sabin's Royal Crown, Genji Helm), so just
buy one and stick it on the unfortunate sap who still went with that ancient
Green Beret. The Black Cowl is rubbish, superior to the Circlet in Defense by
1 single point and inferior to it in all other ways. Forget about the Crystal
Helm as well. A set of Black Garb for Sabin is nice, though. In short: buy one
Circlet and a set of Black Garb if you didn't buy Black Garb earlier in Maranda.
Item Shop:
Hi-Potion 300
Ehter 1500
Phoenix Down 500
Holy Water 300
Remedy 1000
Teleport Stone 700
Sleeping Bag 500
Tent 1200
Buy stuff, it's good for you. Weren't you paying attention to the voices in
your head? LIVE BUY CONSUME DIE.
Relic Shop:
Princess Ring 3000
Protect Ring 5000
Gigas Glove 5000
Angel Wings 6300
The interesting new Relic called 'Protect Ring' sets Protect on your character.
Basically, the Relic cuts the damage of physical attacks by 1/3, always. Sadly,
physical attacks are past their prime at this stage of the game, so its
usefulness is kind of low. If you like the thought of a physical powerhouse who
can withstand all blows, buy and equip one to whomever you feel should benefit;
you're better off focusing on offense though.
If you plan to use Gau, there's something you can do make absolutely sure you
get one of his best Rages relatively quickly; enter Owzer's Mansion, read the
diary if you want, turn on the lights near the stairs and examine the flower
painting for a fight with three Rafflesia enemies. This only applies if Shadow
survived the Floating Continent; if he didn't, the house will just be lit and
empty for now. More information can be found at [OWZER-LINK].
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.6 Airship Exploitation: The Auction House
**********************************
Miscellaneous items:
Excalipoor, Hero's Ring, Zephyr Cloak
In front of the Auction House, a GBA-exclusive NPC lingers. "I heard they're
going to put a rare sword up for auction. I can't decide if I should bid or
not." As soon as you've spoken to the guy, the rare sword Excalipoor becomes
an option in the Auction House. Since we can't afford it yet and we do want
other things, I suggest ignoring the bloke for now.
The Auction House got a makeover! New items are for sale here. No longer does
that talking Chocobo bother you. Sadly, TWO new useless items have been added
to the collection: an Imp robot and a 1/1200 scale airship. You cannot buy
either of these items. The reason you're here is the Hero's Ring. You can buy
ONE Hero's Ring here, for 50000 Gil. The Zephyr Cloak is also exclusive, but
since the Zephyr Cloak is more expensive here than in WoR Nikeah (3000 Gil more
expensive, in fact), don't bother shooting for it here. Once you buy the Hero's
Ring, it won't appear again. If you didn't buy the Espers earlier, you'll want
to do that now, too, although I don't see why you should've skipped on that
earlier.
- There's a 50% chance the item up for bidding is the Excalipoor. If you
didn't talk to the NPC outside, already bought it earlier, or the item isn't
the Excalipoor, we continue.
- There's a 50% chance the item up for bidding is a Hero's Ring. If you already
bought it earlier, or the item isn't the Hero's Ring, we continue.
- Then, there's a 50% chance it's a 1/1200 of an airship. You can never buy
this 'item' no matter how much you pay, as the father will always buy it. But
if this item isn't the 1/1200 of an airship, we continue.
- Then, there's a 50% chance it's the Golem Magicite! Nice. Try to buy it. If
you already bought it earlier, or the item isn't Golem, we continue.
- Then, there's a 50% chance it's the Zona Seeker Magicite. Good. If you already
bought this item, or if it still isn't this item, we continue.
- Then, there's a 50% chance it's a Zephyr Cloak. If you already bought this
item, or if it's not the Zephyr Cape, we continue.
- If it's none of the above, it's an Imp Robot. Period. You can never buy the
Imp Robot, as the father will always buy it.
So in the end, if you haven't bought any of the pieces of Magicite yet, the odds
will be as following (assuming you didn't unlock the Excalipoor yet):
Hero's Ring 50%
1/1200 scale airship 25%
The Magicite Golem 12.5%
The Magicite Zona Seeker 6.25%
Zephyr Cloak 3.125%
Imp Robot 3.125%
If you bought both Espers, but not yet the Hero Ring:
Hero's Ring 50%
1/1200 scale airship 25%
Zephyr Cloak 12.5%
Imp Robot 12.5%
If you bought the Hero Ring and both Espers:
1/1200 scale airship 50%
Zephyr Cloak 25%
Imp Robot 25%
Yeah, that means you can completely raid the WoR Auction House until nothing
but useless junk is left. Don't worry; if another person buys a piece of
Magicite, the Excalipoor, the Hero's Ring or the Zephyr Cloak, it will have a
chance of appearing next time you pay the Auction House a visit. Prices are as
follows:
Excalipoor 500000 Gil
Hero Ring 50000 Gil
The Magicite Golem 20000 Gil
The Magicite Zona Seeker 10000 Gil
Zephyr Cloak 10000 Gil
That means, by the way, that the Zephyr Cloak is ridiculously overprized in the
Auction House, as it's just 7000 Gil from the kid merchant in Nikeah. If you
don't have enough money, fly the Falcon to the desert south of Maranda, where
you'll be able to make a lot of quick cash fighting Cactuars.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.7 Airship Exploitation: Cultist's Tower
**********************************
In Figaro Castle, we heard about the Cult of Kefka, which is located in the
middle of the Serpent Trench, where they have erected a giant tower in Kefka's
honor. From thieves you've heard there are treasures unheard of up there, but
the going is rough. Trying to climb the tower right now would be stupid, but
we can take a look regardless, right?
What the hell? It seems that one of our former party members, Strago Magus,
has lost his heart in despair. One of the Cult of Kefka, he doesn't respond
to you at all. We heard earlier that a loved one should be able to break through
this self-inflicted barrier. If we could manage to find Relm, we should bring
her over here to see if we can break the spell on Strago.
The thieves here are sitting at the foot of the tower, not because they think
Kefka is their Speshul Boy but rather because of the treasures on the tower;
so close, yet so far... It's revealed the most wondrous thing is at the very
top, and one of the thieves offers you a secret for the insane sum of 100,000
Gil. This is what he has to say if you pay his the full price:
"Oh, thanks! You're too generous! Right, the scoop... There's an ancient castle
buried beneath the desert of Figaro...and no doubt loaded with treasure! By the
way, I heard the old man who lives in the weapon shop in Narshe was looking for
ya..."
One more stop before continuing for realz, the last populated city we haven't
been to yet: Thamasa!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.8 Airship Exploitation: Thamasa
**********************************
Sadly, neither Strago nor Relm is present, so all we can do here is take a look
at the equipment they have to offer and talk to the townspeople.
One woman mentions how Ebot's Rock is above water. As soon as we can convince
Strago back on our side, we should bring him back to Thamasa. There's another
mention of Deathgaze, but that's about it. Pay your respects to General Leo's
grave for a moment, and then go shop.
Armor Shop:
Mystery Veil 5500
Circlet 7000
Black Cowl 7500
Luminous Robe 11000
Diamond Vest 12000
Do you remember I told you about the Magus Robe? Well, the Luminous Robe is
like the Magus Robe, only inferior in every single way. Do I hear somebody say
'redundant'? Yes, I believe I do. It was me. If you want to have as many Items
as possible, buy one. If not, don't. All other items are familiar to you.
Weapon Shop:
Da Vinci Brush 7000
Gravity Rod 13000
Holy Rod 12000
Viper Darts 13000
Golden Spear 12000
Man-Eater 11000
Shuriken 30
Fuma Shuriken 500
Like all Brushes, the Da Vinci Brush is about as useful as a 'hurt me' sign in
an ass-kicking contest. You can buy one or two Holy Rods extra as they make
great equips for Strago and Relm once you get them and everybody can break them
(there's actually a brilliant moment to break Holy Rods, against Deathgaze).
All the other weapons have been revealed to you. I also want you to buy some
Fuma Shuriken; they turn into nice items at the Coliseum, and make nice attacks
when you obtain Shadow. 99 Fuma Shuriken are actually *less* costly than that
single Hero's Ring you purchased in Jidoor, so don't feel too irresponsible when
you overstock on them.
Relic Shop:
Barrier Ring 500
Fairy Ring 1500
Reflect Ring 6000
Jeweled Ring 1000
Princess Ring 3000
Protect Ring 5000
Peace Ring 3000
Angel Ring 8000
Rings! RINGS! For the love of God, they have every Ring Relic available. Except
for Hero's Rings. And Memento Rings. And Cursed Rings. And Rage Rings. And Lich
Rings. Oh shucks, so they don't have every Ring Relic available. Give me some
credit for distracting you from seeing that I don't have anything useful to say
about this Relic Shop!
Item Shop:
Hi-Potion 300
Ether 1500
Phoenix Down 500
Holy Water 300
Remedy 1000
Smoke Bomb 300
Sleeping Bag 500
Tent 1200
Potions! POTIONS! For the love of...I'm not getting away with this trick again,
am I? How about another movie quote concerning consuming items? Choose Potions.
Choose a chest. Choose a command. Choose Smoke Bombs, Crystal Mail and matching
Helmets. Choose your future. But why would anyone want to do a thing like that?
Now, get out. It's time for one more trip to the Coliseum before we dive into
an actual dungeon for a change.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.9 Airship Exploitation: Dragon's Neck Coliseum
**********************************
Welcome to the Dragon's Neck Coliseum, a monument to combat. You've had a nice
trip around the world, so it's time to bet your newly acquired prizes to gain
more prowess in combat.
Easy wins:
Rising Sun - Bone Club Opponent: Weredragon
Doable wins:
Regal Gown - Minerva Bustier Opponent: Death Machine
Pinwheel - Rising Sun Opponent: Aspidochelon
Bone Club - Red Jacket Opponent: Test Rider
Flame Shield - Ice Shield Opponent: Metal Hitman
Sniper - Bone Club Opponent: Glasya Labolas
Masamune - Murakumo Opponent: Gorgimera
Murakumo - Holy Lance Opponent: Galypdes
Hardly doable wins:
Fuma Dragon - Pinwheel Opponent: Chaos Dragon
Falchion - Flame Shield Opponent: Outsider
Rename Card - Miracle Shoes Opponent: Fiend Dragon
An explanation on the new items you can obtain here:
The Rising Sun is a Moonring Blade upgrade. It's weaker than the Sniper Special
weapon and can only be gotten *later* than it. It's a passageway item at the
Coliseum and should only be collected for that very purpose.
The Bone Club is equally useless. Only one character, Umaro, can equip it, he
comes with one and cannot be (un)equipped anyway. Another passageway item
collected for completion and betting at the Coliseum.
The Minerva Bustier is the piece of Armor you'll wind up keeping on Celes and
Terra for the remainder of the game because it's the BEST armor in the game.
Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Wind are nullified, and Water, Earth, Holy, and Poison
only deal 50% as much damage. To top it off, it grants the wearer an
all-round stat boost (+1 Strength, +2 Speed, +1 Stamina and +4 Magic Power for
dessert) and 10% additional Magic Evasion. Its special effect is granting
the wearer 25% extra MP. In other words, you'll want this on your armored
girls.
The Red Jacket is Sabin's ultimate Armor. Sadly for Sabin, it's the second-
worst piece of ultimate Armor in the game. It nullifies any Fire-elemental
attack and is superior to Diamond Vests and Crystal Mail and all that, but
comes nowhere near other end-game pieces of equipment and has no special effect.
It's also useful on Edgar for a short while, I might add.
The Ice Shield is a shield that, well, absorbs Ice-elemental attacks. It
nullifies damage done by Fire-elemental attacks, and the wearer will receive
twice as much damage from Wind-elemental attacks. It teaches the Blizzara spell
at a x5 rate and will cast an unblockable, barrier-piercing Blizzaga spell when
used in combat, after which it breaks. Its Defense rate is 1 point above that
of the Flame Shield, which basically serves the same purpose. It's inferior to
the Crystal Shield in terms of Defense and Magic Defense, but the elemental
properties and the extra 10% Magic Evasion makes it come out superior in my
book.
The (Ame no) Murakumo (Sword of the Billowing Clouds, or shortened as Heaven's
Cloud), is the strongest weapon from Japanese mythology. In FF VI, it's a rather
uninteresting weapon and the fourth-strongest weapon Cyan gets to lay his hands
on without crossing the border of weapons he can normally equip. It's a very
simple upgrade in Attack Power over the Masamune.
The Holy Lance is a Holy-elemental Lance that gives a +3 on Magic Power and has
a 25% at casting Holy every time you Fight with it or on every last Jump attack
the wielder makes. The Holy Lance is argued to be the best Lance out there,
because the only one higher in Attack Power doesn't have a random spell casting
applied.
The Pinwheel is the ultimate throwing star. It eh.... yeah, it damages. A lot.
You can't really buy them anywhere, they are hardly ever found in chests, and
they only appears as a rare steal on a late-game enemy, so the Coliseum is your
source for them.
The Flame Shield is a shield that, well, absorbs Fire-elemental attacks. It
nullifies damage done by Ice-elemental attacks, and the wearer will receive
twice as much damage from Water-elemental attacks. It teaches the Fira spell
at a x5 rate and will cast an unblockable, barrier-piercing Firaga spell when
used in combat, after which it breaks. Its Defense rate is 1 point below that
of the Ice Shield, which basically serves the same purpose. It's inferior to
the Crystal Shield in terms of Defense and Magic Defense, but the elemental
properties and the extra 10% Magic Evasion makes it come out superior in my
book.
Miracle Shoes are grand. They set Protect, Shell, Haste, and Regen on a
character. This will make him or her take only 2/3 of the damage every attack
normally does that isn't barrier-piercing, grants an immunity to Slow and
Sap, and basically makes sure that a character will stick around longer and act
faster than he or she normally does. Miracle Shoes are great filler Relics;
while Miracle Shoes take a spot that a Hero's Ring can't take, some prefer the
defensive route to the offensive one.
- Regal Gown - Minerva Bustier Opponent: Death Machine
75% of the time, Death Machine will cast Death. Death Machine is also vulnerable
to Instant Death attacks. Grab a Reflect Ring and equip it, and send in a
warrior with weapons with ID properties; Setzer's Viper Darts or the Soul Sabre
will do. If your character attacks, Death Machine can counter with up to FOUR
Blaster attacks. If your character damages Death Machine without killing him,
the battle is over. So, start running as soon as you enter the fight! Your
character will just run and never attack. He won't succeed in running away, and
just Reflect the Death spell to win.
- Rising Sun - Bone Club Opponent: Weredragon
Weredragon is weak, but has a 1/3 chance of casting Death. Equip a Reflect Ring
to reflect it back at him (he's vulnerable to ID). Any strong attack will take
him out.
- Pinwheel - Rising Sun Opponent: Aspidochelon
Aspidochelon is a joke. He has little HP (3210), little Defense, and a weakness
against Holy-elemental attacks. Sabin with two Dragon Claws, a Black Belt,
and Gaia Gear is almost sure to win. His Landslide attack will be absorbed by
the Gaia Gear, so the only worry is Avalanche, of which Sabin can take at least
two before rolling over and dying. If you want to be really sure, try getting
an Ice Shield first so you absorb both Landslide AND Avalanche.
- Bone Club - Red Jacket Opponent: Test Rider
It's better to wait until after you've gotten yourself an Ice Shield so you
absorb Flash Rain. If you have a Saucer to equip or perhaps a Tortoise Shield,
that works too (Flash Rain is Ice/Water, despite it's Lightning-elemental
looks). Edgar would make a nice Dragon Horn Dragoon with an Ice Shield in this
fight. Test Rider isn't really something to worry about.
- Flame Shield - Ice Shield Opponent: Metal Hitman
Metal Hitman has little HP and weak defenses. Sending in Sabin with dual Dragon
Claws and a Black Belt will guarantee you victory unless Sabin pulls off a
Soul Spiral.
- Sniper - Bone Club Opponent: Glasya Labolas
An alternate route to Bone Clubs and Red Jackets. Fighting Glasya Labolas has
been described earlier. Take a look at [COLISEUM1-LINK].
- Masamune - Murakumo Opponent: Gorgimera
Gorgimera is a mean upgrade from the Chimera. He can use Avalanche (strong),
Aero (even stronger), and Flare Star, which will kill you unless you have any
way of nullifying it/absorbing it. Send in a character with a Flame Shield, as
he or she will be protected from both Avalanche and Flare Star. An Ice Shield is
not as smart as Aero will do double damage to such a target. Dragoon Edgar works
best.
- Murakumo - Holy Lance Opponent: Galypdes
Galypdes is a big bird. It uses Attack, !Flap, Shamshir and Cyclonic. You can't
protect against the latter two yet, so just send in Dragoon Edgar and hope for
the best. If you don't have him, I regret to inform you that ID attacks don't
work against this bird and you won't win the battle.
- Fuma Shuriken - Pinwheel Opponent: Chaos Dragon
Chaos Dragon has three attacks that are prone to screw you over. !Incinerate
will kill you if it connects. Disaster turns you into a Confused Imp, which
pretty much settles the score. Meteor is just very strong. You won't' be able to
take two and live through it. Your best bet is to send it Dragoon Edgar and hope
for Attack/Meteor. Chaos Dragon has quite some HP but weak defenses, so while in
most cases you'll die, you really want to pull through a few times to get to the
Red Jackets in the end.
- Falchion - Flame Shield Opponent: Outsider
Outsider is vulnerable to ID, and that's your savior. Outsider uses Attack,
!Dispatch, Flare, and Banish. !Dispatch kills you if it connects. Banish kills
you if it connects. Every time you hurt Outsider, he's going to respond with
Shurikens, Fuma Shurikens or a Pinwheel down your throat. Send in Setzer with
dual Viper Darts and a Black Belt and you should be winning more battles than
you lose. Sadly, you're just gonna have to rely on the X-type ID kicking in, or
else you'll see Setzer eating dust like it's 311 B.C.
- Rename Card - Miracle Shoes Opponent: Fiend Dragon
Fiend Dragon has four attacks: Attack, which normally wouldn't be that much of
a disaster, yet will prove fatal in most cases in this battle. Northern Cross,
which has a small chance of freezing you. Southern Cross, which is a strong
Fire-elemental attack. And Heartless Angel, which is an unblockable attack that
sets your character's HP to 1. Equip a Flame Shield (Red Jackets or Ice Shield
won't be sufficient) on Dragoon Edgar. The only way you can be killed is
receiving an Attack at 1 HP. You just need to pray that doesn't happen and that
Southern Cross heals you back up whenever you reach that level.
To finish off, an impression what my team looks like at this point:
EDGAR
Holy Lance Flame Shield
Royal Crown Red Jacket
Dragon Horn Dragoon Boots
SABIN
Dragon Claws Ice Shield
Circlet Red Jacket
Hero's Ring Earring
CELES
Enhancer Crystal Shield
Mystery Veil Minerva Bustier
Hero's Ring Prayer Beads
SETZER
Viper Darts Ice Shield
Genji Helm Crystal Mail
Hero's Ring Earring
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.10 Airship Exploitation: Leviathan
**********************************
Opponents:
Leviathan
Lores:
Tsunami
Leviathan was named after the 'Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme and Power of a
Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil' written by fictional comic book tiger
Thomas Hobbes. The book deals with the structure of society, wacky inventions,
the distribution of common-wealth and a gruesome description of death by
drowning, likely the cause of the reference. It's the first new Esper we'll
ensnare in our quest, but we'll have to make some preparations if we don't want
to end up, like Hobbes' distopic vision, drowned in "dark and erroneous
doctrines, also, buttloads of water".
Leviathan is the King of the Sea, and thus attacks with mass Water-elemental
attacks we won't survive unless we have a way of absorbing or nullifying his
attacks. This opportunity lies in the pieces of Imp equipment scattered across
the world as random drops by monsters.
There are four pieces of Imp equipment (that's an entire set), this being the
Impartisan (non-elemental Lance every character but Umaro can equip), the
Tortoise Shield, the Saucer helmet, and the Reed Cloak, all of which sport
incredible Defense and Magic Defense while absorbing Water-elemental attacks
and teaching the Imp spell at a x1 rate. They don't fully work unless you have
the Imp status, though.
Attack Power and Defense of these items are reduced to 1 when they are
equipped on a character that is not an Imp. Magic Defense, Evasion and Magic
Evasion do still work, as does the elemental properties and the spell teaching.
The two relevant pieces of equipment for now are the Tortoise Shield and the
Reed Cloak. The Impartisan doesn't let you absorb Water-elemental attacks, and
you can only get the Saucer by betting a Tortoise Shield at the Coliseum at
this time. The Tortoise Shield is the better of the two. You're basically
giving up an equipment slot for Water absorption, but the Tortoise Shield also
gives the wearer 30 % Evasion and Magic Evasion, and the fight versus Leviahtan
is a fight where Evasion is key.
You'll want to collect either a Tortoise Shield or Reed Cloak for all four of
your characters. On the grasslands (not the grey wasteland!) of the Northern
Continent around Duncan's abode, you have a 5/16 chance of meeting two Basilisks
(which drop Tortoise Shields) and a Leap Frog and a 1/16 chance of meeting a
formation with a Sprinter which may drop a Reed Cloak. On the North-Eastern
continent where the hut of the Crazy Man is located, there's a 10/16 chance of
meeting two Sprinters and a 1/16 you'll meet a formation including a single one.
In other words, the second location has a higher chance of coughing up one of
the necessary pieces, but it'll always be a Reed Cloak, not the Tortoise Shield.
By the way, you'll most likely win the fight with one or two characters down,
so if you find the treasure hunting a tedious enterprise, you can quit early if
you want to.
When you're done, take the Falcon to Nikeah and opt for a boat ride to South
Figaro. Make sure you've got the relevant pieces equipped, as well as Fenrir,
Golem and Prayer Beads across the board. Halfway the cruise, you'll be attacked.
"Wh-what's going on!? Is that some kind of sea monster?
Leviathan
Level: 91, HP: 32000, MP: 7000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Water
Special: !Entangle: sets Slow
Sketch : !Entangle, Attack
Control: Attack
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Attack, !Entangle, Aqua Breath, Tsunami, El Niño
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Yes! Leviathan attacks as you thought he would. He'll start the battle with a
Tsunami attack, a powerful MT Water-elemental attack. Every 20 Doom intervals
he'll attack with two Tsunamis. In between, he'll use powerful physical attacks
and attack with Aqua Breath and El Niño. Whenever struck by a Magic spell or
Lore, he'll counter with a full-screen El Niño attack; whenever struck by
anything else, he'll counter with !Entangle.
The strategy is simple. Since we've prematurely taken care of Tsunami, Aqua
Breath and El Niño, all we have to worry about is dealing with his physicals.
Fenrir and Golem will make sure you won't be genuinly struck by them for a
while. Prayer Beads increase your Evasion pretty high, having your characters
dodge over half of his blows. Whenever Leviahtan manages to land an attack a
character will be especially hurtin' due to lacking proper Defense, but that's
nothing a Cura or Raise spell can't fix.
Though you might be tempted to unleash the fury with Lightning-elemental
attacks, Leviathan isn't weak to the element. Your damage options are good
enough; Phantom Rush and Edgar's Dragon Horn Jump are your main damage dealers,
while Celes and Setzer can run utility and cast a level 2 spell or use Gil
Toss when they have nothing better to do.
It's not a hard fight by a long shot if you're well prepared. When you're done,
new Esper! Leviathan's Tidal Wave attack is the most powerful MT Water-elemental
attack in the game, and the most powerful MT attack you have at the moment
(BAR-BAR-BARring Setzer's Slot outcomes). Leviathan teaches Flood at a x2 rate,
which is real darn nice. Flood is *the* attack to use if you need a full-screen
attack or whenever you need a Magic spell to fly past Runic or Reflect. Did I
mention it hits all monsters even when in a Pincer?
You need to take the ferry once again to return to the Falcon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.54.11 Airship Exploitation: Deathgaze
**********************************
Opponents:
Deathgaze
Lores:
Aero, Lv. 5 Death
To find Deathgaze...yeah, finding Deathgaze tends to be a pain. There are 4096
'tiles' on the Overworld Map. Deathgaze possesses two adjecent tiles. If you
cross one of those tiles with the Falcon, Deathgaze will attack you. Deathgaze
will remain on the same tile until you fight him; if he escapes, he'll possess
another two random adjecent tiles. Altitude doesn't matter.
You'll just want to fly around, searching for him. Make SURE that you watch
your levels; Deathgaze will instantly kill any character whose level is
divisible by 5, so a group where two or more characters are vulnerable to Lv. 5
Death should be trained a little. Listen to some good music while you're at it;
Searching for friends (the theme playing when flying the Falcon) gets repetitive
after a while. May I suggest Soulwax, partly because they're awesome, partly to
boost European economy?
When you find him, you'll fight him.
[DEATHGAZE-LINK]
Deathgaze
Level: 68, HP: 55555, MP: 38000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Poison, Weakness: Fire, Holy
Creature Type: MP Kill
Status: Float, Shell, Protect
Special: !Venom Claw: sets Poison
Sketch : !Venom Claw, Attack
Control: Attack, !Venom Claw
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Attack, Blizzaga, Death, Aero, Lv. 5 Death, Flee
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
"Many ancient monsters that had long been sealed away were released when the
world was ripped apart... Humbaba, Deathgaze...even the eight legendary
dragons."
"I saw Deathgaze soaring up among the clouds the other day! I'd hate to think
what would happen if some poor sod in an airship ran across that thing..."
"I saw a huge monster fly across the sky. It looked like a giant bat!"
"I stumbled across something incredible—— Deathgaze's little secret! ...He can't
recover his health after battle! If you just keep fighting him over and over,
you should be able to wear him down and eventually defeat him."
You've heard it all over the world... Deathgaze soaring over the skies of this
new world, terrorizing all in its path. An ancient demon who knows no remorse;
no satisfactory pack of unlikely heroes can let this go on. Deathgaze is a
relatively simple, yet tough opponent, so prepare well.
Deathgaze will start every battle by using Lv. 5 Death; Safety Bits and Memento
Rings protect against it if your level is right (or wrong, depending on your
interpretation), but you likely don't have the former and can't use the latter.
Deathgaze may cast a Blizzaga or Death spell the first turn, and may cast Death
or use Aero the second. After every two turns (not counting the initial Lv. 5
Death), Deathgaze has a 66% chance of using Flee to escape the battle. When
damaged, it may counter with Attack, as all bosses tend to do.
So there's inherent Protect and Shell, a weakness to Fire- and Holy-elemental
attacks to consider, he absorbs Ice- and Poison-elemental attacks and no status
ailment vulnerabilities to exploit. How are we going to take this guy down as
good as possible?
Breaking Rods was always powerful, but against Deathgaze, they're a blessing;
since spells executed by breaking Rods gain a barrier-piercing property, you'll
be able to break Flame Rods for a barrier-piercing Fira spell and Holy Rods
for a barrier-piercing Holy spell (the latter is much more powerful). Dragon
Horn Jumps with a Holy Lance are pretty powerful (though it suffers from
Protect), but if you're still working with the Golden Spear, you should stick to
Gigas Glove with Drill/Chainsaw. Phantom Rush is also barrier-piercing so that
works real nice. Setzer's Gil Toss surpasses other forms of his damage output.
For other characters: Terra, Celes, and Relm should cast Firaga, Holy, Fira
(in that order of power), Umaro should NOT be equipped by a Blizzard Orb as
Doom Gaze absorbs Storm; Rage Ring/Atlas Armlet is the way to go. Never mind
Mog's Dances, they're far too weak here; Dragon Horn Holy Lance Jumps or
his strongest spells are the alternatives. Gau's Io-induced Flare Star will deal
9999 damage every Flare Star while nullifying the effects of Aero; Gau's
Cloudwraith Rage will cast Flare, which is decent enough, and with the inherent
Undead property, he won't have to fear the Death spell. Strago should stick to
Traveler (or Grand Delta if he has it), Shadow should throw Holy Rods or
Flametongues (Holy Rods are stronger) or plain Fuma Shuriken if you don't have
any elemental weapons to abuse, and Gogo is probably best off Raging Io if
possible or throwing out Phantom Rush attacks. Locke with Valiant Knife delivers
barrier-piercing damage anyway and Cyan should stick to Gigas Glove-boosted
Fang attacks (the only other barrier-piercing attack he has is Tempest and we
can't wait that long).
Note: I know that Flame Shields are even stronger than Holy Rods. By a small
margin though, that much is true, but Holy Rods are far easier to acquire in
bulk and are less useful in other battles.
Sorry for the text-behemoth. The theme here is SPEED. You probably have only
two turns to damage the thing, and you can heal afterwards anyway. Equip Reflect
Rings on everybody and go all-out offensive with your strongest attacks. When
a character goes down, revive him or her; you shouldn't have to bother with
healing. A combination of Reflect Rings and Thunder Shields or Minerva Bustiers
gets you immunity to the Death and Blizzaga spells (bounce off) and the Aero
attack (Wind-element is nullified).
Doom Gaze will take a long time to take down if you're not breaking Rods, and
you may have to find him quite a few times if your level is low. However, once
you defeat him, you'll gain the Magicite remains of the Bahamut Esper. That's
good! Not only does the god-king of all dragons teach Flare at a x2 rate
(Flare is very powerful, barrier-piercing and non-elemental!), his summon
attack Mega Flare is EXTREMELY powerful, barrier-piercing, and non-elemental.
You'll enjoy him on your side. Trust me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.55.1 Narshe
**********************************
Note: The story wanted you to go to Maranda and follow the pigeon to Zozo, and
I sent you around the world to optimize your equipment, learn Phantom Rush,
etcetera and so on. I haven't sent you in any dungeon. However, for various
reasons, I believe it's better gameplay-wise to dive into Narshe first and get
down in Zozo second. You get Mog and an entirely new (and hidden) character out
of it, you get access to level 3 spells, and get a Relic that allows you to
circumvent random encounters, giving you access to some items that you weren't
supposed to obtain yet, this being the [MOOGLE-RAID]. It's really a sweet deal
all in all, but you ignore the story flow here, and miss out on one little
detail of the story as well (which I'll give when the time comes, but you won't
see it on-screen).
Whom to bring? People with Ice-elemental protection other than shields are
preferred if you don't have enough shields to cover for the entire party. The
Minerva Bustier (Celes, Terra) or Snow Scarf (Gau, Mog) are examples. Otherwise,
characters that can deal strong Fire-elemental damage are good to bring along.
Opponents:
Test Rider, Wizard, Lukhavi, Psychos, Magna Roader (yellow), Magna Roader
(brown), Garm, Valigarmanda, Ice Dragon
Container contents:
Elixir, Guard Bracelet, Ribbon
Miscellaneous items: Flame Rod (rare Wizard drop), Force Armor (Ice Dragon
drop), Molulu's Charm (hidden on wall near Mog)
Everything started at Narshe and its Esper. Although the Esper is still
residing in the snowy mountains, Narshe has changed a lot. Arvis is most
likely dead; we haven't heard from him since the Empire backstabbed you while
Terra and Locke were searching for the Espers near Thamasa. The Narshe Guards,
always a force of justice, have been utterly destroyed altogether.
Monster formations:
(Narshe)
Lukhavi, Garm, Garm (5/16)
Garm, Garm, Garm (5/16)
Test Rider (5/16)
Lukhavi, Lukhavi (1/16)
(Northern Mines and First Cave of Western Mines)
Magna Roader (yellow), Magna Roader (yellow), Magna Roader (brown) (10/16)
Magna Roader (yellow), Magna Roader (brown), Magna Roader (brown) (6/16)
(Western Mines)
Wizard, Wizard, Wizard (5/16)
Wizard, Wizard, Psychos, Psychos, Psychos (5/16)
Garm, Garm, Psychos, Psychos (5/16)
Psychos, Psychos, Psychos, Psychos, Psychos, Psychos (1/16)
Lukhavi don't absorb Ice-elemental attacks. They don't even use them. They're
just silly Attack/!Claw Swipe cannon fodder. They have inherent Protect, so
they're more or less similar to those Bogy enemies you encountered earlier. The
way to go is MT magical attacks; they're weak against Fire-elemental attacks.
The same goes for Garm. Attacks include Attack and !Bodyslam (Attack * 1.5).
They will, to me, be forever infamous because they are one of the two
monsters that give a Attack/Special Rage with Death Protection. This is no
big deal in any version but the SNES game though, for reasons that'll take you
many a night to ponder. They are entirely uninteresting as opponents, however.
Test Rider is another Attack/Special opponent. Its Special is !Golden Lance
(Attack * 3). Much like its palette swap Hell's Rider, Test Rider will counter
Steal (and in his case, also Mug) attempts with a !Golden Lance strike.
Sadly for Test Rider, there really isn't a good reason to try to steal his
items (a rare Partisan) so he won't be doing anything with it. When Sketched,
Controlled, or Raged, Test Rider suddenly grants access to Flash Rain, but
he will never use it on your party.
The brown Magna Roader is inherently Hasted like the red Magna Roader was.
The first turn consists out of Attack or !Slam (Attack * 2), the second
turn out of Fire-elemental spells (Fire or Fira). It rarely uses Fireball when
damaged while alone.
The yellow Magna Roader lacks the purple Magna Roader's inherent Protect. What's
left is a monster that's all facade and only possesses skill in rolling over
and dying. It uses physicals in the first turn (33% !Wheel), Ice spells in
the second (Blizzard and Blizzara).
Wizards are annoying. They are mages in the classical sense of the word, almost
exclusive spell casters while sporting low Defense and high Magic Defense. They
use annoyer tactics; they cast Confuse or Osmose (first turn), Rasp or Stop
(second turn), and Confuse or Sleep (third turn). When they are hit by a
spell themselves, they can counter with !Fallen Footsteps, which sets Zombie.
They're also remarkable for their items: they have a common Ice Rod and a rare
Thunder Rod for stealing and a rare Flame Rod drop. They're the only source for
these three elemental Rods in the WoR (apart from the rare Ice Rod on Specter on
the Veldt...bleh).
Psychos' are coalescences of psychotic energy. And they hate you. The thing
to remember about them is that they absorb Fire; none of your current massive
damage dealers deal Fire-elemental damage, but still. Ice is their weakness.
I'd like to make some neat brain freeze puns, but I can't think of any. Just
do it.
Lv. 4 Flare works on every single one of the above enemies! Sadly, you probably
lack access to the Lore command. Instead, Sabin's Razor Gale should be pumped
up as much as possible (you probably already had an Hero's Ring/Earrings combo
on Sabin, but if you hadn't this is the time to make it so). It kills and/or
severely cripples most enemies here, and those that remain can be taken care of
with Edgar's Flash, an MT level 2 spell, whatever. Test Rider and Psychos are
the only notable exceptions; you're better off with a Bio spell or with the Rasp
spell against TR (Test Rider dies when its MP reaches 0), and an MT Blizzara
spell is the way to go versus large Psychos groups. Obviously Leviathan's Tidal
Wave cleans house like you read about, but it's a tad expansive.
Before you go into the derelict city of Narshe, you can visit the Classroom
for some free healing. Also:
"Welcome to our school for budding adventurers. We're always here to help you
find your way in the world...or at least what's left of it."
That's just nice. We were told that the owner of the Weapon Shop was looking
for us. Sadly, the door is locked, and as Lone Wolf told us, only a treasure
hunter could pick that lock. Lacking Locke, we can do nothing but leave the
town of Narshe again and dive into its mines; perhaps Mog is still around, and
is willing to offer us his help.
Remember how you snuck into the town of Narshe with Terra, Edgar, and Banon
and came across the Moogles doing so? We're going to do just that. Just follow
the path; there are no new surprises. The Security Checkpoint is gone, however.
Eventually you'll come across Mog. If you didn't rescue him in the WoB, he'll
get his introduction scene again:
Kupo!!!
Don't scare me like that, kupo!
(naming screen)
If you did recruit him in the World of Balance, he'll get smart on you and
say:
Mog: Kupoppo!!! I thought you'd all died, kupo! I'm so glad you're alive, kupo!
I'll help you fight, kupo!
Regardless, after Mog says he's a friend of the sasquatch that you could have
spotted during the World of Balance, the screen fades to black for a while. If
you had three characters, Mog will now be in your party; if you had four
characters, he'll be waiting for you at the Falcon. If this happened (and it
most likely did, as you've been a good boy), go find the Falcon and switch Mog
with whomever you want out of your party. Honestly, I think Setzer is the
weakest link at this point, but as Mog makes a great Dragoon, you can switch
one Dragoon with another and switch Edgar out of your team.
Regardless, do examine the wall Mog was staring at when you found him. You'll
receive the Molulu's Charm, a little crystal ball given to Mog by his late
girlfriend, Molulu. No wonder our little furry friend was lost in thought...
Molulu's Charm is a great relic. It has no use in-battle whatsoever, but
does grant you one small thing; it allows you to circumvent random battles
entirely. A blessing for every SNES player and downright immediate salvation
for PSX players, the Molulu's Charm has its tactical use. You can dive into
dungeons and grab great items that you weren't supposed to receive until you
were man enough to tackle the dungeon itself. Put in practice, this usually
means the items of the Cultist's Tower (except for the prized object at the
very top of it) and a lot of items from Kefka's Tower.
If you left the Rune Blade in the WoB, grab the Ribbon in the chest in this
room.
Armed with Mog, it's time to head into the mountains and locate the dormant
Esper that you haven't been able to properly contact since the beginning of the
game. Head out of the mines and head into the mountains, like you did when you
first tried to rescue Mog. Exit by the normal exit, which enters into Arvis'
old house. On your way, you should pass two chests. If you didn't rob them of
their contents earlier, they should contain an Elixir and a Guard Bracelet,
which is a poor man's version of the Miracle Shoes (it only sets Protect and
Shell, not Haste and Regen like the Miracle Shoes add to that).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.55.2 Narshe's Snowfields; the battle with Ice Dragon
**********************************
Monster formations:
(Snowfields)
Wizard, Wizard, Wizard (5/16)
Wizard, Wizard, Psychos, Psychos, Psychos (5/16)
Garm, Garm, Psychos, Psychos (5/16)
Psychos, Psychos, Psychos, Psychos, Psychos, Psychos (1/16)
If you want to abuse Molulu's Charm now, skip ahead to [MOOGLE-RAID]. Don't
worry; both dungeons you'll be visiting will be visited later for another
good reason. For a quick list if what you'll obtain from raiding the Cultist's
Tower and Kefka's Tower:
Cultist's Tower: a Force Armor, an easy battle with the Holy Dragon from which
you'll win a Holy Lance upon your victory, a Genji Shield, a Safety Bit, and the
Air Anchor, which is Edgar's eighth Tool.
Kefka's Tower: a Red Cap, a Nutkin Suit, a Gauntlet, a Hypno Crown, the Fixed
Dice, a Minerva Bustier, a Pinwheel, an Aegis Shield, a Force Shield, an easy
battle with the Gold Drgn from which you'll win a Crystal Orb upon your victory,
a Force Armor and a Ribbon.
With Mog in your party, get back into Narshe and go find the snowfields. This
is your first chance to learn Mog's last Dance (save it for me... eheheh), the
Snowman Rondo. It's a rather crummy Dance considering it's WoR-only, but
Avalanche looks sweet and works especially well against the Psychos monsters you
find here.
In the snowfields, you'll find the Ice Dragon.
Ice Dragon
Level: 74, HP: 24400, MP: 9000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Force Shield (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Weakness: Fire
Creature Type: MP Kill
Special: !Hit: Attack x 2
Sketch : Firaga, Blizzaga
Control: Attack, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Poison, Silence, Berserk, Confuse, Slow
Attacks: Attack, Avalanche, Northern Cross, Absolute Zero
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance to obtain one of the following:
Crystal Sword
Crystal Shield
Crystal Helm
Crystal Mail
Go ahead and gawk at those status vulnerabilities if you like. However, I can't
say that the Ice Dragon is the weakest of the eight brethren; as you'll see in
the future, the Gold Dragon is about as silly, while the Holy Dragon is even
worse. Ice Dragon can be fairly easily screwed over though. Sadly for Ice
Dragon, his element is easily absorbed, his amount of HP rather low, and his
status vulnerabilities downright horrible, but I'll try and treat Ice Dragon
with the same amount of dignity I firmly believe everybody deserves. Except for
Nelapa, obviously.
What does Ice Dragon do? He can use all three spells normally. If you damage
him, he might counter with Attack. If he dies, he might use one final Avalanche
attack before rolling over, but that's about it. Honestly, Ice Dragon might
very well be THE least interesting boss in the game.
How to stop him? There are tons of ways! It doesn't really matter who you
bring here. All you need is the Berserk spell and the Esper that teaches it,
Phantom. Set Berserk on Ice Dragon, summon Phantom, and sit back. Use Poison
or Bio to set Poison on the freezing fiend, and even Haste if you like; it will
only speed up the Poisoning, as you're immune to everything he does. If you
brought Mog, make sure you don't execute a Dance; the only one that doesn't
have an inherent chance to remove your Invisible status is the Twilight Requiem,
which is pretty much useless (3/16 chance you'll damage him once you get it
working). Gau's (or Gogo's) Io-induced Flare Star attack will do 9999 damage
every time it appears at any level the caster is on, while Leaf Bunny or the
purple Magna Roader make Gau and Gogo absorb the Ice-elemental attacks without
any equipment. If you brought Edgar, you can tease the Ice Dragon by trying to
make Poison his weakness (if you get it, Poison will take off about 3200 damage
a hit at the peak of its glory).
If you have the equipment and the status ailments to throw around, Ice
Dragon is a joke. If you don't, his Absolute Zero and Avalanche attacks will
hurt real bad. The Silence status effect prevents Northern Cross and Absolute
Zero. If, for some reason, you don't opt for Berserk/Phantom, try setting Slow,
Poison, and Silence (a neat way of doing this is casting Reflect on the guy and
have Strago/Gogo execute Reflect???, but that's just novelty). Equip the easily
obtained Ice Shields, Flame Shields, Snow Scarfs and/or Minerva Bustier and you
won't feel a thing from Ice Dragon's attacks. Golem should be more than
sufficient for Ice Dragon's physical attacks, but you can humiliate him extra by
summoning Fenrir over Golem.
Once you've defeated the Ice Dragon, you'll receive a Force Shield.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.55.3 Narshe's Snowfields; the battle with Valigarmanda
**********************************
Pushing on, you'll come across a Save Point where you can use a Tent if you
need one. In the next screen, you'll walk across a bridge that takes you to
the mysterious Esper from the beginning of the game, the same frozen entity
that prompted Terra to morph into her Esper form earlier and (possibly)
overlooked Lone Wolf's taking hostage of Mog. As you come near it this time,
it seems that the Esper has had it with the waiting itself. An eerie glow
surrounds it, and Valigarmanda the Esper attacks you.
Valigarmanda
Level: 62, HP: 30000, MP: 50000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Nullifies: Lightning, Poison, Wind, Holy, Earth, Water,
Weakness: Fire
Special: !Hit: Attack x 1.5
Sketch : !Hit, Attack
Control: Attack, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Blizzaga, Rasp, Freezing Dust
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Valigarmanda is attacking you. That's not very nice of him. Luckily, he has very
little to damage you with. Blizzaga is his only offensive spell, and as most of
your party is easily covered in Flame Shields, Ice Shields, or Minerva Bustier,
the spell will do nothing to them. If you lack the above equipment for all
characters, it's worthy of notice that the Thunder Shields and Force Shields
both halve damage done by Ice-elemental attacks (and the Force Shield grants
the wearer inherent Shell, reducing the Blizzaga spell by another 33%).
What Valigarmanda does is all very basic. He attacks normally with the above
three spells, although he hardly ever uses Freezing Dust just like that.
Whenever Valigarmanda is hit by a Fire-elemental attack, he has a one-third
chance of casting Rasp. Also, whenever Tritoch is hit by either Bushido, Tools,
Blitz, Lore, Sketch, or Rage, he has a one-third chance of casting Freezing Dust
to freeze the violator.
The strategy the game wants you to follow is clear. Fire-elemental Magic is the
key. You will mainly be casting Fira here. Sabin's Rising Phoenix is weaker
on a single target and may allow a Freezing Dust attack, but if Sabin lacks Fira
and Phantom Rush, just go ahead. If you brought Gau, the Twinscythe Rage
(Metal Cutter) works great because it inherently absorbs Blizzaga. A Rage like
Devil Fist is also great, providing you can combine it with an Ice Shield or
Snow Scarf on the Rager. The Io Rage is even better as it will consistently deal
9920 damage every time Gau uses Flare Star and inherently nullifies Ice-
elemental attacks, but it's unlikely you have it at this point.
There's little strategy involved, as the battle as too easy. If you somehow
didn't bring any equipment with elemental properties, Zona Seeker can help you
out there. Haste on the entire party (now with the Hastega spell, brought to you
by Quetzalli) can shorten the time a character is Frozen; hell, just cast a Fire
spell on the afflicted and watch him turn back to normal. Celes' Runic can
absorb the Blizzaga and Rasp spells; it won't be necessary if you prepared
enough, but if you haven't it's a great idea.
As soon as you defeat Valigarmanda, he starts talking! Blast, he could've done
that earlier and saved us a lot of trouble. "You know Terra, you're a half-
Esper, and the Empire is evil and has abused you. Go side with the Returners.
Here's my Magicite, it teaches level 3 spells so you fry anything on your path.
Good luck! Oh, and don't stick Skittles up your nose."
Regardless: an opening in the cliff. You can hop into it. RPG wisdom tells us
that the 'No' option isn't going to get us treasure.
A note on Valigarmanda: He teaches level 3 spells, which is sweet; sadly, he
does so at a x1 rate which is decidedly slow. So Valigarmanda's summon attack,
Tri-Disaster, will actually be your strongest magical attack on character as
Celes and Terra for a while (in the GBA game you're playing it's equalled by
Leviathan). Tri-Disaster, though, is an odd attack; it's tri-elemental; Fire-,
Ice- and Lightning-elemental and about as powerful as a level 3 spell. How does
this work? If a creature absorbs one of the elements, it absorbs the entire
attack. If a creature nullifies one of the elements, it nullifies the entire
attack. If a creature is weak against one of the elements, it is weak against
the entire attack. So, you'll want to use Tri-Disaster against enemies that are
weak to Fire, Ice, or Lightning, but don't absorb or nullify any of them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.55.4 Umaro's Cave; the battle with three Tonberries
**********************************
Opponents:
Tonberry, Onion Dasher, Anemone, Illyankas, Knotty, Tzakmaqiel, Tonberries,
Yeti
Container contents: Gauntlet, X-Ether, Monster-in-a-box (Tonberries x3)
Miscellaneous items: Minerva Bustier (rare Tonberries drop, rare Tonberries
steal)
Lores:
Traveler
Whom to bring? Mog is great, as he's needed to obtain the 'sasquatch muscle' you
meet later on. Otherwise, the same people that did well in 4.55.1 will do well
again here; the main danger of the cave monsters is Imp-setting where you need
White Capes/Ribbons for anyway.
Monster formations:
(Upper Two Levels)
Knotty, Knotty, Knotty, Knotty (5/16)
Tzakmaqiel, Knotty, Knotty, Knotty (5/16)
Tzakmaqiel, Illuyankas (5/16)
Tonberry (1/16)
(Skull Room and Tonberries Chest Room)
Anemone, Anemone, Anemone, Anemone (5/16)
Ceritops, Tomb Thumb, Tomb Thumb (5/16)
Anemone, Anemone, Tomb Thumb (5/16)
Ceritops, Ceritops, Ceritops (1/16)
Knotties are Mu palette swaps. Like Mu, they're cannot be Meteor Struck; I
continue to wonder if they're just sitting in holes in the ground or ripple into
our existence from a maddening rift in the space-time continuum. If this
question doesn't confuse you, the Knotty's Stone attack may; they have a 33%
chance of using it in their second turn. Not only does the Stone attack set
Confuse on a successful hit, it will also completely make you to eat dirt if
your characters are level 33; it's the same level as Knotty, and as you know,
Stone deals 7.5 as much damage when the level of the caster and the target as
equal. Just make sure this doesn't happen by taking them out ASAP; they're weak
to Fire, so Rising Phoenix or the newly acquired Valigarmanda can help.
Noiseblaster also works like a charm. An MT charm, to be precise. :P
Another theory I'd like to credit Suonymona for mentions that Mu/Knotty are this
game's version of FF V's Nut Eaters/Skull Eaters. They're both squirrel-like in
appearance the colors are consistent (brown for the weaker, grey for the
stronger). Since Sabin has a childhood fear of 'Nut Eaters', maybe the Mu's
and Knotty's non-Meteor Strikeable nature doesn't come from the fact they are
unable to be lifted, but rather comes from the fact Sabin can't bring himself to
perform the attack on them. This wouldn't explain Gogo's behavior, though.
Tzakmaqiels are boring. Their Special, !Peck, sets Imp. Weak against Fire like
everything in the cave, it doesn't really matter if you torch them or just
use other kinds of violence. The Sketch command has a 3/4 shot at pulling
Cyclonic from this freaky bipod, which works against both Tzakmaqiel and
Knotty. Tzakmaqiel are called 'leaders of the little monsters' by the Anthology
Bestiary. What that's supposed to mean is left to anybody's imagination.
Illuyankas are pretty sturdy with inherent Protect, Death protection, and the
ability to absorb your Lightning-elemental attacks. They're weak against Fire
and really don't do anything special AI-wise (Attack and !Friendmaker, which
sets *gasp* Imp), so take your time, they're not very dangerous. They have a
mouth-watering Rage, though (inherent Protect, Lightning-absorption, ID
protection, Gigavolt).
The Tonberry. The notorious creatures that look like they're waddling over
for a hug yet intend to flay the flesh from your skull while you're still alive.
They have a lot of Hit Points (8000) for a normal monster and possess two very
strong attacks. Every round, it will use Traveler. Since Traveler is
unblockable, non-elemental, and barrier-piercing, there's no protection from it.
I can't predict how much damage it will do, but 1700 is a fair guess, I'd say.
Every time you damage a Tonberry, it will counter with a !Knife attack, which
is eight times as strong as his normal Attack (which he never uses) - an
incredible blow - AND another Traveler attack. It slaughters you left and
right! How to deal with one? The trick is the Imp status! Turn it into an Imp
with the spell or Bad Breath. It'll start to do automatic criticals now, so if
you're not under the influence of Invisible you should do so ASAP. Now, you can
just pound it without fear. The quickest ways to a dead Tonberry are Fire-
elemental attacks and the Deepeye Rage. Since Tonberry is immune to ID attacks,
but not to Petrify, most petrification attacks will fail where Dread Gaze will
work. It has a rare Tintinnabulum drop, which is pretty spectacular, but as a
Tonberry encounter by itself is rare enough, it's hardly a good source to find
them.
Anemone are pretty passive enemies. When with other monsters, they will merely
use !Imp Touch every now and then, which sets Imp. If they've been damaged,
they will heal themselves a little with Megavolt; they both are weak to the
element and absorb it, so not even the Debilitator can make Megavolt hurt an
Anemone. If an Anemone is all by itself though, it'll start to use Gigavolt on
the party every turn, so you'll want to avoid that. Weak to Fire, like you
suspected.
Onion Dashers are monsters I find specifically annoying for no apparent reason.
Their Special is called !Dash, and it doesn't set Imp; it sets Haste! That's
why they use it on themselves every second turn, too. Otherwise, it's just
physical attacks when they're with others or Imp Song when they're alone. You've
only seen Imp Song as a counter-attack so far, so I should point out that Imp
Song is actually an MT attack.
So, slap on as many Ribbons as you have and give White Capes to the other
characters. You don't want to be turned into an Imp, and Ribbons are nice
in the aspect of Confuse-protection for Stone. Summon Phantom at some time or
just cast Vanish a couple of times; invulnerability is the goal here. Knotty's
Stone isn't cast until the second round and Gigavolt and Imp Song only when the
enemies in question are alone (don't allow it). Tonberry's Traveler is
unavoidable, but you can set Imp, possibly revive the fallen characters, and
quickly re-apply Invisible. Fire-elemental attacks rule here, but the only
strong one you probably have at this point is Vligarmanda's Tri-Disaster. Firaga
spells clean house though.
Umaro's Cave is a cave with two themes. The first theme is out-battle, and it's
pitfalls. Bloody, bloody pitfalls. They're not there to make you land on
poisoned spikes or anything, but they do keep you from getting treasure. The
other theme is Imp. Every monster here has the ability to turn you into one
of those blasted Kappa water sprites.
When you land, you have access to three parts of the cave. The far right one
just leads you to a pitfall, so you have no business there. The one in the
middle leads you to a chest with an X-Ether (the upper chest). Grab it and then
return to the first cave you entered. Now, enter the far left cave-mouth. Make
sure you don't stand on the two dark tiles there, as they are pitfalls. Walk
around until you get a random battle. Make sure to end it with four characters
with the Invisible status. Siren is nice to equip as well, but only necessary if
you can't set Imp or Silence in any way. Now, open the chest. As you may have
guessed, 'tis a monster-in-a-box.
Tonberries (x3)
Level: 62, HP: 30000, MP: 50000
Steal: Minerva Bustier (rare), Win: Minerva Bustier (rare)
Absorbs: Water, Weak against: Fire
Special: !Knife: Attack x 8
Sketch : !Knife, Attack
Control: Attack, !Knife
Vulnerable to: Imp, Silence, Slow
Attacks: Attack, !Knife, Holy
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Impartisan
Tortoise Shield
Saucer
Reed Cloak
Tonberries are the more powerful yet more easily defeated version of the
Tonberry. They simply walk up to you and use Attack every time they take a step.
If they're right in front of you - have taken eight steps - they use !Knife and
return to their original position. If you hit them with a Magic spell, they
counter with Holy. Their Holy spell is fairly weak and not even a direct threat,
but it does remove the Invisible status, which opens you up to their physical
attacks.
When you fight them, do whatever you want, so long as you make sure you stay
under Invisible. Silence the lot, cast an MT Bio, and cast a Hastega spell on
them to speed up the Poisoning. They're weak against Fire, so the newly acquired
summon attack, Tri-Disaster, packs a nice punch. The battle really revolves
around staying invincible. Gau's Io Rage is really grand, as the Tonberries'
level is really high. You know what hurts by now, I assume. If you have a
character with the Steal command, you could try to nick a Minerva Bustier if you
don't have two yet; the only situation in which you need more than one Minerva
Bustier is a team that features both Terra and Celes, but it doesn't hurt. Do
know that due to the Tonberries' high level and the Minerva Bustier being a rare
Steal, it really makes for a small chance of success.
Once you're done, you cleared the entire top floor so it doesn't matter if you
go back to the first cave and enter the middle cave-mouth to descend the stairs
to the lower level or just fall through a pitfall. Regardless, find the Gauntlet
in the chest here and push on. It's an easily maneuverable cave and you should
reach the stairs before long. Ascend to find a switch. Ignore it; it triggers
a pitfall right where you're standing. The next switch also does this, but
allows you to enter a new part of the cave.
This is the room of the sasquatch that Mog and various townspeople from Narshe
were talking about earlier. The stairs up just lead to the point where you
could see Umaro the sasquatch in the WoB and forces you to fall down there. It's
a long hike back, and we still have work to do here. Examine the bone carving
in the middle of the room to find a piece of Magicite in it! Once you choose
to remove the remains of Midgardsormr from the carving, an enraged yeti comes
for you! You should know better than to mess with art...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.55.5 The battle with Umaro
**********************************
Umaro
Level: 33, HP: 17200, MP: 6990
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Weak against: Fire, Poison
Creature Type: Humanoid
Special: !Tackle: Attack x 3
Sketch : !Tackle, Attack
Control: Attack, !Tackle
Vulnerable to: Poison, Berserk, Sleep, Slow
Attacks: Attack, !Tackle, Jump, Item (Green Cherry), Snowball, Avalanche,
Snowstorm, Hailstone
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
So, you've had three major battles with relatively easily defeated monsters with
a weakness to Fire, so the game designers decided to add something new here.
Sadly, the game designers lost the dictionary and forgot the meaning of the word
'new', and as a result Umaro is, yet again, a relatively easily defeated monster
with a weakness to Fire.
Umaro employs all kinds of freaky attacks to try to damage you. Normally,
he'll use Attack, !Tackle, and Snowstorm. He uses physical attacks only when
only one character is alive, but I see no reason for that to occur other than in
a SCC. Every 40 seconds (when 2 or more characters are alive), Umaro will either
use Snowball (an unblockable ID attack that halves the target's current HP and
sets Sap), Avalanche, or Hailstone (ID attack that takes off 75% of the targets
current HP). Umaro may counter Fire-elemental attacks with either !Tackle or
Snowstorm, and every other kind of damage with !Tackle. Every third time Umaro
is hit by a Magic spell, he'll use a Jump attack.
The interesting part of this fight is the Green Cherry Item. When you
use it on him or he uses it himself (automatically when he reaches 10240 HP),
he will glow red and the following message will appear:
Energized!
Defense increased!
Magic Defense Increased!
Speed incrased!
Healing increased!
This means that Umaro sets Protect, Shell, Haste, and Regen on himself. Sadly
for Umaro, he has Sap immunity, so you never get to see Regen in action. The
appearance of the Green Cherry means Dispel time for you! Dispel will remove
all of his power-ups (so will Strago's Rippler Lore, by the way).
Umaro is a very easy opponent. Since he has Berserk vulnerability, you can set
it with the Berserk spell, summon Phantom, and effectively win the match right
there. If this is not amongst your pool of options, combining Sleep with Slow
should really cripple him too. If status ailments are too cheap for you, Umaro
is simply weak enough to defeat with damaging and healing when appropriate.
Fira spells work just fine, as does Sabin's Phantom Rush, Dragon Horn Jump
attacks, you name it.
After the battle is over, Umaro will be sitting in a corner, looking sad and
pummeled. But hey, you broke his statue and, dunno, pummeled him, so I guess
that makes sense. If you walk over him, don't be afraid; he won't attack you
again. If you didn't bring Mog, he'll just go "Oooh..." and continue to sit
there. If this happens, you can just return to get Mog and talk to him later;
he'll still be sitting there.
If you did bring Mog though, he'll go talk to Umaro. In a stunning display of
taking advantage of the mentally disabled, Mog orders Umaro to join your cause.
He'll stomp off to find the Falcon and wait there for you. You don't have to
have Mog in your party to use Umaro, and using a Green Cherry on the character
Umaro has no special effect over removing Imp like it always does. If you would
like to learn more about Umaro, follow [UMARO-LINK].
Umaro, as a character, is generally considered the weakest character in
the game. His stats are awesome, that's not the problem, and his Tackle and
Character Toss attacks are nothing to scoff at. Not to mention the fact that
with the two Relics made specifically for him (the Berserker Ring and Blizzard
Orb) he absorbs Fire and Ice while nullifying Lightning, taking care of the
three basic elements in the game. Then why is Umaro still considered the weakest
link?
First off, you can't access his equipment. He's stuck with a feature-less,
non-elemental Bone Club in his right hand and the Snow Scarf. Granted, the
Snow Scarf is arguably the best armor to be 'stuck with', but this means that
Umaro cannot adapt to a situation. He needs at least one Relic slot for a
sufficient damage output, which doesn't help him. He can't learn or cast
Magic like all the other characters, and can receive no Esper boosts, as he
can't equip them. He's uncontrollable from the beginning, so he can never react
to a surprise Death with a Phoenix Down or fall back as a utility character.
In short, Umaro is a completely one-dimensional character. This immediately
explains his popularity by many first-time players; it's hard to go wrong with
him. Every character can be tweaked to be superior to Umaro, but you have to
know how in some cases, while it's impossible to go really wrong with Umaro;
you bring him into battle; he'll do impressive damage.
For now, if you've followed the walkthrough so far, you'll have neither the
Berserker Ring nor Blizzard Orb, so the best Umaro right now is one equipped
with a Gigas Glove (Hero's Ring works, but Umaro won't benefit from the increase
in magical damage) and a Gauntlet. Since Umaro comes without a shield anyway,
the Gauntlet raises both the offense (his normal physicals only, not Tackle
and Character Toss) and defense of the raging snowman.
Now, you can just cast the Teleport spell to get out. Or walk, do whatever
pleases you. The path Umaro took is the only way to leave Umaro's caves.
Note: You just obtained Midgarsormr as well. Midgarsormr isn't as powerful as
Valigarmanda, almost nothing is weak to the Earth element and he doesn't hit
Floating targets, but Midgarsormr's Abyssal Maw *is* stronger than your level 2
spells so it's a nice Esper to summon for Terra/Celes/Relm/Strago if they
haven't learned any truly powerful magic yet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.55.6 The Moogle Raid
**********************************
Container contents: Aegis Shield, Air Anchor, Force Armor x2, Force Shield,
Fixed Dice, Gauntlet, Genji Shield, Hero's Ring, Hypno Crown, Kagenui, Minerva
Bustier, Nutkin Suit, Red Cap, Ribbon, Safety Bit, Pinwheel
Miscellaneous items: Holy Lance (Holy Dragon drop and rare Holy Lance steal),
Crystal Orb (Gold Dragon drop)
Note that this section is entirely optional and in fact hardly what you're
'supposed' to do, feel free to skip it. It's the abusing of a no-encounter
Relic to gain all sorts of late-game treasure from two dungeons you're not
quite ready for. It *really* helps out.
[MOOGLE-RAID]
The following needs you to have Mog in your party, equipped with Molulu's Charm.
It's the entire point of the quest, silly! Since you'll be walking anyway, might
as well equip Sprint Shoes.
The first stop is the Cultist's Tower. We see Strago prancing 'round like
before, but now we go right past him, onto the Tower.
On the first part of the stairway, there's a door we can enter. Enter and raid
the chest; it contains a Safety Bit. The Safety Bit protects the wearer from
Instant Death-magic; it's basically a Memento Ring for everybody. But wait a
minute, didn't that thief in Maranda mention how one of his companions mumbled
'to the right of the treasure chest'? The thieves can never have gone too far,
so you'd better check it out. Press the action button when standing to the
right of the treasure chest. Something rumbles, and when you leave the door
another one has appeared below you! When you enter this one, you can find
a chest containing an Air Anchor, Edgar's most rare Tool.
The Air Anchor does the following. Once an enemy is hit by the Air Anchor, it
is allowed one more turn, after which it dies. It never misses, unless the
target is immune to Instant Death attacks. The Air Anchor also deals damage,
which is entirely redundant (as no damage will be done if it misses, and the
damage is useless if the target dies the next round anyway). I myself have
always liked the Air Anchor because it never fails and you can focus attacks
on other opponents while you know the Anchored one has been taken care of;
others will claim the Air Anchor is a scrubby Tool that allows for another
attack while so many other ID attacks like Death/Snare/Zantetsuken do not.
And thus was born the Air Anchorman; the legend of Edgar Roni Burgundy.
While in the Air Anchor room, remove your Molulu's Charm and walk around! The
only battles here feature Magic Urn. Not only do they heal you with a multitude
of potions, they also Flee on their own after a while. They have a kick-ass
Rage (allows Gau to absorb all eight elements regardless of equipment and
immunity to all status ailments while casting Curaga half the time), so you'll
want to meet them at least once.
We press on! The door in the second part of the stairway contains a Genji
Shield, which is a nice enough shield; third-best Defense in the game (lower
than the legendary Paladin's Shield and oddball Tortoise Shield), respectable
Magic Defense, and 20% Evasion and Magic Evasion added to the wearer.
The door in the third part of the stairway contains the Kagenui the second-most
powerful Dirk for Shadow. It has a 25% chance of casting Stop every time a
strike is made, but gives nothing in terms of fringe benefits. Famous for
Coliseum tactics against the likes of Chupon and Siegfried, who are both
vulnerable to the ailment and very hard to defeat by other means. The room also
features the Holy Dragon; you can defeat him now if you want for a Holy
Lance: [HDRAGON-LINK].
The door in the fourth and last part of the stairway contains a Force Armor.
The Force Armor is a great piece of armor, especially for those characters
that have no other interesting pieces to equip (Locke, Cyan, Edgar, Setzer, and
Shadow). It doesn't really have that much on Defense (inferior to Crystal Mail),
but it's quite good on Magic Defense (only inferior to Genji Armor, rare
Snow Scarf and oddball Reed Cloak), has great elemental advantages (50% Fire,
Ice, Lightning, Wind, and Earth-elemental damage) and an added 30% Magic
Evasion.
The Force Armor is inferior to the Minerva Bustier in every way except for the
Magic Evasion, so don't equip it on the girls; it's a genuine toss-up for the
boys, though. The Genji Armor is sturdier in both the Defense and Magic Defense
department and gives all-round stat boosts to boot; the Force Armor makes for a
more evasive character that is better suited to deal with elemental magical
attacks. I prefer the Force Armor for non-specific boss battles and the Genji
Armor for random encounters myself, but it's up to you.
The top part of the Tower, where the 'wondrous' item lies, should be off-limits
to you at this point; you can try to defeat the boss, but it's an enormous
hassle to defeat the guy at this stage. If you want to try the pain-in-the-ass
way (which for emulator users means juggling with Quetzalli's Sonic Dive and for
console players hours upon hours of MP-draining), skip ahead to [MAGICMASTER-
LINK]. If not, just hike all the way back, which is my least favorite part of
this game by far.
Next and final stop, Kefka's Tower!
Put Mog with Molulu's Charm in party # 1, and fill up the other two positions.
You won't be using them, so don't worry about which characters to take.
Walk around with Mog. You'll first come across a chest containing a Hypno Crown,
which boosts the wearer's Magic Power by 4 and raises the success rate of the
Control ability (Relm's upgraded Sketch). Walking on gets us into a familiar
area, a part of the Imperial Palace. Open the chest for the Fixed Dice (which
makes Setzer eternally more appealing than he was so far).
The Fixed Dice are Dice, but better. Dice sucked always, but the Fixed Dice is
a better damage dealer than Setzer's other weapons on average (unless extreme
circumstances appear, but meh). The main differences include the fact that the
Fixed Dice have THREE Dice to multiply with, and upon the situation of three
equal rolls (1-1-1, 2-2-2, etc.) the outcome is once again multiplied by the
number rolled. Finally, the damage output of the Fixed Dice aren't cut down by
the Master's Scroll so Setzer can deal four of these attacks from the Back Row
with the relic equipped.
Now, walking on will get you to a dead end, so either use a Teleport Stone, the
Teleport spell, or switch to one of your characters and touch the Crane to get
out. Now, put Mog in party # 2 and continue raiding.
The first chest you find is rather messily stacked on the background in the
second room. It contains a Minerva Bustier. Continue to find a split in the
road. Go up to grab the Pinwheel in the chest, and then go down. You'll find
yourself in the jail of the Imperial Palace, where Kefka was locked up when you
were on the mission to find the Esper for a peace conference. A monster sits in
Kefka's jail; ignore it for now and get out. You'll fall down. Go up the
stairs to find two pipes. The right one takes you back to the Pinwheel room,
the left one allows you to continue. You'll find a Force Shield in the chest
you see upon tasting fresh air again. Go down; don't bother with the two doors
for now, and get to the far bottom-left to find a Force Armor in a chest. Get
back to the two doors. The left one takes you to a button on the floor and
a chest containing a Ribbon. Get out and take the right door. You can find
the Gold Dragon waiting for you here, but no more chest contents. If you have
the Berserk and Vanish spells, you can take him with Mog only; an average party
at this point also can. If you want to take the dragon on now, take a look at
[GDRAGON-LINK]. Warp out.
Now, get Mog in party # 3. Walk downwards. Going to the right will clearly take
you past three chests: a Red Cap (awesome), a Gauntlet, and a Nutkin Suit.
Continuing down the logical path will eventually take you to a part of the
derelict Magitek Factory. Pick the chest for a Hero's Ring and try to find the
Aegis Shield hidden to the south. If you're playing on an emulator, simply
disable layer 2 to see the path. If you're a console player, do the following:
Go down into the darkness to the left of the spinning whatever-it-is.
- Go all the way down
- Go all the way to the right
- Go all the way down
- Go 1 step up
- Go all the way to the left
- Go all the way down
- Take a few steps to the right and grab the Aegis Shield
- Go back into the darkness and go all the way to the right
- Go up and to the right until you don't go any further
- Go all the way to the left, and all the way up to re-appear
This is it! You've raided Kefka's Tower as far as you could. There's plenty
more, but you'll need three thoroughly prepared parties to go further so
there's a time for that later.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.56.1 The battle with Humbaba
**********************************
Opponents:
Humbaba
Lores:
1000 Needles
Whom to bring? Celes is great to bring; Runic is nice if you don't have enough
Reflect Rings to satisfy the entire party, and Celes's Minerva Bustier nullifies
Humbaba's Lightning-elemental attacks. Sabin is a great addition to your team as
he'll be able to a lot of damage without disturbing him from his sleep with
Phantom Rush. Gau's not very useful, as his random physicals will disturb
Humbaba from his Sleep status, and the same goes for Umaro.
Assuming you haven't fought Humbaba earlier, you still have some things to do,
which you can read about here: [HUMBABA1-LINK]
Assuming that you fought Humbaba earlier and talked to Terra in Mobliz:
[HUMBABA2-LINK]
This is a good time to check in on the kids in Mobliz again. That pigeon can
wait for just a little bit longer (don't worry, we'll get with the pigeon next)
and the last time we saw Terra, she wasn't doing so hot. Personal problems,
loads of responsibility, and the ancient demon Humbaba stampeding around would
get the average nineteen-year old girl down, I'm sure.
As soon as you enter Mobliz, nothing happens. The dogs have gotten used to you,
so they don't bark. Descending in the orphan's shelter will teach you that the
three older kids in town are gone; it seems that amidst all of the disaster,
safe sex wasn't a priority for Duane and Katarin. Katarin's pregnant, Duane
had thought of a better future than sitting in a dump of a town with his
knocked-up 17-year old girlfriend like so many fine young men of our generation,
and Terra... Where the hell is Terra? Best search around town.
The Relic Shop's derelict, although there's a nice bed for you to sleep in if
you feel like it. The only other standing house contains a dog that quickly
sneaks off behind a bookcase and Duane, who laments. Follow the dog and you
discover the haven within the haven; Terra and Katarin have retreated here to
discuss the existence of the baby. Duane comes in to apologize for his whatever
the hell he did wrong.
At any rate, Humbaba attacks again. Duane sticks to Katarin, Terra refuses to
fight once more, and the kid asks you to rid the world of Humbaba once and for
all. With ten young eyes pointed at you, do you really have a choice?
Before you go out, make sure you're properly equipped and healed up. Reflect
Rings will really help here, especially if you lack the Runic ability on your
team. Obviously, people with a Thunder Shield and/or the Minerva Bustier don't
need a Reflect Ring, as they absorb (Thunder Shield) or nullify (Minerva)
Thundara and Thundaga anyway. If you brought Umaro and already found a Blizzard
Orb, equip it on him; not that his Snowstorm attack is specifically strong in
this battle, but the Blizzard Orb nullifies Lightning-elemental attacks.
Humbaba (Breath)
Level: 31, HP: 26000, MP: 10000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Lightning, Weak against: 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, Humbaba Breath
Joker's Death: No
It's impossible to spin 7-7-7 in this battle; the game prevents it.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Humbaba (final)
Level: 31, HP: 26000, MP: 10000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Lightning, Weak against: Poison
Special: !Solar Plexus: Attack x 3
Sketch : !Solar Plexus, Attack
Control: Attack, !Solar Plexus
Vulnerable to: Sleep
Attacks: Attack, !Solar Plexus, Thundara, Thundaga, 1000 Needles
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
This isn't all that difficult, so I'll make it kinda quick. You rush out of
the house to find Humbaba approaching. You do battle with him. The first
round, he'll throw a Attack or !Solar Plexus attack. The next round consists out
of Thundara or Thundaga, and the third round is Thundara, 1000 Needles or
Attack. It loops. As soon as it hits 15360 Hit Points, it'll counter the first
attack you throw at him with a double Humbaba Breath attack. Humbaba Breath is a
Humbaba-only attack that's exactly the same as Snort; it only looks different.
Humbaba targets two random characters and blows them away. They will also be
removed from your party and can be found at the Falcon later. Here, the battle
ends.
If you somehow managed to completely circumvent this event by doing more than
15360 damage in one turn, he'll use Humbaba Breath only once and die. This is
odd, as the thing going on here is that you can't really handle Humbaba. Sure,
you pound on him for a while, then he disables two of your characters just like
that.
On the offense, Humbaba is temporarily resistant to the Sleep status so that
doesn't work. Focus on your strongest attacks; Sabin's Phantom Rush, Mog
and Edgar's Jump attacks, Setzer's Gil Toss attack (his Fixed Dice are
stronger if you have them), Cyan's Flurry technique, what have you. If you
brought Gau to the scene, !Cat Scratch at decent level (30 and above) is the
best bet versus Humbaba for Gau. Tyrannosaur's (enemy) Meteor's decent, followed
by Marchosias; Aero and Trillium's Bio. Spritzer absorbs Thundara and Thundaga,
which is a great defensive choice if you didn't bring Reflect Rings or a Runic
user. Keep in the back of your head that Spritzer is undead, though. Destroyer
isn't, but that really kills Gau's offense in the matter. Baalzephon absorbs the
Lightning-elemental spells and has superior offense in Blizzaga, but chances are
slim you chose to pick up Gogo before Terra. Your Mages and lesser-trained
characters have the Bio spell to use, and if any character has learned Quake
than it is pure Magic (don't forget to cast Float, obviously).
Note that since this battle fades out rather than actually ends, Strago won't
be able to learn any Lores (aka 1000 Needles) from this battle.
Anyway, despite your perfect set-up and the little amount of damage Humbaba
will be able to do, you still get your face handed to you on an IKEA silver
platter according to the storyline. No fair.
So, Terra comes to save you! Sensing that her friends are in danger or something
cheesy like that, she rushes to the rescue, unleashing the Esper within herself
on her way. Round two.
Now, you stand there with one or two less characters you picked beforehand, but
with a permanently Tranced Terra as a replacement. Just continue to attack him.
If Terra knows the Bio spell, have her use it. Since Terra doesn't have a
Reflect Ring and likely lacks the Minerva Bustier as well, it can be a good idea
to cast Shell or Reflect on her in this battle, even though she already takes
half as much damage from the attacks due to her Tranced state. The Sleep status
ailment works now, so have one of your characters cast it if possible and focus
on magical attacks only. Before long, Humbaba will fall.
Interesting tidbit: this is actually the only battle in the entire game you can
see the fallen Esper Terra sprite in. In normal situations, Terra will
automatically Revert when she is killed, but not so in this battle.
After the battle, the kids of Mobliz rush out of the houses to celebrate the
victory, but instead of their Mama, they find a naked purple furry. They hide
behind barrels for safety. One of the toddlers recognizes Terra and all
surround her. Terra, meanwhile, has concluded that pacifism isn't the way to
enlightenment and decides to fight for her loved ones, the children of Mobliz.
When the scene is over, we can leave Mobliz behind; we can only hope that all
will go well for them, and that the upcoming baby will never represent this
world reborn when the credits roll.
I wouldn't get my hopes up for that last one, by the way.
An important note to make before we really go back on the Falcon, by the way,
is the fact that as of now Terra will receive TWICE as much Trance time for
every Magic Point she gains. That's awesomely sweet. Terra is entirely like
Celes on her set-up and the way you should treat her; teach her Bahamut's,
Midgarsormr's or Valigarmanda's spells, and equip the Minerva Bustier on her no
matter what you have in mind.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.57.1 Following the pigeon
**********************************
Finally, it's time to get on with the story and get busy with the pigeon you
were prompted to deal with all these aeons ago.
Whom to bring? The Minerva Bustier is great against the boss you'll fight, so
Celes and Terra are nice choices if you have up to two Minervas Bustier. Sabin
is still a magical powerhouse, but Dragoon Edgar, Dragoon Mog, and Fixed Dice
Setzer are pretty powerful too. If Gau has something like Magic Urn or
Baalzephon I'd bring him along. Never mind Umaro. It comes down to the
characters you have proper equipment for, really.
First stop, if you still remember, is Maranda, where the carrier pigeon first
took us. Some pigeons surround Lola's house, and as we enter we find the entire
room covered in beautiful silk flowers. Lola claims that her boyfriend, the
wounded lad in Mobliz has sent them all, but we just visited that place; that
poor guy was killed when Kefka attacked the town with the Light of Judgment.
So, who has been deceiving this girl, keeping her hopes up? Examining the
letters reveals that the handwriting of it resembles the handwriting of Cyan,
who like no other, knows the pain of loss.
Lola asks you if you can attach her reply to a carrier pigeon. Accept, and
you'll receive the Rare item "Lola's letter". You can examine it to read the
first two lines (Thanks for all the flowers, I'm worried about you...) Go
outside and find the pigeon waiting for you near Lola's house; attach the
letter (obviously, you'll lose it) and you'll see it fly across the Overworld
Map to Zozo. It seems our characters have incredible eyesight if they can track
a single bird that far.
Jump on the Falcon and fly over to Zozo. Zozo still houses the same opponents
as it did in the WoB, but I'm not going to comment on them again, as they're no
real threat to you anymore. In Zozo, you find the pigeon resting for a bit near
the entrance; pushing it a little makes it fly on, over, and behind the Small
Tower. Up there, you may remember one of the doors being rusted shut; you
could climb up there and experience this fact if you want to, but we're better
off looking on the ground for help. Besides, didn't that one guy in Maranda
say how the honest merchant here might be able to help us out one day?
The honest merchant is willing to help us for a price; for 1000 Gil, we can buy
some Rust-Rid. He won't sell you the Rust-Rid if you haven't sent the pigeon
all the way, so make sure you did that. The Rust-Rid is a Rare Item you gain
if you pay the man. Climb up the stairs, and find the door that was rusted
shut. You use the Rust-Rid, and presto: a new dungeon.
The same merchant also gives you the tip of equipping 'sniper whatchamacallits'.
This is only a good idea if you plan on using the Fight command, which is about
the only physical attack that isn't unblockable you'll ever use. If you bring
Gau or Umaro here, that might actually be a good idea; otherwise you'll find
it's a waste of your relic slot.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.57.2 Mount Zozo
**********************************
Opponents:
Mugbear, Luridan, Devil Fist, Punisher, Glasya Labolas, Storm Dragon
Container contents: Aegis Shield, Gold Hairpin, Ice Shield, Red Cap, Thunder
Shield
Miscellaneous items: Bone Club (rare Punisher steal), Brigand's Glove (rare
Devil Fist steal), Force Armor (Storm Dragon drop), Muscle Best (rare Glasya
Labolas steal), Rising Sun (common Punisher steal), Thief's Bracer (rare
Mugbear steal)
Lores:
Aero, White Wind
Monster formations:
(Caves)
Mugbear, Punisher (6/16)
Glasya Labolas (5/16)
Mugbear (5/16)
(Bridge Slope)
Punisher, Devil Fist, Punisher (6/16)
Luridan, Luridan, Luridan, Luridan, Luridan, Luridan (5/16)
Glasya Labolas (5/16)
(Slope Before Cyan's Settlement)
Luridan, Luridan, Luridan, Luridan, Luridan, Luridan (6/16)
Luridan, Luridan, Luridan (5/16)
Glasya Labolas, Mugbear, Devil Fist (5/16)
Glasya Labolas are upgraded Hill Gigas. They don't use Magnitude 8 and don't
absorb Earth-elemental attacks either; they're just really powerful physically
and have a lot of HP. It has a very nasty Special in !Uppercut, which is five
times as powerful as Glasya Labolas' Attack, and has two chances of attacking
you every turn. Finally, they have a rare Muscle Belt steal; the Muscle Belt is
a Relic that raises your max. HP by 50%, which really helps you defensively.
They're nice targets for a Dread Gaze attack (has ID protection but no Petrify
protection) too.
Punishers are boring. They're stronger versions of the Harvesters you met down
in Zozo, but not nearly as interesting. They counter Steal with Steal. You can
Steal a common Rising Sun or rare Bone Club from them, which are limited to
them and Coliseum appearances. They take two turns attacking normally, and
a third turn in a frenzy of !Clobber (Attack x 2) and up to two Attacks. They're
Floating, like all thief opponents, and weak against Poison, like all humans.
Devil Fist are strong Zaghrem-type enemies, but unlike Zaghrem and Iron Fist
lack the ability to utilize the Stone attack. They have inherent Haste and
attack with either Attack or !Switchblade (Attack x 1.5). They also counter any
damaging attack with either Attack or !Switchblade. They have a rare Brigand's
Glove steal. Great. In the Sketch, Control, and Rage department, Devil Fist has
access to Will o' the Wisp, but he won't use it normally.
Luridan's crazy! Just crazy, I tell you! It knows two silly terrain attacks
only normally accessible through Mog's Dances. On the third turn, he may use
Forest Healing (removes Darkness, Poison, Petrify, Silence, Confuse, Sap, Sleep,
Slow and Stop), and on the fourth turn, it may use Meercat (MT, sets Haste).
Exactly why a violent delta-shaped bug like Luridan has power over nightingales
and young felines is left to anybody's imagination. On every non-Forest Healing/
Meercat turn, Luridan will either use Attack or !Ram (Attack x 2). Since
Luridan tends to travel in large packs of either three or six, the continuous
pounding gets rather painful on the whole. They can be quickly dispatched by a
decent MT Fira spell, and Gau's MT magical violence in Marchosias' Aero also
works wonders (Quake misses...why are they Floating?).
Mugbears are bears. They don't damage you; they just Steal Gil from you. This
was never a problem with other monsters that did this (Harvester, Dadaluma), as
they never ran, so you just got the money back in the end. Mugbear, however,
will flee the second turn when given the chance. He'll try to Steal from you in
the first turn, and counter any damaging attack you throw at him with a shot at
a Steal attack, so chances are you really want to take him down ASAP. Sleep,
Stop, and Berserk all work on him, and they're weak to the Fire element.
Also, there's a trick with Mugbear you can't execute now, but will be able to do
later. Bring Relm with the Cat-Ear Hood equipped, and have either Relm herself
or Gogo Control a Mugbear. Now, just go ahead and damage it a little with
something minor like a Bolt spell, and heal him afterwards. Some of the time,
he'll counter with Steal. Now, since Mugbear will Steal an incredible amount of
money over time, and the Cat-Ear Hood doubles all Gil obtained, you'll get your
own money back twice. I'll remind you when you have the Cat-Ear Hood and need
the money :)
All of the attacks of the monsters in Mt. Zozo are physical, so all you have to
do is summon Phantom once or cast Vanish enough times to cover the entire
party and you're more or less done until you reach the Storm Dragon here. For
some trivia, all monsters have a high Evasion rating. You don't notice due
to the fact almost none of your attacks are blockable physicals, but those that
use them will find they miss often.
As you enter, you'll find a giant cave with wooden bridges going everywhere
and nowhere. If you go up, you'll reach a dead end because both bridges here
have collapsed. Go all the way to the left to find a chest containing an Ice
Shield. If you go down a little, you'll find a wooden bridge going down and a
chest containing a Red Cap, a brilliant piece of headgear that raises HP by
25%. I love and suggest it on every character that's not wearing a Mystery
Veil at this moment. Follow the bridge downwards and it'll take you to
a long set of stairs going down, to the left, past a chest containing a
Thunder Shield, and eventually up again.
The Thunder Shield is the best elemental shield there is. Unlike its Flame and
Ice brethren, it has no elemental weakness, and next to absorbing Lightning-
elemental attacks and nullifying Wind, it also halves damage done by Fire-
and Ice-elemental attacks. I'd advise it over, say, the Genji Shield if your
set-up can use some elemental resistance.
Going up will get you past a chest with an Aegis Shield. Boy, the treasure
in this dungeon really rocks, I tell you. The Aegis Shield is a shield primarily
for magical attacks; its Magic Defense is better than the Genji Shield and
its Magic Evasion is also higher (40% is better than 20%, no?). It's not as
good as defender against magical attacks as the Force Shield, and not as good
against physicals as the Genji Shield, but it's a great shield on both areas.
Although its lack of elemental properties makes it primarily a great choice
for people who get their elemental properties from other sources (in other
words, that's mostly Minerva Bustier wearers, people with the Cat-Ear Hood, or
Force Armor).
Outside, in the opening to the far left, you'll find a chest with a Gold
Hairpin. The other exit takes you outside on the slopes of Mount Zozo, over
a bridge. In the next cave, you find a Save Point and a button tile. If you
stand on the button tile, a chest you can't reach opens to release the Storm
Dragon, who flies freely around. Equip Minerva Bustiers and Thunder Shields
where possible now, and Golem/Fenrir and Zona Seeker are great to have around to
summon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.57.3 The battle with Storm Dragon
**********************************
Storm Dragon
Level: 74, HP: 42000, MP: 1250
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Force Armor (always)
Absorbs: Wind, Weakness: Lightning
Status: Float
Special: !Wing Sabre: Attack x 3
Sketch : White Wind, Aero
Control: Attack, !Wing Sabre
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Attack, !Wing Sabre, Aero, Wind Slash, Leaf Swirl, Cyclonic
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Crystal Sword
Crystal Shield
Crystal Helm
Crystal Mail
Storm Dragon is the toughest dragon out of the bunch, and the specific scourge
of the average LLG players, because one of Storm Dragon's attacks is the
non-elemental, unblockable Leaf Swirl attack, which you can't prevent Storm
Dragon from using. Luckily, you probably have at least one Minerva Bustier
wearer in your party at this point, and you just found a Thunder Shield you can
equip on any given party member (except for Umaro, useless piece of muscle that
he is), so you have at least two party members that nullify the Wind element.
Storm Dragon can use three attacks normally: Attack, Wind Slash, and Leaf Swirl.
Leaf Swirl and Wind Slash are about alike in power and they're both unblockable.
Leaf Swirl, however, is non-elemental where Wind Slash is Wind-elemental. As
soon as Storm Dragon dives beneath 15360 Hit Points, he'll drop Wind Slash and
Leaf Swirl for more physicals (he'll start using !Wing Sabre here): Aero and
Cyclonic. Aero is about 1.2 times as powerful as Wind Slash, but 2.4 times as
powerful when used on a single target (which will only happen if all the other
characters are Dead or in the air due to a Jump attack). Cyclonic, as you
know from Wyvern and Platinum Dragon, is an MT percentage-based attack that will
remove 93.75% of the targets current HP. Memento Rings and Safety Bits block the
effects of Cyclonic, as do Rages with the ID Protection property.
At the start, summon Golem or Fenrir to protect against the physical attacks
Storm Dragon uses. Zona Seeker's Magic Shield really helps against Wind Slash
and Leaf Swirl, but you should invest in individual Shell castings if you don't
have Zona Seeker ready. Now, you'll want to use Rasp a few times to take care of
Storm Dragon's MP; when it's gone (you can check with Scan, or keep track with a
calculator), Storm Dragon won't be able to cast Aero or Cyclonic in it's
'dangerous' phase. If one of your party members has learned the Hastega spell
from Quetzalli, by all means.
Now, just start beating him! Terra's Trance can help boosting the damage
of her spells (and halve the damage done by the magical spells, even though
only Leaf Swirl should ever damage Terra is you've played your cards right).
Since Storm Dragon is weak against the Lightning-element, Thundara, Tri-Disaster
and Thundaga all hurt very nicely. Storm Dragon is rather strong and not to be
taken lightly, especially since he won't succumb to your status ailment spells,
but with the proper set-up, you shouldn't have a lot of problems.
When the fight ends, you'll have defeated another dragon and obtain a Force
Armor, which is great against magical attacks and halves the damage done from
Fire-, Bolt-, Ice-, Wind-, and Earth-elemental attacks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.57.4 Cyan Garamonde
**********************************
After the battle, you can simply pursue you path without any kind of difficulty.
Eventually, you'll reach a room filled with the same silk flowers you found
in Lola's house, and a letter on a desk that reads:
Dear Lola,
I am writing to beg for your forgiveness. I am guilty of perpetuating a terrible
lie. I have only now realized the error of my ways, and taken up this quill in
hopes of correcting a great wrong. Your boyfriend, who you believed to be in
Mobliz, passed away some time ago. I have been writing to you in his stead.
We humans have a tendency to become trapped in the past and refuse to move on.
I implore you not to let this happen. Now is a time for you to look forward,
and rediscover love and all of the other joys of life...
Cyan
Also, there's a locked chest. When we leave through the opening to the right,
we see Cyan send a letter and recite a poem; when he notices you, he declares
his alliance to your cause once again and freaks out about you seeing his
silk flowers and reading his letters. It seems the year of solitude has hardly
changed him. If you brought three characters, Cyan is now in your party; if
not, he'll be waiting on the Falcon for you.
If you go outside, you'll see something shimmering; it turns out to be the
key to Cyan's secret chest. You can go back in and open the chest. You'll find
two books here: a Machinery Manual (Japanese game: Machinery for Dunces, A
Pictorial Guide to Machines, Everything about Machines and Machines for the
Mechinically Disinclined) which supposedly cured Cyan's fear of machines and a
book called "Bushido in the Bedroom", of which he's very possessive. If you have
Cyan in your party at this moment, he'll make a small scene in which he takes
this item from your party leader. The Japanese game just called this "Bushido
in the Bedroom" a naughty magazine. So it's a fact, poetry-writing heart-broken
samurai get lonely too. :P
If you take Cyan to Lola, he'll exchange the "Everything's going swell here in
Mobliz"-letter with the letter you read in Mount. Zozo. Lola will talk a little
about her feelings and exclaims how she wants to meet this man who wrote all
the letters; if you brought Cyan and at least one other party member, he or
she will be about to break the secret when Cyan steps in and prevents the truth
from surfacing, telling Lola to enjoy life.
Case closed.
Cyan, if you've been following the program a bit, probably learned two new
Bushido skills in your absence. Dragon (which you may have already seen in
the WoB, level 24) is an attack that drains both HP and MP in a single strike
using some dragon-related power. It's strong enough to restore Cyan back to
full in both aspects if you don't level too high, so unless the damage drained
is hampered by the target, it's a great restorative move. Eclipse is basically
Cyan's version of Sabin's Razor Gale, much like Fang is Cyan's version of
Sabin's Raging Fist. Eclipse is slightly stronger, non-elemental, and has a
rough 55% chance of setting Stop if the struck opponent is still alive and
vulnerable to the ailment: it's a random 140/256 chance ignoring any kind of
Magic Evasion or Evasion stat.
With Flurry still being there for you, Cyan's Bushido skills truly are something
to fear; it's the bloody charge time that holds you back. Waiting for Bushido #6
akes a really long time; even if you skip to all the other characters and input
the commands for their long-animation attacks, Cyan won't always be done
charging when the other characters are done, and at this point, the opponents
have often already been defeated.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.58.1 The Veldt
**********************************
The Veldt has altered a bit. You no longer have access to the town of Mobliz
when walking on the Veldt, Crescent Mountain has disappeared and a new cave,
mysteriously called the Cave of the Veldt has appeared.
It's been quite a while since you picked up some new Rages, so I suppose it's
time to go check up on our friend Gau again. You won't have to rescue him or
do anything special to recruit him; just go fight on the Veldt with any party
that has a free spot and he'll have the same ol' 57.5% chance of appearing
like always. You've met a great load of monsters, so I'll give a quick rundown
on the good ones you can look for:
Behemoth (enemy) Meteor
Ninja Water Scroll absorbs Poison, inherent Float
Platinum Dragon Cyclonic inherent Protect and Float
Land Ray Mighty Guard
Fafnir Traveler
Killer Mantis Metal Cutter Instant Death protection
Skeletal Horror Banish absorbs Poison, Undead
Borghese Holy absorbs Poison, Undead
Cloudwraith Flare absorbs Poison, Undead
Magna Roader (b) Lv. 4 Flare inherent Haste
Illuyankas Gigavolt absorbs Lightning, inherent Protect, Instant
Death protection
Luridan Rock Slide inherent Float
Devil Fist W. o' the Wisp absorbs Poison, inherent Haste
Black Dragon (Umaro) Snowstorm absorbs Poison, Undead
Punisher Thundaga inherent Haste and Float
*1 Metal Cutter is a non-elemental magical attack about as powerful as a level 3
spell. Under Rage, it randomly changes between an ST and MT spell, much like
Fira, Gigavolt, and attacks like that.
*2 Holy is a Holy-elemental spell that you will later learn from an Esper.
It's slightly weaker than a level 3 spell.
*3 Rock Slide is an ST non-elemental barrier-piercing attack that's about
1.25 times as powerful as a level 3 spell on a single target. Superior to
Flare in all ways, it was already Mog's second-strongest Dance attack.
*4 (Umaro) Snowstorm is exactly what you get when you invent an Ice-elemental
Scroll and make it not a Scroll. Notable as one of Umaro's attacks, it's his
strongest Ice-elemental attack until Gau gets his greedy little hands on
Baalzephon.
On how to use Gau in the WoR: It's a common notion that while Gau rocks people's
socks in the WoB with his incredible offensive abilities, he's just a tank in
the WoR while the offense is lacking. This is only partly true, however. For
fairly far into the WoR, Gau's special attacks are still powerful enough to
make most forms of MT damage pale in comparison. The most noticable picks on a
good ol' fashioned MT violence Gau are:
Litwor Chicken/Medusa Chicken. You should have Litwor Chicken from the WoB, but
Medusa Chicken is just a slight alternative (absorbs Poison, but lacks ID
protection). Quake never misses unless the targets floats, and also hits your
side, so you'll want to make sure to always have Floating characters when using
this Rage. When the opponents get hit and you don't, this is pretty much the
best choice you have.
(Enemy) Meteor is about as strong as Quake, hits all enemies and all enemies
only AND is non-elemental. What's the problem then? Not only is obtaining
(enemy) Meteor slightly more of a feat then Quake is (you'll have to go in the
woods and fight yourself a Tyrannosaur), it also misses 20 % of the time. That's
bad. On Floating targets, or when Quake doesn't work for any other reason, I
suggest (enemy) Meteor over pretty much everything else because of its pure
power.
If you can use neither, there's a slew of options waiting for you that are
pretty good but not quite as good as Litwor Chicken/Medusa Chicken and
Tyrannosaur. Marchosias' Aero is a Wind-elemental level 3 spell on all targets.
Killer Mantis shares its power and is non-elemental, but may appear ST or MT
which adds a level of randomness. As for ST damage, Purusa's Rock Slide is a
great option, as is Punisher's Thundaga. The Punisher Rage will also induce Gau
with auto-Haste and auto-Float, which doesn't hurt its case in the slightest.
Always boost by Earrings!
If you feel like your new Gau has been pumped up enough, find the newly formed
Cave of the Veldt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.58.2 The Cave of the Veldt and Death Warden
**********************************
Opponents:
Gorgimera, Twinscythe, Death Warden, Behemoth King (living), Behemoth King
(undead)
Container contents: Berserker Ring, Ichigeki, Monster-in-a-box (Death Warden)
Miscellaneous items: Behemoth Suit x2 (Behemoth King drop x2), Murasame (rare
Behemoth King (living) steal), Poison Rod (rare Twinscythe drop and common
Twinscythe steal), Tigerfang (Death Warden drop)
Lores:
Doom
Monster formations:
Twinscythe (10/16)
Twinscythe, Twinscythe (5/16)
Gorgimera (1/16)
Whom to bring? Gau's a great choice here, as you can practice his new Rages
here (which are great if you have some of the proper ones). Edgar's excellent to
bring if you got his Air Anchor already and also great if you don't, as is Relm
(although you probably don't have her yet). In Edgar's absence, Mog's a nice
addition as well; it's about the Holy Lance here. Celes's Runic ability comes
in handy in the boss battle here too. For the random encounters, those who have
learned Firaga are excellent.
Twinscythe is a big nasty Killer Mantis upgrade. Twinscythes absorb Ice-
elemental attacks and have ID protection. To top it off, they have just enough
HP to survive most MT spells, so it's hard to clean them up easily. On the
offense, they're nothing to worry about; they just use Attack over and over
again, countering every attack with a 33% shot at !Drainsickle (drains HP). Take
them out with Fire- or Wind-elemental attacks. Sabin's Razor Gale works really
well on them, Cyan's Kazekiri katana hurts them badly (although you'll want a
Genji Glove/Hero's Ring combination to ensure death), and Lv. 4 Flare also hits
the spot (the little brown Magna Roader's Rage allows Gau to cast it; it's all
the way to the bottom of the Rage list). Razor Gale and Lv. 4 Flare should be
boosted by Hero's Rings and/or Earrings.
Gorgimera are very elusive, but pretty dangerous when you do encounter them.
They have over 7000 Hit Points, no weaknesses and have ID protection, so they'll
stay a while when you meet them. For three turns they'll just attack physically,
but on the fourth turn Rhyos will get all fired up. He'll start with !Rampage
(Attack * 2), and use three of the following attacks: Snowstorm, Fireball,
Gigavolt, Magnitude 8, or Aqua Breath. Three, that hurts pretty bad. You can
stop this madness by casting a combination of Sleep, Slow and/or Stop on the
monster, stopping his actions entirely (if you lay off of the physical attacks).
Gau's Rages in the Cave otV: Marchosias works wonders on the Twinscythes, but
the brown Magna Roader with Lv. 4 Flare (bottom) is grand on all monsters here.
Quake is less desirable because it removes Invisible even when Floating, and
(enemy) Meteor may miss.
As soon as you enter, you'll see a familiar yet inhuman face: Interceptor! He'll
retreat into the cave, so you'll want to follow him. To the right is nothing
anyway.
In the next room, you'll meet a group of four hunters who live in the cave.
They'll talk of Gau and tell you that he won't approach if you're with four
party members. In this same room is a chest that contains the Berserker Ring, a
Relic that allows Umaro to absorb Ice-elemental attacks (which he already did
anyway due to the irremovable Snow Scarf on him), nullify Fire-elemental
attacks, and add the Character Toss attack to his options. To learn more about
the Character Toss attack, take a look at [UMARO-LINK]; it's basically an
improved Umaro Tackle, a non-elemental barrier-piercing physical attack that
requires another party member to work. Me, I like to believe he shouts, in
Sasquatch gibberish: "MAN TORPEDO" before every hurl. That would amuse. Leave
through the door. The Berserker Ring takes care of all the elemental resistances
Umaro is ever going to get, and with the added offense, you really want the
Berserker Ring on Umaro at all times.
You'll end up in a place where you can go to the bottom and to the left. To
the left (you'll have to navigate blindly for a few steps to reach it) is a
chest containing a monster-in-a-box, the deity of Death called Death Warden.
Death Warden was never supposed to be a one-time battle, but due to a formation
mix-up, this is the only time you'll fight him. He was supposed to appear on
the Veldt, providing you with Magic AP in this battle and providing you with
more Tigerfangs before the final dungeon, but he does neither.
Death Warden
Level: 19, HP: 8000, MP: 8000
Steal: Potion (common), Hi-Potion (rare), Win: Tigerfang (always)
Absorbs: Poison, Weakness: Fire, Holy
Creature Type: Humanoid, Undead
Special: !Dead End: sets Death
Sketch : !Dead End, !Dead End
Control: Attack, !Dead End, !Dead End, !Dead End
Vulnerable to: Petrify, Death, Doom, Confuse, Slow
Attacks: Death, Doom, Atomic Rays
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Remedy
Remedy
Remedy
Remedy
Here's the deal. Every turn, Death Warden will use Death, Doom, or do nothing.
He also may counter every damaging attack you make with a Death spell as well
(33%). If you allow him to live for more than a minute, he'll cast eight
consecutive Atomic Ray spells, which coming from his rather spectacular Magic
Power (50!) means death to everybody who isn't specifically protected from Fire
-elemental attacks.
Don't bother with damage. The weakness of Death Warden is ID attacks. As soon as
you enter battle, have somebody cast Break or Banish. You may want to revive
a character if he fell to Death Warden's first turn Death spell, but Break is
definitely the way to go. I don't recommend Edgar's Air Anchor because Death
Warden may counter the Tool with a Death spell, which you don't want.
Regardless, Death Warden is really more of a regular enemy than he is a boss, so
you shouldn't have any trouble with him. The Lich Rage makes any Rager
invulnerable, as Death and Doom will heal the Rager and Atomic Ray will be
absorbed.
After you've defeated Death Warden, you can equip the non-elemental Tigerfang
on Sabin if you like (if only for the extra increase in Magic Power), and trace
back your steps a little and take the southern path this time. The path will
take you a long way, but eventually you'll come across a room with a chest
and a switch. The chest contains the Ichigeki. The Ichigeki is a rather
feature-less weapon with the Assassin Dagger's X-type ID ability.
It's a weapon you heard about earlier; a 'real tough fellow' in the Coliseum was
looking for it. That's of little concern to you at this time; we still haven't
found Interceptor yet. If you touch the switch, a new path opens up for you to
take. Once you take the path: shock and awe! It's Shadow, and he's not looking
healthy. If you didn't wait for Shadow at the Floating Continent, he's not
here, but it will be Relm who's lying facedown on the rocks on the cave. In
both cases, Interceptor will be standing guard, waiting for you to come over
and help the both of them. Ascend the stairs, and you enter a room with a Save
Point. Do your Save Point stuff and enter the room.
While you're examining the wounded person, you're attacked from behind by a
behemoth-like monster. Bollocks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.58.3 The battle with the Behemoth King
**********************************
Behemoth King (living, blue)
Level: 43, HP: 19000, MP: 1600
Steal: Murasame (rare), Win: Behemoth Suit (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Weakness: Fire, Poison
Special: !Devil Claw: Unblockable Attack + Removes Reflect
Sketch : !Devil Claw, !Devil Claw
Control: Attack, !Devil Claw
Vulnerable to: Imp, Slow, Stop
Attacks: Attack, !Devil Claw, Blizzara, Blizzaga, Holy, Imp, Meteo
Joker's Death: No/Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Behemoth King
Level: 49, HP: 19000, MP: 9999
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: BehemothSuit (always)
Absorbs: Poison, Weakness: Fire, Holy
Creature Type: Undead
Special: !Hypno Gas: sets Sleep
Sketch : !Hypno Gas, Firaga
Control: Attack, Attack, Attack, Attack
Vulnerable to: Death, Doom
Attacks: Attack, !Hypno Gas, Death, (enemy) Meteor
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Cursed Ring
Cursed Ring
Thornlet
Lich Ring
The blue Behemoth King, despite his appearance, is almost a pure spell caster.
He'll normally attack with Blizzara, Blizzaga and Holy spells which all hit with
considerable force. If he hits 10240 Hit Points, he'll get more Blizzaga spells
than before and throw (enemy) Meteor in the mix, which hurts a bundle (around
1000 on every character, pretty much the same force Intangir used to throw
(enemy) Meteor attacks on you).
If a character of yours is under the influence of Reflect, he'll target the
character and use !Devil Claw to remove the Reflect status (the message "Reflect
removed." will appear) and return to his normal AI script. If multiple
characters are under the influence of Reflect, he'll go down from character #1
to character #4, switching between !Devil Claw turns and normal AI script turns.
Note that characters with Reflect Rings still yield the "Reflect removed."
vanished notion yet keep the status.
If Behemoth King is turned into an Imp, it'll respond to that by changing its
AI Script. He'll now receive auto-criticals from being turned into an Imp and
start using two Attacks every turn for three turns, after which it'll cast the
Imp spell to try and remove the Imp status. He won't try to do this if he has
the Reflect status at this moment, though.
If Behemoth King is hit by the Holy spell, he'll counter with (enemy) Meteor
period. Sadly, due to a bug, this overrides the other normal counter, that of
having a 33% at countering with Attack on every other damaging attack, so the
next attack will also be countered with an (enemy) Meteor attack. In other
words, the Holy spell eventually sends two extra (enemy) Meteor attacks down
your throat, so don't do it. The Barghest and Holy Dragon Rages cast Holy;
ignore them.
What to do? The best way to deal with the blue Behemoth King is a combination of
Imp and Stop. Now, give it everything you have. Cast Hastega to speed up the
process. Summoning Fenrir or Golem helps protect against stray physicals from
his side. Fira and Firaga really hurt him. Gau's Devil Fist Rage gives Gau
inherent Haste and makes him use Will o' the Wisp; it's great for the battle. If
you don't have access to either the Imp or Stop status ailments, Celes's Runic
can really help if you brought her. Phantom Rush, Fixed Dice, Dragon Horn Jumps,
you know what works.
When you finally defeat Behemoth King, he'll ripple away and the battle is over.
But no! Behemoth King's hatred for all things good has allowed him to survive
death itself and return as an undead being to try to wreak havoc once more.
Oh noes. Everybody runs to the other side of the screen, but don't fear; your
Row is still intact (even though it doesn't look like it and it'd be entirely
logical if Row hadn't been intact), so you don't have to change.
This Behemoth King is a little simpler. He'll just use Attack, !Hypno Gas, the
Death spell, or (enemy) Meteor. He won't use Death until the second turn, and
(enemy) Meteor until the third turn (after which he resets back). If he
successfully uses !Hypno Gas on a person, he'll target that person next for four
consecutive Attacks (of which the first one is sure to land). That's about it.
The undead Behemoth King's one weakness is the ID attack. He can be killed by
Banish, Snare, and the Air Anchor Tool, and is hurt by Tiger, Gravity, you name
it. Since Behemoth King's first turn isn't dangerous and he has no dangerous
counters, the Air Anchor really is a great option to use. The Twilight Requiem
coming from Mog houses both Cave-In and Snare which both truly cripple the
massive menace. Since Behemoth King is Undead and lacks ID protection anyway,
the Raise spell is a glorious option; the Raise spell also works on Undead with
ID protection mind you, but here it feels less like raping the system. :) When
the battle is over, Behemoth King will ripple away again. He's now a rather
indestructible monster that roams the Veldt, attacking you every now and again.
He leaves a Behemoth Suit behind every time you meet him though, so it's really
not all bad.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.60.1 Thamasa and the Coliseum once again
**********************************
Back in Thamasa, we're helping the poor wounded character through a difficult
dream. Here's the dream if you rescued Shadow from the Cave on the Veldt:
(Clyde leaves a house that resembles Strago's house in Thamasa. A dog
follows him and tries to stop him)
You came to try and stop me...
I'm sorry, but I can't turn back, boy...
Stay here with my daughter... You both deserve to live in peace...
(Clyde leaves. The dog, after looking back at the house and barking, follows
him)
Now, here's the dream if you left Shadow to die at the Floating Continent and
found little Relm Arrowny in the Cave on the Veldt:
(Strago and Relm are standing on the top floor of their house in Thamasa)
Daddy...?
Where'd Daddy go?
He's coming back...isn't he?
(Strago looks down, not answering)
The character will now just lie in bed, recovering from the wounds.
Shadow: It's only a scratch. I've had worse. And I've got this guy watching over
me.
Relm: It still hurts a little... But I'm okay. Interceptor's here with me.
That's great. You're back in Thamasa now, but there really isn't anything new
to do here since the last time you visited the place, so just leave. As soon as
you leave Thamasa, the character you rescued will depart as well. Shadow will
have departed for the Coliseum, as indicated by the guy who previously talked
about Deathgaze: "If you're looking for that man who was dressed all in black,
he already left. He said he was going to the coliseum.".
If you saved Relm things will be ever so slightly more complicated. She can now
be in Jidoor: "One day not long ago, a man came here saying he worked for an
aristocrat in Jidoor, and left with that little girl!". However, it's not a
fixed occurance. In order to make Relm appear in Jidoor, you need to step on one
of three specific tiles and exit Thamasa, re-enter, step on one of those tiles
again, and exit again (which is a given). This process sounds far more unnatural
than it comes to most players; one of these tiles lie on the stone path leading
out of Thamasa to the southern exit, so as long as you follow that one, you'll
be fine.
It's time to go pick them up, I'd say.
Shadow's just a stone's throw away. Fly the Falcon to the Coliseum, and remember
that notion about the Ichigeki. Once you bet it, you won't find a monster
fighting you for it (after you've fought this battle, or if you haven't met the
criteria so far, this'll be Typhon) but the merciless mercenary himself: Shadow.
Shadow is a complete pushover; unequipped, unarmed, and unable to use the Throw
command in the Coliseum, Shadow is pathetic. But it doesn't even matter if you
win or not; whether you win, lose (equipped a Healing Rod or something, right?),
or Teleport out of battle with the aptly named spell, Shadow will join you
afterwards. And it's permanent this time (Shadow fans: yatta!).
Poor Shadow, though; his only joy in this world left is to fight. At least we
can turn this into a positive force now that he intends to face Kefka himself.
And boy, does he do it well! Scrolls are very strong, and now you have the
finances to really buy them en masse. Especially Flame Scrolls often nail
elemental weaknesses, so buy lots of those and a few of the other ones to make
them feel appreciated.
Now you're here at the Coliseum, you might as well bet the Behemoth Suits
nobody can equip yet for some Snow Scarfs. I told you earlier how to defeat
the Outsider that guards it, so go find it if you're having trouble. The Snow
Scarf is awesome, absolutely awesome equipment for both Mog and Gau.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.61.1 Jidoor; Owzer's Mansion
**********************************
Opponents:
Misty, Rafflesia, Still Life, Coeurl Cat, Crusher, Blade Dancer, Caladrius,
Chadarnook
Container contents: 293 Gil, Ether, Gold Needle, Lich Ring, Moogle Suit,
Potion
Miscellaneous items: Moogle Suit (rare Misty steal), Nutkin Suit (rare
Rafflesia steal), Tabby Suit (rare Coeurl Cat steal), Super Ball (rare Crusher
drop and rare Crusher steal), Moogle Suit (rare Blade Dancer steal), Chocobo
Suit (rare Caladrius steal)
[OWZER-LINK]
First off, to enter this dungeon, you must have done two things. You must've
either saved Shadow at the Floating Continent, or let Shadow die there and have
saved Relm from the Behemoth King in the Cave on the Veldt. If you let Shadow
die and haven't saved Relm yet, Owzer's Mansion will be empty, yet lit up, and
the Rafflesia and Misty paintings will not respond to your presence.
Whom to bring? Uncontrollable characters are very poor in the boss battle at
the end, so I'd advise against Gau and Umaro. Also, due to the time delay, I'd
add Mog to the category as well as neither his Dances nor his Jump attacks are
very useful there. Minerva Bustier wearers are favored once again, and if you
already have a character that can Steal, that'd be grand (although the chance is
small). I'd go for something like Terra, Shadow, Celes, and Sabin, but it's up
to you. Shadow is AWESOME in this dungeon; Earrings-boosted Flame Scrolls kill
pretty much everything, and the boss is weak to Fire, too.
When you enter the house, it will be dark inside. No sign of Relm or Owzer to
be seen. Obviously if you saved Shadow earlier you don't even know Relm is
supposed to be here, but you'll never get more evidence than you have now and
you'd get all pissy if I entirely skipped two characters because the game
doesn't tell you where they are.
When you try to ascend the stairs to go to the art collection, a mysterious
force holds you back. Stay...away...yeah, we're not going to listen to that.
When we're at the foot of the stairs again, a diary appears. Here's Owzer's
diary:
- Just spent an absolute fortune on a new painting. It's quite a large one, so I
won't be able to put it on the first floor with the others. I'll have to think
about where to display it later.
- An artist came from Zozo today. Showed me his "work." What a waste of time.
- Lamp on the stairwell was broken, so I bought a new one at the item shop. Twas
a tad pricey, but now everything's all bright and cheery with just a flip of
the switch.
- I invited an artist here from Kohlingen. Skills weren't quite up to par... I
guess it's asking too much to expect a painter to have more talent than a wet
sponge.
- I've been feeling strange lately. Ever since I had that picture painted...
I've been hearing things, too——strange sounds. They seem to be coming from the
cellar.
- The diary ends here...
That's just swell. Something's up all right. At least we discovered how to get
the room back to normal; just flip the switch on the stairway lamp and the room
will light up, and you'll be able to proceed up the stairs. There are three
paintings worth discussing here.
The first one is the painting of the pink flowers. When you examine them, they
will come alive and attack you! Note that once you've completed this dungeon
and you haven't fought the Rafflesia enemies yet, the painting won't respond
anymore. It's a battle with three Rafflesia enemies, which are well known
through their Rage; both the Rage and the AI Script of these flowers feature
the Entice attack. Entice sets a Confuse-like status, with a few differences.
- First off, since it's not the Confuse status, you can't protect against it.
Entice works on *everything* as long as it connects (Entice has a Hit Rate of
80, meaning that it'll have but a rough 80 % chance of connecting on a target
with no Magic Evasion).
- Second, the character or monster affected won't show any indication of being
under the influence. Monsters won't look the other way, and characters won't
spin right round.
- Third, it's not dispelled when you use a physical attack.
- Fourth, the Entice spell creates a bond between the Entice caster and the
target. If the 'caster' of the Entice attack dies, the affected target will
turn back to normal. If the caster of the Entice spell tries to attack with
Entice on another target, it'll miss as long as the other Enticed target is
still alive. Due to a bug, when one Enticer 'steals' the Enticee of another
Enticer, this other Enticer - while not having a Enticee anymore - won't be
able to Entice another target until his stolen Enticee is dead.
Needless to say, Entice cripples every boss as it will completely disable their
AI Script and they will start to attack themselves. Anyway, using Entice in
a boss battle is just evil and sucks the fun out of the entire deal... so just
don't use it.
Back to Rafflesia. They're immune to every status ailment you throw at them,
and can use Entice on the very first turn. What you'll want to do is go head-on
with every kind of strong violence you have; they're specifically vulnerable to
Fire-elemental attacks, so Flame Scrolls, Valigarmanda's Tri-Disaster and Fira
work very well. They have a rare Nutkin Suit for Stealing, but as this battle is
pretty dangerous you'll probably don't want to bother. Just hope that they'll
stick to their Attack and !Poison Seed (sets Poison) attacks for the most part,
and that characters hit by Entice will stick to weaker attacks.
The second painting of interest is the painting that has replaced the Ultros
painting in the WoB; it's the portrait of Emperor Gestahl that he didn't
want, so Owzer decided to buy it and hang it up here. The 'last Imperial
trooper' at the Coliseum told you to talk to the Emperor twice, so examine the
portrait twice; the second time, you'll obtain the Rare Item "Emperor's Letter",
which reads as follows:
Where the mountais form a star...
Could this be the grand treasure of the Empire, the ancient relic with
restoration abilities? We should definitely inform Locke once we find him, or
we may even meet him while we're there, who knows. Whenever you have obtained
the Emperor's Letter after talking twice to the portrait in Owzer's Mansion in
Jidoor, but before you have recruited Locke, the following dialogue will appear
when you talk to the old man:
Aged Man: Oh! You finally come to do those repairs?
"No, actually I was wondering if you knew anything about Emperor Gestahl's
map..."
Aged Man: The emperor's map...? Seems like that's all anyone wants to talk about
these days!
"Pardon?"
Aged Man: Little while back, another repairman wearing a bandana came here
asking the same thing... So I told him!
"Then...where is it!?"
Aged Man: It's where the mountains form a shape like a star... Sheesh! Why
didn't you just ask me from the beginning? No need to be so shy!
For the record, this 'map' is never mentioned outside of this cutscene, and
neither is there ANY information about why our characters apparantly decide
this guy should know something about Gestahl's possessions and he actually
does. It's just weird. Time to press on!
The picture of the lovely lady comes alive as well, as two Misty opponents.
Misty use their first turn to set a status ailment, with either the Silence
spell or the !Eyeshadow Special, which sets Darkness. The second turn will
feature either the Blizzara or Thundara spells. When a Misty has been damaged,
she may use a Cura spell *on the attacker*. I'm pretty sure that the AI
scriptwriter intended for Misty to use the Cura spell on herself but forgot that
counter attacks are typically carried out on the attacker, regardless of the
spell's initial targets. Misties are nothing to fear. They have a rare Moogle
Suit Steal. You'll notice this is a theme in this dungeon; most monsters have an
animal suit Steal. Misties are, unlike most paintings, weak against Poison and
not against Fire, so you can use Bio or strong attacks of other kinds to
dispatch them.
Once you defeat the Misty opponents, the painting will be entirely destroyed
to reveal a door. Enter to find more darkness and a stairway going down.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.61.2 Owzer's Mansion, the Magic House
**********************************
Monster formations:
Blade Dancer, Blade Dancer, Crusher, Crusher (6/16)
Caladrius, Caladrius (5/16)
Caladrius, Caladrius, Coeurl Cat, Crusher, Crusher (5/16)
Coeurl Cat are cats. They have a rare Tabby suit steal, and they attack
physically. Due to a bug, they may use Fireball when alone (this was never the
intention; Fireball was supposed to be a rare brown Magna Roader counter).
Normally it just attacks with Attack and !Pounce. Its name might ring bells
of that nasty Fidor Special, but Courel Cat's !Pounce is unassuming (Attack *
1.5) and shouldn't be feared.
Crushers look unassuming. Fact of the matter is, they're really kind of not.
2095 HP isn't that unassuming, !Direct Hit (Attack* 5) isn't that unassuming,
and the Lifeshaver attack it uses when alone isn't that unassuming. It has a
common Super Ball steal which makes it the only random encounter enemy here that
doesn't have an animal suit for stealing. Kill it with fire; if you brought Gau
his brown Magna Roader Rage (Lv. 4 Flare) can really put a dent in their hides.
Blade Dancer is supposed to be a magician of some kind; with a stellar (for
monsters) Magic Power of 30 and up to three spells in its Control menu (Drain,
Osmose, and Fira) it seems likely that she will also attack magically, right?
Wrong. She attacks by Throwing Dirks. You may still remember the last time you
met an opponent with this ability; it was Dadaluma, and it was obscenely strong.
You should survive the weaker Dirks, but the stronger ones (the strongest one
being the Assassin's Dagger) can do up to 1750 worth of damage, and remember
that it's almost always non-elemental (Air Knife is Wind-elemental so Thunder
Shield wearers and Minerva Bustier wearers take no damage from it), barrier-
piercing, Row-ignoring, and unblockable damage. The Image status doesn't help,
and Golem doesn't catch the flying blades; only the Invisible status can make
you avoid the attacks of Blade Dancer. This is what she'll do:
1st round: Dagger or Mythril Knife
2nd round: Mythril Knife or Main Gauche
3rd round: Air Knife or Thief's Knife
4th round: Thief's Knife or Assassin's Dagger
(loop)
Also, she counters any damage done to her with !Blood Dance, which drains very
little HP. She has a rare Moogle Suit steal too. Ways to cripple her include
Berserk, Confuse, Sleep, and Stop. Noiseblaster and Cait Sith's Cat Rain help
tremendously.
Caladrius' are the strongest of all small birds. And with 885 HP, the same
petrification abilities through !Beak like Cirpius and the so-so Acid Rain
set in Control, Sketch, and Rage, that's not all good news for the small
birds in general. If for some reason you have trouble killing them in one
shot, Fire is their weakness (as it is of all small birds). They have a rare
Chocobo Suit steal, befitting of their feathered nature.
Strategy is simple yet again: have everybody under the influence of
Invisible, and don't let Wild Cat and Crusher enemies alone. Invincibility is
nice.
As soon as you've descended the stairs, you find more paintings. That's just
great. These don't seem so threatening though; how could you be attacked by
a painting of a door or a chair? But the joke's on you... If you get to close to
the painting of the chair, the painting will suck you in, onto the chair,
where you'll be attacked by a previously absent old lady. The old lady turns
out to be a SoulDancer accompanied by her four cats. How's that for a
stereotype? If you smack her around, she'll take her place on the chair and
leave you alone. After you leave and re-enter the room, it'll just be a
harmless painting of a chair again.
When you continue, you see two doors. The left one leads to a chest containing
a Moogle Suit! The Moogle Suit is just another animal suit, stronger than the
Chocobo Suit but weaker than the Nutkin Suit. It nullifies Poison though, and
gives a nice +5 on Magic Power. The best part, though, is the fact it changes
the in-battle sprite of the wearer into that of a Moogle, which is totally
sweet and has given seed to over a dozen 'weird glitch' topics from
people who didn't make the Moogle Suit-Moogle sprite connection.
The right door takes you to...three more doors. Nice. First, make sure you go
around the doors and grab the hidden Lich Ring that lies there. The Lich Ring
is a Relic that makes the user of it undead. This basically means that healing
spells will hurt and the Death spells and the eventual effect of the Doom
status will restore HP back to full. It can make for a nice combo if the
equipped also has a weapon with X-type Instant Death; he or she can always
restore his/her own HP back to full with one swing of a blade. Anyway, between
the three doors, you'll want to pick the far left one. If you enter one of the
others, you'll find yourself being thrown out of the door painting you saw
earlier. If you've completed this dungeon, you won't even be able to enter
the other two doors; they'll just be locked.
Just continue, and don't wonder where you are. It doesn't make sense. When you
enter a door, you'll suddenly find yourself in a new area with...floating
chests. If you stand on the shadow of the floating chests, they'll come down and
you'll be attacked; in every instance, it'll be a single Blade Dancer and four
Coeurl Cats.
What it is: 293 Gil Potion Ether Gold Needle
If you're done toying around with the floating chest and gawking at the painting
of Maria that appears to change every time you look at it, go examine the
picture of the battle armor; it will be another battle, with a creature called
Still Life.
Still Life pretends to be a semi-boss, but is not. It looks very weird, he's got
that much going for him; it appears to be a cloud of smoke with green lips
that comes from behind a painting. It has four attacks up its proverbial sleeve:
Attack, !Poison Kiss (sets Poison), Lullaby (an MT Sleep-inducing attack that's
admittedly annoying), and Doom, which Still Life uses to counter every blow he
takes. Go all out with strong attacks against him; Phantom Rush, Flame
Scrolls, Tri-Disaster, you know what hurts. He has a rare Fake Mustache Steal,
the Relic that turns Relm's Sketch ability into Control. You'll meet Still
Life on the Veldt, so you'll be able to Steal one later if you want to. Just
pound him now, he doesn't have enough HP to make Doom a nuisance.
Once Still Life has been defeated, a door will appear. The door, as you've been
getting used to now, leads to more doors. Use the Save Point to your advantage
and take the door to the right; the door to the left will throw you out of a
door somewhere in a wall you saw earlier.
You've finally found Owzer now, but he's changed quite a bit; from your average
aristocrat pretty boy, he's changed into a coughing blob of a man who looks
surprisingly much like Jabba the Hutt. Or any other Hutt, I guess they're all
alike.
Another theory states that the scholar-type guy you meet in the WoB isn't Owzer
at all, and that Owzer always was a generally inhuman fat blob with a frogface
for no apparant reason. Who apparantly lives somewhere in his house where other
people can't reach him and despite his wheezing, sickly appearance went out of
the house on a fairly regular basis to locate artists. It's not my theory, so I
may sound slightly subjective here...then again, it *is* a silly theory :P
When Owzer came across another piece of Magicite in the Auction House, he
bought it and felt the irresistible urge to obtain a painting of the Esper
therein contained. The large painting of the Esper Lakshmi created by Relm
came alive like all of her artwork, but with an added problem this time; the
demon Chadarnook arrived, enticed by the magic of the Magicite and the painting.
He possessed the living Lakshmi painting and started to have an evil influence
over all of Relm's paintings, the reality within Owzer's Mansion and finally
Owzer himself.
Relm, by the way, is still painting the painting; it's not quite done yet, as
you'll learn later. Regardless, it's time to remove the evil demon Chadarnook
from the living Lakshmi painting to save the life of Owzer so you can take Relm
with you. Owzer begs you to keep the Lakshmi painting intact. Whatever.
Before you talk to him, equip Thunder Shields on as many characters as possible.
Non-Minerva Bustier wearing characters take priority, as the Minerva Bustier
nullifies the Lightning element (which is what concerns us here). The Force
Shield and Force Armor both halve damage done by the element, and Umaro's
Berserker Ring nullifies the element, even though that furry muscle package is
quite useless in this battle. Protection from Water and Ice is also nice, as
Flash Rain may appear in the next battle, although Lightning takes priority. The
Tortoise Shield, Saucer, Reed Cloak and Snow Scarf allow you to absorb the
attack, while the Minerva Bustier also nullifies it. It's a real dang shame
Umaro's uncontrollable nature is, in fact, uncontrollable by nature, as the
combination of his inherent Snow Scarf and the Berserker Ring really takes care
of the majority of the opponent's attacks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.61.3 Owzer's Mansion, the battle with Chadarnook
**********************************
Chadarnook (Lakshmi)
Level: 37, HP: 56000, MP: 9400
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Holy, Water, Weakness: Fire
Special: !Last Kiss: sets Doom
Sketch : !Last Kiss, Attack
Control: Attack, !Last Kiss
Vulnerable to: Slow
Attacks: Attack, !Last Kiss, Lullaby, Entice, Poltergeist
Joker's Death: No
Spinning 7-7-7 is impossible in this fight.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Chadarnook (Demon)
Level: 41, HP: 30000, MP: 7600
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Lightning, Weakness: Fire, Holy
Creature Type: MP Kill
Special: !Hit: sets Doom
Sketch : !Hit, Attack
Control: Attack, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Slow
Attacks: Attack, Thundara, Thundaga, Flash Rain
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Interesting trivia; the Japanese game showed much more skin on the Lakshmi
image. No nipples or anything horrifying and ungodly like that, but still, more
skin.
Now here's an odd encounter. It's a living painting of the Esper Lakshmi,
possessed by the demon Chadarnook. Even if you don't care about art in general
or Owzer's pathetic pleas, there really isn't any point to damaging the
painting; as soon as Chadarnook is exorcized, it won't be a threat anymore. So,
the strategy is clear to us; wait until Chadarnook shows his face, and hurt
it until it dies. We've been doing an awful lot of hurting so far, so we should
be prepared soundly.
You'll start out facing the Lakshmi painting. It'll use either Attack or the
dreaded, blasted Entice attack. Fortunately, the effects of Entice are undone
whenever your opponent changes, so it's not as much a bother as it could have
been. After that first turn, the demon will make itself known.
Chadarnook attacks with Lightning-elemental spells (Thundara and Thundaga)and
the confusing Flash Rain; sparkly as it may look, it's actually Ice- and Water-
elemental and has nothing to do with Lightning. He won't use Flash Rain until
he starts getting weaker though; when he hits 15360 HP (after taking 14640 HP
worth of damage, in other words), to be precise. The demon Chadarnook will
always hide when he has been damaged five times, and after 40 seconds.
Unfortunately, (and possibly unintentionally), it seems that the Lakshmi
painting's timer is also used when Chadarnook checks his 40 seconds, so if you
faced Lakshmi for 35 seconds and the monster changes, Chadarnook will only be
there for a second or five before returning. This is particularly frustrating,
as you'll have put in all your commands as soon as Chadarnook appeared, making
you attack Lakshmi a few times in a row.
Attacking Lakshmi is bad. Not only is it pointless (as soon as you deplete
Lakshmi's HP, she'll just regenerate; she's immortal), it's rather dangerous, as
Lakshmi has a mean counter. 33% Attack, 33% not doing anything, and 33%
Poltergeist.
Blast Poltergeist. Seriously. It's an MT attack that sets the super-duper-
special HP Leak status on a target, which can only be seen in this battle. It's
the same as Sap, only it's so dangerous because it ISN'T Sap. This means you
can't protect from it with Relics, you can't override it by setting Regen, and
you can't cure it in any way. As soon as HP Leak is set, any current Regen
status (even if it's from a Angel Ring or Miracle Shoes) will be removed. Trying
to set the Regen status on a character with the Regen spell or Kirin's Holy Aura
attack will accomplish nothing. All in all, the constant HP dropping gets
annoying quickly, and even dangerous if you don't watch your HP. Don't be afraid
to spend some turns healing even when it isn't immediately necessary.
Lakshmi, by the way, will also attack normally after her first appearance; her
arsenal consists out of Attack, !Last Kiss (sets Doom), the dreaded Entice,
and the surprisingly crippling Lullaby, which (as you know) sets Sleep on all
characters.
So what to do? You should be covered in equipment that protects against
Chadarnook's Lightning-elemental spells, and possibly against that Flash Rain
attack too. Patiently wait out the first turn against the Lakshmi picture, than
quickly throw whatever you have when the demon appears. He is extremely weak
to Fire-elemental and Holy-elemental spells, as he has a weakness to the
element and its Magic Defense really isn't that stellar.
Terra and Celes's Fira and (preferably) Firaga spells will really hurt
Chadarnook (Firaga takes priority over Holy, too), but keep in mind that
because Chadarnook absorbs Lightning-elemental spells, Valigarmanda's Tri-
Disaster will be absorbed. Shadow's Flame Scrolls should be boosted by Hero's
Rings and Earrings to ensure a lot of damage, although it should be noted that
the much more expensive Flametongues will hurt much more. Setzer should throw
his Fixed Dice around if possible; if not, Fira, Holy, and Firaga take priority
over the Heiji's Jitte-induced Gil Toss. Sabin should stick to Phantom Rush
regardless of his spell selection, where Edgar is probably better off sticking
to Drill unless you're really sure that when he lands from a Dragon Horn Jump,
he'll be landing on the demon (in which case, with the Holy Lance, he'll be
doing a LOT of damage). The same really goes for Mog; his Dances are useless, as
he will also attack the Lakshmi painting when he's in a trance. Stick to spells
if you don't want to risk Jump attacks (or just plain don't have the right
equipment). Cyan is horrible, as often before, as his charge times mean you
waste a lot of time in a battle where speed is top priority. Gau and Umaro
(while certainly hard to take down) suffer from the uncontrollable nature. Gau
should stick to his Magic spells if possible, while Umaro should be... Yeah,
killing him in the middle of battle seems a little harsh, so you might be better
off setting Stop on him if you for some reason defied me and brought him here.
You can't do anything when Entice connects, and you can't do anything when
Poltergeist connects. Fenrir/Golem will help against the physicals (especially
!Last Kiss can be a pain), while the Hastega spell is an asset as always. If
you have a few characters unprotected from Chadarnook's attacks, Zona Seeker's
Magic Shield attack can help. Basically, throw up your barriers and go all-out
offensive when the demon is around while making sure your HP stays in the four
digits at all times where possible.
After you've defeated Chadarnook, all will return to normal. You'll learn that
Chadarnook was probably enticed by the 'weird stone' Owzer bought at the Auction
House, and he asks you to take it. It's on the right part of the shelf. With
Lakshmi, you finally gain access to the Curaga spell! Relm also follows you out.
It's possible you now have access to Relm's upgraded special skill: Control!
If you want to learn all about it, check out [CONTROL-LINK].
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.62.1 Obtaining Strago
**********************************
You learned from a man in Figaro Castle that people under the spell of the Cult
of Kefka could be freed by meeting a loved one; with Relm in your party, we can
try to turn Strago Magus back to our side. At the sight of the little girl,
he leaps up in joy; no single word about his year of despair crosses his lips
as he demands a primary spot in your party. Just like all the other characters,
he joins your current party if there's room for him, and is placed on the Falcon
if there's not. Regardless, the next parts of this walkthrough will be
dedicated to raising both Relm and Strago to acceptable and even respectable
levels of might on the battlefield, so I suggest you make a party that includes
Relm and Strago (and no uncontrollable characters).
If you were wondering, you still don't really have what it takes to tackle
the top warrior of the Cultist's Tower, so it's useless and rather suicidal to
go all the way up there.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.62.2 Bulking up the Thamasian Two
**********************************
Lores:
Aero, 1000 Needles, Mighty Guard, Dischord, Bad Breath, Transfusion, Rippler
First, I want to look at the Control command. There's a respectable chance you
gained access to it so far; if you obtained a Fake Mustache from mugging
Still Life, or already dove into the Zone Eater dungeon that I'll discuss quite
a bit later in this document, you have this command at your disposal.
[CONTROL-LINK]
Control allows Relm to control a monster. What does this mean? The monster will
stop its normal AI script. It'll still use counters though. Relm's hold over
an opponent's psyche doesn't end until the opponent in question is attacked
physically or either the Controlled or the Controllee obtains one of the
following status ailments: Sleep, Confused, Berserk, Death, Petrify, Zombie,
Freeze, or Stop.
The chance of Control working is exactly the same as Sketch working, and
is based on both the Controller's level and the level of the opponent you're
trying to Control. The Hypno Crown Helmet raises Relm's Control success
percentage, where the Beret raised Sketch success rate.
When Relm is controlling a monster and it's her turn to act, you'll get the
choice between the four (or less) Control commands of the monster she's
controlling instead. The Control commands are also the ones a monster randomly
uses when Confused, and most of the time there's some reason to the attacks
found there. Regardless, Control can be a strategic choice when you know what
monsters are worth controlling; most of the time the 'monster stops attacking
until I say so' is the sweetest part of the deal, but sometimes the Control
commands really include some sweet attacks like Freezing Dust, Flare Star,
Death-setting Specials, and the like. Control is great to get a particularly
powerful enemy out of the way (Brachiosaur comes to mind), or to have an
unlimited amount of Steal attempts without you having to worry about a thing.
I'd say that for the loss of a Relic slot, a Relm with a good Magic arsenal is
better off with a second Earring than with a Fake Mustache; I'll mention the
usefulness of the Control ability when it should be mentioned. For now, if you
have a Fake Mustache, equip it, as the Control ability helps getting you Lores
(although it won't grant access to Lores you couldn't already obtain anyway;
it just makes life easier).
Two more notes; if you used Mog's Molulu's Charm to raid Kefka's Tower earlier,
you should have a Hypno Crown by now. Equip it for increased Control chances.
Also, the Japanese name of the Fake Mustache is "Dancho's Mustache"; Dancho was
the name of the Impresario of the Opera House. Why a taped-on mustache allows
you to control monsters is beyond logic. I'd mention something about Adolf
Hitler, his mustache, the Germans, and how they're the missing link between
animals and human beings if I wasn't so scared of the "Du werdest eine
Krankenschwester brauchen"-like retorts.
Now, it's time to reap the benefits of this strange new world; new monsters,
new attacks, new Lores. I'll discuss them step by step.
- If Strago hasn't yet learned 1000 Needles, take him to the desert just south
of Maranda, where Cactuar will use it every single turn it attacks. Make sure
you can take Cactuar out after he uses 1000 Needles, though. With Relm on your
side, both Sketch and Control grant access to 1000 Needles itself, which kills
the Cactrot.
- Now for one of the greater Lores you'll find: Aero, the Wind-elemental MT
level 3 spell-like attack. Find Marchosias a near Kohlingen; you can't NOT
fight a Marchosias in the forests. Sketch gets you a 75% shot at Aero, you can
find it with Control, and you can even wait for it to use the attack randomly.
Vasegiatta near Thamasa may also use it randomly, and can also be forced to
use the spell through Control.
Aero is slightly more powerful than a level 3 spell in both MT and ST
situations. Don't let the Wind element blow you away (heh); very few enemies
are actually weak to the element, and those tend to be weak monsters too.
But don't be discouraged; even though teaching Strago the level 3 spells is
a good idea for elemental flexibility, Aero should be Strago's main form of
attack unless elemental properties declare otherwise (or if you know Lv. 4 Flare
can connect). This is all until you get Strago's strongest Lore Grand Delta, but
until then, Aero is for you.
- If you missed White Wind for some obscure reason, you can also find it on
Marchosias (uses randomly) and Sprinter (uses randomly).
- The Transfusion attack is entirely pointless and about as useful as jamming a
pencil up your left eye socket and running around in a classic 'Kiss the cook'
outfit while religiously chanting Madonna's breakthrough single Holiday. In
other words, you'll never actually use it, but it's fitting of Strago's
character. Near Kohlingen, you can find Mousse ad infinitum; just wait for
them to use Transfusion. You can force them with Control, but unless they're
alone it shouldn't take them long. Don't Sketch them; Relm executing
Transfusion will kill her.
Yeah... Transfusion fully heals the targets MP, removes all negative status
ailments except for Imp and Freeze (I'm counting Berserk as negative for the
moment), and heals the target for the same amount of HP as the target currently
has (which seems odd). The downside? It kills the caster and removes him from
battle entirely. When Strago casts Transfusion, his role on the battlefield is
over. Really, you should be very, very desperate if you use this attack.
- Bad Breath can be learned from Malboro in Darill's Tomb near Kohlingen. It's
wise to equip Relics that protect against Zombie in the short while you're
in the Tomb. Sketch will get you a 75% shot at Bad Breath, its in Malboro's
Control menu and he'll use it pretty often when he's alone. If you meet any
Borghese opponents down the way, Lv. 5 Death offs him quite carelessly.
Bad Breath sets a lot of status ailments: Darkness, Poison, Imp, Silence,
Confuse, and Sleep, to be precise. It's ideal if you want to cripple an opponent
but don't quite know what he's protected against; with Bad Breath, you're bound
to hit him in some form or another. A funny thing about Bad Breath is that while
it may set Imp, the sprite of the monster will not change because of it.
An additional note for you GBA crazies out there: never more apparant than when
wielding Bad Breath is the bug that lets attacks miss alltogether if Imp
immunity is discovered. Should you execute Bad Breath on a monster immune to the
Imp status, it should've just applied all the status ailments the target was
vulernable to. Instead, Bad Breath'll just miss alltogether. Such a shame.
- Mighty Guard. Meet a Land Ray in the desert and Sketch it. A 75% chance of the
painting using Mighty Guard. You can also quickly cast Stop on it, if the
first character coming up knows the spell and isn't capable of using Sketch.
If for some reason you really don't want to use Sketch, you can also meet it
once, make Gau learn the Land Ray Rage on the Veldt, and keep Strago around
for when Gau casts Mighty Guard through the Land Ray Rage.
Mighty Guard is, quite simply, pretty neat. It sets both Protect and Shell on
all party members, even in a Side Attack. It's a superior version of the
Zona Seeker's Magic Shield attack I've been mentioning so often; the MT Protect
isn't that useful with Fenrir and Golem around, but certainly doesn't hurt you a
bit.
- The last Lore easily obtainable for now is Rippler. First, make sure your
party is covered in the Invisible status. Now, fly over to Jidoor and enter
the forests to the north. Mess around until you meet up with four Leap Frogs.
They have a 33% chance of casting Rippler every third turn; that's after the
landing from their Jump attack.
Rippler trades statuses. It takes all of the statuses of the caster and removes
them if possible (Relic/equipment-induced statuses will remain) and applies it
to the target is possible (immunities may prevent it). In turn, it takes all of
the target's statuses and removes them if possible, and sets them on the caster
if possible. Ideally, Rippler trades YOUR status ailments for THEIR positive
statuses. Sadly, Rippler is prone to all kinds of more or less disturbing bugs;
the most obvious one being that it trades far more statuses than it was ever
supposed to, giving you the ability to trade Terra's Trance status
(Confuse/Rippler) on other characters, as well as Shadow's Dog Block. A monster
taking Dog Block from you and than dying will remove Interceptor from you
PERMANENTLY. Another character stealing Dog Block from that very same enemy or
directly taking it from Shadow by means of Confuse/Rippler will obtain
Interceptor equally permanently. Just make sure you don't lose him forever, you
wouldn't want that. Ideally, if you don't mind to abuse bugs, you'd want
Interceptor on Gogo in the future (he can use the extra protection, and his
superior equipment-boosted Magic Power makes sure Interceptor hits extra hard).
Rippler as an attack isn't exactly hot stuff. It can copy some positive statuses
from a few rare bosses such as Demon (Image, Float, Haste, Protect), Goddess
(Haste, Shell), and DeathGaze (Float, Shell, Protect). Oh yeah, and the Rippler
attack is the only way to get rid of Doom status (not counting completely
random attacks such as Raccoon).
So for a quick reference, the Lores you could have obtained so far include:
Doom Mighty Guard Lv. 3 Confuse Rippler
Roulette Revenge Blast Traveler Stone
Aqua Breath White Wind Dischord Self-Destruct
Aero Lv. 5 Death Bad Breath 1000 Needles
Lv. 4 Flare Transfusion
This section is called 'Bulking up the Thamasian two', so you might be
wondering by now how we're going to bulk up Relm. There are three things that
can be done to her (eh... gameplay-wise), and they're all equipment. One's
the Behemoth Suit; if you don't have two already, make sure you spend a while
on the Veldt as there's NO doubt you'll run into one or two Behemoth Kings
before long. The Behemoth Suit is also for Strago, by the way. The second thing
we'll be doing for Relm is defeating another elemental dragon for his great item
drop, but we'll get to that in a minute.
No, the only thing we can really do for Relm specifically now is obtaining her
best piece of headgear. +2 to Speed, +4 to Magic Power, 10% extra Magic Evasion,
Superior Defense and Magic Defense to every other helmet (except for oddballs
Thornlet and Saucer) and 50% damage reduction against Fire-, Lightning-,
Ice-, Holy-, Earth-, and Wind-elemental attacks. And, if all that wasn't
enough, it doubles the Gil gained from random battles. If that doesn't sound
like a sweet deal, there is no pleasing you.
How to get it? It's Coliseum material. The opponent is the Weredragon, an
unassuming giant lizard whose only dangerous attack (the Death spell) can be
easily circumvented with a Reflect Ring. The trick here is to find the item the
Weredragon is willing to fight for: an Impartisan. There are two ways to find
them, and both are nasty at this point. One is finding a Greater Mantis (your
best bet is the forest to the north of Jidoor) and trying to steal one. It's a
rare steal, and your best thief you currently have is Shadow with a double
Thief's Fnife equip, which isn't that great. Chances are very low. Make sure you
are all set with the Invisible status, as otherwise Greater Mantis' physicals
will rip you apart VERY quickly. Keep the Greater Mantis you're stealing from
healed, as you don't want it to die without giving you the Impartisan first.
You can go on for eternity without danger of dying, but it will probably take a
long time indeed.
The other option is the rare, 12.5% chance drop the Impartisan is for the
Tyrannosaur in the Dinosaur forest to the north of the Veldt. Tyrannosaurs are
extremely dangerous random encounters that are widely known for the fact they,
in tandem, give the most Experience Points of any random encounter in the game.
On the second turn, they may use Meteor, which will take off about 1500 HP worth
of damage on every character. Quickly cripple them with a Sleep spell or the
Bad Breath Lore, and kill them as quick as you can with Ice-elemental spells.
Don't bring uncontrollable characters, as they will snap the Tyrannosaurs out of
their snoozing (sure, Dance won't, but Dance sucks here). If you meet a
Brachiosaur, run like a madman. Save often, as Brachiosaur is this game's
Warmech. It presents death unto you, if you catch my drift. I'd consider the
Greater Mantis method far superior, honestly.
- Impartisan - Cat-Ear Hood Opponent: Weredragon
Equip a Reflect Ring against his Death spell, and a Star Pendant, Fairy Ring, or
Ribbon against !Venom Claw. The reflected Death spell may work on Weredragon,
but it doesn't really matter, as Weredragon is too weak to give special
thought to.
Now, let's go find the ultimate rod of the game, which carries Strago's last
name and is the sure-fire drop of one of the elemental dragons, the Earth
Dragon.
Before you go, make sure you have Angel Wings Relics for those characters that
can't equip Gaia Gear. If you sold some of it, you can still buy more in the
Armor Shop in South Figaro.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.62.3 The battle with Earth Dragon
**********************************
Opponents:
Earth Dragon
Miscellaneous items:
Magus Rod (Earth Dragon drop)
There's commotion in the Opera House? Only one year after the Wandering Gambler
threatened to kidnap the star of the Dream Oath, a dragon saw it fit to enter
the Opera House and make it his den. Or something; I don't know what the hell
the Dirt Drgn wants with the artistic bags of hot air of this place. Regardless,
dragons are dangerous and need to be killed with violence.
Equip Angel Wings or Gaia Gear on every character before you go in. If you
have Gau in your team and a decent Float-inducing Rage (Marchosias, Ninja,
Hornet, Luridan, to name a few), he shouldn't need one, as Rage-induced Float
status is equally irremovable.
Do you remember the four switches in the right wing of the Opera House? If not,
here's a modified copy/paste from the best guide released in years:
Switch 1 Switch 2 Switch 3 Previous Super Switch.
Switch 1 makes a sound like a dog barking.
Switch 2 turns out the lights in the opera hall, causing the crowds to make
little eyes in the darkness. Funny!
Switch 3 opens a hole directly under you, causing you to slide on stage! Where
you previously immediately got off by hopping on the heads of the crowd,
bursting into the entrance hall of the Opera House, where the lead character
would then strike a pose and say 'Surprise!', you'll now be granted access to
the subject of the Impresario's distress, the Earth Dragon.
Earth Dragon
Level: 53, HP: 28500, MP: 16500
Steal: X-Potion (rare), Win: Magus Rod (always)
Weakness: Wind, Water
Status: Float
Special: !Honed Tusk: Attack x 5
Sketch : Magnitude 8, Thundaga
Control: Attack, !Honed Tusk
Vulnerable to: Poison, Sleep, Slow
Attacks: Attack, !Honed Tusk, Quake, Magnitude 8, 50 Gs, Landslide
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Crystal Sword
Crystal Shield
Crystal Helm
Crystal Mail
The Earth Dragon is fairly unique; he's the only elemental dragon that doesn't
absorb his own element (instead, he uses the Float status to circumvent almost
all Earth-elemental damage). Why they chose to do this is beyond me, as even
with Quake healing, Earth Dragon wouldn't have been that crazy of a challenge.
We may well never know. Oh well, they saved it for the Redux version :)
Every 20 seconds, the Earth Dragon will use his 50 Gs attack, a Earth Dragon-
only move that removes the Float status on all targets. Irremovable Float, like
the one given by the Angel Wings and Float-inducing Rages, will not be removed.
Given the fact that Earth's G is, as you might expect, 1 G, 50 G is plain
crazy; you'd effectively become 50 times as heavy as you normally are. Shadow
would suddenly become 7250 lbs, for instance. But enough with the first-grade
science.
He has a one-third chance of countering any damage done to him with the dreaded
!Honed Tusk attack, which really is quite strong. Any other attack he uses is
either Attack or ground-based; Quake always misses Earth Dragon himself, and the
Magnitude 8 and Landslide attack should either miss or heal you if you've been
smart up until now.
Start the battle off by throwing up your barriers. Golem and Fenrir are
particularly useful, as the only real threat in this battle should be Earth
Dragon's !Honed Tusk and Attacks. Strago's Mighty Guard should also help in
that department. Hastega is great as always, and Kirin doesn't hurt either.
Cast a combination of Sleep and Slow on the Earth Dragon as well; remember that
Sleep can not be set with Strago's Bad Breath attack in the GBA release, which
will always miss due to the Imp-related buggery. Now that you've been bulked up
plenty, and the Earth Dragon is vulnerable in his extended slumber, it's time to
start the magical offense.
If you want to keep Earth Dragon sleeping, keep Gau busy with Magic spells. Back
Row Gau with 255 Defense and a Float-inducing Rage is invulnerable, but it may
come at the cost of fallen party members. If you don't really care too much,
as all characters are either draped in Gaia Gear or protected by Angel Wings,
I should mention that Rages like Marchosias, Ninja, Hornet, and Luridan really
help (especially Marchosias). Strago's Aero packs a proverbial wallop, and
Shadow's Water Scrolls are pretty strong. If you don't care for the Sleep
status, Thrown Sakura are extremely painful to Earth Dragon. Sabin's Phantom
Rush still gets the job done as always, and is superior to Razor Gale even
though it doesn't exploit a weakness. Mog's Water Rondo is a superior
alternative to Jump attacks if you're going for a snoozing Earth Dragon. His
Wind Rhapsody is also an option; Wind Slash is weaker than El Niño, but you
might prefer Wind Rhapsody's 6/16 Sunbath to Water Rondo's 6/16 Plasma attack.
All other characters should just stick to Magic spells. Any strong mage capable
of wielding the Flood spell taught by Leviathan will make a large impact. Umaro
should be kept AWAY from this battle, as usual. His presence makes the Sleep
status strategy rather impossible.
After you've defeated the Earth Dragon, you'll obtain a Magus Rod, which gives
the same +7 Magic Power as the Enhancer does, but gives a 30% Magic Evasion
bonus where the Enhancer only gives a 20% increase. The Magus Rod is sweet and
is to be preferred over all other rods... no matter how the Magus Rod was robbed
of the unfair advantages it possessed in the SNES and PSX releases.
Now we've gotten all the normal Lores we can easily gather, and optimized our
equipment, it's time to dive into Thamasa for two things; Strago's ultimate
Lore, and some quality Esper time that both Thamasians desperately need and
deserve. Just for kicks, I'll give you an example of what my Thamasians look
like at this point:
Strago
Magus Rod Thunder Shield
Circlet Behemoth Suit
Hero's Ring Earring
Relm (Magic-focused) Relm (Control-focused)
Holy Rod Aegis Shield Holy Rod Aegis Shield
Cat-Ear Hood Behemoth Suit Hypno Crown Behemoth Suit
Hero's Ring Earring Fake Mustache Hermes Sandals
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.62.4 Gungho's assignment; Ebot's Rock
**********************************
Opponents:
Warlock, Mahadeva, Sorath, Medusa Chicken, Creature, Moonform, Aspidochelon,
Hidon, Erebus, Erebus, Erebus, Erebus
Miscellaneous items: Thornlet (rare Hidon steal)
Lores:
Grand Delta
Whom to bring? Strago is mandatory, really. You just obtained Relm, and her big
weakness is her lack of Esper time, so why not help her a little and bring
her along as well? Thievery is nice to have access to at some point of the
next dungeon, so either Shadow or Locke/Gogo is a welcome addition. Ragers
are welcome as well, so why not bring Gau?
To the north of Thamasa, on a small island, is Ebot's Rock. It's closed for
now.
As soon as you cross between the Armor Shop and the Item Shop, Relm will get
excited about being back in Thamasa. However, not all is well at the home
front; Gungho, Strago's former battle partner, took on Hidon, the legendary
beast Strago hunted together with Gungho when he was young. Hidon was
submerged under water together with the entire Ebot's Rock, but now that it
has resurfaced, Gungho went ahead and tried his best. Now, he's been defeated
and is bed-ridden. After listening to Gungho's pleas, Strago decides to go,
and after a while, accepts Relm's help.
Note that after this part, Strago is required to actually complete the dungeon
that is Ebot's Rock. Relm, however, is not.
Monster formations:
(First Cave, Save Point Area, and Living Chest Area)
Sorath, Warlock, Creature (5/16)
Sorath, Sorath (5/16)
Warlock, Medusa Chicken Medusa Chicken, Creature, Creature (5/16)
Moonform, Medusa Chicken Medusa Chicken, Medusa Chicken (1/16)
(Main room)
Aspidochelon, Aspidochelon (5/16)
Mahadeva (5/16)
Aspidochelon, Moonform, Creature (5/16)
Moonform, Moonform, Moonform (1/16)
There's a theme here; warp stones in the dungeon, and every monster here has
both a rare Warp Stone steal and a rare Warp Stone drop. That's just nice.
And it's dark like a black steer's tookus on a moonless prairie night.
The Warlock is an annoying little...warlock. Evil and vile throughout, it
makes a mockery of the holy light by attacking with the Holy spell, which is
all it uses for attacking. It may try to drain back some of his lost MP with
!Magic Drain, but he'll be attacking you with the Holy spell; rarely over
!Magic Drain normally, constantly while alone. The Warlock's Defenses are also
very strong; Defense is high, Magic Defense extremely so. Barrier-piercing
attacks should be your main priority against him; you might even use the Stop
spell to make sure he doesn't hurt you in the meantime.
The Mahadeva needn't worry you. It looks dangerous, but 'tis not. It may
randomly use Crypt Dust on the second, fifth, eighth (etc.) turn but it will
be a wasted turn like always; it's Special is called !Rib, and unlike what you
would expect, does Attack x 2 damage rather than setting Zombie. Common Undead
weaknesses in Fire and Holy.
Sorath BEARS a close resemblance to Purusa, wouldn't you agree? See, it's
funny because... Oh man, I'm too funny to BEAR with. Again! If you haven't
figured out that I'm stalling because Sorath are rather boring, you haven't had
enough hibernation. They attack with Attack and !Choke (Attack * 1.5). They're
not very powerful with it. The only interesting thing to say about them is the
fact they take a distant liking to percentage-based attacks (75% Shamshir
through Sketch, Cave In through Rage) while being immune to it themselves.
Medusa Chicken are upgraded Litwor Chickens. Weak to Ice like their WoB
brethren, but they also absorb Poison-elemental attacks. They have Quake written
all over them, in Sketch, Control, and Rage alike; they'll have a 33% at using
it when alone. Every second turn when not alone, Medusa Chicken has a 33% chance
at using !Lick, which sets Petrify and is to be avoided.
Creatures...little bastards are weak versus Lightning, and attack with Attack
and !Stench, which sets Confuse. Unlike Humpty, they're not Undead, and that's
why they don't absorb Bio attacks either; Control, Sketch and Rage all grant
access to the spell. Creature is NOT a name. Don't do drugs!
Moonform is nothing but a monster in FF VI. In the real world though, it's used
to describe the shape of our planet's moon. It attacks with Attack and !Mouth
Clamp, which sets Sap. It may counter any Magic attack with the Poison-/Water-
elemental Acid Rain which sets Sap, and any other attack with the much more
powerful Ice-/Water-elemental Flash Rain attack. Both attacks also feature the
Sketch and Control possibilities, and Rage features Flash Rain. The best way to
deal with them is by casting Rasp; they have 82 MP and will die from sub-zero
MP, leaving them unable to use final counters.
Aspidochelon is another stupid suffering fanged bull, like y'know, the other one
on the Serpent Trench. They are VERY similar to Devoahan, almost so much there's
no doubt it's intentional; just like Devoahan they will use nothing but Attack
for four turns before letting loose with Attack, Attack, !Rage, which once again
is Attack * 1.5 like Devoahan's Special !Rage. When hit by Magic, Devoahan
responded with Sunbath; Aspidochelon responds by casting Wind Slash. The main
difference is the fact that Aspidochelon is Undead, with the standard elemental
properties of Undeads too.
So, the strategy is clear. Cast Float on everybody to protect against a stray
Quake attack, and make everybody invisible with Fader of Vanish. Now, don't
let Medusa Chicken be the last monster on the battlefield, don't cast Magic on
Aspidochelon and kill Moonform with Rasp and you're invincible here until Hidon.
On the dungeon:
You missed them so far, right? Blasted, damned-for-all-time in-dungeon warp
stones. Oh yeah, and it's real dark here, so naturally you can't see further
than a few tiles around you. Great, now all we need are some annoying enemies
at every corner we'd rather not fight since we're busy carrying around key
items to actually get anywhere and we've found one of the more frustrating
dungeons of the game.
Here's the deal. The first warp stone (not to be confused with a Teleport Stone,
mind) takes you to a living, talking chest that won't grant you passage since
he's hungry. He's also a chest, lacking opposable thumbs, abstract thought, or
even the most rudimentary of senses. Let's face it; bossing around other people
to bring him food is really his most effective way of feeding himself. Your task
here is to feed him enough Coral, the stuff of magic you find in the chests all
around Ebot's Rock.
In every chest, there's an equal 25% chance you find one of the following:
1 piece of Coral
2 pieces of Coral
3 pieces of Coral
5 pieces of Coral
The talking chest will let you pass on two conditions. One: you need to have
Strago. If you don't have Strago in your party, you can feed him all you want,
but won't accomplish anything, either for you or for the chest. He eats, like
so many young people of our time, because he's unhappy. It's a destructive
and endless cycle of finding consolation in the very weakness he despises.
I yap. Two: You need to feed him 22 pieces of Coral IN ONE GO. If you feed him
18, he'll send you off for more, and you still need to feed him 22 pieces of
Coral again.
So, while you scurry off to find a pencil and a slip of paper to write down how
much Coral you're finding all around, I'm going to try to explain how the
layout of Ebot's Rock is constructed.
Just kidding. Every warp stone has up to four different locations it can warp
you to. They're all in the same room, and in most cases there's only one
warp stone to walk towards after possibly raiding a chest. There's no possible
advantage of knowing where you are; warp, open chest, warp. Repeat if necessary.
In the end, you'll have your 22 pieces of Coral and you can go 'find' the
talking chest. It's up to luck how soon you come across it, obviously. Feed him,
and you're allowed to continue.
Finally, Hidon! The mere sight of the horrid creature sends shivers down
Strago's spine. Can we assume Strago knows that this creature can teach him
the most powerful of Lores, the fabled Grand Delta. The Japanese game sure
mentions it, so it's time to pound him for great, sweet justice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.62.5 The battle with Hidon
**********************************
Hidon
Level: 43, HP: 25000, MP: 12500
Steal: Thornlet (rare), Teleport Stone (common), Win: Teleport Stone (always)
Absorbs: Poison, Weakness: Fire, Holy, Earth
Creature Type: Undead
Special: !Hit: Attack x 1.5
Sketch : !Hit, Attack
Control: Attack !Hit
Vulnerable to: Slow
Attacks: Attack, Poison, Bio, Grand Delta, Vemonist, Crypt Dust, Leech
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Hidon attacks with Attack and Bio. That's what he does. He has a 33% shot at
Bio there, and a 66% one at Attack. If you hit him with something, he has
a small chance of countering with the Poison spell. Whenever a character dies
in-battle (as in, the Death status), Hidon will try to revive the fallen
character as a Zombie with the Crypt Dust attack, which will fail if the fallen
character is immune to the Zombie status ailment. When Hidon is alone, his
first turn will be spent on glowing an eerie yellow and attacking with the
magnificent Lore Grand Delta which will deal between 900 and 950 damage on your
sorry asses. After that, you'll notice that Hidon is particularly mean when he's
by himself; he'll start attacking with all kinds of crazy spells, including
Venomist (the MT Poison-elemental attack that misses a lot yet looks funky) and
Leech (the non-elemental HP draining spell). 80 seconds after the last Erebus
perished, Hidon will call all Erebus back into existence if all fell. If
you kill them all again, Hidon will cast Grand Delta again, and then revive them
again.
Throw up your barriers where possible (Hastega, Mighty Guard, Golem/Fenrir,
Kirin) and set Slow on Hidon. Evasion of physical attacks is doubly important,
as all the Erebus will try to set nasty status ailments on you with their
Specials. Now, it's time to take care of the Erebus. While Bahamut's Mega
Flare attack is by far the best way to take care of them all at once, well-timed
doses of Cyan's Eclipse Bushido, possibly paired with Edgar's Auto Crossbow or
Flash Tools, should get the job done. The most difficult Erebus to dispatch of
is the one in the lower-left corner; inherently Reflective, absorbs all
elements, ID protection. Shadow's stronger throwing Stars work well against him,
as does Strago's Traveler attack, Setzer's Fixed Dice, and Edgar's Drill. Also,
don't forget to throw around stealing attempts until you've stolen something
from Hidon; the common steal is a meager Teleport Stone, but its rare steal is
the Thornlet, an elusive item that, provided you choose the Ragnarok sword over
the Ragnarok Esper in due time, can only be found here.
The Thornlet is a piece of Headgear that's odd. The only thing it has going for
it is the fact that its Defense is superior to everything, not including the
Saucer on Imps. On the downsides, the Thornlet grants inherent Sap to the
wearer (thorns inflict pain) and has NO Magic Defense whatsoever. The Thornlet,
as my verdict says, should be ignored. Your only reasons for getting one could
be completing your Item list as much as possible and betting it later for a
Mirage Vest.
Now, behold the power of Grand Delta! As soon as that's all over, it's time to
defeat this wretched being. Valigarmanda's Tri-Disaster attack, Fira, Firaga,
and Quake spells really hurt, as does Shadow's Flame Scroll. Having Shadow Throw
a Flametongue, Gravity Rod or Holy Rod hurts Hidon very badly. Mog or Edgar as
Dragon Horn Dragoons paired with a Holy Lance also deal great amounts of
damage. Mog should definitely refrain from using Dances; the Dusk Requiem
sucks. Bum Rush and Fixed Dice are reliable as always. Strago and Relm
themselves really need to use their Magic skillset; if Strago's selection is
extremely poor, I would suggest Aero or Traveler. Obviously, if Strago is
level 43, his Stone attack beats all other options (except for Firaga). Cyan
should probably stick to his Flurry Bushido skill, unless he has Firaga.
Why you would want to train Cyan enough to have him learn a level 3 spell
boggles all normal minds, but I suppose it's a possibility. Gau has a few
options, but most of them are kind of odd. Devil Fist is nice enough, as it
allows Gau to absorb Poison, Bio, and Venomist. Inherent Haste and Will o' the
Wisp is good enough too. If you're not too concerned about that Poison ailment,
have Gau engage Litwor Chicken (don't forget to cast Float on yourselves
beforehand, since Litwor Chicken uses Quake). Finally, Magic Urn turns Gau into
an ever-present tank that heals your party. Nice. And Umaro? Just let him go,
man.
After the fight, Strago will giggle like a little girl and run off to tell his
friend. Gungho seems surprised and oddly vital when hearing the news, and both
growling old men stay up late to celebrate. Relm, like the stereotype demands,
is smarter and more mature than her old grandpa, and explains to the moronic
player that, gasp thrice, Gungho was faking his wounds.
When the player regains control over the party, you may or may not notice that
the party hasn't been healed from the fight against Hidon, although they did
spend the night in Thamasa. Possibly some of your characters are still poisoned,
so you might as well take them to the 1 Gil Inn and heal them with a decent
nightly rest. Ah sleep, thou sweet mistress.
A pretty important note here: outside of Strago's house, Gungho will walk
around. Normally he'll just ask you if everything's okay, but every time you
talk to him, there's a 12.5% chance that he'll say: "I heard someone saw Hidon
at Ebot's Rock again!". As soon as Gungho says this, Hidon will indeed
appear on his original spot. To reach him, you'll have to gather another 22
Coral for the living chest that has also reappeared. Re-fighting Hidon is
only important if you either haven't learned Grand Delta from the first fight
or need a Thornlet, possibly to wager at the Coliseum for the odd Mirage Vest.
It should also be noted that after the first time you defeat Hidon, Strago is
no longer required to find Hidon.
Now, you probably taught Relm at least the level 3 spells or Flare while still
being equipped with that awesome Cat-Ear Hood and possibly the awesome Magus
Rod, and Strago has the best MT damage of any character at the moment, so we can
all celebrate their Thamasian existence.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.63.1 Epic of Gilgamesh; Get Rich or Die Tryin'
**********************************
Opponents:
Onion Dasher, Gilgamesh
Miscellaneous items: Merit Award (win from Onion Dasher)
Lores:
Aero, Dischord, 1000 Needles, Quasar, Revenge Blast
Befitting of a monument of war, Dragon's Neck Coliseum is packed with mighty
brawlers. Shadow, the merciless mercenary himself, competed here. Siegfried,
the greatest swordsman of this age, is its champion. Sometimes all you could
hear were flat, hard packing sounds over the yelling, or the wet choke when
someone caught their breath and sprayed 'Stop'. But now, a new challenger has
appeared, one who felt he was too good for a mere 16-bit console. Gilgamesh,
a mysterious demon-man who travels through dimensions in search of rare swords,
has found Dragon's Neck Coliseum. Being one of the four 'new' Espers available
to the player, all we have to do is make him fight us.
Even though we've found some extraordinary weapons on our travels so far, it
won't spark the interest of Gilgamesh. The only thing this guy'll fight for is
a weapon called the Excalipoor, and it's up for grabs in the Auction House in
Jidoor. Well, grabs... It's up for 500000 Gil. That's a lot of moolah. If you're
half-way there, you did more fighting than you could've done. To collect wealth
en masse, there are two tips.
When in poverty, beat up a cactus! Cactuars will give 10000 Gil when you kill
them (dunno why). It's twice that amount with Relm's Cat-Ear Hood around. It's
certainly the normal guy's route, but there's a more subtle one, unknown to most
and not involving cactuar genocide.
Okay, here's the inside scoop, baby-dolls. Whenever you win a battle with the
Cat-Ear Hood equipped, your Gil income doubles. That's part one. Whenever an
opponent steals Gil from you and you manage to kill it before it runs off, that
Gil is returned to you after the match. That's part two. The combinations of
these parts is what makes the plan work. Mt. Zozo Mugbears may Steal Gil from
you. They may Steal 8724 Gil from you, to be exact. Control one with Relm and
start healing it. Whenever you damage or heal it, it has a 33 % chance of
countering with another Steal attempt. Whenever you heal it, you make sure
it doesn't die just yet. Every batch of stolen Gil is returned twicefold at the
end of the battle. Repeat if necessary.
In front of the Auction House in Jidoor, a GBA-exclusive NPC lingers. "I heard
they're going to put a rare sword up for auction. I can't decide if I should bid
or not." As soon as you've spoken to the guy, the rare sword Excalipoor becomes
an option in the Auction House. It'll have a 50 % chance of appearing, but only
if you've spoken to the man outside. When it appears, you can simply keep
bidding and buy it. The Excalipoor may look like the holy sword Excalibur, but
with a measly 1 Attack Power and no stat boosts, it'll do you little good. Hey,
we can always try to bet it at Dragon's Neck, right?
"Excalipoor? Yes, that is indeed a rare blade. Apparently, someone's been making
off with rare swords from the coliseum... You'd best keep an eye out."
You know, keeping an eye out? Like Sauron?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.63.2 Epic of Gilgamesh; the battle with Gilgamesh
**********************************
A guy came to the Coliseum for the first time, his ass was a wad of cookie
dough. After a few weeks, he was carved out of wood. And the eighth and final
rule? If this is your first night at the Coliseum, you have to wager.
- Excalipoor - Merit Award Opponent: Onion Dasher
Though Gilgamesh will come even if you lose the battle, this is an excellent
opportunity to get our hands on a Merit Award. Also, should you lose, you'll
start the battle with a character down, which is a hindrance. The Onion Dasher
attacks physically and may Haste you with his !Dash attack, but the only
threat he poses is by wielding his Traveler attack. You can't really protect
against it, so make sure you deal enough damage fast, as Onion Dasher has very
little HP.
"Hey, that's quite a rare sword you've got there..."
"I think..."
"...I'll take that sword for my own!"
If you've lost, technically, Gilgamesh should've brawled it out with the Onion
Dasher. Regardless, he'll come after you. Y'know to clench his thirst. His
thirst for GLORIOUS BATTLE! Such combat savvy!
Gilgamesh
Level: 97, HP: 38000, MP: 3200
Steal: Genji Shield (rare), Genji Glove (common), Win: Genji Armor (rare),
Genji Helm (common)
Creature Type: Humanoid
Special: !Blade Dance: Attack x 1.5
Sketch : Attack, Hastega
Control: Attack
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Attack, !Blade Dance, Protect, Shell, Haste, Aqua Breath, Aero,
Dischord, 1000 Needles, Revengle Blast, Stone, Quasar, Revenge Blast,
Throw (Lightbringer), Throw (Ragnarok), Throw (Zantetsuken), Throw
(Mutsunokami)
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Gilgamesh will attack fast and furiously with both physical attacks and a wide
selection of Strago's Lores. Especially annoying are Dischord and Stone when
they land, as it's unlikely you're protected from their effects. Revenge Blast
may simply kill a character, sucks to be you. Quasar is a new Lore which was
previously off-limits to Strago until the very last dungeon. It's exactly like
Grand Delta, only it's cheaper on Strago's MP and not quite as powerful. Coming
from Gilgamesh, Quasar will deal around 1100 damage to all characters, so make
sure you're never below that point.
When you've pounded a semblance of sense in Gilgamesh' thick skull, he'll
rethink his strategy and start fighting 4 reelz. As soon as you see Gilgamesh
cast Protect, Shell and Haste on himself, know that he'll have entered his
second stance. Starting from that point, Gilgamesh will Jump (1st round) and
land, use four physical attacks in quick succession (2nd turn), Throw either a
Lightbringer or Ragnarok (3rd turn) and Throw either a Zantetsuken or
Mutsunokami (4th turn). Loop from there. The physical attacks are all just
physical attacks, but each of the four blades will deal 9999 non-elemental,
barrier-piercing and unblockable damage. That is, without the Invisible status!
Here's the strategy. Make sure you're prepared for the fight and have saved, as
the fight with Gilgamesh at this point is quite a challenge. Make sure to bring
Strago for a chance of learning Quasar, and his Mighty Guard, White Wind and
Grand Delta will make a nice addition. Throw up your defensive barriers ASAP,
they'll be needed. Hastega, Mighty Guard, Golem and Fenrir, what have you. Keep
yourself healed and try to keep up, which should be entirely doable. Never allow
a character to be Confused longer than he/she has to, and quickly revive
characters fallen from Revenge Blast or other forms of violence.
When Gilgamesh casts his defensive spells, turn to Phantom or the Vanish spell.
If you manage to apply it, you've won your battle. Sweet! Naturally, make sure
you haven't told Mog to Dance or have Gau stuck in a Rage capable of targetting
his allies; while Magic Urn would provide superior defense to most of Gilgamesh'
attacks, Curaga's tendency to reveal the hidden is somewhat of a burden in the
second part of the fight.
On the offense, it should be noted that Gilgamesh has great amounts of Magic
Defense. Any magical attack which isn't barrier-piercing will have a hard time
making a noteworthy impact. So stick with physical attacks and abominations
such as Grand Delta and Flare. Sabin's Phantom Rush is especially powerful at
this point in the fight.
A small trivia note on Mog is that his home dance is the Wind Rhapsody, not the
Love Serenade, which makes little sense. Then again, nobody really cares.
When you're done, you'll find yourself with a Merit Award and the Gilgamesh
Magicite!
This could also be a great time to discuss the Merit Award. What does the
Merit Award do? It allows the wearer to equip any weapon and any armor except
for animal hides (Relm/Strago equips), the Snow Scarf, and the female-only
equips (Minerva Bustier and Mystery Veil among others). It does take up a Relic
slot though, so what characters would benefit enough from the expanded pool of
options to sacrifice a Relic slot for?
- Sabin's weapons are nothing special. A few minor stat boosts, that's all.
In addition, his best armor is the Red Jacket, which next to nullifying
Fire does nothing special and has a sub-par Defense and Magic Defense rating.
An Swordbreaker/Magus Rod rather than the Tigerfangs and a Genji Armor as
opposed to the Red Jacket can really help him out both offensively and
defensively.
- In simpler times, Gau and Gogo could equip the Merit Award as well, both to
great effects. Those times are long gone, though, forever erasing the
existence of the glorious Wind God Gau. Behold reason #37 why the 21th
century is making is miserable.
Most players kinda frown upon using the Merit Award as it has the potential of
turning every character into a clone of each other. And yes, with the Merit
Award, a combo of Lightbringer, Force Shield, Priest's Miter, and Force Armor is
all too easy to pull off. I just figure that this way, we're still tasteful
while helping out the characters we love. :)
The Gilgamesh Magicite teaches Quick (awesome!) and Valor (awesome!). Valor is
pretty much the remedy for the fact that physical attacks suck compared to
magical ones most of the time. Valor targets all allies and allows every first
physical attack that character uses come out with triple power. That's to be
taken quite literally. This goes for odd attacks such as Cyan's Tiger Bushido
(which now deals 150 % the target's current HP), Setzer's Gil Toss, you name it.
It'll only boost the first strike in a multi-strike attack such as Cyan's
Flurry. Note that for the few MT physical attacks (Auto Crossbow and Gil Toss),
only one target will receive three times as much damage.
Gilgamesh himself, when summoned, can attack with each of his four blades.
Masamune is a non-elemental barrier-piercing attack. Excalibur is a Holy-
elemental attack. The Excalipoor will only deal 1 damage to all targets.
Gilgamesh' combo attack with his partner Enkidu is a massively powerful non-
elemental barrier-piercing attack. The chances of each attack appear to be
25 % chance each, but since I don't speak ARM7TDMI assembly I can't be
absolutely sure.
Boy, that was a wild ride. We're here now, let's see if we can do some other
stuff here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.63.3 Another Coliseum trip
**********************************
Sure, why the hell not, eh? Most of the below described items are "provided
you have them" or "provided you want them", but I have to put them somewhere
and this seems like a nice place. I'll go easy on you and start out with the
really helpful ones!
Megalixir - Tintinnabulum Opponent: Siegfried
Healing Rod - Magus Rod Opponent: Tonberry
Thornlet - Mirage Vest Opponent: Aspidochelon
Cat-Ear Hood - Merit Award Opponent: Slagworm
Minerva Bustier - Regal Gown Opponent: Tonberry
Snow Scarf - Ward Bangle Opponent: Yojimbo
Nutkin Suit - Genji Armor Opponent: Aspidochelon
Thief's Bracer - Brigand's Glove Opponent: Amduscias
Gauntlet - Thunder Shield Opponent: Vector Chimera
Genji Glove - Thunder Shield Opponent: Demon Knight
You should know all items (if you're rusty on what they do and where to get
them, you can Ctrl + F the document). The only reason you should want to trade
in a Minerva Bustier for a Regal Gown is when you have more than two Minerva
Bustiers and you want to have all items in the game at the end. I've never found
a good use for the Gauntlet, and in my opinion the Genji Glove has outlived its
usefulness as well, but there are a lot of players googoo for Genji Gloves, so
they may not agree with me when I say you can turn those Relics into the awesome
Thunder Shields (save one of each if you're going for that 'perfect' end-game
item list). You CAN steal Thunder Shields in the final dungeon, but it's a long
way there.
Megalixir - Tintinnabulum Opponent: Siegfried
Siegfried has three attacks: a 50% chance at Attack, a 25% Metal Cutter which is
rather painful, and a 25% Hyperdrive, which kills you. There's NO circumventing
it other than Runic, which isn't reliable enough. Hyperdrive is a non-elemental
barrier-piercing magical attack that cannot be Reflected. Coming from Siegfried,
hyped as the greatest warrior that isn't in your team or called Kefka Palazzo,
it delivers around 7200 damage. Your best bet is to take advantage of his
vulnerability to the Stop status; equip on Shadow the Kagenui, Dragoon Boots,
Dragon Horn, and as much Magic Evasion raising equipment as you can put on the
guy. If you're in luck, a random Stop spell coming from the Kagenui will kick in
and disable Siegfried long enough for you to kill him.
And yes, that's a gun he's holding. Sweet, eh?
- Healing Rod - Magus Rod Opponent: Tonberry
- Minerva Bustier - Regal Gown Opponent: Tonberry
Tonberry is a bastard in the Coliseum. The trick here is that he will counter
any damage done to him with both !Knife (Attack * 8) and a Traveler attack.
Death doesn't stop him from countering, and as it's highly unlikely you'll be
able to survive two Traveler attacks (not even mentioning the !Knife attack
here), you must take down Tonberry in one shot, which is hard, as he's quite
durable and not vulnerable to ID. Obviously, he also attacks normally, with
Attack, !Knife, and the Break spell. First off, you'll want a Reflect Ring,
Jeweled Ring, Ribbon, Safety Bit, or Memento Ring to protect against Break.
Second, make sure you can survive the !Knife/Traveler combo; Muscle Belts and
Red Caps increase your HP for Traveler, and you'll either want to evade or
nullify !Knife entirely, so a high Evasion percentage or 255 Defense does the
trick. On the offense, the Master's Scroll is almost required, either with the
Fixed Dice or a Valiant Knife, whatever you have. You probably have none of
those.
- Cat-Ear Hood - Merit Award Opponent: Slagworm
Slagworm is, if I'm not mistaken, the toughest enemy out there that's still
vulnerable to ID. This is really what you'll want to take advantage of. He'll
randomly use Attack, !Crush (Attack * 5), Sandstorm, and Quake. Every damage
done will by countered with up to two Sandstorm attacks. Equip some Angel Wings
for the Quake spell, and a Thunder Shield to nullify the Sand Storm attacks. If
you can pair this with 255 Defense (on Mog), you can't lose. If you can't
obtain invulnerability, it's best to go all-out offensive; the Master's
Scroll, possible Genji Glove, and weapons with either the X-type ID property or
the Zantetsuken. Remember that the random Death spell from the Soul Sabre and
the Death Tarot won't work with the Master's Scroll.
- Snow Scarf - Ward Bangle Opponent: Yojimbo
I discussed Retainer earlier, but the situation's so much different now I'd
like to mention him again; get your Evasion as high as possible on a character
that's bound to inflict a lot of damage on the guy. Fixed Dice, Master's Scroll,
Prayer Beads, Green Beret, etc. The chances are pretty good Setzer will outlive
a Yojimbo this way.
Thief's Bracer - Brigand's Glove Opponent: Amduscias
All Amduscias does is Attack, !Booty Shake (sets Confuse), Slowga, and Hastega.
255 Defense and a Peace Ring/Ribbon to protect against !Booty Shake and you're
set. The only question remains...what WAS she going to do with all that junk,
all that junk inside her trunk?
- Gauntlet - Thunder Shield Opponent: Vector Chimera
Attack, Gigavolt, Aqua Breath and Blaze. A combination of Thunder Shield and Red
Jacket takes care of all the powerful attacks here, so send in Edgar with this
equipment and you're set. Sabin's good too, though he might use Soul Spiral.
- Genji Glove - Thunder Shield Opponent: Demon Knight
Demon Knightlooks pretty neat, but that doesn't stop him from sucking all-round
in the Coliseum. Attack, !Cursed Gaze (sets Sap) and Shockwave are all too
useless to worry about, and Holy can be reflected by a Reflect Ring. Equip one
and win.
- Thornlet - Mirage Vest Opponent: Aspidochelon
I discussed Aspidochelon earlier, so I won't do that now. Instead let's move on!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.64.1 Doma Castle
**********************************
Now, there are a few side-quests left before there's really nothing better to
do than break into Kefka's domain, and we've still got a disturbing lead to
follow before we can answer to Celes's desperate wishes to reunite with Locke.
With Cyan on our side, the fact that demons appear to roam around in Doma Castle
has some meaning; we could check it out at the very least. Where's Doma Castle
you ask? You can ask the old lady in Maranda, but I'll tell you anyway: to the
east of the 'head' of the Serpent Trench, where Nikeah is located.
Make sure that you have quite a few Green Cherries and Phoenix Downs, and if
you're planning to bring Shadow (which is a good idea), make sure you have
over 30 Flame Scrolls as well.
Cyan is mandatory for this part. I can see from your shocked faces that after
all the Cyan-bashing I did in the past, not only are you all heavily convinced
of the fact he's horrible, this is also the reason you never really bothered to
raise him. Little to no Esper time, no doubt? Not to digress; you don't really
have to fight with him. :P
Whom to bring? Terra is especially nice; I really advise you to bring her.
You're probably sick of Strago and Relm by now, but if you want to take
advantage of their newly acquired powers, be my guest; Grand Delta really is
powerful, and there's a new Lore to be learned here as well. Shadow is great,
as his Throw attack is targetable. The same goes for Setzer, but only if you
have his Fixed Dice. Do NOT bring along Gau and Umaro; they'll have major
trouble with the final battle here, which also means that YOU will have major
trouble. I wouldn't really advise Edgar and Mog either, as the final battle is
yet again an annoying peek-a-boo situation where you don't want to sit around
waiting for them to come crashing down when you don't want them to.
As soon as you enter Doma Castle, nothing seems odd. But hey, both the guy in
Thamasa and the young man in Nikeah mentioned that the demons came after
nightfall. If you haven't found the Doma Castle treasures in the WoB, you can
do so now: You can find a Hi-Ether, an Elixir in the alarm clock in a bedroom,
an X-Potion in the room Cyan found his dead wife and son in, and when you go
outside on one of the walls, you can find a little room with a Phoenix Down and
some Prayer Beads. If you're done raiding the halls of the dead, find the
bedroom where the option of sleeping will be presented to you. Do so if you're
ready for the dungeon. Make sure you have a decently powerful character in the
fourth slot (or in the third if Cyan's in the fourth slot).
When the night has ended (don't worry, you've been healed), you will all get
up. But wait, what's this? Cyan remains silent. When you go over to check on
him, three creatures that look like little boys appear. They introduce
themselves as the Dream Stooges, being Laragorn, Curlax and Moebius. Dunno what
the story with Curlax and Moebius is, but I've heard Laragorn is in love with
an immortal Lelf and can command an army of Lundead, so we'd best be careful.
Regardless, the Dream Stooges leap into Cyan's mind. Or something, whatever.
You'll quickly notice this entire ordeal is 73% Lewis Carroll, 26% water, and a
tiny bit of magic.
You leap after them. OFF the Veldt!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.64.2 Cyan's Soul
**********************************
You start out with the character that was in the fourth slot of your party when
you went to sleep; if this was Cyan, it'll be the character in the third slot.
If you brought Gogo the mimic here and don't start out with him, you can see
him lying around mimicking Mog's colour scheme; while this fits his role of
copycat nicely, it's most certainly a bug. There are detached stairways of
unidentifiable material all around the place and a lot of doors. The entire
room looks like you've been sniffing Ether (and you might have) recently, and
you're by yourself.
Opponents:
Weredragon, Alluring Rider, Pandora, Parasite, Coco
Lores:
Doom, Roulette, White Wind, Lv. ? Holy
Monster formations:
Coco, Alluring Rider(5/16)
Alluring Rider, Pandora, Pandora, Pandora (5/16)
Weredragon, Parasite, Parasite, Parasite (5/16)
Weredragon (1/16)
Weredragon is a crazy dino, that's for sure. It does nothing but try to
poison you, and let's be honest with ourselves here; that's just not very
honorable for a giant lizard with fangs and claws, now is it? At least try to
eat them. At any rate, the only thing it'll try to do to you is use !Venom Claw
and attack with Venomist. Weredragon is weak against Fire- and Holy-elemental
attacks and is vulnerable to ID attacks. The Anthology Bestiary mentions that
Weredragon is 'normally' human, but transforms into a Weredragon in-battle,
spewing poisonous breath (Venomist).
Alluring Rider is your gal if you neglected Strago a little during the WoB and
brought him along for this ride. Every first turn may feature Roulette (33%
chance), every second turn may feature the as-of-yet unseen Lv. ? Holy (33%
chance), and every third turn may contain Doom (33% chance). If you want to,
wait around until she has taught these Lores to Strago. Other attacks include
Attack and !Sap Seed, which sets Sap. She's a rare breed, having no palette
swaps whatsoever. She's also rather weak defensively; Doom shouldn't worry you,
Roulette is a nuisance that's quickly recovered from and Lv. ? Holy, should it
connect, won't do all that much damage (about 550 when hitting multiple
normally-equipped targets, 1100 on a single one).
Pandora is Undead. Also, while they look like the least dangerous enemy,
they're the worst. There are two attacks you have to watch out for; Diabolic
Whistle may set one out of the following status ailments on every party member:
Darkness, Poison, Imp, Doom, Berserk, Confuse, Sap and Slow. Since they always
appear in triple formation here, it can be quite bad if one or two character(s)
have to swallow up to three Diabolic Whistle attacks. Ribbons are a must. The
other attack that's nasty is Absolute Zero; it's a straightforward Ice-elemental
attack, but can deal about 500 damage to multiple normally equipped characters
and 1000 on a single one. Revenge Blast shouldn't be that much of a concern.
Parasite are Aspik palette swaps. They're almost entirely alike. They attack
with Attack and !Mind Stop, which sets Stop (Aspik's !Numbspines also did this).
Every Attack command will be countered with a 66% shot at Gigavolt, which is
a strong attack but fails to impress here, as Parasite's Magic Power is a
stunning 1. 1000 HP and weak to Fire-elemental attacks. As Freud would tell you,
the Parasite is a metaphor for a giant penis commanding you to sleep with your
mother. Hey, don't look at me. It's science.
Coco smoked in the Japanese game. She stopped for the US kids, though.
Smoking is bad for you! Ranging from bad breath and yellow teeth to an empty
wallet, smoking is nothing but trouble. It's also damn well enjoyable after a
long day might I add. Coco resists all status ailments (maybe she can get
away with smoking due to Lung Cancer immunity, I dunno), and has an annoying
tendency to use an Imp spell at the start of every battle. Her second turn
may feature either the Drain spell or the Overture attack. About Overture :
Overture forces the affected character to take physical hits for the caster,
like the caster is a Critical character and the affected has a Knight's Code
equipped. The affected will only absorb Attacks and Special attacks; other
attacks, physical or not, will be ignored.
Anyway, heal the Imp status if it was set and then pound her as soon as
possible with your strongest attacks. Any damage done will be countered by a 66%
shot at !Slap, which sets Silence. Coco's Defense is rather poor and she's weak
to Poison-elemental attacks, protected from ID, and immune to every status
ailment but Slow and Stop.
Whatever character you brought, it's vital you equip a Ribbon on him. Status
ailments like Stop and Confuse are NOT nice when you're by yourself. Fire-
elemental attacks are really strong, so Valigarmanda's Tri-Disaster, Firaga,
Flame Scrolls and Rising Phoenix should help you combat these pests. That Ribbon
really is necessary; it protects against Coco's Imp and !Slap, Weredragon's
attempts at poisoning you, and Pandora's Diabolic Whistle horror. If you're
shooting for a full Rage list for some reason, make sure to encounter Alluring
Rider and Weredragon here as you won't be able to return to this place later.
The other monsters can be found at other locations, too.
They should encounter any enemy they want to here while they can, because you
can't go back to this place after you leave...
When you wake up, it's near a Save Point so you can save. To the left are three
doors. It would take a very large block or boring text to describe where all
the doors are leading, so here's a neat schematic!
#0: Starting point, #1 (left door), #2 (middle door), #3 (right door)
#1: Character, #4 (door)
#2: #12 (door to the right), #13 (door to the left)
#3: #8 (left door), #10 (right door)
#4: #5, (top door) #6 (bottom door)
#5: #8 (left door), #10 (right door)
#6: #7 (door)
#7: #5, (top door) #6 (bottom door)
#8: #9 (door)
#9: #8 (left door), #10 (right door)
#10: Character, #11 (door)
#11: #12 (door to the right), #13 (door to the left)
#12: Save Point, #1 (left door), #2 (middle door), #3 (right door)
#13: Final door, battle with the Dream Stooges.
Explanation: both of your unconscious characters are guarded by a Dream Stooge.
When you arrive, the Dream Stooge chickens out and runs off, as he's without
his brothers; you reunite with your fallen comrade in arms and press on. If
you found both characters, you can trigger the battle with the Dream Stooges
at the final door; if you haven't collected all characters, nothing will happen
there.
The easiest path through this madness is this:
#0 - #1 - #4 - #6 - #7 - #5 - #10 - #11 - #12 - #13
In plain English: Walk over to the three doors, and pick the left one. You
scare off the Dream Stooge and find a character here. Leave through the door.
Take the top door in the next section, which leads to two doors right next to
each other. You'll want to take the right door, which leads to another Dream
Stooge, who runs off and reunites you with your final character. Exit through
the only door here, and walk over to the door to the far right in the next
section. This door will lead you to the final door, standing between three...
things. Out leap the three Dream Stooges, ready to do battle.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.64.3 Cyan's Soul; the battle with the Dream Stooges
**********************************
Curlax
Level: 47, HP: 15000, MP: 2000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Fire, Weakness: Ice, Water
Creature Type: Humanoid, MP Kill
Status: Float
Special: !Hit: Attack x 2
Sketch : !Hit, Attack
Control: Attack, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Sleep
Attacks: Attack, Fira, Firaga, Slow, Stop, Silence, Reflect, Arise, White Wind,
Delta Attack
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Laragorn
Level: 47, HP: 10000, MP: 2000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Ice, Wind, Weakness: Fire
Creature Type: Humanoid
Status: Float
Special: !Hit: Attack x 2
Sketch : !Hit, Attack
Control: Attack, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Death, Doom, Silence, Confuse, Slow
Attacks: Attack, Blizzara, Blizzaga, Reflect, Delta Attack
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Moebius
Level: 47, HP: 12500, MP: 2000
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Lightning
Creature Type: Humanoid, MP Kill
Status: Float
Special: !Hit: Attack x 2
Sketch : !Hit, Attack
Control: Attack, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Berserk, Stop
Attacks: Attack, Thundara, Thundaga, Protect, Haste, Reflect, Shell, Cura, Delta
Attack
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Joker's Death: Yes
Curlax is the strongest of the three Dream Stooges, and also the most vital
one to take down. He has a random shot at casting White Wind every now and
again, which heals the other Stooges and himself. Even worse, he will cast
Arise on a fallen comrade when he notices they're down. He'll attack with the
status-inducing spells when all three brothers are alive, and with the
Fire-elemental offensive spells when a comrade has been slain (which is a
useless bit of the AI script, as Curlax will always immediately make sure this
is never the case with Arise). When he's hit four times by a Magic spell,
he'll cast Reflect on himself and start bouncing Fira and Firaga spells
off himself. When all three Stooges are alive, he'll cast Delta Attack every
30 seconds; Delta Attack is an unblockable ST attack that sets Petrify
(doesn't work on targets immune to Petrify, obviously). He has a 33% chance
of countering any of your attacks with a Fira spell.
Laragorn is the weakest of the three Dream Stooges; his amount of HP is the
lowest and his status vulnerabilities are horrible; as if Death wasn't enough,
he's an almost exclusive spell caster susceptible to Silence, and Confuse is
crippling too. He's the Ice-elemental of the three. Like Curley, he'll cast
Delta Attack when all three Stooges are there and 30 seconds have passed since
the beginning of the battle/the last time Delta Attack appeared. He'll cast
Reflect when he's hit by Magic four times and start reflecting Blizzara and
Blizzaga spells off himself. Larry will normally just attack with Attack; he'll
start using Blizzara and Blizzaga spells when one Stooge is down. He'll counter
with a 33% Blizzara spell. The interesting thing about Laragorn is that he may
run away in the middle of a battle. When one of the Stooges is down, and
Laragorn has been hit by four Magic spells, he'll run away. After 30 seconds (if
you haven't won the battle yet), he'll return; his HP is back to maximum, but MP
hasn't changed and any status ailments you might've set are still there.
Moebius is the middle child, and the only one without an elemental weakness. His
bane is the Berserk status, and he has the Lightning-element. Like his
brethren, he casts Delta Attack after 30 seconds, will cast Reflect on himself
after four Magic spells, and start casting Thundara and Thundaga on himself
which bounce off; normally he uses support spells (Protect, Shell, Haste, and
Cura), but he will start to cast offensive spells (Thundara and Thundaga) when
one of the Stooges is down. Might counter any attack with a Thundara spell. The
boring one of the three.
A note about Delta Attack: when the global battle timer reaches 30, the first
Stooge to act will attack with Delta Attack. After that, the global timer is
set to 0, so the other two Stooges won't use it. In other words, every 30
seconds only ONE Delta Attack will appear, not three.
How to fight this battle? Set Silence on Laragorn (the Silence spell is
obviously the most prominent way, and note that Strago's Bad Breath will fail
always due to Laragorn's Imp immunity) and Berserk on Moe (with the Berserk
spell, possibly). Don't kill off Laragorn with a quick Death spell just yet; our
main priority is Curlax. Cast a Sleep spell on him and pound him with magical
attacks, preferably Ice-elemental attacks. When he's dead, abuse Laragorn's
vulnerability to ID attacks and dispatch of him quickly. What you have left is a
Berserked Moebius who is no threat whatsoever.
It's really an easy battle; barriers like Mighty Guard, Hastega, Howling Moon,
Earthen Wall, and Holy Aura are nice, but really not necessary. You don't get
any items for beating the Dream Stooges, but you'll get 6 Magic AP.
After you've killed the Dream Stooges, you've taken care of the problem you
came 'here' for, but you still have to find a way to get out of here. The
door the Dream Stooges guarded is still open, so you might as well pass
through.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.64.4 Cyan's Dream; the Phantom Train?
**********************************
Opponents:
Samurai, Al Jabr, Suriander, Pandora, Parasite, Coco
Container contents: Flame Shield, Genji Glove, Ice Shield, X-Potion
Monster formations:
(Inside)
Al Jabr, Al Jabr (5/16)
Samurai, Al Jabr, Al Jabr (5/16)
Coco, Samurai, Suriander (5/16)
Suriander, Pandora, Parasite, Parasite (1/16)
You're now somehow traveling through Cyan's mind, searching for a way out.
You're on a train now; since Cyan has really little experience with mechanical
things, it's safe to say this is a memory of the Phantom Train. We'd best
be on our guard; Cyan's mind is not devoid of the demons that torture him,
and they don't leave us alone either.
A few new enemies here. Samurai are very odd. Weak to Poison like most humans,
their Defenses are horrible. And I mean just horrible. Worse physical Defense
than Flan enemies, worse Magic Defense than Ultros #4. Every second turn they
may use !Slay, so take them out quickly. It'd be very hard to take them out
slowly, mind, but you never know. ID-protected, by the way.
Al Jabr are crazy on the elementals. Weak to Ice, Holy, and Water, almost
every character should be able to nail these guys' weaknesses one way or
another. They attack with physical attacks (!Spinning Umbrella sets Sleep) and
Flash Rain, the MT Ice-/Water-elemental attack. Not very strong, but strong
enough to worry about. When Al Jabrs are alone, they'll use Thundaga, which is
even more of a nuisance. Their vulnerable to the Confuse status, so the
Noiseblaster and the Lv. 3 Confuse Lore keep them busy while you kill them.
Suriander surely surprises scarce sources; boring beyond borders, bestowing
bruises by Attack, sometimes Sneeze. It also uses !Yawn (sets Sleep).
ID-protected. The bloated creature is weak to Holy-elemental attacks and
vulnerable to the Sleep status, so if you want to make sure none of your
characters get blown away by his omni-counter Snort attack, take advantage of
that.
( LOCOMOTIVE )
( SAVE POINT CAR )
( MAZE CAR ) - Contains an Ice Shield and an X-Potion
( LUMP OF METAL CAR ) - Contains a Genji Glove and a Flame Shield
( SAVE POINT CAR )
( INACCESSIBLE )
To the right of you is a train car you can't enter. You can go up the ladder,
but it serves no purpose. To the left of you is a train car, desolate of
everything but a Save Point. Just pass through it.
When you're outside again, you'll see a quick cutscene where Cyan escapes
from a ghost, oddly similar to the scene in the game where Sabin and Cyan
escape the ghosts. You can't enter the new train car until the scene is over.
You can use the ladders to completely circumvent this car, but you don't want
to do that, as you'll miss out on two treasures and an important hint.
This new train car brings a chest, firmly locked away between two crates and
a hole in the floor. When you flip the switch to the right of it, the left
crates will move. However, after 4 seconds the crate will move back if you
haven't raided the contents. If you fight a battle left of that crate (in the
immediate horizontal line) the crate will move again; alternatively, if you
enter the menu screen immediately to the right of it (stand next to the crate),
it will also move.
The easiest solution would be flicking the switch twice; at the second time the
right crate will move, no questions asked, and will remain there until you
leave the train car. The chest contains a Genji Glove.
Further on is another chest, but you can't reach it; an empty chest will always
block your path. The trick is to walk over to the closed chest to the right;
opening it will get you the Rare item 'Lump of Metal', which you can use to
pin the empty chest to the ground and walk around it to grab the Flame Shield
in the chest.
Finally, make sure that you flick the other switch in this train car too; three
out of the six chests will close (flicking again will open them all up again),
and the book says: "One would do well to remember the positions... Such
knowledge could be one's salvation."
What is this, the Kama Sutra?
Very well:
0 0 x
x x 0
0 = Open
x = Closed
This next train car is a nasty one. It's a maze, with three switches that all
change the furniture to block off your path and/or the other switches. Grab
the Ice Shield and the X-Potion in the slightly hidden chest first. There are
four switches in this car; the left-most switch isn't important right now, so
it's
#1 #2 #3
The order to handle the switches in is this:
#3, #1, #3, #2, #3, #1
Now, your path is blocked off again by a wall, and there are six chests here,
not unlike the chests you saw earlier. Flicking the switch appears to do
nothing whatsoever. Close the chests like you saw earlier:
0 0 x
x x 0
0 = Open
x = Closed
Flicking the switch will clear the path. You can walk outside to find another
train car with a Save Point, and finally the caboose; the switches here do
absolutely nothing. When you leave the room, you will warp out of this train
and into a new section of Cyan's Dream.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.64.5 Cyan's Dream; Mechanical mines
**********************************
Opponents:
Schmidt, Pluto Armor, Io
So, this is the part where Cyan's still lingering fear of machines resides.
Hulking, steaming technological horrors lunge for you, and the worst part is
that your abilities are crippled by the fact that you are, in fact, riding
one of those mechanical monstrosities yourselves. Yes, you're all covered in
Imperial Magitek Armor. Terra is the only character that will be able to use
all eight attacks. If you brought Gogo, give him the Attack command in the
Status menu so he can use Magitek as well. Umaro (and Berserked characters)
will randomly choose a Beam-class attack and will never use Healing Force.
Monster formations:
Io (6/16)
Pluto Armor, Pluto Armor (5/16)
Pluto Armor, Schmidt (5/16)
Pluto Armor attacks with Attack, !Ram (Attack x 2), and Magitek Laser. When it's
alone it'll start using the nastier machine attacks you'll be recognizing by
now: Launcher and Metal Cutter (and Magitek Laser, still). When hit by Attack,
it may counter with either Launcher (on the entire party) or Metal Cutter (on
the attacker itself), but this is only possible on the Veldt or when combining
the Imp and Berserk status ailments on a character (which you don't really
want). Metal Cutter really is powerful and Launcher annoying as hell (for those
of you that forgot, Launcher = 8 x Gravity on random targets), so don't let
Pluto Armor alone.
Schmidt is much less dangerous. It'll use Reverse Polarity and Magitek Laser.
When alone, it may start to attack with Missile - but compared to Pluto Armor's
Launcher, that's nothing - and !Anchor, which sets Sap.
Io is most noticeable for its Rage, which allows the Rager to attack with
Flare Star. It will either do nothing (66%) or attack with !Crush (Attack x 3)
for three consecutive turns; !Crush isn't that powerful. The fourth turn, it'll
either use Wave Cannon or Diffractive Laser. Io's a little harder to take down,
but little threat.
The strategy, you ask? There's little, here. Know that the Beam attacks are
about as powerful as level 2 spell, so if you have level 3 spells they'll be
more powerful than the Magitek attacks. You'll always want to switch between
Healing Force and Thunder Beam in this dungeon, as Thunder Beam hits the
weakness of all the enemies here. Magitek Missile is more powerful than Thunder
Beam though, so Terra should stick to that. All enemies can be taken out by
Terra's Banisher, and both Pluto Armor and Schmidt fall for Confuser. Pluto
Armor can be crippled by status ailments such as Silence, Stop, and Berserk
while Schmidt really isn't a threat at all.
Just walk around a while, there's only one path to take. As soon as you
discover that you're walking around in circles, turn back and approach the
situation from a different angle; start walking counter-clockwise. Eventually
you'll arrive at a slope you haven't seen before, and you'll see Cyan cross
a bridge. As soon as you try to follow him, the bridge will collapse
underneath you.
Awesomeness: the game gives a Magitek Armor to your leader in the dungeon. If
you switch leaders, the new character will also gain Magitek Armor, but the
other character won't lose it. When you exit this part, the Magitek Armor is
taken from the leader, but not from the other three character. Thus in the next
scene in this section, those characters will appear in Magitek Armor in the
cutscene. Neato!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.64.6 Cyan's Dream; Doma Castle
**********************************
Opponents:
Samurai, Al Jabr, Suriander, Pandora, Parasite, Coco, Soul Saver, Wrexsoul
Miscellaneous items: Guard Bracelet (Wrexsoul drop), Memento Ring (rare
Wrexsoul steal), Masamune (obtained from Cyan)
You fall into a recognizable room; the guest chambers of Doma Castle, where
you spent the night before Cyan was invaded by the Dream Stooges. You've gained
a mission objective now; next to simply escaping Cyan's mind, it seems that
his personal demon can be actually battled; Wrexsoul, a composite monster
made up of angry spirits, is its name. It's time to seek out this demon, so
Cyan can find redemption, and you can get the hell out.
Monster formations:
Al Jabr, Al Jabr (5/16)
Samurai, Al Jabr, Al Jabr (5/16)
Coco, Samurai, Suriander (5/16)
Suriander, Pandora, Parasite, Parasite (1/16)
When you can move again, it's time to fulfill the request of Elayne and Owain,
Cyan's wife and child. They're right, he doesn't deserve this, sub-par combat
skills be damned! When you walk around, you can find three small cutscenes
which all show a proud moment out of the past of Cyan Garamonde, retainer to
King Doma.
Outside, near the moat, to the left:
(Cyan and Owain are jumping at each other, the sound of metal on metal)
(Cyan:) Thou hast grown quite strong! With a little more practice, thou wilt be
Doma's finest swordsman!
(Owain:) Yippee! Dad told me I'm strong! I'm gonna go tell Mom!
Outside, near the moat, to the right:
(Cyan and Owain by the side of the moat)
(Owain, jumping up and down:) Dad...fishing is boring!
(Cyan:) This is but another part of thy training. Patience is something we all
must learn.
(Owain, calming down:) ...I love fishing!
Inside, in the room where Cyan found Elayne and Owain dead:
(Elayne:) My dear... Do you love me?
(Cyan, spazzing:) What art thou asking me!? A warrior does not speak of such
things!
(Cyan, calmed:) I...love thee. I love thee more than anything...
(Owain, appearing from the bed:) Yay! I heard that! "I love thee, I love thee!"
Dad loves Mom!
(Elayne:) Owain!
(Owain:) I heard what Dad said to Mom!
(Owain runs off)
If you haven't gotten the treasures from Doma Castle in the real world so far,
you can even obtain them here: you can find a Hi-Ether, an Elixir in the alarm
clock in a bedroom, an X-Potion in the room Cyan found his dead wife and son
in, and when you go outside on one of the walls, you can find a little room
with a Phoenix Down and some Prayer Beads.
Wrexsoul is waiting for you in the throne room, sitting on the throne with
Cyan lifeless on the ground next to him. The confrontation is inevitable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.64.7 Cyan's Dream; the battle with Wrexsoul
**********************************
Wrexsoul
Level: 53, HP: 23066, MP: 5066
Steal: Memento Ring (rare), Win: Guard Bracelet (always)
Absorbs: Fire, Holy, Weakness: Ice
Special: !Doom Strike: sets Doom
Sketch : !Doom Strike, Attack
Control: Attack, !Doom Strike
Vulnerable to: Nothing
Attacks: Attack, Thundaga, Fury
Soul Saver
Level: 41, HP: 3066, MP: 566
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Fire, Holy, Weakness: Ice
Creature Type: Humanoid
Special: !Magic Drain: Drains MP
Sketch : !Magic Drain, Attack
Control: Attack, !Magic Drain
Vulnerable to: Petrify, Death, Doom, Berserk, Confuse, Slow
Attacks: Attack, !Magic Drain, Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, Reflect, Cure
Joker's Death: No
You can't spin 7-7-7 in this battle.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Wrexsoul is obviously the main baddy here whom you'll have to defeat. The
ironically called Soul Savers are the goons. At the start of the battle,
Wrexsoul will use Fury and leave the battlefield to invade one of your
characters. He won't re-appear for you to damage him until the character
he invaded receives Death, Petrify, or Zombie status. When he's out he'll
just sit there for a while, attack with Attack or casting Thundaga. When either
one or two Soul Saver(s) has the Reflect status, he'll cast Thundaga on it so
it'll bounce off to your party. Like any proper boss, he'll counter Attack with
a 33% shot at Attack.
The Soul Savers are the bane of this battle. Virtually immortal, they'll
regenerate as soon as you kill them off. Normally they'll just sit there,
slinging the level 3 spells at your with ridiculously small amounts of effect.
Whenever they hit 16 MP or less, they'll use !Magic Drain to drain you of your
MP (and with a 50 Attack Power, their !Magic Drain is really quite strong).
They'll cast Reflect on themselves as soon as Wrexsoul is around, allowing him
to cast Thundaga on them for damage on you. On all other turns that Wrexsoul is
around, they'll spend time casting Cure spells on Wrexsoul for double-digit
amounts of healing (in other words; neglectable).
Before the normal, honest tactics, the usual method of winning this battle is
casting Banish. The Soul Savers restore themselves over and over again, but
when you successfully suck both Soul Savers into the parallel dimension with
Banish, they can't do that and you'll just win the battle. The downside here
is that you won't win the Guard Bracelet from Wrexsoul, as you never actually
defeat him.
Normally, you'll just want to completely ignore the Soul Savers. Minerva Bustier
wearers take no damage and anybody with an elemental shield should take
very little damage all-round anyway (Thunder Shields are the best, as Thundaga
is cast most often). First, throw up the usual barriers; Hastega, Earthen Wall,
Mighty Guard, Howling Moon, Holy Aura, whathaveyou. Now, just check each
character by killing him/her and reviving him/her. Strago can commit easy
suicide with Self-Destruct (careful: Transfusion removes him from the battle;
you don't want that). Shadow can throw Fuma Shuriken or Shuriken to do
unblockable and non-elemental damage, while Setzer's Fixed Dice serve the same
purpose. If you don't have these characters, just go ahead with spells and
Attacks where you can; Flare and Break are great for killing party members
(provided it hits); Flare has a superior Hit Rate, but with Break you've
actually killed a party member and can bring him/her back without any HP loss
with a Gold Needle or Remedy Item or Esuna spell. If the targeted character
doesn't have too much Magic Evasion, Strago's Stone attack can probably take
him/her out in one hit; remember that Stone does 7.5 times as much damage when
the target shares the caster's level, which is a likely case.
Whenever Wrexsoul appears, act fast and furious! His Magic Defense is a
stunning 220, which makes sure that if a magical attack isn't barrier-piercing,
it'll have to be an Blizzaga spell coming from Morphed Terra to do a lot of
damage. Breaking Ice Rods and/or Ice Shields nets you barrier-piercing attacks,
so if you lack power in your team that's an option. Ideally you'll want to
stick to targetable attacks: Setzer's Fixed Dice, Shadow's Fuma Shuriken
(Icebrands hurt a LOT), and Edgar's Drill are good ones. Barrier-piercing
attacks can even by MT'd; Mega Flare, Grand Delta, and Gau's Tyrannosaur-induced
(enemy) Meteor attacks hurt badly. If you have the Flare spell, it's better than
a Blizzaga spell if you have the choice. The pure magicians here should cast
Flare or Blizzaga, or simply resort to attacking. If Strago hasn't learned
Grand Delta (or Quasar) yet, Traveler is his best option (dual Ice Rods are also
an option here, if you don't mind unusual set-ups). Celes's Runic really doesn't
help that much, as the level 3 spells aren't a real threat, so just keep on
attacking and healing with her. Sabin's only hope at leaving a mark is Phantom
Rush, with which you can only hope will hit Wrexsoul itself. Umaro just rage.
In the end, the Wrexsoul battle isn't really dangerous; it's just very
annoying, especially if you have your characters geared towards Magic Evasion
and are doing quite well in the area. Your own characters can be surprisingly
hard to take down.
After Wrexsoul has been defeated, Cyan will have a chance to talk to his
departed wife and child. They gave him the courage to face his pain and
despair, but even then, it turned out it was too strong for him. With your
help though, he has exorcized Wrexsoul. The love of his wife and child
transforms into the image of a blade, which Cyan grasps...
Back out, in the real world, the blade has been added to your inventory as
a lousy Masamune, and now that Cyan has cleared his soul and redeemed himself,
he'll gain control over ALL the Bushdio skills he hasn't acquired yet, up to
#8, Oblivion. Contrary to fairly popular belief, he won't just learn Oblivion;
he'll learn all Bushdio skills. It's likely you'll gain Bushdio skills #7
and #8 at this point. Number 7, Tempest, is a physical, barrier-piercing
attack that hits four times and is pretty powerful; a level 40 Cyan with a
Hero's Ring will reach a total of 8000 damage. Oblivion is just Instant Death to
everything that's vulnerable to it. The trick with both moves is that while
they are grand, you really have to wait to reach them, even by inputting the
commands of the other characters first.
As a finishing touch to this scenario, you can walk into the throne room and
find the Magicite remains of the Esper Alexander, the only Esper to teach
the Holy spell.
If you play the game like me, you turned the Murasame you found on the Floating
Continent into an Masamune, the Masamune into a Murakumo and the Murakumo into a
Holy Lance a long time ago, and this Masamune is the first strong Knife you see
again. Do turn it into a Murakumo at the Coliseum (fight a Gorgimera) if this is
the case; Cyan will appreciate it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.65.1 The road to the Ancient Castle and the battle with Master Tonberry
**********************************
Opponents:
Figaro Lizard, Devil, Enuo, Master Tonberry
Container contents: Death Tarot, Hi-Ether, Magicite Shard, Wing Edge, X-Potion
Monster-in-a-box (Master Tonberry)
Miscellaneous items: Gladius (Master Tonberry drop)
Lores:
Tsunami, Lv. 5 Death, Lv. 4 Flare, Lv. 3 Confuse, Traveler, Dischord
If you had paid one hundred thousand Gil to one of the thieves at the foot of
the Cultist's Tower, you'll have heard of an ancient castle somewhere under the
desert of Figaro, which is supposedly loaded with treasure. Now we're not
greedy, but for eh...improved success chances or something; it'd be a good idea
to take a look.
Whom to bring? The theme of the next dungeon will be magical resistance.
The caves leading to the castle and the castle itself will be filled with
monsters with inherently Reflective tendencies and crazy Magic Defense, making
any non-barrier-piercing magical attack useless. The Holy element is very
strong here, though. Holy Lance Dragoons are great. So is a Sabin with dual
Dragon Claws, suffering on the Defense as he may be in that case. Gau and Umaro
are decent choices too, as their uncontrollable nature is no hindrance
whatsoever in the next part of this fine game. Strago can learn Rippler,
1000 Needles and Dischord here, which is hardly a point, as he can learn
all three on the bloody Overworld Map too; but he can also learn Lv. 3 Confuse,
Lv. 4 Flare, Lv. 5 Death and Traveler here (if you missed it earlier), as well
as a Lore that's probably new to you, Tsunami.
Make your team and fly the Falcon over to Figaro Castle, which is probably
on the Kohlingen side of the sea at this point. Send it over to the Figaro
desert, and it will reach a bumpy part of the journey where the old man
piloting the castle will ask you if you want to investigate. Boy, do we ever.
Walk over to the dungeons, where the hole the sandworm that freed the Crimson
Robbers created is still present. You can use it exit the castle and enter the
caves leading to the Ancient Castle.
Monster formations:
Enuo, Devil, Figaro Lizard (6/16)
Enuo, Enuo (5/16)
Devil, Figaro Lizard Figaro Lizard (5/16)
Figaro Lizard. They're entirely too much like Crawler enemies, only much harder
to take down. !Venom causes the Poison status, and they'll use either Leech or
Dischord. He doesn't have a weakness to the Holy element, so I would suggest
barrier-piercing magical attacks and physical attacks of any kind; ID-attacks
such as Gau's Wild Cat-induced Blaster attack, Banish, and Cyan's Oblivion
Bushido will get the job done. Remember that Figaro Lizardis Reflective though,
so Death and Break will bounce.
Devil is a nasty enemy that delights in attacking physically with some force.
Attack isn't that tough, but !Swipe (Attack x 4) really packs a punch. Whenever
a Devil is alone, he will start casting Lv. 3 Confuse, Lv. 4 Flare, or
Lv. 5 Death every second turn, and a shot at Blaze in between. Control, Sketch,
and Rage are filled up with level 3 spells, too. Their Defense is horrid, so
their respectable 5555 HP isn't as bad as it seems. Abuse Devil's weaknesses
by attacking with Holy Lances, Dragon Claws, and Holy Rods. The random
Holy spells won't do anything, but the physical strikes themselves will get
the job done nicely. ID attacks works as well.
Enuo is a boiling glob of slimy mucus with certain powers over water. Normally
it'll just attack with Attack or !Slime, which sets Slow. When an Enuo is
alone though, it'll use Aqua Breath or Tsunami, a new Lore for Strago.
Wretched Defense, weakness to Holy and ID attacks; abuse them at your heart's
content.
Tsunami is an MT Water-elemental Lore for Strago. You're probably wondering
why you need another one of those; Aqua Breath is already there, not to mention
Leviathan's Flood spell. The trick is that:
A, Tsunami isn't partly Wind-elemental like Aqua Breath
B, Tsunami hits both sides in a Pincer attack unlike Aqua Breath, and
C, while Tsunami is weaker, it doesn't split damage on multiple targets,
making it stronger than Aqua Breath versus multiple targets. Flood beats both
by far, so it's more or less trivia knowledge, but hey.
In the room you first enter, there are two chests. To the left is a chest
containing a Wing Edge, the strongest 'Special' weapon for Locke. It's main
selling points are a + 7 to Speed, the Assassin Dagger's and Viper Darts'X-type
ID property, and the fact it deals the same amount of damage from the Back Row.
The chest to the right contains a Hi-Ether. There are three exits below; it
doesn't really matter which one you take, but the middle one and the far right
one take you directly to a monster-in-a-box while you have to walk around for it
when leaving through the far left one.
If you came in through the middle door, don't fret; you can walk through the
wall to reach the chest you see. The chest you see to the top-right of this
cave is the chest containing Master Tonberry, the toughest monster-in-a-box
you'll find in this game.
Master Tonberry
Level: 73, HP: 22000, MP: 1200
Steal: Megalixir (rare), Elixir (common), Win: Gladius (always)
Absorbs: Water
Special: !Knife: Attack x 8
Sketch : !Knife, Attack
Control: Attack, !Knife
Vulnerable to: Poison, Sleep, Slow
Attacks: Attack, !Knife, Bio, Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, Holy, Quake, Tornado
Tsunami, Traveler, Barrier Change
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Master Tonberry is very mean. He'll start the battle off with an Attack, but
then the madness begins. Every 15 seconds, Master Tonberry takes a step forward.
After seven steps he'll use !Knife on a random character and retreat
halfway, meaning that he'll just have to take four more steps after that to
reach the position where !Knife is used.
Every step is accompanied with the ever-frustrating Barrier Change attack.
Master Tonberry casts his spells in conformation his weakness, not unlike Number
024 way back in the day. Here's what he'll use:
Weakness to Ice: Firaga (66%)
Weakness to Fire: Blizzaga (66%)
Weakness to Wind: Thundaga (66%)
Weakness to Holy: Bio (66%)
Weakness to Lightning: Tornado (66%)
Weakness to Poison: Holy (66%)
Weakness to Water: Quake (66%)
Weakness to Earth: Tsunami (66%)
One of the worst parts, though, is his Traveler counter to every damaging
attack you perform. Depending on your actions and style of playing this game,
that can do a lot of damage.
The way to victory lies in his status ailment vulnerabilities. Cast Sleep on
Master Tonberry, and pair it up with Slow as well. If you have enough people
with control over the Rasp spell, you might try removing all his MP first;
better safe than sorry, right? If you're done with that or simply don't want to
bother, start attacking him with magical attacks. Physical attacks will wake
him; stick to magical ones only. It's highly possible you manage to kill him
before he even wakes up once. If he does wake up, just cast Sleep again.
When you're done, you win a Gladius, a Holy-elemental Dirk that can be
equipped by pretty much everybody. It's a powerful weapon but doesn't have any
interesting properties. Its Holy-elemental nature can make it useful in
this dungeon, though.
The only other chest in this cave contains the Death Tarot, Setzer's most
powerful 'normal' weapon. Like the Wing Edge, it deals the same amount of damage
from the Back Row and has the Assassin Dagger's X-type ID property, but it
doesn't boost any stats.
You'll want to exit to the left of the screen to find another cave with two
chests. They contain an X-Potion (to the left) and a Magicite Shard (the
one to the bottom). The big feature here is the grand stairway leading into
a random encounter-less room with a Save Point and another stairway going up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.65.2 The Ancient Castle and the battle with Samurai Soul
**********************************
Opponents:
Samurai, Suriander, Armored Weapon, Lunatys, Figaro Lizard, Devil, Enuo, Coco,
Samurai Soul, Blue Dragon
Container contents: Blizzard Orb, Gold Hairpin, Puniser, X-Ether, Monster-in-
a-box (Samurai Soul),
Miscellaneous items: Master's Scroll (Samurai Soul drop), Zantetsuken (Blue
Dragon drop)
Lores: Tsunami, 1000 Needles, Lv. 5 Death, Lv. 4 Flare, Lv. 3 Confuse,
Dischord, Rippler
Monster formations:
(Outside of the Ancient Castle)
Devil, Figaro Lizard, Figaro Lizard (6/16)
Devil, Devil (5/16)
Coco, Samurai, Suriander
(Inside of the Ancient Castle)
Armored Weapon (5/16)
Lunatys (5/16)
Lunatys, Lunatys, Figaro Lizard, Figaro Lizard (5/16)
Lunatys, Lunatys, Lunatys, Lunatys (1/16)
If you forgot, Coco, Samurai, and Suriander could all be encountered in Cyan's
Soul, so I won't have to explain them here. You can Ctrl + F to 4.64.2 if you
want to learn about them.
Armored Weapon looks totally badass. With 9200 it's got quite the amount of HP,
it's immune to every status effect except for ID (and Doom) and has some
nasty attacks up its sleeves. Normally this is where I say he will normally
use Attack and !Metal Arm (Attack * 2) when he's with other monsters, as that's
what his AI script says. However, you ALWAYS encounter this thing by itself,
so it'll just randomly use Missile, Launcher, or Diffractive Laser. Launcher is
the worst out of the bunch (Diffractive Laser may hurt if your Magic
Defense/resistance to Lightning isn't all that hot). You'll want to use ID
attacks against the fellow; he's inherently Reflective like almost everything
here, but Banish flies right past that, as does Gau's Coeurl Cat/Lycaon-induced
Blaster attacks, his Mu-induced Snare, ID coming from weapons like the
Assassin's Dagger and Ichigeki, etc. If you lack all that, focus on Lightning-
and Water-elemental attacks that defy the existence of Reflect; Water Scroll,
Tri-Disaster, Flood, you know what to do.
Lunatys is a sweet enemy as well. Inherently Reflective and Floating, you'll
be hard-pressed to take this guy out with any kind of magical attack (as you're
used from monsters around here). Normally a Attack/!Electrode (Attack * 3)
zealot, he'll switch to Freezing Dust and (enemy) Meteor when alone. (Enemy)
Meteor will hurt real badly, just across the 1000 HP line. Freezing Dust induces
Freeze like always and is a pain in the ass. A common weakness to Holy-elemental
attacks and ID attacks combined with a low Defense rating should make it obvious
how to treat this bugger. You can Silence them, so if you're not sure about them
you could always summon Siren or have someone cast Silence to stop them
from using their most dangerous attack. Of special note is the fact that both
Lv. 3 Confuse and Lv. 5 Death will work on these guys (also on the Figaro Lizard
monsters often accompanying them). If you brought Strago, you're in luck.
When you approach the derelict halls of the ancient castle, once the proud
monument of a civilization destroyed in and by the War of the Magi, the
character most suited to know the legend will speak of the attack, and the
legend of the magnificent battle between Odin and a powerful sorcerer of his
time. Maybe we will be able to find the remains of Odin inside? For those
interested, the one to talk will simply be the characters with the lowest data
number, an order you can also see in shop and character selection screens. This
is why it will be Cyan or Sabin who'll do the talking rather than Strago most
of the time.
Before you enter the main hall, there are two more or less hidden doors to
the left and right of the large doors. To the right is an already open door
leading to a chest containing the Punisher. The Punisher is a weapon that you
haven't seen since Banon wielded it, and now it's special power can finally be
seen. Like the Rune Blade and Organyx, it has an MP-driven auto-critical.
It doesn't have any real uses except if you brought Relm or a Grand Delta-less
Strago along in this dungeon, as it's the strongest attacking Rod there is
(although the Holy Rod is hitting a weakness most of the time at this point).
To the left is a chest containing the legendary Master's Scroll, one of the most
talked-about Relics in the game. Guarding this item is a monster-in-a-box,
Samurai Soul. I talked about Master Tonberry being the toughest monster in a
box, but Samurai Soul is up there, competing for that title.
Samurai Soul
Level: 61, HP: 37620, MP: 7400
Steal: Murakumo (rare), Murasame (common), Win: Master's Scroll (always)
Weakness: Poison
Creature Type: Humanoid
Special: !Assassin Blade: sets Death
Sketch : !Assassin Blade, Attack
Control: Attack, !Assassin Blade
Vulnerable to: Poison, Confuse
Attacks: Attack, !Assassin Blade, 1000 Needles, Gale Cut, Shockwave, Item (Flame
Scroll), Item (Water Scroll), Item (Lightning Scroll), Throw (Ashura), Throw
(Kunai), Gil Toss
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
First off a note of doom: Samurai Soul is unique in the fact that he's a monster
in a box you can run from. Doing so hurts your game though; you won't be
able to fight him when you return to the chest, and thus you'll miss out on the
Master's Scroll you win when you're still living and he's not.
Samurai Soul is the perfect hybrid between a Samurai and a Ninja, as will become
apparent by his AI script. Normally, his attacks will consist out of Attack,
any of the three offensive ninja scrolls (Flame Scroll, Water Scroll or
Lightning Scroll) and Gale Cut, 1000 Needles or Shockwave. This isn't half bad
for an opponent, but nothing spectacular either. It's when he's aggravated that
he becomes lethal. When you battle him for longer than 40 seconds, he'll pump
himself up. The message "Samurai Soul's power increases!" will appear, and he
will self-apply the Image and Reflect statuses, making him immune to every
blockable Attack for the duration of Image and most Magic spells for the
duration of Reflect. He'll also try to set Haste, but with inherent Slow
immunity it will fail. Sad thing.
He may counter Attack, Magic, and Lore with an Attack, but that's not the
purpose of his counter script there; when hit six times by Attack, he'll use
!Assassin Blade on a random party member, which is a simple instant Death attack
with an admittedly poor Hit Rate of 100. When hit three times by either a
Magic spell or Lore attack (this includes 1 Lore and 2 Magic, for instance),
he'll Throw either an Kunai (weakest ninja weapon) or Ashura (weakest katana) at
a random party member, doing about 8000 damage to him/her. He'll then
spend the next turn using Setzer's Gil Toss, dealing exactly 915 HP worth of
damage to four party members (1220 to three if one is still down from the thrown
blade).
Samurai Soul's glaring weakness it the combination of vulnerability to the
Confuse status and its own Special, !Assassin Blade. By setting Confuse with the
Confuse spell, Cait Sith's Cat Rain, Edgar's Noiseblaster or whathaveyou,
Samurai Soul has a 50% chance of killing himself with !Assassin Blade. Sketching
nets you a 25% shot at !Assassin Blade too. Exploit this weakness for a far
easier battle.
If you're looking for more of a challenge or for some other reason don't want
to muddle the poor warrior into defeat, here's what you'll want to do. First,
throw up your barriers. Focus on the magical side; Mighty Guard (for Shell) or
Zona Seeker's Magic Shield, Hastega, Kirin's Holy Aura, etc. Golem and Fenrir
help against !Assassin Blade, but you shouldn't see it directed at you anyway.
Now, let loose with your characters. There's no reason to use Attack, Magic, or
Lore on Samurai Soul. Terra, Celes, and Strago should really just wait out this
battle. Attack with Phantom Rush Blitzes, Cyan's Bushido skills (Tempest is
nice), Jump attacks, the Drill Tool, etc. If you're really unlucky and
brought all the wrong characters, just Attack (!Assassin Blade every sixth Fight
attack isn't all that bad). When Samurai Soul powers up, Dispel removes all
three positive statuses immediately. If you want to be evil, you can break the
no-Lore rule one time and steal all three with Rippler (provided Strago's not
prancing around with something like a Guard Bracelet or Miracle Shoes).
After Samurai Soul dies, you'll receive a Master's Scroll! The Master's Scroll
is often misused and - dare I say it - abused. So, it's time to sit down and
discuss the Master's Scroll a little.
What does the Master's Scroll do? It makes 'Attack' attack four times in a row
rather than one. It also makes every Attack become unblockable. The Master's
Scroll Attack is also smart; it will never hit defeated opponents when there are
still living ones on the battlefield. That's all good.
It also removes random spell casting (but not Kazekiri's Wind Slash) and
criticals (including MP-driven criticals), which is kinda bad in most
situations.
The downside is that it halves the power of EVERY physical attack of the person
equipping it. This makes sure that every person equipped with the Master's
Scroll would better stick to Attack as things like Flurry, Drill, Meteor
Strike and Raging Fist all halve in power.
An often-heard combination is Genji Glove and Master's Scroll, allowing for
eight physical strikes. Is it really that good? It delivers quite a lot of
damage most of the time, and it looks flashy to see eight attacks in a row.
However, you sacrifice two Relic slots and the ability to equip a shield here,
and that's a lot of sacrificing. And is the damage really that good? Hardly.
It's up there with a single Phantom Rush, Flurry, and luckier Dragon Horn Jump
attack, sure, but that's about it. And once again, you're really being hurt
defensively here.
Then what are the better uses of the Master's Scroll? The odd weapons. The
damage outcome of the Fixed Dice isn't cut by the Master's Scroll, so Setzer
equipped with the Master's Scroll and the Fixed Dice will become exactly four
times as powerful as a non-Master's Scroll Fixed Dice Setzer, all for the loss
of only a single Relic slot. The same goes with Locke's Valiant Knife, but I'll
explain about that weapon when you get there. Cyan's Kazekiri's Wind Slashes
won't decrease in power either, but even when all four hits turn into a Wind
Slash attack, the damage won't be stellar. Weapons with the X-type Instant Death
feature (and the Zantetsuken) don't lose their ID properties, so you'll have
four consecutive shots at a 25% immediate dispatch. Thief's Knives still attempt
to steal and Hawkeye/Sniper will still randomly inflict more damage.
A quick note about the Thief's Knives: the game can only store a single stolen
item per attack, so if you combine the Master's Scroll with Thief's Knives
you'll only obtain the last item you succesfully stole. All others have been
removed from the monsters but are not in your inventory.
Let's press on. Inside, it'll be just a big hallway you have to cross. The
next room is the throne room, with the statue of Odin in the middle of it.
Petrification was the quickest strategy versus Odin in FF V, for trivia
knowledge; now, you can add the Odin Magicite to your inventory by talking to
the statue. The pathway to the right, right next to the thrones, takes you to
a room with two chests: a Blizzard Orb for Umaro and a Gold Hairpin for
absolutely nobody in particular.
Also to the right, a little south of that very pathway is another pathway
leading to the queen's room. There's an X-Ether in the bucket, but what really
draws your attention is the sparkle on the bookcase. It turns out to be the
queen's diary; it seems that the queen and Odin had a little romancin' air going
on there. If Terra is in your party at this point, she'll step away from the
party to look sad and say, "Love between a human and an esper..."
At this point, one of the scholars up in Figaro Castle will change his line to
this:
"To think that a thousand-year-old city would be lying buried beneath the sands
of this very desert! I found a short passage about the city in an ancient text,
but I haven't been able to make much sense of it. "When the queen stands and
takes five steps..."
The Queen's throne is the one to the right. Face the throne, take five steps
downwards, and press the 'action' button to make the castle rumble and shake
for a slight moment there. Now, re-enter the queen's room to find that a
stairway has appeared, leading even further down.
This new hallway is devoid of random encounters, but there are two things
of interest here; first, the petrified remains of the queen herself. If you
have collected the Magicite of Odin and interact with the statue, a tear
will come from the stone to drop upon his remains, turning it into Raiden,
the Odin upgrade with the superior summon attack in Shin-Zantetsuken and tutor
of the awesome Quick spell.
Also, the Blue Dragon.
If you have any Imp equipment (Tortoise Shield, Saucer, Reed Cloak), throw
it on! Like Leviathan, the Blue Dragon is all about Water-elemental attacks, and
that's what Imp equipment absorbs. Don't equip Ice Shields, as Aqua Breath will
hit twice as hard when you don't have any Imp equipment; Flame Shields are even
worse, as they are weak against Water-elemental attacks in general. Thunder
Shields are great as they null the effects of Aqua Breath (as it's part Wind-
elemental) and halve all damage done by Flash Rain (as it's part Ice-elemental);
Force Shields halve the damage done by Water-elemental attacks in general, too.
Minerva Bustier wearers shine once again; they null Aqua Bustier and Flash Rain
and halve damage done by all other Water-elemental attacks. Snow Scarfs of Gau,
Mog, and Umaro will allow them to absorb the Flash Rain attacks. Relics
protecting from Sap (that'd be Ribbon, Angel Ring and Miracle Shoes) are great,
too.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.65.3 The battle with the Blue Dragon
**********************************
Blue Dragon
Level: 65, HP: 26900, MP: 3800
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Zantetsuken (always)
Absorbs: Water, Weakness: Lightning
Special: !Hit: Drains MP
Sketch : Blaster, Blizzaga
Control: Attack, !Hit
Vulnerable to: Poison, Slow
Attacks: Attack, Slow, Tsunami, Aqua Breath, Rippler, Acid Rain, Flash Rain
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Crystal Sword
Crystal Shield
Crystal Helm
Crystal Mail
As soon as the battle starts, the Blue Dragon will attack with Tsunami. If
Strago is in your party and hasn't learned Tsunami from either the Enuo
random encounters or the Master Tonberry enemy yet, you're set. Normally the
blasted creature will attack with Attack and Acid Rain; believe me,
Sap will get very annoying very quickly if you don't have protection
against the status. When Blue Dragon dives beneath 16384 HP, he'll also start
attacking with Aqua Breath and Flash Rain. Every 40 seconds, Blue Dragon will
have stored enough water for a Tsunami attack as well. All in all, you
will be continuously pounded by MT attacks. Every Magic spell or damaging
attack may be countered by Attack, as usual.
The difficult part of Blue Dragon's AI script is the Rippler spell. To put it
simply (or as simply as possible), Blue Dragon will use Rippler IF:
1: One of your characters has the Haste status. If so, target that character;
if more than one character have the Haste status, he picks the first one
he meets when going from top to bottom.
2: If Blue Dragon isn't already affected by the Haste status.
3: If Blue Dragon isn't affected by the Protect status.
4: If it has been two turns ago (not counting the 40-second Tsunami attack)
that Blue Dragon used Rippler.
If all those conditions are met, Blue Dragon will cast Slow on itself and
proceed to use Rippler to try to steal the Haste status and give you the
Slow status instead.
So what to do? Throw up the boring old blah-blah barriers; Mighty Guard, Magic
Shield, Holy Aura, Earthen Wall, Howling Moon, whathaveyou. If you brought
Shadow, you do NOT want him to be the victim of Rippler (Interceptor could be
stolen). Don't apply the Haste status. Attack with Lightning-elemental spells if
possible; Valigarmanda's Tri-Disaster isn't absorbed, so that works; Thundaga
is stronger, though. Lightning Scrolls work great, but Thunder Blades are even
more (read: obscenely) powerful. The same old still works. The mages should
stick to Lightning-elemental attacks. Edgar makes a good Dragon Horn Dragoon, as
usual. Sabin's Phantom Rush beats all, like usual. Setzer's Gil Toss is still
stronger than Slot, while the Fixed Dice (especially when paired with the
Master's Scroll) is superior to both of them. Cyan should, if possible, combine
Quick with his Flurry Bushido. If he can't, he can't really do his job as usual
(you can set him up as a utility man). Gau's Aspiran Rage allows him to absorb
all Water-elemental attacks while making him attack with Gigavolt, a strong
Lightning-elemental attack that will really hurt Blue Dragon. Actaneon and
Exocite also allow Ragers to absorb Water-elemental attacks.
You know, it's not really that the Blue Dragon is weak; no, with regular MT
magical spells with some power behind them and no crippling status
vulnerabilities, the Blue Dragon is a fairly solid contender. It's just that
it really begins to show here that your characters are growing more overpowered
by the day. If Phantom Rush and Dragon Horn Dragoons weren't enough, you get to
use Fixed Dice/Master's Scroll, equip armor like the Minerva Bustier and Cat-Ear
Hood, and get access to all the awesome no-questions-asked attacks such as
Grand Delta and Phantom Rush.
When you have defeated the Blue Dragon, you'll be rewarded with the Zantetsuken,
Odin's weapon (whose summon attack is called exactly that, Zantetsuken). Anyway,
it's the only non-Knife weapon Cyan can equip and pretty much his best option
(for all that there his 'ultimate' weapon is slightly stronger, it has no neat
side-effects like the Zantetsuken does).
With Raiden obtained and the Blue Dragon defeated, there is nothing for you
here. You can leave this place and tell the old man in Figaro Castle to advance
with the castle. You can revisit this place any time you want to, as every time
you travel under the sea with Figaro Castle the old man will be surprised by the
oddness of the stratum. That guy must have trouble remembering his wife's
birthday. "You never get me anything nice," she probably complains, but no...
He loves her dearly and means her no harm.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.66.1 Triangle Island
**********************************
Opponents:
Zone Eater
Monster formations:
Zone Eater (always)
"That island is home to a monster that sucks in anything unfortunate enough to
go near it. Wonder what would happen if you got sucked into it? ...Yuck, I don't
even want to think about that!"
Now here's an odd monster indeed. It absorbs Ice-elemental attacks, is weak
against Holy-elemental attacks, and nullifies all other elements. And all it
seems to use is a rare Gravity spell and the Inhale attack. Inhale is pretty
much the same as Snort; it removes a single character from battle. If you run
away with some characters 'in the body of Zone Eater', you'll just find them in
your party at the end. If you kill the thing after some of your characters
have been eaten, likewise.
However, if your entire team fell victim to the Inhale attack, you'll find
yourself in one of the worlds this Zone Eater ate; a cave, filled with
humans (or at least, humanoids) bent on your destruction for some reason
that doesn't involve logical thinking. Best to be on your guard.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.66.2 The world inside of the Zone Eater
**********************************
Opponents:
Covert, Kamui, Wartpuck, Shambling Corpse, Amduscias, Baalzephon
Container contents: Fake Mustache, Genji Armor, Hero's Ring, Hi-Ether, Magical
Brush, Thunder Shield, Pinwheel, Zephyr Cloak
Miscellaneous items: Ashura (common Kamui steal), Chain Flail (rare Wartpuck
steal), Kunai (common Baalzephon steal), Murasame (rare Kamui steal), Pinwheel
(rare Covert steal), Sasuke (rare Baalzephon steal), Soul Sabre (rare
Shambling Corpse steal)
You find yourself within the Zone Eater cave. To the north is a beam of light;
you can use this whenever you want to leave the innards of the Zone Eater
and face the light of day again. However, for now it might be interesting
to intrude ever further into the bowels of this strange creature. Who knows
what oddities of another world we may find here that may help us in the
struggle against Kefka.
Preparation: A lot of elemental attacks and status ailments are thrown around,
but rather than using full force you'll want to play it defensively this time.
A Thunder Shield is a grand on everybody you can find; NEVER use Ice Shields and
Fire Shields, as the former is weak to Wind Slash and the latter is weak against
the Water Scroll (and both will appear here). Equips Ribbons where possible;
you'll want something to block Kamui's !Zombie Touch (Zombie) and Shambling
Corpse's !Figaro Malt (Imp). The Ribbon also protects against the Baalzephon's
!Frenzy, which sets Berserk, but that's not really a threat.
Monster formations:
(All caves except Gogo's Spot)
Shambling Corpse, Shambling Corpse (5/16)
Wartpuck (5/16)
Amduscias, Covert, Covert (5/16)
Baalzephon, Baalzephon, Shambling Corpse, Shambling Corpse (1/16)
(Gogo's spot)
Kamui, Kamui (5/16)
Covert, Kamui (5/16)
Wartpuck, Wartpuck (5/16)
Amduscias, Baalzephon (1/16)
Do you remember those Ninjas from the Floating Continent, bane of our being
that they were? Coverts are like super-Ninjas. Though you'd think that a ninja
smart enough to dress in DARK garments would be inherently superior to those
flailing along in bright-red outfits (screws over the entire 'hide in the
shadow' theme ninjas tend to carry around), Coverts can be a real pain,
especially since Coverts lack the Ninjas main defensive weak point; Covert is
immune to ID attacks. Every odd-numbered turn will be either a physical or Wind
Slash, and every even turn he'll throw a Scroll at you (all three may appear).
MT'd, Wind Slash and the Scrolls are equally strong. When hit by a Thrown
weapon, Covert will respond by Throwing a Shuriken or Fuma Shuriken of himself;
avoid this at all cost. Finally, every Attack may make Covert use !Disappear on
himself, which sets Invisible. Cast Sleep, Stop, Slowga, or Berserk to stop
their magical MT attacks and off them quickly; they're NOT weak to Lightning as
the Ninjas were, but they are weak to Holy so the appropriate Holy spell will
serve you well here coming from a decent caster.
Kamui is annoying, as he will use up to three !Zombie Touches every turn, which
can quickly turn very fatal for you if you're not protected from Zombie. When
hit by a Magic spell, Kamui has a 33% chance of countering with the Bio spell,
and every other kind of damage may be countered with an Attack. Kamui is weak to
Lightning- and Holy-elemental attacks, and both Stop and Berserk will stop him
from using those blasted !Zombie Touches.
Wartpuck: the only non-humanoid enemy in the cave. As much Attack/Special
cannon fodder as they come this far in the game. !Yawn sets Sleep and is
randomly used next to Attack, every turn. When hurt, Wartpuck may counter with
an annoying Snort attack, so you'll want to take Wartpuck out in one shot to
make sure nobody misses out on Magic AP. Immune to ID and every status
ailment except for Sleep, your best bet is an ST Firaga spell as Wartpuck is
weak to Fire-elemental attacks.
Shambling Corpse, like all Ing palette swaps, is a pain. The only Undead random
encounter immune to ID attacks (outside of the Cultist's Tower and Dragon's
Den); Shambling Corpse is the superior opponent. Every Attack may be countered
by Attack, every Magic spell will be countered by either a Thundaga, Break, or
Flare spell, and everything that damages Karkass and is neither Attack nor Magic
will be countered by a Lifeshaver attack. In between of all the counter-attacks,
Shambling Corpse will only use !Figaro Malt, which sets Imp. Use Raise spells to
take them out cleanly, and strong Attacks also work (you'll want to avoid the
magical counter-attacks, they're quite strong). Since Shambling Corpse is weak
against Holy-elemental attacks, so next to Fixed Dice, Holy Lance Dragon Horn
Dragoons are very nice (note that Jump will be countered by Lifeshaver if the
Shambling Corpses survive the slaughter).
Amduscias uses Attack and !Booty Shake, which seduces and confuses you.
That'd about it. You don't want to see them appear as they are always paired
with two Coverts, but they're not very dangerous themselves. If you have
Shadow or Gogo Throw something at them, they will counter by Throwing either
an Enhancer or Crystal Sword, so just don't use Throw on them and you'll be
fine.
"This enemy might look like a pierrot entertainer, but his lunatic performance
puts victims into a Frenzy."
Baalzephon is one of the most elusive monsters in the game, as they only appear
randomly at a 1/16 rate in a few rooms where you'll want to breeze through.
As an opponent, they're not very unassuming unless you're very unlucky; they
will just use !Frenzy, which sets Berserk, and when they're targeted by Attack,
they'll counter with Attack. These guys want to counter you into submission
or whatever, I don't know what they're deal is. Anyway, they're big thing is
elemental absorption; they absorb all elements except for Fire (weakness) and
Holy (normal reaction). There's no reason to be equipped with ANY weapon that's
not non-elemental or Holy-elemental at this point, but anyway. Baalzephon make
a great Rage, casting Blizzaga randomly and absorbing six elements (the Fire
weakness tends to be overruled by Gau's Snow Scarf) so you don't want to
leave this place until you've encountered these guys at least once if you're
a Gau fan.
Let's get through this!
Take the stairs down. You'll see another set of stairs going down, but it'll
just take you to a blocked-off path. You'll want to go to the right, to a
crazy pathway of unstable wooden pathways with strange green men walking on
them. Whenever these cretins get a hold of you, they'll push you off the
pathway, so you'll want to jump when they're not around. You'll want to get
pushed off a least once though. This way, you'll reach the other side of the
blocked-off cave below to gather the Hi-Ether and the Red Jacket lying there.
Anyway, here's what the room looks like:
======= ==========
=====x===== ===x==
0= ==x=== =====00=== =====
= - Pathway
0 - Chests
On the pathway, there are two chests next to each other: Genji Armor to the
right, and a Magical Brush for Relm to the left (like all Brush weapons: utter
crap). The Genji Armor is the ultimate heavy-class armor. Minerva Bustier is
better by sheer elemental resistances and the MP + 25% bonus, but the Genji
Armor is all-round the most useful armor for the heavy-equipment guys (Locke,
Cyan, Edgar, Setzer, and surprisingly, Shadow). It tends to be outclassed by
stuff like the Force Armor against bosses (for elemental resistances and Magic
Evasion and all), but all in all, Genji Armor is awesome.
To the far left is a chest containing a Fake Mustache. You could have obtained
this thing earlier by stealing it from Still Lifes, but this is the sure-fire
way of getting access to Relm's Control ability. If you want to learn about
that, take a look at [CONTROL-LINK].
If you safely crossed the bridges, you'll now wind up in a room with a Save
Point, devoid of monster formations as rooms like those usually are. Do your
stuff, and equip some Sprint Shoes. Even if you're playing on an emulator I
suggest you in-game Save here, as I've misjudged my actions in the past and
saved just over my own death... Which is bad.
In this next room, I should note first off that there are no monster
formations. Second, you can't access the Menu in this room. Third, there's a big
fucking ceiling falling down every few seconds. If you are crushed under the
ceiling, it's an instant Game Over. You don't want that. So, that's what
the Sprint Shoes are for.
Sprint to the left, and grab the contents of the first chest in sight, a
Zephyr Cloak. Wait for the ceiling to fall, and before it moves back up again,
grab the next chest, a Hero's Ring. Wait in front of it until the ceiling
drops and rises again. Now, sprint as far to the left as you can, take one
step back and two down. You'll be caught safe in a hole in the ceiling now.
Watch the ceiling rise and fall like the chest of your sleeping lover, and
make a run for the final chest, containing a Pinwheel for Shadow. Don't wait
now, just exit below.
There's a little, meaningless cave here with some monsters again! Leave.
A jumping puzzle now. First, take the one-chest path to the left and the two-
chest path above you to reach the pathway near the button; you can jump on the
platform with the action button. It'll extend to extra tiles of pathway: one
for you to leave, and one to reach the treasure. Jump off. Take the same one-
chest path to the left, another one-chest jump, and then a one-chest jump up to
the chest containing a Thunder Shield. Now go around again until you can jump on
the platform with the button again; just take the one-chest jump the left
instead, leading you to a door.
Except for a whole new set of new monster formations without any new monsters,
the point of interest here is the creature draped in fabric standing there.
It's Gogo, the last character you will recruit in this game. After introducing
itself as a master of the simulacrum, it will decide to both hone its own
skills and help you on your quest by joining you in your cause. It'll join
your party now; if you were traveling with less than four characters it'll now
be in your party, if not, it'll be waiting on the Falcon for you.
Gogo's all exciting! If you want to learn about the odd thing that is
supposedly human, you might want to check out [MIMIC-LINK]
For now, you can either use a Teleport Stone or the Teleport spell to get back
out. Or, just hike all the way back and find the pillar of light waiting for
you, if you lack warping means (it's the only way to travel!).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.66.3 Wake me up before you Gogo
**********************************
Just a little talk about what you should do with Gogo now (and for the pun;
I'm mighty proud of it). The best armor Gogo can equip is the Magus Robe, which
stinks. It gives a + 5 to its Magic Power and + 10% Magic Evasion, so it's not
all bad, but compared to the other best equips it's pretty darn lame. You can
buy one in Maranda for 13000 Gil. Its other pieces of equipment? It can equip
the Magus Rod, which is hands down its best option ever. As far as Helmets go,
try to counter its lack of durability in most cases with more HP; if you have
a Red Cap, Gogo will like it a lot. If not, just go with what gives the best
Defense/Magic Defense (Genji Helm/Black Cowl). Since it has NO elemental
resistances whatsoever this way, and it comes nowhere near pulling off the
Force Shield (a Defense rating of 130? Are you insane?), I suggest a Thunder
Shield. An Aegis Shield is an acceptable substitute, although it'll lack
anything elemental-related with that set-up.
As far as Relics go, something to boost its magical damage output would be
fine, and something to help it out defensively (Guard Bracelet, Miracle Shoes,
hell, even Protect Ring) really helps.
What skills to give to Gogo? Let's face it; the thing isn't too hot on the
stats. Worst Strength out of the final bunch (worse than Relm), third-worst
Speed, second-worst Magic Power. So, what have we in the end? A utility
character, mostly.
This makes the Magic skillset excellent for it, as a lot of spells don't
depend on your Magic Power to be effective (status spells, ID spells, reviving
spells, etc.). Plus, while Magic tends to lack in pure power to other damaging
skillsets (which is countered by the high Magic Power of the Magic wielders,
mind, and I'm not counting Ultima and all), it does feature the four most
common weaknesses (Fire, Ice, Lightning, Holy) in quite some power, and it's
targetable.
Gogo makes as adequate a Stealer as Locke. It can equip the Thief's Bracer and
only the character's level is used in the Steal chance, so there's no problem
there.
Gogo will probably never use Bushido. Not only does it require you to use a
blade with the Bushido ability (probably the Gladius), which means getting rid
of the awesome Magus Rod, the ability just plain sucks when you have a free
choice in the matter.
Tools on Gogo is fairly acceptable. However, now that we can freely choose
between skillsets, Drill/Chainsaw is just outclassed by Throw and Auto Crossbow,
Flash outclassed by Grand Delta and Razor Gale, and we don't get excited over
MT poisoning anymore either. What's left in Tools? MT unblockable Confuse
from the Noiseblaster, which is nice enough. Not a top-tier choice in my
opinion, but you can work with it.
Gogo doesn't make as great a Throw ninja as Shadow, but Throw is just plain
awesome. Targetable, very powerful, all elements can be applied, you name it.
Great for bosses really, as you don't want to waste too many resources on ST
damage.
Rage is good on Gogo. Not because of the damage output, as Gau's damage
output started to decline a while ago, and just because Gau gained tank
abilities in return doesn't mean the 50% usage of a spell most characters
can surpass all the time doesn't suck all of a sudden. Flipside, Rage grants
Gogo the elemental resistances and status immunities the frail thing so
desperately needs. With a large enough Rage library and knowledge over it,
you can ditch the Thunder Shield for an Aegis Shield and send him away.
Blitz is Gogo's trump card when it comes to damage. Blitz was designed to work
well on a character with sub-par Magic Power: Sabin. Now, Gogo has even lower
Magic Power that Sabin, but his equipment tends to favor his Magic Power; with
the assumed Magus Rod/Magus Robe combo, that's a +12 on Magic Power right there.
Phantom Rush hurts a LOT, and Razor Gale isn't too bad.
Lore's eh...multiple status effects from Bad Breath is great, Mighty Guard is
great, White Wind isn't directly influenced by Gogo's bad stats either, and
Grand Delta is pretty darn powerful so even when Gogo's Grand Delta is inferior
to Strago's, it still hurts. Yeah, Lore is a good option, although you'll find
that most of the weaker Lores (Aero, Lv. ? Holy, Tsunami) just come out like
a wet fart from Gogo.
I'm not going to discuss Sketch, Slot, Dance as that's all WoB/early WoR
Gil Toss skillsets designed to be outclassed by other means of damage output
(Jump, Magic, Fixed Dice). They're all bad. Runic, in the end, is too
situational to discuss here.
In the end, something like this works:
Mimic
Magic/Rage/Tools
Blitz
Lore
Blitz for ST damage, Lore for MT damage, protection, healing and status ailment
setting, Magic for pretty much the same purpose only superior or inferior in
some ways, and Mimic if something cool just happened (Mega Flare, something
like that).
The choice there depends on what you have and what you know. If your surrounding
party members know quite a few decent spells, Magic is probably the best one out
of the three. If you have the Rages and know your stuff, Rage is the more
strategic option. If you lack good spells and never really bothered with Rages,
Tools is a nice fallback option.
Anyway, this was Gogo. Hope you have fun with the androgynous little bugger.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.66.4 The Steal command regained
**********************************
So, we've just gotten the Steal command back. No more crossing fingers with
Shadow's Thief's Knives, unsupported by Thief's Bracers; Gogo can Steal as often
as it likes, without inflicting damage, with twice as much success as Shadow
ever had thanks to the Thief's Bracer it can equip. Here's a list of worthwhile
Steal moments you so far lacked the abilities for:
Owzer's Mansion:
Misty: rare Moogle suit, common Empty
Coeurl Cat: rare Tabby Suit, common Empty
Crusher: rare Empty, common Super Ball
Blade Dancer: rare Moogle Suit, common Empty
Caladrius: rare Chocobo Suit, common Empty
Darill's Tomb:
Malboro: rare X-Potion, common Empty
Zone Eater cave:
Covert: rare Pinwheel, common Shuriken
Kamui: rare Murasame, common Ashura
Wartpuck: rare Dried Meat, common Flail
Shambling Corpse: rare Soul Sabre, common Mythril Blade
Baalzephon: rare Sasuke, common Kunai
Cave of the Veldt:
Twinscythe: rare Empty, common Poison Rod
Cave to the Ancient Castle:
Enuo: rare X-Potion, common Empty
Mt. Zozo:
Devil Fist: rare Brigand's Glove, common Empty
Punisher: rare Bone Club, common Rising Sun
Glasya Labolas: rare Muscle Belt, common Potion
Ebot's Rock:
Hidon: rare Thornlet, common Teleport Stone
Veldt:
Holy Dragon: rare Holy Lance, common X-Potion
Rafflesia: rare Nutkin Suit, common Empty
Still Life: rare Fake Mustache, common Empty
Nightwalker: rare X-Potion, common Empty
Tonberries: rare Minerva Bustier, common Empty
Overworld:
Brachiosaur: rare Ribbon, common Empty
Tyrannosaur: rare Reed Cloak, common Empty
Tumbleweed: rare Saucer, common Empty
Leap Frog: rare Pinwheel, common Potion
Lizard: rare Blood Sword, common Empty
Peepers: rare Elixir, common Empty
Basilisk: rare Tortoise Shield, common Empty
Lycaon: rare X-Potion, common Empty
Land Ray: rare Megalixir, common Empty
Greater Mantis: rare Impartisan, common Empty
Purusa: rare Moonring Blade, common Empty
Mousse: rare Magicite Shard, common Empty
Of special interest:
- The animal suits you can steal in Owzer's Mansion eventually lead to a Genji
Armor in the Coliseum, which is pretty much the best armor for Locke, Cyan,
Edgar, Setzer, and Shadow. The animal suit here that takes the least time to
turn into a Genji Armor is the Moogle Suit from the Blade Dancers. You can
Control them, and/or cast Dischord to increase your chances of success.
- Four Ribbons are grand, but be sure to bring Control along for Brachiosaur, as
you will die if you don't. Once you've Controlled one, you'd better be level
28 as otherwise, you'll never be able to Steal, Thief's Bracer or not.
- Be sure to have four pieces of Imp equipment. Best to steal four Saucers
from Tumbleweeds. Since they'll never use magical attacks unless they're
alone, you can set Invisible on your entire party and steal all four before
you start to kill them.
- Impartisans from Greater Mantii. If Shadow with the Thief's Knives wasn't
working for you, you can try again to obtain some of these odd weapons.
They're awesome material to Throw as they have a stellar 254 Attack Power, and
they turn into Cat-Ear Hoods (which turn into Merit Awards) at the Coliseum.
Sweet!
- Trying to Steal a Fake Mustache from Still Life is the only way to having
more than one character with the Control command.
- Kamui is the source of Holy Lances and Murakumo, if you don't have enough of
those. Steal until you've found a Murasame, and bet in the Coliseum until
you've won the weapon you want.
- Land Rays are the fabled sources of a rare Megalixir, the item that
restores HP/MP back to full for the entire party in-battle. However, since
Land Rays have inherent Sap and only 1 HP, you usually only get to take
one shot at it. You can counter this by casting Stop and Slow (Stop first);
since the Stop status halts all other interval-based effects, Sap won't
damage Land Rays so you can have more Steal attempts. Slow just prolongs
the moment. Sleep doesn't stop Sap from taking damage, were you wondering.
- Muscle Belts are Relics that increase your HP by 50%. They're great for
those characters that fail to deliver on the defensive side (Sabin and Gogo)
to increase durability in battle. Sadly, they're a rare Steal from Glasya
Labolas and he has a normal Hi-Potion in the common slot. You'll just have to
try a lot, I suppose.
Done? You might want to dive into the Coliseum one last time now, or hunt some
Rages on the Veldt, I dunno what you feel you've neglected in the past.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.67.1 Phoenix Cave
**********************************
Opponents:
Ouroboros, Face, Zeveak, Chaos Dragon, Seaflower, Galypdes, Necromancer,
Clymenus, Red Dragon
Container contents: Dragon Horn, Ribbon, Teleport Stone, Wing Edge
Miscellaneous items: Celestriad (rare Galypdes steal), Murakumo (Red Dragon
steal)
Lores: 1000 Needles, Lv. 4 Flare
Long, long ago, almost a year, you met a man in the Auction House in Jidoor
that talked about a relic that could 'bring back departed souls', but he
had to admit only in the Imperial capital of Vector a relic like that existed.
We haven't met this object of great power yet, but a hidden letter in the
painting of Emperor Gestahl mentioned 'the treasure', lying somewhere where the
mountains form a star. It's more than likely this is the same item, and it's
also possible this is the item Locke has been searching for. We can use all
the power we can get, and with Locke still nowhere to be found, it doesn't hurt
to join him in his quest. Once we get the relic he's searching for, we may be
able to find him.
The Phoenix Cave is indeed hidden where the mountains form a star; just north
of Tzen, where you found Sabin earlier, a large mountain range has a hole right
in the middle, where you can use the 'cancel' button to lower two teams of
four characters down into the dungeon.
You know, this is the first time that it occurs to me it's probably just a
volcano. Square calls it 'Phoenix Cave' and you just stop thinking...
Whom to bring? It's kind of a toss-up. On the one hand, the stronger the
characters you bring, the easier a time you'll have in this dungeon. And make
no mistake, even though it lacks a proper boss battle at the end, this is
pretty much the Zozo/Floating Continent of the WoR; you're used to the royal
treatment, and all of a sudden the battles heat up and you're in danger again.
On the other hand, this is the last dungeon before we dive into the final one,
so you'll want to train the ones you've been neglecting so far. I tend to take
the eight characters with the lowest level, but you might like to bring the
stronger ones and level the weaker ones later.
You now have two parties to control; use the Y button to switch between the
two. Know that there's no shame in sharing the really great equipment between
the two groups; the Master's Scroll is a one-of-a-kind Relic you might like on
Setzer AND Gau while they're both in another party; the same goes for items like
the Red Caps, the Soul of Thamasa, the Lightbringer and the Paladin's Shield
(although you should not have them yet).
Monster formations:
(Basic floors)
Face, Face (5/16)
Face, Zeveak, Necromancer, Necromancer (5/16)
Clymenus, Clymenus, Necromancer (5/16)
Galypdes, Chaos Dragon, Chaos Dragon (1/16)
(Lava floors)
Clymenus, Clymenus, Clymenus (5/16)
Seaflower, Seaflower, Seaflower, Seaflower, Seaflower (5/16)
Chaos Dragon, Uroburos, Seaflower, Seaflower (5/16)
Ouroboros, Seaflower, Seaflower (1/16)
Most of the enemies here absorb Fire-elemental attacks and are weak to Ice.
Poetic irony that this cave is therefor extra accessible by the one member who
wants it the most, Celes Chere?
You'll recognize Ouroboros from its palette swap Vampire Thorn. Ouroboros shares
its incredible defenses, but isn't Undead so a Cure spell on them won't work.
This time around though, you have plenty of barrier-piercing attacks you can
utilize to straight-up murder their asses. Like most enemies in this cave,
Ouroboros absorbs Fire-elemental attacks, and has a rare Phoenix Down to both
Steal and find afterwards. Oh yeah, on the offense he uses Bio spells every
second turn and !Negatouch (which sets Zombie) on the fourth. Loop afterwards,
obviously.
Face uses Attack and !Smirk, which sets Stop. When alone, it'll start using
1000 Needles which deals 1000 damage as always, and whenever it's damaged it'll
have a 33 % chance of retorting with 1000 Needles too. Try to take them out in
a single shot; Blizzara and Blizzaga spells work like a charm.
Zeveak are annoying as they may use their Special !Whirling Umbrella on their
first turn, which sets Confuse. Every second turn may feature the Ice-/Water-
elemental Flash Rain, which should be absorbed or nullified by a large portion
of your characters by now. When alone, it will start to use El Niño on you,
which is about twice as powerful. Weak against Ice and vulnerable to ID.
Chaos Dragon attacks rarely, but when it does it's probably bad. Most of it's
turns are spent doing nothing; the only exceptions are its second turn and its
seventh turn, after which it spends another five turns waiting before looping.
Its second turn has a 33 % chance of Chaos Dragon using Disaster, an attack that
you probably haven't seen; it can be MT'd and sets Darkness, Imp, Doom, Silence,
Confuse and Float. Its second turn has it use !Incinerate one-third of the time,
a Special that sets Death.
Seaflowers are kinda annoying. They often attack in large numbers and have
quite a few Hit Points (4200) for cannon fodder. Also, their Special !Tentacle
sets Poison. Mass Ice- and Lightning-elemental attacks are the way to go;
Banish also gets the job done very nicely.
Galypdes is famed for its rare Steal, the Celestriad, a Relic which cuts MP
usage for EVERY Magic spell and Lore technique down to 1. Trivia: this means it
actually raises Reflect ??? its MP cost, as it normally takes 0 MP to cast.
Anyway, Galypdes has mean physicals (!Flap hurts especially bad), absorbs Fire
and sometimes uses Cyclonic out of the blue. It may counter damage with a 33 %
chance of using a Shamshir attack (which you can have Celes absorb with her
Runic blade, just to be on the safe side).
Necromancers, according to Anthology, are unfortunate mortals that have been hit
by a !Zombie Stick attack. They're like vampires; a spreading plague over the
lands. Necromancers are extremely dangerous, make no mistake about that. Why?
They can use !Zombie Stick on their very first turn, which obviously sets
Zombie. That's annoying enough, but it doesn't stop there. Every time
Necromancer is damaged, even if it IS fatal, it may counter with a Gravity or
Graviga spell on the character that damaged it. Also, when only a single
Necromancer is alive, it will drop its normally physical-oriented AI script and
randomly cast Death, Banish and Flare spells, which are all bad. Their Flare
spells deal around 1000 damage. The way to go at them is Raise spells:
Necromancers are Undead. Since Raise spells don't damage you won't have to worry
about the counter-attacks, so as long as you make sure no Necromancer is left
alone you shouldn't need to see their wrath in action.
Clymenus' are the only opponents in this volcano that don't absorb Fire. They
like to use it, though. They'll normally use Fira spells for the hell of it.
If you use Reflect spells, they'll get into all kinds of crazy shenanigans, too.
If any of your characters has Reflect status, they'll start casting Cura,
Reflect and Haste spells on you; if any of them has the Reflect status, they'll
start casting Fire, Fira and Firaga spells on themselves. Very fun. They
have incredibly high Magic Defense, so stick to physical attacks, especially
Holy-elemental ones will be succesful.
Let's make the first party you act with Party #1, and the other party, Party #2.
Easy enough, right? Let's dive into this volcano! Since most of the 'puzzles'
in this dungeon consist out of clever switching between the two parties, I've
taken the liberty of including a double hard return every time you switch
parties; it's an eyesore in the FAQ, but really helps in my opinion.
Note about the spikes in the cavern: they deal 400 damage every time you land
or walk on them. They disregard status ailments, so Petrified character may
still be hurt by them. Also, the spikes will NEVER kill a character; if a
character has 400 HP or less, it'll set the amount of current HP to 1.
Party #1: Walk inside of the cave. There are no enemies on the cliff, but there
is the crane of the Falcon waiting for you; you can grab it any time
you like to return to the Falcon with all characters aboard.
Find the pressure tile inside and stand on it; it should open a
pathway. When you get off the tile it closes again, so you'll have
to stay put. Change to the other party.
Party #2: Walk inside, and enter the newly opened door. On the other side,
there's spikes to the top-right, a chest to the left and a passage to
another pressure tile to the bottom-right. If you try to get the
chest, you'll fall down through a gap in the floor onto some spikes,
which deliver 400 HP of damage to your entire party. If you did this,
you can go around to the bottom, up the stairs and stand on the
pressure tile to permanently extend a bridge to the chest, which you
can now open for a Wing Edge. Later, you'll be able to do this
without taking 400 spike damage. Regardless, you'll want to move your
party on top of the pressure tile right above the pressure tile #1
is standing on, and switch to the other party.
There are two options here:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Option A, the shorter route which deals out-battle damage to your party:
Party #1: Take the party over the spikes. If you're smart, you can minimize
the damage to 800 a character (two spike-tiles). Go down a level
(ignore the spike-guarded chest, it's empty) and you'll find yourself
on the lava level. Go to the left and up. Stand on the pressure tile
there to raise some stones and go back, and trace down the pathway. Go
all the way (you'll find an empty chest along the way) and switch.
Party #2: Walk over the spikes (they'll deal a total of 1200 damage to your
party). Go down the stairway to the left. If you haven't picked up
the Wing Edge in the chest, do so now. If you have or if you're done,
jump over the newly formed tiles.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Option B, the longer route which doesn't deal out-battle damage to your party:
Party #1: Go up until you, not far from your starting point, come across
another pressure tile. Stand on it to remove the spikes that were in
#2's way earlier. Switch.
Party #2: Walk across the disappeared spikes. To your left is a stairway going
down; you can use it to enter a lower level, so you can re-appear
again to claim your Wing Edge chest on the other end. The other
path, a wooden bridge over the lava, is broken off for now, so if
you grabbed the Wing Edge earlier, there's no reason to go down here.
On the upper level, you'll want to walk to the far right, where you
come across a stairway leading to another pressure tile. It removes
some spikes in the area #1 is standing in. Switch.
Party #1: Finally, some real action with #1! Walk over the disappeared spikes
until you come across a stairway. Past the stairway is some more
removed-spikes pathway to a chest, but the chest is Empty! You never
know, maybe some random scoundrel or even Siegfried might have
emptied these chests, but maybe it was Locke? Regardless, turn back
and descend the stairway. On the lower level, there are two
paths; ignore the right one for now, as to the left is an (empty)
chest and a pressure tile which causes some rocks to rise out of the
lava, creating a pathway for #2. Switch.
Party #2: Go the left and descend a level. Now, jump over the newly raised
rocks to the other side, and again to reach the new area. On the
other side, there's a chest with some spikes in front of it. You can
bet your life and limbs to open it, but it'll just appear to be
empty as the other chest, so don't. Before you enter the narrow
passage, notice the pressure tile near the big rock blocking your
path to the right. Stand on it, to cause another passageway to open,
blocking yours. Switch.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Party #1: There's really no other way to go but down, following the path across
the lava. You'll come across another chest, but it'll be empty like
the others. Pressing on, enter the passageway #2 created for you. Go
around and ignore the path leading over the spikes. Step onto the
pressure tile, which restores the passageway to make room for #2.
Switch.
Party #2: For #2, there's a Save Point to the left, but you'll just want to
stand on the pressure tile just there.
Party #1: Move up and to the left, over the disappeared spikes. You'll come
across a stairway. Go down the stairway to the lower level. A
jumping puzzle now! Jump over the rocks to the left, below and to the
right. Now, the first jumping option takes you to an empty chest; the
other one takes you to a stairway going up again. You'll come across
a skeleton switch; flip it to allow all the water from the upper
level to flow over the lava, solidifying it so you can walk on it.
Going down the little stairway just shows you that you won't be able
to go on any further, so switch.
Party #2: To the far left, there's another pressure tile. Stand on it to clear
the path for #1.
Party #1: Don't go all the way down below so far; there's a boss battle here,
and you'll want the free option between your two parties. Go up the
little stairway, and you'll see three pressure tiles: one up, and two
below. You'll want to hit the single one. Switch.
Party #2: As soon as you get off the pressure tile, you'll clear your own path
to the other side. You can just go one way, which will take you to the
solidified lava. You can now get to the unopened chest in the middle,
which in a shocking turn of events isn't empty but contains a Ribbon.
Go up the stairway that you couldn't get to by jumping over the
rocks, and you'll find yourself on the upper level once more. Walk
under the ceiling that blocks your view over your characters, and
you'll reach a dead end; or not, as #2 created a pathway for you by
raising the two rocks. Jump to the other side. Now, occupy one of
the two pressure tiles that are right next to each other. Switch.
Party #1: Get off the pressure tile and occupy the other pressure tile that's
has been left. A pathway will clear. On the other side, you'll find
a stairway leading to the exit of this dungeon.
Party #1 or #2: Can go fight the roaming dragon here now. I should note that
it's keeping itself near a chest here, which contains a Dragon
Horn that you might find interesting.
Party #2 or #1: Continue down the only path you can follow. Eventually, you'll
find the last person you were missing: Locke Cole. And
he just reached his life-long ambition too; the lost relic that
is able to restore life, the Magicite remains of the Phoenix
Esper. The scene switches to the village of Kohlingen.
Note that you can return here later if you want to; there will be a red
sparkle to the right of the Phoenix Esper chest. This is merely a warp sparkle
that you can use to return to the Falcon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.67.2 The battle with the Red Dragon
**********************************
Red Dragon
Level: 67, HP: 30000, MP: 1780
Steal: Nothing (always), Win: Murakumo (always)
Absorbs: Fire, Weakness: Ice, Water
Special: !Eraser: Unblockable Attack + Removes Reflect
Sketch : Lv. ? Holy, Firaga
Control: Attack, !Eraser
Vulnerable to: Poison, Confuse, Slow
Attacks: Attack, !Eraser, Fira, Firaga, Flare, Lv. 4 Flare, Fireball,
Southern Cross, Flare Star
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Crystal Sword
Crystal Shield
Crystal Helm
Crystal Mail
The Red Dragon is red, and lives in a volcano. He's a Fire dragon, in other
words! You'll be laughing now, I assume; not only have you already spotted
his weakness to the Confuse status, the Fire element is the one most easily
protected against. The Red Jacket, Ice Shield, Minerva Bustier, and Blizzard Orb
nullify it, the Flame Shield and Berserker Ring absorb it, and if those
resources aren't enough, the Force Shield, Thunder Shield, Cat-ear Hood, Snow
Scarf and Force Armor all halve damage done by the element. Yeah, even though
the Red Dragon tries to counter this by employing Flare spells and the Lv. 4
Flare attack, he's still fairly easy.
Every 40 seconds, Red Dragon will use a particularly powerful attack; either
Southern Cross, Flare Star, or Lv. 4 Flare. Flare Star still deals Fire-
elemental damage based on your level, Southern Cross is just a strong MT Fire-
elemental attack and Lv. 4 Flare deals non-elemental barrier-piercing damage to
every character whose level is divisible by 4.
Normally, Red Dragon switches between Fira (66%) and Fireball (33%). When
he reaches 10240 HP (which is after having absorbed 19760 HP damage), he'll
switch to Firaga (66%) or a Flare spell (33%). All these spells except for
Fireball can be Reflected, but that may not be the wisest action to take;
every character under the influence of Reflect will be targeted every second
turn by !Eraser, from top character to bottom character, just like the living
Behemoth King and his !Devil Claw attack. !Eraser removes the Reflect status,
but not when the status is inherent (through Reflect Rings or Rage). Like most
bosses, the Red Dragon has a 33% Attack counter to every damage he takes.
What to do? He has a fairly low amount of MP, and all his dangerous attacks
need MP to function. In his less dangerous phase, throw up your barriers (summon
Fenrir and/or Golem, Kirin's Holy Aura is useful as always, Hastega, Mighty
Guard, you name it). When you're done, start casting Rasp! You can check if he's
out of MP with Libra if you can't keep track yourself. You should have crippled
him before his first 40-second attack comes around. Now that Red Dragon is
nothing but a big lizard of fire, attack him with attacks. It doesn't really
matter, as he's pretty much done by now, but the strongest attacks tend to
be Ice-elemental ones; the Blizzaga spell, thrown Icebrand swords (or Water
Scrolls), the usual Phantom Rush and Dragon Horn Jump attacks, whatever works.
Note that Tri-Disaster is absorbed, though. You can toy around with Confuse if
you want, but it's not necessary.
At the end, it's an easy battle. The Murakumo you get is little to celebrate, as
you should be neck-deep in the buggers if you ever had the wish to do so.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.68.1 Locke Cole
**********************************
Miscellaneous items: Elixir, Flame Shield, Phoenix Down, Valiant Knife,
X-Ether, X-Potion (obtained from Locke)
Locke re-enters the party after having finally completed his life-long task
and finding it to be a futile effort. However, he barely seems to mind; he's
been released, not crushed. With him he brings the remains of the Phoenix
Esper, and the treasures of the Phoenix Cave he collected along the way;
an X-Potion, a Phoenix Down, an X-Ether, an Elixir, a Flame Shield, and Locke's
primary source of pride, the Valiant Knife. Note that there were but four
empty chests in the Phoenix Cave; the Phoenix Down might have been a rare drop
from a monster, but we're still left with a mystery item. Bleh, who the
hell cares? :P
First off, if you haven't yet gotten Gogo by now, this is where the Steal
command re-enters your game. If you want to work it, go check out section
4.66.3 to learn what Steal can do for you now.
Locke has returned to your team! Defensively, there are few things to say.
He has the more or less standard equipment options, which he shares with the
likes of Setzer, Cyan, and Shadow. The Genji Armor is his strongest option,
which is nicely complemented by the Thunder Shield for elemental resistances.
If equipped with the Valiant Knife, the Red Cap is especially nice on Locke, as
it indirectly boosts its average damage output with the Valiant Knife.
On the offense, there are three weapons worth nothing for Locke:
The Sniper. Remember the Hawkeye from the late WoB? The Sniper is exactly that,
only with updated Attack Power to make a stand in the WoR. No stat boosts,
but it does hit for 1.5 as much damage 50%, and three times as much damage
against Floating targets.
The Wing Edge. His second-strongest normal weapon. Back Row compatible, +7 to
both Strength and Speed (which both matter little), +1 to Stamina, +2 to Magic
Power and the Assassin Dagger's X-type Instant Death ability. There are two in
this game, so you could Genji Glove it up if you want. Nice if you're going out
to Steal anyway, but this time Locke CAN dish out damage like other characters,
and that's because of the:
Valiant Knife. The first noticeable feature of this awesome weapon is the fact
it is barrier-piercing. Every strike is stronger than a Raging Fist or Fang
attack coming from him. The second feature is even more important; every strike,
(max HP - current HP) damage is added to the damage you're doing. In other
words, that's what Revenge Blast does; the more hurt Locke is, the more damage
he'll do. It's prone to FF VIII Limit Break-fever - let's walk around while
we're all busted up so we can do three times as much damage as usual - but it
does work. The disadvantage over the other two weapons is the fact it isn't Back
Row compatible and doesn't give any stat boosts.
So, we're complete! Time to take on Kefka? There are two more things to do
here, and we're going to get a few VERY broken items/abilities out of it. Like
that, dontcha?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.68.2 Narshe revisited with Locke; Ragnarok and the Cursed Shield
**********************************
Opponents:
Test Rider, Wizard, Lukhavi, Garm
Miscellaneous items: Cursed Shield (given to by NPC), Ragnarok (choose the
sword when given the choice)
Welcome to Narshe! Lone Wolf tipped us off earlier; only a true treasure
hunter could pick the locks of these houses. When Narshe was abandoned for
reasons never explained in the game, the inhabitants were clearly planning to
return, as they locked their stores and houses carefully. Meh, those items
won't be needed by them when Kefka kills them all, so it's only logical we
should be able to take them all. Besides, we need to find the owner of the
Weapon Shop anyway; the thief at the bottom of the Cultist's Tower, where we
found Strago, told us he was looking for us.
Buildings locked include the following:
The Inn. Unlocking this building will get you nothing.
The Item Shop. Same here; there are neither salesmen nor leftover items here.
The Relic Shop. Derelict like a plundered tomb.
The Weapon Shop. Go around the counter and descend the stairs. Here, you'll
find the owner of the shop. He shows you a piece of Magicite, and offers to
forge a weapon out of it. You can choose between the Ragnarok Magicite and the
Ragnarok Sword here. With the addition of some of the GBA tricks you can pull
off, the Ragnarok sword can be obtained infinetely through other means, so the
obvious choice would be to choose the Esper. For a full comparison between
the two, I suggest reading up on them in section 8.10; for a detailed
explanation of the powers of the Ragnarok Esper's summon attack, follow
[METAMORPH-LINK].
In short: The Esper's summon attack is pretty crappy but does grant access to
some rare items you could otherwise get only a very limited amount of, while
the Esper also teaches Ultima at a x1 rate, which is the strongest spell in
the game. On the other hand, the Ragnarok Sword gives + 7 on all stats except
for Speed (where it grants a +3), randomly casts Flare, deals MP-driven constant
criticals and gives 30% Evasion and Magic Evasion. You can bet it at the
Coliseum for the Lightbringer, which gives +7 on all stats, has the same MP-
driven criticals ability, randomly casts Holy with twice the power of a normal
Holy spell (due to the automatic criticals; Flare doesn't get to enjoy a power
boost), has Back Row compatibility and gives 50% Evasion and Magic Evasion.
The house above the Relic Shop has been empty throughout the WoB, but now you
will find an old man sick in bed. He gives you the Cursed Shield, a possessed
shield of awesome power, but useless now due to a curse. It's up to you to
break it and unleash its awesome abilities if you're up to the task.
The curse is broken when the shield is equipped on a living character other
than Gogo for 256 battles. It doesn't matter if the character dies during the
battle, as long as he or she is alive at the end of it. Gogo can't uncurse
the Cursed Shield as the counter is semi-tied to gaining Magic AP, which
Gogo doesn't gain at all.
Equipping the Cursed Shield is bad. It makes the equipped character weak to all
elements, and LOWERS all stats by 7. Also, it gives the equipper inherent
Confuse, Berserk, Sap, Silence and Doom. You wind up with a Berserked
character that hits you every turn with a physical and dies after a while.
You can either counter these effects with a Ribbon/Lich Ring combo (the
Ribbon protects against all but Doom, and the Lich Ring makes sure you're
revived when the counter reaches that final 0), or get it to work to your
advantage by equipping the Healing Rod and possibly the Master's Scroll for mad
healing.
There's a little vintage strategy I want to mention here: Relm/Strago/Gogo,
Cursed Shield, no Ribbon, Healing Rod, possibly Master's Scroll. Every turn,
this character will heal random characters. Yeah, it's kinda cute, but the fact
it never got an official name such as 'Spinning Right Round Relm' or 'Top Man
Strago' or something like 'Whirlwind Wee Girl' kinda should tip you off on the
fact that it's not all that useful.
The Paladin's Shield is awesome. It allows the equipped to absorb Fire, Ice,
Lightning, and Holy while nullifying the effects of Earth, Poison, Wind, and
Water. In other words, the wearer becomes entirely immune to elemental attacks.
Add to that the second-best Defense rating (Tortoise Shield on an Imp beats it)
and third-best Magic Defense rating (Tortoise Shield and Force Shield beat it)
and + 40% Evasion and Magic Evasion and you've got yourselves the ultimate
shield right there. The big bonus on top of all this is the fact it teaches
Ultima at a x1 rate to the wearer.
The quickest way to uncurse the Cursed Shield is fighting battles on Solitary
Island. If you want some kind of extra meaning to the hours on the Solitary
Island, you can bring Locke, Gogo, and Shadow to try to steal as many Elixirs
(and possibly Megalixirs) as possible. If you want to go into the desert, be
sure to equip Amulets or Ribbons to protect against Land Ray's !Poison Tail
and Black Dragon's !Bone Powder.
As far as (the) Ragnarok goes, you should take a look at [RAGNAROK-LINK] if
you went with the Esper. If you went with the Sword, you absolutely want to
trade it in for the Lightbringer at the Coliseum; aside from Ragnarok's random
Flare being non-elemental and Lightbringer's random Holy being Holy-elemental,
there is NO reason to stick to the original sword;
- Ragnarok - Lightbringer Opponent: Daedalus
Daedalus attacks with Attack, Flare, Flare Star, and Blaster. If you equip a
Reflect Ring and a Safety Bit/Memento Ring, Flare and Blaster are not a threat
anymore; a Flame Shield/Ice Shield or the Minerva Bustier takes care of Flare
Star and the Dancing Flame Daedalus sometimes uses to counter Attacks with.
Attack is all that's left, and that's nothing to worry about. Don't send in
Relm; her Sketch attacks will usually make a Quake spell appear, which hurts her
as well.
Obviously, from now on, I won't be assuming that you have either the
Lightbringer OR the Paladin's Shield; choosing the Esper over the Sword is the
legitimate choice, and obtaining the Paladin's Shield is quite a bit of work.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.68.3 Gau and his father
**********************************
This is just a cutscene you're getting nothing out of, but still builds the
character of Gau and strengthens the relationship of Gau and Sabin, so it's
worth watching. It's kinda funny too. Relatively speaking. You'll want to bring,
ideally, Locke and Edgar to accompany Sabin and Gau, as that'll net you the
most individual cutscenes.
If you brought Sabin to the crazy man in the shack by himself earlier, the
following conversation will occur:
Aged Man: Oh, hello again! It's been a while. Let me tell you, those repairs of
yours were top notch!
Sabin: I told you, I'm not——
Aged Man: Now, hurry up and fix that chair over there! You're gonna need to
stand on it so you can fix the roof!
Gau: ...Fa-ther?
At this point, Sabin leaves the house, the party splits up, and Sabin says:
"You don't suppose...? ...Could this guy be Gau's father?"
When you bring both Sabin and Gau to the crazy man, this will happen (with the
same conversation preceding it):
Sabin: You don't suppose... Gau, couldn't that man be your father?
Gau: Uwaoh...
Sabin: Come on, Gau... don't you think?
Gau: Fa-ther...?
Sabin: Yeah. That guy's gotta be your dad!
Gau: ...? ...Gau...dad!? Uwaooo Gau!
Sabin: All right! Let's go tell him! He needs to know you're his son!
Sabin: Wait a minute... This is a once-in-a-lifetime event!
Sabin: We should at least dress you up a bit! Let's go to Jidoor and get you
spiffed up!
(The gang is now at the Inn in Jidoor. Gau is standing at the table)
Sabin: No, Gau! How many times do I have to tell you not to eat with your
fingers?
Gau: Uwao...
Sabin: Don't say "uwao" when you mean "sorry"!
Gau: Yaoh!
Sabin: ...
(The gang is now at the Item Shop in Jidoor. Everybody's busy)
(If you recruited Terra:)
Terra: How do you like these? Wouldn't they look good on him? Oh, but I liked
those other ones so much, too...!
...*mumble*...everything you liked......boy wouldn't even be able to move...
Terra: What was that!?
(Sabin freaks out and hides behind the counter)
N-nothing! Didn't say a thing!
...Whew. That was close...
(Always)
Celes: What to do, what to do... Oh, this is nice! ...But I need something that
would look good on Gau, don't I? Hmm...
Oh, pick something, already...!
Celes: What did you say!?
(Sabin freaks out and hides behind the counter)
...N-nothing!
(If you recruited Cyan, and he is not in your active party:)
Cyan: Now this is a fine and jaunty little hat!
Maybe if he were a clown...
Cyan: What was that? If he wore a crown? Ha! We don't want his father thinking
he's some kind of prince, now, do we?
...
(Always)
Sabin: I know just the thing!
That's a kenpo gi...
Sabin: It's perfect! Functional, yet sporty!
That's, uh...not exactly what I had in mind...
(If Setzer is not in your active party:)
Setzer: *sigh*... Not an ounce of fashion sense among the lot of you...
Setzer: Excuse me, sir. Could you order another set of clothes like the ones I'm
wearing?
Setzer, no! We're trying to make him look better, not worse!
(If both Edgar and Locke are in your active party)
(Gau now wears a 3-piece tuxedo Armani'd be proud to weep over)
Edgar: I've got it! A tuxedo, a silk hat...and a rose between his teeth!
Locke: Talk about overdoing it! Sheesh... I guess we'll have to go with a
bandana on his head after all.
(Gau pretty much now wears what Locke is wearing, admiring the red bandana
on his head)
Edgar: A bandana? I thought we were trying to make him look presentable! Guess
we all know better than to expect any sort of class out of Locke, though...
Locke: What was that!? Why don't you try saying that again?
(Locke attacks Edgar, and sounds of punching and eventually the good old
cartoonish birds-around-the-head sound the Confuse spell makes)
When returning to Gau's father, there's is also another check made. This
dialogue can also be accessed outside the Gau-centric cutscene, but there's no
other logical time to visit this guy so I wanted to include it here.
Whenever you have obtained the Emperor's Letter after talking twice to the
portrait in Owzer's Mansion in Jidoor, but before you have recruited Locke,
the following dialogue will appear when you talk to the old man:
Aged Man: Oh! You finally come to do those repairs?
"No, actually I was wondering if you knew anything about Emperor Gestahl's
map..."
Aged Man: The emperor's map...? Seems like that's all anyone wants to talk about
these days!
"Pardon?"
Aged Man: Little while back, another repairman wearing a bandana came here
asking the same thing... So I told him!
"Then...where is it!?"
Aged Man: It's where the mountains form a shape like a star... Sheesh! Why
didn't you just ask me from the beginning? No need to be so shy!
For the record, this 'map' is never mentioned outside of this cutscene, and
neither is there ANY information about why our characters apparantly decide
this guy should know something about Gestahl's possessions and he actually
does. It's just weird.
The rest of the cutscene is as mandatory, as it is sad, so I won't be giving
the information away here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.69.1 The Cultist's Tower and the battle with Holy Dragon
**********************************
Opponents:
Magic Urn, Level 10 Magic, Level 20 Magic, Level 30 Magic, Level 40 Magic,
Level 50 Magic, Level 60 Magic, Level 70 Magic, Level 80 Magic, Level 90
Magic, Holy Dragon, Magic Master
Container contents: Air Anchor, Force Armor, Genji Shield, Kagenui, Safety
Bit, Soul of Thamasa
Miscellaneous items: Crystal Orb (rare Magic Master steal), Holy Lance (Holy
Dragon drop and rare Holy Dragon steal)
Welcome to the Cultist's Tower! We've probably been here before; if not for some
Moogle raiding, we picked up Strago here with Relm earlier. Regardless of the
actions you've taken so far, I've mentioned the Cultist's Tower quite a few
times so far, always advising you to wait with fighting the final opponent on
the very top. Now, it's time for the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny:
we're going to tackle this huge erect symbol of Kefka's manhood.
Monster formations:
(Cultist's Tower Inside)
Level 90 Magic (5/16)
Level 50 Magic (5/16)
Magic Urn, Magic Urn (6/16)
(Air Anchor Room)
Magic Urn, Magic Urn (always)
(Top and Fourth Tier)
Level 90 Magic, Level 80 Magic (5/16)
Level 80 Magic, Level 80 Magic (5/16)
Level 90 Magic, Level 60 Magic (5/16)
Magic Urn, Magic Urn (1/16)
(Third Tier)
Level 60 Magic, Level 30 Magic, Level 10 Magic, Level 10 Magic (5/16)
Level 70 Magic, Level 70 Magic, Level 50 Magic (5/16)
Level 70 Magic, Level 50 Magic, Level 40 Magic (5/16)
Magic Urn, Magic Urn (1/16)
(Second Tier)
Level 50 Magic (5/16)
Level 40 Magic, Level 50 Magic, Level 60 Magic (5/16)
Level 30 Magic, Level 20 Magic, Level 10 Magic (5/16)
Magic Urn, Magic Urn (1/16)
(Bottom Tier)
Level 10 Magic, Level 20 Magic (5/16)
Level 30 Magic, Level 30 Magic, Level 30 Magic (5/16)
Level 40 Magic, Level 20 Magic, Level 20 Magic (5/16)
Magic Urn, Magic Urn (1/16)
Magic Urn is a kinky enemy. Well...enemy? If it does intend to harm you in the
first place, it seems to assume you're undead. The first turn, it'll use either
a Remedy item or an Ether the second turn a Hi-Potion or Elixir, and the third
turn an Ether or a Hi-Ether. If any of your characters has Death set, it'll use
a Phoenix Down on it (due to a bug, it'll respond to the Reflect status in the
PSX versions). If one is Petrified, it'll use a Gold Needle item (due to a bug,
it responds to Protect in the PSX versions). After it has used an item, it has a
33% at fleeing the battle using Flee; it'll also sometimes flee when you
damage it. With 100 HP, absorption of all elements and status ailment
invulnerability, it's difficult to harm the thing without killing it. If you
have trouble accepting help or simply want to speed things up, the only way of
killing these things is Berserking a character, casting Drain, Meteor, or Ultima
or summoning Bahamut, Maduin, Ragnarok, or Quetzalli. If you smell great Rage
potential here, you're absolutely right.
Level 10 Magic casts level 1 spells every turn, and will counter any damage done
to him by either a Slow, Stop, or Haste spell. They're undead, and have the
normal Undead weaknesses: Fire and Holy, while absorbing Poison. Vulnerable
to Silence, non-Reflective, Floating. No threat to a Reflect Ring party.
Level 20 Magic casts ID attacks. Gravity, Graviga and Break the first turn,
Gravity, Graviga and Banish the second turn (loops afterwards). Banish is the
most dangerous by far. He counters every damage done with either a Rasp,
Confuse, or Protect spell. Weak to Poison, vulnerable to ID, Reflective. One of
the more dangerous enemies here to a Reflect Ring party; make sure you take them
out quickly.
Level 30 Magic casts level 2 spells, and will counter every damage done with
either an Imp, Osmose, or Reflect spell. Weak to Poison, absorbs Holy, non-
Reflective.
Level 40 Magic casts Drain, Break, or Vanish every turn. He will counter
your attacks with either Silence or Sleep. Floating, weak to Lightning, absorbs
Poison, non-Reflective, vulnerable to Silence.
Level 50 Magic is your typical undead mage, casting Poison, Bio, and Death the
first turn, and spends the next turn casting either Esuna (33%) or Dispel (66%)
on a monster. When damaged, it will retort with either a Berserk, Slow, or
Hastega spell. Undead, weak to Fire and Holy, absorb Poison, vulnerable to ID
and Silence, non-Reflective.
Level 60 Magic casts Quake, Tornado and Holy. When damaged, he'll cast Osmose,
Slowga, or Regen on a single character. Weak to Fire-elemental spells, absorbs
Ice-elemental spells, Floating, vulnerable to ID and Silence. Non-Reflective.
Level 70 Magic casts the level 3 spells. When damaged, it'll respond with
Sleep, Rasp, or Shell. Absorbs Fire, weak to Ice and Water. Reflective, but
vulnerable to ID and Silence.
Level 80 Magic is finally an opponent with some sophistication; she's a lady,
after all. She'll cast Cura, Esuna or Haste when a character is Reflective. If
that's not the case, but a monster is Reflective, she'll cast level 3 spells
on all monsters. If nobody on the battlefield has the Reflect status, she'll
just go with Poison or Bio spells. When damaged while characters around have the
Reflect status, she'll counter with Curaga, Cure, or Reraise (which can't be
Reflected...poor confused gal). When damaged while monsters with the Reflect
status are around, she'll cast Stop, Dispel, or Holy on a monster. If she's
damaged with NO Reflective targets around, she'll do nothing. Weak to Poison,
non-Reflective, vulnerable to ID.
Level 90 Magic is the strongest random encounter here. The first three turns
may feature Flare, Meteor, or Meltdown. Meteor is the most dangerous of
these three, but Meltdown is especially annoying, as Level 90 Magic absorbs
Wind. Every fourth turn, the guy can cast a Dispel spell and up to three Flare
spells. When damaged, he may counter with Stop, Thundaga or Reraise. Reflective,
Floating, vulnerable to Stop.
So yeah. I've never found much satisfaction in the Cultist's Tower specific
kind of challenge, but maybe you're going bananas behind your screen, I dunno.
Here's a set of small tables to remind you of the opponents weaknesses:
Reflective Undead Floating ID-protected
Level 10 Magic - Yes Yes -
Level 20 Magic Yes - - -
Level 30 Magic - - - -
Level 40 Magic - - Yes Yes
Level 50 Magic - Yes - -
Level 60 Magic - - Yes Yes
Level 70 Magic Yes - - -
Level 80 Magic - - - -
Level 90 Magic Yes - - Yes
Silence, Berserk, Stop:
Level 10 Magic: Silence, Berserk
Level 20 Magic:
Level 30 Magic: Berserk
Level 40 Magic: Silence
Level 50 Magic: Silence, Stop
Level 60 Magic: Silence
Level 70 Magic: Silence, Stop
Level 80 Magic:
Level 90 Magic: Berserk, Stop
How to handle them:
Level 10 Magic: a Raise spell
Level 20 Magic: Banish or Break spells (bounce off Reflect Ring characters)
Level 30 Magic: Break spells
Level 40 Magic: Silence
Level 50 Magic: a Raise spell
Level 60 Magic: Silence
Level 70 Magic: Banish or Break spells (bounce off Reflect Ring characters)
Level 80 Magic: Break spells
Level 90 Magic: Stop (bounce off Reflect Ring characters)
On the whole, especially against the weaker opponents, you may just want to
go all-out offensive. Spells such as Meteor and Ultima never fail to deliver
damage no matter who the opponent is, and since nobody absorb Lightning-
elemental attacks, cast Thundaga on all four or your Reflect Ring characters to
hit them.
Whom to bring? That really depends. Know that the Cultist's Tower is very
special, and that ascending the tower means that you will temporarily lose
all your skills except for Magic. Obviously, those with high Magic Power are
favored, but much more important is how much you built up your Magic skillset.
If somebody knows Ultima, bring him or her along no matter what else he or
she has going on; next to that, Meteor, Flare, Thundaga, Stop, Silence, Raise,
and curative and restorative spells are pretty much what you'll be wielding, so
you'll want to bring those with you. Typically, assuming their Magic skillset
is roughly the same, you'll want something like Terra, Celes, Relm, and whoever.
If only one or two characters know Ultima, bring Gogo along so it miraculously
knows Ultima too.
Preparation: Reflect Rings are VITAL. You WILL want a Reflect Ring on every
character. Inherent Reflect status makes climbing the tower much easier, and
is a very important factor when fighting the strongest mage this world has to
offer, Magic Master. Also, know that you'll be casting and receiving Magic
spells only, so that Attack Power of weapons and Defense rating of equipment is
pointless. Equip accordingly. Ribbons are very nice as well, by the way, as
a lot of status ailment spells will be coming your way, sometimes reflected
off barriers thus penetrating your magic shield of justice and sunlight you
call a Reflect Ring.
Also, make sure you cast Float on the party. A surprise Quake is easily
countered but can be equally painful.
Notes: At the Cultist's Tower, Attack is turned into Magic and every secondary
skill disappears. Item's still there, but that's it. If you send Gogo up there,
give it the Attack command as that'll turn into Magic (while its Magic command
will be removed). Umaro doesn't suffer a bit from the Cultist's Tower's
strange effect, as he will perform normally. When Berserked, characters will
just use Attack.
On the first part of the stairway, there's a door we can enter. Enter and raid
the chest; it contains a Safety Bit. The Safety Bit protects the wearer from
Instant Death-magic; it's basically a Memento Ring for everybody. But wait a
minute, didn't that thief in Maranda mention how one of his companions mumbled
'to the right of the treasure chest'? The thieves can never have gone too far,
so you'd better check it out. Press the action button when standing to the
right of the treasure chest. Something rumbles, and when you leave the door
another one has appeared below you! When you enter this one, you can find
a chest containing an Air Anchor, Edgar's most rare Tool.
The Air Anchor does the following. Once an enemy is hit by the Air Anchor, it
is allowed one more action, after which it dies. It never misses, unless the
target is immune to Instant Death attacks. The Air Anchor also deals damage,
which is entirely redundant (as no damage will be done if it misses, and the
damage is useless if the target dies the next round anyway). I myself have
always liked the Air Anchor because it never fails and you can focus attacks
on other opponents while you know the Anchored one has been taken care of;
others will claim the Air Anchor is a scrubby Tool that allows for another
attack while so many other ID attacks like Death/Snare/Zantetsuken do not.
The only battles in the Air Anchor room feature Magic Urn. Not only do they
heal you with a multitude of potions, they also Flee on their own after a
while. They have a kick-ass Rage (allows Gau to absorb all eight elements
regardless of equipment and immunity to all status ailments while casting
Curaga half the time), so you'll want to meet them at least once.
We press on! The door in the second part of the stairway contains a Genji
Shield, which is a nice enough shield; third-best Defense in the game (lower
than the legendary Paladin's Shield and oddball Tortoise Shield), respectable
Magic Defense and 20% Evasion and Magic Evasion added to the wearer.
The door in the third part of the stairway contains the Kagenui, the most
powerful Dirk for Shadow. It has a 25% chance of casting Stop every time a
strike is made, but gives nothing in terms of fringe benefits. Famous for
Coliseum tactics against the likes of Chupon and Siegfried, both vulnerable
to the ailment and very hard to defeat by other means. What the room also
features is the Holy Dragon.
[HDRAGON-LINK]
Holy Dragon
Level: 71, HP: 18500, MP: 12000
Steal: Holy Lance (rare), X-Potion (common), Win: Nothing (always)
Absorbs: Holy
Special: !Hit: Attack x 1.5
Sketch : Flare, Holy
Control: Attack, Holy, Holy, Holy
Vulnerable to: Silence, Slow, Stop
Attacks: Holy, Dispel
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: Yes
12.5% chance of obtaining one of the following:
Crystal Sword
Crystal Shield
Crystal Helm
Crystal Mail
Wow. There is SO little I can say about Holy Drgn here. He casts up to three
Holy spells every turn. When hit by a Magic spell, he has a 66% chance of
countering with a Dispel spell. And that's it. You've seen a palette swap of
the guy earlier, honestly, trying to drone on gets kinda embarrassing right
now.
He casts nothing but spells, and is vulnerable to Silence. That's all there is
to it, just cast a Silence spell and you're done. You don't have to bother with
Slow, Stop, and all that, just cast Silence and attack the guy with offensive
spells. If you're getting low on MP, use Osmose. Try not to swallow anything
sharp while playing, it's the only situation I can imagine where a loss is
actually possible. If you brought either Locke or Shadow, equip Thief's Knives
and go for Holy Dragon's item, as both are nice.
If you arrived here with a solo-Mog party, the strategy is only slightly
different; since you don't want to take any chances, be sure you're equipped
with a Reflect Ring. If Mog doesn't know the Silence spell, equip Siren so Mog
can summon her for her Lunatic Voice attack. Now that Holy Dragon is at Mog's
mercy, just attack until he's dead.
When you're done, you get a Holy Lance from an event afterwards. This is to
make sure you don't get a Holy Lance every time you see the Holy Dragon on the
Veldt: YES, the cretin appears there! Makes quite a solid Rage too, casting
Holy and ID-protected and all.
The door in the fourth and last part of the stairway contains a Force Armor.
The Force Armor is a great piece of armor, especially for those characters
that have no other interesting pieces to equip (Locke, Cyan, Edgar, Setzer, and
Shadow). It doesn't really have that much on Defense (inferior to Crystal Mail),
but it's quite good on Magic Defense (only inferior to Genji Armor, rare
Snow Scarf, and oddball Reed Cloak), has great elemental advantages (50% Fire,
Ice, Lightning, Wind, and Earth-elemental damage) and an added 30% Magic
Evasion.
The Force Armor is inferior to the Minerva Bustier in every way except for the
Magic Evasion, so don't equip it on the girls; it's a genuine toss-up for the
boys, though. The Genji Armor is sturdier in both the Defense and Magic Defense
department and gives all-round stat boosts to boot; the Force Armor makes for a
more evasive character that is better suited to deal with elemental magical
attacks. I prefer the Force Armor for non-specific boss battles and the Genji
Armor for random encounters myself, but it's up to you.
Welcome to the roof of the Tower, where the 'wondrous' item lies. Enter the
little room to find a chest. As soon as you stand in front of the chest,
a bit is set; when you leave the room, with or without the contents of the
chest (the Soul of Thamasa Relic), you're going to be surrounded by members of
the Cult of Kefka and a wizard will come for you, so be prepared.
The Soul of Thamasa turns the Magic command into X-Magic. This means that you
can cast TWO spells in one turn. This is obviously great, and best applied to
those who rely heavily on their Magic skillset. The only drawback is the fact
that you will lose the ability to summon the Esper you have equipped. The Soul
of Thamasa is totally sweet, and a kind, loving mistress who's not afraid of the
leather if you're not, I might add.
[MAGICMASTER-LINK]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.69.2 The battle with the Magic Master
**********************************
So, we've battled mages from level 10 to level 90; at the very top was Kefka's
most treasured item, a gem-covered box containing the very soul of the town
of Thamasa, home to 1000 years of Mage Warrior generations. This prized relic
greatly enhances magical capabilities, allowing you to prepare two spells
simultaneously and casting them in quick succession. The treasure is guarded
though, by what may just be Kefka's strongest henchman. The ultimate mage:
Magic Master.
Yes, after all the pompous introductions, I suppose we'd better slap him
around a little bit until he allows us to leave.
Magic Master
Level: 68, HP: 50000, MP: 50000
Steal: Crystal Orb (rare), Elixir (common), Win: Megalixir (always)
Creature Type: Humanoid, MP Kill
Special: !Hit: Attack x 1.5
Sketch : Attack, Attack
Control: Attack, Ultima
Vulnerable to: Berserk
Attacks: Fira, Blizzara, Thundara, Bio, Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, Death,
Ultima, Silence, Barrier Change
Joker's Death: Yes/No
Do note though that you can NEVER use the Slot command on the Cultist's Tower,
so you won't actually be able to spin 7-7-7 in the first place. Later, in the
Soul Shrine, you will be able to use Joker's Death.
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Yesh. First turn, he casts a level two spell. Then, he casts a level 3 spell.
Then, he casts TWO level 3 spells. After that, another double cast of two level
3 spells. Another turn after, a single level 3 spell, and his last turn
before turning back to the level two spells can consist of Death, Bio, or
Silence. All of this is coming from a spectacular 50 (!!!) Magic Power, which
means that you absorb the attack, have the Reflect status, or die a
gargantuanesqually painful death. If Magic Master has the Reflect status
himself, he will bounce a level 3 spell off of himself every turn; Magic Master
will never self-apply the status, and there's no reason for you to cast it.
You may have noticed that every spell Magic Master uses is reflectable; and yes,
that they are. However, the thing with Magic Master is that not only is the
ULTIMATE mage, he's also fiercely loyal to Kefka. So it's only logical that
Magic Master would be able to cast the strongest spell in the game, Ultima;
and he won't let you go before casting it. As soon as you kill the Magic Master,
he will cast Ultima. It will deal between 5400 to 6100 damage to all of your
characters, and unless you've overleveled (level 53 with Muscle Belt, 58 with
Red Cap, 67 without any HP boosting equipment), that's just going to kill you
deader than Grandma's infamous road kill surprise.
Let's go through a few situations now:
- You're followed the walkthrough, or know Reraise at the very least:
Keep yourself draped in Reflect Rings at all times, as it will mean you are
invincible. Do NOT attack Magic Master; as soon as you do this, he will use
Barrier Change and he will start countering all your attacks with Barrier Change
making him that much harder to take down. He will also counter to his own
spells reflected back at him. If you just keep still, he won't start using
Barrier Change, not even under the torment of his own attacks. Cast Reraise on
all your characters, and just wait this one out. Eventually, when Magic Master
has killed himself, he'll cast Ultima, everybody dies and is subsequently
revived; you're free to go.
- You don't have Reraise:
This one's a tricky pony. You can cast Rasp over and over and over again
until his 50000 MP are all gone; he won't be able to cast Ultima now. You'll
have to keep him alive this way. This is easily done by casting the Berserk
spell on Magic Master while casting Vanish or summoning Phantom to protect
yourself. Now, Rasp away. It'll take a very long while. You can check his MP
score with the Libra spell. When he has less than 80 MP, you can kill him.
There you go.
Alternately, you could just damage a lot and summon Quetzalli; the trick here is
to kill Magic Master with one or more characters in the air. Ultima won't hit
them, so you win. If you want to do this, carefully keep track of his HP with
Scan; for optimum damage output, you'll want to equip barrier-piercing weapons
where possible (Ultima Weapon on Terra/Celes/Edgar/Locke, Valiant Knife on
Locke, Fixed Dice or Dice on Setzer) to try and circumvent Magic Master's crazy
250 Defense.
- You don't have Rasp...and you don't have Quetzalli either. Da-amn Tiffany,
your personal fetish for self-inflicted torture is your business, but I'd
suggest you try to keep the painful situations to a minimum. Of course, it's
not that I myself mind but it's just that you're kind of a disgrace to
everybody *around* you and quite frankly, I can only take so much before I
just leave you and your issues alone to enjoy myself on the beaches of
Florida.
Eh...yeah. Last chance, honest. Equip a character (Terra, Celes, Edgar) with
a Reflect Ring, Genji Glove, Rune Blade/Ragnarok/Lightbringer, and the Soul
Saber. The MP-critical weapon in the Right Hand, the MP draining weapon in the
Left Hand. Now, cast Berserk on Magic Master, Invisible on your party, and
Berserk and Haste on your magical weapon character. Every turn, he or she will
attack and deal (12...19) MP damage. If you're setting this up so you can go do
something else in the meantime (I trust you have taken a liking to your
sanity?), Berserk a Healing Rod character to make sure Magic Master doesn't die
from the physical blows. Honestly, this is going to take AGES.
- You don't have that either?
Why in God's name did you see it fit to come up here anyway? I suppose pulling
the power on your SNES right before Magic Master casts Ultima stops him from
using it. If you're reading this and hope for yet another strategy as this is
the situation you're in, I somehow don't think you thought your cunning plan
all the way through.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.70.1 Finding the hay in the needlestack; the battle with Gigantuar
**********************************
I assume you know Garfield. Y'know, the 'lazy, fat, selfish, orange,
anthropomorphic tabby cat who enjoys eating, sleeping, stealing Jon's meals, and
being mean to Odie by kicking him off the table'? Heh, that reminds me of that
project where they systematically remove Garfield's thought bubbles from every
strip, reducing Jon to a lonely, pathetic, delusional man who rants to his cat
about sock drawers while wearing cowboy hats of various sizes. But I disgress;
what Garfield has with mondays, I have with Gigantuar. Ugh.
[GIGANTUAR-LINK]
"You still haven't beaten those cactuars? Stop poking around! I'm on pins and
needles here!"
"I'll tell you something good if you manage to take down 1O of the little guys,
so give it your best shot!"
"Wow, you managed to take down 1O cactuars, did you? I guess I'd better hold up
my end of the deal!"
"Before, when I was walking through the desert to the south, I spotted a
humongous cactuar. A monster of that size has to have some good treasure. I'd
bet my right eye on it!"
As a whole slew of dummied lines from this game will tell you, the trick here
is to defeat 10 Cactuars (you can check your Bestiary under Config if you want
to know where you are), at which points a single tile on the Overworld Map will
trigger the Gigantuar battle as soon as you step on it. This tile is located
in the middle of the south-western stretch of desert south of Maranda, where
the Cactuars roam.
NOTE: due to a programming oversight, if you fly Gau from the Veldt straight
into the Gigantuar battle, he´ll retain his Leap command. If you execute it,
you won´t have won the battle and you won´t obtain the Magicite, and you'll
have another shot at seeing him. Gau will have returned to the Veldt as he
normally would after a succesful Leap command, but since Gigantuar has no
Rage availabe to him, Gau will be none the wiser.
Gigantuar is the third of the four new Espers. Except it's not really an Esper,
now is it? Look at it's bloated moustachio’d visage. What the hell does it think
is is, a 30-foot Salvador Dali? My hatred of this cross between a giant cactus
and a comically retarded maître d' is only magnified by the fact it's so
difficult to destroy the thing. Even the Rafflesia Rage, usually my solution
to things I dislike profusely, will fail the innocent player when going toe to
needle with this thing.
Gigantuar
Level: 68, HP: 30000, MP: 4500
Steal: nothing (common), Win: nothing (always)
Nullifies: Fire, Weak against: Water
Special: !Knockdown: Attack x 5
Sketch : 1000 Needles, !Knockdown
Control: Attack
Vulnerable to: nothing
Attacks: !Knockdown, 1000 Needles
Joker's Death: Yes
Ragnarok's Metamorph: No
Gigantuar's strategy is so simple. He'll use 1000 Needles twice the first turn,
as well as the second turn. The third turn, he'll use four times 1000 Needles.
Loop. When you damage the thing, it'll have a 66 % shot at countering with
!Knockdown, which ofcourse is stupifyingly powerful. When you manage the kill
the thing, it'll retaliate with ten times 1000 Needles. So the trick isn't
really killing the thing, as any doofus can do it. The trick is to get away with
it. Just like in real life! Fortunately, unlike real life, you can Save just
before the occassion.
You need to be able to do three things if you want to defeat Gigantuar and live
to tell the tale. First, you have to be able to stay alive long enough to
execute great amounts of damage, which means in most cases +2000 HP on every
character. Step two is the great amounts of damage. Gigantuar has perfect
Evasion and Magic Evasion and extremely decent Defense ang Magic Defense, so
unless the attacks you're using are both unblockable and barrier-piercing,
you'll get nowhere. Last, you need to be able to cast Reraise or summon
Quetzalli or Jump, the latter of which is tedious and prone to extreme failure
if you're not playing on an emulator.
Gigantuar's wicked fast, so it's tough to keep up. Bring a Hastega caster to the
fight, and make sure you're able to summon Fenrir to deal with !Knockdown.
Curaga spells are very powerful, and having one or two character with the White
Wind Lore makes a real difference. Being able to cast Arise and Reraise are both
great assests to this battle. Prayer Beads and Hermes Sandals both duplicate
effects you can set in-battle, but if you'd rather have Haste or great Evasive
powers from the get-go, salvation lies in them.
On the offense, you have ample options. Mages are fairly worthless unless they
know how to summon Bahamut or cast Ultima. Combining the Master's Scroll with
Locke's Valiant Knife or Setzer's Fixed Dice makes for great results. Phantom
Rush and Grand Delta are powerful attacks as well. If you brought characters
due to their supportive spell selection but don't want them to be offensively
inept, buy a few Holy Rods to chuck at Gigantuar; the resulting Holy spell will
be both unblockable and barrier-piercing, as is any spell coming from a broken
rod.
Gigantuar has 30000 HP. Try to keep track of it a bit so you can guess when to
Jump. Sadly enough, you really stand the best chances if you just pound away
with Curaga and Reraise while dishing out as much damage as you can. If you
lack Reraise, you'll likely fail. The best approach is to have your first
character Jump and try to off Gigantuar in that same round with your other three
characters using Quick. If you lack both Quick and Reraise but have one
character with +4000 HP (2641 + Muscle Belt) you can even try to outlast
Gigantuar. Never attack, only heal yourself every round. After 90 times having
using 1000 Needles, Gigantuar will be out of Needles, so the only attack you'll
have to worry about as soon as you're going on the offense is !Knockdown, which
Vanish takes care of.
If you fail, no worries. It happens to the best of us. You'll be able to start
over with a better grasp of Gigantuar's move pattern. In the end, you'll
prevail. An alternate philosphy by Linkin' Park statest that in the end, nothing
really matters. Considering you're playing a video game, that's also true.
"You defeated that huge cactuar? Nice work!"
You won't obtain the Gigantuar Esper, but the Cactuar 'Esper', which teaches
Teleport, Vanish and Hastega. All that work for this? Cactuar's summon attack
will deal 1000 damage to all enemies on-screen, but there's a (10 percent?)
chance Gigantuar will appear dealing 9999 damage with his 10,000 Needles?
attack. The only thing Cactuar adds to the list is a +2 Speed on level-up. Yeah,
whatever. Only those who are slow in the head raise speed.
If you hated this entire ordeal, don't feel like an outcast. Nearly everyone
hates Gigantuar, in the way that nearly everyone hates watching old people make
out without their teeth in.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.71.1 End-game character evaluation
**********************************
So, I'll be discussing characters here as they perform at this point, just to
give you some comparison. I won't be advising Lightbringer or Paladin's Shield,
as I can't expect you to have it. Most Relic slots will be left empty if no
Relics are vital to the set-ups we're going for (Dragoon Boots/Dragon Horn and
all that are mentioned, as is Berserker Ring on Umaro, as not equipping it is
folly).
As far as the Lightbringer goes, you'll want to give it to Locke, as the girls
really don't need it, and Edgar has enough damage potential too. The Paladin
Shield is best given to a character that otherwise needs Thunder Shields to gain
elemental advantages; characters such as Strago, Gogo, and Sabin come to mind
(especially because they really enjoy the defensive increases).
A note about the Genji Helms here. Genji Helms are often the best helmets
you can land on a character, yet they are rare. End-game, you have two Red Caps,
a Hypno Crown, a Royal Crown in your inventory; all can be turned into a Genji
Helm at the Coliseum (Red Cap - Hypno Crown - Royal Crown - Genji Helm). Red
Caps are superior to Genji Helms in my opinion, the Hypno Wave is usable in an
NMG and the Royal Crown is plain garbage in the end. You can have up to six
Genji Helms in the end, but you'll probably want to end up with three or four.
In the suggestions I list, I list five character with a Genji Helm, as well
as two with a Red Cap. This isn't possible per se. However, you can switch the
Genji Helms between groups, and with the party recommendation I give it's
entirely possible. In the final battle, hey, you can't. Circlets are the best
back-up helmets. Gau is the only one who has specific use for a Genji Helm,
since disregarding oddities such as the Paladin's Shield and Thornlet, he needs
it to reach 255 Defense.
Terra Terra (alternate 128% Magic Evasion set-up)
Enhancer Enhancer
Aegis Shield Force Shield
Mystery Veil Mystery Veil
Minerva Buster Force Armor
- White Cape
- White Cape
Strength: 32 Strength: 31
Speed: 36 Speed: 34
Stamina: 29 Stamina: 28
Magic Power: 53 Magic Power: 49
Attack: 147 Attack: 147
Defense: 200 Defense: 145
Evasion%: 25 Evasion%: 5
Magic Defense: 180 Magic Defense: 206
Magic Evasion%: 87 Magic Evasion%: 137
Absorbs: Absorbs:
Nullifies: Fire, Ice, Nullifies:
Lightning, Wind
Resists: Poison, Holy, Earth, Resists: Fire, Bolt, Ice, Wind, Earth
Water
Terra kicks all kinds of ass late-game; she gets to wield all the best equips
out there; I won't count on the Lightbringer, but I *will* count on the Minerva
Bustier. Late-game Terra nullifies four elements and takes 50% from the other
four. Her main point of offense is her Magic skillset, obviously, meaning that
she can fling the four of the most popular elements to be weak against - Fire,
Ice, Lightning, Holy - with considerable force. A level 3 spell coming from
Terra is going to leave a mark coming from her horribly bloated Magic Power,
and her Magic Evasion is pretty stellar.
Her alternate set-up is shooting for > 128% Magic Evasion. Not as awesome as it
was in alternate versions, it's still noteworthy since physical attacks are so
easily repelled by Ferir and Golem. Not a very practical set-up for random
encounters, but some magically included bosses will have major trouble with this
Terra.
Locke
Valiant Knife
Thunder Shield
Genji Helm
Genji Armor
Muscle Belt
-
Strength: 42
Speed: 43
Stamina: 33
Magic Power: 31
Attack: 159
Defense: 215
Evasion%: 35
Magic Defense: 169
Magic Evasion%: 12
Absorbs: Thunder
Nullifies: Wind
Resists: Fire, Ice
Pretty much the only remarkable feature of this set-up is the fact it includes
the Muscle Belt. Locke lacks any real awesome armor (in fact, he's pretty much
the schoolbook average Defensive character), so the Muscle Belt doesn't hurt to
boost him there. In addition, the more HP Locke has to lose, the more power he
can channel into that blue blade of happiness he carries around, the
Valiant Knife. Nothing much else to say, really; Locke can really enjoy the
Master's Scroll if you're looking for that other Relic to accompany the Muscle
Belt. Note that Red Cap doesn't stack with the Muscle Belt when it comes to HP
boosts. Locke's primary concern is his complete and utter lack of Magic Evasion,
but this is his best shot.
Cyan
Zantetsuken
Aegis Shield
Genji Helm
Genji Armor
-
-
Strength: 45
Speed: 31
Stamina: 35
Magic Power: 28
Attack: 233
Defense: 220
Evasion%: 26
Magic Defense: 190
Magic Evasion%: 41
Absorbs:
Nullifies:
Resists:
I don't really like this set-up, but then again, I don't really like anything
on Cyan (or should be something exceedingly heavy and/or spikey, heh). It's
as good as it's going to get, though. Defense, Magice Defense and evasive
abilities are all normal. The only point of debate is the weapon of Cyan. Some
claim that since Fang outdamages the Attack command at all times, you should
only consider using a weapon that has an added effect, be it either
Masamune's 10 % Evasion, Zantetsuken's 25 % slice effect or Kazekiri's 50 % Wind
Slash attack. If slicing is any kind of option I find a Death spell far and away
superior, and Wind Slash? A 48 Base Power magical attack coming from CYAN? Nay,
while the above philosophy is actually sported by some respected peers, I find
that Attacks' targetable nature is often more useful than Wind Slash or random
ID, so stick with your strongest weapon, also when you should find the more
powerful yet largely featureless Mutsunokami in the near future.
Shadow
Thief's Knife
Thunder Shield
Genji Helm
Genji Armor
-
-
Strength: 44
Speed: 44
Stamina: 32
Magic Power: 36
Attack: 111
Defense: 216
Evasion%: 58
Magic Defense: 171
Magic Evasion%: 29
Absorbs: Lightning
Nullifies: Wind
Resists: Fire, Ice
What can I say about Shadow here? Apart from his weapon, his defenses are
entirely standard. You'd expect something more evasive and less durable for a
Ninja, I'm sure, but this is what the game gives us. You can take Shadow any
ol' way you like; give him two Earrings and watch his magical Scrolls perform
decently; give him a Hero's Ring and a Hyper Wrist (due to Throw, actually
fairly effective) and watch feable Shuriken clean house; pass on both Force
Shield and Swordbreaker to make for that mad-dodging-Ninja you might think would
fit him, I don't really care. Shadow has, as is befitting of a true cold-hearted
warrior, no actual weaknesses to defend or extreme strengths to exploit, so have
a field day with him.
Edgar
Holy Lance
Force Shield
Genji Helmet
Genji Armor
Dragoon Boots
Dragon Horn
Strength: 59
Speed: 30
Stamina: 34
Magic Power: 32
Attack: 214
Defense: 176
Evasion%: 4
Magic Defense: 210
Magic Evasion%: 51
Absorbs:
Nullifies:
Resists: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Earth, Water
Canon Hiryuu Dragoon Edgar, I'd say. Obviously there's always the choice which
(if any) piece of Genji equipment is replaced by an item that grants elemental
properties. I liked this one the best, as it gives Edgar superior Magic Defense
(honestly, 210 is really good), and while his Defense is lacking here, his
status as Dragoon makes sure he will take far less physical hits than other
characters anyway. Inherent Shell coming from the shield is nice icing on the
proverbial cake, and 51% Magic Evasion is plain solid. Edgar is mainly working
his Jump attacks here, which means he's pretty limited to rather uncontrollable
and random Holy-elemental damage, but he's very good at it. The only non-Magic
skills Edgar may still use are Noiseblaster and Air Anchor (possibly Drill if
you want to go for a sure and quick kill when you know the enemy is weakened
enough).
Sabin Sabin (Merit Award set-up)
Tigerfangs Enhancer
Genji Shield Genji Shield
Red Cap Circlet
Red Jacket Genji Armor
- Merit Award
- -
Strength: 59 Strength: 54
Speed: 44 Speed: 41
Stamina: 47 Stamina: 44
Magic Power: 32 Magic Power: 42
Attack: 241 Attack: 161
Defense: 209 Defense: 222
Evasion%: 32 Evasion%: 32
Magic Defense: 143 Magic Defense: 170
Magic Evasion%: 24 Magic Evasion%: 44
Absorbs: Absorbs:
Nullifies: Fire Nullifies:
Resists: Resists:
Yes, with the Red Jacket as your ultimate armor, you can't expect to be very
well suited to take hits, and with a grotesquely low Magic Defense as 143 that
quickly becomes apparent. It was a toss-up for me between Thunder Shield and
Genji Shield; Sabin could use the elemental properties, sure, but switching
means that Sabin's Magic Defense lowers to 121, which is just plain
unacceptable. Since in this game extra Defense matters more if you have high
Defense in the first place, Sabin will like the Red Cap better than the Genji
Helm's superior defenses. Defense is more or less okay-ish, slightly lower than
most characters. Horrid evasiave properties too. On the offense, Sabin is
basically a two-trick pony; Razor Gale for MT damage and Phantom Rush for ST
damage. Unless you know it'll do the trick or you have a good follow-up move,
Razor Gale is pretty obsolete in the final dungeon; you want to kill or disable,
not randomly throw damage around (it ain't Seiken Densetsu III, folks). Once
again, Sabin relies on his Magic Power, so stick at least one Hero's Ring/
Earring on him (he will also like defensive Relics such as Guard Bracelet and
Miracle Shoes. Muscle Belt works, in which case you should swap the Red Cap for
a Genji Helm).
On the alternate set-up: some players frown upon the Merit Award, but I feel
it will help Sabin greatly in the final parts of this game. At the loss of
a single Relic slot and Fire nullifying, Sabin gains here + 10 Magic Power,
13 Defense, 27 Magic Defense, and 20% Magic Evasion. I say Sabin wins here.
Replace Enhancer with Magus Rod where possible for 10% extra Magic Evasion and
33 extra Attack Power.
Celes Celes (alternate 128% Magic Evasion set-up)
Enhancer Enhancer
Aegis Shield Force Shield
Mystery Veil Mystery Veil
Minerva Bustier Force Armor
- White Cape
- -
Strength: 35 Strength: 34
Speed: 37 Speed: 35
Stamina: 32 Stamina: 31
Magic Power: 50 Magic Power: 46
Attack: 151 Attack: 151
Defense: 202 Defense: 142
Evasion%: 27 Evasion%: 7
Magic Defense: 178 Magic Defense: 199
Magic Evasion%: 89 Magic Evasion%: 129
Absorbs: Absorbs:
Nullifies: Fire, Ice, Nullifies:
Lightning, Wind
Resists: Poison, Holy, Earth, Resists: Fire, Bolt, Ice, Wind, Earth
Water
Celes is entirely like Terra with some very, very subtle stat differences and
one major one; Celes has 2 extra inherent Magic Evasion which means that she
needs 10 coming from equipment to reach that perfect 128. This, again, means
that Celes can pull off Terra's road to perfect evasion while still making room
for a Relic such as Prayer Beads. That's good!
Relm Relm (alternate 128 Magic Evasion% set-up)
Magus Rod Magus Rod
Genji Shield Force Shield
Cat-Ear Hood Cat-Ear Hood
Behemoth Suit Magus Robe
- White Cape
- White Cape
Strength: 32 Strength: 26
Speed: 42 Speed: 36
Stamina: 28 Stamina: 22
Magic Power: 61 Magic Power: 60
Attack: 179 Attack: 179
Defense: 216 Defense: 146
Evasion%: 43 Evasion%: 23
Magic Defense: 186 Magic Defense: 193
Magic Evasion%: 69 Magic Evasion%: 129
Absorbs: Absorbs:
Nullifies: Nullifies:
Resists: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Resists: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Holy,
Wind, Holy, Earth Earth
61 fricking Magic Power! Yeah, Relm is a PURE Mage end-game. Sketch sucks
beyond all human comprehension, and her physicals are nothing compared to her
magical damage output, meaning she won't actually absorb or nullify anything,
which is a darn shame - she will still take less damage than most characters.
On the alternate set-up: a perfect Magic Evasion set-up. The good thing here is
that she only needs ONE item you may want on another character to get there;
everything else is either store-bought or pretty much Relm-focused anyway.
Great Magic Power still, and her elemental resistances don't suffer either.
A far greater set-up than the 'basic' one if you have the goods to spare.
Strago
Magus Rod
Thunder Shield
Circlet
Behemoth Suit
-
-
Strength: 36
Speed: 32
Stamina: 28
Magic Power: 51
Attack: 178
Defense: 195
Evasion%: 26
Magic Defense: 147
Magic Evasion%: 47
Absorbs: Lightning
Nullifies: Wind
Resists: Fire, Ice
Yes, as you can see, late-game Strago's Magic Power doesn't differ much from
Terra's, even though the old man's less magically adept than the moody
shapeshiftress ever was; you can thank the Magic-boosting equips for that.
Strago is inferior to Terra in his role as Magic wielder, but where Terra has
Trance, Strago has Lore. This is only partially useful late-g