Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition: FAQ/Walkthrough by Dark Vortex Version 1.

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*========================================================================== ===* *~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ * Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition FAQ/Walkthrough By: Dark Vortex (Quan Jin) darkvortexfaqs@ymail.com Version 1.0 *~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ * *========================================================================== ===* This guide may be found on the following sites: [http://www.gamefaqs.com]-------------------------------------------[GameFAQs] [http://www.gamespot.com]-------------------------------------------[GameSpot] [http://faqs.ign.com]------------------------------------------------[IGN FAQs] [http://www.neoseeker.com]-----------------------------------------[Neoseeker] [http://www.dlh.net]--------------------------------------[Dirty Little Helper] [http://www.cheats.de]---------------------------------------------[Cheats.de] [http://www.supercheats.com]-------------------------------------[SuperCheats] [http://www.honestgamers.com]-----------------------------------[HonestGamers] This guide is copyright (c)2008 Quan Jin *========================================================================== ===* +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ Table Of Contents +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ *========================================================================== ===* 1. Introduction...............................................[1000] 2. FAQ........................................................[2000] 3. Basics.....................................................[3000] 3.1. Controls...........................................[3100] 3.2. Battle System......................................[3200] 4. Class System...............................................[4000] 5. Walkthrough................................................[5000] 5.1. The Four Warriors Of Light.........................[5100] 5.2. An Elven Prince....................................[5200] 5.3. Earth Shattering!..................................[5300] 5.4. Volcanic Activity..................................[5400]

5.5. The Airship........................................[5500] 5.6. Citadel Of Trials..................................[5600] 5.7. Waterlogged........................................[5700] 5.8. Fortress In the Sky................................[5800] 5.9. Final Chaos........................................[5900] 6. Soul Of Chaos..............................................[6000] 6.1. Earthgift Shrine...................................[6100] 6.2. Hellfire Chasm.....................................[6200] 6.3. Lifespring Grotto..................................[6300] 6.4. Whisperwind Cove...................................[6400] 7. Equipment Listing..........................................[7000] 7.1. Weapons............................................[7100] 7.2. Shields............................................[7200] 7.3. Headwear...........................................[7300] 7.4. Body Armor.........................................[7400] 7.5. Gloves.............................................[7500] 8. Magic Spells...............................................[8000] 8.1. Black Magic........................................[8100] 8.2. White Magic........................................[8200] 9. Shop Listing...............................................[9000] 9.1. Weapon Shops.......................................[9100] 9.2. Armor Shops........................................[9200] 9.3. Black Magic Shops..................................[9300] 9.4. White Magic Shops..................................[9400] 9.5. Item Shops.........................................[9500] 10. Boss Listing.............................................[10000] 11. Bestiary.................................................[11000] 12. Version History..........................................[12000] 13. Legal Disclaimers........................................[13000] 14. Credits and Closing......................................[14000] To find a section quickly, press Ctrl-F and type in either the name of the section along with its content number (ie. 1., 2., 3., etc.) OR you can use the codes on the far right. Simply type in the brackets with the code number to get a jump. *========================================================================== ===* +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ 1. Introduction [1000] +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ *========================================================================== ===* The Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition was released on the PSP to commemorate the 20th aniversary of the Final Fantasy franchise. The first Final Fantasy has been completely revamped graphics-wise with new character models and textures. While the gameplay hasn't changed all that much (except for a new Labyrinth of Time dungeon), the visuals have improved enough to merit a replay for even those who have already played. I hope you find this guide useful. Thanks for reading this useless intro and enjoy! *========================================================================== ===* +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ 2. FAQ [2000] +---------------------------------------------------------------------+

*========================================================================== ===* +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] Roughly how long is this game? [A] Being the first Final Fantasy, the length of this game isn't too long. Without a guide, it should take you a few weeks to find your way through the game as well as defeating the Soul Of Chaos dungeon. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] Whenever I engage in battle, sometimes "Preemptive Strike!" or "Ambushed!" appear at the top of the screen. What do those mean? [A] "Preemptive Strike!" basically means you caught an enemy off guard so all of your units will have the first strike. "Ambushed!" means that your opponents caught you unaware. Therefore, they will gain the first strike. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] What does the "Optimal" option mean when equipping my team? [A] The game will automatically select the top-stat items from your inventory for each character. It makes your job easier, but items with special qualities are overlooked. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] How do I get Excalibur weapon? [A] First, you need to get the Adamantite from the Flying Fortress. Take the Adamantite to the dwarf in the Mount Duergar to get it forged. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] How do I get the Deathbringer weapon? [A] The rare Deathbringer can only be obtained by defeating Black Knights. If you use the sword as an item, it can cast Death as many times as you'd like. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] This weapon says that it casts [Insert Magic Spell Here] whenever used. How do I do that?

[A] If you equip the weapon, it's not going to cast the spell. Instead, you have to select the weapon from the Item list by clicking on the Item button during battle. A weapon (occasionally armor) can be used for a spell an infinite amount of times, but only once per battle. Some of these special weapons include Thor's Hammer, Razer, Light Axe, Mage's Staff, Healing Staff, etc. These are useful, but don't rely on them all the time. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] Where can I find the Tyrannosaur? [A] This hard-to-locate monster can be found around the lake north of Lufenia. A lot of walking around is required. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] Where can I find the Death Machine? [A] This special monster is one of the hardest to locate in Final Fantasy I. You can find the Death Machine on the fifth floor of the Flying Fortress. Just walk around a lot and you should get it eventually. However, the Death Machine itself is very difficult to kill so make sure you're ready for it. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] Where would be the best places to train later in the game? [A] The Chimeras of the Mirage Tower give a very hefty amount of EXP. Likewise, the Ochus and Neochus of the rivers (canoe required) also provide a lot of EXP. The best area to train is the Flying Fortress. Almost every battle will net you more than 1000 EXP. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] Does Temper and Haste stack on top of each other? [A] Temper stacks so you can keep casting it to buff up your fighters. Haste, on the other hand, doesn't stack. If you cast it more than once on the same character, it won't have any effect. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] Can magical barriers stack?

[A] The NulBlaze, NulShock, etc. do not stack. Invisira can stack as it continually ups your evasion until you reach the max. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Q] What?! The Duel Rapier is only one sword?? [A] Duel (n.) A combat between two persons esp. one fought with weapons. Dual (adj.) Double +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ *========================================================================== ===* +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ 3. Basics [3000] +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ *========================================================================== ===* Before you begin playing Final Fantasy, I strongly suggest you read the manual. For those of you without a manual, read the text below before you begin. ~----------------------------------------------------------------------------~ ~ 3.1. Controls ~ [3100] ~----------------------------------------------------------------------------~ L Button R Button |________________________________________________|_____ Triangle ,'_____/ Button / _ | _|_|_ ,-------|_>_<_| | | |_| -. Directional | | Pad | | | | | | | `.____\_________________________________|___|___|_,' Circle | Button Select Button --' | | | | X Button | Square Button | | | | .------------------------------------. __ \ | | | |__|-----' | | __ __ | | ||__| |__|--| ,-. `-' | | || || || __ |__| | | __|___/ | | | | \_____`.

'------------------------------------'| \ _____ === === |

Start Button Directional Pad --------------~ Move the character. ~ Move the cursor. X Button -------~ Confirm. ~ Talk. ~ Examine. ~ Board and disembark vehicles such as an airship. Circle Button ------------~ Cancel. ~ Return to previous screen. ~ Move faster in towns and dungeons (press and hold). ~ Press O Button + Select to display the world map. Triangle Button --------------~ Status screen. Square Button ------------~ Bestiary. L Button -------~ Change pages (available in menus where [L] or [R] appears at the edge of the screen). R Button -------~ Change pages (available in menus where [L] or [R] appears at the edge of the screen). Start ----~ Display the main menu. Select -----~ Press O Button + Select to display the world map. ~----------------------------------------------------------------------------~ ~ 3.2. Battle System ~ [3200] ~----------------------------------------------------------------------------~ Below is a rather crude ASCII depiction of the battle interface. You will see one of these pop up whenever your group engages in battle. ,----------------------[1]----------------------. ||_____________________________________________|| | ____| |,'--------------. ,-------------' |

| [2] `----------' | | O | | O R U TUFF -|| | \|/ ENUFF?!1 / \ | | / \ `------->O | | [3] -|- [4] | | O / \ | | \|/ O | | / \ -|| | / \ | | O O | | \|/ -|| | / \ / \ | | __________ | |,---------| |------------------------.| | Dudes 3 | Attack[6]| Quan 999/999 999 | | [5] | Magic [7]| Rich 666/666 666 | | | Items [8]| Jacco 001/001 001 | | | Equip [9]| Steve 069/069 069 | | | Flee [10]| [11] [12] [13]| `----------'----------'-------------------------' [1] Battle Message Display --- Descriptions of spells or items can be located here. Also, important battle speak will also appear hear. [2] Game Field --- All the action and appearance happen on this board. Normally, there will be a background as the battle area. [3] Enemy Side --- All of your enemies can be located on the left side. [4] Your Side --- All of your available units can be located on the right side. [5] Enemies --- All of your enemies are listed here. The amount on the field during the battle is displayed to the right of the name. [6] Attack Option --- Attack your enemy with a physical attack. [7] Magic Option --- If physical attacks won't work for you, use magic. [8] Item Option --- If you need to use an item during any given moment, use this option. [9] Equip Option --- Need to change a character's equipped items? Just give this option a fly. [10] Flee Option --- When all else fails, you can always just run away. Fleeing a battle isn't always guaranteed. [11] Name Column --- All of your characters' names are depicted here. [12] HP Column --- The remaining HP for each unit is right here. [13] MP Column --- The remaining MP for each unit is right here. *========================================================================== ===* +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ 4. Class System [4000] +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ *========================================================================== ===*

There are six classes, each with their upgradeable counterparts that can be found and done sometime in Final Fantasy I. Each of them have their ups and downs so there really is "definitive" party to have. However, there are a few no-nos. A party of four Black Mages wouldn't make sense... right? If you have common sense, you should be able to figure things out for yourself. [----------------------------------------------------------------------------] -------------Warrior/Knight -------------The main physical class in Final Fantasy. Warriors are capable of wielding a variety of battle weapons including Swords, Axes, and a bunch of other stuff. Although evade and accuracy usually aren't their strong points, Warriors can still become an admirable attacker usually leading off attacks. Once you upgrade your Warrior into a Knight, he will be capable of using weaker White Magic. Many people choose to have two or even three Warriors in their groups at a time. The benefits outweigh the flaws so the Warrior is a great choice, if not the best possible class choice. ----------Thief/Ninja ----------The Thief was a hated character class in the original Final Fantasy. With terrible attack and defense stats, the only real benefit Thieves provided was their evade and luck statistics. Basically, Thieves are just hard to hit and very good at running away. So why do people still use this terrible beginning character? Well, once you upgrade a Thief to a Ninja, you gain many advantages. First of all, the Ninja is capable of casting Black Magic. Second, the Ninja gains the ability to hold a wider range of weapons including the exclusive Monk Nunchakus. Even so, you still might not want a Thief in your group. I prefer to have a Monk in one's place. ----------Monk/Master ----------Monks are the TRUE physical units of Final Fantasy. Being martial art masters, they can fight without weapons or with Nunchaku. However, the general public has found that actually fighting without weaponry can be more beneficial to your team as Monks deal more damage. Especially in the beginning of the game, Monks are heavy attackers dealing very high

HP damage at lower levels although Monks are nowhere near well rounded in terms of stat growth. Defense growth is usually terrible and Magic stats are practically non-existent considering Monks and even the upgraded Masters are incapable of dealing magical spells. ------------------Red Mage/Red Wizard ------------------Red Mages are no doubt, the most versatile magic casters in Final Fantasy. However, their ability to use both Black and White Magic can provide some problems too. Because a mage can only learn three spells of each level, you will have to choose to learn 3 spells out of 8 rather than the standard 3 spells out of 4. Choosing can become difficult. Nevertheless, Red Mages are still good magic casters and at the same time, can be pretty effective even with physical attacks. Just make sure that you keep a good balance or teach it certain magic only as in only Black or White Magic. ----------------------White Mage/White Wizard ----------------------The best and probably the only support unit in the game (apart from the Red Mage... optionally) is the White Mage. With spells that can heal, protect, and cure, White Mages are generally useful assets. Rather than using a Potion or Phoenix Down, you can simply cast Cura or Life upon one of your allies. However, White Mages don't have very good attack or defense growth. That's irrelevant as you shouldn't be using a White Mage as an offensive attacker anyway. ----------------------Black Mage/Black Wizard ----------------------The offensive magic caster in Final Fantasy is a Black Mage. Capable of casting elemental magic spells along with a number of offensive or supporting spells, Black Mages are very powerful in their trade. The first few learnable spells are useful, but once you get down to castings such as Death which causes an instant KO or Flare which deals heavy damage through light and heat, Black Mages suddenly become way cooler. A full-powered Black Wizard with Magic stats off the charts can terrorize an enemy team. *========================================================================== ===* +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ 5. Walkthrough [5000] +---------------------------------------------------------------------+

*========================================================================== ===* Well, the walkthrough is listed below. While reading through it, I strongly recommend taking all the advice I give you. If you fail to fully follow every step, your game might be scarred forever. On the same note, don't use this walkthrough unless you are planning to use it from start to end. If used at different interims, certain areas of the game or items might be missed... and that's not cool. Finally, know that you will be using the world map very often. Just remember that the combination to bring it up is "Select + O Button." I will also not mention the Soul Of Chaos dungeons (at least in terms of going to them). For information on that, check the Soul Of Chaos's respective section. Anyhow, enjoy the walkthrough and take any necessary precautions.

[=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~] 5.1. The Four Warriors Of Light ------------- [5100] [=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~]

At the very start, you'll be asked to select your party from six possible character classes. Confirm the party that you created and the game will finally begin. A dark entrance cutscene will appear. Read through it if you'd like, but it doesn't really give too much input on the story despite some background information on the legendary "crystals." Anyhow, once that short intermission ends, you will find yourself standing outside a town. (Don't ask me how you got so big.) Walk up a little bit and enter the village by "stepping" into it. ---=| __________________________ Cornelia |=--

As you enter, move around a bit and get a feel for the game's controls. There are a few people to talk to. However, if you'd like to explore the town first, don't converse with the soldier that appears at the exit. Notice the Inn right by the entrance. Although your units are maxed in HP and MP, whenever you need to refresh your party, head to an Inn. The pay to stay in the Cornelia Inn is 30 Gil. That's pretty cheap compared to later towns. Starting with 500 Gil, you don't have too much to spend. However, you can find a bit of stuff by locating the Weapon and Armor Shop. Distinguish between

those two as the Weapon Shop has a "sword" insignia while the Armor Shop has a "shield" logo. Cornelia Weapon Shop ~ ==================== * Nunchaku -- Wooden Nunchaku. Cost: 8 Gil Class: Monk, Master, Ninja * Knife -- A small knife. Cost: 4 Gil Class: Warrior, Thief, Red Mage, Black Mage, Knight, Ninja, Red Wizard, Black Wizard * Staff -- A wooden staff. Cost: 4 Gil Class: Warrior, Monk, Red Mage, White Mage, Black Mage, Knight, Master, Red Wizard, White Wizard, Black Wizard * Rapier -- A sword with a slender blade. Cost: 8 Gil Class: Warrior, Thief, Red Mage, Knight, Ninja, Red Wizard. * Hammer -- A hammer made for battle. Cost: 8 Gil Class: Warrior, White Mage, Knight, White Wizard, Ninja Cornelia Armor Shop ~ =================== * Clothes -- Ordinary clothing. Cost: 4 Gil Class: [All] * Leather Armor -- Armor made of hardened leather. Cost: 40 Gil Class: Warrior, Monk, Thief, Red Mage, Knight, Master, Ninja, Red Wizard * Chain Mail -- Mail of interwoven chain links. Cost: 65 Gil Class: Warrior, Red Mage, Knight, Red Wizard, Ninja There are limited choices considering the amount of Gil you have and being this early into the game. However, try to upgrade some of your characters at least a little. The Rapier and Hammer are both very effective weapons. Likewise, some Leather Armor or Chain Mail for those that can wear them will also be useful. Next, find your way north of the two shops to the two magic shops. The Black Magic Shop is on the left as it has a black fill in its logo and the White Magic Shop is on the right with a white fill in its sign. Cornelia Black Magic Shop ~

========================= * Fire -- Deals fire damage to one foe. Level: 1 Cost: 50 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja * Sleep -- Puts all foes to sleep. Level: 1 Cost: 50 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja * Focus -- Lowers one foe's evasion. Level: 1 Cost: 50 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja * Thunder -- Deals lightning damage to one foe. Level: 1 Cost: 50 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja Cornelia White Magic Shop ~ ========================= * Cure -- Restores a little HP to one ally. Level: 1 Cost: 50 Gil Class: Red Mage, White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard, Knight * Dia -- Deals damage to all undead foes. Level: 1 Cost: 50 Gil Class: White Mage, White Wizard * Protect -- Raises one ally's defense. Level: 1 Cost: 50 Gil Class: Red Mage, White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard, Knight * Blink -- Raises caster's evasion. Level: 1 Cost: 50 Gil Class: Red Mage, White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard, Knight As you buy spells, keep in mind that a magic caster may only learn a maximum of three spells per level. Cornelia only holds Level 1 spells so your mages may

only learn three of each spell. As you advance through the game, Level 2 or 3 spells will appear. Even with three Level 1 spells down, you can still learn three Level 2 spells later on. Don't waste your money if you know that you are just going to discard a spell later. Review the spells and fill up your magic units' spell lineup. Exit the shops and head a bit to the east. Cross over a small bridge while moving east and you should come to a church-like building. This is a Sanctuary. If your units ever fall in battle, and you don't have Phoenix Downs or Life spells to use, bring that unit to the Sanctuary, and the bishop will revive them at the cost of a usually hefty fee. Guess mad "skillz" don't come cheap. Since none of your units probably are KOed at this point, I'd suggest bypassing the Sanctuary at the moment. Leave the building and head south across another small causeway over a stream. A building with a "teacup" logo on it should appear to your character's left. This is another form of a shop that sells Potions and that jazz. Enter the Item Shop and see what's around. Cornelia Item Shop ~ ================== * Potion -- Restores 50 HP. Cost: 40 Gil * Antidote -- Cures poison. Cost: 50 Gil * Phoenix Down -- Revives one KO'd ally. Cost: 500 Gil * Sleeping Bag -- Partially restores party's HP. Cost: 50 Gil Suggest buying a few Potions and Antidotes. Don't worry as these items will still be available after the next portion of the game. Now that you finish browsing Cornelia, consider exiting the town. However, all of them are blocked by soldiers. Talk to one of them and he'll be awed at the crystals your characters are holding. (Huh, what crystals?) With that, he ends by exclaiming that YOU MUST SEE THE KING AT ONCE!! *gasp* ---=| __________________________ Castle Cornelia |=--

Now with your party led inside the castle, you stand before the King. At first, he asks to see the crystals. Laying them out, the King notices that they are indeed genuine. Lukahn's prophecy has certainly come true. While the King's advisor still doubts your team being the four warriors, you have an objective to complete. The princess of Cornelia, Sarah, is missing. Being the

four "supposed" warriors of the light, the King orders that you find her. However, it will be somewhat dangerous. One of the finest swordsman EVAR has taken her captive. Although your team aren't really that great of warriors, the King here still believes that you shall save the world. With a quick warning about the swordsman Garland, the King shuts up and leaves you back at the controls. Now that your briefing is complete, leave the castle by heading straight south. Head into Cornelia if the need arises. When ready, leave the town and venture into the wilderness... Now back outside and fully equipped, begin heading away from the town northward. Prepare to meet some of your first fights in this portion of the game. Even at your 00ber level of 1 however, the Goblins that attack you should still fall easily. In fact, before walking too northward, engage and try to gain a few levels. Slowly make your way north and you should notice the incomplete bridge. Ignore that and head in the northwest direction on a wide land bridge. As your party continues, some mountains should appear on your left and right. Notice a small cave on the left side of the valley. Bypass that at this point as it holds no relevance to the task at hand. The path will begin to the lean northwestern-ish so follow closely. Venture through another forestlike area. At this point, the Chaos Shrine should appear ahead. Note the sudden change in enemy types around this area. Instead of the standard Goblins we saw before, some Skeletons will begin popping up here and there. Garland has taken refuge in this shrine. Before you enter, try to level up your units a bit. Level 3 or 4 is a good figure. Some of the monsters around the Chaos Shrine provide a lot of EXP. However, don't let them gang up on you. Considering your low level, they might cause you a few problems. When you feel ready to take on Garland, enter the shrine... ---=| __________________________ Chaos Shrine |=--

Before moving, get a feel for what the Chaos Shrine looks like. It isn't exactly considered a dungeon seeing as it only is a one floor area. Anyhow, this shrine is symmetrical both vertically and horizontally. Before fighting Garland, look around for treasures. Head to the southwestern corner and find a door. Walk into it and the room the door hid will light up. Inside, you'll find a treasure chest. Open it for a Leather Cap. The other two treasures are in the northwestern corner of the shrine. Venture up there fighting any opposition that appears. Once there, head through another door and two chests will be revealed in front of you. Open the right one for a Potion and the left one for a Tent. Now with the treasures of the

Chaos Shrine collected, find your way back to the entrance area. However, don't exit yet as we still haven't defeated Garland. Hopefully, the monsters that you fought while collecting the items have given you some EXP. If you aren't already at Level 4-5, begin to train now or you will be sorry later. Use the Potions that you bought back at Cornelia as needed. If you absolutely have to, run out the Chaos Shrine back to Cornelia and heal at the Inn. Whichever way you choose to level up and stay alive, be ready for Garland. From Chaos Shrine's entrance, head straight up through a door. Talk to the ugly dude... oh wait, that's Garland. Boss Fight: Garland ~ =-----------------= Well, it looks like the King was right in who had kidnapped his daughter. Being the meanie that he is, Garland challenges you and your team to a fight. This is the fight against Garland, the first boss battle of the game. Obviously, you might have a bit more trouble here then with some of the Goblins hanging around. If you are at a legitimate level, the battle will flow much quicker. Garland himself has pretty high attack stats. For the most part, he spends all his turns just hitting your units. Use offensive magic and a bunch of physical strikes to take him down. Use Potions and White Mage Cures when you need them. As long as you're diligent, Garland will fall easily. Once Garland is taken down, his body disappears. (That means that he's dead.) Your team moves forward a bit and the Princess will wake up. Noticing what has just happened, she is instantly grateful for your rescue (Yay). With that, she introduces herself as Sarah, princess of Cornelia as if you didn't already know that. Congratulations on your first boss fight of the game! Once you bring her back to Castle Cornelia, the happy King will give you some words of appreciation. Without a doubt, your team is definitely the four warriors of light that Lukahn's prophecy had stated. If you didn't know it yet, the King will recite some of it for you. Following, he'll tell you of a crystal on the continent toward the north. As promised, his majesty will have the bridge built as quickly as possible. Finally, you have the option to leave the castle. Sarah will stop you for one last moment and give you the Lute (whatever the heck that is). Once you take it, leave the castle and a cutscene will ensue shortly afterward. The director of the bridge operation will order his men to quickly finish up the bridge. Watch it finish and a single worker will ask what the bridge has to do with the prophecy. The four warriors of light are here in Cornelia. Now, the adventure begins.

With the bridge complete, a large portion of the overworld will become available to us. Before we go, take some time to head into Cornelia one last time. Heal at the Inn if you'd like and stock up on some Potions and Antidotes before you go. When you feel ready, leave town and head to the bridge north of Cornelia. Now finished, cross over it and a scrolling text-type cutscene will appear. It really kind of leaves you with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside, doesn't it? The title screen will pop up afterward. While the previous situations paved the path, the real adventure starts now after crossing this bridge. Once the title screen rids itself, step from Cornelia onto the next continent. The Final Fantasy adventure begins... now. As you progress along this thin strip of land, some mountains will appear ahead of you splitting the path ahead in half. The left fork leads you to a special cave, but we can't really do anything over there. Instead, take the "right" turn (BAD PUN ALERT!) and continue along. From this point, continue east through a thick forest. By now, you should begin seeing more dangerous monsters infesting the area. Ogres and Warg Wolfs infest the area. Although they provide a lot of EXP, they can easily kill off your weaker team. So continue trudging east dealing with the enemies you find as best as you can. Use White Magic Cures or Potions to keep your units in tip-top shape. If you can survive, take a few moments to level up your characters. Level 7 is a good figure at this point. If you continue advancing east, you should eventually hit a shoreline. Now begin moving southward and find yourself upon a small town. Enter. ---=| __________________________ Pravoka |=--

As you enter the area, some activity seems to be going on. The civilians are in a frantic state (even though they aren't acting like it), but for what reason? Anyhow, Pravoka's Inn is directly due north of the entrance. Just walk straight up and you should reach it. Heal your units there for a fee of 50 Gil. Also, head to the Sanctuary if any of your units need reviving. Note that the farther away you get from Cornelia, the more expensive the Inns and Sanctuaries become. Exit the Inn or Sanctuary and head to the northwestern area of town. Three pirates are valiantly standing around as if they own this joint. Talk to the dude in the center. Bikke is a pirate who apparently likes to terrorize this town. Talk to him and he'll tell you that you must have "cannon balls of steel" (NOW THAT IS FUNNY!) to be taking him own. Bikke's illiterate henchmen now will engage you. "We'll make their bones go crunch!" Now for the scripted battle against Bikke's nine Pirates. Each Pirate is physically weak, but they do have numbers on their side. With a full count of

nine, they can easily overwhelm you. Don't let that happen and slice away at each one. I'd suggest using Sleep to put them out of commission for a little while. Anyhow, defeat all nine of them. They aren't too hard so you shouldn't that much trouble. Now that his Pirates are down and out, Bikke will instantly crack down and apologetically accepts his defeat. Despite not fighting his own battle, Bikke swears he won't do anymore pirate stuff. To really show his true nature, he actually gives you his Ship! Well, we have just turned a mean pirate into an ethical person. Congratulations... er... on that! Now that Pravoka is no longer terrorized by those wannabe pirates, you might want to check out the Ship that you received. Leave the town and get on it. Ride around a bit if you'd like. Before continuing however, I'd suggest heading into town and checking the various stores. Hoorah! Pravoka Weapon Shop ~ =================== * Hammer -- A hammer made for battle. Cost: 8 Gil Class: Warrior, White Mage, Knight, White Wizard, Ninja * Broadsword -- Sword with a wide, double-edged blade. Cost: 450 Gil Class: Warrior, Red Mage, Knight, Red Wizard, Ninja * Battle Axe -- An axe made for battle. Cost: 450 Gil Class: Warrior, Knight, Ninja * Scimitar -- A sword with a curved blade. Cost: 160 Gil Class: Warrior, Thief, Red Mage, Knight, Ninja, Red Wizard Pravoka Armor Shop ~ ================== * Leather Armor -- Armor made of hardened leather. Cost: 40 Gil Class: Warrior, Monk, Thief, Red Mage, Knight, Master, Ninja, Red Wizard * Chain Mail -- Mail of interwoven chain links. Cost: 65 Gil Class: Warrior, Red Mage, Knight, Red Wizard, Ninja * Iron Armor -- Armor made of thinly hammered iron. Cost: 640 Gil Class: Warrior, Knight, Ninja * Leather Shield -- A shield made of hardened leather. Cost: 12 Gil Class: Warrior, Knight, Ninja

* Leather Gloves -- Gloves made of leather. Cost: 50 Gil Class: [All] Pravoka Black Magic Shop ~ ======================== * Blizzard -- Deals ice damage to one foe. Level: 2 Cost: 250 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja * Dark -- Blinds all foes with darkness. Level: 2 Cost: 250 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja * Temper -- Raises one ally's attack. Level: 2 Cost: 250 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja * Slow -- Reduces all foes' number of attacks. Level: 2 Cost: 250 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja Pravoka White Magic Shop ~ ======================== * Blindna -- Cures darkness. Level: 2 Cost: 250 Gil Class: Red Mage, White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard, Knight * Silence -- Prevents all foes from casting spells. Level: 2 Cost: 250 Gil Class: Red Mage, White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard, Knight * NulShock -- Reduces lightning damage by half. Level: 2 Cost: 250 Gil Class: Red Mage, White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard, Knight * Invis -- Raises one ally's evasion. Level: 2 Cost: 250 Gil

Class: Red Mage, White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard, Knight Pravoka Item Shop ~ ================= * Potion -- Restores 50 HP. Cost: 40 Gil * Ether -- Restores 50 MP. Cost: 150 Gil * Antidote -- Cures poison. Cost: 50 Gil * Eye Drops -- Cures darkness. Cost: 50 Gil * Phoenix Down -- Revives one KO'd ally. Cost: 500 Gil As you can see, there's a lot of shopping opportunity here in Pravoka. Out of all of them, I'd strongly suggest picking up a Broadsword, Scimitar, and Battle Axe (depending on what your group is made up of) along with some Chain Mail, Iron Armor, Leather Shields, and some Leather Gloves. A bunch of new Level 2 Black Magic and White Magic spells are also available for sale at a hefty price of 250 Gil. There's a lot to buy, and you probably don't have too much Gil. That's easily fixed by just heading back into the overworld and training with various monsters. Build up your Gil stockpile and refit your team as needed. When you finish shopping and upgrading, head out of Pravoka and take your Ship out to sea.

[=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~] 5.2. An Elven Prince ------------------------ [5200] [=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~]

Surprisingly, monsters can still attack you while on the Ship. Obviously, they can swim so expect water-based enemies here. Wait a second, what did we learn in grade school science? Doesn't water conduct electricity? Use your Thunder spells to mess with their weakness and they will fall quickly. Anyhow, when you finish messing around, begin sailing westward. When you reach the fork in the water, take the one leading east. The river will begin to widen up. You should still head west rather than south. You should hit land as well as the edge of Cornelia. Head to the south end of the town and get off at the dock.

Well, if you need refreshing, the Inn is always there. Also, buy a few more Potions in case your weakling team breaks down. When you are ready, head back onto the Ship and begin sailing south. If you care to know where you're going exactly, bring up the world map with O Button + Select. There's a continent just below Cornelia. The red dots indicate towns or villages. Judging by the name of this section, we are heading to an elf-infested town, Elfheim. Anyhow, you should eventually hit land. From there, locate the dock to your west and have your team get off. Trudge south through a thick forest and Elfheim should appear in the clear. It's a rather small, yet cozy village inhabiting a number of elves. Loom at the north end is a large castle. Instead of heading inside the castle however, let's head into the village instead. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Elfheim. ---=| __________________________ Elfheim |=--

Elfheim has all the ingredients for a great rest area. Just as you enter, an Inn should appear a bit forward to your north. Rest up there (live with the "higher" fee) and when your team is refreshed, walk around a bit. The citizens of Elfheim are frantic just like those citizens of Pravoka. However, it isn't pirate problems. Rather, it seems that their Prince is in a terrible trouble! Geez, is every single town in a state of disarray? Guess we need to save the day once more. But hey, this is an RPG after. Before we take any action, let's walk around and browse the stores. From the Inn, head due south and the Weapon Shop will be in sight. Elfheim Weapon Shop ~ =================== * Iron Nunchaku -- Nunchaku made of iron. Cost: 160 Gil Class: Monk, Master * Dagger -- A large knife. Cost: 140 Gil Class: Warrior, Thief, Red Mage, Black Mage, Knight, Ninja, Red Wizard, Black Wizard * Crosier -- A staff topped with an iron ring. Cost: 160 Gil Class: Warrior, Monk, Knight, Master, Ninja * Saber -- A long sword made for piercing. Cost: 360 Gil Class: Warrior, Thief, Red Mage, Knight, Ninja, Red Wizard

If you have a Monk at this point, I strongly suggest keeping him weaponfree. Take my word for it; Monks are much more useful without a weapon at this point. Other than that, the Dagger is good for any weaker Black Mages and the Saber can be useful for your Thief/Red Mage. Your Warrior shouldn't be upgraded at this point. Anyhow, when you are done browsing the shop, exit and head north and west. Pass the Sanctuary as you move on and enter the Armor Shop. Elfheim Armor Shop ~ ================== * Iron Armor -- Armor made of thinly hammered iron. Cost: 640 Gil Class: Warrior, Knight, Ninja * Copper Armlet -- An armlet crafted from copper. Cost: 800 Gil Class: [All] * Iron Shield -- A shield wrought from iron. Cost: 80 Gil Class: Warrior, Knight, Ninja * Leather Cap -- A cap made of leather. Cost: 65 Gil Class: [All] * Helm -- A small helm. Cost: 80 Gil Class: Warrior, Knight, Ninja A lot of upgrading opportunities here. One thing I would greatly discourage would be the Copper Armlet. Even though it's only an Armlet, it's the most expensive item in the shop. You are much better off buying it later when your Gil stockpile grows a bit larger. Your Warrior can be upgraded here with an Iron Shield and Helm. North of the Armor Shop is the Item Shop that you might want to check out. Elfheim Item Shop ~ ================= * Potion -- Restores 50 HP. Cost: 40 Gil * Antidote -- Cures poison. Cost: 50 Gil * Gold Needle -- Cures stone. Cost: 500 Gil * Echo Grass -- Cures silence. Cost: 50 Gil * Tent -- Partially restores party's HP and MP. Cost: 160 Gil Again and furthermore, buy whatever you want. I'd suggest against the Gold Needle considering its price. Having a few Tents would be a good idea in dungeons and such. Anyway, when you are ready, exit the Item Shop. But wait,

haven't I forgotten to mention something? Ah yes, the White and Black Magic Shops. However, there was a reason I left them for last. Elfheim has something that Pravoka and Cornelia didn't have. That would be two different Black Magic Shops and two different White Magic Shops. In Elfheim, you can actually buy both Level 3 and Level 4 spells! The Level 3 shops are located more toward the middle of the area. The higher end spells (Level 4) can be found more north. Browse each and every shop if you choose. Elfheim Black Magic Shop (Level 3) ~ ================================== * Fira -- Deals fire damage to all foes. Level: 3 Cost: 1000 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja * Hold -- Paralyzes one foe. Level: 3 Cost: 1000 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja * Thundara -- Deals lightning damage to all foes. Level: 3 Cost: 1000 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja * Focara -- Lowers evasion of all foes. Level: 3 Cost: 1000 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja Elfheim White Magic Shop (Level 3) ~ ================================== * Cura -- Restores HP to one ally. Level: 3 Cost: 1000 Gil Class: Red Mage, White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard, Knight * Diara -- Deals damage to all undead foes. Level: 3 Cost: 1000 Gil Class: White Mage, White Wizard * Nulblaze -- Reduces fire damage by half. Level: 3 Cost: 1000 Gil Class: Red Mage, White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard, Knight

* Heal -- Restores a little HP to entire party. Level: 3 Cost: 1000 Gil Class: Red Mage, White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard, Knight Elfheim Black Magic Shop (Level 4) ~ ================================== * Sleepra -- Puts one foe to sleep. Level: 4 Cost: 2500 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja * Haste -- Doubles one ally's number of attacks. Level: 4 Cost: 2500 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja * Confuse -- Causes foes to turn on each other. Level: 4 Cost: 2500 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja * Blizzara -- Deals ice damage to all foes. Level: 4 Cost: 2500 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard, Ninja Elfheim White Magic Shop (Level 4) ~ ================================== * Poisona -- Cures poison. Level: 4 Cost: 2500 Gil Class: Red Mage, White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard * Fear -- Drives all foes away in terror. Level: 4 Cost: 2500 Gil Class: White Mage, White Wizard * NulFrost -- Reduces ice damage by half. Level: 4 Cost: 2500 Gil Class: Red Mage, White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard * Vox -- Cures silence. Level: 4 Cost: 2500 Gil Class: White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard As you can see, these magic spells can easily empty your wallet. Therefore,

I'd only suggest buying the spells that you REALLY need. Some of the Level 4 spells are very useful, but considering the amount of Gil you probably have right now, I can advise you buy the Black Mage techniques, Haste (Level 4) and Fira (Level 3) only at this point. For White Mages, I'd strongly suggest Poisona (Level 4) as some of the enemies in the near future will terrorize you with poison. Heal and Cura (both Level 3) are also very useful. If you need more funds, there's nothing more you can do but to battle, battle, and battle some more. The Ogre and Ogre Chiefs hanging around can give you a lot of money really fast. Likewise, if you battle some Buccaneers or Sahagins while on the seven seas, you can also get a lot of Gil. If you can't buy everything yet, don't fret. There's always later to come back here once you get rich. When you are ready (or you get sick of working for your money), head into the castle and figure out what's going in Elfheim. ---=| __________________________ Elven Castle |=--

Once you are in the area, talk to a few of the guards hanging around. They all say basically the same thing. Some dude named Astos had poisoned the Prince into some deep sleep as well as running away with Elfheim's treasures. How original. Anyway, you can find the Prince's chamber by going straight up from the entrance and then taking a left and then going through the door to the north. The Healer is standing beside the Prince who is now in a dazed state of slumber. He tells you of a possible medicine that might exist... somewhere. Well, we are probably expected to find this cure. Seeing as the people here are not really too much of a help, we might as well leave. Enter Elfheim for the last time before we venture off and buy a few Antidotes and Potions. You will see why later. Expect the Marsh Cave to be quite a tough situation. Anyway, from Elfheim, begin moving due west. Some mountains will be there to block most of your path, but there is a small passage that can be found somewhere along that range. Make your way through and follow the mountain to the west's wall. Stick along it while beating up random enemies. Now would be a great time to level up as Marsh Cave is up ahead. The monsters there are very problematic for a dungeon so try to get your levels to at least 13-14. You are currently located inside a rounded area. The mountains surround you in a circle. The only two openings back to the outside world are through the small valley you entered from, and wider exit toward the northwest. A lake borders the northern edge, but we can't cross that from this point. If

you are confused about your position, look at your world map and enlarge the picture to get better detail. Find your way to the northwest corner and exit through the small valley opening at that corner. It's not really that hard to find, just hard to describe. Head north, walk a little, and enter the Western Keep. ---=| __________________________ Western Keep |=--

The Keep is deserted... or so it seems. Anyhow, begin moving forward and then to your left. There's a door just north of that corridor. Walk inside and you will find a King sitting on his throne. Apparently, his castle really failed to make any form of improvement in this wretched state. The King inside asks of you to find a Crown for him from the Marsh Cave. There's nothing else to do here so just leave. Now that that is over with, begin making your way south. Some mountains will crowd the way a bit, but it is completely possible to get through. Head all the way to the southernmost point. In the ground, you should see a hole. Welcome to the Marsh Cave. Now let's get to retrieving that Crown. ---=| __________________________ Marsh Cave |=--

Okay, welcome to the Marsh Cave, one of the most annoying dungeons. I hope you taught your White Mage Poisona as you will probably need it down here. Anyhow, from the start, you have two ways to go. The top path leads to the B2 which in turn, leads to nothing. However, there are a few items that you might want to collect. The path leading south is the "real" way to go as you will need it to progress. If you want to bypass the various treasures hanging around, skip the next two paragraphs. Anyway, if you do want to pick up some items, take the path leading north. Walk yourself through the twisting path until you reach a staircase at the end. Descend and you should find yourself one floor below. The enemies here can be pretty nasty. From the stairs, go up and around the pillar wall and then head due west. There will be a doorway to your north. Go through and pick up the 680 Gil in that chest. Exit that room and continue west. When there is a path leading north, take it and have your party walk around the room containing the 680 Gil. Walk all the way to the end and turn south once the wall hits you. Then walk around this next room and enter it once you reach the door. The chest will contain a Dagger. Snatch that and then make your way to the very bottom of this area. Another door will lead into a room containing two chests. One of them has a

Broadsword and the other holds 620 Gil. Take your prize. With that, find the staircase leading back to B1. Then make your way back to the Marsh Cave entrance stairs. Now, from the Marsh Cave entrance stairs, begin making your way southbound. Beware of the Ghouls and Crawlers hanging around as they can paralyze you. Another monster that should be noted, the Green Slimes, are only affected by magic. Using physical attacks against them would be a waste of turns. Also, the Green Slimes are capable of poisoning. Poisona, as recommended before, would really help you out with that. Anyhow, continue south until you reach a fork in the path. The east path leads to nothing and basically sends you into a dead end so take the south path. At the very southeastern corner is a room. The door is on the south wall so enter and you will find a ladder leading below. Take it down and you should be in B2 again but in a different location. From this room are three doors leading out. It doesn't matter which one you exit from as they all lead you to the same room. From here, begin heading south against the pillars (they block your path east) until you reach the very bottom point. From there, head east and then go around. Keep moving east and walk through the door at the end. In this room, there's another door even more to the east. Exit through there and you should finally reach a set of stairs to Marsh Cave B3. Unlike the other two floors, Marsh Cave B3 is actually well organized. You might not be able to see it from the start, but this floor is made up of a 4x4 collection of rooms. The room closest to your position in the northwestern corner contains a chest holding a Phoenix Down. Pick that up. From there, venture all the way to the other end in the northeastern corner. In that room, you will find 295 Gil. Walk down to the second row and move to the two western-most rooms. The room second to the wall has a Cottage and an empty chest (if you picked up the Phoenix Down previously). The western-most one in the second row has a Copper Armlet. The third row has the Crown in it. However, before engaging, you might want to pick up the final prize, which is 385 Gil in the room second to the east wall. The fourth row has doors all bound by the Mystic Key. We'll get that little item eventually, but for now, let's find that Crown here. Walk yourself into the room on the third row that is second to the west wall. When you enter, there is a chest on the ground. Run up to it, and the Piscodemons will engage you! I wouldn't know if this really qualifies as a boss fight (I've seen it listed as one in other places), but it is scripted and it is actually pretty tough if you aren't careful. These Piscodemons come in numbers and will jump at you as soon as you step in front of the chest containing the Crown. Anyhow,

note that these Piscodemons actually hit you pretty hard. Focus your attacks and use a good balance of offensive magic and physical strikes to take down all of them. Having a White Mage that uses Cura wouldn't be a bad idea. Once those Piscodemons are out of the way, you can open the chest and find the Crown! Some music will play to notify you of your success. Okay, now what was the whole point of coming to the Marsh Cave again? To find the Crown for that Western Keep dude. You might as well just get out of here. Well, you can get out of here, but don't forget about this dungeon completely. Coming back here will be optional later on to pick up the hidden items once you get the Mystic Key. So if you plan to, remember how to get down here later. Backtrack all the way to the entrance, and find yourself in the overworld once more. Before we go and find that super-duper Astos dude, let's head back to Elfheim and heal up a bit. If you didn't buy anything before because of funds, now would be a great time to purchase some spells that you missed before. Astos is a bad man, so you better get on the training ball and level up your units. The higher the level, the easier defeating him will be. I stopped once I reached level 17 but you can go as far as you wish. Now we better head to the Western Keep and return the Crown to that benevolent King. Walk up to him and give him the Crown once you reach the Western Keep. He will give a hearty laugh and state that he is really Astos in disguise! Had you come to the Western Keep before, this King (in disguise) would have asked you find his Crown. Now that we hand this Crown upon him, Astos will make his appearance. Oh noes! Boss Fight: Astos ~ =---------------= What a clever trick! The freaky-looking guy standing right in front of you is actually Astos. The real King of the Dark Elves has his evil intentions of taking over the world. While engaging, take necessary precautions as Astos really is no pushover. The King of the Dark Elves has a lot of abilities up his sleeves. First off, his physical attack can deal heavy damage with each strike. Keep your vulnerable units protected using a White Mage's Protect. Your White Mage should spend the entire battle keeping your units in tip-top shape. Astos, unlike Garland, is capable of sending magic spells at you as well. His most dangerous, Death, is basically the Level 6 Black Mage spell. With one casting, Death can automatically kill one of your units. However, it is easily evaded. You can prevent it from hitting by raising your unit's evade stats through using Invis.

(If you know it.) Astos might be tough for a fat Dark Elf King, but with effort, he is easily overwhelmed and defeated. Once Astos is defeated, you will find the Crystal Eye that he dropped. Although it is a very important item, a Crystal Eye won't revive the fallen Elven Prince. Don't fret however, as we still have another step to complete before finding his cure. For now, head back to Elfheim and heal your team that should be pretty tired from the Astos battle. There's not much else to do here, so get back onto your Ship. Now just so you don't get confused, bring up the world map once more so we can plot our next objective. First off, you should now be Elfheim obviously. Locate Cornelia on the map. North of Cornelia, you should notice a lake. The map really doesn't show an opening, but you are allowed to sail under the bridge that the nice ol' Cornelia King built for you. So sail over to that bridge and then continue west under it. You are now in that lake I pointed out before. Okay, why did I bring you here? Well, it's a pretty small lake (in comparison to the sea in between Cornelia and Elfheim). Sail to the north end of the lake where a dock presents itself. Get off here and walk a little bit north. Once you pass the mountain on your left, head west in that direction. You should now notice a peninsula leading northeast just ahead. A quick check with your map will tell you that there's something on the tip. Begin making your way along this monster-infested area until you reach a cave... ---=| __________________________ Matoya's Cave |=--

Some weird music will begin to play here. There's nothing out of the ordinary until you walk a few steps. WHOA!! A broom sweeping without a dude sweeping it! There is only one door in this tiny hallway. Go through and some more of those brooms will be sweeping around. A woman by the name of Matoya will hit something and scream out in pain. You automatically walk forward where a witch is stupidly moving around. She'll continually scream about her eye and get hurt again and again. The last thing she says is something about her Crystal Eye. That rings a bell doesn't it? Didn't that Astos dude drop a Crystal Eye? Talk to her and she'll notice that you have her Crystal Eye. Hand it over and she'll be ecstatic with joy (well, not really). Completing ignoring the fact that you might have stolen it, she instantly gives you a reward in return. Matoya offers to you a special potion... or so she calls it. Take the Jolt Tonic from her and leave her cave. Phew...

With the Jolt Tonic picked up and in our list, we can hopefully revive the Prince. Make your way all the way south again and find your way to your Ship. Let's head back over to Elfheim. Once there, enter the castle and run up to the Prince's chambers and hand the Jolt Tonic to the Prince's Healer (of whom isn't doing a very good job by just standing there all day). Slowly but surely, the Elven Prince will wake up. Instantly grateful for your appearance, the Prince hands to you a Mystic Key. Yay! We have just saved three civilizations from kidnapped daughters, pirate problems, and a sleeping Prince. That's quite an achievement if you ask me. Anyway, with the Mystic Key in our hands, a lot of treasures are now available to us. For starters, make your way to the rear end of the castle by traveling outside the eastern wall. Don't miss a step or your character will leave Elven Castle "unintentionally." At the far end is a small room that was previously locked. With the Mystic Key, you can open it. Inside are four treasure chests. From left to right, you will find a Mythril Hammer, 800 Gil, 700 Gil, and Bronze Gloves. There are a few other locations where you can use the Mystic Key and find some nice items. In the Marsh Cave, if you head all the way to Marsh Cave B3 and the very bottom row, you will locate four room. You can find an Antidote, 1020 Gil, and a Silver Armlet. However, you will have to fight a few Piscodemons as well, and we all know how much trouble they can provide. In the Western Keep, you will also find some stuff laying around. In the Western Keep, walk all the way to the back and then turn left. Make your way around the room where you fought Astos. The treasures here are in that room within three chests. You will need to fight some Mummies and Wraiths first however. Defeat them and pick up the Falchion, Power Staff, and Steel Gloves. With two dungeons covered, haul yourself over to the Chaos Shrine. You can find them in the corners as the dungeon was basically a rectangle if you remember. You will find a Rune Blade in the southeast corner but you will have to fight Gargoyles. In the northeast, you can find a Werebuster and a Gold Needle. The last area we can find some stuff in is Castle Cornelia. Make your way back south and enter the castle. Instead of actually going in, turn right and walk along the castle's walls until you reach the rear. There, a pathway will lead toward the center. Walk in and head east. A man will tell you that the equipment you find in the doors will help you a lot. Head south and enter the two rooms. Open the chests for a Cottage, a Saber, a Mythril Knife, Iron Armor, a Tent, and some very special Nitro Powder. (It's special enough to make that cool music.) Considering the usefulness of some of the items you collected, that trip back through past dungeons was pretty worthwhile. With the Nitro Powder collected, leave the castle.

[=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~] 5.3. Earth Shattering! ---------------------- [5300] [=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~]

Your boat should be parked and bobbling along the Cornelia docks. Take your Ship and use it to sail around the west end of the Cornelia continent as if you were heading over to the Chaos Shrine on boat. Eventually, you will reach a dock. Get off and begin heading southwest as the path east is blocked by a mountain. Walk through a thick forest heading south until you notice a cave in a rock wall. Enter Mt. Duergar. ---=| __________________________ Mt. Duergar |=--

As you enter the cave with the name I can't spell, you should notice quite a bit of activity going on. Talk to a few of the men standing around and they will tell you a little bit about what's going on. Ignore their funny accents (Oh hey lookie at meh, I cairn tairk in funnair accents LOL!) One of them tells you that they are looking for the Levistone, a stone that actually floats! Interesting. Anyway, from the entrance, head all the way west and then south once you can't go any further that way. Now begin heading south as the path narrows. At the very bottom, walk around the wall and enter the room for a lot of useful treasure! You will find a Tent, a Great Helm, a Wyrmkiller, Ether, a Potion, some Mythril Mail, 575 Gil, and a Cottage. Now those are some nice items. Equip them as you need to, and exit the room. Walk to the southeast corner of the treasure room and talk to the man in the green turban. A "!" will appear above his head to signal his surprise! He notices your Nitro Powder (or Nitro Pouder as he calls it) and asks to use it in his blowing up of the canal. Since we need to break through anyway, give it to him. Once he places it, we can now "bluiter this rock tae smithereens!" Geez, why does everyone around here have such a terrible accent? Anyhow, the guy tells you to run off before it blows and your dude runs a good 10 feet back (yeah, that'll really help). A cool-looking cutscene will show the canal breaking off making the pass open for you. Now you have the access to the next area of this world. Find your Ship again and sail over to the canal that you just blew the crap out of. Head through that narrow area and you should notice a whirlpool a bit ahead. Do not sail into this whirlpool just yet. Instead, head west past a

small island. You should notice a tiny town on the edge of a continent. Get off your boat at the nearby dock and head into Melmond. ---=| __________________________ Melmond |=--

Upon first entering the area, Melmond looks pretty dirty. (As in grimy. Not the other way you perverts!) There are a few solemn-looking citizens walking around. Talk to them and hear about their sad story. Some Vampires attacked this small town and left their city in shambles. Take note of the amount of gravestones around. Is there no town we enter that doesn't need some form of saving or helping? Anyway, north of the entrance is the Inn (which is in pretty terrible shape). You can stop there for 100 Gil to heal up your party. The Weapon Shop east of the Inn has a few items that you might want to pick up. Also, head up to the Armor Shop just north afterwards. Melmond Weapon Shop ~ =================== * Crosier -- A staff topped with an iron ring. Cost: 160 Gil Class: Warrior, Monk, Knight, Master, Ninja * Saber -- A long sword made for piercing. Cost: 360 Gil Class: Warrior, Thief, Red Mage, Knight, Ninja, Red Wizard * Longsword -- A large, double-edged sword. Cost: 1200 Gil Class: Warrior, Red Mage, Knight, Red Wizard, Ninja * Falchion -- A sword that widens toward its tip. Cost: 360 Gil Class: Warrior, Thief, Red Mage, Knight, Ninja, Red Wizard Melmond Armor Shop ~ ================== * Knight's Armor -- Armor crafted from steel plate. Cost: 36000 Gil Class: Warrior, Knight * Silver Armlet -- An armlet of worked silver. Cost: 4000 Gil Class: [All] * Great Helm -- A helm that covers the entire head. Cost: 360 Gil Class: Warrior, Knight, Ninja * Bronze Gloves -- Gloves made of bronze. Cost: 160 Gil Class: Warrior, Knight, Ninja

* Steel Gloves -- Gloves made of steel. Cost: 600 Gil Class: Warrior, Knight, Ninja There is quite a lot to buy considering the terrible state that Melmond is in. At the Armor shop, you probably should reconsider buying the Knight's Armor. The price is absolutely horrendous, but if you must, purchase it. The Silver Armlet should be equipped by all of your other units. At the Weapon Shop, there really isn't anything to pick up apart from the Longsword which you might want to equip on your Warrior. More south are the two Magic Shops. However, note that there's no Sanctuary here (the Vampires destroyed that) and there's no Item Shop either (they probably destroyed that too). Melmond Black Magic Shop ~ ======================== * Firaga -- Deals fire damage to all foes. Level: 5 Cost: 4000 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard * Scourge -- Instantly kills all foes. Level: 5 Cost: 4000 Gil Class: Black Mage, Black Wizard, Red Wizard * Teleport -- Transports party to previous floor. Level: 5 Cost: 4000 Gil Class: Red Wizard, Black Wizard * Slowra -- Reduces one foe's number of attacks. Level: 5 Cost: 4000 Gil Class: Red Mage, Black Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard Melmond White Magic Shop ~ ======================== * Curaga -- Restores a lot of HP to one ally. Level: 5 Cost: 4000 Gil Class: Red Mage, White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard * Life -- Revives one KO'd ally. Level: 5 Cost: 4000 Gil Class: White Mage, White Wizard, Red Wizard * Diaga -- Deals damage to all undead foes. Level: 5 Cost: 4000 Gil Class: White Mage, White Wizard * Healara -- Restores HP to entire party. Level: 5 Cost: 4000 Gil Class: White Mage, White Wizard It doesn't seem like anything comes cheap anymore... Anyway, you probably

won't be able to afford _everything_ but you can try Scourge. Teleport is very convenient, but it needs a White Mage, consider getting Curaga, Life, and Diaga useful against the undead Vampires we'll be fighting you pick everything you need up, leave Melmond.

to pick up Firaga and Black Wizard. For your (which will be very in the future). Once

Let's move. Start heading southwest along the coastline. Do your best defeating the various monsters around. Keep going until you reach a fork separated by a mountain. The west path leads to a cave (Giant's Cave). However, you cannot pass because an ugly-looking, rock dude blocks your path. Instead, take the south path and cross the narrow landbridge. As you get to the other side, you should see a cave on the opposite end of the mountain. Move around the mountain and enter it. ---=| __________________________ Cavern of Earth |=--

The first step in activating the Earth Crystal is through here, the Cavern of Earth. Be forewarned however, the enemy's here are quite a step up from the previous dungeon. Rather than scripted Piscodemon fights, you actually have to fight them in random battles here. Along with that, Ogre Chiefs are numerous and the Cockatrice is a monster that has the capability of turning your units into stone. You should be able to judge for yourself. If you feel that survival here would be a difficulty, head out and train. I just stuck around Level 20 and continued onward. Anyhow, once you enter the Cavern of Earth, you should notice a bunch of paths leading in different directions. Normally, it would be quite a doozy to find your way through (aren't you glad you are using a walkthrough?). Besides, a lot of encounters here means a lot of EXP and that's always a good thing. As a guide, I should notify you of an optional, yet incredibly useful path. From the entrance, you can choose to head straight to your west. This path will lead you to the "Hall Of Giants/Gigas." Once you reach the corner, for every step you take, you will fight a battle with at least one Hill Giga included. While Hill Gigas are dangerous, they are also provide great EXP. If your units need leveling up, take this challenge and walk through it. However, remember to bring lots of healing items beforehand. Don't venture too far as even on the way back, you will be fighting Hill Gigas. Anyway, once you are done, head back to the entrance stairs. Go directly north and follow the path until you reach a split. Enter the room at the very bottom to find a chest containing 1975 Gil. With the treasure collected here, head all the way back to the entrance. Back there, find the southeast path and begin following it. The path leads you to a maze-like area, but it's fairly linear. From the entrance of this maze-like area, just head east and then south. The way will eventually lead you to another door. The two chests in this room contain 795 Gil and an Antidote.

Begin making your way back to the "maze-like" area entrance. However, instead of leaving, move all the way west and then south again. You will find yet another room of two treasure chests. One of them contains a Potion and the other has 880 Gil. Beware, stepping in front of the right treasure chest will trigger a fight with an Earth Elemental -- a very powerful monster. Even so, you can try to beat it for a lot of EXP! With that done, make your way all the way back to the entrance stairs. From there, head eastward. The twisting path will lead you to staircase leading down. Step into it and head below to Cavern of Earth B2. At the entrance, head all the way south until you can't go any further. Then venture east and then north. Follow the path until you reach a fork. Take the one leading east and advance in this direction. A fork will lead south, but ignore that for now. Instead, enter the door up ahead and open the three chests for 330 Gil, a Tent, and a Coral Sword. Exit the room and head back west. Take the path south and ignore any paths leading west. Once you reach the bottom, turn east and then back up again. Finally, you will find the stairs leading even further down to the B3. Getting tired yet? Well, we still haven't found the boss yet. Now at the lower floor, begin heading due east along this narrow passage. When you reach a split, head east to a small room containing one chest. Pick up the Sleeping Bag and head back to the split. Now head north. Walk through this twisted path while fighting off hordes of monsters. At the north end, enter the door to your west and fight off an Earth Elemental before picking up the 3400 Gil inside the chest. Leave the room and begin moving east double time. The forward path is a twisted labyrinth. Take the south path and head all the way to the bottom. The door there will lead you to a chest containing a Gold Needle... after fighting an Earth Elemental (geez those things are annoying). Head out of the room and then back north again until you reach the area where you entered this portion of the level. Once there, back out of that area and head straight west past the door we collected that 3400 Gil in. Head westward along another twisting path. At the endpoint, you should find yet another door. There's no treasure in there, but if you walk around a bit, you will engage some Earth Elementals. Although tough, they are very prominent EXP providers. You can choose to train here if you'd like before the boss fight here. Otherwise, just head south. Continue along this way until the path begins to widen up. Turn east and enter another room. The chest there contains 1020 Gil (after fighting an

Earth Elemental of course). From that door, head directly south and then begin moving straight east. After entering the door, talk to the bat (!!!) and he'll talk to you. After a few intimidating words, he'll move back and transform into a Vampire! Boss Fight: Vampire ~ =-----------------= Intimidating as he is, this Vampire is not the real boss that we're looking for. If you taught your White Mage Diaga, now would be a great time to use it! For your magic casters, send your most powerful elemental strike against this nameless vampire. With your physical attackers, just go all-out on him. Hopefully, this Vampire will be overwhelmed. It is easy to defeat him within the first turn before he even gets a chance to fight back! Defeat him and the chest that he was protecting will be accessible. Some cool music will play meaning that the item you have just found is a major key item. Pick up the Star Ruby. With the Cavern of Earth's treasure collected and the boss defeated, slowly make your way back to the surface. I know, it will be tedious indeed. Once back in the overworld, head back to Melmond and stop at an Inn for a needed rest. However, our mission with the Earth Crystal is not over yet. With the Ruby Star collected, another portion of this continent becomes open to us. Remember the Giant's Cave I told you about. If you went in there before, the rock guy wouldn't have let you in. However, one of the people in Melmond had notified us that the rock dude really LIKES gems. To get there, head in the direction of the Cavern of Earth. However, instead of continuing south on the Devil's Tail peninsula, head southwest. The cave is in plain sight. ---=| __________________________ Giant's Cave |=--

Move upwards a little bit where a big, gray rock dude is standing around stupidly. Talk to him and he'll make a funny noise. "You have Star Ruby!?" Give him the Star Ruby before he has a hissy fit and he'll let you pass. The rock guy will turn his back on you showing his enormous rear (Hey look, he's mooning you.) while eating the Star Ruby. I wonder how that tastes. With that, he slowly walks away into the opposite wall. (!!!) With him out of the way, you have two ways to go. First off, begin heading south for some cool treasures. Enter the room and pick up the Great Axe, 620 Gil, 450 Gil, and Mythril Helm. Re-equip if you want to and exit the room.

Begin heading north all the way up. At the end, you will find a set of stairs. Ascend them. Once you exit, you will be out of the cave and back in the overworld. However, note that you're in a whole new area. Whoa! There aren't any immediate areas of interest. Begin navigating through the area all the way to the southern tip of the area. At the very south, you should notice a cave right before the waterline. ---=| __________________________ Sage's Cave |=--

For once, a cave that actually doesn't have monsters scuttling through it! Anyway, begin heading north. The door there will lead you to a group of pots. That doesn't help us too much. Instead, continue westward and then go through the next door. Talk to the old man you find in the second room and he'll introduce himself as Sadda. The Vampire you defeated previously was not the mastermind behind it all. The real job can be found deeper in the Cavern of Earth. Sadda will hand to you the Earth Rod and tells you to use it behind the Vampire's area. If you explored that area a bit previously after opening another door, you might have found a rock that was otherwise impenetrable. With the Earth Rod, we can get that rock out of the way. Exit the Sage's Cave and begin the tedious journey back up to the Giant's Cave and then back through the Giant's Cave. Heal up at the Melmond Inn if you absolutely need to. Head down the Cavern of Earth and take ANOTHER tedious trek all the way to the Vampire area. Now that you're here, there really isn't anything around. However, to your right is another door. Go through that all the way to the upper end where a stone slab welcomes you on a wall. It appears to be a dead end, but with the Earth Rod that Sadda gave you, the slab will magically disappear revealing another staircase. Go down into B4. The enemies here are a bit tougher than the previous floors. Take some time to level up among them. From the stairs, head north and some paths will be open to you toward your left. First, take the path leading north all the way to a door containing a bunch of chests. Beware, as in front of most of the chests, you will have to fight either an Ogre Mage or a Sphinx along with some other enemies. Pick up a Staff, 3400 Gil, 1520 Gil, 5450 Gil, and 1455 Gil. Leave this treasure room and head back to the entrance area, but instead of taking the path back to the stairs however, go west through the small doorway. Head south and then west. When you reach the wall, begin moving due south all the way to another treasure room in the southwestern corner. You will find a Tent, a Mythril Shield, and 1250 Gil... after fighting a few Ogre Mages of

course! Anyway, with the treasures of B4 collected, exit the room and head straight north. Go all the way to the northwestern corner to find a staircase. Descend. Now in Cavern of Earth B5, I hope you are ready for the boss fight. Make sure your team is fully healed with as much MP as you can spare. The boss fight here will need a lot of fire spells and a lot of Diagas. From the stairs, go south and around the wall to head north. Keep going to the end and then turn west. Follow the path as it twists south and you should reach a door in the wall. This is it folks, the Earth Crystal's answer is right here. As you enter, a glowing ball will appear ahead of you. Examine it and a voice will boom through the air. Suddenly, a totally ugly vampire will appear. Meet Lich. Although he looked smaller from above, Lich is one of the fattest heathens I have ever seen. Boss Fight: Lich ~ =--------------= Fat as he is, Lich is a vampire. Plain and simple, that means that he's an undead creature. Undead monsters have two main weaknesses. Dia and fire spells. Your Black/Red Mage should be able to cast a good ol' Fira against Lich which should damage him a lot. If your White Mage has Dia/Diara/Diaga, by all means, blast him with that too! Your physical units can't really do anything except for using regular attacks. As a vampire, Lich's physical attacks can do a lot of damage. He also owns some Black Magic spells which can deal some damage against you. If possible, use your White Mage and bring up a NulFrost or NulBlaze barrier. At the same time, cast Protect on every one of your units to soften the amount of impact from each of his strikes. Don't be shy with healing and use Curaga whenever needed. Keep pounding Lich with Diaga and Firaga plus a few physical strikes and he will fall. You will know when he's defeated as the screen will flash white and Lich will slowly fade away. Take the Gil and EXP that Lich provided and the Earth Crystal will begin to glow. Congratulations! Your team has succeeded in activating the Earth Crystal. Only three more to go. As your team shows their appreciation by hopping around, the scene will shift to Earthgift Shrine where a barrier blocking a door will break. Consult the Soul Of Chaos section on it. Behind the Earth Crystal is a warp, use it to get out back to the entrance.

[=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~] 5.4. Volcanic Activity ---------------------- [5400] [=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~]

With the vampire defeated, the Earth Crystal will be activated. Make your way back to Melmond and take a well-deserved rest at the Inn. Although you can't see it, the earth is slowly returning to normal (Really?). The townspeople are still as gloomy as ever though except for one or two people. Heal up and bid your farewells to Melmond. Hop back on your boat once again. We're not moving back to the Cornelia continent. Instead, we are to head west. Begin first by moving south along the border of the Devil's Tail peninsula containing the Cavern of Earth. Once you clear the tip, begin sailing due west. If you continue west in this direction, you will hit the edge of the map, but you will sail around and end up at the other side. As you can see, the world of Final Fantasy is designed like a sphere much like the Earth (although on a much smaller scale). If you sail in one direction, you will always reach the opposite side. Anyhow, the continent further west is quite a large one. When you finally hit land, sail south a little bit and you should notice a dock to park your Ship. Get off your boat, and begin walking southwest along the shoreline. You don't have much of a choice considering the mountain blocks further progress west. The enemies along the way are similar to the ones you fought in the Cavern of Earth. Therefore, you might have a bit of trouble with them. Continue to move south along this way until the mountain ends, and your team enters a thick forest. To your west is a very large lake in a shape of a crescent. There's a town on the other side, but the lake blocks our way. Trying to walk around the lake going north will only result in a dead end. Instead, continue south around the lake, and then walk along the lake's edge as it twists west and then north. After quite a bit of walking, head into the city that is logically placed by the Crescent Lake. ---=| __________________________ Crescent Lake |=--

Crescent Lake is a nice-looking town that really doesn't appear to have something wrong with it. It is also the first town that actually doesn't have a problem that you need to solve! Apart from two people, the streets are deserted. Usually, the first thing that we do when we enter a new town would probably be the sleep at the Inn or revive units at the Sanctuary. Following, you might want to check out the shops. Crescent Lake Weapon Shop ~ =========================

* Mythril Knife -- A knife wrought from mythril. Cost: 640 Gil Class: Warrior, Thief, Red Mage, Black Mage, Knight, Ninja, Red Wizard, Black Wizard * Mythril Sword -- A sword wrought from mythril. Cost: 3200 Gil Class: Warrior, Red Mage, Knight, Red Wizard, Ninja * Mythril Hammer -- A hammer wrought from mythril. Cost: 2000 Gil Class: Warrior, White Mage, Knight, White Wizard, Ninja * Mythril Axe -- An axe wrought from mythril. Cost: 3600 Gil Class: Warrior, Knight, Ninja Crescent Lake Armor Shop ~ ======================== * Mythril Mail -- Mail crafted from mythril. Cost: 6000 Gil Class: Warrior, Red Mage, Knight, Red Wizard, Ninja * Mythril Shield -- A shield crafted from mythril. Cost: 2000 Gil Class: Warrior, Knight, Ninja * Buckler -- A small shield. Cost: 2000 Gil Class: Warrior, Thief, Red Mage, Knight, Ninja, Red Wizard * Mythril Helm -- A helm wrought from mythril. Cost: 2000 Gil Class: Warrior, Knight, Ninja * Mythril Gloves -- Gloves made of mythril. Cost: 2000 Gil Class: Warrior, Knight, Ninja, Red Wizard Crescent Lake Black Magic Shop ~ ============================== * Thundaga -- Deals lightning damage to all foes. Level: 6 Cost: 13000 Gil Class: Black Mage, Black Wizard, Red Wizard * Death -- Instantly kills one foe. Level: 6 Cost: 13000 Gil Class: Black Mage, Black Wizard * Quake -- Calls an earthquake to swallow foes. Level: 6 Cost: 13000 Gil Class: Black Mage, Black Wizard * Stun -- Paralyses one foe. Level: 6 Cost: 13000 Gil

Class: Black Mage, Black Wizard Crescent Lake White Magic Shop ~ ============================== * Stona -- Cures stone. Level: 6 Cost: 13000 Gil Class: White Mage, White Wizard * Exit -- Transports party out of dungeons. Level: 6 Cost: 13000 Gil Class: Red Wizard, White Wizard * Protera -- Raises party's defense. Level: 6 Cost: 13000 Gil Class: White Mage, Red Wizard, White Wizard * Invisira -- Raises party's evasion. Level: 6 Cost: 13000 Gil Class: White Mage, White Wizard, Red Wizard Crescent Lake Item Shop ~ ======================= * Potion -- Restores 50 HP. Cost: 40 Gil * Hi-Potion -- Restores 150 HP. Cost: 150 Gil * Ether -- Restores 50 MP. Cost: 150 Gil * Phoenix Down -- Revives one KO'd ally. Cost: 500 Gil * Tent -- Partially restores party's HP and MP. Cost: 160 Gil As you can see, Crescent Lake seems to be obsessed with all things mythril! Many of the weapons and armor here are useful so purchase as necessary. The Black Magic and White Magic Shop have hefty prices, but they hold very useful spells of which you should take advantage of. Exit is a great spell in dungeons, but it requires a White Wizard or Red Wizard. I strongly suggest picking up Thundaga, Quake, and Death for Black Mages. White Mages, pick up Protera, Invisira, and Stona. Melmond didn't have an Item Shop so take advantage of Crescent Lake and purchase some more Potions/Hi-Potions along with a few Phoenix Downs. Anyway, with everything that needs to be bought purchased, you might consider leaving. Before that however, head to the northeastern corner of town past the Black and White Magic Shops. Cross the bridge leading east, and make your way through the thick forest path. At the end, you will find a circle of men. Talk to the leader (the blue one),

and he'll tell you that his name is Lukahn. You might have heard this name somewhere else if you chose to talk to some village people. He'll tell you what he sees in your future. Talk to the rest of them, and learn a bit more about the crystals. The last one will hand you a Canoe to aid you in your quest for the crystals. There are still three crystals ahead of you. Leave Crescent Lake. With the Canoe in tow, your team can now cross shallow rivers like Crescent Lake! With that, a bunch of new enemies can now threaten you. You might want to be careful with some of the higher end enemies such as Hydras, Ochus, or Neochus. The latter two provide massive EXP so battle one whenever you have the chance. Basically, all of these shallow water inhabitants aren't shy in their attacks and have the capabilities to snuff your team out. Take caution when battling. Try to gain some EXP to get a few more levels before moving out. Anyway, our next objective is to head to Mount Gulg. To get there, first find the river that empties out into Crescent Lake. After all, it can't be a lake without a river to supply it with water. Begin taking your canoe along that stream as your group enters a canyon-like area. Eventually, you will reach a fork. Go west. About a few feet forward, find another split in the river. This time, head northward. Before you really get anywhere, a third fork will appear in the river. Ignore the first portion leading northwest as it's just a dead end. Take the northeast stream instead. Afterwards, take the immediate fork leading straight west. After a long trek westward, get off and begin moving southwest on foot. Mount Gulg is up ahead. Cross the river surrounding it and enter. ---=| __________________________ Mount Gulg |=--

As you can probably tell, a large majority of the monsters here are firebased. A large majority of those are also very tough to defeat. Fire Elementals for example are a major step up from the Earth Elementals you fought before. If you thought those were hard, expect Fire Gigas to be a nightmare. The few Pyrolisks lurking around are capable of instantly KOing one of your units with Gaze so be sure you have a White Mage Life or Phoenix Downs at your disposal. However, being fire-based does have one disadvantage. Using ice techniques, your Black/Red Mage should wreak havoc against fire enemies. Keep that in mind while fighting off the various monsters that throw themselves at you. However, Blizzara can be fairly draining on the MP so don't use it all up unless you have a heavy supply of Ethers. Begin moving forward, and you will notice a strange, pulsating orange liquid on the floor. This is lava if you didn't already know that. Stepping in it would normally be fatal to _normal_ humans, but this IS Final Fantasy where things are messed up. Anyway, for every step you take in the blazing lava, your party loses 1 HP. However, once your party members reach 1 HP, that value

will stay that way meaning that your team cannot die in lava. Strange huh? Cross the lava pool to the northwest corner where a staircase is sitting. Once in B2, you have two possible ways to go. First off, heading west will get you out of this floor, but will also bypass all the treasure. If you want the treasures here, go through the door leading north. Follow the path as it twists north and turn left when you see the chest to your west. Fight the two Fire Elementals and open the chest for the Mythril Helm. From there, head west and then begin south. At the lower end, you will find another chest. Open that one for 1520 Gil after fighting two more Fire Elementals of course. Begin making your way back north past the empty chest that held the Mythril Helm. Head eastward from there and then north again. Move west and find the chest there. Open that one for a Great Sword! Now make your way to the northeastern corner where a fourth chest lies in wait just a bit south of the northeastern corner. Open that one for 4150 Gil. Head as far north as possible and then begin moving west along the north wall. When you hit the wall, head southward. When you hit another wall, head east and then around the wall where you'll locate two more chests. Open one for 795 Gil and the other for 750 Gil. Turn back around and begin moving south once back in the open. At the very south end, you will find a crapload of treasure chests! Open them all for a Mythril Helm, Mythril Gloves, 1520 Gil, 1760 Gil, Mythril Shield, Mythril Axe, Phoenix Down, 1455 Gil, Antidote, 1975 Gil, Tent, and a Hi-Potion. Swipe the treasure, then head north and find your way back to the exit or any other of the multiple doors leading out. With that giant room cleared, we can head over to B3. Look to your west and cross over the lava hallway. There's a staircase at the west end. Descend. Lots of lava here. Slowly make your way eastward. The lava is impossible to avoid so step into it when needed. At the far east end, you'll find another staircase leading down. Once again, go down. At the next floor, you'll be on a platform surrounded by lava. From your position, go southeast through the lava pool. Heal whenever necessary but do remember that lava cannot kill you by itself. At the southeast corner are some stairs. Have your team go up. Okay, begin moving when you enter B3 again unavoidable so step into it. You will soon and south. Take the south path and you'll soon Continue southbound and follow the path as of here are at the far end. Descend. west. The lava is once again, reach a fork leading both west reach a four way intersection. it twists west. The stairs out

There's a good amount of treasure here to collect. At the staircase, find the doorway leading north. Walk through and open the two treasure chests for a Gold Needle and 2750 Gil. Leave the room and follow the path west. It will

twist south and then west again. By that point, you'll reach a three way intersection. There's a door that leads to a treasure chest containing 1760 Gil. Snag that. Leave that room and continue to move west. It will turn northward and then west again. At the end is a door. Enter and find five chests. Open them all for an Antidote, 7340 Gil, 880 Gil, an Ice Brand, and a Flame Shield. The latter two items are VERY valuable so do not miss them. Exit the room and find your way back to the three way split. Take the south fork. Don't forget to watch your health as the lava drains it by one with every step. Another three way fork will present itself after a little bit of walking. There's also a door right in the middle of it. Inside, you'll find 155 Gil and 10 Gil...? Talk about cheap chests. Leave that room and take the east fork. The room at the end has three chests. One of them is empty so bypass it. The other two contain 2000 Gil and a Cottage. With those two collected, move all the back to the three way fork. The only path we haven't trudged upon is southward so begin moving. There's a door along the way. The two chests in that room contain 1250 Gil and a Staff. Once again, move south. The stairway down is just around the corner. We're nearing the boss here so get ready. Move straight west all the way to the end where you'll find a door leading into a room with a chest. At the far end, you'll have to fight a Red Dragon to pick it up. However, the Flame Mail is very worthwhile. With that collected, make your way back to the north end of the room and exit. When you're back out, head south while sticking to the west wall. After a bit of walking, you'll find yourself at a door. The boss of Mount Gulg is here. Heal up and ready yourself for a fight. Examine the red orb on the ground. Some very useful (not!) information will find its way into your ears. Maralith time. Boss Fight: Maralith ~ =------------------= Is it getting hot in here or is it just me? Maralith is a gigantic serpent-like creature with many blades. She has one main element. As a fire-caster, consider putting up NulBlaze with your White Mage. Her HP is high so you'll need to deal a lot of damage fast before she takes you down. Casting Haste on your physical units will work well in doubling the damage dealt. Likewise, raising attack with Temper can easily turn the tide of battle in your favor. When Maralith casts her spells or attacks you head on, prepare to be hurt. Your White Mage will barely have a free turn as long as he keeps your group in tip-top shape. A large part of winning this battle is consistency. If your White Mage falls, you are at a major disadvantage. Pound Maralith continually while doing your best to get around her attacks. Eventually, the hellspawned Maralith shall fall. With the fire-based Maralith defeated, the crystal she was holding will be activated! After a bit of celebration from your team, control will be given

back to you. Elsewhere, a strange statue will break revealing another door... Consult the Soul Of Chaos section on it. Step into the warp behind the now activated crystal to leave Mount Gulg. Good riddance!

[=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~] 5.5. The Airship ---------------------------- [5500] [=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~]

So we have two crystals activated. With that down, you might want to tackle the last two. Before that however, we are going to find the Levistone. If you remember, a dwarf a long time ago might have told you a bit about a special rock that levitates! First off, head back to Crescent Lake (hopefully, you know how to get back) and heal up at the Inn. Restock at the Item Shop if you need to. Now leave Crescent Lake and find your way back to your Ship back onto the high seas. From that port, go due north along the mainland coast. We're aiming for another port somewhere to the north. The port can be found inside a bay area after positioning your Ship through a small canal. When you reach the port, get off and begin heading southwest along the mountain. There is a river running from the sea which you should get your Canoe to. Follow the river into the mountaineous area until you reach a four way intersection. There are two rivers leading north. Taking either one doesn't matter. Be sure to turn right at the fork. After a bit of smooth sailing, your team will reach another split shaped like a sideways "h". Ignore the branching river and go straight westward. Momentarily, you'll find yourself at a three way fork. Go west and navigate your canoe through this (rather long) stream area. After a few twists and turns, you'll reach land. It's a short walking distance to another cave. This marks the beginning of yet another dungeon. Prepare yourself as necessary. The enemies around this area don't provide a lot of EXP. If you want to level up, head back to your Canoe and fight off Ochus and Neochus. When you're ready, walk into the Cavern Of Ice. ---=| __________________________ Cavern Of Ice |=--

Judging by the dungeon's name, you can probably expect the enemies here to be ice-based. A few preliminary engagements might tell you that Ice Gigas and Winter Wolves frequent. You've fought their lesser cousins but the monsters here are a major step up. There is one thing to keep in mind, most monsters here are weak to ice. That also includes the majority of the undead creatures

in the Cavern of Ice. Along with that, prepare to battle some Piscodemons (and their more powerful counterpart, Mindflayer) that you're probably already familiar with. Forget about obscure, those critters are almost everywhere. Even at your much higher level, they can still deal some damage to your weaker units. Anyway, getting to work now. Start off by navigating your group through this linear first floor. Get a feel for some of the enemies here. After a bit of tedious walking, you should reach a staircase. If you look a bit to the west, you'll see another staircase to the west but that one is inaccessible. Go down to B2. This room is shaped in a large rectangle with the lines being the pathways. The staircase brings you to the northeast corner. Head either west or south to the opposite end where another staircase resides. Descend that one to find yourself in a small, crystallized room. The other staircase is plain in sight so navigate your team to it (so difficult), and ascend to B2 again. There doesn't appear to much activity here although you'll be meeting some more difficult enemies. There's only one path forward. Take it all the way to the opposite end of this room to find a door. When inside this room, take note of the floor. There are two treasure chests ahead plus a weird, diamond thing on the ground. Also take note of the cracks. Don't step on them yet or you'll fall through them to somewhere we don't want to go. Actually, walk around the cracks first and open the two chests. It's pretty easy to see the cracks so don't step on one. The two chests contain a Flame Sword and Clothes. The latter is useless and the Flame Sword should have been picked up in Mount Gulg. Oh well, take them for collection's sake. Now here comes the fun part (well, not really), have your guy step onto one of the cracks and fall through! It doesn't matter whatever hole you fall through as they all take you to the same room. Defeat the scripted battle with some undead creatures and leave the room. Now this is where things get hardcore (pmg wut?). To your west, you should note some spikes sticking out of the ground. Stepping on these will obviously hurt your team a bit. These ice spikes work much like the lava in Mount Gulg. Stepping on them will have you gradually lose 1 HP for every step you take. Cross the spikes on your west to reach a door. Enter and find two chests just chillin' (pun completely intended). You'll have to fight some White Dragons for it though. All I have to say is WATCH OUT for Icestorm. That move deals heavy damage to all of your units. Pick up the Ice Armor and Mythril Gloves. With that collected, leave the room and head back to the center area. Head southbound across another bed of ice.

Keep moving south until you reach an "h"-like split. Take the left one leading south to a room. There are six chests here containing 7900 Gil, 5454 Gil, 180 Gil, 9900 Gil, 5000 Gil, and a full 12350 Gil. Keep in mind that you might be forced to fight some Winter Wolves. They are easily defeated so no worries here. Now make your way back to the "h"-like fork. This time, take the east path leading south. After rounding a corner, you'll find a staircase leading back to B1. Ascending it will bring you to a rather cramped section of B1. As you can see, there's nowhere else to go but through the door. Walk south a bit and open the chest for an Ether. A bit to the east of that chest is a door which you should move through. Walk south around the stub (which is really a room). There's a door there that you should go through. The chest in that room holds 10000 Gil. Getting rich now aren't we? Exit the room and move back north. Then begin advancing south around the barrier. Head east in this direction to find a door. At the upper end, you'll find a crack in the floor along with a few chests. Open them for 9500 Gil, a Sleeping Bag, and an Ice Shield. Now it's time to step on the crack. Let your team fall through and you'll find yourself in the middle of that ring of cracks from before. The diamond thingy that was unreachable before is now just ahead. Navigate your team to it. Heal up before you touch as a scripted fight will begin. The boss (semi) of the Cavern Of Ice is an eye-creature with an incredibly low HP value. As low as his defense and HP may be, he is still capable of taking down your team if you choose to be complacent. Doom should be avoided at all costs as it will instantly KO one of your members. Even so, the Evil Eye is still easily defeated so bleh. With that freak defeated, you now can access the Levistone. The cool music that appears whenever a nice item is find will play. Now you'll have to fall down one of the cracks. Getting out of here is pretty easy. Simply move through this area as if you were attempting to re-visit the Evil Eye and the Levistone. When you reach the door leading to the single crack that leads to the Levistone, bypass it and continue east and then north. The stairs there will lead you outside. What was the whole point of the Cavern Of Ice? To pick up the Levistone of course! With that key item in tow, there's nothing more to do but to head back to Crescent Lake. Find your way back to your Canoe and begin sailing through the rocky area. Your main objective now is to head back to your Ship. Navigate through the area back to the open sea. If you need to, use your world map to find your way out. Back on the water now, begin sailing southward back to the port at Crescent Lake. It's not too long of a journey. Get off and begin heading southwest to the familiar Crescent Lake. You should still remember how to get there. Take a quick stop in town and heal up at the Inn. Purchase a few more items

if you need them. Once that's done, exit. We'll be doing some more Canoe work here. Find your way onto the river that led you originally to Mount Gulg. However, instead of taking the west fork at the first split, go straight southward. Don't be surprised if the journey takes a bit longer than you expected. You should see that the land begins to get a bit more sandy. At the end, get off and venture into the desert-like area. ---=| __________________________ Ryukahn Desert |=--

Once in the desert, your team will bring out the Levistone and a cutscene will begin. The wall will crack to reveal a very large ship. Watch in awe as the majesty flies out. This, my friend, is the Airship. Once the cutscene ends, your team will have access to it. Step onto it and give it a whiz if you'd like. Note that the camera shifts a bit to give it a better "flying" feel. You can do a lot of stuff with the Airship. For starters, you can fly it wherever way faster than your walking speed. While in the air, you also don't encounter enemies! You can land anywhere you on green grass. However, you can't land on forests or any type of land OTHER than green grass. That really bites.

[=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~] 5.6. Citadel Of Trials ---------------------- [5600] [=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~]

Before we venture off for the third crystal, now would be a great time to do something extraordinary. It seems that the classes in your party right now can actually be upgraded. That's something that you absolutely, positively do not want to pass up. With the help of your Airship, you can easily get there with a quick flight. Anyway, from the Ryukahn Desert, take your Airship and fly northward. Pass over the Crescent Lake area and the annoyingly complex system of rivers we passed through before. If you look at your world map, you should notice that there is another continent north of your position. If you explore the continent a little bit (shouldn't be difficult with your ultra-fast Airship), you should realize that there are two towns on that continent. The first (in terms of accessibility) is Gaia. That's the northern one of the two towns. You will find Gaia in the very northeast corner surrounded by a ring of mountains. Before we go anywhere else, I'd suggest you park your Airship in the grassy area in between the mountains and give Gaia a quick visit.

---=|

__________________________ Gaia |=--

There might be some things there you'd like. If your team needs healing, take a quick stop at the Inn at a hefty 500 Gil. Oh well, at least the Inn is high quality. Anyway, let's get down to shopping. There's very little to shop for, but everything's expensive. Go figure. It's a big town so good luck finding your way around. Gaia Weapon Shop ~ ================ * Cat Claws -- A weapon with razor-sharp blades. Cost: 52000 Gil Class: Knight, Ninja, Red Wizard, Black Wizard Gaia Armor Shop ~ =============== * Ruby Armlet -- An armlet ornamented with rubies. Cost: 40000 Gil Class: [All] * Protect Ring -- Ring that guards against instant death. Cost: 16000 Gil Class: [All] Gaia Black Magic Shop (Level 7) ~ =============================== * Blizzaga -- Deals ice damage to all foes. Level: 7 Cost: 30000 Gil Class: Black Mage, Black Wizard, Red Wizard * Break -- Petrifies one foe. Level: 7 Cost: 30000 Gil Class: Black Wizard Gaia White Magic Shop (Level 7) ~ =============================== * Curaja -- Fully restores one ally's HP. Level: 7 Cost: 30000 Gil Class: White Wizard * Diaja -- Deals damage to all undead foes. Level: 7 Cost: 30000 Gil Class: White Wizard Gaia Black Magic Shop (Level 8) ~ =============================== * Stop -- Stops time and paralyzes all foes. Level: 8 Cost: 40000 Gil Class: Black Wizard

* Warp -- Banishes foes to another dimension. Level: 8 Cost: 40000 Gil Class: Black Wizard * Kill -- Instantly kills one foe. Level: 8 Cost: 40000 Gil Class: Black Wizard Gaia White Magic Shop (Level 8) ~ =============================== * Holy -- Damages all foes with holy light. Level: 8 Cost: 40000 Gil Class: White Wizard * NulAll -- Reduces damage from spells by half. Level: 8 Cost: 40000 Gil Class: White Wizard * Dispel -- Negates one foe's magical defenses. Level: 8 Cost: 40000 Gil Class: White Wizard Gaia Item Shop ~ ============== * Hi-Potion -- Restores 150 HP. Cost: 150 Gil * Ether -- Restores 50 MP. Cost: 150 Gil * Phoenix Down -- Revives one KO'd ally. Cost: 500 Gil * Tent -- Partially restores party's HP and MP. Cost: 160 Gil * Cottage -- Fully restores party's HP and MP. Cost: 2000 Gil You might consider picking up some items from the Armor Shop. The Cat Claws are only useful once you get the class change. Likewise, most of the magic shops sell only spells that can be used by Black Wizards, White Wizards, or Red Wizards. Oh well, that's life. When you're done browsing, find your way to the exit. Get back onto your Airship. It's time to get to the Citadel of Trials. No worries, we'll be back here soon for a very special item. Remember Gaia's location though. Now back on your Airship, begin to fly west. Although you haven't visited the Citadel Of Trials to create a mark on the world map, you can still see its general location by finding the western-most dot on the continent you're currently located on. When you fly to that unmarked dot, your team should stumble (fly) over a run-down castle. However, the area surrounding the Citadel Of Trials is unsuitable for landing. Scout around the castle and try

to find some open grass. The closest open grass I could find to the castle (which is in no way, close) was on the peninsula north of the Citadel Of Trials at the very tip. If you have better luck than me, you might find a closer location. However, make sure that the Citadel is actually _accessible_ from the location you might choose. Whether or not you landed where I landed, find your way around the mountains and through the forests toward the Citadel Of Trials. The enemies around here are nothing short of dangerous. When you finally reach it, enter. ---=| __________________________ Citadel Of Trials |=--

Let's get down to business. Once inside, move upward toward an old man standing in the middle of this room. You still bear the Crown so your courage is indeed notable. You are here in the Citadel Of Trials. At the end, you'll find a great reward. The old man will disappear and you're left with yourself. Now move upward until you hit a wall. Then begin moving west where you'll find a door. Enter it and find a kingless throne. There's no other way out of this room so step onto the throne and be warped into the Citadel of Trials... The second floor of the Citadel is a bit confusing to say the least. As soon as you leave the room, you'll find a warp point on the ground. Step into it and you'll be moved to the room north of that area. There is also a single warp in this room which you should step into. Now this is where it gets tough! You have two warps to choose from. Pick the bottom of the two warps to find yourself in a room of another warp. There's a single point here. Step into it and find yourself in front of two warps once again. Take the bottom warp of the two. Now you'll find yourself in a tight hallway. Follow it southward where a warp point awaits you at the very end. Two more warps to choose from appear in the next area. Step into the east one. Don't touch the point in the corner. From that point, begin walking east until you see a door in a wall. You can go through it to find a Gauntlet, but prepare to fight Clay Golems to get it. The Gauntlets are a special type of Gloves. If you equip them, they will cast Thundara each time they are used. However, you'll need to find the class upgrades before you can equip it. Anyhow, leave the room and go due south past two warp points. The third warp point you see while moving that way should be one to use. It will bring you to the exit which will lead you into the third

floor. Easy enough, huh? Luckily, the third floor is much less complicated. Move up through this corridor to a doorway. Go through it and notice the chest right at the start. Open it for a Healing Staff. You can pick it up. It will cast Heal whenever it's used. Definitely a very useful item. Now begin moving west along the narrow hallway. You'll be fighting off encounters galore here. When the path begins to turn, open the three chests that appear at the corner for Steel Gloves, an Ice Brand, and a Ruby Armlet. With that done, have your team move southbound through the linear hallway. At the other end are a group of four chests. One of them is empty however. Open them for a Cottage, 1455 Gil, and 7340 Gil. Collect the treasure and follow the pathway east. Eventually, you'll reach a chest and a throne. The chest will give you a Rat's Tail, a needed item. Now we need to get back outside as simply backtracking won't lead anywhere with the warp room. Heal up your units and step onto the throne... Fight off two Dragon Zombies before you go. The throne will warp you back to the entrance room. Exit the room and go south toward the exit. Now you'll be taking the long, tedious journey all the way back to the Airship. Board the flying thing and begin to soar south. Find the Citadel Of Trials again and fly southwest from there. You will find a collection of islands with holes in them. Only the last cave is absolutely required, but the other caves have some treasure that you might want. Land on the eastern-most one. Fall into the cave. ---=| __________________________ Dragon Caves |=--

From the staircase, go due north where a door is in plain site. In that room, you'll find two chests with goodies in them. The first one contains 2750 Gil, the second contains 2000 Gil, and the third will give you 1455 Gil providing a whopping amount. Exit that room and go southwest. At that corner, you'll find another room. There are many pieces of treasure here along with a menacing dragon that can talk! Ironic that the dragon is the exact same size as you... Anyway, open up the various chests for an X-Potion, 9500 Gil, 1520 Gil, and 2750 Gil. With your loot in tow, leave the first of the Dragon Caves. Back on the overworld, go northwest to find two more islands with holes in them as well. The one on the west sports two holes leading into the other Dragon Caves. The small east one has one hole. That leads to nothing except for another talking dragon. Land on the island with the two holes nearby. Remember that your Airship cannot touch down on land other than green grass. Find some grass at one of the island's corners. The southern hole brings you to the Hellfire Chasms, but we DO NOT want to go there yet unless you want your butt kicked.

The northern hole on the other hand, leads you to another one of those Dragon Caves. From the stairs, go either left or right past a talking dragon (getting old, huh?) around a corner. Move all the way to the end where a door is located. There, you'll find more dragons along with a few chests. Pick up a Cottage, 500 Gil, and Elixir. With that collected, leave the cave and get back onto your Airship. Just north of that island is a forested island with two more holes. Land there. The northern hole leads to nothing. The southeastern however, might bring you someplace special. From the stairs, go south through the very narrow corridor. At the end is a staircase leading to B2. Go up through the door and walk north past a row of swords and more talking dragons. At the far end is the Dragon King himself, Bahumat. He notices your Rat's Tail and states that its a sign of courage and strength. Bahumat spreads out his wings and upgrades your classes. Now your guys look totally awesome. Go back southward through the row of swords and back up the stairs. Find your Airship again, and begin riding through the skies. There is one final island with a good amount of goodies hidden inside. Directly west of that current island is another piece of land that's longer than it's wider. Drop yourself off there and enter the cave. Just as you walk down the stairs, go through the door northwest of the staircase. Open the chest for a Tent. Exit that room and go southward where another room lies in wait. The two chests there contain Dry Ether and a Gold Needle. With that, you can exit the cave. For now, we are officially finished with the Dragon Caves. Once again, find your way back to your Airship. Remember Gaia? Good. If not, you'll find the town located east inside a valley that would be inaccessible without an Airship. Fly yourself back to Gaia. Here, heal up and buy a few of the spells that you originally could not. With your upgraded characters, the spells can be bought. Buy your fair share of Black Magic or White Magic. You can also go to past towns in which certain spells might not have been accessible because of it. It's your turn to do whatever you'd like. Throughout many of the earlier cities, you can find magic spells that you might want to teach your Knights or Ninjas. Knights can learn basic White Magic and Ninjas can learn basic Black Magic. Only now will they begin to gain MP so level them up as much as you can. When you feel ready to overcome two more crystals after this minor intermission, there is one more thing you need to do in Gaia.

[=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~] 5.7. Waterlogged ---------------------------- [5700] [=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~]

Ahead of us, two more crystals are still not activated. Next, we will find the water crystal located deep within the confines of a sunken kingdom untouched for eons. There is a blue-haired man standing to the left of the Level 8 Magic Shops. If you talk to him, he'll mention a special water called Oxyale. It gushes from the springs below Gaia, but only faeries have the ability to draw it out. This is way too good to pass up. The Bottled Faerie will not be easy to find however. Bring your Airship and fly to the northwest continent. Like the continent you were on before, this continent also has a desert, although it is much smaller. There's a little bit of grass in the southeast corner of this small desert. Walk out and begin trudging toward the northwest corner of the desert. There, you will find a separated piece of sand with a border of grass. It's really pretty noticeable in the northwest corner. Walk to the center of this area and enter the Caravan. ---=| __________________________ Caravan |=--

You start at the southeast corner of a little camp in the middle of the desert. It's really pretty small and the only building you can enter is the large, white tent. There's one storekeeper and he sells ONE thing, the Bottled Faerie. However, there is a problem. If you don't have 40000 Gil, guess you can't buy it can you? If you do have the money, good. If not, better find some way to find some more Gil whether it be selling some of your equipment or going to Mount Gulg or the Citadel Of Trials to defeat more enemies. So pick up the Bottled Faerie and get back onto your Airship. We're done with the Caravan for now so fly back to Gaia. If you can't find it, use your world map. As you soon as you enter Gaia and walk forward a bit, you will automatically release your Faerie even though you aren't near the spring. The released Faerie will fly off and you're left to find it. From the start, go straight toward the Inn past the witch with the dancing broom. From the Inn, go directly north. You should see both the Level 8 Black and White Magic Shops. Move left past the blue-haired kid who originally told about the Oxyale. When you reach the cobblestone path, go northward. Your group will pass the Item Shop on the way. The path itself leads to the Sanctuary. However, instead of going there, head

east of the building. Then move south through the forested pathway. It's one way for a while. However, you will soon reach a fork. Take the north fork to find your Faerie chilling by the water's edge. Talk to it and she'll notice that you were the one who rescued her from the bottle! She wants to apologize for running off like that, and agrees to fetch some Oxyale from the bottom of the spring. Wait for her to come back and the Faerie will give you some Oxyale! The Oxyale will allow you to breathe underwater as air will always flow from it. Coolness. Well, you can choose to walk all the way back to the entrance of Gaia, but if you head back south to the fork again, you can move east and take a quick cut out of the town. With the Oxyale in tow, step back onto the Airship and fly back to the desert-ish area where you found the Caravan. At the southeast end of the desert, there's a river. Step there and use your Canoe to sail north following the river's path. As you move upward, a sleepy-looking town will pass by on your right. More on that later. The river will begin to tighten up and empty into a lake in the middle of a mountain range. If you ever played A Link to the Past, you'll know what to do here. There's a waterfall. Navigate your Canoe right into it to *gasp* find a secret spot! ---=| __________________________ Waterfall Cavern |=--

From the entrance stairs, start out by moving north. After a short trot, you will find a fork. Take the west fork. Advance this way and not too shortly afterwards, you'll reach yet another fork. Take the west one and move forward. Follow the pathway as it twists north. Further ahead is another split. Go southwest this time. Eventually, your team will stumble across an area inlaid with paths. The idea is to continue west so pick the path that leads west (and actually leads somewhere). If you picked the correct path, another fork will appear quickly. Go south to the southwestern corner of the Waterfall Cavern. After a lot of walking, you should stumble upon a door. Open it to find a lot of chests. Pick up the Wizard's Staff, a Ribbon, 13450 Gil, 6400 Gil, 5000 Gil, and a Defender. Reequip your team as necessary. Before you scatter out of here, talk to the robotic figure. It speaks in fragments although it does mention a Cube and Tiamat along with the Flying Fortress. With that, it gives you a Warp Cube. Hmm... Backtrack to the exit stairs and get out of here. Canoe back south for a little bit until you see the small town again to your east. Get onto land eventually and walk toward the town. Enter the sleepy village of Onrac.

---=|

__________________________ Onrac |=--

I suppose you probably want a well-deserved rest. Well, there is an Inn south of the entrance area. However, it charges a very hefty fee of 300 Gil. Live with it and have your party rejuvenate themselves. Leave the Inn and have some pleasant conversations with a few of the townspeople. You'll hear about some special things including the Sunken Shrine or Oxyale. In Onrac, you might as well do some shopping. Well, there really is nothing except for an Item Shop plus two Magic Shops. Onrac Black Magic Shop ~ ====================== * Saber -- Raises caster's attack and accuracy. Level: 7 Cost: 30000 Gil Class: Black Wizard * Blind -- Blinds one foe with darkness. Level: 7 Cost: 30000 Gil Class: Black Mage, Black Wizard Onrac White Magic Shop ~ ====================== * NulDeath -- Enhances party's defense against death. Level: 7 Cost: 30000 Gil Class: White Mage, White Wizard, Red Wizard * Healaga -- Restores a lot of HP to entire party. Level: 7 Cost: 30000 Gil Class: White Mage, White Wizard Onrac Item Shop ~ =============== * Hi-Potion -- Restores 150 HP. Cost: 150 Gil * Ether -- Restores 50 MP. Cost: 150 Gil * Remedy -- Cures ailments except for stone and KO. Cost: 1500 Gil * Gold Needle -- Cures stone. Cost: 500 Gil * Cottage -- Fully restores party's HP and MP. Cost: 2000 Gil When you're done enhancing your character's magic or buying a few items for the journey ahead, begin moving toward the southeast end of Onrac. It's a bit of a walk over a few causeways through some streams. At the end is a blue-

haired kid and a lady. The blue-haired kid will claim to have seen some shiny object fall from the sky. It was the robot you saw before. Talk to the lady to learn that she's a mermaid! She notices your Oxyale and begs of you to please save the mermaids. The barrel is now accessible. Apparently, it should work as some sort of crude submarine. Step right in and wait for it to slowly sailing through the lake. A minor FMV sequence will preview the area just below. Welcome to the Sunken Shrine. ---=| __________________________ Sunken Shrine |=--

Follow the pathway up to the main platform. The Sunken Shrine is a pretty big dungeon so it's very easy to get lost. As you might have predicted, Kraken holds the water crystal somewhere within the Sunken Shrine. Seeing as we're pretty much under the sea, enemies will mostly be water-based. Thunder spells will deal heavy damage to those marine creatures. Start off this dungeon by moving north. Advance through the pillars until you see two paths leading east and west. Pull a right and go through a door at the end. Pick up 2000 Gil. Leave the room and move west back toward the main path. This time, go west and follow the path. It should lead to another doorway with a chest inside it. Open it for a full 9900 Gil. Leave the room and continue east along the pathway. Defeat any enemies that get in your way. Apart from the Water Elementals or Nagas, you shouldn't have too much of a problem with them. As long as you use Thunder magic often (without killing your MP), each fight should barely last a single turn. Now begin to make your way eastward. There are a few doors around, but they lead to small rooms with nothing inside them. Eventually, you should reach some water. Near it is a staircase leading up. Take it and find yourself on 4F. On the next floor, the area just west of your party is broken off. Head south instead where you should find a door. There's nothing there so don't even bother. You can head south, but go west first. At the end is a split in the path. Go south first. When you reach the four way intersection, move west. Follow this pathway to another fork. Go north and then right into a little niche in the wall. In there, you'll find a chest with 20 Gil. Leave the room and move north again. When you can, turn into the west portion of the area. From there, head as far north as possible until you find a door. This secluded room holds one of the Sunken Shrine's greatest treasure: the Diamond Armor. With that collected, head to the southern end of the area. In the southwestern corner is a room with a treasure chest. Open it for a Light Axe. From exiting that room, go eastward. When you hit the split, take

the upper path to a door. Enter yet another room to find a chest with Mage's Staff inside. Exit the room and take the path east once more. Head as far east as you can. Eventually, you'll hit the southeastern-most corner where a staircase is located. There's a room next to it with a whopping 12350 Gil in it! I'd strongly suggest you pick up that money prize. When ready, ascend the stairs to 5F. This floor is the top floor of the Sunken Shrine. Luckily, there are absolutely NO enemies around! Run around as much as you like because nothing can hurt you. There's a bunch of treasure around here, but we need to pick up a special item first. First, head due north from the stairs as far as possible (ignore the doors for now) and begin moving west. The pathway will narrow a bit. When it begins to widen up again, head into the single room. The three chests in it contain Diamond Gloves, a Diamond Helm, and the Rosetta Stone! With the Rosetta Stone collected, take some time and go through this entire floor picking up everything you might find. There are no enemies so there's no need to really worry about opposition. Throughout the entire level, Mermaids populate the area. Most of them talk about you reviving the water crystal to save them. When you're ready, begin to make your way through the floors back to the entrance floor, 3F. If you absolutely, positively have to, you can go back into Onrac for a healing at the local Inn. Luckily, Onrac is just a level above us. Anyway, the other stairs leading down to Kraken is in the northwestern corner of the entrance room. The other stairs are pretty much symmetrical to the ones you took to the Rosetta Stone. Nearby the northwestern stairs is a small pool of water. The next floor has cracks and broken floor everywhere. Find a path that goes north. Follow it all the way to the upper end of the floor to find a staircase in the corner. Those stairs will bring you to a secluded room within the Sunken Shrine. There is one other staircase nearby which is pretty obvious. In a room like that, you might expect there to be some sort of secret compartment. There's nothing so get a move on. The next floor consists of a square-ish hallway. There's a doorway, but the room it leads to has nothing. There is another stairway in the southeastern corner. Go down to 3F and find yourself in front of a door. Go through and pick up the 110 Gil and another chest with 450 Gil southward. Don't go back north to leave though. Keep going south where a door can be found. Exit and descend the stairs. You're back on 2F, but on a previous inaccessible area. Go west until you find a four-way intersection. Go south and a little bit to the east and find a room

with two chests. Pick up the 7690 Gil and 8135 Gil. With that down, leave the room and head directly west. Pay no attention to any paths branching off. You'll be moving in west without turning at all. Keep going until a room is reached. There's 385 Gil, 5450 Gil, and a very special Giant's Glove guarded by two Water Elementals. These Giant's Gloves are special as they cast Saber whenever used. Exit that room and begin to move back east. Immediately turn northward and advance in this direction. Go straight north until you notice a door to your left. Pick up the Light Axe there. Exit the room and advance eastward. Soon, you'll reach another room with a few chests in it. Pick up 2750 Gil, 9900 Gil, 7340 Gil, and a Ribbon. That really finishes all the treasures on this floor. Leave the room and head north of that room. At the northwest corner, you'll find a staircase leading to the final floor before Kraken and the water crystal. Move up a little bit and then head westward. Soon, the path will split. Continue north past the empty room. When you have the option of turning west, take it. Follow this hallway south as it soon twists west. Stay along the wall and go into the first door you see. The final room before Kraken is a big one. Luckily, you won't have too much trouble navigating through it. You'll find the exit door just south of the northwest corner. For me, it took less than 30 seconds to find it. The next hallway is very linear, eventually leading you to the room of Kraken. Heal up as needed and activate the crystal. Boss Fight: Kraken ~ =----------------= The gigantic water-beast known as Kraken is no pushover. There are many ways to tackle this battle. Using magic will help a lot against Kraken and his unbeatable HP. Use Protera to cast a barrier on your team. Kraken does not use too much magic so don't go crazy with magical barriers. Use Black Magic techniques, Temper and Haste, to raise your physical unit's attack. A strike from Kraken deals heavy damage so have a White Mage heal your team often. As a water-based fiend, Kraken is easily effected by thunder spells. Keep your units healed up and in tip-top shape. A fully Hasted/Tempered Knight will wreak havoc. Along with that, a full-powered Thundaga will also do heavy damage. Kill Kraken to activate the water crystal. As the water crystal is activated, a scene shift will bring you to another area outside the Sunken Shrine. A statue protecting a doorway will slowly break under pressure. A mermaid is very surprised to see this. Consult the Soul Of Chaos section on it. As of now, we have one more goal ahead of us: the wind crystal. Get to it!

[=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~] 5.8. Fortress In the Sky -------------------- [5800] [=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~]

There is one more crystal to be destroyed. Obviously, you probably expect this next quest to be the most difficult of them all. You'll find a warp behind the water crystal which will lead you outside of Onrac. Without a doubt, you'll probably need some good ol' healing back at the Onrac Inn. Buy whatever else you might need. Anyway, now would be a good time to recap on what we've accomplished in the Sunken Shrine. Apart from slaying the third fiend, the Rosetta Stone was picked up! Do you remember a small town south of Gaia? If you ever went there, the inhabitants were speaking a strange language. The Rosetta Stone is the key to understanding them. However, even with the Rosetta Stone in tow, you can't understand just like that. Travel from Onrac across the river back to your Airship. Our next destination is Melmond, a town we visited a long time ago. Melmond itself is south of your current position. Bring up your world map and locate it. Fly across the seas and the land below until you locate the depressing town of Melmond. When you enter, you'll notice that the ground still hasn't improved. Ugh. Now in Melmond, head over to the northern part of town on the same strip of land as Armor Shop. Turn right and you should notice a man with tan-colored hair. This is Unne and he'll ask if he can see that tablet. After a moment's examination, Unne will realize that this is the Rosetta Stone (wow, what a genius)! He'll hop (from excitement) a little bit and tells you that the Rosetta Stone will make it possible to decipher the Lufenian language. As a token of his gratitude, Unne will offer to teach you Lufenian too! After a few seconds, you are just as fluent as he is! Once Lufenian is memorized, the inhabitants of Lufenia talk clearly! To get to Lufenia, find it first by riding northward up the peninsula sticking at the southeast end of the northeast continent. Lufenia's buildings are gray and the entire town is covered by forest. The closest place you'll find to land is north of Lufenia near a small pond. Find a little area to land your Airship. From there, walk south and enter the town. ---=| __________________________ Lufenia |=--

Although we went so far out of our way, you'll find that Lufenia really does not have much to offer. Before we do anything, let's find some hidden Magic Shops. You now can understand the people, but they won't really be too much of a help. Some of them will mention Tiamat and her Flying Fortress. Anyway,

head to the northeastern corner of town where you'll see a gap in the fence. Walk straight east from this hole. Instead of leaving town, you'll find two Magic Shops. Here, you can finally complete your magic lineup! Lufenia Black Magic Shop ~ ======================== * Flare -- Blasts all foes with light and heat. Level: 8 Cost: 40000 Gil Class: Black Wizard Lufenia White Magic Shop ~ ======================== * Full-Life -- Revives one ally and fully restores HP. Level: 8 Cost: 40000 Gil Class: White Wizard Although there are only two spells, both of these are arguably the best spell of both White and Black Magic. Discard magic spells to make room for them if you can. Basically, that's all the shopping in Lufenia. The last thing that we'll have to do is to find the Bell. Lufenia is made up of three main platforms. A small stream separates the two on the side. Make your way to the east platform. In the southwestern corner of that platform is a man standing still. Converse with him and he will hand to you the Chime. The final lair of the fourth fiend lies high in the sky on a Flying Fortress. The Mirage Tower of the desert is the gateway to the skies. Take the tedious journey from Lufenia all the way back your Airship. If you have to, get to Gaia and heal your team up. Either way, venture into the Yahnikurm Desert. Since one can't actually land in the desert, you'll have to find a little patch of grass on the desert's outskirts in order to find your way. Your main goal here is the Mirage Tower in the direct center. A good stop is the grassy area southeast of the desert. Have fun walking... ---=| __________________________ Yahnikurm Desert |=--

The area around here makes for a good training spot, but monsters are considerably tougher. Find your way to the center of the Yahnikurm Desert where a tower (it's pretty easily seen) stands valiantly. If you had ever come here before, your party was not able to enter the Mirage Tower. With the Chime, access is granted. Duh. ---=| __________________________ Mirage Tower |=--

To get to the Flying Fortress and Tiamat herself, you'll have to fight through the Mirage Tower which acts like a gateway to the fortress in the

sky. The Mirage Tower might be a bit difficult, but not too much. Some enemies around may be a new face to you, but a lot of them are ones you've seen before. Guardians should be cautioned around as they can paralyze you. Make sure that your team is leveled up well enough before entering the tower. On the first floor, you can see the exit stairs to 2F to the left of the entrance. You can easily get to it, but there are many treasures hidden in the rest of the dungeon. First off, go through the door right in front of the entrance. The middle area of the first floor is the home of many worthy treasures. Find your way toward the plethora of chests in the middle and begin to take your loot. Steal 800 Gil, a Healing Helm, 3400 Gil, a Vorpal Sword, 18010 Gil, 2750 Gil, an Aegis Shield, and a Tent. With all of those collected, go back to the door which you entered from. There's another door to the left of it. Go through that one to find yourself right in front of a set of stairs. Walk up to the second floor. Now hurry along this pathway on the edge of the floor. Keep moving this way. When you reach the apex of the path on the north wall, you should hopefully notice a staircase leading up to the third floor. We'll be getting there... after picking up some more loot of course. Shortly after you see the staircase, the path will begin to break up and you finally have access to the center of the room. Notice that in the center, there is a really big room. Walk south along this way hugging the wall of this hidden room. The door at the south end will lead you inside the gigantic room. Move northward and check out all the treasure. Be sure you pick up the Dragon Mail, 10000 Gil, Sun Blade, 7600 Gil, Cottage, 13000 Gil, 12350 Gil, Thor's Hammer, 7900 Gil, and 8135 Gil. Re-equip as necessary. Just leave the room at this point. Remember the staircase leading up to the third floor? Walk northward and find it. There may be a robot patrolling the area. If you talk to him, he'll notify you of one of his "friends" landing somewhere to the west. Hopefully, you remember the quick journey through the Waterfall Cavern. The final floor of the Mirage Tower has no treasures. Heal up your party and walk along the outskirts of the floor to the south end. There's a door there that should be entered. Trot into the room and fight the Blue Dragon that automatically engages you. It might be a tiny bit difficult, but the Blue Dragon shouldn't take too much effort. Defeat it and talk to the robot thingy. Using the broken sentences that all the robots seem to bear, he'll tell you to use the Warp Cube and warp to the Flying Fortress. Tiamat is waiting for us over there. Step onto the panel and "warp" to the Flying Fortress... ---=| __________________________ Flying Fortress |=--

Prepare yourself for quite a challenge. The great dungeon in the sky is multi-leveled with gigantic floors. Enemies and monsters hiding around are

very tough. Many of them have death-casting capabilities such as the Evil Eye, a monster you have fought in the past. However, there are a lot of DIFFERENT kind of enemies. If you are one of those people who get annoyed after seeing the same monster over and over again, I'm pleased to tell you that there will be none of that here. If you ever need to leave, you can use the Warp Cube to get back down. Notice how the entrance area is like a four-way intersection with you in the middle. First off, head southward. Walk out the door outside. At the south end of the pathway, you will locate a room. Inside is a chest containing a Razer. Now exit the room and head back north toward the four-way intersection. This time, advance east. There shouldn't be too much trouble getting to the room at the end of that path. Inside that room, pick up 180 Gil, 5000 Gil, a Protect Ring, 6720 Gil, and a Healing Helm. With that treasure in your bag, waltz back to the center area. Take the west fork. The path is fairly short here leading up to another door with more loot. There, you'll find 7900 Gil, 4150 Gil, 9900 Gil, and a Potion. That pretty much sums up what you'll find on this floor. Head back to the four-way intersection. To go upstairs, go due north until you find a tablet on the ground. The Flying Fortress decided to be cooler than the other dungeons and have a warp thingy instead of a conventional staircase. Step into it and warp to 2F. Now on the second floor, go straight down. There's another intersection here except you have six paths branching out. Head down into the center. I would suggest going northeast first. That path will lead to a room containing a treasure chest. Pick up the Diamond Gloves and move back to the center area. We'll be moving clockwise along the paths. This time, go straight east. That pathway will bring you to a room containing a Diamond Shield and a Ribbon. Once again, head back to the intersection area. The next path down is the one leading southeast. Pick up two very important items, the Black Robe and a White Robe. I'd suggest definitely picking these up as the White Robe casts Invisira whenever used and the Black Robe casts Blizzara. Back at the intersection, skip over the south path and go southwest. Taking the place of a treasure chest is a piece of Adamantite. Be sure you take that before heading back to the center. The pathway leading straight west will bring you to a room with 880 Gil and 13000 Gil. The final pathway before we go south is the northeast one. You can snag a Mythril Helm along with a Cottage. With that, find your way to the

south pathway leading that way. At the far end is a warp which will bring you up to 3F. Right at the start, go a bit to your right and talk to the robot. He'll notify you of the observation window. Check it to see how the four crystals are converging upon a single point. Keep this area in mind as it's the location of the Chaos Shrine. Sound familiar? From the observation window, go due east. When you hit the wall, head north. There's a room there containing more loot to pick up. The six treasure chests inside contain quite a lot of goodies. Take 8135 Gil, a Protect Cloak (really valuable item), 9500 Gil, Clothes, a Gold Needle, and 6400 Gil. Trudge back to the observation window thingy and advance north from that point. The fairly linear path will come to another room. Take 5450 Gil, a Potion, 9000 Gil, and a Protect Ring. With that collected, head back to the center area with the observation window. From there, begin moving west. The warp leading upward is around this area, but venture into the other room first. The four treasure chests hold a Sasuke's Blade, 3400 Gil, 4150 Gil, and a Gold Needle. The Sasuke's Blade would be great to equip on your Ninja if available. Anyhow, exit the room and find the warp in the vicinity leading to 4F. The last floor before Tiamat is kind of disappointing. First off, there are multiple warps leading to 5F on this floor so there shouldn't be any trouble finding it. The path I took was moving west past two pits and south two pits to find one of the warps. Take any warp upwards to the final floor. From this point, it's all just walking north. Heal up your team, and touch the crystal to begin the fight... Boss Fight: Tiamat ~ =----------------= The great Tiamat of wind is the final fiend of the four crystals. Out of all magic spells, there are a few that are a must. Be sure to cast NulAll to prevent her magic spells from getting to you. Similarly, Protera should be casted to protect your team from devastating physical attacks. In terms of Black Magic, try to keep physical units pumped through using Haste and Temper to raise attack. A few pumped physical units will be sure to deal heavy damage. However, don't get complacent and leave your team unprotected. Surviving Tiamat relies heavily on your ability to counter her terribly powerful strikes. Establish a good defense before going all-out. With effort, Tiamat is defeated. With the fiend out of the way, the final wind crystal will be activated to your actions. As the crystal shimmers, your team cheers for success. Elsewhere, yet another door will crack open revealing an open doorway... Read the Soul Of Chaos section for it. With that, there is one final dungeon ahead of us. Step onto the warp behind the crystal to warp out.

[=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~] 5.9. Final Chaos ---------------------------- [5900] [=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~]

If you might remember correctly, the little observation window in the Flying Fortress had shown you where the four elements were converging. They all met north of Cornelia in the Chaos Shrine. That was the location where you fought Garland at the very beginning of the game. Before we get over there however, we need to pick up a very special weapon. Remember the Adamantite you found before? We'll be putting that to use. Get out of the desert back to your Airship. Our first stop before the Chaos Shrine is Mount Duergar. That's near the area where you blew a hole to form a canal in the water. That's way back southwest so get moving. Use your world map to find your way to it. Enter the cave and go west. The room we're looking for is somewhere along the north wall. You can tell whether or not you're in the correct room as a blacksmith is working around. Talk to Smyth. Your party will automatically place the Adamantite on the table. Smyth will be awed instantly. With his terribly annoying accent, Smyth will offer to make you an amazing blade. Wait a while as he slowly forges the new sword. Pick up the Excalibur: The finest sword you'll ever wield. With that done, leave Mount Duergar. If there is anything else around you'd like to purchase before the final dungeon, there wouldn't be a better time. When ready, fly over to Cornelia and heal up at the Inn. Hopefully, you remember where the Chaos Shrine is. However, it's been a while so it wouldn't be too surprising if you forgot. The dungeon itself is north of Cornelia. Check your world map to see. Fly up there where the fat dungeon resides. Get out and enter. ---=| __________________________ Chaos Shrine (Final) |=--

The first room of the Chaos Shrine looks just like we remember. The first floor has nothing really dangerous, but as you progress through the dungeon, a whole bunch of tough enemies will make their appearance. The Chaos Shrine offers the largest selection of monsters out of any other area in all of this world. Without a doubt, there are a few to watch out for. While fighting through the Chaos Shrine, keep an eye out for Green Dragons, Red Dragons, Water Elementals, Vampire Lords, and Death Knights. Also, the four fiends will make their second appearance ALL in this dungeon. Without Inns to stop at, keeping your party in tip-top shape may be a toughie. Anyhow, to start off, go due north. There's a door there leading into a room with a

crystal. Walk up to it and your party will focus the light of the crystals on the black crystal. Take one step forward, and you'll be warped backwards in time a full 2000 years! There will be a small time warp behind you as you enter the true Chaos Shrine. If at any time you need to leave, this is where you'll want to go. With that, walk south and exit the room. The first floor of the Chaos Shrine is very linear. There are four staircases in the area. However, the one we're looking for is the staircase in the southeastern corner. Walk your team over there and head to the second floor. From here, you'll want to walk east where a silvery staircase awaits. On the third floor, you start off in the northwestern corner. From there, head south until your party hits the southwestern wall. Then turn east and follow the pillars as they twist north toward the center of the room. The pillars will lead to a door. As soon as enter however, watch out as a scripted Death Eye fight will occur. The Death Eye is pretty much a knock off the Evil Eye you fought in the past. There are two chests in this room. Pick up a Dry Ether and and Elixir. With that, head to the center of this small room where a stone slab is placed. Examine it and your party will play the Lute you received a long time ago. Suddenly, the slab will disappear and a ladder will appear stretching down into the abyss. Well, no where else to go but down. Now back on the second floor, exit the room. Head west and then north toward the northwestern corner of the room. The stairs will lead you back to the first floor in a secluded location. Start off by moving west. Move all the way to the northwestern corner of this room to find another set of stairs. Descending will bring you to the basement floor. The path will lead north. Follow along until you reach the north end. Then head east. Pass the first fork leading south (lined with pillars). At the northeastern corner, begin to move south (this is getting repetitive). Finally, your party will come across a door. It's completely empty so there's no need to explore it. However, go to the southeastern corner instead. Heal up your party, and walk into the stairs. Suddenly, your party is pushed forward into battle! You are fighting the first fiend, Lich. I'm sure most of you remember his incredible fatness. Lich is still up to his old antics so beware. Take advantage of his Fire weakness and watch out for his newfound spell, Flare. If you need to, cast Protera and NulAll to help protect your team. Once Lich is defeated, the stairway will be clear. Unless you want to fight Lich again, don't step back. Even if you wanted the EXP or Gil, there is no need to as Lich provides only a measly 2000 EXP and 1 Gil. Descend the stairs to the next basement floor. As you enter B2, you should notice the other stairs to your immediate east. However, a wall stands between you and the

staircase. There are some chests on this floor so get ready for some treasure hunting. Leave the small room and head west. At the pillars, begin to move north. If you look carefully, you should see a door. The wall's color scheme makes it a bit difficult to see though. Go through and head east. Watch the bottom wall for another doorway. When you see it, exit. Go south a bit and then east to find the staircase leading down that we saw at the beginning. Instead of using it though, head south from it. There are two rooms here. In the west room (Haha, sounds like 'restroom.'), enter to find a Protect Ring. Head south from that single chest to the southwestern corner. A door can be located there. Follow it out through the hallway. Keep moving as it twists east too. The path will then lead you to a hidden room. Inside is a Sasuke's Blade. From here, just backtrack to the Protect Ring room and then back out. With the west room cleared, go into the east room. More chests are here. Steal a Protect Cloak along with some other thing south and east. Follow this long pathway to another door leading to ANOTHER door. There is one chest there. This better be good. Open it to find a... Megalixir! You better save that for before the final fight. Leave the room and backtrack all the way to the stairs leading into the next basement floor. I assume you remember how to get back. But before you leave, heal up as Maralith will terrorize you! Maralith is still as strong as ever. Capable of casting Firaga, NulBlaze is a strong recommendation here. Likewise, keep your party protected with Protera. If you didn't waste all your MP fighting the dungeon monsters, use your Black Wizard to cast Temper and Haste on your main fighters. As always, a fully Tempered and Hasted Knight deals incredible damage. Keep Maralith pounded and she'll fall in a fiery death. Once again, do not take a step back unless you want to fight Maralith one more time. The next floor awaits. This next floor can be a difficulty to navigate through. Basically, your target is the southeastern corner. Keep in mind that you start off in the northwestern corner. Start your trek by going through the door immediately. You'll find yourself in a small room with no redeeming value. There's another door which you should exit from. Head southeast past the row of pillars and go as far east to find a door. Go through that door and follow the room to the south end. Exit that room and begin heading north. There's a door there that looks as if it's connected to that room you just waltzed through. Open it and follow the room west where

another door will lead you back out south. Keep moving southward past the little area of blocks. Hit the south wall and move east. Heal up your team once more as Kraken is about to make his appearance. Kraken still looks the same as always. Being the fat, blubberish creature he is, expect him to attack last. The first turn should be spent casting Protera on your team along with Hasting and Tempering physical units. Pound Kraken with attacks before he deals too much damage. Use your White Wizard to keep your party healed up and in tip-top shape. Watch out for Kraken's incredibly damaging strikes. Kill him off to clear the way to the next staircase. There's nothing else to do but continue now. The floor before the final fight is a tough one indeed ending in (you might have saw it coming) a re-done fight with Tiamat. Before we actually head for the stairs, you'll want to pick up the Masamune From the stairs, go due south. The path will turn a bit to reveal a fork. Continue to head south. When you hit the wall, head east and then south. Immediately, you have the option of going east again. Advance in that direction. Hit the south path and hug the south wall as you move east. The path will begin to zig-zag. Follow it east again to eventually walk to a room containing a single treasure chest. Open it for the Masamune. This katana is even more powerful than the Excalibur. Equip it immediately. Now it's time to head back to the entrance stairs. Backtrack back to the entrance stairs. From the entrance, it's really pretty easy to find Tiamat. Head south as if you were going for the Masamune again. Instead of going south once you reach the fork though, head east. The path will slowly twist north again, but head east into the small corridor. About halfway across, you'll fight Tiamat once more. The multi-headed dragon is still as terrifying as ever. With more HP, she is tougher to bring down. Immediately cast Protera and the like on your team and boost your physical units. Winning out on this battle really depends on your party's endurance. If you lose out here, you better train harder as Chaos is five times as hard. With the fiend finally defeated, walk forward. You will find the actual stairs leading to the next floor at the northeastern corner. The final floor has no enemies. Take this time to heal up your team. Remember that Megalixir you picked up before? Now would be a great time to use it! Walk south around the big room in the middle. Go through the door at the south end and walk up. Is it Garland? Yes, it's a much younger Garland and he has realized his death 2000 years in the future. The four fiends had saved him however sending him backwards through time. Prepare to fight... Chaos... Boss Fight: Chaos ~

=---------------= Being the granddaddy of them all, Chaos is no pushover. He is the final fight. Quickly cast Protera and Hasten your physical units. Chaos is capable of sending high-powered magic spells as well including the very dangerous Blaze, Tsunami, Earthquake, and Cyclone spells. Use NulAll to help protect your team from these monstrosities along with NulBlaze, NulShock, and NulFrost. Fully pump up all of your physical units with Temper and Haste while your White Wizard protects the team through use of Healaga and Curaja whenever possible. Don't forget about Invisira and Protera to increase the protective and evasive barrier around your team. Chaos is resistant to nearly every single element and status ailment. Don't try magic spells as they will just bounce off. Instead, keep Chaos constantly pounded with physical strikes from your fully pumped physical units. Your success is marked with a slow, painful death on Chaos's part as he slowly dissolves into air. Finally... our quest is at last... over. _______ _ (_______) | _ | |__ _____ | | | _ \| ___ | | | | | | | ____| |_| |_| |_|_____) _______ _ (_______) | | _____ ____ __| | | ___) | _ \ / _ | | |_____| | | ( (_| | |_______)_| |_|\____|

*========================================================================== ===* +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ 6. Soul Of Chaos [6000] +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ *========================================================================== ===* A side-quest you can take throughout this game are the Soul Of Chaos dungeons which are unlocked after defeating certain bosses within the game itself. There are four in all. I wouldn't suggest venturing into any of them until you are somewhat late in the game as even the bosses in the Earthgift Shrine are difficult. The first thing to understand before reading through this section is that each dungeon is randomized in floor selection, item prizes, and bosses. If you visit a dungeon once, it might be completely different other times. However, each dungeon does have a layout that is followed every time. Depending on what floor the listed area is at, it might have a different amount of chests. Without saying, you will have to go through each dungeon multiple times to fully "clear" it. Understandably, this took me a long time to fully gather so I hope you appreciate my efforts. =P

I'd also suggest you look at some of the maps on GameFAQs. I can't depict everything through text. Mikaga and some others have some great works there. Also, be sure to take a look at TFergusson's detailed analysis of these dungeons in his in-depth guide. Those sources will prove to be a great asset. If you have any more questions, email me or post on the message board for this game on GameFAQs. NOTE: Due to the vast size of these dungeons, I can't guarantee that you'll find every single floor listed. If I missed any, please contact me. If you don't see a floor that you need, just go on by yourself. [=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~] 6.1. Earthgift Shrine --------------------------- [6100] [=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~]

The Earthgift Shrine is unlocked once you defeat Lich and activate the yellow crystal. The dungeon entrance can be found on the way from Cornelia to the Chaos Shrine. Once the Lich statue is cleared out of the way (after defeating him of course), you will have access to the dungeon. This dungeon has five floors and four possible bosses. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | P O S S I B L E I T E M S | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B1 | Hi-Potion, Spider's Silk, White Curtain, Remedy | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B2 | Vampire Fang, Blue Curtain, White Fang, Kenpogi | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B3 | Potion, Speed Drink, Protect Drink, Black Cowl | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B4 | Ether, Red Fang, Silver Apple, Elven Cloak | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B5 | BOSS LEVEL | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ Desert ~ =----= Description: This floor presents itself as giant desert. If you walk around a bit, your character will never find an end as the actual

area "loops" itself if you walk off the map. To find the exit which is a staircase leading down, you'll have to find the center of the area. This may be difficult as you can spawn in a random area. Use the groups of palm trees to help you out. Find the oasis and you'll find the exit out of this floor. From the oasis, collect as many treasures as you can. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 or B2 = Up to 2 chests If B3 = Up to 3 chests If B4 = Up to 4 chests Chest Location -------------1. In the middle of a group of six palm trees north of the exit. 2. In the middle of a group of three palm trees south of the exit. 3. Right by a single palm tree southwest of the exit. 4. In the area of three trees in a grassy area east of the exit. Cave #1 ~ =-----= Description: This cave area is one of two different cave areas you will go through. There is one path and the area is fairly linear. You'll also be walking through two chests that are side by side. Indeed, this is one of the easier floors. The exit as at the end of the pathway through the cave. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B4 = Up to 2 chests Chest Location -------------1. You'll find it while walking along. There's one on the left. 2. You'll find it while walking along. There's one of the right. Cave #2 ~ =-----= Description: This cave area differs from Cave #1 as it holds a maximum of 3 chests as opposed to 2. As soon as you enter, walk forward and two paths will jut out in opposite directions. This is the key difference you should look out for. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 or B2 = Up to 2 chests If B3 or B4 = Up to 3 chests

Chest Location -------------1. At the path. 2. At the path. 3. At the to the

end of the right path jutting out from the main end of the left path jutting out from the main intersection of the paths of which the left leads exit.

Forest ~ =----= Description: This maze-like dungeon is placed in a purple-tinted forest. Noticeably at the beginning, soldiers will block your path. Touching them will initiate a battle. Defeat the monsters and the soldier will be gone. The exit itself is viewable once you enter the area, but you'll need to transcend through the forest maze in order to reach it. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 or B2 = Up to 2 chests If B3 = Up to 3 chests If B4 = Up to 4 chests Chest Location -------------1. At the southwest part of the forest south of the starting position. 2. At the northwest corner of the forest. 3. At the northeast corner of the forest. 4. At the upper fork of a path leading inward. Once you clear all four floors, you'll appear on B5 with a choice of four possible bosses. Although there appear to be only two doors, walk behind either of those rooms to find another pair of rooms behind. The four bosses are Echidna, Cerberus, 2-Headed Dragon, and Ahriman arranged in this fashion. +-----------------+ +-----------------+ | 2-Headed Dragon | | Ahriman | +-----------------+ +-----------------+ | | ^ ^ +-----------------+ +-----------------+ | Cerberus | | Echidna | +-----------------+ +-----------------+ | | `------<------------------->-------' | | ENTRANCE They are all difficult so try to be fairly leveled up with good equipment before taking a knock at them. Boss Fight: Echidna ~ =-----------------=

Protect Rings are strongly recommended for this fight due to Echidna's Death castings. Earthquake and Death are the two spells you'll want to watch out for. If you can avoid Earthquake as best as possible (which is a bit difficult considering that Echidna uses it almost every other turn), you should be able to beat him out. Invisira can help too as it increases evasion enough to avoid an Earthquake or Death attack. Don't bother with magic attacks. Just hit your attacking units with Temper and Haste. Just keep attacking with physical attacks. Boss Fight: Cerberus ~ =------------------= Cerberus casts Thunderbolt very often. That really seems to be its only main attack (not including his regular attack). Of course, put up a NulShock barrier immediately to shave off some damage. Once you get up a Protera and NulShock barrier, begin to pump up your main attackers by using Temper and Haste. With an effective border up, Cerberus's Thunderbolt attacks will be weakened. Don't bother with magic. Just attack and keep your team healed. Boss Fight: 2-Headed Dragon ~ =-------------------------= The 2-Headed Dragon is by far the easiest boss in Earthgift Shrine. Even so, this dragon fiend can still be a challenge if you aren't leveled high enough. The 2-Headed Dragon's main weakness is the fact that he only has one main advantage: physical strength. Therefore, if you up your evade enough so that the 2-Headed Dragon will miss every turn, the battle is yours. To help lessen damage, considering slowing him down to lower his physical damage extensively with the spell, Slowra. The beginning of the battle is usually the hardest part, but if you're level is high enough past 35, then you should be fine. Boss Fight: Ahriman ~ =-----------------= This one-eyed freak is as ugly as he is tough. You'll definitely be annoyed by Ahriman's constant use of Earthquake--killing instantly. If you can get past the Earthquake, you should be, for the most part, fine. However, Blaze still does freakishly large amounts of damage so make a NulBlaze is put up. Occasionally, Ahriman will physically attack which isn't too powerful. However, do make sure that you have

Protera up along with Invisira to help make avoiding the Ahriman's attacks must easier. While your magic casters are busy with that, cast Temper and Haste on your physical to double and triple the damage dealt to Ahriman. If you keep your defenses up, he will go down. (Also, the chest next to the Ahriman contains a Megalixir.

[=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~] 6.2. Hellfire Chasm ----------------------------- [6200] [=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~]

The Hellfire Chasm is unlocked once you defeat Maralith and activate the red crystal. The dungeon can be found by the Dragon Caves. It's the lower cave on the Dragon Caves island that has a tinge of blue-green on it. Once the Maralith statue is cleared out of the way (after defeating her of course), you will have access to the dungeon. This dungeon has ten floors and four possible bosses. You fight two for each pass--one on the fifth floor and one on the tenth. The floors are of course, randomized. However, each floor will appear once and only once. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | P O S S I B L E I T E M S | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B1 | Remedy, Cockatrice Claw, Hermes' Shoes, Speed Plus, Stamina | | | Plus | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B2 | Echo Grass, Hi-Potion, X-Potion, Blue Fang, Bard's Tunic | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B3 | Red Fang, Phoenix Down, Stamina Plus, Mind Plus, Sage's | | | Surplice | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B4 | 700 Gil, Giant's Tonic, Eye Drops, Turbo Ether, Silver | | | Apple | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B5 | BOSS LEVEL | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B6 | Blue Curtain, Red Fang, Strength Tonic, Thief's Gloves, | | | Luck Plus | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B7 | Hi-Potion, Faerie's Tonic, 150 Gil, Hermes' Shoes, Twist | | | Headband |

| | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B8 | Blue Curtain, White Curtain, Power Plus, Sage's Mitre, 250 | | | Gil | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B9 | Giant's Tonic, Ether, War Hammer, Som Drop, Emergency Exit | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B10 | BOSS LEVEL | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ Heat Maze ~ =-------= Description: Lots of lava here. The path at the beginning has lava, but a little bit of walking down should reveal a door leading into a giant, lava-less room. However, the room is basically a big maze. Getting around can be very frustrating. The exit is easy to reach, but you'll probably want the treasures to. Along the southern wall of the maze, you should find a door leading to a staircase. That's it. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B8 = Up to 2 chests If B9 = Up to 3 chests Chest Location -------------1. Walk to very north end of room and coast westward along the the path. When you hit the wall, head south and move east into the pathway. When you hit the fork, take the upper one leading east. The chest can be found in a dead end. 2. Northwest of first chest. 3. Just below the second chest. 4. Go back to the fork and take the lower one. The chest can be found at the other end. 5. Right of the fourth chest. Lava Path #1 ~ =----------= Description: There's a lot of lava here, but only two chests! This really is not a great floor considering the lack of treasure. The charred rocks scattered around will block your path often. While a treasure chest might look like it's right there, look down as a rock might be blocking you. Remember to watch your health as the lava really wreaks havoc. To get to the exit, try to go as far north as

possible and then head as far west as possible. Head south until you see a little pathway created by the rocks leading west. The staircase is there. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B9 = Up to 2 chests Chest Location -------------1. In the center of the area is a very short pathway leading to a dead end and a chest. 2. In the northeast corner is another chest. You'll have to walk around the rocks to reach it. Lava Path #2 ~ =----------= Description: It's kind of difficult to distinguish this level from the other lava levels. However, when you do reach it, know that all treasures can be found in the very northeastern-most room. To find the exit, just get to the somewhat eastern part of the area (I'm not talking about the treasure room) and scan the left wall for a pathway leading to the staircase. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B8 = Up to 2 chests If B9 = Up to 3 chests Chest Location -------------1. Move to the east portion of this area. Head as far south as humanly possible and then walk to the east. Just follow the path that 2. Read 3. Read as it twists toward the north. The chest is inside room. above. above.

Lava Path #3 ~ =----------= Description: Oh noes! Not more lava!! From the entrance, you have three possible ways to go. If you don't care about the treasure, then you can just head west and follow the path along the outskirts of the level. If you move in a clockwise pattern, you should eventually find the exit. However, who doesn't want to pick up the loot? Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B8 = Up to 2 chests If B9 = Up to 3 chests

Chest Location -------------1. The south path from the entrance. Just follow it to find it. 2. North of the first chest. Take the path. 3. At the east end of the area. Take the path to it. 4. West of the starting position on the way to the exit. Fiery Ruins ~ =---------= Description: This level bears a strong resemblance to the Sunken Shrine dungeon bar the fact that it's red. Bats are flying around everywhere spastically and you're in the northeastern corner. As long as you step on the red tiles, you take damage. However, there are gray tilings around that you won't get burned on. Use these to plan your next moves. To get to the exit, just head all the way south from the entrance area until you hit the south end. Then head east and north. Follow the path to eventually find the exit. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 or B2 = Up to 2 chests If B3 to B6 = Up to 3 chests If B7 to B9 = Up to 4 chests Chest Location -------------1. From the start, head south and then west. The room there contains two chests. 2. Read above. 3. From that room, leave and head west and north. The room there contains two chests. 4. Read above. Cavern ~ =----= Description: This is a pretty easy area to navigate through. The path is very linear with exception to two loops, which basically go to the same place anyway. The exit is to the extreme south. You usually begin around the north or middle area of the cavern. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B2 = Up to 2 chests If B3 to B9 = Up to 3 chests Chest Location -------------1. The very western-most portion of the area (north end) holds a chest at a dead end. 2. Somewhere down the middle of the area. It's along the path to the exit. 3. A little way north of the exit. Authorized Personnel Only ~

=-----------------------= Description: This is a weird place. You have these guys walking around with no general purpose. Basically, all they really talk about is you trespassing on their land and calling you a bad, bad adventurer. Hmm. Anyhow, you'll find the exit on the east side toward the northern end. Also, there are no random encounters unless you step on the sparkly stuff on the ground. Whee! Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 or B2 = Up to 2 chests If B3 to B6 = Up to 3 chests If B7 to B9 = Up to 4 chests Chest Location -------------1. In a little niche blocked off by sparkly ground (monsters). 2. West end of the area. 3. Southeast portion of the map. A lot of people are standing around there. 4. A bit north of first chest in a room. You'll find a chest there. Overworld ~ =-------= Description: Yes, this is pretty extreme. One of the levels is actually a giant area resembling the overworld. There are three different variations, and each one has a ship, an airship, and a pirate by the name of Thule. Crazy, I know. One last note, you can _run_ in this overworld like you might do in dungeons. Give it a try. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B2 = Up to 2 chests If B3 to B6 = Up to 3 chests If B7 to B8 = Up to 4 chests If B9 = Up to 5 chests The first variation starts you off in a forest with a blue patch to your south. The ship is pretty easy to get as all you have to do is walk southeast. You'll find the ship safely docked. Now, you can either take the ship, or find the airship by talking to Thule. It doesn't matter which way you choose, but collecting the treasures will be much easier with the airship. Thule is located at the very south end of this area. You'll cross a desert on your way to meet him. He'll tell you to find the airship at an oasis. The oasis is at the north end of this world in the middle. Just examine the palm tree and the Hellfire Chasm airship is yours. You'll find the exit on the island east of the airship. Chest Location

-------------1. East of the airship location on a moon-shaped island. 2. Southeast of the airship location in a thick forest. 3. South of where you originally found the ship. 4. West of the third chest. Canoe is required. 5. Southeastern-most island. Directly east from Thule. The second variation begins with you standing in the northwestern portion of the world. To get the ship, you have to walk south through a canyon. When you reach the patch of sand, head west to find the ship. Use it to sail southeast past a fully forested island and around a peninsula with rivers on it. The island immediately past that holds Thule. Talk to him and he'll mention an airship and an oasis. To get to the oasis, sail south so you appear at the north end of the overworld. Find the dock and get off. Then move east past a mountain range into the oasis. Examine the palm tree to get the airship. The exit is just west of the airship's location. Chest Location -------------1. On the same island as Thule. 2. At the desert patch east of the ship, head northeast to find a chest. 3. A little way north of Thule's island. 4. Above Thule's island is a dock. Directly east of this dock over some water is a chest. 5. West of the exit near the foot of a mountain is a chest. The third variation involves a continent with mostly rivers and water. Begin by moving southeast into a river. Then head south to find a ship. See the dock to your right? Head north past that to find Thule. Then head back south and move southeast. Sail under the bridge and dock. Get off and begin heading southeast along the river until you reach the oasis. Examine the tree to get the airship. The exit is directly north of the oasis. Chest Location -------------1. Southeast from your starting point by the lake. 2. Head northeast from the ship's starting location. 3. This chest is on Thule's island. 4. The southeastern peninsula south of the mountain range. 5. Directly north of Thule. On B5 is the first boss fight area of the Hellfire Chasm. You have the option of fighting either Scarmiglione or Cagnazzo. The two rooms are arranged like this. ,------------------. | | | +-----------------+ ^ | Scarmiglione | | +-----------------+ |

| `----------------<------ ENTRANCE | | | +-----------------+ V | Cagnazzo | | +-----------------+ | | `------------------' Both are difficult and require good levels. Scarmiglione has two forms so if you want a quicker battle, take Cagnazzo first. Boss Fight: Cagnazzo ~ =------------------= Cagnazzo is a weird-looking freak that really owns with his Tsunami attack. It deals heavy damage, so just hope that Cagnazzo does not use it. Cagnazzo can also cast Haste on himself, which makes his physical force stronger. However, with a good Protera and Invisira barrier, you should be all but threatened by his physical strikes. Being a water-based boss, lightning attacks will deal heavy damage. If you manage to Temper and Haste your fighters, have your Black Wizard cast Thundaga every turn while your White Wizard keeps the team healed up. Cagnazzo will fall after a bit. Boss Fight: Scarmiglione ~ =----------------------= Scarmiglione's not only looks weak, but it is weak! Put up NulShock and Protera beforehand. The first form can use Thunder and Scarmiglione will use it pretty often. Just put down all of his 4000 HP and he'll transform. The second form looks much weirder, and is much more powerful. The second form's main problem is his constant use of Poison Gas. Really, you'll be annoyed with this. Just put up a Protera barrier anyway. Make sure you have some Poisonas in case your characters get poisoned. However, it's not just the poison possibility. The attack itself deals heavy damage to your team. Temper and Hasten your fighters, while your White Mage gets busy curing and clearing out poison. Firaga and Diaga might prove to be useful. On B10 or the final floor area of the Hellfire Chasm, you have the option of fighting Barbariccia or Rubicante--the two final bosses of the Hellfire Chasm. You can only fight one with each pass, so take your pick. The actual path in is a bit twisted, but you get the story. ,---------------------------. | | | ,---->--. | | | | `. |

V | | | +-----------------+ | | Rubicante | | +-----------------+ | | | ^ | | `-----------'

`.

`. ,--' | | | ^ | | | | ENTRANCE

| | | | +-----------------+ | | Barbariccia | | +-----------------+ | | | | `----->-----'

Rubicante has more HP, but Barbariccia is the overall tougher opponent. Choose wisely. Rubicante ~ =-------= Rubicante has a lot of HP so it might take awhile to bring it down. His fire spells are dangerous, but a NulBlaze can help nullify some of that damage. Likewise, put up a Protera barrier along with Invisira to make hitting you a lot harder. While your defenses are up, begin to cast Temper and Haste on your fighting units. It's pretty simple from this point on. However, if your level leaves you something more to be desired, you might have some trouble taking Rubicante down. Barbariccia ~ =---------= Barbariccia has a lot of tricks up her sleeve. Most of her techniques are very high-powered magic spells capable of dealing 300+ damage! Therefore, I'd definitely suggest Protera along with NulAll. Also, Barbariccia has an annoying Ray attack that automatically turns one of your characters into stone. This battle will probably require a lot healing. Just pump your fighters with Haste and Temper to make their attacks more damaging. If you can give more than you take, the battle is yours. A fully Tempered + Hastened Knight can easily deal 1000+ damage with each turn. [=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~] 6.3. Lifespring Grotto -------------------------- [6300] [=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~]

Okay, so you knocked down the Earthgift Shrine and Hellfire Chasm only to find yourself at the doorstep of Lifespring Grotto. Unless of course you decided to skip the other two and just come here. Who knows? You might have just stepped here accidentally... The Lifespring Grotto can be found by sailing a ship into the whirlpool near the destroyed canal and Mt. Duergar. Compared to the other two, the difficulty

mounts. Many consider the boss fights here to be the hardest in the game! There are four bosses in all with a fight on the 5th floor, 10th floor, and one of two bosses on the 20th floor. Know that although there are set floor layouts, the order that they appear in is random, bar the boss floors. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | P O S S I B L E I T E M S | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B1 | 200 Gil, Echo Grass, Phoenix Down, Dry Ether, Hi-Potion, | | | Dry Ether, Red Curtain, Hermes' Shoes, Mind Plus, Feathered | | | Cap | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B2 | X-Potion, Giant's Tonic, Ether, Eye Drops, 400 Gil, Mind | | | Plus, White Fang, Genji Shield, Golden Apple, Lunar Curtain | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B3 | Tiger Mask, Speed Plus, Spider's Silk, Potion, 3000 Gil, | | | Remedy, Soma Drop, Elixir, White Curtain, Light Curtain | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B4 | Speed Drink, Strength Tonic, Red Fang, Hi-Potion, Ether, | | | Emergency Exit, Dry Ether, Phoenix Down, Hermes' Shoes, | | | Power Plus | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B5 | BOSS LEVEL | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B6 | Emergency Exit, 123 Gil, Blue Fang, Faerie Tonic, | | | Cockatrice Claw, Luck Plus, Elixir, Giant's Tonic, Silver | | | Apple, Crystal Ring | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B7 | Protect Drink, Vampire Fang, Phoenix Down, Golden Apple, | | | Spider's Silk, Speed Plus, 32000 Gil, Strength Tonic, | | | X-Potion, Megalixir | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B8 | Speed Drink, 300 Gil, Hermes' Shoes, Light Curtain, Turbo | | | Ether, Stamina Plus, Remedy, Mind Plus, Silver Apple, 4464 | | | Gil | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B9 | Hermes' Shoes, Faerie Tonic, Silver Apple, X-Potion, Blue | | | Curtain, Eye Drops, Power Plus, Deathbringer, Protect | | | Drink, Elixir | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B10 | BOSS LEVEL | | | |

+--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B11 | White Fang, Silver Apple, Cockatrice Claw, Protect Drink, | | | Orichalcum, Speed Plus, Strength Tonic, Soma Drop, Elixir, | | | Lunar Curtain | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B12 | Ether, Mind Plus, 5000 Gil, Remedy, Light Curtain, Giant's | | | Tonic, Hermes' Shoes, Power Vest, Megalixir, X-Potion | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B13 | Red Curtain, Power Plus, Vampire Fang, Blue Fang, Strength | | | Tonic, Turbo Ether, Stamina Plus, Elixir, Megalixir, White | | | Curtain | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B14 | Phoenix Down, Hi-Potion, Silver Apple, Faerie Tonic, Hermes'| | | Shoes, Emergency Exit, Soma Drop, Mind Plus, Luck Plus, | | | Gaia Gear | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B15 | Echo Grass, Asura, Spider's Silk, Blue Curtain, Potion, | | | Power Plus, X-Potion, Speed Drink, Golden Apple, Stamina | | | Plus | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B16 | 800 Gil, Giant's Tonic, Turbo Ether, Elixir, Protect Drink, | | | 40000 Gil, Kenpogi, Hermes' Shoes, Light Curtain, Speed | | | Plus | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B17 | X-Potion, Hermes' Shoes, Phoenix Down, Spider's Silk, | | | Sage's Mitre, Gigantaxe, Dry Ether, Crystal Shield, Elixir, | | | Mind Plus | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B18 | Lunar Curtain, Strength Tonic, Feathered Cap, Hi-Potion, | | | Remedy, Luck Plus, Soma Drop, Faerie Tonic, Crystal Ring, | | | 14464 Gil | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B19 | Ether, Sage's Surplice, Speed Plus, Phoenix Down, Hermes' | | | Shoes, Elixir, Light Curtain, Golden Apple, Stamina Plus, | | | Power Plus | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | B20 | BOSS LEVEL | | | | +--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ Library ~ =-----=

Description: Luckily for you, the Library has no random encounters. Nope, it's just you and the nerds hanging around. Take your time as there's nothing to worry about. You'll find the exit in the northeastern corner. (Also, the dude right by the exit states that he COULD get out of your way. Funny stuff.) Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B4 = Up to 2 chests If B6 to B19 = Up to 3 chests Chest Location -------------1. North of the starting position. 2. Along the east wall. The shelves block it so you'll have to head north and then turn around back south into the dead end. 3. Southwestern corner. Dancers ~ =-----= Description: A somewhat strange level. It begins with two lines of dancers. The second and third areas are randomized which means different chests. And of course, it's always fun to mess up the dancers. However, they will get in your way, which is pretty annoying. Step on the warp thingy in each area to get to the next area. The exit is in the third and final area. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B4 = Up to 2 chests If B6 to B12 = Up to 3 chests If B13 to B19 = Up to 4 chests Chest Location -------------1. First area. Past the upper line of dancers. 2. If second area has three huts, find it in southeast corner. 3. If second area has one hut, find it in northeast corner. 4. If third area has a dancer at the northwest telling you that this is the walking course (you're in luck), go due south from her position and follow the path until you find the chest. Ice Cave ~ =------= Description: This level is easily distinguished from the rest as the area is frozen and there are spikes on the ground reminiscent of the Cavern Of Ice. The exit can be found somewhere near the center. Watch out for the spikes as you lose health by stepping on them. However, you won't encounter any enemies while on spikes.

Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B3 = Up to 2 chests If B4 to B19 = Up to 3 chests Chest Location -------------1. There's a door near the northwest corner. A chest is inside this room. 2. There's a door near the southwest corner. A chest is inside this room. 3. Along the western wall is a pathway leading past a bed of spikes and a chest. Rocky Cave ~ =--------= Description: Pillars are everywhere creating a semi-maze area. You shouldn't have THAT much trouble navigating through the pillars. The exit can be along the southern wall, but the pillars make it so that you'll have to circle around the level along the wall just to reach it. Somewhere, there is a wall of pillars. It's a pretty painstaking task. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B4 = Up to 3 chests If B6 to B12 = Up to 4 chests If B13 to B19 = Up to 5 chests Chest Location -------------1. Northwest corner of main center chamber. 2. Somewhere along the southeast portion of the pillar wall. 3. If you look around in the southwest corner of the area, you should be able to find a door. Inside is a chest. If it helps at all, you'll pass this room on your way to the exit. 4. Same room as above. 5. Southeast corner just before the exit. Sunken Shrine #1 ~ =--------------= Description: You'll know if this is the right place if there are a lot of rooms around. The area is modeled after the Sunken Shrine layout. The treasures are in the various rooms, although a lot of them will always be empty. The exit is a bit north of the southeast corner near a big hole. Possible Chest Amount --------------------B1 to B9 = Up to 2 chests B11 to B16 = Up to 3 chests B17 to B19 = Up to 4 chests

Chest Location -------------1. In one of middle rooms is a chest. Just look around the center of the area for this particular room. 2. In the northeast corner is a room containing 3 of the 4 possible chests here. 3. Same room as above. 4. Same room as above. Sunken Shrine #2 ~ =--------------= Description: There are some rooms here, but not as many as Sunken Shrine #1. It's not that easy to get lost here, so don't worry about that. As long as you can figure out which way is east, west, south, and north, you should be able to locate the exit, which is in the southeast corner. Possible Chest Amount --------------------B1 to B9 = Up to 2 chests B11 to B16 = Up to 3 chests B17 to B19 = Up to 4 chests Chest Location -------------1. Along the northern portion is a piece of floor that just juts out. You'll find a chest here. 2. Along the eastern-middle portion of the area is a room. You will find a chest in here. 3. Directly west of the second chest is another room. Another chest is here. 4. In the room right before the exit is another chest. Sunken Shrine #3 ~ =--------------= Description: You can distinguish this room from the others as it has brownish walls resembling those of a cave's. There are some rooms where the chests are located. The exit can be reached by first, heading as far south as possible, then moving as far east as possible, and finally heading north. Easy. Possible Chest Amount --------------------B1 to B8 = Up to 2 chests B9 to B16 = Up to 3 chests B17 to B19 = Up to 4 chests Chest Location -------------1. Northwest corner. Usually right by the starting position. 2. Right next to first chest. 3. You should find a room along the southern area of the level. There's a chest in here. 4. Right next to third chest.

Sunken Shrine #4 ~ =--------------= Description: A good amount of open water is here. There are a few rooms around that may or may not contain treasure. The paths are usually broken by water so you might have some trouble getting to and fro. As for the exit, it's somewhere in the middle-ish area of the area that is closer to the south than any other direction. If you don't like looking for stuff yourself, tough luck. Possible Chest Amount --------------------B1 to B19 = Up to 3 chests Chest Location -------------1. This one isn't exactly in a room, but it's closed off by walls. There's no roof so you can notice it immediately. Approach from west. 2. A few steps north of the first chest. There's a room there with a chest. 3. Along the southern border is another room with of course, another chest. Sunken Shrine #5 ~ =--------------= Description: If you're lucky, you'll spawn right next to the exit. If not, oh well. Anyhow, you'll notice the walls are brown-ish and very close to the border of the pathways. There are a few rooms around that contain chests. The exit is in the northwest part of the level. Possible Chest Amount --------------------B1 to B9 = Up to 2 chests B11 to B19 = Up to 3 chests Chest Location -------------1. Along the eastern-centerish part of the level is the only chest not in a room. 2. A room can be found at the southeast corner. A chest is inside. 3. A room can also be found at the southwest corner. A chest is inside. Sunken Shrine #6 ~ =--------------= Description: This Sunken Shrine floor layout is hard to distinguish between the others. It's a somewhat large level. There are a lot of rooms here, but most of them are empty. Only a few actually have some treasures in them. The exit can be found in the northwest corner. Possible Chest Amount

--------------------B1 to B9 = Up to 2 chests B11 to B16 = Up to 3 chests B17 to B19 = Up to 4 chests Chest Location -------------1. Somewhere in the southwestern corner of the area is a room. Chest is inside. 2. Somewhere along the southern-centerish area. A crack prevents you from going directly from the southwestern corner to this room. 3. Southeastern corner. Same row as the above two. 4. Northeastern corner. Find a room with a chest inside it. Pillar Room (Of Doom) ~ =-------------------= Description: You'll know this is the Pillar Room (Of Doom) if there are a lot of pillars obviously. The area has a blue-tinged floor and gold walls. The pillars will make getting through this area much more difficult than it should be. Being annoying to navigate through, you'll learn to dread this place like I did. The exit is in the northeast corner. Possible Chest Amount --------------------B1 to B4 = Up to 2 chests B6 to B12 = Up to 3 chests B13 to B16 = Up to 4 chests B17 to B19 = Up to 5 chests Chest Location -------------1. Somewhat to the southeast of the level. It's sitting to the right of a pillar, touching it. 2. Somewhat to the northwest of the level. It's sitting outside the room in the northwest corner. 3. Inside the room at the southwest corner. 4. Read above. 5. There's a chest in the room right next to the exit. However, those annoying pillars block it off so you have to approach it from the south. Grr. Column Room ~ =---------= Description: There are columns (pillars) all over the place, although not in such large numbers (as above). The floor is blue and the walls are gold. Some of the columns may impede your moving but you shouldn't have too much trouble. You'll find the exit at the southeastern corner after walking through a narrow corridor. Possible Chest Amount ---------------------

If B1 to B4 = Up to 2 chests If B6 to B12 = Up to 3 chests If B13 to B19 = Up to 4 chests Chest Location -------------1. Northeast portion of area. The chest is by the corridor in a room. 2. The southwestern corner of the area. A part of the floor just juts out. The chest is at that end. 3. Northwest corner. The chest there is easy to get to and plain in sight. 4. Along the north wall. It has to be approached from the top as pillars block you from getting it from the bottom. Big Roomed Room ~ =-------------= Description: This area's main distinctive feature is its gigantic rooms. Because of the walls and pillars scattered around, you'll probably have to traverse through them to get to where you want to go. There's a chest in every big room I believe. The exit is in the southwestern corner which requires you to go through the room and exit at the corner as a pillar blocks it off. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B4 = Up to 2 chests If B6 to B12 = Up to 3 chests If B13 to B14 = Up to 4 chests Chest Location -------------1. South part of the big northeast room. 2. North part of the big southeast room. You can see the other chest in the big northeast room from where the chest is here. 3. South part of the big northwest room. You'll have to cut through the southwest room to get to it. 4. North part of the big southwest room. Canoe Trip ~ =--------= Description: This floor puts you in a canoe. What appears to be a village seems to be flooded at the moment. The chests are above water and there are no random encounters (Yay!). The exit can alternate, so remember to check all the houses (above water, obviously). The only real annoyance here is the slow speed of the canoe. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B4 = Up to 3 chests If B6 to B19 = Up to 4 chests Chest Location --------------

1. Southwest corner of 2. In the western part of a wall. Approach 3. Northeast corner of 4. Somewhere along the chest.

area. of the area is a chest in the corner from the north. area. southern part of the area is another

Sky Castle ~ =--------= Description: A castle in the sky... underground... Anyhow, this is an easy floor. A path runs down the middle that basically acts like a backbone to the level layout. Paths branch out leading to special treasures, and eventually, the exit. Find the exit by walking to the south end and turn east. But it isn't a staircase, but *gasp* a warp point! Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B12 = Up to 2 chests If B13 to B19 = Up to 3 chests Chest Locations --------------1. This chest can be found in one of the eastern areas somewhere in the middle. You'll find the chest in a room. 2. Somewhere along the west side of the backbone path (I was talking about). The room there contains a chest. 3. Just behind the room containing the second chest is a path leading west to another chest. Dark Bahumat's Lair ~ =-----------------= Description: There are absolutely no chests here. However, the Dragon King has a challenge for you. Talk to him (Dark Bahumat) and learn your objective. He'll send out his dragons and you have a set amount of dragons to defeat. However, all the dragons look the same so you'll have to take your chances. When you've defeated all the dragons Dark Bahumat has told you to, talk to him again. He'll let you proceed. NOTE: If you want to clear out your Bestiary, suggest fighting all of the dragons. You'll want to record rare dragons such as the Holy Dragons or Black Dragons. Possible Chest Amount --------------------N/A Chest Location

-------------N/A Sky Fortress ~ =----------= Description: Now how did you get miles above the ground if you're underground? (Sometimes, I don't understand this game.) Anyhow, this is a strange level with some pathways that seemingly flash and become invisible again. Watch them for the split second they appear and follow the path. However, you can fall off so beware. This is the best room in the Lifespring Grotto as it has no random encounters and a set 10 chests! So while you indulge in the treasures around, just remember the location of the exit. From the entrance, which is the center platform, head north to meet a path split. Turn right and follow the path as it twists south. At the next fork, keep going south. Soon, another fork will appear. Take the southwest path. At the very next fork, take the southwest path again. Follow this long pathway to yet another split. Go north this time and the walkway to will begin to turn east and then south. At this point, you should start walking on solid ground again. Now just head north ignoring any branches or forks until at last, you reach the exit. Do this AFTER getting all the treasure. Possible Chest Amount --------------------If B1 to B19 = Up to 10 chests Chest Location -------------1. Head south, when you hit the fork, head south again. The room contains a chest. 2. Leave the room and head north past the fork. When you reach another fork, go north. Follow this