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Final Fantasy V
FAQ/Walkthrough by CKohler
Version: 1.1 | Updated: 07/13/00 | Printable Version
_/_/_/_/_/ _/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/ dreams fill the land with hope _/ _/ _/ _/ courage ignites flames _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ water is the source of sympathy _/ _/ _/ _/ investigation carries intelligence _/ _/ _/ in the wind F I N A L F A N T A S Y V if people possess the four wills US version FAQ 1.1 light can arise prepared by Chris Kohler based on a FAQ by Chris Kohler, Nora Stevens, and Tatsushi Nakao all comments/questions: firstname.lastname@example.com Final Fantasy V is included in the package "Final Fantasy Anthology," published by Squaresoft Electronic Arts for the Sony Playstation. The latest version of this FAQ can always be found at www.gamefaqs.com. TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 0: Copyright and Disclaimer SECTION 1: Introduction SECTION 2: Infrequently Asked Questions SECTION 3: The Classes of Final Fantasy V SECTION 4: Walkthrough of Final Fantasy V SECTION 5: Lists SECTION 6: Thanks and No Thanks SECTION 7: Update Log SECTION 0: COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER Apparently, there are some people out there (in the publishing business or otherwise) who just don't understand copyright law! Therefore, I feel it is in my best interests to place this copyright notice BEFORE all the good stuff. ***Many thanks to Chris MacDonald for letting me use and abuse his perfected, precise notice!*** The Final Fantasy V FAQ US Version 1.0 is copyright 2000 Chris Kohler. This FAQ and everything included within this file cannot be reproduced in any way, shape or form (physical, electronic, or otherwise) aside from being placed on a freely-accessible, non-commercial web page in it's original, unedited and unaltered format. This FAQ cannot be used for profitable purposes (even if no money would be made from selling it) or promotional purposes. It cannot be used in any sort of commercial transaction; it cannot be given away as some sort of bonus, gift, etc., with a purchase as this creates incentive to buy and is therefore illegal. Furthermore, this FAQ cannot be used by the publishers, editors, employees or associates, etc. of any company, group, business, or association, etc., nor can it be used by game sites and the like. It cannot be used in magazines, guides, books, etc. or in any other form of printed or electronic media (including mediums not specifically mentioned) in ANY way, shape, or form (including reprinting, reference or inclusion), without the express written permission of the author. Even though this FAQ is an unpublished work, remember that this FAQ and everything included herein is protected by the Berne Copyright Convention of 1976, not to mention International Copyright Law. Remember that plagiarism is a crime, and that this is a copyrighted work. DISCLAIMER: The Final Fantasy series and all related characters, etc. are property of and copyrighted by Square. SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION Yes, you read it right. The first and best English-language resource to the wonderful game of Final Fantasy V returns to the World Wide Internet. This FAQ is written with the US Playstation version of FFV in mind, the one included in Final Fantasy Anthology. So if you're looking for a comprehensive, accurate, and one hundred percent legal resource to this fantastic game, you've come to the right place. SECTION 2: INFREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 1. What is Final Fantasy V? The obvious answer is that FFV is the fifth title in the Final Fantasy series. But FFV has had a rather complex history. It was released in Japan in 1992 for the Super Famicom (Super NES to us). At this point, the Internet barely existed and most video game magazines were still under the thumb of Nintendo, and very little information about FFV reached the US. Squaresoft was not the massive multi-billion-dollar entity they are today; indeed, they were a small company producing relatively few games. The US arm of Squaresoft was made up of a very few people. Final Fantasy IV, the game that was released in the US as FFII, had been chopped up and simplified for US release, but the powers that be noticed that a similar technique just couldn't be applied to FFV since the game was so delicately balanced. In a nutshell, FFV was deemed "too hard" for the American gamer and was cut from Square USA's list. FFVI was released in the US as FFIII, but gamers were just beginning to get wise and asked Squaresoft what had happened to the game they'd seen a few pictures of here and there. At this point, Ted Woolsey, the translator of Secret of Mana, FFIII, and Chrono Trigger could be easily contacted on America Online through the name SquareS. Ted received so many requests for FFV that tentative plans were drawn up to release it in the US as Final Fantasy Extreme. Unfortunately, Square USA folded before that could happen. Once Square announced its move to the Playstation, a new Square USA branch was opened in Los Angeles, and Square soon announced that PC versions of FFV and FFVI would be coming to the US. Gamers rejoiced, and the games, appropriately, were canceled. Of course, around this time a group of hackers had completed a fan-translation of FFV, which was playable through the SNES emulators that were being worked on at the time. Gamers rejoiced, but realized they'd probably never see a bug-free, professionally localized game. But we did not give up hope, for Square then announced that it would be porting FFIV, V, and VI to the Playstation in the form of FINAL FANTASY COLLECTION, with new CG movies and bonus modes. After a long wait, Square USA brought over the entire collection, retitled it FINAL FANTASY ANTHOLOGY, and, in a show of genius, arbitrarily deleted FFIV from the package. Argh. But the point is, SEVEN YEARS after the game's original release, an English version of Final Fantasy V is finally available in the good ol' United States of America. 2. What is the history of this FAQ? It's 1995. Square USA has folded, and this is when yours truly decided to take matters into his own hands and actually bought a copy of the Japanese cartridge. Now, this was 1995, and kids, importing was a whole lot different back then. First of all, most importers charged a mint for their wares. Die Hard Game Fan wanted me to pay about $130 for a game that fetched about $25 in Japan. Luckily, there was one innovative importer (now closed, apparently) called GameLand that actually sold games for their market value, and I got my copy of FFV for $55 or so. Of course, I didn't know Japanese and was totally screwed, but I met two very nice people online, Nora Stevens and Tatsushi Nakao, who not only helped me through the game but teamed up with me to write the first and best FFV FAQ. The FAQ was written for American gamers who didn't speak Japanese, and so a good portion of the FAQ was devoted to translations of all the different item and magic names. Thus, even someone who didn't know Japanese could figure out something about what was going on. This worked quite well, although I got quite a few emails telling me that my FAQ was "messed up" because it had a bunch of weird symbols in it. Eventually, having played through FFV some more, I decided to use the firsthand knowledge that I'd acquired and produce Version 2.0 of the FAQ. Later, Nora updated the FAQ and produced an HTML version, with pictures and hyperlinks galore. It should still be up at http://home.sprynet.com/~lindajoan/. 3. Who the hell died and made you king of FFV, anyway? Pure coincidence, I guess. I was one of the only three people in the US who not only had a copy of FFV but was willing to spread information about it. But now that everybody has FFV and there are "official" plagiarized strategy guides available, I get less and less email. I will allow myself one indulgence, though. Chris "Kao Megura" MacDonald told me in January 2000 that the original FAQ was what inspired him to start writing FAQs in the first place. Considering that Chris has become one of the most talented, recognizable, and prolific FAQ writers on the Net, I can't help but feel like I've done something good for the rest of the world. ^_- 4. What do you think of the US version of FFV? First of all, let me say that I don't think ANY RPG translation will EVER compare to the absolute horror that was Final Fantasy II (SNES). Entire sections of the game were cut, the finished text was terrible, and the whole game was set on "easy mode." For shame. Now that I've said that, I think the translation of Final Fantasy V is complete and utter garbage. Sure, they didn't cut much of anything, but the text is written poorly, the enemy and class names show no thought or respect for the other games in the series, and some of the changes just seem arbitrary and stupid. Examples? You want examples, you say? a. Whenever you win a fight: "YESSSS!" b. Reina: "This thing just fell out of sky... I passed out in the storm." c. Galuf: "Whatta buncha crap! You know it's just 'cause you got the hots for her!" d. Faris: "Avast! What're ye doin' thar?" e. The final crystal shatters, and the whole world is about to fall apart. What does our hero say? "Oh crap!" f. X-Death: "Power of The Void! Show me your true power!" g. Dwarf: "He said it word reach the other side of the world!" There are quite a few other gaffes that really got me; I've marked them in the walkthrough. Let's just say I hope you're not a big fan of the Dwarfs or Tonberi. 5. Are there any published strategy guides available for FF Anthology? Yep. Accompanying the game's release were two guides. The "official" guide was published by Brady Games, who at least had the decency to PARAPHRASE our entire FAQ rather than simply copy the text directly, although there is enough evidence within to show conclusively that they copied. The "unofficial" guide was published by Game Informer and actually contained walkthroughs for FFV through FFVIII. Game Informer just cut-and-pasted our FAQ into their book, cleaned up some text, and deleted our names. So, in conclusion, DO NOT BUY either guide to Final Fantasy V. Both of them contain stolen property, although BradyGames, at least, dressed it up. This is the ORIGINAL and BEST English-language guide to Final Fantasy V, PERIOD. Plus, the original FAQ had some errors that the plagiarists STUPIDLY copied, and that are fixed in this FAQ. So this is also the only 100% accurate guide. Huzzah. 6. What's different about this edition of the FAQ? Lots. First of all, since this FAQ is for the English version of the game, all of the Japanese text has been deleted. All the names have been changed to reflect the English version, and I rewrote the E*N*T*I*R*E walkthrough. My editing skills pretty much bit when I was 16. Sorry for all of you who had to read it. 7. What's happened to you guys since you wrote the first edition of the FAQ, anyway? Chris: I graduated high school and headed off to Tufts University. I'm majoring in Japanese (big surprise there), and I'll be studying in Japan from October 2000 to August 2001. I'm currently writing video game reviews for Animerica, Viz Comics' monthly anime magazine, and feature articles for Viz' online shopping/pop culture hub, www.j-pop.com. Nora: I finished high school and then graduated from the U. of Michigan with a BA in linguistics (specializing in phonetics) and another BA in Japanese language and literature. I now work at AutoWeb (http://www.autoweb.net), a sort of private Internet for automotive and aerospace companies to securely exchange data (mostly CAD stuff) with their suppliers. I'm their Web developer and translator. Tat: I graduated the University of Colorado at Boulder in May 2000 with a master's in Aerospace Engineering, and I'm now working in Japan. 8. What's the deal with that one girl's name? I've seen it spelled about a billion different ways, I don't know how to pronounce it, and it's driving me absolutely nuts! First of all, calm down. Yeesh. Here's the scoop on the name of the fifth and final character to join your party in FFV. Officially, her name is Krile (and the US translation actually got it right). She's named after a group of islands, the Kuriles, which lie between Japan and Russia. So how did we wind up calling her "Kururu" in the first FAQ? Because, although the English spelling of her name appears in the Japanese strategy guide, etc., in the game itself only the katakana "ku ru ru" appear. (Believe it or not, that's the closest approximation to "Kurile" that can be made in Japanese.) But her name's not pronounced "koo roo roo," it's pronounced like "curl", but with two syllables: "cu' ril." And the "unofficial" English translation of the FFV ROM called her "Cara." Well, they were just WAY off. 9. The Final Fantasy series is well-known for its music. What can you tell me about FFV's soundtrack? Final Fantasy V is considered some of composer Nobuo Uematsu's best work. An Original Sound Version was released on CD (PSCN-5015~6) by Squaresoft and NTT, and "Dear Friends," an arranged album with mostly straight synthesized remakes of select FFV songs was released on CD (PSCN-5018) on the same day, 11/26/94. (Thanks to www.soundtrackcentral.com for the dates!) Dear Friends featured wonderful arrangements of such songs as Ahead on Our Way (the opening theme), Tenderness In The Air (the first town music), and Music Box Memories. FFV was also featured on the two Final Fantasy vocal albums, "Pray" and "Love Will Grow." For Pray, "Music Box Memories" was rewritten as "Mon P'tit Chat," and "Dear Friends" became "Esperança Do Amor." On Love Will Grow, "Parting Sorrow" became "Tooihi no Nagori," and "My Home, Sweet Home" became "Harukanaru Kokyou." (For more information on these songs, visit Nora's FF lyrics page, "The Opera House," at: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nstevens/lyrics/fflyrics.htm) There has yet to be an "official" arranged version of fan favorite Big Bridge ("Battle With Gilgamesh"), however, an excellent arrangement of this very song will appear on Project Majestic Mix, a Final Fantasy tribute CD due in 2000 from KFSS Studios (www.kfssstudios.com). 10. How do I get through the water maze in the graveyard of wrecked ships/sunken tower/etc? It's not a maze. It's an emulation bug. Buy the game. 11. But I don't want to buy the real game. Now please tell me each individual step to get through the dungeon. Let me explain something to you. Emulation of UNRELEASED games really can help the industry and the hobby, by forming grassroots fan bases for titles and series that would otherwise never be seen in the US or in the English language. But choosing to play emulated copies of ALREADY RELEASED games hurts by taking money away from the developers and translators who worked to give you, the fans, what you asked for. This will be repaid in kind when Square, seeing lackluster sales of Final Fantasy Anthology, will decide that translating classic titles isn't a good idea after all. Buy the game. 12. Are there any secret tricks/bugs in FFV? There's one great one, which allows you to cast single-target magic to a group of enemies. a. Have one character that can use X-Magic (the final ability of the Red Mage) and one character that can use the Chemist's Mix command. b. During battle, first use any Mix on any character. c. Now start X-Magic with a single-target magic (Flare, Shell, etc.) and finish the X-Magic with a multiple-target spell. The single-target magic will affect all enemies. SECTION 3: THE CLASSES OF FINAL FANTASY V To its credit, the instruction manual included with the US edition of Final Fantasy V does list every ability that can be learned for all the basic classes. However, there are no general descriptions of said classes designed to give the player a general "feel" for the various jobs available to him. This section hopes to fill that small void. B A R E The initial, default class. A Bare warrior can equip anything at all and has solid statistics, however, he has no special abilities whatsoever. Once some abilities are learned, however, the Bare class has two full slots open for commands. Furthermore, all abilities of mastered classes are automatically applied to the Bare character. K N I G H T The standard sword-and-armor warrior, around since the original Final Fantasy. If a friend is nearing death, the Knight may automatically cover him and take the blow himself. M O N K The monk is the Black Belt, the bare-fisted warrior. He is the most powerful physical fighter. Mastery of the Monk class yields a heavy HP increase. T H I E F Quick and wily, the Thief's strength is not in open combat but in stealth. He enables the party to dash, to quickly flee battles, to steal items from enemies, to avoid back attacks, and to see hidden passages. An infinitely useful character. L A N C E R A poor choice of name, since most FF players know this class is really the Dragoon. The Lancer can jump, avoiding an entire round of combat, and land with a powerful blow. N I N J A Another stealth fighter, the Ninja will dramatically increase the party's chances of a first attack. He can equip two katana at once, and, most importantly, has the ability to throw items at enemies, causing serious damage. S A M U R A I Like the Ninja, the Samurai is a master sword fighter. He can deflect sword blows with his bare hands, although his greatest claim to fame is his ability to cause massive damage to enemies by throwing GP. B E R S E R K E R The beastly Berserkers are constantly Berserked in battle, which means that they cannot do anything but fight. Of course, their standard attacks with axes do massive damage. H U N T E R The Hunter can attack from a distance, and multiple enemies, with his bow and arrows. He can also call animals to assist the party. He can call more powerful animals as his level increases. S O R C E R E R The Sorcerer is in reality a Magic Swordsman. First he must cast black magic to his swords, but once they are so infused, all he needs to do is strike an enemy with his sword to cast a magic spell more powerful than the original. The Sorcerer is one of the most underrated jobs in the game; he seems like a novelty character but in reality he is extremely powerful. W H I T E M A G E The white mage uses white magic, which is mostly healing and effect magic. Mastery of the white mage yields a moderate MP increase. B L A C K M A G E The black mage uses black magic to attack the enemy, and can equip rods to heighten the effect of said magic. Mastery of the black magician yields a high MP increase. T I M E M A G E The Time mage uses Time&Space magic to alter cosmic forces. They can speed up the party, slow down the enemy, and attack with the powerful Meteo. S U M M O N E R The Summoner can call magic beasts to attack the enemy. At first, the Summoner's spells do little damage, but soon summoned monsters become the party's most potent magic. B L U E M A G E The Blue Mage has the ability to learn enemy magic and use it later. This initially seems like little more than a novelty, but the Blue Magic "Guardian" is invaluable in the latter half of the game. The Blue Mage is also a formidable fighter, and can equip Knight swords. R E D M A G E The Red Mage can use both white and black magic, but only half the spells that a White mage or a Black mage can eventually use. However, mastery of the Red Mage yields the command X-Magic, in which two magic spells can be used at once. T R A I N E R The monster trainer can control and capture enemies, however, you'll have very little cause to use this ability during the game. C H E M I S T The Chemist has the underrated ability to mix different items together, often producing an item much more powerful than the sum of its parts. Also, whenever a Chemist uses a curative item, it automatically has two times its normal effect. G E O M A N C E R The Geomancer is at one with the elements. He can attack using the powers of the terrain around him. He has the uncanny ability to detect traps in the earth as well as nullify any damage taken from lava and sharp floors. He can be quite useful in certain deadly dungeons. B A R D The Bard has very little stamina and attack power, but his songs can be quite potent in battle. His most powerful function is causing massive damage to undead creatures by singing Requiem. D A N C E R The dancer is the only character that can equip the amazing Ribbon accessory, which prevents against all status ailments. His dances can cause massive damage to the enemy or simply confuse them. M I M E Another poorly translated name, the Mime is actually a Mimic. He can copy any character's last action, regardless of whether he personally has that skill or not. Furthermore, all abilities of mastered classes are retained when that character takes the Mimic job. The Mimic has three full slots open which can be filled with any command. SECTION 4: WALKTHROUGH OF FINAL FANTASY V WORLD 1 1. A Meteorite Crashes Near Castle Tycoon... You begin as a mysterious, nameless lad riding a Chocobo. Ride east, to the meteorite, and enter it from the south. Head east into the forest, and you'll enter into a fight with some Goblins, saving Reina* and Galuf. You'll pick a name for yourself (the character's official name is Bartz**, although there is no default setting). They'll leave for the Wind Shrine; you should head southeast to find a hidden Phoenix Down, then return to Boko the Chocobo. *"Lenna" in the Japanese version. **"Butz" (pronounced like "Bahts") in the Japanese game. Changed for obvious reasons. 2. We're Pirates! Head northwest on the main map. The ground will open up and Goblins will strike once again. Defeat them and Reina and Galuf will join the party. Keep heading north and enter the pirates' cave. A recovery spring is located near the entrance: drink to recover full HP, MP, and status. When you happen upon a pirate, watch his actions and mimic them to open the door to the main base; also, grab the Leather Cap to his left. Go to the pier, board the pirate ship, then press A near the steering wheel. Faris, the pirate captain, will capture you... but he then joins your party, agreeing to help you find the Wind Shrine. 3. To the Wind Shrine??? A pirate will ask you if you want help finding the Wind Shrine. If you select Yes, the ship will be steered automatically toward the Shrine... but you don't want to go there yet. 4. The Town of Tule. TREASURES TO BE FOUND: Ether, 100 GP, 150 GP, Tonic (2), Phoenix Down (2), Leather Shoes (2), Tent (2) PIANO: If you play all the pianos across the world, something good will happen. The first piano is here in Tule. Sail northwest from the Pirate Cave (or southwest from the Wind Shrine) to find Tule on the world map. Talk to the townspeople of Tule and gather information. Make absolutely sure to visit the Beginners' House in the southwest, even if you know what you're doing: there are some good items to be found in there, as well as outside. Outfit your characters with basic weaponry and armor before you head to the Wind Shrine. 5. Wind Shrine. TREASURES: Tonic (5), Leather Cap, Broadsword, Staff, Tent King Tycoon's retainers and scholars are in the first room to the left. Get 5 Tonics from one of the guards and ask the other about the Recovery Jug next to him (it's like the spring in the cave). Head through the Wind Shrine (it's quite easy), keeping an eye out for the treasures. On the fourth floor, you'll find Wingrapter, the first boss. WINGRAPTER Level 1, 250 HP The only thing you need to remember is this: don't attack Wingrapter when his wings are wrapped about his body or you'll get walloped with a counterattack. Just attack him with your Broadswords or other weapons and you'll be fine. After defeating Wingrapter, head to the top floor to receive your first set of crystal shards/jobs, then exit to the north. KNIGHT MONK THIEF WHITE MAGE BLUE MAGE BLACK MAGE 6. Back to Tule. Outside the village, give your characters their first jobs. (I usually go with a Knight, a Thief, a Black Mage, and a White Mage.) Now go outfit your characters with weapons and armor befitting their class (for example, your White Mage won't be able to use the Broadsword). If you've got the cash, buy some magic for your mages or they'll be useless. Cure should be your first priority, followed by Bolt. If you've got more cash, grab Fire, Ice, Antdot, and Scan in that order. Head to the huge house to the north; that's Zok's residence. He'll give you the Canal Key. Leave the town and head east, to the Torna Canal. 7. Through the Torna Canal. Sail through the canal and fight Karl Boss. KARL BOSS Lv. 5, 650 HP Like most sea creatures in the Final Fantasy series, Karl Boss is weak against lightning spells. Attack normally, but have your Black Mage use Bolt and you should win easily. If you're having trouble, simply make your entire party into Black Mages and use Bolt on every turn. 8. Graveyard Of The Ships... TREASURES: Flail, Tent, 990 GP, Phoenix Down (2), Antidote (2), Tonic The tomb of the wrecked ships is basically easy to navigate. There's one early fork-in-the-ocean: head south to get the Flail, then head right to go on. Eventually, you'll reach a rest stop. Once you begin moving again, make sure to check the desk in the next ship for the WORLD MAP. When you can't go on any further, open the chest on the south end of the next ship to raise the water level below. At the end of the graveyard, you'll fight Siren. SIREN Lv. 2, 900 HP. Siren is undead, and like all undead creatures is weak against Cure spells. No, really. So, if you want to toast her, make four white mages and Cure the bitch to death. 9. Town of Kerwin. TREASURES: Antidote, Ice Rod, 1000 GP. PIANO. Walk southeast from the dungeon exit to find Kerwin. Collect information and buy new equipment (you know, standard Town stuff.) 10. Climbing the North Mountain. TREASUES: Phoenix Down, Soft. Head northeast from Kerwin to find the North Mountain. It's another straightforward dungeon with few surprises. Watch out for the purple plants: touching them will poison your party! Beat the bosses to rescue Reina's Dragon. FALTZER and MAGISSA Lv. 8 Lv. 8 850 HP 650 HP There's no easy way to beat these monsters, although, if you're powerful enough, it is possible to defeat Magissa before she gets the chance to summon the more powerful Faltzer. 11. Dragon. Ride Dragon to the town of Walz, which is south of Kerwin. 12. Town of Walz. TREASURES: SilvrGlasses. Gather information, buy stuff, and head to Walz Castle directly outside. 13. Walz Castle. TREASURES: Tent, 490 GP, Phoenix Down, Elf Cloak, 1000 GP (2), SPEED (yep, the magic spell). Talk to the King of Walz. The second meteorite will crash; follow the king to the crash site. OTHER STUFF TO DO: 1) You'll meet a thief in the jail downstairs; don't let him out! 2) Head to the basement to find some great items and the Speed spell, but watch out for the Harpy! Better to just run away, although he can teach you the Moon Flute if you have a Blue Mage. 3) You can find a hidden mini-dungeon in the waterfall on the roof. You can learn Toad Song from the Elftoad inside. The summon monster Shiva waits at the end. SHIVA Lv. 11, 1500 HP. She and her guardians are weak against fire magic, but plain ol' Fire isn't especially effective. You should probably wait until you get Fire2 later in the game, and then come back to get her. 14. Climb the Walz Tower. TREASURES: Silk Robe, Maiden's Kiss, SilvrArmBand, Ether Head west to the tower of Walz and find the king in the middle of the tower, unable to go on. Head to the top, collect treasures, and defeat Garula. GARULA Lv. 3, 1200 HP. If you learned Toad Song from the Elftoads in Walz Castle, you can turn Garula into a frog and then completely destroy it. If not, just attack normally and watch out for Garula's powerful attacks. Collect the Crystal shards, and five new jobs. Exit to the north. TIME MAGE SORCERER BERSERKER SUMMONER RED MAGE 15. Quick Stop at Tycoon Castle. Ride Dragon to Tycoon Castle and collect a whole crapload of treasures. TREASURES: Maiden's Kiss, Elixer (2), Ether (2), Phoenix Down (2), Shuriken, Monster Bell, Katana, Healing Staff, Cottage (3), Potion 16. Walz Castle. Talk to the soldiers and the King to gather information about the third meteorite landing and your next destination: Karnak. 17. Walz Meteorite. Enter the meteorite near Walz and step on the flashing tile to be transported to the Karnak meteorite. Walk northwest, around the tip of the mountain range, then southwest to reach the town of Karnak. 18. Inside Karnak town. TREASURES: Fire Rod. PIANO. When you try to buy an item at the shops, you'll be arrested, so buy the item you'll benefit most from. How about the MythrilArmor? Once you're thrown in jail, walk around aimlessly for a while until Cid busts you out. 19. Yep, it's Cid. Chat with Cid and you'll be freed. Head back into town and buy the new, powerful accessories and spells. You'll get Fire2 here: if you didn't defeat Shiva before, now's the best time to take the long walk back to Walz and get her. Head out of Karnak and south to get to your next destination, the Fire-Powered Ship. 20. The Long Hot Walk To The Fire-Powered Ship's Engine Room TREASURES: MythrilGlove, Elixer (3), Cottage, Phoenix Down, Green Beret, Thief Glove, MoonRing. USEFUL ENEMY NOTES: a. Don't cast Bolt spells on Mottletraps. They will explode and damage you (although Blue Mages can learn it). b. Don't fight Cool Dust alone for too long or it will blind your party. Upon entering the ship, go into the first door you see to get Elixer. Take the left stair to get MythrilGlove, go downstairs for another Elixer, and then take the north door to continue. On the elevator, press the left switch to start it moving. Follow the path until you see four doors to the south. The rightmost one will take you to the Green Beret. The second from the right will get you the Thief Glove. Take the third door to the right to continue. Take the left door, and then take the next left door to get to the save point and a small puzzle. ***PUZZLE SOLUTION*** a. Once you are next to the first switch you can click, click it. b. Get off that platform and click the switch on the furthest platform to the left. c. Run across the room and click both switches. d. Walk down and click the upper switch while you are standing to the right of it. e. Click the last switch to get the treasure. f. Proceed through the upper right door to the boss. LIQUDFLAME Lv. 19, 3000 HP. Don't attack LiqudFlame when he is in the shape of a hand! He is weak against (duh!) Ice magic, and remember that equipping Ice Rod will enhance the strength of Ice and Ice2. The quickest way to beat him, then, would be to make four Black Mages with Ice Rods and let loose with Ice2. If this way gets you killed, try three Black Mages and one White Mage with HealingStaff equipped. The HealingStaff increases the effectiveness of... ah, you know. 21. Getting The Heck Out Of Karnak Castle Which Is On Fire. TREASURES: Elixer (6!), 2000 GP (3!), ElfCloak, HuntingKnife, Shuriken, Ribbon, Esna, LgtningSkill It is totally possible to get every one of these incredible treasures and escape the castle in under ten minutes. It's damn hard, though. If you want to try, make a Thief with the !Run ability so you can escape all non-forced battles, and have a Black Mage on hand to fry the enemies with 2-level spells. I personally recommend running like hell, especially if your levels are less than 14 or so. However, there are some treasures, especially the otherwise ridiculously expensive White magic Esna, which you should definitely grab. As I mentioned above, you have ten minutes to get out of the castle (including a possibly lengthy boss fight at the end) or it's Game Over. After the save point, run up the stairs and collect the two chests. Go up the staircase to the upper right. (On this floor, the chest to the left contains ESNA.) There is a chest to the right as well. Now go through the center door, then run to the next floor and the next (no treasures on either). Once you get to the main hallway with the blue carpet running up the middle, you can go through doors to the northeast and northwest to find a bunch more treasures. Collect them if you want, then run south down the blue carpet to exit the castle (before you do you can collect the final treasures to the left and right of the exit door). If you've done everything perfectly you may have as many as four minutes left, which is about what you're going to need for the boss fight. IRON CLAW Lv. 39, 900 HP. He doesn't have much in the way of weaknesses, and if you don't have time remaining on the clock when you beat him you'll die anyway. It'd be an excellent idea, though, to try and learn Doom Claw, because it will come in very handy in later boss fights... If you get hit with Doom Claw, use the Esna spell you just got to heal yourself. Beat Iron Claw with time remaining and you'll get three more crystal shards. NINJA TRAINER GEOMANCER 22. To The Ancient Library Stock up in town if you haven't already. The wall to the southwest of Karnak has been obliterated, so now you can head down that-a-way to the Ancient Library. ***Major MAJOR note: If you walk on the giant desert, Quadrharpy, a very powerful enemy, will almost certainly attack and probably kill you. So walk around the desert. (That said, when you come back later in the game you'll be able to kill the thing and get massive EXP/AP every time you do. Previews of coming attractions.)*** Talk to the Library folk to gather information, and find the Recovery Jug/Urn of Healing/Pot of Stuff/whatever that refills your HP/MP. Apparently, Mid (Cid's grandson) is somewhere in the lower floors of the library, and you've got to go get him. You'll have to push books and switches to make it through the library maze. Enemies are rather interesting: they'll pop out of books and you'll have to defeat each "page" in turn until you get to the end of the book and the battle. ***Another major MAJOR note: You can learn and should learn Level 5 Doom from the enemy "Page 64." Someone in your party should be Level 15 by now; make that person a blue mage and hope they get hit! Just don't have ALL of your characters at Level 15 or else... and remember that you must win the (long!) battle to learn the spell.*** Keep going and you'll meet the first boss of the Library. IFRIT Lv. 22, 3000 HP. Ifrit is weak against (duh!) Ice, so use Ice2 or the newly acquired Sorcery Ice2. Or... got Shiva? Make four callers and cast Shiva and you'll kill Ifrit in one round. Now keep moving through the library to find the second boss. BIBLOS Lv. 24, 3600 HP. As the name suggests, Biblos is a book-type creature, I guess. In any case, he's immune to everything except Fire magic. You could use Fire2 or Sorcery, but you've got Ifrit, right? Heat him up to a nice, toasty 451 degrees Farenheit. What? You want to beat him FASTER than that? Well, did you take my advice and learn Doom Claw? If you did, use that on Biblos, and any physical attack will finish him off. 23. Karnak Town. Talk to Mid once you beat Biblos, then head back to Karnak and find Cid on the second floor of the pub. He'll give you control of the Fire-Powered Ship. 24. Back to the Ancient Library The scholars here will give you all the necessary info about your next destination: the town of Jachol. You'll find it at the tip of the peninsula in the southwestern part of the world map (you can't dock right next to it; you'll have to walk around a mountain range to get there). 25. Jachol Town. PIANO. Buy items and talk to villagers about the Cave of Jachol, located directly north of the town. They'll let you know how to pass some tricky sections of the cave. 26. Cave of Jachol. TREASURES: Tent, Shuriken, ShockWhip. If you let the thief out of the Walz castle jail, however, he'll take the ShockWhip before you can! ENEMY NOTE: The brown squirrels, NutEater, are harmless, but the silver squirrels (SkullEater!) can kill your characters in one hit. Of course, if you beat them you get 5 ABP... And in case you're wondering, yes: NutEater and SkullEater are literal translations of the original Japanese. Inside, press the left switch to open the path. When you see the long row of switches, just stand still until the true switch reveals itself. (If you guess you'll have to fight a battle.) An empty treasure chest conceals the next switch, and the ShockWhip is in the next room. 27. Crescent Town. PIANO. Sail to the town of Crescent, in the southeast (it's on a crescent-shaped island). Get information about the mysterious Black Chocobo, and head to the lower right house to learn Strength Song from the Bard there. Outside the town, you can fight Crescent enemies and hopefully win a DeathSickle (which has the effect of Death on enemies). 28. Forest of the Black Chocobo! Walk south on Crescent Island and enter the forest. Catch the Black Chocobo and you'll have a new mode of transportation... and two new jobs! Now fly the Black Chocobo to the town surrounded by mountains, to the north of the Wind Crystal Shrine. BARD HUNTER 29. Town of Rikks. This is Bartz' hometown! Do you know how I know this? Because when you enter the village, a kind but amazingly stupid person says "Hey, it's Bartz! You've been gone a long time. This is your hometown." Question: when YOU go back to YOUR hometown, do people remind you that it is your hometown? Is a decent English translation just too much to ask? Anyway, the only things you can do here besides buy exclusive Ninja throwing stuff is visit Bartz' old house to watch a nice cut-scene, hear Nobuo Uematsu's fantastic Music Box Memories, and learn the Temptation Song. 30. Town of Easterly. Fly to Easterly, in the northwest corner of the world map. You can get a spell and a song here, as well as expensive rings and Time Magic. Get the Frog spell by walking around the square-shaped flower garden to the northwest (that's right, walk the outline). Head for the sheep farm, and pester the sheep in the northwest corner. Laugh your ass off at the cut-scene, then speak to the Minstrel to get the Love Song. Now head out of town, walk east across the bridge, and wander around until Ramuh attacks you. RAMUH Lv. 21, 4000 HP. Mute, or the Sorcery version, will stop his magic. Otherwise just use your strongest attacks. Or, if you have Doom Claw, that'll kill him. After you beat Ramuh, he'll become an item: use it to get Summon spell Ramuh. 31. The Desert of Quicksand Near the Ancient Library. Head back to the library and chat with Cid and Mid. Your next destination is the desert to the west. NOTE: Now's a great time to build levels and abilities by fighting the Quadrharpy in the small desert to the north. The quickest way to beat him is to learn his AquaRake spell and use it against him. You'll lose a lot of HP and MP every fight, but you can refill in the Library for free. Every time you kill a Quadrharpy you get 300 EXP and 3 ABP. Head to the desert and Cid will ask if you are ready. If you say Yes, you'll have to fight the Sandworm. SANDWORM Lv. 18, 3000 HP. Sandworm is weak against water, and the only water spell available at this point is AquaRake. If you have it you can kill Sandworm with one hit. Otherwise just remember not to cast magic to the empty holes (or take a beating), and use Sorcery-Ice2 or Waterskills purchased in Rikks. Go through the desert by choosing the right quicksand to ride on. 32. Town of Gorn Walk south from the desert exit to reach Gorn town. You'll see the King of Tycoon walking about: try to catch him. You'll fall into a pit and wind up in the ancient ruins... Catapult. 33. Catapult, Gorn, Catapult. TREASURES: Shuriken (2), Mini (the spell) Go to the right table in the room with the beds, and read the paper there. It will give you instructions about solving a small puzzle in this room. Here's the condensed version: Go to the button on the lower wall, press A. Say "No" to the first question, "Yes" to the second, and collect the stuff. You'll get an airship, but you'll have to wrest it from the hands of a tough boss. CLAYCLAW Lv. 43, 2000 HP. He's weak against Thunder, so Sorcery-Bolt2 will work well, and LightningSkills (from Rikks) and Shuriken will do damage too. So does AquaRake. And... want to try stealing the CoralSword from him? Once you send Clayclaw back to the briny deep, fly to Gorn, watch the cutscene, and then head back to Catapult (land on the metal doors in the water). Cid will ask you to retrieve him some Adamantite. 34. Tycoon Meteorite: Hope You Were Paying Attention Back There! Enter the meteorite (it's the one from the beginning of the game, now open) and grab the Adamantite. Exit and the guardian of the meteor will attack. ADAMANTAIM Lv. 20, 2000 HP. Guess what? Adamantaim's level is a multiple of 5, so all you have to do is use L. 5 Doom and he's dead! Did you forget to get it from the library? Well, you'll have to use Ice magic, but remember also to use Protect against his high attack power. 35. Back to Catapult again. Give the Adamantite to Cid and you'll have a superpowered airship. Take off and press "B" in the air, choose the arrow pointed up, and press A to head to the Floating Ruins of Ronka. 36. Getting Into The Ruins There are three sets of cannons you'll need to defeat before you can get inside. The cannons on the left and right can be defeated easily with Thunder magic like Bolt2 and Ramuh, and you can leave the area to rest at any time (they won't come back). The middle cannon will emerge after the four side cannons have been destroyed. SOUL GUN and LAUNCHER (2) Lv. 36 Lv. 50 22500 HP 10800 HP The two Launchers are Level 50, so use L. 5 Doom to take them out in the first round. The Soul Gun should be easy pickins' alone, but watch out for its special AGING MISSILE attack! If you get hit with it, heal with Esna. Otherwise just use Sorcery-Bolt2, Ramuh, et ceteras. 37. Interior of the Floating Ronka Ruins. TREASURES: Gold Armor, Elixir, Gold Shield, Potion, 5000 GP, Shuriken, AncientSword, Moonring, Power Wrist, Cottage, Ether 37. Lonka Ruins (Party's Level: 21) It's a good idea to have a Thief around for the ruins, since you'll be able to see the many hidden passages. It's long but straightforward, especially with all the passages revealed. At the end you'll fight yet another boss. ARCHEOAVIS Phase One: Lv. 19, 6400 HP Phase Two: Lv. 20, 2500 HP. (He revives after you kill him.) The alert reader will note that Archeoavis' second form can be offed with Level 5 Death. It's the first form that's a problem. When he uses the spell "Barrier Change," he's changing his weakness. Use Peep to see what it is, and attack, attack, attack. If you don't have L. 5 Doom around when he revives, keep in mind that only physical attacks will have any effect on the second form. Once you beat Archeoavis, you'll learn the rest of the standard jobs. SAMURAI LANCER CHEMIST DANCER 38. The Bad Guy Finally Shows Up. The last crystal shatters and X-Death is able to tick people off once again. Galuf takes off after him and the rest of the party heads back to Catapult in the airship. 39. Warp To World 2. Read Mid's letter on the table at Catapult, which says to head to Tycoon Meteorite. Don't, at least, not yet. Head to North Mountain instead. Pick a fight with a GhilCat and Control it (have a Monster Trainer around). Have it cast Float on your entire party, and don't heal until after the next boss fight... 40. NOW to the Meteorite. Meet Cid and Mid, and follow them to the Karnak meteorite. 41. Karnak Meteorite Inside, you'll fight the boss Titan. TITAN Lv. 1 2500 HP Are you floating? If the answer is "yes," then this fight is quite easy since Titan's powerful "Earth Shaker" attack won't even hit you. If you're grounded, however, just make sure you keep your HP up until the end of the fight, or else Titan WILL wipe you all out at once. 42. Walz Meteorite Cid and Mid are waiting for you outside the Walz Meteorite. Before you can get in, you're attacked by Byurobolos. TRANSLATION NOTE: Until this point, the enemy names have been translated pretty darn well. But BYUROBOLOS? Excuse me. It's Pyroballs. They're balls of fire. Pyroballs. PLEASE. Let's get a clue, people. Okay, okay... BYUROBOLOS Lv. 22 2200 HP. When one of them dies, it casts Life2 to the rest of them, which means you've got to beat them all at once. You could throw Waterskills from Rikks, but an easier and all-around cooler way to accomplish this task is to use the Samurai's $toss command. It's expensive, but you'll get used to it. ^_- You can also use Sorcery-Mute to stop their spells, but where's the fun in that? 43. I'm Getting Very Sick Of Writing Meteorite. Head to the, uh, rock near Gorn, enter, and fight another fun boss. KIMABRAIN Lv. 19 3300 HP Few bosses are affected by Demi, and KimaBrain happens to be one of them. If you don't have Demi, Doom Claw works sometimes. If you have neither of those, you'll just have to tough it out with Shurikens or, if you're desperate, $toss. 44. Welcome To Warp Zone! Just a reminder: did you get the ElfCloak and Speed magic in the basement of Walz? If not, grab those. Oh, and have a Tent on hand. Got everything? Follow the arrows on the map to find the warp zone! E N D O F W O R L D 1 WORLD 2 1. Solitary Island. You'll arrive in the second world trapped on a remote island. Use a Tent and the group will camp for the night. A monster will attack, kidnap Faris and Reina, and Bartz will have to fight it alone. ABDUCTOR Lv. 22 1500 HP Attack, heal with Potions or Cure 2, repeat. It's not a tough battle. If you want, you can use Doom Claw. In fact, if you want, you can just DIE and the game will go on anyway. 2. X-Death Castle. As Galuf, rescue the rest of the party. Run through the dungeon until your first encounter with Gilgamesh! GILGAMESH (1) Lv. ?, ? HP. He'll only do physical attacks, so just beat on him. A Monk would also be good since Monks counterattack when they are attacked physically, and that's all the first incarnation of Gilgamesh will do. 3. Big Bridge. That awesome music playing is called "Big Bridge," but the fan community has unofficially dubbed it "Battle With Gilgamesh" since it plays most every time you fight the guy. And, in the middle of the Big Bridge, you will fight him again. GILGAMESH (2) Lv. ?, ? HP. This fight with Gilgamesh can be tough, because Gilgamesh will use "Shell" and "Protect" on himself midway into the battle. But since you know this now, all you have to do is use Sorcery-Mute on him as soon as the battle starts. Then pound him. Muhahahaha. 4. Lugor Town. PIANO. Yep, it's another town. You know the drill: buy stuff and get information. Stay at the Inn before you take off and Bartz will wake up during the night. Head to the pub and talk to Galuf. ***If you don't have enough money for magic at this point, I suggest you spend some time raising cash. BREAK is quite useful at this point against minor enemies, SHELL is fantastic, and RETURN can be, quite literally, a life- saver.*** 5. Kuza: The Sealed Castle It's time to head out from Lugor, so walk south to the Moogle Forest. On the way, you'll see the castle Kuza. The enemies inside are quite strong, so run from them. Deeper inside, you can examine, but not take, the twelve legendary weapons. 1. Excalibur (Sword) 2. Assassin (Dagger) 3. Sasuke (Katana) 4. Holy Lance 5. Rune Ax 6. Masamune 7. Yoichi's Bow 8. Fire Bute 9. Sage Staff 10. Magus Rod 11. Apollo Harp 12. Earth Bell 6. Moogle Forest and Underground River TREASURES: Phoenix Down, 4400 GP. The Moogle Forest is a small patch of forest southeast (WAY southeast) of Lugor. Once inside, speak to the Moogle and follow it down the hole to the Underground River. This is a rather short dungeon; make sure to get the 4400 GP chest and save a Phoenix Down for the end. TYRASAURUS Lv. 29, 5000 HP. Tyrasaurus is an undead creature, and as such, all you have to do to defeat him is use a Phoenix Down on him. If you don't have a Phoenix Down, go back and get one from the dungeon. If you wasted that one already (how?!) you'll have to use curative items, Cure2, Fire magic, and other such stuff to whittle down his HP. He's also weak against Demi, so just use that until the damage becomes two digits, then slap him once and he'll die. After the battle, the Moogle will be shown on the world map, walking to the hidden Moogle town. You'll have to follow him, so pay close attention. 7. Moogle Town. TREASURES: ElfCloak, Ether, Phoenix Down, 10000 GP, 1 GP, DancingDirk, Cottage. Once on the world map between the exit and the village entrance, DO NOT WALK ON THE SAND or you'll get attacked and probably offed by SandCrawler, who has 5000 HP and from whom you cannot run. Just walk on the forest tiles and you won't ever be attacked. Inside the village, speak to the Moogle you rescued to get some free items. You can also put on a Moogle suit and charm one more Moogle into giving you an ElfCloak. After you speak to the Moogles, Krile and Dragon will arrive and take you to Val Castle. 8. Val Castle. TREASURES: HeroDrink, Telepo, Angel Robe, Lamia's Harp, RegalCutlass. Val Castle's got the same stuff in the shops that Lugor did, so if you skipped any magic spells you can grab them now (you should have enough cash). There are lots of items scattered about the town as well: a. Inside the throne room, a hidden passage to the left leads to the spell TELEPO. b. Jump into the castle moat, walk counter-clockwise, and search the dead end to find the RegalCutlass (NOTE: the crack localization staff wrote "Great Sword" in the text box, but it's "RegalCutlass" in the item list). c. Use the staircases to get behind the weapons shop and grab the Angel Robe from the chest. d. While you're there, break into the shop (there's a not-very-hidden switch on the south wall), stand behind the counter, and one of the merchants will give you Lamia's Harp. When you're ready to advance the story, talk to Krile, on the roof of the castle. ***MAJOR enemy note: Did you get Lv. 5 Doom back in the Library? Well, it's time to reap the benefits! Head to the basement of the castle and RockStatue enemies will show up. Use Lv. 5 Doom to kill them all instantly. Now for the benefits: When you kill them in pairs, you get 4 ABP and 1014 GP. When you kill them in sets of four you get 8 ABP (!) and 2028 GP. And the Inn is right outside! Not only can you get some major ABP, you can get it FAST, and a whole lot of money to boot. Remember: once you leave Val, you're locked out until after the Valley of Dragons! 9. Kelb Town. Head north from Val and enter the small town of Kelb. Enter the large house in the center of town, and you'll be confronted by Kelga and his men. Afterwards, you'll be able to leave via the north end of town. IMPORTANT: Head to the northeast corner of the town and speak to the dancing werewolves to learn Requiem, the most powerful and useful song in the game! SIDEQUEST: A mage in town will ask you to bring him a frog. If you want, leave town and walk about until you find a Kornago enemy (it looks like an orange frog). Capture it and give it to the man and he'll reward you with a Kornago Gourd. It's tough to capture Kornago, since it can run. Try using Stop. 24 TONICS: Sit at the chair in the Inn three times and the werewolf will load you up with Tonics. 10. Valley of the Dragons. TREASURES: 5000 HP, Cottage, Bonemail, 7000 GP, WindSword, Coronet, Phoenix Down. Pretty straightforward stuff. If you check the bones lying on the ground, you'll be able to find Bonemail, which essentially renders the wearer undead. I hate Bonemail. It's useless and the auto-equip function always wants to equip it. I usually wind up throwing it away in frustration, or not getting it at all. Other fun things to try in the Valley: 1. About halfway through, you'll find yourself in a room with a door that won't open and a switch you can't hit. Go to the right side of this room and walk about until you fall through a hidden hole. 2. Most of the monsters in the valley are undead, and you've got Requiem now, which deals serious damage to undead monsters. Put a Bard in your party and have him sing them all to death. 3. You'll run into Golem a few times on the mountainside. If he shows up alone, he'll usually take a swing at you and run away. Eventually, though, you'll see him being attacked by a DrgnZombie and a Skelesaur. If you kill the dragons without harming Golem (use Requiem if you can), Golem will join you as a summon monster. A very, VERY useful summon monster. (Use the Golem item in your list, like with Ramuh.) DRGN GRASS Lv. 29, 12000 HP. Got Golem? If so, summon him and Drgn Grass' pollen attacks won't harm your party. (If you get hit with the pollen, cure with Esna.) "Demi" works nicely against the Drgn Grass, and once its HP gets low, use $toss to finish it, and the regenerating Drgn Bulb that surround it. 11. Back to Val Castle. Give Dragon the grass you collected in the valley and you'll be able to ride it to the place where Gill, the ancient sage, lives. Head North from Val, then northeast from Kelb to get out of the mountain range and into the rest of the world. Gill's dwelling is a small island with a cave on it, located northeast from Val. 12. Gill(igan)'s Island? As you enter the cave, the entire island will sink. Head west after your narrow escape. 13. Surgate Castle. TREASURES: 5000 HP, FLOAT. Speak to people, gather information, check out the shopping. In the king's bedroom, check his desk to get the Song of Speed. In the castle library, you'll be asked to put back some books in alphabetical order. When you do, you'll get 5000 GP and the Float spell! --1-- --2-- --3-- --4-- --5-- --6-- --7-- --8-- --9-- -10-- -11-- * "Forbidden Book" (Left book) goes into bookshelf #2. * "Register of Monsters" (Middle book) goes into bookshelf #7. * "Weird Ronka" (Right book) goes into bookshelf #9. 14. Zeza's Fleet Fly to the east of X-Death Castle and land on the largest ship in the fleet. Talk to the crew, then go to bed. Monsters attack in the middle of the night; head to the south end of the ship to fight Gilgamesh again. GILGAMESH (3) and ENKIDOH Lv. ? Lv. 29 ? HP 4000 HP GENJI EQUIPMENT: During the last few battles with Gilgamesh you can steal a complete set of Genji equipment, some of the best armor in the game. In this fight, you can steal the Genji Glove. "Demi" works against Enkidoh, but so does "Confuse." Try turning him against Gilgamesh, then concentrate your attacks on the big guy. 15. Barrier Tower TREASURES: 9000 GP, BloodSword, 18000 GP, HairOrnament. Starting from the basement, climb to the top of the tower, where you'll fight Atomos. ATOMOS Lv. 41, 19997 HP. Hard, hard, hard. Atomos will slap you with "Comet" and then suck a character into the Worm Hole, from which they will not return until the end of the fight. "Slow" works against him, but that's not going to help you out. Unless you can dish out massive physical hits (got Monks?), you'll probably have to suck it up and throw 19,997 GP at the bitch. 16. Gill's Cave. You'll obtain a submarine and the ability to head down to where Gill's island sank before. Head to the bottom of the cave to meet Gill. Inside, you'll need to move a stone from chest to chest to open up different doors. Put it in the upper-left chest first, enter the door, and flip the switch. Now put the stone into the bottom-left chest to proceed. Gill will hand over the Elder's Branch and tell you to go to the Great Forest of Moore. But first, let's play with the submarine a little bit. 17. Catoblepas, or "Shoat" For Short. Open the World Map under the sea (you DID get the map, didn't you?) and you'll see a white dot in the northwestern part of the world. Head there (it's an underwater cave). Go through the small tunnel and you'll emerge in a forest. Walk about and you'll encounter Shoat. Beat him and he'll join you as a summon. SHOAT Lv. 38, 5000 HP. He can turn you to stone, but if you make one Dancer and equip them with a Ribbon, that person will be immune and can destone the others with Softs. Otherwise, just keep attacking Shoat with your most powerful attacks and spells. Use $toss if you're desperate. 18. Town of Moore. TREASURES: HuntingKnife. PIANO. What you'll need to do to reach Moore is take the sub directly beneath the small lake in the northwest part of the map, and surface. (It's south of where you found Shoat.) Head into town and buy the Level 3 magic! Huzzah. Once you're all set, head east to the great forest of Moore. 19. Moore Forest. TREASURES: 2000 GP, Ether, 4500 GP, Phoenix Down, 9900 GP, Elixir, Cottage, Giant Drink, Aegis Shield/Flame Shield*, Mace, Flame Saber, Ash. *When the forest is set on fire, there's one chest near you. If you pick it up now, it's an Aegis Shield; if you pick it up after the forest burns down, it's a Flame Shield. The Flame Shield absorbs all fire attacks and is generally the better choice. It's not hard to get through the forest. If you see trees with small black holes in them, examine the holes and new paths may open. Once the forest is set on fire, a Moogle will save you if you wait patiently; there's a recovery spring inside his hole. Head deeper into the forest until you come to the Elder's Tree. 20. The Elder's Tree. Inside the tree, you'll fight the Seal Guardians. SEAL GUARDIANS Lv. 77, 7777 HP *There are four pieces and each has 7777 HP. Each piece has its own attributes (Fire, Ice, Bolt, Earth). Each piece commands deadly magic. Each piece can wipe you out in seconds. The nice thing is that Demi2 works, that is, if you thought ahead and bought it in Moore. If you've got faith in your summon magic, cast Float to your entire party before you go in and have everybody call in Titan during the first round. The Earth piece will absorb the damage but the three other pieces should die. Then use Demi2 on the Earth segment. If none of the above strategies are working for you, you'll probably have to (you guessed it) use $toss. Hey, at least it'll only cost you around 8000 GP. 21. Gilgame's Cave. To the west of Big Bridge lies a small cave. There's a whole crapload of cash inside, but you'll have to face the evil turtle Gilgame if you get too greedy. He's not impossible, but he's pretty tough. GILGAME Lv. ?, 32768 HP. His weakness is Ice, so use Sorcery-Ice3, etc. You can also use the Bard's ability "Hide" to escape his Turtle attack, but if you change your party members into Bards they'll be too weak to fight him. Instead, have them learn the ability and then equip it. 22. Climax! X-Death Castle. TREASURES: DiamondShield, Ether (2), Ice Shield, Elixir (2), Gale Bow, Blizzard, Kotetsu, 9900 GP, Double Lance, 8000 GP, Partisan, MagiShuriken. Ready to put the hurt on X-Death? Do you have a Geomancer? ("A GEOMANCER?") Yep, the Geomancer is actually quite useful in this dungeon, since there are all kinds of traps and damage-floors that the Geomancer will avoid for you. You definitely want a Geomancer in your party if only for this one dungeon. If you think your abilities are up to snuff, head on into the castle. Once you hit the dead end on the third floor, just attempt to exit and the illusion of X- Death Castle will be broken. Head up through the castle (there are a few puzzles, but nothing crazy). On the tenth floor, you'll see a shining summon orb. Talk to it and you'll fight Carbuncle. CARBUNCLE Lv. 44, 15000 HP. Shoat works against Carbuncle, but the success rate isn't very high. Make four Summoners and keep trying! If you don't have Shoat, remember that Carbuncle is constantly in "wall" mode, so cast Rflect to yourself and bounce spells back at him. If you want, you can try stealing a Wall Ring from Carbuncle during the fight. Head up to the 12th floor to fight Gilgamesh yet again. GILGAMESH (4) Lv. ?, ? HP. GENJI EQUIPMENT: Don't bother stealing from him before he powers up; you'll only get a Potion. When he powers up (you'll see it), steal and get the Genji Helmet! He's still incredibly weak, even when he powers up, so just attack normally. Be ready to heal, though. Now head up to the 13th floor and face X-Death. X-DEATH Lv. 66, 32768 HP. He's weak against Holy magic, but you don't have much of that right now. First, guard your party with Shell, Protect, Haste2, Golem, etc. Whatever you can come up with, basically. If you cast Float, X-Death might cast GRAVITY 100 and bring you down to Earth. As far as attacks go, just use your most powerful ones, and remember that $toss works like a charm if you need to use it. E N D O F W O R L D 2 WORLD 3 1. Tycoon Castle and the Valley of Death. Head to Tycoon Castle and a very long and very funny auto-event. Once you gain control of Bartz, talk to Krile, leave the castle, and head to the Pirate's Cave (remember where that is?). Get Boko and ride him north from Tycoon. Eventually, you'll run into Antolyon. ANTOLYON Lv. ?, ? HP. This isn't a tough battle, but since you only have Bartz and Krile you'll need to stay alert. Just beat on it until it runs. Faris will save you, and you'll all head to Gill's no-longer-sunken cave... 2. Gill's Cave and the Ancient Library. After the auto-events, head up to the roof of the Library and speak to the scholars to learn the Song of Magic. Get the Sealed Book from the scholars and head west to the Pyramid. 3. Pyramid. TREASURES: Hex Ring, Ice Shield, Flame Shield, Dark Matter (7), White Robe, Black Robe, Thornlet, Elixir (4), BlackCostume, Crystalmail, 9000 GP, 8000 GP, Earth Hammer, 10000 GP, Cottage, Ribbon, Protect Ring, HairOrnament, 12000 GP. ***LOOT NOTE: You'll notice that there are a whole bunch of great treasures here, and, as you'll see when you enter the Pyramid, they're heavily guarded. Try this: Ignore everything and concentrate on getting to the top of the Pyramid first. Then, after you get your entire party back, go back into the Pyramid and sack it. NOTES ON THE PYRAMID ENEMIES: a. There are quite a few undeads here (Pyramid = Mummies, get it?), so having a Bard and Requiem on hand can be very helpful. b. By the time you get to the 4th floor, you'll have to take on a bunch of MechaHead enemies. They're tough, and you can't run away. However, Sorcery- Bolt3 will kill them, and I don't mean it does a lot of damage. The MechaHead are so weak against thunder that they'll just die instantly. It's really cool. At the top of the Pyramid, you'll find the first Lithograph, and have a brief encounter with Bahamut. 4. Elder's Tree Revisited. You won't be able to make it back to the Library without fighting a boss midway through, so pitch a tent outside of the Pyramid and save. In the small forest between the Pyramid and the Library, you'll fight Mellusion. MELLUSION Lv. 29-33, 20000 HP. When you see Mellusion cast "Wall Change," she's changing her elemental weakness: Fire, Ice, or Thunder. Sorcery-Mute will stop her magic, and you can use Peep to see her weakness (then use level 3 Sorcery). If you're not sure what her weakness is at any given point, use Earth, Poison, or Wind magic to be on the safe side. 5. Flying Again! After beating Mellusion, head east and you'll find your airship! Fly about and examine the strange combination-world. Now, for the first time, you can get the incredible Blue Magic called "Guardian." If you want to try getting it now, check item number 21 in this section for all the details! 6. We're Still Pirates! TREASURES: Tent, Ether, 300 GP. With Lenna and Faris in your party, head back into the Pirate's Base. You can grab a few meager items in the now-unlocked storeroom, but the real prize is that Faris will reunite with Hydra and you'll be able to summon the dragon. 6. Kuza and The First Three Weapons. Head into the Sealed Castle. Now you can actually TAKE three of the Legendary Weapons. Which should you take? You'll eventually get all twelve, so don't worry too much about it right now. Just take the ones you think you'll use most. Here's the list again (clockwise from the top). 1. Excalibur : Holy-attribute sword. 2. Assassin : Randomly kills target. 3. Sasuke : Has high evade rate. 4. Holy Lance : Holy-attribute lance. (Wow!) 5. Rune Ax : Uses MP to do critical hits. 6. Masamune : Always attack first in battle. 7. Yoichi's Bow : No special ability. 8. Fire Bute : Randomly casts Fire3. 9. Sage Staff : Increases damage of "Holy" 10. Magus Rod : Has every attribute, and increases magic damage. 11. Apollo Harp : Critical hits against dragons. 12. Earth Bell : Randomly casts Quake. **ENEMY NOTES: a. X-DeathSoul (Lv. 1, 20000 HP) is similar to X-Death. He's got strong attacks, etc. and you don't even get any EXP or anything for beating him. Screw it. Run. b. ShieldDragon (Lv. 29, 19999 HP) is constantly in "reflect" status. A good tactic is to use the Trainer's ability "Control" and use the dragon's "Flame" against itself, or have a Bard sing Requiem. 8. Crescent Town and the Mysterious Town of Mirage. TREASURES: Thief Knife. PIANO. Talk to folks in Crescent and they'll tell you about the Town of Mirage, which you can enter by walking into the forest southwest of Crescent. There's lots of stuff to find and do here: a. PLAY THE LAST PIANO. It's through a hidden passage (have a Thief handy). If you've played them all, Bartz will say "I AM...PIANO...MASTER!" Now return to Crescent and speak to the Minstrel, and he'll teach you the LVL Song! (He'll also teach you the "Power Song" if you didn't learn it already.) b. BUY MAGIC YOU MISSED. If you didn't find the Mini, Toad, Speed, etc. magic throughout the game, you can buy them here for only a few GP each. c. FIND THE HIDDEN VENDORS. There are two of each kind of shop here, and the Level 6 magic, among other things, can be had only by finding the hidden passages to the other shopkeepers. d. FIND OUT ABOUT THE MAGIC LAMP. A man in Mirage challenges you to ride a Chocobo all the way around the world. If you ride Boko all the way northwest to Easterly Falls, and enter from the east river, you'll find the Magic Lamp, which randomly summons monsters in battle. 9. Shrine on the Solitary Island. TREASURES: 12000 GP, Elixir, 9000 GP, Razor Ring, Beast Killer, Ether (2), Dragon Fang, Dark Matter, Circlet, Protect Ring, CrystalHelmt. ENEMY NOTES: You can steal the "Ab Splitter" bow from Tote Avis. The Ab Splitter always results in critical hits to "Avis" enemies. Defeat the Gargoyles (you'll have to do this before every dungeon that holds a Lithograph), and enter the shrine. Once you land in a room with two switches, flip the right switch down to get Elixir, return to the switches, flip the left switch down to get 9000 GP, return, and flip the right one UP to keep moving. After you pick up the Lithograph you'll fight Stoker. STOKER Lv. 7, 20000 HP. Stoker? It's supposed to be Stalker. More bad translation. Anyway, Stoker's got four segments, and only one of them is real. But if you use attacks or magic that affects all four pieces, Stoker will cast "Blaze" on you, a powerful fire attack that will probably wipe you out. Your strategy should be obvious: just keep trying to hit single targets and hope that you get it right. It'll take a while, so just load up with protective spells and Golem. Don't like that method? Well, let me ask you this: are your levels high? Did you get the Guardian Blue Magic? Do you have spare cash? If so, try this: Cast Guardian to your party and let loose with a powerful all-enemies attack like $toss. If you're powerful enough you SHOULD be able to withstand Stoker's counterattack. If you're still alive, use Cure3 to heal, get back up to full HP, and hit him again. If you can manage to do this a few times, you should win easily. 10. Kuza, and Three More Weapons. Head back to the Sealed Castle and pick up three more weapons. 11. Fork Tower. TREASURES: Ether, Potion, WonderWand, Defender. The Fork Tower is directly west of Crescent: horror of horrors! You have to divide your party in two! Put your magic users in the Tower of Magic (left) and your fighters in the Tower of Power (right). NOTE: If you gather information about this tower in Crescent, due to a particularly lovely translation gaffe, the villagers will give you bad information. Don't listen to them, listen to me. ^_- First, run your Magic group up the tower, collect the two items, and get to the boss chamber. Then you'll have to run your Power group up the other side. When the Power group reaches the boss, you'll fight Minotaur. Immediately after Minitaurus is defeated, you must engage Omniscient with the Magic group or the tower will explode. MINITAURUS Lv. 37, 19850 HP You can't use Magic on Minitaurus, not even Sorcery. So you'll have to use physical attacks only and heal with curative items. If you have a Monk with the Knight's ability "Guard" you can win easily, since Guard will render all physical attacks to zero and the Monk's "Counter" ability will counter-attack when Minitaurus attacks. If you can't use this strategy and Minitaurus is killing you, use the old standby and throw money at him. OMNISCIENT Lv. 53, 16999 HP. I'll get it out of the way: no physical attacks, which means you can't throw money at him. Oh well. If you DO attempt a physical attack, Omni will cast "Return" and the battle will start over. Of course, this basically ensures that you won't get a Game Over during this battle since all you need to do to save yourself is select "Fight." So, what do we do? There are actually quite a few ways to go about it: 1. He's weak against wind, so, if you have Blue Magic Aero2, use it, and use Shell to protect against his magic attacks. 2. Cast Guardian and Golem, and then cast Berserk to Omni. He'll use powerful physical attacks but you should be able to defend against them with Golem. 3. Put your party members into Reflect status (use Wall Rings or call Carbuncle). Then all of Omni's powerful magic attacks will end up hitting him. If you ever need to heal, just cast Reflect to Omni and bounce the spells back onto you, or use healing items. Either way, be aware that he'll cast Flare right before he dies, so have high HP or be in Reflect status (or Berserk him so he can't even cast it). 12. Now My Airship Can Play Japanese Games and CD-R. As it turns out, the airship base Catapult was right under Fork Tower. Cid will modify your airship, and now you've got an airship/ship/submarine, probably the coolest if not most functional FF airship ever. 13. Deep Sea Trench. TREASURES: Water Skill, Fire Ring, Dragon Fang, Ether, Phoenix Down, KaiserKnuckle. Dive with the sub and head for the white dot out in the southeast corner of the world. (When you get there, it'll look like a black rip in the ocean floor.) Dive down into the Great Deep. GENERAL NOTES ON THIS DUNGEON: a. There's molten lava all over the place, so having a Geomancer around might be a good idea. b. EVERY enemy down here is undead. Have a Bard sing Requiem in every fight and you'll be kicking some serious ass. NOTES ON THE PUZZLES: 4th floor: Don't push the second switch. It will remove the bridge, which you don't want to happen. 4th floor, later: When you see five switches, push the one on the upper left which will make a bridge to the treasure. 7th floor: It's the Dwarf Village! The final appearance of the Dwarfs in the FF series is, of course, marked by a horrendous mangling of their catchphrase. FFIV fans will remember the Dwarf rallying cry: "Lali-ho!" Well, the geniuses who wrote this version managed to change it to a generic-sounding "Tally-ho!" If you don't understand how ridiculous this is, imagine if they'd arbitrarily changed the Moogle sound to "Poopoo!" 8th floor: The three switches on the lower half of the floor will open the boss' room. The other switch will open the door to the KaiserKnuckle. TRITON and NERGADE and PHOBOS Lv. 37 Lv. 20 Lv. 39 13333 HP 13333 HP 13333 HP Triton absorbs fire, Nergade absorbs ice, and Phobos absorbs Poison. So how do you kill them? Easy: They're undead! Sing Requiem! Don't have it? Try other forms of magic, like Bolt3, Hydra, and Titan, and if you're completely dying, use $toss. But really, if you've got Requiem, this is the absolute best time to use it. 14. This Round's On Me. Yep, it's time for three more legendary weapons in the Kuza castle. Now you should have nine of twelve! 15. Remember Climbing That Wall in Jachol? Head back to the Cave of Jachol and the "dead end." Climb the wall again and you'll be in the basement of Val Castle (you know, where you probably spent about three hours fighting RockStatues). Go down and unlock the door at the bottom of this room, and then head up to fight Odin! ODIN Lv. 2, 17000 HP. Like in other games, you've got to defeat Odin in sixty seconds or he'll wipe out your whole party. Sorcery-Break will kill him instantly, and then you'll have time to steal a Protect Ring from him. If you don't have Break, then lucky for you you've got Holy, Flare, and Meteo. Throwing Shurikens will work too. 16. Phoenix Tower. TREASURES: 5000 GP, 10000 GP, 15000 GP, 20000 GP, 25000 GP. You can't get here with the airship since it can't land on sand or forest. So head to Mirage Town, pick up the Black Chocobo, and fly it to the tower west of Kerwin. Once you're inside the thirty-floor tower, to climb up to the next floor you have to search the south end of the middle wall for the hidden doors. Each floor with hidden doors have two: a left one and a right one. One door will have enemies waiting behind it, and one won't. Here's the quick-and-easy no- monsters path through the tower: LLR LLR LLR LLR RLR LLR Center. NOTES ON ENEMIES: a. You can steal Prism Dress and Coral Ring (!) from Sherry. b. You can steal Red Shoes and ElfCloak from Serpentina. c. You can steal Prism Dress and Wall Ring from Negot. d. The MagicPots will ask you for Elixir. If you give it anywhere between one and three Elixirs it will run and you'll get 100 ABP. e. The PrismDress and RedShoes can only be equipped by the Dancer, and wearing them increases your chances of getting the Sword Dance. Once you get to the top of the tower, you'll get Summon monster Phoenix (and you don't even have to fight it!). 17. North Mountain. You've got to fly a Black Chocobo if you want to get into North Mountain, so why not go now? It's no harder than it was the last time you climbed it, but at the end you'll fight Bahamut. BAHAMUT Lv. 99, 40000 HP. Bahamut is affected by Slow and Stop, and he's especially weak against Meteo. So if you want to kill him quick, just make four Time Mages and use Meteo over and over again. 18. Sunken Walz Tower. Remember that one crystal shard that you couldn't get to at the end of Walz Tower? Remember running into the wall like a retard trying to pick it up? Remember cursing Bartz for not having the common sense to just jump up and grab it? Anyway, that was the extra-special Mimic class, and now you can go and retrieve it! Take your sub down to where the tower was and you'll find it underwater. Our heroes can hold their breath for an astounding seven minutes, which should be enough time to get you down to the boss of the tower. Run all the way down and you'll fight Gogo, the mimic! GOGO Lv. ?, ? HP. Listen to what Gogo says: If you mimic me, you can win! So mimic him: he'll do NOTHING, and you do NOTHING! If you do one single thing, he'll destroy you; if you sit there, you'll win the Mimic class. Oh, wait. I mean, the MIME class. (The Mime has abilities like !StuckInABox and !InvisLadder.) 19. Easterly Falls, Leviathan, and the Last Lithograph. TREASURES: Ether, Turtle Shell, Air Lancet, Protect Ring, Wall Ring, Enchanter, 12000 GP, Artemis, Aegis Shield, MagiShuriken, Double Ax, Rune Edge, Giant Drink, Phoenix Down. Look for a white spot on the submarine map, near Easterly. Enter the cave, walk through, and you'll surface. Walk into the falls. NOTES: a. On the third floor, you'll need to be able to Dash to get the Protect Ring from behind the waterfall. b. On the fifth floor, you can continue by jumping down the holes. c. You'll immediately recognize him when you meet him: it's Tonberi ("Tonberry" in FFVIII), the sadistic wielder of the Chef's Knife and one of the toughest enemies of the game! But wait: what's this? Has our crack localization squad blown it again? YES! Now, the most feared enemy in the entire series is named "Dinglberry." . . . Well, he might have an incredibly inappropriate name, but he's still a major challenge. And if you don't kill him before he reaches your party, prepare to get beat like a red-headed stepchild. LEVIATHAN Lv. 39, 40000 HP. Being a sea creature, Leviathan is weak against Thunder. So Sorcery-Lit3 would be extremely effective, and so will the Hydra summon. Meteo works too. If you want to avoid his critical Tidal Wave attack, buy Coral Rings in Mirage to absorb it. 20. Yay. You've got the fourth and final stone tablet, so head on up to the castle and snag the last three weapons. 21. Other Fun Stuff To Do Before The Final Dungeon! a. How To Get "Guardian!" To learn this invaluable Blue Magic, which casts Shell and Protect on your entire party, sail your ship directly above the sunken tower of Walz. Make sure you have a Trainer in your party that can use "Control." Sail around and you'll encounter an enemy called StingRay. He won't use Guardian normally; you'll have to Control him. Cast it on your party and make sure you have a Blue Mage to learn it! Defeat StingRay and Guardian is yours! And, if you're lucky, it will drop DragonBeard, the strongest whip and one of the rarest items in the game. b. Chicken Knife or Brave Sword? Go to the town of Moore and open the previously locked door. At the end of the path, an old man will ask you to choose between two chests. The Chicken Knife's power increases when you run away (but only before you get it), and the Brave Sword's power decreases every time you run. How brave were you? c. Your Psychic Friend! Yes, it's the most useless quest in the game. Fly to Karnak and dive in the bay to the south. Dive and you'll see a cave on the right. Inside, a crazy old man will tell you how you've done up to this point, with such useless information as: 1. Number of Fights 2. Number of Monsters Slayed 3. Average EXP 4. Treasure Box Collection Rate 5. Number of Times You Saved the Game d. Sunken Island of Easter. Fly above the sunken tower, then head directly north. Dive as soon as you reach the ocean, then keep going north. Soon, you'll see small Moai on the sea floor. Okay, maybe THIS is the most useless quest in the game. 22. The N-Zone. Make sure you have a decent supply of Tents (99 should be enough ^_^) and head to the giant hole where Tycoon used to be. You'll be sucked into... the N-Zone! T H E D E S E R T R U I N S TREASURES: Ether, Cottage, Elixir (2), Dark Matter, BloodSword Nothing special here. Watch out for the Cycloskull, since it might drop the Rune Chime (the strongest bell). Once you find yourself in the frozen Mirage town, head for the exit. T H E F O R E S T TREASURES: Dragon Fang, Power Rod, Enchanter, Ribbon. Check the holes in the trees to find hidden passages. There's nothing really special here either... that is, except the boss. WOODSPRITE Lv. 68, 18000 HP. She's got "Reflect" turned on, which you can always nullify with "Dispel," and then use "Mute" to stop her magic. Or, since Summon Magic and Sorcery can't be reflected, use Sword Magic Mute to shut her up and Summons to attack. T H E D U N G E O N TREASURES: Flame Ring, Angel Ring. Just past the save point in the waterfalls, you'll see Omega wandering around. If you think you're powerful enough to beat it, fight it. But check his stats first: O M E G A Lv. 119, HP 55530, MP 60700, Attack 115, Defense 190, Agility 76, Evade Rate 95%, Magic Defense 150, Attribute: Water, Wind, Earth, Holy Power, Poison, Ice, and Fire. Still want to try? Well, as you see he has one weakness, which is Thunder. But Bolt3 doesn't do much of anything. What you need to do is use Two-Swords-Super- Shot-Sorcery-Bolt3! This requires three characters to master Ninja (for 2- Swords), Hunter (for !Sshot), and Sorcerer (for Bolt 3). Once you have these abilities, try this: a. Make three Bare fighters with !Sshot and Sorcery. Make the fourth person a Mimic with Time Magic and White Magic. b. Equip everyone with armor that increases agility, and give everyone Flame Rings to absorb Omega's attacks. c. Encounter Omega, and let the Bare fighters cast Sorcery-Bolt 3 while the Mimic casts Haste2. d. Attack him with !Sshot and watch him get hit EIGHT TIMES PER FIGHTER with Bolt3! Let the Mimic use Cure3. e. Celebrate. Two disclaimers: This is the EASIEST way to beat Omega, but it may take a VERY long time to master those classes. You can almost certainly beat Omega with fewer abilities. Ah, well: back to the walkthrough. Once you've run away from Omega, screaming like a little girl, you'll find the non-optional boss. APPREHENDER Lv. 59, 22200 HP. He looks like Biblos, and the strategy is the same. Ifrit will heal him, but other fire magic will work. You can summon Golem to protect against his attacks if you want. You can steal Ash from Apprehender, not that you would want to. T H E C A S T L E TREASURES: Winged Shoes, Thor's Hammer, Red Shoes, Prism Dress, ManEater. Lots of invisible roads in the first section, so have a Thief in your party. Outside, you'll run into Ninja and DragonAvis enemies. You can steal Artemis from the DragonAvis, and if you got the Ab Splitter, you should use it. Inside the castle, you'll fight another boss. AZULMAGIA Lv. 57, 27900 HP. He's weak against Poison, and Sorcery-Bio can do over 7000 points of damage. So there shouldn't be a problem. Azulmagic is a blue mage, and he can learn the magic you use against him. So if you want to have some fun, try using "Exploder" and see if he learns it. If he does, he'll kill himself. Haha. You can also steal a Giant'sGlove from him. Those old men running around in the jail are all bosses. If you want to get the PrismDress and RedShoes in the chests, you can fight them. ALTE ROIT / JURA AVIS Lv. 58/61, 6000/15000 HP. *He will transform after you do 6000 damage. If he hits you with Encircle you'll probably want to cast "Return" and try again. Sorcery-Flare works well against Alte Roit, but when he transforms, Fire, Ice, and Bolt won't work. The Ab Splitter will do critical damage, though, and Odin works pretty well against the second form. But you stole those items in the tower, so why even bother? ^_^ At any rate, head right in that room and fight Catastroph. CATASTROPH Lv. 71, 19997 HP. He's got no attributes nor weaknesses so one attack is as good as another. But if you want to make this the easiest battle in the game, cast Float on one member of your party beforehand and then give them a Wall Ring. Catastroph will then spend the ENTIRE battle trying to get that member down with "Gravity 100," and it won't work because of the ring. Once you beat Catastrophe, go up the stairs and get outside. Enter the central door and fight Halycanos. HALYCANOS Lv. 97, 33333 HP. She's got a powerful toad-attack, but other than that she's not much. Sorcery- Mute shuts her up, Mini stops her powerful physical attacks, and even Demi2 works sometimes. After beating her, go up the stairs and to the top of the castle. Another freaking boss will then attack. TWIN TANIA Lv. 39, 50000 HP. Now, you COULD go crazy fighting Twin Tania. It's weak against holy and water, so you could use Leviathan, Sorcery-Holy, etc. You could equip Coral Rings to protect against his Tidal Wave, and you could cast Guardian, just because, and you could absolutely pee your pants in fear when he casts GIGA FLARE, even more powerful than Bahamut's Mega Flare. And you could just barely scrape by this battle and pat yourself on the back after a long and grueling fight. You COULD do this, or you could just sit there, wait for him to say "Powering up for Giga Flare!" and then use Odin which will kill him instantly. Oh, and before you do, steal his Giant Ax. After this battle, head up the stairs and you'll warp to the final floors of the N-Zone. And by the way: you'll find an enemy named Yojimbo on that staircase. He's ridiculously powerful, but every now and again you can steal Stratos, the most powerful Katana in the game (not the He-Man figure). T H E F I N A L F L O O R S TREASURES: MagiShuriken (3), Ragnarok, Elixir >From the entrance, walk to the next warp site and encounter Gilgamesh! GILGAMESH (5) Lv. ?, ? HP. GENJI EQUIPMENT: You can steal the Genji Shield from him this time around. Only one more to go... He's still a big loser. Cast Golem and he can't hit you. Huzzah. After you've warped a couple more times, you'll see a treasure box located on an isolated island, connected by a long staircase. If you open it, you'll have to fight the OTHER mega-boss of FFV. Beat him and you'll get the Ragnarok, but don't try it until you check out the strategy... S H I N R Y U Lv. 97, HP 55500, MP 51000, Attack 175, Defense 60, Agility 87, Evade Rate 20%, Magic Defense 20, Attribute: Holy. Shinryu's initial attack will be Tidal Wave, which does SIX THOUSAND POINTS of damage. Do you have 6000 HP? Probably not, so you'll need four Coral Rings if you want to beat him (at least with all four characters intact). And then... a. Go muck about in the immediate area, and steal eight Dragon Lances from the CrystalDragons. To make this easier, use Return if the dragon doesn't have it. It'll still take quite a while, though. b. Once you have eight lances, have every character master Ninja, and have the command Jump (Lancer). Make four Bare characters and equip them with two lances and a Coral Ring. c. When the battle starts, have every character jump, and the resulting attack should kill Shinryu in one round. Continuing on, you'll meet Necrophobia. Yep. A boss. Hoo hoo. Just don't go straight up the staircase yet, 'cause that's where you'll find X-Death. NECROPHOBIA Lv. 66, 44044 HP. Necrophobia isn't that hard at all. He's got four barriers surrounding him that must be destroyed, and the best way to do that is $toss (mostly because the barriers have Reflect). Once that's out of the way, if you want to finish Necrophobia off quickly, use Odin. Now, there is a valid reason for NOT finishing off Necrophobia quickly, and that's because Gilgamesh will show up if you satisfy certain conditions. So if you want to see the end of Gilgamesh and steal the Genji armor, do this: Kill the barriers, and then reduce Necro's HP to about 5000 or so (keep an eye on him with Scan). Once you've done so, just wait and Gilgamesh will appear. He'll give a goodbye speech and finish off Necrophobia for you. Just make sure not to get too teary-eyed at his speech, and swipe the Genji armor from him while he's blabbering on. Well, now you've got a save point, and X-Death is right above you. If you feel you're insanely powerful (levels in the forties, a few mastered classes), just go kill him. If you don't think you can do it, now's an excellent time to build some levels. Go play in the immediate area, and every once in a while, enemies called Movers (10,000 HP each) will show up. They look harmless but they disappear quickly. Open up on them with your most powerful Fire attacks (Bahamut especially) and kill 'em. Once you do, you'll get an incredible 199 ABP and 100,000 GP. T H E F I N A L B A T T L E W I T H X - D E A T H ------------------------------------------------------- (shiver!) I must admit, I went a liiiiittle crazy when I played through my first game of Final Fantasy V. Hey, I was like 15. I had a lot of time on my hands. In any case, the strategies that I put forth in the last FAQ pretty much ensured that you would be able to turn X-Death into whipped cream in about ten seconds, but it required massive level building. Of course, the information in the LAST FAQ is what made it into all those "official" plagiarized strategy guides, so a whole bunch of kids now think you have to go crazy to beat X-Death. Not true. Here's my final party from my play through the PSX version (all MIMICS): CHARACTER MASTERED ABILITIES Bartz Knight, Sorcerer $toss, Mix, Item Reina White Mage, Time Mage White6, Time6, Item Krile Black Mage, Blue Mage Black6, Blue, Item Faris Thief $toss, Summon5, Item ROUND ONE: FIGHT! In the first turn, have Bartz mix Dragon Fang+Elixir and use it on someone. This will multiply their HP by 1.5 (so 2000 HP becomes 3000). (Have Bartz do this for each character for the next three turns). Reina will use Haste2 on the party. Krile will use Guardian. Faris will use Golem. Now your party is completely protected. Now, have Lenna use Holy or Meteo, Krile use Flare, and Faris summon Bahamut. If X-Death uses White Ball, just cast "Return" unless you think you can heal the party member. You should be able to kill X-Death without too much trouble. Oh, and remember: Each character has Mimic, which means that you should be able to just keep Mimicing each other without losing MP and such. This will be a huge help in... ROUND TWO: NEO X-DEATH! There are four sections, and the back two are in the back row, which means that all physical damage is cut in half. That's okay, because you won't be using any physical attacks. ^_^ First, heal everyone with Elixir, and make sure that Shell/Protect/Haste2/Golem are still active. Then open up. If you have a lot of GP (and you darn well should), have Bartz or Faris use $toss and then have everyone else Mimic it. Eventually you'll need to break the Mimic chain to heal or revive or something, but starting up again shouldn't be a problem. Once you kill three out of four sections, the remaining piece will start using "Meteo" over and over and over. If your HP is high enough (3000 or so: remember the DragonFang+Elixir!) you'll live through it. Keep at him and enjoy the ending. And remember: the ending is slightly different depending on who was alive (i.e. not knocked out or stoned) when you beat NXD. If you want the best ending, keep all four party members alive! SECTION 5: LISTS ***NOTE: There are ALL kinds of lists and all kinds of random numbers that I could sit here and type for Final Fantasy V. Quite frankly, I'm not interested in doing that because it would take days upon days of (unpaid) work and wouldn't help more than one or two people. I would, however, like to provide a basic list of abilities and magic because they are referenced in the walkthrough and so the casual reader can get a feel for the many, varied classes and abilities of FFV. A B I L I T I E S "Eq" abilities allow characters to equip that item category (EqArmor, EqRibbon) ! abilities are used in battle as a command. KNIGHT 1. Cover Take damage for weakened party member 2. !Guard Block physical attacks (0 damage) 3. 2 Handed Double attack power, but no shield 4. EqShield 5. EqArmor 6. Eq Sword MONK 1. !Store Store attack power for one turn 2. Barefist Fight with bare hands 3. !Chkra Recover HP, status 4. Counter Automatic counterattack to physical attacks 5. HP +10% 6. HP +20% 7. HP +30% THIEF 1. Secret See hidden passages 2. !Flee Run away from battle faster 3. Dash Dash by holding B on map 4. !Steal Steal items in battle 5. Caution No back attacks 6. !Mug Steal/attack simultaneously 7. Footwork High Speed rating LANCER 1. !Jump Jump attack 2. !Lance Steal HP, MP 3. EqLance NINJA 1. !Dustb Run away faster 2. !Twin Duplicate oneself to avoid attacks 3. Firstatk More first attacks 4. !Throw Throw items in battle 5. 2 Sword Hold weapons in both hands SAMURAI 1. !Sslap Stun enemies 2. !$toss Throw money to cause damage 3. Swrdgrab Deflect attacks 4. EqKatana 5. !Fdraw Multi-enemy attack BERSERKER 1. Berserk Always berserked 2. EqAxe HUNTER 1. !Critt Call forth animals 2. !Aim Higher hit percentage 3. EqBow 4. !Sshot Four random attacks SORCERER 1. Magiwall Cast Shell when HP is low 2. Sword 1 Level 1 Sorcery magic 3. Sword 2 4. Sword 3 5. Sword 4 6. Sword 5 7. Sword 6 WHITE MAGE 1. White 1 Level 1 White magic 2. White 2 etc. 3. White 3 4. White 4 5. White 5 6. White 6 7. MP +10% BLACK MAGE 1. Black 1 Level 1 Black magic 2. Black 2 etc. 3. Black 3 4. Black 4 5. Black 5 6. Black 6 7. MP +30% TIME MAGE 1. Time 1 Level 1 Time magic 2. Time 2 etc. 3. Time 3 4. Time 4 5. Time 5 6. Time 6 7. EqRod SUMMONER 1. Summn 1 Level 1 Summon magic 2. Summn 2 etc. 3. Summn 3 4. Summn 4 5. Summn 5 6. !Call Call random Esper w/o MP BLUE MAGE 1. !Check Scan an enemy's stats 2. Learning Learn Blue Magic from enemies 3. !Blue Blue magic 4. !View Like Check but examines status RED MAGE 1. Red 1 Level 1 Red (White and Black) magic 2. Red 2 etc. 3. Red 3 4. !Redx2 Cast two spells in a row TRAINER 1. !Tame Tame one enemy 2. !Cntrl Control one enemy 3. EqWhip 4. !Catch Catch one enemy CHEMIST 1. Medicine Double effect of healing items 2. !Mix Mix two items 3. !Drink Use a drink item 4. !Recvr Recover status (all) 5. !Rvive Bring all dead back to life GEOMANCER 1. !Earth Use Earth attacks 2. Findhole No damage from damage floors 3. Antitrap See all traps BARD 1. !Hide Hide indefinitely 2. EqHarp 3. !Sing Sing songs in battle DANCER 1. !Flirt Confuse enemies 2. !Dance Dances affect enemies and party 3. EqRibbon The only reason to master the Dancer MIME 1. !Mime Mimic (erf) the last action W H I T E M A G I C LEVEL 1 LEVEL 4 Cure: Restores HP Blink: Prevent attacks Scan: View enemy stats Shell: Raise magic defense Antdot: Cure poison Esna: Heal status LEVEL 2 LEVEL 5 Mute: Silence enemy Cure3: Restores HP Protes: Raise defense Rflect: Bounce back spells Mini: Shrink enemy Bersrk: Berserks enemy LEVEL 3 LEVEL 6 Cure2: Restores HP Arise: Restores life, full HP Raise: Restores life Holy: Powerful attack Muddle: Confuse enemy Dispel: Remove magic curses B L A C K M A G I C LEVEL 1 LEVEL 4 Fire Drain: Steal HP Ice Break: Stone enemy Bolt Bio: Poison enemy more LEVEL 2 LEVEL 5 Poison: Poison enemy Fire3 Sleep: Put enemy to sleep Ice3 Toad: Turn to frog Bolt3 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 6 Fire2 Flare: Powerful fire attack Ice2 Doom: Death attack Bolt2 Asper: Steal MP T I M E A N D S P A C E M A G I C LEVEL 1 LEVEL 4 Speed: Slows battle speed Comet: Small meteor attack Slow: Slows enemy Slow2: Slows enemy more Regen: Gradually regain HP Return: Restart battle LEVEL 2 LEVEL 5 Mute: Silence enemy Demi2: Take 3/4 of enemy HP Haste: Speed up ally Haste2: Speed up party Float: Make ally float Old: Age enemy (lower stats) LEVEL 3 LEVEL 6 Demi: Take 1/2 of enemy HP Meteo: Powerful meteor attack Stop: Stop enemy Quick: Cast two spells at once Telepo: Escape dungeon X-Zone: Enemies disappear S U M M O N M A G I C LEVEL 1 LEVEL 4 Chocobo: Attack one enemy Carbuncl: Reflect on party Sylph: Wind attack and recover HP Hydra: Lightning attack all Remora: Attack one enemy and Stop Odin: Kill all enemies or spear LEVEL 2 LEVEL 5 Shiva: Ice attack all Phoenix: Fire attack and revive Ramuh: Bolt attack all Leviathan: Water attack all Ifrit: Fire attack all Bahamut: Megaflare (all) LEVEL 3 Titan: Earth attack all Golem: Guard physical attacks Shoat: Petrify one enemy S W O R D M A G I C ***The list of Sword (Sorcery) magic is identical to Black magic, but "Death" is replaced with "Holy" (equivalent to White magic of same name). B L U E M A G I C ***L? spells only affect enemies with levels that are multiples of the given number, but work with a very high success rate. L2 Old: Enemies age (stats drop rapidly) L3 Flare: Fire attack L4 Qrtr: Like Demi2, takes 75% of total HP L5 Doom: Kills enemy LitlSong: Casts Mini (one enemy) ToadSong: Casts Toad (one enemy) Flash: Causes blindness (affects group) TimeSlip: Causes old and sleep (one) MoonFlut: Berserks group BlakShok: Enemy level cut in half GuardOff: Lowers defense Condemnd: Counts down 30 seconds, death at 0 Roulette: Kills randomly DoomClaw: Severely hurts enemy (brings HP down to a single digit) Aero : Wind-based magic spell. Aero 2: Three different power levels. Aero 3: Exploder: Caster dies and enemy is damaged. MindBlst: Stops, damages enemy Burn Ray: Fire attack (one) GobPunch: Attack enemy ????: Deals damage equal to caster's max. HP minus current HP BlowFish: Does 1000 damage RedFeast: Sucks HP from enemy MagHammer: Cuts MP in half Guardian: Casts Shell, Protect, Float to all Pep Up: Caster loses HP, MP; target gains WhitWind: Restores HP to party equal to caster's current HP E A R T H A T T A C K S (thanks Nora and Tat!) Format: Name - Location - Description F = Field B = Building D = Dungeon M = Mountain T = Forest S = Desert O = Ocean S = Seashore N = Marsh P = Pyramid W = Waterfall 1. Gust FBM Damage to single enemy. 2. Earthquake FM Damage to all enemies on ground. 3. Wind Slash FDB Damage to all enemies. 4. Twister FBM Decrease HP of single enemy to 1 digit. 5. Branch Arrow T Damage to single enemy. 6. Rage T Damage to all enemies. 7. Branch Spear T Damage to single enemies. 8. VineHell T Slows all enemies. 9. Dust S Damage + Dark to all enemies. 10. Quicksand S Kills one enemy. 11. Desert Storm S Damage to all enemies. 12. Heat Sand S Damage to all enemies. 13. Phantom OS Damage or kill single enemy. 14. Whirlpool OSW Decrease HP of single enemy to 1 digit. 15. Tsunami OS Damage to all enemies. 16. BigWave OS Damage to all enemies. 17. Will O' Wisp DMP Damage to single enemy. 18. Peat Bog M Same as #10. 19. PoisonMist MP Damage + Poison to all enemies. 20. Waterfall O Damage to single enemy. 21. Stalactite D Damage to single enemy. 22. Stalagmite DMP 4 random attacks. 23. SonicBoom B HP is reduced to 1/4. S O N G S PowerSong Increase party attack power SpeedSong Casts Haste on one member Str. Song Regenerate party's HP MP Song Increase party's magic power LVL Song Increase party's level Requiem Attack undead Love Song Stop all enemies TemptSong Confuse all enemies D A N C E S Jitterbug Drain enemy's HP Wonder Waltz Drain enemy's MP Tempt Tango Confuse one enemy Sword Dance Powerful attack (4x damage) A N I M A L S Squirrel Attack one enemy Mindia Rabbit Nothing (mugu mugu?) Bee Swarm Attack all enemies Nightingale Heal all allies Tree Squirrel Confuse enemies Falcon Reduce enemy HP to 1/3 Skunk Casts Dark, Poison to all Wild Boar Attack one enemy Unicorn Restore HP, MP to all M I X (thanks Tat!) Using the Chemist's !Mix command creates (and automatically uses) a new item made from two of the normal items in your inventory. Your healing items can be used with !Mix, and there are also exclusive Mix-only items (for some inexplicable* reason, their descriptions read "Cures Alchemy"). *Actually, it IS explicable: the translation sucks. THE MIX CHART: | A: B: C: D: E: F: G: H: I: J: K: L: --------------------------+------------------------------------------------ A: Tonic | A 2 3 D 4 F A C 5 6 7 8 B: Potion | 2 B 9 D 4 F B 10 5 6 7 8 C: Ether | 3 9 C D 11 12 C 3 13 14 15 16 D: Elixer | D D D D 11 12 D 1 D D 17 18 E: Phoenix Down | 4 4 11 11 E 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 F: Maiden'sKiss | F F 12 12 19 F 26 27 28 29 30 31 G: Holy Water | A B C D 20 26 G 32 33 34 35 36 H: Turtle Shell | C 10 3 1 21 27 32 37 38 39 1 40 I: Antidote | 5 5 13 D 22 28 33 38 I 41 42 43 J: Eye Drop | 6 6 14 D 23 29 34 39 41 J 44 45 K: Dragon Fang | 7 7 15 17 24 30 35 1 42 44 46 47 L: Dark Matter | 8 8 16 18 25 31 36 40 43 45 47 48 Item Effect 1: Dud Potion : Casts Slip and Confuse 2: LifeWater : Regen 3: X-Potion : Bring back to full HP 4: Resurrection : Araise (revive and more HP) 5: Neutralize : Heal HP and Poison 6: Eyedrop+ : Heal HP and darkness 7: Dragon Power : Raise level by 20 8: Dark Potion : Damage of 666 points 9: Half-Elixer : Heal HP to max 10: Dry Tincture : Heal 3x as much as ether 11: Reincarnation : Araise + Half Elixer 12: Lilith Kiss : Asper (take enemy MP) 13: Resist Poison : Make poison resistant barrier 14: Resist Fire : Make fire resistant barrier 15: Dragon Shield : Resist Fire, Ice and Thunder 16: Dark Tincture : Decrease MP to 1/4 17: Giant Drink : Raise maxHP to 2x. 18: Dark Elixir : Decrease HP to 1 digit 19: Life Kiss : Raise + 1/2 HP + full MP 20: Lifeshield : Make death resistant barrier 21: Remedy : Same as Esna 22: Resist Ice : Make ice resistant barrier 23: Resist Thunder : Make thunder resistant barrier 24: Dragon Armor : Increase Defense and Magic Defense 25: Doom Potion : Same as Death 26: Blessed Kiss : Berserk + Haste + Image 27: Drain Kiss : Same as Drain 28: Float : Same as Float spell 29: Lamia Kiss : Same as Confuse 30: Dragon's Kiss : Change to dragon 31: Toad Kiss : Same as Toad 32: Bacchus Wine : Same as Baasaku 33: Samuson Power : Raise level by 10 34: ElementMight : Increase magic damage by 50% 35: Holy Breath : Inflict damage via Holy Breath 36: Dud Potion : Same as Poison 37: Preventative : Same as Protesu 38: Turtle Shell (1) : Decrease Defense by 1/2 39: Haste Water : Same as Haste 40: Explosive : Die and cause damage 41: Tonic : Cure status that will hold only during battle 42: Poison Breath : Same as Poison 43: Poison : Same as Poison 44: Gloom Sigh : Blind and Confuse enemy 45: Gloom Gas : Blind enemy 46: Dragon Breath : Fire + Ice + Thunder breath damage 47: Dark Breath : Inflict damage via Dark Fire 48: Shadow Flare : Cast Dark Flare SECTION 6: THANKS AND NO THANKS THANKS, of course, go to Nora Stevens and Tatsushi Nakao, without whom none of this would have ever happened. To Al Riccitelli and Matt DelGiudice, who proofread the whole thing and passed on their suggestions. Thanks also to Chris MacDonald for helping all of us through every new Capcom game and for letting me use his copyright notice. NO THANKS go to BradyGames and Game Informer for taking the original FAQ, deleting our names, passing it off as their own work, and probably collecting a whole crapload of money for doing so. Also, THANKS to you for not stomping your feet over the lack of lists and such. If you want to do them for me, you're welcome to it. That's all, folks! If you want to contact those involved, here are the emails. If you have any questions about Final Fantasy V, please READ THE FAQ. That's what it's for. If you have a question or concern that is truly, honest-to-God not in the FAQ, please direct it to Chris Kohler. Chris Kohler: firstname.lastname@example.com Nora Stevens: email@example.com firstname.lastname@example.com Tat Nakao: firstname.lastname@example.com* email@example.com* *Will stop working after August. Use firstname.lastname@example.com if you get an "unknown user" error. SECTION 7: UPDATE LOG 1.1 - Added new questions to the IAQ section, added Blue Magic and Mix Chart. Attempted to fix spacing problems caused by MS Word (thanks for nothing, Gates!) 1.0 - Wrote it, saved it as a text file, uploaded it.