FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE: FFXII TZA Full Story Walkthrough

This official, full-length story walkthrough is for those who are new to FFXII, haven’t played for a while & want to get familiar with the game again, and/or need help on a particular section of the story.

As many of you may have noticed, this game is a full remaster of the original FFXII that was released in 2006 for the PlayStation 2. Aside from the following changes, this game plays almost exactly the same as its original version, including its one-of-a-kind Active Dimension Battle and gambit systems. Many elements from the international Zodiac Job version have been implemented into the game, and I’ll explain each of them below in detail.

Each character can have up to 2 jobs, ranging from heavily armored frontline fighters to powerful Black Mages that can wipe out entire enemy groups in seconds, from archers meant to pick off flyers to White Mages which keep your party alive — and everything in between. Each job has its own license board.

At first your characters will only have access to 1 job, but once you pass a certain point in the story a license unlocking the second license board will appear on your characters’ current license board. Before you can access the license board, you MUST choose a job for the character whose license board you wish to upgrade. Once you gain access to the second license board, however, your characters’ development potential will skyrocket! Feel free to experiment around with different license board combinations and build your party in a way that best suits your gameplay style!

Yes, you heard right. Your characters’ regular attacks, Black Mage spells, etc. can now dish out 10,000+ damage in one hit! This means that, when you approach the end of the game and get the best weapons, each of your attacks can hit as hard as an entire Quickening chain without spending Mist Charges!

Remember going to a random shop in the original game and getting to buy some absurdly powerful spells & technicks like Scathe and Telekinesis? Well, although you can still do that with some spells, many of the most important ones are now tucked away inside chests scattered throughout Ivalice. The good news is they all have decent spawn rates, so although you may have to zone in and out a few times to get the chest to appear, you shouldn’t have too much trouble obtaining their contents. Refer to the other guides here on Steam to find their exact locations and spawn rates.

As opposed to the original game which requires 9 Pinewood Chops to enter Draklor Laboratory, you only need 3 in TZA. To get the Sandalwood Chop, however, you still need all 28 Pinewood Chops.

New, powerful secret weapons have been added to the game. Can you find them all? Refer to the other guides here on Steam if you need help.

You can now increase the game speed to help make longer, more tedious tasks take…well, not quite as long to complete. The default speed is normal speed, obviously, but you can increase this to 2x speed or, if you really want to hurry things along, 4x speed! Don’t worry — you can always lower the speed back to normal if needed.

Finally, there is the Trial Mode. In this mode, you take the party that you’ve built from one of your save files and run it through 100 increasingly difficult stages containing all types of monsters within FFXII, including some you may not have encountered before! Awaiting you on Stage 100 is arguably the most difficult boss battle in all of Final Fantasy — can you beat them all? Good luck!

By the way, you can also steal some VERY powerful endgame items from the Trial Mode, including the Wyrmhero Blade, and use them in the main game! To do this, fight your way to the Stage containing the monster whose item you wish to steal, then steal what you want from that enemy and beat the Stage. Next, reload that autosave file in the original version of the game, and the item you stole should appear in your inventory. The possibilities are endless!

Before we get started with the actual walkthrough, I feel obligated to say this regarding potential spoilers:

While I will do my best to minimize story spoilers, I cannot guarantee a spoiler-free walkthrough, so consider this message your spoiler warning before you proceed any further. You, the reader, assume all risk of spoilers beyond this point.

Also, the enemy loot drop/steal lists may not be 100% accurate, so if you note any discrepancies in-game, let me know in the comments & I’ll edit the loot lists as necessary.

With that out of the way, let’s go!

This game pretty much teaches you how to play by itself, so I’ll spare you the trouble of a detailed explanation here. Just follow the on-screen instructions and you’ll learn how to move around, open the battle menu, use the Area Map, attack enemies, etc. before you know it.

After your first contact with an enemy, you’ll get a chance to practice combat against a tutorial boss named Air Cutter Remora. You shouldn’t have to worry about healing because a soldier will be throwing Potions to heal his injured comrades, including you. Halfway through the battle, Basch will finish the thing off.

Just make your way through the fortress until you reach a Save Crystal. Save your game, then head upstairs and fight off 3 Imperial soldiers. You shouldn’t have to heal, but you have Cure and Potions just in case. Head upstairs and go through 2 doors to finish the tutorial.

Now you will be playing as Vaan. Your first task is to eliminate the three Dire Rats in the Waterway. They like to scurry around, so be ready to chase them for a bit. Try using Steal (from the Technicks menu) to nab yourself some extra loot, but keep these 2 rules in mind:

1. You can only steal from a particular enemy once. To steal from them again, zone out and return.
2. Stealing has a chance to miss, so keep trying if you really want whatever that enemy is carrying.

Enemies in FFXII often drop loot instead of straight gil, so keep an eye on which enemy drops what. Once all 3 rats are down, you’ll appear on the surface streets of Rabanastre. Head south to Migelo’s shop and talk to Migelo, then head to the Sandsea and talk to Tomaj. Pay extra attention to the following info he gives you:

• Mark hunts, because you’ll be sent on a mandatory hunt for the Rogue Tomato
• Accessories and how to equip them
• The license board (VERY important!)

You’ll receive an Orrachea Armlet when he’s done, as well as a key item called a Writ of Transit. Head to the Eastgate and show this writ to the Imperial. He’ll let you through the gate. Save your game at the Save Crystal and head east into the Dalmasca Estersand.

Enemies in this area (first section only):

(N) = Used to denote a Neutral enemy. Will not attack unless provoked by player action.
(!) = Used to denote an enemy that should be avoided at all costs. These things are lethal at this point in the game.

Welcome to the wilderness. Here, wild beasts and treasure abound, and your survival is entirely in your hands. Your only objective for now is to slay the Rogue Tomato in the center of this area, though it may be a good idea to farm the Wolves and Cactites for loot, EXP, and LP first. Try to level up at least once before fighting the Rogue Tomato, and remember to use a Potion when your health gets low (say, 50 HP or less).

Needless to say, avoid the Wild Saurian! This thing can and will kill you in one hit if you provoke it this early in the game!

When you’re ready, go fight the Rogue Tomato. It’s nothing special, but it will jump off the ledge when its health reaches 50%, so chase it down and finish the thing off. Watch out for its Flame Breath desperation move, though it shouldn’t kill you if you heal properly. You’ll obtain some Galbana Lilies (a key item) when it falls. Farm the mobs to your heart’s content, but watch your Potion count. When you’re ready to move on, return to Rabanastre and talk to Kytes for a cutscene. You’ll reappear back inside the city gates.

You can now enter Lowtown, and can come and go from Rabanastre as you please. Also, the chocobo stables in Rabanastre are now open, so you can rent a chocobo (for 500 gil each) in case you just want to explore the vicinity without fighting monsters. Chocobo rentals last for 3 minutes or until you dismount, whichever comes first, and are non-refundable. There are also 3 types of areas that you CANNOT take a chocobo:

• Into a town or village (“You must dismount to proceed.”)
• Into a dungeon (“The chocobo refuses to go any further.”)
• Into a zone occupied by a boss or Esper (“The chocobo is too scared to proceed further. Something terrifying lies ahead.”)

A map seller (a moogle with the moniker “Cartographer’s Guild”) is now hanging around the Southern Plaza, and you can buy maps from him for a fair amount of gil. Each map is a one-time purchase per game and worth every gil, as it instantly completes the entire Area Map for a particular region. In addition, you will encounter many such map sellers throughout towns in Ivalice.

Anyways, report back to The Sandsea and report your successful hunt to Tomaj, who rewards you with 300 gil, 2 Potions, and a Teleport Stone. You can now also join Clan Centurio if you want; their headquarters is on the west side of the Northern Plaza. If you go over there, just show the bangaa your Clan Primer and he’ll let you inside. Then head upstairs and talk to Montblanc, the moogle who sits on the railing, and he’ll let you into Clan Centurio.

By doing this, you’ll unlock the following bonuses:

• Bonus rewards for defeating bosses and accumulating Espers
• Access to Elite Mark Hunts, which are tougher than Notice Board Mark Hunts

More info will come later, but for now, head to Lowtown’s South Sprawl section and go towards the gate on the southern end. On the west side near the gate is Old Dalan’s Place; head inside and talk to Old Dalan for a cutscene. Afterwards, head through the gate to Southgate, save your game at the Gate Crystal, and head south into Giza Plains.

Enemies in this area:

Neutral Giza Rabbits can actually heal you if your HP is low enough and you stay close to one.
Avoid the Werewolves as you’re not strong enough to take them on.

The Nomad’s Village is dead ahead of you as you enter the plains from Rabanastre, so head south into the village and talk to Masuya, then Camina. Head south and save your game afterwards. Your next task is to find Jinn, who has gone missing. Before you leave the village, Penelo will temporarily join your party.

Explore the plains as you wish, but stay away from the Werewolf creatures as they will ruin your day if you get too close. Everything else here is safe to fight, provided you watch your characters’ HP and heal as necessary. The lone Wildsnake commonly drops Snake Skins, which are a vital component for the Serpentarius gem if you wish to make the Tournesol (an endgame level Greatsword) later in the game.

Jinn is in a stand-alone Save Crystal section in the southern part of the plains. Talk to him and choose “Explain the situation” when prompted. He’ll give you a shadestone and tell you how to turn it into a sunstone. Save your game, then hunt down the Dark Crystals (you’ll know them when you see them) and hold up the shadestone to them. Keep going until the energy bar reaches 100%, and you’ll automatically obtain a sunstone and return to the Nomad’s Village. Upgrade Vaan’s arsenal if you wish, and return to Rabanastre when you’re done.

Reenter Lowtown through the Southgate, and Penelo will leave the party when you arrive at Old Dalan’s Place. Head inside and talk to Old Dalan to receive the Crescent Stone. Then head north to Storehouse 5 in Lowtown’s North Sprawl and talk to Kytes. He’ll open the left door and give you 2 Potions and 4 Eye Drops for the journey through the waterway. Use them wisely.

With Vaan and Penelo in your party, you can head to The Sandsea and pick up the Rank I hunt for Thextera on the Notice Board. Gatsly, the petitioner, is right by the front door, and Thextera is just inside the Westersand along the southeast corner of this first section. Save your game at the Westgate before proceeding.

Thextera isn’t too difficult at this level; just remember to kill the lesser wolves surrounding it first. Press the attack on Thextera when its health is low, because it can summon more wolves and may even use Saber to make its physical attacks become lethal.

There are two good reasons why you’ll want to do this hunt. The first is that the initial rewards are decent for your level (500 gil, a Headguard, and a Teleport Stone). The second is that, after you finish the hunt, you can find Gatsly in the Muthru Bazaar and talk to him to cause the Hunter’s Monograph to appear in the bazaar for a one-time cost of 18,000 gil. This permanently causes all beasts and avions to have an increased chance to drop rare and superior loot, so it’s worth getting your hands on as early as possible.

Enemies in this area:

Razorfin has a 10% chance to replace any Ichthon in the North Spur Sluiceway. You can beat this with Vaan alone.

When you enter the waterway, save your game and run west, then north. The path to the palace is fairly linear, so just scour the area for mobs and treasure as you proceed through the sewers. When you reach the west end of the North Spur Sluiceway, climb the stairs and choose “It’s now or never” to enter the palace.

WARNING: There is no turning back once you enter the palace.

Map copied from GamePressure; the reference can be found by clicking here.[www.gamepressure.com]

Open the nearby urn to receive a map of the Royal Palace and save your game. Also note that you CANNOT go back into the Garamsythe Waterway through the trap door.

Scan the next area for treasures, then attempt to go upstairs (an Imperial will block your path). A brown seeq is nearby and willing to help you; talk to him and follow his instructions to open the pathway. Keep your distance as you run upstairs past the Imperial.

Now it’s puzzle time. Using the above map with the green dots, you must open a route to the second row from the top where the Lion Signet awaits, and then get to the hidden door. For reference, I will list the north-south paths as A and B from west to east, with the east-west paths as 1, 2, 3, and 4 from north to south (not counting the dead ends). Hence their intersections will be designated as coordinates A1, B1, A2, B2, etc.

Now follow this procedure:

1. Pull the guard at B3 towards A3, then run south from A3 to A4 and call the guard at A3 to A4.
2. Run counterclockwise back to A3 and pull the guards at A2 south. Then run counterclockwise to A2 and repeat this process to pull the guards at A1 south. By now, the path to the hidden door should be open.
3. Return to the Lion Signet on row 2 and use the Crescent Stone on it.
4. Use row 1 to reach the hidden door west of A1. Open the door.

Once inside, hug the wall to your left and keep going until you find a switch. Press it to open the door and head inside for a cutscene. You’ll obtain the Goddess’s Magicite during the cutscene. Then run upstairs and head outside for another cutscene. You’ll appear back in the Garamsythe Waterway, but this time, Balthier and Fran will be in the party!

Enemies in this area:

(U) = Denotes an undead enemy. Undead enemies will take damage from healing items and spells.
(S) = Storyline mini-boss. They will not respawn in the Garamsythe Waterway once defeated.

Now we finally have a real party! Save your game and head downstairs, and Balthier will introduce the gambit system. This part is very important, since you’re going to be using gambits a LOT in this game, so pay attention to what he says! After he’s done talking, you can experiment around with the gambits if you want. For now, though, the following is the recommended setup:

Of course this assumes Vaan as the party leader, so if you choose either Balthier or Fran as the leader, your gambits may look a bit different.

Once your gambits are in order, examine the soldiers’ corpses and sweep the linear pathway for enemies and treasures. When you reach the next Save Crystal, save your game and head downstairs for a cutscene. You’ll then help a rebel woman fight off four Imperial Swordsmen; this fight is very straightforward, so just take them down one by one. After another cutscene, approach the woman to the west and she’ll join your party as a guest character with the alias “Amalia”.

The section to the west looks wide open, but when your party goes through, you get ambushed by four Flans. They’re all weak to Fire, and speaking of which, Balthier and Fran brought the Fire spell with them when they joined your party. Now is a good time to use it as it does lots of damage to the Flans. (For this reason, I personally like having Fran as a Black Mage.) Roast them all one by one, and you get a victory fanfare screen when the last one is liquefied.

Continue west and follow the pathway around until you reach yet another Save Crystal, sweeping up enemies and treasures alike along the way. Save your game when you arrive, and get your Cure spells, Potions and Antidotes ready.

Finally, a real boss fight! Thankfully it’s not too difficult; just have Vaan and Amalia fight up front while Balthier and Fran use Cure spells and Potions to keep everybody healthy. Always stay above 100 HP if possible, because Firemane has a Bushfire attack that does a lot of damage and can inflict Poison (which can be cured with Antidotes). Avoid using Fire spells as they will heal the boss.

After the battle, some cutscenes will play, and then you’ll be in the Nalbina Dungeons.

You wake up in the dungeons, and your gear and items are all gone. Oh no! Thankfully you still have your magicks & technicks, and also your fists. Sweep the area for treasures; they’re all Knots of Rust, but even that is better than nothing. In fact they’re actually pretty good throwing weapons for your level.

Once you’ve gotten as many Knots of Rust as you can find, save your game and head through the door to face Gwitch, Galeedo, and Daguza.

Focus on Gwitch and Galeedo first. Use Knots of Rust for instant damage, and try to steal a Potion from Gwitch or Daguza in case you need heals (which shouldn’t be an issue). Daguza will take slightly longer to take down, so save him for last.

After the battle, you’ll get a cutscene and then arrive in the Confiscatory. You’ll automatically regain all your lost items and equipment, and also gain a map to the Nalbina Dungeons. Open the treasure chests here and save your game, then continue into the next room. Here you’ll meet the following Imperials:

NOTE: None of the Imperials have any elemental weakness.

Be careful fighting the Imperial Marksmen as their basic attacks hit hard and ignore your defense (they shoot guns at your party). None of the other soldiers are that threatening, but it is a good idea to sweep the upstairs enemies first so you don’t get picked off fighting those that are downstairs. Sweep the area for treasures as well, because you can’t return here once you proceed through the exit. Head for the exit once you’re done, and you’ll end up in the Barheim Passage after a few cutscenes.

Enemies in this area:

Battery Mimics will only appear during this part of the story; however they may respawn under certain conditions.

Basch has escaped with your party from the Nalbina Dungeons and is now a guest character. However, he has no weapons or armor yet, so don’t expect to get too much use out of him right now. There is a side room with chests containing good gil for your level, so open those chests! Attempt to use the Timeworn Device (it won’t work), then head downstairs and talk to Burrough to receive a Tube Fuse. Install this into the Timeworn Device, and now the lights should come on. Burrough also has a shop for you to sell your loot (except Teleport Stones) so you should get some good stuff for your level. When you’re done shopping, hit the Gate Switchboard to open the gate (this drops the charge to 70%). Save your game here, and then proceed through the open gate.

The way this dungeon works is simple: as long as you keep the lights on, the dungeon isn’t too bad. But when it drops below 50%, you run the risk of undead enemies like Skeletons and Zombies appearing in addition to everything else you’ll find down here. You may even see Specters and Skull Defenders, as well as respawning Battery Mimics if the charge gets low enough. That said, Battery Mimics are your primary targets in this dungeon, so eliminate them first. Killing one will recharge about 25-30 percent on the charge bar – one more reason to priortize them. Blizzard spells are particularly effective.

Just keep sweeping the entire dungeon for Battery Mimics and keep an eye on the charge bar at all times. If it starts dropping, that means a Battery Mimic is feeding on the energy conduit somewhere in the area. Use the Area Map to find their exact locations.

Check every corner of every area in this dungeon to find all the Battery Mimics. Eventually you’ll find a second Gate Switchboard; hit it, and a gate will open to the south (make sure you have plenty of charge first!). When you reach the section with the Save Crystal, Basch will pick up a sword and armor and finally become a decent DPS character for your level. Save your game and head south.

In the next section, you’ll need to be very careful about opening treasure coffers, because you might encounter a hostile Mimic instead. The easiest way to tell a Mimic from a real treasure coffer is to pay close attention to its color scheme. Real treasure coffers in this and similar dungeons are always colored gold; anything else, and you should assume it’s a Mimic. Thankfully they aren’t too strong so if you do spawn a Mimic, just kill it like you would anything else.

Keep heading south and east, sweeping up any Battery Mimics you encounter. When you know they’re all gone, head to the Terminus No. 4 Adjunct and save your game. If you have any buff spells like Protect, consider using them before you proceed further south.

Focus on eliminating the Mimic Queen and ignore the Tiny Batteries in this area, as the boss will simply make more of the latter if you kill them. Use Blizzard spells to speed up this process, and keep everybody above 50% HP so you don’t get one-shotted by the boss’s Shockstorm and Groundshaker attacks. Vaan and Basch should fight up front, while Balthier and Fran heal. Don’t worry about the Charge gauge because it’s no longer important. You’ll automatically escape the Barheim Passage when you beat the boss anyway.

Finally, you can breathe a bit easier now that you’re out of the Barheim Passage! Save your game and head downhill. You should remember these Wolf and Cockatrice enemies as they’re just like the ones you encountered when fighting the Rogue Tomato, and just as weak and easy to beat as before.

There is one exception to this rule: a rare Cockatrice named Nekhbet (Rare Game #20). It has a 20% chance to spawn anytime you kill a Cockatrice in the Estersand’s Sand-swept Naze. You can beat it, but it has around 4000 HP and hits hard with physical attacks, including Mucus which can inflict Slow. However, you can potentially steal a Rainbow Egg which can be traded in the bazaar for 10 Hi-Potions, so there’s plenty of incentive to fight it aside from the increased EXP and LP. And the best part is that this Hi-Potion recipe is infinitely repeatable, so with enough Rainbow Eggs, you can quickly obtain 99 Hi-Potions at a major discount (they’re normally around 200 gil each). Just make sure to sell exactly one Rainbow Egg at a time, then immediately head to the bazaar and the Hi-Potion Pack should be there.

Other than that, there’s not much to do here in the Estersand, so just head southwest back to Rabanastre. Beware the Wild Saurian in The Stepping, because you likely still can’t beat it yet. Your party will disband once you make it back.

The Moogling, a free, Rabanastre-exclusive intracity teleportation network, has been unlocked for your travelling convenience. You can use it to warp to any of these locations:

• Eastgate (your current location; provides quick access to the Dalmasca Estersand)
• Southgate (contains a Gate Crystal and quick access to Lowtown and Giza Plains)
• Westgate (for accessing the Aerodrome and the Dalmasca Westersand)
• The Sandsea (ideal for accessing the Notice Board quickly)
• Muthru Bazaar (quick and easy access to Clan Centurio’s HQ, plus a bazaar for selling loot and obtaining special goods not found anywhere else)

To use this feature, all you need to do is talk to the moogle attendant and tell him which of the above areas you want to go to. He’ll have you there in a flash, which is far more efficient than manually travelling all over town.

You may want to consider teleporting to the Muthru Bazaar first, especially if you joined Clan Centurio. Montblanc in the Clan Hall (which is not far north of the Muthru Bazaar) has a total of 650 gil he’s willing to fork over for the bosses you’ve defeated so far, plus you can sell your loot at the bazaar to the south and possibly obtain some better gear.

In any case, head to Old Dalan’s place in Lowtown and talk to him. He’ll give you a key item which I will not describe here (to minimize spoilers); take this to Balzac at a western dead end in the North Sprawl and talk to him for a cutscene. Now Basch will rejoin your party, but this time as a permanent member. You can now upgrade his license board and equipment as you see fit.

Next, head to The Sandsea and run upstairs for a cutscene. Balthier and Fran will become permanent party members, and you can upgrade them freely just like you can with Basch. You can also accept some more hunts on the Notice Board if you like. The Flowering Cactoid and Wraith hunts should pose a good challenge for your current party’s level.

When you’re ready to proceed in the story, head to the Aerodrome and talk to Balthier. Tell him “I’m really ready” when prompted, and you’ll be off to Bhujerba.

When you arrive in Bhujerba, save your game at the Gate Crystal (you can’t teleport away for now) and head outside for a cutscene. Lamont will join as a guest character. You’ll also notice that many of the streets in Bhujerba are blocked by Imperial soldiers, and the shops don’t really have too much to offer in the way of upgrades yet. Buy the maps from the Cartographer’s Guild if you want; they shouldn’t be too pricy.

Navigate the streets to the main entrance of the Lhusu Mines. You’ll find a Save Crystal just before entering, so save your game and head downstairs into the mines.

Enemies in the Lhusu Mines (story sections only):

*Enemies on the Shunia Twinspan have higher stats than in other areas of the Lhusu Mines.

Aerieel has a 20% chance to spawn on the Oltam Span in one of three random spots. It will not appear until you get close to its spawn point.

From the entrance, follow the corridor north until it dead-ends into a railway and turn left. Take the second path on the left and follow it until it dead-ends into another railway. Ignore the gate to your left (you can’t open it right now) and turn right and cross the Oltam Span. When the railway forks, take the right fork and follow the railway across the Shunia Twinspan into Site 2.

The Shunia Twinspan is the first genuinely good grinding spot of the game, as there are lots and lots of undead enemies that appear here. They commonly drop Bone Fragments which sell for 193 gil apiece, and you can practice stealing from these enemies for even more Bone Fragments. Whether you need more EXP, LP, or loot, consider slowly fighting back and forth across the bridge to rack up a healthy Battle Chain. Just don’t run out of curatives!

Don’t worry if you miss this opportunity the first time around; you can always come back here later. For now, head north and turn right just before the railway dead-ends. Follow the pathway to an open area to trigger a cutscene — and get ready to run!

You’ll then be chased by four bangaa bosses led by Ba’Gamnan. It is possible to beat them, but the fight is very hard and the reward honestly isn’t worth the effort. Not only that, but Lamont will not be helping you for this battle. So just turn on Fleeing Mode and run all the way back to the first section to ditch your pursuers. Ignore any mobs attempting to block your path while you’re fleeing. The game will let you know when you can relax.

Return to Bhujerba when you’re ready to proceed in the story. Save your game at the Save Crystal and head back into town for your next objective: spreading word that Basch is alive. Just follow the on-screen instructions to learn how to do this.

Now you must rack up 100% Notoriety. Try to testify around groups of locals, but be careful; if you testify around a Bhujerban Sainikah (the local police), they will reprimand you and deduct 30 percent off the Notoriety gauge. However, testifying around a City Parijanah (the local guides with blue books) will offer a bonus of 20 percent Notoriety.

You’ll get some cutscenes when you hit 100 percent Notoriety, and regain control in The Cloudborne, the local pub. Head outside and do some shopping at the local stores, then when you’re ready to move on, talk to the Bhujerban guards on the north end of Travica Way and tell them “I’m ready” to meet with Marquis Ondore.

WARNING: Once you say “I’m ready”, you won’t be able to turn back, so double-check your characters’ gear and licenses BEFORE talking to the guards.

After some cutscenes, you’ll end up on the Dreadnought Leviathan.

Enemies in this area:

NOTE: None of the enemies have any elemental weakness. Additionally, all enemies except for the Mastiff will drop a small amount of gil when defeated.

Vossler will be your guest character aboard the Leviathan, and you’ll automatically receive a map of the ship’s interior. Go ahead and save your game, then head inside through the doors. Vossler will warn you of a web of lasers spanning the passageway. Touching this web anywhere will activate the alarms, summoning a squad of Imperials to your location. Fortunately, Vossler is a strong DPS guest character so you should be able to handle any Imperials you come across, even in groups.

Your objective is to get to the Central Brig and rescue Princess Ashe. Make your way into the next area. Now from here, you have a choice of two paths.

Upstairs path: This path is longer but can be cleared without tripping any alarms. Make your way to a control room and head downstairs, then make a U-turn through the downstairs doors and follow the pathway straight to reach the Central Brig Access.

Downstairs path: This path is shorter but will force you to trip alarms on your way to the brig. Head through the downstairs doors and take the circular path in either direction to the north side of the ring, then head south into the Central Brig Access. Be ready to fight off swarms of Imperials, including Mastiff dogs and powerful Imperial Gunners.

Regardless of which path you take, when you enter the Central Brig Access, be ready for a pseudo boss fight. Two Judges and four lesser Imperials (three Swordsmen and a Magus) will attack your party all at once. Defeating both Judges will end the battle, but you can also kill the lesser enemies first, starting with the Magus. Either way, the fight is fairly straightforward and you get a victory fanfare screen when you win.

Inside the brig are four rooms, each with its own contents. The first door to your right contains an urn that has a Systems Access Key, with an accompanying Save Crystal. Open the urn, because that key will help you get out of here easier. The door opposite this one contains a moogle named Tetran that runs a shop here. (How did he get here, exactly?) Feel free to stock up on items if necessary. Ashe is in the second room to the right; she permanently joins your party once you open her cell. Upgrade her as you wish, then save your game and head outside for a cutscene.

Now the alarms will be constantly wailing, which means you’ll be swarmed by Imperials once you leave the Central Brig Access going north. Take the ring around to the south side and head through the doors to the storage area. Have a look around; you should find 2 different devices which can shut down the alarms for a brief time. This is where the Systems Access Key will help you; use it to interact with the device and turn off the alarms. They’ll only stay off for 60 seconds, however, so start running back towards the Port Launch as soon as the timer starts.

Vossler will eventually leave the party, but in his place, Penelo will permanently join the party and you obtain a piece of Manufacted Nethicite. You can equip it if you want, as it halves all incoming elemental damage, but it will also put the equipped character under a permanent, unremovable Silence (which prevents the affected character from casting magicks) until you take it off. You’re almost back to the Port Launch, however, so just rush over there and don’t worry about the timer. And be ready to fight your way off this ship.

This boss is accompanied by 3 Imperial Swordsmen who are right behind your party at the start of the fight. Eliminate them first before attacking the boss. Keep everybody above 50% HP because the Judge can cast an Aero spell that does heavy damage to the entire party (this can be prevented entirely by hitting the boss with Silence). If any of your characters have a Quickening, you can use it to instantly flatten this boss. Try to chain three hits for a bonus AOE attack that does heavy damage.

You’ll automatically escape the Leviathan and return to Bhujerba when you win this fight. Return to the north end of Travica Way and speak to the Bhujerban guards again. More cutscenes will play, but this time, you’ll regain control at a small outpost on the western edge of the Dalmasca Westersand. Shop all you like, then save your game at the Gate Crystal and head west.

Enemies in this area:

(F) = Denotes a flying enemy. Flying enemies cannot be hit with regular melee weapons (their attacks will simply MISS). You must use ranged weapons, Telekinesis, or magick to hit them. Quickenings and items like Knot of Rust can also get the job done.
(DANGER!) = DO NOT attempt to cast ANY spells in the vicinity of the Salamand Entite. If you do, it will immediately turn hostile and cast spells like Firaga, which is lethal for your current level. Run away from this thing immediately if you see it and don’t even think of fighting it right now. You can potentially steal the Salamand Halcyon, which is essential for making the Arcturus (+44 ATK gun) in the bazaar, but there’s a far safer way to obtain this loot in a later side quest so don’t bother.

Pineapple has a 20% chance to spawn in the Platform 1 – Refinery area. It can cast Reflect on itself, so avoid using magick against it if you decide to fight it. Stick to physical attacks.

The Urutan Exile will appear in the Platform 2 – Refinery area after you kill at least 100 Urutan-Yensa without leaving the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea.

Head west for a cutscene. Your new destination is The Tomb of Raithwall, which is far to the west. The first section contains an abundance of Alraunes, which commonly drop Succulent Fruit. This loot sells for 363 gil apiece, so if you need extra gil, consider farming this area for a while. Go two zones east into the Dalmasca Westersand, then return without killing anything, and you can build a hefty Battle Chain with these little guys before you know it.

Continue west into the next section when you’re satisfied with your farming. Another cutscene will play, and Vossler will return as a guest character for the long haul. Pan the areas for treasure as you journey west, but whatever you do, DO NOT provoke the Salamand Entite! It resembles a giant fireball and has over 48,000 HP, so it should stand out rather easily. You have no chance of defeating this thing right now, so don’t bother.

Just keep heading west until you reach the northwest exit into the Nam-Yensa Sandsea. You can also visit the southwest exit, which contains a Gate Crystal and a merchant, but the northwest exit is more important so make sure you go there. You’ll see why in the next section.

This area contains the common enemies from the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea, plus the following:

(S) = Only available after talking to the moogle in the northeast exit out of the Nam-Yensa Sandsea. Will not respawn once defeated.
(F) = Denotes a flying enemy. Use ranged weapons, Telekinesis, or magick to hit them.

To spawn Imdugud in Withering Shores, clear out the Bagoly in the area, then wait atop the circular platform. It will come flying to you. It’s a tough battle, but you could steal a Shielded Armor which is some crazy good equipment for your level.

Megabomb appears in the Demesne of the Sandqueen after you accumulate a Battle Chain of at least 21 enemies within the Nam-Yensa Sandsea.

You’ll meet a moogle who just finished talking with an Urutan-Yensa. Speak to the moogle and ask him to relay the Urutan’s message to you. He mentions a giant tortoise roaming the Nam-Yensa that the Urutan are no match for, along with a possible reward for felling it. Head west until you find a group of Urutan-Yensa fighting the giant tortoise. It has a lot of HP, but thankfully nothing special so just take it down. You might even steal an Ancient Sword from it if you’re lucky.

After the turtle goes down, return to the moogle in the northeast, who tells you that the Urutan is searching for a reward to give to your party for helping them fell their nemesis. Now head east into the Ogir-Yensa and run up the ramp for a cutscene, then return to the moogle’s location for another cutscene. A Rogue Urutan Flower will grow and blossom; interact with it to obtain some Eksir Berries. Hold on to them, because you’ll be needing them fairly soon.

Save your game and continue your westward trek until you see Dyce the Merchant just outside a cave. He now sells Hi-Potions and the Cura spell; definitely consider buying the latter and obtaining the license for it. Your White Mage(s) will thank you later. Stock up on anything else you need, and head west into the cave when you’re done. You’ll get a free save opportunity here — make sure you take it. A boss rush is coming up next!

Cross the courtyard going due west, and a boss named Garuda will intercept your path.

Remember those Eksir Berries you picked up earlier? Now is the time to use them, as they will damage the Garuda and greatly lower its stats, making the fight much easier. You don’t have to, since you can win even without them, but you likely won’t be using them elsewhere so why waste them?

This is likely the first flying foe that you will be required to defeat, but just remember to use ranged weapons and magick to hit it. If you have Dark (an Arcane Magick) and a character that can cast it, bring that character in and let him/her rip this boss apart with that spell.

For this battle, your melee characters should go into more of a support role unless they have spears or poles, either of which can reach and hit flying targets. Be ready to throw Hi-Potions if necessary, and remember to cure Sleep since this boss’s regular attack can inflict this debuff.

Another cutscene will play after the victory fanfare for this boss. Approach the Tomb’s main entrance, and Dyce the Merchant will appear at the bottom of the stairs, giving you yet another shopping opportunity in case you missed your chance before the boss fight. In particular, make sure you have some Argyle Armlets in your inventory and some characters that can equip it. This accessory blocks the Blind debuff, which will help tremendously in the upcoming battles.

Save your game at the Gate Crystal when you’re ready to move on, and use the Way Stone to warp inside the Tomb of Raithwall. When you enter, there will be a blue Way Stone just ahead of you, but it doesn’t work yet, so go down the stairs directly ahead of you. Begin crossing the bridge and get ready to run, because a Demon Wall with 22,187 HP will wake up behind you and block your return route as soon as you step onto the bridge! Thankfully you don’t need to fight this one, so just run through the door to the west — into the clutches of a second Demon Wall which you CANNOT escape! I did tell you it was a bit of a boss rush getting inside this place….

This battle has a time limit: you have until the Demon Wall pushes your party against the door to the east to defeat it. If you fail to beat this thing before then, it’s an automatic Game Over and you’ll be sent back to the save point. Needless to say, you have no time to waste here. Run up to the boss as soon as you regain control, and start pressing the attack as hard as you can. Equip your Argyle Armlets so that the boss’s Blindga spell becomes a non-factor, and consider disabling your Cure gambits for now so you can focus more on attacking. Heal with Hi-Potions and other items instead.

You can interact with the torches on either side of the bridge for a chance to buy a little extra time. To do this, examine the torch and choose the second option. If the flame goes out, the Demon Wall stops for a few seconds. But if the flame turns blue, the boss will speed up instead! Only two of the eight torches on the bridge will turn blue, but it’s random as to which ones will do so.

The main attack you need to watch out for is Telega. This move banishes a character from the battle completely without killing them, and they CANNOT be brought back. Your only option is to bring in a fresh character (if possible) and continue to press the attack against the boss. If necessary, use a Quickening chain for big damage.

After the battle, head west into the next section for a cutscene. On the platform just to the west, you’ll see three different Way Stones:

• The blue one takes you back to the Hall of the Destroyer, thankfully bypassing the first Demon Wall.
• The red one leads to the Northfall Passage. It doesn’t work yet.
• The green one leads to the Southfall Passage. It also doesn’t work yet.

From now on, you may also encounter the following enemies inside the Tomb:

(U) = Undead enemy

*Tallows only appear in a secret area in the Royal Passage that contains treasure. You can’t access this place until the first Demon Wall (the one with 22,187 HP) is defeated.

To spawn Barmuu in the Royal Passage, rack up a Battle Chain of 12+ Seekers without leaving the area. He will spawn near the Way Stones when the condition is met.

When a Lich in the Southfall Passage uses Divide, it has a 20% chance to spawn a Cultsworn Lich in place of a normal one.

Open the urn near the Way Stones to receive a map of the Tomb of Raithwall. If you deactivated your Cure gambits for the Demon Wall fight, you can now turn them back on. Your next task is to activate the red and green Way Stones, which will also open the path to the back of the Tomb where your treasure awaits. You can activate them in either order.

To activate the red Way Stone in the Northfall Passage, fight your way past the mobs (from either entrance) until you see a red jewel stuck in a wall. Hit the jewel to activate the Way Stone, then warp back to the Royal Passage.

To activate the green Way Stone in the Southfall Passage, fight your way to a green jewel stuck in a wall. Hit the jewel to activate the green Way Stone, and beware of Liches which like to cast Oil. This ailment requires a Handkerchief to remove, so make sure you stock up on this item.

For those who don’t know what the Oil status does, it triples incoming Fire-elemental damage! As an example, a Fire spell that normally hits for around 300 damage will hit Oiled characters for 900 instead. You need to know this because your next boss is a Fire Esper that can inflict Oil on your party, so you must be prepared to deal with this ailment.

As a precaution, when all 3 Way Stones are activated, warp back to the Gate Crystal and stock up on Handkerchiefs, then save your game and warp back to the Royal Passage. Now use either the red or the green Way Stone to warp to one of the passages and follow the path beyond the now-sunken Mystic Altar to a new room filled with Mist. Head downstairs, and before you step into the center of the room to engage the next boss, make sure your active characters each have an Ally: any / Handkerchief gambit for the upcoming battle. Trust me; you’ll be glad you had one.

Welcome to what is likely your first Esper Battle of the game. Esper Battles are just like regular boss battles, with one exception: the license for the Esper you defeat will appear on the license board after the battle. Only one character can obtain this license, and it will disappear from all other characters’ license boards once obtained.

With that out of the way, on to the actual fight. Belias’s attacks are strong but a bit slow, so you should have plenty of time to heal in between attacks. Try to maintain Protect and Shell throughout the fight, just to lessen the damage.

When Belias hits 50% HP, it will cast Protect and Shell on itself and then hit your whole party with Firaja. This attack does heavy Fire damage with the chance to leave behind an Oil status, which is why you should have the Handkerchief gambit for this fight, prioritized above even your Cure gambits. Oil stays active even if a character is KO’d, so it’s in your best interest to remove this status immediately even if your HP is low.

As mentioned above, Belias appears on the license board after the battle. Now head west through the door and go all the way to the end for a cutscene, after which you obtain the Dawn Shard. This key item will become important in a later chapter, so make sure you don’t forget it!

Afterwards, use the Way Stone at the bottom of the stairs and teleport your way out of the Tomb. Save your game (you’re blocked from using the Gate Crystal’s teleport function for now) and head downstairs for a cutscene.

Minor spoiler alert: Vossler turns against you here, and you’re forced to fight him.

You should know how Vossler fights by now: straightforward, with heavy physical attacks and combos. Take out his three Imperial Swordsman sidekicks and then just beat this guy down with physical attacks. When his HP goes critical, be ready to double up on healing, or just use a Quickening and/or Belias to finish him off quickly. Don’t bother using magick because Vossler will cast Reflect on himself.

Fran will start this battle in Berserk status, so although you cannot control her, she deals massively increased physical damage to enemies at a much higher speed than usual. So feel free to bring her in and let her rip the enemy team to shreds while you keep her healthy.

You’ll automatically return to Rabanastre after the battle, concluding Act One.

Now that you’re finally back home in Rabanastre, you have a lull in story progression. Your next destination is Jahara, Land of the Garif, but you have all the time in the world to prepare your team and do side quests if you want. More mark hunts are now available, and below are the ones I definitely recommend picking up for your current level if you’re interested:

• Nidhogg (Rank I) – this mark is not too far inside the Lhusu Mines and should be easy to beat for your current level. This hunt rewards you with a Great Serpentskin, which can be used in a later side quest.
• Rocktoise (Rank I Elite) – speak to Montblanc to accept this hunt. This mark is located where you encountered Ba’Gamnan earlier in the story. It hits hard, but is thankfully vulnerable to Blind.
• Croakadile (Rank II) – he’s in the now-rainy Giza Plains to the south. The story will take you in this direction, so why not add a mark hunt to the list? Beware of Growing Threat as it doubles the mark’s level, making him much stronger; he will use this move when his health is low.
• Enkelados (Rank II) – you’ll be running close to his area soon in the story, so he’s not that big of a detour either.
• Wyvern Lord (Rank II) – this mark will take some work to find, but the hunt rewards you with a Shell Shield, which provides a permanent, unremovable Shell status while equipped.

Also make sure you stock up on healing items and give your party some well-deserved upgrades, since you should have plenty of loot and LP by now. And you may even want to visit Montblanc anyway, since he has bonuses for the bosses you defeated, as well as a bonus for obtaining your first Esper.

Finally, there’s a missable side quest at the Nalbina Fortress that unlocks at this time: July the Streetear. This quest has 2 parts, the first of which must be completed BEFORE the party defeats Judge Bergan. I definitely recommend picking this one up, because the reward is a Salamand Halcyon which is used in creating the Arcturus in the bazaar. Remember when I told you there was a safer and easier way to get this item than dealing with a giant fireball in the Sandsea? This is that “safer and easier way” I was referring to.

When you’re ready to proceed in the story, head south through the Giza Plains.

Enemies in this area:

(DANGER!) = Avoid casting spells in the presence of a Storm Elemental and especially a Mardu Entite. They resemble small and large balls of lightning, respectively, and will immediately become aggressive if you use magick in their presence.

(!) = Avoid the Silicon Tortoises as you’re likely not strong enough to defeat them right now.

The Rain Dancer has a 20% chance to appear in any section of the Giza Plains during the rainy season. It often spawns near water, and will not appear until you get close.

Besides making the enemies stronger, the rains have terraformed the Giza Plains so that the pathways have effectively changed. The Nomad’s Village is also now mostly empty except for Sadeen (the petitioner for the Croakadile hunt, in case you’re doing that), though the Save Crystal is still there.

There are also 6 Withered Trees scattered throughout the rainy plains. They can be cut down by interacting with them, and when they’re all down, they open access to an area filled with Level 37 Silicon Tortoises (which I do NOT recommend going to right now). Other than that, there isn’t much to do here in the Giza Plains, so just navigate your way south to the Ozmone Plain.

Enemies in this area:

(DANGER!) = Again, do not provoke, or cast magick around, the Sylphi Entite.
(F) = Flying enemy. Use ranged weapons or magick to hit them.
(N) = Neutral enemy; will not attack unless provoked.

*There is an ultra-rare Level 99 variant of the Red Chocobo that spawns in the same area as the other Chocobos, but you likely won’t spawn it right now.

Bull Croc has a 20% chance to appear in The Shred. It has a powerful Screwtail attack which might wipe out the party, so be prepared if you decide to fight it. This is also why I do NOT recommend trying to fight both it and Enkelados at the same time, if you have the hunt for the latter active.

About 10-15 seconds after your party defeats Bull Croc in The Shred, Aeros will fly toward your party from the south and attack. It is also quite powerful, so again, be prepared if you decide to fight it. There is a chance to steal the Wyvern Wing from it, which is a VERY important loot for the bazaar later in the game.

The enemies are getting stronger, so try not to fight them in groups especially the Zaghnal. There is an entrance to the Zertinan Caverns in the second section, but the enemies inside the cavern are Level 36 so I recommend staying out of there for now. This same section has plenty of Mesmenir which commonly drop the Iron Carapace (it sells for 413 gil apiece) in case you need to grind some more gil.

Just keep heading south, then follow the road west into Jahara. Save your game at the Gate Crystal near the bridge when you arrive.

Speak with the bridge guards after saving your game. They’ll open the way inside; go ahead and cross the bridge. Feel free to speak with the locals and do some shopping. Afterwards, find High-chief Zayalu and speak with him. He’ll give you a Jaya Stick; deliver this to Supinelu at the second bridge and ask to speak with the Great-chief. After come cutscenes, Larsa will join as a guest character. This time, however, he’ll be sticking around for a while.

Exit the village heading east, and Supinelu will gift you with a Bowgun and some Onion Bolts. You’ll also receive a one-time offer for a free chocobo rental from the Jahara stables; you can use it either now or later. (The normal rental price for chocobos from Jahara is dirt cheap, so don’t worry if you end up wasting the free ride.)

Whether you choose to go by chocobo, or fight your way on foot, your next destination is the Golmore Jungle to the east.

CAUTION: I recommend that you stock up on status-removing items and spells before travelling to the Golmore Jungle.

Enemies in this area (northern sections only):

(N) = Neutral enemy

Midgardsormr has a 20% chance to spawn in the Paths of Chained Light. It can appear anywhere in this section, so stay alert.

From now on, you’ll start seeing regular attempts to debuff your party from normal enemies. As examples, the Panthers like to inflict Petrify (among other debuffs), the Malboros can put you to Sleep, and the Gargoyles can inflict both Blind and Silence. Until you obtain Esuna, you’re forced to use items to remove most of these statuses.

Head east from the Ozmone Plain along the northern paths until you encounter a magick barrier blocking the road. You can’t do anything about it right now, so just double back a short distance and go down the stairs on the north side of the path. Approach the dead end, and a new pathway will open. Follow it to Eruyt Village.

In future visits, you’ll need to interact with this dead end yourself to open the pathway.

A Gate Crystal is right near the entrance, along with an old friend from the Dreadnought Leviathan: Tetran the moogle merchant. Save your game and check out the shop; Tetran is carrying the all-important Esuna White Magick! Buy it and learn it ASAP as it is an absolute must going forward in the game.

Don’t bother chatting with the locals because they see you as an uninvited guest in their home. Do pan the village for treasure, however, because there’s some very good stuff especially the Haste Time Magick; the chest for it is all the way at the back of the village.

Speaking of the back of the village, that’s exactly where you need to go to find Jote, the village priestess. Speak to her, and she’ll give you an assignment: find the missing viera Mjrn and bring her back — alive.

Head back west through the Golmore Jungle and return to the Ozmone Plain. In the Save Crystal section you’ll find two Imperial soldiers, one of whom is heavily injured. Give the injured soldier a regular Potion (Hi-Potions will NOT work here) and he’ll let you ride his chocobo one time only. Mount the chocobo and head west. Just across the section line, you’ll find chocobo tracks on your left leading to a bushy area; this is a chocobo-only path, which you must take. It won’t appear on any maps, but follow it and head south to a cave. Dismount and enter the cave; this is the entrance to the Henne Mines.

Enemies in this area:

In these mines, you will encounter red and blue gates. A Gate Switchboard is not far inside the main entrance, and the color on the switchboard (should be red) indicates which color gates are currently closed. There is a red-colored gate blocking the pathway to the south, so hit the switch to turn it blue and open the red gates.

Here in Pithead Junction A, there is another gate switchboard. The north and west gates are red, while the south and east gates are blue. The latter two gates lead you to an area with a Map Urn, so hit the switch to turn it red. The moment you hit this switch, your party will be ambushed by two waves of three Jellies each. If you decide to fight them, use either Fire spells or a Quickening chain to wipe them out.

The Map Urn is guarded by a huge swarm of bats, so be ready to fight them all off one by one. Grab the map and return to Pithead Junction A and hit the switch again to turn it back to blue. Head west and follow the linear path to the next section.

Here is another good grinding spot for your level. These bats can drop Ice Shields, which will be a huge help later on. Consider farming this area a bit until you have enough Ice Shields to give to all your frontline fighters before moving on.

Sweep the areas for treasure as you fight your way to Pithead Junction B. Hit the switch when you arrive, and be ready for EIGHT Jellies to rush your party all at once, with many more in reserve! Use a Quickening to wipe them out if you can; otherwise, just run out the door to the west. Follow the path around to a Gate Crystal section. You’ve finally found Mjrn, but she’s gone mad. Save your game, then head north for a boss fight.

It’s likely been a while since your last boss fight. Well, this big dragon is a damage sponge; it has a lot of HP and high defenses that get even higher when its HP goes critical. Dig in your heels and be ready for a long battle. And definitely keep Larsa healthy, because he’s gonna be a huge help for this battle.

Tiamat likes to munch on one character at a time, though it does have a few AOE attacks like Aero and Disablega. Have a healer run to the boss’s tail end and only bring him/her up to the front when he/she needs to heal somebody. Save your Quickenings for when the boss is about to hit critical HP so you can kill it off faster — either that, or prepare to use magick (though it absorbs Wind and takes half damage from other elemental spells) to finish it off.

You’ll automatically return to Eruyt Village after the battle and obtain Lente’s Tear, a key item which lets you past the barriers in the Golmore Jungle. Tetran also has a greater arsenal than before, so feel free to visit his shop one last time before heading east. When you’re done, save your game and head east through the Golmore Jungle.

The enemies east of the barrier are the same as those west of the barrier, plus the following:

Phyllo has a 20% chance to appear in one of three dead ends in the Branchway area. It will not spawn until you get close.

Now that you can pass through the barriers in the Golmore Jungle, you have a bit of a decision to make. You can either take the most direct route to Mt. Bur-Omisace (which is what this guide will cover), OR you can take the Feywood route. To take the Feywood route, head south into the Feywood and sprint east past the enemies there (which are Level 40+) into the Paramina Rift. You can then head northeast from there to get to Mt. Bur-Omisace.

If you decide to take the most direct route there, go east from Eruyt Village and save your game at the Gate Crystal. And get ready for a difficult boss fight!

You thought Tiamat was a damage sponge? This guy not only one-ups Tiamat in that regard, but also has a bigger attack arsenal. Instead of hitting for big damage, however, this dragon loves to spew status ailments at your party. Of note is its signature Sporefall attack, which inflicts Blind, Confuse, Silence, Oil, Slow, Sap, and Poison on multiple characters at once!

For this reason, an Esuna gambit is all but essential for your party’s survival, so make sure your White Mage(s) can cast this spell BEFORE coming into this boss fight. Then set at least one of them up with a gambit to cast Esuna when a character is afflicted by ailments. You’ll have to use Handkerchiefs to remove Oil, however, so make sure you have plenty of that item in stock as well before you engage this boss.

Silence the Elder Wyrm (if possible) and eliminate the two Treants before attacking the boss. Use a Quickening if necessary, and then just dig in your heels like you did against Tiamat. This is a long, arduous battle, and you’ll likely be facing multiple Sporefalls, so spread your party out and surround this boss so that Sporefall only hits one or two characters at a time. And make sure you get rid of Oil immediately, because in addition to Sporefall, the Elder Wyrm can shoot Fireballs which deal huge fire damage to a single target and will 1-shot anybody under Oil status.

After your hard-fought victory, backtrack to the Gate Crystal and save your game, then head east towards the Paramina Rift. Beware of a Diresaur guarding the main path going east.

Enemies in this area:

(N) = Neutral enemy
(U) = Undead enemy

You’ll be greeted by a Save Crystal and a caravan of refugees as you exit the jungle. Save your game and hug the north path through the Paramina Rift as you continue east. When it dead-ends into a T intersection, turn left to finally reach Mt. Bur-Omisace, your destination.

If you encounter an Ice Elemental, needless to say, beware of using magick around them. Why is there no danger moniker for them this time, you may be wondering? Because with the Ice Shields that you should have by now, your party actually stands a fair chance of beating one of these things. They’re definitely tough to take down, but your Ice Shields will halve the damage caused by these elementals’ Blizzara spells. They give off very good EXP and LP for your level as well, and you may even net a Feystone which is used to create the High Arcana in the bazaar. Needless to say, however, if you don’t have Ice Shields, avoid angering these elementals and just run.

Merchants, a chocobo stable, and a Gate Crystal will greet you at the foot of the mountain as you arrive. Shop around all you like, then save your game and head uphill all the way to the Temple Grounds. Head inside the temple and speak to the Gran Kiltias at the north end of the hallway. Larsa will leave your party, and you’ll be given a new quest: to obtain the Sword of Kings from the Stilshrine of Miriam.

Head back to the marketplace and double-check your inventory. Make sure your arsenal is well-upgraded; I particularly recommend buying the Shielded Armor (it provides good defense + a permanent Protect status), as well as some Tourmaline Rings for your healers because the enemies in the Paramina Rift like to use ice attacks. You’ll also be fighting a boss that can cast heavy ice spells later on, so it’s best to prepare for them now.

When you’re ready, save your game and head south through the Paramina Rift.

During your southward trek, in addition to the prior enemies in the Rift, you may also encounter the following:

(F) = Flying enemy
(DANGER!) = Do not provoke, or cast magick around, the Leshach Entite.
(!) = Avoid fighting the Anchag as it is too strong for your current party. Its Rage attack in particular will wipe you out.

Anchag appears in the Karydine Glacier after you kill everything in that section, then leave and return.

From Bur-Omisace, head south into the Frozen Brook and climb up on a ledge near the center. Turn right and follow a narrow uphill pass to a Save Crystal section; the road going southwest from here leads to the Stilshrine of Miriam. Be careful as you cross the bridge, however, because it is guarded by traps and hungry Garuda-Egi birds. Have a Bangle equipped on one of your active characters so you can see and maneuver around the traps.

Everything except for the Leshach Entite can be dealt with fairly easily, and you shouldn’t have to worry about the lethal Anchag in the Karydine Glacier since you shouldn’t be going that way anyway. From the bridge, it’s just a short walk south through Silverflow’s End into the Stilshrine of Miriam.

Enemies in this area:

(U) = Undead enemy

Matriarch Bomb has a 20% chance to appear in a secret section of Cold Distance, next to a chest containing a Shell Shield. To reach this place, hug the west wall near the Darkmare’s spawn point until an upstairs passageway appears. Follow this pathway all the way to the top of the stairs, but be warned: the section where the Matriarch Bomb awaits contains 2 traps, each of which inflicts Berserk and Confuse simultaneously! Do NOT enter this area without Libra and Float active!

Negalmuur appears in the center junction of the Ward of the Soul King after the party spends 30 minutes in the Stilshrine of Miriam without leaving. It will only spawn when you get close. When it’s going to spawn, all other enemies in the area will disappear. The area normally has several pairs of Blood Gigas and a lone Darkmare, so this is a fairly easy indicator.

Save your game at the Gate Crystal section outside the main entrance before heading inside. A one time chest containing an Ice Shield will greet you as you arrive in case you need one.

Not far inside the main entrance is a Pedestal of the Dawn. Read the inscription on it for a hint as to what to do next. Now, do you remember the Dawn Shard you picked up way back in the Tomb of Raithwall? This is where it becomes important. Equip your party leader with the Dawn Shard, and then have your party leader interact with the Pedestal of the Dawn. You may need to switch your party leader to Ashe for this step.

If you do it right, the party will be teleported to a new room where they’ll be attacked by a Miriam Guardian. Otherwise, three Zombies (which give no EXP or LP) will attack the party and no teleportation will occur. Take out the Guardian.

Now get ready for a real fight, because up ahead of you are three powerful Dragon Aevis monsters parading in a circle. If you have Disable (a Time Magick), use it to stop the dragons from attacking you while you bombard them with Blizzara. Otherwise, just blast them with Quickenings. If you cannot do either, run due west past the two Miriam Facers into the next section.

Now head upstairs and circle around to the other side, where you find a second Pedestal of the Dawn. Do the same thing here that you did with the first pedestal (remember to equip your party leader with the Dawn Shard!), and now two new pathways should open. Return to the room where the three Dragon Aevis monsters were (or are, if you didn’t fight them) and follow either new path downstairs to find a green “Life Crystal” — which is actually a Crystalbug. Touch it, and the Crystalbug will wake up and spew magick at you. Kill it to reveal a true Save Crystal, then save your game.

The next section is the Ward of the Soul King, which contains Blood Gigas in pairs, and a lone Darkmare with around 14,000 HP. Fight your way to the giant sword on the south end of the pathway and examine the sword to open the doors to a new Way Stone. Use the Way Stone to warp back to the Ward of Measure, then head outside and save your game.

Now that we have a way to reach the Sword of Kings, it’s time to find a way to move the giant sword blocking the path out of the way. Remember this inscription going forward:

“To guardians three I trust, that the worthy may pass, all others be shunned.”

After you save your game, head back inside the Stilshrine of Miriam and take the door on the west side of the Ward of Measure. Turn right past the first Miriam Guardian, then a second right immediately after entering the new section, and follow the pathway to a statue named Stone Brave. Kill everything around and examine the statue, which has “face ye the blade” as part of its inscription.

Now since you went west of the giant colossus, you’ll want this statue to face east. Rotate the statue until its eyes stay lit after it stops rotating; that’s how you know it faces the correct way. You can also verify the direction it’s facing by checking your Area Map.

The next area features an abundance of undead enemies, many of whom can drop the Icebrand sword, so consider farming this area if you want this weapon. Then navigate your way to a second Stone Brave in this section. By now, you should be due south of the colossus, so rotate this statue to face north. Again, use the Area Map to verify the direction it’s facing.

Now head north to Cold Distance, then make a right turn into the Ward of Steel. The pathway leads to the third and final Stone Brave, but to get there, you’ll first have to get past this boss:

Even with the magnetic field in place, this boss should pose little challenge to those who bested the far tougher Elder Wyrm back in the Golmore Jungle. Just be careful if you decide to wear heavy armor, because the magnetic field slows the actions of anyone wearing it.

Vinuskar itself isn’t too strong regardless, but you do need to come prepared to cure Slow (can be cured with Haste, Remedy, or Chronos Tear) and Confuse (can be cured with Esuna or Nu Khai Sand). Also be ready to take a Sword Dance attack which does moderate area damage. It shouldn’t be difficult to heal or do damage at all in this battle.

After the battle, open the door to the east to find the final Stone Brave, as well as a Map Urn. A chest containing the powerful Sage’s Ring is also in the room — do not forget it! Grab the map and rotate this statue to face west. At this point, you should see the message

“The colossus has undergone some change…”

If you don’t, check your Area Map for any statues that might not be facing the correct direction, and make corrections where needed.

The game will let you know when the way past the colossus is open. At that point, head back to the Ward of Measure and use the Way Stone to return to the Ward of the Soul King. Save your game at the Save Crystal off to the east, then head south past the giant sword to a new Ancient Door. The inscription reads

“Wisdom proven, assay now your power.”

Just beyond this door is another boss — to be exact, an ice user. Before opening the door, make sure your frontline fighters have Ice Shields and your healers have Tourmaline Rings equipped, and set up your characters with an Ally: any / Prince’s Kiss gambit. Open the door when you’re ready to go.

Mateus will constantly be under Reflect for this battle, so DO NOT use magick against him. Keep your Black Mage out of this battle and instead use physical attacks to beat this boss. Equip Lightning-elemental weapons if you have any.

The boss will be accompanied by five Ice Azers which can cast Sleep; hence why I suggest having a Prince’s Kiss gambit for this battle. They can safely be hit with Thunder spells, but if you cast Thundara, you run the risk of it getting bounced back by Mateus’s Reflect. Take out the Ice Azers first so you’re not constantly getting bombarded by Blizzard and Sleep spells for the battle.

Be ready to use Esuna (or Regen if you have it) and Cura when Mateus hits 50% HP, because the boss will use Chain Magick at this threshold, followed immediately by Blizzaja which can inflict Sap as well as heavy ice damage. Your Ice Shields and Tourmaline Rings should mitigate the damage from this attack, but do not use them as a substitute for proper healing.

You obtain Mateus on the license board after the battle.

Now head south through the doors and go all the way to the end for a cutscene. You will obtain the Sword of Kings, which any of your characters can equip as a weapon without a license if you want.

Return to the main entrance and head outside for more cutscenes, then use the Gate Crystal to warp back to Mt. Bur-Omisace. Save your game and make your way back up the mountain, then head inside the temple for another boss fight.

Take out the three Judges behind your team first. Bergan hits like a truck with his regular attacks and can even counter a physical hit from your characters, but thankfully has no party-wiping special moves to speak of. Use the long, narrow pathway to your advantage in this battle, since you can delay Bergan’s attacks by running back and forth along the pathway while your other characters pelt Bergan with physical attacks. It’s best to let the healer be your leader for this battle. Use a Quickening when Bergan’s HP is low, just to avoid getting combo’d to death during his HP critical period.

More cutscenes will play after the battle, and when you regain control, you will have a new destination: the capital of the Archadian Empire. It’s a very long journey, but thankfully we’ll be taking it one leg at a time.

Before I proceed further, I’d like to inform you that there are absolutely no mandatory story bosses for the next 4 sections of the story! Yes, we’re done with the heavy boss rushing for quite a while, so if you want to do some exploring, mark hunts, side quests, etc. before moving on, now is the perfect time to do so. Take all the time you need to prepare for this trip, because it’s gonna be a long one. You’ll definitely want to make sure you upgrade your characters’ license boards before moving on.

Since you’re likely around Level 30, you can easily handle some Rank III, Rank IV, and maybe even some Rank V hunts. For example, the Rank III hunt for the Ring Wyrm rewards you with an Icebrand in case you don’t have one. Be ready for a very long fight, though; this dragon has a whopping 128,648 HP and can even heal itself periodically! Use the heaviest Fire-elemental attacks you have when fighting this mark.

Montblanc also has at least 2800 gil in bonuses for you, since you took out Elder Wyrm, Tiamat, and Vinuskar, so definitely consider paying him a visit.

Also, if you haven’t found it yet, Dispel (a VERY important White Magick) can be found in The Tomb of Raithwall, inside a chest at the east end of the northernmost passageway in Royal Passage. Make sure you have this before going any further in the story; if you don’t, teleport to the tomb and get this spell from the chest.

When you’re ready to begin the lengthy journey to Archades, start by warping to Nalbina Fortress via the Gate Crystal, then saving your game and heading north into the Mosphoran Highwaste.

Enemies in this area:

(F) = Flying enemy

The Wary Wolf has a 7% chance to replace any Worgen in the Summit Path.

To spawn the Grey Molter in the Empyrean Way, visit the Phon Coast, then return to the Highwaste and visit the Empyrean Way when the game clock is between X:10:00 and X:20:00 (X = any number of hours).

The main path to the northwest leads to a small outpost in the center of the Highwaste. Beware of rare monsters and Fire Elementals along the way, and use caution when fighting the regular enemies as they’re a bit stronger than what you’re used to.

When you reach the outpost, save your game at the Gate Crystal and do some shopping at the local merchant. He has some very good stuff for your level, so don’t be shy about going on a shopping spree. There’s also a Cartographer’s Guild moogle selling a map of the Highwaste. Replenish any curatives that are running low, and when you’re ready to move on, continue northwest along the road into the Salikawood.

Enemies in the southern half of the Salikawood:

Enemies only available after defeating King Bomb:

Spee has a 15% chance to appear in one of three dead ends in the Sun-dappled Path after a Wyrdhare is slain. However, it won’t appear if all Wyrdhares are slain.

The Wood Toad, which has a 20% chance to spawn in the Corridor of Ages, will be invisible and non-aggressive. To get it to appear, cast Reflect on your character and bounce any Black Magick off of him/her (Thunder spells are preferred), and if the Wood Toad is nearby, it will take damage and become visible.

The King Bomb is in the Grand Bower, just north of the Gate Crystal. It frequently spawns mini-bombs and can cast Renew on itself, so prepare well if you decide to fight it. Thankfully you can run away from this boss if you can’t defeat it.

*Baknamy enemies come in three variants: bare-handed, sword, and gun. Each variant has its own drop and steal list. Refer to the bestiary for more information.

A Save Crystal will greet you in the second section. Save your game and continue north, then east. The thoroughfare to Archades takes you east toward the Phon Coast, but if you want to fight the King Bomb, the entrance to its lair is marked by a Gate Crystal to the north. Defeating it will unlock access to the Nabreus Deadlands and the Necrohol of Nabudis, two optional endgame-level areas.

When you’re almost out of the Salikawood going east, there will be a gate barring the path. Talk to the Moogle Boss, who will tell you of nine missing moogle apprentices that are apparently “on break” within the Salikawood. None of them require you to defeat King Bomb to reach.

The moogle apprentices are missing inside a total of four Forest Bungalows scattered throughout the Salikawood. Use your Area Map to find them all. When you round up the last of them, they’ll ask if you want to go back to the gate with them. Tell them “Yes”, and you’ll regain control at the now-opened gate. Speak with the Moogle Boss after the gate is open to receive Quasimodo Boots if you want, and save your game at the Save Crystal in the next section to the east.

Enemies in this area:

Apsara spawns in The Mauleia Strand after the party defeats at least 10 Piranhas on the Phon Coast.

Enemies are getting progressively tougher, so be careful about fighting them in groups. Continue east along the Phon Coast until you reach the Hunter’s Camp in the middle. Head downhill for a cutscene, then explore the camp a bit to find a Gate Crystal, a merchant that sells Mirror Mails among other things, and an exclusive Hunt Club which you can’t join yet. There is also a Notice Board near the Gate Crystal if you intend to do any mark hunts.

Make any upgrades you like, then save your game and head north from the camp. Continue to follow the road east into the Tchita Uplands. You’ll get another Save Crystal just before leaving the coast behind.

Enemies in this area:

Tarasque will spawn out of the water in the Garden of Life’s Circle after the party accumulates a Battle Chain of 22+ enemies of any type within the Tchita Uplands.

You’ll want to move fairly slow through this first section as Serpents will frequently pop out of the ground, which can complicate matters especially if you’re busy fighting Coeurls. The Malboro Overkings are stronger versions of the Malboro King you encounted in the Salikawood. Be ready with Esuna when you fight any monsters here.

The Float spell is located within a chest on the east side of Oliphzak Rise. I highly recommend you pick up this spell and learn it ASAP, because you’ll definitely be glad you had it for later.

After you pick up this spell, head back north, then east, until you find a Gate Crystal; here is also an Archadian Wayfarer with a bill for a mark located within the Sochen Cave Palace. (This bill will not appear in your Clan Primer since it is not an official bill, but this does not mitigate its importance.) Talk to him and accept his mark hunt to obtain the Soul Ward Key, a key item required to progress in the story. Then save your game and head east, then north, until you find a small cave. This is the entrance to the Sochen Cave Palace. You’ll get a free save opportunity once you enter the cave.

Enemies in the southern half of the Cave Palace:

You’re almost to Archades now; all you need to do is clear this last dungeon to get there. But don’t let your guard down – these enemies can get real tough if you’re reckless!

Start this final stretch by heading north to the Gate of the Soul Ward, being careful not to let the enemies overwhelm you along the way. Open the door using the Soul Ward Key — and get ready for a wild boss fight!

Do not be fooled by their small stature; these bosses can rip your party to shreds if you try to engage all five of them at the same time. They’ll start the fight by just running around, but eventually they’ll regroup and start chasing the party. Keep an eye on them, and when they bunch together, start a Quickening chain targeting the centermost member of the enemy party. This should eliminate one of them, and the resulting area attack should seriously damage the rest. You may need to do this again depending on how the fight goes.

By now you should have Dispel in your arsenal; use it to strip any survivors of their buffs and take them out one by one, starting with the boss with the lowest HP. Be ready to cure Silence, Poison, Sleep, and Slow, because these bosses can and will hit your party with these ailments regularly. And above all, DO NOT let them surround you.

After the fight, you can either head back to the Archadian Wayfarer to pick up your reward (1000 gil and 3 Remedies), or go ahead and continue through either the east or west doors into the next section. In either case, the next room features a Save Crystal — except it’s a very cleverly disguised Crystalbug. You can skip this thing if you want, but you won’t get another Save Crystal until well after the next boss fight so you may want to go ahead and tame this bug. Defeating the Crystalbug causes a true Save Crystal to appear; use it to save your game, and then head east.

Head north while hugging the east wall, and be careful because the Imps and Pit Fiends like to gang up on you. Near the Gorgimeras is a Map Urn; open it to obtain a map of the dungeon.

Starting in the next section, you may also encounter these enemies:

To spawn Cubus in Temptation Eluded, you must first defeat Ahriman. Then keep reentering this area until Wendigos and Pit Fiends spawn in this area. Kill them all, and Cubus will appear immediately after the last enemy falls. It likes to put Oil on your party, so be prepared with Handkerchiefs.

There are two optional puzzles within the Cave Palace between here and your destination, but this particular guide will not be covering them since there are plenty of guides for solving these puzzles elsewhere. If you want to try your hand at solving these puzzles anyway, look up “Sochen Cave Palace Waterfall Puzzle” and “Sochen Cave Palace Door of Hours Puzzle” in your preferred search engine for the exact instructions. Neither puzzle is required for story progress.

The Strikers and Wendigos, as well as the Zombie Knights, commonly drop Maggoty Flesh which is not only good gil for your level (each sells for 713 gil) but also a key ingredient for making the Runeblade in the bazaar. Farm them all you like, and when you’re ready to proceed, head north to the Hall of Shadowlight and open the door for your next boss battle.

This boss hits your party with a variety of ailments, most notably Doom, Confuse, Immobilize, and Poison. It can also replicate itself to confuse the player with multiple “Ahriman” in your target selection box. You might see as many as 6 Ahrimans at once.

Thankfully the replicas each only have 700 HP so you can quickly eliminate them. Not to mention the boss and its replicas are all undead, so Cura is an effective AOE spell for this battle. Just keep an eye on your White Mage’s MP level at all times. Be ready to use Remedies and Potions if necessary.

The most important thing to remember about this fight is to never stop attacking the boss even if you’re confused, and remove any ailments you can as soon as you get them. Doom is pretty much a non-issue since you should have a gambit that uses Raise or Phoenix Down on KO’d allies anyway, but the other ailments (Confuse, Immobilize, and Poison) need to be removed quickly. And you may want to consider using a Quickening when Ahriman’s HP gets low (say, around 25%) to finish it off faster. If you don’t, you might be facing its Maser Eye attack which hits a single character for around 1500 damage a pop. This is where your Raise or Phoenix Down gambits will come in quite handily.

Exit the arena to your east after the battle, and be careful of traps lining the passageway. Watch your footing if you plan to fight any enemies here. Keep heading north until you reach an elevator. Take it going up to find a much-needed Gate Crystal. Save your game and head north through the door to reach Old Archades.

A seeq merchant is just to your right as you exit the Sochen Cave Palace. He doesn’t have much to sell, but you can dump your freshly acquired loot here (you may even net over 100,000 gil from your travels) and maybe even get some new bazaar goods.

You’re now in the slums of Old Archades. This first section doesn’t have much to offer aside from the seeq merchant, so head west across the bridge and talk to a man in conversation with a seeq; this is a Lucky Man who found a bag o’ coin and is bragging about it. Next, find a man nearby named Beasley and talk to him; he claims to have hidden his savings in a barrel. Remember what these two men said — this is relevant to your efforts to get inside Archades proper.

Now head to the southwest end and talk to the guard at the stairs. You can answer him however you like, as either answer will result in the same thing: he denies your party access into the city. Jules will show up and offer to help you — for a low price of 1500 gil. Pay up, then find Beasley and tell him what you heard regarding the “bag o’ coin” the Lucky Man bragged about. Then find Jules and talk to him again, and the two guards blocking the stairs will be moved out of the way, opening the road into Archades proper.

Welcome to Archades, for real this time. Feel free to shop around at some of the stores; below are some key acquisitions for your party:

• X-Potions in Granche’s Requisites
• Powerful new upgrades at the weapon and armor shop (yes, they both share the same counter)
• The Salamand Halcyon from July the Streetear, IF you started her side quest back in Nalbina. She’s in Charlotte’s Magickery hiding behind a table.

It’s also a good idea to familiarize yourself with the locals, because they’re part of another match game (of sorts) that you’ll need to play in order to proceed in the story. Also, make sure you leave 2500 gil for Jules because you will need his help one more time. In fact, it’s best to pay him first so you’re not scrambling for more gil later in case you splurge too much on upgrades.

Head to Nilbasse and talk to the cab attendant. He charges a whopping 1,000,000 gil per ride for those lacking Pinewood Chops (of which you’ll need 3). Thankfully Jules will tell you how to get Pinewood Chops, but not before charging you 2500 gil which, admittedly, is quite the bargain indeed. Go ahead and pay him when he asks for it.

Now, in order to earn Pinewood Chops, you must help out the locals by exchanging the right information with the right people. All matches are made without crossing over into neighboring sections. Some locals will give you information to memorize, while others need help with a peculiar problem and need specific information. Every correct match will reward you with one Pinewood Chop. Below are the matches to make in each section:

Keep making matches until the game lets you know you have enough to ride the cab. At that point, return to Nilbasse and speak to the cab attendant again. This time, he’ll offer to take you to Tsenoble; go ahead and take the cab there. Head toward the Grand Arcade for a cutscene, then return to the Gate Crystal and save your game. Next, talk to the cab attendant and tell him “You know where to go” to head off to Draklor Laboratory, your next destination.

WARNING: Once you leave for Draklor Laboratory, you will not be able to turn back.

No enemies on this floor.

The pathway is a bit linear. There’s not much to do here, so head to the North Lift Terminal and take the elevator to 67F.

No enemies on this floor…yet.

Head east from the elevator and turn left. Run straight ahead to a door marked “C.D.B.” and open the door for a cutscene. You obtain a Lab Access Card (a key item) and a completed Area Map of the Draklor Laboratory. Two rooms will unlock at this time:

• Rm 6704 East: Save Crystal section. Save your game here.
• Rm 6703 East: Remember the gate system in the Henne Mines? Here you’ll find some bulkhead controls that function the exact same way. Remember, the color on the controls indicate which doors are closed.

Note that your mini-map will become static after the cutscene, so use your Area Map overlay to navigate the laboratory.

Operate the controls in 6703 East to turn them red, opening the blue bulkheads and closing the red ones. A second set of controls is in 6703 West; you can use these to access 6711 West, which contains a treasure holding a Claymore, the first greatsword of the game. Don’t worry if you miss it — you’ll have another chance to obtain one later. For now, return to the North Lift Terminal and take it to floor 68F.

Keep in mind that from now on, you may encounter these enemies in the hallways of the laboratory:

NOTE: None of these enemies have any elemental weakness.

This floor contains the aforementioned enemies, plus there are a few side rooms which contain the following:

10 Lab Rats are located inside Rm 6814 East, while three Hecteyes are inside Rm 6811 East. Prepare well if you decide to enter these rooms, especially 6811 East because the Hecteyes are tough and can inflict nasty ailments.

From the North Lift Terminal on 68F, follow these instructions:

1. Head to Rm 6803 East and change the bulkhead controls to blue.
2. Loop around to Rm 6804 West and change the bulkhead controls to red.
3. Go southwest to Rm 6811 West and change these bulkhead controls back to blue.

By now the way to the South Lift Terminal should be open. Fight your way past the Judge-led Imperial squadrons and take this elevator up to 70F.

You’re greeted by a cutscene, and then a Save Crystal, as you arrive from 68F. Search Rm 7003 East to find the chest containing the Gil Toss Technick. Then save your game at the Save Crystal and run upstairs for a boss fight.

Doctor Cid is surrounded by four Rooks with around 10,000 HP each. Attacks against the doctor are mostly ineffective while a Rook is around, so focus on wiping out the Rooks first. Use Quickenings to speed up the process if necessary, and it’s also a good idea to buff the party with Haste and Protect for this battle.

The doctor shoots guns at your party, so his attacks will ignore defense and evasion. Protect will still lessen the damage, so try to keep both it and Haste active for the battle.

After the last Rook falls, heal up and focus on the doctor. He will eventually maneuver into position to use S-27 Tokamak, which hits the whole party for around 1000 damage, so try to get at least one character behind him to evade this move. The battle ends when Doctor Cid’s HP hits 25 percent.

Act Two concludes with the cutscenes that come after this battle.

Once the lengthy cutscenes wrap up, you end up in a brand new port town: Balfonheim. Let’s take some time to get familiar with this area, since the story will take you back here a few times. Plus, there’s a lull in story progression here anyway, so we might as well take full advantage of it.

You start in Saccio Lane, where the Reddas Manse lies. To the east is the Quayside Court, containing a bar (The Whitecap), an armor shop (Beruny’s Armaments), and a technick shop. The Whitecap has a Notice Board, in case you’re interested in more mark hunts.

East of here is the Gallerina Marketplace, where you find The Leapin’ Bangaa, the local item merchant. He sells Remedies and Chronos Tears in addition to the all-important X-Potion. Further up the road is a gambit shop, as well as Quayside Magickery, where you can buy the incredibly potent Curaja as well as some Tier 3 Black Magicks like Blizzaga. You’ll definitely want to acquire these magicks as soon as possible, because from here on out, the game gets progressively more difficult.

To the southeast (via Chivany Breakwater) is the town’s local Aerodrome, while northeast of here is a Gate Crystal section (Sea Breeze Lane) with an old friend: Dyce the Merchant. His stock isn’t exactly the best, but he carries Gysahl Greens and Teleport Stones, both of which you can now freely stock up on! There is also a chest nearby containing a LOT of gil, so make sure you open it. A nearby Cartographer’s Guild moogle sells maps for both Balfonheim and an entirely optional area to the north named Cerobi Steppe.

The enemies in the steppe are quite powerful, so if you go there, make sure you go prepared. Of note is the Shield Wyrm, which carries a whopping 60,000 HP and powerful breath attacks! Defeating one will net you a huge chunk of EXP and LP and the loot from them is not bad, either. But there is a much more important reason you’ll want to go to the Cerobi Steppe: near the center of The Terraced Bank is a somewhat rare chest containing Cleanse, which you will absolutely need going forward in the story. This White Magick removes Disease, a new ailment you’ll soon encounter that prevents a character from recovering any HP. There are only 2 other ways to remove Disease in the game (Serums and Remedies w/ Remedy Lore 3), both of which require consumable items, so it helps to have a renewable option at your disposal.

Take your time upgrading your arsenal, because as I said above, the game is only going to get harder from here on out. When you’re ready to proceed in the story, your next destination is the Feywood, which is south of the Golmore Jungle.

There are two ways to enter the Feywood. The first is to teleport to Golmore Jungle via Gate Crystal and fight your way south. If you do this, be ready for Level 37 Hellhounds and Coeurls when you get close to the entrance. Also make sure you use Libra and Float before entering, lest your party fall prey to a deadly trap just inside the Feywood’s entrance. The second way is to teleport to Bur-Omisace, then head out to the Paramina Rift and go southwest to the entrance. This way has no lethal traps for you to deal with, and the enemies are weaker, so consider going this way.

Regardless of which way you take, the story continues through the Feywood. Let’s go!

Enemies in the northern half of the Feywood:

Crypt Bunny has a 20% chance to spawn in the Walk of Stolen Truths after the party first eliminates all Tartarus and Cerberus in the area.

As mentioned before, if you enter from the Golmore Jungle, make sure you have both Libra and Float active; otherwise, you run the risk of setting off a trap that could devastate your party. You won’t have this problem coming in from the Paramina Rift, but you will come face to face with a Golem instead.

The sections south of here have such a high concentration of Mist that it causes your mini-map to go haywire, so use your Area Map overlay to navigate in case you get lost. In the northeast corner of the Walk of Stolen Truths is Map Urn; open it to obtain a map of the northern half of the Feywood.

To the west is a cave leading to a secret area of the Henne Mines. Stay out of here for now, because this cave contains Level 65 Abysteel and is also blocked by rubble (you have to beat Zodiark to unblock the pathway going further in).

Near the southwest corner of the Feywood’s northern half is an area containing lots and lots of Mirrorknights. They all have Reflect cast on them, so either use physical attacks or equip Opal Ring on your Black Mage if you decide to fight them. This is a fantastic grinding spot, because the Mirrorknights drop lots of good items like Windslicer Pinions (which sell for 1148 gil each) and Mirror Mail (a heavy armor with auto-Reflect). Consider farming them for a bit, especially if your party is underlevelled.

East of the Mirrorknight grinding haven is a Save Crystal. Save your game here, and when you’re ready, head south from here. At first the way will be blocked, but a familiar face (whom I will not name here to minimize spoilers) will open the road for you. Follow the road south for a boss fight.

Another ailment-spewing boss, great. But since you have Esuna, this is an easy win, right? Wrong. This boss is coupled with an MP Sap field, which means your party will be constantly losing MP at a rapid rate — effectively rendering your spells useless!

Thus you better make sure you have plenty of X-Potions, Remedies, and other items BEFORE coming into this boss fight. And needless to say, your physical attackers should all be well-equipped by the time you get here. In particular, be ready to cure Confuse and a new ailment called Disease (the latter of which blocks HP recovery). For this, make sure you either have the Remedy Lore 3 license so that your Remedies can remove Disease, or bring a healthy supply of Serums.

Set up gambits to heal and remove ailments with items in a separate gambit preset, and Dispel the boss the moment the fight starts. Follow this up immediately with a Quickening chain and be ready to use physical attacks for the entire battle. At 50% HP, Rafflesia will summon Malboros; make sure to take them out immediately before finishing off this overgrown weed of a boss.

The MP Sap field thankfully lifts after the victory fanfare, so head back north and save your game again before proceeding south. And make sure to switch your gambits back to their usual preset before you move on.

The southern half of the Feywood adds these enemies:

Juggernaut will appear in White Magick’s Embrace when the game clock is between X:00:00 and X:10:00 (X = any number of hours).

Be very careful when fighting the Preying Mantis in groups; they can Cannibalize each other and grow quite powerful. Kill these things immediately when they Cannibalize, or else you run the risk of getting overwhelmed by their attacks.

An urn containing a Feywood Candle is in the southeast corner of White Magick’s Embrace. This candle reveals the remainder of your path leading south.

Continue south into a wide open space known as the Ice Field of Clearsight. To navigate the southern half of the Feywood, you must find a shrine that has a lit glyph. Step inside of it and read the inscription for the clue of “illusion betokens the true way”. Now swivel the camera around until you see an illusion of a lush green forest. Face your party leader at the illusion and check your Area Map; the direction that your party leader is facing will tell you which shrine to go to next. Repeat this process for each shrine you visit within the Feywood.

Continue following the above process to navigate your way through The Edge of Reason. And beware of the Behemoths as their attacks are quite powerful as well. Eventually you’ll reach Gate Gigas. Read the inscription as it hints to you summoning a Gigas to gain the power to open the gate. Now summon Belias and interact with the gate again. This time, the gate should open, and if it does, your party automatically walks through it into Giruvegan.

There are no enemies to be found here…yet. Instead you’re greeted with a Gate Crystal and the mini-map is back to normal. Save your game and take the Way Stone to the west. Up ahead of you in the second section is the guardian statue Daedalus, so you’ll have to fight your way inside the city. Buff up and get ready for a boss fight!

This fight is a test of your party’s speed and strength. Dispel the boss anytime it casts Haste on itself, and keep Haste and Protect on your party at all times. Beware of Pulsar Wave which can hit the party with Disable, and make sure your party’s healing gambits are working properly.

The battle is mostly straightforward, but towards the end of the battle is when things can turn very ugly very fast. At 20% HP, Daedalus will use a Rage area attack that does a whopping 2000 or so damage to the entire party, and its physical attacks beyond this point will be lightning fast and hit hard. Try to finish this boss off with a Quickening before you get to this point, or its insane combo rate and attack speed might wipe out your party.

Your reward for beating this boss is a Way Stone granting you access to the city. Retreat to the Gate Crystal and save your game before you continue inside the city proper, just to avoid taking the chance of having to fight this boss again.

Inside the city are the following enemies:

Okay guys, playtime is over. From now on, you’re going to be seeing some very nasty ailments like Stop and Disease. Be especially wary around Vivians as they have two nasty area attacks that will screw you over: Time Requiem (which can hit the whole party with Stop) and Putrid Breath (which sends 11 different ailments at once, including Confuse and Disease). If you don’t have any characters with all three Remedy Lore licenses especially Remedy Lore 3, don’t even think of picking a fight with Vivians. You’ll also need an abundance of Chronos Tears to counter Stop, and it won’t hurt to have a Power Armlet equipped on your party leader either.

Within Giruvegan are several magick gates that can be turned off with (literally) the flick of a switch. Each switch (or Gate Stone, as they’re called here) turns off a different gate, and both the gate and its corresponding Gate Stone share the same name. You should be able to navigate your way through the dungeon fairly easily by matching gate names with their Gate Stones, then by using the Gate Stones to deactivate the gates. For example, the Avrio Gate Stone will deactivate Gate Avrio nearby.

The Chthes Gate Stone will deactivate Gate Chthes, opening the way to the next section, the Aadha Water-Steps. In the southwest corner are two Mythril Golems; defeat them and run to the edge of the platform, and a new pathway will spawn, leading you further into the city.

Be careful if you decide to fight the Diakon Entite. It can be beaten at your current level, as long as you do not fight it around other enemies, but beware of Silence and Sleep as it will hit your entire party with these.

In the Aadha Water-Steps, Gate Tychi is barring the way further in, but go ahead and keep scouring the area until you find all 3 Gate Stones and hit them to deactivate their corresponding gates. Then run through the now-defunct Gate Tychi and look for two Mythril Golems at the end of the pathway. Kill them and head further inside for a cutscene.

The Haalmikah Water-Steps features a Save Crystal, and a chest containing the Sleepga spell. Open the chest and save your game before continuing west.

In the Gate of Fire, pan the area for treasures and head to the center of the platform where there’s no railing. Look northeast, and follow the pathway that spawns to a big green platform in the middle of nowhere — and be ready to fight!

Dispel the boss and buff up with Haste and Protect, then just attack like you normally do. This boss has a lot of HP and a No Technicks field is in place, which means Steal, Charge, etc. cannot be used here. By now you should have license upgrades like Martyr and Inquisitor (and maybe even Warmage for your Black Mage), plus the heavy Mist in the area should help make MP management fairly easy.

Consider raising your Curaja threshold to 60% for this battle, because Tyrant can and will cast a Graviga that not only ignores Reflect but deals exactly half of each target’s maximum HP as damage. Keep your White Mage on the move to take advantage of the increased MP recharge rate courtesy of the Mist in the area.

The boss leaves behind a Way Stone upon defeat, but it’s a good idea to go back and save your game at the Haalmikah Water-Steps before proceeding. This Way Stone leads into the Great Crystal, one of the hardest areas in all of Final Fantasy to navigate. You’ll find out why shortly.

Enemies in this area:

(U) = Undead enemy

There are no maps available to you in-game, so if you want one, you must retrieve one from an external source. Thankfully the pathway through the Great Crystal is quite linear, so just follow these instructions and you should be fine.

You start at Way Stone VIII. Face the barrier (Gate Scorpio), then turn left and follow the sinking path past the Oses until you reach Way Stone VII. Use this to warp to Way Stone VI.

Also beware if you decide to fight the Oses, because they have a deadly attack called Hell Blaster which does 60% of the target’s maximum HP as damage, with the chance to inflict multiple nasty ailments at once.

At Way Stone VI, there are three possible exits. The sinking path on the left leads to the Cancer Gate Stone, the middle path leads to treasure and then doubles back to the Cancer Gate Stone, while the sinking path on the right is blocked by Gate Cancer. Take the sinking path on the left and flip the switch, then return to Way Stone VI and take the sinking path on the right. By now, Gate Cancer should be gone; follow the pathway to reach Way Stone V. Use this to warp to Way Stone IV.

Here at Way Stone IV (which also contains Gate Pisces) you have two choices: take the only rising path to the Aries Gate Stone and some treasure (beware of Mom Bombs and Necrophobes), or take the unblocked sinking path to the Pisces Gate Stone where Gate Aries also lies. In either case, flip the switch of your choice and return to the gate that you opened, following the pathway beyond it to reach Way Stone III. Use it to warp to Way Stone II for a cutscene.

Afterwards, head down the ramp to find a Save Crystal. Save your game and use Way Stone I to warp to a new section of Giruvegan: the Gate of Wind. Then buff up your party with Haste, Protect, and Shell, and open the Bulwark Minas in front to initiate an Esper Battle.

Start by Dispelling the boss’s Haste. Avoid using elemental weapons or spells as she is weak against one element but will absorb the rest, converting their damage directly into HP. She will also change her elemental weakness once found so finding it is a waste of time anyway. Your Black Mage should stick to using Bio for this battle.

Shemhazai has a nasty habit of Silencing your characters, and her normal attack can also inflict Disease. Counter these with Echo Herbs and Cleanse/Serum gambits respectively. Also beware of Shock and Flare, two VERY powerful Black Magick spells that do lots of damage to a single target. Be ready to revive the target if necessary. Her defenses get stronger as her HP goes critical, so either finish her off with a Quickening before that point, or use Bio to finish the job.

Shemhazai appears on the license board after the battle.

Continue south to find an Empyrean Way Stone. Read the inscription and interact with it again. After some cutscenes, you obtain the Treaty Blade and the Empyrean Way Stone becomes the Tellurian Way Stone. Use this to return to the Gate of Earth where the Gate Crystal is located, then use the Gate Crystal to return to Balfonheim.

When you arrive in Balfonheim, head to the south end of Saccio Lane and talk to the guard outside the Reddas Manse. Ask him to let you in for a cutscene, after which Reddas joins as a guest character. You’ll also be able to fly the Strahl all over Ivalice — even through jagd!

Your next destination is the Ridorana Cataract, which can only be reached via the Strahl. It is the penultimate leg of the story walkthrough, so make sure to upgrade your licenses and gear as necessary. In particular, buy the Arise White Magick from Quayside Magickery so that your White Mage can fully revive downed allies. Learn it if you haven’t already.

Another important thing is to acquire all Remedy Lore licenses for as many characters as possible, and definitely stock up on Remedies if you’re running low. Go farm the necessary LP to learn these licenses if you must, because being able to remove things like Stop and Disease with a single Remedy will become critical going forward in the story.

There are also more mark hunts on the Notice Board if you’re interested. When you’re ready to continue in the story, head to the Aerodrome and speak to the “Private Airships” attendant to board the Strahl. Choose the Ridorana Cataract as your destination, and enjoy the ride!

Enemies in this area:

Pallicant spawns in the City of Other Days after your party kills all enemies in the area, then leaves and reenters.

After some cutscenes, you appear in a Save Crystal section. Save your game and head east. The Cassies and Deathclaws are nasty even with Reddas providing extra firepower, so be extra careful picking fights with them. The Deathclaws can Disable your party with Pulsar Wave in addition to Cannibalizing each other, while the Cassies are stronger versions of the Vivians you encountered in Giruvegan. Be ready with Esuna and Remedies in addition to Curaja.

The Colosseum has an urn containing the map to the Ridorana Cataract. Be careful walking across the Colosseum’s main stage, because it contains several dangerous traps.

Continue north and east to a Save Crystal section. Approach it from the east because the most direct approach is guarded by a long line of traps. Save your game and head east toward the Pharos at Ridorana.

A boss guards the entrance to the Pharos lighthouse. Buff up and get ready to fight your way inside!

This guy is seriously nasty. He has even more HP than Tyrant and can dish out crazy ailments like Doom, Disease, and Confuse in addition to Sap and Poison. Not only that, but he also has a Fearga spell that can wipe out your characters’ MP in an instant. Add to all that a new Crushing Fangs attack which has a high chance to instantly KO the target, and you’re in for a brutal boss battle indeed. If you don’t have all 3 Remedy Lore licenses learned by this point, you’re going to get severely punished.

Prepare plenty of Remedies and X-Potions in addition to Curaja, Esuna, and the newly-acquired Arise. Dispel the boss and try to Slow him down if possible. Spread out and surround the boss to mitigate the threat of moves like Fearga and Curse. Be ready to pour on the Quickenings when Hydro’s HP gets low, because he will bite back with a vengeance as his death draws near.

After the battle, head upstairs for a cutscene. The door to the lighthouse will open, so go on inside. The ground floor of the lighthouse contains these enemies:

The Way Stone doesn’t work yet, so ignore it for now. Approach the central shaft and circle around to the south side to find an Altar of Night. Read the inscription on it as it notes that beasts in the Pharos “oft possess black orbs”. These orbs are used as a power source for the Altars of Night. Return to the Gate Crystal in this section and save your game.

Now it’s time to collect some Black Orbs. Head into the side corridors and kill some enemies. You should see some little blue objects floating up from their corpses; these are the Black Orbs you need to collect. Interact with a Black Orb to claim it, but be quick to do so as it floats away after about 5-10 seconds. Keep collecting Black Orbs this way until you have three.

Next, explore the side passageways fully to find both east entrances leading back to the fragmented central ring. Place a Black Orb inside each Altar of Night, and when all 3 are activated, you get the message “the Seal of Night loses its power”. At this point, navigate back to the Threshold of Night (which warns of the “first of three” Watchers in its inscription) and go through it to reach…a desert?

This desert space contains four massive boulders. If you approach any of the first three, you get sent right back to the bottom of the hill. The topmost boulder is the real “first watcher”: a giant stone tortoise named Pandaemonium. Cast Haste and Protect before crossing over into its territory.

Thankfully this boss is a LOT simpler than Hydro. Dispel its protective buffs and start hitting it with regular attacks. Use Wind elemental weapons and Aeroga spells if possible to maximize damage output. Be ready to cure Blind and Petrify throughout the battle. At 50% HP, Pandaemonium erects a Perfect Defense shield that you can’t do anything about, so just wait until this shield expires, then finish it off.

Return to the Gate Crystal after the battle and save your game. Then use the newly activated Way Stone to begin your ascent through the Pharos.

New enemies can be found along your ascent through the Pharos:

(F) = Flying target

Vishno appears on 48F after the party defeats at least 10 Deidars without leaving the Pharos. It has some potent attacks, but it’s worth trying to spawn because it has a chance to drop a Ribbon, the best accessory in the game. You can also steal the Orichalcum, which is required loot for making the Kumbha in the bazaar.

The Way Stone drops your party off on 10F. A chest containing a Demon Shield is behind a Fool’s Facade to the north. The pathway up the tower is fragmented, and to fill in the gaps you have to form bridges by killing Brainpans, facer-type enemies with little green flames on their heads. Each bridge requires a set amount of Brainpan kills to complete, and the bridge will set in stone when you step onto it after defeating enough Brainpans. Here are the bridges you must complete, as well as their locations:

2 Brainpans required

Thankfully this one is easy. Both Brainpans are right next to the bridge, so kill them and move on.

4 Brainpans required

Check the side rooms to find more Brainpans, and continue to sweep them up.

6 Brainpans required

Just keep sweeping up Brainpans as you pass. Occasionally you’ll encounter a “Fool’s Facade” which can be destroyed by interacting with it. There may be treasure behind them so it’s worth a look.

5 Brainpans required

Now is the time to start being more careful. The walkway takes you within detection range of an Aeronite, and you will also start seeing Deidars, enemies that are like Brainpans but with red flames on their heads. If you kill one, a section from an unfinished Brainpan bridge will disappear and you have to find more Brainpans to make up for it.

Note that there are some side bridges in the First Ascent which lead to treasure. These bridges require Deidar kills as opposed to Brainpan kills. You can always come back later if you don’t want to do them right now.

10 Brainpans required

This one will take a while, but continue with the same strategy as before: kill Brainpans and avoid Deidars. The side paths between 34F and 35F form a loop back to the main path so you can continually farm Brainpans on these two floors until the bridge is finally complete.

3 Brainpans required

Although the last bridge is easy to complete, you’ll also start seeing lots of Deidars so stay focused! Watch out for the Aeronite on 47F after you cross the bridge — use Thundaga to blast it out of the air.

Horizon’s Break (48F) features a much-needed Save Crystal. Save your game and exit to the southwest. Follow the pathway to an Ancient Door whose inscription warns you of the “second of three” Watchers. Buff up, open the door, and walk forward to start the boss the fight.

This boss has a very basic attack style, but is lightning fast and has an automatically refreshing Regen buff. Don’t bother using Dispel unless the boss has other buffs. Keep Haste on your party so you don’t fall behind. The boss is susceptible to Oil, so put that on this big fish and then just roast it alive with Firaga. The fight should end very quickly.

Proceed east after the battle to a Way Stone on 50F. Use it to warp to the Second Ascent.

A sleuth of new enemies awaits you in the Second Ascent:

(U) = Undead enemy

The Way Stone on 50F drops you off here on 60F. A Save Crystal is on the northwest side of the ring, so go ahead and save your game here.

Now you have an important decision to make. Any of the four doors will allow you to proceed upwards through the tower, but there’s a catch: each door requires you to sacrifice a gameplay mechanic to unlock. Each door has a corresponding altar which unlocks it. To unlock the door, simply touch its altar and you’ll be allowed to proceed upstairs under your chosen handicap.

Here are your four choices, ranked easiest to hardest:

Before you make your decision, consider this: you MUST fight the next boss under the handicap you choose before you can regain your lost gameplay mechanic. Plus, the enemies on the next three floors are quite powerful, especially the Bunes.

When you’ve made your choice, touch the corresponding altar and proceed through the door that you unlocked. Head upstairs to floor 61F and follow these instructions on each floor:

There are two upstairs exits: one in the southwest, and one in the northeast. Choose one and head upstairs.

There is a Map Urn in the northwest corner of this floor. Grab the map and take the only upstairs exit from here, which is to the southeast.

The upstairs exit is to the northwest and can be reached by a Fool’s Facade near the northwest exit from the central ring. Be careful, because the most direct path is guarded by a Necrofiend which can throw some nasty ailments at your party. You can bypass it by taking the side paths via the northeast corner instead.

Save Crystal section. Save your game and exit to the southwest.

Proceed forward to the Ancient Door which warns you of the third and final Watcher. Buff up if possible, and be ready for a boss fight. Open the door when you’re ready.

The difficulty of this battle largely depends on your handicap. Like other Behemoth-type enemies, Fenrir hits hard and has a lot of HP. You may also see Blind and/or Silence from time to time.

Dispel the boss (if possible) and keep everybody healthy and swinging at the boss. Use Haste and Protect (if you have access to magicks) to mitigate the damage from his attacks. If you KO Reddas (make sure you turn your Arise or Phoenix Down gambits off first) and can use magicks, this boss can actually be put to Sleep, rendering it vulnerable to a combo of Sleep + Bio in case you can’t beat this boss the regular way.

Proceed east to 66F after the battle. Then find and touch the altar that corresponds to your handicap, and the restriction will be lifted. This will also unlock the elevator on the west side of the central shaft — take it going up to 67F to find a Save Crystal. Save your game and use the Way Stone to teleport to the Third Ascent.

WARNING: There are no Save Crystals on the Third Ascent before the next boss fight. Make sure your party is well-prepared, and save your game BEFORE using the Way Stone.

Enemies in this area:

(F) = Flying enemy
(U) = Undead enemy
*Only appears on 79F under certain conditions.

Tower has a 20% chance to appear on 88F after you use the Way Stone to warp up from 86F. It has a lot of HP and powerful magicks, but has a chance to drop the Grand Helm so it’s worth fighting.

You’re almost to the top, but there’s one final challenge to overcome. In the Third Ascent, each floor will have multiple Way Stones for you to pick from, but only one will get you to the next floor. The first time you choose an incorrect Way Stone, you’ll simply be sent back to the previous floor. But choose wrong a second time, and you get taken to a secret punishment room on 79F which will force you to fight for your life against hordes of powerful undead enemies. The Map Urn is in the punishment room as well, but there’s a safer way to reach it so don’t worry about it right now.

Thankfully there are Carven Pillars on each floor which will give you clues to help you out. Make sure you read those! You also want to make sure the area is clear; the Purobolos in particular like to gang up and then explode all at once, potentially wiping out the party.

Follow these instructions on each floor:

The Carven Pillar reads “to Seal of Night look first”. The answer for this one is easy; it’s the Way Stone – Black Sigil. Take it to reach 81F.

The Carven Pillar on this floor hints at you taking the Way Stone – Green Sigil. There are actually two of them on this floor: one is past a deadly swarm of Purobolos, while the other is behind a Fool’s Facade. The latter also leads to treasure, so go this way.

No Carven Pillar here, but there is a treasure right behind you containing the powerful Ardor (a Black Magick spell that’s basically an upgraded Firaga). Grab it and step into the first trap as it will heal your party. The other two down the hallways are explosive, however, so use Float to get past them. Hit the Fool’s Facade outside and kill the Aeronite that greets you, then take the Way Stone – Red Sigil.

Two Aeronites will greet you as you arrive. They’re guarding an Ultima Blade, so kill them and grab the treasure. Now, do you remember which handicap you picked in the Second Ascent? You better, because now you must pick the Way Stone whose color matches that of the last altar you touched on 66F. Here are the color codes for each handicap in case you need help:

The correct answer will get you to 86F. Anything else, and you’re SOL.

The Carven Pillar has a clue for the final Way Stone: “untainted by tint and colour”. None of the Way Stones near the Cataract Aevis duo will qualify, so search north for a Fool’s Facade and hit it to reveal a colorless Way Stone. Take it to reach 88F.

If you run into Tower, take it down. Regardless, buff up with Bubble and Float (if possible) before taking the elevator to 90F to meet another Esper. You’ll see why shortly.

At this point, you can safely warp between here and 79F in case you still want the map. You won’t face any enemies on 79F this way, either.

If you buff up with Bubble and Float before the battle, this fight is a total pushover. Bubble nullifies the Disease ailment (caused by Hashmal’s normal attacks) in addition to doubling your characters’ max HP, while Float causes his Earth-elemental special moves (Roxxor and Quakeja) to miss your party completely. Then it’s all a matter of burning down his high HP.

If you don’t have both, use what you can, and compensate for the rest with your gambits. In any case, start by using Dispel on the boss. Then just hit hard with Wind-elemental attacks until it goes down. Quakeja does high Earth damage to the entire party and can also inflict Slow, so be ready with Haste and Curaja when Hashmal uses this move. As for Disease, make sure you have a Cleanse/Serum gambit ready to go.

After the battle, you arrive on 90F. Head upstairs until you get some cutscenes, and you’ll automatically jump to 98F. Save your game at the Save Crystal, then head to the very last Way Stone on 99F. Buff up well at this time, because you have a boss rush waiting for you on the top floor. Hit the Way Stone when you’re ready.

Put Basch in your party for this battle if you want some special cutscenes. Or don’t; it’s up to you. Either way, this guy is a complete pushover. Dispel him and beat him down with regular attacks.

After some cutscenes, you’ll have one last battle for this portion of the game.

Doctor Cid starts this battle alone. Dispel him and either set up a gambit to cure Silence, or equip everybody with Rose Corsages. Keep everybody above 50% HP at all times. When Doctor Cid reaches 50% HP, he will become invincible and summon the Esper Famfrit to help him.

The only way to remove the Doctor’s invincibility is to defeat Famfrit, so Dispel the Esper and focus your party’s attacks on him. Famfrit, like Slyt, is vulnerable to Oil, so put it on him and burn him down with Firaga barrages. Your healer should focus on keeping the party healthy with Curaja at all times, while you remember to cure Silence from Famfrit’s Aquaja spell. After Famfrit goes down, finish off the Doctor once and for all.

Famfrit is added to the license board after the battle. After some cutscenes, you’ll get a free save opportunity, and then return back to Balfonheim.

And with this, we near the end of the game. Just one more story dungeon to go. Now is the time to make sure your party is fully upgraded, including gear, licenses, abilities, etc. This is also the last chance you have to explore any side quests you may be interested in.

If you haven’t already gotten it, make sure your party can cast Bubble as it will make the last battle far easier. Also try to acquire at least one Bubble Belt as it makes the Bubble buff permanent and unremovable (even by death) while equipped, so that Arise can bring that character back to 200% of their maximum HP.

When you’re fully prepared, make your way to the Strahl via Aerodrome or at any of the anchor locations scattered throughout Ivalice, and set your final destination for the Sky Fortress Bahamut.

WARNING: Once you leave for Bahamut, there is ABSOLUTELY NO TURNING BACK. You either beat the final boss or you’re forced to retry from the last save point. Make doubly sure you save your game BEFORE you take off!

Your party arrives in the Antechamber after come cutscenes. Your objective is to get to Vayne as quickly as possible, with as much strength as possible. There are no Area Maps for this place, and no Save Crystals either — meaning you must clear the entire dungeon in one go.

Head to the Periphery (in either direction). Turn on Fleeing Mode and just run straight through the Imperials — don’t bother fighting them as they’ll only slow you down and wear out your party. (They’re nothing new anyway, just upgraded versions of what you’ve already fought, plus they respawn without limit.) The Antechambers and Peripheries (4 of each) form a ring around the central Catwalk, so when the path forks, head in towards the Catwalk for more cutscenes.

The Catwalk is patrolled by powerful Rooks of varying kinds. DO NOT stop to fight them, or they’ll overwhelm your party. Just make sure Fleeing Mode is on, and run past them until you reach the Central Lift. When you get onto the elevator, turn off Fleeing Mode, heal up and get some buffs going. Then attempt to engage the lift for a rematch with a familiar face.

Dispel him and buff up with Haste and Protect, then beat him down with normal attacks just like last time. Gabranth will be fighting a bit harder than before, but it’s still a fairly easy fight. The first time his HP reaches 50%, he will cast Renew on himself and start bringing an AOE attack to the battle. Stay healed, and be ready to finish him off as quickly as possible when his HP goes critical, as he will fight back with a vengeance at that time.

Heal up and refresh your buffs after the battle. Take a deep breath, and engage the lift when you’re ready to move on. It’s time to face Vayne Solidor and settle things for good!

As usual, Dispel the boss when he has any buffs, especially Haste and/or Bravery. The NPC Larsa will actually help heal your characters in this battle, so try to conserve MP and consumable items for now. Focus on attacking as much as possible, revive anyone that needs it, and stay on your toes when Vayne falls because there are two more battles right after this.

Vayne is now stronger than before, and he has five Sephira swords flying around pelting your party. This time, however, you have Gabranth as an NPC ally helping you deal damage to Vayne and his little sword sidekicks.

Again, always start by Dispelling the boss. Take out the swords first so they don’t distract you from kicking Vayne to the curb. By now you should be healing regularly; don’t worry about conserving MP and just focus on getting past this battle. Also try to heal up right before Vayne goes down, because you have one more big boss right after this battle ends.

This is it, the true last battle of Final Fantasy XII. Start with a Dispel as usual, and make sure everyone has Haste, Protect, Shell, and especially Bubble for the entire battle. Be ready to use Dispel again every time the boss tries to buff himself. Equip Bubble Belts on as many characters as you can, and be ready for the fight of a lifetime! This boss will be constantly flying around the edge of the arena while throwing powerful area nukes at your party, and any characters not in Bubble status will fall quickly. Don’t bother using Reflect because all of his attacks ignore it; just be ready to heal through those attacks.

It is possible to hit him with standard melee weapons, but to do so you have to chase him around and get in close to attack. This can also potentially expose the whole party to taking more damage from the boss’s area nukes. Thus it may be a good idea to cast Decoy on a single character and separate him/her from your main attacker, so that your White Mage doesn’t have to work quite as hard. Meanwhile, just keep blasting away with your strongest attacks.

The Undying has no HP bar, so the only way you’ll know how much progress you made is to observe his behavior. At 75% HP, he uses Magick Shield. Use physical attacks to bypass this. At 50% HP, he uses a Paling, so be ready to use your most powerful Black Magicks on him. At critical HP, he uses Perfect Defense (his last shield) which you can’t bypass. Focus on healing when he does this, and be ready for his most powerful area nuke, Teraflare, which can potentially wipe out anyone not in Bubble. His shields will drop immediately after this move, so go all out to finish him off. There are no more battles after this one anyway.

Beating this boss will reward you with the finale to the entire Final Fantasy XII story — enjoy the ending!