final fantasy xii walktrough

7/29/2019 Final Fantasy XII Walktrough

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Final Fantasy XII: FAQ/Walkthrough by A I e xVersion: Final | Last Updated: 2007-07-15 | View/Download Original File Hosted byReturn to Final Fantasy XII (PS2) FAQs & GuidesLiked this FAQ? Click here to recommend this item to other users.

Final Fantasy XII-------------------FAQ/Walkthrough

A I e xNovember 1st, 2006

This is a spoiler-free guide.

__________________________________________________________================== TABLE OF CONTENTS ===================

1. Read before You Begin......................... [0000]2. Walkthrough................................... [A000]

1. Nalbina Fortress......................... [A001]2. Rabanastre............................... [A002]3. Dalmasca Estersand....................... [A003]4. Rabanastre............................... [A004]5. Lowtown.................................. [A005]6. Giza Plains.............................. [A006]

7. Garamsythe Waterway&..................... [A007]8. Royal Palace............................. [A008]9. Garamsythe Waterway...................... [A009]10. Nalbina Dungeons........................ [A010]11. Barheim Passage......................... [A011]12. Dalmasca Estersand...................... [A012]13. Rabanastre.............................. [A013]14. Bhujerba................................ [A014]15. The Lhusu Mines......................... [A015]16. Bhujerba................................ [A016]17. The Leviathan........................... [A017]18. Ogir-Yensa Sandsea...................... [A018]19. Nam-Yensa Sandsea....................... [A019]

20. The Tomb of Raithwall................... [A020]21. The Shiva............................... [A021]22. Rabanastre.............................. [A022]23. Giza Plains............................. [A023]24. Ozmone Plain............................ [A024]25. Jahara.................................. [A025]26. Golmore Jungle.......................... [A026]27. Eruyt Village........................... [A027]28. The Henne Mines......................... [A028]29. Golmore Jungle.......................... [A029]30. Mt Bur-Omisace.......................... [A030]31. Paramina Rift........................... [A031]32. The Stilshrine of Miriam................ [A032]

33. Mt Bur-Omisace.......................... [A033]34. Mosphoran Highwaste..................... [A034]35. The Salikawood.......................... [A035]36. The Phon Coast.......................... [A036]37. Tchita Uplands.......................... [A037]38. Sochen Cave Palace...................... [A038]39. Old Archades............................ [A039]40. Archades................................ [A040]41. Draklor Laboratory...................... [A041]42. Balfonheim Port......................... [A042]


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43. Feywood................................. [A043]44. Giruvegan............................... [A044]45. Balfonheim Port......................... [A045]46. Ridorana Cataract....................... [A046]47. Pharos.................................. [A047]48. Balfonheim Port......................... [A048]49. Bahamut................................. [A049]

3. Hunts (Incomplete)............................ [B000]4. Optional Espers (Incomplete).................. [C000]

1. Adrammelech.............................. [C001]2. Zalera................................... [C002]3. Cuchulainn............................... [C003]4. Exodus................................... [C003]5. Zeromus.................................. [C003]

5. Sidequests (Incomplete)....................... [D000]1. The Barheim Sidequest.................... [D001]2. Zodiac Spear............................. [D002]3. Phoenix.................................. [D003]

6. Leveling Tricks............................... [D000]1. The First................................ [D000]2. The Second............................... [D000]

________________________________________________________==========================================================

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[0000] Read Before You Begin==============================================================================

Hello! This is just a brief introduction to get a few important bits ofinformation out before you begin the game.

First things first, the guide uses a small amount of MMORPG terminology. Forthose unfamiliar with the terms, here are some quick definitions:

Aggro - Used to refer to enemies who are aggressively attacking you. An enemy

wandering around minding its own business is neutral. The second youget close and it starts attacking, you have "aggro'd" the monster.

Tank(ing) - The tank is a character whose main job is to take damage. Havingone person "tanking" can help quite a bit because you can givethem a shield and cast spells like Protect and Regen. If themonster can't bring down your tank, it won't be doing much to therest of your party either.

Those are the two main terms. Here are a few others to throw around: to"Buff" a character is to cast protective magic on him/her. Magic described as"AoE" is Area of Effect magic that hits multiple enemies in a specific area.To "pull" a monster is the same as aggroing it. That about covers it.

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Now, to focus specifically on the game there are a few general tips that areincredibly helpful to know before you begin the game:

#1 - You don't have to upgrade your equipment every time a new set becomesavailable. Money is scarce in this game. New gear appears ALL the time.It doesn't hurt to use the same set of armour through a couple ofdungeons, and it will save you plenty of money in the long run. The same


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applies to spells. If you don't need new spells, don't buy them, youcan always pick them up later.

#2 - Don't sell the Great Serpentskin when you get it as a reward for doing ahunt. If you do sell it, you --> CAN


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linear hallways from here to reach your destination.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A002] Rabanastre==============================================================================

As Vaan, you have a new mission: rid the waterways rats. You won't have anydifficulty taking them down, especially considering each of them is markedwith a red icon on your minimap. Following the completion of this task is arather lengthy cutscene.

Migelo's place (your destination) is relatively close to where you start. Ofcourse you're more than welcome to wander around at your own leisure, butassuming you want to start getting your hands dirty right away, Migelo's isthe place to go. Head east and make a southward arc when you can until yousee an urn icon on your minimap. That's Migelo's.

Your task is to go find Kytes at the Sandsea. The Sandsea is located at thenorth corner of the East End (where you are at the moment.) When you arrivethere a short cutscene occurs and you are introduced to the Notice Boardsystem.

In this case, the "Rogue Tomato" as it is known has been stopping couriers

from reaching their destination. If you would like to know more about theHunts, agree to Tomaj's offer to explain in more detail. He gives you a ClanPrimer which allows you to keep track of Hunts. In addition to this he alsooffers an Orrachea Armlet. This leads to another detailed explanation of thegame's Licensing system.

Finally Vaan is awarded a Writ of Transit which will allow him to leave thecity. Make sure to open up the menu and equip the Orrachea Armlet you justreceived, then exit the tavern and head to the southern end of this area.Take the west exit and descend the large stairs leading east. Save your gameand continue east to the Dalmasca Estersand.

______________________________________________________________________________

==============================================================================[A003] Dalmasca Estersand==============================================================================

Bear in mind that this is the first area in the game where you will have theopportunity to casually fight enemies and built up your level and LicensePoints. Battles in Final Fantasy XII are not random, see feel free to engagefoes at your leisure.

Just a note about treasure chests in Final Fantasy XII: first of all, thecontents of treasure chests in this game are random unlike other Final Fantasygames. Chests has a certainly probability of actually appearing or not, aprobability of having Gil or not, and a probability of having one item or

another (if not Gil). Most chests also respawn if you leave the area and runfar enough away before returning.

This makes it very difficult if not impossible to direct the player to chestswhich may or may not even exist for them. For this reason I will make avariety of comments regarding chests when appropriate, which ones should besought out (and which should even be avoided), but I will not direct theplayer to every insignificant respawning chest.

So anyway, to get back on track, head toward the large rock on the southern


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side and proceed northeast from there. Among the two trees with the pinkcoloured leaves you will find your target, the Rogue Tomato.

------------------------------------BOSS: Rogue Tomato - HP: 134 - LV: 2------------------------------------

Use a Potion on Vaan (assuming he's hurt) before engaging the Tomato. After afew strikes the Rogue Tomato will drop off the edge of the cliff and begin togradually regain its HP. Run around the side and follow the Rogue Tomato downbelow where you can freely finish it off. For defeating the Tomato Vaanreceives some Galbana Lilies.

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If you're looking for somewhere to progress with the License system, I wouldsuggest starting with White Magick and Cure.

Make absolutely sure not to engage the T-Rex you see wandering around thisarea. The colour of the HP bar above an enemy's head will indicate whetherthe enemy will attack or not. Red is aggressive, green is neutral.

Feel free to explore the rest of this area to collect all the remaining itemsof little to no consequence. With the Rogue Tomato taken down and your Hunt

complete, it's time to make your way back to the Sandsea. Be sure to saveyour game along the way. Locate Kytes who is standing near the gate and speakwith him to trigger a cutscene.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A004] Rabanastre==============================================================================

Run east and head south to reach the Sandsea again. Speak to Tomaj over bythe bar. Your reward for successful completion is 300 Gil, Potion x 2 &Teleport Stone. He also suggest you go speak to a particular Bangaa in theNorth End. The next Hunt which is available to you may be a little difficult

at this point, so let's put it off for the time being. All subsequent Huntsfrom this point onward are entirely optional.

Assuming you followed my advice and spent your LPs on the White Magick skill,it's time to go and actually learn the Cure spell. The wand icon on yourminimap just southwest of the Sandsea indicates where the Magick shop islocated. Speak to the person at the counter and learn the Cure spell.

Gil isn't exactly plentiful in this game, so you may want to hold off onthrowing it around on anything you are unsure you will actually use. Don'tforget to sell all the vendortrash you accumulated from all the mobs youdefeated in the Dalmasca Estersand. Anything you received as part of a questreward (Teleport Stone for example) I would suggest you hang onto.

Make your way to the North End of town (I don't believe specific directionsare necessary, just use your map). The building identified as ??? when youselect the North End is exactly where you want to go. Speak to theConspicuous Bangaa outside and tell him to let you in.

Speak to Montblanc at the top of the stairs in order to join the CenturioClan. Speak to him a second time and you will receive a special prize forjoining, three Potions. Leave the Clan Hall and head southwest to the MuthruBazaar. Continue from here to the Southern Plaza and take the southern exit


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from there. You'll find the door to Lowtown (your destination) on the eastside of this area.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A005] Lowtown==============================================================================

ZODIAC SPEAR ALERT - There is an interesting point to note here: a weaponexists in this game which can only be obtained under very specificcircumstances. In order for this extremely powerful weapon to appear later inthe game, you must refrain from opening four specific treasure chests. Thefirst of these four chests is the one directly north of the entrance toLowtown. Its contents are totally inconsequential, don't touch it.

The facial portrait icon is Dalan's house, but you may want to leave it be forthe time being and explore Lowtown for the various treasure chests and itemvendors. Enter Dalan's house when you are ready.

Now, make your way south to where you originally entered Lowtown from. Exithere and save your game. Before going to the Giza Plains it maybe in yourbest interests to pick up a map. One can be purchased (among other maps) fromthe Moogle at the northwest corner of the Southern Plaza. When ready, headsouth from here to reach the Giza Plains.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A006] Giza Plains==============================================================================

Keep in mind that while the majority of chests in this area are more "quantityover quality," I still encourage you to seek them out yourself, if for noother reason than to increase your item haul.

The first thing you should do is run straight south to reach the Nomad Camp.Speak to the elder in front of the tent and then to Masyua, the lone nomadbehind the tent. Listen to the offer and it will trigger a scene with Penelo.

She joins Vaan which adds another member to your party.

Take the west exit out of the camp and Penelo will give you 3 Potions and 2Tufts of Phoenix Down. Additionally this allows you to issue leader commandsand change the party leader. None of this is particularly complicated, nodoubt you will grow accustomed to it simply by experimenting with thesecommands in the battles around the plains.

From here, make your way down past the enemies to the southern exit. Continuesouth from here and open the chest below the bridge for a chance at obtainingan Escutcheon. Be careful not to pull the Werewolf enemies a bit furthersouth of here. You can see by the bright red colour of their name whentargeted that you stand very little chance.

Your destination lies to the east. Speak with Jinn who is standing beside alarge stone. Explain the situation to him and he'll offer you a Shadestonewhich can, in time, be transformed into a Sunstone. Save your game and beginyour trek toward the Dark Crystals.

Take the east exit and check the chest at the bottom right corner for a chanceat obtaining a Broadsword. Now make your way north. I would suggest you tryto avoid fighting too many of the neutral bunnies, they have a nasty tendencyto start fleeing and aggroing every other monster in the area. They also Cure


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you from time to time which is nice.

Examine the Dark Crystal in this area to start filling up your Shadestone.You will likely need to find two more after this one. There is a treasurechest on the bridge directly to the east, however I suggest you avoid pickingit up for the time being. It will not respawn if you do, and there's a chanceit will have much better contents if you return later in the game.

Make your way north to the next section where you will find yet another DarkCrystal. Assuming the Shadestone isn't entirely full, head west through theNomad Camp and then south to find the third Dark Crystal. Your Shadestoneshould be full at this point (and be a Sunstone), however if you do need thefourth one, you can find it in the far northwest section.

Your reward for completing this is 50 Gil, 2 Potions and 2 Teleport Stones.Now it's time to head back to town and locate old Dalan again. Speak to himto get the Crescent Stone. Leave Dalan's house and head all the way to thenorth end of Lowtown. Head a little west and north again to find Storehouse 5(it's just to the right of the Traveling Merchant).

Before going down into the Garamsythe Waterway, Kytes hands you 2 Potions and4 Phials of Eye Drops which will undoubtedly come in handy. Open the door andproceed down into the waterway.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A007] Garamsythe Waterway==============================================================================

Use the Save Crystal to save the game, then climb the stairs and follow thepath north. The way to go here is relatively straightforward. There is abasic chest on the western side, with a bridge crossing over to the east.

Continue east and cross a series of shallow water trenches. Keep an eye outfor any chests which may appear along here. Follow the path toward thenortheast where you'll find an exit to the next section.

Examine all the northern alleys for treasure chests as you make your way left.Cross the makeshift metal bridge and ignore the stairs for the time being.There is a staircase to the south leading up to a chest, which if it appears,has a chance of containing an Oak Staff.

Ascend the stairs to the west and go down the opposite side. Go down thestairs and turn around, this path also leads around to a corner on the westernside with a chest that has a very high probability of containing a MageMasher. Make your way back around and head for the northwest corner. It'snow or never, so if you're ready to enter the palace, then do it.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================

[A008] Royal Palace==============================================================================

ZODIAC SPEAR ALERT - Do not open the treasure chest in the furthest southeastcorner of the Cellars, the room just above the one where you start. You willnotice that two treasure chests are located in the southeast corner, and whileyou should technically be able to open the one on the right (right when FACINGTHE CAMERA SOUTH) without consequence, it has nothing special so I wouldsuggest you not touch either one to be on the safe side. Note that if youopen one and receive an Elixir, it means you blew it. Reset the game.


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Save your game and take the map from the urn. Feel free to collect the restof the chests in the Cellars room for some half decent items. As you approachthe north end it will trigger a short scene. Attempt to climb the stairs(which you are forbidden from doing) then speak to the Palace Servant nearestthe stairs. He'll help you get past.

Press the square button while standing where you are to call the guard.Fortunately for you, the guard seems to be lacking in both intelligence andperipheral vision, so "sneak" by him by running in an extremely conspicuouscircle along the wall and up the stairs.

There is a relatively simple puzzle here which gives you the ability to presssquare and call the guards, gradually moving them from place to place so thatyou don't actually have to come into contact with them. Make a right at thefirst fork, run to the east side and call the guards to the north down towardwhere you are standing. Now run back west toward where you entered.

At the first fork, press square to call the guards down, then run right. TheHawk Signet here will not react with your Crescent Stone, so you need to keeplooking. Head east, make a left, then another left to find the Lion Signet.Use your Crescent Stone here to lit the path to the secret chamber.

Proceed west to the fork and call the guard to the north down to where you

are. Run back east to the opposite side, then up, and finally left to safelyreach the hidden chamber. Approach the wall and press X to reveal the room.

There is a hidden switch on the wall at the far west end. After pressing it,examine the suspicious wall to reveal yet another passageway. After a quickscene Vaan receives the GODDESS'S MAGICITE. From this point all that isnecessary of you is to climb an additional set of stairs to trigger quite amagnificent cutscene.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A009] Garamsythe Waterway==============================================================================

A somewhat detailed explanation of the game's Gambit system awaits you at thebottom of the stairs. Examine the corpses of the fallen soldiers and thenproceed south. Turn left, and inside the urn you will find the map to theGaramsythe Waterway.

Head west, but ignore the stairs (unless you want a chest with no chance of adecent item). Follow this path around and up the stairs. Continue around andmake your way south until you reach the next area. Oh the way down keep aneye out for a chest which may appear in the eastern alley and contain a Hi-Potion.

Keep moving south in this area and make a left at the bottom. You'll soon

reach a section of walkway which forces you to run around a sort ofrectangular shape (in addition to encountering your first large toad enemy).Keep an eye out for any chests that spawn along this path, there's a chancethey could contain a Long Sword and Escutcheon.

There's a set of stairs at the end of this walkway. Climb up them and ignorethe next stairs going down as you proceed south to a dead end with a possiblechest. If it appears, it may contain Leather Armor.

Descend the stairs leading south and once again, up another set. The north


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path here takes you down a walkway parallel to the one with the previouschest, though this chest contains nothing special. Your destination liesstill further south from here. Proceed into the next area.

We are now in the East Sluice Control (as determinable by pressing the selectbutton and looking at the map). Follow this relatively linear path until itleads you to a Save Crystal (which you should use). If you think you areprepared for a battle, then simply descend the nearby stairs.

Four Imperial Soldiers drop down to do battle with both you and the mysteriouswoman. While this is by no means a boss battle, there are a few importantpoints to keep in mind if you wish to stay alive:

I would suggest making Vaan the primary healer of this battle assuming youhave already had him learn Cure. While it will still be your responsibilityto target and attack enemies, make sure to keep an eye on the health bars (orvalues) of the rest of your party.

Both Balthier and Fran should already have gambits which tell them to attackthe leaders' target (your target). The girl will attack whomever she pleases,though the battle will be easier if everyone focuses on one target at a time,so try to focus your attacks on any soldier the mystery girl is fighting.

After the battle, she (Amalia) joins the party as a guest character (similar

to a Final Fantasy Tactics guest in that you cannot control their actions).With the battle complete it would probably be in your best interests to saveyour game again (thus healing your party entirely).

Take the west exit and note the wide open battlefield-esque area, along withthe ensuing fight you saw coming from a mile away. The Flans serve as thehardest battle you have faced thus far, but you should be prepared for itregardless of how your party is setup.

The most important point to note is that the Flans have an extreme weakness toFire. Vaan may not yet have Fire Magick, but Fran comes with it by default.Open the menu and change Fran's Gambit from attacking the leader's target, tocasting Fire on it.

Now do your best to target everyone on a single Flan and start attacking.They will inevitably cast Blind on your party which can be dispelled using EyeDrops. Make sure that you or some member of your party is configured to healwhen the HP of others gets low. The Flans too will heal each other, but youshould be able to rack up enough damage to easily offset this advantage.

With the Flans dead, I would once again suggest going back to the SaveCrystal. It saves you from having to use items to heal or cure the Blindailment.

Check both the east and west sides of the battlefield for chests that havegood probabilities of dropping a Leather Shield and Dagger. Take the west

exit and keep an eye out for a chest here which will inevitably contain a Tuftof Phoenix Down.

Take the stairs to the south up to the higher level. Do not forget to changeFran's Gambit back to a regular attack before pulling any enemies here. Nowproceed north to the next area.

Check the western paths for chances at finding a Cotton Shirt in one of thechests. I find that it's very dangerous to take on some of the enemies inthis area, especially the ghosts, as they will teleport away and pull huge


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groups of mobs to pound your party into submission. Just my experience. It'salways good to exercise caution.

Continue up and take the east path. Notice you will come to a section ofwalkway that makes the shape of a "D" on your minimap. On the southeast sideof this "D" there is a chance of a treasure chest appearing with interestingcontents: the new Gambit "Foe: Targeting Self." If you consider the chance ofthe chest appearing, the chance of it having an item, and the chance of theitem being the Gambit, it's only roughly 25%.

Keep in mind if you don't get it here, you can get it very easily later.There is no point in this game where you have to worry about resetting overand over until a chest drops a particular item, everything you can find inthis manner can still be found elsewhere.

Head east and use the Save Crystal in the middle of the Central WaterwayControl. When you're ready to fight the boss, examine the Overflow Cloaca onthe north wall of this room.

---------------------------------BOSS: Firemane - HP: 3571 - LV: 7---------------------------------

You'll find a surprising challenge awaiting with the game's first boss. A

hefty stock of healing items will be necessary to maintain your characters' HPtotals throughout the entirety of this battle.

Firemane attacks primarily with a couple of basic melee strikes that willtypically necessitate at least one Potion or Cure from some member of theparty. I would suggest placing Vaan on almost exclusive healing duties here.

When Firemane teleports around the field you may have to target the boss againin order to keep people attacking. The most impressive (and most dangerous)attack the boss will unleash is called Bushfire, and it hits each member ofyour party for a substantial amount of damage while also having a chance toinflict Poison. Be ready to use Antidotes, and remember to cycle betweenparty members while doing so, Vaan does not have to administer every item

himself.

Amalia is automatically configured to use a Phoenix Down if anyone dies, sothe only time you have to worry is if she herself dies (or if you run out ofPhoenix Down). She will also administer Potions frequently to injured partymembers, but it's not enough to balance the damage, so Vaan will still havehis hands full doing the same thing. Let Fran and Balthier be your primarysources of damage and you should do fine.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A010] Nalbina Dungeons==============================================================================

Vaan finds himself along with Fran and Balthier down in the Nalbina DungeonsStockade. Let's begin by finding us a few Knots of Rust shall we? The firstis in a chest located down at the southwest corner. The second can be foundagainst a pillar on the northwest side of the raised area in the middle.

The final two Knots of Rust can be found in chests down in the southeastcorner. Once you have all four, use the Save Crystal on the north side, speakto anyone you wish to talk to, and then take the north exit.


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The battle you are dropped into is not a difficult one by any means. Youshould have no trouble taking them down solely using firsts, however even so,both Magick and those Knots of Rust are options for more powerful hits from adistance. Cure if necessary, but you really shouldn't have any trouble.

ZODIAC SPEAR ALERT - Following the next scene you will come across all yourequipment and gear. After recovering them, make absolutely sure not to open asingle one of the chests here in the Confiscatory. Doing so will blow yourchances to find the Zodiac Spear later in the game.

Save your game and proceed east. Make tracks for the stairs at the southeastcorner, then follow the walkway to the west end where you'll find a chest thatmay contain Chromed Leathers. Return to the previous floor and check thevarious corners of the room for a number of treasure chests.

Follow the hall leading west up at the northwest corner. Make a left turn andstay close to the southern wall to find a chest which may contain the Gambit,Ally: HP < 60%. Another chest can be found directly north of this one.

Head for the centre of the north wall to find the floor Fran was speaking of.A scene will interrupt you at this point. Proceed through the now-open doorto further the story.

______________________________________________________________________________

==============================================================================[A011] Barheim Passage==============================================================================

Use the Save Crystal in the corner and save your game. Examine the TimewornDevice in the centre of the room, then descend the stairs near the crystal andspeak with the creature below to get a Tube Fuse. Return to the previouslevel and check the room at the far east to find three chests, each containinga fair bit of Gil.

Use the Tube Fuse on the power relay in the middle to activate the lights.Now pres the switch on the wall beside Burrogh while will deplete the chargedown to 70%. He explains that you need to maintain a good level of charge in

order to actually make it through this area.

Take the southern exit and prepare for another quick tutorial. Your primarygoal should be to eliminate the Battery Mimics as soon as possible so that notonly do you stop them from draining charge, you actually replenish some thatwas already lost.

Assuming you have the Libra effect equipped you can see that the BatteryMimics have a substantial weakness to ice magic. For this reason one of thefirst things you will want to do whenever you see one is target it withBlizzard magic.

Take down this first Mimic and continue around the path. As you progress down

the stairs, you may wish to ignore the small Mimics in favour of going afterthe Battery Mimic at the bottom first. Defeat the enemies and proceed east.

There are at least two Battery Mimics in this next room, and not necessarilyclose together. Quickly eliminate the first and then ignore all other enemiesas you run south to locate the second. Afterwards you are more than welcometo run back and look for any chests you may have passed.

Ignore the first fork leading southwest (after disposing of the Battery Mimic)and head straight south to another fork. The more eastern fork leads to


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another battery Mimic and potential treasure chest. The other fork will takeyou a little further south. When the opportunity presents itself, take theother path back north to find an with the map to this area inside.

A pointless room with a couple more Battery Mimics awaits you to the west, youare under no obligation to clear it. Your real destination lies to the south.When you enter this area, quickly dispose of the first Battery Mimic you see.The second hides in a room at the end of the east hall, though you will haveto circumnavigate a couple of Flan enemies in order to catch him quickly.

From this room you can climb the stairs and take sort of a northern exit offto the side. This whole room is filled with Flans and battery Mimics. Yourgoal is to make your way toward the far northwest corner where a gate switchcan be found at the top of the stairs. It require 30% charge to activate.When you're ready to proceed further, what you need to do is return to SpecialOp Sector 3 (the previous area) and head south.

Save your game and continue south. Keep an eye out for Mimics disguised aschests. You will also watch to keep hunting down Battery Mimics wheneverpossible. Use the slowly depleting charge to determine whether one is nearby,and the red icons on your minimap to find them.

There are quite a few Battery Mimics in the area south of this one, three tome exact. The best course of action to take is to begin by targeting both

that start near the entrance with a Blizzard spell and proceeding to wipe themout for there. The third is located in a rather inconvenient place, you mustrun south to the bottom of the ramp and then northeast to the top where thefinal one is found.

Make sure to go back down and open all of the many chests found in this area,including the possibilities of some equipment and new Gambits. Travel up theslope to the northeast corner where you will find the exit. Save your gameand prepare for another boss battle.

-------------------------------------BOSS: Mimic Queen - HP: 4073 - LV: 10-------------------------------------

Configuring your Gambits well is important for this fight. I would suggestsetting up Balthier and Fran in the following way: both should have theprimary duty of casting Cure when Ally HP < 50%. Balthier's secondary dutyshould be to attack the leader's target while Fran's should be to castBlizzard on the leader's target, and her tertiary to attack normally.

The boss has a weakness to ice, but the purpose of only setting one of yourtwo party members to cast it is so that the Balthier still has the Mp to healwhen Fran's is depleted. Vaan can act to sort of balance it since ideally youwill be controlling him.

If you find that you do not have much charge to last you through this battle,

you may need to focus a little more energy on eliminating the small minionsthat deplete it. For the majority however, the charge bar will only act as atimer for you to defeat the boss herself.

Since it is difficult to find a decent camera angle, your best bet is simplynot to worry about it and just slash the abdomen repeatedly. The occasionalBlizzard spell from Vaan certainly won't hurt either. Keep the heals up andwatch out for the ground-smashing attack, and everything should work out fine.

Another suggestion (submitted by Richard) is to cast Slow on the boss which


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cuts down her attack speed significantly.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A012] Dalmasca Estersand==============================================================================

Take the west exit and explore this area for various treasures. You will findthat the enemies here are laughable easy. I would suggest that it is wellworth it to kill each one you see, if not for the pathetic amounts ofexperience, then at least for the quick LPs and vendortrash items.

Don't let your guard down too quickly, around behind the rocky wall of thenorthwest corner you will find a cockatrice named Nekhbet. Despite lookingalmost no different from any other enemy you have faced, this creature is moredifficult than some bosses!

The damage from its attacks start at around 80 and just go up from there. Ithas nearly 4000 HP and the ability to cast slow on your party. Be ready withplenty of Phoenix Downs and make sure to give it your all because thiscreature nets you more than 200 XP when killed.

Your destination is Rabanastre to the south, so that's the direction youshould be heading. Continue pounding the life out of defenseless wolves as

you make your way southwest toward the X on your map.

Bear in mind that you still don't stand a chance against the T-Rez roaming thearea, however if you're feeling exceptionally brave and happen to enjoy thepleasant ambience of the game over screen, then by all means give it a try.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A013] Rabanastre==============================================================================

It's time to catch up on everything you have missed. I would suggest thefirst thing you do is take a trip to the East End and visit both the weapons

and equipment ships. Magicks couldn't hurt either. Once you're doneupgrading your equipment then it's time to move on to other tasks.

Since you only have Vaan in your party at the moment, I would suggest puttingoff any new Hunts for the time being. One thing you will definitely want todo is visit Montblanc in the Clan Hall. Montblanc has a nice little habit ofoffering you a reward for every boss you take down.

In your case this includes not only the Firemane and Mimic Queen, but even theFlan ambush from back in the waterway. You'll be awarded 150, 200 and 300 Gilfor each of these three bosses.

Now make your way down to Migelo's Sundries. There's a quick scene, but you

won't find Penelo there. Pick up some of the new items available here andthen head for the Southgate and the entrance to Lowtown. Enter Dalan's placeand speak with him.

Dalan gives you the Sword of the Order and instructs you to deliver it to aman named Azelas. Locating him should not prove difficult (especially givethat it is marked on your map). Head for the northwest area and speak to theRabanastran sitting on the crate.

When Basch joins the party it's time to distribute the many License Points


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that he comes with. Leave Lowtown, save your game, and make tracks for theSandsea tavern. A short scene occurs on your way there. Climb the stairsinside the Sandsea to trigger another scene with Balthier.

Use the party menu to choose the three members you wish to fight with, thenprepare them accordingly. Before doing as Balthier says, I think this wouldbe a fine time to catch up on some Hunts. I imagine you could likely finishthe first four Hunts at this point.

Head for the Westgate of Rabanastre and then go north from there into theAerodrome. You will find Balthier near the top end standing on a set ofstairs leading down into a little viewing area. Tell him you're ready to go,and that's that.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A014] Bhujerba==============================================================================

Feel free to poke your nose around the majestic sky city at your leisure,there is no hurry to get to the mines. You'll find mostly the same shops hereas you would in Rabanastre. One thing you will certainly need is a map of theplace. That can be acquired easily from the Cartographers' Guild Mooglestanding right in the crossroads of Travica Way. Pick up a map of the mine

while you're at it.

You can see on that map that the entrance to the Lhusu Mines is found at thenortheast corner of the city. Make sure that's where you head once you'redone wandering around. Use the Save Crystal and proceed north into the mines.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A015] The Lhusu Mines==============================================================================

Enter the mines and watch the initial scene. Proceed west along the tracksuntil the fist opportunity to head south presents itself. Continue south

along the road until it turns west. At this point you may go south again(leads to two potential treasures, and a gated dead end) or continue west tothe end. Going south from this point will take you to the exit leading to thenext area.

Do note also that if you see a pillar of light erupting from the ground, avoidit at all costs. This is a trap and it means you have the Libra effect on atleast one character. Those who do not have the Libra effect will not seetraps, but are still perfectly capable of tripping them if encountered.

Keep an eye out for a chance spawn of a miniboss enemy similar to thecockatrice you fought earlier. There is a bat named Aerieel that spawns onthis bridge which can prove quite difficult for your party.

Continue west to reach the Transitway 1. There is a gate blocking the westernpath, so take the northeastern route (follow the tracks, as opposed to theother path, for a chest that by chance may containing a Killer Bow).

You need to be very careful with your pulls in the Shunia Twinspan. Up tofive or six skeletons can spawn right at the entrance to the bridge sectionalone. Make sure to take them out little by little as they appear, and waituntil they are defeated before progressing further.


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Enter the next area and follow the linear road around and up the stairs.You'll find a number of chests in this next room. Head north through thishallway to trigger another scene.

Balthier offers some sound advice here, and that is to run. You are not meantto strike down these foes, so hold down the R2 button and get those legsmoving. You'll need to run through at least three or four areas before theyfinally stop cashing you, at which point you can slowly grind your way back tothe beginning and exit in Bhujerba.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A016] Bhujerba==============================================================================

Climb the stairs and watch the scene. A little "minigame" in which your dutyis to increase Basch's notoriety through running around town shouting that helives.

No doubt you will find this task relatively easy. Simply run around townstanding amongst as many people as possible pressing the square button. Theone thing you do need to keep an eye out for are the NPCs titled "InformedSainikah." You can easily identify them from the helm they wear. Shoutingabout Basch in their presence will drastically reduce your Notoriety meter.

Certain NPCs like "Parijanah" will increase the meter far faster than somerandom nobody leaning against a wall. In fact I would go so far as to saythese are the only people worth speaking to. Note also that only NPCs withthe talkie icon above their heads will count.

The fifth Hunt is available on the Cloudborne Notice Board, though defeatingthe monster is quite difficult at this point in the game. I would suggestwaiting at least until after the next area. You will return to this cityimmediately after.

When you are ready to proceed, check your map for the destination marker andmake your way there. A lengthy scene will follow before you are transported

to the next area.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A017] The Leviathan==============================================================================

Vossler joins your party as a guest wielding an extremely powerful two-handedsword. Save your game and exit the Port Launch. Throughout most of the restof the ship you will encounter various hallways blocked by a laser grid alarm.Stepping through this grid will prompt a number of guards to appear and ambushyou. Do your best to avoid them whenever possible.

The Dreadnought Leviathan is a maze of hallways and dead ends. Fortunatelyfor you, a map is automatically given right at the beginning so it is neververy difficult to reach your destination. Rather than turning this section ofthe guide into a mess of wests, norths, lefts and rights, I will instead allowyou to traverse the long (but relatively linear maze) yourself simply by usingthe map. You will find it ends up being quite easy.

Navigate to the middle of the Airship Berith Access. Upon arriving you willencounter a number of enemies, including a couple of more powerful Judge typeenemies. While you may be fighting six at once, the battle will end


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immediately when the two Judges are killed, so I would recommend you focus allof your attacks on them and just weather the beating you'll take from theremaining foes.

For completing this challenge you are awarded the No. 1 Brig Key which workson the door only a few feet away. Inside the brig you will find a SaveCrystal, an urn containing the System Access Key, and across from that a niceMoogle willing to restock your inventory (for a price, of course).

Ashe is in one of the remaining two cells. Once you free her she willautomatically join the party. Now your goal is to get back to the PortLaunch, but once again your progress will be impeded by dead ends and alarms.So many alarms in fact that enemies will seemingly come continuously. Thereis a point where I would recommend just holding down R2 and fleeing the wholeway back. How much you want to fight depends entirely on how much extraexperience and LP you want to gather.

The one important thing to keep in mind is that before reaching the PortLaunch, make sure to heal your party and cure any lingering status ailments.What follows is one of the first boss battles that doesn't come directly afterthe use of a Save Crystal.

------------------------------------BOSS: Judge Ghis - HP: 4120 - LV: 14

------------------------------------

Unlike the previous battle, I would suggest you take down his lackeys firstbefore focusing on Ghis himself. Ghis is one nasty son' bitch, poundinganyone in his field of vision with a variety of attacks, all of them lethal.You'll need someone on permanent healing duty this fight, but given howquickly MP depletes, you might have to cycle who that person is.

If you do happen to have the MP to spare, I find that the Dark spell is veryeffective, especially at the beginning for helping to quickly eliminate theguards.

Ghis doesn't seem to have any discernable weakness, so I would suggest just

focusing on physical attacks and perhaps Quickenings if you've learned any bythis point. One positive aspect of this battle is that you don't actuallyhave to kill him, the battle should automatically end if you can manage to gethim down to about 25% HP. It's still difficult of course, but at least thisgives you some advantage.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in Bhujerba, this would probably be a fine time to undertake that fifthhunt (though it will still be very difficult). Your main destination at thispoint is Marquis Ondore's place, the same place you headed to before beingbrought aboard the Leviathan.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A018] Ogir-Yensa Sandsea==============================================================================

You will find the sandsea just west of the encampment where you start. It ismade up of a series of large metal connecting structures, and of course, lotsof sand. Head south and climb up the first tower, then begin yoursouthwestward trek.


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You will encounter a familiar face as you travel west between the towers here.Climb down this tower to the ground below and eliminate any of the... "sandpeople" there. While it may lead to a dead end, you will nevertheless want toclimb the west tower in order to find the map of the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea insideof an urn.

Back on the ground again, proceed up the north ramp to the top of that tower.Head west from here until you reach a point where (if you look at your map)you will see that there are three possible branches you can take. The fastestway to go is to head southwest and make tracks for the Yensa Border Tunnel,but you'll find many battles and treasure among the towers in each of theother directions as well. While you may not find anything described as "one-of-a-kind", there is still appeal in taking the longer route, and thus itremains your decision.

If possible I would suggest avoiding the middle path leading west. You'reliable to run into the level 45 elemental fire enemy. This enemy shouldn'taggro, but I believe it automatically will if any Magick is cast. Regardlessof WHY it attacks you, the point is that should it choose to, you'll belooking at 3000 damage a hit. That's game over right there. Steer clear.

Avoid the Zertinan Caverns for the time being. It is unlikely you will beable to survive in there and it's not somewhere you need to be anyway. Ifyou're wondering, that's the name for the ??? location in the centre of this

area.

Assuming you made it to the southwestern Yensa Border Tunnel, you'll have achance to stock up and save your game before heading west again to the Nam-Yensa Sandsea.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A019] Nam-Yensa Sandsea==============================================================================

There should be a fair number of chests in this area with some half-decentloot, so I suggest you wander the border keeping an eye out for any of those

which happened to spawn. Over on the northwest side of this area you willfind a couple of bridges. Take the more southern of the two to find the mapof this area inside of an urn.

The more northern of the two leads ahead. You will now find yourself in anarea called the Withering Shores. There's a little out of the way trip youcan make now, but I highly recommend you do so. All you need to do is runnorth from here, through the Urutan-Yensa Sea area to reach the other SaveCrystal encampment (called the Sandscale Bank on your map).

Arriving there you will find a Moogle who asks if you are interested inoffering assistance. He tells you about a giant tortoise he'd like you totake care of. No problem. Backtrack west through the Urutan-Yensa Sea to

reach the Withering Shores again.

The difference between this visitor and your last one is that now a gianttortoise named the Urutan-Eater occupies the area. Fortunately you have aboutfive or six "guests" assisting you with this battle, the same mobs you've beenbeating down the whole time you've been out here.

Your real guest, Vossler, has a nasty tendency to focus his attacks on theUrutan rather than the Eater. Hopefully you can get to him take aim for thetortoise before too many of your allies have fallen. The tortoise will focus


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primarily on them so there's a good chance if you can hit hard enough, youreally won't see any damage to your party until the thing is almost dead.

The sheer amount of defensive armour on this thing makes exploiting itsmagical weakness (Wind) very appealing indeed. If you happen to have the Aerospell at your disposal then use it like crazy. If not, you'll need to rely onweak physical attacks (or Quickenings) to slowly deplete its health.

With the Urutan-Eater dead, it's time to make yet another trip north to theSandscale Bank. Speak to the Moogle there and then continue east back to theOgir-Yensa Sandsea. Climb the first ramp and a scene will occur. Afterwards,head back west (again) and watch another scene.

Examine the flower that remains where the gathering took place to receive abunch of Eksir Berries. Speak to the Moogle twice to learn that a monster,Garuda, is particularly un-fond of this flower. We'll keep that informationin mind and be able to put it to practical use soon enough.

Time to finally get back to the mission. Make tracks for the Withering Shoreswhere you fought the Urutan-Eater, and head west from there up the ramp.Continue west to the next area, then climb down and cross one of the bridgeleading south.

As you head west from here, you will once again have two possible paths you

can take. The north path (blocked by a number of traps) leads to an ambush ofsand fish and also a dead end. There's a chest there with a chance of holdingthe Gambit Foe: HP < 1000.

When you reach the Trail of Fading Warmth, there is an optional area full oftreasures and enemies you can explore if you wish. To reach the Simoon Bluff,simply take the northeast path at the fork (as opposed to northwest.) Be verycareful of all the traps you encounter immediately upon entering the area.

This area is full of feathered fiends you may find a little more difficultthan what is typical of this area. Irregardless, it is doubtful you will haveany difficulty against them (assuming you don't aggro more than two or threeat a time.)

The one enemy of note in this area is a flying creature that you won't be ableto damage without the use of guns, bows or magic. It has a weakness to watermagic, and so the Water spell should do between 400 - 500 damage when used byany proficient caster. Take this creature down for a whopping 2 LP! Theremainder of the area is populated by the same enemies as before and offersquite a few chests to find. Be sure to look around.

Once finished in the Simoon Bluff, head back down and take the northwest oathfrom the Trail of Fading Warmth. You'll find a Chocobo-mounted merchant justbefore you reach the entrance to the tomb. While no Save Crystal is foundhere, the game will automatically prompt you to save when you progress to thenext zone.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A020] The Tomb of Raithwall==============================================================================

--------------------------------BOSS: Garuda - HP: 6754 - LV: 14--------------------------------


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Begin the battle by immediately using the Eksir Berries that you got forfinishing the Urutan-Eater miniquest. As the Moogle described, the Garudadoes not like them and the berries should deal a fair amount of damage to theboss.

Once those are out of the way it's time to move on to ranged attacks (sincethis boss flies you won't be able to hit it with melee weapon swings). It hasno elemental weaknesses so all Magick is equally effective here. Whoever iswielding a gun (Balthier?) should be attacking normally and ideally with theSilence Shot equipped so that you have a good chance of hindering the boss'ability to basically do any damage to you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Climb the stairs ahead of you and use the Save Crystal. Touching the AncientDevice will teleport your party to the inner section of the Tomb of Raithwall.Head west, past the second device and down the small set of stairs. A scenewill trigger here and a giant Demon Wall will begin advancing on your party.

This wall is an optional boss, you are not expected to beat it, you areexpected to run. There is no shame in running like a coward to the end of thehall, sweat dripping as you panic-strickenly try to mash the X button andsqueeze through the door, permanently etching your pathetic defeat in stonefor the rest of eternity.

For those dying to know if pitting themselves against such a powerful creatureyields any worthwhile rewards, let me just say now that it does. It does.

--------------------------------------------------BOSS: (Optional) Demon Wall - HP: Too Much - LV: ?--------------------------------------------------

It's going to be a hell of a task trying to take this guy down, but I know onemethod (aside from hours of powerleveling) that should help you get throughthe battle. That is of course, the biggest chain of back-to-back Quickeningsyou can possibly muster.

You're going to need one of two things: either a lot of Ethers, or aQuickening on each of your characters. This won't be difficult assuming you(like myself) allow LP to pile up on the characters you don't use. Make sureas many members of your (six person) party have Quickenings before the battlebegins.

The first thing to do (go figure) is to use a Mist Quickening. You're lookingat ideally trying to chain eight hits or more (though sometimes that's justimpossible). Actually I've seen six hit chains do more damage than 8 hits onoccasion, so there is a random element there as well.

4000 damage (or less) is bad. 8000 damage (or more) is great. 6000 damage isacceptable. Use that as a gauge for how you are doing. I would estimate the

boss' total HP at around 20,000.

After the first Quickening, wait. Wait until someone is hit with the X-Zoneeffect and removed from the battle. This will inevitably happen every time.After that, start replacing that X-Zone'd person with whoever is on reserve.Now use their Quickening, then sub them with another, use their Quickening,etc. This should ideally yield four Quickenings without using any Ethers.

Boss still isn't dead? Resort to Ethers. Use them on anyone with low MP (soit fills it to the max) and then use another Quickening. Given the randomness


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of Quickening chains and damage, if you fail the first, second or even thirdtime, there's no reason you won't win on the fourth. Keep trying.

** An interesting point to note is that the boss' speed seems unaffected bybattle speed, thus increasing the battle speed to maximum should give you aserious advantage (it won't make any difference while you are spammingQuickenings.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the battle is over, don't worry about your reward just yet. Warp backto the beginning and save your game, then proceed through the door at the endof the hall where you fought the boss. Assuming you merely ran, it'll be thesame door.

-------------------------------------------------BOSS: (Necessary) Demon Wall - HP: 10332 - LV: 16-------------------------------------------------

The difficulty of the Demon Wall brings back memories of a similarly difficultboss in Final Fantasy VII, however this time around we have a few more toolsat our disposal to ease the plight. Your goal is to stop the boss (by killingit) before it is able to either cut your party down, or smear them into a thinpaste against the wall.

First and foremost are the Gambits you will need to set up. This boss willconstantly inflict negative status ailments on your party, the mostdebilitating of which is Sleep. A sleeping party member is one more partymember not mowing this boss down before the inevitable paste-ing.

Create a Gambit to automatically use an Alarm Clock on the sleeping character,or (if you find yourself in my shoes) and have none, create a Gambit for yourweakest character to attack any sleeping party members. Just remember you mayneed to manually do it yourself should the character with the Gambit succumbto Sleep.

An interesting aspect to this battle are the torches on the side of the path.

When you examine and touch them, they will either speed up or slow the boss'movements. Obviously this can be either good or bad. I'm not sure whetherthe effect is random, but I will just say that in my case (starting from thedoor and toward the boss) the THIRD set of two both slowed the boss down. Youcan experiment with them as you see fit, just remember you can still easilytake him out without the help of torches.

Offense-wise, just stick with the usual tricks. MP should be saved forpowerful Cure spells like Cura. Avoid Cure like the Plague in this battle.If you want a quick heal, use Potions, if you're going to die, use Cura. Youdon't have the time to sit around charging weak spells like that.Additionally, since the boss' defense is relatively average, your best bet forthe most damage in the least amount of time is simply normal physical attacks.

Finally, I would note that this is a perfect battle to let loose some insanechained Quickenings right at the beginning. They may deplete your MP, butwith any luck you'll be looking at between 5000 - 10000 damage (assuming youchain at least a few of them.) With that much of a punch from the start, youwon't even need the lost MP to heal.

** As I mentioned above from those who did not fight the previous boss, aninteresting point to note is that the boss' speed seems unaffected by battlespeed, thus increasing the battle speed to maximum should give you a serious


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advantage.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, for those of you who managed to defeat the first boss, it's time to claimyour reward. For those who didn't, skip ahead a few paragraphs to the dashedline. One would think that defeating a powerful enemy would suffice on itsown, but no, there is one final obnoxious obstacle you must overcome (thatobstacle being your own impatience).

Head back to where the first wall was originally located and examine the jewelin the wall. Doing so will raise the platforms on both the north and southsides of this room, connecting the staircases which previously led to deadends. Now return to the entrance and save your game. This step is important.

Regardless of which path you choose, either the north or the south path, theyboth lead to the same place eventually. I am of course talking about thepaths you just connected by touching the jewel. Follow one of them west,through the next room and down the stairs.

At the bottom here you will encounter a number of fire blob monsters. Holdthe R2 button and ignore them. Make your way to the exact middle of the pathwhere the blobs spawn (between the two staircases.) In this location, thereis a 70% chance a treasure chest will spawn.

If you don't see a chest here, press start, return to the title screen and tryagain. If you DO see a chest, open it. You have a 45% chance of receivingGil from the chest. If you get Gil, press start, return to the title screenand try again. If it's not Gil, you have a 50% chance of receiving a HolyMote. The Holy Mote is completely useless. If you get it, press start,return to the title screen and try again.

Now you understand the patience factor.

The remaining 50% of the time the chest will contain a Demonsbane. TheDemonsbane is a one-handed sword with 59 attack power. To give that valuecontext, keep in mind that the average weapon at this point in the game has an

attack power in the mid 20's. That means more than double damage. That meansyou'll go from doing roughly 150 per strike, to more than 400. That is yourreward.

Not only that, but the chest actually respawns. Once you get the Demonsbane,why not run back, save the game and try for another. For the mathematicallychallenged, that is a 15.75% chance of getting the Demonsbane every time youreset, or 1 in every 6.34 tries. Good luck.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From where you fought the second Demon Wall, climb the stairs and go throughthe west door. Watch the scene then descend the stairs and take the map of

the Tomb of Raithwall out of the urn.

There are three Way Stones here, one blue, one red, and one green. The blueone takes you back near the entrance, so use that one if you wish to heal andsave. Neither the green nor the red Way Stones work at the moment, so youwill have to wait. Head down the stairs to the south.

Before long you will have a choice of two paths. Ignore the stairs leadingdown and continue to follow the path you are on all the way around to a doorleading south. Make a right (west) in this new area and follow the path from


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here. The path remains entirely linear and should lead you to a row of threechests containing variety of items (or Gambits).

Just a few rooms further you will find a green jewel in the wall whichactivates the green Way Stone and (partially) lowers the Mystic Altar. Italso triggers a battle with some Lich enemies. After dispatching them, usethe green Way Stone to return to the central platform.

This time take the north route, and again, ignore the first staircase leadingdown assuming you want to get the treasures. If not, the staircase route is alittle shorter. Make a right (east) and just follow this linear path, pastthe chests, to reach the middle room.

Again, touch the jewel and battle your way through some Zombies. After thebattle is over, it is of the utmost importance that you use this Way Stone,followed by the blue Way Stone to reach the entrance and save again. There isa boss coming up and you're going to be shit out of luck if any of yourcharacters still have some of that Oil lingering on them.

Head back and take either the green or the red Way Stone to the large doorthat you opened. There is a quick scene in the next room and all that remainsis a simple path with no enemies to the boss. Keep an eye out at the bottomof each staircase for chests (that don't respawn) that contain a variety ofitems including a potential for two Elixirs.

---------------------------------BOSS: Belias - HP: 15934 - LV: 20---------------------------------

Your very first battle with an Esper. There are a few things that maysurprise you about this battle. The first surprise comes when your basicintuition that shouts "Ice spells against fire enemy" yield damages in the 30- 50 range. For whatever reason, Blizzard (and to extend that, almost allmagic, especially Fire) is ineffective against him. If you want to do damage,stick with physical attacks and Quickenings.

The second surprise is how utterly slow this boss is. He attacks maybe once,

for every two or three attacks you do, and while it may be powerful, you arejust as likely to end up blocking it and go for lengthy periods of timewithout taking any damage at all.

That all changes of course when he charges up and explodes into a fieryinferno, damaging every character on the field. This attack seems devastatinguntil you casually drop a single Cura spell only to realize your party isnearly at full health again.

There's no substitute for a good offense here, and while I still assert thathis attacks are weak considering his size and status, they will no doubt getthe better of you if you let the battle drag on too long.

Obviously those wielding the Demonsbane will have this boss down cut down sixways from Sunday with their sword slashing efficiency. For the majority ofplayers, you'll have to play the patience card. Just gradually whittle downBelias' HP and don't forget to stop and heal whenever he musters up the energyto bash you with that giant metal doily of his.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Belias can now become your first Esper. Like Quickenings, only one person canlearn an Esper on the License board, after which it will disappear from the


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boards of all other characters. It is a good idea to spread out the Espersbetween your party to keep things balanced, though obviously they are no goodon characters you never use.

It might be a good idea not to have Fran learn this particular Esper, simplybecause you can't use her during the next boss battle, and summoning Beliasreally helps.

Keep an eye out for two more treasure chests on either side of the area whereyou fought Belias.

Continue through the door and down the stairs. Don't touch the Way Stone,keep going forward and watch the ensuing scene. Once you have the Dawn Shard,you can take your leave of this place by touching the Way Stone. Save yourgame and exit to trigger a scene.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A021] The Shiva==============================================================================

---------------------------------BOSS: Vossler - HP: 9318 - LV: 20---------------------------------

This battle is a cakewalk almost regardless of how you slice it. How have somany potential advantages to aid you that you almost have to go out of yourway to lose. Let's examine just a couple of those.

Here's an idea: have the character who spent a whopping 10 LP on him, summonthe Esper Belias. Belias will quickly make short work of all the guards thengo straight for Vossler. Vossler will spend half the battle trying in vain toweaken the powerful Esper as he is hit over and over again for 800 - 900damage. You can basically sit there and twiddle your thumbs while Belias winsthe battle for you.

If that doesn't suit you, then why not chain a few Quickenings. Sure enough

it will wipe the floor with the guards immediately, and has the potential toeliminate Vossler in a single strike if you get lucky with the chaining. Morethan likely you'll have a few leftover hit points to pound out of him while hebegs for mercy.

Those who, for whatever reason, choose neither option will be left with abattle that proves only marginally more difficult than a typical fight. Morehealing is obviously necessitated given Vossler's powerful strikes. The realdanger comes once his HP drops to around 30% and he uses Enrage, which giveshim the Shell, Haste and Reflect statuses. At this point Magick is totally outof the question, so just beat him down with the weapons you have available.

Keep in mind also (if you use her) that you won't have control of Fran for

this battle, she'll still help, but she's not interested in following orders.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A022] Rabanastre==============================================================================

Note that at this point in the game, you can now freely go and battle threeof the optional Espers. I am not necessarily saying that you can win, but theoption is available to you. Check out the Optional Espers section of the


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guide and look for any that say "Available: After the Tomb of Raithwall."

The very first thing you will want to do is head for the Clan Hall. Montblanchas a number of rewards for your accomplishment, and in addition to that, acouple of hunts for you to undertake.

Even if you don't plan to hunt the monster right away, I suggest acceptingthem anyway since many of the petitioners you need to speak to can be found asyou proceed with the next section of the main game. This goes for the Sandseatavern Hunts too.

ALERT - At this point, a sidequest is available that (if you invest enoughtime into it) can net you a brand new sword. If you went through the troubleof getting the Demonsbane in the tomb, don't be too quick to think you'reoverpowered yet with your 59 attack.

Players who want to be TRULY overpowered will scroll on down to "The BarheimSidequest" section to learn how to obtain as many Deathbringers as they want.The Deathbringer is a one handed sword with 90 attack power. Nice.

Make sure to stock up on new spells, equipment and Gambits. When you're readyto proceed, head for the Southgate, save your game, and enter the Giza Plains.

______________________________________________________________________________

==============================================================================[A023] Giza Plains==============================================================================

You've been here before (though it wasn't quite so wet at that time). Yourgoal is to eventually reach the southern exit of the Starfall Field in thesouthwest corner. How you choose to get there is entirely up to you.

Stop off at the Nomad Village if you accepted the Croakadile hunt. There youwill find Sadeen who gives you the contract (the Croakadile is an extremelydifficult enemy found beside the bridge in Starfall Field). There's also aSave Crystal here for your convenience.

For those interested in getting a head start on a sidequest, you will notice anumber of "Withered Trees" in the Giza Plains. The first can be founddirectly north of the north entrance to Nomad Village. When you strike thetrees they fall into the water. Six trees in total exist here.

Once you cut all six trees down it creates a bridge to an island where youwill find a few chests and an item for a later sidequest. There is littlereason to do this now aside from knowing you will likely want to do it later.If you just want to proceed normally, skip to the dashed line below.

I already mentioned the first of the six trees. The second is inside NomadVillage itself, on the southeastern side. The next one is found in the GizasNorth Bank, on the far north side, east bank.

For the fourth tree, head to the Toam Hills section and run to the furthesteast point you can possibly reach. Take the south exit to Starfall Field andyou will see the fifth almost immediately if you look east. The final tree isfound by heading east to the Crystal Glade. It is just north of the SaveCrystal.

Once all six trees are cut, head to the Gizas South Bank. The trees have madea bridge over on the east side. The Silicon Turtles you see are level 36 andextremely difficult to defeat at this time. You might be able to take one of


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them down if you summon Belias (since they are weak to fire) but there islittle reason to do so (aside from 1000 EXP and 2 LP).

Your goal is to run to the southeast corner where you will find an urncontaining Feather of the Flock. That is the item you will need for thesidequest. Once you have that there is nothing else to do here (aside fromcollect a few chests).

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Whatever you do, don't cast Magick around the elemental enemies in this area.They will remain neutral until Magick is cast. You may think because theirlevel is close to yours that you might be able to take them down. You wouldbe mistaken (unless you can survive bursts of 800 damage to everyone in yourparty... repeatedly.)

The entrance to the Ozmone Plain can be found by taking the south exit out ofthe Starfall Field.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A024] Ozmone Plain==============================================================================

Your goal is to make your way south through the next few areas. It's notdifficult to locate the exit, though you will find some half decent treasuresFover on the west side of the Field of Fallen Wings.

There are not one, but TWO rare spawns in the exact same area around here.Both the Bull Croc and the flying Aeros can be found in The Shred. Get thereby heading east of The Switchback to reach The Greensnake. From there, takethe south road around to the east exit and you'll find it. The Bull Croc hitshard and Aeros flies, making both of them tough enemies. Given the difficultyof attacking fliers, I would suggest saving summons and Quickenings for thatenemy (assuming it spawns for you).

I suggest you wander around these areas, perhaps leveling up a little in the

process. The werewolf-esque enemies in the Dagan Flats are difficult, butyield 2 LP per kill which is nice. Eventually your goal is to head south tothe Haulo Green and then take the west exit from there to reach Jahara.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A025] Jahara==============================================================================

Maps for these areas can be purchased from the Cartographers' Guild Mooglestanding beside the bridge here. Talk to the Garif Warrior standing in frontof the bridge and you will be allowed through.

Head for the northeast corner where you will find High-Chief Zayalu. He givesyou a Jaya Stick for the War-Chief. You will find the War-Chief by the bridgeat the northwest corner. Give him the stick and agree to his offer.

When you arrive in the next area, those of you who accepted the Hunt "TheDefense of Ozmone Plain" will find your target, Sugumu, on the north side.

Approach the Great-Chief's tent and meet with him. A rather lengthy sceneoccurs at this point, and upon its end, you'll get a nice little prize and afree Chocobo ride. Use the Chocobo and ride it up through the Ozmone Plain


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and head to the eastern area of Dagan Flats. Continue east from there.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A026] Golmore Jungle==============================================================================

Make an immediate left when you get inside (northeast) and follow the path toa fork. Turn right here and hack past the Malboro enemies to reach an urnwith the map of Golmore Jungle inside. This will make your trip through thearea significantly easier.

Proceed east from the urn and then follow the path south when you can. Thiswill take you to The Needlebreak zone. Make an immediate right (west) hereand then a left (south) followed again by another left (east). Just a littlebit ahead you'll find an area with a few chests. If you're interested inpicking up more crappy treasures, a similar stash of chests can be found inthe far southwest corner of the Paths of Chained Light.

From here, keep going east until you reach a barrier. Fran will perform alittle magic ritual, opening up a separate path for your party to take. Ascene occurs when you arrive.

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==============================================================================[A027] Eruyt Village==============================================================================

Speak to the Moogle near the entrance and be sure to purchase both the Esunaand Curaga spells from him. Speak to the Moogle next to him and purchase amap of the village.

Enter the main area of the village and speak with the people you find there.Your destination is the upper level, the Fane of the Path as it is called.Speak to Jote and return to the village entrance for another scene.

Make your way back through the jungle again and when you get outside, you'll

find a Chocobo wandering around with an injured guard nearby. Speak to theguard and offer him a Potion. In return you will be permitted to use theChocobo.

Take the Chocobo one screen west and almost immediately on your left you willsee a grassy area you can ride through with the Chocobo (there are a number ofother Chocobos already standing around here). This is a secret path to theother section of The Shred with the entrance to the mines.

______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A028] The Henne Mines==============================================================================

The basic concept of this mine centres on the use of various blue and redgates, which open and close alternatively through the use of switches.There's not much beyond that you need to know, I'll let you know whichswitches to press and when.

The first one is located just inside the mine on the left side of the track.It's blue by default, press the switch to change it to red. Now head southand go through the gate. Speak with the wounded solider here.


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Pressing the switch to open the blue gates will cause a number of slimeenemies to drop from the ceiling. After eliminating them, take either of thetwo exits now available to you. Get ready to take on an insane number of batsas you fight your way to the urn containing the Henne Mines map.

Loop back around to where you came from using either path. Press the switchagain and take the west exit. Follow the road to the Phase 1 Dig. You'llneed to navigate a few sharp corners here. Keep an eye out for a couple ofchests (if they spawn) before you come to a 4-way split.

You may find a couple of chests down at the southwest corner, and anothercouple if you go all the way south, then east to that dead end. Obviously youcan see (by looking at your map) that to reach your destination, you must gosouth at the 4-way, then turn left (east) at the first chance you get.

Time to do a little circular looping. Run all the way to the north end,ignoring the east track, and take the east exit door up there. Continuearound to the northeast of Crossover B (where you are) and go south from thereto reach Pithead Junction B.

Press the gate switch, and prepare for an insane slime ambush. You may haveto resort to desperate measures (Belias, Quickenings, etc) since there are somany, and you really don't want to die after all you've done.

With the switch pressed, take the west exit. You'll find yourself in afamiliar area and realize you've looped around. Once again head to the northend and take the east exit. The path now will be slightly different due tothe gate switch. Take the north path which is no longer blocked. Make sureto save your game.

---------------------------------BOSS: Tiamat - HP: 49993 - LV: 25---------------------------------

Despite its reliance on physical attacks, the Tiamat makes for a verydifficult boss. Its extremely high defense coupled with an equally inflatedHP total will likely make this a lengthy fight.

A couple of things you'll want to set up before the battle. In terms ofGambits, Curaga for sure. On pretty much anyone who can use it. I would alsosuggest manually casting Protect on your tank (whoever is taking the bulk ofthe hits) to really give you an edge for the battle. It'll save you a lot ofhealing.

An extension of this strategy is to totally buff up your main attacker beforebattle with not only Protect, but spells like Regen (to keep his/her HP up)and Decoy as well to keep the boss attacking that character. A combination ofall these will give you an enormous advantage.

If you have any Jackboots in your inventory, now would be the time to equip

them. Tiamat is very fond of using Disable on your party members andJackboots will protect against it. If you only have one pair then equip themon whoever is in the best position to cast Esuna and remove Disable fromanyone else.

Use whatever attacks you find most effective against this boss. Thatcertainly includes your most powerful Quickenings. If possible, it might be agood idea to save at least one Quickening for the end of the battle. When theTiamat's HP drops to about 15% it will give itself a huge defense boost,making it even more difficult to deal damage than it already is.


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______________________________________________________________________________==============================================================================[A029] Golmore Jungle==============================================================================

Before leaving the village, make sure to speak with the Moogle again andpurchase as many Golden Amulets as is necessary to equip them on your entireparty (even your reserves).

With the tear in hand, the barriers that blocked your path previously in thejungle are now no longer a nuisance. Return to the jungle and take the eastexit near the entrance to Eruyt Village to reach the Whisperleaf Way. Followthis path and make sure to use the Save Crystal.

-------------------------------------BOSS: Elder Wyrm - HP: 71692 - LV: 27-------------------------------------

If you thought the Tiamat was hard, the Elder Wyrm is going to have a fieldday with you. He certainly has no interest in fighting fair. We'll beginwith the basics: start the battle by launching a Quickening chain. Thisserves two purposes: one to deal MASSIVE DAMAGE to the boss, and second toeliminate those two treants he starts off with.

Buffing up your party prior to the battle is once again, a good idea. He hasa regular assortment of physical attacks which aren't particularly powerful,there are two main attacks you need to watch out for:

The first is a fireball blast which seemingly comes out of nowhere. This isreally only dangerous if the party member it hits is currently covered in Oil(which, given the boss' pattern of attacks, will likely be most of the time).You're looking at damage between one and two thousand that can easily wipe asingle character at full HP. Be ready with Phoenix Downs.

Speaking of being ready, you'll want at least two characters to "be ready"with the Gambit "Any ally: Esuna" given the boss' most dangerous attack:

Sporefall. Similar to Bad Breath in previous games, this inflicts a varietyof negative status effects on every member of your party. Esuna will wipe theslate clean, but you may have to be ready to use an Echo Herb on someone sothat they can actually cast it.

Nail the boss with your hardest physical attacks. It has a lot of life, andso this is going to take a lot of work, but if you keep these tips in mindthen you'll at least have a fighting chance.

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Head back to the crystal and save your game again. Now, take a look at yourmap. You will see that there are two paths leading east and both end at the

same location. Take the more northern of the two, the only difference s thatit has a couple of chests.

In the Paramina Rift, stay on the main path as you make your way east. Ignoreany branches leading further south. Eventually this road will take younortheast to Mt Bur-Omisace.

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