FINAL FANTASY III (e) WALKTHROUGH VERSION 1.0 COMPILED BY CHRISTOPHER LEE BOGER leslumens@yahoo.com http://darken.0catch.com/goblin/ggdomain.htm QUICK NOTE: This is my first draft of this faq. It may not be complete in all the little secrets of the game as I know them. It is, as stated, mainly a walkthrough to get you through the game. It will get you to the end of the game and allow you to find all the treasure chests along the way. I haven't even yet got my notes on the colliseum or Gau's rages typed up yet, so you will have to ignore any references I make to that in this. BEGINNING: Watch the events which occur. The fights afterward are pretty easy in the Magitech Armor. There's only one direction you can go, so the path isn't hard to figure out either. You may as well use the save point you find in the mine shaft since it's there. Just don't attack the Whelk when it is in it's shell. Head North after defeating Whelk to watch what happens with the Esper. Head out the door and make your way to the mines. There's only one path in the beginning. Watch your HP and remember you have magic! Use the save point when you reach it. North of this is a chest with Fenix Down inside it. Grab a Sleeping Bag in the West. Use it at the save point if you need to. Otherwise head North to the door and you'll fall in a hole and activate a dream sequence. Locke will come visiting the old man who saved your life. Locke will drop in and help you. Guards will appear and come after Terra, but Moogles will come out and join your side. A multi-party battle will ensue. Position one group at each of the three passages. Don't forget you probably have tonics and potions to heal if you need them. Once you defeat all the advance elements, take the strongest group you have to the South and fight the Marshall. The group with Mog is probably best since he has the Dance ability. Dusk Requiem causes quite a lot of damage at times. Locke will then carry Terra out of the mine. You'll end up South of town. Go explore a bit. The first building you see with the man standing in front of it is a good place to start. You get a tincture from a pot in the East room. There is also a save point here. Use it before taking the chest here. The chest is a monster chest containing a Lobo. Don't forget the spring of recovery in the main hall before you save again. Grab an item from the chest in the central room. The chest in the West room is a tonic. The people here also teach you quite a lot about playing the game if you speak to them. You can't go anywhere else in town, so exit and head South to find Castle Figaro. Go West of the central column of mountains, then turn West. Figaro lies in the middle of the desert. CASTLE FIGARO: Enter the two doors you can and open chests for items, then continue North. Take the Western door and grab another item, then head through the large central door and see the King, Edgar. Now you can wander freely through the castle. Go to the Western door you couldn't enter before first. Walking into the room in the North will allow you to rest and recover your HP. Now go down the stairs and make your way outside. Enter the tower to the West. Talk to the old woman for some history. Then head out of the tower and back inside the castle. Now go back and talk to Edgar in the Throne Room. An event will occur. Have Edgar talk to the two soldiers, then Kefka. You can explore the castle with Edgar, but the point is to go North and talk to Locke. Then take control of Terra and follow Locke. Talking to Locke sets off an event. Talk to Kefka with Edgar, then go North and talk to the soldier outside the Throne Room door. When you get in a fight, have Terra use magic and watch the other two character's reactions. Then use Edgar's Auto Crossbow to make short work of the Magitech's. Ride South on the Chocobo (Watch the little map in the corner to see where you are going.) You should see a cave. Use the B button to dismount and enter the cave. CAVE TO SOUTH FIGARO: Talk to the guard and enter the cave proper. Walk to the water in the North, which is a recovery spring that restores your HP and MP. Now continue through the doorway. The Auto Crossbow will make short work of the enemies here. Grab a chest after going up the stairs you see in the West. You can find a chest in the Southeast and another in the Southwest. Then hit the stairs which are in the central Southern area. Then simply follow the path to exit the cave. Head East then North and find a house, which is Sabin's. Grab a tonic from the bucket near the stove. You can rest in the Western bed. Talk to the old man outside for some information. Then head South for South Figaro. Search barrels outside for items. The house which spans the creek has a bridge behind it so you can walk to the other side of town. You can get an item from a bucket in the basement of an old man's house. Enter the inn and buy a pair of Sprint Shoes, equipping them on somebody and you'll be able to explore town faster. Upstairs a Southern door leads to the cafe where you can meet Shadow. Heavy Shields for everyone is a good buy at the Armor Shop. So are Plumed Hats. Cotton Robe for Terra and Kung-Fu Suit for Locke are also fine purchases. Regal Cutlass for Terra and Edgar are good buys at the Weapon Shop. Then you can give Edgar's Mithril Blade to Locke. I wouldn't worry about more tools for Edgar right now. Hock off all your discarded Armor for cash and stock up at the Item Shop on various curatives and tents. Now walk outside and save, then head East to find Mt. Kolts. It's slightly North and looks like a dirt path into the mountains. MT KOLTS: Follow the path into the cave and through it to get into another grassy path outside. Enter another cave just to the East. Head South around the round rock formation to a door and grab the Guardian Dirk for Locke. Now backtrack to the door. Go a little North and then head East. There's a tricky path around a rock formation here which leads to a chest containing the Atlas Armlet. Now backtrack and follow the twisting bridge to another cave door and grassy area. Head North and then turn East to go behind the peak to the other side. Follow the path and enter the first cave door you see. Follow the path to a chest, then backtrack and enter the second cave door. Follow the bridge to a cave door. Then follow the path and cross the rope bridge to another cave door. Use a tent to recover at the save point and save the game, then continue on through the cave door. Follow the path until you see a man at a cave door. Prepare yourself for battle before talking to him. Kill off the Bears first, then work on Vargas. After a while Sabin will appear and Vargas will use a technique to blow the rest of the party out of the battle. Use Sabin's Blitz technique by pressing Left, Right, Left, A when it tells you to. Until it tells you to do it, just keep hitting him and use items to heal when it becomes necessary. The Pummel will defeat Vargas in one try. Sabin will join the party. Now go through the cave door after restoring your HP. Grab a chest to the South. Then exit the cave. Follow the path North to the Returner's hideout. It's along the Eastern wall, not all the way up into the valley, so don't walk past it. Talk to the man to get yourself inside. Then grab a green cherry from the pot to the South and phoenix down from a chest in the Northwest behind the door. Then go through the door you were led to. Grab a potion from the chest and talk to Banon. After the event you'll control Terra. Walk around and talk to everybody. Go North through a doorway to acquire items from chests, buckets, and jars. Then head South and talk to the man guarding the entrance. Talk to Banon and say yes. Watch the event. Run back inside, rest and save before you continue on. Buy curatives if you need them. (especially a few eyedrops, you'll need them.) Equip Edgar with the True Knight and Sabin with the Gauntlet Relic. Put Banon in the back row. If he dies, then you have to restart from this save. Use his Health ability to keep the party in good shape. Now get on board the raft. RIVER RAPID RAFT RIDE: The first direction choice doesn't matter much. You'll reach a save point regardless of which one you choose. May as well use the save point since it's here. Use save points when the become available. Finally you'll find Ultros. Use Blitz, have Edgar attack, Terra should use the Fire spell, and Banon should use Health every time. If you're lucky Ultros won't use his tentacle attack on Banon. Once you beat him, Sabin will jump from the raft and eventually be washed down a different branch of the river. Now you have three choices of scenarios to choose from. Stepping on the star with Mog allows you to save at this point. Then walk to one of the three groups and choose your first scenario. It doesn't matter which order you take them in. << LOCKE'S QUEST: >> Equip him before you do anything else! Don't talk to any soldiers or you'll get in a fight. Go to the item shop and talk to the merchant in the back of the shop. Steal from him and you'll take his clothes too. (This may not work the first time, but keep it up until you get them) Equip that Plumed Hat you get as well. Now you can talk to soldiers who aren't in Magitek armor. You can also go through the old man's house to reach another section of town. Go into the basement and out the door to the North. Continue North and go up on the city wall. Repeat your stealing trick with the green armored guy you find up on the wall. Head toward the rich man's house and talk to the guard in the South who is preventing you from reaching the inn. He'll assume he's dismissed and leave. Go to the inn and go upstairs. Hit the doorway to the Southeast to reach the cafe. Go down the stairs in the East and talk to the merchant. Steal his clothes, then you'll receive the cider. Head back to the old man's house and talk to him. When you get to the boy, tell him the password is "courage" and he'll open a secret passage to the rich man's house. Don't fail to search the clock at the end of the secret passageway for an elixer. In fact, search every one of these grandfather clocks for elixers, many have them. Then head up the stairs and through the door. Enter the rich man's house now. Go upstairs and enter the first room you see. Walk behind the bookcase to find the secret passage. SECRET PASSAGE: Don't change your clothes at first. Search the first door and watch the event, then go in and talk to Celes. Remove her chains. Celes will join with you. Go search the soldier and take the Clock Key from him. Now head out and hit the second door for a save point. Equip Celes with whatever you can first (probably a Mithril Blade and a Plumed Hat if you have the Air Lancet on Locke) Hit the third door. Behind it grab a chest of gold. Then another in front of an old clock. More in the Southeast corner. Search the clock in the Northwest. Wind the clock to open a secret passage, now use it. Head East then South to acquire a chest containing Iron Armor for Celes. Don't forget that Celes has magic. Now go back to the main path and head East until you see a chest. Go North to reach these chests. Get the Heavy Shield and Regal Cutlass for Celes. Now backtrack to the intersection where you first saw the chests. You should find a secret passage to the South nearby. Head all the way South and grab Earrings from a chest. Equip these on Celes. Now go back into the secret passage which brought you here. Keep trying to go West with every step and you'll find a branch. Then try to go South every step until you find the passage taking you to the stairs and use them. Collect an x-potion from the chest. Search the wall South of the chest for a Ribbon and equip it. Go South and you can find an Ether. Then head back up the stairs. Head back to where you found the Earrings. Head Eastward to find the stairs and escape town. Run North to Sabin's house, rest, then go out and save. Then head through the Figaro cave. Use the recovery spring then head toward the door. You'll be caught in a fight with Tunnel Armor. Have Locke beat on it and Celes use Runic constantly. If you steal from it you can get an Air Lancet. You will then complete Locke's quest. << BANON'S QUEST: >> Remember to keep Banon healthy! Ride the rapids, then head West and then North to Narshe. Go through the secret passage Locke brought you through at the beginning of the game. Follow the path through the cave to the door, then head West and North up the stairs to another cave door. Again follow the path and exit the cave door. Here's the path through the maze. 2 steps North, 1 West, 1 North, 4 West, 3 North, 3 East, 3 North, 3 East, 3 South, 1 East, 3 South, 7 North, and finally 4 West. Now go through the door. Go through the doorway in the South wall you'll see shortly after entering this area. Head North to find the Moogle Cave. You can find a Rune Edge in the West to equip on one of the two. Just remember that it drains MP's to do extra damage. You may need those MP's for healing, so it's an if'y situation whether to equip this sword. Now exit Kupo Cave and continue through the cave to sneak into Narshe and you're done. << SABIN'S QUEST: >> You awaken near a house. Enter and talk to Shadow, have him join the party. Go in and talk to the old man then exit and talk to the Chocobo rider to buy yourself some items. You might want to buy some Shuiriken for Shadow to throw. The Sprint Shoes will make your life a lot easier as well. Don't forget to stock up on tonic. Now head East of the water then South to find the Imperial camp on a bridge. (If you cross a bridge without entering a base, head back North and go East of the water this time) Take a step South to set the events in motion. You'll control Cyan now. Walk down and fight the commander. Use Sword Tech 1 to make short work of him, but watch your HP. You will get a Black Belt, Equip it on Sabin for now, temporarily pass the Gauntlet to Shadow. Walk into the Eastern tent and hit the box you see. Take the Star Pendant and temporarily equip Shadow with it. Walk out and save the game real quick. Then head South to the second part of the base. Watch the event. Try to head South and set another event in motion. Fight Kefka and he'll run. Talk to him and chase him, then fight again. Head North before you chase Kefka again. Enter the tent and search the Eastern chest for a Mithril Glove and temporarily equip it in place of the Sprint Shoes. Then fight the tough monster-in-a-box for the Green Beret and equip Sabin with it. This fight is tough, and if you lose you'll have to watch the event again before you can retry. Don't forget to heal up! Now go talk to Kefka again. Fight the enemies then watch the event. Control Cyan now. There is only one way to go, so take it. After the King dies, go search the castle. Save the door just East of the King's for last. Hit the Southeastern door. (not the alcove door you see now, there's another farther South off the screen) Search a pot for a remedy. Now go back and enter the room I told you to leave alone. Watch the event. Then you'll take control of Sabin again. Heal up and go talk to Cyan. Fight the enemies, then talk and fight again, and one more time. Now you'll get in Magitek Armor. Unequip the relics from Shadow. Equip anything you can, including relics on Cyan, then head forward. Don't forget to take advantage of Magitek Healforce to save items. Heal up and save. Cross the bridge and head South, crossing another bridge to enter the forest. PHANTOM FOREST: Walk East as far as you can go then turn North onto the path. You'll use the recovery spring. Now head East again. Then turn South at the arrow sign. Head East and then North in the next area. You'll arrive at the Phantom Train. PHANTOM TRAIN: Walk West and you'll board. Once the train starts moving, go check the door you entered. It won't open. Now head East to the next car. Talk to the spook here and he'll join your party. Exit the car and come back in for another to join (That is if Shadow has left the party as he usually does) These spooks "possess" power kills them, but often kills an enemy instantly. When one of these spooks dies, you can't revive them. Now go North to a door in the center of the car. There's a save point here. Save and then head back to the West. Some of the spooks here will join up, some will fight, and some will sell stuff. Talk to them and see what happens. Exit this car. Make your way through the next train car in the same fashion. Exit this car. You'll have to enter the next one through a door facing you. Spooks will block the door. Talk to them, and set an event in motion which puts you on top of the train. Walk West and Sabin will jump you ahead a couple of cars. Try to enter the car you land on. Enter the car and hit the switch. Now walk back in and hit the switch again. Use that save point! Make your way through the car. Walk into the next car and sit down at the central table for a recharge meal. Walk back out of the car and walk along the rail outside to the other side of the car. Enter the car from the Western end to grab a chest containing Earrings. They don't do you any good at the moment. Now head to the next car. Enter the room to the North and search the chest. A man will appear and gripe. You should beat the crap out of him easily. Unfortunately he'll flee with the treasure. The next room doesn't have anything so just exit the car. Enter the next car. Nothing in the first room, so skip it. The next room has four chests. The Westernmost one is a monster-in-a-box. Beat it for the Hyper Wrist Relic. You can equip it on someone if you wish. Grab other goodies from the chests, including Sniper Sight relic which you may wish to equip on someone. Don't take off the Star Pendant for either of these relics, though. Now head for the next car. Any spooks you have in the party will now leave the party. Enter the door on the next car to find a save point and use it, then proceed forward to the engine. Enter the door and set the switches in this order: Down, Up, Down. Then climb up to the front of the engine and search to activate the Phantom Train, now fight! Have Shadow throw shuiriken if you have him, and he has them. Have Sabin use Pummell and have Cyan use Sword Tech 1. Watch your HP and heal immediately after an Acid Rain attack. You should defeat the foul piece of machinery. Watch the event. Talk to Shadow and Cyan to exit. Follow the path to the mountain trail. Take all the relics off Shadow and save your game. Climb the mountain to the falls. Shadow will leave your party here (if he already hasn't) Walk over to the little projection and jump when asked. You'll be fighting all the way down, so watch your HP and use your abilities to the utmost. Piranha should die with a single blow, so just whack them. Ruzopas is tougher, so use Dispatch and Pummel. Watch the event. Head South to reach the Veldt. If you happen to run into Gau, whack him once and he'll leave. You can't acquire him yet. Head East to the ocean and stick to the shoreline as much as possible to reach Mobliz, which will be on a Northern peninsula. Search a clock for an elixer. There's a bed to sleep in for free in the relic shop. Weapon shop sells Mithril Claw and Koletsus Sword. Buy 'em and equip 'em! Armor Shop sells Heavy Shield, Iron Armor and Shield for Cyan. Talk to the injured soldier and fulfill his requests. If you do enough of them, he'll give you a Tincture relic which heals your HP with each step you take. You probably won't have enough gold to do it all yet, so go get some dried meat from the item shop. You only need one. Go to the pigeon service and fulfill requests if you have the cash. Just keep sending stuff until the soldier gives you something. Otherwise wander the Veldt gathering gold. When you run into Gau, use the dried meat on him and he'll join the party. Have him jump on every new monster you cross to learn it's powers. Once you have fulfilled all the injured soldiers requests, and powered up Gau as much as you want to, head on to the next section. (You'll either have to sleep or talk to the Serpent Trench guy for enough time to pass for a package to reach Maranda) Pteranadon is one Rage in particular you will want to acquire for Gau. CRESCENT MOUNTAIN: Pretty simple, just enter, head North. Cross the twisty bridge to the East, head South to find the helmet, and jump in the trench. SERPENT TRENCH: Choose right fork when the option comes up. Grab an x-potion from a chest in the cave. Then exit the cave door North after healing up. Choose right fork again. Walk through the first cave to the stairs in the North. Walk past the pond and you'll find a switch in the floor. Step on it to lower the water. Now walk over and fall in the pit you can reach. Grab Green Beret from the chest. Equip it if it's useful. Head through the Southern door, then make your way back to the cave entrance. Be sure to heal up before you exit. Ride the last of the ride and wake up on a dock in Nikeah. Do some shopping and searching. A clock at the inn yields another elixer. The little boy who sells relics has the Fairy Ring, which is better than the Star Pendant if you are still using it. Weapons shop sells the Mithril Pike for Edgar if you wish to buy him one (a good idea). Buy better armor and helms for your group at the item shop if you can afford it. Stock up on curatives as well. Once you are done, get on the ship to South Figaro. Now the party will be reunited and a decisive battle will take place. << THE PARTY REUNITED: >> Have Terra equip herself and use the save point here before you do anything. You can change your active character by having them talk to another member of your party. This way you can get everyone equipped before the battle begins. Don't forget the Rune Edge will drain the MP of whatever character is equipped with it. And don't put any important relics on Terra! When you have finished equipping, save and then talk to Banon. Say "yes" when he asks you if you are prepared. Split your characters into three teams. Here's how I did it.... Terra, Locke, Sabin -- Edgar, Celes -- Cyan, Gau Position yourself to block all three paths. (Cyans group) Use Rage of the Pteranadon for a good multiple attack. Have Cyan use Dispatch for quick powerful attacks, or use Quadra Slam for a big smash if he has it. (Terra's group) Have Terra heal the party and blast with the Fire spell or attack. Locke should just keep attacking or occasionally use an item to heal the party. (Edgar's group) Have him whack with the Pike. Have Celes heal the party and whack away with her sword. Auto Crossbow doesn't do too bad against the groups of four Troopers. When enemies stop advancing, take whatever group you feel is the strongest down and talk to Kefka. I took Terra's group for Sabin's power and her healing ability. Have Terra just keep healing (and probably use Fenix Down as well). Have Locke use potion on anyone who is low, and he can attack occasionally if everyone is healthy. If you get a chance to steal ,and you are lucky, you can steal a Mithril Vest from the Rider. Have Sabin just keep Blitzing unless he needs to be an emergency potion user. Heal up, and if you managed to steal the vest, equip it! Then head down and talk to Kefka. Same conditions apply. You might be able to steal an Ether from Kefka. He'll escape before you can finish him off and you'll get a Peace Ring relic. Watch the event (it's a big one!) When it comes time to form your party, take Edgar, Sabin, and two others to Figaro. Search Narshe before you leave, though. There's an elixer in the clock in the very house you are in! Some nice relics are in chests at a nearby house. The armor shop also sells Mithril Shields which are good for many characters, especially Gau and Sabin. Flail for Celes and Full Moon for Locke aren't bad. Remember, that the Thief Dagger automatically tries to steal from an enemy every time Locke attacks, and that Celes will not be able to use her Runic ability while equipped with the flail. Stock up on items, then head for Figaro Castle. Spend one night at the castle to see an event. Now go back to Narshe and change your party so that it it Locke and Celes and one other person. Return to Figaro castle and talk to the man in the basement to submerge the castle and ride it to Kohlington. You may also want to buy Edgar some more tools from the weapon shop inside Figaro. In Kohlington, first enter the cafe and talk to Shadow. He'll join the party for 3000 gold. Sleep at the inn for an event. This can be done four times. Now go to the Northwest house for another event. Grab an elixer from the clock here. You can buy a Headband for Shadow if he doesn't have one. Equip him with relics and such as well. Don't equip him with terribly important items, however, as he may leave the party at any point in time. Head to a house in the Northeast for another event. Walk around to the back of the house and enter it to grab a chest with a Green Beret. Exit town and head North. You should find a small house with a crazy old man in it. The important thing, however, is to search the jar for a Hero Ring. Now make a long trip South, following the Western coast, to reach Jidoor. The armor shop here has several good buys. Weapon shop provides stronger weapons for Shadow, Sabin, and Cyan. There are also skeans for Shadow to throw, though you probably can't afford too many. Enter the biggest house you can find, which is in the North, and talk to the man there. Go through his bed and North of him to steal a tincture from the pot. Now head North to Zozo. You can ride a Chocobo if you wish. Good items can be stolen from critters here, so keep the Thief Dagger on Locke and have him attack only creatures he hasn't stolen from yet in the fight. Watch out for the Gigas! This is a great place to gain levels, so you may want to switch party members every so often. Just talk to the man in the basement of Figaro to ride back under the mountains and reach Narshe. ZOZO: Enter the first door you see, it has a cafe sign out front, and ascend. Go through a door in the Southeast at the top and you will find a tincture in a chest. Use Flash tool to make short work of vanished critters, or if Edgar isn't in the party, use magic. Now exit the cafe. Go to the Southwest and locate the relic shop. Climb the tower. You'll see a door while you're on one of the outside stairs. Enter and take the Thief Glove from the chest. Now use capture to attack and steal every time! Combined with the Sneak Ring, this makes Locke a thieving dynamo! Now exit this building and go outside and save. You'll have to use the crane to descend all the way. If Shadow has left your party, go back to Narshe and change party members. Don't forget to stop in Jidoor on the way back here and buy them new equipment. Now go to the inn in the North. Search the clock as set it for Six hours, Ten minutes, and Fifty seconds. Enter the secret passage which opens and get the Chainsaw tool for Edgar. Now go back to the relic shop and ascend again. This time, before you get to the door where you found the Thief Glove, you'll see an open doorway while you're on the outside stairs. Walk into it and then walk West to jump between buildings. Then do the same thing to jump from this tower to the next building. Head North then West when you get inside. Grab a tincture from a jar. Then head South to the door. Ascend and exit the door in the West when you reach the top. Climb the stairs and enter the door you see one level before the person standing on a stairway landing. Grab the Fire Knuckle for Sabin here. Equip him with it if he's in the party. Now ascend the next flight of stairs. Heal yourself up and talk to the person standing here. Fight him to get a Headband and open the path upward. If you have Locke in the party you can steal a Jewel Ring from him as well. Ascend and enter the door. Grab Running Shoes in the West. Grab an X-potion in the East. Continue North and you'll find Terra. Talk to her. Watch the event. Then run around and collect the Magicite. Equip party members through the skills menu first thing. Then talk to Terra and exit the room. You'll find the rest of the party at the door. Talk to them to set off an event. Form a new party and equip them with the Espers. Instead of going on to Jidoor, walk back into town and get instructions on Espers from spooks here. Make sure you put the Kirin on Locke since he'll be in the party for sure in the next area. This way he learns cure spells. Walk around Zozo for a while and build up power and spells. You can run back to Narshe and power up others as well, if you wish. You'll have to re-equip party members if you change them. You will learn spells faster if you are inside buildings in Zozo. When you finally do decide to go to Jidoor, have Edgar and Sabin in the party so that you don't miss an event. Rest up, equip and save. Then go to the big house in the North and talk to the Opera Master. Then talk to Owzer. Take the letter the Opera Master drops. Now head South to the Opera house. Save before you enter!!!!!!!! Make sure somebody besides Celes in the party is wearing Sprint Shoes as well. Trust me on this one. Now talk to Impressario. OPERA HOUSE: You'll take control of Locke after a while. Send him East and South to exit the balcony. Then head for Maria's dressing room. Talk to Celes. Now you're in control of Celes. Read the book. Then head North through the door and West to get on stage. The first choice you should use is (Oh my hero...) Then use the following (I'm the darkness....) Then finally (Must I....) Then keep chasing and trying to talk to the guy who appears. Finally, climb up onto the balcony all the way to the end of it to complete your performance. You have to do all this stuff fast! The balcony is tricky. Head North, then East, then North and finally West to reach the end of it and press A. Now you'll be in control of Locke. Go read the letter you see on Maria's dressing room floor. Head back up and talk to the Impressario. You're timed on the next part so hurry! Head East and North first, through the side balcony to a door. Climb the stairs and talk to the guy who you find here. Throw the right (Eastern) switch and backtrack to Impressario. Now go West through the other side balcony to find stairs and a door. Walk on the beams and try to avoid rats if you can, but by all means, hurry! Nothing you do except talking to Ultros will stop the clock and you'll have to start all over again if you run out of time! Talk to Ultros to set off an event, then fight him. He doesn't have anything to steal, so just beat on him. The Fire Dance Blitz does good damage to him. Celes will be kidnapped by Setzer. Watch the event. When you get back control, search the ship. You'll find a free recharge and an item shop. Then talk to Setzer. After the event, you'll land outside the town of Albrook. Search a pot in the weapons shop for a tincture. Weapons shop sells Epee Swords which are good for Edgar and Celes. Don't forget you need to completely re-equip Celes! Armor shop sells Bard's Hat, good for many characters. You can reach the pub thorough the relic shop. Search a clock for an elixer. You can buy Amulets from the relic shop which protect against poison, dark, and zombie conditions. Once you're done shopping, head out of town and North to Tzen. Don't step into Vector as you're going past! You can sometimes steal Dragoon Boots from Wyverns. You can sometimes steal Tiger Masks from Ralphs as well. If you meet Guardian, RUN! Relic shop sells Black Belts. Mithril Helms are for sale at the armor shop, but you'll only gain one point of defense and lose a lot of magic protection as opposed to the Bard's Hat. Boomerang is on sale at the weapon shop for Locke. Put him in the back row while he is equipped with this. Once you've done your business, head West and South to Maranda. Armor shop sells Berets, which are handy for some characters. Mithril Mail is also on sale here. Nothing out of the ordinary in the weapon shop. Now run around and power up a few more spells. Make sure everyone in the party knows at least cure1 and that someone knows cure2. VECTOR: You can sleep for free at the inn just North of the entrance, but they steal 1000 GP during the night. There really isn't a whole lot else to do here (besides fight soldiers in the North part of town every time you turn around) so head East and look for an old man behind a box. Talk to him and he'll show you how to sneak into the Magitech Research Facility. Walk over to the box and press down to jump up on it and across the beams where you jump off onto a rail track. Now head into the facility. You can steal items from Commandos in here, and sometimes Mithril Mail from Proto Armor. Follow all the bridges and such Southward until you reach an area with two tubes. Enter the Eastern one to go grab the chest containing tincture. Then go up the ladder to get back on the path. Head North and enter a Western pipe to fall on some rollers and reach a chest containing the Flame Saver and Equip it if you can. Now jump on the hook to ride back to the path. Go back to where you found the tintibar and climb down the Western tub to get lower into this level. Grab the x-potion from the nearby chest, then go step on the rollers in the East. Grab the Thunder Blade from the nearby chest and equip it if you can. Grab a remedy from a chest a little farther South. Then step on the rollers. Go South and East to retrieve a chest containing Dragoon Boots. Then climb the nearby stairs to reach a door. Grab the Gold Shield from the area and equip it. Then head back out the door and follow the path back to where you found the Dragoon Boots. Take the path you see to the South and follow it to a chest with a tent. Walk down the stairs just South of this chest and head West. You'll find a door in the South wall when the path comes to a staircase in the North. Use it to reach a chest with the Gold Helmet and equip it. Now go up those stairs to the North and follow the path to re- emerge near the Dragoon Boots chest again. Return to where you first entered the level and jump on the rollers to the East. Watch the event, then jump on the rollers and fall down the hole. Go over to the door in the West without talking to the two Espers. Rest and Save at the save point you find here. Now talk to the horned Esper South of the door. He'll freak out and attack you. Use Runic every once in a while to draw off some of their magic attacks. Don't attack Ifrit directly (fight command) with anyone wielding Flame weapons. The Thunder Sword won't hurt him much either. Fire Weapons will do some damage to the Shiva, though. They have nothing to steal, so don't bother. Eventually they'll realize you're carrying Espers after you beat them enough and the fight will end. Talk to both Espers and they will turn into Magicite. Take it and equip it appropriately. Then go save again, recharging if necessary. (since you've probably stolen dozens of tents, why not do it?) Now go through the door Shiva was blocking. Follow the path up all the flights of stairs. Generals will sometimes offer up Mithril Shields. Go through the door and you're in the research facility proper. Only one path through here, so follow it. Heal up and go talk to the guy blocking the door. Use Runic, the Chain Saw, Aura Bolt, and beat on him with Locke. Sabin may also heal the Party with his Blitz while Runic is active. You can steal a Rune Edge from this critter as well. You'll get some sort of Elemental Weapon when you defeat him, equip it. Then head through the door. Head due North to reach a control panel and press A. Watch the event. You'll get a bunch of Magicite and Cid will appear. So will Kefka. Celes will cast a spell to save you all. Then follow Cid to escape. Use the save point you find, then talk to Cid again. Ride the car and fight enemies. You can steal Bolt Edges from them every time. When you reach the big boss, beat up his arms first, then work on the central body. Don't use the Blizzard Sword against him. The arms will regenerate. He's very hard to steal from, but stealing from the arms will net you tincture and the body will net a Tempest Knife for Cyan. Use the save point when the wild ride finally ends. Follow the rails and Setzer will appear. Kefka will activate defensive systems to try and stop you. Kill the cranes one at a time and don't use any electrical attacks against the West one or Fire attacks against the East one. Stealing only nets minor items. After beating the cranes you'll arrive in Zozo. Watch the event to have Terra rejoin the team. You'll have to control an Esper in a flashback during part of the event. During the Esper part, Head to the North with him and talk to the person lying at the Esper village gate. Say return together when asked. Now run out ant talk to everyone. Then go talk to the girl in the bed. Wake up and head for the main gate. Talk to the Esper guarding it and go out past him, then talk to the girl. Watch the event, then talk to the elder. Head for the house's door and press A. The girl will run out, so chase her to the gate and talk to the elder. Head through the gate now. Head up and talk to the girl when the wind starts blowing. After all the events are over, you'll board the airship and have full control over it. You can now change party members on board the airship. Go to Jidoor and the auction house. There are two pieces of Magicite to be bought here, though it might take a while to get them both. Meanwhile, you can get some relics too. Zoneseek costs 10,000 and Golem costs 20,000. You can take Gau to the Veldt and charge him up too. You won't gain any XP here, but you will earn points towards spells. Now head to Narshe. You'll be met at the gate and led to the Elder's house. After the event, wander around. Shops have new items. Remember that house that had the locked chest you couldn't open? Go there now and chase the thief who is trying to escape. Up near the Frozen Esper you'll find the thief has a Moogle held in his grasp. They'll get into it and both will be hanging off the cliff. Go talk to the Moogle and Mog will join your party! Now head for the Imperial Base. Just head through it, because there is nothing to find and nothing to fight. Head straight East and you'll come to the cave. CAVE TO THE SEALED GATE: Grab the Assassin Dirk from the chest before you go through the door here. Grab the Tempest Knife from the chest before you head through the door. If Cyan is in the party and doesn't already have it, equip it! The bridges in this area change position every so often. Watch to see which pieces remain constant and be on them when the bridges change. The chest in the East contains an x-potion. The one in the West contains the Coin Toss relic for Setzer. Once you've got them, head through the door. Head East first to acquire an ether from a chest. Now head back to where you came in and East through the passageway. Go up the rock stairs and cross the bridge, don't pull the lever. You'll see two more switches in the North. Pull the Western one to open a door. Here is a save point and a tent to use. Now go back and pull the switch above the Eastern bridge. When you fall head North through the cavernous door and grab the Genji Glove form the chest. If Cyan is in the party, equip it on him to wield tempest and another Knife for great damage! Now go and pull the switch above the Eastern bridge. Follow the new bridge South and grab ether from the chest. Now enter the doorway and follow the tricky hidden passage North. Grab an elixer from a chest, then continue West. Go South when you get a chance. Turn West and step on the switch to open a door and get several chests, including the powerful Atma weapon. Then go back and go North and pull the switch. Go East and pull another switch. Cross to the treasure chest and flip the switch inside it. Now go back across the bridges and North to grab magicite from the chest. Continue East and go through the door. Go North and walk through the huge cave to the Sealed gate. Watch the event. One whack on Kefka is enough to get the event rolling again. Head back through the cave. The doorway to the South you see almost immediately is a shortcut to the Lava rooms. Exit the cave and make your way through the imperial base. At the door to the exit, one of your characters will appear. Watch the event. When the airship crash lands, you'll be near Maranda. Get a team ready and head towards Vector. If Mog is in the party you should fight in different terrain areas in order to gain him new dances. Make sure someone has on Sprint Shoes before you enter Vector. The town will be burning and Returners will be everywhere. Saying no to the old lady in the real narrow house will allow you to fight in town. If Mog is in the party, this will eventually net you another dance. Head into the Imperial Castle. There's only one way to go. The Chancellor will meet you and escort you to the Emperor. Follow him since you can't go anywhere else anyway. Keep going North and talk to the Emperor. Now race to talk to as many soldiers as possible. Hit all those you see as you head South, then turn West. Skip the first door, head up a little farther and hit the next door. Talk to all the soldiers in the room you come to, then head back out. Go out to the South. Don't talk to the Western Magitech rider, unless you have some spare time at the end. There's a lone soldier South of here. Now go back in and head East past the first door you see and hit the second. Talk to the people in the library and a bathroom South. Then exit this area. Climb higher and hit the door. Catch all the guards here, including the walking one in the West, then go through the Western door. When you get back to the barracks, go talk to the guy who is in the bathroom. Then head for the Magitek Soldier outside. If you're lucky, you'll get about 23 people. Follow the trooper and take your place at the table. The toast should be "to our hometowns" "Leave him in jail" should be answer to the next question about Kefka. Then "What's done is done". "We trust Celes", for the next answer. Ask the first two questions (in order of appearance!), then talk about Espers. "Yes, the Espers have gone too far" is the next answer. Since you asked the questions in order, select the first choice. Don't take a break, just keep talking. "All you want is peace" for the next answer. Accompany Gestal when he asks. When you get to a certain point, if you talked to enough soldiers, They'll tell you that you can take the weapons from the locked door of the Imperial Base. Explore the castle. Head West first. Grab a couple of chests from the first door you skipped during the race earlier. Grab another item from a chest in the soldiers barracks. Now head back to the East. Head in the first door you skipped earlier and go to the cell door to watch Kefka fidget. Enter a cell and search a toilet for a funny reaction. Now head back out and up to the next door. Grab an item from the back of the library. Grab another from the bathroom South of the library. Now head out of town and to the Imperial base. Equip the two with good equipment before you go, since all your equipment is dumped into the item list. Enter the house in the South and go down the stairs. Grab a bunch of Gp, goodies, and relics. Then head out and off to Tzen. Find a guy in the woods up in the Northeast and he'll sell you Magicite for 3000 GP. Make sure you have it before you go talk to him! This Esper teaches you cure spells at a phenomenal rate. Now head out to Maranda. Save before you enter. Head to the docks and talk to Leo. Now go to the inn and take a free nap, activating an event. In the morning, go talk to Leo again. Then talk to Locke. When you regain control, equip Shadow. The Imperial Knife is nice on him. Save as well. Head North and onto a long peninsula to find a town. You might want to hang around outside, however, since you can steal Gaia Gear from the Baskevor's almost every time. Cephalers will net you remedies Equip the Sraphim Esper on everyone and get them all cure2 spell for good measure as well, it won't take long. THAMASA: Weapon shop sells Stout Spear for Mog and Edgar. Armor shop sells Mystery Veil, Gaia Gear, and other good armor. Mystery veil is *very* good for the girls. You can watch some interesting things in the North part of town. Don't forget to search barrels and such (you have been doing that everywhere haven't you?) Talk to the old man with the funky hair, he's the object of your visit here. When you get back outside, go to the inn and take a rest. A house will catch fire during the night. Talk to Strago when you leave the inn. Try to avoid the flames if possible. If you have Fire Elemental weapons equipped, take them off! If you have any Ice Elemental weapons, equip them. Follow the path at first. You'll come to two doors, take the Eastern one. When you reach two more doors, take the Eastern one again to gather a Fire Rod from a chest. Then take the Western door. Same thing again in the next area to get a Blizzard Rod. Equip this on Strago, then head through the door. At the top of the stairs, you see a flame in the center of the room. This is a boss, so heal up and attack. Terra should morph and use Ice spells. Locke should just wail on him. Strago should strike with the Ice Rod and use Aqua Rake every time the critter summons balloons to help. You can steal a Flame Sabre from the main monster. After the battle, watch all the events. Head out of the house and Shadow will leave the party. Now head out of town and save. Successfully stealing from a Chimera will net a Hyper Wrist. Head West and go around the Southern tip of the mountains. Then head North to the cave. GATHERING PLACE OF THE ESPERS: Follow the path and grab the Heal Rod from the chest. Only equip it if you need to emergency heal someone during a battle. It heals opponents attacked with it. It does screw up undead attacked with it, though. Stealing form Adamancht nets Gold Shields. Take the Eastern doorway since the other two are unprofitable loops. Just scamper up the mountain side to a cave door in the next area. Head East once inside and you'll see Relm. Follow her. Climb up onto the platform with the odd structure on it in the next cave for an event. Head South from the statues and Ultros will drop in. Kick the crap out of him with normal attacks and the occasional Bolt. You can steal a White Cape from him with Locke. Once you've beaten him enough, Relm will drop in. Watch the rather silly event, then resume battle and have Relm use Sketch. Ultros will see his true self and flee. Relm will now join the party, so equip her. Now head for the other doorway. May as well use that save point you come across upon entering. Step on the Northernmost block you see in the floor. Grab a Chocobo Suit from a chest through the Northern door you see upon falling. This is good for Strago or Relm. Go through the Eastern door to get a Tabby Suit, likewise good for Strago or Relm. Equip them by all means. Go to the bridge farthest South back in the cavern to get back on the path. Make your way back to the save point and fall down the Easternmost hole. Follow the bridges East and grab an x-potion from a chest. Step on the Southern bridge to back track to the save point again. Now step on the final block and head North to the doorway. Follow the path outside to the cave door. Head South in the final cavern to come across the Espers. After several events, including the betrayal, you'll take control of Leo. Go fight the Magitek troopers and have some fun with his shock ability and good swordsmanship. You can't beat them, so run after you're done playing. Now go talk to Kefka and fight a battle. Beat on him and use Shock. You should win easily. Unfortunately, it was only Kefka's shadow. Kefka will then kill Leo. The sealed gate will blow open and Espers will come on the attack. Kefka will neutralize them and gather Magicite. You give Leo a warriors funeral. Now the rest of your party arrives in the repaired airship. Save, then take to the air. Watch the events unfold. Before you go find the floating continent, power up your team members. The Veldt is a good place to power up Gau and Strago, who may learn new abilities here. Wander the world for places that Mog may gain new dances. Mountain fighting may be found on Mt. Kolts. Serpent trench will get you the Water Rondo dance. You'll have to go all the way back through the Phantom Forest and Barren falls to get back to the airship, though. Strago can learn new powers on this journey as well. Don't worry, no Phantom Train this time. Along the way stop at Doma Castle to collect and elixer form the clock and goodies from a chest by entering one of the first two doors and then entering the Western door. Grab an x-potion from Cyan's room, then go through the doorway South of his room and walk South on the wall to a room containing goodies and the Beads relic. Even if you don't take the Serpent Trench adventure, do go to Mount Kolts and Doma Castle by airship. Mog can't learn the Snowman Jazz yet, so don't bother looking. This next adventure is tough, so I recommend powering up, armoring up, and getting your spell power up. You'll only be allowed to take three people onto the floating island, so pick them out and power them up specifically. It's difficult to say who you should take up here. There's a way to exit once you hop on board, so maybe you'll want to explore with different parties to find out which party best suits you. THE FLOATING ISLAND: Here's a few things you can steal while on the island: Behemoths - Running Shoes Wirey Dragons- Dragoon Boots Misfit - Back Guard Brainpan - Earrings Apokryphos- Cure Ring Before you can even get on board the island you'll be forced to fight off the Imperial Air Force. The rank & file enemies aren't that tough. You can just beat on them and do pretty well. You can steal tincture, and sometimes elixers from the Spitfires. When the enemies stop attacking, head to the back of the ship and you'll discover Ultros has landed there. Walk up to him to start a fight. Beat up on Ultros, even after Chupon appears. Once you've beaten him, take on Chupon. Basically just beat on him as well. When you beat him, he'll sneeze you off the ship. Ultros only has Dried Meat to steal. Chupon has a Dirk to steal. Now you must fight Air Force. Take out the Missile Bay first, then the Lasar Gun. Finally work on the main body. When he launches the speck, take it out with two characters while the third hits air force. You'll get a Czarina Ring for defeating him. Steal x-ether from the Lasar Gun, elixer from the main body. It's hard to do and dangerous, but you can steal a Debilator from the Missile Bay. This is a useful tool for Edgar. Specks have Amulets, but they're hart to steal from and it's not really worth it. Now you're on the Floating Island. Use that save point! Now head South and talk to Shadow. He'll join your team. Equip him before you move because he's butt naked! Then go save again. Don't forget about Shadow's useful throw command. There are numerous beasties that this will be very useful against here. He can throw old useless weapons for big damage as well as the standard throwing weapons. Now go East and climb the stairs. A path will open farther East. Follow the path South and a new path will open. Continue following the path until you see a blue globe in the North. This is a "treasure chest" containing the Murasame Knife for Cyan. Head East just past the chest and North into the rock formation to open a path. Head East before you hit it and open a path to a "chest" which is a monster-in-a-box. The Gigantos in this box is dangerous, so watch your butt! You can steal an x-potion from him. After you beat him you'll get a Hardened Dirk for Shadow. Now head North and go down the mud pit. Head South when you emerge, then down the stairs. You should find a switch to step on which moves some rock formations. Follow this path East until you find another mud pit and use it. Use the Western mud pit you see upon emerging. Step on the rock switch to move some stuff farther back. Now head Northward to locate another rock switch and step on it. Now head East across the rock formation you just moved. You'll come to two ramps leading South onto a pebbled rock formation. Head down there and East across the rock formation you moved with the switch earlier. Follow this path East then North. Then East and North again to reach a rock switch. Stepping on it opens a mud pit, but don't step on it yet. Head East past it and gather a Beret from the "chest" for Relm. Now go South down a ramp into a mud pit. Here you'll find a handy save point. Use it. Walk back into the light beam to rise back out. You'll have to step on that rock switch again to open the mud pit once more. Now use it. At the bottom of the ramp, after emerging, you'll have the option of jumping back onto the airship. If you want to build up other party members on this island, now is the time to exit. Shadow will leave the party if you do, but he'll be waiting back at the beginning of the island when you return. Follow the path and you'll open it up farther. You'll see a beastie waiting for you. Charge your HP to max and talk to it. This fight is rough, so watch your HP. Have Shadow throw anything he can get his hands on. Steal an elixer from him if you want. Thieves Knives and Flame Sabres do good damage when thrown. (Hope you stole a lot of them from Slamdancers) Shadow will leave after you defeat the Atma Beast. Go back and save, you don't want to fight this guy again! If you have intentions of powering up other party members, go back and jump off onto the airship now. If not, head North up the ramp and confront Gestahl and Kefka. Make sure someone has on Sprint Shoes first!!! Watch the event, If Celes isn't in the party, she'll show up. This makes the next part easier for you since you'll gain an extra person in the party for the forthcoming fights. Basically, don't have Celes in the party when you go to confront Kefka! When Shadow tells you to run, do so. There's nothing to steal from the critters, so beat on them. When you see the chest, and the ground starts breaking, head South and come back to grab an elixer. Then talk to the star and fight. After that head for the cliff. When asked, say wait the first time. Take a step back and say you will wait for Shadow when you step back up again. Then it's time to do just that. He will not show up until there are only a few seconds left, but he does show up. If you don't wait, you will lose Shadow forever! You'll jump automatically when Shadow shows up at 5 seconds. After all the events (Boy, I summed that up didn't I!) you take control of Celes in the World of Ruin. Equip her first thing. Make sure you give her Sprint Shoes. Take a step outside to the East or West and save. Then go South and catch fish by pushing the A button when they are in front of you. Don't catch the really slow ones. Try to catch the fastest ones, but above all, catch lots of fish fast. If you can grab more than one quickly, do it. Check your item menu, hit B and move over to rare and make sure you don't have any poison fish. If you do, hit reset and try again. Once you have some fish, run up and talk to Cid quickly. Eventually, if you're quick enough, Cid will recover and show you to a raft. If you don't see any fish when you show up at the beach, or if you only see slow ones, talk to Cid to change the fish. Search the raft to activate the event. Now go back to the raft and take a little cruise. You'll arrive near the town of Albrook. Enter town and check things out. You'll discover that someone was here looking for their friends recently and went to Tzen. Why not go there. Buy several smoke bobs before you leave (I'd say at least 10) The moment you step into town, something will happen. Head North to find out what it is, but make sure your Sprint Shoes are on! You'll see Sabin holding up a section of a house. Talk to the woman, then talk to Sabin. Note that Fire2 will wipe out Scorpions in a couple of shots and it will destroy PM Stalkers and Hermit Crabs in one. It's quicker to use smoke bombs to escape the Scorpions and wipe out the other groups with the Fire2 spell. Head into the house, grab a Heal Rod from a nearby chest, then head West. Grab a tincture from a chest, then head South. Hit the Eastern door for a chest with a Pearl Rod. Near the Western door is a Hyper Wrist. The chest above the stairs is a monster-in-a-box containing nothing so leave it alone. After you go down the stairs, head South and West to grab a Drainer Sword from a chest. Grab Magicite from the Eastern chest near the boy. Leave the Western chest alone, then hurry outside! As soon as you go up the stairs, head North through the door for a shortcut and run outside. Sabin will rejoin with you, so equip him. Do any town business you need to and then head outside. The Drainer Sword looks good, but will only do damage if you need healing, and then only as much as you need HP. Now head East and find the Serpent Trench. Cross it and head far East, then North to reach Mobliz. Save before you enter. Dogs will bark at you when you enter and you'll see a small child. You can still sleep for free in the relic shop in the Northern part of town just as you did in the World of Balance. Now enter the house you saw the boy come from. When you enter, Terra will come out. Talk to everyone, then enter Terra's room and talk to her. Town will suddenly be attacked when you go out the door. You'll take control of Terra. Have her fight, though it will be futile. Celes and Sabin will come to the rescue. Just have them beat on the critter and watch their HP. Phunaba will eventually run and you'll be brought back into the house. As you leave, a little boy will give you another Magicite "Fenrir". Since Terra doesn't want to fight anymore, may as well head out of town and backtrack to the Serpent Trench's beginning. You can find a Chocobo Stable in the woods South of Mobliz so you can ride if you wish. This time head North past the tower you see to reach Nikeah. Now head into the cafe. Talk to everyone, then go outside and follow the thieves. Talk to everyone aboard ship. Now head back into town and North. You should spot Edgar West of the weapons shop, talk to him. Keep following him and talking to him. You'll stow away on board the ship to South Figaro. Armor shop sells Diamond Armor, better than the Vest for those who can equip it. Weapon shop sells Gold Lance. It might be a good idea to buy one. Don't forget to search for items! After doing all your town business and saving, Go talk to Edgar in one of the rooms at the inn. Now head to the cave West of town. Talk to Sigfried so you can get into the cave. Head through the first doorways you find every time to locate the thieves. Now follow them. The thieves have cleaned out the chests, so just head West to the door after you jump across on the turtle. Head North and you'll see Siegfried steal the last chest. Now go back and head West. There is a doorway in the Southern alcove at the end of this passage. Now follow Edgar upstairs in Figaro Castle, then keep hitting the Down stairs until you reach basement 2. Head North and take the stairs. Then follow the path to an area with many doors. Hit the two Southern ones and grab lots of goodies from the chests you see first. You can equip the Crystal Helm on Celes. Now hit the door in the Northwest. Follow the path to obtain the Regal Crown and equip it on Sabin. Now backtrack to the room with all the doors. Hit the central and final door. Follow the path and heal up right before you go through the door. Now head North and talk to Edgar. You'll now be fighting Tentacles. Don't attack a tentacle holding someone or you'll hurt them as well. Air Blade and Flash don't hurt the seized person, however. Try to work on tentacles one at a time when you use direct attacks. Go through the door and search the statue for the Soul Sabre. It's about like Drainer in usefulness, except it occasionally casts Doom on enemies. Handy to have around for recovering MP, though. Now make your way back into the castle proper. Talk to the guy who moves the castle and he'll take you across the sea to Kohlingten. Shops here have good things for sale. Head into the inn to locate Setzer. The map will come up and show you where to go next. Equip Setzer and set out. Trump Cards are nice, but against certain foes, they may seem to kill the enemy, but actually bring them back to full strength. Thus you had better keep those darts. DARYL'S TOMB: Walk North and Setzer will open the door to the tomb. Head South through the door into the basement. Go East and South first to grab the Gengi Helmet, which is good for many characters. Now head back out and hit the Southwest door for Crystal Mail. Head down the stairs and collect the Czarina Gown. Then head East through a secret passage to collect the Experience Egg Relic. Remember you've got this in case you have a character way behind in XP who needs to catch up. Now go North and pull a switch. Then backtrack to the original room. Hit the Northeastern door and talk to the tombstone to open a door. Use it and pull the switch. Now hit the South central door in the main room and jump on the turtle. Pull the switch. Before you head for the turtle, go South and read the two headstones. Now go hop on the turtle. When you arrive in the next room you see a save point, use it. The chest North of this is a monster-in-a-box containing the Dragon Claw for Sabin. The Doom Darts seem to do a good job of wasting him. The Eastern chest contains the Man-Eater Dagger, which is actually a fine weapon. Now, if you want to, you can go back to the main room and enter the Northwest door. Enter the carvings in this order (I use only the first letters) T, D, Q, E, to spell out The World is Square in reverse. It only tells you not to miss the Experience Egg in the basement, which you should already have, but it's neat. Otherwise, go to the door between two chests and search the tomb with the flowers on it. You'll have to fight Dullahan. Just beat the tar out of him with main force, he's not that tough. This will open the Northern door and allow you to watch the event and descend to the air ship. You'll follow the bird automatically. Land and enter the town of Maranda. Talk to Lola in the house above the girl running in circles. She'll ask you to attach a message to a carrier pigeon. The pigeon is on the East side of the house. Watch it fly and note where it lands carefully. Zozo must be where Cyan is. Weapon shop sells edges and the Falchion Sword. The armor shop sells several useful items as well. When you're ready, head for Zozo. Beware running into the Doom Gaze while you're in the air. He's tough, but can't restore his HP after battle, so eventually you'll wear him down and beat him. I wouldn't try it yet, because you're too weak. ZOZO: Talking to the bird doesn't accomplish much. Head West then North and find the guy who looks like a merchant. He'll sell you Rust-Aid for 1000 GP. Follow hid directions and head for the cafe, which is the first building in town. Climb to the top and go to the Southeastern door. Now climb and go to the Western door. Press A and the Rust-Aid will dissolve the rust, allowing you passage. Now you'll enter Mt. Zozo. Grab an Ice Shield from the Western chest, then head South. Kill Ursus quickly or they'll make off with your gold. Grab a Red Cap from the chest you see, then go South down the ramp. Follow the path and grab the Thunder Shield from the chest in the beam of light. Follow the path through the Northern exit now. Grab Aegis Shield from the chest. Go through the lighted doorway right above you and grab the Gold Hairpin relic. This is a heck of a relic to equip on your main spell-user Celes. Head back in and go through the bigger lighted doorway to the North now. Cross the bridge outside and enter the cave. Use the save point you see, then step on the switch in the East. Walk around until you run into the Storm Dragon. Beat him up by main force and don't have the Ice Shield equipped on anyone or you'll be sorry! Watch your HP, 'cause this guy is tough! Designate someone to do nothing but constantly heal. You'll get the Force Armor for defeating him, as well as kill one of the dragons which seals away the Crusader Esper. Rest up and Save. You don't want to fight this beastie again. Now head South and exit the cave door. Cross the grassy area to another cave door. Now read the letter on the table. Now go out and talk to Cyan through the other cave door. After the event, head outside and look for something sparkling near where you found Cyan. Search this spot and you'll acquire the key to the chest Cyan has in his cave. You'll find the book on machinery and the book of secrets in the chest. (I've never found a use for either) Now exit the cave. Seems Gau's on the Veldt. Better go pick him up. Put Cyan in the party and equip him too. Fly to the Veldt and land with only three people in the party. Fight a few times and eventually Gau will show up and join you. Equip him first thing, then wander around the Veldt and power him up. The Eastern peninsula seems to attract new creatures to me, but it may just be coincidence. Whenever you've powered up to what you consider enough new rages on Gau, head for the cave on the South end of the Veldt. CAVE ON THE VELDT: Head North. The first eastern passage is a dead end. Grab the Rage Ring relic from the chest. The thieves just tell you how to find Gau, which does no good since you have him. Head North through the door. Follow the path through a cave door. Follow this secret passage to a monster-in-a-box containing the Tiger Fangs for Sabin. The Rage of the Power Demon works well here if you have Gau with you. This rage uses a power the monster is weak against, while protecting Gau from all of it's powers. Now head back into the secret passage. It's tricky, but you can go South somewhere in the middle of this passage to a doorway, do so. Just follow the path to the door in this area. Once through the door, follow the path to the rock bridge, then East, then South to another door. Go South through the door and down the ramps to grab Striker Dirk from the chest. Now go back North and pull the switch. Head North again and East thorough the newly opened passage. It turns South to exit from a door. Outside the door, follow it South then Northward under a rock bridge for a doorway. Use the door and then you'll see a save point under a rock bridge. If you have more than three people in your party, now is the time to exit and come back later. Otherwise, head through the Western doorway after you save. You'll have to fight two Sr. Behemoths. Watch your HP and beat on them. Most magic has minimal effect. You'll get a Behemoth Suit and a Thunder Blade. You'll then automatically fly to Thamassa and drop Shadow in a bed. There will be a flashback sequence. Then talk to Shadow. Head out into town. Weapon shop sells some good items. Now head out of town. If you come back in, Shadow will be gone. Fly to the Coliseum, it's North of Kohlington. Run around and talk to all the people except the guard in front of the double doors, come back to him last. Say, "With pleasure" when he asks you to fight. Wager the Striker Dagger. You'll fight Shadow, and should win easily. You'll get your Dirk back and Shadow will rejoin the team. Now fly to Jidoor. Enter Owzer's house. (Farthest North) Turn on the lights by searching the lamp at the foot of the stairs. Now go search the portrait of Emperor Geshtal twice to receive the letter. It tells you where to hunt for the treasure, whatever that is. Now go talk to the portrait of the lovely lady to the South. Fight the Dahlings, they aren't that tough. A door will be revealed to the basement. Just descend the stairs when you find them just inside the door. Walking in front of the portrait of a chair in the South gets you into a fight. Beat the enemies in the picture and head to the Northwest and the Western door. Grab a Moogle Suit from the chest. Now head back out and hit the Eastern door. Ahead you'll see three doors that are randomly opening and shutting themselves. Go through the Western one. You can't enter the Eastern one anyway. The other two just deposit you back in the first room. At your next door choice, take the Western one. You'll fall out in a room with hovering treasure chests. Walk under them to make them drop. You'll have to fight, but then you collect the goodies. Talk to the portrait of a suit of armor to fight a beast and reveal a doorway. use the doorway to reach a save point. Use it then hit the Northeastern doorway, the other dumps you back at the beginning. Just follow the path in the next area. You'll come to some huge dude and Relm painting above him. Talk to Ginormous, who is actually Owzer You'll be forced to fight a demon in the painting. Basically just beat on him. If Shadow is in the party, have him throw some inexpensive shuiriken to good damage. Only attack when it is in demon form. After the fight, search the bookshelf for the magicite "Starlet". Then Relm re-joins the party, promising to return to finish the painting. Now fly to the tower on the Serpent Trench, not Kefka's tower, the one in the trench where his cult hangs out. Relm has to be in the party. Enter and Relm will pull Strago out of his trance. Don't try to climb the tower yet. Get back in the airship and head for Thamassa. Watch the event (You'll need Relm and Strago in the party) You don't have to go to Ebot's Rock immediately, as a matter of fact, I wouldn't advise it. Fly around and check towns for equipment for your party members first thing. Then get yourself a good party together and head for Molbliz, where Terra is. Head into the house where Terra lives and talk to the kids. Then go to the house to the West of it. Talk to Dwayne. Then go behind the bookshelf and down the stairs. Talk to Terra, then head outside when Punbaba attacks. Your front two people will get blown out of the party and Terra will join you. Fire2 seems to work well. After the battle, Terra rejoins the party. Don't forget to equip her, Maranda is a good spot if you don't already have the items on hand. Now get Sabin in the party and fly North of Narshe. You should find a mountain and five trees in the shape of a cross. Land and walk to the center of the trees to find a cabin. Trying to enter the cabin causes Duncan to appear. Sabin will now have learned his most powerful blitz, the Bum Rush. There's nothing to find in the cabin, so get back in the airship and fly East and slightly South until you spot another cabin. Have Gau and Sabin in the party, then land. Enter the cabin and talk to the old man. Events will ensue in which Gau is cleaned up a bit. Then you'll come back to the cabin. Gau's father won't know him, but Gau is happy he's alive. Now put Cyan in the party and fly to Maranda. Talk to Lola, then exchange the letters by searching the one on the table next to her. STAR ISLAND: Now take a party that needs to learn spells and fly to the star shaped mountain range North of Tzen. Press B at the central clearing to enter. This is a two party adventure, so you can have up to eight people powering up. Make sure whoever is going in is equipped with Espers before landing. Have your first group enter the cave, if you need to return to the airship, the hook to the West may be accessed by pressing A in front of it. Have this group stop on the switch you discover immediately upon entering the cave. Then switch your party to the other group. Have this team enter the cave and go through the door the switch opened. Head West and walk in front of the chest. You'll fall down a hole when you do. Head South and find the stairs up. Step on the switch you find after ascending the stairs to make a bridge across to the chest and grab the Wing Edge for Locke from the chest. Now head East past the ramp you came up when you first entered and turn south, walking under a rock arch to trigger a switch. Now switch to your other team. Have this team go through the new door and North to trigger a switch which lowers some spikes. Then switch teams again. Have this team go past the spikes you just lowered, and East. Then go South to trigger another switch and drop some more spikes down. Then switch teams again. Send this team East then South to a stairway, the chest in the North is empty. Head West and step on the switch after coming down the stairs, because the chests you can reach are empty. Now head back upstairs and step on the switch to drop the spikes again. Now switch teams. This team should head West, then down the stairs. Get on the S shaped bridge in the East after the bridge. At the end of it you'll have to jump across. Head North and repeat the maneuver. Then head North and East to trigger a switch. Now switch teams, but don't be standing on the switch when you do it. This team will have to hit a set of spikes to go back downstairs, so keep an eye on your HP. After you do it, heal if necessary. Once you get downstairs, head East then North. Remember there's nothing in that chest. There is now a path opened farther North so take it. Go through the new doorway. Then go South through another to trigger a switch and switch teams. Again, don't be standing on the switch when you switch your teams. The chest behind the spikes is empty, so head North through the new passageway. You can reach a save point now, so use it. Then head North across the bridge, trigger the switch to drop some spikes and switch teams. Send this team North through the door and through the spike area you just lowered. Go down the stairs you find at the other end. Hop across the rocks West, then South, then East, then North from the Eastern bridge since the chest at the end of the Western bridge hop is empty. Now go through the doorway you find. Pull the switch to drain the water and cool the lava. Then switch teams. Send this team West and have them trigger the switch to move the rocks and switch teams. Send this team through the newly opened passage and South. Make sure you're well healed and confront the Red Dragon. Use Ice spells and such against it. You'll get the Strato Knife for Cyan and take out one of the guardian dragons. Grab the nearby chest for a Dragon Horn relic. Then head North, step on the Northmost switch, and change teams. Go save while you have the chance, then head Westward through the rocky path to a doorway. Grab a Ribbon from a chest to the South. Then go to the Northwest corner and find another staircase up. Follow the path at the top of the stairs until it comes to an apparent dead end, turn East and hop across the rocks to join your other party. If you wish, you may now send the other party back to the save point to recover. Head both teams down South and trigger the two switches to open a path farther on. Pick one of your teams to continue onward through the dungeon and send them South. Follow the path and locate Locke. Now an event will occur and transport you to Kohlington. Because of the cracks in the Pheonix Esper, it won't be able to restore Rachel for long. She sacrifices the power of her love and her short remaining moments to restore the Magicite to it's full power. Locke will overcome his grief and join the party. He will also hand over the treasures of the Pheonix cave. Now hop in the airship and head for Narshe. Make sure Locke is in the party. Stop at the Weapons shop. You can have the man in here either give you the Esper Ragnarok or make you the Sword Ragnarok. Since there is another way to get the Ultima Spell, I usually take the Sword. Now find your way back up to the frozen Esper. You can steal a Partisan Lance from test riders, numerous elemental rods from wizards while on the snowfield near the Esper. Along the way you'll encounter a dragon. Try to avoid it until you've saved at the save point you used so long ago during the multi-party battle against Kefka. Go save, then come back to fight the dragon. Attack the Dragon with Fire based attacks to defeat it easily. The dragon has nothing to steal, but you'll get the Force Shield when you defeat it. Go back to the save point and save your game. Now go get into a fight with the frozen Esper. Fire spells are the only real way to damage this thing. You'll receive the magicite Tritoch when you defeat it, then a portion of the cliff will fall away. Run back and save at the save point again. Walk North and jump into the opening when asked. You'll land in a new section of the cave. Don't directly attack wandering Pugs or they will use a dual attack that is sure to kick your rear. It's best to run or use smoke bombs to get away from these things. Take the door you see to the North and slightly West. You'll then have to avoid the traps, which look like slightly darker circles in the floor, to make it. Obtain some sets of Minerva Armor from the monster-in-a-box. If you don't get the Minervas, reset and try again. Don't finish off the critters off until they take a step back to get Minervas. These are excellent for Celes and Terra. Don't use magic against the Pugs in the chest or they'll cast Pearl on you. Now exit out the nearby Northern door to acquire an x-ether, then just fall down the nearest hole. Climb the ramp and get on the bridges. Grab a Gauntlet relic from a chest in the Southwest then follow the bridges West, then North. Then use the stairs. Don't pull the first lever you see. Wait and pull the second one. When you enter the cavern, search the skull on a pole. Remove the Magicite Terrato when asked. A Sasquach will appear and fight you. Beat him and then head back into town. You'll have to go North and fall from where the Sasquach came from to do this. Run outside and save real quick. Take a party of three, which includes Locke, and head back into town. Remember how to get to the Moogles? Go through the secret passage which Locke showed you at the very beginning of the game, go to the Moogle village and talk to Mog and he'll rejoin you. Equip him real quick then head back to the Sasquach. Hang out in the snowfield near the Esper until Mog gets the Snowman Jazz dance. Talk to Umaro and he'll join the party. Now you have your whole group back together, and a new friend! Equip Umaro with relics and he's ready to roll. The Rage Ring should be your first pick for him. Now fly back to Cid's cabin and go on the beach to find the Esper Palidor. Now head to Castle Fiagaro. Form up a team which needs powering up and have the old man pull the lever to move the castle. Halfway there you will hit something. Say "stop and explore" when asked. Go downstairs into the jail and out the secret passage. ANCIENT CASTLE: You can steal x-potions from Enuos. You can also steal Mithril Glove from Goblins. Grab a Wing Edge in the Southwest, then grab a chest in the Southeast, then head through the nearby doorway. Open the chest to fight a Master Pug. Fire off one Fire3 spell if you want, but then his defenses will change and magic becomes risky. You can steal an elixer from him. You should receive the Graedus Dirk after defeating him. Head West through a secret passage then South and down a staircase ramp in the Southwest to a lower rock formation. Head East from here and under the rock bridge to gather Doom Darts. Now head back to and up the ramp you just came down. Proceed farther North until the path appears to dead end in the Northwest. This takes you into another area. Head South past the hole with the stairs you find here to gather Magicite from a chest. Then a little farther West for an x-potion. Now go down the stairs in the hole. Why not use the save point you find here. Then up the stairs to emerge on the castle grounds. At the top of the stairs an event will occur. Don't go directly in the double doors when you regain control. Head West first and take one of the doors to find a monster-in-a-box. Katana Soul shouldn't be hard to beat. Don't use magic directly against him since he has a Wall spell up. Attacks like Ninja Stars work well, and are one of the few things which will hit him after his power goes up. You can steal a Murasame Knife from him for Cyan. After beating him you'll receive the Offering relic. This changes the fight command into x-fight. X-fight lets you attack up to 4 times per round, even against multiple opponents. Very nice. Now head into the double doors. You can steal Debilators from Lethal Weapons. Just head North in the first area and talk to the stone Odin to receive the Magicite Odin. Now walk to the East and through the first door you find to acquire the Blizzard Orb and a Gold Hairpin. Now head down the stairs to the South. You'll see something shining on a bookshelf. Search it. Get an x-ether from a bucket on the West side of the room. Now head back to Figaro Castle and continue your journey under the earth. Head back as soon as you stop to return to the airship. Put Cyan in the party and fly to Doma Castle. Find the room which says "need a rest?" and say yes. An event will occur and you'll be forced to enter Cyan's dream. CYAN'S DREAM: You'll be split up at first. Use that save point you see immediately. Head North and hit the Western door. Talk to your team member and they'll rejoin you. Now head North and hit the door. Then hit the Southern door. Then hit the Eastern door. Talk to your team member and they'll rejoin you. Hit the door you can reach, then head over and hit the next door you can reach. Finally go down the ramps to the door and battle the Dream Stooges. Basically, just beat them up one at a time. Start with the top stooge, Curly. Then head through the door. Now you'll wake up on the Phantom Train. You can only go West, so head that way. You can use the save point inside the first car. Then head West to the next one. Grab the lump of metal from the chest at the far Western edge of this car and press A in front of the moving chest to make it stop. Then grab Flame Shield from the chest. Now go back to the Eastern edge of the train and pull the lever. Then run like crazy around the wrap around couch to grab a Genji Glove from the chest near the switch. Now pull down the switch and memorize the positions. (open or closed) Then head to the next car. Once you are there, grab the Ice Shield from the chest before you do anything else, it's in the South. Now go pull the Easternmost switch. Make your way around the obstacles to pull the Westernmost switch. Now go back and pull the one farthest East again. Then pull the central switch. Then pull the Eastern one again. Then the Western switch again. Now head down and past the chest where you got the Ice Shield. Set the chests in the proper order: OPEN OPEN CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED OPEN You change a chests open/close position by pressing A while you are standing in front of it. Then pull the lever North of the chests to open the passage to the next car. In this car you'll find a save point to use before you continue on. After saving, continue on out of the car and head for the engine's control room. When you exit you'll emerge in a mine wearing Magitek armor. You can only go South, so go that way. Follow the path under the rock bridge into the cave door. Follow this path to emerge outside. Follow the same path, then turn around and go in reverse. You'll see Cyan on a bridge. Follow and you'll fall off the bridge and end up back in the room where you slept. Watch the event, then use the save point. Enter Cyan's room to watch an event. Then head through the double doors to the throne room. Walk North to confront Wrexsoul. You'll have to kill off two of your characters to make Wrexsoul appear. Then raise them and beat the crap out of him, ignoring the Soul Savers. I've read somewhere that X-zone is supposed to be effective against him, but I've never tested it yet. Once you beat him, you'll get a Pod Bracelet relic and Cyan will recover. Watch the event and Cyan will acquire the peak level of skill in his sword techniques. Now go to the throne room and collect the Magicite Alexander. Also check your equipment on Cyan and equip the Aura Knife he picked up at the very end of the dream. Now head outside and go do some powering up. First off, fly around and look for Doom Gaze. Make sure nobody is a level which is a multiple of five (5, 10, 15, 20, etc.) in the party. Just keep chasing after him when he runs and beat on him with weapons. When you finally defeat Doom Gaze, you'll get the Magicite Bahamut. Near where the cabin Gau's father lives in is a forest. There are some thoroughly dangerous, but XP full critters living here. If you're strong enough to handle it, it's a good place to gain XP, GP, and MP. It may be too rough for your right now, though. Otherwise Pheonix cave is a good place. After you've powered up a bit (several team members of a four man team should have life3) head for the tower of Kefka's cult. TOWER OF THE CULT: Ascend past the thieves, and begin climbing. Keep a lookout for doors at each landing. You'll need to use Osmose frequently while you are in here, and someone should be equipped with a Wall Ring so that you always have someone to reflect spells off of. Casting Bersk on someone will cause them to attack with weapons. This is a great place to gain MP for new spells. Cast and maintain Float on everyone through out the climb. Here's what you should use against the various creatures: L20 Magic- Reflected fire or Osmose them to death Magic Urn- Nothing! They only help you, so parry and let them recharge you! L30 Magic- Ice L40 Magic- Bolt L50 Magic- Fire or Quake L60 Magic- Fair to use Osmose on, use Fire to defeat L70 Magic- Reflected Ice L80 Magic- Ice, excellent Osmose target L90 Magic- Reflected Ice The first door you come to contains a Safety Bit relic in a chest. The second one has the Genji Shield. The third door has a Dragon behind it. There is a stunner Dirk in the chest for Shadow. All forms of Elemental magic seem to work against this dragon, and it's great to Osmose from. Ice seems to be particularly effective. You'll get the Pearl Lance for defeating it. The next door contains the Force Armor. The next thing will be the final floor, so if you're on a power-up trip, head back down. Make sure the entire party going into the final battle has the Life3 spell. Enter the door at the top of the tower. Grab the Gem Box relic from the chest, which turns magic command into x-magic. This will let you cast 2 spells per round. Equip it on a strong magic user you have in the party right now, though it should eventually go to Terra once everything is said and done. Now prepare yourself for a hairy magic battle. Exit the tower door and walk down the ramp toward Kefka's followers to begin the battle with the Magimaster. Cast Life3 on everyone first thing, and keep it active! Then cast Brsrk on a couple of strong fighters. Finally have one of the other two characters keep the party healed, using Regen spells and such. If you have any useful protective Espers equipped, use them. Meteor and Ultima are the only two attack spells you should use, others have just as much chance of healing him as harming him. When you kill him, he will use the Ultima spell to wipe out your party. If you kept your Life3's active, you'll be brought back to life instantly. You'll win the fight, getting a megalixer and be able to escape the tower with that Gem Box. Now just be exceedingly careful and get off the tower! Once you've saved and done any town business, head for Ebot's Rock. Strago should be in the party. EBOT'S ROCK: Head North and hit the teleporter. Talk to the chest and hit the teleporter again. Head South, but don't step on the teleporter. Head West instead and grab Coral from a chest. Hitting the nearby teleporter allows you to reach a save point. Use it, then step on the teleporter again. Grab the Coral from the nearby chest and then hit a teleporter West of it. Grab Coral from the nearby chest, then hit the teleporter. Head South and grab a chest, then hit the teleporter. Grab the chest, then head West and North. Go East when you see another teleporter to grab another chest, then go hit the nearby teleporter. You're at a save point, so use it. Then hit the teleporter. The next room is exactly the same. Grab some coral in the North, then come back to the South and hit the teleporter there. Head North and grab the Coral, then hit the 'porter. Now head North and feed the chest the Coral. When it moves, heal yourself and proceed North. Go under the rock bridge and just go due North When you see Hidon, heal yourself again. Then confront him. Destroy the Hidonites first with main strength. Then work on Hidon himself. Just keep yourself healed and beat on him. You'll learn Strago's best Lore, Grand Train, when you beat him. Watch the events which occur, you'll be in Strago's house when it's all over. May as well rest in the 1 GP inn to recover, then go out and save. You can also restock throwing stars and items here if you want. TRIANGLE ISLAND: There is a person in Strago's home town who talks about this island and tells you how to get there. Go there now. Make sure you're wearing Spring Shoes in the party somewhere, and walk around until you are attacked by a Zone Eater. Just parry and keep yourself healed until he swallows the entire party. You'll emerge inside the beastie. The light you see in the North is the exit, so remember it. But for now, head South down the stairs to begin this adventure. Walk out onto the bridge you see. When the soldier walking the bridge to the North is a fair distance away, quickly press North and A twice to jump over the bridges and get North of him. If you mess up, he'll knock you off. Just find the stairs to get back up to the bridges. There is an ether and a Red Jacked in a chest to grab down here as well. You'll have to step on a button to move a rock and reach the stairs. Now repeat the maneuver to the South to grab Genji Armor from a chest. This is good armor for several characters. Now repeat your jumping to head back to the Northern bridge. Then do it again south after you walk past the gap in the central bridges. Grab the Magical Brush from the chest here. Now walk as far as you can West and wait until the guard is past you to the East. Then quickly run West and jump onto the Northern bridge. Now wait until both guards are out of the way and leap across the bridges to grab the chest on the rocky outcropping. It contains the Fake Mustache relic. This is the most difficult jump to make, but it is worth it. This relic changes Relm's Sketch command into Control, allowing her to control a monster's actions during battle. Getting back to the Northern bridge is, unfortunately, no easier. That's the way you need to go, however. Once you make it, go down the stairs. Use the save point, believe me! Then go through the cave door to the next area. Watch the huge dropping rocks for holes to see where it's safe to stand. If you mess up, you're squished. When they come down, if you survived, look for the next safe zone and head for it. You can grab a Zephyr Cape at the second safe zone. At the third you can acquire a Hero Ring. The next on is another of those difficult holes in the rocks. After this one, run all the way you can and stop just short of hitting the wall in the South, leave the chest for the moment. Run up and grab the chest the next time the rock raises and run back to safety quickly. It contains a powerful Tack Star, don't waste it! Just head South to find a doorway. Follow the short corridor to a series of bridges. Head South, then jump across to the West. Then jump across North. Follow the winding bridges and jump across West. Go in the door and talk to Gogo, who will join your team. Now head South and jump back to the East. Before you go take the twisting bridge, turn South just where it turns North and jump onto the platform with the button and step on it. Jump across the bridge that comes out and then go South and head back. There is a bridge now allowing you go farther West. Follow the jumps to grab the Thunder Shield from the chest. Now just make your way out and exit. Unfortunately, the traps are still active, so you'll have to go through them or Warp out. Warping would be the bright thing to do if you have the spell. Before you go on to the next part, make sure everyone you want to have learned the Meteor spell (for the time being) has learned it. Once you complete this next step, the spell will be unavailable to learn until you have released Crusader. You should also consider that Odin is the only Esper which increases your speed at level up. ANCIENT CASTLE: Go to Figaro Castle and move it again. Go explore the Ancient Castle again. Make your way through cave and castle until you reach the throne room. Walk four steps South of the Queen's chair and press the A button. You'll hear the sound of a passageway opening somewhere. Go into the basement where you found the book on the shelf and you will discover a set of stairs, use them. The first thing you'll see is a dragon, so fight it. This is the Blue Dragon and Bolt magic works well against him. You'll get the Scimitar for defeating him. Now go North and search the stone statue. The Magicite Odin now becomes the Magicite Raiden. Now head back to the surface. Time to go to the Opera House. Go up into the balcony and talk to Impressario. Then head to the East where the switches are and pull the Easternmost one of the three which are grouped together. You'll fall onto the stage and confront the Dirt Dragon now. He's not that tough, so just beat the crap out of him for the Magus Rod. The last two dragons are in Kefka's tower. So now is the time for powering up to what you consider a good level of power on ALL of your characters. You'll have to take three groups into Kefka's tower, that's a full 12 people, so everybody needs cranked up in power. Don't forget to stop at the Veldt and gain Gau some new rages. It's a good idea to take Gau, Relm, Strago, and Locke on the adventures. This way Gau learns new powers and Locke can steal numerous items. Relm, by using control on creatures, can force them to use powers which Strago can learn. Gau may also use a power during a Rage which Strago can learn. Some of the things you can get on the Veldt are Minerva Gowns from Pugs, Behemoth Suits from Sr. Behemoths. Steal x-potions from Gigantos and Super Balls from Ogres. Pearl lance or x-potion may be taken from White Dragons. Elixer can be stolen from Gigantos and you can get Hardened Dirk from them as well. Another thing you'll want to do is go to the Forest near Gau's father's house and fight Dinosaurs. Not only are they worth good XP, MP, and GP, occasionally Brachosaurs will leave the Economizer relic behind when you defeat them. Equipping this relic on a character causes all the spells which they cast to cost only 1 MP. Grab one for everybody with a slot you just stuck something in to fill it up. You can also steal Ribbons from Brachosaurs. Going to the Colesium and gambling is another good thing to do. See the coliseum section for what you can get. Finally, head for Kefka's tower. It's time to kick that madman's laughing rear! KEFKA'S TOWER: Fly yourself over the tower and press the B button to land. Watch the event, then form up three parties. I usually leave Gau and Setzer on board, but it's up to you. There's a hook near one of your groups to return to the airship if you wish. You can use this to go back and power up if you don't believe you are strong enough. Start with the first group that pops up. Go South down the escalator, then follow the V shaped path to a chest containing the Coronet Helm for Relm. Then head back South a bit and find the doorway to the West. It has flashing arrows, but they are hard to see. Now in the next area, use the escalator down in the West. Then go in the door to the East. Grab Fixed Dice from a chest in the next area. Then head South out the door. Head down the stairs and find the door in the South, along the Eastern wall. Enter it and go down the stairs, then switch teams. Head down the stairs and follow the loop to a door. Don't miss the Minerva Gown in the chest to the Northwest before you descend the stairs. If you haven't managed to acquire this for Terra and Celes yet, equip them now! Down the stairs you'll come to an area with both North and South doors. Take the Northern door first and acquire a Tack Star from the chest. Then head back out and take the South Door. You'll emerge in a jail. There's a critter in the cell farthest West, get yourself healed and go after him. Atma is tough. Grand Train does wonders against him. Other than that, all I can say is beat on him. If your party is wearing a good variety of magic neutralizing armor, you shouldn't have that much trouble. You'll get a save point for defeating him, so use it. Now go exit the Southern door. You'll fall. Walk around the path to the stairs in the West and climb them to reach a door. Here there are two pipes you can climb into. The Eastern one takes you back to the room where you found the Tack Star. The Western one continues farther on. Hit the Western pipe to emerge outside again. Grab the Force Shield from a nearby chest. It is a strong protector against magic, but not much else. Take the South bound escalator and then head to the West to locate Force Armor, which is another strong magical protector. You'll see a doorway going North and one going West just at the bottom of the escalator. Take the Northbound one to confront one of the Dragons. The Gold Dragon shouldn't be all that hard to beat. Whack him and receive the Crystal Orb relic which increases your MP by half up to 999 possible. Now go back out and take the West bound door. Go down the stairs, grab a Ribbon from the chest, then step on a switch to open a path for your first party. Now switch to the third party. Follow the path South and grab a Red Cap from the chest. This item raises the HP of whoever wears it by 1/4, up to 9999 possible. Take the nearby door and follow the path to a chest containing the Nutkin Suit and Gauntlet relics. Then head back outside. Head South and hit the other door you see. Hit the door in the West to get back inside. Grab a Hero Ring relic right at the bottom of the stairs. Head North and jump on the rollers. When you emerge, use the save point you see, then go West. As you start down the stairs you'll be attacked by a beastie. Take out his arms first if you can. Bolt3 works well against anything but the Rough (Farthest from you) arm. Go use that save point again, then head down the stairs. Go through the Southern doorway to emerge outside. Grab a megalixer from a chest, then search the other nearby chest to open a path for your second team. Now go up the escalator to grab a Rainbow Brush. Take the escalator and head back down to enter the door near the switch chest. Follow the path to confront another Dragon. Fire3 works well against this beastie. You'll get the Muscle Belt relic and the Magicite Crusader. Crusader teaches you Merton and Meteor, plus increases you MP by 50% at level up. The Muscle Belt increases your HP by half up to 9999. Now follow the path until you reach a switch and step on it. Then switch back to your first party. Send them down the new path to a doorway. Follow the only path you can. Eventually while outside you'll see a chest containing the Tack Star. Grab it then continue North, through the door and wait in front of the big double doors, switching to your second party. Head up the stairs and into the other door, where you fought the Dragon. Then go past this room and proceed to the switch. Then switch to your first party. Go through the double doors, get up on the catwalks and go East. Proceed South, then switch to your other two teams and move them off the switches. Push the weight to rearm the switch by pressing A, then head back outside and step on the only switch you can reach. Switch to the team who you dropped the weight near. Have them repeat the process for the other switch. Now send your final party to the central switch. When the door opens, get ready for battle and go confront the Guardian. Bolt and Grand Train seem to do nicely. Now use the save point and take the only available path. At the end of it is one of the three statues. Poltergeist seems well affected by Grand Train and Ultima. (duh..) You'll get the Aura Lance for defeating it. Then go save. Head as far South as you can to trigger a switch opening the two doors, and switch to your third team. Head South out the door, then go through the new door in the West. Follow the path to confront another statue. Use special techs like Sword Tech and Blitz to put it down. You'll get the Sky Render Knife for Cyan and a save point when you win. Save, then switch to your first team. Same deal, go confront the final statue. Goddess is healed by Pearl elemental attacks, so don't have any such weapons equipped. (Gradeus and the Pearl lance) The Love Token will make attacks near useless, so use big spells like Ultima or you'll just kill one of your buddies. You'll get Excalibur for defeating her, and a save point. Use the save point and head North to stand on a switch. Do the same with your other two teams, but be warned, the final battle approaches when the last one sets foot on a switch. If you're not ready to take on Kefka, don't put all three parties on those switches! Set whoever has the Gem Box (and hopefully Economizer) in the front four as well as the one who has the Offering. Shadow works well in the front four as well. Then arrange the remainder of your team and hit end. If someone dies, the others will move up until you run out of warriors. Fight with all your might, and beware of parts which are healed by different kinds of magic. Arm yourself with protection spells. Casting quick on everyone will make Kefka seem as if he's standing still. Quick can only be cast on someone by themselves. This spell will wear off each time you go higher up, however. The final battle with Kefka at the top is tougher than blazes. If you're not quick to heal after those attacks that reduce you to 1 HP, you are going to lose some warriors. Fight like crazy and defeat him. Watch the ending (Square does excellent ending sequences!) and congratulate yourself for killing the most annoying enemy in video game history! If you find any errors in this FAQ (other than the fact I'm a treasure hunter and like to power up way more than is necessary before doing any task) let me know about them. Likewise, if you have anything you would like to contribute further to this FAQ, it will be included after testing and you will be credited. I may be contacted at the following address..... leslumens@yahoo.com