*******************************************************************************
* *
* Final Fantasy XII -- The Zodiac Age *
* Power Walkthrough *
* Using Trial Mode to Power Up your Team Quickly and Efficiently *
* *
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Written by Bill Russell
Final Fantasy XII -- The Zodiac Age is copyright 2006, 2017 by Square Enix Co.,
Ltd.
This FAQ is copyright 2018 -- Bill Russell
This publication is protected by United States copyright law.
It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly
without advance written permission of the author. Use of this guide on any
other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright. If you wish to post this FAQ or any portion of it to
any other site, please write to me.
Questions or comments can be sent to me at auron402@gmail.com
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* *
* 0. A Humble Request *
* *
******************************************************************************
I've truly enjoyed the many hours that I've spent researching and writing this
guide, hoping that the end product would be something that you would find
useful. I honestly couldn't tell you how long I've spent on this particular
work (my wife, however, could tell you, and her answer would be "too long.")
If you find this guide to be helpful, entertaining, or preferably both, nothing
would do more to make me feel that my time has been well spent than if you
would take the time to click the "Yes" button at the top of this page,
indicating that you would recommend this guide to others. This seems a simple
task to perform, and yet less than 0.1% of the 1,000,000+ people who have
viewed my other guides have taken the time to do it. I don't ask for donations
because I believe in giving back to the community that has helped me so much
over the years. All I ask is that you take a few moments to provide your
honest assessment of the end product if you find that this guide has been
beneficial to you. If you feel that it did not meet your expectations, I would
welcome an email from you explaining why. If you find what you perceive to be
mistakes, please write and let me know what those are so that I can improve
this guide for others.
Thank you for your consideration.
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* *
* I. Table of Contents (ZA01) *
* *
******************************************************************************
I. Table of Contents (ZA01)
II. Revision History (ZA02)
III. Introduction (ZA03)
IV. What This Is and What This Is Not (ZA04)
V. To RNG or Not to RNG (ZA05)
VI. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs (ZA06)
VII. How Trial Mode Works (ZA07)
VIII. Nalbina Fortress and Rabanastre (ZA08)
IX. Trial Mode Stage 1 (ZA09)
X. Back to Rabanastre (ZA10)
XI. Leveling 1 -- Dustia (ZA11)
XII. Trial Mode Stages 1-3 (ZA12)
XIII. Rabanastre (Again) (ZA13)
XIV. Leveling 2 -- Dustia Revisited (ZA14)
XV. To the Palace and Back Again (ZA15)
XVI. Trial Mode Stages 1-12 (ZA16)
XVII. Off to Bhujerba (ZA17)
XVIII. About Guest Team Members (ZA18)
XIX. Lhusu Mines Through the Tomb of Raithwall (ZA19)
XX. Hunts, Sidequests, and Useful Items (ZA20)
XXI. Information About Treasure Chests (ZA21)
XXII. Some Major Equipment Upgrades (ZA22)
XXIII. Trial Mode Stages 1-30 (ZA23)
XXIV. Hunts, an Esper, Loot, and Equipment (ZA24)
XXV. Jahara and Eruyt Village (ZA25)
XXVI. Leveling 3 -- Golmore Jungle and Nihopalaoa (ZA26)
XXVII. Trial Mode Stages 1-60 (ZA27)
XXVIII. Preparing for the Next Leveling Spot (ZA28)
XXIX. Leveling 4 -- Overlooking Eternity (ZA29)
XXX. Trial Mode Stages 1-72 (ZA30)
XXXI. Hunts Galore! (ZA31)
XXXII. From Sochen Cave Palace to Balfonheim (ZA32)
XXXIII. Hellwyrm and a Bunch More Hunts (ZA33)
XXXIV. Analysis of Current Equipment and Future Upgrades (ZA34)
XXXV. Gathering Components for Ultimate Weapons (ZA35)
XXXVI. Giruvegan and the Pharos at Ridorana (ZA36)
XXXVII. Building 3 Ultimate Weapons (ZA37)
XXXVIII. Leveling 5 -- Henne Mines, Pithead Junction C (ZA38)
XXXIX. Some Final Equipment Upgrades (ZA39)
XL. Zodiark (ZA40)
XLI. Time to Bid Farewell (ZA41)
XLII. Trial Mode Stages 1-100 (ZA42)
XLIII. Closing Credits (ZA43)
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* *
* II. Revision History (ZA02) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Version Completed
1.00 21 November 2018
2.00 22 November 2018
* Played through the game using this guide and made many corrections
and additions.
* Added that the Kumbha could be stolen in Stage 94 of Trial Mode.
* Gave much-deserved credit to Arthellinus for the inspiration and
guidance provided by his "Power Walkthrough" FAQ.
* Added information about completing all remaining Stages of Trial
Mode.
* Added the locations of Bubble Belts in preparation for Stage 99 of
Trial Mode.
* Added the location of the Wither Tech in preparation for the last
few Stages of Trial Mode.
* Changed all double spacing after periods to single spacing after
my know-it-all daughter informed me that double spacing is "not
AP style."
* Added the location of the Indigo Pendant in the Lhusu Mines in
preparation for Stage 86 of Trial Mode.
* Added a tip to make Trial 3 easier the first time through.
* Rewrote much of Section XX to make it less ambiguous.
* Added information about obtaining Mythril for making a Kanya.
* Reversed my strategy for Stage 58 in Section XXVII after getting
my butt kicked by Trickster in a recent playthrough.
* Corrected a mistake in my description of working the sluice gates
to get to Cuchulainn.
* Added a reminder to assign Cuchulainn to your Red Mage.
2.10 01 April 2019
* Added specific instructions for accessing Exodus.
* Deleted a false statement about the ability to access the Cerobi
Steppe prior to completing the Draklor Laboratory.
* Added a note about stealing Orichalcum from Vishno.
* Noted that Dispel can be used in place of Sleepga for neutralizing
the attacks of the Abysteels when leveling up in Pithead Junction
C.
* Added detailed information about choosing which License Board to
use when purchasing licenses for Quickenings.
* Added the disclaimer that the strategies in this guide may or may
not work with versions other than the US version of the game.
2.20 15 June 2019
* Added the requirements for making the Monographs appear, more for
my own reference than anything else.
* Corrected a statement about fighting the Wraith alone when Basch
was clearly available to join the team.
* Resequenced the post-Lhusu Mines events to save a bit of running
around and added some tasks I had previously overlooked.
* Clarified some directions about the route to the Tomb of Raithwall
that were originally so confusing even I didn't understand them.
* Clarified the location of the Wind Globe.
* Added several equipment upgrades that are available when doing the
Barheim Key quest, which somehow I managed to overlook earlier.
* Added reminders to pick up the Gillie Boots in the Mosphoran
Highwaste and to use them in the fights against King Bomb.
* Added some times and details about building a Nihopalaoa.
* Corrected a mistake in the table of benefits for Quickening
licenses and added more information about how to choose which of
these licenses to purchase.
* Added some tips for finishing Trial Mode Stage 72.
* Added step-by-step instructions for getting the Grimy Fragment.
* Added detail about finding the Moonsilver Medallion.
* Deleted my advice about assigning Cuchulainn to your Red Mage.
* Made some minor changes to strategy suggestions for fighting
Hellwyrm.
* Added some hopefully helpful information for readers having
difficulty making Vorres and other Rare Trophy Game appear.
* Corrected a mistake about the number of Deidars one must kill to
make Vishno spawn.
* Added some comments about the relative merits of using Disable vs.
Sleepga when leveling up at Pithead Junction C.
* Slightly revised preparation for the Zodiark battle and added a
potentially useful hint.
* Clarified the locations of some items that can be found in the
Pharos Subterra.
2.30 24 June 2019
* Added information about where and when to pick up the Warp spell
and suggested several places where it comes in handy.
* Fixed multiple formatting errors that occurred when I did the
previous revision.
* Added a reminder to pick up the Disable spell in Bhujerba.
* Added several additional details about defeating the enemies in
the final 25 Stages or so of Trial Mode.
2.40 19 October 2019
* Corrected my computation of the number of possible ways to assign
Jobs. I'm so embarrassed.
* Added a reminder to equip Mythril Blades on Fran and Balthier as
soon as they join the team.
* Added a reminder that the Deathclaws in Stage 43 can Disable you.
* Backed off of my earlier advice to get a Wyrmhero Blade in Stage
50 of Trial Mode since it is unlikely to be equipped by anyone
with the Telekinesis ability.
* Pointed out that Stage 71 of Trial Mode can be simplified greatly
by Disabling the enemies.
* Edited some potentially misleading use of the word "warp." Now,
"Warp" refers exclusively to the Time Magick and "teleport" refers
to the action of moving from one area to another.
* Corrected a few miscellaneous typos that I found.
3.00 * Added some much-needed clarification on navigating the yet-
unmapped areas of the Barheim Passage.
* Added the location of the Barheim Candle.
* Added directions for obtaining the Warp spell MUCH earlier in the
game, thereby making Trial Mode Stages 22-26 considerably easier.
* Made note of the location of the chest in Zertinan Caverns that
contains Thief's Cuffs.
* Added a reminder that the Mage's Monograph is necessary to get
Buers to drop Demon's Sigh items.
* Added a suggestion to equip one character with Berserker Bracers
while harvesting Dark Skeletons in the Rustling Chapel area.
* Added some tips about fighting Stage 48 of Trial Mode.
* Added some tips about fighting Stage 56, notably that Elvorets are
susceptible to Warp.
* Added a reminder to Steal Magepower Shishaks from Pallicant en
route to getting Ribbons #2 and 3.
* Suggested getting rid of Larsa before going through Trial Mode for
your 3 Ribbons.
* Slightly rearranged the suggested sequence of events in Section
XXVIII.
* Advised the purchasing of the Bubble spell before tackling Trials
61 - 72.
* Added some hints to keep from unexpectedly getting annihilated in
Trial 72.
* Added the steps for getting through Old Archades (I can never
remember these.)
* Included Gil Toss as a weapon for taking down Chaos.
* Added the location of the map to the Feywood.
* Made a minor change in my recommendation about how to divide your
6 characters into 2 teams.
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* *
* III. Introduction (ZA03) *
* *
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* *
* EXTREMELY IMPORTANT -- PLEASE READ THIS! *
* *
* I have received a couple of messages from frustrated readers telling me *
* that the strategies outlined in this guide did not work for them. I was a *
* bit puzzled by these messages until a reader in the UK wrote and *
* suggested that he suspected that there were significant differences *
* between the US version of the game (which is the only version I have *
* played) and the European version of the game (which he played.) *
* I don't know whether this is true or not. Since then, Square Enix has *
* released versions of the game for Xbox and Nintendo Switch, and I *
* understand that those games are not identical to the Playstation 4 *
* version, which is the only one that I have played. To avoid any possible *
* misunderstandings on this point, I need to make the following disclaimer. *
* *
* I can claim with 100% confidence that everything contained in this guide *
* works for the US PS4 version of the game. However, since I have never *
* played any other version of the game, these strategies may or may not *
* work with other versions. So, if you are NOT using the US PS4 version of *
* the game, I can make no guarantees that my strategies will be effective *
* for you. Feel free to try them, but please do so with the understanding *
* that it is possible that your game is different than mine. *
* *
* With that out of the way, I now return you to our regularly scheduled *
* program. *
* *
******************************************************************************
Hi! Welcome to my guide on how to power your way through Final Fantasy XII -
Zodiac Age.
I bought the original FFXII soon after it came out, and over the years it has
been one to which I have returned regularly. I remember observing that there
was always so much to do in the game. The Zodiac Age version saw many
improvements such as the Jobs system and the addition of Trial Mode, adding new
dimensions to an already rich and complex game.
If you simply follow the story line, collecting items purchased from shops and
found in treasure chests along the way, you will find that pretty much every
battle that you face will be a challenge, and many of the bosses and the
enemies from Hunts will be almost overwhelmingly difficult. The purpose of
this guide is to show you where you should deviate from this well-trodden path,
taking detours as necessary to find items that you might not otherwise
encounter until much later in the game (if at all!) Doing so will make you
better prepared for the challenges that you will encounter and, arguably, will
provide you with the only means for defeating some of the game's most difficult
enemies.
I believe that this guide is unique because it draws on all of the game's
resources -- Trial Mode, the Bazaar, treasure chests, etc. -- to try to find
the best equipment possible at each point in the game. I will try to help you
navigate the assets that the game provides in a particular order to optimize
your team's strength. As your team gets more powerful, it is able to take on
greater challenges, leading to further upgrades, and so on.
I promise you that everything that I describe in this guide works. As I wrote
the guide, I was simultaneously playing through the game. If anything seemed
too difficult or took too long, I re-thought my strategies so that you could
acquire upgrades as efficiently and trouble-free as possible. To be sure,
there will be struggles along the way. However, in essence, you are putting
your time and energy into pursuits that will bring you tangible rewards rather
than fighting for your life every time you encounter a boss or advance to a new
area of the game. If you play through the game in accordance with this guide,
it is my hope that you will find it challenging in new and different ways.
I have opted to write this guide in glorious old-school text-only form. I
understand that HTML is much more colorful and 21st century. However, when I
want to find a particular item or event in a guide, I like being able to search
the entire document at once instead of just the current page. So while text
format is not as visually impressive as an HTML guide would be, I believe that
it is more functional. Hopefully, you will find my descriptions clear enough
that you can find what you seek without the benefit of pictures.
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* *
* IV. What This Is and What This Is Not (ZA04) *
* *
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This is not intended to be a comprehensive step-by-step guide for navigating
all of the puzzles and battles of the game. For this information, I would
strongly recommend the guide by Red Scarlet found here:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/191202-final-fantasy-xii-the-zodiac-
age/faqs/61906
Red Scarlet's guide is extremely thorough in sequencing the tasks in the game,
down to advising you when to get loot for making Bazaar items. The screenshots
referenced in this guide are also super-helpful. Use this guide if you
are stuck, and, if you feel that it has been useful to you, provide appropriate
feedback on it. I can tell you from experience that writing a guide of that
length and detail takes an incredible amount of time.
Instead of duplicating descriptions of every detail of the game, this guide is
just going to give you quick descriptions of them - "complete the events in
Arcades," "complete these hunts" - stuff like that. When I get to a place
where there are opportunities to power your team up, I will provide detail
about what you are trying to accomplish and how to go about doing so.
Steps that need to be taken have been identified by bullet points, and I've
tried to keep these descriptions as brief as possible. When there is an
accompanying lengthier narrative, I have set that in paragraph form so that you
can ignore that if you so desire. You will find that an economy of words is
not one of my strengths as a writer, but some readers have found my narratives
to be entertaining in and of themselves. I hope that you do too.
This guide is also not geared towards adventurers who are still trying to get
all of the Trophies. Getting the Trophies requires seeking out a bunch of
garbage spells and Technicks that you will never use and hunting down enemies
that you don't need to kill. My goal is to point you towards the basics that
are either necessary for advancing the storyline or are things that you will
actually use as well as any equipment upgrades that are worth getting.
Finally, I'd like to point out that I make no claims that this is any kind of
"ultimate" guide. I have only been through the game a few times, and I'm
sure that I've missed many opportunities to power up. If you identify such an
opportunity and would like to share it, I'd be happy to try to work it into
this guide, giving you credit, of course, for your contribution.
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* *
* V. To RNG or Not to RNG (ZA05) *
* *
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The game contains some super-powerful items, possession of which can greatly
simplify your passage through the battles you face. Under normal
circumstances, it is extremely rare that you will encounter most of these, as
their probabilities of appearing are very low. However, it is no secret that
the random number generator (RNG) of the game can be manipulated to make these
items appear with 100% certainty. I'm referring, of course, to the
Seitengrat, the Great Trango, the Gendarme, and Dark Energy. If you search
YouTube, you will find videos showing how to get these items with very little
effort or expenditure of time. These are literally game-changers. The
Seitengrat, for example, can be acquired very early in the game, and having
weapons with +224 Attack means that you won't really be challenged until very
late in the game. And that is precisely my problem with these items.
What, I ask, is the point of playing a game if you've taken all of the
challenge from it? Part of what makes a great game like FFXII so engaging is
that you occasionally encounter a situation where you seem outmatched, and you
have to use your wits and wiles to be victorious. When you do, you get a great
feeling of accomplishment and are eager to take on new challenges.
Intentionally depriving yourself of these memorable moments just seems
counterproductive to me.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that the first time I played
through the game, I acquired all of these rare items and used them for a while.
It was fun acquiring an item that was only intended to appear 1 time in 10,000,
and I truly marveled at the people who figured out how to make this happen.
However, after a point, I didn't feel right using these uber items and let them
gather digital dust in my inventory, finishing the game with conventional
weapons. Using them just didn't feel right, and frankly it wasn't all that
difficult to complete the game without them.
If you want to play through the game using RNG to get super weapons, then you
probably don't need this guide. You might find it helpful to know how to get
some better armor, but you'll blast through the game with what you find as you
go along. Let your conscience be your guide, but I'm going to say that I got a
much better sense of the game and I found it to be much more interesting and
rewarding when I played without those super weapons.
Believe me, the irony of eschewing these super items while giving advice on how
to make your characters super powerful is not lost on me. In case you are
interested (or, for that matter, even if you are not) here is my
rationalization. I couch my video game morality, as it were, within the
framework of what the game designers intended for you to do. Items were placed
within the game to be found by opening chests, stealing from enemies, and the
like. This is what was intended. I would also argue that the designers
envisioned that gamers would share their knowledge concerning the locations and
means of obtaining these items, as I am doing here. (Even so, as you will
find, there is a considerable difference between knowing how to get an item and
actually obtaining it.) However, I would also suggest that it was never their
intention that people would dissect the code and fundamentally change the game
itself. If one is going to go that far, one could argue, then why not adjust
the code to make all of your characters invincible and give all enemies 1 HP
and 0 defense? I'm sure you get my point.
Whatever you decide to do, I have decided to write this guide as if that super
equipment did not exist. No reasonable person would pursue finding an item
that only has a 0.01% chance of appearing, so I'm going to assume that the
reader is not using these items. Hopefully, this will be my last mention of
them.
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* *
* VI. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs (ZA06) *
* *
******************************************************************************
There are many facets to powering up your team in FFXII. Sure, you want to
increase your characters' levels and acquire superior weapons and armor.
However, accessories, Magicks, and Technicks also play important roles in your
quest to make your characters dominant.
The leveling part hasn't changed from the original game. With only minor
changes, the times, places, and methods of leveling up your characters in
Zodiac Age (hereafter described simply as "ZA") are the same as the original.
When it comes to improving your equipment and abilities, however, ZA
differs from the original game for two primary reasons. The first is that most
of these items are not acquired in the same manner and/or places as in the
original game. Second, the Jobs system in ZA means that the Jobs that you
choose for each character will limit the equipment that character can equip and
the abilities that (s)he can use. To further complicate matters, each Job has
a unique License Board, and each Board has some licenses that can always be
acquired and others that can only be acquired by assigning a particular Esper
to that character or by purchasing a particular Quickening license.
My point here is that helping you power up your characters in ZA is
considerably more difficult than it was in the original game. In the original
FFXII, each character had the exact same License Board and could obtain a
License for every piece of equipment and every ability in the game. Thus, for
example, when you first became able to steal Deathbringer swords from Ithuno,
it made sense to get a Deathbringer for each of your active characters because
it was the most powerful weapon you could get at the time and everyone could
equip it. However, in ZA, you probably won't be able to equip all of your
characters with a powerful sword like this because it can only be equipped by a
Knight. So, a great find like the Deathbringer turns out to be a big
improvement for only one character instead of all characters, and you must
constantly be looking for ways to find weapon upgrades for the rest of your
team.
The choice of Jobs, therefore, is a pretty important one. You have twelve Jobs
to allocate (2 Jobs each to 6 characters), and since Jobs can be repeated, that
makes (12C2)^6 = 82,653,950,020 possible ways to choose the Jobs for your six
characters. (Have you figured out yet that I'm a math nerd?) There are
probably just about that many different philosophies about the best way to
choose your Jobs, and the Internet provides many pages devoted to this topic.
Here is one example of a site that provides a very comprehensive analysis of
the advantages, disadvantages, and characteristics of each Job:
https://www.gameskinny.com/pnlmk/final-fantasy-xii-the-zodiac-age-job-classes-
guide
Many such guides will try to match Jobs as closely as possible to characters'
stats. While I'm not suggesting that these considerations do not matter, I
will say that they will be less of an issue for us that you might think. Since
our characters are going to somewhat over-leveled and over-equipped at most
points in the game, it isn't necessary to fret over picking the optimum Jobs.
Follow the advice in this guide, and all of your characters will perform to
your satisfaction pretty much regardless of how you set your Jobs.
My recommendations will be focused on the particular challenges you will face
as well as the sequence of equipment that you will encounter. Feel free to
give as much or as little credence to my suggestions as you choose. Take
comfort in knowing that it is really difficult to choose a really bad set of
Jobs.
Keep in mind that your party can only contain 3 members at a time.
Consequently, you have to think in terms of 2 parties with 3 members each, with
each party being able to stand alone. When you are leveling up, for example,
only your active party members receive Experience (EXP), so you have to level
up 3 members at a time. Your 2 teams should be balanced enough that each can
survive on its own.
With that introduction out of the way, here are my recommendations for Jobs
that you should include in your team from most important to least important:
White Mage -- Surprised? I know that this is a bold choice for the MVP on your
team. However, I strongly advise you to have not just one but TWO characters
who have White Mage as one of their Jobs. There are a couple of reasons for
this. The obvious one is that you should have a healer on each of your 2
teams. More important, though, I'm going to send you into some Trials in which
you are going to be pretty seriously outmatched. A single healer is going to
have difficulty keeping up with the damage sustained by 2 attackers. However,
2 healers can handily keep one attacker alive for prolonged periods of time.
Having 2 healers will allow you to obtain some items that might otherwise be
difficult to get as early as we are going to get them. Additionally, White
Mages have so many Magicks that you are going to need again and again --
Dispel, Esuna, Protect, Shell, and Bravery to name a few. Finally, in the last
leveling-up place -- the one in the secret area of the Henne Mines -- you are
going to be killing undead enemies by casting Curaja on them. The simplest way
to do this is to have multiple White Mages. The White Mage Job doesn't provide
many boosts that will aid physical attacking, but pair this with a Job like
Monk that gets a ton of those boosts, and you'll have a healer/buffer/debuffer
who can also attack.
Knight -- Okay, now that we have a healer, it's time to focus on the attack.
Although Uhlan has a lot of advantages, I still have to go with Knight for two
main reasons. First, very early in the game, you will be able to obtain and
equip a +92 ATK one-handed sword that only the Knight can equip. This is good
enough to carry that character through the majority of the game. In the early
stages, your Knight can one-hit kill just about any enemy. Best of all, this
one weapon will give you access to numerous other equipment upgrades by being
able to damage powerful enemies that lesser weapons can't even scratch. In
fact, because of the early availability of this one sword (of which you can
obtain multiple copies), a good case can be made for having 2 Knights. Knights
can equip Heavy Armor, which seems to be the most plentiful defensive equipment
in the game, so your Knight will generally be well-protected. Additionally,
the game just seems to favor swords, providing a continuous stream of upgrades
throughout the game, all the way up to the +138 ATK Tournesol. Swords are
useless against flying enemies, but we'll find other ways to deal with those
pests.
Monk -- No Job has more HP bonuses than the Monk. Add in the SIXTEEN Battle
Lore Augments on the Monk's License Board, and you have yourself a seriously
powerful attacker. Monks fight with poles, which can attack flying enemies,
and that's always a plus. Poles have high combo rates, and there is a pretty
steady supply of upgrades as you go through the game. Trial Mode holds a +108
ATK pole that you can get about midway through the game, making your Monk a
force to be reckoned with. As a bonus, Monk is the only Job other than
Foebreaker that always has access to the awesome Expose and Wither Technicks,
both of which are crucial for taming the toughest enemies in the game. Again, I
only rank this Job below the Knight because of the Knight's early access to a
ridiculously powerful weapon.
Uhlan -- The Uhlan can equip Heavy Armor, which is generally a plus, and fights
with spears. Although spears have a very low combo rate, they have very quick
charge and actions times, meaning that you get more hits per unit time than
with swords. Best of all, spears are effective against flying enemies. It will
take a while before you find a good weapon upgrade for the Uhlan, but once you
do, he will be one of the team's most powerful attackers. About halfway
through the game you can acquire the Zodiac Spear, a +141 Spear that will carry
you all the way to the end of the game. For this alone, an Uhlan is worth
having on your team. For most of the game, he will be your most powerful
attacker and will be a candidate for offensive MVP of your team.
Shikari -- I have a particular fondness for this Job. Let's start with the
+2100 HP Augments. Then factor in that this Job can equip both daggers and
Ninja swords, and the game provides a wide array of both throughout the main
story line. This Job requires no ranged weapon because the Shikari can learn
the incredibly useful Telekinesis Technick. However, what really attracted me
to this Job is that you can obtain a pretty decent (+56 ATK) dagger very early
in the game, which makes this character get a fast start right out of the gate.
The most powerful dagger in the game (Mina) is not all that difficult to obtain
from the Trials, especially considering how ridiculously difficult it is to
obtain in the main story line. The bottom line is that if you know where to
pick up equipment, this can be a very useful Job.
Time Battlemage -- The Time Battlemage's weapon of choice is the crossbow,
another weapon that is effective against flying enemies. Unfortunately, the
assortment of crossbows that the game offers is rather limited in power, so
you'll probably want this character to equip weapons from his/her other Job.
So why, you might ask, is this so high on my list of Jobs? Well, what this
character lacks in the "Battle" area, it more than makes up for in the "Time
Mage" area. Specifically, this character alone can cast Warp, Haste, and,
best of all, Float. Warp can eliminate a large group of some enemies in one
casting, and the advantage of having Haste speaks for itself. However, being
able to cast Float is, for me, a game changer. Most areas of the game have
traps, and some areas, like the Necrohol at Nabudis, are lousy with them. The
Float spell lets you waltz damage-free across these annoyances. Once you obtain
Float, you will want to have your Time Battlemage keep it cast continuously to
preserve your characters' health and your own personal sanity. In fact, an
argument can be made for having two characters acquire this Job, one for each
of your 2 teams. Time Battlemage makes a decent second job for your attackers
as you don't need to renew these spells often enough to distract them from
their primary duties. Finally, if you assign the Esper Zeromus to a Time
Battlemage, he can learn the potentially useful Addle and Shear Techs, which
are huge helps in taming the game's toughest enemies.
Black Mage -- It is with reluctance that I begrudgingly add this as a must-have
team member. Black Mages are weak and have crappy weapons. Their Magicks can
be quite powerful, even if it is difficult to set Gambits that allow you to
make use of them while roaming the countryside. The problem is that there are
times in the game when enemies can only be damaged by Magicks, either because
the Attack command is sealed or because an enemy raises a "Paling" making them
immune to physical attacks. Both of these situations annoy me to no end, but
the Black Mage gives you a solution to both of them. There is one other reason
that you want a Black Mage on your team. When leveling up in the Henne Mines,
it is very helpful to have someone who can cast Sleepga, and only the Black
Mage and the Red Mage can learn this vital Magick. Make Black Mage a secondary
Job for a character that already has some decent HP and attacking power, and
resign yourself to the reality that this is an unfortunate but necessary
sacrifice.
Red Battlemage -- On the surface, this Job looks to be one that does too many
things not well enough. However, there are times that you will be really glad
to have one on your team. Most of the Augments are Magick Lore, which supports
both the ability to cast Magicks and the damage done by Maces, because the
damage formula for Maces depends on the user's Magick power. The best Mace in
the game is available in Stage 59, and you will be able to get there about 1/3
of the way through the game. Perhaps the best thing about the Red Battlemage is
that it is the only Job that can learn Arcane Magicks, which include a full
array of Dark spells and the awesome Ardor Magick. The Dark spells in
particular are very helpful for battling Yiazmat and in at least one Stage in
Trial Mode. Finally, the Red Battlemage can learn the Disable spell, which is
very useful in the game's final level-up spot.
Bushi -- Bushis can attack quickly, and their weapon of choice, Katanas, have
high combo rates. Weapons upgrades come in fits and starts, so you will
alternate between being annoyed by the lack of decent weapons and elated when
the Bushi gets a new weapon. A Bushi can obtain its penultimate weapon, the
Masamune, about halfway through the game, and from that point on you will have
no further regrets. I generally use this as a secondary Job for one of my
healers. Soon after second Jobs become available, you will get a very good
Katana, making your Bushi on a par with all of your other attackers.
Foebreaker -- What a mixed bag this Job is! On the plus side, this is the only
Job that has access to the 4 most important debuffs in the game -- Expose,
Shear, Addle, and Wither. In those rare times when you take on a truly
challenging enemy like Yiazmat, the battle will go much more quickly if you hit
him with all 4 of these early on. Unfortunately, most battles are over quickly
enough that it isn't worth your while to use these Technicks, making them of
limited use. Arguably, Expose and Wither are the most important of these
debuffs, and the Monk has access to both of those. Consequently, if you have a
Monk (and you really should!) the Foebreaker is somewhat redundant.
Turning our attention to offense, the Foebreaker can use Hammers, Axes, and
Hand Bombs. The damage formulas for all of these weapons contain a much wider
range of values for the random multiplier, meaning that a weapon might do 1000
damage in one turn and then 100 damage in the next. Hand Bombs are ranged
weapons, but you have go a ways into the game before they are available. On
the plus side, you can get a decent (+54 ATK) hand axe fairly early in the
game, and the most powerful hammer in the game (+133 ATK) can be obtained
through the Bazaar fairly early also. The 11 Battle Lore Augments add a lot of
power to the Foebreaker's attacks, but the randomness of the damage makes this
Job one of questionable worth.
Machinist -- I've never used a Machinist, and I likely never will. Machinists
can equip Measures and Guns. Measures are novelties and no one in his right
mind uses them. Guns, on the other hand, have their advantages. The damage
formula for guns is very simple, factoring in only the Attack power of the
weapon and ammunition and a random multiplier. Other factors such as the
enemy's defense, the user's level, and the user's Strength are not considered.
So, a Level 1 Machinist with an Altair attacking a Level 70 Behemoth King does
the same damage as a Level 99 Machinist attacking a Level 1 Wolf with an
Altair. Unfortunately, guns are the slowest weapons class in the game, meaning
you're not going to get in many hits per unit time. For me, the disadvantages
outweigh the advantages, and I'm going to leave this Job in the "Maybe Later"
pile.
Archer -- I've never used this Job because I don't see the point. You
definitely need a way to kill flying enemies, but spears, poles, and crossbows
can do this just about as well, and the Jobs that can equip these weapons have
many other virtues. My opinion is that the Archer is a one-trick pony and
should only be on your team if you want to add some unnecessary challenge.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is how I assigned Jobs to the 6 characters in my most recent run through
the game. They worked just fine. I offer this list with minimal justification
in the hopes that you will feel free to improve on them as you see fit, and
also to hopefully generate a minimum of emails telling me why my choices suck.
TEAM ONE
Vaan -- Knight first, then Time Mage.
Balthier -- Monk first, then Black Mage
Ashe -- Knight first, then White Mage
TEAM TWO
Basch -- Uhlan first, then Time Mage
Fran -- White Mage first, then Bushi
Penelo -- Red Mage first, then Shikari
Observe that each team has a Time Mage, someone who can steal, someone who can
equip weapons that hit flying enemies, and a full-fledged White Mage. Team Two
will be a bit light on offense early in the game. If you're in a place where
Stealing isn't needed, you can swap Fran and Ashe to even out your attacking
power somewhat.
IMPORTANT POINT BELOW -- PLEASE READ!
In light of my clear prejudices described above, I won't be advising you to go
out of your way to find any upgrades in Bows, Guns, Hand Bombs, Measures, Rods,
or Staffs. If we stumble across them in our travels, I might make note of
their locations, but that's about all. These simply are not weapons that
reasonable people use if they are trying to make their characters as powerful
as possible and, as I've mentioned, that is the focus of this guide.
******************************************************************************
* *
* Buying Quickening Licenses *
* *
******************************************************************************
Before we leave this section on Jobs, I want to share with you some important
information I recently discovered regarding the purchasing of Licenses for your
Quickenings. Yes, I should have put this information under its own heading and
assigned it its own Roman numeral. Really, I was just too lazy to redo all the
numbering from this point forward, so I'm just lumping it together with the
Jobs information.
For the record, I have never found this specific information anywhere else, and
overall I consider it to be pretty darned important.
In a nutshell, Quickening licenses will appear on both of each character's
License Boards. The specific licenses you purchase can give you access to
certain other licenses but -- and here's the important part -- that decision
can also DENY you access to other licenses. Hence, you need to consider your
options carefully before buying any Quickening licenses.
Here's how this works:
Each License Board has 4 Quickening squares with different LP costs -- 50, 75,
100, and 125. You can activate these squares in any order you want, but the
following rules apply:
1. The first Quickening square activated for a particular character,
regardless of which Board is used and regardless of the LP cost, enables
that character's Level 1 Quickening. Likewise the second square enables the
Level 2 Quickening, and the third square activated enables the Level 3
Quickening.
2. If, for example, you activate the 50 LP Quickening square on one of a
character's License Boards, the 50 LP Quickening square will automatically
be filled in on that character's other License Board.
3. When a character has activated a total of 3 Quickening squares, the 2
unactivated squares (one on each License Board) will disappear from the
License Boards forever.
These rules are consistent with the usual protocol of activating duplicated
squares on both of a character's License Boards. However, this also means that
a "Bonus" that is unlocked by a given Quickening square may or may not actually
be available by activating the associated Quickening. For example, behind the
100 LP Quickening square for the Foebreaker is a +390 HP square that costs 115
LP. If you assign the Foebreaker Job to your Monk, you won't get that bonus
because the Monk already has this square in his normal License Board, and once
you activate it on either board, it will be filled in on both. You can get this
bonus once, but not twice.
With that explanation behind me, here is a list of all the bonuses from the
various Quickenings for all 12 Jobs. I'm including information on those less-
than-optimal Jobs in the interest of thoroughness, despite my aversion to these
Jobs.
*******************************************************************************
* Job * 50 LP * 75 LP * 100 LP * 125 LP *
*******************************************************************************
* Archer * White Magick 4 * Nothing * Nothing * Nothing *
*******************************************************************************
* Black Mage* +70HP(LP30) * Nothing * Nothing *+390 HP (LP 115)*
*******************************************************************************
* Bushi * Nothing *+350 HP (LP100)*+390 HP (LP115)*+435 HP (LP 130)*
* * * Battle Lore * Battle Lore * *
*******************************************************************************
* Foebreaker* Nothing * Nothing *+390 HP (LP115)* Battle Lore *
*******************************************************************************
* Knight * Nothing * Nothing * Nothing *+390 HP (LP115) *
* * * * * Revive Tech *
* * * * * Excalipur *
*******************************************************************************
* Machinist * Nothing * Nothing * Nothing * Magick Lore x3 *
* * * * * (LP50 each) *
*******************************************************************************
* Monk * Nothing * White Magick 9* Nothing * Phoenix Lore *
*******************************************************************************
* Red Mage * White Magick 2 * +230 HP (LP70)* Nothing * +435 HP (LP130)*
*******************************************************************************
* Shikari * Ninja Swords 1 * Ninja Swords 2* Ninja Swords 3* Yagyu Darkblade*
* * * * * and Mesa *
*******************************************************************************
* Time Mage * Nothing * +150 HP (LP50)* Nothing * Nothing *
*******************************************************************************
* Uhlan * Nothing * Nothing * Black Magick 5* Nothing *
* * * * Black Magick 6* *
*******************************************************************************
* White Mage* +150 HP(LP50) * +190 HP(LP60) * Battle Lore * Nothing *
*******************************************************************************
Some of these hidden licenses may already have been purchased on a character's
other License Board. For example, the +390 HP license that is behind the 125
LP Quickening license for the Black Mage is in the "normal" area of the Monk's
License Board. So if you have a character whose 2 Jobs are Monk and Black Mage,
that license may have already been purchased. Be sure to check both of each
character's License Boards carefully before deciding on which Quickening
licenses to purchase.
As we go through the game, your team will be so powerful that use of
Quickenings (except for earning a Trophy) will be completely unnecessary.
Therefore, I would advise you to avoid activating any Quickening squares until
you have chosen second Jobs for your characters so that you don't inadvertently
miss a Bonus, like the Yagyu Darkblade, that you really want. Once you get
those second Jobs, be sure to evaluate your options very carefully, as these
decisions are irreversible.
Finally, these same concepts apply to assigning Espers to your characters.
Each Esper can only be assigned to one character, and once you make that
decision, the squares for that Esper will be activated on BOTH of that
character's License Boards, but the squares for that Esper on all other
characters' boards disappear forever. Whenever you get an Esper, I would
encourage you to take the time to look at what is to be gained by activating it
on each of your 12 License Boards before deciding. It may take some time, but
again, this decision is irreversible and there are some excellent bonuses to be
earned.
******************************************************************************
* *
* VII. How Trial Mode Works (ZA07) *
* *
******************************************************************************
If you're going to use Trial Mode, it is important to know the rules, so I
thought it would be worthwhile to spend some time outlining them for you. If
you feel that you know all of this already, please feel free to skip this
section altogether.
The basic process works like this:
1) Create a Save file for your main game by using a Save Crystal.
Henceforth, this will be referred to as a "hard Save."
2) Exit to the main screen by pressing the "Options" button (formerly the
Start button) and then pressing Square.
3) From the main menu, choose "Trial Mode." This will start you at Trial
1 with whatever team, equipment, and items you have at that point in
your main game file. If you have a Guest player on your team at that
point, that Guest comes along with you. In other words, your progress
in Trial Mode is always associated with your progress in a
corresponding hard Save file from the main game.
4) Progress through Trial Mode as far as you want to go, defeating enemies
for License Points (you do not gain Experience in Trial Mode) and
collecting items by opening chests, stealing from enemies, poaching
enemies, and, occasionally, by defeating optional enemies.
5) When you are ready to leave Trial Mode and return to the main menu
press Options and then Square.
6) From the main menu, you can then choose Load Game. HOWEVER, . . .
7) If you load the main game file that is associated with that particular
run in Trial Mode and create a new Save either by using a Save Crystal
or the Auto-Save feature, you will lose any progress you made in Trial
Mode and will have to start again at Stage 1. You will, however, get
to keep any items that you acquired from Stages that you completed.
There are certainly variations in this process, but those are the basics. Here
are some more advanced considerations having to do with saving progress in
Trial Mode:
8) Every time that you complete a Stage that is a multiple of 10, you are
given the opportunity to create a hard Save, like using a Save Crystal
in the main game. Be sure to do so, especially if you are returning to
your main game.
9) At the beginning of each Stage, the game performs an Auto-Save. You
would think that this is a good thing, but this actually has more
liabilities than advantages. I say this because it makes it very
difficult for you to go backwards. Allow me to explain further.
10) You enter each Stage in whatever condition your team is in at the end
of the previous Stage. So, if you finish a Stage but your team is
severely crippled, you have 2 choices: (a) try to get your team
healthy again at the start of the next Stage while a new set of
enemies descends upon you or (b) back up to the previous HARD Save and
work your way up to this point again.
11) For example, suppose that you are trying to get to Stage 49 so that you
can steal a Ribbon from Hashmal. However, in Stage 48 the hordes of
Zombie Warlocks killed off 2 of your team members just before the third
team member struck the killing blow on Tower. You have 2 options. One
is to try to soldier through, either by replacing your fallen team
members with fresh ones who are in reserve or by trying to bring them
back to life before Hashmal and his cronies start beating on you. The
alternative is to load the hard Save that you created after Stage 40
and start again with Stage 41, hoping that you can end Stage 48 a bit
stronger this time around.
12) Fortunately, at the beginning of most Stages you will have a few
seconds to change equipment, characters, and Gambits before the actual
fighting begins. In a few rare instances, you can actually take as much
time as you like to heal and buff your party because the battle won't
actually begin until you move. However, . . .
13) Under no circumstances can you leave Trial Mode, go shopping for items,
and then return where you left off (see item 7 above.) Therefore, it
is absolutely essential that you are fully prepared before entering
Trial Mode lest you get partially through and then lose all of your
progress.
The main reason we will be using the Trials is to steal equipment from enemies
to build up our characters. This introduces some new considerations into the
mix:
14) You can repeat a Stage as many consecutive times as you like, provided
that you do not complete it. This is done simply by pressing Options
and then Square to return to the main menu and then choosing Trial Mode
and reloading your last Auto Save file. If you complete the Stage, you
will automatically advance to the next Stage and your progress will be
Auto-Saved on top of your existing Auto-Save file, thus preventing you
from going backwards(see item 10 above.)
15) Because of item 14 above, I strongly recommend that you go through
crucial Stages at the normal (i.e., not 2x or 4x) speed. If you have a
powerful team and are playing at the accelerated pace, it is all too
easy to finish a Stage before you can hit Options to reload your game
and try again.
16) Next -- and this is REALLY important, so read carefully -- it is
vitally important that you always think ahead to the next Stage before
completing the current one. Most of the equipment that you will be
acquiring is going to be stolen from enemies, and pretty much
everything that is even remotely desirable is a rare steal (3% without
Thief's Cuffs, 6% with Thief's Cuffs.) This means that you are going to
have to retry the beginning of those Stages many times before you get
the item you want. In the interest of conserving time and preserving
your sanity, you want to minimize the number of tasks that you have to
repeat at the beginning of the Stage. To do this, you get your team
healthy and properly equipped PRIOR TO completing the Stage before it.
At the very least, you want to get one of your characters equipped with
Thief's Cuffs so that you don't have to do that 30 times in order to
steal the item you seek.
17) In light of point 16) above, it is essential that you know what
conditions will end a Stage. Many Stages contain optional enemies that
do not have to be killed off in order for the Stage to end. Make sure
you always know which enemies are optional so that you can end each
Stage on your own terms.
When we get to the point where we are actually venturing into Trial Mode, I
will do my best to alert you about changes you will want to make before
completing one Stage and beginning the next one.
The above points should hopefully cover the basics. It's time for us to roll
up our sleeves and get started on the game itself!
******************************************************************************
* *
* Finally! The Walkthrough! *
* *
******************************************************************************
******************************************************************************
* *
* VIII. Nalbina Fortress and Rabanastre (ZA08) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Ready, set , . . .
GO!
* Zip through the opening scenes and proceed through the Nalbina Fortress
until the battle on the stairs.
* Beat the 3 soldiers on the stairs, then go back to the Save Crystal. Save
your game in a separate file so that you will have a "Reks File" at your
disposal in case you decide to disregard my advice and manipulate the RNG at
some point in time. Then head upstairs and finish this scene.
* Talk to Miguelo to advance the story line (and open up the shops.)
* Go to the Sandsea to start the Rogue Tomato hunt and get a free accessory.
* You need to assign a Job to Vaan. Make him a Knight. Just do it! If you
don't, you are going to have a much harder time progressing through Trial
Mode as I recommend.
* Exit to the Estersand. Kill Wolves until Vaan is up to about Level 4. Run
back to town and save at the Save Crystal any time your HP get too low.
Don't take any chances here -- Vaan is still pretty weak.
* When Vaan is at Level 4, save at the Save Crystal, then go whup up on the
Rogue Tomato. Return to Rabanastre.
* Save at the Save crystal, then Exit to the Main Menu and go to Trial Mode.
******************************************************************************
* *
* IX. Trial Mode Stage 1 (ZA09) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Awesome Equipment Earned: Diamond Armlet, Headguard.
First of all, if you haven't read Section VII of this guide about how Trial
Mode works, please do so now.
We're going to take a brief intermission to accumulate some spending money for
our return to Rabanastre. Each time you complete Stage 1 of the Trials, you
can get a Diamond Armlet, which you can sell for 6000 gil! You will also get
12 LP. When you get a total of 25 LP, you can purchase the license for the
Diamond Armlet. With the Diamond Armlet equipped, you can also get a Headguard
from Stage 1, and you will want one of those for anyone who can equip Light
Armor. From now on until further notice, every time that you enter Trial Mode,
you should probably grab a Diamond Armlet to start building up some cash.
* In Stage 1, kill 5 of the 6 Dire Rats, then go open the treasure chests at
each end of the room. One will give you a Diamond Armlet, the other will
give you a Potion. Kill the last rat, and when Stage 2 loads, Exit and
return to the main game.
* You should now have the necessary 25 LP to buy the license for the Diamond
Armlet. Go ahead and buy it.
* Save again at the Save Crystal so that you can repeat Stage 1. Now return to
Trial Mode, and fight it like before, only with one difference. Open the
chest that contains the Diamond Armlet first. Then equip the Armlet before
opening the second chest so that you can get a Headguard. Then kill off the
last rat and return to the main game as before.
* You probably only need one Headguard, so un-equip the Diamond Armlet and
return to Stage 1 to get another Diamond Armlet. Repeat this until you have
6 Diamond Armlets. Keep 3 Diamond Armlets in your inventory -- you're going
to need them later. When you've nabbed 6 DA's, return to the main game.
******************************************************************************
* *
* X. Back to Rabanastre (ZA10) *
* *
******************************************************************************
* When you get back inside Rabanastre, you have several things to do. Go to
the Sandsea and talk to Tomaj to get your reward for the Rogue Tomato hunt.
He will also tell you to go to the Clan hall. Read about the Thextera hunt
and speak with Gatsly to initiate it.
* Run over to the Clan hall and meet Montblanc. Then go do some shopping.
* Upgrade Vaan's armor as necessary, but, above all, REMEMBER TO GO TO THE
MAGICK SHOP AND BUY THE CURE AND BLINDNA SPELLS. When Penelo joins your
team, she will already have these licenses and can use these spells, BUT
ONLY IF YOU REMEMBER TO BUY THE SPELLS FIRST!
* Head down to Lowtown and talk to Old Dalan, who will send you to the Giza
Plains. Go there. Pick up Penelo and choose a Job for her. If you'd like,
you can run back to Rabanastre and see if they have any upgrades for her
equipment. When you are done shopping, return to Giza Plains and complete
the Sunstone Quest.
In a moment, we're going to bump our team up a couple of levels and then return
to Trial Mode. However, be aware that if you return to Lowtown, Penelo will
leave the team, thus foiling our plans. Therefore, avoid Lowtown until further
notice.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XI. Leveling 1 -- Dustia (ZA11) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Leveling from about 04 to 10.
* Make your way to Nalbina. You can do this by heading east from the Giza
Plains (the safe way) or by returning to Rabanastre and then exiting from
there to the Estersand. It's your choice, but stay clear of Lowtown.
* Buy 99 Phoenix Downs and enough Potions from the Seeq merchant outside of
town to bring your inventory up to about 40 - 50. Also, makes sure that you
have at least 20 Antidotes since we'll be facing an enemy that can poison
you. If you don't have the necessary funds, go to Trial Mode and get some
more Diamond Armlets to sell. We didn't do this earlier because Phoenix
Downs aren't sold until you complete the Sunstone Quest.
* Go back to Rabanastre and then take the west exit to the Westersand. Kill
any nearby wolves, and then head into the Corridor of Sand. We're about to
raise the team's level up to about 10 -- just enough that they can survive
the upcoming Stages in Trial Mode. We'll come back later and level up a bit
more efficiently, but for now our goal is to get the hang of this process.
* Move your Phoenix Downs up to the top of your Items inventory, and go to
Config and set the Battle Speed as low as it will go.
We are going to try to chain a rare monster called Dustia. When one character's
HP fall below 10% of the maximum value, Dustia will appear. Dustia is an undead
monster, and a Phoenix Down will kill him immediately. Since he is a
teleporting monster, he will respawn when you reenter the area IF you exit the
screen before the EXP and LP show up. However, once those numbers appear, the
chain will be broken and you will have to go to a different area (i.e., the
Zertinan Caverns) to make Dustia reappear. We want to chain him, so we're going
to kill him and then exit quickly. However, he also drops great loot and we
want to pick this up whenever possible. So, here's the process:
1) Attack Vaan until his HP fall below that 10% threshold. Move him as close
to the area boundary as you can so that he can exit as quickly as possible.
2) When Dustia appears, wait just a moment before hitting the X button to bring
up the battle menu. Since Dustia teleports, he won't appear as a potential
target until he has been on the screen for a moment.
3) Choose "Item" then "Phoenix Down." The menu will want you to target one of
your team members. Hit the L1 button and enemies will show up as targets.
Pick Dustia from the list of targets.
4) As soon as Dustia gets hit, push the X button to pause the action. If
Dustia doesn't drop anything, hit the Circle button to cancel, skedaddle
off the screen back to Galtea Downs, and repeat steps 2 - 3.
5) If Dustia drops an item, hit cancel (Circle), move quickly up to Dustia, and
then quickly hit X again. If you get the item, great. If not, give up and
run for that boundary line. It's better to miss an item now and again than
to break the chain.
6) Remember that the game did an Autosave when you entered the Corridor of
Sand. If you don't leave the area fast enough, you can load your Autosave
and Dustia will reappear. However, your chain will be broken, so your best
strategy is to give up loot when necessary but preserve the chain at all
costs.
This will take a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, you will get
the dropped items about 80 - 90% of the time and will almost never break the
chain.
As mentioned earlier, for now we only need to do this until Penelo is up to
about Level 10, which should only be about 10 - 15 iterations of this process.
Once you reach Level 10, HEAL VAAN so that he doesn't die on the return trip,
go back to Rabanastre, and Save.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XII. Trial Mode Stages 1-3 (ZA12) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Awesome Equipment Earned: Karkata(s), Mythril Blade(s).
Now we're ready to get some serious weapon upgrades.
Like most upgrades we're going to get from Trial Mode, this is going to involve
stealing. To avoid repetition, let me make clear what the probabilities are
for stealing items.
"Common" steals have a 55% probability without Thief's Cuffs, 80% with.
"Uncommon" steals have a 10% probability without Thief's Cuffs, 30% with.
"Rare" steals have a 3% probability without Thief's Cuffs, 6% with.
Thief's Cuffs also allow for stealing multiple items (e.g., both a Common and a
Rare item) in one turn. Unfortunately, we won't get our hands on this valuable
Accessory for a while.
* Quit your game and go to Trial Mode, using the Save that you just created.
* Kill the Dire Rats and get a Diamond Armlet from Stage 1, then move on to
Stage 2.
* Remember how I told you that it is important to think ahead? You want to
end this Stage in good health. Kill Thextera first since he poses the most
danger. If he poisons anyone, use an Antidote to cure this. Take out
either of the other two enemies, then wait for a moment. The chests here
contain a Phoenix Down, which is always useful, and a Dark Mote, which will
be very helpful in the next Trial. Raid both chests, then bring both
characters back to full health with Potions or Cure before finishing off the
last enemy. Now you are ready to move on to Stage 3.
In Stage 3, you can steal one of 3 swords from the Flowering Cactoid. Common
steal is a Longsword, which is a +6 improvement over the Dagger that Vaan
is currently using. Uncommon steal is the Mythril Blade. This weapon has an
ATK rating of 23, but, best of all, it requires NO license and can
immediately be equipped by ANY character, regardless of their Job! What we're
really hoping for is the rare steal, which is the Karkata. Karkata is a
one-handed sword that can only be equipped by a Knight. It has +92(!) ATK
power, and inflicts Confusion 100% of the time on enemies who are not immune to
Confusion. Wow!
The Karkata is quite a ways away on the License Board (it takes about 1000 LP
to get there and buy the license) but, as you can imagine, it is well worth it.
Locate the Karkata license on the Knight's board and make that destination your
top priority. Happily, Trial Mode is the best place to pick up LP, so in your
quest to upgrade your weapons, you will accumulate quite a few of those 1000
LP. So, here is our plan.
* Whatever you steal from the Flowering Cactoid the first time is bound to be
an upgrade, so finish the Stage and then return to your main game to Save.
If you throw the Dark Mote that you picked up in Trial 2 at the mass of
enemies, it should whittle down the HP of most of them to the point that one
smack with a Mythril Blade will finish one off. Remember that if you get a
Longsword, you can buy the license and equip it right away, making it much
easier to finish the Stage. If you get a Mythril Blade, just equip it -- no
license necessary.
* The nearest treasure chest (?) contains a Dispel Mote, which will remove
Protect from the Flowering Cactoid and make him easier to finish off. Grab
this every time you go through this Stage. The enemies all pack about the
same punch, so take out the easier enemies one at a time and save the
Flowering Cactoid until last. When his HP get critical, the Flowering
Cactoid can use a "1000 Needles" attack, which will immediately kill off the
target. However, if you've removed Protect, you should finish him off
before he has a chance to launch this last desperate attack.
* Return to Trial Mode and work your way back to Stage 3. If you get a
weapon that you don't need, just reload the Stage and try again. If you get
an upgrade, equip it if possible, finish the Stage, return to the main game
to Save, then head back to Stage 3.
* Repeat this process until you have at least 2-3 Mythril Blades and 1-2
Karkatas. This is going to take a while, especially since you don't have
Thief's Cuffs yet, but that's okay. The Mythril Blades will be upgrades for
Fran and Balthier when they join the team, and it is going to be a LONG time
before you get another weapon as powerful as the Karkata. Besides, think of
all the time that you spend chasing down dropped and stolen Loot to make
items to buy in the Bazaar. This certainly takes no more time than that,
and the rewards are much greater. If you get 2 Karkatas, you should
seriously consider making a second character a Knight just because this
weapon won't be outclassed for a long time.
* Obviously you can come back here later for that second Karkata. However,
every time you complete Stages 1-3, you get a Diamond Armlet worth 6000 gil
and 33 LP towards equipping that Karkata. If you get 5 swords, that is 165
LP. As a bonus, the 4 characters who have not yet joined your team will
also get those LP when they join up.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XIII. Rabanastre (Again) (ZA13) *
* *
******************************************************************************
When you have everything that you need from Stage 3, it is time to move on.
Let's take care of a couple of Hunts before we lose Penelo.
* We already started the Thextera hunt, and we've already beat him several
times, so return to Galtea Downs, find Thextera (look for the larger-than-
usual red dot on the map), finish him off, and return to the Sandsea for
your reward.
* Read the board and go to the Estersand to initiate the Flowering Cactoid
Hunt. Find him on the next screen and finish him off.
* While you're in the neighborhood, return to Nalbina to replenish your
Phoenix Downs up to the maximum of 99. You're going to need those in a few
minutes.
* Return to Rabanastre, being sure to check in with Dantro on your way there.
Save your game and REMOVE ALL OF PENELO'S EQUIPMENT before proceeding to
Lowtown. We aren't going to see Penelo again for a while, and if you don't
remove her equipment, she will take it with her.
* Talk to Old Dalan, but don't head over to the Garamsythe Waterway just yet.
Instead, . . .
******************************************************************************
* *
* XIV. Leveling 2 -- Dustia Revisited (ZA14) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Leveling from about 10 to 28.
* Go back to the Corridor of Sand and chain Dustias until your level is in the
mid-20's. If you run out of Phoenix Downs, go back to Nalbina and buy some
more. Just remember to heal yourself with Potions before venturing very
far.
Leveling this way has 2 advantages. First of all, Vaan is getting ALL of the
EXP (instead of half, as he did with Penelo in the party) so he levels up twice
as fast. Secondly, this leveling benefits all characters, even those who
aren't yet in your party. Fran and Balthier join the team at one level above
Vaan's and Ashe, Penelo, and Basch join at two above Vaan's level. This is a
unique time in the game when one person gets all the EXP but all team members
benefit.
Here are some things to keep in mind while chaining:
* You can gain serious amount of gil chaining Dustias. He drops Books of
Orgain, which can be sold for 532 gil each and Flame Staves which can fetch
1125 gil each.
* Always hit X as soon as the chain number appears in the lower right corner.
If there isn't any loot at that point, he isn't going to drop anything, you
might as well exit the area.
* Dustia has a bad habit of sitting on top of his dropped loot, making it
difficult to pick up. Stand up against him and hit X as described above to
pause the action. If he drops loot, move slightly to one side or the other,
then hit X again. Often the loot will be almost magnetically attracted to
you, allowing you to pick it up while the action is paused.
* If you enter the Corridor of Sand and Dustia does not appear, don't panic.
Check your HP. At higher chain levels, in addition to loot, you will often
get HP restored. This could bring you above the 10% threshold. Have Vaan
attack himself until his HP drop below 10%, and Dustia should reappear.
* Finally, let me re-emphasize the importance of maintaining the chain, even
if that means you leave loot behind. You'll make it up once the chain level
increases and Dustia starts dropping multiple items at a time.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XV. To the Palace and Back Again (ZA15) *
* *
******************************************************************************
When Vaan reaches about Level 27 or 28, it's time to move on.
Eventually, you are going to have to acquire all of the Monographs that appear
in the Bazaar list, so you might as well at least activate them now. I know
that is REALLY boring and repetitive. And repetitive. And boring. However, you
have to do it eventually, so you might as well get it out of the way now.
To get all 7 Monographs to appear, you need to do the following:
* Go to the Muthru Bazaar and talk to Gatsly.
* Read any Notice Board (like the one at the Sandsea) 40 times. This will
cause 2 Monographs to appear.
* Talk to any Magick shop merchant 25 times.
* Talk to any Armor shop merchant 15 times.
* Talk to any Weapons shop merchant 30 times.
* Talk to any combination of merchants a total of 100 times.
Make them all appear and buy as many as you can afford. When you are ready, go
to the north end of Lowtown, enter the Garamsythe Waterway, and follow the
story line.
* Follow the story line through the Palace. Be sure the grab the Elixir
before distracting the guard and running up the stairs.
* When you reach the Save Crystal with Fran and Balthier, choose Jobs for
them, spend your LP, and set up Gambits. Equip them with the Mythril Blades
that you picked up in Stage 3 of Trial Mode.
* Go through the Waterway, the Nalbina Dungeon, and the Barheim Passage.
There really aren't any items here that are worth your time, so just blast
through.
Now that you're out in the open again, it's time for a couple more upgrades.
With Bosch still on the team, you now have 4 team members with levels in the
mid to upper 20's, which should be enough to get you through at least Trial 12.
There are a couple of optional upgrades you can undertake before going back to
Trial Mode. If you have a Hunter (Shikari) on your team who can equip daggers,
you can steal a +54 Gladius from the Lindbur Wolf for him/her. Go to the
Westersand and chain 20+ wolves, and then go to the southwest piece of Galtea
Downs. There you will find 2 normal-sized wolves and one great huge wolf. Get
rid of the little guys so that they don't pester you, and then steal from the
Lindbur Wolf until you get a Gladius. The bad news is that it is a rare steal,
but the good news is that it is the only possible steal, so you won't have to
reload. Lindbur Wolf hits pretty hard, and he can poison you, so be sure to
have some Antidotes and the proper Gambit set. If you get in trouble, you can
retreat across the boundary line and heal before returning. The battle is a
little bit easier if you have the Blind spell and a Black Mage who can cast it,
but if you've leveled up and bought the HP Augment licenses, you should be
fine.
Once you have your Gladius (or not) you can go to the Giza Plains and try to
chain Werewolves for a Slasher, a +54 one-handed axe. This only makes sense if
you have or are planning to have a Foebreaker, since that is the only job that
can equip an Axe. Werewolves are weak to wind, so your Gladius will come very
close to one-hit killing one. Kill the 2 Werewolves, retreat 2 screens through
the Crystal Glade and back again, then kill the next pair. Keep the chain
going until they drop the weapon that you are seeking.
It's time to return to Trial Mode. This time, we'll get some armor upgrades as
well as a couple of weapons upgrades.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XVI. Trial Mode Stages 1-12 (ZA16) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Awesome Equipment Earned: Windbreaker, Chainmail, Viking Coat, Golden Shield,
Sword(s) of Kings, Golden Armor, Shielded Armor.
Depending on how you chose to spend your LP, you should be very close to
getting the license for your Karkata. Keep an eye on your LP and buy that
license ASAP so that you can equip the Karkata for the upcoming battles.
* Before you begin, make sure that you have 3 Diamond Armlets in your
inventory. If not, repeat Stage 1 until you get them. Diamond Armlets
protect you against lightning, and you are going to need this protection in
Stage 12.
* Complete Stages 1-3. Remember to grab a Dispel Mote in Stage 3. When you
have almost finished Stage 4, turn off your Gambits in preparation for the
stealing you're going to do in Stage 5. You don't want to kill off the
enemy before it coughs up the loot you're seeking.
* Proceed to Stage 5 of Trial Mode, where you can steal a Windbreaker from the
Werewolf. It is a common steal, so you should get one on the first
try. This is a decent if temporary improvement for any character that
can equip Light Armor (+12 vs +5 for Chromed Leathers.) Equip it, and then
exit and start Trial Mode again.
* Return to Stage 5 and steal from the Werewolf until you get a Chainmail. It
will give +17 Defense to anyone who can equip Heavy Armor, a big improvement
over the +5 you get from Bronze Armor. It is an uncommon steal, so this
might take a few tries.
* Now move on to Stage 8. You are safe from attacks at the beginning of this
Stage, so use this breather to bring everyone back to full health. We are
here to steal a Viking Coat from the Bagolys there. Its +27 defense will
make its wearer virtually immune to physical attacks, at least for the time
being. This Stage has 6 Bagolys. Steal from them and then finish them off
one at a time. If you don't get a Viking Coat by the 6th try, reload the
game and try again. It is a rare steal, so this may take a few tries.
* Since you have to pass through Stages 9 and 10 anyway, you might as well
pick up a couple of additional items. In Stage 9, kill off 2 of the Lichs,
then go to the right part of the screen by the treasure chest to spawn the
Cultsworn Lich. The Golden Shield (+15 Evasion) is a common steal from him,
so grab one before finishing off the third Lich. The Cultsworn Lich is
optional, so you don't have to kill him.
* In Stage 10, the Sword of Kings is a common steal from Belias, so you might
as well grab one. It is a +53 Attack 2-handed sword that requires no
license, so anyone can equip it. For many Jobs, this is the best weapon you
will see for a while, so pick one up every time you pass through for a
while. Notice how only your Knight's Karkata does significant damage to
Belias. Aren't you glad you went to the trouble to get one? And aren't you
glad that you made Vaan a Knight?
* One of the chests in Stage 11 contains a Serum, which cures Disease. You
should grab one every time you pass through here since it is going to be a
while before you will be able to buy Magicks or items to cure this irksome
status ailment. Beat up on Croakadile, but before you finish him off, do
two things in preparation for Stage 12. First, equip everyone with a
Diamond Armlet. Then have each character set up a Gambit to cure themselves
of Poison. Everyone should also have the Ally: Any => Phoenix Down Gambit at
the top of their list. Having prepared for battle, put on your game face,
finish off Croakadile, and move on to Stage 12.
In Stage 12, you can steal one of 2 great pieces of Heavy Armor, but it is
going to be risky. The enemy in question (Melt) is optional, meaning that you
don't have to kill him, which is good because he is probably way too powerful
for your team at this point. The rewards are significant, though. The common
steal is Golden Armor, which is a +4 Defense improvement over the Chainmail.
The uncommon steal is Shielded Armor. Shielded Armor is another +4 improvement
over the Golden Armor, and, as a bonus, the wearer is in a constant state of
Protect! Getting to the point where you steal from Melt is going to take a
while, so I'd be inclined to take whichever armor you get first and get out
alive, but it you want to keep trying for the Shielded Armor, go ahead.
However, be aware that in the not-too-distant future, you're going to get all
the Shielded Armors that you need, and it will be much easier to do so. For
now, the Golden Armor will be more than adequate.
* You will be confronted by 8 Jellies. Take them out one at a time until
there is only one remaining.
* Use this opportunity to get your team as healthy as possible.
* Stand in front of the gate switch for a few seconds and Melt will drop down
into the middle of the area.
* Steal from Melt, then finish off the last Jelly to end the Stage.
Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, besides hitting you with Poison, the Jellies in
this Stage can hit you with Confusion, and at this point in the game, you have
no way of avoiding or neutralizing this potentially devastating status effect.
If anyone gets Confused -- especially someone who has the Karkata equipped --
unequip their weapon immediately so that they don't kill off another team
member. Melt also has a pretty devastating lightning-based attack, but your
Diamond Armlets should protect you against that. As soon as you steal
successfully, either reload your game (if you're trying for better armor) or
finish off the last Jelly to end the Stage.
That's about all we can do here for now. We're going to have to beef our team
up a bit before tackling Trial Mode again. However, check out where we are
already:
* Everyone has a weapon that is +53 Attack or above.
* Everyone who can equip Heavy Armor has +21 Defense or above.
* Everyone who can equip Light Armor has +27 Defense.
* Everyone is Level 28-ish.
We haven't done anything to help those who equip Mystic Armor, so those
characters are going to be relatively fragile for a while. We'll work on that
when we can. In the meantime, always check Armor shops for Mystic Armor
upgrades.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XVII. Off to Bhujerba (ZA17) *
* *
******************************************************************************
* Return to Rabanstre where the team will split up, leaving Vaan alone.
* Check in with Montblanc and get 2 more Hunts, then go to the Sandsea and
take on the Wraith Hunt.
* Go to Old Dalan's house to advance the story line. Deliver the sword to get
Basch on the team. Give him a Job and spend his LP to bring him up to
Snuff, then use the Party command to add him to your active party.
* Vaan and Basch are plenty strong enough to take down the Wraith by
themselves, so talk to Milha to accept that hunt, go down and beat the
Wraith. Go next door to the Save Crystal to remove Doom, then return to
Milha to complete this hunt.
* Go to the Sandsea and pick up the rest of the team. Go to Giza Plains and
complete the Clucktrice Hunt. Then proceed to the Aerodrome and fly to
Bhujerba.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XVIII. About Guest Team Members (ZA18) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Now that there is a Guest (Larsa) on the team, let's take a closer look at how
EXP works.
When you win a battle, the total EXP available is divided equally among the
members of your active team. So if you defeat an enemy that gives 600 EXP and
you have a team of 3 characters, each team member gets 600/3 = 200 EXP. If you
have a team of 3 plus a Guest (for a total of 4 team members) then each of
those 4 members gets 600/4 = 150 EXP. In other words, each of your permanent
team members sacrifices 1/4 of their EXP to that Guest member who, very soon,
will leave your team forever. That doesn't seem like a very sound investment
to me.
To make matters worse, your core team of 3 is generally way more powerful than
the Guest, largely owing to superior equipment. They can deal more damage
while taking less damage and therefore needing less healing from your White
Mage. This is a particularly salient point when you are in Trial Mode. Many
Stages are going to be tough battles, and you don't want your White Mage
wasting time and resources reviving your useless Guest character who is only
going to get killed and need reviving again.
My advice is this: Any time you get a Guest character, set your Gambits to
resurrect all team members EXCEPT the Guest, then kill off the Guest. Leave
him dead until he is automatically revived during a hard Save, then kill him
off again. While I don't want to be accused of not knowing how to share, this
approach seems only logical. Each team member will gain 1/3 more EXP, and your
resources won't be stretched as thin. If they are considering the greater
good, I'm certain that these fallen comrades who are victims of friendly fire
would agree.
If, for whatever reason, you decide to keep your Guest character alive, be sure
to check his Gambits! Often, they will be set to use consumables, thus
depleting your inventory of these items. You don't want to get deep into the
Stages of Trial Mode only to discover that you are mysteriously out of X-
Potions or Phoenix Downs that you Guest has been throwing around willy-nilly.
We now return to our regular programming . . .
******************************************************************************
* *
* XIX. Lhusu Mines Through the Tomb of Raithwall (ZA19) *
* *
******************************************************************************
* Go through the Lhusu Mines and back. There's not much reason to linger
because you aren't going to find weapons or armor superior to what you
already have. In fact, observe the following:
1) You can pretty much one-hit kill anything that gets in your way.
2) Enemies do 0 damage except to team members limited to Mystic Armor.
3) Enemies give about 100 EXP, and you are about 10,000 EXP away from the
next level. Ergo, you aren't going to level up any time soon.
My point is that because of the time that we spent killing Dustias and slugging
our way through Trial Mode, you don't have to spend time grinding enemies or
opening treasure chests. Pretty sweet, huh?
* When you return from the Mines, the nearby Street Vendor has some new items
that cure various status ailments. Buy at least 20-30 of each to see you
through until we can procure some Ribbons.
* Do some yelling to advance the story line. After some scenes, you'll be in
the tavern. While you're there, check the board and accept the Nidhogg
hunt. Then stop by the Magicks shop and buy the Raise spell.
* Go to the SW corner of town to initiate the Rocktoise Hunt. Return to the
Lhusu Mines, take down both marks, and return to civilization.
* Stop by the Magicks shop. In addition to Shell and Protect, it is now
selling the very useful Disable spell. This really should be named
"Disable-ga" because it will work on multiple enemies within a certain
range. It will be useful in some Stages of Trial Mode, and it is crucial to
efficiency in our last leveling spot, so be sure to pick it up now!
* Hop aboard the Dreadnought Leviathan. You will have Vossler as a Guest. Do
you remember my advice about Guests? Good -- then be sure to follow it now.
* If you have an Uhlan, you might want to pick up the Partisan from the chest
in the lower left area of Port Section. It isn't as good as the Sword of
Kings, but it's always handy to have something that can hit flying enemies,
and it's an improvement over the Mythril Blade. You can also buy one in the
upcoming shop.
* In the Large Freight Stores area, underneath the stairs at the right bottom
of the map, you can find a Shepherd's Bolero, a slight Mystic Armor upgrade
(from +8 to +10.) Zone in and out until you get it, or buy one in the
upcoming shop.
* Rescue Ashe, choose a Job for her, spend her LP, buy any needed items from
the shop, and Save your game. I would recommend buying 3 x Tourmaline Ring
for future use. These protect against Sap, for which we currently have no
reasonable cure, and we're going to encounter plenty of enemies who can
inflict it.
* Head back to the west side of the map. Penelo will join the team with tons
of LP for you to invest in her. Fight the necessary battles to return to
Bhujerba. Go through the necessary scenes and land in the Westersand.
* The nearby shop now sells the Cura spell, which you definitely want to
purchase. You can (and should!) also buy some Nu Khai Sand (which cures
Confusion) and 3x Black Belts to protect against Disable and Immobilize.
The Poach Technick is a must-have ability, and if you find any armor
upgrades, add those to your cart before checkout as well.
* Teleport or hoof it back to Rabanastre and get the Wyvern Lord hunt started,
since we're going to pass this enemy on our way to the Tomb of Raithwall.
Return to the Westersand and venture into the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea.
* Don't miss the two maps as you enter the area. Head west one screen and
Vossler will join as a Guest. As a GUEST. You know what to do.
* At the north end of the Platform 1-Refinery area is a treasure chest with a
Golden Amulet, which bestows double LP on the wearer, even if that character
is not in the active party. Buy the relevant license (Accessories 6) for
ALL of your characters, and until you get License Boards completed, always
have someone (usually the character with the fewest LP) with the Golden
Amulet equipped. You'll get more of these later, but for now, just keep
moving it around.
* Head west and then north to the Central Junction area and exit to the
Zertinan Caverns (where the big blue arrow is on the map.) Snake your way
through to the exit.
When you exit, there should be either 1 or 2 treasure chests staring right at
you. The one on the left can contain a Winged Helm. For your Heavy Armor
users, it is a +3 Magic Resist, +1 Strength, and +3 Speed boost over the
Barbut. The one on the right can contain a Chainmail, but we already have
those, don't we? Both chests can contain Hi-Ether, which you really want for
Trial Mode. Zone in and out until you have everything you need from here, then
head up the ramp ahead.
* Kill off all the Bagolys, then hang around the platform at the dead-end for
a while. The rare enemy Imdugud should come flying in. You can steal
Shielded Armor from him, which is an improvement over the Chainmail, so get
a set for each character that can equip it. You will have to go back
through the Zertinan Caverns and out the other side to reset the enemies and
be able to steal again. When you have all that you need, go back through
the Caverns.
* There are 2 exits from the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea to the Nam-Yensa Sandsea. The
path we want to follow is the one to the north. However, the southern path
will take you to a section of the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea that has a Gold Save
Crystal to which you will want to teleport later on. So, go to the
south exit first, save at the Gold Save Crystal (hereafter referred to as a
GSC), then go back and take the northern exit.
* You are now in the Nam-Yensa Sandsea. Follow the events with the Yensa Eater
-- or not -- and then head west to the Simoon Bluff area. On the NE edge of
the NE ring, you will find your first Embroidered Tippet, an Accessory that
doubles EXP! Buy the Accessories 5 license for everyone and equip this
must-have Accessory on your active player with the lowest level.
Your next two foes are both flying enemies. They can be damaged with Poles and
Spears, but we don't have very good ones at this point. There is a merchant at
the far west end of the area that has slightly better weapons for these
battles, so . . .
* Go to the merchant first and upgrade your weapons. Then go to the NW part
of Simoon Bluff to fight the Wyvern Lord. Then continue west past the
merchant to fight Garuda. Both enemies will fold like houses of cards
against your awesome might. Go to the Tomb of Raithwall and Save.
* Head inside and take out the two Demon Walls. You only need to kill the
second one, but your 2 Karkatas should make short work of them, so why run
from a lesser enemy?
* Go past the second Demon Wall, grab the map and the Dispel Magick. If you
kill 10 Seekers and then return to the platform with the map, the rare enemy
Barmuu will appear, and you can steal a Lamia's Tiara from it, a helmet
upgrade for your White Mage.
* Blast through the Tomb, wasting enemies for LP and opening any chests that
get in your way.
* Head down to Belias. Grab the chests with an Elixir and the Shades of Black
Magick. We've already defeated Belias a couple of times, so he shouldn't be
any challenge. Don't forget to go forward and grab the Dawn Shard before
teleporting out.
* Beat Vossler, and eventually you will be back in Rabanastre.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XX. Hunts, Sidequests, and Useful Items (ZA20) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Now that you have cleared the Tomb of Raithwall, a lot of new areas and
opportunities are open to you. Some of these are routine hunts, others present
chances to get some more equipment upgrades.
You also now have the opportunity to choose a second Job for each of your
characters. This can really make your team much more versatile, so choose
wisely. Choose new Jobs, spend your LP, and let's get on with it.
* Get one new hunt from Montblanc and 5 at the Sandsea. Talk to Sherral in
the weapons shop to complete the Wyvern Lord hunt. Talk to all of the
petitioners who are in Rabanastre. One of those is in Lowtown fairly close
to where the White Mousse hunt is so, you can do that now.
Enemies in the Garamsythe Waterway are a lot tougher than they used to be, but
they also give a LOT more EXP. Make sure that you have Gambits and consumables
to deal with the adverse status effects they can inflict. Battling White
Mousse can also be tough at this point. He constantly bombards your entire
team with Water-based Magick. However, remember that Viking Coat that you got
a while back in Stage 8 of Trial Mode? It makes the wearer immune to Water
attacks. Add a healer and a Knight with a Karkata, and you can check this hunt
off of your to-do list.
* Talk to Sorbet at Westgate to get the Sluice Gate Key and wrap up the White
Mousse hunt.
This would be a good time to take on the Earth Tyrant quest. To do so, you need
to do the following:
* Talk to Rizmat, the green Bangaa in the Westgate area.
* Talk to Cotze at the fountain in the Southern Plaza area.
* Talk to Northon in Lowtown, just South of the entrance to the Garamsythe
Waterway.
* In the Westersand, go to the part of Windtrace Dunes that connects to
Shimmering Horizons and retrieve the Wind Globe.
* Take the Wind Globe back to Rizmat and get the Windvane item.
* Go to the Wyrm's Nest area of the Westersand and take out Earth Tyrant.
Defeating Earth Tyrant opens up a path to a new area of the Estersand. You can
walk from here to the Mosphoran Highwaste and then from there to Nalbina, but
if you do the guards won't let you go back again. We'll approach this problem
from the other direction shortly.
Now that everyone has a new Job, you are going need some LP to buy all of those
licenses. I'm going to suggest doing a quick sidequest to acquire a second
Golden Amulet. That way, all of the LP we accumulate from here on will count
double for 2 of our 6 characters.
* Make your way to the Outpost in the Estersand and talk to Dantro. He will
send you on a mission that will have you running back and forth between here
and South Bank Village and crossing over to the North Bank.
* When Dantro's wife asks you to bring her things, make sure that always bring
the maximum available -- 5 Semclam Shells, 2 vials of Nebralim, and 3
Valeblossom Dews.
On our way to fetching the Valeblossom Dews, there are some good equipment
upgrades available. In describing how to get these, I'll use phrases like,
"You may find a chest . . ." For more information about how treasure chests
work, please read the next section, which is aptly titled, "Information about
Treasure Chests."
* If any of your characters have the Foebreaker Job, there is a good weapon
that you can grab. In the Yoma, head to the west side of the map and follow
that west border until you reach the exit to the Westersand. Go past the
exit and continue to follow the border, which will curve to the east and
then back to the west. Right where the border starts to curve east again,
there can be a chest (it only appears 75% of the time) that can contain a
Hammerhead. It has +81 attack, much better than the Slasher your Foebreaker
is probably using. If the chest doesn't appear or if it contains an item
(gil or Eye Drops) other than the weapon, exit to the Westersand to reset
the chests and then return until you get what you are seeking.
* If you have an Uhlan on your team, there is a significant weapon upgrade for
him nearby. Enter the Broken Sands area and follow the left wall to the
first "nook" on the west side. There may be a chest there containing an
Obelisk, a +68 spear. Exit south and re-enter until you get one.
* Due east of the Obelisk chest on the far east boundary of the area, there
may be a chest that may contain a Black Cowl, a decent helmet upgrade for
your Mystic Armor wearers. It also may contain a Dispel Mote, which is
always handy.
* While you're in the Broken Sands, take a moment to look at the map. At the
northern end of this area, there are 3 dead ends that point to the
south -- a longer one to the west and 2 shorter ones to the east. At the
southern tip of the middle of the 3 dead ends, there will be a chest
with the Berserker Bracers Accessory. Be sure to grab it -- it can be very
useful.
* Proceed to the longest of the 3 dead ends (the one to the far west.) At the
SW end of this dead end you may find a chest containing a Diamond Helm,
which is a major improvement over your Winged Helm. The chest will respawn
if you exit to the north and reenter, so get as many as you need while
you're here.
* Roughly midway between the Obelisk chest and the Diamond Helm chest on the
far west side, you may find a chest that contains a Dragon Shield. This is
another big improvement over your existing equipment, and you can get it to
respawn by exiting south and re-entering.
* Once you are through plundering chests, gather 3 Valeblossom Dews and return
to the South Bank.
* Give Dantro's wife the Valeblossom Dews and your Great Serpentskin as well.
Leave the village and then return and meet the patient behind the house. I'm
not sure how far you have to go. I ran to the Outpost and back, and that was
enough. You will get the Barheim Key (which we will use shortly) and your
second Golden Amulet.
Okay, maybe that sidequest wasn't as "quick" as I led you to believe. Look at
the bright side. It was relatively simple, and in addition to the second
Golden Amulet, you also got a major weapon upgrade, a couple of good helmets,
and a couple of good shields. Not bad for a few minutes' work.
The next couple of tasks will require some backtracking, but it seems to be the
proper sequence to follow at this point.
* Walk or teleport to Nalbina. Rent a chocobo and head west. When the guards
get out of your way, continue west to the Mosphoran Highwaste.
* Go to the NW corner of the area and raid the chest to (FINALLY!) get a set
of Thief's Cuffs.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXI. Information about Treasure Chests (ZA21) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Most of the next few upgrades we are going to get will be from treasure chests,
so it might be helpful to be clear about how these things work in FFXII-ZA.
Here are the rules:
1) Those chests that do appear will always appear in the same place.
2) Some chests appear 100% of the time. Each of these always contains the
same treasure and most will not reappear after they are opened.
3) For example, the chest that you just opened to get the Thief's Cuffs is a
one-time-only chest. It will never appear again now that you have opened
it.
4) Most chests only appear (or "spawn") sometimes. These chests can reappear
if you go one screen away and then return.
5) The contents of these chests will vary but will always be from the
same list of possible treasures. For example, a given chest might
contain gil, a Potion, or a Golden Staff, but it will never contain
anything else except one of these 3 items.
6) From now on, I'll refer to chests by the percentage chance that it will
appear. For example, a chest that only appears 75% of the time will simply
be called a "75% chest."
7) Be aware that since most chests can contain one of 3 or so items, the
chance that you will actually get what you are seeking from a "75% chest"
is considerably less than 75%. The percentage refers ONLY to the chance
that the chest will appear.
8) For chests that might contain one of multiple possible items, I will try to
specify that it "might" contain a certain item. When I say this, what I
mean is that it will eventually contain that item if you open it enough
times, but you may not get the desired item on the first attempt.
We now return to our adventures.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXII. Some Major Equipment Upgrades (ZA22) *
* *
******************************************************************************
It's time to make almost all of your weapons and armor (except, of course, your
Karkatas) obsolete.
* If you have a Shikari, take the NE exit from the Babbling Vale to Rays of
Ashen Light. Just south of the structure, there is a 70% chest that can
contain an Avenger, a +66 Dagger, which is an improvement over your Sword of
Kings.
* Head down to the Summit Path. At the dead end on the north side of the
area, there is a 75% chest that can contain a Kiku-ichimonji, a +71 Katana
for your Bushi.
* Return to Babbling Vale and take the north central exit to Trail of Sky-
flung Stone. You are going to encounter flying enemies (Vultures) who will
attack you, so make sure that you have a character or two who can kill these
enemies.
* Kill off anything that flies or hisses, but if a Fire Elemental appears,
LEAVE IT BE. You are in no position to be picking fights with this enemy.
It is normally tame and won't attack, but if you attack it or use any
Magicks -- even on your own team -- it will attack you brutally.
The Trail of Sky-flung Stone has two sort-of-parallel trails -- an upper one
and a lower one. In the middle of the lower trail on opposite sides, two
chests can appear. One is a 75% chest that can contain Diamond Armor, a +40
Defense Heavy Armor. The other is a 75% chest that can contain Black Garb, a
+33 Defense Mystic Armor. Both are significant improvements over what you
currently have. Once the area is clear of enemies, check both chests. To make
them respawn, be sure to exit NORTH to the Northern Skirts area. If you return
to Babbling Vale, all of those obnoxious Vultures will respawn also and you'll
have to fight them again.
* In the middle of the upper path described above, there is a 100% chest that
contains a Gillie Boots Accessory. You are going to need these soon, so
grab them and buy the Accessories 12 license for all of your character.
* Get all the Diamond Armors and Black Garbs that you need and then proceed
north to Northern Skirts.
This area has an upper part and a lower part, separated by a thin connection of
land. In the lower part of the lower area, on the far left side is a small
dead end. Here, there is a 70% chest that can contain a Metal Jerkin, a +31
Defense Light Armor. In the upper area, just past that center connection
of land, on the far right is a 70% chest that can contain a Dragon Shield which
provides +23 Evade. The Vultures in the upper area don't seem to understand
that they aren't supposed to respawn unless you go 2 screens away.
Fortunately, neither chest is close enough to them that this is a problem.
* Get all the Metal Jerkins and Dragon Shields that you need. Then continue
north in the Salikawood.
The Salikawood has lots of twists and turns, so I would advise you to get the
Map ASAP. Head NE and then NE again to Trunkwall Road. Keep following the
right-side boundary, and soon you will come to a dead end with the Map, making
life much easier.
* In Trunkwall Road, due north of the Map, there is another little dead end
on a branch that points to the NW. Here there is a 75% chest that can
contain a Gokuu Pole, a +72 Attack Pole for your Monk. Nice!
* At the north end of Trunkwall Road, there are 3 dead ends that point more or
less to the north. At the end of the center of these is a 75% chest that
can contain a Chaos Mace, in case you have a Red Mage on your team. It has
+69 Attack, so it represents another significant improvement for your team.
It is a ways away from a screen boundary, so getting this one might take a
while.
You're pretty close to the King Bomb now, and you are definitely strong enough
to beat him at this point. It's just going to take a bit longer now than it
will after you've powered up a bit more. Go ahead and do it now and get it
over with.
King Bomb is in the Grand Bower area, just past the GSC. He (and the smaller
Bombs that come to his aid) splash you with oil and then blow Fire at you. The
King Bomb can also completely refill his HP multiple times, so you're basically
going to have to beat him multiple times before he gives up and just dies
already. Enter the battle having at least one member with a Karkata and
preferably 2 White Mages who have a second Job that makes them formidable
fighters as well as healers. Give your Knight a Flame Shield if possible. If
not, a Shell Shield is a good second choice. Equip one of your characters with
the Gillie Boots you picked up a while back. They will make the wearer immune
to Oil, making the King Bomb's fire attacks do much less damage.
(Unfortunately, at this point in the game you can only acquire one pair of
Gillie Boots.) Cast Shell on everyone before beginning the battle, and give
everyone a Self => Handkerchief Gambit. As I said, this may take a while, but
you should prevail in the long run, opening up the paths to the west and
northwest.
* Now that the paths to the north are open, equip everyone with Tourmaline
Rings and head to the northwest to Piebald Pass. Give your Monk, Shikari, or
Bushi (if Belias is assigned) the Self: => Libra Gambit so that you can
identify and avoid the nasty Traps that lie ahead.
We are going to take a side-trip to grab a very powerful and useful spell, but
this is going to be something of an adventure. Our quest will take us
through lands where we have no business going given our current limited
strength. Don't be overconfident here. Don't even THINK about trying to fight
any of the enemies. Most of them are WAY too powerful for you and will gang up
on you and make mincemeat of you at this stage of the game if you try to engage
them. Focus on making it safely through these treacherous areas, picking up
only the items that I specify, and you will be rewarded with an awesome spell
and your characters' collective lives.
* Run through the Greencrag and Muted Scarp areas, pausing to Save at the Blue
Save Crystal in the Muted Scarp.
* In the next area (Vale of Lingering Sorrow) follow the left wall to a
peninsula that points to the NW. There you will find the Map, which will
greatly simplify your journey. Once you have the Map, keep following the
left wall, continuing quickly on until you reach the exit to the next area.
* Race through the Slumbermead and on north to Succor Midst Sorrow, but pause
before touching the Save Crystal.
That GSC that you see is actually a Crystalbug, a very powerful enemy that is
going to pummel you with Magic while you plink away at it, doing minimal damage
even with your Karkata. Prepare for battle by putting a Knight with a Karkata
and 2 White Mages on your team. Equip the Knight with the Berserker Bracers
that you picked up in the Estersand. This will increase the damage he does
while the White Mages try their best to keep up with the damage the Crystalbug
will dish out. Equip anyone you can with a Shell Shield. You can definitely
beat the Bug at this point, but it won't be easy. When you do, save at the
Crystal and take a moment to draw a deep breath and put on your game face
before advancing.
We are about to race through an area, pick up the spell we came after, and then
race out again as quickly as possible. Remember, we aren't here to engage
enemies. We are grabbing this spell and then beating a hasty retreat to the
GSC in Succor Midst Sorrow, pausing only to heal as necessary. Are you ready?
Okay, here's the plan.
* Head north into the Lifeless Strand and look at your map. This zone can be
seen as 4 connected areas -- south central, west, north central, and east.
Head to the north central area. Once you cross the bridge, follow the left
wall and take the hidden path to the NW. There you will find a 100% chest
containing the Warp spell. Grab it and get your behind back to the Gold Save
Crystal ASAP.
The Warp spell is a cheap way for your Time Mage(s) to dispose of multiple
enemies quickly. It is an instant death spell that can connect with multiple
enemies within a certain radius. It doesn't work on all enemies, and it's only
about 50% effective on enemies that are vulnerable to it, but when it does
connect, it's pretty cool. Warp generally does not work on undead enemies
(skeletons and such) or on bosses, but it is effective on "normal" enemies that
you encounter just strolling around. You do not get EXP or LP for enemies
defeated using Warp. However, if enemies gang up on you -- as will be the case
in some Trials -- Warp is a quick way to reduce their numbers and tip the
scales back in your favor.
Return to the Quietened Trace and use one of your precious Teleport Stones to
teleport to the Barheim Passage. I should mention going in that your team is
barely strong enough to deal with the enemies here, so make sure that your
Gambits are set for everyone to attack the Party Leader's target. Advance
slowly because there are a LOT of enemies down here, and they can gang up on
you in a hurry. Fortunately, with your new and improved armor, you will require
much less healing to stay alive.
Now that you're in the Barheim Passage, you can pick up 2 great upgrades and
some important Accessories.
* From the GSC, head south and then west. At the 3-way divide, take the right-
hand (northmost) path to the East-West Bypass. Keep heading west into the
Zeviah Span, then go south.
* About halfway down the Zeviah Span, the path splits 3 ways -- center, left,
and right. Go left (east) and then take the stairs north. At the dead end,
you will find an urn containing the Barheim Candle, which will fill in your
map for this new area.
* Be sure to go into the south central "island" in the Zeviah Span and pick up
the Shear Technick.
* You can steal Gigas Hats from the Dead Bones enemies that pervade this area.
Gigas Hat is a Light Armor helmet with +43(!) Magic Defense, +2 Magic,
and +530(!) HP. It is a rare steal, but now that you have Thief's Cuffs,
that is a 6% chance. Between that doubled percentage and the vast
quantities of Dead Bones to steal from, you should get all that you need in
no time.
* Where the southern edge of the Zeviah Span dead ends, there is a little
branch to the east with stairs that go north and south to dead ends. Take
the stairs that heads north, and at the far north end, you will find a 100%
chest that contains a Kagenui, a +81 Ninja Sword for your Shikari.
* Slowly make your way south through the West Annex. Try to trigger just one
enemy at a time. The enemies are especially thick here and will outnumber
you quickly if you move too fast. At the south end of the area, take the
branch that goes east and then south and west.
* Proceed slowly but carefully to the Terminus No. 7 Adjunct, where the Blue
Save Crystal is. At the end of the dead end arm that points to the SE is a
25% chest that contains a Cameo Belt, which gives the wearer a 100% hit
rate, i.e. enemies cannot evade or block attacks. You will need it from
time to time, so grab it and then Save.
If any of your characters have the Uhlan job, the Obelisk is probably still his
best weapon. There is a significant upgrade available in Trial Mode, but if you
want to get it, you need to get 3 Power Armlets (which protect against Stop) in
order to survive. You can't buy these yet, but there is a nearby chest that can
contain one, and you can raid it multiple times. If you want to do this, here's
the plan:
* Look at your map. In the SW area of the West Annex, you'll see something
that looks like a roundabout with a short branch pointing almost due South.
At the end of that branch is the 90% chest we seek.
* Run out of Terminus No. 7 Adjunct into the West Annex and just follow the
right-hand wall. Don't bother killing anything that isn't an immediate
threat. Raid the chest, return to Terminus No. 7 Adjunct, and repeat until
you have 3 Power Armlets. This took me less than 10 minutes.
* The license for the Power Armlet (Accessories 18) is probably quite a ways
away. Make sure that you buy this license for your entire team ASAP. You
are going to need it in Stage 17 just ahead.
* Return to Terminus No. 7 Adjunct and Save.
There's an Esper in the next room, but he's kind of a pain to try to beat at
this point in time, and he will be SO much easier to take out later. I'm going
to suggest we back out of here for now and then return later to deal with the
Esper.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXIII. Trial Mode Stages 1-30 (ZA23) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Awesome Equipment Earned: Halberd, Black Robes and/or Hypnocrown, Thief's
Cuffs.
You now have the opportunity to return to Trial Mode.
This time through, the returns will be relatively meager, so this junket may be
considered to be optional. The only weapon upgrade will be a Halberd, which is
only a +7 improvement over your Obelisk. The only armor upgrades are a +23
Mystic Armor improvement over your Black Robes and +11 MGR improvement over
your Black Cowl, both of which are pretty significant. You can also pick up a
second set of Thief's Cuffs, which can be handy. Overall, I consider this to be
a worthwhile run despite the limited amount of useful loot. Besides getting to
face some challenging battles, you'll garner a ton of LP to start filling in
those License Boards. Make your own decision. If you're not interested in
pursuing these upgrades, just skip to the next section.
Before returning to Trial Mode, be sure to check your inventory. Make sure
that you have at least 50 each of every available item that cures a status
ailment plus at least 50 Phoenix Downs. Remember, once you head in, you can't
return for supplies without losing your progress. If you need supplies now,
teleport to Nalbina or really any town that has provisions. Do a hard Save and
go to Trial Mode when you are ready.
* Go through Stages 1 - 12 as before. It doesn't hurt to grab the following
items from chests: Diamond Armlet from Stage 1; Dispel Mote from Stage 3;
Remedy from Stages 4 and 12; Bubble Mote from Stage 5; Ether from Stages 7
and 9; Serum from Stage 11. If you want to speed things up, you can use your
Warp spell. However, I would advise against doing that since you will
deprive yourself of the LP that you would otherwise earn.
* Stages 13 - 14 won't give you any trouble. Just kill the enemies and move
on.
* Before entering Stage 15, have your entire team equip the Tourmaline Rings
that you bought on the Dreadnaught Leviathan. Elder Wyrm will use an attack
called Sporefall which will inflict a LOT of status ailments. You can
counter many of them with conventional items, and your Tourmaline Rings will
prevent Sap. Focus your attacks on the Elder Wyrm because the Treants are
optional, and you don't have to kill them.
* At the start of Stage 16, you will get a bit of a breather. Use this
opportunity to get everyone healed of status ailments and to replenish lost
HP. Focus your attacks on Mateus (the Ice Azers are optional) but do NOT
finish him off just yet.
Trial 17 is going to be a challenge. You are going to fight 3 Mindflayers in
an environment that is constantly draining your MP. Since you aren't very
strong at this point, everyone's MP will quickly go to 0. Mindflayers can also
use Invert, interchanging your MP and HP. Of course, any character with 0 MP
who gets hit with Invert is immediately dead. These guys can also inflict
Stop, which is why we got those Power Armlets. And just in case this Stage
isn't challenging enough at this point, Mindflayers can restore all of their
HP. The battle is definitely winnable, but it is going to be annoying.
* Prepare a team of one attacker and two healers. If one of your healers is
also a Knight with a Karkata, that is a definite plus.
* Equip everyone on your active team with Power Armlets. Then finish off
Mateus.
* Concentrate your attacks on one Mindflayer at a time. The battle gets much
easier as you reduce their numbers.
* The good thing about Invert is that when you resurrect an ally, they will
again have some MP (which used to be their HP.) Use this to immediately to
cast Cura and bring back some HP to your team.
This battle is nearly impossible if you have to deal with removing Stop. With
the Power Armlets equipped, it will be trying but definitely winnable.
* In Stage 18, Ring Wyrm's status spell of choice is Immobilize, so equip
everyone with Black Belts.
* In Stage 20, you will have to defeat Vultures, so be sure to equip weapons
that can hit flying enemies. There is also another Remedy in a chest here,
and I would advise you to grab it.
* Stage 21 is the King Bomb and friends again. You've beat him before, so you
can do this again. Remember to equip the Gillie Boots on someone. Before
ending the Stage, equip everyone with a Tourmaline Ring, or Sap is again
going to be a problem.
Update: I tried Stages #22-27 again recently, and they were a whole lot harder
than I remembered, especially #22 and #23. Using the Warp spell that we
snagged in the Nabreus Deadlands can make these Stages much easier. Wait until
the enemies are all clustered together, and then cast the Warp spell at the
crowd. It won't take out all of the enemies, but it should take out 4 - 6 or
them. If you get fewer than that, just cast it again. You can (and should!)
pick up an additional Warp Mote every time you pass through Stage 24.
* In Stages 22 - 27, you'll fight a bunch of little vegetables who can't hurt
you much physically, so they try to annoy you with status effects. Most are
easily removed, and you are defended against Sap.
* In Stage 24, be sure to open both chests. One contains a Hi-Ether, and the
other contains a Warp Mote. You will be needing both, so grab them.
* Before finishing Stage 27, cast Protect on your entire team and equip
someone who can Steal with Thief's Cuffs. Set you Gambits so that no one
attacks until you tell them to, but keep healing Gambits in place. Then
complete Stage 27.
* The item we want in Stage 28 is an uncommon steal from the optional enemy
Cubus. If you open the 2 chests in the room, Cubus will appear. When he
does, Steal from him. If you don't get a Halberd, then reload and try
again. If you do, finish off the Wendice and the 3 Strikers. Keep your
Thief's Cuffs equipped and pause before proceeding.
The Halberd is +75 Attack Spear, which is only a +7 improvement over your
Obelisk, but it's probably worth getting anyway. Getting the Power Armlets and
fighting my way to Stage 28 took me about an hour. All in all, I consider it a
good investment all by itself.
Since you've come this far anyway, the third best Mystic Armor in the game is
available in the next Stage, and it's worth at least trying to get it before
returning to your main game.
* As soon as the screen from Stage 29 loads, try to steal from Ahriman. The
Black Robes are a rare steal, but with the Thief's Cuffs it shouldn't take
too many tries to get them. If you're lucky, you can get a Hypnocrown as
well.
Ahriman is no pushover. He can Confuse members of your team, and you need to
keep up with this lest one of your team members kill off an ally. He also
casts Doom, but so what? Let that member die and just resurrect him/her. His
really annoying ploy is to split into multiple versions of himself so that you
don't know which one to attack. Make sure that your whole team is attacking
the same enemy so that when you do find the real Ahriman, you can make the most
of your attacks. If you do no damage, target a different Ahriman. Eventually,
he will fall and you will have a great new set of Mystic Armor that will last
you until late into the game.
The Black Robes have +56(!) Defense, +5 MR, +66 MP and +12 Magick. They also
increase elemental damage from spells cast by the wearer by 50%. Their
defensive power alone makes them the best body armor you will be able to obtain
for quite some time.
* It makes sense to go ahead and complete Stage 30 to get the rewards (mainly
10 Ethers.) Just Dispel Gil snapper's Protect and pound him into
submission. Thief's Cuffs are a rare Steal from him, but don't waste your
time. We'll be getting another set of these much more easily very soon.
I wouldn't advise trying to go any further into the Trial Stages right now.
We'll return when we've leveled up a bit more.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXIV. Hunts, an Esper, Loot, and Equipment (ZA24) *
* *
******************************************************************************
* Go to the Giza Plains and complete the hunts for Gil Snapper and Croakadile.
* Head to the Westersand and beat up Ring Wyrm, then go into the Zertinan
Caverns to waste Marilith. Neither of these enemies will offer much
resistance to your awesome might.
While you're in the Zertinan Caverns anyway, there are a couple of other things
you can check off of your to-do list.
First, be sure to kill any Buers that you encounter. If you bought the Mage's
Monograph, they can drop the Demon's Sigh item, which can be sold and converted
to 10 Serums each. Serum, you may recall, will cure Disease, and at present it
is your only way of dealing with this nasty status ailment. Buers can also
rarely drop a Gaia Hat, a pretty good Mystic Armor helmet that has +41 MR as
well as +90 HP and +70 MP and +7 Magick. It's a 1% drop, so I wouldn't spend a
lot of time trying to get one, but if you encounter a Buer, see if it will drop
one.
There is an Esper nearby, and you are plenty strong enough to beat him now.
However, before doing so, I'm going to suggest getting him to cough up some
Loot that is otherwise much more difficult to obtain.
I'm assuming here that eventually you are going to want to build a Tournesol
(for your Knight) or a Kumbha (for a Bushi) or both. If so, you are going to
need at least 3 High Arcanas. You will get 2 of these from doing hunts, but you
will need at least 1 more, and this is far and away the easiest place to get
them. High Arcana is a rare steal from all Espers except Ultima and Zodiark.
What is unique about Adrammelech is that if your attempt to Steal a High Arcana
is unsuccessful, you can escape the battle, go 2 zones away to reset the area,
and attempt to Steal again without having to reset your game.
* Head to the Save Crystal at the Undershore.
* Assemble a party that includes at least one healer, at least 2 characters
who can hit flying enemies, and a character who can Steal. Equip Thief's
Cuffs on the one who can steal and Diamond Armlets on the other 2.
* Go into the Athroza Quicksands, and a flying enemy Adrammelech should
appear. Steal from him, and then retreat to the Undershore, regardless of
what you stole. Going 2 screens away automatically resets Adrammelech,
allowing you to steal from him again.
* There will be many Shambling Corpses pestering you, but just deal with the
status ailments they inflict long enough to retreat to the Save Crystal.
Touching the Crystal will cure everyone of all ailments.
* Repeat this process until you have stolen 1 - 2 High Arcanas. You really
only need one more, but this doesn't take very long, and I feel much better
having an extra. Every time you get one, Save before returning to try
again.
* Once you have your High Arcanas, equip a Diamond Armlet on the character who
was stealing. Adrammelech has some pretty nasty Thunder attacks, but the
Diamond Armlets will make you immune to these. Now go back and beat
Adrammelech. BTW, he is a flying enemy so attack accordingly.
* While you're here, chain the Shambling Corpses until they drop at least 3
Blood-Soaked Necklaces. You can use these in a little while to make a
Nihopalaoa.
* While you're chaining Shambling Corpses anyway, keep building your chain
until you get to Level 2 or 3. At the top 2 chain levels, Shambling Corpses
have 5% and 7% chances respectively of dropping a Platinum Dagger. This is
only a +2 improvement over your Kagenui, but Daggers are one-handed weapons,
allowing your Bushi to equip a shield as well as a weapon.
If you are planning to build a Kanya, the strongest pole in the game, you will
need 3x Mythril, and the easiest place to get those is here. For the record,
the Kanya is only available through the Bazaar, and you won't have access to
the last component for it until very near the end of the game. However, if you
want to pursue building one, here's how to get the Mythril.
From the blue Save Crystal at the Undershore, take the hidden path east through
the swirling sandstorm to the seemingly disconnected part of Hourglass Basin.
Kill the Grenades, and then, from the north end of the area, look back towards
where the Buers are. You will see Molen, a rare Golem-type enemy with the
Buers. Backtrack to there and steal from him until you get a Mythril (it is
the only stealable item he carries.) When you get one, retreat to the Blue
Crystal, Save, and then reload your game. This will allow Molen to spawn
again. Repeat until you get 3x Mythrils.
As you backtrack to Steal from Molen, there is a chest worth seeking out. This
hidden area of the Undershore area has 2 paths to the west -- an upper one that
leads you back to the Save Crystal and a lower one that has a 25% chest
containing a set of Thief's Cuffs. It doesn't respawn, but it is probably worth
your time to raid this chest when it appears. A second set of Cuffs can reduce
the time spent trying to Steal.
* Follow the almost-circular path in Athroza Quicksands to the far west exit,
into Drybeam Cavern. Take the top exit to the east into the upper part of
The Balamka Fault. AVOID THE LOWER PART! It contains a couple of enemies
you cannot begin to deal with yet.
* If you want another Golden Amulet, kill the Scythe Mantis enemies here.
They drop the Tattered Garment loot, and selling one Tattered Garment will
create a Golden Amulet Bazaar item.
* Continue looping clockwise around the map, knocking boulders into sand
pits to complete the path until you return to Sandfalls.
Our work here is done for now. Exit to the Westersand and then return to
Rabanastre.
* Talk to Montblanc, get rewards for your completed hunts, and initiate the
Orthros hunt.
* Go to the Clan Provisioner in the Muthru Bazaar and buy 3 x Steel Poleyns.
These will protect you against traps and will be your default Accessory for
your entire active party any time you venture into an area that has traps,
at least for now. The Float spell is a much more elegant solution to this
problem, but alas! We won't be getting that for a while.
* Sell your Tattered Garment(s) and get another Golden Amulet. Sell your
Demon's Sigh items one at a time, and get 10x Serum for each.
* Until you've filled your License Boards, your 3 characters who are sitting
on the bench should be equipped with your 3 Golden Amulets.
* Head into the Garamsythe Waterway and lay waste to Orthros. Orthros can
inflict Sap, so you should equip your team with Tourmaline Rings.
* That's about all that we can do here for now. Head south through the Giza
Plains and the Ozmone Plain to Jahara.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXV. Jahara and Eruyt Village (ZA25) *
* *
******************************************************************************
* Complete the events in Jahara, including accepting the Enkelados hunt.
* You now again have Larsa tagging along. Terrific. Adjust your Gambits to
resurrect every ally except Larsa, then "remove" Larsa from the team at
every opportunity. Sheesh -- what a pest!
* Complete the Enkelados hunt so that we can get things moving along here.
* Head to the Golmore Jungle and then the Eruyt Village and take care of all
story-related business. Be sure to buy the new Magicks (especially Esuna!)
and pick up the Haste spell at the far end of the Village.
* If you haven't already done so, buy 3x Black Belts to prevent Disable and
Immobilize. You're going to need those next time we return to Trial Mode.
* Do all necessary stuff in the Henne Mines. You will be teleported back to
the Eruyt Village and will have access to the entirety of the Golmore
Jungle.
If anyone has the Foebreaker Job, you can now collect all of the items
necessary to make the best Hammer in the game. Well, "best" might not be a
perfect description. In light of the weapon's inherent inconsistencies, it
might be more accurate to say "the least crappy Hammer in the game." Anyway,
you can build a +133 Hammer (Vriscika) by gathering and selling the following
items:
4 x Scorpio Gems -- Dropped or stolen from Buers in the Zertinan Caverns.
3 x Wyrm Bones -- Dropped or stolen from Skulwyrms in the Zertinan Caverns.
3 x Charged Gizzards -- Dropped or poached from Thunderbugs in the Henne
Mines.
Yes, you'll have to do some backtracking and yes, I should have told you to
pick these things up while you were there. Just use your Teleport Stones to
get where you need to go. You're about to get a bunch more anyway, and I
didn't want to clutter the narrative with information about items you probably
don't need anyway, since Foebreaker is, IMHO, a less-than-optimal Job.
However, before you go chasing down these components, . . .
You're going to be able to get a +120 Golden Axe for free from Trial 52 very
shortly. The only difference between an Axe and a Hammer is that an Axe has a
slightly shorter charge time. I seriously doubt that you would notice the
difference between a Golden Axe and the Vriscika, except that you can actually
pronounce "Golden Axe." Your +81 Hammerhead is good enough for now, and I
would advise you to wait and get the Golden Axe, mostly because we'll be there
anyway and chaining enemies waiting for low probability drops gets very
tiresome very quickly. In most cases, I believe that Stealing equipment in
Trial Mode is preferable to building equipment through the Bazaar, but again,
that is just my personal opinion.
BTW, now that you have access to the least crappy hammer in the game, and the
least crappy axe in the game is forthcoming, we shall speak of this particular
class of weapons no more.
NOW we're almost ready to get our team leveled up considerably so that we can
go back to Trial Mode and get some serious upgrades that will still be relevant
through the end of the game. Before we do, however, wouldn't it be nice to
have another Embroidered Tippet so that 2/3 of your active party can earn
double EXP? Well, there's one nearby, so let's go nab it. First, though,
equip everyone with Steel Poleyns to protect against traps, and make sure that
everyone has a Gambit to remove confusion, as we'll be passing by some enemies
who can inflict it.
* Head all the way south through the Golmore Jungle and exit through the south
end of Rustling Chapel to the Feywood.
* Follow the left-hand wall to the SECOND exit from the area -- the one that
goes into Walk of Stolen Truths.
* Again follow the left-hand wall. You should quickly come across the map,
making it easier to navigate this area. Proceed south to Antiquity's End.
* At the west end of Antiquity's End, just before the exit to Walk of Dancing
Shadow, you will see a huge silver-colored column. Next to that column is a
25% chest that only contains an Embroidered Tippet. Exit and re-enter until
it appears, grab the Tippet, and then Save at the Blue Save Crystal.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXVI. Leveling 3 -- Golmore Jungle and Nihopalaoa (ZA26) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Leveling from about 35 to 50.
Okay -- now it's time for some serious leveling.
* Split your characters into 2 teams of 3, with a healer on each team.
* On your active team, equip the 2 members with the lowest levels with
Embroidered Tippets. Give the other 2 active characters a Black Belt to
protect against Disable (the enemies can also Blind you, but that is easily
fixed.) Equip everyone on the bench with a Golden Amulet for double LP.
* Return to the Rustling Chapel area of the Golmore Jungle. Run around the
entire area and kill all of the normal enemies. I counted 17 of them total.
* When you finish off the last normal enemy, undead enemies (Dark Skeletons)
will start to spawn. If they don't, that means that you missed one of the
normal enemies, usually around the entrance. Clean out any stragglers, then
go around all of the branches of the area, chaining the Dark Skeletons.
* If you want to speed things up a bit, equip the character who doesn't have
an Embroidered Tippet with the Berserker Bracers and watch how quickly the
enemies go down. Just be sure that your team has at least one healer who is
not Berserked.
* Open every treasure chest that is close to your path. Many contain Ethers
and a few contain Hi-Ethers, which you are going to need when we return to
Trial Mode in a little while.
* At some point, the enemies will stop spawning in their usual places. This
means that a rare enemy, Grave Lord, has appeared in the central part of the
area. He will be tough, but you need to take him out.
* To get the regular enemies to continue spawning after you kill Grave Lord,
just exit the area and immediately re-enter.
* From now on, every time you pass the exit to the Needlebrake, exit the area
and return immediately. This will reset the treasure chests. If you do
this before the Grave Lord appears, he will appear with 4 Dark Skeletons,
making the battle much tougher. Once you dispatch the Grave Lord, he won't
respawn until you leave the Golmore Jungle and return.
* When the undead stop spawning (usually, when the chain gets to about 80 or
so), you will have to run 2 screens away to reset the area and start again.
You might as well go to the Eruyt Village, sell off your loot, and Save.
* While you're there, give the Embroidered Tippets to the 2 members of your
active team who are at the lowest level so that the EXP is distributed as
evenly as possible among your active team.
* Repeat the above process until your entire active team is at about Level
48-50.
* When all 3 active characters are at about Level 48-50, change out your
entire team and repeat the entire process until all 6 characters are around
Level 48 - 50.
At 2x speed, one cycle of chaining takes about 12 - 14 minutes. I took me 8
cycles or a little less than 2 hours to get everyone up to the appropriate
level. However, look what we have accomplished:
* All characters have gone up about 10 - 12 levels.
* You have enough Teleport Stones to last you for a good while.
* You have a great inventory of Ethers and a pretty good inventory of Hi-
Ethers.
* You have a LOT of Gil from selling off the loot, so your money worries are
over for the foreseeable future.
* You should very nearly have enough LP to fill in both License Boards for all
of your characters.
Having achieved this heightened stage of enlightenment, it is almost time to
return to Trial Mode for some game-changing equipment. First, you should
probably get the last component necessary to make a must-have Accessory.
* Teleport to the South Bank Village in the Estersand. Take the ferry across
to the North Bank.
* Head north 2 screens to the Yoma area, where you'll find a Wild Saurian.
With Thief's Cuffs equipped, try to Steal from it. We're hoping to get a
Leo Gem, which is a rare steal, so this could take a while.
* Continue north to the Broken Sands area where you'll find another Wild
Saurian. Steal again, then take the north exit to the Mosphoran Highwaste.
Run through the Summit Path area to Empyrean Way and back again.
* Steal again in Broken Sands and then the Yoma. Take the exit to the
Westersand. Run through the Wyrm's Nest area and back again. Repeat this
pattern until you get 3 Leo Gems.
* Once you have 3 Leo Gems, sell those along with 3 Blood-Stained
Necklaces and 2 Death's heads to make the Nihopalaoa item appear in the
Bazaar. BUY IT!
At 2x speed, one round trip, which will give you 4 opportunities to Steal a Leo
Gem, takes about 3 minutes. On average, you will need to do 12.5 round trips,
for an expected time of about 37 minutes to snag all 3 Leo Gems.
The Nihopalaoa reverses the effects of curative items. When you equip this
Accessory and throw a Remedy at an enemy, that enemy will be inflicted with
every negative status effect to which he is not immune. Unlike spells, this is
100% effective. It is a cheap but dependable way to cripple your enemies, and
as such the Nihopalaoa is an Accessory you definitely want to have in your
inventory.
For the record, you can steal a Nihopalaoa in Trial Mode. However, it isn't
available until Stage 70, and we aren't going that far for quite some time.
Getting the Leo Gems is time-consuming, but it also allows you to get this
Accessory considerably earlier than if you wait until the team is ready for
Stage 70.
Before going to Trial Mode, I'm going to suggest that we take a few minutes to
get rid of Larsa. You can follow the previous strategy of killing him off and
then setting your Gambits to revive anyone else, but this gets tricky,
especially when you have to sub in characters off the bench. We're going to
have to fight an annoying boss prematurely, but we have to face him in Trial
Mode anyway, so this will only slow us down slightly. Getting rid of Larsa now
is optional, but I highly recommend doing it now. It doesn't take very long
(no, really -- I mean it this time) and it can save you a good deal of grief.
* Go to the nearest GSC and teleport to the Eruyt Village.
* Head east to the Golmore Jungle GSC, Save, and equip your team
with Tourmaline Rings. Advance to fight the Elder Wyrm. His Sporefall
attack is going to inflict your team with just about every adverse status
ailment in the game. Deal with them, finish off the boss, then return to the
GSC and Save.
* Continue East through the Paramina Rift and into Mt Bur-Omisace.
* There are some new spells here. Be sure to buy them. You should have
beaucoup gil by now and more than enough LP to completely fill both license
boards for all your characters.
* Go to the Temple and ditch Larsa (at last!)
Make a mental note that from now on you can buy Teleport Stones in the shops on
the airships that leave the Aerodromes. I'm pretty sure they are available on
all Leisure Class flights, but for sure you can get them on the airship to or
from Nalbina.
Now we're ready to go to Trial Mode unencumbered.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXVII. Trial Mode Stages 1-60 (ZA27) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Awesome equipment earned: Hypnocrown and/or Black Robes, Platinum Armor and/or
Platinum Helmet and/or Platinum Shield, Gold Hairpin, Dragon Mail, Maximillian,
Ribbon x 3, Wyrmhero Blade (not recommended), Dragon Whisker, Crown of Laurels,
Bone of Byblos, Brave Suit.
Holy Toledo! What a haul! This list includes the best-in-class Accessory,
Mace, and Light body Armor. This is going to take some time because you're
going to have to go through Stages 1 - 50 three times, but this is SO going to
be worth the effort!
Preparation:
* Make sure that you have 99 of every curative item available. You should
have enough cash now that this isn't a problem.
* While you're shopping anyway, go to the nearest Gambit shop and buy all
Gambits that you don't currently have. I know that most of them are garbage
that you'll never use, but buy them anyway. It's not like you don't have
the gil. The important thing is to have all of the ones that you need. As
a bonus, once you buy them all, they will finally be organized properly for
when you need to access them.
* Ideally, your team will consist of a full-time fighter and two healers who
can also fight.
Okay, here we go . . .
* If you didn't kill off Larsa, do it now, then blaze through the first 10
Stages. I suggest you pick up the following items from chests: Dispel Mote
from Stage 3; Remedy from Stage 4; Bubble Mote from Stage 5.
* Notice how much quicker the enemies go down now!
* In Stage 12, get the Remedy from the chest.
* For Trial 15, you should equip everyone with a Tourmaline Ring to protect
against Sap.
* Before finishing Stage 16, remember to equip everyone with Power Armlets to
protect against Stop in Stage 17.
* When you get to Stage 18, your team will probably be inflicted with Sap and
will have 0 MP. Aren't you glad we picked up all of those Hi-Ethers in the
Golmore Jungle? Toss a Hi-Ether at each of your healers, then have them
cast Esuna on anyone who has Sap.
* In Stage 20, make sure that at least one character can hit flying enemies,
and be sure to grab the Remedy in the chest.
* In Stage 22, one of the chests contains an Amphora of Bacchus's Wine. Grab
the item and use it on your fighter or equip him with Berserker Bracers. He
should be able to one-hit kill these pests and end this Stage quickly.
* In Stage 24, remember to open both chests for a Hi-Ether and a Warp Mote.
* In Stage 29, you can steal a Hypnocrown from Ahriman right at the beginning
of the Stage. It has +44 MR, which is probably the best Mystic Armor helmet
you have at this point. If you prefer, you can hold out for the rare steal,
another set of Black Robes.
* In Stage 32, equip everyone with Black Belts to protect against Disable and
Immobilize. Also make sure that no one has a level that is a prime number,
(a number that is divisible only by 1 and itself, like 37 or 41.) Zalera
has an attack that instantly kills anyone with a prime level. See how
useful it can be to know math?
* In Stage 33, one of the chests contains a Hastega Mote, which you probably
want.
Before finishing Stage 33, be sure to equip someone who can Steal with Thief's
Cuffs. An armor upgrade is available, but it will probably take a few tries.
* In Stage 34, Steal from Marilith as soon as he appears. He has Platinum
Armor (rare steal), Platinum Helmet (uncommon steal), and Platinum Shield
(common steal). You definitely want the Armor first, and you have a good
chance of getting one of the other items as well.
* In Stage 35, remember to Equip Diamond Armlets on everyone to protect
against Thunder attacks. The enemy is another flier, so equip someone with
a weapon that can connect.
* Before finishing Stage 37, equip Thief's Cuffs.
* In Stage 38, Steal from all 3 Mythril Golems first. You're hoping for a
Gold Hairpin, an upgrade from the Hypnocrown you picked up back in Stage 29.
Keep trying until you get one, then finish the Stage.
* Enemies in the next 2 Stages can inflict Disease. Aren't you glad that we
made some Serums a while back? Finish Stages 39 and 40, then Save and take
a breather, because we have some challenges ahead.
* In Stage 41, equip everyone with Argyle Armlets to protect against Blind.
Take out the 3 White Mousses first. They will go down quickly. Then focus
on Orthros.
* Stage 42 is a real pain. Your HP are constantly being drained, and the
enemies keep throwing status ailments at you. This one of those Stages
where it is just invaluable to have 2 White Mages to counteract the constant
HP drain. Equip Black Belts on your team to combat Immobilize and Disable.
You don't have to kill the Foobars, so leave them alone. Concentrate on the
big guy. Before you finish him off, equip Thief's Cuffs so that you can
Steal in the next Stage.
* You can get an armor upgrade in Stage 43, but it is going to take some time.
Run past the Deathclaws to the end with the treasures, then run all the way
to the opposite end to make Pallicant spawn. Dragon Mail (+57 Defense) is a
rare steal from Pallicant, but it is probably worth your while at this point
to get one. When you finally get one, equip it and then finish off all of
the Deathclaws. Pallicant is optional, so you don't have to beat him.
Deathclaws can Disable you, so equip Black Belts on the 2 team members who
will not be Stealing, and have a Gambit in place to cast Esuna on your
Stealer if necessary. On your next 2 passes through this Trial, you
probably want to grab the uncommon Steal from Pallicant, the Magepower
Shishak. It is the second best Heavy Armor helmet in the game.
* In Stage 44, focus on Antlion (the Killer Mantises are optional.) However,
equip Thief's Cuffs before finishing the Stage.
* In Stage 45, you can Steal a Maximillian, the second best Heavy body Armor
in the game, from Vishno. However, Vishno won't even appear until you kill
the other 4 enemies in the room first. The Maximilian is a +7 improvement
over the Dragon Mail, but each attempt to steal it probably takes 2 minutes
or so. That's an average of half an hour or so to get one. You might want
to put this off until later when you can take the first 4 enemies down
faster.
* Stages 46-47 don't have any interesting loot, so just kill the enemies,
and proceed to Stage 48.
I've had uneven experiences with Stage 48. Sometimes I sail through it with no
problems, and sometimes I find myself having trouble resurrecting my team as
quickly as they fall. This is a particular concern in this Stage because you
need to enter Stage 49 with your entire team alive and healthy because you will
be Stealing, probably multiple times, at the beginning of the Stage.
You only need to kill Tower, but you will be seriously outnumbered by the
legions of Zombie Warlocks that spawn seemingly without end and blast your team
with a constant barrage of Black Magicks and status effects. Tower will add
Black Magicks of his own as well as Gravija. Here's my advice.
You will have some time at the beginning of the Trial. You won't get attacked
until you move, so use this time to set up your team. Use one attacker and 2
healers. Equip Shell Shields on anyone you can to lessen the Magicks damage.
Give your attacker the Foe: Highest Max HP => Attack Gambit and turn off all
others. Let your healers keep the team healthy. Tower is weak against Dark, so
if you have a Red Battlemage, have her cast Dark spells instead of Attacking.
Fight this battle at normal speed because things can get out of hand quickly.
Be sure that you have Gambits in place to resurrect everyone except, of course,
Larsa. Make sure that your 3 characters on the bench are healthy -- full HP and
status-effects free -- so that you can sub them in if necessary. Have one of
your healers Dispel Tower's Protect at the beginning of the Stage. Then ignore
the Zombie Warlocks and attack Tower only. If things get out of hand, don't be
afraid to reset and try again. Finally, remember that it is of paramount
importance to equip Thief's Cuffs on one team member before finishing off
Tower. So, in a nutshell, . . .
* Defeat Tower as described above, and be sure to equip Thief's Cuffs before
finishing him off and proceeding to Stage 49.
* The main reason we came here is to get Ribbons for all 3 members of your
active party. Ribbon is a rare steal from Hashmal, but you can try to Steal
as soon as the Stage begins, so the cycle time is fairly short. Once you get
a Ribbon, focus your attacks on Hashmal because the Reavers are optional.
* For Stage 50, keep your Thief's Cuffs equipped. In Stage 50, you can steal
a Wyrmhero Blade from Famfrit, but overall, the Wyrmhero Blade is a lousy
weapon. It has an attractive +131 Attack and 80% combo rate, but its charge
time is so ridiculously long that many battles are over before you get a
chance to use it. Elixir, however, is an uncommon steal and is a very
useful item. Grab an Elixir, forget the Blade, kill off Famfrit (the
Abaddons are optional), Save your game, and take a breather.
In order to get 3 Ribbons, you're going to need to repeat the above process 2
more times. In light of that, you might feel like going back and starting over
now. However, there are a couple of decent items ahead that are probably worth
getting. Remember that you aren't risking what you have already found. Even
if your party gets wiped out, you can reload and then try again or return to
the main game. The choice is yours, but I'm going forward just a bit more.
* Equip the Ribbon on one character and equip Black Belts on the other two.
Stage 51 has 2 Oversouls who will cast Annul and take away all of your MP.
Sheesh! Kill them first, have your healers each use one of your Hi-Ethers,
then finish off the horsie. If you want to try for the Golden Axe as
described earlier, equip Thief's Cuffs before moving on to Stage 52.
* Stage 52 is a straight-up brawl. The Golden Axe is a rare steal from
Catoblepas if you want it. Pound the enemy into submission, and equip
Thief's Cuffs before finishing the Stage.
* In Stage 53, the Dragon Whisker is a rare steal from War-Chief Supinelu. It
is a +25 improvement over the Halberd that your Uhlan has, making it the
strongest weapon you possess at this point in time. It is well worth the
effort to get. Keep those Thief's Cuffs equipped for the next Stage.
* Another Stage with annoying enemies who suck away all of your MP. Get used
to it. However, the Crown of Laurels with +49 MR and +680 HP is an uncommon
steal from the Reapers. It is entirely possible to get 2 of them in one
battle. Get what you need, keep those Thief's Cuffs equipped, and move on.
* Stage 55 will really tax your resources. MP will drain away constantly and
you're going to have lots of status ailments to cure. Take out the little
guys first, then the Tyrant. The Gastrophetes is a good crossbow and all,
and I'd try stealing at least once, but overall your goal is to just survive
this Stage. Use X-Potions and Hi-Potions to heal.
* The good news is that you can actually use Magicks in this Stage. Hooray!
The bad news is that your team is probably in pretty bad shape -- no MP, low
HP, and possibly some status effects, and you are under attack immediately
with no time to recover. First things first. Give your healers each a Hi-
Ether so that they can work on restoring HP. Then have your Time Battlemage
cast Warp or have someone use a Warp Mote. These won't work on Larva Eater,
but Warp should whittle down the number of Elvorets immediately, thus
lessening the damage that you take while trying to recover. Concentrate on
any remaining Elvorets one at a time, then tackle the Larva Eater. You
should be able to head into Stage 57 in pretty good shape.
* In Stage 57, Equip everyone who doesn't have a Ribbon with a Tourmaline Ring
to counter Sap. Then just focus on one enemy at a time. The battle is
long, but not especially difficult.
* In Stage 58, Trickster, like so many major enemies in this game has
attacks that illogically get stronger as his HP get lower. Take out all of
the lesser chocobos first while his attacks are relatively weak. Then beat
on Trickster until he puts up his Paling. Use this time to buff your team
with Protect and heal as necessary. When the Paling lifts, equip Thief's
Cuffs in preparation for the next Stage and then finish off Trickster.
* In Stage 59, you can steal the Bone of Byblos, the best Mace in the game,
from Ba'Gamnan. He is also the only foe you need to defeat, as the others
are optional. Do what you need to do, and let's do one more Stage.
* In Stage 60, the Brave Suit is a rare steal from Monid. It is the best
Light Armor in the game with +57 Defense, +500 HP, and, best of all, its
wearer is constantly in a state of Brave. You are going to have to defeat
all of the enemies this time, and some of them are very good at evading your
attacks. Once you have the Brave Suit, exchange the Cameo Belt for the
Thief's Cuffs and your attacks will never miss. Focus on one enemy at a
time, and end this Stage.
The next 10 Stages hold some more amazing upgrades, but I'm going to suggest we
rest on our (Crown of) Laurels and go no further right now. Our main objective
was to get 3 Ribbons, meaning that we have to repeat Stages 1 - 49 twice more.
By the time we finish that, we'll be ready to go back to the main story line
and show off our new equipment.
Getting Ribbons #2 and #3, should go a bit faster since we won't be trying to
get so many items along the way. Always pick up the easy stuff in chests --
Remedies, Hi-Ethers, Warp Motes, and the like -- and only Steal things that you
absolutely need. When going after Ribbon #3, it took right at 40 minutes for
me to get to Stage 49 and another 5 - 10 minutes to get the Ribbon and return
to the main game.
If you are just blasting through the Stages and aren't interested in stealing
anything or raiding any chests, equip your fighter with the Berserker Bracers
that you picked up in the Broken Sands and watch him rip through enemies like
they were tissue paper. This doesn't work so well in Stages like #45 where
enemies continually spawn because Berserked characters have rather short
attention spans and don't feel compelled to finish off one enemy before
starting in on the next one. However, the beauty of using Berserker Bracers on
an ally (unlike, say, casting Berserk on him/her) is that you can return them
to normal status at any time just by changing their equipment.
Having 3 Ribbons is an absolute game-changer. Many bosses rely on status
ailments to wear you down. With Ribbons, you needn't fear any of these
afflictions. Consequently, Ribbons should be your default Accessories for the
remainder of the game. As far as I know, you just got Ribbons for your entire
active party at the earliest point in the game that is reasonably possible.
Having done so, you've just made the rest of the game considerably less
annoying. I would also like to point out that although you have some pretty
awesome equipment pretty early in the game, you definitely earned everything
that you have, i.e., you didn't have to cheat to get any of it. Feels good,
doesn't it?
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXVIII. Preparing for the Next Leveling Spot (ZA28) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Now that we have a set of Ribbons, let's take down a couple of Espers.
* Teleport to the Barheim Passage. Slug your way through to the area where you
picked up the Cameo Belt near the Blue Save Crystal.
* Make sure that no one on your team has a level that is a prime number, equip
everyone with Ribbons, and proceed into the next room, Terminus No. 7.
There is a 5-minute time limit for beating Zalera. You should be able to take
him down in just over a minute. You can't damage him at first, so take out the
4 Dead Bones enemies that spawn, then turn your attention to Zalera. He'll try
to hit you with various level-based status effects, none of which will connect
because of your Ribbons. His instant kills will probably work, but your
Gambits should be set to undo those setbacks pretty quickly. Prime Level Death
won't affect you because your levels aren't prime. In short, Zalera can't do
much harm to you, and you can empty his life meter in short order.
Head west, being sure to pick up the Elixir at the far west end, then head into
the Garamsythe Waterway.
* Make your way to Central Waterway Control. There are 4 controls here, and
from left to right they are numbered 11, 4, 3, 10. Number 10 should already
be lit up. Interact with #3 to activate it, allowing access to No. 3 Cloaca
Spur.
* Head into No. 3 Cloaca Spur and find No. 1 South Waterway Control. Activate
it and head back to Central Waterway Control.
* Interact with all 4 controls so that #11 and #4 are lit up and #3 and #10
are not. You'll have to do #3 and #10 first.
* Head into No. 4 Cloaca Spur. Find and activate No. 1 North Waterway
Control, then return to Central Waterway Control.
* Turn off control #11 and turn on control #3 so that #3 and #4 are lit up.
Head into No. 1 Cloaca, preferably with a team of one attacker and 2
healers.
* You will be in the same annoying field draining your HP, fighting the same
fat, ugly Cuchulainn, who will be slinging the same arsenal of status
effects at you. The difference is that now your Ribbons will protect you,
allowing you to pound his blubbery butt into submission with minimal
distractions.
* Return to Rabanastre and check in with Montblanc to get some rewards and
take on 2 new Hunts. Then head over to the Muthru Bazaar and fork over
150,000 of your hard-earned gil to buy 3 x Cat-ear Hoods. Equip one of these
on each of your inactive characters. This Accessory converts LP that you
earn (which you no longer need, since your License Boards are full) to gil.
You will never again be short on cash.
* Teleport back to Mt. Bur-Omisace. Talk to Gurdy to initiate the Trickster
hunt since we'll be going right past him anyway. Head into the Paramina
Rift, take out Trickster, then head over to the Stilshrine of Miriam.
Notice that you are now earning a significant amount of gil for every enemy you
defeat. That is the effect of the Cat-ear Hoods!
* Do all the stuff you have to do to complete the Stilshrine events. Be sure
to pick up the Elixir from the room where you fight Mateus. Otherwise,
there isn't anything in here that's an improvement over your current
equipment.
* Notice that the enemies here generally do 0 damage to your team. Notice
also that you are able to one-hit kill most of them.
* Return to Mt. Bur-Omisace. Notice that Remedies are now for sale at the
"shop." Great timing. Now that we have Ribbons and are immune to status
effects, NOW we can buy Remedies. Buy a bunch anyway -- they're fun to
throw at enemies when you have the Nihopalaoa equipped.
* Touch base with Gurdy to complete the Trickster hunt.
* Run past the masses of bodies strewn everywhere and make your way to the
Temple. Kick Judge Bergan's butt, and remember to talk to the Acolyte out
front to get the Stone of the Condemner from him.
* Go back to the Stilshrine and beat Zeromus, running your Esper total up to
6. The battle is kind of a pain because you can't use Magicks and his
Gravity spells suck away a lot of HP. Have 2 healers throw X-Potions or Hi-
Potions while your Uhlan pounds him with his Dragon Whisker, and the battle
will end before you know it.
A ton of new hunts are now available, but before we take those on, we have
another opportunity to build some serious levels. Unfortunately, at the moment
we only have 2 Embroidered Tippets. To make the best use of our time, we need
to advance the story line a bit to get to the Tchita Uplands, where we can get
a third Embroidered Tippet. With double EXP for the entire active team, we will
level up more efficiently, then return to Trial Mode to get some more equipment
upgrades, and then be better equipped to take on the hunts. Here we go.
* Teleport to the Salikwood and head to the Living Chasm in the SE.
* Run around and get all of slacker Moogles back to work so that you can
proceed through the gate. Don't bother killing anything -- turn your attack
Gambits off. With your current equipment and your Ribbons, none of these
enemies can harm you, and you really don't need the LP or the meager EXP you
gain.
* Run east through the Phon Coast until you reach the town at Hunter's Camp.
Buy the new spells and stock up on the Bacchus's Wine item. Then continue
east until you get to the Tchita Uplands.
* The Embroidered Tippet is a rare Poach from the Coeurls in this area.
Turn off your attack Gambits and find an attacker/weapon combo that will
almost but not quite kill Coeurls. There are lots of them here, so it's okay
if you accidentally one-hit kill one now and again. Make your way south,
Poaching Coeurls as you go.
The Embroidered Tippet is supposed to be a 5% Poach, but from my experience,
that number is closer to 2%. I ran up a chain of 80 before I got the Tippet.
Expect this to take a while. However, remember that you only need one of
these, and it will grant double EXP for the rest of the game. Be patient.
Getting this item is definitely worth your time.
* When you get to the Oliphzak Rise area, head to the furthest point to the
south and then follow the east wall until you get to the NE corner of that
area. There you should find a 100% chest with the Float spell.
The Float spell is another real game-changer. Set your Time Mage's Gambits to
always cast this spell on any Ally, and you never need fear another Trap.
Moreover, you no longer need the Steel Poleyns to avoid Traps, meaning that you
can keep your Ribbons equipped full-time.
Keep in mind that while you are Fleeing, your characters don't cast Magicks.
So, if you are Fleeing through an area, pause now and again to let your Time
Mage refresh your Float status.
* While you are here, be sure to save at the GSC in The Chosen Path area so
that you can teleport back here later.
For what it's worth, you now have access to all of the components to make a
Maximillian and buy it through the Bazaar. I don't recommend doing so, because
gathering the Loot will definitely take at least an hour and possibly 2 or
more. Very soon, we'll be passing through Stage 45 of Trial Mode again, and I
am convinced that it is much faster to get one there. If you're interested,
here are the components:
Charger Barding x 4 -- Uncommon Steal from the Skulwyrm in Drybeam Cavern
of the Zertinan Caverns.
Split Armor x 2 -- 8% monograph drop from the Cherybterix flying enemy in
the Cerobi Steppe (which you can access by passing through the Tchita
Uplands.) On average, you'll have to kill about 25 of these things to get
2 Split Armors, and for me, it usually took more like 35.
Pisces Gem x 3 -- Drop from the Piranhas in the Vaddu Strand of the Phon
Coast. Getting these will make you nuts. The drop rates for these are
1%, 2%, 3%, and 5% at Chain Levels 0, 1, 2, and 3 respectively. If you
get 3 of these in less than an hour, you are a luckier person than I am.
There are only 7 Piranhas in the area, and my chain went to over 200
before I finally got 3 Gems.
I've played this game relying on the Bazaar, and I've gone through getting
items from Trial Mode. By and large, I've concluded that Trial Mode is a
faster and more reliable way to get powerful equipment, and the Maximillian is
a case in point.
* Once you have your Embroidered Tippet and the Float spell, head back to the
GSC at The Chosen Path, save your game, and head back to Rabanastre.
* Go to the Sandsea and accept 8(!) new hunts. Then go see Montblanc and get
1 more hunts. Add in an Esper that is now available, and we have a total of
12 missions to undertake. We'll get back to them soon. First things first.
* The only hunt that interests us right now is Roblon, since he is located
where we are going for leveling anyway. Head to Nalbina and start all 3
hunts that have petitioners there, then teleport to the Salikawood.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXIX. Leveling 4 -- Overlooking Eternity (ZA29) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Leveling from about 50 to 62.
* The Carrot mark is only 2 screens away, and its only threat is status
ailments which are no longer a problem for your Ribbon-equipped team, so you
might as well get this hunt done now. Head to the Sun-Dappled Path without
killing any enemies, wipe out Carrot, and head back to the Save Crystal.
* Head north to Piebald Pass. If you didn't kill the King Bomb earlier, do it
now. Proceed into the Nabreus Deadlands to The Muted Scarp.
* Talk to Ma'kleou, then continue to Succor Midst Sorrow. Save at the Gold
Save Crystal that used to be the Crystalbug that you defeated on your way to
up the Warp spell.
* Backtrack to the Slumbermead, then take the secret exit north to The Fog
Mutters, then proceed to Overlooking Eternity.
* Equip your 3 active team members with Embroidered Tippets. Make sure each
has a Self => Eyedrops Gambit BEFORE their attack command. Advance slowly,
taking out as many Dead Bones as possible before advancing so that you can
take on Roblon with as little interference as possible. If necessary, lure
the Dead Bones to the protected area near where you entered to fight them
off.
* After killing about 40 - 45 Dead Bones, they will stop spawning. Go after
Roblon and finish him off. Roblon has a bunch of HP but otherwise isn't
much of a threat.
* Killing Roblon will break your chain, but that's okay. Flee back 2 screens
to the Slumbermead and back again, and prepare to gain some major leveling.
Each Dead Bones is worth almost 1600 EXP per person WITHOUT Embroidered
Tippets. WITH Embroidered Tippets, you'll get nearly 3200 EXP per person per
Dead Bones. Meanwhile, your Cat-ear Hoods (CEH) are earning you a ton of
gil. Here's how they work.
For every CEH you have equipped, the gil you earn equals 5 times the number of
LP earned times the experience level of the person who has the CEH equipped.
For a party of 3 (on the bench), each of whom is at level 50, 1LP equates to
5*3*50 = 750 gil. Since you are going to chain about 900 - 1000 enemies, that
will earn you upwards of 700,000 gil, far more than the 150,000 you paid for
the Accessories.
Slaughter all the Dead Bones until they stop spawning. You're going to use a
bunch of Eye Drops, but fortunately, Dead Bones drop this item, so you should
never run low. Flee back 2 screens and then return to do it all again with
your chain intact. Resetting the area only takes about 30 seconds. When your
active team is up to about Level 60 - 62, swap them out for the 3 on the bench
and repeat.
For what it's worth, the Golden Skullcap, which is the second best Mystic Armor
helmet in the game, is a rare steal from Dead Bones. It is probably worth your
while to Steal 1 - 2, depending on your needs.
At 2x speed, it took each team of 3 about 4 - 5 minutes to go up a level.
Thus, it took something less than 2 hours to get all 6 characters up from level
50 to level 62. I claim that this is time well spent, for we can now return to
Trial Mode and grab some more equipment upgrades.
Before returning to Trial Mode, I recommend going to the Clan Provisioner at
the Muthru Bazaar and buying the Bubble spell. It could come in handy for some
of the Trials ahead.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXX. Trial Mode Stages 1-72 (ZA30) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Awesome Equipment Earned: Maximillian, Black Robes, Magepower Shishak(s),
Brave Suit, Orochi and/or Zodiac Spear, Ultima Blade and/or Excalibur, Genji
Shield (not recommended), Whale Whisker, Mina or Masamune.
Doesn't that list of goodies make your mouth water? Well, we may not get all
of them in one run since some depend on getting 2 items with one Steal, but we
should be able to snag most of them.
* Save your game. Equip Ribbons on your active team and Cat-ear Hoods on all
the players on the bench and return to Trial Mode. Blast through the first
60 Stages. As we go, I'll suggest some duplicate items that you may want to
pick up, but these are at your discretion. Otherwise, I'll meet back up with
you at Stage 61.
* Stage 24 -- I would still grab the Hi-Ether from a chest. We won't be able
to buy those for a very long time, and they come in handy. Grab the Warp
Mote too.
* Stage 29 -- You can steal another set of Black Robes from Ahriman, but this
will be easier to get in Stage 54, so I'd advise waiting.
* Stage 31 -- There is another Hi-Ether in a chest.
* Stage 38 -- There is another Hi-Ether in a chest.
* Stage 43 -- Steal another Magepower Shishak from Pallicant if you didn't get
enough of them when you were chasing down Ribbons.
* Stage 45 -- Maximillian is a rare steal from Vishno, but you can do this
much faster than the last time we were here. I would definitely get another
one now. Each attempt takes right at a minute at 2x speed. Average time to
get the item should be around 17 minutes, MUCH faster than trying to get one
through the Bazaar.
* Stage 48 -- There is another Hi-Ether in a chest here.
* Stage 49 -- Elixir is an uncommon steal from Hashmal. I recommend getting
one here.
* Stage 50 -- You can get either a Hi-Ether (Common), an Elixir (uncommon),
or both by stealing from Famfrit.
* Stage 51 -- There is another Hi-Ether in a chest here.
* Stage 54 -- Black Robes is an uncommon steal from Deathscythe.
* Stage 60 -- You can try to steal another Brave Suit (rare) from Monid. If
you're lucky, you may also get another Magepower Shishak, since it is an
uncommon steal.
* Stage 61 -- There is a Hi-Ether in a chest that you should grab. Remember
that Warp will reduce the number of Baknamys. Before finishing the Stage,
equip Thief's Cuffs on someone who can steal, and it is probably a good idea
to have a Time Battlemage on your team so that you can use Warp in the next
Stage. Turn off your attacking Gambits, but leave your healing Gambits on.
Then manually enter attacks to finish off the last Baknamy and read the
information below before beginning Stage 62.
The Zodiac Spear is waiting for you in Stage 62, and if you have an Uhlan, you
definitely want to get it. However, doing so is arguably going to be your
greatest challenge so far.
The Spear is a rare steal from the Biding Mantis, an optional enemy that spawns
at a random location. Your first problem is going to be finding him. Remember
the Rustling Chapel in the Golmore Jungle where you first built levels by
chaining undead foes? This Stage takes place there, in that ENTIRE area.
There is a lot of ground to cover here, so finding him may take a while.
Your second problem is going to be the hordes of Vampyr bats who spawn
endlessly in the area. Individually, they aren't a problem, but as you get
more and more swarming around you, they start to become a problem.
Your third problem will be dealing with the Biding Mantis after you steal from
him. He hits like a tank, and it can be difficult to make much progress
whittling down his HP. As if that weren't bad enough, he can Cannibalize
Vampyrs, making him stronger and tougher to deal with.
Finally, you're going to have to find and kill the Vorpal Bunny, who runs all
around the huge area and won't hold still long enough for you to whack him.
Let's address these issues one at a time.
First -- Find the Biding Mantis and Steal from him. As far as finding the
Mantis goes, I don't have a lot of advice. I generally found him fastest when
I went straight through the beginning area and then turned left in the next
area and looked in all directions. Good luck is all I can say on this. When
you find him, Steal. If you don't get the Zodiac Spear, reload your game and
try again. If you're lucky you may also get an Orochi, but don't hold out for
one. We can get an Orochi pretty easily later on. Stay focused. We're doing
this go get a Zodiac Spear.
Second -- Deal with the Vampyrs. I had you turn off your Attacking Gambits so
you wouldn't waste time killing Vampyrs before you get a Zodiac Spear. Once
you steal successfully, use your Warp spell (or physical attacks) to clear out
any nearby Vampyrs. You want to eliminate the Vampyrs so that the Mantis
doesn't Cannibalize them.
Third -- Deal with the Biding Mantis. One option is to try to run and hide
from him, but since you have to go looking for the Mark anyway, this isn't a
good long-term solution. You can defeat him -- it just isn't going to be easy.
Equip the Zodiac Spear on your Uhlan right away and have him use a Domaine
Calvados on himself to increase his attacking power. He should be able to do
about 6000 - 8000 damage per hit. Biding Mantis only has about 70,000 HP, so
this battle should be over in 10 rounds or so. Your other two team members
should be healers first and foremost. They are going to be plenty busy raising
the dead and healing the living. Once the Biding Mantis is down, the hard part
of this Stage is over.
Fourth -- Find the Vorpal Bunny. You're just going to have to run around the
area until he decides to drag his fluffy tail out into the open. Keep killing
Vampyrs as you run around. Again, this could take a while because of the size
of the area. When you finally locate the Vorpal Bunny, throw a Bacchus's Wine
item at him. When he is berserked, he'll hold still and let you finish him
off. When you do, the Zodiac Spear is yours!
* Stage 63 -- A bunch of bunny rabbits. Take them out one at a time. Have
your Thief's Cuffs equipped before finishing this Stage.
* Stage 64 -- You have 2 Humbaba Mistants to fight, and each one can cough up
an Ultima Blade (uncommon steal) or an Excalibur (rare steal.) Don't settle
for just one. Keep reloading until you get both of these sword upgrades in
the same iteration. I figured that there is about a 6% probability of
getting both, so this shouldn't take any longer than just getting a rare
steal.
* Stage 65 -- The Genji Shield is an uncommon steal from Deathgaze, but
Deathgaze is such a pain, I wouldn't bother. Most top-end weapons require 2
hands, thereby precluding use of a shield anyway. Deathgaze starts by
making himself immune to physical attacks. Use this opportunity to take out
the 2 Vyraals. Then throw Magick at Deathgaze or just wait for him to drop
his paling.
You can steal a must-have weapon in Stage 66, so normally I would advise you to
equip Thief's Cuffs before Stage 65 ends. The problem is that Deathgaze keeps
throwing status ailments at you, and if you drop your Ribbon for even an
instant, you wind up entering the next Stage with a bunch of status effects.
The less bad choice seems to be to finish Stage 65 wearing a Ribbon, then
switch to Thief's Cuffs at the start of the next Stage.
* Stage 66 -- The Whale Whisker is a rare steal from the Saloon Steward. It
has +108 Attack, a huge improvement over the +72 Gokuu Pole your Monk is
probably using. Take out the enemies one at a time and move on.
If you do not have a Bushi on your team, there is no reason to go any further.
Skip ahead to the Section XXXI, and the rest of us will join you in a while.
If you DO have a Bushi, then a weapon upgrade awaits us in Stage 72, so read
on.
* Stage 67 -- Two easy enemies. Take them out and move on.
* Stage 68 -- You can actually get 2 Elixirs in this stage -- one in a chest
and one as a (common) steal from Exodus. Grab them both, then finish the
Stage.
* Stages 69 -- The Cassies are optional. You can remove them with Warp or just
ignore them. Either way, take out the Wild Malboro and move on.
* Stage 70 -- Everything except Carrot is optional. Do this one just like
Stage 69. Just 2 more Stages to go.
This would be a good time to give each of your active members a Self: => Bubble
Gambit. Turn those Gambits on before finishing Stage 71 so that your team
enters Stage 72 with 2x HP.
* Stage 71 -- All the Vieras (including Krjn!) can be Disabled, giving you
time to take the enemies down one at a time at your leisure. Equip Thief's
Cuffs before going on to Stage 72.
In Stage 72, you have your choice of 2 weapons for your Bushi. The Masamune is
a +111 Katana that is a 2-handed weapon and is a rare steal from Avenger. The
best dagger in the game, the Mina, is a +104 one-handed weapon that is a rare
Poach from Overlord. It is unlikely that you will get both in one stop, and if
you already have one of these, there is really no reason to come all the way
back here just to get the other. The Masamune is easier to get since it is a
Steal instead of a Poach, but the Mina allows you to equip a shield. Because
of its high combo rate, the Masamune is arguably the better weapon, but I'll
let you decide which you want and go for it.
Don't get cocky once you get your Steal. These guys are no pushovers, and I
would recommend fighting this battle at normal speed. Dispel, then beat down
Diabolos first, then do the same with Overlord. When Avenger's HP get low, he
will put up a Paling, spam Ardor on your entire team (possibly wiping them all
out), and then cast Renew on himself, making you whittle down his HP all over
again. If you use a Hastega Mote on your team, then give your Uhlan Bravery
and Berserk, you have a good chance of finishing off Avenger before he can put
up his Paling. Otherwise, Bubble should help you survive his Ardor attacks, and
your Uhlan with his shiny new Zodiac Spear, Bravery, and Berserk should be
enough to tip the scales in your favor.
Before we go on, take a moment to marvel at your team's awesomeness. First,
look at you Gil total. Pretty impressive, huh? That's what your Cat-ear Hoods
did for you while you were in Trial Mode. Now check out your weapons. All 6
members of your team should now have a weapon with at least 100 Attack Power.
As for defense, everyone should have at least 57 Defense and at least 49 Magick
Resist. We will be making some minor equipment improvements as we progress
through the rest of the game, but the gear that you have right now is going to
carry you a long ways.
Time to flex those muscles and take on all of those Hunts that we left on hold.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXXI. Hunts Galore! (ZA31) *
* *
******************************************************************************
The order of these hunts really doesn't make a lot of difference. You are way
overpowered for all of these bozos.
* Head to Jahara and initiate the Ixtab and Mindflayer hunts. Go to the Henne
Mines and finish off these two marks, then return to Jahara for your
rewards.
* Go to Mt. Bur-Omisace and initiate the Feral Retriever hunt. Go to the
Paramina Rift, hunt it down, finish them off, and come back for your
rewards.
* Teleport to the Eruyt Village to take on the Vorpal Bunny hunt. Go to the
Golmore Jungle to waste the wascally wabbit, then back you go to the Village
to report in to Nera.
* Teleport to the Mosphoran Highwaste. Talk to Va'Kansa near the merchant to
begin the Braegh hunt, then exit north. Two screens up, you'll run into
Atomos, who will go down in about 15 seconds.
* Continue north to the Salikawood. Go west towards the exit to the Necrohol
at Nabudis, and you'll see Braegh. Take him down and continue to Nabudis,
where we can pick up a couple of useful spells.
Nabudis has powerful enemies and tons of traps, but with the Float spell and
your Ribbons, you are finally in good enough shape to be more than a match for
the dangers therein. The Elvorets here have a 1% chance of dropping a
Maximillian, but you probably don't need any more of those. I already had 2
and didn't need any more, but somehow managed to get TWO more from drops here.
The most numerous and annoying enemies in here are Baknamys and Elvorets. Both
are good at dodging physical attacks, but both are also susceptible to Warp.
So, a relatively cheap yet effective way to speed your passage through Nabudis
is to have a Time Mage have the Foe: Any => Warp Gambit set. It won't be 100%
effective, but it really simplifies your movement through this area.
* Fight your way to the second floor, Cloister of Distant Song. Wind your way
round clockwise to the dead end room. There you'll find a 100% chest
containing a White Mask.
* Go back counterclockwise and follow the only path. When you run into the
Babil enemies, go left and kill all 3 of them. Near the locked door is a
100% chest with the Protectga spell.
* Go up the wide stairs to the Cloister of the Highborn. There is a little
room on the far west side of the area just after you to up the stairs. It
contains a 100% chest with the very useful Bravery spell. Continue on to
the next floor.
* In the Hall of the Ivory Covenant, walk counterclockwise to the small room
at the southern end of the western branch. There you'll find a 100% chest
with the Faith spell.
* The last floor doesn't have any worthwhile upgrades, so just find your way
out to the Nabreus Deadlands and make your way to the GSC.
That didn't take too long, and we got some very worthwhile spells along the
way. Best of all, we mapped out the area for our next visit there.
* Teleport back to the Mosphoran Highwaste to complete the Braegh hunt.
While you're in the Mosphoran Highwaste, you can move around a bunch of
floating weeds that will give you access to Exodus. To do this, take the
following steps:
* Activate the Shrine of the NW Wind and the Shrine of the South Wind, both of
which are very close to the merchant in the area.
* Make sure that you have at least one Gysahl Greens. Then exit NE to Rays of
Ashen Light.
* Bribe the chocobo there to take you south the Empyrean Way then west through
the secret exit all the way to Skyreach Ridge.
* Dismount the chocobo and exit west to the west end of Babbling Vale.
* Activate the Shrine of the West Wind. Move forward a bit and dislodge the
rock that prevented access to this area from the central part of Babbling
Vale. Then return to Skyreach Ridge.
* Take the north exit from Skyreach Ridge across the floating weeds to
Empyrean Seat and fight Exodus.
Exodus' only defense against your might is to cheat by raising a Paling to
prevent you from attacking him. You might be powerful enough to finish him off
before he has a chance to raise his Paling. Even if he does put it up, clobber
him when it wears off and claim Esper #7, then return to the nearest Gold Save
Crystal.
* The Estersand is your next stop. Check in with the blue Bangaa, then go to
the Barheim Passage. You have to go almost all the way to where you fought
Zalera. However, those enemies that seemed so tough a while back are now
doing 0 damage to you and are going down in 1 - 2 hits. Make short work of
Bloodwing, then return to the Estersand to complete the hunt.
* Teleport to Nalbina to complete 3 of your hunts, then teleport to Bhujerba.
* Go to the Staras Residence to initiate the hunt and acquire the Site 3 Key,
then head into the Lhusu Mines to find Antlion. Open all the new passages
that you can and Save at the GSC.
* As you enter the Site 9 area from the Tashe Span, before heading north or
south, look at the dead end straight ahead. You will find a 100% chest
containing an Indigo Pendant which you might find useful in Stage 86 of
Trial Mode.
* Follow the only path there is to defeat Antlion. After the battle, remember
to return to the far room in the area to claim the very useful Expose spell
from the 100% chest. Then go back to town and finish this hunt.
Before returning to the main storyline, you can do a bit of running around that
is necessary to get access to the Chaos Esper. It doesn't take long, so let's
do this now.
* Go to the Central Waterway Control area of the Garamsythe Waterway and face
the 4 pedestals that control the sluices gates. From left to right, they
are numbered 11, 4, 3, 10. Turn off any controls that are on. Then
interact with them in this order: 11, 4,11, 3, 4. Retrieve the Dull
Fragment that falls to the floor on the opposite side of the water from
where you are standing.
* Go to Old Dalan's house and talk to Roh'kenmou. Run around Rabanastre
talking to people so that you can reunite the Curious Woman by the fountain
with the Sotted Imperial in the Magicks shop. To do this, you have to speak
with the following people in the following order:
1. Filo, who is just NE of Old Dalan's house in the SE corner of the
square-shaped group of paths.
2. The Curious Woman on the east side of the central fountain in
Rabanastre.
3. The brown Bangaa Merchant just south of the Clan Provisioner at the
Muthru Bazaar.
4. The Sotted Imperial kneeling on the floor to your left as you enter
Yugri's Magicks.
5. Kytes, who is in Lowtown just outside the entrance to the Garamsythe
Waterway.
6. Filo, who is in the same place as before.
* You will then be teleported back to Yugri's Magicks. Talk the the Sotted
Imperial one last time, and the Grimy Fragment will be yours.
Okay, maybe that was more than just "a bit of running around." It was actually
kind of annoying, but hey, we're finished with it now and can move on.
* Return to Dalan's place. Give Roh'kenmou all 3 Fragments, and teleport to
the Phon Coast.
* In Hunter's Camp, go to the north edge of the big hill in the center of the
area. Look and the ground and retrieve the Site 11 Key.
The Site 11 key gives you access to the areas of the Lhusu Mines that were
inaccessible when you went there to take down Antlion. You can go there now
and get a couple of modest upgrades, but we're going to go there eventually to
fight Gilgamesh anyway, so we might as well just grab the treasures then. For
now, teleport to the Tchita Uplands to continue the storyline instead.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXXII. From Sochen Cave Palace to Balfonheim (ZA32) *
* *
******************************************************************************
The next few areas have little to offer in upgrades, so I'm going to give
minimal descriptions. Feel free to take your time and enjoy the scenery if you
so desire.
* Talk to the kid near the Save Crystal, accept his hunt, and head to the
Sochen Cave Palace.
* Go north to the second screen to fight the various vegetables that you've
already defeated multiple times in Trial Mode.
* Do what you have to do to get through this place. Solve the waterfall
puzzle to get a Megalixir. Do the Door of Hours thing to open the way to
Hellwyrm. Beat Ahriman, remembering to pick up the Elixir in the chest.
Then head out into Old Archades.
* Do what you have to do in Old Archades to move on to Archades.
1. Speak with the Ex-Broker in the NE corner of the E section of Old
Archades.
2. Cross the bridge to the W section of Old Archades and speak with the
Imperial just past the Save Crystal. Jules will appear.
3. Cross the bridge back to the E section and speak with the Fresh Ardent,
who is sitting on the stairs just east of the "loop."
4. Return to the west side and talk to Jules, who is sitting on some crates
at the NE corner of the "loop" on this side.
5. The bucketheads will leave their post, giving you entry to Archades.
* When you get to Archades, buy yourself 99 X-Potions. Why not? You've
certainly got the gil.
* Talk to Roh'kenmu in the Magicks Shop. Chase down the Moonsilver Medallion
by talking with Otto in the NE corner of the western side of Old Archades.
Return to Roh'kenmu and fork the Medallion over to him. While you're there,
buy any new spells that you don't already have. You can also talk to July
and get a Salamand Halcyon.
* Do what you need to do to move on. This mostly consists of matching up
people wandering around the streets. Let me go on record as saying that I
truly dislike this particular "puzzle." The good news is that you only have
to find 9 of the 28 matches to move on.
* Head on to the Draklor Lab. Make your way through the puzzles there, beat
the bosses at the end, and wind up in the Port at Balfonheim.
* Stop at the tavern and take on 6 new hunts. Talk to the Viera in the window
to accept the Vyraal hunt. Go to the Magick shop and buy the 4 new spells,
then head towards the GSC and the Cerobi Steppe.
The Cerobi Steppe contains a ton of good equipment, some of which is even
better than what you now own. However, these chests generally have a low
probability of appearing and an even lower probability of giving you the
equipment you seek. By and large, I would not deem this a good use of your
time. We're going to go in and pick up a good spell and a great Technik, both
of which can be procured quickly and then move on to more productive pursuits.
* In the Cerobi Steppe, head up the left side to the third area, The Terraced
Bank. Just south of dead center in the area is a square rock. On the west
side of that rock, protected by a trap, is a 20% chest containing the
Cleanse spell, which cures Disease. Exit and re-enter the area until you
get this spell. There are actually 2 possible chests here, one sort of on
top of the other, so don't exit the area until you're sure that you've
opened all chests under the trap.
Even though your Ribbons protect you against Disease, you want this spell for
those times when you need to equip an Accessory (like Thief's Cuffs) other than
the Ribbon and get unlucky enough to get hit with Disease.
* Continue up the left side of the Steppe until you see the exit to the Tchita
Uplands. In the center of the path near that exit is a 100% chest containing
the Telekinesis Tech. This is no "middle of the road" Tech (sorry -- I
couldn't resist.) It allows your Shikari to attack flying enemies or attack
even when the Attack command (for whatever arbitrary reason) is sealed.
* Go south and east to the Northsward area and beat Vyraal. This battle
shouldn't last very long at all, especially since you've already defeated a
pair of these enemies AND Deathscythe in one battle in Stage 65 of Trial
Mode.
* Go back to the tavern at Balfonheim to collect your reward, including a
Dragon Scale. Then take the Dragon Scale to Windmill No. 10 in the
Northsward and trade it for the Ageworn Key.
You know, if that Viera had just settled her account here in the Northsward
instead of making us run all the way to Balfonheim and back, she really could
have saved us a lot of time and trouble. Sheesh! Oh well -- no matter.
* Teleport to Rabanastre. If you don't already have the Bubble spell, buy it
in the Muthru Bazaar now. It will make this next fight much easier.
* While you're here, go see Montblanc and accept the Ancient Man of Mystery
hunt and the Belito hunt.
* Head back to the Sochen Cave Palace, where you can finally take on a foe
who is worthy of your talents -- Hellwyrm.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXXIII. Hellwyrm and a Bunch More Hunts (ZA33) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Hellwyrm is weak against Holy, and your Excalibur is a very powerful Holy
weapon. Go into battle with an Excalibur-equipped Knight and 2 healers.
Hellwyrm can inflict Stop and Petrify, so you probably want to keep Ribbons on
your whole team. Set your Gambits to keep your Knight berserked with Bacchus's
Wine items. Keep Bubble on everyone. Hellwyrm's Judgment attack can knock
4,000 HP or more from each character. Bubble will help you survive these
attacks. Bestowing Bravery on your Knight sounds like a good idea, but in
reality you may not want to spend the time doing this every time that Bravery
wears off or your Knight gets KO'ed. Berserk plus Bubble plus your Excalibur
will more than suffice. Give your healers Gambits to use one of your many Hi-
Ethers if their MP fall below about 30%.
Begin the battle by using Expose 4 - 6 times to lower Hellwyrm's defense. Your
berserked Knight should be able to do 20,000 - 35,000 damage per hit, at least
for now. Since your other attackers will generally do less than 5,000 damage,
your priority is to keep your Knight alive, Berserked, and fighting. At 1x
speed, my team whittled away about 80% of Hellwyrm's HP while I was typing
these last 2 paragraphs.
As his HP get low, Hellwyrm starts spamming Invert, which will reduce one
character's HP so low that one hit will KO him. The good news is that Invert
will likely refill that character's MP, so Invert is annoying but not
debilitating.
If things get too hairy, you CAN exit the room through the door (which, by the
way, is to the south) and recover your team in safety. Keep this in mind if
Judgment wipes out your entire party. However, if you keep Bubble on all 3
characters, this shouldn't be a problem.
In the end, this will be a tough fight, but one in which you will prevail
thanks, at least in part, to all the preparation you did building levels and
seeking out top-notch equipment.
You still have 7 hunts to do, and again you can do them in any order you
choose. I'm inclined to leave the lengthier ones until last.
* Teleport to Nalbina to start 2 of the hunts. Then teleport to Archades to
start 2 more. Run over to Old Archades to initiate one more, then head into
the Sochen Cave Palace.
* At the north end, you will find and quickly defeat Darksteel, who is weak
against Holy, so your Excalibur will finish him off quickly. At the south
end of the Palace, you will find and quickly defeat Overlord. Exit to the
Tchita Uplands.
* Stop at the Chosen Path and collect your bounty for slicing and dicing all
of the vegetables.
* The Lindwyrm is nearby, but he will only show up in cloudy weather. If you
have clouds then proceed directly to the Garden of Life's Circle area. If
not, head east to The Shaded Path. Exit to the Cerobi Steppe and re-enter
the Uplands until you have clouds, then go back to where Lindwyrm is and
beat him into submission.
* Go to the nearby GSC and teleport to the Nabreus Deadlands. Walk from there
to Nabudis.
For the record, it is possible to go west from the Save Crystal and pick up the
Medallions necessary to open the locked doors in the Necrohol of Nabudis. We
have to return to the Necrohol later anyway, so I'm suggesting we complete
those tasks on our next trip through this area.
* Just to the left as you enter is Goliath. When you've finished with him,
head to the Cloister of the Highborn and kill everything near the Babil
enemies. Change you party so that you only have one active team member, and
have him attack himself until his HP are critical. Deathscythe should
appear. Make a full party of 3 and take him down as you have done before.
Exit to the Salikawood, head to the Gold Crystal, and teleport to the Ogir-
Yensa Sandsea.
This hunt is a pain, not because the fight is difficult, but because you have
to travel so far to get to it and then back again. Such a long, long time to
be gone, and a short time to be there . . .
* Head to the Central Junction area, then go through the Zertinan Caverns and
out again into the Nam-Yensa Sandsea.
* Be sure to steal from Ba'Gamnan. You can get an Elixir or a Dark Matter,
either of which is a great find.
* When the battle is over, collect your reward, head ALL the way back to the
Ogir-Yensa Gold Crystal, and teleport to the Lhusu Mines.
* Heading west 1 screen will throw you into battle with Gilgamesh.
Start the battle by killing off the dog. It won't take long, and it will be
one less distraction.
The battle takes place in 5 stages, with Gilgamesh changing weapons and
restoring his buffs between stages. You can steal some potentially useful
items from him -- the Genji Shield and the Genji Gloves -- in the last 2
stages, but you have to be careful not to finish the stage prematurely. Every
time a new stage begins, turn off everyone's attack Gambits, steal until
Gilgamesh coughs up the item you want, then turn the attack Gambits back on and
whale on him to finish the stage. In the last stage, he can put up a "Perfect
Defense" that makes him immune to damage. Just wait it out and finish him off
when he loses this annoying buff.
I've never found much use for the Genji items. As mentioned earlier, most top-
tier weapons require 2 hands, meaning that it is rare that you can equip any
shield at all. The Genji Gloves increase combo rate, which many people find
useful. I'd just as soon stick with the Ribbon and avoid status ailments, but
I'll leave that decision up to you.
Gilgamesh and his dog jump down and race off deeper into the Lhusu Mines.
Lucky for us, that path leads us to some equipment upgrades, so let's go pick
those up and finish off the Swordsman. You'll be navigating without a map for a
while, so I'll do my best to give clear directions.
You're also going to be facing some pretty tough enemies (who also give
excellent EXP!) and there are many traps ahead. I would advise you to keep
Float in place throughout your journey and to activate the Self: => Bubble
Gambit on your entire active team through the Lhusu Mines.
* Head west, then south, then west, then north. Use the Site 11 key to open
the gate that you couldn't open earlier.
* Follow the left wall to the SW part of Site 11, where you'll find a 100%
chest containing an Orochi for your Shikari as well as a 100% chest with a
Zwill Crossblade.
* Wind your way to the east and north to the middle part of Site 11 (the
part that is a horizontal line segment)and then exit east into the north end
of Site 9. There you'll find a switch that opens another gate to connect
this area to the Tasche Span.
* Return to Site 11 and head to the NW corner. Throw the switch and grab the
Renewing Morion from the 100% chest at the dead end.
* Head East and then SE to the Lasche Span. In the middle of the area,
surrounded by several Traps, you can find a Dragon Whisker, but you probably
don't need it since we picked one up a while back in Stage 53 of Trial Mode.
* If you're planning to build a Kumbha, the best Katana in the game, you can
get one of the components while you're here. Exit and re-enter the Lasche
Span several times, then head through the Span looking for Bombshell. Steal
from him until you get a Mallet. You should already have one from beating
the King Bomb, and you only need 2, so stealing once will suffice.
* Head on to Site 5. In the cul-de-sac at the southern end of the area is the
Lhusu Candle to light your way forward. Just north and a tad east of there
in the lower right corner of the "square" is a 100% chest with the
Glimmering Robes, the second best Mystic body armor in the game.
* There is a Bone of Byblos in the upper left area of the map, but it's only a
25% chest and you probably already have this weapon anyway, so there's not
much use pursuing it. Head east to Site 6 South.
* Go north to Site 6 North if you want another Maximillian (100% chest) or
another Whale Whisker (also a 100% chest), but you probably don't need
either one at this point.
* The NE corner of Site 6 South has a 100% chest with a Magepower Shishak, but
you probably don't need this either (I already had 3 others.)
* Make your way south to the Staging Area. Get the Scathe spell from the 100%
chest and Save at the Blue Crystal. Then proceed into Site 7 to face
Gilgamesh again.
This battle is divided into 5 stages also, and again you can steal Genji items
in the last 2 stages. Each of these is just a 10% chance, so it is going to
take many tries to get them.
This is going to be considerably longer and more annoying than your previous
encounter with Gilgamesh. For one thing, he seems to be able to block a higher
percentage of your attacks. He can again make himself invincible, and his
combo rate is ridiculously high, meaning that he can often take out one of your
team in a single turn. Moreover, you have to hold off your attacks and take
his punishment while waiting for those 10% chance steals.
Start by taking out the dog, which is also going to be much tougher than last
time. Give everyone a Self => Bubble Gambit to minimize turns spent
resurrecting the fallen. And don't forget to hit Gilgamesh with Expose several
times to reduce his defense. Otherwise, just give yourself one good attacker
and two healers and pound away. It will take a while, but you will prevail.
Hidden in the trap in this room is a 100% chest with a Masamune. You probably
don't need it since you got one in Stage 72 of Trial Mode, but it's there if
you want it.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXXIV. Analysis of Current Equipment and Future Upgrades (ZA34) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Thus far, most upgrades that we have pursued have been significant improvements
over existing equipment. As we approach the top-level equipment in each
category, though, the room for improvement diminishes and the effort necessary
to make improvements increases. It is therefore reasonable to take a moment
and analyze which upgrades are worth the effort necessary to acquire them.
With this in mind, let's do a quick analysis of weapons and armor, comparing
what you now have to any further upgrades that are available.
For the record, I'm not mentioning low probability opportunities (like the
chests in the Cerobi Steppe) for getting equipment. This guide is about
efficiency, and, to me, that means being able to get the desired item in a
reasonable amount of time.
Keep in mind that our current levels probably are not sufficient for us to
proceed beyond Stage 72 of Trial Mode. Don't get overly eager then when I say
that an item will be available in Stage 90. We won't be ready to return to
Trial Mode until we up our levels again, and before that can happen, we need to
acquire 3 more Espers.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heavy Armor (body)
Current equipment: Maximillian
Possible Upgrade: Grand Armor
Armor Name Def | MgR | Str | Spd | Special Properties
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Maximillian +64 | +1 | +9 | +6 | None
Grand Armor +67 | 0 | +12 | 0 | None
Comparison: Grand Armor has advantages of +3 Def and +3 Strength. Maximillian
has +1 Magic Resistance and +6 Speed.
Options: There is a 25% chest with a guaranteed Grand Armor in the special
section of the Henne Mines, where we're eventually going anyway. It is also a
rare steal in Stage 90 of Trial Mode.
My Opinion: I'm inclined to grab the one in a chest and leave the others until
you're going through Trial Mode anyway. The Grand Armor just isn't that big an
improvement over the Maximilian. In fact, one could make the argument that the
+6 Speed advantage of the Maximillian outweighs the advantages of the Grand
Armor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heavy Armor (helmet)
Current Equipment: Magepower Shishak
Possible Upgrade: Grand Helm
Helmet Name MgR | Mag | Str | Vit | Special Properties
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Magepower Shishak +47 | +5 | +11 | 0 | None
Grand Helm +50 | 0 | +12 | +10 | None
Comparison: Grand Helm has +3 Magic Resistance, +1 Strength, and +10 Vitality
advantages. The Magepower Shishak has a +5 MP edge.
Options: There is a 25% chest with 100% chance of containing a Grand Helm in
the Henne Mines. It is a rare steal in Stage 89, an uncommon steal in Stage 90
and a 5% Poach in Stage 85 of Trial Mode. You can get one from the Hunt Club
sidequest. It is also a 1% drop from a rare enemy, but I wouldn't waste my
time trying for that.
My Opinion: Again, there isn't a lot of difference between the two, and you're
going to get one fairly easily from a chest anyway. Don't spend time tracking
down a second one. The Magepower Shishak works just fine.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Light Armor (body)
Current Equipment: Brave Suit
Possible upgrade: None
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Light Armor (helmet)
Current Equipment: Renewing Morion
Possible Upgrade: Dueling Mask
Helmet Name MgR | HP | Str | Vit | Special Properties
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Renewing Morion +52 | +370 | 0 | +4 | Regen
Dueling Mask +55 | +800 | +2 | 0 | None
Comparison: The Dueling Mask has +3 MgR, +430 HP, and +2 Strength advantages.
The Renewing Morion has +4 Vitality and keeps its wearer in a constant state of
Regen.
Options: There is a 100% chest in the Henne Mines with a Dueling Mask. It is
a possible reward from the Hunt Club sidequest. Renewing Morion is an uncommon
Steal in Stage 85 of Trial Mode.
My Opinion: I generally only have one character wearing Light Armor anyway.
Use the Renewing Morion until you get the Dueling Mask but don't go out of your
way to get a duplicate of either one.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mystic Armor (body)
Current Equipment: Glimmering Robes
Possible upgrades: Lordly Robes
Armor Name Def | Mag | Str | MP | Vit | Special Properties
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glimmering Robes +59 | +12 | 0 | +120 | +10 | None
Lordly Robes +61 | +15 | +5 | +100 | 0 | None
Comparison: Lordly Robes have +2 Defense, +5 Strength, and +3 Magic Power
advantages. Glimmering Robes have +20 MP and +10 Vitality edges.
Options: There is a 100% chest with Lordly Robes in the inner part of the
Henne Mines, and they are a rare steal in Stages 95 and 97 of Trial Mode.
Glimmering Robes are an uncommon steal in Stage 84.
My Opinion: You probably don't need more than 2 sets of Mystic Armor anyway.
Get the Lordly Robes in the Henne Mines and use your existing Glimmering Robes
if you need a second set. Otherwise, I wouldn't make a special trip to Trial
Mode to get either of these.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mystic Armor (helmet)
Current Equipment: Golden Skullcap
Possible Upgrade: Circlet
Helmet Name MgR | Mag | MP | Str | Spd | Special Properties
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golden Skullcap +58 | +10 | +107 | 0 | +3 | None
Circlet +60 | +10 | +151 | +2 | 0 | None
Comparison: The circlet has +2 MgR, +44 MP, and +2 Strength advantages. The
Golden Skullcap has a +3 Speed edge.
Options: There is a 100% chest in the Henne Mines with a Circlet, and it is a
rare Steal in Stage 81 of Trial Mode.
My Opinion: Again, go for the sure thing in the Henne Mines and be content.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shifting from armor to weapons, please observe that we already have the best
weapon in the game in the categories of Axe, Hammer, Mace, and Spear.
Therefore, I'm only going to discuss the remaining 5 categories of weapons that
interest us.
Swords
Current Equipment: Ultima Blade and Excalibur
Possible Upgrades: Ragnarok and Tournesol
Weapon Name Atk | Eva | Cmb | CT | Special Properties
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ultima Blade +109 | +20 | 8% | 35 | None
Excalibur +127 | +20 | 8% | 35 | Holy Elemental
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ragnarok +117 | +25 | 8% | 35 | Immobilize (25%)
Tournesol +138 | +30 | 10% | 35 | None
Comparison: The Excalibur is a great weapon against Dark enemies, but you don't
want to use it just walking around because it will heal some enemies and won't
do any damage to others. Compared to the Ultima Blade, the Ragnarok has +8
Attack. The Tournesol has +29 Attack, +10 Evade, and +2% combo rate.
Options: You're going to get a Ragnarok from the Ixion hunt, but by then
you'll already have the Tournesol and therefore will have no use for the
Ragnarok. The Tournesol is only available from the Bazaar and as an uncommon
steal from Stage 100 of Trial mode. In Stage 100, you're going to have greater
concerns than trying to steal a second copy of a sword that you already have
and probably won't need again anyway. Thus, if you want a Tournesol, you're
going to have to spend a long time running around and gathering up components.
My Opinion: Do it. Getting the components for the Tournesol is frustrating,
but the upgrade is significant enough to make it worthwhile. As a bonus, the
Tournesol recipe overlaps with the Kumbha recipe, so you save a lot of time by
making both at once.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Poles
Current Equipment: Whale Whisker
Possible Upgrade: Kanya
Weapon Name Atk | Eva | Cmb | CT | Special Properties
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Whale Whisker +108 | +30 | 15% | 25 | None
Kanya +112 | +35 | 35% | 25 | Immobilize (10%)
Comparison: The Kanya only has +4 Attack and +5 Evade edges over the Whale
Whisker. However, its combo rate is a whopping 35% vs. 15%.
Options: The Kanya is only available through the Bazaar, and one of the
necessary components isn't available until quite late in the game.
My Opinion: You can't get the Kanya until late in the game, but it is a
noticeable upgrade. Unfortunately, one of the components is a real pain to
procure. I generally build one, but I'll leave this up to you.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daggers
Current Equipment: Platinum Dagger and Zwill Crossblade
Possible Upgrades: Shikari Nagasa and Mina
Weapon Name Atk | Eva | Cmb | CT | Special Properties
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Platinum Dagger +85 | +5 | 12% | 21 | Immobilize (10%)
Zwill Crossblade +87 | +10 | 12% | 21 | Wind Elemental
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Shikari Nagasa +90 | +10 | 12% | 21 | None
Mina +104 | +25 | 15% | 21 | Instant kill (70%)
Comparison: The Zwill Crossblade is of minimal benefit since it is wind-
elemental, so I'll use the Platinum Dagger as a reference point. The Shikari
Nagasa has +7 Attack and +5 Evade. The Mina has +21 Attack, +20 Evade, and
inflicts instant death with 70% success.
Options: The Shikari Nagasa is a rare steal from a rare enemy in the Pharos's
Subterra dungeon and in Stages 72 and 88 of Trial Mode. The Mina is a rare
drop in the Great Crystal dungeon and a rare poach in Stage 72 of Trial Mode.
My Opinion: The easiest and earliest way to get either of these is from Stage
72 of Trial Mode. If you're going to do that, you might as well hold out for
the Mina. Overall, the Mina is a pain in the patootie to get, and the argument
could be made that your Shikari is better off with a quality Ninja sword vs. a
good Dagger.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ninja Swords
Current Equipment: Orochi
Possible Upgrades: Yagyu Darkblade, Mesa
Weapon Name Atk | Eva | Cmb | CT | Special Properties
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Orochi +94 | +18 | 25% | 22 | Disable (10%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yagyu Darkblade +98 | +24 | 28% | 24 | Dark; Doom (20%)
Mesa +102 | +32 | 32% | 22 | Poison (20%)
Comparison: The Yagyu Darkblade has +4 Attack, +2 Evade,and +3% Combo
advantages over the Orochi. The Mesa has +8 Attack, +8 Evade, and +7
Combo advantages over the Orochi.
Options: There is a 25% chest with 100% chance of containing a Yagyu Darkblade
in the Great Crystal. The Mesa is a rare steal in Stage 98 of Trial Mode.
Otherwise, it has to be built and bought through the Bazaar.
My Opinion: The Yagyu Darkblade is Dark elemental and therefore is of limited
use when just walking around. The final ingredients for the Mesa lie just
ahead, and they're easy to get, so this is an easy call.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Katanas
Current Equipment: Masamune
Possible Upgrade: Kumbha
Weapon Name Atk | Eva | Cmb | CT | Special Properties
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Masamune +111 | +33 | 30% | 30 | None
Kumbha +117 | +40 | 35% | 31 | One-handed
Comparison: Compared to the Masamune, the Kumbha has +6 Attack, +7 Evade, and
+5 Combo rate.
Options: The Kumbha can be built and bought through the Bazaar or stolen from
Gilgamesh in Stage 94 of Trial Mode.
My Opinion: The Kumbha is a noticeable upgrade over the Masamune. It is
unique in that it is a one-handed Katana, allowing the user to equip a shield.
Unfortunately, the last components necessary to build it aren't available until
very late in the game. As mentioned earlier, the recipe overlaps with the
Tournesol recipe, and you already have one of the components (2 Mallets) to
build it. You only need one other component, and it isn't all that hard to
acquire. My advice is to take the time to collect the last component when it
becomes available and build the sword when you can. The Masamune is more than
powerful enough to get you through the game to the point where you can build
the Kumbha.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall, I would like to suggest that your current equipment is more than
adequate for your present and future needs, so I wouldn't advise going far out
of your way to try to improve upon it. As we come across easy upgrades, we'll
take them. As we come across components for useful Bazaar items, we'll pursue
them (or not, as you see fit.) When we have a chance to level up efficiently,
we will. After that, if you want to make another run through Trial Mode to
pick up some of those minor tweaks in your equipment, feel free to do so.
Guidance will be provided at the end of this guide.
For now, let's finish up all of those hunts we just did and then move the
storyline along a bit.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXXV. Gathering Components for Ultimate Weapons (ZA35) *
* *
******************************************************************************
* Teleport to Nalbina and talk to the 2 petitioners who sent you on hunts. Be
sure to talk to Jovi afterwards -- he'll give you an Elixir since you're his
new hero.
* Teleport to Archades and talk to the 2 petitioners there and 1 in Old
Archades. Go to the Gold Crystal in the Sochen Cave Palace and teleport to
Rabanastre.
* Check in with Montblanc to receive your rewards. Then go to the Clan
Provisioner who should sell you the Reverse spell.
As we progress the storyline, we're going to have some opportunities to gather
components for your Tournesol. I generally prefer gathering these one by one
to spending a whole day trying to get them, so I'll point you towards these
opportunities as they arise.
Acquiring some of these components will involve engaging rare Trophy Game that
will not appear until you begin the Hunt Club sidequest, so I'm going to
suggest doing that now. However, be cautious about killing these rare enemies.
Once you kill an enemy that gives a Trophy, that enemy will never respawn, so
be sure that you have everything that you need from it before killing it off.
* Teleport to the Phon Coast and speak with the Huntmaster. He will send you
after a big turtle. Kill the turtle and report back to the Huntmaster. He
will direct you to talk to his 3 nearby associates. When you do so, BE SURE
TO REPLY TO AT LEAST ONE OF THEM WITH THE FIRST RESPONSE, "I'm ready." I
am pretty sure that this is a necessary step in initiating the hunts, and if
you don't do so, then rare game will not appear. If you do everything right,
then Rare Trophy game will now appear. Please heed my warning in the
preceding paragraph about avoiding killing Trophy Rare Game.
* Teleport to the Nabreus Deadlands and proceed west to the Muted Scarp. Talk
to Ma'kleou, then return to Overlooking Eternity to get the 3 items
necessary to unlock those sealed doors in Nabudis. Then return to the GSC
at Succor Midst Sorrow
On your way to Nabudis, you can pick up one of the items necessary for making
your Tournesol. In the Lifeless Strand area, just past the GSC, are 6 horse-
like creatures called Leynirs. If you bought all of your Monographs, these
enemies will drop Wargod's Bands 5% of the time, and you need 4 of these. You
don't have to chain the Leynirs because Monograph drops are strict percentage
drops that are independent of chain level. Leynirs are weak against Holy, so
equip your Knight with his Excalibur and he can one-hit kill these things. Kill
all 6 Leynirs, backtrack to the Slumbermead to reset the enemies, then return
and repeat as necessary. On average, you should need to kill about 80 Leynirs,
meaning that it should take about 13 - 14 trips to the Lifeless Strand and back
to get your Wargod's Bands. It took me no more than about 15 - 20 minutes, so
this is a relatively quick and easy side task to complete.
You can save yourself a little bit of time by setting up a Foe: holy-weak =>
Attack Gambit for all of your characters to avoid fighting the Baknamys. Just
be sure to pick up dropped loot quickly because Baknamy can pick up your loot
if he gets to it first.
* Proceed into the Necrohol at Nabudis and make your way to the Hall of the
Ivory Covenant and kill the bunny therein. He is good at evading attacks,
but as far as I could tell, he doesn't inflict any status ailments.
Therefore, you might want to equip the Cameo Belt on your primary attacker.
There is a Golden Axe in the chest in the Trap for those of you who are into
collecting useless items.
While we're on this floor, let's collect another item needed for the Tournesol.
Head back towards the stairs that you took to get to this floor. We're looking
for a Dark Elemental enemy. If you don't see one, exit and re-enter the area
several times and then head back towards the door where you fought Fury. The
Dark Elemental should appear just north of that door. When you find it, attack
it once to provoke it, then turn off your Attack Gambits. A rare Trophy
monster, should appear.
There are a LOT of discussions from people who are having trouble getting
Vorres to appear. I am convinced that the vast majority of these people failed
to completely initiate the Rare Trophy Game hunts as described earlier. If you
are having trouble getting Vorres to appear, search this document for the word
"Huntmaster" and carefully read and follow the directions there.
Contrary to what you might read elsewhere, it is not necessary to clear out all
other enemies on this floor, and you really don't even have to get the Dark
Elemental to follow you anywhere. Just attack (or steal from) the Elemental
once and run to the room that is to the NW of the Fury room, and Vorres will
appear. I just now tried this 3 times, and it worked every time.
Here's the area where Vorres appears: Directly north of the entrance to the
Fury room is an area that is almost perfectly square. Vorres appears in the
area due west of there.
If you accidentally kill off the Dark Elemental before Vorres appears, you are
going to have to go at least 2 zones away to get it to respawn.
Once Vorres spawns, you can (manually!) kill off the Dark Elemental and have
one person steal from Vorres until you get a pinch of Soul Powder. It is a
rare steal, so equip Thief's Cuffs to up the probability of a successful steal
from 3% to 6%. The good news is that Soul Powder is the ONLY item that you can
steal from Vorres. I advise you NOT to kill Vorres lest something go wrong.
Hightail it down to the Cloister of the Highborn and leave Vorres behind.
* Pass through the Cloister of the Highborn and down the stairs into the
Cloister of Distant Song. Open the sealed door there and beat up the
Humbaba Mistant. Grab the Scathe Mote from the back of the room.
* Go back up the wide stairs to Cloister of the Highborn and open the sealed
door to fight Chaos.
The Attack command is sealed during this battle, but Techs works fine. Your
Bushi can do the most damage (10,000 HP per turn) by using Gil Toss. Thanks to
your Cat-ear Hoods, you have an abundance of Gil to just throw away, so set
your Bushi up as your primary attacker. Your Shikari has the Telekinesis Tech,
and that works fine also. Cast Haste on these 2 attackers, and Chaos will fold
quickly. Ignore the lesser enemies. Once Chaos is defeated, they will go away.
Chaos will constantly drain your team's MP using Fearga. Grrrrrr -- I hate
that! You can either put in a Gambit to use your Hi-Ethers to restore MP or
just heal using your X-Potions. I prefer the latter choice since X-Potions can
be bought at this point in the game and Hi-Ethers cannot.
* Finish off Chaos, earning you Esper #8. Be sure to get the Megalixir from
the chest in the back of the room.
* Slug your way out of the Necrohol and into the Salikawood and head to the
GSC. Teleport to the Eruyt Village.
* Go south through the Golmore Jungle to the Feywood. Continue south to the
Blue Save Crystal at Antiquity's End, then head south into the Redolent
Glade.
* Fight the ridiculously easy boss. Don't blink or you might miss this entire
battle. Head back to the Blue Crystal to restore your drained MP, then
proceed south.
* In White Magic's Embrace at the bottom of the V-shaped obstacle just north
of the huge round obstacle in the center of the map is a 100% chest
containing the Dispelga spell. You probably want it.
* Make your way through the next couple of areas until you reach the Gold
Giruvegan Crystal. On the way, kill all of the Preying Mantis enemies until
you get another Sickle-Blade, which is a 10% Monograph drop. You will need
this to make the Kumbha. The Kumbha requires 2, but you should already have
one from the Antlion hunt.
* While you're here, Steal from the Preying Mantis enemies until you get 3
Cancer Gems. These are the second component for the Mesa. They are a 30%
Steal and there are tons of Preying Mantises around here, so this shouldn't
take very long. You might also get one as a drop.
* In the SE portion Icefield of Clearsight area, there are 4 trees that show
up on your map as 4 dots in an almost perfect square. Just north of there
is a 100% chest containing a Bubble Belt, and you probably want to pick this
up in preparation for Stage 99 of Trial Mode.
If you want to spend another 20 minutes or so gathering stuff for your
Tournesol, you can do so now. The Basilisk enemies in the Edge of Reason and
Icefield of Clearsight (don't you just love the irony of this name?) areas drop
Serpent Eyes, of which you need 6. The Serpent Eye is both a 13% Monograph
drop and a 5% chain drop at Chain Level 3. Again, as far as I know, these are
independent of each other, meaning that at Chain Level 3, there is a 17.35%
chance of getting at least one Serpent Eye per kill. (I know that doesn't
sound right, but trust me on this one -- I'm a math teacher.) Go through both
areas, chaining Basilisks as you go. Exit briefly north into White Magic's
Embrace and south into Giruvegan when you have the chance so that you reset the
areas. Within 20 minutes or so, you should have your 6 Serpent Eyes.
I'd like to point out that you now have access to all of the items necessary to
build your Tournesol (we haven't gathered them all yet, but you could if you
wanted to.) However, I advise you not to do so just yet if you are planning on
making a Kumbha. The most annoying components for both weapons overlap with
each other, making the Kumbha relatively easy to build once you have the
components for the Tournesol. We're not that far from having access to the
final component for the Kumbha, so I'm going to suggest that you hold off
building the Tournesol for now unless, of course, you have no use for the
Kumbha.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXXVI. Giruvegan and the Pharos at Ridorana (ZA36) *
* *
******************************************************************************
* Breeze your way past the headless boss. Then wind your way through the next
2 areas, opening gates and hacking and slashing your way through enemies.
The Excalibur is especially effective here.
* Before opening the Bulwark Chronos, be sure to get the Sleepga spell from
the chest on the right! It is a key to success in our next leveling area.
* In the Gate of Fire area (just after the Blue Save Crystal) go to the
rectangular region in the SW part of the area. There you'll find a 100%
chest with an Elixir.
* Head towards the Great Crystal and slice Tyrant into little pieces. Use the
Way Stone.
* The path really isn't very complicated. Between Way Stones VIII and V,
there are a lot of Ose enemies. They drop Coeurl Whiskers, which are the
final component you need to build a Mesa. Make sure you get at least 2.
The Loot is a 16% Monograph drop, so you will probably get these in the
normal course of events.
* Save at the Blue Crystal. Then take Way Stone 1 to battle Shemhazai. Your
victory brings you Esper #9 and a free trip back to the screen with the Gold
Save Crystal.
* Teleport to your favorite shop and sell off 3 x Cancer Gems, 2 x Sickle-
Blades, and 2 x Coeurl Whiskers. Fork over 90,000 gil and buy yourself a
shiny new Mesa. Wrap it up with a bow and give it to your Shikari.
A couple of useful items are now available for purchase. You can now buy
Serums from the item store on the airship the flies between Nalbina and
Archades. The merchant in the Barheim Passage now sells the Scourge spell,
which is probably worth a quick trip to pick up.
There are several possible directions to go now, but since this is supposed to
be a Power guide, I'm going to suggest that we follow the path that leads most
directly to powering your team up.
The Pharos at Ridorana holds the last item needed to build your Kumbha and the
final item you need for your Kanya. As a bonus, there are 2 Espers at the top,
and defeating a tenth Esper will grant us access to the final leveling spot,
which also has some pretty easy armor upgrades. Somewhere among these tasks,
we can chase down the last few items for the Tournesol and build that and the
Kumbha together as discussed earlier. When all of this is finished, you will
be powerful enough to take on all remaining challenges that the game has to
offer. It's going to take a while to get to the top of the Pharos, especially
since we'll be pausing to collect Loot along the way. However, it will be time
well spent, and, hopefully, the diversity of tasks will make it interesting.
* Go to the Port at Balfonheim and head for the big red "X." Get Reddas on
your team (Oh joy! Another guest on the team!) You know what to do.
* Fly to Ridorana. Lay waste to Hydro to gain entrance. Break all necessary
seals, then take down the big turtle to gain access to the upper levels.
* Proceed up the many flights of stairs, killing Brainpans as you go to build
bridges. If you want to Holy spell, you're going to have to kill Deidars to
complete the red bridges, retreat to 16F to reset the enemies, then kill
Deidars again on the way back up. It's a lot of running up and down, but
your characters will get a good cardio workout. Thank heavens for 2x speed!
Deidars hold the last component (Orichalcum) that you need for your Kumbha. It
is a 13% Monograph drop, so chaining isn't necessary, and you need 3 of these.
If you kill at least 10 Deidars, you might cause your old friend Vishno from
Trial 45 to appear near 48F. If you do, you can get an Orichalcum from it.
Orichalcum is a rare steal, but it is the only item that you can steal, so just
stop attacking it and Steal with Thief's Cuffs until you get one.
* Head up to 49F, grab the Black Mask from the 100% chest outside the door,
enter and beat up on a big fish.
Quick tip: If you're in a hurry to find the exit to the next floor, just run
around the inside ring of your current floor. This will light up enough of the
map for you to identify the hook-shaped path that signifies the stairway to the
next level.
* Keep going up. On 62F, there is a 100% chest containing the Tula, the least
crappy crossbow in the game. The easy availability of this "ultimate"
weapon speaks to the respect that the game designers have for it.
* The Corpse Flies that you need for your Kanya are drops and steals from the
2 Dragon Lichs that are in the outer ring of this area. However, it takes
SO long to go 2 zones away, I would recommend trying to get the items from
these 2 enemies if you can, but don't try to reset the area and come back to
try again. After we get to the top, there will be a much less difficult
spot for getting these items, and it isn't as if we can build the weapon now
anyway.
* Head up to 65F and show the big kitty-cat who's boss. Be sure to grab the
contents of the 4 chests before the battle ends, because one of them is an
Elixir.
* Take the lift up to 67F and then the Way Stone to 80F. The Black Sigil will
take you to 81F. Be sure to get the Flare spell from the 100% chest here.
The Green Sigil that is all by itself behind a Fool's Facade will take you
to 83F.
* The Ardor spell is right behind you, and a set of White Robes is in the
chest in the Trap right in front of you. Use the Red Sigil to advance to
84F.
* On 84F, you can grab an Ultima Blade to add to your collection. Use the
Sigil whose color corresponds to the penalty that you took earlier to
Advance to 86F.
* Use the White Sigil (labeled "Way Stone") behind the fake wall to the north
to advance to 88F. Grab the Elixir from the chest before taking the lift up
to 90F.
* Beat up on Hashmal. Before you finish him off, be sure to thank him for the
3 Ribbons you got from him in Stage 49 of Trial Mode.
* Head up the stairs. Be sure to go back down from 97F and get the Megalixir
on 96F. Beat up on Gabranth, Dr. Cid, and Famfrit.
* When the fighting is done, you'll be back in Balfonheim. A couple of new
spells, including Arise, are available. Buy the Magicks, then teleport back
to the Pharos.
You can now purchase Hi-Ethers for 1100 gil each from the Baknamy Merchant in
the Necrohol at Nabudis, and it is probably worth a trip there to max out your
inventory on these precious items. They are invaluable for getting through
Trial Mode.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXXVII. Building 3 Ultimate Weapons (ZA37) *
* *
******************************************************************************
The elevator will now take you to the first sublevel. First, be aware that the
enemies down here are plentiful and powerful. I strongly advise you to keep
Bubble cast on your entire team to minimize casualties.
In the SE and SW corners of this area, the first door on the left inside will
lead you to a Dragon Lich. The Corpse Fly is a rare steal and 12% Monograph
drop. That gives you a 17.28% chance of getting at least one Corpse Fly from
each enemy. Steal first, then kill the Dragon Lich, hoping for a drop. Do this
in both corners, then take the elevator back up to reset the area. Repeat until
you have 3 Corpse Flies.
This will seem to take forever. (Hey -- I didn't claim that this would be
easy. I said it would be "less difficult" than it was in the earlier area.) It
is slightly less annoying if you turn the lights on in those 2 rooms. FYI,
the SW room needs 6 black orbs, and the SE room needs 3. The Dragon Lich rooms
are collection points for the orbs anyway, so you should have plenty to light
up these 2 rooms plus a good stash for the future by the time you finish here.
When you get your 3 Corpse Flies -- or get bored trying -- teleport to
Balfonheim. We'll get a couple of components that will be quick and easy.
* Go into the Cerobi Steppe and head to the southern part of the Feddik River
area.
* Turn off your Attack Gambits. Make a team of 2 characters who can Steal
and a White Mage. Equip the first 2 characters with Thief's Cuffs and give
them the Foe: Party Leader's Target => Steal Gambit.
In the southern 2 parts of this area, you will find 3 giant turtles. Normally,
these are all Adamantitans. However, since you initiated the Hunt Club
sidequest, there is a 40% chance that one of them will be the rare Trophy game
Aspidochelon. When you find one, steal from it until you get a Scarletite,
then back up 2 zones to the Terraced Bank to reset the area, and repeat. You
need a total of 2 Scarletites. REMEMBER NOT TO KILL THE ENEMY! If you do, it
will not respawn. This should take 10 - 15 minutes tops, especially with 2
characters Stealing.
* Save at the Blue Crystal at Journey's Rest, then head into the Crossfield.
In the Crossfield is another rare Trophy monster, Bluesang. You can Steal the
Damascus Steel item from him, and you need 4 of them. There is a 40% chance
that he will appear over by the windmills every time you enter the area. If
you stand near the boundary line, hold down on the left joystick, and exit and
re-enter the area several times, he will almost always be there. If he spawns
during any of those entries, exiting to the adjacent zone will not make him
disappear. When you get a Damascus Steel, pass through the Journey's Rest area
to reset the Crossfield, exit and re-enter a few times, and go back and grab
another one. Again -- this is a Trophy monster, so DON'T KILL HIM! This
should take maybe 15 minutes tops.
* Teleport to Rabanastre and check in with Montblanc. He will give you a
Gemsteel for commanding 8 Espers. This will save us considerable effort,
because now you only have to build 2 Gemsteels instead of 3.
* Check the Giza Plains weather. If it is dry, head to the Toam Hills area
and follow the instructions in the next paragraph. If it is raining,
teleport to the Golmore Jungle and head south into the Feywood to kill some
time until the sun comes out in Giza Plains again. Then follow the
instructions in the second and third paragraphs below.
Giza Plains -- Dry Season: In the southern edge of the Toam Hills area there
is an almost-circular indentation in the land mass. At the 3:00 position on
this "circle" resides the one and only Wildsnake in the game, which is the only
source of Snake Skins, a necessary component for your Tournesol. You need 12
of these, but they are very easy to get because they are an 80% steal and can
be dropped as well. Sometimes you'll get 2. Steal, then kill, then run SW
into the Westersand and back to reset the area. Seriously, it should take you
no more than 10 minutes tops to get all 12.
Feywood: This area has 2 items that might be of interest. In the Walk of
Stolen Truths area, about 40% of the wolves there seem to be on fire. This is
the Cerberus, and it can drop the Hell-Gate's Flame item that you need for the
Tournesol. It is a 5% Monograph drop, so you don't have to chain. However,
you need 4 of these suckers, meaning that on average, you'll have to kill about
80 Cerberus. This is probably the most time-consuming part of our component-
gathering activities. Be patient -- you'll get them all eventually.
If you are still pursuing the Kanya after the Corpse Fly debacle, the final
item for building it can be found here. The Aquarius Gem is a 30% Steal from
the Golems in the Walk of Stolen Truths and Walk of Flitting Rifts areas.
There are only 2 Golems in each area, but if you're chasing after Cerberus
anyway, you're bound to run into them. I actually got the 4 Aquarius Gems long
before I got the 4 Hell-Gate's Flames.
You should now have all of the necessary components to make the Kumbha and the
Tournesol. Just in case, here is a checklist. Move these items to the top of
your Loot inventory in this order:
1 x Gemsteel
2 x Scarletite
4 x Hell-Gate's Flame
4 x Damascus Steel
1 x Empyreal Soul
2 x Soul Powder
4 x Wargod's Bands
3 x High Arcana
6 x Serpent Eye
12 x Snake Skin
3 x Orichalcum
2 x Mallet
Go to a shop. I recommend the one outside Nalbina because it is right near a
Save Crystal and if anything goes wrong, you can try again easily.
Needless to say, this is going to take a bunch of gil --1,060,535 to be exact.
However, if you've kept your Cat-ear Hoods equipped on your inactive
characters, you should have several million gil by now.
SAVE YOUR GAME BEFORE SELLING ANYTHING!
Now, perform the following transactions IN THIS ORDER. I cannot over-emphasize
the importance of this. Do not try to combine steps or change the order. If
you do, it is highly probable that you will not get both weapons with this
minimum use of resources.
If anything goes wrong, restart your game and try again. You worked WAY too
hard gathering these items to waste any of them now.
1. SELL -- 1x Scarletite, 2x Hell-Gate's Flame, and 2x Damascus Steel.
2. BUY -- 1x Matchless Metal (Gemsteel).
3. SELL -- 1x Scarletite, 2x Hell-Gate's Flame, and 2x Damascus Steel.
4. BUY -- 1x Matchless Metal (Gemsteel).
5. SELL -- 1x Soul Powder, 2x Wargod's Band, 1x High Arcana, 2x Serpent Eye,
and 4x Snake Skin.
6. BUY -- 1x Jewel of Creation (Empyreal Soul) and 1x Jewel of the Serpent
(Serpentarius).
7. SELL -- 1x Soul Powder, 2x Wargod's Band, 1x High Arcana, 2x Serpent Eye,
and 4x Snake Skin.
8. BUY -- 1x Jewel of Creation (Empyreal Soul) and 1x Jewel of the Serpent
(Serpentarius).
9. SELL -- 1x High Arcana, 2x Serpent Eye, and 4x Snake Skin.
10. BUY -- 1x Jewel of the Serpent(Serpentarium).
11. SELL --3x Gemsteel, 3x Empyreal Soul, 3x Serpentarius, 3x Orichalcum, and
2x Mallet.
12. BUY -- 1x "The Sunflower" (Tournesol) and 1x "Master Crafted Blade"
(Kumbha).
If you persevered and got 3 Corpse Flies, sell those along with 3 x Mythril and
4 x Aquarius Gems and claim your Kanya.
Okay. That took some time, but you now have ultimate weapons in NINE
categories -- Greatsword, Katana, Ninja Sword, Pole, Axe, Hammer, Mace, Spear,
and Crossbow. Now let's go build some levels one last time.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXXVIII. Leveling 5 -- Henne Mines, Pithead Junction C (ZA38) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Leveling from about 68 to 82.
Before we go, make sure that you have 99 Phoenix Downs and 99 Antidotes in your
inventory.
* Teleport to Jahara. In the NE part of Lull of the Land, talk to Geomancer
Yugelu. He is so impressed with your power, that he is going to open up a
new area in the Henne Mines where you can get even more powerful. Teleport
there.
As promised, this area is going to provide you with some ultimate armor
upgrades as well as the fastest way yet to gain EXP. However, with great
reward also comes great risk. The enemies here come thick and fast, and they
are quite powerful. All characters should have a Self => Bubble Gambit high in
their Gambit lists, and defense should be prioritized over offense. Keep Float
cast at all times, as this area has tons of Traps. Oh, yes -- I should also
mention that this area has NO Save Crystals. You can't do a hard Save again
until you return to the Gold Crystal at the Staging Shaft. Proceed slowly and
carefully and your team will live to reap the benefits of this special area of
the game.
* Head into the Phase 2 Dig and take the first right into an off-map area. At
the dead end is a 100% chest with the Dueling Mask, the best Light Armor
helmet in the game. Pretty good start, huh?
* Back out of the dead end, go east as far as you can go, then follow the path
south to the dead end. There you will find the Henne Candle as well as a
100% chest with the Fomalhaut, the almost-least crappy gun in the game.
Some of your characters can probably equip it, so you might as well take it
with you.
* Go back west, then follow the path south and as far west as possible. At
the dead end, there is a Scrap of Paper which provides a clue that you
probably don't need. There is also a 25% chest with a Grand Helm, the best
Heavy Armor helmet in the game. If the chest isn't there, it is probably
worth backtracking to the Ore Separation area and then reentering until you
get one. If you cleared out enemies as you progressed, there won't be many
left to bother you. Alternatively, you can just check this spot every time
that you pass through the Phase 2 Dig area.
* Backtrack east and take the first path south. At the next intersection is a
100% chest containing a Circlet, the best Mystic Armor helmet in the game.
* Continue south. At the "island" that seems disconnected from the rest of
the map is a 100% chest containing the Makara, the "best" hand-bomb in the
game.
* Continue east out of this area. Proceed south, then all the way west
to the west side of the Crossover C area. In the middle of the Trap on the
triangular "island" just north of the Pithead Junction C area is a 25% chest
that always contains a Bubble Belt. Exit and re-enter the area until you get
this item, which should bring your total to 3 Bubble Belts (two from chests
and one as a reward for the Antlion hunt.) From there, proceed into Pithead
Junction C.
You have now arrived at the leveling spot. Activating the switch in this room
will release a lot of Abysteel enemies. They are vulnerable to Sleep and
Disable, and since they are undead, they can be killed with healing spells.
Divide your characters into 2 teams. One person on each team needs to know the
Sleepga spell or the Disable spell, and at least one of the other 2 members of
each team needs to know the Curaja spell. Cura is your second choice, and Cura
is definitely preferable to using a melee weapon because it will damage
multiple enemies.
Equip your active team with Embroidered Tippets to double the EXP yield and
your inactive team with Cat-ear Hoods to rake in the gil. Equip everyone with
armor that provides maximum defense and a weapon/shield combination that will
provide maximum Evasion. You aren't going to be attacking with weapons anyway,
so Attack power isn't important.
Your character who knows Sleepga (or Disable) should have a Foe:Any => Sleepga
(or Disable) Gambit. One way or another, you need to incapacitate the
Abysteels. Put this command second in this character's Gambits after
resurrecting fallen allies. Prioritize defense over offense. If the Abysteels
are unable to attack, you can heal, buff, and attack at your leisure. However,
if they are not incapacitated, your team can get overwhelmed very quickly.
In his power walkthrough, Arthellinus expressed a clear preference for Sleepga
over Disable, although he never gave a reason for this. Both spells will
incapacitate enemies within a region. Abysteels seem to be more susceptible to
Sleepga, so it seems to offer more protection immediately. On the down side,
attacking an enemy inflicted with Sleep tends to wake him up. Disable seems to
affect a smaller percentage of enemies immediately, but it lasts for a fixed
period of time instead of being removed when the enemy is attacked. I encourage
you to try both spells and use whichever you prefer.
Your other characters should have a Foe:Any => Curaja (or Cura) Gambit if
possible or a Foe:Nearest Visible=> Attack Gambit if not. Everyone should still
have Self=> Bubble as a priority Gambit, as well as the usual resurrecting and
healing Gambits. Abysteels can Poison you, so have Gambits to address that. I
recommend Self => Antidote to conserve Magic and time.
Set the game speed at normal (i.e., not 2x or 4x), at least until you get a
feel for how this works. Throw the switch. If your team gets seriously
weakened, you can always escape to an adjacent area to heal and adjust your
Gambits before returning. You'll lose any loot that is on the ground but
you'll preserve your chain.
When all the Abysteels are dead, go east then north to reset the area. (This
first time, you shouldn't need to throw the switch again to go East, but after
this you will.) Rinse and repeat. Once you're sure that your Gambits are
keeping you protected, go ahead and crank up the speed to 2x or 4x.
Each Abysteel gives about 3000 EXP, not counting your Embroidered Tippets.
That's about 6000 EXP per Abysteel per person. You don't disrupt your chain
when you reset the area, so you'll get tons of loot (including Demon Shields),
and at higher chain levels, you'll recover HP and MP as well. You Augments
will also restore MP, meaning that you shouldn't need to use Ethers to refill
all that Magic you're using.
Here's how the numbers work out. Once I got to Pithead Junction C and set up
my team, it took me almost exactly 39 minutes to elevate a team of 3 from level
68 to level 82 at 2x speed. In that time, I built a chain of about 550
Abysteels and earned roughly 3.2 million EXP. That comes to about 5 million
EXP/hr, and a level about every 3 minutes. Counting the time in and out plus
swapping out teams, maybe 1:45:00 or so to get all 6 characters up 14 levels.
Definitely worthwhile!
You could obviously spend more time leveling up if you want to, but you're
going to gain some more EXP anyway. Level 82-ish is plenty good enough for
this point in time. You can always come back if you feel under-leveled.
Here's my advice. Level your first team to the low 80's or so. Then fight
your way back out to the GSC. Remember to re-set your Gambits and equipment
before venturing out. Teleport to Nalbina to sell off your Loot and replenish
your consumables. Then take a rest for a while. After taking a break, bring in
your other team and repeat the entire process, including retreating, selling
off your Loot, and resting. There are many more challenges ahead, and when we
want to be fresh before taking those on.
When all 6 of your characters have levels in the low 80's, read on.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XXXIX. Some Final Equipment Upgrades (ZA39) *
* *
******************************************************************************
* Return to Pithead Junction C and exit to the south.
* In Phase 2 Shaft, go south, east, north, east, south, and east again into
the Special Charter Shaft.
Special Charter Shaft is a HUGE area with lots of treasure but no way out
except into a battle with a very tough Esper. I'm going to suggest that we
pick up what we can on our way to the Esper, dispatch him, and then focus on
treasure on the return trip.
* Wind your way around the SW portion of the area. In the middle of the
stairs at the southern end, there can be a chest with a Zodiac Spear. Or so
I am told. I cannot verify this because the chest has just a 1% chance of
spawning, and I've never had one appear. Aren't you glad that you got a
Zodiac Spear when you did?
* Make your way to the SE corner, where you'll find a 100% chest with the
Renew Spell.
* Head back west to the off-map area that heads north. In the middle of that
stretch there might (but probably won't) be a 10% chest with the Addle Tech
in it.
* When the off-map section rejoins the map, head west as far as you can. In
the dead-end room is a 100% chest with Lordly Robes, the best Mystic Armor
in the game.
* Backtrack east to where you again join up with the map and go as far north
as you can. Head west from there into the dead end. You will see a Glowing
Object twinkling on the ground. Look closer, and you'll find 2 Megalixirs.
There is a 25% chance you'll also find a chest that will always contain a
Grand Armor. If not, we'll try again later when it will be easier to reset
the area.
* Head south until the map branches east, head west to go off-map instead,
then quickly turn north into another off-map area. When you reach the
little "island" of land, pause because Zodiark lies just beyond.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XL. Zodiark (ZA40) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Zodiark can be very difficult to beat. Of all the Espers, he is the one that
gave me the most difficulty and, interestingly, he was ultimately the easiest
to bring down (it took less than a minute.)
He opens with Darkja, a spell that will likely wipe out your entire party
because it also carries an Instant Death capability. By the time you get your
party back on its feet, Zodiark will cast Darkja again, and the pattern
repeats. You can bring in players from the bench, but by the time you
resurrect all your dead soldiers, it's back to Darkja again.
If you have survivors after the first Darkja, you can actually make some
progress on Zodiark -- until his health gets down to about 20% or so. At that
point, he will put up a Paling, making him immune to physical attacks. Soon
afterwards, he will either cast Reflect on himself or he will raise a Magic
Paling. Either way, you can't hurt him with physical attacks or magic, either
one. The Paling lasts for 2 minutes, but as soon as it expires, it is
automatically renewed in Zodiark's next turn. So, you are in a situation where
he can wipe out all 3 of your characters in a single turn, and you can
literally do nothing to damage him.
So how do you beat this twerp? The key is to take him out before he ever gets
a chance to put up the Paling. Once he does that, you are in for a long and
frustrating battle. Taking him out before he raises his Paling is simply a
matter of hitting him hard and fast with everything you've got.
Before engaging Zodiark, pick a fighting team of 3 -- 2 warriors and a healer.
You will also need a Sacrificial Lamb. Your Lamb should have no buffs except
Haste and should wear no armor. You want him to die and die immediately. Your
main team should all have the usual buffs -- Haste, Bubble, and Bravery are
your top priorities, but throw in Protect and Shell if you so desire. Equip
your warriors with their best weapons -- an Uhlan with the Zodiac Spear and a
Knight with the Tournesol will do nicely -- and equip everyone with a Ribbon
because Zodiark will try to hit your team with status ailments. Even though
Zodiark is weak against Holy, do NOT equip Excalibur or any other Holy weapons.
Zodiark will change his elemental weakness in the middle of battle, and if you
keep Excalibur equipped, your attacks will start healing him. Equip armor for
maximum strength and protection on all 3. The only Gambits that matter are
those you set for your healer. Priorities should be Arise, then HP < 50% =>
Curaja, then Attack. Don't worry about the rest. If you do this right, the
battle will be over before your buffs wear off.
Once all of the above is set, have your two warriors Berserk themselves, with
Bacchus Wine. Now switch out your party so that it consists solely of your
Sacrificial Lamb. Give him the Foe: Any => Dispel gambit and send him into
battle. Zodiark will cast Darkja. If Dispel hits, great. If Zodiark kills
your Lamb before he casts Dispel, no real loss. When your Lamb is dead, bring
in your real party, have your healer cast Dispel if your Lamb didn't get it to
stick, and thrash Zodiark with everything that you have. When Zodiark's HP
approach that 20% level, turn off your healing Gambit so that all 3 characters
are attacking. You want to pour on the offense before that Paling goes up. Two
Berserked warriors with cranked up speed and lots of attack power should be
able to lay Zodiark to rest before he can make himself invulnerable. This
battle can seriously be won in less than a minute. If it goes any longer than
that, you may want to try again.
If you let all 6 characters die (or just give up and go to the Home Screen),
you can reload your game, but you will be all the way back at the beginning of
Special Charter Shaft. Apparently, the game doesn't do an Auto-Save when you
cross over into Special Charter Dig.
June 2019 update: It is possible that you can finish off Zodiark even if you
don't finish him off before he puts up his Paling. I received the following
advice from astute reader "Zanarze:"
"Just beat zodiark. Wanted to say that I had him down to 10% when he put his
paling up, I immediately switched to a character with a mirror mail and cast
flare on themself. worked like a charm, might be a tiny hint to include in your
zodiark paragraph. I was about to reset as all hope was lost, this prevented
tons of backtracking."
First of all, I would like to commend Zanarze both for his fortitude and
creativity and for his generosity in describing my previous page-long diatribe
about Zodiark as "your zodiark paragraph." I have tried to recreate his
strategy, but I found it difficult to even get a turn in as my entire team kept
getting wiped out. So, I'm going to pass along his tip and categorize it as
"unverified but likely to work under the proper circumstances." However, I
remain convinced that if your team is properly leveled, buffed, and equipped,
Zodiark will go down as described above and initiative such as Zanarze showed
should not be necessary.
Now that Zodiark is out of the way, you can run back and forth to the area that
had the Grand Armor. Once you clear the enemies out of the way, it's a pretty
quick run to check the dead end, return to the Zodiark room, and try again.
The only other potentially important item we left behind is the Addle Tech. If
you want to try for it, go ahead. It's actually closer than the dead end where
the Grand Armor was. For me, Addle is something of a low priority item, since
you'll only have about 1 opportunity to use it, but suit yourself.
When you're done here, go back to the Zodiark room and take the shortcut west
from there to Crossover C. From there you should know the way back to
civilization.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XLI. Time to Bid Farewell (ZA41) *
* *
******************************************************************************
I have enjoyed our time together, fellow adventurer, but I feel that the time
has come for me to leave you to explore on your own. Oh, there is much more to
be done in this game, and you should definitely do it all. However, you now
have all the levels and equipment you need, and helping you acquire those was
my stated purpose in writing this guide. I am confident that you are capable of
continuing on your own and that you will be successful in all of your future
endeavors. Here is a partial list of those challenges that you should still
undertake:
* The many hunts we have not yet pursued.
* The Hunt Club Sidequest. There are few upgrades to be earned here, but this
is a fun sidequest nonetheless.
* A return to the Great Crystal, where you can find the Shellga spell, the
Hastega spell, a Yagyu Darkblade, and another Excalibur. There is also
another Esper there for you to command as well as Omega Mark XII, an
optional but fairly easy boss to defeat.
* Continued exploration of the Pharos Subterra, where you can find the
indispensable Wither Tech in a 10% chest in the north central part of the
Abyssal level as well as some additional optional bosses. While you're
there, you should probably pick up the Bubble Belt from the 70% chest in the
far NW corner of the Abyssal level if you don't already have 3. In fact,
Wither and the Bubble Belt are on adjacent screens, so you can just zone
back and forth until you get both items.
* The remainder of Trial Mode. The next section will walk you through the
remaining Stages or, if you prefer, you can tackle these on your own.
* The lengthy battle against Yiazmat, an endurance test that is only for the
most dedicated of adventurers.
* The tasks necessary to complete the Sky Pirate's Den and those necessary to
earn all Trophies.
* I would normally include the final battle sequence in the regular story
line in this list, but I fear you will find yourself so seriously
overpowered for that encounter that it will be lacking in any challenge
whatsoever. Do it anyway, but take a moment to marvel in how easily you are
victorious in this "ultimate" battle.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XLII. Trial Mode Stages 1-100 (ZA42) *
* *
******************************************************************************
Awesome Equipment Earned: Excalibur, Mina, Simha and/or Mithuna, Grand Helm,
Grand Armor, Genji Helm and/or Genji Shield and/or Genji Armor and/or Kumbha,
Lordly Robes, White Mask, and Yagyu Darkblade, not to mention many Elixirs, and
Megalixirs.
Although I never intended for this guide to include strategies for all 100
Stages of Trial Mode, it seems that that is precisely where we shall be at the
end of this section. I'll describe strategies for these last few Stages of
Trial Mode if only to remind myself about how I survived them.
It is worth noting that most of the equipment listed above will be duplicates
of items already in your possession. Therefore, as I suggested earlier, you
should expect that upgrades from this excursion will be few in number and
slight in improvement over your current equipment.
I don't know how far you're planning to go here but if you're planning to head
into the 90's, I strongly advise that you go to the Abyssal level of the Pharos
Subterra and get the Wither spell before proceeding into Trial Mode. It will
make some of those latter Stages MUCH easier. Gaining a few more levels in the
Henne Mines wouldn't hurt, but this is completely optional. Your current levels
should suffice.
* Race through Stages 1 - 71 inclusive. I would only pause to pick up the
items listed below:
- Hastega Motes from chests in Stages 29, 33, and 56.
- An Elixir (uncommon steal) from Hashmal in Stage 49.
- An Elixir (uncommon steal) from Famfrit in Stage 50.
* In Stage 64, you can steal another Excalibur from the Humbaba Mistants. If
you have 2 Knights, I would advise you to do so in preparation for Stage 87.
You can get one in Stage 87, but it's easier to do now since there are 2
enemies from which to steal instead of one.
Heading into these later Stages of Trial Mode, you probably want to give
everyone on your team a Self => Bubble gambit.
* If you really want that Mina, now is the time to Poach one from Overlord in
Stage 72.
* Stages 73 - 80 inclusive are all battles against Elementals and Entites.
You are more than a match for them now. In Stages 73 - 78, Elixir is a rare
steal from the Entite. I'd try once, but if you don't get one, just finish
the Stage. You should have plenty of Elixirs by now.
* In each of these Stages, all enemies have a common elemental weakness. If
you, like myself, don't already know what those are, have someone cast Libra
on himself at the start of each battle, then set a Gambit for your Black
Mage to throw the most powerful spell of that element at the group of
enemies.
Stages 79 and 80 can get a little hairy. Give yourself an advantage by
equipping the proper weapons and/or using the proper spells. In Stage 79, the
enemies are weak against Dark, and in Stage 80, the enemies are weak against
Holy.
* In Stage 81, focus your attacks on Zeromus. The Dark Lords are optional.
Elixir is a rare steal, so try once, then move on.
* In Stage 82, Reavers and High Reavers can be Warped! Cast Warp once, then
finish any survivors manually.
* The enemies in Stage 83 are weak against Holy, so equip your Knight(s) with
Excalibur(s) and whack away.
* In Stage 84, the Attack command is sealed, so you're going to want to use
Techs to take down Chaos. The other enemies are optional. Elixir is a
common steal from Chaos, so definitely give this a try.
* Stage 85 has another Hastega Mote in a chest. Take down the enemies one at
a time before moving on to a real challenge.
Stage 86 looks innocuous enough, but if you go in unprepared, you'll get your
behind kicked rather quickly and wonder what the heck happened. There are at
least 4 challenges here. The first is sheer numbers -- 6 Pirates plus Elza,
Rikken, and Raz. Elza is a problem because she can support the team with
Reverse Motes, healing, and the like. Rikken is a beast who hits like a
runaway truck and combos like a maniac. Raz totters around throwing status
spells at you and, worst of all, you can't attack him. He hangs around until
the battle is over.
Fortunately, each problem has a solution. Start by having one team member
throw a Warp Mote (or cast the Warp spell) in the middle of the Pirates. This
is not 100% effective, but it should take out at least 4/6 Pirates. Follow up
with a second Warp Mote if necessary. Alternatively, if the person who throws
the Warp Mote is equipped with the Indigo Pendant accessory that I told you to
pick up in the Lhusu Mines, Warp should be almost 100% successful against the
Pirates. Any survivors can be quickly dispatched manually.
Rikken casts Reflect on his entire team at the beginning of the Stage, but
fortunately the Warp spell does not get Reflected nor does Reflect prevent
enemies from being Warped.
Now you're down to just Elza, Rikken, and Raz. Throw a Bacchus's Wine item at
Elza, and she'll stand back away from the action and shoot you with her gun.
It will sting a bit, but at least she's not healing her team.
Equip someone with the Nihopalaoa and have him/her throw a Remedy at Rikken.
This will Blind him and Slow him. He'll still do a lot of damage, but with only
about half of his hits connecting, you can survive his assaults.
As for Raz, just keep your Ribbons equipped and he won't do you any harm.
There are two steals that could tempt you to remove a Ribbon and equip Thief's
Cuffs. The best one-handed sword in the game, Simha, is a rare steal from
Rikken, and the "best" gun in the game, Mithuna, is a rare steal from Elza.
The former is already outclassed by most of your 2-handed swords, and the
latter is, well, a gun, so basically, who cares? I can't see much reason to
try for either of these, but if you do and you get hit with a status ailment,
just put in a Gambit for someone to cast Esuna and all will be peachy.
Once you've dispatched the Pirates and crippled Elza and Rikken, focus on
taking out Rikken first, since he is going to do the most damage. If Elza loses
Berserk, just throw another Bacchus's Wine at her. Once Rikken is out of the
way, turn your attention to Elza and end the Stage.
For enemies like Hell Wyrm (Stage 87) who have a lot of HP and considerable
potential to KO members of your party, it is often worth your while to have a
Monk as one of your attackers. The Monk can reduce the enemy's Defense by
about 40% once he gets Expose to connect 5 times, and he can similarly
compromise the enemy's offensive power by casting Wither multiple (5-6) times.
In general, I would advise using Wither first so that you spend less time
resurrecting your fallen allies, then use Expose to increase the damage done by
your attackers.
* In Stage 87, remember that Hell Wyrm is weak against Holy. Equip your
Knight(s) with Excalibur(s) and go to town on him.
* In Stage 88, focus on Disma. Everything else is just a distraction.
* In Stage 89, Grand Helm is a rare steal from Fafnir. If you want one, just
keep reloading the game until you get one.
* Having a sense of déjà vu? No, the enemy in Stage 90 isn't Fafnir again,
it's the Behemoth King. I never noticed the resemblance before. This time
Grand Armor is a rare steal. The Behemoth King has enough HP that it is
probably worthwhile having your Monk debuff him as described above.
I should warn you that, predictably enough, many of these last 10 Stages are
going to take a bit longer each than the previous 90.
* In Stage 91, get the Elixir from one of the chests and then throw it at the
Magick Pot. Ignore the optional Hecteyes and finish off the Pot.
* In Stage 92, start by taking out Shadowseer, since he poses the greatest
threat. Pandaemonium can make himself immune to physical attacks, so your
next move is to attack him until he puts up his paling. While you're
waiting for that to wear off, focus on the others one at a time. Phoenix is
a flier, so give a Foe: Flying => Attack Gambit to someone who can hit
flying enemies. When Pandaemonium's Paling wears off, finish him off, then
clean up any remaining enemies, starting with the one with the lowest HP.
You should equip Thief's Cuffs before beginning the next Stage.
* Start Stage 93 by throwing Bacchus's Wines at each of the Red Chocobos to
keep them from bombarding you with Choco Comet. Elixir is a common steal,
and Megalixir is an uncommon steal, so with your Thief's Cuffs equipped, you
can stockpile these precious items as you finish the red birds off one by
one. There is also an Elixir in one of the chests. Red Chocobos are weak
against Holy, so use your Excalibur(s). Keep your Thief's Cuffs equipped for
the next Stage.
From Enkidu in Stage 94, you can steal a Genji Helm (common), Genji Shield
(uncommon), or Genji Armor (rare). From Gilgamesh, a Kumbha is an uncommon
steal. Decide what you want and reload until you get it. The dog is optional,
but he can be a real pain, hitting for 3000+ HP. Have your Monk cast Expose
until it connects 5-6 times, then focus all attacks on the dog until he is
tamed. You want to put him down first before Gilgamesh start to combo like
crazy. Now turn your attention to Gilgamesh. Have your Monk cast Wither until
it connects 5 - 6 times, then repeat with Expose. Your White Mage should be
set to Dispel the many buffs that Gilgamesh will cast on himself. Now we have
something that resembles a fair fight. You can do considerable damage to
Gilgamesh (except, of course, when he has his Paling up) and he isn't likely to
kill off a member of your team with his combos or special attacks.
Before you finish the Stage, read the next 3 paragraphs.
In Stage 95, you are going to fight Ultima, and that is going to be a
challenge. First of all, there are Traps here, so be sure to have a Float
Gambit in place. Ultima opens with Holyja, a Holy-based attack that can
inflict Reverse, and your Ribbons do not protect you against Reverse. So, be
sure that all of your healers have a Gambit for Ally: Status = Reverse =>
Esunaga ABOVE your healing Gambits so that you don't kill off your Reversed
allies by trying to heal them before Reverse has been, well, reversed.
Ultima has some good steals, so you might want to start the Stage with Thief's
Cuffs equipped. Lordly Robes, the best Mystic body Armor in the game, is a
rare steal, and White Mask is a common steal. On a good day, you can get both.
You should already have one White Mask from a chest in the Necrohol at Nabudis.
Equip as many of your healers as possible with White Masks, as they will absorb
potential damage done by Holyja. Be aware that the White Mask will not protect
the wearer against Reverse.
This battle will have shifting handicaps, and you're going to have to
constantly monitor these and adjust your commands and/or Gambits accordingly.
The sequence seems to be HP Sap first, then MP drain, then Attack command
sealed, then Magicks sealed, then Techs sealed. Fortunately, no 2 handicaps
will be in place simultaneously. I strongly suggest that you fight this battle
at normal speed so that you can make these adjustments as the battle
progresses. Once you have survived the first 4 handicaps, you should be in a
position to finish off Ultima.
Ultima is Ultima-tely beatable. Just exercise patience and victory will be
yours.
* Stage 96 is a bunch of Abysteels. Beat them the same way that you did in the
Henne Mines -- put 'em to sleep or Disable them and hit 'em with Curaja. BE
AWARE THAT ZODIARK IS UP NEXT! Disable the last Abysteel, and then set up
your team as before with 2 Berserked attackers and a healer on the bench and
a lone Sacrificial Lamb on your active team.
* Lordly Robes is a rare steal from Zodiark in Stage 97, but you shouldn't
need another set at this point. Beat him as before. Sacrifice one
character at the start of the battle, then bring in a Berserked pair of
attackers and a healer. Be sure to resurrect your Sacrificial Lamb before
launching a full-out attack for the last 20% or so of Zodiark's life bar.
In Stage 98, you face Yiazmat, only this time he has a MUCH shorter life
bar. He is still weak against Dark, and Yagyu Darkblade is an uncommon steal
from him. Isn't it nice of him to give you a prime weapon for defeating him?
Despite these apparent advantages, Yiazmat is still no pushover. He will try to
hit you with status effects, but your Ribbons will protect you from those. His
Cyclone attack can hit each member of your team for 3000 - 5000 HP or so, but
if you keep Bubble up, you can easily survive that. You can reduce the damage
from Cyclone if you bring in your Uhlan and have him cast Addle until it
connects 5-6 times, thus diminishing Yiazmat's Magick Power. Yiazmat also has
an instant death attack, but there is nothing that you can do about that except
resurrect and carry on.
His real danger is his physical attacks, which, especially when he combos, can
wipe out multiple members of your party in one turn. You can easily find
yourself in a situation where you cannot resurrect the fallen fast enough to
keep pace with Yiazmat's deadly attacks.
The key to beating Yiazmat is to debuff him. First, make sure that your White
Mage has a Foe: Any => Dispel Gambit to get rid of any buffs he puts on
himself. Then, before things get hairy, get your Monk or Foebreaker to cast
Wither until it connects 6 times and then Expose until it connects 6 times.
With Yiazmat's offensive power reduced, his physical attacks will be
manageable, and with his Defense reduced, you can inflict sufficient damage per
turn to make some headway on defeating him. You may want to give your primary
attacker a Self => Bacchus's Wine Gambit to increase the damage inflicted. Once
Yiazmat is debuffed, the battle will take a while, since he still has over a
million HP, but it should at least be manageable.
One last reminder -- don't let your healer get too far from your attackers or
she won't perceive that healing needs to be done and you may lose a member or
two from your team.
* On to Stage 99.
Omega Mk. XII is a one-trick pony. It is a construct that fires a laser beam
repeatedly, doing about 5,000 HP damage to one person each time. There is also
a chance that an attack will inflict Berserk, and your Ribbons won't protect
against Berserk. He inflicts no other status ailments, so you might as well
equip those Bubble Belts you collected on your entire team and save the time
and Magick of having to cast Bubble manually.
The conventional strategy for this battle is to have one attacker who is
constantly under Lure and Reverse so that Omega will only attack him/her, and
those attacks will heal rather than do damage. I have used this strategy
successfully, but it isn't my preferred approach. My problem with this is that
Reverse doesn't last very long, and there is a very high probability that in
that interim between when it wears off and when it gets recast, Omega will zap
that character and kill him/her off.
Overall, I've had much better success dealing with Omega the same way as
Yiazmat -- use Wither to reduce his attack power and use Expose to reduce his
defense. This really levels the playing field and allows your healers to keep
up with the damage that he causes.
Feel free to try both approaches and use whichever you prefer.
One last note: There are 12 treasure chests in this Stage, and each of them
has a 50% chance of holding an Elixir. It is probably worth your time to open
them all. Just be sure to have Float in place, since each chest is protected
by a trap.
Stage 100 is, predictably enough, a very difficult battle, and you can find
numerous strategies on YouTube and elsewhere for defeating the 5 Judges here.
The easiest strategy is the one that makes use of Zeromus' Big Bang ability. A
link to that video is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h00GZgbSnwY
This battle can even be won with only one member in your active team! Here are
the steps you follow to use this method, but be aware that, as usual, this is
not as easy to do as the video makes it appear. Your timing has to be just
right, and you have to do a lot of things very quickly before the Judges
descend upon you.
I should emphasize that this is NOT a strategy that I devised. I only knew of
it by watching the above referenced video.
All actions described are carried out by the character who has command of
Zeromus. As before, I recommend that you fight this battle at normal (i.e.,
not 2x or 4x) speed.
1) Summon Zeromus.
2) Immediately turn off all Gambits (especially Zeromus'!)
3) Throw a Bubble Mote at Zeromus. Make sure that this action is completed
before taking Step 5.
4) Equip a Nihopalaoa.
5) Throw an Elixir at Zeromus, knocking him down to 1 HP.
6) Have Zeromus execute his Big Bang attack. This should wipe out 3 of the
5 Judges.
7) As soon as you regain control, have your character remove the
Nihopalaoa and equip a Bubble Belt (or, really, anything else.)
8) Have your character use an Elixir on himself to restore his Mist.
9) Re-equip the Nihopalaoa.
10) Summon Zeromus.
11) Throw an Elixir at Zeromus, knocking him down to 1 HP again.
12) Have Zeromus execute his Big Bang attack.
13) No more Judges!
This is a LOT to do in a short period of time, and there are many ways that
things can go wrong. If they do, just reload and start over. I promise you
that this strategy will eventually work.
With your team leveled to the mid-80's, you may not be quite leveled up high
enough to take out all 5 Judges with this method. However, if you can eliminate
4 out of 5, finishing the last one off manually should be totally doable.
The Big Bang attack particularly devastating because its power depends on,
among other factors, the difference between Zeromus' maximum HP and his current
HP. By maximizing the former and minimizing the latter, you get an attack of
unparalleled potency.
I hasten to add that Stage 100 is potentially a very rich and challenging
battle that can tax your problem-solving abilities. Each Judge has particular
strengths, and many have weaknesses. By exploiting the weaknesses, you can
minimize the devastating effects of the strengths and win this battle in a fair
fight. Use the Big Bang method to earn your Trophy, but I encourage you to
return to this battle later on and try to win it in a straight-up fight.
******************************************************************************
* *
* XLIII. Closing Credits (ZA43) *
* *
******************************************************************************
There is very little original in this guide except the sequencing of tasks.
For almost everything else, I had to depend on the work that others had already
done to detail the timing, places, and probabilities of finding various items.
Here is a partial list of the resources on which I depended. If you want
additional information about FFXII--Zodiac Age, these are all excellent
sources.
* For general sequencing of events in the game, and especially for differences
between the ZA version and the original version, I relied heavily on Red
Scarlet's guide on GameFAQs.com. That guide can be found here:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/191202-final-fantasy-xii-the-zodiac-
age/faqs/61906
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* For statistics on armor and equipment, Bazaar information, Trial Mode
information, and just about everything related to this game, you really
can't beat the Final Fantasy Wiki. I found some minor mistakes, but the
sheer volume of the information available here is truly impressive.
https://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Wiki
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* For information on Jobs, this is the best analysis that I found:
https://www.gameskinny.com/pnlmk/final-fantasy-xii-the-zodiac-age-job-classes-
guide
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* For information about chest locations, contents, and percentages, this is a
really comprehensive and user-friendly site:
https://www.reddit.com/r/FinalFantasyXII/comments/6of040/izjs_and_therefore_tza
_maps_with_chest_placement/
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* The first time that I played the original FFXII, I relied heavily on the
walkthrough by Split Infinity. No one gives more detail or more thorough
information than he does.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/459841-final-fantasy-xii/faqs/42270
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* Most of the leveling-up spots and techniques in this guide originally came
from a FAQ titled "Power Walkthrough" by Arthellinus. I don't see it on
GameFAQs any more, but I have to give credit to this guide in particular as
being an inspiration for this guide.
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I hope that you have found this guide to be useful and, at times, entertaining.
I have tried to give you more than just instructions, providing a rationale for
all decisions that I made. I do this for two primary reasons. First, I think
that it is important to understand why you are doing something as well as what
your chances of success are. Moreover, if you understand my logic, then you
will perhaps find ways to improve on the recommended sequencing and can
experiment with strategies of your own. Thus, you can consider this guide to
be more of a beginning point than an end point.
Thank you for allowing me to share this adventure with you.