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Chapter 01 - 10
Click the "New Game" option on the menu, and select your options. I'm using Widescreen, no filter and Pro Logic II. I like my setup. :D Watch the cut-scenes.
Intro - Good boy, Reks
After the cut scene is over (Faram), you'll have to listen to the guy who simply cannot decide what kind of accent he wants to be. Is he British? Indian? South
African? I just can't say. Faram. Press the X button a lot. I mean a lot. Yeah. Faram. Oops. Sorry, I got carried away with the Farams there. Let's meet
Reks. You'll hear about his brother, living in Rabanastre. Isn't Basch a pretty hard-core guy? You might say he's a real spark plug. Well, I might say that, but
I have pun-related issues. Anyway, we'll learn more about him later. For now, learn how to use the controls. Just do what Basch tells you. There's not anything
here. Just look around 360 degrees, then go talk to Sparky... Er, Basch.
After the red line shows up, feel free to enter the control panel and use the "status" area to change things like battle speed. You'll probably be glad you
did. You'll probably want to use Battle Mode: Wait until you're comfortable with things. Attack both the guy that shows up, and the boss. You might wanna use
cure if you're health gets low, but your comrads will potion you up. Did you notice how nice the enemies were when they talked to each other? It's a little
disconcerting, but pay it no mind. For now. ;) Your guy does not appear to level up, so keep on running and fighing. When you get inside the building, follow
along using the mini-map. When Basch tells you there is no harm in retreating, that's your ticket to run for it. As long as you don't die, you're fine. Just hold
down R2 and book it for the top of the mini-map:
- Be sure to use select to see the whole map at once. The path to the left goes nowhere - you can ignore it. Go forward to the next screen.
- In a room to your right is a chest. Get it, then head back to the hall.
- Turn right from that room, and go forward until you get to the 'T' at the end of the hall.
- Go left (the path right has nothing).
- Take an immedeate right.
Go to the end of that hallway
- Turn right.
- Fight the guy here, and open the chest on your left.
- Double back and go up the stairway you passed.
- On the next screen, save if you want, then head up a couple of flights of stairs.
You'll now have to actually fight. Remember, your guy doesn't do anything on his own; you'll have to attack people. You can use the potions you've
collected, but this really shouldn't be too tough. As soon as one guy falls, be sure to attack the next. I didn't have to take any potions during
the battle (and you aren't required to engage in any more fights, so you don't really need to take one after it).
You have two options once the skirmish is over. You may either level up Reks, or you may continue on. Be aware that you will not be playing the game as Reks
beyond a few more minutes, so no matter how high you level this character up, it will have no impact on your actual game play. (i.e., Vaan will only start out with
5 Potions and he'll be at level 1 regardless of what you do here, so it's probably not worth it to to level up Reks.
)
Optional: If you *really* want to level up anyway, you can use this opportunity to learn the Chain Level mechanics. Head back down the stairs and save your
game. If the game tells you you're supposed to go up, just ignore that reminder. Run around the area you came through before and fight a bunch of enemies, but try
not to pick up the loot these guys drop. I know - that's weird for a Final Fantasy game, so let me explain. Since all these enemies are of the same type, continuing
to kill them will result in a Chain Level. There are 4 levels, and as you achive a new level the loot drops become better. When the enemies stop spawning, you'll
need to transition to two new areas to trigger them to respawn. For example, you can head back past the save crystal (without touching it!) to the floor above, then
come back down. Fun fact - if you touch the crystal, it will reset your chain level. You can theoretically level Reks up as long as you want here, but again, it
won't have any impact beyond the next 5 minutes of the game.
After your skirmish (or after you get bored of leveling up), head through the doorway at the top of the stairs (not the locked fence). Go down the hallway
and turn right. Go right again at the end of the line and head for the door. Watch more cut scenes. Lots of death, destruction, and Faram. You'll hear our
friendly locale-challanged narrator explain about the deaths of people who's names you do not recognize, and then you'll just generally press X a LOT. Whee! Heh.
I mean, Fara... Oh never mind.
Ch 01 - Meet Vaan and Penelo
Your friend Kytes watches while you attempt your greatest challange ever - fighting rats. OK, show of hands. Who the heck didn't see this coming?
It's FINAL FANTASY for crying out loud. Of COURSE your first real fight will be the rats. Anyway, you have to fight all three of them. You can
steal a fire stone (or a rat pelt, lol) from them, first, if you'd like. It's not like they're going to kill your guy or anything. Use the mini-map
at the top left of your screen to find the rats (they're red dots), if you need to. Or just stand in the center of the waterway - they'll probaly
come to you.
So your dude has other "work" to do, eh? I guess we'll see what's going on in the next cut scene! OK, I just have to ask... Who came up with these names,
anyway? Penelo? It sound like a kind of fruit. "Hey mom, I'm going to go to the store now." "OK, Joe. Pick me up a nice batch of Penelos, if they're fresh!"
Whatever. Anyway, after the cut scenes, you'll have a world map and be free to wander around the city. Head to Migelo's Sundries in East End (use the world map
via "select" if you can't find it). After talking to him, head to the Sandsea. Or, if you like, use the opportunity to walk around the place, but since you cannot
leave the city (you can't even go to lowtown), just head to the Sandsea. You'll hear about the notice board (see the "Marks" section when you get a chance).
Pay attention to the explination about marks, hunters and (especially) license points. You'll "learn" to use the Orrachea Armlet you just got. When the
tutorial is over, be sure to go to Party -> Equip -> Vaan -> Equip -> Accessory -> Orrachea Armlet and get your HP slightly raised. You'll be able to head out of
town now, but do something else first. Leave the Sandsea and head to the far left of the inside of the archway that forms the top of the map of Rabinastre. If you
can't find it from that description, just keep looking around the farthest north area - you'll see a suspicious looking guy. Now that you have a clan primer, you
can go inside. Welcome to Clan Hall. Talk to everyone here, but especially "Montblanc," the moogle at the top of the stairs. You'll be accepted into Clan
Centurio. After talking to everyone here, and optionally doing a quick sidequest, walk around. When you're
ready to leave the city, head to Eastgate and head out of town.
Save your game after the cut scene, and head out into the desert.
Ch 02 - Dalmasca Eastersand
Here's a tip. When you are leveling up, try going to the config menu and setting battle speed to fast. It'll make life more bearable. You'll watch a short cut
scene and then you'll have pretty much free reign here. For starters, kill some Cactite (but steal earth stones from them first). You can also kill off some
wolves here, too. Until you get beyond a puny little level one guy, though, you'll probably want to stay away from attacking a whole pack of wolves. Oh, and don't
fight the big dinosaur looking thing. If you happen to get a Broadsword by stealing from a cactite, you will need to learn the Swords 1 license (15 LP) before you
can equip it. You'll notice various treasure chests around here. One of those occasionally has an Escutcheon (shield) inside. If you happen across that, you can
equip it once you learn the license Light Armor 2
As you are wandering around, try not to face too many Cockatrice until you are ready - they can be a real handful (game over, d'oh.) You can steal/win
potions from them, though, so if you lure one away and steal, it can be worth it. After each set of kills, look in your Clan Primer's Bestiary. You can learn two
things from the bestiary. First, for each enemy you kill, you'll get some extra information about that beast. Second - if you have killed enough - you'll get some
general information regarding the game. Notice the "02" by the Dire Rat? That means you have to kill two more Dire Rats to get the extra information associated
with that animal.
You can technically so some leveling up here if you want. As you get more license points you may want to learn a few more skills. Some good choices for LP are
the [White Magick 1 -> White Magick 2 -> HP+50] route and the [Poach -> Traveler -> Shield Block - Battle Lore -> HP+100 -> Red Spiral route.] If you do want to
level up, don't forget to go back to Rabanastre and save at the crystal.
Optional: You can actually get back into the town and sell stuff off, if you want. Just talk to the guard on the left and stand in line. Eventually it will be
your turn at the front of the line, and you can go back inside. If you do head back inside, you can sell loot you've picked up at any shop. If you have 3 Small
Feathers (from Chimera), you can sell them to unlock the ability to buy 2xPhoenix Down for 400 Gil. If you sell 2x Wolf Pelt and 1x Earth Stone, you can buy Chromed
Leathers for 180 Gil. Sell 2x Cactus Fruit to buy two potions for 70 Gil. You can also unlock several
monographs at this time, though it appears you can't unlock the ones triggered by reading the message board at this time.
While you are killing wolves and cactites, be sure to head to the outpost. On your world map, it's one screen to the north-east. Talk to everyone here, open
the treasures, and examine every shiny thing (Mysterious glint). After digging up Gil (I found: 4 Gil, 1 Gil, 5 gil, 12 Gil, 5 Gil, 3 Gil, 3 Gil, and 10 Gil) and
talking to everyone, head back the way you came in (note that "resting" for 100 gil doesn't respawn the monster stats - power cycling your playstation, however,
will.) I found I could reset the game and keep doing the same cycle to get enough license points to buff up Vaan quite a bit.
To find the Rogue Tomatoe, head strait forward from the Rabinastre entrance, toward a little u-shaped alcove just bellow the middle of the screen. Steal (You
can get a fire stone or a pebble), then go after him. You should "kill" him in two to three turns. After the cut scene (he jumped off the cliff, if you missed
that, head back to where the saurus is, and steal again. Now finish him off, get you Handful of Galbana Lilies, and head back to Rabanastre. Save your game, then
talk to Kytes. By the time I was ready to head back into Rabinastre, I was at level 8, had a broadsword and Escutcheon, Had learned Libra, First Aid, Poach,
Traveler, Shield Block, Battle Lore, +100 HP, Remedy Lore 1, Battle Lore, Phoenix Lore, Accessories 1, and White Magick 1. This brings me to an interesting point.
Once you finish the Rogue Tomato mark and claim your reward, you'll get a Teleport stone. Th - be sure not to use your Teleport Stones if you can avoid it. Why?
You'll build up INSANE ammounts of LP that you can really use. Early on, you may find that you don't have much in the way of Weapons, Armor, Technicks, etc. Use
the LP you get to seriously buff up your guys!
Ch 03 - Back in Rabinastre
Watch the cut scenes. Remember this dude? You'l see him again, don't worry. "What I ask, I ask plain." Really? It took a bit of listening to
figure out what you said. Oh, nevermind. What a "Vayne" man this is. But as eloquent as his speach is, Vaan's response is truely breath taking.
OK, so maybe yawning is different from "breath taking," but still... "Well, I'd do something." Wow. Talk about stunning dialogue. Through his
followup dialogue, though, you'll learn that it's time to pay Dalan a visit (he's in Lowtown). Let's not go there just yet, though...
Basically, you've got the run of Rabinastre, Lowtown, and the various areas outside. The next chapter will be tough, and you cannot back out, so there
are some things you might want to do. I really recommend at least doing as many mark hunts as you can, and going to Nalbina Town at the very least.
- Step one - go and get your due for killing off the Rogue Tomato. That's at the Sandsea, in case you'd forgotten. You'll get 300 Gil, a teleport stone, and
2xPotion.
- Return to the Clan Hall and Montblan will give you 3 potions to commemorate your joining the clan.
- Head to the Yugri's Magicks shop. Sell off your Mythril Sword and all your loot (except the teleport stone - don't sell that!!!) You should get a bazaar good
or two. Go ahead and buy them, if you have the money, but save 1300 Gil to buy a Cure, Fire, Thunder and Blizard, plus the Libra Technick.
- You might want to take this opportunity to unlock some monographs. I certainly would. You probably cannot afford
them yet, but that shouldn't stop you from unlocking them. By doing other stuff in this area, I was able to unlock the Hunter's Monograph
- Walk around outside and level up/explore a little bit. You can get decent weapons/armor at Nalbina Town (Take the east exit from Rabanastre and go North two
screens, then east. I got an Iron Sword that was totally worth it.
- Go fight Thextera, if your guys are good
enough.
- Bump into the moogle from the cartographer's guild near the fountain and buy maps of the eastersand, the Westersand and the Giza Plains.
- Levelup in the Giza plains or the Eastersands. You can find some Ichthon fish near the South Bank Village. These are worth some serious experience points, if
you can handle them. Cast Thunder twice to get them weak, and then hit them to kill them off..
- If your guy is buff enough (level 9+), you might try
leveling up off in the westersand (where the Urstrix and Sleipnir are).
- In lowtown, you can get into the Gramsyth Waterway via (where you fought the rats), but you cannot do anything there. Just be sure not to open the chest by Old
Dalan's place while in Lowtown.
- In the westersand, follow the west wall from Rabinastre. The first location change you come to should look like a dead end. Some times there is a powerful wolf
type enemy here. You can steal a Gladius from him, which is a rediculously over powered weapon at this point in the game.
- Take on the Flowering Cactoid hunt. See the hunts section for more details.
Now it's time to head to Dalan's place in old town (QUICK REMINDER: DON'T OPEN THE CHEST OUTSIDE HIS HOUSE!) You'll talk to Dalan, and he'll tell you about a
magicked stone that can help you get into the Fete. But it needs a sunstone. Leave his house (don't open that chest!!!) Hang a right, talk to the Jolly Seeq, and head
out the doorway there to southgate. Save if you want, then head out onto the plains. Head due south from the gate and you should find yourself in the Nomad Village.
Talk to the Village Elder (Brunoa). She'll point out Masyua to you. Go talk to her. Listen to her offer. She'll ask you to go find Jinn (he's got he sun stones).
You'll eventually end up with Penelo in your party, and then you can do whatever you want. Talk to Camina there. She'll tell you Jinn is in the Crystal glade. Leave
the village and head down to the most southern part of the Giza Planes (use your map). The crystal glade is the place with the big crystal in it. When you leave the
village, Penelo will give you some stuff. I got 3 potions and 2 tufts of Phoenix Down.
Be sure to setup Penelo's Licenses, and equip stuff for her. Be ready to UNEQUIP it, though. She tries to tell you about Gambits, but you can't really use them.
All you can do is turn on/off the USE of gambits via the menu that pops up when you press 'X' in the field. Try it, and enable Vaan's Gambits. If you enable it, your
character will actually go AFTER your targets, but that's about it. When you get Balthier and Fran, THEN you can use Gambits. You actually can level up a bit here as
well, if you're into that kind of thing. It may have been a total fluke, but when I was fighting a Werewolf I managed to get my hands on a Kotetsu. As I understand it,
it's only going to happen 5% of the time, or so. This is unbelievably powerful this early in the game. Once I had that, I could take on just about anything around -
including the Wild Saurian back in Dalmasca Eastersand. Well, if he hadn't gone and eaten a bunch of other stuff already. ^.^
Make your way to the Crystal and talk to Jinn. Explain the situation to him. he'll give you a shadestone. You'll see that there are 4 of the large crystals. Go
and "examine" the crystals that now show up on your map. Start with the lower right, and work your way around the map in a counter-clockwise direction. You'l get 50 gil, 2xpotion and 2xteleport stone. Feel free to save your game in the Nomad Village, and level-up using Penelo if you want, but I'd really recommend against it.
You'll see why later. Just head back to Rabanastre. Be sure to UNEQUIP anything from Penelo that you don't have 3 of. Then, go talk to Dalan (take the
southgate-lowtown entrance - DON'T OPEN THAT CHEST). Penelo will leave as soon as you approach Dalan's house. "The signet years for sunstones strength to light the
clouded way. The signet stone light the path if they are given the sunstone's light." After you talk to Dalan, head to storehouse 5 (don't open that chest!) You'll get
2x potions and 4x phials of eye drops from Kytes. Open the door.
Ch 04 - Garamsythe Waterway
- Head slightly left and save at the crystal there.
- Next, head to the right and follow the path all the way around you should find a chest on the next area.
- Backtrack to the save crystal, and take the north exit
- If you can chain a bunch of rats here, you can win a leather shield, which is very useful, but you should have bought one long ago.
- Explore this Northern Sluiceway, and find the exit to the east.
- Continue east and make your way to the North Spur Sluiceway.
- If you come across a razorfin, and you have a LOT of patience, you can steal a water crystal. Also, if you explore every nook and crannie here, you can probably get
an oak staff AND a mage masher. Of course, these were for sale in Nalbina, so you may have 'em already.
- At the end of this line, you can decide if you want to turn back now, or if you want to head into the palace. Be aware that it'll be a while before you can save
again, if you go up into the palace. When you are sure you are ready to head out, go ahead and ascend the stairs into the palace.
Ch 05 - The Royal Castle of Rabanastre
When you first get inside the palace, save your game (in a new slot). The game isn't kidding - this isn't an easy place to get out of. On the other hand, if you you've
been leveling up and/or fighting marks, this should really be a no brainer for you. The urn here contains a map of the palace cellar. Do not open any other chests in
the cellar here. Just head through the doors, take a quick left, and go strait to the next exit. After the *nice* boys in armor talk to you, try to go upstairs, then
talk to the Seeq near the stairs. Call the guard by pressing square, and then run along the stair-wall to avoid alerting the guard.
Walk around looking at the floor. Use the same shouting technique to avoid the guards. Try not to get caught in between them. The map below
shows the floorplan. You start at the S. The 'H' is a hawk (useless).
- Run down then right to get to point 1.
- Shout to call the guards at point 2.
- Once they are following you, back track to point 3 and shout again.
- Head past the H to point 2.
- Go up and left to get to the Lion at point L.
- Use the sunstone
- When the hidden way has been lit, head to point 4 and shout to the guards.
- Backtrack past the L to point 5
- Head on to the Exit (E).
x
x x
Exxxx5xx
x xx
4 x
xxxxxLxx
x xx
3 x
SxxxxHx2
x xx
x 1
xxxxxxx
x
x
xxx
When you get inside, go to the end of the hallway and examine the wall on the far left to toggle the switch. Now examine the large gold
wall. Congratulations, you now have the Goddess's Magicite. When you regain control (in the garden stairs), head up four flights of stairs. Watch
a LOT of cutscenes. You'll eventually get Bathier and Fran to join your party. SAVE YOUR GAME, then head down the stairs. Balthier will explain how
Gambits (remember those?) actually work. You'll finally be ble to do USEFUL stuff with them. First things first, though. Let's set up your new
characters. Go ahead and set your gabmits (I use attack party leader's target, then attack nearest for Vaan, the other two are fine). Also be sure
to assign license points (see below) and equip weapons/armor/accessories to your new group! Don't worry, I'll tell you when to unequip them.
To assign license points at this stage of the game, here's what I recommend:
- Give everyone Cure (this is the only one I'll single out)
- Balthier and Fran should get any/all Gambits
- Armor you have acquired
- Weapons you have acquired
- Technicks
- Accessories you have acquired
- Healing magic
- Black Magic
- Ability up (more HP, more swiftness, more battle damage, etc)
Since going COMPLETELY one sided is never a good thing, I recommend 2-3 in each bullet above, then move on to the next. Since I spent a good
deal of time leveling up before coming here, these guys had a LOT of points at their disposal. I had 730 to distribute for each of them one time
through, and about 1300 the next, so they both got all the weapons/armor I have and the two swiftness levels. Since everyone has cure, set
Balthier's healing gambit to "Ally: HP<70% -> Cure." I also set them both up with +50 HP, +150 HP, +200 HP, and +500 HP. The extra 900 HP was very
useful. I'd recommend giving someone the accessory that automatically casts Libra. That way you always know what to expect. You really should have
a boat load of LP at this point. Anyway, if you decide you should have arainged the LP differently, you can always go back to the save you just
made. Otherwise, save again and head back down stairs and examine the fallen guards there. Twice. Vaan's a nice lad. ;) So after the foreshad...
I mean, monologue *cough, cough* Anyway, take the exit to the south and let's move on. On the main map, you can see where you are. Basically,
you're trying to get back to lowtown.
Immediately as you get to the next screen, take a hard left. See that Urn? Guess what's inside? That's right! A map of the whole
level. Grab that (and the chest here). Backtrack a little, and go up the stairs here to get another chest, then just follow the path back down
those stairs, up another set, and cross two make shift bridges. You'll eventually get to the next screen (to the south). This is the No. 11
channel.
Take the immediate right and go across that little bridge and up the stairs for a potion, then return and take the left fork. Remember,
if you come across a sleeping enemy that if vulnerable to fire, you can have all three guys begin casting Fire and *really* do some quick damage.
Along the path here, you should find a couple of chests with (for me anyway) a longsword and an Escutcheon. Look at your map. After you take the
path around the rectangle area, take the upper floor and look for chests, then head down the stairs and continue on. You'll eventualy head back up
some stairs, and continue south to the East Sluice Control.
Follow the left wall down the paths there and notice how you are blocked by something that doesn't exactly appear on your map? Remember
this spot - it may come in handy some day. Hint, hint. Want another hint? The game provides you with a save crystal here. Save, then head down
the stairs, unless your guys suck. You can backtrack from here and do a little bit of leveling up, if you need. I'm not going to assume you'll be
as thorough as me, but Vaan was at level 15 here once, and 20 or so the next. I verified you can get all the way back to the initial save crystal,
if you want. Given enough time, some of the chests do respawn. I was able to pick some up on my 2nd forward pass through the level. Since treasure
placement is mostly random, I found some chests in areas that were empty the first time I came through.
When you are sure you're ready, head down the stairs on the East Sluice Control to the large open area. You'll acquire a new member of
your party. Well, sort of. You can't modify her, so she's just muscle. Steal from these guys, if you can. After you have control again, look
around for chests, then go and talk to Amalia. Ahem. Sorry, I had something in my throat there. If you like, head back up and save, then continue
west (you ARE using your main map, right?) to the Southern Sluiceway.
Head up the stairs here, and make two quick lefts. There is a chest at the end of this area. As you approach the center of the room,
you'l see a cut scene. This is unavoidable. It is... Your destiny. Oh, sorry. Slipped into Star Wars mode for a second there. Just watch
the cut scene (hungry?) until you have control. If you are using the Libra, you'll notice these guys are vulnerable to fire. Steal if you can, then
have everyone cast fire to finish them off quick. This realy shouldn't be that tough of a battle, if your guys are over level, say, 13. Anyway, you
have finally beaten a foe powerful enough to necesitate hearing... THE FINAL FANTASY "FIGHT WON" SONG!!! Dah dah dah dah DAH dah dah dah-dah, DHA
dah dah dah-dah! But that's a pretty gross thing. Look around for chests, and (if you feel the need), go back and save your game on the previous
screen. It's not that tough going on, so I don't usually bother, but if you had a really hard fight, you might wanna consider it. Continue west to
the West Sluice Control.
Look for chests, then head up the stairs. You'll be fighing new enemies here, so steal if you can. Look around for treasure, then
continue north to the No. 10 Channel. As before, take the upper path and look for chests, then take the lower path. At the north end of this map is
a chest you cannot get to because of the stairs being busted up. This is actually the chest you found at the very beginning of this chapter - it's
not a major issue that you cannot get there from here. Just continue on. Head to the East, and you'll end up in the Central Waterway Control. Save
your game.
Do you have a Tourmaline Ring? If so, equip as many as you have (to prevent getting poisoned). Alternately, set at least one character to have the Gambit: Ally:
any -> Poisona. If you are sure you are ready to be done, open the main gate (you can ignore the other things, they aren't to be used yet. You'll have to fight
something nasty here, so be sure you are ready to steal. I stole a potion. :D When he casts "Bushfire," you'll get both burned and poisoned. Be sure to have Poisona
ready to counter that, if you aren't wearing Tourmaline Rings on everyone. I beat him with a level 29 Vaan with a Kotetsu. It took maybe 3 hits. :D Anyway, continue to
beat him up until such a time as he is dead. After this, you'll be treated to a bunch of cut scenes and you'll see why Vaan hates "Captain Basch" so much. Eventually
you'll wake up in...
Ch 06 - Nalbina Dungeon
Walk around and talk to everyone, then save at the save crystal. When you're ready, take the exit to the North. Watch another cut scene. You'll end up
thrown into a pit with some other nasties. Cast blind (on your enemies), and protect (on you and Balthier). Make sure your Ally: HP<70% -> Cure gambits are set, then
steal. After you've stolen from everyone, attack. I went after Gwitch, then Galeedo, then Daguza. Honestly these guys aren't really worth stealing from, but whatever.
After this, you'll watch more cut scenes. Eventually, you'll see a save point you can run towards. Go ahead. You'll find your stuff here, but...
DON'T OPEN ANY TREASURE CHESTS!!!
OK. Now that that's over with, save your game, and let's head out. Go forward and you'll sneak through the door. Balthier doesn't want you to attract any
attention down here; I wouldn't really care, though. These guys are easy to kill, and you can get potion and phoenix downs from them. When you're done killing them off,
wander to the north western area, and watch a cut scene, then head down the stairs here. Watch more cut scenes. After emotional cut-scenes, you'll regain control of
many people. Quddities? Right. "The nature of a thing." "Talking about the nature of a thing." "That which is going on and makes sense." No, actually I threw that
last one in because I was bored. ;) So you get another guest. Whee. Anyway, welcome to...
Ch 07 - Barheim Passage
A quick check of the map shows a store nearby. Just follow the path along. Duck into the alcove nearby for a bunch of Gil and save at the save point. If
you have played much Final Fantasy, you may recogize part of the music here. That's right: it's the hymn of the faith. Open any treasures you find, then talk to
Burrogh. Sell off all your unneeded loot, and buy any and all gambits/magicks you don't have. BTW: If you've went exploring the eastersand areas before hand, this is
the guy who went into the Barheim Passage to find loot. You may have run into his friends outside. Buy what you need, then do a little exploring:
- Press the Gate switchboard.
- Go up the stairs and examine the Timeworn Device in the middle of the room; press the switch.
- Talk to Burrogh again; get the Tube Fuse.
- Go back up the stairs and put the Tube Fuse in the Power Relay.
- Go talk to Burrogh again, and buy whatever you need, then press the switch next to him again.
- Save your game, then head down the passage.
- Pay attention to Bathier's schpeil here - you wanna kill off minachs, er, I mean mimics that are sucking on the power cables.
- In each of the next areas kill off the guys on the power cables first, THEN go back and look for treasure, etc. You can see the Mimics on your
main map, which is very useful, indeed.
- Kill off the Mimic that's attached to the power cable, then steal from/kill off the other enemies. When/if they run - follow them! Don't let them
turn out all the lights unless you like the game to be harder. The charge was 89% when I left this section.
- When you run across steelings, STEAL! You can steal teleport stones from them! Continue on to the Great Eastern Passage, and proceed to kill then
search. You'll take the right fork (when you come to a fork) to kill a mimic, then you'll double back and take the left fork.
- Further down, take the far left fork and kill off the Mimic there. Backtrack and take the right fork.
- A little further down, you'll see a passage heading backup up and to the right. Take that fork to find an Urn; you can open it to fill out your
map.
- Backtrack and continue down the path until you come to a platform on your right. Head up there and into the next area.
- Kill off the power suckers first, then take the stairs leading up. Look for chests, then backtrack to the platform; continue south.
- You should now be in Special Op Sector 3 (ignore any non-hostile enemies you find - like, for example, bombs. Kill off the mimic strait ahead,
then take that passage to the right and kill off that one. Remember, Flan enemies are suseptable to fire. Once you've killed off the two mimics, head
up the stairs to the next area.
- When you get to Op Sector 37, kill off the two mimics feeding on the power cables first, then finish off everyone else. In the northwest corner of
Op Sector 37, toggle the Gate Switchboard to allow you to move forward.
- When finished, backtrack to the main tunnel heading south, and continue south. Save.
- If you want some sport, backtrack a little and try those bombs. When you are ready, be sure you have saved, and head south. My guage was at 70%
here.
- First things first, kill off the Mimic. Now look at these treasure chests. Notice how some of them have blue in them, while other have gray?
It's OK to open the grey ones, but the blue ones are Mimics in disguise. You're welcome. Btw: See that passage you cannot take here? Remember
it.
- Continue down to the Zeviah Subterrane. There are three Mimics that are sucking on the power here. Kill them off first, then go looking around.
There is another blocked doorway here to remember. After you've taken a good look around, take the path that leads to the east.
- Save here, and get ready for your next battle (to the south). It's a biggun. Anyway, cast protect on your party, and head south.
- Watch some cut scenes, then fight. Don't forget to steal from the Mimic Queen. After that, kill off all the babies. Finally, use blizzard black
magic to finish her off. If she gets off a "Shock Storm" attack, heal back up!!! Once the babies are all killed, I just had Fran and Balthier go
after her (using blizzard, duh)), and I had Vaan just kill off any new babies as they were born.
Ch 08 - Back in Rabanastre
Feel free to continue looking around, if you want. You can walk around and get access to various areas, but you'll eventually want to
end back up in Good, ol' Rabanastre. You still cannot get past the South Bank Village, the guards at Nalbina Fortress, or the Westersand blockade.
Just before you enter the city, though be sure to remove any accessories you would like to reassign from Fran and Balthier, but I don't leave the
city without them, so it's not necessary for me. Watch the cut scenes, and you'll eventually get control again. Save your game in a new slot, and
then find the moogles nearby. Learn about the moogling, and use that to take you to the Sandsea tavern.
Shopping time. Just north from there is the Gambit shop, and you can buy stuff now!!! Of course, this guy basically has the same stuff the guy
in Nalbina Fortress has, but that's OK. Buy what you can afford then get the "charge" technick from the technicks shop. You can also buy new magicks:
Immobilize, Disable, Shell, and Dark. The Armor shop has Sallet, Scale Armor, and a Buckler for sale. The weapon shop has a Javelin, an Assassin's
Dagger, and a Capella, which has no instruments played behind it when it attacks. No, wait. That's a cappella. Sorry. My mistake.
(Editor's note: Ignore him; he thinks he's being funny.)
Hunting: If you want to hunt, head to the Sandsea and check the Notice Board to start hunt: Wraith. Also, go talk to Montblanc in the Clan Hall.
You'll get 150 Gil from the Rabanstre Common Council for the Flans, and 200 Gil from the Rabanstre healers Covent for the Firemane, and 300 Gil from "a
young lady" for finishing off the Mimic Queen. You can also accept two new hunts here - Cluckatrice and Rocktoise.
When you are done wandering around as just Vaan, go to Migelo's Sundries and look for Penelo. You'll be told to go talk to Old Dalan (DON'T OPEN
THE CHEST!). After you receive the Sword of the Order, you'll head to the Northwest corner of old town, well, not quite, but close. Look on your map.
Watch a bunch of cut scenes, then Basch will join your party. You'll need to find Balthier and Fran. Wanna guess where they are? Hit up dalan, and
he'll tell you they need a meal and a drink, which basically means the sandsea. Use the moogling, and go find 'em on the second floor.
Now that you have a full party, why not take advantage of it and have a few fair hunts? This is where I do all the hunts that are available in
Ch 08 (Well, one requires you to go to Bujerba, so not that one). If you DO go on some hunts, be sure to return to Montblanc in the Clan Hall to
receive your 3x Remedy and 2x Teleport Stone. BTW: Don't forget to equip everyone again; Basch has LP to distribute. If you can afford it, the
Warmages Monograph will be useful in Bhujerba. When you're ready to leave, head out by going to the West Gate, saving, and entering the Aerodrome.
Talk to Balthier in the Aerodrome, and tell him you're ready to leave. When you next have control, you'll be in...
Ch 09 - The Skycity of Bhujerba
Wander around. See the sights. Smell the... Well, maybe not that. See what you can buy, and don't be afraid to spend what you need to, to get the good merchandise. Be sure you
find the representative of the Cartographers guild (outside the armore shop.) Buy BOTH the map of the city AND the map of the Lhusu mines. There is new Armor, new Weapons, new Technicks, etc.
Ironically, I saw no new gambits. If you don't have the money for this, don't worry. You will soon. You'll also run into Lamont very quickly. He'll join your party. This is a good thing. ;)
Just make your way around to where the Lhusu Mine entrance is. Save, and head in. I went in with my characters all at about level 16 (basch at 18, Lamont at 17). Enter the...
Ch 10 - Lhusu Mines
This is the second very good place to level up. Lamont will potion your guys up if they drop below 50%, so it's OK not to have cure gambits. This is a GREAT place to practice chaining with
the Skeletons. You can find a bunch in the Shunia Twinspan and Site 2 - but be careful with Site 2. Don't go past room at the top of the stair case. You can go to the top, but don't go any
further. If the skeletons stop respawning, you can FLEE back to the Shaft Entry screen, then FLEE back to Shunia Twinspan. This will reset the counter and respawn the skeletons. The FLEEing
will keep your chain level (otherwise you'll likely kill off a bat, then you'll have to start all over). Just run around and get lots of XP and money - but try not to kill any bats, or you'll
destroy your chains. When you have 95 or so Bone Fragments, head back and sell them for nearly 20k Gil. Items I ended up selling include the following: Bone Fragment, Antidote, Wind Stone, Dark
Stone, Bat Fang, Iron Helmet, Arm Guard, Pebble. I also acquired some of the following items, but opted not to sell them: Teleport Stone, Knot of Rust (from treasure chests), Dark Mote.
What to do with all that Gil?!?. I'm glad you asked! This is where I earn the money to buy monographs. You know, all those monographs you got access to way back in chapter 3? Earn the
cash to buy them all by chaining skeletons for fun and profit! Spending the time here will also allow your guys to level up, making it a little easier to save Penelo. You can use the steal
gambits to make this go much faster (you *did* set your battle speed to fast, right?) Basically, I used Vaan, Fran, and Balthier (and Lamont, I guess). One time through, when I had purchased all
the monographs, Vaan, Balthier and Fran were all at Level 23. Another time, they were at 26. It depends on how much time you spent leveling up before this, I guess. Anyway, the setup below
assumes Vaan is the party leader.
Vaan:
* Foe: HP = 100% -> Steal
* Foe: party leader's target -> Attack
* Foe: nearest visible -> Attack
Bathier:
* Foe: party leader's target -> Attack
Fran:
* Ally: any -> Phoenix Down
* Ally: any -> Blindna
* Ally: any -> Vox
* Ally: any -> Poisona
* Foe: party leader's target -> Attack
Also of note, there is a chest in Transitway 1 in which I found a Killer Bow (not to be confused with an Aevis Killer; it does 25% more dmg).
Fran WANTS this! When you have leveled to your heart's content, head on through the mines to the North Eastern end of Site 2 (top right corner of
your Lhusu Mines map). When you get to the top of the stairway there, cast protect and shell on all your guys, and head down the tunnel to the West.
Watch some cutscenes, and then you'll have to decide who/what/when/where/how to fight. And sometimes "Y." No, wait... That's a different grammar
rule. Anyway, steal from everyone if you can. If you get a round shield, don't be afraid to equip it immediately. Also, if you used my gambit list
above, be sure to undo the steal gambit and do things manually. I didn't have any trouble with this crew, but I had just spent a few hours buying
all my monographs (read: leveling up). I got 5 LP from each of the cronies, and
I stole:
Bwagi: 30 Gil
Gijuk: 30 Gil
Rinok: Water Mote
Ba'Gamnan: Hi-Potion (round shield in another game)
If you cannot hold your own in the fight, just hold down R2 and book it toward the mine entrance. Otherwise, leave the mine when you've beaten
Ba'Gamnon and he flees in disgust. You may find new enemies on your way out, but they're not that challenging.
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