Carbon Ocelot's Final Fantasy XII Walkthrough

Disclaimer

Walkthrough Notes

Points to Remember

• Early on, you'll recieve a "Clan Primer." The last option under the Clan Primer is "Traveler's Tips." Be sure to refer to this often, as it contians valuable information you'll probably miss otherwise.
• Like many FF games, this one has more than just "XP." You can also get License points, which allow you to use new weapons, armor, technicks, etc. Don't blow your license points on weapons/armor (for that matter, don't blow your gil on them, either). Go for specific spells/technicks that are most useful.
• Attack this game from the standpoint that you DO want to beat it completely. If you decide not to at some point, you can always stop doing the tough stuff. Otherwse, you may miss out on something you really need.
• Any time you see an item in a dashed box, you can hover the mouse over it for more information about that item. Hover the mouse over the box in this line for for a second or two to see an example of how it works.
• The game will sometimes include a VERY powerful monster in among a lot of not-so-hard ones. DON'T ATTACK THEM UNTIL YOU'RE READY!!! Usually, these will be green, but if you steal from them, or set off a trap that injurs them, they will begin to attack you.
• Speaking of traps... Use the technique libra so you can see traps. Use float to keep from hitting them (you'll float over the top of them).
• Throughout the land of Ivalice, you'll encounter enemies that LOOK like other enemies, but are a bit harder. After a certain point in the game, some of these monsters will drop trophies. You may want to wait to fight these enemies until you have visited the Phon coast and talked to the appropriate people. After fighting particularly hard (but not boss) foes, check your Bestiary. If you run across "Rare Game" and you kill it, be sure to check and see if the phrase "This strain, as yet unrecorded in the Camp annals..." appears in there. If so, you can rest assured.
• Don't open every chest! There is a very special item you CANNOT GET if you open certain chests. There are four sets in particular you do NOT want to open: The one outside Old Dalan's house, anything inside Dalmasca castle's palace celler, anything in the confiscatory of Nalbina Fortress, anything along the phon coast (there are a BUNCH here).
• Most enemies that have a "restore" power will only use it once. Don't flee just because your enemy restores and you think you're hosed.
• Touching a Save Crystal will reset your chain-level gague. Walking past most of them without touching it will not.

Chapter 01 - 10

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:

1. 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.
2. In a room to your right is a chest. Get it, then head back to the hall.
3. Turn right from that room, and go forward until you get to the 'T' at the end of the hall.
4. Go left (the path right has nothing).
5. Take an immedeate right. Go to the end of that hallway
6. Turn right.
7. Fight the guy here, and open the chest on your left.
8. Double back and go up the stairway you passed.
9. On the next screen, save if you want, then head up a couple of flights of stairs.

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.

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).

1. Run down then right to get to point 1.
2. Shout to call the guards at point 2.
3. Once they are following you, back track to point 3 and shout again.
4. Head past the H to point 2.
5. Go up and left to get to the Lion at point L.
6. Use the sunstone
7. When the hidden way has been lit, head to point 4 and shout to the guards.
8. Backtrack past the L to point 5
9. 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

• 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)

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.

Chapter 11 - 20

Chapter 11 - Back in Bhujerba again.


When you leave the mine, you'll be treated to a series of cut scenes, and you'll eventually have control again - at the start of what is ALMOST (but not quite) a mini-game. First things first, though. Sell off any loot you acquired in the mines, and buy up the newly available supplies (like golden needle, alarm clock and handkerchief). Also, don't forget to save the game. Since the empire is gone, you can now run around the rest of the city, too. Basically, you are looking to do two things here: Press the square button around "City Parijanah," but not around the Bhujerban Sainikah people. You can tell the difference by the uniforms. Look at the helmets for easy identification. By the way, you can also buy weapons, armor, technicks, and majicks now (but not gambits). When you get 100%, you'll end up in a Tavern, and you'll watch more cutscenes (of course).

When you have control again, you can take a look at the message board there and start the Nidhogg quest. You can also head out and experience the sites and sounds of Bhujerba, or you can just head to the estate. I recommend:

• Start the Nidhogg hunt
• Save your game
• Complete the Nidhogg hunt (the gate switch in Shaft Entry works now)
• Collect your bounty
• Save your game
• Finish the Rocktoise Hunt (talk to Pilika again for an extra bonus quest)
• Collect your bounty
• Save your game

Chapter 12 - Dreadnought Leviathan


Did you catch the subtle word play involved when Ondore turned everyone over? He knew exactly where Ashe was being held, and provided Basch the opportunity to get sent there. He also made himself look like the imperial puppet in the mean time. Clever, no? Anyway, after a LOT of cut scenes, you'll get Vossler and a map. Save (in a new slot), and have a quick look around. There weren't any chests in the Port Launch when I looked. Anyway, there are red beams that cut across hallways. Try not to break them. Other than that, explore away and take whatever you can find. There's an area in the south-west section of the Port Section that appears to have a chest, but don't be fooled - if you go after it (it's got 240 Gil) be sure to run back out as quick as possible (don't turn the camera around, just run fast). Those red beams will appear AFTER you've gone in there, making it impossible to leave without setting off the alarm. Just FYI: some hallways will wait to spring the lasers across until AFTER you've gone past. You have been warned. ;) I found Ally: status = HP Critical in the Port Section's far south-east exit once. I found the Ally HP < 80% Gambit somewhere else throughout the ship.

Use your map. I made my way to the Sub-control room to a hidden area on the far left. I got an ancient sword there twice (and phoenix down the next). Unless you picked up some Kotetsu by hunting Werewolf enemies, this Ancient Sword is likely going to be the best weapon you've come across so far. After opening a couple of bulkheads (which you cannot do during an alarm), I was able to make my way to the Airship Berth Access, and from there to the Central Block (Straight Down). Here I met two judges. I took out the mage first, then the regular guards, then the judges. I stole Potions and Gil from the judges, but that's about all. Overall, it was a fairly low-key fight. I earned the No. 1 Brig key from there. Head to Brig No. 1 (southeast exit).

Here you will have a few options. Open the door on your immediate right and open the Urn, then save. Next, open the door directly across from that one. Talk to Tetran there to buy stuff. Basically, he has most of the Gambits/Armor/Weapons/Etc that you could have bought back in Bhujerba. Now open the other doors and add Ashe to your party. Spend at LEAST 20 minutes doling out all those LP and equipping stuff (Ashe joined my party with over 2500 LP!) Now make your way all the way back to where you started. As if that wasn't annoying enough, you are able to do it while listening to that awful racket the whole time.

If you leave via the Sub-control room, you can use the system access key to disable the alarm twice on your way back to the hanger (where you first showed up). In any event, that's where your party is headed. Part way there, you will lose Vossler and gain Penelo. I'm not sure who came out ahead in that one, though. ;) Open any chests you find, and continue on your way - but stop before you get there. You'll be fighing a boss battle here, so be prepared. Get your best fighters and good healers, and be sure you've used the appropriate LP to buff your guys up. Cast protect/shell if you want, and head out.

There are three regular dudes, and Judge Ghis. Take out the regular guys first. I stole a potion from the Judge. Whee. When you get him down to 25% of his power, he'll "slow down" and you'll have a chance to escape. Watch a bunch of cut scenes.

Chapter 13 - More Bhujerba

There is new Armor and new Magicks, but nothing else. Honestly, if you wanna shop, use two of those teleport stones and head to Rabanastre, but you'll be coming back soon enough, so it's not really that big a deal. You can buy the Traveler and Numerology Technicks. There are quite a few new Magicks for sale, too: Raise, Cura, Warp, Bleed, Sleep, Oil, and Berserk. There is also a decent select of weapons and armor. If you use shields, don't miss this opportunity to get a Round Shield or two for your party. You still cannot get past the Eastersand, Westersand or Nalbina fortress guards. You can also take on the Wild Sauran or Werewolf - either of which your guys can easily take at this point. You can also check out those caves in the Westersand, but you'll get there soon enough anyway. Migelo's shop sells hi-potions now, too. Montblanc has no new hunts. When you're done shopping, head back to Bhujerba, and go see His Excellency.

Chapter 14 - Ogir Yensa Sandsea

Did you notice that cut scene? "I could not bear to see my sons war with each other again." Just file that away, for now. We'll come back to it later. You'll regain control at the edge of the Dalmasca Westersand. You may start the Wyvern Lord hunt now. Just teleport to Rabanastre. There are also new weapons and armor. No new items, Magicks or technicks. If you have less than 10,000 Gil, you're better off waiting - you'll be able to teleport to Rabanastre in a little while, and you can start the quest then. When done, go west, young man. That's left on the main map. When you get there, continue west to start more cut scenes. If you haven't already, equip the "Self -> Libra" gambit as the very last gambit for one of your characters. There are a decent number of traps here that you'll want to avoid. You'll go up the stairs next, and you'll end up at the top of a bunch of towers, connected by old bridges. You'll move from area to area along these bridges. Keep an eye on your (select button) map and go to the next area. More cut scenes. Vossler will join your party as a guest. If you really need him, you have my sympathies.

My characters are at level 24ish, so I kinda just waltzed through this section. YMMV. After Vossler joins your party, continue west, using the (select button) map. Note that you are on "Ogir-Yensa Sandsea/Platform 1 - Refinery." Soon, you'll head down the rig to the ground, so you can switch towers. Take the LEFT tower and wander around until you find an Urn. You'll find a map of the whole area there. You're welcome. After that, head back down and take the stairs leading to the north. A good gambit here is: Find someone who rarely uses magic. Place "Ally HP<80% -> Cura" at the bottom of their gambits. They'll cure up the whole party to max HP when there you are not under attack. Since Vossler is, essentially, a tank, I set my other gambits up to have two people try to steal when enemy HP = 100%, and to attack otherwise. I racked up the potions, etc doing this.

From East Junction, you can find your way into one section of the Zertinan Caverns. Don't expect to get very far there, though. If you head to the north-western edge, you might see some large, glowing balls. RUN AWAY!!! Those things have around 50K HP, and they'll kill your whole party in one shot. You can also get to the Caverns from the Central Junction. Just FYI: Vossler makes fighting the slimes somewhat more possible than it might otherwise be. You can get through this set of caves, but it takes you to what (for now) appears to be a dead end. From the platform 2 - Refinery area, you can make your way to a save point. Save your game, then talk to the Moogle there (you're in the Nam-Yensa Sandsea / The Sandscale Bank). This starts a side quest.

Optional: Urutan Eater Sidequest. This sidequest involves helping the Urutan-Yensa kill off something that looks like a large tortoise. Leave the Sandscale Bank via the west exit. Continue on through the Urutan-Yensa Sea (there's a chest on this screen with a Lambent Hat), and take the south-west exit across the bridge. You should immediately see a bunch of Urutan-Yensa running off to the south west. Follow them and kill off the Urutan Eater there. I was able to steal an Ancient Sword. He is immune to silence, poison, and sleep, but not blind or slow. You'll get 8 LP for this battle. Once he's dead, head back to the moogle at the save crystal; talk to him then continue one screen past him into the Ogir Yensa Sandsea and go up the ramp. Watch the cut sceen then head back to the save crystal screen. Watch the other cut scene here, then examine the Rogue Urutan Flower to get a bunch of eksir berries. When you are finished, head back to the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea.

You can chain the Urutan-Yensa easily enough, so you could do a little leveling up here, if you want. In my opinion, though, it's not one of the best places to do so. From the front of this level, you had an option to go north-west, west, or south-west. If you want to explore all the Zertinan Caverns, go everywhere. otherwise, head south-west. On platform 1 - south tanks, you'll find some treasure chests. If you are "fleeing" when you go there, you can avoid killing Alurane's and keep from losing a long-term chain - but if you are going to explore the caves, it kind of a moot point. When you're done here, head to the lower left corner of the screen to find a teleport/save/buy. Dyce can sell you stuff before you head to the Nam-Yensa Sandsea. Right in the center of the Augur Hill (The first screen to the left), you can get an Urn with a map of the Nam-Yensa Sandsea.

Chapter 15 - Nam-Yensa Sandsea

The next map left of the Ogir-Yensa, this area has a bit more diverse wildlife. BTW: You can fight Wyvern Lord (Rank II) at this time, if you didn't try it before. You can teleport back to Rabanastre and get new weapons/armor, if you want. Also, if you are going to be getting your 8th hunt, you'll want to buy some gysahl greens. When you get to the upper left corner of this map, you'll be given an option to save your game. I recommend a new slot. ;) You can get access to another entry point into the Zertinan caverns, but again, there isn't a lot you can do there, yet.

When you leave the area, you'll watch a bunch of cut scenes. Pay close attention. Heh. Now head into the open area there. About half way through, you'll be given more cut scene, then a fight. When fighting the Garuda, you'll be able to throw your Eksir Berries at it, and you can steal a golden needle. You can silence it, too. I recommend having Balthier use silent shot. He's a flying enemy, so use Bows and Guns. Or you can cast water at him. That did a pretty decent amount of damage. This battle was actually very easy for my guys, so I cannot really say if there's a strategy to it or not. After fighting the Garuda, you'll see the ancient device stir. Whee. You may now approach the temple, and save. ;)

Watch more cut scenes, then save. You can do the Wyvern Lord quest now, but I really recommend going and buying stuff from Dyce right now. He's got new Magicks, Weapons, and Armor. You need an Iron Hammer or two. :D If you do the Wyvern Lord quest, you'll open up a few more options to yourself, including more Marks - but you'll probably get yourself killed if you go after any of them. Just save your game outside the tomb of Raithwall and examine the ancient device right there...

Chapter 16 - The Tomb of Raithwall

So you'll watch the intro movie, and you're in. First things first - don't bother killing the first wall. What? OK, head forward and go down the stairs. Watch the scene. Just run to the end of the highway (and not find what you're looking for...), er the end of the bridge. You can come back and kill this guy later. If you've managed to clear out all the hunts you can do at this point (if you've killed off the White Mousse), you might be able to take this guy. If you *can* kill him now, you can get a VERY sweet sword (Demonsbane). It takes some doing, but it can be done. If you want to try it, see the "Deamon Wall: Part II" section of the Misc Side Quests area. Otherwise, run to the end of the line and open the door. On the other side, you'll face...

ANOTHER WALL! This one isn't nearly as tough, though. You can use the torches here to make the wall go slower. Starting where your guys appear...

1. Halts the advance
2. Don't know
3. Halts the advance
4. Halts the advance

Chapter 17 - Back in Rabanstre again

You'll watch an absolute TON of cut scenes, and you'll eventually have control again. You'll be in a fairly high-end battle. You can steel a hi-potion from Vossler (or, if you're truely lucky, a black belt). Just take out the peons, and then go after him. It should be a fairly quick battle, followed by a bit of cut scene and explination. Watch the cut scenes from Archades. Did you like how you were subtley encouraged to do a little shopping? Heh heh. Let's see, things to do...

• Go talk to Montblanc again. For killing off the Deamon Wall, the Society of Antiquaries will give you 600 Gil and a warp mote. Eurek will give you 2x Arcanae and 2x teleport stone for obtaining an esper.
• Take on the "July in Nalbina" side quest (DO THIS!!!). After this, you can go into the mosphoran highwaste and get some really cool stuff. See the Misc Side Quests section. You can buy Golden Amulet for each of your guys in the Mosphoran Highwaste / Babbling Vale. These will give your guys LPx2. Yeah... Even that ones that aren't fighting! If you can pass he bombs in the Salikawood's Grand Bower, you can fight some Baknamy enemies just beyond. These guys have an incredibly rare drop of Diamond Armor, which is lightyears ahead of anything else you'll have at this point. I've only had it drop when I *wasn't* chaining them, BTW.
• You can also start the Gil Snapper mark
• You can pick up a slew of new Gambits
• You can pick up new technicks
• You can start two level II marks: Enkelados, Croakadile
• Pick up Confuse, Gravity, Regen and Esuana magicks.
• Buy some cool armor (Golden)
• Buy some cool weapons (Sirius, Elfin Bow, etc)
• Buy Smelling Salts. It's about time. Stock up, boys and girls.
• Talk to Migelo
• Head to Lowtown and talk to Dalan (Well, not really a great conversation, I guess - and DON'T OPEN THE CHEST).

Chapter 18 - Ozmone Plains

When you come south from the Giza Rains, you will watch a little cut sceen, then have an opportunity to wander around. Tip: If you run across a Garif Warrior out here, don't attack him. One screen south is an entrance into the Zertinan Caverns - but it's a little tough to go to just yet (No, really! My guys were level 33 and they could barely get through here even with their bubble gambits set.) There's a save crystal if you go southeast, east, east, you'll find a save point, but you probably don't need to go there just yet. While you CAN level up here, it's not the best place, yet. It'll be good in a bit, but wait until you've completed the Enklados Quest - that way you can double the license points earned (for one character, anyway). (Alternatively, see the "July in Nalbina misc side quest to get simple access to buy your Golden Amulets - the accesory that gives double LP). If you want to level up, though, you can head one screen east past that and head to the Golmore Jungle. If you do go to the Golmore Jungle, take the first left, then the first right. You'll find an Urn there, so you can fill out your map. Also, if you run across any snake creatures, be sure to steal from them! Only do it to fill out your map or levelup (the greensnake is an ok place to level up - at least until you run out of Wus). From the main entrance to this area, you'll want to go down 3 screens to get to the village. At the western edge of the Haulo Green, you'll find the entrance (Marked ???).

There are chocobo tracks at the eastern edge of the Haulo Green, and at the southeastern end of the Field of Light winds. When you get a chocobo, you'll want to come to these spots. When you first get to Jahara, you'll have a teleport/save crystal out front. Save. Now go a bit south and east and rent a chocobo. When you're on the chocobo, follow the wall on your right-hand side. There are foot prints on the far east edge of the Haulo Greens here. When you get to them, head off the screen.

Chapter 19 - Jahara - Land of the Garif

After you've saved your game, go talk to the Garif Warrior by the bridge to start the cut scene. You'll enter the city. Have a quick look around. Be sure to talk to everyone. High-chief Zayalu, just north of the bridge where you entered, will give you a Jaya stick. Be sure to give it to Supinelu when you see him. You can find war-chief Supinelu near the bridge to the east. Talk to him to gain passage. Head across the next bridge. When you cross, take the road heading off to the right first. Talk to the Garif there, especially Sugumu. Start the Enkelados quest. This hunt is worth it for the bounty alone. The Golden Amulet will double the license points you get from killing enenmies. You want this! (Of course, if you've been following along, you may already have a bunch, but still...) If you feel you can take on the Enkelados without help, go for it. If you would like help, however, just follow the plot and approach the two warriors directly opposite the bridge.

After you have completed the Enkelados quest, return for your prize (Don't forget to equip it NOW if you don't already have a bunch equipped!). If you didn't level up before, you can do so now. Head for the Mosphoran Highwaste, though - it's better to level-up there than around here. you can come back to Jahara and sell off all your loot to the trader. He's got some seriously good stuff, so don't forget to buy REALLY cool weapons!!! You can still purchase the Golden Amulets from the Caravan in the Mosphoran Highwaste. I recommend leveling up and doing all the Hunts you can do. The trader here will talk to you about monographs, but you SHOULD already know all about them. If not, go check out the monographs section and get them.

When you are ready to go on, head over the bridge and approach the two Garif Warriors who ask you to confirm you want to meet with the Great Chief. Confirm and watch the cut scenes - you'll learn a little bit here. Not enough to know what is going on, mind you - just enough to whet your appetite for more. Whew. That was a lot of cut scenes, wasn't it? You'll get Larsa, a Bowgun, and a quiver of Onion Bolts when you leave. Save first. If you wish to take a Chocobo, talk to the moogle. Otherwise, go to the Golmore Jungle. If you DO take a Chocobo, be sure to look at the Chocobo section to learn about a shortcut. ;)

If you like (and you haven't already done so), this is a great time to go a mark hunting. If you can get to the point where you have taken out 10 marks (you don't have to collect your reward for the gil snapper first!) you can purchase a Nihopaloa from the Muthru Bazaar. Get one, and spend the license points to get it enabled. It will make nearly every upcoming battle easier. The license is just below the upper-right corner of the license table

If you decide you are fit to handle the Necrohol of Nabudis, you'll find the Baknamy are somewhat difficult, and the Baknamy Merchant only has Ethers for sale at this time anyway. If you want a real challange, try to get the Esper Adrammelech.

Chapter 20 - Golmore Jungle

If you were following along above, you can see how to level up here. If you have NOT done the hunt/mark sidequests at this point, you really should. By way of comparison, I like to have completed all possible hunt side quests at this time. That generaly means my guys are around level 36, and THAT makes the upcoming battles quite a bit easier. Hopefully you picked up the golden amulets well before this section, but if not, you can get them later on. Head into golmore at the far eastern edge of the Osmone Plains. There's a save crystal just before the entrance, but your guys will walk into the area. You'll watch a bunch of cut scenes. Do you ever wonder how some of these Judges can see? I mean, Zagabraath has NO eye holes in front of his eyes. They're on TOP of his head. Is he some kind of frog-creature, or did the game designers take a bit of artistic license. Wait - I've got it! Maybe the *game designers* partook of too many frogs... Or, um, maybe not. I dunno. Sorry, I get carried away like that sometimes. Let's continue, shall we?

After the cut scenes, you'll be in the Sunlit Path (the area with the save crystal). You'll have to dismount if you wish to save, but otherwise you can pretty much pay things no mind, here. Head into the Golmore Jungle. If you haven't been here before, you'll be treated to the "new area" cut scene. If you do not have the full map, take the first left, then the first right, and open the Urn at the "T" junction. Then/otherwise, take whatever path you want and go as far east as you can. You may have to examine all the blocked walls, though. Eventually, you'll watch a cut scene, then you'll head to the Viera Village.

Follow the path in front of you to the ??? ahead. Welcome to the Eruyt Village. Save, then go and find Mjrn. You can buy a map from Lulucce (if you really need it), then talk to Tetran. You can sell/buy here. At the VERY least, buy Curaga and Float. If you have to teleport out and do some leveling up to be able to afford stuff, go ahead and do it - it's worth it for these magicks. You can start the Bhujerban Madhu side quest now. I'd recommend completing the Barheim Passage side quest now, though, to ensure you have enough Gil. If you do that, you can now visit the Mosphoran Highwaste and the Salikawood. Then, you can steal Screemroots and Malboro Fruits, which will put some really nice concoction packages in the Bazaar. If you leave the Mosphoran Highwaste via the lower southeast exit, you'll end up at Nalbina Fortress, but you won't be able to come back unless you buy a chocobo (well, see the July in Nalbina side quest). When you're done exploring the passage, head back here to the Eruyt Village.

Head into the village, and make your way along the path to the far North end of the village. Talk to Hala after the little discussion there (Salve Master). You'll learn that only one in posession of Lente's Tear may pass. Leave that area, and for that matter, the wood. In all fairness, though, I don't think it was that rude of Vaan to ask her age. If you *really* want to see rude, just look at how the village treated Vaan. I guess I think it's a fair question. The designers COULD have come up with a worse question to ask. Anyway, head back to the Golmore Jungle and return to the Ozmone Plain.

You can get to the Henne Mines via Chocobo. When you first get to the Osmone Plains, you'll be in the sunlit path with the Save Crystal. Talk to the Imperials there and give him a potion. When you can next come back by here (and they're gone), search this area for a note of thanks and 2xAlarm Clock. That was supposed to be ominous. We were attacked and barely made it out alive! Talk to him again, and ride his Chocobo. Take the WEST exit, ride forward maybe 2 or 3 seconds until you are out of the little canyon. Look immediately south (to the left of the black chocobos there). See those two trees? Ride between them to access the path leading away from this area (look for the chocobo tracks) to the Henne Mines. Head inside, and you'll auto-dismount. Nah, but you'll see some cut scenes that'll make you think you did. ;) Anyway, grab any chests in this area, then head inside the cave. After the cut sceen, head back.

Chapter 21 - 30

Chapter 21 - Henne Mines

Watch your map. Just south from the entrance is a switch. Press it. Continue south through the fork. When you come to the next area, be a little wary. Talk to the guy there, then head out the only open door. You'll be in the Phase 1 Shaft. Head west to the Phase 1 Dig. If you need help avoiding traps, have someone learn and cast float - that'll keep you from triggering traps. If your guys are a high enough level, toggle the switch next to the wounded imperial and head east (the door to the left of the switch). Follow the path as it winds south, and you'll find an Urn with a map. Continue along the path and you'll be back in the switch house. Flip the switch again, and this time head west. To make your way through the phase 1 dig, take the firse right (in the dig - not in the shaft; you can only go right while you are in the shaft), then go straight at the next cross, then take a left at the next branch, and continue straight (well, around the corner) to the end of the area.

[OPTIONAL: If you have the map, be sure to explore the area to in the northwest of the phase 1 dig - you can find a hidden tunnel that has an elixir. There are three dead-ends here, and the middle one has a musk stick guarded by a trap. Also, if you chain-level the bat-type enemies here, you can win Ice Shields from them. It's the same defense as a Golden Shield, but it halves ice damage.]

You'll end up in Crossover A. Kill the enemies here, then head north and take the left path when it forks. There's a Tyranorox here. If you can take him, go for it, otherwise run past. It might help to lure some bats out first. Anyway, just past that is the entrance to Crossover B. Go there and look at the treasure there. Notice they are yellow? That means enemy. If you want a fight, go for it. They are tough and not worth much XP, though. Anyway, head left from the entrace to this area, and take the 2nd left you come to. Follow that around and there will be an exit to the south. That takes you to Pithead Junction B.

This area looks like a dead end, but it's not. Hit the pulsating Red Switch. A bunch of enemies will fall off the ceiling when you do. You probably cannot take them (If you have Adrammelech, go for it; I was at level 41 and wiped the floor with them), so just run to the west exit as soon as you see them. Fight these guys here, or just run past them. You want the right-hand fork here. Look familiar? It should. Throwing the switch just moved around a bunch of gates. Go the way you went before - to Crossover B, but this time take the right-hand path. The "Treasures" are there again, if you wanna go after them. See the Exit leading North now? Take that path and watch the cut scene. You'll wanna heal up and cast protect/shell (Bubble too, if you have it) on everyone. Do you have a Black Belt? Equip at least one to someone - you don't want to get your whole party disabled. Use this opportunity to teleport out and get one. I think you can get them in the Mosphoran Highwaste. (See the July in Nalbina side quest).

Mjrn will go running off to the North, but save your game before following her. Afterall, you DO wanna be able to teleport back here, right? When you go North, you'll find a really big, nasty, waiting for you. Welcome to the battle with Tiamat. Steal a Ringwyrm Scale from him. If you have Blackbelts at your disposal, I suggest you use them. Tiamat will cast Disablega, which can really ruin your day if you aren't ready for it. If you have the Nihopalaoa, use that to "remedy" him for Slow and Confuse (but since Larsa keeps attacking regardless, it's only really useful for slow - unless he kills off Larsa with Petrify. Heh heh). BTW: The disablega is also why I suggested saving your game first. >.< He will also try to petrify your guys, so you may want to setup a gambit to cast esuana or use a Gold Needle.

It may also be useful to have your guys spread out in a triangle (or square, with Larsa) pattern so his breath attack doesn't kill everyone off at the same time. When he gets low on HP, his defense goes up. Anyway, since I had roamed around and done most of the side quests already, I guess my guys were pretty buffed up - this wasn't much of a difficult battle. Watch the cut scenes, and you'll end up back in the Eruyt Village - with Lente's Tear. Tetran has restocked. BUY BUY BUY! Remember I told you to have 30K or so Gil? Well, Tetran has Golden Amultes for sale. Unless you have *6* already, you need to buy more. If you have one already, get 5 more. Otherwise, get 6. This will allow your part to DOUBLE the license points they acquire (be sure to equip on all - this is the only item that works regardless of whether your party is "active" or not). Also, buy haste and as many other Magicks as you can afford - but try to be sure you spend the 9K for the "-a" magicks (fira, etc).

Depending on how powerful your guys are, you may want to try and get the Scorpion Tail weapon at this time. See the Items / Bazaar Section for more info on this powerful (1 handed Attack +119!!!) weapon.

Chapter 22 - Golmore to Bur-Omisace

[OPTIONAL: Feywood If your guys are good enough, you can take a detour south to the Feywood. You can wander around and level up here, but you'd better be able to take on the "deadly nightshade" enemies you first encounter. Have a gambit set for Ally: status = Slow -> Haste. My level 41 guys were able to take it. There's an entrance to the southern-most part of the Henne Mines from Walk of Dancing Shadow, but I seriously doubt you can take on the guys there.The north-east corner of the "walk of stolen truths" (southeast from the Walk of Flitting Rifts, where you enter the wood) has an urn. You cannot get past Antiquity's End, though, so there's really not much point coming here, unless you want to find the High-Ethers lying around, or level-up a bit.]

When you've bought what you can, equip, save, and head out. Walk through the now-transparent wards on the wood. You'll take a quick trip down Whipserleaf Way and end up in the Parting Glade. See the save point here? Didn't you just leave one? Does that suggest something to you? :D OK. Save your game, then head North, to face a pretty nasty boss. Make sure someone has the "Ally:Any Handkerchief" or "Ally:Any Esuana" gambits set. I made sure I had Haste/Shell/Protect on everyone, then saved, then headed out. Take out the Treeants first, then go after the main guy. With my pary hasted, it wasn't a major issue. By switching the party around a bit, and keeping my guys at what basically ammounts to his four sides, he seemed to spend a lot of time turning around. It wasn't too tough a fight, all in all.

If you use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick, you can hit him with Silence and Sleep, but you'll probably wake him up quickly enough that you really only care about the silence. That keeps him from casting Shell and Protect over and over. This will at least keep him from casting spells at you. Do note that he has a special attack: "Sporefall" that will cause Slow, Silence, Confuse, Oil, blind, poison, and sap to your guys. Have at least one person who is immune to confuse, and have them use a remedy to clear up your healer. If you've been following my guide at all, it's probably not too tough a battle at this point - with the possible excetption of the confuse (if you keep your whole party near each other.

Save on the previous screen (mostly to clear your party's status issues), then come back and continue on. Make your way to the far east until you come to...

Chapter 23 - Paramina Rift & Mount Bur-Omisace

Your goal is in the northeast. Be very cautious if you venture to other areas. If you head to the south west, you could end up in the feywood, and you're probably not ready for that just yet. If you go all the way down, you'll end up at the Stilshrine of Miriam, but you can't get in yet, so it's probably not worth it. If you haven't already done so, I really recommend starting going after a bunch of the Mark side quests here. Besides, the garif trader has new cool technicks, etc. It's worth it to spend a little time doing the hunts to ensure your guys are at a decent level for the next leg of this trip. Montblanc will give you 900 Gil from the Henne Miner's Guild for taking out the Tiamat.

For comparison purposes, here's where I was when I got to Mount Bur-Omisace. I have completed all the hunts avaliable at this point. I have all my guys over level 30. I've been playing for 51 hours. All the "augmentation" (Like HP+200, etc) licenses have been purchased for all characters. I've purchased all the monographs, and have mapped out every area I can access, with the exception of the Feywood and the area beyond the bombs in the Salikiawood. Another time through, I was at level 43, and had mapped out everything except the complete Necrohol of Nabudis. I had all augmntation licences, magick licenses, and most of the accessories for all 6 characters. Anyway, when you are ready, head north and watch the cut scene. When you first arrive, there's a traveling merchant you can buy stuff from. He's got Stop, haste, and some other great magicks. You can also teleport here (Montblanc has a bunch of gil for you for these fights you've been in). There are also 4 new hunts. Be sure to do anything you need a "guest" for. Hint, hint. I was able to crack the teleport stone in the Nabudis Deadlands, and get into both entrances to the Necrohol.

Talk to everyone and make your way north. Watch a bunch of cut scenes. This is when you finally figure out some of what's going on. Nah, I'm just teasing you. You will lose Larsa, though. Leave the Hall of Light and head south to the Stillshrine of Miriam. There are a few new options for you, if you wish to hunt more. Also, you might wanna take this opportunity to make sure you have something other than metal armor. There's a battle coming up where it'll be a sever burdon to be wearing metal. Don't say I didn't warn you. Faram.

Chapter 24 - Paramina Rift, II - The Stillshrine of Miriam

If you did not already do them before (when you had Larsa in your party), you really should finish the Trickster, Ferral Retriever, and Antlion quests. Head south from Mount Bur-Omisace watch your map and you'll see the path you need to take to get to the Stilshrine. If you don't have a complete map, you may wish to consider buying one from the moogle near the teleport crystal. Check out the Trickster and Ferral Retriever areas under the Marks heading for information on beating those enemies. Really, though, I'm guessing you don't want to if you haven't already. You might as well wait a little longer; it will get easier after this section.

Follow the map to the Stilshrine. First off, unequip any gambits that automatically provide ethers to people low on magic. You'll have to drop your magic to 0 for this area, and it'll just waste your ethers. Equip the Dawn Shard to Ashe and talk to the guys here. Before going in, touch the crystal and SAVE your game! There's a chest near the beginning of this area that has a chance of containing a megalixir, so saving here will allow you to quickly reload and respawn it so you can try again. When you're ready, head inside. (From the dialog, did you notice that the Sword of Kings probably isn't a sword you'll do normal fighting with? Good; remember that. Faram.)

After the cutscene, welcome to Ico. Oops, sorry, wrong game. Heh heh. It *does* look like it, though. Go around the barrier in the middle of the floor, and examine the pedestal of Dawn near there. Read the Pedestal to find out what you are supposed to do. Here's a hint: who is the Party Leader? If you touch the pedestal as someone else, you'll awaken some zombies that do not give you Exp or LP. Le suck. So put Ashe as the party lead (she *does* have the Dawn Shard equiped as an accessory, right?) and touch it. See the eery eyes light up? Scary! Anyway, if you have Libra on, you'll see a chest here that's guarded by a (rejuvination) trap. Equip something other than the dawn shard (you *do* wanna use magic now, right?), and go ahead and spring that trap (a trap that heals you; sweet!) and open the chest (before fighting). Did you get a Megalixir? If not, reload and try again. Those things are totally worth it!

This is a fairly easy battle, if you've been fighting marks. Don't bother stealing - he's broke. Just smack him around. The next area will have you facing THREE (count 'em, three) Dragon Aevis enemies (that's nearly 18K HP overall). Make sure you are prepared, then go for it. After those, heal up before going forward - the doorway (well, the Miriam Facers actually) will attack you. You cannot steal from the doors, so don't bother trying. Just head to the next room over.

Up the stairs here, you'll fight more Facer/Guardian enemies. Just take them out like normal and make your way to the far east end (yeah, it's a little weird) to find another of those pedestals. Do the Dawn Shard equip thing again, and you'll cause some doors to appear. Whee. The door you came in now allows you to access other areas. Head back, then go down the stairs there.

You are now in the Walk of Revelation. Follow the path around until you see a green save crystal. Know what green means? It means it's an enemy masquerading as a save crystal. I was almost dead the first time I touched it, and it finished the job for me. Grrr. Prep your guys for battle and smack it around. You can steel a feystone from it. Heh heh. Anyway, after you beat it, you can actually save your game. Do so, then take the central western exit (down stairs).

In the next room, go forward for a piece, then turn left and head south, killing enemies as you come to them. When you come to the darkmare, be cautious. He'll disappear and reappear many times. He's not that tough. Continue south. Keep killing off enemies as needed. At the end of the path is a large sword taking up the whole path way. Examine it. You'll notice the door at the other end is now open, revealing a waystone. Touch that to be transported back to the beginning of the area. If you feel you need to save your game (there's a moderately tough battle coming up), head back out the front door and save at the save point. When you're ready, take the door at the Northwest area and head down.

Take the hallway leading to the west. There are some regular enemies here you can use to level up a little, if you need but my guess is you won't really want to - these guys don't give off enough XP. Just take the right hallway and follow it around to a statue. To get to the next area, be sure to rotate the statues around so that they are facing IN TOWARD THE MIDDLE. Each game appears to start the statue in a different configuration, so here's a hint to make this easier. Hit the select button and look at the direction the yellow arrow is facing. It needs to point East (right). Pretend it's a clock hand and rotate it the appropriate direction/number of times. When it's pointing East, continue down the stairs to the south.

Head down around the corner, and open the door at the far end. Cross the floor and go to the other side, open the door there. Head right at the hallway here, and follow the path around to the South and West, until you come to a treasure room (get treasures). You should be chain-leveling like nobody's business here. Backtrack to the stairs just North of here, and go up. At the top of the stairs, you'll turn right and cross over to anther walkway. If you wanna keep killing off these guys and getting the chain level to go up, just retrace your steps though this area for a while.

If you are ready to go on, turn right (that means you're pointing south) and head up the next stairway. At the top of the stairs, follow the path north to get to a few chests. They're behind some enemies, but you can probably take them. After that, turn south and follow the path all the way south.You'll turn and head slightly west from there, where you'll fight more Balloons around a statue. Rotate the statue so that the arrow on the map points North (up). Continue on to the east, and follow the path left (north). Two paths will take you back east - both randomly have a chest that is kinda tough to see. Head to the North West corner of this hallway, and continue on to the next area.

You should now be in the Cold Distance area on your map. Follow the path around to the right, and continue north. You should see a hallway heading further east. If you need to save, you can return to the main area, and exit the Stillshrine via the door to the north. At least, I could. I don't know if you'll be able to. :D There's a half-way difficult battle coming up soon, so take this opportunity to save and buff up.

Continue east by going down the stairs here, then make sure you are prepped for battle before heading through this door. Meet Vinuskar There's an interesting note here. Heavy (metal based) armor is a problem here. You'll wanna equip that other armor you bought earlier. Oh, and if you only have metalic weapons, you can alway use magicks and/or items (knot of rust...?) You can steal Thiefs Cuffs from him. Ironic, isn't it? This battle really should not be that tough. If someone in your party gets confused, just have someone else esuana them. This battle also is great for weapons that pierce armor. He really isn't all that powerful. He didn't even get to cast his sword dance agains my guys. For yucks, I beat him without any weapons, armor, or accessories. :D I felt a sense of accomplishment ab out that. And Penelo has a funny martial arts stance she does when you hear the music.

OK. Re-equip your favorite armor/weapons now, and continue east one screen. Not that you can go more than one screen, heh. Along the southern wall is an Urn that will fill out your map. You know, the one that's ALREADY filled out? Right. Thanks, game designers!!! I guess they expect you to do the hard battle first? Anyway, go ahead and rotate the statue so that it's pointing West (left on the map).

You should see a message appear saying "The colosus has undergone some change..." accompanied by the chimes which usually indicate you've solved some puzzle. If not, look at your map. You sould see an arrow on each statue point IN toward the CENTER of the stillshrine. If you don't, backtrack to the erroneous statue and point it in the right direction. Return to the main entrance to the Stillshrine.

From the main entrance, go to the south end and use the waystone to teleport down. Use the save point here. Really. It's just a quick trip east. Head forward to the entrance opened up past the sword, and head up the stairs to the door to the next area. It says, "Wisdom proven, assay now your power." That's a subtle hint that you'll have to prove your power soon. Buff up, and head through the door. Protect/Shell/Haste/Bravery/Bubble is a nice combination.

Meet Mateus. She has a bunch of Ice Elementals that can make your life hell if you have low-level guys. I usually equip three Ice Shields. If you only have one (or if you want to make the ice attacks nearly completely useless), here's a trick you can use: Have one character equip an ice sheild and the dawn shard, then cast "decoy" on him/her (well, have someone else cast it - he won't be able to if he's equiped the Dawn Shard). Decoy will make the enemy only cast at that character, and the combonation of the Ice Shield and Dawn Shard renders them pretty much useless. You can also use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick to hit her with OIL and slow. Hint, hint. Do you have fire arrows and/or shot? Well you SHOULD. lol.

If not, equip reflect and/or ruby rings on your guys and cast fira at each other. With the oil status, this is a fairly quick fight. Also, have the other characters using distance weapons (Guns/Bows/Etc). Take out the Ice Elemental guys first, then go after Mateus. I stole a piece of Pisces Gem from her. Whee. Keep your guys as far way from each other as possible, BTW. Oh, and he's reflected. Don't use magic against her, but you CAN cast cura on her, and it'll reflect to you (with a bit of a boost). When she reddies "Chain Magick," move away (if you can). You're gonna get Blizzaja or something else that will hurt. If you can take that, you're home free. In any event, this shouldn't prove TOO tough, once you know the tricks.

You'll get an esper from this battle: Mateous, the Currupt. Continue on south. I didn't see any chests or anything here, so just continue on up the stairs. You'll watch a cut scene, then you'll get the Sword of Kings. Once again, no chests or anything, so head out the way you came in. Apparently *I* wasn't tested enough, because a Negalmuur showed up. He can be disabled, though, so it wasn't a very major fight. I've had this one show up earlier in the level before, and it's never been a very tough battle. Anyway, head back to the Way stone and leave the Stilshrine. The dudes outside tell you to return with all haste to Mt Bur-Omisace. Head to the teleport stone. You'll watch another cut scene, and then you'll have the oportunity to teleport.

Chapter 25 - Back to Mt Bur-Omisace

You can teleport anywhere you want at this point, but there aren't any new bills posted. Montblanc will give you 1,100 for defeating the Vinuskar, though. I also spent some time Wargen chain-leveling, followed by some vampire bat leveling in the Lhusu Mines. Mostly because I was watching football, and it takes almost no concentration to chain-level. While I'm at it, I think I'll explain a bit of my philosophy on teleporting. I generally only teleport when I don't care about LP. If there is something I want (isn't that *most* of the time?), I tend to just walk whereever it is I want to go. In this case, I walked back to Rabanastre to look around, then I walked back when I was done. I built up over 500 LP just doing that, and all my characters leveled up. To put this in perspective, the entire top half of my License Board is filled out right now for all my characters, and I haven't climbed Mt Bur-Omisace.

When you are ready, head to the top of Mt Bur-Omisace. You'll watch a quick cut scene. Be sure to talk to everyone. Do you still like the Empire? Continue up to the temple, and open the Gate of the Holy Circle. Watch another cut scene, and then you'll be in another Boss Battle. You'll be back attacked by three other Judges. Just kill them off as quick as you can, then take on Judge Bergan. I was able to steal a hi-potion and a Ruby Ring from him, so I'd say it's worth it. Heh heh. Just smack him down. By this point, he should be relatively easy to kill off. If not, you might have needed to level up a little more. Watch another large set of cut scenes. When the cut scenes end, talk to the Alcolyte right in front of you for the Stone of the Condemner (useful later). One of the merchants by the Teleport Crystal now has Remedies for sale, along with new weapons and armor. Stock up on remedies! Remedies plus the Nihopalaoa is about as useful as any combination can be! The other merchant has the Vanish Magick now. In all honesty, though, you can buy all this stuff and much more in Rabinastre also, so there's little point to shopping here.

You are headed for the Salikawood, on the other side of the Mosphoran Highwaste. If you've been following along my walkthrough, you've already completed the Flower for the Wife side quest. It's not actually a side quest, though. You need it to be able to continue north at this point. Following my normal procedure (mentioned above), I recommed you equip your golden amulets (on everyone, even your reserves) and simply walk the whole way. You'll fight a bunch of (now) fairly easy battles, and you'll have the opportunity to build up a veritable plethora of LP. For comparison, by the time I reaced the Salikawood, I had another 500 LP at my disposal.

Chapter 26 - Mosphoran Highwaste and The Salikawood

Quick Instructions: Head back to Rabanastre; there are 6 new hunts and 1 new Elite Mark, if you are interested, and Montblanc will give you 1,100 Gil for defeating Vinuskar "In thanks for providing us with a most singular example of platinum from Vinuskar's scales. -- The Platinum Guild." You really wanna check out the new Magicks and Gambits for sale here. Be sure to go talk to Old Dalan and Roh'Kenmou (don't open the chest outside his house!!!) to begin The Four Pieces of the Medallion side quest. If you cannot begin at this time, you may need to make your way to Nabudis, and talk to Roh'Kenmou by the blue save crystal.

Other things you might want to do include taking with Ktjn near the Muthru Bazaar and shopping - Specifically you WANT Dispel, possibly Bio, and don't forget Death, Vanish, and Vanishga. If you have lots of expendible cash, consider buying 3 Viking Coats to render your guys immune to water attacks - this will come in handy in certain battles. If you haven't done it yet, consider the Earth Tyrant Misc Side Quest (Rimzat at West Gate). Other things to do: It's the dry in Giza, so go talk to Roaklo and Nanau if you defeated the Gil Snapper mark and show Elder Brunoa the ring.

Complete the Flower for the Wife misc sidequest (and if you are like me, complete all the Hunts, with the possible exception of the Elite Mark Carrot) and then continue north until you reach the Mosphoran Highwaste. Watch the cutscene, and then head north and west. Save your game at the Babbling Vale, then continue north to the Salikawood. Save at the Path of Hours, and make your way East one screen, and then North one screen. Be sure to check your map so you do not get lost. Save again at the Quietened Trace.

Optional (for now): If you head north and east, you'll find the orange save/teleport crystal. If your guys are good enough, save here and head north. Use the Niopalaoa/Remedy on the King Bomb, and then take off the other bombs one at a time. If you've done the other hunt quests, this should be a fairly easy fight for you. I buffed up my guys with Protect/Shell/Bubble/Haste/Bravery, but it wasn't really necessary. Anyway, beat him up and you'll be able to continue north from here. This gets you access to the Necrohol of Nabreus and the Nabreus Deadlands. This gives you access to the two hunts Braegh and Roblon, and you can get all the way to a Paragon of Justice. Also, you can get 1,300 Gil and a Mallet from Montblanc for killing the king bomb. If you venture into the Deadlands, the urn (to fill out your map) can be found in the Northwest corner of the Vale of Lingering Sorrow. At the far South East of the "Echos of the Past" you can find an Elixir.

If you would like a map of the Mosphoran Highwaste (and who wouldn't?!?), head right when you come to the Trunkwall Road. There's an Urn if you keep taking the right-hand paths. Make your way along the path leading to the far South East. You'll come to a large gate with a Moogle Boss. This will start the "9 little moogles" minigame. Head back in to the Salikiawood and look for them. A handy counter in the upper right of your screen will help you keep track of how many moogles you've found. Any bungalows you've wandered past can be found on the map. Just hit select and they'll show up.

You can also pick up Adrammelech at this time, without too much trouble. Once you have Adremmelech and have visited Nabudis (and talked to the old), head to Rabanastre and talk to Old Dalan again. Then talk to Roh'Kenmou to start the Four Pieces of the Medallion side quest. The other guy is in Archades, but you can do this first piece now.

The bungalows can be found...

• Two are in the north area of the Garden of Decay. That's two sets of two of the Layabouts (4).
• One is in the central area of Trunkwall Road. That two more Layabouts.
• The final Bungalow is by the Blue save crystal in the Path of Hours. The last three layabouts are there.
• Go ahead and go with them to the gate

Chapter 27 - The Phon Coast, Tchita Uplands, and Sochen Cave Palace

First things first - DON'T OPEN ANY CHESTS IN THE PHON COAST AREA!!! Ahem. Sorry - see the intro tip about the Zodiac Spear. Save at the beginning of the first screen (really) and head south and east. Follow the "left" wall (not the water). The fouth screen down is the village (the map calls this "Hunter's Camp." Watch a bunch of cut scenes, then save at the Phon Crystal. Talk to everyone here, but don't open any treasure. Buy Darkra and Cleanse. There's a Cartographer's Guild Moogle here, too. Don't miss him! Buy a map, then look south and slightly west. There's a guy who fell from the sky there! Do you see something blinking on the ground next to him? Pick it up! That's the Site 11 Key, and it's kinda tough to find if you don't know what you're looking for. Talk to the Shady Banga just south of the save crystal. Remember this spot. After you've fought the monsters in the Sochen cave Palace, he'll tell you to come back after you're done with your duty in Archades.

When you are ready to head on, be sure you aren't opening any chests, then follow your map off to the east and north. By now, you really should be able to get through this area without TOO much trouble. When you get to Rava's Pass in the North East corner, save at the blue crystal. When you get to the Tchita Uplands, watch the cut scene, then head out. If you want, you can spend some time stealing from the Coeurl here. You can steal an Embroidered Tippet - which will double your EXP earned. This makes leveling up go a LOT faster. On the other hand, once you reach Old Archades, you can BUY these from one of the shop keeps there for about 5000 Gil each. You've probably nearly filled out your license area already anyway, so you don't need the Goldem Amulets any more. When you get to The Chosen Path you can do a new hunt. Well, sort of. You'll get the Soul Ward Key, at any rate.

There's another easter egg here. If you look at the map of the Tchita Uplands, you'll see a blue save crystal down in the southern half (The Nameless Spring). Just south of this area is an area called Garden of Life's Circle. You can get a Diamond Armlet here, if you're willing to be patient. The chest containing it is located along the southern wall, directly south from the Northern exit (between Garden of Life's Circle and The Highlands). The chest only has about a 1/10 chance of appearing, and when it DOES appear, it's something like a 50% chance you'll find the Diamond Armlet in it. It seems like the odds aren't very good, but it's worth it when you go looking for things like a Ribbon later on. Save at the blue crystal, and then run straight for the chest. If it's not there, restart (start, then square) and reload the game you just saved. Repeat until you get the Diamond Armlet.

[[ Emulator Note: If you're running an emulator, you can reduce the time this takes. Save at the blue crystal and run for the chest. Restart as above if there's no chest. However, if you do see a chest, save state before opening the chest. If you DON'T get the loot you want, go attack something and try again. The game does NOT determine the contents of the chest until you access it, but you'll need to do something to cause the system to roll a new random number. ]]

• Alraune King: Gimble Stalk
• Pumpkin Star: Jack o' Lantern
• Onion Queen: Onion
• Topstalk: Tomatoe Stalk
• Mandragora Prince: Four Leaf Clover

1. Using the Ancient Doors, make your way to the far eastern area of the map.
2. Open the Door of Hours at the south-west.
3. Walk down the hallway and open the door of hours at the end.
4. Walk a little west, and open the Door of Hours leading north-west.
5. Walk down the hallway and open the door of hours at the end.
6. Head a little north, and take the Door of Hours Leading north-east.
7. Walk down the hallway and open the door of hours at the end.
8. Head slightly east, and take the Door of Hours leading south-east.
9. Walk down the hallway and open the door of hours at the end.
10. You should hear a door open in the distance.
11. Make your way all the way to the west and you should now be able to open the door at the far west.

Chapter 28 - Old Archades

There's a store here where you can buy some new stuff. Get 3 Pheasant Netsuke accessories, if you can afford it.

Watch the cut scene. When it's finished, talk to everyone in this area (well, if you want background info, that is). At least talk the Moogles and find the shady seeq who's "selling" them (he's west of them). Head west when you're ready. You'll be in the Alley of Muted Sighs. Archades is to the South of this, but you'll have to get past some guards first. Talk to the guards and tell them you don't have any credentials. Jules will tell you how to get into the city - for 1,500 gil. He'll tell you to go back and talk to the Moogles again. Do it, then head back and talk to him again. That'll distract the guards and get you into the city.

Chapter 29 - The Imperial City of Archades

Watch the cut scenes. Now you can do some shopping, etc, but you'll also want to do a lot of talking to people. Nearly everyone here has a problem, and you're the only one who can solve them all. Yeah... Anyway, be sure to talk to everyone so you know the correct lables, if nothing else. I'll tell you who needs to talk to whom. Be sure to talk to the people in the shops, too. Oh, and don't forget to talk to Roh'kenmou in the Magic shop. He needs a moonsilver medallion, sold to Otto, in Old Archades. As long as you're there, don't forget to check back in with July (remember, from the July in Nalbina side quest?) if you helped her earlier. Also, there's a new mark available (Darksteel) at the item shop. Oh, and don't sell any chops (I'll explain in a minute).

Things you'll want to buy around here: A new sword, all the new magicks, X-POTIONS!!! Optional stuff to do now includes backtracking to Nabudis and finishing the Four Pieces of the Medallion side quest, fighting the darksteel mark, going for various espers - after earning a Sandalwood chop and heading to Tsenoble. I really like to use this time to get all the espers that I have access to. That means I don't go on to the next area until I have Belias, Adrammelech, Exodus, Cuchulainn, Zalera, Zeromus, Chaos, and Mateus. And don't forget - 8 espers earns you stuff from Montblanc.

Head to the far southwest and talk to the Cab Guide. This'll start a cut scene about chops. Pay Jules again. Now you have to wander around helping people. Find the Senior Researcher nearby. This one is easy. "Commit the tale to memory", then talk to the Failed Researcher. "Relate the tale." You'll get a chop. See how this works? To make it easer, consult the guide below. Go for all 28 chops (it'll only take 30-45 minutes). An asterisk (*) by the name means you should see this person FIRST.

Trant
Name	Issue	Go See
Music Appreciator	Has a friend who's a court musician.	Lutenist
Lutenist	He makes music to earn a living. That's a Lute he plays.	Music Appriciator*
Smitten Man*	Worked hard and long, wants something other than money.	Smitten Woman
Smitten Woman	She likes a guy her father does business with.	Smitten Man*
Farce-Goer*	Hopes to get tickets to the Mummer's Farce.	Girl on Errand
Girl on Errand	Her mother asked her to buy tickets, but she has too many.	Farce-Goer*
Historian*	Knows the true history of the city.	Perceptive Man
Perceptive Man	The empire wasn't always an empire - the akademies don't teach real history.	Historian*
Builder*	The population is soaring.	artistan architect
Artistan Architect	Is upset that people only like "old" designs; they mock his newer looking ones.	Builder*
Boutiquere*	Wants to open her own boutique, but doesn't have money. (Moneyed Gentleman)	Moneyed Gentleman
Moneyed Gentleman	Money is like a seed. He want's to know where to put his money.	Boutiquere

Molberry
Name	Issue	Go See
Proud Mother*	Thinks Reginald is the smartest kid.	Tutor
Tutor	Unemployed - wants someone to tutor.	Proud Mother*
Poor Husband*	Bought his wife a pretty necklace.	Poor Wife
Poor Wife	Doesn't know what to do for her aniversary.	Poor Husband*
Avid Traveler*	Likes traveling, but needs armor.	Traveling Gentleman
Traveling Gentleman	Is on the road a lot. He wears the right armor and weapons, though.	Avid Traveler*
Reminiscing Lady*	Watches the Mummer. Wants to share this with her daughter.	Family-Minded Girl
Family-Minded Girl	Doesn't like the Mummer.	Reminiscing Lady*
would-be-judge*	Wants to be a judge	Judge's Wife
Judge's Wife	Her husband was a judge. He died rescuing his enemies child.	would-be-judge*
Look alike	Someone looks like him...	Look-alike
Look-alike	Someone looks like him...	Look alike
Ardent Woman*	Her Beau and her have a lot of chops.	Ardent Man
Ardent Man	Anyone can make a good living if they are straight with people.	Ardent Woman*
Talented Woman*	Has been told she has a talent for magicks.	Akademician
Akademician	Teaches Magick. Needs a new student.	Talented Woman*
Daughter-in-law*	Her husband's mother wants something from Giza.	Man from Giza
Man from Giza	Came to Archades and can't find his client.	Daughter-in-law*
Mummer	Is a mummer. Duh. ;)

Nilbasse
Name	Issue	Go See
Gentleman Onlooker*	Sees people running around.	Eager Crier
Eager Crier	Crying wares for the arm'er.	Gentleman Onlooker*
Senior Researcher*	A new employee broke something; wants to tell him it's OK, but is too busy.	Failed Researcher
Failed Researcher	Broke something at a lab and is afraid.	Senior Researcher*
Worried Husband*	His work isn't doing well now. They've halved his pay.	Materialistic Woman
Materialistic Woman	Wants a rare blue diamond ring.	Worried Husband*
Athletic Woman*	Her family is well known for being athletic.	Avid Reader
Avid Reader	Recently begun work at a lab. There's lots to read there.	Athletic Woman*
Determined Resarcher*	Followed her father's work. Wants to leave, but is afraid of her father if she does.	Ex-Researcher
Ex-Researcher	He researched forever, and now is daughter is doing it.	Determined Resarcher*
Aspiring Starlet*	Wants to be a star.	Faded Star
Faded Star	Has given up being on stage. Does no more autographs.	Aspiring Starlet*

Rienna
Name	Issue	Go See
Lucky man*	Found a letter on the ground	Romantic Lady
Romantic Lady	Is in love, but won't tell until she gets her love letter back.	Lucky man*
Philosopher of Cuisine*	The only one recognized by the senate, wants new dish.	Dangerous Cook
Dangerous Cook	Loves to cook, but didn't quite get something right.	Philosopher of Cuisine*
Lazy Profiteer*	He wants a gambit for the stock market.	Researches Wife
Researches Wife	Husband works at Dracklor and gave his wife a card - now she wants to gamble on stocks, etc.	Lazy Profiteer*
Greenseller*	Sells veggies.	Vegetable Seller
Vegetable Seller	Sells veggies to please his partner who wants a farm on the Tchita Plains.	Greenseller
Good Brother*	Improved selection at the Inventory Shop.	Waiting Woman
Waiting Woman	Wants an item and asked her brother to look for it, but he's not too bright.	Good Brother*
Tarot Reader*	Reads fortunes, but causes grief.	Happy Novelist
Happy Novelist	Writes novels, but cannot write something really miserable.	Tarot Reader*
Tour Leader*	Is leading a tour to Bhujerba.	Bhujerban Lady
Bhujerban Lady	Wants to vacation in Bhujerba.	Tour Leader*

When you've got all your chops), head back to the cab guide and take the cab to the next area. There's a save/teleport crystal here. You will not easily be able to get out of the next area, so be sure you save here (and don't forget to go out and do whatever it is you want to have finished, sidequestwise).

For point of reference, I'll tell you what I've finished up 'till now. I've got all 8 espers availble at this time. I also have the Zodiac Spear, and I've finished the following side quests: Stranded Merchant, Flower for the Wife, A Viera in Rabanastre (part I), A Diary for Pilika, Sandsea Moogle, July in Nalbina, Vaan Juan, Demon Wall 2, Bhujerban Madhu, Zertinan Caves, The Four Pieces of the Mediallion, Earth Tyrant, Jahara's gift, Secret Shop: Necrohol of Nabudis (you can buy ethers). I've killed off 27 Marks and 11 (non-trophy) rare game. My guys are at the following levels: Vaan 70, Balthier 70, Fran 36, Basch 34, Ashe 36, Penelo 70. Guess which 3 I like to use? lol. I've filled out the License board completly for Fran, Basch and Ashe (you know the golden amulets are the only accessory that works on people not in your immediate party, right)?

You'll be able to save/teleport, and then you'll want to wander down the road a bit. Wander back and forth from cab to entrance until you talk with Jules again. Eventually, you'll end up in...

Chapter 30 - Draklor Laboratory

This area is a little odd. You start off on the 66th floor. Follow the Left wall until it winds around to the North Lift Terminal. Select a destination of the 67th floor. Head to the North East corner of this floor until you find the door to Cid's Office (Labeled C.D.B.). You'll get both a Lab Access Card and the Map of Draklor Laboratories. After a few cut scenes, you'll be have control again. Just outside the office are two doors. Room 6704 has a save crystal. Save now - preferably in a new spot.

The way this building works might be a little odd. You can find Bulkhead Controls that will let you toggle which bulkheads are open. You can either have the RED open, or the BLUE open. Once you leave Doctor Cid's office, the Red bulkheads are closed, and the blue are open. You can't get anywhere with this configuration, so switch them using the bulkhead controls in room 6703 - right next door to the one with the save crystals. Once you've opened that, you'll begin to encounter enemies in this area. They weren't all that tough, and I was able to steal a LOT of hi-potions.

Head south (away from Cid's office), and turn right. Fight the enemies here, and head PAST the elevator. On the other side, turn right again, and enter room 6703 West (the only door you can go it). Toggle the Bulkheads again. Blue should now be closed, and red should be open. Leave the room and continue south. You can't get to the elevator area, but you CAN go further south now. You have access to Room 6711 West here. If you're lucky, you can get a Doom Mace from the chest on the left and a Gambit for dark-vulnerable enemies in the right chest. Head back to Room 6703 West and toggle the bulkheads again, then head to the elevator (North Lift Terminal).

If you head DOWN to floor 66, you can get access to room 6613 East, which will have either 1 or 2 chests. I was able to get a gambit for wind-vulnerable foes. Head back to the Elevator, and head to floor 68.

On Floor 68, head left (east) and toggle the Bulkheads in room 6803 East. Blue=Closed, Red=Open. Head North and East to enter 6814 East and kill off some Lab Rats. If you wanna fight some Hecteyes and map out a bit more of the floor, here's an optional area:

[ Go south and use the Bulkhead Controls in 6810 East. Blue should be open, and Red should be closed now. Head South and East to enter 6811 - If you wanna fight some Hecteyes. They're kinda tough, so I don't recommend this unless you are sure you can do it, you want the Silver Bow bazaar item that requires four of the sagittarius gem they occasionally drop, and you're ready to reload a lot until you get one. Really, though - you're probably better off just stealing them from the Foobars in the Nabreus Deadlands. :D Return to the bulkhead toggle in 6810 East to finish this optional area. ]

North of Room 6803 East is a long corridore leading west. Take that to the end. Enter Room 6804 West and toggle the Bulkheads there. You should have Blue=Open, Red=Closed. Head south to 6813, if you wanna fight a judge (hey, you might get an x-potion!). Don't bother with the room south and slightly East to (Room 6801 West). It's totally empty. Head to the far South east to get to Room 6811 West. You can Toggle Bulkheads here. Red=Open, Blue=Closed. Go East from this room, and turn North. You should now have access to the South Lift Terminal.

Take the South Lift Terminal to the 70th Floor. Watch the Cut scene, then save your game (new file). You can access room 7002 here. Head East, then south. There's a chest here with something good. Once it was a Pheasant Netsuke. It's not great, but it's also not something you'd normally find. Another time, it was a hastaga mote. Anyway, follow the dude who just showed up - that means heading North. You'll watch another, brief cut scene, then you'll get to fight Cid.

This battle is kinda tough. There are four Rooks, and Doctor Cid. The rooks heal, guard, and buff him up. You'll wanna take them out first. I stole from everyone, including doctor cid, and I didn't get anything except potions and knots of rust. You can steal 2, three, or even 4 times from them. Dispel from the rooks if you need to, but they really shouldn't be that much trouble.then take them out one at a time. Be aware that the rooks can cast reflect on Cid, so you might not want to do high-power area magick attacks. I took out A, then B, then C, then D, then Cid (dispel hiim first, though). Be sure not to let your HP drop too low, as he has a massively large attack called some kinda canon thing. If you set your primarly healer to gambit dispel, you shouldn't have too much trouble with this. When he gets to 33% HP, you'll see the other guy butt in, and you'll watch some cut scenes. OK, a lot of cut scenes.

Chapters 31-40

Chapter 31: The Port at Balfonheim

After a multitude of cut scenes, talk to Rikken, Elza and Raz. Explore the town - especially the shops. You can buy new Techniks, Armor, Weapons, Spells, etc. Be sure to check out the Whitecap's Message Board for five new marks. As always, I recommend taking out the Marks before heading to the next area. You can start the Vyraal Mark hunt right here. There's a megalixir in one of the Port Villas (infrequently; you're more likely to see a regular elixir - consider saving and reloading until you get the megalixir, though). Near the Aerodrome, you can find a Fishing Enthusiast (that's his full name). Talk to him twice to ask about the Fishing Rod. Head down to where the Aerodrome entrance is and talk to people there, then come back. You should be able to get the Fishing Rod here. Head to the North-East area of this village to find a save point.

If you have the Flock of the feather, talk to the Miffed Moogle, then the chocobo wrangler (show her the feather of the flock), then the miffed moogle again, then gurdy. gurdy. You'll get a little bit of information from Moomer, then you'll get a Defender (really cool sword) from the Miffed Moogle. If you've still got money left, you can buy a map from the Cartogropher's Guild here, too. Anyway, save your game.

As usual, there are many things you can do before heading off to the Feywood (your next destination). Here are a few things to consider:

1. As I said above, take out the five new Marks, and the two new Elite Marks (talk to Montblanc to start these).
2. Complete the Cockatrice, Cockatrice everywhere side quest. This will take you may places. See Misc Side Quests Section.
3. Finish the Four Pieces of the Medalion Side Quest, if you haven't already. See Misc Side Quests Section.
4. During the Cockatrice, Cockatrice everywhere side quest, head back to Archades. While you are in Archades, Talk to the Docent in Tsenoble to enter Central (If you have a Sandalwood chop). While you are at the Highgarden Terrace, be sure to talk to the Hunt Club Owner. Now you can teleport to the Phone Coast (don't open the chests if you have still not retreived the Zodiac Spear) and talk to the Huntmaster to start the Trophies quest. He'll ask you to take down a Thalassinon. Head to the Vaddu Strand. The strand is one screen to the right (east). Go there, and head to the top of the long path along the north side. See the Trophies Section.
5. Finish the Viera in Rabanastre side quest. See Misc Side Quests Section.
6. Start Fishing! See Fishing Section.
7. Begin Hunting Trophies - you can defeat 69 of the 80 total hunts! See Trophies Section.

Chapter 32: Cerobi Steppe

If you complete the Vyraal (Viera Wayfarer), take the Dragon Scale to the Wyrm Philosopher at Windmill 10 on The Northsward of the Cerobi Steppe; you'll get the Ageworn Key in return. Take that the the door you couldn't get past earlier (in the Sochen Cave Palace/Destiny's March). If you run into Aspidochelon on the way, be sure to steal a Nugget of Scarletite. See the Really Big Wyrm side quest.

Start the Vyraal quest first, then head here. You are trying to find a Ribbon, so be sure you do not open any treasure anywhere around here (that's a condition for the ribbon to appear). You will start off in the South Liavell Hills. Head to the northwest exit to the North Liavell hills. Continue North and West to the Terraced Bank. Many enemies here are NOT immune to STOP. If you have Stun Bombs - use them!

Head north to get to the Journey's Rest. Turn off your gambits (you read that right), Equip a Diamond Armlet to your party leader (if you have one), and save here, then head north one screen. You can get a VERY cool item here - a Ribbon. Head to the northeast corner of this map. There's a large boulder here, which shows up on your main map as a square. Behind that is a 50% chance that a chest will appear. If it does, there's a slim (5% without Diamond Armlet - 10% with) chance it will have a Ribbon. (If you're playing on an emulator, see the [[ emulator note ]] below.) If it doesn't, quit (Start-Square) and restart from that save point. I find that this is a good time to use my TV's PnP feature. I can watch the Cotton Bowl on the main screen, and play the game in the small window.

To clarify - there are THREE boulders with chests that sometime show up. The one just up from the crystal is NOT the one you want. The one across the way and slightly left - with a trap behind it - is NOT the one you want either. The one straight up and right - the square up and right from the "Strahl anchor" icon on your map (when you have access to the Strahl) IS THE ONE YOU WANT! It takes 55 to 65 seconds to do this each time. It took me about 2 hours to get my ribbon, but I wasn't sure which boulder I was looking behind. When I got the Ribbon, I started going straight there. After about an hour, I was able to get another one - but this required me to leave the area and return (presumably because finding the ribbon required me to open a chest in the Cerobi Steppe).

[[ Emulator Note: If you're running an emulator, you can seriously reduce the time this takes. If your emulator allows you to disable frame limiting, I highly recommend doing so. Save at the blue crystal and run for the chest. Restart as above if there's no chest. However, if you do see a chest, save state before opening the chest. If you DON'T get the loot you want, reload the save state, wait for something to trigger a random number (you attack something, something attacks you, one of your characters casts Cure magic, etc), save state again, and then try opening the chest again. Repeat as needed until you get the Ribbon. The idea here is that the game does NOT determine the contents of the chest until you access it, but you'll need to do something to cause the system to roll a new random number after each save state reload. Using this method, I obtained 4 of them in about 30 minutes (leave the area between attempts). In theory you could get 6 seriously fast, and then just have that be the default accessory for all your characters. ]]

As a final reminder, you can also start the Trophy Hunts before moving on. Head back to the Phon Coast hunter's camp for more information on this one.

Chapter 33: Feywood

Teleport to the Golmore Jungle, and head southwest. Look around for the Binding Mantis, and be sure to steal from him while wearing the Thief's Cuffs. You'll earn a Tattered Garment for your trouble, which can be sold to unlock ... something. When you get to the Feywood, equip a float gambit, and head south. Follow the Westmost (that's the right side, if you are heading south) wall and you'll find the back door to the Henne Mines. You don't want to use this yet, but you'll want to know where it is. Keep heading south. There are a number of Gambits in treasure chests here, and the Urn can be found on the "Walk of Stolen Truths, though you don't really need to go that far east at this time.

When you get to the save point on the third screen down (antiquity's end), BUFF up your characters and save, then head south. You'll watch a brief cut scene, then you'll have access to the next area. Go south and prepare for battle with Rafflesia.

You're going to lose your magic fast, so use it at the get go. Cast Dispel, then do quickening chains (I got a 9-hit chain) for about 16,000 pts of dmg. Now swap out your guys and do it with the other ones! You can steal a Screamroot. As Rafflesia calls in Malboros, be sure to take them out. If you've gone after many of the Hunts, this shouldn't really be a challange for you. Go back and save when you are done. In the next area down (White Magick's Embrace), follow the left (east) wall. You should find a Feywood Candle in the southeast area. Montblanc will give you 1,800 Gil from the Garif for defeating Rafflesia, BTW.

Continue following the left wall until you reach Ice Field of Clearsight. When you get there, look at your (now complete) map. See the areas that look like the back of a Sand Dollar? There are four of them. Go to the one closest to you (upper right) and enter the Gazebo looking thing there [note to uber nerds: do not taunt the gazeebo or shoot arrows at it - it will not respond]. In the center of the structure, examine the Feywood Glyph there. When it says stuff, rotate the camera slowly - you'll notice that one of the exits from the structure will have a different view. Leave via that exit, and go to the structure it points to (for my game, it's the one to the upper left on the map). I found it easier to "flee" to the next one, then fight all the enemies that followed me - rather than trying to find it again after my guys running off after some enemy and rotating the screen. When you get there, repeat the examine and rotate process. Next I went down and left. Repeat. I went down and left and found the exit to the next area.

When you get to the next area (The Edge of Reason), repeat. This time, there are 5 structures. This time, follow the left wall and go to the structure straight down - you can't do anything with it yet, but along the left wall, you might find a chest. There's something cool in that chest. Anyway, head to the structure in the center of the area. That will point you to the upper left. That points you down. The next one will point you down and left AGAIN. Go to the doorway down there. It will tell you that you have to have the "Gigas" to get through. That's Belias, the Gigas - the esper you obtained in the Tomb of Raithwall. Just summon Belias (if you haven't "acquired" his license yet, now is the time to do it), and you'll be able to touch the door and go through. You wouldn't believe how long it took me to figure that out the first time. Welcome to...

Chapter 34: The Ancient City of Giruvegan

There is a save crystal up ahead and to the left. Save there to enable teleporting. Go buy more phoenix downs or whatever - if you need to. There are no new hunts at this time. Like I said before, though, you can get 1800 Gil from Montblanc for defeating Rafflesia (from the Garif). When you are ready, save and head west (it's pretty much the only direction you can go), then touch the Way Stone.

Continue west and you'll run into a cut scene, then you'll be forced to fight Daedalus. If your guys are lucky, you can steal a nugget of damascus steel from him. If you're not that lucky, You can steal a Dark Crystal. Nihopalaoa/Remedy, then dispel if he's buffed up. If you've been doing any hunting at all, this guy should really be a walk in the park. I didn't even need the Nihopalaoa. Once he's gone, you'll get access to a new way stone. Touch that to head to the next area. Incidentally, Montblanc will give you 1,900 Gil. From himself, apparently.

Once here, you'll find yourself inside a real maze of a place. This first section is called The Trimahla Water-Steps. I have no idea why. XD Wind your way through the maze toward the far south west corner of the map. You'll have to toggle two switches to get there - both accessible if you simply go south from the main entrance. If you run across mythril golem enemies, be sure to try to steal a nugget of Mythril from them - that's useful to have later on. At the very bottom is a little green trail you can take that appears to span nothing (you may have to step out into thin air to make it show up). Take that to the next area.

You should now be in The Aadha Water-Steps. I still don't know why it's named that. The golems here guard either pathways or switches - there is an elixir in a treasure just sitting in the middle of one of the pathways here, and a white fang in another. Flip all three switches (you will end up kind of back-tracking to the top at one point) and take the pathway at the bottom (you actually have to step on it to make it show up). This will take you to the third screen (and start a cut-scene).

There's basically only one thing you can do at this point - open Bulwark Chronos. See the shiny save point? USE the shiny save point! I'm guessing you've probably leveled everyone one up at least twice, so it's a good place to save. :D My guys are all level 52+ now. Well, at least onc time it was. Another time (while going for all hunts and trophies) I was at 80+ for all. Open Bulwark Hemera. Expect Kenshin to show up. No, wait. That's Himura. Never mind.

Optional: If you want to grind some tower enemies to get mythril, this is an excellent place to do it. Simply go back through the two bulwark doors and up the green steps. The two towers should have respawned. Steal/Kill and head back through the bulwarks. Reapeat as you like to chain-level and grind them. You can get lots of mythril very easily this way.

When you're ready to move on, head west through both bulwarks, and up the ramp to your left (it's kinda hard to see. Turn right, and go HALFWAY to the end of the walkway. That's right. Turn slightly right and step out onto nothing again. Walk until you face a dragon (cut scene).

Meet Tyrant. Steal from him! Just kidding. You can't use any technicks in this battle. Just dispel and then hammer him. Watch out for his Piercing Graviga attack. If you see him readying that, be ready with some curaja. Nihopalaoa/Remedy will confuse him. Use that if you need a breather in the middle of the battle. Be sure to disable gambits first, though. When you finally take him down, you'll have the ability to use a new way stone. Go back and save if you want/need to, then use the Way Stone to enter The Great Crystal. If you are paying attention the Trophy game side quests, keep an eye out for the Evil Spirit enemy. Also, you may see a hidden enemy (nearly - but not entirely - invisible) floating around down here. That's a reeper. By casting reflect on an ally, then fire, you can force them to become visible. You can steal a book of Orgain Cent from them. Incidentally, Montblanc will give you 1,900 gil for taking down the Tyrant. This one is also from himself, apparently.

This area can be somewhat confusing, so I'm including area details below. Here are the directions you'll need to follow, refer to the area details for more information:

1. Start at A Prama Vikaari - face the blocked path (Gate Scorpio) and call that "north." Gate Scorpio can only be opened when you have the Treaty Blade, so let's ignore it for now.
2. Go West to Kabonii Jilaam Pratii'vaa (the other way is for a return trip)
3. Get treasure (if there - it could be an elixir or a Black Mask (absorbs dark attacks!) - you may need to use float if it's trapped) and then take South exit (not the one you came in from) to Kabonii Jilaam Avaa
4. Take the West path (Not the one you came in on) to Dha Vikaari Bhrum
5. There shouldn't be any new exits from this platform, so take Way Stone VII (To A Vikaari Kabonii)
6. Take Southeast path (assuming you are facing the waystone with your back to the exits; if you are facing the exits, it's the one on the left) to Sthaana Cancer and flip the cancer gate stone switch.
7. Take West path (that's the one you DID NOT come in on) to Bhrum Pis Avaa and get treasure (if there - it might be a white robes)
8. Take North path (not the one you came in on) and you should end up back to A Vikaari Kabonii, having made a complete circuit.
9. Take Southwest path (if you are facing the exits, that's the one on the far right) to Bhrum Pis Pratii.
10. Continue straight along the Southwest path to Dha Vikaari Trahk and Waystone V.
11. As with all waystones down here, be on the lookout for an invisible figure that's floating around - that's a hidden reaper. If you equip a reflect thing and cast fire at yourself, it will make him visible to your charcters. When ready, take Waystone V to A Vikaari Bhrum.
12. You should see Waystone IV on this platform. Assuming north is the direction your camera is facing when you teleport in, head east (opposite path blocked by Gate Pisces) from A Vikaari Bhrum to Trahk Jilaam Praa'dii.
13. From Trahk Jilaam Praa'dii, grab the treasure if there (it might be a Holy Lance), then continue east (that's the path you didn't come in on) to Sthaana Aries.
14. Approaching the Aries Gate Stone Switch may cause Necrophobe's to show up. Kill them off, then touch the switch and backtrack two screens to Waystone IV at A Vikaari Bhrum - where you teleported to.
15. Gate Pisces is still probably blocking your path. Now take the Southeast path (the path you didn't come in on) to Trahk Pis Praa, then take the west exit (the one you didn't come in on) to Sthaana Pisces. Kill the enemies here, then toggle the Pisces Gate Stone Switch.
16. Take the North path (not the one you came in on) to Dha Vikaari Jula.
17. You should see Waystone III here. Use it (the other path just takes you back to the place you started - sans the original Gate Pisces blocking the western path.)
18. You are now in the Crystal Core near Waystone II. Watch the cut scene, go down the ramp, save your game, and take Waystone I to Giruvegan's Gate of Wind.

1. The path that was blocked before is now only (randomly) guarded by a Reaper. Take him out and take the path to A Vikaari Dhebon.
2. Go up the path to Way Stone IX, and take it to Waystone X at Dha Vikaari Kabonii.
3. Go up the path to A Vikaari Kanbhru Ra.
4. On the platform here (with waystone XX), you'll see two closed gates, Gate Sagittarius I and II. Remember this. If you are following the Trophy game side quests, check out the Crystal Knight trophy game. In addition to the path from Waystone X, there are two paths leading up, and one leading down here. You want the one that goes down (it's exactly opposite how you got here) to Dhebon Jilaam Pratii'dii..
5. Warp mote a BUNCH of bombs, then continue on to Sthaana Sagittarius..
6. Kill off more bombs, then get ready: Flip the switch and RUN back the way you came - go through Gate II (on the right). You might want to ignore the enemies here if you are running short on time. The exception is if you see the Crystal Knight. If you do, touch Gate II before the timer runs out, but don't leave the screen if you want the Skull Trophy (See the Trophies section).
7. You should find yourself at A Vikaari Sirhru Pratii with Way Stone XII on the platform; use the Way Stone to Dha Vikaari Dhebon Pratii.
8. There are 2 paths here - 1 going up and 1 going down. Take the one going up.
9. Use Warp Motes, or kill them normally, then flip the switch here - but be ready to run back (another timed thing)!
10. Once you flip the switch, go back the way you came, and this time take the path leading DOWN.
11. On the next platform (Sirhru Phrllam Udiipratii), go the only way you can.
12. Likewise on the next (Sirhru Jilaam Pratii' dii).
13. On the next screen (Sirhru Jilaam Pratii), there will be two paths - one going up and one going down - take the one going down.
14. On the next screen (Sirhru Jilaam Pratii'vaa), you'll go down to a platform with a trap in the middle. Cast float, then open the chest - twice.
15. If the chest does not have an excalibur, retreat 4 screens (back to Dha Vikaari Dhebon Pratii) to respawn the chest, and try again. Repeat as needed.
16. Head back the way you came until you get to a Way Stone (I think it's XIV) - take it to Waystone XII at A Vikaari Sirhru Pratii. Take the only exit from this platform.
17. You should now come to Way Stone XX - take the 2nd right from here (to Dha Vikaari Kabonii); you're continuing back the way you came in.
18. Take waystone X (in Dha Vikaari Kabonii) to A Vikaari Dhebon. Take the only exit from here (to A Prama Vikaari.)
19. From the next screen, you'll turn right and follow the path you took to get out the first time.
20. Basically, that's any paths or way stones you come to, until you have a choice.
21. The first choice, take the Right one (out of three options). The 2nd choice, take the one behind you (through what looks like wings).
22. Touch the Way Stone that took Ash to see the creepy guys.

Chapter 35: Back to Balfonheim.

It's time to head back to Balfonheim. If you's like, take a side trip through Rabastre and pick up the new Gambits. There are no new hunts, but Montblanc will give you 1,900 Gil for killing off the Daedalus. For the Tyrant, you'll also get 1,900 Gil. If you picked up your 8th esper, you'll get a Nugget of Gemsteel and 2 Teleport Stones from Eurek. You might also want to go after the Earth Tyrant, if you haven't already. You can also buy a Golden Axe from the Unlucky Merchant in Dalmasca's Eastersand. If you don't have one yet, be sure to pick up a Diamond Armlet, too. In the Dalmasca Westersand, you can buy an Agate Ring and a Gungnir from Lohen; you probably wont have much use for the gungir this late in the game, though. From either Street Vedor in Bhujerba, you can buy a Turtleshell Choker and a Sweep (pole weapon).

If you hit up the Baknamy Merchant in the Necrohol, you can now buy a Magepower Shishak, a Maximillian, a Demon Shield (absorb Dark Magick!), a Ring of Renewal, and the very popular Telekinesis Technick.

I would also use this time to get a few more espers under your belt. If you don't already have them, go after Exodus, Cuchulainn, Zalera, Zeromus, Chaos, Ultima, Zodiark. In that order. ;) 'Course, you're probably not strong enough to go after Zodiark, I would guess. If you're over 75 for enough of your guys, talk to Geomancer Yugelu in Jahara to get access to Zodiark. Oh, you can ONLY do that if you have at LEAST 10 espers. That means you have to have Belias, Exodus, Chaos, Cuchulainn, Zalera, Shemhazai, Zeromus, Adrammelech, Ultima, and Mateus. See the Espers area for more information. When you've had your fill, head back to Balfonheim.

When you get to Balfonheim, pick up Arise, Esunaga, Shellga, Protectga, Darkga, and Wither (that last one is a technick, the rest are Magicks). Head to the far west and talk the Manse Watch. Enter the Manse and watch the cut scenes, then you'll get Reddas again - as a guest. Better than nothing. The Strahl will be able to fly in Jagd after this, too. Congradulations - you've got an airship. Talk to Rikken a few times to start a mini-game. See the "Running in Balfonheim" in the Misc Side Quest section.

On your way out of town, hit the message board. Now that you've got Reddas again, there are 6 new hunts.

Chapter 36: To The Ridorana Cataract

Now that we have a bunch of hunts, and a new dude, let's go use them all, shall we? Take on all the hunts before you go and lose Reddas. Also, you might wanna try and take on the Hell Wyrm now, too. That extra guy is VERY powerful indeed (Montblanc will give you 50,000 Gil for it, too!) Also, if you don't have a ribbon, you might wanna go for one now.

Head to the Aerodrome and find the counter marked "Private Airships" there. Board the Strahl and head to the Ridorana Cateract in the Jagd Naloda region (it's on the far right of your map). Pretty much no matter WHERE you are on the world map, just hold "right" on the control pad and you'll find it. You'll watch a quick (but cool) cut-scene, and then you'll be ready to go. There's a Save Crystal up ahead - use it!

Take the east exit, then take the south one - you should now be in the Colosseum. Be sure you have float enabled - there are a LOT of traps around the Cataract. Now then, follow the left wall and you should find the Urn before you get to the next area. :D Congrats on your new map. ;) There are lots of chests in this area, and no real enemies - yet. Leave this area via the Northern path. If you encounter a pallicant here, be sure to check out the Trophies section for instructions. Continue east (stay floated!) and save at the save crystal along the Path of Hidden Blessing. Head east to...

Chapter 37: The Pharos at Ridorana

You'll come here from the Cataract, and you'll approach the entry, only to find a very nasty enemy in your way. Meet Hydro. Immediately dispel his haste, and use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick on him. This hits him with Slow, Oil, and Confuse - which is great except that Reddas will just wake him up by smacking him! Firaga and Reflect will hit him for MASSIVE damage, and you should be able to mop the floor with this guy. Remeber, though, you cannot run from this battle - so having saved on the previous screen is a good thing. Montblanc will give you 2,000 Gil from Clan Buckaboo.

Don't bother heading back to see if there are any cool weapons, etc you can get - there aren't NEW opportunities (of course, if you've missed some...) :( Just head inside - go to the large door. Welcome to the Pharos: First Ascent. The monsters on this level will occasionally become glowing blue dots. Touch those to acquire the Black orbs. Place the Black Orbs into the Statues along the bottom. You can find an Urn in the lower center long walkway of the Wellspring Labrynth on the first map (you'll have to wind your way through the right-hand area.

Get as many black orbs as you can - you'll use a Black Orb on each of the three Alters of Night (all three are right next to the center waterfall thing - but two are only accessable via the outer areas. Look at the map - it will make sense). When you break the third seal, you'll need to head to the far right of this level - to the Blackrock Vault. You're getting more than three, however, and you'll use them later on. Anyway, once you get to the Threshhold of Night, examine the door.

You'll first enter the "Dunes of Profaning Wind." Follow the pathway leading up and to your right. If you find yourself being blown back to the starting point, don't walk right there next time. Heh. Just follow the right-hand wall and you'll come to a large rock in the back ground that eventually becomes Pandamonium (a boss).

You can steal an Ancient Turtle Shell from him, if you need one. Fun Fact - I tried to dispel, but he was immune. Anyway, you can get him Silenced and Oiled via the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick (remember to use L1 to target enemies, not friends). I couldn't find anything to hurt him while he was under the effects of "Perfect Defense" (Immunity to physical attacks), so I just had to wait him out. Eventually, that field will falter, and you'll be able to go after him again. This really wasn't one of the harder battles that I've fought up until now, and after perfect defense broke it was over reasonably quick. You'll end up in an empty room with an exit to the west (take that, obvs.)

Now that the magicks binding the waystone are gone, head back to the entrance, and save. You can still get black orbs along the way, and I recommend doing so. I guess you can teleport to Rabanastre if you need the money for beating the Hydro (talk to Montblank), but unless you need to go shopping, it's probably not the best option at this point. Just wait until you are done here - you'll get cooler stuff then anyway. When you're ready, head to the waystone and make your way to...

Chapter 38: The Pharos/Second Ascent

When you get to the 2nd ascent, you'll see two green doors. Take either door, and read the pillar outside. "Tongue of Stone's Green flame your way bespeaks. Tongue once silence, to stone again returns, its muted form a bridge for you to tread." Basically, this is telling you to kill off all the green Brainpans. Look at the map here and take a quick jaunt to the north west point on your sceeen. There's a "Fool's Facade" here. Examine it to break through. If you're lucky there will be a treasure here. If you're really lucky, it will be an elixir. In any event, you should know that there are places you can break through.

Head back toward the entrance to this level. There are lots of levels, bridges, and green Brainpan enemies. Consult the list below to see what needs killing, and where the bridges are. Basically, the number of columns near the bridge pieces tells you how many pieces you'll need overall. Don't kill off the RED Brainpans, though. These are Deidar instead and they'll SUBTRACT a bridge piece. Don't just walk past them (Reddas will kill them), FLEE past them! Or kill off Reddas - either way works. :)

10th/11th (Depending on if you are going up, or coming down - game bug) Floor: 2x Brain Pan, 2x Bridge Pieces.

14th Floor: 1xBrainpan, 3xBridge pieces. Turn right and ascend THOSE stairs to kill 2xBrainpans.

20th Floor: 2xBrainpan, 1xColumn, 1xFool's Facade: Yields Random Treasure (black robes!).

21st Floor: 1xBrainpan



23rd Floor: 1xFool's Fascade: Yields Random Treasure (above).

24th Floor: 1xFool's Fascade: Yields Random Treasure.

25th Floor: 3xBrainpan. 6xBridge pieces. 4xBridge Pieces: Yields (Diamond Bracelet): Holy Rod

29th Floor: 2x Brainpan.

30th Floor: 2x Brainpan.

31st Floor: 2x Brainpan, 1x Deidar (RED Brainpan). 1xFool's Facade: Yields Treasure.

32nd Floor: 1x Brainpan, 1x Deidar (RED Brainpan).

34th Floor: 3x Brainpan (Disapear/Reapearing).

35th Floor: 2x Brainpan (Disapear/Reapearing), 1x Deidar (RED Brainpan), 10xBridge Pieces, 3xBridge Pieces (later): Yields: Fool's Facade: Yields: 4xBridge Pieces (Deidars): Yiels (w/ Diamond Bracelet): Muramasa! and (pre Deidar bridge): Random Treasure: Dueling Mask

36th Floor: 2x Brainpan, 1x Deidar (RED Brainpan).

38th FLoor: 2x Deidar (RED Brainpan).

40th Floor: 2x Brainpan, 1x Deidar (RED brainpan).

41st Floor: 1x Deidar (RED Brainpan).

42nd Floor: 1x Brainpan.

44th Floor: 1x Brainpan, 1x Deidar (RED Brainpan).

46th Floor: 1x Brainpan, 1x Column, 1x Fool's Facade: Yields Nothing.

47th Floor: 1x Brainpan, 3x Bridgepieces.

When you get to the 50th floor, you can turn around and go all the way back down - killing all the RED Brainpans (Deidar's, technically). Killing these enemies may occasionally earn you an Orichalcum, which is needed to unlock the Bazaar recipe for the Stoneblade. Killing those enemies also unlocks access to those hidden areas you couldn't get to before. You may have to make a couple of trips, though. Picture-In-Picture is your friend!

At the top of the 50th floor, you'll enter Horizon's Break. Use the save crystal here! In the southwest corner of this area is your exit. Take the Ancient Door to Horizon's Cusp. Buff up, then head through the door to fight Slyt. Steal a Yensa Scale/Pisces Gem, then hit him with Dispel/Nihopaloa/Remedy for a pretty easy fight.

After the battle with Slyt, head east and take the Waystone to the 2nd Ascent.

Chapter 39: Second Ascent: Reach of Diamond Law

At this point the game decides to handicap you, so you're going to have to chose what that looks like. Find the save crystal and save, then head to the southeast. You could chose any, I guess, but you have to give up something. To the Northeast, you'll be giving up items. To the Northwest, you'll be giving up Attack. To the Southwest, you'll have to give up Magick. I recommed the Southeast, as you are only giving up the mini-map. So go there, then enter the room and head up the stairs.

The exit for the next level (Station of Banishment) is up some stairs in the southwest (lower left of the main map) and/or the northwest (upper right). When you get to the Station of Suffering, head to the upper-left corner of the main map. You can find a URN here. In the lower-left corner of the map is a Fool's Facade. In the lower-right is the exit to the next area.

The 63rd Floor is the Station of Ascent. Again, the lower-left has a Fool's Facade. The exit to the Reach of the Damned is in the upper-left corner of your main map. Head there.

When you reach this level (Floor 64), you'll find another save point. Partake, then head to the next floor via the stairway in the lower left. When you get to the door in the middle of Floor 65, buff up and then open it. Reading the inscription alludes to the fact that you won't be able to use items. That's not actually true. Anyway, Dispel and attack. This shouldn't be a really tough battle at this point. Continue on and open the pink door.

When you get to the next area, find the appropriate alter and touch it. In my case, it was Knowledge. Once you do that, go west and read the pillars to learn how to use the elevator. Get on and head to 67, save, then touch the Waystone. Welcome to...

Chapter 40: Third Ascent: Mete of Dynasty

You are now on the 80th floor, and this is a little tricky. You're looking for Black, Green, Red, Yellow (in that order). Go up to the platform and touch the Black Sigil.

When you arrive at the next point, go forward (east) all the way to the wall, then turn south a little - there's a Fool's facade here. Destry that. Inside is a trap to the north. Cast float and grab the Dragon Whisker out of the chest hidden by the trap. Once you get that, touch the Green Sigil here.

You'll be teleported to the upper right corner of the map. Take the right path to another Fool's Facade. Break it, then another. Ascend to the platform there, and touch the Red Sigil.

In the next area, grab the Circlet in the Treasure chest, then touch the Sigil that matches the color of the sacrifice you made during the ascent (Pinkish for me, since I sacrificed the map. Yellow if you gave up items (wealth), White if you were REALLY brave and gave up weapons, and Purpleish-blue if you opted to give up magicks.) If you end up at the beginning of the previous area, you've chosen the wrong sacrifice!

You should now be in the upper left area. Strait ahead is a column telling you to chose the Waystone with no color. Anyway, strait north from the location you entered is antoher Fool's Facade. Strike it and use this waystone to get to the end. You'll be fighting an enemy called "tower" here, so be ready. Be sure to equip your Theif's Cuffs and steal a Nugget of Einherjarium. Dispel and attack like normal - he shouldn't be that tough. Watch your health, or better yet have a Gambit for Ally: Health < 50% => Curaja.

Buff up - use float too, (you'll regret it if you dont!), then ride the elevator to floor 90. Steal a Leo Stone and a Hi Potion, Dispel his protect, and use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick to hit him with oil. Now just fireaga him. Don't use your Excalibur duing this battle - he's immune to holy damage. Quakeja will NOT hit any ally that's floating. You're welcome. ;) Congratulations, you've acquired the Esper Hashmal, Bringer of Order. Equip your new esper, if you want, then head up - all the way to the 98th Floor - save at the save crystal. Head the rest of the way up and touch the Waystone. After, what, a thousand cut scenes, it's time to fight again.

You can steal a potion from Gabranth, but what's the point? Just Dispel, Nihopalaoa/Remedy and go after him. Silence and Oil suggest you might want to use Fire, yes? Wow. Two Firaga and he's down to his next form. Steal another potion/hi-potion, and repeat. He goes down pretty easily. Now you get to fight Cid again. Steal a hi-potion and/or a Magepower Shishak, cast Dispel, use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick, and go to town on him. When he gets to about half way, he'll call Famfrit. Steal an Elixir from Famfrit, then waste him. Be sure you're not using Excalibur, by the way. Cid will become immune to Physical and Magickal damage. Go after Famfrit at this time. When you kill him off, you can go after Cid again. If you can dodge his main attacks, you should be able to take him out before too long. You'll get the Esper Famfrit the Darkening Cloud for your trouble. Hey! I've got a great idea! Let's save some money by not rendering what happens next... Oh never mind. Check out chapters 41+ to continue.

Chapter 41+

Chapter 41

After a bunch of cut-scenes, you're back. Well, this is it. You can find lots of new Weapons, Armor, Hunts (Well, the Pylraster), items (x-potion), Magicks (Holy, Shock, Scourge, Flare, Slowga) right here in Balfonheim. If you haven't already raced Rikken, you might have to do that before you can start the Pylraster mark hunt.

You can find the Hastega spell by teleporting to Dalmasca's Eastersand and talking to the Unlucky Merchant.

You can also return to Clan Hall and talk to Montblanc. He'll tell you about Ixion and The Seer (Two new Hunts).

You can go to Nalbina Fortress and talk to Jovy (the guy running around) and get an Elixir and a Knot of Rust - if you are a high enough rank.

You can head to the Dalmasca Westersand and buy Renew from the merchant "Lohen" there.

You can teleport to the Barheim Passage and get the Magick "Ardor" from the merchant in the far north.

You can go find the hidden shop in the Nechrohol of Nabudis (enter via the Salikawood) and buy the Magick Scathe (See Misc Side Quests).

If you've been folowing along my Walkthough the whole way, you're almost done. Things still to be done:

Finish the hunts for Ixion, The Seer, Pylraster, and Yiazmat. You might want to wait on the Yiazmat mark until you've taken on Zodiark.

After doing the first three hunts here, you're probably ready for the Henne Mines Esper Zodiark sidequest.

Once you have had your fill of side quests, and you've bought everything you think you'll want to buy, you can finally head to Bahamut. Be warned, though, you can't come back once you start this quest!

Sky Fortress Bahamut


When you are done playing the rest of the game (you can't go back from here), board the Strahl and head to Bahamut (it's just to the right of Rabanastre). Watch the cool cut scenes. When the ship docks, you'll get control. If you've been following this walkthrough at all up to this point, the chances are VERY good that you'll have WAY more than powerful enough characters. All of mine were level 95 or above. I just danced through this area without bubble or any other magicks.

Take the door on your left, then take the first right you come to. You should be on the Catwalk now. There are exits all around the outside, but they just take you to various other bulkheads (3, 2, etc). Head toward the center and hop onto the barge there. Examine the lift controls and engage the lift. You shouldn't have any real problem from Judge Gabranth. Every time he talks, you can steal something else. :D I got an x-potion and a hi-potion. Go examine the controls again.

After a few moments (and cut scenes), you'll fight Vayne. I decided that I wanted to make this an interesting fight, so I did it sans accessories and weapons. I still wiped the floor with him. Apparently "force of will" hits the camera lense...? Heh heh. Now vayne becomes, um, a summon...? I couldn't steal from him. Once you beat him, watch more (and more, and more) cut scenes. OK... This is pretty creepy. I hope your guys are powerful, heh heh. For fun, I stole a dark matter and used that on him. When he starts to get totally immune to everything, use Scathe - it's non-elemental and THAT hurts him. When he becomes immune to everything, take off your attack gambits, and focus on healing yourself. He'll eventually lose those palings and you'll be able to hurt him again.

Now watch a BUNCH of cut scenes. Congratulations! Now just wait for FFXIII to come out! (Or of you're reading this after December 2008, go find it in a store and have fun!

Disclaimer

Walkthrough Notes

Leveling Up

General Info:
Ah, yes. What Final Fantasy game would be complete without the good old fashioned level treadmill? Heh heh. There are a few really good spots in the game to level up. They are almost all a bit harder than you really want. I like to level up my characters using my TVs PnP function. That way, I can be paying scant attention to my characters, and I can be (for example) watching a football game. The problem here is this: If you're in a spot that's leveling your guys up fast, it's a good bet that you have to pay close attention to them so they don't get killed. I kinda like to find a happy medium here. So when you see the spots below, bear in mind that there MAY be places where you can get more XP for killing enemies - but you'll have to pay closer attention to what's going on. I'll try to let you know when/where/why/how you'l want to use each area, but the rest is really up to you. Good luck! Unlike many of the previous side quests in prior games, the Hunt/Mark sidequests here actually level your guys up pretty well.

Ch 02 - Dalmasca Eastersand:

The first good spot to level up is right after you get outside of Rabanastre. Kill off the cactites and wolves 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. If you happen to get a Broadsword by stealing from a cactite, you can actually use this. Just go to your license area (when you get 15 LP) and activate Swords 1. This is the only license it's worth enabling (unless you happen across an Escutcheon in a treasure chest), as the Broadsword item is the only thing that's active for now.

You'll be able to activate other Licenses later, but you'll have to earn the license before you can use it. I know, it's kinda confusing, but it'll make sense as you get further along. At lease, I hope it will. :D 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.

Ch 3 - Dalmasca Westersand:

If you get your guys up to level 8 or 9 or so, you'll probably actually enjoy leveling up in the Westersand during chapter three. I recommend going here BEFORE you meet up with Penelo, though. It might be easier to kill things if you have help, but you wrack up points quicker if you don't. Liscense points don't really matter much, because all your characters earn license points for each battle - even ones you haven't played, or even met!

:

Ch 26 - The Stilshrine of Miriam:

Once the dust has settled on Mt Bur-Omisace, you can return to the Stilshrine of Miriam. Check out the Zeromus the Condemner Esper side quest. The location where this esper resides is a WONDERFUL spot to rack up both Gil and Exp - at least at this point in the game. You can grab 100,000 Gil+ here.

Ch 42:

The best place in the whole game to level is is probably the last place you'll go - the Henne Mines. By now you should have at least 10 espers, so you can talk to the old guy in Jahara and he'll open the east side of the Henne mines. Head north from the teleport crystal, then go east 1 screen. The bat type creatures here are worth around 3k each, and with the Embroidered Tippet, that's a total of 6,000+ points EACH. On a single trip down and back, you can come away with well over 300,000 XP. You'll likely end up here around level 70 or so (if you've been following along so far). You can also rack up a large quantity of Gil here. Just go through the first screen here, then come strait back. Do this two or three times, and you'll have 99 Spiral Incisors and 99 Dark Crystals to sell. Just be sure you are only killing off the bat type creatures - don't kill off the dragons or you'll reset your chain level.

Phase 2 Dig: When you first teleport in, head north and east to enter the really hard area. Set gambits for Haste, Bravery, Protect, Libra, Float and Bubble. Head down the corridore, but don't forget to look into all the areas here (including the hidden areas) for chests. At the end of this hallway is an urn (guarded by a Gizamaluk - go ahead and kill him off). The urn will light up the hidden areas here. Continue south and west until you find another Gizamaluke. South from there is a discarded scrap of paper, with writing on it. See how he's talking about the "four" there? Open your map and look to the right. You should see something that looks like a four.

Crossover C: When you get to Crossover C, swap oput your Emboridered Tipped for Ribbons and Bowline Sashes. Make your way down to the south-east (you don't need to use any of the switches to get there). Head east to the Special Charter Shaft.

Make your way along the winding hallway until you reach more cave. If you have a lot of trouble getting throgh here, turn around and go all the way back to the start (swap in your embroidered tippets when you get past the Hecteyes), save, and come back. You're going to level up quite a bit en route, and you'll need it all. When you're ready, equip a gambit for Chronos Tears. In the middle of the long shaft (look for a trap), you'll find a branch heading north. All the way at the north edge of the left-facing "tear" off the edge of the four, you'll find a Glowing Object. You'll get 3 Amphorae of Bacchus's Wine and 2xMegalixir. From this point, follow the right wall all the way around until you come to the Special Charter Dig. See the Espers Section (Zodiark) for tips on this guy.

Points to Remember

• Early on, you'll recieve a "Clan Primer." The last option under the Clan Primer is "Traveler's Tips." Be sure to refer to this often, as it contians valuable information you'll probably miss otherwise.
• Like many FF games, this one has more than just "XP." You can also get License points, which allow you to use new weapons, armor, technicks, etc. Don't blow your license points on weapons/armor (for that matter, don't blow your gil on them, either). Go for specific spells/technicks that are most useful.
• Attack this game from the standpoint that you DO want to beat it completely. If you decide not to at some point, you can always stop doing the tough stuff. Otherwse, you may miss out on something you really need.
• Any time you see an item in a dashed box, you can hover the mouse over it for more information about that item. Hover the mouse over the box in this line for for a second or two to see an example of how it works.
• The game will sometimes include a VERY powerful monster in among a lot of not-so-hard ones. DON'T ATTACK THEM UNTIL YOU'RE READY!!! Usually, these will be green, but if you steal from them, or set off a trap that injurs them, they will begin to attack you.
• Speaking of traps... Use the technique libra so you can see traps. Use float to keep from hitting them (you'll float over the top of them).
• Throughout the land of Ivalice, you'll encounter enemies that LOOK like other enemies, but are a bit harder. After a certain point in the game, some of these monsters will drop trophies. You may want to wait to fight these enemies until you have visited the Phon coast and talked to the appropriate people. After fighting particularly hard (but not boss) foes, check your Bestiary. If you run across "Rare Game" and you kill it, be sure to check and see if the phrase "This strain, as yet unrecorded in the Camp annals..." appears in there. If so, you can rest assured.
• Don't open every chest! There is a very special item you CANNOT GET if you open certain chests. There are four sets in particular you do NOT want to open: The one outside Old Dalan's house, anything inside Dalmasca castle's palace celler, anything in the confiscatory of Nalbina Fortress, anything along the phon coast (there are a BUNCH here).
• Most enemies that have a "restore" power will only use it once. Don't flee just because your enemy restores and you think you're hosed.
• Touching a Save Crystal will reset your chain-level gague. Walking past most of them without touching it will not.

Fishing

Introduction
When you have completed the Barheim Passage quest, talk to Ruskel in the Southbank village, in dalmasca's Eastersand. He'll tell you he wants to begin fishing. Then, when you get to Balfonheim, head to the Aerodrome screen (Chivany Breakwater). Talk to the Fishing Enthusiast near the entrance to this area. Twice. Ask about the fishing rod. Now head over to the entrance to the aerodrome and come back - if you talk to the sleepy guy, it will suffice. The rod should just be leaning up where the guy was. Grab the rod and you'll obtain the Muramata.

Take the Rod to Ruksel at the South Bank Village in the Dalmasca Eastersand. You can now go fishing with Ruksel. Talk to him again and ask him to explain how it works. Basically, you tell him what kind of fish he's got, and he'll reel it in. Save your game at the Save Crystal here, then have him take you out fishing. The first place you can go fishing is...

Nebra - Downstream After 5 perfect trips you'll be able to move on. All the fish in this area are only four keys, they only use U,D,L,R,T,C,X,S. Fish Types:
circle x square up-arrow:
triangle x squar down-arrow:
square triangle x o:
tri circle x square: nebra bass
down-arrow x tri squar?:

Nebra - Midstream Perfect:

Bottles in the River - Find the Matamune:

Blue: Truth lies just beyond falsehood. CDZCKZMCRANZS.. That's supposed to tell you to look at the letter that would follow each of the letters here (this is not scrambled, it's ciphered; but not well). Adding one letter to every letter gives you DEADLANDSBOAT. You are supposed to go to the Nabreus Deadlands and search the boat in the southeast corner of the Echos of the Past area. Hold the blue bottle near to the light. You should get an X-Potion and a Wanly-limned Message that reads "River...unde...o";

Green: Skip on stones to far bank's shore, by skipping stones return once more. SSADLNIAKLADHAUETDNREA. You're supposed to figure out that you need to read every other letter on the first pass, and the OTHERS going BACKWARD on the next pass. "SALIKAHUTNEARDEADLANDS." Teleport to the Salikawood and go north two screens to the Piebald Path. There's a faint glow next to the hut there. Hold the bottle near it to obtain a Hastega Mote and a Green-hued Message. This one reads "Forest...rgro...w"

Red: Foothills rise in mountains' shadow. nhIiQsTUrEe The tall letters can be rearainged to spell "QUIET" and the lower case ones can be rearainged to spell "shrine." Head to the Mosphoran Highwaste Bubbling Vale and search the "quiet shrine" there. It's the one that lady was looking at in the Northwest corner. You'll get a Holy Mote and a Vermillion Message reading "Fire...undb...h"

Yellow: Dragons stir among the eaters of the wind. 1 2 - - 5 - 7 - 9 -. Eaters of the wind refers to windmills, and of course there are dragons there. You want to head to that area and make sure windmills 1, 2, 5, 7, and 9 are ON - while 3, 4, 6, 9, and 10 must be OFF. You can find the windmills in the following areas:

• North Liavell Hills: 1, 2, and 3
• The Terraced bank: 4 and 5
• The Northsward: 6 and 7
• Crossfield: 8, 9, and 10

Espers

Intro

Throughout the game, you'll receive various espers as you beat things up. You can also gain espers through side-quests and/or exploring. When you get a certian ammount, Montblanc will also give you stuff:

4 espers: Eurek gives you 1xHigh Arcana, 2xTeleport Stones
8 espers: Eurek gives you 1xNugget of Gemsteel, 2x Teleport Stones

Adrammelech When: Ch 17
Where: Zertinan Caves
Steal: Pebble

Enter the Zertinan Caves from the Dalmasca Westersand. You'll first be in the "Invitation to Heresy." From there, head south to the Sandfalls, and attack a rock to the south to open your passage to the Hourglass Basin. The exit to the south will take you to a save crystal. Save, then go back to the Hourglass Basin, and take the western exit. You should now be in the Athroza Quicksands - where Adrammelech lives. Er, doesn't.

Need: Have haste/shell/protect/bubble - at least. I went in with my characters at level 40, and this was not a difficult battle. Niopalaoa/Remedy worked for Slow and Blind. Just be sure to take out the little nasties when they show up - otherwise you'll get nickel-and-dimed to death. Don't use lightning arrows, and don't cast water. I used Guns and Bows (parallel arrows). When he casts "perfect defense" or whatever it's called, you won't be able to attack him. Instead, concentrate on healing up, buffing up again, and getting rid of any lesser enemies. His thundaja attack is pretty nasty, but if you've got bubble and shell enabled, you should be able to withstand it. At least, if you are over level 35.

I did this battle on chapter 19, so I know it's possible there. My guys were at level 40 because I'd gone exploring in the Necrohol of Nabudis. While you are exploring the caves, you can take the north exit from the Athroza Quicksands and you'll end up in the southern part of The Balamka Fault. You can find an urn here with a full map. It's guarded by a trap, though, so cast float before you grab it! This should allow you to see where you can strike boulders and open secrete paths.

Exodus the Judge-Sal

I recommend you be level 50ish for this one. To acquire Exodus, teleport to the Mosphoran Highwaste. Getting to him is a little tricky, so I'm going to do it in list format here. Incidentally, if you run across "Dheed" here anywhere, be sure to steal a Mirage Vest. That + Cat-Ear Hood can take a sufficently high-level character and give them 99 Speed. ;)

1. Buy/Find 10-15 Gysahl Greens
2. Locate the "Shrine of the South Wind" and activate it.
3. View the map to see where the Floatweed allows you to go.
4. Go to the Northern wall here, and follow it east to Rays of Ashen Light. Find the Wayward Chocobo here; feed 'em a Gyshall Green.
5. Ride the Chocobo South one screen, and follow the right wall - there should be a new path for you.
6. Follow the path all the way west - you'll ride off the screen.
7. On the next screen, go all the way west (you can't get very far to the North... Yet...) until you are foced to dismount to continue, and go down.
8. Activate the Shrine of the West Wind, and examine the Weathered Rock at the northern end of this area to open up a path to the rest of the area here.
9. Activate the Shrine of the Northwest Wind (Near the Caravaner and Learned Man), then save your game.
10. Back-track to Skyreach Ridge (the West area past the Shrine of the West Wind), kill the vultures on this screen, prepare any buffs and you want BEFORE you leave this screen - you'll be prevented from using items during the upcoming battle - then take the path leading north to Empyrean Seat (it might not be obvious that's where it's going, just FYI.)

Cuchulainn, the Impure

If you don't have Curaja, this will suck. Be sure to buy 3 black belts (you can get them from the merchant in the southern half of lowtown), then head to Rabanstre. Go to Lowtown and into the Garamsyth waterway via Storehouse No. 5, then into Central Waterway Control. Save. Let's go into list mode here.

1. Start out with all the controls off.
2. Activate (light-up) the two right-most controls (No. 3 Waterway Control and No. 10 Waterway Control)
3. Head to the No. 3 Cloaca Spur and activate (close) the No. 1 South Waterway Control.
4. Return to the Central Waterway Control and toggle all the switches (3 & 10 off, 4 & 11 on)
5. Head to the No. 4 Cloaca Spur and activate (close) the No. 1 South Waterway Control.
6. Return to the Central Waterway Control.
7. Turn off 11, turn on 3, and save (the center two swtiches should be on now).
8. Head strait south to the No. 1 Clocoa, buff up your guys, and head down into the water in the center.

Zalera - The Death Seraph When: Ch 21 (right...)
Where: Zertinan Caves
Steal: Pebble

The earliest I had success on this was in Chapter 23 when the levels for my characters were all in their 40s. The secret to this was getting Mirror Mail armor from the bird-type enemies in the Feywood "Walk of Dancing Shadow." That plus a Black Belt to prevent Disable on two characters, plus a Nishijin Belt on one was enough to make this work. I set a gambit to use a Phoenix Down on any Ally, a Remedy on any Ally, then to cast Cura on Ally with Reflect. I believe it's totally possible with levels in the low forties.

Teleport to the Barheim Passage to start this one. If you haven't got that option available to you, be sure to read up on the "Flower for the Wife" side quest. Go south one screen, then west all the way to Terminus No. 7 Adjunct. If you have it, Excalibur is your friend here. Holy damage absolutely SHREDS here. See the Giruvegan section. Save at the Terminus No. 7 Adjunct and buff up. This will be a timed battle, so be ready to unleash the hounds. Er, be sure you set your gambits to minimize time spent (e.g., use items instead of casting spells.)

Thief's Cuffs to steal (high arcana), and Nihopalaoa to Slow/Blind, and Dispel - but unequipe it immediately after use. You will want to resurect your guys as quickly as possible, and that means Phoenix Downs, which don't work if you have the Nihopalaoa equiped. This enemy starts off immune to some kinds of damage, but not to healing spells. If you don't have mirror mail, use Ruby Rings or cast reflectga (or use reflectga motes) on your party, and then set gambits to Curaja (or Cura if you don't have Curaja yet) on Ally with status=reflect. She may cast level 2 sleep, which can suck if your party are all the same even level, but it's worse if she casts prime level death and your party is all levels with prime numbers.

When you've defeated her, be sure to head WEST to get out. There's a secret exit here to the Garamsyth Waterway. Take that. If you have played with the Garamsyth Waterway Controls,, return and make your way back out (you may not be able to get all the way to Rabastre, depending on what you've done up until this point). If you HAVEN'T played with the controls, make your way around the south and west edge to get out. Save at the control area, and (optionally), try to get the "Dull Fragment" piece of the Medallion from the "Four Pieces of the Medallion" side quest.

Zeromus the Condemner

If you do not already have the Stone of the Condemner, go to Mt Buromisace and talk to the elder there right in front of the temple. After you have the Stone, head to the Stilshrine of Miriam. When you arrive, save and head into the shrine. Go to the Way Stone at the South edge of the Ward of Measure (that's the narthex) , and touch the device. When the Stone of the Condemner reacts to it, use the Stone of the Condemner. You'll be wisked away to goodness only knows where (actually, the map shows you exactly where). Be buffed up, and head south one screen.

Notes: You cannot use magic in this battle. Sucks, nee? Chain your Quickenings. I got a 10 chain and a 15 chain. With all my characters at level 55ish, I was barely able to take him out. Set your guys to use X-Potions and Phoenix downs, but don't forget to change back to Raise and Curaja after the battle! If you wait until you've made it to Archades before attempting this, you can buy 3x Pheasant Netsuke from the Stranded Merchant in Old Archades. These cause phoenix downs to recover full HP with use - that's REALLY useful!

If you want less of a challange, why not wait until you have the zodiac spear (see misc side quests)? Save up about 300,000 Gil or so, have the character with the zodiac spear attack the lowest HP enemies, and have the other two characters use gil toss on the foe with the highest max HP.

On a side note, did you notice how many bad guys spawned here? Leave and come back if you wanna fight a LOT of them. By the time you can beat Zeromus, you should be well able to use this area to level-up/get Gil and stuff. You can steal Dragon Mail if you use the Thief's Cuffs, which can be really powerful, depending on what level your guys are at. Just turn off gambits and touch the way stone 3 times. you sould be able to chain these guys about 45 per trip. When you've got 99 Blood Darkend Bones, go sell 'em off. This is a good way to get extra Gil to use with Gil Toss when you are going after Chaos. ;) It also has the added bonus of giving you extra Teleport Stones, which is always cool.

Another fun fact - you know those Reapers near the teleport stone? If you teleport 3 times, they respawn - allowing you to chain them. My first chain was at 6, then 15, then 23. I was able to do 3 teleports with 2 kills in around 60 seconds. I could also steal warp motes from the Reaper Mage. I was careful not to accidentally kill off a Redmaw, but alas, I received nothing. After a 40-chain I finally gave up. I was hoping they would drop something cool. Le Sigh.

Chaos, Walker of the Wheel

To prepare, get 3 ruby rings, at lest 3 good shields (Genji and Crystal), 99 X-Potions, 99 Phoenix Downs, 99 Remedys, 500,000 Gil. Don't forget, if you find the Helvinek en route, steal the magic lamp using the Thief's Cuffs. Check out the Misc. Side Quest "Four Pieces of the Medallion." If your guys are buff enough (I like to be level 60 or so), head to the Nabreus Deadlands and save at the Golden save crystal there. Head north and east and enter the Necrohol.

Head to the Hall of the Ivory Covenant and you examine the Door of Loathing, you'll be given the opportunity to use the Medalian of Love. This grants you acces to Fury. Using Nihopaloa/Remedy will hit him with Sap and Silence, but he'll probably give himself Protect, Shell, Bravery and Faith. Dispel that. You can steal Moondust and Braid Wool from him. Watch to see if your guys get Berserked - and be ready, he'll do it to himself, too. Eventually, he'll probably berserk himself, which should make it a very straightorward battle. I used my brand new zodiac spear (see misc. side quest area) and that made this pretty easy for guys around level 60). When you beat him, the game will tell you "The Lusterless Medalian Keens." You're half-way to the punch.

Next, journey to the Cloister of Distant Song. Use the Medal of Courage to open the Door of Horror, and begin the battle with Humbaba Mistant. Steal a Beastlord Hide from him, and use Dispel. Also, use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick to hit him with Slow, Silence, and Sap. I used the Zodiac Spear for this battle, and my guys were all at level 60. It wasn't really a challange. When you see him ready the attack Temblor, move your guys away from each other - it not only does major damage, but it also casts disable/etc on them. The map of the Necrohol of Nabudis will appear. Now that you've beaten both of these guys, you'll get the Medallion of Might! The next time you see Montblanc, the Fallen of Nabudis will send you 2100 Gil for the Humbaba, and 2100 for Fury. You'll also get an amphora of bacchus's wine. Heh heh. Now THAT'S irony.

Continue on to the Cloister of the Highborn (actually, you might want to leave and save at this point), then look for the path leading south to The Crucible. That's where you'll fight Chaos and his four swords. (I was able to steal a Taurus Gem.) Before opening the door, make sure you set your gambits as below.

1. Enter the gambits menu and turn them all off for the 3 characters you will use
2. Set priority 1 to ally: any => phoenix down
3. Set priority 2 to ally: any => remedy
4. Set priority 3 to ally: any => x-potion
5. Set priority 4 to foe: lowest HP => gill-toss
6. Equip Accessory: Ruby Ring on all characters
7. Alternate Accessory Strategy: Pheasant Netsuke on all characters (works pretty well, actually!)
8. Equip Shileds on all characters (you can't attack anyway)
9. Make Sure at least ONE character has GIL-TOSS as the 2nd highest priority (I know, it's different than above; think about it).

Ultima, the High Seraph

Prep work: Take along at least 250,000 Gil (and the Gill Toss skill, obviously), and if you can find them, a Zodiac Spear, White Mask, and/or Sage Ring (you can buy a sage ring in old archades after your first visit to Giruvegan; these obsorb Holy magic, which is seriously helpful in this battle). It is also recommended you be at least level 58 or so.

Head back to Giruvegan and head inside. If you follow the east wall, you should find an urn now, which will allow you to get the full map. Find your way back to The Great Crystal - you'll start at Waypoint VIII.

1. Take the center of the three paths, and teleport at Way Stone IX there.
2. Take the only path you can; you will end up at Way Stone XX
3. Take the 3rd path on the left (straight ahead from where you arrive) and go two screens in (kill off or warp all Mom Bomb enemies on the way; you don't want to encounter them during your timed run back!)
4. Toggle the Stagitarius Switch, then (timed) run back to Waystone XX and go through Stagitarious Gate II (that's the one to your RIGHT when you get back to the Waystone).
5. You will come to Waystone XII; take it to Way Stone XIV.
6. The path in front of you should lead up - go up and toggle the Leo Gate Stone
7. (Timed) Run back and take the other path.
8. (Timed) on the next screen, take the only path available.
9. (Timed) on the next screen, take the only path available.
10. (Timed) on the NEXT screen, take the FIRST path on your left (NOT the one you took when going after excalibur).
11. (Timed) On the next screen, take the only path, and touch the gate at the other end.
12. Now you have to battle an ash wyrm; he shouldn't be TOO hard at this point.
13. Once you beat the Ash Wyrm (I stole 800 gil!), take the first path on your right, and then continue to Way Stone XV.
14. Take XV to XVI. There are 3 exits here - take the center one for now.
15. On the next screen, toggle the Libra Gate Stone and (timed) run back to XVI and take the the path on your right.
16. (Timed) Open the Gate Libra I FIRST, then battle the enemy! Take the newly opened path leading up.
17. On the next screen are three exits - take the LEFT one.
18. WAIT (don't toggle the gate yet!) On the next screen, take the left path. Get the treasure on the NEXT screen (you might get the Glimmering Robes - use the Diamond Armet!), then return here.
19. Toggle the Capricorn Gate Stone
20. (Timed) Run back to Way Stone XVI (leave this screen, on the next screen take the first right), and this time take the final path (it'll be the 2nd left as you enter the screen).
21. (Timed) Open Gate Capricorn I
22. Toggle the Virgo Gate Stone and (timed) run back one screen to Way Stone XVI.
23. (Timed) Take the center path (it'll be on your immediate right as you enter)
24. (Timed) On the next screen, take a left (ignore the Libra Gate Switch here).
25. (Timed) On the next screen, Open Gate Virgo I FIRST (It's on your right as you enter the screen), then kill the enemies.
26. After defeating the enemies, take the newly opened path leading down, then take a left on the next screen.
27. If you've done everything right, you should be at Way Stone XVII; take it to Way Stone XVIII. Of note: This is one of the best places in here to hunt the Evil Spirit trophy game. See the trophy game section for more detail.
28. There's only one way to go here, so take that route, buff your characters, and save your game.
29. In addition to the route you came in via, you should see three paths here. Take the middle route to fight Ultima

Zodiark, Keeper of the Precepts

Getting to this guy is half the trouble. And if you've ever gotten to him, you know how bad that makes fighting him. :D Anyway, once you have 10 espers, talk to the Geomancer in Jahara, the village of the Garaf. He'll make sure the eastern part of the mine is opened up, and that will give you access to this area (Phase II Dig). Before you head in, make sure you've got at least 3 demon shields (or black masks) and at least one opal ring (two, if you can swing them!) You'll want your characters to be at levels that are not divisible by 2, 3, or 4 by the time you get to the boss battle, so level-up accordingly. Considering the toughness of this battle, you'l want to have your guys at a pretty high level. I'd recommend: 77, 79, 83, 85, 89, 91, 95, 97. Remember, there are accessories that keep you FROM gaining experience, too. ;)

Anyway, teleport to the Henne Mines, save, then go north one screen and east one screen to access the newly opened area. Watch for traps in this area - there are a LOT of them. A float gambit might save you some grief. As you head east, you'll come to a room where some bat enemies are fighting a dragon enemy. If you sit back in the distance, you can keep from losing your bat chain, but you DO want to get the Urn hidden in there. Chances are the bats will kill off the dragon, and you can come in after watching for a few moments. The Urn contains a Henne Candle. To keep up your chain (for level up purposes), you can wander around the whole Phase 2 Dig, and then head west through the Ore Separation to the North Entrance and then come back. This not only resets the enemies spawn (without clearing the chain), but also resets the treasure chest spawn. Be sure to equip a Diamond Armlet to your party leader before opening any chests - but don't forget to switch back to an embroidered tippet. I scored an elixir, a megalixir, thousands of Gil, etc.

Head all the way through the phase II dig, Crossover C, Pithead Junction, Phase 2 Shaft, Special Charter Shaft, and finally Special Charter Dig.

Special Charter Dig (Zodiark): Know how I always tell you to dispel on boss fights? Well don't do it here. I kid you not - I've died here at least a dozen times, and if there's one thing I've learned it's this: YOU CAN'T BEAT HIM IF YOU KEEP DISPELLING HIM!!! OK. Sorry to shout, but here's the deal - every time you cast dispel, he throws up a paling; it can be either magic OR physical. Set your battle speed down to the slowest level, equip all your guys with dark masks (or demon shields and one-handed weapons). Steal a Serpentarius. Keep your guys a little flexible. You want a weapon that will do holy damage at the START of battle, and swap out that weapon with one that has no element later (he changes his vulerabilities). Have your guys wail on him until you see a paling. If it's physical, that's your cue to use your opal ring (he's got reflect up and you better not dispel it, remember?) and scathe magic. If he throws up a paling for magical damage, hit him with your normal (non elemental) weapons.

Primary Prep: One character should be an attacker (and use phoenix downs, too), another should be equiped with an opal ring (ignore reflect) and set up as a magic thrower for holy spells - until you see he's no longer immune to holy; switch to scathe at that point. That guy should use phoenix downs, too. Your final character should be a healer. You know the drill - phoenix downs, curaja, remedy, etc.

Other Prep tricks: Try staring out with one guy you are willing to lose. Let him take the first Darkja, then swap him out with your real party. Set your battle speed to slow. Don't be afraid to use your megalixirs; this is a tough battle! Wait until you see him start to use Darkja BEFORE you use your quickening attacks. Remember, a Megalixir CAN be followed directly by a Mist-Chain Quickening. But if this #!@$ is protected against physical/magical damage, you're totally scewed regardless.

Final piece of advice: Be patient! If at first you don't succeed, try again! In all honesty, by the time your guys are buff enough to GET to him, you're probably buff enough to beat him.

If you've finally managed to get all 13 espers, head back to Rabanastre and talk to Montblanc. Eurek sends you 2x Serpentarius and 2x Teleport Stone with his complements!

Trophies / Rare Game

TROPHIES / RARE GAME

02/80 - Thalassinon
Steal: Adamantite
Trophy: Shelled Trophy
Where: Phon Coast / The Vaddu Strand
Requires: Head to the highest cliff edge and wait for 5-10 seconds (you should see him show up along the coastline below.


NOTE: Various Bazaar recipes need a total of 3 adamantite. Since you can easily steal them from this enemy, I recommend stocking up on all three. Just follow the directions at the top of this page to steal, stop before you kill him, then backtrack 2+ zones and return. Repeat a few times and you've got all three.

When you first have an opportunity to head here (chapter 30), take it! Head to the Phon Coast and talk to the Huntmaster, the head of the Hunter's Clan here. He'll tell you to head after Thalassinon. Go to the Vaddu Stran (to your immidiate east - right - on the next screen over. head to the upper rigth corner of the map and look down from there at the shore. You sould see it - it looks like a big turtle. Head down there, but DON'T OPEN ANY CHESTS if you haven't got the Zodiak Spear yet! I spent a lot of time trying to steal from him before I got a nugget of adamantite. Was it worth it? I dunno. He's not immune to stop, so if you can do that, heh heh. You'll get him quick, to be sure. You'll get 10 LP and a Shelled Trophy. Take that back to the Huntmaster.

After this, you can talk to the Hunt Club Owner in the Highgarden Terrace in Archades. Come back to him as you acquire trophies... He'll make it worth your while.

01/80 - Aspidochelon (Trophy)
LP: 11
XP: 1846
Steal: Nugget of Scarletite
Drops: Admantine Trophy
Where: Cerobi Steppe / Feddik River

Note: Various Bazaar recipes require Gemsteel, which needs a Nugget of Scarletite. If you're not optimizing the use of Gemsteel, obtaining all the items in the Bazaar can require a total of up to 11 of these. This is a pretty easy place to grind this item. This enemy either replaces or spawns along side the big turtle enemy past the first Bridge in Feddikk River if you come there from the North Liavell Hills to the south. If you don't see him there, you can take the south exit, and make a hard right to go west into the Terraced Bank, then return. Since this enemy drops a trophy, be aware that killing it will mean you can't keep farming the Scarletite.

To find this guy, teleport to Balfonheim port, then head north to the Cerobi Steppe / Feddik River. See the note above if he doesn't spawn. It might be dependant on the weather - I'm not sure about that. In any event, kill off the other enemies around him, steal the Scarletite, dispel anything that will make him tough, and then take him out.

Optimization note - Since you're already here on the Cerobi Steppe, consider going after these two enemies:

• Etherian (45/80)
• Bluesang (77/80)

03/80 - Greeden (No Trophy)
LP: 3
XP: 410
Steal: Wind Crystal
Drops: Braid Wool, Arcana
Where: Dalmasca Estersand / Banks of the Nebra

To find this guy, teleport to Dalmasca's Estersand (South Bank Village) and head south one screen to the Banks of the Nebra. Wander around and kill everything except the Cactoids. Eventually, a large Gator-type enemy will appear near the water's edge.

04/80 - Bull Croc
LP: 5
XP: 722
Steal: Blood Wool
Drops: Braid Wool, Arcana
Where: Ozmone Plain / The Shred

Teleport to Jahira and head to The Shred. When you get there, you'll want to kill everything off, then leave to The Greensnake and return. You can chain-level the Wu enemies here while you wait. Eventually you may find The Shred is totally empty of any enemies. When that happens, exit and come back immediately. He should be there now.

I usually start off using the Thief's Cuffs to steal some Blood Wool from him, and then just attack him normally. It wasn't a very tough fight for my guys by the time I got here.

05/80 - Gavial (Trophy)
LP: 13
XP: 2615
Steal: Antarctic Wind
Drops: Fur-scaled Trophy
Where: Garamsythe Waterway / No. 10 Channel

Teleport to Rabastre and make your way to the Garamsythe Waterway in Lowtown. Make sure the far right No. 10 Waterway Control is lit up (closed), then head to the No. 10 Channel on the left side of your overhead map. Go down the stairs to the lower area and wait a while. This Gator-type enemy will come wandering up to you eventually. Don't forget to have your guys healing as well as stealing - this guy can do some serious damage. Also, he starts out reflected, so don't cast high power magicks at him unless you use an Opal Ring. Other than that, it should be a fairly straightforward fight. NOTE: You may want to steal the Antarctic Wind more than once by fleeing before he's dead (go at least two screens away and then return). Sell two of these along with 7 ice crystals and 4 spiral incisors to unlock the Perseus Bow. See the Items / Bazaar section.

06/80 - Wary Wolf (Ch. 17)
LP: 8
XP: 816
Steal: Prime Pelt
Drops: Wolf Pelt, Power Armlet
Where: Mosphoran Highwaste / Summit Path

Head to the Mosphoran Highwaste Babbling Vale and go one screen south. The Wary Wolf should be among the Worgen. You may need to leave the area and return a few times.

07/80 - Kaiser Wolf
LP: 11
XP: 736
Steal: Drop of Throat Wolf's Blood
Drops: Fanged Trophy
Where: Dalmasca Westersand / Corridor of Sand (After the next battle!)

NOTE: You must kill off the next (08/80) enemy for this guy to show up! After you've beat the Lindbur Wolf below, head north two screens to the Corridor of Sand and make your way to the upper right area, near the exit to the Wyrm's Nest. It should be slightly south from there.

08/80 - Lindbur Wolf
LP: 3
XP: 197
Steal: Gladius
Drops: Wolf Pelt, Arcana (d'oh)
Where: Dalmasca Westersand / Shimmering Horizons (small, separate northern area)

I think the name of this enemy may be a case of mistaken translation. My guess is it was supposed to be "Limber Wolf," but be cause there is no "MB" sound in Japanese, they used "NDu" to get as close as they could. That's your random sidenote of the day. :D Also, this is a two part battle. After you beat this guy, see number 07/80 above.

Head to Rabanastre and leave via the westersand and enter the Galtea Downs. You are going to want to chain level wolves, so don't kill anything else. Kill off all the wolves here, and then take the south exit to the smaller area of the Shimmering Horizons. Kill the wolves there. If you don't see the Lindbur Wolf, return to the previous area (Galtea Downs) and kill all the wolves there again, then come back. You may have to do this a few times for him to appear. Be patient - it took me 19 before he showed up.

09/80 - Dreadguard
LP: 12
XP: 1408
Steal: Mirror Scale
Drops: Feathered Trophy
Where:

Head to the Golmore Jungle, then go south to the Feywood (NOTE: You may run into 16/80 - Biding Mantis in Golmore Jungle/The Needlebrake. See the appropriate entry if that is the case.) Head to the Walk of Dancing Shadow, then go west toward the Henne Mines. From here, head south and east to find a bunch of Mirrorknights. One of them will randomly be the Dreadguard. Steal and kill.

10/80 - Crypt Bunny
LP: 12
XP: 588
Steal: Holy Mote
Drops: Arcana (d'oh)
Where:

If you are coming from the above hunt, simply go right one screen to the Walk of Stolen Truths area of the Feywood. Wander around and kill absolutely everything. Heh. I think you don't actually have to, but since this guy appears randomly, you might as well. For me, it waited until I had had chain-leveled on the wolf-type monsters.

11/80 - Spee
LP:
XP:
Steal: Pinch of Stardust
Drops:
Where:

Teleport to the Salikawood, save, and go West, then South to the Sun-dappled Path. This pathway has a bunch of bunny-type enemies. Kill them all (you don't need to chain-level on them, I don't know) and Spee should randomly show up. Be sure one of your guys has an un-confuse gambit enabled. Also, set everyone up with the gambit of "Foe: status = HP Critical => Poach," and either give them weapons that do very little damage, or disable the attack gambits. You realy want to poach this guy - he'll become a Claymore (or if you are unlucky, a pebble)!

Since this enemy is not a Trophy enemy, you can leave, save, and come back to try again.

12/80 - Rain Dancer (Ch. 17)
LP: 5
XP: 498
Steal: Miter
Drops: Fish Scale
Where:

You can find the Rain Dancer in Giza during the rains. He pops up from various places. You can cast "sap" on him. I was sometimes unable to steal from him before sap killed him off. :D

If you are having trouble finding this one, wanter back and forth between Warrior's Wash and Toam Hills.

13/80 - Razorfin (Ch. 04)
LP: 2
XP: 15
Steal: Water Crystal
Drops: Fish Scale
Where: Garamsythe Waterway/North Spur Sluiceway

You can find the razorfin during the normal course of wandering through chapter 4's Garamsyth Waterway. I have never been able to steal from it during that chapter, though. If you manage to, let me know what you find, OK? ;) Anyway, you can access this area later on in the game using the Sluice Gates by the save crystal in the Central Waterway Control. Close gate 10 and gate 11 (the outer two lights should be on).

The Razorfin will very rarely appear in place of one of the Ichthon enemies here, so you'll want to come here, kill them, move two screens away (to the save crystal at Central Spur Stairs) and then return. En route, be sure to kill off those Dire Rats to see if you can manage to score a Rat Tail or three (sell three along with two high arcana and 3x onion and a megalixir will show up in the Bazaar!)

14/80 - Apsara
LP: 9
XP: 1080
Steal: Empyrean Rod
Drops:
Where: Phon Coast / The Mauleia Strand

To find this enemy, head to the Phon Coast Hunters' Camp and leave via the south exit. Head west 3 screens to The Mauleia Strand. You might pass Skullash on the way, so be on the lookout. This next part is a little tricky, but there's a good reason: the game designers hate you. Heh, heh. OK, maybe not - but it sure feels like it. Head north one screen to the Reseta Strand and kill ONLY the Piranah there. Disable your gambits to make this easier. There should be three or four here. When you kill them off, make them respawn by going east two screens, then south west, then north west, then back to Reseta Strand.

After you've chain-leveled on 9 or 10 of them, you should now have a CHANCE to run across the Apsara along the SOUTH coast of the Mauleia Strand. Let me repeat that. NOT the NORTH stretch of coast on Mauleia Strand - the SOUTH coast. Got it? Good. That's the tiny little piece of coast line near the southern exit. Once you actually see him there, take him out.

15/80 - Rageclaw (Trophy)
LP: 11
XP: 1450
Steal: Sickle-Blade
Drops: Sickle Trophy
Where: Salikawood / Piebald Path

Head to the Salikawood's teleport stone, then head north until you get to the piebald path. When you first get there, hang out for a moment before going up where the Baknamy is. Run past him, and around toward the northwest exit. You should see the Rageclaw just past the Brown Chocobo there. Kill off the Chocobo, to keep him from leveling up on it, then dispel away his Protect and Haste. You should be able to steel/kill him off now. If you are following this in order, head two down and go after the Wood Toad next.

16/80 - Biding Mantis
LP: 13
XP: 1776
Steal: Tattered Garment, Sickle-Blade
Drops: Scythe Trophy
Where: Golemore Jungle / Needlebrake

Head to the Golmore Jungle's Needlebrake and go south toward the next screen down. It should appear between the southern exit and the shimmering wards that prevented you from going further earlier in the game. Though this guy has nothing to dispel, he is, nonetheless, somewhat tough to beat. Just be sure you are a high enough level that you get him before he gets you.

As far as I can tell, the only thing this guy provides is an item you can sell to unlock another Golden Amulet in the Bazaar. But you can buy them by the time you can get here, so I feel like this is enemy is kind of a write off.

17/80 - Wood Toad
LP: 13
XP: 1750
Steal: Solid Horn
Drops: Horn, Arcana
Where: Salikawood / Corridor of Ages

You won't believe how tough it is to find this guy. Heh heh. Head to the Salikawood, and enter the Corridor of Ages from the northern entrance (From the Piebald Path). Once you get there, head south and go down the ramp to the dock area. There should be a Marlboro here. There may also be a nearly totally invisible Wood Toad. To see if he's there, have one of your party wear a reflect ring, and cast fire at him/her. I stumbled across this guy when I tried to go straight down the stairs, and my guys went around something. If I hadn't been looking for him, I'd have totaly missed it. When he shows up, steal/kill.

18/80 - Tarasque
LP: 10
XP: 1222
Steal: Hunting Crossbow
Drops: Horn, High Arcana
Where:

Note: If you're coming from the Wood Toad above, look for 56 - Kris when you are fighting Malboros on your way here!

Teleport to the Tchita Uplands, and go South two screens to the Garden of Life's Circle. Kill off the Lizard enemy that you first see here, then start chain-leveling snake type enemies. Keep wandering back past where you killed the Lizard (at the base of the path leading north) until a new frog type enemy called Tarasque shows up. If you see the Lizard respawn, IGNORE IT - you don't want to break your chain!!!

19/80 - Grimalkin
LP: 11
XP: 810
Steal: Coeurl Whisker
Drops: Whiskered Trophy
Where: Tchita Uplands / Uazcuff Hills

Head to the Tchita Uplands, and go all the way to the save crystal in the southeast corner. Save, then return to the Uazcuff Hills. One of the Coeurl monsters should be replaced with the Grimalkin. If not, simply restore and come back until it has. This guy has some brutal attacks. Be sure your guys can get rid of status abnormalities. You may also want to wear Jade Collars to help your guys avoid his attack entirely or wait to do this until you have one or more Ribbons.

20/80 - Nekhbet
LP: 3
XP: 208
Steal: Rainbow Egg
Drops:
Where: Dalmasca Estersand / Sand-swept Naze.

Teleport to Dalmasca's Eastersand and go south two screens to the Sand-swept Naze. Kill off all the enemies here. If you don't see the Nekhbet, leave and try again. If you can steal a Rainbow Egg from him, these can be sold over and over to make a Hi-Potion Pack (10 of 'em) show up for 1111 gil in the Bazaar. Just be sure to sell, then buy, then sell, etc. You can rack up many of the Rainbow Eggs by just stealing and then fleeing back to the Estersand Crystal.

21/80 - Glaring Eye
LP: 18
XP:
Steal: Phial of Ambrosia
Drops: Glass Jewel, Sweep
Where: Henn Mines Phase 2

NOTE: You cannot get here until you have access to the eastern area of the Henne Mines. You must have 10 Espers to get the guy in Jahara to open this area.

To find this enemy, head to Phase 2 of the Henn Mines and find, then kill a Hecteyes enemy. Keep killing them until he appears. I found him in the southern most part of the Phase 2 Shaft near the exit to the Feywood.

22/80 - Cultsworn Litch
LP: 4
XP: 442
Steal: Loxley Bow
Drops: Sky Jewel
Where: Tomb of Raithwall / Southfall Passage

Teleport to the Tomb of Raithwall and use the waystone to enter the tomb. Head to the Southfall passage via the green waystone in the Royal Passage. Turn off attack gambits and go Lich hunting. When you find one, rather than using attack, cast cure on HIM (you know you can use L1 to toggle between targeting friends and foes, right? That should hit him for at least half his HP. If not, hit him with Gravity. Don't forget the time magic that can hit then with sap. It will drain HP all the way to 1 but not kill them off.

The idea here is to get him NEAR death, so it will divide, but not to kill him off yet. Randomly, one of the divides will result in a Cultsworn Litch. If it divides into a regular litch, just kill them both off - it doesn't look like either of them will divide again. When you get a Cultsworn litch, Steal/Kill.

Don't forget to go after Barmuu (43) and Zombie Lord (70) now, too; they're in the Tomb as well.

23/80 - Evil Spirit
LP: 17
XP: 3831
Steal: Lifewick
Drops: Arcana
Where: The Great Crystal / Dha Vikaari Uldobi

NOTE: You cannot fight this enemy until get to The Great Crystal via Giruvegan. When you do, follow the instructions about obtaining the Esper Ultima to get to the final area with the save crystal. This guy randomly appears in the platform before that (the one with Way Stone XVIII.) You may need to walk forward down the path a little bit in order to begin spawing Forbidden enemies. If after fighting all those you don't see him, take waystone XVIII to XVII and leave the screen, then return.

24/80 - Juggernaut
LP: 12
XP: 1797
Steal: a nugget of Mystletainn
Drops:
Where: The Feywood/White Magick's Embrace

In The Feywood/White Magick's Embrace, after you have faught the Rafflesia thing in the Redolent Glade (South of the save crystal), you'll find the Jeggernaut. It might depend on your game clock's "Minute Hand" being less than 10 - he showed up for me as soon as I first entered this area. If your guys aren't a very high level, this might be a tough battle. You'll want to dispel his status enhancments off, and maybe equip something to keep your guys from getting confused. If you've been following the hunts, etc, this is probably an easier battle than if you have not. ;)

You've probably already got one or two Nugget of Mystletainn, so you likely don't need to do the steal/flee thing here. If you do, you'll find it's easy enough - IF your clock is less than 10 minutes. If not, he's disappeared. That being said, I think there's only one item in the Bazaar that requires it, so you don't really need to worry about it much.

25/80 - Molen
LP: 11
XP: 1674
Steal: a nugget of Mythril
Drops: Arcana, Nugget of Iron Ore
Where: Zertinan Caverns / Hourglass Basin

Teleport to Jahara and head to Zertinan via The Ozmone Plain. Head North until you get to Athroza Quicksands and then head east through Hourglass Basin and South to the Undershore's save crystal. Head behind the save crystal (past the sandfall; there's a hidden path) and kill the Grenade (bomb type enemies). Continue on to the very end of the ledge there, and look to the left of the sandfalls in front of you (this treasure was a Chanter's Djellaba for me). You should see this Golem Type enemy appear - it may take a while. Backtrack and save, then dispel, then steal. Note that the Whisker of the Beast (Whale Whisker) requires 3x Mythril. If you don't have 3 now, consider fleeing two screens away and returning to steal again. When you have all the Mythril you need, kill him off. If you haven't yet, go after Alteci (79/80). If you've aready beat Alteci, now is a good time to go after Victanir (30/80).

26/80 - Tower (NOT VERIFIED)
LP: 14
XP: 750
Steal: A Nugget of Einherjarium
Drops: Solid Stone, Grand Helm
Where: Pharos -> Third Acent -> Floor 88.

You cannot take on this hunt until you reach the Pharos at Ridorana. On your way up, you'll have to solve the puzzle of using the various colored waystones. When you get to floor 80, hit the waystones in the following order:

• Floor 80: Black (takes you to floor 81)
• Floor 81: Green (takes you to floor 82)
• Floor 82: Red (takes you to floor 85)
• Floor 85: Sigel of Sacrifice Collor you Chose (Pink if you're following my walkthrough.) Takes you to floor 86.
• Floor 86: The pattern changes here. If you haven't already opened the Fool's Facade, do that and then touch the waystone hidden there. This should take you to floor 88.
• This enemy should show up here pretty quickly. If you don't see it, there's a waystone here. Touch that waystone to jump back to floor 79. There will be a waystone here you can touch to jump back to floor 88. Repeat as needed to spawn Tower. It may take several trips! Dispel and try not to use any weapon with Holy (you know, Excalibur.)

27/80 - Grey Molter
LP: 8
XP: 1060
Steal: Aries Gem
Drops: Arcana (d'oh)
Where: Mosphoran Highwaste / Empyrean Way

The Grey Molter appears on the Empyrean Way in the Mosphoran Highwaste. Remember how you had to raise the area to the south in order to get one of the Espers? Just head to that area, and you should see him show up right after you cross the floatweed bridge, near the worgans.

Note: Your minute hand in the game needs to be between 10 and 20 for this enemy to appear.

After this, why not go after Dheed (57/80)

28/80 - Midgardsormr
LP: 5
XP: 538
Steal: Great Serpent's Fang
Drops: Sakura-saezuri*
Where: Golmore Jungle / Paths of Chained Light

Teleport to Jahara, and take a chocobo to the Golmore Jungle and dismount. You're in the Paths of Chained Light. You know the path that leads kind of around and back to this entrance? Check it out on the map. Basically, you go north, then east, then south, then west, then back north a little. Take that path - and leave the area each time you come back to the Ozmone Plains exit (two zones - go past the crystal to the next area, then come back). You should eventually be ambushed by a snake-like creature.

So technically this guy can show up in a few places where malboros spawn, but I've found this are to be the most consistant. You may have to make the round a half-dozen times, but he's always showed up for me when I've done so.

*(Uh, Sakura Saizuri would mean "The Chirping Cherry Blossom..." I *must* have failed my Japanese roll; that canNOT be right...)

29/80 - Nazarnir
LP: 12
XP: 1527
Steal: a Destrier Mane
Drops: Maned Trophy
Where: Giza Plains (Dry) / Starfall Field

During the Dry in Giza, head to the Starfall Field in Giza. There's a lone Sleipnir here, near the Werewolves. He'll randomly be replaced by the Nazarnir. There is a nearby exit to the Crystal Glade. Go through that to Gizas South bank and then come back. You can probably notice from a distance that he's got some kind of status enhancement (haste, shell, protect, etc) to diffrentiate him from other, regular enemies.

30/80 - Victanir
LP: 13
XP: 1823
Steal: Wargod's Band (Rare! See below!)
Drops: Maverick Trophy
Where: Nam-Yensa Sandsea / Yellow Sands

Head through the Zertinan caves (far west exit) to the Yellow Sands area of the nam-Yensa Sandsea. When you leave, there's a chance there will be a nearly invisible horse-type monster here in the western half of the Yellow Sands area. Be sure to look both left and right after leaving the cave. If you don't see it, go back into the cave and then return.

This is probably the easiest place in the game to stock up on a Wargod's Band or two. Or 50. XD Using the Bazaar, you can sell them two at a time (with some other stuff) to get the Empyreal Soul to show up. You'll need one Empyreal Soul for the Serpentarious and three for the Tournesol. So once you've got 8 or so, you're probably good. Anyway, just steal the Wargod's Band from him (but don't kill him!) and then flee back through the Zertinan Caverns Darkened Wharf to the Drybeam Cavern (this is a two-zone hop) and then return to steal again.

This is a good time to go after Imdugud (34/80) - just retrace your steps through the Zertinan Caverns!

31/80 - Gemhorn
LP: 12
XP: 1408
Steal: Slaven harness
Drops: Tanned Hide, Arcana, High Arcana
Where: Lhusu Mines / Site 11

Just FYI: I'm coming from Aerieel. Head to Site 11 in the Lhusu Mines. Kill all the enemies here - don't forget the Vampires in the Northern area and the Treasure enemies. When they are all gone, leave the area and immediately return. Head to the area with the Malboros, and take on the Gemhorn.

32/80 - Luxollid/Light of Light (NOT VERIFIED)
LP: 15
XP: 9153
Steal: Staff of the Magi
Drops: Exlir (rare)
Where: Pharos -> Umbra -> Southeast Area (immediately after defeating Vagrant Soul)

You cannot start this hunt until you arrive at the Pharos at Ridorana.

Immediately after defeating the Vagrant Soul (33/80), take the Elevator to Umbra and head to the Southwest room. This enemy will NOT spawn if you leave the subterra or save your game after defeating Vagrant Soul. Once in the southwest room, head through the door to the left of the Pedistal of Night and make your way as far east as you can. Go through the Ancient Door to fight this enemy.

As before, Shell and bubble are your friends for this battle. Start off by casting Dispel. Make sure you're not using Excalibur, since he'll absorb Holy. In fact, he'll cast it as well, so if you have one or more White Mask, they can be helpful here.

If you've been following along, this is likely your final Trophy enemy. Congratulations!

33/80 - Vagrant Soul/Soul of Chaos
LP: 15
XP: 9134
Steal: Eight-fluted Pole
Drops: Elixir (rarely)
Where: Pharos -> Abyssal -> Northwest Area

Note: There is another Trophy (Luxollid - 32/80) you cannot get to until you defeat this one, and you CAN'T save or leave the subterra between them or it won't spawn.

You cannot start this hunt until you arrive at the Pharos at Ridorana.

Once you have defeated the Shadowseer, take the Pharos elevator to the Abyssal level, then head to the room in the Northwest corner. Facing the pedistal of night, head through the door to your right. Keep going through the area until you read the Ancient Door. Buff your folks (shell and bubble are your friend here!), then head through the door. Vagrant Soul will occasionally appear in this room. When he does, cast dispel, then use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick on him to immobalize him, then go to town. Since you can't get here unless you defeat the Shadowseer, it's not really the most difficult battle, IMHO.

34/80 - Imdugud
LP: 3
XP: 368
Steal: a suit of Shielded Armor
Drops: Large Feather, Arcana
Where: Nam-Yensa Sandsea / Withering Shores (via Zertinan Caves / Canopy of Clay)

Go thought the Zertinan Caverns to the Withering Shores of the Nam Yensa Sandsea. Simply defeat all the Bagoly enemies en route to the center area - where you faught the Balito battle (you are doing the Marks side quests, right?). When the Bagoly enemies are gone, stand in the center of platform and face North. Watch for this bird-type enemy to show up.

If he doesn't show up after a while, be sure to head back and see if there are more Bagoly enemies to kill off. I once had to retreat back into the cavern and do it again before he actually showed up. YMMV.

When he gets there, either have everyone steal, or everyone attack. He doesn't stick around when he gets low on HP, so if you're not careful he'll fly away before you can kill him. It may have been a fluke, but one time he flew away and came back, but another time he didn't.

You can use the Nihopaloa/Remedy to hit him with a TON of status ailments and make this a simple battle. You can dispel shell and nail him with Thundaga for a quick end, but if you're lucky and you poach him you can win a Stick of White Incense.

35/80 - Bull Chocobo
LP: 13
XP: 1602
Steal: Hi-Ether
Drops: Beaked Trophy
Where:

Teleport to the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea and head east one screen. The Bull Chocobo should be on the dirt here near the bottom of the stairs (don't go up the stairs). He will be near where the fish show up. If you wander around and don't see it, go back one screen and return. It should show up fairly quickly. This was an easy one to find. He can peck you with Doom, so be sure you head back to the save crystal if he does.

Since you can steal hi-ethers from him, this is a pretty good place to farm them. Just kill off any "guest" folks with you, and set all your folks to steal w/ Theif's Cuffs. Once you steal the hi-ether, go back two zones and then return. If he's not there anymore, just head back to the screen with the teleport crystal and return.

The Hi-Ethers you can steal from this enemy grant you about 300 MP, so having a stock of them on hand is actualy helpful when you go after various extremely high level bosses. You know - the ones where having the "Charge" gambit mean you spend a LOT of time not damaging a rediculously over powered boss. I like to keep 40 or 50 on hand.

36/80 - Skullash (Trophy)
LP: 11
XP: 2209
Steal: Suit of Charger Barding
Drops: Clawed Trophy
Where: Phon Coast / Cape Tialan

Head to the phone coast's Cape Tialan area and follow the south edge of the screen. If it's not there, leave and come back.

37/80 - Myath
LP: 11
XP: 2209
Steal: Leo Gem
Drops: Eternal Trophy
Where: Stillshrine of Miriam / Walk of Torn Illusion

In the Stillshrine of Miriam, take the waystone to the Ward of the Sword-King (touch the device twice!) and go East to the save crystal there. Take either the upper path or the lower path to the hard-to-see doorways to the Ward of Velitation. Kill the three Dragon Aevis enemies here, then leave via the west exit. Return immediately to start this battle.

Dispel this guy's buffs, then steal a Leo Gem and take him out. If you are having trouble with his fireball attacks, consider equiping a Flame Sheild and Adamant Hat to reduce the effect. He may cast berzerk on your guys, but overall this shouldn't be that tough a battle.

38/80 - Helvinek (Ch. 27)
LP: 13
XP: 2198
Steal: Magick Lamp
Drops:
Where: Necrohol of Nabudis / (various)

Kill off 6 Oversouls pretty much anywhere in Necrohol of Nabudis. Once he appears, you're basically just going to have to attack him. I like to go after Helvinek while trying to get the Zodiac Spear.

39/80 - Pallicant
LP: 1692
XP: 13
Steal: Gastrophetes
Drops: Grimoire Togail
Where: Ridorana Cataract / City of Other Days

You cannot fight this enemy until you get to the Ridorana Cataract. When you do arrive, however, be sure to follow the instructions Chapter 36 to get the map. Once you have it, head to the City of Other days and kill everything off there. Once all enemies are dead, leave the area and come back immideately. Pallicant should now be at the "T" junction.

Be sure to start off by stealing the Gastrophetes; this crossbow is better than the Penetrator (it's the ultimate crossbow in the game; if you really like crossbows, you could farm three of them here, if you like.) When you have that, dispel and then go after him. If you are buff, this will be an easy battle. If not, consider using the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick.

40/80 - Phyllo
LP: 5
XP: 217
Steal: Taurus
Drops: Bat Fang, Arcana, High Arcana
Where:

This creature randomly appears in The Branchway of Golmore Jungle. Just teleport to the jungle, then go one screen north and one screen east. Take a look at the map. See how the southmost path basically forms a straight line? Well, if you follow that line all the way west, there's a tiny dead-end here where Phyllo appears (not to be confused with the backwards "L" shaped dead-end on the northern path.) Just go here and look for him. If he's not there, leave the screen and return.

I've heard a LOT of weird stuff about this enemy - most of which just makes no sense at all. Don't worry about killing Malboros, or having Ashe as a party lead, or whatever. Oh, and if you want him to respawn, just head back to the teleport crystal, and go one screen west from there. Save on your way back, and he'll show up about 1/5 times.

41/80 - Aerieel (Ch 10)
LP: 3
XP: 124
Steal: Bat Wing
Drops:
Where: Lhusu Mines / Oltam Span

Teleport to the Lhusu Mines and head east two screens to the Oltam Span. Cross back and forth across the span (going to new areas) until it shows up. You'll probably run across this one during your "rescuing Penelo" attempt. If you are doing all the hunts at once, I usually go from this one to the Gemhorn (31/80).

42/80 - Anubys
LP:
XP:
Steal: a Vampyr Fang
Drops: Ensanguined Trophy
Where: Sochen Cave Palace / Mirror of the Sould (center, isolated area)

Note: If you haven't already, it's helpful to take on the Cubus (47/80) and Wendice (75/80) trophies en route.

Continuing on from the Wendice trophy hunt, head down to Mirror of the Soul in the Sochen Cave Palace. If you've been following the walkthrough, you should now understand how to go in a "spiral pattern" around this area and open the central pathway (see chapter 27). If you've done it before, you need not do it again - just head to the centeral area where you got the cool weapon earlier. Anubys should drop down from the ceiling.

By the time you get here, this probably shouldn't be very tough. If you find it's difficult, consider dispel plus the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick to make it easier on your guys.

43/80 - Barmuu
LP: 4
XP: 399
Steal: Lamia's Tiara
Drops: Solid Stone, Arcana
Where: Tomb of Raithwall / Royal Passage

Head to the Tomb of Raithwall's Royal Passage and chain level plus one (that's 12 for me) a bunch of seeker bats. Barmuu will then appear admidst the waystones. Don't forget to go after the Zombie Lord and Cultsworn Litch while in the Tomb.

44/80 - Vishno
LP: 14
XP: 2,400
Steal: Orichalcum
Drops: Solid Stone, Ribbon
Where: Pharos -> First Ascent -> Floor 47

Step one is clearing the bottom floor of the Pharos. Doing so unlocks the teleport stone on that floor. Use that to teleport to floor 10. From there, you'll need to climb all the way to floor 47, and you'll have to kill at least 10 Deidar along the way. This likely means you'll be back-tracking past a few zones in order to make sure they respawn. Once you've defeated 10, head all the way to the top floor (47) where the Aeronite is.

If you're unbelievably lucky, this guy will drop a Ribbon. Frankly the odds are so bad that you're better off using the Diamond Armlet on the chest in the Cerobbi Steppe, though.

Since you've spent so much time getting here, why not go after Avenger (78/80) at this point?

45/80 - Etherian
LP: 11
XP: 1262
Steal: Ame-no-Murakumo
Drops: phial of Green Liquid, High Arcana
Where: Cerobi Steppe / Northsward

Head to the Northsward on the Cerobi Steppe and kill off all the Bellwyvern and Silver Lobo enemies. This Flan type enemy will drop down from the sky and pounce on your guys. Steal, then dispel.

If you'd like, head west one screen to Crossfield and take on Bluesang (77/80) and/or the Aspidochelon (01/80).

46/80 - Melt
LP: 2198
XP: 13
Steal: a Hastega Mote
Drops: a Slimy Trophy
Where: Heen Mines / Pithead Junction B

Teleport to the Henne Mines and make your way to Pithead Junction B. If you cannot get in from one side, just try the other (remember, you can only have one set of doors open at a time. Hit the switch here to make this guy fall. If you get a bunch of Jellies instead, just kill them, leave the area, re-enter, and hit the switch again.

When Melt drops down from the ceiling, he'll use some rather onerous status attacks on your guys. If you have trouble with these, consider using a Ribbon or three to keep your guys safe. If you use the Nihopaloao/Remedy trick, you'll hit him with Blind and Oil (not really that useful, in my opinion). Anyway, it shouldn't take too long if your guys are sufficiently powerful.

47/80 - Cubus (Ch. 27)
LP: 11
XP: 1364
Steal: a phial of Silver Liquid
Drops: Phial of Green Widget, Arcana
Where: Sochen Cave Palace / Temptation Eluded

Teleport to the Sochen Cave Palace and take the lift down. Head south one screen to Temptation Eluded. If you see Wendigo and Pit Fiend enemies, kill them all, then wait a few seconds (prefereably where you killed the last guy). If you don't see him drop down from the ceiling, go two screens south then return. If you see a striker ahead, go back to screens, and return. There will be a 1/4 or 1/5 chance that you will see the correct enemies. Once you've killed the last of them (don't forget to look down in the off-shoot branches/tunnels), the Cubus flan-type enemy will drop down from the ceiling.

Now is a great time to go after 75/80 - Wendice.

48/80 - Pineapple (Ch 14.)
LP: 3
XP: 213
Steal: Bomb Shell
Drops: Storm Staff
Where: Ogir-Yensa Sandsea / Platform 1 - Refinery

Teleport to the Dalmasca Westersand, and go west a couple of screens to get to the Platform 1 - Refinery in the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea. You'll find this enemy somewhere around here - check all around. If he's not there, just jump back and forth between Platform 1 - East Tanks -> Platform 1 - Refinery -> Central Junction -> Platform 1 - Refinery, etc.

49/80 - Bombshell
LP: 16
XP: 2417
Steal: Mallet
Drops: a pile of Bomb Ashes, Yagyu Darkblade, Arcana, High Arcana
Where: Lhusu Mines / Lasche Span

I come here straight from the Gemhorn. Head to the Lasche Span, just to the east (and kinda north) of Site 11. Like the Aerieel fight, criss cross this span back and forth; he should show up. You don't need to zone out two zones - just leave and come back. He'll eventually be there.

When he first shows up, you can hit him with the Nihopalaoa for Oil and Sap. Be sure to cast dispel on him, too. If he casts Great Barrier, hit him with Dispel again. My guys were pretty high level, and this was still a kind of tough battle. I gave one of my guys the Genji Gloves and the Zodiac Spear. That made it relatively easier.

50/80 - Megabomb
LP: 3
XP: 213
Steal: Bomb Fragment
Drops: pile of Bomb Ashes
Where: Nam-Yensa Sandsea / Demesne of the Sandqueen

To get this Bomb-Type enemy, head into the Demesne of the Sandqueen in the Nam-Yensa Sandsea. Chain level the Urutan-Yensa there until it appears (around 22-chain or so for me; twice). By the time I got here, my guys were at around level 70, so this wasn't a tough battle at all. In fact, his attacks didn't cause any damage at all.

51/80 - Matriarch Bomb
LP: 7
XP: 898
Steal: Scorpio Gem
Drops: High Arcana
Where: Stilshrine of Miriam / Ward of the Sword-King

This one is pretty tricky. Head to the Ward of the Sword-King in the Stilshrine of Miriam. OK. When you are heading south toward the Hall of Worth, you'll see that there's a pair of alcoves from which you are ambushed. Continue just BARELY past that, and go stare at the west wall maybe 5 steps south of where the alcove ends. The wall should melt away after about 3 seconds, showing a hidden staircase. Head through and you'll enter the Walk of Torn Illusion.

If you have three Ribbons, just enable them and cast float before moving on. You'll be able to avoid all the weirdness with swapping out guys and being status-afflicted below. If you don't... Continue up two flights of stairs, but swap out all your guys before you go into the next area - your entire party will get both berserk and confuse, which will suck. Anyway, you'll end up in Cold Distance, and there's a chest under a trap at the top of these stairs - along with a set of 4 nasty enemies. Use float to avoid the trap, and open the chest for a Shell Shield.

If you happen to see the Matriarch Bomb, you'll probably get hit with Berserk/Confuse by THAT too. Keep your party as sparce as possible, so you can bring in other characters to help out.

52/80 - Ripe Rampager
LP:
XP:
Steal: Screamroot
Drops:
Where: Dalmasca Estersand / Yardang Labyrinth

Head to Dalmasca Estersand's Yardang Labyrinth (via the teleport crystal at Nalbina Fortress, if you want to go quickly.) Go around killing everything, but especially the two cactus-type enemies. The Ripe Rampager should pop out of the ground in the little inlet near the southern exit to Dalmasca Estersand/Outpost. It looks like a larger version of the Onion dude your fought in the Sochen Cave Palace. This should NOT be a tough battle.

53/80 - Killbug
LP: 12
XP: 1044
Steal: Knot of Rust
Drops: Metallic Trophy
Where: Osmone Plain / The Switchback

Head to The Switchback in the Ozmone plains, when your game clock's "minute hand" is between 10 and 39. You'll find a teasure chest in the central part of the northern wall. You know, one that's obviously a mimic-type enemy. Steal if you need, then take him out.

54/80 - Minibug
LP: 12
XP: 389
Steal: a Wrath of the Gods
Drops:
Where: Barheim Passage / East-West Bypass

Teleport to the Barheim Passage, and make your way to the East-West Bypass (south, then north-west). In a dead-end just about the entrance to this area is a place with lots of traps and treasures (and mimic-type enemies). The Minibug randomly appears there.

From here, I like to go after 55/80 - Ithuno.

55/80 - Ithuno
LP: 11
XP: 904
Steal: a Deathbringer
Drops: Arcana (d'oh)
Where:

Head to the Special Op Sector 5 area, just below the East-West Bypass, for those of you coming straight from 54/80 - Minibug. Head to the western edge, and be on the look out for a "special" treasure chest behind a boulder pile. If you don't see it, leave and come back; it appears here randomly.

After this enemy, head on to 62/80 - Ishteen.

56/80 - Kris
LP: 13
XP: 1815
Steal: a phial of Putrid Liquid
Drops: an Odiferous Trophy
Where:

Apparently one of the game designers hated someone named kris. :D Head to the Tchita Uplands/The Highlands. Wander around looking for a buffed-up Malboro enemy with no crown. That's Kris. Keep your guys in a large open triangle pattern to keep from getting everyone nailed by his nasty status hits.

57/80 - Dheed
LP:
XP:
Steal: Mirage Vest
Drops: Leathern Trophy
Where: Mosphoran Highwaste / Skyreach Ridge

Teleport to the Mosphoran Highwaste (or go to the Teleport Crystal) and head up the path that's no longer blocked by the boulder (You've done the proper esper side quest, right?) Head up the path to the Skyreach Ridge. He should appear in the northern area of the Skyreach Ridge. Even though you can hit him with Oil, don't try casting Fire magic at him - it heal's him! Just use Blizzaga and/or Thundaga.

58/80 - Aeros (Ch. 19)
LP: 5
XP: 691
Steal: Wyvern Wing
Drops: Crooked Fang
Where: Osmone Plain / The Shred

Kill off the Bull Croc above (04/80) and this should appear in the same area. Note that this is arguably the easiest place to grab a bunch of Wyvern Wings, if you want to get a bunch so you can get the Arcturus to appear in the Bazaar. Before you kill him off, steal the Wyvern Wing and then just flee past The Greensnake to any other area, then flee back. Also, be sure not to use Blizzard magic on this guy; it just heals him.

59/80 - Terror Tyrant
LP:
XP:
Steal: Scathe Mote
Drops: Hide-covered Trophy
Where:

Head to Dalmasca Eastersand's Broken Sands, probably via the teleport crystal in the Mosphoran Highwaste. There's a dinosaur-type enemy just south of the northern exit. It's randomly the Terror Tyrant - you'll probably notice the status enhancemets. Set an auto-phoenix down or arise gabmit - he can insta-death you. Dispel his plethora of enhacements, steal a scathe mote, and go after him. His crushing fangs will probably kill you many times.

60/80 - Abelisk
LP:
XP:
Steal: Eight-Fluted Pole
Drops: Reptilian Trophy
Where: Ridorana Cataract -> Echos from Time's Garden

This one is pretty straight forward. Teleport to the Pharos at Ridorana and head all the way east until you get to Echoes from Time's Garden. This dinosaur type enemy will appear toward the middle of this space eventually. If you don't see him, leave via the southern exit and return immediately. If you really want to, you can farm eight-fluted poles here. Just be sure to steal without killing him and then head two zones away and return.

61/80 - Dustia
LP:
XP:
Steal: Book of Orgain-Mille
Drops: Book of Orgain, infrequently: High Arcana
Where:

Head to Dalmasca Westersand's Corridor of Sand. Kick one of your character's butts to within an inch of his life. Well, within 10% of his death, to be more precise. This guy should pretty much spawn immediately. You can just throw a phoenix down on him and kill him, but if you wait until fairly late in the game, it's just as easy to hit him once. However, there's an intersting thing you can do here...

Optional: There is a fun exploit you can use that's typically referred to as the zone-out glitch. The way it works is this. If you set your battle speed to ultra slot, then kill the enemy, then leave the zone before the XP/LP numbers appear on screen, you can cause the system to forget that an enemy spawned in the first place, thus saving you a lot of time if you want to try and grind one specific enemy. For Dustia, this means you can easily end up chain leveling him in a matter of minutes. Just ignore his drops until the last chain level, then be sure you quickly grab them and leave the screen before the XP/LP numbers appear. If you have the canopic jar, this enemy will occasionally drop High Arcana, which are otherwise really tricky to get. I like to grind 10 or so here, just for fun.

62/80 - Ishteen
LP: 11
XP: 1367
Steal: Soul of Thamasa
Drops: Bony Trophy
Where:

Head here from the Ithuno battle above. Head to the Barheim Passage, and go west to the Zaviah Span. Wander around until one of the reeper-type enemies shows up.

Optional: Farm multiple Soul of Thamasa items. When he appears, DON'T immediately kill him off. Flee back to the Great Central Passage, then run to the Special Op Sector 5 entrance just south and west, then come back to the East-West Bypass. Ishteen should appear there (eventually; just stand around at the eastern entrance). Steal from him, then do the quick two zone hop to Special Op Sector 5 and back. If you don't need to use the save crystal you teleported in via, this is easily the quickest way in the game to farm the Soul of Thamasa item. As far as I can tell, you can get an unlimited number of Soul of Thamasa this way. My favorite set of gambits for this are: Ally Any->Raise, Ally Any->Esuna, Foe HP<10k Attack, Foe Party Leader's Target Steal, Self MP<10% Charge. These gambits should keep your guys alive, kill off the Dead Bones enemies he summons, and then let you steal. Equip Theieves Cuffs to make the steals go faster. If your guys are powerful enough that you don't need to use the save crystal, you should be able to chain-level Dead Bones enemies while farming here. (Remember, touching a save crystal will reset your chain-level gagues.) Oh, and equiping a Demon Shield to your guys will allow them to absorb his Darkra attack, if your guys aren't all using two handed weapons. Frankly, I like to leave this guy alive even when I have enough of the Soul of Thamasa items. I can always use him to easily chain Dead Bones enemies.

63/80 - Vorres
LP: 13
XP: 2381
Steal: a pinch of Soul Powder
Drops: a Gravesoil Trophy
Where: Necrohol of Nabudis / Hall of the Ivory Covenant

Head into the Necrohol of Nabudis from the Nabreus Deadlands area. Go in one full area until you enter the Hall of the Ivory Covenant. Randomly in this area (1-in-5 or maybe 1-in-10 chance) you should see a dark elemental in this area. When it appears, DON'T KILL IT! While your party is being targeted by the elemental, head to two aeras: 1 is slightly north and west (not east!) of the doorway to Cloister of Reason. If Vorres doesn't show up, you'll head to the area slightly south and west of the doorway. If you look on the map, you'll see a room above the doorway and below the doorway. The place where Vorres spawns is directly west - where the hallways leading north and south join these rooms. Once you see where he appears, it should be easy to find him again next time. Kill off the Elemental, then steal from Vorres. NOTE: You can steal Soul Powder from this guy - and that's pretty rare! Consider stealing, then fleeing back to the Nabreus Deadlands, then coming back. I like to farm them here. If you want to go after the Tournesoul sword, you'll need 3x Empyreal Soul, each of which requires 1x Soul Powder. Once you have three of them, you can safely kill him off. If you've already killed him off, don't sweat it - you can steal these from a really powerful enemy in the Henne Mines. ;)

Note: Sometimes the Elemental isn't in in the Ivory Covenant. If that's the case, just run back and forth between the Hall of Slumbering Might and Cloister of the Highborn. You'll eventually clear out all the other enemies in Hall of the Ivory Covenant, which makes the elemental appear much faster. Don't forget to try and steal a feystone from him. When you finally get Vorres to spawn, kill off the elemental FIRST, then go after Vorres. I like to kill off the Elvoret enemies at the entrace to each of the areas to maximize my chances of acquiring a Maximillian from them. Also, you'll probably get worked here (Vorres - not to mention a regular Oversoul - can take all your MP, so keep some ethers on hand if your guys aren't at a pretty high level.) Good gambits: Ally: Any -> Phoenix Down, Esuna, Echo Herbs, Haste, Bubble, Float (use these when grinding). Foe: party leader's target -> Steal (use when stealing to prevent accidentally killing him off).

After you've stolen, be sure to go at least two screens away to reset before returning. I recommend returning to the Deadlands. While you're there, consider heading back to the save point if it was tough on your guys.

64/80 - Negalmuur (Ch. 24)
LP: 7
XP: 906
Steal: Capricorn Gem
Drops: n/a
Where:

Head to the Stilshrine of Miriam and use the waystone at the back of the Ward of Measure (the room in which you first arive.) If you don't end up in the Ward of the Sword King (depending on what you've done so far, this may take you first to the Throne of Veiled Gods), us it again. Once you get to the Ward of the Sword-King, the Negalmuur should be straight to the south; don't confuse it with the Darkmare, though. If not, kill everything here, then leave and return via anything but the waystone (the south door, the east doorway, or the hidden west stairway.)

Note: It can take a LONG time for this enemy to spawn. If you haven't been in the Stilshrine for at least 30 minutes, he won't spawn. As such, you probably want to do something else first (perhaps go for a new esper or level up a bit?) Also, you can use this time to basically get unlimited leveling-up while you sleep. This enemy uses Necromancy to summon an enemy you can kill off for 328 XP (doubled with Embroidered Tippets.) If your guys are a high enough level, you can use this to generate an infinite number of enemies - provided you don't kill the Negalmuur off. Just set your part to use the following Gambits. Be sure your non-leaders have not cast decoy simultaneously, as that will cause them to both drop out of decoy for about 15-20 seconds, during which Negalmuur can target the party leader. Also, set your battle speed to max.

Leader: - Ally: Any -> Raise - Foe: HP<3,000 -> Attack - Ally: Any -> Esuna - Ally: Any -> Haste - Ally: Any -> Curaga - Self: Libra - Self: MP<10% -> Charge

NON-Leader: - Ally: Any -> Raise - Foe: Party leader's target -> Attack - Ally: Any -> Esuna - Ally: Any -> Haste - Ally: Any -> Curaga - Self: Libra - Self: Decoy - Self: MP<10% -> Charge

65/80 - Larva Eater
LP: 17
XP: 3,475
Steal: Scorpio Gem
Drops: Deamon Eyeball, Arcana, High Arcana
Where: The Great Crystal / Sha Vikaari Dhebon Pratii

This enemy is annoying to spawn. Basically you have to kill close to 256 enemies since you last used a waystone, and then there's a spossibility he'll spawn near a waystone. I like to enter the crystal and take the waystones to X, then up the ramp to XX, and down the ramp to XII. That should allow you to teleport to Dha Vikaari Dhebon and Waystone XIV. Go up the ramp to Sthaana Leo and you can chain level necrophobe enemies. You can flee past the waystone to the next area and return back to Sthaana to keep chain leveling them. When you get to 245 or so, you may noticice this guy spawns back around Waystone XIV. There may be a group of Reaper enemies with him.

66/80 - Arioch
LP: 13
XP: 1815
Steal: Sage's Ring
Drops: Vengeful Trophy
Where: Nabreus Deadlands / The Slumbermead

Teleport to the Nabreus Deadlands, and go south one screen to The Slumbermead. You should find Arioch here, if you wander around everywhere. I found him in the lower-right corner of the map on my first try. Be sure to dispel, then steal his Sage's Ring, which drops the cost of magic by 50%. Since he appears pretty easily, you can just flee back past the teleport crystal to respawn him with another ring. I got a set of three rings in about 10 minutes using this trick.

After this, try going after 72/80 - Velelu.

67/80 - Fideliant
LP: 3
XP: 309
Steal: Capricorn Gem
Drops: Arcana (d'oh)
Where:

Head to Dalmasca Westersand's The Midfault. This guy randomly shows up here. By the time you run across him, you can probably defeat him. On the other hand, if you find this really early one (pre chapter 4), you may have some trouble with it. YMMV.

68/80 - Crystal Knight
LP: 17
XP: 3377
Steal: a Glimmering Robes
Drops: a Skull Trophy
Where: The Great Crystal / A Vikaari Kanbhru Ra

When you are going after Excallibur in The Great Crystal (after you receive the Treaty Blade), you may encounter the Crystal Knight in A Vikaari Kanbhru Ra (where you'd find Waystone XX.) Be sure to take out any Forbidden enemies with him as they'll hit you with nasty status ailments. He will not respawn (since he's a trophy game), so if you want more than one Glimmering Robes, be prepared to steal and then flee two+ screens away. I'm not sure why you would want them, but there you are. XD

To spawn him, start at Waystone XX and take the path that leads down to Dhebon Jilaam Pratii'dii. Kill/Warp a bunch of Mom Bomb enemies and then continue on to Sthaana Sagittarius. Kill/Warp bombs, IGNORE the switch and continue on. Follow this pattern until you return to A Vikaari Kanbhru Ra and Waystone XX.

69/80 - Grave Lord
LP: 13
XP: 1563
Steal: Death's-Head
Drops: Bone Fragment
Where: Golmore Jungle / The Rustling Chapel

Head to Golmore Jongle's The Rustling Chapel. See how there are three squares on the map? Kill off everything in the whole area, and all the enemies will respawn as skelletons. Kill THOSE all off, and return to the center square. You should now see the Grave Lord standing in the middle.

70/80 - Zombie Lord
LP: 11
XP: 836
Steal: Close Helmet
Drops: Soulless Trophy
Where: Tomb of Raithwall / Northfall Passage

Teleport to the Tomb of Raithwall, then use the waystones to get to the Northfall Passage. Just search the whole area - he sould appear here if your clock's "minute hand" is between 0 and 29. Don't forget to go after Barmuu (43) and Cultsworn Litch while here in the tomb.

71/80 - Drowned
LP: 11
XP: 826
Steal: a strip of Forbidden Flesh
Drops: Foul Flesh, Scathe Mote, Arcana, High Arcana
Where: Garamsythe Waterway / No. 4 Cloaca Spur

Head to Rabanastre's Garamsythe Waterway. In the main area with the save crystal, make sure the left two controls are lit up. In other words, close sluice gates 11 and 4. Now head to the No. 4 Cloaca Spur via the only path that will get you there - the No. 11 Channel. Head down into the lowest area in the southern part of the No. 4 Cloaca Spur. Wander around beating things up, and you should find him.

72/80 - Velelu
LP: 13
XP: 1213
Steal: Capricorn Gem
Drops: a strip of Foul Flesh
Where:

Coming right here from Arioch, it's in The Fog Mutters, in the Nabreus Deadlands. Just head south from the teleport crystal, then use the hidden exit in the Northwest corner to get here. You're only going to run across this one if one of your guys is in critical health. I recommend swapping in a weak party member, turning off all gambits, then hitting yourself until you're there! :D It works. Then just wander around using some other member as the lead. If you run into enemies that aren't the Velelu, try swapping out your unhealthly guy, and turning gambits back on.

73/80 - Disma
LP: 18
XP: 3716
Steal: Mirage Vest
Drops: Accursed Trophy
Where: Lhusu Mines / Site 6 South

Depending on how powerfull your party is, this can be a pretty tough fight. Even with everyone at level 78, my party required about 20x Phoenix Down. ;) I think there's a reason he's toward the end of this list. ;) Teleport to the Lhusu mines and then head to the blue save crystal in the "Staging Area." Once you save, head north to Site 6. Disma will hang out with a bunch of Dark Lord enemies, and I strongly recommend killing off any enemies he's with before going after him. As I said, he's not an easy one to beat.

When I go after this one, I like to first lure away any enemies that are with him and kill them off first. Once that's taken care of, I go in with two enemies primmed to steal from him and the final one as a healer. Also, I try to dispel as soon as possible. Nihopalaoa/Remedy will only hit him for Oil, so don't hope for much there. Try to lure him away from other enemies, too. If your party isn't really powerful, consider using Dark Matter (power is directly related to number of "Knot of Rust" items you've found) and/or Gil Toss. Keep your party in a triangle pattern around him and when he's casting a powerful area effect spell run away so at least one guy survives. XD

74/80 - Ancbolder
LP: 7
XP: 998
Steal: Strip of Forbidden Flesh
Drops: Mind Trophy
Where:

For both this enemy and 76/80 - Anchag (for some reason they appear together), you'll want to head to Paramina Rift (teleport to Mt Bur-Omisace), and go to Karydine Glacier. See how the map shows two areas that stick down? Kill all the enemies on this screen, then leave via the exit in the south-west. Return immediately and look for these guys in the south-western part of the map that sticks down.

75/80 - Wendice
LP: 11
XP: 1250
Steal: Gemini Gem
Drops: Frigid Trophy
Where: Sochen Cave Palace / Destiny's March

Head to Destiny's March in the Sochen Cave Palace; I come from the Cubus fight above (you may have to have faught a wendigo en route, so this is probably a good starting point for you too!) Kill all the guys around the center area WITHOUT entering the center area. You may have to do this quickly. Anyway, once all those guys are gone, head into the center area - you should see him there.

I like to go from here straight to Anubys (42/80).

76/80 - Anchag
LP: 11
XP: 1262
Steal: Nugget of Damascas Steel
Drops: Arcana
Where: Paramina Rift / Kardine Glacier

For both this enemy and 74 (Ancbolder), you'll want to head to Paramina Rift, and go to Karydine Glacier. See how the map shows an two areas that stick down? Kill all the enemies on this screen, then leave via the exit in the south-west. Return immediately and look for these guys in the south-western part of the map that sticks down.

This enemy, however, has a very cool item to steal: a nugget of Damascas Steel. You WANT this. In fact, after you get it, you want to head back to the teleport crystal in Mt Bur-Omisace and return, to get another one - or just look at the next enemy; the next one is easier to use to do this. On the other hand, if you've already killed him off, it won't take that long to get 6-8 Damascas Steel steals, especially if you use chocobos for the return trip.

I don't know if it matters, but I always kill the Baratine Croc enemy before going after the undead enemies. I don't know if you have to kill 5 undead in a row for him to show up, but that's the way I always did it.

77/80 - Bluesang
LP: ?
XP: ?
Steal: nugget of Damascus Steel
Drops: Cruel Trophy
Where: Cerobi Steppe / Crossfield

Head to Crossfield in the Cerobi Steppe. Check out the area between the windmills - see all the traps? This guy shows up there randomly, so go to the next screen north and come back, if he's not there now. When you find him, be sure use escape to get close, then run away - so you can lure him out from among all those traps.

This guy gives you an opportunity to basically get an unlimited supply of Damascus Steel. You want at least 6 of these - and DON'T sell them all at once. Use the Items area to learn how to turn these (and other stuff) into a Tournesol. To get multiples of this, be sure to steel, then run back down to the save crystal. Head one screen south from there, then go back and get more (you have to run two screens away to reset his random appearance and also his store of stuff.

As long as you're here in the Cerobi Steppe, go after the Aspidochelon (01/80) and Etherian (45/80).

78/80 - Avenger
LP: 16
XP: 3500
Steal: Muramasa
Drops: Vile Trophy
Where: Pharos, 2nd Ascent -> Station of Ascension

Make your way to the 42nd floor and just start killing everything here. Eventually, you should run into this guy. If you don't, head to the north west (upper left) corner of the map and take the stairs there to the next floor. Immediately return and you should run into this guy at the bottom of the stairs. If not, go back up and down a few times.

At some point he'll probably become immune to attacks, but it won't last long. Just wait it out and he'll heal up. Dispel at that point and you should be home free.

I guess technically you can farm Muramasa swords here, but I can't really think of a reason why you'd want to.

Anyway, when you're finished here, why not go after 26/80 (Tower)?

79/80 - Alteci
LP: 11
XP: 1842
Steal: Behemoth Steak
Drops: Fell Trophy
Where: Zertinan Caverns / The Undershore

Head to Jahara, then ride a chocobo (or walk) to the Zertinan Caverns entrance. Kill a bunch of Mallicants, then head one screen north to The Undershore and kill a bunch more. Be careful not to kill anything else. You should have killed 13 or so, and Alteci should show up in the lower left corner area.

The Behemoth Steak you can steal from him is good for getting 10x X-Potion to show up in the Bazaar. You can steal a bunch of them - if you flee before killing him. My favorite Gambit setting here is "Foe:HP<10,000->Attack" followed by "Foe:Any->Steal." This should get you a bunch of these steaks, as you run back and forth between the Ozmone Plain and The Undershore. Of course, you can steal a bunch of Behemoth Steak loot when you get to Giruvegan, so it's not really the most efficient way to do it.

When you're done stealing Behemoth Steaks, kill him off. If you haven't already, this is a good time to go after Molen (25/80), or if you've done that already, go for Victanir (30/80).

80/80 - Urutan Exile
LP: 3
XP: 205
Steal: Hi-Potion. Whee.
Drops: Earth Stone, Osafune
Where:

Teleport to the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea. Wander around and chain at least 100 of the Urutan-Yensa enemies. Yeah. You read that right. It's OK - really; it won't take too long. When you have that, head to the Platform 2 - Refinery. On the main tower leading down to the Nam-Yensa Sandsea exit, you'll find the Urutan Exile. If you kill off the 100th enemy while on the Platform 2 - Refinery you may have to jump over to Central Junction and then come back. He's only got around 4000ish HP so he's not that tough at all.

Of course, you *could* go after this enemy pretty early on in an effort to win yourself an Osafune, if you do it when you first get here. On the other hand, the Osafune less than 10% more powerful than a Kotetsu, which you can get from chain-leveling Werewolf enemies much earlier in the game, so I'm not sure it's worth the amount of time it would take to set everything up.

When I attempted this area later on in the game (before Girguvegan) it only took about 30 minutes.

Marks

01: Rogue Tomatoe
CH: 01
Rank: I
Where: Dalmasca Eastersand
Who: Tomaj, Rabanastre - Sandsea
Steal: Fire stone.
From Kill: Handful of Galbana Lilies.
From Bounty: 300 Gil, 2xPotion, 1xTeleport Stone
Recommended Level: Vaan @ 3-5
Notes: When you track down Kytes in Ch 01, you'll talk to Tomaj and get access to this beast. When you leave Rabanastre via the eastern gate, head strait forward toward the u-shapped area just below the middle of the screen. I recommend being level 5 or so before heading to beat this guy. Or having a few potions handy works, too. When he jumps off the cliff, follow him down and steal again to get a pebble, then finish him off.

02: Thextera
CH: 03
Rank: I
Where: Galtea Downs, in the Dalmasca Westersand
Who: Gatsly, Rabanastre's Sandsea tavern - very close to message board
Steal: Pebble
From Kill: Nothing
Bounty: 500 Gil, 1xHeadguard, 1xTeleport Stone
Recommended Level: Vaan @ 5 or 6.
Info (from Gatsly): "The caravan drivers said they were set upon along the *cliff wall to your left* as you leave the city via the west gate."
Notes: Leave Rabanastre via the West Gate, save, and head out into the Desert. If you folow the west wall, you'll find him. I like to kill off the other wolves with him first, then go after him. Don't let your HP drop below 100, though. He can do multiple hits (he did 4 on me) that can wipe you out fast. Just keep curing yourself, and wailing on him; you'll get him eventually. Don't forget to steal a pebble from him! When he gets low, he'll call for help - just ignore the guy(s) that come, and finish him off. If you have Libra, you can tell how much HP he's got left. When finished, talk to Gatsly, then head to the bazaar and talk to him again. you can now get the Forgotten Grimoire (The Hunter's Monograph). You probably cannot afford it yet, though.

03: Fowering Cactoid (Rare Cactoid)
CH: 03
Rank: I
Where: Yardang Labrynth, Dalmasca's Eastersand
Who: Dantro (Dalmasca Estersand)
Steal: Cactus Fruit, potion
From Kill: Cactus Flower
Bounty: 500 Gil, 10xPotion
Recommended Level: Vaan 6-10
Notes: Head through Rabanastre's East Gate, save, then head on to the Outpost you visited earlier. Talk to Dantro, then head into the Yardang Labrynth (the next screen). If you are just leaving Rabanastre for the first time, I really reccomend you visit the town of Nabina and get Vaan better weapons and armor, not to mention a shield (and a decent number of eye drops, too). When you are fighting him, it's a good idea to be ready to run if he starts casting 1000 needles. He cast it on me, but I was fleeing. It missed, and I was able to beat him. BTW: When he is running away, you can cast blizzard for 100+ dmg. After this battle, be sure to give the flower to Dantro's Wife in South Bank Village to start the Flower For the Wife side quest..

Wraith
CH: 08 (when you get all 4 party members back in Rabanastre)
Rank: I
Where: Garamsyth Waterway (Via Lowtown's Storehouse 5): Overflow Cloaca
Who: Milha in Rabanastre's Lowtown->Residence.
Steal: Glass Jewel
From Kill: Nothing
Bounty: 500 Gil, 1xEther, 1xGauntlets
Notes: Head down the Righ-hand door in Storeroom 5 to where you killed rats at the start of the game. Wraith will eventually appear. To beat this guy as only Vaan, be sure you have Remedy Lore 3 (Remedies remove stop, doom and disease). I recommend having Vaan, Blathier, and Fran, though. To start off, cast slow. This guy will cast doom on your party. You can leave and return to the save point to heal, but this enemy will heal back up as soon as you leave. My guys were able to kill him off with his doom still at "3" for the first guy he hit. I just ran outside AFTER the battle, and touched the save crystal.

After collecting the bounty, head inside the private residence there. Talk to Deeg, then take the letter. If this is your 4th hunt, be sure to check back in with Montblanc for your Rear Guard reward. You can now buy Gysahl Greens from the Clan Provisioner in the Bazzar, if you want.

Cluckatrice
CH: 08 (when you get all 4 party members back in Rabanastre)
Rank: I
Where: North Bank of the Gizaz (Dry)
Who: Montblanc -> Dania (Giza Plains Village, Cackatrice Pen)
Steal: Potion, Small Feather
From Kill: Nothing
Bounty: 1000 Gil, 1xJackboots, 1xRainbow Egg
Notes: If your guys are not immune to Stone/Petrify, be sure to bring a large supply of Golden Needles when you go after this mark. To draw out this enemy (and it's three offspring), be sure to kill off all the enemies there first, then go south one screen, then return. Don't forget about the Giza Rabbits; you have to kill those off too. I recommend killing off the Chickatrise (it's hatchlings) first, then concentrate on the mama.)

Rocktoise
CH: Begin 08, Finish 11
Rank: I
Where: Lhusu Mines: Site 2
Who: Montblanc -> Pilika (Bhujerba's Khus Skygrounds)
Steal: Turtle Shell or Potion
From Kill: 8 LP
Bounty: 1,200 Gil, 2xHi Potion, 1xHeavy Coat
Notes: Pilika is the Moogle you see at the lower end of the Khus Skygrounds; he's standing on the ledge. You can talk to him at the beginning of the shouting mini-game at the start of Ch 11. Talk to him and accept. You'll find the Rocktoise back where you first ran into Ba'Gamnon in the Site 2 area of the Lhusu mines. Protect/Shell up, and head in. The first thing I did was cast blind, immobilize, silence, and slow until they stuck. Then I jused used ranged attacks from affar. I used a bunch of Hi-Potions (and a decent number of regular potions) before I learned to status effect him, but otherwise it wasn't the hardest battle I've ever fought. (Talk to Pilika again after you've beaten Rocktoise to get another favor).

Nidhogg
CH: 11
Rank: I
Where: Lhusu Mines: At the mine split on Transitway 1
Who: Aekom (Near save crystal outside Lhusu mines)
Steal: Tanned Hide (antidote in another game)
From Kill: 5 LP
Bounty: 600 Gil, 1xRose Corsage, 1xBalaclava; Great Serpentskin (Don't sell the Great Serpentskin!)
Notes: As far as I can tell, this is actually a pretty easy fight, if your guys are at a decent level. My guys were at around 20, and I just had protect/shell on me, and wiped the floor with him (even while stealing). I bearly even had to heal up. Of course, I had used my license points to get my HP up (Vaan had 1640 in one game and over 2000 in another, for example). If it's tough, have your guys cast Immobalize on him, and attack him from a distance. You're welcome. ;?)

Wyvern Lord
CH: 14
Rank: II
Where: North-western Nam-Yensa Sandsea
Who: Sherral the guard, Rabanastre's Amal's Weaponry
Steal: Crooked Fang
From Kill: Nothing
Bounty: 1000 Gil, Longbow, Shell Shield.
NOTES: If you do this at the start of CH 14 or CH 15, you can take Vossler along for the ride. ;) When you get to the Telelport Crystal at the lower left corner of the Ogir-Yensa map, teleport to Rabanastre and start this hunt. The game should take you to the northwestern corner of the map, eventually. When you get to the Nam-Yensa Sandsea/Simoon Bluff area, first go up the stairs to the tower. At the end of that tower area is the gambit for flying foes, if you don't already have it. You're welcome. ;) Now go back down and all the way to the end of the bluffs. Make sure you kill the Bagoly enemies first, then go after the Wyvern Lord. You can affect him with Blind and slow. He's immune to Silence and Disable. His status is flying, so use guns, bows, spells, and items. I used water until my characters ran low on magic, then I used some of the Dark Mote items that I found in the Caves outside of Bhujerba. You can teleport to Rabastre to collect your reward by going to Raithwalls tomb. If this is number 8 hunt, don't forget to report in to Montblanc to get extra cool stuff for becoming a Vanguard!

White Mousse
CH: 15
Rank: V
Where:
Who: Sorbet (Rabanastre's West Gate, near the Aerodrome)
Steal: Potion
From Kill: 24 LP, Broken Key
Bounty: 2,800 Gil, 1xYoichi Bow, Sluice Gate Key (after the cut scene)
NOTES: If you do this at the start of CH 14 or CH 15, you can take Vossler along for the ride, but I got my butt kicked. ;) Head to the west gate of Rabanastre and talk to Sorbet, the moogle guarding the moogling there. In the West Sluice Control of the Garamsyth Waterway. Be ready! I came back after I had all my guys at level 29 or better, and it was a bit easier. Oh yeah, I was able to take along Larsa. Basically you have to use this guy's strengths against him. Since he's a Flan-type enemy ("is that thing edible?!?"), you'll want to cast reflect on everyone. This makes his attacks not hurt you. From the save crystal, take the fourth doorway on the west exit and wind your way along the path to the south.
While you have your party reflected, be sure to disable all Cure/Cura/Curaga/Esuana gambits!!! Also, set your guys to use the gambit "Ally: Status Reflect -> Cast Fira" This ensures you will do more damage than he's healing (since his water attack will heal him). Nihopalaoa will cause Disease, blind, and confuse (sound familiar?) The important one is Disease, since that ALSO keeps his water attack from healing himself. I really recommend it. When you kill him, head two screens to the right to save. There is an Urn here with a Garamsyth Candle, which reveals hidden areas on the map. When he's dead, head back to the West Gate and talk to Sorbet for your Bounty.

Ring Wyrm
CH: 15
Rank: III
Where: Windtrace Dunes
Who: Balzac (Rabanastre's Lowdown, North end, near resistance HQ)
Steal: Hi-Potion or Phoenix Down
From Kill: 16 LP
Bounty: 200 Gil, 1xMoon Ring, 1xIcebrand
NOTES: If you do this at the start of CH 14 or CH 15, you can take Vossler along for the ride, but I got my butt kicked when I first tried it, even with a 6 way quickening chain. ;) Step one: Buy Jackboots and make sure your guys have the LP needed to wear them. Now the, remember the guy who was sitting on the barrel in lowtown? You had to talk to him when you were delivering the sword for "old dalan." That's Balzac. Go talk to him to start this quest.

Head to a place "just south of the central region of the windtrace dunes." This guy will only show up when there is a sandstorm going on, so be careful not to wander around that screen if there's no point. Teleport to the crystal in the westersand, just outside the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea. Head East one screen to the Windtrace Dunes. If there's NO sandstorm, make sure you don't wander around; go back to the previous screen and then return. Keep that up until you get a storm. When you do, follow the south wall along until you see him. He's huge, you probably cannot miss him.

Cast shell and protect on your guys, then go after him. It took me a very long time to be able take him out. I went after him at the beginning of Ch 19, and it was HARD. If you can keep your guys alive long enough, you can take him out. He'll heal himself back up once or twice, so be ready for that. Blind/slow him early on (recast slow), and then try to keep your guys in a perfect triangle around him (so his breath attack doesn't take your whole party out).

If you do this after your 10th mark, you should be able to buy the Nihopalao. Using that plus a remedy casts Slow, Immobilize, Blind, and Confuse on him. I was able to take him down without too much trouble after that. If you can get him dissabled, you can do magic/ranged attacks and stay out of his path.

Also, one time I played through this I'd spend a great deal of time leveling up Vaan early on, while trying to get Kotetsu weapons from the werewolf enemies. That time I was at level 31 for Vaan, before I had entered the Tomb of Raithwall. It was possible to beat this guy at that time, but I used about 30x hi potion. I also did not have the Nihopalaoa, so it was all blind/slow magic to get him nailed down.

Marilith
CH: 15 (yeah, right)
Rank: V
Where: Zertinan Caverns from the Westersand: Invitation to Heresy
Who: Tavernmaster (Rabinastre's Sandsea Tavern)
Steal: Fire Stone
From Kill: 22 LP, a cask of Serpentwyne Must.
Bounty: 2,200 Gil, 1xSerpent Eye, 3xTeleport Stone.
NOTES: If you do this at the start of CH 14 or CH 15, you can take Vossler along for the ride, but I got my butt kicked. ;) Talk to the Tavernmaster in Rabanastre's Sandsea to hear about the Serpentwyne. You'll go to the Zertinan Caverns (via the Westersand entrance). Head to the Invitation to Heresy, and be patient. Wander around a bit, and amuse yourself triggering all the traps and killing all the enemies here. The traps didn't really do any major damage to my guys at this point, and they were just explosion traps. In the "upside down hand puppet area" of the map (where it looks like a little oasis kinda), you'll find him... Eventually. You might have to kill all the enemies off a few times. My guys were level 27, 27, 23, and 28 (Vossler, no dah!) I got my butt kicked.

He's immune to Ice (DON'T USE THE ICE BRAND!!!) He's immune to Immobilize, but not to Blind. Have everyone cast blind to make sure it sticks. Have Balthier (or whoever) use the Silent Shot (you can't buy it at this point; you'll need to sell loot to get the Marksman's Delight; I think it's 2xFish Scale, 1xGreen Liquid, and 3xDark Stone) to make sure he's silenced. If you have an Iron Pole, that can cast Slow on him. If you have it, go for Bubble. It makes all the difference in the world. Also, use Haste/Shell/Protect. That will give you an edge. If you wait until Ch 23, you can also use Larsa. :) My guys were at level 36, 35, 35, (and 32: Larsa). For the record, you can do this in Ch 18 with Larsa also. If you've gone exploring all over the world, you can probably take him at this point. Oh yeah, use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick. You can hit him for Disease, Slow, Silence, and Blind. I finished him off fairly quickly that way. BTW: He didn't show when any lowering of his HP at all.

When you're finished, return to Rabanastre and moogle back to the Sandsea. Talk to the Tavernmaster to claim your bounty. Believe it or not, I've actually managed to kill this guy off before I entered the Tomb of Raithwall. No kidding! It required using about 70x hi potion, 50x phoenix down, and nearly all my guys were dead. If it hadn't been for Vossler, I'd have been toast. For what it's worth, I'd spent a great deal of time leveling up Vaan on Werewolf enemies, so my guys were at level: 32, 28, 30, 32, 33, 33, (36).

Gil Snapper
CH: 17
Rank: III
Where:
Who: Montblanc: Nanau (Giza, the rains)
Steal: 20,000 Gil
From Kill: 20 LP
Bounty: 3,000 Gil, 1xPhobos Glaze
Notes: When you accept the quest from Mantblanc, go down the stairs and talk to Bansat. Find Nanau by the save crystal near the entry to the ozmone plains. Accept the quest and you'll get the Silent Urn. You'll also learn that the Gil Snapper is found in the "Tracks of the Beast" to the east. You are asked to "search giza" to start the quest. You know those weird "Withered Trees" that you notice around giza during the rain? Push them all over. You can find them by going counter-clockwise around Giza...

• Here. The first one is right near to the save crystal in the Crystal Glade.
• Head west one screen to the Starfall Field. Cross the bridge leading toward the village, and look for the tree near the northern exit.
• Head North one screen to the Toam Hills. The tree is just east of the entrance (probably hiding behid some ichthons).
• Follow the path as it winds west, then back east, and head to the Nomad Village. The tree is along the south bank, past the save crystal.
• Go north one screen to the Throne Road. The tree is visible as soon as you appear on the screen (off to the left).
• Follow the path east to Gizas North Bank. The tree here is straight ahead from where you entered the screen (off in the distance a bit, though).

Enkelados
CH: 17
Rank: II
Where:
Who: Sugumu (Jahara, Land of the Garif, the Elderknoll)
Steal: Potion
From Kill: 9 LP and an Errmonea Leaf
Bounty: 1,100 Gil, 1xEther 1xGolden Amulet
Notes: When you are first able to cross the bridge to the Elderknoll on your initial trip to Jahara, you can find Sugumu to the north. Talk to him, then head back across the bridge and talk to the warrior on the other side (Hsemu). He'll tell you to go The Shred and kill off all the Wu, then leave and return. I had to take out a Bull Crock and an Aeros too. if you run across them, be sure to take them out BEFORE you leave and return - you don't want to fight those AND the Enkelados as well.

If you only have to fight him, it's an easy battle. Cast Blind go at it. You can even cast Disable, if you need. If you have only magic users, put him to sleep and cast powerful magicks on him. ;) If he starts healing/restoring, just wait for him to go Berserk. If you have faught a bunch of other battles already, you might be able to use the Nihopalaoa on him. I did, and he got disease, slow, silence, immobilize, blind, stop and sap. WOW! That made this battle just impossibly easy. :D

Talk to Low-chief Sugumu a few times, until he asks you to take the leaf to Lesina. She is in Giza, and if you go there during the dry she'll give you 2 Remedies for it. If this is your 10th mark, don't forget to go and collect your mark prizes!

Croakadile
CH: 17
Rank: II
Where:
Who: Sadeen (Giza, the rains)
Steal: Pointed Horn
From Kill: 10 LP, Ring of the Toad
Bounty: 1200 Gil, 1x Serpent Rod, 1xTeleport Stone
Notes: Sadeen is in the the nomad village, near the place where the Cockatrese were being raised not to long ago. Talk to him (what passes for talk anyway), and head out toward "a bridge in the rain." You'll go west (left) one screen and south (down) one screen to the Starfall Field. Go cross over the bridge just past the entrance to the westersand, then cast protect on your whole party. Afterword, head left until the dude shows up. When he does, use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick or have everyone cast blind. SOMEONE should hit him. If not, try again. This guy likes to attack the same person. I had someone that had a good Golden Shield (extra likelihood of dodging the attack) stand right in front of him. Since he was blind, he did very little damamge to my guys. I had Balthier using silent shot, so he was silenced, too. When he gets to about 25% or so, he'll cast "Growing Threat" - which makes him go up 2x levels. He didn't really hurt any of my guys much, despite being under "regen" the whole time.

When your done, go back to Sadeen in the Nomad Village to recieve your first reward. This guy tells you to give the ring to his beloved, but there's no one around here. While you've probably picked up on this from talking to people already, the ring SHOULD go to the Elder Brunoa during the DRY season. She'll give you... nothing. But, uh, you get a story. Consider it Paladin training, OK?

Orthros
CH: 18
Rank: V
Where: Southern Sluiceway of Garamsyth Waterway
Who: Contrite Thief, Rabanastre's Lowtown near Garamsythe Waterway
Steal:
From Kill: a bundle of Stolen Articles, 25 LP
Bounty: 3,800 Gil, 1xHorakhty's Flame, 1xUnpurified Ether, Blackened Fragment
Notes: Head to the entrance to the Garamsythe Waterway, and talk to the weird thing rolling on the ground in storehouse 5. That's the contrite thief. This one was a little tricky to get to - head down into the Garamsyth Waterway, and take the western paths. If you run into any Malboro Overkings, and you think you are too weak to beat him, try casting "disable" on them (or using a sledgehammer - that causes disable). From the blue save crystal in the Central Waterway Control, take the fourth doorway on the right (west) side. You should be able to wind your way south from there. The enemy wont show up unless your party is all female, so you can safely take an all male group through to the save crystal on the other side. Incidentally, Larsa can participate in this battle. I thought you might want to know that. ;) There's an Urn there that gives you a Garmsythe Candle, which shows you hidden stuff.

I decided to use the Nihopalaoa on this one. Equip it to some character, and have THAT character throw some item at an enemy. It hit him with Sleep, Disease, and Blind. Remember you CAN use L1/R1 to switch between casting at enemies and friends. One of the major tricks to this one is to NOT heal him, while at the same time protecting your guys. Get your guys to NOT cast healing magicks (cure, cura, esuana, etc), and to use items only. Then, cast reflect on your guys and go after him. This is one of those battles where the game did NOT show me "how hurt" he was - I just kept going until he was dead.

When he's toast, head back to the top of the stairs and talk to the contrite thief.

Ixtab
CH: 23
Rank: II
Where: Henne Mines, Phase 1 Shaft
Who: High-Chief Zayalu (Jahara)
Steal: Book of Orgain-Mille; dark stone
From Kill: 12 LP
Bounty: 1,300 Gil, 1xEther, 1xSoul Powder


Notes: After the Henne Mines area, check a notice board and head back to Jahara. You should be able to start this quest. Talk to the High Chief Zayalu to start the Ixtab hunt. Teleport to the mines (or ride a chocobo, whichever). Head to the Phase 1 Junction, just before the Phase 1 Shaft (from the entrance, anyway). If the switch is still flipped near the beginning of the level, you may need to switch it from Blue to Red. Once you get to the Junction, swich it from Red to Blue, and either: 1) VERY quickly run out the east exit, or 2) fight the Jellies. You should probably be able to beat them. In fact, if you cannot, you might not wanna go after Ixtab just yet. :D

Anyway, the east exit wraps around to connect up with the South exit. In the center area, there's an Urn which will fill out the rest of your map of the Henne Mines. When you get to that center area, Ixtab will show up. Do the standard Protect/Shell/Haste/Bubble (or as many of them as you have) and blind/silence/slow him. This really shouldn't be a very tough battle, guys. If you need to, you can use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick and hit him with Stop, Slow, Immobilize, Silence, Blind, and Sap. Talk about a bad day! If you need help on this guy, just spend an hour or so chain-leveling on the bats in the Phase I shaft and entrance area. Return to High-chief Zayalu for your bounty.

Since this put me over the top, I went back to Montblanc, where I got stuff for my hunt rank increasing. I could buy Bubble belts and Bravery in the Bazaar now. Since I was planning on jumping directly to the Antlion quest, though, I only bought two bubble belts.

Trickster
CH: 23
Rank: V
Where: Paramina Rift, by the Frozen Brook
Who: Gurdy, The Sand-strewn Pass of Mt Bur-Omisace
Steal:
From Kill: 25 LP
Bounty: 4,800 Gil, 1xDeimos Clay
Notes: When you get there, Monid will help you out. Monid is immune to your status stuff, so make sure you haven't enabled "ally ANY" anything. Use self for your guys. If you do this early enough on, you can use Larsa. :D That's a total of FIVE people on this battle. I highly recommend this approach. ;) To find him, head to the Frozen Brook in the Paramina Rift. When you get there (like I said) Monid shows up. If monid doesn't say he's around (ala the Gil Snapper mark), leave the screen and come back. If you mess up and leave, I don't think he tells you it's around after the first time. In any event, set everyone up for ranged weapons. It'll make things easier.

I used the same Remedy/Neopalaoa trick I used for the Orthras. The thing that makes this battle tough is the fact that the dang thing keeps running around and phasing in and out of invisible. If you hold down the L2 button and press forward, though, your guy will always stay running the right way (unless he's invisible). You can also equip guns/bows/etc. At some point, though, he'll do a little trick that makes him immune to physical harm. Run around or cast bio at him (he seems to absorb everything else). Eventually that will wear off, and you can go back to normal atacks.

It's just a tough battle. Expect to spend a LOT of Hi-Potions/Magic/Phoenix Downs to take him out. My guys were level 32, 32, and 36 the first time, and it was really tough. The next time through the game, my guys were at 43 each, and it was STILL tough, just not quite AS bad.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you now have the following items: Phobos Glaze, Horakhty's Flame, and Demimos Clay, be sure to sell them to a vendor to unlock the "Morbid Urn" Bazaar item. This is the Canoptic Jar that allows enemies to drop Arcana and High Arcana, which you'll need to unlock other recipes. Note that it DOES require 250,000 Gil, so you may not be able to afford it if you don't spend some time level grinding for cash.

Feral Retriever
CH: 24
Rank: III
Where: Souther part of the Paramina Rift, near the Stilshrine of Miriam.
Who: Hymms, The Sand-strewn Pass of Mt Bur-Omisace
Steal: pebble
From Kill: 14 LP
Bounty: 1,500 Gil, 1xRecursive Crossbow, 2xTeleport Stone
I'm not sure if he moves around or something, but I feel like I fought this guy once in Silverflow's End and once in the Spine of the Icewyrm. If you've already visited the Stilshrine of Miriam, just teleport there and head north, clearning out each area as you go. Notes: I used the Remedy/Niopalaoa trick, and he died in a few second. I think he got turned to stone, or something! On second though, it may have been that the disease caused the "life guage" to stop counting down. Because he couldn't heal, the current was always "max." Maybe I just killed him off easily. That seems more likely; he's only a level III mark. Also, if you haven't been there already, you're close enough that you might want to consider going to the Stilshrine of Miriam to activate the teleport stone there.

Antlion
CH: 23
Rank: V
Where: Lushu Mines
Who: Niray, in Bhujerba
Steal: Potion or Suit of Charger Barding
From Kill: 25 LP
Bounty: 4,300 Gil, 1xBubble Belt, 1xSickle-Blade Notes:

Teleport (or fly) to Bhujerba and make your way to the Staras Residence on Cloudborne Row. Talk to Niray to begin the hunt and obtain the Site 3 Key. There's a "Bottle of Spirits" in this house. This is part of the Bhujerban Madhu quest. Grab it! Head to the mines. Make your way ALLLLLL the way to the back of the mine (you'll watch the boy run away from you) - that's Site 3. Now use the key on the door there, and make your way ALLLL the way through the NEXT area. If these monsters are really tough, your guys may not be powerful enough for this fight!

Flip all the gate switches as you go. This will allow you to more easily more back and forward within the mines. When you get to the cart in transitway 1, don't ride it back - you can find a save crystal slightly to the west. Oh, and the girl is there, too. Talk to her, save your game, and continue west - deeper into the mines. When you find Killer Mantis enemies, you are getting close - the Antlion is in a nest in the very back of that cavern (not the part guarded by the Site 11 Gate - that's for a later date).

OK. Start this one like the other - Niopalaoa and Remedy. Give him something to think about. (It gave him Disease, Slow, and Silence.) By the way, he tries to canabalize his little friends, and that makes him more powerful. You know you have those warp motes just lying around, not doing anything, right? :D You can take THEM out (not him) and then just concentrate on him directly. Note that his attack can cause Disable, so you might want to have lots of Esuana Magick handy, or Black Belts. It LOOKED like it would be a tougher battle, but he died off without too much trouble. I dunno - my guys were getting up to level 40 here, so I might have been easier. I used Bubble/Haste/Protect.

Pay attention to the dialogue with the kids here. That "coast" is refering to something along the Phon coast (don't open the chests in the village!) Oh by the way, there's a Fomalhaut in the area where the mantases were (you may have to leave the area and come back a few times, though). Return to Niray for your reward. While there, you can sell her back the Bhujerban Mandhu for 1000 Gil. See the Bhujerban Mandhu side quest for more information this quest.

Vorpal Bunny
CH: 26
Rank: III
Where: Hiding in The Rustling Chapel, Golmore Jungle
Who: Nera (Eruyt Village)
Steal: Braid Wool, Drab Wool
From Kill: 16 LP, Rabbit's Tail
Bounty: 2,000 Gil, 1xLightning Arrows, 1xGillie Boots
Notes: Find Nera along the Spiritwood within the Eruyt Village. Nera is sitting on the north wall around the circle area. She tells you the Vorpal Bunny is somewhere in the Golmore Jungle. So simple! Leave the village, save, and head one screen south, to The Rustling Chapel. Wander around everywhere. It hides like many of the other hare-based enemies. When you find it, cast Berserk on it (or use Baccus' Wine, but you can't do that while you've got the Nihopalaoa equipped). That will keep him from running around everywhere. After that, you can just smack him. Alternatively, you can use ranged weapons and crash around after it - getting drawn into a billion other battles in the process. It showed up in the 2nd square area down when I went after it. I also caused Disease when I used a Remedy and the Niopalaoa. In case you missed it in the Ch 25 part of the walkthrough, you can buy remedies now from the Merchant on Mt Bur-Omisace now).

Atomos
CH: 26
Rank: III
Where: Mosphoran Highwaste - Topmost part of Northern Skirts
Who: Burrogh (Nalbina Fortress's Bazaar, near gambit shop)
Steal: Potion, Tanned Giantskin
From Kill: 16 LP
Bounty: 1,800 Gil, 1xGaia Rod, 1xDiamond Shield
Notes: Find Burrogh to the left of the Gambit shop in Nalbina. He'll tell you about the Atomos. He just tells you that the road to the Mosphoran Highwaste is open now, and that the Atomos is "somewhere" in there. Try to lure the Vultures out from around him so that they are not in your way. Once they are gone, go after him. Set one character with the Gambit "Foe: Status=Protect -> Dispel" so that you remove his Shell/Protect/Bravery at the beginning of the battle. Also, do the Niopalaoa/Remedy thing. He's suseptable to practically everything: Silence, Sleep, Immobalize, Sap, Blind, Confuse, Disease, Dissable, Immobalize etc. He will cast Purify, eventually, so be ready to take a little damage. It shouldn't be bad, though. He will become immune to harmful status effects, though, so you can't just do it again, unfortunately. Return to Burrogh for your bounty.

Mind Flayer
CH: 26
Rank: IV
Where: Henne Mines, Phase 1 Dig
Who: Guromu (Jahara, near the Pens)
Steal:
From Kill: 18 LP
Bounty: 2,200 Gil, 1xCarmagnole
Notes: Head to Jahara and talk to Warrior Guromu (he's past the entrance and to the south a tiny bit. Teleport to the Henne Mines (you'd have to chocobo there, anyway, so you're not missing an opportunity to level-up. Talk to the Gariff Youth there, then take the east exit. Unlike other fights, you don't wanna magick up before it, as he may not show up if you don't have full MP. Just hit "X", then turn off gambits on your three active characters (this means you won't auto-heal, so you may want to consider fleeing from everything).

Make your way back to the South West and on to the Phase 1 Dig. You'll have to flip the switch at Pithead Junction B. The mind flayer is toward the very south of the dig, near the eastern dead end. Head close, but be ready - as soon as you spot him on your mini-map, begin your magick buffing. For this battle, I recommend (of course) the Niopalaoa and a Remedy (you know about using L1 to switch targets, right?). That should hit him with Slow, Blind, and Sap. Now have everyone try to Berserk him. When he heals all the way up and casts a bunch of coolness on himself, use dispel and try to berserk him again. While you are here, there's a hidden area off to the far South West. Talk to the Garrif Youth (Asidalu), then return to Guromu when you have beaten him (the Mindflayer, not Asidalu).

Guromu will tell you that the Geomancer wishes to speak with you. Go north to where Geomancer Yugelu is sitting on a carpet. He kinda alludes to the fact that you need to have a certain number of Espers at your disposal before you come see him again.

Roblon
CH: 26
Rank: IV
Where: Nabreus Deadlands, Overlooking Eternity
Who: Morgen (Nalbina Fortress, near the weapons shop)
Steal: Fire Stone
From Kill: N/A
Bounty: 3,100 Gil, 1xGiants's Helmet, 1xMythril
Notes: Head to Nalbina fortress and make your way to the Northeast corner near the Weapons Shop. He'll tell you about the Roblon in Nabudis. Head north past the Bomb King in the Salikawood, and continue all the way north. Save at the crystal in the Muted Scarp, and head east one screen (get the urn), the north one screen, then east another. You'll find a hidden path leading north in the northwest corner of the Muted Scarp. Follow that path north and west to get to The Fog Mutters, then head to Overlooking Eternity. When you first get there, buff up your guys, then head up. Note that Warp Motes do NOT work on these guys, but if you get into a tight spot, White Fangs do. Since you cannot buy these, though, you'll run out fairly quickly.

Basically, you'll want to take out the skeletons before going after Roblon. It doesn't look like there are infinite respawns, so take things out by going up the chasm once, then go back down. Repeat a few times until they are all dead. Flee if you have to, but make SURE you don't attack Roblon until you have a place you can kill him off. My general strategy was this: Use my 3 lowest level characters to chain level all 55 (for my battle, anyway) skeleton monsters (this brought them up about 3 level each), then go after Roblon with my OTHER three characters. That ALSO means the 3 going after him are at full health/magick power. :D

When you are ready to go after Roblon, start the way you would any other tough battle. Haste, Bravery, Shell, Protect, Bubble, etc. Niopalaoa/Remedy will Sap, Slow and Blind him. If any smaller enemies spawn, be sure to take them out FIRST, then go after him. During the battle, watch your MP. If it goes away (he casts fear, and that will make your guys lose all their MP), use Charge. Since he's basically blind, you'll love life when he starts physically attacking (when you've killed him off about half way).

This Mark pulled in about 500 LP for my guys. Using the Golden Amulets, of course. Since I had to fight SO MANY monsters to get to him, I racked up the XP and the LP. For that reason, I kinda recommend doing this on around level 40 or so. You should be able to level your guys up quite a bit in the process. Head back through the Salikawood and teleport back to nalbina for your reward.

Braegh
CH: 26
Rank: IV
Where: In the Northwest of the Salikawood, near the Necrohol of Nabudis (Corridor of Ages).
Who: Va'Kansa (Mosphoran Highwaste - Babbling Vale, near the shop)
Steal: Storm Magicite
From Kill: 17 LP
Bounty: 1,700 Gil, 1xObelish, 1xHi-Ether.
Notes: Find Va'Kansa standing right beside the shopkeep in the Babbling Vale. Talk to him, then head North through the Mosphoran Highwaste. You'll have to fight a bunch of Bombs, but your guys should be able to take them if you are this far. Save at the Telelport Crystal in the Salikawood, then cross the bridge and head left one screen to the Corridor of ages. Make your way to the southernmost tip of the Corridore of Ages, near the entrance to the Nechrohol of Nabudis. Buff up when you first see the customary large red dot signifying a Mark/Boss. Use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick, then wail on him. Don't use lightning arrows, though. heh heh. I had him slow, disabled, sap, diseased, immobalize, silence, etc. It was pretty easy after that. Head back to Va'Kansa

At the end of this quest, I was a Paragon of Justice. I went back to Montblanc for my new stuff.

Bloodwing
CH: 26
Rank: V
Where: Barheim Passage: West Annex
Who: No. 381, Dalmasca Eastersand - Southbank Village
Steal: Pebble, Bat Fang
From Kill: N/A
Bounty: 2,400 Gil, 1xStun Bombs, 1xVampyr Fang
Notes: Head to the Southbank Village, over by Ada. No. 381 is looking at his buddy on the ground. You can't get here without completing the Flower for the Wife sidequest, so go do so first if you have to. Next, head to the Barheim Passage at the far east of the Banks ofthe Negra area of the Eastersand. This is another one of those places where it's good to have your three normally spare characters run around and kill things off, then bring out your good "fresh" party when you get to the boss. You'll find you can level them up quite a bit. Enter and go north past the Zeviah Subterrane, and save at the North-South Junction, just past the central passage Go west from the Central Passage, taking the Northwest path (the west passage leads to a dead end).

When you get to the Zeviah Span, be sure to take the stairs heading down, north, and west (it's a little confusing; I know.) You sould find the barheim Candle at the end of that area. When you get to the "dead end" on the Zevia Span, knock down the cart on the west wall to allow you to go further down. When you get to the West Annex, I actualy recommend fighting your way up to narrow passage along the west wall, and then running down to the next area. There's a save point there, and there's a good chance that you'll have a LOT of random encounters here that can kill you off while you're trying to fight the Bloodwing. After you save, head to the doorway/hallway in the very far South West. There's a treasure here, but more importantly there are very few spawns. Another good spot is the area east of the Western Exit (were the tracks are broken). Also, enemies don't respawn THAT fast, if you kill them off many times.

When you have eliminated most of the enemies here, head back up and THEN attack the Bloodwing. When you finally spawn him, do the Niopalaoa/Remedy trick. That hits him with Blind, Silence, Disease, and Immobalize. Use bows, guns, and magick to attack him from far away. Very useful indeed. Anyway, when he's dead, save and then head back to the South Bank Village for your reward.

Carrot
CH: 26
Rank: VII
Where:
Who: Zammadria, Nalbina Fortress Aerodrome
Steal: phial of Foul Liquid
From Kill: 28 LP
Bounty: 5,200 Gil, 1xStink Bomb, 1xPutrid Liquid
Notes: Talk to the Imperial at the entrance to the Nalbina Aerodrome to be escorted in. You'll find Zammadria sitting on a bench off to the right of the entrance. Talk to her (if you don't have them, consider buying 3 jade collars) and then head to the Salikawood. You'll meet up with the Viera in the wood. Teleport there (don't attack anything!), and head west one screen, then south one screen. You'll be in the Sun-dappled Path. As long as you don't kill anything in THE ENTIRE SALIKAWOOD AREA you'll be able to find the Carrot. If you HAVE killed something, leave the area and return.

The jade collars will help you to avoid the nasty Putrid Breath attack. Be aware that the viera Ktjn will join your party, and she is immune to Haste, Bubble, etc. Don't have those kind of gambits auto execute unless she dies (you'll waste both your majick and your time!) The quickest path to the Carrot is from the Mosphoran Highwaste. Do you standard Haste/Protect/Shell/Bravery/Bubble/Etc and jump into the battle. As usually, Niopalaoa/Remedy, then attack. Have someone cast Dispel;the Remedy should cause Slow and Silence.

He'll cast Hero's March, which will give him lots of cool stuff. You can nuke that pretty easily with Dispel, but you'll probably get rid of the bad status as well. Use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy again. He'll likely use the "Purify" deal that cleans up status. Hit him again with the Nihopalaoa/Remedy. You can go back and forth with him like this and really keep the likelihood of his hitting you to a minimum. He'll use Growing Threat and double his level - which can seriously ruin your day. :D

Return to Zammadria for your bounty. You'll be accosted by Jovy again. Well, maybe not accosted, per se. But he's a real dork.

Darksteel
CH: 29
Rank: IV
Where: Sochen Cave Palace - Temptation Eluded.
Who: Homesick Man (Archades - weapons/armor shop)
Steal: Eyedrops, Aged Turtle Shell
From Kill: 21 LP
Bounty: 3,000 Gil, 1x Lead Bolts, 1x Adamantite.
Notes: Dispel away various statuses, then hit him with the Nihopalaoa to give him Disease, Blind, and Poison. Then just smack him down. You should be able to make short work of him by this point.

Vyraal
CH: 31
Rank: V
Where: North Liavell Hills
Who: Viera Wayfarer (Balfonheim Port's Whitecap Tavern)
Steal: Leo Gem, Suit of Charger Barding
From Kill: Viera Rucksack
Bounty: 3,500 Gil, 1xHalberd, 1xCrystal Shield, 1xDragon Scale
Notes: Talk to the Viera Wayfarer in the Whitecap tavern in Banfonheim Port to begin this mark. Head to the Cerobi Steppe (save your game en routre). Go north and west until you hit the save crystal, then head north, then northeast. You'll be at The Northsward. The Vierra will show up, and you'll start the battle with this enemy. As usual, Nihopalaoa and Remedy. This should hit him with (at minimum), slow, silence, and blind. You can now steal a Leo Gem, then just wail on him. If he runs away, just chase him down. Remember you can use L2 to make this easier. Also, he can make himself immune to Magick. Be sure you are attacking normally if this occurs. When finished, return to the Whitecap and talk to the Viera Wayfarer and get the Bounty.

If you are doing these in order, you'll probably be a High Guardian at this point. Return to Rabanastre to claim your new stuff. Not sure what to do with that Dragon Scale you received? Be sure to check out the Really Big Dragon [Hell Wyrm] side quest.

Lindwyrm
CH: 31
Rank: V
Where: Highlands? Tchita Uplands (not verified)
Who: Fermon: Old Archades, on same map area as the save crystal
Steal: Pebble (whee!)
From Kill: 22 LP, Rusted Scrap of Armor.
Bounty: 4,200 Gil, 1x Barrel Coat, 1xHi Ether
Notes:

There's a lot of crap out there about this hunt. Let's set the record straight. Teleport to the Sochen Cave Palace, and enter Old Archades. Talk to Fermon (you can also start Overlord around here - see next hunt.) It only appears under cover of cloud. Enemies in this area are vunerable to Stop. If you find a weapon that casts it, sweet! I use the Fumarole with Stun Bombs.

Don't head to the Highlands in the Tchita Uplands, btw. I spent a lot of time killing things before I discovered he wasn't here. That's right, the dude's a freakin' liar. But don't head to the sochen cave palace's south entrance like some people say. I go to the Port at Balfonheim and take a chocobo all the way to the North West and the Tchita Uplands.

In the lower right corner of the map is a location called The Shaded Path. This is a good place to save. You can exit to the Cerobi Steppe here, and head back through the shaded path to see if the sky is very cloudy on the Uazcuff Hills. If it is, head two screens left to the Garden of Life's Circle. When you pass through The Lost Way, it should be raining. When you finally get to the Garden of Life's Circle, you should see the Lindwyrm ahead on your left. He's big. Do the normal dispel and Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick. This should give him Silence and Blind, which is a big advantage for you. Be aware that he will likely use Restore once or twice to heal back up. When that happens, be aware that you may want to dispel again.

I stole a pebble, then went after him. It took a while, but with him Silenced and blinded, it wasn't that big an issue. He CAN cast Lv.2 Sleep, so it's better if your guys are at odd numbered levels. When he cast's Greater Barrier, be sure to hit him with your dispel again. He can also can restore a lot, so be ready. I say go in with Bubble, Protect, Bravery and Haste. He shouldn't be impossible like that. Of course, my guys were level 45+, so it may have been less of an issue for me than it will be for you. Another thing to keep in mind is that Earth magic will health him up. So stay away from Artemis Arrows. When you're ready, head back to archades for your reward - and maybe start the next gig while you're there...

Overlord
CH: 31
Rank: VI
Where: Sochen Cave Palace: Doubt Abandoned
Who: Insecure Seeq: Archades Technick Shop
Steal: Strip of Forbidden Flesh
From Kill: 22 LP
Bounty: 3,500 Gil, 2xHi-Ether, 1xTeleport Stone
Notes:

Talk to the guy in the technick shop. He'll send you out after the Overlord in the sochen cave palace. Start off by walking south through the Sochen Cave Palace. You can save at The Acolyte's Burden, and he's in the next area or two down. Yeah. It's two down. At the Northern edge of the Doubt Abandoned you'll find the Insecure Seeq waiting.

If you have your guys set to auto-cast Haste and/or Bubble, etc, be sure to disable them; your guys will cast them on the Insecure Seeq, who's totally immune to them. Head toward the middle of the level. Use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick, and be sure to dispel on him. Disease, Silence, and blind are your friends. He looks totally buff, but he went down early on. Since he has "disease," he's always at 100% health.

Goliath
CH: 31
Rank: VI
Where: Necrohol of Nabudis/Hall of Slumbering Might
Who: Barrong: Nalbina Fortress, near Aerodrome
Steal: Holy Magicite, Holy Crystal, Nugget of Iron Ore
From Kill: N/A
Bounty: 3,600 Gil, 1xSave the Queen, 1xEinherjarium
Notes:

For this guy, just head to the Necrohol entrance beyond the save crystal that's actually a monster (you're welcome. ;) ) Once you get inside, head straight. It's dead ahead and slightly left. You might want to take out the other enemies in the area first, though. Nihopalaoa+Remedy will net you "slow" only. Just get ready to grin and bear it. Dispel his Shell/Protect and go after him. You may notice that this battle can be tough. If so, consider using Ruby Rings or Mirror Mail to reflect his attacks back on him. It will start off not being that useful, but when he stops being immune to magic, it's powerful. Be sure you disable your buff gambits and switch from healing magic to throwing an x-potion.

When you're finished, head back to Nalbina and talk to Barrong. Jovy will show up again. Once you've finished off the Deathsythe, head back and talk to Jovy again.

Deathsyche
CH: 31
Rank: VI
Where: Necrohol of Nabudis/Cloister of the Highborn
Who: Popol: Nalbina Fortress, near Technick's Shop
Steal: Book of Orgain-Mille, Book of Orgain
From Kill: 27 LP
Bounty: 2,800 Gil, 2xHi-Ether, 1xSoul of Thamasa
Notes:

This guy can be a little tough to find. When you first get to the Cloister of the Highborn, be sure to kill stuff off near the entrance - to give yourself some fightin' room. You can take the stuff off to the Northwest of the level entrance (the northern entrance). Equip the Dawn Shard to drop your MP to 0, then swap in a dummy character. Cast lure on your dummy, and have your two good characters attack the dummy, and Deathsythe should show up.

This guy will start casting doom, annul, and other nasty stuff. Hit him with the Nihopaloa/Remedy and you'll net Confuse, Slow, Blind, Immobialize and Silence. Cool, huh? Then just steal and wail on him. Have a magic user who is casting Bravery, Bubble, Curaja, and Haste from the back row, and you shouldn't have too much trouble with it, unless he casts a Paling that keeps him from getting hurt. If that happens, just put on mirror mail or ruby rings and set a gambit for "Ally:Any -> Curaja." That'll take him out fairly quickly.

Head back to Popol for your reward. Jovy should show up for a few moments. If you've finished all the previous hunts, you should be able to go find and talk to Jovy now to hear that you're his hero. You should get an Elixir and a Knot of Rust. If you have taken on all 32 now, you should be a Knight of the Round, too. Report back to Montblanc.

Belito
CH: 31
Rank: V
Where:
Who: Montblanc
Steal: Ether (Bwagi, Rinok and Gijuk) Piece of Dark Matter or Elixir (Ba'Gamnan)
From Kill: N/A
Bounty: 5,100 Gil, 1xMegalixir
Notes: To hunt Belito, you'll eventually end up in the Nam-Yensa Sandsea. But don't go straight there. Instead:

1. Head to the Save Crystal just outside the entrance to the Nam-Yensa. On your teleport screen, that's "Ogir-Yensa Sandsea."
2. Head Right one screen to the South Tank Approach
3. Head Up one screen to the Platform 1 South Tanks
4. Head Up and Right to the Platform 1 - Refinery
5. Head left one screen to the Central Junction
6. Enter the Zertinan Caverns from the Central Junction
7. You'll wind around to the left, and take the exit to the Nam-Yensa Sandsea*
8. Leave the Cave and head up the stairs, and "buff up" at the top.
9. Once you have Haste/Protect/Bravery/Bubble/Etc, head to the far left end of the screen.

Ancient Man of Mystery (Gilgamesh)
CH: 31
Rank: VII
Where: Lhusu Mines/Tasche Span
Who: Montblanc
Steal (1st battle): STEAL AFTER EVERY CUT SCENE FOR: Potion, Potion, X-Potion, Genji Shield, (wait a while, he's immune), Gengi Gloves
Steal (2nd battle): STEAL AFTER EVERY CUT SCENE FOR: Hi-Potion, Hi-Potion, X-Potion, Genji Helm, Genji Armor
From Kill: N/A
Bounty: 10,000 Gil, 1xMasamune
Notes:
If you normally have your battle speed set to fast, you might want to change it to slow for this battle. Talk to Montblanc to begin this "elite marks" hunt. He'll tell you about a dude who steals swords, that is currently hanging out in the Lhusu mines. Teleport to the Lhusu mines crystal, buff and save, then head one screen west.

Quickly (and I mean quickly) use the Nihopalaoa trick on BOTH him and the dog, then switch to Thiefs Cuffs and steal from him. Next, kill off the dog. After that, you'll have to keep attacking Gilgamesh until the cut scene. Steal again (and use the Nihopaloa/Remedy trick again)! Repeat. When he's less than 50%, the steals will get harder, and you'll be rewarded with better stuff. If everyone has thiefs cuffs, it can go a bit quicker.

If he casts "Perfect Defense," you'll need to know a little trick. It makes him immune to damage, magic and theft. Just wait a while and use the time to buff up. When that wears off, equip one of your characters with an Opal Ring (Magicks will not bounce off targets with Reflect status), and THEN cast dispel on him - otherwise you'll reflect them back and dispell off your own guys!

After you have stolen the Genji Gloves, just wail on him. Eventually, he'll just run off like a little girrrrrl. You now have two pieces of the Genji Armor.

But wait - there's more! A quick check of your Clan Primer Hunts list will show that you still have to track him down and take care of him! If you haven't already done so, return to the Hunter's Camp at the Phon Coast and find the guy that fell from Bhujerba. Next to him is a glowing somthing - that's the Site 11 Key to the next area of the mine. Get that, then teleport back here. Save at the Lhusu mines teleport crystal, then head deeper into the mines. Head west two screens to the Site 9 area, and take the North exit to the 2nd level. Continue South and East until you find the save crystal at the Staging area, then buff up and save. You may have to repeat this one a few times. Just FYI: If you search this whole area (you'd better be pretty tough: level 60+), you can find a Lhusu Candle that will fill out this map. There's also a hidden area

Welcome to Rounds 2 - A.K.A. Try it a few times. ;) Again, battle speed slow, if you can take it. The first battle was just to raise your expectations, so that this round can crush them. There's a reason this is a Level VII fight. Again, quickly do the Nihopalaoa/Remedy on both of them, but either disable your gambits at the start, or set a gambit for Foe Status=Sleep => Blizzard. You'll want to take out the dog quickly! So use the Nihopalaoa to put him to sleep, then use high-level magics to kill him off without waking him up. Next, go after Gilgamesh.
Be ready for Level 2 Sleep, Level 4 Break, and Level 3 Disable. I went in with my characters at level 49, 50, and 51 - so that I could have at least two characters "useable" at all times. Shields are good, because they give your guys a chance to block his really powerful attacks. Cat-ear hoods are good for increasing speed and dodge. When he gets below 50%, he starts with the way-too-often and way-to-powerful mist attacks. Also, watch out for his shell/protect/haste to creap up on you. Dispel that.

When he says, "Quake Mortals, you face the blade of Legend," be ready for some nasty combo-quickening attacks, and start buffing your guys up. He's immune to physical attacks during this time, so run around and try to dodge him. When that wears off, attack full-speed. Also, equip an opal ring and dispel through his reflect - remove all his "buffening." It's time to take him out once and for all.

I used 4 Hi-Ethers during these two battles, and I had two characters who were acting as healers. They were using gambits of Esuana, Curaja, Bubble, Haste, Bravery, and Protect. Also, he tended to go after Vaan, so I had Vaan run away and draw him off. Since he wanted to attack Vaan, he spent a lot of time following - giving my other characters a chance to beat him up. This battle took an hour or so, and was probably right at the edge of my guys abilities - and THAT'S at level 49, 50, 51.

You can't pick up the Ordinary Sword of Legend, just FYI. ;)

Deathgaze
CH: 36
Rank: VII
Where: Airship (See misc side quest Rande and the Airships)
Who: A Traveler (Any Aerodrome) He's the "Son."
Steal: Phoenix Down
From Kill: 28 LP
Bounty: 3,400 Gil 2xElixir

Notes:
This quest starts in just about any aerodrome. Head to one (I usually start in Bhujerba). Talk to "Son" to start this gig. You'll have to fly around and talk to the kid some more. Always take the leasure flights. Also, don't forget to check out the "Rande and the Airships" Misc side quest. There's more information there about the routes you can take, and the cool stuff you can buy on which routes. On each trip, buy the useful cool stuff, talk to the sister (see the Rande and the Airships" Misc Side Quest), and then wander around and talk to people. When you're bored, talk to the Chief Steward again and rest; you'll wake at the destination.

When you get to each Aerodrome, look around and fine Son. Talk to him and he'll tell you (in vague terms) how soon you can expect to run into the Deathgaze. He might be wrong, though, so regardless of what he says, if there's a Save Crystal in the Aerodrome, use it.

Bhujerba -> Rabanastre -> Nalbina -> Archades -> Rabanastre -> (Teleport to Bhujerba) -> Balfonheim -> Archades -> Nalbina

I ran into Deathgaze on the repeat route from Archades to Nalbina on one pass, and the Bhujerba -> Balfonheim on another. Talk to people after the fight, for some fun conversation.

This IS a tough battle. Head up to the outside deck. Haste/etc when you first get outside. He's on the highest point outside. He launches a pailing at first, so be ready for that - use Magicks. Use BIO until he is hit with Sap, then use Blizzaga. You might wanna gambit the Blizzaga. When the pailing falls, hit him hard and fast. When he's close to death, he'll cast restore - which will likely do about 25-50% back. Keep on him hard and fast. If he casts Reverse, be CAREFUL! You don't wanna be giving him back a bunch of HP by hitting him! Turn off your attack gambits for a moment - it'll wear off surprisingly soon. You should be able to take him out eventually.

I got "the finest cabin" when I went down below. Anyway, go and find the kid when you get to port and claim you bounty.

Diabolos
CH: 36
Rank: VII
Where: Lhusu Mines/Site 11
Who: Miclio (Bhujerba, near Technicks Shop)
Steal: Fire Crystal, Demon's Sigh, Scorpio Gem
From Kill: 27 LP
Bounty: 2,600 Gil, 1xDemon Shield, 1xZeus Mace
Notes:
Miclio is the Kid Behind the Fence at the lower edge of Miners' End. Listen about Diabolos. Head into the Lhusu Mines and make your way west to the Teleport Crystal in Transitway 2. There is a cave at the far west edge of Site 11. Make your way there. If you don't have the key, see the "Ancient Man of Myster/Gilgamesh" mark hunt. Buff up, then charge him. Use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy and Dispel. He should now be slow.

If you've got Reddas, this shouldn't be too hard. If you see him casting haste, get a dispel magick ready. Watch for (or gambit for) Disease - you MUST use a Vaccine or your healing gambits won't work! There are also treasures here, but be sure to cast float before going after them. ;) Honestly, how is THIS enemy the same level as Fafnir? I mean, REALLY?!? Sheesh.

Piscodaemon
CH: 36
Rank: V
Where: Giruvegan
Who: Ivaness (Bur-Omisace, near temple entrance)
Steal: Pebble, potion, reflectga mote
From Kill: 26 LP
Bounty: 3,800 Gil, 1xDark Shot, 1xScathe Mote
Notes:
He talks a bit in riddles, but you know where you have to go. Giruvegan If you've gone through the other stuff here (espers, Excalibur, etc), this should really be a walk in the park. Make your way down to the save point near the gate of fire, and buff/save. If you're not sure where to go, teleport to Giruvegan and open your map - from the area with the save crystal (Gate of Earth), press the left arrow 5 times and you should see which area is the Gate of Fire.) Go through Bulwark Hemera, and head to the far southwest of the Gate of Fire. Dispel, Nihopalaoa/Remedy, then smack him down. He was actually pretty easy. Head back and talk to Ivaness when you are finished.

Wild Malboro
CH: 36
Rank: VI
Where: Golmore Jungle/Feywood
Who: Rena (Eruyt Village, Far west point of The Spiritwood)
Steal: Marlboro Flower, Phial of Foul Liquid
From Kill: 28 LP
Bounty: 4,600 Gil, 1xEuclid's Sextant
Notes:
Head to Redolent Glade (where you faught the really nasty plant earlier). Save at the point just before this, buff up your guys, and get ready to go. As you probably expect when fighting a Malboro type enemy, consider equiping any Ribbons you've got. This guy is surroundede by lessor malboro type enemies. Individually they're not much of a threat, but in large groups they tend to be a bit harder. If you are doing all these side quests, you probably won't have ANY trouble with this one. If not (if not, why are you picking THIS battle out of all the other ones?!?), I recommend tackeling this hunt in the following order:

Dispel first. He's got a TON of , Nihopalaoa on the Wild Malboro 2nd, kill off the miscelaneous regular guys third. once THEY are dead, focus on him. Steal a Marlboro Flower and a phial of Foul Liquid. The Nihopalaoa should have given him "oil" status; use firaga. It hit for 9999 for all my guys. With Reddas in my party, this went pretty easy. Return to the Village the way you came.

Catoblepas
CH: 36
Rank: VI
Where: Zertinan Caverns
Who: War-chief Supinelu (Jahara, Southern area, near Naana Pens)
Steal: Hi-Potion
From Kill: 27 LP
Bounty: 3,200 Gil, 1xVolcano, 1xArtic Wind
Notes:
Talk to War-chief Supinelu in Jahara. Enter the Zertinan Caverns via the Ozmone Plain - just outside of Jahara. When you enter the caves, go North through the Halls of Ardent Darkness and The Undershore. In the Athroza Quicksands, go east (right) to the Hourglass Basin, then South to the other part of The Undershore. Buff/Save, then head Behind the crystal and walk off the map. Follow the left wall and you'll eventually end up on another screen - on the other side of the chasam of the Hourglass Basin. You'll meet War-chief Supinelu here, who will tell you the Catoblepas is around.

Note that Supinelu is immune to buffs, so you'll probably want to turn off your buff gambits. Have one guy Dispel, one Nihopalaoa/Remedy, and one steal. You'll end up with him being blind, which is REALLY good - since he can KO your guys in one shot otherwise. It wasn't too bad for my party - but I had both Reddas and War-chief Supinelu along for the ride - AND all my guys were over level 60. Return to Supinelo for your bounty.

Fafnir
CH: 36
Rank: VII
Where: Paramina Rift/Silverflow's End
Who: Ieeha - Relj (Bur-Omisace/Temple Approach, find the Vierra near dragonlooking thing.)
Steal: Pebble
From Kill: 39 LP, Ring of the Light.
Bounty: 7,000 Gil, 1xAssassin's Arrows, 1xTeleport Stone
Notes:
Relj will tell you that Ieeha has been killed by the wyrm, and lets you decide what to do. What to do, of course, is kick its butt. ;) More discussion with Relj will give you part of the story - and start the blizzard you will need in order to find the Mark. You also have to trace the EXACT PATH the other people took. By talking with people scattered around this area, you can figure out what to do: Get a Chocobo and Go West, South, Southeast, South. If it's blizzardy, you can find him here.

If your guys are powerful and you have ribbons (or something else to prevent sleep), then equipe them and do this the way you would any other large grind battle. If not, you're going to have to employ a bit of a different strategy. The strategy at that point is either: 1) Use gil toss and a LOT of money, or 2) set up your gambits to cast reflect on everyone (and/or use ruby rings to do this for you) and then stay just out of reach and use reflect to bounce thundaga on him.

In either event, Bravery is great. If you're doing the reflect thing, obviously you don't want this - or any other status enhancement, for that matter - to be set as a gambit. Dispel first, then Nihopalaoa/Remedy. This hits him with slow and sap. He'll cast a lot of sleep stuff, so be prepared to block/esuena it. This guy is TOUGH! If you aren't at level 80 or so, try to even the odds a bit; you really want to keep him from being able to physically attack you. When you first enter Silverflow's End, you'll want to take a look at your map. There's a tiny alcove left of your current position - he cannot follow you in there. In fact, he may not follow you all the way to the top of the screen. Experiment a little and find out excatly what he will and won't do. Set the following Gambits:

• Chronos Tear
• Ally Any: Phoenix Down (Unless you have Reddas in your party as a guest - you may not want to do this if that's the case)
• Ally Any: X-Potion
• Ally Any: Reflect
• Ally Status=Reflect: Thundaga (better than Firaga - go figure!)

Behemoth King (Elite Mark)
CH: 36
Rank: VII
Where: The Edge of Reason
Who: Montblanc->Koqmihn (Rabanastre/Lowtown:Dalan's House)
Steal: Ring Wyrm Scale
From Kill: 40 LP
Bounty: 250 Gil, 2xBacchus's Wine
Notes:

As you are going through this quest, be SURE to open all the chests while wearing the Diamond Bangle. There's on in The Edge of Reason that's guarded by a trap - it contains an Ensanguined Shield. This shield adds 90 to your evade, but gives you Poison, Sap and Slow. It might be worth it to equip to a decoy'd character, though - that plus Euclid's Sextant plus Gauntlets/Jade Collar can make your guy VERY tough to injure. Be sure that character has the Gambit Self: Decoy and Foe: Party leader's target = Gil Toss (you don't want him to attack an enemy with Euclid's Sextant!)

Koqmihn will tell you to what he knows, which honestly isn't all that much. Heh heh. Anyway, head to southgate and teleport to the Ancient City of Giruvegan, and save at the teleport crystal there. Head East (right) and use the Gigas Gate to jump strait to The Feywood/The Edge of Reason. Kill off all enemies here. When they respawn, kill them again. Spend a WHILE on this area, and be COMPLETELY sure you've killed them all off. Be careful as you are walking the parimeter - the exit to the next area really sneaks up on you!

After you've killed off all the enemies in The Edge of Reason, head northeast to the Ice Field of Clearsight. Kill off all the enemies here, too - yes, even the respawns. Again, be careful NOT to accidentally leave the area!

When you've finally beat him, head back to the VERY center of The Edge of Reason. Dispel is a must, but Nihopalaoa/Remedy doesn't work. This enemy wavers between immune to MAGIC and immune to PHYSICAL damage. When he's immune to magic, use gil toss. Don't bother with Phoenix Down/X-Potions - he'll just wipe you out of all of them. Use regular attacks when you run out of Gil. If you equip Bubble-Belts, your arise spell will restore people with DOUBLE their normal HP. Don't forget this! When he's immune to physical damage, just wait him out. If you can keep your guys alive during this time period, you should be OK - it'll just take a LONG time. Equip a Gambit for Ally: HP < 50% => Curaja on everyone, too. This fight took me 2 hours. Your read that right - 2 HOURS. Of course, my guys were all level 63 or so. It probably would have been better if I had tried it AFTER the trip to the Pharos Lighthouse.

This isn't the end of tis one, though. When you've beat him, return to Koqmihn. After a little lecture, head to Mt Bur-Omisace. Go north one screen and examine the Wyrm Snout. Strike it with NO WEAPON and pick up the Wyrm Snout Plunder. Congratulations! You've got 500,000 Gil and the Rod of Faith.

Pylraster
CH: 41
Rank: VII
Where: Pharos at Ridorana - First Ascent - They Who Thirst Not (outside)
Who: Rikken (Balfonheim Port)
Steal: Tyrant Hide
From Kill: n/a
Bounty: 8,000 gil, 1xGrand Mace, 2xScathe Mote
Notes:
When you have defeated Famfrit at the Pharos, you'll end up in Balfonheim Port. Go to the Witecap and accept the hunt, then go and race Rikken a time or two so you can start this hunt. My guys were about level 70 when I actually went after him - mostly because I'd done The Seer hunt first.

Teleport to the Pharos at Ridorana, buff up, save, and head outside (west). The Pylraster is right there. This battle has no music. It's WEIRD! Equip Demon shields - not because of dark magic, but because they have the best chance of evasion. If you're NOT going to be using a status correcting gambits, you might consider the ensanguined shield. I don't think he causes any status issues, so it might be OK.

Start out by using bravery and haste and just buldozing your way through. AFter about 1/3 to 1/2 of his HP are left, he'll use "growing threat" and double his level. This part isn't remotely fair, but he's still as vulernable to regular dmg as every. When he's down to 1/10 of his HP left, he'll start glowing - like they all do. Just cast Firaga on him (yeah, use everyone) until he's, um, toast. :D

Teleport back to the Port at Balfonheim and talk to Rikken to claim your bounty. If you're like me, you saved this one for last - head to Montblanc to find out about the nastiest of all hunts.

Ixion
CH: 41
Rank: VI
Where: Ridorana/Penumbra
Who: Montblanc -> Whitecap Wench (Balfonheim Port/The Whitecap)
Steal:
From Kill: 32 LP (You really shouldn't need LP by this time, though).
Bounty: 3,000 Gil, 1xSapping Bolts, 1xRagnarok
Notes:
I recommend starting this one at the same time as The Seer below. Your client tells you to head to Ridorana, but not much else. Teleport to the Pharos at Ridorana, and use the elevator to go down a level to Penumbra. You'll enter "Subterra: Origin in Darkness" Be sure to be prepared first, though. Hastega, Protectga, Shellga, Bravery and Bubble are a must. Just keep going back and forth between the first level down and the main level.

Strategy 1: When Ixion appears, Cast Faith, put on Ruby Rings (or cast reflectga) and use blizzaga.

I recommend the Nihopaloa/Remedy trick to cause Slow, Silence, Oil, and Sap on him. I just used the standard attack the last time I attacked him, and it was easy enough - no reflect needed. It should be over fairly quickly regardless.

The Seer
CH: 41
Rank: VI
Where: "Unknown" - fourth floor down in the Pharos of Ridorana
Who: Montblanc (Rabanastre)
Steal: ?
From Kill: 33+28+28+28+28 LP
Bounty: 20,000 Gil, 2xMegalixir
Notes:
Have at least three Embroidered Tippets equiped at all times. You'll end up with everyone at level 65 at least before you're done here. If you've been following along the rest of my walkthgough, you might even be at level 70! Talk to Montblanc to hear about this guy. Accept the contract, then you'll hear about this guy. You have to fight him and four of his minions in the Pharos at Ridorana. I recommend starting this one at the same time as the Ixion Hunt above. Teleport to the Pharos and take the elevator down to Penumbra.

MASSIVE BLACK ORBS: Before we get started, I wanted to make sure you're aware of a couple of things. First, don't pick up any more black orbs once you've found one of the Massive Black Orbs. Instead, only pick up the Massive Black Orbs - and make sure you've killed off several enemies (without picking up their black orbs) before you grab the Massive one. If you don't pick up the small ones, they will gravitate to the Massive one, and each one will add THREE to the number of orbs you'll get from it. You can pretty quickly get a very large number of orbs this way, and it means you don't have to run around trying to grab the other ones before they disappear. Second, if you run into a Magick Pot, try this: Give it an elixir (Use the L1/R1 buttons to target an opponent), then equip your Thief's Cuffs and steal it back. After THAT, Gill Toss at him or use telekenisis. He should be dead fairly quickly on. Oh, and DON'T hit him with Excalibur - he absorbs Holy dmg.

Penumbra (L-1): You'll start out dropped into a fight with a lot of enemies running around this area. If you can't hold your own pretty easily with these enemies, come back when you're better prepared!

To decend to a lower level, you'll need to light up four pedistals and kill off the boss. To lighten up each area, you'll need to use those Black Orbs you're carrying around. Simply put the right number of orbs on the apropriate pedestal of night. Below is a list of how many orbs each pedastal takes: They get "a little" lighter at each 1/3 you put in, so that can help you know how many you still have to go.

Look at the map and go through the door in the southwest. The pedestal here requires 6 black orbs. Once you've given it that, there should be enough light to see by. As you are facing the pedestal, you should see a door to your left and your right. Go through the one on the right and kill the enemies there. The treasure chest here may contain a whale wisker if you are NOT wearing a diamond armlet. The chest in other room only has an Ether (again, only if you're NOT wearing the Diamond Armlet.)

Look at the map and make your way to the door to the south-east. This time you'll only need to use 3 Black Orbs. Facing the pedestal, you'll see a door to the left. No good treasure in there with or without the Diamond Armlet (just an Ether).

Look at the map and head through the door to the north-west. This time you'll need to use 9 Black Orbs. Facing the pedistal you'll see doors to either side. Both doors have nothing but enemies (well technically you can get a Massive Black Orb, I guess). Fighting the enemies does give you access to more black orbs, though.

Look at the map and make your way to the door to the north-east. This time you'll need to use 18 (yep - 18!) Black Orbs. As you face the pedistal, there will be a door on your right. Head in and kill the enemies, then find and go through the Fool's Fascad at the far North wall. There's a chest in this area with an Ether (if you're NOT wearing the Diamond Armlet. If you go through the remaining two doors in this room, you'll be able to fight the Phoenix (see below).

Phoenix: This really shouldn't be a tough battle for you at this point. Hopefully you've got telekenisis or Gil Toss at least. Dispel, steal one or more of the following: Windslicer Pinion, Eye of the Hawk, a piece of Split Armor, and then take him out. If you don't have telekenisis or enough gil, you can use the Nihopalaoa/Remedy trick to get him Oil and Blind status, then use Firaga to do 9999 for every hit. For a fun trick, use the ruby rings and a self-firaga gambit. He'll be dead in a round or two!! If you've lit up each of the Pedistals of Night, you should be able to continue, but see the optional note below.

There's another enemy if you go through the door to the west after taking on the Phoenix - but turn off gambits first! Magic pot won't attack unless you attack it. If you first throw an elixir at it, and then steal it back (use thief's cuffs), he will become damagable using telekensis and gill toss.

When you've finished with Phoenix and lit all the Pedistals of Night in Penumbra, head back to the elevator and you can descend to Umbra.

Umbra (L-2): Once again, you'll probably be acosted by lots of enemies right out of the gate. Beat them up or cast float so you aren't drawn into the traps here. Like the floor above, you'll find doors in the NW, NE, SW, and SE directions. I recommend tackeling them in the order below:

North-West: You'll need 9 Black Orbs here. The door to your right has nothing but enemies. The door to the left also has a Massive Black Orb.

South-West: You'll need 18 Black Orbs here. There are doors both to the left and the right. The one to the right sometimes has a chest with an Ivory Pole (but DON'T use the Diamond Armlet.) There's a chest in the other area that has a Morning Star (again, DON'T use the Diamond Armlet.) There's also a Fool's Fascad that leads south. If you go through there, you'll find yourself at a door which leads to a room with a couple of Dragon Litch enemies. Defeat them, and if there's a chest in the room, put on a Diamond Armlet for a chance at another Megalixir.

South-East: You'll need 15 Black orbs here. There is only a door to the left. After taking out the enemies here, look for a fool's fascade. There's a chest that sometimes spans in here which sometimes contains a Save the Queen. There's also another Magic Pot - be sure to see the instructions above for dealing with these guys. After taking out the Magic Pot, there's sometimes a chest in that room. If you DON'T wear the Diamond Armlet, you might find a Fomalhaut in there. But if you DO wear the Diamond Armlet, it could be a Megalixir.

North-East: You'll need 15 Black Orbs here. When you first enter the room, there's a possiblity that a chest will spawn just inside the door to the right. This chest may contain a Venitian Shield. Facing the pedistal, you'll see a door to the right. Head through that, clear out the enemies, and grab the Massive Black Orb. There's a Fool's Fascade here and more enemies to fight. Once you've lit up all the pedistals, head to the elevator and descend to Abyssal.

Abyssal (L-3): Again, fight off the swarms of enemies and light up the 4 Pedistals of Night.

North-West: Use 21 Black Orbs. There are doors to the left and the right. To the left, you might run across a chest that might have a Crown of Laurals (if you DON'T use the Diamond Armlet. To the right, you might find a chest that might have a Ribbon or another one that might have a Zwill Crossblade (again, both only if you DON'T use the Diamond Armlet.)

South-West: Use 12 Black Orbs. There are doors to the right and left. The one to the right has a Fool's Fascade. If you're lucky, there might be a chest in there which might have a Circlet (with NO Diamond Armlet).

South-East: Use 27 (yup - you read that right) Black Orbs. Go through the door on the left and through a Fool's Fascade. You can take out a Magic Pot here. Keep going through more doors and you'll find yourself in a room with two dragon litch enemies and another Magic Pot. There may also be a chest in this room, which may contain Black Robes (with NO Diamond Armlet).

North-East: Use 15 Black Orbs. There's a chance a chest might spawn in here which has a slim chance of containing an Antares. Find the Fool's Fascade and go through that. There's a chance you can find a chest in here that might have a Lordly Robes (DON'T wear the Diamond Armlet.)

After you've lit up all the Pedistals of Night in all three floors, you should be able to take the elevator to "Unknown." This will be a tough battle, so be prepared! I recommend using a Black Mask on as many characters as you can, and a Demon Shield on the ones who can't - this will protect everyone against Dark magick. Also, equip as many ribbons as you have - this will prevent most status ailments. Now gambit phoenix down/x-potion/remedy - he'll steal your magic, so you'll want to use those.. Make sure who ever has your most powerful "holy" weapon equiped (Excalibur) is using a mask. :D

After a few moments, he'll call a "ssservant" to come, then SHADOW SEER will become immune to physical damage. Go after Pandaemonium (that's the new creature's name) now. Switch out the Excalibur for the Zodiac Spear (or something else that will do a lot of damage). Pandemonium will become immune to everything after about half his HP - focus on buffing up your characters and wait him out. You'll get 28 LP for Pandemonium, Slyt, Fenrir and Phoenix (when they show up and you kill them.)

When Slyt shows up, dispel/nihopalaoa-remedy on him. Use fireaga on the newly oiled Slyt, and he'll go down fairly quickly.

Shadow seer will now call Fenrir. Again, Dispel and Nihopalaoa/Remedy on him.

OK. The last one he'll call is phoenix. Standard attack: Dispel, Nihopaloa/Remedy. He should be blind and oiled. Now use Gil Toss.

When Phoenix goes down, concentrate on HIM. He should go down after not TOO much trouble. Keep at least one person a good ways out of range, and concentrate on him using holy. Teleport back to Rabanastre and see Montblanc for your prize.

Yiazmat
CH: 41
Rank: VIII
Where: Ridorana Cataract: Colosseum
Who: Montblanc
Steal: Holy Stone
From Kill:
Bounty:
Notes:

Once you've defeated ALL other marks, you can start this quest. Remember that weird place in the Ridorana Cataract? The one that looked like some kind of Colosseum? That's where you're headed, now. Prepare well, this battle isn't even remotely fair. This guy has around 50 lives (well, that's what I call those little bar things) - each of which has, like, a million HP (I'm not exagerating, actually). This battle will take you HOURS of game time, and probably days of playing. I spent 5 hours the first day, and another 5 the next. You want 99 each of: Chronos Tears, Phoenix Downs, Golden Needle and Remedy. You also want to make sure you have the following Weapons/Armor/Accessories: Iga Blade (or better) Ninja Sword, Genji Gloves, Turtleshell Choker.

Primary Prep: Set your party up with a main Attacker, a secondary attacker, and a healer. Your main attacker should have the Genji Gloves and the Iga Blade, and a Circlet. Your 2nd best attacker should use the Zodiac Spear (or something elese REALLY good), and a circlet. Your healer should use a good 1 handed sword, a demon shield, a golden skullcap, and alternate between the Turtleshell Choker and a ring of renewal (to keep from running totally out of magick). Set the battle speed to as fast as you can tolerate!

Primary attacker strategy and gambits. Your primary attacker should be able to connect with multiple hit combonations with some regularity. This makes the basttle somewhat bearable. Gamits should be set to use ally->any for each of phoenix down, chronos tear, smelling salts, and golden needle. Then have self-bravery and foe:any -> Attack.

Secondary attacker stategy and gambit. This guy basically hits when he's not busy doing other routine stuff. Same gambits apply as above, but at the beginning of the battle have him use foe:any->Expose until it begins to miss (maybe 25 or so will work). This renders the enemy bearably attackable. This character should also have a gambit for ally:any:protect. This guy should also be casing bubble.

Your healer, as opposed to the above, should use ally:any for phoenix down and chronos tear, but shoulod then cast curaja on anyone under 70%. Also have him/her do self:faith, any:haste and self:libra all before attacking.

Special Attacks: This enemy uses many special attacks. Rake is a standard attack that's not all that powerful (well, it shouldn't be by the time you get HERE). He also uses White Breath which is an ice attack that will also sometimes cause stop; if you have the battle speed slow enough, you can swap in armor to reduce the power of ice attacks - I haven't found this to be useful, though). If you have a power armlet, give it to your 2nd attaker to make him not get stopped. He also uses Stone Breath, which causes petrify on all characters he hits (you can keep your guys spread out to make this less of an issue). He has a wind based Cyclone attack that will also cause Sap to your guys. If you have the battle speed slow enough, you can see when he's about to case this and change your armor to a windbreaker (to cut the damage in half) . Death Strike will cause instant KO to a character, but having shell on provides a slight chance the attack will miss!

Final Special Attacks: Sounds pretty straightforward so far, right? Well just wait until you get him down to only 10 lives left. Then he'll use "Growing Threat" and DOUBLE his level. Ouch. He'll also start doing some really nasty stuff like calling Death Strike OVER AND OVER AND OVER again. Be prepared to start running back and forth for more Phoenix Downs at this time. GRRR. Rake really will kill you off, as will cyclone if you aren't careful. As if that wasn't bad enough, Ribbon stops working again Death Strike with any regularity. You really are better off heading off the screen and "healing up" there. As long as you are heading out, you might want to consider going and saving your game, too. If you just heal up "in the wings," he'll start casing "regen" on himself and doing WAY more health than you can do damage.

When you have the opportunity, feel free to use your quickenings. Be aware, though, that this can leave your guys VERY open to attacks. Since your 2nd attacker might not be able to cast magic for a bit, it might be tough to recover from this! I've heard people say you can use this to stave off really powerful attacks, though I have never been able to. The idea is, when you see Cyclone. Death Strike, or worse, you can quickly call your quickening and that will happen first. If you can get it to work, you might be able to use this to help make it slightly less painful. I was able to choose a quickening within a fraction of a second after he readied both cyclone AND death strike, but I never was able to get my attacks in first. I think this is urban legend. YMMV, I guess. Cleaver use of mist charges can make up for the total magick drain effect, btw.

Ideas: You might want to have your 2nd attacker run around and trigger all the traps; this will let you remove the "libra" entries from any/all other characters. When your guys are getting really low, have them run almost to the exit at the top of the screen. You can regroup here, but beware - he will charge back up, so you'll have to dispel as soon as you re-enter the arena. This *does* have the bonus that the traps will NOT respawn, so you won't have to worry about them like you would if you actually left the screen. If you *do* leave the screen, be sure to use the opportunity to head back to some town and restock on items and SAVE YOUR PROGRESS. (Did you detect the voice of experience there? I *thought* I detected you detecting it. ;) ) Be sure you run far enough away that you don't get hit by his Death Strike.

As the number of lives left goes down, the likelihood that he will use really powerful attacks goes up. Around 18-20 lives from death, his defense will go way up. You won't be able to do more than 6999 damage to him on a given hit. If you leave the arena during this time, be VERY sure you remember to use dispel and expose when you come back! This time, though, don't just expose until you begin to miss. Keep it up until your main attacker can do 6999 dmg. It might take you a while, but it's worth it. As far as I can tell, though, there's no point in continueing to use expose after that. I can't do more than 6999 dmg on him at this point. Just keep plugging away. You've got to be patient! Once he's down to 5 lives left, he'll throw out a reflectga spell, to try and trick your guys into casting their healing magic on HIM (via reflection). When you see him start this spell, immediately swap out your accessories for ruby rings. These will enable reflect automatically. When you see his reflect spell miss, be sure to swap them out fast so you don't end up reflecting your healing magic back at him. He doesn't cast reflect very often, so be cautious, and look for it!

As you get toward the end of this fight, you'll notice some very specific patterns emerge:

1. You'll start with your guys equiped with Genji Gloves, Turtleshell Choker, and Power Armlet
2. You run into the arena and one guy casts dispel.
3. He casts growing threat while your other two guys attack him.
4. He'll cast Cyclone and do quite a bit of damage - he then readies reflectaga*
5. One of your healer's gambits should automatically cast Curaja
6. As soon as that actually lands cure majick, swap out your accessories for ruby rings
7. As soon as his reflectaga misses all 3 characters, re-equip your other accessories.
8. When your guys start spending more time healing (well, resurecting anyway) than attacking, run off-screen, save, and start again.

Emulator Notes

Chain-Leveling

To get enemies to drop lots of the best loot, you'll want to get a high-level chain bonus. There are four levels of loot - normal, blue, yellow, and red (look at the color of the text telling you how many enemies you have in the chain. If you don't pick up loot until you get to the fourth level, you'll get there faster. However, sometimes you'll want to keep killing enemies until they drop really rare loot, so skipping those drops might mean missing a cool item. With an emulator, you can create a save state just before picking up the loot, and then load that state if the loot wasn't rare. NOTE: Some times when you kill an enemy the chain number appears in flashing text with no color coding. This means that any loot dropped there can be picked up without resetting your chain level requirements (i.e., if you see the flashing, grab the loot!)

Ultra-rare items from chests

Items in chests are randomly chosen at the time you open it. On an emulator, you can create a save state, then check the chest. If it's not what you wanted, go kill a monster, and try again. When I'm going after a Diamond Armet on the Tchita Uplands or a Ribbon on the Cerobi Steppe, I use this trick to radically cut down the number of attemps it takes to find something.

Diamond Armlet on the Tchita Uplands

There is a 1/10 chance that a chest will appear along the southern boarder of the Garden of Life's Circle in the Tchita Uplands. Teleport to the crystal in the Chosen Path and go counter-clockwise along the map until you get to the blue save crystal in The Nameless Spring. Save at the crystal, and create a new save state. Head south to the next screen and flee along the southern (right) edge. If you don't see a chest by the time you come to the eastern edge, reload your save state. For your second attempt, head NORTH and fight a single monster. After that, save over your last save state, then flee south past the save crystal and look for the chest again. Again, if you don't see it by the time you get to the eastern edge of the map, reload that save state and fight another monster. Eventually the chest will appear. When it does, create a new save state before opening it. If it doesn't have the Diamond Armlet, reload your save state, do something that requires the system generate a random number (attack, cure, etc), and try again. You should be able to get the Diamond Armlet reasonably quickly this way. (Trust me, it's faster than rebooting the emulator and loading the previous save over and over.)

Ribbon on the Cerobi Steppe

You must have a Diamond Armlet for this to work - see above. You're going to leverage a similar strategy to the one above for this. Teleport to Balfonheim Port and head North and West through the Cerobi Steppe until you get to the blue save crystal in Journey's Rest. Save at the crystal, then create a new save state in your emulator. Look at the map and notice on Crossfield (the next screen to the North), you'll see a square looking gap in the map close to the top of that area, about 1/4 of the way west from the eastern transition to The Northsward (meaning it's to the right of the map area.) There is a chance that you'll see a chest along the north edge of this square. So after you've created your save state, you can head north to Crossfield and flee directly to that location. If you don't see a chest, reload your save state and head SOUTH to the Terraced Bank and kill an enemy. Save over your previous save state and then go look for that chest again. Repeat until it appears.

Once the chest appears, save over your previous save state, then check to see if it has a ribbon. If it doesn't, do something that requires the system generate a random number (attack, cure, etc), and try again. If you want to go for another Ribbon, head south through the save crystal area and head counter-clockwise around the map until you get to Feddik River. Create a new save state just before you transition from Feddik River to Crossfield. This should allow the chest to respawn. Using hot-keys to map "save state" and "load state", I was able to get three ribbons in about 30 minutes. YMMV. FWIW, I set all three characters to have gambits disabled, then got close to the chest. I'd save, check the chest, and reload if it wasn't a ribbon. Then I would have one of the other charcters cast cure, and then repeat. It went super quick.

Diamond Armlet in Giruvegan

You'll notice the various chests in Giruvegan may contain cool loot. If you equip the diamond armlet and do the save / cure / try / load trick, you should be able to ensure you get the cool armor from all chests. However, be sure you DO NOT WEAR THE DIAMOND ARMLET if you are trying to get the Holy Lance. It won't show up unless you do NOT have that equiped. In the Uldobi Phullam Udiipra region, you can get the Glimmering Robes.

Armor

Torso Armor

Name	License	Defense	Magick Resist	Element	Special	Cost
Leather Clothing	?	4	0	None	None	100
Chromed Leathers	?	5	0	None	None	?
Cotton Shirt	?	4	0	None	None	100
Leather Breastplate	?	6	0	None	None	300
Silken Shirt	?	6	0	None	None	300
Bronze Armor	?	7	0	None	None	700
Bronze Chestplate	?	8	0	None	None	500
Kilimweae Shirt	?	8	0	None	None	500

Caps

Name	License	Defense	Magick Resist	Element	Special	Cost
Leather Cap	?	0	4	None	None	100
Cotton Cap	?	4	0	None	None	100
Headguard	?	0	6	None	None	300
Pointy Hat	?	0	6	None	None	300
Leather Headgear	?	0	8	None	None	500
Topkapi Hat	?	0	8	None	None	500

Shields

Name	License	Defense	Magick Resist	Element	Special	Cost
Leather Shield	?	8	0	None	None	600