|
You may want to use a Tent or Cabin now, so that you don't have to
make this long walk again if you get killed on the way back. It's up to you. The Northwest Castle is not a happy place to
be. "Spooky" is pretty accurate, actually. There are bats all over the place, and the castle seems to be in a general state
of ruin. I wonder what kind of King would live in a place like this.The King of the Northwest Castle is a real punk. He orders
you to fetch his Crown like you're a bunch of dogs. But, you're the Light Warriors. Getting his Crown is the right thing to
do. But no one will know if you kick it around a bit before you return it...The Northwest Castle has a nice big treasury.
Unfortunately, the God-forsaken Mystic Key has been here before you. Man, I HATE that Key!! Oh well. You need to go to the
Marsh Cave to get this guy's Crown back, but you are nowhere near prepared for it.
The Marsh Cave is very
dangerous; it's the first real challenge your party faces in Final Fantasy. The Temple of Fiends was a piece of cake compared
to the Marsh Cave. You need to gain some levels, and get some new equipment, before attempting to retrieve the Crown. So head
back to Elfland. In case you haven't noticed, stuff in Elfland is really expensive. 4000G for a Silver Sword! And 4000 apiece
for Level 4 spells! Yikes. The things for sale in Elfland, though, are very much worth the money. You need to get this stuff
before you attempt the Marsh Cave. So, where can you get money? The best place to get G quick is fighting Ogres in this region.
Ogres are worth 195 G apiece, so kill about 20 of them and you'll have enough for a brand new Silver Sword, or a couple Level
3 spells.
To tell you the truth, this is the most boring part
of Final Fantasy. You will spend many, many hours fighting Ogres over and over and over... But it has to be done. As an alternative,
just to spice things up, take a break from Ogres every once in awhile, and go fight some sea monsters. Or, head to the special
place north of Pravoka once you're strong enough to survive the monsters there, that is. But I consider that cheating.Fight
Ogres until all of your characters are at least Level 9. Of course, you'll gain a whole lot of money while getting to that
level. Buy everyone new weapons, armor, and magic.In addition to equipment, you should make sure that you have all the Level
3 and 4 Black and White magic spells that you'll need. Make SURE you have FIR2, LIT2, and CUR2 (and HRM2, if you have a White
Mage). Also, if you've gotten all of your characters to Level 9, you'll be able to use Level 4 spells. FAST and PURE are the
only ones you'll need, and they aren't absolutely essential to getting through the Marsh Cave (although they are very
helpful). Only get them if you have an extra 8000G laying around. The last (and probably most important) things you'll need
to buy are Heal and Pure Potions. You will need to heal yourself A LOT in the Marsh Cave, and CURE spells aren't going to
be enough. Get as many Heal Potions as you can afford. 50 Heal Potions should be enough, but the more you get, the better.
Also, get some Pure Potions. There are many poisonous monsters in the Marsh Cave, and you're going to be a long way from Elfland,
so make sure you don't run out. The White Magic PURE spell can help, though, so don't get more than 10 or 15 Pure Potions,
more than that is probably not necessary. Last, but not least, buy either a Cabin, a House, or a Tent (from Coneria). Once
you have all the necessary equipment, stay at the Inn one last time to get your HP and MP back to full. Now it's time to put
all of that Ogre fighting to good use; let's go and kick some Marsh Cave butt.
The Marsh Cave is far
to the west of Elfland. To get there, you'll have go a bit to the north, around the mountains, then south to the Cave. On
your way there, you'll get into a lot of random fights. You should RUN from all of these fights; save your HP for the Cave.
If you do wish to fight, for some reason, do NOT use any magic. You will need every single spell for the monsters in the Marsh
Cave.
Once you reach the the Marsh Cave, use your Tent, Cabin, or House right outside the entrance. That way,
if you should happen to be wiped out inside, you can start again right here, with full HP. Now it's time to go inside. Welcome
to the Marsh Cave. You will notice almost immediately that the monsters in here are stonger than any you've fought so far.
There are also Undead all over the place.
You may be tempted to FIR2 everything in sight, but make sure you conserve
your spells. You'll need a couple LIT2's, FAST's, and CUR2's when fighting the Boss that guards the Crown, so don't use them
all up before you get there. When in battle, try to rely on your weapons, or just run from monsters if you start getting killed.
Especially run from poisonous monsters like Scums, Arachnids, and Werewolves. And always run from Scorpions, they're poisonous,
and have very powerful attacks. Just inside the Cave, there is a fork in the road; you can go up or down. Going up leads to
some minor treasure. Down is the way to the Crown. If you feel like treasure-hunting, go up; all you'll find, though, is 1300G,
a Short Sword, and a Large Dagger. If you want the treasure, go up until you reach the stairs. Then start ransacking the treasure
chests. This is the easiest way to make money in Final Fantasy; just think of how many Ogres it would've taken to get the
money you found in just those two treasure chests. Keep the crappy weapons and armor you find in the Cave, too, you can sell
it later. Back on the first level, take the lower path. You'll soon come to another fork in the road. Just keep going south,
the other path is a dead-end. Eventually you'll come to the ladder that leads deeper into the Cave. Go ahead and use it. Only
two more levels to go. On this floor, you'll find many treasure chests, but they're all empty, so don't waste your time. The
path to the next level is kind of tricky. Go all the way to the bottom of the room, then head right.
Then go through this
room, and out the other side to find the stairs. This is the last floor. There is a whole lot of treasure on this floor, including
a House, Iron Armor, and a couple hundred G. Collect it all. Also on this floor is some REALLY nice treasure, but of course,
you can't get it because of the stinking Mystic Key. The Crown is in the third room down, two from the left. You'll recognize
it from the weird sculpture things around the treasure chest. DO NOT walk up to the chest yet, though. Stepping in front of
the chest will initiate the Boss fight. So make sure you are at full HP before you do.
The Wizards are very strong
opponents. How many you fight is random; it could be 2, it could be 5. LIT2 is your best bet for killing the Wizards before
they kill you; use FAST, too, if you have it.Once the Wizards are out of the way, the Crown is yours! Now there's nothing
left to do but backtrack to the exit. If your party is hurt badly, you may need to RUN from almost every battle. All you need
to do is make it to the exit, though, then you can use the House you found and you'll be good as new. It's time to return
the Crown to the Northwest Castle. If your party is in fairly good shape, head straight north to the castle. You might want
to take a detour to Elfland to heal up, though; there is another Boss fight coming.
If you have another Tent or Cabin,
now is a good time to use it. Talk to the King, to give him back the Crown. Uh oh. Not only is he not grateful, he also wants
to kill you! He was Astos, the Dark Elf, all along! He also (conveniently, and for no reason) admits that he has Matoya's
Crystal. Time for a fight. Astos can be a tough opponent. He can use RUB, which will often kill a party member instantly.
Other than that, though, he's not so bad.Once you kill Astos, you keep the Crown, and you get the Crystal! Head back to Elfland
to save and heal, then it's on to Matoya's Cave. After all those boss fights, you're probably hurting pretty badly. So heal
up at the Elfland Inn, before going to Matoya's Cave. You can also start to spend some of the money you got from the Marsh
Cave, if you like. It's better to save it, though; you're going to need it in Melmond, the next town. But more on that later.
Sail north to Matoya's Cave. You can sail your Ship right under the bridge north of Coneria, and dock it at a port just a
little to the south of the Cave. Enter Matoya's Cave and talk to the Witch. Of course, she wants her Crystal back,
and she trades you the Herb for it. Talk to Matoya again, if you like. She doesn't seem very grateful. But maybe kicking you
out of her Cave is a Witch's way of being friendly. Oh well. Time to wake up the Elf Prince.
After leaving Matoya's
Cave, your next destination is the Castle of Elf. To wake the Prince, first talk to the guy (girl?) standing next to his bed.
The Herb works! The Elf Prince is finally awake. Talk to the Elf Prince himself. He will give you the Mystic Key! Now you
can finally collect the treasure that's behind all those locked doors. The first of the locked treasure chests is in the Castle
of Elf, how conventient. Remember, to get to the treasury, you have to circle around the outside wall of the Castle. In Elfland's
treasury, you'll find a shiny new hammer for your White Mage, a Copper Gauntlet, and some cash.
Now that you
have the Key, what next? Well, before continuing with the important stuff, you might as well go around and ransack all the
locked treasuries you've found.In the Temple of Fiends, you'll find two very nice swords: the Rune Sword and the Were Sword.
If you have a Thief, give him the Rune Sword; sell the Were Sword. There are some Gargoyles guarding each sword, though, so
be prepared. There is some nice treasure in the Northwest Castle. In particular, the Power Staff; it sells for a whopping
6172G! You'll also find an Iron Guantlet for your Fighter, and a Falchon (sell it). This time, Images and Mummies guard the
treasure. You can avoid them if you don't walk in the spaces directly below the chests, though. But you might want to fight
them; they are worth a whole lot of G and EXP (they're also very strong, but a FIR2 spell will kill them all). If you want,
you can also revisit the Marsh Cave. There is some nice treasure here too. You'll find a Silver Bracelet (excellent armor
for a White or Black Mage), a Silver Dagger, and some G. Beware: these chests are guarded by Wizards! That's enough treasure
hunting for now. Now that the Elf Prince is awake, and Astos is dead, and Matoya can see again, there's not much left to do
in this part of the world. It's time to go elsewhere, to try to find a way to light the Orbs. Unfortunately, there is no way
out of the Aldi Sea; you are stuck in there!
Well, there is one place you haven't been yet: the Dwarf Cave.
The Dwarf Cave is a bit to the west of Coneria. You'll have to dock your ship here, and walk the rest of the way. This cave
is in the middle of nowhere! Oh well. I guess the Dwarves don't like company. Inside the Cave, there are Dwarves all over
the place. They have some useful information, so start talking.
While you're at it, get the cash in the treasure chests
just above the entrance. The source of the Earth's rot is apparently far to the west. All the more reason to find a way out.
Hmmmm... What's a Floater? It must be important (it's all in capital letters :) ). Oh well, no sense worrying about it now.
In the upper part of the Cave, you'll find Smith, the Dwarven Blacksmith. He will make you an extremely powerful weapon, if
you can find him some Adamant. It'll be a loooooooong time before you find it, though. But it's worth the wait. This guy has
absolutely nothing important to say. Then, why do I have a picture of him here, you ask? It's my walkthrough, I'll put pictures
of whatever I want! This guy has some very useful info. It seems that Nerrick is trying to build a canal. This could be your
ticket out of here! Go find Nerrick. (he's at the south end of the Cave) Nerrick's canal is almost done! But there's a big
rock in the way, and he can't finish without some TNT. Well, you'll just have to find him some. But first, ransack the treasury!
There is A LOT of treasure to find here. If you have a Thief, give him the Dragon Sword. The Silver Armor is very good for
a Red Mage; otherwise, just sell it. Now, where can you find some TNT? Well, this guy gives you a little hint (actually, he
just comes right out and tells you where it is. It's in Coneria.)
It's time to take a trip
back to Castle Coneria. With the Mystic Key, you can now enter Castle Coneria's treasury. There is some minor treasure here,
but more importantly, you'll find the TNT. Take the TNT back to Nerrick. With it, he's able to complete the canal. Your Ship
can now reach the outer lands! Before leaving this area, make sure you have all the equipment, spells, and items you'll need.
You should stock up on Heal and Pure potions, because there is no Item Shop in Melmond. Make sure you take a couple Softs,
too; you will soon face enemies that use petrification attacks. Buy some Tents, Cabins, or Houses, also.
You should
now have all the Level 1-4 spells you want. You should easily be able to afford them, what with all the treasure you've been
finding in the previously-locked treasuries. Once you're done shopping, it's time to sail through the canal to Melmond, in
the west.
CHAPTER 4
Sail your Ship through
the new Canal and a short distance to the west. Here you'll find the next town, Melmond. The first thing you'll probably notice
is all the swampland surrounding the town. The earth's rot is very apparent here. I'm sure someone in town has some info about
that, though. Time to start talking to people. Melmond is not in good shape at all. The ground is all rotting and ripped up,
and many buildings have been destroyed in an attack from a Vampire. Among the buildings destroyed are the Item Shop, and the
Clinic. Ouch. If you need some healing services, it looks like you'll have to go all the way back to Elfland. I hope you stocked
up on potions before coming here...
There is apparently a Sage in a cave to the south, somewhere. Maybe you should pay
him a visit... but not yet. Get some more info first. This guy has some useful information. If you light the Orb of Earth,
the earth will begin to repair itself. That's good to know.There's a dwarf named Jim in Melmond. He has no purpose whatsoever.
Ignore him. (Why include him here, you ask? ...beats me.) Ah ha! To get to the Sage, you have to pass through the
Titan's Tunnel! Well, you'll just have to pay the Titan a visit. ...but not yet. There are still more people to talk to.
This
pile of rubble used to be the Clinic, I think. Oh well. Not much Clinic-ing going on here any more. Wow, an ancient civilization
in the north. How interesting. You'll visit this civilization, much later in the game.
Here is yet another reference
to a stone that makes things float. A Floater Stone, if you will. It must be important. But you won't find it for awhile yet,
so just forget about it for now. Huh-oh. RUBY is capitalized! That means it's a quest item. If you put two and two together,
you'll probably realize that you're not getting through the Titan's Tunnel unless you find him a Ruby. Darn.
Probably
the most important thing in Melmond is the legendary Dr. Unne. He has a special purpose, that is revealed later in the game.
For now, just bask in the glory that is UNNE! Earth Cave, eh? That sounds like a dungeon. Yippee. Well, maybe you'll find
the Vampire in there. Or the cause of the earth's rot. The Earth Cave sounds like a good place to light the Orb of Earth,
doesn't it?
This guy seems to think that the Vampire is the cause of the Earth's rot! That's a good theory. Only one way
to test it; kill the Vampire, of course.
Oh well, that's enough information for now. It's time to go shopping! If
you thought things in Elfland were expensive, wait until you see the prices in Melmond! 45000G for Steel Armor! 8000G apiece
for a 5th level spell! That's a lot of money. You need to find a good place to make money quick, and Ogres just aren't going
to do the trick this time, unless you have a couple years of playing time you'd be willing to spend. Which I doubt.
IMPORTANT:
You'll notice that your Black/Red Mages are unable to buy the spell WARP. You cannot learn this spell until after the Class
Change, later in the game. So LEAVE ONE OF YOUR 5TH LEVEL SPELL SLOTS OPEN so that you can get WARP when you're able! WARP
is one of the most helpful spells in the game, and you don't want to go without it.
Well, enough of Melmond for
now. Let's go exploring. The Titan's Tunnel is a good place to start. The Titan's Tunnel is a bit to the west of Melmond.
On the World Map, you can see where the exit comes out on the other side of the mountain; this tunnel is the only way to get
to that area, it seems. It's the only way to reach Sarda the Sage, too. Bad news. The Titan is not friendly. He refuses to
let you through his tunnel. Maybe if you can find him a Ruby, he'll reconsider.
That's all for the Titan's Tunnel,
for now at least. Head south from the Titan's Tunnel to your next stop: the Earth Cave. The Earth Cave is on the peninsula
to the south-west of Melmond. You may want to use a Tent, Cabin, or House to save before entering, there are a lot of nasty
monsters in there. The monsters in the Earth Cave are by far the strongest you've faced so far. There are
a lot of monsters that can poison you, so I hope you have the PURE spell, and a lot of Pure Potions.
There is also
a whole lot of treasure in this Cave. Thousands of G is just waiting to be taken. Unfortunately, most of the treasure is guarded
by Earths. Earths are very strong elemental beasts; althought they are weak against FIRE, they are formidable opponents. There
is one spot in the Earth Cave that is perfect for gaining levels and making money. to the west of the entrance on the first
floor, there is a hallway in which every step will force you to fight a group of Giants and Iguanas. Giants are worth over
800G apiece, and though they are a little hard to defeat, after gaining a few levels you'll be able to fight many Giants before
needing to heal. This is the best spot to earn the money needed to buy the expensive spells and armor in Melmond, as well
as gain the levels needed to survive the lower levels of the Earth Cave. Of course, an even easier way of gaining G than fighting
Giants is finding it in treasure chests. There is over 3000G on the first floor alone, as well as some Potions. So make sure
to collect it all. You should stay on the first level for now, while you are levelling up; don't go deeper into
the cave yet. When you need to, go back to Melmond and stay at the Inn. Then come back here and fight some more.
When
you are at level 12, you are strong enough to take on the Vampire. Make SURE you have the spell FIR3 (you should be able to
afford it easily at this point). CUR3 is also very useful, but not absolutely necessary. Once you think you're ready, save
outside the Cave, and head for the stairs to the lower regions of the Earth Cave. The second floor of the Earth
Cave can be a bit confusing. But, if you continue in a general east direction, you'll find your way eventually. Look at my
map if you're really confused. There is some nice treasure to be found on this floor. In particular, the Coral Sword is a
wonderful weapon for a Thief. It's in the room just to the north of the stairs to the third floor. When you're done treasure
hunting, head down to Level 3, the home of the Vampire. This is one of the most dangerous levels in the Earth Cave. Here you
will face for the first time the dread Coctrice. Coctrice have the ability to turn your characters to stone just by attacking
them. A Petrified character is essentially dead, although a Soft Potion will revive them. However, you can't use a Soft in
battle, and if all 4 of your characters are petrified, it's Game Over. So it's best to run from Coctrices if you find them.
Another danger on this floor is Wizards. Yup, they're the same Wizards you fought in the Marsh Cave. If you find a group of
Wizards, you must kill them; you aren't allowed to run from them. You'll find them much easier now, though, than when you
had to fight them in the Marsh Cave; just use LIT2. Head north from the entrance to this floor, then circle around to the
west to the Vampire's room. Make sure you're all healed up before you talk to him, though, because, obviously, he's a boss.
He he he.. the Vampire is melodramatic, isn't he? This is possibly the easiest boss in Final Fantasy. If you have FIR3, and
you didn't use it on the way to the Vampire, use it now; it will almost always kill the Vampire in one hit! Even if you don't
have it, use FIR2 and HRM2 and he will die quickly. Or just use FAST and attack him. It doesn't really matter.
Once
the Vampire is dead (Come to think of it, wasn't he already dead? At least, Undead?), visit the treasure chest in the corner.
It's a Ruby! Yippee! Now you can pass through the Titan's Tunnel. In case you haven't noticed, killing the Vampire didn't
light any of your Orbs. It looks like the Vampire wasn't the cause of the earth's rot after all. North of the Vampire's room,
you'll find a mysterious plate, a Big Nasty Plate of Evil, if you will. The thing that stole the power from the Orb of the
Earth is probably underneath of that plate. But it's too heavy for you to lift. Darn. The only thing left to do now is leave
the Earth Cave and visit the Titan. Maybe Sarda will have some answers. After your trek through the Earth Cave, you should
probably go back to Melmond to heal and save at the Inn. Then head for the Titan's Tunnel one more time.
Talk to the Titan.
He is very happy to see you this time, and very hungry too. He eats the Ruby, and now you can pass through his tunnel! There
is some treasure to the south, if you want it (of course you want it). The exit is to the north. After leaving the Tunnel,
head south. Far to the south, you'll find another cave. This is the home of Sarda, the Sage. Don't worry, there are no monsters
in there, just Sarda.
Talk to Sarda. Sarda seems to know a lot about the Earth
Cave (I guess that's why he's a Sage). He tells you that the real cause of the earth't rot is past the Plate. And he gives
you a Rod to remove the Plate! Now you can finally light the Orb of the Earth. Leave Sarda and go back to Melmond, to rest
and save one more time.
The lower levels of the Earth Cave are rather difficult. It would be a very good idea
to gain a couple more levels before attempting it. If you can get your characters to Level 14, you'll be more than ready to
tackle the Boss at the end of the Earth Cave. So fight some more Giants until your characters are ready.
In addition to getting your characters' levels up, you should also
make sure to buy all the equipment and Magic you'll need to survive the Earth Cave. First of all, head back to Coneria or
Elfland, and pick up some Heal Potions. You should take about 50 Heal Potions with you (it's a lot, but better safe than sorry).
Grab a couple more Pure Potions too, and if you've run out of Soft Potions, make sure to stock up again (you should only need
7 or 8 Softs, though).
If you have any Fighters in your party, you should be
able to afford the Steel Armor for them. Also, make sure your Mages have all the Level 5 spells that they need; you should
at least have CUR3, LIFE, and FIR3. Make sure your weaker characters have Silver Bracelets, too.
Once your party is
fully equipped, it's time to visit the Earth Cave one more time. As always, use a Tent or Cabin right outside the entrance,
just in case your party gets wiped out inside.
You must once again travel through the first three levels
of the Cave to get to the Plate behind the Vampire's lair. Running from all the enemies you meet on the way is a good idea;
save your HP and magic for the Boss on the fifth floor. If you do decide to fight, conserve your FIR2, FIR3, and CURE spells
as much as possible. Eventually you'll reach the Plate. What to do now?
Go to the Item menu and select the Rod. Press
the A button, and BAM! the Plate busts into a billion pieces. Underneath it is a stairway.
The stairway leads to the fourth
and fifth floors of the Earth Cave. So, take the stairs! There is a little bit of treasure on this floor. The room near
the top of the map has a whole lot of G; the one at the bottom of the map only has about 1000G, a Cabin, and a Silver Shield,
so you may want to forget about that room. After all, the more walking around you do, the more monsters you must fight. The
stairs to the fifth floor are in the upper left corner.
This is the fifth and final floor of the Earth Cave.
Here lies the source of the Earth's rot. There is no treasure on this floor, so find your way to the (only) room on this floor.
Before
talking to the orb, make sure you restore each of your characters' HP to full (this fight is a biggie).
Talk to the orb.
It busts open, and out pops... Lich, Fiend of Earth. That's right, the Elemental Fiends are the ones who stole the power of
the Orbs! They're the ones causing all the problems with the planet. What shall you do about it? Killing Lich is probably
a good start.The fight with Lich can be kind of difficult, if you're characters are at low levels. However, if you got to
Level 14 (like I told you to), Lich should be a piece of cake. (I actually killed Lich in one round with my Level 14 party,
with one hit from my FAST Fighter and a shot of HRM3). Lich is weak against FIRE and HARM magicks. Once Lich is dead,
it's time to light an Orb! Walk forward to the evil-looking altar, and step on it. A big beam of light shoots in the air.
That light is the power of Earth being returned to your Orb. In fact, check your menu screen, and you'll see that one of the
Orbs is indeed lit again! Woo hoo!
Now what, you ask? Well, you can walk all the way back
up five floors of the Earth Cave if you want. Or, step on the Orb behind the altar. You'll be instantly teleported outside
the Earth Cave, safe and sound. Now's a good time to save again with a Tent or Cabin. Then head back to Melmond, and stay
at the Inn overnight to recover from your dungeon-crawling. Well, one of the Orbs is lit. But there are three more to
go. Where to go now? Well, before going anywhere, make sure you are done shopping in Melmond. You should have all the 5th
level spells you need (except WARP, which you can't learn yet). You should be able to afford brand new armor for all your
characters by now, as well.
Now, where to go? Well, there is acutally only one place left that you can reach
in your ship; it's the only place with a port anywhere near it. Hit B Select and look at the world map. See where I drew the
red circle? That's where you're headed: Crescent Lake.
CHAPTER5
Crescent
Lake is all the way on the other side of the world. The quickest way to get there is to sail off the left side of the map
and onto the right (the world is round, after all). The port near Crescent Lake isn't really NEAR Crescent Lake.
You'll need to walk a short distance to the town. There are some nice strong monsters in the area around Crescent Lake, good
for EXP (they're not that difficult).Crescent Lake is named, oddly enough, for the huge, crescent-shaped lake that surrounds
is. In Crescent Lake, you'll find the Level 6 spells, a weapon and armor shop, and Inn, etc. But the really important thing
in this town is the Circle of Sages. The Circle of Sages is a group of old, wise men, who seem to know a lot about
what's going on in the world. To get there, go through the break in the hedges at the very upper-right corner of the town.
Lukhan, the guy whom you've heard so much about, is here. He and the other Sages have much to tell you about the Fiends and
the Orbs.The most important guy to talk to, however, is this guy. He likes the job you did in the Earth Cave, so he gives
you a Canoe! (I wonder where he was keeping it...). With it, you can now travel up rivers. You can also dock your Ship at
the mouth of any river (very useful). Now that you have the Canoe, you actually have three options available to
you. If you follow the plot, you should go to Gurgu Volcano and take on the next Fiend. However there's nothing stopping you
from going to the Ice Cave at this point, or from going to the Castle of Ordeals. You shouldn't even know that either of those
places exists yet though (except that I just told you). If you want to go to the Ice Cave look at chapter 6, and if you want
to go to the Castle of Ordeals look at chapter 7. It's actually pretty darn useful to go to those two places first, if you
can survive them, because you'll get some darn good equipment.
But
oh well, on to the Volcano we go. Anyways, the Sages confirm what you probably already figured out. The Fiends are behind
the world's problems. To light an Orb, put it on the altar in the Fiend's lair. You already knew this already,
though. Remember the altar in Lich's room? Maybe you could teach the sages a few things yourself.
This is kind of important. After you light an Orb, come
back here, and the Sages will have more to say. Many of the Sages don't have anything important to say at all. This guy, for
example. If you check back later though, after you complete a bit more of the game, they'll have some more things to reveal
to you.This guy has the info you need. The Fiend of Fire is in Gurgu Volcano.
Now that you know where to find the Fiend, you may as
welll head to the Volcano. But, as always, make sure you're well stocked up on Heal, Pure, and Soft Potions. You're definitely
going to need as many Heal Potions as you can carry in the Volcano. Interesting... the Fiend of Wind is apparently the oldest.
That probably means he's the strongest, too. Eh, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Before you go anywhere though,
do some shopping. The Level 6 spells are very powerful, of course. They're also 20000G apiece. So you'll probably only be
able to afford a few, if any. If you can only get one spell, get LIT3. You'll also notice that your White Mage is unable to
learn the EXIT spell. It's a VERY useful spell; you'll be able to learn it after class change, so make sure you save one level
6 slot so you can learn it. The weapons for sale here aren't all that great. The Silver Axe is a bit stronger than the Silver
Sword, but it doesn't hit as often, so it's up to you whether or not to get it. The other Silver weapons, you should already
have found in treasure chests. The armor isn't all that wonderful, either. Make sure to get your Thief (if you have one) a
Buckler. And buy some Silver Armor for all of your Red Mages. You can also buy your Fighter some more Silver accessories if
you wish.
Gurgu Volcano is located deep within the mountains west of Crescent Lake. If you happen to have gone to get the
Airship already, you can go fly right over and land next to it. Otherwise you have a very long Canoe ride to reach the Volcano
(which is one of the reasons I always go to the Ice Cave first.
There are some pretty tough monsters in the rivers
around the world. Ochos and Gators for example. If you want to fight them go ahead, but I'd run, especially from Ochos, since
they're poisonous. Anyways, the river is kind of maze-like, so follow these directions fairly closely and/or use
the World Map. Here's where you enter the river. Head west at the first fork, not south. This is the next fork in the
river you'll come to. Go up. Go right, then go up, Go left here and you're done; there's only one way to go from this point.
And here you are. As always, make sure you save before you go in there. You don't want to have to canoe back here again. The
Volcano is, as you may have guessed, filled with Fire monsters. That means that ICE and ICE2 are your best weapons. AFIR is
also a necessity, to protect from the strong fire attacks that many monsters will use against you.
There are
also a couple other monsters to watch out for, namely the Coctrices (yup, they're back again), and the Perilisks. Perilisks
use a SQUINT attack that erases, ie. kills, a character. If you already have the Airship you might already have gotten your
characters ProRings, in which case Perilisks are nothing to worry about, but run if you don't have ProRings. Coctrices are
always a danger, but with the SOFT spell and a few Soft Potions, you should be able to handle them. Almost the entire Volcano
is covered with lava-floor that damages your party with every step they take. The only remedy for this is to walk on solid
ground whenever possible, and to heal yourself when it's impossible to avoid. The Heal Staff is extremely useful in the Volcano;
have whoever is carrying the Staff use it in every battle you get into, to cut down on Heal Potion use. However, the Staff
doesn't heal many HP, so you're still going to need to use a lot of Heal Potions. Now for the good news. There is A LOT of
treasure in Gurgu Volcano. So much, in fact, that you will probably not be able to carry it all at once. In other words, be
prepared to walk out of the Volcano and make a trip back to Crescent Lake to sell excess weapons and armor. Either that, or
just drop it, if you don't want to spend the time, and don't need the G. Either way. There is plenty of G to make up for not
selling all the treasure you don't want. If you're careful, you can probably get away with making no more than one trip to
Crescent Lake to sell junk, and just get what you missed on the way to the Fire Fiend. Anyways, here is where you'll enter
the Volcano. There is no treasure on this floor, so just head across the damage-floor to the stairs. Those are the stairs
to the next floor. This floor is loaded with treasure. Enter the first door you see, and start traversing the maze-like corridors
to find all the chests scattered throughout this level.Be careful, though, because many chests here are guarded by one or
two Fires. Fires are fairly strong opponents, but you should be able to handle them easily enough. Use ICE2 if you have to,
or just chop them up with physical attacks. There are a lot of Silver Helmets and Shields on this floor, which you'll want
to either sell or throw away. If you don't feel like getting ALL the treasure here, and just want the good stuff, make sure
you get this chest; it contains the Giant Sword. It's not too good to equip, but you can sell it for quite a bit of cash. The
other place to make sure you visit is here. It's kind of obvious why. This place is the mother lode. There is a lot of G here,
but other than that, there isn't any armor or weapons that are really worth keeping. The stairs to the next floor are easy
to find. There is no treasure on this floor, but there is a big mess of lava-floor that you have to walk across. Head to the
right, that's where the stairs are. Make sure you keep an eye on your HP, too. Oh boy! More lava! Head down and to the right,
and make sure you heal up so that a random monster doesn't wipe you out. Here are the stairs. Let's hope that the next floor
has more than just lava on it... ...sorry. Nothing but lava here, too. Take the hallway leading down.
At the next intersection,
head down again, and to the left. It's a long walk to the left across even more damage floor to get to the stairs. The
stairs, at last. Don't worry, the next floor has some treasure on it. Yup, plenty of treasure on this floor. And plenty of
lava, too. Get the treasure in the first room, then head left (the only way you can go). Get the treasure from the next room,
too, then head up and to the left. Finally, some good treasure! There is an Ice Sword here, which is GOOD; give it to your
Fighter. You'll also find the Flame Shield; also equip it. After you're done here, head back the way you came. At the intersection,
take the path down this time. It's all straightforward from here, there's only one way to go. Get all the treasure along the
way. Here are the stairs. One more floor to go! If you're running low on Heal Potions, don't worry, there isn't
much lava on this next floor, and you're almost done. I hope you have some CURE spells left. This is where you'll appear on
the next floor. There are eight ways to go! Well, they all lead to dead-ends or empty treasure chests, except for two paths.
One leads to Kary, and the other one leads to some nice treasure. So, first, go straight left, to pick up the Flame Armor.
There are two monsters guarding this chest. One, the Agama, is easily slain (you've probably fought a couple Agamas on the
way up through the Volcano).
The other, however, is the mighty Red D. The Red D is pretty strong. It uses a super-strong
Fire attack that can easily kill a weakened character, so make sure you keep everyone's HP up. Make sure you cast AFIR as
soon as possible, to cut down the damage from BLAZE. Use ICE spells to cause a lot of damage, or try your luck with BANE,
which can kill the Dragon in one hit (although it doesn't always work). Once the Dragon is out of the way, the Flame
Armor is yours! Equip it or, or keep it to sell for big bucks later on. The Fiend's room is in the bottom left
corner of this level. It's not a long walk through the lava, and that's the last of the lava in the Volcano. If you have any
Heal Potions left, good job, use them. Here is the Fiend's orb. Do NOT examine it until you are fully healed, of course. If
you have a couple FAST, AFIR, and CUR3 spells left, and you're at near-full HP, you should be able to take the Fiend down
easily. Examine the Orb. Kary is a bit ticked off about how you whooped her pal, Lich. So she decides to teach you a lesson.
It's boss battle time. Kary uses a lot of FIRE spells against your party, so make sure you cast AFIR first thing. She also
has a very strong physical attack (she'll often land 5 or 6 hits at once), so keep yourself healed. Use FAST on your best
fighting character, and have someone use INV2 if you like, to beef up your defenses a bit. Surprisingly, Kary is not weak
against ICE spells, or any other spells, really. So use FIR3 or LIT3 (if you have it) to cause some nice damage. Kary should
fall in no time. Once Kary's out of the way, hop onto the altar, and watch the big grey beam of fire energy shoot into the
air. Then touch the orb in the back of the room, and you'll be teleported out of the Volcano. Well, that's two Fiends down,
and two to go! Check your menu screen, and you'll see that two of the Orbs are now shining. The next Fiend on the list is
the Fiend of Water. Onward to Onrac, and Gaia!
CHAPTER 6
Now that you've lit the second Orb, there isn't anywhere
readily apparent that you can reach with your Ship. As that guy in Pravoka said, there are no ports in the northern part of
the world. You need to get a new means of transportation before you do anything else.
If you happened to talk to this
guy in Melmond before going through the Volcano you probably noticed that he was asleep. Talk to him after lighting the Fire
Orb however, and he'll have some very useful information for you. People have been talking about that darn Floater stone since
the Dwarf Cave, and you finally get to go find it. Before you go though, make sure to stock up on Heal, Pure, and Soft potions.
The Ice Cave is one of the hardest dungeons in the game; you will definitely need all the Heal Potions you can carry. Get
a House or Cabin, or two, as well. If you don't have enough money for the potions you need, fight some monsters around Crescent
Lake until you do. Then, stop by the Inn for one more quick rest before heading for the Ice Cave. The only way to reach the
Ice Cave is by Canoe. It's a long ride, and you'll have to fight nasty river monsters like Ocho and Hydra the whole way. But,
a Light Warrior's gotta do what a Light Warrior's gotta do. Sail your ship a little bit north from the Crescent Lake port,
and dock it at the mouth of this river.
On the way to the Cave, if you decide to fight the monsters you meet instead
of running, avoid using magic. You'll need every last spell inside the Ice Cave, trust me.
The rivers in this area
are a veritable maze. It's easy to get lost. from the entrance, first turn north, then east, then north, then east again.
At the next intersection, take the river on the bottom; the top one is a dead-end. Take the west fork at this intersection;
the south fork is another dead-end. Whew! Dry land at last! Think you can remember the way back to the Ship? Don't worry,
I'll give you directions back when you're done with the Ice Cave. I shouldn't have to say this, but use a Cabin
or House before entering the Ice Cave. The Ice Cave is HARD. Repeat: HARD! It's just about the hardest dungeon in the game,
besides the final dungeon. So make sure you're at full HP before entering. The Ice Cave is by far the hardest dungeon
you've faced so far in the game. And you won't see many harder than it later in the game, either. The monsters in the Cave
are ridiculously powerful. Fighters, Mages, and the Eye can all use RUB or XXXX, spells that erase a character, killing him
no matter how many HP he has. There is no defense against this spell (yet), so you'll have to rely on luck. Also in the Ice
Cave are the Sorcerers: they don't bother using magic to kill you, they can kill you automatically just by hitting you for
even 1 DMG! You should definitely RUN from any Mages, Fighters, or Sorcerers you find. Coctrices also make an appearance in
the Cave; RUN from them as well, or prepare to use some SOFT potions.
Unfortunately, there are enemies you can't run from
in the Ice Cave. There are huge groups of Wizards that you must kill; use LIT2 (or LIT3, if you have it) against them. You
also cannot run from Frost Ds. Frost Ds use super-powerful ice attacks that hit all of your characters at once, but you must
fight them if you encounter them; use FIR3 or LIT3 to kill them quickly.
There are also many other Ice monsters that use
attacks that hit all of your characters. Utilize your White Mage's AICE spell to lessen the damage from these attacks. Also,
use FIR2 and FIR3 against any large groups of ice monsters or undead that you might find; they are susceptible to FIRE attacks,
in case you didn't know.
Well, enough about the monsters, for now. This is where you enter the Ice Cave. This is NOT where
you'll exit the Ice Cave; you'll have to find another exit, but we'll get to that later. Head east from here. Here
are the stairs to the next level (L2A). If your White Mage with LIFE was killed before you made it this far (very likely),
reset and start over; you're probably not going to make it through the Cave without a White Mage.
This level has many Mages
and Fighters on it. RUN from them. It doesn't matter if you go left or down; it leads to the same place. The stairs to the
next level (L3A) are in the bottom left corner. I think you can figure this level out yourself. Take the stairs to the next
floor (L2B).
The room on this floor has a lot of strange looking circles on the floor. DON'T STEP ON THEM (yet)! Instead,
go to the upper-left treasure chest, and get the Flame Sword (a VERY good weapon). The other chest has Cloth in it, so don't
bother. NOW you can jump into one of the holes, to get to the next level (L3B). You'll appear on this level in
a small room. Prepare yourself; the next step you take will initiate a battle with a huge group of undead (usually a group
of 9 assorted undead). Blast them with FIR3 or HRM3, and rake in the EXP and G! (This is a nice spot to gain some levels,
if you're feeling very lucky). After leaving this room, beware! Sorcerers are all over the place on this level; RUN from them
quickly, ...or die!
Be careful stepping on the strange ice-colored floor tiles. They cause your party damage with every
step you take. Cross the damage-floor here to get some nice treasure (the Ice Armor!), if you want. A Frost D guards the Ice
Armor (the other chest is a Silver Gauntlet; getting it means another Frost D battle). This thing will kick the crap out of
you if you don't use AICE right away. FIRE and LIT spells are effective against it.
After getting the treasure here, head
south, across some more damage-floor. There's another room of treasure here. A crapload of G is to be had, if you feel like
going to get it.
Here is the exit from this floor (now you're going back to L1 again). At last! The treasure chests on
this floor have some more G in it. Get it all. Also to be found here is the Ice Shield. Get it before jumping into this hole
(the exit to the next level). DO NOT TAKE THE STAIRS IN THE UPPER-RIGHT CORNER! Taking the stairs will cause you to exit the
Ice Cave entirely; you'll have to do this all over again if you leave now! Use the HOLE to go to the next level (L2B, again). Remember
this floor? You are now in the middle, within easy reach of the treasure chest in the center. But before you can get it, you
must face the EYE. The EYE isn't strong physically, but it has very powerful magic attacks. It can erase
you with RUB or XXXX, or petrify you with GLANCE. Be prepared to lose at least one of your characters before this battle is
over. (if all of your characters survive, consider yourself very lucky). Use FIR3 and physical attacks, and you might just
manage to kill the EYE before you kills one of your characters.
Once the EYE is out of the way, you can get the treasure
from the chest. It's none other than the infamous Floater you've heard so much about! After you get the Floater, hop into
another hole in the floor, to continue on your quest through the Ice Cave. Now comes the hard part: getting out alive! Time
to find the exit to the Ice Cave. After falling through another hole in the floor, you're back in the room of the undead again.
That sucks, doesn't it? If you have any FIRE or HARM spells left, use them up. If not, try running. Try to get to the stairs
on this level as quickly as possible. Running from every battle you get into is not a bad idea at all. Unless you find some
Frost Ds, in which case you must fight. Now, take the stairs on this level. At last, you're out! Whew.
If you made
it through the Cave on your first try, consider yourself very lucky, or very skilled. Even at high levels, it's hard to get
through this Cave unscathed. Use a Tent, Cabin, or House right away, so you don't have to do that all over again. Now, head
for the river; time to canoe back to Crescent Lake. Well, now you've got a Floater Stone. What the heck do you do with it?
Earlier in the game you might've talked to this guy in Elfland, and he had nothing important to say. If you talk to him now
though, he tells you to use the Floater in the desert south of Crescent Lake. So do it. :)
You should be able to remember the way out, I hope. If not, check my
world map. Or look above, and follow my previous directions in reverse. Once you get back to the Ship, head to Crescent Lake
one more time. You're probably loaded down with armor and weapons that need to be sold, plus you can spend some of your hard
earned money on new Level 6 spells. A stay at the Inn is also very much needed, after your trek through the Ice Cave. Do it
now before you get mashed by a random wandering monster. Once you're done resting, shopping, and saving your game, hop back
aboard the Ship. Your next destination is just a bit to the south. See that river? Park your Ship at the mouth
of the river. Then kiss the Ship goodbye, because you're probably not going to need it much more for the rest of the game!
Walk a bit to the south, and into the desert that's surrounded by mountains (you can't miss it). Stand in the desert, and
use the Floater stone from the Item menu. Voila! An Airship rises from the sands! Well, what are you waiting for? Hop aboard!
The Airship is FAST. It's about 4 times faster than walking. What's even better, you'll fight no random battles while aboard
the Airship. One slight problem with the Airship is that it can only be landed on grasslands, so you'll still have to do some
walking to get to some places, but there is nowhere in the world that you cannot reach now that you have the Airship! You
can now go anywhere in the world, so where is your next destination? Well, there is a lot to do, but your first stop is the
town of Gaia. But for now, just fly around a bit, and enjoy the ride.
CHAPTER 7
Before you do anything else, fly your new Airship to
the very upper-right corner of the world, to the town of Gaia. Gaia is nestled in an isolated valley, in the middle of nowhere.
It is virtually untouched by the rot that has plagued the rest of the world. Consequently, Gaia is a prospering town. The
Level 7 spells are here, but don't get them yet. They're very expensive, and chances are your mages aren't at high enough
levels to use them yet anyways (and they won't be for awhile, either). You are here for one thing only, in fact. The ProRings.
Remember all the monsters in the Ice Cave that use RUB on you? Well, there are a lot of those monsters for the rest of the
game. If you want to survive, for very long later in the game, you'll need ProRings. ProRings protect their wearer automatically
from RUB and XXXX spells. So buy each of your characters one. You can't wear any gauntlets or gloves while wearing the ProRing,
so sell them.
If you can afford it, you should also get a Gold Bracelet for each of your mages. If you can't
afford it, don't worry about it; you can pick a few up later.There's not much left to do in Gaia for now, but you'll be coming
back here later in the game. Now it's time to make a quick stop at the Cardian Islands. Hop in your airship and head west.
The Cardian Islands are the home of a civilization of Dragons. Don't worry, they're friendly dragons, you won't have to fight
them or anything. In fact, they can be a great help to your party.
There are many different entrances to the islands
from the World Map. You should go down each hole; many of them lead to rooms with lots of treasure. The most important one,
however, is this one. This hole leads to a very long leading south. It's kind of ridiculous how long that hallway is,
really. At the end of it is a staircase leading up. Take it. The stairs lead to a ridiculously large room. There are a couple
Dragons in here; talk to them, and they will introduce to you Bahamut, King of the Dragons.
Bahamut is a nice enough
guy, for a dragon at least. He says something about bringing back proof of your courage, and mentions bestowing on you the
honor due to true warriors. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Better go look for some proof of your courage. Maybe some of the
other Dragons will know something about it? Leave this place to go find some more information. This is a good place to start
looking for info. By some unwritten RPG law, the harder it is to get somewhere, the more likely you'll find something Important
inside. So land your Airship on this square and walk through the swamp to the hole in the ground.
Sure enough, inside
a Dragon comes right out and tells you what you need to do. The Castle of Ordeals is apparently the place to find proof of
your courage. That's good to know. But let's talk to the Dragons in the other islands before you go there. This Dragon says
something about mechanical castles and big palaces in the north. There are no palaces or castles in the north, as you can
see on the World Map. So either he's drunk, or he's talking about that lost civilization you've heard about in a few other
places.
Here's some really useful (<----sarcasm) info. The proof of your courage could be anything. No kidding. Mr.
Redundant here has no useful information, either. It seems that NO ONE has any information on what the proof of your courage
could be. It's either a secret, or no one has ever tried to find this "proof" and survived to tell about it. Probably the
latter... Oh well. The Castle of Ordeals is your next destination. Make sure you've taken all the treasure from the Dragons'
lairs, and head for the airship.
The Castle of Ordeals is right here. Fly straight north from the Temple of Fiends
and you'll pass right over it. You'll notice right away that there are no grassy landing sites for your Airship anywhere near
the Castle. In fact, the nearest landing site is FAR to the east. This is where you'll have to land to get to the Castle.
The walk is very long and very dangerous; along the way you'll fight some of the strongest monsters that appear anywhere on
the World Map. Fighting is pretty much not an option, in fact; RUN from every battle you encounter along the way.
There
is, fortunately, an alternative to this long walk. Notice the river right next to the Castle? You can go get your Ship, and
dock right there. Sure, the Ship is pretty slow compared to the Airship, but the long ship-ride is much safer than the long
walk from the Airship. It's up to you, really, which means of transportation to use. But if you do decide to take the Ship,
sail SOUTH from Crescent Lake; it's a much shorter distance than sailing north along the coastline. If you decide
to take the Airship and walk the distance, here's where you'll start. Head west from here, through the desert.
There are
some mighty beasts in this desert. If you find any Sand Ws, RUN! Those things can wipe out your entire party with their QAKE
attack. Don't bother fighting Ankylos either; they're only worth 1 G. If you made it this far, you're on
the right track. Keep heading west.
Here's the place you would've started walking from had you taken the Ship. Cross that
river and keep walking west, then circle the mountains and head south to the Castle of Ordeals. Well, here it is. The Castle
of Ordeals. The Castle isn't a particularly long dungeon, but it can be kind of tricky. Of course, you should SAVE before
entering, and make sure you're at full HP (and preferably full MP too). Level 16 is about where your characters should be
to have a good chance at surviving the Castle.
There are three floors in the Castle. And the first floor doesn't have
any monsters on it at all! Piece of cake, right? He he he... Talk to that old guy and he'll tell you that you need a Crown
to enter the Castle. Good thing you kept Astos' Crown, eh? In the upper-left corner of this floor, you'll find
a throne. Step on it and you'll be transported to the second floor. Now for the hard part... The second floor is kind of tricky.
There are all sorts of columns in here that transport you all over the place. What's worse, sometimes you'll have a choice
between two or more columns; pick the wrong one and you have to start all over! That wouldn't be so bad, if there weren't
so many strong monsters in the Castle. Many monsters here should be considered very dangerous. Amongst them are the Mancats
and R.GOYLEs. They use FIR2, which hits all of your characters; if a group of 6 R.GOYLEs each uses FIR2 on you, your entire
party will be dead in one round. You'll also find Medusae on this floor. Those familiar with mythology can guess that Medusae
petrify your characters. Finally, your old pals from the Ice Cave, the Sorcerers, make another appearance here. Needless to
say, run from them. You might also find some ZombieDs; you cannot run from them, so just use FIR3 and HRM3 to take them out
quickly. And now, on with the column maze. The first couple rooms are easy, there's only one choice. Next room,
same thing. Only one column, so take it. In this room, take the column on the bottom. Only one way to go here. Again, take
the column on the bottom. There's a long walk to this column, so be prepared to fight some random monster encounters. Once
again, the column on the bottom is the one you want. This is the last room. And it's a biggie. There are four columns
to choose from this time! What would you do without me? Before using any of the columns, though, make sure to pick up the
Zeus Gauntlet from the room in the upper-right. The Zeus Gauntlet is the first of many items that you'll find that cast a
spell when used as an ITEM in battle. If you use the Zeus Gauntlet in battle, it will cast LIT2. This is VERY handy; it's
free to use, anyone can use it, and it never runs out! Give it to a non-mage and watch the monsters die. Anyways. The correct
column to take is this one. And there are the stairs to the third floor. Trust me, that column maze is a lot harder to do
without someone telling you the right columns to take. :) Take the stairs. Thankfully, there are no more columns
on this floor; it's all straightforward. Head north, through the door, and go get the treasure chest. You'll have to fight
some Nitemares for it, but they're easily slain. Inside the chest is a Heal Staff. This Staff heals ALL your characters
when used during battle as an ITEM; needless to say, that thing is going to come in handy! Give it to your White Mage; even
though she can't use it as a weapon, anyone can use it as an Item in combat. Go west from here. There are a couple
more treasure chests here. One of them has the Ice Sword in it. That is a great weapon, better than the Flame Sword; equip
it right away. Another chest contains a Gold Bracelet. Give it to a Mage.Head south to get some more treasure (a couple thousand
G, or so). Then head west to the final chest. Don't walk up to it yet! Heal first.
That chest contains the proof of
your courage that you need to give to Bahamut. But you must prove yourself first, of course. You must fight the ZombieDs.
The ZombieDs are not hard at all. Use FIRE and HARM magic on them, and they will fall rather quickly. I often use this place
to gain some levels (I easily brought all my characters up to level 18 here). Whether you face just one Dragon or two is random,
but even two don't pose much of a threat. With the ZombieDs out of the way, the contents of the chest are yours! The proof
of your courage turns out to be.... the Tail of a rat? Yes, I think that's kind of bizarre, too. But whatyagonnado. You're
dealing with Dragons, after all. Maybe they're all afraid of rats. Step on the throne to be teleported back to the first floor
of this Castle. Now you can leave and go get your reward from Bahamut! Once outside of the Castle of Ordeals, SAVE right away,
then head back to your Airship (or Ship). If you brought your Ship here, you're going to have to go all the way back and get
the Airship again, so that you can reach the Cardians Islands. If you brought your Airship, just head for the Islands right
away. This is the way to get to Bahamut, in case you forgot. Go downstairs, and once again, walk the ridiculously
long hallway to get to Bahamut. With the Tail in hand, talk to Bahamut. He proudly bestows upon you the honor due to true
warriors. That's right; it's the Class Change! All of your characters are now advanced in their job. Fighters become Knights,
Thieves become Ninjas, Black Belts become Masters, and Mages become Wizards. What does this mean, you ask? Well, it means
that your Knights and Ninjas are now able to use low-level magic (if their levels are high enough). It also means that your
Mages are now able to learn ALL the spells! (Red Wizards can learn more spells now, too, but not as many as White and Black
Wizards, unfortunately). And, ALL of the characters can now equip stronger and better weapons and armor! Finally, all your
characters' pics change into much cooler-looking, more mature pics (the Black Wizard without his hat looks really cool, doesn't
he?) This is a glorious moment for the Light Warriors, indeed. There is a lot to do now that your characters have advanced.
First of all, get in the Airship, and head for Melmond, to pick up the WARP spell. This spell lets you teleport to the previous
level in any dungeon. It's very handy for getting out of a dungeon without having to walk.Next, head for Crescent Lake, and
pick up the EXIT spell. This spell is even better than WARP; it lets you exit a dungeon immediately, no matter what floor
you're on! Quite handy. If you have a Black Wizard in your party, and 65000 extra G, head for Gaia. For sale in
the weapon shop there is the mighty CatClaw, the strongest weapon for the Black Wizard in the whole game. Make sure to pick
it up as soon as you can afford it.
While you're here, if any of your Wizards can use 7th level spells yet, you might
as well pick them up. If not, don't worry, you can come back for them later. Finally, stop at Coneria, Pravoka, and Elfland,
and pick up all the Level 1-4 spells you want for your Kinghts and Ninjas. (Knights can use only White magic, and Ninjas can
learn only Black.)
With your newfound powers and high-level party, it's time to go after the next Fiend. That'd be
the Fiend of Water.
CHAPTER 8
Now that the Fiend of Fire is vanquished, you are pretty much done with the lower half of the world. The next two Fiends
are far to the north, so that's where you'll be heading next. Your first stop should be Gaia. You've been here before to purchase
equipment, but now it's time to find out what else is going on in that town. There is a lot of information in Gaia. Many people
talk about some old lost civilization, and the Sky Warriors are mentioned.
People are also surprised that you could make
it so far north. Actually, looking at the world map, the only way anyone could reach Gaia is by flying. Maybe a long time
ago, there were a lot of Airships like yours? To add to the mystery, in the town of Lefein, south of Gaia, a strange, forgotten
language is spoken, that no one today understands. This is just starting to get weird...
Luckily, there is a professor
somewhere who is studying the Lefeinish language. Maybe he can teach it to you, if you can find him. Another person mentions
that there is a Fairy who lives at the spring in this town, but that she was kidnapped. The plot thickens once again... who
kidnapped the Fairy?
The answer to that question: this guy. He's a pirate, and not very smart, it seems. He tells you that
he stuck the Fairy in a bottle and sold her to a caravan! That's just plain mean. Apparently, the Fairy can draw
something called Oxyale from the bottom of the spring. Of course, you're going to need this Oxyale for something, so you are
going to have to rescue this Fairy, most likely. The Caravan would be a good place to look. If only you knew where the Caravan
was... but more about that later.
Well, let's throw another mystery on the pile. Someone saw a UFO flying around toward
the west. It might be hard to keep track of all this stuff, but just go with it. All will be made clear, eventually. While
you're in Gaia, pick up a Catclaw for your Black Wizards, if you can afford it. The Catclaw is the BEST weapon for the Black
Wizard. Also for sale here is the Gold Bracelet, a really nice piece of armor. And the Level 7 and 8 spells (well, half of
them, anyways), are for sale here. If you can't afford all that stuff, just wait awhile, it's no big deal.
There isn't
really anything else to do here, yet. Hop aboard your Airship and head west, to the town of Onrac. This is Onrac. It's a little
bit to the west of the Cardian Islands (you probably saw it when you were messing around with the Class Change). There is
nowhere to land your airship anywhere near Onrac, unfortunately. The nearest place to land is here, to the southwest of Onrac.
It's a bit of a walk/canoe to get to town, but it's not that bad. There are some rather strong monsters wandering around the
world map here, but they're nothing that you shouldn't be able to handle (or run from) by now. Onrac is a bustling seaport.
Well, it used to be, anyways. Something bad happened here, and Onrac isn't quite the town it used to be. What happened
here, you ask? The Sea Shrine, which was apparently some sort of large fortress/temple that was part of Onrac, was sunken
into the sea by the Fiend of the Water. How horrible! The Mermaids were all aboard when it sank, and what happened to them
is unknown.The suckiness of Onrac is apparent when you visit the Magic Shops here. the Level 7 spells for sale here are pretty
much the suckiest spells ever. You'll also notice that Onrac doesn't have any weapon/armor shops either. And the Inn is crazy
expensive. Needless to say, this is not the best place to shop. However, there is still a lot of info to
be had in Onrac. For starters, the Caravan Master's daughter lives here. She tells you that the Caravan is in the desert to
the west of Onrac. That's good to know! Just in case you've forgotten, the "strange" thing for sale at the Caravan
is the Fairy from Onrac. Luckily, there is also info in Onrac about the Oxyale the Fairy can give you... ...namely,
that it is required to run this young lady's Submarine! Oxyale apparently lets a person breathe underwater, which is good,
seeing as how the Sea Shrine is on the bottom of the ocean. You should now be able to figure out what you need to do to get
into the Sea Shrine. But there is some other interesting information to be found in Onrac, before you leave. There
is a crazy guy in Onrac who claims to have seen a UFO flying around to the west. Then again, someone from Gaia said they saw
the same thing. Maybe you should have a talk with Kope. Kope says that he saw a Robot flying near the Waterfall
in the north. That is definitely worth checking out, don't you think? But not yet. There are more people to talk to first. Remember
the infamous Dr. Unne, from Melmond? You'll find Dr. Unne's brother near the Inn here. He says that Unne is a professor who
studies the language of the Lefein. In fact, he's almost done translating it, if only he had the Slab. Uh-oh, all capital
letters mean KEY ITEM! You're going to have to find this Slab, of course. Conveniently, the lady standing near Unne's brother
has some related information. She says that a "cryptic stone plate" was sunken in the Sea Shrine. Durrrrr, hyuk hyuk... I
wonder if it's the Slab? Obviously, it is.
But before going to the Sea Shrine, or dealing with the Fairy, or
any of that stuff, it is time to make a trip to the Waterfall. There are three good reasons to go to the
Waterfall next. One is that you are going to need a whole lot of G very shortly, and the Waterfall is the place to get it.
Another is that the Waterfall has some excellent weapons and armor. Lastly, while you're here you can check out those rumors
about "flying robots" and whatnot.
To get to the Waterfall, you need to canoe up the river west of Onrac. There's only
one way to go, so you can't get lost. Interestingly enough, you can use a House or Cabin while aboard your Canoe.
Do so before entering the Waterfall. The Waterfall is probably the smallest dungeon in the game (besides the Temple of Fiends).
It's only one floor, and although it's a bit of a maze, it's not all that hard to find your way through.
Mostly,
you will be fighting Nitemares, MudGols, and Mummies in the Waterfall. They are all worth a decent amount of G and EXP, and
they're not too hard to kill, so take the time to fight the monsters you find; you can build levels and gain some much needed
G. There is, however, one monster to watch out for: the Gas D. Like all Dragons, Gas Ds are fierce monsters. They use a breath
attack that can wipe out your party if they're not at full HP. They're not as difficult as you'd think, though. Use ICE attacks
against them and rake in the G and EXP. Anyways. Here's where you'll enter the Waterfall. Head north from here. At
the first intersection, take the lower-left fork. Circle down and then back to the north again until you reach
the next intersection. You want the lower-left fork once again. The next branch in the road is a four-way intersection.
Take the upper-left path. This is the last intersection. Go south. Keep going south and you'll reach the only room
in the Waterfall. Open up the door and step inside. Right inside the door, however, a fight will start automatically. Luckily,
this is not a boss fight. It's just a big group of Mummies, WzMummies, Coctrices, and Perilisks. At this point in the game,
these monsters are a piece of cake; your ProRings should protect you against the Perilisks' SQUINT attack, and with luck you
can avoid being petrified by the Coctrices. Use a blast of FIR3 or LIT3 to wipe out all the bad guys at once. This is a GREAT
place to build levels and gain some G. I earned 200,000G and got my characters up to level 22 here! So spend some time here,
definitely. If you build your levels up to about 20 or so, you'll breeze through the rest of the game (until the final dungeon,
that is.) Once the monsters are out of the way, go up and get the treasure. There are a couple REALLY good
things to get here. First of all, here is the first of three Ribbons you'll find in the game. Ribbons are perhaps the greatest
piece of armor in the game. Their defense and evade% are worthless, but they have the special property of blocking enemy magical
attacks. That is, Poison, Petrification, Sleep, etc. will hardly ever work against a character with a Ribbon, and regular
magical attacks will cause less damage against a Ribbon-wearer. Give the Ribbon to your White Mage; if only one character
is going to survive a battle, your White Mage is who you want it to be, so that she can heal the other characters afterwards.Another
great piece of equipment here is the Defense. The Defense is one of the best swords in the game (there are only four swords
better than it, actually). Give it to your best fighter.
The other treasure is just the usual. The Wizard Staff isn't
worth equipping if you have the Catclaw already, but it's worth saving, because used as an Item in battle, it casts CONF.
The rest is just G. One last thing to do in the Waterfall. You have most probably noticed the big robot walking around
the room. Talk to him. He'll mention a floating castle, and give you a Cube that he says you need to "transfer" to it. Hmmmmm...
very interesting. Oh well, you won't be using the Cube for awhile, so just forget about it.
That's all there is to
do in the Waterfall. Fight for some levels or G if you wish, and when you want to leave, use WARP or EXIT so that you don't
have to walk all the way back to the stairs. (man, I love those spells!) Canoe back down the river, and stop at Onrac if you
need to stay at the Inn. Then head for your Airship. Hop aboard your Airship, and head west. The Caravan
is located in a small desert to the west of Onrac. It's not that hard to find; it's a little path of desert seperated from
the big desert.The Oasis is actually the only place in the entire world where you can land your Airship right on the desert.
Do so; it'll save you quite a walk. Take a step off of your Airship and back on again, and you'll enter the Caravan. According
to the Pirate in Gaia, this is the place the Fairy should be. So where is she? There is only one item for sale in the Caravan:
a Bottle. It costs 50,000G! Ouch. The Fairy is probably in there. Hopefully you got 50,000G at the Waterfall; if not, fight
some monsters in the desert until you can afford the Bottle. You have to buy it before you can advance any further in the
game. After you buy the Bottle, leave the Caravan, and go into the Item menu. Use the Bottle, and Pop! The Fairy
appears, and flies away. And you don't even get to keep the bottle. There goes 50,000G. Oh well, hopefully the Fairy is smart
enough to find her way back to Gaia. Hop into your Airship and fly back to Gaia. In Gaia, go to the pond in the back where
there used to be nothing. Now, the Fairy is waiting there for you. Talk to her, and she decides to reward you for saving her
by getting you some Oxyale! Just what you always wanted, I'm sure.
If you gained enough levels in the Waterfall,
you should now be able to use some 7th level spells, and you should also be able to afford them. So buy ICE3 or CUR4 while
you're in Gaia. Those spells will definitely help you in the Sea Shrine. Once you're done shopping, head back to Onrac one
more time. Once you make it back to Onrac, head down to the lady with the Submarine. Now that you have Oxyale,
it's safe for you to use the Sub to get to the Sea Shrine. How wonderful. If you're ready (that is, if you have full HP and
magic and are well-stocked with Heal and Pure Potions), jump into the Submarine and you'll be sent automatically to the Sea
Shrine, to rescue the Mermaids and eventually
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