FINAL FANTASY TACTICS: THE WAR OF THE LIONS (PSP) FAQ @@ ,9@@@#@@s@@SA@; @@r i@ &@@: :@@@@@@@ .@ #@r #@;@@@@@@ r@ :@@SsM@@: 2@. @@@ :@s@@ r@@ 2@ @@ ;@@ .@@@ A@ @@; i@@ ;@:@ @@ # @@. ,@2 @@ @@S @@ @@@ # @@ @@@ @ 2@@@ @@ @@& A;@@@ @@@ @ @@ i@@@ #@@ @@h@ @@@X@. @@ @@@@@ @@@@ @@ @@@M@ @@@@ @@@@@ @@ @@@@ @@@@ r@@ @@@A@: @@ @ @@@ .@ @@ @@ . @@@@@ @ @@; @ @@@ @@ @ @@. @@@@; @@ @@@ :. @@ @ @@ @@@@@@ @@ r@ @@H .#@@@@@ @ @@ @@ @@@@@@ G @@@ @@ @@@ @@ :@: @@ @: i@@ ,@@:@@ @@@ @9 .@@ ,@; @@ @@ @r r@@ A@ @@r ,@@ @@@ i@@SX@& 3H@S 9@@X2@@@@i @@@ X@3 i@@&X@H A @@2@5 X@@#@@#@@. G@@s @@@ @@@ @@ @@i @@ M; @ T A C T I C S T h e W a r o f t h e L i o n s %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % FINAL FANTASY TACTICS: THE WAR OF THE LIONS FAQ % % Version 3.10 % % by Fritz Fraundorf % % qumarsh@gmail.com % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% For best results, view this document using a fixed-width font (e.g. Courier). Make sure that the window is at least 80 characters wide, so that the numbers below all appear a single line: 12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 If they appear on more than one line, you may need to make your window bigger. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- %%%%TABLE OF CONTENTS%%%% To jump to any section of this FAQ, press Ctrl+F to Find and type in the code (beginning with 00) next to the section title. I. Revision History 00rev II. Frequently Asked Questions 00faq III. Walkthrough and Battle Strategies - Main Quest 00walk0 Chapter I: The Meager 00walk1 Chapter II: The Manipulative & The Subservient 00walk2 Chapter III: The Valiant 00walk3 Chapter IV: In the Name of Love 00walk4 IV. Walkthrough and Battle Strategies - Subquests 00sub Agrias's Birthday 00agr Gollund Colliery 00col Recruiting Balthier 00balt Nelveska Temple 00nel Recruiting Cloud 00cloud Disorder in the Order 00dis Lionel's New Liege Lord 00lio Midlight's Deep 00md V. Multiplayer Modes Melee Mode - General Information 00melee0 Melee Mode - Treasures 00melee1 Rendezvous Mode - General Information 00ren0 Rendezvous Mode - Treasures and Ranking 00ren1 Rendezvous Mission Strategies 00ren2 VI. Jobs and Abilities Job Requirements (Quick Reference) 00req General Information about Jobs 00job0 Standard Jobs 00job1 Special Jobs 00job2 Job Statistics Comparison 00jobstat Monsters 00mon Enemy-Only Jobs 00job3 VII. Ability Strategies Ability Combos 00abil Character Strategies 00char Party Strategies 00par VIII. Statistics and Leveling Bravery and Faith 00brave Exp, JP, and Gil 00exp Quickly Raising Exp and JP 00quick Automated Leveling 00auto Level-Downs and Stat Grinding 00down IX. Equipment and Items 00equip Weapons 00weap Shields 00shield Headgear 00head Body Armor 00armor Accessories 00acc Items 00item X. Finding Items Poached Items 00poach Shop Chart 00shop Rare Item Locations 00rare Throws from Enemy Ninjas 00ninja Missable Items and Events 00miss XI. Errands General Information About Errands 00err0 Errand Types & Preferred Jobs 00err1 Errand List 00err2 XII. Random Battles Overworld Random Battles 00over Midlight's Deep Random Battles 00mdrb Special Random Battles 00special Guest Characters in Random Battles 00guest XIII. Other Game Information Basic Mechanics and Tactics 00basic Advanced Tactics and Secrets 00adv Ivalician Calendar 00calendar Zodiac Compatibility 00zodiac Party & Boss Zodiac Signs 00boss Status Changes (Quick Reference) 00status1 Status Changes (Detail) 00status2 Elemental Affinities 00elem Learning Magick from Being Hit 00hit Arithmeticks Chart 00arith Traps & Treasure Hunter 00traps XIV. Miscellaneous Reference Zodiac Stone Locations 00stones FMV Movie List 00fmv FF References 00ffr XV. PSone -> PSP Changes Game Changes 00psone Name Conversion Chart 00names XVI. Credits / Disclaimer 00cred ******************************************************************************* I. REVISION HISTORY 00rev ******************************************************************************* ---Version 3.10 (5/29/08)--- - Added a new section on catching thrown weapons from enemy ninjas, including the specific experience levels at which enemy ninjas will throw each weapon. I've also updated this information in the Rare Item Locations list. - I had the Zodiac signs effective against Gemini bosses listed totally wrong! It's been fixed now. Thanks to Maximilian Barrows for the catch, and my apologies for having this error in the FAQ for so long. - Moved the information on "Learning Magick from Being Hit" to its own section, and noted that if you turn on the Battle Prompts option, the game will give you a message when you learn the magick. (I've added this to the relevant battle strategy for Zodiark, too.) Also noted that you can only have 1 character learn a magick per casting this way -- thanks to Naveen Pillai for this info. - I had the Mime's MP growth rate listed too high due to a copy-paste error :). It's actually the worst of all jobs'! Thanks to Maximilian Barrows for this correction as well. I've also nudged Luso's physical attack growth rate down 1 star to the proper *** -- it's the same as Ramza's. - Updated the strategy for the "Littering" mission to point out that Shirahadori won't completely protect you here since some of the ninjas will have Dual Wield. - Updated the description of Arcane Strength to the exact amount it boosts your magick damage by (33%), and also clarified that it increasing the effectiveness of healing magicks as well. - Did some more of the usual typo correction :) ---Version 3.06 (5/26/08)--- - Expanded a few of the Rendezvous Mode battle strategies: > "Brave Story": The same tactics for surviving Poisonous Frog in the single-player game are good here as well. > "An Ill Wind": If one player doesn't have the recommended equipment here, you can just have him/her be Invisible for the duration of the battle. Bravery-reducing abilities can be also used to get around the enemies' reaction abilities. And, only 4 (not 5) of the enemies have Soulbind. > For the multi-battle missions, I relisted the enemy parties for each battle within the strategy for that particular battle (rather than just listing them all at the beginning). - Clarified/corrected the descriptions of a couple Ninja abilities: > Thrown weapons do retain any elemental properties, but not any status attacks or "randomly casts" effects. > The Vanish reaction ability only triggers from physical attacks, not ANY HP loss. > Tweaked the description of Reflexes to make it more clear this has a constant effect and isn't "triggered" in response to anything. - In the multi-battle Rendezvous Mode missions, broken equipment does NOT regenerate between missions! I've corrected this, and also added another section to the Rendezvous Mode rules on the multi-battle missions. - Also made a few other minor notes in the multiplayer rules: > Added a "Winning and Losing" section to Rendezvous Mode describing what happens if one player loses all his/her character (the other player can keep playing) or if the connection is broken (both players lose). > Noted the "Quit" option to abandon a multiplayer battle early, but that this option doesn't allow you to earn any chests. > Clarified that the reward chests have different items for each player. > Provided a more exhaustive list of gil/Exp-related abilities that don't work in the multiplayer modes. > In the last set of Rendezvous Missions, the enemies' experience levels are not dependent on the players'; they're fixed to always be at a high level. - Amended the Rod of Faith strategy in Advanced Tactics to note that it only works with jobs that can equip rods, of course. - Added Save the Queen as another item that can be won in Melee Mode. - Moved the magick guns into their own section of the weapons list and explained more about how they work. (Even though they are all listed together as guns in the game, the magick guns are different enough that I thought they deserved their own section.) Also updated the weapons summary to note that magick guns also do damage when their TARGET has high Faith. Target's faith has no effect on damage from Fell Swords, however. - Automatons (i.e., Construct 8 and enemy equivalents) are NOT immune to Water. So, Water and Lightning are the 2 elements with which they can be hurt. Also, Confuse is the ONLY status ailment it can be affected by (not just "one of the few"). I've corrected this throughout the FAQ. - Clarified that Enticing an Enticed ally back to your side doesn't completely remove Traitor status: the character is back on your team, but fights as a AI-controlled Guest for the rest of the battle. - Update the Exp, JP, and Gil section to note when these can and can't be earned in multiplayer, and to provide a more complete list of abilities that earn gil. - Fixed up some formatting/style (the game capitalizes only the E in "Exp"...). ---Version 3.05 (5/22/08)--- - Finally added the specific possible locations of the exit on each floor of Midlight's Deep -- thanks to the Bradygames guide for these data. I've also revised the battle strategies for a couple floors (The Hollow, The Oubliette, The Palings, and The Crossing) with tips on getting to some of the harder-to- reach exit locations. - Updated the battle strategies with the precise HP and MP totals of the boss monsters who have "???" HP. (The bosses in the multiplayer mode have variable levels and hence variable HP/MP, so I'm not able to include this for those bosses.) - Noted in the Boss Zodiac Signs that Adrammelech is another boss that has the "wrong" Zodiac sign for its Zodiac stone. - Fixed up some references elsewhere in the FAQ to the walkthrough / battle strategy sections now that I've merged them together. (Older updates not listed.) ******************************************************************************* II. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 00faq ******************************************************************************* Q. Is Cloud still in this version of the game, like he was in the PSone release? A. Yes. In fact, you can actually recruit him earlier than you could before. Q. How do I get Cloud to join my party? And where do I find his sword? A. See the "Walkthrough - Subquests" section of the FAQ. You need to complete the Gollund Colliery, Nelveska Temple, and Recruiting Cloud quests in sequence. Q. I didn't buy the flower when I had the chance. Can I still get Cloud? A. Unfortunately, it seems that you have only one chance to buy the flower. If you declined to buy it, you are not able to get Cloud, or complete the other sidequests that depend on the flower. Sorry :( Q. What's new in the PSP version of the game? A. Check out the PSP Version Changes section - just hit Ctrl+F and type in 00psone to jump to that section of the FAQ. Q. How do I beat Wiegraf? A. Equip the Auto-Potion ability on Ramza. Run from Wiegraf and keep using the Tailwind ability to boost your speed. Repeat until you are getting seven or eight turns in a row, then start using Focus to raise your attack power. When you have high attack power, just attack and KO Wiegraf. Against Belias, run up and attack him repeatedly. (If you don't have these abilities, check out the Chapter III walkthrough for a slew of alternate strategies.) Q. I just started the game; how do I learn new abilities? A. New abilities are "purchased" using JP, which you earn from any succesful action in battle. You earn JP separately for each job, so earning JP as an Archer only lets you buy Archer abilities. (Gaining JP also eventually unlocks new jobs for you to use.) To buy abilities, on the map screen, open the menu (with Triangle) and enter the Formation screen. Then point to a character, press Triangle to open the menu, and choose Abilities. The in- game tutorial, available from the title screen, can walk you through this step-by-step. If you check out the "Exp, JP, and Gil" section of this FAQ, you'll also find tips on maximizing your JP haul, though you don't *need* them at the start of the game. Q. Where is Midlight's Deep? A. After you beat Mullonde Holy Place, go to the Port City of Warjilis. You will see a scene at the bar, then the way to Midlight's Deep will appear. Q. How do I beat / find items in Midlight's Deep? A. See the cleverly-titled Midlight's Deep section of the walkthrough ;) . Just hit Ctrl+F and type in 00md to jump to that section of the FAQ. Q. OK, I think I understand the idea of finding the items, but how do I rotate the camera to get the correct perspective? A. Use the analog stick (in the lower left of the PSP). Every time you tap it left or right, the perspective changes. Q. How do I use items like Potions or Phoenix Downs? A. Items are used with the Items command, which belongs to the Chemist job, so switch one of your characters to a Chemist -- or assign Items as a secondary Action Ability. To learn how to use each type of item, the character must also learn the ability that goes along with it. For instance, to use Phoenix Downs, you must first learn the Chemist's "Phoenix Down" ability. These abilities can be bought on your status screen using JP (Job Points) earned by using the Chemist job. Q. How do I get the new equipment in the PSP version? A. The Tynar Rouge comes from the Agrias's Birthday quest, and the Mirage Vest and Ras Algethi come with Balthier. All the other new items can only be obtained as prizes in one of the multiplayer modes. Some items can only be found in Melee Mode and some only in Rendezvous Mode; see the respective sections or the Rare Items List for a complete list. Q. How do I get good items / more items in multiplayer? A. You'll get better items the higher your character level and (in Rendezvous Mode) the more difficult the mission you complete; most of the new items can only be obtained at a pretty high level. Winning Melee Mode battles and completing Rendezvous Mode missions with fewer characters deployed and more enemies KOed increases the NUMBER of items you get, but doesn't change their quality. Q. Are there items or events in this game that I can permanently miss? What do I need to do to see them? A. I've put together a Missable Items and Events list -- just press Ctrl+F and enter 00miss to jump to that section. Q. How do I use the Samurai's ability Iaido? A. First learn the ability you want to use. Then buy several of the corresponding Samurai sword. During battle, you can use the ability if you have the appropriate type of sword in your inventory (NOT equipped). Note that this may break the sword, so I'd buy several copies. Q. How do I learn Ultima? A. Only Ramza and Luso can learn Ultima. Ramza or Luso must be in their base job; then, if someone casts the spell on him, he will learn it. (As long as just one of the two characters learns it, you can have him cast it on the other to learn it later.) The best time to learn the spell is from the assassins outside Limberry Castle in Chapter IV, but you can also have Luso learn it on the Riovanes Castle Roof in Chapter III or from another player in the multiplayer mode. (There's also a guest character who can learn Ultima during the final battle if Ramza or Luso casts it on her.) Q. How do I get the lipstick accessory? A. First, you need to keep Agrias, Alicia, Lavian, and Mustadio on your roster until Chapter IV. Once Chapter IV begins, travel back and forth between Gollund and Lesalia until the calendar says 1 Cancer. If you have at least 500,000 gil and are standing on a town (NOT a castle) when the calendar turns 1 Cancer, you should get the scene where you acquire the Tynar Rouge accessory. Q. How can I revive a dead character? A. If the character is simply KOed (lying down with a red counter over his/her head), you can use a Phoenix Down, the White Mage's Raise/Arise spells, or the Monk's Revive. Or, finish the battle before the counter expires and the character will also be restored. If the counter counts down past 0, the character will turn into a treasure chest or crystal. Once this happens, the character is gone for good and there is unfortunately NO way to revive him or her, ever. (You can recruit replacement generic characters from the Warriors' Guild in any town; special story characters are irreplaceable if killed.) Q. Help! I beat the last boss and the game said it was saving afterwards, but when I load up my last save, I'm just at the last boss fight again. Can I go anywhere else? A. Unfortunately, no :(. The game clear save is just to unlock some of the multiplayer missions. If you want to continue roving the world map, you need to keep a separate save from before you began the final sequence of battles. Q. How do I beat the Lionel Castle Gate? A. There are two main methods: One is to give Ramza the Chakra ability and have him use it every turn. The other is to use Teleport to warp outside the gate. Either way, don't open the gate until the fight outside is finished. For more tips, see the walkthrough for Chapter II. Press Ctrl+F and type in 00walk2 to jump there. Q. How do I learn Zodiark? A. You can only learn Zodiark from Elidibus, the boss of Midlight's Deep, by having him cast it on one of your Summoners. Equip the Mana Shield ability to survive it. (You only have a random chance to learn the spell when you're hit with it, so you might not learn it the first time you're hit with it, but the odds are definitely in your favor!) If you don't get the spell in Midlight's Deep, the only other place to find Elidibus is in the Brave Story multiplayer mission. Q. How do I recruit monsters? A. Use the Orator's Entice or Tame abilities on the monsters. If you switch to another non-Orator job, you'll need to also equip the Beast Tongue support skill to use Entice on monsters. (For more information, see "Recruiting Monsters" in the Monsters section.) Q. How do I poach enemies? A. Equip the Thief ability Poach and kill a monster with a regular attack. Then go to a Poachers' Den in a trade city and you can purchase what you've poached. Note that Poachers' Dens are NOT available in all cities; only Dorter, Warjilis, and Sal Ghidos have them, and they don't appear until the start of Chapter III. Q. How do I get the Genji equipment? Can I steal it from the boss who has it? A. Unfortunately, you can never steal from that boss in the PSP version, so he gets to keep his Genji gear to himself. Alas! However, you CAN get the Genji Armor and Masamune from the new "Lionel's New Liege Lord" subquest. Press Ctrl+F and enter 00lio to jump to the guide for that quest. Q. Aren't there some new jobs added to the PSP version that weren't in the PSone version? How do I unlock them? A. The PSP version of FF Tactics has two new jobs. To make a character into an Onion Knight, simply get their Squire and Chemist jobs up to level 6. To make a character into a Dark Knight, you first Master (learn all the abilities for) Knight and Black Mage, have Dragoon, Geomancer, Samurai, and Ninja at level 8, AND kill 20 enemies (not just KO--they must turn to chests or crystals) with the character. Yikes! :) Q. How do I unlock the _______ job? A. I've put together a Quick Reference chart with all the job requirements; press Ctrl+F and enter 00req to get there. Q. What are the new subquests in the PSP version? How do I access them? A. There are three new subquests in Chapter IV, one revolving around Beowulf and the others revolving around Agrias. Beowulf's subquest is available after returning Reis to human form at Nelveska Temple and after completing Mullonde Cathedral in the main storyline. (Press Ctrl+F and enter 00lio to jump to the section with all the details on the Lionel's New Liege Lord quest.) Agrias has a couple of different subquests. First, if you still have Alicia and Lavian, the Tynar Rouge event can be accessed on 1 Cancer. Second, after Mullonde, travel to Zeltennia to open up another battle accessed via the Tavern at Gariland. For details on these events, press Ctrl+F and enter 00agr to jump to Agrias's Birthday or 00dis for Disorder in the Order, respectively. Q. How do I recruit Luso and Balthier? A. Luso is recruited automatically in Chapter III; you can't miss him. You'll encounter him in a story event midway through the chapter, as you head through the Zeklaus Desert after revisiting Orbonne Monastery. You won't be able to recruit him any earlier. Balthier isn't available until you've completed the battle at the Free City of Bervenia in Chapter IV. Any time after that, read the "Rash of Thefts" rumor at the Gariland tavern, then go to the Dorter tavern and read the "Call for Guards" rumor. Win the battle that ensues when you try to leave town and Balthier joins. Q. What do the Bravery and Faith statistics mean? Do I want high or low Bravery and Faith? A. A high Bravery is almost always good. It increases your chance of using Reaction Abilities, and makes certain weapon types (fists, knight's swords, and katanas) stronger. The only advantage of low Bravery is that helps you find rare items with the Treasure Hunter ability, but you can just keep a single low-Bravery character for that purpose. Faith makes a character's magick more effective, but also makes enemy magick more effective when used against that character. So, generally, you'll want your magick users to have high Faith (to make their magick stronger) and characters not using magick to have low Faith (to defend them from enemy magick). See the Bravery and Faith section for more specific details, as well as tips on raising/lowering Bravery and Faith. Q. What job should I use for the best HP? The best attack power? A. I've added a Job Statistics Comparison chart to the FAQ to quickly compare each job's stats. Ctrl+F and 00jobstat will get you there. Q. Is there a way I can quickly gain levels? A. Sure, see the Quickly Raising Exp & JP (00quick) for strategies for this. With the right magicks, it's even possible to make this process completely automatic! But keep in mind you never *need* to do this to finish the game. Usually, a change of strategy should be enough to get you past the next battle and you don't need to spend time leveling if you don't want to. Q. Why don't my Reaction Abilities always work? A. For almost all Reaction Abilities, the chance of using the ability is equal to your Bravery stat. Use Ramza's skills or an Orator to raise the character's Bravery and your Reaction Abilities will activate more. Q. How do I ride a Chocobo? A. Move the character onto the same square as the Chocobo. Q. What's the deal with Onion Knights? They seem horrible. Is there any way to make them stronger? A. Actually, yes. The Onion Knight's job level goes up as you master other jobs, and if you can get the Onion Knight up to job level 8, they'll become more powerful. Also, if you play the game's multiplayer missions, you can earn some powerful "Onion" equipment that only Onion Knights can equip. Q. One of my characters is threatening to leave the team. What do I do? A. This is happening because your character has either a very low Bravery or a very high Faith. Use Orator skills to increase his/her Bravery or lower his/her Faith a little. Q. Is there any kind of New Game+ mode, so that I can start from the beginning but keep all my levels and items? A. Unfortunately, no. FF Tactics dates back to a time before this feature started becoming common in RPGs. Whenever you start a new game, you always have to start from scratch. Q. I got into a random battle and was facing a weird set of enemies. Is this some special event? What's going on? A. Each wilderness location has a "special" random battle that you can randomly encounter at low odds in Chapter IV. These special battles pit you against unusual enemy parties -- mostly collections of human enemies. You don't get anything special for winning these battles and they have no relation to the story, but they can be an interesting extra challenge! For a list of all these special battles, see the Random Battles section. Q. Where do I get all the Zodiac Stones? A. Look in the Zodiac Stones list near the end of the file. Be warned that this list contains some spoilers. Q. Why don't any of the characters have noses? A. Your guess is as good as mine. Some genetic defect or something, I suppose. ******************************************************************************* III. WALKTHROUGH AND BATTLE STRATEGIES - MAIN QUEST 00walk0 ******************************************************************************* [ Note: If you preferred the format of the walkthrough in older versions of this FAQ, where the walkthrough and battle strategies were separate, I've kept an old version of the FAQ online at: ] http://www.lakupo.com/fritz/faqs/final_fantasy_tactics_psp_old.txt You'll begin by entering the protagonist's name. Ramza is the default, so that's what I'll be using throughout the guide. Next up is your birthdate, which determines your Zodiac sign. A character's Zodiac sign affects his/her compatibility with other units, which can make your attacks and/or healing somewhat more or less effective. In a regular game, it's not too important to give Ramza a particular Zodiac sign, so you can enter your own birthday or whatever else you want if you'd like. But, if you're feeling especially strategic, you may want to give him a particular sign depending on your game plans: > If you want to maximize the damage Ramza can do to enemy bosses, Capricorn is probably your best bet; you'll get this sign if you enter a birthdate between December 23rd and January 19th. > If you plan to use Ramza as a support/healing character, Pisces will give him good compatibility with a number of key allies. You'll get this sign with a birthdate between February 19th and March 20th. (Virgo -- August 23rd to September 22nd -- will give him compatibility with quite a few party members as well.) > If you want as wide a range of Zodiac signs as possible, you could make Ramza a Taurus, Virgo, or Sagittarius, as no other story characters have these signs. The game starts at Orbonne Monastery. A band of enemy knights shows up, and you have to fight. ---Battle 0: Orbonne Monastery-------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Agrias [guest], Gaffgarion [guest], Ladd [guest], Alicia [guest], Lavian [guest] ENEMY FORCES: Fuchs [Chemist], Lezales [Knight], Diesch [Archer], Wezlef [Archer], Biggs [Archer] This battle is pretty much automatic, as everyone except Ramza is controlled by the computer. Gaffgarion and Agrias will take care of most of the enemies without any trouble, so you can have Ramza just do whatever you want. It's possible that one or more of your weaker teammates--Alicia, Lavian, and Ladd-- will get KOed. Don't worry; none of them can die permanently in this battle. BATTLE TROPHIES: None -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After Gaffgarion and Agrias finish wiping out the enemies, there will be some story scenes, and Ramza will enter into an extended flashback. %%%CHAPTER I: THE MEAGER%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%00walk1 All of Chapter I is a flashback to Ramza's days as a knight-in-training with the Order of the Northern Sky. You (Ramza) and Delita will be at the academy in Gariland, where you receive the assignment to defeat some thieves entering the town. You are automatically joined by four other Squires and two Chemists. Before the first battle begins, you'll be given a chance to save. Save your game so that you won't have to repeat the intro battle! After you save, you'll deploy your characters for the battle. If this is your first Final Fantasy Tactics experience, you might want to check out the "Basic Mechanics and Tactics" section for some general gameplay information. (Some of this information is also in the tutorial, but I've included some additional material not covered there.) Press Ctrl+ F and enter 00begin to jump down there. ---Battle 1: Gariland---------------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Delita [guest], 4 others ENEMY FORCES: Squire (male) x3, Squire (female) x1, Chemist (male) x1 ALLY: Ramza - lv 1 Squire - Bravery 70, Faith 70 Equipment : Broadsword, Leather Cap, Clothing, Battle Boots Abilities : Mettle GUEST: Delita [Sagittarius] - lv 1 Squire - Bravery 71, Faith 55 Equipment : Broadsword, Leather Cap, Clothing Abilities : Mettle, other abilities random --STRATEGY-- The key in this battle is advance slowly and not to let your characters get spread out. Stay on the left side, away from the bulk of the houses. The enemy Chemist has the ability to heal the other enemies, which can be a pain. If you have the chance to take him out, do so; otherwise, he'll heal the enemy soldiers you've been attacking. Actually, you can stop him from doing this even if you attack him just once. He'll use up his turn healing himself instead of healing any of the other enemies. Attack from the enemy from behind or from the side whenever possible, as you're more likely to land a hit that way. In general, rear attacks are best as they also cancel out enemy shields -- but at this point, no enemies have shields, so side and rear attacks will be equally effective. At the end of each character's turn, you choose which direction they facing. Make sure you end your turns facing the enemies, which will make it harder for them to hit you from behind! (When possible, you can even put your back to the side of a building to protect it completely!) Make good use of your Chemists for healing--you start out with 5 Potions and you can use them to heal a character who gets injured. If you don't have teammates who need healing, the Chemists can also attack. (Chemists have an inherent Throw Items ability, so they don't have to be next to a character to use an item on him/her. This is NOT true for other characters using the Item ability.) Don't worry about Delita. The Guest AI is pretty reckless and it's likely he'll get himself KOed. But since he's a Guest character, he can't die permanently and will be revived at the end of the battle. BATTLE TROPHIES: 2000 gil, Mythril Knife, Phoenix Down, Potion -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After you win the battle against the thieves, you will go to the map screen. You can click on Gariland to visit its shops. The Tavern is used to hear information about the game's story and world. Later on, you can also use it to enter the multiplayer mode and to run Errands for extra JP and money. The Outfitter is used to buy equipment and items. Finally, the Warriors' Guild allows you to recruit new human characters to your roster. You may want to stop at the Warriors' Guild recruit some new characters. In particular, look for characters with reasonably high Bravery, especially if your current characters don't have very good Bravery. Bravery affects the your chance of using Reaction Abilities and the strength of some attacks -- higher is better, of course! (Although there are abilities to raise Bravery later, you probably won't get them right away.) You may also want a character or two with high Faith to turn into a magick-user. A second thing to look at is the character's Zodiac sign. Taurus and Capricorn characters will be particularly effective against the bosses in this chapter and the next, so getting some of those signs on your roster will give you a bit of a leg up. If you want to spend the time, you can mine the Guild until you get just the character you want. If you don't like the character that appears; simply select "Don't Hire." You won't be charged anything and you can select Male Soldier or Female Soldier to roll another character. You can keep doing this until you get some high Bravery characters ... but it's certainly not necessary to spend the time here if you don't want to. Note that female recruits are 100 gil cheaper and probably more useful in the long run since some of the game's most powerful items can only be used by female characters. This is probably the only time in the game that you'll want to use the Warriors' Guild. If you lose any of your main team members later in the game, you're usually better off resetting. It's tough to replace high-level characters who have already been built up with a lot of abilities! Stop by the Outfitter's in Gariland to buy some Potions. If one or both of your Chemists has enough JP to learn the Phoenix Down ability, learn that ability and then buy a few (1-2) Phoenix Downs at the store. Phoenix Downs are great to have as they allow you to revive a KOed character. You'll also want to equip one of your Chemists with the Mythril Knife that you picked up as a Battle Trophy in the first battle; it's stronger than the Daggers they currently have. Save the game by pressing Triangle and choosing Data, then head west to Mandalia Plain. As soon as you try to leave the city, you'll have a flashback (yes, a flashback within a flashback) to the death of Ramza's father Barbaneth. After that sequence has ended, you'll be back in Gariland. Click on Mandalia Plain once again and this time you'll actually get there. ---Battle 2: Mandalia Plain---------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Delita [guest], Argath [guest], 3 others ENEMY FORCES: Squire (male) x4, Thief (male) x1, Red Panther x1 GUEST: Argath [Virgo] - lv 2 Squire - Bravery 73, Faith 59 Equipment : Longsword, Leather Cap, Clothing, Battle Boots Abilities : Fundaments, other abilities random --STRATEGY-- At Mandalia Plain, you'll meet Argath, under attack by the Corpse Brigade. You can choose whether or not to help him (bottom option) or just go after the Corpse Brigade (top option). > If you choose not to help Argath (top choice), your goal is just to defeat all the enemies. It doesn't matter if Argath is KOed during the battle or not. Choosing this option also adds 10 points to the Bravery score of every character in your current squad, including Delita and Argath. 2 points of this change will remain even after the battle. > Choosing to help Argath (bottom choice) adds an additional requirement to the battle: you'll have to keep Argath from getting KOed during the battle. This option has no effect on your team's Bravery. Neither option has any real long-term effect on the storyline. (They only change the dialogue in one other story scene.) So, the first option is clearly the best as it makes the battle easier AND gives you a boost in Bravery. If you DO choose the second option for whatever reason, you will need to protect Argath for being KOed. In this case, you'll need to start moving a Chemist towards Argath right away. Fortunately, Argath will probably flee away from the enemies and into one corner. Heal him just to be on the safe side, and then you're free to concentrate on the enemies. Attack the enemies from above if you can, and guard your back with the rocks scattered about the battlefield or with other ally units. Remember that if you act without moving, or move without acting, your next turn will come sooner than if you both act AND move. So if there's no real need for a character to move or to take action, don't do it just for the heck of it. Your next turn will come sooner if you don't. You'll encounter your first monster here in the form of a Red Panther. It's the toughest unit in the enemy forces, but it's not too bad. Be warned that, like all monsters, it will counterattack you whenever you attack it. Don't attack the Red Panther using a character who's low on HP, or the counterattack is liable to KO you! (You CAN avoid the counterattack by using the Squire ability Stone to attack from a distance, but this ability is really too weak to be worth using.) The Red Panther can also poison you, which causes you to lose a little HP after each turn you take. You can cure this with an Antidote if you want, but it's probably not necessary--the poison wears off after a short amount of time, anyway. This may be your first chance to pick up crystals or chests. When the counter over a KOed enemy unit goes down past 0, the unit vanishes and is replaced with a crystal or treasure chest. Pick these up by moving onto the tile with the crystal or chest. > Picking up a chest will give you an item. These are typically items you can buy in stores anyway and generally are not too important to collect. But early on, chests can still be useful to grab as money is tighter. > Picking up a crystal will either heal the unit, or in some cases give you the option of learning many of the defeated enemy's abilities. (Note that although you point the cursor at an individual ability, you actually learn ALL of the abilities offered, regardless of what you pick!) Crystals from monsters will only ever give you the option to heal. When given the chance to learn abilities, that's generally the best choice (unless you're in desperate need of healing), as this permanently adds abilities to the character! Crystals from humans are great to pick up as they can teach you new abilities, so grab them when you see them. Monster crystals are only necessary to pick up if you need healing. You may also want to grab crystals just to to prevent the enemies from claiming them, as they can heal themselves with crystals too! If one of your OWN units gets KOed, you must act to revive the character before the countdown runs down and the character is lost permanently. Right now, you've got two ways to revive a character. If one of your Chemists learned the Phoenix Down ability and you have Phoenix Downs in stock, you can use a Phoenix Down to revive the character. Or, you can hurry and clear the battle before the countdown runs out -- when you win a battle, any characters who have been KOed but not completely erased will be brought back to life. BATTLE TROPHIES: Potion x2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the fight concludes, Argath will join as a guest regardless of which option you choose before the battle. Back on the map, go on up to Eagrose Castle. You'll have a brief chat with Dycedarg, then Zalbaag will send you to rendezvous with his spy at Dorter. At this point, you might want to consider changing some of your characters to new jobs. Chemists are really more useful than either White Mages or Black Mages, so keep your Chemists as-is. But you might want to change some of your Squires to Knights, since Knights have more HP and damage potential than Squires. (I made Ramza into a Knight at this point.) Archers should also be available at this time. They can be useful in the early game, but for the next few battles you may want to focus on melee combat. At any rate, it may be a good idea to keep at least one Squire, though. Why is that? As long as you have at least one Squire active in battle, everyone will earn some JP towards that job, and that will help you buy useful Squire abilities like Counter Tackle, Move +1, and JP Boost. Move +1 and JP Boost are particulary useful. JP Boost increases the amount of JP you earn, and will help you learn all the other abilities faster. Learning this ability is a VERY good investment. Before you leave Eagrose, stop by the Outfitter. There's new equipment for sale here. Stock up on Potions, then arm your characters with the new gear. Make sure all your Squires and Knights have Longswords, the best weapon available to them right now. In particular, if you changed any of your characters' jobs, be sure they have equipment that goes with the new jobs. You can safely skip the Mythril Knife, though--it only increase a Chemist's attack power by 1 point, and they don't do much fighting, anyway. The shop also sells Battle Boots, which increase your movement range by 1 tile. As handy is this, they're pricey, so you won't be able to afford them for your whole team. Your next story destination is the Siedge Weald, to the east of Gariland. Head down that direction. Mandalia Plain is now a green dot on the map, which means there's a chance you'll get into a random battle when crossing it. Random battles are similar to story battles, but feature a random selection of monsters instead of humans. (In Chapter I, you'll only fight monsters in random battles; in later chapters, humans can sometimes show up.) Since Delita and Argath are Guest characters, they will not participate in random battles, only story ones. In random battles, you also have the choice of whether or not to deploy Ramza. (He's REQUIRED for story battles.) When you get to Gariland, you'll see a scene at the Tavern about the game's multiplayer modes. Both of these modes are now unlocked, and you can play them by visiting a Tavern in any town. Melee Mode is a "versus" mode that pits your party against another player's. Rendezvous Mode is a co-op mode in which you team up with another player to challenge various missions that will become unlocked as you play through the game. Right now, there's only one mission available, "Chocobo Defense." Both modes allow you to earn and keep JP and items; when you get to a high enough experience level, you can even obtain items that you can't get anywhere else. Another nice thing about these modes is that you can't permanently lose any items or characters, so they're risk- free. (Melee Mode does cost gil to play, though.) You can check them out now if you want, although at this point, the Rendezvous Mode mission may still be pretty challenging. Check out the Multiplayer Modes section below for more information on the modes' rules and for strategies for the Rendezvous Mode missions. (Note that both modes are playable only over a local, "ad hoc" connection.) If you don't have a chance to play the multiplayer modes, don't worry, you definitely don't need to play multiplayer in order to complete the single- player game. The shop in Gariland sells different items than the one in Eagrose, so stop by the Outfitter before you leave town. The Gariland shop offers Plumed Hats and Leather Clothing, which are better armor for your Squires and Chemists. Pick up these upgrades as well; you want to make sure your Chemists stay alive so they can heal people! (Unlike in a lot of games, armor in FF Tactics doesn't actually reduce the damage you take; it gives you more HP or MP. Still, it helps you stay alive longer!) Don't forget that you can change Delita's and Argath's equipment, too, despite the fact that they're guest characters. You can (and should!) have them learn new abilities, too! By the way, it'll help you out in some of the future battles if you're able to teach Argath a simple Black Magick spell. This is pretty tricky, though, since he doesn't participate in any of the random battles and can only earn JP in the story battles. So, the only way to do this is to have your Chemists take enough actions during the story battles that Argath gains some JP in the Chemist job and is able to unlock the Black Mage job. It's cool if you can do this, but don't worry too much about it if you can't; it's not *necessary*. Continue on to the Weald and you'll encounter a third story battle. ---Battle 3: The Siedge Weald-------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Delita [guest], Argath [guest], 3 others ENEMY FORCES: Goblin x2, Black Goblin x2, Bomb x2, Red Panther x1 --STRATEGY-- This battle is nothing but monsters; watch out for their counterattacks! For the most part, though, they're not too tough. Take out on the enemies on the higher ground first before you start crossing the water. Otherwise, you'll expose yourself to attack from above. BATTLE TROPHIES: None ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You may want to gain some levels and abilities before proceeding on to Dorter. You can do this by strolling back and forth across the Mandalia Plain or the Siedge Weald until you get into a random battle. Beat up the monsters to earn extra Exp and JP. Make sure your Chemists have learned both Potion and Phoenix Down. You can skip the abilities for all the items that cure individual status condition; most of these conditions aren't that bad and when you get Remedies, those will cure *any* negative status. Learning Move +1 for as many characters as possible is also very helpful. When you enter Dorter, there will be a cutscene, and then you'll be tossed into a battle at the Dorter Slums. ---Battle 4: Dorter Slums------------------------------------------------------ YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Delita [guest], Argath [guest], 3 others ENEMY FORCES: Knight (male) x1, Archer (male) x3, Black Mage (male) x 2 --STRATEGY-- The enemy has Archers and Black Mages, who both have ranged attacks and can hit you from a distance. This means that you'll need to be more aggressive; if you hang back at a distance, the enemy can keep hitting you from afar! Since you start on the street and the enemy has the high ground, Archers are not particularly useful here; they won't have a clear shot with their bows. On the other hand, Move +1 is a great ability to have as it helps you quickly close the distance between you and the enemy's ranged attackers. When one of your characters gets hit with a Black Magick spell, the characters in adjacent tiles also take damage. There are two ways to avoid this. While the spell is still charging, you can move the other characters out of the way, or you can kill the Black Mage charging the spell and stop the attack entirely! Since the spells do quite a bit of damage, it's great to take out the Black Mages as soon as you have the chance. They don't have much HP so you can finish them off easily. (Note that spells can also have a "friendly fire" effect -- if another enemy is in range of the spell when it goes off, they get hurt too! You can sometimes use this to your advantage by positioning targeted characters next to enemy units.) To check when the spell is going to be fired, press the Circle button when it's your turn, then use the Triangle button to bring up the menu and choose Turn List. If you have Black Mages of your own, you can also use these area damage effects to extend the effective range of your magicks. If the range of your magick is one tile too short to hit an enemy, you can target the tile directly in front of the enemy and the magick will still hit the enemy thanks to the area effect. This is a good tactic for hitting more distant enemies, like you see in this battle. Just make sure the enemy won't be able to move out of the way before the magick activates! Two of the enemy Archers are on the tall building beside where you start. At the beginning of the battle, Delita and Argath will begin climbing up the building to attack them. Let Delita and Argath handle those two Archers, and send at most one other character up the building. The rest of your team should advance down the street. Take out the Black Mages first since they can do so much damage. It's likely that one or more of your characters will get KOed during the battle. Remember that if the counter over their head goes below 0, you lose the character permanently. To avoid this, when a character's counter gets low (0 or 1), use a Phoenix Down on him or her. Even if another attack KOs the character again right away, the counter will be reset and you've bought yourself a few more turns to finish the battle. This is a pretty tough battle. If you don't win at first, try again, or build up your levels first. BATTLE TROPHIES: 500 gil, Iron Sword, Hempen Robe, Ether ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon your victory, you'll be able to visit the town. There's no new equipment to buy, but stock up on items. You'll want at least 10 Potions and 4 Phoenix Downs. Potions are cheap (50 gil each), so there's no reason not to carry plenty. Also, winning the battle at the Slums will have netted you an Iron Sword, which is a better weapon than anything you can find in stores. Equip it one of your characters. Again, you may want to build levels before proceeding to the next battle. When you're ready, go on up to the Zeklaus Desert, where you'll have a battle at the Sand Rat's Sietch. ---Battle 5: The Sand Rat's Sietch--------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: 1st Squad - Ramza, Delita [guest], 1 other 2nd Squad - Argath [guest], 2 others ENEMY FORCES: Knight (male) x 3, Archer (male) x1, Monk (male) x2 --STRATEGY-- You'll deploy your characters in two squads for this battle. Be sure to deploy somebody with the Items command (either a Chemist, or another character who's learned the ability) in the second group. There are two entrances to the fort. When the battle begins, send most of your characters towards the entrance that's closer to Argath. This is where the bulk of the fighting will take place. Argath will probably make a suicide mission into the building, but keep healing him anyway. If you were able to give him a Black Magick spell, he'll be very helpful. Don't crowd the doorway or you'll get in trouble. Let the enemies come outside to you. Meanwhile, Delita will head towards the other entrance. You might want to send one other character with him. Hopefully, Delita's squad have the chance to sneak up on the enemy Archer from the rear and take him out so he can't keep shooting at the main squad. Remember that if a character doesn't move on a particular turn, his or her next turn will come quicker. If you don't need to move to land an attack, stay put and you'll get more turns. This is especially helpful for your Chemist; by having him/her remain stationary and throw items to the characters who need healing, you'll get more turns and more chances to heal. This is a difficult fight--the toughest in Chapter I--so it may take you a couple tries. BATTLE TROPHIES: 500 gil, Hi-Potion, Blind Knife ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After you win at the Sietch, you'll rescue the Marquis. You'll also pick up a Blind Knife. It's not stronger than the other knives you already have, but it does inflict Blind status on enemies (making their attacks easier for you to dodge), so give it to a Chemist. Zeklaus Desert now becomes another "wilderness" location where you can get into random battles. The map you'll see in random battles at Zeklaus Desert is actually completely different from the Sand Rat's Sietch map. Return to Eagrose Castle. You'll meet Duke Larg, and then Dycedarg will let Ramza and friends in on the next mission against the Corpse Brigade. The shops at all three towns will now be stocked with new items. At Eagrose, you can buy Iron Swords for both your Squires and Knights, as well as Escutcheons, Iron Helms, and Bronze Armor for any Knights you have. Gariland has better light armor, used by jobs other than Knights. If you're using mages, you can buy new rods and staves at Gariland and Dorter, as well as Hempen Robes, which will raise their MP max. All towns also carry a new accessory: the Shoulder Cape, which will boost both your physical and magick evade rates by a little bit (10%). It's not really as useful as the Battle Boots, though. But the most important new item isn't actually an equipment--it's the Hi-Potion, which is now for sale under Items! Hi-Potions restore 70 HP instead of the 30 you get from a regular Potion. Since you should have a lot more than 30 HP by now, you'll need the healing boost. You can't use Hi-Potions unless you've learned the Chemist's Hi-Potion ability, so be sure to have your item-users learn this ability. Since there's a lot to buy, you might not be able to afford to buy all of the new gear. Aside from restocking your item supply, the priorities are probably the Iron Swords and Bronze Armor at Eagrose, and the Leather Plate at Gariland. After you're done shopping, your new destination is the Brigands' Den, south of the Mandalia Plain. ---Battle 6: Brigands' Den----------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Delita [guest], Argath [guest], 3 others ENEMY FORCES: Milleuda, Thief (male) x2, White Mage (female) x2 BOSS: Milleuda [Virgo] - lv 7 Knight - Bravery 68, Faith 58 Equipment : Iron Shield, Bronze Shield, Iron Helm, Chainmail, Power Gauntlet Abilities : Arts of War, random action ability, Parry, random Squire support ability, Move +1 --STRATEGY-- You may want to deploy more male characters than female ones here since there's a chance that one of the enemies can Charm a female character, making her temporarily fight against you. But this is pretty unlikely, so don't go out of your way to adjust your roster. Also, if you happen to have any male Pisces characters, or Taurus and Capricorns of either gender, deploying them here can be useful. Milleuda, the boss here, is always a female Virgo, and the three Zodiac signs listed above will do extra damage to her. (You can only prepare your Zodiac signs in this way when fighting bosses; non-boss enemies have randomized Zodiac signs.) It's definitely not essential to have them, but it'll help you out if you do. I recommend standing up on the cliffs on the left side of the fort when possible; you have a height advantage there. Since you should have Hi-Potions now, use them for all your healing needs--the 30 HP from a regular Potion just doesn't cut it now. There are two White Mages here. Check their status; they may have Black Magicks or Items as a secondary ability. A Black Magick-wielding mage is the most dangerous, so if either or both have Black Magick, you'll generally want to target them first. (You can use the same tricks you used in Dorter to avoid their magick.) However, if an Item-using Mage comes out of the fort and starts using Hi-Potions, you'll need to concentrate on KOing her instead to prevent her from healing all the other enemies. If either mage starts casting Cure, note that you can stop it more or less same way you can stop a Black Magick spell -- either take out the enemy they're trying to heal, or KO the Mage herself. After you've taken out the White Mages, concentrate on Milleuda. Her attacks are quite strong, If you have the Rend Weapon or Rend Armor abilities (both from the Knight job), you may want to try them on her. Breaking her weapon will greatly reduce her attack power, and breaking her armor will reduce her HP total. If you already have a Thief, you could try stealing her equipment too, as she's got a nice set of gear, but you'll be able to buy all her stuff eventually. The Thieves here may swipe some of your armor, or at least your headgear. Although this might be annoying, it's not really too bad; you can just re-buy the items after the battle. What's more deadly is the Steal Heart attack they may use on your female characters, which will temporarily turn them to the enemy side. That's why it can be advantageous to deploy more male characters here. Milleuda is the game's first boss character. KOing a boss will end the battle instantly, even if there are other enemies left standing. If you're in danger, you can take her out quickly to end the fight. But if you've got Milleuda cornered or otherwise have the upper hand, you may want to finish off the other enemies for more Exp & JP, then let them die completely so they turn into a chest or crystal. BATTLE TROPHIES: 700 gil, Iron Sword, Bronze Shield ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Brigands' Den is easier than the Sand Rat's Sieve, so if you won there, you should be able to attain victory here. Victory earns you a Bronze Shield, which is a more effective shield than anything else you've got at this point. Don't forget to equip it. Following the battle, there will be a cutscene at Eagrose as the Corpse Brigade strikes back. Strip Argath of all his equipment, as he'll be leaving your party shortly. Go back up to Eagrose. A series of scenes will follow in which Ramza and Delita decide to rescue Tietra, and Argath leaves. Return to Gariland. As you cross Mandalia Plain, an animated cutscene will play. At this point, you'll probably want to start changing jobs, if you haven't already. If you can change any of your characters to Monks, do so; they're very strong fighters. If any of your characters have enough JP to buy the Knight abiity Equip Heavy Armor, a good strategy is to learn that ability and then make the character into a Monk--the heavy armor will make up for the Monk's otherwise poor HP count. It would also help to have a Black Mage and Archer. But, you'll still want a healer, so the best move is to change a Chemist to another job and then equip Items as a secondary ability. Before switching out of the Chemist job, though, you need to learn (and equip) the Throw Items ability. Without Throw Items, your items will have a range of only 1 tile, and, as Sonic would say, that's NO GOOD! Also remember that a higher Faith makes your magick stronger, so when you're deciding what character(s) to turn into a mage, it's advantageous to pick someone with a high Faith. If you change jobs, be sure to buy matching equipment for your new jobs. If you've got an Archer, you'll need to decide whether to use a bowgun or a regular bow. A bowgun only require one hand, allowing you to equip a shield. On the other hand, bows deal more damage, have a longer range (which increases even more when you have a height advantage), and fire in an "arc" pattern that often allows you to shoot over obstacles in your way. Since Archers are usually in the back line and don't get attacked too much, a shield isn't too important. Regular bows are almost always the best choice. For Black Mages, you can choose between the Flame, Ice, and Thunder Rods (sold at Gariland and Dorter). These rods boost the damage dealt by your Fire-family, Blizzard-family, and Thunder-family magicks, respectively. A good trick is to buy a particular Rod and then learn some of the spells that go along with it (e.g., buy the Ice Rod and then try to learn Blizzard and Blizzara). This will increase the damage you can do with your magick. These rods also sometimes cast Fire, Blizzard, or Thunder whenexecuting a physical attack, if your Black Mage happens to get caught in a melee. Aside from re-outfitting yourself after any job changes, you may want to hold off on any equipment purchases. While you could now buy some of the equipment upgrades you might not have been able to afford the Brigands' Den, there are even better items coming after the next bettle. So, you're probably better off saving your money for those. Of course, if any of your equipment was stolen by the Thieves or broken by Milleuda in the last battle, be sure to replace it. You'll also want a good stock of Hi-Potions (12 or so) and Phoenix Down (6 should be sufficient). After restocking your item supply, go north from Gariland to the Lenalian Plateau for another battle against Milleuda. ---Battle 7: Lenalian Plateau-------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Delita [guest], 4 others ENEMY FORCES: Milleuda, Knight (female) x2, Black Mage (male) x2, Time Mage (female) x1 BOSS: Milleuda [Virgo] - lv 8 Knight - Bravery 68, Faith 58 Equipment : Mythril Sword, Bronze Shield, Barbut, Chainmail, Shoulder Cape Abilities : Arts of War, random action ability, Counter, random Squire support ability, Jump +1 --STRATEGY-- Again, Taurus, Capricorn, and male Pisces characters will do extra damage against Milleuda since she's a female Virgo. Play the first few rounds defensively to prevent any early casualties, and use the high ground to your advantage. Send one or two characters after the Black Mages, and possibly the Time Mage as well. If you have an Archer, send him/her up onto the tall ridge and shoot down on the enemies. Firing from a high place increases the range of bows. After knocking out the Black Mages, concentrate on Milleuda. This time, she has the Counter ability, which means that whenever you hit her with a close- range attack, she has a chance of striking back. So, be sure not to use any close-range attacks against her unless your HP is high. A good strategy is to attack her with long-distance attacks like bows and Black Magick, which won't allow her to counterattack. As in the last battle, Milleuda might use her Rend abilities to break your gear. Again, as soon as Milleuda goes down, the battle ends, even if other enemies are still standing. BATTLE TROPHIES: 1000 gil, Silken Robe, Battle Boots ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After you win the battle at the Plateau, the shops will again update their shelves with new equipment. As before, you'll find heavy armor and most kinds of weapons in Eagrose, and lighter armor in Gariland and Dorter. Buy what you can and replace any items that Milleuda may have broken. If you're crossing the Lenalian Plateau after the initial battle, you may sometimes encounter a Dragon monster in random battles (only when entering from Dorter). If you already have an Orator on your team, you can use Entice or Tame to recruit the Dragon onto your team. Although monsters aren't usually the most useful units, this is a much stronger monster than you can usually find at this point in the game. You can also breed it to get even stronger dragons (Blue Dragons and Red Dragons). At this point, you should be in great shape to win the Chocobo Defense mission in Rendezvous Mode, so if you'd like to check that out, you can earn some extra items and JP. Strategies for these missions are available in the Rendezvous Mode section. Otherwise, forge on from the Lenalian Plateau to Fovoham Windflats, where you'll square off against Wiegraf and his Chocobo Boco (a reference to Final Fantasy V). ---Battle 8: Windflat Mill----------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Delita [guest], 3 others ENEMY FORCES: Wiegraf, Boco, Knight (female), Monk (female) x2 BOSS: Wiegraf [Virgo] - lv 9 White Knight - Bravery 71, Faith 64 Equipment : Mythril Sword, Round Shield, Barbut, Chainmail, Shoulder Cape Abilities : Holy Sword, random action ability, Counter, random Squire support ability, Jump +1 ENEMY: Boco [Aries] - lv 7 Chocobo - Bravery 68, Faith 48 --STRATEGY-- Like his sister, Wiegraf is a Virgo. He's male, though, so this time Taurus, Capricorn, and FEMALE Pisces characters are the ones to deploy (if you happen to have them -- if not, don't sweat it). Wiegraf is the only real threat here; most of his companions are pretty weak. Start moving along the bottom of the cliff and quickly take out the Chocobo (Boco) and the Monk. Wiegraf and the other enemies will soon move down to fight you. Finish off any enemies that are low on HP, then go after Wiegraf. Wiegraf uses a couple different special sword techniques that allow him to attack from a distance and (unlike magick) don't require any charge time. Most of the time, he'll use Northswain's Strike, which strikes a single character (usually for about 35 HP or so). If your characters are close together, he may also use Judgment Blade to attack a "plus-shaped" group of tiles. These attacks are pretty strong, but Wiegraf doesn't have a great defense. If you hit him with a few strong attacks (Mythril Swords, black magick), he'll go down quickly. Just stay healed! Because you're fighting in such close quarters, watch out for the "friendly fire" effects of your own magicks! In general, if one of your allies is standing right next to an enemy, a useful trick is to target the tile right BEHIND the enemy to avoid hitting your ally when the magick goes off. For instance, if your characters are positioned like below, target the space marked with a *: *EA (A = ally, E = enemy) This way, you'll still hit the enemy, but the magick is positioned so as not to harm your ally. But make sure that the magick will activate before the enemy can move. This battle isn't too difficult if you have good jobs. You need only Wiegraf's HP to critical status to win. (If your last hit manages to KO him outright, the outcome is the same.) BATTLE TROPHIES: Hi-Potion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like Zeklaus Desert, Fovoham Windflats now becomes an entirely different map if you return to it for random battles. Nothing is added to the shops after the battle at Fovoham, so if your item supply is okay, you can continue directly on to Ziekden Fortress, the final battle of the chapter. There, you'll find Tietra being held captive by a Gragoroth, a Corpse Brigade knight. Argath arrive with some troops, and you'll find yourself battling an unexpected enemy. ---Battle 9: Ziekden Fortress-------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: 1st Squad - Ramza, Delita [guest], 1 other 2nd Squad - 2 others ENEMY FORCES: Argath, Knight (male) x3, Black Mage (female) x3 BOSS: Argath [Virgo] - lv 10 Knight - Bravery 32, Faith 67 Equipment : Knightslayer, Round Shield, Barbut, Chainmail, Power Gauntlet Abilities : Arts of War, random action ability, Auto-Potion, Equip Crossbows, Move +1 --STRATEGY-- You'll deploy in two squads again for this battle. Deploy your best damage- dealer along with Ramza in the first squad. The characters in the second squad are going to be largely useless as they start far away from the action. If you want to pick and choose Zodiac signs, Argath is again a Virgo and susceptible to Taurus, Capricorn, and female Pisces attacks. Luckily, you can almost beat the whole fight just using Ramza. Just go after Argath and completely ignore the other enemies. Argath only has a crossbow, so he can't do much damage to you and is useless at close ranges. Just chase him down and hit him with your strongest attacks, like Knight and Monk attacks and Black Magick. Because it's snowing, the Blizzard families of spells will be particularly effective -- and even more so if the caster has an Ice Rod equipped. You'll want to block Argath from climbing up the stairs to the roof of the fort, as he has a good sniping point if he gets up there and it's slow climbing up after him. If you position your characters between him and the stairs, he shouldn't be able to climb up there. Argath does have the Auto-Potion ability, which gives him a random chance to heal himself with a Potion when you hit him, so you may want to avoid using very weak attacks against him--the gain from the Auto-Potion may heal him more than you hurt him for! (The ability isn't always activated, though. And Auto- Potion also can't protect him whenever you land the killing blow.) Again, as you soon as you knock down Argath, the fight--and the chapter--ends. The dialogue between Argath, Ramza, and Delita here will be a little bit different depending on whether or not you chose to help Argath back on Mandalia Plain. BATTLE TROPHIES: None ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After you kill Argath, there are a couple FMV scenes, the fort blows up, and the chapter ends. The game will give you a chance to save, and then you'll move on to Chapter II. %%%CHAPTER II: THE MANIPULATIVE & THE SUBSERVIENT%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%00walk2 You now return to the present, at Orbonne Monastery. Your current mission is to rescue Princess Ovelia. After a brief chat, you'll be given a chance to add Ramza's fellow mercenary Ladd and both of Agrias's Knights (Alicia and Lavian) to the party. There's no real reason not to take them along, so sign them up! They start with a bare minimum of abilities, though, so they probably won't see much use compared to the characters you're carrying over from Chapter I. However, you MUST keep Alicia and Lavian (as well as Agrias, of course) on your roster to complete the Agrias's Birthday sidequest in Chapter IV. Don't dismiss them or let them get killed if you want to complete all the sidequests. Ladd, on the other hand, is not required for any of the quests. Agrias and Gaffgarion will also join as Guests. You still have all your characters from Chapter I (except Delita) as well. ALLY: Ladd [Capricorn] - lv 8 Squire - Bravery 63, Faith 60 Equipment : Iron Sword, Red Hood, Ringmail Abilities : Fundaments, random other action ability ALLY: Alicia [Pisces] - lv 8 Knight - Bravery 61, Faith 62 Equipment : Iron Sword, Buckler, Iron Helm, Linen Curiass Abilities : Arts of War, random other action ability ALLY: Lavian [Aries] - lv 8 Knight - Bravery 62, Faith 61 Equipment : Longsword, Escutcheon, Bronze Helm, Bronze Armor Abilities : Arts of War, random other action ability GUEST: Agrias [Cancer] - lv 10 Holy Knight - Bravery 71, Faith 63 Equipment : Mythril Sword, Mythril Shield, Golden Helm, Golden Armor Abilities : Holy Sword, random other action ability GUEST: Gaffgarion [Virgo] - lv 10 Fell Knight - Bravery 61, Faith 67 Equipment : Mythril Sword, Golden Shield, Close Helmet, Plate Mail, Power Gauntlet Abilities : Fell Sword, random other action ability You'll see that Ramza's appearance has changed at the start of the chapter. His Squire job is now able to equip heavy armor and shields, plus he has a new ability to learn, Steel. Steel gives a character a +5 Bravery boost during a battle, and some of this increase will remain even after the battle. Raising your Bravery makes your Reaction Abilities and some attacks stronger, so this is a good ability to learn. If Ramza has some spare turns near the end of a battle, you can spend them using Steel to boost up characters' Bravery. At this point, you should have had all your characters upgraded from the beginning Jobs (Squire or Chemist) to more advanced ones. In particular, you'll want to have a Monk, Archer, Black Mage, and maybe a White Mage somewhere in the party. I like making Ramza into a Monk; you'll want to have him learn either the Monk's Chakra ability or the Time Mage's Teleport for use in a battle near the end of the chapter. An Orator can also be useful to have on the team, but might take some time to get, as you have to get the Mystic job up to job level 3, and Mystic itself requires job level 3 of White Mage. If you want to take the time to unlock Orator, you can also have another character acquire the Thief Job, which is unlocked by getting Archer to job level 3. When you've got your team organized, go north to the only location available to you: Dorter, where a battle awaits you. ---Battle 10: Dorter----------------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Gaffgarion [guest], Agrias [guest], 3 others ENEMY FORCES: Black Mage (male) x2, Archer (female) x2, Thief (male) x2 --STRATEGY-- There's no boss here, so you'll have to wipe out every enemy on the map to win. If you've got good jobs, though, this battle should be no problem. Just move up the path and take out the enemies as you go. The Black Mages and Archers do the most damage, so when you've got a choice, go after them instead of the Thieves. Agrias is given a random action ability when she joins. If it's a magick ability, beware; the goofy Guest AI has a nasty habit of casting spells indiscriminatly on your own people. You can either de-equip Agrias's magicks from the menu beforehand, or pay attention to which she enemy she is targeting and stay clear. BATTLE TROPHIES: 1000 gil, Flame Rod, Mage Masher, Phoenix Down ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you've cleared this battle, you'll have access to all of the map again. All of the random battle locations (green dots) now have a second set of possible enemies you can encounter. These usually show up less frequently, but often include more powerful monsters as well as the occasional human. Check the Random Battles section if you want the complete list. You also now have the ability to take Errands at taverns. These involve sending your generic (non-story) characters away for a few days in exchange for gil and a small amount of JP. The amount you earn isn't generally huge, but this can be a good way to use characters you weren't going to deploy in active combat. While the characters are away, you can continue on without them. Or, if you just want to pass time, you can walk back and forth between two blue dots on the map, which will never trigger any random battles. (You can use Eagrose & Ziekden Fortress, or Dorter & the Monastery.) Once the Errand is done, you'll have to return the appropriate Tavern to collect your characters and reward. You can maximize your reward if you send characters for the maximize number of days and pick jobs appropriate for the errand, but the differences are actually pretty small and not usually worth bothering with. If you want to squeeze out the maximum gil, though, I've covered this system in more depth in the Errands section. Two new Rendezvous Mode missions are now available in Taverns: Chicken Race and Treasure Hunt, both of which offer better items than the Chocobo Defense mission from chapter I. Chicken Race can be completed quite easily by a small party of Chemists and is great for collecting items at this stage. Treasure Hunt is a bit harder, but if you pick up the chest on the map, you'll get a good piece of equipment. All the stores have new equipment, so pay them a visit to gear up your characters. Remember that you'll have to hike back to Eagrose to purchase heavy armor and most weapons. Conversely, you'll only find lighter armor at the other two cities. Don't buy any equipment for Gaffgarion. (It's OK to get stuff for Agrias, but her equipment is already really good.) Stock up on Hi-Potions and Phoenix Downs. This is a good chance to build up your characters if you want. But as long as you have new equipment for your main squad of characters and the jobs recommended above, you should be fine. When you feel confident that you're done preparing, go to Araguay Woods, east of Dorter. ---Battle 11: Araguay Woods---------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Gaffgarion [guest], Agrias [guest], Boco [guest], 3 others ENEMY FORCES: Goblin x5, Black Goblin x1 GUEST: Boco [Aries] - lv 10 Chocobo - Bravery 68, Faith 48 --STRATEGY-- Here you have to save Boco the chocobo from goblins. As when you met Argath, you're given two options, which will affect your victory conditions: - If you choose not to help Boco (top choice), your goal is just to defeat all the enemies, and you don't have to keep Boco from being KOed. However, you'll also suffer a 10 point PENALTY to everyone's Bravery, 2 points of which will remain even after the battle. - Choosing to help Boco (bottom choice) means you must keep Boco from getting KOed during the battle, but does not penalize your Bravery. This time, the top choice still gives you an easier battle, but you'll take a hit to your Bravery for selecting it. Since protecting Boco during the battle isn't hard at all, choose the second option to keep from losing Bravery. Boco will usually retreat into a corner, where will be chased by the lone Black Goblin. Boco can take care of himself just fine, so don't bother going after the Black Goblin unless you've mopped up all the other enemies. The Goblins aren't very strong, especially with Agrias's and Gaffgarion's help, so I recommend just rushing them. Stay out of the ditches. BATTLE TROPHIES: Hi-Potion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the battle, Boco will join. Boco is actually just a completely generic Chocobo, so he's of somewhat limited use. If nothing else, though, you can keep him in your party and use him to breed a Black Chocobo, which in turn can give you a Red Chocobo. These colored chocobos are somewhat more useful, so you may want to get one of them. Back on the map, go into your roster screen and change Gaffgarion into a Time Mage or White Mage, or some other crummy job. If you have the auto-equip feature on, be sure to also strip off all his gear afterwards. Equip his original equipment on one of your other characters. He has good armor, and the Power Gauntlet will give you an attack boost. (It's great for an Archer, or another character who doesn't need the movement bonus of the Battle Boots.) Then continue on to Zeirchele Falls. ---Battle 12: Zeirchele Falls-------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Agrias [guest], Delita [guest], Ovelia [guest], 3 others ENEMY FORCES: Gaffgarion [Fell Knight; Virgo], Knight (male) x5 GUEST: Delita [Sagittarius] - lv 11 Holy Knight - Bravery 75, Faith 50 Equipment : Coral Sword, Mythril Shield, Plate Mail, other equipment random Abilities : Holy Sword, other abilities random GUEST: Ovelia [Taurus] - lv 5 Princess - Bravery 53, Faith 72 Equipment : White Staff, Wizard's Hat, Wizard's Robe Abilities : Holy Magicks, other abilities random --STRATEGY-- The mission here is to protect Ovelia, which means you can't let her get KOed. She isn't in too much danger since she can cast Aegis, which puts a whole lot of good defensive buffs on her. She only has enough MP to cast this once, though, and it wears off after a few turns. Just to be on the safe side, keep a healer reasonably close to her. Gaffgarion is now your enemy, but if you turned him into a weak job and stripped his equipment, he can't do much to hurt you. So, worry about the other Knights first. (Plus, if you don't KO Gaffgarion right away, there's a bit of extra dialogue.) Start off by taking out the Knights on your side of the falls. (Delita can do a lot of damage to the Knights on the other side just by himself.) One of the Knights from the far side will probably try to cross over by wading through the base of the falls. Position an Archer on the corner of the cliff and shoot down at the guy. Agrias tends to loiter in the water and may finish him off; if not, send a character or two down after him. A great trick here is to KO one of the enemy Knights while he's standing on the bridge. Until he decomposes into a chest/crystal, his body will completely block the other Knights from crossing the bridge. Since the Knights have NO ranged attacks, you can use this as a chance to shoot at them from afar. If you have a Dragoon, you can also use polearms, which have a range of two tiles. If any of the Knights drops to critical HP, he may try to flee up the cliffs. You'll have to chase after him, so it may be useful to bring a character with a good Move range to this battle. (Battle Shoes and Move +1 or +2 will increase your Move range.) BATTLE TROPHIES: None ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the battle, Delita will leave you with Ovelia. Ramza sets a new course for Lionel Castle, so Fort Besselat disappears from your map, not to return until much later in the game. Back on the map, equip yourself with Gaffgarion's items if you didn't earlier. And while Ovelia is listed on your roster as a Guest, she won't actually participate in any more battles. So, you're safe de-equipping her Wizard's Hat and Wizard's Robe and giving them to another character. The Wizard's Robe is an especially nice pick-up since you can't buy them stores yet. It raises your magick attack, so give it to one of your mages. There's also some new equipment for sale at Dorter and at Eagrose, so it's probably worth making the trip as you'll want the new gear for the next battle. However, you may want to pass on the Poison Rod for your Black Mages. While it does a little more damage physically than the other rods and sometimes poisons its target, it doesn't boost the power of any of your Black Magicks like the Flame, Ice, and Thunder Rods do. Since your Black Mages usually attack with magick most of the time (I assume ;) ), you're probably better off sticking with your existing rod. The next battle is a tough one, so be prepared. You'll want Archers and Black Mages, and, if you don't include a White Mage in the party, one of the characters should have White Magick as a secondary ability. A Black Chocobo also be helpful, if you can get one. (Boco will randomly lay eggs and they may hatch into Black Chocobos, but there's obviously an element of luck/randomness to this.) I ended up using Ramza, two Archers, and a Black Mage. If you don't have the abilities you want, you can move back and forth across any green dot on the map to fight random battles and earn more JP. When you're ready, go south past the falls to the Castled City of Zaland. ---Battle 13: Zaland----------------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Agrias [guest], Mustadio [guest], 3 others ENEMY FORCES: Knight (male) x2, Black Mage (male) x2, Archer (female) x2 GUEST: Mustadio [Libra] - lv 10 Machinist - Bravery 60, Faith 62 Equipment : Romandan Pistol, Headgear, Mythril Vest, Battle Boots Abilities : Aimed Shot, other abilities random --STRATEGY-- When deploying your characters, deploy them in the "front" row (i.e., the row where Ramza is already standing). This starts them closer to the gate and allows them to get into the city faster. You'll meet Mustadio, who is being chased by some bad guys. Once again, you're given two options for the upcoming battle: - Choosing the first option means that you DO NOT have to keep Mustadio from getting KOed during the battle. This option raises the Bravery of each character on your current squad (including Agrias and Mustadio) by 5, 1 point of which is permanent. - Choosing the second option means that you DO have to keep from getting Mustadio from getting KOed. However, this option raises all the characters' Bravery by 10, 2 points of which are permanent. In other words, you'll get a Bravery increase either way, but you'll get a BIGGER increase for helping Mustadio. Of course, this also makes the battle harder. So, there's no clear "best option" here. It's up to you which to choose. Since this battle can be pretty challenging, you might want to just pick the first option; it makes the fight quite a bit easier and you're only missing out on 1 extra point of Bravery. The enemy is holed up inside Zaland and launches arrows and powerful Black Magick at you through (and over) the wall. Any melee characters you have will need to rush for the gates. In the mean time, your Archers and mages can fire back with their own ranged attacks. Equip the Archer's Bane reaction ability on any character who has it, as it will help protect you against the enemy arrows. Mustadio will initially do one of two things. Most likely, he'll run up on the top of the gate and attack with his gun from them. This is the "good" outcome since it keeps him relatively out of harm's way. But sometimes he'll stay on the ground inside the city. That's bad news, as all the enemies will pick on him and it's hard to reach for him healing. In this case, your best option is to cast Shell on him to reduce the magick damage he takes. Although you can't throw items through the wall, you CAN cast White Magick through it, so you're probably best off with a White Mage for healing here. If you've been building Ramza mostly for close-range attacks, he may not be much help here. On his first turn, you can have him use Tailwind on one of your Archers or Black Mages to boost their speed and get them more turns. Then start him running towards the gate so he can get into the city and use melee attacks. Make the Black Mages your first target, since their magick attacks are so strong. Use Black Magick, bows, and the Black Chocobo (if you brought one) to take them out as quickly as possible. Until the Mages go down, keep your characters spread out so enemy magicks can't hit more than one of your characters at a time. After the Mages go down, go after the Archers, then the Knights. If you have a Black Chocobo, you should also check out Mustadio's initial abilities by clicking on his tile. His abilities randomly determined, but he may have the Beastmaster skill. If so, land the Black Chocobo next to him. Beastmaster will allow the Black Chocobo to cast Choco Meteor, a really strong attack. Mustadio also uses his Aimed Shot abilities to put status conditions on the enemies. Immobilize (from Leg Shot) will keep an enemy from moving for a few turns, and Disable (from Arm Shot) will keep an enemy from taking action. If a bad guy gets hit with Disable, don't bother targeting them any further, since they can't do anything to hurt you for a few turns. A Knight that's been Immobilized is also a low-priority target since he can't move to attack you as long as you stay out of the tiles directly next to him. But the Black Mages and Archers can still shoot even if they're Immobilized! As for the Knights, they'll probably try to climb over the wall on the side of the map opposite the gate into the city. Agrias will attack them, but she can't take them out her own, so help her out with your ranged attacks. The Knights may also use Phoenix Downs to revive any Mages and Archers you KO. Characters revived with Phoenix Down come back with only a little HP, though, so you should be able to knock them back out again with just a single attack. BATTLE TROPHIES: 2000 gil, Mythril Sword, Hi-Potion -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Again, no matter what option you picked at the start of the battle, Mustadio joins you afterwards as a Guest. When all the talking is finished, you're now able to visit the stores in Zaland. There's not very much in the way of selection, but if you didn't upgrade your equipment after Zeirchele Falls, the Adamant Vest, Wizard's Hat, and Serpent Staff are all for sale here. (There's nothing brand new.) There are also a pair of new Errands available at the Tavern, and a new Rendezvous Mode mission. Your next stop is Balias Tor. When you first try to leave Zaland, there will be a cutscene. Afterwards, you'll be back on the map, but Balias Tor is still red. Travel there for real this time, and you'll get into a fight. ---Battle 14: Balias Tor------------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Agrias [guest], Mustadio [guest], 3 others ENEMY FORCES: Knight (male) x2, Archer (female) x2, Summoner (female) x2 --STRATEGY-- This battle can be harder than it looks. The enemy squad has Summoners for the first time (one positioned on each side of the hill), and their summon spells can do big damage to your team. On the first turn, Mustadio will probably chase after one of the Summoners. Send a fast and/or magic-using character around the opposite side of the hill to take out the other Summoner. The Summoners don't have much HP, so you should be able to finish them off in a couple turns. Meanwhile, have the rest of your squad attack the center of the hill. If you can attack the enemies quickly, the Summoners may squander their turns casting Moogle to heal their allies instead of using damaging summons on you. You're not *required* to keep Mustadio alive in this battle -- if he gets KOed, you won't lose the battle -- but it's a good idea to keep him standing, as his gun is quite helpful. As in Zaland, don't waste your turns attacking enemies that Mustadio has Immobilized or Disabled. A cool trick here is to use the Squire ability Rush to knock the Knights and Archers off the hill. They'll take damage if they fall too far, and you'll put them out of range of attacking you. BATTLE TROPHIES: 1000 gil, Holy Water -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following the fight, a cut scene will pop up back at Eagrose Castle with Dycedarg and Gaffgarion scheming. You can now finally get to Lionel Castle--don't worry; there's no battle! You'll chat with Delacroix and learn about the Zodiac Stones. Agrias and Ovelia will then leave the party. Now that you've reached Lionel Castle, you'll be able to deploy 5 characters in both story and random battles, instead of just 4. If you've been using a core team of just four characters, be sure to get a fifth equipped. In fact, there's a LOT of shopping to do! Lionel Castle has a lot of really powerful equipment, so load up on it -- you should have a lot of money by now. The Lightning Bow is a great weapon for any Archers you have; it has a fairly high attack power and sometimes casts the Thundaga spell. The stores also have a lot of new accessories -- you might want to pick up a Mage's Cloak or two for your magick users. Finally, you can now buy the Remedy item in all stores. It can cure any status ailment, so now there's really no point for your Chemists to learn the abilities corresponding to any of the other status-restoring items. If you go back up to Zaland, you can also buy some new light armor: Green Berets and Wizard Clothing. Keep your magick users equipped with Wizard's Hats, though, as those raise their magick power. Buy any stuff you want in Lionel now, as you won't be able to do so later. Since your access to the shops will be blocked off later, it might be a wise idea to buy some spare pieces of heavy armor and helms. That way, if any of your gear gets stolen or broken, you have a replacement. Also, you may want to send some of your characters out on a errand if you haven't been doing so; you can earn a lot of money from some of them. Again, walking between Dorter and Orbonne Monastery is an easy way to pass time and complete the errands while avoiding random battles. You'll want to complete all the errands before you reach Goug, though. Once you get to Goug, it will be a while before you can go back to the other towns to retrieve your characters. If Mustadio has enough JP, pick up the Seal Evil ability for him if you haven't already--it'll be handy in the next battle, as it turns undead to stone. Then head to the fenlands. ---Battle 15: Tchigolith Fenlands---------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Mustadio [guest], 4 others ENEMY FORCES: Skeleton x2, Bonesnatch x1, Ghoul x2, Floating Eye or Malboro or Pig x1 --STRATEGY-- The last member of the enemy forces is randomly determined: it could be a Floating Eye, Malboro, or Pig. Randomness aside, this is a fairly normal (and easy) battle with a few quirks. First, if you end your turn in the swamp, you get poisoned. (Simply passing through the swamp as part of a move won't poison you, as long as you end the move on dry land.) This isn't that bad, but if you have a choice, stand on land. And be sure not to end your turn in any water where the Depth is displayed as 2. If you stop in water of Depth 2, you won't be able to take any actions, as you're up to your head in water. (The Ninja ability Waterwalking would prevent this, in the unlikely event you have it already.) Second, all of the enemies except the randomly determined member are undead. This means you can use heal spells and items to damage them, which is quite effective. And if Mustadio has Seal Evil ability, he may also use that to turn the undead monsters to turn them to stone. Other than those two exceptions, there's nothing here you haven't seen before. The Pig shows up pretty infrequently, but if you DO see it, it's definitely worth trying to recruit it using the Orator's Entice or Tame abilities. You can use the Pig to breed pig-family monsters, all of which yield great rare items when poached using the Thief's Poach ability. Or, if you can't recruit the Pig but DO have Poach, you could at least poach it, though you won't actually be able to collect your poached item until Chapter III. Note the Pig can only appear during the initial story battle, not later random battles. In fact, the next opportunity to get a Pig won't be until Chapter IV. So, if you're particularly intent on getting a leg up on the enemy, you could keep entering the battle over and over and resetting until the Pig appears and you can recruit it. But, that's definitely NOT necessary; you can skip the Pig entirely and do just fine! BATTLE TROPHIES: None ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can now reach Goug on the map. !!!!!CAUTION!!!!! Before you enter Goug, make sure you've completed any errands you have running, and visited the appropriate Taverns to get the characters back on your roster. As soon as you enter Goug, you'll be locked out of many places on the map, and won't be able to get your characters back until much later! !!!!!CAUTION!!!!! Upon arriving in Goug, there will be a brief scene and then you're back on the map. The store doesn't have much of anything, but if you've got a Orator or Chemist, be sure to buy them a Romandan Pistol. The Romandan Pistol has a great range overall, can't be evaded, and is especially useful if you have a chance to pair it with the Knight's Arts of War abilities -- you can use it Rend enemies' equipments or stats at a distance! Goug also has a number of new accessories. Make sure you're stocked up on Hi-Potions and Phoenix Downs; you'll need them. You may also want to equip the Archer's Bane ability on any characters who have it. Try to leave the city and you'll be thrust into a battle. ---Battle 16: Goug Lowtown----------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Mustadio [guest], 4 others ENEMY FORCES: Archer (female) x2, Thief (male) x2, Summoner (male) x2 GUEST: Mustadio [Libra] - lv 12 Machinist - Bravery 60, Faith 62 Equipment : None Abilities : Aimed Shot, other abilities random --STRATEGY-- Ludovich, the leader of the Baert Company, will appear with Mustadio and Besrudio (Mustadio's father) captive. Mustadio reveals the location of the Zodiac Stone. Ramza forks it over and you find out that Delacroix was in on the plot. It's fight time. The enemy Archers in this battle have a huge range and it's hard to stay out of range completely. So, don't deploy any character who has really low HP as you probably won't be able to protect him/her/it completely. Equipping the Archer's Bane reaction ability will help you a lot, if you have it available. Mustadio will be almost invariably killed at the start of the battle -- he has no equipment and starts right next to the enemies. Don't worry about him. He's still a Guest so he can't die permanently yet. Move your guys up onto the roof. Use ranged attacks (like your shiny new pistols) to take out the Summoners. Note that both Summoners are one side of the enemy roof and both Archers on the other. If you stick towards the side of the map with the Summoners, it may keep the Archers from shooting at you for a turn or two. Kill any unit that moves onto your roof; Thieves first, Archers second. Early in the battle, don't chase enemies over to the other roof, or you'll get surrounded. Just fire ranged attacks at them. (Later, once there are only a couple enemies left, it's safe to jump across.) Your highest priority is to keep your guys healed, not to hit the enemy. Useful abilities here are Chakra, Counter, Firaga/Blizzaga/Thundaga, and Archer's Bane. Bows and guns are useful for their ranged attacks. You could also try using the gun + Arts of War combo to use Rend Weapon on the Archers and prevent them from shooting at you. When the Summoners start charging a spell, use the Turn List to check what it is. If it's just Moogle, you're fine, as that only heals them a little. But if they start casting anything else, it's an attack spell. Try to quickly take out the Summoner before he can finish the spell, or spread your characters out to minimize the hurt. Summon magick does a lot of damage! If the battle drags on for a while, the Summoners may run out of MP. In this case, you can pretty much ignore them completely as they can't really harm you at all. Another way of dealing with the Summoners is to put Silence, Berserk, or Atheist status on them using Mystic or Orator abilities, so they can't use magicks. You could also use a gun + Rend MP to sap all their MP, though with a gun it's easy enough to just shoot them to death directly. BATTLE TROPHIES: 100 gil, Thunder Rod -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After this encounter, you check on Besrudio. Mustadio reveals that the Zodiac Stone that Ludovich got was really a fake. Mustadio will now join as you a normal party member -- now you can control him! The only downside to this is that he can now be permanently killed. Be sure to keep him alive; you'll need him to complete most of the subquests in Chapter IV. Musty's equipment is all gone, so be sure to re-equip him. Also, if he learned any abilities while he was a Guest, they're also lost and you'll have to relearn them. The route back through the fenlands disappears. Take the ship (well, just walk across the ocean ;) ) over to the Port City of Warjilis. Upon getting off the ship, you'll see a FMV sequence with Delita. After that scene's ended, you can explore the town. There's no new equipment available, but to make some easy money, go to the bar and accept the errand (to find the Highwind!), then go back to Goug and get the errand there as well. (There will be a cutscene with Delacroix's scheming when you leave Warjilis the first time). Just go back and forth between the two cities until both errands are complete. If you weren't able to afford all the equipment you wanted in Goug or elsewhere, you should be able to get it now. There's also a new Rendezvous Mode mission, Lost Heirloom, that will have appeared after you completed the story battle at Goug. This new mission is pretty difficult if you don't have a good defense, and the enemy Thieves can charm female characters. If you have a female-heavy party, you may want to wait until you get to Chapter III and can buy equipment that protects you from Charm. Now that you have Mustadio, a good general trick for leveling up quickly is to use Arm Shot or Leg Shot to debilitate the last enemy in a battle. Then, you're free to let the other enemies turn into crystals/chests. Crystals from human enemies are often a good source of new abilities. Also, while the last enemy is Disabled or Immobilized, you can have your characters attack each other to raise JP. As long as you use the right strategies for story battles, you shouldn't really need to grind in this fashion, but it's an efficient way to raise levels if you decide to do so. Now go up to Balias Swale, where you'll find another fight. ---Battle 17: Balias Swale----------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: 1st Squad - Ramza, Agrias [guest], 2 others 2nd Squad - 2 others ENEMY FORCES: 1st Squad - Knight (male) x2, Black Mage (male) x1, Archer (female) x1 2nd Squad - Black Mage (male) x1, Archer (female) x 2 GUEST: Agrias [Cancer] - lv 12 Holy Knight - Bravery 71, Faith 63 Equipment : Coral Sword, Mythril Shield, Golden Helm, Golden Armor, Diamond Bracelet Abilities : Holy Sword, other abilities random --STRATEGY-- You'll deploy two squads here to save Agrias from Delacroix's Gryphon Knights. This is a really easy fight, so you might want to deploy some weaker characters to give them a boost. Kill the Black Mages first (using range attacks if you have them), then the Archers. Really, your only concern is making sure Agrias stays alive. Because this fight is so easy, it's a good time to let the enemies' counters run out and pick up the loot they leave behind. (Paralyze Agrias or use Mustadio's Arm or Leg Shot on her to keep her from finishing off the last enemy.) The archer in the second squad has a Poison Bow crossbow you could steal, although it's not too special and you'll be able to buy it soon enough anyway. BATTLE TROPHIES: Echo Herbs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Agrias rejoins, this time as a controllabe, non-guest character. Again, if you want to complete all the sidequests in the game, don't dismiss her or let her get killed. After getting Agrias, if you head back down to Warjilis, you'll find the shops have a few new items available. Most notably, you can replace your Power Gauntlets with the Diamond Bracelets, which gives you the Power Gauntlet's +1 Physical Attack but also +1 Magick Attack and immunity to Slow. The latter ability is pretty handy in the upcoming battle, so buy some for your main squad. (Agrias also comes equipped with one.) You can also upgrade your Wizard Clothing to the Brigandine, which gives you a few more HP. But you'll probably want to keep magick-oriented characters equipped with the Wizard Clothing or with robes for the magick bonuses they confer. Also available for purchase is the Mage's Staff, and, in the unlikely event you have a Samurai, the Osafune katana. Your next stop is Golgollada Gallows. Make sure you're ready; this is a tough battle. Bring your Diamond Bracelets! ---Battle 18: Golgollada Gallows----------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: 1st Squad - Ramza, 2 others 2nd Squad - 2 others ENEMY FORCES: Gaffgarion, Knight (male) x3, Archer (female) x2, Time Mage (female) x2 ENEMY: Gaffgarion [Virgo] - lv 17 Fell Knight - Bravery 61, Faith 67 Equipment : Blood Sword, Mythril Shield, Close Helmet, other equipment random Abilities : Fell Sword, other abilities random --STRATEGY-- The execution turns out to be a trap, and you have to fight Gaffgarion. Deploy at least one strong fighter in the second squad (Agrias is good). For the rest of your team, anyone with a ranged attack is really useful (bows, guns, or Black Magick), and Monks and Geomancers can be good too. Note that although Gaffgarion seems like a boss character, KOing him will NOT end this battle. You need to take out all the enemies! You're surrounded by enemies. What you need to do to gain the advantage is start climbing up the side of the gate, near where the first squad starts. Move immediately for the scaffolding. Because there are so many enemies here and they all start close to you, you need to limit the number of enemies who can functionally attack you at once. As you move for the scaffolding, you can continue to use your abilities to disable the enemy forces. Abilities that are good for this are Mustadio's Arm Shot, Agrias's Judgment Blade (which sometimes causes Stop), and the Geomancer's Tanglevine (which also causes Stop and works more frequently). Leg Shot is also useful against the Knights, but not against the other enemies, who can all attack from a distance. Once you start getting up atop the scaffolding and gate, you can start attacking. Go after those pesky Archers first. You can use bows, guns, Black Magick, and Agrias's Holy Sword to attack from a distance. These attacks all have an infinite vertical range, so you can use them all the way from atop of the gate or on the scaffolding. Once you have the height advantage, it's a lot harder for the enemy Knights and Archers to hit you, and you can fight them a few at a time. You'll be taking a lot of hits. To make your healing more efficient, don't have your healer move once he or she is in position on the scaffolding; this lets him/her get more turns. Throw Items also has an infinite vertical range, so even if you're positioned up on top of the gate, you can throw items down to characters still climbing up. Using Ramza's Tailwind to increase the speed of your most crucial characters. If your archers or gunners have a spare turn, you can also have them try using Focus to build up their attack power. Gaffgarion is the most dangerous enemy here; not only does his Shadowblade do good damage to you, it drains HP back to him. If you have a really powerful magick spell (like Firaja or Holy or something), you can try using that to take him out in one shot. Or, if you use Steal Weapon or Rend Weapon to take away his Blood Sword, you can disable all his sword techniques. Stealing it is particularly advantageous since the Blood Sword is a rare weapon and has the nice side effect of draining HP back to you from the enemy. If you want to steal the Blood Sword, you'll have better luck if you equip Brawler as a support ability, target Gaffgarion from behind, and/or put him to sleep. (A Taurus, Capricorn, or female Pisces will also be at an advantage for stealing.) If you don't steal/rend the Blood Sword, you'll have to knock Gaffgarion down bit by bit. Take out the Archers first, then start hammering on him with your whole team; you need to pile on the damage faster than he can heal himself. He has Counter; attacking from a distance (if you can) is one way to get around this. Or, you can just hit him with Arm Shot: if he's Disabled, he can't use his Counter. You needn't take away *all* his HP; as soon as he gets to critical status, he'll teleport out of the battle. The Time Mages are your lowest priority here. Even though they don't have much HP, attacking them is just a waste of turns as they can't do all that much to harm you. About all they do is cast Slow, and if you brought Diamond Bracelets from Warjilis, you're immune to that. So attack the Time Mages last. If you just can't win, try fighting some battles in Balias Swale to get some better abilities like Arise, Equip Heavy Armor, Auto-Potion, Chakra (which I would strongly advise you to acquire by now), etc. If you deploy Agrias in this battle, there will be some extra dialogue between her and Ramza when she finds out he's a Beoulve. BATTLE TROPHIES: None -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After you attain victory at the Gallows (it may take a few tries!), you'll see a scene back at Lionel Castle in which you find out more about Ovelia's past and Delacroix's plans. Then you're back on the map. When you move back up to Balias Swale, you'll see a cutscene with Wiegraf. Now, you can now wander around the map again. Next up is the final battles of the chapter, which occur at Lionel Castle. However, if you want to travel elsewhere, you can do so. If you click on any of the destinations PAST Lionel Castle, you can walk right through the castle without getting into a fight. Just don't click on the castle ITSELF until you're ready to fight. This way, you can travel up to Eagrose if you need to buy heavy armor. Also, if you accidentally left any characters working on errands in Zaland or elsewhere, you can go get them back now. (Anyone running an errand at Lionel Castle is still unreachable until Chapter III, though.) To prepare for the upcoming fight, you'll want to make sure that Ramza has either the Teleport movement ability (Time Mage) or Chakra (Monk). If you're using Chakra, you can either make Ramza into a Monk or by assigning Martial Arts as a secondary action ability. It's also probably a good idea to equip the Archer's Bane rection ability on any characters that have it. When you've done all that, it's time for the final battles of the chapter. When you click on Lionel Castle, you'll have no choice but to attack the gate. As Ramza tries to open the gate, Gaffgarion shows up yet again and surrounds the castle. ---Battle 19: Lionel Castle Gate----------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: 1st Squad - Ramza 2nd Squad - 4 others ENEMY FORCES: 1st Squad - Gaffgarion 2nd Squad - Knight (female) x3, Archer (male) x2, Summoner (male) x1 BOSS: Gaffgarion [Virgo] - lv 18 Fell Knight - Bravery 61, Faith 67 Equipment : Ancient Sword, Golden Shield, Close Helmet, other equipment random Abilities : Fell Sword, no second action ability, other abilities random --STRATEGY-- If you thought the Gallows was bad, here's more fun. Actually, the gate isn't as bad if you play your cards right. When deploying your second squad, any characters that you want in the front row (e.g. melee fighters) should be placed in the back of the three rows (i.e., the top-right) on the deployment screen. You'll be attacked from behind, so these characters will actually end up closest to the enemy. Meanwhile, ranged attackers and magick users should go towards the bottom-left of the deployment screen so they'll end up behind your melee fighters. Ramza starts trapped inside the gate with Gaffgarion, while the rest of your characters have another set of enemies to fight outside. There are a couple different strategies you can use to deal with Gaffgarion: 1. If Ramza has the Time Mage ability Teleport, you can use that to move him outside of the gate and strand Gaffgarion inside. Take out all the enemies outside, then have Ramza teleport back inside and open the gate. You'll have to be careful not to stand *too* close to the gate when fighting outside because Gaffgarion can attack you through the wall with his sword techniques. This strategy has the advantage of allowing Ramza to help fighting outside. 2. Or, move Ramza down to the ground (inside the gate) and have him use the Monk's Chakra ability on every turn to heal the damage Gaff is doing. (If Ramza doesn't have Chakra, Hi-Potions should work too, as long as you have enough of them.) Stay close to Gaffgarion so he won't try to go anywhere else Don't attack Gaffgarion or open the gate; just sit there and use Chakra. Keep stalling Gaffgarion until your other characters defeat the enemies outside. This strategy won't let Ramza fight outside, but it guarantees Gaffgarion won't attack anyone outside. 3. Finally, if one of your characters has strong Black Magicks (e.g. a -ja or a -ga spell coupled with Arcane Strength), deploy him/her outside the gate. Use Ramza to lure Gaffgarion near the gate, and then have the Black Mage use magick on Gaffgarion (since Black Magicks can go through walls) to KO him. It doesn't matter if the spell KOs Ramza as long as you KO Gaff because KOing Gaffgarion will cause Ramza to recover with 1 HP. Once you've KOed Gaffgarion, you can have Ramza open the gate and join the fight outside. A nice benefit of this strategy is that it turns Gaffgarion into a crystal that you can use for healing or ability learning (sadly, you can't learn his special sword techniques from the crystal), but it only works if you have strong Black Magicks. Meanwhile, your other four characters have to take on the gang outside the gate. The Summoner is the most dangerous enemy here, so try to take him out immediately or use Mustadio's Arm Shot to Disable him. If he does start casting a spell, spread out your characters so he can't blast your whole team. Arm Shot is a great ability for this fight, as it reduces the number of enemies that can attack you at once. (You can also use the Mystic's Hesitation spell for the same effect.) Moreover, putting Disable on a character causes him/her to flee into a corner, which means that it will take another turn or two to get back into the battle even once Disable wears off. Note that Disabling a character who's charging up an attack will cancel the attack. This is a good way to stop a Summon or Archer's Aim attack if you've got no other options. For dealing damage, guns are quite helpful as they can allow you to attack without having to Move. Remember that if you don't move during a turn, your next turn will come more quickly, which helps a lot when you're surrounded by lots of enemies! Agrias's sword techniques are also great for damage-dealing, and her Northswain's Strike ability (if you have it) has a chance of instantly KOing an enemy outright. Also, when enemies are bunched together, use Black Magick, Summon spells or Agrias's Judgment Blade to hit more than one enemy at a time. Once you've mopped up most of the enemies outside the gate, move Ramza up to the switch on the left side of the gate and he will open the door. Now, have your whole gang rush inside and attack Gaffgarion. Try to rend Gaffgarion's sword, or even better, steal it. Again, using Arm Shot to Disable him is quite useful, as it not only prevents from attacking you, but turns off his counterattack and prevents him from blocking with his shield. He shouldn't be too much trouble -- the hard part is the fight outside the gate. But, be careful not to let him pick up any crystallized enemies; he can use the crystals to restore all his HP just like you can! Either pick up the crystals as soon as they appear, or position your characters to block his route to the crystals. You do have to take away ALL his HP this time instead of just reducing him to crtical, but once you do, he's finally gone for good. BATTLE TROPHIES: 700 gil, Mythril Helm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The save game screen will pop up at the conclusion of the battle. There are another couple battles immediately after this one, so I recommend saving a SEPARATE slot from your main file. This way, you can go back to your main file if it turns you need to raise more JP outside the castle. After saving, you cut back to Delita and Ovelia at Zeirchele Falls for a battle against the Order of the Northern Sky. ---Battle 20: Zeirchele Falls-------------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Delita, Ovelia [guest] ENEMY FORCES: Knight (male) x1, Archer (male) x1, Black Mage (female) x1 ALLY: Delita [Sagittarius] - lv 25 Holy Knight - Bravery 85, Faith 40 Equipment : Ancient Sword, Golden Helm, Golden Armor, Germinas Boots Abilities : Holy Sword, Arts of War, Counter, Safeguard, Move +1 GUEST: Ovelia [Taurus] - lv 20 Princess - Bravery 53, Faith 72 Equipment : Mage's Staff, Celebrant's Miter, White Robe, Elven Cloak Abilities : Holy Magicks, White Magicks, Counter Tackle, Reequip, Move +1 --STRATEGY-- Delita is your only controllable character here. Ovelia is a guest. As before, she'll probably just cast Aegis and run. But now that she has more MP, she can also cast Aegis on Delita on her second turn instead of only casting it on herself. Move Delita across the bridge and start attacking the enemy forces. He has all of the Holy Sword techniques, so use them -- with Hallowed Bolt and Judgment Blade, you can probably hit more than enemy at once. Since there are only three enemies and none of them are that strong, you should be able to defeat them without much trouble. Really, this battle is quite easy; its main purpose is just to give you a chance to play as Delita :) BATTLE TROPHIES: None -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You're given another chance to save; again, don't save in your main slot. Then your roster screen shows up, allowing Ramza's crew to learn new abilities or change equipment, which might be necessary if the Knights at the gate used Rend on you.) When you leave the formation screen, you'll immediately go to the next battle and start deploying your characters. ---Battle 21: Lionel Castle Oratory-------------------------------------------- YOUR FORCES: Ramza, 4 others ENEMY FORCES: Cuchulainn BOSS: Cuchulainn [Scorpio] - The Impure HP: 488, MP: 360 Abilities: Dread, Befoul --STRATEGY-- This time you're up against Delacroix, who uses his Zodiac Stone to turn (with some pyrotechnics) into Cuchulainn. This battle can be tricky because Cuchulainn casts a variety of status attacks from a distance while running from you--plus, he gets the first turn! You'll find him easier to beat if you can trap him so he can't move. To get the jump on Cuchulainn, deploy your 4 teammates as follows: __ \XX\ \ \ \ \ X = character other than Ramza \XX\ --- Ramza can be placed on any other tile because he'll automatically move forward during the pre-battle story events. If you place your characters in this formation, Cuchulainn will have to come down the stairs on his first turn to start casting his magick. Now you can rush him and attack. If you can surround him, he won't be able to flee out of range. If you can't get within striking distance on a particular character's turn, at least position that character on the stairs to keep Cuchulainn from climbing back up. You could also use Leg Shot to Immobilize him, but since you can surround him pretty well with this tactic anyway, it's mostly a wasted turn. (He's immune to Disable, so don't bother trying Arm Shot.) As noted above, Cuchulainn's attacks consist primarily of status-attack magick. (Occasionally, he'll use a physical attack instead.) His Nightmare spell will inflict Sleep or Doom on a group of characters and has a 100% hit rate, and his Bio magicks do damage and inflict various other status ailments. Use the Esuna magick or the Monk's Purification ability to wake up the sleeping characters if you have either available; otherwise, try using weak physical attacks (e.g. Stone) to wake them up. The Doom status will cause your character to KO when the countdown finishes. There's pretty no way to remove it, so just revive the characters after they're KOed. (Striking a character with the White Staff *may* remove the Doom status, but it doesn't always work and isn't worth forfeiting a stronger weapon for.) Other status ailments can be cured with Purification, Esuna, or the appropriate items if you happen to have them. Try to keep your support characters spread out so they can't all be hit with Cuchulainn's magick at once. Since both the Sleep and Doom effects of Nightmare can be prevented with Protect Rings, you might be tempted to equip those. However, if you equip Protect Rings, Cuchulainn will just cast Bio magicks instead. Since Bio is usually more dangerous than Nightmare, you're better off without Protect Rings! Good attacks to use against Cuchulainn include physical attacks and Agrias's sword techniques. Guns and bows are also good, particularly if you trap him down on your level. If he escapes to the top of the map, guns will be less useful because there are usually too many obstacles to get a clear line of fire. The Monk's Aurablast may also be helpful in hitting him before you have a chance to trap him. Magick may be somewhat less useful here. You're in such close quarters that the magicks will probably hit your allies too -- plus you may be halted with a status effect before you can get the spell off. However, if you happen to have the Lich summon spell already or the Time Mage's Graviga, these will do a lot of damage -- they both do damage equal to half the target's max HP, regardless of how high that max may be! Since Cuchulainn has a high max HP (488), these magicks will do quite a bit of damage. Even Gravity, which does damage equal to 1/4 of its target's max HP, can be useful. In general, a good mix of close range fighters and gun/bow users is probably best here, and be sure to bring one or two characters who can use Phoenix Downs! And since Cuchulainn is a Scorpio, any Cancer or Pisces characters you might have (including Agrias) will do particular damage to him. Cuchulainn has 488 HP. Beat him and he'll blow up (with more nifty effects) and drop another Zodiac Stone. BATTLE TROPHIES: None -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Delita delivers Ovelia to Duke Goltanna, while Duke Larg maintains Orinus as the heir to the throne. As the War of the Lions begins over these claims to the throne, Chapter II draws to a close, and you're again given a chance to save. %%%CHAPTER III: THE VALIANT%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%00walk3 Three months into the War of the Lions, things are looking bad for both Larg and Goltanna. After a scene of Goltanna's council of war, we cut back to Ramza, whose new mission is to convince Zalbaag that someone is manipulating Ivalice into the war. You'll start the chapter positioned at Dorter. The shops have a lot of new stuff. The Headbands are a great buy; not only do they increase your HP over the previous hats, they also give you a physical attack boost. (You may want to keep your magick users with the Wizard's Hats, though, as those boost their *magick* power.) Although the Croakadile Bag may look powerful, it does variable amounts of damage, which limits its usefulness during actual battles. (Plus, it's ridiculously expensive!) Now that you're in Chapter III, you can also buy X-Potions, so you'll want to learn the corresponding ability for any item-users you have. For additional shopping opportunities, visit one of the castles (Lionel or Eagrose). There you can pick up the Ancient Sword, a strong sword that can also Immobilize enemies, as well as the Mythril Bow and some other stuff. The Fire Shield and Ice Shield absorb fire and ice, respectively, which lets you do a handy trick: Cast a fire or ice spell that targets both enemies and an ally with the shield -- you'll damage the enemies, AND heal your character! Not only does this let you get around the "friendly fire" effects when fighting in close quarters, it even replenishes your HP! All this new equipment is expensive, so luckily there's a whole slew of new errands, at least one in every town. If you're short on cash, I recommend spending a while completing them, buying stuff, and building up your characters. If you're offered any "contest" errand, take it right away; these errands give you a lot of money and JP but the chance to take them disappears at the end of the current month (at least until the next year). If you had characters who were running errands at Lionel Castle and ended up "trapped" when you were kicked out of the castle back in Chapter II, you can finally go collect them from the Tavern now. Lionel Castle is back to being a regular, blue-dot town. (Note also that the sea route between Goug and Warjilis has vanished as of Chapter III.) The Poachers' Dens are also now open. You can now use the Thief's "Poach" ability to poach enemies and get items from them at the Poachers' Den. Poached items are cheap; you can buy them for half their usual price! You can also get some rare items from poaching that you can't get anywhere else! Each monster can yield one of two items, a frequent item or an infrequent one -- see the Poaching List for a complete list. Note, though, that Poachers' Dens are only found in Dorter and Warjilis, not other cities. (Sal Ghidos, which you'll reach in Chapter IV, also has a Poachers' Den.) The best monsters to poach don't appear under Chapter IV, but if you recruited a Pig at Tchigolith Fenlands in Chapter II, you can now start poaching your pigs for rare items. And Red Chocobos, which also appear fairly frequently in Chapter III, sometimes yield the Barette when poached, which protects female characters against a number of status ailments. A new Rendezvous mission, The Fete, is available. This one can be a little difficult if you haven't yet learned Shirahadori (see below), but with a Summoner you should be able to win. There's also the Lost Heirloom mission from last chapter if you haven't done that yet; the Nu Khai Armbands that you can now buy will make this battle easier by protecting you from Charm. There are some abilities you'll need at the end of Chapter III that it's a good idea t