%%%CHAPTER II: THE MANIPULATIVE & THE SUBSERVIENT%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%walk2 You now return to the present, at Orbonne Monastery. It's one year after the events of Chapter I and your current mission is to rescue Princess Ovelia. ---CHARACTER RECRUITMENT--- 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 permanently killed if you want to complete all the sidequests. (It's fine if they're KOed as long as they don't ever turn into a crystal or chest.) 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 Cuirass 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 ---JOB & ABILITY UPGRADES--- 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: Thief (lv 11, male) Thief (lv 9, male) Black Mage (lv 10, male) Black Mage (lv 9, male) Archer (lv 10, female) Archer (lv 9, female) VICTORY CONDITION: KO, petrify, recruit, or Vampirize all enemies LOSS CONDITION: Ramza dies or all allies are KOed/Stone WEATHER: Clear day (no special effects) MAP SIZE: TERRAIN TYPES GEOMANCY MAP AREA 11 x 9 Roof, Chimney Wind Blast 36% Flagstone Contortion 36% Grassland Tanglevine 26% Obstructed -- 1% --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 indiscriminately 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. One other small caution: A character with Jump 4 can climb up onto the house nearest your start point, but can't get back down. Of course, you'll get the character back after the battle, but they'll be out of action for the rest of this battle. So, either don't climb up there (there's not much reason to do so, except one Treasure Hunter tile) or use a character that has Jump 5. BATTLE TROPHIES: 1000 gil, Flame Rod, Mage Masher, Phoenix Down --TREASURE HUNTER ITEMS-- Put this corner at screen bottom: Height 16, Chimney POOR ITEM GOOD ITEM TRAP *Left: 9, Up: 8 (height: 9, Chimney) Potion Ice Bow none Left: 6, Up: 0 (height: 5, Grassland) Ether Round Shield none Left: 4, Up: 6 (height: 9, Roof) Hi-Potion Shuriken none #Left: 0, Up: 0 (height: 16, Chimney) Echo Herbs Barbut none * Requires Jump of 4 or more to reach. # Requires Jump of 5 to reach. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you've cleared this battle, you'll have access to all of the map again. ---MONSTER CHANGES--- Most of the random battle locations (green dots) now have a somewhat different mix of monsters. The second type of enemy party, which often includes more powerful monsters as well as the occasional human, now shows more frequently than it did in Chapter I, though the basic set of monsters is still the most common. Check the Random Battles section if you want the complete list. ---ERRANDS--- 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. Four main errands are available right now: ---New Errands------------------------------------------------------------------ CITY DAYS COST APPROX. REWARD Mount Gulg Mother Lode Eagrose 15-16 600 2549 gil, 103 JP, artefact Bandits Dorter 11-13 3100 14400 gil, 137 JP Shoreline Defense Gariland 8-9 3050 11114 gil, 94 JP Miner's Tale Gariland 8-11 600 2726 gil, 108 JP The Gariland Magick Melee Gariland 14-16 0 22265 gil, 166 JP, artefact > Month of Virgo only -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Bandits" at Dorter and "Shoreline Defense" at Gariland are likely to be the most profitable. If it happens to be the month of Virgo, Gariland will offer another errand, "The Gariland Magick Melee." This one doesn't cost anything and has a great payday, so take it! But, if it's a different month, it's not really worth passing time just to get that one errand. As noted above, two of the errands will yield artefacts. These don't actually do anything; they just show up on your Chronicle screen to add more background to the game world. You can maximize your reward from each errand if you send characters for the maximize number of days. Having the right jobs, Bravery/Faith stats, and experience levels will also add a few extra points, 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. ---RENDEZVOUS MISSIONS--- 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. ---EQUIPMENT UPGRADES--- All the stores have new equipment, so pay them a visit to gear up your characters. ---New Items for Purchase------------------------------------------------------- TYPE PRICE WHERE DETAILS Headgear Hat 1200 TrCity/City HP +32, Phys.Attack +1 Mythril Vest Clothes 1500 TrCity/City HP +30 Shuriken Star 50 TrCity/City Atk: 4 Ice Bow Bow 2000 Castle Atk: 5, 0% Parry, ice elemental Javelin Polearm 1000 Castle Atk: 8, 10% Parry Round Shield Shield 1600 Castle Phy.Evade: 19%, Mag.Evade: 0% Barbut Helm 1500 Castle HP: 40 Mythril Armor Armor 2000 Castle HP: 50 Spiked Boots Shoes 1200 Any Jump +1 Leather Cloak Cloak 800 Any Phy.Evade: 15%, Mag.Evade: 15% Holy Water Item 2000 Any Removes: Undead, Vampire -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Stock up on Hi-Potions and Phoenix Downs, but don't buy any equipment for Gaffgarion. (It's OK to get stuff for Agrias, but her equipment is already really good.) The Headgear is also quite a good buy. It's a good hat, cheaper more effective than the Mythril Vest, and it raises your attack power as well. 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: Black Goblin (lv 13) Goblin (lv 10) Goblin (lv 9) Goblin (lv 9) Goblin (lv 8) Goblin (lv 8) GUEST: Boco [Aries] - lv 10 Chocobo - Bravery 68, Faith 48 VICTORY CONDITION: KO, petrify, or recruit all enemies LOSS CONDITION: Top option - Ramza dies or all allies are KOed/Stone Bottom option - Boco is KOed or Ramza dies WEATHER: Clear day (no special effects) MAP SIZE: TERRAIN TYPES GEOMANCY MAP AREA 12 x 10 Grassland Tanglevine 82% Tree Wind Slash 8% Obstructed -- 6% Soil Sinkhole 4% --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 --TREASURE HUNTER ITEMS-- Put this corner at screen bottom: Height 17, Cross Section POOR ITEM GOOD ITEM TRAP Left: 5, Up: 3 (height: 0, Grassland) Gold Needle Headgear none Left: 2, Up: 4 (height: 1, Grassland) Phoenix Down Mythril Armor none Left: 5, Up: 8 (height: 0, Grassland) Potion Mythril Vest none Left: 9, Up: 11 (height: 7, Grassland) Hi-Potion Spiked Boots none -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---BOCO--- After the battle, Boco will join. Boco just has the same stats and abilities as any other generic Chocobo, so he's of somewhat limited use. (He does have a unique help message when you use the Select button and check his name, but this has no effect on gameplay.) But, if nothing else, you can keep Boco 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. ---ADJUSTING GAFFGARION--- Back on the map, go into your roster screen and change Gaffgarion into a Time Mage or White Mage, or some other crummy job. You have a couple of choices as to do what to do with Gaffgarion's equipment: 1) The next battle will be easiest if you strip Gaffgarion of all his gear, and equip it on one of your other characters. Gaffgarion 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.) 2) Alternately, there's a bug in the game that you can exploit to duplicate an item. Equip the item on Gaffgarion, then have a Thief steal it during the battle, and you'll end up with two copies. The Power Gauntlet is especially valuable, if you decide to do this. Once you've finished adjusting Gaffgarion's equipment, 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) Knight (lv 11, male) Knight (lv 10, male) Knight (lv 9, male) Knight (lv 8, male) Knight (lv 8, male) 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 Immune : Chicken, Toad, Charm, and Doom 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 VICTORY CONDITION: KO, petrify, recruit, or Vampirize all enemies LOSS CONDITION: Ovelia is KOed or Ramza dies WEATHER: Clear day (no special effects) MAP SIZE: TERRAIN TYPES GEOMANCY MAP AREA 11 x 10 Stone Outcropping Tremor 33% Grassland Tanglevine 30% River, Waterfall Torrent 30% Bridge Wind Slash 4% Obstructed -- 4% --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, and then position yourself right behind his body. Until the body decays into a chest/crystal, it will block the Knights from getting close enough to hit you with close-range attacks. Since the Knights have NO ranged attacks, they're helpless and you can pick them off from afar with your own ranged attacks. 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.) If you have a Thief and don't mind exploiting a bug in the game, you can also use this battle to duplicate any piece of equipment you have. First, equip the item on Gaffgarion before the battle. Then, steal it from him during the battle. You'll get one copy then, and a second copy when Gaffgarion's items are added to your inventory after the battle. The downside is that if you give Gaffgarion powerful items, it will make him harder to defeat. But, just giving him the Power Gauntlet works pretty well -- if you turn him into a mage beforehand, he can't do very much damage to even *with* the Gauntlet. BATTLE TROPHIES: None --TREASURE HUNTER ITEMS-- Put this corner at screen bottom: Height 7, Stone Outcropping POOR ITEM GOOD ITEM TRAP Left: 1, Up: 3 (height: 3.5, Grassl.) Ether Leather Cloak none Left: 5, Up: 2 (height: 9.5, Grassl.) Echo Herbs Platinum Dagger none Left: 7, Up: 4 (height: 8.5, Waterf.) Gold Needle Coral Sword none Left: 8, Up: 4 (height: 8.5, Waterf.) Phoenix Down Poison Rod 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. ---SHUFFLING YOUR EQUIPMENT--- Back on the map, Gaffgarion's items are added to your inventory if you didn't already take it from him. (There's also a bug here that allows you to copy Gaffgarion's items; see the battle strategy above.) Be sure to equip it on your characters since it's good stuff. 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 in 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. ---New Items for Purchase------------------------------------------------------- TYPE PRICE WHERE DETAILS Poison Rod Rod 500 TrCity/City Atk: 3, 20% Parry, Inflicts: Poison Serpent Staff Staff 2200 TrCity/City Atk: 5, 15% Parry Cypress Pole Pole 1000 TrCity/City Atk: 6, 20% Parry Wizard's Hat Hat 1800 TrCity/City HP +40, MP +12, Magick Attack +1 Adamant Vest Clothes 1600 TrCity/City HP +36 Platinum Dagger Knife 1800 Castle/City Atk: 5, 10% Parry Coral Sword Sword 3300 Castle Atk: 8, 5% Parry Mythril Shield Shield 2500 Castle Phy.Evade: 22%, Mag.Evade: 5% Mythril Helm Helm 2100 Castle HP +50 Plate Mail Armor 3000 Castle HP +60 Power Gauntlet Gauntlt 5000 Any Physical Attack +1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's probably worth making the trip back to Dorter and Eagrose as you'll want the new gear for the next battle. In particular, the Wizard's Hat is a nice purchase for magick-users. It's the best hat so far, and it gives you a nice MP and Magick Attack best too. 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 magicks most of the time (I assume ;) ), you're probably better off sticking with your existing rod. The Power Gauntlet now appears in stores, but it's pretty pricey. ---BATTLE PREPARATION--- 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 can 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 (lv 13, male) Knight (lv 11, male) Black Mage (lv 12, male) Black Mage (lv 11, male) Archer (lv 12, female) Archer (lv 11, female) GUEST: Mustadio [Libra] - lv 10 Machinist - Bravery 60, Faith 62 Equipment : Romandan Pistol, Headgear, Mythril Vest, Battle Boots Abilities : Aimed Shot, other abilities random VICTORY CONDITION: KO, petrify, recruit, or Vampirize all enemies LOSS CONDITION: Top option - Ramza dies or all allies are KOed/Stone Bottom option - Mustadio is KOed or Ramza dies WEATHER: Clear day (no special effects) MAP SIZE: TERRAIN TYPES GEOMANCY MAP AREA 13 x 10 Flagstone Contortion 38% Grassland Tanglevine 27% Roof Wind Blast 17% Soil Sinkhole 14% Coffer Will-o'-the-Wisp 5% --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 are 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 --TREASURE HUNTER ITEMS-- Put this corner at screen bottom: Height 0, Grassland POOR ITEM GOOD ITEM TRAP Left: 2, Up: 0 (height: 5, Grassland) Potion Serpent Staff none Left: 6, Up: 7 (height: 3.5, Grassl.) Echo Herbs Mythril Helm none Left: 9, Up: 0 (height: 3, Grassland) Hi-Potion Cypress Pole none Left: 12, Up: 4 (height: 10, Chimney) Ether Mythril Shield none -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Again, no matter what option you picked at the start of the battle, Mustadio joins you afterwards as a Guest. ---IN ZALAND--- 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.) The Tavern here boasts several new errands: ---New Errands------------------------------------------------------------------ CITY DAYS COST APPROX. REWARD The Hindenburg Zaland 8-15 100 23029 gil, 108 JP Zaland Embassy Antiques Zaland 10-12 6000 954 gil, 105 JP, artefact The Zaland Melee Zaland 14-16 0 20865 gil, 250 JP > Month of Aries only -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The Hindenburg" has a good gil payout, but you're likely to lose money on "Zaland Embassy Antiques"! There's another very profitable time-sensitive errand here, "The Zaland Melee," that only appears during Aries. Again, it's not worth *waiting* for, but definitely take this errand if it's offered! A new Rendezvous Mode mission is also available in the Tavern. ---LEAVING ZALAND--- 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 (lv 14, male) Knight (lv 13, male) Archer (lv 13, female) Archer (lv 11, female) Summoner (lv 12, female) Summoner (lv 11, female) VICTORY CONDITION: KO, petrify, recruit, or Vampirize all enemies LOSS CONDITION: Ramza dies or all allies are KOed/Stone WEATHER: Clear day (no special effects) MAP SIZE: TERRAIN TYPES GEOMANCY MAP AREA 14 x 9 Grassland Tanglevine 62% Stone Outcropping Tremor 36% Obstructed -- 2% --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 summons 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. Since this battle isn't especially difficult, you may want to try to send someone with Treasure Hunter to try to grab the Power Gauntlet at the far side of the map. (The exact coordinates are below.) Power Gauntlets normally cost you 5000 gil, so a free one is great! BATTLE TROPHIES: 1000 gil, Holy Water --TREASURE HUNTER ITEMS-- Put this corner at screen bottom: Height 3.5, Stone Outcropping POOR ITEM GOOD ITEM TRAP Left: 6, Up: 3 (height: 7, Grassland) Gold Needle Wizard's Hat none Left: 0, Up: 8 (height: 1, Grassland) Phoenix Down Plate Mail none Left: 6, Up: 11 (height: 7.5, Stone O.) Potion Adamant Vest none Left: 2, Up: 13 (height: 3, Grassland) Hi-Potion Power Gauntlet none -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following the fight, a cut scene will pop up back at Eagrose Castle with Dycedarg and Gaffgarion scheming. ---ON TO LIONEL CASTLE--- 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. ---PARTY SIZE CHANGE & SHOPPING--- 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. Reaching Lionel Castle also opens up a TON of new items in the shops: ---New Items for Purchase------------------------------------------------------- TYPE PRICE WHERE DETAILS Battle Bamboo Pole 1400 TrCity/City Atk: 7, 20% Parry Green Beret Hat 3000 TrCity/City HP +48, Speed +1 Wizard Clothing Clothes 1900 TrCity/City HP +42, MP +15 Wizard's Robe Robe 4000 TrCity/City HP +30, MP +22, Magick Attack +2 Ashura Katana 1600 TrCity Atk: 7, 15% Parry Kotetsu Katana 3000 TrCity Atk: 8, 15% Parry Lamia's Harp Instrmt 5000 TrCity Atk: 10, 10% Parry, Inflicts: Confuse Battle Folio Book 3000 TrCity Atk: 7, 15% Parry Giant's Axe Axe 3000 Castle Atk: 12, 0% Parry Lightning Bow Bow 3000 Castle Atk: 6, 0% Parry, lightning elemental, Spell Effect: Thundaga Spear Polearm 2000 Castle Atk: 9, 10% Parry Golden Shield Shield 3500 Castle Phy.Evade: 25%, Mag.Evade: 0% Golden Helm Helm 2800 Castle HP +60 Golden Armor Armor 3600 Castle HP +70 Crossbow Crossbw 2000 Castle/Goug Atk: 4, 5% Parry Flameburst Bomb Bomb 250 Most Atk: 8, fire elemental Snowmelt Bomb Bomb 250 Most Atk: 8, water elemental Spark Bomb Bomb 250 Most Atk: 8, lightning elemental Rubber Boots Shoes 1500 Any Immune: Immobilize, Lightning Protect Ring Ring 5000 Any Immune: Sleep, Doom Guardian Bracelet Armlet 7000 Any Immune: Immobilize, Disable Mage's Cloak Cloak 2000 Any Phy.Evade: 18%, Mag.Evade: 18%, Magick Attack +1 Ether Item 200 Any Restores 20 MP Remedy Item 350 Any Removes: Stone, Blind, Confuse, Silence, Oil, Toad, Poison, Sleep -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Outfitter also has a lot of new accessories -- you might want to pick up a Mage's Cloak or two for your magick users. You can now buy the Remedy item in all Outfitters. 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 attack. You probably won't have unlocked the Samurai or Bard jobs yet. But, if you have, their specialized weapons are now available. You'll have to hike all the way back up to Dorter to buy them, though. (A lot of the more "exotic" weapons are only for sale at Trade Cities like Dorter.) Buy any stuff you want in Lionel now, as you won't be able to do so later. And 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. ---ERRANDS--- 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. Lionel has one new errand: ---New Errands------------------------------------------------------------------ CITY DAYS COST APPROX. REWARD My Little Carrot Lionel 15-16 100 14749 gil, 74 JP -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This one can earn you a lot of money. Other good ones to do (if you haven't done them already) are "Bandits" in Dorter, "Shoreline Defense" in Gariland, and "The Hindenburg" in Zaland. 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. ---BATTLE PREP--- 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: Bonesnatch (lv 14) Skeleton (lv 14) Skeleton (lv 13) Ghoul (lv 13) Ghoul (lv 12) Floating Eye (lv 13) OR Malboro (lv 12) OR Pig* * The Pig's level depends on the highest level on your own roster. VICTORY CONDITION: KO, petrify, or recruit all enemies LOSS CONDITION: Ramza dies or all allies are KOed/Stone WEATHER: Day, rainstorm (evade rate vs. bows x 1.33, fire dmg -25%, lightning dmg +25%, movement through Poisonous Fen tiles at 1/2 normal rate) MAP SIZE: TERRAIN TYPES GEOMANCY MAP AREA 12 x 12 Poisonous Fen Quicksand 36% Grassland Tanglevine 33% Wasteland, Soil Sinkhole 17% Obstructed -- 7% Tree Wind Slash 6% Stone Outcropping Tremor 1% --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 or the Samurai ability Swim would prevent this, should you have either 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. Finally, since there's a rainstorm going on, fire magicks will be less powerful while lightning magicks will be more powerful. Use those Thunder magicks if you have them! The storm also means that the enemies are a little more likely to dodge bow attacks, but in most cases the difference isn't big, so go ahead and keep using bows. Other than those three 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. (Remember that if you're not currently an Orator, you must equip the Beast Tongue support ability to use Entice on monsters.) Once recruited, 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 --TREASURE HUNTER ITEMS-- Put this corner at screen bottom: Height 2.5, Wasteland POOR ITEM GOOD ITEM TRAP Left: 1, Up: 11 (height: 3, Grassland) Ether Ashura none Left: 4, Up: 8 (height: 2, Grassland) Echo Herbs Kotetsu none Left: 6, Up: 0 (height: 2, Grassland) Gold Needle Giant's Axe none Left: 11,Up: 10 (height: 3, Grassland) Phoenix Down Romandan Pistol 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. ---New Items for Purchase------------------------------------------------------- TYPE PRICE WHERE DETAILS Romandan Pistol Gun 5000 Goug Atk: 6, 5% Parry -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Outfitter 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, 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' equipment or stats at a distance! Before you go anywhere, 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 Goug and you'll be thrust into a battle. ---Battle 16: Goug Lowtown------------------------------------------------------ YOUR FORCES: Ramza, Mustadio [guest], 4 others ENEMY FORCES: Thief (lv 15, male) Thief (lv 13, male) Archer (lv 14, female) Archer (lv 14, female) Summoner (lv 13, male) Summoner (lv 12, male) GUEST: Mustadio [Libra] - lv 12 Machinist - Bravery 60, Faith 62 Equipment : None Abilities : Aimed Shot, other abilities random VICTORY CONDITION: KO, petrify, recruit, or Vampirize all enemies LOSS CONDITION: Ramza dies or all allies are KOed/Stone WEATHER: Night, light rain (evade rate vs. bows x 1.33) MAP SIZE: TERRAIN TYPES GEOMANCY MAP AREA 11 x 9 Grassland Tanglevine 33% Flagstone Contortion 33% Roof, Chimney Wind Blast 27% Wooden Floor, Coffer Will-o'-the-Wisp 7% --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 KOed at the start of the battle as 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 also useful for their ranged attacks. You could 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 --TREASURE HUNTER ITEMS-- Put this corner at screen bottom: Height 0.5, Wooden Floor POOR ITEM GOOD ITEM TRAP Left: 0, Up: 2 (height: 0, Grassland) Echo Herbs Battle Folio none Left: 6, Up: 4 (height: 6, Grassland) Ether Lamia's Harp none Left: 8, Up: 5 (height: 12, Chimney) Potion Crossbow none Left: 8, Up: 8 (height: 0, Wooden Fl.) Hi-Potion Lightning Bow none -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After this encounter, you check on Besrudio. Mustadio reveals that the Zodiac Stone that Ludovich got was really a fake. ---MUSTADIO--- Mustadio will 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 on your roster; 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. 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. ---TRAVEL--- The route back through the fenlands disappears, and for the time being, you can't get back to Lionel Castle. If you left any characters there doing Errands, you unfortunately won't be able to get them back for a while. 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. ---IN WARJILIS--- After that scene's ended, you can explore the town. There's no new equipment available, but Warjilis IS a Trade City, which means that the shop offers a fair variety of equipment. You may be able to pick up a few new items if you couldn't afford them earlier. ---ERRANDS AT SEA--- 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.) ---New Errands------------------------------------------------------------------ CITY DAYS COST APPROX. REWARD Miner Shortage Goug 7-9 100 18915 gil, 96 JP Artificers' Contest Goug 14-16 0 20865 gil, 250 JP > Month of Sagittarius only The Highwind Warjilis 5-8 1050 12579 gil, 98 JP -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just go back and forth between the two cities until both errands are complete. Both are quite profitable, so if you weren't able to afford all the equipment you wanted in Goug or elsewhere, you should be able to get it now. And, if it happens to be Sagittarius, the "Artificers' Contest" errand will show up in Goug; this one can also score you a lot of gil and JP. ---LOST HEIRLOOM--- 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 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 (lv 15, male) Knight (lv 14, male) Black Mage (lv 14, male) Archer (lv 15, female) 2nd Squad - Black Mage (lv 15, male) Archer (lv 14, female) 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 VICTORY CONDITION: KO, petrify, recruit, or Vampirize all enemies LOSS CONDITION: Agrias is KOed or Ramza dies WEATHER: Day, thunderstorm (evade rate vs. bows x 1.33, fire dmg +25%, lightning dmg -25%) MAP SIZE: TERRAIN TYPES GEOMANCY MAP AREA 12 x 12 Grassland Tanglevine 57% River Torrent 29% Flagstone Contortion 10% Obstructed -- 3% Soil Sinkhole 1% --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.) BATTLE TROPHIES: Echo Herbs --TREASURE HUNTER ITEMS-- Put this corner at screen bottom: Height 8, Grassland POOR ITEM GOOD ITEM TRAP Left: 2, Up: 1 (height: 10, Grassland) Phoenix Down Battle Bamboo none Left: 11,Up: 0 (height: 15.5, Grassl.) Gold Needle Javelin none Left: 7, Up: 11 (height: 8, Grassland) Potion Flameburst Bomb none Left: 11,Up: 11 (height: 9, Grassland) Hi-Potion Snowmelt Bomb none -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Agrias rejoins, this time as a controllable, non-guest character. Again, if you want to complete all the sidequests in the game, don't dismiss her or let her get turned into a crystal or chest. Agrias comes with her Judgment Blade swordskill, which does fairly good damage and hits a group of enemies. Her next two skills, Cleansing Strike and Northswain's Strike, aren't necessarily a huge improvement over Judgment Blade. You may want to save your JP for Hallowed Bolt--it does more damage, and has a good range. It's likely to be one of your most-used abilities! Divine Ruination is a good buy after you get Hallowed Bolt. It's Agrias's hardest- hitting attack, although its targeting is a little less flexible than Hallowed Bolt's. After Agrias joins up, if you head back down to Warjilis, you'll find the shops have a few new items available. ---New Items for Purchase------------------------------------------------------- TYPE PRICE WHERE DETAILS Osafune Katana 5000 TrCity Atk: 9, 15% Parry Mage's Staff Staff 4000 TrCity/City Atk: 4, 15% Parry, Mag.Attack +1 Brigandine Clothes 2500 TrCity/City HP +50 Iron Flail Flail 1200 TrCity/Castl Atk: 9, 0% Parry Diamond Bracelet Armlet 5000 Any Phys.Attack +1, Mag.Attack +1, Immune: Slow -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Most notably, you can replace your Power Gauntlet(s) with the Diamond Bracelets, which gives you the Power Gauntlet's +1 Physical Attack but also +1 Magick Attack and immunity to Slow. Protection from Slow is pretty handy in the next battle, so buy some of the bracelets for your main squad. Agrias comes already equipped with one, as well. 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. It's not as strong physically as the Serpent Staff, but it boosts your magick strength. Since magick strength is more important for magick-users (obviously!), this is a good upgrade. In the unlikely event you have a Samurai, the Osafune katana is also available. 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 (lv 17 Fell Knight) Knight (lv 16, male) Knight (lv 15, male) Knight (lv 14, male) Archer (lv 16, female) Archer (lv 15, female) Time Mage (lv 15, female) Time Mage (lv 14, female) 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 Immune : Berserk, Charm, and Stone status VICTORY CONDITION: KO, petrify, recruit, or Vampirize all enemies LOSS CONDITION: Ramza dies or all allies are KOed/Stone WEATHER: Clear day (no special effects) MAP SIZE: TERRAIN TYPES GEOMANCY MAP AREA 11 x 11 Brick Wind Slash 38% Grassland Tanglevine 36% Wooden Floor Will-o'-the-Wisp 18% Soil Sinkhole 5% Flagstone Contortion 3% --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. 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 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 even if they're Immobilized. 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, use Steal Weapon or Rend Weapon to take away his Blood Sword. Breaking the sword will disable his sword techniques completely. If you steal it, he can still use his techniques (due to a bug in the game), but they will probably only do a few points of damage, making them essentially worthless. Stealing is particularly advantageous, in fact, 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 from him.) 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 --TREASURE HUNTER ITEMS-- Put this corner at screen bottom: Height 1, Brick POOR ITEM GOOD ITEM TRAP Left: 2, Up: 7 (height: 1, Grassland) Gold Needle Golden Helm none Left: 3, Up: 4 (height: 1, Grassland) Echo Herbs Golden Shield none Left: 8, Up: 7 (height: 8, Wooden Fl.) Phoenix Down Green Beret none Left: 8, Up: 0 (height: 6, Wooden Fl.) Ether Spark Bomb 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. ---MOVING AROUND THE MAP--- 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.) ---BATTLE PREPARATION--- To prepare for the upcoming fights, 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 assign Martial Arts as a secondary action ability. It's also very helpful to outfit the rest of your team with Rubber Boots to negate the lightning attacks you'll face -- and if Ramza has Teleport, you'll want to give him the Boots as well. You can buy Rubber Boots in any town, and they're fairly inexpensive at 1500 gil each. Just make sure to buy enough so that you can equip the WHOLE team with them or they won't be very useful. Finally, you may want to bring a few extra pieces of equipment. You'll be facing a sequence of battles with no chance to return to a store in between them, and if any of your equipment gets broken by enemy Knights, you'll want a replacement item in your inventory. When you've done all that preparation, it's time for the final battles of the chapter. Click on Lionel Castle and 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 (lv 18 Fell Knight) 2nd Squad - Knight (lv 16, female) Knight (lv 15, female) Knight (lv 15, female) Archer (lv 17, male) Archer (lv 15, male) Summoner (lv 15, male) 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 Immune : Berserk, Charm, and Stone status VICTORY CONDITION: KO, petrify, recruit, or Vampirize all enemies LOSS CONDITION: Ramza dies or all allies are KOed/Stone WEATHER: Clear night (evade rate vs. bows x 1.33) MAP SIZE: TERRAIN TYPES GEOMANCY MAP AREA 15 x 9 Grassland Tanglevine 40% Flagstone Contortion 36% Swamp Quicksand 7% Obstructed -- 7% Stone Outcropping Tremor 5% Brick Wind Slash 4% --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. TELEPORT: 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. STALLING WITH CHAKRA: 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. BLACK MAGICKS: If one of your characters has strong Black Magicks (e.g. a -ja or a -ga magick 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 Gaffgarion immediately turns 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, this tactic only works if you have strong Black Magicks. 4. MAKE RAMZA UNDEAD: You can cast the Mystic Arts magick Corruption on Ramza to make him Undead, which prevents Gaffgarion from draining his HP. (You can either have Ramza cast Corruption on himself or have another ally on the ground cast it on him.) Gaffgarion will switch to regular weapon strikes, though, so Ramza will still need to be capable of beating Gaffgarion in a straight fight. You'll probably only want to use this tactic if Ramza has some strong melee combat gear and abilities. 5. TELEPORT / FLY INSIDE: Alternately, if you have characters outside who have Teleport, you can have them warp inside and help Ramza kill Gaffgarion. Or, if you have two Black Chocobos, you can assign them to the group outside, and use them to fly 2 human characters inside to help Ramza defeat Gaffgarion. The disadvantage to this method is that Black Chocobos aren't very strong themselves. 6. FIGHT HIM HEAD-ON: If Ramza is really strong (and fast), you might be able to defeat Gaffgarion just with conventional attacks. This probably won't work unless you have an advanced job like Ninja, though. Meanwhile, your other four characters have to take on the gang outside the gate. Although you're outnumbered, the enemy Knights and Archers out here often come equipped with weapons that deal lightning damage: Coral Swords and Lightning Bows, respectively. If you equip your allies with the Rubber Boots accessory, they will be completely immune to lightning damage, and the Knights and Archers won't be able to attack them! Just make sure to equip ALL FOUR characters with Rubber Boots -- and Ramza, too, if you're having him Teleport outside of the gate. Otherwise, the enemies will simply gang up on the one character without the Boots. Also, even if you have Rubber Boots, the enemies can still hit with you other abilities -- like the Knights' Arts of War abilities, which can break your gear. If they break your Rubber Boots, you'll be vulnerable again! Focus your attacks on the enemies that can do the most damage to you. The Summoner is definitely the most dangerous enemy whether you have Rubber Boots or not, 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. After you do something about the Summoner, check the status screens of the other enemies. Any enemies that have weapons other than the Coral Sword or Lightning Bow can still hurt you with their weapons. So, attack these guys first. 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 critical, but once you do, he's finally gone for good. BATTLE TROPHIES: 700 gil, Mythril Helm --TREASURE HUNTER ITEMS-- Put this corner at screen bottom: Height 5, Grassland POOR ITEM GOOD ITEM TRAP Left: 2, Up: 6 (height: 8, Grassland) Ether Wizard's Robe none Left: 7, Up: 5 (height: 4, Grassland) Echo Herbs Rubber Boots none Left: 7, Up: 7 (height: 4, Grassland) Potion Golden Armor none Left: 13, Up: 6 (height: 2, Grassland) Hi-Potion Wizard Clothing none -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The save game screen will pop up at the conclusion of the battle. There are another couple of 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 (lv 8, male) Black Mage (lv 8, female) Archer (lv 8, male) 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 VICTORY CONDITION: KO all enemies LOSS CONDITION: Ovelia is KOed or Delita is killed WEATHER: Clear night (evade rate vs. bows x 1.33) MAP SIZE: TERRAIN TYPES GEOMANCY MAP AREA 11 x 10 Stone Outcropping Tremor 33% Grassland Tanglevine 30% River, Waterfall Torrent 30% Bridge Wind Slash 4% Obstructed -- 4% --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 --TREASURE HUNTER ITEMS-- No Treasure Hunter items can be obtained during this battle. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Arts of War to break anything. Also, change out of your Rubber Boots if you used them at the Gate; you won't need them for the next battle. When you leave the Party Roster 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 (lv 20 The Impure) BOSS: Cuchulainn [Scorpio] - lv 20 The Impure - Bravery 70, Faith 70 HP: about 485, MP: about 360 Abilities : Dread, Befoul, Brawler, Swiftness Immune : All negative status except Blind, Slow, and Immobilize VICTORY CONDITION: KO Cuchulainn LOSS CONDITION: Ramza dies or all allies are KOed/Stone WEATHER: Indoors (no special effects) MAP SIZE: TERRAIN TYPES GEOMANCY MAP AREA 10 x 8 Flagstone Contortion 60% Carpet, Stairs Will-o'-the-Wisp 20% Obstructed -- 20% --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, unless you have a Ninja or other very fast character, Cuchulainn gets the first turn! 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 KO your character 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 already have the Lich summon spell 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 (almost 500 HP!), 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. Another way to damage Cuchulainn is with the Black Mage's Magick Counter reaction ability. When he casts his Bio magicks on you, you'll cast them back on him (even though you can't normally use them!). 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 is the first major boss enemy you will have encountered in the single-player game. That means his HP and MP are displayed simply as ??? and you won't be able to tell exactly how much he has left. However, when he gets low on HP, his life bar will appear to empty (turning from gray to black) and he will switch to a "critical" standing pose just like any other character. At this point, you'll know you're close to defeating him. He has about 485 HP total. Beat him and he'll blow up (with more nifty effects) and drop another Zodiac Stone. If you've played the original PSone version of FF Tactics, you may Cuchulainn quite a bit more challenging in this version. He's been restored to his original Japanese level of difficulty, so he has higher stats than you are used to! BATTLE TROPHIES: None --TREASURE HUNTER ITEMS-- Put this corner at screen bottom: Height 1, Flagstone - on Ramza's left at start POOR ITEM GOOD ITEM TRAP Left: 6, Up: 3 (height: 5, Carpet) Potion Guardian Bracelet none Left: 6, Up: 4 (height: 5, Carpet) Ether Mage's Cloak none Left: 8, Up: 3 (height: 7, Flagstone) Hi-Potion Protect Ring none Left: 8, Up: 4 (height: 7, Flagstone) Remedy Osafune 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.
miércoles, 18 de mayo de 2016
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