========================================================== (80 characters) =====

     ____                           ____
    |    |                         |    |  
    | |\ |  _   _  _    _    _     | |\ |   _    _  _   ___    _     _    _ _
    | | \| | | | \| |  / \  | |    | | \|  / \  | \| | |   |  / \   / \  | | |
    | |_   | | |  | | | | | | |    | |_   | | | |  | |  | |  | | | | |\| |   |
    |  _|  | | |    | | | | | |    |  _|  | | | |    |  | |  | | |  \ \   | |
    | |    | | | |  | |   | | |_   | |    |   | | |  |  | |  |   | |\| |  | |
    | |    |_| |_|\_| |_|_| |___|  | |    |_|_| |_|\_|  |_|  |_|_|  \_/   |_|
    | |                            | |
    |/                             |/


                                   _________
                                   \   _   /
                                    | | | |
                                    | | | |                        = v1.5 =
                                    | | | |
                                    | | | |
                                    | | | |
                                    | | | |
                                    | |_| |
                                   /_______\


     F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I   -   F A Q   /   W A L K T H R O U G H


Copyright 2004-2008, Action (R Jackson)
Email: actionjman (dot) faqs (at) gmail (dot) com
Version: 1.5
All rights reserved

Hey everyone. Feel free to download this FAQ, but only AFTER you read the
Copyrights, Disclaimers, etc. section [COPYRIGHT] before downloading this. For
legal purposes and stuff.


               A long-lived peace is at an end. The emperor of
                 Palamecia has called forth monsters from the
            underworld and begun his campaign for world conquest.

             A rebel army arose in the kingdom of Fynn to thwart
         the emperor's plans.  But the rebels' castle fell to an all-
           out assault by the empire. Left with little choice, the
                rebels withdrew to the remote town of Altair.

             Four youths from Fynn also found themselves fleeing
           the imperial forces.  They had lost their parents at the
             hands of the empire.  But their escape wasn't over.


What starts as a simple rebellion against an evil empire turns into something
more. Three youths will completely turn the tide of a war and defeat the
Empire. Or so they think.


The following sites may use this FAQ:
[http://www.gamefaqs.com] ............................................ GameFAQs*
[http://www.1up.com] ....................................................... 1UP
[http://www.ign.com] ....................................................... IGN
[http://www.neoseeker.com] ........................................... Neoseeker
[http://www.supercheats.com] ...................................... Super Cheats

If you see this FAQ anywhere else, please let me know at my email, which can be
found above.

*GameFAQs has affiliates that are allowed to use this FAQ freely. GameSpot is
one of those affiliates, as is all of CNet. If you see this FAQ on a CNet site,
don't bother telling me about it, since (technically) they are allowed to use
it. For the record, I'd rather NOT see this FAQ on any site other than those
listed above.


**************************************************
* WARNING! READ BEFORE CONTINUING!               *
**************************************************

First off, this document will contain a lot of <SPOILERS>. And major ones at
that. You have been warned.

Second, this FAQ covers FINAL FANTASY II ONLY. FINAL FANTASY will not be
covered AT ALL. I do have a FINAL FANTASY guide, also located on GameFAQs.

If you have a question concerning Dawn of Souls or the FF II PSP and decide to
send me an email, please be sure to put "FF2 Walkthrough" or something similar
in the Subject line. Also, it will help if you put "Dawn of Souls", "DoS" or
"PSP" so I know what version you have questions on. If you don't, I'll most
likely assume it's spam and end up deleting it. In addition, I have other FAQs
as well, so keeping the emails detailed will help me keep them seperate.

Lastly, if you think you can get your name in this FAQ by sending me bullcrap
tactics that any fool can follow, you'd be sorely mistaken. I'm not putting in
advice such as "attack your own characters to gain free stats" or anything like
that. If you can actually outsmart me (or find a blatant error), those are the
types of users that I appreciate and put into my FAQ.

That's all I have to say. Hope y'all enjoy the FAQ. :)





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |_   _|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|   | |    | I N T R O D U C T I O N                                           |
|   | |    O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|   | |    |
|  _| |_   | Version 1.5 - I've decided to write this FAQ from the ground up,
| |_____|  |  conforming to the design in my (semi) recently released Final
|          |  Fantasy VI Advance FAQ/Walkthrough. I'm very proud of the work
O----------O  inside that document and I've decided to rewrite all my existing
              work to conform to it. I went back to this one after covering the
main game in Final Fantasy VI Advance and I was like "What the **** was I doing
back then??" Needless to say, it's rather apparent to me that my own FAQ
writing has vastly improved since I updated this FAQ last. @_@

In addition, I've decided to intergrate the Dawn of Souls and PSP versions of
FINAL FANTASY II into this FAQ. The differences are minimal for the most part,
meaning that adding PSP data won't really change the overall FAQ. If you see
something written down, it's the same for both versions. If you see a "PSP
NOTES" tag, it doesn't apply to Dawn of Souls.

I'll update it to version 2.0 once I finish the Soul of Rebirth and Arcane
Labyrinth sections, but right now I'm not quite through the Mysidian Tower
with the PSP version. But this version is STILL far superior to my old one.

Anyways, hope you like the new, sleeker design. :)

1.5 - Completed: Saturday, October 20, 2007 @ 11:28 PM. Size: 683,868 bytes
    - FAQ overhauled
    - All Appendicies completed
    - Bestiary completed





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |_   _|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|   | |    | I N T R O D U C T I O N                                           |
|   | |    O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|   | |    | Font Spacing Check                                                |
|  _| |_   O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| |_____|  |
|          |
O----------O

Check please if the numbers and dots align. If not, then switch to a monospaced
font to properly view this document.

1234567890
..........

The default Wordpad font (Courier New) is most suited for viewing this FAQ.
However, I used Notepad, with the same font, while writing this FAQ. There's
really no significant difference between the two programs when viewing this
FAQ. I find the Courier New font to be much easier to read than Courier. Not
to mention I like Courier New better, but that's besides the point.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |_   _|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|   | |    | I N T R O D U C T I O N                                           |
|   | |    O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|   | |    | Keyword System                                                    |
|  _| |_   O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| |_____|  |
|          |
O----------O

A good friend of mine, Arctic (best known for his sweet FF7 FAQ), used the
Keyword System in Version 1.1 of his FAQ and has used it ever since. Its sole
purpose is to allow you (the user) to search for anything in this FAQ with the
greatest of ease.

Utilizing the Find function (Ctrl+F) that can be used in both Notepad and
Wordpad, the keyword system is used at the start of each chapter and section.
When reading the Table of Contents, you'll see the following by a certain
section:

[Keyword]

Press Ctrl+F and type in the following:

^[Keyword]

And you'll immediately be brought to the corresponding section after you press
Enter. Make sure you don't drop the ^ or you'll end up back in the Table of
Contents.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |_   _|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|   | |    | I N T R O D U C T I O N                                           |
|   | |    O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|   | |    | Anti Plagiarism Format                                            |
|  _| |_   O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| |_____|  |
|          |
O----------O

Okay, so I've finally gotten rid of those freakin' anti-plagiarism tags. In all
honesty, back then I was naive and thought those damn things might actually
stop a plagiarist. Let's face it, anyone with half a brain could just go
through the document and remove them, it's not that hard. Instead, there's a
much better system in place. I've had people try to crack it from Day 1 and so
far, the only people who get it are the ones who I've told (they're all fellow
FAQ writers, so there we go). Needless to say, the old system was far inferior
to the new one.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |     |  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| |/| |\|  | T A B L E  O F   C O N T E N T S                                  |
|   | |    O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|   | |    |
|   | |    |
|   |/     |
|          |
O----------O

  -> FINAL FANTASY II Mechanics ............................. [MECH.001]
    -> Controls ............................................. [MECH.002]
    -> Battle System ........................................ [MECH.003]
    -> Skills & Attributes .................................. [MECH.004]
    -> White & Black Magic .................................. [MECH.005]
    -> Character Status ..................................... [MECH.006]
    -> Menu Screen .......................................... [MECH.007]
    -> Items ................................................ [MECH.008]
    -> Formation ............................................ [MECH.009]
    -> Key Term System ...................................... [MECH.010]

  -> Characters & Magic Setups .............................. [CHAR.001]
    -> Firion ............................................... [CHAR.002]
    -> Maria ................................................ [CHAR.003]
    -> Guy .................................................. [CHAR.004]
    -> Leon ................................................. [CHAR.005]
    -> Minwu ................................................ [CHAR.006]
    -> Josef ................................................ [CHAR.007]
    -> Gordon ............................................... [CHAR.008]
    -> Leila ................................................ [CHAR.009]
    -> Ricard ............................................... [CHAR.010]
    -> Scott ................................................ [CHAR.011]
    -> Other Characters ..................................... [CHAR.100]

  -> Walkthrough
    -> Travel Notes ......................................... [TIPS.001]
                                                 (for any FF player) ^

    -> Escape from Fynn ..................................... [WALK.000]

    -> Infiltration! ........................................ [WALK.001]
      -> Altair ............................................. [WALK.002]
      -> Altair Area ........................................ [WALK.003]
      -> Gatrea ............................................. [WALK.004]
      -> Fynn ............................................... [WALK.005]
      -> Altair ............................................. [WALK.006]

    -> The Hunt For Mythril ................................. [WALK.050]
      -> Altair ............................................. [WALK.051]
      -> Paloom ............................................. [WALK.052]
      -> Paloom & Poft Area ................................. [WALK.053]
      -> Poft ............................................... [WALK.054]
      -> Salamand ........................................... [WALK.055]
      -> Salamand & Semitt Falls Area ....................... [WALK.056]
      -> Semitt Falls ....................................... [WALK.057]
      -> Altair ............................................. [WALK.058]

    -> The Traitor Borghen .................................. [WALK.100]
      -> Altair ............................................. [WALK.101]
      -> Bafsk .............................................. [WALK.102]
      -> Bafsk Area ......................................... [WALK.103]
      -> Bafsk Cave ......................................... [WALK.104]
      -> Poft ............................................... [WALK.105]
      -> Altair ............................................. [WALK.106]
      -> Salamand ........................................... [WALK.107]
      -> Semitt Falls ....................................... [WALK.108]
      -> Snow Plains ........................................ [WALK.109]
      -> Snow Cavern ........................................ [WALK.110]
      -> Salamand ........................................... [WALK.111]

    -> Path to the Dreadnought .............................. [WALK.150]
      -> Kashuan Keep ....................................... [WALK.151]
      -> Kashuan Keep Area .................................. [WALK.152]
      -> Chocobo Forest ..................................... [WALK.153]
      -> Dreadnought Area ................................... [WALK.154]
      -> Dreadnought ........................................ [WALK.155]
      -> Altair ............................................. [WALK.156]

    -> The Last Wyvern ...................................... [WALK.200]
      -> Paloom ............................................. [WALK.201]
      -> High Seas .......................................... [WALK.202]
      -> Castle Deist ....................................... [WALK.203]
      -> Deist Area ......................................... [WALK.204]
      -> Deist Cavern ....................................... [WALK.205]
      -> Castle Deist ....................................... [WALK.206]
      -> Deist Cavern ....................................... [WALK.207]
      -> Castle Deist ....................................... [WALK.208]

    -> The Rebellion Strikes Back ........................... [WALK.250]
      -> Altair ............................................. [WALK.251]
      -> Palamecia Area ..................................... [WALK.252]
      -> Coliseum ........................................... [WALK.253]
      -> Altair ............................................. [WALK.254]
      -> Rebel Camp ......................................... [WALK.255]
      -> Castle Fynn ........................................ [WALK.256]
      -> Castle Fynn Treasures .............................. [WALK.257]
      -> Fynn ............................................... [WALK.258]

    -> Obtaining the Ultima Tome ............................ [WALK.300]
      -> Fake Walls & Wall Hugging .......................... [WALK.301]
      -> Castle Fynn Hidden Basement ........................ [WALK.302]
      -> Mysidia ............................................ [WALK.303]
      -> Mysidia Area ....................................... [WALK.304]
      -> Tropical Island .................................... [WALK.305]
      -> Cave of Mysidia .................................... [WALK.306]
      -> Leviathan .......................................... [WALK.307]
      -> Mysidian Tower Preparations ........................ [WALK.308]
      -> Mysidian Tower ..................................... [WALK.309]
      -> Return to Altair ................................... [WALK.310]

    -> Showdown vs. The Emperor ............................. [WALK.350]
      -> Fynn & Castle Fynn ................................. [WALK.351]
      -> Cyclone ............................................ [WALK.352]
      -> Castle Fynn ........................................ [WALK.353]
      -> Poft ............................................... [WALK.354]
      -> Castle Palamecia ................................... [WALK.355]
      -> Castle Fynn ........................................ [WALK.356]
      -> Jade Passage ....................................... [WALK.357]
      -> Pandaemonium ....................................... [WALK.358]
      -> The End? ........................................... [WALK.359]

    -> Arcane Labyrinth .................................. [IN PROGRESS]

  -> Soul of Rebirth ..................................... [IN PROGRESS]
      -> The Unknown Cave ................................ [IN PROGRESS]
      -> Machanon ........................................ [IN PROGRESS]
      -> Chamber of the Seal ............................. [IN PROGRESS]
      -> The Unknown Palace .............................. [IN PROGRESS]

  -> Bestiary ............................................... [BEST.000]

  -> Appendices ............................................. [APPX.000]
    -> Items ................................................ [APPX.100]
      -> Recovery Items ..................................... [APPX.101]
      -> Combat Items ....................................... [APPX.102]
      -> Event Items ........................................ [APPX.103]
    -> Shields & Weapons .................................... [APPX.200]
      -> Shields ............................................ [APPX.201]
      -> Knives ............................................. [APPX.202]
      -> Staves / Maces ..................................... [APPX.203]
      -> Spears ............................................. [APPX.204]
      -> Swords ............................................. [APPX.205]
      -> Axes ............................................... [APPX.206]
      -> Bows ............................................... [APPX.207]
    -> Armor ................................................ [APPX.300]
      -> Helmets ............................................ [APPX.301]
      -> Body Armor ......................................... [APPX.302]
      -> Gloves ............................................. [APPX.303]

  -> Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) ....................... [FAQS.000]

  -> Full Update History ...................................... [UPDATE]

  -> Copyrights, Disclaimers, etc. ......................... [COPYRIGHT]





O------------O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
|  __    __  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                 |
| |  \  /  | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| |   \/   | | G A M E   M E C H A N I C S                                     |
| | |\  /| | O-------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| | | \/ | | |                                                 |  ^[MECH.001]  |
| | |    | | |                                                 O---------------O
| |_|    |_| |
|            |
O------------O

This section is pretty much complete. If you find something wrong, feel free to
email me about it.

This section goes over the mechanics of FINAL FANTASY II.  Use this guide if
you don't want to scroll back to the Contents section.

  -> FINAL FANTASY II Mechanics ............................. [MECH.001]
    -> Controls ............................................. [MECH.002]
    -> Battle System ........................................ [MECH.003]
    -> Skills & Attributes .................................. [MECH.004]
    -> White & Black Magic .................................. [MECH.005]
    -> Character Status ..................................... [MECH.006]
    -> Menu Screen .......................................... [MECH.007]
    -> Items ................................................ [MECH.008]
    -> Formation ............................................ [MECH.009]
    -> Key Term System ...................................... [MECH.010]





O------------O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
|  __    __  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                 |
| |  \  /  | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| |   \/   | | G A M E   M E C H A N I C S                                     |
| | |\  /| | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| | | \/ | | | C O N T R O L S                                                 |
| | |    | | O-------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_|    |_| |                                                 |  ^[MECH.002]  |
|            |                                                 O---------------O
O------------O

If you have the manual, you should RTFM. If you need to ask what it means, you
shouldn't be asking in the first place.

If you're using an emulator, shame on you. Pirating is bad, etc. ETC.


  O---------O
  |  G B A  |
  O---------O

here's the controls for the GameBoy Advance (I'm assuming you can figure out
the controls if you're using a DS).

             ____________________________________
           ,'                                    `.
          |   __________________________________   |
          |  |                                  |  |
          |  |                                  |  |
          |  |                                  |  |
          |  |                                  |  |
          |  |                                  |  |
          |  |                                  |  |
          |  |                                  |  |
          |  |                                  |  |
          |  |                                  |  |
          |  |                                  |  |
          |  |                                  |  |
          |  |                                  |  |
          |  |__________________________________|  |
          |  `.      GAMEBOY ADVANCE SP       ,'   |
          |    `-----------------------------'     |
          |_                   __________________ _|
          |_|_________________|                  |_|
     L -> |                                        | <- R
          |                   O                   -|
          |     .--.                         .-.   |
          |   __|  |__                .-.   ( A )  |
          |  |        |              ( B )   '-'   |
          |  |__    __|               '-'          |
          |     |  |                               |
          |     '--'                               |
          |                . . . .                 |
          |                . . . .                 |
          |                . . . .                 |
          |                . . . .                 |
          |                                        |
          |            Select   Start              |
          |                O     O                 |
           `.____________________________________,'


 Overworld / Town / Dungeon
-----------------------------
 -> D-Pad .............. Move around
 -> A button ........... Examine / Talk / Confirm choice
 -> B button ........... Cancel choice / Move faster (hold to activate,)
                                                   (doesn't work on overworld)
 -> L button ........... Not used
 -> R button ........... Not used
 -> Start .............. Bring up Status Screen
 -> Select ............. Press B + Select to activate Map (only after you get)
                                                          (the RING item)

 Menu / Battle
---------------
 -> D-Pad .............. Move cursor
 -> A button ........... Confirm choice
 -> B button ........... Cancel choice / Move back one screen
 -> L button ........... Switch characters left (menu) / Attack all (battle)
 -> R button ........... Switch characters right (menu) / Attack all (battle)
 -> Start .............. Not used
 -> Select ............. Not used


  O---------O
  |  P S P  |
  O---------O

Here's the control setup for the PSP. Special thanks to GhostOfLegault for this
ASCII art.

        ______________________________________________________________
      ,'    ,'                                                  `.    `.
     /-----'      .-----------------------------------------.     `-----\
    /             |                                         |            \
   /     __       |                                         |      .-.    \
  /     |  |      |                                         |     (/_\)    \
 |   __  \/  __   |                                         |  .-. `-' .-.  |
 |  |__ >  < __|  |                                         | ([ ])   ( O ) |
 |       /\       |                                         |  `-' .-. `-'  |
 |      |__|      |                                         |     ( X )     |
 |                |                                         |      `-'      |
 |      .--.      |                                         |               |
  \    (    )     |                                         |              /
   \    `--'      '-----------------------------------------'             /
    \-----.         –  VOL  +       P  S  P      SELECT  START     ,-----'
     `.____`.____________________________________________________,'


NOTE: These are the default controls. This entire document revolves around the
default controls, so if you change them, the context of the FAQ will change as
well.

 Overworld / Town / Dungeon
-----------------------------
 -> D Buttons .......... Move around
 -> X button ........... Examine / Talk / Confirm choice
 -> O button ........... Cancel choice / Move faster (hold to activate,)
                                                   (doesn't work on overworld)
 -> Triangle Button .... Bring up Status Screen
 -> Square Button ...... Bring up the Bestiary
 -> L button ........... Not used
 -> R button ........... Not used

 -> SELECT ............. Press O + SELECT to activate Map (only after you get)
                                                          (the RING item)

 Menu / Battle
---------------
 -> D-Pad .............. Move cursor
 -> A button ........... Confirm choice
 -> B button ........... Cancel choice / Move back one screen
 -> L button ........... Switch characters left (menu) / Attack all (battle)
 -> R button ........... Switch characters right (menu) / Attack all (battle)
 -> Start .............. Not used
 -> Select ............. Not used

You can perform a Soft Reset by pressing and holding the L button, R button,
Select and Start all at once.





O------------O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
|  __    __  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                 |
| |  \  /  | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| |   \/   | | G A M E   M E C H A N I C S                                     |
| | |\  /| | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| | | \/ | | | B A T T L E   S Y S T E M                                       |
| | |    | | O-------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_|    |_| |                                                 |  ^[MECH.003]  |
|            |                                                 O---------------O
O------------O

Yes, I read Dark Vortex's FAQ. And I was quite inspired by his "rather crude
ASCII depiction of the battle interface" (hey, his words, not mine) and decided
to use his drawing as an outline for my own. Oh, and if you're reading this
Dark Vortex, I do <3 your l33t ASCII skills. :)

When you enter a battle (and some of the best FF battle music starts playing),
you'll see the following screen.

Figure NOT drawn to scale:

 _____________________________________________________________________________
|  _________________________________________________________________________  |
| |                                 [1]                                     | |
| |_________________________________________________________________________| |
|                                                                             |
|                                   [2]                                       |
|                                                                             |
|-----.       ,----------.                  ,-------------.         ,---------|
|      \_____/            \                /               \_______/          |
|                          \______________/                                   |
|                                                                             |
|                                                            O                |
|                                                          .(.)               |
|    (>`_`)>   (>`_`)>   (>`_`)>                             \\        [5]    |
|                                                            ==               |
|                                                                             |
|                                                                  O          |
|    (>`_`)>   (>`_`)>   (>`_`)>                                 .(.)         |
|                                                                  \\         |
|                                                                  ==         |
|                                                                             |
|    (>`_`)>   (>`_`)>   (>`_`)>                                     O        |
|                                                                  .(.)       |
|                [3]                                                 \\       |
|                                                                    ==       |
|                                                                             |
|                                                                      O      |
|                                                                    .(.)     |
|                                                                      \\     |
|                                                                      ==     |
|                                                                             |
|                ________________                                             |
| ______________|                |______________________________B_Back_______ |
|/              | -> Attack  [9] |                                           \|
|  Kirby    9   |                |  Firion                 9999/9999    999   |
|               |    Magic  [10] |                                            |
|   [4]         |                |  Maria                  9999/9999    999   |
|               |    Items  [11] |                                            |
|               |                |  Guy                    9999/9999    999   |
|               |    Flee   [12] |                                            |
|               |                |  Leon                   9999/9999    999   |
|               |                |                         [6]   [7]    [8]   |
`---------------'________________|--------------------------------------------'
  ,-,  ,-,
 | <  | <  [13]
  `-`  `-`

[1]  : Battle Message - Instructions or descriptions can be found here
[2]  : Background - There's really nothing going on here, it's just the
       background
[3]  : BG's (bad-guys) - Kill them! And yes, I know you can't have 9 enemies
       onscreen at once
[4]  : Enemies Names - All the enemies names and how many there are can be
       seen here
[5]  : Teammates - Your team is here. Use these guys to kill everyone at #3
[6]  : Current HP - Current HP of your team
[7]  : Max HP - You can't get more HP than this
[8]  : Current MP - How much MP you have to cast spells
[9]  : Attack - Use the current weapon to attack physically
[10] : Magic - Use a magic spell to help your team or hurt the other
[11] : Items - Use an item
[12] : Flee - When all else fails, run like a chicken-wuss ;)
[13] : Pac-Man - Go play it. Now. Although it'll keep you from Final Fantasy
       II and nobody wants that.





O------------O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
|  __    __  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                 |
| |  \  /  | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| |   \/   | | G A M E   M E C H A N I C S                                     |
| | |\  /| | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| | | \/ | | | S K I L L S   &   A T T R I B U T E S                           |
| | |    | | O-------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_|    |_| |                                                 |  ^[MECH.004]  |
|            |                                                 O---------------O
O------------O

FINAL FANTASY II has no levels at all; your characters gain skills based on how
you use them in battle. For example, a character who focuses on magic use will
in turn, gain skills that improve their casting abilities.

STATUS:
The Status Screen looks something like this:

Attack      Skill Lv.      R.Hand
 159        [Hands ]        Blood Sword
Accuracy    [Knife ]       L.Hand
 10-27  %   [Sword ]        Masamume
Defense     [Staff ]       Head
 150        [ Axe  ]        Genji Helm
Evasion     [Spear ]       Body
 5-0    %   [ Bow  ]        Genji Armor
Magic Def   [Shield]       Hands
 12-87  %                   Genji Gloves

This screen shows your character's battle statistics. It also shows their
proficiency with each weapon type, as well as all equipment you have on that
character.  Pressing the A button will bring up the following screen:

Strength 44    Spirit  56     Intelligence 22
Stamina  65    Agility 30     Magic        25

Cure          8[--  ]   Teleport        2[--  ]
Life          5[--- ]   Blink           5[----]
Curse         7[--- ]   Protect         5[-   ]
Death         6[--  ]   Shell           6[--- ]
Ultima        9[--  ]

This screen shows your character's other stats as well as spell proficiency.
Characters improve their skills by using weapons or casting spells. Spells like
Cure or Esuna can be used outside of battle if your character has a status
effect or if you wish to replenish HP.

If you're trying to level up in battle, there is one cardinal rule you should
ALWAYS follow: PROLONG THE BATTLE. The longer the battle lasts, the more likely
you are to get a stat boost. The exception to this rule is HP and MP, but that
is covered below.

KEEP IN MIND!! Prolonging a battle does NOT guarantee any stat boosts. It's
possible that you'll get a stat boost in a one-turn battle; on the flipside,
it's possible that you WON'T get a stat boost from a 100-turn battle. I get a
lot of emails about this, so I'm hoping to nip them now.

Now then, I'm sure you're wondering about the attributes. Included in this
handy-dandy guide is a list of all attributes, what the attribute affects, and
how to increase it:

Attribute: HP (Hit Points)
Purpose: Duh, lets you live longer in battle. :)
Increase: To increase HP, just lose HP in battle. Rule of thumb: the more HP
  you lose, the better chance you have of leveling up the stat.

Attribute: MP (Magic Points)
Purpose: Lets you cast more spells more often
Increase: Similar to HP, to increase your MP, just lose MP in battle. Like HP,
  a good rule of thumb is that if you lose more MP in battle, the better chance
  you have of leveling up the stat.

Attribute: Stamina
Purpose: Determines how much HP you gain when your HP levels up
Increase: Getting hit during battle increases the chance of raising Stamina.

Attribute: Magic
Purpose: Determines how much MP you gain when your MP levels up
Increase: Casting any spell increases the chance of raising Magic.

Attribute: Strength
Purpose: Increases damage and Critical Hit rate
Increase: By successfully executing the "Attack" option, your chances of
  raising Strength increase.

Attribute: Spirit
Purpose: Increases power of White Magic spells
Increase: Since Spirit dictates the power of White Magic, it's logical to
  assume that casting White Magic will help Spirit increase.

Attribute: Intelligence
Purpose: Increases power of Black Magic spells
Increase: Similar to Spirit, Intelligence dictates the power of Black Magic.
  Cast more Black Magic spells to help increase Intelligence.

Attribute: Agility
Purpose: Determines battle order, influences evasion %, influences how often
  you get Pre-Emptive Strikes or Ambushed
Increase: If you're the target of a physical attack and evade it, you will have
  a chance of raising Agility.

Attribute: Evasion
Purpose: Determines how many attacks you can evade at once
Increase: Agility dictates your base Evasion. To increase this stat, all you
  need do is use equipment that raises Evasion (more often than not, you will
  be using a Shield to do this)

Attribute: Magic Evasion
Purpose: Determines how many magical attacks you can evade at once
Increase: Simply being targeted by a magic attack will increase your chances
  for a Magic Evasion stat raise.





O------------O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
|  __    __  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                 |
| |  \  /  | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| |   \/   | | G A M E   M E C H A N I C S                                     |
| | |\  /| | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| | | \/ | | | W H I T E   &   B L A C K   M A G I C                           |
| | |    | | O-------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_|    |_| |                                                 |  ^[MECH.005]  |
|            |                                                 O---------------O
O------------O

Spells are divided into two classes: White and Black Magic. Black Magic tends
to be attack magic whereas White Magic is usually defensive and support magic.
Given, there are exceptions to both types (Confuse, a Black spell, does 0
damage but confuses the target; Ultima and Holy are both attack spells).

Any character can learn any spell. However, if you color code your mages, you
will most likely find that you have Spirit or Intelligence maxed out about
halfway through the game. I highly suggest that you create a mix of White and
Black Magic to prevent this (besides, by the time you finish the game, you
might even have BOTH Spirit and Intelligence maxed out).

Here is a list of all the spells, arranged by color alignment, effect, family,
and Tome price. Tomes, no matter where they are sold, are ALWAYS the same
price.

Spell Families are also something you should watch. Some enemies can be harmed
more by certain spell families. Fire, Ice, Lit families are self-explanatory,
but some of the trickier ones (Body, Mind, etc) are listed here. If "None" is
listed in the "Family" section, the spell has no inherent family.
(Thanks to the FF Origins and FF DoS Strategy Guides for help on spell families)

*NOTE: "Temporary" status effects and "Permanent" status effects are covered in
  the [MECH.006] section. Also, a lot of these descriptions are from the
  game, but I have edited some of them to make more sense since the game itself
  doesn't really describe or elaborate on them too well.

O---------------------------O
|   W H I T E   M A G I C   |
O-----------O---------------O----------------------------O-----------O---------O
| Name      | Effect                                     |  Family   |  Cost   |
O-----------O--------------------------------------------O-----------O---------O
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Barrier   | Protects against special attacks           |   None    |   5000  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Basuna    | Removes temporary status effects           |   None    |    600  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Blink     | Creates a double image, raises Evasion     |   None    |    300  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Cure      | Restore HP                                 |   None    |    100  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Dispel    | Removes beneficial spell effects from      |   None    |   2000  |
|           | target                                     |           |         |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Esuna     | Removes permanent status effects           |   None    |    600  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Fear      | Causes target to flee                      |   Body    |    600  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Fog       | Inflicts Amnesia on target                 |   Mind    |   2000  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Holy      | Blasts target with Holy light              |   None    |  20000  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Life      | Revives a KO'd ally                        |   None    |   1000  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Mini      | Inflicts Mini on target                    |  Matter   |   2000  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Protect   | Creates a magic curtain, raises Defense    |   None    |    300  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Sap       | Reduces MP of target                       |   Mind    |   1000  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Shell     | Envelops target in magic, raises           |   None    |    300  |
|           |  Magic Defense                             |           |         |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Silence   | Inflicts Silence on target                 |   Body    |    600  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Slow      | Slows target and reduces number of attacks |   Body    |   2000  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Swap      | Switches target's HP and MP                |  Matter   |   5000  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Teleport  | Banishes enemies, transports party out of  |  Matter   |   1000  |
|           |  dungeon outside of battle                 |           |         |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Ultima    | Most powerful White Magic spell,           |   None    |  Found  |
|           |  annihilates enemies with Holy energy      |           |         |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Wall      | Creates a magic wall, blocks all weaker    |   None    |  Found  |
|           |  Black Magic                               |           |         |
|           |                                            |           |         |
O-----------O--------------------------------------------O-----------O---------O

O---------------------------O
|   B L A C K   M A G I C   |
O-----------O---------------O----------------------------O-----------O---------O
| Name      | Effect                                     |  Family   |  Cost   |
O-----------O--------------------------------------------O-----------O---------O
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Aura      | Adds elements to target's attacks to       |   None    |  Found  |
|           |  increase damage                           |           |         |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Berserk   | Temporarily raises Attack                  |   None    |  10000  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Blizzard  | Attacks with Ice                           | Blizzard  |    150  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Break     | Petrifies target                           |  Matter   |  Found  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Confuse   | Confuses target                            |   Mind    |  Found  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Curse     | Curses target                              |   Mind    |  Found  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Death     | Instantly kills target                     |   Death   |  Found  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Drain     | Drains target's HP and sends it to caster  |   None    |  Found  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Fire      | Attacks with Fire                          |   Fire    |    150  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Flare     | Uses a fusion reaction to damage target    |   None    |  Found  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Haste     | Temporarily increases number of attacks    |   None    |  20000  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Osmose    | Drains target's MP and sends it to caster  |   None    |  Found  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Scourge   | Deals Poison damage                        |  Poison   |  Found  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Sleep     | Puts target to Sleep                       |   Mind    |  Found  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Stop      | Stops target by inflicting Paralysis       |  Matter   |  Found  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Stun      | Inflicts Paralysis on target               |   Body    |  Found  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Thunder   | Attacks with Lightning                     | Lightning |    150  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Toad      | Inflicts Toad on target                    |  Matter   |  Found  |
|           |                                            |           |         |
| Warp      | Banishes enemies, transports party to      |  Matter   |   1000  |
|           |  previous floor of dungeon outside of      |           |         |
|           |  battle                                    |           |         |
|           |                                            |           |         |
O-----------O--------------------------------------------O-----------O---------O





O------------O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
|  __    __  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                 |
| |  \  /  | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| |   \/   | | G A M E   M E C H A N I C S                                     |
| | |\  /| | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| | | \/ | | | C H A R A C T E R   S T A T U S                                 |
| | |    | | O-------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_|    |_| |                                                 |  ^[MECH.006]  |
|            |                                                 O---------------O
O------------O

There's more than one way to skin a cat, or damage a party member. Status
effects can completely change your characters' abilities by hindering certain
aspects of your powers. For example, a spellcaster is ineffective when
inflicted with Silence; in addition, a fighter is crippled when inflicted with
Darkness or Confusion.

A list of all Status Effects is included here, along with their effects and
whether the Status is Temporary or Permanent. Permanent Status Effects can
only be removed with the Esuna spell; Temporary Status Effects can be removed
with the Basuna spell, but lose their effect after the battle ends.

O-----------O-----------------------------------------------------O------------O
| Status    | Effect                                              | Duration   |
O-----------O-----------------------------------------------------O------------O
|           |                                                     |            |
| Amnesia   | Prevents a character from casting spells            | Permanent  |
|           |                                                     |            |
| Confusion |  Character turns on his/her party members           | Temporary  |
|           |                                                     |            |
| Curse     | Attack and Defense drop considerably                | Temporary  |
|           |                                                     |            |
| Darkness  | Reduces Accuracy                                    | Permanent  |
|           |                                                     |            |
| KO        | Character has 0 HP and cannot partake in battle     | Permanent  |
|           |  until revived; if the entire party is KO'd, the    |            |
|           |  game is over                                       |            |
|           |                                                     |            |
| Mini      | Character is shrunk and reduces power of physical   | Temporary  |
|           |  attacks                                            |            |
|           |                                                     |            |
| Paralysis | Paralyzes character so they cannot attack           | Temporary  |
|           |                                                     |            |
| Poison    | Damages character after every turn and after every  | Permanent  |
|           |  few steps                                          |            |
|           |                                                     |            |
| Silence   | Prevents a character from casting spells            | Permanent  |
|           |                                                     |            |
| Sleep     | Puts character to sleep so they cannot attack       | Temporary  |
|           |                                                     |            |
| Stone     | Character has been turned to stone and cannot       | Permanent  |
|           |  attack or be damaged; if entire party is Stoned,   |            |
|           |  the game is over                                   |            |
|           |                                                     |            |
| Toad      | Character is turned into a toad, Accuracy is        | Permanent  |
|           |  reduced, character cannot cast spells              |            |
|           |                                                     |            |
| Venom     | Damages character after every turn                  | Temporary  |
|           |                                                     |            |
O-----------O-----------------------------------------------------O------------O





O------------O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
|  __    __  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                 |
| |  \  /  | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| |   \/   | | G A M E   M E C H A N I C S                                     |
| | |\  /| | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| | | \/ | | | M E N U   S C R E E N                                           |
| | |    | | O-------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_|    |_| |                                                 |  ^[MECH.007]  |
|            |                                                 O---------------O
O------------O

The Menu Screen is accessed by pressing Start (default). When you access it,
here's a basic layout of what you'll see:

         _______________________________________________________________
        |                                          |                    |
 [1] -> |   ____                                   | ->  Items          | <- [2]
        |  |    |  Firion                          |     Magic          |
        |  |    |  HP     35/  35                  |     Equipment      |
        |  |____|  MP      0/   0                  |     Status         |
        |                                          |     Formation      |
        |   ____                                   |     Key Terms      |
        |  |    |  Maria                           |     Config         |
        |  |    |  HP     35/  35                  |     Save           |
        |  |____|  MP      0/   0                  |____________________|
        |                                          |                    |
        |   ____                                   |       Altair       | <- [3]
        |  |    |  Guy                             |      Item Shop     |
        |  |    |  HP     35/  35                  |____________________|
        |  |____|  MP      0/   0                  |                    |
        |                                          | Time         99:99 | <- [4]
        |   ____                                   |                    |
        |  |    |  Leon                            | Steps        11451 |
        |  |    |  HP     35/  35                  |                    |
        |  |____|  MP      0/   0                  | Gil           9999 |
        |__________________________________________|____________________|


The Menu Screen is accessed by pressing Start (default). When you access it,
you'll be able to see the following:

[1] : Your team and their HP and MP. You can also see their formation here as
      well.
[2] : Menu actions that you can customize your team with (or the game). See
      below for more details.
[3] : Your location.
[4] : Game stats. You can see how long you've been playing, the number of steps
      you've taken and the amount of Gil in your possession.

Here are more details of the menu actions available:

Items
-----
See the Items Section [MECH.008] for details.

Magic
-----
See the Magic Section [MECH.005] for details.

Equipment
---------
Allows you to change your characters equipment: weapons and armor.

Status
------
Brings you to the Status Subscreen. See the Skills & Attributes Section
  [MECH.004] for details.

Formation
---------
See the Formation Secion [MECH.009] for details.

Key Terms
---------
See the Key Terms Section [MECH.010] for details.

Config
------
Allows you to either enable or disable the B Button Dash, whether to have your
cursor set to Default or Memory, message speed, window color, and allows you to
view the current Bestiary.

Save
----
Lets you save your current progress. In FINAL FANTASY II, you can use this
feature anywhere.





O------------O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
|  __    __  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                 |
| |  \  /  | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| |   \/   | | G A M E   M E C H A N I C S                                     |
| | |\  /| | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| | | \/ | | | I T E M S                                                       |
| | |    | | O-------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_|    |_| |                                                 |  ^[MECH.008]  |
|            |                                                 O---------------O
O------------O

The 64-item limit in the original FF2 is no longer existant. Instead, you can
hold any number of items (up to 99) and it'll only take up one slot, just like
every other Final Fantasy game in existance. Shame on you SquareEnix.

To sort your items, just move your cursor over the Sort option and press the
Confirm button. In doing so, all your items will be automatically arranged for
you. If you want to manually arrange your items, you can do so by selecting the
Use option.





O------------O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
|  __    __  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                 |
| |  \  /  | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| |   \/   | | G A M E   M E C H A N I C S                                     |
| | |\  /| | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| | | \/ | | | F O R M A T I O N                                               |
| | |    | | O-------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_|    |_| |                                                 |  ^[MECH.009]  |
|            |                                                 O---------------O
O------------O

You MUST have one character in the front row, period. Your other two or three
party members can either remain in the front row or switch to the back row.
When placed in back, characters are unable to be hit with physical attacks, as
long as there is one character in the front row that isn't KO'ed. Magic attacks
hit front row and back row characters for the same amount of damage, unless you
have Shell in effect, but that's another story.

You should place your magic users in the back row and your fighters in the
front. If you have fighter/mage hybrids (and I highly recommend you do), you
can solve your problems altogether and place everyone in the front row. :)





O------------O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
|  __    __  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                 |
| |  \  /  | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| |   \/   | | G A M E   M E C H A N I C S                                     |
| | |\  /| | O-----------------------------------------------------------------O
| | | \/ | | | K E Y   T E R M   S Y S T E M                                   |
| | |    | | O-------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_|    |_| |                                                 |  ^[MECH.010]  |
|            |                                                 O---------------O
O------------O

FINAL FANTASY II was the first and only game that allowed you to learn special
terms and use them to activate special events. Although there are only fifteen
Key Terms, this feature will be invaluable throughout the game. Here's a list
of all the Key Terms available, and where you can learn them.

To learn a new Term, use the LEARN option when prompted. You can then ask other
people about the Term and learn what they know about it or maybe even learn new
Terms. Be sure you ask your teacher about the Terms they teach you since it may
lead to other Terms for you to learn.

Note: Some NPC's don't let you ask about Key Terms, others do. For those that
do, try asking them about every Key Term in your inventory. Chances are you'll
learn more information or even learn new Key Terms.

O-----------------O------------------------------------------------------------O
| Key Term        | How to obtain Key Term                                     |
O-----------------O------------------------------------------------------------O
|                 |                                                            |
| Wild Rose       | When you first begin the game, Hilda teaches you the       |
|                 |  password to get into any Rebel hideout. The Wild Rose     |
|                 |  is the insignia of the Kingdom of Fynn.                   |
|                 |                                                            |
|                 |                                                            |
| Mythril         | After you infiltrate Fynn and retrieve the Ring. Return    |
|                 |  to Hilda and she'll teach you the Term.                   |
|                 |                                                            |
|                 |                                                            |
| Dreadnought     | After you recruit Minwu into your party (right after       |
|                 |  learning Mythril), talk to Hilda again and she'll teach   |
|                 |  you Dreadnought.                                          |
|                 |                                                            |
| Airship         | When you first enter Poft, go into the Pub and speak to    |
|                 |  Cid. You can learn the Term from him.                     |
|                 |                                                            |
|                 |                                                            |
| Sunfire         | After the Dreadnought attacks, speak to Cid in Poft and    |
|                 |  learn about the power source of Airships, Sunfire.        |
|                 |                                                            |
|                 |                                                            |
| Goddess's Bell  | After the Dreadnought attacks, speak to the King, who's    |
|                 |  up in bed in Altair and ask him about the Sunfire to      |
|                 |  learn about the Goddess's Bell.                           |
|                 |                                                            |
|                 |                                                            |
| Dragoons        | Once you destroy the Dreadnought, speak to Gordon after    |
|                 |  he assumes control of the throne and he'll talk about     |
|                 |  the mighty Dragoons.                                      |
|                 |                                                            |
|                 |                                                            |
| Wyverns         | Ask Gordon about the Dragoons and you'll be able to learn  |
|                 |  about the Wyverns that the Dragoons rode into battle.     |
|                 |                                                            |
|                 |                                                            |
| Mysidia         | After you free Fynn (much later in the game), talk to      |
|                 |  Hilda and learn about the land of mages, Mysidia.         |
|                 |                                                            |
|                 |                                                            |
| Mask            | Ask Hilda about Mysidia and she'll tell you about two      |
|                 |  Masks that are needed to break the seal in Mysidia.       |
|                 |                                                            |
|                 |                                                            |
| Ekmet Teloess   | Ask Hilda about the Mask and she'll tell you the password  |
|                 |  to open the door that holds the White Mask.               |
|                 |                                                            |
|                 |                                                            |
| Ultima Tome     | Talk to Gordon about Mysidia and he'll tell you about the  |
|                 |  ultimate White Magic, Ultima.                             |
|                 |                                                            |
|                 |                                                            |
| Cyclone         | After obtaining the Ultima Tome, talk to Gordon and he'll  |
|                 |  tell you about the Cyclone that's wreaked Altair and is   |
|                 |  heading for Fynn.                                         |
|                 |                                                            |
|                 |                                                            |
| Palamecia       | Hilda will tell you about the only place the new Emperor   |
|                 |  could be hiding: Palamecia.                               |
|                 |                                                            |
|                 |                                                            |
| Jade Passage    | After Ricard leaves the party, talk to Hilda and she'll    |
|                 |  teach you the final Key Term.                             |
|                 |                                                            |
O------------------------------------------------------------------------------O





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |  ___|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | C H A R A C T E R S   &   M A G I C   S E T U P S                 |
| | |      O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| | |      |                                                   |  ^[CHAR.001]  |
| | |___   |                                                   O---------------O
| |_____|  |
|          |
O----------O

Three characters that will always be with you are Firion, Maria, and Guy. Your
fourth character will change at times and sometimes you won't have a fourth
character at all. Each time a new fourth member comes along, you'll find that
they usually have some form of magic along with them. It's your call as to
whether you want to exploit their current abilities or teach them some new
ones (or not teach them anything at all). Be warned though, when your fourth
character inevitably leaves the party, they'll take away any new tricks you've
decided to teach them. There are times where this sucks a lot of ass. However,
this can be quite useful if you're planning on Soul of Rebirth (which will be
covered below).

I've learned that if you keep your characters color-coded, their Spirit or
Intelligence will max out or stagnate about halfway through the game. This
leaves the other part of the game where that stat won't grow much or at all. In
lieu of this, I've changed my stance from previous FAQ versions where I tell
you to keep your characters color-coded.

At any rate, here's what I say now: you should mix your Black and White Magic
on any given character. There are spells that are better than others and some
spells that are absolutely essential. I'll go over a listing here.

Before we begin, here's a recap on the spells that exist:

White Magic: Barrier, Basuna, Blink, Cure, Dispel, Esuna, Fear, Fog, Holy,
  Life, Mini, Protect, Sap, Shell, Silence, Slow, Swap, Teleport, Ultima, Wall

Black Magic: Aura, Berserk, Blind, Blizzard, Break, Confuse, Curse, Death,
  Drain, Fire, Flare, Haste, Osmose, Scourge, Sleep, Stop, Stun, Thunder, Toad,
  Warp

Here I'll break down the spells into the categories of "Essential" and "Great".
Everything else you can pretty much ignore.


Essential Spells:
Cure - If you plan on survival, Cure is probably a good one to start with.
Life - The perfect substitute than having 99 Phoenix Downs in your inventory.
Teleport - It instantly transports you outside of a dungeon. Damn sweet. Not to
  mention that it's an insta-kill spell. Level it up to about 7 and you
  literally have half the game beaten for you.
Berserk - Adds attack power. Good for all you wannabe Fighters out there.
Haste - Increases number of attacks, which adds attack power. See Berserk for
  more.
Drain - Pretty useless until it hits about Level 4 or 5, but it'll allow you to
  heal yourself while attacking the enemy.
Osmose - Drains MP from the targeted enemy and transfers it to the user. It
  eliminates the need for all those pesky Ethers.
Esuna - Heals the status effects that stay with you after the battle ends.
  Unless you want to carry around a lot of items, Esuna works great.
Blink - The best way to evade an attack is to avoid it altogether. Blink just
  helps this process along ... a lot.


Great Spells:
Fire, Blizzard, Thunder (maybe Scourge) - Elemential spells. Really, what else
  do I need to say? A lot of enemies are weak to one of these elements. You'll
  find few enemies that are weak to Scourge, but when you do, Scourge can tear
  them apart.
Protect, Shell - Protect dulls physical attacks, Shell dulls magical attacks.
  Great for extra defense, but not essential. If you have to choose between the
  two, get Protect and neglect Shell; most enemies use physical attacks over
  magic attacks.
Aura - Adds all four elements to your physical and magical attacks. Against
  some enemies, it'll work great, on others you won't notice a difference.
Flare - Its base damage is higher than Holy (meaning you'll have to have a high
  Spirit and low Intelligence for Holy to be better), probably one of the
  hardest hitting spells in the game, second only to Ultima.
Toad - If you want to spend the time to level Toad up to 16 and get Masamunes,
  this one is for you.
Warp - Warps your team to the previous level you were on. It's also an insta-
  kill spell, but it seems to hit less often than Teleport.
Ultima - Ultima is THE most damaging spell in the game. However, you literally
  have to base the entire game around this spell to make it effective. Ultima
  ignores Spirit and Intelligence; instead it uses the character's spell and
  weapon levels to determine its damage (which is why you have to base the
  entire game around that character obtaining the Ultima spell). However, the
  results can be insane, as Ultima is capable of dealing more damage than any
  other spell with a maxed out Spirit or Intelligence stat.


You'll probably want to put all the "Essential" spells on every character you
encounter. The "Great" spells are most likely ones that you'll want to put on
your characters, but you can beat the game just fine without them. If you try
to drop an "Essential" spell, you'll be extremely hard pressed throughout the
game unless you have the items to make up for it.

I've found that all the other spells that aren't on this list are either
overshadowed by spells that are on the list, or they're useless because you'll
use them so rarely.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |  ___|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | C H A R A C T E R S                                               |
| | |      O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | F I R I O N                                                       |
| | |___   O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_____|  |                                                   |  ^[CHAR.002]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

Firion was orphaned as a small child and taken in by Leon's family. To be
precise, Firion is practically a brother to Leon and Maria. After losing his
adopted family when the Empire invaded Fynn, Firion joins the Rebellion.

     O----------------------------------------------------------------O
     |   S T A R T I N G   S T A T S                                  |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O
     |                    |                       |                   |
     |  HP           30   |  STRENGTH         10  |  HANDS         1  |
     |  MP           10   |  STAMINA          10  |  KNIFE         1  |
     |  ATK          10   |  SPIRIT           10  |  SWORD         1  |
     |  ACC        1-70%  |  AGILITY          10  |  STAFF         1  |
     |  DEF           2   |  INTELLIGENCE     10  |  AXE           1  |
     |  EVA        1-14%  |  MAGIC             5  |  SPEAR         1  |
     |  MDEF       1-22%  |                       |  BOW           1  |
     |                    |                       |  SHIELD        1  |
     |                    |                       |                   |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O

     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  E Q U I P M E N T  |    |  I T E M S  |    |  S P E L L S  |
     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Broadsword         |    |  None       |    |  None         |
     |  Buckler            |    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Leather Armor      |
     O---------------------O

Firion starts with the most balanced stats in the party. His physical strength
is matched by his magical knowledge.

I put Ultima on Firion, so I trained him in everything. However, I kept him
primarily as a Sword + Shield fighter with his spell set on the side.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |  ___|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | C H A R A C T E R S                                               |
| | |      O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | M A R I A                                                         |
| | |___   O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_____|  |                                                   |  ^[CHAR.003]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

Maria is a blood sister to Leon and an adopted sister to Firion. After losing
her parents to the Empire, Maria remains strong in her attempts to locate her
brother, Leon.

     O----------------------------------------------------------------O
     |   S T A R T I N G   S T A T S                                  |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O
     |                    |                       |                   |
     |  HP           20   |  STRENGTH          5  |  HANDS         1  |
     |  MP           10   |  STAMINA           5  |  KNIFE         1  |
     |  ATK           3   |  SPIRIT           10  |  SWORD         1  |
     |  ACC        1-55%  |  AGILITY          15  |  STAFF         1  |
     |  DEF           1   |  INTELLIGENCE     15  |  AXE           1  |
     |  EVA        1-10%  |  MAGIC             5  |  SPEAR         1  |
     |  MDEF       1-20%  |                       |  BOW           1  |
     |                    |                       |  SHIELD        1  |
     |                    |                       |                   |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O

     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  E Q U I P M E N T  |    |  I T E M S  |    |  S P E L L S  |
     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Bow                |    |  None       |    |  None         |
     |  Clothes            |    O-------------O    O---------------O
     O---------------------O

Starting out with a Bow and lower stats than Firion, Maria might seem to be
suited more as a Mage. DON'T DO THIS. If you let Maria continually slip behind
Firion in defensive stats (or any and all stats for that matter), you'll find
that Maria will kick the bucket faster than ... well, faster than you'll want.

Put Maria in the Front Row right away, but you can keep the bow if you really
want. I usually started her with a Spear and added a Shield once I had the cash
on hand. Oh yeah, and put some armor on her so she doesn't get pwned right off
the bat.

I decided to make Maria primarily as a Black Mage, meaning she got all the
great Black Magic spells first. You only get ONE Osmose Tome throughout the
course of the normal game ... I put it on Maria. After that, everyone took a
back seat to Maria in the great spells department.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |  ___|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | C H A R A C T E R S                                               |
| | |      O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | G U Y                                                             |
| | |___   O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_____|  |                                                   |  ^[CHAR.004]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

Guy is a kind and gentle soul; a family friend to Firion, Leon and Maria. Guy
also has a strange ability to speak to animals (you'll see it later in the
game).

     O----------------------------------------------------------------O
     |   S T A R T I N G   S T A T S                                  |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O
     |                    |                       |                   |
     |  HP           40   |  STRENGTH         15  |  HANDS         1  |
     |  MP           10   |  STAMINA          15  |  KNIFE         1  |
     |  ATK          17   |  SPIRIT           15  |  SWORD         1  |
     |  ACC        1-70%  |  AGILITY           5  |  STAFF         1  |
     |  DEF           2   |  INTELLIGENCE     10  |  AXE           1  |
     |  EVA         1-1%  |  MAGIC             5  |  SPEAR         1  |
     |  MDEF       1-25%  |                       |  BOW           1  |
     |                    |                       |  SHIELD        1  |
     |                    |                       |                   |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O

     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  E Q U I P M E N T  |    |  I T E M S  |    |  S P E L L S  |
     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Axe                |    |  None       |    |  None         |
     |  Leather Armor      |    O-------------O    O---------------O
     O---------------------O

Guy doesn't speak much; then again, he doesn't have to. His starting attack
rating is quite literally light years ahead of Firion's, at first.

By looking at Guy's stats, you'd think he would be better off as a purebred
warrior. To an extent, you should focus on keeping Guy as a warrior. However,
you'll find that there are many times where Guy's weapons levels will simply
stop increasing. You can either switch to other weapons or have Guy learn some
spells; the choice is yours. I personally add some spells, but you are free to
simply focus on weapons if you wish.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |  ___|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | C H A R A C T E R S                                               |
| | |      O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | L E O N                                                           |
| | |___   O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_____|  |                                                   |  ^[CHAR.005]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

Leon is Maria's older brother and Firion's best friend. When his parents are
killed during the invasion of Fynn, Leon manages to escape, but goes missing
when the party encounters a team of Black Knights in the forest.

     O----------------------------------------------------------------O
     |   S T A R T I N G   S T A T S                                  |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O
     |                    |                       |                   |
     |  HP         1098   |  STRENGTH         53  |  HANDS         ?  |
     |  MP            5   |  STAMINA          46  |  KNIFE         ?  |
     |  ATK         158   |  SPIRIT           16  |  SWORD         ?  |
     |  ACC        9-99%  |  AGILITY          45  |  STAFF         ?  |
     |  DEF          85   |  INTELLIGENCE     36  |  AXE           ?  |
     |  EVA         3-0%  |  MAGIC            32  |  SPEAR         ?  |
     |  MDEF       3-69%  |                       |  BOW           ?  |
     |                    |                       |  SHIELD        ?  |
     |                    |                       |                   |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O

     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  E Q U I P M E N T  |    |  I T E M S  |    |  S P E L L S  |
     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Flame Sword        |    |  None       |    |  None         |
     |  Poison Axe         |    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Diamond Helm       |
     |  Diamond Armor      |
     |  Diamond Gloves     |
     O---------------------O

Leon joins the party extremely late in the game. However, he joins just in time
to take part in the final battle.

I've been trying to figure out just HOW Leon manages to start out with such
a high Spirit and Intelligence ... and yet he knows a whopping ZERO spells
right off the bat. So how does that work? Oh well, at any rate, you should
probably put some spells on him right away and train him in them. Or kill him
off and use your other three characters, since they'll probably kill him with
their own stats, equipment and spells by the time you actually get Leon.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |  ___|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | C H A R A C T E R S                                               |
| | |      O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | M I N W U                                                         |
| | |___   O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_____|  |                                                   |  ^[CHAR.006]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

Minwu is a powerful White Wizard from the land of Mysidia. Minwu is also the
official White Wizard of Fynn; his magic list shows just that. Minwu has also
proven himself to be a courageous ally, often volunteering himself for
dangerous missions.

In addition to having a plethora of useful White Magic spells, Minwu gives you
the Canoe, a super-useful item used for traversing small waterways.

     O----------------------------------------------------------------O
     |   S T A R T I N G   S T A T S                                  |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O
     |                    |                       |                   |
     |  HP          175   |  STRENGTH         10  |  HANDS         1  |
     |  MP          103   |  STAMINA          20  |  KNIFE         1  |
     |  ATK           9   |  SPIRIT           48  |  SWORD         1  |
     |  ACC        1-80%  |  AGILITY          20  |  STAFF         1  |
     |  DEF           5   |  INTELLIGENCE     16  |  AXE           1  |
     |  EVA        1-17%  |  MAGIC            40  |  SPEAR         1  |
     |  MDEF       2-50%  |                       |  BOW           1  |
     |                    |                       |  SHIELD        1  |
     |                    |                       |                   |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O

     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  E Q U I P M E N T  |    |  I T E M S  |    |  S P E L L S  |
     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Staff              |    |  Canoe      |    |  Barrier   7  |
     |  Copper Cuirass     |    O-------------O    |  Basuna    6  |
     O---------------------O                       |  Blink     5  |
                                                   |  Cure      7  |
As you can clearly see, Minwu's spell repitoire    |  Dispel    3  |
is extremely White Magic-based. I highly suggest   |  Esuna     3  |
that you drop some of the more useless spells,     |  Fear      3  |
like Barrier, Basuna Fear, Fog and Wall and put    |  Fog       6  |
in some more useful spells like Fire, Blizzard     |  Life      7  |
and Thunder, or any other Black Magic spell you    |  Protect   5  |
like. In addition, you can train Minwu in any      |  Sap       4  |
other weapons as you see fit since he's untrained  |  Shell     6  |
in pretty much everything.                         |  Swap      3  |
                                                   |  Teleport  1  |
The biggest reason I suggest beefing up Minwu as   |  Wall      5  |
much as you can is due to the fact that you can    O---------------O
use him later in the Soul of Rebirth game, after
you finish FINAL FANTASY II. The more you beef him up while you have him, the
better off you'll be later on. Also, it's important to note that in Soul of
Rebirth, you obtain an Ultima Tome, but only Minwu can use it. Just a thought.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |  ___|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | C H A R A C T E R S                                               |
| | |      O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | J O S E F                                                         |
| | |___   O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_____|  |                                                   |  ^[CHAR.007]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

When you first meet Josef, he is sworn to silence because his daughter has been
taken prisoner by the Empire. However, he is the one Hilda assigned to search
for Mythril. Josef is actually a kind person who only wants his daughter to be
safe.

     O----------------------------------------------------------------O
     |   S T A R T I N G   S T A T S                                  |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O
     |                    |                       |                   |
     |  HP          235   |  STRENGTH         24  |  HANDS         2  |
     |  MP            5   |  STAMINA          24  |  KNIFE         1  |
     |  ATK          28   |  SPIRIT           10  |  SWORD         1  |
     |  ACC        2-99%  |  AGILITY          24  |  STAFF         1  |
     |  DEF           4   |  INTELLIGENCE     10  |  AXE           1  |
     |  EVA        2-13%  |  MAGIC            10  |  SPEAR         1  |
     |  MDEF       2-32%  |                       |  BOW           1  |
     |                    |                       |  SHIELD        1  |
     |                    |                       |                   |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O

     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  E Q U I P M E N T  |    |  I T E M S  |    |  S P E L L S  |
     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Leather Cap        |    |  None       |    |  None         |
     |  Leather Armor      |    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Leather Gloves     |
     O---------------------O

Josef is humble yet powerful and his Strength rating shows just how powerful he
is. Josef doesn't use weapons, but instead opts to use his bare hands to whoop
ass. Just slap on the best armor you can find and let Josef go to town.

When you get him, the first thing you'll most likely notice is that Josef is
NOT geared to be a spellcaster. However, since Josef is also a character in
Soul of Rebirth, you may want to stick some useful spells on him and level them
up a few times before he leaves.

Even though Josef is geared to use his fists in battle, you can put his nice
Strength rating to other uses. If you wish, you can stick a Sword and Shield on
him since his Fist level isn't significantly higher than everything else.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |  ___|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | C H A R A C T E R S                                               |
| | |      O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | G O R D O N                                                       |
| | |___   O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_____|  |                                                   |  ^[CHAR.008]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

Gordon is the other prince of Kashuan, but his official title (as dubbed on the
Dawn of Souls board) is the "Official Palace Goober". Gordon was present when
the Empire invaded Fynn, but fled the scene while his brother Scott held his
ground. Gordon never forgave himself for that and spends a good portion of the
game feeling sorry for himself. Gordon starts out with some rather laughable
stats when you get him.

     O----------------------------------------------------------------O
     |   S T A R T I N G   S T A T S                                  |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O
     |                    |                       |                   |
     |  HP          128   |  STRENGTH         22  |  HANDS         2  |
     |  MP           15   |  STAMINA          22  |  KNIFE         2  |
     |  ATK          16   |  SPIRIT           22  |  SWORD         2  |
     |  ACC        2-77%  |  AGILITY          22  |  STAFF         2  |
     |  DEF           8   |  INTELLIGENCE     22  |  AXE           2  |
     |  EVA        1-18%  |  MAGIC            22  |  SPEAR         2  |
     |  MDEF       1-73%  |                       |  BOW           2  |
     |                    |                       |  SHIELD        2  |
     |                    |                       |                   |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O

     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  E Q U I P M E N T  |    |  I T E M S  |    |  S P E L L S  |
     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Spear              |    |  None       |    |  None         |
     |  Bronze Shield      |    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Bronze Armor       |
     |  Bronze Gloves      |
     O---------------------O

To see how terrible Gordon really is ... compare his stats to Josef's. Josef, a
character you get earlier on in the game, has a higher HP, ATK, ACC, EVA and
MDEF. Sure, Gordon's DEF is double Josef's, but that doesn't do much good
against spells and his low HP will show you exactly that. This doesn't even
include the fact that your main three characters will most likely put Josef to
shame, making Gordon even worse off.

Also, when you obtain Gordon, you have access to Mythril, a much more powerful
metal when it comes to weapons and armor. So you can either spend some time to
make Gordon useful or you can just simply kill him off since nobody loves him
and he doesn't stick around in the party for too long. If you decide to equip
him with decent equipment, make sure you take it off before he leaves since
you'll never see it again.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |  ___|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | C H A R A C T E R S                                               |
| | |      O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | L E I L A                                                         |
| | |___   O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_____|  |                                                   |  ^[CHAR.009]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

Leila is about what you'd expect from a video game pirate: adventurous, free
spirited, strong and (of course) beautiful. Even though Leila attempts to
relieve your team of their inventory when you first meet her, she later lends
her skills and her merry pirates to the Rebel cause. At least Leila's pirates
don't try to make your bones go crunch (kudos to you if you get the reference
here).

     O----------------------------------------------------------------O
     |   S T A R T I N G   S T A T S                                  |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O
     |                    |                       |                   |
     |  HP          129   |  STRENGTH         18  |  HANDS         1  |
     |  MP           35   |  STAMINA          18  |  KNIFE         5  |
     |  ATK          26   |  SPIRIT           10  |  SWORD         5  |
     |  ACC        5-68%  |  AGILITY          36  |  STAFF         1  |
     |  DEF          21   |  INTELLIGENCE     16  |  AXE           1  |
     |  EVA        2-41%  |  MAGIC            10  |  SPEAR         1  |
     |  MDEF       2-44%  |                       |  BOW           4  |
     |                    |                       |  SHIELD        1  |
     |                    |                       |                   |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O

     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  E Q U I P M E N T  |    |  I T E M S  |    |  S P E L L S  |
     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Dagger             |    |  None       |    |  Thunder   4  |
     |  Longsword          |    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Gold Hairpin       |
     |  Silver Cuirass     |
     O---------------------O

As you can see, Leila's weaponry sucks. Give her some better swords and daggers
and let her loose. She doesn't disappoint, as her deftness with each type of
weapon is very high compared to most other characters. Even though Leila starts
out with low HP (she only has 1 more than Prince Goober, erm, Gordon), she
makes up for it with her spellcasting ability and her included spell. In
addition, Leila's spell couldn't come at a better time, considering you first
get her right before you face off against sea-based creatures.

It's up to you as to whether or not you want to beef up Leila's spell
inventory. Even though Leila is not a Soul of Rebirth character, she joins your
team twice and can prove to be useful both times. Also ... you might want to
unequip her before she leaves each time in case you want to use or sell her
stuff.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |  ___|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | C H A R A C T E R S                                               |
| | |      O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | R I C A R D                                                       |
| | |___   O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_____|  |                                                   |  ^[CHAR.010]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

Ricard is the last Dragoon of Deist and joins your team at perhaps the oddest
place for a character to join the party (you'll see later). He was searching
for the fabled Ultima Tome. After meeting up with your crew, fate decides to
give him less of the finger.

     O----------------------------------------------------------------O
     |   S T A R T I N G   S T A T S                                  |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O
     |                    |                       |                   |
     |  HP          549   |  STRENGTH         60  |  HANDS         1  |
     |  MP            5   |  STAMINA          32  |  KNIFE         1  |
     |  ATK          69   |  SPIRIT           26  |  SWORD         8  |
     |  ACC        8-99%  |  AGILITY          26  |  STAFF         1  |
     |  DEF          43   |  INTELLIGENCE     16  |  AXE           1  |
     |  EVA        2-21%  |  MAGIC             5  |  SPEAR         8  |
     |  MDEF       2-48%  |                       |  BOW           1  |
     |                    |                       |  SHIELD        5  |
     |                    |                       |                   |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O

     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  E Q U I P M E N T  |    |  I T E M S  |    |  S P E L L S  |
     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Flame Lance        |    |  None       |    |  None         |
     |  Golden Shield      |    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  Giant's Helm       |
     |  Knight's Armor     |
     |  Giant's Gloves     |
     O---------------------O

Although Ricard does have a decent Spirit rating, his Magic rating makes him an
undesirable magician during your FINAL FANTASY II game. Keep the equipment he
has (or upgrade it if you have better). Since Ricard is the fourth character
you will obtainin Soul of Rebirth, you will most likely want to stick some sort
of magic spells on him for later. At the very least, you should stick the basic
spells on him, like Cure, Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Esuna, Life, etc. (the ones
that are cheap and available everywhere).

It's worthy to note that you CAN stick the Ultima tome on Ricard so you'll have
it on two characters during Soul of Rebirth. However, I highly suggest against
that unless you really power-train Ricard.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |  ___|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | C H A R A C T E R S                                               |
| | |      O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | S C O T T                                                         |
| | |___   O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_____|  |                                                   |  ^[CHAR.011]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

Scott is the elder prince of Kashuan and Gordon's older brother. Scott stayed
behind at Fynn so that the King and Hilda could escape. It seems that nobody
knows what has become of him ...

     O----------------------------------------------------------------O
     |   S T A R T I N G   S T A T S                                  |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O
     |                    |                       |                   |
     |  HP            ?   |  STRENGTH          ?  |  HANDS         ?  |
     |  MP            ?   |  STAMINA           ?  |  KNIFE         ?  |
     |  ATK           ?   |  SPIRIT            ?  |  SWORD         ?  |
     |  ACC         ?-?%  |  AGILITY           ?  |  STAFF         ?  |
     |  DEF           ?   |  INTELLIGENCE      ?  |  AXE           ?  |
     |  EVA         ?-?%  |  MAGIC             ?  |  SPEAR         ?  |
     |  MDEF        ?-?%  |                       |  BOW           ?  |
     |                    |                       |  SHIELD        ?  |
     |                    |                       |                   |
     O--------------------O-----------------------O-------------------O

     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  E Q U I P M E N T  |    |  I T E M S  |    |  S P E L L S  |
     O---------------------O    O-------------O    O---------------O
     |  ?                  |    |  None       |    |  None         |
     |  ?                  |    O-------------O    O---------------O
     O---------------------O





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| |  ___|  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | C H A R A C T E R S                                               |
| | |      O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |      | O T H E R   C H A R A C T E R S                                   |
| | |___   O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |_____|  |                                                   |  ^[CHAR.100]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

This section will cover other characters that you'll meet throughout the game.
You cannot control them, but they play a vital role nonetheless.


  O-------------------------------O
  |  P R I N C E S S   H I L D A  |
  O-------------------------------O

~ You know nothing of battle. You would only be throwing your lives away. ~
  Princess Hilda

During the escape from Castle Fynn, the King was injured, which means that
Hilda is the one in charge in the Rebels until further notice. She's young and
beautiful, which seems unbecoming of a leader. However, Hilda is charismatic
and her troops would follow her to the end.

Hilda will be the one you go to to recieve most all of your new assignments. If
you're stuck, try talking to Hilda. She'll almost always set you back on track.

PSP NOTES - I'd just like to say that in the PSP version, Hilda's portrait is
totally hawt. :)


  O-----------------------------------O
  |  T H E   K I N G   O F   F Y N N  |
  O-----------------------------------O

~ So many perished in the Dreadnought's attack ... Perhaps it would be best if
  we surrendered to the empire ~ King of Fynn

The King of Fynn is never named in-game; he's simply referred to as "the King"
throughout your adventure.

The King was injured during the escape from Fynn; shot by an arrow in the back.
Even though the King believes he is getting old, he is still very wise and can
give you valuable information throughout your adventure.


  O-----------O
  |  P A U L  |
  O-----------O

~ I'm Paul, greatest thief in all the world! They've yet to invent the loot I
  can't burgle or steal! ~ Paul

Paul is a thief, but he's the Robin Hood type thief. He'll steal freely from
the Empire, but he flat out refuses to steal from the Rebels. His home was in
Fynn and if he ever got back inside, you can bet that he has some excellent
loot inside ...


  O---------O
  |  C I D  |
  O---------O

~ What you wanna do is blow up that thing's engine. Do that, and you can bring
  down the whole overgrown tub ~ Cid

Cid currently runs the airship service based in Poft, but he used to be the
Captain of Fynn's Order of the White Knights. Upon building his airship, he
became entranced by it and left Fynn. If there's anything to know about
airships, Cid is the man to go to.


  O-------------O
  |  T O B U L  |
  O-------------O

~ The geezer act is just a cover. My name's Tobul, and I'm the best darn
  blacksmith in the rebel army! ~ Tobul

You'll find Tobul in the weapon shop in Altair. You'll bring the Mythril to him
once you obtain it in your quest. He will then forge it into new weapons and
armor that you'll be able to find at all Rebel-friendly towns.


  O---------------------------O
  |  E L E N A   &   K A I N  |
  O---------------------------O

You'll find Elena in Deist with her son, Kain. She stays at the castle to care
for her son and the last surviving Wyvern.

JUST TO SET THE STORY STRAIGHT, the Kain you find in the castle is NOT THE SAME
ONE THAT IS IN FINAL FANTASY IV. Considering the fact that the worlds are
nothing alike. In addition, it's important to note that the child Kain NEVER
HAD A NAME until Dawn of Souls (and subsequently, the PSP version).

Also, it's important to note that Ricard is NOT Kain's father. It's explicitly
stated in game that Kain's father was killed in combat and Ricard left to find
the Ultima Tome AFTER the Dragoons were slaughtered. Since Ricard was still
alive after the battle between the Empire and the Dragoons, it's impossible for
him to be Kain's father.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _____   | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   V I                                   |
| |     |  O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| |/| |\|  | W A L K T H R O U G H                                             |
|   | |    O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|   | |    | T R A V E L  N O T E S                                            |
|   | |    O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
|   |/     |                                                   |  ^[TIPS.001]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

In case you're new to the Final Fantasy world, there are a few things you
should ALWAYS be aware of. As a matter of fact, I'm so confident in these notes,
I'm going to say they apply to just about every Final Fantasy game in existance.

1. SAVE!!!!! I cannot emphasize this enough. Save early, safe often, SAVE
    BEFORE ENTERING A BIG BATTLE. AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SAVE ON DIFFERENT
    FILES!! (I can't count how many emails or messages I see because of this)
    Through the process of saving, you'll save yourself a LOT of headache and a
    LOT of lost time (like your entire game if you save on one file). Whether
    you save at a Save Sphere (FFX) or at an Inn (FF1), you should save whenever
    you can. In Dawn of Souls, you can save wherever the hell you want, so
    don't worry about getting back to the Inn. Trust me on this, even the best
    FF players can mess up every once in a while and lose their entire party.

If you need proof on why you should save on different files, scroll down to
the FAQ section and view the "Help! I'm at 1 HP and 0 MP in the middle of a
dungeon!" question. I've seen that situation at LEAST 30 times.

2. TALK TO EVERYONE!! They'll (usually) give you clues as to where you should
    go, who to talk to, etc. Plus, some of them even blurt out funny quotes,
    like the infamous "This guy are sick", or perhaps they'll provide clues to
    hidden treasures. Who knows? All you gotta do is talk to them.

3. LEVEL UP!! Unless you're doing a low-level game, you (probably) want to make
    your characters more powerful than the guys they fight. It's not smart to
    take your 55 HP characters into a battle against an enemy with 1,000,000 HP
    and an attack of 30,000, and it doesn't matter how high your evasion is.
    To do this, just fight the majority of your battles instead of running away
    all the time. If you find yourself getting your ass handed to you each and
    every battle, then yeah, you might want to backtrack and beat up your own
    characters if you're really getting your ass kicked.

4. CURE IS YOUR BEST FRIEND! Right next to Odin (FF4) and Knights of the Round
    (FF7), etc., Cure will be your most used spell, hands down. As a matter of
    fact, I'm willing to bet money that you'll end up using Cure more often
    than just about half of your other spell combined, unless you're doing a
    special game type, but that's totally besides the point. Buy your Cure
    spell(s) early.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _    _  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| | |  | | O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |  | | | E S C A P I N G   F Y N N                                         |
| | |  | | O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| | |/\| | |                                                   |  ^[WALK.000]  |
| |      | |                                                   O---------------O
| |__/\__| |
|          |
O----------O

Your first battle really isn't a battle. You'll face four Black Knights that
will *****-slap your team for exorbant amounts of HP. But you can't even touch
them OR run! Game over, right? Just press the A button after the Game Over pops
up and watch the resulting scene.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _    _  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| | |  | | O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |  | | | I N F I L T R A T I O N                                           |
| | |  | | O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| | |/\| | |                                                   |  ^[WALK.001]  |
| |      | |                                                   O---------------O
| |__/\__| |
|          |
O----------O

Many players probably thought that the game was over when they first died
against four of the strongest enemies in the game. In reality, it turned out
to be nothing more than a simple plot device to advance the story and explain
events that would occur much later in the game. Nonetheless, when Firion
awakes, he will find Maria and Guy, but no Leon. With nothing but their
bravery to back them up, our three heroes set off on an adventure that would
eventually change the world. Unwavered by the fact that their parents were
murdered and their friend and brother taken from them, Firion, Maria and Guy
set off to forge their own destiny.

Here's the outline of what events will occur in this section:

  1) Attempt to join the Rebellion

  2) Travel to Gatrea and find a way into Fynn to search for Leon

  3) Infiltrate Fynn to search for survivors

  4) Meet with the injured soldier before returning to Altair

  5) Return to Altair and speak to Hilda to officially join the Rebellion

  6) Talk to Minwu and obtain his Canoe to start your next mission





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _    _  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| | |  | | O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |  | | | I N F I L T R A T I O N                                           |
| | |  | | O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |/\| | | A L T A I R                                                       |
| |      | O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |__/\__| |                                                   |  ^[WALK.002]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

~ You know nothing of battle. You would only be throwing your lives away. ~
  Princess Hilda

O------------------O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O
| Key Terms        | Item Checklist              | Equipment Checklist         |
O------------------O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O
| Wild Rose        | ____ Potion                 | None                        |
O------------------O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O

Altair is the beginning town of the game. You start out in the Rebel Hideout.

O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O------------------O
| Weapon Shop                 | Armor Shop                  | Item Shop    Yes |
O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O------------------O
| Knife .................. 40 | Buckler ................ 50 | Inn          Yes |
| Staff .................. 50 | Leather Cap ............ 50 O------------------O
| Javelin ................ 80 | Clothes ................ 20 | Sanctuary    Yes |
| Broadsword ............ 100 | Leather Gloves ......... 30 O------------------O
O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O

O-----------------------------O
| Spell Shop                  |
O-----------------------------O
| Fire Tome ............. 150 |
| Thunder Tome .......... 150 |
| Blizzard Tome ......... 150 |
| Cure Tome ............. 100 |
O-----------------------------O

The absolute FIRST thing you should do before anything else is LEARN the WILD
ROSE Key Term from Hilda. It'll basically inform everyone (yes, even Imperials)
that you're with the Rebels. Talk to Minwu and he'll tell you where to go next.
Fynn is where you need to go. Also, before you leave the Rebel Hideout, you
can find a free POTION in the western wall, above the area with five beds.

You can go back to the room with the sigil that healed you. Inside you'll find
many sages inside who will teach you many things about FINAL FANTASY II. It's
essentially a Beginner's Hall for anyone who has never played a Final Fantasy
game before.

Paul is just outside the Rebel Hideout. He's the "greatest thief in all the
world". After all, they've yet to invent the loot he can't burgle or steal.
Paul's not a bad guy and he will have some excellent treasure when you can get
it back in Fynn (much later in the game).

You can also talk to Gordon. He's just north of the Rebel Hideout's entrance.
He thinks himself to be a coward right now and tells you to laugh if you wish.
Feel free to do so, but Gordon will eventually join your team, so keep that in
mind.

Right before you leave, I suggest you investing most of your 400 Gil into
spells. Just head to the southeastern corner of Altair to find the shop. As you
enter, talk to the guy at the counter and start buying spells. Cure is probably
the best defensive spell to start off with. Like Cure, Fire is an excellent
Black Magic spell to begin with. I highly suggest you purchase two Cure Tomes
and one Fire Tome.

Eventually you'll want all four of the spells in Altair on each team member.
However, Gil is an issue right now, so stick with the basics for now.

BE SURE YOU LEARN SPELLS BEFORE GOING INTO BATTLE. Using a Tome inside of
battle is powerful, but an extremely spendy way of defeating enemies. To learn
a spell, just use the Tome outside of battle as an item. Then select the
character you want to learn it.

Finally, before you head out towards Fynn, I highly suggest beating up a few
enemies and getting enough money for two extra shields. At least get one for
Guy, and I also get one for Maria, since I always switch her to Spear+Shield.
If you plan to mimic this strategy, MOVE MARIA TO THE FRONT ROW.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _    _  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| | |  | | O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |  | | | I N F I L T R A T I O N                                           |
| | |  | | O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |/\| | | A L T A I R   A R E A                                             |
| |      | O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |__/\__| |                                                   |  ^[WALK.003]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

O------------------O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O
| Key Terms        | Item Checklist              | Equipment Checklist         |
O------------------O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O
| Wild Rose        | None                        | None                        |
O------------------O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O

This section covers monsters found in the Altair, Gatrea and Fynn regions.

Monsters encountered
 X    #   Monster          Rk     HP   MP  ATK  DEF     Max Gil  Weakness
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
___  096  Goblin            1      6    0    4    0        9-75  None
___  003  Hornet            1      6    0    4    0        4-37  None
___  001  Leg Eater         1      6    0    4    0        4-37  None

Stick close to Altair in case you need to use the Inn. Spend some time building
up your spells and stats. If you really find yourself in a rut, you can always
attack your own teammates to build up stats. However, if your characters are
too powerful, they'll kill each other in one shot. Not good. Oh, and SAVE
often.

Oh, and don't venture too far out. The very bottom corner of the penninsula off
of Altair is home to some extremely powerful monsters just waiting for you to
venture out there. Don't do it. Same goes for wandering too far northwest from
Gatrea instead of keeping near the lake. Don't do it.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _    _  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| | |  | | O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |  | | | I N F I L T R A T I O N                                           |
| | |  | | O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |/\| | | G A T R E A                                                       |
| |      | O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |__/\__| |                                                   |  ^[WALK.004]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

O------------------O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O
| Key Terms        | Item Checklist              | Equipment Checklist         |
O------------------O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O
| Wild Rose        | None                        | None                        |
O------------------O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O

Gatrea is located north from Altair. From Altair, head north, across the
bridge and straight into Gatrea. Make sure you bought all the spells you want
back at Altair since there is no Spell Shop in Gatrea.

O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O------------------O
| Weapon Shop                 | Armor Shop                  | Item Shop    Yes |
O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O------------------O
| Javelin ................ 80 | Buckler ................ 50 | Inn          Yes |
| Broadsword ............ 100 | Leather Cap ............ 50 O------------------O
| Axe ................... 100 | Clothes ................ 20 | Sanctuary    Yes |
| Bow .................... 20 | Leather Gloves ......... 30 O------------------O
O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O

O-----------------------------O
| Spell Shop                  |
O-----------------------------O
| N/A                         |
O-----------------------------O

If you haven't done so, I highly suggest purchasing a Buckler for everyone who
doesn't have one, as well as any other armor you don't have yet. If you really
want to build up your weapon inventory, you may want to invest in a Javelin
and/or a second Broadsword.

Also, if you have some extra cash lying around, you may want to pick up a few
Potions or Hi-Potions as well. The path to Fynn isn't exactly a cakewalk and
there's plenty of things to kill you along the way.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _    _  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| | |  | | O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |  | | | I N F I L T R A T I O N                                           |
| | |  | | O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |/\| | | F Y N N                                                           |
| |      | O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |__/\__| |                                                   |  ^[WALK.005]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

O------------------O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O
| Key Terms        | Item Checklist              | Equipment Checklist         |
O------------------O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O
| Wild Rose        | ____ Ring                   | None                        |
O------------------O ____ Potion                 O-----------------------------O
                   | ____ Potion                 |
                   | ____ Potion                 |
                   O-----------------------------O

To get to Fynn, head west from Gatrea and circle north around the lake, and you
will hit Fynn soon enough. One word of warning: do NOT stray far from the lake,
as there are far more powerful monsters waiting for some careless adventurers
who stray too damn far from the lake. You have been warned.

Monsters encountered
 X    #   Monster          Rk     HP   MP  ATK  DEF     Max Gil  Weakness
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
___  001  Leg Eater         1      6    0    4    0        4-37  None
___  003  Hornet            1      6    0    4    0        4-37  None
___  010  Sprinter          1     30    0    9    0        4-37  None
___  096  Goblin            1      6    0    4    0        9-75  None
***  105  Captain           5    750   30   60    9     300-450  None

O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O------------------O
| Weapon Shop                 | Armor Shop                  | Item Shop     No |
O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O------------------O
| N/A                         | N/A                         | Inn           No |
O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O------------------O
                                                            | Sanctuary     No |
                                                            O------------------O
O-----------------------------O
| Spell Shop                  |
O-----------------------------O
| N/A                         |
O-----------------------------O

The guards in Fynn do a really great job of guarding the place. From people,
that is. Monsters roam the streets and you'll face random encounters left and
right. The Captain is pretty much invincible, at least right now. You'll only
encounter a Captain if you're stupid enough to talk to anyone in Fynn. If you
CAN manage to defeat one, you're vastly overpowered. Period.

Every shop and building is devoid of life. Those that might have inhabitants
are blocked off by guards. Needless to say, you'll reach a dead end no matter
where you go.

To advance the plot, head out through the north entrance, but don't leave the
city. Instead, head east and around the outskirts of the city to enter the Pub.
Talk to the only non-soldier inside and ASK him about the WILD ROSE. He'll let
you go see the wounded soldier. ASK the wounded soldier about the WILD ROSE; he
will tell you that he is Scott, the Prince of Kashuan. He'll tell you the name
of the traitor, and give you the RING. Pick up the three POTIONs inside the
room and start back for Altair.

Scott's RING will allow you to see the World Map. Nifty eh? To access it press
and hold the B and Select buttons, and you'll be able to see it. It shows all
the locations you have visited, as well as your current location, and even the
special vehicles you will acquire on your journey.

PSP NOTES - Instead of B and Select, you hold Cancel (default O) and Select to
bring up the World Map. You still need the RING though.





O----------O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
|  _    _  | F I N A L   F A N T A S Y   I I                                   |
| | |  | | O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |  | | | I N F I L T R A T I O N                                           |
| | |  | | O-------------------------------------------------------------------O
| | |/\| | | A L T A I R                                                       |
| |      | O---------------------------------------------------O---------------O
| |__/\__| |                                                   |  ^[WALK.006]  |
|          |                                                   O---------------O
O----------O

O------------------O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O
| Key Terms        | Item Checklist              | Equipment Checklist         |
O------------------O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O
| Wild Rose        | ____ Canoe                  | None                        |
| Mythril          O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O
O------------------O

From Fynn, head back around the lake, past Gatrea and then south, back to
Altair.

O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O------------------O
| Weapon Shop                 | Armor Shop                  | Item Shop    Yes |
O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O------------------O
| Knife .................. 40 | Buckler ................ 50 | Inn          Yes |
| Staff .................. 50 | Leather Cap ............ 50 O------------------O
| Javelin ................ 80 | Clothes ................ 20 | Sanctuary    Yes |
| Broadsword ............ 100 | Leather Gloves ......... 30 O------------------O
O-----------------------------O-----------------------------O

O-------------