=================
FINAL FANTASY XII
=================
122333 - LOW LEVEL CHALLENGE GUIDE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Version 1.0 31/07/07
Incomplete but posted early due to many requests from people wanting my Guide.
At present I have 2 Espers to complete and 5 Bosses. The whole game from Start
to the end of Bahamut is complete as are all Hunts, including Yiazmat. As I
complete the others I will update with a new version.
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Version 1.1 01/08/08
Bosses Earth Tyrant, Elder Wyrm, Fury & Humbaba Mistant completed and
strategies added to Boss Strategies section.
Also Esper Chaos, Walker of the Wheel Completed and added to Hidden Espers'
Strategies.
Balance Mote Farming at Ridorana Cataract added along with link for Video.
Other Video links added.
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Version 1.2 03/08/07
Ultima, The High Seraph Completed and added to the Hidden Espers' Strategies.
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Version 1.3
Omega MK XII defeated and added to the Extra "Boss" Strategies section and,
subject to spelling and other errors that might need tidying up, this 122333
Low Level Challenge Guide is now complete. It was hard work but I am well
pleased with the end product and all who have helped have been mentioned in the
end credits. If you feel you should be included then please remind me and I
will add you if I feel you have been omitted in error.
==============================================================================
Copyright Giruvegan July 2007
This Guide has been done by me and taken me a great deal of time. I not only
wrote it, I actually played it at the same time and wrote everything down as I
did it. The copyright to this guide belongs to me and to me alone. You may not
reproduce this guide, or any part of it, in print or online or any other
written or electronic form without obtaining prior written permission from me
unless it is purely for your own personal use, ie printing off a personal copy
for use at home. If permission is granted it will be done so on the condition
that the guide or any part that is used is to remain unaltered and in its
original text format and that I am also given FULL credit for what is used. I
would not take kindly to having this guide ripped off and if I were to find out
that it has been copied etc without my permission then I will use the full
weight of the Copyright Law and I don't care what part of the world you are in.
I am not an Ogre and all requests for permission will be looked at on an
individual basis and I will make a decision. If I see nothing untoward in the
request then permission is likely, though not guaranteed, to be granted. please
make any requests to the following email address and mark your subject FF12 or
similar.
[email protected]
At this moment in time the only sites with permission to reproduce this Guide
online are:
Supercheats.com
***************
IGN.com
*******
Should this Guide be seen anywhere else I would appreciate it if you would
email me at the above address and give me the URL of where you have seen it
posted. I forbid GameFAQs.com and any part of their organisation from
publishing this guide or any of my past and future works on ANY of their sites.
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Contents
********
Introduction
Walkthrough
Hunt Strategies
Hidden Esper Strategies
Extra "Boss" Strategies
Credits
Legal
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Introduction
************
For me, this is the greatest challenge of all in FFXII.
The idea is to complete the game and collect all possible items without
levelling up at all. This is where the name 122333 comes from as these numbers
are the minimum starting levels of each character when they join your party.
Both Fran & Balthier join at 1 level above Vaan, and Basch, Ashe & Penelo (not
counting the sunstone quest with Penelo) join at 2 levels above Vaan. So this
is how your team looks:
Character Level
Vaan 1
Fran 2
Balthier 2
Basch 3
Ashe 3
Penelo 3
All 6 will finally join together aboard The Leviathan at these levels and the
aim of the game is to keep them at those levels yet still beat the game. It is
possible to do this but it isn't easy and many of the things you may be used to
using (like the Zodiac Spear, Tournesol etc) almost become redundant because,
as you aren't levelling up, your Strength, Defence stats etc aren't increasing
so where in a normal game you would expect to be doing 5000 damage with a
Zodiac Spear, in 122333 you'll be lucky to be doing 500. But don't worry,
things aren't that bleak. You'll still be able to do 9999 damage sometimes but
it takes a bit of thought and planning.
I can hear you asking "If you can't level up then how can you get LP to get
better equipment if you can't kill anything?"
The answer to that question is that there are 4 ways to get LP without EXP and
they are:
1. Hunting Marks
2. Defeating Bosses. (Bosses tend to be unavoidable fights that are in the
storyline where you need to either access an area or carry on with the
storyline whether it be the group of Imperials when you meet Amalia right up to
Dr Cid in Pharos. Sidequests like Earth Tyrant are also considered to be
Bosses).
3. Defeating Espers.
4. Equipping the Firefly accessory.
All the above give LP but no EXP. The best is obviously number 4 but
unfortunately the Firefly isn't available at the beginning of the game. It is
first found in a chest in the Stilshrine of Miriam so until then you will be
doing a lot of Fleeing. After Miriam it can be bought at Phon Coast but I will
tell you another way to get it before then without having to run through The
Stilshrine again. Once you have Fireflies you are then free to attack and
defeat any foe but the downside to it is that, if the foe gives EXP, you can't
equip any other accessory. You must have the Firefly equipped.
General Gameplay
****************
At the beginning of this game you are quite limited in what you can do. You
have very little money to buy what you need and you also have hardly any access
to LP to license the equipment you can use, let alone buy the damned stuff. So
what can you do? Unfortunately, the answer to that is grind away to obtain cash
that you will need. There are a few ways to do this and I will go through each
one as it is required in the game. All I will say at this point is you will
come to HATE Werewolves, King Bomb and treasure chests. This is unavoidable as
it is the only way to get what you need but it isn't something that is going to
go on throughout the game. It is just early on that you have to do a bit of
grinding away.
I am going to assume you know quite a lot of things about FF12 and won't be
going into details about certain parts of the game as you will have done it
before. I mean, there's not much point in me holding your hand and directing
you through the quest to get the sunstone in Giza, would it? If I were to do
that with everything it would probably take me around 11 years to write this
guide. So in a lot of places I will say something like "Now go through this
part of the Storyline" and then move onto the next thing to do with the 122333.
As I go through the story and we come to a hunt that needs doing I will just
say that it's time to do that hunt. All Hunts and how to go about them will be
in another section of this guide. Some are very straightforward and need little
saying about them but others are more complex and I will go into more detail
about those particular ones.
Before starting, a quickening tip for you when you have 3 characters with 3
full mist bars. If you are desperate to get a concurrence then start with level
1 quickenings but if you are prepared to risk a low concurrence for something
like Luminescence or even Black Hole then start with level 3 Quickenings. You
may even get 3 straight away. Let's say you get 2 from the 3 characters. That
leaves one character who could do a level 1 and a level 2 and then 1 mist
charge could do the same. That is Ark Blast Concurrence. If you get lucky with
mist charges then the next level of 3 each is Luminescence and then 4 each is
Black Hole. A lot easier to get if you start with high level quickenings.
Something else I want to mention very early on is Dark Matter. You are going to
need this so I want to tell you how to get it. When you get to the Phon Coast,
do NOT open any of the 16 Chests in the Vaddu Strand. If you do then you will
not only screw up your Zodiac Spear but also your Dark Matter. Leave those
chests alone. Now when you get to Nabudis and into the room where the Zodiac
Spear is, this is what you do. Without the Diamond Armlet, open the Zodiac
Spear chest. If you're not sure which it is then look at this map.
Zodiac Spear Room
*****************
===========================================
= =
= =
= x x x x =
= =
= x x x x =
= =
= x x x x =
= =
= x x x x =
= ^ =
= | =
=============== | =================
= | =
= | =
= | =
Zodiac
Spear Chest
Once you have the Zodiac Spear, equip the Diamond Armlet and empty the other
Chests. You will probably get 14 Dark Matter and 3000 gil as one of the chests
has a 90% chance of the gil instead of the Dark Matter. If you open these
chests in Phon coast you will only have a 10% chance of getting a Dark Matter
with the Diamond Armlet Equipped. There are 2 other chests in Nabudis and with
the Diamond Armlet you will get another Dark Matter from each of them. To
charge the Dark Matter up you need to use the Knots of Rust on enemies. One
third of the total Damage you do with the Knots of Rust will be what the damage
will be with a Dark Matter to a maximum of 60,000. See....Knots of Rust AREN'T
useless!! So remember this....Get those Dark Matter as it will make the Latter
stages a lot easier.
So let's begin the game. I don't think I need to explain how to flee etc as you
will have done all that previously though ALWAYS turn attack gambits off when
fleeing. I would also like to say that I am writing this guide as I play the
game myself so everything is fresh in my mind.
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===========
WALKTHROUGH
===========
Nalbina Fortress
****************
This is the tutorial part with Reks and tells the theme behind FF12. It's
straightforward and I'll leave you to get on with it.
Garamsythe Waterway
*******************
This is easy as all you have to do is use Vaan to kill 3 Dire Rats. It is one
of 3 places where you will gain EXP but none will level you up. One tip for
this section.....steal from the Rats before you defeat them. Money is tight and
3 Rat Pelts pay for one and a half Potions.
Rabanastre
**********
Now the game starts proper. After viewing the scenes make your way to Miguelo's
and then the Sandsea where you speak to Tomaj, get a licence lesson and also
get the Rogue Tomato Hunt. After talking to Tomaj, head towards the East Gate
but as you enter the southern Plaza talk to the Bangaa who is with an Imperial.
He will ask you to deliver a package to his Companion outside. Forget
that....take the package to the shop and sell it for 150 gil. Two more potions,
eh? Now head out into the Estersand and do the Rogue Tomato Hunt. While you are
there open every chest you come across. Every Potion found is one less you have
to pay for and every 70 gil found is 1 Potion paid for. Believe me you are
going to need lots of potions. You can also steal a bit if you want to but be
careful. When a wolf attacks you can't fight back. Stealing from a sleeping
cactus is ok as you might even get a Broadsword. Not that you can use it but
you can sell for 200 which is almost 3 Potions. Complete Rogue Tomato and
return to Rabanastre and talk to Kytes which triggers the next scenes.
After viewing the scenes and listening to Penelo it's time to go see Dalan in
Lowtown but first you need to go to Clan Hall and speak to Montblanc and get
your 3 Potions for joining. then go collect your bounty from Tomaj in the
Sandsea. At the same time look at the notice board and then talk to Gatsly and
accept the Thextera Hunt. Now Buy CURE, FIRE & BLIZZARD from the magick shop.
If you don't have enough cash, CURE is top priority and you can get the others
later on. Now head to Dalan's place. DON'T open the chest outside his door if
you want the Zodiac Spear for a perfect game. Well, almost perfect....you won't
get order of Ambrosia as one of the Criteria is to get the Party's average
level to 50 in order to get Ashe in the Den. This ain't gonna happen.
Sorry...no Ambrosia. After talking to Dalan head to Giza.
Giza
****
Talk to Masyua and then you'll get Penelo join you. You can do the sunstone
quest if you want to or leave it for a bit later as there are some things that
need doing whilst you have Penelo in the party. The first thing to do which you
can do whilst getting the Sunstone if you like, is to kill 10 of those cute
little Hares you find on the Giza Plains. This is the second time you'll get
EXP but it won't affect your level. Each Happy Bunny gives 3 or 4 EXP and if
you check the Status of Vaan you will see that his next level up is in 42
points so 10 hares won't harm but WILL give Vaan and Penelo another 10 LP each.
Whilst doing this open as many chests as you can find as all gil and goodies
help. An Ether or two would be great. One tip for you. If you're ever in
Giza/South Bank there may be a chest on the bridge leading to the Estersand. It
can only be opened once and you mustn't do it without the Diamond Armlet
equipped. You must also be ready to reset if you don't get gil from the chest.
It contains 50,000 gil. One for later. But now it's time to go to The.....
Westersand
**********
Time to do a bit of grinding work now. It's not too bad and it will take a
while but, believe me, what you do now will make it SO much easier later on in
The Barheim Passage. I have played this 122333 before but haven't completed it
but I know that one of the tough fights is the Mimic Queen. In fact the whole
Barheim Passage can be tough without the right gear. So what we are going to do
now is well worth it. I would hate for you to get to the Mimic Queen and keep
getting a Game Over. If you do it my way there isn't a chance of that
happening.
We are going Mote hunting in chests in the Westersand but we only want Water
Motes or Holy motes as these are the only 2 that hit 1 target. There are other
chests around that can be emptied on the way back if the Mote hunt is
successful. There are 2 chests of interest, one in Galtea Downs and the other
in the Midfault which are the first 2 zones in the Westersand so it's not much
running. Rather than try an explain where they are I am going to do 2 crude
diagrams. These diagrams do not show the whole zone, just the area we are
interested in.
Galtea Downs
************
______
\ / \ Onion Arrows
\______/ X \ <-------- Potion
\ Max 110 gil
W /
/
/
_____ \
/ \ \______
W / \ ---> Rabanastre
/ \________
\
\
\________ WATER MOTE
X\<-------- Potion
____ \ Max 120 gil
/ \ \
W / / /
/ / /
\____/ W /
W T /<----- Thextera
_____________/
X = Chest
T = Thextera
W = Wolf
Galtea Downs is fairly easy as the only things you need to worry about are
Wolves and Cactoids (harmless if ignored). Wolves are easily outrun and do
minimal damage. Enter from Rabanastre, go left hugging the wall all the way
round to the Water Mote chest. As soon as you have opened it head directly west
across the Galtea Downs and central on the other side is the exit to the
Midfault.
Midfault
********
? /
MM /
W MM /
HOLY MOTE U /
Potion -----> X W \ REMEDY
Max 70 gil X \<---- Potion
W ? MMM \ Max 70 gil
MMM \______
MMM ------->
U __________ Galtea
/ Downs
/
? /
/
X = Chest
W = Wolf
U = Urstrix
M = Mound
? = FIDELANT !!!
This is where it gets a little more difficult. Use Vaan as your leader here.
Have Penelo learn Orrachea Armlet and equip her with it. That has just added 25
HP to her total making her and Vaan's HP similar. Now here is the trick to
constant success. See the 2 Urstrixes marked? Wait till one heads North and the
other heads South and leaves a gap for you to go through. While you're waiting
open the chest to your right as it may have a remedy. When the Urstrixes leave
a gap then get Penelo to cast cure on herself regardless of her HP and with
Vaan head to the right hand side of the mound (as you look at it on screen) and
up to where the wolves and the chest are. DON'T use the flee button whilst
heading to the chest as it will stop Penelo casting cure. Open the chest as
soon as you get near it and don't worry about how many wolves etc are about to
get you. A soon as you open the chest SWITCH LEADERS. Because Penelo was busy
casting cure on herself whilst you were after the chest, she got left behind.
When you switch back to her as leader she is still stood close to the exit.
Vaan may get KO'd but who cares? You can revive him at the save Crystal in
Rabanastre. Don't waste Phoenix downs. Now just leave the zone taking
(hopefully) a Holy Mote with you. Now these are the two most important chests
but there are more to take into account. You don't just need motes so I have
worked out a little route around the Westersand that is fairly risk free and
will enable you to collect, Holy Motes, Water Motes, Hastega Motes, Potions,
Remedies and Gil. A couple of hours spent doing this will save you SO much time
and possible frustration later on, especially in the Barheim Passage. I am
going to do a crude diagram of the 3 areas to show you where the chests are and
what each chest contains. The maps won't be the right shape....each will be a
square with some identifying marks and some numbers representing chests. The
key will be shown afterwards.
MIDFAULT GALTEA DOWNS
============================ =========================
= 5 = = 1 =
= = = 4 =
= 6 ========== MMM ====
= MM 3 MM Rabanastre >>
= MM ========== MMM MM ====
= = = MM =
= = = 2=
= = = =
============================ ======= ===============
= =
= =
= =
=== ======
= =
= MM =
= MM 8 =
= =
= =
= 7 =
============
Shimmering Horizons
For those who may find this loop difficult to follow I have made a video of it
and put it on YouTube. You can find it at the following link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qsRTMEIPy2s
M = Mound
1. Contains Potion, Onion Arrows or Max 110 gil
2. Contains Potion, WATER MOTE or Max 120 Gil
3. Contains Potion, Onion Arrows or Max 150 Gil
4. Contains Potion, PHOENIX DOWN or Max 160 Gil
5. Contains Potion, REMEDY or Max 70 Gil
6. Contains Potion, HOLY MOTE or Max 70 Gil
7. Contains Potion, HASTEGA MOTE or Max 400 Gil
8. Contains REMEDY, Onion Bolts or MAX 600 GIL.
This is the "Loop" you should keep making and collecting as much as you can.
Everytime you complete the loop go back to the West Gate in Rabanastre and save
your game and then soft reset. I know it's a pain but it's the only way to be
assured that the Chests in Galtea Downs respawn. Also, the last thing you want
is to make an error and get a game over and lose 2 hours work. Keep saving.
Do this until you have 2 Holy motes or 1 Holy Mote and a Water Mote. Make sure
your game is saved. Now go and do the THEXTERA HUNT (See Hunt No.2). After
killing Thextera continue with this Loop. Your target is 10 Holy motes or a
total of 20 Water and Holy Motes Combined. You could possibly end up with 10 or
20 Phoenix Downs, 20+ Remedies, 10+ Hastega Motes and even 90 odd potions!
FIDELANT !!! A rare game Undead monster. You are a one hit kill with him. If he
is there near the Holy Mote chest and Wolves then forget it. Go and do the 2
chests in Shimmering Horizons and then come back. It's 2 zones so the chances
are Fidelant won't be there when you return as he is a 20% spawning chance.
So how long do you need to be doing this? It will take a couple of hours or
more but it will make life a hundred times easier during this difficult early
part of the challenge. When I had finished it had taken me over 3 hours but I
had a nightmare with the chests not appearing and very few motes to start with.
However, this is what I ended up with:
10 Holy Motes
21 Water Motes
23 Remedies
91 Potions (saving me 6370 gil)
15 Hastega Motes.
With just over 3 hours work I was set up till at least after Dreadnought
Leviathan. The Barheim Passage was very easy and the Mimic Queen was
straightforward. I wasn't really short of cash and at one point had 99 potions
and 50 Phoenix Downs. Only once did I go visit the Werewolves but only stole 30
Hides and even then I didn't really need them. It was just a cushion for me, a
sort of safety net.
Now, back to Rabanastre and on to Giza and do the Sunstone bit if you haven't
done it. When you get to the camp sell all your Hi-Potions and remedies. You
don't need a Hi-Potion yet and remedies are no good because you can't get the
necessary remedy lores on the licence board. Cash is a much better prospect at
this stage. Before you leave Giza check one thing. You need to have a minimum
of 10 Phoenix Downs, at least 50 potions, 5 Antidotes and 5 Eye Drops. Now if
you have been doing everything the way I have said then you will either have
them all or have enough money available to buy what you are short of. But if
you haven't then you are going to have to do something that you aren't going to
like. You're gonna have to do this later on and I was trying to avoid having to
do it too often because it's the worst grind of all. For those of you that have
enough you can skip the next section and go straight to 'Back in Rabanastre.'
For the rest of you, welcome to stealing from....
Werewolves
**********
Head to Starfall Field in Giza and south of the bridge you will find 2
Werewolves. To the east is an exit to the Crystal Glade where you can save and
revive. Now put the Orrachea Armlet back on Vaan as he's gonna need every point
possible. With Penelo as the leader head towards the Werewolves and send Vaan
in to steal keeping Penelo well back. As soon as he steals he is likely to get
KO'd. Just head to the save crystal and revive him. Go back and steal from the
other Werewolf. When you have done that go THROUGH the Crystal Glade (2 zones)
and then back to the Werewolves, healing and/or saving at the Crystal on the
way through. Keep doing this until you have enough money to buy what you need.
Generally you will steal a Quality Hide from a Werewolf which will sell for 384
gil. Just work out how many you need and then leave, sell them and head to
Rabanastre. The downside to this is that you will send Vaan in to steal and he
will fail and still get KO'd. Back to Crystal to revive him and try again.
Believe me it gets irritating.
Back In Rabanastre
******************
With a Sunstone you can now go see Dalan and he will charge up the Crescent
stone but before you enter Lowtown to see Dalan, REMOVE ALL PENELO'S EQUIPMENT!
If you don't then she will take it all with her when she leaves the party and
you may want to use it yourself or sell it to buy other goodies later. Now go
see Dalan and get the Crescent stone.
The Garamsythe Waterway
***********************
No problems here. There are a possible 12 chests you can empty on the way
through but really all you are doing here is running to the stairs that lead to
the Palace. Go up the stairs to trigger scenes.
Royal Palace of Rabanastre
**************************
Examine the Urn to get the map and save if you want to. Open the door and enter
the Cellars. I'm going to do a quick map here because I want you to see
something.
Cellar Map
**********
=========================
= | | | | | | =
= | | | | | | =
= ===============
= X =
= =
= ++ ++ =
= ++++ ++++ =
= ++++ ++++ =
= ++ ++ =
= X =
= X =
= ++ ++ =
= ++++ ++++ =
= ++++ ++++ =
= ++ ++ =
= =
= =
= =
= X ++ ++ =
= ++++ ++++ =
= ++++ ++++ =
= ++ ++ =
= =
= =
= =
= ++ ++ =
= ++++ ++++ =
= ++++ ++++ X X<------------
=========++ ++=========
Door >>>>> =
=========
X = Chest
See the chest the arrow is pointing to in the SE corner? That's the chest you
DON'T open if you want the Zodiac Spear. When opening the chests, if you get an
Elixir then you have opened that chest.
Now do the bit with the Seeq to go upstairs, use the Crescent stone and move
the guards around and then make your way to the secret passage. Get the
Goddess's Magicite, say hello to Balthier & Fran, leg it up the stairs and
watch the scenes till you come crashing down. Have fun with Balthier's Gambit
lecture and then you're ready for....
The Garamsythe Waterway
***********************
After the gambit lecture etc head out of the zone and go left for the urn with
the map. Set Gambits to:
Any Ally: Phoenix Down
Ally: HP<70%: Potion
Now flee all the way through The East Waterway Control and the Number 11
Channel until you get to the East Sluice Control stopping to empty chests along
the way provided you aren't in severe danger. When reaching the East Sluice
Control you'll find a save Crystal. Before you save adjust gambits to:
Vaan: Ally: HP<70%: Potion
Party Leader's Target: Attack
Balthier: Ally: HP<70%: Potion
Party Leader's Target: Attack
Fran: Party Leader's Target: Fire
Party Leader's Target: Attack
Manually use Phoenix Downs if necessary.
Now save your game and then go down the steps and a scene occurs with some
Imperials and Amalia and then you are thrown into battle with the Imperials.
Control Fran as the Leader. Fran will use fire on the Imperials but you have to
keep her running around them. If her MP runs out she will use attack but with
the running around she will gradually build up MP and use Fire again. This is
called KITING for those who don't know. I have explained it here because in the
future I will just refer to it as kiting without the explanation. Now the
target Fran must chose is the Imperial Amalia is attacking. The reason for this
is that technically Amalia is not yet in your party and if she delivers the
deathblow to any of the Imperials you will not get the LP for it. If she does
kill one of them you can always reset as you have just saved at the Crystal. I
actually did think it would be better to take her out and I did with 3 water
motes. I came unstuck. Even though she may not land a deathblow she STILL gets
LP. I got all the way aboard Leviathan to find myself 1 LP short of what I
needed with her. So frustrating.
After you defeat the Imperials, more scenes and Amalia officially joins the
party fully revived. Go back up the steps to the blue Save Crystal and save and
then move to the Southern Sluiceway where you will now fight the Flans. Keep
the gambits the same. You need to concentrate on one at a time and knock them
out as fast as possible. The little ones (B & C I think) have a lower HP so do
them first. Have Fran as leader and get her Kiting again. After the Flans are
gone, empty the 2 chests, move to West sluice control and then flee from there
all the way through the Number 10 channel To the Central Waterway Control and
save at the Crystal.
Enter the Overflow Cloaca and prepare for Firemane. Use the following gambits:
Vaan: Ally: HP<70%: Potion
Nearest Visible: Attack
Balthier: Ally: HP<70%: Potion
Nearest Visible: Attack
Fran: Nearest Visible: Blizzard
Nearest Visible: Attack
Manually use Phoenix Downs if necessary. Amalia should use them on KO'd allies
but I have yet to see her do it.
Once again control Fran and Kite her. Watch out for fallen allies and revive
immediately, especially Amalia. If you keep on top of that then it will just be
a matter of time before Firemane falls. You could use some of your Water Motes
as he is weak to water but, to be honest, he is well beatable without them so I
wouldn't bother wasting any.
Now, just a few steps from Lowtown, Half the Imperial army along with the
Consul himself arrive to arrest you so instead of sitting in the Sandsea
enjoying a cold beer you find yourself in prison in......
Nalbina Dungeon
***************
After all the scenes you control Vaan alone in the stockade. There are 4 chests
in here and each contain a knot of rust and I advise you to get them all. Very
soon you will face the 3 Seeqs unarmed. Here is the formula for a Knot of Rust.
Damage = Users HP/Random Number (1 -10)
Unarmed, Vaan's HP will be 80 and Balthier's will be 100 and a 35% chance that
one of the random numbers for the 4 knots of rust is a 1 which will do max
damage and the 80 or 100 damage is most, if not all, of the HP. Teach Vaan
white Magick 1 for cure as you have no potions because all your gear was
confiscated and then save your game before entering the arena. After the scenes
the fight begins and you should use your knots of rust immediately and
hopefully do some decent damage. Use them all on Gwitch. I got him down to
critical and the little bugger cast cure on himself so you need to take him out
first. Then take out Galeedo and finally Daguza. If either Vaan or Balthier's
HP drops to less than 40 use cure immediately as the seeqs are capable of
multiple hits. After Defeating the Seeqs, more scenes and then you are at the:
Confiscatory
************
Another small diagram:
===========================
C
============= ===========
= =
= X =
= X X =
====^=========
^
^
^
^
C = Crystal
X = Chest
Do not open the chest indicated by the arrows or you lose the Zodiac Spear.
After the Confiscatory you enter The Black Watch. In a normal game I just
tanked the Imperials and opened all the chests. Forget that. You need to get
out very fast or you will be overwhelmed by the Imperials, especially the magus
who casts nasty spells at you. Forget the chests in there as there is nothing
special in them. Using your minimap just leg it through there and out the top
for another cutscene....a quite informative one. After all the scenes you will
find yourself in:
The Barheim Passage
*******************
Now if you did all that running around the westersand earlier you are going to
have a very easy time in here. However, there may be a bit of scavenging to be
done. First of all go down the stairs and go right where there are 3 chests.
One is guaranteed to have 777 gil and the other 2 have maximum amounts of 555
and 333 gil so hopefully you will get 1000+ gil out of these. 1050 gil will buy
you 15 Potions or 4 Phoenix downs. Examine the power conduit etc, talk to
Burrogh, do tube fuse etc. Now you need to scavenge until you have 50 potions
and 20 Phoenix Downs. Try and do this next bit without using potions or phoenix
downs. Obviously, if you worked hard in the Westersand and have the goods
already or the cash to pay for them then you don't have to scavenge now.
After opening the gate go through and steal Iron scraps from the 2 battery
Mimics. Flee down the stairs to the next zone to the right at the bottom of the
stairs and steal from the 2 mimics there. I prefer to steal manually here and
not with gambits so turn gambits off. The last thing I want is 3 characters
stealing from the same Mimic whilst the other is kicking my arse. I want to be
in and out as fast as possible. Now flee all the way back to where Burrogh is
and sell him the goods and buy potions and/or phoenix downs. Save at the
crystal and then you MUST RESET or the Mimics in the next room will have
nothing to steal. Two zones is too far to go so resetting is the only option.
Do this until you have your potions and phoenix downs. The next stage is fairly
easy but a rough ride. You may want to buy the gambit Ally HP<50% from Burrogh
before you leave.
Save at crystal near Burrogh and set gambits to Any Ally: Phoenix Down and
Ally: HP<70%: Potion . Flee through the first room ignoring mimics etc and down
the stairs and right into the next zone. Again, ignore the mimics, turn right
and start fleeing down the Barheim Passage. Take the left track when you come
to the fork and at the next fork stay to the right. Don't take the left fork as
it's a dead end. Keep fleeing past all the Zombies and Spectres and Steelings
until you cross the zone line. On the other side let the gambits do any
healing. On your right is the entrance to another area. Go in there, ignoring
the Flans that drop down in front of you and run through to the next room. At
the doorway immediately turn left and run up the stairs where there will be a
turning on your left. Go that way and cross the zone line. Now take note of
what I say. Let any healing gambits kick in and then dump Vaan out of your
Party. Then manually get Fran & Balthier to immediately and simultaneously
launch a Holy Mote each at the Battery Mimic just round the corner. You can't
see it but it will register in your list of enemies. This is the last time you
kill anything and get EXP. Fran & Balthier can take the EXP but Vaan can't
which is why he has to be out of the party. These motes will kill the mimic
instantly and the charge will rise.
Now the following directions might be a little confusing so, as suggested by
Hell Wyrm of Neoseeker's Forums, I have included a map of Op Sector 37 so you
can see the route to the Gate Switch after killing the battery mimic. Compare
this to your onscreen map so you have a good idea of which direction you are
going.
Op Sector 37
************
========================================= GS = Gate Switch
= GS = BM = Battery Mimic
= ^ = ----> = Route to Gate Switch
= | =
= | =============================
= ____|___ = =
= ____|___ = ====================
= ____|___ = ==== ==== BM =
= ____|___ = ==== ==== =
= ^ = ==== ==== <-------------------^ =
= | | | =
= <-----------------------------V ============== | =
= = = | =
========================================= = | =
= = = | =
= = = | =
= = = | =
======= =========================== = | =
= = = | =
= =========================== = | =
= |||| |||| = = | =
= ------->||||--------->||||----> = = | =
=BM |||| |||| | = = | =
= ^ ==================== | = = | =
====== | = | ========== | =
= | = === V | =
= ^----> = === ------------------> =
= | = _____ = === =
= | == _____ = ========================
= | == _____ ===============================
= | = = |||| |||| =
= | = = |||| |||| =
| ===================================
|
From
Op Sector 3
Look at the map key in the top right. Go in the main room and DOWN the stairs.
In front is a doorway which leads to a passage. Run along the passage, ignoring
the mimic and up the stairs at the end of the room. Ignore the Flan....just
dive for the switch and flick it. That will open the gate. Return Vaan to the
party (all healing helps and it gives more targets on the run out) and get the
hell outta there. Back down the stairs through the room, along the passage, up
the stairs on the right. Turn to the left at the top of the stairs and then
immediately on your right is the exit. Cross the zone line. Let the healing
gambits do their work. Turn right out of the doorway and down the stairs. Turn
right into next room and go straight through to the outside passage. Go right
and flee to the zone line. You will get a cutscene where Basch gets a weapon
and then you can save at the crystal. After saving, flee through the next 2
zones and head up the narrow passage to where the Mimic Queen is and save your
game at the Crystal again.
Now if you did what I said earlier you will now have around 8 Holy Motes and
probably 10 water motes. Set your gambits as follows:
Vaan: Ally: HP<70%: Potion
Party Leader's Target: Water Mote
Balthier: Ally: HP<70%: Potion
Party Leader's Target: Water Mote
Fran: Party Leader's Target: Blizzard
Party Leader's Target: Holy Mote
Again, manually use phoenix downs. However, you may not need to. As soon as the
fight begins get Fran to use Blizzard on the Mimic Queen. This will set the
other off using the Water motes. If you run out of Water Motes change the
gambit to Holy Motes. They may be enough to defeat her. Keep your eye on your
HP's and let the gambits do the work. As per usual, control Fran and Kite her
while she spams Blizzard. 20+ motes should take her out. If it doesn't she will
have very little HP left and will be easy game. After you defeat her you will
end up in the.....
Estersand
*********
Congratulations! You have won a difficult battle. Short Cutscene and then time
to run back to Rabanastre, not forgetting to empty every chest you see along
the way. I remind you again...Ethers would be very handy.
Rabanastre
**********
Now you part company with Basch Fran & Balthier. Head to Miguelo's, talk with
Kytes and the go see Old Dalan again. He'll send you off with a sword, you'll
collect Basch and go see Balthier and Fran in the Sandsea, your party becomes
4. Now is the time for another Hunt. Check the board in the Sandsea and then
set off to do the Flowering Cactoid Hunt (See Hunt 3). Always check boards and
always accept any hunt on them, even if you don't plan to do them yet.
Now it's time to check your shopping list. Because of a shortage of LP you will
be limited as to what you can equip. Basch has virtually no LP available so he
is easily sorted. Obviously Light Armour is better for now as it adds HP but in
Basch's case you don't have that luxury. The best available to you for Basch is
Heavy Armour 2 and Shields 2. For Fran & Balthier they can now acquire Light
Armour 3 Licence and you should do that. Now that Basch has joined the party,
Vaan officially becomes the weakest of the 4 and will now play a smaller role.
Basch is much stronger so you replace Vaan with him for now. Now you need to
get the following for them in Bhujerba but some is only available after your
encounter with Ba'Gamnan in the Lhusu Mines where you run away. This is what's
needed:
Fran: Aevis Killer @ 1,500: Horned Hat @ 700: Ringmail @ 700
Balthier: Capella @ 1,400: Horned Hat @ 700: Ringmail @ 700
Basch: Sallet @ 1000: Scale Armour @ 1000: Buckler @ 1000.
Total Cost is 8,700 gil.
Plus a MINIMUM of 50 potions and 20 Phoenix Downs. The more the better.
So work out how much cash you need and whatever you are short then you will
have to go and steal from the Werewolves. For every 10,000 gil you need you
will have to steal 26 Quality hides from the Werewolves in Giza. However, it's
a lot easier with a party of 3 than just 2. Have the party leader send the
other 2 in to steal and then run to the save crystal. You may want a bit of
extra cash to buy more potions from Tetran in the Brig on board Leviathan. When
you are happy with what you have then make your way to the Aerodrome in West
Gate and speak to Balthier. It's time to head to.....
Bhujerba
********
On arrival in Bhujerba you discover all Airships are grounded and the teleport
from the gate crystal doesn't work. Ah well, looks like you'll be staying for a
while. Outside the Aerodrome you meet "Lamont." Head off to, and flee through,
the Lhusu Mines for your encounter with Ba'Gamnan. Make no mistake. You are WAY
outclassed here so don't even think about trying. Flee all the way back, watch
the cutscenes, do the notoriety business and prepare for the visit to the
Marquis. Before you go to see the Marquis, now is the time to go shopping and
get the items you need before you proceed.
After shopping go to the Marquis's residence and, cutting a long story short,
get yourself arrested and handed to Judge Ghis aboard.....
Dreadnought Leviathan
*********************
MAKE SURE YOUR BATTLE SPEED IS SET TO SLOWEST!!!!
*************************************************
After scenes you find yourself in the Port Launch with Vossler as a guest.
Before saving, venture outside and listen to Vosslers warning about the red
beams of light. Then go back inside the Port Launch and save your game. The
reason for this is that there is likely to be some resetting here and you don't
want to keep having to listen to that speech time and time again. Now in the
Southwest of the Port Section is a chest. It contains two different items and
you want them BOTH. In fact you want 2 of one and one of the other. It contains
a Reflectga Mote, a Handaxe or gil. You want 2 Reflectga Motes and 1 Handaxe.
Basch already has the Licence for Axes & Hammers 1 and the Handaxe will make
his attack stronger. So off you go and see is what's in the chest. If it's gil
then just reset but if it's a Handaxe or Reflectga Mote then go back to the
Port Launch and save. You must then reset to get rid of the Posse outside the
door and to respawn the chest which appears 90% of the time. Keep doing this
until you have at least 2 reflectga motes and one Handaxe. Equip Basch with the
Handaxe. Now it's time to run the Gauntlet and this isn't easy. Save your game
and reset just in case there are Imperials outside the door. You are now
heading to the Large Freight Stores where there are 3 chests. One may contain
another reflectga mote. Nice if it does...can't have too many of them. Now
before you start this run, having saved your game etc, there is one thing you
need to do first....
KILL VOSSLER !!!
He is a pest. He has the gambit "Nearest Visible Foe" and will attack anything.
If he kills an Imperial then you level up and it's restart from save point.
Turn all gambits off and kill him. Now use Vaan to lead this party and swap him
for Basch. Keep Vaan's gambits off and have Basch, Fran & Balthier's set at
Ally HP<50% Potion and Party Leaders Target: Attack. No one is attacking just
yet but getting ready. Now head to the Large Freight Stores. You will cross a
zone line so any Imperials following will disappear giving you time to heal.
Now it starts to get tough. You have to get through the stores to the door at
the end and out into the passage. Try chests if you want but there are a LOT of
Imperials in there and you really need to get out. This is why I made you get
the Reflectga mote from the other chest. Don't be surprised if you get a game
over whilst doing this run. It is tough in those stores. On one run I got out
with Fran, Balthier and Basch KO'd and Vaan with 12 HP left. However, once you
open the door at the end and get in the passage you have plenty of time to
heal.
Now you are in the Airship Berth Access fully healed. Keep Vaan's gambits off.
The reason for this is that when you want him to open a door you want him to do
it immediately, not after he's thrown a potion. Now it's time to run another
Gauntlet. Set off to the right and flee in an anti clockwise direction.
Imperials will appear but you just have to run past them. If Vaan's HP gets
very low then release the flee button very briefly, long enough for one of the
others to throw a potion over him, then carry on fleeing till you get to the
opposite side where, on your left, is the turning and entrance to the Central
Brig Access. Get that door open as fast as you can.
2 Judges and 4 Imperials await you. There is a short cutscene about taking out
the leaders and the rest will fall and then it's battle time. The INSTANT the
battle starts open your menu. Swap Vaan for Basch making sure all gambits are
on. Now come out of the menu and into battle. You will find a Judge and 2
Imperials in front of you and the same behind you. Get Balthier to throw a WARP
MOTE at the ones in front and Basch throw the other WARP MOTE at the ones
behind you and Fran to attack Judge A. The Judges are immune but the Imperials
aren't. With luck you will get rid of all 4 Imperials which will make the
battle 1000 times easier. If it misses one and it's the Magus then use the
reflectga mote because the Magus will cast blind and poison. The mote will
reflect it along with any other spells. Now just go to work on the Judges. If
anyone is KO'd switch them for Vaan and let him revive them from the field then
switch back again at the earliest possible moment. Vaan is too weak for battle
here but is fine for reviving. If you do get rid of all 4 Imperials with the
Warp Motes then you should REVIVE VOSSLER !!
If things go pear-shaped then you'll just have to accept your game over and try
again. I got quite a few when trying to find the best strategy. However, if all
goes well you can enter the Brig No.1, save, free Ashe and buy from Tetran.
Brig No.1
*********
Make sure Ashe is equipped properly with the best you've got. She will arrive
with 90 odd LP and this is what you MUST do with it. Straight up through
Accessories 4 to the Quickening above it. Leaves her with about 7 LP. It is
imperative you do this. Buy whatever you need from Tetran (Potions & Phoenix
Downs at the Top of the List and then get ready for the run back which is a lot
easier. Come out of the Brig No.1 and through the Central Brig Access door and
turn left. Run all the way round, turn into Freight stores and then off towards
the Port Launch. You can turn the Alarm off if you like but I never found
either the time or the need to. Run out of the stores via the Northwest exit
and turn left and you'll run into Penelo and Larsa. After cutscene Vossler
leaves and Penelo joins along with around 215 LP. Wonderful. Sorry......ALL is
spoken for. I'll tell you what to do with it but for now you are just going to
use a little of it. This is what you must do now with some of Penelo's LP.
Activate the following:
Accessories 2, Accessories 5, Accessories 9, Quickening.
Now head into the Port Launch with both Ashe and Penelo in your party. Oh
yeah.....I hope you have some ethers. You are unlikely to need them but if you
do and you don't have any then a Game Over is odds on. Now enter the Port
Launch and prepare to meet........
Judge Ghis
**********
This is possibly the easiest battle of all. As soon as it starts use Ashe and
Penelo for Quickenings. GET A CONCURRENCE. Each has one bar and you need one
Mist Charge making 3. That is enough for Inferno and will highly likely defeat
the Judge straight off. But if you mess up or it doesn't KO Ghis then instantly
use ethers on Penelo and Ashe and try again. However, you are most likely to
beat him straight off. Congratulations! You have made it through Leviathan
which, as you can now testify, is very difficult to do. Pat yourself on the
back. You now leave the Leviathan and find yourself in Bhujerba. Go and see the
Marquis and view scenes ending up with you "Kidnapping" Ashe. You leave aboard
the Strahl and end up by the Gate Crystal in the Westersand. Save your game and
then prepare to go to King Raithwall's Tomb. Between here and Raithwall's Tomb
pick up odd bits like Eyedrops etc, especially several Handkerchiefs as you
WILL need them. To get to Raithwall's Tomb you now need to cross the desert,
the first part being.....
The Ogir Yensa Sandsea
**********************
This is a case of running through the Sandsea stopping for just a few chests
along the way. Starting in Platform 1 - East Tanks all you have to do is flee
to the next area where there will be a cutscene and Vossler will join as a
guest. On the opposite side of the open area in Platform 1 - Refinery go up the
ramp and find the urn with the map. Then come back down and head for the ramp
in the NE of the section. Go up that and head west to the circular bit and on
the opposite side of that is the exit to the next area, The Central Junction.
Before you go into that area turn to your left and head to the next ring where
there is a chest. Open it and hope you find an ether. Then go back the way you
came and turn left into the Central Junction. After you cross the zone line
turn left and head down what is a dead end. There are 3 chests there and 2
contain ethers. I know this Ether business is probably driving you potty but
you will be glad you have done it and got some ethers. 5 or 6 won't be enough,
you need 10 or more. Now, no more chests (well, there are, but they are out of
the way) so just flee through the Central Junction into Platform 2 - Refinery
and head directly west and into the.....
Nam Yensa Sandsea
*****************
Save your game at the crystal. Now you will see a Moogle talking to a Urutan.
Approach and the Urutan runs off. Talk to the Moogle and then off you go to
tackle the Urutan Eater. Run straight through the first zone keeping to the
left where you'll see some chests. Open them if you like or leave them. It
doesn't matter. But as you get near the bridge you may see a chest to the left
of it. If it's there then open it and you may get another ether. Cross the
bridge and enter Withering Shores where you will see 2 Urutans run off. Follow
them to find a bunch of Urutans fighting the Urutan Eater (actually an
Emeralditan). Ignore the battle for now and keep well back. Don't get involved
now as you need all the Urutans dead so there is just the Urutan Eater left.
These are the gambits to set up now:
Balthier & Basch: Ally: HP<50%: Potion and Foe: Nearest visible: Attack
Fran: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down and Foe: Nearest visible: Attack
If Fran gets KO'd then manually revive her.
When all the Urutans are gone swap in Ashe & Penelo for Balthier & Basch. Set
off a chain of quickenings and get a concurrence. This will probably get rid of
40% of its HP. Instantly swap in Basch & Balthier for Ashe & Penelo and get to
work on Urutan Eater. Whichever of your party is targetted, make them the Party
leader and keep kiting around. Urutan Eater will follow you not attempting to
attack the others while they bash it about. If it changes target then you
change leader accordingly and keep kiting. You'll keep chipping away at its HP
and eventually you'll wear it down and defeat it. After it's over head back to
the Sandsea Moogle, talk to him and then head into Ogir Yensa and up the ramp.
A cutscene with the Moogle and Urutan occurs. Now head back to Nam yensa for a
cutscene & Justice. Speak to the Moogle afterwards and then get the Eksir
berries. Save your game and soft reset which could make the chest next to the
bridge respawn and another ether could be yours. Now flee through The
Urutan-Yensa Sea (checking chest by bridge), through Withering Shores to Augur
Hill. I am going to do another of my crude diagrams here so refer to your
screen map for more accurate picture.
Augur Hill
**********
========== ============================
Withering ==== 1 = = = = =
<------ = = = = =
Shores ==== = = = = ==== Ogir
= = = ---->
= = = ==== Yensa
============ ============= =
= =
= ======= =
= = = = = = =
= = = = = = =
= = = 2 = 3 = 4 = =
= ======= =========================================
= =
= =
==== 5 =
=
=======================
Numbers are chests.
1. Possible Reflectga mote (you MUST have at least 1, preferably 2, before
entering Raithwall's Tomb)
2. Possible ETHER
3. Possible Chopper
4. Possible ETHER/IRON HELM
5. Ignore.
Check the chests 1, 2, 3, and 4. Then go into Ogir Yensa to Gate Crystal and
save your game. 2 reasons for this:
1. It activates the Gate Crystal for further use
2. Soft reset to respawn chests in Augur Hill !!! More Ethers? :o)
Now flee all the way to Raithwalls Tomb and do your best to avoid too much
contact with the Bagolies as they will hurt you. As you get to the tomb area
you are offered the chance to save. Take it !! Now get ready to face.....
Garuda
******
Here are your gambits:
Fran & Balthier: Ally: HP<50%: Potion and Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
Ashe & Penelo: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down and Ally: HP<50%: Potion
Actually, Penelo's gambits are irrelevant because she wont be staying long
enough to use them.
Starting team is Fran, Ashe & Penelo. Go forward and meet Garuda and start
quickening chain with Ashe & Penelo. You MUST get a Concurrence (3 quickenings
needed i.e. 1 mist charge required). If you miss then reset and do it again. As
concurrence finishes instant menu and swap Penelo for Balthier. Get Ashe to use
the Eksir Berries on Garuda (Item). Now let Fran, Balthier and Vossler with his
telekinesis fight Garuda whilst you control Ashe and run around building up her
MP and having her heal where necessary. As Garuda's HP falls it may fly off.
I'm not sure but this may be to heal. Anyway, the moment that happens use an
ether on Penelo (it doesn't matter she's not in the party) and, if Ashe's MP
isn't full, use one on her too. Swap Penelo in for either of the other two and
do another quickening chain and this will finish Garuda off.
After cutscenes Dyce will appear at the foot of the steps. He has things you
need but haven't got the money for so now it's time for something not too good.
But before that you need to do something with Penelo's LP. This is what you
must do.
Activate Black Magick 1, Green Magick 1, Time Magick 1, Time Magick 2 and Time
Magick 3. This gives you the WARP Licence and Mr. Dyce sells Warp Magick. Buy
it!! No money? Oh dear, time to go to Giza and steal from the......
Werewolves
**********
Honestly, I promise, this is the last time you'll have to look at a Werewolf.
But things aren't as bad as they seem. Stealing from the Werewolves isn't the
best of fun but when you have Vossler with you it makes it a lot easier. This
is what you do. Approach the Werewolf slowly and eventually Vossler will target
it. Now move your leader to the back out of the way and send your other 2 in to
steal from the Werewolf. The werewolf will focus on Vossler leaving your 2
thieves to steal from it unmolested. As soon as they have stolen send them into
the other werewolf to steal. Both werewolves will probably concentrate on
Vossler till they kill him. By that time your 2 thieves should have stolen from
both of them and you can then run to the save crystal. Don't worry about
Vossler killing a werewolf because it won't happen. They have very high HP
compared to what damage Vossler does. He would need a 10 hit combo twice just
to knock one down.
So how much do you need to steal? I would say around 130 Quality Hides. This
will give you enough cash to buy everything you need from Dyce plus 99
Hi-Potions and the rest on Phoenix Downs. It took me around an hour and a half
to do all that. When you have done that then it's time to go Back to.....
The Tomb of Raithwall
*********************
When you get to Raithwall this is how you need your party to be equipped:
Balthier: Vega, Soldiers Cap and Heavy Coat.
Fran: Handaxe, Leather Shield, Soldiers Cap and Heavy Coat
Basch: Iron Hammer, Round Shield, Soldiers Cap and Heavy Coat.
Obtain whatever Licences you need for anyone of the above that needs them. All
3 should have the gambits Ally HP<50% Hi-Potion and Foe: Nearest visible:
Attack. Should any of these 3 suffer Telega from the 2nd Demon wall then you'll
have to bring Vaan in. Get him the licences Light Armour 2, Shield 1,and Light
Armours 3 & 4 and equip him accordingly if you lose a character to Telega.
The rest of the money should go on Phoenix Downs and Hi-Potions. I actually had
enough money to buy 99 of each. Well, not quite true. I had to buy 99
Hi-Potions but I already had quite a few Phoenix Downs.
The total cost of the equipment is 15,700 gil. 99 Hi Potions costs 20,790 gil.
That's a total of 36,490 gil. If you stole 130 Quality Hides from the
Werewolves then they would fetch 49,920 gil leaving you 13,430 gil to spend on
Phoenix Downs which would buy 53 which is fine as you probably have quite a few
anyway. Now save your game at the Gate Crystal and then use the Waystone to
enter the Tomb with Fran, Ashe, Penelo and Vossler in your team.
Inside the tomb is another waystone but you can't use it yet until you activate
the one at the other end. Walk down past the First Demon Wall. You can't beat
it so just flee to the end of the corridor into the next room for the....
2nd Demon wall
**************
Make sure Fran is the Party Leader because as you approach the Demon Wall you
don't want it to target Ashe or Penelo. Start a quickening chain with Ashe and
Penelo. If you don't get a concurrence then reset and try again. The moment the
concurrence is over, INSTANTLY go to menu and swap both Ashe & Penelo for
Balthier & Basch. Now use a Reflectga Mote and a Hastega Mote. Then use an
ether on both Ashe and Penelo whilst they are out of the team. They need to be
ready. It would be handy if you had a 2nd Reflectga mote because when the first
one runs out the Demon Wall will start casting sleep. Anyway, just keep bashing
away at the wall using the flames to slow it down etc. You will wear its HP
down quite quickly. As it gets low your reflect will run out and the Wall will
probably cast sleep. If the Wall's HP is 25% or less then swap any 2 of the 3
characters out for Ashe and Penelo and chain quickenings once again. A
concurrence will finish off the Wall. Can you see the point of all the ethers I
kept making you look for?
When you have beaten it, continue down the corridor to the door and go through
and down the steps to where the 3 waystones are. There is an urn with a map at
the back. Use the middle waystone to get back to the beginning of the Tomb and
then the other waystone to go outside and save your game. Believe it or not,
you are now making a slight detour so teleport to......
Rabanastre
**********
No, I'm not mad. This journey is SOOOOO important. Moogle your way to the
Sandsea and accept any hunt on the notice board. Now go to Clan Hall and speak
to Montblanc where you will get rewards for some of the things you have done.
But most important of all, for defeating the 2nd Demon Wall you will get 600
gil and a WARP MOTE !!! This mote is precious. Also accept any hunt he has for
you. Now make your way to either the Sandsea or the Muthru Bazaar, Moogle your
way to Southgate and teleport back to the.....
Tomb of Raithwall
*****************
Save your game and then use the waystone to go in. Then use waystone inside to
get back to where the 3 waystones are. Now you have to go through the Northfall
Passage and the Southfall Passage and flick the switch in each one. As you
flick the switch lots of foes appear. Just hit the waystone and get out of
there. Once you have done both you are ready to go to meet......
Belias, The Gigas
*****************
Before you go to meet Belias I recommend you use the waystones and go outside
and save your game. Then come back to the three waystones. Now use one of the
two coloured waystones and teleport. Go through the space you opened up and
follow the path to Belias. Don't forget that there are 4 chests round there and
you can get to 2 now. One of them has an elixir. Don't forget it. The other two
chest can be accessed during or after the battle with Belias and You have a
50/50 chance of getting another elixir. I got a White Fang :o( Gambits remain
the same as does the starting Party, Fran, Ashe & Penelo with Fran as leader.
But before you go in equip Basch with the Manufacted Nethecite which will halve
any fire damage from Belias. This will enable Basch to survive Belias's big
attack which may or may not KO the other 2. Start a quickening chain and get a
concurrence. Immediately switch Ashe & Penelo for Basch & Balthier, use an
ether on Ashe and Penelo and go to work on Belias. When he lines up the biggie
makes sure you get rid of the oil. I presume you got Handkerchiefs etc along
the way like I told you to? Manually revive any KO's but if 2 get KO'd at once
bring Vaan in to help revive and then switch him out again. Don't use Ashe or
Penelo unless all 3 are KO'd. Just chip away at Belias's HP and when it gets
low swap in Ashe and Penelo, quickenings and concurrence and Belias falls.
Assign Belias to Basch on the Licence Board. The reason for using Basch is that
he has the least MP so it takes less time to charge his Mist Bar up. Believe
me, Belias will be working very hard quite soon and it won't be against King
Bomb.
Now it's time to get the Dawn Shard but before you do, if you have money left
and want to top up Hi-Potions etc then use the waystone to go outside and get
Hi-Potions from Dyce. The moment you pick up the Dawn Shard he is no longer
there. So stock up and then make your way back and get the Dawn Shard. When you
have it, go back outside, make your party Basch, Ashe and Penelo, make attack
gambits PARTY LEADER'S TARGET instead of Nearest Visible, save your game and
watch the cutscenes. Before you know it you are aboard.....
The Light Cruiser Shiva
***********************
Fran will throw a wobbly as the Dawn Shard gets to work and will literally go
Berserk and for this reason you don't want her in the party as you need to be
selective. Now it's time to fight Vossler and 3 Imperials. The moment the
battle begins you use the WARP MOTE and hopefully wave bye-bye to the 3
Imperials. If it misses one, no problems. If it misses 2 then reset. I tried
this twice and it got rid of all 3 each time. If it leaves an imperial behind
then start a chain of quickenings and the concurrence will kill the 3rd
Imperial. This is ok provided you have Basch, Ashe and Penelo in the Party. The
Imperial gives 338 EXP divided between 3 which is approximately 113 each.
Basch, Ashe & Penelo's next level up is 217 so you are fine to kill the
Imperial. The moment all Imperials are gone swap Balthier and the Berserked
Fran back in for Ashe and Penelo. You wont need another quickening chain. Alone
Vossler can be beaten easily. He may KO someone but just revive manually. After
you defeat Vossler you leave Shiva and watch lots of scenes before you are to
leave for Jahara. But before you go to Jahara you have a few things to do.
The first thing is to go to Bhujerba and do the Nidhogg Hunt (See Hunt No.4).
After the Nidhogg Hunt you need to finish the Dalmascan Patient Sidequest. You
need to have brought Dante's wife the Cactus Flower, 5 Semclam shells, 2 Phials
of Nebralim, 3 lots of Valeblossom Dew (do NOT attempt to tease the Worgens)
and the Great Serpentskin from the Nidhogg Hunt. For this you will get the
Barheim Key and a Golden Amulet which you can put on Ashe. As money is now
tight, buying Golden Amulets is out of the question (unless you wanna visit the
Werewolves again?) but don't worry about it because even if you could buy them
you can't equip them yet due to lack of LP so you may as well just take this
one for free. The next most important thing on the list is Thiefs Cuffs. More
on that shortly. Dalmascan Patient sidequest over? Now head to......
Nalbina Town
************
Just by the Gate Crystal you will find July the Streetear. Talk to her and then
go and hire a chocobo (800 gil?? Sheeeesh!) Ride the chocobo towards the guards
and watch them run. The way to the Mosphoran Highwaste is now open. Head to the
Babbling Vale by chocobo and save at the Gate crystal. Go see Luccio the
Merchant and buy at least 1 set of Thiefs Cuffs, preferably 2. If you are
really short of cash then I suggest that after you do the Nidhogg hunt you can
do the Sidequest in Bhujerba with the Bottles of Bhujerban Madhu. There is
14,000 gil to be made there. Me? I hate that sidequest and would rather steal
30 odd Quality hides from the Werewolves. Meh, take your pick. Oh dear, it's
raining in Giza....no werewolves. Whatever you do, when you've done it, head
back to........
Rabanastre
**********
Before you go trotting off to Jahara I suggest doing 3 Hunts but before you do
get Balthier and Fran the licence for another gambit. The first is the Wraith
Hunt (see Hunt 5), then the Croakadile Hunt (See Hunt 6) and finally the do
the Rocktoise in Bhujerba (See Hunt 7). When you go to Bhujerba you might want
to use the Skyferry as this will give you an opportunity to start the Sisters
Sidequest. On the Skyferry to Bhujerba you can buy Hi-Potions and Phoenix Downs
if you want to. Also available are Teleport Stones and it might be an idea to
get some if you are short plus a handful of Ghysal Greens as you will
definitely need some. After you have done these 3 hunts head back to
Rabanastre. Whilst in Rabanastre you have a choice, depending on what money you
have. If you can afford it I would advise you to buy 2 Main Gauche Daggers.
It's not vital, you can even do without them, but if possible get them. If you
don't want to pay for them then you can farm them in Giza. As you come out of
the west exit of the village by the blue crystal you will come to a bridge.
don't cross it but go left and round the corner is a chest which can contain a
Main Gauche. If you want to do a bit of save and reset you can get 2 there. The
choice is yours but for now you need to head to the Southgate when you are
ready. Head out of town and onto Giza in the rains. The foes here are a lot
stronger than they are in the dry. If you want to you can go around and chop
down the 6 withered trees which open the way to The Tracks of the Beast, the
area where Gil Snapper will be found. This has to be done eventually so why not
now? Empty chests as there are better things to be found during the Rains than
in the dry. Lots of Ethers, Motes, Gambits, Weapons, Armour, Accessories and
Knots of Rust are in these chests and higher amounts of gil up to 300. Much
better than the dry. When you are done head to the south of Starfall Field to
the exit which leads to.....
The Ozmone Plain
****************
Not a lot to be done here (except empty chest) so head south through the Field
of Fallen Wings into The Switchback; head southeast to Haulo Green and then
take the West exit to.......
Jahara, Land of the Garif
*************************
Save at the Gate crystal and then head to the bridge for a scene and you will
be allowed to enter. Have a roam around if you like but make sure you talk to
High Chief Zayalu who will give you a Java Stick. Next to him, seated on the
ground is Geomancer Yugelu. This is the chappie you have to talk to when you
get the 10 Espers and he will open the gate to the Henne Mines. Now go and
speak to Supinelu who will arrange a meeting with the Top Boss Garif for you.
Before you go to see the Great Chief, go find Low-Chief Sugumu on the
Elderknoll and accept the Enkelados Hunt. Now go see the Chief and do some
scenes and eventually get Larsa in the party. When you leave the village you
are offered a free chocobo ride. Accept it but before you do, save at the gate
crystal. Now ride the chocobo through Haulo Green to the Switchback and onto
The Greensnake. Turn right and loop your way down to the North Section of the
Shred. You are now going to do the Enkelados Hunt (See Hunt 8). Having beaten
Enkelados you need to go back to Jahara but when you cross the zone line into
The Greensnake there will be a million and one Wus waiting for you. It's a
gauntlet to run but just loop back up the top and exit on the left into the
Switchback, probably using a few phoenix downs and hi-potions on the way. As
you head to the exit to Haulo green on your left you may find a chest with an
Ether. Head through Haulo Green to Jahara and save. Now teleport to.....
The Mosphoran Highwaste
***********************
Ashe should now be licensed for thiefs cuffs and the battle with Enkelados will
have given you enough LP for her to learn Steal. You now need money but this is
the last time you'll do anything like this and it is a vast improvement on the
Werewolves and chest farming. You need to head for the Gate Crystal in
Salikawood as you are now going to pay the King Bomb a visit. There are 2 ways
to get there. The first is to flee all the way through the Mosphoran Highwaste
and Salikawood to the crystal. This I do not advise. Here is what you should
do. First make sure you have 1 set of thiefs cuffs. Now leave the Babbling Vale
via the Northwest exit. Follow the LOW path along the Trail of Sky-flung Stone.
At the end of the path on the right is a weathered rock. Hit it and you will
have access to the Rays of Ashen Light where there is a chocobo. Feed it Ghysal
greens (from the Sky Ferry?) and then you have time to ride all the way to the
gate crystal in.......
Salikawood
**********
You should have enough LP for both Vaan and Penelo to obtain the Daggers 3
licence each. Your team here will be Vaan, Ashe and Penelo. Give Vaan and
Penelo the Main Gauche Dagger as it raises Evade +34. Give Vaan the Leather
Shield and Penelo the Escutcheon. If you've opened enough chests etc then you
must have them. If not, don't worry, just equip them with what ever. Give Ashe
whatever you can but make sure you have the thiefs cuffs on her. Turn gambits
for Vaan and Penelo OFF and for Ashe have Foe: Nearest Visible: Steal. You are
now going stealing from King Bomb. I am going to do you a little diagram which
is how things will be when you enter the zone with Penelo as leader. I have
left Larsa off the map because he is neither a help nor a hindrance. Just
ignore him.
Little Bombs
x x x
KING BOMB
X
X
Penelo
X X
Ashe Vaan
CC
CC
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - << Zone Line
As King Bomb moves towards you then move Penelo to the corner next to the zone
line (marked by the 4 C's) but cut across Ashe as you do it. This will hinder
Ashe's progress as she targets King Bomb for a steal but that makes Vaan the
front man and HE will be targetted by King Bomb leaving Ashe free to steal. If
King Bomb ever targets Penelo just switch leader to Vaan. As soon as Ashe
steals get Penelo to cross the line. Vaan may get KO'd but as you cross the
line you are right next to the save crystal. However, the Main Gauche may
protect Vaan and when you cross the zone line no one will have taken any damage
so you can just go straight back in to steal, saving time. If not, just revive
and go back. You don't have to go two zones. For some reason King Bomb
replenishes his goodies and you can steal again straight away. This is what you
can steal:
Very Common: Bomb Shell sells for 896 gil
Common: Fire Crystal sells for 160 gil
Rare: Bomb Fragment sells for 1911 gil
I want you to steal 99 Bomb Shells plus whatever Fire Crystals and Bomb
Fragments come your way. Count those as extra. When you have done that make
your way (or teleport) back (with around 100k) to....
Jahara
******
Have Fran, Balthier and Basch learn Light Armours 5. Now go to the Garif Trader
and "Take your time, for the World has much of it for the taking" and buy 3 Red
Caps and 3 Brigandines and equip them on your main 3. If you haven't found a
Sirius in a chest yet then buy one now for Balthier and stock up on Hi-Potions
and Phoenix Downs. Buy some Gold Needles too as you may well need some soon.
You will find that Gil-Toss is also available now and you are going to need
this later. If you have the money buy it but don't worry if you haven't as it
can be bought later on. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ONE POTION. If not, buy one from the
Garif bloke. Now head out of the village and save at the gate crystal. Hire a
chocobo (only 30 gil here!) and head to where the 2nd lot of chocobos are in
Haulo Green. Behind them is a chocobo path and it's a good short cut through
Ozmone Plain. Head past the save crystal and into the Golmore Jungle, take the
route to your left and make your way to where the Barrier is. Nice and safe
aboard the chocobo, eh? :o) Time to do some storyline stuff with Fran and then
in Eruyt Village. Leave Eruyt Village and flee through Golmore Jungle back to
Ozmone Plain. As you enter the save crystal area (save your game) you will see
2 Imperials. Give them a potion and then use their chocobo to ride the chocobo
only path to the south section of the Shred and the entrance of the.....
Henne Mines
***********
Now comes the run. Go into the Henne Mines/North Entrance and operate the Gate
Switch. Now flee to Pithead Junction A and turn right into Phase 1 Shaft. Run
through here as fast as you can, as you'll get mobbed by bats, and into the
Phase 1 Dig and let the gambits heal you after you cross the zone line. More
fleeing through here to Crossover A, through there to Crossover B and through
there to Pithead Junction B healing and reviving at all the zone lines. I
actually got mobbed so bad when I took a wrong turn in Phase 1 Dig I got a game
over on my first run so don't be surprised if it happens to you. Now in this
Pithead Junction B you have use the Gate Switch. As soon as you do then get out
fast or you'll be mobbed by Jellies. Flee again through Crossover A and into
Crossover B. Go anti clockwise round Crossover B and exit into the Staging
Shaft where you'll get scenes with Mjrn. After the scenes you will be next to
the Gate Crystal. It's now time to set up and get ready for your final Boss
battle before you can get the FIREFLY !! Here comes.....
TIAMAT
******
These are the gambits:
Fran & Balthier: Ally: any: phoenix down, ally: HP<50%: Hi potion, Foe: nearest
visible: attack
Basch: Foe: nearest visible: attack
They don't often change but this time we are going to have Basch attacking only
but his will change during the battle. Put the Manufacted Nethicite on
Balthier. His HP is high and someone needs to be able to survive Tiamat's
Breath attacks as they have the capability to KO team members. Balthier will
survive it and be able to revive the others.
As usual your opening team is Fran, Ashe and Penelo. Larsa will be there to
help with his hi potions but because of his low HP he's gonna bite the dust a
lot. Most of the Phoenix downs you use will be on him but he will save you hi
potions and you're going to use a lot more hi potions than phoenix downs.
Everything set? Save your game and walk forward into the Ore Separation area
where you battle with Tiamat begins.
Same start as normal, a quickening chain with Ashe and Penelo and it would be
nice to do somewhere between 4k and 6k damage. If you miss your concurrence
then reset and do it again. Now switch in Basch and Balthier and go to work on
Tiamat. Balthier's gun will probably do more consistant damage than Basch and
his Iron Hammer but the gun is slower plus some of Basch's critical hits will
do good damage. Just keep chipping away at Tiamat's HP and let the gambits (and
Larsa) do the healing. As you get Tiamat's HP down towards critical his attacks
step up and start to do more damage. Time for a change of tactics. Open the
menu and activate Basch's gambit Ally: HP<50%: Hi Potion. Back to the game and
SUMMON BELIAS !! Now try and keep Belias between Basch and Tiamat and let
Tiamat focus on Belias and not on Basch. Just let Basch heal and occasionally
get in a hit or two. All the time keep Basch healing Belias and running around
to build his MP back up. After Belias uses Hellfire you are back to the full
party again. Guess what? All that running around has given Basch a full Mist
Bar again so summon Belias once more and do the same again. Keep summoning
Belias for the rest of the battle until his HP is low enough to use a
quickening. Use an ether on Ashe and Penelo whilst they are out of the game and
then swap them in for the quickening chain and concurrence. If it fails to kill
off Tiamat then its HP will be so low that one more summoning of Belias will
finish him off. BTW...you don't have to wait until Tiamat's HP is low to use
Belias. Feel free to use him at any time during the battle but he will need
quite a few Hi potions and Larsa isn't there with you so you have to use your
own stock.
The very first time I fought Tiamat it took me an hour to beat him. This time
took me 27 minutes. I used 57 Hi Potions (plus whatever Larsa used) and 17
Phoenix Downs. It's battles like these that make me glad of the early grinding
I did to get money so I can keep a stash of 99 hi potions and phoenix downs all
the time.
After Tiamat you will do some cutscenes with Mjrn, Fran & Jote and receive
Lente's Tear. Buy Haste from Tetran by the Gate crystal as you leave Eruyt
Village and then head back to.......
Jahara
******
I can hear you asking "Why go back to Jahara?" Well, there is method in my
madness. Teleport to Jahara and go to the Garif trader and restock. Also, buy
the INFUSE Technick. Now go back to the Gate Crystal and save. Your next
destination is Mt Bur Omisace via the Paramina Rift. If you go the normal way
then you will have to face Elder Wyrm who is a tougher version of Tiamat with
more HP, 2 assistants and lots of Nasty status effects to shove on you. You are
going to take a detour through the Golmore Jungle and The Feywood to get to the
Paramina rift. Now getting gang-banged by Hellhounds in Golmore and by Deadly
Nightshades in The Feywood is not fun nor is it any good for your HP. So I have
a little trick. Hire a chcocobo from Jahara. Take the short cut to where the
blue crystal is on the other side of Ozmone Plain and into the Golmore Jungle
and turn right. Head south through The Paths of Chained Light to the Southwest
corner of the Needlebrake. Keeping to the right head through the Needlebrake
till you come to a turning to the right which will take you into the Rustling
Chapel. Head south to the Feywood. As you enter the Feywood hug the left wall
and very quickly, just past the Golem, you come to the exit to the Paramina
Rift. If you use the sprint on the chocobo 3 times on the long bits of pathway
here and there you will have enough time to get from Jahara to the Paramina
Rift without having to get off the chocobo and flee through all the nasties.
For those struggling to follow the route I have a video on YouTube showing you
how to get there using the Chocobo and you can find it at the following link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OyXGAnmVzt4
I tell you....that is the best 30 gil you will spend in this game to ride that
chocobo. Now dismount and enter....
Mt Bur-Omisace
**************
Save at the Gate Crystal and go to the merchant and buy 3 Headbands and 3
Jujitsu Gi's and have Fran, Balthier and Basch obtain Light Armours 6.
Unfortunately you might be 10 LP short for Basch. If so, don't worry, just
leave him with the Red Cap and Brigadine. It won't be a problem. Head up to the
Temple and do all the Storyline Scenes stuff with the Gran Kiltias etc and then
head back to the Gate Crystal. Hire a chocobo and head south through the
Paramina Rift to......
The Stilshrine of Miriam
************************
A few things to do first and then it's Firefly time. Save at Gate Crystal and
enter the Stilshrine. Equip Fran with the Dawn Shard and activate the Pedestal
of the Dawn and you'll be whisked off to the Ward of Velitation. Behind you to
the left is a chest and you'll get an Elixir or a Megalixir. If you really want
the Megalixir (I did) and you miss it (I did) then reset and do it again. I got
mine on the 3rd attempt. Btw, the trap by the chest is a rejuvenation or
manafont trap so set it off to heal any damage done by the damned bats along
the way. Now run through the Ward of Velitation, dodging the Dragon Aevises and
the 2 Miriam Facers into the Walk of Torn Illusion. Head all the way round it
to the 2nd Pedestal of the Dawn and activate it. New hidden paths in the Ward
of Velitation now open up. Now go back to the Ward of Velitation (Dodging all
the Miriam Guardians you have woken up on your run). Now take note. Because you
haven't gone 2 zones the Dragon Aevis trio and the 2 Facers will be waiting for
you as you re-enter so immediately turn left or right (doesn't matter which)
and run like hell up the new pathway and into the Walk of Revelation. Go round
the corner but ignore the save crystal because it isn't one. It's a Crystalbug.
Go down the steps into the Ward of the Sword King, run straight ahead past the
Blood Gigases and turn left. Run down there past all the baddies and touch the
Sword of Judgement. A door will open at the opposite end revealing a waystone.
Run to it and use it and you will be back the first entrance hall, the Ward of
Measure. Make your way outside and save at the gate crystal and get ready to
run the gauntlet to obtain your first....
Firefly
*******
This is a percentage run and you may need to do it a few times before you get
your Firefly. The first time I played 122333 it took 11 attempts for me to get
the Firefly and was promptly killed on the way out about 10 seconds from
safety. I was FURIOUS. It then took another 9 attempts for it to reappear and I
got out a different way which I will explain. But this time round, whilst
playing the game for this guide, I got it first time. Funny game, eh? So are
you ready? Here goes. Enter the Stilshrine and turn right. Go down the steps
and open the door. Run forward and take the turn to the right into the Walk of
Prescience. Turn to the right and then head up the long corridor and round the
corner, past the 2 Balloons, 2 Facers and 2 undead that come out of the ground
near the statue and head down the stairs into the Walk of Reason. You will have
taken damage along the way so heal at the zone line. From now on lots of undead
will be popping out of the ground as you flee along. Continue forward and round
the corner and open the door. In front of you is a room with a door. If you
haven't got Libra activated then there is a trap dead centre of the room. Head
to the door and open it, go through and turn left. Follow the path and loop
round and run up the stairs. Take the turn to the left and then turn right and
head up more stairs. By the time you get to the top all the undead will have
stopped chasing you so heal up now. You are now going to head to the left and
it's a dead end and at the end of it are possibly 3 chests. The firefly, if
it's there, is in the MIDDLE chest. Unfortunately, between you and the chest
are 2 Facers and 2 Balloons and they can cause MAJOR problems. But I have a
solution. Switch in Penelo. Creep up the the Facers and Balloons and use Warp.
You can use it twice and it would be cool to get rid of at least 2 of the four.
If you miss you can always run back down the path until the balloons stop
chasing you. Then have Penelo run around and build up MP and try again. Once
you have got rid of 2 then head for the chest. If the chest isn't there or it
hasn't got the firefly in it then reset and do the run again. Keep doing this
until the Firefly is there.
When you get the Firefly I don't want you to make the same mistake I did. I
went back the way I came and I think this is an error because all the undead
that came out of the ground are still around. This gives you less time to get
past them as they are already out of the ground waiting for you and you will
take more damage. By the time you get to the next zone you could have HP
problems. 2 zombies will be waiting for you along with 2 Facers and 2 Balloons.
This is how I got a game over. I was overwhelmed before I could heal properly.
Once your main party is gone the other 3 are too weak to cope. So you are going
to go back another, safer way.
Head away from where you got the Firefly but don't turn to go down the stairs.
Carry straight on to the end of the passage and you will see a Facer in the Top
right corner. Pass it close by the left corner and it will ignore you. In front
of you is a Statue and a few Balloons. DON'T turn to the left. Run past the
statue and the Balloons and then go round the corner and up the long passage.
As you get the chance briefly let go of the flee button and let the gambits
heal any damage. Run all the way to the top of the passage, past another couple
of Balloons and go round the corner. On your right is an exit to the other side
of Cold Distance. Follow this route, pass a Miriam Guardian but do NOT turn
right as you don't want to be facing Vinuskar just yet. Just head straight on
to the door and open it. You are now in the Main Entrance Hall, The Ward of
Measure. Up the stairs, out the door and save at the gate crystal. You now have
a Firefly and a passage home. Btw, although the route out is easier than the
route in you can't go that way on the route in because the door only opens from
the other side. Anyway, it is now time to get thousands of LP each and make
lots of money so head back to.......
Rabanastre
**********
Ok, before you get started this is what you need. Make sure you have 6 Golden
Amulets. Even though someone now has to equip a Firefly you may find boss
battles, hunts etc which don't need accessories and double LP for all is always
handy. If you don't have them you can get them from Luccio in Mosphoran
Highwaste. If you don't have enough money go see King Bomb. You will also need
99 Phoenix Downs. It's time to chain.....
Dustia
******
Chaining Dustia is not difficult and I will explain the easiest way IMO to do
it but before I do, this is what you are trying to achieve by doing this. You
will need for each player:
1. The most important of all and the first to obtain is Accessories 8 which is
the Golden Amulet. Dustia gives 3 LP a kill and that's 6 with a Golden Amulet
so
the sooner they are equipped on everyone the faster the LP goes up and the less
you have to chain Dustia.
2. Then Accessories 12 for the Firelfy
3. Go down the Technicks and for now get Infuse and Gil-Toss
4. All the Augment section including gambits
5. Every gun Licence and Light Armour Licence.
6. You now need to make your way to Accessories 20 which is the Nihopalaoa and
it will be acquired very soon. Next to the gun, this Accessory is going to be
your best friend.
7. Make sure everyone has the Licence for Warp (Time Magick 3)
8. Quickenings. Make sure at least 3 character have their full quickenings. You
will need them soon.
Now this is a lot of LP you need and Dustia is going to have to be chained a
fair bit but for every 99 chain that is almost 600 LP for 5 characters with the
Golden Amulet and nearly 300 for the one with the firefly. Each character can
take a turn with the firefly and chaining. You'll have to do 99 with each
player at least once. I can average 2 per minute which makes allowances for
having to reduce your HP when you get an HP bonus with a drop. Dustia only
appears when you have less that 10% of your maximum HP. The bonus to all this
is that you'll make around 50k for every 99 chain. I recommend chaining Dustia
1000 times. That's 5-6000 LP each. Takes a while but well worth it.
When you are ready, make your way solo to the Galtea Downs in the Westersand
with the character who has the firefly. If a wolf gets in the way just kill it.
Stand by the north exit to the Corridor of Sand. You now need to get your HP to
less than 10%. If you already have the Infuse Technick then it's easy. Just use
infuse on yourself and your MP disappears and your HP becomes 10 times what
your MP was. Now you have no MP. Run around till you get 1 MP and then use
Infuse again. Now you will have 10 HP which is well low enough. However, it
doesn't matter if your HP is only 1 because Dustia doesn't land a hit. You'll
need to use this Technick quite often as your chain builds as loot drops
sometimes add HP which can take you over 10%. If you don't have Infuse then
either hit yourself until your HP drops very low or get a party member to do
it.
Turn all gambits of first or you'll start healing yourself. When your HP is
less than 10% then use the gambit Foe: Nearest Visible: Phoenix Down. Time to
chain Dustia.
Dustia is a teleport undead monster. The idea is to kill him and leave the
screen before he disappears, grabbing the loot if you can. If you are
successful he will reappear as soon as you cross the line back into his area
again. This is IMO the best way to do this.
Enter the Corridor of Sand from the Galtea Downs and you are on a narrow path
which is good because it means Dustia will appear close by. As you enter move
to the left near the zone line. As Dustia appears move right in front of him
face to face. Your gambit will then use a phoenix down which is an instant
kill. As soon as it lands press the 'X' button and freeze the screen. Any loot
coming out will fall to the floor even though the game is frozen. If you are
face to face with Dustia it will land at your feet. Keeping the stick pressed
forward (you wont go anywhere cos Dustia is in the way) unfreeze the screen.
You will pick the loot up straight away. Immediately pull back on the stick and
you will leave the screen in plenty of time with the loot. Just keep doing
this. For those struggling to follow my explanation I have another video on
YouTube for you showing how to chain Dustia. This is the link for that video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=A1tbhotsBK4
The loot will be a Book of Orgain selling at over 500 or a Flame Staff selling
at 1200. As you go up the chain levels you will get multiple drops. If you
leave the screen too late then Dustia won't respawn until you have left the
Westersand and returned. 2 zones doesn't work. If you go to Rabanastre you will
break your chain which is ok if its early on. But what if your chain is in the
60's or 70's? Then you have to either run south to Giza and back or west, past
the merchant, into Ogir Yensa and back to save your chain. If you go via Ogir
Yensa you can sell what goods you have to the merchant, Lohen, and stock up on
more phoenix downs. Touching the gate crystal will break your chain. If you do
this chain of 99 for each person using the firefly once then you will have over
3000 LP for each character and around 300,000 gil or more.
Use your LP to acquire the Licences quoted above and when you are ready go back
to Rabanastre and teleport to......
The Mosphoran Highwaste
***********************
Stock up on Hi-Potions with Luccio and then head south to the Estersand/Broken
Sands. In the North area as you enter there are a total of 4 Slaven Wilders.
Use Balthier as leader with the Firefly and use Fran and Basch with him. Use
healing and Party leaders Target gambits. Attack a Slaven which will target the
leader for virtually the whole battle except for when it uses spinkick when it
will target all. As its HP gets low take Fran and Basch out and finish the
Slaven off with Balthier alone. If the Slaven ever changes target then switch
the 2 untargetted ones out but makes sure the character left in is equipped
with the firefly. Now kill the Slaven. If you are lucky it will drop a firefly.
You want 2. It took me 20 kills to get 2 fireflies. If you are having trouble
with critical hits causing too much damage and levelling you up then there is
another way. Just use Basch, hit the slaven a few times and then summon Belias
who will finish it off with you. You will then probably have enough time to
attack and kill another Slaven before Belias's time runs out. DON'T let Belias
use Hellfire if the Dive Talons are very close. It wont kill the Dive Talon but
it will really annoy it and their dive-bombing can cause some big damage to you
as you try and make your escape. When all Slavens in the area are dead then
just head north through the Mosphoran Highwaste and there is another zone
fairly close. Head back for more Slavens. Once you have got 2 fireflies from
the Slavens then head for....
Mt Bur-Omisace.
***************
Buy 3 Betelgeuses and then head for the Stilshrine of Miriam. You can go one of
3 ways. Teleport, ride a chocobo or, equipped with 3 fireflies, fight your way
across the Paramina Rift. Whichever way you go, when you get there, save at the
Gate Crystal. Time to get the Sword of Kings so enter the....
Stilshrine of Miriam
********************
The idea here now is to follow the same route virtually as you took to get to
the Firefly so enter the Stilshrine and turn right, go down the stairs and open
the door. A Miriam Guardian is there but just ignore it and turn right into the
Walk of Prescience. Go right and along the corridor. You will see 2 Balloons.
Warp them. It may take more than 1 go but it'll be a damned sight faster than
guns as the guns will do little damage to them. At the end of the corridor are
2 Facers. These can be warped or shot. Two zombies will come out of the ground
by the statue. Again, warp them or shoot them. If there is any shooting done
then make sure you have the Fireflies equipped. Now rotate the statue until it
faces the east. Press Select and check your map to make sure it's pointing in
the right direction. Now go down the stairs along the corridor, round the
corner and through the 2 doors either warping or shooting the undead along the
way. Turn right outside the 2nd door, left up the stairs and then right. Turn
the corner to the left (Facer on Opposite Side) and you will see the 2nd
statue. Again, warp the 3 Balloons out of there. Now turn the statue to face
north and use your map to check. Now go around the corner, all the way up the
corridor past 3 or 4 Balloons and left at the end. To your right is an exit
into the other side of Cold Distance. In front of you a Miriam Guardian will
stand up. It cannot be warped. 6-8 shots to kill it or just run past it and
turn right into the Ward of Steel. Go down the stairs where there is a door. On
the other side is.....
Vinuskar
********
Set 50% Potion, phoenix down, and nearest visible foe gambits, and enter. This
is what happened to me. I sent 2 in to steal from Vinuskar, Balthier made 1
shot with his Betelgeuse, I made a 12 hit quickening chain, got a Torrent
concurrence and Vinuskar was gone. I was so surprised that I forgot to remove
the thiefs cuffs I had on for the steal, went back outside, shot a Redmaw and
promptly levelled up and had to reload. I repeated everything, got back to
Vinuskar, beat him up a little and then did a quickening. Again he was gone.
This Boss is VERY easy. When you have defeated him then go through the door,
get the map from the urn and then turn the statue to face west. If you have
done all 3 statues correctly you will now get a message on screen saying the
Colossus has undergone a change. Head back the way you came, up the stairs and
you will see the Sword lifted. Head through the door to your right and make
your way around to the waystone. Teleport to the Ward of the Sword King. Turn
left past the Blood Gigases and into the walk of revelation. Now you can fight
the Crystalbug. Once defeated, save your game at the new crystal. Now head back
into the Ward of the Sword King and go to the left. Fight the Blood Gigases if
you want to and Darkmare can be Warped. Go under the Sword and up to the Door.
Beyond it lies....
Mateus, The Corrupt
*******************
This is where you will be glad you chained those Slaven Wilders and got the
extra Fireflies. Mateus will fight with Ice Azers alongside and if all 3 of
your characters didn't have Fireflies you would have a tough time as you
couldn't kill the Ice Azers as they give EXP. And guess what? You can't Warp
them either as they are immune to it.
So with the usual gambits of 50% for Hi-potion, Phoenix Downs and Nearest foe
attack, open the door. Start off with a quickening chain and, with a decent
concurrence, you'll remove the Ice Azers straight away. If you miss then just
get down to battle and let the gambits heal you whilst you take damage and
rebuild your MP. When your MP gets back then start another set of quickenings
and with a concurrence you will probably kill them all. If Mateus is still
standing its HP will be so low that you will finish the job very quickly. Not a
difficult Esper to obtain if you have the 3 Fireflies.
Now go though the door into the Vault of Champions, watch some scenes and
receive the Sword of kings. Now make your way out of The Stilshrine but be
careful if you killed Darkmare on the way in. If you did then there is a good
chance you'll meet Negalmuur on the way out. Teleport back to the Ward of
measure, go outside, save your game and head back to.......
Mt Bur-Omisace
**************
Restock with the Merchant and then head to the temple. Some scenes and then its
battle time. Along with 3 other Judges you will now face.....
Judge Bergan
************
There are several ways to do this but these are the best 2. Draw all the Judges
together and then start a quickening chain. I did this and got an Ark Blast
Concurrence. It killed them all in one hit. That was boring so I reset and this
time just performed a quickening chain on the three Judges. They are behind you
whilst Bergan is in front. The concurrence killed the Judges. Then I just
fought Bergan until he became critical and then finished him off with
quickenings that failed to produce a concurrence. Not difficult at all. More
scenes then head outside, get the Stone of the Condemner from the Acolyte and
then head back down the mountain, restock with the merchant and save at the
Gate Crystal. Now you have defeated Judge Bergan, Remedies are available at Mt
Bur-Omisace so I advise buying quite a few. I presume that you have been
checking Noticeboards regularly. I hope so because now you are going to do
another Hunt. Next to the Merchant is Hymms and he will offer you the Mark,
Feral Retriever. Accept and go on this hunt now as it is very close (see Hunt
9). One more Hunt now and you can get a Nihopalaoa and you are going to do it
now. As the petitioner is in Amal's Weaponry, teleport back to.....
Rabanastre
**********
On arrival do the Wyvern Lords Hunt (see Hunt 10). Right. Ten hunts completed
and time to meet a new friend called Nihopalaoa. First go to the Sandsea and
check for new Hunts. Make this a habit every time you pass a noticeboard. Now
go to clan Hall and see Montblanc for a few more goodies and cash and then head
to the Muthru Bazaar and the Clan Provisioner. Reverse Magick is now available
if you want to get that and also Nihopalaoa. Buy 3. If you haven't got the
money then go see King Bomb and steal from him till you do have enough. Equip
the Nihopalaoa on your 3 reserves. If you don't have enough LP then go chain
Dustia till you do.
Stock up on Hi potions, phoenix downs and remedies and then go to Panamis
protectives and buy 3 Goggle masks and 3 Metal jerkins. Always kit your reserve
team out in what the main team discard. I would also suggest that you have 3
Main Gauche equipped on your reserve team with a decent shield. Diamond shields
are available in Rabanastre. Your reserve team won't be doing much attacking
but they will be inflicting bad statuses on the enemy so a high evade stat is
good. If you need to warp a lot of foes to get through to the Big Bad Foe
(Antlion for example) then use the reserve party to do it as they will dodge a
lot of attacks due to the high evade stat they have and all their gambits will
be healing only. Use your own initiative now for things like Monograph buying
and also I'm not going to tell you what Magicks etc to buy as I think you can
decide for yourself as only you know how much gil you have, though Protect,
Shell & Haste are a must. Needless to say, a lot of the status magics like
Blind and Silence etc are almost redundant because of the Nihopalaoa + Remedy.
Also, if want to silence King Bomb for example, why use a magick that can miss
when I have Niho + Echo Herb for a guaranteed instant hit? Ok, all done? Time
to do another Hunt so head to.........
Giza
****
Now you have completed the story up to Judge Bergan the rains have finished in
Giza and from now on you'll have 2 hours of Dry and one hour of Rains. The
weather changes when the minutes on your game clock show 00. Head to Giza
Village as it's Cluckatrice time (see Hunt 11). See how good the Nihopalaoa is?
What an easy hunt. Anyway, whilst your in Giza you may as well give the Ring of
the Toad to Elder Brunoa and the Erremona Leaf to Lesina who will give you 2
remedies for it.
This is actually a good time to catch up on some hunts and I am going to
suggest the ones you should do. You may not feel like doing them all now but
they have to be done at some time. Anyway, at least do this first one as it
will demonstrate the Nihopalaoa even better. The hunts to do now are:
Ring Wyrm (see Hunt 12)
Marilith (see Hunt 13)
Ixtab (see Hunt 14)
Mindflayer (see Hunt 15)
NB. Petitioners for 14 & 15 are both in Jahara and the Marks are both in the
Henne Mines. Accept both hunts together and do them both at the same time and
make sure you have 99 hi-potions and lots of Chronos tears or Remedies. You can
get Chronos Tears from Miguelo's in Rabanastre.
When you have finished in Jahara go back to Rabanastre to the Aerodrome and
take the Skyferry to Nalbina and whilst on board buy Syphon. From Nalbina make
your way to Salikawood via the Mosphoran Highwaste. In Salikawood make your way
east to where the gate to Phon Coast is and talk to the Boss Moogle. Then go
round up the lazy Moogles having a break and the gate to Phon Coast will be
opened. If you are short of money when you get to Salikawood go steal from the
King Bomb because you are about to spend around 70k-100k in Phon Coast
depending on what your Hi Potion, Remedy and Chronos Tear stock is like. When
you are ready, go through the Gate and into.....
Phon Coast
**********
DO NOT OPEN THE 16 CHESTS ON THE VADDU STRAND IN PHON COAST IF YOU WANT THE
ZODIAC SPEAR IN NABUDIS.
Having saved at the save Crystal, make your way from there to the Hunter's Camp
where the Gate Crystal is and save. Now go to the Female Merchant and stock up
on hi potions (always min 50....99 better), remedies, phoenix downs and 99
Chronos tears. Buy 3 Alderbarans, 3 Officer's Hats and 3 Barrel Coats and equip
them on your attack team. Now I am going to show you how to make real money
(though I have an even better way later on). You are now going to make in
region of 150,000 to 250,000 gil for about an hour's work. This you are going
to need. I want you to have everything from Phon Coast Merchant that I said
plus 200,000 gil cash minimum.
Save your game and use the gate crystal to go to Mt Bur-Omisace. These are your
teams:
Main Team
=========
Balthier, Fran & Basch equipped with:
Alderbarans + Onion Shot
Officer's Hat
Barrel Coat
Firefly
Gambits for all 3:
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Ally: HP<50% Hi Potion
Self: Haste
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
Reserve Team
============
Vaan, Ashe & Penelo equipped with:
Main Gauche
Diamond Shield (or better if you have it)
Goggle Mask
Metal Jerkin
Nihopalaoa
Gambits: NONE
Head across Paramina Rift to the exit to the Feywood in the Icebound Flow with
your main team and shoot whatever you want to (except Entites of course). When
you reach the Feywood switch to your reserve team. In the Feywood/Walk of
Flitting Rifts, hug the left wall all the way round to the Walk of Stolen
Truths. Any foe you meet gets a Remedy. It will stop them all in their tracks
and leave you free to travel. If one should attack whilst you are using the
remedy your high evade stat should help. Now head south through the walk of
Stolen Truths to the Save Crystal in Antiquity's End. Again, any Cerberus,
Tartarus, Golem etc gets a remedy. Don't hang around because if any turn to
stone while you are in the area you will get the EXP and level up. Keep on the
move. When you arrive at the blue crystal buff your main team (haste actually),
switch back to reserve team and save your game. Now go west into the Walk of
Dancing Shadow and this is where you will find the Mirrorknights. In fact,
almost immediately you will come across 3 of them. Using your 3 characters hit
all 3 Mirrorknights with a Chronos Tear and then switch in your main team as
they stop. Your main team can now blast away safely. As soon as all 3
mirrorknights are dead then swap back to the reserve team, move on and keep
repeating this tactic and get the loot. In this area you should be able to
chain 15 to 20 Mirrorknights fairly quickly. Then leave and go back through the
save crystal area (don't touch crystal or you break your chain) to the Walk of
Stolen Truths. That is 2 zones. Now go back and chain more mirrorknights. Keep
doing this until you have either 99 Windslicer Pinions or you run out of
Chronos Tears. Any damage to your reserve team should be healed by your main
team using hi potions on your reserves when they are out of the game. Now
return to the save crystal and save your game. Then go through the Feywood
again back to the Paramina Rift using a remedy on anything you see. You really
don't want to be fighting in this area. Move on to Mt Bur-Omisace and then
teleport back to Phon Coast. You have to go back there to replace the Chronos
Tears. Sell your Windslicer Pinions (1148 gil each), Wind crystals (160 gil
each), Mirror Scales (1952 gil each) and the Suits of Mirror Mail the
Mirrorknights may have dropped (4050 gil each). A Very poor run, after
replacing Chronos Tears, Hi-Potions and remedies will make you at least 150,000
gil. A good run with lots of Mirror Scales and Suits of Mirror mail can make
you 250,000+ gil. If you need to go back and do it again then fine. The more
gil the better because in the not too distant future you are going to be
getting rid of it quickly. One piece of advice though. You need to keep some
Mirror Mail Armour and I suggest keeping 6. There is a Mark later on where you
will need 5.
You are now going to do the Antlion Hunt. Normally I put the hunts in a
different section but this one is tough and I want to explain it here in the
main guide. I am going to take you step by step through the hunt as I do it
myself. If you have any trouble with this hunt then you can by all means leave
it till later when you have better Armour and better magick buffs like
Protectga etc. The reason I want to do it now is because in the cave where
Antlion is you will find a chest and this chest only contains items. One is a
knot of rust and the other is the FOMALHAUT, the best gun in the game and the
sooner you get 3 of these the easier it gets. If you haven't yet accepted this
Hunt from Montblanc then you'll have to go to Clan Hall first and then off you
go to.....
Bhujerba.....The Antlion Hunt
*****************************
Make your way to Cloudborne Row and the Staras Residence and accept the hunt
from Niray. You will also receive the Site 3 Key. Now head to the Lhusu Mines
and save at the Crystal. Using your reserve team equipped with Main Gauche,
Diamond Shield, Goggle Mask, Metal Jerkin and Nihopalaoa and NO GAMBITS run all
the way through the mines to Site 2 where you fought Rocktoise and met
Ba'Gamnan. If any undead appear or follow you in there just warp them away. Now
go up to the gate and use the site 3 key. Behind the gate are 3 Headless or
Dullahan (20% in place of Headless) foes. Niho + Remedy on all 3 and they won't
bother you. If you take any damage heal with curaga. Move into Site3 and at the
Junction ahead turn left. If there are any foes in your way use a remedy. Loop
all the way round and you'll find your self back in Site 2 but in a different
place. Go down the stairs and turn right into the Shunia Twinspan using remedy
on anything in your way.
Down the Twinspan you will come across three pairs of Headless/Dullahan and you
should just use remedy on all 6 and run past them and into Transitway 1. Go
down the right passage using remedies on the Vampyrs but don't hang around as
they get petrified and if you are in the area when they stone you will get EXP
and level up. Keep to the right and as you reach the main passageway turn right
into Transitway 2 where you will find Kait and a Gate Crystal. Talk to Kait and
then prepare for what lies ahead. There will now be some equipment swapping and
setting of gambits.
Remove the guns from your main attack team and the Main Gauche and Diamond
shields from your reserve team. Now give the Main Gauche and Diamond shield to
your attack party. and set the following gambits for them.
Balthier: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down, Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil-Toss
Fran: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down, Ally: HP<70%: Hi-Potion, Foe: Nearest Visible:
Gil-Toss
Basch: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down, Ally: HP<70%: Hi-Potion, Foe: Nearest Visible:
Gil-Toss, Self: Libra.
Now buff yourself with Bubble and Haste and then switch to your reserve team
and just give them the gambit Ally:HP<50%:Curaga. Equip them with the best
weapon and shield available for their evade stat. They will NOT be fighting.
Now save at the Gate Crystal. If you want to teleport to Phon Coast and stock
up on Hi potions etc, do so now and then teleport back to the Lhusu Mines. Head
west into the Tasche span which is empty of all foes (till later). Go down the
Tasche Span and into site 9 and at the junction you should go left. There is
likely to be a Vampyr there so remedy it. Head along the passage to the stairs
and you will see another Vampyr. Remedy. There is also one on the stairs so
remedy that one too. Now head up the stairs and go to the right into the cave
area. Straight ahead is a Killer Mantis and for some reason just this one is
immune to a few of the statuses that the others aren't and it is VERY difficult
to warp. Switch in your attack team and watch. As soon as it is dead then
switch them out again. Don't want to waste the Bubble and Haste time, eh?
Expensive way to kill a Mantis but very effective. Now with your reserve team,
keeping to the left, carry on and remedy every Killer mantis and then Warp it.
If it looks like you are not going to warp it then bring the attack team in and
let them deal with it before it turns to stone. Stoned foes respawn and you
don't want that. Keep going and eventually at the end you will find the section
with Antlion in. He will have lots of little mantises with him. Now follows a
suicide mission. Just go in there and hit every mantis with remedy and then
warp as many as you can before you all die.
MAKE SURE YOU HIT ANTLION WITH A REMEDY FIRST !!!!!
This will inflict him with disease and although its HP goes down it still
registers as 100%. If Antlion goes HP critical he will use enrage and he goes
crazy. With disease inflicted he will always think he is at 100% and therefore
wont use Enrage. Also he wont use Ignore Evade when his HP drops below 50% so
your evade stat should be good for a lot of protection. Speaking of which,
protect is pointless here so forget it. Just spam the gil-toss and heal &
revive as necessary. When your reserve team are all gone then switch in the
attack team and do a Quickening chain. The better the chain and concurrence,
the less gil you will use in gil-toss. Be prepared to lose 100,000 gil here.
After the quickening your team will just spam gil-toss. If Antlion didn't
cannibalise before your attack then 100,000 gil will see him off. Maybe
less.....depends on how good your concurrence was.
After he is defeated you will get a scene with the 2 kids. When you have
control again revive your reserve team and switch them in. Head back to the
cave using remedy on any mantises in the way. At the back of the cave there
should be a chest. If it's there you are 50/50 to get a Fomalhaut. There or
not, switch your attack team back in and flee back to the Gate Crystal. The
reason for the attack team on the way back is that you have petrified some foes
on the way in and you don't want them to turn to stone on the way out and give
you EXP and ruin your Hunt. When you get to the Gate Crystal in Transitway 2 GO
THROUGH THE ZONE to Transitway 1 and then back into the Gate Crystal zone. That
made 3 zones, enough to respawn the chest. Rebuff your attack team, switch to
reserve team and save.
Now you need to go back two, or maybe even 3 times, because you want 3
Fomalhauts. Give the Main Gauche and Diamond Shields back to the reserve team
and give the main team guns. Switch OFF their attack gambits leaving only the
healing ones. Now using the reserve team go back. Follow what I say carefully
because this is not an easy run. Obviously save first when you are ready and
then make your way down the Tasche Span. As you enter site 9 remedy the Vampyr
at the junction if it's close. Left into the passage, remedy the Vampyr there
and the one on the stairs. Now as you get to the top of the stairs, for some
reason, the difficult Mantis is now the second one in, not the first. So remedy
the first and then switch out your reserves for just 2 of your attack party.
The next Mantis along is the tough one. Manually use gil toss with your 2
attack team characters and that will kill the mantis. Reserve team back in and
continue on to the cave putting a remedy on every mantis you see, about 6 more
in all. Enter the cave and check the chest. If the chest isn't there or you get
a Knot of Rust just reset and do it again. If you get a Fomalhaut then attack
team in and then flee back PAST the Gate Crystal zone (making 3 zones for
respawning) and then back into it and save. Keep doing this until you get 3
Fomalhauts. When you have them, teleport to Bhujerba, collect your bounty and
then teleport back to Phon Coast. If you are short of money then you can go
back to the Mirrorknights but this time, with 3 Fomalhauts equipped, you don't
need to stop them. Just creep up on them 1 at a time and 3 blasts will kill
them. Get your loot you need and go back to Phon coast. From there you go to
Tchita Uplands and Sochen Cave where you will need around 100,000 gil for gil
toss again. So now travel across Phon Coast to the.......
Tchita Uplands
**************
Nothing too exciting here but head across to the east side of Realm of the
Elder Dream and enter the Skytrail. In the northeast corner is the exit to The
Chosen path which is where you'll find the Gate Crystal. Speak to the young lad
next to the Bangaa lying on the ground and you'll find out about a "Dire
Threat" in the Sochen Cave Palace. You are now sent on an unofficial hunt and
are given The Soul Ward Key. But before you go you have now completed 16 hunts
which gives you the rank of Riskbreaker. Bubble Belts are now available at the
Clan Stall in Muthru Bazaar but will NOT be available when you attain the Rank,
Paragon of Justice so get them NOW! I suggest you go and buy 2 (you have just
got 1 from the Antlion Hunt) and then come back to Tchita Uplands. Save at the
gate crystal then head east across the Highlands and then north into the Fields
of Eternity. In the north section you will find the entrance to.....
The Sochen Cave Palace
**********************
Make your way through Doubt Abandoned and at the North end is The Soul Ward
Gate which will open with the Soul Ward Key the young lad gave you. Inside The
Hall of Lambent Darkness the Mandragoras await you. They aren't that difficult.
Make sure your attack gambits are set to Party leader's Target and tackle them
on at a time. They will inflict lots of status effects so gambits of Ally: Any:
Remedy are required. During the battle they will run off now and then and if
you can get them all together that would be an ideal time to unleash a chain of
quickenings and with a decent concurrence would wipe them out. Failing that
just pick them off one at a time. You could now return and get your reward but
I would continue on. There is a save crystal up ahead and it's not too
difficult to access. You'll see when you get there. So take either the east or
west exit into the Acolyte's Burden and head to the north of the area where the
"Save Crystal" is. The save crystal is in fact a Crystalbug but this one is no
trouble at all. Just 2 blasts from each member of the party will dispose of it
and then it will become a save crystal and you can save your game.
Now go east through the exit into the Mirror of the Soul. Before getting to the
next Boss there are some puzzles for you to complete and I will leave you to
get on with it if you want to or you can leave them and follow the guide and
come back later, the choice is yours. Whatever you decide, make your way from
the Mirror of the Soul, through the Falls of Time and Destiny's March and up to
the Hall of Shadowlight. If you try an pick your enemies off one at a time it
will be quite easy. Try to avoid getting surrounded by a lot at once as it will
make things a lot harder for you. Now ahead of you lies the Boss, Ahriman. Have
the usual healing and reviving gambits but set your attack gambits to Foe:
Nearest Visible: Gil-Toss. Buff up haste and bubble. Gil-Toss is based on your
HP and the higher the HP you have the more you hit for. Gil-Toss is an Area of
Effect attack and can hit more than one foe at a time which is handy when
Ahriman decides to start his dividing trick. However, the damage is divided.
Let's say your gil-toss is 9999 but you hit 3 foes. They all get hit for 3333,
ok? So head in there. Try and keep an eye on him wherever he goes. If you do
run out of money then change your gambits to attack immediately and be on the
lookout for an opportunity to finish him off with a quickening chain. When he
is gone, empty the 3 chests and with some luck you will get 2 Elixirs from them
and then exit to the east. Follow the route through Temptation Eluded and then
exit north into the Chamber of the Chosen. Make your way round to the top and
use the lift. As you leave the lift there is a Gate Crystal to you right. Save
your game and then teleport back to the Tchita Uplands to where the young lad
is standing with his Father and get your reward. Now teleport back to the
Sochen Cave, go through the Stone Door and into.......
Old Archades
************
As you enter Old Archades there is The Stranded Merchant on your right where
you can restock if you wish. One of the Accessories he sells is the Pheasant
Netsuke which increases the amount of power in items by 50%. As you are using
items a lot it is a great accessory to have, especially when fighting espers,
Bosses and Marks as you don't need to equip the Firefly for them as they give
no EXP. If you have the money then buy 3. Now you need to access Archades but
without credentials the Imperials won't let you in. You need to speak to one of
3 people, The Lucky Man, The Shady Seeq or the Ex-Broker. When you have done
that try and enter Archades. You will be turned away and then a scene with
Jules begins. Do as he says and then go back to see him. Trouble will start and
the Imperials will leave their post and you will be able to enter the.....
Imperial City of Archades
*************************
Have a look around the place and visit Charlotte's Magickery and see July the
Streetear to get your reward of a Salamand halcyon for helping her at the
Mosphoran Highwaste. Now go to Vints Armaments and buy 3 Chakra Bands and Power
Vests. Also available in Archades are X-Potions which will restore 3600 HP with
all augments and the Pheasant Netsuke accessory. Remember, if you are poor, go
visit the Mirrorknights for 200k. To continue in Archades don't forget you need
2500 gil to bribe Jules. But first you have to collect those 9 Chops to ride
the Cab. Whoever thought of this sidequest deserves to be shot. The Cab driver
says 9 Chops or 1 million gil. Hell, I would pay the million gil just to avoid
doing that stupid chop collecting but you can't, so get it done. After that
ride the Cab to meet Balthier in Tsenoble and don't forget to activate the Gate
Crystal. Catch up with Balthier and then meet Jules who has "arranged" for you
to take a Cab to Draklor. Balthier is not amused with Jules. I wasn't amused by
Balthier's real name.....did you get it? Ffamran. Ffamran Mid Bunansa is his
full name. Balthier is just an alias. Anyway, I digress....take the
Cab....destination....
Draklor Laboratory
******************
Go west from your position and then right up the corridor past the soldiers.
Turn right at the end and immediately left, past more soldiers and carry on to
the end and turn right where you will find a lift. Choose 67F. Head left from
the lift and left again all the way up to the room C.D.B. which, if you didn't
know, is Dr Cid's initials. Cidolfus Demen Bunansa. Cutscene and then you
acquire a Lab Access Card and a map of Draklor which is a good thing because as
you step outside your minimap has gone to pot. First door right is save
crystal. Next door has bulk head controls. Go in and open the blue bulkhead
doors. Now leave and head back to the lift, killing imperials along the way and
select 68F. Arrive at floor 68 with Blue doors open to your left. Down
corridor, turn left and then left into control room and open Red doors. Exit
room and go left, down corridor and then turn left again. Along corridor to end
and turn left. Enter control room 1st door on left and open Blue doors. Exit
room, left all the way to end of corridor (ignore exit on left) and turn to
right. Halfway along corridor turn left and immediate right and then left at
end of corridor. Head all the way down long corridor and turn left at the end.
Enter control room on left and open Red doors. Exit room and go to your left.
Turn left at end of corridor, go past room and a false door and then turn
right. Straight ahead on your right you will find the lift. Take lift to 70F.
There you will be "greeted" by Reddas. Now buff up with Haste, Protect and
Bubble and save your game. Head up the stairs to meet.....
Doctor Cid
**********
Some scenes to start with and then off to battle. Dr Cid will be accompanied by
4 Rooks and you can't inflict any damage on him whilst the Rooks are there with
the exception of a concurrence. Dr Cid has almost 73,000 HP and at Level 40 you
would get a Concurrence of 10,120 if you hit a Black Hole. You can do that kind
of damage in 1 round of Fomalhauts. The best thing to do is to get rid of the
Rooks first. Just blast away at them until all are gone, using Party Leaders
Target in attack gambits and taking the Rooks out one at a time. Use normal
healing gambits and ride the storm until they are all gone. Now dispel Dr Cid
and unleash a quickening chain now. You don't have to beat him, just get his HP
to 25% for victory. Well....half a victory as Venat steps in to save Cid from
Reddas's blade. More scenes and then Cid will leave, tempting you to The
Ancient City of Giruvegan. After that you will find yourself at Reddas's place
in........
Balfonheim Port
***************
First go through some scenes and then find out your next destination is The
Feywood Which will lead you to Giruvegan and then after Getting the Treaty
Blade you will be off to Pharos. Now in Giruvegan and Pharos (and parts of the
Feywood) the going gets tougher but one thing in your favour is that a lot of
foes can be warped. Now although you have warp magick, warp motes are a lot
better and faster. However, to buy these you need the Rank of Paragon of
Justice and that is 8 hunts away so now I am suggesting that you do the
following 8 hunts and then go to the Clan Provisioner and buy 99 Warp motes at
100 gil each.
Now do Hunts 17 to 24.
Right, now that they are complete there is something I am going to do before I
get the Treaty Blade. Ahead lies a difficult time with many tough foes in
Giruvegan, Great Crystal, Pharos etc and I may well want to use quickenings
more and will need ethers. Syphon is ok but not when you want 3 full mist bars
on each character very fast. The only place to buy ethers is from the Baknamy
Merchant in Nabudis but he stops selling them once you have the treaty blade
and doesn't sell them again until Bahamut appears. So I plan to detour to
Nabudis to get some ethers. If you don't have any X-Potions then I advise you
get some now from either Archades or the Leaping Bangaa in Balfonheim Port as
you'll need them in Nabudis. The Baknamies and Elvorets are vulnerable to warp
but dispel is needed on any Elvoret that has Shell because shell will reduce
the success of warp by fifty percent!!!! Now to get to Nabudis you have to get
past King Bomb so that is where to head first. For those who don't want to get
ethers you can skip this section and go to the next part of the storyline and
head off to the Feywood if you like but if you want a perfect game (or close to
it) then these things have to be done at some point. Why not now? The secret to
Nabudis is stealth. Don't go charging through, just try to pick off the enemies
one by one and make your way through. Hey, get the Zodiac Spear if you want
to.....not that it does much damage in this challenge but if you are a
collector then go ahead if you want to. When you are ready teleport to
Salikawood and prepare to face.....
King Bomb
*********
This going to all be done with Belias. Basch is to be equipped with Fomalhaut +
shot, Thief's Cap, Ninja Gear, and Nihopalaoa. Gambits are
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack, Ally: Any: Handkerchief, and Ally: HP<70%: Hi
Potion.
Enter the Grand Bower and the first thing to do is summon Belias straight away.
Now use a remedy on King Bomb, swap the Nihopalaoa for a Bubble Belt INSTANTLY
and then use warp motes on the little bombs till they are gone. It may take a
few motes to get rid of them all. Now fight alongside Belias, running around
all the time to build up MP. Dismiss Belias before he uses Hellfire, re-summon
him and just keep doing the same. For some reason here King Bomb took a real
dislike to me and kept targetting me instead of Belias no matter what I did. In
the end I was using so many Hi-Potions I ended up casting Decoy on Belias to
get the damned thing off me. The remedy on King Bomb causes Silence and Disease
so he will neither use Renew nor Cry for Help. I think I summoned Belias 3
times before it was all over. Now that King Bomb has gone the route to the
North and West of Salikawood is now open. Leave the Grand Bower and go west,
entering the Corridor of Ages and follow the path to the junction. Go left
there heading south and you will come across the Mark Braegh. Ignore it and go
the opposite way into Nabudis. No point fighting Braegh till you are done in
Nabudis because if you got a game over in Nabudis (highly unlikely) then the
fight against Braegh would be a waste of time. So ignore Braegh and enter....
The Necrohol Of Nabudis
***********************
There is a short scene here with Basch explaining what happened to Nabudis.
When he has finished it is time to set up gambits and put them in this order:
Balthier: Foe:Status Shell: Dispel, Foe: Nearest Visible: Warp Mote, Ally: Any:
Phoenix Down, Ally: HP<50%: X-Potion
Fran: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down, Ally: HP<50%: X-Potion, Ally: Any: Float,
Foe:Status Shell: Dispel, Foe: Nearest Visible: Warp Mote
Basch: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down, Ally: HP<50%: X-Potion, Foe:Status Shell:
Dispel, Foe: Nearest Visible: Warp Mote
Equip ALL 3 with Bubble belts. There is no fighting here, only warping. With
one exception. If you do happen to defeat 20 foes then Oversoul will show up.
Instantly equip Fireflies and then blast away. Balthier should attack every
time but allow Fran and Balthier's healing gambits to kick in if needed. When
Oversoul is defeated put the bubble belts back on. Make you way slowly through
Nabudis to the Merchant in the North of the hall of Effulgient Light, get your
ethers and return to the Salikawood where you will find Braegh waiting for you.
Remove Fran's float gambit and change all Warp Mote gambits to attack. Now
attack Braegh (see Hunt 25). Make your way back to the Gate Crystal and
teleport to Mosphoran Highwaste for your reward from Va'Kansa. Now take the
opportunity to stock up on everything especially warp motes. Honestly you may
only use 5 but it's still best to have 99 of them. When you are ready it's time
to hit....
The Feywood
***********
There 2 ways to do this. One is to head through the Paramina Rift like you have
been doing to chain the Mirrorknights, the other is to go through the Golmore
Jungle. Going through the Golmore jungle will give you an opportunity to make
some cash by heading through to the Rustling Chapel. Clear all the foes out
from here and then you'll get Dark Skeletons appearing. Chain these and you can
get quite a few sturdy bones which sell at nearly 500 a time along with other
goodies they may drop. If you meet the Rare Game Grave Lord who will spawn when
your chain is 21, to get rid of him just dump a phoenix down on him for an
instant kill. When you have had enough head south into the Feywood. In this
first zone, the Walk of Flitting Rifts, I wouldn't mess about with those Deadly
Nightshades. I would use the reserve team with Nihopalaoas and dump remedy on
them as soon as they come into view. They can cause you awful problems with
status effects. Go through the area to the Southeast exit and into The Walk of
Stolen Truths. With the main team take a pop at some Cerberus's along the way
as you may pick up a Hell-Gates Flame or 2 for the Tournesol if you are
collecting. Go south and into Antiquity's End and save at the save crystal.
Whilst you are here I advise chaining the Mirrorknights for a while as you
never know when gil toss might be needed. I always like to keep 100k to 200k
available when going into new areas. When you have completed everything then
save again and head south into Redolent Glade for another Boss......
Rafflesia
*********
A Boss? Call this a Boss? It isn't good enough to be a Janitor, nevermind a
Boss.
Gambits: Ally: Any Phoenix Down, Ally: Any Remedy: Ally: HP<50%: Hi Potion,
Foe:Nearest visible: Attack
Niho + Remedy just in case you can inflict something on it. Shoot at it for a
very short while, it dies. Go back and save. Move on.
I am not joking, it is as simple as that. I've met tougher Cactoids.
Head south into White Magicks Embrace and hug the east wall. Go past the trap
(what trap?....Oops!!) and you'll find an urn. Open it to complete the hidden
areas of the map. The next bit is textbook stuff. Enter Icefield of Clearsight
and do the puzzle with the Altars and the Glyphs. Move into The Edge of Reason
and do the same. Summon Belias, open the Gigas gate, watch some scenes and then
head down the Gate of Earth to the Gate Crystal and save. Teleport to whatever
is your favourite merchant, stock up and then return for another (Stronger?)
Boss....
Daedalus
********
Before you approach the waystone equip bubble belts and change healing gambit
to <50%: X-Potion. Now buff your party with haste and protect and save at the
gate crystal. Switch to your reserve party (no point in wasting the buff time)
and use the waystone. When you arrive you then need to head to the other end
of the Gate of Water but switch your main team back in before you reach the
archway. Move forward and Daedelus will spring to life. He is tough,
hard-hitting, but nothing you can't handle. Just blast away at him and heal and
revive as necessary. When Daedalus is critical he will use rage. You can either
ride it out or finish him with quickenings. Now re-equip your fireflies, change
back to Hi potions and use the new waystone. You will find yourself in.....
The Ancient City of Giruvegan
*****************************
You are in the Trimahla Steps. Head south down the slope and flick the switch
on the Avrio Gate. Be careful now of Behemoths, Gargoyle Barons and Vivians,
Mythril Golems and Diakon Entites. The Mythril Golem and the Diakon Entite
cannot be warped but the other 3 can. The Gargoyle Barons will be taken out
with a shot from each of your party but the Behemoths will probably need 5 hits
to go down. If you get into trouble use the motes but try and pick them off one
at a time or sneak past them. Continue south, get rid of the 2 Golems and use
the Chthes Gate Stone. Now head north till there is a gap on your left; go
through that and double back heading south. Now loop back north and go as far
as you can and then loop back south and you will see 2 more Mythril Golems. Get
rid of them and then walk to the edge and a path will appear. Follow the path
to the next zone, The Aadha Water Steps. Now go south to where the 2 Mythril
Golems are, get rid of them and then operate the Paron Gate stone. Now zig-zag
back and forth and make your way up to the Parelthon Gate Stone in the north
part, kill the Mythril Golems there and use the gate stone. Now go to your left
and head south all the way to the end and then loop back to the north towards 2
more golems and another gatestone, The Tychi Gate Stone. Again, defeat the
Golems and use the gate stone. Now head back the way you came, loop to the
north and keep going until you can turn to the left. Go south and kill the
golems, walk to the edge and take the path that appears. After some scenes
enter the Haalmikah Water Steps, go through the Bulwark Chronos to the save
Crystal. Equip Bubble Belts, buff with Haste and protect and then save and
switch to reserve team to protect buffs time. Set Gambits to Ally: Any:Phoenix
Down, Ally: HP>50%: X-Potion, Foe:Nearest Visible:Attack. However, leave the
HP<50% out for Balthier. Let him just attack and leave the other 2 to use the
X-Potions. When you are ready head through Bulwark Hemera into the Gate Of
Fire. Immediately go left and head up the ramp. Turn to the right and go down
the path and on the right hand side the wall disappears. Approach the edge and
a path appears. Run down the path and as you go down it you will see an open
area. About 4 sections from that area switch your main team in and move forward
into the open area and from above will come......
Tyrant
******
Niho + Remedy is pointless here because all it inflicts is confuse which is
gone with your first hit so it's a true fight this time. This is what I did. I
blasted Tyrant with the Fomalhauts for a while, healing as necessary, and when
his HP got to around 60% I unleashed a quickening chain on him and was
fortunate enough to get a Luminescence concurrence. I went back to using the
guns until his HP went Critical. Now he gets stronger but by this time, with
all the attacks he had made on me etc, my MP was back to full and so I did
another quickening chain and got an Ark Blast concurrence. Didn't quite wipe
him out but 2 shots from the Fomalhaut afterwards was enough to finish the job.
If you wanted to you could use ethers to replenish your MP and use more
quickenings though it isn't necessary unless you get in trouble when he goes
critical. Once Tyrant is defeated a waystone appears in the centre but before
using it I suggest going back to the save crystal and saving. Don't forget.
Equip your Fireflies again. Having saved (switch back to hi potions now you
aren't using the bubble belts) go back through Bulwark Hemera door into the
Gate of Fire. Now the place isn't empty: there are foes around but nothing you
can't handle. You will only see 2 or 3 as you return to the waystone. Use the
waystone and teleport to........
The Great Crystal
*****************
This is wonderful.....no map or minimap....great fun :o/
You arrive in A Vikaari Dhebon and directly behind you is a gate, This cannot
be opened until after you get the Treaty Blade. So, with the gate behind you
take the exit to your right and go downhill to Kabonii Jilhaam Pratii'vaa (I
love these names but that because I know what they mean) where there is a chest
(and a trap). Now exit into Kabonii Jilaam Avaa and then to Dha Vikaari Bhrum
where you will find Waystone VII. Keep count of how many foes you kill as you
go through the Crystal because every time you get to a Waystone, if the total
amount of enemies you have defeated can be divided by 3, then you will find
Reapers at the waystone. They are not nice guys! Use the waystone to get to
waystone VI in A Vikaari Kabonii where there are 3 exits. Take the middle exit
and head uphill to Bhrum Pis Avaa where the is another chest. Exit to the left
and go back downhill to Sthaana Cancer. There are 2 Mythril Golems here and if
you kill both that means you will have killed 9 foes and your next destination
takes you past the waystone you arrived at which means Reapers so it might be
advisable to leave 1 alive. Operate the Cancer gate stone and then leave via
the other exit and go back to A Vikaari Kabonii and waystone VI. As you arrive
at the waystone take the second exit to Bhrum Pis Vaa and straight through to
Dha Vikaari Trahk and Waystone V which you can use to get to waystone IV in A
Vikaari Bhrum. Pisces Gate blocks your way so use the exit directly opposite
and head into Trahk Jilaam Praa'dii, open the chest and then carry straight on
to Sthaana Aries and activate the Aries Gate Stone. On this run from the
waystone you will meet Mum Bombs and Necrophobes, both of which are resistant
to guns but, fortunately, both can be warped and the Necrophobe can be killed
with a Phoenix Down. Now head back to Waystone IV and take the exit to your
left into Trahk Pis Praa and then on to Sthaana Pisces where you can use the
Gate Stone to open the Pisces Gate. You wont be using that gate but when you
come back here later on it will be open for you. Now use the other exit and
move up to Dha Vikaari Jula and Waystone III and use it to get to Waystone II
in the Crystal Core where you will get a scene. After the scene move down to
Waystone I and the save crystal. Equip Bubble belts again and usual 50%:
X-Potion plus Phoenix Down and attack gambits. You may want to add a gambit foe
Ally:Any: Echo herbs to protect against silence. Not that you use much magick
but dispel will be needed. Buff up with the usual buffs and then save your game
and use the waystone. This will take you to meet......
Shemhazai, The Whisperer
************************
Niho + Remedy will inflict immobilise but not much point. I didn't find this
fight difficult at all. This Esper has quite a few augments. It uses shift to
change the element it is weak to but as you aren't using magick here that won't
be a problem. It has an augment 'Reverse Medicine' which works the same way as
a Nihopalaoa so watch out for that. Its others include less damage taken at
<60% HP and when its critical its damage taken is reduced to a third and its
attacks do more damage. The best way to beat Shemhazai is to first dispel its
haste and then blast away with guns till it goes critical. It will do you some
damage but nothing your healing gambits can't handle. Now when it goes HP
Critical use a quickening chain. When that is finished and Shemhazai is still
standing then use an ether on each member and use quickenings again. Do this
till Shemhazai falls. I used 2 quickening chains and got an Ark Blast
Concurrence with the first and a Whiteout with the second. That was all it took
to defeat Shemhazai. Another Esper in the Bag :o) Now go through Bulwark Aeon
to the Empyrean Waystone. Touch it, read, and then use it. Long scenes now as
Ashe meets the Occuria and receives the Treaty Blade. Then scenes with Vayne,
Cid and Venat and then back to a scene with your group. Now it's time to leave.
You are stood next to the Tellurian Waystone now so read the inscription, then
use the stone and find yourself back at the Gate of Earth and head east to the
Gate Crystal. At least you didn't have to walk back through Giruvegan and all
the Behemoths etc.
You are now going to spend at least 200,000 gil plus top up your items so you
might want to walk from the gate crystal to the Feywood and chain some
mirrorknights. When you have got the money head back to Rabanastre. For those
who already have that money use the Gate Crystal and teleport to.....
Rabanastre
**********
From the gate Crystal head into Lowtown and see the merchant in the South
Sprawl. He now has Renewing Morions and Mirage Vests for sale. Buy enough to
equip all 6 members. It will cost you 192,000 gil. Now you need to top up your
X-Potions, Hi Potions, Remedies etc. Now you are ready. Ready for what? Well
you have the best chest piece now and the 2nd best Helm in the Light Armours
Category. You could drop with the Helm to a Chaperon which has only 2 less
Magick resist but an extra 210 HP . What I am saying is that you are now almost
as tough as you're gonna get and whatever is out there, if you can't beat it
now you will never beat it. Now is the time to think about doing all the extras
like finishing the hunts and getting the Hidden Espers. This choice is yours.
There are many things you may want to get like the Tournesol, Zodiac Spear,
Sagittarius, especially if you are looking for a perfect file. After this guide
you will find the Hunt Strategies, then the Optional Hidden Espers and also any
other sidequests that involve battling Boss types.....Earth Tyrant for example.
You also missed Elder Wyrm out and may want to complete that too. There is also
the bestiary for those who want to kill everything and then the Phon Coast Hunt
Club and all the rest of the Rare Game. You can do it all now or wait till
after you have completed Pharos. Like I said, it's up to you.
But I bet you are sick of the Mirrorknights, eh? Well now you can do something
different to make money and this next trick makes around half a million gil per
hour. Just one snag. You have to defeat the Esper Zeromus, The Condemner first.
This is your next task so go to the Hidden Espers Section and Esper No.1,
Zeromus.
Now you have done that I will show you how to make around half a million gil
per hour. Go back to the Stilshrine of Miriam and equip your 3 characters with
the Mirror mail Armour and firefly. If you still haven't got the Mirror Mail
then go and get it, even if you have to buy it. The Dark Lords use Toxify but
your Mirror Mail will reflect it back at them. You can use Hi Potions here
instead of X Potions. Go into the Stilshrine/Ward of measure and head to the
other end where the waystone is. Pop the bats along the way if you want to.
When you get to the waystone you will see 2 Reapers there. Leave them alone!
Just dive to the waystone and activate. You will arrive back at the place you
fought Zeromus. Have Balthier with Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack and the other 2
with Party Leader's Target: Attack. Now go in through the door and attack the
Dark Lords. They drop Blood Darkened bones at over 1400 gil each. After 30-40
Dark Lords they virtually stop spawning. Go back to waystone and use it. You
arrive in ward of the sword king. Use the waystone and you're back with the
reapers. Use it again and you're back to the door where the Dark Lords are and
they will all respawn. Keep doing this till you get 99 Blood darkened Bones and
then use the waystones to get back to where the Reapers are. Now FLEE for the
door. Your Mirror Mail will protect you from any Magicks cast but you may get
some physical damage, maybe even lose the character at the back. However, the
gate crystal is outside so they will be revived when you use it. Teleport to
(say) Mt Bur-Omisace, sell all your goodies, replace hi potions and then go
back to the Stilshrine and save your game. You will have made 150k+ and it will
have taken 20 minutes. That's around half a million gil per hour and, as far as
I know, it's the fastest way to make money. The Mirror knights are ok but you
keep having to run back and forth across the Paramina Rift to Mt Bur-Omisace to
sell your loot. Yes, you can make more but it takes longer. The Dark Lords make
more money per hour because the route out and to the Merchant and back is so
fast. Now go spend a couple of hours and make a million gil if you like. :o)
Ok. Got some money? All stocked up? Now head to Balfonheim Port and to Reddas's
Manse where you will get some scenes and Reddas will join your party.
Balthier's Airship, The Strahl, has finished its refit and Nono the Moogle has
fitted it with A Skystone. You can now fly in Jagd which, in effect, means you
can go anywhere as the mist won't affect your ship now. So when you're ready,
head to the Aerodrome to the Private Airships Counter and you will be allowed
to board the Strahl. Fasten seat belt, time to go to the........
Ridorana Cataract
=================
Before I progress any further I want to tell you that this is the place to farm
Balance Motes. There is a small Loop of 4 chests and, in order you find them,
this is what they can contain:
1. Max 600 gil/Hi-Potion/BALANCE MOTE
2. Max 500 gil/Hi-Potion/OPAL RING (worth 8000 gil)
3. Max 600 gil/Hi-Potion/HI-ETHER (always worth having)
4. Max 700 gil/Hi-Potion/BALANCE MOTE
Obviously there are other places to get them but this is a nice little loop and
the 2 chests in between the Balance Mote chests are well worth opening. You
start by the Save Crystal in Footfalls of the past, close to where the Strahl
is berthed and the first chest is very close to where you enter Echoes from
Time's Gardens. There are 3 chests in this area and then just as you enter the
Colosseum on the right there is the 4th chest which can also contain a Balance
Mote. Rather than try and describe where these chests are I have put together a
Video to show you and this video is on YouTube at the following link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MwAQlaXAHfk
Spend as much or as little time as you want to there but you really do need a
few. I used around 50 during the game. You don't have to get them all at once,
just spend a little time there now and then. Maybe get 10 and then go onto the
next part of the game. Get 10 more and then do a few hunts. Break it up if
farming bores you too much. However, I do recommend 50 motes+.
Obviously, after all previous Hunts etc that you might have been doing, make
sure you now have your FIREFLIES equipped. Go east from where the Strahl is
anchored and save if you like. Move into the next zone, Echoes from Time's
garden and go south. There are Deathclaws and Cassies in here but nothing you
can't handle. If you do get overwhelmed a bit then use a Warp Mote. Enter the
Colosseum and in the Northwest is the Map. Then exit north into City of Other
Days and then east into Path of Hidden Blessing and on to the save crystal.
Funny how save crystals always spook you, isn't it. I always think that if
there is a save crystal here, what lies ahead? If you don't have Libra
activated there is a line of traps leading right up to the crystal. Be careful.
Right then, bubble belts back on and change all your phoenix down gambits to
the following 2 gambits for each player. For Balthier you need phoenix down
gambits for Fran & Basch. For Fran you need them for Balthier & Basch and for
Basch you need them for Balthier & Fran. Why? Because you're gonna kill Reddas
as he will be nothing but a pain in the ass. He has 300+ HP and will die
everytime he gets hit which will cost you phoenix down after phoenix down. He
doesn't hit for much and you're just better off without him. Other gambits are:
Balthier: The 2 phoenix down gambits and foe: nearest visible: attack
Fran: 2 phoenix down gambits
: Ally: HP<50%: X-Potion
: Ally: Any: Antidote
: Ally: Status=Sap: Regen
: Ally: Any: Remedy
: Ally: Any: Protectga
: Self: MP<20%: Ether
: Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
Basch: 2 phoenix down gambits
: Ally: HP<50%: X-Potion
: Balthier: Haste
: Ally: Any: Antidote
: Ally: Status=Sap: Regen
: Ally: Any: Remedy
: Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
Equip Balthier with the Wyrmfire Shot
Save your game and then kill Reddas. Put Vaan (or whoever you want) in the
party with a Niho. Now head to the next zone, They Who Thirst Not, and head
towards the main building where, waiting for you at the door, is the Boss....
Hydro
*****
Use Vaan to dump a remedy on Hydro and then switch him straight out. Hydro will
now have Oil and slow effects. Balthier's Wyrmfire shot will now do more
damage. Best thing to do here is to kite whoever is targetted and just fire
away. I never used quickenings at all against Hydro. I got inflicted with Sap
and Poison but that was it and I used 1 X-Potion and no phoenix downs. Kill
Hydro by just shooting at him and when it's over, after scenes, put the
Fireflies back on, enter The Wellspring and save at the Gate Crystal. you are
now at the.....
Pharos, 1st Ascent
******************
Be careful of the chests in here. If you can't tell the difference between a
treasure chest and a Mimeo you had better learn. Leave the Mimeos alone as 2
Leeches will KO you.
The idea here is to run around killing foes and some of them will drop Black
Orbs. You need 3 for now but, whatever you get, DON'T sell the leftovers as you
need Black Orbs later in the Subterra. For now, go round the Wellspring
Labyrinth and collect the orbs. You may want to equip Balthier with the
Wyrmfire Shot here as the Mistmare is Fire Weak and I have done 9999 damage to
it with that Shot. There are 3 Altars around the inside circle and a black orb
has to be placed in each Altar. When you've done that there will be a way open
on the east side of the Labyrinth up the stairs. Make your way there to the
door, open it and go through and you will find yourself in the Dunes of
profaning Wind. Bubble belts on and change hi potion healing gambit to X
potion. Just carry on walking forward until you come to a big lump of stone.
Stone? That's not a stone, it's the Boss.....
Pandaemonium
************
Niho + remedy will inflict silence. Dispel the buffs and then start firing with
the guns. Wyrmfire shot not much good as Pandaemonium absorbs earth and is
immune to all other elements except wind. At 50% HP it will use Perfect Defence
and will be immune to everything. Now just run around with whoever is targetted
and keep out of its way for 2 minutes until the defence is removed and then go
back to firing your guns again. I never used a quickening on it, just kept
firing away until its HP was exhausted. After it is gone then you will be back
in the room, Blackrock Vault. Make you way back through the Labyrinth to the
Gate Stone, save your game and then use the waystone near the crystal to the
Wellspring Ravel-1st Flight. Now you have to do all the green blocks to make
the paths which means killing brain pans and NOT deidars. Not much I can do for
you here, you'll just have to get on with it and go through it all until you
have all the paths complete in each section. If you get stuck then consult a
normal Walkthrough.
When you finally get through Wellspring Flights 1, 2, 3 and 4 you'll arrive at
Horizon's Break. Just outside is a save crystal where you should equip bubble
belts and buff up before saving and switching parties to save buffs time. Head
anti clockwise and enter the next doorway and to your left, round the back, is
an exit to Horizon's Cusp. Follow the path round and at the door switch your
main party back in. Open the door for the next Boss.....
Slyt
****
This is just another joke boss. Normally oil and Firaga for this Boss but as
you are low on MP you can't do that. But you have the next best thing.
Fomalhauts and one has Wyrmfire shot. Niho + remedy and ignore Slyt's regen.
Just fire away. You'll be lucky to use 2 potions though Reddas might bite the
dust very quickly but he's as much use as an ashtray on a motor cycle so he
won't be missed. The Wyrmfire shot will cause big damage and before long Slyt
will be gone. After he's dead you'll be back in Horizon's Cusp, so continue
your clockwise route until you come to the waystone. use it and you will be
transported to The Reach in....
Pharos, 2nd Ascent
******************
This is the one where you have to give up your attack command (no chance),
your magick commands (no dispel? No protect?), your items (yeah, right,
whatever) or your minimap. You aren't really left with a lot of choice here. I
suggest you sacrifice the minimap and use your main map. Head anti clockwise
until you come to the save crystal and save your game. There are some naughty
enemies here and I want to go through them.
1. Necrofiend, Crusader & Dragon Lich - cannot use Warp or Death on them and
Necrofiend is also resistant to guns. I suggest manual use of gil toss for
Necrofiend.
2. Abaddon, Bune, Reaver and Zombie Warlock - Warp & Death work.
3. Don't mess with the Entite and the other 2 are rare game and a boss.
From the save crystal head anti clockwise until you come to the Altar of
Knowledge. touch it and the door behind you is now accessible. You have gained
entry in exchange for control of your minimap. Again, this is a case of making
your way through several areas and if this is a difficulty I suggest you go
back and consult a standard game Walkthrough again. So enter the door behind
you and make your way through the 2nd Ascent to the Reach of the Diamond where
there is another save crystal outside. Again, bubble belts and buff up and
switch to reserve team for walk to next area. Go anti clockwise and take next
right. Round the back to your left is the exit into the Bounds of Truth. Follow
the path again until you come to the door, switch to your main team, open the
door and be greeted by........
Fenrir
******
This is one angry sob and the easiest way to deal with him is to put him to
sleep and use magicks but you have very little MP. Therefore you are going to
get battered now but the good news is that your bubble belts + X potions are
going to be well capable of what he throws at you. Start with a quickening
chain if you wish and then start the physical stuff but don't use Wyrmfire shot
as Fenrir is immune to it. Just keep chipping away at the HP whilst he bashes
hell out of you. I used about 15 X-Potions here. I just carried on wearing him
down and when he got to around 10% HP I did a quickening chain and promptly
missed a concurrence. Didn't get a single mist charge. Anyway, I went back to
the guns and finished him off that way instead. Fenrir is fierce but not that
hard to beat. When you have finished carry on till you get to the open area and
then go anti clockwise. The first Altar you come across is the Altar of
Knowledge. Touch it and you will get your minimap back. Continue clockwise and
you'll come to the Dais of Ascendance where you can climb aboard and select
67F. The Dais will take you up to the Reach of the Occult where there is a save
crystal. Re-equip fireflies, change to hi potions and then use the waystone in
front of you to be transported to Spire Ravel-1st flight in.....
Pharos, 3rd Ascent
******************
You have GOT to get round this the right way. These are the waystones to use.
1. Black Sigil
2. Green Sigil
3. Orange Sigil
4. The corresponding sigil to what you sacrificed. If you sacrificed the Map
its the Pink one it top right corner.
Then go north to end of corridor, break false wall, go down passage to waystone
but before you use it equip bubble and X-potions. Also set up the gambit Ally:
Any: Float because you will need to avoid Earth attacks. Normally you would
have to worry about disease but as you have Bubble belts on, you are immune to
it. Bet you didn't know that! Now use the waystone. This will bring you out by
the Dais of Ascendance. Be Careful! You may find Tower here. If you do just go
for the Dais, select 90F and prepare for battle with.....
Hashmal, Bringer of Order
*************************
This Esper hits fairly hard and its special attacks do big damage if they land
so make sure that you have that float gambit. Niho + Remedy is pointless as all
it does is inflict Oil and Hashmal is immune to fire. Just take the punishment
and hand it out at the same time which is what I did. At 50% I did a quickening
chain, got a Luminescence concurrence and didn't even drop him 10%. Must have
got some bad random numbers from the actual quickenings even though the
concurrence is predictable (Power of Concurrence x Level of Enemy). After that,
with the damage I was doing and the damage Hashmal was doing it didn't take
long
to build up the MP. I did another quickening at around 10-15%, got an Ark Blast
and then just used guns after that. You could defeat him with just guns but I
used quickenings as well to save on the X-Potions. By this stage I am out of
High Potions but have 66 X potions left. I used 14 against Hashmal. Anyway, you
decide yourself if you want to use quickenings or have enough Potions left to
just use guns. As long as you keep the float you will be ok. There you go,
another Esper in the Bag.
After defeating Hashmal you get back on the Dais and leave Heaven's Challenge
and arrive at Empyrean Ravel. This is a long walk up the stairs with a cutscene
halfway along. Eventually you arrive at a save crystal. Remove the float gambit
as it's not needed now and will only waste time and MP. keep bubble belts on
and buff with protectga etc ready for the next encounter. Save your game and
then move on to the waystone which will take you to the Womb of the Sun-cryst
where 3 await you. They are.......
Judge Gabranth, Dr Cid and Famfrit, The Darkening Cloud
*******************************************************
Lots of cutscenes here and then you come face to face with Gabranth. This is
easy. Just blow him away with the guns after Niho and remedy causes oil on him
and Wyrmfire shot does the rest. More scenes and then it's Dr Cid's turn. Again
just turn the guns on him and when he get to around 50% he will Summon Famfrit.
Although I used this next technique on Gabranth, it was recommended to me by
Hell Wyrm of Neoseeker's Forum. Again, Oil on Famfrit and use the Wyrmfire
Shot. This does 9999 damage and I had it with Balthier who is constantly under
Haste and he caused Famfrit dreadful problems and in no time Famfrit was at 50%
HP. Even when its Reduce Damage Augment came in at HP<50% Balthier was still
doing 6999 damage to Famfrit. The battle didn't last long and then it was back
to Dr Cid. Dear old Cid, he had a little trick up his sleeve....after Famfrit
is gone then Dr Cid becomes resistant to guns and you only do a couple of
hundred damage or so to him. But I had a little trick of my own and changed my
attack gambits to Gil-Toss. Poor Cid never knew what hit him and before very
long he was lying on the ground next to Famfrit. Two bosses and an Esper beaten
in one paragraph....and beaten very quickly. More scenes and then back to
Balfonheim Port.
Whatever you haven't done, like Espers, Hunts, getting the Tournesol,
sidequests etc must be done now because once you head off to Bahamut there is
no turning back. So finish everything off and prepare for.....
Sky Fortress Bahamut
********************
First of all make sure that you have a Fully-Charged Dark Matter. Before
heading to Bahamut I advise you to set up with the following gambits and I will
add "Off" to any gambit that needs to be kept off for now and will tell you
when you turn it on,
Vaan
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down (Off)
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion (Off)
Ally: Any: Remedy (Off)
Ally: MP<40%: Ether (Off)
Foe: Highest Max HP: Dispel (off)
Foe: Highest Max HP: Attack (Off)
Balthier
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion
Ally: Any: Remedy
Ally: MP<40%: Ether
Foe: Highest Max HP: Dispel (off)
Foe: Highest Max HP: Attack (Off)
Fran
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion
Ally: Any: Remedy
Ally: Any: Protectga
Ally: Any: Shellga (Off)
Ally: MP<40%: Ether
Foe: Highest Max HP: Dispel (off)
Foe: Highest Max HP: Attack (Off)
Basch
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion
Ally: Any: Remedy
Ally: MP<40%: Ether
Foe: Highest Max HP: Dispel (off)
Foe: Highest Max HP: Attack (Off)
Ashe
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion
Ally: Any: Remedy
Ally: MP<40%: Ether
Foe: Highest Max HP: Dispel (off)
Foe: Highest Max HP: Attack (Off)
Penelo
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion
Ally: Any: Remedy
Ally: MP<40%: Ether
Foe: Highest Max HP: Dispel (off)
Foe: Highest Max HP: Attack (Off)
Equip all with Fomalhauts and use any elemental shot you may have. The only
exception is when you fight Vayne Novus as he has half immunity to Dark. Try to
keep the Wyrmfire Shot in play all the time.
Everyone with Duelling Masks/Crown of Laurels & Mirage Vests with Bubble belts
except for Vaan who you must give a Nihopalaoa (which is why most of his
gambits are turned off for now). Make sure you are all stocked up and then save
your game, board the Strahl and head for Bahamut.
There are a lot of scenes in this part and I am not going to describe them.
Just watch them and then refer back to the guide when you have control of your
players. Whilst on board Bahamut you have no main map but your minimap works.
You are in the Antechamber to start with and have to make your way to the
Central Lift. Along the way you will meet Imperials and Rooks. My advice is to
ignore them and flee. If you get into any trouble just release the flee button
for a bit of healing and reviving and then carry on fleeing. If you try and
fight all these you could get overwhelmed. So head south out of the Antechamber
and follow the corridor until you come to a right turn which will lead to The
Catwalk. Head to the left around the Catwalk and then take the first right.
Keep to the left now and you will come to the exit which brings you into the
Central Lift. Now do all the healing and buffing you want to do and bring Vaan
into Party and turn everyone's attack and dispel gambits on. If you have Basch
in your team now you will get longer dialogue in the following scenes. When you
are ready go to use the lift controls but before you can operate them you now
bump into........
Gabranth
********
I used Balthier, Fran and Basch as my main team so I will describe it that way
and you just apply it to whoever you are using. Start this battle with
Balthier, Basch & Vaan and use Vaan straight away to throw a Remedy over
Gabranth whilst one of the others dispels Gabranth's Buffs. This inflicts,
Slow, Silence and Blind, the latter being very handy. Then switch Vaan out for
Fran. Just blast away until Gabranth gets to 50% HP and there will be a scene.
Gabranth will then renew and rebuff automatically. Again, out with Fran and in
with Vaan for Niho + Remedy and then get Fran back. Just keep shooting at
Gabranth and let the gambits take care of the healing. Gabranth will go a bit
crazy and can do some big combos but you'll get through it easily. When he's
defeated there will be a scene and then you are in the Central Lift with
Gabranth crouched on the floor. Ignore him, heal up and then use the lift to
get to the Central Shaft where you will get scenes and then have to fight....
Vayne Solidor
*************
Some scenes to start with and you find Larsa on your side. Use Vaan and have
him Niho + Remedy on Vayne which will inflict Silence, Blind and Sap and the
auto dispel will remove his buffs. Vayne is nothing special so just shoot him
down to 50% where there will be a short scene. After that he will need
dispelling again and another Niho + Remedy. Carry on with the guns, don't worry
about his big attacks as they aren't anything your gambits can't handle, and he
will fall quite quickly. Then a scene where Larsa is used and Vayne Solidor now
becomes........
Vayne Novus
***********
More scenes here and Gabranth joins you for this battle. No Dark shot here. The
way your gambits are set, with the focus being on the Highest Max HP, you will
ignore the Sephira that are floating around and focus purely on Vayne Novus.
Auto dispel again (good, eh?) and then Niho + Remedy which will inflict Slow
and OIL !! Enter the Wyrmfire shot for some decent damage. Again there will be
another scene and Vayne Novus will need dispelling again plus another Niho and
remedy. Just shoot away and the Wyrmfire shot will take its toll and the battle
will be over very quickly. More scenes and Vayne calls out to Venat who joins
with Vayne to produce....
The Undying
***********
Niho + remedy is useless here so give Vaan a bubble belt, turn all his gambits
on and then turn Fran's shellga gambit on. Change attack to gil toss. You will
get hit by magick a lot here and may get KO'd here and there but the gambits
should hold up. Undying has some strong attacks that do some big damage but the
X-Potions will cope. Auto dispel is good as Undying will rebuff and it will be
removed straight away. After a while the Undying will use a Magick Paling but
don't worry, just carry on with gil toss in between healing.
NOW TAKE NOTE: As soon as that Magick Paling drops.......DARK MATTER !!! It is
most likely to be enough to finish The Undying off in one go. If not then a
couple of gil tosses will be enough. Now sit back and watch the closing scenes.
Well done, you have beaten Final Fantasy XII at 122333.
===============================================================================
===============
HUNT STRATEGIES
===============
The following Hunt Strategies apply to the Hunts at the time they are mentioned
in the Walkthrough. Obviously, if you attempt them later on then they will
likely be easier and require different tactics. What I am writing now is the
strategy I used at the time of doing the Hunt.
1. Rogue Tomato
***************
Very easy, just use your blade and he will fall. Watch out for his Fire attack
after he drops to 50% otherwise it's a very comfortable Mark.
2. Thextera
***********
Even easier. Obtain Holy Mote and Water mote or 2 Holy Motes as outlined in the
walkthrough. Locate Thextera in the Galtea Downs and use the Holy Mote. If it
doesn't KO him then follow it up with the water mote (or another Holy mote if
you don't have a Water Mote) and he will fall. Go back to Rabanastre and see
Gatsly in the Sandsea and collect your reward. Now go to Clan hall and get your
reward for becoming a Hedge Knight Rank. BTW, if you hadn't killed those
bunnies in Giza you wouldn't get a rise in your rank as you would fall short of
Clan points. Montblanc will give you 2 Teleport Stones and 2 WARP MOTES!!
Whatever you do, do NOT use or sell the Warp Motes. They are going to save you
a lot of frustration and probably quite a few Game Overs aboard Leviathan
later. Believe me.....they are needed desperately.
3. Flowering Cactoid
********************
Speak to Dante in the Outpost in the Estersand and then head off to the Yardang
Labyrinth where you'll find The Flowering Cactoid. Attack Gambits need to be
set to Party Leader because once you start attacking it runs off through every
enemy territory around and very shortly you'll have every Cockatrice and his
Wolf after you and you don't want to kill one by accident. Have Fran as leader
and start the attack with Fire. When he runs off just follow and don't worry
about the wolves etc. Let the gambits do the healing. If Cactoid uses 1000
needles then just manually use a Phoenix Down. He's a pain but he'll drop after
a while. You get the Cactus Flower and then go back to Dante and get your
Bounty. I also advise talking to Dante again and start the Dalmascan Patient
Sidequest and do as much of it as you can. And remember....keep emptying those
chests. You need more ethers.
4. Nidhogg
**********
Talk to the Seeq by the entrance to the Lhusu Mines, save at the blue crystal
behind you and then flee through the mines to Transitway 1 to find the Nidhogg.
Now be careful as you'll be using quickenings again because there is a Steeling
Flying around and you don't want it caught up in a concurrence and end up
levelling up. Team of Fran, Ashe & Penelo, gambits at 50% HP for a Hi-Potion
and Party Leaders Target (don't wanna be hitting the Steeling in error) and
start with a chain of quickenings. Bring in Basch and Balthier and give an
ether to Ashe and Penelo. Manually revive KO's and when you get Nidhogg to
critical he will go nutty and will attack fast and furious. Bring back Ashe &
Penelo, quickenings & concurrence and it's all over. Back to the Seeq at the
entrance for your bounty and a Great Serpentskin.
5. Wraith
*********
See Milha in the North Sprawl in Lowtown and then head for storehouse 5. Head
through the Overflow Cloaca but stay round the edge. Go through the doors into
the Central Waterway Control and save your game. Use these gambits:
Fran & Balthier: Ally: any: phoenix down, ally: HP<50%: Hi potion, Foe: nearest
visible: attack
Basch: Ally: HP<50%: Hi potion, Foe: nearest visible: attack
Start with Fran (party leader), Ashe and Penelo and go back into the Overflow
Cloaca. Now walk towards the centre of the area and Wraith will appear.
Immediate quickening chain and get a concurrence. If you fail then reset and
try again. Now out with Ashe & Penelo and in with Balthier and Basch. Just keep
attacking and healing as necessary and you will soon wear it down. It will
cast doom on everyone but you will probably beat it before the doom takes
effect. When you have defeated it go back into the Central Waterway Control and
touch the save crystal to clear doom off everyone. Now return to Milha and get
your bounty. Then enter the residence and speak to Deeg and get your Dusty
letter.
NB. I never tried this and didn't have a save file around there to test it but
Hell Wyrm of Neoseeker's Forum told me that Wraith is easily beaten by Basch
summoning Belias. You may like to try that.
6. Croakadile
*************
Head to the Village in Giza during the Rainy Season. The villagers have left
but you will find Sadeen standing alone. Talk to him and find out the
Croakadile has swallowed a ring and you have to kill it to get it back. He
tells you the Croakadile is by a bridge. Head to Starfall Field and you will
find Croakadile on the left after you cross the bridge. Use the following
Gambits:
Fran & Balthier: Ally: any: phoenix down, ally: HP<50%: Hi potion, Foe: nearest
visible: attack
Basch: Ally: HP<50%: Hi potion, Foe: nearest visible: attack
Start with Fran Ashe and Penelo in your team, do the usual quickening chain and
then swap Ashe and Penelo out for Basch and Balthier. At one point he will
double his strength and become tougher. Just keep hammering away. A good tip is
to have as your Leader whoever Croakadile targets and then keep on the move.
Croakadile will follow you giving the others free reign to attack without
getting hit back. If Croakadile changes target, you change leader. When he goes
critical he will start doing higher damage. If you have the ethers then bring
Penelo & Ashe back to finish him off or just keep at him though you may use a
few more hi-potions etc. After you defeat him you receive The Ring of the Toad.
Take this back to Sadeen at the village and get your bounty. He will ask you to
give the ring to "her." Go back in the Dry and see Elder Brunoa. Then see
Sadeen again in the Rainy season for the conclusion to this.
7. Rocktoise
************
At this stage this hunt is actually a lot easier than you think it might be. Go
to see Pilika in the Khus Skygrounds in West Bhujerba and then head to Site 2
in the Lhusu Mines where you met Ba'Gamnan. Your team is Fran Balthier and
Ashe. To start with use Penelo in place of Balthier. Use the following gambits:
Fran & Balthier: Ally: any: phoenix down, ally: HP<50%: Hi potion, Foe: nearest
visible: attack
Ashe: Ally: any: phoenix down, ally: HP<50%: Hi potion
Equip Balthier with the Manufacted Nethicite and Fran with the Dawn Shard. It
is actually highly unlikely that you will use a phoenix down here. Should you
be followed by any undead into this area or should any appear then first use
Penelo and Warp them using the Warp Magick you should have got from Dyce
outside Raithwall. One good reason for getting Warp.
Start with a quickening chain and then switch in Balthier for Penelo. Lure
Rocktoise closer to the entrance. Now all he will use is magick and the
Nethicite & Dawn Shard will reduce that damage greatly. Have Ashe run round in
circles in the passage until her MP is topped up and then switch in Penelo for
one of the other 2. Sure Penelo has no MP but Ashe starts it off and then you
hope to get 2 mist charges for a concurrence. After the quickenings switch
Penelo back out. Have Ashe run around again but I think it will be unlikely
you'll need another lot of quickenings. Honestly, in this situation this Mark
is easy. Go back to Pilika and get your bounty.
8. Enkelados
************
Enkelados will only appear after the area has been cleared of all Wu creatures.
Now remember, you can't kill anything. This is another reason why I used up all
of Penelo's LP when she had lots of it. She needed a quickening and the Licence
to use WARP Magick. In this area you will find 5 or 6 Wu's and you need to warp
them out of there. You will use a few Hi Potions and Phoenix Downs here but
fortunately you have Larsa who will use some of his own. Now Penelo only has 40
MP and each warp costs 18 MP and it is as likely to miss as it is to hit. Warp
is an Area of Effect (AoE) magick so if you can draw 2 or 3 Wus together then
you could possibly warp them all or maybe 2 of them. You have 2 chances to do
this. Now lets say you fail. Have Penelo as leader and start her running around
to build up her MP using Flee. Have Fran and Balthier with gambits of HP<50%
hi-potion and any ally phoenix down. If it weren't for Larsa you wouldn't have
to use flee but he is likely to attack and we don't want a Wu killed as you'll
get EXP. Warp gives no EXP but it gives No LP either. If anyone is KO'd then
release the flee button so that healing can be done. Keep Penelo running till
she has 18 MP and then warp the Wu again. Like I said, there are 5 or 6 in this
section but you'll shift them all eventually. When they are all gone then have
Penelo run around until all her 40 MP have been replaced and the Mist Bar is
full. Now have Basch obtain the Licence for guns 1 and equip him with the
Capella. There is a good reason for this which will become apparent. Now have
your Party as Ashe, Penelo & Fran with Fran leading. With all Wus now gone,
cross the zone line and then come straight back in. You will see Enkelados in
the centre of the Area. Move in and start a quickening chain with Ashe. The
moment you finish switch Ashe and Penelo out for Balthier and Basch. Set
gambits as follows:
Fran & Balthier: Ally: any: phoenix down, ally: HP<50%: Hi potion, Foe: nearest
visible: attack
Basch: Ally: HP<50%: Hi potion, Foe: nearest visible: attack
Enkelados uses Spinkick which hits all allies in a close area and can KO some
of them. This is why I want you to have Basch use a gun for now. Now for the
important bit. Using Basch, SUMMON BELIAS !! When Belias appears keep Basch out
of the way of Enkelados's Spinkick and have him run around building up MP and
healing Belias as necessary. He will avoid damage himself and every so often
will get a shot in from range. Every little helps. Eventually Belias will use
Hellfire and then leave. But because you had Basch running around he will
likely have a full Mist Bar. SUMMON BELIAS AGAIN !! Keep doing this until
Enkelados is defeated. If Belias ever leaves and Basch doesn't have a full mist
bar then just go back into normal battle with Fran & Balthier with Basch as
Leader running around. As soon as his Mist Bar is full summon Belias. Enkelados
may use restore once or twice but it wont take too long to beat him. When he
falls go back to Jahara and collect your bounty from Sugumu.
9. Feral Retriever
******************
This is a piece of cake this hunt. Just set up an extra gambit for any ally:
Remedy and Gold Needle. Either that or be prepared to use them manually. Now
head into the Paramina Rift, through Frozen Brook and Path of the Firstfall
(where you can save) into the Spine of the Icewyrm where you will find Feral
Retriever. You can actually beat this Mark up with just your guns and no need
for any quickenings. It's up to you...use quickenings or just fight. But be
prepared with the Gold Needles or Remedies. If you do start to struggle then
don't hesitate. Quickenings and Concurrence. Save Crystal is in next zone so
don't worry if things get desperate. Just use it and go back and start again on
the Feral Retriever. When you have done, go back to Mt Bur-Omisace and get your
reward off Hymms.
10. Wyvern Lord
***************
Speak to the Imperial Sherral in Amal's Weaponry in Rabanastre and then
teleport to the Tomb of Raithwall. Head back to the Nam Yensa Sea in the next
zone, The Trail of Fading Warmth, and then turn left into Simoon Bluff. Wyvern
Lord is found in the north part by the edge of the map. Lots of Bagolies round
here to annoy you but just shoot them or warp them. Head for the Wyvern Lord
and use your guns. You won't need quickenings and you're unlikely to use a
phoenix down. A few hi potions and a bit of shooting and it's all over. Almost
as easy as Rogue Tomato or Thextera. Back to Rabanastre to see Sherral for your
bounty.
11. Cluckatrice
***************
Speak to Dania in the Cockatrice Pen and she'll tell you about the Cluckatrice
which can be found on Giza's North Bank. However, first you have to get rid of
all creatures in the area including the cute bunnies. If you are doing this
hunt early then all creatures here can be warped. When the area is clear leave
the zone. Now switch in your reserve team and re-enter. Very shortly you will
see a Chickatrice. Niho + Remedy. Now Cluckatrice and the other 2 Chickatrices
will come running. Niho + Remedy on them too. Look at the 4 of them. Rooted to
the spot unable to do a thing with virtually all status effects. Switch the
main team in and blast them at your leisure. You haven't suffered a scratch and
all 4 of them are dead. Easy, eh? Good thing this Nihopalaoa + Remedy. Back to
Giza Village and get your reward.
12. Ring Wyrm
*************
Go to the North Sprawl in Lowtown and speak to Balzac. Make sure you have
esuna. Now teleport to the Westersand using the gate crystal and save. The next
zone in is The Windtrace Dunes. However Ring Wyrm only shows when there is a
Sandstorm. Keep zoning till you get one started. It will appear south of the
Main mound which is east of where you enter. Before you approach it get rid of
all foes in that area. You need to fight this alone as one of your party will
not be wearing a firefly. If anything does come into the zone after you start
the battle then warp it or remove the person from the party without the firefly
and kill it with the other 2. In this next bit I used Fran so for the sake of
this guide I will use her now but feel free to use any one of your party.
When the coast is clear, equip Fran with a Nihopalaoa and turn her potions and
phoenix down gambits off. Now use a remedy on Ring wyrm and it will be rooted
to the spot. Use guns from range. Start a quickening chain and then after you
have finished continue attacking with your guns. The moment you see Ring Wyrm
move then get Fran to use another remedy on it and root it to the spot again.
As your MP builds up do more quickenings. Each time Ring Wyrm starts to walk
get Fran to use a remedy on it. When its HP gets low it will start spamming
magick attacks like thundara and fira. If Ring Wyrm hits anyone with Immobilise
then use Esuna to clear the status. Let the gambits heal damage and keep your
distance from it. Eventually you will wear it down and defeat it. If you have
the MP then finish it off with quickenings and concurrence. DON'T FORGET!! Put
the Firefly back on Fran! Now head to where Lohen is and teleport back to
Rabanastre to the North Sprawl in Lowtown and get your reward from Balzac.
13. Marilith
************
Speak to the Tavernmaster in The Sandsea in Rabanastre and then head to the
Westersand and the Main area of Shimmering Horizons. Enter the Zertinan
caverns/Invitation to heresy from the Westersand and wait at the entrance for 5
minutes. Using your reserve team head to the south of the middle section using
Alarm Clocks on the Slimes in the way putting them to sleep. As you approach
the area there is a Speartongue there. Switch to attack team and kill it. Now
bring in 1 reserve and head to the corner and Marilith appears. Use a remedy on
it from the reserve (who is of course equipped with Nihopalaoa). It will slow
it down, disease it but most important, it will blind it. Switch the attack
member back in and use a quickening chain. Take a chance with level 3
quickening starts as Marilith has over 54k HP and you could do with some
serious damage to get rid of it quickly. Then just blast away until your MP
builds up and then try again. Don't use any elemental ammo such as Wyrmfire
shot which will heal Marilith as it absorbs fire. It is immune to all other
elements except water. You'll use a few hi-potions here but not a lot...maybe
20. Just stay with the guns and quickenings and Marilith will be gone in a few
minutes or so. You will receive Serpentwyne Must which you take back to the
Tavernmaster in the Sandsea who will give you your reward.
14. Ixtab
*********
See High Chief Zayalu for this hunt on the Elderknoll in Jahara and then
teleport to the Henne Mines and save. Use your attack team and either shoot the
bats along the way or warp them. As you enter the mine into the North Entrance
use the switch to open the first gate and then head to Pithead Junction A.
Operate the Switch and then to the left of the switch. Follow the path round
dealing with any bats that are in the way. As you approach the end you will see
the urn with a map in it. Before you get to the Urn Ixtab will appear. Bring a
reserve in and use Niho + Remedy on Ixtab. One of the things it will do is stop
it. Switch attack member back in and do quickening chain. After chain just
blast away with the guns and Ixtab will be dead before the stop runs out. An
easy mark. Now go on to the Mindflayer.
15. The Mindflayer
******************
Putting it bluntly this Mark is a pig! At this level it is difficult but not
overly so. It will be the hardest Mark so far though. Having accepted the Hunt
from Warrior Guromu, I am assuming you have just done Ixtab and are now heading
back to Pithead Junction A. You need to flick the switch and change the gates
again. Dodge the Jellies by leaving immediately heading west down the Phase 1
shaft to the Phase 1 Dig. Shoot the bats, don't warp them. The reason for this
is to build your MP back up after Ixtab. Go round the west side of the Phase 1
Dig, using Float if you don't have Libra, and clear all foes until you come to
where the Mindflayer is in the south part at the "Upside Down" T-Junction.
Remember, Mindflayer will only appear if the average MP of the party is over
90%.
Now before battle let me tell you the downsides to this Mark. It is resistant
to guns. However, the weapons you have won't do a great deal more damage than
the gun will. Your Betelgeuse will do around 70-80 damage and the Axe around
200+ with a good hit. Anyway, equip Fran with the Handaxe and Basch with the
War Hammer or Iron Hammer if you don't have the War Hammer. Leave Balthier with
the Betelgeuse. There is a very good reason for this. Mindflayer loves to use
Stop and the Power Armlet (Immunity to Stop) is not yet available to you unless
you happen to have got the rare game Wary Wolf to drop one in the Mosphoran
Highwaste. But worst of all is Mindflayer's Time Requiem which will inflict
stop on all members in the area. By leaving the Betelgeuse with Balthier you
keep him at a distance and if you see Mindflayer readying Time Requiem then
move Balthier even further away so that it misses him. Have him with a gambit
Ally: Any: Chronos Tear to clear stop from the other 2. Ok, into battle.
Put a Nihopalaoa on one of your attack team and immediately put a remedy on
Mindflayer. You will inflict Slow, Blind and Sap. Remove Niho straight away.
Now just hammer away at it and try and do as much damage as possible. It is
likely to inflict Sap on you but that can be removed by Esuna or Regen. If you
have any knots of Rust use them early as the damage they cause are based on
your current HP. You might get a 1000+ damage or two. When Mindflayers HP gets
to 20% it will use Soul Etude which will completely restore its HP & MP. So
when its HP is around a quarter to a third make sure all your team have full MP
bars. Use ethers if you have to. Now a fair quickening chain and concurrence
will kill it. But what if you miss or fall short in damage? Ok, then Mindflayer
gets full HP & MP back. He will also cast on himself Hero's March which is
Faith, Shell, Haste and Bravery. You must dispel this instantly even if it
means using another ether. Now in this second part of the battle he will use
Invert quite a bit. As soon as he does then go to quickenings starting with a
level 1. You are hoping for mist charges to get a chain going. If it fails then
just go back to physical attacks until you build up MP or he uses invert again.
Keep doing this, healing continuously until you finally wipe him out with a
good Concurrence. Congratulations....this is not an easy mark at this stage.
You will use plenty of Hi potions here....definitely 50+ but probably not many
phoenix downs. Go back to Jahara for your reward from Warrior Guromu and save
at the Gate Crystal.
16. Antlion
***********
(See main Walkthrough during time at Phon Coast)
17. Gil Snapper
***************
Obviously, to do this Hunt it needs to be raining in Giza. If the rains aren't
around yet then go on to hunt 18 and come back to this one when the rains
return. Now go to the Crystal Glade where you will see Nanau and accept the
Hunt. Earlier on, after getting the Dawn Shard and having to go through Giza
when it was raining, I said to chop down the 6 withered trees so you would have
access to the Tracks of the Beast. Well if you didn't do it then you have to do
it now. Then go to Giza South Bank and near the bridge you can cross the water
where all the 6 trees have come together to form a bridge. Gil Snapper will be
there only during heavy rain. You will be met and assisted by Bansat from the
Clan and he will tell you if Gil Snapper is around. If he isn't then just leave
the area and return and hope it's raining heavily.
A Tip: Gil Snapper's steal is 1000 gil. If you want to you can steal, zone out
and back and steal again. Just a way to add some money. I'd rather chain
Mirrorknights. Meh....I'd rather chain Dark Lords but that comes later.
Once Gil Snapper appears do 2 things. First, using a nihopalaoa, use a remedy
on Gil Snapper which will immobilise and silence him among other things.
Second, dispel its buffs. Party Leaders Target is the best gambit as there are
Silicon Tortoises around and you don't want to kill one by accident. I had the
Pheasant Netsuke equipped for better healing if needed. Now stand at a distance
and blast away with your Fomalhauts. Gil Snapper can't move nor can he cast
Magick. As soon as the Immobilise wears off then Niho + Remedy again and
continue blasting. You won't need a 3rd remedy as Gil Snapper will be dead by
then. Bansat will leave but before you leave get the Feather of the Flock from
the Urn in the South if you haven't already got it. Head back to the Crystal
Glade where you will find a Soggy Letter from Nanau telling you to come back
during the dry when you will get your bounty.
18. White Mousse (Including Orthros)
************************************
This Hunt and the next one (Orthros) can be done together as they are next to
each other in the Garamsythe Waterway and the tactics are exactly the same to
defeat both. Accept the White Mousse Hunt from Sorbet at the Moogling Station
in
Westgate and the Orthros Hunt from the Contrite Thief in Storehouse 5. Head
through the Garamsythe water way until you come to the West Sluice control. Get
rid of the Marlboro Overkings and then equip your party with the Mirror Mail
Armour (you must have kept 3 from all the Mirrorknight chaining you've done)
and 2 characters with the Nihopalaoa and 1 with Pheasant Netsuke. Turn the
gambits off for the 2 with the Nihopalaoa and the other one is to have healing
gambits only though it's unlikely they will be needed against White Mousse. Now
go down the steps and White Mousse will appear. Niho + Remedy immediately and
put it to sleep. Now cast Fira on yourself with all 3 characters and it's
reflected onto White Mousse. When the Sleep runs out just Niho and Remedy
again. You can use Firaga if you like but it uses more MP though you get more
Damage. Your choice. When your MP gets low just swap the Mirror Mail and
accessories to the other three party members, switch them in and carry on.
White Mousse will sleep virtually all the way through and you'll beat it
easily. When it's dead go through the Southern Sluiceway (make sure 1 party
member is male) and into the East Sluice control where you can save your game
and replenish MP. Now make sure your party is all female and head back to the
Southern Sluiceway. Orthros will only appear when Fran, Ashe and Penelo are in
the party. Same tactics again. Niho + Remedy followed by reflected Fira/Firaga.
If Orthros wakes he can be very quick to act and you could have a player in a
confused state. The best thing to do is hit him for 3 turns with Fira/Firaga
and then Niho + Remedy even if he is still asleep. When you run out of MP
switch Mirror Mail + Accessories to other 3 party members, switch in and finish
Orthros off. Return to Contrite Thief in Storehouse 5 for reward and then to
Sorbet in Westgate for reward and Sluicegate Key.
19. Orthros
***********
See 18. White Mousse.
20. Atomos
**********
Go to Nalbina Town and speak to Burrogh in the Jajim Bazaar and accept the
Atomos Hunt. There are 5 petitioners in Nalbina and you may as well talk to
them all and accept their hunts even though you won't do them all now. After
Burrogh is Popol in the same area but on the opposite side. Then Morgen in the
far northwest of Nalbina town; Barrong next to the entrance of the Aerodrome
and then finally Zammadria, the woman from Archades who is seated in the
aerodrome. Talk to them all and accept their hunts. Now to Atomos. Teleport to
Mosphoran Highwaste and next to the Merchant is Va'Kansa. Talk to him and
accept his hunt for the Braegh. Now head Northeast to the Rays of Ashen Light,
along the short path through the Trail of the Sky-flung Stone and into the
Northern Skirts. Kill the Humbabas and move to the next part and kill the
Vultures. You will then see Atomos. Party leaders target, just in case anything
else is around, Dispel the buffs from Atomos and start firing. He will do
little damage to you and with a few rounds with the Fomalhauts he will fall
very quickly. An easy Mark. Back to Burrogh for your bounty or, before you go
there, move on to.....
21. Carrot
**********
The Petitioner for Carrot is Zammadria in the Aerodrome at Nalbina and Carrot
is found in The Sun Dappled Path in Salikawood. You will be met and aided by
the Viera, Krjn from Clan Hall and she will meet you as you enter the Sun
Dappled Path. However, Carrot will not show if you kill anything before you
reach Krjn in the Sun Dappled Path. This includes anything that may be
cannibalised as you go past. After you meet Krjn just follow the path round and
you will come across Carrot, a very big Marlboro. Again, Party leaders Target
in case there is anything around and each character should have the
Ally:Any:Remedy gambit. Lead with Balthier and start by Dispelling Carrot. You
could use Niho + Remedy but Carrot purifies itself very quickly so there really
isn't much point. Blast away at it for a while, healing damage and using
remedies if needed. When Carrot drops below 50% HP it will use Growing Threat
and DOUBLE its level. Now its attacks will likely KO in one hit as the lunge
can do 3000+ damage. The putrid breath can inflict almost as many statuses on
you as you can with Niho + Remedy. Keep your leader at a distance. When you see
Carrot readying Putrid Breath move him further away. That way you will always
have 1 player who can use remedy. You'll take some punishment from Carrot now
its level has doubled but the double level has a downside for Carrot. When you
get its HP towards critical use a quickening chain and try to get the best
Concurrence you can. The damage from a Concurrence is the Power of the
Concurrence x LEVEL OF TARGET so Carrot will get a double sized Concurrence for
doubling its level and you will finish it off. If you miss the concurrence just
plug away or use ethers and try again. Carrot won't last long. Back to the
Aerodrome at Nalbina for your bounty from Zammadria.
22. Darksteel
*************
Head to Archades and speak to the Homesick Man in Vints Armaments and accept
the hunt. Whilst you are there in Archades go over to Bulwards Technicks and
speak to the Insecure Seeq and accept the Overlord hunt. Both are in Sochen
Cave and can be done together. Right, Darksteel. Go down in the lift and open
the door and you will find Darksteel in that room. Niho + Remedy, dispel its
buffs and kite whoever it targets. It is blinded and is unlikely to do much if
any damage. I think I used 1 hi potion. Just blast it with the Fomalhauts and
it's all over quickly. Back to Homesick man in Archades for bounty or first go
and do the hunt......
23. Overlord
************
Petitioner is the Insecure Seeq in Bulwards Technicks in Archades. If you are
coming from the Darksteel Hunt or from the Sochen Cave Gate Crystal just fight
or flee your way through Sochen Cave to the area Doubt Abandoned where you will
find Overlord on the west side. If you are coming from Tchita Uplands then it's
the first area you are in when you go in the cave. You will be met by the
Insecure Seeq who will join you in this battle. Approach Overlord, Niho +
Remedy and dispel the buffs. He will be blind. Just shoot at him and heal if he
does any damage. I even had time to open the chest behind him for a Hi-Ether
during the fight. Again, the Fomalhauts will just blast him to death. Now make
your way back to Archades to the Technick shop for your reward from the
Insecure Seeq.
24. Vorpal Bunny
****************
Go to Eruyt Village and see Nera in the Spiritwood to accept the hunt. Now head
south through the Golmore Jungle to the Rustling Chapel. Continue south, taking
out the coeurls on the way. As you enter the next open area the Vorpal Bunny
should jump up out of the ground. It will run. The best way to deal with it
without having to chase it is to quickly cast berserk on it which will make it
face you. Then dispel its buffs and blast away. Either that or chase it around
running into Coeurls, Hellhounds and Dinosaurs. It's not difficult chasing it
because it doesn't fight back. You just take pot shots as it runs past. If ever
you have to fight any foes and it disappears just go into one of the open areas
and it should jump up out of the ground. Having disposed of it, go back to Nera
in Eruyt Village and collect your bounty.
25. Braegh
**********
Hunt petitioner is Va'Kansa in Mosphoran Highwaste/Babbling Vale and Braegh is
found in the southwest of the Corridor of Ages in Salikawood, next to the exit
to Nabudis. Switch in a player with a Nihopalaoa on and use a remedy on Braegh
and then switch the main team member back in again. Braegh is in bad shape with
all kinds of status effect. Just blast away with your guns until poor Braegh
who just stands still, helpless, is dead. Very easy. Go get your easy money
from Va'Kansa in the Mosphoran Highwaste.
26. Bloodwing
*************
Petitioner is none other than your prisoner friend and mine, No.381. Remember
him from Nalbina? No...neither did I, but I looked for him and his mate 982
next time I was in there and sure enough, they're both there. Anyway, 381 is
now in the Village on the south bank. Accept his hunt and then off to the
Barheim Passage and the West Annex. It's tough down there but as long as you
use stealth you'll make it. Lots of Dead Bones popping up all over the place
which can be dealt with by the guns and Spectres will go instantly with a
Phoenix Down. Make your way along to the south of the West annex and you will
find a path heading west towards Terminus No.7 Adjunct and about halfway along
Bloodwing will appear. Niho + Remedy will Immobilise him and then it's just a
case of blasting away at him. He will use leech to drain HP from you but one
blast from a Fomalhaut does 3 times what he takes and you're hitting him with 3
of them. This really is a case of you shoot a few times, he leeches once, you
heal every other one and eventually you shoot him down. It is as simple as
that. Getting through the West Annex was harder. But it's another hunt done and
you can now go back to 381 in the Estersand for your reward.
27. Goliath
***********
Petitioner for this Mark is Barrong who is in the West Ward in Nalbina Town
down by the left side of the entrance to the Aerodrome. Goliath is in the
Necrohol of Nabudis In the Hall of Slumbering Might. Approach Nabudis from the
Nabreus Deadlands and it is the first area you enter. Go down the passage and
Goliath is immediately to your left. Before taking him on though it would be
best to remove all the little Baknamies in the area first. As long as you give
Goliath a wide berth he won't interfere so go about your business getting rid
of them, warp motes being the best way.
Now on to Goliath. Although he looks big and intimidating he is really very
easy to deal with. Still got the Mirror Mail Armour from the Mirrorknights?
Equip it and have the usual X potion, phoenix down healing gambits etc. You can
use Niho + Remedy if you like but all it will do is inflict slow so there isn't
a lot of point. Approach Goliath and use your Fomalhauts. Goliath will put up a
magick paling around himself so magick won't harm him. Shame....without that
paling this hunt would be over in seconds. Now all Goliath will do is throw
magick at you and your Mirror Mail will just reflect it back at him. By using
guns you stay at range and Goliath won't use any physical attacks unless you
get too close. just keep chipping away at the 200,000+ HP Goliath has and
eventually he will drop. Go back to Barrong in Nalbina and get your reward.
28. Deathscythe
***************
Popol is in the Jajim Bazaar in Nalbina Town so go there to accept the
commission from him. Now head for Nabudis and the Cloister of the Highborn.
This is the area that has the Zodiac Spear so if you are collecting then you
could get that whilst you're there. I advise clearing an area of foes first
before getting after Deathscythe. To get the Deathscythe to appear just reduce
the HP of a Party member to less than 10% and he shows up. You could do this
with a reserve team member already prepared. Just switch that character in and
when Deathscythe starts to appear switch out again so that you have your full
Main Team.
Now this Mark will show you just how valuable the Nihopalaoa is. Deathscythe
uses both physical and magick attacks and they are quite strong. Guess what
Niho + Remedy will do (amongst other effects)? BLIND, SILENCE and IMMOBILISE !!
What more could you ask for? He can't see, can't cast magick and can't move.
The words "Sitting" and "Duck" spring to mind. Again, it's another "Blast away"
job. If Deathscythe starts on the move again just Niho + Remedy and he will be
immobilised again. Just beat him up and go back to Popol in Nalbina for the
bounty.
29. Roblon
**********
The petitioner here is Morgen and he is in the west side of the West Ward in
Nalbina Town. Roblon is in the Nabreus Deadlands in an area called Overlooking
Eternity. To get there you use a hidden path in the Northwest of the
Slumbermead, go through The Fog Matters and into Overlooking Eternity. That
was easy, wasn't it? Now the bad news. Roblon is accompanied by Dead Bones and
as many as 40 can spawn in this area though, thankfully, not all at once. this
Mark isn't difficult but all the Dead Bones makes the Hunt itself VERY tough.
However, I have a strategy and I will do a small map for you because I want you
to head for a precise location in that area. First of all the gambits as these
are important. The gambits MUST be set in this order.
Gambits
*******
Balthier: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Foe: Lowest HP: Attack
Fran : Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Ally: HP<30%: X-Potion
: Ally: Any: Eye Drops
: Ally: Any: Protectga
: Self: MP<20%: Ether
: Foe: Status=Protect: Dispel
: Foe: Lowest HP: Attack
Basch : Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Ally: HP<30%: X-Potion
: Balthier: Haste
: Ally: Any: Eye Drops
: Foe: Lowest HP: Attack
As you can see from the Gambits, Balthier is going to be all out attack whilst
Fran and Basch have healing duties. Fran will be casting protect on the whole
party and Basch will cast haste on Balthier to keep him flowing quickly. The
attack Gambits will go for the Dead Bones rather than Roblon and will have the
team focus on one particular Dead Bones at a time. The only time Roblon gets
attacked is if there are no Dead Bones close by but if one were to appear then
their attacks would switch to the Dead Bones. Now let's do the map.
Map for Overlooking Eternity
****************************
============================================================
= =
= ............<................<.................<........ =
= . . =
= . ^ =
= . ========================================== . =
= V = =========================== = . =
= . = = = = . =
= . = = = = . =
= . xx == = . =
= . xx = = ^ =
= . R = = . =
= . xx == = . =
= V xxxxxxxxx xx = = . =
= . xxxxxxxxx = = . =
= . = |
= . = |
= ....>...... .......>.......F = |
============. .====================== V
=....= The Fog Matters
======
Key to map:
F = Where to Fight Roblon
R = Roblon
.....>.....> = The route to follow
xxxx
xxxx = Structure
From the moment you enter the zone from The Fog Matters be ready for action.
Silent Shot is handy here if you have it. As you approach the first corner the
Dead Bones start to appear and as soon as one does appear then pull back a
couple of paces and deal with it. Now move slowly forward until the next one
appears and do the same. Sometimes you get 2 at once but you can handle it ok.
Hug that outside wall all the way around, picking off the Undead as you go.
Make your way round to the south of the area where the wooden platform is. You
can spend a few moments here in peace getting your thoughts together or
whatever because by then you will have dealt with 20+ Dead Bones and they all
have over 10k HP each. As long as you stay right by this edge then you will be
ok to attack Roblon. The odd dead Bones may pop up now and then but it will be
easy to deal with. But if you move to the centre then all the ones that are
ready to respawn on the far side where you have come from will all appear and
you will be in serious bother, probably Game Over. So stay this side and hammer
away at Roblon. Niho + remedy gives Slow but it's not worth it. You will take
damage and when Roblon's HP finally goes critical the damage you cause will be
greatly reduced. Now is the time for a quickening chain and it would be nice to
get an Ark Blast Concurrence or better. The damage you get will reduce the HP
quite low and a few rounds of gunshot will finish the job. But it's not all
over yet. After Roblon falls you have to get out of there. My advice is not to
fight but to flee all the way back down along the path to the next zone. Then
get back to the Slumbermead and save your game. Teleport to Nalbina and go see
Morgen for your bounty.
30. Vyraal
**********
Go to the Whitecap in Balfonheim Port and there is a Viera Wayfarer sat by the
window who has had her stuff stolen by the Vyraal. This your petitioner and she
will also assist you in the Hunt. Go to the Cerobi Steppe through the South &
North Liavell Hills and through Feddik River to get to the Northsward where you
will be met by the Viera. The area will be devoid of any foes so head up
towards the windmills and to the area just beyond and walk around. Eventually
Vyraal will appear. Niho + remedy is the order of the day here and will cause
sleep, confuse (both gone after the first shot), slow, silence and blind. The
last 2 are great. This mark has a habit off running off to restore so keep your
eye on it and don't let it out of your sight. Usually you get a blast of
Immobilise before it does it to stop you going after it. Silenced, it can't do
this. Blind is a big help because this creature moves fast, and slow would be
more to shout about if it weren't time based. Anyway, once you have it there in
front of you I'm afraid it's just another one of those Blasting Away tactics.
It won't take long till it dies and then you can head back to the Whitecap for
your reward from the Viera. You will also receive a Dragon Scale which is
needed for the Wyrm Philosopher Sidequest which is, of course, the key to
Hell wyrm.
31. Trickster
*************
Trickster? Jokester more like! This was easier than Rogue Tomato. 10-20 seconds
Trickster lasted, that's all. Anyhow, see Gurdy in Mt Bur-Omisace by the gate
crystal to get the hunt. You will be accompanied by Monid from Clan Hall. Head
to the Paramina Rift and to Frozen Brook. It's a 30% chance that Trickster is
there. What is actually good is if he isn't there 1st time. Monid will let you
know. If he isn't there get rid of a few foes but look for the Ice Elemental
and get rid!! Use gill toss and it's gone in a round. You don't want that
anywhere near if Trickster is around. If Trickster isn't there just zone in and
out until Monid says he is.
I'm not going into the healing gambits in detail because I didn't even use a
potion here. Just set up normal phoenix down, X-Potion stuff and equip bubble
belts. Now the attack gambits.
For Fran & Basch use Foe: HP<5,000: Warp Mote.
Obviously this is to get rid of any smaller foes that may be close by. Because
you are using bubble belts you cant kill anything other than Trickster. You
need to warp the rest away.
For all 3 characters use Foe: HP>5,000: Gil Toss.
That's it. Trickster appears and you use gil toss and it will do 9999 damage. 7
hits and Trickster is dead. With me he just ran around and took the damage,
never landing a hit. He died just as he put up his Status Effect Paling. The
only condition to this hunt is having the cash to do it. If you're short go see
the Dark Lords or the Mirrorknights. When Trickster is done for go back to
Gurdy and get your reward which will include the 3rd and final item needed for
the Morbid Urn in the bazaar. This is the Canopic Jar for Arcana drops. 250,000
gil !!! More Dark Lords or Mirrorknights :o(
32. Pylraster
*************
I know, you are probably thinking "Why so early?" The fact is you are as tough
as you're gonna get so why not try the tough ones? This mark is actually very
easy if you have the right equipment and the right tactics. One bit of
equipment you need is the Ensanguined Shield. If you don't have it then this is
what to do.
Go to the Gate Crystal at Giruvegan and head back towards the Feywood entering
via the Gigas Gate. Go in a straight line to the left of the Altar where the
Behemoths are and you will see a trap in front of you. Use float because the
chest is on the trap itself. There could actually be 3 chests there but it
looks like 1. If you open a chest and there is more than 1 the other chest will
still be in view. It's like opening the same chest over again. The Ensanguined
Shield chest is a 25% appearance but if it is there then you are guaranteed the
Shield, Diamond armlet or not. The chest can only be opened once so you can
only get 1 shield there. When you have the shield go back to Giruvegan and
teleport to Balfonheim Port and go talk to Rikken near Reddas's Manse as he is
the petitioner. You'll have to do a run first but just get it over with and
he'll give you the hunt details. Teleport to Pharos. Use these gambits
Balthier: Ally :Any: Phoenix Down
: Self: Decoy
: Self: MP<20%: Ether
Fran : Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
& : Ally: HP<50%: X-Potion
Basch : Ally: Balthier: Decoy
: Self: MP<20%: Ether
: Foe: Nearest Visible: attack
Now equip Fran & Basch with the Fomalhauts and Bubble belts. Balthier needs to
be equipped with a Main Gauche, the Ensanguined Shield and the Pheasant
Netsuke. Don't worry about the Status effects of the Shield. Now go outside and
Pylraster will be there. The idea is that Pylraster will concentrate on
Balthier but with a Main Gauche and an Ensanguined Shield, Pylraster won't land
a single hit on Balthier. When the Lure runs out you have 3 people ready to
cast Decoy. If it misses, then the other 2 may get attacked and even KO'd but
Balthier will revive them and the Pheasant Netsuke will give them almost full
health. Now let Balthier take all the flak whilst the other 2 just blast away.
This isn't a fast victory because Pylraster has over 400k in HP so you just
have to keep working on him. When you finally get him to critical the damage
you do will be decreased to 1 third and his charge time for attacking will be 0
and he will be constantly hitting you without a break so it might be time to do
some quickening chains to eat into that last 80k or whatever it is. As soon as
your quickening is over your gambit will fill your MP bar up straight away. Now
you can see why I wanted to get 99 ethers before the Treaty Blade. It's very
handy to have them. If you have excess gil I guess you could always use gil
toss to finish him off. I didn't bother and I had 400k available. i just used
the guns and quickenings. By doing this hunt in the way I have just outlined
you will never be in any trouble. After Pylraster is gone go back to Rikken in
Balfonheim Port for your bounty.
33. Ixion
*********
Now you go from a tough Mark that was fairly easy to a tough mark that is NOT
easy. I think I fought Ixion 7 times, adjusting strategy each time and I got 3
Game Overs. You WILL need ethers here so if you don't have any then go to
Nabudis and get some. If anyone comes up with an easier strategy then I would
be delighted to know about it and you can email me with it at the address
quoted in this guide. See the Petitioner, The Whitecap Wench, in the Whitecap
in Balfonheim Port.
I suggest fighting Ixion before you even attempt the Subterra region. If you
only have access to the Penumbra its the only place Ixion can appear as he
appears at any of the 3 areas in the Subterra. The downside to this is that he
will have almost double the HP he would have if you were to fight him in the
Abyssal area but his defence is only a third of what it would be in Abyssal.
There is a change of strategy here as you need to bring Penelo in as she has
the most MP. You will need a Rubber Suit which is available in Balfonheim or
you may already have got one from Pharos. I also recommend 5 suits of Mirror
Mail which can be bought from Phon Coast or you can get the Mirrorknights to
drop them. This how you need to set your characters up and their gambits.
Balthier, Basch and Penelo with the Fomalhauts. Use crown of Laurels here
instead of Renewing Morion as you will need all the HP you can get. Give
Balthier and Basch the Mirage Vests and Penelo the Rubber Suit. Although Ixion
likes to cast things like sleep and silence (the Mirror Mails will reflect that
and if Penelo is affected then one of the others can heal her. She will also be
protected against Lightning attacks as the Rubber Suit will make her immune)
you will first use a Niho +Remedy on Ixion which, amongst other things, will
slow him down and inflict SILENCE!! Put Bubble belts on all 3. Your reserve
team need to have the Pheasant Netsuke equipped along with Mirror Mails. Buff
them up with Haste, Protect and Bubble at the gate crystal before equipping
Mirror Mail and then switch them out so they can be saved in that condition
ready for when they are needed. Now to Gambits.
Balthier: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Self: MP<20%: Ether
: Foe Nearest Visible: Attack
Basch : Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Ally: HP<50%: X-Potion
: Ally: Any: Alarm Clock
: Ally: Any: Remedy
: Self: MP<20%: Ether
: Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
Penelo : Self: Reverse
: Self: Decoy
: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Self: MP<50%: Ether (Note: 50%, not 20%)
: Ally: HP<50%: X-Potion
: Ally: Any: Echo Herbs
: Ally: Any: Remedy
: Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
For your reserve team use the best armour you have available, preferably 3
Mirror Mails. It's a bit of a catch 22 here. If you use HP boosting Armour you
will get hit with Magick and it will be a ---ga magick. If you use Mirror Mail
then you sacrifice HP for a bit of strength and the reflect status to prevent
the Magick and so Ixion will just kick you to bits. It's a tough one but,
believe me, your reserve team isn't going to last very long. It is highly
likely they are on a suicide mission. Just make sure they have the Pheasant
Netsuke equipped. Now their gambits and these are for all 3 characters:
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Ally: HP<50%: Hi-Potion
Self: MP<20%: Ether
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
They are unlikely to use these gambits except for ether but have them ready
just in case. The reason your reserves are there is because your main team have
all been KO'd so the priority for the reserves is to manually use phoenix downs
on the main team. This is imperative.
When you have everything set then let Penelo use decoy (and reverse though that
will be wiped out at the save) and then save. When you have saved, Penelo will
use reverse and as soon as it takes effect remove her from the party and leave
her out for now. No point in wasting valuable Reverse and Lure status time.
Move to the Dais of Ascendance with just 2 characters and select Penumbra.
Ixion will appear here, the Umbra or the Abyssal but as you can only go here
then it has to be here that he appears. You will know if he is around because
you will see no other foes in the area. If you see an Abaddon coming towards
you then Ixion isn't there so just reset and try again. Keep doing this until
you see no foes around and then you know Ixion is nearby. However he will sneak
up on you and not make his appearance immediately but when he does then bring
Penelo in straight away and she will be the lure whilst you equip a Nihopalaoa
on either Balthier or Basch and immediately use a remedy on Ixion and then get
your bubble belt back on straightaway. Use dispel on Ixion.
The gambits are designed for Penelo to take the hammering whilst Balthier
shoots away along with Basch who may heal occasionally. You will go through a
fair few X-Potions and Phoenix Downs during this battle and in the first few
minutes you hardly seem to get a shot in. But you will. Just keep going and
start not wear down Ixion's HP. It will take some time but as Ixion approaches
50% he will purify himself and will be unaffected by magick and status effects.
Now a PROPER fight begins. You must now, straight away, immediately, no delay
whatsoever, switch Basch & Balthier to Mirror Mail Armour as all hell is about
to break loose. Well, Half-Hell really. All hell breaks out when Ixion goes
critical. If you have lots of gil I suggest changing your attack gambit to gil
toss and start doing more damage fast. You will get players KO'd left, right
and centre here but the gambits will cope. Until Ixion goes HP Critical. If you
haven't been using gil toss up to now I suggest you change your gambit. You may
not get many attack chances but you need to do damage if you do get a chance.
Your guns will only do a third of the damage they have been doing and gil toss
is a much better option. At HP Critical Ixion still has around 60k of HP left
and that is going to take some removing. Ixion goes crazy now. He does more
damage, more combos and his charge time is zero. There is only one way to get
him from now that I could tell. There may be other ways but I don't know
everything and I would be happy to hear from anyone with suggestions.
Quickenings!!
Just start a chain and do as best you can to get the best concurrence. A good
tip here is always to try and start your quickenings whilst Penelo has both
Lure & Reverse as it gives you a fighting chance after each quickening. Always
start with a level 3 quickening and if your 2nd go gives you the chance of
another level 3 then take it. After that just 2 level 1's and 2 level 2's gives
you an Ark Blast Concurrence, the 3rd most powerful. After the quickenings your
party will all immediately use ethers and replenish though Penelo won't fill
her bar up. Straight into quickening again. Now while you are throwing ethers
etc, Ixion is NOT standing still which is why it's good to have the Lure and
reverse on Penelo active straight away. It keeps Ixion occupied and does no
damage. However, there is a fair chance that Ixion will KO your main party and
that usually happens when Penelo's reverse or decoy wears off. If it does
happen this is what you must do.
Bring in the reserve party and manually use phoenix downs on the 3 KO'd members
by using the R1 button to switch targets. This is of paramount importance. If
you don't get this done then it is 99% certain you'll get a game over. A soon
as it's done use your reserves to do a quickening chain and really work on a
good concurrence. After that you need to try again. Any manual attacks from
Ixion will be an instant KO but even if it means your next quickening is with
just 2 characters then so be it. After it you revive the other character who
has a full MP bar and launch another quickening with just their MP if necessary
and hope for mist charges. I have had Ark Blast Concurrences with just 1
character alone with 3 full mist bars. You have to be lucky with the mist
charges but it is possible. keep doing this as long as you can until all 3
reserves are KO'd. That was your only attempt with them. You now just dont have
the time to revive them. Switch in the renewed Main Team with Penelo as leader
and get her away from Ixion as fast as possible to give her the chance to use
reverse and decoy. Then go into quickenings again. If you get a decent
concurrence this will probably be enough to finish Ixion off. If not you have
to try and get one more which is where Penelo having Lure and Reverse active
will give you the opportunity for another quickening. If this fails then you
are very likely to get a game over. Your only chance would be to land a couple
of gil tosses or use a Dark Matter if you haven't used one yet but have used
lots of Knots of Rust. Your other saving grace would be for Ixion to use magick
you could reflect to give you more time, Lightning being the best as Penelo is
immune. Four lots of quickenings will usually be enough to Kill Ixion off when
he goes critical. If you fail, don't worry because I failed a few times too.
Just start again. But if you are successful then pat yourself on the back as
you have just defeated a VERY tough Mark and earned your bounty from the
Whitecap Wench. Well Done!!
34. Belito
**********
You are commissioned by Montblanc himself for this hunt which turns out to be a
set up for an encounter with the Hunter Stalker who is none other than
Ba'Gamnan and can be found in the South Section of the Withering Shores in the
Nam Yensa Sandea. However, this area cannot be accessed from the Nam Yensa
itself. To get here you need to go to Central Junction in the Ogir Yensa
Sandsea and from the northeast access The Canopy of Clay in the Zertinan
Caverns. Follow the path, keeping to the right, and you will exit in Withering
Shores in The Nam Yensa. Go up the ramp and to the west where you will come
across Monid from Clan Hall who will assist you with this hunt. After some
scenes you will face Ba'Gamnan and his goons.
As usual, Niho + remedy is what's needed and use it on all 4 of them and then
replace with bubble belts and use X-Potions for healing. Monid will attack
Ba'Gamnan and whilst he is occupied you can take out his 3 goons, Bwagi, Gijuk
and Rinok. When they are gone, focus on Ba'Gamnan and with 4 against 1 (I know,
unfair, eh?) Ba'Gamnan will bite the dust quickly. After he is gone there is
some verbal exchange with Monid who gives you an explanation and also gives you
your bounty.
35. Gilgamesh
*************
Part 1
You get this hunt from Montblanc and he is the petitioner too. Make your way to
the Lhusu Mines and use the 3 characters Vaan, Fran & Penelo. It really isn't
necessary to use them on this first fight but it is on the second. More when
you get there but for now use these three and set up the following gambits.
Vaan: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Ally: Any: Remedy
: Foe: Highest Max HP: Steal
: Foe: Lowest Max HP: Attack
Fran: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Ally: HP<60%: X-Potion
: Foe: Highest Max HP: Steal
: Foe: Lowest Max HP: Attack:
Penelo: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Ally: HP<60%: X-Potion
: Foe: Any: Dispelga
: Foe: Highest Max HP: Steal
: Foe: Lowest Max HP: Attack
Equip all with Bubble Belts. Now swap Vaan out for a reserve with a Nihopalaoa
equipped and then save your game at the Gate Crystal. Head west into the Tasche
Span and you'll be confronted by Gilgamesh, quite amusing to begin with. Use
remedy on the dog, Enkidu and put him to sleep and then switch Vaan back in and
make sure he has the Wyrmfire Shot. Now you will steal off Gilgamesh. As soon
as you have stolen then turn off the steal gambit. You will have to steal 5
times in all if you want the Genji items. Each steal chance comes after each
20% of HP and you'll know when to turn the steal gambits back on as Gilgamesh
will speak and change weapons. Each time, as soon as you steal, turn the steal
gambits back off.
With Vaan using Wyrmfire shot and Enkidu covered in Oil, it won't be long
before you face Gilgamesh alone. Just use the guns and let the gambits heal. At
20% HP Gilgamesh will become immune to physical and magical attacks. It's not
for long so just wait it out and then you can steal the final item. Use the
guns for a while and when Gilgamesh gets to the last 10% or so unleash a
quickening chain. I did this and got an Ark Blast concurrence which was more
than enough. If it doesn't finish him off then a few more blasts with the
Fomalhaut will do the trick. Gilgamesh will run off with Enkidu and Part 1 is
over.
Part 2.
This is much more difficult. First of all you have to make your way to the
Staging Area next to site 7. You have to go through sires 5 & 6 to get there
and they are lethal. However, FF12 has a glitch which will make this a lot
easier. Rather than explain this I will give you a link to look at on youtube.
Use this glitch to get to the save crystal next to site 7.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ywyU4LApQuU
When you get to The staging area set the following gambits:
Vaan:
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Ally: Fran: Reverse
Ally: Fran: Decoy
Ally: Any: Alarm Clock
Ally: Any: Remedy
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion
Foe: Highest Max HP Steal (Steals from Gilgamesh. Turn off all 3 characters
when successful and turn back on when needed)
Foe: Lowest Max HP: Attack (Attacks only Enkidu till he is KO'd)
Fran:
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Self: Reverse
Self: Decoy
Foe: Highest Max HP: Steal
Foe: Lowest Max HP: Attack
Penelo:
Fran:Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Ally: Fran: Reverse
Ally: Fran: Decoy
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion
Ally: Any: Remedy
Foe: Any: Dispel/Dispelga
Foe: Highest Max HP: Steal
Foe: Lowest Max HP: Attack
Activate the gambits, getting Fran under decoy (you will lose reverse in the
save), switch a reserve with Niho in for Vaan, save your game and enter site 7.
After a greeting from Gilgamesh it's into battle. Niho + remedy on Enkidu and
then switch Vaan back in. The decoy should stop your reserve being targetted
and Enkidu will be asleep and have oil on him. A soon as your steal is
successful all will attack Enkidu and Vaan with Wyrmfire shot will do 9999
damage. As soon as Enkidu is gone the team will automatically switch their
attacks to Gilgamesh.
This fight is fun. It's great, even thrilling. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the
more you miss with reverse the more exciting it gets. Keep Fran as leader and
Kite her around, especially under Lure as you'll keep the other 2 at a distance
from Gilgamesh. There actually isn't a lot to say about this fight as the
gambits virtually do it all for you. If you do get any problem with maybe 2
players KO'd due to Gilgamesh's Monarch's Sword or whatever, just switch in
reserves and use phoenix downs on KO'd party members but get Fran back in ASAP
!!! The reverse and decoy is a massive help here.
Now when Gilgamesh gets to HP critical he will again be immune to physical and
Magical attacks. Just ride it out and when it's over then steal the last Genji
Item. Now switch your attack gambits to GIL TOSS. Your guns become less
effective here once he is critical. Gil toss will finish him off and if you
find yourself short of gil then switch to quickenings. Either way it will
spell The End for Gilgamesh. When doing the quickenings it is best to try and
start them when Fran is under both Lure and Reverse. This gives you time to top
up with ethers if you miss the concurrence or fail to KO Gilgamesh as he'll
concentrate his attack on Fran doing no damage. After defeating Gilgamesh go
back to Clan Hall (use the Glitch to get back through Lhusu Mines) and claim
your reward. 10,000 gil and the MASAMUNE.
36. Lindwyrm
************
Petitioner is Fermon in the north part of the Alley Of Muted Sighs and the
Lindwyrm is in The Garden of Life's Circle in the Tchita Uplands but you will
only find it when it is cloudy. According to guides it says that if it is sunny
or raining in the area then just keep zoning in and out until it becomes
cloudy. Let me tell you this.....I have NEVER seen it go from sunny to cloudy
in the whole of the Tchita Uplands area....ever! If it has been sunny there the
only way I have ever got it to be cloudy is to zone in and out with the Cerobi
Steppe and, believe me, I have logged some hours at this game. I have seen it
go from cloud to rain and back again but never seen it change from sun to cloud
or rain or vice versa without leaving Tchita Downs completely. This may just be
random numbers but I find it hard to believe that. So, if you have trouble with
it being cloudy then go to the exit from Tchita Downs to Cerobi Steppe and zone
in and out there.
When it is finally cloudy you should approach the garden of Life's Circle from
the Lost Way and you will see Lindwyrm immediately in front of you. Niho +
Remedy will blind it and silence it. It's strange though, even silenced
Lindwyrm will use Fire Breath and Restore. With guns it appears to be a losing
battle because just as you get its HP down it restores itself and you have to
whittle it down again. Then it restores again. This is what I did. When it does
a restore go over to quickenings or Gil Toss or a mixture of both. I did 2
quickening chains with 2 Luminescence Concurrences and spammed Gil Toss at it.
When it reaches 20% you will stop doing 9999 damage and be limited to 6999. It
was at this time I hit it with a second set of quickenings. I was actually
disappointed with the quickenings because I got a Luminescence each time yet
only did 15k damage and 8385 of that came from the concurrence. One was a 17
hit chain and the other a 14 hit chain so once again I must have got some real
bad random numbers in there. To get a Luminescence means that I must have used
3 level 3 quickenings and even with my characters strength as low as it is I
could do over 4k in damage with each of those. That's 12k plus the 8k from the
concurrence is 20k in damage and that's without considering the other 14
quickenings I did in the chain. The problem with quickenings is it's a random
number between 1 and the 4000+ damage I could have caused. So frustrating
sometimes. Anyway, do your best with quickenings and, even though it's a bit
hit and miss, they stop Lindwyrm from fighting back and restoring. Hit it with
gil toss too and you'll finish it off with no trouble. You'll get a Rusted
Scrap of Armour from it for which I have found no use other than for Fermon to
comment on it when you go back for your reward.
37. Deathgaze
*************
You can find the petitioner for this hunt in any of the Aerodromes. There is a
group of 3 people, the Father, Mother, and Son. The son is the petitioner and
is identified as Traveller. Deathgaze has a 4% chance of appearing on the
Airships. After speaking to the Traveller board an Airship and when you get to
your destination find the Traveller and talk to him again. Each time you do
this the chance that Deathgaze appears increase 4% up to a maximum of 64%.
These flights can be taken using a private cabin. Should Deathgaze appear you
will be summoned by the Chief Steward. If not you will be at your destination
immediately.
When Deathgaze does appear you will find him outside on the upper deck. Equip
Bubble Belts and have Fran (or whoever) use Protectga. To start with he will be
immune to physical attacks. Immediately switch in one of the reserves and use
Niho + Remedy. Deathgaze will now be silenced and won't be casting the dreaded
curse on you which is a nightmare when it hits all 3 characters. Nothing worse
than being attacked and having 3 characters under confuse and other status
ailments. Now just pop away with the guns. As its HP gets low it is liable to
cast restore so it might be an idea to switch to gil toss and do more damage.
If it does do restore then hit it with your guns again until it gets low and
then gil toss again. If you have lots of gil then there is no reason why you
can't gil toss all the way through. Late in the Battle Deathgaze brings up a
Magick immunity paling but that shouldn't affect your battle. Now I will tell
you what happened to me. I had switched to gil toss and had him very low when
it said on screen that he was readying RENEW. Fortunately the next gil toss
killed him off. The point is, would he have been able to cast the Renew whilst
under silence? I don't know. You silence some of these monsters and the next
thing you know they have some special magick attack they are able to use!
Anyway, be careful...it's something to look out for and it might be worth
casting reflect on it to avoid it renewing itself. After your Mark is dead then
go to the steward and get your cabin and see the Traveller for your bounty when
you get to the aerodrome.
38. Diabolos
************
Petitioner is Miclio in Miners End, Bhujerba and Diabolos is found in the
southwest part of Site 11 in the Lhusu Mines. Teleport to Lhusu mines and
prepare your team. This is going to be slightly different from the normal
battle tactics as there is a lot to contend with. If you want to make things a
little easier then try and get a Ribbon before this hunt because Diabolos will
cast curse and with one character with a Ribbon you have someone able to use
remedies. Hopefully this won't be necessary. Some other things you may require
are Balance Motes. Diabolos has an immunity to Physical and Magical attacks
which, fortunately, aren't both used together. He has a charge time of zero
when his HP is between 50% and 70% and when it gets below 20%. At HP<50% he
will ignore your evade, increase his own evade by 25 and increase the damage he
does by 20%. Oh yeah, there is also a 14% chance for him to do a combo of up to
9. This is not going to be easy. Or is it? If you have a Ribbon, about 100-150k
in gil and say 20 balance motes then it won't be too tough. Again, because of
MP, I used Vaan, Fran & Penelo. I gave each the Main Gauche Dagger and a Demon
shield to help with evade early on. Although Diabolos is weak to water, your
Fomalhaut + Aqua shot is next to useless here. All 3 had Crown Of Laurels for
the Helm and Mirage Vests for Armour. I gave Vaan a Ribbon and the other 2 a
bubble belt. If you don't have a Ribbon....well.....go and get one from the
Crossfield in Cerobi Steppe, kill a Level 99 Chocobo or go to Subterra,
otherwise it may get a little tough. Here are the gambits:
Vaan:
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Self Bubble
Ally: Any: Remedy
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil toss
Fran:
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Self: Reverse
Self: Decoy
Ally: Any: Remedy
Foe: Any: Dispel
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
Penelo:
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Fran: Reverse
Fran: Decoy
Self: HP<50%: X-Potion
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
As you can see there is no healing gambit for either Fran or Vaan and Penelo's
X-potion only comes in at less than 50%. Fran gets HP back from reverse. You
need to keep Vaan's HP low for when you may have to use balance motes. If
Penelo is KO'd a phoenix down gives her 50% HP, also fine for balance motes.
With a bit of luck you wont need them.
Having set this all up, allow Vaan to use Bubble and Fran to use decoy and then
switch them out to save buff time. Save at the Lhusu Gate Crystal and make your
way through site 9 to site 11. Once you get to site 11 there will be no enemies
there, only Diabolos. When you reach Diabolos bring Fran (as Leader) and Vaan
back in and let Fran get reverse on her and then make a move to Diabolos. He
will focus on Fran which will allow you to get in quite a few 9999 hits with
gil toss. When Fran's reverse runs out it may hit first time when renewed which
should be enough for you to finish Diabolos off with more Gil Toss. It could be
a very fast fight. But if Diabolos gets his Paling up you must change your
attack gambits to Foe: Nearest Visible: Balance Mote. These miss sometimes but
they will do as much or even more damage than the guns and do it faster too. If
Diabolos lands curse and KO's 2 players, or even if you lose 2 players then
switch reserves in and use phoenix downs to revive them while they are off the
field. Try and control Fran all the time, kiting her and keeping out of
Diabolos's way if the reverse is down. If Diabolos switches back to magick
immunity then go back to gil toss. The chances are you will kill him before it
gets that far. If you do get in really bad trouble at all you can always run
back to the next zone, heal, and then return to try again. Normally (I did this
fight quite a few times to adjust the strategy) you will win with just the gil
toss very early. When you have defeated Diabolos, go back to Miclio in Miner's
end for your reward.
39. Fafnir
**********
Now this is one hell of a fight and much tougher than the fight against Ixion.
Go to Mt Bur Omisace to see Ieeha for the hunt. However you won't find him
there so speak to the Viera, Relj, who will give you the details.
Fafnir is found in the Western half of Silverflow's end in the Paramina Rift
but will only appear during a snowstorm. Best way to get this is to zone in and
out of the Icebound flow and The Feywood. When the snowstorm begins go east
across the Icebound Flow into the Karydine Glacier and then south into
Silverflow's End where you will find Fafnir. If you stand solely on the ice
when fighting then Fafnir will use Shock most of the time which is a 1 hit KO
for you. Now to set up details using Balthier, Fran & Basch:
All 3 with Fomalhaut and Onion shot. No point for elemental shot as Fafnir
absorbs Ice and has half damage to the rest except Lightning. As there is no
Lightning shot you may as well just use normal onion shot. Crown of
Laurels/Renewing Morion for the Helm unless you were fortunate enough to get a
Duelling Mask from Pharos in which case you can use that on one of your
characters. Last, but not least, the Bubble belt for all 3. Now to the gambits
and this was fun to work out as I did most of it in fight. This Mark has over a
million HP so forget gil toss unless you have a couple of million gil. Here
they are:
Balthier:
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Ally: Fran: Reverse
Ally: Fran: Decoy
Ally: Any: Chronos Tear
Ally: Any: Echo Herbs
Ally: Any: Alarm Clock
Ally: Any: Remedy
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack (or gil toss if you have 2 million)
Fran:
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: Reverse
Self: Decoy
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Ally: Any: Chronos Tear
Ally: Any: Echo Herbs
Ally: Any: Alarm Clock
Ally: Any: Remedy
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
Basch:
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Foe: HP<100,000: Dark Matter
Ally: Fran: Reverse
Ally: Fran: Decoy
Ally: Any: Chronos Tear
Ally: Any: Echo Herbs
Ally: Any: Alarm Clock
Ally: Any: Remedy
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
As you can see the main part is to keep Fran under Lure and Reverse Status.
Control Fran all the time and keep her OFF the ice. On the ice she will get hit
with Shock and if the reverse isn't on then the Shock will KO her. If she is on
the main ground and the snow she may just get a slap or 2 which will do around
2k damage and is survivable and will allow maybe a couple of chances of getting
the reverse back on.
This is not a battle that is going to last 5 minutes. As an added back-up I
would keep Penelo in reserve with the identical gambits to Fran with reverse
and decoy buffs already on. This is in case you get 2 KO's and one is Fran.
With Penelo in reserve all ready with Decoy and Reverse, this will give you a
great chance to get Fran back in without being pestered by Fafnir as Penelo
will take all the flak. Penelo attacking is irrelevant. She is literally there
as a decoy but you could use gil toss with her as she might get 2 or 3 hits in
and do 20-30k damage. Every little helps as Tesco would say (You gotta be
British to get that one).
All you can do now with Fafnir is to grind away at the HP. It will take a while
but the gambits I have here are very effective. The big help is Basch's Foe:
HP<100,000: Dark Matter. I really hope you have been using up your knots of
rust as the total damage you have done with them divided by 3 is the damage the
Dark Matter will do. If you haven't then before you take this mark on I would
go to The Clan Provisioner and buy Knots of rust up to 99. They only cost 6 gil
each but you need the Rank Knight of the Round. If you haven't got that Rank
then you really shouldn't be fighting Fafnir yet. Now take your Knots of Rust
to Giza or the Westersand and just hit everything with them. It's actually
quite good fun. But make sure you have bubble magick on all 3 characters as the
damage a knot of rust does is Your Current HP/Random Number(1-10). My Balthier
has 5124 HP and if the Random number is 1 that's how much damage he does and
that is how much is added to the Dark matter total. I would suggest doing this
with 99 Knots of Rust 2 or 3 times to make sure you have done a total of
180,000 which will be 60,000 for Dark Matter, the maximum. It doesn't take
long.
When Fafnir's HP drops below 100,000 then Basch (or whoever you want to do
it....it doesn't have to be Basch) will hit Fafnir for 60,000 damage with the
Dark Matter. TURN THE DARK MATTER GAMBIT OFF IMMEDIATELY!! The Dark Matter
counter has now reset and your next one will do ZERO damage so don't waste it.
A big chunk of Fafnir's critical HP has been removed and it also gives you a
marker. You now know that Fafnir has less than 40,000 HP left. Now, if you want
to, swap attack gambits to gil toss and finish off fast. If not, just grind
away like you have been doing and within 15 hits with the Fomalhaut Fafnir will
fall. Congrats! You have just won one hell of a battle and gained LOTS of Kudos
Points. The walk back to Mt Bur-Omisace to see Relj for your bounty will be
done with a big smile on your face, I guarantee it. :oD
For your interest and for stocking up you might like to know that I used 67
X-Potions, 69 ethers (I had 40 hi-ethers as back up), 82 Phoenix downs, 35
remedies, 19 echo herbs, 17 Alarm Clocks, 11 Chronos Tears and, most important
of all, 1 Dark Matter whilst fighting Fafnir.
40. Piscodaemon
***************
Petitioner is Ivaness in the Temple Grounds on Mt Bur-Omisace and the
Piscodaemon is found on the west side of the Gate of Fire in Giruvegan. It's so
easy it will only 3 lines for me to tell you about it. The biggest pain about
this hunt is getting there but you can use the FF12 Glitch if you like.
Gambit ally: any: remedy just in case and then gil toss as he is gun resistant.
50k is all it will take and over in seconds. Back to Ivaness in Mt Bur-Omisace
for your bounty. That's it. Honest, it's that easy.
41. Wild Marlboro
*****************
See Rena in the far northwest section of the Spiritwood in Eruyt Village for
the details. The Wild Marlboro is in the Redolent Glade, the same place you
fought Raffelsia. This mark can be taken out just using the guns and brute
force along with a lot of healing etc but is riskier. This is how I did it.
For a start you can't equip Bubble belts yet because the Wild Marlboro is
accompanied by 3 little Marlboro Buddies. Anyway, go to the save crystal in
Antiquity's end and there set up these gambits.
Balthier:
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Ally: Fran: Reverse
Ally: Fran: Decoy
Ally: Any: Remedy
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
Fran:
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: Reverse
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Ally: Any: Remedy
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
Basch:
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Ally: Fran: Reverse
Ally: Fran: Decoy
Ally: Any: Remedy
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
Similar to Fafnir but just remedies this time as Marlboro's Putrid Breath will
hit you with all kinds of nasty statuses and you'll need a remedy to shift them
all at once. Notice I have left decoy off Fran's Gambits? I have done this
because when I was trying all this out she kept missing with decoy, probably
over 80% of the time. In the end I turned off her decoy gambit and let the
other 2 do it and it landed a lot. This may just be me but if you have the same
problem then turn her decoy off.
Buff all your team with bubble and Fran with Decoy and Reverse and then save
your game. Fran will rebuff reverse and then take her out of the party to save
her buff time. Enter the Redolent glade and as you see the Marlboros then bring
Fran back in and start a quickening chain and target the middle small Marlboro.
Ignore Wild Marlboro for a minute. If you can get a Torrent Concurrence (two
level 1's and 3 level 2's) minimum then it will be enough to kill the small
wild marlboros. If you miss you will probably be better off resetting and going
again. A soon as they are dead equip all your team with Bubble Belts and then
dispel Wild Marlboro. Now, like Fafnir just Kite Fran around and take shots at
Wild Marlboro. It won't take long for its HP to go down but you will go through
some remedies during that time. Now be careful because when it's HP gets low it
will Perform Soul Etude which, if you remember, gave the Mindflayer full HP &
MP again. Also, Wild Marlboro will put up a physical immunity paling which is
the last thing you need. So at around 20% switch from attack to gil toss and
finish it off that way. Then go back to Rena in Eruyt Village for the reward.
42. Catoblepas
**************
This hunt comes from War-Chief Supinelu in the Lull of the Land in Jahara. Make
your way to the Zertinan Caverns to the east part of the Undershore which is
only accessible from The Hourglass Basin and you will find a hidden path on the
east side just south of the save crystal. Take this route and you will meet up
with War-Chief Supinelu who will join you in the fight. Nothing special here,
just the usual phoenix down, X-Potion gambits and bubble belts. Dispel first
and then Niho + Remedy on Catoblepas and he will be blind. Just take your time
and blast away till you wipe him out. Easy victory. Back to Jahara for your
reward from Supinelu.
43. Behemoth King
*****************
The Petitioner for this Hunt is Koqmihn who can be found in Dalan's house in
Lowtown and Behemoth King is in the Feywood in the very south part of The Edge
of Reason. To get it to appear though you must clear all foes from both The
Edge of Reason and the previous zone, The Icefield of Clearsight. Contrary to
what some may say this DOES include the 5 Mandragoras which appear in the
Icefield of Clearsight once you have defeated all foes in the area. Go back
into the Edge of Reason and return and they will be hanging around one of the
Altars. If they aren't there then you have missed a foe so you'd better go look
for it. The good thing about these 2 areas is that all the foes except the
Mandragoras and the Giruveganus can be warped. I just went around the place
with
warp motes clearing the foes out.
NB. Do NOT go into any zone other than the 2 mentioned. If you do then you will
respawn foes. I cleared the Edge of Reason first, then the Icefield of
Clearsight, zoned out and back for the Mandragoras and each time I went back I
found Behemoth King there waiting for me. I fought it 6 times to try and get
the best strategy. So, speaking of strategy, lets get on with it.
This is a long battle and having Zodiark would be a great help as his Final
Eclipse does 50k damage early on and a Dark matter will do 60k if you have it
fully charged. If not, go back to Rabanastre, buy Knots of Rust and charge the
Dark matter up.
The longer this battle goes on the more chance you have of running out of
X-Potions, Ethers and Phoenix Downs which will make life very tough so I am
going to suggest something which you may not like because it will mean a
minimum of 2 hours work. Gil toss. You are going to need a minimum of....wait
for it.....ONE MILLION GIL !!! That is 2 hours work with the Dark Lords at
Miriam. I did it with 600k and struggled like hell and was relying on MP for
raise or phoenix downs for HP. If a character had low HP I didn't cure, I just
let them die and got 50% HP from the phoenix down. Mp was only obtained by
attacking or getting hit and surviving the hit. I ran out of ethers a long time
before that and I also had 40 Hi ethers as back up which eventually ran out
too. Before long I had no Phoenix downs left and was left with raise only. Now
I started to run out of characters. Not good. But out of the 6 times I fought
Behemoth King for this strategy, I only lost 1. I won the other 5 with 600k in
gil and struggled in every one of them. Each time I got it Critical I wished
I'd had another 400k. So you can fight Behemoth King for 2 hours and run out of
everything and lose or you can spend that 2 hours with the Dark Lords getting a
million gil and improving your chances greatly. Another thing that makes this
battle so much easier is having Zodiark. I can't stress how important that is.
With Zodiark on the team I can do 210,000 damage before Behemoth King even
blinks his eyes which is a great head start and something like 15% of its total
HP. To start with I will assume you have Zodiark and then at the end I'll tell
you what to do if you don't have him.
You will need:
6 Bubble Belts
5 Demon Shields
1 Shell Shield
3 Black Masks
1 White Mask
6 Crown of Laurels
6 Mirage Vests.
1 Nihopalaoa
99 of all items you can buy. That should be standard for you now.
1 million gil. You can use less but 1 million (or more) makes it easier.
Balance motes/Magick. I found the magick seemed to miss less than the motes.
These are the Gambits to start with. Set them all up and then I'll tell you
which ones to use and which to turn off as and when needed.
Vaan
Ally: Balthier: Arise
All;y: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Ally: Balthier: Reverse
Self: HP<50%: X-Potion
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
Foe: Nearest Visible: Balance (Mote?)
Balthier
Ally: Any: Arise
All;y: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Self: Self: X-Potion
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
Foe: Nearest Visible: Balance (Mote?)
Fran, Basch, Ashe and Penelo have the same gambits as Vaan with one exception.
Use Hi-Ether in place of ether for Penelo if you have them as she has a lot
more MP. Twice as much as Balthier and Basch. Balthier must have Zodiark. If
you have given Zodiark to someone else then set Balthier's gambits for that
person and adjust all accordingly. Ready for battle?
Turn off Attack and Balance gambits leaving just gil toss. Equip all with
Bubble Belts, Crown of Laurels/Duelling Mask, Mirage Vests, and Demon Shields
except for Balthier who needs a Shell Shield. Weapons are irrelevant right now.
Before approaching Behemoth King get Balthier first under petrify and then
reverse. As soon as reverse lands then approach Behemoth King and summon
Zodiark. As Balthier is petrified Zodiark will go into final eclipse and
Balthier will use an ether. Final Eclipse will do 50k damage. As soon as it's
over then summon Zodiark again and you'll get another Final Eclipse. You will
have enough time to do it 3 times before Balthier is stoned. Revive him with a
Gold needle and with the other character use the Dark Matter for another 60k
damage. That's 210k before Behemoth has moved. Now get Balthier under reverse
and as soon as it hits equip him with a Nihopalaoa and have him cast Chronos
tear on himself and then put the Bubble Belt back on. He will be stopped for 60
seconds but the reverse will be on him all the time he is stopped.
unfortunately decoy doesn't work when a character is stopped. Keep your other 2
characters away from Balthier preferably behind him and hopefully Behemoth will
focus on Balthier. Try not to get too close as you will get hit by Ardour and
-ga spells but if Behemoth uses Darkga then get close because your Demon
shields will absorb the damage as will Balthier's Reverse. If Balthier's
reverse
runs out then quickly give him a Demon Shield and he will absorb the Darkga
too. If anyone is targetted with Holy then swap their Crown of Laurels for a
White Mask. Damage absorbed. Don't forget to re-equip Crown of Laurels too. As
soon as Balthier comes out of stop then cast break on him with one character
and if the reverse cast by the other character lands then summon Zodiark. Each
time you can do this you will remove 50k in HP from Behemoth King. Again,
whilst Zodiark prepares Final Eclipse Balthier will use an ether. When Final
Eclipse is over summon Zodiark again. Keep doing it till Balthier is KO'd or
stoned and then revive him.
In the meantime, everytime your other characters attack they are doing up to
9999 damage with gil toss and Behemoth King's HP will slowly but surely start
to dwindle. Don't ever let him walk away from you or he will caste shell and
protect and restore a little HP. Now this isn't going to last forever and very
shortly Behemoth will become immune to physical but not to magick. This is what
you do. Turn off your X-Potion Gambits and turn on the Balance gambit and move
it to the front of the attack gambits. Remove all Bubble belts and then
re-equip them. This will give characters half HP and balance will do 2k+
damage. With full HP it will do zero damage. That's why the belts need to be
removed. TURN OFF BALTHIER'S ARISE GAMBIT. You don't want characters back with
full HP. Either turn it off or change it to raise. As soon as Behemoth starts
alternating between physical and magical Palings, Zodiark becomes useless.
However, watch for when it says (for example) Paling Fails, no longer immune to
physical damage but DOESN'T switch to Magick Paling. When this happens Zodiark
can be used again and will cause 50k damage until Behemoth uses great Barrier
and then it will be reduced to 35k. But whilst there is any form of a Paling up
then Zodiark will cause 0 damage.
When the Magick Paling comes down go back to gil toss and turn your X-Potion
Gambits back on. When you run out of gil then you must go to the Attack gambit
and give your team Fomalhauts. Now your Demon & Shell Shields are useless. This
is where the Black masks come in. Each time Behemoth casts Darkga switch all to
Black Masks (unless Balthier is under reverse) and you will absorb the damage.
Same for Holy. Just one character is targetted for holy and even if you don't
know who it is you can wait till the graphics start, then go to the menu, give
that character a white mask and then go back to the game and the damage will be
absorbed again. Then replace white mask with crown of laurels. Remember, don't
give white or black masks to Balthier if he has reverse on, especially if he is
stopped. Instead of absorbing the damage the reverse will cause damage because
of the masks.
So these are the main points to remember:
1. When there are no palings, especially in the beginning, always try to get
Balthier under petrify and reverse and summon Zodiark for Final Eclipse.
2. Use gil toss till the money has gone. Don't worry, there is a 500,000 gil
bonus for this hunt.
3. When Physical Paling comes in then switch to balance, remove bubble belts
and then replace them and turn off X-Potion gambits. You want as little HP as
possible. Let your characters get ko'd if necessary and come back with a
phoenix down with half HP. Turn off Balthier's Arise Gambit.
4. As soon as reverse lands on Balthier, equip him with Nihopalaoa and have him
use a Chronos Tear on himself. Reverse will then last 1 minute instead of 15
seconds at most.. As soon as he is stopped give him back his bubble belt.
5. If there are no palings in effect at all then petrify Balthier, hit him with
reverse and summon Zodiark for Final Eclipse. Summon again immediately and keep
doing it till Balthier is KO'd, stoned or Behemoth uses a Paling.
6. When Physical Paling fails and Magick Paling comes in, switchback to gil
toss/attack, turn X-Potions back on and turn Balthier's Arise gambit back on
too.
7. Try to keep your team spread out as you dont all want to get hit by Ardour
and all the -GA spells as it could wipe the team out if Balthier isn't under
reverse
8. Dont let Behemoth wander off or he will cast protect and shell and restore
some health and if the magick paling is up you can't dispel its buffs! The
little bit of health it restores could be 100k+
If you follow all this and keep on top of the Holy and Darkga spells which will
save you LOADS of X-Potions you will eventually wear Behemoth King Down. It
wont be over in 10 minutes. Nor in an hour. This is a long fight that will
probably take 2 hours plus but it is great fun.
No Zodiark
**********
To be honest it is exactly the same game game except you don't use break or
Niho + Gold Needle at all. It will take you much longer and you may run out of
X-potions so try and get hit by the Darkga spells and Holy spell as they will
heal and save x-potions. If you run out of X-Potions then just let your
characters get KO'd and get half health back with phoenix down or full health
with Balthier's Arise gambit.
That is it for this Mark. It's a long grind but an enjoyable battle and you
have to work hard. When you have done it go back to Koqmihn and get an awful
bounty of 250 gil and 2 Bacchus Wine. However he will finish the legend off and
then you need to head to Mt Bur-Omisace where you head to where the stone Wyrm
head is. Approach it and hit it but you have to unarm Vaan first. Don't worry,
you can't mess it up as it won't let you hit if you're armed. As you hit the
snout "Wyrm Plunder" drops out. Pick it up and receive 500,000 gil and the Rod
of Faith.
44. Seer
********
This hunt comes from Montblanc and Seer, or Shadowseer to give him his full
name, is in the Subterra but to get to him you need to light all 4 pedestals in
each of the three areas, Penumbra, Umbra and Abyssal. Now in 122333 the
Subterra is a difficult place so here is a bit of a tip for you. The FF12
Glitch is no good because you need to defeat foes to get the black orbs for the
pedestals. This what to do. Use your reserve team with Main Gauche and Demon
Shields for evade and use warp motes on all the foes in Penumbra except Magick
Pot (just leave it alone) and Necrofiend. All the others can be warped and
although you get no EXP or LP from them they do count as a kill and you will
get Black Orbs. Now you need 168 Orbs to complete Subterra and as you know you
don't pick them up one at a time, you let them float off to become a Massive
Black Orb. For every Orb that floats there, three are added so you actually
only need 56 Orbs released to get 168. So go round the Penumbra warping foes to
get Orbs. Remember though, you will need to defeat Phoenix in Penumbra to be
able to proceed to where the Seer is. Details of how to defeat it, both in
Penumbra and with the Seer, are in this Hunt Section. If you come across
Necrofiend you need to Niho + Remedy and then bring in the attack team,
activate bubble on them all and then use Knots of Rust against it. For some
reason, even though it appears to be physical damage, it isn't. It will not
wake Necrofiend up and you can defeat it at your leisure. The reason for using
Bubble (magick not belts...you need the fireflies on) is that the Knots can do
twice as much damage and, as you know, the total damage goes towards the damage
a Dark Matter does and very soon you will need a Dark Matter. When it's
defeated just bring the reserve team back in and then carry on warping and
collecting Black Orbs. You need to collect at least 69 Orbs which will leave
you 99 to get. Now let's light Penumbra up. This is what you need for each
pedestal.
Penumbra:
Northwest = 9...Northeast = 18...Southwest = 6...Southeast = 3
Umbra:
Northwest = 9...Northeast = 15...Southwest = 18...Southeast = 15
Abyssal:
Northwest = 21...Northeast = 15...Southwest = 12...Southeast = 27
Now as you go into each area the Foes get tougher and a lot become resistant to
Warp so this is my advice. Light all the pedestals in Penumbra and then go down
to Umbra. Flee to each section and use the Black Orbs and then Flee back to the
Dais of Ascendance. Go back to the Wellspring and save your game. Now return to
PENUMBRA! Don't go lower than that. You can get all the Orbs you need from this
first area. When you finally have enough to light all the Pedestals go back to
the Gate Crystal and save. Now go into both Umbra and Abyssal and flee round to
each pedestal and put the correct amount of Orbs in each one. When it's all
complete then, again, go and save your game. Now you are able to face the Seer.
It's not just Seer...he will have 4 assistants that he will summon one at a
time to help him but to start with it will be just against Seer. Before you
start this battle you need to make sure you have one fully charged Dark Matter
and 99 Knots of Rust. Now to Equipment. 300k for gil toss though you won't use
it all. That's just a safety margin. Set the men up with Fomalhauts, Duelling
Masks/Crown of Laurels, Mirage Vests and Bubble Belts and give the girls Main
Gauche Daggers, Demon Shields, Duelling Masks/Crown of Laurels, Mirage Vests
and Bubble Belts. This is not sexist, it's purely because the girls have the
most MP and they are going to be healers. You fight with any 2 from 3 men plus
one of the girls. If things get tough then switch first and revive later. There
are 2 sets of gambits, again, one for the men, the other for the girls. These
are the Gambits.
Men
***
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Foe: Lowest Max HP: Attack
Foe: Lowest Max HP: Knot of Rust
Foe: Lowest Max Hp: Balance Mote (or Balance Magick)
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
Girls
*****
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Ally: Any: Vaccine
Ally: MP<40%: Ether
Ally: HP<60%: X-Potion
Ally: Status=Blind: Esunaga
Ally: Any: Remedy
Foe: Lowest Max HP: Knot of Rust
Foe: Lowest Max Hp: Balance Mote (or Balance Magick)
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
Notice there is no attack gambit for the girls. This is because they have Main
Gauche Daggers and they would be as much use as a wet lettuce. The Lowest Max
HP gambit will target Seer when he is alone and his helper when they are
together and Seer is immune. No point in hammering something that isn't getting
hurt, is it? Now turn all the Foe Gambits off for the Girls. You could buff up
on Protect, Shell and Haste if you like but there isn't much point. KO's will
be frequent and rebuffing takes too long and uses too much MP. Also, you don't
really need it. Right, now save your game at the Gate Crystal and go to the
Dais of Ascendance. You will now see another option "Unknown" so choose that
and enter Hell's Challenge.
You can use whoever you want but I prefer Penelo as healer because, at 120, she
has the most MP. Whichever one you use equip her with a Nihopalaoa as you enter
and give one of the men Wyrmfire Shot. Believe it or not you can actually Oil
Seer and the Wyrmfire will do more damage. Now use remedy on Seer and then
switch back to bubble belt for Penelo. From now on, throughout all the battles
ahead, each time you see Seer ready Darkga, give the men Black Masks (the girls
have Demon Shields which absorb Dark). As soon as the spell has been cast,
switch them back to Duelling Masks/Crown of Laurels. Do the same each time he
uses Holy too. Whoever is the target, give them the White Mask and then change
it back after the spell is finished.
Seer uses all sorts of nasty status effects like disease, immobilise, Sap etc
etc. Now normally your bubble belts will protect you from disease but the girls
might catch it if they have a Niho on when Seer uses it, hence the gambit for
Vaccine. Just fire away at Seer but try to keep spread out so that any AoE
magick doesn't hit all. After a short while he will become immune to all forms
of attacks and will begin summoning his helpers. Remember, they are helping
him....you will be fighting BOTH at the same time though Seer will be immune
starting with....
Pandaemonium.
*************
Immediately Niho for Penelo and use a remedy on Pandaemonium who will now be
silenced and then Bubble belt back on Penelo. Don't ever forget the Bubble belt
or you will be using X-Potions with a Niho on your team mates and causing them
2400 damage. Get one of the men to Dispel and also remove Wyrmfire shot from
whoever has it. Flash will be used a bit here and normally all are blinded
which is the reason for Esunaga. Faster than 3 remedies or Eye Drops.
Pandaemonium can also inflict Petrify. Watch for this because whoever has
Zodiark, if they have full health when hit with petrify then summon IMMEDIATELY
and you have a chance to hit Pandaemonium for 50k. But before any of that,
right at the beginning of this fight with Pandaemonium, I want you to dump a
Dark Matter on it and hit it for 60k. There are a lot of nasty status effects
flying around and this battle needs to end as fast as possible. There will be a
short time during the battle that Pandaemonium becomes immune to attacks. It
won't last long so ride it out and then finish him off. I fought him a few
times and could never tell when the immunity was coming which is the reason for
hitting him with the Dark Matter as soon as possible. I'd hate to see you use
it whilst he is immune. Once Pandaemonium is gone, Seer will then summon....
Slyt
****
Wyrmfire shot for someone here and then Penelo use Niho +Remedy and you will
have an Oily Slyt (BUBBLE BELT BACK ON PENELO!!) who will not be amused. Dispel
Slyt and then get ready. This is a combo machine and you will go through some
Phoenix downs here. You may have to switch characters in as 2 can be KO'd very
quickly during this fight. The good news is that whoever has the Wyrnfire shot
will be doing 9999 damage. Poor Slyt. It's a rough ride this one but,
fortunately, because of the oil and wyrmfire shot, the battle is over fairly
quickly. Halfway through the helpers and now it's time for.....
Fenrir
******
Niho + Remedy to get this hard hitting, oversized pussycat to sleep (bubble
belt back on). Now turn Penelo's Knot of Rust Gambit on and move the mens' Knot
of Rust gambits in front of the attack gambits. One thing to note here. Whilst
Fenrir is asleep, Seer does nothing!! Now you're just going to throw knots of
rust at Fenrir. Some will do 400 damage but some will do 5k+ and lots in
between. When Fenrir wakes up then IMMEDIATELY Niho + Remedy to send him to
Noddyland again and then Bubble belt back on. I know you might think you could
leave the Niho on as you aren't healing but if you do then Penelo's Knots of
Rust will only do half the damage they could and you need to be doing as much
damage as possible. Know why? Because as well as defeating Fenrir you are also
CHARGING UP ANOTHER DARK MATTER FOR SEER!!! When you finally defeat Fenrir you
will probably have used most if not all of the Knots of Rust.
NB. If you get to a point where Fenrir becomes immune to your damage then
switch gambit to balance motes to cause damage. However, you will need to keep
your HP fairly low for the damage to be effective so turn off arise and
X-Potion gambits.
Now that Fenrir is gone, Seer will call his last helper....
Phoenix
*******
Same tactics for Phoenix here and in Subterra. Niho + Remedy and IMMEDIATELY
Dispel its Haste and Bravery. Use up any knots of rust you have left and then
your attack gambit will play automatically when they are all gone. Even blinded
and dispelled of its Bravery and Haste, Phoenix will STILL act fast and land
its fair share of blows and cause fair damage. This, along with Seer doing his
bit, makes it a fairly tough fight and you will fare better if you keep spread
out. Again, just plug away and after a while Phoenix will head back to his
ashes which will leave you alone with......
The Shadowseer
**************
No Niho needed here. Your Knots of Rust on Fenrir will have charged another
Dark Matter up though probably not fully. Use it NOW before Seer's Damage
Limitation Augment comes in. I expect you to do 40-50k damage. Move all gil
toss gambits to the front and gil toss him to death. Use Black Masks on the men
with Darkga and a White Mask on whoever is targetted with Holy. Change them as
soon as it's done. The more HP you have the more gil you throw and the more
damage you do. As Seer goes critical he will attack faster but just ride the
storm, switching characters if you need to (don't forget to revive KO's on the
sidelines). Your constant pounding with gil toss will soon finish Seer off and,
as the saying goes, to the Victor...the Spoils. Go see Montblanc for your
Spoils. You have now completed 44 Hunts and that leaves just one more.....
45. Yiazmat
***********
This is available from Montblanc but you can't get it before you defeat all
Rank VII Marks (which you have done) and Hell Wyrm so go do that first.
Those of you that were expecting a great long description of this battle are
going to be disappointed. This is easy. However it takes a long, long time. You
may not want to do it my way and instead try a way you prefer. That's your
choice. My way is simple and it works. The downside is that it will take you 9
or 10 hours. Yes, it really is that long. I used 3 characters and one support
character. One is a gunner and the other 2 are Mages and used purely for
spellcasting. The support character is a stand in for the gunner.
These are the characters and their gambits.
Basch: Gunner
*************
Fomalhaut + Dark Shot.
Duelling Mask/Crown of Laurels
Mirage Vest
Hermes Sandals
Foe: Any: Dispel
Foe: Any: Attack
Ashe: Spellcaster
*****************
Rod of Faith (from Behemoth King Hunt)
Duelling Mask/Crown Of Laurels
Mirage Vest
Sage's Ring
Ally: any: Raise
Foe: Any: Dispel
Penelo: Spellcaster
*******************
Holy Rod (Guaranteed from chest in Pharos/Wellspring Ravel 2nd Flight)
Duelling Mask/Crown Of Laurels
Mirage Vest
Sage's Ring
Ally: any: Raise
Foe: Any: Dispel
Fran: Support
*************
Fomalhaut + Dark Shot (switch with Basch if you only have 1 Dark Shot)
Duelling Mask/Crown Of Laurels
Mirage Vest
Pheasant Netsuke
Ally: MP<60%: Ether
Foe: Nearest: Attack
Gun + Dark speaks for itself and the rods give the casters extra MP. Head to
Ridorana Cataract with the Strahl and save at the save crystal. Now infuse
Basch and get his MP to zero. Run around till you get some MP and then infuse
so you get his HP to critical. Now head through Echoes of Time's Garden (you
can avoid any foes easily) and into the Colosseum where you'll find Yiazmat
waiting. Go to the top of the stairs and dispel him and then stay on the
stairs. Yiazmat will only use Deathstrike and Cyclone. Keep Basch as leader
behind the 2 girls and Yiazmat will target them only. As he hits one the other
will raise her back. When he uses Cyclone take note of one of the girls MP.
When it gets to 50-55 MP lower than it is then Yiazmat will use Cyclone again.
When you know it's coming switch Fran for Basch and let her use ethers and take
the Cyclone. (In the total time I spent fighting Yiazmat, Cyclone wiped my
whole team out only twice.) Switch her back and get Basch to revive her with a
phoenix down. What this does is give Fran the chance to use ethers (Pheasant
Netsuke increases Potency) and also stops you having to get Basch HP critical
again. Rinse and repeat for 9-10 hours and Yiazmat is dead. That's it. No more.
Done! Back to Montblanc for a hero's welcome. Honestly, that really is all
there is to it. Very easy but very long. For those interested I have the last
couple of minutes of Yiazmat on video. Hey, I can't just write about it.....I
have to show that I am doing it too. Here is the Link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tc-YMqEZskQ
===============================================================================
=======================
HIDDEN ESPER STRATEGIES
=======================
1. Zeromus, The Condemner
*************************
First of all you must have the Stone of the Condemner which you get from the
Acolyte outside the Temple at Mt Bur-Omisace. If you haven't got it you need to
go and get it. Then teleport to the Stilshrine of Miriam. At the gate Crystal
buff your team with Haste, Protect and Bubble. Now switch to your reserve team.
They will do the run through Miriam to save on your buff times.
Gambits:
Balthier: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Ally: Any: Remedy
: Foe : Nearest Visible: Attack
Fran : Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Ally: HP<50%: X-Potion
: Ally: Any: Antidote
: Ally: Any: Remedy
: Foe : Party Leader's Target: Attack
Basch : Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Ally: HP<50%: X-Potion
: Ally: Any: Antidote
: Ally: Any: Remedy
: Foe : Party Leader's Target: Attack
You may want to turn Balthier's Remedy gambit off to start with so he can
concentrate on attacking. However, Zeromus uses stop and when he starts using
it a lot you'll need to turn it back on.
Now with the reserve team enter Miriam. Head down the other end of the main
hall to where the Waystone is, ignoring the bats. Around the Waystone are 2
Reapers and they are not nice. Just dive for the waystone and use it before
they do much damage. They may do none at all. You will be teleported to the
Throne of Veiled Gods. To the south is a door but before you open it switch to
the attack party with Balthier leading. Now in here you can't use any Magick so
once your buffs run out they are finished. Ready? Open the door.
As you move towards Zeromus Dark Lords will start to appear, spawning from the
ground. Ignore Zeromus and fight the Dark Lords only, until your Bubble runs
out. By that time you may have killed as many as 20-30. Your gambits will take
care of you even when Zeromus uses his Piercing Graviga which wipes out half
your HP. Now when bubble runs out use quickening chain and concurrence to knock
out Dark Lords left. Now concentrate on Zeromus. The odd dark Lord or two will
appear now and then so get Balthier to target them and get rid of them. In the
meantime you will be surprised how much damage you will do to Zeromus. Now you
will suffer from Graviga and Stop. The X-Potions and remedies should keep you
going without any trouble. Obviously, phoenix downs will kick in if necessary.
When Zeromus goes HP critical use another quickening chain and, with a decent
concurrence, you will finish him off. It's a good fight and I enjoyed this one.
When you're done go through the doors and use the waystone and you will be
transported to the north of the Ward of the Sword King. Use the waystone there
and you are back in the main hall, the Ward of measure. Unfortunately, the
Reapers are back there too. FLEE !! Run up the side towards the door. You may
take some serious damage here but if you release the flee button briefly
X-potions etc will be used and then carry on running to the door. Go outside to
the Gate Crystal and save. You now have control of Zeromus, The Condemner.
2. Zalera, The Death Seraph
***************************
I have a YouTube video of this battle for those who care to look:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cgW3T752qqQ
Oh this is so much fun because, believe it or not, it is so easy. I fought this
around Esper 10 times just to make sure it wasn't a fluke but no, it's an easy
battle, even at these levels. Make your way to Terminus No.7 Adjunct by the
save crystal and set these gambits:
Balthier: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Ally: Any: Remedy
: Foe :Party Leader's Target: Attack
Fran : Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Ally: HP<50%: X-Potion
: Ally: Any: Remedy
: Foe : Party Leader's Target: Attack
Basch : Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Ally: HP<50%: X-Potion
: Ally: Any: Remedy
: Foe : Party Leader's Target: Attack
Set your reserve party with gambits:
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Ally: HP<50%: X-Potion
Ally: Any: Remedy
If you have them then equip your main party with the accessory Power Armlet to
provide immunity to stop. Your reserve team can have the usual Main
Gauche/Decent Evade stat Shield but you MUST equip them each with a Pheasant
Netsuke which I advised you to buy back in Old Archades.
Now normally Zalera would be accompanied by lot of little undead buddies, Dead
Bones but if you do things the way I say you won't see one. As I said earlier,
I fought Zalera around 10 times and I never once saw a Dead Bones. However, if
any appear then be prepared to switch to Fireflies IMMEDIATELY! Now save your
game and head into Terminus No.7. No point in buffing because Zalera uses kill
a lot so your buffs would be gone. Anyway, you don't need them.
First point I make to you is NEVER approach Zalera. If you move to the middle
near him then the Dead Bones will appear. Niho + Remedy only causes blind which
is actually bad because it forces Zalera into using ranged and level attacks.
Now with your Party Leader, dispel Zalera's buffs. This will set your party off
attacking him but they will stay at a distance and just start shooting. No
point in using any shot here other than Onion Shot as Zalera is Immune to
virtually everything except the Mud Shot but you don't want Zalera blind.
Your Fomalhauts will do serious damage and very soon Zalera uses Enrage and
comes towards you for physical attacks. That's ok, as long as you stay round
the edge. Just keep firing away, healing when needed and reviving as necessary.
Zalera will use Kill and Death a lot. Stop will also be used frequently but no
problem if you have the Power Armlets and if you don't, the remedies will get
rid of it. Very shortly Zalera will get very low with HP. Now it will use Prime
Level Death which is a pain because the numbers 1, 2 and 3 are all prime
numbers so this is going to affect all your party. Occasionally it misses one
but don't bank on it. So now your main party is completely KO'd. Bring in the
other three and INSTANTLY revive the 3 KO'd characters manually with Phoenix
Downs. The Pheasant Netsukes you have equipped will increase the potency by
50%. As soon as you have done this start a quickening chain. Zalera's HP may be
so low you might not even need a concurrence but try anyway. This should finish
Zalera off. If it doesn't then switch in main party members and start another
Quickening Chain. You may only be able to switch in 2 as one of the current
party is likely to be targetted. This chain will kill Zalera. If, at any time
in between, Zalera gets another Prime Level Death attack in then whoever is
left is switched in and all MUST revive the KO'D characters with a Phoenix Down
before anything else. Remember this, 2 Prime Level Deaths without reviving is
Game Over, man, Game Over!
Sometimes, when you have your reserve team in, Zalera uses Sleepga. This is so
funny because by the time the 3rd character is affected they will already have
revived the first one so, poor Zalera, even that one doesn't work. Well, that's
what happened in one of my battles against him. Overall, this Esper is very
easy to defeat. Congrats, you now have control of Zalera, The Death Seraph.
3. Cuchulainn, The Impure
*************************
I like this Esper.....his face and shape make me laugh....which is more than I
can say for his sapping of my HP. Grrrrr!! Anyway, to be able to get to this
Esper you must have done the White Mousse Hunt, obtained the Sluicegate Key and
dusty letter. Then you have to complete the Sluicegate puzzle in the Garamsythe
Waterway. Also, in the East Sluice Control, after you leave the Barheim
Passage, is an Urn which contains access to the hidden parts of the Waterway.
First thing to do is to close Sluicegates for No.10 Channel & No.3 Cloaca Spur.
Now go down No.3 Cloaca Spur and you will find a Sluicegate control. Use it and
then head back to the Sluicegate controls. Open 10 & 3 and then close No.11
Channel and No.4 Cloaca Spur and then go down No.4 Cloaca Spur to another
Sluicegate control and use that. Now go back to Central Waterway Control and
open No.11 Channel Sluicegate and close No.3 Cloaca. If you have done this
right then only 1 orange disc will be alight in the centre of the floor. Now
buff your party up and prepare for Cuchulainn. Unfortunately he is assisted by
4 Foobars so you can't use Bubble belts yet until they have been disposed of
but you can buff with Bubble to start with. Switch reserve team in (saving
buffs time) and set the following gambits.
Balthier: Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Self MP<20%: Ether
: Foe :Nearest Visible: Attack
Fran : Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Self MP<20%: Ether
: Ally: HP<70%: X-Potion
: Ally: Any: Remedy
: Foe :Nearest Visible: Attack
Basch : Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
: Self MP<20%: Ether
: Ally: HP<70%: X-Potion
: Ally: Any: Remedy
: Foe :Nearest Visible: Attack
You need to leave Balthier a free role to attack here. Let the other 2 worry
about healing. Balthier will only be used for reviving KO'd party members and
one other thing. If Fran and Basch both get hit by disable then manually use a
remedy by Balthier on one of them. Control Balthier all the time, keeping him
well out of range of Cuchulainn's Disablega and Immobilisega attacks. Niho +
Remedy here has no effect as Cuchulainn is immune, he is also very strong
against elemental attacks and there is a constant Sap on all your Party's HP.
Can't get much worse can it? Oh yes it can. He is also resistant to guns and so
your gunshots are but a scratch to him. So how do you beat him? First get rid
of the Foobars with quickenings. As soon as you have got rid of all 4 then
equip the bubble belts. Do more quickenings....and more.....and more....and
more....Sorry, but this is how you defeat Cuchulainn. Unless you have loads and
loads of gil and want to use gil toss but all the time you are using gil toss
your X-Potions and Remedies are going down. Using quickenings you can get
between 10,000 and 30,000 damage and it doesn't cost you any gil and you aren't
using X-potions left, right and centre. Even fighting Cuchulainn this way I
managed to go through 50 or 60 X-Potions. Quickenings might be a bit boring but
in Cuchulainn's case they are necessary. I did use gil toss for the last 15% or
so but you will only get one character to use it because the other 2 will be
too busy healing because of the constant Sap on your HP. So there it
is....Quickenings and a bit of gil toss at the end. This is how you defeat, and
gain control of, the Esper, Cuchulainn, The Impure.
4. Adrammelech, The Wroth
*************************
Again, a YouTube Vid:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QV7FAZLSMtg
You know something.....I'm not even going to explain this one because it's so
easy. I fought it more than once because I couldn't believe how fast this Esper
went down. This what happened.
1. Three rounds of Fomalhauts (9 shots...3 each)
2. One Quickening chain with Ark Blast
Adrammelech gone. No Thundaja. No Perfect Defence Paling. I had more of a fight
with the Shambling Corpses he left behind.
Anyway, that's it. Use party Leader's Target on attack gambit, ignore Shambling
Corpses and hit him 3 times each. Do quickening. All over. It really is that
easy.
5. Exodus, The Judge-Sal
************************
Oh this is not a good Esper for you when you fight it because you can't use
items and that really sucks! You have next to no MP so using magick for curing
will be difficult because you will run out quickly and will struggle to replace
it. You can't syphon it from Exodus but you can Syphon it from your party
members and, if you summon one of your own Espers you can syphon from that.
Plus using your Espers in this battle can help you with time. I will explain
shortly.
To access Exodus you need to complete the Float Weed puzzle with the Shrines in
Mosphoran Highwaste/ Babbling Vale area. The Shrines you need to activate are
the Shrines of the South Wind, Northwest Wind and West Wind. You'll need a
chocobo to get to the Shrine of the West wind. When you have done this, save
your game and head back to Skyridge Reach and on to Empyrean Seat where Exodus
is. Turn off all gambits that need magick like protect and haste. You are going
to have to do without them. The only gambits you will use are Raise and attack.
There isn't much point in using cura or whatever because if Exodus uses Scathe
or Flare then you're outta there. These are the tactics I used:
You need to use Fran, Ashe and Penelo as they have the most MP. Give them the
best armour you have, ie Mirage Vests and Crown of Laurels. Give Fran and Ashe
the Fomalhauts and Penelo a Main Gauche with the Ensanguined Shield. Equip Fran
and Ashe with Bubble belts and Penelo with A Sages ring to halve the MP used.
You can buy the Sage's Ring from the Seeq Merchant in Old Archades for 22,000
gil.
Now you will use Fran and Ashe to blast away at Exodus and Penelo should use
Decoy. If anyone is KO'd then Raise will bring them back with a reasonable HP.
Penelo with decoy should keep Exodus away from you and he won't land a hit on
her with that shield and dagger. But if he uses scathe or flare then you gotta
get her back quick.
Now when Exodus's HP drops to 20% he will become Immune to Physical Attacks.
You have to concentrate on keeping out of his way the best you can for the next
2 minutes. Keep spread out. If he hits you all together with scathe then you
all be KO'd. Summon the Espers you have, syphon off them and then let them get
beat up by Exodus. You get MP and it kills some time time. When the 2 minutes
are up just hammer away at Exodus. Penelo's Dagger is useless so get her to use
gil toss. If one is KO'd and got virtually no MP left then just switch another
character in and give them a gun too.
This is the long and the short of it. Do as much damage as quickly as
possible....avoid him when the immunity is there and then finish him off quick
when it goes. This is the best strategy I have for Exodus, The Judge-Sal.
If you have completed the storyline to Pharos before getting here then this
should be Esper No.10. Geomancer Yugelu in Jahara will now open the Gate to the
other part of the Henne Mines. If you want to go there (gulp!)
6. Zodiark, Keeper of Precepts
******************************
This is a battle of epic proportions. I won't lie to you....it took me 9
attempts to beat Zodiark and I must give thanks to Ashe10 for the vids on
YouTube. Without those vids I would have been at a loss. In most of those
attempts I had Zodiark to within 10k of defeating him (once, the HP Bar was
totally gone. Probably only had something silly like 27 HP left) but that last
10k can be as tough as the first 300,000. Also, forget the fight, just the
journey through the Henne Mines getting to Zodiark was a nightmare and I
suggest if you are having trouble to use the FF12 Glitch to get there. The
worst thing about it is the save crystal is BEFORE you start your journey to
Zodiark and not just outside his front door so if you fail you have to make
that goddamned awful trip again.
You will use all 6 characters for this fight though how many will be left
standing at the end of it may be a different story. I had 2 left and one of
them had red figures. The other 4 were all KO'd and the other 2 were seconds
away from it when a little Balance Mote landed and finished Zodiark off.
Balance Motes are very necessary here because it's the only way to do any
effective damage when Zodiark becomes immune to Physical attacks. Now onto
equipment. This is the minimum what you MUST have, especially if you don't want
to be swapping gear around all the time.
5 x Demon Shields, 1 x Shell Shield, 1 Black Mask 6 x Crown of Laurels (or 5 +
Duelling Mask), 6x Mirage Vests and 6 Bubble belts. Weapons are irrelevant here
as you wont be using them as Zodiark is resistant to Guns.
Balance motes. I only used 10 but you could need more. If you have 30 that will
be ok.
Ethers. I used nearly 50 which included around 10 Hi Ethers I used for Penelo
who has much more HP than the others. If you have Hi Ethers then use them for
Penelo.
One fully charged Dark Matter. This is mega-important. If you want to know if
it's fully charged or not then save your game and go use it on a wolf or
something. It must do 60k in damage. If it doesn't then use more knots of rust.
Remedies just in case level 3 disable hits.
Last, but not least, I used around 400k in gil toss. This is not optional, it
is imperative. Have half a million available.
Ok, now to gambits. These are all quite similar but during the battle some will
be switched off and on so input them all for now and I will tell you what to do
when the time comes. You will see that I have focused on Balthier for Reverse
and Decoy. That is purely because I have him controlling Zalera and if I can
get Balthier under Lure and Reverse status when Zodiark has less than 30% HP,
Zalera will use Condemnation which is 9999 damage though it might be capped at
6999 with Zodiark. These are my gambits:
Vaan
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Ally: Balthier: Reverse
Ally: Balthier: Decoy
Self: HP<50%: X-Potion
Self: Haste (Turn off if you are having trouble with reverse and decoy landing)
Ally: status=disable: Remedy
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
Foe: Nearest Visible: Balance Mote/Scathe
Balthier- ALWAYS has the Shell shield. The others have Demon shields.
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Self: Reverse
Self: Decoy
Self: Haste (See Vaan)
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
Foe: Nearest Visible: Scathe
Fran
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Ally: Balthier: Reverse
Ally: Balthier: Decoy
Self: HP<50%: X-Potion
Self: Haste
Ally: Status=Disable: Remedy
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
Foe: Nearest Visible: Balance Mote/Scathe
Basch
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Ally: Balthier: Reverse
Ally: Balthier: Decoy
Self: HP<50%: X-Potion
Self: Haste (See Vaan)
Ally: Any: Remedy
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
Foe: Nearest Visible: Balance Mote/Scathe
Ashe
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: MP<40%: Ether
Ally: Balthier: Reverse
Ally: Balthier: Decoy
Self: HP<50%: X-Potion
Self: Haste (See Vaan)
Ally: Any: Remedy
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
Foe: Nearest Visible: Balance Mote/Scathe
Penelo
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Self: MP<40%: Hi-Ether/Ether
Ally: Balthier: Reverse
Ally: Balthier: Decoy
Self: HP<50%: X-Potion
Self: Haste (See Vaan)
Ally: Any: Remedy
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
Foe: Nearest Visible: Balance Mote/Scathe
I have put them all here though most are the same. Just Balthier and Penelo are
slightly different. Anyway, you are now at Zodiark's front door so you need to
buff the whole team up. Make sure Balthier is under Haste, Lure and Reverse
status and do them in that order. As soon as the reverse has hit then switch
him out to save the buff time. Get all your other characters under haste
(protect is pointless) and then enter with just Fran. After Zodiark's
"Greeting"
immediately Dispel him. Almost straight away Zodiark will use Darkja. Now this
will either KO Fran or heal. If it doesn't KO her then she will begin gil toss.
Zodiark will likely cast level magick at her and level 2 sleep will hit Fran.
If it does she can withstand a tap from Zodiark and may get another gil toss or
2 in but eventually she will be KO'd. She was just sent in alone to dispel and
face the first Darkja which is guaranteed.
As soon as Fran is KO'd then bring in Vaan (level 1), Balthier (Level 2) and
Penelo (Level3 + most MP). The battle begins and, to start with, is not too
bad. First thing is to revive Fran and then get back to the attack. You will do
quite a lot of damage with the gil toss. The idea is to get Balthier under
Lure, Reverse and Haste status and then gil toss like mad. However, reverse and
decoy can be infuriating as they miss so often. You need your fair share of
luck as there will be some critical times in the game where reverse landing
will make the difference between carrying on or game over. When it misses your
heart sinks because you know whats coming :o(
Zodiark will use all sorts of things against you. Physical attacks, Scathe,
Level attacks, Banish ray which is instant KO without reverse over 90% of the
time and if it isn't a KO he'll get you on the next go which is where reverse
landing at that precise moment can be a life saver. But the worst of all is....
Darkja! You need to be on the watch for this all the time because when it's
coming there are things you need to do. Let's say Zodiark readies Darkja and
reverse has just hit Balthier. Do nothing. The demon shields will absorb the
Dark and Balthier's reverse will do the same. However, Darkja carries the
chance of an instant kill. The shell shield on Balthier will reduce this by 50%
which is what you need because Balthier is the best one to keep alive with the
reverse and decoy stuff. There is a chance that all 3 will get KO'd. Tough.
Deal with it. Bring the other 3 in and revive instantly the 3 that are now on
the sidelines. Get Balthier back in as soon as you can. Otherwise just revive
and heal. Arise is always best but if you're all low on MP then you have the
Phoenix Down back up. But that will change soon....you'll see.
Now let's say Zodiark prepares Darkja again and this time Balthier has no
reverse on or you know it is going to run out before the Darkja is cast. Go to
the menu and remove Balthier's Crown of Laurels and put on a Black Mask. This
is
to absorb the dark. If you face Darkja without reverse or the Black Mask then
you are KO'd. Whether Balthier is KO'd or not, immediately replace the Black
Mask with the Crown of Laurels. Keep an eye out for Darkja all the time and
react fast when you see it coming.
After a while your 9999 gil toss will become 6999 as Zodiark defends himself
with Reduced Damage Augments. Most of the time you won't be landing any attack
as the game proceeds as you will be trying to stay alive and get the reverse
and decoy on Balthier at the same time. Then you will do some damage. In the
meantime, characters will get KO'd; you will be healing and reviving, switching
in and switching out and trying to avoid Darkja very often. If Balthier is
under lure and reverse status then take the opportunity to revive KO'd party
members on the sidelines. You never know when you will need them.
Now as Zodiark's HP lessens so his attacks increase and sometimes he has no
charge time and it becomes a major battle just to stay alive. Be careful,
because that Darkja will get you when you are battling to stay alive. I have
been down to just Balthier left standing with all other 5 KO'd and Zodiark just
about to get me when reverse lands and I get a reprieve, get 3 characters back
on their feet and the other 3 revived as well. It really is a tense battle and
not good for the nerves.
When his HP starts to get to the critical stage you need to do something. At
some point, and I can't say when it is but it's usually between 10 & 20% HP,
Zodiark will issue Battle Cry and he will have FULL Physical Immunity. Before
he does that you MUST use the Dark Matter. At 20% he will have around 70k in
HP; at 15% just over 50k and at 10% just 34k. Your Dark Matter will do 42,000
damage. Should be 60k but there is the Reduced Damage Augment Zodiark has. If
you wait till 10% you will wipe him out in one go but the chances are he will
have issued Battle Cry by them. I waited till around that time and as I issued
the command to all 3 characters to use a Dark Matter (one of them had to land
it) Zodiark used Battle cry and about 1 to 2 seconds before the Dark Matter hit
the physical immunity came into effect and my Dark Matter did 0 damage. I was
FURIOUS. So get that dark matter off somewhere around 15% and then you know
you'll have 10 or 20k left to do.
Now when Battle Cry is issued it's time to change gambits. Balthier's attacks
now only consist of Scathe. You'll see why in a minute. Each of the other 5
characters need their gil-toss turned off but their Balance Mote or Scathe left
on. Balance is magick not physical damage. The motes will hit on average 50 %
of the time and the damage they do is your Maximum HP minus your current HP.
Now with Balthier using reverse he is normally at full HP (or close to it) or
KO'd. At full HP he does 0 damage. No point. Leave him using Scathe. Now to the
Arise gambit. Balthier's Arise gambit is to be turned off and all the other
Arise Gambits need to be set to Balthier only. Anyone else revived is done so
with a Phoenix Down. This gives them only half their HP so if they have 5k at
full HP they will do 2.5k damage with a balance mote. However, they are now 1
hit KO's. This is where you desperately need reverse and decoy on Balthier so
the others can get some Balance motes off. Unfortunately Zodiark is now going
mad and hitting you left right and centre. Balthier with full HP can withstand
1 hit from Zodiark and then needs to get reverse on or is KO'd next time.
ALL X-POTION GAMBITS MUST BE OFF TOO !!! When trying to use balance motes the
last thing you need is an X-Potion over your head giving you full HP. The only
HP you want is what you get from a phoenix down which is half HP. If you run
out of Balance Motes then use Scathe but then turn all Arise and X-Potion
gambits back on.
Something else. I will refer to Balthier but you apply it to whomever you have
chosen. If Decoy lands on Balthier and then reverse lands too then IMMEDIATELY
summon Zalera who has the gambit Foe: HP<30%: Condemnation. Whilst Zalera
charges up Zodiark will concentrate on Balthier with his Lure and Reverse
status. Zalera will do 9999 damage but is likely to be reduced to 6999.
However, that could be just enough to finish Zodiark off.
One more thing. A reminder really. Whilst all this is going on you STILL have
to watch out for Darkja. Don't think to fight this battle on the slowest speed
because it is to your advantage to have it go as fast as possible. If your
reverse lasts 10 seconds and you have 5 seconds left then it's no good Zodiark
readying Darkja for 6 seconds later. Your reverse will have run out. But if
that charge for Darkja is just 3 seconds then your reverse will still be on.
See what I mean? Fastest battle speed needed.
If (and it's a big if) you can survive to this stage the chances are that you
are only a Balance mote or 2 away from winning. This can be the hardest part of
all and you desperately need that reverse and decoy now. Zodiark hits you
constantly and if Balthier isn't under reverse and decoy then you are getting
slaughtered. 7 out of the 9 times I fought him I lost at this stage and the
only reason I beat him on the 9th time is because I knew his HP was almost gone
and I overrode the gambits to throw 2 balance motes because my reverse missed.
It was a last gasp desperation try. The first missed but the second landed for
2,100 damage and then came that wonderful bang-type sound that happens when you
defeat an Esper or a Boss and the screen went into the freeze mode. I squealed
in delight and punched the air, yelling and shouting in triumph. My neighbours
must have thought someone was getting murdered. I'm surprised the Police
weren't called. I tell you, it was the most satisfying moment in my whole
gaming life and I have been playing computer games since 1983.
When you defeat Zodiark you will have command of a very powerful Esper whose
Final Eclipse will still do 50,000 damage to all foes in the immediate
vicinity,
even at level 3. Also, you should congratulate yourself because in my opinion,
on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the hardest) the battle with Zodiark in 122333
rates as 9.9 with me (still got Omega, Ultima and Yiazmat to worry about)
whereas Yiazmat in a normal game on the same scale would rate at something like
-63. Anyone can beat Yiazmat. In comparison, very few will ever beat Zodiark in
122333. You are highly unlikely to beat him 1st try. Even the "Great God of
FF12", Ashe10 from YouTube took 5 attempts. I took 9. You may get annoyed with
it but each attempt teaches you something and makes the next try a little
easier. Eventually it will go your way. Maybe you will squeal like I did when
you defeat him.
7. Chaos, Walker of the Wheel
*****************************
The third of the Nabudis Trio, found in The Crucible behind the Door of Despair
in The Cloister of the Highborn. Most people would hate this as your attack
command is disabled but, meh, who needs it? Half an hour or so with the Dark
Lords will be enough and, of course, do bring along a fully charged Dark
Matter. I used the same gambits as I did against Humbaba Mistant except I used
gil toss and not attack so you won't need to change much if you have come
straight from there. However, you have to get this first bit right to make the
job very easy. As you enter your attack command is disabled straight away so go
directly towards Chaos and his little Chaos-Jet friends will be there to help
him. But not for long.
USE THE DARK MATTER !!
But use it on the correct foe, the one where it will hit ALL. That will do
60,000 damage to each of them which is 55,000 more than you need for the
Chaos-Jets but it gets rid of them and you need them gone as they can do
terrible damage. Chaos has 206,000 HP and you remove over a quarter of that in
one hit. Now just gil toss him to death. Your gambits will cope with what he
throws at you though his Aeroja is naughty. Just revive any KO's and carry on.
Chaos won't get time to do it a second time. At 9999 a gil toss it doesn't take
long to get through 140k or so of HP.. Another Esper in the bag and just one
more to go......
8. Ultima, The High Seraph
**************************
This is another reverse and decoy strategy and a large amount of gil toss
required for a fast conclusion. Once again I used Penelo as the decoy and the
others to keep her reverse going and spam gil toss as well. I had white masks
equipped on Balthier and Fran and had one available for Penelo just in case she
had no reverse as Holyja was about be cast. If you do need to do that then as
soon as Holyja is over you must remove the white mask from Penelo. Having 3
characters that absorb Holy is not a good idea as Ultima is likely to get the
ache about it and cast reverse on everyone. It is possible that that could be
followed by renew which would, of course, wipe your team out so remove that
white mask from Penelo as soon as you can. As usual, Mirage vests and Bubble
belts for all.
These are the gambits I used:
Penelo:
Self: Decoy
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Ally: MP<40%: Ether
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack (Only needed if you run out of gil)
All others:
Ally: Penelo: Reverse
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Ally: MP<40%: Ether
Foe: Nearest Visible: Gil Toss
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack (Only needed if you run out of gil)
If anything like remedies are needed then I would use them manually.
Now, as you know, Ultima uses different disabling techniques which change at
regular intervals like HP & MP drain along with Attack, Magick, Technick and
Item commands disabled and Magnetic Field. Well in this battle I never even
noticed them happening because it was over so quickly, like in a couple of
minutes. All you do is enter the battle, keep Ultima busy with Penelo's reverse
and Decoy, and let gil toss do the rest. Watch out for Holyja and use white
masks on Penelo as necessary and the battle will be all over before half of her
disabling techniques come into play.
Well, this is the last battle for me before the Big One. Having defeated
Ultima, all I am left with is Omega Mk XII.
=======================
Extra "Boss" Strategies
=======================
Hell Wyrm
*********
To get access to this Boss you first have to defeat the Mark, Vyraal, in the
Cerobi Steppe. When you receive your bounty you will also get a Dragon Scale.
Now go back to where you fought Vyraal and touch Windmill No.10. A moogle
appears and then the Wyrm Philosopher. Give him the Dragon Scale and he will
give you an Age Worn Key. Now go to Sochen Cave/Destiny's March and do the
doors puzzle. Starting in the east, go anti clockwise opening all the Doors of
Hours. As you open the last one you will hear a chime and it will say something
like a door opens in the distance. Now on the West side of Destiny's March you
will be able to go through the Ascetic's Door which will lead to another door
where you use the Age Worn Key. But don't use it yet as Hell Wyrm is right on
the other side. Set up time first.
I used Penelo as the decoy but you are free to use whomever you want to, though
I recommend using the 3 girls as your main attack team as they have more MP
than the men. Give each a Fomalhaut and one of the non-decoys the Wyrmfire
Shot. Good Old Hell Wyrm is gonna get oiled!! Now for the helms it is Duelling
Mask/Crown of Laurels though you are also going to need 3 white Masks and 3
Black Masks available. Mirage Vests for armour and Bubble Belts for accessories
though to start with enter with the Nihopalaoa on Penelo. You are also going to
need to have 3 Power Armlets available and one fully charged Dark Matter. Here
are the gambits and though the order may look strange it is correct:
Penelo:
Self: Decoy
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Ally: Any: Chronos Tear
Ally: Any: Gold Needle
Ally: MP<40%: Ether
Self: Haste
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
All the others, including reserves:
Ally: Penelo: Reverse
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Ally: Any: Chronos Tear
Ally: MP<40%: Ether
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion
Self: Haste
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
The reverse is very important to get on Penelo so by getting 2 to do it, it is
more likely to hit before MP runs out and Penelo can be left to do her own
decoy.
Enter the area and have one character immediately dispel Hell Wyrm and then get
Penelo to use Niho + Remedy. Immediately swap her to bubble belt. To start with
hell Wyrm is going to use a mixture of attacks like Rake, Stone breath, Magicks
and its big one, Judgement. Try to keep Penelo close enough to the other 2 so
she is in range to have reverse cast on her but far enough from them so that
the AoE of magick attacks don't reach the others. If Hell Wyrm prepares for any
Dark attacks then give them all black masks. With Penelo under Reverse you will
have to judge how long the reverse has been on and whether or not it will run
out before the Dark magick is cast. If she is without reverse then use a black
mask. As soon as the dark magick has hit then swap all back to Duelling
Masks/Crown of Laurels.
The moment you see Hell Wyrm preparing Judgement then give all 3 White Masks
(subject to Penelo's reverse status) and equip all 3 with the Power Armlet to
avoid the Stop that can go with it. As soon as Judgement hits then swap all
back to bubble belts and Duelling Masks/Crown of Laurels again.
All the time Penelo is under Lure and Reverse status damage will be done to
Hell Wyrm by all with the guns. You just have to chip away at the 8 million HP
it has bit by bit. After a while you will run out of Ethers/X-Potions and are
going to have to go and replenish your stocks which is a nuisance as it's a
long walk through Sochen to the Gate Crystal and you have to go to Nabudis for
Ethers and then Balfonheim Port for X-Potions. Then it's back to Sochen Cave
Palace and work your way back to Hell Wyrm. Each time you stock up, remember
when you return to Dispel Hell Wyrm and use Niho + Remedy. You may end up
restocking 4 or 5 times during this fight.
When Hell Wyrm's HP drops below 50% you will do less damage but there isn't a
lot you can do about it. As you get further down the HP, Hell Wyrm goes into
Rake Mode. That's all it does, rake you. It is fast and furious and that
reverse
needs to hit virtually everytime. If Penelo's HP is full then she may be able
to take one hit if the reverse misses but if it misses a second time then she
will be KO'd. That in itself isn't drastic but the fact that Hell Wyrm now
diverts its attention to the other 2 isn't good. It becomes difficult to get
the reverse and decoy back on Penelo so that Hell Wyrm will leave the other 2
alone. It is possible if they are short of MP and only using Phoenix Downs that
they are 1 hit KO's. If that is the case then when one is KO'd switch in
another team member who has full HP and is likely to be able to take a hit.
That could be enough to get reverse onto Penelo and when decoy hits her she
will take the flak and the others can heal and revive. If any of the party on
the sidelines are still KO'd use ARISE to get them back so they have full
health if they are needed again. If you can't use Arise because of MP shortage
then use Phoenix Downs on them and also an X-Potion.
After what seems to be an eternity of Raking Hell Wyrm will fire up Judgement
and then switch to magick attacks. Now I noticed something here. Whilst you
were getting raked the reverse landed almost every time but now that Magick is
getting used the reverse misses a lot. I wonder if this is the game mechanics?
Anyway, keep spread out so that all don't get hit by the one spell. Again, any
Dark magick use black masks and for Judgement use white masks and power
armlets. Hell Wyrm will also go into Stone Breath Mode and you will go through
some gold needles. I used 67. Oh yeah, forget Zodiark if you get petrified
because Hell Wyrm just uses Breakart Pentagram and wipes him out. Another
specialty from Hell Wyrm is invert and he will use this a lot as his HP gets
really low. His favourite trick is to invert and then use magick. That reverse
NEEDS to land. However, there is an upside to this. If you can keep the reverse
and decoy going on Penelo then it doesn't matter about the HP of the other 2 so
if you run out of X-Potions then don't worry. Same with Ethers....because Hell
Wyrm inverts so much you will hardly, if at all, need to use an ether near the
end.
Finally, when you hit that last HP bar, use the Dark Matter. It will take a big
chunk of the HP away and victory is in sight. Just keep your wits about you,
carry on doing what you have been doing, and very soon it will be all over.
Hell Wyrm gone and 50,000 gil waiting for you with Montblanc and with Hell Wyrm
defeated it now opens up Hunt number 45....Yiazmat.
Elder Wyrm
**********
I avoided this fight earlier on in the game after fighting Tiamat as it was a
bit tough at the time but now as I have better weapons and Armour I have
returned to finish the job I started. I will be using Balthier, Fran & Basch
and who each have a Fomalhaut with normal Onion Shot, a Crown of Laurels and a
Mirage Vest. Fran and Basch have the firefly and for now Balthier has a
Nihopalaoa. Gambits are straightforward and all 3 have the same which are:
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Remedy
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion
Foe: Highest Max HP: Dispel
Foe: Lowest Max HP: Attack
The healing gambits speak for themselves and the attack gambits are simple. The
highest max HP will Dispel anything Elder Wyrm may have and the lowest max HP
will make sure the Treants are attacked first. So, into battle.
Use a remedy straight away on Elder Wyrm and he will be silenced and put to
sleep. Now get the firefly back on Balthier and take out the 2 Treants. As soon
as they are gone equip Balthier with a Ribbon (you must have one by now) so
that at least one will avoid Elder Wyrm's Sporefall attack. Remedies will be
used to clear any status effects and the guns will do Major damage. Elder Wyrm
will not do any damage when he uses Rake and his Fireball attack will do a few
hundred damage if it isn't blocked. He won't get a second Sporefall attack in
because your guns will take care of him very quickly. It will all be over
before you know it. Another Boss Victory.
Earth Tyrant
************
Earth Tyrant? Lmao! Earth Pussycat more like. The hardest thing is getting to
him. See the Bangaa, Rizmat in Westgate who wants help. Talk to Cotze who is
sitting by the fountain in the Southern Plaza who sends you to Northron who is
sitting against a wall near Storehouse 5 in the North Sprawl in Lowtown. Then
hotfoot it to the Dead-End part of the Windtrace Dunes in the Westersand and
find a Wind Globe under a Dynast-Cactus. Go back to Westgate in Rabanastre and
you'll find all 3 there. You get a Windvane which helps you see through the
sandstorm. Now head to the Wyrm's Nest in the Westersand, east of the Corridor
of Sand.
Gambits are easy. Just use Arise/Phoenix Down, X-Potions at 60%, Ethers at 40%
and Attack nearest Foe. Use Bubble Belts on Balthier, Fran and Basch and a
Nihopalaoa on Vaan. Niho + remedy on Earth Pussyc.....I mean Earth Tyrant,
which
inflicts Slow, Silence and Blind. Now just have some target practice. I didn't
even use a Potion here. About half as tough as Rogue Tomato. It's the equipment
that counts. Fomalhauts, Crown of Laurels and Mirage Vests. Easy, easy fight.
In fact it's not even a fight.
Nabudis 1. Fury
***************
This is the first one of 3 in Nabudis but to access Fury and the other 2,
Humbaba Mistant and the Esper, Chaos, you need to complete the Medallion
Sidequest, something I am not going to explain in detail here. It is something
you have probably done on your first play through and suggest that if you don't
remember then consult a standard walkthrough which will give you all the
details. What you need to do is speak to Ma'kleou in the Nabreus Deadlands and
then collect 3 parts of a medallion for Roh'Kenmou who is at Dalan's House and
then get a Medallion from Otto in Old Archades and give it to Roh'Kenmu in
Charlotte's Magickery in Archades. Then return to Ma'Kleou in Nabreus Deadlands
to get all 3 medallions. Each will open a door in Nabudis and behind the doors
are 2 Bosses and one Esper. The first of these is Fury who is found in the
Cloister of Reason behind the Door of Loathing in The Hall of the Ivory
Covenant in Nabudis. Use the Medallion of Love to enter here.
Fury is dealt with quite easily as its HP is less than 70,000. I had Penelo
buffed up with reverse and decoy and Fran and Ashe with gambits to cast Reverse
on Penelo and Penelo to cast decoy on herself. Self: HP<60%: X-Potion for all
except Penelo and all with Ally:MP<40%: Ether and Ally: Any: Remedy. With a
constant dispel gambit and everyone with bubble belts and spamming gil toss
this was all over very quickly. Fury goes a bit nutty with berserk-like actions
but with less than 70k HP and getting hit with 9999 from gil toss by 3
characters it couldn't cope. It was gone just as Penelo's reverse ran out a
second time. Not difficult. To show how easily this Boss is defeated I have a
video of my fight with it on YouTube at the following link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=r_g7Cq1hpdM
Nabudis 2. Humbaba Mistant
**************************
Head for the Cloister of Solace which is behind the Door of Horrors in the
Cloister of the Distant Song where you will need to use the Medallion of
Bravery. If you want to then you can use Black Masks on your party but, you
know, I didn't even bother. You can also use Float to avoid Humbaba's Tremblor
attack but I didn't even bother with that. I didn't dispel him nor use a Niho +
Remedy. I use very similar tactics to Hell Wyrm with these gambits:
Penelo:
Self: Decoy
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Ally: Any: Remedy
Ally: MP<40%: Ether
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
All the others, including reserves:
Ally: Penelo: Reverse
Ally: Any: Arise
Ally: Any: Phoenix Down
Ally: Any: Remedy
Ally: MP<40%: Ether
Self: HP<60%: X-Potion
Foe: Nearest Visible: Attack
I just kept Penelo away from the others and let her take all the flak from
Humbaba whilst the others popped away at it with their guns. The reverse and
decoy did the job nicely and I was never in trouble. By not equipping Black
Masks and using Float I gave Humbaba a chance but if you find him difficult
then take those 2 attacks out of his amoury and use both Black Masks and Float.
Chip away at the HP and the guns on their own will be enough. Just Chaos to go
and Nabudis is finished.
The Toughest of them all: OMEGA MK XII
**************************************
Before I even attempt to try and tell you how I did this I must say that I
would never have done it without Ashe10's Vids on YouTube. To be honest, I am
not going to go into great detail about it because it will just confuse you so
I suggest you look at the Omega Vids from Ashe10 whilst you read this. Although
these are going to be my words, Full Credit has to go to Ashe10 because all I
did was to follow what had already been done.
Going into detail about this battle will probably be confusing so I will first
give you a general idea of what you are trying to achieve and at the same time
I advise studying Ashe10's vids too. If you try to approach Omega with 3
characters in the normal way you will have 3 KO's before he is even in target
range so a degree of stealth is required. What you are trying to achieve is to
get one character on the platform with Omega under reverse and stop. This
character will keep Omega occupied and will stop it from restoring its health
which it will do if no one is there. Now stop lasts for around a minute which
is the time you have to prepare your characters, mainly the one who controls
Zodiark. In my case that is Balthier so I will refer to him but you use
whichever character is applicable to you. You need to be about halfway between
the platform and the zone line and then give Balthier an ether to give him 100%
MP. Now equip Balthier with a Nihopalaoa and get him to use a Gold Needle on
himself and come under petrify and at the same time have your mage (in my case
Penelo) cast reverse on him. Now remove all characters out of play except for
the one on the platform under reverse and stop and go to them on screen. Now go
to the menu and bring Balthier into the party and he will be right next to your
decoy. Immediately summon Zodiark who will perform Final Eclipse. After that
you bring in a character (usually another mage...Ashe for me) who is under
Vanish status and then try and sneak away back up the hill away from the
platform. The idea is to repeat this manoeuvre and use Zodiark all the time to
remove Omega's HP. You will need to have 3 characters under reverse in waiting
because when the stop runs out you switch to the decoy as leader and bring in
another character and stop that one on the platform. Your original "decoy" will
probably get KO'd and you revive them with your mage away from Omega. Put them
back under reverse and tuck them away ready to replace the present decoy when
their stop runs out. Reviving a KO'd decoy is priority because if you have no
decoy then Omega has nothing to do so it restores itself and whatever damage
you have done is wasted along with umpteen ethers etc. So reviving the decoys
is priority.
All the 3 characters who are being used as decoys need one gambit. Self:
Reverse. When they are revived they immediately use reverse on themselves and
when it lands take them out of the party and save their buff time. As soon as
you have decoys ready and one on the platform then get Balthier Petrified,
under reverse with a full Mist bar and back on the platform to summon Zodiark.
You will have to do this around 30 times to defeat Omega and it takes a lot of
concentration.
These are how I used the characters and how I had them equipped.
Vaan was a decoy with the gambit Self: Reverse as was Fran and Basch. I gave
each of these a Fomalhaut with shot because there is a fair chance that when
the stop wears off Omega will have berserked them so they may as well get a few
shots in if they can and each had a Nihopalaoa so that they could use Chronos
Tears and stop themselves on the platform with Omega.
Balthier had control of Zodiark and also had a Fomalhaut with shot and a
Nihopalaoa. He would use a Gold Needle on himself to cause petrify whilst a
mage would use an ether on him for maximum MP and also cast reverse on him.
Ashe was used mainly as the character under Vanish and had a Holy rod to
increase MP and a Sage's Ring to reduce the amount of MP used.
Penelo was the main Mage and had the Rod of faith and a sage's ring. Both Rods
increase the amount of MP each Mage has.
It was the duty of Ashe and Penelo to use phoenix downs to revive characters
and use ethers on them to keep their MP topped up for using reverse, or in
Balthier's case, for summoning Zodiark.
As you know reverse can be very fickle but here is a tip for you. You could use
an indigo pendant on (say) Penelo to help the magick hit but I have a better
idea. Use a sage's Ring for Penelo at all times except when she uses an ether
on herself when you should equip her with a Pheasant Netsuke to increase
Potency by 50% and save on ethers. Now here is the trick. HP is not a
consideration here as all are 1 hit KO's. So REMOVE ALL HELMS FROM THE DECOYS!!
This will make their Magick Resistance 0 and the reverse will hit more easily.
Thanks again to Hell Wyrm of Neoseeker's Forums for pointing that one out to
me.
I would use a Cat-ear Hood on Ashe to increase her vitality by 20 and the
mirage vest will increase it by 10. This will make her buff (ie vanish) last a
little longer than normal. Remember, it is the responsibility of the Main Mage
(ie Penelo) to keep Ashe under Vanish and I actually used a gambit to assure
this.
Make sure you start this fight with 99 ethers and phoenix downs and it wouldn't
hurt to have a fair quantity of hi-ethers as a back up.
I could go into step by step details but this is highly likely to confuse you
so if you bear in mind what the actual strategy is and then watch all 4 of
Ashe10's videos on Omega then you will have a good idea what you are trying to
achieve. I would make the vids myself but the upload limits applied to new
users on Youtube are Draconian and I couldn't make a vid that lasts more than 2
or 3 minutes before I reached the limit. I won't quote the links to Ashe10's
vids in here yet as I haven't yet asked permission. As it's on YouTube and
available to the general public I don't think I need permission but courtesy
prevents me from doing so until I have spoken to and requested permission from
Ashe10.
The strategy outlined by me and what you see in Ashe10's vids remains the same
throughout the whole battle. Keep a decoy under stop and reverse on the
platform at all time and get Balthier in as often as possible to use Zodiark.
This is how to beat Omega MK XII at 122333. It took me 5 and a half hours to do
this so this is not a short fight and I think you'll find it took Ashe10 (who
is far faster than I am) 3 hours to defeat Omega. This is all the advice I can
give you. The rest is up to you, but if you do defeat Omega then I tip my hat
to you. It really is not an easy task. It's damned hard !!
===============================================================================
=======
CREDITS
=======
First of all, credit to me for actually taking the time to sit and write this
guide.
Credit once again to Square Enix for producing what I consider to be a
Masterpiece even if 50,000,000 HP was a bit much for Yiazmat.
Credit to Piggyback for their Awesome Official Guide which is always a help.
I would like to thank Hell Wyrm from Neoseeker's Forum who diligently followed
my guide as I wrote it and put in many, many hours of testing and pointed out
places where I could improve things like adding a map of the route to the Gate
Switch in the Barheim Passage as he felt the route description was a little
confusing and for his contribution of using Scathe against Zodiark as well as
Balance Motes. His time is greatly appreciated and with his help I hope this
guide is written so that it is easy to understand and follow. Many thanks, Hell
Wyrm :o) Furthermore I would also like to congratulate Hell Wyrm who has
actually completed the whole 122333 game solely using my guide, including the
very difficult Omega MK XII. Congratz!
Congratz also to Defrosted Tuna Team, also from Neoseeker who has also
completed the 122333 challenge with my guide. It's good to hear these things
and I would also like to thank Tuna for the contributions, help and suggestions
given to me. Thank you.
Thanks to Neoseeker.com for hosting this guide because without them it wouldn't
be available to all who wished to use it.
Thanks to Ashe10 from YouTube for all the 122333 vids I looked at, especially
Zodiark and Omega. Those contributions, although not known about by Ashe10,
were greatly appreciated and extremely helpful and credit is deserved.
I have now found out that there were three contributors to the Omega strategy
and they are Ashe10, Flak76 and treb2780, all of whom are from YouTube. All 3
deserve credit for the Omega Strategy but mostly treb2780 who had this strategy
on video first and I am happy to give credit to all 3 but especially to
treb2780. I apologise for omitting anyone and can only say that it was not
intentional. As I stated earlier in my Guide (in the section Version 1.3), if
anyone feels they deserve any credit and they have been omitted then please
contact me and I will put to right any errors I have made, just like this one.
=====
Legal
=====
This guide must not be reproduced in any form (with the exception of being
printed off for PERSONAL use only) without first obtaining permission from me,
Giruvegan - All requests for permission to [email protected] - If permission
is granted it will be on the condition that the whole document is left
unaltered and in the original plain text format and credit for the guide is
given to me. I reserve the right to revoke this permission and ask for the
guide to be removed should I find it to be altered in any way or credit taken
for my work.
Final Fantasy XII and all related media are the property of Square Enix. All
trademarks and copyrights are acknowledged.
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