The Earthgift Shrine is a Soul of Chaos bonus dungeon in the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary Edition releases of Final Fantasy. The entrance to the shrine is located in the mountains northwest of Cornelia, but is sealed until the Fiend of Earth, Lich, is defeated. Within players can challenge bosses from Final Fantasy III's World of Darkness. It is the shortest optional dungeon, with only five floors, and with its early access and comparatively easy bosses it can feasibly be challenged by players much sooner than the other bonus dungeons, though it will still be a far greater challenge than most of the base game.
Layout[]
The Earthgift Shrine contains five floors after the entrance, the first four of which are presented in random order while the fifth floor is fixed and features the boss encounters. It is not possible to exit the Shrine until the final floor, where the player must defeat a boss in order to leave. Entering this dungeon unprepared is a common mistake, as its bosses can have up to over four times as much HP as Lich had, but losing a battle in the Shrine ejects the party to the world map rather than the title screen, retaining any items or experience they gained. The party is likewise forced to exit the dungeon upon defeating a boss, necessitating that they run the dungeon four times to complete it.
The floors are based on four environments:
- The entrance uses the Giant's Cave tileset.
- The boss floor and two random floors use the Cavern of Earth tileset. The random floors are based on the Altar Cave from Final Fantasy III.
- An endless desert.
- A dark forest.
While the Altar Cave maps are short, straightforward affairs, the desert and forest maps are massive and easy to get lost in. The desert map loops infinitely in a mostly empty expanse of sand with a few palm trees. When the player finds a set of palm trees, there are usually three of them in a triangle formation, pointing to a compass direction the player should follow. Following these directions will eventually lead the party to the staircase at an oasis. Locating the staircase quickly is important, as the Abyss Worm, one of the most dangerous enemies in the game, has a low chance of appearing as a random encounter.
The forest floor is perhaps the most time-consuming. Several NPCs roam the forest that initiate fixed encounters when spoken to, and several narrow passages are blocked by them. The forest is also a maze, and so forced battles may happen for naught. Players must also contend with random encounters in addition to the fixed encounters; both types of encounters use the same encounter formations and probabilities.
Encounters[]
| Encounters | Areas |
|---|---|
|
Altar Cave |
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Desert |
|
Forest |
|
B5 |
Surrounding region[]
The Earthgift Shrine shares an encounter region with northern Cornelia and the Cornelia Bridge. It borders the southern Cornelia region, the Chaos Shrine region to the north, and the Pravoka region to the east.
| Encounters |
|---|
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Items[]
In the Earthgift Shrine, treasure lists are static on each floor, but the number of chests varies, and they are randomly sorted for each run. A treasure chest is also located on B5, which can be opened after defeating Ahriman.
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Maps[]
Musical themes[]
In the 20th Anniversary version, a remix of the Final Fantasy III boss theme plays while fighting the bosses. Previously, the Dawn of Souls version used "Boss Battle A" for that purpose.