The Castle Revisited[]
We end up in the East Lunar Tunnel after taking the teleporter back at Mt. Ordeals. Walk south to a Red Jacket, left and down to an X-Potion, then south again to get to the Throne Room Passage of Baron. Rest at the sigil, then watch the scene take place. Luca awakens her master, Cid, and wonders whether the group can actually defeat those responsible for the True Moon's presence. Calca and Brina appear, then malfunction, then get fixed, and we learn the Final Calcabrina band. Useless to me, I never used the things before.
Enter the throne room and take a look at the Dark Crystal.
| Boss Fight: Cagnazzo |
The archfiend of water has a high physical and magical defence, so normal attacks won't be so effective. Thundaga and especially Blizzaga from Palom and Rydia are the best spells to throw out here, but use shell and slow beforehand as you normally would. Cagnazzo himself uses hold to counter attacks (can be remedied with a remedy, would you believe it), and has access to Blizzaga and Deluge, which cause impressive damage to our HP totals. When water begins to surge at his feet, it is extremely important to use an electrical attack (even a Heavenly Wrath will suffice) to disperse it. If you wait too long, he will use Tsunami, an unbelievably powerful attack that can knock off 1000 HP with shell up. After you deal enough damage, Cag recedes into his shell, and his defences soar drastically. He uses Heal to restore over 3000 each turn, but Blizzaga and Thundaga will still be able to deal that much damage. Try to eliminate him quickly while he's in his shell, since he won't be able to attack - makes the battle a while lot easier when your opponent isn't trying to kill you. Cagnazzo says the same goodbyes as Scarmiglione before vanishing. Again, if Golbez was with you, the script will differ slightly. |
Open both chests for a Sage's Staff and Robe, two amazing pieces of equipment for White and Black Mages respectively, then enter the teleportation device at the foot of the throne.
Now we're in the West Lunar Tunnel! The only enemy of note here is the Crocodile, a two attack per turn type of foe that you should get rid of first. There are also these Green Flan things and some blue Sahagin creatures, but I didn't get their names down so I'm not investing much time into talking about them. They're all the same anyway, just make sure you use magic on the flans, since regular attacks won't work. Go east from the entrance to an Assassin's Dagger, then west and south onward through the cave to a save point. In this segment, Harley tries to put the moves on Edmu by having him play a song to him. Edward says that he's thinking of giving up the harp, since he can't properly 'weave the thread of the past into music'. What? You just play the same song over and over again! How difficult could that be? Besides, Edward - a bard Square Enix made you into, and a bard you shall stay. Oh, and it turns out that Harley's parents died in the last war, and she uses this fact to guilt Edward into not forsaking his harp. What a manipulative woman you turned out to be, Harlz. Maybe you're not so useless after all. Run east after the scene to a Rising Sun and an X-Potion, then return to the save and walk south to the next boss area: The summit of the Tower of Zot. Run right up and inspect this Dark Crystal like you did all the others.
| Boss Fight: Barbariccia |
Barb's physical attacks are much more potent now then when we fought her in FFIV. Cast protect and shell both to deal with the incursion of attacks, before casting slow on her to reduce their frequency. The Empress of the Winds has three special abilities to use in this fight: Stone Gaze is like petrify, so it can be cured with a Gold Needle, Remedy or Esuna as soon as it hits (though it may actually miss, and she wastes a turn). Tornado knocks one person down to critical health, and the deadly Maelstrom will do that to ALL FIVE of them. Have your White Mage or healer standing by in case the worst should happen - she can't use lightning anymore, but she can still lash out more than enough times to be labelled as a threat. Usually she counters attacks with a couplet of Tornado and Stone Gaze, so be sure to heal the afflicted and wounded before pressing on with another attack. The worst she can do is whip up a tornado around her, which all but negatives the physical damage you're capable of. Rely on magical attacks instead - Barbariccia has no weaknesses, but no absorptions/resistances either; any Ga spell will do just swimmingly. Bands are great too, of course. I had a party consisting of only the mages (Palom, Porom, Rydia, Rosa, Leonora) and the Infinity band hit the boss for over 25000. Awesome. Very very awesome. Near the end, the archfiend comes to her senses and uses Tornado on herself for some reason, thanks us, and dies. |
Walk back and pop open the chest for the great and powerful Gungnir spear for Kain (and also Zangetsu, I guess), then enter the next teleporter to arrive at the Lair of the Father. The enemies here are new and improved: not exactly that much stronger, but they possess little quirks that make them harder to beat, but only to a limited extent. The Lucifer's are flying thorn's in the side that are weak to holy: Holy Arrows, the Gungnir and the Godhand will make mincemeat of them. The Thunderbirds are weak foes, but have acces to Thunderbolt (about 1000+ damage to one) and can counter attacks with that teeth-grinding Electromagnetism attack. Kill THOSE ones first. Finally, there's the Blast Golem. He counters every attack with a physical, so just heal regularly. He may also counter with lightning when he's low on health, and goes out with a bang by using Meltdown when the final struck is hit. The point is, all these enemies are all talk and no walk. If you defeated Barbariccia easily, then why not these things?
Walk right to get a Hypnocrown, which you should give to either Rydia or Palom (Golbez if he's performing as a Black Mage), then go south to a fork: Resume heading south to a pair of chests. Take the Triton's Dagger and the X-Potion, then return to the fork and move out to the right. Go up when the chance arises, then go right through the secret passage to some Dragon Claws, which go well with our Godhand. Walk back through the hidden area, then go south to the next Blue Planet Recreation.
The Tower, Again[]
Yippee, how exciting to be back in Babil after those long minutes spent apart. Walk up and left from the teleportation pad to get to an Ether in front of a non-functioning door, then go right all the way to a duet of operational doors. Enter the left one, which has a save point to rest in, and a transmitter linked with the Lunar Whale. Whoo! The Save scene is as follows: Yang is speaking with Edge over his anxiety of the approaching moon, and the fact that Cecil is still yet to be healed of his psychological illness. Yang also talks about the fine young man Ceodore has become, and Edge retorts that Ursula is coming along nicely (Interesting to see that Yang totally misunderstands what Edge meant there) and will rule well when the time comes. Yang also points out that Edge doesn't have an heir yet, and questions whether Eblan will be able to prosper without one. Edge says that he's too young to have a child (Isn't he like, in his late 30's?), but I think the more distinctly possible problem is that Rydia is too frigid.
So Yang and Edge learn the Oboro Strike Band, which... I have never used so I don't really know how good it is. Reassemble the team as you like or keep it the way it is: just make sure that you have Edge with you when you leave. Set off from the room, then enter the next one. Oh, and enter the one after that, too. Get to the symmetrically opposite point of the room for a Fuma Shurkien, then walk up the middle to the central platform. Suit Edge up with a Protect Ring, and examine the Crystal. When the question whether to fight the boss alone is given, hit yes.
| Boss Fight: Rubicante |
Rubicante only uses Firaga, Inferno and a powerful physical in this fight - You can protect Edge from harm by throwing a Spider's Silk on the Archfiend, then a Light Curtain on Edge to cast reflect. Rubi's Firaga will bounce off of Edge and onto him, which heals for about 1200, but it's worth it when you're fighting mano-a-mano and can't withstand too much damage from the foe. Just attack normally to reduce Rubicante's HP, and maybe throw out some Shurikens to speed up the battle. Heal every so often (I suggest doing so when Edge's HP falls below 1000) with X-Potions and Heal Pills, and maybe even use Mirage to get Blink status up. The Autarch of Flame won't shut up during the battle, mainly opening his mouth to ask Edge to strike him down or saying his name time and time again. Just ignore him - the real words of validity come when Rubicante commits suicide by using Inferno on himself, commending the solo combatant for a fight well fought, and falls back into the embrace of death. |
Move closer to the door behind the teleporter to get a Fire Scarf (it won't be there if you didn't fight Rubicante one on one), an excellent Ninja armour that raises Defence radically; travel down the B2 of the Lair of the Father when you have. The enemies here are all of an electrical subspecies found in the Tower of Babil in the previous game. If you remember from our voyage through the there in Edge's Tower, each of these creatures can be confused and corrupted with an electrica attack, like Shock or Thundaga. It makes the going so much more bearable, since they're actually rather strong with respect to physical power. Anyway, go west, stopping when you see the chest to get an X-Potion. Walk north, check behind the pillar for some Crystal Gloves (even better than Dragon equipment!), then go east to a fork. Walk right to a Crystal Helm, then go back to the split and up to a Crystal Shield, and an exit route.
The Giant[]
This is the innards of the Giant of Babil which we fought inside last game; walk down to another split, take the top option for a Dry Ether, then run around to the save point. Golbez speaks with Ceodore personally for the first time, and tells his nephew why he came to the Earth from the Red Moon, and what exactly his home is like. Go up from the save and tread on the teleporter, then walk north again and step on the next one. Examine the crystal, and a siren will sound, signalling the arrival of the next opponent:
| Boss Fight: CPU, Attack + Defence Nodes |
The CPU of the Giant of Babil is fought in the same way as it was back in IV. The CPU (the large one) casts reflect on itself, then sits back and does nothing while its two ancillary nodes do all the hard work. The Defence Node heals CPU for about 3300 and above HP, while the Attack Node uses Laser Barrage on every turn to inflict shitloads of damage. Because of its power, you should eliminate Attack first, allowing you to complete the rest of the battle quite easily, since the opposing team cannot attack you. Remove the CPU first, then go on to the Defence Node and mop it up. It's vital that you don't remove both nodes before defeating the CPU: if both are destroyed, then it'll attack one person with Object 199 (instant KO), and then revive the both of them. It's much simpler if you remove Attack node from the equation first, since it has low HP, and the only other problem you'll be presented with is dealing more damage to the CPU then he's healed for. Bands make everything a lot easier in that sense. There is another alternative, however risky it might be. If you destroy Defence first, you won't have to worry about CPU being healed every damn round. The Laser Barrage attacks will become pretty tiring, but protect and Curaga mollify the damage it causes wonderfully. Just remember to cast slow on whoever you don't kill, and target the CPU with non-magical attacks that pierce the reflect barrier. |
Take the Yoichi Bow and its arrows - both very useful on White Mage characters, Palom, and Harley. Step on the circle of light to get to the third floor of Bahamut's Lair, but if you haven't got Rydia in your party, then go out and get her. Anyways, the enemies: The Melt Golem is like a pussy version of Blast Golem - it doesn't counter, it doesn't use powerful abilities, it just attacks. And Rarely. The Blood Eye from Porom's Tale also appears in groups of three, but if your levels are well over 40, then they shouldn't be threatening in the least. There's also Mini Satana and Evil Dreamers, but they're all poor fighters. From the start of B3, go left to an X-Potion, then go directly south of that to find a chest with some Crystal Mail. Follow the winding trail south from this body of rock until you get to the pyramid upon which Bahamut would have stood. Before you climb the stairs or enter the teleporter, walk around the left of the building to get a Seraphim's Mace (superior to the Sage's Staff in every way under the sun), then go to the right for some Tiger Claws. If you want to learn a special ability now, then climb the central steps up to the platform. If you don't want to, then just head into the teleportation contraption. I will be... haha - well, I think you know what I'll be doing.