strategy guide

Final Fantasy XII

We break down the toughest boss fights and show you

how to power level like never before

PS2

words: Thomas Wilde

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Final Fantasy XII

strategy guide

contents

Contents
Getting Started
03

Controls

Walkthrough
04

Nalbina fortress

04

Rabanastre

05

Dalmasca estersande

05

Rabanastre

05

Giza plains

06

Rabanastre

06

Garamscythe waterway

06

The royal palace of

rabanastre

13

Ozmone plain

13

Golmore jungle

07

Garamscythe waterway

13

Eruyt village

08

Nalbina dungeons

13

08

Barheim passage

13

09

Dalmasca estersand

14

09

Rababastre

14

09

Bhujerba

14

Stilshrine of miriam

09

Ihusu mines

15

Mt. bur-omisace

10

Bhujerba

15

Nosphoran highwaste

10

Dreadnaught leviathan

15

The salikawood

11

Bjujerba

16

Phon coast

11

Dalmasca westersand

16

Tchita uplands

11

Ogir-yensa sandsea

16

Sochen cave palace

11

Nam-yensa Sandsea

16

Old archades

12

The tomb of raithwall

17

Imperial city of archades

12

Light cruiser class airship

shiva

18

Draklor laboratory

Rabanastre

18

12

The port at balfonheim

Giza plains

19

12

The feywood

Ozmone plain

19

13

Henne mines

Jahara - land of the garif

19

13

The feywood

Henne mines
Golmore jungle
Paramina rift
Mt. bur-omisace

19

The ancient city of

giruvegan

20

The great crystal

20

The port at balfonheim

21

The ridorana cataract

21

The pharos of ridorana

22

The port of balfonheim

22

The sky fortress bahamut

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Final Fantasy XII

strategy guide

03
getting started

Getting Started
Final Fantasy XII doesnt play a
thing like any other Japanese RPG of
this, or any other generation. It works
a bit like an odd beerslam of Vagrant
Story and Knights of the Old Republic,
where you can have as much or as
little control over the combat activities
of your characters as you see fit.
Balancing micromanagement against
micromanagement is at least half the
game, if not more.

Controls

When youre in the field, you

control a party of up to three
characters. You can set up their
behavior according to a series
of Gambits, which are basically
programmable character macros.
You can buy new Gambits in shops
in cities or find them in the field; a
given Gambit may determine the
circumstances under which the
character targets a given opponent or
ally, or the action taken under those
circumstances.
You can also disable Gambits
entirely, but we dont recommend that.
Fights in FFXII are frantic, and its

easy to forget about a Gambit-less

character entirely in the heat of the
moment.
We recommend keeping your party
leaders Gambits off so you can use
that character as you see fit. Keep
your two other characters Gambits
enabled. Its a very good idea to keep
every character equipped with highpriority healing Gambits at any time,
because damage mounts up quickly in
FFXII. Youll be relying on area-effect
heal spells like Cura for most of the
game.
In general, FFXII tends to play a
bit like an MMORPG. Running away
is always an option (hold down R2 to
leave combat mode), and while you
cannot dodge many attacks, you can
avoid some by simply getting out of the
enemys effective range. Status effects
like Disable, Immobilize, Silence, and
Blind are all also much more useful
than theyve been in the past, so
try to change up your fighting style
accordingly.

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walkthrough

Walkthrough
Nalbina Fortress

Its difficult to lose here. This is the

tutorial mission, so the local enemies
are fairly easygoing, and youre
backed up at all times by a squadron
of friendly soldiers. Reks is also a
better spellcaster than youd expect an
armored type like him to be, so if you
get into trouble, drop a couple of Cure
spells.
Tip: Treasure Chests
Unlike past Final Fantasy games,
most of the treasure chests you
encounter in the field are randomized
item drops. The good news is that
theyll often respawn when you
reenter an area; the bad news is that
the quality of the drops tends to vary
wildly. Youll get small sums of money
or common items more often than not.
Given the relative scarcity of cash in
this game, this still makes treasure
chests worth getting, but it also means
you shouldnt explore everywhere the
way you had to in past games.
The exception is when you find
special Urns that are scattered
throughout the game world. Urns are
consistent from game to game, but
they usually only contain a map of the
area youre in.
Play with the controls a bit, then
move forward as directed to get into
your first boss fight. The Air Cutter
Remora is a tough nut to crack, but
your allies will do most of the heavy
lifting. If you enter melee at all, simply
run away when the Cutter readies

Remora Strike. When its driven off,

press forward into the fortress. Theres
really only one way you can go, and
your eventual destination the throne
room is labeled on your map.

Rabanastre

Kill the three Dire Rats. Once

youve done that, youll start a series
of cutscenes thatll end with you, as
Vaan, in downtown Rabanastre. Go
to Migelos shop, the Sundries store
located on your map, and hell send
you to the Sandsea tavern.
Tip: Your Map Is Your Friend
Press Select to bring up your map.
This will automatically fill in as you
explore an unknown area, making it
one of your best and most reliable

tools over the course of the game.

Itll also inform you what your next
storyline goal is, and will often label
the area you need to visit. This
walkthrough refers to areas by the
names theyre given on the in-game
map.
When you reach the Sandsea, talk
to Tomaji. Hell give you the Clan
Primer, a Writ of Transit, and an
Orrachea Armlet. Equip the latter as
directed, then visit Rabanastres North
End. The shop with the sign labeled as
???, on the west side of the area, is
Clan Centurios meeting hall. Speak to
the Suspicious Bangaa to get in, then
talk to Montblanc the Moogle at the
top of the stairs. Hell give you three
Potions and welcome you into Clan
Centurio.
Tip: License Points and the
Spending Thereof
Youll get at least one License Point
(LP) any time you defeat an enemy,
even if the enemy is well below your
level, and bosses only give you LP.
As a general rule, youll want to
play to each characters strengths
right up until near the end of the
game, when you can start to move
into other parts of the License Grid.
That means fighters should learn
Battle Lore, Shield Block, and weapon
proficiencies. Mages should pick up
Magical Lore, Martyr, and Warmage
ASAP; the latter two abilities will help
them regenerate MP faster.
Tip: Outfitting Vaan
For most of the game, Vaan is a
middle-of-the-road fighter-type, with

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Final Fantasy XII

strategy guide

no real areas of specialization. His

Magic score will start to creep up a
bit as he gets around 40th level, but
hes clay in your hands for most of
the game. At the moment, keep him
equipped with a decent sword and a
shield; as you get further in the game
and better weapons become available,
use a two-handed weapon like a spear
or pole to compensate for his relatively
low Strength.
Tip: Light Armor vs. Heavy
Armor
Light Armor tends to work by giving
you a small Defense boost and raising
your maximum HP. Heavy Armor,
conversely, gives you more Defense
but no HP bump.
Mystical Armor, on the other hand,
raises Magic and Magic Defense.
A character whos equipped with a
full set of Mystical Armor will have
devastating spell power, but will die
approximately twice every fight unless
youre very careful.
With all this in mind, its a good
idea to mix and match your armor
depending on a characters designated
role.

Tip: Montblancs Rewards

Once youve joined Clan Centurio,
Montblanc will offer you the option of
going on specialized hunts. As you get
into battles, youll earn Clan Points,
and with enough points, your clan
rank will go up. Whenever your clan
rank goes up, return to Montblanc
for a special gift to commemorate
the occasion; typically, this will be
a couple of healing items and a few
Teleport Stones.
More importantly, every time you
defeat a boss or accomplish other
relevant goals, such as obtaining your
first Summon, hell pass on special
gifts that various special interest
groups throughout Ivalice have sent
for you. Thisll usually be a small sum
of gil.
Once youre done exploring
Rabanastre, leave town via the
Eastgate.

Dalmasca Estersand

Fight the Wolves and Cactoids to

build up some experience and LP,
but avoid the Wild Saurian. Its far too
powerful for you, and will be for some
time. (Most of the wilderness and
dungeon areas in FFXII have at least

Tip: Penny-Pinching
As you may have noticed by now,
money is hard to come by in FFXII.
You should expect to spend a lot of
extra time level- and money-grinding
in areas like the Estersand over the
course of the game. Otherwise, you
wont be able to afford the better
equipment that you need to survive.
The Rogue Tomato youre here to
fight is usually hanging out on the
bluff to the northeast of the entrance
to Rabanastres Eastgate. Damage it
a bit, and itll hop off the cliff. Chase
it down to continue the fight, but keep
Vaans HP above 30 or so in case the
Tomato uses Flame Breath. Vaan will
take some Galbana Lilies.

Rabanastre

Return to the Sandsea. Tomaji will

give you the Rogue Tomatos bounty:
300 gil, two Potions, and a Teleport
Stone. Nows a good time to upgrade
Vaans Licenses and equipment; if
nothing else, get the Cure spell and
the License for it before you move on.
(Since MP regenerates in FFXII and
items go off almost immediately upon
use, youll want to have both around.
Magic is great for healing outside of
combat, while items work better for
emergencies.)
Use one of the gates throughout
Rabanastre to reach Lowtown, then
visit Old Dalans Place to the south.
Once youve received your marching
orders, use the large gate outside
Dalans house to get to Southgate.

Giza Plains

A brisk jog south will take you to

the Nomad Village. Talk to the woman
standing in front of the large black

once youve joined Clan centurio,

montblanc will offer you the
option of going on specialized
hunts to earn clan points
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walkthrough

one monster thatll be far too powerful

for you to defeat at the level youll be
when you first enter the area. Here, its
the Wild Saurian; in other places, its
often an Elemental of some kind. Keep
a Bangle equipped or keep renewing
your use of the Libra Technick to know
when its a good idea or not to fight.)

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Tip: Outfitting Penelo

Penelo can be developed into the
best spellcaster in the game with
relative ease. Equip her with a mix of
Light and Mystical Armor, a staff, and
the best Black Magic you can afford,
and shell wreak havoc. Its also a
good idea to get her more than one
Quickening ASAP, as knowing two or
three Quickenings will automatically
double or triple a characters available
MP.
Tip: Quickenings
There are isolated areas on the
License Grid that host Quickenings,
special super moves that are roughly
equivalent to past FFs Limit Breaks
or Overdrives. To use a Quickening,
a character must have full MP, and
using the Quickening will consume all
his MP. Fortunately, a character who
knows multiple Quickenings will also
get a special multiplier for his or her
MP score, allowing you to charge up
multiple Quickenings.
Finally, you can chain Quickenings
together if more than one character
knows them, in a specialized
minigame. Use R2 to shuffle the
characters until you get the Mist
Charge option, then fire off another
Quickening with the indicated button.
Using more than three Quickenings
in a single turn will fire up a special
move, Inferno, which will whack an
entire enemy party with massive
damage.

walkthrough

crystal to get your next task: finding

her son Jinn. Penelo will join the party
as you leave.

The local badasses on the Giza

Plains are the Werewolves, which can
probably drop each of your characters
in two hits. Steer well clear of them as
you search for Jinn.
The boy in question is sitting by the
Save Crystal in the southern plains,
in the Crystal Glade between the
southeastern and southwestern areas.
Talk to him and explain the situation to
get a Shadestone.
To turn your Shadestone into a
Sunstone, do as Jinn notes and
go expose it to the Sun Crystals
throughout the Giza Plains, each of
which is helpfully labeled on your map.
If youre lucky, you wont have to visit
all four of them to fully charge the
Sunstone.
Once you have a Sunstone, return to
Jinn. Jinns mother will reward you with
50 gil, two Potions, and two Teleport
Stones.

Rabanastre

Remove all of Penelos equipment

just before you return to town, as
shell leave the party once you enter
Lowtown. Talk to Old Dalan to receive
the Crescent Stone.
Go shopping for spells (you really
want the Blizzard spell about now,
even if you dont intend to make Vaan
any kind of combat magician) and
better armor in Rabanastre, then
go meet Kytes in Storehouse 5 in
Lowtown. Hell give you two Potions
and four phials of Eye Drops.

Garamscythe
Waterway

Slay the mighty rats and bats as

you work your way around to the
northeastern side of the Waterway.
Once youre there, leave the first map,

go west, then follow the passage as

it turns north. Thisll take you to the
palace.
If youre not confident in your
abilities or equipment right now,
turn back and hunt monsters in the
Waterway for a while, then upgrade
in Rabanastre before entering the
palace. Once you go inside, itll be a
long while before you can get back to
a shop. Its also worth noting that if
youre ever going to get any use out of
the Brawler license, a fight where youll
want it is coming up.

The Royal Palace of

Rabanastre

Open the Urn to get a map of the

Palace, then leave the cellar and go
north, speaking to the servants as
you go. When you try to go upstairs,
the guard will stop you, but one of
the nearby servants will take an
interest. Speak to the servant, wholl
help you out. Shout for the guard,
then cautiously walk around him as
he approaches the servant and run
upstairs.

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strategy guide

negative side, some enemies, such as

Slimes or Bombs, are partially immune
to gunfire.
While he is possessed of a nearly
Fonz-esque cool, Balthier isnt a
particularly remarkable character. He
tends to have more HP than anyone
else in the group, which would make
him a good meat-shield in another
type of game. We used him as a
ranged-combat specialist. You can
get Silence Shot from one of the sales
in the Bazaar, which will allow you to
neutralize spellcasters with ridiculous
ease.
Tip: Outfitting Fran
Fran is a great magician from the
word go, and its useful to keep her
equipped with a bow throughout the

Tip: Preparing for Combat

One of the advantages to the new
combat system is that you can set up
protective spells like Protect, Shell,
and Haste before a battle even starts.
One of the disadvantages, naturally, is
that the enemy can do that too, which
makes the White Magic spell Dispel a
must-have.
The four Flans youll face know
a couple of spells, like Cure and

Garamscythe
Waterway

When the smoke clears, Balthier

and Fran have joined the party,
you have the Goddesss Magicite,
and youve landed in a heretofore
unexplored part of the Garamscythe
Waterway. Go downstairs from here to
learn more about Gambits.
Tip: Outfitting Balthier
Balthier begins the game equipped
with a gun. While guns do have a
much lower Attack rating than other
weapons, they also ignore a targets
Defense rating. Thus, their Attack
is roughly equal to that of a much
more powerful sword or axe. On the
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walkthrough

The Lion Signet youre looking for is

one left turn and one right turn away
as you enter from the cellar, but youll
need to distract the guards first. Move
to the intersection south of them and
press the Square button to shout. The
guards will move to that intersection in
pursuit of you, then give up the chase,
allowing you to reach the Signet. Note
that the Hawk Signet painted on the
floor is a red herring.
Use the Crescent Stone on the Lion
Signet to light up the wall at the end
of the northwestern hallway, then lure
the guards away and head over there.
In the ensuing darkened hallway, go
straight ahead and hit the switch on
the wall, then examine the suspiciouslooking wall to open another secret
passage. Afterward, youre near the
Garden Stairs. Go ahead and climb
them. Its about to get cutsceney in
here.

game. On the negative side, she tends

to have the lowest HP of anyone in
the group. She needs Light Armor and
the HP bumps on the License Grid if
you dont want to be resurrecting her
every fifteen seconds. As with Penelo,
its a good idea to teach Fran multiple
Quickenings so you can multiply her
effective MP.
Examine the fallen soldiers, then go
south. Take a left as you enter the next
screen to find another Urn containing
a map of the local area, then continue
to work your way south. Youre pretty
much headed back to Rabanastres
Lowtown, but youre going the long
way around.
The next time you see a Save
Crystal, use it. Youre about to get into
a huge fight with a bunch of Imperial
Swordsmen, with Amalia sitting in as a
guest combatant. They havent gotten
much more impressive since Reks
fought them, although they may give
you a bit more trouble. Head over to
Amalia once the fights over. Shell join
the party as a guest for the time being.
Its not a bad idea to save the game
again, as youre about to head into a
boss fight.

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Barheim Passage

After your daily dose of cripplebeating, youll have a new guest:

Basch. Since hes unarmed and
unarmored, about the best thing
that you can say about him is that
hell provide the enemy with another
moving target.
Check the Timeworn Device to find
out that its a Power Relay, then save
the game and move on. Go downstairs
and talk to Burrogh to get the Tube
Fuse. Upgrade your equipment and
buy new spells from Burrough be
sure to get Thunder and Blizzard if you
dont have them already before going
upstairs and installing the Tube Fuse
in the Power Relay. With that done, hit
the switch on the gate switchboard to

open the gate by Burrogh.

In the dungeon beyond, make it a
habit to rush straight to any Battery
Mimics you see in the area and kill
them before they can shut the lights
off. The Blizzard spell works well on
them; otherwise, theyre pretty durable
opponents, and they have a habit of
regenerating quickly if theyre near
a power source. If they arent near a
power source, theyll run like hell until
theyre near one, and then come after
you with a Thunder knockoff called
Discharge.
Press on to the south until you hit a
massive gate. Inspecting it will cause
a gear icon to appear on your map;
go visit that area. Around now, Flan
should be popping up fairly often,
so toast them with Fire spells. You
may also run into the occasional
Bomb, but these arent worth fighting;
theyre durable, they have no real
weaknesses, and they can easily
drop two or three characters with
Self-Destruct. Fortunately, Bombs
arent hostile when they initially
appear. Make sure your characters
Gambits are set up so theyll only start
attacking if your leader does, to avoid
unnecessary conflict.
When you return to the open gate,
Basch will equip himself with a dead
soldiers equipment. Now hes actually
worth having in the party. With his
support, the next stretch of the
dungeon should be a cakewalk. Keep
following the tunnels, and all the way
to the south, youll run right into the lair
of the Mimic Queen.
The Queen itself will attack with
electrical spells like Thunder, as

Nalbina Dungeons

Go sorting through the dungeon

around you for treasure chests. They
should contain Knots of Rust, which
are single-use items thatll cause
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walkthrough

Blind, and take up a lot of room. Set

Frans Gambit to cast Cure on any
party member who falls below 70%
of their HP, then go after whichever
Flan Amalias carving up at the time.
If someone catches a Blind spell, fall
back long enough to use Eye Drops or
cast Blindna on them. The Fire spell is
extremely effective.
After that, its all over but the
shouting. Continue to fight your
way across the Waterway until you
reach the half-circle-shaped room
with a Save Crystal in it. That rooms
northern door leads to the Overflow
Cloaca. There, youll fight the most
dangerous enemy yet: Firemane.
This will be much simpler if you
thought to buy the Blizzard spell the
last time you were in Rabanastre.
That way, Fran can stand back and
blast Firemane while everyone else
scrambles to stay alive. Otherwise,
thisll be a long battle; the Firemane
has a lot of HP, a lot of attack power,
and can inflict Poison status on
anyone in melee range. That means
Amalia, naturally, and possibly Vaan
if youve taken him down that road.
Naturally, attacking with the Fire spell
will heal Firemane, so dont do it.
Start looking for ways to even
the odds. If youve got the Protect
spell, cast it on Amalia and Vaan; if
youve got Potions to burn, use them.
Fortunately, Firemane will tend to go
after anyone thats in melee with it,
so Fran and Balthier can more or less
stand back and go nuts on it as long
as Vaan and Amalia are still standing.
One major asset during this battle is
that as long as shes a guest in the
party, Amalia apparently has a nearinfinite supply of Potions tucked into
her miniskirt.
Of course, even when you win this
battle, you lose.

direct damage to an opponent. These

come in handy throughout the game.
The reason you need those is
because when you leave the Stockade
area via the northern exit, youll wind
up in a bare-fisted struggle against the
Bangaa prisoners Daguza, Galeedo,
and Gwitch, with only Balthier on your
side. Happily, none of them have too
many HP, nor are they terribly difficult
to defeat. Just the same, its a good
idea to be able to use spells like Cure
or Protect, and the Knots of Rust may
help if Vaan is still underdeveloped.
When the smoke clears, run towards
the Save Crystal to get your weapons
and equipment back, then progress
onward. Your goal in the next area is
the central northern part of the room,
where youll come along just in time
for the Judge to undo the locks on the
door. Follow him in.

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Bhujerba

you might expect. Worse luck, itll

spawn Tiny Batteries constantly
throughout the fight to go munch on
the local electrical conduits, dropping
the Energy level. Use Gambits to
keep Balthier and Fran focused on
damaging the Mimic Queen with
Blizzard spells and gunfire while Vaan
runs around the edges of the room
killing the Tiny Batteries.
Keep your characters HP up during
the battle. The Tiny Batteries can
inflict mild damage at best, but once
the Mimic Queen has been injured,
shell begin to cut loose with highpowered offensive skills like Earth
Shaker.

Dalmasca Estersand

Going southwest from your present

location will take you back to the
Outpost, which you may have visited
while you were pursuing the Rogue
Tomato. From there, its just a Wolfinfested hop, skip, and jump back to
Rabanastre.

Rabanastre

The party will split up as you return

to the Westgate. You can now use the
Moogling to teleport throughout the

world, if you decide thats what youre

into.
Do some shopping (youll definitely
want a method of curing Silence
status, as well as the Libra Technick).
Go see Montblanc, then enter Migelos
Sundries to talk to Kytes. Next up,
return to Lowtown and visit Old Dalan.
Hell give you the Sword of the Order,
and ask you to deliver it to a house in
western Lowtown. Go to the location
marked on your map and talk to the
guy sitting on the crate.
When all thats over, Basch will
have joined the party. Balthier is,
predictably, at the Sandsea tavern in
the East End, on the balcony. When
youre ready for more high adventure,
go to the Aerodrome in the Westgate.
Speak to Fran, whos standing outside,
and then to Balthier, whos inside.
Tip: Outfitting Basch
As you might expect from his
performance in the Nalbina Dungeon,
Basch is a specialist in melee combat.
As such, he can get a lot of mileage
out of heavy armor, a sturdy shield,
and the Shield Block Licenses, which
will enable him to avoid damage a
surprisingly large amount of the time.

Leave the Aerodrome and youll

encounter Lamont, wholl join the party
as a guest. Afterwards, all you need to
do is follow the street, as most of the
exits from the city have been blocked
off by soldiers. Do some shopping on
your way through the city, though, as
the stores here offer better equipment
than what you saw in Rabanastre.

Lhusu Mines

You can use Libra to detect the traps

thatll occasionally be set throughout
the mines (and, indeed, throughout the
hostile environments that youll enter
for most of the rest of the game). If you
dont have Libra or a Bangle handy,
you may wish to remedy the situation
ASAP. Like Amelia before him, Lamont
is carrying an infinite store of Potions,
which allows you to be a bit more
reckless than usual.
In the Shaft Entry, youll need to
work your way around using the
westernmost tunnels to circumvent the
barrier thats been placed across the
mineshaft. Your eventual goal is the
northeastern cavern in Site 2, which
youll find directly.
Once youre there, Lamont will leave
the party, and youll wind up being
chased by BaGamnan and his allies.
A quick look at their stats should be
enough to tell you that you cant win
this fight; the weakest of them have
maybe five times your HP, and theyll
be buffed to the gills the moment this
battle starts.
Hold down R2 and run for it,

you can use Libra or a bangle

to detect the traps that will
occasionally be set throughout
the lhusu mines
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walkthrough

Consider equipping Basch with an

axe or hammer; hitting an enemy with
one of these is a sort of crapshoot.
You may do single-digit damage, or
you may level the opponent with one
hit. Its also a good idea to buy the
Licenses allowing him to wield bows,
so he can help out against Flying
enemies. (You could also teach him
the Telekinesis Technick, but itll be a
long time before you can find that for
sale.)

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ignoring the random monsters as

you pass all the way back through
the mines. Youll shake the bangaa
loose when you reach the mines
entrance. Leave the mines the same
way you came in to catch back up with
Lamont.

Bhujerba

Run around town claiming to be

Basch until your notoriety reaches
100%. One good place to do it is in
the Cloudborne tavern, which you can
now reach. Once you hit that magic
number, youll automatically be taken
into custody. Do some shopping, then
go to visit the marquis. After a series
of cutscenes and the introduction
of this games Cid, youll be taken
captive. Again. Its getting to be a
habit.

to trigger at least one alarm to get to

where theyre holding Ashe. Before
you open that last door, restore your
HP and MP; youre about to get into
one hell of a fight, pitting your crew
against a pair of Judges with Imperial
backup.
The best thing to do, regardless of
what Vossler tells you, is to clear out
the small fry before you try to deal with
the Judges. If you have any items like
Blue or Red Fangs, or Aero Motes,
use them to damage all your enemies
at once. Its also not a bad idea to let
Basch and Vossler handle the melee
while Vaan and Fran or Balthier stand
back, use items, and cast buff spells
like Protect and Haste. This is a
surprisingly difficult battle, given what
youve been facing up until now, and

Tip: Outfitting Ashe

Interestingly, Ashe fits the mold of a
typical Final Fantasy protagonist better
than Vaan does. Shes a well-balanced
character whos equally comfortable
as a combatant or a spellcaster, and
her natural Magic score is high enough
that she can wield spells fairly well
even if shes wearing heavy armor.
Giving her a sword and shield allows
her to play a swing role in combat,
alternating between roles as the
situation demands.
Arm and equip Ashe as you see
fit, because the moment you leave
the cellblock, youll send the entire
Dreadnaught into an ongoing state of
alarm. This is great if youre looking
to build experience, but lousy if
youre just trying to get out of here
in one piece. Go back the way you
came, through the West Block; youll
eventually run into Penelo, wholl join
the party at the same time Vossler
leaves. (Doesnt seem fair, does it?)
Penelo is armed exactly as she was
back when she left Vaan at Southgate,
so equip her accordingly and expend
all the LP she has in reserve.
When you reach the airship bay

Dreadnaught
Leviathan

Hey, its Ashe. Who knew.

Vossler will join the party as a guest.
Let yourselves into the West Block,
and listen to his advice about the red
webs of light. Of course, Vossler tends
to break them for you half the time.
This can be a problem. When an alarm
goes off, youll abruptly be hip-deep
in Imperial Swordsmen, backed up by
a couple of Magi and a Mastiff. The
damage adds up fast in a situation
like that, so set up your Gambits for a
conservative, defensive style of play.
Its your choice how you get to the
Airship Berth Access from the West
Block. The northern route takes
slightly longer to get through, but if you
come in from the south, youll have
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you should be careful.

When you win, youll get the No. 1
Brig Key. In the cellblock, open the
first two cells to find a Save Crystal,
a merchant Moogle whos open for
business (you may want to buy some
extra armor and weapons from him,
since Penelo is going to rejoin the
party shortly), and an Urn containing a
Systems Access Key. Grab and/or use
all of the previous, then open Ashes
cell. Shell join the party.

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youve been driving for, youll run

straight into Judge Ghis and his
entourage of Imperial Swordsmen.
As with the previous Judge fight, use
items like Aero Motes or Blue Fangs to
clear the Swordsmen out, allowing you
to team up on Ghis.
Alone, Ghis is a talented melee
combatant who can deal out
impressive but not overwhelming
damage. His big move is Aero, which
is powerful enough to nearly drop
one of your characters in a single hit,
and if youre unlucky, it can nail more
than one target. A good tactic is to
let your party leader draw Ghis away
from your casters, so they can knock
Ghiss health down from afar without
any risk of being slammed by Aero,
while somebody like Basch keeps
Ghis busy. When youve knocked Ghis
down to about 20% of his total health,
youll end the battle. Congratulations:
youve won one of the hardest battles
yet!

Bhujerba

Youre back in the local Aerodrome.

Conduct whatever city business may
be necessary, such as re-equipping
Penelo. If you need funds, you can

use the Aerodomes Save Crystal to

get back to Rabanastre and go on a
few hunts. When youre done with your
preparations, go visit the Marquis.

Dalmasca Westersand
Before you enter the Sandsea, you
definitely want to get the Cura spell
from the magic shop in Bhujerba. Be
sure to use the Teleport Crystal at the
Westersand exit, so its added to your
network of teleport contacts.

Ogir-Yensa Sandsea

Climb the staircase and follow the

old oil platforms to the west. The
Alraune are deceptively formidable
opponents, so be cautious.
As you step onto Platform 1,
Vossler will rejoin the party as a guest
combatant. The Urutan-Yensa will
also appear to get in your way; these
gunmen arent too much to worry
about, but theyre usually Hasted.
Theyre useful enemies, though;
the Urutan-Yensa appear in such
numbers and so consistently that
you can use them to string together
an impressively long Chain, enabling
you to stock up on items like Phoenix
Down and Teleport Stones at their

Nam-Yensa Sandsea

Its business as usual until you get to

the Withering Shores, where youll find
the giant turtle that Moogle by the save
point mentioned. The Urutan Eater will
go after the Urutans fighting it first, as
a matter of preference; itll only come
after you once all the Urutans are
dead.
Vossler will put a crimp in this plan,
as is his wont, by charging in facefirst. While the Urutan Eater deals
with him, use long-distance tactics
and offensive spells to whittle away
at the Urutan Eaters HP, pausing
occasionally to prevent Vosslers
death via a well-timed Cure spell. Of
the available options, Fire spells seem
to work best.
After defeating the Urutan Eater,
return to the Moogle and talk to him.
Hell inform you that the Urutan with
your reward just went back to the
Ogir-Yensa Sandsea. Return there
and head up the first ramp to see a
cutscene. Head back to the NamYensa to see another sequence. At the
end of it, pick the Eksir Berries from
the bush.
When you reach the end of the Trail
of Fading Warmth in the Nam-Yensa
Sandsea, talk to Dyce, the merchant

alone, ghis is a talented melee

combatant who can deal out
impressive but not overwhelming
damage - his big move is aero
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walkthrough

expense. Theyre also among the few

wilderness opponents that drop gil
upon their defeat.
This is a lucrative opportunity, but
its also somewhat dangerous. You
need to be self-supporting before
you can make this run. It may pay
off to run a circuit through the OgirYensa Sandsea a couple of times,
backtracking to the Teleport Crystal in
the Westersand every time youve built
up enough gil and LP to upgrade your
characters, then going to Bhujerba and
buying spells like Raise, Esuna, Fira,
Blizzara, and Thundara. Incidentally,
if you see a Salamand Entite, run the
hell away. Its this areas Monster You
Cant Beat. Finally, when youre done
using this area for a cheap grind, work
your way west.

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The Tomb of Raithwall

Unless youve been doing a lot
of power-leveling, the Garuda will
probably be a bit much for you. Its
a Flying opponent, meaning you
can only hit it with guns, bows,
Quickenings like Red Spiral, and Black
Magic. Plus, it has insane amounts
of attack power. Vossler will pull out
a new Technick called Telekinesis,
allowing him to damage the Garuda,
so you just have to worry about the
rest of the group.
Using the Eksir Berries on the
Garuda will slow it down considerably
and lower its attack power a bit,
whichll bring this fight within the realm
of possibility. Send in a high-Defense
melee type like Basch to eat most of
the Garudas attacks, while mages
and snipers whittle down the Garuda
from afar; Fran and Balthier work
very well in this battle. Dont forget to
occasionally heal Basch (or whoever)
while youre doing so.
After the battle, you can climb
up and use the Teleport Stone to
backtrack, if you like. Once youre
ready, use the Ancient Device to
enter the Tomb. The Way Stone in
front of you is presently useless. Walk
down the long bridge to trigger the
appearance of the Demon Wall. You
dont have anywhere near enough
room to fight it here, so turn and run to
the door on the other side of the room.
In this area, youll battle a second
Demon Wall, but here, you actually
have enough room to beat it. You can
use the Altars of Contemplation along
the bridge to either stop or speed up
the Demon Wall; if you speed it up, run
to the next Altar as fast as you can.
Fortunately, while it has many,
many HP, the Demon Wall doesnt do
much actual damage compared to
some bosses. Its mostly interested in

slowing you down or preventing you

from damaging it, so it can crush you
against the far wall. Towards that end,
itll use spells that inflict Doom, Blind,
and Silence.
One handy trick, if youve learned
Reflect or have an item like a
Reflectga Mote, is to use such to
protect your entire party once you get
through the first door. The Demon Wall
will try to use Blindga early on, and will
promptly reflect it back on itself. With
it Blind, it almost cannot damage you
at all, so all you have to do is wear it
down.
When its at about half its health,
the Demon Wall will use a spell
called Telega to dispatch one of your
characters. This isnt death so much
as its banishment to the X-Zone
(remember that from Final Fantasy
VI?) and as such, cannot be reversed
until the fights over and you leave the
area. If Vossler gets hit by it, youre
SOL; if another party member gets hit,
just tag him or her out.
Continue west from this point to run
into a cutscene. Afterward, open the
Urn for a map of the area. Now you
can explore the Tomb more or less
at will. Of the local inhabitants, be
particularly wary of the Ragoh, who
can Self-Destruct if a fight isnt going
their way.
Your new goal is to get to the
center of the Northfall and Southfall
Passages and activate the pedestals
at the center of either one. When you
activate both, youll lower the altars
that are found in either area with the
pedestal, allowing you to descend
into the Cloister of Flame via a secret

passage. There, as you might expect,

youll find a demon that throws a lot of
flame around: Belias. He does heavy
melee damage, but his big trick is
using Firaja; this will inflict heavy Fire
damage on all party members, and
may inflict Oil status on top of that.
Teach your casters the Water spell
before you come down here, and use it
to quench Beliass flames.
Victory earns you the right to
summon Belias, the Esper. Montblanc
will reward you for this. Keep going
west to find the Dawn Shard, then
teleport back to the entrance and
leave the Tomb.

Light Cruiser Class

Airship Shiva

The traitor will come after you with

a trio of Imperial Swordsmen. The
latter have been beefed up a bit since
you plowed through so many of them
aboard the Leviathan, but it shouldnt
be enough to really slow you down.
The traitor, on the other hand, will drop
Reflect, Haste, and Shell on himself
early on, making it difficult to bring
him down. Once the Swordsmen have
been dealt with, bring in heavy hitters
like Basch to grind the traitors HP
down, bit by bit.

Rabanastre

Stock up, make your rounds, and

head out.

Giza Plains

During the rainy season, the Giza

Plains entire map changes, and the
Nomad Village clears out. Even better
(worse?), the local monsters have

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walkthrough

on the chocobo, to unload some of

your loot and invest in new items.
Having done that, turn around and
backtrack to the cave you passed to
get to him, then enter. This is Simoon
Bluff, and the only real reason to
come in here is to hunt Bagolies. One
Bagoly should be worth around 150
EXP to you at this point in time, and
while theyre dangerous, you can
handle them, even if all youre doing
is standing there and throwing buffs
and Cure at Vossler while he carries
the mail. Its worth using the Simoon
Bluff to level-grind for a bit before you
move on.

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walkthrough

gotten a lot more powerful. Linger here

for a while, building levels, before you
move on to the south.

Ozmone Plain

Hunt the Mesmenir. They drop Iron

Carapaces, which are worth decent
money, and youll want a fat purse
when you hit Jahara. The Mesmenir do
go straight for any character who uses
magic against them, so be careful. Its
easy to get a caster killed.

Jahara Land of the

Garif

Talk to Zayalu, whos on your right

as you walk into the main part of
town. Hell give you a Jaya Stick to
give to Supinelu, whos hanging out
by the northern bridge. Give Supinelu
the Jaya Stick, then continue across
the bridge to meet with the Galufs
Great-Chief. Larsa will join the party
as a guest, and as you leave, Supinelu
will give you a Bowgun and a quiver
of Onion Bolts. If you go speak to
Judge Hausen, standing at the south
end of the village near the War-Chief,
hell give you three Hi-Potions and an
Ether.

Ozmone Plain

You can hire a chocobo for free on

your way out of Jahara, and its well
worth doing at least once, if only to
hear the new remixed Chocobo theme.
You do have a three-minute time limit
while youre on a chocobo, though, so
watch the clock. Make your way east.
Youll run into quite a few monsters
while youre here, but none of them
can touch you as long as youre on
your chocobo. Dont get off of it,
though, unless you plan on running the
rest of the way.

Golmore Jungle

Bring your anti-status White Magic.

The Golmore Jungle is full of Panthers,
Gargoyles, and those crowd-pleasing
favorites, Malboros, all of which are
fond of inflicting statuses like Slow,
Blind, Poison, and Petrify.
The Urn containing the map of
Golmore Jungle can be found near
your entry point from the Ozmone
Plain. Take the first left you come to,
then take the first right to find the Urn
at the end of the path. Dont venture
too far to the south from this point,
however, as Hellhounds, which may be
a bit too powerful for you at this point,
can be found on the prowl down here.
If you keep going south regardless,

youll find an entrance to the Feywood,

which you definitely cant handle yet.
Instead, go east. Dont be afraid to
backtrack through the Ozmone Plains
to sell loot and upgrade equipment
in Jahara. The Coeurl Pelts that
the Panthers drop are worth 454
gil apiece, so hunt them to fatten
your wallet. When you get a certain
distance east, Fran will step in and
transport you to Eruyt Village.

Eruyt Village

Tetran the Moogle is selling some

great spells, like Esuna and Curaga.
Grab them if youve the means. To find
the Viera youre looking for, just keep
going north until you hit the Fane of
the Path, then keep going. Youll run
into Jote eventually. After speaking
with her, leave the village again to get
your marching orders.
You can help the wounded Imperial
just outside the Ozmone Plains
Golmore Jungle exit, and hell let
you borrow his chocobo for the usual
three-minute span. Leave to the west
to get to the Field of Light Winds, then
follow the chocobo trail south through
the underbrush. Youll wind up on the
south side of the Shred. The southern
cavern leads to the mines youre
after, but you may want to stop back
at Jahara first to buy a lot of Smelling
Salts.

Henne Mines

Hit the first Gate Switchboard and

move south. Talk to the wounded
Imperial, then hit the second Gate
Switchboard. Youll be ambushed by
Jellies, which are vulnerable to Fire

but tend to inflict Confusion rather

often. A powerful caster can use Fira
to destroy the lot of them at once, but
they can do a lot of damage before
they go.
Go either east or south to find the
Urn containing the Henne Mines map,
then return to the Pithead Junction
A and go west. In order to reach Ore
Separation, the room at the end of the
Mines, youll need to take Crossover
As northern exit, go through
Crossover B, and come into Pithead
Junction B from its northern entrance.
There, hit the Gate Switchboard to
open the door from Crossover B to
the Staging Shaft. Doing so will drop
a small army of Jellies on you, so be
very careful or be ready to run.
Reaching the Ore Separation area
will get you into a fight with Tiamat,
a large dragon that absorbs Wind
attacks, such as Aero or a Gladius,
and will occasionally whack your entire
party with Disablega. Defeating her
is a matter of using powerful melee
combatants to whittle down her HP,
while your casters stand well back
from the fray and buff your melee
attackers. Larsa and his infinite
bag of Hi-Potions will be a big help
during this fight, so make sure to
keep him upright. Defeating Tiamat
will automatically return you to Eruyt
Village. Youll receive Lentes Tear.
Shop with Tetran before you leave;
hes offering Fira, Thundara, Blizzara,
and Haste.

Golmore Jungle

With Lentes Tear in hand, you can

continue east through the jungle. Right

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after the Teleport Crystal, youll run

into the Elder Wyrm.
Open with a few Aero spells to
drop the Wyrms Treant bodyguards,
then settle down for a long, deeply
annoying fight. The Wyrms a powerful
melee combatant with more HP than
the planet youre standing on, and a
slightly unnerving love of negative
status effects. Whenever you knock off
a notable fraction of its HP, the Wyrm
will use Sporefall to hit one or more
of your characters with Sap, Confuse,
Blind, Silence, Slow, and Oil.
Esuna will take care of all of these
statuses but Slow and Oil. Oil can
be dealt with by bringing a number
of Handkerchiefs with you, which
you should probably use as fast as
you can. The Wyrm will often follow
Sporefall up with multiple uses of
Fireball, which can do around 900
points of damage by itself. When
combined with Oil status, itll drop a
character more or less instantly. If
the game tells you that the Wyrm is
readying Sporefall, run away so your
leader, at least, dodges the effect,
then drop Esuna a couple of times
to help out any characters that got
hit. Larsa will spend this entire fight

throwing Hi-Potions around, so for

the most part, you dont have to worry
about healing.
Another option is to hang out in the
jungle for a while until everyone you
plan on taking into this fight has the
three Remedy Lore Licenses, thus
enabling you to cure Sporefall simply
by using a Remedy, but thatll take a
little while. You also probably dont
have quite as many Remedies as
youd like. Its an idea, though.
If you can handle Sporefall, then you
can handle the Elder Wyrm. Simply
rip into the Wyrm with a few powerful
fighters. After that, its all over bar the
shouting. Just keep going east.

Paramina Rift

As one of the pilgrims will tell you,

your goals to the northeast. The
monsters here can be a pain, as
most of them have the ability to inflict
annoying status effects like Confuse,
and youll run into an occasional,
predictably devastating Ice Elemental.

Mt. Bur-Omisace

The traveling merchant at the base

of the mountain has better weapons
and armor for sale than what youve

Stilshrine of Miriam

Take out the local population of

Redmaws, then go to the Pedestal
of the Dawn, near the front of the
Ward of Measure. Have your partys
leader equip the Dawn Shard, then
opt to touch the device. Youll be
teleported to the Ward of Velitation. A
disproportionate number of monsters
in the Stilshrine are vulnerable to
Aero and similar effects, so keep that
in mind. This is particularly valuable
against the various kinds of Miriam
Guardians.
Use Blizzara from a distance to take
out the Dragon Aevises, then move
forward. Circle around the balcony to
find another Pedestal of the Dawn.
Use it as you did the last one to reveal
a secret passage, back the way you
came in the Ward of Velitation. Itll take
you to a strange-looking Save Crystal.
It is, in fact, a spellcasting Crystalbug;
use blunt weapons like a War Hammer
and smash it to bits. Itll blast you with
Watera and Aeroga, so use Reflect
or Shell to prevent or minimize the
damage. Defeating the Crystalbug will
unlock a normal Save Crystal.
Continue down into the tomb.
Youll run into a few Gigases and

use blizzara from a distance to

take out the dragon aevises, then
circle around the balcony to find
a pedestal of the dawn
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walkthrough

been able to get before now, so stock

up if youve the means. Hunting
Panthers or Mesmenir in the Golmore
Jungle or Ozmone Plain, respectively,
are still the best ways to make money
at this point in time.
If youre enjoying having Larsa along
for the ride, now is your last chance to
bring him with you on any clan hunts
or other sidequests.
When youre ready, head up the
mountainside into the temple, and
approach the temples high priest.
After the ensuing series of cutscenes,
Larsa will leave your party, taking the
Manufacted Nethicite with him. Return
to the Paramina Rift and go south
until you hit the Frozen Brook. Leave
that area via the southwestern exit,
then continue traveling south until you
reach the Stilshrine of Miriam.

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Mateus herself will open the bout
by casting Reflect, and will then
summon a quintet of Ice Azers. These
floating motes are both vulnerable
and immune to wind, weirdly enough;
theyll also throw out Blizzard and
Sleep spells by the bushel basket,
making it difficult if not impossible
to attack them or Mateus. About
your only hope is to bring in three
characters with Quickenings and use
a long chain of Mist Attacks to weaken
or destroy all the Ice Azers at once.
If theyre still intact after that, destroy
them before moving on to Mateus.
Knots of Rust work very well on them.
Mateus herself isnt a big deal,
unless she uses Blizzaja. Thisll inflict
heavy damage and Sap on the entire
party at once, which, as one might
expect, is no fun. Youll need to use
Esuna to remove Sap after Blizzaja
goes off, so its a good idea if all your
active characters know and can use
the spell. You can help mitigate the
massive amount of MP youre burning
by teaching all the active characters
Martyr and Inquisitor via the License
Grid.
Defeating Mateus will let you acquire
her as an Esper (Shiva mustve had
a previous engagement). Youll also
be able to continue south and get the
Sword of Kings. When you get back
outside, however, youll discover that
youve got a new problem.

Pause to sell off your loot and upgrade

your armor, then head up through the
former refugee camp to the temple
proper. Cast a few buffs before you
enter.
Youll wind up fighting Judge
Bergan, with three more Judges
appearing from behind you as the
battle begins. All the Judges are
immune to Fire, and will use areaeffect spells like Water to whittle you
down. Your best bet is to bring in a
powerful caster and level them as fast
as you can with Aero or Thundara, so
you can concentrate on Bergan.
Bergan is tough. Hell frequently
attack multiple times in one turn with
his twin swords, doing 500-600 points
of damage a hit, and he has a high
counter rate. Youll want to set up
Gambits to throw out Cura or Curaga
the moment anyone hits 50% HP or
lower, and settle in for a long, bloody
brawl.
Afterward, speak to one of the
Acolytes outside the temple for
the Stone of the Condemner, then
return to Rabanastre via a Teleport
Crystal. The shops have gotten in new
shipments of decent items, so report in
at Clan HQ, upgrade your equipment,
and head back out. Your next stops
at the other end of the Eastersand.
Go east to the Nalbina Fortress to find
some better shops than what you may
be used to, then head north.

Mt. Bur-Omisace

Mosphoran Highwaste

You can teleport straight to the

refugee encampment at the base
of the mountain using the Teleport
Crystal at the Stilshrine of Miriam.

Fight your way north until you hit

the Babbling Vale, where a merchant
awaits. Upgrade equipment if you can,
then keep heading northwest. The
path is infested with Vultures, which
are Flying enemies with some serious
attack power. Its a good idea to invest
in a powerful bow or crossbow for your
fighters, just in case.

The Salikawood

Continue north, just as before.

When you reach Trunkwall Road,
investigate the southern path to find
the Urn containing the Salikawood
Map.
When you reach the Salikawoods
Teleport Crystal, youll also find a
Moogle Overseer complaining about
his lazy crew. At this point, do not go
west; youll run into an optional boss,
the Bomb King, which is extraordinarily
tough to beat. (You can probably come
close to winning at your current level
if you play your cards right and equip
anti-Oil accessories, but the Bomb
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walkthrough

a Darkmare, the latter of which

almost qualifies as a midboss; simply
surround it and heal frequently as you
cut it to ribbons. It often drops a suit of
Demon Mail upon its defeat. Examine
the large Sword of Judgement past
it to open the Ancient Door across
the chamber. Thatll reveal a Way
Stone thatll take you to the Ward of
Measure. The Ancient Doors on either
side of the room are now unlocked.
Going south, then west from here
will take you to the Walk of Prescience.
Against the west wall of the room,
equip the Dawn Shard again and
rotate the statue so its facing east,
towards the Sword of Judgement,
then go south to the Walk of Reason.
Rotate its statue so its facing north.
Finally, go south, then east from the
Walk of Measure to find the Ward of
Steel. Here, youll encounter Vinuskar,
a boss thats surrounded by a powerful
magnetic field. Any character whos
wearing more than one piece of Heavy
Armor will be slowed down to the
point of near-immobility while fighting
Venuskar. Thus dont use Heavy
Armor. Simple. Once thats dealt with,
youve got a low-Defense, high-Attack
boss who can safely be cut to ribbons
by any light-armored warriors you
have handy.
Once the Vinuskars been defeated,
go past it to find another statue, and
turn it so its facing west. This will fix
all three statues in place, and cause
the Sword of Judgement to rise from
where it was blocking the path earlier.
This will clear the path for you to face
the most annoying boss in the game
yet: Mateus.

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Phon Coast

Unless youre dramatically

overleveled, this is going to be tricky
for you. Pyrolisks are the big threat,
as theyre flying enemies that can
do a tremendous amount of damage
in a short period of time. Use this
opportunity to level-build, but first,
fight your way southeast until you
hit the Hunters Camp. Once youre
there, sell off your loot, buy some of
the outlandishly expensive armor the
hunters merchant is offering, and
use this as a base from which to build
some levels. Once youre in a position
to survive the rest of the trip, head
northeast.

Tchita Uplands

Fortunately, the Uplands dont have

Pyrolisks in them, so its somewhat
easier going once you reach this
area. Talk to the kid standing near the
Teleport Crystal to get the Soul Ward
Key. Go east as far as you can, then
go north and look for the tiny tunnel
entrance in the side of the cliff.

die while theyre out of your healers

range.
Turn Gambits off and stay in a
corner of the room, casting buffs and
generally waiting for the bosses to get
impatient. Once that happens, keep
one party member ready with a missile
weapon, another on Esuna duty, and a
third to melee the hell out of whoever
comes near you. The Pumpkin Star
and Mandragora Prince will probably
go down first; after them, target the
Topstalk, an annoyingly quick brawler
with a penchant for inflicting Sap
status. Sic your missile-wielding fighter
on him. Finally, dismantle the Onion
Queen, who likes to throw buff spells
and hit everyone around her with
Pollen (inflicting Sleep, Silence, and
Slow), before isolating and destroying
the Alraune King.
Once youve defeated the
Mandragoras, if you teleport back to
the Tchita Uplands Teleport Crystal
and talk to the boy, hell give you 1000
gil and three Remedies. Unfortunately,
after you defeat the Mandragoras, the
next Crystal you see is a Crystalbug,
much like the one you fought in the
Stilshrine of Miriam. Dispatch it to
reveal a Save Crystal.
From this point onward, simply
forge north through the dungeon. The
Wendigos and Strikers drop Maggoty
Flesh, which is a surprisingly valuable
bit of loot, and theyre worth decent
EXP on top of that so make a few trips.
At the end of Destinys March, through
the northern door, youll encounter
another boss: Ahriman. Nothing ever
comes easy, does it?
Fortunately, Ahrimans nowhere

near as difficult to defeat as the

Mandragora quintet were. Hes
content to mix it up in melee with you,
casting spells like Toxify, Thundara,
and Doom, and attempting to cause
Confuse status with his Phantasmal
Gaze. Once you get him down past
half his HP, hell add Immobilizega to
his repetoire, and as he approaches
death, Ahriman will occasionally strike
out with a very high-powered blast
called Maser Eye.
Ahriman will also sometimes
teleport a fair distance away and
summon at least one duplicate of
himself, and does this more frequently
as his HP dwindle. Should that
happen, send one fighter after each
duplicate, or attack multiple copies
with spells or a chain of Quickenings.
Hitting the real Ahriman will dispel the
illusionary version(s).
Past Ahriman, youll have to battle
through a short passage full of Imps
and Strikers before you can reach
the Chamber of the Chosen. Activate
the lift to take you up to the Skybent
Chamber. Open the stone door at its
north end to finally reach the capital.

Old Archades

The merchant by the Sochen Cave

Palace entrance has a couple of
interesting accessories. Offload your
goods, then go east in the Alley of
Low Whispers to talk to the ex-broker.
Afterward, speak to everyone you
meet, just in case.
Head west to reach the stairs to the
city proper. Talk to the guards, and
youll find out you need credentials to
get in. Afterward, youll meet Jules the

Sochen Cave Palace

Go north, fending off Zombie

Knights and Imps, until you reach
the Gate of the Soul Ward. Use the
Soul Ward Key to open it and let
yourself into the Palace proper. Youll
run straight into a battle with the
Mandragora Prince, Pumpkin Star,
Topstalk, Onion Queen, and Alraune
King. This fight is set up to make
you regret having Gambits, as with
them, your characters tend to run
off like idiots in all directions, then
get whacked with three statuses and
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walkthrough

King uses Renew on itself whenever it

hits 20% of its HP. You need to either
be able to pull off a long Quickening
before that point or be powerful
enough to kill the King in just a few
hits.)
Defeating the Bomb King will
allow you to reach the northwestern
Salikawood, and eventually, the dead
city of Nabudis. These are optional
areas, populated by monsters that
are far too tough for you at this point
in time. Youre better off skipping it
for now. Instead, go all the way east,
to the Living Chasm, and talk to the
Moogle Boss. Hell mark his nine
lazy apprentices on your map. Go
speak to them to get them to fix the
gate. After theyve done their job, talk
to the Moogle Boss to get a pair of
Quasimodo Boots.

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District: Storyteller (Story)
Person Interested In That Story
Nilbasse: Gentleman Onlooker
(Working Up A Sweat)
Eager Crier

Streetear. Pay him 1,500 gil and return

to the Alley. Fresh Ardent is sitting on
the stairs near the middle of the area.
Speak with him, then return to Jules.

Imperial City of
Archades

Continue down the street, and

Balthier will leave the party. Work your
way west, outside the weapon and
armor shop, and try to ride the cab.
Jules will appear again. Pay him 2500
gil to learn about this whole chop thing
Archades has going on.
Youll need to ferry information
back and forth around the city to get
the nine chops you need to ride the
cab uptown. You can memorize one
story at a time. If you then tell it to the
other person in the neighborhood who
might be interested in that story, theyll
reward you with a Pinewood Chop.
Getting nine Pinewood Chops will
allow you to ride the cab; getting
twenty-eight of them, which will
require you to match all the stories in
Archades with the appropriate parties,
will allow you to trade your chops
in for a Sandalwood Chop at any
shop in Archades. This will allow you
access to Central Archades, which is
presently off limits.
To get all the Pinewood Chops in
Archades, consult the following list.
Note that the titles for bystanders
given here are the titles they will get
after you talk to them; many of these
individuals, before you speak to them,
will be labeled as Archadean Gentry
or Archadean Ardents. Further note
that no story is of interest to anyone
outside the district where youll find the
storyteller.

Nilbasse: Senior Researcher

(Words of Encouragement)
Failed Researcher
Nilbasse: Worried Husband (Wages
Halved)
Materialistic Woman

Molberry: Proud Mother (The Tutor)

-> Tutor
Molberry: Ardent Woman (The
Eight & Twenty Chops) -> Ardent
Man
Molberry: Daughter-in-Law (A
Trinket From Giza) -> Man from Giza
Molberry: Talented Woman (A
Knack for Magick) -> Akademician
Molberry: Would-be Judge (To Be A
Judge) -> Judges Wife

Nilbasse: Athletic Woman (A Grand

Line of Gamesmen) -> Avid Reader

Molberry: Reminiscing Lady (The

Mummer) -> Family-Minded Girl

Nilbasse: Aspiring Starlet (The Path

to Stardom) -> Faded Star

Molberry: Poor Husband (The

Anniversary) -> Poor Wife

Nilbasse: Determined Researcher

(Time to Leave) -> Ex-Researcher

Molberry: Avid Traveler (The

Traveler) -> Traveling Gentleman

Rienna: Philosopher of Cuisine (A

Revolutionary Dish) -> Dangerous
Chef

Molberry: Look-Alike, West (The

Master of Disguises) -> Look-Alike,
East

Rienna: Good Brother (What She

Wants) -> Waiting Woman
Rienna: Tarot Reader (The
Misfortune Teller) -> Happy Novelist
Rienna: Lucky Man (An Epistle to
Love) -> Romantic Lady
Rienna: Lazy Profiteer (A Gambit
For The Market) -> Researchers Wife
Rienna: Greenseller (Out of Ears) ->
Vegetable Seller
Rienna: Tour Leader (The Aerial
Gardens) -> Bhujerban Lady
Trant: Historian (A History of
Empire) -> Perceptive Man
Trant: Music Appreciator (The
Lutenist) -> Lutenist
Trant: Farce-Goer (A Ticket to the
Farce) -> Girl on an Errand
Trant: Builder (The Artisan
Architect) -> Artistan Architect
Trant: Smitten Man (The Clients
Daughter) -> Smitten Woman
Trant: Boutiquere (The Boutique) ->
Moneyed Gentleman
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Legend:

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Draklor Laboratory

Someone has politely cleared

house for you. Take the North Lift
Terminal to the 67th floor and open
the door at the end of the northeastern
corridor. Inside the C.D.B. youll find
a deeply thickening plot, as well as a
Lab Access Card and a map of the
Laboratory.
When you get outside, youll find
several bulkheads are newly open,
and that your new card allows you to
open several previously locked doors.
Go to Rm 6703 East and open the blue
bulkheads using the control console.
Thisll trigger the arrival of soldiers like
Swordsmen and Hoplites, whichll be

around level 36. Be careful.

Along the way, you can enter the
small rooms off the halls, where youll
sometimes find treasure chests. More
frequently, though, youll find enemies,
such as large swarms of Lab Rats or a
single Judge.
Take the lift up to the 68th floor. Use
the console in Rm 6803 East to open
the red bulkheads, then work your way
around to the west side of the building.
In Rm 6804 West, theres an identical
console thatll allow you to open the
blue bulkheads. Use it, then go a bit
further south. Use the console in Rm
6811 West to open the red bulkheads
again and continue making progress,
and youll reach the South Lift
Terminal. Take it up to the 70th floor.
Go straight forward up the stairs to
deal with Dr. Cid. Hes wielding a gun,
which is a slight problem; it can do
some serious damage. Like all guns,
it ignores Defense and has a high
critical rate. His big threat, however,
is the quartet of Rooks orbiting him.
They can cast buff spells, do some
small damage, steal MP with Osmose,
and heal Cid. More importantly, while
theyre in circulation, theyll renew
a Paling on Cid to prevent you from

The Port at
Balfonheim

The armaments/protectives shop

here is top-notch, and the magic shop
in the marketplace finally, belatedly,
has the aga family of spells for sale.
Be sure to upgrade your equipment
before you set out. Dyce is standing
by the Teleport Crystal, and hes got
Teleport Stones for sale, which is a
rare opportunity.
You can get to where you need to
go by heading west out of Balfonheim,
across the Cerobi Steppe, which
connects to the Tchita Uplands. The
problem with that is that the Cerobi
Steppe is populated by some of the
most dangerous monsters so far, such
as Bandercouerls and immensely
powerful Shield Wyrms. Its a great
place to get a level or two, but youre

each rook must be destroyed

before you can attack cid directly,
so take them out with a powerful
chain of quickenings
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walkthrough

The final chop requires a bit of

explanation. There are two LookAlikes in Molberry, one of whom is
usually standing further to the west
than the other. The western Look-Alike
is the one thatll tell you a story.
Once you have at least nine
Pinewood Chops, take the cab to the
Tsenoble district. Youll catch up with
Balthier. Go north to see a cutscene,
then go back south for another one.
Go talk to the Cab Guide, and tell him
You know where to go.

inflicting any damage whatsoever on

the good doctor.
Each Rook must be destroyed
before you can take Cid himself out,
and problematically, theyll usually
have Reflect up, which will prevent you
from simply walking in and cleaning
house with high-powered Black Magic.
That said, you can sometimes find an
Opal Ring for sale in the Bazaar. If
you equip that on Penelo or Fran, they
can come in here and blast the Rooks
with Thundara or Aeroga, which will
speed the fight up considerably. The
best idea is to start the battle with a
powerful chain of Quickenings, then
destroy the Rooks with characters who
dont rely on attack magic to do their
damage, such as Basch.
Once the Rooks are out of the
picture, Cid isnt a big problem. Most of
the time, hell just shoot you. Hell also
occasionally cut loose with Tokamak,
a huge cannon blast that can hit each
party member for 1000 points of
damage or more regardless of their
position on the battlefield. If he starts
walking determinedly towards the
door, hes going to use the cannon, so
heal accordingly. Cid will get the hell
out when hes at about 25% HP.

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walkthrough

more likely to get your face caved in.

If youre an impatient sort, you can
get to the Feywood much faster by
simply teleporting to Eruyt Village,
then heading south through the
Golmore Jungle. Theres also an
entrance to the Feywood in the
Paramina Rift.

The Feywood

Put your best mage and best

fighters in the party; this is going to get
bloody. Go southeast, fighting Deadly
Nightshades and Golems along the
way, until you find the exit. Youll find
the Urn containing the Feywoods map
in a dead end on the northeastern side
of the Walk of Stolen Truths.
On the Walk of Dancing Shadows,
trade out your mage for another
fighter, or equip an Opal Ring. The
local Mirrorknights will either be
Reflective the moment you see them,
or will cast the spell the first chance
they get. When youre done exploring
the area, go west through the Walk
of Dancing Shadows. Youll reach a
heretofore unreachable area of the
Henne Mines.

Henne Mines

Unfortunately, this shaft is inhabited

by powerful Abysteel bats, which are
rocking out at level 65. You may need
to make a run back to civilization
for better equipment, or at least to
level-grind in the Feywood for a while.
Theres nothing you can do here at the
moment, though, so you may as well
head back to the Feywood.

The Feywood

Go to Antiquitys End, the small

southeastern area where the Save
Crystal is located, and try to go south.
Youll see a cutscene, and the curtain
of mist will part.
Unfortunately, its only to give way to
a boss. The Rafflesia opens by setting
a field in place that slowly drains your
MP, making it difficult to use Mist
Knacks or Summons. Fortunately,
it has precious little game beyond

that; it can Call for Help to summon

other monsters such as Malboros, or
inflict various statuses like Sleep and
Slow, but a powerful party of melee
combatants Vaan, Basch, and Ashe,
for example should have it halfway
dead before it knows whats going on.
Bring plenty of items.
In the area past the Rafflesia,
White Magicks Embrace, check the
southeast corner of the map for an Urn
containing a Feywood Candle, which
will reveal hidden areas of the map.
In the next area, the Ice Field of
Clearsight, go into the first gazebo
and examine the etchings on the floor.
Rotate the camera using the right
thumbstick, and youll see that one of
the views through the archways isnt of
the ice field outside. Go through that
archway and head straight until you
reach the next gazebo, then repeat
the process. Youll eventually be able
to get to the Edge of Reason. Repeat
the process of moving from gazebo
to gazebo through illusions; here, the
first gazebo with an etching on the
floor is the one in the middle of the
area. This will eventually take you to a
large, locked gate. To open it, summon
Belias the Esper, then opt to touch the
gate. Belias will open the door for you,
unsealing Giruvegan.

The Ancient City of

Giruvegan

Move west, into the city, and use

the Way Stone. Go a bit further west,
and youll fight Daedalus, a really
powerful physical brawler. Dispel
his Haste spell, then use two meleetypes to keep him occupied while

your spellcaster stays well out of the

fray. He doesnt heal, thankfully, but
he dishes out damage like nobodys
business. Keep using Curaja or highpowered Cura spells to restore HP,
or you run the risk of getting into one
of those annoying vicious Phoenix
Down cycles where youre too busy
resurrecting to fight the guy. The
closer he gets to death, the higher his
Defense gets, so use Black spells like
Bio to finish him off.
With Daedalus dismantled, you can
use the new Way Stone to teleport
deeper into the city. On the Trimahla
Water-Steps, use Blizzaga spells to
defend yourself from the Behemoths,
and work your way down into the
labyrinth. Hit the Gate Stone near your
starting point, then go down to the
southeast, at the end of the tunnel.
Youll find two Mythril Golems on either
side of another Gate Stone. Theyre
powerful spellcasters, so prepare
accordingly. If you protect your party
with something like Reflectga, the
Golems will happily participate in their
own destruction. Use the Gate Stone
to drop the force field you passed on
the way down here. At the end of the
ensuing path, youll encounter two
more Mythril Golems. Defeat them to
cause a bridge to appear, then cross it.
Youll soon encounter another pair of
Mythril Golems. Defeat them, then use
their Gate Stone. Continue onward, do
this a second time, and then climb the
ramp next to the force field. You may
need to lure out the Drakon Entite that
patrols up here so you can pull it away
to a quieter place; you can probably
take it if youre at or around level 40,

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Final Fantasy XII

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damage to the Tyrant, which is a big

help. Defeating the Tyrant opens up
another Way Stone.

The Great Crystal

Your map is AWOL here. You cannot

open the Gate Scorpio on your first
visit to this area, so leave this platform
via the created bridge that slopes
downward.
In the Kabonii Jilaam Pratiivaa,
defeat the two Oses, then take a left at
the trap. Youll create another bridge,
this one leading to the Kabonii Jilaam
Avaa. Destroy two more Oses, then
create yet a third bridge. Youll be
taken to a Way Stone.
In A Vikaari Kabonii, there are three
paths you can take. The middle leads
to treasure; the left leads to a Gate
Stone thatll unlock the Gate Cancer;
the right leads to the Gate Cancer.
Open and go through the Gate Cancer
to find a Way Stone.
It will teleport you in front of the
Gate Pisces, which, like the Gate
Scorpio, you dont have to deal with
right now. (You can open it if you want,
but itll just take you down a very long,
linear path and send you right back
to the Gate Scorpio.) Go up the path

The Port at
Balfonheim

Report back to Reddas, but shop

first. Youve probably got a lot of
valuable loot, and all the shops have
gotten fresh goods in. After you
speak to Reddas, hell join the party
as a guest. You can also now access
Balthiers ship, the Strahd, from any
Aerodrome. Speak to the lady at the
counter for Private Airships.
With travel throughout Ivalice easier
than ever before, now is a good time
to go on hunts, pursue side-quests,
and build up levels for a run on your
next goal. Its a long dungeon, so you
should be as prepared as possible.

shemhazai knows silencega and

flare, along with her way-too-fast
normal attack. use rose corsages
on your healers and pray
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walkthrough

but itll be a long, tough battle. Its

worth it, though, as youll clean up on
EXP.
When you hit the last Gate Stone in
the Aadha Water-Steps, go back to the
northwestern path, as per your map, to
find two last Mythril Golems at its end.
Defeat them both to make another
bridge appear. If only one shows
up, try leaving this Waterway and
returning here. Its a fairly common
glitch, apparently.
Cross the bridge, open the Bulwark,
save your game, and enter the Gate
of Fire. Here, youll need to find the
hidden bridge to the northeast, where
theres no railing. Cross it, and youll
get to deal with the powerful Tyrant.
Its first action will be to neutralize
the use of all Technicks during this
battle; it also starts the fight buffed
to the gills, and knows a spell called
Piercing Graviga. This spell can punch
straight through Reflect, and will hit all
characters for 75% of their current HP.
Hit the Tyrant with Dispel, use
your own buffs like Protect to help
compensate for the amazing amount
of hand-to-hand damage the Tyrant
can inflict, and press your assault
with ice spells. Blizzaga does a lot of

across from the Gate Pisces to find

the Aries Gate Stone, then return to
the Gate Piscess platform and use the
only other exit there. Youll go by the
Pisces Gate Stone en route to another
Way Stone, which will take you to a
much-needed Save Crystal.
Save the game and use the nearby
Way Stone. Youll be teleported
into the presence of Shemhazai, a
powerful spellcaster. Equip Rose
Corsages on your healers, then do
your best to keep your HP high as
Shemhazai levels you with her waytoo-fast normal attack. She also knows
Silencega, which can be a problem,
and Flare, which will be a problem.
Shemhazai is resistant or outright
immune to most magical attacks,
and absorbs Wind, so dont bother
with offensive casters (or a melee
combatant whos wielding a Zephyr
Pole). As she gets down to her last few
HP, her Defense will go through the
roof, and shell start inflicting Disease
status any chance she gets. At this
point, use a Quickening or a few Knots
of Rust to take her out.
Defeating Shemhazai will unlock her
as an Esper. Use the Empyrean Way
Stone she was guarding. When its
all over, youll have the Treaty-Blade,
and youll be standing in front of the
Tellurian Way-Stone. Use it to teleport
back to Giruvegan.

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walkthrough

The Ridorana
Cataract

Follow the path east, then go north

until you hit the Save Crystal. Keep
Libra going throughout this area, as
there are a ridiculous number of traps
here. After the Save Crystal, its just a
matter of going east.

The Pharos of
Ridorana

Youll run right into Hydro, a boss,

as you enter this area. Hes another
boss whos way too fond of inflicting
Disease, which, as Shemhazai taught
us, is not cured by Esuna or Esunaga.
Bring a load of Vaccines or soupedup Remedies to cope with this, and
equip Tourmaline Rings on your active
characters.
Hydro is, unlike a lot of bosses,
undead. As such, you can damage
him with healing magic, and heal
him with Dark. If youre not doing
enough damage with your usual attack
routines, have a character with the
Potion Lore Licenses drop back and
start throwing X-Potions down Hydros
neck.
With Hydro defeated, go east for a
cutscene, then enter the Pharos. In the
first Ascent, youll need to use Black
Jewels on the three altars in the center
area. The local enemies may drop
these jewels after you defeat them, so
run around kicking ass until you have
the jewels you need.
Activate all three altars to open the
eastern door. Save the game, then
go through the door. After a short jog,
youll hit the next boss: Pandemonium.
He likes to inflict Blind and Petrify
statuses, which necessitates an
appropriate response. Theres
little else to remark upon about
Pandemonium, except that when he
hits 50% of his HP, hell suddenly
become immune to all damage for a
short period of time. You more or less
just have to wait for this to wear off.
Defeating Pandemonium will
activate the dead Way Stone in
the front hall of the Pharos. Return
there and use it to reach a new area.
Defeating the Kojas will create bridges
for you to cross. When you reach the
next area, youll need to start being
careful. The Kojas will still raise parts
of the bridges for you, but the Didras
enemies with a red flame flickering
atop their heads -- will actually cause
part of the bridge to collapse. Be
ready to run if it looks like one of your

fighters by which we mean Reddas,

of course is about to kill a Didras.
Continue to kill Kojas and cross
bridges until you reach the next Save
Crystal. Go downstairs from it and
use the Way Stone to reach the next
boss. Sharit is a powerful physical
attacker. Fortunately, however, you
can inflict both Slow and Oil status
on him, which sets him up nicely for a
barrage of Firaga spells. A few doses
of that should sort him out in no time.
Hes guarding yet another Way Stone,
whichll take you to the next Ascent.
Use one of the altars here to open
one of the doors. However, the altar
you use will seal one of your abilities:
Attack, Magic, Items, or the map. If
you have your head on straight, its
easiest to seal the map. Otherwise,
opt to seal Magic, tag out your
spellcasters, and just rely on items to
do your healing for the next little while.
Once youve opened the door, head
upstairs. Youll find a Save Crystal as
you go, just before you find another
Way Stone. Itll teleport you into a
battle with Fenrir, a powerful attacker
with no real vulnerabilities. Use Protect
and Bubble to up your survival rate,
then get in there and beat him down.
Theres not much to this fight, but it
does tend to get bloody.
Post-Fenrir, activate the altar you
chose upon entering this Ascent.
Thisll unseal that command and call
an elevator down. Take the elevator
up to find a Save Crystal and a Way
Stone, whichll take you to the final
Ascent. In the third Ascent, you can
use the crests to teleport around
the area. If you use the wrong crest

twice, though, youll be teleported into

an area with a number of powerful
monsters and the Urn containing a
map of the third Ascent.
Choose the black crest first, then
move forward until you hit the dead end.
Examine the wall to destroy it, then use
the green crest. Afterward, examine
the walls again and use the red crest.
Once youve reached the eighty-fourth
floor, pick the crest that corresponds
to whatever altar you picked back at
the beginning of the second Ascent.
Thisll bring you to another area full of
suspiciously fragile walls, behind which
youll find the Way Stone you need.
Continue onward until you find the
elevator, then take it up. Youll wind up
fighting Hashmarim, an Earth-centric
boss who likes to hit you with a number
of completely unimportant spells. These
are unimportant, you see, because any
character with Float cast upon him or
her can pretty much ignore Hashmarims
entire offensive routine. Use such mojo
to avoid Hashmarims attacks, then wait
out his barrier spell and finish him off.
Hashmarim will become your newest
Esper at this point. Continue onward and
use the Save Crystal; this is important,
because youre about to run a gauntlet
of powerful bosses. Afterwards, use
the Way Stone to reach the top of
the Pharos and after the ensuing
cutscenes, youll face Gabras.
The temptation here is going to be
to nuke him into next Tuesday, but as
youve got a series of other battles
coming up, play it safe. Use Basch and
Vaan to pummel him into submission,
and only use spells or items if they get
into trouble. When Gabras drops and

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Final Fantasy XII

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The Port of
Balfonheim

This is your last chance to conduct

business before starting the endgame.
You can now opt to fly to the Bahamut
with the Strahd, and doing so will put

you on a collision course with the

endgame. Worse news: there are
no Save or Teleport Crystals in the
Bahamut. (Someone noticed how
much trouble they were causing, I
guess.) When youre as ready as
youre going to be, take to the air.

The Sky Fortress

Bahamut

Go north and upstairs for some

(more) cutscenes, then go southwest
and take the elevator. Gabras is here to
greet you, and hes turned his game up
a notch. Sadly, he didnt think to buy a
Goggle Mask or anything, so you can
neutralize him with a Blind spell. When
Gabras hits 50% health, hell heal
himself, but that just means you get to
beat him down all over again.
Once hes been dealt with, take the
elevator again to go toe-to-toe with
Vayne himself. Larsa will join the party
as a guest to help you take his brother
out, but you almost dont need the help;
Vayne isnt much to speak of.
As per series tradition, however,
Vayne will use Cids stones to power
himself up once hes been defeated,
becoming Vayne Nous. Use a flurry
of high-powered area-effect spells to

take out his backup, then pound on

Vayne with whatever comes to hand.
Youll have Gabras on your side for this
battle, which helps somewhat; you can
also use Slow on Vayne to expedite the
process. Vayne can do a lot of damage
in a hurry, so keep Curaja spells flowing
throughout the battle.
When hes defeated for a second
time, Vayne will run away. Take a
moment to restore your HP and MP,
then chase him down for the final battle
of the game: you vs. the Immortal One,
the final mutated form of Vayne Solidor.
He doesnt have a health bar, which
means you wont have any real idea
how much longer the fight will persist.
Hell use one of those annoying
invincibility effects when he takes about
25% of his total HP, however, which
can help. Dispel his Haste effect, keep
your HP high, and feel free to expend
everything youve got. This is the final
battle, so theres no reason whatsoever
to hold back.
When the Immortal One has been
defeated, youve won Final Fantasy
XII!

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walkthrough

hes not that great a fighter youll

wind up in a rematch with Dr. Cid.
Hes suspiciously wimpy, even
compared to your previous encounter
with him. He still has access to that
oversized cannon he used back in the
Draklor Laboratory, but Cid shouldnt
give you too much trouble until you get
him down to half health or worse. When
you do that, hell summon Famfrit, and
things will get dramatically more dire.
Cid will spend most of the ensuing
fracas casting protective spells on
Famfrit. You can use Dispel to get rid of
them, making your job easier and forcing
Cid to renew them; this, in turn, means
hes not shooting you. Cid is invincible
while Famfrit a powerful physical
attacker who can inflict damage and
Silence on the entire party at once is in
play, so equip Rose Corsages and take
Famfrit down with extreme prejudice.
Once his summon drops, Cid is once
again vulnerable. Drop him.