Let's play: Unprecedented Crisis!

[Shpadoinkle]

Unprecedented Crisis is a fairly extensive mod for the American SNES version of Final Fantasy "2" (originally FF4 in Japan.) In addition to changing the course of the plot after a certain point, it adds a couple dungeons, changes most of the others, and, after a certain point in the game, allows you to customize your party. Furthermore, the game now has four endings, depending on whether you finish the game with Cecil as a dark knight or a paladin, and whether he's alone or not. All characters have been changed in some way, some more extensively than others.

For the two non-solo endings I'm willing to let the readers pick the parties I use. If you have an opinion on what parties you want to see, feel free to cast your vote whenever- be sure to specify whether you want to see the character with DK Cecil or Paladin Cecil, and I don't intend to use any of the same characters for both.

THE CHARACTERS

- Dark Knight Cecil
Aside from being able to use normal steel armor and swords, which expand his equipment options and mean he's not completely useless against undead enemies, Dark Knight Cecil learns the status affecting black magic spells like Charm, Blind, Mute, Poison, Death, Break, etc.

- Paladin Cecil
The biggest difference is that as a paladin, Cecil learns a few more white magic spells, like Cure 3 and 4, and his Wisdom (white magic power) stat is higher, meaning he's not useless as a healer anymore. Cecil becoming a paladin is also completely optional now.

- Kain
Kain is pretty much unchanged mechanically, aside from his new 'Lance' ability, which requires that a spear be equipped and does half the damage of a normal attack, but heals himself by the amount of damage dealt. All of Kain's spears now seem to be considered Wind elemental as well, making them more effective against flying enemies. He can also use axes for some reason.

- Rydia
Rydia never ages up in this version, but more importantly she also can't use black or white magic anymore, meaning her summon spells are her only magic. She learns them naturally as she levels up, no needing to defeat most of them in battle before she can summon them anymore. Her 'Help' ability casts a random summon, including (possibly) those she doesn't know yet, but she still has to pay the MP cost.

- Tellah
Tellah's already low max MP of 90 gets slashed to 45(!), but that's about all that's different with him, aside from the fact that he doesn't die during the course of the game. His maximum MP DOES go up as he levels... but extremely slowly. The first few levels he gains after 20 he'll only be gaining 1 MP per level, for instance, and while it picks up after a while, it's not going to be until about level 50 or so that his maximum MP is going to catch up with Rydia, Palom, and Porom. You're going to want to tote around just... tons of Ethers (or have Edward in the party, which isn't a bad idea anyway) if you want him in the party.

- Edward
Edward is probably the most changed, and most improved character in this version. In fact, he might be a little bit overpowered. To start with, several harps have been added to the game that make him a decent attacker. 'Sing' no longer uses a random useless song, but allows you to choose from his known songs like they were spells (though they don't cost any MP.) Most of his songs are buffs, like casting Haste, Blink, or Protect on the party, restoring HP (1/5th max each) or MP (about 40 each) to the party, dealing a pretty large amount of damage to all undead enemies, or reducing all enemies HP to single digits. An EXTREMELY useful command now. When he first joins the party he has Split, which consumes a potion and has the effect of using a potion on the entire party- and unlike his Medicine command in the original version, this applies the FULL effects of a potion to every party member, healing the party for around 80 HP each. Extremely useful early on. Later, once (if) he rejoins the party, it gets replaced by the even better Regen ability, which heals the party for 100 HP each every few seconds for the remainder of the battle. His semi-useless and sometimes frustrating Hide ability remains unchanged, though.

- Rosa
Rosa's an 'Archer' now instead of a bow-wielding White Mage. She can still use some white magic, but it's far more limited, and mostly buffs and debuffs, like Haste and Slow. Her Aim command gets replaced by Charge, which does pretty much the same thing.

- Yang
The biggest difference is really the fact that his claws don't exist anymore, meaning he's going to be attacking barehanded throughout the entire game, but even so he's going to be able to keep up, damage-wise, with Cecil. He also has tons of HP, making him good at using the Ice-Ball, Lit-Bolt, and Firebomb items, which do damage relative to the user's current HP for some reason. He still has his Kick command, which is slightly less useless, but still not something I ever use, and Chakra, which restores HP to himself by half of whatever his HP is when you use it.

- Palom and Porom
The changes to Rydia and Rosa mean the twins are the only real black and white mages who are playable anymore. Also the damage of their Twin spells are now based on their current HP for some reason. Beyond that, Porom can now equip mallets, which means she has decent physical attack, and has an ability called Bonk, which casts a random buff on one character. Palom's Boast ability has been replaced with Focus, which does the same thing as Boast.

- Cid
Cid's useless 'Peep' ability is gone- no big loss, since you can buy Bestiaries that do the same thing for 10 gold apiece. Instead he has Rage, which applies Berserk status to himself, and Dash, which deals damage equal to his current HP minus 1 to a single enemy and himself. He has tons of HP, so using this from full health can be very powerful, but be sure you heal him up again right away. He can also use axes and shields... though, he could use them in the original game too, but he left the party permanently before any axes became available. He also has a huge amount of HP that make him good at using the elemental attack items. He hits like a truck, but his biggest downside is that he's relatively slow.

- Edge
Pretty much unchanged from the original game, aside from the fact that his 'Ninja' spells are now just ordinary black magic spells. He only learns the elemental direct damage spells. To be honest I've never been a big fan of Edge, either in the original game or here. His Steal command can be used multiple times on the same enemy in a single battle, though, meaning you can stock up on, for instance, Ethers fairly easily if you can find a monster you can steal them from. Can save you a fair bit of cash. I've always thought his normal attacks were underwhelming in the original game- not bad, but not as good as Cecil or Kain aside from a couple specific instances, and that doesn't change here.

- FuSoYa
Doesn't exist in this version.


I intend to update this thread every day or two until I finish, and I should have the first part up this evening. At a rough estimate, this LP will likely be about 20 parts, probably not more than 25.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 1

Below: 94 screenshots of the intro stuff.

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Man, that's a LOT of stuff to cover in screenshots. Nobody in Baron Castle says anything new or of particular interest, and the opening text crawl is unchanged, so let's check out Baron town.

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In the inn face the wall here and hit A to open that door and get some supplies from the chests.

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The training room, here, has people who will tell you want most of the new commands and some of the new spells do. Also stop by the item shop to pick up some Potions.

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In the northern part of town you can head down those waterfalls then along the canal to find some hidden chests in the water containing a couple tents.

Cecil starts off knowing the Poison and Blind spells. Poison actually inflicts what's called Seizure in FF6, but I don't remember what it's called in 4; anyway, it causes the target(s) to constantly lose HP for several seconds, though it does eventually wear off. His DarkWave attack generally deals about as much damage as a normal attack, except it hits all enemies, and costs 1/8th of Cecil's max HP to use.

Kain's Jump command is unchanged, and his Lance command deals half the damage of a normal attack, but restores his HP by the amount of damage dealt. Don't try using this on undead.

Next time, we get started on the actual gameplay.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 2


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Doot de doo, heading to Mist to kill everybody~

The cave's unchanged so there's nothing to show besides the boss fight.

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The Mist Dragon is considered 'holy' now (and does holy-type damage when Rydia summons it, once she learns how,) so it takes extra damage from Cecil's dark swords. Beyond that the fight's unchanged.

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Doot de doo, still heading to Mist to kill everybody~

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Oh yeah, Kain and Cecil start with this kind of armor now. Anyway, remove all of Kain's gear before you head into town.

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Master detectives, our boys are.

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Cecil and Kain decide that what the king has them doing is unacceptable, and decide to defect. They try to take the girl with them, but for some reason she isn't willing to trust two men who just admitted to having murdered her mother, so she summons a titan and he proceeds to just destroy everything.

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Kain's nowhere to be found, and the only place we can find any refuge is the desert city of Kaipo to the northeast.

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Baronian soldiers track Cecil down and try to kill him, but Cecil wasn't the commander of the Red Wings for nothing, apparently, and wrecks them. Personally I like to kill two of the soldiers, then the officer, then the last soldier, because if you kill all of the soldiers first the offficer will run away like a wuss. For beating the tar out of the four of them Cecil gets 880 XP, which is enough to earn him a level and the Mute spell.

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Rydia, naturally, starts at level 1, and only knows the Imp summon to start with. Imp actually isn't terrible for this point in the game, but we still really want to get her up to level 8 or so before proceeding. She also has the Help! command, which casts a random summon spell (even those she doesn't know yet,) but she still has to pay the MP cost.

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I don't remember if you could buy Ethers at this point in the original game, but it's worth noting that most item shops stock them now.

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We also want to get Rydia some equipment. Note as well that Cecil can use all this stuff, except the rings. Rings are basically shields now, except they're used by mages. Rydia starts with a wooden staff, which removes petrification when used as an item, so we want to get her a wooden rod, which fires darts like it did in the original version, though the animation for it has changed.

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Rydia's stats and spells at level 8. She starts with the Imp summon, which costs 2 MP and actually does decent damage for this point in the game, though it will eventually become obsolete, and learns Chocobo at level 5, which besides that is unchanged from the original game as far as I can tell. She'll learn Shiva at level 10.

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Rydia's Help! command in action. Anyway, now that Rydia's slightly less fragile than spun glass...

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PLOT!

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There's an Ether in this pot, be sure to grab it before heading north. Also be sure to have a Tent or two and at least a couple dozen Potions from the item shop.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 3

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Directly north of Kaipo is our next destination.

Immediately north once we get inside are a couple chests with a potion and a remedy. Grab them then head west from the entrance. Grab a tent from the chest to the south then talk to the crazy old man blocking the way.

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Tellah still starts at level 20, but his maximum MP has been reduced to 45. On the other hand he knows more spells. Personally, I just have him use his wooden rod in battle, and save his MP for healing. Also I make a temporary detour back to Kaip to get him some armor, because I forgot to do that ahead of time and all he starts with is some cloth armor and a wooden rod. Anyway, north and east of where we find Tellah are some chests holding 120 gold and an Iron ring.

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In the next area, that chest holds a Potion.

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And that one has an Ether. Continue on to the save point and get some exposition.

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This chest holds an Ice rod, which casts Ice when used as an item. I give it to Tellah, and continue on to the next area via that door a bit to the southeast.

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Those chests contain 200 gold and a Potion. Moving on to the west...

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That chest to the south has a Potion. Directly west of where Cecil is facing is a secret passage you can faintly see, that leads to a Feather cap.

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The chests to the west have a pair of Ethers, and the one across the bridge has a Darkness sword for Cecil, which will raise his attack power by 10 and allow him to inflict blindness with his normal attack, along with another chest we couldn't see with a Remedy. Exit to the northeast to find yourself outside. Use a tent and save, and go into the cave to the north.

The rest of the cave is straightforward enough- be sure to grab the Mythril helm, gloves, armor, and shield from the chests along the way.

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Octomammoth is a pretty basic boss fight. He doesn't lose tentacles in this version though. Just have Cecil exploit his Shadow weakness with his normal attack (I was doing between 300-500 damage per hit,) and Ocotomammoth's 2,500 HP will be whittled down pretty fast.

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Once outside, remove Tellah's equipment and save, because he's going to be leaving soon, and head north.

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Oh, hell. Head inside and up to the top floor.

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Edward says Annah protected him from the attack, taking a mortal wound in the process.

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Tellah storms off to go kick some ass and Rydia and Cecil convince Edward to help them get the Sand Ruby to cure Rosa.

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Edward has some pretty awful stats, but he's actually a lot more useful and powerful as a support character than he might seem right away.

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His 'Sing' command now brings up this menu, where you can select a song like other characters can select spells. 'Dfnse' casts protect on the party, 'Speed' casts Haste on the party, and 'Dirge' deals a fairly large amount of damage to all undead enemies. Once he gains a few levels he'll also make a passable fighter- not as good at Cecil, but he's not terrible, and most of his harps have some special ability- the Dreamer harp he starts with has a chance of putting what he hits to sleep. He'll also learn new songs as he levels up like other characters learn spells- for instance, he learns the Allure song at level 9, which casts Charm on all enemies.

His 'Split' ability consumes a potion in exchange for healing the entire party for around 80 or so HP- which is actually extremely useful for the next few parts of the game. His 'Hide' ability is unchanged, however. Also note that his harps are two-handed weapons, so he can't use a ring in his offhand at the same time. He can equip daggers, but I always find harps are a better choice.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 4

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Head into the Antlion's den east of Damcyan castle. The first floor has about a half dozen chests containing some gold and basic consumables. Head to the stairs in the southeast.

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That chest has a Phoenix feather, and the door to the left leads to a room containing a Lamia harp, which will raise Edward's attack power by 9 over the Dreamer harp and may inflict Charm on hit. Exit that room and head north to the west side of the wall.

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That chest has a Remedy, and up the stairs we can find a save point and another Phoenix feather, an Ether, and a Tent. Return to the previous area and go down the stairs to the west.

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Then down those stairs and south to the middleof the room. Edward will try to take the Sandruby, the the Antlion will attack.

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http://s32.postimg.org/oaejz8vat/4_6.png
http://s32.postimg.org/i86x8r6ut/4_7.png
http://s32.postimg.org/5jcmp30qd/4_8.png
http://s32.postimg.org/ijodlinat/4_9.png
He's both ugly and goofy looking. Anyway, he's unchanged from the original game, so have Rydia's chocobo mess him up while Cecil defends and Edward keeps the party alive with Split, assuming you ever need healing.

http://s32.postimg.org/hnrw62dmd/4_10.png
Back to Kaipo to cure Rosa.

http://s32.postimg.org/3stlnlj79/4_11.png
http://s32.postimg.org/t2syoffcl/4_12.png
http://s32.postimg.org/7ufa700vp/4_13.png
PLOT! Anyway we need to save the crystals from Golbez, so our next stop is Fabul. MIddle of the night scene with Edward? No idea what you're talking about.

http://s32.postimg.org/4c3aalzzp/4_14.png
http://s32.postimg.org/i71kt2uet/4_15.png
http://s32.postimg.org/f1gz2vbsl/4_16.png
Rosa's starting stats, gear, and magic. Also notice her accuracy is not just god-bloody-awful like it is in the original game. Anyway, off to Mt. Hobs, which is east of the Antlion's cave.

http://s32.postimg.org/b6dl0asmt/4_17.png
DO IT

http://s32.postimg.org/bx6b62v05/4_18.png
http://s32.postimg.org/hmmjqe16d/4_19.png
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Anyway, Bomb costs 10 MP and, as far as I can tell, does non-elemental damage like Imp and Chocobo.

http://s32.postimg.org/712oeduut/4_20.png
Anyway, Rosa's Aim command has been replaced with Charge, which effectively does the same thing- she takes longer to attack, but does more damage (generally about 50% more than a normal attack.)

Anyway, up the stairs past the ice, to the west there's a door leading to an area with a save point and some chests containing 350 GP and some consumables. East of that door is another that leads up to the summit (and also a chest containing a Mythril sword for Cecil.)

http://s32.postimg.org/vclocxdo5/4_21.png
http://s32.postimg.org/p6k866jqt/4_22.png
http://s32.postimg.org/bltg723xx/4_23.png
MORE PLOT

Karate guy kicks some ass, but then a big monster attacks and the gang decides to help.

http://s32.postimg.org/n4jqrxlrp/4_24.png
Again, this fight's pretty much unchanged from the original. Yang (the karate guy) still has his Kick command, which is unchanged, and has a new one called Chakra, which restores his HP by half of what it is when he executes the command. So if he has 210 HP when he uses it, he'll regain 105 HP, and so on.

http://s32.postimg.org/atqs7uzqt/4_25.png
After a few round MomBomb will change forms, and a couple rounds after that you'll get a message saying "Exlpoding!" so have everybody defend until it does so. It'll do about 80 damage to the party, and split up into six smaller monsters.

http://s32.postimg.org/dcch8jlh1/4_26.png
Rydia should know Shiva by now, so if she has the MP for it have her cast it to end the battle immediately. If not then just focus on one monster at a time.

http://s32.postimg.org/fjgpwgqr9/4_27.png
http://s32.postimg.org/84re434vp/4_28.png
http://s32.postimg.org/z59s6eik5/4_29.png
PLOT!

http://s32.postimg.org/ytsbtn245/4_30.png
Yangs initial stats. Notice he has awful accuracy. Despite this, he gains attack multipliers fairly quickly, meaning he's going to be making more attacks than Cecil, but his relatively low accuracy means that, on average, he's going to be doing about the same amount of damage, if not a bit more.

http://s32.postimg.org/vo7q3fjhx/4_31.png
The rest of Mt. Hobs is straightforward, so once you exit the mountain head east to Fabul.

http://s32.postimg.org/kd52f2cmt/4_32.png
Next time we see what Fabul has in store for us.


Anybody reading? :|

[Slayn82]

Hey man, nice post, this bring back good memories. I'm curious to see how much the plot differs from the original game. I will be following this thread. Good gaming.

[Alent]

Anybody reading? :|

Yep! Enjoying it and curious to see where things fork from regular FF4. Just haven't had much to say.

[Shpadoinkle]

Yep! Enjoying it and curious to see where things fork from regular FF4. Just haven't had much to say.

In this part, actually.

PART 5

http://s32.postimg.org/7fg3hkayd/5_1.png
Everybody can use the stuff they sell at the equipment shop here, and they also carry the elemental attack items. I suggest you buy a Headband, Kenpo Gi, and Bracer for Yang. Also stop by the inn if you need to, make sure you've got at least a dozen potions in your inventory, and remove all of Rosa's equipment.

Anyway, head north from the entrance through a few doors to see the king.

http://s32.postimg.org/uv2m0nk39/5_2.png
http://s32.postimg.org/owosqf14l/5_3.png
http://s32.postimg.org/vbntn37ud/5_4.png
PLOT!

Anyway, what follows is a sequence with a bunch of fights against fairly easy enemies, even without Rosa and Rydia in the party. Just have Cecil and Yang attack while Edward keeps the party alive with his Split ability. Also note the human enemies seem to resist Dark-elemental damage, so have Cecil use the Mythril sword against them.

http://s32.postimg.org/hzumdw4tx/5_5.png
Oh hell, it's Kain!

http://s32.postimg.org/i14k7b6np/5_6.png
what

http://s32.postimg.org/a4k2z2v79/5_7.png
Kain then proceeds to wreck Cecil.

http://s32.postimg.org/n9zl56p2t/5_8.png
http://s32.postimg.org/sp8b65gmt/5_9.png
http://s32.postimg.org/tsx0vuqnp/5_10.png
http://s32.postimg.org/8lta7ue0l/5_11.png
http://s32.postimg.org/781ncjer9/5_12.png
http://s32.postimg.org/cxhvwukxh/5_13.png
http://s32.postimg.org/wgmh67jp1/5_14.png
http://s32.postimg.org/w6eymv52t/5_15.png
http://s32.postimg.org/gm7kwbuyd/5_16.png
http://s32.postimg.org/u4eh8m73p/5_17.png
http://s32.postimg.org/h1ng3369h/5_18.png
http://s32.postimg.org/9zpigw2np/5_19.png
PLOT!

Anyway, head up the castle tower to the east to see the king. He'll tell you to rest- this means you need to stay at the inn in order to trigger the next event. Before you do that, though, we want to loot the castle.

http://s32.postimg.org/xuipf98c5/5_20.png
The only thing of any note in the castle is the middle chest in the treasure room to the east of the throne room, which contains a Thunder rod. All the rest of the stuff is just consumables.

http://s32.postimg.org/4uoaz9ppx/5_21.png
http://s32.postimg.org/eghvfkgvp/5_22.png
http://s32.postimg.org/g9ks3w22d/5_23.png
http://s32.postimg.org/rzypl9uut/5_24.png
http://s32.postimg.org/o69upv2wl/5_25.png
http://s32.postimg.org/3neyksoz9/5_26.png
http://s32.postimg.org/ydse29p4l/5_27.png
http://s32.postimg.org/67alewcj9/5_28.png
http://s32.postimg.org/jcq3l06et/5_29.png
http://s32.postimg.org/k4srk7alx/5_30.png
http://s32.postimg.org/tqmc0i1rp/5_31.png
http://s32.postimg.org/9xfa4wuph/5_32.png
http://s32.postimg.org/tgjve9th1/5_33.png
http://s32.postimg.org/p9z0yxtv9/5_34.png
http://s32.postimg.org/iomaz6e0l/5_35.png
MORE PLOT! Incidentally, the Ancient sword the king of Fabul gives us is 15 points stronger than the Mythril sword and inflicts Curse on hit- keep the Mythril sowrd around anyway for dealing with undead enemies. Anyway, we get dropped off on a small peninsula to the southeast of Baron. Next time, we see what we can do about sneaking into the castle to find Cid and see if we can figure out anything about what the king is up to.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 6


http://s32.postimg.org/isq7aelp1/6_1.png
Well, it was worth trying, at least. Let's check out Baron town.

http://s32.postimg.org/s1sdkiul1/6_2.png
Drunk castle guards at the inn.

http://s32.postimg.org/m24mgv9sl/6_3.png
They'll use 'Whisper,' which will turn one party member to/from a pig, and unfortunately isn't a spell, so Cecil's Mute spell won't stop it. Pig status can be removed with a Remedy, though. Anyway, they don't have many HP, so one or two good hits should eliminate them, and afterward we get the Baron key.

http://s32.postimg.org/bhuoya5at/6_4.png
With the key we can unlock the weapon and armor shops. The weapon shop has the elemental attack items, as well as a Blind dagger that Edward can use, and an axe and hammer that nobody can use at the moment. The armor shop carries full sets of Shadow and Mythril armor, which can only be used by Cecil at the moment. You should already have Mythril armor for him, and a full set of Shadow armor will run you 8,000 gold, which you may not have- if not, just buy what you can afford, it shouldn't make a noticeable difference. Also, be sure NOT to sell Cecil's Mythril armor.

http://s32.postimg.org/iwk0qnr6d/6_5.png
This door can also be unlocked by the Baron key, and leads to an underground passage leading into the castle.

http://s32.postimg.org/lt71qxx05/6_6.png
This secret passage here hides a chest with 1000 GP. Anyway, head down the stairs, then head east to the next section, grabbing the chests along the way. Note that the mosters in this area are a step up from what we've been fighting, so be sure to stock up on Potions, and you might want to gain a couple levels. Also remember that Rydia can use the Thunder and Ice rods to cast the level 1 version of those spells, which helps conserve her MP. Most things here are weak to Lightning, except the ElecFish, who absorb it, and Crocodiles and Hydras, which are weak to ice.

http://s32.postimg.org/nasi2i1qt/6_7.png
This area has some secret passages and a few chests containing some gold and Phoenix feathers. The exit to the next area is in the northeast.

http://s32.postimg.org/dc7jg0sb9/6_8.png
That chest has an Ether. Continue up those stairs to the north.

http://s32.postimg.org/lx0v772hh/6_9.png
That door to the west leads to a room with a save point and a hidden chest containing a Coral sword for Cecil, which is lightning elemental. Go up the stairs to the east and you'll find yourself in the moat of Baron castle.

http://s32.postimg.org/3k4vadhed/6_10.png
Head south to find this hole in the wall. How nobody has ever noticed it and gotten it sealed up is a mystery, but anyway, head into the building directly north of this hole and down the stairs there.

http://s32.postimg.org/ct71khqad/6_11.png
http://s32.postimg.org/dl9pjouhh/6_12.png
Namely, via the Baron key.

http://s32.postimg.org/xtx35etsl/6_13.png
http://s32.postimg.org/dntl6iy51/6_14.png
http://s32.postimg.org/od79ys9xx/6_15.png
http://s32.postimg.org/4wmkc9etx/6_16.png
http://s32.postimg.org/7f89cy0k5/6_17.png
Cid's starting stats and gear. This is why you didn't want to sell the Mythril armor, by the way- because Cid can use it. With the helm, armor, and gloves, his defense will be up to 28, though his magic defense is still zero.

http://s32.postimg.org/5ottp78et/6_18.png
Amazingly, you can spend the night in Cecil's old room to fill up on your HP and MP. Afterwards head to the throne room.

http://s32.postimg.org/6fmjuzas5/6_19.png
http://s32.postimg.org/fooq53jo5/6_20.png
http://s32.postimg.org/qqtt3jdqt/6_21.png
http://s32.postimg.org/h8u23hs2d/6_22.png
Damn, Cecil's not nearly as much of a wimp here as he was in the original version.

http://s32.postimg.org/toqrx8led/6_23.png
http://s32.postimg.org/3ugz7gled/6_24.png
http://s32.postimg.org/lafqmw9qt/6_25.png
http://s32.postimg.org/rcndddy6t/6_26.png
http://s32.postimg.org/4qi20nkgl/6_27.png
http://s32.postimg.org/pr83lknyt/6_28.png
Cagnazzo's weak to both bolt and, for some reason, ice, and has 5,000 HP. Unless you've been doing some level grinding you might not be able to keep Edward and Rydia alive in this fight after the second or third tidal wave, so at that point have Cid and Yang throw Potions while Cecil attacks with the Coral sword, which should be doing around 400 damage per round. Unfortunately you can't seem to dispel his water wall with the Thunder rod or Rydia's Ramuh summon.

http://s32.postimg.org/3ulkl7as5/6_29.png
http://s32.postimg.org/pv1x1ttg5/6_30.png
http://s32.postimg.org/t3azsm53p/6_31.png
http://s32.postimg.org/nt611bkut/6_32.png
http://s32.postimg.org/adj0bvcd1/6_33.png
http://s32.postimg.org/4rwl7tbo5/6_34.png
http://s32.postimg.org/kfxselr9x/6_35.png
http://s32.postimg.org/w6bpvzk2d/6_36.png
http://s32.postimg.org/zeg7916c5/6_37.png
http://s32.postimg.org/98tjk8f9x/6_38.png
http://s32.postimg.org/638xu0wnp/6_39.png
http://s32.postimg.org/8ym10w0np/6_40.png
http://s32.postimg.org/k0r3zbuqd/6_41.png
http://s32.postimg.org/g5npwrbkl/6_42.png
http://s32.postimg.org/69mmx45sl/6_43.png
http://s32.postimg.org/46c7pg5zp/6_44.png
http://s32.postimg.org/wx91fibth/6_45.png
http://s32.postimg.org/tgbkqa251/6_46.png
http://s32.postimg.org/64nh16nv9/6_47.png
http://s32.postimg.org/8ahrvorbp/6_48.png
http://s32.postimg.org/ecpem6frp/6_49.png
http://s32.postimg.org/m7zy0zped/6_50.png
http://s32.postimg.org/5msblbyad/6_51.png
PLOT! Also Baigan's a bro.

Anyway, there are some chests holding consumables in the eastern half of the castle that you can get now, as well as this scene.

http://s32.postimg.org/rah9vryol/6_52.png
http://s32.postimg.org/evzjskdhx/6_53.png
http://s32.postimg.org/gp2ggvyol/6_54.png

[Shpadoinkle]

For the record, since nobody has said anything about which final parties they'd like to see me use, I'll be going with the following if nobody has any other preferences. Note that Palom and Porom HAVE to be in the party at the same time, you can't remove just one of them:

Yang
Rydia
Paladin Cecil
Rosa
Cid


Porom
Dark Knight Cecil
Palom
Kain
Edward
In addition of course to the solo Cecil endings.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 7

Buy any Shadow equipment you couldn't afford for Cecil earlier, as well as Mythril armor for Cid, including a shield. His mallets are strong, but they're also two-handed weapons, meaning he can't use a shield at the same time, meaning he's going to have low evade and take a lot of damage. Or if you don't mind that you can stick with his wooden mallet, I guess, but I prefer the higher defense for him.

Anyway, restock on potions, be sure you have at least a dozen or so Remedies, and head back to Mist via the way you got there the first time. The layout of the cave is unchanged...

http://s32.postimg.org/6ccyfh8id/7_1.png
But we've got some new monsters to contend with. The chest in the northeast also holds a Battle axe for Cid, which is as strong as his Wooden mallet, but one-handed, meaning he can use a shield with it. The chest to the southwest of there holds a Gold shield. Anyway, exit the cave and head into Mist.

http://s32.postimg.org/kg8tnvfpx/7_2.png
Head into the house in the Northwest and into the fireplace to find this hidden passage that has a Hairpin, a Wizard robe, and a Rune ring. Give the Hairpin to Cid, since it has 11 more Magic Defense than the Mythril helmet. Buy a couple Berets in the armor shop for Cecil and Yang. Also get a Gaia Gear for Edward.

The weapon shop carries Ice, Thunder, and Fire rods, as well as a Healing staff. A Healing staff won't be terribly useful for much longer, but it will come in hand in the next area, as will a Fire rod, so get one of each for Rydia.

http://s32.postimg.org/icyeg7fx1/7_3.png
There's also a secret passage right here leading to a Firebomb.

http://s32.postimg.org/4yqdhafkl/7_4.png
And another Firebomb right here. When you're done shopping, exit the town to the east to reach the Misty Mountains.

http://s32.postimg.org/o53kkgw2d/7_5.png
Here we have more new enemies, like Ogres. They shouldn't be much of a threat, but have Cecil cast Blind if you need to.

http://s32.postimg.org/xe5qul4yd/7_6.png
Grab this Hipotion and head north to find a Fairy harp, which is 9 points stronger than the Lamia harp and inflicts blindness. After that head west to the next area.

http://s32.postimg.org/gg6q8qvkl/7_7.png
http://s32.postimg.org/92rc9sbit/7_8.png
Edward's Dirge song comes in extremely useful against the undead monsters you find here.

http://s32.postimg.org/kt59r64b9/7_9.png
Anyway, in this area head south to get a tent and a couple potions, then head back up and west to use the save point, then head across the bridge to the next area.

http://s32.postimg.org/en3tkfadx/7_10.png
http://s32.postimg.org/4fla80o5x/7_11.png
http://s32.postimg.org/8fsfk9emt/7_12.png
http://s32.postimg.org/xabxebzh1/7_13.png
How completely unexpected. Anyway, have Cecil , Yang, and Cid attack, Edward use the Protect and Speed songs, then have him using either Split or Life song, and have Rydia either healing, using the Wooden staff to remove the partial petrification Scarmiglione likes to throw out via Calcify, which he'll use as a counterattack, or summoning Bombs, targetting him. Eliminating all of his Ghasts will cause him to start using stuff like Bio, so leave one alive. Once you've killed three of the Revenants and started focusing on Scarmiglione, Rydia should be spending all her turns undoing his Calcifying. It'll take a bit, but eventually Scarmiglione will go down. Once he does, head back to the save point to restore and save.

http://s32.postimg.org/nr6tym1cl/7_14.png
Just before I completely cross the bridge, I decide to reverse my party's rows for absolutely no reason other than because I happen to feel like it.

http://s32.postimg.org/ekojbbw45/7_15.png
http://s32.postimg.org/e972ykfo5/7_16.png
Damn, Scarmiglione got really ugly. Anyway, he'll start off the battle with a surprise round and cast Quake, which will probably do around 100 doamage to each character. He also knows Demi, which reduced one characters' HP by 1/4th their max, will fully petrify a character in a single action, and can inflict Curse with his normal attack. He's got 3000 HP this time around, and is weak to fire and holy. Your bruisers should be bruising, Rydia either using the Wooden staff, Healing staff, or summoning Bombs as appropriate, and Edward should start off with a Speed song, then use Life song, or Dirge if healing isn't needed. If your healing can't keep up with his damage output you might want to gain a level or two before trying again.

http://s32.postimg.org/5bqyeyclx/7_17.png
http://s32.postimg.org/ae3ovzwid/7_18.png
Meanwhile...

http://s32.postimg.org/pbc5x09qt/7_19.png
http://s32.postimg.org/kyi7sbqdx/7_20.png
http://s32.postimg.org/6ka8muf6d/7_21.png
http://s32.postimg.org/qg682dw7p/7_22.png
http://s32.postimg.org/4jjp20j11/7_23.png
http://s32.postimg.org/djsvzy4id/7_24.png
http://s32.postimg.org/p4ygtx0lx/7_25.png
http://s32.postimg.org/d9ldglpw5/7_26.png
http://s32.postimg.org/lgdd86fyt/7_27.png
http://s32.postimg.org/56n75a5at/7_28.png
http://s32.postimg.org/fuqy44f9x/7_29.png
http://s32.postimg.org/46ww9kq51/7_30.png
http://s32.postimg.org/3qga0vrrp/7_31.png
http://s32.postimg.org/aoke6tpw5/7_32.png
http://s32.postimg.org/51o19cndh/7_33.png
http://s32.postimg.org/hiuowiij9/7_34.png
PLOT!

Anyway, back at the Misty mountains, grab the Gaia hammer from the chest to the north and equip it on Cid- note that it casts Quake when used as a item, in addition to being 20 points stronger than the Battle axe or Wooden mallet- and jump down the waterfall because that's totally not a completely insane thing to do.

http://s32.postimg.org/8ew9w2gyd/7_35.png
You wind up here. Head west across a bridge, then north.

http://s32.postimg.org/9ige811lh/7_36.png
There's a chocobo forest here. Grab one, since they can cross rivers, and ride it up north to Toroia, which we'll investigate next time.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 8

The town doesn't have any new equipment aside from Fire, Ice, and Bolt arrows, which only Rosa can use, so the shops here are pretty much useless at the moment. The weapon shop does carry the elemental attack items- I know I keep calling attention to them but haven't used them yet, but that's mostly because I haven't needed to yet. Also, 1,000 gold a pop is still pretty expensive right now. I really don't make much use of them until the last portion of the game.

http://s32.postimg.org/bnahozop1/8_1.png
The only other thing of real note in town is that you can find an Ether and a Dry Ether in the grass here. To get here you have to enter the canal, follow it up north, then go through a hidden passage through the trees.

Before you enter the castle, be sure to remove all of Edward's equipment.

http://s32.postimg.org/xcdz6lgat/8_2.png
http://s32.postimg.org/br8wizjk5/8_3.png
Before we can make it inside though, we hear the ominous sound of the Red Wings' propellers, and explosions appear around us.

http://s32.postimg.org/4dtik0zid/8_4.png
http://s32.postimg.org/hj90q4tdx/8_5.png
http://s32.postimg.org/krdi36fnp/8_6.png
http://s32.postimg.org/nhmu0dccl/8_7.png
http://s32.postimg.org/io32vifut/8_8.png
http://s32.postimg.org/94te21scl/8_9.png
http://s32.postimg.org/vi14outad/8_10.png
http://s32.postimg.org/i2e3zeksl/8_11.png
http://s32.postimg.org/rbkvn9j2d/8_12.png
http://s32.postimg.org/thf6hrmit/8_13.png
http://s32.postimg.org/5rpqt2o5h/8_14.png
http://s32.postimg.org/a24eont8l/8_15.png
http://s32.postimg.org/w2kr5abwl/8_16.png
http://s32.postimg.org/8pmpmrvt1/8_17.png
http://s32.postimg.org/3tj2v2vnp/8_18.png
http://s32.postimg.org/6c4rvrhdx/8_19.png
http://s32.postimg.org/fp5czvl51/8_20.png
http://s32.postimg.org/fmlhd1hhh/8_21.png
http://s32.postimg.org/rgxtof551/8_22.png
http://s32.postimg.org/e1asyywn9/8_23.png
http://s32.postimg.org/cjuekiy85/8_24.png
http://s32.postimg.org/6in2clfwl/8_25.png
http://s32.postimg.org/omq2x8dl1/8_26.png
http://s32.postimg.org/doetf1ozp/8_27.png
http://s32.postimg.org/ak45i9879/8_28.png
http://s32.postimg.org/avllv0on9/8_29.png
http://s32.postimg.org/r95le64sl/8_30.png
http://s32.postimg.org/lnnrnuthh/8_31.png
http://s32.postimg.org/hfszf3s1x/8_32.png
http://s32.postimg.org/8nc0rf6x1/8_33.png
http://s32.postimg.org/ldg94iev9/8_34.png
http://s32.postimg.org/jdznd3kjp/8_35.png
http://s32.postimg.org/4w2g53t8l/8_36.png
PLOT! And yes, Tellah just kinda pops up out of nowhere. Anyway, let's go talk to the clerics.

http://s32.postimg.org/j3s4tr5xh/8_37.png
http://s32.postimg.org/yhqvebd8l/8_38.png
http://s32.postimg.org/l9mfo99dx/8_39.png
http://s32.postimg.org/5lqael03p/8_40.png
http://s32.postimg.org/kzjz21139/8_41.png
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It's never made very clear, but what you're supposed to do now is head up north to find a black chocobo, since it's the only method available of getting off this section of the continent. Anyway,before you leave, be sure to grab all the loot from the basement. It's all just consumable restoratives, along with some gold, a Great bow, a few various arrows and a couple Ice Balls, but they're still nice to have. Hang onto the Great bow and arrows, and maybe stock up on a few more arrows in town- yes, Rosa's going to be rejoining us before long. Don't overstock, though- 30 or 40 of each should be more than enough.

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The chocobo forest we're looking for is directly north of Toroia

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And black chocobos can indeed fly. Before we head to Eblan though, there's a couple stops I want to make first.

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Mythril Town has Viking helmets and Giant gloves for sale. I recommend you only replace Cid's Mythril gloves with Giant gloves, since they're not much better than the Shadow gloves Cecil should have, and Cid should still have the Hairpin, providing him with some magic defense that he otherwise completely lacks.

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And Cecil refuses to enter Mysidia, so there's nothing you can do there (at the moment.) Also on the way there Rydia reaches level 20 and learns Ifrit.

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Anyway, you can land your chocobo in this forest just north and slightly east of Eblan castle.

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Cecil and co. just have amazing timing.

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PLOT!

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Edge's starting gear, stats, and spells. Tornado costs 15 MP and does wind damage to all enemies, and note that his Ashura sword (and all other ninja swords) are 'long range,' that is, they do normal damage from the back row. Anyway, time to loot.

In the west tower you can find some gold, Flame armor for Cid or Cecil, and an Ether. In the east tower that's two Shuriken, HiPotion, Ether, Phoenix feather, Tent, and a hole leading to the basement where you can find two more Ethers and an Elixer.

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And Rubicant.

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Rubicant will restore your HP and MP before the fight. With his cloack open he'll counterattack all your physical attacks with a party-wide Fire2. He also likes using Glare, which will deal about 2,000 damage to one character. He absorbs fire, and he's only weak to ice when he opens his cloak (otherwise he absorbs that too,) so hold Rydia's action until he opens it, then immediatly enter the command to summon Shiva. If you have her start casting after he's had his cloak open for a few actions it'll probably only hit when his cloak is closed. Rydia's more or less going to solo this fight; the rest of the party should be throwing Potions, Ethers, or Phoenix feathers, as necessary. Shiva should be doing between 1,500 and 2,000 damage, which will deplete Rubicant's 10,000 HP before long.

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Heading up those stairs will takes us directly to Eblan's underground village, which we'll explore next time.

[Alent]

Huh, seems interesting to see Dark Knight Cecil and teenage Rydia in the fight against Rubicant.

Now I'm wanting to play the original again, as I'm having trouble remembering what got re-sequenced, there.

For the party decisions, I say go with those parties. They look interesting enough.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 9

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Cid and Cecil can use the Flame armor and Gold shields they sell here, so pick up a second set for whoever doesn't have one yet.

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At the weapon shop, Cecil can use the Flame sword (which is 10 points stronger than the Ancient sword,) and Edge can use all the other stuff. The Air dagger will make him a lot more effective against flying enemies, so pick one up, and grab maybe a couple dozen shurikens as well. The Item shop doesn't have anything new besides HiPotions, which restore 400-500 HP, so stock up on those, since regular Potions are pretty obsolete by now.

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This is pretty much all that anybody has to say.

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Be sure to save and remove Yang's equipment before talking to this guy.

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Yang leaves the party here. Head north.

In the next area grab the stuff from the chests on your way further north. Note that Edge's Air dagger and Tornado spells will do pretty good damage to flying enemies- he should be able to severely weaken groups of Giant Bats and Cave Bats with his Tornado spell, if not one-shot them outright. Also his Ashura sword seems especially effective against undead, for some reason.

The monsters in these caves are a step up from what we've been fighting so you might want to take the time to get everyone a couple levels here- personally I like to get Rydia up to at least level 25, which is a bit overkill, but it's when she learns the Sylph summon. Sylph does wind-elemental damage to one target, and the damage dealt is split among the party as healing- though it should be noted that it takes a relatively long time to cast, compared to the other summons she knows at this point. Best of all, it costs 0 MP. I don't know why, but I'm not complaining about free damage AND healing from a single spell. Be sure not to use it against undead, though.

Whether you choose to level up a bit before continuing or not, head north twice, grabbing the stuff from the chests along the way.

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At this point go through that wall to grab the Shuriken from the chest on the other side, then head south via the eastern fork.

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Grab the stuff from these chests (which are all just healing items) and continue south around the wall and back north on the east side of it, grabbing the gold and Phoenix feathers along the way.

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To the east is a room with a save point and a chest containing monsters.

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Specifically, these guys. They can put you to sleep with their normal attack, so they're harder than they might seem at first. They're weak against ice, so Shiva will help put an end to them, and Cid's hammers do extra damage as well. For beating them you get a Power staff, which raises Will by 5 and casts Berserk when used as an item.

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Continue north, grab the DryEther from that chest, and head up those stairs to reach the tower of Bab-il.

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You'll warp through the wall with no explanation. Heading one step west of where Cecil is will warp you back. Anyway, that door we can see is locked, so head to the northwest corner to get an Angel robe, then to the northeast corner of the room to get to the next floor.

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Head west fromt he door to find this chest, which contains some Fire arrows, and continue through that door.

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On 3F go around the perimeter of the room to reach the door to the next level. You can go through the middle, but it's a winding path with no treasure that takes longer.

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On 4F, going west will take you to the next floor, which has a save point. Going north here will take you to three forks- the west one leads to a Mythril hammer, which is 20 points stronger than the Gaia hammer, and a Giant glove. The middle fork has a Hairpin, and the east fork has a Viking helmet.

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There's a save point in that room- be sure to use it and rest up, then head up to the door to the west.

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This fight's pretty much unchanged, at least regarding what the sisters will do. As for you: Have Cecil and Cid attack, focusing on Cindy (the middle one) first, Edge should be throwing Shurikens or just attacking normally, and Rydia should be summoning whatever. I prefer having her use Sylph and Bomb, focusing on Cindy first- bearing in mind summons bypass Reflect spells. This fight seems a lot easier here than in the original version.

Be sure to save afterward, and, if you don't already, switch your party formation to 3 in the front row and two in the back. Head through the door.

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PLOT! Also Kain joins us in the fight against Barbariccia.

This fight's not terribly difficult, just have Kain jump, Rydia summon Sylph (it should be doing around 1,000 damage,) and have the others attack when Barbariccia's not spinning, and heal as needed. Barbariccia has 10,000 HP, which should be whittled down pretty fast between Sylph and Kain's jumps.

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PLOT! Also, a look at Kain's stats since he hasn't been around in a while. Anyway, head back down to that locked door on the first floor of the tower.

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After you unlock the door, be sure to remove Rydia's equipment.

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PLOT! Place the crystals and step onto the tile in the middle.

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The team tries using the teleporter, and... nothing happens!

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PLOT!

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A look at Rosa's stats and spells, since she hasn't been around in a while either. Demi reduces one target's HP by 1/4th it's maximum.

http://s32.postimg.org/9dj895s1x/9_100.pngIf you try entering the tower Kain will stop you and tell you to get away before you're spotted. Looks like the only way to go now is south.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 10


Heading south along the landmass we're on...

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What luck, a cave!

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I hate kids, but okay, I guess.

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The throne room is through that door. Before you enter it, be sure to remove Cid's equipment.

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PLOT!

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Porom and Palom's starting stats, gear, and spells. Obviously we're going to want to get them some better equipment.

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Notice Porom can use hammers. This means she actually has a half decent physical attack, but she's never going to hit as hard as dedicated fighters. She also has a speciali ability called Bonk, which requires a hammer equipped, and casts a random buff spell on an ally. The Sleep sword is also a pretty good buy for Cecil, by the way, and the Aura staff casts either Protect or Shell (it's hard to tell from just the graphic.)

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At the armor shop you want to buy Hairpins, Angel robes, Rune rings, and Magic gloves for the twins. There's also a bunch of stuff to loot in the castle, including a Throwing axe (useable only by Kain and Cid,) Power gloves for Cecil, and Judo armor, which I give to Edge.

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The item shop carries Angel feathers for five grand each, which cast Float on the party and can only be used in battle.

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South and a bit west of the castle is Tomra.

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The weapon and armor shops have some good stuff, which we're going to need to save up for, which is fine because we need to do some leveling at the moment anyway. There's also a storehouse to the northwest with some consumables.

The Ice Mines are just northwest of Tomra. The monsters inside are very strong, but they also give excellent gold and experience. I suggest levelling here for a while- I do so until Palom and Porom are up to level 30, largely because that's when Porom learns Cure 3. Be sure to have Palom cast Mute on Ghosts before they can whip out the Bio spells, which hurt a lot. Edge should be equipped with the Air dagger and his Ashura sword, which is extra effective against undead. Against the Vamplady/Werebat encounters, have Edge and/or Palom use Tornado to either eliminate or severely weaken the bats, then finish everything with normal attacks. Be sure to have two or three Angel feathers before proceeding.

Anyway, from the stairs leading outside, head east and south to find the way tot he next level.

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Both paths lead to the stairs, and there's no treasure on either, so head to the southwest. On the next level just take the stairs to the west.

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The chest to the east has a Wizard. He doesn't do a huge amount of damage, but he can and will cast Slow and Death. He drops a Chaos sword for Cecil, which inflicts Charm on hit. The chest to the west has some Ice armor.

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Going one step north of where Cecil is here will drop you down a level. You can actually get back here and continue inside that cabin with a Warp spell, but there's a bunch of loot down there.

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Get into a fight and use an Angel feather to give your party the Float status, then cross those damage tiles to(which otherwise do 50 damage to each member of the party for every step you take on them) to the area to the northwest to fight a Frost Dragon in the eastern chest, who drops an Icebrand sword. The cjest directly west of him holds a Power glove, and the room to the south of that has a bunch of chests that hold a total of 40,120 gold. The stairs to the next level are to the southeast.

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We enter the next level to the northwest. West of where Cecil is here is a DryEther, southwest is 10,000 gold, and east there are an Opal shield, a Cabin, and 9,000 gold. The stairs to the northeast lead outside- to progress we need to drop down that hole to the east. I recommend you take the stairs leading outside to rest up and save, then come back.

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Dropping down that hole lands us here. Head through that door.

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Alichino is, of course, weak to fire, and has 12,000 HP. Cecil's Flame sword, Edge's shuriken, Palom's Fire 2, and Rosa's Fire arrows all get to come out to play while Porom keeps everyone alive with Cure2/3. Alichino will use Black Hole, which neutralizes all buffs and debuffs, so don't waste time on them. He'll also whip out Ice 3s, and erect an ice wall, then cast Reflect on himself. He can also use Chakra, which is identical to Yang's ability; it restores HP to himself by half of whatever his current HP is when he uses it.

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It's a tough fight, especially if you haven't levelled, but he will eventually be eliminated.

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Once you've got the crystal, Palom and Porom will free the real king Santos, who just says that when you try to talk to him. You're welcome, I guess. Just don't forget you owe us a big favor. Anyway, we're done here, so leave this room via the door to the south, have Porom or Rosa cast Warp to take you back up to the level where you dropped down the hole, and exit through the northeast stairs.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 11

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Next stop, the Feymarch.

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You can run into Conjurers here. They're notable for two reasons: First is that Edge can steal Ethers from them, and remember that he can steal multiple times in one battle, meaning this is a potentially endless source of free Ethers. Second is that they sometimes summon Rockmoths, from which you can steal Angel feathers, or Arachnes, who only ever cast Quake, so if your party is floating then they're totally immune to that. Arachnes are also weak to Ice, so Cecil's Icebrand sword and Palom's Ice 2 spells will destroy them. If you kill a summoned monster before killing the Conjurer, another monster of the same kind will be summoned, meaning that this is probably the fastest place in the game to farm experience and gold if you need to level up.

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Anyway, from those stairs the way to the next level is south, then west, but there are some treasures here. To the northeast there's a Phoenix feather, and directly west of that, though the hidden passage, is a DryEther. Southeast of the stairs leading outside is an X-Potion.

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On B2 you can take the secret passage to the west all the way around the edge of the level, avoiding the damage floors entirely, but doing so also skips the loot (namely: an X-Potion and a Cabin.)

On B3, the warp taking you to Feymarch is in the middle of the floor. To the south of that are a Phoenix feather, Dark arrows, a Yagyu shuriken, and an X-potion. To the southwest there's another X-potion.

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From the center of the floor, going east, then north and west through a couple secret passages you can find this chest.

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Hit these guys with Slow and Blind, then take your time carving them up. For beating them you get the Blood sword, a dark sword for Cecil that restores his HP by however much damage he deals (this is reversed against undead enemies.) Extremely useful, though it does reduce all his stats by 5. It should be noted that, due to a bug, if you start a battle with this eqipped, then switch to a different weapon in-battle, Cecil will retain the HP draining effect.

Also, around this point Porom reaches level 33 learns Harm, which costs 25 MP and does a LOT of damage to undead. Porom learns Bio at level 33, which is now Shadow-elemental.

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Anyway, taking the warp in the middle of the floor brings us here. The chests in town contain some consumables and gold.

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Entering the house to the northwest on the second level, we find out what happend to Rydia.

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Anyway, the item shop doesn't have anything new, but the weapon shop does. Grab a Rune bow and a Kikuichi sword, and stock up on Dark arrows if you're running low on ammunition. I personally don't consider the Fairy rod or Silence staff to be worth the money, but if you do then feel free to grab them.

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The armor shop has some good stuff too. Definitely grab an Aegis shield for Cecil, which should boost his magic evasion up to about 38%. I don't consider any of the other stuff here better than what you should have at the moment, though.

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Final stop is the library. Before you go in make sure Cecil DOES NOT have the Blood sword equipped (preferably he should be using the Flame sword instead.)

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It's astounding how credulous everyone is. Anyway, grab the Shadow crystal and Ciriatto will pop up along with a bunch of his undead toadies.

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This is pretty much just a repeat of the first fight with Scarmiglione, just with a different party. Hit the baddies with Slow, kill three of the Reapers with Edge's Ashura, Cecil's Flame sword, and Palom's Fire 2, then kill Ciriatto, then the last Reaper. Ciriatto himself only has 7,000 HP, so this isn't a very hard fight, though he does counter attacks on himself with Stop.

Once Ciriatto's dead, reverse your party's rows. No, there's no reason. Just do it, okay? I also recommend making a savestate here, even if you don't normally use them. Then head out of the library.

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Oh wow, how totally unexpected.

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He'll start off with an Angel song, which will reduce the party to single digit HP. He has 14,000 HP now, and he's weak to holy but not fire. He'll also throw out Calcify, and Death, DarkHoly, and Bio spells- the latter can easily kill the entire party if his DarkHoly hit Porom, so you didn't have a chance to heal before the Bio spell, which is why I suggested the savestate. He can also use Cecil's DarkWave attack, though I don't think it drains HP from him when he uses it.

Assuming you can actually get past the first couple rounds, hit him with Slow from Rosa, have Edge throwing Shurikens, Cecil and Rosa attacking, Porom healing, and Palom casting Fire2.

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Eventually he'll go down (again,) and the Shadow crystal is secure, for the moment.

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Back on the first level of Feymarch, step in this little alcove just north of where Cecil is and you'll be teleported to a room with Dark arrows, Yoichi arrows, an Elixer, and a DryEther to the north, and a warp back to the overworld to the south.

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Next stop, Bahamut's Lagoon, in the northwest.

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This place has a bunch of those damage tile floors as well, so be sure to have a dozen or so Angel feathers and a couple dozen Remedies before coming in. Porom DOES eventually learn float, but not until level 39, I believe, and that's way overlevelled for this area.

Also note that this dungeon has Morbols and their infamous Bad Breath attack, which hits one character with every status ailment in the book. This can be prevented by casting Stop, or using Berserk on them, then minimizing their physical attacks with Blind.

To the east you can find an X-Potion and some Holy arrows, and to the south there are stairs to the next level.

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On B2 you can go north or south. Take the north path first.

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Going west you can get a HiPotion, Remedy, and Fairy rod. Going east leads to another stairway.

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Those chests contain some gold and healing items. Continue south to find some more chests containing some more healing items and a hole to drop down. From there, head north and west to reach the next level.

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To the east are six chests and a warp back outside. The top row of chests chests each have six Ghosts guarding an Elixer (a Tornado spell from Palom should finish them,) bottom left has two Dark Trees and two Morbols guarding a Yagyu shuriken. Bottom middle chest has a Wizard guarding an Avenger sword, a two-handed sword for Cecil that automatically puts him in Berserk status. Bottom right has two Centipedes guarding a Mystic mallet. Take the warp pad outside to rest up and save, then come back in and head to B2, taking the South path this time.

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Use the save point if you want. To the north of it there's a secret path leading to a Rune bow. West of the save point and the stairs you came here by are two more chests containint 1,000 gold and a Cabin, and the stairs to the next level.

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You reach this level via the southern stairs. The ones to the east of Cecil here go to a room with an X-Potion, Dry Ether, and some Holy arrows.

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We have YET MORE stairs, though these lead to the next level, and a secret path leading to a chest, which contains a Frost dragon guarding a MageMash dagger.

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That chest has an Elixer. Follow the path south to reach a cabin.

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There's a save point to the east. Use it and equip Cecil with the Avenger sword (remember it's two-handed,) then head north from here.

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Draghinazzo is the Holy elemental fiend, meaning he's weak to Shadow, so Haste Cecil and he'll do the vast bulk of the work in this fight- he was doing between 2,500 and 4,500 damage per hit for me. Draghinazzo has 16,000 HP, he knows Holy and Blink, and has a decent physical attack. He probably won't get to use much more than that, though, as Cecil's attacks and Palom's Bio spell will just absolutely destroy him. We get his Holy crystal for winning. Grab the White and Black robes from the chests, give them to Porom and Palom (though Edge and Cecil can also use the Black Robe, and Rosa can use the White robe, but I don't consider them improvements over what they already have) and exit the dungeon via the door to the north.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 12


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Head back to the castle and talk to King Giott.

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Before we can go anywhere though, we hear the ominous chopping of the Red Wings' propellers, and the entire castle shakes (these things are really hard to convey via screenshot.)

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PLOT! Also the requisite creepy doll fight. Calbrena(sic) has 10,000 HP and no elemental weaknesses, but like seemingly every boss it IS vulnerable to Slow. Aside from it's physical attack, it can inflict Confusion, but Cecil, with his Avenger sword, should be doing around 1,800 damage per round.

After the battle Cecil returns the Bolt crystal to its place, but...

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As Golbez and Kain start to leave, Kain suddenly strikes Golbez from behind and restores the party.

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Malacoda's the 'Bolt' elemental fiend, is weak against ice and air, and has 30,000 HP. She'll enter a 'spin' phase like Barbariccia, which can be stopped with a jump attack from Kain. She has a pretty beefy physical attack, and likes hitting the party with Bolt 3 for about 300-400 damage each, and can use 'Magnet,' which inflicts Stop. Edge is probably going to be throwing HiPotions and Phoenix feathers throughout most of this fight while Porom keeps the party alive, Palom hits her with Ice 2 (or Ice 3 if you're overlevelled enough to have it,) and Cecil hacks away with his Avenger. Not a terribly difficult fight if your healing can keep up with her damage.

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PLOT! Also another look at Kain's stats and gear, now that he's back on the roster- he's back for good this time, now that his cover's been blown. Before heading to the Tower of Bab-il, grab a Flame spear from the castle weapon shop, and a Blizzard spear from Tomra, along with some Fuma shurikens (don't go overboard though, a dozen or so should be plenty.) You may also want to pick up a Throwing axe from Tomra if you sold the one you got earlier, instead of stashing it with the fat chocobo.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 13


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Heading inside the tower. Palom should be high enough level to know Quake, which will destroy pretty much anything in here.

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You enter from the south. That door to the north leads to the second floor. To the west you can find some Ninja armor and an Armlet glove, both of which I give to Edge. To the east is a Dry Ether.

On 2F there's a chest with a Black Cowl, usable by everyone; I give it to Kain because it raises his magic defense from 6 to 19.

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Still on 2F, to the southwest there's a room with a trapped chest.

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This thing will summon a Stoneman once you attack it. Once it does be sure to get rid of the Alert first, otherwise it'll just keep summoning Stonemen. You get a Genji helmet afterward, usable by Cecil and Kain. It has good physical but poor magical defense.

To the east is another trapped chest with an Alert, except it will summon Chimeras and you get a Genji glove instead, which I give to Cecil. Head through the northwest door to reach 3F.

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That chest to the west has a Murakumo sword for Edge. The door to the southeast leads to an Ogre axe and a Phoenix feather. Go north from where you enter the floor, around to the west and south to reach the door to 4F.

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The door to the west leads to a save point. North is a hairpin path with three rooms containing a Gengji armor in the north, and a Genji shield in the south. Follow the path to the end to reach 5F.

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That chest (which you have to go south and double back for) has 2,000 gold. Another one to the east has an X-Potion. Head north in the east part of the floor to reach 6F, which just has a straight shot to 7F to the west.

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Going east leads to another save point, for some reason. Go south to find a chest with a Dry Ether and the stairs to 8F

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Another straightforward floor, just follow the path to some stairs that lead down to another section of 7F.

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Heading north...

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South and east there's an X-Potion. Head south and west to enter the big room in the middle of the floor.

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Another X-Potion. Keep going west here.

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That chest, which you have to loop around for, is another trap and has four Mad Ogres. Kain's Ogre axe does extra damage to them. Have Cecil or Palom blind them and take your time carving them up (they're also vulnerable to sleep,) and afterward you get an Elixer. Continue west and south to the next level.

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You come from the door to the west, and the one east of where Cecil is here leads to the next floor, but east of it is another couple chest with 2,000 gold.

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West of here is just a dead end, go east along a looping path to get a Remedy and to the next level

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East again. The first door you reach is another save point, the second leads further.

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Head south along the western path, then west past Dr. Lugae to find a chest with 82,000 gold, then go back and talk to Dr. Lunatic.

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There's not much to this fight. Have your fighters attack while Palom casts Quake and Porom heals.

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After the Meteo spell he'll self destruct, and this fight's over.

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Lugae's actually a Terminator, apparently. He's got 30,000 HP and no weak points. He'll poison the entire party, fire off beams, hit the party with masers and a weak fire attack, and cast Charm. Palom should keep casting Quake, Porom should be healing, Edge throwing Fuma shurikens, and Cecil and Kain attacking, with everybody throwing Phoenix feathers and HiPotions as needed. Don't bother trying to cure the poison, it does hardly any damage and it's really a waste of a turn. Once he's done for go through the door that was behind him to the north.

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Whether you win or lose this fight doesn't matter, it's scripted to continue as if you'd lost either way.

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[Shpadoinkle]

PART 14

Head to Mysidia.
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Yeah, we're really given ZERO clues about where the hell to find a bloody Floater. If you're familiar with the Final Fantasy series and you have an eye for detail you might already suspect where to find it- and once you figure out where it is it actually makes a lot of sense, but it's kind of a leap. If you want to figure this particular puzzle out on your own then don't look at the spoilers below.

Incidentally, the weapon and armor shops in Mysidia have only Holy arows and Paladin armor. Why a city full of wizards wouldn't have equipment for wizards I don't know.

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The Ice Cave in Final Fantasy 1 has a practically identical layout to the Ice Mines, and it's where you get the Floater in that game, so of course Santos would have it in this one.

Anyway, now that we've got the Floater let's head back to Mysidia.

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LUNAR WHALE GET.

The rest of this update, and the next one, are going to be about what to do to customize your party configuration, as well as showing how to make Cecil a paladin. The following sections are going to be spoilered, mostly for length and to make it easier to find something specific if you want to.

Note that the following sections CANNOT be undone! (Apart from loading an earlier save.) If someone leaves the party, they're gone for good, and likewise if someone joins they're in it for the long haul. I strongly suggest making a backup save before doing any of these.

MAKING CECIL A PALADIN

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Like the Mysidian Elder said, you have to climb Mount Ordeals to become a paladin. The main difference now is that Cecil has to do it alone.

Before you enter, be SURE that Cecil does NOT have the Avenger sword or any unique armor equipped, and he DOES have about a dozen Firebombs, which you can buy from various places, but offhand I remember you can buy them from Baron and Fabul's weapon shops.

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Climbing Mount Ordeals consists of several identical fights against undead that Cecil has to fight alone. All of these monsters like casting Bio, and while one casting only takes off about 350 HP, multiple castings WILL take Cecil down. Your first action should always be using a Firebomb, which Cecil should be able to do before the monsters get more than one or two Bio spells off, and should kill most if not all of them.

Between fights (all of which occur at scripted points,) Cecil will ascend the mountain automatically. Also, don't worry about healing, as you'll be restored to full HP and MP between battles.

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With Firebombs, obviously.

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Another fight here.

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And here.

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Aaand here.

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This encounter is unchanged from the original game as well. Simply weather the dark knight's attacks without retaliating.

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This is certainly new, though. The Dark Dragon has 30,000 HP. You might expect it to be weak to holy, but that's not the case. It has a pretty weak hit-all attack called DarkMist, but it has a hefty physical attack. His counterattack hits HARD, so this is a difficult fight, but if you restrict yourself to only hitting with your strongest fighter (for me this was Edge throwing Fuma shurikens) and having everybody else keeping your HP up, it's a lot more manageable. Your HP and MP are fully restored after this fight.

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Cecil's stats as a first level paladin. You get a lot of experience from the Dark Dragon, but Cecil was dead when I defeated it so he didn't get any :/ Anyway, he starts knowing the Protect spell, and the equipment comes out of nowhere. The chests on the mountain contain a DryEther, a Sage staff, and a pair of X-Potions.

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It was your idea for me to become a paladin in the first place, butthead. You could at least PRETEND to be happy for me.

If you want to bring Cecil's levels up to par with the rest of the party's, I suggest going to the cave to the Feymarch, finding a Conjurer who summons Arachnes, killing a couple dozen Arachnes, then the conjurer, then the entire party bar Cecil, THEN the last Arachne. Dead characters don't get XP, so Cecil will get it all. Repeat until Cecil's levels are appoximately even with the rest of the party's.


REMOVING EDGE FROM THE PARTY

First you need to go to Baron and talk to Cid's apprentices (the guys in blue in the east wing of the castle) to get a hook attatched to the airship, then use it to lift the hovercraft to the island Eblan is on, then take the hovercraft across the shoals.

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Specifically, you want to reach this cave. Head inside and to the stairs to the southwest. There are some treasures in the first room but nothing noteworthy.

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Anyway, there's not a whole lot to say about this dungeon since it's extremely straightforward, and also Quake destroys everything that doesn't fly. In chests you can find a Defender sword (usable by Cecil as a paladin, casts Protect when used as a item) and X-potion, DryEther, a Yoichi bow, a Cabin, 2 Phoenix feathers, and a Gungnir spear, which for some reason does extra damage to machines. It's worth coming here just for the spear, even if you want to keep Edge in the party- you can always leave the way you came in.

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Be sure you've removed anything from Edge that you might want to keep before you reach this point.

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Anyway, Lugae shows up and gloats about how his giant robot is going to destroy everything, Edge threatens him, Lugae runs off, and Edge pursues, leaving the destruction of the giant's core to you.

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This fight's pretty much unchanged from the original game; you want to destroy the Defender (the lower orb in the front) first because it'll heal the CPU (the big orb,) then the CPU, then the Attacker. The CPU will cast Reflect on itself and all the enemies are floating, so Palom's pretty useless in this fight, but he can still throw restorative items. If Kain's in the party his Gungnir lance is going to make him MVP- his Jump should do 7-8,000 damage per hit- and if Rydia is in the party remember that her summons bypass Reflect. The CPU has 20,000 HP.

Afterward the giant will collapse, and Edge decides he should stay with the people of Eblan to protect them. He'll give you a 'Time Egg' that he stole from Lugae, which is a single-use item that casts Galaxy (inflicts Stop on all enemies.)

[Shpadoinkle]

Been busy lately, updates might be only every other day for a while.

PART 15

REMOVING PALOM AND POROM FROM THE PARTY

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Go to Mysidia and enter the Serpent Road building.

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This fight's more or less unchanged from the original game (barring location,) so the same strategies you'd normally use on it still apply- Hit it with Slow, Bio, have Edge throw stuff, try to keep everybody alive, and hit your physical fighters with Haste and (if you have it) Berserk. Note that Kain's Gungnir lance does extra damage. EvilWall has 19,000 HP

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Like the original game, there's no way to undo their petrification.

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Stepping onto the warp pad, we're brought here.

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And this tells us where all the other warp pads take us.

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And note that in order to use any of the warps, we have to fight a TrapDoor first.


REMOVING KAIN FROM THE PARTY

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Take the Lunar Whale to the moon, and land it here. Go into that cave to the south. The layout is unchanged and pretty straightforward, but be sure to grab the Dragon armor from the chests, which as you might expect can be used by Kain, but Cecil and Cid can use it as well.

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Bahamut's unchanged, aside from the fact that I think his HP are lower. Anyway, wait until Bahamut's countdown reaches one, THEN enter the command for Kain to Jump. Bahamut's MegaFlare will execute while he's in the air, and repeat.

If Rydia's in the party here, Bahamut will also mention that she's actually not the last of her kind.

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The rest of the party is automatically warped back outside. If you return, Kain just says not to worry about him and go get Golbez.


Note that to recruit anyone, you have to have fewer than five people in your party. If you don't then they'll generally just say something like "I'm staying here, you go get Golbez."

RECRUITING EDWARD

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You have to take one step south of where you're placed when you initially enter Damcyan Castle in order to find Edward. Head east and north along the outside of the wall to find a door, which leads to the basement. Head down the stairs inside to find some loot and these rooms.

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On the left is the Serpent Road, go in the door ont he right.

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"Anna" has 30,000 HP and is weak to fire and holy. She's got a pretty hefty physical, can in flict Charm and Curse, can use Bluster (instant death,) Slap (inflicts Hold/Paralysis,) and Hug, which restores one character to full HP but also inflicts Hold. If you couldn't infer from all that, you should bring along a lot of Remedies.

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The Requiem harp does extra damage to undead.

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Edward has awful HP, but stick him in the back row and he should be okay.

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His 'Split' command has been replaced by 'Regen,' which casts a buff on the entire party that causes them to regenerate 100 HP each every few seconds. (For some reason this doesn't seem to work when you don't have a full party, though.) This is actually extremely powerful. He also knows two new songs; Magic restores about 35-50 MP to each character, and Image casts Blink on the entire party. Later he'll also learn the Angel song, which reduces all enemies to single-digit HP.


RECRUITING RYDIA

Rydia's still in bed in the monster town, so go visit her there.

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We're automatically taken into a dream sequence. MomBomb is just a rehash of the original fight, just summon whatever over and over until it goes down.

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Another rehash. Again, summon whatever until they're gone.

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Even though you get the fight whoosh, you don't have to fight dream versions of Kain and Cecil.

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Way to lay on the guilt, Rydia :|

[Alent]

Been busy lately, updates might be only every other day for a while.

PART 15

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Way to lay on the guilt, Rydia :|


Cecil: "I paid the iron price to adopt this loli."

This mod seems interesting. Having picked up the Namingway hack and replaying FF4 to break in my RetroPie rig, the changes are standing out more pronounced now, I'm surprised how subtle some of it seems. I really dig the way they redid the Serpent Road zone.

[Slayn82]

Thanks for the updates.
I find it interesting that Rosa Archery hindered the Red Wings. I'm imagining her donning camouflage and going Rambo with Fire arrows and Bombs against the airships on top of a Tank.
Also laughed at Lugae's "Seems I need to hack the Rom". Maser Eye, Fire attacks, ok. How does he charms anyone?
And how different the game became from what I remember. Does Rydia grow up?

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 16

RECRUITING CID

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Head to the dwarf castle and talk to Cid.

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This boss will cover both himself and the party with Reflect to start off. Fortunately, songs and summons both bypass that. He'll bounce spells like Lit-3, Bio, and Stop off himself. He's weak to Bolt and has 40,000 HP. He's also considered a machine, so Cid's hammers and Kain's Gungnir spear will do extra damage to him to the tune of 4-5,000 damage per round each.

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Cid's stats and gear.


RECRUITING YANG

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Grab the hovercraft and take it to this cave southeast of Mythril town.

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We're dropped here. This dungeon's fairly linear, but you can find two X-Potions, a Thor hammer (casts "Magnet" when used as an item, i.e. inflicts Stop on one target,) DryEther, Muramasa sword, and Blood harp (which is very strong, raising Edward's attack power to 108 from the 55 the Dirge harp gives, and causes Edward to absorb HP from enemies he damages with it, but it also reduces all his stats by 5.)

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The only real fork is here. Let's take the northwest exit first. This leads to chests containing a Triton dagger (which casts Hold when used as an item) and a Slasher axe, which is also extremely strong- it raised Kain's attack power from 111 with the Gungnir spear to 143.

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We also find this scene.

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SeaLion has 40,000 HP, and is weak against Bolt and Shadow. He has a TidalWave attack that we've seen a couple other enemies use, and will counterattack physical hits (this is less of a problem here than it was with his cousin the AntLion, partly because he seems to do it less frequently.) If Cecil knows Bio by now feel free to whip it out- I was doing about 3-4,000 damage per cast with it. Rydia, in contrast, was doing about 2,500 damage with Ramuh.

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Yang's stats and gear. Head back to the previous room and take the exit to the northeast corner this time.

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There's a secret passage directly east.

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Leading to a rock that nobody will ever have any use for.

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He'll head upstairs and just tells you to "Come back later!" In the original game "later" meant "after the Lunar Whale has been raised," but here it means "after Cecil becomes a paladin." He'll give you the Ragnarok, which is a two-handed sword, raises Cecil's strength and vitality by 15, and has an attack power of 179.

Also, return to Fabul to give the SeaRuby to the king. He'll give you a Save the Queen sword, usable by paladin Cecil, that has an attack power of 100 and raises Cecil's agility by 15.


RECRUITING ROSA

You'll recall we last saw Rosa at the dwarf castle. Looking around, she's nowhere to be found.

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This dwarf tells us where she went though. Head back to Bahamut's Lagoon, which is the cave in the northwest of the underworld.

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Rosa's been captured by a... thing.

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Octosoul has 40,000 HP, and is weak to Fire, Bolt, and Holy. DO NOT use the Blood sword, Blood harp, or Lance ability on him, as he's undead and the effect will be reversed. He'll throw out eight attacks at a time, each of which is only decent, but they add up fast. He can also use Crush (instant death,) Entangle (hold,) and Slap (curse.) He's also really hard to beat without Porom or Tellah in the party, as he lays out a lot of damage and you need someone who can cast Cure 3 or 4 to keep up with it. Also note that he'll counter Fire2 with Powder, which inflicts blind on the party, so stick to Bolt2. For winning you get a Rune bow.

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Rosa's stats, gear, and spells. Note that if you come here with a full party, you can still fight the monster and rescue her, but she decides to stay here. Even if you back after you've removed someone from the party, she won't join up again.


RECRUITING TELLAH

Tellah can be found in what was the Dark Elf's cave in the original game. It's still magnetic, meaning you need to get some armor for Cecil/Cid/Kain that won't render them immobile- fortunately, Agart can help you with that, as they carry Wooden shields, Berets, and Gaia Gears. Unfortunately I don't think there's anywhere you can buy nonmetallic weapons, so Cecil and Kain are going to be stuck throwing the elemental attack items (a dozen or so of each should be plenty, even if you don't have Palom or Rydia along) if you want them to be able to do any relevant damage. Rosa has Wooden arrows, Cid has the Wooden mallet, Yang doesn't use (or need) weapons, and Edge can throw shurikens. Also note that some staffs count as metal, like the Healing staff. ALSO also note that the monsters here are the same ones you found in this dungeon in the original game, so they're pretty wimpy by this point, as (most of) your party should be around level 40. The dungeon is also much shorter.

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Anyway, grab a black chocobo from the woods north of Toroia and fly there.

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Tellah somehow hasn't advanced at all since we last saw him :| Also, he'll stop you if you try to leave before finding the tome. Anyway, from the entrance head east to grab a Wooden shield, then south to get a Fairy rod, then continue east, then north to find a Wooden mallet and the stairs to the next level.

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That chest has a Yagyu shuriken. Head west to find the stairs.

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You enter this level from the south. To the east is a room containing an X-potion, a trapped chest holding a Medusa, Gorgon, and Stoneman guarding a Break sword (which fortunately isn't metallic,) and a DryEther. The chest you can see to the northwest holds a Roc guarding a Venom axe, which unfortunately DOES count as metallic. Enter the room to the north.

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http://s33.postimg.org/izhhe2fj3/16_58.png
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Dark Elf has 22,000 HP and is weak to Holy. He'll start off the battle with Fire 2, Lit 2, and Ice 2, which will do a total of about 200 damage to the party. He's highly resistant to magic, so your fighters (barring Kain) are going to be the damage dealers in this fight. Dark Elf also knows Flare, Demi, Quake, Haste, Bio, Holy, Death, Meteo, and Stop.

http://s33.postimg.org/744e0r4tb/16_60.png
http://s33.postimg.org/aesr0muqn/16_61.png
Tellah does indeed learn every spell, though he doesn't gain any more MP. Once Dark Elf goes down, use Warp to get back up to the first floor and you can finally leave this awful place. Tellah DOES gain MP as he levels up, but it's extremely slowly at first (like, 1 MP per level,) but by the time he's around level 45 or so his maximum MP should be rivaling Rydia's, Palom, and Porom's.



Also, I'm done writing this LP, so updates should be daily again. There will be 21 parts total.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 17


http://s33.postimg.org/p4nqneu0f/17_1.png
On the moon, the Hummingways just hum at you, except this guy who says this. The one who sold you stuff isn't here anymore.

http://s33.postimg.org/6t253drov/17_2.png
Anyway, land the Lunar Whale around here and head into that cave. Inside you can find an Apollo harp guarded by enemies that can also be found in a random encounter. I believe this harp does extra damage to dragons. You can also find chests with the same encounter guarding a Holy spear and a Murasame sword. The monsters here hit fairly hard, and of particular note are the Red Worms, who can use White Wind, which restores their HP by however much they have at the time of casting. Annoying, but they're vulnerable to Stop.

http://s33.postimg.org/stihk0acv/17_3.png
MAKE A BACKUP SAVE BEFORE YOU GO INSIDE. You CANNOT leave after the next part.

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BOSS RUSH TIME! They all have the same weaknesses they had the first time you fought them. Buff the party with whatever you've got. The order they appear in is: Scarmiglione, Rubicante, Ciriatto, Draghinazzo, Cagnazzo, Barbariccia, Alichino, Malacoda. They all have generally the same moves they had the first time you fought them, just stronger, though if you're going to lose this fight it's probably once Malacoda shows up, since she lays out a lot of damage very fast, and has the Globe199 move, which will do 7,000+ damage to a single target. The levels you get here with (in my case, about 44 the first time) may not be enough.

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After grinding on Arachnes like I mentioned at the end of the 'Making Cecil a paladin' section a couple posts ago (and getting Porom to learn Cure 4) I figure I'd give it another stab.

http://s33.postimg.org/vqa3y15kf/17_17.png
Had to try three times, but I DID eventually manage to beat Malacoda, but only by having everybody except Kain on healing duty while Kain repeatedly Jumped. A few more levels wouldn't have hurt.

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Shadow dragon will repeatedly use Demolish (instant death to one character) and physical attacks. Actually fairly easy, especially compared to the gauntlet we just we through. Shadow dragon has approximately 30,000 HP.

Note that if Kain isn't in your party, he'll show up right before this fight starts and dispatch the Shadow dragon for you.

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Golbez has 30,000 HP. He's got an only okay physical attack, but he does know Bio, DarkHoly, which will probably one-shot anybody he hits with it, and can use DarkWave for 600-800 damage against everyone. Again, compared to the fiends rush, he's fairly easy.

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The last screenshot is what happens if you try to leave.

http://s33.postimg.org/cvwqqkz1r/17_45.png
The crystals here don't say anything, you just get a dialogue box telling you what they are. (The crystals of Matter, Energy, Infinity, Singularity, Spirit, Mind, Space, and Time.) Step on the teleporter in the middle.

http://s33.postimg.org/v3tkrh27j/17_46.png
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What was originally a warp pad back out is now a save point, and the guy to the north sells stuff. The only thing we haven't seen before is the Whistle, which allows you to access the Fat Chocobo from anywhere.

[Alent]

Oh wow, they went there.


PART 17


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Cecil: I thought you were made of sterner stuff, Megatron.

Silly movie quotes aside, it's going to be very interesting to see how this shapes up. With Golbez off to Mysidia to beg for mercy, and a certain mountain left unvisited, I've got to wonder where that's going.

Very interesting, looking forward to both finales.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 18

Final dungeon and Ending 1: Dark Knight Cecil with party

http://s33.postimg.org/4wl3wub5r/18_1.png
I'm not going to be detailing the final dungeon four times, just giving general directions and stretegies for bosses. The layout is unchanged from the original game, so if you need a map they shouldn't be hard to find. Also note that Quake and/or Titan are still extremely useful spells against almost anything here.

http://s33.postimg.org/czja85vr3/18_2.png
Warlocks are, unsurprisingly, magic users. Most of their spells aren't a big deal, but they DO know Death, so be sure to Mute them before they get a chance to throw it out.

http://s33.postimg.org/kgshndla7/18_3.png
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Mute the Warlocks, blind the Karys, get a Searaphim staff, which raises Will by 15 and casts Esuna. Note that Karys seem to be highly resistant to magic, though they can still be affected by stuff like Blind or Curse.

Anyway, head west from the start through the secret passage and through the teleporter.

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Pale Dim has 27,300 HP and is weak against Shadow. He's also very fast and hits hard, and likes to counter physical attacks with Slow. Hit him with Bio, and use Image and Speed songs. Beating him with either the Hades armor or the Crystal armor, depending on whether Cecil is a dark knight or a paladin. Head back to the starting area and take the secret passage to the east this time.

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RedGiants have 11,800 HP each and no particular weak points, though they are mechanical so Cid's hammers and Kain's Gungnir spear will do extra damage to them. Hit them with Quake or Titan as well and they go down without much trouble. For beating them you get a Thief glove. Return once again to the start and head south and down the stairs.

http://s33.postimg.org/7fbeb9m9r/18_9.png
On the next level down, that chest contains a Masamune sword. Continue north to find a Dragon shield and the next set of stairs.

http://s33.postimg.org/gkjr54pof/18_10.png
On this level you arrive via the stairs to the north, and those stairs south of where Cecil is lead to the next level. There are a couple chests to the south holding a Dragon helm, armor, and gloves.

http://s33.postimg.org/m7g42ls73/18_11.png
You get here via the stairs to the west. Past the stairs to the east are some Yoichi arrows. At the bottom of the stairs, to the west there's a room with an Elixer. To the east is another set of stairs leading to a cave.

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You enter from the south. To the north is an X-potion, and another to the west, along with the way to the next section.

http://s33.postimg.org/5rguacxrz/18_13.png
Those stairs go to the next floor. The chest has monsters.

http://s33.postimg.org/73yjc8v7j/18_14.png
Behemoths are extremely slow, but they hit decently hard, and they'll counter almost everything. Just have your strongest fighter or caster go on the offensive while everyone else defends or heals. For defeating it you get a Stardust rod, which casts Stardust when used in battle (does around 1,000 damage to all enemies) and raises the wielders Wisdom by 15.

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On the next level down, there's a chest with another monster ambush by a red dragon and a blue dragon. The red's weak to ice, the blue's weak to fire. This can be a fairly tough fight; focus on one at a time. For beating them you get a Rune axe, which raises the wielder's attack power by 135 and does extra damage to spellcasters, in addition to randomly inflicting silence.

Heading through the door, you can find a Mirage robe, useable by anyone.

http://s33.postimg.org/ou4tb0y67/18_17.png
Going south from here leads to a chest with another Behemoth guarding a Loki harp. North takes you to the next area.

http://s33.postimg.org/3ta6cd5a7/18_18.png
That chest to the east has a pair of Red dragons guarding a Fiery mallet, which casts Flare when used as an item, in addition to having an attack power of 179. West goes to the next area.

http://s33.postimg.org/sb2a097un/18_19.png
That chest has a Lords robe. Go north to the next section.

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To the west there's a D.Fossil and a Warlock guarding a Strength glove. To the east are the stairs to the next level, as well as a room with a chest holding a cabin.

http://s33.postimg.org/qprlm6n0f/18_21.png
The west chest has a Protect ring, which you should give to whoever your primary healer is, and the east has a Yagyu shuriken. Down the west stairs is a chest with a shuriken.

http://s33.postimg.org/5wtsbijun/18_22.png
There's also an invisible bridge here. Go north from the west side of it and through a hidden passage to find some stairs leading down.

http://s33.postimg.org/90zuukb9b/18_23.png
You arrive via those stairs to the north. That chest has a Phoenix feather. To the east is a teleport pad leading to a long flight of stairs.

http://s33.postimg.org/5vf94csn3/18_24.png
This chest (which you approach from the south) has a behemoth guarding an Artemis bow. Continue north to the next teleporter. Take the opportunity to use the save point you get warped to.

http://s33.postimg.org/tnokfvunz/18_25.png
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Wyvern has 25,000 Hp and no weaknesses. He starts off with a MegaFlare, which will do about 1-2,000 damage to the party. He then casts Reflect on himself and bounces Flares off it, and can use Remedy to heal himself for 2,500 HP. Fortunately, as always, Quake and summons ignore reflect. There's not much to this fight, just keep heling up and attacking. For beating him with Cecil as a dark knight you get the Deathbringer, which has an attack power of 204 and raises all stats except Will by 15, and randomly inflicts instant death. If Cecil's a paladin you get the Lightbringer instead, which has an attack power of 200, but doesn't raise any stats.

Head back, past the invisible bridge you crossed a few screens ago, and take the east stairs from the area that had the Protect ring to get to the path to the next area.

In the next room there's a chest to the west featuring our old buddy Behemoth, guarding a Dragon spear, which does extra damage to dragons. East of that is the path to the next area.

http://s33.postimg.org/ajv8zjhtr/18_27.png
There are three rooms along this section. The western one has a save point.

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Plague has 28,000 HP and is weak against air. He'll constantly use Calcify (partial petrification) on the entire party- which can be blocked with Aegis shields. For beating him you get a Hades helmet or a Crystal helmet, depending on whether Cecil is a dark knight or a paladin.

http://s33.postimg.org/6h8te7d33/18_31.png
In the third room, there's another guardian because of course there is.

(Sorry, didn't get a screenshot)
The Lunar dragons have 21,000 HP and are weak to fire. They'll cover themselves with Reflect, then bounce Ice-3s off each other to hit the party. Once one goes down, the remaining one will switch to hitting the party with a fire attack. If you wait a few rounds though, their Reflect spells will wear off, and they'll Ice-3 each other until one dies. For beating them you get a Hades or Crystal gauntlet, and can access the chests to the north holding a pair of RIbbons. Give at least one of them to your healer.

Head east, then north, then west and down the stairs to reach the next area.

http://s33.postimg.org/8od224idb/18_32.png
From here it's just a winding path with only a couple short branches, so follow it downwards. The first chest you see has a Protect ring.

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Ogopogo has 37,000 HP and no weaknesses, though the Slasher axe does extra damage to him. He leads off with a double Big Wave attack, which will do 1-2,000 damage to the party. He can also use Blaze, which will do about 1,000 to the party, a single Big Wave, which does about half as much damage as the doublecast version, and Weak, which reduces a character to single digit HP. For beating him you get either a Hades or Crystal shield.

Continue down the stairs. Along the way you can find an Elixer, another Mirage robe, another robe of Lords, and a save point. The monster groups are new, but the individual monsters aren't anything special.

http://s33.postimg.org/fjxal8cu7/18_35.png
When you reach this area, be sure to heal up your HP and MP to full before heading north.

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No matter what you do, you can't deal more than 1 point of damage to Zeromus.

http://s33.postimg.org/nhwb0mfi7/18_40.png
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... Uh...

http://s33.postimg.org/lhactj8qn/18_47.png
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Zeromus will cast Flare, Big Bang (damage to the party and inflics HP drain, like Bio,) Ice-3 and uses Black Hole (removes all magic effects like Haste, Protect, Berserk, etc. on everyone in the battle, although oddly enough this doesn't stop Edward's Regen ability.)

Your fighters attack, your spellcasters whip out whatever they've got. This is a long fight, but oddly enough not an especially difficult one.

Below: 55 screenshots of the "Dark Knight Cecil with party" ending.

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Some of these are hard to convey through just screenshots, but in short, everybody rebuilds, and everything (more or less) goes back to normal. Also, no, there isn't any dialogue; I didn't deliberately avoid screenshotting it, there just isn't any.

My assessment of this party: Pretty easy. Edward is pretty rediculous, honestly. Being able to restore the party's HP and MP for free is a huge bonus, and would probably make him worth having along even if he didn't have his other buffs. Furthermore, Palom and Porom are an extremely strong duo, and Edward's Magic song means they have essentially infinite magic points.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 19

Ending 2: Paladin Cecil with party

I'm assuming you already read the previous post, so if you haven't you might want to.

Setting this up was actually kind of a pain in the ass. After some trial and error, I wound up doing things in the following order: remove Edge from the party, recruit Cid, remove Kain, recruit Rydia, remove Palom and Porom, recruit Yang (or preferably Edward,) climb Mount Ordeals, level up Cecil, fight Octosoul/recruit Rosa. With the Ragnarok sword and getting Cecil up to level 40ish, you should be hitting the damage cap against Octosoul.

http://s33.postimg.org/ych8xe67j/19_1.png
Again, I had to try a few times to beat Malacoda.

http://s33.postimg.org/rajbb72lr/19_2.png
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Cecil doesn't have to be a paladin for this to happen, the only requirement is that Kain not be in the party.

http://s33.postimg.org/4pszozx0v/19_8.png
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Pretty much unchanged from the last version of this fight we saw.

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http://s33.postimg.org/kyn03pa0f/19_23.png[/img
[img]http://s33.postimg.org/lpfq9hcdr/19_24.png
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http://s33.postimg.org/g538yudin/19_26.png
This is different though.

If you want to know which treasures are where, I covered that in the last post.

Also, about halfway through this dungeon I realized I wasn't going to make it without a lot of level grinding, so I reloaded a previous save and recruited Edward instead of Yang. Honestly, Yang just isn't that great, and the fact that he doesn't have claws in this version means he'll never be able to hit elemental weaknesses without using the attack items. His claws also raised his accuracy- with any two claws he was at 99% accuracy, but here he's stuck with his inconsistent 60ish percent.

Beyond that, this is pretty much the same as the party with Cecil as a dark knight, though slightly harder. Cecil does eventually learn Cure 4 as a paladin, so you can never go wrong with a few more levels.

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This fight is pretty much the same as the one with Dark Knight Cecil. Since Rydia's in the party here, have her throwing X-Potions or whatever else is needed, since Zeromus will counter all her summons with a Flare spell on a random target. Cid should be using the Rune axe, and Rosa should be firing Yoichi arrows.

http://s33.postimg.org/cpkbgrv1r/19_44.png
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Minor differences with the ending (aside from Golbez.) Also, your party members return the crystals, instead of him.

Honestly, between this ending and the one with Cecil as a dark knight, I prefer the other one.

My assessment of this party: I'd replace Yang or Rosa with Edward. Relying on Cecil for full-party healing is difficult and requires a fair bit of grinding because he doesn't have the MP to do it on a sustained basis (without stocking up on resoratives, which are expensive, or having Edward in the party. Seriously, Edward is an extremely strong support character now.)

Also, I find in this version that Cid is better than Yang. They're approximately equal in Agility at any given level, but Cid's Slasher axe and machine-mangling mallets, along with the ability to equip shields (never underestimate how useful evasion is) make him better on both offense and defense.

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 20

Ending 3: Solo Paladin Cecil

http://s33.postimg.org/onrzyc0vj/20_1.png
http://s33.postimg.org/na0d311m7/20_2.png
http://s33.postimg.org/7xgm902gf/20_3.png
Stats, gear, and spells. I believe Cecil learns Cure 4 at level 58, but I might be off by one or two levels. At this point his Cure 3 restores about 2-3,000 HP, and Cure 4, if you only cast it on a single character, completely restores the target's HP. As for weapons, aside from the Defender I also have the Ragnarok. Other weapons might be nice, but I don't feel like messing with them, honestly. Also be sure to stock up on X-Potions, Ethers, and DryEthers.

http://s33.postimg.org/ckmoarptb/20_4.png
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http://s33.postimg.org/v2vm8qwz3/20_10.png
I didn't skip anything, you really don't have to fight the fiends or his Shadow dragon if you come alone. Have the Aegis shield equipped for this fight, the magic evasion is more important due to his Dark Holy and Death spells. Just keep your HP up and keep plugging away at him and eventually he'll kick the bucket- though it may take a few tries.

http://s33.postimg.org/ujqizh5kf/20_11.png
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Blah blah evil spiel.

http://s33.postimg.org/4bol1l08f/20_16.png
Head west from the save point to face Pale Dim. With my defense as high as it is with the Dragon armor (114, x4) he only does 1 damage to me per hit, so this fight's just a slugfest.

Also, I wind up just running from all the random encounters here because it's faster and I don't need levels or gold anymore.

http://s33.postimg.org/npg89scxb/20_17.png
http://s33.postimg.org/c30pmeezz/20_18.png
Be sure to have the Aegis shield equipped BEFORE you enter the fight for the Crystal helmet. Plague won't do anything but constantly use Calcify, and the Aegis shield makes you immune to petrification (but only if you start the battle with it equipped.) Take your time beating him down.

http://s33.postimg.org/s8x291k6n/20_19.png
http://s33.postimg.org/5f43zsvhr/20_20.png
And have your best magic defensive gear on before you tackle thse guys, since they never attack physically. After a few rounds their Reflect spells will wear off, and they won't renew them, and they'll then proceed to Ice-3 each other until one dies, then the remaining one will resort to hitting you with fire. Grab one of the Ribbons they were guarding and equip it.

http://s33.postimg.org/tww7noy27/20_21.png
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Have your equipment outfitted for magic defense. Another slugfest here. Be sure to heal up any time your HP get below about 3,000, and use an Elixer when you run out of MP.

http://s33.postimg.org/j8x22ldgv/20_25.png
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You're deposited back outside the Lunar Palace. If you head back inside...

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Yeah, I'm not doing that again.

http://s33.postimg.org/4lw5ef3e7/20_33.png
Now that that Namingway who was blocking the stairs is gone we can head down them...

http://s33.postimg.org/5dytdm7lb/20_34.png
http://s33.postimg.org/hkxyhfo4v/20_35.png
To the left and right are chests holding Alarms. Also you can run into enemies called Zerosouls here, who have an array of strong spells, like Quake and Meteo, though you can run from them.

http://s33.postimg.org/hm7waupyn/20_36.png
http://s33.postimg.org/zetgiq773/20_37.png
The chest to the left has a Crown, and the one to the right has a Grimoire (though you have to backtrack and take the other path to get them both.)

http://s33.postimg.org/xof0uzf1r/20_38.png
Why the hell not.

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Good god but villians like to hear themselves talk.

Zemus will lob Fire3/Ice3/Lit3 combos, double Flares, Demi, Meteo, and Blaster, but your Aegis shield (which blocks instant death) should mean these aren't a huge deal. His physical will also take off about 1,000 HP. Just keep plugging away and heal up when you get below 3,000 HP or so...

http://s33.postimg.org/8sq6l8hrj/20_51.png
And he'll go down before long. For beating him you get 65,000 HP and he also drops a 'Dummy' item that doesn't seem to do anything. And as far as I can tell, that's it for the solo paladin ending, though you can still go back to Earth and recruit anyone barring Kain/Edge/Palom/Porom to get the previous ending.

My assessment: Fairly manageable. Kind of on the easy side, honestly, if you grind enough to learn Cure 4

[Shpadoinkle]

PART 21 (Final part)

Ending 4: Solo Dark Knight Cecil

Before heading to the Moon Palace, I suggest getting Cecil up to level 55 or so.

http://s33.postimg.org/fbr27k5un/21_1.png
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Stats, gear, and spells.

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Not much to say about this fight, just keep beating on Golbez with your Blood sword, and if he connects with a DarkHoly then heal up with an Elixer.

http://s33.postimg.org/3y94a3kpr/21_8.png
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Head west to grab the Hades armor from Pale Dim.

http://s33.postimg.org/szooq887z/21_25.png
Not much to this fight either. Hack away with the Blood sword and he'll be gone soon. You may want to cast Berserk on yourself, since Pale Dim has a lot of HP. Pretty much all the fights here follow the same tactic, really.

http://s33.postimg.org/6z8c9lpjz/21_26.png
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Stats and gear that I'm going into the final battle with. As you can see, I've killed pretty much everything that's crossed my path on the way down here.

http://s33.postimg.org/j9s426wtb/21_28.png
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It would have been pretty cool if paladin!Golbez had joined you for this fight, but anyway, this is pretty much the same as every other fight you've been in on the way down here. Hack away with your Blood sword, and use Elixers as necessary.

http://s33.postimg.org/565fla4db/21_43.png
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My assessment: Fairly easy, if tedious. The Blood sword means all you really have to do in most fights is hold down the A button, and your black magic allows him to disable most really dangerous opponents before carving them up.

[Slayn82]

Thank you for your playthrought. It was very interesting.


In the last ending, after awakening, does the game fully restart? Lvl 71 Dark Cecil with lvl 10 Kain amused me. FF IV was the first snes rpg I played, and it still remains as one of my favorites. Tellah's death is one of my favorite scenes in the game, cool to see a rom hack version where he survives.

And Zemus created a lifeform that consumed and destroyed planets? I see what they did there.

[Shpadoinkle]

Yes, the game starts over entirely, but you still have your inventory and Cecil gets to keep his levels.

Anyway, I particularly like this version for four reasons: First is that Cecil becoming a paladin is optional, which always kind of annoyed me about the original game.

Second, Edward is no longer completely useless. I know he's not around for long in the original game, but he still sucked. I never felt like he ever contributed anything.

Third is Kain's characterization. He spends most of the original game on Golbez's side because his jealousy of Cecil made him easy to brainwash- and yeah, I can kinda see that, but Kain's got his **** pretty together himself. He's the leader of Baron's Dragoons. They're an elite fighting force, probably comparable to something like the modern day Marines- I imagine that must be a pretty impressive title. Are there really NO women in Baron who find that attractive? Is he really THAT obsessed over Rosa, that he can so easily be brainwashed into betraying his best friend that he grew up with- practically his own brother? Why? Just because he is? It's never really elaborated on in the original game.

But HERE, he sees an opportunity to spy on the other side and seizes it. And granted, it's actually ambiguous whether he's telling the truth about being a double agent up until the fight with Malacoda, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Fourth is the fact that you get to customize your party. Granted it's in kind of a clunky manner, but the modder had to work with what he had. I've always liked having the option to customize my party or characters, even if I don't necessarily take it.

[Alent]

Thanks for sharing this! It was pretty interesting. :)


Yes, the game starts over entirely, but you still have your inventory and Cecil gets to keep his levels.

Anyway, I particularly like this version for four reasons: First is that Cecil becoming a paladin is optional, which always kind of annoyed me about the original game.

Second, Edward is no longer completely useless. I know he's not around for long in the original game, but he still sucked. I never felt like he ever contributed anything.

Third is Kain's characterization. He spends most of the original game on Golbez's side because his jealousy of Cecil made him easy to brainwash- and yeah, I can kinda see that, but Kain's got his **** pretty together himself. He's the leader of Baron's Dragoons. They're an elite fighting force, probably comparable to something like the modern day Marines- I imagine that must be a pretty impressive title. Are there really NO women in Baron who find that attractive? Is he really THAT obsessed over Rosa, that he can so easily be brainwashed into betraying his best friend that he grew up with- practically his own brother? Why? Just because he is? It's never really elaborated on in the original game.

But HERE, he sees an opportunity to spy on the other side and seizes it. And granted, it's actually ambiguous whether he's telling the truth about being a double agent up until the fight with Malacoda, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Fourth is the fact that you get to customize your party. Granted it's in kind of a clunky manner, but the modder had to work with what he had. I've always liked having the option to customize my party or characters, even if I don't necessarily take it.


I concur with your four points, especially the absurdity that is Kain. I'd like to think there's a story behind why that's possible, something like merging his soul with a dragon that Golbez has imprisoned and is channeling mind control magic into, or something.

It was interesting to see how they fleshed out all the characters to be endgame capable, Dark Knight Cecil was actually my favorite for how much he resembled an FF3j (DS/android) Dark Knight.

On a curiosity note, could I put in a request for Myst Tricking with your Cecil Dark Knight solo "Clear"? I want to know if the "you cheater" event that this hack adds changes now that you've "Reset" the game.

[juef]

Thank you for the great Let's Play! I just played through the game myself, but only bothered to...

finish the Cecil Paladin ending only. It kinda sucks...! I was wondering about the Alarms, though: did anyone try finding Pink Puffs with them? And the crown: since we still have it, isn't there anything we could do with it?