Final Fantasy 5 Walkthrough With Dagger

[Dagger Dias]

TYCOON CASTLE
Level: 40 (Bartz), 39 (everyone else)

Yes you read that correctly, you are back at Tycoon Castle. And yes, that is the first world's map theme you are hearing. You're back. Or so it seems? Make everyone Freelancers. Classes won't matter for a bit for reasons you will soon see. Enter the castle. A banquet and dance play out. Faris is forced to wear a dress and Bartz finds her attractive. You gain control of Bartz as Krile goes out onto the balcony. If you try to get to Lenna or Faris on the thrones the dancers will conveniently dance in the way, preventing you from getting there. Go down the stairs south of you and then head into the hall to the right, follow the path, then talk to the old lady to see a flashback from when Faris and Lenna were little girls. It is possible to leave the castle but you cannot get anywhere on the world map, which is quite different now if you check the map. Hmmm.... There's places from both worlds on the map now. Go back into the throne room and exit from one of the southern side doors, talk to Krile on the balcony. When you try to leave the castle a soldier tells you that a bridge was build on the western river. You only have Bartz and Krile for a bit.



TYCOON WORLD MAP AREA
Level: 40 (Bartz), 39 (Krile)

Cross the bridge to find your way to the pirate cave. Boko comes out and so does a female Chocobo, likely the one from the forest by where you fought Shoat in the second world. It is possible to go back inside and go all the way to the Pirate Base but there is nothing to do there other than talk to the pirates and the chocobo but no one says anything relevant. You can ride Boko now on the world map and pass through the rivers. Go northwest of Tycoon Castle and follow the continent to Tule. You can visit the town if you wish or continue to the nearby gorge.




TULE (OPTIONAL)
My Level: 40 (Bartz), 39 (Krile)

There's really nothing to do here. Some of the townspeople say different things such as mentioning the crystals being gone and that Faris being a Princess of Tycoon had become common knowledge. It's somewhere to visit if you're bored.



DEATH VALLEY GORGE
My Level: 40 (Bartz), 39 (Krile)

Keep riding until you fall down into a hole. An antlion attacks you.

 

[Dagger Dias]

BOSS BATTLE: Antlion

The boss can use Dischord to lower your stats. Just use Zeninage to end this battle quickly if you can afford it. If you do not have the gil to spare then simple attacking and healing should suffice. I'm always in a hurry to get the full party back together at this point, so I typically use the Zeninage strategy. Either way he is not that tough.

Faris rejoins after the battle. Head south to find Ghido's Cave.
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[Dagger Dias]

GHIDO'S CAVE
My Level: 40 (Bartz), 39 (Faris and Krile)

Ghido is inside on his back and Bartz helps him get back onto his feet. He says the two worlds got merged and this is the worlds' original form. They got split originally to seal the Void and Enuo who was trying to control the Void. Enuo was defeated by ancient heroes who used the 12 legendary weapons sealed in the Castle of Kuza. Krile gets a splinter that hurts and through a rather stupid turn of events that splinter was Exdeath in disguise. He's back and Tycoon Castle gets sucked into the Void. Exdeath and Ghido have a brief duel on the field screen and Ghido references a certain group of other famous turtles in his classic line "You think I sat around for seven centuries munching on pizza?". You are blown out of the cave and over by the Ancient Library by Exdeath.


ANCIENT LIBRARY
My Level: 40 (Bartz), 39 (Faris and Krile)

The blue scholars from Surgate Castle in Krile's world are already here having joined forces with the Ancient Library's red scholars from the last time you were here. Remember the old book no one knew what to do with at the Ancient Library? There was another half of it in Krile's world. Ghido and the scholars put the halves together to make the Sealed Tome which tells how to defeat Exdeath. Talk to the scholar on the roof to learn Mana's Paean. Now go outside. Hey! A cool new world map theme! MUCH better than the boring world one map theme. You can proceed west towards the pyramid or you can go visit a couple of familiar locations first if you want.

 

[Dagger Dias]

SURGATE CASTLE (OPTIONAL)
My Level: 40 (Bartz), 39 (Faris and Krile)

Keep all three as Freelancers. Gaining levels is fine if you wish but Lenna will be returning after the next major event so you would not want her to fall behind. North of the Ancient Library is Surgate Castle. You can go there if you want. You'll find the castle has not changed much at all compared to your visit during the second world. The only thing that's really different is the absence of the blue scholars. They all went, as you already know, to the Ancient Library. Well, that was.... something to do, I guess.


KARNAK (OPTIONAL)
My Level: 40 (Bartz), 39 (Faris and Krile)

You can visit the town of Karnak if you want by going northeast of Surgate. Not much to do here either. The Queen is upstairs in the Inn resting in a bed. The people in the bar are talking about Dwarves. Nothing else going on, really. So much for that. There is nothing else to do. You're unable to get to the Chocobo so you must proceed now to the Pyramid.



WORLD MAP (ANCIENT LIBRARY AREA)
My Level: 40 (Bartz), 39 (Faris and Krile)

From the Ancient Library go west. You will find the Guardian Tree which is all that remains of the Great Forest of Moore now. The three heroes talk a bit at the tree and then keep walking. You'll find the desert and the sand is no longer shifting. You can now walk around this area. The Pyramid is in the middle of the desert. You can go to another previous familiar location first though.



MOORE (OPTIONAL)
My Level: 40 (Bartz), 39 (Faris and Krile)

East of the Pyramid is Moore. Seeing the desert next to it instead of the forest from the second world is quite different. Buy 4 sets of Diamond Armor from the Armor shop. You should already have all the spells from the Magic shop here but in case not, buy the ones you did not have. The townspeople talk some about the forest turning into a desert and one guy mentions a haunted shed. Go west of the Inn around the back behind the bar then south. It is a little tough to navigate your way to this next part. Go down, right, down, left, up, right, down until you find an old man by two crates. If you ran from fights a lot take the right crate, if not then take the left crate. This awards you either the Brave Blade or the Chicken Knife. These items are actually both stupid in my opinion. The more you run the weaker the Brave Blade gets. One might think the Chicken Knife is better since it works in the reverse, but there is a major downside to the Chicken Knife. You have a chance at randomly running from a fight if you use it. Ugh I dislike both items though I prefer the Brave Blade out of the two. Go ahead and grab one of these items even though you do not need either. If you NEVER and I mean NEVER ran from a single battle in the entire game then the Brave Blade is powerful to the point of being on par with a couple of the legendary weapons. It loses power if you run even once and continues to lose power the more you run so.... Don't run. Or get the Chicken Knife and risk an annoying automatic run. Or be like me and use neither. Nothing else to do now but go to the Pyramid.

 

[Dagger Dias]

PYRAMID
My Level: 40


This is one of my least favorite events in the game. I'm always in such a rush to get through it since Lenna rejoins afterwards and I want the full party. I've always hated that in particular about this event. Why did they not have Lenna come back for this? It's annoying to just have the three. You pass by the Guardian Tree on the way here anyhow so the Melusine boss could have taken place there and Lenna return in time for this event instead of after it. Oh well. Rants aside let's get going with this. Put either Zeninage or Summon on everyone in order to deal with a boss (well they are technically a boss but I classify them as mini-bosses each time you face them) at the entrance.


BATTLE: Gargoyle (x2)

These guys are annoying. If you defeat one but not the other their ally revives them. They are weak against Thunder so Summoning Ramuh works if you do not have the gil to spare for relying on Zeninage.


Inside you will encounter many enemies who are undead so have Sing for the Requiem song as a command if you want, but you'll want Freelancers with White Magic in one slot. The other is up to you. Stay as Freelancers so Lenna does not fall behind for when she re-joins. Go down the path instead of using the first door you see. You'll find a trio of blue switches. Flip them to where the first and third are small and the middle is not. This opens a path on the spikes (do not step on the spikes!) for you to walk across. Keep going and the sand-fall (like a waterfall but it is sand) will knock you off the platform down below. Fight the serpents in here, called Aspis. There is also a chest with an Ice Shield guarded by monsters. They are undead.


BATTLE: Aspis

They are weak against Ice and also undead so that gives a few options on defeating them. Cast Blizzaga or Requiem.


Go upstairs and flip the switch to make the sand-fall stop. Now go upstairs. It will seem like a dead end, but it's not. You can go through the walls, fight a couple of Aspis, and go downstairs on the left stairway. Approach the sarcophagus and there is a Grand Mummy inside guarding a Cursed Ring.


BATTLE: Grand Mummy

He's undead and has a ton of Health. May want to use Requiem here. Or Zeninage. He's also weak against fire if you would rather use Firaga.


Make your way back the way you came. Flip the switch to stop the sand-fall and head left. Backtrack through the spike puzzle from before and enter the door by the entrance that you skipped earlier. Go up the stairs. In here you get trapped in the middle chamber. Fight the Aspis and then flip all three blue switches to open the doors, head south. In the next room there is a stairway and spikes that shift from being on and off. Defeat the Aspis and then open the three chests. They have undead monsters (including an Archeosaur) guarding a Flame Shield, Dark Matter, and a White Robe. Wait for the spikes to switch off and the stairs to switch on and then hurry up the stairs before they switch again, otherwise you risk falling down onto the spikes and we don't want that, now do we? For the next room give either Black Magic or Spellblade to everyone. You're in a maze full of robots called MechaHeads. You'll not be able to get through without fighting them so approach them and take this one battle at a time.


BATTLE: MechaHead

Cast Thundaga in its Black Magic form or use the Spellblade version to quickly get rid of these dangerous mechanical monsters. They know several abilities such as Flamethrower, Missile, Mustard Bomb, Reverse Polarity and more. These can be frustrating. Thundaga is your best bet for a quick victory. The worst part is you don't even get any EXP or gil for these fights. I know right! How awful.


Once you're finally through all the MechaHead fights (and some Aspis along the way too) then you can grab the treasures in here. The upper left corner and upper right corners have chests with Elixirs. The sarcophagus at the top of the chamber has three Mummys guarding a Thornlet. The chest in the lower left corner has a Black Robe but getting to it takes a few more extra steps. Flip the blue switch, battle a couple more Aspis, then go across the path that formed over the spikes. The chest is guarded by an Archeosaur and Ushabtis. Use Zeninage here or if you cannot afford that then cast Firaga on the Archeosaur and either Thundaga on the Ushabti's or you can also confuse the Ushabti's into attacking themselves. Now go through the sarcophagus into the next area. After facing more mummys that were inside it, of course. You will find a very welcomed Save Point. Rest here and save as needed.

 

[Dagger Dias]

PYRAMID (UPPER FLOORS)
My Level: 40

The next room has even more Aspis. You might encounter a Zephyrus too. She can summon other enemies to help her such as Dhrome Chimeras, Ronka Knights, Tunnelers, and Ziggurat Gigases. She buffs or heals the allies if she has any and summons more enemies if she is by herself. She's not undead so use Zeninage if you can afford it. Put Find Passages on the person at the front of your formation to see a long hidden path. Follow it to get to a chest with a Black Garb, guarded by Steel Fist enemies. Use Zeninage on them. Follow the path back and go up the stairs. You cannot get to the other chests yet. On the way there you might meet....


SEKHMET

Alright this guy is weird enough to get counted as a trivial note rather than a boss. Ok, so while this is not a required fight, you might find him as a random encounter while in this first visit to the Pyramid. He talks about his brother who is waiting in a Tower (a reference to the Minotaur boss later on) and once you defeat this monster he never comes back as a random encounter. At that point he is gone forever. He's only got about 6000 Health so he's not too tough. Use strong spells or your regular attacks. Or Zeninage because why not. Sekhmet does not serve much of a purpose other than warning you about his "brother". This is a very odd enemy, hence why he gets a trivial note instead of a boss/battle or even a side-quest note.


On the next floor let the first sand-fall knock you down off the platform. You'll be on the previous floor but in an area you could not access before. Open the chest to face more undead monsters who are guarding a Dark Matter. Follow the path (turn on Find Passages if you are struggling) to get to the door, now go back up the stairs. Flip the blue switch to stop the sand-fall and move across the platform. Go inside the door northeast of you. In here flip the blue switch to the left NOT the one on the right since it creates a trap that makes you fall down the first sand-fall from the previous chamber. Open the chests (the western two are guarded by undead monsters) to get 2 Dark Matters and 17000 gil. Go back into the previous chamber, flip the blue switches on the way to stop the sand-falls and go up the stairs. Go through the doors on the left and there will be a hidden path in here (use Find Passages) and follow it to find some chests. The first is guarded by Steel Fists and has a Gaia Hammer. Follow the path and you can get an Elixir by entering the door at the top of the chamber, get back into the hidden path. The next chest to the east has 10000 gil. Another chest south of that one has a Cottage. Now make your way back and go upstairs.

Now you're in an area with a floor shifting puzzle. It slowly shifts from one form to another, back and forth. You will need to time your steps so that you do not walk over any holes. You can get to some chests in here. On the left side is a Ribbon, on the right is a Gold Hairpin, and in the northern center is a Protect Ring. If you fall you will end up where the Elixir was in the previous room. Now take either of the two stairways down to the next room. On the left side of this room the two chests have an Elixir and undead monsters guarding a Dark Matter. The two chests on the right side have 12000 gil and more undead monsters guarding a Dark Matter. From the left side of the room follow the path on the stairway (unaccessible from the right side of the room) up to the final chamber. If you were on the right side, go back up into the shifting floor puzzle and go to the left stairway. Now go upstairs. Grab the tablet then Bahamut shows up and says he will be waiting at the summit of the Northern Mountain. Ok FINALLY done with this frustrating event!!!!



GUARDIAN TREE
My Level: 41

You have to head back toward the Ancient Library now. Make everyone Freelancers with White Magic and Black Magic. When you get to the Guardian Tree you find Lenna being dropped off by a dragon there but she is unconscious and being controlled by a monster named Melusine. Exdeath sucks the Ancient Library into the Void then The dragon sacrifices himself to save Lenna from Melusine, who shows up and attacks you.

After this battle, Lenna rejoins and there are no further party lineup changes. Exdeath sucks more towns into the void including Easterly, Walse, the Moogle village, and Lix.

 

[Dagger Dias]

BOSS BATTLE: Melusine

This could be tough due to her shifting elemental weaknesses. Try putting her to sleep then casting Firaga (her default weakness). Sadly Zeninage and Barehanded will not be of any use here. Sleep then Firaga will be the best way to go. You don't want to have to deal with the elemental shifts so keep her under Sleep status and end this battle as quickly as possible. This is an extremely annoying fight. The upside is that it is more annoying than hard. It would be ranked among the worst bosses of the game if you had not been able to inflict Sleep on her. Lenna rejoins after this fight and there are no further party lineup changes.
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[Dagger Dias]

KUZA CASTLE
My Level: 42 (Bartz), 41 (Faris & Krile), 39 (Lenna)

Look how far behind Lenna is. This is part of why I've always hated that she misses out on the Pyramid event. Oh well. We will get her caught up later. The Castle Of Kuza is your next stop. Each time you have gotten a Tablet you can go claim 3 more of the 12 weapons until you have gotten all of them. Which 3 you take each time is up to you. I will recommend 3 per trip to Kuza Castle but you can pick your own 3.

The Castle is located to the northeast of where the Ancient Library was. You'll fly past Tule and Ghido's Cave on the way there. Red Mages with White Magic or Zeninage will suffice. Once inside you find a Chancellor and some scholars who are glad Lenna is safe. Drink from the restoration water in the right corner before going upstairs. If you encounter a Shield Dragon or an Exdeath Soul use Zeninage on them. Fighting them the old fashioned way is not worth it. When you get upstairs you can pick 3 weapons. We're still Red Mages if you're following along with me so let's pick three that Red Mages can use. The Assassin's Dagger, the Sage Staff, and the Magus Rod. Afterwards a cool scene plays out where Exdeath frees the monsters who had been trapped in the Void.

You will eventually be fighting all 10 of the monsters seen here except the red guy. He's just known as the red monster since you never enter battle with him and he never says his name. He ends up getting killed by Leviathan when he tries to fight you at the Tablet site at the waterfall. Two others guard a tablet site. The remaining ones are bosses in the Void, some are required to be defeated in order to proceed, and others are optional to fight. Melusine who you fought earlier was part of the same group seen here and the first to escape the Void.

 

[Dagger Dias]

CARWEN (SIDEQUEST)
My Level: 42 (Bartz), 41 (Faris & Krile), 39 (Lenna)

Carwen is east of Tule, past the Torna Canal. The only main thing of note here is the lady in the middle of town in the grass downstairs from the bar. She asks if you think she is pretty. If you say yes then she turns into an imposter Krile and runs off saying she is a master of disguise who has to hone her craft. Ok.... That's one of the weirder moments of the game. It might be Gogo, an optional boss we will meet later.


REGOLE (SIDEQUEST)
My Level: 42 (Bartz), 41 (Faris & Krile), 39 (Lenna)

Regole is northeast of Tule, just north of Kuza Castle. Go into the Armor shop and take the hidden path in the southwest corner of the shop to go talk to the girl in between the shops to get a Ribbon from her. You can stll dance on the stage in the bar for a quick 100 gil if you want. That's pretty much it here.



SYLDRA SIDEQUEST
My Level: 42 (Bartz), 41 (Faris & Krile), 39 (Lenna)

Go back to the Pirate Cave and make your way back to the Pirate Base. Once you get to the Pirate Base then Faris will walk off to a corner to the right. The others follow her. Faris and Krile see the spirit of Syldra but Bartz and Lenna cannot. Syldra offers to become a Summon! Awesome. The attack is called Thunderstorm, though it oddly does wind damage as opposed to thunder.



WHY IS WORLD 1'S MAP MUSIC PLAYING HERE!?

More irritating than anything, really. I've never liked this song so any time it randomly pops up in places it shouldn't like here, it annoys me. The screen at the entrance of the cave plays it despite you being in world 3 now.

 

[Dagger Dias]

ODIN SIDEQUEST
My Level: 42 (Bartz), 41 (Faris & Krile), 39 (Lenna)

Fly to Jachol which is south of the Pyramid. Head into the cave north of the town. Make everyone Red Mages. Bartz and Faris should have White Magic while Krile and Lenna have Summon or Black Magic. Go through the cave just as you did in the world one sidequest here. If you encounter a Skull Eater then equip the Excalipoor. It will do 1 damage, which coincidentally is how many Health Points they have. This sword, despite how much it gets mocked, will not miss against the Skull Eaters and they have high defense. When you get to the end, climb up like you did in world one.

Now you're in Bal Castle's basement! Go unlock the door so you can rest at the Inn and go save. When you're ready, go back inside and proceed up to the top of the chamber to battle Odin and you can get him as a Summon after winning. You have exactly one minute as Odin says. He's not kidding.

 

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BOSS BATTLE: Odin

You literally have one minute to win this battle so you want to be as fast as possible. You could have casters summoning Syldra or simple have someone with Black Magic cast Break if you want to take the cheap way out of this battle. You could also return later when you are able to cast Meteor, but I'd rather get Odin now before he is forgotten about. He absorbs Holy and has no major weaknesses unlike in other titles in the series where he has been weak against Thunder.
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[Dagger Dias]

MIRAGE TOWN
My Level: My Level: 42 (Bartz), 41 (Faris & Krile), 39 (Lenna)

The town of Mirage is located in a forest in the middle of the long narrow continent southwest of Crescent. This is a cool town with better equipment, more White/Black/Time spells, and the final piano. Let's go. Walk around in the forest and you will look like you are about to enter a battle but you enter a town instead. Odd. It has the same music as the Sealed Weapons room in Kuza Castle too.

Everyone here looks like merchants with blue hats. They are a town trapped between dimensions so time has stopped for them. The Magic shop will look like it only has basic spells, but go through the western wall of the house outside, towards the top. You find a hidden room with a merchant selling advanced spells. Buy all these. At the Armor shop buy 4 Black Cowls and 4 Black Robes. You can also inspect the box by the entrance to open a path behind the merchant to get to an old man in green robes. He talks about ring accessories. South of the old man who talked about rings is a relic merchant, you can buy rings and other gear here. We'll be back later for that.

Head to the bar at the northern part of town, go to the back of the building on the outside and enter in through a hidden door in the back of the building. Follow the wall all the way to the left, then go down into the building. Inside you are now in the bar but behind the barkeep's table. There is a Thief Knife in the barell third from the bottom. Take the stairs and go outside, now go into the house left of the Weapon shop since you can reach it now. In here you find a recovery water jar, its location may seem random but at the end of the game it may make more sense. In the basement is a door in the center that if you try to open it makes the screen turn blue and a weird sound plays. This, like the recovery water jar, will make more sense at the end of the game. Ignore it for now. There's a piano to your left if you follow a hidden path in the wall. Follow it past the stairway, keep going left. Take the stairway to the right of the weird door that didn't work. It leads to a weapons merchant who sells scrolls and shurikens. Now go back to the stairs before the piano and use them to go outside. The black chocobo is here! Talk to him to fly out. Land by Crescent since we are going there next for an optional quest there. After that, it's time for more class leveling.


CRESCENT TOWN (OPTIONAL)
My Level: My Level: 42 (Bartz), 41 (Faris & Krile), 39 (Lenna)

Go to the house in the lower right corner of town. Play the piano. If you have played every piano up to this point you will be a "piano master". Talk to the bard after you play the piano. If you inspired him (play the piano as a "piano master") then he teaches you the Sinewy Etude and the Hero's Rhyme. That's all there really was to do here. The townspeople talk about a tower. This is the Fork Tower which appeared right on top of the Catapult. Mid is in town running around because Cid is stuck under the tower. We'll be back here again very soon to go through the tower. First, I'm going to gain a couple of class levels.

 

[Dagger Dias]

ABILITY SPOTLIGHT: WHITE MAGIC (6)

CLASS: WHITE MAGE

LEVEL: 6

AP NEEDED: 100


My Thoughts:
This allows any class equipped with it to get access to the complete White Magic spellbook meaning they can cast the all of the previous White Magic tiers alongside Arise, Holy, and Dispel. You do not have Holy just yet if you have been following along with my path but you are almost to the part where you get it. Holy and Arise are both extremely useful. Holy is the offensive White Magic spell that does a ton of Holy elemental damage (hey, at least it wasn't called White or Pearl this time around) and Arise revives someone was unconscious with ALL of their Health maxed out. Your healer MUST have this ability it is the most important ability your character in the healer role will have.

 

[Dagger Dias]

ABILITY SPOTLIGHT: BLACK MAGIC (6)

CLASS: BLACK MAGE

LEVEL: 6

AP NEEDED: 100


My Thoughts:
This allows any class equipped with it to get access to the complete Black Magic spellbook meaning they can cast the all of the previous Black Magic tiers alongside Flare, Osmose, and Death. You do not have Flare just yet if you have been following along with my path but you are almost to the part where you get it. I don't use Death but the other two top tier Black Magic spells are great. Osmose is a cool spell that works just like Drain only for Magic Points instead of Health Points. It's useful for restoring your casters if they get low on Magic Points. Flare is the best offensive Black Magic spell. It does a ton of non-elemental damage. While not as crucial as its White Magic counterpart, this is a very good ability for your offensive caster(s) if you prefer Black Magic over Time or Summon.

 

[Dagger Dias]

ABILITY SPOTLIGHT: TIME MAGIC (6)

CLASS: TIME MAGE

LEVEL: 6

AP NEEDED: 100


My Thoughts:
This allows any class equipped with it to get access to the complete Time Magic spellbook meaning they can cast the all of the previous Time Magic tiers alongside Meteor, Quick, and Banish. You do not have Meteor just yet if you have been following along with my path but you are almost to the part where you get it. Meteor is a little more random in its damage compared to other top tier offensive spells like Flare or Holy. It hits 4 times and the target(s) that it will hit are randomly determined amongst the enemies. It potentially do thousands of damage to one enemy or hit as many as four different ones (if facing a large enemy party) for decent amounts. It's a rather fun spell to use against larger enemy parties and quite useful against single targets such as most of the bosses at the final quests of the game. Quick is just like its FF6 counterpart, it lets you do two consecutive turns. Banish I never use. It's an attempt at an instant death by "sending the target to the Void". Whether you use this ability or not depends most on if you want your offensive caster(s) to have Meteor. Quick can be useful too so it's up to you. I recommend one offensive caster have Black Magic for Flare and their backup having Time Magic or Summon if you aren't out to master everything.

 

[Dagger Dias]

ABILITY SPOTLIGHT: SUMMON MAGIC (5)

CLASS: SUMMONER

LEVEL: 5

AP NEEDED: 100


My Thoughts:
This allows any class equipped with it to get access to the complete Summoner spellbook meaning they can cast the all of the previous Summon magic tiers alongside Phoenix, Leviathan, and Bahamut. You do not have any of these three summon pacts just yet if you have been following along with my path but you are almost to the part where you get them. Why not go ahead and get them now since otherwise Summoner will fall behind all the other classes. Bahamut is incredibly powerful, as is Leviathan. Tons of damage to all enemy targets. Phoenix can revive unconscious allies while still damaging the enemy. Highly recommended for one or more offensive caster(s). Miming Bahamut works pretty well as a tactic against large enemy parties at the end of the game.... Just a bit of a hint there.

 

[Dagger Dias]

A NOTE ON MASTERING CLASSES AND WHEN TO DO IT

Alright so at this point if you are playing one of the older versions of the game such as the Playstation "Final Fantasy Anthology" version then now it is the time to start mastering some of the character classes. There is an option to wait a bit longer if you wish but only if you are playing the Game Boy Advance or PC versions. One of the new classes available only in those versions let's you have an ability that gets you more ability points per fight. If you do not have access to that ability or are ignoring it then start mastering the remaining classes now if you're following along with me. I go ahead and do so now regardless of what version I am playing. The ABP Up skill does help some, though it's not mandatory. To make it simpler I like to do it this way. There's four sets of classes. One that you got from each crystal (Wind/Water/Fire/Earth) and you are going through a quest now in the game where you obtain 4 Tablets at sites that pertain to the elements. So for each Tablet site you've been to, master a set of classes. The Pyramid was the first so next I will master the first set of classes (the original 6 from the Wind Crystal). Then after the Island Shrine we move on to the Water Crystal jobs, then after the Great Trench there's the Fire Crystal jobs, after the Waterfall there are the Earth Crystal jobs. That just leaves the new classes which will be last. It's a simple format that I enjoy using. If you're following along with me then we're going to master the original 6 classes next before proceeding with the Tablets quest.

 

[Dagger Dias]

ABILITY SPOTLIGHT: SCAN

CLASS: BLUE MAGE

LEVEL: 4

AP NEEDED: 250


My Thoughts:
This works just like the spell only now you can do it without using any Magic Points. You will be able to see the Health Points and weaknesses (if any) of most enemies. I never use it. Don't bother unless you wanted to master everything. This is the easiest of the original 6 classes' final abilities to learn so it will be first. We're going to work our way up.

 

[Dagger Dias]

ABILITY SPOTLIGHT: MP +10%

CLASS: WHITE MAGE

LEVEL: 7

AP NEEDED: 300


My Thoughts:
This increases your maximum Magic Points by 10%. It sounds good on paper but there is a better version that you get from mastering Black Mage. Skip this one unless you're trying to master everything.

 

[Dagger Dias]

ABILITY SPOTLIGHT: HP +30%

CLASS: MONK

LEVEL: 7

AP NEEDED: 300


My Thoughts:
This increases your maximum Health Points by 30%. This is recommended for everybody. Not only does it allow you to add a boost to your Health to any class but at the same time your Attack stat for a Freelancer and Mime become identical to that of a Monk. Everyone needs to master Monk regardless of their role due to the stat bump. Having a potential boost to your maximum Health that you can also add doesn't hurt. The Mimes have that third ability slot that this could go in if you wanted to use it.

 

[Dagger Dias]

ABILITY SPOTLIGHT: ARTFUL DODGER

CLASS: THIEF

LEVEL: 7

AP NEEDED: 300


My Thoughts:
This basically gives you the agility of a Thief. I never really understood how it works personally, so it falls into the pile of abilities that I do not use. You do however get a bump to your Agility stat as a Freelancer or Mime to the same as that of a Thief by learning this ability. Everyone needs to master Thief for that stat bump.

 

[Dagger Dias]

ABILITY SPOTLIGHT: EQUIP SWORDS

CLASS: KNIGHT

LEVEL: 6

AP NEEDED: 350


My Thoughts:
This lets any class equipped it to become proficient with Swords. It's rather important for your main fighters so that they can branch out into other classes or if anything to allow your Mime(s) to use the powerful swords found at the end of the game. Recommended for Bartz or whoever your main fighter(s) are.

 

[Dagger Dias]

ABILITY SPOTLIGHT: MP +30%

CLASS: BLACK MAGE

LEVEL: 7

AP NEEDED: 450


My Thoughts:
This increases your maximum Magic Points by 30%. It would be a really good ability to look into for your casters. You also get a nice boost to your Magic stat for your Mimes and Freelancers if you haven't mastered Summoner yet. It's the toughest of the original 6 classes' final abilities to learn and with this if you have been following my path you have now mastered all of the original 6 character classes!

 

[Dagger Dias]

JOB MASTERING CHECKPOINT

KNIGHT: ****MASTERED****

MONK: ****MASTERED****

THIEF: ****MASTERED****

WHITE MAGE: ****MASTERED****

BLACK MAGE: ****MASTERED****

BLUE MAGE: ****MASTERED****

BERSERKER: Level 1

MYSTIC KNIGHT: Level 6

TIME MAGE: Level 6

SUMMONER: Level 5

RED MAGE: Level 3

NINJA: Level 4

BEASTMASTER: Level 3

GEOMANCER: ****MASTERED****

RANGER: Level 3

BARD: ****MASTERED****

DRAGOON: Level 2

SAMURAI: Level 4

CHEMIST: Level 4

DANCER: Level 2


Other Thoughts:
Now these will start to master our quickly. The original 6 join Bard and Geomancer in the mastered jobs listing. Berserker is really going to suck and a few others may take a while when we get to them, but overall it will all be downhill from here.

 

[Dagger Dias]

ISLAND SHRINE
My Level: 42 (Bartz & Krile), 41 (Faris), 40 (Lenna)

There are two Gargoyles at the entrance. Use Zeninage to take them out quickly. They are identical to the other two so use the same strategy you did last time. Or in case you forgot how to fight them, here is a reminder.


BATTLE: Gargoyle (x2)

These guys are annoying. If you defeat one but not the other their ally revives them. They are weak against Thunder so Summoning Ramuh works if you do not have the gil to spare for relying on Zeninage.


Make everyone Red Mages with White Magic for now. If you have been following along with me, this might be the final event you go as Red Mages in. Mine were at the 870 range in ability points at the time I defeated the Gargoyles so if you do end up mastering the class switch to Freelancers for the remainder of this event. If you do go the Freelancer route give them White Magic and Two Handed.

In the first room after the entrance follow a hidden path in the wall on the right to get to a chest with 12000 gil. Go up the hole in the vent duct when you see it. Now you're in a chamber with two switches. The switches change the direction of the vent. Hit both switches to get to a room with 9000 gil in a chest. Go back. Flip just the right switch to get to a room with a chest that has an Elixir. Go back. Flip just the left switch to get to a room with a chest that has a (content ) guarded by a Pantera. This is a highly annoying enemy as it uses Blaster, a potential instant death ability which I have detested in every Final Fantasy game it appears in due to how cheap and frustrating it is. Cast Fira or Firaga on the Pantera, when it makes clones of itself cast Fira/Firaga on all three then start targeting the one it damaged until you defeat it. To your right a door that leads you where you needed to go next. Use the save point if necessary, which likely it is. Don't want to fight that Pantera again, now would you?

The next room has three chests in it. Take the left path to get to a chest with an Elixir. Now head to your right, behind the wall east of you. Do not go upstairs yet. Go south, then right. Ignore the chest in the middle for a moment and keep going east past the pillar into a hidden path, now go up to the chest to get a Crystal Helm. Head back the way you came and then go south to return to the save point. Rest, save, and then go straight ahead to the middle chest. It is guarded by a Mecha Head. Cast Thundara or Thundaga. Now go upstairs using the stairwar by the chest on the left path. In the next room go through the central door to find a chest with a Beast Killer. There is a hidden path to your right but a trap in the floor makes it unable to be used as a short-cut so go around the left wall and ip to the stairs.

The next room has more traps. Equip Find Pits on your Rogue (Faris for me) to make them easier to avoid. There are two chests in the middle with an Ether and a Dragon Fang. You will need to open the chests from behind since there are holes in the path on the tiles in front of the chests, take either stairway back up if you fell. Now take the leftmost of the vertical paths until you are parallel with the top of the pillar, go east, now north to the wall and go through the stairway in the middle of the northern wall. And here we have a save point. You will want to save here. The boss of this area is rather annoying.

Last room of this area! Go open the chests in the corners before going into the boss chamber. The chest northwest of you has a Dark Matter. The chest northeast of the entrance to this room has a Circlet. Now make sure you're at full Health and go into the boss chamber. Make everyone a Freelancer with Summon and White Magic. Unless you want to learn a Blue spell that is.... Then make everyone Blue Mages with Summon.