This guy has three parts. Two arms and his body, all three of which can be attacked seperately. He's fairly easy but could defeat you if you're not careful. Do not attack the blades. If you do, the boss begins using more powerful abilities like Atomic Ray. If the blades are there he mainly uses Red Feast which drains some of your health. If too much time elapses he uses Blaster which might instantly defeat your whole party. He's VERY weak against Bolt, so if anyone knows Bolt 2 you can end this in one or two rounds. The two blades respawn if defeated first after a while but both will die when the boss does so just concentrate on the body. Sabin's Suplex doesn't work on him so use Pummel or Aurabolt with him if he's in your party.
The mine cart crashes right into a Magitek Armored soldier, sending him off the platform. You're back at the part of Vector that led to the Magitek Research Facility. There's a save point though (which you really should use) and you are able to re-enter the facility but the pipes that led to the rooms further down are blocked off, only the first room of the facility is accessible at this time. If you have Tents and want to level here, go for it as there's now some random encounters, but do not go too far south or else Setzer shows up and the next boss fight is triggered. Once you do walk back into the main area of the town Setzer shows up and the party escapes. Kefka sends two Crane monsters after you!
We can officially welcome Setzer to the team as this is his first ever battle as a playable character. Oh, right, the boss monsters. These two Crane monsters can be very dangerous if given the chance. They don't have all that much health so just smash away with everything you've got. Be careful with elemental spells though. Using Lightning on the Left one and Fire on the Right one will power them up respectively, after reaching level 3 they will use either Giga Volt or Fire 3 depending on which Crane reached its max level. Locke should attack with his Boomerangs, Edgar with his Drill, Sabin should use Aurabolt, while Setzer can just attack since he won't know any spells yet. If Cyan and Gau are with you, stick with Quadra Slam and Stray Cat as before. You can avoid the danger of Fire 3 and Giga Volt by casting Ice 2 on them if anyone mastered Shiva's magic yet. When one Crane is left it will use a barrier on itself that gives it a higher resistance and spells will now reflect off of it so make sure to only use physical attacks on it at that point. Setzer might be a few levels behind the others, so heal him if he gets weak.
After the fight the party flies to Zozo to show Terra the espers.
After the Crane battle the party flies to see Terra in Zozo. A boring and annoying flashback sequence begins.
MADUIN FLASHBACK
Party: Maduin
You get stuck controlling Maduin the esper in a flashback that takes forever. It's pretty boring, there is no menu screen, and you have nothing trivial worth noting that you can do, so just get through it. Talk to the girl, who Madiun falls in love with. Talk to the girl again after the angel esper talks to you. Talk to the Youth esper at the entrance. Go through the gate and talk to the girl. You find out Maduin and the girl are Terra's parents. Soldiers from the empire show up 2 years later. Talk to the elder, then go to door and press A. The wolf esper gets mad at Maduin causing the girl to run off, follow her to the town entrance. You get swept out by the elder's barrier spell. The emperor takes Terra while both parents are unconscious and the gate shuts, ending the boring flashback.
In the present Terra realize how to control her power now, she will have access to the Morph ability. The party takes off toward Narshe which is where you should go next. Setzer teaches you how to fly the airship first. Go forward using the A button, land using the B button if you are over a terrain that you can land on, X takes you inside, start activates/removes the map on the overworld, and press L or R while moving left/right to do a sharper turn. Up/down are used to change your altitude and left/right to change the direction you face. Hold down Y then move in any direction without changing the direction you face. So form a party and let's go to Narshe. Before that, there's sidequests you can do!
NEW ESPER SIDEQUESTS
My Party: Edgar, Setzer, Terra, Locke
Fly to Tzen on the imperial continent. In the upper right corner of town behind the trees is a thief. He sells you a new esper if you'd like! This esper can be bought from the same thief in the second at a cheaper price, but I'd rather get it now for access to the spells sooner. It is the esper Sraphim and it costs 3000 GP. While you're here, buy some armor and weapons for Terra and Setzer if necessary. I gave Terra an Epee Sword, a Mithril Shield, a Mithril Helmet, and Mithril Armor. Setzer was equipped with Cards, and the same set of Mithril defensive gear as Terra.
You can also now go to Jidoor to participate in the Auction House! They sell various items and some, such as the Talking Chocobo, are impossible to buy because the rich guy in the front row pays a sum of money impossible to big against. Patiently keep coming back after each auction until they offer up an esper. Both Golem and Zoneseek can be bought here. Make sure you have enough GP to purchase them, if you miss it and the rich girl buys it instead, it's gone forever. Zoneseek will cost 10,000 GP. Golem will cost 20,000 GP. Both are available through the same method in the second world, but why wait when you can get better spells now?
NARSHE
My party: Edgar, Setzer, Terra, Locke
You cannot go into the mines, the opening does not open. Go through the town gates and the guards take you to the elder. If Terra is not with you she will walk inside once the espers are mentioned. Either way she agrees to meet with the espers so they can join in against the empire. Now you're free to explore town. Or go do sidequests. Want a new party member? Follow the sidequest note below.
RECRUITING MOG (OPTIONAL)
Remember that chest you couldn't open in the house on the east side of town? Go back to that house. Lone Wolf the Pickpocket is in side and he took the item that was in the chest. Chase him into the mines north of town. Go through the right door and you'll end up at the snowfield where you fought against Kefka's army. Keep going up to the summit. Lone Wolf is up there holding a moogle hostage. Stay still for a moment and the moogle fights back. Both the moogle and Lone Wolf are now hanging off different sides of the cliff. If you're smart and want a new party member, save the moogle. If you're cruel and heartless then go take the treasure from Lone Wolf, you get a Gold Hairpin for it but the moogle, none other than Mog who helped Locke save Terra at the start of the game, falls down into the mines and you wouldn't see him again until the second world. Save Mog. Come on. There's other Gold Hairpins in the game. Mog thanks you. You can rename him and he now joins you.
Setzer is fairly balanced, leaning more toward being a better caster. His weapons are pretty cool. He throws cards, darts, or dice at the enemy. In the case of the dice the higher they roll, the more damage they do. Alongside Celes and Edgar, Sezter is one of the 3 characters that you are required to re-recruit in the second world. I'm not a fan of his specials, which is the main reason he didn't rank higher. Slot could cause any of a number of things to happen if you get the right combination but unless you're good at it, this command is a waste of time. GP Rain is better, though expensive. Literally. You're having Setzer throw your money at the enemy to attack them! I use him for the last portion of the first world and the first portion of the second world, but not all that often otherwise unless I'm attempting a Celes/Edgar/Setzer challenge.
Special: Slot
A slot machine screen begins rolling and you have to hit A three times. The combination determines the result. Most are good. One is VERY bad, and one depending on your luck can also be bad. I hate this command. I've had (no pun intended) really bad luck with it. I tend to get the Chocobo attack on enemies that fly, which are immune to it. The first time I ever used the attack I got 3 Bars, which means a random esper is summoned. Usually this is good, right? For me it wasn't. The random espers include ANY esper in the game except Odin, Raiden, and the GBA exclusives. One of which it could summon is Crusader, not unlocked until the very end of the game normally, its attack hurts EVERYONE including you. Needless to say, Slot and I do not get along. I have Setzer fight or cast until I can get GP Rain.
Flash (3 diamonds)
Does some non-elemental damage to all enemies. Very common.
Chocobop (3 chocobos)
Does a little bit of non-elemental damage to all enemies, but flying enemies are immune. Very common, seems to happen more often than it should against flying targets for me though.
H Bomb (3 airships)
An airship flies onscreen and does a lot of non-elemental damage to all enemies. Not that common.
Mega Flare (3 birds(?)
Summons Bahamut and does TONS of non-elemental damage. This is pretty rare, I have only gotten it twice before.
Magicite (3 bars)
I hate this one!!!! It summons any esper with the exception of Odin, Raiden, or the GBA exclusive espers. This does however mean it could summon Crusader which can kill your whole party if it shows up in the first world. Due to the randomness I don't trust this one whatsoever. It's semi-common.
Joker Doom (1 bar and 2 seven's)
Defeats all allies. I have never gotten this before, it has to be the rarest combination.
7 Flush (3 sevens)
All enemies are defeated. EXTREMELY rare. I have only seen this once before.
Lagomorph / Mysidian Rabbit (any other combination)
Heals a rather small amount of Health Points for everyone. This is what you get if you fail to get any of the slot listings above.
Special: GP Rain
If you can afford it, this can be lethal. Setzer throws some of your money on the enemies. It costs Sezter's level times 30, so if Setzer is at level 30 the attack costs 900 GP to use. Damage is equal to GP used times 2, divided by the number of targets. So at level 99 against one target, this will do thousands of damage assuming you had 2,970 GP to spare.
It's Mog! Everyone loves Mog. As a character anyway. In a playable capacity he's not as great as we all wish he was. Edgar outclasses him as a Dragoon. Terra, Celes, and Relm outclass him in casting. Gau and Umaro outclass him in being a berserker. Mog's still fun to play as though. He can equip Spears so making him a Dragoon with the Dragoon Boots and Dragon Horn is a possibility to look into. Dance can be interesting, however I dislike it due to its randomness and the fact that Mog can STUMBLE. Oh, how I hate the stumble. Unlike the other two berserker types, Mog does get a Fight command. Mog makes a good caster too and he can equip the Snow Muffler which is a great armor. He can also equip the Moogle Charm, an item that turns off random encounters. Put Mog into your weaker party in the Phoenix Cave as well as in Kefka's Tower with the Moogle Charm equipped. This group will then be much safer until you find a boss.
Special: Dance
Makes Mog enter a computer controlled mode where he randomly does one of a couple of different attacks depending on the terrain his dance is from. Some are cool. Others are stupid. The worst thing though is Mog can stumble, which essentially wastes a turn. There isn't necessarily a "best" terrain as all have at least one stupid attack in them, some have two that suck. Love Sontata is the worst as Elf Fire is the only good ability in it. Wind Song and Water Rondo are probably the best if I had to pick. I don't use Dance much at all.
Wind Song (Fields)
Wind Slash - Wind attack on all enemies. Best in this terrain.
Sunbath - Heals all allies some.
Plasma - Lightning damage to one target.
Cockatrice - Non-elemental damage to one target and tries to inflict Petrify but it fails on targets immune to death. The worst dance in this terrain category.
Forest Suite (Forest)
Rage - Non-elemental damage to all enemies. Probably the best in this terrain.
Harvester - Recovers from the following status effects: Blind, Poison, Petrify, Silence, Confuse, Sap, Sleep, Slow, and Stop.
Elf Fire - Fire damage to one target.
Wombat - Deals non-elemental damage to one target but flying enemies are immune.
Desert Aria (Desert)
Sandstorm - Wind attack on all enemies.
Wind Slash - Wind attack on all enemies.
Antlion - Tries to remove one target from battle, but fails on enemies immune to death. Stupid. Worst of this terrain.
Kitty - Casts Haste on all allies.
Love Sonata (Town)
Elf Fire - Fire damage to one target.
Snare - Tries to remove one target from battle, but fails on enemies immune to death. Stupid. Worst of this terrain.
Specter - Tries to inflict confuse on one target, fails on targets who are immune. Stupid.
Tapir - Recovers status
Earth Blues (Mountain)
Landslide - Does decent non-elemental damage to one target. Best of this terrain.
Sunbath - Heals all allies some.
Sonic Boom - Reduce a target's Health by about 1/3 but fails on those immune to death. Stupid.
Whump - Does non-elemental damage but fails on flying enemies.
Water Rondo (Water)
El Nino - Water elemental attack on all enemies. Best of this terrain.
Specter - Tries to inflict confuse on one target, fails on targets who are immune. Stupid.
Plasma - Lightning damage to one target.
Wild Bear - Restores decent amount of Health Points and recovers from Blind, Zombie, Poison, Petrify, Doom, Silence, Berserk, Confuse, Sap, Sleep, Slow, Stop, and Freeze. 2nd best of this terrain.
Dusk Requiem (Cave)
Cave In - Reduces a target's Health Points to 1/4 of its current amount but fails on those immune to death. Can be annoying.
Elf Fire - Fire damage to one target.
Snare - Tries to remove one target from battle, but fails on enemies immune to death. Stupid. Worst of this terrain.
Poison Frog - Poison elemental damage to one target and tries to inflict poison. Best of this terrain.
Snowmann Jazz (Snow)
Snowball - Does damage equal to half of the target's current Health Points, fails on those immune to death. Annoying.
Snare - Tries to remove one target from battle, but fails on enemies immune to death. Stupid. Worst of this terrain.
Surge - Ice attack on all enemies. Best of this terrain.
Ice Rabbit - Restores some Health Points to all allies.
UNLOCKING MOG'S DANCES SIDEQUEST
My Party: Edgar, Setzer, Terra, Mog
You have to win a battle on the right type of terrain to learn a dance. You might already have Dusk Requiem from the event where Mog helped Locke save Terra in the mines at the start of the game. If not, go win a battle in the mines of Narshe with Mog in the party. Next let's go fight a battle on the grassy fields on the world map. He'll learn Wind Song. Now go to a forested spot on the world map and win a battle there to learn Forest Suite there. Next go to the desert south of Narshe, win a battle there to learn Desert Aria here. Go to Mt Kolts and win a battle there to learn Earth Blues. If you go to Zozo and win a battle there, Mog will learn Love Sonata.
Alright here is the harder one. Water Rondo. In order to learn this dance you must have Mog in the party and win a battle either on the Lete River raft or in the Serpent Trench. The simplest way to do this is to fly to the crazy old man's house near Doma. Work your way back through the Doma area and the Phantom Forest, through the Veldt, and then through the Serpent Trench. You wake up an Nikeah's port. Leave town and walk back through the path (no longer blocked off by mountains) to the crazy old man's house. You can learn the dance on the Lete River raft too but this takes a little longer to do as you have to work through the whole path you did for the Serpent Trench route plus going through Mt Kolts again to get to the Returner Hideout. It's time consuming, but it's the only way in the SNES version. In the GBA version you can learn Water Rondo if you bring Mog to the Leviathan battle, more on that in the second world.
The only dance you CANNOT learn in the first world is Snowman Jazz. Also do keep in mind that unless you play the GBA version then you CANNOT learn Water Rondo in the second world.
PARTY CHANGE DIALOGUE
Here is what everyone's saying on the airship at this point if you go to change characters.
TERRA: I'm alright. I'm sure peace is within our grasp!
LOCKE: I can't believe we played a major role in it all!
EDGAR: We Can't be smug. We must be thinking of our strategy.
SABIN: Let me at the Empire!
CYAN: The Empire deserves the worst!
GAU: GAU become stronger on the Veldt.
SETZER: What's the most important thing in life? Being free of obligations! Otherwise you lose the ability go gamble....
OTHER SIDE QUESTS BEFORE THE SEALED GATE
My Party: Edgar, Setzer, Terra, Locke
Narshe now sells better items! Go to the weapon shop to buy a Morning Star for Terra and two Hawk Eyes for Locke. You will NOT regret the latter. This is one of Locke's best weapons as it randomly makes him throw a cool looking object at the enemy for massive damage, and they do the same damage from the back row. Buy a Blossom Knife for Shadow if you haven't yet, he will briefly join in a few more events. Buy at least 3 Gold Shields. I gave one to Setzer, Terra, and kept one for Celes. You should have another one from the Magitek Research Facility already. Buy Terra a Tiara, and buy a second to hang on to for Celes if you wish. You may want to buy a couple of Gold Helmets too although you should have one already from the Magitek Research Facility. Locke will need a Power Sash, you may want to get another for Sabin if you're bringing him to the Sealed Gate.
South Figaro and Doma are still blocked off by soldiers.
The Opera House is blocked off by a guy who says there is a performance underway.
You can go to Thamasa but everyone is rude to you due to you being "strangers" including Strago who becomes playable later. Odd. This is just how the game got programmed to deal with people coming to this town before you're supposed to.
Not much else to do in any other town.
WARNING!!!! DO NOT GO TO VECTOR! Doing this starts an un-beatable boss battle against The Guardian. If you do enter the town, run away from the fight and then leave town.
When you're ready, it's time to go to The Sealed Gate.
Unicorn is a pain to master, with two spells being those annoying "x1" modifyers, he also has an "x2" modifier, which also take a while to learn. Cure 2 is the most important spell he teaches, and you can get it from Sraphim at a faster rate right afterwards. Same goes for Remedy. Safe is taught faster by Golem. Shell is taught faster by Zoneseek. Dispel you can either get it now the slow way with Unicorn or wait until late in the game when Alexander teaches it. In other words.... skip Unicorn unless you're a completionist who does not want to wait until the second world for Dispel.
Summon: Chaos Wing (44 MP)
Non-elemental magic damage to all opponents.
Spells taught:
Ice 2 x3
Fire 2 x3
Bolt 2 x3
Level up bonus while equipped: MagPwr +1
Maduin's a great esper. Whether you learn Fire 2 and Ice 2 by Ifrit and Shiva respectively or not, you should master all of Maduin's spells. He teaches Bolt 2 faster than Ramuh does, so you might as well get all three of his spells at once. You get to play as Maduin during one event, although it's a boring one, but hey you get to play as an esper. He's also a good pick for Terra, Celes, or Relm to level up with to boost their already high Magic stats with.
Summon: Demon Eye (45 MP)
Attempts to inflict Petrify on all enemies but fails on enemies immune to Death.
Spells taught:
Bio x8
Break x5
Doom x2
Level up bonus while equipped: HP + 10%
Shoat's cool for a couple of reasons. He teaches Bio, which you definitely want so you can do massive damage to enemies weak against Poison attacks, and he gives a boost to HP when leveling up. Shoat, along with Siren, is rather popular due to this. He's your only option to learn any of the three spells he teaches. Bio is great, Break sucks, and Doom sucks too unless you are attempting to exploit the "Vanish + Doom" glitch/trick. Might as well get Break since you learn it on the way toward learning Doom, although you can survive without those spells. Stop after Bio unless you're a completionist. Catoblepas is a stupid revised name, Shoat was much cooler. Last but not least.... avoid his in-battle summon. It's dumb.
Summon: Ghostly Veil / Fader (38 MP)
Casts Invisible status on the whole party.
Spells taught:
Bserk x3
Vanish x3
Demi x5
Level up bonus while equipped: MP + 10%
I really don't use Phantom much.... You'll want to master his spells though if you want Vanish in order to use the "Vanish + Doom" and "Vanish + X-Zone" glitches/tricks. He's the only option for learning Vanish on the SNES if you're name's not Celes. Cactuar can teach it too on the GBA. He remains the only way to learn Berserk if you're a completionist. Go on and learn Vanish. It's too fun to not be able to use the two Vanish tricks. His summon can be useful for defensive strategies. Let's also not forget the MP boost he offers on leveling up, it's worth looking into for characters like Terra or Celes who you likely have doing a lot of casting.
I never use Carbunkl. He's the only option to learn Reflect, but you're done after that. Haste is taught faster by Palidor, Shell is taught faster by Zoneseek, Safe is taught faster by Golem, and Warp is taught faster by Fenrir. You'll have to wait until the second world for a couple of these spells, none of which you truly need unless you're a completionist. Trivial note.... Carbunkl looks VASTLY different from his appearance in the previous FF title. In FF5 he looked like a scary green wolf monster.
Summon: Breach Blast / Sea Song (50 MP)
Water-elemental damage to all opponents.
Spells taught:
Fire x20
Ice x20
Bolt x20
Life x2
Level up bonus while equipped: Strength +2
A cool whale-like looking esper. Bismark has some of the easiest spells to master, all but his Life spell. Avoid learning Life from Bismark. Sraphim teaches it faster. His strength boost on leveling up may be good for physical attackers like Sabin to consider if you aren't boosting their Health Points through Siren or Shoat instead. I like his in-battle summon too.
Summon: Earth Wall / Earthen Wall (33 MP)
Protects the party from physical attacks. The amount of damage he can protect for depends on the Health Points of the caster who summoned him.
Spells taught:
Safe x5
Stop x5
Cure 2 x5
Level up bonus while equipped: Stamina +2
Golem's three spells all have the same mofifier. Sraphim teaches Cure 2 faster, but you'll want to learn Safe from Golem. He teaches Stop at the fastest modifer for that spell, although I never use that spell. Safe may come in handy, so master Golem's spells for that.
Summon: Magic Shield / Wall (30 MP)
Casts Shell on the whole party.
Spells taught:
Rasp x20
Osmose x15
Shell x5
Level up bonus while equipped: MagPwr +2
Zoneseek has much faster modifiers on Rasp and Osmose than Shiva does, and he has a faster modifier for Shell than Carbuncle or Unicorn. Master his spells. None are any you HAVE to have (in the SNES version anyway) but all are nice to have. There's a boss in the GBA version you need Rasp against and Shell helps against magical attacks. The magic stat boost on levels is good for Relm, Terra, and Celes to consider.
Sraphim in the best and most crucial esper of those available in the first world. She teaches many of the game's most important healing spells at decently fast modifiers. Is she the best esper in the game? No, not really. There are no spells you learn from Sraphim that you cannot learn from other espers, plus in the second world Starlet outclasses her in all spells' modifiers except Life (where she is outclassed by Phoenix) however in the first world Sraphim is a must! Master all her spells if you want an easier time at The Sealed Gate or The Floating Continent.
This place is located right next to the Imperial Base on the eastern side of the imperial continent. I brought Terra (since she's required), Locke (since he's about to be required soon again anyway), Edgar (since I bring him everywhere he's playable for) and then I recommend either Mog (why not, he's new), or Sabin or Setzer. You must bring Terra to this event. The game kicks you out of the Imperial Base with a text box window saying "The espers won't give us the time of day without Terra". So make sure to bring her. Also, make sure to have done some esper gaining for Edgar and Sezter, especially if you are following my hard challenge. The enemies here are the toughest you've faced yet and a low level party could be in danger.
A TALE OF TWO GLITCHES
Trivial note.... the first time I played this game and went into the base for this event, the game glitched. Terra turned into her morphed form and flew offscreen to the lower right corner while my other three party members stood at the entrance of the base. Then it froze. It was REALLY weird and it's only happened once, but I had forgotten to save. Every other time I have played the game since then, I make sure to save first, and I have a bit of hesitation walking into that base. I know it was a glitch, but if a game ever screws up, you rarely go through that same event again without a bit of uncertainty. A different time I played through the game, a nearly identical glitch happened in this location, when you're going back through the base after having been to the Sealed Gate and the other party members show up telling you the espers attacked Vector.... Terra flew offscreen again and it froze, again! It was weird.
So, the soldiers are gone for whatever reason. You can go into the building but the door downstairs is locked for now. Go up onto the wall, down the long stairway, and enter the cave. Watch out for Ings and Zombones in the cave. The former can use Lifeshaver which drains Health Points from you to regain any damage done to them, and the latter can turn you into Zombies. Defeat these two types of enemies as soon as possible if you encounter them. The chest in the first room has an Assassin Knife. Locke is able to use it but I avoid it for two reasons. Primary reason is that the Hawk Eye is much more powerful. Secondly, it has an annoying random instant-death attack that lots of enemies are immune to. I avoid equipping most of the weapons that do this. Proceed downstairs. The room after that has a chest with a Tempest Katana for Cyan if you brought him. Hold onto it for now if you didn't bring him. Go down the next set of stairs to find a puzzle.
This room has a puzzle with bridges over lava. The bridges randomly switch with some of the tiles going to one of two different spots. If a bridge shifts to where you no longer have a tile under you, you fall into the lava, lose a few Health Points, and end up at the stairway by the first platform. You don't lose a massive amount of Health Points, but do you lose some. It's more annoying than anything due to you having to start over at the first platform. You can reach both chests by careful timing. To get to the chest on the right start from the first bridge and keep pressing right until you can get to the chest. It has an X-Potion in it. To get the chest on the left go to the first bridge and stand on the part pointing south, press down on the control pad so that you move once the bridges shift. Now you can cross to the middle platform. Face south pressing down on the middle platform until you're able to cross the next bridge, take a left and keep pressing left until you can get to the chest which has a Coin Toss! Make certain that you get this, as it is Setzer's best relic and it is ONLY available in this specific event. Work your way back to the middle platform. Take the south bridge toward the lower left platform, stand on the tile furthest southwest on the bridge, then go south once you can, onto the platform. Cross the bridge to your right once you can to the stairway. The game might lag a little in loading the next room, probably due to the bridge puzzle. Just hold down the down button until the screen shifts to the next floor.
MAKE SURE YOU TOOK THE COIN TOSS BEFORE MOVING ON! Seriously, you don't want to risk forgetting it. It unlocks Setzer's GP Rain ability. This uses your actual GP to damage enemies, and you then lose "your level times 30" (level 30 means 900, for example) worth of GP, but if you can afford it then it can be highly useful. Pun intended. Ok, moving along.
This is a big area. Take the right path over the tunnel to a chest with an Ether. Now take the left path under the tunnel you just walked over. Go up the ramp and flip the switch. You'll fall but "hear a distant sound" according to the textbox. Follow the left tunnel to the north from where you fell and you will see a bridge has now formed, leading to a chest that has a Genji Glove! If Locke doesn't already have one, give it to him. Give the new one to.... Setzer. You'll see why in the 2nd world when he gets his Dice weapons. Now work your way back and take the stairway. You will see three switches, two by a wall and one over a bridge that seems to lead nowhere. Flip the left switch first. It opens a door in the wall, go inside. In the room is a conveniently placed chest with a Tent in it and a save point! SAVE HERE AND RESTORE YOUR HEALTH TO MAXIMUM!!!! Ok, now go flip the right switch. A ninja shows up to attack you!
BATTLE: Ninja
This is dangerous and can defeat a weak party in one round. He uses Fire Skeans which damage everyone for hundreds of Health Points. Unleash your most powerful abilities like Edgar's Drill. Locke might take him out in one round if he gets the random thrown Hawk Eye instead of the regular hit if you're lucky. Terra while Morphed casting Fire 2 is also not a bad idea, she should be leveled up enough to have it learned naturally by now. Your prize for winning? Nothing. After the fight the ninja says "Nuts!!!! I thought I had the monopoly on the stuff buried in the plaza beneath the grand stairway...." then he dies.
Now go flip the switch over the bridge, it creates a stairway leading down into the next part of the chamber. Grab the chest to your left with an Ether in it. Now go into the tunnel. This is a little tricky as the path is unseen due to the graphics. Go right until you can't, up until you can't, right for one step, up until you can't, left for a step, up two steps, right one step, then up two steps, and right one step. You're visible again. The chest south of you has an Elixir in it. There's two switches with a rock in between them, ignore both switches and go south. Stand on the switch on the raised platform and go inside the room that opened. Inside are chests with an Atma Weapon, an Ether, and two Magicites (as in the item, not new espers). The Atma Weapon does more damage depending on how many Health Points you have. Feel free to give it to Terra or Edgar (Celes and Locke can use it too) but it's more effective during the second world and when you're on higher levels. Definitely keep it for now, do NOT miss it! Go to the right and cross the vertical bridge. Flip the two switches on your way along the path. The path is available to your left to the chest I told you to ignore earlier. There's a switch inside it, but in all honesty after all these years I have no clue what that switch does. Nothing noticeable happens anywhere in the cave. Grab the Magicite (item) from the chest the chest on the way and go through the large door to reach the sealed gate itself.
The party walks up to the gate and.... that laugh.... Kefka shows up!
OPENING THE SEALED GATE
My Party: Edgar, Setzer, Terra, Locke
The party walks up to the gate and.... that laugh.... Kefka shows up! But first, for trivial fun.... here is what the party members have to say in this moment if they are in the party....
LOCKE: Beyond is the Esper world....
EDGAR: From here on, it's all up to TERRA....
SABIN: We're counting on you, TERRA....
CYAN: What an eerie place....
SETZER: Why'd you bring me to such an awful place!?
Mog and Gau say nothing. What's funny is the game has the party automatically say things at points no matter who is in the party, and the next few lines are examples of this. "Terra, the gate, quickly!" after Kefka shows up is said even if Mog and Gau (the two with the weirdest dialogue) are the only allies fending off Kefka. Same happens with "You better think again, Kefka!" during the Kefka fight. Odd picturing Mog, let alone Gau, saying that.
What follows is one of the coolest scenes in the game. I love the song that plays in this part!!!! So epic. Kefka followed the party to get to the espers for himself. You fight him in a boss battle that barely even needs any strategy, then Terra morphs and several espers show up from out of the gate. The graphics for the espers are identical to espers available to you throughout the game, which raises some continuity questions as one of them is Shiva and she's already reduced to magicite within the story. Anyway....
BATTLE: Kefka
One of the easiest boss fights in the game. It's literally one step removed from being a scripted victory. Kefka can kill you with his Posion spell if you let him, but after a couple of attacks a scene is triggered where Terra gets the door to open and the espers aggressively fly into the cave. For added fun, try to win this without getting Poisoned! It can be done but you gotta be fast. Bring Locke and attack with the Hawk Eye. Now sit back and enjoy the show. The music that plays during this part makes it all the better.
"HEY! I made it through without getting POISONED!!!!" (Ah inside jokes. You know who you are if you're reading this)
WAIT, YOU CAN'T BE HERE, YOU'RE MAGICITE!
The espers who show up have the graphics of Bahamut, Zoneseek, Fenrir, Terrato, Shiva, and Kirin. Due to Shiva's and Kirin's graphic's inclusion it can't be canon that these espers are the same as the graphics portrayed since they are already reduced to magicite within the story.
Then Terra leaps back to where the rest of the party is. Kefka escapes, and a cave-in that for some reason looks like a skull in the rock formation blocks off the door to the sealed gate. Use the newly opened path with the red light south of you to get back to the entrance faster. Some of your other party members show up at the Imperial Base's entrance and inform you the espers flew off to Vector. Trivial note.... I have the same hesitation about Terra morphing and flying off in a glitch here as I do in the first talking scene at this base when you entered it, something very similar happened here once as I stated earlier. I always save before viewing this part. You never know....
Setzer flies the party to Vector and the espers attack the airship, another cool scene is triggered.
WHO NEEDS CONTINUITY? WE HAVE COOL GRAPHICS!
Terra, Locke, and Setzer are on the deck of the airship and see the espers. They duck for cover. Graphics seen are those for Bahamut, Kirin, Bismarck, Carbuncle, and Phantom. Every single one of those espers but Bahamut are magicite within the story so clearly it cannot canonically be the same espers. Cool scene though.
The airship crashes next to Maranda as a result of the espers attacking it.
RETURN TO VECTOR
My Party: Sabin, Cyan, Terra, Locke
There is nothing to do in any of the towns on the Imperial Continent and you cannot return to the Sealed Gate (although you can go back through the cave if you wanted to) and the locked door at the imperial base is still locked. There's literally nothing you can do but proceed forward with the story and return to the imperial capitol of Vector. You can take the time to esper gain or gain some levels first if you wanted. Terra and Locke are about the become the only playable characters out of those you currently have, so you may want to make sure they have some decent spells before moving on. To see a couple of extra lines of dialogue while meeting with the emperor, bring Sabin and Cyan with you to this next event.
PARTY CHANGE DIALOGUE (AFTER AIRSHIP CRASH)
TERRA: .... The Espers.... Something happened....
LOCKE: I'm sure the Espers were headed for Vector....
EDGAR: Somehow we need to tap in to the power of those Espers....
SABIN: Let's see what's become of the Empire! Hurry!
CYAN: I could feel the warrior spirits of those Espers!
GAU: ....ooh.... GAU.... high place.... Not good.... don't like....
SETZER: Urghh! For the time being, I don't own the skies....
MOG: ....puuh....
So head to Vector which is partially on fire. No townspeople anywhere other than the old lady who healed you for free in the small house, the weapons shop guy, and the armor shop guy. Returner guards, Narshe guards, Arvis, and Banon are all wandering around in town. Go into the palace past where the Guardian would have attacked you earlier. Follow the red guard inside and then go straight north to the Emperor. Guards block off doors so you have nowhere to go but to talk to the Emperor. Cid shows up. You are asked to talk to as many guards as possible before the dinner begins. There actually is a point to this, each guard you talk to gives you a point toward prizes after the dinner.
CID AND THE EMPEROR WALK THROUGH THE GUARDS!
Funny note, if you tried to go into the banquet room the red guards will walk in front of the doors. However if you do this before Cid shows up, and he emerges from the door while a red guard is in front of the left door then Cid walks right through the red guard. The same happens to the Emperor if there is a guard in front of the right door. The Emperor walks right through the guard. It looks silly.
Ok, so you have 4 minutes. Including time spent on the menu screen! You need to do this as quickly as possible. Ignore the two red guards by the Emperor's throne. You do not get points for talking to them. Head south. Talk to the 2 soldiers down the stairs and the two Magitek Armored guards down the next flight of stairs next to them. (4 total) Go outside and talk to the 3 guys out there. One of the Magitek Armored guards there will attack you. (7 total)
BATTLE: Mega Armor
Should be easy at this point. Use the exact same strategies as you did if you ran into these at the Imperial Base during your first visit to the empire. Attack with your strongest abilities though, you do not have any time to waste.
Head back inside and go to the left. The lowest floor's door on the left side has chests with a Back Guard and an X-Potion. Now go into the middle floor door of the left side. This is where most of the soldiers will be. A chest in the room that has a ton of soldiers in it has a Tincture in it. A couple will attack you, including the guy in the back room. (14 total)
BATTLE: Commando
Should be easier now than they were during your last visit, but still use your most powerful attacks. Don't waste time while in these fights.
Now go through the top floor door of the left side. Talk to the one guy in here (15 total) and then go out onto the upper deck. There's a number of soldiers and Magitek Armored guards out there. (20 total) Go inside the room where Kefka activated the Crane monsters earlier. A commando in there attacks you. (21 total) Now go through the door on the right side and down the stairs. Go through the middle floor door, there's 2 guys in here and 1 in the back room. Talk to the red guard too. (24 total) The chest in the front room has a Gale Hairpin and the one in the back room has a Revivify. The bottom floor door on the right side is a jail and Kefka is in one of the cells, talking to him takes up several seconds so avoid listening to him unless you have time to spare. If you found 24 people you're done. Go visit Kefka, wander aimlessly about in the palace, or stand still, until time runs out.
DINNER WITH THE EMPEROR
My Party: Sabin, Cyan, Terra, Locke
Your four characters will sit on one side while the Emperor and a few red guards sit on the other. Cid sits down next to you. Depending on who you brought with you, the game is programmed to make certain characters sit at the head of the table on your side of the table.
PICK WHO YOU WANT TO SIT AT THE HEAD OF THE TABLE
Here's a fun fact.... It's possible to determine (based off who is in your party) which of your characters will sit at the head of the table on your side. See the lists below....
To make TERRA sit at the head of the table.... She will by default if she is in the party.
To make LOCKE sit at the head of the table.... He will by default as long as Terra's not in the party.
To make EDGAR sit at the head of the table.... Bring anyone BUT Terra, Locke, and Cyan.
To make SABIN sit at the head of the table.... Do NOT bring Terra, Locke, Cyan, and Edgar.
To make CYAN sit at the head of the table.... He will by default as long as Locke and Terra are both NOT in the active party.
To make SETZER sit at the head of the table.... Make sure the only other allies with Setzer are either Mog or Gau.
To make GAU sit at the head of the table.... Gau must be all by himself for this to happen. Weird thing is, the banquet dialogue does not change. It's odd picturing Gau saying any of the choices you can pick for conversation.
To make MOG sit at the head of the table.... either bring Mog by himself, or bring Gau. Do NOT bring anyone else. Much like with Gau, Mog speaks oddly so it's weird to picture him (or Gau if he came with you too) saying any of the conversation choices.
Anyway, regardless of who sits across from the Emperor.... the dinner starts. You get points based off the conversation choices you make. I'll highlight which ones are the better ones and which ones are the worse ones. You can be funny if you wish, the dialogue stays nearly entirely the same no matter what you pick, but you get better prizes if you pick the better options.
When asked to make a toast....
To the Empire (2 points)
To the Returners (1 point)
To our hometowns (5 points) **** Pick this one. If you talked to 24 guards you now have 29 points.
What to do about Kefka?
Leave him in jail (5 points) ****Pick this one. 34 points total now.
Pardon him (1 point)
Execute him (3 points)
Regarding Doma....
What's done is done (1 point)
That was inexcusable (5 points) **** Pick this one. 39 points total.
Apologize again!! (3 points)
About CELES....
Was she a spy? (1 point)
CELES is one of us! (5 points) **** Pick this. 44 points total.
We trust CELES! (3 point)
Any other questions?
Ask about starting the war, about peace, and about talking to the guards.
Asking a question the first time (2 points each) **** 50 points total
Repeating a question (LOSE 10 points!) Be careful!
Esper question....
Yes they went too far (5 points) **** Pick this one. 55 points total.
But you unleashed their power! (2 points)
What did you ask me first?
Pick the right one for 5 more points / 60 points total
You do not lose points for quessing incorrectly on this.
Take a break?
Rest (5 points) **** Go for it. 65 points total.
Keep talking (no points)
During the break you can talk to Cid, the Emperor, or his guards. Cid wants peace. The Emperor just sits there saying nothing. His guards ask to battle with you in a timed optional battle. Sure, why not?
BATTLE: SP Forces (3)
Pretty easy. Have someone cast Bio on them, or just rely on your stronger abilities. Make sure to win within the time limit. For some strange reason the dinner music keeps playing during this fight.
Go sit in your chair across from the Emperor again when you are ready to talk more.
What do you want the Emperor to say?
That all you want is peace (3 points)
That your war's over (5 points) **** Pick this. 70 points total.
That you're sorry (1 point)
Will you help?
Yes (the first time) (3 points) **** Pick this. 73 points total.
No (game makes you say yes) (no points)
General Leo shows up and the Emperor says he will accompany you to Crescent Island.
If Sabin is there he says "Didn't I see you at Doma? ....I'm SURE I did.... So that was General Leo...." If Cyan is there then Leo says to Cyan "You! You're CYAN, liege to the king of Doma! Please forgive me for not being there to stop Kefka...." to which Cyan responds "It wasn't your fault". The banquet ends. Locke decides to go with Terra to Crescent Island, the rest of the party will remain in the Empire to investigate the suspicions they have.
Prizes based off your points....
0 to 39 points - South Figaro liberated
40 to 49 points - South Figaro AND Doma liberated
50 to 59 points - South Figaro and Doma liberated. Imperial Base stock room unlocked.
60 to 69 points - South Figaro and Doma liberated. Imperial Base stock room unlocked, AND you get a Tintinabar.
70 or more - South Figaro and Doma liberated. Imperial base stock room unlocked, you get a Tintinabar, AND a Charm Bangle.
SIDE QUESTS BEFORE DEPARTING FOR CRESCENT ISLAND
Party: Locke, Terra
Not a whole lot to do here really. You can visit the other party members (I'll share where everyone is), go shopping in the towns if needed, grab the items you were given access to at the base, view a scene that VERY few people seem to know about, and gain some levels if you'd like. Equip your new Charm Bangle if you want now also to reduce random encounters. Unless you want the experience points, which I totally understand.
CHARACTER DIALOGUE IN THE EMPIRE
Not entirely a string of party change dialogue lines, but here's where everyone currently is now and what they say.
EDGAR (imperial palace main hall)
"Albrook's a port to the south of the Empire. A Magitek Armor hauling ship likes the waters between......... there and Cescent Island.... We'll penetrate the Imperial base. You deal with the Espers!"
SABIN (by Banon and Arvis just outside the palace)
"Can we really trust the Empire?! I have an awful feeling about this...."
CYAN (in the jail outside the cells)
"Never will I be able to forgive Kefka...."
GAU (in the bar southwest of the palace, upstairs)
"Smells like parents' house here.... why so familiar?"
MOG (same bar as Gau, but downstairs)
"Kupo!"
WHERE'S SEZTER? FIND OUT BY VIEWING A SECRET SCENE!
Looking for Setzer? He is the hardest to locate during this sidequest. Head all the way back to the airship by Maranada. Enter the airship and go through the door to the left of where your party members had been hanging out. A secret scene plays out between Setzer and Cid! They are working on repairing the ship in the hallway.
CID: Wow, what a ship!
SETZER: That landing really messed up the engine. It'll take a while to fix....
CID: I'll help. No machine can stump me!
SETZER: Don't touch anything!
CID: Go kill time in the casino! I can speed this crate up!
SEZTER: (angry sprite) .... You little....!! Get outta my sight!
CID: But I could really make this thing hum....!
Cid leaves. Terra and Locke walk over to Setzer, no longer with the angry sprite.
TERRA: You love this ship, more than anything huh?
SETZER: Actually, when I was young there was something I was mad about....
TERRA: .... huh?
SETZER: In my youth I dreamed of having the world's fastest airship.
TERRA: You mean....
SETZER: At that time there was a young girl who piloted the Falcon, the fastest vessel ever made. Sometimes we were the worst of rivals.... but other times we were the best of friends. We always egged each other on to go faster and higher. When she disappeared along with her ship.... I felt like I lost my spirit.
SETZER: .... Poor Daryl....
After this scene ends, Setzer can be found in the large room just downstairs from the deck next to the ladder. He'll say "Repairs aren't finished yet. You'd better take the boat from Albrook." Why would they keep that scene a secret? With the exception of the Darill's Tomb event's conclusion, this is the single largest piece of character development for Setzer in the entire game! That's almost as bad as having Kefka's full back-story be told by some guy in a bar that few may ever find.
Maranda is virtually the same as before, just now it has the happier town music since they are no longer full of soldiers. This means the dogs no longer fight in the town square either. Same goes for Tzen. Nothing has changed other than happier music playing and no soldiers. You still cannot go inside the mansion in the back, the lady in front of it stays there until the second world. Go stop by the Imperial Base next to the cave to the Sealed Gate. Remember the locked door? If you had enough points during the dinner event it is now unlocked. Go inside and open the chests to get an X-Potion, a Cherub Down, 41,000 GP, an Ether, a Wall Ring, Running Shoes, a Back Guard, a Cure Ring, and an Elixir (no it's in a chest this time not a clock). You can also get a Flame Sabre from the stove, but ignore that because it sucks.
AWKWARD MOMENT CREATED BY UNCHANGED TEXT (SEALED GATE)
You can go back through the cave to the Sealed Gate though I don't see why anyone would want to, and it appears the developers thought no one would because if you try to go to the gate itself the game brings up a textbox stating "Anyway, let's return to the airship". What good would that do now? Setzer and Cid are fixing it! Speaking of Cid, I have no clue where he goes after the secret scene with Setzer. It's a mystery. I looked everywhere.
Go to Albrook and speak to General Leo at the port when you are ready to proceed.
Albrook is south of Vector. It's the town you landed at with the airship the first time you went to the empire, in case you had not been to this town yet. The happier music plays here as well although there are still some soldiers around. The bar now plays the under martial law theme that the rest of the imperial continent towns used to play, but the soldiers are no longer inside having a party, it's just the barkeep all by himself. The port is finally accessible and it is where you need to go next. Leo is there. He introduces you to Celes, who you already knew, and to.... Shadow! Who the game finally forces you to name now if you avoided him at the previous times to potentially meet him. Celes runs off before Terra and Locke can speak with her. Shadow, if you talk to him here, says one of the game's weirder lines. "I'm working for the empire, but don't worry.... I'm not going to garrote you!".... Why not just simply have him say hurt or kill? Garrote can mean to strangle, which even with the less complex terminology is still awkward sounding. Yay, translation errors. Go rest at the Inn. Locke is unable to sleep, apparently neither was Celes. She is outside looking over the bridge. Locke speaks to her revealing his feelings as a sad song plays.
The next morning go talk to Leo and the ship departs. Night falls while the ship sails to Crescent Island. A great character development scene plays out now. Terra talks to Leo about how she wants to know what love is. Leo then leaves. Shadow shows up wanting to sleep under the stars and interrupts Terra before she even has a chance to ask him his opinion on the previous conversation's subject matter, saying he cannot help her, she has to find the answers for herself. She leaves and Shadow tries to relax out on the deck. The deep tone suddenly becomes one of silliness as Locke has an attack of seasickness and runs out onto the deck feeling sick. Shadow leaves and scene fades out.
The following morning they arrive at Crescent Island. Leo has Terra, Locke, and Shadow go in a group while Celes remain in another group with him. Go up to the town of Thamasa to the northeast. I don't like that it splits the party like this. Celes and Leo being in the party too could have been cool, but I know you cannot fit 5 people. At the least being able to play as the second party of Leo and Celes a bit here sometimes with scenes shifting between Locke's and Celes' parties would have been interesting, and could have shown Celes struggling with her own feelings. Oh well. Off to Thamasa, and Shadow is in your party for a very brief bit!
The people in this town make a big deal about you being strangers. The first stop should be the weapons and armor shop in the lower left corner of town. Buy Locke two Hawk Eyes if you do not already have them. Also buy Darts for Setzer, two if you gave him a Genji Glove. Also get a Stout Spear for both Mog and Edgar. You will need at least one Ice Rod to use as items for the next boss fight. Now the armor shop.... Buy two Mystery Veils, one for Terra and one to hold onto for Celes when she returns. Buy Locke a Gaia Gear. Buy Terra a Gold Armor and a Gold Shield if you do not already have one. The item shop is to the right of the weapons and armor shop, it has nothing you haven't really seen before but the middle barrell outside of it has an Eyedrop in it. Cross the bridge to a relic shop and grab the Soft from the barrell on to the right of the shop. Buy a Dragoon Boots if you do not have two, now both Edgar and Mog can be dragoons when they come back.
The Inn is in the upper left corner of town and is really expensive, do not stay there unless you badly need to. North of that is the elder's house and the barrell to the left of the house has an Echo Screen in it. To the right of the elder's house is a house belonging to Strago, your next party member, but do not go in there yet.
WHERE'S MY CURE MEDICINE? (OPTIONAL SCENE)
Follow the fence left of Strago's house. You will see a silly scene where a little girl asks her mom to cast Cure on her, the mom tries to pretend the girl meant cure medicine, but you may have figured out this town's secret now. Viewing this scene is optional, it's funny though so don't miss it.
Now go in the passageway in between Strago's house and the mansion, you will see a little boy casting Fire on a bush. He runs off. Now it should be painfully obvious to anyone who is playing for the first time, these people know magic. You'll now be able to talk to Strago since the party is suspicious of the townspeople's strange behavior. Before you talk to Strago though there is an item you might want. The barrell to the right of Strago's house has a Green Cherry. Go into Strago's house. You get to rename both him and his granddaughter, Relm, who plays with Interceptor while the others talk. Strago pretends to know nothing about the espers.
Now that you have met Strago the townspeople open up a little more and the innkeeper lowers his price down to 1 GP! Stay there, but only when you are ready to move on. During the night Strago wakes everyone up, a house is on fire and Relm was inside. The town's secret is let out during this time as Strago breaks the town rules by casting magic to try to put out the fire. The elder tries as well and so does a random guy in the crowd, but the fire becomes worse. Terra, Locke, and Strago go inside to try to find Relm.
MANSION ON FIRE
Party: Locke, Terra, Strago
Strago might need some equipment since he is new so double check on his equipment. Try to avoid the fireballs floating around on the map, those make you enter battle with Balloon enemies. They are not too bad but they do know the Exploder spell so be careful. Strago can learn this as a Lore, more on that in his spotlight in a moment. The door on the left in the second room just causes Balloons to attack you so ignore it unless you want to level up for a bit. They keep respawning each time you try to go inside that door. The door to the right takes you to the next area. The door on the right in here leads to a chest with a Fire Rod, that won't do you any good in this event so ignore it unless you want to sell that later. Go through the door on the left. The door on the right in the next room leads a chest with an Ice Rod in it, take that. Now go through the door on the left and up the stairs. You will find another fireball in here and it attacks you.
This can be tough if you're not prepared. Strago's Aqua Rake Lore is what he should do each round. Locke should attack. Terra should summon Shiva if you equip her with that esper, and then heal the others as they attack. The boss might summon a group of Balloons and if the fight lasts long enough he might even summon a Grenade. The boss can cast Reflect and Safe on itself. Use the Ice Rod on it as an item for the easiest win. Level up if you're having difficulty.
After the battle the party finds Relm but then gets knocked unconscious from the fire making the house start to collapse. Shadow shows up, defeats the fireballs, and teleports everyone outside with a Smoke Bomb. Strago agrees to help the party search for the espers after telling Relm she cannot come (she will follow you anyway). Shadow leaves to "search for the espers his own way". Strago might need new equipment now that he is with you. Buy a Morning Star and a Gaia Gear for him at the weapons and armor shop.
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