Final Fantasy II: Soul of Rebirth (Part 1)

Soul of Rebirth is a bonus epilogue chapter that is only available once you have a save file that contains game-clear data. It can be very annoying and I recommend you save constantly - like every time you open a treasure chest and after every battle. Some of the enemies are ridiculously strong and you can get the wrong encounter at any moment and get a game over before you have any chance to attack or flee. Also there are a LOT of monster varieties in this chapter - 25% of Final Fantasy II's bestiary entries come from Dawn of Souls.

Unknown Cave
Soul Eater, Bigfoot, Gil Snapper, Sea Serpent, Death Horn, Gigas Worm, Death Knight, Glasya Labolas, Miss Vamp, Giga Parasite (4F), Flan Princess (3F), Pyrolisk (3F), Beast Devil (3F) Black Knight (Boss), Zombie Borghen (Boss), Roundworm (Boss)

During the opening cutscene, Minwu will encounter Prince Scott from Kashuan who passed away near the beginning of the main game. Have Minwu cast protect on the two of them and then Cure when necessary. It will be a bit of a tedious battle since you won't be doing much damage, but as long as you're careful about healing you should survive.

When you're done, open the chest nearby for an Elixir and then get an Ether from the top-left corner. The room in the bottom-left corner has the stairs to the next floor.

Heal if you need to then head up to find another old friend (along with an old enemy). Zombie Borghen has enough HP to go a few rounds with your party but doesn't pose much of a threat. Have Minwu cast Protect on everyone, have Scott cast Fire and have Josef attack. He'll go down and you can claim the Thief's Gloves from the chest nearby. Go all the way left and get a Hellfire then go all the way down for an Ancient Sword. Go all the way left then all the way up and enter the room to find the stairs.

Go through the next room avoiding the doors and getting a Silver Cuirass from a chest in plain view. As with the main game, there is a hidden shop behind the waterfall at the bottom of this floor - this time it sells the Haste, Berserk, Holy, and Flare tomes. Go all the way left from the waterfall and enter that door, the other two contain nothing.

Go up for a Hi-Potion then go further up and enter the room for a Golden Shield, Eyedrops, and a Demon Spear. Go left for an Aura Tome then go all the way down to find the room with the stairs.

Get the Ether from the chest, then interact with the monster. Ricard joins your party now, making it complete. He is likely miles ahead of everyone else in terms of stats and equipment, so if you want you can spread his armor among the others for now. Continue along to get a Protect Ring and a Hi-Potion then enter the door at the end of the path. Follow the linear path on this floor to a warp point. It leads to a town named Machon where you can buy better equipment for everyone and stock up on Ethers and Hi-Potions. We will also see a couple familiar faces here.

Including this guy. Hey Cid! Thanks for the airship back in the day. Sorry that you're dead. If you wander around town you will see that there are two different warp pads leading out. Let's see where the one in the southeast corner of town leads.

Oh yes it can be! And it is! Head straight upward to find the sealed door, and Minwu will use Hyper Beam on it like before but this time he won't die. I do appreciate that, as we wouldn't survive this chapter without him. Like before, inspect the outer four crystals first to raise your stats, then inspect the one in the middle. However, before we obtain Ultima this time we have to fight a boss - I really recommend saving first as it's a very tough one.

Unless you've done some serious re-configuring, Josef and Ricard will probably be essentially useless during this fight. Even with Haste and Berserk on them both, they weren't really doing any damage, but Ricard was very good for absorbing hits with his 5500 HP and keeping the others safe for one more turn. Scott was really my only damage dealer using Flare Lv.7. Minwu should use Shell on the party on the first turn because Ultima Weapon will be casting a high-level Flare spell on a single target most of the time. If it uses Blaze or Earthquake that is pretty much a blessing because it will deal very low damage to the whole party which can be easily gotten back targeting everyone at once with Cure. I had Josef using Ethers and Hi-Potions to keep everyone going and Ricard attacking even though he was only dealing about 180 damage. It was a narrow scrape but I did manage to win on my first try.

If you win, everyone's stats will probably increase further and you will get the Ultima Tome. Go back to town, rest at the inn, and then take the warp pad at the north end of town.

Unknown Palace
Li'l Murderer, Purobolos, Bloodbones, Warg Wolf, Mini Satana, Dark Magician, Chimera Brain, Lamia Matriarch, Cait Sith, Orukat, Malboro Menace, Chaos Rider, Gold Golem, Black Dragon, Dark Behemoth (3F), Twin Heads (3F), Catoblepas (3F), Dark Soul (3F, 4F and 5F), Mother Brain (5F)

I don't know how you know that but alright. Follow the linear path to the second floor, and there when the path opens up go north to get an Ether. Continue right to the next warp point. On the third floor go all the way down and then left for the Genji Gloves then go all the way up and left. Go down and take the warp pad here.

On the next floor go up and go through the left-most door. Go up and open the chest for a Ribbon guarded by a Steel Giant. This miniboss is weak to Lightning. Go back and go in the third door, following the path to a Stardust Rod guarded by Yamatano Orochi. This miniboss has no particular weakness but I found Flare and Holy dealt a lot of damage. Go back and go through the fourth door, taking the paths in the order left, left, right to get the Wyvern Lance which is guarded by a Black Dragon.

Backtrack a little bit and then take the left path all the way to the end, passing through the wall at this point to a hidden room with a chest containing the Wild Rose sword, guarded by Lucifer. This miniboss has a few spells which won't deal too much damage, but has a very dangerous physical attack that will also heal it. Have Minwu cast Protect on your party, then you can lay into it with physical attacks, Holy and/or Flare.

Go back and take the second door now, opening the chest along the way for the Bracers which are guarded by Beelzebub Soul. Follow the path the rest of the way to the warp pad.

Back on a different section of 4F, follow the path to the warp pad. On the next floor go up and get an unguarded Genji Helm before continuing to the warp point. On the next floor go all the way up along the right wall to get the Genji Armor. Go back down and go all the way left alone the bottom of the room for an Aegis Shield. Go up to the warp pad. On the next floor go all the way down and all the way right to the warp pad.

The Emperor (apparently his "light half") will tell you a bit of a tale and say that the passage your team thought was Jade was actually Raqia, the realm of fallen angels. He asks for your forgiveness and offers you eternal life in return, but you hear the voices of your loved ones telling you not to be fooled. There's really no indication that he is trying to trick you, he doesn't even reveal any ulterior motives after the battle. But nonetheless, we do battle him.

I casted Haste and Berserk on Josef and Ricard and had Minwu and Scott use Holy/Flare every turn respectively, and I finished the battle without ever having to heal. He casts a few spells including high-level Flare but the most frequent spell he used on me was Dispel even though I hadn't put up any barriers.

In the end you will see almost the exact same scene as the end of the main game, the Soul of Rebirth team will just offer a few lines of their own input. Despite the annoying enemies and having to build another set of characters from the ground up, I actually think this is a nice epilogue/bonus chapter.

Minwu
HP: 2896
MP: 466
Attack: 96
Defense: 92
Spirit: 99
Intelligence: 99
Stamina: 48
Agility: 34
Magic: 99
- Stardust Rod
- Aegis Shield
- Diamond Helm
- Dragon Armor
- Diamond Gloves
Cure Lv.13
Life Lv.8
Basuna Lv.6
Esuna Lv.4
Barrier Lv.8
Blink Lv.6
Protect Lv.7
Shell Lv.7
Wall Lv.6
Dispel Lv.4
Silence Lv.5
Sap Lv.5
Fog Lv.7
Holy Lv.10
Fear Lv.4
Teleport Lv.1

Scott
HP: 3014
MP: 396
Attack: 124
Defense: 150
Spirit: 32
Intelligence: 99
Stamina: 51
Agility: 70
Magic: 37
- Dragon Shield
- Wild Rose
- Genji Helm
- Genji Armor
- Genji Gloves
Fire Lv.8
Thunder Lv.8
Blizzard Lv.8
Cure Lv.4
Life Lv.5
Flare Lv.11

Josef
HP: 2496
MP: 42
Attack: 139
Defense: 90
Spirit: 10
Intelligence: 25
Stamina: 99
Agility: 25
Magic: 16
- Yoichi's Bow
- Ribbon
- Dragon Armor
- Bracers
Haste Lv.5

Ricard
HP: 8321
MP: 73
Attack: 234
Defense: 78
Spirit: 46
Intelligence: 19
Stamina: 88
Agility: 99
Magic: 10
- Wyvern Lance
- Thunder Lance
- Ribbon
- Diamond Cuirass
- Diamond Gloves
Berserk Lv.5

Once again, thank you to anyone who read along and I hope you found this helpful :)

Final Fantasy II: Dawn of Souls (Part 9)

The Emperor claws his way back from Hell and announces that he wants to destroy the world, and Leon has an epiphany about the situation. Apparently he thought that the rebels were the ones causing needless death... or that the world was better off under the rule of am Emperor who wipes out entire towns on a whim... something like that, but he's obviously not that smart. And has a really weird set of moral values. Unfortunately, Ricard dies so the rest of the party can escape on the wyvern and now Leon is on our team instead. Here we go again with the incredibly weak new party addition.

Talk to Hilda to learn the keyword Jade Passage and then ask Leila and Gordon about it to get some more information. Even though we flew out of Palamecia on the wyvern, our airship somehow made it back to Fynn. Rest at the inn if you want, and if you have a ton of spare gil like I did, buy as many Elixirs as you can.

Fly to this position where you will see a small pond, simply step into it to enter the next area.

In the first area of the cave go all the way right and then down and get a Diamond Mace from the chest. Go all the way left and all the way down and get a Hellfire then go all the way right and enter the room to find the stairs down. On the next floor go all the way up and get another Hellfire then go all the way right and start going down to get an Antarctic Wind. Go down and get the Cat Claws dagger on the left, which is guarded by a Blue Dragon (weak to poison). Make your way to the room in the top-right corner and take the stairs down.

Make your way through the next room, going up a set of steps to get the Rune Axe which is protected by a King Behemoth. At the bottom of the room, behind the waterfall is a hidden merchant selling Death Tomes, Berserk Tomes, Haste Tomes and Flare Tomes. Go right and into the third door to find the stairs.

On the next floor go up and get a Betrayal Fang then go the rest of the way up and enter the room which has a Dragon Armor, Aegis Shield, and Holy Lance. Go to the right and get a Yoichi's Bow protected by a Red Dragon, then go down and enter the room to the next floor. Go along the next floor getting a Hi-Potion, ignoring the room further along but getting a Protect Ring near the door. The next chest has an Elixir and the next door has the stairs. On the next floor simply follow the linear path to the warp point.

Follow the linear path to the teleporter, then on the second floor go north when the path opens up to find a chest with an Ether. Continue along to the warp pad. On the next floor go south first and get the Elixir on the right, then go back and head up. Go all the way right and all the way down to the next warp.

On the next floor there are four doors, enter the first one. When the path splits go right and when it splits again go straight up until you hit a wall, go left through the fake wall, then go all the way up and right to a chest with the Genji Gloves which are guarded by Zombie Borghen, I one-shotted him with Fire Lv.10. Go back and exit, then go through the next door.

Go up and pass through the wall at this point, then go under the left archway and get the Genji Helm from a chest guarded by Tiamat (weak to Physical, absorbs lightning, ice, fire, and poison). Ignore the next door and go in the fourth, following the single path to a chest that has the Genji Armor guarded by Beelzebub (no weakness, resistant to ice and absorbs fire). Go back and enter the third door and follow the path to a Ribbon guarded by Astaroth (resists lightning, ice, and fire). Follow the path the rest of the way and when it splits go left to reach the warp pad. Follow another linear path to another warp pad. Go left for a Sage's Wisdom then continue along the linear path to the next warp point.

On the next floor go right at the split and continue all the way right to a chest with a Hellfire then go back to the split. Go left and when the path splits again continue on the left-most path to reach an Acid Phial. From here go right to the warp pad. On the next floor go all the way left and all the way down to the warp pad. On the next floor go all the way up to find the Emperor. It's final boss time!

The Emperor does not pose much of a threat as long as you have prepared well. He spams a spell called Starfall but it was only doing about 250 damage to each of my party members. He uses the Flare spell which did closer to 800, and can Curse your party members and attack with a strong physical attack. I started the battle casting Berserk, Protect, and Shell on my party then had Firion and Leon attacking every turn, Maria casting Flare Lv.10 and Guy casting Cure. I never really encountered any dangerous situation with this setup.

Firion 
HP: 7130
MP: 227
Attack: 180
Defense: 150
Strength: 69
Spirit: 27
Intelligence: 57
Stamina: 70
Agility: 48
Magic: 28
- Cat Claws
- Ripper
- Genji Helm
- Genji Armor
- Genji Gloves
Dagger Lv.12
Fire Lv.8
Thunder Lv.8
Blizzard Lv.8
Cure Lv.10
Basuna Lv.2
Life Lv.6

Maria
HP: 5875
MP: 304
Attack: 105
Defense: 92
Strength: 41
Spirit: 40
Intelligence: 99
Stamina: 42
Agility: 99
Magic: 32
- Rune Axe
- Dragon Shield
- Diamond Helm
- Dragon Armor
- Diamond Gloves
Sword Lv.9
Axe Lv.10
Shield Lv.9
Fire Lv.10
Blizzard Lv.10
Thunder Lv.10
Berserk Lv.9
Scourge Lv.10
Osmose Lv.8
Flare Lv.10
Ultima Lv.10
Death Lv.9
Toad Lv.9
Break Lv.9

Guy
HP: 4917
MP: 282
Attack: 116
Defense: 72
Strength: 53
Spirit: 99
Intelligence: 10
Stamina: 34
Agility: 5
Magic: 30
- Yoichi's Bow
- Diamond Helm
- White Robe
- Diamond Gloves
Bow Lv.10
Cure Lv.14
Protect Lv.8
Shell Lv.4
Life Lv.7
Teleport Lv.5
Esuna Lv.7
Holy Lv.9

Leon
HP: 5578
MP: 37
Attack: 83
Defense: 85
Strenght: 62
Spirit: 16
Intelligence: 36
Stamina: 79
Agility: 58
Magic: 33
- Poison Axe
- Aegis Shield
- Diamond Helm
- Diamond Armor
- Diamond Gloves
Axe Lv.12
Shield Lv.11

Those were my character stats, but if you are using that as a reference keep in mind that the final boss was very easy for me. You don't really need everything raised that high.

You bet your tush you were! Cuz we're insects with swords and magic!

Their long struggle was finally at an end.

The emperor...

Pandaemonium...

The monsters plaguing the world...

All had vanished without a trace.

Peace had returned once more.

The wounds of the war would mend...

...and the memory of those bitter days would fade.

But one thing would never be forgotten...

...that a band of young heroes once saved the world.

Thank you so much for reading, and if you were using this as a 

walkthrough I hope it was of assistance. :)
I will be back to cover the "Souls of Rebirth" bonus chapter

in a little while.

Go to Soul of Rebirth --->

Final Fantasy II: Dawn of Souls (Part 8)

You will likely notice fairly quickly that the world has become more dangerous now that we have obtained the Ultima Tome. The enemies you find in dungeons will be the same, but on the overworld map, most monsters have been replaced by stronger foes.

Talk to Hilda to learn the keyword Cyclone though she won't tell you much about it or give you any direction for what to do next unless you ask her about Wyverns. Go down to the castle's first floor and take the stairs in the bottom-left corner all the way up to the top floor. Go north and enter a room with a giant mirror and use the pendant on it.

Go to Paul's house in town and ask him about it and he'll tell you about a secret room in his house, enter it to find a Black Garb, Thief's Gloves, an Elixir, a Silver Cuirass, a Ruby Cuirass, a Gold Cuirass, a Gold Hairpin and the Blood Sword. Exit Flynn now and go north to the cyclone. As soon as you touch it you will be taken inside. If you want to be able to leave again before you complete the dungeon, make sure one of your party members knows Teleport.

Once you enter the cyclone, make your way around the first floor and go up the first set of stairs you encounter. Go up and get the Ripper dagger from the chest then go down and around to another set of stairs. Go up and then follow this floor around (parts of the floor here will damage you but it's unavoidable) and get the Poison Axe. Return to the first floor and go left to the other stairs, go up two floors. On the next floor go up the first set of stairs you see and then go left for the Diamond Gloves and go right for a Diamond Helm. Return to the previous floor.

Continue around and you will see two more sets of stairs, take the left one and follow the path (avoid the damaging floor as it's a dead end) and open the chest for the Defender and go down and left for a Diamond Armor which is protected by two Generals. Go back to the previous floor then take the other stairs up, then go up another floor. Go right here and open the chest for a Wind Flute protected by a Green Dragon (weak to lightning). Go up to the next floor.

As you approach the Emperor you will have to fight three Royal Guards, then two. The Emperor will be accompanied by another two, plus a Wood Golem but as you can see his stats are rather pathetic. I had the battle over with in three turns using Fire on the Golem then Scourge on the Emperor. and taking care of the Guards with my physical attackers.

Everyone starts to celebrate the Emperor's defeat, but it turns out the Dark Knight Leon has taken the Emperor's throne already. If you don't remember, Leon is Maria's brother who has been "missing" since Firion, Maria and Guy woke up in Altair at the beginning of the game. Turn out he's been working with the enemy the whole time, how awkward.

Talk to Hilda to learn the new keyword Palamecia and then ask either Leila or Gordon about it to have them tell you to talk to Paul in town. Go to his house, but talk to Cid first who has shown up out of nowhere, then ask Paul about Palamecia afterward to be given your directions. You will have to travel to Paloom to get the airship, but once you have it you can travel to pretty much anywhere on the map at rapid speeds without having any enemy encounters - what a blessing! Use the inn in Flynn if you want, then fly to Palamecia and land on the very top of the castle.

Follow the linear path to an empty room where you will fall through a trap door to the first floor. Go down and get the Diamond Cuirass then go back up and go right ignoring the first downward path and taking the one at the end. Go up the first set of stairs you see and follow the path to an Hourglass then go back. Continue down and go all the way left to a Garlic then backtrack and take the path upward to another set of stairs.

Go right and then down for an Ether then go all the way up for a Buckler then from here it's a linear path to the next stairs. On the next floor go up and follow the left path to a Thunder Spear protected by an Imperial Shadow then go back and take the right path to the stairs. On the next floor take the first path down and get the Saint's Spirit then go up and all the way left for a Sleepgrass. Go back and go up and all the way along the left path to find a room with a Healing Staff, a Mage's Staff, and a Wizard's Staff. Go back and go right to the stairs.

Go left and up the stairs, then go down and get the Sun Blade protected by a Lamia Queen and some Coeurl. Go around and up to the next floor. Go left and down and enter the room to get three Elixirs. Go out and go back down two floors. On this floor go all the way down and follow the path left and up to the stairs. Follow the path here around to the next stairs and again on the next floor. On the top floor, follow the path all the way left and up to get a Hellfire and a Wind Flute then go to the throne room in the middle of the floor. There's no boss battle here, so I'll continue in the next part.

Go to part 9 --->

Final Fantasy II: Dawn of Souls (Part 7)

Approach the Mysidian Tower and press A to use the Crystal Rod and enter. If you leave you will have to do this again to get inside. On the first floor, go right and get the Ether from the chest, then go up and get a Staff... if you want...

Pass through this false wall and get the White Robe, then to the left is another Staff... but the question is why though. Go to the middle of the room and take the stairs up.

On the next floor go up and then enter the right pathway to get up to two chests that have a Flame Bow and a Flame Lance. Go back to the stairs then from the left side go down and left. When the path splits go up first to get to a Flame Shield then go back to the split and take the lower path to the next stairs. On the next floor you will be swimming through magma. Fun! Ignore the first three doors and go through the last. Go all the way right in the next section of the room to get the Flame Sword then go back and up the steps. Go right again and get the Flame Armor then go left and get the Flame Helm. Go back and enter the room. You will have to fight a Flame Gigas here - I won in one turn by having two characters use the Blizzard spell. 

On the next floor go left and get the Ice Shield then continue left and go up the stairs. Go down and get the Ice Lance then return to the next floor and head down. Go right and get the Ice Gloves then continue until the path opens up. Go up and left into a small alcove to get the Ice Armor and then go right and go up the stairs. 

Make your way around the linear path and get the Ice Brand before you go up the steps. In the next room you will have to fight an Ice Gigas - again, it can be taken down quickly with Fire magic. On the next floor go right and get the Elixir from the chest then go back and take the path downward. Go all the way right, then all the way down and start heading left. When you see a path going up follow it to a Wizard's Staff then continue left and go up the stairs.

On the next floor head right and get the Spider's Silk then go up and get the Unicorn Horn. Go a bit further right and get the Hermes' Shoes then go all the way left and enter the room. This time you have to fight a Thunder Gigas, it is weak to poison (aka Scourge). If you don't have that, other strong spells will work or boosted physical attacks. 

On the next floor go all the way up and go right to get the Flare Tome which is protected by a Devil's Bloom. Take the next right path down from there and enter the room to find the stairs. On the next floor go up and get an Hourglass then go back and go all the way left for a Cross. From here go up the steps then go up and all the way right for a Black Robe protected by a White Dragon (weak to fire). Below here you will see four doors - go in the second one and up the stairs.

You will find Minwu on the final floor, and he has been waiting for you so that he might break the seal on the ultima tome's chamber. However, the energy he expends in doing so causes him to die. Go through the door and inspect the four blue crystals first to raise some of your stats. Then inspect the gold crystal in the middle and acquire the Ultima Tome. This magic is classified as a White Magic sell since it will raise your Spirit when used, but its damage is actually based on other factors. It is determined by; how many spells the user knows, the levels of the user's spells, and the user's weapon levels. 

I realize from a reader's perspective this has been a short part, but that last dungeon was hell on me as a writer so I'm going to wrap up this section here. To be continued! 

Go to part 8 --->

Final Fantasy II: Dawn of Souls (Part 6)

Oh look, I found Mysidia. Talk to the people around town if you'd like and rest at the inn. The main attraction here is the giant magic shop, though you probably have most things you want already. It does have Holy, a powerful (eventually) offensive spell for your white magic user, and the weapon and armor shops have some alright stuff too. In the southwest corner of town is a house with a bookshelf at the back that you can ask about nearly any keyword you know to learn a bit of backstory. East of here you will find a staircase leading to an underground area. Make your way left the goddess statue and use the White Mask on it. This is step 1 to clearing an obstacle in the next area.

When you're ready, leave town and go north a short distance, then go east until you fine a break in the mountains below you. Pass through it to the southwest to find the Cave of Mysidia.

When you enter, go all the way left along the upper wall until you see steps going down to a lower area. Take them, and open the chest there for a Gold Hairpin. Go back and take the path down which soon turns into a 4-way intersection. Go right and get the Black Garb from the chest down the steps, and then go back to the intersection and down all the way. Go left and down the stairs and interact with Firion's doppleganger, placing the Black Mask on it. The creature and the mask both disappear. Welp. Hope that tribe of underground mask-people on the tropical island didn't want their society's one and only treasure back. Enter the door nearby and go down the stairs.

Go all the way up on the next floor and to the right, going down the stairs and opening the chest for a Power Staff.

To the right of that is another chest that seems to be completely blocked off, however, you can pass through the wall at the spot shown above. The chest contains a Flame Lance. Go down but don't go down the steps, instead go left to the corner and enter the room there, which contains the next set of stairs.

On the next floor is another chest accessible with a hidden passage, this one contains an Ice Bow. From here go right, then down, then make your way to the right wall and go down, descending the steps. To the left in this lower area you will find a chest with an Ogrekiller axe (guarded) and then follow the area to the end. Go in this door and down the stairs. On the next floor make your way around to the steps and then continue up and go right. Descend these steps and get the Potion from the chest. Go down and left and enter the middle of three doors; get the Phoenix Down, Bell of Silence and Gold Needle from the chests here. Exit and go down and right and enter the door there to find the stairs.

On the next floor open the chest right next to you for the Drain Tome which is guarded by Ghosts - very powerful undead enemies. From here go down and then right and go up the steps.

Sticking to the right-hand side in the upper area, go up and pass through another fake wall. The chest below you contains a Mini Tome while four above you contain a Potion, Ether, Hi-Potion and Hi-Potion. Return through the fake wall and go down then left to find another set of steps, go down them and make your way up to the singular room. Get the Drain Tome and Osmose Tome from the two lower chests here, then open the top one for the Crystal Rod. Teleport out.

Make your way back to Mysidia, stopping by to use the inn if you want and buy any consumables you need (now that enemies are dropping heaps of money after every battle I've been carrying 40-50 Ethers personally. However I also haven't used a single Potion so far in the game so y'know, life choices). Now we can head to that sealed tower to find Minwu and the Ultima Tome.

Sail to this position and use a Cottage to heal your party, as our journey is about get cut off by a cutscene and we will have another dungeon to plow through. Also, if you have anything super important equipped to Leila remove it now, as she'll be missing from our party soon.

It's not a true Final Fantasy game until our party gets eaten by a whirlpool. Yes, the yellow liquid here IS acid that will damage you with every step, and no, there is no way to avoid it. Continue on the linear path to find a chest with a Twist Headband. Further along is another chest with a Power Vest and a bit further along is a... uhhh... "door". Yeah, this place is kinda gross.

Go along the path and you will find a few people to talk to. Take the second path upward for a room with a chest containing a Power Armlet. Talk to the knight-like man blocking your way. You can ask him about a few things but he'll simply react, not give you any information. Show him the Crystal Rod to have him join your party. Like all new party members, he starts out pathetically weak, so you may want to move him to the back row. Again, talk to the rest of the people if you want and then exit this area via the top-left.

In the next area go left to wade into the purple acid, then go to the top of the room to find a Gaia Blade and down to the bottom of the room to find a Diamond Shield protected by some Red Souls. With those in hand, go left and interact with the monster.

The Roundworm has no particular elemental weaknesses, but magic does work better than physical attacks. However, casting Berserk will help if you have any characters who haven't been learning magic. When the enemy is out of the way, climb aboard the ship to leave the Leviathan.

To be continued!

Go to part 7 --->

Final Fantasy II: Dawn Of Souls (Part 5)

It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-oh no wait, we are imprisoned by a horrible enemy.

Inspect the bars of your cell and a scene will start where Paul comes to rescue you. You know, Paul. The thief. The guy who was trapped in Semit Falls for some reason. First go all the way right and then up to get the Antidote from the chest. You'll have to fight a handful of enemies for it because, I don't know, "screw you" I guess, but they're not really difficult or anything anyway. All the rooms here are empty except the top-right one which has the stairs leading up to the next floor.


Up here is the cell containing the real Princess Hilda. As with the Dreadnouggat (I mean Dradnought) we don't need a key or anything. just walk over and open it up. Gordon will leave the party to escort Hilda out. Follow them out, the emperor seems to have vanished. Oh well, end of the game.

Make your way back to Altair yet again and learn that Princess Hilda and Gordon are planning to retake Fynn. Let's go help them, I guess. Talk to both Hilda and Gordon at the camp west of Gatrea, then go north and enter Fynn Castle. Go up and reunite with Leila before you start exploring, then go left and up to find a chest with 1000 gil. Go to the bottom-left corner and go up the stairs there. On the top floor go to the top-right room to get a Break Tome, Death Tome, and Toad Tome. Go back to the first floor. Go to the right side of the room and up to find two chests with 2000 gil and 1000 gil. Go up the stairs that Leila was blocking.

Go left and open the chest for an Aura Tome guarded by monsters (kill the Sorcerers first). Then go to the right side of the room if you feel like fighting some more monsters in exchange for a Potion. Go up a couple sets of stairs and then talk to the soldier in the throne room.

Gottos isn't that tough, using your spells or Berserk + physical attacks will take care of him quick. After the battle, talk to Hilda to learn the new keywords Mysidia, Mask, and Ekmet Teloess then talk to Gordon to learn Ultima Tome. Exit the castle and go into the city. Check the shops for new equipment if you want, then go to the house in the bottom left corner of the city. Ask Paul about "Ekmet Teloess" then go back to the throne room.

Open the secret passage here then enter and go all the way down. In the castle's basement go down and right and open the chest there for a Knife. Go back to the stairs then head north and get the Eye Drops on the left. Go right and when the path open up go down and get the Clothes... if you want... I guess... anyway, go up and right and down the stairs.

On the next for go up and to the right for an Ether then left. When the path splits go left and down for a Potion. Go back and up and left to get a Maiden's Kiss then go back and take the path right. Ignore the path going left and go down the stairs.

On the next floor go straight down and open the chest for a Hi-Potion. The room is empty, so go back up and left and when the path splits go down and get the Flame Shield. Go all the way up and left to get a Spider's Silk and then go down and take the stairs.

On the next floor when the path splits take the upper path and follow it right to a Power Staff protected by some undead foes. Go back and start heading right, when the path splits go up and over to the right to find the chest with the Flame Armor. Go back and take the lower path, heading north from the stairs to find a Betrayal Fang.

On the next floor head all the way right, then up, and take the left path. Get the Orichalcum along the path, defeating the Rhyos that pops out, and then continue up to where there are 6 doors in a line. Door #5 is where you will find the White Mask, then head up to a panel that will teleport you out of the castle.

Our next objective is to find the Black Mask/Mysidia/Minwu (in that order).

The Black Mask is here, on the Tropical Island. When you enter the cave there go all the way south and get the Eye Drops from the chest. Backtrack and take the path leading upward (not the one leading to the exit obviously) and take the first left branch to reach a Hi-Potion. Above that is another Hi-Potion then go back down, and left. At the split take the lower path, and ignore the path going up (dead end) as you continue left to a chest with an Ether. Go back and take the upper path, which will soon split again - take the lower path to a Spider's Silk and then go back. Follow the upper path around to the stairs.

Go up on this floor and go left to open the chest with the Sleepgrass then go down the stairs nearby. Open the chest in this small area for another Spider's Silk. From here you can continue on to an outside area that has a handful of masked folk wandering about. They're not much for conversation i in fact, the only thing they will tell you is that they don't want you to take the Black Mask. However, one on the right-hand side will sell you some consumable items if you are in need, and another has some equipment though it probably isn't better than what you already have.

Either way, from the Spider's Silk chest, go back up the stairs, then go all the way right for a Scourge Tome and all the way down along the right wall for a Blind Tome. To the left of that is another Scourge Tome and then further left and down is another Blind Tome. But why. Go back a few steps and go up, and go down the stairs you see.

On this floor go down and get the Garlic, then go up and around to the next stairs and take them down. Head down here and take the stairs back up for a small section of the previous floor that contains a Phoenix Down guarded by some undead monsters. Irony or something. Go back and go right to find another staircase going up - take it. Follow the singular paths to a corner of the bottom floor that has a Sleepgrass, a Gaia Drum (protected) and another Sleepgrass. Backtrack to B4.

Go to the top-left corner and take the stairs down to reach a chest with a Death Idol, then go back up and go right to find 1000 gil and the next set of steps a bit further along. On the bottom floor you will see a chest with a Sleep Tome and to the left is a room where the Black Mask - and the boss - await.

These enemies did not last long. I casted Berserk on my entire team on the first turn and defeated them on my fourth turn. Claim the Black Mask from the chest and then go up to use the warp tile for a fast trip outside. Now, it's onward to Mysidia!

Go to part 6 --->

Final Fantasy II: Dawn Of Souls (Part 4)

You can tell as soon as you walk in that Castle Deist is a dungeon and not a town, which gives us some indication of the Dragoons' fate. Go up and talk to the child, then follow him up the stairs. Go left on the second floor and open the chest for a Cottage. Then go all the way right and down the stairs. Go all the way left here and into the room.

From left to right, top to bottom, the chests contain; Eye Drops, Antidote, Cross, Mallet, Gold Needle, Sage's Wisdom, Saint's Spirit, and Wing Sword. Go back to the stairs but don't go up yet, go all the way down and left into the second room. The chests here contain; Stop Tome, Stun Tome, and Curse Tome. Exit the room and go down to find one more chest, this one with a Unicorn Horn. Go back and up the stairs. Go to the bottom-left corner and take the stairs down and open the chest for a Phoenix Down, then return to the previous floor once more and talk to the woman and child near the middle of the floor. Ask the woman about Dragoons and Wyverns to learn what you need. Make your way out of the castle and go north to Deist Cavern.

In case your wondering, that is grass on the cave floor, not poison. Our time here will be short, but we'll be back before too long. Go to the right and open the chest for 230 gil, then go further right and down the stairs. Inspect the helmet there for the Pendant. Now exit the cave - we need another key item before we can finish our business here.

Return to the castle and speak to the wyvern now that you have the pendant. Ask it about Wyverns and you will get the Wyvern Egg. Back to the cave@

Go down and descend the stairs, then follow the path dipping down for an Ether before you take the next stairs. Go left and when the path splits take the upper one and down another set of stairs. Go to the right and open the bottom chest for a Knight's Armor protected by Adamantoise then go up for a Saint's Spirit, Sage's Wisdom, and Flame Bow. For a shortcut you can teleport and re-enter the dungeon, just don't forget to heal your teleporter.

Go left and take the first path going down to reach a chest with a Mythril Helm. Back up and to the left is a chest with Mythril Armor as well. Take the next path downward and go down the stairs.

Ignore the bridge because it is weak and trying to walk across will cause you to fall to a lower floor. Instead go north and open the chest for Mythril Gloves then continue around the platform for a Mythril Mirror. Go back up to the previous floor and go left, take the next path downward for a Mage's Staff "protected" by Green Souls (I say that because they will likely heal you instead of damaging you). Go back up and go left and take the stairs down.

Go right and get the Mythril Shield then go up and around the outer edge of the room. Go down the stairs, then go left and open the chest for an Acid Phial. Go down the stairs. Go to the right to find four doors, save and then go through the third one from the left.

The chimeras don't have any weaknesses as you'll see, but they don't need any. By the time I had waded my way through the ocean of Hill Gigases I was able to defeat each of them in two hits. Writing walkthroughs tends to make one over-leveled I guess because you have to search every nook and cranny... and the fleeing mechanic in this game is extremely broken and hardly works.

Anyway, approach the spring and put in the Wyvern Egg. Nothing will happen right away, so teleport out. Go and talk to the people in Deist castle if you want, but they will just tell you that the wyvern that gave you the egg is dead. You may be wondering, "what the hell do I do now?" which is fair. I forgot how horrible this game is at actually giving you any sense of direction. Well, that's what I'm here for.

We're going to do what we've already done a million times - backtrack to Altair. Leila will be departing from our party shortly, but she won't be participating in the game's bonus chapter so feel free to remove all her equipment to sell. If you talked to Hilda before we set out to sea you may have noticed she was acting a bit strange. If not... well, it doesn't really matter, but go speak to her now either way.

Oooh, what's going on here?

A trap. It's actually just a trap.

The Lamia Queen doesn't have any weaknesses or resistances so just unleash your most powerful attacks. She has a strong attack that can put allies to sleep so you may want to cast Protect on your party, and she can also Charm your party members so they will attack their allies.

Once she is defeated Lelia will be swapped out for Gordon and you'll be given your next destination. I suggest buying a couple cottages before you head out to the open sea.

You have to land on this side of the world's one giant continent in order to reach Palamecia, so do so and then begin hiking north through the desert. We don't have to go THAT far at least (just to the red dot to the northeast, the one further up is Kashuan/Chocobo Forest), but the enemies around here are pretty strong. If you have some cottages you can train around here for a while and also heal before you head into the coliseum because of course, that is a trap as well.

Even though I didn't take my own advice and heal before I went inside I did perfectly fine for this boss. I certainly remember it being a lot more powerful, but oh well. I used Berserk on Gordon, Protect on my team and then just hit it with Fire, Blizzard and Gordon's regular attacks, it was dead in four turns I think?

Even after you win, you are unfortunately thrown in the dungeon. It's like these world-dominating bad guys don't even play fair.

I'll be covering the next steps of the journey in another part.

Go to part 5 --->