Demonsbane

In the Tomb Of The Great King (King Thornwall or whatever name ends with the word wall), there is a secret door in the tomb that gives you the Demonsbane sword, which adds +59 to attack. After you defeat the two Demon walls in the main corridor there will be three teleport pedestals. The middle one takes you back to the beginning of the tomb. The others need to be activated. Take the right path and explore the area until you reach a room with a jewel in the wall. Activate the jewel. An altar will rise and give you a brief description of what it is. Take the teleporter pedestal back to the others. Then, take the left path. Explore the area to find another jewel in a room. Activate it and an altar will lower, leading you to the room with Belias. However, do not go this way yet. Backtrack to the room with the activated jewel and teleporter pedestal. Take it back to the others, then take the first pedestal back to beginning. If you defeated the first Demon wall, behind where the demon wall was located is another jewel. Activate it, then take either of the new stairways to the secret area that does not show up on the map which are to the left and the right. When you go through the doors you can take either way to the bottom. However, be careful as there will be many high level elementals that fall from the ceiling. At the very bottom of the staircases, go towards the middle. There will be a chest which contains the Demonsbane.

During the first trip to Raithwall’s tomb make sure to be at least level 17 and have Quickenings. Fight and defeat the first Demon Wall you encounter. The best way is to use a Quickening chain to start off. You can also set the game speed to fast because this optional Boss is not affected by it. Make sure you do at least 6,000 to 8,000 damage during your Quickening chains. If you run out of MP, either use an Ether or just change that character with another who also has Quickening(s). You will probably have to fight it out at the end of your chains. When you defeat this Boss, go back and save. Then, continue over the bridge where you defeated the first Demon Wall and proceed through to defeat another, who is pretty easy. Once this is done, go back to where the first Demon Wall was located and you will see a glowing stone. Touch it to reveal two staircases. Go down either of them and follow the path down. You do not have to fight the enemies encountered — just run past them. You will reach a chest which has a 30 to 40% chance of being the Demonsbane. If the chest is different, quit the game, return to the title screen, and repeat. You can keep doing this until you get as many Demonsbane as desired. They can also be sold for 3,000 Gil each. Note: This requires some patience and time.

Feather Of The Flock

When in the Giza Plains during the Rain season, there are five withered trees on the banks of the water. Knock them all down and they will float down the river and cause a path to form in the south bank. Cross it and go all the way to the southeast corner to find an urn. Open it and you will get the Feather Of The Flock. It gives you a bond with Cockatrices.

Ragnarok

To get the Ragnarok with 109 attack power, you must pass the Pharos at Ridorana. After you pass the Pharos, go to the clan hall and talk to Montblance. He will give you a special hunt to kill Ixion. Once accepted, go back to the Pharos at Ridorana. You must be at least level 66. Purchase a Golden Axe for 18,000 Gil and some Echo Herbs and Eye Drops. Equip the Golden Axe to your strongest character. It will take a ranged damage of 1 to 9,999. Make sure you have three Bubble Belts to double your maximum HP. To find him, go to the lift just when you get in and take it up to Penumbra. It will require a few attempts to find and kill him. Once you do, go back to the petitioner and he will give you the Ragnorok.

Zodiac Spear

Open all treasure chests in the game except the following:

1. Treasure chest in Lowtown, outside of Old Dylan’s place.

2. When sneaking into the palace (before getting the Goddess Tear), there are several chests in the Cellar. Do not open the two chests in the southeast corner.

3. All treasure chests in the Confiscatory (the place where you get your weapons and armor back after being captured).

4. In the Phon Coast, later in the game, there is an island with sixteen chests all near each other. The fourth chest among all sixteen must not be opened, so it is best not to open any of them. They only contain Gil.

Then, go to the Necrohol of Nabudis to find the most powerful weapon in the game, the Zodiac Spear. It has a +150 Attack with +8 Evasion.

Adrammelech Esper

This Esper is located at Athroza Quicksands in Zertinan Caverns. The place where you fight him has many other monsters that join him. Do not attempt to fight him until you can routinely kill a numerous amount of level 40 monsters at the same time. Keep in mind he is not summoning them. If you can keep from pushing the battle to areas you have not yet walked on you should be able to stop them from springing up from the ground. One monster spawns for about every one or two square feet in relation to your character.

Cuchulainn Esper

Cuchulainn is located in the Garamsythe Waterway’s No. 1 Cloaca under Rabanastere. To get there, complete the “Waterway Haunting” and “Lost In The Pudding” hunts to open the way to get the Sluice Gate Key. Once you have the key, go to Waterway Control and follow these steps to get to the Esper:

1. Begin by closing the No. 3 and No. 10 controls in the Central Waterway Control.

2. Enter the No. 3 Cloaca Spur and use the No. 1 South Waterway Control at the end.

3. Return to the Central Waterway control and open No. 3 and No. 10.

4. Close No. 4 and No. 11, then enter the No. 4 Cloaca Spur and use the No. 1 North Waterway control.

5. Return to the Central Waterway Control again and open No. 11 and close No. 3.

6. Enter the No. 1 Cloaca and find the Boss at the low point on the south end. Save the game before the battle.

Exodus Esper

This Esper becomes available after you battle Cid in Draklor Laboratories. Go to the Babbleing Vale in the Moshphoran Highwastes. One of the villagers there by one of the shires will tell you that the shrines have started working, but he is not sure what they do. Activate the three eastern wind ones first (northeastern, eastern, and southeastern). You can only activate three at a time. Look at your map and you will see three new marks on it that indicate bridges have formed to areas you could not reach previously. Next move east to the Rays of Ashen Light section and find the Chocobo in the northern section. Feed him a Gyshal Green and ride him through the newly opened area to the end where you will see a path leading onward blocked by bushes that only a Chocobo can cross. This will take you to the Sky Reach Ridge section on the western side of the Vale. From here you can enter the Vale and activate a shrine that was out of reach before. Once you have gone north of the shrine to the big boulder, you will find a section that you can break to clear a path into the Vale. You must now activate one more shrine to get access to Exodus. It is the north or northwestern shrine; check your map to be sure. It will open a place near the last shrine you activated on the northern part of Sky Reach Ridge. Next, go back to Sky Reach Ridge and fight him. Part way through the battle he will become immune to physical attacks. He is very good at keeping up his reflect barrier. Make sure to dispel it before hitting him with magic. He has some very powerful magical attacks, like flare.

Zalera Esper

First, complete the “Dalmasca’s Desert Bloom” hunt. Go back to Dantro after the hunt and he will ask you if you can bring the “Cactus Flower” to his wife in the Estersand South bank village. Go there and find his wife. She will reward you for coming with a buddle of neetles. Exit and reenter and she will ask for some Semclan Shells. There are two sitting on the shore in the area; they are glowing glints. Next, she will ask for Nebralim. Go back to Dantro and he will say they are near crates, but they are really on top of the tall boxes. Get two of them and go back. Next on the list is Valeblossom Dew. They are always near a white tree in the broken sands area. Get three and return. Then later in the game go back. Talk to her to learn that the patient has made a full recovery and is behind her house. He is actually a traveler hunter that will give you the item you need to get Zalera. It is called the “Barheim Key”. Use it on the “Weather-beaten door” in the area that is left of the village going south. Make your way to Terminus 7 and just keep going through there. Soon you find there is no way to get to the next bridge. Just look for a mine cart that is on the right-hand side and press X. There will be what seems to be an endless army of the undead on your way. Save at Terminus 7 Adjunct before the fight. Defeat the Boss to get the Zalera Esper.

Esper timeline

The following are the times of when you can receive or find the Espers:

Before you receive the Dawn Shard

Belias (in story line)

After you receive the dawn Shard

Adrammelech (side quest)

Cuchulainn (side quest)

Zalera (side quest)

Mateus (in story line)

After Judge Bergan has fallen

Zeromus (side quest)

After Sakikawood Gate is fixed

Exodus (side quest)

After Visiting Archades

Chaos (side quest)

Shemhazai (in story line)

After receiving the Treaty-Blade

Ultima (side quest)

Zodiark (side quest)

Hashmaul (in story line)

Famfrit (in story line)

Fishing mini-game

Get the Barheim Key, then go to the Dalmasca Eastersand Gate Crystal section and talk to Ruxera, who is looking at the river wanting to fish. Next, go to the south-east section of Port of Balfonheim, which is the road to Airship Terminal. Find the old fishing man around the crates area and talk to him twice, then choose the first option. Move away from the old man, but do not leave this area yet. After a bit, go back to the same place and the old man will be gone. Examine the fishing rod there to get Muramata. Go back to Dalmasca Eastersand and give the Muramata to Ruxera to start the fishing mini-game.

Bonus fishing spots

Successfully complete the indicated task to unlock the corresponding fishing spot in the fishing mini-game:

Master Den: Fish up Saboten Crest in the Secret Reaches.

Middle Reaches: Get five “Perfect Fishing” in the Lower Reaches.

Secret Reaches: Fish up Saboten Bond in the Upper Reaches with Matamune.

Taikou Chest (treasure): Get nine “Perfect Fishing” in the Master Den.

Upper Reaches: Get five “Perfect Fishing” in the Middle Reaches.

Sky Pirate’s Den Figurines

Successfully complete the indicated task to unlock the corresponding figurine:

Ashe: Have the average party level over 50

Ba’Gamnan: Complete the hunt catalog

Balthier: Attack 300 times

Basch: Kill 500 enemies

Belias: Obtain every Esper

Carrot: Defeat Carrot

Chocobo: Walk 50,000 steps

Crystal: Obtain every character’s magics

Daran: Successfully complete all maps

Death Gaze: Defeat Death Gaze

Devil Dragon: Defeat Devil Dragon

Fafnir: Defeat Fafnir

Fran: Use magic 200 times

Gabranth: Initiate every fusion technique

Gilgamesh: Defeat Gilgamesh

Gurdy: Spend 1,000,000 Gil

King Behemoth: Defeat King Behemoth

Larsa: Master every character’s license board

Migelo: Sell 1000 loot

Mimic: Obtain every rare bazaar goods

Montblanc: Attain monster chain level 50

Penelo: Get 100,000 Gil

Reks: Get 500,000 Clan points

Trickster: Defeat Trickster

Ultima: Defeat Ultima

Vaan: Steal 50 times from enemies

Vayne: Use techniques 100 times

Vossler: Obtain every character’s techniques

Yazmat: Defeat Yazmat

Zodiac: Defeat Zodiac

Near invincibility

This trick requires two or more party members. To gain near immortality, set all party member’s Gambits to “If HP < 70″ and “Cure” ~. Your party members will now constantly cure you and your MP will always regenerate. If you run out of MP, add another Gambit to use potions “If HP < 30″. -From: Gregory

Leveling up faster

If your characters are strong, consider removing one or two from the active party list. This will enable you to get more experience from enemies instead of it also going to the other characters. For example, a 300 EXP monster can turn into a 900 EXP for your character by removing two characters from the active party list. -From: Onision

Easy experience

Use the following trick to gain a lot of experience early in the game. You should be at least level 10 (or 300 to 400 HP) before attempting this. To do this fast, you must have one character’s first quickening. It will work using regular attacks, but will take a lot longer. First, go to the Giza Planes/Crystal Glade and save at the save crystal. This is the place where you found the little boy when making the Sunstone. Set your battle type to active so that you can trigger your action as soon as possible. Go out into the Giza Planes/Starfall Field (left link) and find the werewolves. Do not get too near yet. If you have a quickening ability, attack the closest werewolf with it. Once the ability finishes, run back to the Crystal Glade (top right link) and touch the stone to heal both HP and MP, then go back again. Save the game every time you kill one of the werewolves. Once you kill both, save and restart the PlayStation 2 to repopulate the level. When alone, each kill should give you 1,000 to 1,500 experience points. About three kills are required to level up at level 14. The tactic works the same way when in a party.

Note: This trick requires the ability to go to Old Arcades and have an Esper to summon. If you want to increase the experience of a character quicker, purchase an Embroidered Tippet for 5,000 Gil from the Seeq near the enterance. Buy the licenses for the accessory and equip it, then get that character an Esper. Find an area full of enemies to summon your Esper and do so. Let the Esper start killing. Every enemy killed by an Esper gives you x3 experience, and with the Tippet equipped, it doubles for a total of x6 experience. Doing this will upgrade any character very quickly.

Go to the Lhusu Mines and only battle skeletons as you run through it. As you begin to build up, steal from them as much as possible. You will collect Bone Fragments from them, even after a defeat. Each skeleton will give you about about 150 experience points each time. It is possible to reach a 83 level chain with 53 bone fragments in about fifteen minutes. If you run out of skeletons in a certain area (the bridge way), run to the area where the scene with the Nethicite took place earlier. Face a few there and work your way back to the bridge to build it up once more. You will also gain something for your collection for the 50 or more Battle Chain completion.

At the Dreadnought Leviathan, after defeating the two judges and the soldiers, go inside the room and save the princess and save the game. Once you go outside an intermission sequence sill start. There is an alarm sounding, and there are unlimited soldiers that you can fight. Do not use potions and other items. Try to save them and use magic more. Once you are low on health you can go back into the save room and refill your health and MP. Keep doing this for easy experience and AP. You can also use stealth as much as desired.

The Henne Mines is one of the best spawning places of Pats that result in about 192 to 200 experience points when you have four people. Do this when Larsa is a guest and has infinite potions. Also, you can fight the Jellies that appear. One part of this map has many Jellies that appear all at one time. Try pulling off a Mist: Inferno or Cataclysm. Note: It is recommended that all your characters have their Gambits turned on to Foe Nearest: Fira so that you attack the slimes with weakness to fire. It is also recommended that a character equip Golden Armlets to double the amount of LP earned. The easiest way to build a chain is to turn you Gambits on in the junction then turn them off and run to another area. Return to the junction and turn them back on. This will allow you to build a very good chain, and with the Monograph for jellies you can get 99 vials of Yellow Liquid quickly, which sell for about 50,000 Gil.

Accept the Vorpal Bunny Hunt. Go to the petitioner, Neru (Eruyt Village/Spiritwood), then go to the village entrance and talk to the nearby Moogle merchant. Buy as many Phoenix Downs as possible. Make your way to the mark at Golmore Jungle/The Rustling Chapel. In this area you will fight the regular enemies. Make sure you kill all enemies in the area but do not kill the bunny. This mark will not even want to fight you, which makes your job easier. Once all enemies are gone dark skeletons will appear and keep respawning. Set your party leaders first Gambit to Foe, Undead/Phoenix Down, or anything you have available. The party leader will detect the skeleton. Shoot it with a Phoenix Down to kill it within a few seconds. For each kill you will get either 912 or 974 experience points and 1 LP for one second of fighting. With the Golden Amulet you will get 2 LP per kill. The skeleton will drop either Dark Magacite and/or Sturdy Bones. You can build a battle chain easily. When you are done you can go back to Eruyt village and sell all your items. Buy more Phoenix Downs and repeat as many times as desired. Just make sure not to kill the bunny yet.

Equip Thief’s Cuffs (a better chance to steal rare loot gloves). Go to the Tchita Uplands and steal from the Coeurl. You can get the Embroidered Tippet which doubles the experience for the character in use, making all enemies in the Tchita Uplands worth over 1,000 experience points each.

Easy Gil

The easiest way to gain money fast at the beginning of the game is to do the first hunt mission. Also, Steal from the Cactoid in the Eastern Sands. You will Steal a Cactus Fruit usually. This sells for about 77 or more Gil each, allowing you to get a decent amount of money to start the game.

Once you can access the Salikawood after the Mosphoran Highwaste in Nabradia you can do this trick. Go north into the section of Salikawood called Quietened Trace. There should be a Gate Crystal. Save the game and switch to just one character. This character should be able to equip the Thief’s Cuffs accessory. Enter the Grand Bower section of Salikawood. The Giant Bomb optional Boss will appear. Steal from it, then exit the area. Heal at the crystal and repeat as much as desired. The three items you can steal from him are Bomb Shell (common) which sell for about 900 Gil each; Fire Crystal (uncommon) which sell for about 100 Gil each; and the Bomb Fragment (rare) which sell for about 2,000 Gil each.

After defeating the optional Esper, Zeromus (Stilshrine of Miriam), you can reenter the Throne Of Veiled Gods and chain the Dark Lords. The Dark Lords drop Blood-Darkened Bones that sell for a little over 1,400 Gil each. Once you reach a decent chain, each Dark Lord can drop up to four Blood Darkened Bones, worth about 5,600 Gil. After attaining 99 bones, use the Teleport Stone to go to an area with a store (Mt. Bur-Omisace recommended; it has a merchant near the Teleport Stone). Sell all your items. The 99 bones will result in about 140,000 Gil. Also sell the Dark Crystals, Pebbles, Capricorn Gems, etc. Keep the Teleport Stones. You will occasionally find Dragon Mails from them as well (worth 6,250 Gil each). To respawn the Dark Lords, just leave and return to the map via the Waystone (use it three times). The Dark Lords should have respawned.

In the Easternsands, steal from the Cactus. Once in a while you will obtain a Broadsword which sells for 200 Gil each.

Easy experience and Gil

While going through the Nam-Yensa Sandsea, go to the northern most part of The Sandscale Bank. You will encounter an enemy named Bagolys. They are worth 448 to 676 experience points each and can drop Bent Staffs, which are worth approximately 1,300 Gil each. Fight them, leave, then come back. Repeat this as much as desired.

On the mission of the Blue Basilisk “Nidhogg”, one of the parts of the roads is a place where lots of skeletons keep appearing. If they stop, go off two maps then return. The skeletons will respawn. This requires a lot of patience, but it will result in both experience points and Gil because you get Bone Fragments and Iron Helms which sell for 182 and 300 Gil respectively.

Use the following trick for easy mid-game Gil and LP. After you complete Henne Mines, get the Fira spell. Go to the southeastern Pithead Junction. Push the button and kill all the Jelly Fiends. Then flee, to not break the chain, up and west two rooms total to make the Jelly Fiends respawn. Then flee back and kill them again. To obtain a higher chain quicker, try not to pick up any loot until you have killed the all. Fira is recommended, as it is an area damage and they are weak against fire. When you have about 99 Yellow Liquid, teleport to Eruyt Village. You should have gotten a lot of teleport stones as well. Sell all the loot, teleport back, and repeat. One round should take about twenty minutes and result in 60,000 Gil plus a lot of LP and experience.

Easy MP

To quickly generate MP, run in a tight circle, and you will see your MP increase at a faster rate. -From: Gregory

Easy LP

When you are doing the God or Devil hunt, on the first floor that you visit on the elevator trip to Penumbra, you will encounter a creature called a Magic Pot. Do not attack it immediately. If you have to, turn gambits off. If you attack it when you see it, there is a good chance you will die. If attacked, it will be immune to your attacks and magic. The only way to kill it is to wait until a message appears stating that it craves an item. If you have the item it wants, use it on the Magic Pot. It will then become ecstatic and begin hopping around the room. You can now attack it without it attacking you. Once you kill it you will be rewarded 0 experience points, but 123 LP. Equip the accessory that doubles LP earned to get the most out of each kill.

Make sure you have already accepted the Cluckatrice Mark at Giza Plains. Next, make sure you are at a good level (about level 40) and can easily defeat the Cluckatrice. Go to the south bank and kill all the enemies there. Then, go to the left and enter the nomad village and immediately go back out. There should only be a little yellow Chickatrice rolling around a few steps ahead. Attack the Chickatrice to get the Cluckatrice to run out. Once it comes out kill it. You should gain 6 LP. Hold R2 and flee back into town. Make sure that you do not kill all three Chickatrice or else you will not be able to repeat this. In town, heal up and do whatever else necessary. You can now go back out again and repeat the process as much as desired. You will get 6 LP each time and 12 LP if you have the Golden Amulet equipped. Make sure you have not completed the mission yet. Also, do not save the game. If you do you must kill all the enemies again before it comes back out. Finally, do not go to any other screen than the town or the south bank or you will have to fight the enemies again.

Go to the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea and stay on the platforms. Kill the Urutu-Yensas and get your chain as high as possible. If you see a tomato, or the “fire elemental”, just get away from it. After getting a chain of about 106, you can obtain over 800 LP for your characters with Golden Amulets, and over 400 for those without.

Easy Restoration

Find a place without any mobs, then run around until your Magick bar is completely full. You can then heal and remove status effects from your allies without using any potions or special items. Note: This may take a long time depending on your level.

Easy Quickenings

To perform Quickenings more easily, hold R2 when Triangle, Square, and X are not displayed, then quickly tap Triangle + Square + X. This will assist in capturing more repeat attacks, multiplying the damage you inflict on enemies. -From: Onision

Use less MP for Quickenings

To perform Quickenings without using much MP, remove all but one member from the active party list. Perform the Quickening, then once it expires and all MP is gone for that character, add another character with full MP to your party (two total characters now). Initiate their Quickening, then continue rotating in and out one character with full MP. This will enable you to use character Quickenings over and over again without draining everyone’s MP at once. You can use other character’s Quickenings regardless of whether they have MP or not as long as the one who initiated the act has MP. If you do this with all characters having MP, they will all lose their MP Max, which cuts down attack value by three times. -From: Onision

Saving health

Although the Javelin and other weapons have a great attack, it is recommended you only use weapons that allow the use of a shield in the off-hand. When the shield is not equipped, allies die much faster. -From: Gregory

Gaining notoriety

While you are in the floating palace and need to gain popularity by claiming to be Captain Bosche, the best way is to just walk into a store and press Square. However, be careful and make sure that a guard is not facing you or you will lose a lot of notoriety.

When trying to convince the people of Bhujerba that Bash is alive, seek out the City Pasijanahs (always holding books). They increase the Notoriety bar by nearly 20% per pie. Make sure the Bhujerbas Sainikahs are not too close when doing this.

Stronger characters

To make your characters much stronger at low levels, complete all Gambit portions of the license chart and get all the physical lores. After completing that, your characters will be very strong. For example, if you are level 37 and completed that portion, you will be able to defeat level 45 to 48 monsters.

Bazaar items

All merchants in the game take part in the Bazaar system. The Bazaar often offers exclusive deals and bargains based upon the amount of loot you have sold to merchants. The loot is used to make item packages that are often cheaper than normal, or are exclusive to the Bazaar. The rarest Bazaars are from collecting the following loot:

Ancient Turtle (1337): Drops from Adamantitan in Cerobi Steppe and Nabreus

Shell: Deadlands; poach from Silicon Tortoise in Giza Plains

Aquarius Gem (150): Drops from Golem in the Feywood

Arcana (10): Drops from rare monsters; drops from all monsters after obtaining Canopic Jar

Beastlord Horn (1334): Drops from Humbaba in Mosphoran Highwaste

Cancer Gem (150): Drops from Preying mantis in the Feywood

Capricorn Gem (150): Steal from Neglamer

Charged Gizzard: Drops from Thunderbug in the Henne Mines

Chimera Head: Drops from Chimera brain in the Pharos

Coeurl Whisker: Drops from Ose in Great Crystal upper layer; steal from Grimalkin in Tchita Uplands

Corpse Fly: Drops from Dragon Lich in the Pharos

Damascus Steel: Dropped or stolen from Bune in the Pharos; steal from Vishno in the Pharos; steal from Anchang in Paramina Rift; steal from Bluesang in Cerobi Steppe

Deimos Clay: Reward for the clan hunt “Paramina Run”

Dorsal Fin: Drops from Focalor in the Nabreus Deadlines

Empyreal Soul: Sell High Arcana x1: Soul Powder x1: Wargod’s Band x2

Feystone: Dropped or stolen from Entite monsters

Gemini Gem: Drops from Behemoth in the Feywood and Giruvegan; drops from Blood Gigas in the Stillshrine of Miriam; steal from Wendice

Godslayer’s Badge: Reward for final clan hunt

Great Serpent’s Fang: Drops from Python in Mosphoran Highwaste

Hell-Gate’s Flame: Drops from Cerberus in the Feywood

High Arcana: Sell Arcana x10: Soul of Thamasa x1: Feystone x1 to Bazaar; drops from many monsters after obtaining key item Canopic Jar

Horakhty’s Flame: Reward for clan hunt “Crime And Punishment”

Leshach Halcyon: Dropped or stolen from Leshach Entitie in Paramina Rift during snowstorm

Libra Gem: Drops from Ose in Great Crstal upper layer; drops from Tartarus in the Feywood

LuShang’s Badge: Successfully complete the fishing mini-game

Mirror Scale: Drops from Mirrorknight in the Feywood; drops from Dreadguard in the Feywood

Moondust: Drops from Mu in the Feywood

Mythrill: Drops from Mythrill Golem in Giruvegan

Omega Badge: Drops from Omega MK: X11 in Great Crystal upper layer

Orichalcum: Drops from Deidar in the Pharos; dropped or stolen from Vishno in the Pharos

Phobos Glaze: Reward for clan hunt “Paradise Risen”

Ring Wyrm Liver: Drops from Shield Wyrm in Cerobi Steppe

Sagittarius Gem: Drops from Hecteyes in the Henne Mines east section; dropped or stolen with Thief’s Cuffs from Oiling in the Stilshrine of Miriam

Salamand Halcyon: Dropped or stolen from Salamand Entite in the Ogir-Yensa

Sandsea During Sunny Weather: Reward for Gibbs and Deweg side quest

Scarletite: Drops from Emeralditan in Nabreus Deadlands; steal from Aspidochelon in Cerobi Steppe

Scorpio Gem: Steal from Gargoyle Baron in Giruvegan; steal from Larva Eater in Great Crystal upper layer

Serpent Eye: Drops from Basilisk in the Feywood

Serpentarius: Clan reward for collecting all 13 Espers; steal from Zodiark in the Henne Mines east section; sell High Arcana x1: Snake Skin x4: Serpent Eye x2 to Bazaar

Sickle Blade: Drops from Preying Mantis in the Feywood; steal from Rageclaw in the Salikawood

Recommended Gambits

1. Ally: Any / Raise

2. Ally: HP < 40% / Curaja

3. Ally: Any / Esunaga

4. Ally: Status = Confuse / Attack

5. Foe: Status = Haste / Dispelga

6. Self / Bubble

7. Self / Decoy

8. Foe: Flying / Telekinesis

9. Foe: Party Leader’s Target / Attack

10. Foe: Targeting Ally / Attack

11. Self / Libra

12. Ally: Any / Regen

Try the following Gambits:

1. Ally, Any / Raise

2. Ally, HP<30% / First Aid

3. Foe, Party Leaders Target / Attack

4. Foe, Flying / Telikises

5. Foe, Undead / Curaga

6. Ally, Any / Ensna

7. Ally, Any / Protecta

8. Ally, Any / Shella

9. Ally, Any / Reflecta

10. Foe, Any / Oil

11. Foe, Status: Oil / Firaga

12. Self / Libra

Try the following Gambits:

1. Ally status = KO / Arise

2. Ally HP = 50% / Curaja

3. Self MP = 10% / Charge

4. Foe status = Protect / Dispelga

5. Foe status = Shell / Dipelga

6. Foe Fire-weak / Firaga

7. Foe Lightning-weak / Thundaga

8. Foe Ice-weak / Blizzaga

9. Self / Bubble

10. Self / Haste

11. Self / Float

12. Self / Libra

Defeating Adrammelech

Have your party at least at level 50. It is a good idea to save in the land of the Garif; it is the last save spot you will see before this battle. Go to the farthest area in the Ozmone Plain, then go down into the underground cavern called the Zertnan Caverns. Follow the cave though the status-inflicting horses until you reach the third room. You will know you are there when your mini-map gets fuzzy and there is a sandstorm to your right. If you have any damage or you need to get back MP, heal them now for an advantage in the fight. Remember, there is no save crystal before the fight. You should have at least three long range weapons equipped. He is a flying Boss. Also, give the people with long range weapons the best Ice spell possible. He is a Thunder type, and is weak to Ice. One of the most annoying things in this fight is the corpse that appears. The best strategy is to have two people deal with the corpses and one person hit the Esper. You can make the “zombie attacks” attack the zombies immediately if you make their Attack Gambit into Foe, Undead/Attack or Foe, Undead/Curaga to make it so that they attack them. The person who attacks Adrammelech must have a long range weapon. It is best if you control the one attacking the Esper. He sometimes uses his Thundaja attack. It can do a lot of damage and inflict Stop on some of your characters. Just use a Chronos Tear or a Remedy with Remedy Lore 3 to get rid of it. If your first team dies it may be a good idea to use some Quickenings to turn the table. Keep everyone above 60% HP and keep hacking away until the the Esper falls and becomes yours.

Before looking for him, you should have Vaan, Penelo, Ashe, Basch, Baltheir, and Fran with you. They should know all of their Quickenings. Once you get to him, you should have everyone at level 18 or higher. Have one person in your party use Cura or Curaga Magick on the zombie things that come out of the ground; have at least five Ethers, and in Config set the Battle mode on “Wait”. Start by having only one person in your party (preferably your weakest). Then, immediately have them use their Quickening. Just after bring out another person (the second weakest in the group) and keep out the person you used before; use their Quickening immediately. Then, bring out another person and use their Quickening. Next, put your weakest member into your reserve and bring out another person to use their Quickening. Repeat this until everyone’s MP is zero. You should have done six Quickenings. By this time, if you did at least a seven-combo Quickening each time he should have about 5% of his health remaining. Restore the person using Healing Magick’s MP and put your weakest person out until Adrammelech uses the big thunder attack. Then, switch out your strongest people to attack him and finish him off.

Defeating Belias

Have the following party order: Fran, Basche (party leader), Vaan, and Vossler. Equip a character with low magic (in this case Basche) with the Nethicite, as this makes magicks take half damage. If you have the Evil Slayer, it is very helpful. Buy a lot of Handkerchiefs (oil remover) from the NPC outside and some Phoenix Downs. Before entering the altar to Belias, have Fran cast Protect and Shell on everyone. Next, have Vaan do the healing and Basche do the hitting. Have Fran cast Water and Slow on Belias. When Belias is at 40% HP or less, he will cast Firaja (different from Firaga) on you. This creates an Oil status which makes fire hurt a lot more. Cure this with the Handkerchiefs, and cast Protect and Shell on Basche. Keep this up and eventually you can acquire him as your first Esper (summons).

Purchase the Water spell and several Handkerchiefs from the merchant outside the tomb. Make sure that all of your party members have at least one Mist charge. Choose three party members that will use their Mist for Quickenings. Make sure the three people who are not doing so have the Water spell. Enter his domain when you are prepared and begin the fight. Have the three party members who are going to use their Mist for Quickenings use them immediately. If they do not finish him off, bring out the team with the Water spell. Beware, as sometimes he will cast the very deadly attack Firaja. It is a lot worse than Firaga, which can instantly kill some of your party members and leave others with Oil status (making fire attacks do about twice as much damage). Use a Handkerchief if someone is Oiled. Also, make it so that all party members always stay above 50% of their heath. When everyone is healed, have two party members use Water on Belias and have the last member attack (Vossler is the second attacker). Keep doing this to defeat him and receive your first Esper.

Defeating Cuchulainn

Have your party at least at level 50 and have the Curaja spell. In the battle, there is a constant HP sap in the area that cannot be stopped in any way. Have one character use Curaja always, and the other two attack the Esper. Dispel the Boss immediately, give as many characters as you can a Black Belt, and stop his Disable attacks. Make one of your characters have Ensna as one the first Gambits. When Foolbars join the battle, use your strongest Fire-type spell against them. The Esper likes to use Invert to quickly kill your characters. It resembles an instant-death spell and in combo with the HP sap, and can kill your people very fast. Revive them immediately and use some Quickenings if your first team gets knocked out.

Defeating Famfrit

You will not encounter Famfrit until near the end of the game. However, you will not meet Famfrit alone. He is actually summoned by Dr. Cid. After he loses about half of his heath, Dr. Cid summons him to his aid. Focus all your attacks on the Esper, because he is invulnerable with him out. He is a Water type; use Oil on him and shoot some Firagas at him. You can also use your summoning abilities to summon Belias. If he survives long enough to use his final attack, the Oil will double the damage. He already takes double damage from fire attacks, so it will do quadruple damage. When he has been defeated, you can then focus on Cid.

Defeating Flowering Cactoid

When you locate Flowering Cactoid, defeat all of the surrounding enemies in the area. This will leave him without a place to run and hide. Then, defeat him with attacks and magic. Although you can do this with just Vaan, it is much easier if you do this hunt after Penelo has joined the party.

Defeating Garuda

Have three players with the Arcane “Dark” magick. Garuda likes Vossler and will attack him first. While he does that, command all the members to cast Dark. When they all cast Dark it will do about 1,890 damage total. Keep repeating this and Garuda will die in about fifty seconds.

To do a lot of damage to Garuda, cast Reflect on all your characters before the battle. Then, cast Dark with all of them to the party itself. By doing this, Dark will bounce off every character and hit Garuda once each, dealing a lot of damage.

Defeating Hashmal

Start by Dispelling his protections and using Haste and Protect on your party. Also, use a large chain of Quickenings to lower his HP by some, but save some MP for later. He likes to use Slow and Disease on you often. Get rid of it with the proper spell or item. After Hashmal loses three quarters of his HP, he uses a very powerful attack called Quakeja. To take absolutely no damage from it, cast Float on your party before he uses it. He will only use it once. Because he is an Earth type, he is weak to Wind. Shoot Aero at him as much as possible. Keep everyone above 50% HP and keep up your Aero to win quickly.

Defeating Mateus

Have your party at least at level 30 (for example, Vaan as party leader, Basch, and Penelo). Have both Vaan and Basch to learn Thundara and equip them both with Ice Shield. Equip Penelo with Storm Spear. Buy at least five Banchus Wine (Berserker). When the battle begins, have Vaan and Basch immediately cast Thundara to kill all the Ice Ace. Then, have Basch keep casting Thundara at Mateus and Vaan heal when needed. Let Penelo keep attacking Mateus. Once its effect wears off, make her berserk again. It is possible to defeat Mateus in about seven minutes by doing this.

Before the battle, equip as many Ice Shields to your party as possible. Get all of your party members to at least level 30. Also, teach Thundra to as many characters as possible. When you are prepared, enter the battle. Immediately get all of the Esper’s friends close to her and unleash a chain of Quickenings. If you are lucky they will completely kill her little friends. If not, take out your reserve party (or just use some Ethers and/or Exthers to get back MP) and use your Thundra spell to finish them. The only attack of Mateus’ that you really have to worry about is her Blizzaja attack, unless you equipped the Ice Shield, then it will not do too much damage. Also an ability she has may cause Sap, but you can get rid of it using Regen. Keep everyone above the halfway mark and do not cast any spells on her. The Esper has Reflect on herself, meaning that Thundra will be bounced back at the party. Keep attacking and healing to defeat her.

Defeating Rockeater

Use a lot of wind magic (Aero) and attack him physically and he should go down fairly quickly. To defeat him very fast, make sure you are at full MP and summon an Esper. He will help greatly in battle.

Defeating Shemhazai

This Esper has a very annoying habit of Silencing your party. Make sure everyone has an Anti-Silence Gambit before fighting. When the battle begins, immediately Dispel the Boss to remove her Haste. Start a chain of Quickenings to deal a good amount of damage quickly. After she uses her Mana Spring ability she is weak to an element, but absorbs all the rest. Only use spells on her if they are non-elementel. The Esper also casts Syphon, stealing some of your MP, but it is not too much to worry about. Keep attacking and healing until you defeat her.

Defeating Thextera

Note: You must be at least at level 4. Go to the Sandsea and look at the board that contains information for all the hunts. After choosing the “Thextera” hunt, talk to Gatsly, who should be east of the board. He should be sitting on the floor. After talking to him, go into the Westersands. Do not look for Thextera just yet. First, defeat all the wolves in the area. If you fight Thextera without clearing out the wolves first, he will call for backup, and the wolves you have not defeated will come to his aid. After all the wolves have been killed, fight Thextera; he should have two wolves by his side. Try to take them out first by luring them away from Thextera. After they are finished, you will only have Thextera to fight. Make sure you have a decent amount of potions before you fight him — his fang attack does about 120 damage.

Defeating Tiamat

When fighting Tiamat in the Henne Mines, he does an Aero attack on all of your party members which can cause a lot of damage. To prevent this, cast Reflect on all of your party members before the fight. Whenever he uses Aero, it will bounce back to Tiamat. This will cause it to recover a little HP, but you will not receive any damage from that attack.

Defeating Vossler

Start by killing the three soldiers around him. Once they are dead, focus on Vossler. He will be easy, as his attacks do not inflict too much damage; heal when necessary. After he is down to a quarter of his HP, he will use a move called Enrage, which basically makes him go crazy and attack much quicker. He can kill your characters very quickly this way. Summon your newly acquired Esper, Belias. Belias takes full MP to summon. You may want to teach him to a character that is not in your active party. After Belias is summoned, have the character that summoned him step back so that Vossler will target Belias. If you summoned Belias after Vossler used Enrage, Belias will kill him. Heal Belias when necessary.

Get at least three characters above level 18. Make sure they all have level 3 Mist abilities. After doing this, you should practice doing Mist Chains. For example, a 13 chain Mist combo will most likely take out Vossler for you and most foes. You should also make sure that one of those three characters can summon Belias just in case you cannot chain your Mist abilities together. After summoning Belias, get near Vossler enough so Belias targets him. Then stand back and watch him take care of Vossler for you.

Equip Belias just after you defeat him. Summon Belias at the start of the battle and let him defeat Vossler. After the battle, you will receive about three times the experience because it was an Esper who defeated him.

Defeating Zalera

Have your party at level 56; no more, no less. Save at Terminus 7 Adjunct before the fight. There are a few things in this battle that make it more difficult. First of all, there is a 5:00 minute timer. If you do not defeat Zalera before the time runs out, you must start again. You also cannot use Espers when there are undead in the area. Finally, he can cast status effects on you based on your level; 2-5 are the ones he can do so on, and he can also use status effects on you if you have a prime number for a level. To begin the fight, dispel the Boss. If there are undead in the area, get everyone to attack them. When his HP starts to get low, he will start to cast Sleepga, Stop, and Death, no matter what level you are near. Near the end, use a Quickening chain to finish this long fight and get the Esper.

Before you look for him, you should have Vaan, Penelo, Ashe, Basch, Baltheir, and Fran with you. They should know all of their Quickenings. Once you get to him, you should have everyone at level 20 or higher. Have your strongest characters using Cura or Curaga Magick on your party and Zalera; have at least five Ethers, and in Config set the Battle mode on “Wait”. Start by having only one person in your party (preferably your weakest). Then, immediately have them use their Quickening. Immediately afterwards, bring out another person (the second weakest), but keep the person you used before out, and use their Quickening immediately. Next, bring out another person and use their Quickening, then put your weakest member into your reserve and bring out another person to use their Quickening. Repeat this until everyone’s MP is zero. You should have done six Quickenings. By this time, if you did at least an eight-combo Quickening each time he should have about 5% health remaining. Restore the people using Healing Magick’s MP and switch out your strongest people to use healing Magicks on him to finish him off. You will end up in the waterways and your party will probably be too weak to kill the monsters. Save, and summon Zalera. He will use Kill on the monsters that you pass so you can leave easily.

Before fighting Zalera, make sure everyone in your party has Curaja. Once you get to the save point just before you fight him, have everyone cast Faith and Reflectaga on your party. Enter the room where you see Zalera and have your party members start casting Curaja on themselves. If you have Faith on your party members, Curaja will do about 8,000 to 9,999 points of damage when reflected back at him. If he has not summoned his minions yet, he will get hit nine times for near maximum damage. Do that twice with each party member and the battle will be over. If done correctly, you should be able to defeat him in less then one minute.

Defeating Zeromus

Have your party at least at level 50. You can defeat Zeromus as soon as you complete the Stilshrine of Miriam dungeon and get through the scenes at Mt. Bur-Omisace afterwards. After defeating the Judge, exit the map where you killed him and speak to the Acolyte somewhere on the map to receive a Stone Of Condemner. Stock up on healing items as you cannot use magic during the battle with Zeromus. At the southern end of the Ward of Measure, touch the Waystone. You will be given an option to use the Stone Of Condemner; use it. You will be transported to the Throne Of Veiled Gods. Before opening the door to Zeromus, place positive status effects on your characters and tweak your Gambits to use items instead of magic to heal. You may want to do this later in the game when you have more powerful equipment and are at a higher level.

Have your party at least at level 50. After defeating Judge Bergan, you will automatically be teleported directly outside the area. In front of you will be an Acolyte pacing back and forth. Talk to him and he will ask you to find a “greater power” in the Stilshrine of Miriam, and give you a Stone of the Condemner. Teleport to the Shrine and go inside. Go to the Way Stone at the south end of the room you are in. You may have to fight two undead foes at the Way Stone, but if you can defeat them you can defeat the Esper. If you use the Way Stone, it will stop and say that the stone is having a reaction. Use it to be transferred to the room before the Esper. All Magicks are disabled in this battle. Before the battle, change all healing Magicks to items because you cannot use Dispel on him; you cannot get rid of his status Help. The Boss is also not alone. He is joined by a large army of Dark Lords. If you have Holy Motes, use them. After defeating about thirty Dark Lords, they will stop appearing. When he is very low on heath (about 30%), perform a Quickening Chain. Keep everyone above 50% HP, just to be safe from from the Esper’s Gravity Magick.

Final Fantasy series references

Explore around Rabanastre. You may get to a place called Nalbina Fortress. Once there you can actually meet imperials named Gibbs and Deweg, which are the names Biggs and Wedge scrambled. Those names also appear in previous Final Fantasy games.

During the fight with Gilgamesh (the rank VII mark given to you by Montblanc named “Ancient Mystery Man”), he will pull out various swords that are from previous Final Fantasy games. Since Gilgamesh has eight arms, he holds them all at once. The most famous swords include Cloud’s Buster Sword, Squall’s Gunblade, Tidus’ Brotherhood, and Sephiroth’s Masamune. For some reason, all of these swords have some alterations to their previous forms. For example, Cloud’s Buster Sword has a huge Japanese symbol on it. Tidus’ Brotherhood has a hook at the end of the blade on both sides instead of just the bladed part. It is possible the swords are alterations because after Gilgamesh is defeated, in the Bestiary it states that it is not proven that all of the swords Gilgamesh owns are authentic.

In the City Of Arcades, one of the NPCs refers to an acting troupe by the name of Tantulus. This is the same acting troupe that Zidane belongs to in Final Fantasy 9.

If you return to Rabanastre after leaving Balfonhiem, there is a NPC located across from Migelo’s Sundries. He makes a claim that his friend counted people attending the fete at the beginning of the game. He says that the count might even include the “spoony bards”. This is a reference to the classic Final Fantasy 4 line spoken by Cecil, “Oh, you spoony bard.”

There are a lot of references to Aeons from Final Fantasy 10. There are two airships called The Ifrit and The Shiva. These are the names of the second and fourth Aeons obtained in Final Fantasy 10. There is a place called Sky Fortress Bahamut. Bahamut is the name of the fifth Aeon you receive in Final Fantasy 10. Finally, one of Montibecs elite marks is Ixion. That is the third Aeon obtained in Final Fantasy 10.

When you sneak into the palace close to the start of the game, Barthelio says “Ifrit”, referring to the Aeon Ifrit in Final Fantasy 10 and X-2.

Before you originally go to the Golmore Jungle, there is a quick scene with several of the judges. One of them mentions a man Judge Jecht. This is a reference to Sir Jecht, who is Tidus’ father and also Sin in Final Fantasy 10.

At the beginning of the game, just after the first Boss battle, you can hear the pilot of the Air Cutter referred to as Tonberry. In Final Fantasy 10, Master Tonberry is an enemy in the Omega Ruins.

Montblanc is the name of a Moogle in Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced. They are both the leaders of the guilds.

Most of the airships are named after the Guardian Forces in Final Fantasy 8. Some examples of these are the Empire ships Leviathan and Alexander.

There is an Esper called Ultima. This a reference to a former spell in Final Fantasy 10. It was one of the strongest spells you had, just like Ultima is one of the strongest Espers you can get.

While doing the clan hunts, one of the ranks you get is called “Knight Of The Round”. This is a reference to the red Materia summon in Final Fantasy 7 called Knights Of The Round.

There is a Moogle mechanic named Nono. There is also a Moogle mechanic named Nono in Final Fantasy: Tactics Advance.