my world
....


-The World of Balance-

1. The Caves of Narshe

Party: Vicks, Wedge, ??????
After the first scene, you go to Narshe and view the opening credits on the way.

(If you don't want to view the credits, push A.) When you get to Narshe, you have no choice but to go the way the path takes you, fighting fairly easy battles along the way. The path is straightforward and as long as you use heal force and ??????'s cure spell, you should be fine. When you get to the Whelk, pay close attention to what Vicks and Wedge say and DO NOT HIT THE SHELL!! This causes Whelk to use that energy to fire a MegaVolt at you. Seeing as how none of your people have more than 120 for hp, this is not a good thing. Eventually, Whelk will die. When it does, walk up to the frozen esper and you will go into a battle scene where you can't do anything.

Just watch. Vicks and Wedge will disappear and the screen will fade to black. When you wake up, you will be in Arvis’s house.

2. Arvis’s house

Party: ??????/Terra
When you wake up, talk to Arvis (note: here Arvis is called Old Man, until later in the game.) and he will tell you about the slave crown that was on your head. Then ?????? will regain some of her memory and you can name her.

(Note: you can name the 14 characters anything you want, but I will use their original names for them.) After Terra remembers her name, you will hear pounding. The Imperial troops have found Terra! Arvis knows what to do, though. He shows you the back way, but before you go, search his clock for an elixir. Then exit to the caves.

3. The Caves of Narshe (again)

Party: Terra
Again, the path is straightforward. The chests that you find will contain Fenix Down and a Sleeping Bag, but if you want to wait until the World of Ruin to get them, they will change into a Pod Bracelet and an Elixir. (Terra should use the spell on monsters. Push the L and R buttons on the top of the controller to attack all monsters with the spell.) After a little ways, Terra is spotted by Narshe guards and falls down a hole in the floor.

She is knocked out and you see a little scene with Kefka putting the slave crown on her and her being used to fry soldiers. Then the screen fades to black and changes to a familiar scene: Arvis’s house. There, Locke is introduced.

Arvis convinces him to go look after Terra. He arrives just as your first multi-party battle is about to take place. A bunch of soldiers enter, and, just when things look hopeless, so do the moogles.


4. Multi-party battle to save Terra

Party: three groups:
G1: Locke, Kupek, Kupop, and Kumama
G2: Mog, Kuku, Kutan, and Kupan
G3: Kushu, Kurin, Kuru, and Kamog
Following an explanation of how to do the multiparty battle, you will have to position the three groups. G1 should take the middle, G2 the left, and G3 the right entrances. That way Terra is completely blocked off.

After the Soldiers stop coming, push the Y button until you get to Mog’s group. empty him of everything (he can dance instead of fight) and take his group to go fight the Marshal. It’s not much of a fight. After the battle, Locke will take Terra to an exit and tell her not to forget about the switch.

He will freak out about the amnesia (you’ll see why later) and exit the cave. Don’t exit the town just yet…

5. Narshe

party: Locke, Terra
You can’t go into the city of Narshe just yet; you’ll get kicked out. But go into the Classroom. It’s the only building you can go into. There is a guy standing in front of the door. Talk to him and go inside. Talk to all the people and drink from that bucket of water from a recovery spring. Then, once you have saved, exit Narshe and go to Figaro Castle.

6. Figaro Castle

Party: Locke, Terra

When you first enter Figaro Castle, go straight up until you see the young king. Locke will talk to him and then he will introduce himself. Edgar thinks he’s the most handsome man in the world. Terra asks if he's helping her strictly because of her. . . abilities. He thinks he's so smooth. . .

While looking around the castle as Edgar tells you to, (be sure to stop by the item shop and the tool shop, very important stuff) you should meet a Matron. She will tell you about Edgar’s younger brother who traded the throne for his own freedom. Here Sabin is introduced.

After this, go back to the throne room. Edgar’s guard informs him that they have a visitor from the Empire. You will see a scene with Kefka and a couple of guards on their way to the palace.

Then, as Edgar, go talk to Kefka’s guards, then to Kefka. When you’re done there, go up and talk to Locke, who takes Terra to her room and you see a scene with the two of them.
Then everyone goes to sleep. When you wake up, Figaro Castle is on fire! Kefka demands that Edgar hand terra over, so go up and talk to the guard there. Then you will see another scene and leave the castle. When the Magitek guards come up and attack you, if Terra uses magic, you will see a little scene. (Even if you don’t feel like seeing the scene, it’s probably a good idea to use the magic anyway, because if you don’t you probably won’t win.) After the battle you will see a scene about Terra’s magic (whether you used the magic or not, which doesn’t make sense…) and you will be told to go to South Figaro. (see map) Then you will have to use the chocobo to steer yourself to the Cave to South Figaro, or get off and walk there yourself. (however, on a chocobo, you won’t encounter any battles. Use A to move and right and left to steer.)

7. Cave to South Figaro

Party: Edgar, Locke, Terra

Once you get there, Edgar will dismiss the guard and you may enter the cave. Again, as in most caves, the path is straightforward and you shouldn’t get lost. The little lake not far from the entrance is a recovery spring. The chests contain 2 tinctures and a Fenix down before you get General Celes (another character, you get her later. I am just telling you about her so that you know what the chests contain.), a thunder rod, tincture, and x-potion after you get her, and in the World of Ruin they contain a hero ring, ether, and x-potion. You can get these chests before or after you get Celes, or you can wait until the World of Ruin. Soon you will be out of the cave. Then you can go to south Figaro.

8. South Figaro

Party: Edgar, Locke, Terra

Welcome to South Figaro. This is the first city you can go in where you actually don’t have to fight anything! Joy! Anyway, talk to the people, go places, go into all the shops, and talk to EVERYONE. If you talk to the ninja in the café, Shadow will be introduced, but he doesn’t join your party until later.

There are also various items in barrels and boxes. Search the barrel to the left of the chocobo stable for a tonic, the barrel to the right of the stable for a green cherry, and the barrel to the right of the rich guy’s house for a Fenix down. items that change if you wait until the World of Ruin are as follows: the barrel above and behind the chocobo stable changes from a warp stone to a Fenix down, the box in the lower left of town changes from an eyedrop to an elixir, the barrel in the lower left of town changes from antidote to a tent, a different box in the lower left of town changes from a soft to a remedy, and the barrel between the armor and weapon shops changes from a tonic to an x-potion. Then you can go and pay 80 GP (if you have it) and ride the chocobo to Sabin’s Cabin, or you can walk there.

9. Sabin’s Cabin

Party: Edgar, Locke, Terra
Here you can sleep in any of the beds and look at things. All of the things in here are “his favorite” something: flowers, dishes, tea, everything. Check the bucked by the stove to get a tonic. After you catch a few winks, exit and go talk to the guy by the well. He will tell you some stuff. Then you can hike (or go back to south Figaro and take a chocobo) to Mt. Kolts, a maze of caves and stuffs. Get into as many fights as possible to gain levels, you’re gonna need them.

10. Mt. Kolts

Party: Edgar, Locke, Terra
Mt. Kolts is “a maze of caves,” although it’s pretty straightforward. There are a couple of hidden chests containing an Atlas Armlet and a Guardian, but the others contain chests. At the end you fight Vargas and meet up with Sabin. After the battle, you will go out of the caves and to the Returner Hideout.

11. Returner Hideout

Party: Sabin, Edgar, Locke, Terra
Okay. You enter here and some stuff happens. Save before you talk to Bannon. Look around and talk to everyone. Search pots and buckets and everything. Plus, I’ve heard of a secret place on the right of the storage room that holds a white cape or something, but I’ve never found it. Then go outside and talk to Bannon. If you say yes the first time, you will get a Gauntlet. This is my recommended choice, because you can only get three total throughout the game, where as if you say no to Bannon and go to the storage room and talk to the guy there, (or say no to Bannon three times) you will get a Genji Glove. These are found on Dragons on the Floating Continent and in the Cave to the Sealed Gate and other places. Anyway, if you can’t decide which to take, just do what I do. If you’re in a mood to see a boring table scene, go ahead and say yes to Bannon. (however, the table scene can be rather informative, but mostly just boring.) If you’re not, say no 3 times and you’ll skip it and get the Genji Glove. Cool beans. Anyway, here’s the fun part: after this, you will split into groups: Locke goes to South Figaro, and Bannon, Terra, Edgar, and Sabin will go to Narshe. This is the Group you start out with. Anyway, go save once you get control by going straight up from where you start until you get to the save point. Then go back down and your ready to tackle the Lete River…

12. Lete River

Party: Banon, Sabin, Edgar, Terra
In my personal opinion, the Lete River is both the easiest and hardest point in the game. Easiest because as long as you save every chance you get and use Bannon’s “health” command every chance you get in battle, there’s not much else to do. Hardest because Bannon is a weak little wussy boy who falls at the slightest little push. Plus, if he dies, you’re “annihilated.” Also, despite what others say, I think that this first battle with Ultros is the hardest in the game, with maybe one or two exceptions. There are many reasons I think this. One is because you don’t have Scan to tell you how much hp and mp he has left. (his weaknesses are fire and lightening. =) Another is because unless you are really, really patient, none of your characters is at a level above maybe 13. And that’s pushing it. Plus, if Bannon dies, you’re dead. (I know! Who comes up with these things?) Anyway, you, unless you’re lucky or really skilled, will probably end up fighting this battle many times before you win. Just keep trying and eventually you’ll get it. Here’s some tactical advice, though: every chance terra gets, cast fire. Every chance Bannon gets, use health. Edgar and Sabin should use the Autocrossbow and the Pummel. If Ultros says something like “that’s all folks,” he’s done for. If he says “Y…You frighten me” Bannon is dead. “Muscle heads? Hate ‘em!” means he will do a “Tentacle” on Sabin. (when he does a Tentacle individually on you, it means that that person will die. This applies to everyone except Sabin, who is strong enough to withstand it.) Okay. So you beat Ultros. Then what? Well, Sabin goes off on his own. Then Mog comes around and we start the scenarios. The first two I’m going to talk about are fairly easy. The last one, though, is rather hard.

13. The Scenarios

The Scenarios are somewhat difficult to explain. It depends on what order you want to do them in. My suggestion is to do Bannon, Locke, then Sabin. That way, well, um, actually, there is no real reason, except you have to do them in that order so that in the last scenario, Sabin’s, you can keep shadow until barren falls. Otherwise, you loose him earlier and that sucks because you need him. Anyway, the point of all of the scenarios is to get to narshe. I will explain the scenarios in that order.

13a. Bannon’s Scenario

Party: Banon, Edgar, Terra
Okay. This is the easiest scenario of the three. You slide down the lete river and end up on land. You can save now, if you want, but you don’t really need to save at all in this scenario. Anyway, go up to Narshe. They won’t let you in, but do you remember where Locke said "Remember this switch, it may come in handy someday"? well, that day is today. Go over to where you came out at in the beginning and press A. the cave will open up and you will be able to walk through. The path is easy and you can fight monsters along the way (oh, joy!) but they are easy. When you get to Arvis’s house, the scenario ends. Easy, huh?

13b. Locke’s Scenario

Party: Locke, later Celes
What happened to Locke? He went to South Figaro to check it out. Okay. When you get control of Locke, don’t talk to anyone. Especially the guards in Magitek. Equip and cure yourself if needed, and head into the item shop (up and to the right, if my memory serves me). Talk to the merchant next to the clock. During the following battle, don’t fight. Use Locke’s Steal command to steal a buncha stuff you can use or sell, and his clothes. After you steal his clothes, he’ll escape. Then Locke will change into the clothes. When you have control again, go down to the old guy’s house and walk down the stairs. The little kid will say some stuff and let you through, but only because you’re a merchant. Before you go do anything else, go to the weapon shop and buy a regal cutlass. You’ll need it, trust me. Go out the door and up onto that wall thingy and talk to the green guard. Again, don’t fight, but use the steal command. Then go towards the center of the town. You’ll find three guards: one guarding the door to the rich man’s house, one in Magitek, and one guarding the path to the rest of the town. Talk to the bottom guard and he’ll say he’s on break, or something like that. Head into the café and waltz yourself downstairs. Talk to the merchant and (you know the drill) steal his clothes. You also get the Cider. Go back upstairs and to that house with the kid. Go upstairs and talk to the grandpa at the desk. He’ll drink the cider and start babbling about something or other. Anyway, when he’s done, go downstairs and give the kid a password: courage. It’s the one in the middle. He’ll open the secret passage for you. Go down through the passage and you’ll come out in a room. Take whatever’s there to take, including the elixir in the clock, and go upstairs and through the door. Now you can’t see yourself because you’re behind that building. Go to the right and look in the barrels, then go through the door. And you’re in…the rich man’s house!! K, anyway, go up the stairs and into the first room. It’s drafty, right? At least that’s what the chick says. Anyway, go back behind the bookcase to find a stairway. Go aaaaaallllllllll the way down and stuff. Keep going until you have to turn. Turn. Then, when it asks you if you’d like to change, pick one. It doesn’t matter which. Then go straight down until you can’t go anymore and go right. There’s a secret passage!!! Ooooooh!!! Anyway, there’s a chest in the first cell, which you can see, but in the second cell, it’s a little harder to find. It’s to the right or left (can’t remember which) of the doorway. Anyway, when you have the stuff, run upstairs and look in the first door. You’ll see the general, Celes. She’s a traitor to the empire, thus, a good guy. Anyway, after the guard leaves, go talk to Celes and remove her chains. Talk to the sleeping guard and take the clock key. Equip Celes with the Regal Cutlass. The room behind the second door holds a save point (read: SAVE HERE PLEASSSEEEEEE!!!!!) and the third contains lotsa stuff! Go around getting all the treasure chests and stuff, then when you get to the clock in the back, wind it. Go through the door. Well, after you exit the door, leave the town. Then save and head up and to the left towards the cave of South Figaro. Go through. When you get to the turtle pond, remember it’s a recovery spring. As you try to leave the cave, TunnlArmr attacks you. Once it’s dead, the scenario ends.

13c. Sabin’s Scenario
Party: Sabin, maybe later Shadow, later Cyan, and later Gau.
So, what happened to Sabin, anyway? Well, he ended up near what is known as the house in the veldt. Even though the veldt is some ways south of there. Go fig. Anyway, when you get control, SAVE!!!!! (as you may or may not be able to tell, I am very fond of save points. As far as I’m concerned, a save point is like a stupid cashier who gives you too much change. You should take advantage of it. =) anyway, when you’re done saving, go into that there house. Purchase stuff from the merchant. Talk to shadow. Welcome a partner. He’s helpful. Equip yourself. Then head east, then south till ya come to a bridge. Go across it. You will cross a small patch of desert. That desert is the Imperial Camp… (cue scary music!) anyway, you reach the imperial camp. You walk in and freak out and hide. Watch the little scene. Then you’re at Doma castle. You are Cyan, who you get in this scenario, and get to name. Anyway, if you go straight for the leader in the little fight, he dies really easy. Use his SwdTech thing on level 1 once or twice and he should die soon after that. If my memory serves me, anyway. Anyway, (boy, I say that a lot, huh? Anyway…) when you get there and see the little scene, you go into a fight sequence with Kefka. After talking to him once, instead of talking to him again, go explore. Find treasures in chests. I don’t remember how many there were. Sorry. But if ya don’t find them all, don’t freak. Anyway, go talk to Kefka again when you’re ready, and blah blah blah. After 2 or 3 times, you fight soldiers. Anyway, while you fight them, Kefka poisons Doma. Then you’re back in Doma and you are Cyan again. Anyway, stuff happens, go to the throne room, stuff happens, cyan’s family dies, stuff happens, you’re back in the imperial camp. Anyway, when you get Sabin & Shadow back, go fight with Cyan a few times, then he’ll join you. When you get the MagiTek, escape and you’ll be out onto the map. (save.) then go across the bridge, south, across the other bridge, south, and eventually you’ll get into the phantom forest. (cue even SCARIER music) anyway, you get to the phantom forest. The pond is a recovery spring, and the path has arrows, so if you get lost, you have my worries. But just incase you do, email me. When you get to the train, go all the way to the right to the caboose. Talk to the little Ghosty-guy and if ya want, he’ll join you. He’s really useful because he has this command, Possess, and when it works (which is often), he possesses one of your enemies. (plus, he’s just so cute!) Possess involves entering inside of them and killing them, but he goes away. It’s okay though. You can find more anyway. Anyway (boy, I DO say that a lot, huh?), also in the caboose is a guy who tells you about the train and (duhn duhn duhhhnn!!!) a save point! Guess what you should do there. . . if you didn’t say save, I’m ashamed of you. How could you? Anyway. Leave. Go left. In the first two cars there are bunches of ghosts. These little guys (they ARE cute, aren’t they? Sigh. . . ) will do one of three things: (a) attack you (that’s bad.); (b) try to sell you stuff (which can be good, but is usually just bothersome); or (c) try to join you (which is good. No doubts about it). Okay. Now. If you want, go back to the caboose and save. If not: Third train car. This is where things start to turn sour. When you go in, a ghost blocks the door behind you. Talk to the other guys on the train and prepare yourself for battle. If you don’t know what that involves by now, I’m scared for you. I really am. Anyway. When you’re ready, talk to the ghost by the door. After you fight him, the little ghosts will follow you around saying (and I quote) “N O E S C A P E” for the longest time. Climb up to the top of the car and jump across to the next one. (this can be accomplished by walking towards the left until you can’t go anymore. Sabin will take care of the rest.) In Car 5, go inside and pull the little switch. It detaches the rear cars and lets you continue. Then pull it again. This opens up a wall. Continue on your journey. When you get to the sixth car, sit down to order at the center table. The ghost will serve you food which replenishes your stats and stuff. Now prepare to fight again. Go in to car seven. Open the chest and Siegfried (some crazy looney who somehow got a license for a sword) attacks you. After YOU win, HE grabs the prize and runs. Huh. Some guy. Anyway. Moving on to car 8. There are chests. Open tehm. Get stuff. After car 8, if you have a ghostly companion, he leaves. He ditches ya for that hot dead chick he saw back in car 7. . . you know the one. You were checkin her out to, weren’t ya? Hehehe. . . Meanwhile, back in car 9, there is a save point. SAVE!!!! SAVE AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPEPNDED ON IT. WHICH IT DOES, by the way. Now. . . approach the engine. Pull the first and thrid switches on the inside and then go out and pull the switch on the smoke stack. Now. . . now you have to fight the Ghost train. When you stop, it shows all the dead from Doma castle boarding the train. You have a little scene and then you go. Once on the world map again, head south then east, then north and up in to the little cave. Then back out of the little cave. What did you forget to do? SAVE! I swear. This is the last time I’m going to tell you to save. From this point forward, you’re going to have to figure this hard strategical move out on your own. Anyway, here Shadow decides he’s no longer needed, so he ditches ya. That is, if he hasn’t already. Before you head back in to the cave, unequip Shadow of everything he’s got. You’ll need it. Especially his relics. Now, coming up is a major series of battles in between which you won’t have any time to cure and heal yourself. So, use a tent before you go back in, then equip yourself, then save. Then you can head into Barren Falls. Jump over the cliff. I’m serious! Jump over the cliff. Don’t believe me? Try it. You’ll see. I promise. Come on. Have I ever lied to you before? Okay. On the way down you will fight big scary ugly lookin monsters. I’m talkin Pirannahs, a Rhizopas, the whole nine yards. See the boss list for their info. Now, supposing you survive the fall (which you will. I know you. You’re not one to give up if you lose the first time. I mean, come on. Are you really going to get almost to the halfway point of the WoB just to die here? Come on.), you will land in the veldt. Gau is standing next to you, but he runs when you try to talk with him. So what ya do is this: Fight your way down south and to the east, then north again; fight Gau until you get a chance to get to Mobliz, which is the town that, if you have followed the map and those handy little south-east-north directions I just gave, you should reach. Go in. Buy stuff. BUT!!! Make absolutely positive that you’ve bought dried meat from the item shop. Okay. This next part isn’t necessary, but it can get you a Tintinabar, which is actually a very valuable relic. Especially when you no longer have any potions, MPs, or tonics around. . . Anyway. What you do to get it is this: make sure you’ve got lots of money, first off. I’d say about 5000 gp, but it may cost more. Then go and talk to the wounded soldier. (he’s in the house all the way to the left) Hear his sad story. Get the letter and read it to him. Then go into the messenger’s house. It’s the one immediately to the right of the soldier’s. send a message to his girlfriend for 500 GP and then check his clock for an elixir. After that, go north to the relic shop. There’s a bed in the back. After talking to the Relic shopkeeper, you can sleep there. When you wake up, talk to the shopkeeper again, then go to the soldier’s house again. If I’m not mistaken, there will be another letter there. Read that one to him. Then go send whatever it is he wants this time, then go talk to the Relic Shop guy, etc. basically, if you keep doing this, you will eventually reach a point where he thanks you for all you’ve done and give you a Tintinabar. Isn’t helping special? And rewarding! Okay. Now. Down to business. If you haven’t already figured it out, the dried meat you bought is for Gau. Fight battles until he shows up on the Veldt. When you see him, give him dried meat. You’ll see a little scene and you can name Gau now. He’s going to join your party. Then it will explain how to use his Rage skills. When he’s on the veldt, he can Leap. When that happens, you just have to fight until you see him again. Then when he pops up, just don’t attack him. When he comes back, he’ll have new Rages. Anyway. I’d say to work up as many new Rages as possible. This is really important, because Gau can’t fight, and until later in the game, he can’t use magic either. So anyway. When YOU think you have enough Rages, or when you can’t find anymore new monsters to fight, head south. When you reach a big mountain, go west around it. Then south, and you can enter it. Make sure you have Gau when you get to this part. Explore around the cave and eventually you’ll find Gau’s underwater breathing device. Prepare yourself for battle again. Go out of the cave and jump in to the Serpent Trench. You’ll have to fight lots of battles here without saving or healing, just like you had to in the Lete River. Also like the Lete River, there are spots where you can pick a direction. If you want to be able to get all the treasure, take two rights. You’ll go into a couple of caves, and once you get there, you can heal yourself and stuff. Anyway, there are a couple of treasure chests in there somewhere. One has an X-Potion, and the other has a Green Beret. Anyway, eventually you’ll come out at Nikeah. Basically all you’ve got to do is just shop around for stuff you need and want. There’s a clock in the inn that has an Elixir, but that’s about it. Go to the guy on the boat and hop aboard. That’s it. End of the scenario. Aren’t you proud of yourself?

14. The Multiparty Battle for the Esper
Party: Terra, Locke, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Gau, Cyan
Okay. Here’s what you do. First thing, when you get there, DO NOT TALK TO BANNON. Go and save at the save point. Then, set Terra up for battle. Cure her, ya know. Do stuff. Then, go up to each of the other characters and push A to do the same for them. When you have all of them with the best armor, weapons, and relics, and when everyone is at max HP and MP, THEN talk to Bannon. He’ll ask if you’re ready. Say yes. Then the little imp guy will come by and explain what you’re going to do. Once you’ve read that, put your people into groups.
*****MY RECCOMENDATION IS THIS: G1: Terra, Celes, Edgar, Sabin. G2: Locke, Cyan. G3: Gau. When you have them in those groups, what you’re going to do is this: take G2 and G3 and position them around Bannon. Then take G1 and walk as fast as you can, dodging as many guards as you can. Try to fight as little as possible, curing after each battle. Do not use magic if at all possible. Once you reach Kefka, fight him using this: Terra: attack. Celes: Runic and/or Ice. Sabin: Pummel Blitz. Edgar: Bio Blaster.*****
This should work. When your people get low on HP, have Terra use Tonics on them, or have Celes or Terra cast cure. However, you must be sure that if Terra uses magic at all, that Celes has not just used her Runic blade to draw it in. This is a must. Now. Like I said, this should work. If it doesn’t, and you die, your G1 will start up by where the save point was. Cure them with tonics immediately and go down and try again. If the Guards reach Bannon, you lose. If you lose two or three times using my strategy, experiment. Try your own. But whatever you do, don’t give up. I know you can do it. The fact that you’ve made it this far proves that you can do it. It’s hard, yeah, it’s one of the hardest parts of the game, but I KNOW you can do it. ;-) that’s me: Cecilia the Motivational Speaker. Sigh. Anyway. Good luck! After you defeat Kefka, you will see a scene where they all gather at the Esper. The Esper forms a bond with Terra and she morphs, screams, and flies away. Thus begins the search for Terra…

15. The search for Terra
Party: Okay. This is the first part of the game where you really get to create a party. Pick 4 characters. (at this point in the game, you have the opportunity to have shadow in your party again. if you want him, only choose 3 characters.) This is kinda tricky because you automatically want to go for your strongest characters. HOWEVER, if you do that, your other characters will be sorely lacking when it comes to levels. What you want to do is make a party of one physically strong character, one magic user, and one weaker character, like Gau or Locke. If you want 4 members, pick another weak character. This may seem like a bad idea, but as you go on, you will definitely be glad you chose the weak characters because they will get stronger and later on in the game you will be grateful for that strength.

15a. Narshe
Okay. You’ve got your party, right? Now you’re in the Elder’s House. Check his clock for an Elixir. You can sleep in the back room of the Weapon Shop if you need to. Then go around exploring Narshe. Remember where Arvis’s house is? Well, down to the south of it there is a building that holds treasure chests that could possibly be very helpful. (what possibly. . . ? bag ‘em! They’re worth more than their weight in gold!) Anyway.

15b. Figaro Castle
Now progress to Figaro. You remember Figaro…Desert castle, home of King Edgar, ring any bells? Yeah! That place! Go there. (*Interesting Note: if you go to the castle with Edgar and Sabin and then go sleep in the little rest room, you’ll see an interesting reunion scene with the two twin brothers. It’s cute. But if you take the two brothers, I wouldn’t recommend taking a magic user. You’ll use Celes and Terra more than enough later on in the game, so if you want to take the two brothers, also take….. probably Locke and Gau or Cyan. Oh, and while we’re talking about parties, if you ever want to change yours, head for Narshe.) Anyway, once you do all the stuff you WANT to do there (*Another Interesting Note: if you have Edgar and put him at the head of your party and go shop, he’ll get you a 50% discount. It’s neat.) , head down the stairs to your left once you go in through the first door. Talk to the guy in the basement; now he’ll take you beyond the mountains. This is neat to watch. Kinda. Anyway, once you get out, save. The monsters here get lots harder to fight. Use a tent if you got one and if you need one, then save.

15c. Kohlingen
Go north and a bit to the east and you’ll approach Kohlingen. Okee doke. Now. If you’ll head into the Café, you’ll see Shadow at the table. He’ll join you if you have less than 4 in your party and 3000GP. So if ya get him, make sure you have Shurikens and other throwing implements. If you happen to have Locke with you, this just happens to be the town in which he grew up. It’s chock full of flashbacks and interesting things about Locke’s past. If you go to a house in the top left corner (Rachel’s house) you’ll see a flashback about why he’s so obsessed with protecting Terra and Celes. If you go into the top right house and into the basement, you’ll see another flashback. (and just between you and me, that guy there is more than a little crazy. . . .) If you go behind the crazy guy’s house and push down, you’ll get to that door behind. You can look in the treasure chest for something or other. I think it’s a Green Beret. . . anyway. Now you’re doen in Kohlingen and you can leave. So do so. Now. Anyway.

15d. Jidoor
If you go up to the north, you’ll find a house with another crazy guy in it. In a pot in there there’s a hero ring. Nab it. Now leave. Go waaaaaaay south and west, down in between the mountains, past trees, veer off to the east, then go directly east and a little south and poof! There’s Jidoor. You don’t really NEED to be in Jidoor, but it’s a town where you can shop, rest, etc. when you’re done, go up north, keeping to the east side of the mountain range, then when you can’t go north anymore, go west and then south.

15e. Zozo
This is Zozo. Zozo is a fightin’ town. Everywhere ya go there’s fightin somewheres. Promise. Anyway, what you have to do is several things. Zozo is a very interesting town. Nothing is what it says. Everyone lies about everything except one person who says “This place is dangerous” or something like that. The café is not a café. The Inn is not an Inn. In fact, while we’re on the Inn, let’s talk about it. Inside is a clock. It asks you to please reset the hour, minute and second. This is not at all hard, but it can drive you crazy if you don’t think about it. You have one of two choices: you can either walk around town, talking to everyone who tells you the time, write them all down and not pick any of those times (because everyone there lies) and have the satisfaction of knowing that you did it yourself; OR, if you really don’t feel like doing that, you can just ask me. I’m not going to tell you that one. I know what you’re thinking: Why make a walkthru with all these spoilers and then not include the time on a clock? Well the thing is, it’s so easy just to walk around for like, 10, 15 minutes to find it out, plus you get money and levels from the battles. If you’re lazy, email me. It holds the almighty, all powerful, and really nifty Chainsaw Tool, which is an absolute must have for a great many boss battles. Anyway. Next part. The building with armor shop markings has a chest with a tonic. Now. Leave the town and save. It’s the last time you’ll be able to before the next boss battle. In the Relic Shop. Go up as far as you can and you’ll find a chest with the ThiefGlove. EXTREMELY helpful. Now go down to the floor with the doorway that leads nowhere, just below the guy jumping between buildings. Walk over to the left to jump across. Keep on up, keep jumping and walking up stairs, fighting battles along the way. When you get to the guy at the top of the building, don’t talk to him. This is Dadaluma. First, prepare for battle. Then talk to him. He’ll say stuff and then you’ll fight him. After you beat him, you get to Terra. Stuff happens and you end up with 4 espers. You get all the info you will ever need about Espers as you go on through the game, so I’ll save myself all the extra typing. Once you get the two chests on either side of the room, talk to one of the three guys that just got there. Everyone goes back downstirs and you will find yourself at the Zozo entrance. Your party will then break up. Celes and Locke will take two others of your choice down to the Southern Contintent. The others will return to Narshe. You control Locke and Celes’ group.

15f. Jidoor and the Opera House
Party: Locke, Celes, and two others of your choice.
Go back to Jidoor. When you get there, go to the big house in the north part of the city. You’ll find the director of the opera. As he leaves he drops a letter. Read it to find out about Setzer. (You name him then) he owns an airship. Then go to the opera house. It’s basically just south. You’ll find it, don’t worry. When you get there, talk to the little guy. Stuff happens, and the Impressario is freaking out major-like. Then Ultros shows up and gives them a letter. All you have to do is this: when you get control as Celes, look at the script. Then go up through the door at the north side of the room, then go through the curtain. When you get on stage, she’ll walk around and you have to make her sing. If you don’t remember the lines, they’re all there at my Opera House for ya to look at. But they are pretty easy. (then again, I’ve only played the game ten thousand and a half times.) If you do it wrong, you get kicked out. You’ve got four chances total to do it right. Once you’ve sung everything, a little guy appears and you have to go talk to him. When he moves, go talk to him again. Keep doing this until he turns into flowers. Grab the flowers and go as fast as you can to the top and over to the left, towards the western part of the tower. If you take too long, you get kicked out. Then Celes mysteriously sings a part of the song that she should by no means know, and that wasn’t in the script…. Anyway, she sings and that’s the end of it. Almost. When you control Locke, Read the letter in the dressing room. Now go back to where everyone’s sitting and talk to the Impressario. When Ultros shows up, you have 5 minutes to get him. Go (preferably at top speed) to the far right, then up and up. Go up the stairs, talk to the guy, pull the far right switch. Go back down to where the Impressario’s still sitting and go up the other side of the balcony. Navigate the beams, trying to get in to as few battles as possible, then when you get to Ultros, you’ll have to fight him. Afterwards, Setzer comes and Kidnaps Celes. After some convincing (and a double-headed coin) Setzer agrees to take you guys onward. So hop in and let’s go!

15g. Albrook, Tzen, and Maranda
Party: Same as above
okay. When you get to this part, the monsters are suddenly a lot harder to fight. Don’t give up. Save often and keep on fighting. Don’t reset the game when you die, you should know that by now, but just in case you don’t, when you die, all money and treasures you got you have to find all over again, but you keep your experience. Anyway, there’s not much to do in Albrook, except that you have shops with cool new stuff in them and there’s a pot in the weapon shop with a tincture and a barrel next to the in with a potion. Then you can go to the northern side of the island to Tzen, then to the western side for Maranda, but those cities aren’t necessary. However, on the way you fight monsters that are extremely helpful in getting you money and experience, and then when you get to each of the cities there’s stuff to buy. Oh, and there’s a revivify in a box to the left on the entrance to Maranda and a Remedy in a box in the eastern side of town. Anyway, after you go to those places, go to the big castle-y looking thing. Welcome to Vector. . . .

15h. Vector
Party: Same as above
Note: don’t sleep in the inn. The keeper steals 1000 GP! Okee. In the skinny looking house there’s an old woman who asks if you pledge allegiance to the empire. If you say no, two guards attack you, but they’re easy to beat, and after you do, talk to the lady again and she’ll heal you. Don’t talk to any guards in the town or they’ll attack and send you back to the entrance. Don’t go north to the castle or you’ll be attacked by the undefeatable (at this point in the game) Guardian. To the right of the inn, an old man is hiding behind the box. When he distracts the guards, jump on the box and follow the tracks north into the MagiTek factory.

15i. Magitek Factory
Party: Same as above
Okay, folks. This is kinda hard, but not really. Almost everything here is weak against water and bolt, so when you fight, use spells like that. Also, pipsqueaks are weak against Edgar's Flash tool, as are most things down here. Okay. Now. Go down the stairs to where the hooky thing is moving across the big chasm like object. Push A to jump on it, grab what’s in the chest (I forgot what it was!!) and go back across. Now go to the right and through the second pipe to the right of the stair, grab THAT chest, and go back through the pipe. Go through the first pipe now, get the treasure, and get on the conveyor belt to the two other treasures. Now get on the next conveyor belt to go downstairs. now go left and up the stairs and through the door to get the chest with the gold sheild in it. then go back down the stairs and to the left to get the chest with DragonBoots. look around until you find three other chests containing a tent, and two things i can't remember. (i'll find out. don't worry.) then get on the belt. When you get off, you’ll see Kefka push a couple of espers onto another conveyor belt. When you can move again, follow the Espers down the belt and talk to the one on the left. You now have to fight Ifrit and Shiva. after you win, they’ll change into magicite for you. Through the left door is a save point, and through the right is a bunch of stairs. Climb them and you’ll find a hall with bunches of tanks holding espers. Go down to the far west end of the hall, and down next to the holding tank and look around to find the break blade. (very useful, by the way.) After that hall, you reach the exit, guarded by Number 024 which you will (obviously) have to fight. After this guy, there’s a hall with Espers in tanks. Go up and press the switch to get six Espers: Unicorn, Maduin, Shoat, Phantom, Carbunkl, and Bismark. After that, Kefka comes out, and would you believe the nerve of this guy? He makes Locke believe that Celes wasn't really an imperial traitor, but an imperial spy sent to infiltrate the Returners. Man! Celes tries to convice him that she would never betray him. . . but he doesn't believe her. She says one of my favorite lines from the game, "Let me save YOU for once," and she uses her magic to save you. It's very emotional. Follow Cid and talk to him, then ride the mine cart, fighting people all the way. (and if you ask me, the mine cart ride is THE worst part of the game, in terms of graphics. I don’t know if they could have done better, but quite frankly, that part sucks.) Anyway, after the ride, you have to fight Number 028 and you’ll be back in town. Setzer comes to get you, and as you try fervently to escape, your efforts seem all in vain, as you are attacked by 2 Cranes. You die. There’s no way to win this battle. Just so you know. You can’t do it. This is the end of the game. Sigh. . . so short. . . JUST KIDDING. Oh come on. like i'd really leave ya hanging like that. Anyway, like I said, you fight two Cranes. After this battle, you will end up in Zozo, back in Terra’s room.

15j. Zozo
Party: Same as above
Now you’re in Terra’s room. A magicite glows and Terra remembers a bunch of stuff. You travel back in time to Esperland/-ville/-town, whatever. You now control the Espe rMaduin, Terra’s father. Just follow the plotline, and when Ghestal has Terra, the flashback’s over. Now go back to Narshe.

16. Narshe
Party: Same as above
Note: there’s better stuff in the shops. Just so you know. Now. A guard appears and takes you to Banon. Now go to that house that had all those chests, member? And the locked chest? Yeah! That’s it! Now go back there. Here is Lone Wolf the thief. (he sucks) He takes the treasure and runs! Just like Sigfried on the train! My god!! Are you just gonna let him leave like that??? NO!! you’re gonna run after him. That’s right. CHASE HIM DOWN!! I’m very adamant about this. Just so you know and everything. So chase him down and you’ll end up by Tritoch. So what do you do when you get there? Well let’s see. He’s sitting there and says something like "don’t come closer or the moogle gets it!" yeah yeah yeah, mr. Big talk and no action. . . so eventually, the moogle breaks free. Now you have a choice. You can either talk to Lone Wolf and get the Gold Hairpin (a VERY nifty item indeed!) or you can talk to the moogle and get him in your party. Both of these things are available later, but the Gold Hairpin is mega cool, and it’s even better when you have two of them. However, if you get Mog here, you have the opportunity to learn his dance Water Rondo, which I don’t believe you can learn in the WoR. So. . . your choice. Either way, back to the airship!

BONUS: Water Rondo
Party: Mog and whoever you want
Okay. Now, if you have Mog, is a good time to go and get said Water Rondo. There are two ways to get this dance. Both of them are kind of long-ish, so be warned.
METHOD 1: Serpent Trench Okay. Hop in the airship and hike it to the veldt. Ya know. Crescent Mountain. Make sure Mog is in your party or this is all kinda pointless. ;-) go through Crescent Mountain (like it’s really a big puzzle. . . ) and jump into the Serpent Trench. Go through, and after your first battle you will have the dance. The rest of this little game is just getting back to your airship. When you get to Nikeah, don’t take a ship back to South Figaro. Leave town (might wanna take a chocobo to make the trip shorter) and go north. You’ll be by that crazy old man’s house eventually, where Sabin’s crazy little misadventure started. Go through the imperial base and the phantom forest, jump in at Barren Falls, and go through the veldt (by now you definitely will have had to leave your chocobo somewhere. . . ) and hop back on your airship! Huzzah!
Method 2: The Lete River Wow is this one long. But if you go through it, you get most of Mog’s dances, so it’s an even trade. Here’s what to do. Land the airship by the Returner’s Hideout. Go through the hideout and go to where you guys escaped with Banon on the river. Well, what are you waiting for? Jump in! Okay so we’re twisting and turning and sailing and OH MY GOD! There’s suddenly a battle. What do you do??? Well duh. Fight. After that first battle in the water, you have Mog’s Water Rondo. Woohoo! Unfortunately, now you have to go back to the airship. It’s really a wonder the dang thang don’t get stolen with everywhere you leave it. But anyway. Wouldn’t it be nice if you ended up by Narshe? Yeah, it would. But you don’t. you end up going the way that Sabin went when you went this way. So where you end up is way far away, near that crazy old man’s house. Do you remember when you went through Sabin’s scenario? Well you have to do that again. All of it. Except you don’t have to do the plot part. So you go *deep breath* down through the imperial base, through the phantom forest, jump off Barren Falls, wander through the veldt, go through Crescent Mountain, jump into the Serpent Trench, navigate through the water, shop in Nikeah, and hop on the boat to South Figaro *pant pant pant* where the ship captain has to like, smuggle you into a treasure chest so you don’t get caught by the guards. Hehe! Anyway. From South Figaro, you have to go through Mt. Koltz and get to the Returner Hideout where your ship is again. Man, saying all that about takes it out of ya!

Bonus: Auction House
Party: Whoever you want, but I would suggest some lower level characters with one or two higher level ones so you can level them up.
The Espers Golem and Zoneseek can be purchased at the auction house at this time, as well as a cure ring, a talking chocobo, and some cherub down. I know what you’re thinking: Wow, a talking chocobo? I gotta get me one of them! But unfortunately you can’t. some rich kid always buys it for way more money than anyone’s willing to dispute. So how much money are we talking here? Well, the Espers and the cure ring are 10,000 gp each, and the cherub down is (I believe) 5,000 gp. How the heck are you supposed to have that kind of money just lying around? Well, if you don’t, there is a way. One way is to sell all your stuff, which isn’t fun, and can be dumb b/c you prolly need all that stuff. Another way is to fight monsters. Yay for fighting monsters! Hooray! Well, pretty much anywhere except by Narshe is going to give you cash. But if you want a good deal, there is a monster called Intangir on Triangle Island in this world. It’s in the northwest corner of the world, on a tiny island shaped like a triangle with a little mountain in it. It’s kind of hard to kill, but it gives you either lots of experience, or lots of money (I can’t remember!!!). either way it’s cool. Anyway. When you have tons and tons of money, go to the auction house in Jidoor. It’s fun and it plays this cute little music. Unfortunately, you have to do it several times before you can get anything you actually want. It does the cute little skit with the talking chocobo quite a bit before it shows anything useful. Do it until you get what you want, keeping in mind that both Espers are available at the auction house later, and even in the World of Ruin.

17. The Hidden Imperial Base
Party: Terra and three others, strongest characters recommended. I personally used Terra, Locke, Cyan, and Edgar. Edgar’s tools are useful, and Locke and Cyan both have cool weapons hidden in treasure chests down here. But they were also some of my stronger characters, so there ya go. Just a suggestion.
If you fly over the Southern Continent, on the eastern side past the desert but before the mountains, you will see a single house next to a bridge. Land next to the house and walk inside. If you don’t have Terra with you, you will be kicked out, so you have to have her. When you enter (with Terra) the place is deserted. Upon closer inspection, you realize that this is not a house. This is an entire military base under camouflage. The place is empty. You can explore the buildings if you like, but you’ll find nothing. Nothing, that is, except a little room behind a locked door. Darn it! Are those treasure chests???? Man, this sucks! Well, nothin you can do about it now. Might as well go on ahead. Follow the stairs up, cross the bridge, go down, and exit to the right. Now you’re outside, on the other side of the bridge! Hooray! Now walk into the mountain. Yeah, I know. It makes you feel kind of silly. But trust me! Just walk into the side of that big ol’ rock. *BAM!* Well I didn’t mean literally. If you walk into the mountain, you’ll enter a cave.

18. The Cave to the Sealed Gate
Party: same as above.
Ooooh, this place gives me the creeps. There’s undead things here. Big bluish-purple toothy things. Use fire on those. And scary creepy red ribby things that float. Don’t use fire on those. Oh, and did I mention that they attack you as a group, the toothy and ribby things? Yeah. Anyway. . . onward! Wander around the first room, there’s a treasure chest in here with the Assassin or the Tempest. (okay, I can’t remember. Sue me!) but I’m pretty sure it’s the Assassin. Anyway, next is this room with scary lava and moving bridges. After a couple of harmless falls into the scary lava, you should get the hang of it. Spend as much time as you need. It’s kind of hard to explain, but it’s not hard to get the general idea, so try to get all the treasure chests. In the one on the bottom left rock thingy is the Coin Toss. Not very useful since it throws your money at people, but it’s nice to know you have it. It’s Setzer’s special relic. When you find the Tempest, equip it to Cyan. It’s way useful. (unless you don’t have Cyan, in which case just hang on to it for a while.) so after you take the bridges over the scary lava, you are in this place. There’s like, holes and rocks and crap all over the place. Pull the switch on the bridge and follow the left path to a chest with the Genji Glove. Way cool relic. You might have gotten it when you went to the Returner’s Hideout the first time, but if not, it’s here now. Now go back down and take the right path. Go to the little switchy things and pull the left one. There’s a hole! Oh my! Well go in it! Oh look. A SAVEPOINT!! Yeah, I’m a big fan of those. I may or may not have mentioned it already. ;-) well save! Oh yeah, and there’s a chest with a tent in it that may prove useful. Use it if you need to, keep it if you don’t. Now go pull the right switch. Oh no! a Ninja! He ain’t that hard. Don’t worry about it. Beat him up and he tells you about a hidden cache under the grand staircase or something like that. Woohoo! A cache! We love those. Okay so. . . moving on.the next bridge also has a switch! How exciting! Pull it. No really, pull it. Oh come on. Have I ever led you wrong before? Go on! Okay. So you pulled it. What happened? Oh yeah, that stairway thing. Go down that. So in the area below the stairway, there’s four hidden treasures. I don’t remember what they are, but they’re way useful. There’s one to the left of the stairs, one a little above the hole to the right, one above the left slope thing, and one a little bit above the chests. So get the chests! One of them contains the Atma Weapon. The most powerful sword in the game. No shit. Don’t just stand there admiring it, pick it up! Equip it to someone. It doesn’t want you to, if you select the optimum thing. That’s because it’s tricky. Do you remember in south figaro the first time you went there someone was talking about legendary stuff? And he said there was a power with two forms. One was a hideous beast, and the other transformed a person’s power into a sword. Well that’s this sword right here. As you become more powerful, i.e. have more hit points, the power of the sword goes up. When you lose hit points, it’s not as powerful. That’s why it doesn’t want you to equip it, because if you lose hit points, it’s not going to work at all. But when you’re at full power, it’s WAY cool. Next go through the hole and step on the switches. Go down and left and step on that other switch. Well anyway. Leave that room and go to the right far bridge and up. Pull the switch, cross the bridge, pull more switches, cross more bridges, yadda yadda yadda. The rest of the cave isn’t that hard. There’s one more treasure chest you should get, too. So. You go up to the big doorway. There’s a scene with the sealed gate. Kefka and Gestahl were waiting for you. Terra goes by the sealed gate trying to communicate with the Espers. Your job is to distract Kefka. Basically, don’t get yourself killed, but don’t throw everything you’ve got against him. You’ll need it later. Eventually, the Espers will break out of the sealed gate and wreak havoc on everything. At the end of the scene, when you again regain control of the characters, leave the sealed gate. You don’t have to go through that all again though, with the scary lava bridges and stuff. There’s a door if you go down to the bottom of the screen. Go back through the Imperial Base and jump on the airship. Guess what happens next! You are attacked by Espers. Eventually, Setzer can’t control the ship anymore and it crashes south of Maranda. Go north and east to Vector. Try not to get lost, but it’s easy to do so. So you get to Vector. . .

19. Vector and the Banquet
Party: Whoever you want. You can switch in the airship before you leave.
Go into the Imperial Castle. That scary Guardian guy isn’t there now. Some scary cultist-lookin guy comes up and greets you. Follow him to Gestahl and talk to him. Gestahl tells you about these soldiers that aren’t quite sure that they want to side with the returners against the Espers. You are invited to dinner and the scary cultist man tells you that you have four minutes to talk to as many men as possible before dinner. Let me tell ya, as many times as I’ve played this game, I’ve only gotten all of the guards once. There’s 24 of them. Don’t talk to Kefka (isn't it cool that he's in jail? He was imprisoned for poisoning Doma.) and don’t get any of the treasures b/c you can get them later. Don’t talk to anyone twice. Go everywhere, even in the bathroom b/c there’s soldiers everywhere. You have to fight some of them, so do it as quickly as possible. The more soldiers you talk to, the better the reward you will get, and some of the stuff you really need to get. Okay. Now here’s what is going to happen. After the four minutes, the banquet will start. During the banquet you will be asked questions and given choices of how to answer them. Now, I don’t know who devised this point system, but it’s incredibly accurate. Here’s how it works:
Each guard talked to: 1 point (total 24 points)
Each guard fought: 4 points (total 20 points)

"What should we toast to?"

 To the Empire: 2 points
To the Returners: 1 point
To our hometowns: 5 points

"What should we do about Kefka?"

Leave him in jail: 5 points
Let him go: 1 point
Execute him: 3 points

"What about Doma?"

What’s done is done: 1 point
That was inexcusable!: 5 points
Apologize again!: 3 points

"What do you think of General Celes?"

Was she a spy?: 1 point
Celes is one of us!: 5 points
We trust Celes: 3 points

"Do you have any questions to ask me?"

2 points for each question asked
-10 points if you ask a question twice.
Remember which question you asked first.

"What about the Espers?"

 They’ve gone too far!: 5 points
You unleashed their power: 2 points

"By the way, which of those questions did you ask me first?"

Answer correctly: 5 points Answer incorrectly: nothing

"”Would you like to take a break?"

Yes: 5 points
No: nothing

During the break, walk around and talk to the people.
The four sentries (that’s the cultist looking guys) will "test your strength" if you talk to them.
When you’re ready to begin again, sit back in a chair.

"Is there anything you’d like me to say?"

That all you want is peace: 3 points
That the war is over: 5 points
That you’re sorry: 1 point

"I need a favor. . ."

Say yes the first time: 3 points
You’ll have to say yes anyway, really, so might as well say it first.

After the banquet, Terra and Locke decide to go to Albrook with General Leo so they can find the Espers and make peace with them. Edgar thinks that the rest of them should stay in Vector and check things out because he "smells a rat." After that little scene, you should TOTALLY go back and get all that treasure you didn't get when you were talking to the soldiers. There's cool stuff in there. And it's free! That's the best part about being an adventurer. You can take people's stuff and not feel bad about it b/c you're saving the world! Anyway. When you leave the banquet hall before you get all that cool treasure, a sentry approaches you with rewards. Hooray for rewards! 'member that point system? Well that point system is now the basis for. . . .THE REWARD SYSTEM! (again, my little quote thingies aren't verbatim. deal with it.) Anyway, here's how THAT part works:
0-49 points: "Because you were able to talk to so many men, we will withdraw troops from South Figaro."

50-66 points: "We will also withdraw our troops from Doma"

67-76 points: "You may take any supplies from the Imperial Base on this continent."
(i.e. that little locked door protecting all that cool stuff is UNLOCKED! Woohoo!)

77-89 points: "We would like to present you with this." (You get a Tintinabar)
90-93 points: "We would also like to present you with this." (You get a Charm Bangle. Very useful.)

If they told you you could take stuff from the Imperial Base, go take it! Wow is there lots of stuff in there. . . Cherub down, an X-Potion, a total of 41,000 gp, an Ether, a Cure Ring, a Back Guard, 2 Elixirs, RunningShoes, and a Wall ring! Oh, and don't forget to look in the oven. There's a turkey in there! Well, not really, but there is a Flame Saber in there. Which is way cool. Oh, and there's a hidden chest in the bottom right corner of the room. Don't forget that one. Now leave.

20. Tzen and Albrook
Party: Locke and Terra
Actually, this part is just Albrook, but I thought I would make a side note here about Tzen if you wanted to stop there first. There's a man in Albrook who tells you that there's this guy in Tzen who's "selling strange glowing rocks." Ohhhh yeah, buddy you know what that means. Magicite, here we come! Unfortunately, if you actually GO to Tzen, when you find the guy wandering the forest in the northeast corner of town, he's selling it for 3000 gp. What a ripoff! Well, YOU might not think so, but wait until I tell you this: in the World of Ruin, you can get it from that same guy, the same magicite shard, for only TEN gp. Yeah. But if you want it now, go for it. It's useful. It's Sraphim, and it teaches curative magic. Anyway. Back to Albrook. Go down to the docks and get on the boat. Don't worry, you're not going anywhere just yet. Talk to General Leo and he tells you that you're going to be traveling with an Imperial general and a mercenary he hired in town. And who should appear but Celes and Shadow! Oh, man, poor Locke. He'd screwed up big time back in the Magitek factory. He tries to apologize, but she's still hurt by what he said. Well, anyway, Leo tells you that he's paid for a couple of rooms in the inn and that you'll leave in the morning. Take some time to get any shopping done now before you go to sleep. Then head up to the inn and catch some Z's. In the middle of the night, Locke wakes up and goes outside. Celes is standing there leaning over the bridge and watching the ocean. Locke talks to her for a while, apologizing and such. It's really sad. After that scene, it's morning. Go down to the boat and talk to Leo and you're on the way to sail to another continent.

21. Thamasa
Party: Locke, Terra, and Shadow
Okay. When you land the boat on a foreign continent, Leo tells you to go check out the town while he and Celes and the other soldiers look for the Espers elsewhere. Gestahl and Leo thought that the Espers might meet here because this continent has great magical power, and that it might attract the Espers. So go north and up that skinny little strip of land to the little town of Thamasa. When you get there, there’s this creepy mysterious music playing in the background. And everything in this town is a little. . . odd. For instance, if you go behind one of the houses, there’s a wooded clearing where a little boy is casting a Fire spell. But when he sees you he runs away. Or if you go north you’ll see a little girl begging her mother to heal her. The mother starts to cast a Cure spell, but when she sees you she stops and pretends like she was looking for some Cure medicine. But there’s all kinds of stuff in the barrels. And stop into the little shops and pick up a bunch of ice rods. Very very useful coming up. If you go to the inn, the man won’t let you sleep there for less than 1500 gp. He apparently doesn’t like strangers. By talking to the townspeople, you can find out that they “know nothing about Espers,” but one man tells you that if it’s an animal, the guy on the edge of town will know about it. By walking into the house, you’ll see a weird looking old man. If you talk to him, he gets all weird and pretends not to know anything. After a while, a little girl comes downstairs. You get to name both of these people at this point: Strago and Relm. Strago is older than dirt, and Relm is 10. Anyway, talk to them for a bit. Shadow’s “fierce dog” who “eats strangers” is absolutely infatuated with Relm. They go upstairs to play, but he comes back when Shadow calls him. After you make friends with Strago, the innkeeper trusts you and lets you stay for 1gp! Well that’s just too good to pass up. Who doesn’t want cheap service? You, being an adventurer, are thrilled to sleep there. So go on. Do it. Hooray! Okay. You’re all settled down to sleep when something happens. In the middle of the night, Strago comes in and wakes you up. Relm was at a friend’s house when the house caught fire! Oh no! Locke tries to wake Shadow on the way out, but he won’t wake. Interceptor comes with, though. So you run outside and go down to the biggest house, which is also, incidentally, the one with huge jets of flame coming out of everywhere. Kinda hard to miss. So when you get there, Strago tries to command the flames to stop. WHAT??!?!?! These people can use magic? No way! (like you didn’t know.) So when the town elder comes down to help, he yells at Strago for using magic. But Strago tells him to stuff it, and eventually all the townspeople gather to help. They all use their magic and what happens? The flames . . . get. . . bigger. Damn. Okay so now what? Well, Locke and Terra bravely step up to the challenge! And Strago goes with, which is a damn good thing b/c you prolly wouldn’t stand a chance in there without him. So you go inside. Before you do anything, you might want to equip Strago with an ice rod and equip someone that’s NOT Strago with the esper Shiva. Okay. Now. There’s little fire guys everywhere. When you touch one, you are attacked by Balloons. To get rid of them quickly (before they use their exploder, which can be totally lethal) have Strago use his Aqua Rake lore, and have someone cast Ice 2 on all of them. Save the ice rods. When you come to two doors, go in the right one. The left one is empty except for a little fire guy who attacks you. Then you see two more doors. The right one has a in it. The left door leads you to *shock* two MORE doors. Oi. Lots of doors. Man. Anyway, the right door leads you to another chest with an ice rod in it, and the left one leads upstairs. . . to. . . the . . . Flame Eater. it’s a boss. So anyway, once you beat him, you’ll go up and see Relm. You try to save her, but you can’t! poor interceptor is trying so hard! And just when you think all is lost, Shadow (who has FINALLY woken up) comes to the rescue! Huzzah! Afterwards, Shadow tries to act all tough, but you can tell he’s a softy. Then he leaves. Man. That guy is so moody. So now that everything’s okay, you have to go find the Espers. Strago and the townspeople have told you their secret: they’re descendants of the Mage Knights, which is why they have magic. He agrees to help you, and even knows of a place where you can start. So go west along the mountains and then north to find a cave. By the way, the monsters on this continent are kind of tough b/c they’ve been warped by all the magic energy that abounds here. My advice is to steer clear of the forest. So then you enter a cave. . .

22. The Esper Gathering
Party: Locke, Terra, and Strago
Okay. When you enter the cave, there are 3 exit holes: left, top, and the right one is a little harder to see right away. Now, if you really want to go through the left one or the top one, go right ahead, by all means, but they lead right to each other. So, since those are dead ends I guess the right one is the "right" way to go. Get it? The "right" way to. . . *utter silence* Jeez. . . tough crowd. Oh well. So, I guess you'd better get in there "right" away! *crickets chirp* Oh come on man! "RIGHT" away? That's good stuff! *sigh* oh well. Anyway. Go through the doorway on the right. Follow the cave and explore everything. There's not really any surprises here until you get to the three statues. Ah, yes. The three statues of the Goddesses. The source of all magic is right here. Go up and examine the statues, and they tell you a story about the Espers and why they're statues instead of goddesses. So when you try to walk away from the statues to continue your quest for Espers, guess who shows up. You know him. Eight legs, kinda purplish, large oversized head? Yeah. It's your buddy Ultros! Man, I hate that guy. Ah well. Oh, by the way, if you see Relm at all in this, that's because she snuck behind you guys. She wants to help! So you're fighting Ultros. After a while, Relm jumps in and tries to fight. Strago yells at her for following. Ultros just sits there with his thumb up his butt waiting for them to stop. Relm whispers her plan to sketch a drawing of Ultros. A cute little scene plays out when Relm pretends to have her feelings hurt by the big meany b/c he doesn't want her to paint his portrait. He finally gives in. When it's her turn, have her sketch him. He'll suddenly get all weirded out. He says another of my favorite lines: "How can this be? I'm nothing more that a silly octopus!" Hehe! Anyway. After all the hullabaloo, go through the upper left doorway. (I hate the word left. After all the "right" jokes, there aren't any cool jokes left. *badum BUM chhhh*) So you go through the doorway thing. There's a room with a save point. You should use it. :-D and then there's these. . . like. . . square things on the floor. Go step on the rightmost one. OH MY GOD you've fallen and can't get up! But looooook! Treasure! How exciting! Go jump off the little bridge thing and make your way back, up to the room with the squares. Now go into the top left square and there's two more treasure chests. Go back to the square room and go into the bottom left square. It goes to the BIG doorway where you will find the Espers. So you guys talk for a while. Don't worry. They won't hurt you. They apologize and you apologize, and you go back to Thamasa.

23. The End of a Hero
Party: Locke, Terra, Relm, and Strago
So the Espers and the Empire have reached an agreement. Everything is going well. Everyone realizes it was just a big misunderstanding. Everyone's happy. Things are looking up! Until Kefka shows up. Man. . . you could have SWORN he was in jail. . . how the hell did he get out? Did he escape? What's he doing with those Magitek Soldiers? Unfortunately, you've apparently been had. Gestahl was faking it when he threw Kefka in jail. He hasn't changed a bit, but now that they know about magicite, there's no stopping them. The Espers who have convened in Thamasa are murdered, and you have control of General Leo. Don't try to leave town. That Guardian thing that you can't kill yet will attack you. You'll die. So all that's left to do is talk to Kefka. When you defeat him, you're all set to have a victory party when he shows up behind you. But you killed him. . . didn't you? Nope. Apparently, you'd been fighting his shadow. Well, after Kefka explains what happened and how the Empire was just using him, Kefka kills Leo. It's horrible. After the madness ends, you're at Leo's funeral. Everyone's there except Shadow. A few words are said and Interceptor shows up. He's badly wounded, and Shadow is nowhere to be found. Apparently Shadow was lost as well. Everyone gathers in the center of town and Edgar explains how they found out what Gestahl was planning. When the scene is over, you're standing outside Thamasa. If you turn around and go back into the town, you'll find a friend of Strago's, Gungho, and learn about Hidon. After that, leave and go to the airship. Everyone's on deck planning for what to do next when you see the island that the Sealed Gate is on break free of the continent and float into the sky. What the??? Well, Kefka and Gestahl found the actual Stone Statues of the goddesses, and the magic power forced the continent into the air. You have to stop them before they destroy the world! If the statues are forced out of their delicate alignment, the resulting imbalance of magic could reshape the face of the planet. Damn. I hate when that happens. Well, before you go up to the floating continent to stop them, you've got time to run around and do anything you want. You've got free reign of the airship now. You can go anywhere and gain levels and buy stuff and all kinds of neat things.

Before you go to the floating continent, I would suggest emptying everyone's supplies. You can pick three people when you go find the Floating Continent, so decide who gets to go and equip them with the best stuff. I would totally recommend having Locke and Strago along, even if they're not your strongest people. Locke can steal things from the monsters on the floating continents, and Strago can learn a bunch of Lores up there. And you should probably not pick Celes, even if she's strongest. Why, you ask. Well, you'll see later. Also, get some money and go somewhere that sells Shuriken and other stuff that can be thrown. I think Albrook sells them. And if you need potions and stuff, put Edgar in the head of your party and go to Figaro Castle. There should also be some new tools there for you to buy. Well, when you're ready, enter the airship and approach the wheel and select "Find the Floating Continent." Everyone gathers on deck and you are told to please make a party of 3. That's where you pick the people that you equipped. Here goes. . . .

24. Fighting the Airforce
Party: Any 3 people.
When you set out to find the Floating Continent, first you have to fight the Imperial Air Force. You'll fight all these little jet plane things, and eventually, Ultros will land on the tail end of the ship. Dude, how many times you gotta fight this loser? Well, this is the last time, actually. If you use Vanish/Doom, he'll die instantly, but if you don't have that, then you'll have to fight him. When he's lots enough HP, he whistles for a friend of his: Chupon. He's harder to fight. Eventually, he sneezes you off. If you used Vanish/Doom you'll just sort of fall/jump off the airship. You're falling! But you're not alone. This big metal pig-looking thing called the Air Force is attacking you. When you beat it, you'll be on the Floating Continent.

25. The Floating continent
Party: Same as above, plus Shadow.
On this weird floating island, when you land, someone says "Kefka and the statues are just ahead!" Unfortunately, you can't see them. This place is an utter maze. I'll be honest, the first time I played this part, it took me three weeks to get past it. There's a save point immediately to your right, and Shadow is lying a little below it. Save and talk to Shadow. He'll join your party. I don't know how he ended up on that funky little island, but he did. And he's immensely helpful. Now, the monsters up here are rather difficult. The dragons sneeze you away if they don't kill you, and they're really hard to beat. Use scan on all the monsters to find their weaknesses. Locke can steal stuff from almost everything up here. There aren't any treasure chests, but there's these little blue orb-lookin things. They hold treasure. And one holds a monster-in-a-box. Okay. Now for the difficult part: navigation. Like I said, this place is an utter maze. It's not entirely difficult, but there are solid walls and rocks that you have to go through. For example, if you go right from the save point, there's a solid wall, but if you walk up against it, it moves around and opens into a path. Things like that happen up here. Its weird. When you come to the first orb, look at it and it gives you a Murasame. Go as far right as you can go, and then go down. You'll find a path leading to another orb. This is the monster-in-a-box. He's hard to beat, but hang in there. You just saved not too long ago. When you beat him, he gives you the Hardened. I think this is a Shadow weapon, so equip it to him. Now go back left. There's a hole/switch thing. Walk up to it as far as you can and press A, and another passage opens up. There's this weird hill thing with a square on top and stairs leading up. It's kinda like a flat-topped hill. Anyway, go up and you'll drop down and this weird noise plays over and over again. Then BOOM you reappear at another one. Weird. So go down the little hill and down as far as you can go, then go up into the little hole/switch thing on your right. Go right. . . . down. . . right again. . . it's strange. Anyway, you'll end up at another little hill thing. Jump in and you're suddenly among three of them! Well one you just appeared in, and the bottom right one leads to a little place with absolutely no purpose, so go into the bottom left one. Go down and step on the switch thing, then go up and step on the other switch thing. Man. Can I give directions or what? Anyway, go down and left until you come to stairs going down. Go down them as far as you can go, then go right. Follow the path until you come to a fork, and go right and step on the switch. This other path with the weird hill thing opens up. Don't go in it just yet though. Go to the far right and get the last orb (for now), which contains a Beret. That's a Relm hat. So go back left. Don't go up the stairs yet, but go down where there's this other weird hill thing. Go in that and you end up in a hole with a save point. Huzzah! A save point! Save and use a tent if you need to (which you probably will). Then go into the light. Don't worry, you're not dead. It just takes you back up to the surface. You'll have to step on the little switch thing again to see the hill, but do it and go into the hill. When you go down the stairs, you can see the airship! You can go down if you want. You can go around and do more stuff, like if you think you're not at a high enough level to handle it, or if you need to get more stuff. Any last minute things you want to do in the World of Balance, you should jump back on to the airship and do them. But you'll have to go through the maze again. At least you know how! But Shadow will leave if you do. You can find him when you get back. Anyway, if you don't go to the airship, go left and up through the wall. Prepare yourself for a really hard battle, by the way. You remember that guy in South Figaro who talked about the artifact that changed a person's power into a sword? That's the Atma Weapon. Unfortunately, he also said something about a hideous beast. And that's this guy. He's hard to beat. But you can do it. If you want to go to that save point again after you beat him, do it now. You won't have a chance to save for a while. Shadow leaves again when you go up. Kefka and Gestahl and the statues are there. Kefka, like a big dumb idiot, moves the statues around. Celes comes to save you. If you had put her in your party to begin with, you wouldn't have this new extra 4th person to fight with! But now you do. So this scene takes place. Kefka tells Celes that he'll "overlook her treachery" if she kills your other party members. Man! Talk about pressure. Well, Celes is smarter than that. Unfortunately, Kefka isn't. He kills Gestahl and kicks him (literally) off the continent and into the world below. Kefka continues to move the statues, but Shadow comes to the rescue. "Hurry!" he says. "I can't stop this chain reaction!"

26. The End of the World
Party: Celes and 2 or 3 others, depending on who you took to the Floating Continent.
Shadow and Kefka are moving the statues around. You are thrust down into an unknown part of the Floating Continent. You have SIX minutes to get to safety before whatever is going to happen happens. The path is pretty straight forward. You have to fight Nighties on the way. Use fire attacks on them. Just keep going right. When you see another blue orb, don't go straight for it. Go down and around and come at it from the right or else you won't be able to get it. When you see a little save point-esque thing, examine it and you'll fight Nerapa. When you beat her, you'll most likely have some time left. Go right and down and look at the airship below. When it asks you if you want to jump to safety, say no. approach it again, and say "Gotta wait for Shadow. . ." if you don't want to wait for Shadow, if you'd rather he die, then go ahead and jump. Otherwise he'll show up when you have like, 5 seconds left. Be patient and don't worry. You'll jump on the airship, which will crack with the resulting energy, and everyone is scattered across the world.
"On that day, the world was changed forever. . ."