Final Fantersy best things
***TRIPLE TRIAD GUIDE*** -Section under construction- I decided to put this in here so those of you who want to know about Triple Triad can look right at the beginning of the FAQ, instead of scrolling through the walkthrough section and possibly seeing some spoilers. This section has a description of the various rules, and some (hopefully) useful tips for playing this addictive - and sometimes frustrating - minigame. I won't mention the basic rules, since you can see them in the Tutorial and they're pretty easy to understand, but I'll discuss the various special rules here. Open - You can see your opponent's hand, and they can see yours. I don't know if it affects the computer's strategy much, or at all, but it's definitely to your advantage. I recommend spreading it to every region you can. Same - When at least two sides of a card match in numbers with two adjacent cards, (at least one of which is an opposing card) both cards will be turned over. Plus - This is a bit tricky to explain. I'll use a diagram to illustrate it. 3 8 5 (6+1) 5 4 2 + 3 2 A 7 6 + 1 = 7, 4 + 3 = 7. These add up to the same number, so Plus is activated and the (8152) and (32A7) cards are turned over. (For the record, I made up the card numbers, and have no idea if there are actually cards with those configurations.) This rule can be very annoying, especially without Open... Combo - Some people have trouble understanding this rule, but it's actually pretty simple. It works with the Same and Plus rules. It's easiest to illustrate, so here goes... 3 7 4 4 4 3 5 6 ________ 5 | 2 3 1 | 4 3 2 | 6 The (3445) card has just been placed. The "Same" rule is in effect. The (3445) card turns over the two adjacent cards. Now, here's where Combo comes into play. One of the cards affected with Same is the (7436) card. The 6 on the bottom beats the 2 on the top of the card below, so the (2436) card is turned over. (Again, I'm just making up these numbers.) In other words, a card taken with Same or Plus is treated like it's just been placed in a game without Same/Plus. If it beats an adjacent card of the opponent's, that card is turned over, and can take other adjacent cards. One side effect of this is that when one player gets a combo, the other player has a good setup for making a combo of their own... Same Wall - Used with the "Same" rule. The border of the playing field is considered to consist of "A"s for the purposes of using Same. Elemental - Some squares have elemental symbols on them. The squares and symbols seem to be chosen at random. If an elemental card is placed on a square with the same element, the value the numbers on each side of the card is raised by 1 for the purposes of normal matches. If a non- elemental card or a card of the wrong element is placed on an elemental square, the numbers on each side drop in value by 1. Sudden Death - If there's a draw, each player takes the cards they've won and the game restarts, with elemental squares moved if that rule is in effect. This continues until one player wins. This can work to your advantage if you've got a good hand, as you're pretty much guaranteed to win in the end, but it can be annoying to play through over and over. Random - Each player's hand is chosen at random. One of the most- despised rules in the game. Trade Rules: One - Choose one card from the opponent's hand. Diff - Choose a number of cards from the opponent's hand equal to the number of cards you won by. Direct - Keep the cards you turned over, lose cards turned over by the opponent. The most hated of the trade rules. All - Win all of the opponent's cards. Affecting the rules: Adding a rule to a region is easy. Just play in a region that has the rule you want to add, then go to the region that you want to add the rule to. Play cards with someone, and they'll usually ask you if you want to add in the rules from the other region. Accept, and the rule may be added after the game. Removing rules is done in pretty much the same way, but it's rarer to see a rule removed. To make it easier, first choose "Yes" when they ask you to play, then, when the screen with the current rules pops up, select "Quit". The rules can be changed this way as well, and rules seem to be removed more often. Also, sometimes rules will be added and removed at random after a game. If you're having trouble in a region, try messing with the rules. Rule sets: Balamb - Open Galbadia - Same Dollet - Random, Elemental FH - Elemental, Sudden Death Trabia - Random, Plus Centra - Random, Same, Plus Esthar - Elemental Lunar - Open, Random, Same, Plus, Same Wall, Elemental, Sudden Death Strategies for playing: The first trick to winning at cards is to get a good hand. Since you start with only Level 1 cards, this won't be easy. So, the first order of business is to get good cards from the main game. There are two ways of doing this; the first is to defeat GFs for their cards. You can get 4 GF cards this way before the end of Disc 1, all of them strong corner cards. The second way of getting good cards without playing Triple Triad is to learn the Card ability and use it to turn enemies into cards. Most of the time, enemies turn into their own cards, but sometimes they'll get turned into Boss cards instead. If you want a _real_ easy time with the card game early on, wander around the grass areas of Balamb and use Card on Glacial Eyes until you have 5 Jumbo Cactaur cards. It takes a while, but once you have them, the only players you have to worry about are the ones with rare cards. Okay, so you've got some good cards. Now what? Now you need to know how to use them. Personally, I play defensively. I get strong corner cards (ones with two adjacent sides with a value of 8 or higher) and always put them where only the strong sides are showing. Playing offensively is also an option, but it doesn't work too well in Sudden Death. The other important thing to do is alter the rules if at all possible. This is especially important in Dollet, as the Random rule makes the Queen of Cards side quest rather tricky. I'll try to have more strategies in a future update. ***WALKTHROUGH*** Before I get into the actual walkthrough, there are two useful functions that aren't described in the manual or the tutorial. First, to undo Junctioned spells, use the Magic Junction option, select the spell you want to un-Junction, and push the Square button. (or whatever button you assigned to Play Cards) Second, to discard unwanted spells, go to the Magic menu, select either Use or Exchange, move the cursor on the spell you want to get rid of, and push Square. You'll be asked if you want to discard the spell. These are useful features, remember them. Also, I personally found the default control layout awkward; I recommend changing it as soon as you can. I personally use Circle to talk, X to walk, Triangle for the menu, and Square to play cards. Of course, you may prefer another layout. Another thing: the titles for sections (which look something like this: | TRIAL BY FIRE |, and are typically followed by a sarcastic comment in parentheses) are my own names. Therefore, I assume full responsibility for how dumb, uncreative, etc. they sound. Finally, a note on Draw Points. When I list Draw Points in an area, I put an "r" in brackets next to the Draw Point if it recharges after a while. If I have a question mark after the "r", it means I'm not sure if the Draw Point recharges. Hopefully, I'll be able to eliminate most of the question marks by the next version. -Disc One | TRIAL BY FIRE | (I warned you. I'm bad at coming up with titles. Hey, I can be even less creative that this.) -Balamb Garden Draw Points: Cure(r), Esuna, Blizzard(r) Rare Cards: Quistis, MiniMog Rule Set: Balamb GFs: Quezacotl, Shiva After an impressive FMV, sequence, you'll see Squall wake up in the infirmary. Dr. Kadowaki will ask Squall how he is, and you'll be given a choice. I'm not sure if the choice you make affects anything. Then you'll be asked to name Squall. Change his name if you want. After some more dialogue, Dr. Kadowaki will call Squall's instructor, Quistis. Then you'll see a mysterious girl talk to Squall through the window... she'll prove to be an important figure in the game. Then Quistis will come to take Squall back to class. Walk down the hallway with Quistis; there will be some dialogue along the way. After a while, you won't have to walk. There will be a short FMV, then the scene will shift to the classroom. Quistis will talk to the class briefly about the field exam in the afternoon, then tell Seifer he should be more careful not to injure his partner in training. After she dismisses the class, she'll tell Squall that he hasn't gone through the Fire Cave yet, and won't be able to go on the field exam until he has. Quistis tells you to meet her at the front gate, and says that you should review the study panel if you have any questions. Note: After completing the field exam, Squall's rank will be determined by what he did prior to and during the exam. You'll gain and lose points for various actions; I'm not sure how points are determined, though, so I can only give small suggestions in this version. Hopefully, I'll have a more thorough breakdown of how to get points later on. Go to the study panel and select Tutorial; you'll receive two GFs. GF Quezacotl's Stats: Level 1 Starts with Mag-J, GF, Draw, Magic, Item GF Shiva's Stats: Level 1 Starts with Spr-J, GF, Draw, Magic, Item Note that if you don't get Quezacotl and Shiva from the study panel, you'll get them automatically when you talk to Quistis at the front gate. You may lose points for this, though; I'm not sure. Anyways, after getting your GFs (or not), leave the classroom. You'll literally run into another student; after some dialogue, she'll ask you to take her on a tour. Personally, I agreed; I'm not sure how this affects your points later, though. On the next screen, talk to the guy near the elevator to get 7 Triple Triad cards. It may not be a good idea to start playing just yet; you'll find it much easier to win the card game once you've gotten the Ifrit Card in the Fire Cavern. However, there are two rare cards you can win by playing cards here; the MiniMog card, from a little kid running around on the first floor (he doesn't use it often, though), and the Quistis card, which can be one from any of the Trepies. The one in the cafeteria uses it the most, though. (When you get asked which one you want to talk to, choose the one in the back. You'll understand when you do it.) Note that the Trepies only have one Quistis card between them. Anyways, once you take the elevator, you'll show the student the directory if you agreed to give her a tour. Head to the front gate to meet Quistis, who'll give you a tutorial on how to use GFs, then join your party. If you want to skip the tutorial, hit the Cancel button; this may cause you to lose points, though. Also, Squall will ask who the girl at the infirmary was; Quistis will say she didn't see anyone. Note that there's a Draw Point with Cure on the screen before the front gate; just remember, you need the Draw command set in order to use Draw Points. There's also a Draw Point with Esuna in the library (walk near the bookcase and you'll come to a new screen with the Draw Point clearly visible) one with Blizzard in the Training center. I'll say some more about the Training Center later, when you have to go there. Anyways, after Quistis joins, leave the Garden. Now you'll want to Junction GFs; I recommend giving Quezacotl to Squall and Shiva to Quistis. Next, set your command abilities; since you don't have any spells now besides a handful of Cures from the Draw Point, choose GF, Draw, and Item for both characters. Have both GFs work on learning Boost first; it only takes 10 AP to learn and is quite useful when you're summoning. After that, I suggest HP-J and then Card for Quezacotl and I Mag-RF, then Str-J for Shiva. After getting those abilities, get whatever other ones you want. Before going to Fire Cavern, it's a good idea to fight enemies in the surrounding area to stock up on spells. In the plains, you'll find lots of Bite Bugs; you can Draw Fire and Scan from them. The latter isn't that necessary, so you can skip it if you want. You'll also occasionally run into Glacial Eyes; you can draw Blizzard, Cure, and Scan from them. In the forests, you'll frequently find Caterchipillars; you can Draw Cure and Thunder from them, and they occasionally drop Spider Webs. If you get one, use it to teach Quistis the Ultra Waves skill. Also, you'll sometimes find T-Rexaurs in the forest. If you do, RUN. They're REALLY strong and have over 10000 HP, so they're quite a pain to kill right now. They don't have anything special to Draw either. If you'd prefer not to run, try to Card it; its card is pretty good. Finally, on the beach you'll find a lot of Fastitocalon-Fs. You can Draw Blizzard, Scan, and Sleep spells from them (the latter is a good Junction for Magic at this point) and you get 3 AP for each one. Since you always fight 2, that's an easy 6 AP. I recommend fighting them until Shiva learns I Mag-RF, then using that to turn the Fish Fins you'll be winning almost constantly into Water spells. Water is the best Junction you can get at this point without playing cards. After getting 100 of all the spells you want for both characters, (some extra Fish Fins and M-Stone Pieces would be good, too) head to the Fire Cavern. ***** -Fire Cavern Draw Points: Fire(r) Rare Cards: Ifrit GFs: Ifrit When you reach the Fire Cavern, Quistis will give you a tutorial about Junctions, (again, you can skip it with the Cancel button) and then offer to give you a refresher about your Gunblade. If this is your first game, you might as well accept. After that, head to the entrance. At the entrance, you'll be asked to choose a time limit; go with 20 minutes, you'll easily finish in that time. If you're replaying, though, go ahead and choose 10 minutes. Choosing a shorter time limit will affect your points later on. (I don't know exactly how, though.) The path through the Fire Cavern is fairly straightforward; there's one intersection a few screens in. Go straight to reach the boss; there's a Draw Point with Fire on the right and a dead end on the left, neither of which is very helpful. You can fight or run from enemies on the way, depending on how you're doing for time. At the center of the cave, you'll find Ifrit... ----BOSS BATTLE---- Ifrit Absorb Fire Weak against Ice, Water This is fairly easy; have Quistis summon Shiva while Squall casts Blizzard spells. (They'll do a little more damage than Water does.) The timer stops after you win, so don't worry about not having time to get out afterwards. When you win, you'll get 20 AP, a bunch of G-Returners, the Ifrit Card, and the Ifrit GF. ------------------- GF Ifrit's Stats: Level 1 Starts with Str-J, Elem Atk-J, (Elem Def-J?), GF, Draw, Magic, Item Quistis will give you a tutorial on how to use Elem Atk-J and Elem Def-J once you win. Since Quezacotl and Shiva are probably at a higher level than Ifrit, have both of them equipped on one person and Ifrit on the other so that the GFs level up more evenly. Ifrit should learn Boost first, then HP-J. After that, it doesn't matter much. Leave the cave, then return to Garden. | FINAL EXAM | (Told you. This one isn't even mildly creative.) -Balamb Garden New Items: Occult Fan I Quistis will leave. If you want, go to the Library and check the bookshelves for Occult Fan I. Then, head to the Dormitory; go to Squall's room and change into your SeeD uniform. Now head over to where the Directory is and Headmaster Cid will brief you on your mission. You'll then drive out of Garden in a car. Take the car to the nearby town (Balamb) and then watch the short scene where you drive to the docks. Get in the ship; there will be a short scene. After a while, Seifer tells you to look outside; agree. (you'll probably lose points otherwise) Leave the small area you're in, and watch the FMV. Then you'll land on the beach in... ***** -Dollet Draw Points: Blind(r) GFs: Siren Cool music, huh? Anyways, at the moment you've got Squall, Zell, and Seifer in your party. (Seifer's not following you around, but he _is_ in your battle party.) Give each character one GF, and give all of Quistis' magic to Zell. If you've got some spare Fish Fins like I recommended, make some Water spells for Seifer. Give everyone the Draw command; this way, you can Draw from the Galbadian soldiers when you need healing. Don't talk to any of the other students; I think you lose points for this. Head up the stairs to find a Save Point, then move towards the next screen. You'll fight two Galbadian soldiers. They're easy to beat, but it's a good idea to have Seifer Draw some spells for himself before doing so. Keep going; after a while, you'll fight two more Galbadian soldiers. If Seifer still needs some spells, Draw some here, too. When you come to the fountain, you'll have to fight one G-Soldier; no problem. Then Seifer will tell you to scout the area for enemies. Head to the northeast section of the screen, and a G-Soldier will attack. After defeating the Galbadian Soldier, the rest should be straightforward. Take the northwest exit off the screen, then just keep going forward. After a while, an injured Dollet soldier will warn you about monsters, then... ----BOSS BATTLE---- Anacondaur Actually, the Anacondaur isn't even a real boss. It is, however, quite strong compared to the other enemies you've fought. It has around 1200 HP; if you've got some good Strength Junctions, though, it shouldn't be a problem. Seifer will tell you to let him finish off the Anacondaur; doing so may affect your points later. ------------------- After defeating the Anacondaur, keep going some more. The path is completely straightforward. After two more screens, Seifer will run ahead and leave your party; then Selphie (the girl Squall gave a tour to earlier) will appear and jump down the cliff. You can do this too, but it may cost you points; instead, head east and walk. When you reach Selphie, she'll join; she inherits Seifer's spells, but just in case you're paranoid, you might want to Junction Exchange Seifer with Quistis before he leaves, then Quistis with Selphie. Anyways, after Selphie joins up, head into the communications tower. (that's the building right ahead of you, in case you weren't paying attention) There's a Save Point here, as well as a Draw Point with Blind. Save, then go up the elevator... There's a short scene with a Galbadian commander, Biggs, talking to a soldier named Wedge. Then there's an FMV of the communications tower activating. (looks more like a big gun than a communications tower...) Then, Biggs notices you and tries to get away, but Seifer stops him. Cornered, Biggs attacks. ----BOSS BATTLE---- Biggs Weak against Poison Wedge (appears after some time) Weak against Poison So easy you don't need a strategy. If you want, draw some Esuna spells from Biggs. When you do enough damage to one of them, they'll be blown away by some wind and you'll have to fight... Elvoret Flying Monster This can be a long battle. There are two notes here; first, you can Draw the Siren GF from the boss. Second, you can Draw Double spells, which are good for Junctions and allow you to cast two spells in one turn. The quickest way to beat Elvoret is to have everyone summon their GFs; when Boosted to around 125%, they'll do around 300 damage to it. When you win, you'll get some Cottages or Elixirs, some G-Returners, and the March Issue of Weapons Monthly, as well as Siren if you Drew it. ------------------- GF Siren's Stats: Level 3 Starts with Mag-J, ST Atk-J, ST Def-J, GF, Draw, Magic, Item After you defeat Elvoret, Selphie says that you have to get back to the shore by 1800 hours. Seifer says that leaves only 30 minutes, and a timer counts down. You can equip Siren if you want, but I don't recommend it, as the clock's ticking. Go down the elevator, save if you want (I _highly_ recommend using a separate file) and then leave the tower. However, Biggs sends a huge spider-like robot to attack you... ----BOSS BATTLE---- X-ATM092 Weak against Thunder If you've got Str-J on, you can probably knock it out quickly. Once it's down, run away. ------------------- Head to the right quickly. On the next screen, you'll see the robot shortly; move quickly. When the screen fades, hold left and the control pad IMMEDIATELY. If you don't move immediately, the robot will catch up to you and you'll have to fight it again. On the next screen, WALK when you come to about the middle. Otherwise, the ground will shake and you'll be forced to fight X-ATM092 again. Next screen... no problem. The bridge is after that. After you move far enough to the right, the robot will jump over you; immediately turn around until you hear it jump again, _then_ run to the right and off the screen. This lets you avoid another battle with it. From here, it should be easy to make it to the shore, and when you do, you'll see an FMV of Quistis blasting the robot with a gatling gun. Note: Apparently, it's possible to destroy X-ATM092. I'll have a strategy for that once I do it. | TALK ABOUT YOUR LONG DAYS... | (Be warned. My titles are going to get worse.) -Balamb Garden New Rare Cards: Zell You'll arrive in the town of Balamb. With Zell in the party, you can play cards with his mother; she has the Zell card. Leave town and save before trying it, though. Win the card (or don't) and go back to Garden. You can get into a few fights before you go, though. If you're going to build up Siren, I suggest Boost first, then L Mag-RF, then Tool-RF, and pretty much whatever you want after that. When you go back to Garden, Zell and Selphie will leave. Head to the main lobby; Cid, Xu, and Quistis are standing in front of the directory. Talk to them if you want, then head to the right and talk to Seifer. After a brief scene, head to the elevator; I don't remember exactly when, but at some point you'll be told to go to the 2nd floor hallway. Go there and wait; after a while, one of the Garden Faculty will tell Squall and Zell they've been chosen as SeeDs. You'll automatically go to Headmaster Cid's office and receive your SeeD Rank report; in addition to Squall and Zell, Selphie and another student have been chosen as SeeDs. (You'll later find out that the fourth SeeD's name is Nida.) After regaining control, talk to Cid and he'll add a "Battle Meter" to the tutorial. You may have to talk to him again to play cards with him later; I'm not sure. After talking to Cid, leave the room. You'll automatically take the elevator to the second floor walkway. Talk to the others, then head to the hallway. After a short scene, your SeeD Rank Report will be displayed. I'll have a full explanation in a future update, provided someone gives me the information. Now you're in the Dormitory; Selphie tells Squall to go to his room and get his SeeD uniform. Do so, then leave the room and go to the dance. At the dance, Zell and Selphie will talk to you; Selphie asks if you'll join the Garden Festival committee. Answer either way, then she'll leave; then, a girl in a white dress asks Squall to dance. After some more dialogue, you'll get to see a rather amusing FMV of the dance. =) After the dance, the girl leaves... but you'll be meeting her again soon enough... Quistis then appears and compliments Squall on his dance, then tells him about the "secret area" at the Training Center. She tells Squall to change into his regular clothes, then meet her at the Training center; leave the screen and you'll automatically be in Squall's dormitory. Go into Squall's room and change. Now leave and head to the Training Center. Quistis will give you a Tutorial about Status Junctions, and tell you that Junctioning Sleep on your weapon will make it easier to defeat T-Rexaurs. In the Training Center, you'll mostly encounter Grats; you can Draw Sleep and Silence from them. You should have plenty of the former, but the latter are good to have too. Draw 100, because there's going to be a Boss that uses Silence soon, and you'll want them for status defense. You'll also find T-Rexaurs occasionally; you can run, or you can be prepared by giving Squall Ifrit and Siren, with 100 Blizzards on Elem Atk (T-Rexaur is weak against Ice) and 100 Sleeps on ST Atk, as well as a good Strength junction (like Water). Quistis should summon Shiva and use Boost. You can also try Carding T-Rexaur once its HP drops below about half. You won't get any Exp that way, but you will get 10 AP. At any rate, getting through the Training center is fairly simple. Go either left or right; there's a Draw Point with Blizzard on the right path. Also, a man sometimes appears here and sells you items, but I'm not sure when he firsts shows up. Anyways, the "secret area" is near the save point. At the secret area, Quistis explains that she's been demoted from an instructor to a normal SeeD; Squall doesn't care. This scene pretty much tells you what to expect of Squall for much of the game... After the scene, save, then head out of the Training Center. When you try to leave, you'll see the girl from the infirmary being attacked by a huge insect; she'll recognize Squall and Quistis, then the monster attacks you. ----BOSS BATTLE---- Granaldo Flying Monster Raldo*3 This battle is EASY. Draw Sleep from Granaldo and cast it on him; it works rather often. The Raldos won't attack, Granaldo will just whack you with them. Kill two of them, (they only have a couple hundred HP) then Draw Protects from the last one, putting Granaldo back to sleep when necessary. You can also draw Shell and Blind from Granaldo; you don't need a lot of Blinds, but Shell will be quite useful. Once you've got all the spells you want, kill the last Raldo, then kill Granaldo with your strongest attacks. You'll win a bunch of Wizard Stones. ------------------- After the battle, some strange troops will take the girl with them, and Squall and Quistis will wonder who she was... I suggest turning the Wizard Stones into Curagas with L Mag-RF, then Junctioning those to HP. Anyways, once you leave the Training Center, Quistis will talk to Squall briefly and then leave. Head back to the Dormitory; when you go there, Zell tells you that as a Seed, you've got a new room. Squall will head off to sleep, thereby ending one of the longest days in RPG history. | FOREST OWLS | (Yes, I believe I've already told you about my amazingly creative titles.) -Balamb Garden New Rare Cards: Seifer, Diablos (See Side Quests) New GFs: Diablos (See Side Quests) Items: Magic Lamp, Pet Pals Vol.1, Weapons Mon Apr You'll wake up in Squall's new room the next day. Check the desk for a Weapons Monthly issue. Then head out of the Garden; Cid and a Garden Faculty will tell you about your first mission; to go to Timber and meet with a resistance organization. After the scene, talk to Cid and he'll give you a Magic Lamp; even if you don't talk to him, he'll give you the Lamp when you try to leave. The Magic Lamp will allow you to challenge Diablos; see Side Quests for more information. Before heading to Timber, there's one more rare card you can get; head back into Garden and go to the elevator. You'll be allowed to take the elevator to the third floor, where Cid's office is. Here, you can play cards with him; he has the Seifer card, a VERY good card. Try to win it now if possible. Anyways, to get to Timber, you'll have to go to the train station in Balamb. To get there, go to Balamb, and go left at the second screen. The Queen of Cards is at the station; see the Side Quests section for more about her. Even if you don't want to do that side quest just yet, you can still play her to get a better trade rule, like Diff or All. This will make your future card games more rewarding; be careful of the Direct rule, though. You'll have to pay 3000 gil for a train ticket. Do so, then get on the train. There's a short scene; when it's over, follow Zell into your cabin. Zell gives you a Pet Pals magazine; (more on those later) then Selphie comes in, and everybody falls asleep... ***** -Laguna Flashback 1 Draw Points: Cure(r), Water(r) You're probably wondering what the heck just happened. You're now in control of three Galbadian soldiers named Laguna, Kiros, and Ward. You'll notice that your items and abilities have been transferred to these guys; Laguna has Squall's abilities, Kiros has Zell's, and Ward has Selphie's. Their Limit Breaks are different, though. Anyways, just follow the path; it's completely straightforward, but you'll see some grayed-out text in the dialogue boxes... those are Squall's thoughts. You'll be fighting Funguars and Geezards here; they don't pose much of a threat. Once you reach the car at the end, you'll arrive in Deling City automatically. Laguna parks the car in the middle of the street, despite Kiros' protests; then he offers to take Kiros and Ward for a drink. Head to the right, then up one screen. You'll come to the Hotel. Use the Save Point if you want. Now, go downstairs; the waitress will offer to show you to your table. Pick the greyed-out choice a few times for some laughs; eventually, you'll want to accept. Once Laguna, Kiros, and Ward are sitting down, Julia will come on to play the piano; Kiros and Ward will tell Laguna to go and wave to her. Walk towards Julia. After some dialogue, Julia will come to Laguna's table and sit down; she'll then invite him to her room to talk. (I said to talk, you sickos.) Talk to people if you want, then head upstairs. Talk to the guy at the front desk and pick the option refering to Julia. You'll be taken up there; Julia will offer Laguna a seat. After you regain control, talk to Julia for some more dialogue. The scene ends with Kiros telling Laguna they have a new assignment... After that, Squall, Zell, and Selphie wake up. Selphie said she had a great dream, then mentions Laguna's name; Zell says there was a Laguna in HIS dream too, and then they realize that the three of them must have had the same dream. After some more dialogue, the train will arrive in Timber. ***** -Timber: Forest Owls' Base Rare Cards: Angelo Items: Pet Pals Vol.2 When you get off the train, you'll be met by somebody. If you payed any attention at all to the mission briefing, you know that the correct response is "But the owls are still around". Pick the wrong one and you'll see a rather amusing scene. ^_^ However, if you pick the wrong one, I think you'll only gain 1 SeeD rank from successfully completing the upcoming mission. Anyways, the man will lead you to a train. This train is the base of the Forest Owls, one of many resistance groups dedicated to the independence of Timber. On the train, another man introduces himself as Zone, leader of the Forest Owls, and introduces the guy who brought you here as Watts. They'll tell Squall to go and wake up "the princess". Note: You can play cards with Watts. He has the Angelo card. If you're wondering "Who's Angelo?", you'll see soon enough. Anyways, head up the stairs. On the next screen, there's a Save Point in the room to your left; be sure to make full use of it during this part. Head up one more screen and into the next room to find the "princess". It turns out that the "princess" is the girl from the dance; you'll quickly find that she's very enthusiastic (to say the least) about having SeeD helping the Forest Owls. She'll leave, then realize she forgot to tell you her name; you'll be able to name her. Rinoa is the default. She'll then introduce you to her dog, who you can also name; the default name is Angelo. Then you'll get a Tutorial about how to use Rinoa's Limit Breaks. You have a Pet Pals magazine, so read it and you'll be able to have Rinoa learn Angelo Strike. Anyways, head to the meeting room for your mission briefing. Rinoa, Zone, and Watts will go over the plan. The explanation is long, but what you actually have to do is fairly simple. BTW, if you don't understand how to enter the codes, you have to push the appropriate buttons on the controller. Anyways, after the briefing's done, save. (Sidenote: You can look at the dummy president in the Save Point room and talk to the Forest Owls in the room for more details about it.) Also, head to Rinoa's room and you can find Pet Pals Vol.2, which teaches Angelo Recover. When you're ready to start the mission, talk to Watts and tell him you're ready. You'll now start on top of the Forest Owl's train. (Note: This is some pretty cool music.) Move left and talk to Rinoa. The President's train will show up, and a timer will appear. Rinoa jumps over to the other train; do the same by pressing the X button. I'm not sure if you can mess up the timing on this one, or what happens if you do. Anyways, on the next car you'll have to deal with the sensors. This isn't that tricky; if you move quickly, you don't have to worry about the sensors at all. However, if you _do_ have to worry, in case you don't remember your briefing, stay still if the blue guard is below you; if it's the red, move. Once you're on the next screen, you'll meet up with Rinoa. The timer disappears and freezes during this part. After a scene showing what's happening in the President's car, you'll be on the 1st escort car. Zell and Selphie will keep an eye on the guards for you; you can also take a look for yourself with the L1 button. Anyways, Rinoa asks if you remember how to enter the codes; the timer's stopped, so there's no time penalty for hearing it again. (It might affect the rank increase later, though.) Just go down, (note: the timer starts up again when you're able to go down) and when Rinoa calls out the codes, enter them quickly. You can _probably_ enter all 3 codes before the guards reach you, but play it safe and stop after the second if you need to. After entering all the codes, you'll automatically climb back up. Head to the right. After another scene, you'll be uncoupling the 2nd escort car. This one takes 5 codes, and you won't have Zell and Selphie watching the guards, so it's a bit trickier and you'll _have_ to climb back up at least once. I suggest climbing up after entering the second code, waiting for the guards to pass, then entering the last 3 codes all at once. After entering all the codes, you're done; head to the left. Note: If you get caught by the guards, you'll have two choices. The first choice is something along the lines of "No big deal". The second is "It's all over...". If you pick the first choice, you'll start back at the section you were at with about an extra minute. However, you won't get the rank increase. If you pick the second choice, you'll get a Game Over. You'll now be back on the Forest Owls' train. If you did everytyhing correctly on the train and gave the correct password when you met Watts, your SeeD rank will go up by two; if you did everything right on the train but gave the wrong password, your rank will only go up by one. (As far as I can tell, anyways.) Anyways, Rinoa will say that she's going to enter "serious negotiations" with the President. You'll go to the menu screen to re-equip GFs; Zell's and Selphie's have been unjunctioned, so make sure to set them up again. I suggest putting 100 Silences on ST Def for the character with Siren; it'll be quite helpful. Save, then talk to Rinoa and tell her you're ready. You'll go into the President's car, only to find you kidnapped a fake. Then the fake attacks you. ----BOSS BATTLE---- Fake President This is easy. The Fake President attacks you, but he doesn't do much damage. Draw Cure spells if you need to restock. After taking some damage, he turns into... Gerogero Undead monster Very weak against Holy Weak against Water, Ice Immune to Poison (You knew he was going to turn into a monster. Admit it.) If you didn't get a whole bunch of Esunas and Doubles from the battle at the Dollet Communications Tower, now would be a good time to Stock them. Gerogero mainly uses status ailments on you; Berserk, Slow, and Silence are the major worries. If he casts one of these on you, Draw Esuna from him and cast it on the afflicted member. (The reason I suggested putting Silence on Status Defense was to prevent Silence on one character, which may make the battle go faster.) He also hits you with Blind and Curse, but these are less of a problem. Heal when you need it. In addition to Esuna and Double, you can Draw Zombie and Berserk from him; however, these aren't very useful for now, so you can go without if you want. After you're satisfied with your spell stock, you can kill him quickly; just Draw Double from him, cast it on yourselves, and cast two Cure spells on him every turn. Since he's undead, Cure will damage him, and with 100 Waters on Magic, it will hit him for about 400 HP each time. No problem. You'll win some Zombie Powders and 20 AP. ------------------- After defeating Gerogero, you'll be back in the briefing room. Watts will come in with some new information. It seem that Deling is in Timber to make a broadcast from their old TV station, which seems to be why they fixed up the Dollet Communications Tower. After some more talking, you'll gain control of Squall. Talk to Rinoa. After some more dialogue, you'll make a party with Rinoa in it to go to the TV station. When you want to get off the train, talk to Watts and tell him you're ready. Note: This is your LAST chance to get the Angelo card and Pet Pals Vol.2 for quite a while, so be sure you have them before getting off the train. There will be a short scene, then you'll be in Timber. ***** Note: Most of the following section (after the first three-and-a-half paragraphs) was written by Matt Hobbs, since I was past Timber and didn't feel like replaying it. However, he missed a couple of things, so I've added in my own notes. I've also tried to fix most of his typos. -Timber Draw Points: Cure(r), Scan(r) Hidden Draw Points: Blizzaga Items: Girl Next Door, [Buel Card], [Tonberry Card] or [Forbidden Card] Enemies: G-Soldier, Elite Soldier Head back towards the train station. Here, you'll find a Pet Shop. This sells some useful items, such as Amnesia Greens (make a GF forget an ability, allowing you to teach it a different one) and two Pet Pals magazines, which teach Invincible Moon and Angelo Reverse. BIG TIP! The Pet Store sells GF, Draw, Magic, and Item Scrolls. The purpose of these scrolls is to reteach the appropriate ability to your GFs if you used Amnesia Greens to forget it. However, they have another use; with Siren's Tool-RF, each scroll can be made into 10 Wizard Stones! That's 50 3rd-level spells. This will be especially useful to keep in mind once you get the Call Shop ability later on. Anyways, the train's not running now, so you can't go back to Balamb. You also can't leave Timber; if you head to the gate, you'll see a pair of Galbadian soldiers harrassing two guards and you'll get into a fight. The guards will be grateful if you defeat the soldiers, but they won't be able to let you through. You also can't stay at the hotel (the owner warns Rinoa that there are Galbadians staying there), but there's a Save Point in there, so be sure to use it. Next to the inn is a junk shop where you can remodel your weapons if you have the parts. Since you probably don't (unless you've been playing a lot of cards), just ignore it. Anyways, head back to where the Forest Owls' train was and leave the screen by the Northeast exit. You'll see the Timber Maniacs building right ahead of you; go inside. Examine the magazines in the first room; in one pile, you'll find the "Girl Next Door" magazine. Hold on to this; it'll let you get the Shiva card later on. (DF's Note: Here's where Matt's part of the walkthrough begins.) That yellow magazine laying on floor in the back room is an old issue of "Timber Maniacs" (the magazine); get it. In this same room, you can talk to the man in the far back for some rather amusing scenes. (No matter which option you pick, the guy starts rambling on about nothing, and Squall gets angry. ^_^) Before leaving, go in the small 'closet' left of the front desk. You can't see it (even with Move-Find set), but there's a Blizzaga draw point somewhere behind the shelves; just feel around for it, you're bound to find it eventually. Unfortunatly, this particular draw point never recharges... Once you've gotten everything, leave Timber Maniacs. The house next door isn't of any real importance. Talk to the lady wearing the apron to learn that you can get to the TV Station by way of the back alley behind the pub. She says you can see the alley from the window upstairs, and suggests you take a look. Might as well... Well, it's not much of a sight, but it gives you an idea of what to do next. Oh, and despite what the kids say, you don't lose any money. Speaking of those kids... Notice how they seem to be speaking in "AOL" language? =P (It's not r kitty u know!) Back in the city, head right. The pub that you're headed for is downstairs, but go into the tunnel to the right first. At the entrance is some strange girl who's willing to give you 'secret information'. It's not at all useful, though, so you can just ignore her and go right into the tunnel. You'll come out on some train tracks in a back part of the city. Climb the stairs and go into the small house. Talk to the old man sitting on the couch, and he'll ask if you like beverages; say yes, and he'll allow you to drink some water from the tap on the opposite wall. This seems rather pointless at first, but try taking him up on his offer and having a drink. This is no ordinary water, but rather the "Owl's Tears" that Watts spoke of. Your HP will be restored to full. Oh yeah... Should you wanna be a heartless jerk, you can steal 500 Gil from the old man by repeatedly examining the cupboard below the mirror. If you do this, however, you lose access to the Owl's Tears... Anyway, across the bridge just outside the house is a save point. Use it if you need to, but don't waste time taking either of the lower roads here, as they just lead to pointless dead ends; go back through the tunnel you came from, and head downstairs. Just outside the pub, you'll hear two Galbadia Soldiers gloating over a card they swiped from one of the town citizens, and when they spot you, they attack. After beating them, you'll get the card they stole: a Buel card. In the area near the pub are two points of interest: an item shop and a 'Cure' draw point. Buy stuff if you want, then enter the pub. (Finally...) There's some drunk here ranting about the town's situation, who mentions that some soldiers stole his card. Well, that door behind him that he's convienient blocking is the way to the back alley, so you might as well talk to him... You have two options here. (DF's Note: Matt hadn't tried buying him a drink, so I've altered this part a bit.) 1) You can offer to buy him a drink for 100 gil, at which point you'll get 6 choices for what drink to give him. If you give him the right drink, he'll move; if you give him the wrong one, you've just wasted 100 gil. If you want to do it this way, talk to the other customer in the pub to find out what color bottles the drinks are in, and which ones are "sweet" and "bitter". Then, look at the drunk to see what color bottle he's holding, then to the waitress to find out whether he likes "sweet" or "bitter" drinks. (Though I think the waitress has it wrong.) Give him the right drink and he'll move out of the way, as well as giving you a Forbidden card. 2) Alternatively, you can offer to give the card you won outside back to him. In thanks, he lets you keep it, and gives you a Tonberry card as well. He then asks the owner to move him out of the way, clearing the path to the back door. Two things here: A save point, and a 'Scan' draw point. (For some reason, though, it doesn't always seem to be here, and it's not hidden.) Use them if you'd like, then head left and go up the long staircase. At the top, you'll be stopped by Watts, who says that the whole TV station is under heavy guard, and that it'd be a bad idea to just bust in. Rinoa hesitates a bit, then decides to change her plan. At this point, Squall gets angry at the Timber Owls' general lack of organization, and starts yelling at Rinoa... Upset, she runs off, and Selphie shows up to take her place. There's now a scene where President Deling makes his live broadcast -- the first one in 17 years. Unfortunatly, he's not announcing Timber's independance as Rinoa had hoped... Instead, he speaks of 'peace talks', using his new ambassador, the Sorceress... His 'noble' speech is cut short, however, by a rather untimely visit from Seifer and Quistis. Seifer, in his usual nature, tears the place up, cutting off the broadcast, but not before Quistis orders Squall's group to assist them. The team then dashes up the stairs. Make your way to the TV station now, and you'll witness a long chain of scenes, which results in Zell accidentally revealing to Galbadia that they're from Balamb Garden, and the Sorceress making her grand appearance, then disappearing with Seifer... After the events have played out, you'll end up back outside the TV station. Head back down the stairs, where Rinoa and Quistis are waiting. Rinoa reveals that their base was found by Galbadia and was totally destroyed. Fortunately, Zone and Watts managed to escape. After informing you of this, the women run down the stairs. At the bottom of the staircase, Rinoa will suggest that they get out of Timber for a while, and runs off again. You'll meet up with Rinoa yet again at the bar, where a woman suggests that the team hide out at her house for a while. To get there, just follow the girls, and enter the house next to the Timber Maniacs building. After a short discussion about the fate of Seifer, the woman comes back upstairs and tells you that the Galbadia Soldiers are withdrawing from town. The team then decides the next plan of action. The Garden code states that after a mission, if the main Garden is unavailable, report to the nearest Garden. In this case, Galbadia Garden. (Excuse me? "Galbadia" Garden? Aren't we trying to get *away* from Galbadia? ^_^) After forming a team (which can now include Quistis), head back out into town. Before leaving, however, the woman gives you a Potion, a Phoenix Down, a Soft, an Antidote, and a Remedy. Back in town, you'll notice a lone Galbadia soldier roaming around... Though it may not seem like the most intelligent thing to do given the situation, go over and talk to him. Turns out it's not a soldier at all, just your old friend Watts in disguise. He says that the trains are out of service, but that one last train will be heading out of town shortly. Now head right, and you'll be stopped by a "Mystery Man", who turns out to be Zone. He tells you thst all the tickets to the last train out of town are gone, but that he managed to get the last five... He and Watts remain in town, allowing your team to escape via train... Head into the tunnel, and cross the bridge and head south. This is the train station. Board the train, and ride it out of town. You've finished the main stuff here, but there's still some stuff to get should you wish to return to Timber. The inn is now opened, and you can find another issue of "Timber Maniacs" in the hotel room. (DF's Note: Too cheap to pay for the inn, but still want the magazine? There's a way to get into the hotel room for free, although you can only do it once. First, go to the railway bridge near the "Owl's Tears" house. You'll see a girl stuck on the tracks, and hear a train. Talk to the girl a few times and the screen will flash white, then you'll be in the room and can get the magazine. My, that was a long note.) Also, a man standing on the bridge overlooking the three railways will give you a free Potion if Quistis is on the team (or maybe you just need a female; I'll check). (DF's note: In my old game, he always mentioned Rinoa... strange.) He'll run off, but he'll return later, so basically, you can get an endless number of potions from him. Also, there's a man outside the Timber Maniacs building who says that he's starting to think he should give up. Tell him "No way", and he'll reward you with a Pet Nametag later. Finally, if you wanted that 500 Gil from the man in the "Owl's Tears" house, but didn't want to lose the healing feature, go ahead and do it now. You don't need it anymore now that the inn is opened. Still, this is a rather stupid act, and it may lower your SeeD rank. | ESCAPE | (This is about the least creative title yet...) -After Timber... If you want, you can stay on the train and get off near Dollet. See Side Quests for things you can do there. At any rate, your goal is a small forest near the East Academy station. Before going in, make sure Squall, Quistis, and Selphie are well- junctioned. Inside the forest, you'll meet up with your other two teammates and there'll be some dialogue, where Squall is his usual charming self. =P After a while, Squall, Selphie, and Quistis will fall down... Rinoa will ask what happened, and Zell will say he thinks they went to the 'dream world'... -Laguna Flashback 2 Draw Points: Sleep(r), Confuse(r), Cure(r) Hidden Draw Points: ? Laguna time again. Squall is Laguna (he always is), Selphie is Kiros, and Quistis is Ward. Laguna, Ward, and Kiros will talk for a bit, then you'll gain control. On the next screen, there's a Draw Point with Sleep; use it if you need to. Head across the walkway, and you'll be attacked. In the first battle, you'll be back-attacked by one Esthar Soldier; then you'll fight three. Not a major problem. You'll probably get a few Potions from defeating them. A few comments before I continue with this walkthrough. Considerably later in the game, you'll be able to explore this place again, and the things Laguna does here will affect what items you can get when you do. Follow this walkthrough and you should (hopefully) be able to get all the items later. Also, a note on enemies. There are 4 kinds of enemies you'll fight in this place. You've dealt with the standard Esthar Soldiers already, and you'll be fighting more of them. There are also cyborg Esthar Soldiers; they're somewhat stronger than the normal ones. There are two ways to tell them apart; by color, or if you're not sure about the color, see what they have to Draw. If there's no Cure spell of any level, it's a cyborg. Neither type of Esthar Soldier can be Carded. The other two enemies are Elastoids and Gespers. You can draw Dispel from the Elastoids, and make their cards into Steel Pipes. The Gespers have Shell and Protect spells to Draw, and Float if they're at a high enough level. They also frequently drop Black Holes, which teach Quistis Degenerator, and can be made into Demi spells with Diablos' Time Mag-RF. If you have the time, get 100 Demi spells for each character and Junction them to your Magic stat. You can Card the Gespers and make their cards into Black Holes as well. That said, head inside the excavation site; there are two entrances on this screen. One is a door, the other is just a ladder. If you go down the ladder, Laguna will get a leg cramp; I'm not sure if this affects anything. However, I suggest going down the ladder first, if only to save a little bit of time. Head up one screen and left one screen, then examine the rubble near the bottom of the new screen. Laguna will pick up an old key, but it will fall out of his back pocket. Go left three screens and examine the rubble on the left side of the screen; Laguna will find another key, and put it in his shirt pocket. However, he sneezes, and loses the key again. (I don't know if getting the keys affects anything, but I don't think it hurts.) The ladder here will lead to the other entrance to the facility; ignore it for now and go back one screen. There are 3 panels here; when you walk across the one in the middle, you'll hear a clicking sound. There's a lever on the panel; examine it. (It's near the top of the screen.) Laguna will notice that the lever is loose, and suggest loosening it all the way to set a trap for the Esthar soldiers. Kiros and Ward are skeptical; after the brief dialogue, you'll have the option to either tamper with the lever or ignore it; tamper with it. You won't be able to cross the panel after tampering with it, but do it anyway. Leave the screen, and an Esthar Soldier will walk over the panel, which will open under him and make him plummet. Go back to the ladder where you came in; climb up and you'll be back outside the place. Go in through the door. There's a walkway here, and you have three paths you can take. The left path leads quickly to a dead end; the right path leads to a Draw Point with Confuse. Use it if you want, then take the middle path. This leads to a ladder; climb down. This screen should look familiar. Go down and you'll be back on the screen with the panels. You can only access the leftmost panel; you'll notice it clicks when you walk on it. Examine the lever and you'll be given the choice to tamper with it again. Do so; Kiros and Ward will stop you, pointing out that if you _do_ mess with it, you'll be stuck there. However, once you've triggered this event, you can open that panel another way... Retrace your steps to the other side of this screen, then examine the lever on the rightmost panel. Again, choose to tamper with it; it's stuck, but again, you can open the panel by another means... Go back to the screen where you found (and lost) the first key. From there, go up two screens. You'll see a small, black object on the ground; examine it. As the ensuing dialogue reveals, it's a detonator. You'll have the option of using it to move either the nearby boulder or the one further down; first, choose to move the one further down. There will be a short scene where you see an Esthar Soldier run away from the boulder; also, if you tried to tamper with the leftmost panel, you'll see it fall open now. Use the detonator again, on the nearby boulder now. Laguna and company will run away, and you'll see the boulder roll down, scaring away some Esthar soldiers. If you messed with the rightmost panel, it'll fly open at this point, too. Laguna, Kiros, and Ward will come back onscreen and make some comments, then you'll be back in control. Leave the same way they did, and continue for a couple of screens until you see a boulder. Examine the boulder, and Laguna will push it, taking care of another Esthar soldier. You'll also be able to use the Draw Point, which has Cure. Yay. On the next screen is a much- needed Save Point. Use it, then use the exit on the top of the screen. (the path on the right just loops back to where you've been) If you didn't trigger the traps, you'll have to fight a whole bunch of battles with Esthar soldiers; if you _did_ trigger them, however, you'll only have to fight one battle against two cyborgs. When you defeat the second one, he'll use an attack called Soul Crush, knocking Kiros and Ward down to 1 HP... After the battle, there'll be some more dialogue, and the flashback will end. Squall, Quistis, and Selphie will wake up in the forest, there will be some more dialogue, then you'll leave. Note that the forest will just be an ordinary forest if you go back. Also, Quistis and Selphie are now at 1 HP; if you don't want to bother healing them, just switch Zell and Rinoa in. Head to the nearby structure; this is Galbadia Garden. ***** -Galbadia Garden Draw Points: Shell(r), Life(r) Hidden Draw Points: Haste, Double(r?) When you enter the Garden, you'll be treated to a short FMV. After you regain control, just head through the next two screens. There will be a short dialogue sequence when you reach the gates. Go through the gates to reach the main hall. There will be an announcement over the PA asking you to head to the 2F reception room. To get there, go straight ahead (check the beam of light for a hidden Draw Point with Haste) until you come to a room with some stairs. (Note: If you keep going straight at this point, you'll find a Draw Point with Shell after a couple of screens. Also, if you go left from the main hall, you can get to the ice rink; you can't get the Draw Point _in_ the rink yet, but you can head left to the locker room and a Draw Point with Life.) Go up the stairs, and the reception room is behind the door at the bottom of the screen. Inside, the party splits, and you control Squall. Talk to Rinoa and Selphie if you want; when you talk to Zell, Quistis will come in. In the ensuing dialogue, Quistis says that Seifer has been executed by the Galbadian government... When you regain control, talk to Rinoa, then Quistis. Squall will get frustrated. Head towards the door, and he'll suddenly snap at everyone, then run out the door. Note: If you head right from this screen, you'll reach a circular walkway above the main hall. This leads to an auditorium where you can find a hidden Draw Point with Double. Go down the stairs (Zell's doing push-ups... heh.) and head back towards the main hall. Just as you leave the screen, Fujin and Raijin will come and talk to Squall. When Squall tells them that Seifer is reportedly dead, they won't believe it. After they leave, there will be an announcement telling you to go to the front gate. Go there and Headmaster Martine will appear when you talk to Rinoa. (Note that Rinoa has a bit of trouble with the salute... heh.) Martine will talk for a while about your mission, then hand Squall the orders. Squall will comment that the orders call for a sniper, and nobody on the team has that skill. Martine says not to worry, and introduces Irvine, a sharpshooter from Galbadia Garden. Irvine now joins the party, and you have all the main characters. Now, talk to Selphie and Squall will explain the orders. Your mission is to assassinate the sorceress. After Squall explains the orders, Irvine will say it's time to choose a party. The screen will fade; when it comes back, Irvine will be standing between Rinoa and Selphie, and ask how this party is. If you choose to accept, you'll see a rather funny scene and be left with a party of Squall, Zell, and Quistis. If you don't, the party selection screen will come up. Either way, Squall will give a tutorial on how to switch members, then you'll leave Galbadia Garden. You can head to Deling City now; if that's what you want to do, head to the clearly visible train. However, you may want to take this opportunity to get some Level 6 cards. If so, go back into the Garden. Take the northeast exit from the main hall, then take the door on the right on the next screen. There's three students here, all of whom are card players. The girl (who says something like, "We're too old for cards") uses all the Level 6 cards. Keep playing her until you have whatever cards you want, then leave the Garden and head to the train. Go up the stairs, and pay 3000 gil to board the train. Once you're on the train, head to the door you came in by and the other team members will arrive. Selphie will head to the hall, and Irvine will follow her; go after them to see a short scene. After that, head back to the others. There will be another short scene, then you'll arrive in Deling City. By the way, now that you have Irvine, this might be a good time to start learning Ifrit's Ammo-RF. | OBLIGATORY FETCH QUEST | (Amazingly, it's the only one....) -Deling City Draw Points: Thundara(r) Hidden Draw Points: ? Rare Cards: Kiros (see Queen of Cards side quest) Leave the train station by the south side of the screen. Then go up the stairs. After a brief FMV, your other two team members will be visible, but Squall won't; move up and he'll appear on the screen eventually. Talk to either team member and Squall explains that you're supposed to meet with General Caraway. On the next screen, there will be a man standing by the road; when you see the bus arrive, talk to the man to get on. This bus will go right to Caraway's Mansion. Get off and talk to the guard. He explains that before you can meet with General Caraway, you have to go to the Tomb of the Unknown King and find an ID number to prove you were there. (The ID number is different in every game, so you basically have to go to the tomb.) Then he gives you a map of the tomb, and explains how to use it. (hold Select when in the tomb; when the map is up, you can leave by pressing the Triangle button, but your SeeD rank will drop) After that, you'll be given several choices: -Ready to answer Pretty much self-explanatory. Don't bother with this until you've found the ID, though. -Buy a hint for 3000 Gil If you choose this, the guard tells you that there's a GF inside the tomb, and recommends you buy the location displayer if you're going to try and find it. Not worth the price. -Buy a location displayer for 5000 gil If you buy this, you can see where you are in the tomb when you look at the map. However, it's not too hard to find your way around in the tomb, so don't bother with this unless you have a _really_ bad sense of direction. -Talk The guard repeats what you're supposed to do and where the tomb is. -Ask him to escort us out of town The guard takes you to the entrance to the town, and suggests you rent a car. After talking to the guard, head out of town and to the tomb. If you're having trouble finding it, look at the world map. There's a place just northeast of Deling City where two small peninsulas almost meet; the Tomb is at the edge of the peninsula on the west side. If you don't understand those directions, just head northeast from Deling City and you'll get to the tomb soon enough. **** -Tomb of the Unknown King Draw Points: Protect, Float Hidden Draw Points: Cura Rare Cards: Sacred, Minotaur (see Side Quests) GFs: Brothers (see Side Quests) When you reach the tomb, you'll see two Garden students run out. There's a Save Point here, and a Draw Point with Protect. Use them if you want, then head inside the tomb. The ID number is on a sword in the second screen inside the tomb. You might want to write it down. That's all you have to do here, but it's a good idea to get the Brothers GF before going back. See the Side Quests section for more details. | THE SORCERESS | (I suppose that title works...) -Deling City: Parade New Draw Points: Esuna(r), Zombie(r) New Hidden Draw Points: Bio (r) GFs: Carbuncle Items: Weapons Mon May After finishing your business at the tomb, go back to Deling City. Go to Caraway's Mansion and give the guard the ID number. (Note: You give the ones digit first, then the tens digit, then the hundreds digit.) Now you can go to the mansion. When you approach the doors, Squall will start wondering why both Gardens are working with General Caraway, then decide it's not his place to think about it. There's a Save Point by the doors; use it if you want before going inside. (there's no real need right now, though) You'll find yourself in the waiting room, and your teammates are getting impatient. Talk to Rinoa, and she'll go to talk to Caraway, mentioning that this is her house. After she leaves the room, Carway comes in; you'll learn that he's Rinoa's father and the two of them don't get along. He says he's decided that she should stay out of the operation since she hasn't received the same type of training as the SeeDs. After a brief dialogue, Caraway will lead you around the town, explaining the plan along the way. Don't get too caught up with the details of the plan; the actual sequence will be much less complex. After finishing, Caraway says to meet him back at his mansion when you're ready. Note that Rinoa is unavailable at the moment. Also, after this point, you're going to be using the Junction Exchange option a _lot_... Back at the mansion, Caraway will decide on the teams. Squall and Irvine will form the sniper team, while Quistis, Zell, and Selphie will handle the gate. You're in control of Quistis now; head for the door and Rinoa will rush in, knocking Quistis back. Rinoa wants to help with the plan by using something called an Odine Bangle to supress the sorceress' powers, but Quistis says there's no time to make a plan, then leaves Rinoa behind on her own. (Quistis is acting like Squall here. =P) Then you'll leave the mansion; this would be a good time to save. Follow Caraway; Squall and Irvine will have a brief conversation. (With Irvine doing most of the talking. =P) There's a Draw Point with Thundara on the way. Once you reach the gateway, talk to General Caraway. (he's a bit hard to see; he's standing between Zell and Quistis, except he's further up the screen.) After he finishes talking, follow him. There will be an automatic event and Caraway will head back to his mansion; then, Quistis will decide to go and apologize to Rinoa. You're in control of Quistis' team now; return to Caraway's mansion. When you go inside, you'll see a short scene with Caraway and Rinoa, then Caraway will try to lock Rinoa in. Rinoa rushes out before the door closes... and then Quistis' team runs in just as it locks. The scene shifts to Rinoa. There's a Save Point near where you come on to the screen, and a manhole on the Northeast side of the screen. You don't have to go down the manhole, but you can find the May issue of Weapons Monthly if you head left a few screens down there. There are enemies there, so Junction Rinoa properly. You'll have a chance to go down there with Squall and Irvine in a little bit. Anyways, what you have to do is climb the huge pile of crates and such, which isn't too hard. On the next screen, climb the ladder, then move right about one step. You can then climb the wall, and Rinoa will arrive in Sorceress Edea's chamber. Once you regain control, approach the sorceress; Rinoa will get blasted back. There will be an FMV of Edea walking to the terrace with Rinoa being dragged behind her, then things start to get really weird... Squall and Irvine notice Rinoa up with the sorceress, then Edea gives an unusual speech. President Deling wonders what she's doing and approaches her, only to get zapped and tossed aside. Edea finishes her speech, then walks away, mentions a "sacrifice", then raises her hand. There's an FMV of a lizard-like statue coming to life and then running through the streets, accompanied by an identical creature... The monsters jump to the terrace and attack Rinoa, an action which does not go unnoticed by Squall and Irvine. Unfortunately, the gate isn't open yet, so they can't get in to help her. The scene shifts to Quistis' team. Zell and Selphie start searching the room; what you have to do is examine the shelves next to the door to find a cup. Then, go the the statue in the upper-left corner of the room and examine it to reveal a hidden door. This leads to a stairwell. There's a Save Point here, which you should use. Go down the stairwell and you'll find a ladder which leads to the sewers. Navigating through here can be tough at first, so I'll try to give exact directions. Note: In both the stairwell and the sewer itself, you'll fight shadowy enemies called Creeps. You can draw Life spells from them. Anyways, from the entrance to the sewers, head left, walk to the middle of the ladder going across the water, and examine the waterwheel. You'll get on it and be taken to another part of the screen. Head straight up. When you reach the end of the next screen, Zell will hear the parade starting... The scene shifts above ground with an FMV of the parade. The gate's open, so Irvine rushes for it, then tells Squall to hurry up. Follow Irvine, see another FMV, follow Irvine again, see another FMV... huh? Seifer's on the Sorceress' float? No time to think about that now. Follow Irvine for the last stretch and you'll make it through the gate. You're now where Rinoa was earlier in the scenario. If you didn't get the Weapons Monthly magazine before, get it now, since you won't get another chance to find this one until Disc 3. Also, be sure to Junction Squall and Irvine, as they've got a boss to fight soon. Climb the structure like you did with Rinoa, then head left, climb the ladder, then climb the wall. Now head left and climb another wall. Move forward a bit and you'll come to the next screen; you're on the terrace now, near Deling's body. Head to the back of the screen. Keep going, and you'll find the two monsters attacking Rinoa... ----BOSS BATTLE---- Iguion*2 (Most likely, that's short for Iguana-Lion) Weak against Earth/Holy Immune to Fire/Poison Be sure to draw Carbuncle from one of these guys; otherwise, you won't have another chance to get it until near the end of the game. Besides, they have a Reflect spell up until you get Carbuncle. You can also draw Break spells from them if you want, but kill one of them first. Their Magma Breath can petrify you in addition to doing a fair amount of damage, and they have a powerful combo attack called Resonance. However, their physical attacks aren't that strong. Since they're weak against Earth, summon the Brothers GF if you got them. Otherwise, just focus on one lizard at a time. After the battle, you'll get some G-Returners (You can also Mug them during the battle, but then you won't get them afterwards; not a big difference) and 20 AP. ------------------- GF Carbuncle's stats: Starting level: 16 Starts with Vit-J, Ability*3, Magic, GF, Draw, Item I recommend learning Recov Med-RF first. It's only 30 AP, and it lets you make Mega-Potions. Mega-Potions heal everyone for 1000 HP and can be sold for a nice amount of money. After that, Counter, ST-Def-J and Vit+20% are good ones to look at. Head back one screen and open the hatch to get to the carousel clock. Inside, pick up the sniper rifle just to the left of where you come in. After some talking, it's back to Quistis' team. Go forward and open the gate in front of you, then go to the upper-left corner and open the gate there. You'll se a ladder; when you touch it, you'll knock it down and can cross the water with it. Follow this path to reach a Draw Point with Esuna. Now retrace your steps and go back across the ladder, then head left. Go through the next gate, go forward, cross the next ladder, and go through the gate on your right. You'll see a Draw Point on the other side of the water in this screen; get to it from the next screen. It contains Zombie. After getting it, (if you want it) go back to the right and examine the waterwheel; then go right and examine the next waterwheel to get to the other side. Go down, examine the next waterwheel, go down again, examine the waterwheel again, and go down again. You're now on the screen where you entered the sewers. Knock down the ladder nearby and cross it. This will let you get back to the Save Point in the stairwell. Do so, then go back to where you knocked over the ladder and head right. Use the next waterwheel, and you'll come to another Save Point shortly. Climb the nearby ladder; you're almost done! When you get off the ladder, examine it again and choose to go up. Zell will say that you're just in time; go over to where he is and watch the FMV. Once it's done, head over to the switch and use it. The scene shifts to Squall and Irvine arguing. Irvine can't bring himself to shoot, and Squall convinces him to try it, if only as a signal. Irvine aims, and fires... but Edea blocks the shot with a forcefield. Squall gets ready to attack head on, and the menu screen somes up; be _sure_ to Junction Squall, Irvine, and Rinoa. After preparing everyone, exit the menu screen. There will be a FMV where Squall jumps from the roof, makes his way to the gate, and squeezes through the bars. (why couldn't Edea do that and escape?) Then he'll talk briefly with Seifer, and the battle begins... ----BOSS BATTLE---- Seifer Weak against Poison You've just got Squall in this fight. (Note: His HP is full at the start of the battle.) There's no special strategy; just make sure you've got good Junctions, or it's going to be a long fight. Not a hard one, however; Seifer's physical attacks do only about 70 damage _without_ Vit-J. He gets the occasional critical, but even that's nothing to worry about. Seifer's spells are the bigger threat, doing 200+ damage; if you've got Carbuncle on Squall, try summoning it to reflect them. Otherwise, just attack, healing when you need it. He'll go down easily enough; in fact, just before writing this I managed to beat him without any Junctions. (accidentally closed the menu screen too soon...) You won't get anything for winning, but you can use Mug to steal a Hero (sometimes even a Holy War) from him during the battle. ------------------- Immediately after you defeat Seifer, you'll fight Edea. Luckily, Rinoa and Irvine show up to help you at the start of the battle. ----BOSS BATTLE---- Edea Pretty cool music here, huh? Anyways, Edea's spells are nasty, doing around 400 damage. You have a couple of choices here; either summon Carbuncle, which will cause her to cast Dispel on you instead of other spells, or draw Cura from her when you need to heal. She also has a very weak attack called Astral Punch; it does about 30 damage with Vit-J. Note: You can Mug her for an Elixir. Actually, you don't need to win here; the battle ends automatically after Edea says something like "Time has run out, SeeDs!" After the battle, you'll get 20 AP. ------------------- After the battle, there will be an FMV of Edea shooting a huge ice spear at Squall, then the scene fades out and you get a prompt to save... -END OF DISC ONE- ***** -Disc Two | IT'S LAGUNA AGAIN... | (Have I mentioned enough times how bad I am at coming up with titles?) -Laguna Flashback 3 Draw Points: Dispel(r), Drain(r) Hidden Draw Points: Curaga, Reflect(r) Yep, it's another Laguna sequence. This time, there's no setup, you're just thrust into it. Anyways, as the scene opens, a little girl named Ellone tells Laguna that someone's come to see him and is waiting at the pub. After you regain control, use the save point, then search near the door for a hidden Curaga Draw Point. Go downstairs and talk to Ellone, then leave the house and head to the pub next door. Laguna will call Ellone over, then you can go inside. Note: You may get into random encounters when wandering around outside. These fights are easy, just Bite Bugs and Caterchipillars. Anyways, inside the pub, you'll talk to Raine, then Kiros will show up and greet you. Talk to him. After a while, you'll be given some choices of things to ask Kiros about; ask if you want, but when you're done, pick "Let's talk later...". Kiros will join up with you, and you'll go off to fight some monsters. Be sure to re-Junction Kiros; note that he has Irvine's stats in this sequence. Leave the pub. In the southeast section of the area you're in, you can find a Draw Point with Dispel, but it's not really needed. Head south from the pub entrance to find a wooden bridge. When you go to the bridge, Laguna and Kiros will have a short talk. After that's over, head south. On the next screen, you'll see a Draw Point with Drain. Use it if you want, then head south, or east for a hidden Draw Point with Reflect. Basically, just keep heading south until you reach the town entrance. (Buy stuff in the nearby shop if you want.) Then head back to the pub and go upstairs. Raine and Ellone will be talking; Laguna wants to leave, but Kiros makes him eavesdrop. =P After Ellone and Raine's conversation, you'll regain control. Talk to Raine and you'll tell her how many monsters you've defeated on your patrol. Raine tells you to head to your room and get some rest. Go back to where the flashback started, (if you forgot, it's upstairs in the house next to the pub) save if you want, (probably a good idea, as there's a _long_ sequence to go through before you can save again) and rest in the bed. That's it for this flashback... **** -Desert Prison Draw Points: Berserk(r?) Hidden Draw Points: Thundaga(r?) Items: Tent, Pet House, Pet Nametag, Str Up, Combat King 001, Cottage, Rename Card After the flashback, Zell wakes up in a prison cell with Selphie, Quistis, and Rinoa. Quistis asks if he was in the "dream world" again, and Selphie asks about Laguna. Zell says he was Ward and was working in some sort of prison. Now you'll be in control of Zell. Talk to Rinoa twice and she'll ask if Zell recognizes this room. He'll realize that Ward was working in the prison they're now in... After some more dialogue, the scene shifts to Squall. He'll try to think about what happened, then there's an FMV of an elevator carrying him up... Now it's back to Zell and the others. Some guards come in, threaten you, beat Zell up, and take Rinoa away. Back to Squall; the elevator stops, then Seifer walks in and tells two small red creatures (Moombas) to take Squall away. In the next scene, Squall is hooked up to a torture device. Seifer tries to get Squall to tell him what the secret of SeeD is, but Squall isn't aware that there _is_ one. Seifer gloats for a while, and the scene fades out... Back to Zell... (getting tired of this yet? =P) Selphie tries to cast a healing spell on him, but it doesn't work very well due to some sort of anti-magic field. A Moomba comes in with some food and trips, then the guard comes in again and threatens the Moomba. You have the choice to help the Moomba or not; help it. You'll scare the guard away, and Selphie will try to heal the Moomba. Choose to help. Now it's Squall again. Seifer gloats some more, then leaves and tells a guard to continue the interrogation. After a while, you'll be given a choice between "...Just let me die" and "...I'll lie... I must...live..." Choose the first option to save yourself a little trouble later on in the prison. Either way, the scene will shift back to Zell. Talk to Quistis and you'll start planning how to escape. Zell decides that, since he uses his fists as weapons, he'll go and get the other characters' weapons back. Zell gets the guard out of the way, then leaves the cell with the Moomba following him. First, re-Junction Zell, then go downstairs for a Save Point. (About time!) Then go up to Floor 8 to find the guards with your weapons. Head towards them and they'll comment on the weapons. Get closer and they'll spot you, then attack. They're pretty easy to beat, even though you only have one character. They can cast Sleep on you, but that's about it. After you win, Zell will reclaim the weapons. Now it's back to Squall. Some Moombas will call him Laguna, then let him down from the torture device... Then the scene shifts to Zell, Quistis and Selphie. They've got their weapons back now, and the menu screen comes up so you can Junction them. After you exit the menu, you'll hear some guards talking... Biggs and Wedge come in and recognize Zell and Selphie. After some rather funny dialogue, they attack you. ----BOSS BATTLE---- Biggs Wedge Yep, them again. And they're just as easy as before. You may want to draw some spells from them, since they're so easy; Wedge has Reflect, and Biggs has Regen. (As well as Haste and Slow, but you should be able to refine those easily.) Reflect is a good Junction for Spirit, and Regen is good for HP. Mug Wedge for a Strength Love, and Biggs for a Regen Ring. If you didn't Mug them, you'll win some Remedies and Elixirs. ------------------- After beating Wedge and Biggs, leave the cell; another Moomba will come down the stairs and say "Laguna" to your Moomba. They'll get excited and run up the stairs. Then an alarm will sound. Now would be a good time to save. A note: You can enter some of the doors in the prison. Walk up to them and slide open. You should go down first and check the doors there, as this is your only chance; here's what you'll find. The Save Point is on Floor 6. Neither door on that floor has anything; going down from Floor 6, the doors have: Floor 5, Right Side: A prisoner who'll charge you 500 gil for a game of cards. Win to get an item. Floor 4, Left Side: Item box with a Tent. Floor 3, Right Side: Item box with a Pet House. Floor 2, Left Side: Item box with a Pet Nametag. Floor 2, Right Side: Item box with a Str Up. Floor 1, Left Side: Hidden Save Point. You need Move-Find set in order to use it. Floor 1, Right Side: It's hard to spot, but there's a yellow object on the floor. Examine it to find Combat King 001. Read it to teach Zell his Dolphin Blow Limit. Moving up from floor 6: Floor 7, Left Side: The cell you came out of. Floor 8, Left Side: A guy from Garden running an item shop. Floor 9, Right Side: Draw Point with Berserk. Floor 10, Right Side: Another card player. He charges 300 Gil per game, and will upgrade your Battle Meter the first time you win. The upgrade lets you see how many enemies each character has killed and how many times they've been knocked out. However, he doesn't give you any items. Floor 10, Left Side: Save Point. Floor 11, Right Side: Hidden Draw Point with Thundaga. Floor 11, Left Side: Another card player, who charges 200 gil per game. This one gives you items. Nothing on Floor 12. On Floor 13, you'll find Squall... and a LOT of Moombas if you decided not to give in during the torture. Once you find Squall, you'll be in control of him. Talk to the nearby Moombas; they'll offer to make a shortcut on one floor of the prison. One gives you the choice of making a shortcut on Floor 2, 3, or 4; choose Floor 4, as you won't be going through the others. Choose whichever floors you want for the other two. Now head out of the room. Zell will say that they should probably go down, and Quistis will comment that it would be a pain with all the monsters there. Squall will mention the elevator they used to bring him up. After some more talking, Zell stays behind to operate the elevator while the others go down. Don't bother re-Junctioning at this point. Inside the elevator, Zell tells you to push the red button on the main panel. Walk up to the center control and examine it to push the button. You'll wind up on the bottom floor. On the next screen, you'll a huge door; examine it and sand will pour out of it. Then you'll hear gunfire and automatically rush out. Now you're in control of Zell, who's being chased by guards. If a guard catches up to you, you'll have to fight, which isn't much of a problem. You _will_ have to start at the beginning of the screen, but it's still not too tough. On the next screen, the Warden will catch Zell, but Squall will come and and take care of him. Then Selphie and Quistis will run in, and the guards will start shooting at you. It looks bad, but then Irvine shows up and takes out a couple of guards. Rinoa's come back, too. After some dialogue, Irvine will tell you to head up. You have to make a party of Squall, Rinoa, and one other character. You're now on Floor 9. Head up until Floor 13, and the scene will shift back to Irvine. One of the party members remaining with Irvine will suggest using the elevator to get out, since going up doesn't seem to be an option. Re- Junction yourselves and start heading down. Stop by the item shop if you want, though. Then head down until you reach Floor 3, and the scene will shift back to Squall. Move your Junctions around, then talk to the nearby Moombas for a Cottage and a Rename Card. On the next screen, head up the stairs. There's a hidden Save Point here. Head up the next set of stairs to find a control room. Head out and an alarm will sound, and you'll be attacked. ----BOSS BATTLE---- sry cant add any more
