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~Hack~ Final Fantasy VI: Brave New World (SNES)

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Nepiki edited this page Jan 24, 2024 · 3 revisions

Achievement guide by solidification

1. Table of Contents

2. Overview

Welcome to Final Fantasy VI: Brave New World! This is an interesting hack that changes nothing in the story and very minor bits of dialog, but enormous gameplay and mechanic changes. Most notably, Espers are limited to specific characters, some of last ones have been shuffled about, characters have well defined roles and abilities and can only learn certain spells (no more Ultima spam!), and you no longer have to feel pressured into doing a low level run through to get good Espers because Esper-based stat bonuses have been completely separated from needing an Esper equipped when your character levels up.

This hack ultimately sought to address the difficulty (or lack thereof) of the vanilla Final Fantasy VI experience. And it did so. You are strongly incentivized to be more tactical (what spells you use) and strategic (what gear and Espers you have equipped). Many bosses are checks on your ability to learn the game, and they basically are meant to crush your party so you can spend time learning their behaviors before you go back in a second time and annihilate them.

Here, I try and take all the hard part out of everything. There are still a few bosses that will give us SOME trouble (notably Intangir-Z, Ultima, and all three of the Warring Triad), but ONLY if we opt to do the "no Esper Level" run for the hardest achievement in the game.

Which we will. We have character level restrictions, but these are not too bad, although the lack of Esper Level points can make some otherwise simple bosses (provided you learn them) a bit of a headache.

The game provides you the option of turning off the EXP Gain, and in doing so, you gain 2x GP. As such, money should NEVER be an issue in this game, and you're also expected to always have 99 of recovery items before venturing into dungeons.

You may still equip Espers for the bosses to get their passive bonuses (absolutely necessary against some bosses), but as long as you keep EXP Gain off, you will never void the "no Esper Level" achievement. ...You cannot, however, have them equipped for the final battle against Kefka, but with the character level restriction removed, you can gain more than enough HP/MP to compensate.

That said, we are NOT trying to minmax and do weird optimal nonsense to minimize backtracking. Particularly in Kefka's Tower at the end of the game and throughout Narshe/Yeti's Cave in the World of Ruin, we will be backtracking a good bit, and we will revisit places to deal with the various Dragon bosses. Our goal here is simple: have a RELIABLE strategy to deal with the VERY CHALLENGING bosses.

You are, however, free to do as you want. In fact, if you find a strategy that's better than mine, please let me know so I can test it out, and I will absolutely update this guide if I find that to be easier. I have tested these strategies over multiple runs, and I can guarantee their efficacy.

However, "effective strategies" does NOT mean people will not die and does NOT mean you won't get a game over. Some bosses will just unfairly rampage you. The strategy works, but if the Boss AI decides to be unfair, you'll have to try again. In all of my attempts, I only had to reset against a tiny few bosses and only a tiny few times, though, so we're pretty safe.

That said, as stated, people will occasionally die. In the strategies, if I tell you this is okay, it's because the battle itself is not too aggravating, and you can with some halfway-decent item management recover (or in a few cases, I even say to leave them for dead). Deaths in this game should be treated as a round of turns of recovery; we (frequently near the end game) CANNOT always be doing damage.

Of course, everything I just said is violated if you are spending Esper Level points with no desire or need for that No Esper Level achievement. Spending your points properly basically breaks the game in your favor, and no boss can stand up to your might with decent equipment.

In my view, I started off hating this game, but I have grown to appreciate it. And I appreciate it enough I hope you do as well. So good luck, and try to have fun earning these 666 achievement points!

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Character Levels and Esper Levels

The max Esper Level is 25 and Character Level is 50. They both have the same EXP growth system, and you will find substantial increases in place to deliberately curb grinding. Specifically, going from any 9 to 10 is normal, but then from 10 to 11 is enormous, and then from 11 to 12 is normal. This repeats again with the 20, 30, and 40 levels. This won't be an issue for us.

Character levels ONLY offer HP/MP growth and then the usual damage increase since level is part of that calculation. Furthermore, everyone always receives the same amount of HP or MP per level up with only the initial/base stat being different. However, with Esper Levels, this becomes character-dependent. Celes, for example, gets the means to improve any of her stats, while Strago is not given a means of improving his Vigor. It all depends on the Esper the party member can equip.

The way Esper Levels work is you equip an Esper (any Esper) and gain some EXP. Eventually, you will gain Esper Levels. You then go pick any Esper the person can equip (the Esper does not actually need to be equipped!) and go down to the bonus at the bottom and select it to spend one (level) point on that stat increase. You can do this at any time, and I encourage you to read ahead in the guide to see how I ultimately distribute points--I give you three tables of point distributions based on key points in the game to summarize where we are (although I will tell you occasionally to spend more points as we get them).

This process is the key to how your character grows and specializes themselves. For example, you can make Terra a powerful warrior or a powerful mage, or you can make her suck at both. You can make many characters veritable tanks with a lot of HP/MP. The choice is yours, but you should think about what kind of character you want that character to be. Shadow will never be a powerful mage, for example.

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Notable Changes

As explained above, the Esper and leveling system are the biggest changes, encouraging you to level up at your leisure and not put it off in order to maximize growth because of how the vanilla game worked.

Another substantial change is that chests no longer "upgrade," so you should loot every chest you see when you see it!

Equipment is also a lot more important, and even older equipment has a lot of value! We're even going to be using very old equipment for an almost end game boss! In fact, equipment is often going to give us incredible stat boosts that we'll need and are more than enough to make up for not spending Esper Level points into those stats (as evident by the no-Esper-Level run).

Sap and Poison are also more significant, now. Sap is basically recurring damage that's pretty small but is a block to Regen--Sap and Regen undo each other. Poison is the same thing, only Poison does damage more slowly but it gets stronger and stronger each time the damage occurs. Unfortunately, most bosses are immune to Poison, but nearly all of them are susceptible to Sap! Sap is, however, not very strong in the end game and is mostly there to prevent Regen. Your characters can also be hurt by these.

Characters' abilities have changed somewhat drastically. Cyan's Bushido and Sabin's Blitzes now do different types of damage and many impart status ailments to keep them from being useless once you get new abilities. Gau's Rages have been dropped down to just 64, and they are all diverse and can help tremendously with just going through the field (although only a few will be used against bosses). Setzer's failed Slot can now be so much more powerful based on his Stamina, basically giving an MP-free Cure2 (or slightly less) to the party! Not only is Relm's Sketch more useful, we'll actually be making some small use of it against an end-game boss!

But perhaps most importantly is the Elements. Elements are now much, much more important as most bosses go down easily to some, one boss is dependent on having full elemental coverage, and characters have specific elements they can toss out. As usual, the Element chart of what works against what is: Fire <-> Ice, Bolt <-> Water, Wind <-> Earth, Holy <-> Dark. And Dark is now a real element, with an entirely new spell (called Dark) added, which only one character can learn! Adding to it, Sap and Poison are also Dark-elemental, and this is important to keep in mind because a few characters can cast these spells, and you'll want to make sure you're paying attention to what's weak to what.

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Words of Advice

This game is hard. I am going to assume you have already played the vanilla, so I won't be teaching you any of that. There are classrooms in Narshe and Jidoor that will teach you the specifics of what changed in this game.

But to be clear, I am only here to help you get achievements. Most of those are tied to bosses, and we are going to easily get through almost all of them. That means I will tell you how to beat the boss, but I won't tell you how to defeat minor enemies. I will make a few remarks on buying some equipment, and you'll see we don't use that equipment in any boss--this is because that equipment is going to help you get around the world and grind some.

Also, money should NEVER be an issue in this game. You can at any point turn off the EXP Gain in the Config menu and go fight for GP. We're also going to reach our level restrictions (and I'll tell you when), so be prepared for some level grinding... That extra bit of HP and MP helps a lot more than you think because it means someone survived an attack that would have killed them one level below. That means that person can get off a turn they were waiting on, a turn that might have been trying to revive someone or curing the party or undoing a status ailment or applying a buff or whatever. Less goes a lot more in this hack, and every little bit helps.

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General Guidelines for this Guide

Most of you are here for dealing with bosses. However, there is a certain achievement tied to beating the game without using Esper Levels. So I have written this guide with that in mind; there is no "build" to be used. That said, you may consider doing two runs: one in which you attain every achievement except the No Esper Levels, and then one run focusing entirely on that. My strategies work for both, and I provide two tables showing endgame stats for World of Balance and World of Ruin based on how I divided points which gave me a very easy time. You, however, do not have to do things my way; you can at any point go spend an egregious amount of money to change your stats in the World of Ruin once you get the airship.

Because of the boss issue, there is a separate section detailing all of them, and I will not list them in the walkthrough, which I am putting at the very end with mostly bullet points, important tidbits, and sanity checks, as most of the game outside the bosses hasn't changed much. At the end of EVERY boss, I provide a link to take you to the top of this guide so you can quickly get back to some other part of the guide. In the walkthrough, I provide links to the relevant boss section so you can snap there quickly.

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3. Achievement Guide

This is just a list of all the achievements as well as some guidance on how to attain them (where needed). They're broken up into sections, and they are linked throughout the walkthrough for your convenience.

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Progression

There are 6 NON-boss achievements related to progression. I will not list the boss-related ones in this section. Otherwise, they are:

Son of a Submariner (3)
Escape Figaro Castle by defeating the two TekArmors, then discuss your plan with Terra.

The Evil That Men Do (4)
Witness Kefka poison Doma, meet Cyan, then pass through the imperial encampment.

Hop Aboard (5)
Complete Sabin's scenario by going through the trench, you madman.

Easy Escort Mission (5)
Complete Terra's scenario by meeting up with Arvis in Narshe.

Celes Unchained (5)
Rescue Celes from the Imperial Soldiers in South Figaro.

Nobody Saw That Coming (3)
Get betrayed by the Empire.

That's it! All other story-based achievements are tied to bosses, so I'll just put those there!

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Missables

These 15 (non-boss, non-treasure) achievements have specific conditions that you can fail, either by progressing through the game without seeing them or something else. I will note them in the walkthrough at the bottom. I am not going to note the level-restricted achievements as those are tied to bosses. They are:

Blade of Vengence (3)
Let Cyan cleave the enemies in the Imperial Camp.

When Cyan is fighting the enemies shortly before he joins the party at the Imperial Camp, do nothing except keep people alive with Items while he takes care of things.

You Know What To Do (3)
Suplex that train.

During Sabin's scenario when you fight the Phantom Train. Choose Blitz, and X,Y,Down,Up will do it. Do this right at the start.

The Trooper (2)
Kill a trooper instead of taking his clothes.

During Locke's scenario, once you have taken the Merchant's clothes for the first time and can "proceed" past the boy, go kill the green soldier you're supposed to steal clothes from next. Enter and exit a building to get him to respawn.

Rafter Race (10)
Reach Ultros in the opera rafters with at least 2:30 remaining.

With my setup against the boss, you can fight 3 battles and still reach him in time. Just have Gau use Albatross Rage and the others attack to get through things quickly.

This is incompatible with Exterminator below.

Exterminator (10)
Defeat all the rats in the opera house rafters before time runs out.

Just kill everything. This is incompatible with Rafter Race above.

IMPS, The Musical (5)
End the battle vs. Ultros in the Opera House with a party of three imps.

Ultros will naturally use Imp Song, but he may fail against some characters. You can learn Imp and cast it yourself.

Well-rounded Headgear (5)
Steal a Stat Hat from an enemy.

Onion Knights have this as a rare steal.

Impeccable (10)
Get a perfect score at the Emperor's banquet.

Some of the words have changed but the position of the answers hasn't. I outline the choices in the walkthrough.

No Machine Can Stump Me (3)
Check in on Cid and Setzer and hear a bit on Setzer's past.

After the banquet, before hopping on the ship to Thamasa, head back to your airship and go into the engine room to see this.

Running Free (5)
Find and defeat a cactuar in the world of balance.

This is located in the center-ish of the world map at the most northern point, just northeast of Narshe, where you'll find some grass surrounding mountains. Cactuar can be one-shot by Edgar's Drill and Sabin's Pummel.

Man on the Edge (3)
Save Cid's life, so he can appear in future Final Fantasy games.

This is much easier in this version of the game, taking approximately 3 Good Fish if they spawn.

Assembly of Heroes (25)
Recruit all characters in the World of Ruin.

This is only missable if you fail to wait for Shadow at the end of the World of Balance on the Floating Continent.

Hallowed be thy Name (5)
Teach the Rerise spell to both Shadow and Relm.

This is done via the Memento Ring, which Relm has equipped by default. You cannot get this until the World of Ruin, however, if you are doing no Esper Levels.

We Trust Ramuh's Judgment (25)
Collect All Magicite

This is actually missable. There is nothing stopping you from ignoring Ifrit's magicite after you fight him and Shiva in the Magitek Research Facility.

A Brave New World (50)
Beat the game having earned no esper points and having no espers equipped in the final battle.

The hardest achievement (much easier now that the level restriction on Kefka, if you're trying to do everything in one run, has been removed). This guide will get you through it all.

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Treasures

There are 4 achievements related to treasure hunting, and two are missable because they are in the World of Balance.

Treasure Hunter I (4)
Hunt down all the treasures in crates, pots, chests, etc. in South Figaro.

There are 21 chests, and you can get 10 when you first reach South Figaro and the other 11 in Locke's scenario.

Anytime (10/21):

  1. At the building southwest of Cafe, check the barrel in center (Antidote).
  2. From above, check the box underneath (Eyedrops).
  3. From the entrance to South Figaro (west side), head to the building south of entrance/west of the above chest and look in the box underneath (Remedy).
  4. At the Chocobo Stable, check the top barrel to its left (Tonic).
  5. At the Chocobo Stable, check the middle box behind/just northest of it (Phoenix Down).
  6. At the Weapon/Armor shops check the barrel between them (Tonic).
  7. On the upper platform to the north (stairs in the northest corner of the town), head to the far west and south-middle barrel north of Chocobo Stable (Tincture).
  8. In the Cider Man's house, head downstairs and check the dark brown wastebasket (Tonic).
  9. Go into the Rich Man's house, head outside the eastern door, and check the bottom barrel (Phoenix Down).
  10. From above, go behind the house and into the storage and check the clock (Elixir).

During/After Locke's Scenario (all inside the Rich Man's house) (21/21):

  1. Head to the basement, and before Celes, go down the hidden stairs in the south and check the western cell (Boomerang).
  2. From above, check the eastern cell (Knight Cape).
  3. In the clock room, check all the treasures: left (500 GP), middle under clock (1000 GP), bottom right chests (1500 GP, Phoenix Down)
  4. Same room as above, check the middle chest under the clock (1,000 GP).
  5. Same room as above, check the bottom right chest (1,500 GP).
  6. Same as above (Phoenix Down).
  7. Same as above (Nothing).
  8. Now, head to the Soldier-infested basement, go south at first split (Black Belt).
  9. From above, there are two treasures all the way north and east and around at next split (Iron Shield).
  10. Same as above (Iron Armor).
  11. Southwest of exit stairs (TRAP!, Magic Cube + 666 GP). Optional: Hidden path downstairs chests do NOT count (Tonic x2, Fairy Charm)
Treasure Hunter II (5)
Hunt down all the treasure in the Magitek Factory in Vector.

There are 13 chests in the Magitek Research Facility:

  1. In the first area, straight west through pipe (Flametongue).
  2. From above, hop on the hook to east and go down rightmost pipe (Tincture).
  3. From above, go down ladder across rolling pins to second area. Now go west from entrance (X-Potion).
  4. Now, go east across rolling pins (Elec Sword).
  5. South from previous (Remedy).
  6. Now, go down the rolling pins to third section, head upstairs to east, squeeze between two boxes into pipes on east, south some through the pipe, and you'll see two chests (Icebrand).
  7. Same as above (Zephyr Cape).
  8. From above, go south through pipes to reappear at entrance; head southwest and upstairs, up to previous area (Gold Shield).
  9. From above, head south back to third area, downstairs, just south of stairs (Tincture).
  10. Head east just a bit and south through the western door, follow path to east side, north of stairs (Warp Whistle).
  11. From above, head down those stairs, west a little bit to barely noticeable door south of you, and reach the leftmost tile (hidden, Reflect Ring).
  12. From above, continue on the path west, and go through southwestern door in this section (Gold Helm).
  13. After Ifrit and Shiva, in the tube area: hidden chest westmost southern path under westmost tube (go west, hidden, Tincture).
Treasure Hunter III (5)
Hunt down all the treasure in the cave to the sealed gate.

There are 15 chests in the Cave to the Sealed Gate:

  1. Right in first area (Demonsbane).
  2. Lower left in second area (Tincture).
  3. Lava room with moving bridges (Kazekiri).
  4. Same as above (Warp Whistle).
  5. In big room after moving bridge room, take right path and follow to end (Ether).
  6. In big room after moving bridge room, take bottom path, south at next fork to go up the incline, in middle of bridge is switch. Pull it, then head back left and straight up to little island (X-Potion).
  7. Back to bridge with switch you fell from, head right and up to two switches. Pull left one, enter room (Tincture).
  8. Leave room, head right, pull switch on big bridge to activate stairs, head straight down and around to the left (Ether).
  9. From tile above previous chest, head north 3 tiles and examine the floor (Ninja stuff).
  10. Head right and north through the hidden passage to continue, chest is shortly after (X-Potion).
  11. Head right, down all the way, and left to see floor switch on small plateau. Press it and enter nearby room to east (Phoenix Tear).
  12. Same as above (Blood Sword).
  13. Same as above (Ether).
  14. Same as above (Ether).
  15. Leave room, head east all the way, north up the rightmost bridge, pull switch, make your way east and north for final chest (Phoenix Tear).
Treasure Hunter IV (10)
Hunt down all the treasure in the tunnel to the ancient castle, the ancient castle itself, and Kefka's Tower.

There are 26 chests. 6 are in the tunnel to the Ancient Castle, 5 are in the Ancient Castle, and the other 15 are in Kefka's Tower.

Tunnel to the Ancient Castle (6/26):

  1. Southeast corner of first screen (Ether).
  2. Easternmost door south leads to Master Tonberry trapped chest (Mana Battery).
  3. Southwest of first screen (Thunderguard).
  4. Go through the westernmost door south to the second screen, follow the path southeast and around (Ninja Star).
  5. Head northwest to the next area, and head straight south and go west a bit (Phoenix Tear).
  6. Northwest of the previous (X-Potion).

Ancient Castle (11/26):

  1. At the castle entrance while still outside, go to the hard-to-see door east of the stairs into the room (Punisher).
  2. At the castle entrance while still outside, go to through the archways west of the stairs for Katanasoul trapped chest (Valiance).
  3. In the throne room, head through the arches east of the thrones in the northeast corner of the room (Royal Jacket).
  4. Same as above (Genji Shield).
  5. In the center of the throne room on the east is a path leading to the next area; check the trashcan (X-Ether).

Kefka's Tower:

Party One (14/26):

  1. Northest corner of first screen (Skull Cap)
  2. In middle of path on third screen (Fixed Dice)
  3. After Guardian fight, keep going until just outside. North up the first bridge, head northwest a bit (Ninja Star).

Party Two (19/26):

  1. Second screen, northwest corner (Genji Helm)
  2. From above, head south and go through the northern door, and go straight north (Minerva)
  3. After Ultima, head through next few screens and take the left pipe to be dumped to next outside area. In middle (X-Potion)
  4. From above, go down the conveyer belt and into the left door to see the switch to let Party 1 move foward; treasure is next to it (Ribbon)
  5. Go back out from above, skip the door on the right, and instead go to far left (X-Ether)

Party Three (26/26):

  1. First screen in the middle, just south of the first door (Ninja Star).
  2. Go into the first door north of above, and follow the path to the end for a chest (Hero Ring).
  3. East from above (Genji Shield).
  4. Continue forward, and as soon as you come down some steps look north of them (Punisher).
  5. From above, head to the bottommost tile to the left of the moving gear thing. Head South all the way, East twice, South all the way, North once, West all the way, South all the way, East until you think you're under the chest, then North (Megalixir).
  6. After Inferno, when you're outside, go down the first bridge and it'll be to your east (Phoenix Tear).
  7. From above, head to the southwest corner of the screen to the blinking treasure chest that activates a bridge for Party 1. This is north of that (Ninja Star).

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Rages

There are two achievements tied to Rages. There are 64 total Rages, with 39/64 available in the World of Balance and 25/64 in the World of Ruin, so you can unlock one in each world. I will list here where to find the monsters alphabetically, and the walkthrough will detail where to find monsters as you play the game. Each one unlocks after the requisite numbered Rage has been attained.

The Book of Souls 1 (10)
Obtain 30 different rages for Gau.

World of Balance Rages: Adamantite, Albatross, Antlion, Behemoth, Bomb, Brainpan, Cephalid, Chickenlip, Chimera, Conjurer, Crawler, Doggo, Exocite, Eye Goo, Flan, Gargoyle, Hornet, Jinn, Kudzu, Leafer, Lich, Locust, Ninja, Onion Kid, Rain Man, Raven, Repo Man, Rhydon, Sand Ray, Scrapper, Sewer Rat, Soldier, Spirit, Stray Cat, Tek Armor, Templar, Vaporite, Vulture, Zombone.

The Book of Souls 2 (25)
Obtain 60 different rages for Gau.

World of Ruin Rages: Anemone, Belladonna, Buffalax, Griffin, Grizzly, Io, Magic Pot, Mantodea, Marlboro, Mesosaur, Nastidon, Osteosaur, Revenant, Rocky, Scarab, Shokan, Titan, Troll, Tumbleweed, Tyrano, Vagrant, Weedula, Werewolf, Windrunner, Witch.

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Lores

There are twelve Lores, with 7 in the World of Balance and 5 in the World of Ruin. The achievement will unlock after the final Lore has been attained. I will describe the easiest way to learn them.

Blue Magic Master (10)
Learn all twelve lores.
Lore Monster Where/How Found
Aqualung None Start with it
Bad Breath Marlboro World of Ruin - Daryl's Tomb; Have Gau use this Rage in battle until it is cast
Blaze Heartfire World of Balance - Thamasa; Heartfire will use it at some point
Blowfish Cactuar World of Balance - Northeast of Narshe
Discord Jinn World of Balance - Cave to the Sealed Gate; Have Gau use this Rage in battle until it is cast
Holy Wind Adamantite World of Balance - Near Thamasa; Have Gau use this Rage in battle until it cast
Quasar Hidon World of Ruin - Hidon's Cave
Raid Kudzu World of Balance - Esper Cave near Thamasa; Have Gau use this Rage in battle until it is cast
Raze Atma World of Balance - Floating Continent; Atma will use it at some point
Refract Troll World of Ruin - Dinosaur Forest; have Gau use this Rage in battle until it is cast
Shield Hidonite World of Ruin - Hidon's Cave; Kill all the Hidonites, and they will eventually revive. The leftmost one will use this upon revival
Tsunami Pond Scum World of Ruin - Cave to the Ancient Castle; get one's HP pretty low

If you did not learn Raze from Atma Weapon, you can learn it from Shokan in Daryl's Tomb. Gau's Shokan Rage will also teach it. Tsunami is difficult to survive; Pond Scum typically come in groups, and when one uses it, they all use it, and it is very powerful. Be careful.

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Steals

These (UNMISSABLE) achievements are either for Stealing something or require Steal to do. All Steals here are rare, so it may take a few tries. Steal success is based on Speed, so get Locke with equipment to boost that stat. Setzer and Gogo can also steal with Switchblade Knife, but they're less reliable. The missable one with Stat Hat is found in the Missables section.

The Life Knife (5)
Steal a Healing Shive from a Hobo.

Hobos are the sickle-carrying humanoids in Zozo.

It's a Mystery... (5)
Equip a Mystery Egg to Celes.

Some of the Dragons have this (notably the Silver Dragon in Narshe), but it is more reliable to go to the Phantom Forest and encounter a Wight (the ghost looking thing) because ALL battles contain Wights.

Triple Absorbent (5)
Steal a Multiguard shield from an enemy.

These aren't just an achievement, they're a necessity for the end-game as Multiguards drop your stats but nullify Ice/Bolt/Fire spells. There are three places to grab these, but you may only have access to one of them, and all found by the cigarette-smoking lady hostess-looking enemies (Dahling, Madame, and Maiden).

They are found in Owzer's Mansion (forced battles; missable), Cyan's Nightmare (around the Train and final Doma; missable), and in Kefka's Tower. Take Party 1 to the third screen (first factory screen) to find the enemies.

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Miscellaneous

These are the other (UNMISSABLE) achievements that don't really fit into any category. They're listed in the likely order you can do them in.

Kweh? (1)
Attempt to do a barrel roll while riding a chocobo.

Hop on any Chocobo and press L or R.

Correct Twice Per Day (5)
Put in the correct time in Zozo's clock puzzle.

The solution is the same as in vanilla, but the clock is in Roman numerals. The answer is VI:II:X.

Murasame (2)
Obtain the Murasame katana.

Found in Doma Castle on the roof in the southeast treasure vault, only attainable after Imperial soldiers are removed after the banquet. Also obtainable in the World of Ruin.

Can I Play With Madness (5)
Obtain the Schematics from Julian

Julian is the guard on the roof of the eastern tower in Figaro Castle where Locke took Terra before Kefka set fire to the place. This is only obtainable in the World of Ruin after you free Figaro Castle from the Tentacles.

I'm a God Why Can't I Live on (1)
Defeat a Powerslave

Powerslaves are common enemies in Daryl's Tomb.

Don't be a Square (3)
Find Daryl's Soul

This requires solving the gravestone puzzle in Daryl's Tomb. At the 6 way split, head to the south center door, all the way south, and check each gravestone's inscription for letters, then go back to the 6-way split, through the northwest door, and spell out ENIX to get this.

Very Spirited (5)
Obtain Leo's Crest

Obtainable in the World of Ruin. In Narshe, head to the Cafe and down the eastmost stars to the cider merchant and talk to him to get Leo's Spirits. Take these to Thamasa with Celes in the party and examine Leo's grave at the far east to get this.

The Edge of Darkness (3)
Forge either the Apocalypse or Illumina.

Once you have Locke in the World of Ruin, take him to the Weapons shop in Narshe and speak to the man in his room down the southeast door in the shop and pick one.

The Blitzkrieg (10)
Perform all eight blitzes in one battle.

Once Sabin has learned all Blitzes, take him and a party to keep him alive to the Dinosaur Forest (have Sabin equip the Life Bell and Sprint Shoes to get this done more quickly/safely). One by one, go through his Blitzes. To avoid killing everything before you're done, start with Mantra/Chakra, then do Air Blade/Flame Dance, and then do Pummel/Suplex/Aura Bolt/Bum Rush. Finish the battle.

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Bosses

No strategies here, only the list in order (mostly) with level restrictions where applicable. Strategies are the next section! All unlock upon death of the final enemy/boss in the battle. With the exception of the Lethe River battle against Ultros, the ONLY level checks are those in the active party. Lethe River ignores Banon because Banon joins at the average +2.

Biggs' Briefing (2)
Defeat the Whelk in the Narshe cavern.

Moogles to the Rescue (2)
Defeat the Captain (and both wolves) in the Narshe Caves to protect Terra.

Blood Brothers (5)
Have Sabin pummel Vargas into next week

Don't Tease the Octopus, Kids (10)
Defeat Ultros on the Lete River then continue your raft ride. (Max level of Terra, Edgar, and Sabin is level 10. Banon can be whatever level.)

No Souls For You (5)
Defeat the Phantom Train with all party members alive at the end of the battle.

The Hell Angel (5)
Complete Locke's Scenario by defeating the Hell Angel.

Don't Tritouch (5)
Drive off Kefka at the Narshe summit to protect the esper.

Pleasant Weather (25)
Defeat Dadaluma with no one in your party above level 13.

This is the War Room (5)
Defeat Ultros in the Opera House

Number 024 (10)
Defeat the Number 024. (Max level 19.)

Number 128 (10)
Break Number128 into little pieces. (Max level 19.)

Flight of Icarus (10)
Defeat the two cranes attacking your airship.

Brighter Than a Thousand Suns (5)
Defeat Heartfire in the burning house in Thamasa. (Max level 20.)

Two Minutes to Midnight (25)
Defeat the Atma Weapon on the floating continent. (Max level 21.)

Be Quick or Be Dead (10)
Destroy all four tentacles attacking Figaro Castle's machinery.

Dullahan (10)
Defeat Dullahan at Daryl's Tomb.

This Achievement Sucks (4)
Get engulfed into the Zone Eater.

Children of the Damned (5)
Protect the children of Molbiz by killing Phunbaba.

Dream of Mirrors (10)
Free Cyan from his nightmare.

Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter (10)
Defeat Hidon.

Brown Dragon (10)
Slay the Brown Dragon making a scene in the opera house. (Max level 30.)

Purple Dragon (10)
Slay the Purple Dragon that was sleeping in that chest on Mt. Zozo for some reason. (Max level 30.)

Red Dragon (10)
Slay the Red Dragon basking in the warmth of the Phoenix Cave. (Max level 30.)

White Dragon (10)
Slay the White Dragon lost in the Fanatics' tower. (Max level 30.)

Silver Dragon (10)
Slay the Silver Dragon chilling in the mountains of Narshe. (Max level 30.)

Chainsaw (5)
Defeat the Tonberry and Obtain the Chainsaw

Blue Dragon (10)
Slay the Blue Dragon that found a home in the ancient castle. (Max level 30.)

MagiMaster (10)
Collect the Pendant and defeat the MagiMaster to escape the Fanatics' tower.

Green Dragon (10)
Slay the Green Dragon sitting in Kefka's Tower. (Max level 32.)

Gold Dragon (10)
Slay the Gold Dragon roosting in Kefka's Tower. (Max level 32.)

Once More Given Flesh (10)
Defeat the Ultima Weapon in Kefka's Tower. (Max level 33.)

Kaiser Dragon (25)
Slay the Kaiser, greatest of all dragons. (Max level 33.)

Asura (10)
Defeat Asura of the Warring Triad. (Max level 33.)

Isis (10)
Defeat Isis of the Warring Triad. (Max level 33.)

Myria (10)
Defeat Myria of the Warring Triad. (Max level 33.)

Tears of a Clown (25)
Defeat Kefka to bring an end to his madness.

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4. Boss Strategies

For every fight, I will first provide a "loadout" that looks like this:

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper

Then I will provide detailed strategies.

If you are going for No Esper Levels, bear in mind that five bosses will give you some real trouble since you are technically ignoring one of the core assets of this game. Those bosses are Dullahan, Ultima Weapon, and the three Warring Triad bosses near the end of the game. Kefka, surprisingly, is not too bad. All of these bosses are in the World of Ruin, with Dullahan being near the beginning. Nevertheless, these should work for you, and with Dullahan you at least get the opportunity to level up and gain more HP/MP since the character level restrictions have been raised in the World of Ruin. The other four, however, I assume you reach said character levels; you will need the extra HP/MP. Top

Whelk

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra Mythril Bolo Buckler Leather Hat Hard Leather None None N/A
Wedge Mythril Bolo Buckler Leather Hat Hard Leather Dirty Undies Nonea N/A
Biggs Mythril Bolo Buckler Leather Hat Hard Leather None None N/A

Three Tek Lasers (one from each) or two from Terra alone will end this. Much easier than the original. Still don't hit the shell; you won't ever do enough damage to survive that route.

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Narshe Captain

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Mog Mythril Pike Buckler None None None None N/A
Mig Morning Star Buckler None None None None N/A
Kutan Trident Buckler None None None None N/A
Kupan Boomerang Buckler None None None None N/A

Mog should use Dusk Requiem and everyone else attack, and Narshe Captain will fall quickly. Even Moogles near death won't change the battle; even if Mog dies, the team is absurdly strong.

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TekArmors

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra Mythril Bolo Buckler Leather Hat Hard Leather None None N/A
Locke Mythril Dirk Mythril Dirk Bandana Hard Leather None None N/A
Edgar Mythril Pike None Leather Hat Hard Leather None None N/A

Terra is Backrow. Terra can single-target Fire, Locke can attack (or use items if needed), and Edgar should use Autocrossbow. They are immune to Noiseblaster this time, and Locke should not try to Steal at all. The last "easy boss" that's guaranteed easy no matter what tactics you really use.

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Vargas

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Edgar Stout Spear None Bandana Hard Leather Knight Cape Dragoon Seal N/A
Locke Butterfly Boomerang Bandana Karate Gi Goggles * N/A
Terra Iron Cutlass Heavy Shield Hair Band Cotton Robe Bracelet * N/A

Everyone is Backrow. Locke and Terra can equip whatever extra Relic you have on hand, or you can leave it blank, it won't matter.

Terra should first use Imp on each of the bears and then use single-target Fire for the rest of the battle, including against Vargas. Locke may get one free attack at the start of the battle but is then on Item healing duty. Edgar should first try to use Noiseblaster at the start of the battle and then use Autocrossbow until both bears are dead. Against Vargas, Edgar should Jump.

Gale Cut is your only real threat, and Terra may stop using Fire to help Locke with items (Edgar should never stop doing damage). Once Sabin arrives, use Pummel to end the battle.

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Ultros (Lethe River)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Edgar Stout Spear None Bandana Hard Leather Knight Cape Dragoon Seal N/A
Terra Iron Cutlass Iron Shield Hair Band Cotton Robe Fairy Charm Goggles N/A
Sabin Mythril Claw Mythril Claw Bandana Karate Gi Goggles Bracelet N/A
Banon Thunder Rod None Leather Hat Cotton Robe Codpiece Talisman N/A

Everyone is Backrow except Sabin. Banon should only use Health. Sabin should use Pummel to inflict Sap and then use Suplex (which only does 70 more damage, but every little bit helps!). Edgar should Jump, and Terra should spam Fire2 until she runs out of MP, then she can restore her MP and go back to it. As needed, Sabin and then Terra should stop their efforts and use Items for healing to help Banon or get Terra's MP back up.

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Hell Angel (Locke's Scenario)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Celes Iron Cutlass Iron Shield Hair Band Iron Armor Knight Cape Knight Cape N/A
Locke Boomerang Boomerang Bandana Karate Gi Bracelet Goggles N/A

Both are Backrow. Celes should do nothing but Runic, but be careful with the timing as Hell Angel is faster than Celes, so find a rhythm and let her turn pause for a bit if necessary. Locke will either attack or use items to heal people; your only real threats are Tek Laser (which ignores Runic) and Sleep. Drill Gun is not a threat as long as everyone's HP is high. If Celes is put to Sleep for some reason, Locke should immediately wake her up. If Locke is put to Sleep, just wait for the Unicorn to appear to wake him up; Celes should never do anything except Runic. Depending on the boss's attitude, this could be a long or short fight, but it is still simple.

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Soul Train (Sabin's Scenario)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Sabin Spirit Claw Spirit Claw Bandana Karate Gi Fairy Charm Goggles N/A
Shadow Hanzo Tanto Bandana Karate Gi Goggles Bracelet N/A
Cyan Hanzo None Bandana Iron Armor Black Belt Knight Cape N/A

Cyan should use Mindblow three times, ending the battle. Shadow and Locke should do nothing except recover status ailments and heal with items. Easy fight.

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Kefka (Narshe)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Gau None Buckler Bandana Karate Gi Fairy Charm Talisman N/A
Sabin Poison Claw Poison Claw Bandana Karate Gi Talisman Life Bell N/A
Edgar Stout Spear None Iron Helm Iron Armor Power Glove Dragoon Seal N/A
Cyan Kotetsu None Iron Helm Iron Armor Black Belt Knight Cape N/A
Celes Iron Cutlass Iron Shield Hair Band Cotton Robe Sprint Shoes Magic Cube N/A
Locke Butterfly Boomerang Bandana Karate Gi Barrier Cube Talisman N/A
Terra Iron Cutlass Iron Shield Hair Band Cotton Robe Bracelet Bracelet N/A

If you bring Locke, have Locke Steal. If Locke steals the Tiara, the battle ends immediately with your victory! Otherwise...

Against Kefka, have Sabin use Pummel once to inflict Sap and then Suplex. Gau should use Exocite Rage. Edgar should Jump. Celes should use Runic. Terra and Locke should use Item heal (if Celes is in party; if not, Terra can use Magic). Cyan should use Dispatch.

No matter your party, Celes, Locke, and Terra are the only ones "fragile," but Kefka is easy.

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Dadaluma

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Sabin Poison Claw Poison Claw Green Beret Cotton Robe Stat Stick Knight Cape N/A
Gau None Targe Bandana Ninja Gear Magic Cube Sprint Shoes N/A
Edgar Stout Spear None Iron Helm Iron Armor Power Glove Dragoon Seal N/A
Cyan Kotetsu None Iron Helm Iron Armor Black Belt Knight Cape N/A

Gau and Edgar are Backrow. Sabin should Pummel once to inflict Sap and then attack, healing as needed. Gau should use Sewer Rat Rage; Poison will do over 1,000 damage! Cyan should use Dispatch, which also does over 1,000 damage! Edgar should heal or Jump as needed, in that order.

Sabin and Gau will be the primary damage dealers here. Cyan is good until Dadaluma summons two enemies to help him, and then his Dispatch is unreliable against Dadaluma specifically, but it will still one-shot his friends. Gau's Poison, even if it's multi-target, which also one-shot the enemies, and so will a normal attack from Sabin.

Eventually, Dadaluma will use a Red Bull on himself and Jump, and you should use this time to heal up as needed, but Dadaluma WILL one-shot whoever he lands on. This is no big deal; just restore the condition and heal up; Gau is the only one uncontrollable and does a lot of damage by himself, so the others can break to heal during this time.

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Ultros (Opera)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Sabin Hell Claw Poison Claw Green Beret Ninja Gear Black Belt Power Glove None
Locke Switch Blade Targe Green Beret Ninja Gear Thief Glove Stat Stick None
Gau None Targe Bandana Ninja Gear Magic Cube Sprint Shoes None

Everyone is Backrow except Sabin. This setup is actually designed to help you get another achievement requiring you end the fight as Imp, as we could easily make our characters more powerful and kill Ultros so fast he won't have time. If you are not looking for the other achievement, ANY equipment you have that provides better Vigor for Sabin, better Magic for Locke, and better anything for Gau, feel free to equip.

Sabin needs to use Pummel once to inflict Sap and then just attack. Gau should use Albatross Rage. Locke gets two casts of Bolt2 and is then on healing duty until people are hit with Imp, and then remains if you are going for that achievement or recovers people otherwise. IF IMP SONG DOES NOT HIT EVERYONE, have Sabin fix this by casting Imp on those who need it. The achievement does not require Ultros succeed with it, after all! But when Ultros does use Imp Song (about 4-5 rounds), he's almost dead, so keep at it.

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Ifrit and Shiva

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Sabin Ocean Claw Ocean Claw Tiger Mask Cotton Robe Black Belt Power Glove None
Gau None Targe Tiger Mask Ninja Gear Magic Cube Sprint Shoes Stray
Locke Icebrand Scimitar Bandana Ninja Gear Thief Glove Zephyr Cape None
Celes Flametongue Gold Shield Mystery Veil White Dress White Cape Spirit Stone None

Gau is Backrow. Celes and Locke are finally in the front row! This is a very easy fight and we are going to focus only on Ifrit, who will die in a few rounds!

Gau should use Onion Kid Rage, Celes should use Ice, Sabin should attack, and Locke can either attack (if opportunity presents itself) or heal with items (more important). The speed of this battle is dependent on Gau; if Gau gets in a Brown Note, the battle ends in 3-4 rounds. Otherwise, it drags on for another 2-3. And we focus on Ifrit because Sabin does more damage with his attacks with this setup than he does with a Hell Claw and some other weapon against Shiva.

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Number 024

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Sabin Poison Claw Poison Claw Tiger Mask Cotton Robe Black Belt Power Glove None
Gau None Targe Tiger Mask Ninja Gear Magic Cube Sprint Shoes Stray
Locke Switchblade Scimitar Bandana Ninja Gear Thief Glove Zephyr Cape Ifrit
Celes Scimitar Gold Shield Mystery Veil White Dress White Cape Spirit Stone Shiva

Everyone is Backrow except Sabin.

Don't waste any time with elemental shenanigans. Have Gau use Onion Knight Rage, Celes uses Runic nonstop, and Sabin and Locke just go on healing duty to keep everyone alive with items. If Gau gets off several Brown Notes, the battle ends a lot faster; if not, you're never in any real danager, but the battle takes longer. If someone is hit with Berserk, use a Green Cherry on them.

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Number 128

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Sabin Ocean Claw Ocean Claw Tiger Mask Cotton Robe Black Belt Power Glove None
Gau None Targe Tiger Mask Ninja Gear Magic Cube Sprint Shoes Stray
Locke Switchblade Scimitar Bandana Ninja Gear Thief Glove Zephyr Cape Ramuh

Everyone is Backrow except Sabin. Sabin needs to attack and Gau should use Rain Man Rage, which will destroy 128 (and the Mag Roaders prior to the fight!). Eventually, the claws will die and 128 will put Regen on himself; don't worry, as Sabin does more damage than 128 can heal. Locke is just on healing duty (magic or items; have him summon Ramuh at the start for amazing damage!), but if you feel an opportunity (such as the start of battle), go ahead with a Bolt/Bolt2 if you learned it.

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Cranes

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Sabin Ocean Claw Ocean Claw Tiger Mask Cotton Robe Black Belt Power Glove None
Gau None Targe Tiger Mask Ninja Gear Magic Cube Sprint Shoes Stray
Locke Switchblade Scimitar Bandana Ninja Gear Thief Glove Zephyr Cape Ramuh
Setzer Darts Targe Bandana Mythril Vest None None None

Gau should use Rain Man Rage and Sabin should attack. Setzer and Locke are on healing duty (have Locke summon Ramuh!), with Setzer making failed Slots to do that. With this setup, the Cranes will fall quickly, but there's a catch! Each has 5,000 HP, and if you take too long to kill both, the remaining one will revive the other at 2,500 HP. As Gau is uncontrollable, have Sabin wait a second and be ready to hit the one Gau does not hit. If you still need to spread some damage, have Locke throw a Bolt/Bolt2 if you learned it.

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Heartfire

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra Icebrand Scimitar Mystery Veil White Dress Zephyr Cape Magic Cube Bismark
Locke Demonsbane Icebrand Stat Hat Ninja Gear Thief Glove Spirit Stone Ifrit
Strago Ice Rod Targe Magus Hat Cotton Robe Fairy Charm Amulet None

Terra is Backrow. Terra should cast Storm and Strago should cast Aqualung. Locke's priority is to undo Mute on anyone whenever they get it and then heal (magic or items), but if there is an opportunity, have him attack.

Occasionally, someone may die. If Locke is dead, use Strago to bring him back (Terra does more damage). If not Locke, have Locke cast Life. Feel free at any point to have Terra summon Bismark, too, for more damage than Storm does!

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Ultros (Esper Cave)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra Flametongue Scimitar Mystery Veil Gold Armor Zephyr Cape Magic Cube Bismark
Locke Flametongue Scimitar Stat Hat Ninja Gear White Cape Stat Stick Ifrit
Strago Fire Rod Targe Magus Hat Gator Hide White Cape Amulet Carbunkl

Everyone is Backrow. Locke should immediately open with summoning Ifrit and then is on healing duty (magic or items). Terra should use Fire2 and Strago should cast Blaze (if he has it, which he most assuredly does. If for some reason he does NOT, however, Strago is now on healing duty and Locke can use Fire2). If there is an opening, Locke can use Fire2.

As soon as Relm joins, her Sketch will end the fight. However, Ultros can one-shot Terra with a Tentacle at any time, and then when he uses Tentacle, he follows up immediately with El Nino, so you have to decide if you want to revive Terra (if she's dead) or heal the party; ALWAYS revive Terra (preferably with Life as that'll give her some HP). Locke is likely going to be spending the battle using party-wide Cure2 or Life on Terra, and that's okay; if he starts getting low on MP, Strago should be able to use 1-2 more Blazes to trigger Relm's appearance.

If Strago did not have Blaze, you're in a tougher situation. Ultros goes down a lot faster, actually, but Strago is now juggling item healing and MP restore for Locke. Have Locke stop doing damage to help out with healing if necessary; the setup is still fine and will work, but the battle will be much longer.

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Ultros, Chupon, Imperial Air Force

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Gau Club Targe Tiger Mask Gator Hide Zephyr Cape Amulet Stray
Sabin Ocean Claw Ocean Claw Tiger Mask Ninja Gear LIfe Bell Power Glove Golem
Strago Thunder Rod Targe Magus Hat Tabby Hide Stat Stick Magic Cube Carbunkl

Everyone is Backrow except Sabin.

Against the Sky Armor/Spitfire fights: have Gau use Rain Man Rage, Strago uses Aqualung, and Sabin should attack or heal as necessary. These all go down very quickly. BEFORE ULTROS, have Sabin switch his claws for one Hell Claw and one Poison Claw!

Against Ultros/Chupon: Sabin should use Pummel on Ultros once to inflict Sap and then attack. Gau should use Conjurer Rage. Strago should use Blaze. If people run out of MP, Strago then Sabin (in order of preference) should fix this. With this setup, after 2 rounds plus one more attack by Sabin, Chupon arrives. Immediately have Sabin summon Golem and then switch his claws for two Ocean Claws (taking half a turn each). This is important for the next fight as, for this fight, Sabin is now going to Pummel only because it does more damage than his claws. Strago should either use Blowfish to attack or Holy Wind to heal. If anyone dies at any point, stop attacking and spend a minute to bring that character up to full health; if they had Rerise, don't bother as they'll have enough HP to keep fighting. Ultros's Tentacle is the only scary part of this fight, so make sure to heal after!

Against Imperial Air Force: Gau should use Rain Man Rage. Sabin should attack the main body. Strago should use Holy Wind to heal. If Gau should ever die, bring him back and put him on Conjurer Rage. Do not worry about the extra parts on IAF; Gau's Acid Rain will put Sap on everything, and they'll eventually die. Holy Wind is based on Strago's current HP, so feel free to use an item on himself to make Holy Wind more powerful in the next turn as needed. However, your primary focus is keeping Gau alive; Rain Man does both Bolt and Water damage depending on his attack, and IAF is weak to both!

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Atma Weapon

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Strago Ice Rod Targe Magus Hat Tabby Hide Magic Cube White Cape Carbunkl
Gau Club Targe Tiger Mask Gator Hide Zephyr Cape Sprint Shoes Stray
Celes Icebrand Gold Shield Mystery Veil White Dress Hero Ring White Cape Seraph
Shadow Murasame Sakura Ninja Mask Ninja Gear Wall Ring Black Belt Phantom

Everyone is Backrow except Celes. Everyone has Float before battle! This is considered one of the most difficult battles, and we're going to annihilate him with relative ease.

First, everyone should summon their Espers EXCEPT Shadow, who will summon his but will summon his last. You don't want to still need to get summons in and have Vanish cancel out.

All Espers summoned, Celes's next turn is to use Slow on Atma. Shadow is going to put Haste on Strago and then Celes, in that order. After that, he is going to throw any Ninja Stars (not Shurikens; we're not saving things for the end-game with Shadow). Once the Ninja Stars are gone, Shadow is going to heal with items with the following preference: undoing people's status ailments, Celes's MP, Gau's HP, and then anyone else's HP. If there is a breather, he can restore his own MP and then Haste himself!

Celes has two goals which are done at your own whim based on what you think is needed: party-wide Cure2 and Ice2/Attack. With this setup, Icebrand will cast Ice2 more often, but it is still random, and while it will do more damage if it does cast Ice2 than casting the actual spell, using the spell Ice2 is more consistent. The downside to the spell is the MP cost; more Ice2 means less Cure2. That's why it's up to you.

Strago should only ever cast Ice2, and Gau is on Stray Cat Rage (not Conjurer; with this setup, the initial Rerise from Seraph should be all you need). Atma is extremely weak to Ice.

At some point, Atma is going to "power up," and you'll see prompts on the screen telling you exactly this. Whosever turn comes first, Celes or Shadow immediately need to cast Dispel (Shadow can ONLY do this if you're allowing Esper Levels in your run), and then Celes needs to put Slow back on Atma. It might seem logical to just have Shadow use Dispel so Celes can then use Slow, but Dispel is a HIGH priority when Atma powers up, so it's first come! If you're using no Esper Levels, Celes must do both, and she MUST prioritize Dispel and then Slow.

Shortly after Atma powers up for the first time, he will cast Flare Star, which will hurt everyone. As long as you're near full health, you won't die, though, and then Celes needs to heal people up with Shadow restoring her MP.

This will be a tense 60,000 HP march, but it is not hard with this setup. At some point, though, Gau may die, and your next actions are dependent on when you are in the battle. If Atma has already used Flare Star (or if Flare Star was what killed Gau), you can leave Gau dead; Atma will be dead soon. If Gau was killed before, everyone needs to stop what they're doing and get Gau back up and at full health, and you have to treat this battle as a soft restart.

If Strago ever dies, no matter what, everyone is now getting him back up and to full health. If Celes dies, do the same, but don't be so aggressive about it; play more defensively (Shadow can bring her back while Strago switches to Holy Wind to keep people alive). If Shadow dies, don't worry about it.

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Phunbaba (First)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Sabin Hell Claw Hell Claw Tiger Mask Gaia Gear Black Belt Power Glove Golem
Celes Blood Sword Gold Shield Mystery Veil Light Robe Guard Ring Zephyr Cape Seraph

Celes is Backrow. Everyone has Float before battle! Sabin should Pummel once to inflict Sap and then attack. Celes should put Haste on Sabin and then put Berserk on him. Otherwise, Celes can heal; Phunbaba will flee very shortly with Sabin's offense.

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Tentacles

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Sabin Ocean Claw Ocean Claw Tiger Mask Diamond Vest Power Glove Black Belt Golem
Celes Falchion Diamond Kite Mystery Veil Diamond Mail Guard Ring Zephyr Cape Seraph

Celes is Backrow. Celes should first put Haste on Sabin and then use Bolt2 on the bottom right Tentacle. Sabin should attack the bottom left Tentacle. Edgar can just Bio Blast and heal as needed.

Once the bottom two are dead, Sabin can attack the top left Tentacle, and Celes can help with Ice2. For the final Tentacle, Sabin can just Pummel it to death and Edgar can use Drill, or feel free to spend time switching out Sabin's claws for two Hell Claws (unnecessary; Pummel + Drill will end it shortly) and just attack. Celes can do whatever is needed: attack, heal, item, etc.

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Chesticle

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Edgar Fire Lance None Dragon Helm Diamond Mail Hero Ring Dragoon Seal Palidor
Setzer Tarot Diamond Kite Genji Helm Diamond Mail Zephyr Cape Daryl's Soul Shoat
Sabin Hell Claw Hell Claw Tiger Mask Diamond Vest Power Glove Black Belt Golem
Celes Falchion Diamond Kite Mystery Veil Diamond Mail Ribbon Sprint Shoes Seraph

Everyone except Sabin is Backrow. Sabin should attack and Celes should put Haste on him. Setzer can do failed Slots for good healing, and Edgar should Jump (be careful with the timing!). Depending on how much damage you're doing, there's a high chance you will kill him before he hides; if he hides, you'll finish him shortly after he comes out.

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Dullahan

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Edgar Icebrand Diamond Kite Dragon Helm Diamond Mail Hero Ring Stat Stick Palidor
Setzer Healing Shiv Diamond Kite Diamond Helm Diamond Mail Zephyr Cape Daryl's Soul Shoat
Sabin Hell Claw Hell Claw Tiger Mask Diamond Vest Power Glove Black Belt Golem
Celes Soul Sabre Diamond Kite Stat Hat Light Robe Stat Stick Magic Cube Seraph

Everyone is Backrow. Dullahan has 60,000 HP, same as Atma, and you're not much stronger than you were with Atma, even with newer equipment. Worse, you didn't get to choose your party. There are two methods you can use. There's the slightly more dangerous but more consistent approach by killing Dullahan's MP, or there's the expensive and inconsistent approach by killing his HP. We'll discuss both. However, if you're doing no-Esper-Level, you should more seriously consider the HP approach.

MP: Dullahan is Undead, and that's why Edgar has a sword and a shield. Unfortunately, Dullahan has 5,000 MP, and only two characters can do damage to it: Celes and Edgar, both with Rasp, which can also miss.

Sabin needs to keep getting Slow on Dullahan and use Mantra as needed. Setzer should be using party-wide Cure2. Occasionally, either will need to use items to undo things. Edgar must survive approximately 620 points of damage from Dullahan's S. Cross attack, so bear that in mind; everyone else can tank through it.

Edgar and Celes are going to use Rasp until Dullahan dies. With Sabin and Setzer doing party-wide healing, you should be good to go; Setzer can substitute a failed Slot for Cure2 as needed.

HP: You need Bouncy Balls bought from Figaro Castle. About 30 of them will do, maybe more to be safe. Assign one person as healing and that's all they do and they always do it (Setzer's a good option with failed Slots; feel free to modify his equipment to maximize his Stamina which will improve his healing). Feel free to have Celes go ahead and put Haste on those who don't have it. Otherwise, the three non-healers are throwing Bouncy Balls until victory.

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Intangir/Intangir-Z

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra Falchion Crystal Kite Red Cap Diamond Mail Ribbon Zephyr Cape Carbunkl
Gau Club Iceguard Cat Hood Gaia Gear Life Bell Magic Cube Stray
Edgar Partisan None Dragon Helm Crystal Mail Dragoon Seal Hero Ring Palidor
Sabin Frostgore Spirit Claw Tiger Mask Dark Gear Black Belt Power Glove Golem

Everyone is Backrow. Terra should put Slow on Intangir and then Regen on Sabin, then on Edgar, then on Gau, then on herself. After, she's on healing duty and fixing her own MP. Edgar should Jump, Sabin should attack, and Gau should use Stray Cat Rage. If there are issues with curing and MP with Terra, have Edgar stop Jumping to help with healing/MP restoration, then get him back in the air.

Intangir isn't bad. Intangir-Z, however, likes to retaliate every physical attack. Gau is still on Stray Cat Rage. Edgar should prioritize helping Terra heal to give her a chance to use Fire3 once in a while, and rarely (I only got it once!) a Jump. Sabin continues with attacking. At some point early in the fight, Terra should put Slow on Intangir-Z, but try to have her use Fire3 as often as possible while still prioritizing healing since Edgar's heal isn't super great.

A NOTE for those combining no Esper Levels with level restrictions: this boss is a great deal harder but not too bad. The strategy does not change, but you have to play significantly more defensively; expect more deaths, and expect to take longer doing anything since many turns are spent undoing things while Gau continues his assault.

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Phunbaba (Second)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Sabin Hell Claw Hell Claw Tiger Mask Diamond Vest Ribbon Power Glove Golem
Edgar Fire Lance None Dragon Helm Crystal Mail Hero Ring Dragoon Seal Palidor
Celes Falchion Diamond Kite Mystery Veil Crystal Mail Zephyr Cape Sprint Shoes Carbunkl
Setzer Tarot Diamond Kite Genji Helm Crystal Mail Zephyr Cape Daryl's Soul Shoat

Everyone except Sabin is Backrow. Everyone has Float before battle! Celes should put Haste on Sabin, Edgar should put Berserk on Sabin, and Setzer should put Regen on Sabin. Then, whoever comes first, Setzer or Celes should put Regen on Edgar, who will now Jump; the other of Setzer or Celes should put Haste on Setzer. Setzer's third turn will be to put Sap on Phunbaba, and Celes's third turn can summon Seraph. If anyone dies, make sure to heal them with a Red Bull to give them Float again.

No matter who winds up getting blown away when Phunbaba does it, whether 1 or 2 people, Terra will arrive already in Morph and Backrow status and has Fire3. Three or four of these will end Phunbaba, so that's all she should do while everyone else keeps her alive (even if they die).

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Chadarnook

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra Soul Sabre Gold Shield Magus Hat Diamond Mail Magic Cube Ribbon Carbunkl
Setzer Demonsbane Gold Shield Diamond Helm Diamond Mail Life Bell Daryl's Soul Shoat
Edgar Flametongue Gold Shield Dragon Helm Diamond Mail Hero Ring White Cape Palidor
Celes Rune Blade Gold Shield Genji Helm Diamond Mail Stat Stick White Cape Seraph

Everyone is Backrow. Terra is going to tank through most every magical attack from Chadarnook. Chadarnook's demon form is Undead, and so we are going to drain his MP. However, before ANY offense begins, we are going to prioritize buffing. Terra should be getting Shell on people, Setzer and Celes can Rerise (or just have Celes summon Seraph), and Edgar can use Cure2 as needed. If anyone dies during this stage, pause for a moment to bring that person back up to full health + Shell + Rerise.

Throughout the battle, occasionally, the girl form of Chadarnook will use SlowX or SleepX; fix this with Remedy, but keep Celes and Edgar primed. Everyone buffed, Edgar and Celes should be using Rasp on the demon form while Setzer and Terra keep the party alive. This is a very easy but long battle with this approach, so just play patiently.

Why not Cyan, who can do more (and more consistent) MP damage? Unfortunately, Cyan's equipment makes him a hassle as he needs constant healing, and our goal is safety.

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Tritoch

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra * Iceguard Circlet Diamond Mail Magic Cube Life Bell Carbunkl
Sabin Ocean Claw Frostgore Green Beret Diamond Vest Stat Stick Spirit Stone Golem
Mog Fire Rod Flameguard Red Cap Diamond Mail Moogle Charm Life Bell Shoat
Edgar Icebrand Diamond Kite Stat Hat Genji Armor Stat Stick Nirvana Band Palidor

Everyone is Backrow. Terra can equip Soul Sabre or Apocalypse depending on what you took in Narshe.

Have Terra summon Carbunkl to put Reflect on everyone. Tritoch's Bolt and Ice spells will heal it, but not for much, even with a party-wide Reflect; one of Sabin's Flame Dances will undo it entirely. Have Edgar put Slow on Tritoch while Mog continues with Wind Aria, Sabin uses Flame Dance, and Terra Morphs and casts Fire3. Every few turns, Edgar should be using a Tincture on Terra to restore her MP as she will run out quickly. Otherwise, near the start, he can use Drill once to put Sap on Tritoch.

Eventually, your Reflects will wither, but by this point you should have done enough damage to brute force it out.

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Yeti

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Setzer Switchblade Crystal Kite Red Cap Genji Armor Life Bell Zephyr Cape Seraph
Terra * Iceguard Oath Veil Light Robe White Cape Magic Cube Carbunkl
Edgar Fire Lance None Dragon Helm Power Armor Dragoon Seal Hero Ring Palidor
Shadow Sakura Kagenui Dark Hood Diamond Vest Sprint Shoes Life Bell Phantom

Everyone is Backrow. Terra can equip Soul Sabre or Apocalypse depending on what you took in Narshe.

Terra will never survive a Tackle even with Safe but will survive everything else at near full health. Your first priority is buffing the party. Edgar needs Regen and everyone needs Rerise (have Setzer summon Seraph). Terra and Setzer need Haste, and Edgar should be putting Safe on everyone. Whatever it takes to make everyone have all these stats, do it, and if people die, bring them back up and reapply buffs. Do not worry about hurting Yeti yet, but feel free to put Sap (from Setzer, maybe his first turn) and Slow on him.

Once EVERYONE has Safe/Regen/Rerise/Haste, and Yeti has already cast a Blizzard, have Shadow summon Phantom, and now the battle begins.

Shadow should throw Fire Scrolls if you have any; otherwise, he uses items for healing. Edgar should Jump (and hopefully he's in the air to dodge any Blizzard from Yeti). Terra should use Fire3 nonstop, and Setzer can cast Poison for good damage. There is nothing Yeti can do to anyone until he casts Blizzard, and if you were patient and waited things out, you can tear through most of his 80,000 HP.

Shadow and Setzer may ultimately die. Feel free to try and bring one back, but if Terra or Edgar start losing health, those two are your priorities as they combined do over 10,000 HP damage.

A NOTE if you are combining no Esper Levels with level restrictions: you do not have time for buffs. When you enter this battle, if Shadow or Terra die from Yeti's first hit, restart it. You need anyone to survive. You need to immediately get Setzer to summon Seraph if possible; if not, oh well. Your REAL priority is to go ahead and get Shadow to summon Phantom. After that, it's the above strategy: Jump, Morph+Fire3, Fire Scroll, and Setzer can use Sap once and then give Terra Tinctures, Shadow can just attack and hope Slow is inflicted. This is a much, much harder battle, and you are hoping he does not cast Blizzard at all (which is entirely possible if you beat him quickly enough).

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Zone Eater

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra * Iceguard Circlet Crystal Mail Amulet Magic Cube Carbunkl
Gau Bone Club Flameguard Tiger Mask Snow Muffler Sprint Shoes Stat Stick Stray
Setzer Healing Shiv Crystal Kite Genji Helm Power Armor Ribbon Daryl's Soul Seraph
Celes * Crystal Kite Oath Veil Genji Armor Hero Ring Life Bell Alexandr

Gau is the only one who needs to be in Backrow, but it won't hurt Setzer either. Terra/Celes can have Apocalypse/Illumina depending on what you took in Narshe; give the other a Soul Sabre.

Before anything else, have Setzer cast Poison to inflict it and watch more and more damage accumulate. Gau should use Conjurer Rage (making sure Setzer gets in Poison before Gau uses Frazzle is important!). If Gau won't put Rerise on people, go ahead and have Setzer next summon Seraph. Otherwise, the party needs Haste and Regen, although Setzer will lose Regen frequently with his equipment because of Zone Eater's Aero spell, so don't prioritize his Regen. Once buffs are in place, Setzer can prioritize healing while Terra uses Storm and Celes uses Ice2.

A NOTE if you are combining no Esper Levels with level restrictions: this is a slightly harder battle with many more deaths, but still doable. Terra's Storm is not going to do much damage, so she should instead focus on helping Setzer heal and restoring Celes's MP with Tinctures. Otherwise, this still follows the same strategy.

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Master Tonberry

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra * Hero Shield Circlet Light Robe Quartz Charm Magic Cube Carbunkl
Sabin Hell Claw Hell Claw Tiger Mask Dark Gear Power Glove Spirit Stone Golem
Edgar Fire Lance None Dragon Helm Genji Armor Dragoon Seal Hero Ring Palidor
Setzer Avenger Aegis Shield Red Cap Genji Armor Zephyr Cape Life Bell Starlet

Everyone is Backrow except Sabin. Terra can have Apocalypse or Soul Sabre depending on what you took in Narshe. This is a very easy battle but there will be a lot of deaths and revives happening. Do NOT let Sabin or Edgar do anything offensive until they have Rerise, and they should in fact be the priority for it. Then Setzer for Rerise, then Terra. Once Edgar has Rerise, he can put Slow on Tonberry and then use Bio Blaster.

Keeping everyone at high health is NOT a priority; simply keeping them alive (even at low health post-revive), however, is, so don't waste time curing and restoring. Therefore, you should use a Phoenix Down/Life, and/or Rerise, and then move on.

Terra should just use Fire3 and then give her a Tincture if she winds up needing it. Sabin should attack. Edgar should Jump after he's used Bio Blaster once. Setzer should keep putting Rerise on people. Master Tonberry will frequently counter the Figaro Bros. with Step Mine, but not always. When he's close to the party, he will use Gank twice, and you will either dodge it or die to it, no in between. Not a hard fight, but you will die frequently.

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Katanasoul

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Celes * Iceguard Circlet Light Robe Magic Cube Hero Ring Phantom
Gau Bone Club Flameguard Tiger Mask Chocobo Hide Quartz Charm Life Bell Fenrir
Cyan Murasame None Stat Hat Genji Armor Sprint Shoes Zephyr Cape Kirin
Edgar * Thunderguard Dragon Helm Genji Armor Back Guard Nirvana Band Palidor

Everyone is Backrow. Celes can have Illumina (give Edgar Soul Sabre) or Soul Sabre (give Edgar any elemental sword) depending on what you took from Narshe. Gau should use HasteX, and then he should use Regen on Cyan. If he dies after this, he can stay dead. Edgar can use Cure2 on the party on his first turn after Katanasoul has acted, or he can use it on an individual, depending on what Katanasoul did. Celes can put Slow on him. Now pause.

If Katanasoul has already used Gale Cut, Celes's second turn should be summoning Phantom. If not, start applying more buffs and heals to the party until Katanasoul DOES use Gale Cut, then have Celes summon Phantom.

After Phantom is summoned, it's a race to the next Gale Cut. Edgar and Celes should be using Rasp.

What about Cyan? Cyan, the entire battle, should be using only Mindblow Bushido. If Gau is still somehow alive, have him on Item duty or just pass his turn; undoing Invisibility with magic is not good, and we are not interested in reducing Katanasoul's HP.

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Doom Gaze

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra * Aegis Shield Crystal Helm Genji Armor Ribbon Magic Cube Carbunkl
Edgar Fire Lance None Dragon Helm Crystal Mail Nirvana Band Dragoon Seal Palidor
Gau Bone Club Thunderguard Red Cap Snow Muffler Life Bell Sprint Shoes Fenrir
Setzer Avenger Viper Darts Genji Helm Crystal Mail Daryl's Soul Life Bell Seraph

Everyone is Backrow. Terra can have Apocalypse or Soul Sabre depending on what you took from Narshe. If you are lucky, Doom Gaze will flee and you can hunt him down restored while he has less health. But it doesn't matter.

Terra should put Regen on Edgar. Edgar should put Haste on Setzer. Gau should use Conjurer Rage. If Gau does not Rerise Edgar, have Setzer do that immmediately. If Gau then does not Rerise Terra, have Setzer do that next. If Gau then does not Rerise himself, have Setzer do that. If Gau finally does not Rerise Setzer, have Setzer do that.

In the meantime, Edgar can Jump, and Terra can Morph and then use Fire3. Setzer can go on healing duty, including reapplying Rerise if Gau won't. Easy battle.

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Larry, Curly, Moe

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra * Aegis Shield Circlet Light Robe Ribbon Magic Cube Carbunkl
Edgar Partisan None Dragon Helm Genji Armor * Dragoon Seal Palidor
Strago Doomstick Iceguard Circlet Moogle Hide Sage Stone Quartz Charm Zoneseek

Everyone is Backrow. Edgar can have a Nirvana Band or Power Glove depending on when you went to Owzer's Mansion. Terra can have an Apocalypse or Soul Sabre depending on what you got from Narshe.

Curly is in the top center and your goal is to take him out. Edgar can Jump on Curly. If Edgar is in the air, Terra should cast Regen on Strago. If Edgar is not YET in the air, Terra should cast RegenX on the party. Once Edgar lands, Terra can put Regen on Edgar if he had jumped previously. Strago can just use Blowfish.

Once Curly is dead, if Strago has Mute, someone should fix this. While Moe and Larry are doing their nonsense, Strago can now double-cast Dark on Moe (front right), while Edgar continues to Jump and Terra continues to use Fire3, all on Moe. Larry will eventually leave, leaving only Moe. Eventually, Moe will die, and Shemp will appear and then leave.

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Wrexsoul

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra * Aegis Shield Circlet Light Robe Ribbon Magic Cube Carbunkl
Edgar Trident None Dragon Helm Genji Armor * Dragoon Seal Palidor
Strago Doomstick Iceguard Circlet Moogle Hide Sage Stone Quartz Charm Zoneseek

Everyone is Backrow. Edgar can have a Nirvana Band or Power Glove depending on when you went to Owzer's Mansion. Terra can have an Apocalypse or Soul Sabre depending on what you got from Narshe. Wrexsoul will possess someone, but this doesn't matter.

Edgar should Jump on one of them. If he is in the air, Terra can put Regen on Strago and then put Regen on Edgar when he lands. If Edgar is still grounded and/or Terra went first, Terra can use RegenX. After both of them have Regen, she can Morph and cast Storm. Strago can cast Tsunami if you have it or Aqualung.

Edgar's Jumps should be spread between the two enemies. If he gets off a double-Jump on one enemy, have him focus more on the other. They each have 40,000 HP, and the goal here is to kill them at the same time (approximately). When they both die, the battle ends.

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Hidon

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Relm Dali Brush Iceguard Cat Hood Chocobo Hide Life Bell Ribbon Zoneseek
Gau Bone Club Thunderguard Tiger Mask Snow Muffler Life Bell Sprint Shoes Fenrir
Strago Doomstick Flameguard Circlet Moogle Hide Sprint Shoes Sage Stone Carbunkl
Celes * Hero Shield Mystery Veil Force Armor Quartz Charm Magic Cube Alexandr

Everyone is Backrow. Celes can have the Illumina or Soul Sabre, depending on what you took in Narshe. Have Gau use Conjurer Rage.

Your first goal is to kill all the Hidonites while Strago remains alive, as this will trigger Black Omen for Strago to learn. After a few turns, the Hidonites will revive, and the bottom left one will cast Shield for Strago's other Lore he can learn.

To kill the Hidonites quickly, Relm can cast Meteor, Strago can do a party-wide Blaze, and Celes can do party-wide Ice3. Once the Hidonites are dead AND after they revive, you ignore them and focus all of your attention on Hidon since the battle ends when he dies.

Strago should double-cast Ice2, Celes can now just attack (if Illumina) or Ice3 (if Soul Sabre). Relm is on healing duty with party-wide Cure3 or have her attack your own party with the Dali Brush for single-target healing. If things look good, she can cast Flare if you have it, but keep her MP high for Cure3.

A note that if you're combining level restrictions with no Esper Levels, the fight is still relatively simple, but you're going to run out of MP very quickly. I nearly always had to use one X-Ether and one Ether (for Relm), sometimes two Ethers. There are plenty for the rest of the game, especially if you are at level 30.

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MagiMaster

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra * Aegis Shield Circlet Force Armor Gale Hairpin Magic Cube Tritoch
Strago Punisher Iceguard Circlet Light Robe Ribbon Sage Stone Zoneseek
Setzer Healing Shiv Crystal Kite Gold Helm Force Armor Amulet Barrier Cube Shoat
Celes * Hero Shield Circlet Crystal Mail Back Guard Zephyr Cape Phantom

Everyone is Backrow. Terra can have Soul Sabre or Apocalypse depending on what you took in Narshe. Celes can have Soul Sabre or Illumina depending on what you took in Narshe. Float before battle! MagiMaster is a souped up Number 024, except he's going to be a lot easier. His whole gimmick is elemental shifting, and he telegraphs his weakness. If he uses Ice, you use Ice, and so on.

Before you do any attacking, you should consider your party's buffs and what MagiMaster's current elemental affinity is. Your party can easily tolerate Earth, Fire, Bolt, and Ice, so if he's not using these spells, hit him with the spells below until he changes. Someone should also put Slow on MagiMaster.

Setzer should put RegenX on the party and then Rerise everyone, starting with himself, then Terra, then Celes, then Strago. Celes should put Haste on people with Setzer first and order not mattering after. Terra and Strago should each put Shell on everyone, order doesn't matter. Celes and Terra can take turns healing as needed. Once everyone has their buffs, Setzer now focuses on healing while everyone else restores their MP; you don't want to be in mid-assault and run out of MP.

Once the assault begins, Setzer is still on healing and MP restoration. MagiMaster has 100,000 HP to deal with. However, he is stupidly easy, and this is what you do:

If MagiMaster uses an Ice spell, Terra should cast Ice3, Celes should cast Ice3, Strago should double-cast Ice2. If MagiMaster uses a Fire spell, Terra should cast Fire3, Strago should cast Blaze. If MagiMaster uses a Wind spell, Terra should cast Break, Strago should cast Blaze. If MagiMaster uses an Earth spell, Celes should cast Quartr. If MagiMaster uses a Bolt spell, Terra should cast Bolt3, Celes should cast Bolt3. If MagiMaster uses a Water spell, Strago should cast Tsunami, Terra should cast Storm. If MagiMaster uses a Holy spell, Celes should cast Holy. If MagiMaster uses a Dark spell, Strago should double-cast Dark, Setzer should cast Poison.

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Brown Dragon (Opera)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Sabin Ocean Claw Ocean Claw Dark Hood Gaia Gear Sprint Shoes Life Bell Terrato
Gau Bone Club Iceguard Skull Cap Gaia Gear Quartz Charm Life Bell Fenrir
Edgar Trident None Dragon Helm Royal Jacket Dragoon Seal Nirvana Band Palidor
Setzer Fixed Dice Aegis Shield Red Cap Genji Armor Amulet Wall Ring Seraph

Everyone is Backrow except Sabin. Float before battle!

First, have Sabin put Slow on the Dragon, Edgar put Haste on Gau, Setzer put RegenX on the party, and Gau uses Conjurer Rage.

Now, have Edgar Jump, Sabin attack, and Setzer heal (and help Gau with Rerise if Gau can't figure it out). If at some point everyone is buffed and Gau still has not used Frazzle, have Setzer cast Sap. Also feel free to have Setzer attack since you are generally safe and he will twiddle his thumbs a lot wanting something to do.

If Brown Dragon starts to speed up (via prompt), have one of the Figaro brothers put Slow on him, whoever's turn comes first.

If Brown Dragon uses Grav Bomb, immediately have one of the Figaro brothers cast Float to get that person back up as Brown Dragon will follow up with Quake. Otherwise, easy battle.

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Purple Dragon (Mt. Zozo)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Gau Bone Club Iceguard Red Cap Moogle Hide Quartz Charm Life Bell Fenrir
Setzer Avenger Crystal Kite Crystal Helm Crystal Mail Life Bell Sprint Shoes Seraph
Umaro Bone Club None Skull Cap Snow Muffler Sprint Shoes Psycho Belt N/A
Terra * Crystal Kite Circlet Crystal Mail Magic Cube Gem Box Carbunkl

Everyone is Backrow except Umaro. Terra can have Soul Sabre or Apocalypse, depending on what you took in Narshe.

Gau should start with HasteX and then use Conjurer Rage. Unfortunately, Purple Dragon is likely to cast SlowX on the party; get Remedies on whoever needs it and proceed with a somewhat slower fight.

Setzer should start with Regen on Umaro, Rerise himself (if Gau hasn't done it yet), and then is healing the party and restoring Terra's MP as needed. If Gau refuses to Rerise people intelligently, have Setzer, in order, put Rerise on Terra, then Umaro, then Gau. No need to rush, though; give Gau a chance as you're pretty safe in this fight.

Terra should put Slow on the Purple Dragon, Morph, and then cast Bolt3 for the rest of the battle. If you get the prompt saying Purple Dragon is speeding up, have her recast Slow.

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Red Dragon (Phoenix Cave)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Sabin Frostgore Ocean Claw Tiger Mask Royal Jacket Sprint Shoes Life Bell Golem
Celes * Multiguard Circlet Light Robe Magic Cube Sprint Shoes Phantom
Edgar Trident None Dragon Helm Force Armor Nirvana Band Dragoon Seal Palidor
Setzer Avenger Multiguard Crystal Helm Crystal Mail Life Bell Sprint Shoes Seraph

Everyone is Backrow except Sabin. Celes can have Illumina or Soul Sabre depending on what you took in Narshe.

Have Celes cast Slow and then Ice3, recasting Slow if you get the prompt that Red Dragon's speed is increasing. Setzer should be on healing duty and help restore Celes's MP as needed. Sabin should attack, and Edgar should Jump. Easy fight.

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White Dragon (Fanatics' Tower)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra * Aegis Shield Circlet Light Robe Sprint Shoes Spirit Stone Tritoch
Strago Doomstick Thunderguard Circlet Light Robe Sprint Shoes Sage Stone Carbunkl
Setzer Avenger Crystal Kite Red Cap Force Armor Quartz Charm Sprint Shoes Seraph
Celes * Hero Shield Circlet Light Robe Sprint Shoes Magic Cube Crusader

Everyone is Backrow. Terra can have Soul Sabre or Apocalypse, depending on what you took in Narshe. Celes can have Illumina or Soul Sabre, depending on what you took in Narshe.

At the start, White Dragon is likely to kill someone, so get that person back up. Someone else may die; get that person back up. Repeat and eventually White Dragon will stop being so aggressive with Holy/Flare and instead use Quartr. Unless you summon Seraph, Celes will not be getting Rerise because of her Reflect status; this is fine. Get Haste, Regen, Rerise, and Shell on everyone else as this is your number one priority. Have someone Slow White Dragon and Setzer can cast Sap.

From now on, Strago will double-cast Dark and nothing else. Sometimes, he will only get one Dark in because White Dragon will counter with Holy and kill him; this is fine. Get him back with, in order, Rerise, then Shell, then Regen. If there is an opportunity for Setzer to damage and not heal, have him cast Poison; otherwise, have him use failed Slots to heal the party (which heals Celes!). Celes is backup on Rerise/Item duty, and she can give herself and Strago Tinctures if needed. Terra can Morph and cast Fire3 for decent damage.

If White Dragon is "speeding up" via the prompt, someone (not Strago) must immediately cast Slow on him.

White Dragon is arguably one of the hardest Dragons in the game, but this is more a tense fight and not a difficult one as you have to maintain focus. Keep healing, keep people buffed, and just let Strago and Terra do their thing with occasional support from Setzer, and don't try to rush it.

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Silver Dragon (Narshe)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra * Iceguard Circlet Force Armor Magic Cube Life Bell Tritoch
Edgar Fire Lance None Dragon Helm Force Armor Dragoon Seal Nirvana Band Palidor
Umaro Bone Club None Skull Cap Snow Muffler Psycho Belt Sprint Shoes N/A
Locke Flametongue Iceguard Red Cap Genji Armor Thief Glove Quartz Charm Phoenix

Everyone is Backrow except Umaro. Terra can have Soul Sabre or Apocalypse, depending on what you took in Narshe.

Locke should heal or attack and can be front or back row on your preference of surviving vs. attacking.

Terra should put RegenX on the party, Shell Edgar, Morph, and then just cast Fire3, in that order. If Locke is ever frozen, she can take over healing duty.

Edgar should first Haste Terra and then Jump. If you're lucky or find a good rhythm, Edgar will avoid most everything Silver Dragon does.

Step Mine can hurt, but it doesn't get used too often. You have two people who can use Life2 to bring people back; if someone dies, pause the offense (Umaro will make this up for you) and focus on getting that person back and re-buffed.

Silver Dragon can't do much to Umaro...

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Blue Dragon (Ancient Castle)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Gau Bone Club Thunderguard Cat Hood Gator Hide Sprint Shoes Life Bell Fenrir
Terra * Hero Shield Circlet Light Robe Magic Cube Stat Stick Bismark
Edgar Partisan None Dragon Helm Gold Armor Dragoon Seal Nirvana Band Palidor
Setzer Avenger Gold Shield Gold Helm Gold Armor Sprint Shoes Life Bell Seraph

Everyone is Backrow. Terra can have a Soul Sabre or Apocalypse, depending on what you took in Narshe.

Gau is the most vulnerable person here. Have him use Griffon Rage and have someone else be ready to Rerise/Life2 him. Terra should Slow the Dragon and Regen anyone who needs it, then use Morph, then cast Bolt3. She'll eventually run out of MP, so have Setzer help her MP. Setzer is on healing duty after he puts Rerise on everyone. Edgar should put Haste on anyone who needs it and then Jump. Easy fight.

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Green Dragon (Kefka's Tower; Party 3)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Gogo Doomstick Multiguard Circlet Chocobo Hide Sprint Shoes Ghost Ring N/A
Locke Blood Sword Avenger Dark Hood Mirage Vest Ghost Ring Thief Glove Phoenix
Edgar Trident None Dragon Helm Force Armor Ghost Ring Nirvana Band Palidor
Cyan Mutsunokami None Crystal Helm Force Armor Ghost Ring Sprint Shoes Kirin

Everyone is Backrow.

Cyan should always use Mindblow. Gogo should be timed to Mimic him (skip turns as needed). This means 5 full rounds of Mindblows and Green Dragon is dead.

Edgar and Locke, then, need to keep everyone alive. However, Cure magic will hurt the party with this setup, so toss Potions to people.

Edgar must also put Slow on Green Dragon.

If you are desperate, have Gogo support Edgar and Locke in either trying to Slow down Green Dragon if Edgar fails or trying to throw Potions. You will eventually need to spend a turn or two recovering people from Zombie; this is fine. Green Dragon is very simple and will die very quickly to this strategy.

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Gold Dragon (Kefka's Tower; Party 2)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Edgar Trident None Dragon Helm Force Armor Dragoon Seal Nirvana Band *
Terra * Hero Shield Oath Veil Minerva Gem Box Magic Cube Tritoch
Shadow Orochi Avenger Ninja Mask Genji Armor Sprint Shoes Hero Ring Phantom
Gau Magic Bone Thunder Guard Red Cap Dragon Hide Sprint Shoes Back Guard Fenrir

Everyone is Backrow. Terra can have a Soul Sabre or Apocalypse, depending on what you took in Narshe. Edgar can have Palidor or Unicorn.

Edgar should use Drill once to inflict Sap and then Jump. Shadow should apply Reraise on Edgar as soon as possible and then on others, and then he can throw Wave Scrolls. Terra should apply Slow to Gold Dragon, RegenX to the party, and then her strategy changes depending on your route. If you are using Esper Levels, have her cast Storm for good damage. If you are NOT using Esper Levels, she is strictly on healing duty (her Storm does not do nearly enough damage to waste her turn). Even if using Esper Levels, she is the primary healer, and Storm is just when things look okay.

Gau has THREE options here. If you want to be super defensive, put him on Conjurer Rage for Rerise. If you want to supplement Terra's healing, put him on Rocky Rage, although this comes with a risk. If you want very strong damage, put him on Chimera Rage. I prefered Rocky myself as Shadow and Edgar are more than capable, even without Esper Levels, so it's a question on how quickly you want to end the fight.

Rocky Rage has a risk whenever Gau uses Rock. This is very likely to trigger Gold Dragon's "speeding up" prompt, which can require multiple casts of Slow to keep this in check. However, this is a mild inconvenience as you have two people capable of putting Slow on Gold Dragon, and he's a fairly easy fight anyway.

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Kaiser Dragon (Kefka's Tower; Party 1)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra Soul Sabre Crystal Kite Gold Helm Minerva Gem Box Magic Cube Carbunkl
Setzer Avenger Multiguard Genji Helm Lazy Shell Life Bell Spirit Stone Seraph
Celes Rune Blade Aegis Shield Circlet Minerva Magic Cube Ribbon Phantom
Sabin Stormfang Ocean Claw Tiger Mask Lazy Shell Life Bell Sprint Shoes Golem

Everyone is in Backrow except Sabin and Float before battle!

This is an elemental-cycling battle. Before anything happens, have Sabin put Slow on Kaiser and Setzer summon Seraph. Have Terra Morph and cast Fire3.

Upon being hit with an element, Kaiser will "shift" into that element and use that element's spells against you. Terra just used Fire3, so Kaiser Dragon will now use Fire spells, getting more and more powerful with his spells.

Your goal is to cycle him through the elements of Fire, Ice, Bolt, Water, Earth, Wind, Holy Dark. The order does not matter, but for your own sanity, decide on an order and stick with it. You have to be fast because of the spell power increase with each of his turns. But if you're too fast, your shifting element won't register, and Kaiser will stay in an element and likely kill you.

That said, Kaiser is kind of screwy. Sometimes, you complete a full cycle of elements without actually doing so--he will announce that his power is dissipating and will then use Purge on the party (why we don't use buffs). Sometimes you will be patient enough and he will shift, but you go through all the elements and he won't "end" his cycle when you try to end it (see below). In this case, you need to hopefully have a good memory of what spells you've seen him cast, or just retry all the elements again.

In order to actually complete a cycle, at the end of all the elements, a non-elemental attack must connect. Sabin's Bum Rush/Pummel/Suplex will do just fine. Amid all this, you still have to drain his 150,000 HP. You will need approximately 4-5 cycles. If you DO NOT shift him, you will die; he will throw Ultima at the party and one-shot everyone. There is no way around this.

This is an order that worked for me. From above, we had Terra use Fire3, so I will repeat that:

Terra casts Fire3. Kaiser is in Fire mode. Terra OR Celes casts Ice3. Kaiser is in Ice mode. Terra casts Bolt3. Kaiser is in Bolt mode. Celes casts Holy. Kaiser is in Holy mode. Setzer casts Sap. Kaiser is in Dark mode. Celes casts Demi. Kaiser is in Earth mode. Sabin attacks. Kaiser is in Water mode. Terra casts Break. Kaiser is in Wind mode. Sabin uses Bum Rush. Cycle is complete.

In order for a mode to "stick," it's good to let Kaiser get off the first spell of that mode. You can withstand all of them pretty easily, with Holy and Dark being somewhat annoying/damaging. After Purge, REAPPLY FLOAT for Earth mode again.

While the ONE PERSON is doing their thing to shift his modes, everyone else should be always healing and MP restoring. Don't wait until the middle of the fight to deal with this. Keep everyone in great condition.

This setup is 4-5 rotations as stated. So if you have completed 4 rotations and for some reason you run into the mess that is "you did everything right but he's not shifting," just go all out with offense with your best spells/Blitzes and take him out before he gets to his Ultima. He is surprisingly very easy, but this is a long and patient battle.

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Ultima Weapon (Party 2)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Edgar Longinus None Dragon Helm Force Armor Dragoon Seal Nirvana Band *
Terra * Hero Shield Oath Veil Minerva Gem Box Magic Cube Tritoch
Shadow Orochi Avenger Ninja Mask Genji Armor Sprint Shoes Hero Ring Phantom
Gau Magic Bone Flame Guard Red Cap Dragon Hide Sprint Shoes Back Guard Fenrir

Everyone is Backrow and has Float before battle! This is going to be a very difficult fight if you have no Esper Levels. If you have Esper Levels, this will be as easy as Atma Weapon was, just a bit longer because of the 120,000 HP. Without Esper Levels, you may have to reset a few times if Gau doesn't want to heal the party, but this strategy is very safe.

No matter how you're playing, you're going to run into a lot of MP and status issues, where you will spend a few turns doing no damage (except Gau randomly) trying to recoup MP between your castings and Ultima's Rasp/Raid. Ultima will also at some point inflict random statuses on the party, so you'll be undoing those. This is first and foremost a patient, defensive battle. Be prepared.

Gau has one purpose, and that's Rocky Rage and praying he does more Harvester than Rock for healing. Should he fail to keep the party healed, Edgar's pitiful Cure2 on the party is the next bet. If only one person needs healing (a frequent occurrence given the equipment setup), let Terra just cast a basic Cure on that person.

Terra, Edgar, and Shadow should be applying buffs to everyone. And probably when you're done, Ultima is going to use Purge to undo it. You're going to reapply and burn that MP. Toss an X-Ether or Ether if necessary. You can be a little impatient and start dealing damage if you have Esper Levels, but no Esper Levels needs as many buffs active as possible.

There's no particular order to the buffs, either. I typically have Shadow putting Rerise on Edgar as soon as possible (because he's still grounded preparing to cast his own spells) and then the others, and then he gets to throw Smoke Bombs at people (prioritizing Edgar as soon as possible).

Shadow is strictly utility, continuing to reapply Haste, Float, Smoke Bombs, Rerise, and he is your means of Dispeling Ultima when you see Ultima flash. Unlike Atma, Ultima will not have a text prompt telling you he is storing power; EVERY time he flashes, he is buffing himself, so undo it. If you do get a reprieve, however, have him throw some Ninja Stars--you won't be using Shadow for the final battle, so THIS is the battle to use them all up on.

Edgar is also utility, continuing to reapply Slow, Float, and Haste as needed, as well as party-wide Cure2 if necessary. When you have a reprieve, typically in the first half of the battle before Ultima is flashing, go ahead and have him Jump.

Terra is your primary damage dealer and should be casting Ice3 whenever possible. At the start, and whenever Purge happens, have her use RegenX, and if someone dies, cast Life2, but prioritize Ice3 as much as possible.

Shadow and Terra are the only two who should really be running out of MP. Edgar and Shadow both should be fixing this, prioritizing Terra so she can keep putting out damage (or reviving people) and then Shadow so he can reapply necessary buffs.

This team, even with no Esper Levels, is incredibly sturdy as long as Shadow is able to dodge effectively. If he is going down too often BEFORE Ultima has even started flashing, consider it a failed run; you will be spending too much time fixing him to survive this fight IF you have no Esper Levels. If he only starts going down AFTER Ultima is flashing, you can keep persevering.

Again, several rounds will occur at the halfway mark and beyond where you are not doing any damage and just fixing issues. Ultima is very hard.

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Inferno (Party 3)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Gogo Doomstick Multiguard Circlet Chocobo Hide Sprint Shoes Zephyr Cape N/A
Locke Blood Sword Avenger Dark Hood Mirage Vest Back Guard Thief Glove Phoenix
Edgar Trident None Dragon Helm Force Armor Dragoon Seal Nirvana Band Palidor
Cyan Mutsunokami None Crystal Helm Force Armor Quartz Charm Sprint Shoes Kirin

Everyone except Cyan is Backrow. Edgar should first cast SlowX and then Jump on the main body for the rest of the fight. The arms will die and revive, but don't waste time re-applying SlowX. You can if you want to feel safer, but you're very safe in this party, and there's just not much need for it.

Cyan should just attack the main body. If the main body is all that's left after the arms have died, have him use Dispatch since it's more reliable and does more damage than a basic attack (we only attack to get the wind spell to come out).

Gogo should use Conjurer Rage and Locke is on healing duty, but at the start, both can sneak in Bolt2 or Fire3 spells. Locke will eventually need some MP, but by this point everyone should have Rerise so it's not too risky. Occasionally, people will die, but as long as Locke always has over 60 MP you can use Life2, so make sure that's there.

The biggest threat from Inferno is actually if he puts Stop on Cyan, if only because it drags out the battle since Locke may be busy healing and you just have to wait out Cyan's recovery. Still a fairly easy battle.

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Guardian (Party 1)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra Soul Sabre Crystal Kite Gold Helm Minerva Gem Box Magic Cube Carbunkl
Setzer Avenger Multiguard Genji Helm Lazy Shell Life Bell Spirit Stone Seraph
Celes Rune Blade Aegis Shield Circlet Minerva Magic Cube Ribbon Phantom
Sabin Stormfang Ocean Claw Tiger Mask Lazy Shell Life Bell Sprint Shoes Golem

Float before battle! Everyone is Backrow except Sabin. There are several phases to this fight. The first two phases are Guardian's Ultros form and your buffing phase.

Celes needs to give herself Regen, Sabin should summon Golem, Setzer should summon Seraph, and Terra is going to spend 4 turns putting Shell on everyone. Celes will then put Haste on Setzer and Terra and then put Safe on everyone. Sabin can put Slow on Guardian until it connects. Setzer should be healing the party with Cure2, and anyone except Terra (who is very busy) can undo Imp status as needed. Don't worry about attacking yet until all buffs are applied; just stay healed and alive.

No matter what Guardian's form is, he is still a machine, so he is still weak to Water and Bolt spells. Celes should cast Bolt3, Terra should Morph and cast Bolt3, Sabin should attack, and Setzer should be on MP restoration and healing. If Setzer needs help recovering, Sabin can use Mantra. Do this the whole fight while taking note of grievances of each form below:

Frequently, Celes and Terra will run out of MP. Setzer and Sabin should be throwing Tinctures around or using Chakra. Sabin can occasionally use Mantra if needed.

First is Ultros's form, and only Tentacle is a threat which Setzer can easily fix. Second is Soul Train's form, and Evil Toot can cause a lot of issues and force you to stop dealing damage and undo its status effects. Third is Dadaluma's form, and one party-wide Bolt3 will end his partners. Fourth is Crane's form, and it will put up a barrier. If anyone is without Float status, fix this ASAP and have someone cast Dispel on the barrier. Fifth is Doom Gaze's form, and someone will get hit with Condemned so be ready to fix this when that person dies (Celes is immune). Sixth and final is Hidon's form, and it'll use Refract. Have someone cast Dispel. Setzer may need to switch to party-wide Cure3 because Quasar will hurt.

Overall, Guardian is a long battle with a lot of gimmicks, but the above point the only real issues with the fights; the general strategy described above the above issues will take him down without much trouble.

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Myria (Middle)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Mog Gungnir Multiguard Genji Helm Crystal Mail Dragoon Seal Muscle Belt Palidor
Edgar Longinus Multiguard Dragon Helm Crystal Mail Nirvana Band Dragoon Seal Unicorn
Gau Magic Bone Multiguard Tiger Mask Snow Muffler Life Bell Sprint Shoes Fenrir
Gogo Punisher Flameguard Skull Cap Snow Muffler Sprint Shoes Stat Stick N/A

Everyone is Backrow. Gogo should have Items, Magic, and Rage. Gogo and Gau should both use Rocky Rage and hope you get a lot of Harvester, which will not only heal the party but remove negative status effects (except Zombie), which you will need when Myria starts throwing status ailments.

Mog and Edgar should just Jump. If you have a minute, especially near the start, have Gogo and Gau put Regen on the party--it won't last the whole battle, but it definitely helps. If you happened to have a second Flameguard, give it to Edgar who desperately needs it.

Occasionally, you're going to have to stop doing damage with Mog and Edgar and start throwing Holy Waters and Remedies on people. This is fine. Without a second Flameguard, Edgar is actually the most vulnerable here, and you really don't want him targeting the party with his Jump if he's afflicted with Zombie. Try and find a good rhythm: you can send Edgar and Mog up at the same time (ideal), or you can stagger out their ATB so one initiates a Jump when the other's ATB is halfway filled.

The biggest threats from Myria are Flare Star to the whole party for about 700 damage each and his physical counter Tyrfing which will one-shot Edgar if he's not at perfect health and drive anyone else very, very close to death. And then anything directed specifically at Edgar is a threat, too.

If you have Esper Level points spent, this battle will be surprisingly quick. Not easy, but very quick. If you have no Esper Levels, you're in for a very, very long haul, with Mog doing about 1300 damage, Edgar doing about 2200, and Gogo/Gau's occasional Rock doing about 2200. You need to play very defensively and have a LOT of Holy Waters, Potions, and Remedies. You won't be worried about MP.

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Asura (Left)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra Exaclibur Aegis Shield Circlet Minerva Gem Box Magic Cube Carbunkl
Setzer Avenger Multiguard Red Cap Lazy Shell Life Bell Sprint Shoes Seraph
Celes Falchion Hero Shield Circlet Minerva Ribbon Sprint Shoes Phantom
Sabin Stormfang Frostgore Tiger Mask Lazy Shell Life Bell Nirvana Band Golem

Float before the battle. Everyone is Backrow. Terra is going to Morph and then spam Fire3 and absolutely nothing else while everyone else is here to make sure she stays alive and has MP to spam Fire3. The only concern here is when Asura uses Loc-Nar which will one-shot Terra, so be ready. Fire3 is also more economical than Ultima (damage vs. MP cost), so we won't use Ultima. Terra may take one break, however, if some people are frozen and she's not; have her throw a Fire on the team--everyone will withstand it no problem. If she's frozen, Celes can use Merton; the team will suffer, so only do it if two or more are frozen or you desperately need Terra back AND everyone can survive it.

To start, Celes needs to Slow Asura and Setzer can summon Seraph. After, Celes and Setzer should prioritize Rerise before doing normal healing as the battle goes on. Sabin can use Mantra or Chakra depending on what's needed, but if you have an opening, go ahead and use Bum Rush for good damage!

Other than being frozen, Asura is the easiest of the trio. However, that does not make him "easy." If you are doing no Esper Levels, you are in for a VERY long fight. You need to get about 24 Morphed Fire3s to end it. Sabin is the only one who will die to non-Loc-Nar if you keep people's health up. But this can take about 30-40 minutes without Esper Levels.

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Isis (Right)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Mog Gungnir Multiguard Genji Helm Crystal Mail Dragoon Seal Muscle Belt Palidor
Edgar Longinus Multiguard Dragon Helm Crystal Mail Nirvana Band Dragoon Seal Unicorn
Gau Magic Bone Thunderguard Tiger Mask Snow Muffler Life Bell Sprint Shoes Fenrir
Gogo Punisher Thunderguard Skull Cap Snow Muffler Sprint Shoes Stat Stick N/A

Everyone is Backrow. A very difficult boss to be sure. Unlike Myria, however, Rerise is helpful here, but not at the start.

First, Gogo and Edgar can give everyone Safe, while someone puts Haste on Edgar and Mog and Gogo can give people Regen. It doesn't matter if you prioritize Safe or Regen with Gogo, just keep Gogo busy. Also, put Slow on Isis and go ahead and have Mog cast Sap on her.

Now, Mog and Edgar are going to Jump the entire fight except when they absolutely need to help out with support (which will happen at about 75% of the way to victory). Play very defensively and try and keep them both airborne at the same time so Gau and Gogo are stuck with being Charmed. You do not want your offensive people to be charmed at all.

If Gogo or Gau is charmed, their attempts at healing Isis will not do very much to her, which is good. That said, once buffs are applied, Gogo and Gau should both use Rocky Rage for Harvester and the occasional Rock. The worst situation to happen at this point is if a Charmed person uses Rock on their side, which will put them both in Muddle.

To mitigate the issues, Gogo and Gau should be on opposite sides (which forces Mog and Edgar to also be on opposite sides). That means Gau and Gogo should be the 2nd and 4th slots in the party or the 1st and 3rd.

The first 75% of the battle is no big deal, with Charm being the only issue (Isis's initial spell that forces someone to take damage for her doesn't work against Rock and Jump and doesn't target her for Harvester).

It's when she suddenly abandons Charming the party in favor of casting Quasar, which will hurt a lot. At this point, put a Green Cherry on Gau or Gogo (if one is still charmed, give the OTHER one a Green Cherry), and have that one switch to Conjurer Rage to start applying Rerise. And hope you get Rerise or else you're going to struggle.

Isis is surprisingly simple in a stable sort of way; her rhythm is easy to figure out to keep Mog and Edgar airborne, and with two Thunderguards and Snow Mufflers your Rage users are only vulnerable to Charm and Quasar.

Eventually, the rhythm changes where Mog will use a Potion and Edgar Jumps, then Mog Jumps while Edgar uses Cure2 or a Potion.

If either Mog or Edgar are hit with Berserk, ignore it. They'll either get some extra damage in with the Jump, do a pitiful jab with their spear against whoever is infatuated with Isis because of Safe, or Harvester will fix it.

Nevertheless, this is a war of attrition, and you should play defensively. This is the battle to use a Phoenix Tear or two if you have 'em.

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Kefka (Final)

Name Right Hand Left Hand Head Body Relic Relic Esper
Terra Excalibur Aegis Shield Circlet Minerva Gem Box Quartz Charm Carbunkl
Edgar Longinus None Dragon Helm Force Armor Nirvana Band Dragoon Seal Palidor
Gau Magic Bone Multiguard Skull Cap Snow Muffler Life Bell Sprint Shoes Fenrir
Gogo Punisher Multiguard Red Cap Lazy Shell Life Bell Sprint Shoes N/A

Everyone is Backrow. Float before battle! This setup will also work for the non-Esper-Level run! However, be prepared for a tougher and more exhausting fight, and Edgar needs over 1,100 HP (he can sacrifice a Dragon Helm for a Stat Hat if necessary). Just make sure to have no Espers if you are doing the no-Esper-Level run!

This will be more exhausting than anything else (prepare approximately 45 minutes to 1.5 hours). Four segments, with the first being okay, the second being the most difficult (and where you are likely to die), the third being a joke, and the last being tiring, you're doing a combined total of 410,000 HP damage. Your goal is to play very defensively and not rush in with attacks and heals. Fortunately, with the exception of Edgar who is basically a glass cannon whose weak defenses are mitigated by the invulnerability of being airborne, this is an extremely sturdy party and will withstand most everything thrown at you. Edgar will change his weapon twice (once away from Longinus, once back to Longinus).

You need Green Cherries and all of your Ethers/Elixirs/X-Potions/X-Ethers and that Megalixir for this. Maybe. So do not ever feel afraid to use one at ANY stage.

With the exception of Edgar on a no-Esper-level run, your Haste is permanent. On the second stage, your Regen status will all turn into Sap, but you'll be perfectly fine. You may replace Terra's Quartz Charm with either a White Cape or a Ribbon because Kefka's final phase will see Train which will put random status ailments on the party. If she is turned into a Zombie, that's a problem for her. But if she is hit with Mute or Stop, that's a problem for the rest of your team. I never needed to switch it out (despite her getting hit with ugly status ailments) and having permanent Shell+Safe made her sturdier for all the rest of the fights so she could heal better, but it's your call.

Good luck!

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Face, Short Arm, Long Arm

Do not worry about buffs as they will just be Dispeled. Everyone will do essentially one thing-- Gau: Conjurer Rage Gogo: Conjurer Rage Edgar: Jump Terra: Party-wide Cure3

Edgar should first target the Face (top) which has 30,000 HP. Once he dies, the fight is significantly more manageable. Terra should pause on her turn until Edgar is on the ground to maximize healing potential, and she should only be using party-wide Cure3. Trying to single target can be disastrous as in between turns, something can and often will go horribly wrong.

Once Face is dead, target Short Arm (rightmost, in the background) which also has 30,000 HP. Finally, target Long Arm (leftmost, in the foreground). This has 40,000 HP and is a nonthreat except for the nonstop Dispel that will happen (and why we are not buffing). MAKE SURE EVERYONE HAS FLOAT BEFORE IT DIES as it will cast Magnitude as a death counter. Also try and gauge its HP to make sure your own HP is topped off; as soon as you are done with this, the next four enemies are all going to get attacks on you before you can do anything!

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Hit, Magic, Tiger, Tools

This is without a doubt the hardest fight of the sequence. There is a lot that is thrown at you at the start, and they get deadlier as targets die off. You may occasionally have rounds where you're doing nothing except healing, and that is okay.

In fact, in the first few rounds, you are probably going to be focused entirely on healing (let Edgar and Gogo help as needed) because these four will all attack you at the start of the fight.

As soon as possible, however, Gau and Gogo both go back on Conjurer Rage. Edgar once again uses Jump, but at your discretion whenever you feel you have a chance (I usually didn't feel confident until Hit was dead), have Edgar cast SlowX. Terra is again on party-wide Cure3 or Life2 as needed.

Hit is the first target (purple guy in front top-right) who has 20,000 HP fortunately. He needs to die because he hits hard and will quickly destroy your team if left alone. However, upon death, he will randomly attack party members for 8 hits at heavy power, so be ready for it! You may need a minute to recover from all this before moving on; calm Gogo down with a Green Cherry if needed so he can help recover people.

Magic (tan guy in leftmost back) is the next target, also with 20,000 HP. He is responsible for Dispel, so once he is dead, you are able to start buffing again if you desire, but you may not have time for it because the battle picks up quickly with his death (and gets a lot easier). Expect a death counter with Cyclonic.

Tiger (tiger head at bottom in the front) and Tools (girl in red in the middle) each have 30,000 HP. Get Edgar to SlowX them if he hasn't cast it previously. Let Edgar throw an Ether or Elixir on Terra if she has under 100 MP (Tinctures are useless in this fight; use your bigger items). Make absolutely sure that everyone has Rerise (especially Edgar, whose nonstop Jump has likely hurt this) now that Dispel is gone with Magic's death. These two are going to use heavier damaging attacks from now on that will tear through the party, but the nonstop healing should overcome this.

Upon their death, though, expect Exploder which WILL one-shot someone (and why Rerise is important). The rest of Kefka is a lot easier.

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Girl, Sleep

Girl (head in the back) has only 20,000 HP but absorbs all elemental damage. Edgar's first turn is to switch his Longinus for Gungnir. He then Jumps on Girl until she is dead, and then spend a turn switching back to Longinus. If you try to kill Sleep (purple man in front) first, Girl will just revive him. Girl will also frequently heal both of them, but Edgar is more than capable of getting rid of her. Upon death, Girl will use Peace, which with our setup is very likely to miss but can one-shot someone.

At this point, there is no more real threat to the party nor anything stopping you from just annihilating the rest. However, let Sleep do his devastating attacks while you spend a minute calming down Gau and Gogo (who were still on Conjurer Rage) with Green Cherries and start applying buffs on everyone. Make sure everyone has Float, Safe, Shell, Rerise, Regen, Haste on. If someone has Sap that isn't going away because of some shenanigans, kill them and revive them to give them back Regen. Throw your Elixirs around as needed. While Terra is putting Shell on people, Edgar can heal. While Edgar is putting Safe on people, Terra can heal. Don't try and put these two on Safe/Shell together because although the rest of these bosses are easy, you can still die.

Now put Gau and Gogo back on Conjurer Rage and have Edgar back on Jump and Terra can heal or throw an Ultima if you're feeling confident to remove Sleep's 60,000 HP.

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Kefka

120,000 HP is all that stands between you and the credits. Edgar will do approximately 6,000-7,000 per single Jump. Gogo's Frazzle will occasionally see him followup with a Dark spell for a few hundred. It is approximately 17-20 Jumps from Edgar to end this, fewer if he will double Jump.

Immediately, Gau and Gogo use Conjurer Rage. Terra again is on party-wide Cure3 and Edgar is on Jump. Most Jumps, Kefka will counter with Overdrive, which will not kill Edgar if he has over 1,100 HP, so make sure Terra ensures this is the case.

Now, there is a lot of RNG that goes into Kefka's behavior plus Edgar's willingness to double Jump. If you are lucky, Kefka will spam his elemental attacks, which only Edgar is vulnerable to, and Edgar will double Jump a lot, making this fight end in about 8-9 turns. If you are NOT lucky, Edgar will only single Jump, and Kefka will spam Train, which puts random statuses on people, and Purge, which undoes all that buffing you did previously.

Anytime Kefka uses Train, Gau and Gogo can continue but Edgar and Terra both stop and work on undoing everything they can. If either Edgar or Terra are unable to help, one of them needs to calm Gogo down with a Green Cherry so Gogo can help. Maybe do this anyway to speed things up. If Kefka uses Purge, your priority statuses to rebuild are Shell for Edgar and then Regen/Haste/Float/Rerise for the party.

When the little head appears to tell you that the end is near, PAUSE. The screen will start shaking, and Kefka's very next turn will be reducing everyone's HP (except Edgar's only if he is in the air at the time) to 1. Terra must immediately undo this or you will lose because Kefka is most likely going to hit the party with something (though he CAN attack a single person).

Above all else, Terra should NEVER be in a hurry to heal. If things are looking good and Edgar is busy, just pause on her turn and wait her out some. Terra's healing should ALWAYS be an immediate response to Kefka's attack, NOT a pre-emptive heal (even if it's timed to occur after an attack by Kefka). Feel the rhythm of battle and play very defensively, and Kefka is just a time sink.

Meteor hurts. Goner is a threat. Terra becoming a Zombie is awful and is going to happen maybe, maybe even more than once. Kefka is also immune to all status ailments (including Sap). After a Train, you may be doing zero damage for 3-4 rounds while you try and undo everything, only for Kefka to then use Train again. It's going to happen and just be patient. You have more than enough items and power to deal with him, and he will never heal himself. Kefka may also do his "leave you with 1 HP" attack a second time. As long as you aren't rushing Terra, you will be fine.

However, although Edgar is vulnerable, this is an incredibly safe party. Pat yourself on the back when you finish, you've earned it!

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5. Walkthrough

This is not meant to be a comprehensive walkthrough as it is assumed you have already played the vanilla game. In lieu of a proper walkthrough, general points of direction and "things to do" will be listed, with details to either help get achievements or help the game out. The achievements in the order you attain them will be relisted here when you attain them.

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Start to Zozo; Pre-Esper

If you want, kill off Biggs and Wedge to push Terra up to level 4. This will require a bit of care in using Tek Laser vs. Heal Force, especially against the Lobos that will attack twice. It doesn't matter, though, at least for Whelk because he's painfully easy.

Biggs' Briefing (2)
Defeat the Whelk in the Narshe cavern.

As Terra in Narshe, grab the Elixir (there are precious few of these in the game) from the clock and run from all enemies in the Narshe Mines. Open all chests because chests do NOT upgrade later.

Encounter a Repo Man and Sewer Rat for Rages later.

With Locke and the Moogles, take Mog's group into a random battle to learn Dusk Requiem, and then either fight other enemies or head for the Captain. Do NOT unequip Mog; there is no point, not even for making money.

Moogles to the Rescue (2)
Defeat the Captain (and both wolves) in the Narshe Caves to protect Terra.

With Locke and Terra, encounter a Leafer and Raven in the grass/forest of the Overworld, and encounter an Antlion and Sand Ray in the desert for Rages.

At Figaro Castle, buy a Noiseblaster and Autocrossbow (Edgar doesn't come with one for free), then proceed to defeat the Tek Armors.

Son of a Submariner (3)
Escape Figaro Castle by defeating the two TekArmors, then discuss your plan with Terra.

While on the Chocobo, press L or R to get an achievement.

Kweh? (1)
Attempt to do a barrel roll while riding a chocobo.

In Figaro Cave, encounter a Crawler, Eye Goo, and Hornet for Rages later. The treasures all have money, so grab those.

In Figaro Mountain, encounter a Scrapper and Vaporite for Rages later. Grab the Butterfly for Locke and the Stout Spear for Edgar, and go beat Vargas.

Blood Brothers (5)
Have Sabin pummel Vargas into next week

At the Returners' Hideout, grab the Fairy Charm in the northernmost room, and opt to say No to Banon all three times for the Barrier Cube (Magic Defense is a tad more important throughout the game). Go raise your level to the Level 10 limit (Banon can be higher, and he joins 2 levels higher than your party's average; that's okay).

On the Lethe River, hopefully you encounter an Albatross and Exocite for Rages later. Go right at the three-way split for a slightly shorter route. Choose left at the two-way split to continue forward or Up to loop around. You will encounter a full restore save point before Ultros, so don't worry about health. Go beat Ultros.

Don't Tease the Octopus, Kids (10)
Defeat Ultros on the Lete River then continue your raft ride. (Max level of Terra, Edgar, and Sabin is level 10. Banon can be whatever level.)

Pick Banon's scenario first, and in the mines, do NOT mess up the trap system. If you do, you fight a Pug, who has 2,000 HP and is weak to Fire but will likely kill you (Banon's death = game over, regardless of the rest of the team). He offers nothing, and beating him resets your progress, so there's no point. Head for Mog's room and grab the Psycho Belt. Unequip everyone once you leave the mines before the scenario ends!

Easy Escort Mission (5)
Complete Terra's scenario by meeting up with Arvis in Narshe.

Pick Locke's scenario, and go through it as normal. Pick up any treasures you missed in South Figaro. When it's time to steal the green Soldier's armor to progress, opt to kill him instead.

The Trooper (2)
Kill a trooper instead of taking his clothes.

Now enter any building and leave to respawn the soldier, steal his armor, and progress on. The password for the boy is Swordfish (still the middle one). In the basement of the rich man's house, get Celes.

Celes Unchained (5)
Rescue Celes from the Imperial Soldiers in South Figaro.

Now you can grab the rest of the treasures to get an achievement! Don't forget the Thunder Rod in the "basement" of the basement, and watch out for the trapped chest. Celes's Ice and Locke's attacks can make short work of the Spectre inside.

Treasure Hunter I (4)
Hunt down all the treasures in crates, pots, chests, etc. in South Figaro.

Go rest up at the cabin north of South Figaro, head into Figaro Cave, and fight Hell Angel

The Hell Angel (5)
Complete Locke's Scenario by defeating the Hell Angel.

Pick Sabin's scenario. Grab Shadow and equip him however you want; he won't run away! Encounter a Stray Cat (by themselves!) on the Overworld for a Rage later. As Cyan, feel free to fight one of the Soldiers for a Rage later, or don't as we'll run into more in the Imperial Camp.

Back with Shadow and Sabin, the enemy on the left tent is a Tek Armor and two Soldiers, which helps get Rages later. Fight the Telstar for a Power Glove, and don't forget the Talisman in the tent behind Telstar's tent! Now, fight Kefka twice (one hit per battle is all it takes, just like in the vanilla).

After Kefka has poisoned Doma and Cyan attacks the camp, get into the three battles and do NOTHING except heal with items as needed. Let Cyan do all the work.

Blade of Vengence (3)
Let Cyan cleave the enemies in the Imperial Camp.

As you leave the camp, feel free to use the Tek Armors to heal your characters for free. It's two Tek Lasers to kill a Tek Armor, so one full round in the third and final battle will kill one of the two Tek Armors and leave the other with one last hit. Spend a round to heal everyone, and then unleash the finishing blow. As soon as you walk out of the camp...

The Evil That Men Do (4)
Witness Kefka poison Doma, meet Cyan, then pass through the imperial encampment.

On the Phantom Train, go east to the last car and get that Ghost (he's the strongest). As you progress, you'll see a Ghost that is darker in color, and this is the shop Ghost. If you can, or whenever you can, consider buying 4 Ghost Rings for much, much later. However, this is not necessary and there will be other opportunities to purchase these. Encounter a Bomb, Conjurer, Lich, and Spirit on the Phantom Train for Rages later. Don't forget the Sprint Shoes behind the Ghosts who give you food. In the room next door to where you fight Ziegfried, on the tile south of the northwestmost tile is a hidden Fire Scroll. In the engine car (train's first car/your last car), throw the first and third switches, leave the room, then get on the hood of the engine and activate the switch. Immediately in battle, have Sabin use the Suplex Blitz.

You Know What To Do (3)
Suplex that train.

Now, kill the Phantom Train, and make sure everyone is alive!

No Souls For You (5)
Defeat the Phantom Train with all party members alive at the end of the battle.

Unequip Shadow before jumping off Baren Falls. Grab Gau, and proceed to get the following Rages:

Albatross, Antlion, Bomb, Conjurer, Crawler, Exocite, Eye Goo, Hornet, Leafer, Lich, Raven, Repo Man, Sand Ray, Scrapper, Sewer Rat, Soldier, Spirit, Stray Cat, Tek Armor, Vaporite

Do the "mail the letter" sidequest (costs a total of 2,500 GP) to get a Life Bell. In Nikeah, if you want, Goggles are replaceable by Talismans, so lose the Goggles; Bracelets are still valuable for Magic/Magic Defense points. Buy what you need, then return to Narshe via boat.

Hop Aboard (5)
Complete Sabin's scenario by going through the trench, you madman.

In the battle against Kefka, prioritize everyone else's equipment over Terra's as she'll be leaving for a while.

Everyone is Backrow except Cyan and Sabin. You are free to pick your favorite combination with the equipment setup found in the boss strategy. However, the easiest time I found was the following two parties: Party 1: Edgar, Celes, Gau, Sabin. Party 2: Terra, Locke, Cyan.

Party 2 will stay near Banon while Party 1 goes after Kefka. However you set yours up, I will describe what everyone should be doing in battle.

For the standard enemies, Gau can use Albatross Rage while Edgar uses Autocrossbow. Sabin can Suplex (especially Heavy Armor), Cyan can Dispatch, and everyone else can just attack.

Thanatos has 3,000 HP. Edgar should Jump, Celes/Locke/Terra should heal or attack, Sabin should Pummel once to put on Sap and then Suplex, Gau can do anything, Cyan can Mindblow (two of these ends the battle!).

Don't Tritouch (5)
Drive off Kefka at the Narshe summit to protect the esper.

Grab Gau, Sabin, Edgar, and Cyan for the trip ahead. Arvis in the room with Banon will unequip all people not in your party. Feel free to make a very long trip back to the Veldt to get any Rages you may have missed, but it's unnecessary. Sewer Rat is very important for the next major boss fight, Albatross and Stray Cat are wonderful mob nukes, Albatross is important for an upcoming boss before you get the airship, and Conjurer is vital for the latter half of the game (although it's not too important until we reach the Floating Continent). In Figaro Castle, buy a Bio Blaster and Drill.

Starting around Jidoor and going forward, you'll have an increased likelihood of back attacks or being surrounded, so a Back Guard is a good idea, preferably 3 whenever you can to cover the maximum of 3 simultaneous teams. Scrolls for Shadow are also good, but they are not important right now. Outside of Zozo, feel free to push your levels to 13 for your active party to reach the next level restriction.

In Zozo, the clock puzzle is the same but the solution is in Roman numerals now which gives you a Thief Glove: VI:II:X.

Correct Twice Per Day (5)
Put in the correct time in Zozo's clock puzzle.

Continue on, keep your health up, and do NOT try to encounter Junkies to Vanish your party (a strategy in the vanilla) or Dadaluma will punish you. Go and beat him.

Pleasant Weather (25)
Defeat Dadaluma with no one in your party above level 13.

Don't forget the Ether and X-Potion just before you reach Terra's bed. Let Sabin and Gau accompany Celes and Locke for the next part. Before you leave Zozo, equip Locke with anything to maximize his Speed and go steal a Healing Shiv (rare steal) from a Hobo.

The Life Knife (5)
Steal a Healing Shive from a Hobo.

Top

Zozo to Floating Continent

You have some Espers, now. If you are using Esper Levels, then go ahead and start grinding out some spells and levels since our next level restriction is 19. If you are NOT using Esper Levels, you are going to go grind out spells by going ALL the way back to the Veldt.

To get to the Veldt, you need to go back to Figaro Castle, back to the Figaro continent, back to South Figaro, back to Mt. Koltz, through the Lethe River, to the Imperial Camp location, through the Phantom Forest, and down Baren Falls. On the Veldt, you will not gain Esper Levels but you can still gain Spell Points for learning spells. Get what you need, especially the Imp spell as we need it for an achievement. Then jump back into Serpent's Trench, to Nikeah, on the boat back to Narshe, back to Figaro Castle, and back to Jidoor.

Head to the Opera House and make a save and an extra one if you want. We are aiming for 4 achievements tied to Ultros. For the first one, try to avoid as many of the rats as possible. You can get into fights with 3 rats with the setup for Ultros and still make it with time to spare. Gau can use Albatross Rage.

Rafter Race (10)
Reach Ultros in the opera rafters with at least 2:30 remaining.

Now, reload the save and this time go through and intentionally kill all the rats.

Exterminator (10)
Defeat all the rats in the opera house rafters before time runs out.

Now, go and fight Ultros. We have two goals: beat him, and also get hit by Imp. Ultros will naturally use Imp Song after a few turns in the fight, and if you have been getting spells, you can cast Imp yourself on anyone who did not get hit with the status. You do not have to worry about immunities because the equipment setup intentionally avoids this.

This is the War Room (5)
Defeat Ultros in the Opera House

IMPS, The Musical (5)
End the battle vs. Ultros in the Opera House with a party of three imps.

North to Tzen, if you want, the Spirit Stone can replace your Talismans. Bracelets are still viable for Magic/Magic Defense points. In Miranda, Mythril Helms replace Iron Helms.

On the Overworld outside of the Magitek Research Facility, encounter and Leap Chickenlip, Doggo, and Rain Man for their Rages.

Now, go into Vector, and you can go to the little thin house next to the Inn and choose "Gestahl" to fight some enemies and get some healing. Head to the Magitek Research Facility.

In the facility, work on getting all the treasures as you cannot come back here.

Treasure Hunter II (5)
Hunt down all the treasure in the Magitek Factory in Vector.

Also, make sure to encounter and Leap an Onion Kid (upper levels; need Onion Kid x5). While fighting Onion Kids, have Locke Steal some Stat Hats (rare Steal). You only need 1 for the achievement, but 4 never hurts. However, for the boss strategies, I will never assume you have more than 1.

Well-rounded Headgear (5)
Steal a Stat Hat from an enemy.

Now, move onward to go and fight Ifrit and Shiva. Upon their defeat, continue on, and make sure you encounter and Leap a Rhydon and Vulture (lower levels/stairs) and Flan and Templar (area with tubes; need Templar and 2x Flan for Templar's) for their Rages.

If you're not at level 19, go ahead and do a bit of grinding to get there. Otherwise, head to defeat Number 024.

Number 024 (10)
Defeat the Number 024. (Max level 19.)

Unequip Celes and continue on to get a bunch of magicite, and then reequip to prepare to deal with Number 128.

Number 128 (10)
Break Number128 into little pieces. (Max level 19.)

Upon finishing the Magitek Research Facility, go rest and save and don't worry about fighting anything (unless you still need Onion Knights or Stat Hats), and then rejoin with Setzer and ready yourself for the Cranes.

Flight of Icarus (10)
Defeat the two cranes attacking your airship.

After you get airship, go to near Thamasa and encounter and Leap an Adamantite, Cephalid, and Chimera for their Rages (be careful with Chimeras as they are very dangerous).

Did you miss some Rages from Magitek Research Facility and/or Phantom Train? Phantom Train's monsters are found in forest west of Veldt (where Bombs/Grenades used to be), and Magitek Research Facility's monsters are found on Triangle Island in northeast corner of map. You will also run into Sealed Gate monsters here, Jinn and Zombone, so feel free to encounter and Leap them for their Rages as well. By now, you should have 30 Rages or more.

The Book of Souls 1 (10)
Obtain 30 different rages for Gau.

Go directly east of the Dragon Gate Coliseum man's house to an area that touches the topmost almost-center of the map, northeast of Narshe. There is some grass around mountains. Land here, run into a Cactuar (Edge's Drill will one-shot it), and get an achievement. This is also a great place to grind 10 Spell Points with no EXP or GP.

Running Free (5)
Find and defeat a cactuar in the world of balance.

Now, do you need GP to buy things, now that you have an airship? A good GP grinding party: Setzer, Gau, Edgar, Cyan, with whatever you consider best equipment. Take them around Jidoor and have Cyan use Dispatch, Gau use Albatross, Edgar use Autocrossbow, and Setzer use Slots. Hold fast forward, hold A, and profit! Setzer's failed Slots will keep people alive, and you may occasionally lose Cyan, but you can just rest at Jidoor. You get a few thousand GP every few seconds with minimal effort on your part. Use this to pick up some Sprint Shoes, new weapons/armor from Narshe, a bunch of Potions/Tonics/Tinctures/Red Bulls/Dry Meats/Remedies, and the two Espers from the man in the northwest corner of the map who later builds the Dragon Gate Coliseum.

Speaking of, make sure you go to the home of the man who will build the Dragon's Gate Coliseum to pick up Golem and Seraph (10,000 GP each!). Also go to Tzen and buy Starlet for 3,000 GP, and that will be all the Espers in the World of Balance!

Head to Narshe, and let the story play out. In Narshe, head to the treasure room just southeast of Arvis's home you leave, and follow Lone Wolf north, through the mines, and to the canyon to rescue and recruit Mog.

Take Mog around the world to pick up all his Dances except Snowman Jazz (which we can't get until World of Ruin). If for some reason you don't get Water Rondo, we can get it in World of Ruin (impossible in the vanilla).

Get people to learn spells on the Veldt or grind out Esper Levels and character levels; Terra is weak and needs help, and your next level restriction is 20. Grab Terra and three others (doesn't matter) and take them to the Imperial Base to get to the Sealed Gate. While you're there, make sure to loot all the treasures.

Steal a (rare) Mystery Egg from a Wight, the ghost enemy in the Phantom Forest, then equip it on Celes for an achievement. Also steal a Club (common) from the same enemy to give Gau some much needed offensive power.

It's a Mystery... (5)
Equip a Mystery Egg to Celes.

Treasure Hunter III (5)
Hunt down all the treasure in the cave to the sealed gate.

Against the Centurions and Kefka (not worthy for its own boss section), just hit them with your best attacks. They do not like water or dark, so Gau can use Sewer Rat, Sabin can attack with Ocean Claws, Setzer can heal or use Poison if you have it, Cyan can use Dispatch, Edgar can Jump with a Trident, Locke can attack with anything or heal, Mog can use Water Rondo.

Now back to Vector for the banquet! You have 24 soldiers to talk to which lead to battles with three Commandos (they die easily) and one Mega Armor (Rain Man Rage, Pummel Blitz, any Bolt spell will destroy him) separately. Get all 24 and then do the banquet itself.

Feel free to unequip everyone except Terra and/or Locke before time runs out.

Banquet: "To our fallen comrades" "Leave him in jail" "That, we can't forgive" "We trust Celes" Ask each question exactly once before talking about Espers "Yes, they are a danger" First question you picked Take a break and go fight the three Templars (easy fight, use best attacks) Resume banquet "That your war is truly over" "Yes"

Impeccable (10)
Get a perfect score at the Emperor's banquet.

Now, before going on the boat, head back to the Imperial Base and loot all the treasures there if you want. Then head all the way back to Maranda to find your ship, go in, enter the engine room, and witness a scene.

No Machine Can Stump Me (3)
Check in on Cid and Setzer and hear a bit on Setzer's past.

Otherwise, hop on the boat to Thamasa.

Level up Terra and Shadow if necessary. Chimeras are dangerous, but having Terra cast Imp on them will render them harmless, and Bolt magic/scrolls will do heavy damage.

Unequip Shadow when you're ready, meet Strago and Relm, then go spend 1 GP to sleep in the Inn. Equip Strago, go through the burning house, fighting Heartfire at the end.

Brighter Than a Thousand Suns (5)
Defeat Heartfire in the burning house in Thamasa. (Max level 20.)

With Strago now on the team, head to the Esper Cave, and go deal with Ultros. With Relm in the party, make sure you go and get the Gator Hide found in this area as we need that later. Also, make sure to encounter a Locust and Kudzu (typically outside) for their Rages later. Otherwise, continue on until you're back at Thamasa, and let Leo use Shock one time to end his battle with Kefka.

Nobody Saw That Coming (3)
Get betrayed by the Empire.

You can now take Strago and Gau and go learn your missing Locust and Kudzu Rages (34/39 for World of Balance) and ALL of the World of Balance Lores (6 of them!). You can also go to Doma Castle, up the stairs to the southern door on the right that leads outside on the castle walls, follow it around to the treasure room in the southeast corner, and you can grab the Murasame.

Murasame (2)
Obtain the Murasame katana.

Now, grab Gau, Strago, and Sabin, unequip everyone else, equip these guys according to the upcoming boss battle, and take them to the Floating Continent.

Grab Shadow, and this is where we want to be careful if we are utilizing Esper Levels.

There is an achievement associated with this we can go ahead and get. If you are NOT utilizing Esper Levels, you can still get it but you will have to wait until the World of Ruin, sorry.

Have EXP Gain on (or leave off if not doing Esper Levels) and take Shadow to the battle against Colossus with the Memento Ring equipped and some Esper, which will push him to Esper Level 5. To deal with Colossus easily, have Sabin Float the party before fighting, then Pummel through the fight. Shadow can Throw Wave Scrolls, Strago can cast Blowfish, and Gau can use Sewer Rat Rage. Colossus will die in about 2-3 rounds.

-SKIP IF NOT DOING ESPER LEVELS-

What we want is for Shadow to have Dispel and Haste (order doesn't matter). Our characters are likely at level 20, and level 21 is the restriction coming up on us. If you run into 2x Ninjas, you can easily pull this off as their EXP reward is low. You should also keep fighting to make Shadow learn Rerise (from the Memento Ring). Assuming you had Relm learn Rerise as well, you will unlock an achievement.

Hallowed be thy Name (5)
Teach the Rerise spell to both Shadow and Relm.

Now, I'm going to provide a table of my Esper Level stats at this point. If you are off a bit, that's no big deal. Everyone here is at level 21.

Name Esper Level Points Spent
Terra 10 10 Maduin
Locke 10 4 Ifrit, 5 Ramuh, 1 Kirin
Cyan 9 3 Kirin, 6 Bismark
Edgar 9 9 Golem
Sabin 10 5 Stray, 5 Golem
Celes 9 7 Ramuh, 2 Shiva
Strago 10 5 Shiva, 5 Zoneseek
Relm 8 4 Ifrit, 4 Zoneseek
Setzer 8 8 Seraph
Mog 8 8 Maduin
Gau 10 10 Stray
Shadow 8 8 Phantom

A reminder that this walkthrough is designed with no Esper Levels AND level restrictions, so the above table just gives extra points to make battles a lot easier.

-RETURN HERE-

While you are grinding Shadow's Spell Points/Esper Levels or just moving forward, make sure to encounter and Leap the following enemies to finish the World of Balance Rages (39/64 total!): Behemoth, Brainpan, Gargoyle, Ninja.

When you get the option, LEAVE the continent. We need to change the party a bit as Sabin is dead weight to us. You want Gau, Strago, and Celes. This is a good time to take Celes around the Veldt and have her learn spells or build up Esper Levels if you are doing that. If you are NOT doing Esper Levels, Celes MUST learn Dispel or you will struggle very, very hard. She also really needs Ice2, Rerise, and Slow. But frankly you should just learn all her spells.

Once ready, take them back to the Floating Continent, go through the area again, and deal with Atma.

Two Minutes to Midnight (25)
Defeat the Atma Weapon on the floating continent. (Max level 21.)

Now keep pushing on. You only have 3 characters (because you took Celes to start), but the enemies are no big deal. Just use your best attacks and go all out (they will also die in one hit to Celes's Shock). Against the final "boss," one Shock from Celes will end it.

Congratulations! You have finished the World of Balance!

Top

World of Ruin to Kefka's Tower

Fortunately, saving Cid is a LOT faster this time, so go and do that for an achievement.

Man on the Edge (3)
Save Cid's life, so he can appear in future Final Fantasy games.

In Albrook, if you never got a Gale Hairpin, get one. Put that and a Back Guard on Celes to make your life a lot easier. Also, grab Sabin; you can skip him, and one of the upcoming boss battles even changes its AI if you do so, but life is a lot easier if you just do it (I'm also assuming you do it).

In Tzen, once the screen's shaking, you can get free healing at the Inn. Outside of Tzen, encounter a Mesosaur for its Rage later.

Head to Mobliz to fight Phunbaba and get Palidor. South of Mobliz in the forest is a hidden Chocobo stable to help you cross the Serpent Trench and get to Nikeah. Outside, encounter a Buffalax for its Rage later. Head to the Cafe to talk to all the thieves for Gerad to appear north of the Cafe, and talk to him to proceed to South Figaro via boat.

In South Figaro, head into the Cafe, up the stairs, to the far east part of the room, and down those stairs. Talk to the merchant below to receive Leo's Spirits, which we need for an achievement later. Back upstairs, head through the north door to reach the Inn and speak with Gerad to move things forward and head to the Figaro Cave and meet Ziegfried.

In the Figaro Cave, proceed through, jumping across the turtle to access the new area, and follow the path through to Figaro Castle. Inside, head to the basement area and grab the treasures, making sure to grab the Dragon Helm (in the lone treasure up the western stairs in the bottommost floor), as this is Edgar's most important helmet.

In the bottommost floor, head north through the center corridor to re-meet Gerad/Edgar and fight the Tentacles.

Be Quick or Be Dead (10)
Destroy all four tentacles attacking Figaro Castle's machinery.

After defeating them, head north to get the Soul Sabre from the gold statue in the emptied treasure vault. Resurface the castle, transport it to the other continent, and then before leaving the castle, head to where you dropped off Terra at the start of the game (east door on the first roof area to the library, down the stairs, to the east tower), and head up the stairs to see a guard named Julian. Talk to him and you'll get the Schematics.

Can I Play With Madness (5)
Obtain the Schematics from Julian

Before leaving Figaro Castle, check the shops and get a Flash, Defibrillator (free Life spell!), and buy some Bouncy Balls (about 30 should suffice) for an upcoming boss. Leave Figaro Castle, head northwest to Kohlingen, and grab Setzer at the Inn. Now make your way to Daryl's Tomb just southwest.

In Daryl's Tomb, in the first room (inside), encounter a Power Slave and defeat it. Also, throughout, encounter a Belladonna, Marlboro, Osteosaur, and Shokan for their Rages later.

I'm a God Why Can't I Live on (1)
Defeat a Powerslave

Moving on, at the 6 way split, do the northeast room first (switch), southeast room (Genji Helmet treasure), south central room (all the way south, check each gravestone), northwest room (spell ENIX), southwest room (Tarot, Ribbon, money, switch), south central room (move forward). Along the way, you'll have gotten Daryl's Soul for solving the gravestone ENIX puzzle.

Don't be a Square (3)
Find Daryl's Soul

At the save point, the northwest chest has Chesticle, giving you a Frostgore. He's very easy. Dullahan, however, is not so. Hopefully you have some Bouncy Balls! Otherwise, go deal with him and get your airship!

Dullahan (10)
Defeat Dullahan at Daryl's Tomb.

You'll fly to Maranda. There, go to the northeast house, talk to Lola, read the letter, agree to send a letter, and talk to the bird just outside her house to the west, and it'll fly to Zozo. Outside, encounter a Windrunner for its Rage later.

We now have a lot of options presented to us and can tackle the rest of the game in whatever order. However, because there are several bosses ahead of us and Gogo and Umaro join our party at plus or minus extra levels to our party's average and the others join at fixed levels (unlike in vanilla where they joined at the average), we're going to tackle this in a specific order.

We're going to get Cyan, Terra, Gau, Locke, Mog, Shadow, Relm, Strago, Umaro, and Gogo, all in that order. So let's get Cyan first.

Fly to Zozo, SAVE OUTSIDE because of a mini-boss where we're going, and encounter a Mantodea and a Tumbleweed for its Rage later. Head in and talk to the bird, buy the lubricant from the merchant northwest of the entrance, head into the Cafe, up the stairs, out the eastern southern door, and open the western door to enter Mt. Zozo.

In Mt. Zozo, follow the path and loot the treasures, but be mindful of the Bonelord in the treasure just southwest of the entrance on the lower level. He has 10,000 HP and is easy enough to not warrant his own section but he can Petrify and Doom the party very easily (a Ribbon will negate this, and I recommend you give it to Celes and keep Edgar Jumping with his Fire Lance). Celes can summon Seraph, Sabin can attack with Hell Claws, Celes and Setzer just stay on Cure2. You'll get a Stormfang for Sabin, solidifying him as very strong elemental coverage (which is important for an end-game boss). Keep moving forward.

Make sure to encounter a Grizzly, Scarab, Titan, and Vagrant for their Rages later. Along the way to Cyan, you'll get an Iceguard, Rogue Cloak, Cat Hood, and money. When you see the save point, do NOT move up to step on the switch; the Purple Dragon inside will destroy you at the moment. We will do all the Dragons much later. Head south, grab Cyan, get his key and his chest if you want to (doesn't matter), and either walk out or use a Warp Whistle if you have one. Done.

Fly to Mobliz, leave Cyan benched and keep the other four, head to the southwest house, move the plot, and fight Phunbaba one more time to get Terra in your party.

Children of the Damned (5)
Protect the children of Molbiz by killing Phunbaba.

Now, bench anyone and just have 3 party members, and go fight encounters on the Veldt until you get Gau.

We have 7 people and that's enough for Phoenix Cave and getting Locke as we are NOT fighting anything important (like a Red Dragon), and we should just be running away. Put Terra and Celes in different parties and give them each a Back Guard and Gale Hairpin to maximize your ability to run away, and otherwise put whoever you want in the parties and take them through the Phoenix Cave. Also, encounter (and Leap, or save for later) an Anemone, Revenant, Weedula, and Witch for their Rages.

For reference, the person who stands on the very first switch is the one who will be going near the Red Dragon. I'll remind you of this when the time comes to face him. Along the way, you should get Viper Darts, a Wing Edge, 5x Nothing, the Phoenix Esper and Locke, and a Flameguard (this is the one near the Red Dragon. Be very careful).

Now we can take a party of Locke and anyone else to Narshe. Head to the house up on the higher level just northeast of the Relic shop and talk to the man in bed downstairs to get the cursed Hero Shield. It takes 64 battles to uncurse this. I'll bring this up again in a moment as Narshe is a bit dangerous to equip a cursed shield on. Head into the Weapons shop and go through the southest door to find the blacksmith who will let you choose the Apocalypse or Illumina blade. For this playthrough, we're going to use Illumina, but it honestly doesn't matter as the Soul Sabre makes up for deficiencies (and all boss strategies reference this going forward whenever Celes and Terra are concerned).

Make sure to encounter a Nastidon and Werewolf for their Rages later, or Leap them if you have Gau. Now to Arvis's house, through the back, and across the bridge into the Narshe mines. Head north, through the southern door in the center that leads to where you fought the Narshe Captain at the beginning of the game, north again to the Moogles' area, and get Mog. Search where he was sitting for the Moogle Charm. Now either Warp, use a Warp Whistle, or walk out.

The Edge of Darkness (3)
Forge either the Apocalypse or Illumina.

Shadow, Relm, Strago, Umaro, and Gogo, in that order, are all that's left! So grab Terra, Gau, Edgar, and Sabin.

Between Narshe and the Veldt Cave, on the continent of Narshe, in what is basically the northernmost point of the dead center of the world map, you'll see five trees. Get Sabin to learn Bum Rush there. Also along the way, north of the Veldt Cave, is the Dinosaur Forest. Encounter and Leap a Tyrano and Troll for their Rages. Now head for Veldt Cave!

Head through and grab the X-Potion northwest of the campers, north and through the hidden passage on the west, and heal up as the far west chest is trapped. Inside is the Tonberry who hits very hard, counters with Step Mine, and is weak to Fire! So have Terra quickly Morph and cast Fire3, Edgar Jump with a Fire Lance, Sabin attack with two Hell Claws, and Gau use Albatross Rage, and he'll go down very quickly and reward you with the Chainsaw!

Chainsaw (5)
Defeat the Tonberry and Obtain the Chainsaw

Continue onward to reach Intangir/Intangir-Z and end up in Thamasa. Leave it, go and get Celes in your party, and go back into Thamasa. Talk to the blond man just north/northeast of the Item shop to hear about Shadow at the Coliseum, and then head east past him, past the burned house to Leo's grave and inspect the gravestone for Leo's Crest.

Very Spirited (5)
Obtain Leo's Crest

Outside Thamasa, encounter and Leap a Griffin for its Rage, or just encounter for later. Head to the Dragon's Coliseum in the northwest corner of the map, bet the Kagenui, and recruit Shadow!

Grab Terra, Setzer, Edgar, and Celes, fly to Jidoor, and proceed to Owzer's Mansion. You can check the Emperor's Portrait twice for a map that we don't need. Be careful, however. Everything here is very, very dangerous, and remember you can run away from pincer attacks if you defeat one side. Ice and Fire spells do wonders.

As you progress, make sure to grab the Nirvana Band behind the three shuffling doors. The floating chests are all worth nabbing (and you can run from those battles), and make your way to Owzer.

Deal with Chadarnook and obtain the Starlet Esper. Now, fly Relm over to Fanatics' Tower and get Strago.

Before leaving the Fanatics' Tower, pay the bandit 32,768 GP for the Alexandr Esper (he's in the center of the group), and go ahead and climb the first area of Fanatics' Tower, into the room to get the Quartz Charm (auto Safe/Shell--very useful!).

At this point, before we fetch Umaro and Gogo, it is a good idea to uncurse the Hero's Shield. You need to fight 64 battles with it equipped, and this is best done near Albrook where you started the World of Ruin after floating on the raft. The enemies here are dirt easy. Another recommendation is going to the Veldt where you can farm Spell Points and get some more Rages for Gau. While you're at it, have Shadow and Relm learn Rerise with the Memento Ring equipped if you have been avoiding Esper Levels for this run to get that achievement.

Hallowed be thy Name (5)
Teach the Rerise spell to both Shadow and Relm.

Regardless, take Terra, Sabin, Mog, and Edgar, fly them to Narshe, and go and deal with Tritoch to also get his magicite. Now leave, get Terra, Setzer, Edgar, and Shadow, and take them back into the Yeti's Cave to get Umaro and the Terrato Esper.

Grab the Bone Club in a now UN-trapped chest, get the other treasures, and deal with Yeti. Go BACK to your airship, fetch Mog and anyone else, take them back through the Yeti's Cave, and get Umaro. Mog is unfortunately not well-suited to tangle with Yeti at this point in the game, thus the back-and-forth.

Now grab Terra, Gau, Setzer, and Celes, put Float on them all, and go the Triangle Island to fight the Zone Eater. He is basically a boss and you MUST defeat him to trigger his Engulf to get to Gogo (in the vanilla, you could just wait until it chose to use Engulf).

This Achievement Sucks (4)
Get engulfed into the Zone Eater.

As you go through the underground, make sure to grab the Blizzard Orb (get pushed off by a green man) and the Sage Stone (southwestmost chest in the room with the green men--kind of tricky) as well as the others. Finally, get Gogo and thus have a complete party!

Assembly of Heroes (25)
Recruit all characters in the World of Ruin.

We can now do a lot of cleaning up! First, we can finish off the achievement for Gau's Rages. You should have encountered all of these if you followed my buide, so you can go to the Veldt. Or go to the areas. A reminder of what we had left to get:

Solitary Island: Rocky Narshe: Nastidon, Werewolf Mt. Zozo: Grizzly, Scarab, Titan, Vagrant Daryl's Tomb: Belladonna, Marlboro, Osteosaur, Shokan Phoenix Cave: Anemone, Revenant, Weedula, Witch Overworld: Buffalax (near Nikeah), Griffin (near Thamasa), Mantodea (near Jidoor), Mesosaur (near Tzen), Troll (Dinosaur Forest), Tumbleweed (near Jidoor), Tyrano (Dinosaur Forest), Windrunner (near Maranda)

These are not ALL of his Rages, but they are enough for the achievement! (62/64 complete Rage list)

The Book of Souls 2 (25)
Obtain 60 different rages for Gau.

While on Solitary Island, head to the beach below Cid's house and get the Fenrir Esper.

We can also grind out our levels to level 30, which should put our Esper level about 18. I'm going to list where I distributed points for that stage, and obviously skip it if you are not using Esper Levels.

Name Esper Level Points Spent
Terra 18 10 Maduin, 7 Tritoch, 1 Carbunkl
Locke 18 4 Ifrit, 5 Ramuh, 7 Kirin, 2 Phoenix
Cyan 18 7 Kirin, 11 Bismark
Edgar 18 14 Golem, 4 Palidor
Sabin 18 11 Stray, 7 Golem
Celes 18 7 Ramuh, 2 Shiva, 8 Phantom, 1 Seraph
Strago 18 5 Shiva, 8 Zoneseek, 5 Carbunkl
Relm 18 4 Ifrit, 10 Zoneseek, 4 Starlet
Setzer 18 8 Seraph, 10 Starlet
Mog 18 18 Maduin
Gau 18 13 Stray, 5 Fenrir
Shadow 18 9 Phantom, 9 Fenrir

We can also grab 3 more of Strago's Lores, namely Bad Breath, Raze (you may have learned this from Atma back on the Floating Continent), and Refract.

Finally, we can go and get a random achievement. Take Sabin, outfit him nicely, and anyone else you want, and head for the Dinosaur Forest north of the Veldt, and find an encounter with a Tyrano and some Trolls. This will help if Sabin has a Life Bell and Sprint Shoes.

Have Sabin use Mantra and Chakra (order doesn't matter), then Fire Dance and Air Blade (order doesn't matter), then Pummel, Aura Bolt, Suplex, and Bum Rush (order doesn't matter). Finish the battle.

The Blitzkrieg (10)
Perform all eight blitzes in one battle.

Now, grab Terra, Sabin, Edgar, and Setzer, head to Figaro Castle, move it back to Figaro continent, and choose to explore when prompted. We're headed for the Ancient Castle, but only to deal with Master Tonberry and receive the Mana Battery (free 80% Tincture), the last of Edgar's Tools! Once he's defeated, Celes, Gau, Cyan, and Edgar, and finish making your way to the Ancient Castle. Along the way, make sure to start grabbing the treasures, and keep track (I do this for you in the Treasures section) because it will be a while before we touch Kefka's Tower to finish the achievement.

While in the Ancient Castle, we're going to fight Katana Soul. We're also going to avoid the Blue Dragon and pick up the Odin Esper.

When you're done, go and make sure you have Strago and Locke in your party and anyone else to help them survive. You can pick up Strago's Tsunami Lore by encountering a Pond Scum in the cave (damage the Pond Scum first, or it'll just use Aqualung. Be ready; Tsunami is VERY dangerous, and Gold equipment will mitigate this for those who can equip it; Strago can mitigate with a Gator Hide). Also, in the cave where the save point is in the water, you can have Mog learn Water Rondo if you missed it back in the World of Balance. Back at the Ancient Cave, run into Banshee, the girls who ride the fat green dragons, and Steal some Lazy Shell armors. You can get as many as you want; I try to get 4 to round things off. These offer the best physical defense.

All that said and done, we're now ready to begin tackling the extra quests and bosses found throughout the world. The first one to deal with is Doom Gaze, which your airship will take you to, so prepare for that and get that Bahamut Esper (find some time to teach Relm the spells, especially Meteor, as they will help later).

Now grab Cyan, Terra, Edgar, and Strago, and head to Doma Castle. Head into the west door and then the east one to go to sleep and enter Cyan's nightmare.

Inside Cyan's nightmare, take the left doors until you get the first of two missing party members, then take the right doors until you get the last one. Now head through the left doors again until you are at the top of the screen and have to come south to a door with three marks surrounding it. Prepare yourself as this is where the Dream Stooges are. Then go through the door and into the Phantom Train segment.

In the Phantom Train segment, you'll pick up several elemental shields, which is great. When you're at the moving treasure chest that won't let you pass, go west a bit and grab Guilt from the treasure and put it in the moving chest to lock it in place. At the engine, throw the left switch and then leave to reach the mountain area. Here, encounter an Io for a Rage later, and make your way to the final Doma section. Feel free to see the past events with Cyan's family or don't, it doesn't matter. Outside the bedroom (where you can sleep to heal!) is a Ghost merchant. If you did not pick up Ghost Rings previously, do it now (grab 4)!!

Now, head to the throne room to fight Wrexsoul and free Cyan from his nightmare.

Dream of Mirrors (10)
Free Cyan from his nightmare.

Awake and back in reality, head back to the throne room to get the Crusader Esper. All that's left is Ragnarok which is found in Kefka's Tower.

Our next task will take Celes, Gau, Strago, and Relm to Thamasa. Entering the town will unlock the way to reach Hidon. Go into his cave and you'll need 23 pieces of Coral. Unlike the vanilla version, though, you do NOT have to get all of them at once, as the hungry chest remembers how many you've given him.

Go and face Hidon and his Hidonites, and if you follow my strategy, you will have gotten all of Strago's Lores (you were missing Black Omen and Shield, which are ONLY attained in the Hidon fight).

Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter (10)
Defeat Hidon.

Blue Magic Master (10)
Learn all twelve lores.

If for some reason you missed the Lores or just want to fight Hidon again, keep re-entering and exiting Thamasa and talk to the man until he says Hidon has reappeared, and you can do it all over again.

All that's left is to deal with the Fanatics' Tower and the Dragons before we reach Kefka's Tower. So go to the Fanatics' Tower with Terra, Celes, Strago, and Setzer, and make sure you are well-stocked on items.

Enemies in the Fanatics' Tower are the best for increasing Esper Levels while minimizing EXP gain if that's your intent, but it's an absurdly high risk because of how dangerous EVERYTHING is in here. In any of the rooms as you climb the tower, make sure to encounter a Magic Pot for their Rage later, but be VERY careful. Magic Pots can one-shot the whole party if they want to.

As you climb, you will get some useful items and see the dreaded White Dragon. Do not encounter him just yet. If you have some items after you're done here, you can encounter him on your way down as you'll use the same party.

Climb to the top (the room before the top has a much needed save point), and deal with MagiMaster and get his Pendant which allows you to enter Kefka's Tower. Upon his defeat, you will also get a Gem Box for Terra.

MagiMaster (10)
Collect the Pendant and defeat the MagiMaster to escape the Fanatics' tower.

Before dealing with the Dragons, let's get our last Steal achievement. Put Locke and anyone else in Party 1 to keep him alive in Kefka's Tower (anyone else in any of the other parties; this doesn't matter). Take Locke into the first factory/industrial screen (third actual screen), and encounter the Maidens to Steal (rare) Multiguards. Get 4 of them, you'll need them.

Triple Absorbent (5)
Steal a Multiguard shield from an enemy.

Exit, either with Warp, a Warp Whistle, or switching to another party and grabbing the hook that comes by.

Now for some Dragons. You can tackle them in any order. If your items are good, go ahead and deal with the White Dragon on Fanatics' Tower. Otherwise, this is my recommended order:

Brown Dragon: Found in the Opera House.

Purple Dragon: Found in Mt. Zozo.

Red Dragon: Found in Phoenix Cave (the party stepping on the very first switch will fight him).

White Dragon: Found in Fanatics' Tower.

Silver Dragon: Found in the snowy area north of Narshe.

Blue Dragon: Found in the Ancient Castle.

Dealing with them unlocks the following achievements:

Brown Dragon (10)
Slay the Brown Dragon making a scene in the opera house. (Max level 30.)

Purple Dragon (10)
Slay the Purple Dragon that was sleeping in that chest on Mt. Zozo for some reason. (Max level 30.)

Red Dragon (10)
Slay the Red Dragon basking in the warmth of the Phoenix Cave. (Max level 30.)

White Dragon (10)
Slay the White Dragon lost in the Fanatics' tower. (Max level 30.)

Silver Dragon (10)
Slay the Silver Dragon chilling in the mountains of Narshe. (Max level 30.)

Blue Dragon (10)
Slay the Blue Dragon that found a home in the ancient castle. (Max level 30.)

Now for some cleanup. Let Gau learn the Io and Magic Pot Rages if you want to top him off, get everyone to level 32, and get everyone to learn all their spells from these last few Espers we picked up. You can also take Locke into Daryl's Tomb and Steal Black Hearts (rare) from the Power Slaves. These are good Relics to have for their HP boost.

There is exactly one thing left to do. Grab Umaro, equip him with a Blizzard Orb, Sprint Shoes, Bone Club, and Snow Muffler, and fly to the Dragon's Gate Coliseum. We're going to do some fighting, and Umaro will absolutely tear through everything.

Gamble ONE of your Bone Clubs for a Magic Bone for Gau. Keep the second one for Umaro. Gamble the Physical Glove for a Magic Cube. We have many options for physical damage increase where it's important, but a second Magic Cube is always good. Gamble the Moogle Hide for a Dragon Hide. This is a huge improvement. Gamble the Ross Brush for a Mutsunokami. Relm's best brush is the Dali Brush, and Mutsunokami is Cyan's best sword by a wide margin.

You now have several optional gambles to make that I strongly encourage (and assume you do), but you don't HAVE to. If I reference them in Boss Strategies, you can make a pretty decent substitution.

Gamble the Kagenui for a Wind Breaker. Shadow is not good for attacking anymore and this is an absurdly powerful rod. If you don't like it, gamble it to get Kagenui back. Gamble the Illumina/Apocalypse for a Minerva. We'll get a second one later, and this is objectively the best armor for Terra and Celes. Gamble the Zantetsuken for a Gungnir. This is Edgar's best non-elemental spear, and we'll need a non-elemental spear for the final fight. People who can equip the Zantetsuken have better swords to equip or should not be attacking at all. Gamble the Atma Weapon for a Mirage Vest. Terra makes the best use of the Atma Weapon, but not with our Esper Level point build OR a no Esper Level run, making this kind of dead weight. A Mirage Vest, on the other hand, has Auto-Haste and most anyone can make good use of it. Gamble the Rogue Cloak for a Nirvana Band. Shadow is useful for two battles at Kefka's Tower and does not need the Rogue Cloak at all. A second Nirvana Band, however, is incredibly useful.

That's it! It is now time for Kefka's Tower. Go and restock your items and head over there.

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Kefka's Tower

Before we begin, I will put this final table for reference on my Esper Level point distribution. If you are doing no Esper Levels, skip this.

Name Esper Level Points Spent
Terra 20 12 Maduin, 7 Tritoch, 1 Carbunkl
Locke 20 4 Ifrit, 5 Ramuh, 7 Kirin, 4 Phoenix
Cyan 20 7 Kirin, 12 Bismark, 1 Crusader
Edgar 20 16 Golem, 4 Palidor
Sabin 20 13 Stray, 7 Golem
Celes 20 7 Ramuh, 2 Shiva, 8 Phantom, 2 Seraph, 1 Siren
Strago 20 5 Shiva, 9 Zoneseek, 5 Carbunkl, 1 Odin
Relm 20 4 Ifrit, 10 Zoneseek, 6 Starlet
Setzer 20 8 Seraph, 12 Starlet
Mog 20 20 Maduin
Gau 20 15 Stray, 5 Fenrir
Shadow 20 11 Phantom, 9 Fenrir

Also before we begin, we need to understand some things. You can at any time leave by grabbing a hook at the start with any party, using a Warp Whistle, or casting Warp. This will put you with Setzer on the airship.

We will NOT be trying to do this in one run. Our priority is safety, and Ultima, the Warring Triad, and Kefka are all horribly difficult battles who will test your patience. To maximize safety, we will be making several trips to shuffle party members around, and our flow will basically be this:

  1. Send Party 2 through to fight Ultima Weapon and Gold Dragon. Leave.
  2. Send Party 3 through to fight Inferno and Green Dragon. Leave.
  3. Send Party 1 through to fight Guardian and Kaiser Dragon. Leave.
  4. Send all 3 parties through to collect chests and fight the Warring Triad. Leave.
  5. Restock on everything, send all 3 parties through to the end and fight Kefka.

As you go through Step 4, reference the treasures to finally get that achievement! Feel free, of course, to pick up treasures along the way through Steps 1-3.

Treasure Hunter IV (10)
Hunt down all the treasure in the tunnel to the ancient castle, the ancient castle itself, and Kefka's Tower.

Now, although Ultima's level restriction is 33, because of the way the area is set up, your max level is actually 32. This is because the Gold Dragon, whose level restriction is 32, comes AFTER Ultima, and you cannot progress beyond Ultima's room without fighting Ultima. Big oof here.

Ideally, you should be running from everything. Kefka's Tower is not a place to level up in, and enemies are too dangerous. Have a girl in each party so they can have a Gale Hairpin and Back Guard, and remove these as needed when you approach bosses. You have to "talk" to the bosses to trigger their battles, so you're safe until you do so.

All that said, grab Edgar, Terra, Shadow (he finally gets to play), and Gau for Party 2, and prepare for the hardest battle you've had in World of Ruin: Ultima.

Once More Given Flesh (10)
Defeat the Ultima Weapon in Kefka's Tower. (Max level 33.)

Phew. The next few fights are pretty easy. Heal up, push forward, and go deal with the Gold Dragon.

Gold Dragon (10)
Slay the Gold Dragon roosting in Kefka's Tower. (Max level 32.)
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Now leave, and this time put Gogo, Locke, Edgar, and Cyan in Party 3 (Edgar is really VIP here). Take them through Inferno, who is absolutely garbage compared to everyone else. Then keep pushing forward to face the Green Dragon.

Green Dragon (10)
Slay the Green Dragon sitting in Kefka's Tower. (Max level 32.)

Congratulations! All the Dragons are defeated. ...Except for one, the new one, Kaiser Dragon, that has now appeared, and he holds our last Esper.

Fortunately, you can now go and gain one more level to push everyone to 33. We must survive Kaiser, Guardian, and the Warring Triad with this level restriction. Completing that, and you can raise your party to whatever character level you want (max is 50! And it will push your characters' base HP above 2,000 and base MP above 200, which is really useful!).

So go and grab Terra, Setzer, Celes, and Sabin for their supreme elemental coverage, put them in Party 1, and go and deal with Guardian. Past him, you will find the dreaded Kaiser Dragon. Good luck!

Kaiser Dragon (25)
Slay the Kaiser, greatest of all dragons. (Max level 33.)

Upon his defeat, you will get Ragnarok, your final Esper and Magicite!

We Trust Ramuh's Judgment (25)
Collect All Magicite

Now, leave, restock on things, and get ready to go back in. We're going to deal with all the Warring Triad. In order to make the right people are in the right party for the right boss, use this loadout:

Party 1: LEFT to Asura. Terra, Setzer, Celes, Sabin. Party 2: RIGHT to Isis. Mog, Edgar, Gau, Gogo. Party 3: MIDDLE to Myria. Mog, Edgar, Gau, Gogo.

No, there's no typo there. You're going to make two runs: pick either Isis or Myria to deal with first, and also deal with Asura. Then leave, come back, and deal with the other. Put anyone you want to in the missing party (preferably with a female for Gale Hairpin + Back Guard).

When you reach the split where Party 1 can go left or right, they will go LEFT, forcing Party 2 to go RIGHT and Party 3 to remain in the MIDDLE.

Push on, and grab all the remaining treasures if you missed any. Go and fight Myria, Asura, and Isis.

Make no mistake, these are some of the toughest battles to do with no Esper Levels while being not a big deal with Esper Level points. They are battles of attrition, where you need Items/MP to make any headway. With no Esper Levels, you may reset a few times, and you must play very, very defensively to get through them. Good luck!

Myria (10)
Defeat Myria of the Warring Triad. (Max level 33.)

Asura (10)
Defeat Asura of the Warring Triad. (Max level 33.)

Isis (10)
Defeat Isis of the Warring Triad. (Max level 33.)

Leave, restock, and you are now free to grind up everyone's character levels as high as possible. The max level is 50, and while it helps, it's not necessary. The original restriction was for character level 33, which you're at.

Now, before we fight Kefka, let's talk about him a bit. He is a four stage fight, with the last two stages surprisingly being the easiest. In the vanilla version, you picked the order of all 12 characters you brought with you, and when one died between rounds, they were replaced with the next order.

That doesn't quite work here. Instead, you will pick FOUR characters, and if you lose any between rounds, a random person from the remaining 8 will be brought in. We absolutely do not want that. We are going to do everything in our power to make sure the 4 we pick are the 4 we keep alive for the entirety of the fight (although they can die; just revive them before the round ends).

You can take whomever you want in any party to reach Kefka. But make absolutely sure that Terra, Edgar, Gau, and Gogo are all represented somewhere. Put the other girls in the other parties to make sure you have Gale Hairpins and Back Guards to make your life easier.

When you reach the final 3 save points left behind by the Warring Triad, while STANDING on them (meaning your health and status are perfect), cast Float to make sure Terra/Edgar/Gau/Gogo all have it (if all 4 of these are in one party, Edgar/Gau can do this), and then restore with a Tincture. If you leave the save and return, you will lose Float. You must enter the battle with Float.

For no Esper Level runners, the equipment provided in the strategy is still fine, just ignore the Esper part. Be aware that without having spent Esper Level points, you are going to have a MUCH more difficult time as your damage output is not going to be as high, meaning the battles drag on longer, meaning more opportunities for your party to just die.

However, Terra, Gau, Edgar, and Gogo are an incredibly safe party.

Gogo needs Magic, Rage, and Items.

Go and defeat Kefka and bring an end to his madness!

Tears of a Clown (25)
Defeat Kefka to bring an end to his madness.

If you had no Espers equipped during the final battle AND nobody gained a single Esper Level, congratulations, you got the hardest achievement!

A Brave New World (50)
Beat the game having earned no esper points and having no espers equipped in the final battle.

You've now mastered the game! CONGRATULATIONS!

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