Secret Service 57a/secret_service_57a01.iso/Utils/FAQ/fftacfq.txt

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   /                           /    T   A   C   T   I   C   S


                        %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
                        % FINAL FANTASY TACTICS FAQ %
                        %       Version 3.0         %
                        %    by Fritz Fraundorf     %
                        %     [e-mail]     %
                        %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

                     The most recent version of this FAQ
                        is available at Cosmo Canyon:
             http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Battlefield/8060

                        An HTML version of this FAQ
                              is available at:
                       http://clubsquaresoft.com/fft

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

%%%%TABLE OF CONTENTS%%%%

I. Revision History
II. Frequently Asked Questions
III. Walkthrough
  Chapter I: The Meager
  Chapter II: The Manipulator & The Subservient
  Chapter III: The Valiant
  Chapter IV: Somebody to Love
  Cloud Subquest
  Deep Dungeon
IV. Battle Strategies
  Chapter I: The Meager
  Chapter II: The Manipulator & The Subservient
  Chapter III: The Valiant
  Chapter IV: Somebody to Love
  Cloud Subquest
  Deep Dungeon
V. Jobs
  Standard Jobs
  Special Jobs
  Monsters
VI. Items
  Weapons
  Shields
  Armor
  Helmets
  Items
VII. Propositions
VIII. Reference
  Zodiac Compatability
  Status Changes
  Geomancy Chart
  Prime Numbers
  Character Quotes
  Spell Quotes
  Zodiac Stones
  FF References
  Various Tricks
IX. Credits / Disclaimer

*******************************************************
I. REVISION HISTORY
*******************************************************

Version 3.0 (3/29/98)
- I've completed the monster list, except for four monsters
  that I couldn't find anywhere.  I haven't done the
  poaching part yet but I'll try to get to it (maybe).
  If anybody has a poaching list (or even a partial one)
  they would like to contribute, that would help me out
  a lot.
- It turns out that there ARE items on level 10 of the
  Deep Dungeon (the Chaos Blade and Chirijiraden).  I
  was wrong.  There aren't any traps over the items as on
  the other floors; that's why I thought there weren't
  any.  I feel stupid now....
- Added the stats on the Chirijiraden, Chaos Blade,
  Kaiser Plate, and Masamune.
- Revised the walkthrough slightly.
- Added new battle strategies for Araguay Woods, Zaland
  Fort City, Golgorand Execution Site, Inside of Riovanes
  Castle, Bethla Garrison North Gate, and Underground Book
  Storage Fifth Floor.
- John LaRusic has created a HTML version of the FAQ
  (the address is above).  It's very well-done so take
  a look at it.
- Added the Pause Battles trick.
- A few job evaluations have been changed, I think.  The
  Mime job evaluation has been added.
- I finally figured out what being invisible does (the
  enemies can't hit you until you act).
- I also added character dismissal quotes to the Character
  Quotes section.
- Fire 4, Bolt 4, and Ice 4 can't be reflected or
  calculated, as I had said in previous versions.  I fixed
  this.
- Added a lot more spell quotes and changed that section's
  formatting a little.
- Changed the formatting of the Random Battles section as
  well, and added to it.
- Corrected a few more typos.

Version 2.0 (3/15/98)
- The Deep Dungeon section is here!  My next goal is to
  finish the Monster section, but don't expect that for
  a while.
- All the Deep Dungeon items and characters (Byblos) have
  been added as well, along with the stats on Zodiac.
- It turns out that the propositions give you random
  items and unexplored lands, not specified ones.
  However, it IS set whether a prop. gives you a
  treasure, unexplored land, or neither.  I've changed
  the Propositions list to reflect this.
- Many of the job evaluations have been changed.  The most
  noteworthy ones are Samurai, Calculator, Beowulf,
  Rafa, and Reis.
- Added the stats of the Genji equipment and the Vanish
  Mantle.
- I also have the name of Chapter 2 now: The Manipulator
  & The Subservient.
- Added two extra tricks: Worker 8 As Stepping Stone, and
  The Stone Gun (the latter is really weird).
- Some spell quotes have been added.
- I'm missing the following items' stats: Chaos Blade,
  Kaiser Plate, and Chirijiraden. If anybody could send
  them to me I'd appreciate it.
- Minor typo corrections

Version 1.0 (3/8/98)
- First version!
- I'm still missing a lot of stuff: the Deep Dungeon
  and its items/characters (I'll get to the Dungeon in
  the next version), the Genji equipment's stats, the
  name of Chaper 2, and a big chunk of the monster list.
  Any contributions would be greatly appreciated.

*******************************************************
II. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
*******************************************************

Q. Is is true you can get Cloud?
A. Yes.

Q. How do I get Cloud to join my party?
A. See the "Cloud Subquest" section of the walkthrough.

Q. How do I beat Wiegraf?
A. Equip the Auto-Potion ability and a gun on Ramza.  Run
   from Wiegraf and keep using the Yell command to boost your
   speed.  Repeat until you are getting seven or eight turns
   in a row, then start shooting at Wiegraf.  Against
   Velius, stand still and shoot at him until he dies.

Q. How do I ride a Chocobo?
A. Move the character onto the same square as the Chocobo.

Q. How do I learn Ultima?
A. Only Ramza can learn Ultima, and he can only get it
   from the assassins in Limberry Castle in chapter 4.
   He must be in the form of a Squire; then, when the
   assassins cast the spell on him, he will learn it.

Q. Where is the Deep Dungeon?
A. After you beat Murond Holy Place, go to Warjilis Trade
   City.  You will see a scene at the bar, then the way
   to the Deep Dungeon will appear.

Q. How do I beat / find items in the Deep Dungeon?
A. See the cleverly-titled Deep Dungeon section of the
   walkthrough. ^_^

Q. How do I beat the Lionel Castle Gate?
A. Give Ramza the Chakra ability and have him use it every
   turn.  Don't open the gate until the fight outside is
   finished.  For more tipes, see the Battle Strategies for
   Chapter 2.

Q. How do I learn Zodiac?
A. You can only learn Zodiac from Elidibs, the boss of
   the Deep Dungeon, by having him cast it on one of your
   Summoners.  Equip the MP Switch ability to survive it.

Q. Can you get Aerith to join?
A. Aerith is in the game, but you cannot get her in your
   party, unfortunately.

Q. How do I recruit monsters?
A. You need a Mediator.  Then just use their Invitation
   skill on the monsters.

Q. How do I poach enemies?
A. Equip the Thief ability "Secret Hunt" and kill a monster
   with a regular attack.  Then go to a Fur Shop in a trade
   city and you can purchase what you've poached.

Q. Where do I get all the Zodiac Stones?
A. Look in the Zodiac Stones list near the end of the
   file.  Be warned that this list contains some spoilers.

Q. Why don't any of the characters have noses?
A. Your guess is as good as mine.  Some genetic defect
   or something, I suppose.

*******************************************************
III. WALKTHROUGH
*******************************************************

(I'm writing Chapter I from memory, so I might make a
few mistakes)

  The game begins at Orbonne Monastery.  A band of enemy
knights shows up, and you have to fight.  This battle
is pretty much automatic.  Gafgarion and Agrias will
take care of most of the enemies.  Just throw stones
at the enemies for a couple turns.  Afterwards, Delita
will capture Princess Ovelia and flee.  Ramza then has
an (extended) flashback about Delita.

%%%CHAPTER I: THE MEAGER%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

  All of Chapter I is a flashback to Ramza's days as
a Hokuten Knight-in-training.  You (Ramza) and Delita
will be at the academy in Gariland, where you receive
the assignment to defeat some thieves in the town.
You are automatically joined by four squires and two
chemists, then the first battle begins.  See "Battle
Strategies" for tips on the battles.
  After you win the battle, you will go to the map
screen.  If you lost any characters in the fight, go
to the Soldier Office and recruit some new ones to
replace them (or just reset the game).  This is the
only time you should use the Soldier Office -- if
you lose anybody later in the game, you're better
off resetting.
   Buy some Potions and a few (1-2) Phoenix Downs
and head west to Mandalia Plains.  As soon as you
leave the city, you'll have a flashback (yes, a
flashback in a flashback) to the death of Ramza's
father Balbanes.  After that sequence has ended,
you'll move on to the Mandalia Plains.  Here,
you'll meet Algus.  Choose to save him, then beat
up the enemies while protecting Algus.
   Back on the map, go on up to Igros Castle.  You'll
have a brief chat with Dycedarg, then you'll be
sent to go to find Marquis Elmdor.  Buy new equipment
(if there is any; I can't remember) and stock up on
Potions.  You may want to gain some levels on the
Mandalia Plains before proceeding (BTW, you don't
have to deploy Ramza during random battles, if you
didn't know).
   Head down to the Sweegy Woods at complete the
battle there.  Before proceeding, make sure all your
troops have the Throw Stone and Dash abilities.
When you get the JP, pick up Accumulate, Move+1,
and Counter Tackle.  Ramza can also use the Yell
ability, which you'll want to get as well.  Chemists
should have Potion and Phoenix Down.  All the
condition-curing items are useless (except Remedy);
don't bother learning them.  Also, having Algus learn
a basic Black Magic spell would be useful.  AVOID job
changes at this time.
    As soon as you enter Dorter Slums, you'll enter
a pretty tough battle.  If you don't win, that's okay
-- try again, or build up your levels first.  Upon
your victory, you'll be able to visit the town.  Buy
new equipment and stock up on items.  You'll want
at least 10 Potions and 4 Phoenix Downs.  Again,
you may want to build levels before proceeding to the
next battle.  When you're ready, go on up to the
Zeklaus Desert, where you'll have a battle at Rat
Cellar.  After you win, you'll rescue the Marquis.
    Return to Igros Castle.  Dycedarg will send you
south to the Thieves' Fort.  Thieves' Fort is
easier than Sand Rat Cellar, so you shouldn't have
any trouble.  Following the battle, there will be
a cutscene at Igros in which Teta (Delita's sister)
is kidnapped.
    Strip Algus of all his equipment, as he'll be
leaving your party shortly.  Go back up to Igros.
A series of scenes will follow in which Ramza and
Delita decide to rescue Teta, and Algus leaves.
At this point, you'll probably want to start
changing Jobs, if you haven't already.  If any of
your characters can become Monks, do so; they're
very strong fighters.  Ramza I would recommend as
a Knight.  It would also help to have a Black
Mage and Archer.  However, you will still want to
have a healer, so give one of your characters the
Item ability and the Chemists' Throw Item support
ability (so your items have a longer range).
Make sure to buy equipment for the new jobs!
     Return to Gariland.  While you're here, buy
plenty of Potions (12 or so) and Phoenix Down
(6 should be sufficient).  Go north to the
Lenalia Plateau.  You'll have another battle
against Miluda (Wiegraf's sister).  After the
battle, check your item supply.  If it's sufficient,
just go on ahead to the Fovoham Plains.  If it's
not, go back to Gariland, but you might have a
random battle on the return trip.
     At Fovoham Plains, you'll square off against
Wiegraff and his Chocobo Boco (from FF5).  This
battle isn't too difficult if you have good Jobs.
Again, if your item supply is okay, you can
continue directly on to Fort Zeakden, the final
battle of the chapter, where you'll have to fight
Algus.  You will need non-basic Jobs (particularly
a Monk and Archer) for this battle.  If you need
JP, go to Sweegy Woods or the Mandalia Plains and
fight random battles.
     At Fort Zeakden, you'll find Teta being
held captive by a Golagros, a Death Corps knight.
Algus and Dycedarg arrive with some troops, and
Algus shoots Teta and Golagros.  You then fight
Algus.  After you kill him, the fort will blow up,
and the chapter ends.

%%%CHAPTER II: THE MANIPULATOR & THE SUBSERVIENT%%%%%%%

     You now return to the present, at Orbonne
Monastery.  Your curren mission is to rescue Princess
Ovelia.  Rad and Agrias' two Knights will join your
party, and Agrias and Gafgarion will join as Guests.
You still have all your characters from Chapter I
(except Delita).
     If you have any abilities to learn, get them,
then go north to Dorter, where another battle awaits
you.  Win it (well, obviously) and you'll have access
to all of the map again.
     At this point, you should not have any characters
with basic Jobs (Squire or Chemist), and you'll want
to have a Monk, Archer, Wizard, and Priest somewhere
in the party.  A Mediator is also useful, but might
take some time to get (you have to get Oracle up to
level 2, and Oracle requires Priest).  If you want to
take the time to get it, you can also get the Thief
Job.
     You now have the ability to take Propositions
at bars.  You can earn a lot of gil and some JP from
these jobs, so take them up (never more than one
at a time, though).  Always use the maxinum number
of days possible.  While the characters are away,
you can have the main group build up job levels with
random battles (or just continue on without them).
     All the stores in the three towns have new items,
so pay them a visit to get supplies for your characters.
Don't buy any equipment for Gafgarion (Agrias is okay,
but her equipment is already really good).  Stock up
on Hi-Potions (you'll want the Hi-Potion ability by
now) and Phoenix Downs.
     Note: you can have random battles at Fovoham
Plains and the Zeklaus Desert that are entirely
different from the set battles there.  They also
feature some advanced monsters, so try recruiting
them with a Mediator.  Just make sure to keep an eye
on the number of eggs they produce; wipe out the
majority of eggs before they clog your roster.
     When you feel confident that you've got some
good characters, go to Araguay Woods, east of Dorter.
BTW, this is now up to where I'm writing while
playing the game and not just from memory.  Anyway,
here you have to save Boco (the chocobo) from the
goblins (pick the second choice).  You shouldn't
have any trouble.  After the battle, Boco will join.
     Back on the map, go into your formation screen
and change Gafgarion into a Time Mage (this should
cause him to lose all his equipment).  Then continue
on to Zirekile Falls.  The graphics here are simply
incredible.  Here you'll find Delita and Ovelia being
attacked by some Hokuten Knights.  The Knights demand
that Gafgarion join them, and he does.  You then
have to fight him and the knights to save Ovelia.
     After the battle, Delita will leave you with
Ovelia.  Ramza decides to go to Lionel Castle.  On
the map, help yourself to Gafgarion's equipment (if you
didn't earlier).  If you need items, go back to
Dorter.  The next battle is a toughie, so be prepared.
I recommend having an archer, a Black Chocobo (Boco
will lay eggs and they may be black chocobos), and
a priest or wizard.  If you use a wizard, make sure
somebody can heal.  When you're ready, go to Zaland
Fort City.
     You'll meet Mustadio, who is being chased by some
bad guys.  You get a choice whether to help him or not.
Choosing the first option means that you have to keep
Mustadio alive to win the battle, while the second
doesn't.  So choose the second.  No matter what you pick,
Mustadio joins you afterwards as a Guest.
     When all the talking is finished, go back into
Zaland to pick up supplies and equipment.  There's
not very much in the way of selection, but you can get
a new staff, hat (only give the Triangle Hat to magic
users; the Headgear is better for fighters as it raises
their attack), and armor.
     Your next stop is Bariaus Hill.  When you first
get here, there's no fight, just some dialogue.
Afterwards, you'll be back on the map, but Bariaus Hill
is still red.  This time when you go there, you do
get a fight.  Following the fight, a cut scene will
pop up back at Igros Castle with Dycedarg and Gafgarion
scheming.
     You can now finally get to Lionel Castle (don't
worry; there's no fight).  You'll chat with Draclau
and learn about the Zodiac Stones.  Agrias and Ovelia
will then leave the party.  Then you get to go shopping!
There is a lot of really powerful equipment you can get
here, so load up on it (you should have a lot of money
by now).  Also, you may want to send some of your characters
out on a proposition if you haven't been doing them --
you can earn a lot of money from some.  One way to pass
time and complete the propositions is to walk back and
forth between Dorter Trade City and Orbonne Monastery;
there are no random battles but you increase the days
counter quickly.
     On to the swamp.  Fight your way through here, but
don't go to Goug.  Instead, return to Zaland -- the shop
has some new equipment (Platina Daggers, Green Berets [don't
give them to magic-users] and Wizard Outfits).  Then move
onto Goug.  Upon arriving in the city, there will be a brief
scene and then you're back on the map.  The store doesn't
have much of anything, but if you've got a Mediator or
Chemist, be sure to buy them a Romanda Gun.  There's also a
lot of accessories -- you might want to pick up a Wizard
Mantle or two for your magic users.  Make sure you're stocked
up on Hi-Potions and Phoenix Downs; you'll need them.
     Try to leave the city and you'll be immediately thrust
into a battle.  Deploy your Mediator (if you have one),
somebody with a bow, and somebody with black magic.
Rudvich, the leader of the Bart Company, will appear with
Mustadio and Besrodio (Musty's father) captive.  Mustadio
reveals the location of the Zodiac Stone.  Ramza forks it over
and you find out that Draclau was in on the plot.  It's
fight time.
     After the battle (a tough one, I might add), you
check on Besrodio.  Mustadio reveals that the Zodiac Stone
that Rudvich got was really a fake.  Mustadio will now
join as you a normal party member -- now you can control
him!  The only downside to this is that he can be
permanently killed.  Musty's equipment is all gone, so be
sure to re-equip.  Also, if you learned any skills while
he was a Guest, they're gone for some reason.
     Take the ship (well, just walk across the ocean)
over to Warjilis Trade City.  Upon getting off the ship,
you'll bump into Delita again.  After that scene's ended,
you can explore the town.  To make some easy money, go
to the bar and accept the proposition (to find the
Highwind!), then go back to Goug and get the job there
as well (there will be a cutscene when you leave Warjilis
the first time).  Just go back and forth between the
two cities until both jobs are complete.  If you weren't
able to afford everything back in Goug, pick it up now.
     Now go up to Bariaus Valley, where you'll find
anohter fight.  You'll deploy two squads here to save
Agrias from the Hokuten; this is a really easy fight,
so you might want to deploy some weaker characters to
give them a boost.  Agrias will rejoin, this time as a
normal (non-guest) character.  By the way, somewhere around
here I picked up a Giant Axe (sorry, not sure where);
it's a VERY strong weapon, give somebody the "Equip Axe
ability and have them use it.
     Your next stop is Golgorand Execution Site.  Male
sure you're ready; this is a tough battle.  The
execution turns out to be a trap, and you have to fight
Gafgarion.  Good luck, you'll need it.
     Eventually (probably after a couple of tries), you'll
win.  There will be a long scene back at Lionel Castle
in which you find out more about Ovelia's past and
Draclau's plans.  Then you're back on the map.  Return
to Warjilis, where you'll find some new armor available.
Equip your characters and restock your items.  Then make
*sure* that Ramza has the Chakra ability and Punch Art
equipped (either because he is a monk or as a secondary
action ability).  Equip the Arrow Guard ability on any
characters that have it.  When you've done all that, it's
time for the final battles of the chapter.  Note: if you want,
you can walk all the way PAST Lionel Castle to the destinations
behind it -- just don't click on Lionel Castle itself until
you're ready to fight.  When you do, you'll have no choice but
to attack the gate...
     Ramza will go to open the gate, but Gafgarion shows up
yet again and surrounds the castle.  If you thought
the Execution Site was bad, here's more fun.  Actually,
the gate isn't quite as bad if you play your cards right
(see the battle strategies).  The save game screen will
pop up at the conclusion of the battle -- there's another
battle right after this one.  It's your call as to whether
you should save.  I'd recommend saving in a separate slot
in case you need to go back to get more JP.  Your formation
screen then shows up, allowing you to learn new abilities
or do anything you need to.  When you leave the formation
screen, you'll go to the next battle and start deploying
your characters.  This time you're up against Draclau, who
uses his Zodiac Stone to turn (with some incredible special
effects) into Queklain.  Beat him and he'll blow up (more
nifty effects) and drop another Zodiac Stone.  You'll see
a scene with Delita and Prince Goltana in which the Lion
War begins, then Chapter 2 ends.

%%%CHAPTER III: THE VALIANT%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

    Chapter III begins with more of Goltana's plotting.
You'll then cut to Ramza in Dorter.  The shops have a lot
of new stuff (as weird as it seems, those Cashmere Bags
are *really* powerful, although spendy), plus the Fur Shops
are open -- you can now use the Thief's "Secret Hunt" ability
to poach enemies and get items from them at the Fur Shops.
    For additional shopping opportunities, visit one of
the castles (Lionel or Igros).  All this stuff is expensive,
so luckily there's a whole slew of new propositions -- at
least one in every town.  I recommend spending a while
completing them, buying stuff, and building up your
characters.  If you're offered any "contest" Job, take it
right away, because you won't have the chance for very
long.
    When you're ready to get on with the game, go to
Goland Coal City.  There's a "fight" (using the term
loosely) here where you have to rescue Olan (although I
can't imagine he'd need much rescuing).  You might want
to use some of your weaker characters here to build
them up, because this is the easiest fight in the entire
game.  After you "save" Olan, you'll chat briefly, and
then Olan will head off to the south (doh!).  There's
no new equipment in the Goland shops, so you can probably
just head straight on to Lesalia.  There's no fight
when you first get here, just a short chat with Zalbag.
However, as soon as you leave, you'll have to fight
Zalmo.  It's a pretty easy battle.  Alma then joins up
as a Guest.  When you have a chance, de-equip her Healing
Staff, Barette, and Red Shoes.
     If you want to complete some propositions, just go
back and forth between Goland and Lesalia until they're
done.  Then go down to Dorter.  Purchase some new
equipment (if you want to make another stop, Igros and
Goug have new stuff as well), then go to Orbonne Monastery.
Go to the Underground Book Storage (it's the only option
available), where you'll find Simon wounded.  He tells you
about Funeral's plot, and Ramza chases after the troops
looking for the Virgo Stone.  You'll have a chance to
save your game; don't do it (to avoid being stuck in the
monastery); all you'd have to repeat if you died is that
short scene with Simon.  The Formation screen will come
up, then you will go down to the second floor and have a
fight.
    After beating the second floor, you have a save
opportunity -- save in a separate slot -- and then you
go to the third floor for another battle.  Upon winning
it, you have yet another battle, this time with Wiegraf.
Meanwhile, Izlude escapes with Alma captive (and the
Zodiac Stones).  Outside, the Aries Stone will take over
Wiegraf and turn him into Velius.  Simon will then show
up, give you the Germonik Scriptures, and die.
    Back on the map, go to the Brave Story option and
check out your Treasures.  Examine the Germonik
Scriptures and press Triangle to read it.  After you
read it (takes a while), go to Dorter.  A wizard will
demand the Germonik Scriptures and ask if you've read
them.  I said yes; I don't know if it matters.  The
route to Riovanes Castle will now be open.  Go anywhere
(it doesn't matter).  You will cut to a scene with
Delita and Ovelia.
    After the scene concludes, go into Dorter and
check out the shops, which once again has some new
equipment.  Upgrade your stuff, but keep the Holy
Miters for your magic-users, as they raise their MP
significantly.  Don't miss the White Robe for your
magic-users; you'll have to scroll down a ways to find
it.  Go up to Lesalia, where there is more new stuff
(bows, daggers, and swords).  Then continue to Grog
Hill.  Smash through here (I actually felt kind of bad
killing those guys off) and you'll meet up with Olan
again.
     Your next stop is Yardow Fort City.  Here you'll
meet Malak (the guy you met in Dorter) and Rafa.  You
have to save Rafa (Malak is on the other side) from the
Riovanes guys.  Deploy lots of magic-users; skip the
archers.  Malak will teleport away when you defeat him
and you and Rafa will hide... but not for long.  Malak,
in the form of a frog, will deliver an ultimatum, then
disappear.
    Before you leave Yardow, stop at the shop and pick
up some Golden Hairpins, which raise both your HP and MP
a lot, and get Rafa a better weapon.  Fight through
Yugou Woods and its undead inhabitants, but don't go to
Riovanes Castle just yet.  It contains some very
powerful bosses, so you've got to boost your
characters up (I recommend you fight at the Zeklaus
Desert).  Make as many Dragoons (Lancers) as you
can.  You'll also want the Chemist's Auto-Potion
ability.  Red Chocobos are also a big help, if they're at
a high level.  Finally, go back to Lesalia and outfit
your characters with the best equipment you can get,
and buy lots (30+) of X-Potions.  Also, buy some
accessories that increase your move range or speed.
    When you think you're ready, save your game, then pay
a visit to Riovanes Castle.  You'll see a scene with
Barinten, then have a chance to save -- save in a separate
slot from your main game.  You then go to the first of
a series of battles.  Equip the Arrow Guard on any
characters that have it.  After you defeat everyone
outside the gate, a wounded Knight will crawl out.  You'll
then get a chance to save your game.  DO NOT SAVE IN
YOUR MAIN SLOT or you will regret it (as you may
have to start again from scratch... doh!).  SAVE IN A
DIFFERENT SLOT.
    Now, make sure you're prepared.  You're about face
a Zodiac-charged Wiegraf, and he is rather powerful.
However, if you know what you're doing, he isn't that
hard to beat.  Turn Ramza into a Chemist and equip him
with a Mythril Gun, then set his secondary ability to
Guts.  Drop all your Potions and Hi-Potions, so that
you will only use X-Potions when you Auto-Potion.  Make
the other characters Dragoons.  If you want to be
specific, here is I what I had (Philo and Jennie are
just generic characters):

Ramza (Chemist): Guts/Auto-Potion/Equip Armor/Move-HP Up
Philo (Dragoon): Punch Art/Counter/Attack UP/Move-HP Up
Jennie (Dragoon): Item/Speed Save/Concentrate/Move-HP Up
Agrias (Dragoon): Item/Caution/Gained JP Up/Move+1
Mustadio (Dragoon): Item/Auto-Potion/Gained JP Up/Move+1

    When you defeat Wiegraf, you'll go to the next
battle, on the roof.  Be sure to save the game because
the next battle is even harder.  Equip any accessories
that you have to boost speed or move.  You have to fight
against Marquis Elmdor and two assassins while protecting
Rafa, who has incredibly bad AI.  This is the hardest
battle in the game, in my opinion.  It will take extreme
luck to survive.  All you have to do is take out of the
enemies, but are you lucky enough to get a chance to
attack?
    Anyway, after you (eventually) defeat Elmdor, he
retreats with his two assassins.  Rafa will use the
Zodiac Stone to revive Malak, then they will join you
and you get your Zodiac Stones back, along with the
Aries and Pisces stones.  Don't worry; it's all
downhill (mostly) from here.

%%%CHAPTER IV: SOMEBODY TO LOVE%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

    Chapter IV begins in Zeltennia Castle in a scene
with Orlandu and Olan.  Then you're back on the world
map (haven't seen that for a while, huh?)
    Ramza has a new appearance, as well as a new ability
(Scream), so be sure to learn it.  You'll note that
Squire does not appear as a Mastered job -- that's
because Ramza is missing the Ultima spell, which you'll
have a chance to get later on.  Be sure to change back
to your normal jobs if you're still altered from the
Wiegraf fight.
    While you're still at Riovanes, you can do a bit
of equipment upgrading (stick with the Aegis Shields,
though; they're good against magic).  There's also a
number of propositions you can take in the various
towns, but most of them aren't worth the time they take
(and you sometimes LOSE money on them), so don't bother.
    Go up to the pass near Lesalia.  This is a
routine battle against some Nanten Knights.  Whip
through here and continue on to Bervenia Free City.
This is a little more interesting.  You're fighting
against Izlude's sister Meliadoul, accompanied by
some ninjas.  Meliadoul will teleport away when you
defeat her.
    Bervenia's shops don't have anything new, so
move on to the Finath River.  After beating that, you
can finally get to Zeltennia Castle.  Ramza will go
to the church, where he'll meet Delita again.  Delita
explains more of the church's plan.  Zalmo then
shows up, and it's fight time (did you really think
you could go somewhere without one?).  With Delita's
help, it's pathetically easy (I told you the game was
going to get easier, didn't I?).  After the battle,
you'll meet with Balmafula, then Delita will leave
(bummer).
    Strangely, the shops *still* don't have anything
new.  Restock your items (you'll need lots of X-Potions),
then go to the Bed Desert, south of Bervenia.  Here you'll
encounter another Shrine Knight, Balk, in a tough battle.
This is one the last difficult encounters of the game,
as pretty soon you... well, you'll see.
   After beating Balk (it'll probably take you a few
tries), go to the Bethla Garrison.  You'll have a choice
as to whether to go to the south or north wall.  Each
is a different battle.  I find that the south wall is
easier.  Whichever way you go, you'll end up at the
floodgate.  Save your game in a different slot, then
continue.  You have a really cool battle in which you
have to open the dam and flood the garrison.  It's good
for raising JP.  After blowing up the dam, you, Olan,
and Balmafula will rescue Orlandu.  ORLANDU THEN JOINS
YOU!  YAHOO!!  If you just heard a giant sucking sound,
it was all the challenge going down to Mexico (er, unless
you live in Mexico, then it all went to Zimbabwe).
Orlandu is ridiculously powerful, and once you have him,
nobody in the game has a chance against you.  He has
all of Agrias's, Gafgarion's, and Meliadoul's sword
techniques, plus a full set of Crystal equipment and
the Excalibur.  He can also use every type of sword
(katana, knight sword, etc.) To put it simply, he is
hell on wheels.
    Delita then offs Prince Goltana and frames Cid
(Orlandu).  A cutscene pops up instructing you to go
to Limberry and rescue Alma.  A handy new path opens
up between Bethla and Zirekile Falls.
    Go back up to Bervenia, because -- get this -- the
stores actually have new equipment!  It's only a bit
of armor, but, hey, at least it's something!  Keep the
Golden Hairpin for your magic-users, though, as it
raises MP quite a bit.  In addition, Zeltennia has
even more new equipment, and it's a lot of good stuff!
Will the wonders never cease?  Be sure to stop in
for an upgrade.
    At your next stop, Zarghidas Trade City, you'll
run into a familiar face... it's Aerith!  Buy a
flower from her, then head into town (yup, there's
no fight).  There's a couple of propositions and yet
more new equipment, which leads me to wonder why the
first chunk of the chapter was completely dry.  Square's
equipment designer must have called in sick that day
or something.  Before you leave, buy five Angel Rings
(if you already have some, just buy however many you
need to get five) or you will regret it.
    Pop on down to Germinas Peak, where you'll have a
run-in with some bandits.  With Orlandu in your party,
this battle is a breeze.  You might want to bring a
thief.  After the battle (before you continue on),
you may want to get into a random battle at Germinas
Peak with the Move-Find Item ability equipped.  Move
to the very top of the peak and you'll find the Vanish
Mantle, the best mantle in the game.
    After Germinas Peak, you'll go to Poeskas Lake.
This is another undead scenario, but it's really easy.
You then see a scene with Dycedarg, after which you
can go to Limberry Castle.
    The first battle at Limberry Castle is the gate
(isn't it always?).  This is really easy.  You'll then
see a scene with Elmdor (who bears an uncanny
resemblance to Sephiroth).  Before you continue, save
in a separate slot.  Then you need to make a few
prepartions. Turn Ramza into a Squire (yes, a squire),
and equip Angel Rings on all the characters you plan
to use.
    Elmdor says "it's payback time for all the disgrace
from Riovanes Castle", and I have to completely
agree.  It took me 14 tries to beat the roof, and at
this point I wanted revenge very badly.  Unfortunately,
he won't go down without another very difficult fight.
Celia and Lede have 100% working death spells, and you
only have a 10% chance of hitting Elmdor (he has Blade Grasp).
Oh yeah, and Elmdor has a never-failing teleport
(Teleport 2).  It just ain't fair.
    After defeating Elmdor in the throne room, you'll
go down the basement for yet another battle against him,
this time with him transformed into a Zodiac monster
(don't you love the transformation effects?).  Meliadoul
will help you out here.  Thankfully, he isn't all that
hard.  After you defeat him, you'll get the Sagittarius
Zodiac Stone, and Meliadoul joins you.
    Limberry Castle is now a normal town, so you can
go to the bar and shop (although there's nothing new at
the shop -- we're back in the old routine again).  When
you try to leave, you'll see some long scenes.  Now
take a look at map.  You'll note Igros Castle has turned
red.  Hike all the way back there (I wish there was an
airship in this game), but stop at Gariland on the way
and buy Jade Armlets for the coming battle.
    At Igros, Ramza will open the gate, and then you'll
line up for a fight (yay, no gate battle).  Deploy
Agrias, Orlandu, and Meliadoul.  You'll have an easy
battle against Dycedarg to save Zalbag.  When he is
killed, Dycedarg will turn into Adramelk and zap
Zalbag.  You then fight a continuation of the first
battle against Adramelk.  When killed, he will yield
the Capricorn Zodiac Stone.
    Now that you've defeated Adramelk, you can undertake
a long subquest to get Cloud from FF7 in your party
(and three other characters in the process).  For the
walkthrough on this quest, see the Cloud Subquest
section of the walkthrough, below.  It's optional,
but there's no real reason not to do it, as you get
some cool characters (Cloud does not fall into this
category).
    When you want to get on with the game, go to Murond
Holy Place, south of Gariland.  Stop into Gariland
on the way to buy some Thief Hats, and stock up on
supplies (and buy some Holy Water, you'll actually
need it for once).  At Murond, you'll be treated to
a series of battles, beginning outside the church
(not that hard), and progressing inside, where you'll
face off against Vormav, Rofel, and Kletian.  Vormav
will teleport away after you beat on them for a while.
If any of your equipment got broken in the last battle,
you'll need to replace it -- strip the gear from somebody
you're not going to be using.
    You'll then go to the chapel, where you'll fight a
possessed Zalbag, an Ultima Demon, and two Archaic
Demons.  This is a fairly difficult battle.  After
you defeat Zalbag, you will meet up with a dying
Funeral.  Funeral tells you that Vormav is going to
Orbonne Monastery, then dies.
    Back on the map, a handy route between Murond and
Goug Machine City has opened up.  If you're still
planning to do the Cloud quest, this makes it
quicker, so do it now.  In fact, if you're going to
do anything now, do it.  Once you go to Orbonne
Monastery, you're locked into the game's final series
of battles.  Also, if you're interested, the Deep
Dungeon is now accessible.  I haven't done the Deep
Dungeon section of the walkthrough yet, but it'll be
in the next version.
    Before you go to Orbonne, make sure you're
ready.  Your characters should be at least level
40.  Equip yourself with all your best abilities,
and change to your best jobs.  Earning JP doesn't
matter now.  Actually, the last sequence of battles
isn't all that difficult, just long.
    The first battle at Orbonne is against some
generic enemies -- an easy battle.  Save your game in
a separate slot as always, then equip Jump+x abilities
and/or Fly on anybody that has them for the next
battle.  You'll now face a string of four battles
against Zodiac Braves.  First up is Rofel.  After you
defeat him, he'll suck you through a portal to Murond
Death City (apparently of no relation to Murond Holy
Place), then destroy the way back.  Return your
abilities to normal.
    Your next opponent is Kletian.  After that, you'll
face Balk (brought back to life by the Zodiac Stones).
After that, you'll head to the Graveyard of Airships,
which is really just a single airship, and a rather
odd location for a final battle (although it does bear
an uncanny resemblance to Soul Edge's stage in
SoulBlade -- coindence or "inspiration"?).  Vormav
will use the Leo Stone to transform him into a giant
lion, Hashmalum.  Defeat him and you'll get the
Ragnarok sword.  St. Ajora will then appear.
   You now have one last chance to save your game.
Do so, and also equip the Ragnarok sword.  Another
Alma will somehow appear (I have no clue why).
Ajora summons four Ultima Demons in response, then
transforms into Altima (isn't that a kind of car?)
Alma will join you as a guest for the final battle,
against the Generic Angel Boss (TM).  After pounding
on Altima for a while, Altima will (of course)
reveal his/her/its (?) true form, a skeletony-type
of angel (the resemblance to SoulBlade is unmistakable
now, even the music sounds like Cervantes' music).
Thankfully, the Ultima Demons disappear for this
phase of the battle.
    When you defeat Altima's second form, it will
blow up (nice special effects).  This Game Is Complete!
You then get to watch a nifty CG ending (although
Olan's name is spelled wrong).  Leave the game on
after the credits for an additional scene.  But if
you haven't beaten the Deep Dungeon, you're not done
yet!  Skip down to the Deep Dungeon section for info
on it.

%%%CLOUD SUBQUEST%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

    You can get Cloud any time after you defeat
Adramelk.  To start the quest, go to Goug Machine City,
where Besrodio (Mustadio's father) will show you a
steel ball he's found (if you've already seen this
scene, you don't need to repeat it).
    Now go to Goland Coal City, in the center of the
map.  At the bar in Goland, listen to the rumors "Ghosts
of Colliery."  You will be asked to fight a monster in
the coal mines.  Leave the bar.  Nothing will happen at
first, but go to Lesalia.  Ramza will go into the bar
and learn more about the coal mine job.  He agrees to
take it.  On the way out, Beowulf will stop you and ask
you to take him with you.  Agree and he joins you (as
a Guest).
    You'll note that Goland Coal City has turned red.
First, go back into Lesalia and buy Beowulf some better
equipment.  Then equip Yin-Yang Magic as Beo's second
ability (he already has a bunch of Yin-Yang spells
learned).  Then return to Goland, where you'll be
forced into entering the Colliery Mines.  You have to
fight through three floors before you reach the sewers,
where the Holy Dragon Reis is being attacked by some
demons.  You have to save her.  Reis and Beowulf then
join you, and you get the Aquarius Zodiac Stone.
    The quest continues... return to Goug.  Cloud will
put in the Aquarius stone in the steel ball, which
transforms into Worker 8.  A comical scene will follow,
then Worker 8 joins you.  On the way out of town, you'll
get another scene in which Besrodio puts together
another device that also requires a Zodiac Stone.
     Now go to Zeltennia Castle (yup, all the way up
there).  Go to the bar and listen to the "Cursed
Island" rumor.  This will open up a new path on your
map to Nelveska Temple.  Buy some Softs before you
leave town for the coming battle.  Go to Nelveska
and you'll be attacked by Worker 7*new.  After Worker
7*new goes down, you'll get his power source: the
Cancer Zodiac Stone.
    When you try to leave Nelveska Island, Beowulf
will use the Cancer stone to restore the dragon Reis to
her normal human form.  She will then re-join your
party, keeping all her dragon abilities (and getting
many new ones).  Strangely, even in human form, she
can't use equipment.
    Hike all the way back to Goug.  Besrodio will
power up the weathervane with the Cancer Stone and
it will.... summon Cloud.  Cloud, in typical Cloud
fashion, will refuse to let you introduce yourselves
and run off in pursuit of Sephiroth (why couldn't
they have summoned somebody cool like Rufus or Red
13?)
    NOW you have to go all the way to Zarghidas
Trade City (I bet you're getting real sick of those
random battles, huh?).  Remember when you met Aerith
here earlier?  Well, she's back, and this time she's
being accosted by some thieves.  Cloud comes to save
her, but has another one of his schizophrenic
breakdowns.  You have to save him from the thieves.
Afterwards, Clod... er, Cloud will join you.
    You're still not totally finished with this quest.
In order for Cloud to be able to use his limit attacks,
you need to find his Materia Blade.  Equip the Move-Find
Item ability on somebody and go to Bervenia Volcano.
Get into a random battle there.  During the battle,
move your Move-Finder to the very tippy-top of the
volcano, where you'll discover the Materia Blade.  Then
finish the battle.
    Equipping Cloud with the Materia Blade allows
him to do Limit attacks.  However, Cloud really isn't
all that great a character.  His Limit Breaks take a
long time to charge, and he starts at level 1.  But you
did get some cool other characters (Beowulf and Worker
8).

%%%DEEP DUNGEON%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

    The Deep Dungeon is a dungeon (gosh!) with ten
floors (each a separate battle), each packed with really
powerful equipment.  It's completely optional, and in
fact is more difficult than the actual end of the game.
    You can only access the Deep Dungeon after you
beat Murond Holy Place.  Then go to Warjilis Trade
City.  When you arrive, you'll automatically see a
scene in the bar in which Ramza overhears a rumor
about the Deep Dungeon.  When you leave town, a route
will automatically pop up to the tiny island to the
east, which contains the Deep Dungeon.
    The Deep Dungeon has ten floors, all with fruity
names like TERMINATE or MLAPAN (and for even more
weirdness, press Select on each floor's name).  To make
things challenging, the Deep Dungeon is completely dark.
You can see your guys and the enemies, but you can't see
the terrain.  Crystals left by dead guys *will* light up
most of the area, but there's another way to see.  Just
choose an attack with a really long range like Beowulf's
Shock or Worker 8's Dispose.  This will highlight most
of the panels on the battlefield, and you can study
the terrain (you don't even have to use the attack,
just select it).  Since you can do this every round,
you shouldn't have too much trouble seeing what you're
doing.
    Oh, and not only do you have to beat the
enemies on each level, but you have to find the exit
to open up the next level (if you kill all the enemies
without finding the exit, you'll just back to the
map screen and have to replay the level).  The exit's
location is RANDOM; it's different every time.
However, it usually on the enemy's side of the
battlefield, and often in a corner.  The best way to
find the exit is to use Beowulf's Chicken spell to
turn one of the enemies into a Chicken.  It will
stay Chicken-ified for quite a while, and you can
just recast the spell when it's close to wearing off
(it lasts until the enemy gets back to 10 Brave).
    But wait!  There's more!  Each level contains a
number of cool items.  You can only get these by using
the Move-Find Item ability.  Also, you have to have
a LOW Brave level, or else you will get Phoenix Downs
instead.  Rafa has a really low Brave level, and
Beowulf's is pretty low as well.  You can also
artifically lower your Brave level by using the
Mediator's Threaten ability, or the Oracle's Foxbird
spell.  I recommend giving your item-finder Germinas
Boots to increase their move and jump range.
   For exact item locations, see each level's battle
strategy.  In order to use these locations properly,
you have to rotate the camera so that your characters
are facing down and to the left at the start of the
battle.  Then (0, 0) is the lower left corner (the
first number is horizontal and the second vertical).
    Whew!  I think that's all the instruction you
need.  Now head on in!  The first floor, Nogias, is
just kind of practice, but you can get some good guns
in it.  Then you go to Terminate, which is similar to
Nogias.  Be sure to pick up the Save The Queen sword
on this level; I recommend giving it to Agrias.  The
Blood Sword is on this floor as well, but isn't all that
great.
    The third floor, Delta, is easier than the first
two.  It contains two great pieces of equipment: the
Yoichi Bow and the Mace of Zeus.  The Elixirs aren't
really necessary to collect; you can do fine without
them.  On Valkyrie, you get lots of good stuff: the
Faith Rod (great rod!), Kaiser Plate, and the Fairy
Harp (if you don't have a Bard, you can skip it).
   The Deep Dungeon gets tough again on the oddly-
named level 5, Mlapan.  Be sure to come prepared.
Mlapan contains another Excalibur sword (be sure to
get this one!), which is good for Beowulf.  It also
has the best ninja sword, the Iga Knife -- but
morning stars are stronger, so it's not really
necessary.
   Next stop is Tiger.  You can pick up the Blast
Gun, the best gun, here.  The other items -- Secret
Clothes, the Cursed Ring, and an Elixir -- aren't
that great but they're nearby, so pick them up.
Floor seven is Bridge; be sure to bring somebody
with the Secret Hunt (poaching) skill.  The items
here aren't very good: a Sage Staff (not as good
as the Mace of Zeus) and the Koga Knife (not as
good as the Iga Knife or a Morning Star).
   By now, you're getting near the bottom, and the
difficulty level is rising again.  However, the
next floor, Voyage, contains some really useful
stuff: the Ragnarok sword (not really as good as
Excalibur as it doesn't cast Haste), Robe of Lords
(a GREAT robe), and the best bow, the Perseus Bow.
The final normal floor is Horror.  It holds the
game's best armor -- the Maximillian, Grand Helmet,
and Venetian Shield.  You want this stuff.
   There's only one level left after this,
appropriately named End.  Before you go in, make
sure you have a Mediator with the ability Solution.
If you want to learn the game's best call spell,
Zodiac, you'll have to deploy your best Summoner
(and they must be in Summoner form).  Equip him/her
with the Time Mage ability MP Switch.
   When you enter End, you'll meet some weird old
guy named Elidibs, who will turn himself into a
Lucavi.  You'll be accompanied in this battle by the
Byblos (its name varies), a purple Apanda.  After
defeating Elidibs (and hopefully learning Zodiac
from him), you'll get the 13th (!) Zodiac Stone,
Serpentarius.  Byblos will then join your party as
a normal character.  He's okay.
   Congratulations!  You've beat the Deep Dungeon!
There's a few more things to do.  Go back into End
after you defeat Elidibs, and bring an item-finder.
On the top level (where Elidibs was), there are
four items: two Elixirs, the Chirjiraden (the best
samurai sword), and the Chaos Blade.  The Chaos
Blade is the best weapon in the game; it has a
whopping 40 attack points, automatically Regens
you, and petrified enemies!  And, yes, I was wrong
in previous versions about there being no items
here.
   If you're into poaching, sometimes you'll find a
bunch of Uribos on End.  They're pathetically easy
to kill, but poach them and you'll get Ribbons.
   Another thing to do once you've beat Elidibs is
to go back into End and bring Reis along.  Use her
Dragon Tame to recruit one of the Tiamats (if there
aren't any, just try again). They're THE best monster
in the game, and they're almost as strong as (if not
stronger than) Orlandu!
   Still haven't had enough?  Okay, equip all your
characters with Catch and go to Horror.  The Ninjas
here will throw a variety of nice weapons at you,
which you can then obtain.  If you're at a high
enough level, you can even get Chaos Blades!

*******************************************************
IV. BATTLE STRATEGIES
*******************************************************

%%%CHAPTER I: THE MEAGER%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

--Battle 1: Magic City Gariland--
The key in this battle is advance slowly and not to let
your characters get spread out.  Stay on the left side
(away from the bulk of the houses) and make good use of
your Chemists.  Attack from the enemy from behind whenever
possible.  Don't worry about Delita; the Guest AI is
incredibly incompetent and he'll get killed in almost
every battle.

--Battle 2: Mandalia Plains--
Send a Chemist up to Algus right away and heal him
(after he gets hit, that is).  He'll probably run away,
so your characters are free to concentrate on the
enemies.  Attack from above if you can.

--Battle 3: Sweegy Woods--
I really don't remember much about this battle.  It
wasn't very difficult, anyway.

--Battle 4: Dorter Slums--
Send three characters directly forward from your
starting position (down the street), and send Ramza and
the other character up the building nearby (where Delita
and Algus go).  Have Ramza move up to the top of the
building and hit the Archer there, then, on his next
turn, throw a stone at him and you should be able to
kill it.  The other characters should concentrate on
the Wizards, then the Archer.  If a character's counter
gets low (0 or 1), use a Phoenix Down on them to keep
them from dying permanently -- they'll probably get
killed again, but it resets the counter.

--Battle 5: Sand Rat Cellar--
This is a tough battle.  When deploying your characters,
deploy somebody with the Item command (either a chemist
or another character with that command) in the second
group.  Have that character go with Delita to heal him,
otherwise he'll get killed quickly.  Send the rest of
your characters towards the other door.  Algus will
run into a suicide mission into the building, but keep
healing him anyway -- if you gave him magic as I
recommended in the walkthrough he'll be very helpful.
Don't crowd the doorway or you'll get in trouble -- let
the enemies come outside to you.

--Battle 6: Thieves' Fort--
If you beat Sand Rat Cellar, you shouldn't have any
trouble here.  Just kill off the magic-users first, then
concentrate on Miluda.  If you have the Sword Break or
Armor Break Knight abilities, use them on her.  I
recommend standing up on cliffs on the left side of the
; you have a height advantage there.  Because
this level isn't very challenging, you may want to let the
enemies die completely so they turn into a chest or crystal
for some freebies.

--Battle 7: Lenalia Plateau--
On the first turn, attack the closest Knight as fast as
possible; you should be able to knock her out on the first
round if you've got a Monk.  Play the first few rounds
defensively to prevent any early casualties -- use the high
ground to your advantage.  Send one or two characters after
the Wizards, and possibly the Time Mage as well.  If you have
an Archer, send him/her up onto the tall ridge and shoot
down on the enemies.  After knocking out the Wizards,
concentrate on Miluda.

--Battle 8: Windmill Shed--
Again, the key is to go after Wiegraf.  Send Ramza along
the bottom of the cliff to take out the Chocobo (Boco)
and any other enemies down there (if there are any;
I don't remember).  Then fight Wiegraf; archers and monks
work well on him.  Stay healed!

--Battle 9: Fort Zeakden--
First of all, whoever you deploy on the seocond squad
is virtually useless as they start far away from the
action.  Luckily, you can almost beat the whole fight
just using Ramza.  Just go after Algus and completely
ignore the other guys.  Ramza and Monk should be able
to finish him -- use the Monk's Repeated Fist ability.

%%%CHAPTER II: THE MANIPULATOR & THE SUBSERVIENT%%%%%%%

--Battle 10: Dorter Trade City--
If you've got good Jobs, this battle should be no
problem.  Just move up the path and take out the enemies
as you go.  Agrias has a nasty habit of casting Blind
indiscriminatly on your own people (yet more proof that
the guests are completely incompetent), so pay attention
to which she enemy she is using magic on and move away.
Even if you do get blinded, this battle is a pushover.

--Battle 11: Araguay Woods--
Your mission here is to save Boco (Wiegraf's Chocobo).
The Goblins aren't very strong (especially with Agrias's
and Gafgarion's help), so I recommend just rushing them.
Stay out of the ditches.  Boco will usually retreat
into a corner and will be chased by the lone Black
Goblin.  He (Boco) can take care of himself, so don't
bother going after the Black Goblin.  As the enemies
are undead, you can use healing spells or items on them
to damage them.  Better yet, use a Phoenix Down -- it's
an instant death attack!

--Battle 12: Zirekile Falls--
First, take out Gafgarion.  If you turned him into a
crummy class before the battle (heh heh), you should be
able to take care of him in one hit.  Send a healer
character up to Ovelia to heal her in case she gets
low; have your other characters kill the two knights.
One of the knights from the far side will probably try
to cross over, so put your archer (assuming you have
one; you really ought to) on the corner of the cliff
and shoot down at the guy.  Agrias may finish him off;
if not, send a character or two down after him.  Delita
will probably take care of the two knights on the far
side of the falls all on his own.

--Battle 13: Zaland Fort City--
This is a toughie.  The enemy has some really powerful
mages.  Use magic, bows, and the Black Chocobo (if you
have one) to take them out immediately.  Don't forget,
if you chose the second option you have to keep Mustadio
alive, so send a Priest or Chemist (or someone with those
abilities to the side of the wall to throw items / spells
up to him).  Don't attempt to enter the city through the
gate -- you can climb on the walls via the ramp if need
be (or fly in on the Black Chocobo), but try to take out
some of the enemies inside first.  One cool trick is to
land a Black Chocobo next to Mustadio -- he automatically
has the Monster Skill ability, so you can use Choco Meteor
on the enemies.  Ramza's of little use here, but have him
use Yell on your other characters.  If you get the chance,
try to pick up some of the crystals / chests left by the
enemies.

--Battle 14: Bariaus Hilll--
This battle is harder than it looks.  On the first turn,
Mustadio should go after one of the Summmoners.  Send
a fast and/or magic-using character (only one) around
the opposite side of the hill after the other.  If
you survive the first few rounds you should win -- just
stay healed.  Keep Mustadio alive, as his gun is really
powerful.

--Battle 15: Zigolis Swamp--
This is a fairly normal battle with a few quirks.  First,
if you end your turn in the swamp, you get poisoned.
This isn't that bad, but if you a choice, stand on land.
Second, almost all the enemies (everyone except the
Molbol) are undead -- that means you can use heal spells
and items to damage them.  It's quite effective.  Other
than that, there's nothing here you haven't seen before.

--Battle 16: Slums in Goug--
This level is the one of the toughest battles so far.
Mustadio will be almost invariably killed at the start of
the battle -- he has no equipment and starts right next
to the enemies.  Don't worry about him.  Move your guys
up onto the roof.  Use ranged attacks to take out the
Summoners.  Kill any unit that moves onto your roof;
thieves first, archers second.  Don't chase enemies over
to the other roof (use ranged attacks, but don't move
guys over there).  Your highest priority is to keep your
guys healed, not to hit the enemy.  Useful abilities here
are Chakra, Counter, and Fire (or Ice or Bolt) 3.

--Battle 17: Bariaus Valley--
Kill the wizards first (using range attacks if you have
them), then the archers.  This fight is really easy;
just make sure Agrias stays alive.  Because it's so
easy, let the enemies' counters run out and pick up
the loot they leave behind (paralyze Agrias or something
to keep her from finishing them off).

--Battle 18: Golgorand Execution Site--
Big Tip #1: The goal here is not to defeat just Gafgarion,
but ALL the enemies... I learned this the hard way (pay
attention to the goal at the start!)  Deploy strong
fighters in the second squad and your other characters
in the first squad.  Agrias is very useful here, as are
Monks and Geomancers (use Hell Ivy; it stops the enemy
and it almost always works).  Move up on top of the
gate and kill the Time Mages first, then stay up on the
gate and attack the enemies as they come up to you.  The
trick is to limit the number of guys you are fighting at
once: use spells to freeze enemy guys and remain clustered
together.  Concentrate your attacks on a few enemies at a
time, especially those annoying archers.  Save Gafgarion
for last as he just keeps healing himself, unless you have a
really powerful attack spell (like Fire 4 or Holy or
something).  You'll be taking a lot of hits, so a good way
to heal yourself is to not have your healer move -- this lets
him/her get more turns.  Fighters are the most useful type of
character here, but Mustadio is good if he has Arm Aim (Leg
Aim isn't bad either); just keep him healed up.  If you just
can't win, try getting some better abilities like Raise 2,
Equip Armor, Auto Potion, Chakra (which you really need by
now), etc.  It took me six tries to beat this level, so
don't feel bad if you're having trouble.

--Battle 19: At the gate of Lionel Castle--
Move down Ramza down towards Gafgarion and have him
use Chakras on every turn to heal the damage Gaf is doing
to you.  Don't attack Gafgarion or open the gate; just
sit there and use Chakra.  Meanwhile, your other four
characters have to take on the gang outside the gate.
Black magic and summon spells (if you have them) are useful
because of their wide range.  So are Mustadio's Arm
Aim (use on the enemy summoner), Agrias's Stasis Sword,
and every Time Mage spell.  The trick here is in choosing
your characters and abilites well, if you have them, it's
not that difficult.  Once the melee outside the gate has
ended, move Ramza up to the switch on the left side of the
gate and he will open the door.  Then have your whole gang
rush through and attack Gafgarion.  Try to break his weapon,
or even better, steal it.  He shouldn't be too much trouble
-- the hard part is the fight outside the gate.

--Battle 20: Inside of Lionel Castle--
Spread your characters out in your initial deployment --
Queklain will begin the battle by casting Nightmare, which
will give you various nasty status changes.  Use the Esuna
spell (if you have it available) to remedy them.  If
you don't, just wait for them to clear up (or hit your
sleeping characters to wake them up.  I wouldn't
recommend deploying magic-users in this battle; they're
not much help.  Don't bother healing your characters
(Queklain can kill them in one hit anyway), but revive
anybody who dies.  Use hit-and-run tactics whenever
possible.  There's not really much strategy to this battle,
just brute force and some luck.  Queklain has about 350 HP.

%%%CHAPTER III: THE VALIANT%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

--Battle 21: Goland Coal City--
Deploy lots of fast character (or use the Geomancer
ability Any Terrain).  Actually, it doesn't really matter
who you deploy because Olan possess the ludicrously
powerful Galaxy Stop spell, which will freeze at least
half the enemy forces every time he casts it.  The
Mediator and Chemist *do* have guns, but it doesn't
matter in the least.  You'd have to try really hard to
lose this battle, and even then I'm not sure you could
manage to.  Just try not to get any of your items stolen,
and pick up as many crystallized/chestified enemies as
you can.

--Battle 22: Back gate of Lesalia Castle--
Your other characters are behind the gate (if you were
wondering where they were).  Don't move them down off
the front of the castle; let the enemies come to you.
The majority of them will come up the right side, so
position your characters there.  If you stand on the
railing, you have a height advantage.  Because the
ememies are often in clusters, magic (and geomancy)
works well on them.  The annoying part of this battle
is Zalmo, who can cast Cure 2 and Raise 2.  When you
have the chance, start attacking him.  He'll go down
quickly.  The enemies in this level have some nice
equipment, so if you have a Thief, you might want to try
some stealing.

--Battle 23: Underground Book Storage Second Floor--
This is your first encounter with Lancers (Dragoons).  They
have a two-square range attack, and they can also jump.
If one of them jumps at a character, move that character
away before they land (if you have a chance, that is).
The Haste spell is very useful in evading jumps, and Auto
Potion is great for healing.  Take out the enemy Chemist
so he can't heal the enemies, but save the Time Mages for
last.  If you have a Red Chocobo, use them; they're
really strong (Choco Meteor!) -- just keep them healthy.

--Battle 24: Underground Book Storage Third Floor--
If you have a Thief, you'll probably want to deploy
him/her -- Izlude has some cool equipment you can steal
(you might want to Speed Break him to make it easier to
steal).  Your first order of business in this maze-like
level is to kill the Summoner -- Choco Meteor works well
if you have a Red Chocobo.   After the Summoner, go
after the archer that will have come up behind him.  At
this time Izlude and his gang will be nearing you from
behind.  Watch out; Izlude has an incredibly long jump
range.  Haste is useful to avoid it.  Ignore the other
guys and attack Izlude.  When he's low on HP, he'll
teleport away and you win.

--Battle 25: Underground Book Storage First Floor--
There are two halves to this level -- the half where
you start and the half where the bad guys start.  Just
go after Wiegraf; there's not a whole lot of strategy
here.  If you can't kill him in two or so rounds,
the other enemies will show and up and you're in
trouble.

--Battle 26: Grog Hill--
This is a run-of-the-mill battle, and it's an easy one
too.  Use your weaker characters to build them up.
The only thing remotely challenging about it is the
chemists; kill them first and you're home free.

--Battle 27: Yardow Fort City--
Deploy somebody with healing abilities or you're toast.
Block the gate to prevent the enemies from hitting Rafa,
and heal her ASAP.  The enemies start out clustered
together, so use wide-range attacks (like summon spells
or Agrias's Holy Explosion) on them.  If you've got
anybody with an attack that can go through the wall
(like Choco Meteor), try to kill the Summoners.  Stay
out of hand-to-hand range when possible; the Ninjas can
hit pretty hard.  It's tougher than it looks, but
still not particularly difficult.

--Battle 28: Yuguo Woods--
Use cure spells (particularly Chakra) to do damage to
the undead (note: the Revenant is NOT undead, but
everybody else -- including the humans -- is).  The two
Black Mages are your toughest opponents.  Summon spells
also work well, as the enemies are usually packed together.
You have to win this quickly, because the undead guys
will revive when their counter runs out.

--Battle 29: At the gate of Riovanes Castle--
Deploy your faster characters in the second squad (Red
Chocobos are very useful here).  Send them up the stairs
to join Ramza's group at the drawbridge.  Try not to
take out Malak right away, as Rafa will teleport away
when you do.  Go after the knights instead.  When the
knights get low enough that they start running away,
rush the castletop and use range attacks on the archers.
Keep your close-range fighters in the rear to fight
off the knights.  If you keep killing off one of the
knights, the other ones will keep bringing him back with
Phoenix Down, thus wasting their turns.  The Monk's Revive
ability is useful in bringing back your dead guys.  Once the
archers are dead, go after the remaining knights.

--Battle 30: Inside of Riovanes Castle--
Despite all the hype surrounding him, Wiegraf
really isn't that difficult at all, if you know how
to beat him.  For his first form, you have just Ramza.
Run from Wiegraf and keep using the Yell ability to
boost your speed.  If you can, sucker Wiegraf into
going into the water and you'll be safe for a turn.
If need be (when Auto-Potion doesn't activate), use
X-Potions on yourself to heal.  Eventually (after you
keep Yelling), you will get fast enough that you will
get two turns in a row frequently.  Use these extra
turns to get further away from Wiegraf (out of
Lightning Stab range), and keep Yelling.  You will
reach a point where you will not have to use all
your moves to get out of Wiegraf's range.  Now you
can wait those extra moves and get even more turns,
allowing you to Yell more.  Keep going until you are
maxed out at 50 speed.  Then use Accumulate a few times
to build up your attack power.  Now start blasting at
Wiegraf with your gun (and still moving when necessary).
About four shots should do the trick.  Wiegraf will
disappear, only to return shortly later as Velius.  Yup,
it's not over yet.  Your other characters will now show
up, but Wiegraf summons three Archaic Demons.  You still
have all your speed and power increases, so just stand
still and shoot away.  You should be able to kill him
before he gets to move (he has about 1000 HP).  If not,
have your other guys start attacking him (if they can get
close enough) or jumping at him (if they can't).  You may
still be able to beat him.

--Battle 31: Roof of Riovanes Castle--
It is entirely possible (and actually highly likely) that
Rafa will be killed before you ever get to move, causing
you to lose.  It took me six tries before I actually
got a turn (and then it took me another eight tries after
that to beat this stupid level).  When you do finally get
to move, HEAL RAFA.  Then use a decoy to draw the enemies
away from her.  This level is almost all luck.  Concentrate
one of Elmdor's assassins -- once one of them goes down,
you win.  You either win it in one round or die in one round
(usually it's the latter).

%%%CHAPTER IV: SOMEONE TO LOVE%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

--Battle 32: Doguola Pass--
There's not a whole lot to say about this fight, because
it's nothing you haven't seen many times before.  Send
one or two characters up to the top of the pass while
your other guys fight the main group of enemies.

--Battle 33: Bervenia Free City--
Deploy fast and/or shooting characters in the second
squad, and fighters in the first squad.  Equip the
Arrow Guard ability on anybody who has it.  Then, as
in most boss battles, just rush Meliadoul.  Spread
your characters out to avoid taking too much damage
from the summon spells.

--Battle 34: Finath River--
When deploying characters, don't put anybody on the
solitary square in the second squad; it's in the middle
of the water.  This battle is against nothing but
chocobos (and one pig).  Yup, chocobos.  It's actually
kind of annoying because the chocobos can keep healing
themselves -- so concentrate on one choc at a time.
The Red Chocobo is the toughest, kill him first (or
invite it into your party; red chocs are good).
However, this really is another no-brainer level, if
a long one.

--Battle 35: Church outside the town--
You'll have Delita as a guest in this battle.  He has
most of Agrias' sword techniques, except his are much
more powerful.  Without him, this would be a tough
battle, but with him, it's a pushover.  Don't
stand between Delita and the enemies or you'll get
hit with his Holy Explosions (and they're *strong*
Holy Explosions).  A cool trick to use is to stand
next to the guys that Zalmo is going to cast Cure 3
on (you can find out in the AT list, just click on
Zalmo's name) for free healing.

--Battle 36: Bed Desert--
You start this battle with all your characters
poisoned.  If you've got somebody with the Esuna
spell, use it, but don't bring somebody just for
that spell.  However, I would bring somebody who
can steal, as Balk has a lot of cool equipment
(Blaze Gun, Flash Hat, Light Robe).  Your strategy
here is typical of bosses -- just kill off the head
honcho and leave everybody else.  Balk makes it a
little more interesting by retreating to the back of
the battlefield and sniping at you.  Try to cast
Slow on him at the start of the fight -- not only
does this reduce his speed (and allow you to catch
up to him), it makes it easier to steal his gun.
Others useful ability here are Counter Magic, as
a powerful mage will be casting spells at you from
a distance, and Move-HP Up (to offset the damage you
take from the poison).  Your strategy here really
depends on what Balk does -- one time he ran into the
corner and the other guys came towards me, another
time they all gathered on the ruins and took pot
shots at me.  However, once Balk picks a position, he
usually stays there for the duration of the battle.

--Battle 37: South Wall of Bethla Garrison--
Get up on the walls as soon as you can; it's a very
advantageous position.  This works especially well
if you've got archers -- station them up there, don't
move (to fill up your CT faster), and just shoot at
the enemies.  Leave the magic-users behind (unless
they have Equip Armor or some other such ability)
on this one; they'll get killed easily.

--Battle 37: North Wall of Bethla Garrison--
(strategy provided by Justin McKennon)
If you don't have the Ignore Height movement ability,
you'll have a bad time because of the Summoner on the
ramparts. Give Ignore Height to one or two units and
immediately send them up after the enemy Summoner. A
Ninja, if you have one, can take care of him in the first
two rounds.  Send the others over to the 'step' of sorts
to get over the low point of the wall, and start attacking
the Lancers and Archers, and try to either deal with
the lone  Monk on the ground quickly, or otherwise save him
for last.

--Battle 38: In front of Bethla Garrison's Sluice--
All you have to do in this level is open the dam, but
since the switches to do so are located on the far side
of the dam and have knights standing on them, you
basically have to kill all the enemies to do so.  Split
up your characters and go up the paths.  If you have
a dragoon, a fun trick to do is stand under the dam
wall and use jump attacks on the knights.  As long as
none of your other characters gets close to them, the
knights won't move and will just sit there while you
jump on them.  Once you do kill everybody, let them
decompose and pick up the crystals or treasure chests
(since there's nobody around to hurt you).  Also, if
you want some easy JP, just stand around, hit each
other, and heal yourselves.   Once you are ready to
end the level, move Ramza onto each of the switches
(the brown squares where the knights were standing)
and stop him there.  He will then open it -- only
Ramza can flip the switches (no, that doesn't make a
lot of sense).  You then get to watch some really
cool effects as the dam blows up.

--Battle 39: Germinas Peak--
This is the first time you get to use your new
buddy Orlandu.  For a good taste of his power, deploy
him in squad 1.  Move him up the mountain as far
as he can and then use Night Sword on the ninja
leader.  Bang, he's dead.  You almost have to feel
sorry for the poor bandits... almost.  Heh, heh.
With Night Sword you can kill one whole bad guy
each turn just with Orlandu and also refill Cid's
HP by 270 or so.  Besides Orlandu's debut, there isn't
much to speak of in this level besides one little
trick.  The archer that starts in the back corner is
carrying an Ultimus Bow, a really strong bow.  With
Orlandu on the loose, the archer won't be needed it,
so send a thief over (might want to slow or stop the
archer first) and relieve him of it.  Huh huh, he
said relieve.  (Yes, I'm in a rather weird mood.  I
think I'm drunk with Orlandu's power).

--Battle 40: Poeskas Lake--
This is a really easy battle.  Use Mustadio's Seal Evil
ability and you can gun down all the ghosts in one shot
(note: the Revnants are not considered undead).  This
is a good chance to get some weaker characters up.  The
only thing really tricky about this level is that the
Revnants will keep coming back to life if you don't
kill all the other guys (which isn't particularly
difficult).  Both the archers have Ultimus Bows if you're
in the mood for a little stealing.

--Battle 41: At the gate of Limberry Castle--
This battle looks hard at first, but it's not.  All you
have to do is weaken Celia or Lede and the battle will
end.  Use Orlandu for an easy win.  Other than
Orlandu, try to deploy female character (especially
Agrias) to avoid Celia and Lede's Allure attack.

--Battle 42: Inside of Limberry Castle--
It's just you versus Elmdor, Celia, and Lede.  Spread
out your characters as much possible to avoid
Elmdor's Muramasa Draw Out.  I hope you are wearing
Angel Rings like I suggested, because otherwise
Celia and Lede will use Stop Bracelet (an 100%-working
death spell on you) -- if you do have the rings,
they'll "only" Stop you.  First, let Celia or Lede cast
Ultima on Ramza -- if they start casting it on somebody
else, just move Ramza over to stand by them.  When
Ramza gets hit by Ultima (and he must be a Squire), he
will automatically learn it.  You will notice the
cursor flick briefly on him, signifying that he's
learned it.  Once you've learned Ultima, concentrate
on killing Elmdor (don't kill Celia or Lede; they'll
turn into Ultima Demons).  Physical attacks are nearly
useless, but Orlandu's and Agrias's sword techniques
will work great.  Also, whenever Celia or Lede starts
casting Ultima, have the targeted character sttand
next to Elmdor so he takes some damage too (100-200).

Note: Elmdor is equipped with the Genji Armor, Helmet,
Shield, and Glove.  This is really powerful
equipment, but you will have an impossible time
stealing it from him (less than 10%).  If you do
decide to try, cast Haste on your thief or Slow
on Elmdor, get behind Elmdor, and then steal the
Shield first (as it will raise the success rate on
the other items).  I don't recommend trying (as this
level is so hard anyway), but it's there if you want
a challenge.

--Battle 43: Undergrond cemetery of Limberry Castle--
Deploy Mustadio and have him use Seal Evil on the
Knights (don't bother killing the skeletons -- let
them fight with Meliadoul).  Attack Zalera with
Ultima, Holy Explosion and Orlandu's sword techniques
(especially Night Sword and Crush Punch).  Don't
bother healing your characters, just pound on Zarela.
He has about 1100 HP.

--Battle 44: Inside of Igros Castle--
The victory condition for this battle states that you
must defeat "Dycedarg's elder brother".  Luckily (as
Dycedarg doesn't HAVE any elder brother), you just have
to defeat Dycedarg instead (I think they meant "defeat
Ramza's elder brother Dycedarg").  This level is really
easy to beat with the right strategy.  Just use sword
Agrias's, Orlandu's, and Meliadoul's sword techniques
to hit Dycedrag from down below.  Don't bother running
up onto the arch; you can kill Dycedarg in two rounds
(or less) from below.  Things will get a bit more
interesting when Dycedarg turns into Adramelk.  Start
this battle as you did the last one (using sword
techniques).  Adramelk will move, however, rendering
this technique useless.  Leave your weakest character
there as a decoy, then send the rest of your team
under the arch and up the stairs.  If somebody gets
confused, hit them to unconfuse them.  Adramelk has
1500 HP and is pretty tough -- it might take you a
couple tries to beat him.

--Battle 45: St. Murond Temple--
This battle is noteworhty because it is (I believe)
the only time the enemy has Geomancers or Mediators.
Deplpy Agrias in the second squad.  Send the other
member of the second squad up after the Mediators
(give this person Finger Guard, if she/he has it),
while Agrias uses a Holy Explosion down the side of
the church to hit the Geomancers.  Send the first
squad up the steps towards the Summoner and Priest.
Those two are the most annoying opponents, so use
your best attacks on them (Orlandu can each of them
in one hit).  The Summoner has a Dragon Rod you can
steal.

--Battle 46: Hall of St. Murond Temple--
All you have to do here is weaken one of the three
and they all will retreat.  Attack Kletian,
'cause he's the weakest.  Rofel and Vormav have an
annoying habit of breaking your equipment, so finish
this up as fast as possible.

--Battle 47: Chapel of St. Murond Temple--
Unlike most boss battles, you should kill off the
flunkies (in this case, the demons) first.  The
demons are actually more powerful than Zalbag,
especially the Archaic Demons (the Ultima Demon
has some really cool-looking spells, though, like
Almagest and Nanoflare).  Zalbag has Move-HP Up,
but you can nullify this with Don't Move.  He
will also Blood Suck your characters; cure this
Holy Water.  A weird thing that happened to me
when I played this level was that Zalbag Blood
Sucked Orlandu, and then Blood Sucked him a
second time, causing Zalbag himself to become
Blood Sucked and thus keeping him from using Move-HP
Up.  However, I can't guarantee that this will
happen, as it seemed like a glitch to me.  Worker 8
is useful in this battle as he is immune to Blood
Suck (I think) and has a very long range.

--Battle 48: Underground Book Storage Fourth Floor--
Your first priority is to kill off the guys down
on the floor on the other side of the room,
especially the monks.  The archer has Yoichi's Bow
(even stronger than the Ultimus Bow), if you have a
thief along.  Use Holy Explosion and Earth Slash to
blast the knights as they come across the narrow bridge.
Mighty Sword techniques (Meliadoul and Orlandu) are also
useful against all the enemies here.  This isn't a
particularly hard battle.

--Battle 49: Underground Book Storage Fifth Floor--
Now it gets interesting.  Deploy lots of characters
with range attacks for this battle.  First of all,
the black spots on the floor are holes -- this may
seem obvious to you, but I didn't realize it at
first.  Unlike most bosses, you should try to kill
the other guys (especially the Summoners) before you
take on Rofel.  If you have Hellstar Punch, use it
on Rofel -- it will break his Save The Queen sword
and thus remove his Shell spell.  I've also heard of
the strategy of removing all your armor so Rofel can't
use his breaking attacks, but this seems like it would
do more harm than good.  I haven't tried it, so I
can't really say.

--Battle 50: Murond Death City--
Put your fast characters (or long-range guys like
Worker 8) in the second squad.   Kletian has
really strong spells and a range of the whole
battlefield.  Go back to the old rush-the-boss
routine.  Kill any guys you can, but concentrate
on taking on Kletian.  If somebody dies, don't try
to revive them, as Kletian will just kill them
again.  Try to use as few attacks to kill Kletian
as possible, as he gains magic power each time you
hit him.

--Battle 51: Lost Sacred Precincts--
Deply ONLY characters with strong long range attacks.
Squad 2 is almost useless, don't put your good
characters there.  If you cross over to Balk's side of
the arena, his monsters will tear you to shreds, so
don't do it unless you can finish Balk off with your
attack.  This level is basically a big firefight
between you and Balk.  If you have good range
attackers (cough cough ORLANDU cough cough), you
should be able to beat him without too much trouble.

--Battle 52: Graveyard of Airships--
Hashmalum has some powerful spells, but you have
an ace up your sleeve... can you guess what it is?
No, not Orlandu... Worker 8!  He's immune to magic!
With Worker 8 and Orlandu blasting at him, you
shouldn't have too much trouble killing Hashmalum.
He only has 1200 HP.  You will receive the
Ragnarok sword when you win the battle.

--Battle 53: Graveyard of Airships--
Be sure to deploy your best characters for this, the
final battle.  In my case, this was Ramza, Mustadio,
Orlandu, Worker 8, and Agrias.  Note that Alma will
fight on your side in this battle.  However, all she
will do is cast Mbarrier, get killed, come back to
life (because Mbarrier includes Regen), and repeat.
Just ignore her and leave her as a target.  You
should also ignore the Ultima Demons, pests though
they may be.  It only takes about 1300 points of
damage to defeat Ajora's first form, but if it
teleports to the other side of the ship, you're
toast.  You then take on the second form.  This one
has a whopping 3000 HP, but is actually easier,
because there aren't any Ultima Demons around.
Altima will teleport back and forth; if you can't
hit it, stay to the middle of the ship as it will
move again on its next turn.  Once you defeat
Ajora's second form, you win the game.
Congratulations!

%%%CLOUD SUBQUEST%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

--Cloud Battle 1: Colliery underground third floor--
For some reason, you are being attacked by a large band
of chemists (and this doesn't really look very
"underground", does it?).  There really isn't any
particular strategy here.  Calculators are good here
though, as they can hit the far-away chemists with
Calculated spells.  It's helpful if you can paralyze
some of the chemists (although Beowulf will often do
that for you -- just stay out of his way).  And having
fast characters helps.

--Cloud Battle 2: Colliery underground second floor--
This level is a lot like the previous, except all but
one of the chemists are replaced by two thieves and
two behemoths (the second behemoth is hiding in the
cubby-hole behind the thief near your start position).
The only noteworthy thing here is that the chemist is
carrying a Blaze Gun (which shoots ice... don't ask);
try to steal it from him.

--Cloud Battle 3: Colliery underground first floor--
This time, you're fighting two chemists, two Blue
Dragons, and a dancing pig (huh?).  Just ignore the
pig; it can't do any harm.  The Blue Dragons, however,
can, and will, do harm.  Use fire attacks on them,
and do NOT use ice attacks.  Agrias's and Cid's
sword techniques are your best offense on them (as
usual).

--Cloud Battle 4: Underground passage in Goland--
Kill the Plagues first; they will petrify or death
sentence you if given the chance (they're weak
against ice).  If the enemies get lined up in the
narrow passage, use Earth Slash or Holy Explosion
on them.  After taking out the Plagues, go after
Sinogue (Reis should take care of the Molbol-type
enemies).  Make sure to keep Reis healed.  Sinogue
uses Giga Flare a lot, which isn't nearly as
powerful as it looks (although it does do a number
on the frame rate ^_^).  He doesn't have very
much HP, so you might be able to kill him with
one shot with Orlandu.  This battle isn't as tough as
it looks (a rarity in this game).

--Cloud Battle 5: Nelveska Temple--
This battle, however, is tougher than it looks.  The
enemies hit hard and hit fast.  You just have to hit
harder than them.  Attack on the Hydras with your
first attack and you should be able to kill off one.
You will then be swarmed by the Cockatrices; kill
them next.  Finish off the other Hydra next, then
go after Worker 7.  His attacks are really strong
so watch out, and he can't be harmed by magic.
When you kill him the first time, he'll come back with
1 HP, so kill him again.  The battle should be
interesting, but not too hard.

--Cloud Battle 6: Zarghidas Trade City--
If you can't win this battle, you shouldn't be playing
the game.  Just make sure Cloud stays healthy.
Meliadoul's Mighty Sword techniques are useful here.

%%%DEEP DUNGEON%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

--Level 1: NOGIAS--
Because you start out on the top, you can use lots of
ranged attacks on your opponents.  They're early-game
guys, anyway, so they shouldn't be that difficult.
It's a good warm-up for the tougher Deep Dungeon battles,
though.  Remember, if you kill all the enemies without
finding the exit, you'll have to redo it (which is
okay if you're in danger of losing).
(2, 2) Blaze Gun
(0, 9) Glacier Gun
(9, 4) Kiyomori
(0, 6) Elixir

--Level 2: TERMINATE--
This level is a head-on confrontation between you and
your opponents, although you still have a bit of a
height advantage.  The enemy's forces are usually
comprised of Archers, Ahrimans, and Skeletons, so
you'll need your own strong range attackers (or the
Arrow Guard ability), particularly Worker 8.  Take
out the archers first, then go after the Ahrimans,
and finally the Skeletons.  If you fight mages or
Ghosts instead, it's a much easier battle.  Both
groups of enemies are significantly more difficult
than NOGIAS, however.
(6, 7) Blood Sword
(2 ,10) Elixir
(0, 1) Save the Queen
(4, 0) Elixir

--Level 3: DELTA--
Delta is really easy!  All you need is some range
attackers (Mustadio, Worker 8) and you're set.  The
level is made up of three islands surrounded by pits.
From your starting point, you can hit almost all of
the enemies with guns.  Since they have to navigate
around the pits, you can just stand there and blast
away, waiting out your moves.  Bring along a good
close-range fighter (like Orlandu) as well.
(5, 3) Elixir
(1, 6) Mace of Zeus
(2, 15) Elixir
(7, 9) Yoichi Bow

--Level 4: VALKYRIES--
This level is really big, which makes finding the exit
even more of a pain than usual.  Like Delta, it's got
a lot of holes in the floor.  Also like Delta, there
are usually two groups of four enemies.  Use the same
strategies you used in Delta and you should be fine.
Sometimes you'll fight large groups of Molbols here
instead; in that case, you can probably nail them with
wide-range attacks (Lightning Stab works well) as
they tend to bunch up.
(2, 12) Elixir
(8, 4) Faith Rod
(10, 5) Kaiser Plate
(10, 4) Fairy Harp

--Level 5: MLAPAN--
It sounds stupid but Mlapan is tough!  It's basically
a King of the Hill level.  You're up on top of a
cliff, which is surrounded by loads of enemies.
There's only one path up onto your ledge, which winds
around the whole level.  What you want to do is hold
the pass in one of the corners of the level -- it's
the one that's only one or two blocks wide.  You
can just send Holy Explosions down this corridor and
rip the enemies.  If you have both Agrias and Orlandu
you can cover the entire pass.  The worst enemies are
the Priests as they will keep healing / reviving the
other guys, so kill them first.  Don't try to shoot the
enemies from up on top of the mountain; I've tried it
but it doesn't work at all.  This level is tougher
than it; you'll really want Orlandu here.  With all
the carnage going on, finding the exit can be tough.
Try using a Dragoon with Ignore Height and jumping down
to the far end of the path right away.
(8, 2) Excalibur
(11, 0) Elixir
(11, 6) Iga Knife
(0, 6) Elixir

--Level 6: TIGER--
Tiger seems really small at first, but scroll around to
see the whole picture.  It's a mostly flat level with
three big rock ridges.  Use a long range attack to get
a feel for where they are.  You'll have to wind your
way through the ridges to get across the level, but a
much better strategy is to just cast magic through them.
Lightning Stab and call spells work great for this
purpose.  Note that all the hidden items are right
in the starting corner -- there's no excuse not to
pick them up.
(9, 9) Secret Clothes
(10, 9) Elixir
(10, 8) Blast Gun
(9, 8) Cursed Ring

--Level 7: BRIDGE--
Bridge is a flat level with a big rock ridge through
the middle (the bridge, I guess).  You start off next
to one of the ends of the ridge.  Cross the level the
long way and fight off anybody there, using the height
to your advantage.  Don't let your characters get
spread out or you are dead meat.  There's no real need
to climb up onto the top of the ridge except to find
the items stashed up there (be sure to have a high
Jump height).  This can be a tough battle (especially
given that you have to find the exit), so it make take
you a few tries.  If you fight any monsters called
Sacred, poach them for the best spear in the game.
(4, 4) Elixir
(10, 4) Sage Staff
(12, 4) Koga Knife
(14, 4) Elixir

--Level 8: VOYAGE--
This level is basically a cliff with two levels; you
start on the high one.  You'll either fight a small
group of humans (and possibly low-level monsters), or
some really powerful monsters (Behemoths, Dragons,
Hydras).  Against the latter, just try to survive --
use call spells, Holy Explosion, and Break.  Don't go
out of your way to find stuff, although go for it if
you can.  Fighting the humans will give you a chance to
find the exit and the items.  Be sure to check all the
humans to see if they have the Move-Find Item ability;
if they do, put Don't Move on them or kill them right
away to prevent them from picking up the items before
you (and, yes, I've seen that happen -- I reset when it
did).  If the enemies (of any time) appear below you,
don't try to shoot down on them -- walk the long way
around the battlefield.  Depending on who you fight,
Voyage can be a tough battle or a pushover.
(6, 4) Perseus Bow
(7, 6) Robe of Lords
(8, 9) Ragnarok
(10, 10) Elixir

--Level 9: HORROR--
"Horror" is not an accurate name for this level.  It
has two pillars (with a tiny one in between) and a
lower level, and is usually swarming with ninjas and
samurai.  They don't have a lot of HP and are easy to
take out.  Kill the ninjas first; they're the ones that
can throw stuff.  Be aware that enemies like to hide
between the pillars where they are difficult to see;
don't forget about them.  Sometimes, however, instead
of the ninja and samurai convention, you get dragons
and cockatrices.  Then it's tougher.   Try to stay in
a tight group on the pillars and use your best
attacks.  Attack the cockatrices first, then go for
the dragons closest to you.  Finding the exit in this
level is tricky; equip Ignore Height to get in more
easily.  If you don't have it, you can reach the lower
level from the lowest point of the plateau where
the Maximillian armor is located.  Two of the items are
down there as well.
(4, 3) Grand Helmet
(5, 3) Venetian Shield
(0, 9) Maximillian
(10, 3) Elixir

--Level 10: END--
This level is just a confrontation with Elidibs and a
whole pile of Apandas.  Big Hint #1: The purple Apanda
behind you, Byblos, is on your side.  Don't kill him;
he's your friend.  Fight your way up the stairs (Lightning
Stab works wonders on the Apandas).  Bring a Mediator and
use Solution constantly to lower your faith.  The
Apandas aren't hard to kill, so you'll reach Elidibs
quickly.  He casts the extremely powerful Zodiac call
spell (700+ damage).  If he starts charing something up,
it's Zodiac -- get out of the way if you can!  Split your
guys up so he can't take out too many at one time.  Healing
is pointless because he will kill you no matter how much
HP you have (Byblos will also take care of some of the
healing).  Do, however, revive dead characters, and pick
up the crystals left by the dead Apandas to restore your
HP and MP (especially if you used MP Switch to escape
Zodiac).  Angel Rings are a big help in this battle.  If
you're using Beowulf, DON'T heal him so his Shock does more
damage.  If you are trying to learn Zodiac, don't do too much
damage to Elidibs until you get the spell so you won't kill him
on accident.  Elidibs has 2600-2700 HP; if you can
keep Orlandu alive you shouldn't have too much trouble
beating him.
A note about the items on this level: Yes, there are items
(contrary to what I had stated in previous versions).
However, there are no traps over the items -- if you
don't have Move-Find, you won't see a thing.  That's
why I thought there weren't any.  Oh, and DON'T try to
get the items during the battle with Elidibs -- come back
after you beat him.
(7, 10) Chaos Blade
(5, 12) Chirijiraden
(7, 12) Elixir
(5, 10) Elixir

*******************************************************
V. JOBS
*******************************************************

A few (well, many) words of explanation... the R
column stands for range.  The first number is how many
panels the ability reaches (the range value), the
second is how big the impact area is (the effect value).
An "A" as the first number is Auto, that means it can
only target the panel you're standing on.  "4Dir" is
4 directions; the ability has an unlimited reach, but
only in the cardinal directions.

Some abilities have been marked with * or +s.  A *
means the ability is one of the job's best, a + means
that the ability is automatically used by the job,
it's only used by other jobs (for example, the Ninja
doesn't need its Two Swords ability to equip two
weapons).

Finally, for spells, you may see an "R" and/or a "C"
after its MP cost.  R means the spell can be reflected,
C means it can be caluculated.

%%%STANDARD JOBS%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

---Squire----------------------------------------------

Job Requirements: none
Weapons: Knife, sword, axe, hammer
Armor: Hat, clothes

                MP   SPD  R  JP   EFFECT
             ----------------------------------

ACTION ABILITIES: BASIC SKILL
Accumulate *             A/1 300  Phys. attack + 1
Dash                     1/1 75   Weak physical attack
Throw Stone *            4/1 90   Weak ranged physical attack
Heal                     1/1 150  Cures Dark, Silence, Poison

REACTION ABILITIES
Counter Tackle *             180  Counter w/ dash when attacked

SUPPORT ABILITIES
Equip Axe *                  170  Can equip axes
Monster Skill                200  Nearby monsters gain abilites
Defend                       50   Reduce damage received
Gained Jp UP *               200  Raises JP received

MOVEMENT ABILITES
Move+1 *                     200  Move range + 1

Evaluation: Squires are what you'd expect from a starting
job -- functional, but nothing all that special.  Their
abilities are useful early on, but there aren't very many
that you'd use later on (Gained JP Up, and possibly Equip
Axe and Move+1).  However, I recommend that you Master, or
come close to Mastering, the Squire job before you move
on, as you need all the abilities you can get at the start
of the game.

---Chemist---------------------------------------------

Job Requirements: none
Weapons: Knife, gun
Armor: Hat, clothes

                MP   SPD  R  JP   EFFECT
             ----------------------------------

ACTION ABILITIES: ITEM
Potion *                     ?    Can use Potions
Hi-Potion *                  200  Can use Hi-Potions
X-Potion *                   300  Can use X-Potions
Ether                        300  Can use Ethers
Hi-Ether                     400  Can use Hi-Ethers
Elixir                       900  Can use Elixirs
Antidote                     70   Can use Antidotes
Eye Drop                     80   Can use Eye Drops
Echo Grass                   120  Can use Echo Grass
Maiden's Kiss                200  Can use Maiden's Kisses
Soft                         250  Can use Soft potions
Holy Water                   400  Can use Holy Water
Remedy *                     700  Can use Remedies
Phoenix Down *               90   Can use Phoenix Down

REACTION ABILITIES
Auto Potion *                400  Use lowest potion when damaged

SUPPORT ABILITIES
Throw Item +*                350  Increases item range
Maintenance                  250  Equipment can't be broken
Equip Change                 0    Change equipment during battle

MOVEMENT ABILITIES
Move-Find Item               100  Find items at destination

Evaluation: Despite being a "basic" job, Chemists are
great!  You'll always want at least one person with
Chemist abilities in any battle (and be sure to give them
Throw Item so they can function properly).  Item is
also a good secondary ability early in the game.  Skip
the condition-curing items (Eye Drops, etc.); they're
useless.

---Knight----------------------------------------------

Job Requirement: Squire lv. 2
Weapons: Sword, knight sword
Armor: Shield, helmet, armor, robe

                MP   SPD  R  JP   EFFECT
             ----------------------------------

ACTION ABILITIES: BATTLE SKILL
Head Break               N/A 300  Destroys target's helmet
Armor Break              N/A 400  Destroys target's armor
Shield Break             N/A 300  Destroys target's shield
Weapon Break *           N/A 400  Destroys target's weapon
Magic Break              N/A 250  Lowers target's MP
Speed Break *            N/A 250  Lowers target's speed
Power Break              N/A 250  Lowers target's phys. attack
Mind Break               N/A 250  Lowers target's mag. attack

REACTION ABILITIES
Weapon Guard                 200  Parry attacks with weapon

SUPPORT ABILITIES
Equip Armor *                500  Can equip armor + helmets
Equip Shield                 250  Can equip shields
Equip Sword *                400  Can equip swords

MOVEMENT ABILITIES
none

Evaluation: The Knight's greatest asset is not its abilites
(most of which are crummy), but its inherent power to
equip swords, armor, helmets, and shields (a power that
can be transfered to other jobs with its support
abilities).  They're a good job late in the game, when
you've learned all the abilities you want and now just
want to maximize your characters' power (especially
because knights are the only job that can equip Knight
Swords, the game's most powerful weapons).  When you
first get the Knight job, just learn Equip Armor and
Equip Sword, then move on.

---Archer----------------------------------------------

Job Requirements: Squire lv. 2
Weapons: Bow, crossbow
Armor: Shield, hat, clothes

                MP   SPD  R  JP   EFFECT
             ----------------------------------

ACTION ABILITIES: CHARGE
Charge+1 *               N/A 100  Charge up attack
Charge+2 *               N/A 150  Charge up attack
Charge+3 *               N/A 200  Charge up attack
Charge+4                 N/A 250  Charge up attack
Charge+5                 N/A 300  Charge up attack
Charge+7                 N/A 400  Charge up attack
Charge+10                N/A 600  Charge up attack
Charge+20                N/A 1000 Charge up attack

REACTION ABILITIES
Speed Save *                 800  Raise speed when damaged
Arrow Guard *                450  Evade arrow attacks

SUPPORT ABILITIES
Equip Crossbow               350  Can equip crossbows
Concentrate *                400  Can't miss

MOVEMENT ABILITIES
Jump+1                       200  Jump height + 1

Evaluation: I like archers.  Their Action Ability
(Charge) isn't that good, but their Reaction and
Support Abilities, and they can equp bows (note that
no other job, even with the Equip Crossbow ability,
can use longbows).  When equipping archers, never
use crossbows, always go with the 2-handers.

---Monk------------------------------------------------

Job Requirements: Knight lv. 2
Weapons: none
Armor: none

                MP   SPD  R  JP   EFFECT
             ----------------------------------

ACTION ABILITIES: PUNCH ART
Spin Fist                A/2 150  Physical attack
Repeating Fist