--MOUNT BERVENIA--

From Riovanes Common : Floating Eye, Ahriman, Plague Horror

Uncommon : Exploder, Skeleton, Bonesnatch,

Skeletal Fiend, Archer

Rare : Bomb, Grenade, Cockatrice

Very Rare: Mystic

From Zeklaus Desert Common : Grenade, Bonesnatch, Skeletal Fiend

Uncommon : Exploder, Floating Eye, Behemoth

Rare : Bomb, Black Mage

Very Rare: Skeleton, Ahriman, Jura Aevis, Geomancer

--DUGEURA PASS--

From Grogh Heights Common : Chocobo, Steelhawk

Uncommon : Black Chocobo, Coeurl, Jura Aevis,

Wisenkin, Behemoth, Knight

Rare : Red Chocobo, Bomb, Grenade, Exploder,

Red Panther

Very Rare: Dryad, Monk

From Bervenia Common : Chocobo, Coeurl, Behemoth

Uncommon : Black Chocobo, Jura Aevis, Steelhawk, Archer

Rare : Red Panther, Wisenkin

Very Rare: Red Chocobo, Bomb, Dryad

--BEDDHA SANDWASTE--

From Bervenia Common : Dragon

Uncommon : Grenade, Bonesnatch, Floating Eye, Ahriman,

Plague Horror

Rare : Bomb, Exploder, Steelhawk, Wisenkin,

Minotaur, Behemoth, Blue Dragon, Archer,

Black Mage, Mystic

Very Rare: Coeurl, Vampire Cat, Geomancer

From Fort Besselat Common : Bomb, Grenade, Exploder

Uncommon : Skeleton, Bonesnatch, Skeletal Fiend,

Floating Eye, Ahriman, Dragon, Knight

Rare : Red Panther

Very Rare: Behemoth, Behemoth King, Blue Dragon,

Archer, Thief

--FINNATH CREEK--

From Bervenia Common : Chocobo, Black Chocobo, Red Chocobo,

Piscodaemon, Squidraken, Mindflayer

Uncommon : Ochu, Summoner, Mystic, Dragoon

Rare : Red Panther, Coeurl, Dragon

Very Rare: Malboro, Blue Dragon, Archer

From Zeltennia Common : Chocobo, Red Panther, Coeurl, Dryad, Malboro

Uncommon : Squidraken, Ochu, Dragon

Rare : Red Chocobo, Treant, Elder Treant,

Greater Malboro, Archer, Ninja

Very Rare: Black Chocobo, Mindflayer, Red Dragon,

Knight

--MOUNT GERMINAS--

From Sal Ghidos Common : Jura Aevis, Archer

Uncommon : Chocobo, Red Panther, Coeurl,

Plague Horror, Dragon, Red Dragon

Rare : Black Chocobo, Red Chocobo, Vampire Cat,

Steelhawk, Wisenkin, Behemoth, Black Mage,

Summoner

Very Rare: Minotaur

From Lake Poescas Common : Red Panther, Coeurl, Jura Aevis, Dragon

Uncommon : Plague Horror, Wisenkin, Red Dragon,

Archer, Monk

Rare : Vampire Cat, Steelhawk, Minotaur, Behemoth,

Dragoon

Very Rare: Blue Dragon

--LAKE POESCAS--

From Mt. Germinas Common : Bomb, Grenade, Skeleton, Bonesnatch

Uncommon : Skeletal Fiend, Ghoul, Ghast, Behemoth King

Rare : Exploder, Revenant, Cockatrice, Red Dragon,

Summoner

Very Rare: Steelhawk, Behemoth, Archer, Monk

From Limberry Common : Bomb, Grenade, Exploder, Behemoth

Uncommon : Bonesnatch, Ghast, Minotaur, Dark Behemoth

Rare : Ghoul, Behemoth King, Archer

Very Rare: Revenant, Wisenkin, Chemist, Black Mage

--DORVAULDAR MARSH--

From Limberry Common : Goblin, Gobbledygook, Piscodaemon,

Squidraken, Wisenkin, Malboro

Uncommon : Skeletal Fiend, Archer

Rare : Mindflayer, Skeleton, Bonesnatch,

Blue Dragon

Very Rare: Minotaur, Summoner

From Fort Besselat Common : Skeleton, Bonesnatch, Wisenkin, Malboro

Uncommon : Black Goblin, Squidraken, Blue Dragon

Rare : Piscodaemon, Time Mage

Very Rare: Bomb, Pig, Monk

%%%MIDLIGHT’S DEEP RANDOM BATTLES%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%00mdrb

Battles in the bonus dungeon, Midlight’s Deep, are basically random battles,

and all the rules for random battles apply here as well. (The exception is the

story battle that occurs the first time you visit floor 10, Terminus.)

When you select a particular floor of Midlight’s Deep from its menu, you will

always get into a battle. (Unlike in the overworld, there is no chance of NOT

encountering enemies.) Simply moving onto the Midlight’s Deep dot on the map

will never result in a battle.

Each floor has a different map and a different set of enemies. There is only

one "entrance" to each floor (unlike with the overworld battles, where you can

encounter different enemies depending on which direction you’re headed).

Midlight’s Deep also has some other special rules that relate to opening exits

and lighting up the darkened maps; see the Midlight’s Deep section

of the walkthrough for explanations of these changes.

--THE CREVASSE--

Common : Goblin, Black Goblin, Bomb, Wisenkin

Uncommon : Red Panther, Coeurl, Chemist, Knight, Monk

Rare : None

Very Rare: Gobbledygook, Exploder, Piscodaemon, Squire, Archer, Black Mage,

Time Mage, Summoner, Thief

--THE STAIR--

Common : Goblin, Skeleton, Bonesnatch, Archer

Uncommon : Black Goblin, Ghoul, Ghast, Floating Eye, Ahriman, Dragon

Rare : Knight, Monk, Black Mage, Time Mage, Summoner, Ninja

Very Rare: Blue Dragon

--THE HOLLOW--

Common : Piscodaemon, Squidraken, Knight, Archer, Black Mage

Uncommon : Bomb, Red Panther, Coeurl, Mindflayer, Wisenkin, Minotaur,

Behemoth

Rare : Grenade, Behemoth King

Very Rare: Skeletal Fiend, Jura Aevis, Steelhawk, Cockatrice, Elder Treant,

Squire, Thief, Orator, Mystic, Geomancer, Dragoon

--THE CATACOMBS--

Common : Jura Aevis, Malboro, Archer, Black Mage, Mystic

Uncommon : Steelhawk, Cockatrice, Ochu, Summoner

Rare : Sekhret, Greater Malboro, Monk

Very Rare: Gobbledygook, Mindflayer, Floating Eye, Minotaur, Hydra

--THE OUBLIETTE--

Common : Gobbledygook, Dryad, Treant, Elder Treant, White Mage, Black Mage

Uncommon : None

Rare : Red Panther, Ahriman, Knight, Monk, Time Mage, Summoner

Very Rare: Squire, Chemist, Archer, Thief, Orator, Mystic

--THE PALINGS--

Common : Vampire Cat, Archer, Ninja

Uncommon : Black Goblin, Squidraken, Mindflayer, Ahriman, Wisenkin, Behemoth

Rare : Goblin, Red Panther, Coeurl, Piscodaemon, Floating Eye,

Plague Horror, Minotaur, Sekhret, Dark Behemoth, Knight,

Black Mage, Samurai

Very Rare: Chocobo, Black Chocobo, Exploder, Behemoth King, Dragon

--THE CROSSING--

Common : Skeleton, Ghast, Archer, Mystic

Uncommon : Bonesnatch, Revenant, Wisenkin, Minotaur, Sekhret, Monk,

Black Mage, Thief

Rare : Skeletal Fiend, Behemoth, Behemoth King

Very Rare: Piscodaemon, Squidraken, Mindflayer, Dragon, Hydra, White Mage,

Summoner, Dragoon

--THE SWITCHBACK--

Common : Bomb, Archer

Uncommon : Red Panther, Coeurl, Dryad, Malboro, Ochu, Behemoth, Dragon,

Red Dragon, Black Mage, Summoner, Arithmetician

Rare : Grenade, Exploder, Treant, Elder Treant, Greater Malboro,

Behemoth King, Dark Behemoth, Blue Dragon, Hydra, Greater Hydra

Very Rare: None

--THE INTERSTICE--

Common : Cockatrice, Blue Dragon, Black Mage, Dragoon, Samurai, Ninja

Uncommon : Dragon, Knight, Archer, Summoner

Rare : Black Chocobo, Red Dragon, Time Mage, Mystic

Very Rare: Chocobo, Red Chocobo, Red Panther, Sekhret, Behemoth, Hydra

--TERMINUS--

Common : Chocobo, Black Chocobo, Hydra, Greater Hydra, Pig

Uncommon : Red Dragon, Tiamat, Swine, Archer, White Mage, Black Mage, Mystic

Rare : Time Mage, Summoner

Very Rare: None

%%%SPECIAL RANDOM BATTLES%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%00special

Each wilderness location on the world map has a "special" random battle that

you can sometimes encounter in place of the regular enemies listed above.

These special battles often feature unusual enemy parties, and are often extra

challenging! (The infamous 11-monk melee at Grogh Heights is particularly

brutal.) But in some of them, you may have a Guest character who helps out :)

The special battles can all only trigger when you enter a location heading in a

specific direction. For example, the special battle at Araguay Woods can only

be encountered by entering Araguay Woods from Zeirchele Falls, not from any

other direction. Even when you’re heading the correct direction, there’s still

only a random chance of triggering the special battle -- you might get no battle

or a regular random battle instead. (When a battle DOES occur, there seems to

be only a 10% or less chance of getting the special battle.)

The special battles can’t be trigged until you get to Chapter IV.

Below, I’ve listed all the special battles, the directions that you need to

walk in order to trigger them, and the enemies you’ll face. In some cases, the

exact composition of the enemy party varies, but I’ve listed the different

possibilities.

Completing any or all of the special battles does not earn you any kind of extra

prize. They’re just for fun. But, the special battle at Mount Germinas offers

you a good chance to steal some of the rare guns, the battle at Araguay Woods

lets you catch weapons from the enemy Ninjas, and the battle at Dorvauldar Marsh

sometimes offers you a Swine to recruit (it’s the only Swine that appears in

battle outside of Terminus in Midlight’s Deep).

The special battles never expire, so you can complete the same battle multiple

times.

MAP LOCATION ENTER FROM... ENEMY FORCES

Mandalia Plain Brigands’ Den 1x Red Dragon,

0-3x Blue Dragon,

0-3x GUEST: Dragon

The Siedge Weald Dorter 2x Archer (male),

1x Knight (f) or Geomancer (f),

1x Black Mage (f) or Time Mage (f),

1x Summoner (fem.) or Mystic (fem.)

Zeklaus Desert Dorter 1x Minotaur,

1x GUEST: Knight (male)

Lenalian Plateau Gariland 5x Arithmetician (random genders)

Fovoham Windflats Ziekden Fortress 2x Archer (male) or Knight (male),

3x BlackMag(fem.) or TimeMag(fem.),

Araguay Woods Zeirchele Falls 1-7x Ninjas (random genders)

Zeirchele Falls Fort Besselat 2x Black Mage (m), Time Mage (m),

Mystic (m) or Summoner (m)

1x Time Mage (m), Mystic (m), or

Summoner (m)

Balias Tor Lionel Castle 1x Chocobo or Red Chocobo,

1x Red Chocobo,

1x Behemoth,

1x Behemoth King,

1x Dark Behemoth,

1x Dragon,

1x Hydra,

1x Greater Hydra,

1x GUEST: Black Chocobo or

GUEST: Red Dragon or neither

1x GUEST: Behemoth King or

GUEST: Greater Hydra or neither

Tchigolith Fenlands Goug 2x Knight (male),

1x Archer (male) or Samurai (male),

1x Dragoon (fem.) or Archer (fem.),

1x Monk (female) or Squire (female)

Balias Swale Golgollada Gallows 1x Ahriman or Chocobo,

1x Plague Horror or Black Chocobo,

1x Malboro or Red Chocobo,

1x Malboro or Tiamat,

1x Ochu or Tiamat

Grogh Heights Lesalia 11x Monk (male)

The Yuguewood Yardrow 7x Samurai (male)

Mount Bervenia Riovanes Castle 1x Goblin or Black Goblin,

1x Ghast or Black Goblin,

1x Revenant or Red Chocobo,

1x Behemoth or Chocobo,

1x Behemoth King or Black Chocobo

Dugeura Pass Grogh Heights 3x Monk (male) or Time Mage (fem.),

1x Archer (female) or Black Choc.,

1x Archer (female) or Red Choc.

Beddha Sandwaste Bervenia 1x Knight (m) or Archer (f),

1x Archer (f) or Geomancer (m),

1x Knight (m) or Summoner (f),

1x Archer (f) or Geomancer (m),

1x Geomancer (m) or Summoner (f)

Finnath Creek Zeltennia Castle 5x Behemoth,

1x Piscodaemon,

1x GUEST: Goblin,

0-4x GUEST: Wisenkin

Mount Germinas Sal Ghidos 3x Chemist (random genders),

2x Orator (random genders)

Lake Poescas Mount Germinas 2x Black Mage (male),

1x Time Mage (m) or Mystic (m),

1x Summoner (f) or Chemist (f),

1x White Mage (f) or Black Mage (f)

Dorvauldar Marsh Fort Besselat 2x Squire (male) or Minotaur or

Chocobo

2x Squire (male) or Wisenkin or

Black Chocobo,

1x Squire (male) or Sekhret or

Red Chocobo or GUEST: Swine

%%%GUEST CHARACTERS IN RANDOM BATTLES%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%00guest

At a few random battle locations, you’ll occasionally get into a random battle

where you’re joined by a Guest character. These characters (usually monsters)

will fight alongside you for the duration of the battle.

In general, these Guests are just temporary assistance and cannot be permanently

recruited to your roster. However, the Swine at Dorvauldar Marsh will join your

team after the battle, assuming it wasn’t killed during the battle (KOed is

fine).

BATTLEFIELD ENTER FROM... GUEST

Mandalia Plain Eagrose Castle Chocobo

Mandalia Plain Gariland Red Panther

Mandalia Plain Brigands’ Den Chocobo

Mandalia Plain Brigands’ Den Dragoon (female)

Zeklaus Desert Dorter Knight (male)

Zeklaus Desert Gollund Steelhawk

Balias Tor Lionel Castle Black Chocobo

Balias Tor Lionel Castle Behemoth King

Balias Tor Lionel Castle Red Dragon

Balias Tor Lionel Castle Greater Hydra

Finnath Creek Zeltennia Castle Goblin

Finnath Creek Zeltennia Castle Wisenkin

Beddha Sandwaste Bervenia Red Dragon

Dorvauldar Marsh Fort Besselat Swine

*******************************************************************************

XIV. OTHER GAME INFORMATION

*******************************************************************************

%%%BASIC MECHANICS AND TACTICS%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%00basic

This section covers some basic elements of the gameplay system, as well as a

few key tactics for almost any battle!

---EVASION RATES---

You’ve probably noticed that the status screen features three numbers for each

character’s evade rate. The first number, C-Ev, comes from the character’s

current class/job. It’s effective only against attacks from the FRONT. The

second number, S-Ev, comes from the character’s shield; it’s effective against

attacks from the front and side, but NOT from the back. The final number,

A-Ev, comes from the character’s accessory (i.e., cloaks) and is effective

against ALL attacks.

And, of course, there are separate evade rates for both physical and magick

attacks. No job actually has a magick C-Ev greater than 0, so magick can be

evaded only with a shield or cloak.

You can plan your attacks with these evade rates in mind. If an enemy has a

shield, attack him or her from behind. (Note that if an enemy doesn’t have a

shield, attacking from the side or behind are equally effective.) If an enemy

has a high overall physical evade rate, use magick -- or guns, which ignore

evade rates completely. Finally, equipping the Archer’s Concentration ability

completely prevents your physical attacks from being evaded. And, of course,

positioning your own characters so that their backs/sides can’t be attacked

helps you evade enemy attacks.

Note that the Shirahadori, First Strike, and Archer’s Bane reaction abilities

stop attacks outright and are independent of evade rate.

---FRIENDLY (AND UNFRIENDLY) FIRE---

Most magicks affect not just the targeted character or tile, but also the

surrounding panels. (The radius of this effect varies from magick to magick.)

Geomancy, Iaido, and a number of sword techniques and monster abilities also

have this effect. This area effect can of course be used to hit multiple

enemies, but you can also exploit it in a number of other ways. If an enemy

is a little too far out of range to target directly with the magick, you may

still be able to target a somewhat closer tile and catch the enemy in the

wider effect radius. (This is a good tactic for hitting more distant enemies.)

The same is true for using White Magick or Time Magick to assist distant

allies.

Of course, you also need to watch out for a "friendly fire" effect when casting

magicks -- you don’t want to hit your own characters in the effect radius! If

one of your allies is standing close to an enemy, you’ll hurt him or her if you

target the enemy directly. So, one solution is to target a more remote panel

that will catch the enemy in the effect radius of your spell, but leave your

ally out of range. (Of course, this also works in reverse for when you want to

heal an ally, but not an enemy.) Just make sure the enemy won’t be able to

move before the magick is cast.

Note that Summons and Iaido abilities ONLY target the "correct" units. They

won’t hurt allies, or heal enemies.

---KO COUNTDOWN---

A character who’s been KOed (lost all his or her HP) has a countdown over his

or her head. This countdown starts at 2 and then counts down to 1, 0, and

finally death.

When a character’s KO countdown counts down to death, the character permanently

dies and turns into either a chest or a crystal that someone else can pick up.

> Chest: This contains an item -- either a consumable Item, or a piece of

equipment that the character was wearing. (Monsters will only yield

consumable Items.)

> Crystals: Picking up a crystal gives you a choice of EITHER fully restoring

your HP and MP, OR learning some of the dead character’s abilities.

(Monster crystals only allow you to restore HP/MP.)

A character who is currently KOed with a counter can be cured with many

different abilities (e.g. Phoenix Down, Raise, Revive, etc.) or by completing

the battle before the countdown expires.

However, there is NO way to bring back a character who has been turned into a

chest or crystal (aside from reloading from a previous save).

---CT GAUGE & RAPID TURNS---

The CT gauge controls when each character gets a turn. When your CT gauge

fills, you get a turn. (Unlike many Final Fantasy games, there is no real-time

ATB element here. The CT gauge does not fill when you’re looking at a menu.)

Your character’s Speed determines how quickly the CT gauge fills; raising your

Speed will get you more turns!

Normally, you can both Move and Act during a turn. If you do both, your CT

gauge empties to 0. However, if you do only ONE and then select Wait, your CT

gauge only drops back to 20, and if you do neither (just Waiting out your

turn), the CT gauge drops back to 40. This means that you can get turns much

more quickly! So, you shouldn’t have each character always Move AND Act if

they don’t really need to do one or the other. Using Wait to get extra turns

like this is a CRUCIAL tactic on maps where you’re outnumbered and need to get

as many turns as you can. Have your characters attack while remaining

stationary whenever possible.

(The Immobilize and Disable status conditions, which prevent you from Moving

or Acting, respectively, actually penalize your CT gauge as if you DID Move

or Act. Alas.)

The Haste status makes a character’s CT gauge fill faster and the Quick magick

makes it fill to 100 instantly. On the other hand, the Slow status makes it

fill more slowly and the Stop status makes it fill not at all.

---UNIT VS. PANEL TARGETING---

Most abilities that do not activate instantly give you a choice between Unit

and Panel targeting when you select a target.

> Unit targeting: The magick will target the unit you’ve selected, even if

he/she moves to another tile. Note that it does NOT matter if the unit is

no longer within the magick’s original range.

> Panel targeting: The magick will target the tile on the map that you’ve

selected, even if the unit that’s currently there moves out.

Use Unit targeting if you want to target a specific character -- say, to heal a

specific ally or attack a specific enemy. (This is probably what you’ll use

most of the time.) Another nice thing about Unit targeting is that you can use

it to hit an enemy even if s/he tries to flee out of range. You can also

target an enemy with Unit targeting, then retreat from danger. The magick will

still hit its chosen target even though you’re now well away from the enemies!

Use Panel targeting if you’re more concerned with hitting a group of targets

than any specific individual. This way, even if one individual unit moves, you

can still cast the magick on all the other units. Another good time to use

Panel targeting is when you’re aiming a magick at a particular "choke-point" on

the map (such as a bridge or hallway). Here, you’re not trying to hit any

particular enemy so much as blasting whatever enemy approaches you.

The Archer’s Aim attack, the Dragoon’s Jump attack, and Cloud’s Limit abilities

can ONLY use Panel targeting. If the enemy moves out of the way while these

attacks are charging, you’re out of luck.

---BRAVERY AND FAITH---

Bravery and Faith are two really important statistics -- so important, in fact,

that I’ve created an entire section about them! See "Bravery and Faith" under

Statistics and Leveling :)

---IMPROVE STEALING ODDS---

You can boost the success rate of the Steal command in a number of ways:

- Put the enemy to Sleep - using a Sleep Blade weapon, Mimic Darlavon

(Orator), Repose (Mystic), etc.

- Target the enemy from behind or to the side, so the move will be harder to

evade.

- Putting Disable status on the enemy (e.g. with Arm Shot) will also prevent

the enemy from evading, although the steal may still fail.

- Equip Concentration (Archer) or Brawler (Monk) as a support ability. (If

you’re using Concentration, then there’s no need to try to steal from behind

as the enemy can’t evade anyway.)

- Increase your Speed statistic, or decrease the enemy’s Speed. Or, switch

your stealing character to a job that has a high speed rating (e.g. Thief or

Ninja)

- Use Balthier’s Plunder abilities, which have a somewhat higher success rate

than the regular Steal command

- Surround the character from whom you’re trying to steal with both your main

thief and a Mime; the Mime will duplicate all of your Steal attempts

- And, of course, stealing using a character who has good Zodiac compatibility

with the target will improve your success, though you often don’t have a lot

of options here...

It’s helpful to use one or more of these tactics if you’re interested in

stealing enemy gear, as the Steal command has a pretty low success rate

otherwise.

---AUTO-X-POTION---

The Auto-Potion reaction ability normally causes you to (sometimes) use a

Potion when attacked. However, if there aren’t any Potions in your inventory,

you’ll use a Hi-Potion instead, and if there aren’t any Hi-Potions, you’ll use

an X-Potion. Once you start getting Hi-Potions and X-Potions, then, it’s

actually a great idea to throw out your weaker potions so Auto-Potion will

only use Hi-Potions or X-Potions -- you can heal yourself for a lot more HP

that way! (This trick is particularly important in the Wiegraf battle in

Chapter III.)

---CRYSTAL LOOT---

When you collect a crystal from a defeated enemy human and select Acquire

Abilities, you can point the cursor to any of several abilities. Don’t be

fooled! You’re not making a choice here, you actually learn ALL the abilities

listed. This makes collecting crystals a great way to learn abilities quickly!

---MOVING THROUGH UNITS---

When moving, it’s possible to move "through" friendly units but not enemy

units. Enemy units must be navigated AROUND rather than through. KOed allied

and KOed enemies follow the same rules as their conscious counterparts. (The

Teleport and Fly movement abilities *will* let you move through enemy units.)

---OVER MY DEAD BODY---

It’s not possible to stand on the same tile as a KOed character. This means

you can actually use KOed bodies as a pretty good "shield" to guard your back,

which can come in handy in maps with a lot of enemies.

---CURING & DRAINING THE UNDEAD---

As per Final Fantasy standards, undead enemies take damage when hit with Cure

spells, and the Arise spell works like an instant KO attack! (Raise will also

do damage equal to 1/2 of the enemy’s max HP -- thus KOing if it’s at half HP

or below.) On the other hand, undead characters are also *immune* to attacks

that drain HP to the user, like the Blood Sword or the Mystic’s Invigoration.

These attacks backfire if used against an undead monster! (The undead monster

gains HP, and you lose HP!)

Undead characters include monsters from the Skeleton and Ghost families, as

well as human enemies in a few story battles, units who have had the Mystic

spell Corruption cast on them, and any ally equipped with the Cursed Ring.