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World Map - Imperial Camp Region - Enemies
Your party becomes separated after the battle with Ultros. The story now separates into three distinct scenarios. You can play them in any order you like, though in this walkthrough we’ll be looking at Sabin’s scenario first. It is easily the longest of the three, and it’s the only one where you can purchase new equipment. You can use this equipment to outfit your characters in the other two scenarios and give them a slight advantage.
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Old Man's House - Merchant
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Sabin washes up beside a small house, in the northeast of the world map. Here you can recruit an assassin, default name Shadow, whom you may have met briefly in South Figaro's cafe. Shadow is a swift physical fighter, and using his Throw command you can inflict a ton of damage each turn by expending items such as Shurikens and Scrolls. It’s wise to buy a large number of Shurikens from the merchant who wanders outside this house so Shadow can maximize his damage output.
Sleep inside the house, if necessary. Its owner is a little kooky, if you decide to speak to him, and he can play a small role much later in the game if you come back here. Travel eastward from this house until the map forces you south, into a tiny desert. This turns out to be the location of an Imperial base.
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Imperial Camp - Enemies
The enemy! Several cut scenes slow your progress through here. Along the way you’ll jump into the shoes of a knight of the nearby kingdom of Doma, named Cyan by default. Cyan possesses the Bushido command, allowing him to charge up a number of powerful sword techniques, though he's a bit slow compared to your other party members.
Use Cyan to take out the Captain of the Imperials attacking Doma. You can defeat the man in one hit by using Cyan’s second level Bushido attack, Sky, and then waiting for the Captain to attack. The assault ends once the Captain goes down. If you want you to attack the other soldiers assaulting Doma you can, though the sequence won't end until you defeat the Captain.
The Captain is likely to drop the Black Belt when defeated. This is a great Relic that triggers counterattacks when its wearer gets hit by an enemy. It's possible for the Black Belt to not drop, though your luck needs to be bad for this to happen. (Though it does happen. You'll get a Phoenix Down instead, which... stinks by comparison.)
Back to the camp, and back to your normal party. To the south and on your left is a trooper you can kill and a tent you can invade, though there’s nothing inside. The right tent, by contrast, has a locked chest, and if you try to kick it open you’ll attract the attention of some Dobermans. There's a Star Pendant inside the chest, whether you kicked it or not.
(If you're a completionist you'll want to kick the chest. If you don't you'll never see Dobermans on the Veldt, which... will make sense a bit later in this scenario.)
More cut scenes follow as you explore to the south, leading to a short, easy fight with Kefka. Smack him once to send him running. Chase Kefka for another short battle, then head up the ramp north of where he stops to find a tent. Inside are two chests. The left contains a Satellite enemy. Hit it with Blitzes and Shurikens before it inflicts Berserk, robbing you of control over your characters. The Satellite drops a Green Beret. The other chest contains a Mythril Glove.
Beat up Kefka again - as well as a contingent of soldiers - and you'll return to Cyan's POV. Run to the king’s room after Kefka’s plan is laid bare, then return to the main corridor in the castle and check the two doors to the south. You can find a Remedy beside a body on the east side of the next room. Snag it, then return to the main corridor and check the room to the right of the throne room. Ouch.
The game jumps back to the camp, and Sabin. You’ll have to support Cyan in a string of battles. You can't control Cyan, but he'll do his job well enough on his own. Once that's done he'll join the party, and everyone jumps into Magitek Armor. Charge back east in the armor, using it to flee the Imperial Camp the way you came in. (Sadly, you don't get to keep the armor.)
Once you’re back on the world map, assuming you brought Shadow along, save your game. From this point onward there’s a chance he will leave your team randomly after finishing a battle, and you’ll want his help for the next section. Reload your game if he takes off before you reach the next dungeon.
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Phantom Forest - Enemies
Head west and south of the Imperial Camp. It won't be long before you come across a new location, the Phantom Forest. This area is full of enemies that love magic and can dish out a fair amount of damage, but they have rather poor amounts of HP. Everything in this area is undead, so healing items inflict damage on enemies. You won't really have to rely on this weakness, but... still.
The path through the Phantom Forest is short, but a little confusing at first glance thanks to the scrolling foreground:
- Head east from the entrance
- Take the northbound path at the end of the trail to find a recovery spring
- Go east, then take the first path northward on your right
- Take the northbound path on the next screen - if you went in the right direction you’ll see a train in the distance
All this will put you outside a train. Climb aboard, and... uh oh!
Phantom Train - Enemies
Phantom Train - Ghost Vendors
Welcome to the Phantom Train. The path to the afterlife, the Phantom Train is not a great place to be if you're still alive. You can't get anywhere in the train until you attempt to get off, so go south immediately after entering the train and try to use the door. This reveals the nature of the train, and begins your trip towards the engine.
(If Shadow is still in the party, he'll stick with you until you escape the Phantom Train. Well done.)
The Phantom Train is a weird area. Most enemies provide little experience, and their attacks are quirky - but not that threatening. As you explore you'll run into ghostly NPCs, and they have one of three responses to conversation:
- Most ghosts attack the party. You'll get into a random battle.
- Some ghosts are merchants, and sell basic items. Their wares are listed above. If Shadow is still in the party these ghosts are a good source of Shurikens, assuming you didn't stock up on them earlier.
- Some ghosts offer to join your party. They're poor fighters, but their Possession attack can instantly kill any enemy that might be giving you trouble... albeit at the cost of their presence in your party. If Shadow is no longer in the party you can recruit up to two of these specters. Do not try to heal them in combat, or you'll inflict damage instead.
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Head east through the first car. The next car over is the Phantom Train's caboose. You can save and heal inside, and the conductor provides some information about the Phantom Train. You can also pull a switch on the wall in here for a bit of fun with Cyan.
Fight your way west through the Phantom Train until you reach a car with no exit, aside from the way you came in. A ghost blocks the exit when you step inside, forcing you to fight your way out. Once outside you’ll have to flee to the roof of the car, then further west. Enter the car where you land and hit the switch inside, then do so again to open the way to the interior of the car. There's a save point waiting.
The next car over is a dining car. You can sit at the central table and chow down on food to restore your strength. Each character has a unique reaction to eating, if you want to try them all out. Enter the car from the west side to find a chest, behind two ghostly waiters, that contains an Earring. Most of Sabin's Blitzes draw on his Magic stat for damage, which makes him a good choice for the Earring - at least until Terra is back in the party.
The next two cars each have two rooms to explore:
- In the first room of the first car you’ll confront a blowhard named Siegfried who’s about as weak as they get. One hit should take him down. (You'll see him again, though it won't be for a while.) The second room is empty.
- The first room of the second car is empty, while the second room holds four chests. They contain a Hyper Wrist (far-left chest, protected by an Apparition), two Phoenix Downs, and a Sniper Eye.
Go any further west past this point and the ghosts in your party will take off. Save inside the next small car, then head for the engine. Hit the left and right switches inside the compartment, on the north wall, then go back outside and hit the button by the train's smokestack. This will stop the Phantom Train.
... or, uh, maybe not. It needs some convincing.
Phantom Train
HP: 1,900
Weaknesses: Fire, Lightning, Holy
Drops: Tent
Yep, you have to fight the Phantom Train. It uses the following attacks:
- Wheel, a melee attack against one target
- Acid Rain, a Poison- and Water-elemental attack against your whole party that slowly saps HP
- Saintly Beam, a Holy-elemental attack against your whole party
- Diabolic Whistle, which inflicts random status ailments on the whole party
The Phantom Train can be a painful opponent for only two characters, thoough not often fatal. Diabolic Whistle is the only attack with the potential to cause a lot of trouble, and that's only if you get hit by some of the worse status ailments (Doom, Imp, or Confusion). Use a Remedy if you're stuck with something bad. Otherwise, rely on your most powerful attacks to damage the Phantom Train...
... or take the easy way out, and use a Phoenix Down on the Phantom Train. Because the Phantom Train is an undead enemy, it immediately dies. That was easy!
You'll receive a Tent for defeating the Phantom Train. After the battle ends you'll wind up back on the platform, and you'll have to watch a rather painful cut scene. Wait around for a little, talking to your party members, and eventually you'll get kicked out of the Phantom Forest and back to the world map. Head south and east to reach your next destination.
Baren Falls - Enemies
Upon arrival at Baren Falls, assuming he’s still in your party, Shadow takes off. You'll see him again in a little while. Bid the ninja farewell, then leap boldly off of the Falls.
What follows is a series of connected battles against Opinicus Fish. These things are no big deal, but they should nevertheless be dispatched before they can do any damage, as killing enough of them summons a more-dangerous Rhizopas. Rhizopas is very strong, and can one hit both Sabin and Cyan with its horrifying El Nino attack. Use Cyan’s Sky to immediately wipe this thing out.
At the bottom of the Falls you’ll meet a new potential party member, default name Gau, and you’ll have arrived at the Veldt.
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The Veldt
The Veldt is a weird and savage place. It contains the data of every enemy you’ve faced up to this point, and as you continue to travel new enemies will be added to the Veldt. You can, in essence, fight almost every enemy in the game (aside from most bosses) while travelling on the Veldt. It serves another purpose, as well, but we’ll get to that in a bit. Note that you will get zero experience fighting on the Veldt.
You'll occasionally run into Gau as you explore the Veldt. He appears at the end of random encounters, and sticks around until you attack him. You can recruit Gau in these battles - and you must recruit him to progress the game - but there's nothing you can do just yet. We need to make a pitstop first.
Head east along the Veldt to find the village of Mobliz. It's in the northeast of the continent.
Mobliz - Weapon Shop
Mobliz - Armor Shop
Mobliz - Item Shop
Mobliz - Relic Shop
Welcome to the tiny frontier town of Mobliz. Here you can rest up (do so in the Relic shop, to the north, for a free sleep), buy new equipment for team members both present and absent, and learn about the Serpent Trench, your next major destination. Check the clock inside the post office (central building) for an Elixir.
While you’re here you can also engage in a small side quest. The building on the west side of town contains an injured soldier who longs to communicate with his girlfriend across the world. Start by reading a letter on the nearby desk to him. You can then pay the postmaster 500 gil to send a message to the girlfriend.
Normally you would have to wait a little while for the next letter to come to continue the quest, but if you speak to the man outside the post office who describes the Serpent Trench and say 'No' you’ll automatically trigger the next letter delivery. Do this five times and you’ll receive a Tintinnabulum from the soldier.
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Head to the item shop, on the east side of Mobliz. Here you can purchase Dried Meat for 150 gil apiece. Normally a restorative item, Dried Meat can be used as an item while fighting on the Veldt to befriend Gau. He’ll join your party after he’s given a single Dried Meat. Make sure you don't hit Gau before giving him the meat, or he'll just run off again.
Gau has the Rage command, which, despite taking him out of your control, gifts him with the movesets of enemies he Leaps onto while on the Veldt. You can then pick Gau up again the next time he appears at the end of the battle. This makes Gau a powerful, if somewhat unpredictable, ally. At the very least you’ll want to teach Gau the Stray Cat Rage, as it provides him with the ridiculously-powerful Cat Scratch move.
Head south along the Veldt after outfitting Gau with some worthy equipment and Rages. Down here you’ll find a crescent-shaped mountain range appropriately named Crescent Mountain. Inside Crescent Mountain Gau will begin looking for… something. If you poke around you can find some very minor items, as well as lose some. Muck about if you wish, but your destination is the right side of the cave, where Gau finds a Diving Helmet. You’ll then automatically enter the Serpent Trench.
Serpent Trench - Enemies
This area is somewhat similar to the Lethe River. You’re set on a path filled with random enemy encounters and you need to make your way from one end of the Serpent Trench to the other. Along the way you can change course and go down different paths, and if you stick to the right in both cases you’ll find caves that break up the course. One contains an X-Potion, the other a Green Beret.
The enemies along this trip are not that difficult overall so long as you got Gau a few powerful Rages, most notably the Stray Cat. Fire and Lightning attacks do nicely here, but you need to be careful using Gau's Rages, as anything other than physical attacks can prompt Actinians to use their Gigavolt attacks. This can KO a character in a single hit. Heal whenever you hit caves, as you won't get a chance as you're swept along by the current.
After a handful of battles you'll get swept up on the docks of a town near the starting point of Sabin's scenario.
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Nikeah - Weapon Shop
Nikeah - Armor Shop
Nikeah - Item Shop
Nikeah - Relics Shop
Eventually you’ll wash up in the port town of Nikeah. If you want you can speak to the owner of the nearby ferry and sail away from Nikeah, ending the scenario. It’s better to go searching around town a bit first, though.
To the north is an outdoor market. Here you can purchase a slew of items and equipment from the vendors. If you’re lacking in money enough to cover everybody, step outside town and fight the enemies on the world map. They’re the same as what you fought at the beginning of Sabin's scenario. In particular you’ll want to stock up on restorative items, as there’s a big fight coming up in the aftermath of the scenarios that will sap your healing capabilities. You'll have one more chance to stock up on healing items if you don't do it here.
The pub has a fun cut scene for Cyan if you speak to the dancer at the bar. Check the clock at the inn for an Elixir. That’ll do it for the buildings, and Nikeah in general. Head to the port in the south and speak to the man on the boat to end the scenario.