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Solitary Island - Enemies
Welcome to the World of Ruin. The planet crumbled after the events of the Floating Continent, leaving Celes alone with Cid, former scientist of the Empire, on the Solitary Island. There’s nothing to see here aside from a dinky house, a beach populated by Fish of varying levels of health, a set of cliffs, and some monsters with poor stats. The Blackjack is gone, the party is gone, and Celes is stuck.
Your first goal here is to try and save Cid, as he’s slowly losing the battle to malnutrition and exhaustion. Here are some tips for saving Cid:
- Equip Sprint Shoes on Celes, especially if you're playing on the SNES version. The longer you take, the worse Cid gets.
- Only catch fish that are of the highest quality, ie those that move the fastest. Any others will either not his improve his health or will actually make things worse.
- Reset the fish at the beach by heading back into the shack and speaking with Cid. If you don't find any fast fish you're better off not presenting any fish to Cid.
Cid will get worse if you just ignore him for a long enough time. You can get a reading on Cid’s state of health by returning to the shack and speaking to him, with or without fish. If Cid is dying he'll start to cough a great deal; if he's improving he'll straight-up say so.
There are two possible outcomes to this scenario:
- If you manage to save Cid he’ll reveal that he’s been working on a raft that can ferry Celes away from the Solitary Island and back to the world at large.
- If you don’t save Cid you’ll watch a very touching scene, and, well, you’ll find the raft anyway.
Aside from the scenes on the island it doesn't matter which outcome you get, though Cid will still be on the Solitary Island, milling about, if you come back later after saving him. (I think the outcome where Cid dies is better, personally, but if you want to save him... I don't blame you.)
Either way, you'll get off Solitary Island.
The World of Ruin
Welcome to Kefka’s domain! The World of Ruin is what’s left after Kefka’s ascension to godhood, and boy does it look like garbage. The World of Balance, the place you once knew, is now forever gone - there’s no going back. Consequently, the following locations are now gone:
- Mt. Kolts
- Returner's Hideout
- Lethe River
- Phantom Forest
- Baren Falls
- Crescent Mountain
- Vector
- Imperial Observation Post
- Esper Caves
- Floating Continent
Final Fantasy VI enters a new phase at this point. Though Celes is still driven forward on a mandatory string of quests for a little while, the vast majority of the World of Ruin’s content is optional. All you need to complete the game are two more characters and a means of transportation to enter Kefka’s Tower, the stronghold to the north of Albrook. Going after Kefa with three characters is not advisable for newcomers to Final Fantasy VI, however, and you’ll want to embark on at least a few side quests to retrieve your old teammates. They’re all out there - you just have to find ‘em.
When you first wash up on the coastline of the southern continent you’ll find yourself a short walk from Albrook. From here you can either go north, where one optional party member is waiting in Tzen, or hunt for a path leading east. Since we’re proceeding with the obligatory stuff first, this walkthrough ignores Tzen for now. (Though I do recommend going there first and foremost, particularly if you neglected Celes in the World of Balance.)
Check out Albrook, strap on your best gear - a Ribbon is recommended - then begin traveling northeast.
Return Trip
Later in Final Fantasy VI you'll acquire a second airship, allowing you to explore the skies once more. Head back to the Solitary Island - it's located in the ocean to the west of Albrook, off the coast of the southern continent - and check out the beach where you went fishing for Cid. The Quetzalli Magicite is sitting by the water's edge.
You may also want to make a trip back here once you re-recruit Locke. If you use him to Steal from the Peepers you can get Elixirs, and if you Steal from the Land Rays you can get Megalixirs. Both enemies die after a single turn, whether you take action or not, so you only have one chance at grabbing these valuable healing items.