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Regole
- You’re on the far west edge of the northern-most continent after the debacle on the Big Bridge. Wander east along the continent and, eventually, you’ll find a town. The enemies along the way aren’t too tough.
- Regole is a fairly one-note town, and you’re primarily here to shop. The items available are almost universally upgrades - in particular you’ll drop a lot of money getting all the new spells here, the only one of which you may already have is Esuna - and you may need to grind outside town a bit to afford everything. (You can earn 100 gil by entering the Pub and stepping onto the stage to dance for the crowd, though that’s a stupid and time-consuming way to earn cash.)
- There are no items to pick up in Regole. That said, there are two secrets to find. The first is in the Pub. Check the left wall to find a secret passage that will take you to the town’s piano. The second is in the armour shop. There’s another secret passage that will take you to the little girl in the middle of the weapon and armour shops, and she’s looking for her ribbon. She’ll find it later in the game, after a major event that radically changes the world, and speaking to her again will net you a Ribbon.
- If you decide to spend the night in Regole, you can watch a cut scene between Galuf and Bartz. Huzzah. You’ll also get to stay at the inn for free.
Sealed Castle
To the south of Regole is a large, lonely structure called the Sealed Castle. There are twelve weapons inside here which represent the pinnacle of combat strength in Final Fantasy V - but, as the name suggests, they’re all sealed. You’ll need to do things elsewhere to unlock these items. We’ll look at the Sealed Castle in another article.
The only other thing of note here for the moment is the Shield Dragon, the Castle’s lone random encounter. Shield Dragons are quite powerful and resilient, and have Reflect cast automatically. They also possess the counter attack move Knock Silly, which inflicts heavy damage and can confuse a single character. Shield Dragons offer lots of experience, but at this point you almost certainly can’t beat one, so I wouldn’t suggest trying. (Control from a Beast Master is a good choice if you really want to give it a try, however.)
Head south and east from the Sealed Castle. Soon enough you’ll be forced into a small forest.
Moogle Forest
- Upon entering you’ll see a white creature by a tree. Speak to it and it will fall into a pit. Follow it in.
- You’ll wind up in a watery passage. Keep hopping into the water and it will sweep you off to the east, where, eventually, you’ll land on a southbound platform with a split. There’s a chest containing 4,400 gil to the south. The route splits here, but it really doesn’t matter which side you take, as you’ll end up in the same place. There’s a Phoenix Down to the left and, to the right, a boss battle in the making.
Tyrannosaur
This can be a harsh battle if you rely on magical attacks. The Tyrannosaur is an almost strictly physical fighter, both hitting hard and retaliating against physical strikes for some harsh damage. This, coupled with its physical resilience, makes magic tempting - but it’s best to avoid magic, as the Tyrannosaur will counter with Poison Breath, inflicting 300-ish damage to everyone and possibly inflicting poison status. Use Protect to boost your defences and smack it with strong physical abilities such as Jump, Zeninage, Focus, and the like.
Alternatively, if you want a really easy fight, Tyrannosaur is undead. Use either a Phoenix Down or an Elixir on it for a quick win. Yay!
- After leaving the Moogle Forest, or the underground, or whatever, you’ll wind up back on the world map, and the moogle you saved will rush around the edge of the desert and show you how to reach the far end. (As if you couldn’t figure that out yourself.) You can walk across the sand, if you like, but it’s populated by Sandcrawlers, tough, highly-durable enemies from which you can’t run. They’re hardly impossible to defeat, but they have so much health and offer so few rewards that they’re not worth attacking.
Moogle Village
- As soon as you enter this area the moogles of the Village will freak out and rush off. Head to the northeast corner of the Village, though, and you’ll see one semi-hidden moogle who will pop open his house if you talk to him. Inside you’ll find a slew of chests containing an Ether, a Phoenix Down, 10,001 gil, a Dancing Dagger, and a Cottage.
- Speaking to this moogle will also bring out the other moogles, as well as open the other two houses in the Village. The right house contains a moogle suit that your team will strap on. With that you can enter the other house. Speak to the moogle in here and it’ll open up a nearby chest containing an Elven Mantle.
- Return to the far-right house and the moogle will be sitting outside the house. Speak to the moogle to trigger a cut scene. This will get you airlifted away from the Moogle Village and off to the Castle of Bal, a long way away.
Castle of Bal
- After a cut scene you’ll be free to wander ‘round the Castle and pick up stuff. There’s a Hero Cocktail to the left of the throne, for starters, and if you walk through the wall just south of this chest you’ll find another chest containing the Teleport spell. On the right side of the room are stairs; use these to reach the roof, where you’ll get your next mission.
- Back down the stairs and south of the throne room is a small antechamber. The stairs on your right lead to a save point, and past that a small room with a door you can’t bypass. There are enemies down here whom you can battle for some excellent ABP, but very little experience. Battle or ignore as you see fit.
- To the south is a courtyard. In the northeast corner of the couryard is an inn and item shop; in the northwest corner is a weapons and armour combo where you can find all the stuff that was being sold In Regole. Go up the stairs in the rear of this area to reach the roof, then go straight right to enter a hidden staircase that will take you down to a room behind the shops. A chest in here contains an Angel Robe. You can also pop through the south wall to talk to the merchants, one of whom will give you a Lamia’s Harp if you step between them.
- Back outside, step into the water in the southwest corner and you’ll be swept into the moat. Walk all the way around the moat to the other side of the Castle and you can find a Great Sword hidden just behind the central turrets. The button back where you started will return you to the courtyard.
- There are three guards by the entrance. Speak to one of them and he’ll allow you to leave - though you won’t be able to reenter. Don’t leave until you’re done looking around.