You know when people put on the dating profile 'likes long walks'? I actually do. Not that I have a dating profile, unless you count Facebook...admittedly, I only like long walks when the weather's nice. Which, y'know, it actually is today. Despite it being nearly November. Anyway...
Make a space in your party -- you'll want three members maximum for this. I recommend Terra, Shadow and your next strongest character. So, did you work out where you were going? It's on the north-central continent, on the western side of the island. Iiiiiiit's....
Narshe[]
Enemies[]
- #182 Test Rider
- #183 Wizard
- #184 Lukhavi
- #185 Magna Roader
- #186 Magna Roader
- #187 Psychos
- #188 Garm
Items[]
Head into the mines from Arvis' house (on the northeast side of town). Inside the mines, head north. Remember those chests you totally didn't open on Terra's first sojourn here? Well, raid them now for a Guard Bracelet and an Elixir. Continue north and enter the south passage at the north end of the room.
Follow the path to the Moogles' home. Here you'll find Mog, who joins up with you. He mentions a yeti? Hmm. Check the wall behind where he was standing to find Molulu's Charm, which only Mog can equip and prevents all random encounters. Leave the Moogle Home from the west side and finally claim that chest you ignored earlier to find...a Ribbon! Sweet.
Now exit the mines and back to town. Re-enter the mines from the front entrance and make your way back to the snowfield where you fought Kefka and pals. There's a dragon wandering around the middle, so try to avoid it on the right side. I'd recommend using the Save Point in the northeast corner. Head to the frozen Esper. It's go time!
| Boss Battle: Valigarmanda | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Level: 62 Steal: Nothing Weakness: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Strategy: All it does is use Rasp, Blizzaga and Freezing Dust. If you can survive Ice attacks, you've got this. Equip Terra with the Minerva Bustier to nullify Blizzaga and you basically can't lose. Have Terra use Trance and spam Fira, Shadow throw Flame Scrolls, Mog Dance Wind Rhapsody and your other character use Fira as well. Tranced Fira should bring the boss down in 4-5 shots (on my version it just just under 9,000 damage). Note that Valigarmanda counters Fire attacks with Rasp and Tools/Blitz etc. with Freezing Dust. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
For defeating an Esper, it turns into Magicite -- very useful Magicite, too. Valigarmanda teaches the three -aga spells and has a +2 Magic bonus thrown in for good measure. Whee! For later convenience, task someone on learning said -aga spells immediately. The sooner the better.
The ground where Valigarmanda was opens up, so jump on in!
Yeti's Cave[]
Enemies[]
- #189 Tonberry
- #190 Onion Dasher
- #191 Anemone
- #192 Illuyankas
- #193 Knotty
- #194 Tzakmaqiel
- #321 Tonberries
Items[]
The enemies here have an affinity with the Imp status, so load up on those cerises vert. From where you land, there are two doors. The left leads to a very difficult monster-in-a-box, which I highly recommend saving for later. You need to come back to Narshe later anyway. If you do want to take them on now, here's some advice:
They slowly approach the party and use Knife to deal huge damage to the character in front of them. Have Locke steal Minerva Bustiers from them, and the rest of the party clean up with Firaga before they turn you into man sashimi.
Take the right of the two doors you can see. Grab the X-Ether. Go right and down the north stairs. Climb up the ledge to the left and cross the bridge south to find a chest containing a Gauntlet.
Cross right and north to a new area. Ignore the first switch and pull the second. You'll fall into what looks very much like a monster's home. It is in fact, a monster's home. Examine the skull-on-a-stick and remove the shiny thing in the eye socket (urgh) to receive the Midgardsormr Magicite, which is not only a translator's nightmare but also teaches spells that hit both sides of the battle. Risky, but great if you can absorb them.
For stealing the treasure, you're attacked by a boss.
| Boss Battle: Yeti | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Level: 33 Steal: Nothing Weakness: Immunity: - | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Strategy: Again, he's weak against Fire. The exact same strategy applies here as it did against Valigarmanda, only the Yeti is much weaker. Later in the fight, he noms on a Green Cherry and increases his stats, as well as using more ice-elemental attacks. Lucky that you have a way to completely nullify ice attacks. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Talk to the yeti afterwards and Mog will tell him to join up with them on the airship.
| Character Introduction: Umaro |
 Age: 4 I like to think that Umaro is a highly important part of the quest. His theme tune is cool, he has an entire dungeon to himself and he throws your party members at enemies. Kind of like Bowser in Super Mario RPG. Being thrown also removes confusion and sleep, which is a nice touch. Umaro is incredibly powerful but can't equip anything other than Relics, nor can he be controlled directly. His Relic setup determines what he can do in battle. The Berserker Ring lets him hurl party members, and the Blizzard Orb grants him the use of Snowstorm, which deals ice-elemental damage to all enemies. Author's playthrough name: Smashy, because Smashy smash! |
Follow Umaro out the cave. You'll drop down about halfway between the entrance and the snowfield. If you're feeling confident, return to the snowfield and save. That dragon wandering about? Fight it.
| Boss Battle: Ice Dragon | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Level: 74 Steal: Nothing Weakness: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Strategy: It can use Northern Cross to attempt to freeze the entire party, Absolute Zero to inflict powerful ice damage to the party and Avalanche, which is slightly weaker. Use the same attack plan here as you did against Valigarmanda, except use Firaga if you've learned it. Ice Dragon has less HP than Valigarmanda but more powerful attacks, so you should be able to take it out if you go in hard and fast. With Mog as your backup dancer you should be alright. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention -- there are eight (well, seven now) Legendary Dragons wandering the World of Ruin. If you defeat them all, you unlock an Esper and an optional dungeon. Naturally I'll be covering them all.
Leave Narshe. Before heading back to the airship, try to get the follow Bestiary entries:
- #173 Tumbleweed
- #174 Leap Frog
- #177 Crawler
- #178 Sprinter
- #179 Basilisk
- #180 Lycaon
- #181 Greater Mantis
I think that's enough for now. Looking at my plan for this walkthrough, where am I going to cover next...well, it won't be Zozo, that's for sure.
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