Light spoiler warning. Here’s the first post, should you want to start from the beginning
As thanks for dispatching Baram, Regent Gran gives us access to the Lindblum armory. Here, we find a nice little stash, including the Titan nethicite. Titan grants 50% resistance to Earth magic and conveys leveling bonuses of +4 Defense and +5 max HP.
So far, the nethicites of Syldra, Quetzalcoatl, Atomos and Titan have become accessible in the course of the story. Four, so far. (I mean, you could miss Titan if you simply refuse to open treasure chests). The ones that have not been handed over are Valefor, Remora and Lucavi. Three, so far.
After raiding the armory, Director Sabino of the Arcane Library informs Gran that the Fey barrier on Mount Koltz has finally been brought down. Ami mentions that she and fellow blue mage Lysha heard of a few different non-human civilizations in the Underworld, including dwarves. On our way out of Lindblum Castle, Regent Gran finally reclaims Bluebell and her whistle. Luckily, Mount Koltz is not far.
Upon entering the lower caves, there is a Horned Helmet stashed to the far northwest. If you got Laka with you, it might also be a good idea to start farming Mega Potions from the Arthropleura. They’ll make life easier later.
In the brief outdoor section before the Crystal Chamber with the save point, you can steal tents from the Zuu birds that can be encountered there. The odd Ochu might also show up.
Within the Crystal Chamber, Sabino and two of his mages are besieged by Byblos, the guardian of the Earth Crystal. A Lustrous Helmet can be stolen from them. Byblos also has a ton of HP so make sure you have Darius, use Shadow Veil to make them vulnerable to Shadow and then Darkside.
Sabino reveals that Byblos appeared after the Academy mages brought down the Fey barrier. As the guardian of the Earth Crystal, they felt a disturbance as soon as the barrier went down but not (as Ami observes) when the Fey stole the Earth Crystal.
The interior path of Mount Koltz, beyond Byblos and the Chamber of the Earth Crystal, has the same version of the ‘Phantom Forest’ music that we heard in the mines of Kohlingen (from FFVI Pixel Remaster, maybe?).
The black, ghostly, yellow-eyed Callicantzaros are a decent occasion for Laka to farm Hyper Ethers, since we’re gonna be using a lot of magic.
Both the Callicantzaros and the Ochus can be a problem. The Ochu’s Pollenate attack can easily wipe out the party. If they manage to do it twice consecutively, only those at full health will make it.
You will, of course, be wanting some fire-wielders in there like Oalston, Vera or Nobumasa. Vahn’s Flame Spear ability can be useful. Ochus are also fairly easily blinded by Laka.
Laka can steal Fairy Rings from Ochus and Mobility Boots from Arachnias. The Sengoku can be stolen from the Bengalensis (eel-like monsters).
While Oalston is burning all the plant-based and Shadow monsters, it doesn’t hurt to just stick with Fire. The base black magic spells all cost 4 MP or less and- so long as Ami is Cheering -you’ll probably recoup that value every turn. If you’ve been feeding Oalston the right shards and equipping the right nethicite, he should be dealing about seven hundred damage every turn with almost no MP expenditure.
It’s sustainable, anyway. Not that it won’t be worth it to Fira or Firaga the Ochus just to get them out of the way.
Vera’s got Ifrit and his Hellfire attack at her beck and call, as well. Nobumasa’s Katon is mostly useful for wearing down groups, rather than directly killing things.
In the place with the lava, there is a Holy Ring in the far upper west side of the opening chamber. This will require you to trust your instincts and run through barriers that might be permeable. Progress depends on doing the same thing near the far south of this chamber (we’ve all played IV, V and VI, right?).
After the hidden southern passage, head west. You’ll pass through some hidden openings and emerge in a thin corridor filled with boulders and grass. Eventually, you’ll be forced to head north, then turn back south in an arc on your way out.
One last narrow, winding corridor (nevermind the sucker bait to the west by the exit- it’s a solid wall) and we emerge into the Underworld map! Which is cool but mostly I was just happy to be able to save my game again.
The winged Belphegor monsters can lower your max HP for the duration of the battle. Wind and Ice magic are good for taking them out before they get dangerous. If the Belphegors knocking your max HP down becomes a problem, then head northwest from Balmag and you’ll find a Firm Wrist. It’s in a little box canyon next to a crater, equidistant between Balmag and Brindle’s hovel. I seem to have picked up one already so that’s half the acting party potentially covered.
There’s a lot of Bomb monsters down here but you could probably one shot them with Blizzara or Shiva by now. You can also shake them down for Flame Mail and it’s totally worth it for the party’s warriors. Excepting, of course, anyone who might already have the Survival Vest. I equipped Vahn with that as soon as Laka stole it from Vedrfolnir (back in the Dragon King’s Roost) and it’s stood up rather well since.
Depending on your and play style and affinity for grinding (lol) you may have noticed that- so long as Ami Cheers first, then casts Storm Breath -that Oalston can effectively go back to our strategy with Fire. Simply adjust- Oalston casts nothing but Blizzard. Base rung, just like Fire. As long as the Cheer lasts and Ami backs him up with Storm Breath, it will be enough and Oalston may or may not spend any MP (not with regard to the Bombs, anyway).
I don’t know what’s going on with the Underworld music but I’m pretty sure I’m into it. The magical, wondrous vibe works better in this lava-filled environment than some may think. I was also surprised to find out just how deadly Bosche can be to the Flayers with a little luck and his Aim command. Think of Aim like Yang’s Focus in IV: a temporary boost for Attack is gained (what with Bosche being an archer) per turn sacrificed.
In Balmag, the Ghoul Town, Emanbi tells us that the Fey live in a fortress to the far north; a place where no ghoul dares to venture.
In the Balmag weapon shop, you can buy Cloud’s Organics sword for eight-thousand gil- great for someone who could use the the +125 to vigor but won’t suffer too badly from the -25 to luck. Should you have a ton of gil to spend, you can cough up a little extra for a Survival Vest if you didn’t steal or find one already.
If you grab the Basanite Axe (six-thousand, five hundred gil) and you happened to have the Balestarius, then Brindle will end up doing alright.
Oh, Brindle? He’s just kind of hanging out on his hovel, to the northwest of the first Underworld camp site. He’s a blacksmith and a former mercenary so you can either hire him to smith at your camp or hire him to join your party. His two dump stats are vigor, defense and luck and he dual-wields clubs, maces, flails, hammers and axes.
This guy can be found in Balmag. I already have two of those four. And I ran into a Cactuar outside of Kaipo and they’re usually the ones with the 1000 Needles attack. It wouldn’t surprise me if Cave-In is out there, either, so I didn’t see much in Grizzok’s collection to interest me.
So. Our main lead seems to be that we’re heading somewhere north of Balmag with our new dwarven barbarian friend. I couldn’t find anything even remotely helpful, though, so- for lack of any other option -I proceeded to the Lucid Depths, mentioned by Aruda. I feel inclined to trust Urrah as well and be en garde against “monsters that eat magic.”
So far, I’m liking the use of FFVIII music. The Esthar theme worked well in the Arcane Library. The music from when Laguna and company are trying to slip past Estharian guards through a cave also goes well with bright, shiny underground places.
This was also an annoying place to learn that you need a set of Germinas Boots for each active party member. I found one already so luckily I only needed nine-thousand gil to cover everyone else.
Ami’s Goblin Punch blue magic works fine against the Chitinids. Laka can also blind Chitinids fairly easily with green magic. Same for the Deathclaws. Both Deathclaws and Chitinids go down quickly with Ami hitting everyone with Storm Breath and Oalston following up with either Blizzara or Fira.
Which of these monsters “eat magic”, exactly?
Strike west in the fork and you’ll encounter a room with winding, arcing paths. In the far southwest corner is a treasure chest containing the Asura nethicite. Resistant to silence and +2 Magic and +2 Spirit leveling bonuses. Given how common the silence status effect can be in the Underworld, it’s worth the effort.
Actual progress through the Lucid Depths lies to the east, though (I guess that makes Asura my fourth optional nethicite?). But you’ll end up going through so many curvy tunnels that you’ll come out even further west.
On this side of the Lucid depths, two new monsters start showing up. There are pale little scorpion monsters called Indocites, capable of inflicting poison, darkness or instant death. Hopefully your active party members still have an accessory slot available for some resistance gear. Fire magic and some physical attacks that bypass Defense are useful, too.
Then there’s this gem.
A Shapeshifter might hang out for as many as two or three turns before shape-shifting. So far, they have turned into a Chimera, Magma Breath, Dragon and Ochu. All of those- base Shapeshifter form included -are annoying to steal from. I’m still not sure if things like low HP or status effects actually make stealing any easier or not. It’s tempting to assume that lowering HP helps- like in any other FF -but it could just as easily be a virtual die-roll of Laka’s luck stat versus that of a monster. The longer a battle lasts, the more rolls of the die…you could see how the mistake could be made.
Luckily, upon killing a Dragon, they might drop a Dragon Fang which teaches Night to Ami. Night attempts to blind every opponent, giving it a strategic niche beside Mokusatsu, which hits every opponent with non-elemental damage while potentially either blinding or confusing them.
In the demon town of Vos, a few different discoveries wait for us.
Then…who should we run into but General Braak’s sister Jasmine.
Like a lot of Ivalicians we’ll meet, she went to the Underworld on her own and got stranded. Jasmine was heading to the Gygas Coliseum when she “fell down a stupid hole.”
Jasmine’s character class is listed as Monk which- in FF -usually translates to boxer / martial artist. She has no weapons slot (which is balanced with a third accessory slot) because she uses her fists, like Tifa or Sabin and comes equipped with Sabin’s Aura Cannon.
As we talk to the locals and peruse the shops, a benign dark gray demon named Varozz says that their eastern allies- the dwarves -are their only buffer between themselves and the Fey. I guess that tells us where we’re headed next.
Between here and there, though, we have climb a rock formation across some lava, which means passing through an out-of-place human settlement called Valefor Fortress.
The structure seems potentially empty at first, with dead and maimed Ivalician human soldiers everywhere. When we do encounter living people, they die before us in a red flash.
When we find the last holdout battalion, Vera sees a familiar face from the Ivalice military. Right before we get rushed by monster behind the red flash.
This…is Khalkatauri. They mostly seem to just cast Fira and 1000 Needles. That can be a lot of damage but it is also rather capped. If you have four party members with HP over 1500, it shouldn’t be that bad so long as Ami keeps casting White Wind. Maybe slip in a Cheer when you can but White Wind is better support for this battle.
Oh speaking of that- Siegfried started recovering MP from Cheer! Better late than never.
If you just want the fight over as soon as possible, though, forget Cheer and divide Ami’s attention between White Wind and Goblin Punch. If someone fast like Laka can keep Siegfried’s MP topped off with ethers, then he’s free to lean into Dispatch. Just hit him with as much Defense-ignoring attacks as possible.
Czarina Ring can be stolen from Khalkotauroi which will make healing more effective.
Unfortunately: I may have encountered two separate glitches. A few different times, a healing spell or item will randomly be used on an enemy instead of whoever you meant to get it. If you’ve played this game then you know you can’t normally do that. Not with group healing spells like White Wind or someone using a Mega Potion. There are occasions for doing that with single target white magic or even single target items like Phoenix Down- against undead foes. The group stuff, though, is unidirectional. It’s rare for group heals flip like that but not unheard of.
Anyway-
This last time it happened- just outside of Valefor Fortress -both Ami and Laka suddenly had no equipment. Luckily everything was still in my inventory and I could just throw it all back on, which would have been nice to have gotten done before the next monster encounter happened.
Here’s the sauce
Until next time, TBC
AilixChaerea 