Altea
After you choose a speed you’ll get to name your characters. They are – Frioniel, Leonheart, Maria and Guy (although it doesn’t let you name the first two long ones) You’ll start in the middle of a battle as some DkKnight‘s are working your team. You’ll die and wake up in front of Mihn and Hilda.
Maria’s brother Leon gets captured unfortunately. In turn you all ask Hilda if you can help them along with the war against the empire. Talk to Hilda again and you can “Learn” something.
Throughout conversations you’ll have to ability to “Say” and “Learn” things. It’s pretty obvious what you can and can’t learn. For example, learn Wild Rose the password that Hilda gives you.
South of this and you can see a Potion west of you.
Go into town and start talking to people. Buy some armor for your characters, specifically Guy who is underequipped. Spells would be nice but you really can only afford Cure. Get that and I usually have Maria be the Magician.
Exit out and begin fighting. You’ll see that you don’t gain traditional levels – instead your stats increase or decrease depending on what you actually do in battle. It’s an innovative idea but as you’ll soon learn it brings about some annoyances. If you attack all the time you’ll gain strength and lose intelligence. It’s the opposite for Magic, as you lose Pwr and gain Intelligence and max MP. To gain HP you have to have a low HP level (relative to your total). In turn players often find themselves attacking their own party to lower HP and raise the chance of total HP raised at the end of the battle.
Fight up a few levels. You’ll notice Firion and Guy are basically attackers and Maria is rather weak despite her bow.
North of Altea is Gatea. Not much that you can do here except buy some more stuff. From this town, don’t venture too far west or south – you’ll fight enemies that will surely kill you.
Instead go west and north when you can, then wrap around east and south to find Phin.
Phin
This is where you are supposed to go. Don’t talk to any of the people walking around – they’ll exclaim “rebels!” and you’ll be in an impossible battle.
Go to the north part of town and you’ll see you can walk east along the northern outskirts of the village. Keep going east until you can go south to find the Phin Pub. Inside are more enemies and a normal guy in the northeast – talk to him then walk through the wall.
You’ll come to three Potions. Say Wild Rose to the bedridden guy to find out he’s Scott of the Kashuon Dynasty.
He wants you to speak with Gordon in Altea and also talk to the king to tell of Duke Borgan’s betrayal. Scott is Gordon’s brother and he gives you their engagement (!) ring.
Altea
Take the ring back here to Altea. Talk to Gordon and then – Item – Ring to get a scene. Then go to Hilda in the center building and show it to her. She’ll ask you to help the cause and look for the Legendary Ore Mithril.
Learn Mithril from her. Then say it back to her. She’ll go on about the Phin army having Mithril Armor and that you must seek out Josef of Salmando for Mithril.
After this Minh will join you if you talk to him (next to Hilda). He is well built up as you can tell. Lots of spells to use.
Back to Hilda and talk to her. She speaks of the Warship which you can learn. Say Warship back and then she’ll talk about Cid’s Airship – learn that and talk to her about that. This Cid guy lives in Poft.
Palm
With this new information and a Canoe from Ming Wu, we can go east of Gatea. You will come to Palm. In here you can take a boat to Poft for 32 Gold. For now though, more importantly you can buy some new spells and much better armor. Take the pirate’s deal and go to Poft now.
Poft
Go to the Pub right away. You’ll see Cid. You can talk to him about the Airship and Warship. Talk to his assistant next to him to fly if you want (but don’t do this). Everyone else in this town tells you that Bofsk is to the east, has been taken by the empire and something is being built there.
Bofsk
East of Poft is Bofsk. As you get in, most people won’t say anything or will say something bad. The Dark Lord is in the center if you’re wondering. Buy some spells if you like, and definitely as much Silver Armor and Long Sword’s as you can buy. Long Bow too. Not much else you can do here for now, head northwest of Poft to get to Salmando.
Salmando
You’ll hear that in Semite Cave the Mithril is being excavated by the townspeople of Salamando. Talk to Josef in the northeast and he’ll open up after you tell him the password. Ask him about all sorts of things.
When you are prepared and have bought what you want to buy, start to head west and look for a south path when the mountains stop so that you can go in the water with the canoe back east and look for a cave. You can also make it if you go south under the mountain range and then work your way north and east.
Semite Cave
As you enter, go all the way west then north for 10 Gil. South of this and then southwest for the exit – but before you take it get the 200 Gil just east of you.
You’ll be in a watery area, and go north for an Eye Drop. East of this for a Potion then go southeast for a Potion. North of this for four doors so take the farthest west one.
In this next room, go all the way south for 1 Gil then west (ignoring the door that leads to nothing). Go south when you can and take the first bridge west for 50 Gil. Go northwest and then take the furthest west door to continue.
Lots of people in this room. You’ll see Paul and then Josef’s daughter. Next room now.
Go northwest and continue across the bridge for Fire Magic. East more for a four way. North for the only path and follow it along to the staircase.
Go north and take the northwest door. You’ll see a Sargeant. This battle should be a good barometer for how well you’re doing so far. He has a high defense and his attack is pretty devastating. Have Minh cast Safe on your party and be your healer (his cane will take off about 0). Use your spells as these will be your best bet to take off the Sergeant’s 150 or so HP. He sometimes drops Mithril stuff, but either way make sure you go north to get the Mithril in the chest. Before you leave, go south, west across the bridge and work north and east for Exit Magic. A Land Turtle (Landtrtl) will appear as you get it though so cast some magic to kill it. Safe might be nice because it’s physical attacks are brutal.
Go back to Salamand to speak with Josef about the Mithril. Now go all the way back to Altea and show the Mithril to Hilda. She says to show it to Tobul at the weapon shop. So go there and show the old man the Mithril. Now you can buy Mithril Weapons and Armor. This will drain a ton of your Gil but of course it’s worth it for the most part, specifically the Mithril Swords and Mithril Helmet / Gauntlet. Palm has Mithril Bow and Mithril Axe if you are curious.
Bofsk
When you are ready (when you’ve bought a fair amount of Mithril stuff) go back to Bofsk via the 32 Gil ship. The people in town will actually be talking to you this time around. Go to the southwest and tell the rebel spy the password and he’ll tip you off to go to the sewers. He moves and you can then go to the southwest to find the stairs.
Bofsk Sewers
Go straight north as you head in for a Long Sword. Work your way to the southwest for a Long Bow. East of this for the stairs.
Take the far east path and it’ll wrap north, west, south again, and north. You’ll see the Dark Knight and Borgan get in the Warship and fly away. Go back in the cave and go east. You’ll see a red door so enter and get the Pass. Step on the thing further east to escape outside of Bofsk.
Head west to Poft. Talk to Cid in the Pub and say Airship and he’ll say something about Sun Flame – learn this phrase and say it back to him. Back to Altea to speak with Hilda – unfortunately for you Minh leaves your party to stay back since the Warship has been attacking towns. Say the Sun Flame to Hilda and she’ll tell of Kashuon being able to harness the Sun Flame’s power. More importantly if you say Warship to her she goes off about how you need the Goddess Bell to get in a Kashuon Cave. This bell is in a cave itself to the north.
Return to the King’s bed east of Hilda’s area. Minh is here and if you ask him about the Sun Flame he’ll tell of a festival to go to and you’ll need the Egil Torch to harness the Sun Flame’s power. Say Sun Flame to the king now and then you can learn Goddess Bell. After talking to Hilda about the Goddess Bell you’ll want to go to Salmando to speak with Josef. Say Goddess Bell to him and he’ll tell of an Ice Sled you need which is at the Semite Cave. He’ll join you and show you! He’s a good Monk and has a high power without a weapon, but giving him one makes him a powerhouse.
Semite Cave
Josef is a pretty good character, fast and strong with high HP. Like he says, take him to Semite Cave west of Salmando. West and north as you go in, and look in the northeast corner and search. Josef will push a switch and you can walk through the wall. The Ice Sled is in a treasure east as you enter.
Go north and you can now cruise around on the Ice Sled where there is snow (east after you go north a ways). As you continue to go east and fight Snowman you’ll eventually be funneled northeast and into the Snow Cave.
Snow Cave
Follow the path north and then west, but stick north for 100 Gil. South some for 150 Gil and then the stairs.
As you get out, go west for Icewind. Start going east and you’ll come to a north / south intersection – go north and through the stairs, then south for Battleaxe, Antidote, and Mithril Spear. However the Mithril Spear is the west-most one and it is guarded by some Grenades. They may be a little tricky with their explode tactic at the end taking off a bit. Once you get these, go back northeast and through the stairs and then south at the intersection ahead.
This leads to another stairs, and then go north for an open intersection. Go north for a Potion and Ice Magic. Go south for a Potion and Mithril Spear. Then go east and north, skipping the door, and going through the stairs.
West for another door that you should skip and then a Mithril Shield. Begin going east and then south, but then keep on the southwest path until you reach an Ancient Sword. You’ll have to fight two Shadows and two Ghouls. The Ancient Sword is pretty good, better than the Mithril Sword.
Now take that door in the southeast. There are Beavers here and Guy can understand them. The one who isn’t moving, have Guy say Goddess Bell and you’ll learn it’s behind the right wall. So go to the far northeast and walk through.
You’ll have an easy walk (but long) to the Silver Armor chest. Talk to the turtle by you and he’ll fight you – it’s a boss fight against Adamanti. He is obviously weak against Ice, and has strong physical attacks. This really comes down to how much MP you have because Ice is really all that hurts him. Search behind him for the G. Bell (Goddess Bell). Now go through the door and start going north and east to the big bridge.
Your party is probably really tired but you’ll see a boss ahead – it’s Borgan and he just casts cure on himself despite the fact you can probably kill him in one or two turns. Leave but a rock rolls your way. Josef is overran and you’ll have to leave with only the three main party members. Back at Salmando you’ll be questioned about Josef by everyone.
Kashuon
Back at the headquarters of Altea, Hilda will send you off to Kashuon. You can take Cid’s airship if you’d like or walk there (southeast of Bofsk). If you’re walking, take the inside path of the mountains instead of the exterior, and look for the center with a lake surrounded by forest and Kashuon city.
Inside you’ll see the flame ahead. Use the G. Bell on the door and you can enter. Gordon is inside and he’ll want to come with you to find the Egil Torch so that you can take the flame. For now though, leave and fill Gordon up with Mithril Gear if you can afford it and a Mithril Sword (oh, and some basic spells like Cure / Ice).
Back at Kashuon, enter the stairs past where Gordon was and you can go west or south. Take the south path for a Cure Magic. Go west, skip the door and go south to the stairs.
Take the south path and start going east and then north for 300 Gil. West, south, and east for the stairs.
Here, go south and then east. Take the second path going south for a Gold Shield. You’ll have to fight some Wererats though. Back north and continue east and eventually northeast for the stairs.
Go south and then west when you can. Skip the first door, but take the second. Grab the Mithril Sword, Mithril Axe, and Were Spear. You have to work your way to the southwest now for the staircase.
Skip the west path and go north and east. Take the first south for Gold Armor. In the northeast is an Eyedrop, Echoscreen and Antidote. Head to the southwest all the way for a staircase.
A bit ahead and you’ll see R. Soul, or Red Soul. The Red Soul casts level 8 magic like Bolt, Aero, Ice, and Fire. It takes off a lot on your entire party. Be prepared to Cure, but remember that he runs out of MP after four spells. Then he attacks (which takes off little to a Mithril-clad member). Up ahead for the Egiltrch. The Egil Torch allows you to harness the Sun Flame. Exit out and then cure that character, and then go back in to use the Egil Torch to get the Sun Flame.
Go south of Kashuon and you’ll reach a chocobo stable. Go up to one of the white chocobos and talk to it, then leave. You can go anywhere on it without encountering enemies. Head back to Altea to see that Princess Hilda has been captured.
Warship
It’s best to approach the Warship from Altea as the enemies are defeatable (unlike the ones south of Kashuon). Of course if you have a chocobo it’ll be even easier for you to get here by going south from Kashuon. As you get in, show the guy the Pass to get in (he disappears of course). Do not talk to anyone here or you’ll get in a battle you won’t win. They don’t mind that you’re just walking around their place though I guess…
Take the east staircase and the treasure can be accessed by walking through the wall left of the cell. Get the Sleep Sword but some mages and sargeants appear. They can be tough depending on what the random monster assortment brings for you.
Go north now and west for 400 Gil, and then take the northeast staircase.
From here, go southwest for a Blind Bow and Thief Gauntlet just a bit east. Talk to Cid and Hilda there and Cid will tell you to toss the Sun Flame into the engine to destroy the machine. They then leave. Go east for two potions then return back to the first floor. Go west this time and eventually south and east for a new staircase.
You’ll see lots of enemies beneath you. Just go south, west and north to continue. On this bottom floor, go to the far east for four treasures – a Gouch, Trident, Giant Helmet, and Ice Shield (but the Ice Shield is protected by a Gigas (and a mage and / or soldier). This Gigas is one tough customer, able to kill your members with one physical attack. Have Safe up and Cure as best as you can. He has a low defense so you can do damage on him, but he’s a tough enemy. Your Blind and Sleep weapons can come in handy here. Enter the center structure when you are ready.
This next area is kind of funny, as the enemies are scattered throughout this maze as they “block” you since they’ll kill you if you fight them. Make your way to the engine (the battles are getting much harder as you get deeper) and then the game will prompt you that this is the Warship Engine – go to item and then SunFlame and once the Sun Flame gets in the engine, a familiar voice (to Maria) yells at you and the party teleports out. Cid is there to pick up the party and drop them back off at Altea.
Inside, go to the king. He’ll tell everyone about the Dragoons in Dist. Afterwards, go to the throne and talk to Gordon. Learn Dragoon and then repeat it back to learn Hiryuu. A Hiryuu is a dragon that flies.