Final Fantasy V World 2

Escaping Exdeath's Castle

The scene will switch to Galuf and Cara's view as Galuf will back his army up but go into the castle alone.  He lands the Hiryuu and gets the crystals / equipment from a treasure chest, and then you get control of him.  Go to the downstairs and you'll have to fight Gilgamesh alone.  He basically uses some decent physical attacks, but you should be okay - Galuf as a Summoner using Titan or as a Monk attacking usually work well.  Now you'll have all four characters again.

Note that before you leave the castle you can go north to a recovery spring for free hp / mp recovery.  South leaves the castle and when you get to the bridge you'll have to run all the way across and fight monsters along the way.  If you walk on the right or left part of the path (instead of the center) you'll be able to skip the battles.  In the middle part you'll fight Gilgamesh again, and you can steal a Hero Drink from him.  Later on you'll be able to steal really good armor from him.  Further north and you'll be at the end, although Exdeath's Castle puts up a barrier and your party is thrown off into the distance.

Rugor and Sealed Castle of Kuzar

You'll have to walk a great deal east and a little south before you see Rugor.  There is plenty to do when you get there though.  Get all the new magic (everything is new except for Heal (unless you missed it)).  If you have the money, the weapon and armor shops have some good attractions also.  Visit the Inn and you can rest for free.  Butz can't sleep so he visits Galuf in the bar and Galuf thanks him for coming.  In the Pub, you should have a Thief around so you can see through the wall to the left and walk through (and play the piano).  

Just south of this village is the Sealed Castle of Kuzar.  You can't do anything here yet but you can go see the 12 legendary weapons!  You'll get them much later in the game, and note that you should have a Thief with the Escape ability as the two monsters you encounter in this castle are very very tough for this juncture in the game. 

Moogles

Further south and east is a valley and a forest.  As you walk into the forest you'll see a moogle run into a hole, so follow it. Keep sliding down the water and you'll eventually see a 4400 Gil treasure chest.   Further down is a Phoenix Down, and at this point you should head east and you'll come to a moogle and a boss.  This Tyranasaurus is undead and can be killed with a Phoenix Down.  If not, use Fire / Cure attacks to hurt him.  Do realize though that he can use a Revenge attack that takes off over a thousand hit points and which will probably kill you, so use the Phoenix Down if you have it.

As you leave the area you'll see a moogle walk to it's village.  Notice it skips the desert.  You should do this also, otherwise you'll run into the Sand Crawl, a very very tough monster with a lot of HP and whom you can't run from (even with Smoke / Escape).  

When you get to the Moogle Village they'll all scatter about.   The Moogle in the northeast will let you in his house to take his six treasures, because you saved him.  They are; Ether, Phoenix Down, 10,000 gil, 1 gil, Dancing Dagger, and a Cabin.  Now the rest of the moogles will warm up to you too.  

In the northwest is a moogle who won't let you have the treasure.  Put the Moogle Suit on (next door) and now this moogle will let you take his treasure (Elf Cape).   Talk to the northeast moogle again and he'll use telepathy to talk to the moogle in Bal castle, where Cara is.  Cara will come on her moogle to save you all, and you'll be back at Bal Castle afterwards.  

Bal Castle

When you gain control it'll be after Butz makes fun of Galuf about being king.  Go west right away for a Hero Drink and Exit (L3 Time Magic).  Go all the way north and it'll be decided that you are to get the Hiryuu plant to save the Hiryuu.  Explore more of the castle first.  If you go to the basement you'll reach a dead end, but you can also fight statues around here for huge amounts of ABP.  This is by far the best place to build up ABP that you'll find in a while.  I suggest you build up several classes down here. 

Outside of this main castle area is an Inn to the left and further left are spells / weapons / armor.  You can get an Angel Suit if you go to the top floor and then go east to see a hidden staircase.  Also, hit the switch (on the weapon / armor shop guy's side) and you'll open it up.  Go in between them and they'll get pissed and give you the Lamia Harp and send you on your way.   

Kelb

Kelb is a village north of Bal.  Only leave Bal when you are really sure you want to leave - you can't go back in for a while.  You can go east to the cave of Gilgame, but that is risky and you'd probably die.  Instead, go north into Kelb and go to the north part of town into the only open house.  

You'll meet Kelgar, one of the Four Warriors of Dawn.  He'll challenge Butz and Butz will knock him out.  You'll talk some more and find out that Butz's dad Dorgan was one of the four Warriors of Dawn (along with Galuf, Kelgar and Zeza).  With that bombshell revealed it's still time to find that Hiryuu medicine so you can leave via the north if you want.   

At the Inn though, you can go up and talk to the Wolf for free treatment and 8 Potions.   He'll give you the 8 Potions three separate times.  There may be some weapons and armor worth purchasing although the spells are a repeat.  If you search the well by the spell shop, an old guy will appear and ask for a frog.  You need the Mediator's Catch ability to catch a frog-like creature (right outside of town no less)).  In return he'll give you 10,000 and a Corna Jar. 

Go to the northeast part of the town and talk to the wolves running in circles - one of them will give you the Requiem song, very useful as a Bard for the upcoming mountain.  

Hiryuu Valley

Again, you might want a Bard to use Requiem against all the undead monsters around here, it can be a help.  You don't really have a choice of where to go for a while, and you'll eventually see a Cabin a few screens in.  You might fight Golem by himself, but he'll run away.  Eventually you'll get to an area with a lot of different bones (search one of them for the Bone Mail - which you should in turn sell probably) and you'll probably run into Golem and two other monsters (BoneDragon and ZombieDrgn - both undead, and both have high hit points).  If you happen to have Bards on your side this will be easy, but you have to make sure those enemies don't kill Golem otherwise you won't get him after the battle.  That may mean you have to use Curative spells on Golem to make sure he stays alive.  After the battle you get the Golem item, which you should then use and then you'll have the Summon.  Golem protects you from physical attacks, very useful in some of the tougher bosses later in the game.

Continue along the path and you'll eventually get to a room with a blocked entrance and no way forward.  Walk around everywhere and eventually you'll fall through, and get the 7000 Gil when you do.  Take the left exit and hit the switch, opening up a new way through if you backtrack, so go back to the room you fell through in, and take the north exit this time.  You'll be right by the path that just opened up because of that switch you hit a second ago.  Take this path and then use the west fork for an AirBlade and a Coronet.  Return back and take the east fork for a Phoenix Down and another fork. 

The first path is a Save Point, so you may want to fight around for a while then rest and continue on.   Upcoming is a boss, the Hiryuu Plant, and it has several of it's minions fighting you.  They die off easily but regenerate fast also.  Focus your attacks on the main plant and you should be okay.  The Dancing Dagger can do Sword Dance and that can take off a large amount of damage.  Otherwise, use Golem to stop the physical attacks and use your best summons and attacks and you shouldn't have a problem.  Exit out and return to Bal, where you can enter through the water under the gate.  

Guido's Dwelling - Surgate Castle

Rest up in Bal and go up to Cara and then the Hiryuu.  Now you can fly away from this area!  When you get out go northeast and you'll see Guido's place.  Unfortunately Exdeath will sink it when you get there.  Fly west now and you'll see Surgate Castle.  No one recognizes you at first but then they see King Galuf of Bal!  

Head inside and take the northwest passage and work your way to the library.  On the bottom floor you'll see a lady who wants you to organize the three books that aren't on the shelves.  It's simple - put the books with whichever letter corresponds to the first letter of the first word of the book.  Afterwards, she'll open up a passage and you should follow, eventually coming to 5000 Gil.  In this room, go south and you'll be in the courtyard, where you should go west and in the door.  Continue along and you'll find Float, a great spell for avoiding earthquake attacks.  

Back in the main room, take the southwest stairs to Zeza's Room.  Read his book for the Song of Speed.   The right path has an Inn and a decent weapon / armor store for you to explore.  Leave Surgate Castle now and look for Zeza's Fleet outside of Exdeath's Castle.  

Zeza's Fleet

Just land on the big ship and you'll be on his fleet.  After the introductions, Zeza will insist you rest.  Go downstairs and do so but you'll wake up in the middle of the night from being attacked!

Go up and talk to Zeza and enemies will rush your ship.  They're easy though but you'll see Gilgamesh (and hear his music).  Work your way to the southern part of the ship and make sure you have someone with the Steal ability.  Gilgamesh is here and he is pretty dangerous and even uses Death Claw (or did on me).  Anyway he has the Genji Glove and that's one of the best on the game so you're going to want to get that, plus he summons Enkidou who has a Green Beret.  Both of them are decent but if you concentrate on one of them, that one will go down soon enough.  

Exdeath Castle Barrier Tower

Go downstairs after the battle and Zeza will be in the room just west of yours.  Help him move a barrel and soon you'll be in his submarine.  You can rest downstairs but he takes you to the Exdeath Barrier where you are to destroy the Antenna.  He gives you an "Echo" so you can communicate with him.  

So take the lower path (going up) and you'll see a save point, and then two treasures on the next floor.  The western most one is a Drain Sword but you have to fight two Thunder Dragon's for it and they're difficult.   The other one is 9000 Gil.  Continue up the path and a long ways up will be an 18,000 gil chest.  As you go through the exterior parts where the vision is limited, take the left path on the 9th floor for another battle against two Thunder Dragon's.  This one almost killed me but thankfully I won and got the Gold Hairpin (halves MP cost) for my troubles.

All the way at the top is Atmos.  He is a difficult fight, as he will immediately take out one of your characters with Comet and then will continue to kill that character if you try to revive him / her.  Pummel Atmos with Titan, Comet, and any other high power spell or attack you have.  You can steal an Ether and you'll get Dark Matter for your victory but it will probably be a longer battle than you'd like (he has a lot of HP).  

Shoat, Guido and Mua Village

Watch the scenes as Zeza sacrifices himself for the sake of goodness.  You will be back in your sub (well, you'll have to wait for Galuf).  When you regain control, don't go see Guido just yet but go to the northwest white dot under water.  Go through the cave and you'll be outside in a forest and you'll eventually run into Shoat.  If you beat him he'll be your Esper, but careful he can use Demon's Eye (turns you to stone).  As an Esper, that's what he does, and can be useful in a few fights.  

Now go to Guido's estate in the center.   You'll have to go through some rooms but it's not much, just transfer the rock from treasure to treasure.   If you have a Blue Mage you can acquire Aero 3 from the Whirl Demon (who starts off as Metamorpha but he can summon into Ifrit, Wyvern or the Whirl Demon).  Continue along and you'll find Guido eventually, and he gives you the Elder Branch and tells you to go to the Forest of Mua.

Go under the water and travel to the northwest where the white dot is, and you'll resurface right next to Mua.  Inside you can get a 9 new spells, and plenty of new armor and weapons if you have the money.  Also, be sure to play the piano at the pub, you've almost played them all.  Go to the west part of the town and search for a Guardian.  You won't be able to get in that far southwest house yet by the way.   

Great Forest of Mua

This is a big forest.  As you enter, you'll use the Elder Branch to get in.  Head due north and you'll see a treasure with 2500 gil.  Before you get too far, I want to let you know that if you are using an emulator (likely considering this guide is for the SNES version) then you should hit "2" and "3" (on ZNES) to remove the layers and see better . Of course part of the fun is navigating and not being able to see that well - it's up to you, just know the option is there.  

Go far far east and you'll see an Ether and a hole in a tree. Search it and you'll see the exit to the next part of the stage.  Keep to the north part of the map and you'll acquire 4900 gil and a Phoenix Down.  Work your way south and all the way east, past the tree with the hole and then get the 9500 gil chest and return to the hole.    

Third part of the level, go west right away for the Cabin and go right afterwards for a Giant Drink.  Up and right a bit for a Save Point and then left for an Elixir, and continue up.   As you make your way around, Exdeath will eventually set the forest on fire.  When you regain control, wait or walk around until a Moogle shows up and reveals a hole to jump in.  Before that though, notice the chest in the northeast part of the screen.  It is an Aegis Shield now but if you go in the hole and come back out it'll be a Flame Shield.  I prefer Aegis as that's better overall in terms of magic defense and isn't such a specialty shield.  

Further west is a treasure that has Soot, and further west is a Flame Toungue.  You can exit south and rest or do whatever you'd like and came back.  This battle is against four elementals and you can expect to have a hard battle here.  The strategy that has worked best for me is to have 3 Summoners and 1 Time Mage.  The Time Mage can also use summons.  Anyway, have the Time Mage cast Float on everyone before the battle and then go in and use Haste 2 on turn one.  Proceed to cast Titan until three of the four Elementals die (leaving the Earth elemental at full power).  If you're floating you should have no issue against this although it may take a while (black magic doesn't work too well but Comet is okay).  You'll get a ton of ABP and then watch the scenes.

You can't lose the battle against Exdeath.  The results are bad but fortunately you acquire Cara to fill the void.  Take the Hiryuu somewhere to rest and get ready for Exdeath's Castle.

Gil Turtle Cave

Okay, so there is one other thing you can do (assuming you got Shoat already).  Go northeast of Bal Castle to the Gil Turtle Cave, and instead of going east to the other side, go south and you'll make your way to a narrow passage and you'll gain gil with each step.  However you are likely to fight the Gil Turtle, a nasty battle.  Ice is it's only true weakness and it's really a test of attrition - and you might fight him a few times.  Is it worth it?  Depends how poor you are in FF5, basically.

Exdeath's Castle

Finally it is time to rush Exdeath's Castle.  It will be open and the fallen soldiers instruct you to go upstairs - grabbing the Ether and Diamond Shield in the south part of the place.   Continue up and go west for a dead end - hmm.  Walk out and you'll get a scene where Galuf, Kelgar and the Kelb wolves help remove the illusion.  Kelgar dies in the process and the four heros of Dawn are dead.  

You can get some Blue Magic spells, like L2 Old and L3 Flare in this place.  Also note that you'll either need a Geomancer or the Float spell on so that you don't get damaged by the floor.  A Thief or the Passages ability is useful to make sure you see all the hidden items.   

Go north when you regain control.   In this room you should hit the grey switch to your right, and that'll open a passage so that you can get the Ice Shield just east of you.  Find your way to the next room and go all the way north and then east (through the wall) for an Ether and the exit.   Take the laval path (with Float or a Geomancer) and go all the way south and east through the wall for a Gale Bow.   Take the path avoiding the lava this time and you'll come about an Elixir and the exit.  

On the seventh floor you'll see a skull and then you can determine the bridge's location whenever you hit A.  The treasure on the left is an Ice Brand and the right is the Kotetsu.  Both are pretty useful for their respective classes.  North leads to the exit and a Save Point.

Floor 8 has an Elixir hidden to the right and 9900 Gil in a treasure to the far west.  Just east of this treasure is the exit.  Continue along and when you get the chance, go all the way east across the lava for a stair to 8000 gil.  Return back and go up the middle stair and you'll be by some more skulls.  Again, you may want a Geomancer so you don't fall through these holes.  Walk to the far east for a Double Lance.  Work your way to the north skull and it'll transport you in front of a glowing Esper.  This is Carbunkle.  

He is a tough guy basically because you can't cast spells on him (but you can cast Wall on yourself and cast a spell on that member, reflecting back onto Carbunkle).  You have a few options.  First of all, you can load up on summoners and use Shoat, which sometimes works for a quick, easy kill.  Or you can do it the long way with good physical attacks.  You get 11 ABP and the esper "Crbnkl", and it's very useful in certain battles for putting up a Wall for every ally in your party.

 Return to the skull pitfall room and step on the southern most skull to reveal the opening to the south.  You'll want to take this and rest up and save.  Continue onto floor 11 and take the right stairs first and you'll get a Partisan and a Pinwheel.  Return and search the treasure in the middle of floor 11.  It'll be nothing, and as you try to go north you'll see Gilgamesh yet again.

This Gilgamesh fight is very easy.  As usual, make sure you have a Thief on hand.  You can't steal the Genji Helmet until he morphs into a different form (second form).  Initially you can only steal a Hi Potion.  When he morphs he'll use the "Excailbur" and it'll take off nothing basically.  Take him out and when he's done Exdeath will get pissed and will banish him to the Cleft of Dimensions (more on that later).  

When you're truly prepared, head up the next few sets up stairs and you'll run into Exdeath.  What works against this guy?  Well he has some powerful attacks and spells, so first off you're absolutely positively going to want Golem equipped otherwise he'll rout characters fast.  Crbnkl is useful but can also be harmful in that you cannot use Cure 3 (for example) on your party with the walls up.  

For the record, I had Faris be a Ninja (with X-fight (so 8 attacks)), Butz was a Ninja also, Lenna was a Samurai with White Magic and Cara was a Monk with Summon capabilities.  This allowed for good physical attacks but also the ability to use Golem, Carbunkle, Cure 3, Bersk (on Butz) and so on.  I will point out that I wish I had a Time Mage in this battle, as Haste 2 is very helpful.  

When Exdeath goes down, the crystals shatter and the world is back to it's original form - that's right, World 1 and World 2 are combined.