Porom’s Challenge Dungeon - if you wind up doing it, and I honestly wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t, I hate this thing - is in Mysidia’s Pub. As ever, you’ll only be allowed in once you complete the Tale.
Porom’s Challenge Dungeon is unique, even among Challenge Dungeons, though it bears some similarity to Rosa’s Lunar Dungeon challenge in Final Fantasy IV. Your goal here is to navigate a maze-like area within the constraints of a fifteen-minute clock. There are numerous NPCs within the maze, and each of them requires some form of assistance. The more people you help, the better your prize when you reach the end of the maze.
The NPCs all appear in different locations each time you enter the Dungeon, and though their requests are thematically similar depending on the NPC, exactly what they want will be random each time as well. (Usually, anyway.)
- Black Mages will ask you to save them from a random monster. Usually these fights are pretty easy, as they’re against a single opponent.
- White Mages will ask you to purify evil spirits. Speaking to a White Mage will trigger the appearance of three flaming NPCs somewhere in the Dungeon. Track them all down to fulfill her request. As far as I can tell you do not have to speak to her again after purifying the spirits.
- Orange-haired men will ask for items, either Potions (five), Hi-Potions (five), Tents (five), Phoenix Downs (five), Echo Herbs (five), Gold Needles (five), Healing Staffs (one), Sage’s Surplices (one) Remedies (one), or Ethers (one). You can almost always find Remedies and Ethers in the chests around the Dungeon, though the rest of the items you’ll typically have to buy in bulk in Mysidia, particularly the Healing Staffs and Surplices.
- Old men will ask you to cast spells on them, namely Cura (9 MP) or Esuna (20 MP). If you’re lucky, the old man will only ask once. If you’re unlucky he’ll ask you to cast the spell multiple times. Only Porom’s MP will be used for this purpose, so if you need to heal at other times during your trek, relegate the duty to the White Mage. Don’t talk to these guys if your MP is below 150 or so, as failing to satisfy them will result in failure, not a partial victory.
Once you’ve satisfied as many NPCs as you can - it’s not difficult to run around the Dungeon several times, so long as you always run from battles - head to the northwest corner of the map. Here you’ll find a warp tile that will lead you to a battle against a Mythril Golem. Use Stop to halt the thing in its tracks, then Jump it into oblivion. Your prize is right behind it. Opening the chest will transport you out of the Dungeon. If you contented all of the NPCs, you’ll find one of the following items in the chest:
- Adamantite
- Aura Staff
- Elixir
- Luminous Ring
- Mystic Veil
- Rapid Ring
- Silver Apple
- Soma Drop
In addition, you may find a Power Staff, a Killer Bow, and / or Ice Arrows while opening chests in the rest of the Dungeon, though most of the time you’ll find more mundane items.
Did I mention I hate this Dungeon? Seriously, it sucks. Don’t bother.