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Castle Baron

- After a lengthy intro cut scene you’ll wind up in Baron, a heavily-fortified castle. You’re now wandering around as Cecil, a Dark Knight. Cecil is heavily-armoured and quite good at physical attacks, and his Dark command will hit every enemy for decent damage… though it also inflicts damage on Cecil. Use it sparingly.

- With a new Bomb Ring in hand you can explore the castle. Head south two screens, until you see three treasure chests on your right. Trigger the ‘secret’ door in front of them to gain access. They contain 480 gil, an Ether, and a Tent.


- Head through Castle Baron’s west wing. You’ll hit two cut scenes along the way to the tower in the northwest. Climb the tower once you’re done talking to people to hit another cut scene. Shortly thereafter you’ll be booted out of Castle Baron.

- You’re now on the world map. As you travel here you will run into random encounters. The enemies in these parts are quite easy, and don’t even merit description. Kain is about as strong as Cecil and a teensy bit faster, and his Jump command allows him to inflict a lot of damage on a single enemy - though you need to wait a turn or two before he descends. This can keep Kain out of trouble and allow him to avoid otherwise deadly attacks, but it also means your other characters are more exposed to enemy fire.


Baron

- Surrounding Castle Baron is the town of Baron. Here you can purchase some basic supplies and stay at the Inn. Check the pot next to the Inn for a Potion, and a pot inside (beside heaps of logs) for another Potion. There’s a secret room inside the Inn that you can open by investigating the decorative swords beside it; inside you’ll find Dwarven Bread, a Tent, and Eye Drops.

- Inside the smallest building of Baron is a sealed path which you cannot use. Also here is a Training Room where you can learn the basics of Final Fantasy IV, as well as an odd raccoon fellow called Namingway. Namingway can change the names of your party members. You’ll find Namingways in most towns. To the right of this small building is a larger one; check the pots outside for, yes, another Potion.


- Head to the north of Baron, where the water runs down into a small stream which snakes through the town. You can slip into the water and follow it to the south, where you’ll hit a small pond. Check the unseen hard spot here for a Tent.

- That’s all for Baron. Leave town and head west across the nearby desert, then roughly northwest. You’ll know you’re on the right track when you hit a mountain range. It will guide you to a small cave…


Mist Cave

- Save outside, then head in. The monsters here are largely the same as what you fought outside, and still pretty easy.

- Follow the path until you see a chest near a bridge. The chest contains a Potion. Snag it, then cross the bridge. On the other side is a pathway to the north. It leads to a chest containing Eye Drops. Grab ‘em and double back.

- Head south. After one set of stairs the path branches. Continue south, and then northwest, to find a Tent. Then return to the stairs and go northeast. As you near the end of the cave you’ll find a Potion, and at the end, well…


Mist Dragon

As the first boss of the game, the Mist Dragon is not terribly difficult. Normally it hits your party for near-negligible amounts of damage, and during this time you’re free to attack normally. Ever now and then it will turn into mist, however, and attacking it will not only prove useless, but earn Kain and Cecil a painful retaliatory attack. Hold off until it returns to dragon form, then continue smacking the Mist Dragon until it dies. Kain’s Jump attack is quite effective, but don’t use it if the Mist Dragon hasn’t turned for a while. His timing may prove poor.

- Defeating the Mist Dragon will take you back out onto the world map. To the east you’ll find the small town of Mist, and when you enter… ouch. Needless to say, by the time this event is over, Cecil is riding solo for a while.