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Babel Tower

- Leave through Dwarf Castle’s rear exit and you’ll pop out west of the Castle. Follow the land further west, then north, to find the base of the massive Babel Tower. With the dwarves distracting the locals you can pop inside. Get used to Babel Tower, as you’ll be here multiple times. 

- The enemies in Babel Tower are similar to the creatures of the Tower of Zot, though with a fiery bent. The majority of the time you’ll want to use icy attacks to bring creatures down. Blizzara from Rydia is a good starting spell, and Yang’s Ice Claws are ideal.

- 1F. The door to the next floor is dead ahead, but you can explore the east side of the floor to find an Ether and the west side of the floor to find two Ice Arrows.


- 2F. There’s a chest to your immediate right that contains a Green Beret. There are three doors to the south: the first contains an enemy battle, as well as a handy Ice Brand; the second, on the right, also contains a monster battle, and an Ice Lance; the third leads upstairs.

- 3F. A chest to your left contains a Cat Claw. Head right after opening the chest, then go north at the first intersection. A path to the right leads to a Hi-Potion. There’s a door to the left of here that you can reach by looping back north and then south; near this door is a Phoenix Down. This door leads to a Killer Bow and an Antarctic Wind. Return to the third floor, then wander north to the far wall and west. You’ll find a path to a second door.


- 4F. A door on your immediate left contains a save point. Wander north and across a bridge and you’ll find an intersection. Head south through a wall to find two doors. Inside one you’ll find a chest containing a monster, as well as Ice Armor. The second room is empty. Head back to the intersection and check the room on the right to find another chest monster, this one containing an Ice Shield. Head back to the corridors and you’ll find a door if you continue north.

- 5F. There’s a chest to the right of the door that you can reach by wandering south. It contains an Arctic Wind. In the middle of this area, across a bridge, is a locked door. Don’t bother with it yet. Head to the east side of the area, check the southbound bridge along the right wall for a Hi-Potion, then head north to find a door.


- 6F / 7F. Head to the next door in line to the seventh floor. There’s a door on your right in the next open area, this leading to a save point. Use or ignore as you see fit (I recommend saving), then return to the open floor and go south. Past a bridge in the south you’ll hit an intersection; on the left is a Dry Ether, on the right is a door.

- 8F. The remaining path will take you to a cut scene, and beyond that a boss.


Doctor and Barnabas

This is a fairly simple boss fight. Lugae sits in the back and doesn’t do a whole lot, while his creation, Barnabas, tries to mash your team with physical hits. Attack them both howsoever you like. If you defeat Barnabas first he will merge with Lugae and become Barnabas-Z; if you defeat Lugae first, Barnabas will soon explode. Not too difficult regardless of your approach, but it’s easier to take out Lugae first.


Dr. Lugae

This is a weird battle. Lugae will start off by poisoning your entire team. He’ll then begin using an all-hitting fire attack which does almost no damage, a Beam attack which does almost nothing to one character, and a Laser attack which annihilates one character. Ouch. Laser is fairly rare, so don’t worry about it too much. Lugae will react to any hits against him with Sleeping Gas, which has about a fifty-fifty chance of putting a character to sleep, and every now and then he’ll just up and remove all status effects on your party. For that reason you can largely ignore the initial poisoning. Not much to say, really - just use your strongest attacks and spells to whittle away his HP while Rosa heals.

- Winning will earn you Dr. Lugae’s Key. Head back to the fifth floor and use the Key on that locked door you passed earlier. After an easy battle within, stuff will happen… and Yang leaves the party. You won’t be seeing him again until the very end of the game. (And players of the original game will lose him permanently.) Sad face.

- Return to the base of the Babel Tower. (Yes, you have to walk.) A cut scene will intrude, and when it’s done, yes, Cid is also gone for a long time, possibly permanently. (I guess he was already. This party is not good for long relationships.)