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| Final Fantasy VI copyright Square Enix. Images used for educational purposes only. |
After fighting and beating Ultros, your party will be separated by geography. The story now separates into three distinct scenarios. You can play them in any order you like, though in this walkthrough we’ll be looking at Sabin’s Scenario first. It is easily the longest of the three, and it’s the only one where you can purchase equipment. You can use this equipment to outfit your characters in the other two scenarios and give them a slight advantage.
Sabin’s Scenario
- Sabin will wash up beside a small house. Here you can recruit Shadow, the assassin you may have met briefly in South Figaro. Shadow is a swift physical fighter, and using his Throw command you can inflict a ton of damage each turn by expending items such as Shurikens and Scrolls. It’s wise to buy a large number of Shurikens from the merchant who wanders outside this house so Shadow can maximize his damage output.
- If necessary, sleep inside the house. (Its owner is a little kooky.) Otherwise, sally eastward until the path forces you south.
Imperial Camp
- Several cut scenes will block your progress through here. Along the way you’ll jump into the shoes of a knight of the nearby kingdom of Doma, by default named Cyan. Cyan possesses the Bushido command, allowing him to charge up a number of powerful sword techniques.
- Use Cyan to take out the commander of the Imperials attacking Doma. You can kill the man in one hit by using Cyan’s second level Bushido attack, Sky, and then waiting for the guy to attack.
- Back to the camp, and back to your normal party. To the south and on your left is a trooper you can kill and a tent to invade, though there’s nothing inside. The right tent, by contrast, has a locked chest, and if you try to kick it open you’ll attract the wrong type of attention. Either way you’ll find a Star Pendant inside.
- More cut scenes follow to the south. Once they’re done you’ll be in a short, easy fight with Kefka. Knock him once to send him running. Chase him for another short battle, then head up the ramp north of where he stops to find a tent. Inside are two chests, one of which contains a Satellite enemy. Maul it with your strongest attacks before you lose control of your characters. It will drop a Green Beret. The other chest contains a Mythril Glove.
- Go after Kefka and you’ll have to fight four rather simple soldiers. Take them out…
- … and you’re back to Cyan. Run to the king’s room after Kefka’s plan is laid bare, then return to the main corridor in the castle and check the two doors to the south. You can find a Remedy beside a body in the next room. Snag it, then return to the carpeted corridor and check the room to the right of the throne room. Ouch.
- Back to the Camp. You’ll have to support Cyan in a series of battles. That done, you’ll wind up in Magitek Armor. Use the Armor to charge back the way you came and out of the Imperial Camp, annihilating everyone in your way.
- Once you’re back on the world map, assuming you brought Shadow along, save your game. From this point onward there’s a chance he will leave your team randomly after finishing a battle, and you’ll want his help for the next section, where he’s forced to stick with Sabin and Cyan. Reload if he takes off.
- Head west and south. Soon you’ll come to a small location called the Phantom Forest. This area is full of enemies that love magic and can dish out a fair amount of damage, but they have rather poor amounts of HP. Use strong attacks to wipe them out quickly. To get through this forest go right, take the first northbound path to a recovery spring, go right, take the first path northward on your right, then take the northbound path on the next screen. If you went in the right direction you’ll see a train in the distance.
- Climb on. Uh oh!
Phantom Train
- Try to open the door the way you came in. This will allow you to proceed through the train.
- The Phantom Train is a weird area. Most enemies provide little experience, and their attacks are quirky - though not that threatening. You’ll also find this place populated by ghost NPCs who will either attack you, provide you with merchant services, or join your party. PC ghosts will only join your temporarily and they’re weak as hell, but their Possession attack can instantly kill any enemy that might be giving you trouble… albeit at the cost of their presence in your party. (Don’t worry, you can always recruit a different one instead.)
- Take a right through the first car. The next car over is the last on the Phantom Train. You can save inside, and the conductor inside will tell you about the Phantom Train. You can also pull a switch in here for a bit of fun with Cyan.
- Fight your way west through the Phantom Train until you reach a car with no exit save the way you came in. You’ll have to fight your way out after entering, and then you’ll have to flee to the roof. After escaping your pursuers, enter the car where you land and hit the switch inside. Do so again to open the way further west.
- The next car over is a dining car. You can sit at the central table and sup on food to restore your strength. Each character has a unique reaction to eating. Enter the car from the opposite side to find a chest containing an Earring.
- Check the next car over. There are two rooms here. In the first you’ll confront a blowhard named Siegfried who’s about as weak as they get. The second is empty. The next car in line is much the same, though the first room here is empty while the second contains four chests. They contain a Hyper Wrist (protected by a monster), two Phoenix Downs, and a Sniper Eye.
- Any ghosts on your team will depart as you head to the final car. Save inside the car, then head for the engine. Hit the first and third switches inside the compartment, then hit the button by the smokestack outside to stop the train… or at least to try stopping the train.
Phantom Train
Yep, now you have to fight the thing. The Phantom Train can be a painful opponent for only two characters, as it will use its Phantom Whistle attack to inflict a random status ailment. The results range from fairly meh to outright painful. Otherwise the Phantom Train will swap between all-hitting and single-hitting attacks, dishing out moderate amounts of damage. Either smack it around with your best attacks and heal using Hi-Potions as appropriate…
… or take the easy way out and use a single Phoenix Down on the Phantom Train. This will destroy the thing immediately, as it is an undead enemy. Weeeee!
- After the battle’s done you’ll have to watch a painful cut scene, and when that’s over you’ll be free to leave the Phantom Train and the Phantom Forest.
Baren Falls
Upon arrival at Baren Falls, assuming he’s still in your party, Shadow will take off. Bid him farewell, then leap boldly off of the Falls.
What follows is a series of connected battles against Opinicus Fish. These things are no big deal, but they should nevertheless be dispatched before they can do any damage, as killing enough of them will bring a creature called Rhizopas out to fight. Rhizopas is very strong, and can one hit both Sabin and Cyan with its horrifying El Nino attack. Use Cyan’s Sky to immediately wipe this thing out.
At the bottom of the Falls you’ll meet a new potential party member, default name Gau, and you’ll have arrived at the Veldt.
The Veldt and Mobliz
- The Veldt is a weird and savage place. It contains the data of every enemy you’ve faced up to this point, and as you continue to travel new enemies will be added to the Veldt. You can, in essence, fight almost every enemy in the game (save bosses) while travelling on the Veldt. It serves another purpose, as well, but we’ll get to that in a bit. Note that you will get zero experience fighting on the Veldt.
- Head east along the Veldt to find the village of Mobliz. Here you can rest up (do so in the Relic shop and you can heal for free), buy new equipment for team members both present and absent, and learn about the Serpent Trench, your next major destination. Check the clock inside the post office (central building) for an Elixir.
- While you’re here you can also engage in a small side quest. The building on the west side of town contains an injured soldier who longs to communicate with his girlfriend across the world. Start by reading a letter on the nearby desk to him. You can then pay the postmaster 500 gil to send a message to the girlfriend. Normally you would have to wait a little while for the next letter to come to continue the quest, but if you speak to the man outside the post office who describes the Serpent Trench you’ll automatically trigger the next letter delivery. Do this enough times and you’ll receive a Tintinnabulum from the soldier.
- Head to the item shop. Here you can purchase Dried Meat. Normally a restorative item, Dried Meat can be used while fighting on the Veldt to befriend Gau, the lad who occasionally shows up after a successful battle. He’ll join your party after he’s given a single Dried Meat. Gau has the Rage command, which, despite taking him out of your control, gifts him with the move sets of enemies he Leaps onto while on the Veldt. This makes him a powerful, if somewhat unpredictable, ally. At the very least you’ll want to teach him the Stray Cat Rage, as it will provide Gau with the ridiculously-powerful Cat Scratch move.
- After collecting a few new Rages and outfitting Gau with some worthy equipment, head south along the Veldt. Down here you’ll find a crescent-shaped mountain range appropriately named Crescent Mountain.
- Inside Crescent Mountain Gau will begin looking for… something. If you poke around you can find some very minor items, as well as lose some. Muck about if you wish, but your destination is the right side of the cave, where Gau will find what he wants. You’ll then automatically enter the Serpent Trench.
Serpent Trench
This area is somewhat similar to the Lethe River. You’re set on a path filled with random enemy encounters and you need to make your way from one end of the Trench to the other. Along the way you can change course and go down different paths, and if you stick to the right in both cases you’ll find caves that break up the course. One contains an X-Potion, the other a Green Beret.
The enemies along this trip are not that difficult overall so long as you got Gau a few powerful Rages, most notably the Stray Cat. Don’t be afraid to run if you’re getting weak - you won’t have an opportunities besides the caves to heal outside of battle.
Nikeah
- Eventually you’ll wash up in this port town. If you want you can speak to the owner of the nearby ferry and sail away from Nikeah, ending the scenario. It’s better to go searching around town a bit first, though.
- To the north is a market. Here you can purchase a slew of items and equipment from the vendors. If you’re lacking in money enough to cover everybody, step outside town and fight the enemies beyond. They’re the same as what you fought at the beginning of the scenario. In particular you’ll want to stock up on restorative items, as there’s a big fight coming up in the aftermath of the scenarios that will sap your healing capabilities. If you don't make any buys here, well, you'll have one more chance.
- The Pub has a fun cut scene for Cyan if you speak to the dancer at the bar. Check the clock at the Inn for an Elixir. That’ll do it for the buildings, and Nikeah in general. You’re shipbound.