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| Final Fantasy VI copyright Square Enix. Images used for educational purposes only. |
Narshe
- After snagging the Falcon, fly to the centre-most island in the far north of the World of Ruin. There’s a stretch of mountain here that is the current home to Narshe.
- Narshe as a town is pretty much done for, overrun as it is by monsters. They’re not too tough if you’ve been collecting characters already, and fire is generally a good idea. The town’s buildings are also, for the most part, locked. (The Adventuring School is the only exception to all this. Business carries on as usual.)
- Make your way to the Moogle nest deep in the mines. The secret passage in the Narshe Mines west of Narshe’s entrance will get you there a bit quicker. Mog is the only Moogle left, and he’ll happily join / rejoin your team. After he joins up, check the patch of wall he was facing to find Molulu’s Charm. When equipped this item will negate random battles. Great for exploration, though bear in mind that only Mog can wear the thing.
- Put Mog in your party if he isn’t there already and head for the Frozen Esper, beyond the snow field where you fought Kefka’s forces. You can find it by entering the Narshe Mines through Narshe (the route Terra took at the veeeeeery beginning of the game) and taking a right in the first tunnel. Be careful wandering in the snow field, as it’s home to one of the Eight Dragons, the Ice Dragon. Unlike many other Dragons it’s in constant motion, and can be difficult to avoid. We’ll fight it in another article.
- Use the save point in the north of the ice field, before approaching the Frozen Esper. It’s now partially awake… and a little angry.
Valigarmanda
The Frozen Esper is a big jerk. Valigarmanda employs strong elemental attacks and can freeze your characters, but its most annoying attribute by far is its capacity to destroy your MP via Rasp. It will use Rasp over… and over… and over. This is bad, as physical attacks are virtually useless against Valigarmanda. You need to use magic, specifically fire, to end this fight. Barring repeated assaults of Fira you can harm Valigarmanda using Sabin’s Rising Phoenix or any neutral special attacks, such as Edgar’s Tools or Cyan’s Bushidos. Not that difficult, but annoying.
- You’ll gain the Valigarmanda magicite after the battle. The Frozen Esper will then disappear, leaving a gap in the cliff where it was sitting. Approach the gap and you can leap down, down, down…
- (Don’t bother going down here without Mog. Seriously. You’ll have to redo the whole damned dungeon if you leave him behind. It’s not long, but still.)
Yeti’s Cave
- You’ll land in a strange little Cave area. This place is populated by monsters that, while not terribly strong, have a propensity for imping your characters. So annoying. You’ll get Green Cherries for winning most battles; expect to break them out fairly often.
- There are three passages in this first area. Go through the middle door to start. There are two chests on your left. The first contains an X-Ether, while the second… will drop you into a lower area if you try to get it from here. Sigh. You can get it by going through the left door in the first chamber, skimming around and above the ground beside the door to avoid holes. The chest contains a battle against three Tonberries, creatures that use the Holy spell, strong physical hits, and an instant-killing attack that only goes off if they move close enough to your characters. Tonberries are best handled with strong magic attacks. These creatures may drop a Minerva Bustier if you’re lucky.
- Drop into the lower chamber after collecting these chests and climb onto the walkways. In the bottom-left corner of this first area is a Gauntlet. Head east and north from here.
- There are two switches in the next room. Hit the right switch and you’ll fall into a chamber with a skull sculpture. Approach and investigate the sculpture - and steal the Midgardsormr magicite within - to trigger a fight.
Yeti
This is a preeeeetty easy fight. The Yeti tends largely towards physical attacks, using its Tackle strike to do most of the damage against single characters. Do enough damage and it will eat a Green Cherry, increasing its stats almost across the board… but not changing the situation a whole lot. After this it will gain an all-hitting attack that really isn’t that strong. Use fire attacks and whatever strong tactics you may have to bring the Yeti down. (Quite frankly, the battle against the Tonberries is a loooooot harder than this actual boss battle.)
- Speak to the Yeti after the fight. Assuming Mog is in your battle, you’ll learn that his default name is Umaro - and he’ll rush out to the Falcon and join your party. Umaro is a perpetually-berserk character who can nevertheless dish out a lot of damage while he’s alive. Not a great choice in contentious battles, but handy if you’re just exploring dungeons.
- Follow Umaro up the long stairs nearby and you’ll drop out of the Mines and back into Narshe. From here you can return to the entrance and leave the area.