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Vector - Armor Shop
Located at the heart of the southern continent, Vector is an unfriendly place. The capital of the Empire is full of danger, and if you try to explore the northern half of the city you'll probably get into battles with Imperial soldiers. If you try to approach the Imperial Palace in the north you'll run into a very nasty device, the Guardian, which you can't so much as dent right now. Just flee the battle if you decide to try this out.
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There are several things to do in Vector before we move on with the story:
- The first thing to note here is the Inn. You can stay here for free, but the owner will steal money from you in the night - more than you’ll want to spend. Instead, visit the thin house to the left of the entrance and speak to the person inside. Say you’re not loyal to the Empire and, after a short, easy battle, you’ll receive free healing here whenever you like.
- The lower half of Vector is more or less safe. You can purchase arms and armor in the western stores, and to the east is your way into your next destination, the Magitek Factory. We'll come to that in a moment.
- There's a boy who can use Cure on your party in the north, just before you climb the stairs into the 'dangerous' part of Vector. Not very useful, but neat.
- If you enter the pub in the northwest of Vector you can learn some juicy gossip about Kefka, explaining why he is the way he is. A fellow in the northeast discusses General Leo, as well, though trying to reach him is a bit riskier given all the roaming soldiers.
Head to the southeast of Vector after you've prepped your party. Guards block the way to the Magitek Factory, but a man hiding behind some nearby crates will help you get inside. Once he’s distracted the guards you can slip in - just don't approach the guards after you've gotten past.
Magitek Factory / Research Facility - Enemies
You’re now in one of the best-protected areas on the planet. The first half of the installation, the Magitek Factory, is patrolled by enemies that, despite not being too powerful, are highly resistant to physical attacks. If you don’t have magic, or special attacks such as Tools or Blitzes, you’ll have a very difficult time getting through. Celes at the very least can make a good accounting of herself in this place.
Head down the two sets of stairs by the entrance and go through the first pipe on your left. The pipe looks like part of the scenery, but it's accessible if you brush up against the entrance. It will take you to a chest containing a Flametongue. Use the hook moving back and forth to the north of the chest to get back to the main path
There are two pipes to the east of the crane hook. Go through the right pipe to reach a chest containing an Ether. Go back through the pipe, then go through the left pipe to get on a conveyor belt. You’ll hop off beside an X-Potion.
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If you go north through the pipe beside the X-Potion chest to return to the entrance. Otherwise, take a right onto another conveyor. At the end is a chest containing a Thunder Blade. There are plenty of mechanical enemies in this area, so the Thunder Blade should come in handy. Near the next conveyor to the south is a Remedy, and the conveyor will take you into a new area.
Ignore the conveyor on your right when you enter this room and go north instead. Head east, up the stairs, and you’ll find a series of crates. Pass through them to find a pipe leading south. Along the way is a room on the right containing an Icebrand and a Zephyr Cloak. Continue south through the pipe to drop back into the main room.
Head south and to the wesr side of the room. In the southwest corner is a chest containing Dragoon Boots. These Relics change the Fight command to Jump, allowing a character to leap off of the screen for a few rounds before attacking. Go up the stairs near this chest, then head north to find a chest containing a Golden Shield. Don’t use the lift at the end of this path unless you want to go back outside.
Wander back into the southern room. At the bottom of the stairs and to your right are two pathways leading south. Go down the right path and, at the bottom of the stairs beyond, you’ll see a small room on the other side of an overhead walkway. Go through the door beneath the walkway to reach the chest inside, which contains a Golden Helm. Head east from here and you’ll see another small room. In here is some hidden Golden Armor. At the top of the stairs to the far east is a Tent.
Backtrack to the main room. You’ve covered just about everything in the 'explorable' sections of the Magitek Factory. Hop onto the conveyor you ignored earlier, back in the north. It leads to a cut scene with a persistant nuisance. Hop onto the final conveyor to the south of this spot and you’ll get dropped into a pit.
There are two Espers down here. Don’t talk to them yet. Instead, go through the unblocked door on the left to find a save point. Use it, then try to speak to the Esper on the left. Be ready for a battle.
Ifrit and Shiva
HP:
- 3,300 (Ifrit)
- 3,000 (Shiva)
Weakness:
- Ice (Ifrit)
- Fire (Shiva)
Absorbs:
- Fire (Ifrit)
- Ice (Shiva)
Immune: All unlisted elements
Espers attack! Working together in a tag-team format, Ifrit and Shiva can cause a fair amount of trouble if you approach them the wrong way. They use the following attacks:
- Normal physical attacks (both)
- Hit, a slightly-stronger physical attack (both)
- Fire / Fira / Firaga / Blaze, Fire spells against one or more targets (Ifrit)
- Blizzard / Blizzara / Blizzaga / Snowstorm, Ice spells against one or more targets (Shiva)
Ifrit and Shiva take turns going after you, Ifrit hitting you with fiery attacks, Shiva with icy attacks. Attack one enough times and it will switch to the other. Their magic is quite powerful and can OHKO a characters if you retaliate with magical attacks too often.
For the most part you should avoid elemental attacks in this battle, as they can prompt both Espers to use their strongest spells (Firaga / Blizzaga) on a party member. Go with neutral, special attacks - Tools, Bushido, many of Gau's Rages, etc. - while Celes uses Runic to absorb Ifrit and Shiva's spells. Heal as necessary. The Espers have individual HP counts, but you only need to defeat one of them to end the battle.
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Speak to Ifrit and Shiva after the fight. They’ll change into the Ifrit and Shiva Magicite, both of which teach some valuable second-tier spells. Put them on anybody but Celes. You'll see why in a bit. Use the save point in the room adjacent to the pit to restore your party with a Tent, then go through the door previously blocked by Shiva.
(If you want to return to the previous area you can interact with the crane hook dangling above the pit, but there's nothing else to see back there if you followed the guide up to this point.)
The door leads to a staircase, which, in turn, guides you up to a room full of strange capsules. This is the Magitek Research Facility, which is almost the end of the line. At the far end of this latter corridor, hidden in the southwest corner, is a Stoneblade. You’ll have to do some hunting and button-tapping to find it, but it’s there. These two areas contain enemies that rarely (if ever) appear outside the Magitek Research Facility, and you may want to spend some time here killing them all if you value Gau’s Rages.
In the third and final room, past the capsules, you'll find the next boss.
Number 024
HP: 4,777
Weakness: Varies; see below
Absorbs / Immunity: Varies; see below
Drops: Flametongue / Icebrand
Steal: Rune Blade / Blood Sword
A Magitek creation, Number 024 guards the innermost chambers of the Magitek Research Facility. He uses the following attacks:
- A normal melee strike
- Barrier Change, which changes Number 024's elemental type
- Overflow, which can inflict Confusion
- Reverse Polarity, which forces everyone to swap their current row
- Cura / Cura / Sunbath / Arctic Hare, restorative spells
- Fire / Fira / Fireball, Fire spells
- Blizzard / Blizzara, Ice spells
- Thunder / Thundara, Lightning spells
- Acid Rain, a Water spell that inflicts Sap
- Aqua Breath, a Water spell against the whole party
- Magnitude 8, an Earth spell against the whole party
- Gale Cut, a Wind spell against the whole party
- Cave In, a single-target spell that damages and inflicts Sap
- Sonic Boom, a single-target spell that damages and inflicts Sap
This guy looks a lot tougher than he actually is. Number 024 is, for most of the fight, a physical attacker, and though he can hit decently hard his attacks won’t tax your healing characters too much. It’s only when you get about halfway through the fight that 024 becomes tricky, as he’ll use his Barrier Change to swap from a neutral character to a thing of the elements. Using the Libra spell will tell you which element Number 024 currently has applied.
From this point on Number 024 will have only one elemental weakness, and any others heal him. Number 024 is not fantastically durable beyond that, however, and if you start the fight with your most punishing attacks and magic you can usually sap him of his health in fairly short order, before Barrier Change even comes up.
If Barrier Change does come into play, switch to non-elemental special attacks (Tools are great, as are Cyan’s Bushido strikes) and continue wailing on him ’til he croaks. If you can target Number 024's weaknesses three times he'll malfunction and start healing himself, though you can ignore the weaknesses altogether and not need to worry about this part of the fight.
It’s wise to unequip any of the elemental swords you may have picked up in the dungeon before fighting Number 024. If your luck is poor - it often is - you may wind up healing Number 024 rather than doing any damage.
Defeating Number 024 will earn you a Flametongue or an Icebrand. If you Steal from Number 024 you can get either a Rune Blade or a Blood Sword. All of these are strong swords for your fighters, and the elemental swords in particular are handy for a few upcoming battles.
Behind Number 024 is a room full of occupied capsules. Check to the north to find a switch. Pull the switch to trigger a lengthy cut scene, earning you six new pieces of Magicite: Unicorn, Maduin, Catoblepas, Phantom, Carbuncle, and Bismarck. Unfortunately, Celes leaves the party at this point, and you won't be getting her back for a while.
Follow Cid, the fellow who looks like a banana, into the depths below the Magitek Research Facility. Here you'll find a save point, and you should use it before you speak to Cid. Once you talk to him you'll trigger a mine cart trip, one that you can't control. You'll want your party to be in tip-top shape before you disembark.
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As you race along the tracks you'll run into two different creatures, both named Magna Roaders. The smaller, red Magna Roaders are much rarer than their purple counterparts, and this is the only place you can fight either type. Assuming you want to get all of Gau’s Rages, you may have to reset your game and try again if you don’t run into the red Magna Roaders before this trip is through.
It'll take a while, but eventually you'll run into a boss battle.
Number 128
HP:
- 3,276 (Number 128)
- 700 (Right Blade)
- 400 (Left Blade)
Drops:
- Tent (Number 128)
- Phoenix Down (Right Blade, Left Blade)
Steal:
- Kazekiri (Number 128)
- Ether (Right Blade, Left Blade)
A three-part beast, Number 128 is not as tough as it looks - though the fact that you're down to three party members can make this battle a bit tougher. It uses the following attacks:
- Normal melee strikes (all)
- Rapier and Slash, stroner physical attacks (Blades)
- Blood Feast, which steals HP from one character (Number 128)
- Shockwave, which inflicts neutral damage to one character (Number 128)
- Blizzard, an Ice spell (Number 128)
- Atomic Rays, which inflicts Fire damage on the party (Number 128)
- Gale Cut, which inflicts Wind damage on the party (Number 128)
- Net, which inflicts Stop on one character (Number 128)
- Haste, which boosts the target's speed (Number 128)
- Blaster, which can inflict Instant Death on one or all of your party members (Number 128)
- Shamshir, which cuts one target's HP in half (Left Blade)
Number 128 begins by Stopping one of your characters for a while with its Net attack, and will continue to do so periodically thereafter. That aside, Number 128 tends towards physical attacks, using its two Blades to smack you around and drain your health if you dare to hit it with your own physical attacks. Take out the two Blades and, after Hasting, it will begin using Gale Cut, which hits harder than anything else Number 128 can do. If the battle takes too long Number 128 can use Blaster to wipe the party.
Ignore the Blades entirely, as they’ll regenerate even when defeated, and focus your strongest special attacks and spells (nothing icy, it absorbs cold spells) on Number 128’s body. Defeating the main body destroys the two Blades as well, ending the fight. Nothing fancy, just overwhelm the big robot's HP.
Number 128 carries a Kazekiri, a katana for Cyan that randomly casts the Gale Cut spell when Cyan uses a physical attack. This is one of only two of these weapons in Final Fantasy VI, and despite the time restraints of this battle you may want to try and grab it before the defeating Number 128. You'll get the second Kazekiri pretty soon, and equipping both of them on Cyan (via a Genji Glove) makes him quite potent against large groups of enemies.
Beat Number 128 and you’ll zip back out into Vector. Check to the north of where you emerge to find a save point (make sure you use this thing, seriously), then head south through a few more random battles. Setzer takes Celes’s place in your party after a cut scene, providing an interesting random mechanic with his Slots command. You'll get a chance to use it pretty much right away, too.
Cranes
HP:
- 1,800 (Left Crane)
- 2,300 (Right Crane)
Weakness:
- Water (Left Crane)
- Lightning, Water (Right Crane)
Resists:
- Lightning (Left Crane)
- Fire (Right Crane)
Steal:
- Noiseblaster (Left Crane)
- Potion / Debilitator (Right Crane)
Your final battle in the southern continent - for the moment, anyway - takes place on the deck of the Blackjack, against a pair of mechanical monstrosities. The Cranes use the following attacks:
- Normal physical strikes (both)
- Wrecking Ball, a stronger physical strike against one target (both)
- Magitek Barrier, which grants Protect and Reflect to the target (both)
- Magnitude 8, an Earth attack against your party (both)
- Thunder / Thundara / Gigavolt, Lightning spells (Left Crane)
- Fire / Fira / Firaga, Fire spells (Right Crane)
The Cranes are a funky pair, each with an elemental leaning. The left Crane likes Lightning and will use the powerful Gigavolt if hit by Lightning-elemental attacks, while the right Crane leans towards Fire and will use Firaga if hit by Fire-elemental attacks. You can tell which is which based on the spells they use earlier in the battle.
Your best bet here is to forget all about elements and trash the Cranes one-at-a-time with physical or special attacks. Once one goes down the other responds with Magitek Barrier, which stops your spells from getting through, though it won’t be much more difficult to defeat. Setzer won’t have a whole lot to contribute to the fight aside from Slots, so you may want to let him handle healing with items.
Your best bet here is to forget all about elements and trash the Cranes one-at-a-time with physical or special attacks. Once one goes down the other responds with Magitek Barrier, which stops your spells from getting through, though it won’t be much more difficult to defeat. Setzer won’t have a whole lot to contribute to the fight aside from Slots, so you may want to let him handle healing with items.
There's a very small chance that you can Steal a Debilitator from the right Crane. This is one of Edgar's Tools which you can't normally get until after the halfway point of Final Fantasy VI, which isn't for a little while. It's not an amazing Tool, so don't worry too much if you can't grab one.
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Once the Cranes are junk the party flies back to Zozo, and you’ll be treated to a long, interactive cut scene that reveals Terra’s true nature. Once it’s done she’ll be back in your party, outfitted with the powerful Morph command, and you’ll be bound for Narshe.
Part 15: Recruiting Mog
Part 15: Recruiting Mog