Final Fantasy VI copyright Square Enix.
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Part Twenty-Two: Recruiting Edgar

Darill’s Tomb

- After saving Edgar’s butt and sending Figaro Castle west you’ll wind up near tiny Kohlingen. Things haven’t changed a whole lot here…

- … though Shadow’s place in the Pub is now occupied by another face: Setzer. After a bit of moping he’ll rejoin the party. Sounds like a short article, this, but there’s much more to it than just picking up Setzer - now you needs some new wings.

- Follow the western shoreline to the south of Kohlingen. You’ll soon come to Darill’s Tomb, which, to be honest, is pretty easy to miss if you’re not looking for a blue dot. Step inside. Make sure you do not have Viper Darts equipped on Setzer, as the majority of enemies down here are undead and will simply come back to life if hit. Fire is your friend in Darill’s Tomb, as are relics that protect against zombification.


- Take a right to start and check the first door you see. Investigate the tombstone within to open a door behind it. There’s a switch back here that will raise the water level in the dungeon. Return to the main hall and check south of this door for a dead-end room containing a Genji Helm.

- Return to the centre of the hallway and go through the central door. It leads south two rooms to four graves. Read all four, then return to the first hallway. Don’t hit the switch beside the first door.

- Go through the door to the left of the entrance. There’s a blank grave inside. Carve the following into it in this order: 

‘WEHT’
‘DLRO’
‘QSSI’
‘ERAU’

You’ll be alerted to a prize on a lower level. Return to the hallway and go south from this door. In the next room is a chest containing Crystal Mail, as well as stairs. Go down to find a Regal Gown, then check the wall on the right. You’ll find a secret path leading to a chest that contains a Growth Egg. This fantastic accessory will increase your experience rewards when equipped during a battle. Woo!

- To the north is a watered pit you’ve seen before, as well as a switch. Press it to open a door above, then return to the central door on the upper floor and hit the switch you ignored before. This will raise the water down here and allow you to hop on a turtle in the water. It will take you across the water.


- The corridor ahead contains two chests and a save point. The chest on the left contains an Angler Whelk boss fight which, to be honest, is pretty damned easy. Do as you did with the veeeeery first boss fight in the game and only target the Whelk’s head. You’ll get Dragon’s Claws for winning. The other chest here contains a Man-Eater, another weapon that kinda sucks down here.

- Continue north after saving again. Check out the roses ahead…


Dullahan

Not a terribly difficult boss. Dullahan specializes in some so-so physical attacks coupled with ice magic, though it only deals significant amounts of damage when it uses Blizzaga. Halfway through the battle Dullahan will pull out some slightly more painful spells, but they’re still not that bad. Its only nasty trick is its ability to freeze your characters, and you can thaw them with a simple Fire simple applied to your whole party. Dullahan is weak to fire; if you have it, fry the bugger. If not, take him down with special attacks. Keep your health high. Shrug? Despite how it looks Dullahan is not undead, so don’t even try to heal the thing.

- Beating Dullahan will open a passage in the north. Go through to watch an emotional set of cut scenes, and when they’re done, hey! You have an airship! Fancy that.

The Rest of the Game

Now that you own the Falcon you can pretty much do as you please. Every area in the game (with a few exceptions) is now open to you, and you can freely move about the map recruiting your old comrades. You can also, if you wish, ignore all that and simply go straight for Kefka, though if you only have three, max four characters… not a great idea. A few tips to get you started:
  • The bird that you follow to Maranda is, indeed, part of a side quest that we’ll address after recruiting Sabin. It’s a good, early quest in the World of Ruin that leads to another party member and some solid gear. That said, do not fight the creatures near Maranda! They’re so damned hard!
  • If you managed to get the Falcon with only three party members, you can go to the Veldt (still a big lump of land in the far east) and recruit Gau. He’s hanging out with his animal buddies, as usual, and will happily slot himself into your ranks. Go here with four members, though, and he’ll run off on you.
  • Spend as little time in the sky as possible when moving from place to place. Each time you climb into the Falcon a small patch of the world map will be occupied by Deathgaze, a powerful demon that you’ll probably have to face several times to kill. Unlike most bosses you can run away from Deathgaze, and it, too, will typically run if it’s taking too much damage in a fight.