Final Preparations
You have the major treasure rewards. Before pressing on, you may want to return to B7’s left save cave if you want a fresh Cabin and memory-card save. Keep that save separate from any experimental grinding or emulator states. It’s a useful place to return if you later decide you’d like to try the ending with a different setup. When you’re ready to face the final battles, here’s what to consider.
Equipment Check
This is a practical loadout, not a claim that every slot has one universally correct answer:
| Character | Starting recommendation and useful alternatives |
|---|---|
| Cecil | Ragnarok with Crystal shield/head/body. Zeus favors physical stats; Equipment: Hand armor and ringsEquippable by Cecil (Paladin). Def 10; Eva −10%; Mag Def 7; Mag Eva 4%; Will +3. or Protect favor different defenses. Keep Equipment: SwordsEquippable by Cecil (Paladin), Kain. Power 105; Acc 90%. Reusable Item spell: Armor. for non-Holy matchups. |
| Kain | WeaponEquippable by Kain. Power 109; Acc 80%. Attack element: Holy, Projectile. Effective against Ghoul enemies. Reusable Item spell: Holy. in the left hand, shield in the right. Protect and retained Genji/Dragon armor are useful choices. Keep WeaponEquippable by Kain. Power 92; Acc 80%; Vitality +15. Attack element: Projectile. if you want its Vitality bonus. |
| Edge | WeaponEquippable by Edge. Power 65; Acc 99%; Agility +3. Reusable Item spell: Haste. and WeaponEquippable by Edge. Power 55; Acc 90%; Strength +5, Agility −5, Vitality +5, Wisdom +5, Will −5. Reusable Item spell: Armor., Equipment: Body armorEquippable by Edge. Def 24; Eva +60%; Mag Def 15; Mag Eva 8%; Agility +3., Protect. Compare ArmorEquippable by Everyone except Cecil (Dark Knight). Def 9; Eva +2%; Mag Def 12; Mag Eva 12%. Protects against Poison, Darkness, Silence, Pig, Mini, Toad, Petrify, KO, Berserk, Confuse, Sleep, Paralyze, Curse, Gradual Petrification. Status protection does not prevent damage or guarantee safety from scripted attacks. with his Equipment: HeadgearEquippable by Everyone except Cecil (Dark Knight). Def 5; Eva +4%; Mag Def 1; Mag Eva 1%; Strength +3, Agility +3, Vitality +3. Protects against Sleep. if you assigned the second ArmorEquippable by Everyone except Cecil (Dark Knight). Def 9; Eva +2%; Mag Def 12; Mag Eva 12%. Protects against Poison, Darkness, Silence, Pig, Mini, Toad, Petrify, KO, Berserk, Confuse, Sleep, Paralyze, Curse, Gradual Petrification. Status protection does not prevent damage or guarantee safety from scripted attacks. to him. |
| Rosa | White robe and a ArmorEquippable by Everyone except Cecil (Dark Knight). Def 9; Eva +2%; Mag Def 12; Mag Eva 12%. Protects against Poison, Darkness, Silence, Pig, Mini, Toad, Petrify, KO, Berserk, Confuse, Sleep, Paralyze, Curse, Gradual Petrification. Status protection does not prevent damage or guarantee safety from scripted attacks.. Equipment: BowsEquippable by Cecil (Paladin), Rydia (both forms), Rosa, Cid, Palom, Porom, Edward, FuSoYa. Power 30; Acc 60%; Strength +10. Attack element: Projectile. Requires a bow-and-arrow pair. left, arrows right for attacks, or a Will-boosting staff if you want to emphasize healing. |
| Rydia | Stardust rod and Sorcerer. Tiara favors Wisdom; ArmorEquippable by Everyone except Cecil (Dark Knight). Def 9; Eva +2%; Mag Def 12; Mag Eva 12%. Protects against Poison, Darkness, Silence, Pig, Mini, Toad, Petrify, KO, Berserk, Confuse, Sleep, Paralyze, Curse, Gradual Petrification. Status protection does not prevent damage or guarantee safety from scripted attacks. trades that bonus for protection. ArmorEquippable by Rydia (both forms), Rosa, Porom. Def 20; Eva +30%; Mag Def 5; Mag Eva 5%; Strength +15, Agility +15, Vitality +15, Wisdom −15, Will −15. Protects against Paralyze. A physical-defense tradeoff, not an automatic downgrade: compare current Wis/Will and required spell performance against its defensive benefit. is not the default spellcasting outfit. |
Check rows, ammunition and MP, not just equipment names. Running out of arrows can change Rosa’s displayed Attack and Strength, so verify her equipped hand before blaming a level-up. Keep Rosa and Rydia in the back row. Put physical attackers where their chosen weapons work effectively.
If you’ve been grinding, some equipment above may not make sense. If you’ve maxed out Cecil’s stats, maybe Zeus doesn’t make sense. Swap equipment and decide for yourself.
The late-game equipment recheck gives concrete comparisons for Zeus, Protect, Rune, ArmorEquippable by Rydia (both forms), Rosa, Porom. Def 20; Eva +30%; Mag Def 5; Mag Eva 5%; Strength +15, Agility +15, Vitality +15, Wisdom −15, Will −15. Protects against Paralyze. A physical-defense tradeoff, not an automatic downgrade: compare current Wis/Will and required spell performance against its defensive benefit. and Adamant. For the tested high-stat party, Protect improved Cecil’s magic defenses without lowering displayed Attack; Rune still improved Rydia’s defenses at capped Wisdom/Will. Don’t assume your own base stats are99 merely because your equipped screen says so.
Supplies and Storage
Are you an item horder like me? Nice! Use them. This is the time you’ve been saving them for. Scatter them like confetti. Ese an elixir on a minor cut or when you’re down 50 MP. (I mean, if you have more than 10.)
Be sure you have at least 10 ItemRevives a KO'd ally. Can appear as loot from a FloatEye and Eagle formation southwest of Baron., and WeaponEquippable by Edge (Throw only). Power 80; Acc 99%. Attack element: Projectile. Consumed by Edge’s Throw; not an equippable hand weapon. for throwing. Don’t hesitate to have a fighter throw an elixir at Rosa. She should casting MagicWhite Magic in Tellah's post-trial menu, costing 40 MP. Its effect has not yet been tested on this run.->ALL at basically every turn.
If you need to shop, return to B7 before casting Exit. Kokkol sells WeaponEquippable by Edge (Throw only). Power 80; Acc 99%. Attack element: Projectile. Consumed by Edge’s Throw; not an equippable hand weapon. and Equipment: ArrowsEquippable by Cecil (Paladin), Rydia (both forms), Rosa, Cid, Palom, Porom, Edward, FuSoYa. Power 50. Requires a bow-and-arrow pair.; Hummingway sells Elixir. The supply route explains both stops. Whistle can bring Fat Chocobo to you for stored items, but it doesn’t restock a shop or restore HP/MP. On the other hand, if you’re very low on space, if you force-feed the bird your purchased goods you can disgorge them here. Now there’s a word you don’t typically use in mixed company, I’d wager.
Optional Grinding
If you find that this battle frustrates your party, don’t hesitate to use the B7 hall just outside the save cave for grinding. Heal after each battle and Cabin as needed. D.Fossil, Tricker and the two dragons offer experience without the deeper floors’ repeated EvilMask/Behemoth fights.
If you grind at other locations, Stop can help control the dragons, buying time to finish them before more counters or party attacks. Against Tricker, stick with physical attacks and ignore the advertised lightning weakness. Even a comfortable loop isn’t unattended: check back attacks, HP, status conditions and Rosa’s arrows.
You do not need everyone at Level 99 to finish the story. If you enjoy grinding, that’s fine, but once characters pass Level 70, primary stats can go down as well as up. A higher level is not a guarantee that every stat improved. Apparently old people get feble, which is a life lesson I neither needed nor wanted this game to reinforce. Grrrr. On the other hand, if you are playing on an emulator and save before said battle, you have options other than saving and reloading.
Anyway, the Leveling and Grinding reference covers recovery loops, post-70 growth, and equipment bonuses that can hide changes at the displayed stat cap.
Emulator notes: optional post-70 rerolls
I wrote this walkthrough for the Chronicles release for PS1 on an emulator. If you do the same you can use a save state before the level up battle, then reload it if you don’t like the outcome. If you do this, you’ll need to advance the PRNG by doing something like casting cure-all before the battle. I would then re-do the save state and try again. Play around with it a bit and I think you’ll see how it works. In any event, make sure you save before the level-awarding fight, note Strength/Agility/Vitality/Wisdom/Will, then compare afterward with the same equipment and ammunition present.
See the fuller reroll explanation and capped-stat precautions. This is optional optimization, not a prerequisite for victory.
Collection Projects Are Optional
If you want Pink Tail and ArmorEquippable by Everyone except Cecil (Dark Knight). Def 100; Eva +99%; Mag Def 20; Mag Eva 12%; Strength +15, Agility +15, Vitality +15, Wisdom +15, Will +15. Resists Fire, Lightning, Ice. Protects against Poison, Darkness, Silence, Pig, Mini, Toad, Petrify, KO, Berserk, Confuse, Sleep, Paralyze, Curse, Gradual Petrification., the hunting room is the lower-east B5 room that held Inferno. Alerts are useful for targeting its rare encounter. Exchange the tail at Adamant Grotto, using the Enterprise/hovercraft connection again. Save before starting a long farming session; neither the encounter nor its rare reward should be confused with a guaranteed ordinary chest pickup.
Likewise, rare enemy-dropped summons are collection goals, not requirements for the final boss. Don’t mistake an incomplete rare-drop collection for a missing step in the story route. Keep a pre-ending save if you’d rather return to those projects another day.
The rare-collection guide covers tested Alert targets, all four teaching items and repeatable Adamant exchanges. PinkPuffs also occur without Alert, and you can collect more than one armor. Expect a potentially long hunt, not a quick final-boss prerequisite.
Last Descent
When ready, Cabin and save on B7, then follow B8 → B9 → B10 → B11 → B12. Collect any remaining WeaponEquippable by Edge (Throw only). Power 80; Acc 99%. Attack element: Projectile. Consumed by Edge’s Throw; not an equippable hand weapon., Elixir or Whistle on the way if you didn’t before. There are no further ordinary chests after B10. Exit and Warp are unavailable in these lower floors, so keep enough recovery for both travel and the boss.
Breath’s Scan can describe your party members, not its own HP or weaknesses. Physical offense is useful against it. Mind has the opposite defensive emphasis and is a better target for magic. Don’t read a party-targeted information window as an enemy stat discovery.
Heal and refill casting MP before advancing into the final scene. The next page contains the final battle and ending, so stop here if you want to keep those surprises for the game.