Lunar Subterrane and Murasame

Welcome to the final dungeon. That doesn’t mean you have to finish it in one sitting. The palace provides free recovery nearby, the upper floors allow Exit, and we’ll establish a Cabin base farther down before tackling the remaining guardians.

IMPORTANT: Why waste money? The game tops out at 9,999,999 Gil, and this dungeon’s encounters can easily hit that ceiling multiple times. When I hit the Gil ceiling, I like to use Exit to come back, deposit or sell stuff I don’t need, and buy a bunch of Cabin and consumables like the Elixir (Hummingway), Remedy (Cave of Summons B5G), Yochi Arrow (Kokkol’s smithy), and FumaWeaponEquippable by Edge (Throw only). Power 80; Acc 99%. Attack element: Projectile. Consumed by Edge’s Throw; not an equippable hand weapon. (Kokkol’s smithy). This is especially important to remember if you’re going to level grind. That being said, even when I did leveled everyone up to 99, I’ve never needed more than about 50 Cabins. Don’t forget to use the Item menu’s Sort function at the very bottom of the inventory list to combine stacks of similar items.

Restore HP and MP in Crystal Palace, enter the rear crystal room, and take its central route down. The entrance has two hidden treasure branches in addition to the obvious southern route onward. We’ll clear both branches before the main descent.

Focus physical attacks on Kary, protect the casters from heavy hits, and keep Rosa healing rather than gambling on repeated Pray when somebody is already in danger. Warlock can drop SomaDrop, but its steal is MaidKiss. (So don’t be like me and waste a half-hour trying to steal an easily purchased item.)

Eastern Loop: Ninja Body Armor

From the entrance, walk through the east wall’s hidden passage. Follow the long loop north, west and south to the chest on the far side. Two RedGiants guard it. Heal first and use strong damage while Rosa keeps the party stable; Quake is useful if Rydia has learned it.

The reward is Ninja body armorEquipment: Body armorEquippable by Edge. Def 24; Eva +60%; Mag Def 15; Mag Eva 8%; Agility +3. for Edge, not a duplicate of his similarly named headgear. Equip it and check his defense/evasion as well as Attack. Replacing BlkBeltEquipment: Body armorEquippable by Everyone except Cecil (Dark Knight). Def 10; Eva +20%; Mag Def 3; Mag Eva 2%; Strength +5, Vitality +5. removes its physical-stat bonuses, but the Ninja armorEquipment: Body armorEquippable by Edge. Def 24; Eva +60%; Mag Def 15; Mag Eva 8%; Agility +3. is still a substantial protective upgrade.

Retrace the loop to the entrance. If that fight cost most of your resources, use Exit and restore at the palace, then return here.

Western Branch: Sage and the Sword

From the entrance area, head north and then southwest through the west hidden wall. Follow the path south to the teleporter. In the next section, go north to the Sage chest, guarded by two Warlocks and two Karies. Deal with the attackers promptly and keep the spellcasters alive; the staff is useful for a white-magic loadout, not a replacement for Rydia’s Wisdom-boosting rod.

Continue through the southwest exit and follow the connecting passage toward the next stairs. After the Sage-room teleporter, ignore the apparent hidden passages to the west. They lead nowhere. Stay on the visible route south. (This warning is for those specific dead ends only; it’s not a reason to stop checking the useful hidden walls elsewhere.)

Follow the branch through its turns and stairs until you reach B3 and the floating sword between pillars. Stop before touching it. Cast Float on the whole party in this room, restore HP, and leave Rosa enough MP for immediate party healing.

Boss Fight Prep

White D. has 32,700 HP. Physical attacks can provoke Slow, but steady offense still works. Cecil attacks, Kain jumpsAbilityKain leaves the battlefield, then lands on his target to attack. While airborne he also misses party healing; wait for recovery before jumping if his HP is low., Edge attacks or throws, and Rydia can use BahamSummonBattle-menu summon learned from Bahamut. Costs 60 MP; do not assume every boss permits counter-free use.. The dangerous response to summoning includes GaiaRage, which is why you cast Float before the battle.

Storm can leave everyone at single-digit HP. Rosa should be ready with Cure4-all. Float handles the ground attack, not an ordinary follow-up hit against somebody with four HP. Don’t spend the healer’s next turn trying to squeeze in a little damage.

Collect MurasameWeaponEquippable by Edge. Power 55; Acc 90%; Strength +5, Agility −5, Vitality +5, Wisdom +5, Will −5. Reusable Item spell: Armor. and put it in one of Edge’s hands alongside his better remaining sword. If it replaces FullMoonWeaponEquippable by Edge. Power 40; Acc 85%. Attack element: Projectile., remember that you’ve changed from a ranged weapon setup to dual swords; put Edge in the front row when relying on those ordinary attacks. Keep FullMoonWeaponEquippable by Edge. Power 40; Acc 85%. Attack element: Projectile. as a situational alternative rather than assuming every future formation wants the same outfit.

Unless you’ve got lots of MP to spare, this is a good time to use Exit and return to the entrance, then recover at the palace.

When you’re ready to hit the next level, take the ordinary southern exit from the entrance to begin the main B2 route.