Final Fantasy XII Walkthrough

Stilshrine of Miriam

Before Heading South

If you did not already do them before, when you had Larsa in your party, you really should finish the Trickster, Feral Retriever, and Antlion quests. Head south from Mt Bur-Omisace, watch your map, and you’ll see the path you need to take to get to the Stilshrine. If you don’t have a complete map, you may wish to consider buying one from the moogle near the Teleport Crystal.

Really, though, I’m guessing you don’t want to if you haven’t already. You might as well wait a little longer; it will get easier after this section.

Follow the map to the Stilshrine. First off, unequip any Gambits that automatically provide to people low on Magick. You’ll have to drop your Magick to 0 for this area, and it’ll just waste your . Equip the to Ashe and talk to the guys here.

Area Enemies: Stilshrine of Miriam - First Visit

Choose an enemy to open its stats and loot chances. Mark, Rare Game, and Trophy badges flag special targets. Choose it again to collapse.

Redmaw

Hostile

The Stilshrine variant remains Earth-weak and preserves the Steeling Chain. Its very rare Ice Shield is immediately useful against Mateus.

Chain family: Steeling
Level: 26–27
LP: 1
HP: 1,670–1,738
EXP: 637–729
Weakness: Earth

Steal chances
Item	Normal	Thief's Cuffs
	48.0%	80%
100 Gil	9.7%	30%
	3%	6%

Normal Steal checks rare to common and stops at the first success. Thief's Cuffs can take multiple items; chains do not affect Steal.

Drop chances
No chain	Chain Lv 1	Chain Lv 2	Chain Lv 3
40%	45%	50%	55%
25%	30%	35%	40%
3%	6%	8%	12%
1%	2%	3%	5%

Each item gets its own independent roll. Chain level, not raw chain count, controls these rates.

Zombie Warrior

Hostile

Rises from the floor with other undead. Clear Confuse, Silence, and Blind promptly; Icebrand is a very rare bonus.

Chain family: Zombie
Level: 27–29
LP: 1
HP: 1,878–1,998
EXP: 891–1,077
Weakness: Holy; absorbs Dark

Steal chances
Item	Normal	Thief's Cuffs
	48.0%	80%
16 Gil	9.7%	30%
	3%	6%

Normal Steal checks rare to common and stops at the first success. Thief's Cuffs can take multiple items; chains do not affect Steal.

Drop chances
No chain	Chain Lv 1	Chain Lv 2	Chain Lv 3
40%	45%	50%	55%
25%	30%	35%	40%
3%	6%	8%	12%
1%	2%	3%	5%

Each item gets its own independent roll. Chain level, not raw chain count, controls these rates.

Blood Gigas

Hostile

Often appears in pairs. Defeat one at a time and watch for Tri-Attack, which can inflict Slow.

Chain family: Headless
Level: 27–29
LP: 1
HP: 2,609–2,849
EXP: 1,456–1,658
Weakness: Wind

Steal chances
Item	Normal	Thief's Cuffs
	48.0%	80%
	9.7%	30%
	3%	6%

Normal Steal checks rare to common and stops at the first success. Thief's Cuffs can take multiple items; chains do not affect Steal.

Drop chances
No chain	Chain Lv 1	Chain Lv 2	Chain Lv 3
40%	45%	50%	55%
25%	30%	35%	40%
3%	6%	8%	12%
1%	2%	3%	5%

Each item gets its own independent roll. Chain level, not raw chain count, controls these rates.

Dragon Aevis

Hostile

Three attack together after the first Pedestal of Dawn. Use Ice damage on one target so the full group cannot keep acting.

Chain family: Plate Wyrm
Level: 29–31
LP: 2
HP: 5,479–6,159
EXP: 2,549–2,801
Weakness: Ice

Steal chances
Item	Normal	Thief's Cuffs
30 Gil	48.0%	80%
	9.7%	30%
	3%	6%

Normal Steal checks rare to common and stops at the first success. Thief's Cuffs can take multiple items; chains do not affect Steal.

Drop chances
No chain	Chain Lv 1	Chain Lv 2	Chain Lv 3
40%	45%	50%	55%
25%	30%	35%	40%
3%	6%	8%	12%
1%	2%	3%	5%

Each item gets its own independent roll. Chain level, not raw chain count, controls these rates.

Ghoul

Hostile

Rises from the floor with Zombie Warriors. Defeat it early when several undead are applying status pressure.

Chain family: Zombie
Level: 27–29
LP: 1
HP: 1,984–2,104
EXP: 891–1,077
Weakness: Holy; absorbs Dark

Steal chances
Item	Normal	Thief's Cuffs
	48.0%	80%
	9.7%	30%
	3%	6%

Normal Steal checks rare to common and stops at the first success. Thief's Cuffs can take multiple items; chains do not affect Steal.

Drop chances
No chain	Chain Lv 1	Chain Lv 2	Chain Lv 3
40%	45%	50%	55%
25%	30%	35%	40%
3%	6%	8%	12%
1%	2%	3%	5%

Each item gets its own independent roll. Chain level, not raw chain count, controls these rates.

Darkmare

Hostile

Teleports around the Ward of the Sword-King. Defeat it if you want Negalmuur to appear after the Stilshrine timer reaches 30 minutes.

Chain family: Nightmare
Level: 30–31
LP: 1
HP: 14,040–14,098
EXP: 2,184–2,285
Weakness: Holy

Steal chances
Item	Normal	Thief's Cuffs
	48.0%	80%
	9.7%	30%
	3%	6%

Normal Steal checks rare to common and stops at the first success. Thief's Cuffs can take multiple items; chains do not affect Steal.

Drop chances
No chain	Chain Lv 1	Chain Lv 2	Chain Lv 3
40%	45%	50%	55%
25%	30%	35%	40%
3%	6%	8%	12%
1%	2%	3%	5%

Each item gets its own independent roll. Chain level, not raw chain count, controls these rates.

Facer

Hostile

Waits near walls and corners. Aero works better than slowly grinding through its physical defense.

Chain family: Facer
Level: 26–29
LP: 1
HP: 3,026–3,356
EXP: 1,151–1,610
Weakness: Wind

Steal chances
Item	Normal	Thief's Cuffs
	48.0%	80%
	9.7%	30%
	3%	6%

Normal Steal checks rare to common and stops at the first success. Thief's Cuffs can take multiple items; chains do not affect Steal.

Drop chances
No chain	Chain Lv 1	Chain Lv 2	Chain Lv 3
40%	45%	50%	55%
25%	30%	35%	40%
3%	6%	8%	12%
1%	2%	3%	5%

Each item gets its own independent roll. Chain level, not raw chain count, controls these rates.

Balloon

Hostile

Important! Clear Oil before its Fire attacks and finish it before low HP leads to Self-Destruct.

Chain family: Bomb
Level: 28–29
LP: 1
HP: 1,878–1,936
EXP: 1,122–1,223
Weakness: Water; absorbs Fire

Steal chances
Item	Normal	Thief's Cuffs
	48.0%	80%
	9.7%	30%
	3%	6%

Normal Steal checks rare to common and stops at the first success. Thief's Cuffs can take multiple items; chains do not affect Steal.

Drop chances
No chain	Chain Lv 1	Chain Lv 2	Chain Lv 3
40%	45%	50%	55%
25%	30%	35%	40%
3%	6%	8%	12%
1%	2%	3%	5%

Each item gets its own independent roll. Chain level, not raw chain count, controls these rates.

Oiling

Hostile

Important! Inflicts Oil, follows with Fire, and can Divide. Clear Oil immediately and defeat one target at a time.

Chain family: Flan
Level: 27–28
LP: 1
HP: 2,818–2,923
EXP: 1,456–1,565
Weakness: Water; absorbs Fire

Steal chances
Item	Normal	Thief's Cuffs
	48.0%	80%
	9.7%	30%
	3%	6%

Normal Steal checks rare to common and stops at the first success. Thief's Cuffs can take multiple items; chains do not affect Steal.

Drop chances
No chain	Chain Lv 1	Chain Lv 2	Chain Lv 3
40%	45%	50%	55%
25%	30%	35%	40%
3%	6%	8%	12%
1%	2%	3%	5%

Each item gets its own independent roll. Chain level, not raw chain count, controls these rates.

Ghast

Hostile

Ordinary Ghasts rise in Walk of Reason. Negalmuur summons a stronger 2,348–2,468 HP variant indefinitely.

Chain family: Zombie
Level: 27–29
LP: 1
HP: 1,706–1,826
EXP: 891–1,077
Weakness: Holy; absorbs Dark

Steal chances
Item	Normal	Thief's Cuffs
	48.0%	80%
	9.7%	30%
	3%	6%

Normal Steal checks rare to common and stops at the first success. Thief's Cuffs can take multiple items; chains do not affect Steal.

Drop chances
No chain	Chain Lv 1	Chain Lv 2	Chain Lv 3
40%	45%	50%	55%
25%	30%	35%	40%
3%	6%	8%	12%
1%	2%	3%	5%

Each item gets its own independent roll. Chain level, not raw chain count, controls these rates.

Crystalbug

Hostile

Important! This one-time enemy masquerades as a green Save Crystal. Steal first, use physical attacks through Restore, then use the real crystal it leaves behind.

Chain family: Crystalbug
Level: 26
LP: 10
HP: 3,489
EXP: 0
Weakness: Halves all elements

Steal chances
Item	Normal	Thief's Cuffs
	9.7%	30%
	3%	6%

Normal Steal checks rare to common and stops at the first success. Thief's Cuffs can take multiple items; chains do not affect Steal.

Matriarch Bomb

HostileRare Game

Important! Rare Game: has a 20% chance to replace an Oiling in the secret Cold Distance room. Clear the traps, defeat the Oilings first, and Steal its Scorpio Gem.

Chain family: Bomb
Level: 31–32
LP: 7
HP: 12,156–12,214
EXP: 1,696–1,797
Weakness: Water; absorbs Fire

Steal chances
Item	Normal	Thief's Cuffs
	3%	6%

Normal Steal checks rare to common and stops at the first success. Thief's Cuffs can take multiple items; chains do not affect Steal.

Drop chances
Item	No chain	Chain Lv 1	Chain Lv 2	Chain Lv 3
	40%	45%	50%	55%
	3%	6%	8%	12%

Each item gets its own independent roll. Chain level, not raw chain count, controls these rates.

Negalmuur

HostileRare Game

Important! Rare Game: stay inside the Stilshrine for 30 minutes and defeat Darkmare. It repeatedly summons Ghasts and can support an optional leveling loop.

Chain family: Reaper
Level: 31–32
LP: 7
HP: 18,910–18,970
EXP: 2,625–2,718
Weakness: Holy; absorbs Dark

Steal chances
Item	Normal	Thief's Cuffs
	3%	6%

Normal Steal checks rare to common and stops at the first success. Thief's Cuffs can take multiple items; chains do not affect Steal.

Drop chances
Item	No chain	Chain Lv 1	Chain Lv 2	Chain Lv 3
	40%	45%	50%	55%
	3%	6%	8%	12%

Each item gets its own independent roll. Chain level, not raw chain count, controls these rates.

The Pedestals of Dawn

When you’re ready, head inside. From the dialog, did you notice that the probably isn’t a sword you’ll do normal fighting with? Good; remember that. Faram.

After the cutscene, welcome to Ico. Oops, sorry, wrong game. Heh heh. It does look like it, though.

Go around the barrier in the middle of Ward of Measure and examine the Pedestal of Dawn. Read the Pedestal to find out what you are supposed to do. Here’s a hint: who is the party leader? If you touch the pedestal as someone else, you’ll awaken some Zombies that do not give you EXP or LP. Le suck. So put Ashe as the party lead, she does have the equipped as an accessory, right?, and touch it. See the eerie eyes light up? Scary!

The pedestal sends the party to Ward of Velitation. If you have Libra on, you’ll see a chest here that’s guarded by a rejuvenation . Equip something other than the , you do wanna use Magick now, right?, and go ahead and spring that trap. A trap that heals you; sweet! Open the chest before fighting. Did you get a ? If not, reload and try again. Those things are totally worth it!

This is a fairly easy battle, if you’ve been fighting Marks. Don’t bother stealing from the because he’s broke. Just smack him around.

The next area will have you facing THREE, count ‘em, three, enemies. That’s nearly 18K HP overall. Make sure you are prepared, then go for it. After those, heal up before going forward because the doorway, well, the actually, will attack you. You cannot Steal from the doors, so don’t bother trying.

Up the stairs in Walk of Torn Illusion, you’ll fight more and enemies. Just take them out like normal and make your way to the far east end, yeah, it’s a little weird, to find another of those pedestals. Do the equip thing again, and you’ll cause some doors to appear. Whee. The door you came in now allows you to access the outer paths. Head back, remove the , and take either new route down to Walk of Revelation.

The Crystalbug and Sword of Judgment

Follow the path around until you see a green Save Crystal. Know what green means? It means it’s an enemy masquerading as a Save Crystal. I was almost dead the first time I touched it, and it finished the job for me. Grrr.

Prep your guys for battle and smack it around. You can Steal a or from it. Heh heh. Keep attacking so Restore does not erase your progress. After you beat it, it turns into an actual Save Crystal. Do so, then take the central western exit downstairs into Ward of the Sword-King.

In the next room, go forward for a piece, then turn left and head south, killing enemies as you come to them. When you come to , be cautious. He’ll disappear and reappear many times. He’s not that tough. Continue south. At the end of the path is a large sword taking up the whole pathway. Examine the Sword of Judgment. You’ll notice the door at the other end is now open, revealing a Waystone. Touch that to be transported back to Ward of Measure.

If you feel you need to save your game, there’s a moderately tough battle coming up, head back out the front door and save at the crystal. When you’re ready, take the newly opened northwestern door and head down.

Optional: Hidden Cold Distance Room

One-Time Treasure and Matriarch Bomb

In Ward of the Sword-King, walk slowly south along the western wall before Darkmare until a hidden staircase appears.
Cast Float before crossing the boundary at the top. The secret room contains several dangerous traps and three Oilings.
Matriarch Bomb has a 20% chance to replace one Oiling. If it does not appear, return all the way below the stair boundary, then climb back up and check again.
Defeat the Oilings first, clear Oil before incoming Fire, and use Water against Matriarch Bomb. Steal its before finishing it.
Open the one-time chest. It has an even chance of holding a or . Either is useful, so only reroll if you strongly prefer one.

Turn the Three Stone Braves

The three Stone Braves must all face inward toward the center of the Stilshrine. Their starting positions can change, so use the yellow arrow on the map rather than memorizing a number of turns.

Stone Brave Directions
Step	Action
1	Walk of Prescience: Rotate the western Stone Brave until its map arrow points east.
2	Walk of Reason: Rotate the southern Stone Brave until its map arrow points north.
3	Ward of Steel: After Vinuskar, rotate the eastern Stone Brave until its map arrow points west.

Take the western hallway first and follow it around to the first statue. Rotate it until the yellow arrow points east, toward the center, then continue down the stairs to the south.

Head down around the corner, and open the door at the far end. Cross the floor and go to the other side, then open the door there. Follow the path south and west until you come to a treasure room. Get treasures. You should be chain-leveling like nobody’s business here.

Backtrack to the stairs just north of here, and go up. At the top of the stairs, you’ll turn right and cross over to another walkway. If you wanna keep killing off these guys and getting the Chain level to go up, just retrace your steps through this area for a while.

If you are ready to go on, turn right, that means you’re pointing south, and head up the next stairway. At the top, follow the path north to get to a few chests. They’re behind some enemies, but you can probably take them. After that, turn south and follow the path all the way south. You’ll turn and head slightly west from there, where you’ll fight more around the second statue. Rotate the statue so that the arrow on the map points north.

Continue east, then follow the path north to the northwestern corner and Cold Distance. Follow the path around to the right and continue north. If you need to save, return to Ward of Measure and leave through Walk of Mind. There’s a half-way difficult battle coming up soon, so take this opportunity to save and buff up.

Vinuskar

Continue east by going down the stairs, then make sure you are prepped for battle before heading through the door.

Boss Fight: Vinuskar

Level / HP	Level 27 / 15,138 HP.
Steal	(common), (uncommon), (rare).
Weak / Absorbs	No elemental weakness and no absorbed element. Slow and Blind can work.
Reward	19 LP. Montblanc later awards 1,100 gil for the victory.
Drops	None.
Strategy	Fight without metal equipment so the magnetic field does not bury the party’s charge times. Apply Slow or Blind, keep Confuse recovery above attacks, and use non-metal weapons, Magicks, items, or armor-piercing options to finish the short fight.

Meet Vinuskar. There’s an interesting note here. Heavy, metal-based armor is a problem. You’ll wanna equip that other armor you bought earlier. Oh, and if you only have metallic weapons, you can always use Magicks and/or items. …?

You can Steal from him. Ironic, isn’t it? This battle really should not be that tough. If someone in your party gets Confused, just have someone else them. This battle also is great for weapons that pierce armor. He really isn’t all that powerful. He didn’t even get to cast his Sword Dance against my guys.

For yucks, I beat him without any weapons, armor, or accessories. :D I felt a sense of accomplishment about that. And Penelo has a funny martial arts stance she does when you hear the music.

OK. Re-equip your favorite armor and weapons now, and continue east one screen. Not that you can go more than one screen, heh. Along the southern wall is an urn that will fill out your map. You know, the one that’s ALREADY filled out? Right. Thanks, game designers!!! I guess they expect you to do the hard battle first?

Rotate the final Stone Brave so that it points west. You should see a message saying “The colossus has undergone some change…” accompanied by the chimes that usually indicate you’ve solved some puzzle. If not, look at your map. You should see an arrow on each statue pointing in toward the center of the Stilshrine. If you don’t, backtrack to the erroneous statue and point it in the right direction.

Mateus

Return to Ward of Measure and use the southern Waystone to teleport down. Use the Save Crystal here. Really. It’s just a quick trip east. Head forward to the entrance opened past the Sword of Judgment, and head up the stairs to the next door. It says, “Wisdom proven, assay now your power.” That’s a subtle hint that you’ll have to prove your power soon.

Boss Fight Prep

Gear: Equip an on each one-handed weapon user. If you have only one, give it to the Decoy target. Do not use Ice-elemental weapons because Mateus and the five Ice Azers absorb Ice.
Gambits: Put Ally: any -> Esuna above attacks, keep healing high, and add Foe: lowest HP -> Attack so the party removes the Ice Azers first.
Buffs: Protect, Shell, Haste, Bravery, and Bubble are a nice combination. Spread the party out so Blizzaja and other area attacks do not hit everyone.
Damage: Lightning is the shared weakness. Fire also works on the Ice Azers, but do not cast reflected Magick directly at Mateus.
Alternate tank: Equip one character with an Ice Shield and , then have someone else cast Decoy on that character. The Ice Shield halves Ice damage, while the Dawn Shard adds 20 Magick Resist but reduces the wearer’s MP to 0.

Boss Fight: Mateus

Level / HP	Level 30 / 34,259 HP, accompanied by five Ice Azers with 2,708 HP each.
Steal	(common), (uncommon), (rare).
Weak / Absorbs	Weak to Lightning and absorbs Ice. The Ice Azers also absorb Ice and are weak to Lightning.
Reward	27 LP and the Mateus Esper.
Drops	None.
Strategy	Defeat the five Ice Azers first, keep the party spread out, and use Lightning or physical damage. Mateus begins under Reflect, so cast healing and offensive Magick carefully. When Chain Magick is readied, move apart and restore the party quickly after Blizzaja.

Meet Mateus. She has five Ice Azers that can make your life hell if you have low-level guys. I usually equip three Ice Shields. If you only have one, or if you want to make the Ice attacks nearly completely useless, here’s a trick you can use: have one character equip an and the , then cast Decoy on him or her. Well, have someone else cast it; the tank won’t be able to if the Dawn Shard is equipped. Decoy will make the enemy cast at that character, and the combination of the Ice Shield and Dawn Shard renders them pretty much useless.

You can also use the / trick to hit Mateus with Oil and Slow. Hint, hint. Do you have and/or ? Well you SHOULD. lol.

If not, cast Reflect and/or equip a on each of your guys and cast at each other. With the Oil status, this is a fairly quick fight. Also, have the other characters using distance weapons, Guns, Bows, etc. Take out the Ice Azer guys first, then go after Mateus. I stole a from her. Whee.

Keep your guys as far away from each other as possible, BTW. Oh, and she’s reflected. Don’t use Magick directly against her, but you CAN cast on her, and it’ll reflect to you with a bit of a boost. When she readies Chain Magick, move away if you can. You’re gonna get Blizzaja or something else that will hurt. If you can take that, you’re home free. In any event, this shouldn’t prove TOO tough, once you know the tricks.

You’ll get an Esper from this battle: . Continue south into Vault of the Champion. I didn’t see any chests or anything here, so just continue up the stairs. You’ll watch a cutscene, then you’ll get the .

Optional: Negalmuur on the Way Out

Once again, no chests or anything, so head out the way you came in. Apparently I wasn’t tested enough, because a showed up. He can be Disabled, though, so it wasn’t a very major fight. I’ve had this one show up earlier in the level before, and it’s never been a very tough battle.

Head back to the Waystone and leave the Stilshrine. The dudes outside tell you to return with all haste to Mt Bur-Omisace. Head to the Teleport Crystal. You’ll watch another cutscene, and then you’ll have the opportunity to teleport.