Final Fantasy IV Advance Part #20

Part 20: Double Whammy

Rydia's back, but her low HP is going to be an issue.

There's a bunch of great gear just lying around in the Dwarf Castle. The Black Belt boosts Strength and Stamina by 5 and the Power Armlet boosts Strength by 5. They go to Yang and Cecil, respectively.

There's some better armor for Rydia and Rosa for sale. The weapons here are terrible and have a lifespan of about 10 gameplay minutes.

Cecil has to go into the basement to reach the secret passageway.

Well, Cecil's killed three of them, he might as well finish the job.

The Tower of Babel is located by the red dot at the top of the map. Yes, you have to walk all the way there on foot.

Almost all of the enemies in this update are weak to Blizzard. Rydia's new weapon (the Whip) has a high chance of Paralyzing enemies.

The Dwarves are locked in fierce combat with Golbez's forces.

Fortunately, there's enough of a break in the action for Cecil to sneak inside.

The Tower of Babel has a lot in common with the Tower of Zot, design-wise. Winding corridors, deadends, etc., but it's even longer. It is by far the worst area of the game for a simple reason you'll see later on.

The second floor has a Green Beret- it's a bit weaker than the Mithril gear defensively, but it boosts Strength by 5.

Blizzard attacks wreck pretty much every enemy in the place. You should not be wearing that Flame Armor/Shield you got earlier or you're going to get destroyed.

Security Eyes do nothing until you hit them, then they counterattack by summoning a monster. The Eye itself is easy to deal with though.

The Ice Brand has the Ice element (der) and should be equipped immediately as it lets Cecil one-shot almost everything here.

Another monster chest has the Ice Lance. Kain equips it right away.

The Cat Claw boosts Yang's Strength and Agility by 5 and sometimes puts enemies to sleep.

The fourth floor has a Magic Circle, as well as Ice Armor and an Ice Shield (both guarded by monsters naturally). Putting one on Kain and one on Cecil is the best way to handle all the Flame damage.

Chimeras can destroy an unprepared party. They come in pairs, ambush a lot, and love to use Blaze.

This door on the fifth floor cannot be opened. Cecil will have to come back later...

White Mousses, despite their icy appearance, do not like it when Rydia casts Blizzara on them.

Cecil manages to fight his way up to the eighth and final floor. If Golbez isn't here right now, then who is?

Have a safe trip, Master Rubicante.

Not to worry. Eblan has been decimated along with its Ninjas. Take care of things until I return.

The Doctor teleports Rubicante... somewhere.

The Doctor then starts breakdancing out of joy or something.

What's with him?

Shhh.

Who's there!?

Cecil! How did you get up here!?

Caught you at a bad time, eh? With Rubicante away, what are you going to do?

How dare you disrespect me! Fools! I may not be an Elemental Lord, but I, Doctor Lugae, am the brains of Golbez's operation! On my honor, I will protect this tower!

That's a laugh!

Stop being a dick, Kain. Don't piss off the crazy person.

I've heard enough out of you! My great creation will shut you up soon enough!

This fight is hilarious. The Doctor commands Barnabas to attack, but...

...it seems he wasn't specific enough.

Yeow! You big oaf! Over there! Beat 'em up! Show no mercy!

Barnabas hits hard, and you want to take him out first because if he's the only one left he'll Self-Destruct, definitely killing somebody. Bio does wonders on him, despite his appearance.

You've left me no choice! I'll control him myself!

It's important to not kill the Doctor, or you'll miss this bestiary entry for those who sperg over that sort of thing. Once again, you need to kill him before he explodes.

How dare you...! Face my true evil!

The Doctor comes at you without giving you a chance to heal. This is why it's so important to avoid getting hit by Self-Destruct earlier.

Transform!

This fight is pretty damn hard compared to some of the previous battles. He counters physical and magical attacks with Sleeping Gas, and can hit the whole team with Poison Gas as well.

He also has a weak Beam attack and a brutal Laser attack, which is enough to knockout Rydia here.

Sometimes he'll use Panacea on your group, removing all the Sleep and Poison effects he cast on you. Lugae puts the "mad" in "mad scientist". He drops a key when defeated.

The dwarves are in danger!

We have to stop the cannons!

What are we waiting for? Let's go!

The cannons are in that locked room three floors down. You have to walk all the way back down, because Warp and Teleport don't work in the Tower of Babel. Joy.

Everyone barges in to find a bunch of goblins taking potshots at the dwarves below.

Hahaha! Killing dwarves is fun!

You cowards!

You! How did you get in here!? Kill them!

If you die here take up knitting or some other hobby.

Urgh... Destroy the controls...

This is bad for the dwarves somehow, despite the fact the cannons blowing up is probably a good thing.

Dammit!

Yang charges to the busted controls. Punching things isn't going to fix this problem, though.

What are you doing!?

Leave this to me! Go! Get out of here!

No!

It's going to explode!

Go now!

Yang then karate-chops the entire group outside with one punch. He really is badass.

Cecil, everyone, I thank you.

Open the door!

Yang!

Please don't do this!

Tell my wife... ...I will always be with her.

Yang!!!

Farewell.

The cannon room promptly explodes, taking Yang with it.

Yang!

Cecil may not be a Death Knight anymore, but his death/misfortune aura seems to be quite strong.

The only way out of the tower is down, so Cecil's remaining friends hike to the ground floor, where bad meets worse.