Part 32: Cecil Slays Like Fifty More Fucking God Damn Dragons

Chapter 32 - Cecil Slays Like Fifty More Fucking God Damn Dragons




Kain's back with some new threads, and we have our final party, at least until Kain betrays us again.




Before we begin the final dungeon, there's a couple more things to do back at home.





Kokkol's finished with our weapon, the Excalbur. It's a huge attack boost over the Defense sword, plus it enhances strength by 10. It also happens to be the strongest throwing weapon in the game besides the Spoon, though you can only get one without item duping.




You can also buy a couple new things. Rosa can put those Samurai arrows to good use, though at this point she can't even come close to the guys in attack, while her healing is going to be valuable, so you may want to stick her with staves. The throwing weapons are expensive, and honestly they probably won't match up to Edge's regular attacks.



After some selling, I'm at over 800k GP. Where the hell did I get that much money?





We also make a stop at the Hall of Wishes, where all our old allies are hanging out to give us encouragement.

You should take me with you, kid!
You are the chosen ones to hold the key to all of us living on earth.
Do Tellah's and my share!
I want to go with you, but it seems I've lost the lot! Get'em!
You sure became a great Paladin! It seems we weren't wrong after all!
This may be your destiny. Go again to the moon!
You hold the future of all sacred life of this whole world!

The game actually differs from here in the GBA/PSP versions, as you can actually change your party at this point, bringing Cecil and any four of the old five and your current party to the final dungeon. Bellmaker's LP of FF4 Advance goes into good detail of that version's differences, so check it out.




Alright. Let's tackle the moon.



I stock up on Life potions because I'm down to three and I'm fucked if Rosa goes down.






Didn't show these off, but there's a couple of faces on the moon. They don't do anything in this version, though they'll represent bonus dungeons in other versions and in the sequel.



Anyway, let's get to it.




Stone is rather effective with these weaker enemies, though it would've been so much more useful if I gained it much earlier in the game.



Excalibur puts Cecil on par with Edge, except Edge is stuffed with Strength-boosting equipment. Cecil will eventually overtake Edge and become a wrecking machine. Kain has to live with the Defense Sword, though at least he has Jump to help with enemies that like to counter physical attacks.





We've reached our destination. The crystals have new stuff to say.







Alright, enough time-wasting. Let's do this.

Video: Entering the Final Dungeon










The dungeon is huge, the enemies are strong, and the loot is fantastic. All this, plus the awesome Red Wings music, makes this dungeon truly feel like the final dungeon.



Though they appear in Bahamut's Cave, this is my first encounter with Kary, who simply attacks and may drop Artemis Arrows, the strongest arrows in the game. These can't be bought, so you have to farm them from Karies. They may also drop the Artemis Bow, likewise the strongest bow in the game. Pretty much every battle in the first few floors I do has Karies and Warlocks.





Fortunately, they're easy to beat.




The left side actually takes you down a side path that's separate from the main path of the dungeon.





This easy chest contains one of many wonderful pieces of loot, the Life Staff. While not the strongest staff, it gives the largest Will boost with a nice 15 points, plus its spell effect is much more effective than the Silence Staff's, the game's strongest staff, so the Life Staff pretty much is the best staff you can get.



At the end of this detour, we find a floating sword. This won't be the last floating sword we'll see.








The first of quite a few bosses, Pale Dim is more annoying than tough.




Essentially, he'll counter physical attacks with Slow.






And he'll counter magic attacks with Quake.




Not really that tough overall.



Our reward is the Murasame, Edge's second-strongest katana. Not sure what special effects or stat boosts it has offhand, if any, but more attack power is always welcome, and it's a nice cut above the Long Sword Edge is currently using as his second weapon.



Then I cast Exit because it's much faster to heal up and re-enter the dungeon than to backtrack.





On my second trek, Rydia picks up Fatal, which causes instant death. It's more expensive than Stone, doesn't multi-target like Stone does, and doesn't seem much more effective than Stone. Pass.







This chest has two RedGiants guarding Ninja garb, which adds three Agility and gives a nice defensive boost to Edge. That said, Edge's Power garb enhances Strength by fifteen, Edge is going to be a glass cannon regardless, and I usually find a good offensive to be much more important than a good defense in this game, so I stick with the Power garb.



The second floor of the dungeon has a Flame Whip, which hurts ice enemies and can paralyze like the other whips. It also hurts Rydia's magic stats, so I'll pass.



The Dragoon equipment is the strongest armor Kain can use. It reduces the strength of elemental attacks, which is handy. I stockpile it on Cecil for now.






King-Ryus are a pain in the ass. They counter physical attacks with paralysis and use Blitz to deal big damage.




That's why I usually use Bahamut. The money's nice at least.




Rosa picks up her final spell, White.






With this spell, Rosa finally can contribute offense, doing large Holy damage to an enemy. She's still better off healing, but having some good firepower doesn't hurt.





The rest of the Dragoon equipment is in this room.



As you go further into the dungeon, the rooms become larger and more elaborate.



Rydia picks up Nuke, her penultimate spell. It does huge damage to a single target. Basically you want to use Nuke for single-target enemies and Bahamut for multi-target.




D.Fossil is a stronger form of that other undead dragon we fought in Bahamut's Cave. We also get to see Cecil put the holy Excalbur to good use.




Nuke is pretty damn strong.




Huh, I didn't know Ging-Ryus could cast Blaze. Usually I kill them before they get the chance.





Beat the Behemoth to get the Stardust Rod, the strongest Rod in the game. It gives a great fifteen point boost to Wisdom, and it casts Comet as an item, which sucks at this point in the game.







The chests here start getting tougher, with both dragons being powerful, the Blue using Blizzard attacks to hurt the party.




Our reward is the Crystal Shield. The Crystal equipment is the strongest armor in the game barring rare drops, and only Cecil can use it. Each item is also guarded by monsters.



This dungeon is incredibly long, and the monsters really wear into you, so I end up using quite a few Ethers on Rosa and Rydia. I guess stockpiling the damn things all game finally came in handy.



The Protect ring resists all elements and gives nice defensive boosts. I put this on Rosa, considering she's my main healer and all.







The Tricker likes to trick you into using Lit attacks on it, at which point it'll wreck your shit. I wasn't in the mood to trigger it considering how tedious and painful this dungeon can be.




White Robe, fifteen-point Will boost. If Rosa had the Life Staff equipped instead of fucking arrows, she'd be close to the cap.







Fatal Eyes don't actually attack you, but rather use Count to put a timer on a character.




When it hits 0, that character dies.



There's a hidden path in this room that leads to some good stuff.







Sweet, another Protect Ring. Fragile Rydia could make use of this.



Oh sweet mother of god a fucking save point.



At the end of this path is another floating sword.







This is Wyvern.




This guy actually starts the battle with MegaNuke. It sucks if you're underleveled. That is, unless you're Rosa and fucking dodge it.









The battle's pretty much both parties bouncing Nukes off each other. Except Rosa barely gets a scratch when she's nuked.




Yeah, Rosa's pretty clearly the MVP of that battle.




The Crystal Sword is the strongest sword in the game. It gives large boosts to strength, vitality, and will, and is really fucking strong.



Next time, we find yet more awesome loot and finish this huge-ass dungeon.