Gades’ Guide to:

Lufia And the Fortress of Doom Technical data:

I did not write all the other stuff that comes in FAQs, weapons, armors, spells and such, but this is for reasons of space. I wanna save space on yours and my hard drive, so I didn’t want this to be too long. I may update this guide with the weapons and stuff later on or make up a separate document for that. Now for some other info. Unlike many authors of FAQs, I thought I’d include a little info about me. I understand why people who don’t do this don’t do it, (security reasons are a big part of it), but I’m not paranoid. SO, here it is.

This document is Copyright 2000 by Gades and may not under any circumstances be used for profitable purposes. Don’t try to get permission either, cuz you aren’t gonna get it. You are free to post this FAQ on your webpage as long as my name appears in the document where I put it. feel free to E-mail me about any mistakes or questions, or if you want me to tell you where you can find some MIDI files from the game. Note: Yes, I used to be Sub.zero, but due to technical difficulties I had to change Internet Providers, and I also decided to change my name. Thus, I became Gades. You’ll notice that this walkthrough is not yet finished because I haven’t beaten the game, but as I beat each area I’m going to put it in the FAQ. Another advantage to posting it in this state is that it gives you readers out there a chance to E-mail me with comments or suggestions, which I always welcome.

III: Controls:

III: Intro: Taken from the opening of the game

Without warning, the island suddenly appeared in the sky. Four foul and wicked beings claimed it for themselves. They possessed the frightening powers of Chaos, Terror, Destruction and Death. The people were horrified. They called the evil ones Sinistrals, and the reign of terror continued. The world masses its warriors to battle their dark foes, but the Sinistrals were all powerful. Finally, in desperation, the people called upon their finest fighters, guy, Artea, Maxim and Selan. So began the final battle..

This has got to be one of the best RPG’s of its time. I have both of the SNES installments of this series and hope to get the GBC one when it comes out. I thought to myself, why not write a FAQ for Lufia I. I may do some other stuff on this series, but the chances of me doing a Lufia II FAQ are pretty slim. This is not because I don’t want to, I do, but that game’s so full of puzzles that I don’t remember everything about, that I’d have you all confused if I tried. I may do a boss guide on that game when I beat it. Anyway, let’s get onto Lufia I. First off, for each boss in the game there is a recommended level you should be at before fighting them. Lufia’s set up in such a way that if you are not at or above the recommended level when you confront a specific boss then you are almost guaranteed to die. Here’s what the Boss battle listings will look like.

Boss Battle: (Name of Boss) HP:

Weakness:

Recommended level:

Note: The only times you will not see the recommended level are at the beginning of the game, as you do not have control over that for the Intro scene. I will also not list the recommended level if you can’t win the battle, and yes there is one situation where that will happen. You will probably see N A for that particular boss.

Hero age: 17 Sex: Male Race: Human Occupation: Knight "Let’s go! The world is in danger!"

This is your main character. He is the descendant of Maxim and thus he may achieve a great destiny. He is an excellent swordsman and has great skill in healing magic.

Lufia age: 15 Sex: Female Race: Human Occupation: Magician "I’m coming with you!"

Lufia is the Hero’s childhood friend. She appeared mysteriously in Alekia when the Hero was very young, and she knew nothing of her past. She will join you early on in the game and stick with you through most of it. She has great skill in defensive and offensive magic and will prove to be a valuable ally. Try to keep her alive as much as possible. However, certain events later in the game will make you wonder if she is really who she appears to be..

Aguro Age: 20 Sex: Male Race: Human Occupation: Commander "Let’s go! The city’s under attack!"

Aguro is the commander of the Lorbenian army and joins you very early on in the game. Like the Hero, Aguro is a mighty warrior. His intelligence is low, and he tends to take serious damage from magic, so be careful. His MGR, (magic resistance), is very bad. This will cause some problems, but with the right equipment you can cut down on the damage he takes from magic. He has a tendency to not hold in what is on his mind, and sometimes this tends to get him into difficult situations as you will notice. Unlike the Hero and Lufia, Aguro wields no magic, being uncomfortable with it and more confident in his fighting skill.

Jerin age: 28 (Human years) Sex: Female Race: Half-elf Occupation: None "Thank you for saving me."

This young woman is half human and half Elf. She joins you a little later in the game after she is rescued from a servant of one of the four Sinistrals. She leaves you in Belgen after you save her but then appears to join you soon after that. She is like Lufia in that she has great skill in defensive and offensive magic, and her bow is probably an invaluable weapon. I could be wrong, but I think she may be descended from Artea.

You get to start the game as the mighty warrior Maxim. When you start, your party comments on the flow of dark energy through the fortress, and then Selan casts the Light spell. When you have control, go up all the way, then all the way right, then down. When you reach stairs, go up them and continue all the way.

Note: There are treasure chests here, but leave them. You’ll be coming back here later and need what’s in the chests a lot more then than you do now. When you reach the room with the crystal bridge, a voice will tell you you may cross. It Is Daos, Sinistral of Chaos. Your party hesitates, suspecting a trap, but after some dialogue they cross, trying not to show fear. Before the battle, Maxim invokes the blessing of Dual Blade on the party. After the dialogue, go up to meet your first boss. Note: For most of the bosses in this game I don’t know the exact HP, so if the range of HP seems a little wide for some of them, that’s why. Also note: If you have a better strategy for any boss than the one I’ve listed here, feel free to E-mail me. You might even be posted if you want.

This guy’s the Sinistral of Destruction and he’s very easy to defeat. He doesn’t use magic, so you won’t have to worry about that. Have Selan cast thunder, and Artea can use Flood or Sunder to cause a decent amount of damage to him. Have Maxim attack with Dual Blade and Guy attack with his Zircon axe. You should take Gades out in only a few rounds if you cast thunder and Sunder on him.

After the battle heal up with Miracles, (and don’t worry, you won’t run out), and prepare for the next battle.

This guy’s the Sinistral of Terror. He’s a little tougher than Gades. He likes to use Flood, Sunder, and I think Glacier and vulcan. If you want to protect yourself against that, cast mirror on everyone. Then give him all ya got! Thunder works well, and I believe Sunder and Flood also work. Try different ones to find which ones work best. I took this guy out in only a few rounds using Sunder and Thunder.

Erim is the Sinistral of Death. Although just as easy as the other Sinistrals, this chick deals more damage than the others. Thunder and Sunder don’t do quite as much damage to her as to the others, but they will work. Erim likes to use Thunder a lot. Be careful if you do decide to use magic, because sometimes she likes to cast mirror, and that’ll make your own spells reflect back on you! If she does use mirror, just whack her until she dies. Erim also tends to use Dread a lot when she is close to dying. As with Amon and Gades, Erim can be taken down fairly quickly if you use Sunder and Thunder and she doesn’t use mirror.

This is the Sinistral of Chaos, and the mightiest of the four. He has weakness to Thunder, but is a mighty magic user himself. He will use Glacier and Vulcan a lot, and yes, he also uses Flood and Sunder. Just keep on him and he’ll die, and yes, the Thunder-Sunder combination will take him down fairly quickly if you keep doing it. Note: I don’t know how many of you noticed this, but in Lufia II Daos was the Sinistral of Terror and in Lufia I he’s the Sinistral of Chaos. What’s the deal here? Did they switch places after the Battle of Doom Island?

Anyway, after the battle the Sinistrals begin to combine their energies into one. The heroes know that this could destroy the world, and so they combine their own energy to thwart the Sinistrals. They succeed.

After the sinistrals are thwarted, Maxim asks if everyone is all right. Guy and Artea shrug off the whole thing as nothing, but you can guess from the sad music that all is not well, and you would be right. Selan tells Maxim that the eruption went right through her, and that she can never return to earth. Maxim refuses to accept that his love is too weak to return to earth. Selan says that her only regret is that she can never again stand with Maxim on their home world or hold their child one last time.

After the tragedy, the fortress begins to break up. The platform where Maxim and Selan are is too far away for Artea to be able to reach them with his magic, but Maxim tells Guy and Artea to leave without him, because he cannot leave Selan to die alone. In sorrow, Artea and Guy argue with Maxim for a moment, but Maxim tells them to leave again. Sadly, Guy agrees to leave and says that he will tell the people that the Sinistrals are destroyed. After the dialogue, Artea warps himself and Guy off Doom Island, and it shows Maxim and Selan as spirits watching over earth. Then you get to watch a cut scene about what happened after the battle.

The actual beginning of the game happens 100 years after what was known as the Battle of Doom Island. Note: I’m going to give the hero a name for the sake of this FAQ, and since I like to give characters in my FAQs the same names as my characters in the games, I will call him Wedge. I did this for two reasons. First, (the main reason), is that Wedge is the name of a famous Star Wars Character. And yes, Wedge is also the name of one of my cats. You can name your hero Wedge yourself if you’d like, as far as I know it’s not copyrighted. If you choose not to do that however, remember that when I say Wedge I mean the hero.

As the game starts, the seven-year-old Wedge is speaking to Roman, the innkeeper in Alekia. Wedge is a brave and adventurous little boy, and it seems he went to the caves today! Roman warns him to be careful but admits that he hasn’t seen any monsters there lately. But Wedge isn’t afraid of monsters.

Around that time a mysterious girl appears at the inn, and after not saying anything to Wedge’s and Roman’s questions, she finally says that her name is Lufia. They play together for a while.

The scene then switches to a time nine years later. Wedge, (age 16), is in training to become an Alekian Knight. Today he goes to practice only to find that it’s canceled because nobody showed up. One of his fellow trainees remarks that a guy named Jack is going to chase a girl named Yuria around the castle. He and a friend leave to go watch.

Then the scene switches to Wedge and Lufia in a field of Priphea flowers. They talk for a while and Lufia agrees to bake a cinnamon pie for Wedge. And isn’t Lufia’s music just great?

Anyway, at about that time Wedge hears a rumor that monsters have attacked the kingdom of Sheran. Being the heroic dude you are, you decide to investigate. Seeing as you don’t tell Lufia, though, you sorta put her through the trouble of baking for you only to not find you when the pie is done, and this REALLY pisses her off.

When you have control of Wedge, go exploring in town. Don’t forget to search dressers and shelves and tables. These can sometimes hold very useful stuff.

In your search of the castle and city, you’ll probably find the following: Cloth Helm, (equip it on Wedge), Some arrow items and some potions and maybe a Revive or two, Hold onto them, as the revives are kind of rare at this stage of the game. You’ll also find some stuffed animals, which are basically useless. They have the ability to cause various status alements when thrown at enemies, but in my experience, the chances of it actually working are so absurdly remote that you might as well sell them. You only get 5 gold, but that’ll add up fairly quick once you get to fighting.

Note on arrow items: Items referred to as Arrow, for example Mid-Arrow, will attack one enemy. Items referred to as Arrows, for example Hi-Arrows, attack multiple enemies. The ones you find in Alekia are regular arrow items.

Don’t forget to talk to the princess before you leave unless you don’t want to make some easy cash. She gives you 100 gold. Use it to buy any stuff you need, (probably armor), and head outside to do some leveling.

There’s a small temple on the world map, (I believe it’s south from Alekia but I don’t remember for sure), and there you will find an old cleric who will recover your HP and MP for free. Fight near him until you reach level three or so, (the higher the better), and then you should have enough money for some healing supplies, and believe me, you’re really going to need them! Don’t forget to buy plenty of Antidotes, since where we’re going next has spiders that can poison you.

To the north of Alekia is the village of Chatam. Nothing here yet as far as items are concerned, but talk to everyone here and heal if needed. Danil, one of Chatam’s citizens, says that his sister Lilah is in Sheran castle where she works as a maid. He wants someone to go see if she’s all right. Anyway, there’s nothing here now, but come back a little later.

When you’re ready, head north again. You will see two cave entrences, and I strongly recommend going to the right one first. You’ll find some healing supplies and some easy cash! How does a chest with 200 GP sound? There’s nothing else in that cave, so go to the left entrance. Work your way through the cave and you will find the kingdom of Sheran. Doesn’t this game have great music?

You will find Sheran in ruins when you arrive, and the music is just great! Everyone still conscious warns you of danger or tells you to get help. Ignore the town and head into the castle if you want to do some plundering. You can find some potions, (four in a row if I remember right), as well as other useful stuff, such as a few MidArrow items, (these are stronger than the regular Arrow items but still only attack one enemy. I don’t believe there’s a MidArrows item). Once you’re done, leave. Those locked doors aren’t accessible to you yet, and besides, you’ve got no companions!

Seeing as you have not as yet picked up any companions, head back to Alekia, if you’re seriously hurt do so with the Swing Wing item, (you should have found several of these in your travels, and possibly an Escape or two. Talk to the commander in the castle, and Wedge gets pissed to learn that the knights will not be able to leave for Sheran within the week.

Go to the inn and talk with Roman, who says that Lufia has returned but is still mad at you for leaving before the pie was done. Stay at the inn, (it’s free anyway), and then head upstairs and talk with Lufia. She basically pledges her undying hatred of Wedge, (well, maybe not hatred exactly), and then tells you to get the hell out of here. As you leave, Roman will tell you that Lufia is not really angry with you, just worried about you. As you leave town Lufia’s music plays and she appears and invites herself along on your journey.

After all is said and done, head out and get Lufia up a few levels, (and you may want to find her a better weapon in the shops by using the Look option to see what will boost her ATP. Once you feel ready, head to the Sheran Caves.

On your way through the caves you’ll find a wounded man. It’s Danil, from the village of Chatam, who tells you to rescue his sister Lilah from Sheran Castle, (if you talked to Danil before, you’ll remember that Lilah works there as a maid). Danil also gives you a key. Now you can open those doors that were locked.

When you reach Sheran go to the castle. Open the doors and one of the rooms will have some more treasures, (I can’t remember what is in all the chests, but grab it anyway.

Note: Hold onto any Great, Mind, power and Spell potions or gourds unless you really feel you need them. It’s widely recommended that you save them for the end of the game. In the other room is the switch that opens the way to the dungeons. In one of the cells you will find Lilah and the King of Sheran. After some dialogue, you will get control of your character again, so leave the castle.

Just as you are about to leave town you are confronted by a dark presence. Lilah reveals that it was this being who destroyed Sheran, and Wedge confronts him. The creature laughs at Wedge and Wedge sends Lufia back to Alekia with the Sheranians. Then you will enter an impossible battle against none other than Gades, the Sinistral of Destruction!

Don’t even bother, you can’t beat him here, and I doubt you could even if you leveled up a whole bunch. This is that fight you can’t win, the one I hinted at earlier. Even if you’re at full health you can’t win, because this guy does massive damage to you, say about 500 HP per hit! You attack him a few times an then he massacres you!

Lufia will then appear, for some reason, seeing her causes Gades to leave. Makes ya wonder if she’s really who she says she is.. Lufia tells you that everyone from Sheran is safe and sound in Alekia and you head back there.

After some talking, go to the castle and get Lilah. She’s in the guest room. If you want some praise, talk to the king, who won’t give you a reward for your good work. What a waste of your valuable time! After you get Lilah, head for Chatam, and Danil will be there. Watch the cinimatic scene. After the cinimatic scene, talk to the old man and he’ll give you something, (I don’t remember what), and then head back through the Sheran caves. If you enter Sheran you’ll notice that the town has been fixed up a little, but the castle’s still empty. If you didn’t plunder the accessible parts earlier, (the ones you didn’t need the key for), you can still do so. Anyway, you’ll eventually find the town of Treck.

When you reach Treck, talk with everyone and yes, search any shelves, barrels, jars and even flower patches, as some will yield some of the most interesting items. Some of the people will tell you of an old man who watches the sea all day. Go to the port in the south part of town, and there shalt thou find an old man who will aid thee. Sorry, I’m kinda in a weird mood today. Anyway, talk to the old guy and he’ll have his niece, ainia, take you through a cave east of Treck, and there you will find none other than Guy, whom you’ll remember from the beginning of the game! Guy is over a hundred years old now but still alive. Troubled by his encounter with Gades, Wedge asks Guy what he knows about the Sinistrals. Guy at first is unwilling to believe that the Sinistrals have returned, but he soon decides not to take any chances. He decides to do something about it. This is a very sad moment in the game. Guy tries to get up but dies of a sudden heart attack. The music is just right for the scene if you ask me. Before he dies, Guy manages to tell you to look up Artea the elf, who will tell you more about Gades. When Wedge asks Guy where Artea can be found, Guy tells Wedge that there is one in Grenoble who can help. Then he dies, and Wedge, Lufia and Ainia bury him. Don’t forget to search the cross at Guy’s grave for a short sword, which will boost Wedge’s attack power immensely. Note: anytime after this scene, if you come back here, you will hear the mournful tune called Death of a Hero. It’s the music that plays when Guy dies.

After this tragedy, go back to Treck and do some leveling if you need to. Try to be at about level 7-9 or so. You’re about to come up against a very difficult boss, and I wouldn’t recommend fighting it unless you are at the proper level. Go back to the town and buy anything you need, and yes, save your game with the cleric in each town that has one.

When you feel ready, head to the port, where you will meet your next companion, Aguro. Aguro is the commander of the Lorbenian army, and though he uses no magic, he is a great fighter. He tells you that he heard about the four Sinistrals and came to Treck to investigate. He then invites you to join him for dinner at his camp. Then a boat sails into the harbor and monsters disembark and sink all the ships. Aguro joins up with you for this battle and believe me, you will need him!

Good luck! These guys are complete bastards! There are four of them and they’re a pain in the ass to kill. You can have Lufia cast Flash or Dew on them, but be careful, because the demons like to use Dew right back on you, or cast Mirror on themselves. If they do, don’t use magic, unless of course you want to hurt yourself. Just keep attacking them and healing your party as needed and you’ll eventually defeat them. Note: The Demonlords like to heal themselves sometimes, so watch yourself. Also note: Unlike the Final Fantasy RPG’s where if someone casts wall or mirror on themselves and you cast cure on them and it reflects back to you, in Lufia that will not happen, and you’ll just end up healing them. In this game Mirror, Reflect, wall (or whatever you want to call it), will not reflect healing spells. If you cast Shield, (Lufia learns it), on as many people as possible, that will cut down on the damage you take to a certain degree.

After the battle, Aguro will let you use his ship to get to Lorbenia, which just happens to be northeast of Grenoble. What a coincidence! But wait..There’s more. It turns out that Aguro’s ship was among those that were destroyed, so you gotta go find another one. Dammit! If you were a good little adventurer and talked with everyone you should have heard a guy mention his Maberia. SO go through the cave north of Treck and you’ll find it. Note: I strongly recommend leveling up in the cave or outside Treck. You’re about to run into another very annoying boss, and if you don’t have the best armor Treck can offer go buy it. You’re going to need it.

Once you’re ready, go through that cave north of Treck, and if Wedge learned float, cast it when you’re near a poison pond so you can search it without taking damage. One of them will contain a chest with the Daze ring, which will help Lufia’s DFP. Continue on and you will reach the other side of the cave.

These guys are EXTREMELY annoying. They don’t use magic but they can do some major damage to you. Just keep attacking, and Arrows work well, causing damage to all three, and if you found some Mid Arrow items, (you probably found one or two in your travels), use them. Mid Arrows do about 50 damage to them. And, (Beginners tend not to remember this important fact), heal whenever you need to. I noticed that Apart from the Flash spell, Lufia’s magic didn’t work all that well on these guys.

After the battle you will sail the Maberia back to Treck. Talk with her captain, (he’s in the lodge), and he will offer you a free ride. Meet him at the port and talk to him again and you’ll sail to Lorbenia.

When you arrive at Lorbenia Aguro will leave, (don’t worry, he’ll be back), and you can explore. Buy new stuff if you can afford it, then head to the dress shop. Talk to everyone. Lufia gets all excited when she hears that there’s a big sale going on, and she decides to hang around and buy stuff.

Meanwhile, Wedge decides to go exploring, but then he notices a little boy stealing from Lufia. He chases the boy and they have a little chat. Lufia appears as the boy is denying the fact that he stole any money. Wedge is thinking that the army might have need of a new recruit, but Lufia decides to let the little boy keep what he stole if he promises never to steal again.

Once that’s done head for the inn, where the innkeeper will tell you that the boy’s name is Lou Shaia, son of a famous inventor. Raile, the boy’s father, has little time to spend with his son, so Lou steals for a living. The townspeople tend to ignore what Lou steals because they know his father’s a little strange. Stay at the inn, (and yes you do have to stay even if you aren’t hurt), and just as you leave the inn, Aguro will join up with you again.

Buy new stuff for him, (although I think your short swords will hold you for a while yet), and then head southwest to the little village of Grenoble.

Grenoble is famed for its treasure-hunting industry, and you need to do a little hunting yourself. There’s a guy in the Grenoble tavern who will let you by him for 50 gold. Pay him and head into what a lot of people like to refer to as the Spring Basement. Here, you can get tasks assigned to you, and turn treasure in. Also, there’s an old man who seems to know something about Artea, but he will only tell you anything if you find him a fairy Kiss. He says it’s on the second level of the Old Cave north of town. Talk to the person behind the desk to get assigned a task, and it just happens to be on the second level of the Old Cave. So, when you’re ready head there and enter the elevator. You’ll go to the second level.

Note: You get new tasks every five levels of experience, so be careful. If your levels are too high you might skip a level, and if you skip a required one like this I don’t know if you can go back and get it. Also note: there are many empty treasure boxes, but open them all anyway to find some useful stuff. Hold onto smokeballs because those will get you out of a battle if you’re hurt or don’t feel like fighting.

You will be looking for the Secret Map, which will get you an easy 500 gold. In the chest near that you will find a Power Ring, which you should give to Wedge, as it will increase his ATP by about 10. One room will have a sign that says only women can enter, so Lufia will go it alone for a little bit. Just hope she doesn’t get wasted!

You’ll be in a room full of treasures. All are useful items, and one is the Fairy Kiss! Woo-hoo! Now you can get out of here!

After getting the Fairy Kiss, head back to where you left Wedge and Aguro. If you want to get out of the cave in a hurry, use an Escape item and you’ll be outside. Head back to Grenoble, stay at the inn if necessary, and go back to the Spring Basement, and yes you do have to pay the guard again. Talk with the lady behind the counter and she’ll give you 500 Gold.

Remember the old guy? Well, ya better! Talk to him and he’ll give you a letter. He will also tell you that the letter will allow you to see Artea’s apprentice, who dwells at the top of the Northwest tower. That’s your next goal, but if you want more easy cash, go get assigned the third-level task in the Old Cave. You have to find the Silver Whick. Also, you can find other cool stuff there as well.

Once you get the whick, (That’s if you choose to do it right now), go talk to the lady in the Spring Basement again and she’ll give you a whopping 1000 GP! When you’re ready, head for the Northwest Tower.

Isn’t the tower music sort of creepy and mysterious in a way? The monsters in here are a little tough, especially the Red Mages, but if Lufia has Deflect, cast it on them to prevent them from using their magic for a while. Level building is crucial for Wedge, since there’s a boss at the top of the tower that only he will be facing. Try to get him to level 13 before you come to this place so you can go right on to the boss.

Get all the treasure, and one will be a Sonic Ring. Give it to Aguro. When you reach the top of the tower heal up, and then you will meet Artea’s apprentice. He will agree that you are, (or could be), someone important but will only tell you anything if you agree to beat him in a one-on-one battle. Say Yes, and get ready for a tough battle.

Good luck here! This guy can be extremely annoying. If you’re not at or above level 13 he’ll knock you cold no questions asked! Mid Arrows cause around 50-100 damage to him. Watch for him to use his Jolt attack, as that does around 40+ damage to you. Unfortunately, the Apprentice has this nasty habbit of attacking twice per turn. Sometimes he’ll use Fake or a potion and attack both on the same turn. Also, sometimes he gets to go before you do, so stay healthy! Just keep attacking and healing as needed and you will defeat him.

Note: If you die in this battle you will only lose Wedge. You will revive as the other member(s) of your party, (depending on whether or not you lost anyone on the way up the tower. Since only Wedge was fighting the Apprentice, you’ll just have to revive Wedge and heal him at the inn.

After the battle pay close attention to what Artea’s Apprentice says, then leave. Head south for a ways and you will see a temple. There you will find your friend from Alekia Temple, the one that healed you. He’ll do so now as well. Keep going and you will find the town of Kirof.

Kirof is a small, peaceful village, but there’s not much stuff to buy save items, and if you can find a good piece of armor or weapon for anyone,by all means buy it. Do the regular town stuff, (note there’s no save person here), and you will find a house with two little kids in bed. One is Mark, from the kingdom of Medan, which is east a little from Kirof. The other is Reyna, a girl from Medan whose family moved to Kirof after she fell ill. The kids talk for a while and Mark promises to bring her the Hope Ruby from Medan, which he believes can cure her.

After all that, talk with Reyna, (although I don’t know if this is necessary for completing the game), and leave for Medan. Medan is east of Kirof.

In Medan, search around the town and buy any needed supplies, (Stock up on Stone Cures unless you’ve already gotten Wedge up high enough in levels to learn Stone, which I doubt). Enter the castle and search around until you reach the basement, where you’ll overhear the princess say that the Hope Ruby’s a fake.

After that, leave and Mark will run off. You’ll find him in Kirof, wanting to go find Reyna, who has apparently disappeared. Wedge and Lufia talk with him and finally, Wedge agrees to let Mark come along.

Note: To me, Wedge didn’t seem all that reluctant to allow Mark to come. Now, head north to the Ghost Cave.

Unfortunately, I can’t really help you with this cave, since not only is it large and infested with monsters to whom Wedge and Aguro do pathetically small amounts of damage, but it is also extremely confusing, with passages that will go nowhere, and lots of places to go. Just search around and find treasures, (take the Ghost Ring when you find it and give it to Aguro. You will also find the Monster ring, which unlocks a neat little cheat I’ll tell you about later.

After searching the cave, you will eventually find an invisible bridge between two fake, (or unstable), bridges which you can’t cross. You’ll fall if you try, so walk between them to find the correct bridge.

In Belgen, you must talk to everyone, and you will learn that Jerin, a half-elf, has been sent to the West Dais to die. The people are all pissed because they had to sacrifice Jerin to stop monster attacks. Talk to a young lady in a basement somewhere in the town to learn where the key is. Her brother’s got it, and he’s in the cave southwest of Belchin’, uhm, I mean Belgen, sorry. GO there and explore it thuroughly for good treasure. The young man at the end will tell you to take the key and save Jerin. Go to the cave directly north of this one to find the door. Unlock it and proceed through it to the other side.

On the world map is a temple. GO in and you will hear the same music you heard when Gades destroyed Sheran at the beginning of the game. You will also see Jerin on the altar. The guards won’t let you near her, and then Lufia, Wedge and Aguro have a little conversation and basically decide to stop the ceremony. When the guards still don’t let you go, you try to leave. Just as you do the dragonlike Follower appears and steals Jerin. They’re off to the north tower, but don’t go there just yet. Save in this temple. Note: If you talk to the guards after Jerin is abducted they’ll just be overcome with horror, knowing they may have started something that can’t be set right when they allowed Jerin to be taken.

Now it’s time to learn about that little cheat I mentioned. You know how Sweet Water sort of keeps monsters away from you? Well, give someone the Monster Ring and use a Sweet Water, and prepare to be attacked at every step, and I mean that literally! This happened to me just a few days ago while I was getting ready to fight the Follower, and it scared the crap out of me because I got killed. Then, after figuring out what was going on I realized that the situation could be used to my advantage, and yours too! Wanna level up in a hurry? Wanna make a lot of cash? Try this. Do so only if you have lots of supplies though, you’ll need them. I got all my characters into the 20-22 level range by doing this trick. If you can get Lufia up to level 21, you will learn the incredibly cool Bolt spell. I didn’t have it when I came here, but I was a match for the monsters in the north tower. Whenever you’re ready head there.

The north tower is not terribly hard, (be careful, though, there are places where you can fall right off the tower). There are lots of good items, including two Miracles, (which will raise the number of Miracles you have in your inventory to four or so if you held onto and didn’t use the ones you got in the North of Treck Cave and the Ghost cave. You can sell Miracles for a hefty 2500 gold, but I’d hold onto them, as their power to restore all HP and MP is great for when you run out of the other stuff. Also, search the tower to find the powerful Flash Ring, which will cause Lufia’s already powerful Flash spell, (which doesn’t always work but does most of the time), to become even stronger!

In the hall of Teleporters, if you feel you’re ready to face the boss, take the far right warp tile. You will see the Follower and he tells you that he is working to revive Amon, Sinistral of Terror. Then he basically says that you’re gonna help him. This battle’s going to be hard, so watch out!

This battle will be a bit tough. If you got the Flash Ring, though, this battle will be a breeze. Just keep Lufia using Flash unless she needs to heal. If he kills someone, make sure the rest are healthy before you try to bring them back. The reason why I say this is that sometimes the Follower gets to go twice per round, and sometimes he gets to go before any of your characters, so be careful. If you’re wearing the Flash Ring, then Flash will cause around 80-100 damage here. Have Wedge attack or heal when needed, (both Lufia and Wedge should have Stronger by now), and keep Aguro busy by having him constantly attack the Follower. This guy likes to use Frost, but I noticed that it didn’t do any serious damage except to Aguro, who seems to have really bad MGR unless, (and sometimes even if), he’s wearing some kind of protective armor or ring. However, as with Aguro, Wedge and Lufia will only bear up well under the Follower’s powerful attacks if you remembered to update your supplies every time you entered a new area. If you forget to do this then this battle will be nearly impossible. Just keep on him and use Shrieks if he confuses anyone. Use Awakens if he Drowsies you, and keep on him.

After the battle, talk to Jerin and you’ll go to Belchin’, I mean Belgen, sorry.

You’ll stay at the inn automatically, (and I believe any dead characters are revived, then say farewell to Jerin, who doesn’t join you yet. She does give you another Miracle however.

After the dialogue, head east to Suringal, where you can upgrade again and then talk to people.

In Suringal, one young girl will mention the Lost Forest and how you need an Elven guide to get you through it. Head south from Suringal, (not forgetting to save before leaving), and you will find the guide station. The old man will say there is only one guide available. The party agrees to take them, and it turns out to be none other than Jerin, who now joins you at level 14. If you take a look at the list of her spells, you’ll see that she’s got Warp and Escape. In spite of this, don’t sell your Escapes and Swing Wings. You may need them if Jerin runs out of magic in a place where you don’t feel you have enough strength or supplies to make it out on your own. There’s some dialogue, (as Lufia’s a bit dubious about accepting Jerin’s help. When Jerin asks Wedge if Lufia’s always like this, Wedge basically says yes, but not to worry about it. Lufia gets pissed, and I think she zaps Wedge with Flash here, what a way to treat your boyfriend! After that, head to the Lost Forest. Just follow Jerin’s directions and you will come out at the town of Jenoba. There is something you HAVE to do here in order to progress later on. Do it now just to get it out of the way. There’s an old woman in the basement of the Cider house, and you absolutely MUST buy her tea. By now you might have already learned what she tells you, but you do have to talk with her. Basically she says that there are three towers and three gems. The gems are in the towers, but they are not in the correct ones. You must find them and place them in the right towers. There’s a blue, red and green tower, and each has a gem of the same color. Your mission: Place the blue gem in the blue tower, the green gem in the green tower, and the red gem in the red tower, in that order. Ya gotta find ‘em first, though. So here’s what ya gotta do. I do not remember the exact locations of the towers, but you should have no trouble finding each one, and yes, the tower itself is blue, green or red. First

head to the blue one. This one’s easy. Go up to the third floor to find a room with a hole in the center. Fall through it twice and you will find the Green Jade, and yes, it’s one of the gems you need. Now wasn’t that easy? Note: Be careful about what hole you fall in. Fall down the wrong one and you’ll be starting all over again from the tower base! There are other good treasures in this tower, but if ya don’t wanna get ‘em that’s your choice. I recommend it, though, as even if it’s something you don’t need you can sell it for some easy cash. Also, one will be a blue ring, which will help Wedge a lot.

After the blue tower go back to Jenoba or head to Ruan, (you’re probably closer to Ruan but it’s up to you), and if you didn’t upgrade weapons and armor yet, do so now if there’s anything you can use in either town. Then head to the green tower. You aren’t placing the gem here yet though, (even though you do have the Green Jade), not till after you get them all.

This tower’s a little tricky but not very. The cool part is that there’s an inn in here! Stay there any time you wanna heal up easy unless you’re not near it. In one of the rooms you’ll find a switch. Move it to the Down position to find the broken Red Sapphire. What good is this?

After Wedg chats with his friends, return the switch to its UP position, (you will be back later and you need to raise the switch to get to where you place the gem, so do it now to save time. Then get the other treasures if you didn’t already. One will be a green ring, which I believe Jerin can use. When you’re done, head to Ruan.

If you came here before then Jerin’ll be able to warp ya here in no time! GO to the jewelry shop and the Jeweler will say that Rubies and Sapphires are the same except that one’s red and the other’s blue. Also, if you talk to everyone, they’ll tell you about how there’s a beautiful lake north of town but it’s been turned into poison marsh. An old woman will tell you that the Dark Ghost has captured the Water Fairy, (who appears to you every time you die), and turned the water around Ruan and in the red tower into poison marsh. She also says that only when the ghost is destroyed will the water return to normal, but no one wants to fight the Dark Ghost. So now,it’s time to head to the Red Tower. If you want you can go back to Medan.

Remember how I said earlier on the way to Belgen that the other cave wasn’t to be visited yet? Well, now I think you can go get what’s in there now. The other cave, (the one northeast of Medan), is the Mines of Medan. In there is an old man who will not give you the true Hope Ruby unless you talked to that old woman in Jenoba and bought her tea, and also learned from the Ruan Jeweler that rubies and sapphires are the same. I’ve also heard that he won’t help you if you haven’t defeated the Dark Ghost and also gotten the gem from the red tower, so if he doesn’t help you now that’s why.

Go back to Ruan, and you will find that the red tower’s right there. How convenient! Note: You’ll find a red ring in this tower, but I don’t like how it lowers certain atributes, so I wouldn’t bother with it. Sell it for some hefty cash if ya wanna. If you enter the red tower’s basement you will find that it’s completely covered with poisonous swamp. Cast Float to search it, but you can’t get the gem early. Instead, get the other items you’ll find here, then head to the top of the tower. There’s a section of holes when you get close to the top, so watch your step! Once you’re past that, get ready for what in my opinion is the toughest battle yet!

Boss Battle: Dark Ghost HP: 1000-4000

Weakness: Bolt

Recommended level: 21-22

This battle will be very tough, even if your levels are where they ought to be. Did you hold onto the Ghost Ring? If you did it’ll make the fight a little easier, but it’s not needed. If you do want to use it, I’d give it to Aguro before starting the battle. I give it to Aguro because he uses no magic. This will free up your three magic users to use their spells. What you have to do is have Wedge constantly cast Drain to lower the ghost’s defense while Jerin, Lufia and Aguro attack. Have Lufia constantly cast Bolt unless she needs to heal someone. Unless more than one person needs to heal, don’t stop casting Drain with Wedge. If you have Hi-Arrows, have Jerin use them, as they’re better than her normal attack, and her magic does not work all that well here. Remember, DON’T STOP USING Drain and BOLT UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. I think without the Flash Ring Bolt does around 70-90 damage. If you have the Flash Ring on then your Bolt spells will do about 140 damage each time. Any time the ghost uses his Water spell, (and I have never known a time when he hasn’t), heal up with both Wedge and Lufia, and Jerin if she learned Stronger. Try to wait until she does before coming to this tower, which means wait until she’s at level 20. The Water spell is very dangerous to all of you, especially to Aguro. It tends to do anywhere from 30 to 50 damage, so watch out! Unfortunately, just like all the other bosses in this game, sometimes the Dark Ghost gets to go before any of your characters, and like the Apprentice and the Follower, he sometimes gets to go twice. In short, stay healthy! The Dark Ghost also likes to cast Absorb on you sometimes, so be ready to replenish magic points, because he can steal a fair amount of MP from you. When the Dark Ghost starts to heal himself, that’s your cue that you’ve almost got him! If Wedge was using Drain the whole battle, have him attack unless healing is in order for more than one person. Wedge’s physical attacks do about 30-50 damage, so you shouldn’t have much trouble. Make sure Wedge has the Blue Ring though. Have Lufia cast Bolt if her magic hasn’t run out and you still have Miracles or HI-Magics to replenish it when it does, and have Jerin and Aguro attack him. Keep attacking him and eventually the ghost will die with what in my opinion is an awesome sound!

After the battle you will meet the Water Fairy, and you’re actually alive and not dead this time. Remember that room completely covered in poison? Go there now to find that it’s safe to go there. In that room you will now find the Blue Jade. Now if you didn’t go to the Medan mines earlier, (or if you did and the old guy wouldn’t help you), go there and he will give you the last of the three Gems, which just happens to be the real Hope Ruby! What? You didn’t know? Weren’t you paying attention when the princess of Medan explained it to the people? Anyway, now it’s time to place the gems!

First, head to the top of the blue tower and you will have the option of placing the Blue Jade. Do so. Then head to a town and heal if you need.

If you do not need to heal or if you have already done so and are ready to place the next gem, head to the top of the green tower to place the green gem. Note: The staircase controled by that switch you had to pull last time is what leads to the top. If you didn’t reverse it after finding the broken gem last time you’ll have to do it now. Now do you see why I said to do it before?

After placing the gem, go to the red tower, and I believe the pedestal’s kinda close to the place where the boss was. Place the last gem, and yes, you do have to place them in the order mentioned here. When the last gem is placed Jerin learns the Elf spell and you are magically taken to Elfrea.

In the village of Elfrea, you will finally meet Artea, and it’s about time! Talk to everyone. You will notice that you get to stay at the inn for free because you’re human! Talk to everyone in town and someone will take you to Artea. he’s old now and lost his sight after the Doom Island Battle. He almost mistakes you for Maxim, (you are his descendant after all, and so it’s only natural that you would radiate the same energy as him). Artea gives you the Shrine Key so you can open that locked door in the basement in this town. He tells you that without the Dual Blade you can’t hope to beat the Sinistrals. Artea urges you to find the sword, because the people of the world cannot relive the nightmare of 99 years ago. When Wedge asks where the Dual Blade is and is told it’s underwater, he despairs. Artea tells you to look up Professor Shaia, whom you heard about in Lorbenia. He has apparently built a ship that can travel underwater. You can go to Doom Island’s ruins and find Dual Blade!

After the dialogue, try leaving and Artea will stop you. He will give Jerin Artea’s Bow. The only weapon mightier than that is the Might Bow and you don’t get it for a while yet. I’d hold onto Artea’s bow though, as it attacks all enemies, kinda like an Arrows item, except this one won’t run out on you! Then head to the Shrine and go through to Ranqs.

You’ll end up having to do a little walking, and soon you should come to Ranqs. The monsters here are a bit annoying, but if at any time you need to get healed up, feel free to cast Elf, (Jerin learns it after you place the red gem), to get back to Elfrea. If it takes you a while to find Ranqs, you might want to do this a few times. Note: I got killed my first time through this area, so don’t get worked up if you do. It’s a long walk. Just keep searching and you will find Ranqs, the town of miners.

In Ranqs, you will learn that all the men are gone to the tunnel to Odel, but they can’t get through it yet because a strange forcefield is blocking it. Heal up, upgrade as needed, and save your game.

Once ready, head to the tunnel. You’ll find the men from Ranqs. Talk to them and try to get through the cave. You’ll find you can’t. What’re ya gonna do? Well, there’s another cave on the world map, so go there and talk to the old man. He’ll tell you the sequence for the forcefield. Write it down so you can remember it.

Note: The sequence to the forcefield is done in steps, not screens, so if you have to go up 2 it means 2 steps not two screens. I’d help you with this part but I don’t remember the entire sequence.

Anyway, when you’re done, head to the cave and perform the sequence. If you do it right you’ll be able to proceed. Head to the kingdom of Odel.

In Odel, search around and upgrade your equipment. Then when you’re done, head to the castle. In the castle you need to find Piron the architect, as the bridge to Arus is out. Arus is a village of powerful magicians and one of them may know something about the Dual Blade. Note: in the basement of the castle is one of Professor Shaia’s labs. The people will tell you that Raile Shaia’s in Arus, all the more reason to go there.

Anyway, Talk to Piron, who’ll ask you to find his assistant, who is in Lyden enjoying the good food. Lyden is on the Southeast tip of the island, so head there.

When you reach Lyden, (and it’s a bit of a walk), talk with Piron’s friend, who is in the restaurant. He’ll leave for Odel, and he doesn’t even stay for dessert!

Go back to Odel and Piron will ask you to go check the condition of the bridge. Head southwest and you’ll cross a bridge. From there head north and enter the cave.

When you reach the bridge, your party will comment on the shocking state of disrepair the bridge is in. Then head back to Odel. Piron will tell you to meet him at the bridge, so head back there. This time the architects will be at the bridge, and Piron asks you to go to the ledge to his right and watch him work. This requires you to go through a very big cave, (take the northernmost of the three entrances), and it’s a little frustrating. However, it does give you the chance to level up and find some cool stuff. When you get to the ledge, watch Piron work and then Escape out of the cave. Head back to the cave with the bridge and cross over.

Eventually, you’ll come to an enchanted door. All your party tries to read the magic words, but when they do the others won’t understand them. Lufia finally tries and she can read the words. Lufia will open the door and you’ll find your way to Arus.

Talk to the people of Arus and some will say that the elder is at the Tower of Grief meeting with Professor Shaia, who just happens to be that guy we’re looking for. Note: the Elder is also an important person to talk to, as he might know something about Dual Blade. Also watch the cool little scene where Lufia gets all happy about the Priphea and starts romping in the flowers.

When you’re ready, head to the tower of grief. There’s a little cave you have to go through to reach the tower, but it’s not too hard. The cool thing about the Tower of Grief is that there’s no boss at the top, just the Elder, who will increase Lufia’s MP by 10 points, as well as tell you that you just missed Professor Shaia. Head back to Odel. Note: if you did some exploring when you were fixing the bridge and found Lab 2 in Odel Castle’s basement, you will have learned that the west exit will take you to Shaia Lab 1, which is in Platina. If you visited it earlier then Jerin can warp you there. Go there now and you will meet professor Shaia.

When you find Shaia Lab 1, (whether it be by warping or finding it on your own), you will finally meet Raile Shaia. He seems a little bit weird, as he tels Jerin that one of his inventions could make her hair even prettier. Jerin, Wedge and Lufia have a bit of an argument and then they get down to business.

Shaia will then show you his ship, which is called the Falcon, like in Star Wars. At first the party is a little dubious about taking Falcon, since Shaia admits that it hasn’t been tested yet. He will then take you on a quick cruise in the Falcon, and you actually get to go underwater! However, this is not greeted with enthusiasm, as the boat leaks. However, when Wedge starts complaining about it Raile basically tells him to shut up. You will then receive Falcon, and now you can travel on the water. Now Professor Shaia tells you to go to Carbis, which lies to the west of Platina. He’ll meet you there.

Take your newly-acquired ship and sail west. It may take you a little while to find Carbis, (and you will be attacked while you are on the ship), but when you do find it, go see Raile. He’ll ask you to find a man named Cooper, who lives in Bakku. Here’s one of those times where Aguro’s mouth gets him into trouble. He tells Raile to get off his butt and go find Cooper himself. Jerin reprimands him and Lufia breaks up the argument. Raile says he’ll prepare things while you go find Cooper. He tells you that Bakku is west of Carbis.

Once in Bakku go talk to the Cleric, who will tell you that Cooper has gone to explore the fifth level of the Old Cave. If you have not yet been given this task then this is a time when you don’t want your levels to be too high. However, even if you’ve already visited the fifth level of the old cave and gotten the Golden Pawn at an earlier time you will still be able to meet Cooper.

At any rate, when you find Kooper, he’ll decide he has to go see Shaia, and he tries to use an Escape. However it doesn’t work. Jerin will then use her magic to get everyone out of the cave. Warp to Karbis.

Once in Karbis, go find Raile. Note: there’s a cleric and a healer in there if you haven’t already noticed. When you find Shaia, he and Cooper will explain that in order for Falcon to safely travel under water it needs more Alumina. Alumina is the metal from which Falcon was made. Raile says that seven pieces should be enough to make Falcon safe for underwater travel. He also tells you that a man named Brant knows where Alumina can be found, and he is supposedly in Linze, which is beyond the Tower of Light north of Bakku.

Warp back to Bakku and you will learn from the Elder that the key to the tower was stolen by a suspicious old man who is holed up in the tower and won’t come out. That therefore, is your next destination. The tower is north of Bakku, so head there when you’re ready.

This tower can be a little tough, because it’s confusing. You need to fall through some trap doors to get where you need to be. Just work your way to the top of the tower and you will meet the toughest boss yet!

Boss Battle: Guardian HP: 2000-5500

Weakness: None

Recommended Level: 28-30

This battle will be a tough one. Here’s my strategy. Have Wedge and Lufia cast Drain every so often to lower his extremely high defense, then have them attack. Do this unless healing is absolutely necessary. Have Jerin and Aguro attack as normal. Don’t bother to use magic on him because it doesn’t work. He has very high MGR, and I mean VERY. He will use Dread, Flame and Blizard. Those last two will be bad for Aguro, but if he has the yellow ring he will be able to stand up to the attacks a bit better. Even with all your armor and weapons up to date this battle will be hard, and even if you take little damage from his attacks, (a bit unlikely), it will be a long fight. His HP is very high, (as I said I don’t know Ihe enemies’ exact HP). Just keep attacking him, heal when necessary and you will defeat him.

After the battle you will hear Amon’s voice and then Gades will appear. Gades and his brother will bully you around a bit but not attack. Amon will remark that he revived sooner than he’d expected, and Gades will bully Wedge a bit. Then he will tell the party that the dark reunion is near at hand as even now Daos is reviving. Then the Sinistrals will depart.

After the Sinistrals leave, grab the key from the chest and return to the first floor of the tower. Note: I have also heard that if you come back here later after getting the key, the chest which contained the key will contain a might helmet. If anyone can shed any light on that, please let me know. Anyway, now work your way down to the first floor again. There you’ll find a door leading to the world map. Here you will finally find Linze.

The Town of Linze and Gayas Cave Party’s Level: 29-31

When you find Linze, upgrade your supplies if you can afford to. If you can’t I suggest getting a new task at the Old Cave northwest of Grenoble. If you can get the Seventh Level task you will get an easy 10000 GP and be the greatest treasure hunter there ever was. If not, fight around and sell any item you don’t have any use for. If you’re REALLY desperate sell any Miracles you have, as you get an easy 2500 GP. When you’re done, talk with everyone. They’ll tell you that Brant, the guy we’re looking for, went to Gayas Cave to search for Alumina. Use the staris in one of the houses to find the entrance to Gaya’s Cave. Inside, search around for the Alumina. At the bottom of the cave you will also find Clack, a Doom Island Researcher. Talking to him, you will be presented with four choices. Talk to him about each of these four things, then follow him to his room. He will give you the Wave Ring, which belonged to Maxim. Give it to Wedge. Now Escape outa here unless you want to make money and EXP. When you’re ready, it’s time to go to Marse.

Marse and the Fargo Islands Party’s Level: 30-32

From Linze, board your ship and head north along the coastline. Eventually you’ll find Marse. Note: I got stuck in a little pond type deal near Linze and so I had to warp to another area and search for Marse from there.

Once in Marse, I recommend taking the cruise so you know where everything is. Then it’s time to go after more Alumina!

Here are the locations of all seven Alumina pieces.

1. Gaya’s Cave

The piece of Alumina is in the basement, but first ya gotta satisfy the king’s appetite, and yes, it is an appetite for food and nothing else. It seems that his appetite is getting on the cooks’ nerves. Everything he eats tastes terrible. Hint? Go to Lyden and talk with the Wizard of Taste. He will tell you that he came up with a spell that makes any food taste good, even if it’s something someone hates. It was originally intended for famine, when food was scarce. He asks you to go to the cave east of Herat, where the purple newt lives.

I had loads of trouble finding this cave, but I called Nintendo’s help line, (1-900-288-0707), and I now have good directions to give you. From Herat, sail Falcon west until you see some rocks in the water. Dock your ship and walk south to a shrine. This is the Egg Dragon’s shrine. If you’ve collected all 8 dragon eggs by now, talk to the dragon to get a wish. If not, don’t go in. From the shrine, head north across a bridge. You’ll find a cave. Search it thuroughly for the purple newt. You’ll need to lower a switch to get it.

Once the newt is in your hands head to Lyden to get the ingredients. Once that’s done, go back to Herat and give the magic flavor to the cook. He’ll whip up a dish and then you can talk to the king. He’ll give you his jewel collection. This collection is in the basement of Herat Castle. Among the items you find is the last piece of Alumina, finally!

So now you’ve got to go to Karbis and get Falcon fixed up right? It just doesn’t get any wronger! When you get to Karbis you learn that Raile went to rescue his son Lou, whom you’ve already met. Lou and Raile are in Aisen Island’s Pirate Tower. Now it’s time to go there.

This tower is rather tough. On one of the floors you’ll find Raile, who tells you that you have to push switches in order to ghet the key. So when you come to four switches and a door switch, here’s what ya do. Step on the switches in the following order. Upper Left, Lower Right, Lower Left and Top Right, then the door switch. Do it wrong and four pirates will attack. Do it right and the door will open. Talk to the head pirate and a boss fight will ensue.

Boss Battle: Bosun and Pirate HP: ???

Recommended Level: 40-50

Weakness: N/A

This battle is very very tough even if you follow these directions to the letter. Have Lufia equip the Blast Ring and cast Blast or Sunder every round unless healing is needed for all characters. Have the ones not using magic focus their attacks on Bosun first or he’ll keep healing the big guy. They like to change status with arrows and special attacks, so be ready to cure with the propper items. Even if they don’t confuse you, (very unlikely), the big guy has a powerful storm attack, so you may wish to have Jerin cast Mirror. Persistence is the key here. It may take you several tries to beat them, (it took two for me).

After the battle you’ll save Lou and get the Pirate Key. Work your way back to where Raile was. Free him and you’ll see a short scene. Then warp to Karbis.

In Karbis, talk to Raile and he’ll get his son to help him fix Falcon up. When that’s done, sail to Soshette, and dive into one of the whirlpools by pressing A. Work your way through the caves and you will come to Doom Island.

Doesn’t Doom Island’s ruins have good music? Anyway, remember how you got to the Sinistrals in the beginning of the game? Repeat those directions to find Dual Blade. After the statues rise up, the companions notice that Erim’s statue resembles Lufia exactly. The Sinistrals will then appear and Daos will claim that Lufia and Erim are one and the same, and he even tries to unlock the dark memories in Lufia. After the scene, head to Karbis and Raile will tell you that if you go get some Power Oil from Epro he’ll fit Falcon to fly up to Doom Island. SO head north of Marse to find Epro.

In Epro you’ll find that the road to the cave where the Power Oil is located is blocked. However a person will tell you to find a man called Hedge, as he is the only man who can help you find an entrance. Hedge is NW of Epro on the map. He’ll say that the Power Oil is in the Oil Cave and give you the key. But ya gotta enter from Underwater. TO find this cave, enter the eddies near Epro.

The Oil Cave is not too hard, just be careful of the enemies. Note: I defeated the boss of this cave without the Dragon Ring. Eventually you’ll find a dragon. Kill it and the oil is yours.

Boss Battle: Oil Dragon HP: ????

Recommended Level: 50+

Weakness: Dunno, Thunder?

The Oil Dragon is much easier than Bosun and Pirate. Have Jerin constantly Mirror everyone and have Lufia use Thunder. If the Oil Dragon uses Mirror, and he may do this a few times, stop using magic and hit him normally. If Mirror is on everyone his fire attacks will not hurt you. They do little damage to him, but little damage is better than no damage. I recommend having Wedge at level 47 or higher so he can cast Valor. That’s better by a long shot than Boost.

After the battle get the power oil and go to Frederia. This is south of Karbis and is Professor Shaia’s forth lab. Give the oil to Raile and he and some assistants will fit Falcon so it can fly. Then just as you are saying your thanks and farewells to Raile, someone will run into the lab and tell you that Doom Island has positioned itself above Glasdar Tower. That’s your next goal.

First, ya gotta get the key. East of Glasdar Tower is the town of Arubus. People will talk about Doom Island and how it’s positioned itself above the tower. So, head West of Arubus, (I believe Arubus is west of Frederia), and enter the cave. You can’t land near the tower, so you need to go through the caves.

These caves are somewhat confusing, but work your way through them and search carefully. Eventually you will find the Glasdar Key. When you come to a door, use the key on it. You’ll come out near the tower.

Glasdar is a tough tower, but it’s because of the monsters. Just work your way up the tower by following the signs which say what floor you’re on. If they are going up in number you’re on the right road. Eventually you’ll see three switches in a row. Step on the middle one to proceed. At the top, get ready for a boss battle.

Boss Battle: Nazeby HP: 5000 or so

Recommended Level: 50+

Weakness: Thunder

This can be a little tough, but if you have Jerin cast mirror and do nothing else, Nazeby’s magic will not hurt you. I would advise giving Lufia the Flash Ring and having her cast Thunder. It won’t do loads of damage right off, but if you keep on doing it it’ll quickly increase. Have Aguro and Wedge attack or heal as needed, (Wedge’s Valor spell will be very valuable), and with patience and time, Nazeby, last servant of the four Sinistrals, will be destroyed.

After the battle, Nazeby will decide that as an atonement for failing Daos, he will give the party to the Sinistrals. He unleashes his last energies and knocks everyone but Lufia unconscious! Then Daos speaks to Lufia and commands her to forget her caring side, take up the Dual Blade and rejoin the Sinistrals. Daos causes the Dual Blade to ring and Lufia begins to remember her past. Still, she fights Daos’ mind control for quite a while before succumbing. As a token of her loyalty to the Sinistrals, Daos once more commands Erim to bring him the Dual Blade. After succumbing to Daos’ will, Lufia will steal the Dual Blade from Wedge! Don't worry though, you'll be ready for the battle. Then, Lufia leaves and the companions revive.

After Lufia vanishes, the others awaken and notice that Lufia and the Dual Blade are gone. They decide that Erim or not, Lufia is still their friend and they have to free her and stop the Sinistrals!

The scene changes to Doom Island where Lufia approaches Daos’ throne and deposits the Dual Blade at his feet. She questions Daos, asking him why he did not destroy her, as she could have defeated him with Dual Blade. Daos points out that without the Dual Blade the reunion would not have happened. Then Daos unleashes his energy on the Dual Blade!

Once the scenes are over, board Falcon and cast Warp to go to Arus. Don’t worry about staying at an inn, you’ll have a chance to heal very soon. From Arus, make Falcon fly and head NW of the Tower of Grieff to Doom Island!

This area’s not easy in my opinion. The monsters here will definitely give you a run for your money. The stately musical theme of Doom Island’s overworld is quite catchy, wouldn’t you say? Anyway, there’s a shrine on this Island, so enter it to heal up. You may also save your game if you wish, and I recommend this, as you can board Falcon again and return to Earth if you want to buy any last-minute supplies.

Anyway, once you’ve done whatever you need to do, go to the Fortress of Doom. You know the directions, right? Well, follow ‘em and you’ll find Dual Blade, which Daos has managed to utterly destroy! After you comment on the destroyed sword, Gades, Amon and Daos appear, followed by Lufia/Erim. After some more dialogue, during which Lufia joins Daos, the Dual Blade suddenly begins to ring and it then reforms. Wedge will then receive the Dual Blade. Now it’s time for the last battle!

Boss Battle: Gades HP: 3000+

Recommended Level: 50+

Weakness: None

Compared to when you fought him at the beginning of the game, Gades is not going to be easy. You will only have Aguro and Jerin with you, and your levels are not as high as Maxim’s were. Just whack him with your weapons and don’t use mirror. Gades doesn’t use magic, so Mirror will be of no use. When your HP gets low, have Wedge cast Valor. This will heal everyone completely. You’ll want to have as many Miracles as you can carry and find. They’ll REALLY come in handy.

Boss Battle: Amon HP: 3000+

Recommended Level: 50+

Weakness: None

As with the last fight, this one is not going to be a walk in the park. Well..it won’t if you don’t cast Mirror on everyone. Have Jerin cast Mirror and do nothing else. Mirror only lasts a few turns, and you don’t want Amon getting in that lucky thrust. He can confuse people, and yes, his confusion spell does affect all party members, and it is possible to have all four characters confused. Keep Jerin casting Mirror and have Wedge and Aguro attack as normally. If you can keep up the Mirrors, you will be practically invincible. Very rarely has Amon used physical attacks in my experience. He tends to stick to magic. Anyway, keep on him and he’ll be destroyed.

Boss Battle: Daos HP: 3000+

Recommended Level: 50+

Weakness: None

This is also a rather tough fight, but once again you can use Mirror to make yourselves all but untouchable. Daos will use Dread a lot, but that merely lowers defense and doesn’t take HP. Still, having Mirror enabled all the time will make this inefective. Have Jerin use Mirror ALL THE TIME UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Keep up and you will win the battle.

After you defeat Daos, he will call on the other Sinistrals to join with him. But right in the middle of the transformation, Wedge manages to break Lufia free, and now you will have her in your party! Once this is done it’s time to face your last opponent. You’re nearly there! Aren’t you proud?

Final Battle: Guard Daos HP: 6000+

Recommended Level: 50+

Weakness: Thunder?

This battle is very long and can be very tough. He will use confusing spells a lot, so make sure you keep Jerin sane so she can cast Mirror. I recommend casting Mirror on Jerin first so she won’t be confused. Then cast it on everyone else. If you don’t have Shrieks to free your characters from confusion, have Lufia attack them. Yes, it works. If everyone's sane and has Mirror, have Jerin use Mirror and nothing else. You’ll want it on all your characters. Have Wedge and Aguro attack, and have Lufia use Thunder. If by chance you need to heal, do so with the Valor spell. Guard Daos uses a variety of magics, but all can be rebounded on him with Mirror. After immense punishment, he will be destroyed.

Note: The following information will spoil the ending of the game. Read either if you are like me and can still find pleasure in beating a game even if you know the ending already, or you have already beaten the game. Well..Read if ya wanna.

After the battle with Guard Daos, Lufia tearfully reveals that she was Erim long before she was Lufia. She then tells Wedge that as long as she lives the Sinistrals will keep reviving. The music is the same tune as when Selan died. She then commands Wedge to hold Dual Blade before him, which he refuses to do. The music takes another change when Lufia once again commands Wedge to destroy her! With obvious reluctance, Wedge takes up the sword, which then flies toward Lufia. She vanishes and then reappears sitting on the crystal bridge. There is some more talking, and then, as if in a chilling playback of the Battle of Doom Island, the bridge on which Lufia and Wedge stand begins to break! Lufia falls through the collapsing fortress, but Aguro barely manages to pull Wedge free.

Then we switch to Frederia, where a lab assistant informs Raile that Doom Island is out of control. We then find Flake, the Elder of Arus, standing at the top of the tower of grieff. He talks with another old man, saying that peace will be restored.

Then we switch to Elfrea, where Artea is relieved that his long life’s battle is finally over, and Maxim and Selan can finally rest in peace.

We switch then to the house east of Treck, where Guy lived. Ainia and her uncle stand at Guy’s grave. The Elder of Treck tells Guy’s spirit that he can now sleep peacefully, as the Sinistrals are gone, forever this time.

We switch back to the crumbling fortress, as the companions make a daring escape abord Falcon. They land, and Wedge walks away from the others. Jerin tries to call after him, but Aguro stops her, as there is nothing she can do.

A year later, we find Aguro and Jerin in Lorbenia. Aguro leaves a soldier in command of the new recruits and meets Jerin at the docks, where there’s some dialogue. It seems Aguro has some problems with Jerin’s being there..Could it be that he wants a girl?

We then switch to Wedge in Arus. He’s been travelling the world for a year now. He walks to that Priphea patch Lufia got excited in a year ago. There he finds..Could it be?..Lufia? It’s her all right, and the musical theme for their reunion is quite good if you ask me. But Lufia has no memory. Then Flake appears and tells Wedge what happened. Flake found Lufia shortly after her fall from Doom Island. She has lost her powers and is now an ordinary 17-year-old girl. Wedge tells Flake that he doesn’t care about Lufia’s memory. As long as she’s alive Wedge is happy. Memories are like material possessions and can be remade. After some dialogue, Wedge enters Flake’s house and the credits role. Congrats! You have beaten Lufia and the Fortress of Doom! The ending is a mixture of happy and sad, seeing as Lufia had to lose her powers. But who cares? She’s alive!

Revision History

Closing Comments

As I said above, this is one of my favorite games. The music’s great, the controls are easy, but the story is the best part. The theme of Lufia, as you probably know, is love. It proves the fact that true friends will always be there for you. Wedge was always there for Lufia and was willing to stick by her even though her memory was gone. I once read a letter by Yasunori Shiono, the music composer. This was a letter that came in the liner notes of the Lufia/Estopolis soundtrack, which I do not have. I read the letter on the internet. Anyway, he reveals that in the beginning, as Lufia’s music was the first music he composed on the SNES, he had to deal with a great deal of confusion. He understood that Lufia’s theme was love and that people have different ways of expressing love, but he was not sure how to go about incorporating that sentiment into his music in a satisfying and enriching manner and without incorporating the opposites of love, hate, anger and suffering. Well..as you can hear, he figured it all out. Even he agrees that he did a much better job in Lufia II’s musical score than in Lufia I’s. This isn’t to say Lufia I had bad music, it did not. It’s just that there was more variety in II, and the love themes and sorrow themes were much deeper.

If you have any comments, questions, constructive criticism and the like, (and it must be constructive criticism or I won’t take note of it), feel free to E-mail me at either of the above addresses. Also, I will gladly speak about other RPG’s I’ve played, as I am a general all-around RPG freak. Anyway, enjoy this walkthrough and this great game!