I've got a Job for you! - Let's Play Final Fantasy V!

Bartz: Go Monk it up some more. It's either that or Dancer and I think I know which you'd prefer.

Lenna: White Mage is so close! I'd vote to show off the Berserker outfit one last time but I bet that'd just screw you up and she'd end up dead most of the time for the good of the group. Bard?

Krile: Switch to White Mage as soon as Lenna switches out of it.

Faris: Time Mage! Bard?

H-how can this be a good thing? I'm not against the non-masters doing it, I just can't imagine why.


Er, well, Okay...

What good are Bards without someone to dance to their tunes? Make Bartz a dancer with Leena, Krile, and Faris as Bards.

Fork Tower's concept is simple yet cool at the same time. Luckily for me, my party is usually split between mastering magic and physical attacks so I'm never screwed over at that point.

Kinda makes me wish I'd played past the first couple hours of world 2. But I'm not sure I'd break that tradition if I tried again.

What does mastered bard give you, besides !Sing? Or is that enough?

You get !Hide, Equip Harps, and +8 Agility and +11 Magic to Freelancer and Mime's stats.

!Sing is the real jewel though. One of the things I do on my actual cart is to give a character !Sing and pretend I'm playing Ar Tonelico. It's actually interesting how you can set up your skills to do just that.

Part XX - Under Da Sea

Last time the party finished up their little world tour ('cept for Jachole, because I forgot about it they wanted to save it for later), conquered another of the tablets' resting locations, got the ultimate White and Black magic spells, and got a submarine for their troubles. Today they're going to take on the deep blue sea.



The party has decided to sing for their supper. Bartz, determined to be a rock star, has donned his Dancer costume and stuck on his !Sing ability. "I'm a bona-fide celebrity!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, and promptly had the Dancing Dagger shoved where the sun don't shine for it by Krile.

Faris and Lenna both decided to Bard it up, with !Summon and !Steal on hand for standard duties. "We'll sing 'em to death!" Lenna declared cheerfully. "We're a band of singing pirates, a-sailin' out to sea, when you hear our gentle singing, you'll be sure to turn and flee!" Faris chimed in as they all settled into the sub.

Krile put on her (white mage's) robe and wizard hat and also stuck on !Sing. "This is the strangest thing we've done yet," she commented to nobody in particlar.

(Today's update is in Rust Red, because we're going into places that have long rusted in peace.)



♪♪ The Fire-Powered Ship ♪♪

Oh, but first... Did you know that you can re-enter the Fire-Powered Ship dungeon at any time from the Catapult?



Did you know that Motor Traps cast Self-Destruct when they get hit by Thunder?



Did you know we only needed Self-Destruct to finish our !Blue spell list?

Self-Destruct (1 MP) - Sacrifices the caster's life to do the caster's remaining HP in damage to one enemy.

Whew! Just a !Time spell and a !Summon to go and we'll have every single Magic option in the game!



Anyway, now that we can go beneath the waves, let's... go beneath the waves!



♪♪ Beyond the Deep Blue Sea ♪♪

Our first stop: Walse Tower!



Walse Tower
Enemies: Strange shadow beasts

Whoa nelly!

Bartz: *glub glub glub!* Gah! I can probably hold my breath...*glub glub* But only for about 7 minutes!

Oh come on, Bartz! Even Guybrush Threepwood can hold his breath for 10 minutes! Okay, whatever. In we go.



The enemies here are all shadowed out, as you can see, but they're actually common encounters in the world above. This is a location you might be inclined to run from all fights in if you didn't pick up the Brave Blade.



Thus it's not an option for me.



I shan't allow you to take it, so turn back and begone! Yes / > No

At the bottom we find... a talking shard? Oh yeah, that must be the shard of the Water Crystal we were denied before! Well I see no reason to turn back.

Tsk tsk tsk... Then let the curtain rise!



♪♪ Critter Tripper Fritter! ♪♪

Wait what?

Mimic extraordinaire! The basis-no, the very soul of mimicry is the ability to apty imitate anything, no matter the situation. Thusly, I will imitate your every move! When you attack, I will attack. When you cast a spell, I'll cast a spell. Could you imitate me, you'd certainly win. More likely, it will be curtains for you!

Okay, so this is obviously a gimmick battle. And Gogo just spelled out for us what it is: he/she will copycat ANYTHING we do to him/her, and for an easy victory we just have to imitate Gogo instead.



And two minutes later...

Perfect, just lovely! You've seen me doing nothing, and are copying that nothing yourselves! Rather... you're doing perfectly nothing, perfectly! Yes! You feel it-the essence of mimicry! I give you my blessing to continue on the true path of imitation! Adieu!!! Break a leg!



Yes, he did just cast Banish on himself. Fortunately we don't have to reciprocate.



♪♪ Victory Fanfare ♪♪

Turns out Gogo's loaded when it comes to ABP!

Mime

♪♪ Fanfare 1 ♪♪

Our reward is a new Job! Or rather an old Job that we were cheated out of before!



Mime - Skilled mimics who can copy allies' actions perfectly.
Pros - Same auto-inherent benefits as Freelancer, plus the ability to mime
Cons - Weaker than Freelancer, can't equip Ribbons
Equipment: Anything but ribbons and heavy weapons
Native Skills: !Mimic
Learns: !Mimic (999)

Sounds improbably awesome. And time-consuming to master, to boot! Wish we'd had THAT from the water crystal early on.



On the trip back, we make a brief detour up a pillar...



♪♪ Fanfare 1 ♪♪

...to get some more air! The trip back is secure.



This is where you step into this sub-area to get to the chest, if you're curious. It took me ages to figure that out back in the day...



Our next stop: this strange trench in the ocean floor...



Haha Gargoyles again. This must be one of the Tablet locations, then.



Sure is! Way to go, team!



"Well, that's enough of the celebrity life. Back to Monk duties."
"Aww, don't do that! Your singing sucks when you're a Monk!"
"Thank you for that vote of confidence. Just for that, I'm going to put on !Rapid Fire."
"Psh, spoilsport."



♪♪ Beyond the Deep Blue Sea ♪♪

Great Trench
Enemies: Unknown (I), Unknown (II), Unknown (III), Unknown (IV)

"Guys, er, girls? This place looks pretty nasty. Are you sure we're equipped to handle this?"
"Quit being such a worrywart, Bartz. It'll be a cakewalk, right Lenna?"
"Aye, and it reminds me of a song..."

"Ohhh, this is just ridiculous..."



"Come on, girls! We've got to recover that tablet!"
"Exdeath is sure to turn and flee like a scared little rabbit!"

♪ We're a club of tuneful rovers!
We can sing in every cleft!
We can even hit the high notes!
It's just too bad we're tone-deaf! ♪

♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪
♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪
♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪

"Let's go defeat that evil spirit!"
"We know it's sure to lose because we know not to fear it!"

♪ We're thievin' balladeers!
A gang of cutthroat mugs!
To fight us off you won't need swords!
Just jolly good earplugs! ♪

♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪
♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪
♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪



"Less singing, more fighting!"
"We're ready to clear the dungeon though the torch needs a-lighting!"

♪ If ye try to fight us...!
Ye will get a nasty whackin'!
If ye disrespect our singin'...!
We will feed ye to a kraken! ♪

♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪
♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪
♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪



"Alright, girls, let's get to work!"
"Our vocation is a thing we love, a thing we'd never shirk!"

♪ We'll fight you in the harbor!
We'll battle you on land!
But when you meet bard princesses...! ♪
"They'll be more than you can stand."
"Ohh, that was a good one!"
"No, it wasn't."

♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪
♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪
♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪



"No time for song, we've got to move!"
"The battle will be long but our courage we will prove!"

♪ We're a pack of nasty minstrels!
Have we pity? Not a dram!
We all eat roasted garlic...!
Then sing from the diaphragm! ♪

♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪
♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪
♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪



"I'm getting so sick of you girls and your rhyming!"
"This dungeon's lots of fun with all the lava and the climbing!"

♪ We're troublesome trobadours!
And we've come to steal your treasure!
We would stab you on the downbeat...!
But we've got to rest five measures! ♪

♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪
♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪
♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪



There may be only five of us, but welcome to the great Dwarven Kingdom!

"I never thought I'd be thankful for a chance to talk to townsfolk... Listen up, girls, we're on break for a bit!"
"Aww, and we were just getting to the good verses..."

In the Storeroom
Dwarf: Lali-ho! Know anything about the Magic Lamp? If you take it back where it's from, the lamp's power will be refreshed-ali.
Dwarf: Lali-ho! Rallybo is digging a tunnel-lali. He said it would let you go around the world, but why would you want to?

Down the Tunnel
Rallybo: I never worried about it much until now, but...it seems like something odd is happening Above Ground-lali. I'm sure a forest is above us...
*Map shot highlighting Mirage's location*



"Alright, back to the dungeon! Warm up those singing pipes, girls!"
"Aw man, here we go again...”



"Stop! Stop! Stop!"
"The undead is what we'll slaughter and the ABP is what we'll top!"

♪ You say you're awesome bards,
loud and boisterous undead whackers?
From what I've seen I tell you,
you're not singers, you're just slackers! ♪

"..." "..." "..."

♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪
♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪
♪ A singer I was meant to be! Slaying undead with great ease! ♪



"We'll surely avoid scurvy if we all eat an orange."
♪ And...! ♪
♪ Well...! ♪
♪ Erm...! ♪
"Door hinge?"
"No, no..."
"Guess the song's over then..."
"Guess so..."
"Okay, back to work..."
"Well gee, I feel a little guilty now."



"...Hmph!"
"Fine, hate me all you want. At least now we can finish this damn dungeon in peace and quiet."



"Aww yeah, this looks like just my kinda accessory!"
"Yeah, you can wear it as a hat. I always said you were a knucklehead!"
"..."



♪♪ The Sealed Tome ♪♪

There's the Tablet!



Uh, what?

Oh dear.



Did he?



I'm sure.



♪♪ Battle 2 ♪♪

I think that's Piggish for "boss time!".



I sense a gimmick to this fight...



And I'm going to systematically ignore it in favor of being improbably awesome instead.



Maybe ignoring their gimmick wasn't such a good idea after all...



I'm not entirely sure what that attack does... Maybe it makes Bartz fabulous or something.



This calls for Bahamut!



It's super effective!

Imagine that x8. There's no kill like overkill!



♪♪ Victory Fanfare ♪♪

It was a matter of course!



Indeed.

Something is written on the tablet...
♪♪ Fanfare 1 ♪♪
Received the magic sealed in the flow of magma, Meteor!

Wow, that was easy! Okay, Teleport Express time, and then we go unseal our next Legendary Weapon!



Incidentally, Rainbow Wind causes Blind, it seems. And !Rapid Fire ignores Blind status. Meaning Bartz just punched Phobos up without being able to see him. He's just that much of a badass, folks.



♪♪ Fanfare 1 ♪♪ x3

With no votes to work with, I just picked 3 weapons of my own choosing. Yoichi's Bow, Holy Lance, and Excalibur join the arsenal!



♪♪ Beyond the Deep Blue Sea ♪♪

Since this is a bit of a short update, I'll showcase a few other small things. This location on the world map has a Moai head underwater!



And at this location you can find a secret cave!



C'mon, babies, the cards never lie! I know you wan' to 'ear... > Yes / No

In here, we find an old psychopath...



...who can tell us just how much we've accomplished! Man, that's a lot of dead monsters...



♪♪ Tenderness in the Air ♪♪

And just so I don't forget again, let's finish off this update with a bit of talking time in Jachole.

Wandering Around
Old Man: The southern islands all connected to make one long, thin continent.

In the Pub
Man: This weird castle just appeared out of nowhere...

See? Wasn't the wait totally worth it? (Please don't kill me...)



♪♪ A New World ♪♪

And so we end this update triumphant in the skies above Istory Falls, our destination for next time! Place your class votes now!

Current Stats
Bartz: Level 40
Freelancer Stats: 1939 HP, 252 MP, 44 Str, 41 Agi, 41 Sta, 36 Mag
Jobs: Knight L4 (76/150), Monk L4 (1/100), Thief L7 (MASTERED!), Ninja L4 (MASTERED!), Ranger L4 (MASTERED!), Mystic Knight L7 (MASTERED!), White Mage L2 (0/30), Black Mage L2 (2/30), Blue Mage L2 (9/70), Bard L3 (MASTERED!), Dancer L2 (152/325)
Abilities: !Guard, !Focus, !Chakra !Flee, !Steal, !Mug, !Smoke, !Image, !Throw, !Animals, !Aim, !Rapid Fire, !Check, !Hide, !Sing, !Flirt, !Dance, !Spellblade L6, !White L2, !Black L2, Equip Shields, Equip Bows, Equip Harps, Artful Dodger, Barehanded, Two-Handed, Dual-Wield, Cover, Learning, Magic Shell, Vigilance, First Strike, Find Passages, Sprint

Lenna: Level 38
Freelancer Stats: 1997 HP, 296 MP, 51 Str, 38 Agi, 51 Sta, 52 Mag
Jobs: Knight L0 (8/10), Monk L7 (MASTERED!), Thief L2 (0/30), Ninja L4 (31/450), Berserker L1 (5/400), Ranger L4 (MASTERED!), White Mage L6 (209/300), Black Mage L6 (38/400), Summoner L5 (24/500), Red Mage L1 (3/40), Geomancer L3 (MASTERED!), Bard L3 (MASTERED!), Dancer L1 (43/50)
Abilities: !Focus, !Chakra, !Flee, !Smoke, !Image, !Throw, !Animals, !Aim, !Rapid Fire, !Check, !Gaia, !Hide, !Sing, !Flirt, !White L6, !Black L6, !Summon L5, !Red L1, Equip Bows, Equip Harps, HP +10%, HP +20%, HP +30%, Barehanded, Counter, Berserk, First Strike, Find Passages, Light Step, Find Pits

Krile: Level 40
Freelancer Stats: 1992 HP, 312 MP, 44 Str, 36 Agi, 43 Sta, 52 Mag
Jobs: Knight L4 (98/150), Monk L4 (4/100), Thief L1 (8/20), Samurai L5 (MASTERED!), Berserker L1 (0/400), Ranger L3 (270/405), White Mage L7 (MASTERED!), Blue Mage L4 (MASTERED!), Red Mage L3 (335/999), Beastmaster L2 (17/100), Bard L3 (MASTERED!)
Abilities: !Guard, !Focus, !Chakra, !Mineuchi, !Zeninage, !Iainuki, !Animals, !Aim, !Check, !Scan, !Calm, !Control, !Hide, !Sing, !White L6, !Red L3, !Blue, Equip Shields, Equip Katanas, Equip Bows, Equip Harps, MP +10%, Barehanded, Two-Handed, Cover, Counter, Shirahadori, Learning, Berserk, Find Passages

Faris: Level 40
Freelancer Stats: 1939 HP, 304 MP, 45 Str, 39 Agi, 41 Sta, 50 Mag
Jobs: Knight L3 (1/100), Thief L4 (7/75), Dragoon L3 (MASTERED!), Samurai L2 (0/60), Ranger L4 (MASTERED!), Black Mage L3 (3/50), Time Mage L6 (27/250), Summoner L5 (264/500), Blue Mage L2 (2/70), Beastmaster L3 (MASTERED!), Chemist L3 (87/135), Geomancer L3 (MASTERED!), Bard L3 (MASTERED!) Dancer L1 (43/50)
Abilities: !Guard, !Flee, !Steal, !Jump, !Lance, !Mineuchi, !Zeninage, !Animals, !Aim, !Rapid Fire, !Check, !Calm, !Control, !Catch, !Mix, !Drink, !Gaia, !Hide, !Sing, !Flirt, !Black L3, !Time L6, !Summon L5, Equip Lances, Equip Bows, Equip Whips, Equip Whips, Two-Handed, Pharmacology, Cover, Learning, Find Passages, Light Step, Find Pits, Sprint

Next time: Istory Falls and the final tablet, and a slight detour before the plunge into the Interdimensional Rift!

Why did that dungeon require the team to be so full of bards?

So what's the difference between the Unknowns?

Good ch-
oh

oh
you actually
wow

...you skipped a verse, and it's spelled "diaphragm"

Every enemy in the Great Trench is undead, and Requiem does exceptional damage to the undead. If you look at the screenshots, they tell the tale nicely: Requiem from Lenna, Faris, and Krile all do great damage, while Bartz' physical attacks barely scratch the enemies (and draw nasty counters; that's not pictured since I'm not certain that's what happened). Bartz trying to belt out Requiem results in a lot less damage since his Magic score is so low as a Monk. Since !Sing is a free action, they were able to conquer the Great Trench without a single MP spent. Bartz was the single most useless character in the trek, hence why he got to be the whiniest.

As for what sets the Unknowns apart, that's kind of hard to clearly explain. They're all unpleasant if you let them attack, though, and every last one has high physical defense backed with a counter-attack to all physical attacks. The worm-type counter with Entangle (causes paralysis), the hanging type counter with Doom (30 second death sentence), the pod type counter with Spore (causes poison), and the fat pink-and-green type counter with Possess (which removes an ally from battle along with the Unknown who casts it). Their attacks are largely status-inducing, like Digestive Acid and Sap. !Rapid Fire doesn't cause their counters, but since they're so physical-resistant, it's pointless to use it here.

Thanks for the typo spotting, by the way. I always seem to make a few...

Don't worry about it. We all make mistakes. And there's always someone willing to point them out.

Would it be safe to assume you meant Freelancer?

Also, IIRC Rainbow Wind inflicts Sap and Old.

Yeah, blame the old RPGe translation for that flub; I fixed it.

If Rainbow Wind inflicts Old, then I guess it didn't manage to hit Bartz with that effect somehow. He quite clearly didn't get gray hair. And of course the Bio cast of everyone early in the fight already inflicted Sap, so it's not like I'd notice that effect.

It inflicted blind and silence when I fought them.

Maybe it's like Bad Breath?

Looking at the the FF wiki, it looks like it inflicts blind, silence, and sap. Bio overlaps the last one though.

And there's no echo herbs in this game. Best way to cure mute is to kill off the inflicted person (as I learned on a later boss). It was responsible for at least one failure on that boss as well .

It apparently does exactly the same stuff as one of the chemist mixes (eyedrop + dragon fang).

oh my god the undersea trench can go to hell.

I mean, on a normal playthrough it's not that bad since you can master Geomancer and Bard and whiz through, but if you can't do that the place is basically the worst dungeon ever because there's lava everywhere, super strong enemies, incredibly asinine puzzles, and half of my teams aren't allowed to run away arghhhhh.

If you have any Time Mages or feel like confusing a Gaelicat, you can float over the lava without harm, Feymarch-style.

...How did I forget that? I already used that trick to beat Titan on my Freelancer file.

Well, I guess I wasted all of those High Potions .

Part XXI - A Wet and Wild Adventure!

Last time the Crystal Crew took full advantage of their new submarine to find a new Job crystal and made their way to the third tablet's resting place. The ladies drove Bartz nuts with their endless singing of Requiem, and a trio of pig-men met their end at the party's hands. Now they've just got one last tablet to go before they go take out Exdeath.



But first, class changes! Thanks to the total lack of votes, it was my choice this time on what to use. And I chose to make everyone a Mimic! So now instead of constantly annoying one another, the party can just imitate one another!

"Stop copying me."
"Stop copying me."
"Stop copying me."
"Stop copying me."

Honestly, I can't tell the difference. Anyway, Mimics are unique in that you can decide 3 of their battle commands. This means that you can opt to not give them !Attack or !Items if you so desire. To wit: Bartz is sporting !Rapid Fire, !Steal, and !Throw, Lenna's got !White, !Black, and !Summon, Krile's rockin' it with !Blue, !Zeninage, and !Sing, while Faris is showing off !Time, !Summon, and !Mix. Team Versatile is ready to go!

(Today's update is in Rusted Copper, because we're not done getting wet!)



♪♪ Beyond the Deep Blue Sea ♪♪

Getting to Istory is a bit roundabout, however: there's no way to reach it from land! So we have to go under the sea once more.



This submarine cave probably isn't familiar, but it's the one from Krile's world that led to the forest with Catoblepas and Koko. (Yes, I'm pretty sure that lady Chocobo that Boko romanced is supposed to be the one from Krile's world. Those two got it on FAST.)



♪♪ A New World ♪♪

North World Map Area
Enemies: Frost Bull, Istory Lythos, Spizzner

And finally we have access to the path to the waterfall!



♪♪ Fate in Haze ♪♪

Yeah yeah, we all know how THIS is gonna end by now...



I figured a little variety was in order and tossed/mimed a Lightning Scroll or four. Gotta mix it up occasionally!



Yep, this is a Tablet location. As if the Gargoyles weren't a dead giveaway.



Istory Falls
Enemies: Mercury Bat, Coral, Aquagel, Steel Fist, Alchymia, Tonberry

The waterfall is full of (Gasp-P!) water, and most of the early dungeon involves falling down the right ones.



I haven't mentioned this before, but Syldra's impressively effective anywhere you use her. Her elements are all messed up, often resulting in her damage being completely consistent no matter what the enemy's immunities. Usually she does around 2200 damage, more than enough to kill most random enemies right now and certainly a good deal for 32 MP.



!Mimic is so insanely useful I cannot even begin to tell you. This fight was won with a single casting of Syldra, !Mimic'd 4 times.



Oh yeah, there's Tonberries here. They're annoying.



And they're not very good at surviving !Mimic's fury, either.



Turns out you can Zantetsuken 'em too. Who knew?



The gimmick here is simple: hit switch, waterfall stops. But only briefly; you need either Dash equipped or Auto-Run enabled to reach it in time. It's well worth the trouble, as the final Protect Ring is in that chest!



I never get tired of seeing mid-dungeon save points. This one harkens back to FF4 slightly by having pillars surrounding it.

The next floor is darkened, and it's a good floor to have a Geomancer's Find Pits skill on too.



This chest is safe enough as long as you approach it from this angle. From any other angle, however, spikes pop up and stab you in the feet. You can reveal them with a nearby switch to prevent that.



The only way forward is by hitting a switch and falling down a hole.



♪♪ The Sealed Tome ♪♪

Well that was easy.



♪♪ Fanfare 1 ♪♪

Very, very, suspiciously easy.



I knew it.



He's an ugly brute. Bring it, Red!

Once Lord Exdeath gains the power of the Void, he'll create a world for us monsters! I won't let you interfere!



♪♪ Danger! ♪♪

Suddenly it's Leviathan!



Leviathan handily defeats the unnamed red demon for us. I guess we'll have to return the favor by beating up Leviathan, then.

The beast was destroyed by Leviathan!



But only those with the ability to fight the Void will I award this power!

Translation: boss fight time.



♪♪ Battle 2 ♪♪

Owchuchuwawawa~! This guy hits hard as hell, and keep in mind, my party's got the best armor at their disposal on too! Better make this quick...



Can never have too many Elixirs...



Did you know a Turtle Shell + Maiden's Kiss mix is basically free healing?



Did you know !Mimic doesn't use up any MP or items?

The best Leviathan can do is toss a single Tidal Wave at us in retaliation. Sure, it hurts, but Succubus Kiss is stealing back four times that every time!



He counters most stuff with Entangle, so a lot of the fight my characters are incapacitated, but it doesn't really matter. Also, haha Aqua Breath.



♪♪ Victory Fanfare ♪♪

In the end, Leviathan can't stand up to my Succubus Kiss fury. 40,000 HP goes fast when you're up against this crew!



♪♪ Fanfare 1 ♪♪

Woot! Know what that means? Full spell/skill list! We never need to hunt down any abilities ever again!



And here's the way out. Straight back to the world map!



♪♪ Fanfare 1 ♪♪ x3

At last, the final 3 legendary weapons are unsealed! Fire Lash, Sasuke's Katana, and Gaia Bell all join our arsenal.



As we leave, this dude tells us some interesting information...

No one knows the cause of the earthquake... I wonder if some underground volcano erupted. If only we had a submarine, we could go take a look, but...

I know the call to adventure when I hear it. To the sub!



Found it. Yeah, that doesn't look ominous or anything.



Whoa nelly!

Bartz: Geh-some incredible force is coming up from the sea floor!



That's probably not so great, huh?



Suddenly everyone falls and the screen goes weird!



Who... who's that?

Bartz: ... Come on, let's check it out.

I have a baaaaad feeling about this...

So far so safe...



Oh snap! Now what?



Oracle
Gladiator
Cannoneer

Huh! This strange cave has some new Jobs for us in the foyer. Just... don't ask where these other crystal shards came from. I'm pretty sure the developers didn't think that far ahead, and neither should you.



Gladiator - Skilled Warriors who can master any blade.
Pros - Super-strong, can use a guaranteed-9999 attack
Cons - Guaranteed-9999 attack can miss or heal the enemy, no MP to speak of
Equipment: Sword, Knightly Swords, Axes, Whips, Bows, Heavy Armor, Shields
Native Skills: !Finisher, Long Reach
Learns: Lure (30), !Finisher (70), Long Reach (150), !Bladeblitz (450)



Oracle - Soothsayers who can predict natural disasters - and direct them at foes.
Pros - Learns the best passive skills in the game
Cons - Often useless in battle
Equipment: Daggers, Light Armor
Native Skills: !Condemn
Learns: !Condemn (20), !Predict (50), ABP Up (150), Read Ahead (300)



Cannoneer - Tinkerers with the know-how to combine items into weapons both beautiful and destructive.
Pros - Can make mixed-artillery shots, pretty good overall
Cons - Lacks much in the way of interesting variety
Equipment: Daggers, Medium Armor
Native Skills: !Open Fire
Learns: !Open Fire (50), Exp Up (150), !Combine (300)

Unfortunately, we can't explore the bonus dungeon yet, but we can at least get these for now!



Suddenly the door opens and...! A merchant? The heezey?



How the hell did you get HERE?

Recently my ship was caught in a big storm, and I washed up here... On the bright side, a mysterious cavern under the sea is just bound to be full of great loot, or so I figured...
*The merchant looks about, then approaches the party*
Hmm? Oh, you kids have got those crystal fragments, eh? That's the rarest of the rare. Ohh, and it seems you don't even understand what powers are hidden inside those shards, huh...
*Bartz nods for some reason*
All righty then, I'll tell you! First are oracles. They have the power to Predict, foretelling helpful or harmful phenomena that will happen to themselves or those around them. Earthquakes. Tsunami. Illness. All of these can be predicted and be made to befall enemies... but be careful, sometimes they'll affect the oracle himself. As for the necessary conditions to spark each phenomenon...well, that's something you'll just have to find out for yourself. Predictions come in three ranks. Higher ranks take longer to come true, but have much more drastic effects. It's like they say, good tihngs come to those who wait, right? Anyway, after a little practice-and maybe a little luck-effectively using Predict will be a breeze.
Next we've got gladiators. Gladiators fight like they were born with a blade in their hands. Between their Bladeblitz technique and their Finishers, they've got the power to take down almost any foe.
Last but not least, the cannoneers. These explosives experts use their ability to Combine to always get the most bang for their buck. Combine lets cannoneers put together amunition with various other items to cause different effects. There are three types of ammo: Buckshot, Blastshot, and Blitzshot. Try combining different ammo with different items, and see what happens! Actually, I'd love to help you guys get started by selling you some ammo right now...but I'm all sold out. How 'bout this: I'll go talk to my supplier, and then I'll be more than happy to help you with all your ammunition needs! I'm always on the go, so look for me when you're in towns or castles. I'm usually lurking around the equipment shops...gotta keep tabs on the competition! I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful-and profitable-relationship. See you around!

Gah, shut UP! Seriously, you talktalktalktalktalktalktalk and none of it matters! I summed up what you said in an eighth as much text already! SHUT UP!



ANYWAY (goddamn talkative NPCs), the doors around here are all sealed.



This looks useful.



Damn it. Guess we'll have to leave, then. But we will be back. Oh yes, we will be back.



Incidentally, the sea is bubbling around the new undersea rift. Makes it a little easier to find it if you don't know where it is.



Anyway, into the other Rift we go. You know, the Interdimensional one. You can technically enter it any time after getting the airship, but what fun is that? The entrance is over where Tycoon used to be.



*Lenna and Faris step down*
Lenna: The Rift!
Faris: Can't fight it-we're being sucked in!
Bartz: Good, we get a free ride! Here we go!



♪♪ Prelude of the Empty Skies ♪♪

And we're here. Hoo boy...

Dimension XInterdimensional Rift
Enemies: Grenade, Baldanders, Death Dealer, Level Checker, White Flame, Moss Fungus, Farfarello, Orukat, Great Dragon, Achelon, Ninja, Dragon Aevis, Sword Dancer, Death Claw, Fury, Yojimbo, Iron Giant, King Behemoth, Crystal Dragon, Necromancer, Gorgimera, Mindflayer, Crystelle, Belphegor, Mover, Stone Warrior

This sounds like trouble. Again.



There's the rest of the Mook Squad.

Once Exdeath obtains the power of the Void, our new world-a world of darkness-will be born!
*They vanish*
You've been a thorn in Lord Exdeath's side for long enough! The Void will be your burial ground! Bwahahahah!

We'll see about that.



But first, I need to back out and get these. Trust me when I say it's necessary.



Anyway, deeper in we go! This section appears to be modeled after Ronka.



Oh decisions decisions... The middle path is the only bad one here. The right leads to an Elixir, the left to the rest of the dungeon.



After going up a chain and through a door, duddenly we end up in Mirage!



The village is (unsurprisingly) frozen in time while in the Void.



Beyond Mirage is a Forest of Moore expy area.



Oh, by the way, I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but Odin is awesome as hell in FF5. He will never miss with Zantetsuken, and only uses Gungnir when 1 or more enemy in the encounter is immune to instant death.



Awesome. That makes 3!



That looks familiar...



Oh boy oh boy is it gonna be boss fightings!?



♪♪ Battle 2 ♪♪

It is! Calofisteri seems to be a close cousin to Melusine in that she loves her magic.



She's gonna regret messing with these mimics.



So very much. (Having Reflect on makes Calofisteri an idiot. She'll cast Regen and Cura on your party instead of fighting.)

So very very much. !Mimic !Mimic !Mimic, baby!



♪♪ Victory Fanfare ♪♪

Suck it, you idiot!



The next area is... a cave?



ProTip: you can walk behind this waterfall.



Though the reward for doing so isn't great.



This reward is far better. Now we have full water and lightning immunity at our beck and call!



Heyhey, the first save point of the dungeon! Rock on.



This shadowy mech looks dangerous. We should avoid it.



And by "avoid" I mean "get attacked by". Damn it!



Omega is way stronger than us.



He even uses Encircle, which removes allies straight from the fight.



We get our butts kicked, needless to say.



♪♪ Requiem ~ Game Over ♪♪

Oh well, guess Omega will just have to come later.