Rabanastre
| Key Events | Locations | Fiends | Sidequests |
| Visit Kytes in Migelo's Sundries Talk to Old Dalan in Lowtown South Sprawl Talk to Balzac in Lowtown North Sprawl Find Balflear and Fran in Rabanastre Sandsea Bar Board the Strahl at Rabanstre Aerodrome then | Rabanastre, Rabanastre Lowtown | - | Clan Centurio, Mob Hunts, Patient in the Desert, Ktjn's Road to Improvement |
(1) Running errands, again!You're back to square one, pretty much - at Rabanastre, and alone. Well, you first need to get your team back again before you can fly to your next adventure. For that, first head to Migelo's Sundries (the items shop, bring up the map if you don't remember its location), enter the shop and have a talk with Kytes there. After this conversation you decide to give another visit to Old Dalan, who happens to have a peculiar errand for you to run [1]. The good news is that you're just one step from not being alone anymore. Dalan said that he's marked your next destination (also in Lowtown) on your map. Run to the SW corner of the North Spruth: talk to the guy sitting on the crate to proceed. There, an important cutscene will occur and you'll exit with Basch at your side, as he has now definitely joined your team! Go back to Dalan for the news (or lack thereof), and for hints about the location of our favorite sky pirates (note that you don't have to visit Dalan a second time to get on with the story). Go back to Rabanastre and head for the Sandsea, then go upstairs: another cutscene and Balflear and Fran have joined again. You're all set for your next mission!
(2) Everyone's back for good!Talk to Balflear downstairs. You'll take his airship to fly to the Mines of Bhujerba. For that, you are to meet him at the Aerodrome, which is located at the West Gate. Of course, he's in a hurry to get this show on the road and see the back of you, but there are a few things you may want to do before leaving Rabanastre. There are quite a few new spells, technicks and equipments available in the various shops that you may want to consider buying. Don't hesitate to visit also the Clan Centrio for rewards and a new type of Marks, called Elite Marks, which are exclusive to the Clan. Be careful though: while the ones you'll get are said to be Level I Marks, they are way more difficult than the Level I advertised on Noticeboard, so it may be best not to go after them right now unless you've reached level 20 or above. On the other hand, you have two bills at the Sandsea bar that you can take care of before leaving if you want. One, "Dalmasca's Desert Bloom", is actually the first stage of a rather long sidequest, Patient in the Desert, that will last until the middle of the game. Finally, if you want to level up some (although your next destination is one of the best places to do so at this stage), you can head for the Dalmasca Westersand. Use that opportunity to hunt down a few Alraune: not only do they provide solid EXP, but you can also get some Succulent Fruit, which you can use to exchange for a new weapon: 5x Bone Fragment, 3x Succulent Fruit and 4x Earth Stone will earn you a Wooden Pole (-> Cypress Pole, with +33 attack power). When you deem yourself ready, head for the West Gate. Talk to Fran, then enter the Aerodrome and talk to Balflear. Select twice the top option and you'll soon find yourself at Bhujerba
Bhujerba and the Lhusu Mines
| Key Events | Locations | Fiends | Sidequests |
| Lamont joins as guest Go to Lhusu Mines Site 2 Escape Lhusu Mines Spread the rumour of the Captain's return | Bhujerba, Lhusu Mines | Steeling, Skeleton, Skull Defender, Slaven (Aeriel) | Clan Centurio, Mob Hunts, Patient in the Desert, Ktjn's Road to Improvement |
(3) Once your new guest has joined,
head for the minesThe first thing you'll notice once you've arrived at Bhujerba is that this place is swarming with Imperial guards, obviously looking for someone. Better keep a low profile, although with Vaan, this might prove difficult....Exit the aerodrome and you'll be presented with a new guest who wants to tag along to visit the mines (3). Again, this guest knows how to take care of himself: not only does he deal more than decent damage with his swords, but he will also not hesitate to use his potions and hi-potions to heal himself and your team without depleting your stock. Isn't that sweet? And you're about to see him in action for yourself as your next destination is the Lhusu Mines, located on the other side of the city, to the NE. You can't explore Bhujerba fully yet, but you have access to all the shops so don't hesitate to visit to buy new gear and magicks. Don't worry too much about money, since the Lhusu Mines are the best place at this stage for easy money, but more about that soon. Right now, head for Lhusu Square, save your game, and run towards the entrance. After a new cutscene during which you'll learn a little more about the politics of the day, you can enter the mines
Lhusu Mines is going to become your favorite place for the next few hours of the game. Why, you may ask? Well, certainly not because of all the traps there (make sure to equip one of the the battle team's members with a Bangle or cast Libra in each area), but rather because it is mostly inhabitated by Seekers, which aren't that important, although they do provide you with Teleport Stones, and Skeletons. Not only do they award a lot of EXP at this point, but their most common steal/drop item, the Bone Fragment, sells for almost 200 gils a piece. That's a little less than 20k gils if you get 99 of them, namely enough to buy the equipment you need at this point. Or one campain through the mines shall get you enough money to buy one Monograph. But there is more. There's a mix of bats and skeletons in most places, but there's one exception, Shuina Twinspan, where you have railways and a sideway on the right. Keep the latter in mind, as you're about to run back to the exit, and the less enemies on your back, the better. But right now you should be more interested in the mainway. As soon as you step on it, skeletons will rise. If you're still at low levels (I'd say below 12), you're gonna suffer some if you continue walking as more will keep showing up; you're better off dealing with them in groups of 2-3 max. However, you're very likely to chain 13-15 of them by crossing once. You can cross again a few time, until they don't respawn anymore, in which case you need to exit. Go back two screens, but keep pressing R2 to make sure you don't engage in a fight with another type of enemy, then go back to Shunia Twinspan to fight more skeletons - by continuing to build up the chain, you'll get more and better items, notably iron helms that sell for 700 gils each. You may also keep looking for more skeletons in the next area, Site 2, but be aware that if you walk past the small blue area with chests, you'll trigger an event. You will be able to come back after that, but if you want to take that opportunity to level up some now, don't walk further into the mines. Note that you can walk out of the mines to sell your loot and buy stuff in the city as much as you want. When you're ready, proceed inside the Site 2 area
(4) One can't even hope for a quiet
chat at the bottom of a mine!An event will be triggered and you will find yourself encouraged to....run away from your enemies. Honestly, unless you've learned at least one Mist Knack for all of your characters and that they've reached at least lv 16-17, you're better off running. If you choose that option, remember to take the sideways in the Shunia Twinspan and the Oltam Span. Also, make sure someone wears a Bangle to avoid having to cast Libra as your opponents would most likely close in on you and engage in battle. If you choose to fight, make sure to equip Balthier with the best protection available to you, and cast Protect if you have it, as he's the main target of your enemy's wrath. You'll be facing several bangaas, but your only concern should be the leader, as the battle stops when he falls. Stick to physical attacks (do not use spells, as they only do half the damage, and especially not fire which he absorbs!) until you've depleted at least a third of his HPs, then combo mist knacks, always against the same - try to chain at least 3 lv 1 MKs to get one of the concurrences for extra damages, and you should see the end of his almost 4000 HP. If you do he'll run away and will leave you in peace....for now! You can now quietly head for the exit for another event - you are now minus your useful guest, and on your way to talk to the marquis Ondore
(5) Talk to the guides to spread the
rumour fasterNow you're just left with the tiny, little problem of actually finding a way to the marquis, and what better way to catch his attention than to spread a surprising rumour....luckily, you have your own rumour mill (aka. Vaan) in perfect working order, so it's time to let him loose in the city and let him do what he does best. This starts a minigame of sorts where you need to get the rumour gauge to 100% by making an announcement in front of people by pressing [square]. Each person who will hear you will increase the percentage by 1% to 3%. There's a much more efficient way though, and that's by spreading it in front of city guides (you recognize them thanks to the blue book they hold before them). Pressing [square] before one will raise the bar by circa 30%. However, you need to watch out and not do that in the immediate neighbourhood of a soldier, or you can lose as much as 40% of the gauge! Anyway, once you're done, you'll be granted leave to visit the marquis: for that, you'll just need to talk to the guard at the entrance of his estate, just north of the armor shop, in the Travicia Way district. You'll want to save before doing so at the Aerodrome (at the western end of the same district), as your visit will trigger several events at the end of which you'll find yourself stuck in a new dungeon for a while
Coming next: The Dreadnought Leviathan
