The Ogir Yensa Sandsea - the Nam Yensa Sandsea
(1) Ashe shows she's good at per-
suasion and you're off to the SandseaThere's another series of cutscenes before you land in the extreme west of the Dalmasca Westersand. From now on, you'll have to travel exlusively on foot to reach your next destination, and that means a long walk in the sand. However, nothing keeps you from heading east towards Rabanastre or just use the save crystal to teleport to any region you've already visited. Also, know that if you've had trouble defeating some of the marks available, notably the Elite marks of Montblanc, you're going to get some welcome help really soon, so wait a little before heading back to hunt them. But back to the main storyline: you're first going to cross the Ogir-Yendsa Sandsea. It's mostly a succession of platforms, with a lot of chests and even more enemies, although the latter aren't tough. There are also many traps so make sure one of the members of the battle team wears a bangle before heading in. The first section, Plateform 1: East Tank, is pretty straightforward, and the only enemies you'll cross there are Alraunes - remember to steal from them as their Succulent Fruits sell for a high price
(2) Vossler's addition to the party is
most welcomeProgress to the next area and soon enough, Vossler will join your party once again. Other people will join you as well, but that's not necessarily good news: from now on, most of the enemies you'll encounter are the Urutan-Yensa, a people of the desert, and they are not keen about letting you through....In fact, get ready as they are almost the only enemy you'll fight in this area! And it begins as soon as you go down the next ramp. At this point, there are two ramps up, one in front of you, and one north. Go to the first one to get the area's map, which will save you much headaches from trying to figure out where you are. Head back and towards the northern ramp. Continue westwards and you'll end up having to choose your way: southwest, west or northwest. All lead ultimately to the Nam Yendsa Sandsea (yeah, more sand....I did warn you!) but the difference is that the southwest way is the most direct and the last section also hosts a save crystal and a shop. Both the west and northwest ways lead to another exit to the Nam-Yensa Sandsea where a kind of sidequest awaits you. That being said, nothing stops you from exploring the whole area for the various chests with gambits and many pieces of equipment waiting. It's also an excellent place to build up one mean battle chain with the Urutan-Yensa, as very few other enemies roam this area (chain more than a hundred and you'll automatically make a rare monster appear in the area; see below for more details) - just beware if you go through the Primary Tank Complex: there's an Elemental and you do NOT want it to become aggressive. Avoid casting magic if you can spot it at all costs, but even then its bar might turn red all the same, don't ask me why, so always keep an eye on it when it's in the vicinity
(3) A Bent Staff from a Bagoly sells
for more than 1000 gils!So next is the Nam Yensa Sandsea which is just as big as the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea, with as many chests which include some of the best equipment available at this stage, and as many enemies, the difference being that this time, they are more diverse - there still are Urutan-Yensa just about everywhere, but you'll also encounter Yensas (those huge fishes that always ambush you), Axebeakers and Bagolys, as well as Wyverns although the latter are rarer and appear exclusively at one precise location north of the Simoon Bluff, one at a time (likewise, there's another spot in the Ogir Yensa Sandsea where one will appear from time to time). If you've reached the Nam Yensa Sandsea from the south, the map urn is in the first section you'll visit, the Augur Hill. If you come from the other way, you'll first arrive at the Sandscale Bank where you'll catch an Urutan Yensa talking with a moogle before running away. If you talk to the moogle, it will start a sidequest that may help you with the next boss, but it is completely optional. All you'll have to do in order not to start this is to avoid talking to the moogle (if however, you want to tackle this, read the details in the Extra Hints section below). At any rate, you need to cross the whole area from east to west in order to finally access your ultimate goal: the Tomb of Raithwall. This place being pretty tough, you may want to return to Rabanastre to buy better equipment and spend more time in the sand levelling up. Once you deem yourself ready, proceed NW all the way in the Trail of Fading Warmth section: exit and you'll be prompted to save your game. Do so before going back to the game
Extra hints: Expand your horizonGet the Eksir Berries: listen to the sandea moogle to learn that the Urutan-Yensa that was talking with him was asking for help. It seems they can't get rid of a deadly foe. Given the pain Urutan-Yensa have been throughout the Sandsea, you could wonder why you would give a damn, but the moogle adds that the Urutan-Yensa will give in exchange for help a treasure....that should seal the matter for you and you're off turtle hunting. Indeed, that enemy, called an Urutan-Eater, looks like a giant turtle. When you spot it in the Withering Shore section, it will be surrounded by Urutan-Yensa. Don't bother fighting them as they are entirely focused on the Urutan-Eater and will pay you no heed. If your levels are pretty high (20 something), you don't have to take any kind of particular precaution to defeat it as it shouldn't be much trouble. If you're lower, you may want to give at least two of your battle party members ranged weapons as its most common and quite powerful attack is close-range. Physical attacks should allow you to get the upper hand in that fight; once it's over, head back to the sandsea moogle who mentions that the Urutan-Yensa he'd been talking to has just passed him by towards the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea. Follow that lead to trigger an event, then run back to the Sandscale Bank for the conclusion to this sidequest. A flower appears and if you talk to him, the moogle will mention a terrible bird, the Garuda, and the fact that he strongly dislikes the scent of this flower. Approach it to get the Eksir Berries
Exploration and Challenges: there are a few challenges available in the Sandsea. There are several possible Rare Games: two of the bomb type, the Pineapple in the Ogir Yensa Sandsea, and the Megabomb in the Nam Yensa Sandsea, both with more HPs than regular bombs you may have encounter until now, but not overly difficult. Very interesting is the Urutan Exile that may appear in the Platform 2: Refinery section (for that, reach that area after having chained 100 or more Urutan-Yensa); although it's a tough one, it may just drop an Osafune, a katana with +54 attack power that would be a great asset in Raithwall Tomb, especially if you tackle the first Demon Wall in there. There's also a Mark waiting for you in the Nam Yensa Sandsea if you've talked to the petitioner. If not, return to the Sandsea Bar in Rabanastre then talk to the petitioner who happens to be within the walls of the city. Remember also the two Elite Marks, "Little love on the Big Plain" and "The Cry of its Power": with Vossler in your party, now could be the right time to complete those two. Back to the Sandsea, make sure you steal at least one Yensa scale from a Yensa, then sell it to the merchant Dyce as soon as you cross his path, along with 3x Green Liquid and 4x Water Stone for a Vega and Aqua Balls (note that this is the only way to get that type of ammunition). Speaking of Dyce, he sells some useful spells including Raise, so browse through the list of his merchandise. If you need money, a good idea is to linger in the Simoon Bluff and chain Bagolys - you can do a decent chain, in particular once the mark is defeated (I've noted, at least in the European version of the game, that they don't appear at all on the platform structure when the mark's around) and you may get quite a stock of Bent Staffs, each selling for more than 1000 gils!
The Tomb of Raithwall
(4) The garuda is the first of several
bosses at the Tomb of RaithwallYou barely have the time to take a few steps towards the Tomb's entrance that you're greated by a huge bird called a Garuda, and obviously, it's not willing to let you pass. This fight is not too trick, it's just that the Garuda can deal a lot of damage if you're underlevelled and/or have poor equipement. Begin by throwing at it the Eksir berries: it will take away a chunck of its 6754 HPs, but more importantly, it seems to weaken it (at least this is the case in the JP version, and it seems to work so as well in the NA version). Make sure your battle team is on ranged weapons as this is the only way to reach an avion type enemy physically at this stage (don't worry for Vossler who has the Telekinesis technick and therefore can deal damages as well despite using a great sword). Garuda uses both physical and magical attacks, so a good idea would be to have one of your characters using a gun and the Silent Shot ammo to get rid of the possible magickal attacks. Try to finish it off with mist knacks when it has less than a third of its HPs and logically, it should do the trick. Note that if you really have huge trouble defeating that enemy, go to a previous save and level up some more, because another boss awaits right behind in the Tomb, and it's definitely tougher. Once you've cleared the way, walk towards the entrance. Dyce will enter the area: keep that in mind as he's about to have new very useful spells for you in a moment. But right now, use the ancient device to make it inside the building, but not before saving your game as two challenges are waiting for you inside
(5) Try to use the devices to slow
down your opponentTry to progress west towards the next exit: it will activate a Demon Wall (ah, the sweet memories!). Trust me, you don't want to fight it now so run to the door and open it. However, if you thought that you would be safe, you will be quickly disappointed as another Demon Wall begins to move at the other end of the hall. You have to fight this one but luckily it's way easier than the previous one. Run to the other end from where it's beginning to move towards you. You must defeat it before it can crush you against the wall in your back. Fortunately, not only is the hall quite long, but you have globes on the sides which you may activate to slow it down. The official NA guide mentions that sometimes those globes may actually glow blue and quicken the Demon Wall's progression forward, but I've never experienced it. If you can, have all your party members with a gambit setting removing systematically statuses such as sleep and blind as the boss loves to cast those against your entire party. Another thing it will cast once during the fight (unless you manage to wipe it out with Mist Knacks before) is Telega: it will banish one character from the field and there's nothing you can do about it once it's cast. Anyway, keep hammering at it to deplete its 10332 HPs; prefer items to spells to heal and cure, and try to use mist knacks once you've got its HP bar down by a good half. Switch teams to do that twice if you must, but if you have at least level 2 Mist Knacks and a bit of luck, one chain should be enough. Once you've stopped the Demon Wall, both ends of the hall are cleared. You can either progress in the Tomb to get to the Dawn Shard, or you can choose to take on one mighty challenge and get an awesome weapon as a reward
(6) You must unlock the way to your
goal, the Chamber of First LightYou arrive in the Royal Hall; after a short scene, go down the stairs. There are three Way Stones and a Map Urn. Don't bother with the first but get the latter. Open it and you'll see that there are two sections, one north and one south of where you stand. Your goal, the Chamber of First Light all the way west is, for now, unaccessible. You need to unlock a passage and, for that, you have to find two jewel stones set in pedestals; there's one in both the Northern and the Southern Passage, the order in which you activate them being irrelevant. It's not really tricky, but you'll have to battle your way through a great number of rooms before reaching them each time. You'll recognize the rooms where those jewels are located by the Way Stone that stand in there. Each time, monsters will appear when you activate the jewel. They are pretty tough, but you should overcome them eventually. When you've activated the second jewel, a stone that's been blocking the way will lower all the way, opening a passage to the Cloister of Flame. There's a boss in there so it may be wise to go all the way out to save your game - you can use the Way Stones now, so it should be pretty quick. Also, check if you have plenty of Hanckerchiefs - you'll want to buy some if you don't as they are a much needed item in the battle to come
(7) Your first fight against an EsperOnce you deem yourself ready, go to the Cloister of Flame and head downstairs - a powerful being known as Belias the Gigas will awake. It relies heavily on fire spells and its physical attacks deal quite a bit of damage, but the fight is overall much simpler than against the two Demon Walls despite its 15943 HPs. The only real danger is it's Firaja attack as most probably one or more party members will be affected by the Oil status: removing it should be your priority, as it makes them much weaker against fire attacks and Belias will wipe out quickly any member under that status for too long. As long as you're quick to act against Oil and you keep your characters reasonably healed, you should eventually defeat Belias. You will therefore obtain your first Esper that becomes available immediatly on the License board (visit the License board and Espers sections for more details - coming soon!). Don't forget to open the chests in the room before heading for your ultimate goal, the Chamber of First Light. Your task in the Tomb of Raithwall is completed. As soon as you exit the place, a long series of scenes will unfold, with little for you to do except for one boss battle. It's not really difficult, especially after what you've just gone through, but you are now guest-less again, so you'll have only a party of three. Have Fran in the party as she'll be in Beserk mode, dealing much more damage to your opponents. Have the other two members get rid of the three minions first before focusing on the boss. Don't bother casting spells against him especially since he is quickly protected by Reflect. Keep your MPs for healing and cast Protect on yourself if you want. As usual, try to finish him off with a Mist Knack combo. If you're having troubles, it may be worth it to summon your new Esper, which shouldn't have any trouble defeating him as long as you keep it healed. Anyway, once you're done, more cutscenes follow and you'll get control of your team again in the city of Rabanastre, where you can prepare for your next move
Coming next: Giza Plains (Rains) - Ozmone Plain and Jahara, Land of the Garif
