Final Fantasy II/Mission to Salamand

Minwu the white mage
After showing Scott's ring to Hilda, and learning about Mythril, Hilda asks you to accompany Minwu to meet with Josef in Salamand to the Northeast. Minwu will join your party when you speak with him, and he'll and provide you with his Canoe which you can use to cross rivers and lakes. But you're getting more than just a boat, you're also getting a powerful ally, highly skilled in.


 * Minwu's equipment:As for any other character, don't spend money to upgrade Minwu's armor; he won't remain in your party permanently, and the lower armor will allow for his HP to be upgraded often. Instead, give him a shield (maybe Firion's), so that his agility and evasion can be upgraded. His starting weapon is a staff, so you can train him with that weapon type, that includes staves and maces.


 * Minwu's spells:Minwu starts equipped with most white spells, i.e. all except Slow and the three offensive ones.
 * Use frequently Blink, because it helps upgrading evasion;
 * Use as needed Cure, Life, Esuna, Basuna, Dispel and Fog;
 * Use cautiously Swap, because Minwu could end up with low HP and no MP at all;
 * Avoid Sap and Silence, as they're weaker versions of Fog;
 * Use sparingly Protect, Shield, Barrier and Wall, because they work against the HP upgrades;
 * Additionally, use sparingly Teleport and Fear, because if enemies are defeated to quickly attributes won't be upgraded.


 * Minwu's attributes: He's a white mage, and as such has very high Spirit, Magic and MP. His other attributes are significantly lower than these three.

Towns of Palm and Poft
After leaving Altair, head north across the bridge, and walk straight up to the large lake above. Now that you have a canoe, you can hop in and row Northeast across the lake until you see the port town of Palm. You'll see a sailing vessel parked in the dock, but you aren't at liberty to hop in and sail around in it. Head inside the town.

Palm is apparently still enjoying freedom from the empire's influence. The first guy who greets you will offer to sail you to Poft for 32 Gil. This early on in the game however, it's a good idea to walk to locations if you can survive the journey. There are three protective spells sold here. Protect will raise your defense, but Blink not only increases your evasion, it can actually help your evasion stat increase. Shell increases your magic defense.

You shouldn't need to purchase any weapons unless you feel like training any of your characters with another weapon. The armor here is better than what you've been able to buy, but the trade off in this game is that better armor generally makes it harder for you to improve your stats, so it's generally recommended that you not improve your armor.

Once you are finished in Palm, you can either take the ferry to Poft, or simply choose to walk it and potentially gain experience and increased stats in battle. If you walk, simply follow the coastline to your right as it travels north, then east, and then a short distance south until you see the port of Poft come into view.

As with Palm, you'll find an idyllic sleepy town safe from the war waging around them. Salamand is to the north and Bafsk is to the east. All anyone can talk about in the pub is the fact that Bafsk is under empire control, and they're building something terrible. Seated in the pub is a man named Cid, who owns and operates an Airship transport service. Speak with him to learn the term Airship. To man to his right sells tickets to just about anywhere you want to go.

Town of Salamand
After arriving in Salmando, you will find that the empire arrested most of the town and placed them within the Semite cave.

Don't buy the Exit/Teleport spell, because you can soon find it for free. Don't buy armor either.

Semite Cave
This cave is located to the southwest behind the mountain range, but can be reached directly using the airship.

Deep in the Semitt Cave there's a chest containing the Exit/Teleport spell. However, this is guarded by a turtle that is very resistant to physical attacks. If you do not have Ice spell and if Minwu was knocked out, you will have to exit the cave by walking.

BOSS: Sergeant
When you reach the bottom floor of the cave, head to the north and take the west door. The sergeant has a very high physical defense, so attack him with magic spells.

After the boss
Return to Altair and give the Mythril to Tobul. Now the two Weapons and Armor shops will be able to sell Mythril equipment. The only important thing to buy is a Mythril shield for Minwu, the rest is optional; as usual, don't buy armor parts.

Next, talk to Hilda to learn about the Warship.