Final Fantasy/The Crystal of Earth

Treasure: 330 Gil, 575 Gil, 880 Gil, 1250 Gil, 1520 Gil, 795 Gil, 1020 Gil, 450 Gil, 1455 Gil, 1975 Gil, 3400 Gil, 620 Gil, 3400 Gil, 5000 Gil, 5450 Gil, Potion x2, Antidote, Sleeping Bag, Tent x2, Staff, Coral Sword, Leather Shield, Mythril Shield, Great Axe, Mythril Helm, Earth Rod, Star Ruby.

Melmond
When you first enter Melmond, you'll quickly see that something is wrong here. The ground is withered and several of the buildings are destroyed, including the church. The villagers aren't happy campers either. If you ask around they will say that a vampire is causing all the trouble, so they'll ask you to take care of him. However, before you do that, you should level up a little and upgrade your equipment and magic. Most of the equipment and magic here is expensive, but it's generally worth it, except for the Knight's Armor. Don't bother with it unless money is no object and you don't mind that it sharply reduces your speed stat. As with Pravoka, there is better equipment in the next town, so buy whatever magics you want (especially Cure3, Dia3, Life1, and Fire3).

Crescent Lake
From Melmond, sail south until you reach the end of the peninsula and then sail west until you hit land. A little ways south is a dock, so land there. Head south and west around the mountains until you see the lake that the town is named after. In the town, buy all of the weapons and armor that you can. After that, head back to Melmond and buy any equipment that's better that what you have (except the Knight's Armor). Crescent Lake also sells Level 6 magic, some of which is good, though you might not have any Level 6 MP at this point (and the Red Mage is going to have to wait until the class change). If you can use it, get Invs2 and Shld2.

As usual, you probably don't have the cash on hand to buy everything right now. Focus on getting the weapons and armor and save up for the magics. Once again, the Power Peninsula is a good place to raise the cash to get new equipment and it never hurts to level up. You can reach the Peninsula by going back to your ship and sailing north then west around the continent. You'll eventually reach the dock you walk past on your first trip. You can also earn good money and exp around Crescent Lake, though not as much and many of the enemies can poison you.

Once you're ready for the Terra Cave, go back to Melmond and walk south along the coastline until you reach a narrow strip of land that connects to a large mountainous area. Continue south along the coast and you should see a narrow path leading to the east. Follow it and you'll find the Terra Cave. Make sure you have lots of potions and some antidotes while you're in here. This place can be tough and there are two major bosses here. Be aware that there are several poisonous enemies, and from the third floor on, some that can petrify you.

Floor 1
There isn't much of anything of interest on this floor. There's some treasure if you go to the north and the south-east of the entrance stairs. The stairs that lead to floor 2 are to the east. And don't go to the west of the stairs back to the surface, it leads into the Hall of Giants, where you'll run into battles with Gigas monsters every step or so until you're near the stairs again. But, then again, it's good for level gaining.

Floor 2
Floor 2 is a mess of corridors and small-interconnected chambers. There's some more treasure if you go to the very bottom, and the top-right corner of the floor. The stairs to floor 3 are in the bottom right side of the floor.

Floor 3
This floor is hard - not only is it very long but you will also fight Piscodemons (Marsh Caves bosses) and Cockatrices (which can petrify you). Head to the left and you'll eventually see a small room with some treasure. Exit the room and continue up, and if you want, then to the left and down again for some more "treasure" (it's a potion and not worth the effort). Now go back up and continue left, you'll see some more rooms along the way. After you plunder the treasures in the rooms (be aware that there are often monsters guarding the chests), head down and follow the path until you come to another room. Enter it and you'll see the supposed culprit of the earth rot - the Vampire.

Vampire
The vampire is easy to kill. Warriors and Monks should attack, Black Mages and Red Mages should use Fire2 and Fire3, or Bolt2 if you have it. White Mages should use up their stock of Dia1 and Dia2, as well as provide Cure2 to those who need it. He'll go down well before he actually puts up a fight. Just don't wast too much magic because you have to survive the trip out of the cave.

Sage's Cave
Check the treasure chest to the left for the Star Ruby. Now head back the surface and go to the Titan's Cave. Make your way around then give the Star Ruby to the titan. He'll eat it and then move out of the way. Now that you can past, don't go up the stairs right away, instead head down and grab the chests there. After that, head up the stairs and make your way around the mountains until you get to the Sage's Cave. Enter it, ignore the first door, and enter the second one to meet Sarda. Talk to him and he'll give you the Earth Rod, so you can go deeper into the Terra Cave and meet the true boss of the Terra Cave.

Terra Cave (lower floors)
Head back to Melmond if you want to rest and save, then head back into the Terra Cave. Go back to where you fought the Vampire the first time. It won't take as long since you don't have to go down sidepaths looking for treasure.

Floor 3
Once you've made it back to where you fought the Vampire, go through the door to the right and follow the path around until you reach a tablet. Use the Earth Rod on the tablet and another staircase will appear.

Floor 4
Now you're entering the depths of the Terra Cave, drawing closer to the true source of the earth rot. Much like floor 2, this floor is a smattering of corridors and connected chambers, not like this means much anyway. Head up and then left to get some treasure. Now do some backtracking to the first path that leads to the left. Once you're able to make your way around, you'll find another small room with treasure in the lower left corner of the floor. The stairs to floor 5 are in the upper left corner of the floor.

Floor 5
This is it! The final floor before the true boss, the first of four fiends. And it's also easy to navigate. Head left until you reach a path that leads up and follow it all the way. Now all you have to do is follow the path around until you reach another room. Enter and you'll find an orb sitting in front of you. Heal first, then touch it and Lich will attack you.

Lich
Lich can take a good beating and give out one just the same, so the first thing you should do is defend yourself or you'll quickly find that out that he'll pummel you into oblivion. After that, you can go on the offensive. Another annoying "feature" of these fiends is their very high strength, which can easily take out your weak characters in a snap. The obvious way to circumvent this problem is by having your White Mages continually cast Shield2 and Inv1, or Inv2 (if you have it) until Lich starts consistently missing your characters. However, Lich isn't all about strength, he has several semi-powerful spells that can wear away your HP.

Black Mages should strengthen the party with Steel and Haste before starting to cast the most powerful fire spell they have. White Mages should heal the other characters and themselves when necessary, then start casting Dia2, which will do quite a bit of damage. Warriors and Monks should just attack, which is all they can do anyway... Red Mages should mimic the other Mages and start their Fire spells at Lich, healing the party when necessary, and attacking.

Melmond
After you kill Lich, the Earth Crystal is restored and you can enter the warp to get sent back to the surface. Woo hoo, the first fiend is gone, but this is only the beginning...

Return to Melmond, rest, save, and buy whatever you don't have yet (again, except for Knight's Armor), then sail back to Crescent Lake.

Chapter 5: The Airship >>