Final Fantasy V/X-Death's Castle II

X-Death's Castle (return)
Before going into the castle you might want to stop at an item shop to stock up on healing and status items as well as the best possible equipment you can afford. The fight with X-Death himself is coming up and he's not going to be fooling around this time.

Pilot the sub to X-Death's island and enter the castle. Zeza's soldiers, who were occupying the lower levels earlier, were easily defeated when X-Death returned and are lying wounded on the floor. You can save and use the recovery spring as before. Once you are done enter the door just north of the entrance which takes you to a small landing and leads to the 2nd Floor.

Check around here for treasure, then go up the stairs in the center to the 3rd Floor. This is a large and seemingly empty area. Go into the main area, look around and go back as there's nothing else to do. Bartz thinks it's just a dead end but Krile senses something and asks Galuf's spirit for help.

Back at Kelb Village, Kelga, the last of the original dawn warriors, is lying sick in bed. He receives a vision of Galuf, and learns that you are being blocked by an illusion created by X-Death. With his last remaining energy, he dispels the illusion blocking your way and the look of the castle changes dramatically.

X-Death's Castle II
Floor 2 and 3

X-Death's castle takes on a dramatically goth-like change, even down to the basement dungeon. The healing springs on the main floor have been replaced by boiling lava pits. Not only has the castle transformed, the monsters encountered here are different as well. A doorway to the north side of the 3rd floor appears which leads up to the 4th floor.

Floor 4 and 5

There are arches here which you can go under even though it may not look like it. Pull a switch about half way to open a locked room with a treasure chest containing an Ether. Otherwise just keep following the path as it wraps it's way around to the the southwest corner and the stair to the 5th Floor. The path winds around here as well but there are two shortcuts which you can spot with Secret. Exit through a door in the northeast corner to the 6th Floor.

Floor 6

From the 6th floor and beyond you will come across lava which can be traversed through but is harmful to the unprepared party. The best thing to do is have somebody in the party who can utilize the Geomancer's passive skill of Antitrap, otherwise the party will take damage with each step they take up until they are down to 1HP.

On the north side of the 6th floor is a hidden path going horizontally across the top edge of the map through the lava. However it is best to head south through the lava to the southeast corner of the map where you may find the Gale Bow hidden within the wall. You may also grab the Elixir in the chest in the middle of the room before heading south towards the stairs leading up to the next floor.

Floor 7

On the 7th floor there is a gap and a skull marked on the floor; there will be a few of these appearing beyond this point and they serve a variety of interesting purposes when you step on them. In this case, it forms a bridge across the gap which moves rapidly back and forth. The timing may be difficult but the bridge can be stopped by pressing the confirm button. The two chests on this floor contain a Blizzard sword (left) and a Kotetsu (right). If the bridge so happens to stop at one of the pillars then a monster will pop out and you will have to fight a fairly easy set battle. Once you get beyond this room there is a save point ahead and then the stairs to the 8th floor.

Floor 8

Floor 8 is pretty straightforward; just grab the treasure then exit to the north. It will help to have Secret to locate some of the treasure. It will also help to have Flee or Dustb here; the random monsters on this floor are dragons and can be difficult to escape from. There are rewards if you stand and fight though, since some of the outrageously priced rings from Easterly Village can be had here as drops or by Steal.

Floor 9 and 10

The 9th and 10th floors need to be covered together since there is a lot of going up and down stairs between them. Start by going up to the 10th floor, then circle to the right and go back down to the 9th floor. At this point you're forced to step into the lava, so again you may want to switch one of your characters to Geomancer or at least have the Antitrap ability equipped. Ignore the small room to the right since you can't go in, and go all the way to the east side. Take the stairs there to treasure on the 10th floor. Go back to the center of the 9th floor and take the stairs to the main area of the 10th. Go right a bit to see a pattern of skulls marked on the floor. There is one in the center, twelve more in a ring around it, and three more at the corners of the diamond shaped platform. When you step on the west skull the ledge leading to the exit south diappears, but don't worry about that for now. Some of the skulls in the rings, namely at 4, 5, 9, 11 and 12 o'clock, and the skull in the center, mark trap doors that fall through when you step on them. Your Geomancer will warn you before you fall through, but if you do you will land in the lava in the 9th floor.

Avoiding the pitfalls, get the treasure in the east corner, then go to the north corner to be teleported to a small ledge to the west. Check the flashing light here to start an optional, but recommended battle.

When you win you get the Summon spell Carbuncle. Go down the stairs to another skull mark on the 9th floor where you will be teleported to a small alcove on the north side of the room. Don't forget to change a character back to Geomancer if you changed for the boss battle, then go back up the stairs to the 10th floor.

Step on the skull in in south corner of the platform. This causes the ledge that disappeared earlier to reappear and you can exit through the door to the south. There is another save point here and it's a good idea to save and rest. Continue north to the 11th Floor.

Floor 11 and 12

Ignore the treasure chest in the middle of the room for now and head for the northeastern exit to the small treasure room on the 12th floor then head back down to floor 11.

The treasure chest in the middle of this room is empty; Do not open it unless you intend on fighting the optional boss Gilgamesh. If you opened the chest he will confront you as you head up the stairs in the northern part of the map so don't forget to save and prepare accordingly.

You get the Excalipur sword as a drop, but don't equip it. It claims to have a Bat.Pwr of 100 but actually is closer to 1.

Floor 12 and 13

Assuming you fought Gilgamesh, go back to the previous save point to save again then continue north to the 12th floor. Follow the passage to the 13th Floor where you can see X-Death up ahead. He warns you not to bother him but this just makes Bartz angry. X-Death claims he's actually trying to restore the world to the way it was, but if X-Death is for it then it can't be good.

At the end of the battle the crystals that X-Death was working on start to vibrate and, of course, shatter. You are knocked down, there is flash of red light, then only darkness.