Final Fantasy V/The Fire Crystal

The water crystal was shattered - now you need to try and rescue the fire crystal. You may have encountered a soldier mentioning something about a meteor near the water tower, and right now, its the only path you can take.

When you enter the meteor, you will teleport to another continent, outside the mountain barrier.

Karnak is located to the west of the meteor, around the mountain range. After talking with the residents, you will note that the Fire Crystal is under heavy use to power the steamship.

If you attempt to purchase from the weapon and armor shop (which you will need to do), you will be spotted as adventurers from the meteor and assumed to be with the monsters attacking the castle. You will be escorted to prison.

After a few moments in prison, Dr. Cid will bast open the wall. After a cutscene, your party will be free to go. You can now return to Karnak to purchase weapons and spells (which you couldn't before.) However, the prices are no longer heavily discounted.

Of the items in the shop, you can wait before purchasing the Fire Rod, unless you want more than one. However, you should at least have Ice 2 and the strongest of usable mithril weapons.

Steam ship
When you reach the steamship just south of the castle, Dr. Cid will speak with you, saying that the engine is still taking drawing power from the crystal, and that monsters are present in the steamship. He doesn't mention that some random encounters will also have a second wave of enemies that drop from the ceiling.

In the first room, you can either explore the side paths for some items, or head to the northernmost door to proceed to the next area. After going up the first elevator and down the second, you will reach the second portion of the ship.

In the second area, enter the vents to the west of the elevator, to eventually reach a room with three elevators and four pipes. The rightmost pipe leads to the Green Beret helm. The second pipe from the right leads to the Thief Glove, while the third pipe from the right leads to the right-hand section of the lower floor. From there, you can go to the right-hand stairs to collect the Full moon, or head through the northern then western door to reach a save point.

You should reach a maze of platforms. To proceed through the maze, you will need to flip almost every switch you pass; the only exceptions being the southernmost switch, and the switch closest to the north-east exit. The northern most chest can be reached by flipping the switch in the northwest corner, and it contains an Elixir; if you don't want it, you can skip that switch.

Liquid Flame
When you reach the steam room, Queen Karnak will suddenly be enclosed by a shadow before sending Liquid Flame at you. Prepare for this battle by allowing you team to alternate between Ice and Physical attacks. In addition, these attacks need to be as powerful as possibly

Liquid Flame will retaliate against any attack you make against it, and will change among its three forms when struck:
 * The humanoid form is weakest against Ice magic, especially from the Mystic Knight.
 * The Hand form is resistant to magic.
 * The vortex form will try healing itself by casting Fire 2. It is slightly resistant to attacks, but can still be hit.

Escape
After the cutscene with the Fire Crystal being destroyed, you will have 10 minutes to escape from the castle, including time spent defeating the final guards. If you are low on health, use the urn in the room south of the save point.

While it is not difficult to escape the castle, the challenge is opening as many chests as possible within the time limit. It's possible, but difficult to collect them all. Each chest containing an item attracts monsters, requiring time. Any chests left closed will be lost forever.

The most important items are:
 * Ribbon, located to the left of B3.
 * Shurkien, located on the right of B3.
 * Elf Cape, located on the left wing.
 * Guardian (knife), located on the right wing.
 * Heal spell, located left of the entrance.
 * Thunder scroll, located right of the entrance.

You can open three chests containing 2000 gil: One is in the western prison room, and the other two are on 2F near the stairs to 1F. All other chests contain Elixers, which can be found on monsters outside. Depending on the monsters encountered, you may also collect other items, such as Ethers or Giant potions.

Before you can escape, you will be attacked by a Sargent and three wolves. If the Sargent is alive while the three wolves are dead, he will switch to his true form, Iron Claw.

Shards of the Fire crystal will fall to the ground, giving you three new jobs. The flames will also disappear in Karnak, allowing you to collect a Fire Rod. An additional merchant will also appear in the weapon shop to sell additional weapons.

Queen Karnak has been moved to the second floor of the Inn, while Dr. Cid, once you speak to him on the Steamship, is upset and will move from the Steamship to the second floor in the pub. You can learn about his grandson Mid, at the Ancient Library, by talking to him in the pub.

The wall, being destroyed along with the castle, is no longer an obstacle. The duct from the Steamship power room to the crystal room has also been destroyed.

Monsters
Outside plains:
 * Zuu, Grass Turtle, Aegil

Outside Forest:
 * 5 Wolf pack

Inside Ship:
 * 2 Crew Dust
 * 1 Poltergeist, 1 Defeater
 * 2 Poltergeists
 * 2 Motor Trap (appears after battle)

Escaping Karnak:
 * 1 Sargent, 3 Karnak (wolves)
 * 1 Gigas
 * 1 Sorcerer
 * 1 Sorcerer, 2 Karnak
 * 2 Sorcerers