Final Fantasy V Strategy Guide: Your 100% Completion Walkthrough (Pixel Remaster)

The Pixel Remaster of Final Fantasy V brings the classic adventure to a new generation of players on PC and mobile. If you’re aiming to experience everything this beloved RPG has to offer and secure every achievement, you’ve come to the right place. This Final Fantasy 5 Strategy Guide is designed to be your concise companion on the journey to 100% completion.

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This walkthrough offers a streamlined, bullet-point format, perfect for players who want to efficiently navigate the game without getting bogged down in lengthy, verbose guides. It’s also ideal for completionists determined to collect every bestiary entry and treasure chest. While the in-game map is excellent for general dungeon exploration and chest tracking, this guide will highlight crucial missable elements, including secret passages and hidden rooms that the map might not fully reveal.

Final Fantasy V, with its intricate multi-world structure and the introduction of Blue Magic, presents unique challenges for completionists. Key items, enemies, and even entire areas can be permanently missed as you progress through the story. This strategy guide for Final Fantasy 5 is meticulously crafted to ensure you don’t miss a thing.

What This Final Fantasy 5 Strategy Guide Provides:

• A minimalist walkthrough outlining essential steps for game progression.
• Clear pointers to missable treasure chests and enemies, ensuring a 100% completion run.
• Early acquisition locations for all Blue Magic spells.

What This Final Fantasy 5 Strategy Guide Does Not Provide:

• Detailed boss battle strategies or party optimization advice beyond basic tips.
• In-depth dungeon walkthroughs. While we will offer quick tips for navigating slightly complex dungeons and grabbing all chests, this is not intended to be a detailed map.

Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster Missables Walkthrough Strategy Guide

1. Introduction, Tule, and the Wind Shrine

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• The game begins with you controlling Boko, the chocobo. You’ll automatically dismount later. Head east then north to the meteor site. After the initial tutorial battle, proceed NE to find Galuf. Once Galuf and Lenna depart, locate a hidden chest containing a Phoenix Down to the SE, concealed beneath foliage. Return west to Boko and continue on your path.

Item Collection Note: Towns in Final Fantasy V often contain hidden items and chests. The in-game map effectively tracks your collection progress in each location, indicating how many items remain to be found. This Final Fantasy 5 strategy guide will generally not pinpoint the exact location of every town item or chest unless they are exceptionally well-hidden. Most items are subtly placed and can be discovered by exploring grassy areas, pots, and similar containers within towns.

Crucially, this guide will highlight any missable items throughout your playthrough.

Brave Blade / Chicken Knife Note: Early awareness of the Brave Blade and Chicken Knife is important. Acquired much later in the game, you must choose between these weapons; obtaining both is impossible.

The significance of this early note is that the attack power of these unique weapons scales based on your battle flee count.

The Brave Blade starts with a high Attack Power of 150 and grants +5 Strength. However, its power diminishes with each battle you flee, even before you acquire the weapon. If the Brave Blade is your goal, commit to never fleeing from battle.

Conversely, the Chicken Knife gains power with each escape, reaching a maximum Attack Power of 127 at 254 escapes. While potentially dealing more damage than the Brave Blade due to incorporating agility into its damage calculation, the Chicken Knife has a 25% chance of automatically causing your party to flee during combat.

The choice between these powerful, yet contrasting, weapons is yours.

• Re-entering the overworld, travel NW for a canyon scene. Continue north, engaging in two goblin battles en route, before reuniting with Lenna and Galuf.
• Back on the world map, proceed north into the cave.
• This small cave, often called the ‘Road to Tule’, features a healing spring, three unique enemy types, and a single chest. Utilize your in-game map to track your item collection.
  • Steel Bat
  • Devil Crab
  • Stroper
• Soon, you will reach the Pirate’s Hideout. After the scenes unfold, you’ll find yourself aboard the Pirate Ship.

Item Collection Note: Checking your item collection at this stage reveals only 1 out of 4 items from the Pirate Hideout has been acquired. The remaining items will become available shortly, so no need to worry.

Bestiary Note: Final Fantasy V’s world structure means more bestiary entries are missable compared to previous titles. While the three enemies in the Road to Tule Cave are not missable, encountering enemies as early as possible is always recommended to ensure a complete bestiary.

• Upon gaining control of the ship for the first time, a crewmate will offer to take over navigation. Decline this offer to maintain control of the ship on the world map. Steer NW towards Tule, the first town in the game.

Tule

• Tule contains 3 items and 3 chests located within the west house, which serves as a tutorial, teaching game basics. An additional 5 items are scattered throughout the town:
  • Barrel east of the Inn.
  • Two in barrels/crates in the town center.
  • One in a bush in the far northwest of town.
  • One in a crate in the far northeast.
• Play the piano (1/8). You must sit on the stool and observe the dancers first. There are 8 pianos in total throughout the game, and playing all of them unlocks an achievement (and a Bard Song).
• Upstairs, you can witness a scene with Faris.
• Purchase armor and a broadsword for Galuf. Acquire Magic spells from the shop.
• Remember the Brave Blade / Chicken Knife note above regarding fleeing battles. This guide will not reiterate this point further.

To the Wind Shrine

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• On the world map surrounding Tule, three new enemy types can be encountered:
  • Killer Bee
  • Nutkin
  • Stray Cat (somewhat rare)
• Near the Torna Canal to the east, on the narrow strips of land, you can battle three more enemy types:
  • Gatling
  • Big Horn
  • Bandersnatch (potentially dangerous at low levels, consider leveling up before engaging).

Wind Shrine

• After securing the bestiary entries on the world map, proceed to the Wind Shrine, located far to the NE of Tule. This dungeon contains 4 enemy types and 4 chests.
  • Black Goblin
  • White Serpent
  • Moldwynd
  • Mani Wizard
• Enter the west room for a scene. The pot here provides a full heal. Talk to the NPC to the left of the pot to receive 5 free Potions.
• This dungeon is relatively short. You can obtain 3 of the 4 chests before confronting the Wing Raptor boss. (For detailed boss strategies, consult our Final Fantasy V Boss Guide). The final chest is located in the SE corner of the room after the boss encounter. Always verify your Item Collection completion using the in-game map.
• Following a lengthy scene about the crystals, exit the dungeon via the portal to the north.
• Listen to Boko’s Jobs tutorial if desired. Jobs are a core mechanic in FF5. While this walkthrough provides guidance, our FF5 Jobs guide for help with the best jobs and skills can offer more in-depth job and skill information.

Blue Magic Tutorial: You now gain access to your first jobs, including the debut of the Blue Mage class. Blue Mages learn specific abilities by being targeted by those attacks in battle. This Final Fantasy 5 strategy guide will highlight the earliest opportunity to learn each Blue Magic spell in the game.

Key tips for Blue Magic learning:

• Only one character needs to learn a Blue Magic spell for all characters to be able to utilize it.
• The learning character does not need to survive the attack to learn the spell.
• Battles must be won to learn Blue Magic; fleeing prevents learning.
• As the Blue Mage job levels up, the ‘Learn’ passive ability becomes available. Equipping ‘Learn’ allows a character to learn Blue Magic even while using a different job class. ‘Learn’ must be actively equipped, however.

We also offer a dedicated guide for Blue Magic Locations, but this walkthrough will also mention the earliest learning opportunities for each skill.

Blue Magic spells available to learn now:
Goblin Punch – from Black Goblins in the Wind Shrine.
Aero – from Moldwynds in the Wind Shrine.
Vampire – from Steel Bats in the Road to Tule Cave.

• To continue the story, return to Tule and enter the large north house. Speak to the NPC inside. After several scenes, exit town for another scene, then board your boat for yet another scene. Finally, head south and re-enter the Pirate Hideout / Cave.
• Back in the pirate area, locate and press a skull button to open a room to the NW containing three additional chests, completing the item collection for this area. Boko can be found in another room nearby. Now, exit the Pirate Hideout.

2. To The Water Crystal

Torna Canal

• Proceed to the Torna Canal, located east of Tule in the pincer-shaped area on the map. The Torna Canal is a straightforward ‘dungeon’ with a single path and no chests. However, both enemy types here are missable, so ensure you encounter them:
  • Sucker (MISSABLE)
  • Octokraken (MISSABLE)

Missable Enemies Note: Encounter both Sucker and Octokraken in the Torna Canal to avoid missing bestiary entries.

• Exploit lightning-based attacks against the Karlabos boss. Note that once you engage the boss, returning to the Wind Shrine/Tule area will be temporarily unavailable.

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Ship Graveyard

• Following several scenes, you will arrive at the Ship Graveyard. This area features 4 enemy types:
  • Skeleton
  • Calcruthl
  • Undead Hulk
  • Mind Flusher
• Immediately upon disembarking, head south of the plank east of the ship, onto the rock. Continue south to jump your way to a Flail item.
• Despite its appearance, the rest of the dungeon is quite linear. You will eventually reach a minor fork. Head north to a door for a chest first, then proceed south.
• A scene will play revealing Faris’s true gender. Afterward, follow the path until you reach the outer area again, then head east and south. Enter a ship containing a world map and three chests. This should complete the Item Collection for the area. If any chests are missing, backtrack to locate them.
• You will then face the Siren boss. After three turns, she will transform into an undead form, becoming vulnerable to Fire-based attacks. Phoenix Downs are ineffective against her.

Overworld – Carwen Area

• After defeating Siren, you will return to the world map in the Carwen area. A new enemy, the Tatou, appears here, alongside some familiar enemies:
  • Gatling
  • Big Horn
  • Tatou (NEW)
  • Garula (NEW)
• A Garula can be encountered in random battles west of Carwen. It will not attack or yield experience points. It is, however, added to your bestiary, so engage it once for completion.

Carwen

• Carwen offers a range of new items and equipment to purchase. Three hidden items are present in town:
  • One in a barrel in the town center.
  • One in a secret passage within the pub (use the Thief ability ‘Find Passages’ to reveal).
  • One in a crate south of the pub. Head directly south from the town sign.
• Be sure to play the Piano in the pub (2/8).
• To advance the story, speak to the green-haired woman south of the pub, then converse with a man upstairs in the pub. After these interactions, leave town.
• Your next destination is North Mountain, located directly north of Carwen.

North Mountain

• North Mountain is a linear dungeon containing 4 enemy types and 2 easily accessible chests. Use your map to locate the chests.
  • Rock Slug
  • Gaelicat
  • Cockatrice
  • Headstone

Blue Magic Note:
Flash – Can be learned from Headstones on North Mountain. Using an Ether on them will prompt them to cast Flash. Ethers may be scarce at this point. This Blue Magic can be learned elsewhere later, so don’t worry if you miss it now.

• AVOID STEPPING ON THE PURPLE FLOWERS to prevent poisoning.
• The boss encounter (Magissa / Forza) is fairly straightforward. Consult our boss guide for strategies if needed.
• After the scene following the boss battle, you will be flying on Hiryu. Fly back to Castle Tycoon (fly all the way back to your starting point and fly over the meteorite).

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Castle Tycoon

• A hidden path on the northeast side of the courtyard leads to the east tower, containing two chests. Oddly, these chests do not seem to count towards your Item Collection according to the in-game map. It’s possible they are excluded because Lone Wolf the Pickpocket can steal them (more on him later).
• Enter the throne room for a scene.
• Afterward, fully explore the castle to collect all remaining chests and items. None are particularly difficult to find.
  • A west passage in the courtyard becomes accessible only after viewing the throne room scene.

Walse & Walse Castle

• Travel to Walse, the town south of Carwen. The single hidden item here is located in the SW house, accessed via the moat. Walse offers a wide variety of shops, including magic for Time Mages and Summoners, jobs you don’t yet possess.

Missable Item Note: The Iron Shield and Kenpo Gi available for purchase in Walse are technically missable. Purchase one of each if you wish to collect every item.

• Proceed to Walse Castle. Enter the upper right room from the entrance, then descend the stairs to find three items.
• For now, avoid the stairs downwards in the entrance room. Walse Castle contains additional items, chests, and enemies that are accessible now, but some enemies are significantly higher level than recommended at this point in the game. We will return here later. (Specifically, the Jackanapes enemy).
  • If you choose to disregard this advice, do not release Lone Wolf from the prison. Just don’t. More on this later.
  • If you choose to disregard this advice, you can exploit the Thief ability ‘Scram’ if desired, but remember the Brave Blade / Chicken Knife choice.
  • We will revisit Walse Castle, guaranteed.

Walse Tower

• Once prepared, head to Walse Tower, NW of Walse Castle on the world map. Walse Tower features 5 enemy types and 4 chests.

One-Time-Only Area Warning – Walse Tower: Walse Tower is a one-time-only area. Once completed, you can never return. Ensure you encounter all 5 enemy types and collect all 4 chests before defeating the Garula boss.

Crucially for Item Collection purposes, after completing the tower, you will no longer be able to check the in-game map for chest completion. Verify you have collected everything before defeating Garula.

• Prioritize encountering these enemies. While some may technically be found later, it’s simpler to acquire them all now:
  • Elf Toad
  • Ice Soldier
  • Ricard Mage
  • Wyvern
  • Pas de Seul

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Blue Magic Note:
Pond’s Chorus – from Elf Toads in Walse Tower. They must be alone in battle to use this ability.

• The tower itself is linear. Some chests are reached by climbing vines. The boss hits hard but is manageable.
• After defeating the boss and acquiring new jobs (you’ll obtain 5 crystal shards, with the final one much later), return to Walse Castle and speak to the king in his bedroom. Then, go to the meteorite location where Walse Tower stood and warp to a new region.

3. To The Fire Crystal

Karnak Region

• You are now in the Karnak Region, populated by new monsters:
  • Aegir
  • Zu
  • Wild Nakk (forests)
  • Grass Tortoise
• Travel west through the forests and south to reach the town of Karnak.

Karnak

• Play the Piano (3/8) in the pub.
• Karnak contains one item to collect, but it will not be obtainable for some time.
• Visit the weapon shop. Notice the unusually low prices. It’s recommended to purchase a Mythril Hammer at this discounted rate. Immediately upon purchase, you will be imprisoned.
• While imprisoned, wait for a short time, move around slightly, and you will eventually speak to Cid. After the scenes, you will regain control. Leave Karnak Castle and return to the town. Your map will list numerous items within the castle, but these will be obtained later.
• Karnak town offers a variety of items and magic for purchase. This is an opportune time to earn Gil, train your current and newly acquired jobs, and upgrade your equipment.

Blue Magic Note:
??? – from Wild Nakks in the forests near Karnak.

A Detour Back to Walse Castle for Shiva

• After some job training and gear upgrades in Karnak, it’s a good moment to revisit Walse Castle to obtain the Shiva summon.

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Missable Summon Note: Shiva is technically a missable Bestiary Entry and Summon if you fail to acquire her before leaving the first world.

• Descend the stairs in the entrance room that were previously avoided. Continue down further stairs to the dungeon area, but do NOT free the wolf.
  • This is Lone Wolf the Pickpocket. Releasing him will result in missing some treasures later in the game. Leave him imprisoned. Note that treasures he steals do NOT appear to count towards item collection, but there is no benefit to releasing him.
• Instead, in the first basement level, proceed through the door to the south (NOT the upper right door, we will go there later). Follow the path to the waterfall, where you will battle Shiva and Ice Commanders. Defeat Shiva to acquire her as a summon.

Fire-Powered Ship

• Now, return to Karnak and enter the Fire Ship located south of the town. Despite its appearance, this dungeon is not a one-time-only area.

Back-to-Back Dungeons + Time Limit Note: While the Fire-Powered Ship is not a one-time-only dungeon, it leads directly into Karnak Castle, which is a one-time-only dungeon AND has a time limit.

Therefore, before entering the Fire-Powered Ship (or at least before defeating its boss), ensure you have a solid save point and are satisfied with your party setup.

• Fire-Powered Ship Enemies:
  • Crew Dust
  • Poltergeist
  • Defeater
  • Motor Trap

Blue Magic Note:
Self-Destruct – from Motor Traps in the Fire-Powered Ship. Use Thunder-based abilities on them. If you missed it earlier, you can also get Flash from Crew Dust enemies here.

• Quick guide through the Fire-Powered Ship:
  • In the first room, collect 4 chests by entering every room EXCEPT the NE one. Leave the NE room for last, then enter it and activate the elevator.
  • Collect another chest, then proceed to the next elevator. A World Map item can be found along the way if you did not acquire it in the Ship Graveyard.
  • Go through the nearby air vent and follow the path. You will soon reach a room with 4 vents on the south wall. Enter the easternmost vent to obtain one item after a short walk. You will end up back in the same room. Then, enter the second-easternmost vent for another item. Finally, enter the vent second from the left.
  • Ascend the nearby stairs, flip the switch, and enter the door for yet another item.
  • Return and go through the door. Avoid the conveyor belt, as it returns to the 4 air ducts. Instead, proceed through the door on the left to reach a save point.
  • In the switch/platform room, activate every switch you encounter, except the bottom-center one. You will collect the final chest. Then, go through the door.
  • The boss (Liquid Flame) is weak to Blizzard.
  • After the scenes, you will find yourself in the Karnak Castle basement.

Karnak Castle Dungeon

One-Time-Only Dungeon Warning – Karnak Castle: As previously warned, Karnak Castle is a one-time-only dungeon with a time limit, missable enemies, and chests. Failure to complete the dungeon before the time limit results in a game over.

Karnak Castle also offers some Blue Magic spells to learn (though they can be learned later as well). For completionists, this section can be quite stressful.

This Final Fantasy 5 strategy guide will provide thorough guidance to ensure you acquire all enemies, items, and Blue Magic within Karnak Castle.

It’s worth noting that ‘monster-in-a-box’ encounters are often semi-random. (While the boxes that trigger monster encounters are fixed, the specific monster encounter itself may not be a scripted set of enemies).

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• Karnak Castle Enemies:
  • Sergeant (missable! Kill one in a random battle. They will flee if left until last.)
  • Sorcerer (missable, can be found in a box)
  • Cur Nakk (missable, can be found in a box)
  • Gigas (missable, can be found in a box)

Blue Magic Note:
Aera – from Gigas in a monster-in-a-box.
Death Claw – from the Iron Claw boss at the end of Karnak Castle.

Both of these Blue Magic spells can be obtained later, relatively easily, so don’t worry excessively if you miss them here.

• Karnak Castle Walkthrough:
  • Return to the previous room and heal at the pot. Then, go back to the save point and SAVE.
  • Head directly north and get the chest in the jail cell.
  • Circle around to the NE side of the room for a chest containing monsters and an Elixir. Then exit to the NE.
  • In the library-like room, go east, open a chest for a monster fight. Repeat on the left side.
  • Continue following the path until you reach the main hallway with the ornate carpet. Then enter the NW room. Collect the chest containing money, then use the nearby stairs.
  • Follow the path to another monster chest. Then return to the previous chest.
  • Here, find two more chests in this room, both containing monsters and elixirs. Proceed south through the door, then make a U-turn upwards to the next room.
  • Collect all chests in this room. You should have 12/15 chests collected before leaving. Proceed through the stairs to the NE.
  • Follow the path to another monster chest containing a Main Gauche. Then return to the room with numerous opened chests and proceed south.
  • Go along the east and west sides to obtain the last two chests. Ensure you have 15/15 chests collected. Verify this count on your in-game map now, as you will not be able to later. Hopefully, you have some time remaining.
• Upon exiting the castle’s main gates, you will encounter a final scripted battle against a Sergeant and Cur Nakks.

Missable Bestiary Entry Note: For the boss fight, it is crucial to kill the Cur Nakks and leave the Sergeant alive. After the Cur Nakks are defeated, the boss will transform into Iron Claw. This is necessary not only to add Iron Claw to your bestiary but also to learn the Death Claw Blue Magic from him. However, Death Claw can be learned elsewhere, so don’t stress if you defeat him without learning it.

• After the scene where you collect the fire crystal shards, return to Karnak town.

Karnak Revisited

• Take a moment to relax after the tense dungeon section.
• Speak to Cid on the top floor of the bar.
• You can now collect the single hidden item from atop the wall surrounding Karnak, completing the Item Collection for the town.
• Your next objective is to travel west of Karnak, down to the Library of Ancients.

Blue Magic Note: With the new Beastmaster job, it’s recommended to have someone learn the ‘Control’ skill. This is used to acquire several Blue Magic abilities by controlling enemies and forcing them to use specific skills.

Several new Blue Magic spells are now obtainable:

Aqua Breath – from Dhorme Chimeras in the desert near the Library of Ancients.
Transfusion – from Mythril Dragons near the Library of Ancients. Must be controlled by a Beastmaster.
Missile – from Motor Traps back in the Fire-Powered Ship. Must be controlled by a Beastmaster.

• Enemies near the Library of Ancients:
  • Silent Bee
  • Mythril Dragon
  • Dhorme Chimera (desert, somewhat challenging)

4. To The Earth Crystal

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Library of Ancients

• The Library of Ancients functions as a dungeon area. The library will eventually disappear, but not for a considerable time. Still, acquire all chests and bestiary entries while you are here.
  • Page 32
  • Page 64
  • Page 128
  • Page 256

Blue Magic Note:
Level 5 Death – from Page 64 enemies. Ideally, at least one, but not all, of your characters should be at level 20 at this point. Avoid having everyone die simultaneously.
Off-Guard – From Page 256 enemies. Must be controlled with a Beastmaster.
Moon Flute – From Page 256 enemies.
Aera – In case you missed it from a Gigas in Karnak Castle, you can obtain it here from Page 32 enemies.
Magic Hammer – From the Byblos boss in the Library.

• A healing pot is located in the 2nd room of the library.
• Ascend to another floor and engage the easternmost book enemy. All book enemies can also be encountered randomly throughout the library.
• The dungeon layout is somewhat intricate, with certain paths altering others. In the first room, navigate to a bookshelf in the NE corner and examine it to fall through a hole.
  • Head South and collect a chest.
  • In the next room, climb a ladder, examine the wall, and proceed through. Follow the path, and you will eventually battle Ifrit within a book.
  • Return to the fork and go through the door you haven’t yet explored.
  • A gap in the bookshelf here leads to a Ninja Suit.
  • Continuing along the path, you will find a Phoenix Down, the final item in this dungeon.
  • Eventually, you will find a save point, and shortly after, you will fight Byblos. Byblos is weak to Fire-based attacks and can teach the blue magic ‘Magic Hammer’.
  • After defeating Byblos, speak to Mid, then exit the dungeon.

Another Quick Detour To Walse Castle

• We waited until acquiring Level 5 Death for this. You can now return to Walse Castle to complete the Item Collection there. Descend the stairs, then proceed through the NE door. Use Level 5 Death on the Jackanapes enemies. They are likely still too challenging to defeat conventionally at this stage. You can now finally complete the Item Collection for Walse Castle.

Getting Another Ship

• Return to Cid in the Pub in Karnak.
• Go back to the Fire-Powered Ship. After the scene, speak to Cid again for another scene. You will now have a new ship.
  • You can still battle enemies in the Fire-Powered Ship if needed.
  • Note: As you sail on the open ocean, avoid entering the town of Crescent on the moon-shaped island just yet.
• With your new ship, several new locations become accessible. Here are some new monsters you can encounter. (Use the World Map item from your inventory to view marked locations reachable by ship).
• Sea Monsters:
  • Sahagin
  • Thunder Anemone
  • Sea Ibis (around Crescent Isle)
  • Corbett (in the area outside the inner sea. Potentially tough at this point)
• Jachol Area (to the SW):
  • Bomb
  • Doublizard
  • Bio Soldier
• Istory Area (to the NW):
  • Mythril Dragon
  • Black Flame
  • Stone Golem
  • Mini Dragon (forests)
• Crescent Area (the crescent-shaped area. Again, avoid entering the town for now):
  • Doublizard
  • Bio Soldier
  • Harvester
  • Black Flame
  • Prototype – 2nd Island South of Crescent. Very challenging. Use Control and have it self-destruct.

Jachol and Jachol Cave (SW part of the map)

• Jachol town contains no hidden items, but offers shopping opportunities, including the useful Sage’s Surplice. A piano is also located in the pub (4/8).
• In Jachol Cave, you can encounter Nutkins (less significant) and Skull Eaters. Skull Eaters have only 1 HP but very high other stats. Use a Geomancer’s Gaia ability, scroll items (Thunder Scrolls from Thunder Anemones), or flee (consider the Brave Blade/Chicken Knife choice).
• The dungeon itself is relatively easy. Examine skulls and empty chests for switches. For the wall of skulls, stand in front and wait briefly to identify the correct skull to press.
• Note: There are three chests in the cave’s second room, but only two appear to count towards the item collection on your map. The chest containing the Blitz Whip can be taken by Lone Wolf if you released him from the Walse jail. These chests do not appear to count towards item collection.

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Istory (Far NW of the world map)

Blue Magic Note:
Dark Spark – From Black Flames near Istory.

Missables Note:
Romeo’s Ballad – Learned in Istory by speaking to the Bard near the sheep pen. This must be obtained before departing for the second world later in the game.
Ramuh – Technically missable if you discard the Ramuh item after defeating him. Avoid doing so.

• Ramuh can be found in random battles within the forests near Istory. Defeat him. Use the Ramuh item he drops to learn the summon. Technically missable if you discard the item.
• Istory offers very expensive accessories, which are likely unnecessary to purchase at this point.
  • Run around the flower circle to receive the Toad spell.
  • Talk to the NW sheep from behind, then speak to the Bard to learn Romeo’s Ballad. This is missable if not acquired before leaving the first world.

Crescent

Blue Magic Note:
Flame Thrower – from Prototypes on the 2nd island SW of Crescent Isle. Prototypes have very high stats, but a Beastmaster can control and force them to self-destruct relatively easily.

• Speak to the Minstrel in the SE of town to learn Mighty March.
• Piano located here as well (5/8).
• Some weapons are available for purchase.
• No hidden items in Crescent town itself.
• Go to the Forest south of Crescent to find a Black Chocobo. After a scene, you will unlock the Ranger and Bard jobs, and gain the ability to fly. Black Chocobos can only land in forests.

Lix

• Using the Black Chocobo, travel to Lix, an isolated town in the far north of the map, surrounded by mountains, near the Wind Shrine.

Missables Note:
Alluring Air – Speak to the bard in Bartz’s house after examining the music box. This must be obtained before leaving for the second world later in the game.

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• No hidden items in Lix.
• Purchase scrolls (Water scrolls are useful for the upcoming boss).
• Ethers are available for purchase here.
• Visit Bartz’s old house in the NW and examine the pink music box for a scene. Then speak to the bard resident to learn Alluring Air (Missable!).
• Rest at the Inn for a second scene.
• Speak to the scholar-like NPC in the north center of town for a third scene.

Desert of the Shifting Sands & Gohn

• Fly to the Library of Ancients (center of the west continent) to speak with Cid & Mid. Then travel west to the Desert of the Shifting Sands.
• In some versions of Final Fantasy V, enemies here are missable, although later versions allow these enemies to be encountered in the third world. To be safe, encounter them now:
  • Sandboil
  • Desert Killer
  • Sand Bear

Missable Item Note: Javelin, a spear, can only be obtained by stealing from Sand Bears, inexplicably. It is not a particularly strong weapon, but this is the only location to acquire them if desired.

A note on Stealing: Valuable items can be obtained by stealing from enemies and bosses. Previous enemies have not had significant steals, so stealing has not been emphasized until this point.

Enemies can hold two types of stealable items: common steals and rare steals. When a character uses Steal, there is a 40% chance of success. Equipping Thief’s Gloves (acquired from the Fire-Powered Ship) increases the success rate to 80%.

If successful, there’s a 123/128 chance of stealing the common item. Rare steal items have only a 5/128 chance of being stolen (approximately 4%) on a successful steal attempt. Not all enemies have both common and rare steals; some have only one or the other.

Sand Bears only hold a Javelin in their Rare Steal slot, and have no common steal item. This means numerous failed steal attempts are likely until you succeed with the low percentage chance of acquiring the rare steal – the Javelin.

For enemies with both common and rare items, it can be frustrating to get the rare item. There is a 123/128 chance of getting the common steal, and once you do, you can no longer get the rare steal. Unlike enemies with no common steal, you cannot just keep trying until you are lucky. The best method for stealing rare items from enemies with both common and rare steals is to attempt a steal, and then repeatedly use a Time Mage’s “Return” ability to reset the battle until you obtain the rare steal.

Hopefully, this explanation is clear. Worthwhile steals will be highlighted from this point onward in this Final Fantasy 5 strategy guide.

• Navigating the desert is straightforward, with no chests to collect.

Gohn

• Gohn town has no items to collect.
• Approach the middle staircase to encounter King Tycoon.
• Then ascend the western staircase where you will see him a second time.
• Then circle around and descend the center staircase, where you will see him a third time. Follow him. After a scene, you will find yourself in a hollow underground area. There are no enemies or items here, so continue onward.
• You will then find yourself in the Catapult.

Catapult and Airship events

• After ascending a staircase, head south to find a rest area to heal. Then, push the button in the room to the left of the rest area. It will not function initially. You will then embark on a mini-scavenger hunt until you learn you need to pull the button instead of pushing it to locate the area’s three chests for Item Collection.
• Continue along the linear path, and after some scenes, you will acquire the airship, followed by a boss fight against Cray Claw. Cray Claw is weak to Thunder.
• Once you have the airship, feel free to explore briefly, but to progress the story, fly over the city of Gohn (southern side of the west continent) for a scene. Then return to Cid and Mid in the area underneath Crescent Island.
• Then, travel to Tycoon Meteorite (NW of Crescent) to obtain Adamantite. Fight Adamantoise (Adamantoise is weak to Blizzard). Return to Cid/Mid.
• Then, board your airship. You can now press a button to ascend higher into the atmosphere to reach the flying ruins. Engage the various guns on the ruins in battle. You can acquire the Blue Magics Missile and Flame Thrower here if you haven’t already.
• Once all guns are disabled, the main gun will appear. You can save/heal before fighting it. The main gun is weak to Thunder. Cast Slow as well.
• You can now enter the Ronka Ruins. Stock up on Phoenix Downs beforehand, as they will be valuable against the Ghidra enemies within.

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Ronka Ruins

One-Time-Only Area Warning – Ronka Ruins: Ronka Ruins is a one-time-only area. Ensure you collect all 12 chests and bestiary entries here before completion.

The enemies within Ronka Ruins are:

Ra Mage
Ronkan Knight
Stone Mask
Enchanted Fan
Lamia
Archaotoad
Hydra
Ghidra (found in the final room, quite challenging, use Phoenix Downs to defeat quickly)

Blue Magic Note:
White Wind – From Enchanted Fans. Must be Controlled by a Beastmaster.
1000 Needles – From Lamias. Must be Controlled by a Beastmaster.
Level 4 Graviga – From Ghidras in the final area of the ruins. Your level must be divisible by 4 to learn. Use Phoenix Downs to kill them quickly if you need EXP (may miss, but they are undead, so it will work eventually). Alternatively, use Missile to weaken them to force the attack. They possess Reflect.

• Ronka Ruins Walkthrough:
  • Equipping the Thief skill ‘Find Passages’ is highly recommended for this dungeon.
  • Follow the initial path, collecting the chest containing Golden Armor along the way.
  • In the next area, you will find a chest with an Elixir. Checking your map reveals three paths. The center path leads only to a save point for saving/healing.
  • Take the rightmost path to find a Phoenix Down and ultimately a Golden Shield. Return to the three-path fork and take the leftmost path to proceed.
  • Along the leftmost path, you will eventually find a Hi-Potion. After this, you will reach a fork where you must choose between a door to the south or a staircase to the north. Take the staircase to reach a treasure room.
  • The Treasure Room contains five chests, but the floor has traps that teleport you back a few rooms. A Geomancer’s ‘Find Pits’ ability can be helpful in navigating. Hug the left and then north walls to reach all chests safely.
  • Now go through the door south of the staircase. You will eventually reach another door/staircase fork. The staircase leads to another save point. The door continues the progression.
  • You will eventually encounter one last door/staircase fork. Take the staircase to reach the final two chests. This should complete the Item Collection for this area.
  • Ghidras are challenging random encounters in the room with the boss.
  • Double-check your item collection to ensure you have all 12 chests and have defeated all the listed enemies before facing the boss.
• After a series of scenes, you will be left with three party members. Go to the area underneath Crescent and return to the resting room in the Catapult to find a note from Cid/Mid. Then travel to Tycoon Meteorite.

Meteorite World Tour, and Final Check Before World 2

• You must visit the other meteorites:
  • Walse Meteorite – Fight Purobolos x6. They revive upon defeat, so it’s best to eliminate them all simultaneously. Multiple Ninjas throwing scrolls rapidly is highly recommended.
  • Karnak Meteorite – Fight Titan.
  • Gohn Meteorite – Fight Chimera Brain (absorbs Blizzard).
• At this point, you can proceed to World 2, Galuf’s World, by entering the portal at the center of the world map. This is a good point to double-check your bestiary, Blue Magic, and other collections before moving on.

World 1 Final Collection Check: Before entering Galuf’s World, you should have Bestiary entries 1-69, 191-196, 229-253. You should also have played 5 pianos, learned 21 Blue Magics, acquired the Shiva Summon, Romeo’s Ballad, Alluring Air, Javelin, Iron Shield, and Kenpo Gi.

5. A Whole New World

• Fight a Pao enemy. The game will prompt you to use a tent upon entering the forest. Then, you will fight a solo boss, Abductor, as Bartz. In some versions of Final Fantasy V, this bestiary entry is missable if you lose. Ensure victory to secure the entry.

Missable Bestiary Note: In some versions of Final Fantasy V, the Abductor boss fought solo by Bartz is missable if defeated. Ensure victory to add it to your bestiary.

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Castle Exdeath

• You will arrive in Castle Exdeath. After some scenes, once you regain control of Galuf alone, proceed north through the door and save your progress. The next north door contains a healing point.

Follow the single path. You will fight Gilgamesh alone as Galuf. Blue Magic spells like Missile or Death Claw are highly effective. You will then free Bartz, Lenna, and Faris. Leave Castle Exdeath.

• Enemies in Castle Exdeath’s basement are encountered here. These enemies are eventually missable, but will remain for a while. It’s recommended to acquire their bestiary entries now.
  • Tarantula
  • Shell Bear (the only source for stealing Spears)

Missable Enemy and Item Note: Tarantula and Shell Bear enemies in Castle Exdeath are missable. Shell Bears are also the only source for stealing Spears, so steal one if you wish to collect every item.

• Your map will indicate 15 items within Exdeath’s Castle. These will be collected much later.

Castle Exdeath Area

• Your objective is to escape over the Big Bridge to the west. First, add the nearby enemies to your bestiary:
  • Devilfish
  • Treant (forest)
  • Strapparer (somewhat rare, possesses Dark Spark and Death Claw Blue Magic if you haven’t learned them yet)

Big Bridge

• Proceed along the bridge. Enemy encounters here are not entirely random but occur on specific tiles. The enemy types encountered are somewhat random. These four enemy types are also missable, so ensure you encounter them all:
  • Merrow
  • Flying Killer
  • Little Chariot
  • Neo Garula

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Missable Enemies Note: Merrow, Flying Killer, Little Chariot, and Neo Garula are missable enemies found on the Big Bridge.

• You will fight Gilgamesh again halfway across the bridge. He does not possess any particularly valuable steals at this point (Genji equipment becomes available later).
• After crossing the bridge, you will be blown to a different region near Regole.

Regole (and surrounding area)

• First, a range of new enemies can be found in the area around Regole:
  • Tunneler (forest)
  • Birostris (forest)
  • Fairy Orc
  • Devourer (swamp)
  • Mandrake (swamp)
• In Regole town itself, use the Inn (free) for a scene.
• Enter the pub and proceed through a secret passage on the west wall to find a piano (6/8).
• Regole offers a variety of items for purchase.

Kuza, The Sealed Castle

• Travel south on the world map. You will pass a castle area. This is Kuza, the Sealed Castle, a location that becomes more significant later. Notable and strong enemies here include:
  • Kuza Beast
  • Shield Dragon

Missable Enemy Note: Ensure you encounter Kuza Beast before progressing to World 3.

• A somewhat rare enemy called Kuza Beast can be encountered near the castle (for example, on the bridge). It has 5000 HP and is quite challenging, but ensure you encounter it for your bestiary.
• Inside the castle, you can fight Shield Dragon. It is very tough at this stage. The most effective method to defeat it is to control it with a Beastmaster and repeatedly use the Blaze spell on itself.
• Continue onward, and you will reach the Moogle forest. Follow it to the Underground Waterway.

Underground Waterway

One-Time-Only Area Warning – Underground Waterway: This dungeon contains missable chests and enemies. Two chests are easily located using your map. The four missable enemy types here are:
Blood Slime
Acrophies
Moogle Eater
Lesser Lopros (somewhat rare)

Note: Some sources suggest this area is not actually missable, but it is prudent to acquire these items and enemies now to be safe.

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• The waterway dungeon is relatively straightforward. Two chests are located along the path. The boss, Tyrannosaur, is undead and weak to Fire (Phoenix Downs are effective). Follow the Moogle out the other side.

Moogle Village Area

• This area of the world map largely shares the same enemies as the Regole area, but two new enemy types appear in the desert:
  • Cactus
  • Sandcrawler (Somewhat challenging with 15K HP, use Spellblade Level 5 Break for instant defeat).
• Travel north to a large forest surrounded by mountains. The Moogle Village is hidden in the center.
• In Moogle Village, speak to the moogle on the east side to collect six chests located here.
• Then enter the center home to receive a Moogle Suit. Proceed to the building to the left and speak to the moogle to obtain the last item in the village. Finally, speak to the moogle on the far right side of the village again.
• After some scenes, you will be at the Castle of Bal.

Castle of Bal

• After the scenes, you can obtain two chests to the SW of the throne, one of which is hidden in a small passage. Then, leave the throne room and proceed to the courtyard.
• Two doors are located in the courtyard, both leading to shops. The only new item available is a Gauntlet in the armor shop.
• Ascend the stairs in the weapon/armor shop building, then descend the stairs obscured by the tower. Here, collect the last chest, then press the button on the south wall, and stand between the shopkeepers. You will receive a Lamia Harp.
• For the final item, go to the SW of the courtyard to access the surrounding moat. Travel all the way around the moat to obtain a Great Sword, completing the Item Collection for Castle Bal.

AP Grinding Spot Note: If you return to the main building and descend the stairs, you can battle Objet D’Arts enemies. These enemies are weak to Level 5 Death, making them easy to defeat and providing excellent AP. Grind here if desired.

• To continue the story, return to the main building and ascend the stairs to speak with Krile and Wind Drake for a scene.
• Leave the town to fight an Abductor boss. You will be unable to return to Castle Bal for a while afterward.

6. Drakes and Moore

Bal Region

• As usual, let’s examine the new enemies in the region surrounding Bal:
  • Aquathorn
  • Weresnake
  • Kornago
  • Cursed Being
• If you desire a useful Beastmaster item later, catch a Kornago. The Blue Magic spell Death Claw is an effective method for catching them.
• Travel north to the village of Quelb.

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Quelb

• Examine the north gate, which is locked.
• Enter the topmost house for several scenes.
• Explore the shops for new items.
• Examine the well to the SW. Give the old man the Kornago you caught and 10,000 Gil to receive a Kornago Gourd, which improves your catching ability.
• Speak to a werewolf in the NE for the Requiem Bard song.
• Leave Quelb and travel north to Drakenvale.

Drakenvale

• Drakenvale is a very linear dungeon. Chests are easily located along the path.
  • Drippy
  • Lycaon
  • Bone Dragon
  • Poison Eagle
  • Zombie Dragon
• On the screen with scattered bones, check under one of the skulls to find a Bone Mail.
• On the same screen, you will encounter Golem. The first time, he will be labeled as ‘???’ and run away. The second time, he will be attacked by a Bone Dragon and Zombie Dragon. Defeat them, and you will receive the Golem summon item (avoid discarding it). Golem will also be added to your bestiary.
• Dragon Pod boss – The Monk skill Kick is effective.

Return to Bal Castle, Castle Surgate

• Return to Bal Castle and speak to Krile in her bed. Then, speak to the Wind Drake. Fly north of the opening near Drakenvale to an island cave. It will sink. Then fly west to Castle Surgate.
• After some scenes, ascend the NW stairs in Castle Surgate and follow the path to a library. Proceed to the next floor of the library and place the three books back on the shelves in alphabetical order. Then, speak to the NPC, who will open a new path.
• Enter the new room and open a chest, then go outside.
• Travel west across this courtyard to another room with another chest. Return to the throne room.
• Proceed to the SW stair in the throne room to enter Xezat’s room. Read the book for the Swift Song Bard song.
• Use the last staircase in the throne room to access shops. The weapon shop has new items.
• When prepared, fly east of Exdeath’s castle to find Xezat’s fleet. Ensure you have a Thief with Thief’s Gloves equipped.

Attack on Barrier Tower

• Here you will battle Gobbledygook enemies.
• You will fight Gilgamesh for the third time. STEAL HIS GENJI GLOVES. Enkidu will also appear.

Missable Item Note: Steal Gilgamesh’s Genji Gloves when you fight him on Surgate’s ship. It is his common steal, making it relatively easy to acquire.

• Then proceed below deck and speak to Xezat. After some scenes, you will be in Barrier Tower.

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One-Time-Only Dungeon Warning – Barrier Tower: Barrier Tower is a one-time-only dungeon. The 4 chests and numerous enemies here must be acquired now or missed permanently.

The enemies to encounter here are:

Neon
Magnetite
Reflect Knight
Traveler
Level Tricker
Gravitator
Ziggurat Gigas (last floor near the second save point)

Blue Magic Note:
Time Slip – From Travelers.
Level 2 Old – From Level Trickers. Use the Chemist Mix ability ‘Dragon Defense’ (Phoenix Down + Dragon Fang) to cast Reflect on the enemy. Then, control it with a Beastmaster. Use Level 2 Old on the Level Tricker itself, which will bounce the spell onto a single randomly targeted party member. The learner must be at a level divisible by 2.
Level 3 Flare – From Red Dragons in monster-in-a-boxes. Use the Chemist Mix ability ‘Dragon Defense’ (Phoenix Down + Dragon Fang) to cast Reflect on the enemy. Then, control it with a Beastmaster. Use Level 3 Flare on the Red Dragon itself, which will bounce the spell onto a single randomly targeted party member. The learner must be at a level divisible by 3.

Note: Of the four chests in Barrier Tower, two are monster-in-a-boxes. These can contain either Red Dragon or Yellow Dragon (random). Both enemies can be encountered later, so do not worry excessively if you do not encounter them now or acquire Level 3 Flare at this time.

• The dungeon is very linear, but acquiring the enemies and Blue Magic may require some time.
• The boss, Atomos, can be put to sleep with a Sleep Spellblade.
• After the boss and subsequent scenes, take the submarine to a narrow crevasse in the SW of the western continent, then surface. You will be near the town of Moore.

Moore Area

• Before entering Moore town, encounter these enemies nearby:
  • Cure Beast
  • Land Turtle
  • Dechirer
• In Moore town, find a piano in the pub (7/8).
• A Main Gauche item is located in a barrel outside the pub as the single hidden item.
• Moore offers a wide range of valuable items for purchase.

Sea Floor Exploration

• When prepared, use the submarine to travel to a cave in the underwater NW area. The cave contains two enemy types:
  • Ironback
  • Druid
• On the overworld on the other side of the cave, find Catoblepas in the forest. Defeat Catoblepas to receive his summon. Avoid discarding his item. This is missable!.
• Ensure you enter the Chocobo Forest located here. It is one of the few optional locations required for achievement completion and is missable.

Missables Note: Fight Catoblepas after the Sea Floor Cave and before heading to the 3rd world. Enter the Chocobo Forest near Catoblepas before progressing to the 3rd world.

• Then, travel to Ghido’s cave, located at the center of the map, where the island was previously sunk. Two enemy types are found here:
  • Dark Aspic
  • Metamorph

Blue Magic Note:
Aeroga – from Metamorph’s Enchanted Fan form in Ghido’s Cave.

Metamorph transforms into other enemies. Four possible encounter variations with Metamorph exist, each featuring three different monsters it can randomly transform into:

• Shiva, Gaelicat, Elf Toad
• Ifrit, Wyvern, Enchanted Fan
• Ramuh, Crew Dust, Zombie Dragon
• Shiva, Ifrit, Ramuh

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• Ghido’s Cave itself is quite simple. Continue until you obtain a stone from a chest.
• Place the stone in the NW chest to activate a switch.
• Then place the stone in the SW chest to proceed.
• Use ‘Find Passages’ to navigate through hidden passages.
• Speak to Ghido and receive a key item. Teleport out of the cave.
• Now travel to the Great Forest of Moore.

The Great Forest of Moore

• This dungeon is easily navigated using your in-game map. Obtaining all chests is straightforward. Proceed through the holes in trees to continue.
• The enemies within the Great Forest of Moore are:
  • Mini Magician
  • Galajelly
  • Mammon
  • Imp
  • Wyrm (this enemy is reportedly missable and will no longer appear after the fire event)

Blue Magic Note:
Lilliputian Lyric – From Mini Magicians in the Forest of Moore.

• A note about one of the chests: The chest near the Moogle that appears can change its contents depending on whether you collect it before or after the fire event. Before the fire, it contains an Aegis Shield; after the fire, it contains a Flame Shield. The Flame Shield is generally more useful, and you will acquire at least one of each of these items later anyway.
• The boss is comprised of 4 crystals, each with a different elemental absorption. Graviga and Missile spells are very effective.
• A series of scenes will occur here.

7. Wrapping Up Galuf’s World

Gil Cave

• Restock supplies and when ready, travel to a cave near Bal. This is Gil Cave.
• Gil Cave is an optional location, but you can encounter two enemy types here:
  • Undergrounder
  • Gil Turtle
• The Gil Turtle is a boss-like enemy that can be encountered multiple times. It is weak to Blizzard. Attack it with one party member at a time, as it will counterattack. Use Blizzaga/Spellblade/Shiva and heal/revive as needed. Use Float to avoid ground-based attacks.
• Gil Cave features a section behind a door where Bartz will collect Gil on each tile, with the amount increasing exponentially as he progresses. You may encounter the Gil Turtle on any of these tiles. Consider using quicksaves to collect Gil without battling the Gil Turtle repeatedly.

Some random World Map enemies

• Some random enemies to acquire for your bestiary. Travel to the forest on the SE islands. These can be obtained later, but it is efficient to get them now:
  • Sleepy
  • Triffid
  • Hedgehog (A commenter notes that this monster can be rare at this point and is more easily obtained in the Merged World).
  • Shadow
• Now is a good time to fight Kuza Beast if you haven’t already, as it is missable, outside the Sealed Castle. You can also fight Shield Dragon inside, although it is not missable.
• Now, we proceed to Exdeath’s Castle, for real this time.

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Castle Exdeath

One-Time-Only Dungeon Warning – Castle Exdeath: Castle Exdeath will disappear once you defeat the boss here. Ensure you fight all enemies and collect all 15 chests before completing it. As usual, you will no longer be able to check your item collection on the in-game map after finishing the dungeon.

A large number of enemies are found here:

Twin Lizard
Blind Wolf
Hellraiser
Reflect Mage
Magic Dragon (Has Blue Magic Aeroga if you did not acquire it from Metamorph)
Black Warlock (The only enemy in the game to drop the Power Staff. Can also rare steal the Judgment Staff, which is also available later)
Adamantite Golem
Bandercoeurl
Iron Fist
Blue Dragon
Red Dragon (You can acquire Level 3 Flare here if you missed it from a chest battle in Barrier Tower)
Yellow Dragon

You can also still visit the B2 area to fight Shell Bears (get a Spear if desired) and Tarantulas, both missable, if you have not already.

A forewarning: you will fight Gilgamesh again partway through the dungeon. This is the only opportunity to steal his Genji Helm.

One last missable element: Carbuncle can be fought and obtained as a summoner summon in Castle Exdeath. Do not miss him.

• Castle Exdeath Quick Walkthrough:
  • 2F – Two chests.
  • 3F – Enter the west room, then attempt to leave for a scene.
  • 4F – Flip the switch, one chest.
  • 5F – One chest.
  • 6F – Two chests, one in a hidden path in the lava.
  • 7F – A semi-rare enemy (but not missable) can be found here – Oiseaurare. Make the bridge end on the second wall from the left to potentially spawn this monster. Two chests.
  • 8F – Two chests.
  • 9F – The first time you enter this screen, it will be just a staircase. Proceed to 10F.
  • 10F – Return down to 9F.
  • 9F – Cast Float, ascend the far east staircase to a chest on 10F, then return and ascend the other available staircase.
  • 10F – In the skull diamond area, collect the chest, then proceed to the N-most square to warp to Carbuncle (MISSABLE). Then return to the diamond area and proceed S.
  • 11F – Before opening the chest in the center, ascend the East staircase and collect two chests. Then return, open the empty chest, and fight Gilgamesh. STEAL HIS GENJI HELM. This should complete all 15 chests for your item collection in Castle Exdeath.

World 2 Final Collection Check: After acquiring all items and bestiary entries in Castle Exdeath but before facing Exdeath himself, you should have bestiary entries 1-137, 139, 176-177, 191-196, 229-273. You should also possess the Catoblepas, Carbuncle, and Golem summons. Spear and Power Staff weapons are optional. Ensure you entered the Chocobo Forest on the other side of the Sea Floor Cave (where Catoblepas was).

You should have 26 Blue Magic spells learned as well, not counting Doom which can be learned from Exdeath.

Defeating Exdeath will advance the player to World 3 – the Merged World.

Blue Magic Note: You can learn Doom from Exdeath.

• When prepared, you will fight Exdeath at the end of his castle. A series of scenes will follow.

8. A Merged World

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Merged World Interlude

• Enter Castle Tycoon and proceed directly north for story events.
• Travel S and W (with only Bartz and Krile) to the Cave to reunite with Boko (and Koko).
• Now riding Boko, travel N of Castle Tycoon and then West of Tule to a path. You will fall into a hole and fight Antlion.
• After these events, Faris will rejoin your party. Travel west to Ghido’s Cave. More events will occur.
• Then, travel south to the Library of Ancients. More events.
• Speak to a scholar on the roof to learn Mana’s Paean Bard song (missable!).

Missable Item Note: Acquire Mana’s Paean from a scholar in the Library of Ancients before undertaking the Pyramid of Moore dungeon.

• Lenna will be temporarily absent from your party.

Overworld – Castle Surgate Area

• Some new enemies have appeared, along with some enemies you may have encountered previously at the end of World 2:
  • Sleepy
  • Triffid
  • Hedgehog
  • Python
  • Shadow
  • Elm Gigas
• Travel west to the Guardian Tree for a brief scene. Then continue west to the shifting sands for another short scene.
• More enemies can be encountered in the desert. Ignore the pyramid in the center for now.
  • Desertpede
  • Bulette
• And then in the area west of the desert:
  • Slug
  • Gloom Widow
  • Mykale
• Stop by Moore town to collect either the Brave Blade or Chicken Knife. Go around the pub and through a secret path in the trees to the south. The left crate contains the Brave Blade, the right crate contains the Chicken Knife.
  • These do not appear to count towards Item Collection.
• When prepared, proceed to the Pyramid of Moore in the desert.

Pyramid of Moore Dungeon

• This is a lengthy dungeon with numerous chests.
• Ensure you acquired Mana’s Paean before entering this dungeon.
• Old Enemies:
  • Objet d’Art (monster-in-a-box)
  • Black Warlock (chance in a chest)
  • Bandercoeurl
• New Enemies:
  • Lamia Queen
  • Ushtabi
  • Archeosaur
  • Zephyrus
  • Rajiformes
  • Mummy
  • Apsis
  • Mecha Head
  • The Damned
  • Grand Mummy
  • Sekhmet (one-time only, can steal another pair of Thief’s Gloves)
  • Steel Fist (monster-in-a-box)
  • Gargoyle (a semi-boss you will fight multiple times)
• You will initially fight two Gargoyles. They revive each other. Enter the pyramid.
• Take the leftmost path. Float over the spikes or alternate pressing left and right buttons. Get swept away by the sand.
• Collect the chest (monster box), then proceed north (fight Apsis). Continue along the path. You can disable the sand river you encountered earlier, then proceed to floor 2.
• Navigate through some hidden paths to the next stairs. Open the sarcophagus and obtain the Cursed Ring (good stats, but auto-Doom).
• Return to the beginning of the dungeon (use Teleport) and proceed through the door you skipped earlier in the first room. 2F features a simple button puzzle and more Apsis enemies.
• 3F contains three chests, all monster-in-a-boxes.
• 4F will have Mecha Heads and Apsis roaming around, both easily defeated. Press a button to the west and bypass the spikes to fight Archeosaur and obtain the Black Robe. Then proceed to the NE side of the room to open two chests and another sarcophagus. The Thornlet item you obtain has auto-Sap. Then proceed to the next floor. A save point is present (save and heal).
• On 5F, you may encounter Sekhmet, who can only be killed once. You can steal extra Thief’s Gloves from him if desired. Ascend the north stairs for two chests (monster-in-a-boxes). Then collect a chest back on 5F to the east. The last chest to the NE is not yet obtainable.
• On 6F, do not press the button. Run into the sand to reach the chest you just passed. Then return and press the button. Proceed to the room to the NE and press the left button to access four chests. Then continue to 7F.
• On 7F, ignore the staircase and proceed through the western door to reach 4 chests. Then use the center stairs to proceed.
• On 8F, the floor layout will change every few seconds. Be patient and use the static tiles to carefully move across the changing tiles to collect the three chests. Then proceed to the NE stairs to access two more chests. Then return and proceed to the NW stairs to obtain two more chests.
• This should be all 28 chests for your item collection in the Pyramid of Moore.
• Continue to the end of the dungeon for a series of scenes.

Getting an Airship for some sidequesting

After exiting the Pyramid of Moore, ensure you save your game.

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• Travel east to the Guardian Tree for cutscenes and a boss fight – Melusine.
• Lenna will rejoin your party afterward.
• Then, travel to the ship NE of Castle Surgate for more scenes. You now possess an airship.
• Avoid flying directly over the void holes, specifically the one where Castle Tycoon was located.
• Travel to Regole (use your map to locate it), speak to the girl between the counters for a Ribbon accessory.
• Travel to Carwen and speak to the green-haired woman south of the pub and click ‘yes’ for a short scene involving an impersonator. More on him later.
• Travel to Crescent (no longer an island) and play the Piano. If you have played the previous 7 pianos, you will learn the Sinewy Etude Bard song from the bard here.
• Travel to the Pirate Hideout to learn the Syldra Summon.
• Travel to Kuza Sealed Castle and obtain three of the legendary weapons. You will receive 3 weapons per tablet you find. You can also fight Exdeath’s Soul here now as a regular enemy encounter.
• Travel back through Jachol Cave to fight Odin and obtain his summon. You can rare steal a Protect Ring from Odin.

Item Note: A commenter notes a missed item in Carwen in the merged world: “Cottage, on the NE dock area after the guy moves out of the way”. Collect this Cottage item.

Phantom Village

• Fly to the former location of Crescent town, and fly south from there. Proceed to the third forest south of the former town location and land. Walk around to enter the Phantom Village.
• Each shop in Phantom Village has a front-facing shopkeeper and a hidden shopkeeper.
• The Armor Shop has a crate you can click to access the hidden shop.
• A hidden side entrance to the magic shop will reveal new magic spells.
• A hidden back entrance to the pub provides clues to the area’s hidden item, located in a barrel (Thief’s Knife).
• The person downstairs wants you to travel around the world on Boko. This is a simple task, though time-consuming. He will reward you with a Mirage Vest for completing this.
• You will find the last piano (8/8) soon after.
• After this, you can locate the other weapon shop, the last piano, and a black chocobo needed for a later quest.

More Airship Exploration

• Here are some new world map-only enemies that you will not find anywhere else.
• West of Regole:
  • Frost Bull
  • Istory Lythos (can rare steal the Judgment Staff, a powerful rare staff)
  • Spizzner
• Lake near Crescent:
  • Rukh
  • Sea Devil
  • For item collectors, you can rare steal a Murasame from Rukhs (otherwise only obtainable from a rare boss drop). You can rare steal a Defender from Sea Devils (you will obtain one of these in a chest later).
• SW corner of map sea area:
  • Vilia
  • Gel Fish
• North and outer ocean:
  • Water Scorpion
• Eastern inner Sea:
  • Nix
  • Corbett (if you never defeated it before)
  • Stingray (rare)
• You can fight Stingrays, rare encounters in the inner sea on the east side of the map, to acquire the Blue Magic Mighty Guard (use Control). Stingrays also have a rare drop, the Dragon Whisker. While technically obtainable as a rare steal from the superboss Shinryu later, it is easier to acquire it here.

Blue Magic Note:
Mighty Guard – From Stingrays in the eastern inner sea. Use Control. Stingrays are rare encounters.

• After this exploration, travel to Crescent and play the piano in the SE house to learn the Hero’s Rime Bard song from the bard for having played all 8 pianos.
• Then, use Boko to travel to the waterfall in the river/mountain area in the NW part of the world map. Examine the center part of the waterfall to find the Magic Lamp.

Island Shrine Dungeon

• After completing all optional content, travel to the Island Shrine in the southern part of the central ocean area. Having ‘Find Passages’ and ‘Find Pits’ Thief abilities is helpful.
• This dungeon is not one-time only. It contains 14 chests and these enemies:
  • Prototype
  • Mecha Head
  • The Damned
  • Executor
  • Oiseaurare
  • Shadow Dancer
  • Numb Blade
  • Tot Aevis
  • Gargoyle
• Island Shrine Quick Walkthrough:
  • Fight Gargoyles and enter the door.
  • Collect the chest and continue.
  • Enter the vent. The room it drops you into has two switches AND two hidden chests, one in the SE corner and one in the SW corner, just one tile up from the corner itself.
• Flip both levers down to have the vent lead to a chest.
• Flip levers Up | Down to have the vent lead to another chest.
• Flip levers Down | Up to proceed.
• The rest of the level is straightforward. Use your map to locate chests and hidden paths.

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Blue Magic Note:
Mind Blast – From the Wendigo boss in the Island Shrine.

• Obtain the tablet at the end and fight Wendigo (learn the Blue Magic Mind Blast). Teleport out of the shrine.
• Travel to Kuza Sealed Castle again to obtain three more Sealed Weapons.

Fork Tower

One-Time-Only Dungeon Warning – Fork Tower: Fork Tower is a one-time-only dungeon. Ensure you collect all 4 chests and encounter all enemies before completing it.

Fork Tower is unique as your party splits into two groups to complete it. Upon entering the tower, check your in-game map. It will indicate 4 chests. However, once you split up, the separate maps for each team will strangely show 0 chests.

Ensure you encounter these enemies and collect chests (bolded enemies are new missables):

Left (Magic) side:
Tiny Mage (MISSABLE)
Chrono Controller (MISSABLE)
Flare Mancer (MISSABLE, can steal Blitz Whip)
Mani Wizard (if you never encountered before)
Ricard Mage (reportedly, though rarely encountered; you should have gotten this much earlier)
Two chests along the ascent (4F and 7F).
Boss – Minotaur. You can steal a Fuma Shuriken, but it is not particularly valuable.

Right (Physical) side:
Dueling Knight (MISSABLE)
Iron Muscles (MISSABLE)
Berserker (MISSABLE, can drop Death Sickle)
Bandersnatch (reportedly, though rarely encountered; you should have gotten this much earlier)
Two chests along the ascent (4F and 7F).
Boss – Omniscient. The rare steal is a second Kornago Gourd, the only other one obtainable, but not essential. Carbuncle summon is very helpful in this fight.

Underwater Exploration

• Travel to the catapult under Crescent and find Cid. After the scenes, you will have a submarine.
• Go underwater and use your World Map item from your inventory to see 4 dots in the submerged section of the world map.
• The NW Cave you have already visited back in World 2.
• The center spot is Mr. Clio, an NPC who provides game statistics. Ensure you enter this area at least once for achievement purposes.
• The NE spot is the submerged Tower of Walse. Travel here. Run to the end (enemies here are not in the bestiary). Against Gogo boss, simply wait for approximately two minutes doing nothing. You will acquire the Mimic Job.
• Then, proceed to The Great Sea Trench, the center-east dot on the underwater world map.

The Great Sea Trench

• Besides the usual Gargoyles, all enemies here are named ‘Unknown’.
  • Unknown (#168) – Rare
  • Unknown (#169)
  • Unknown (#170)
  • Unknown (#171)
  • Unknown (#172)
  • Gargoyle
• Note: Unknown #168 and Unknown #171 appear identical. #168 is a rare spawn. Ensure you encounter both types, although neither is missable.
• This dungeon is largely linear.
  • B2F – Simply collect the chest and proceed.
  • B3F – Just a save point.
  • B4F – This path is linear. In the second room on this floor, click the NE skull to access the chest with a Flame Ring.
  • B5F – Use Float and proceed to the next floor.
  • B6F – Two chests and continue to the next area.
  • B7F – A mini dwarf kingdom. Purchase items if needed and proceed south. In the underwater lake, travel to an alcove in the SE to charge the Magic Lamp.
  • B8F – Skip the chest in the center for now. Click the easternmost skull to obtain the last chest in the dungeon, completing your Item Collection here. Then click each of the three skulls in the SW once each, then click the center chest you skipped previously.
  • Fight the triple boss for the third tablet. Break Spellblade is effective.
• You can obtain three more sealed weapons from Kuza, The Sealed Castle.

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Istory Falls

• To reach Istory Falls, you must first travel through the Cave in the underwater NW area.
• The cave itself is the same as in World 2. Continue to Istory Falls.
  • Mercury Bat
  • Coral
  • Aquagel
  • Steel Fist
  • Alchymia (may be accompanied by a ‘???’ which she will transform into a different monster)
  • Tonberry (can drop Mirage Vest)
  • Gargoyle
• This dungeon is linear. Even in the room that appears to be a fork, both branches ultimately lead to the same room. Use ‘Find Passages’ and ‘Find Pits’ to locate all chests. Refer to your map as well.
• At the end, fight Leviathan and obtain the Leviathan summon.
• Obtain the final three sealed weapons from Kuza, The Sealed Castle.

9. The Final Stretch

Final Sidequests

• Use the black chocobo obtained from Phantom Village to fly to the large desert in the NE corner of the map.
• A few final world map enemies are found here:
  • Ankheg
  • Ammonite
  • Landcrawler (check the SE section of the desert, use Death magic to defeat quickly)

Phoenix Tower

• Enter Phoenix Tower on the south side of the desert.
  • Lemure
  • Parthenope
  • Cherie
• Phoenix Tower is a 30-floor tower. Most floors have two exits, one trapped and one safe. Trapped exits will simply lead to a winnable battle.
• Every 5 floors, you will see two pots. Both contain an item to collect, but one of each pair is a Magic Pot enemy. Avoid fighting Magic Pots directly. Instead, give them an Elixir.
• At the top of Phoenix Tower, you will obtain the Phoenix summon.

Blue Magic Note:
Roulette – From Parthenopes in Phoenix Tower. If you have acquired all other Blue Magic spells listed in this guide, this should be the final one. Otherwise, consult our Final Fantasy V Blue Magic Guide.

North Mountain

• Now travel to the NE side of the desert to re-enter North Mountain.
• Simply follow the linear path to fight Bahamut. Flare Spellblade + Rapidfire combo is effective here.
• You will earn Bahamut as a summon.

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10. The Interdimensional Rift

• This is the final dungeon in the game. None of the enemies or chests here are missable from this point onward. Only some stealable items from bosses are unique, which will be highlighted.
• For more detailed strategies on bosses in this area, consult our Final Fantasy V Boss Guide.

Interdimensional Rift – The Desert

• No new enemies or chests in this section. Simply continue to the next area.

Interdimensional Rift – The Ruins

• New enemies in this section include:
  • Grenade
  • Baldanders
  • Death Dealer
• The path is relatively linear, leading to 6 chests (6/22 for the area).

Interdimensional Rift – The Phantom Village

• No new enemies or chests in this section. Simply continue onward.

Interdimensional Rift – The Forest

• New enemies in this section include:
  • White Flame
  • Moss Fungus
  • Farfarello
• Use your map to locate 4 more chests (10/22 for the area).
• Boss – Calofisteri. No unique steals or significant strategies. Poison attacks are effective.

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Interdimensional Rift – The Cave

• New enemies in this section include:
  • Orukat
  • Great Dragon
  • Achelon
• Use your map to locate entrances between waterfalls. Walk into a waterfall to find a chest containing an Angel Ring (11/22).
• Then continue along the linear path to find another chest with a Coral Ring (12/22).
• Optional Boss – Omega. This is one of the game’s superbosses. Thundaga Spellblade + Rapidfire is an effective strategy. No unique steals.

Interdimensional Rift – The Library

• No chests or random encounters in this section. Examine the book on the table to fight Apanda. No unique steals. Weak to Fire.

Interdimensional Rift – The Tower

• New enemies in this section include:
  • Ninja
  • Dragon Aevis
• This is a linear path with no chests. Use ‘Find Passages’ to navigate hidden areas. No boss in this section.

Interdimensional Rift – Dimension Castle

• New enemies in this section include:
  • Sword Dancer
  • Death Claw
  • Fury
  • Yojimbo
  • Iron Giant (top inner floor of the castle)
• You will fight multiple bosses in this section. Be prepared.
• Proceed to the western side hall and follow the southern path to a chest containing the Thor Hammer (13/22).
• Repeat this process on the eastern side hall for a Hermes Sandals (14/22).
• Use the staircase to enter the jail basement. Fight all the old men NPCs, who are minibosses.
• Collect two chests in the cells (16/22).
• You can optionally fight Azulmagia in the SW cell. He has Titan’s Gloves as his rare steal, the only source in the game. Blue Magic Self-Destruct is effective for quickly defeating him.
• On the right side of the jail, you will fight Catastrophe.
• Exit the jail via the right-side stairs.
• Then, ignore the central building and proceed to the west side of the jail to obtain a Man-Eater sword (17/22).
• Now enter the central building. You can descend the staircase to create a shortcut for future backtracking.
• You are about to fight Halicarnassus. Pro-tip: transform your entire party into Toads before engaging, as Halicarnassus will cast Ribbit on her first turn. You will fight her after the throne room.
• After Halicarnassus, you will fight Twintania. You can steal a second Titan’s Axe if desired, but only when Twintania is charging Giga Flare. Otherwise, use Break Spellblade when Twintania is charging.

Interdimensional Rift – Finale

• Again, consult our boss guide for detailed strategies.
• New enemies in this section include:
  • King Behemoth
  • Crystal Dragon
  • Necromancer
  • Gorgimera
  • Mindflayer
  • Crystelle
  • Belphegor
  • Mover
• This section is relatively straightforward. You will easily locate the final 5 chests, completing the Item Collection for the Interdimensional Rift (22/22 for the area). However, note a chest at the bottom of a downwards staircase. This chest houses Shinryu, one of the game’s superbosses. Defeating Shinryu rewards you with the Ragnarok sword.
• Before Shinryu, you will see Gilgamesh standing there. Fight him. He will flee quickly. Your objective is to STEAL HIS GENJI SHIELD before he escapes.
• Near the end, you will see a green light you can interact with. This triggers another boss fight, Necrophobe.
• To defeat Necrophobe, eliminate his barriers first, then damage him with any element. When Necrophobe has approximately 10,000 health remaining, Gilgamesh will appear one last time, as an ally for once. While Gilgamesh and Necrophobe banter, steal Gilgamesh’s Genji Armor, the final piece of the 4 Genji set.
• All that remains is to defeat Exdeath and save the merged world!
• Note: After beating the game, you will be prompted to create a clear save. This save will place you outside of the final dungeon as if you have completed everything up to the final boss encounter itself. Use this opportunity to collect any items or bestiary entries you may have missed at this point.

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With Exdeath defeated, enjoy the ending credits! For your next playthrough, here are the rest of our Minimalist Final Fantasy Walkthrough series: