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Final Fantasy V Walkthrough

Written by  Djibriel
Contributor

2.2: Galuf to the Rescue

Enemies: Tarantula, Shell Bear, Gilgamesh

It seems Exdeath had a lot of followers waiting for him on Galuf's World. There's a castle and there's an army of monsters, and you're in the middle of it, being held hostage in a jail cell. Resistance is useless. Not even Bartz' Superman reference helps out here.

Galuf appears not to be the type to be impressed by terrorists. He rushes to the castle on a Wind Drake's back, leaving his army behind to rescue his friends Rambo-style. Wait, there're Wind Drakes on this planet as well? When you're able to control him again, he'll be by his lonesome in a dungeon with random encounters. They're fit for the situation though, so extremely easy.

Tarantulas are weak to Ice-elemental attacks, but with 200 HP they won't live through anything anyway. They may use Web which sets Slow, but only if you let them live to allow them. They always drop Potions.

Shell Bears are a bit bulkier at 380 HP, but you should still be able to kill them with whatever you use. They have a rare SpearSpear for stealing, which is horrible. It's an even weaker weapon than the SpearMythril Spear (the weakest Lance you can have at the moment) but it's unique so you'll probably want one. Luckily, Shell Bear has no common Steal item so just continue trying until you've got it. You can cast OToad or OPond's Chorus to make life easier on you in the meantime.

The only door you can enter leads to a Save Point: make of that what you will. This first area is devoid of monsters. Basements 2 & 3 have Shell Bears and Tarantulas in them, but they shouldn't be much trouble. At the end of B3, Gilgamesh waits for you.
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh
Bestiary #267
Type
Level
HP
MP
Gil
EXP
Speed
Humanoid
26
11500
2000
0
0
25
Strength
Attack Mult.
Magic Atk.
Evasion
Defense
Mag. Def.
Mag. Evade
40
6
0
0
0
0
0
Stolen Items
Dropped Items
None
Common: Elixir
Command Immunities
Elemental Immunities
Catch, Control, Scan
None
Elemental Absorb
Elemental Weakness
None
None
Blue Magic
Status Immunities
None
PoisonToadPetrifyConfuseParalyzeSleep
 
Strategy
 
You don't need to KO Gilgamesh here to win the battle; he will flee when damaged somewhat. If you want to actually KO him, he must be Stopped so that you can pick away at him quickly with physicals, OGravity or ODeath Claw.
 



A short introduction of Gilgamesh is in order, I believe. Gilgamesh set the tone for upcoming Final Fantasy games; a recurring villain that's more of a comic relief than anything else. Gilgamesh himself would later appear in other Final Fantasy games, switching between a powerful adversary or ally wielding legendary weapons or an incompetent but fierce warrior who wields cheap and useless imitations of said weapons. Surprisingly enough, Gilgamesh is one of the very few characters in the Final Fantasy games that's supposed to be a single entity; his appearance is often justified by 'traveling through dimensions'. Anyway, at this point Gilgamesh is at the starting point of his long career, and but a lackey to Lord Exdeath.

The purpose of this fight is to damage Gilgamesh slightly so that he runs away. However if you actually manage to 'kill' Gilgamesh, you'll get an Elixir! If you want to get it, you'll need !Time. !Blue is very helpful as well, though not necessary. For winning the battle, just !Time will get the job done quickly enough as OGravity prompts him to escape immediately. Just with damage, you only need to deal 1500 HP damage to him, his defenses are absent and his attacks are nothing to worry about. A KnifeMain Gauche and AccessoryElven Mantle both help, but are not necessary. For Clothes Galuf, anything with Counter works, and Heavy Armor Galuf has the power of the Berserker on his side. You can't really lose.

Note: Unlike other monsters, Gilgamesh will make a showing in your Bestiary even if you don't kill him directly.

If you're going for the kill, cast OSlow on Gilgamesh and OHaste on yourself. Wait for Gilgamesh to take a turn, then cast OStop on him. If it works, the next turn, cast ODeath Claw; if it connects he now has but a single digit of HP and is Stopped (he's immune to Paralyze) which is what you wanted. Quickly casting a succession of OGravity spells 'til he's in killing range also works, though make sure you don't run out of Stop's timer.

At any rate, Galuf liberates his friends (don't worry, they're all still equipped with equipment and Jobs) so you can get out. You can once again Save at the Save Point. It's time to get back to Galuf's Castle and regroup, so we'll have to cross the Big Bridge.

Caves of Narshe: Final Fantasy V
Version 6
©1997–2024 Josh Alvies (Rangers51)

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