Final Fantasy VI Walkthrough

Written by Djibriel

Contributor

3.4: The Cloister of Trials and the Seal of Darkness

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Inner Eye Labyrinth
5/16	Landworm	2
5/16	Great Behemoth	1
5/16	Great Malboro	2
5/16	Abaddon	1
1/16	Abaddon	1
1/16	Magic Dragon	1

Cloister of Trials
5/16	Death Rider	1
5/16	Armodullahan	1
5/16	Maximera	1
1/16	Crystal Dragon	1

We're still cruising with Party 3. Having saved at the Shrine of Repose, let's get into the opening to the left. Checking your menu reveals this is the Inner Eye Labyrinth. Let's keep our eye out for those 'molten pools', then. Walk to the right and around the rock until you see a 4 ton weight that, for no apparent reason, is located there. Ignore it for now and walk over the bridge below. In the far right corner here, there's an invisible chest containing an X-Potion. To the left there's nothing...yet. Head back over the bridge and knock the 4 ton weight down to reveal a rock. Great, more rocks. Just what we needed. Past the weight is a Seal of Darkness blocking an opening in the rocks and two lava pools. Your sensei calls to you: "If ye would face a drake divine, search ye between the molten pools within the Inner Eye..." So, search between the two 'eyes' to create a distant sound. Rocks and distant sounds, that's what this Dragon's Den is about. We're done in this Inner Eye Labyrinth, so get out and into the Grand Cavern.

Save again at the Shrine of Repose if you want to, and go down and right so you walk on the landbridges there. There's really one way to go, hopping across two chests. When you reach land again, you can see an opening to the Dragon Temple, but all you reach is the same turtle pond you saw earlier. You could get across if only the turtle was in the middle. Head back and face the most horrible thing ever. Here's the thing. Remember the world inside the Zone Eater, where you had to hop across the land bridges filled with the inexplicable green-clad humanoids that were bent on pushing you off? It's the same here, only it's quite a bit longer and harder, not to mention that, upon failure, you’re faced by no small detour but a slogging through the Cloister of Trials, which basically puts you in a random-encounter filled room where the floating blue flames are all mini-bosses. The green-clad characters, in the meantime, remain an enigma. Since I hate them so much and because they wear hats, I'll refer to them as the GAs. What does that stand for? Well, we'll just consider the hats to be a very specific kind of hat that starts with "a."

First, I'll just describe the route from this point to the next dragon. After that, I'll talk about the Cloister of Trials, after that I'll get you informed about the business with Skull Dragon (Redux). 'Kay?

First, jump to the right of the GA and go all the way down, just to pick up the treasure. The chest contains a Relic

Celestriad. Bet you didn't think it was going to be so awesome, right? You're now on the same bridge as the GA, but you'll need to jump to the other one and then to the left of the GA in order to continue. Once you're past the little curve, you're safe. Two jumps now, and you'll want to land on the right side of the GA. Quickly jump to the other bridge. Make three more safe jumps and face another GA, the worst of them all. The other GA, behind the first, would make you think there's more to see further up, but this is untrue. See the bridge to your left, one down from the one the GA is occupying? We'll need to get there, and the only way there is by jumping to the right of the GA and hope he walks far enough to the left so you can jump to the other bridge. Fun! If you made it, you can jump to a chest with an Elixir. Down is nothing, up is a Seal of Lightning, a chest with an X-Ether and even further along the logical path is, there it is, Skull Dragon (Redux)! This is all assuming you didn't fall down due to the pushiness of the GA's, which I'm sure you did, as did I a few times. If you have no intention of checking out the Cloister of Trials and actually are bad enough of a dude to make it across the first time, go skip the next section.

If you got shoved off the walkway, read on. Wherever you got pushed off doesn't matter, as you'll always land in the exact same spot. There's only one way to go, so go there. You'll encounter the first blue flame. Every blue flame here is a mini-boss. All of them are immune to Control and Sword

Ragnarok's effects, but Joker's Death works against them.

Death Rider is the worst. It has a large array of attacks, including !Pox (double damage),

Death spells, Metal Cutter, Poltergeist and Freezing Dust. His worst attacks are Blaster, which he can use on his first turn; he'll randomly single-target or multi-target it, so if your Magic Evasion is in the gutter, you're screwed. In addition, every third turn Death Rider will use a Hyperdrive attack, which you can either absorb with Runic or have it kill a character. Luckily, Death Rider is an Undead creature (so a Holy Water or

Raise spell will instantly dispatch it) which is also vulnerable to instant death attacks,

Esuna and

Silence. Quickly cancel out the threat and kill it with violence.

Crystal Dragon is clear-cut wicked. Immune to status ailments, no elemental weaknesses, no sissy magic spells. Just powerful physicals and !Needle Breath which is like a powerful physical, only more powerful. It may rarely use Cyclonic to bring you all to your knees, but that's about it. When it dies, it will use a hilariously ineffective Gale Cut attack, so no worries there. Just pound it 'til it rolls over.

Maximera will counter any attack with !Stone Gaze, which sets Petrify on a single target. Of course, it will also attack thrice every turn, randomly using physicals and Blaze, Absolute Zero and/or

Aqua Breath, but it will mainly just counter with !Stone Gaze. It's immune to every status ailments, so just summon Esper

Golem or something or cure every struck character with

Esuna to defeat it.

Earth Eater Bestiary #370	Type	Level	HP	MP	Gil	EXP
	None	97	36000	1400	0	5000
	Strength	Magic Atk.	Evasion	Defense	Mag. Def.	Mag. Evade
	70	30	0	10	80	0
	Stolen Items			Dropped Items
	None			None
	Status Immunities			Elemental Immunities
				None
	Elemental Absorb			Elemental Weakness
	None
	Lores			Command Immunities
	None			Control
	Strategy
	This hulking brute will just attack physically two times every turn, and will counter any attack you use against it with !Megaton Punch, which kills anything it touches. If you cast Vanish, you can avoid its effects easily enough. Stop also works against it. If you Sketch Earth Eater, it may have a 25% chance of instantly killing it with its own attack. Expand Full Strategy

After the Earth Eater, you'll eventually face a split between paths going to the right or going down. To the right you'll face Malboro Menace, going down will pit you against Gargantua. Both are easy opponents, but Gargantua may leave you with a Relic

Growth Egg if you're lucky.

Malboro Menace Bestiary #372	Type	Level	HP	MP	Gil	EXP
	None	92	15000	2000	0	5000
	Strength	Magic Atk.	Evasion	Defense	Mag. Def.	Mag. Evade
	13	9	0	144	109	0
	Stolen Items			Dropped Items
	Common: Hi-Potion Rare: Potion			Common: Potion
	Status Immunities			Elemental Immunities
				None
	Elemental Absorb			Elemental Weakness

	Lores			Command Immunities
	None			Control
	Strategy
	Malboro Menace will just try to take you down with status-inducing attacks such as the bloody obvious Bad Breath and the surprising Diabolic Whistle and some physicals. A rare !Tentacle sets Poison, so that's not too bad. Whenever you attack the thing, it has a 1/3 chance it'll counter with a Blaster attack on a random character, so that sucks. Also, whenever you kill the Malboro Menace, two appear; when you kill the last one of those two, four appear. That's a multitude of Malboro. Luckily, Malboro Menace is vulnerable to instant death attacks, which allows is to circumvent both troubles; target with Malboro Menace with either Banish, Shin-Zantetsuken or some such and you should never see more than the initial one. Note that only instant death attacks that stall counterattacks work like that; Malboro Menace will be more than happy to multiply after being successfully struck by a Death spell. Expand Full Strategy

Gargantua Bestiary #371	Type	Level	HP	MP	Gil	EXP
	Humanoid	85	30000	1500	0	5000
	Strength	Magic Atk.	Evasion	Defense	Mag. Def.	Mag. Evade
	67	0	55	100	100	0
	Stolen Items			Dropped Items
	None			Common: Growth Egg
	Status Immunities			Elemental Immunities
				None
	Elemental Absorb			Elemental Weakness
	None
	Lores			Command Immunities
	None			Control
	Strategy
	Gargantua's the biggest, baddest giant out there. With emphasis on 'bad'. Physical attacks are pretty powerful coming from this guy, but the Quake spell is laughably weak so no worries there. Trading blows with this guy is no problem whatsoever but Esuna/Phantom'll net you invulnerability easily enough. Expand Full Strategy

Whichever you choose to beat, you'll be able to walk up and choose between two opponents for your last mandatory fight. To the right is Abyss Worm, to the left is Dark Behemoth. Dark Behemoth is the quicker fight if you have access to the

Banish spell.

Dark Behemoth Bestiary #374	Type	Level	HP	MP	Gil	EXP
	None	91	38000	9999	0	5000
	Strength	Magic Atk.	Evasion	Defense	Mag. Def.	Mag. Evade
	27	15	0	115	151	0
	Stolen Items			Dropped Items
	Common: Behemoth Suit Rare: Phoenix Down			Common: Phoenix Down
	Status Immunities			Elemental Immunities
				None
	Elemental Absorb			Elemental Weakness

	Lores			Command Immunities
	None			Control
	Strategy
	Dark Behemoth will start the fight by using Mighty Guard to buff itself up, then start pounding you with powerful physical attacks until you kill it. This is where the trouble is; at the end, Dark Behemoth sees it fit to bid you adieu with either a Meteor spell (deals around 2200 damage to all characters) or an Ultima spell (deals more than double that). Again, like with Malboro Menace, we are lucky enough to work around this nastiness with Banish. Should you lack the Banish spell, Celes' or Gogo's Runic blade (Swordbreaker works with Runic) or any Jumping character will have you surviving the situation. Expand Full Strategy

Abyss Worm Bestiary #373	Type	Level	HP	MP	Gil	EXP
	None	91	34000	60000	0	5000
	Strength	Magic Atk.	Evasion	Defense	Mag. Def.	Mag. Evade
	23	10	0	180	150	0
	Stolen Items			Dropped Items
	Common: Elixir			Common: Phoenix Down
	Status Immunities			Elemental Immunities

	Elemental Absorb			Elemental Weakness

	Lores			Command Immunities
	None			Control
	Strategy
	"If you walk without rhythm, you won't attract the worm". If only it were that simple! Abyss Worm is the nastiest creature of the Cloister of Trials, as its defenses are so omni-present. It has quite a lot of Defense and will either absorb or negate any magical damage unless it's Holy- or non-elemental. Few characters will be able to apply their full force versus this thing. It's primarily a trading between damage and healing, as there's little you can do about this thing's attacks. Expand Full Strategy

Either way, you'll be free to walk to the light at the end of the tunnel. A bright beam will shine down upon you; stand under it to be transported outside of it, back to the Grand Cavern where you can once again start your journey. Big bummer: if you get pushed off again, all the mini-bosses will reappear. Don't fret too much however; if you summon Esper

Phantom against Earth Eater and just

Banish Malboro Menace and Dark Behemoth, going through the Cloister of Trials shouldn't take you too much time.

You made it! Sweet. For your defiant attitude in the face of extreme tedium, you are rewarded with the most annoying thing to cross Japanese borders so far. I know I pretty frequently badmouth opponents in the walkthrough here, but believe you me: Skull Dragon (Redux) will give both a run for their money. It is "Ugh..." in monster form. It is simply anti-fun. It is the opposite of Batman.

Skull Dragon (Redux) Bestiary #381	Type	Level	HP	MP	Gil	EXP
	None	97	61000	14000	0	0
	Strength	Magic Atk.	Evasion	Defense	Mag. Def.	Mag. Evade
	40	15	0	200	120	20
	Stolen Items			Dropped Items
	Common: Holy Water			Common: Scorpion Tail
	Status Immunities			Elemental Immunities
				None
	Elemental Absorb			Elemental Weakness

	Lores			Command Immunities
	None			Control
	Strategy
	On the offense, Skull Dragon is everything you'd expect. It will try to set a multitude of statuses, the most dangerous of which is Zombie. It has a few direct-damage moves, which include spooky necromancer moves such as Bio, Will o' the Wisp and a powerful physical. For some reason it has a particular hatred for Terra, who will be targeted by a Disaster attack every fourth turn. Ain't that cute. The nastiest move is probably Lv. 5 Death, if your levels are wrong. Safety Bits and Memento Rings help out there. It's on the defense that the dragon gets nasty. You can't kill this thing in the traditional sense of the word. Unlike Red Dragon Redux however, it lacks the common sense to auto-terminate. The only two ways to kill Skull Dragon are Joker's Death and... draining its MP. That's right, using Rasp 'til it rolls over. Did you take a look at the fact that this dragon has 14000 MP? This is a very simple fight, but since Squenix felt particularly sadistic that day and decided to make us repeat the same thing for half an hour after figuring it out in the first place. It's like making a movie from a Saturday Night Live sketch. We got the point in the first five minutes, why oh why did Will Ferrell sign up for this? Anyway, it's pretty important that you don't die in the eternity it takes to kill Skull Dragon (Redux), so Ribbon up. If you lack four Ribbons, Amulets are the best replacements. Earrings are great to boost the Rasp spell. That's about it. Use Hastega to use more Rasp spells. Use the Maginot Line to make sure you're not prevented from using Rasp spells. Try not to nod off when using Rasp spells. When you feel like you're getting pretty sick of all the Rasp spells, it is probably time to use about 50 more Rasp spells. Games are fun! Expand Full Strategy

"The Seal of Darkness is broken!" We saw but one Seal of Darkness, this being the one in the Inner Eye Labyrinth which was accessible near the Shrine of Repose. Turns out it was the only one, too. In addition to the breaking of the Seal of Darkness, a stairway is revealed. This allows us to circumvent the GA's and whatever the hell their problem is. A little late, but still cool.

The Special

Scorpion Tail is Gogo's weapon. It gives some sweet all-around stat boosts, is Poison-elemental and randomly casts

Bio, so it's a pretty interesting weapon. Too bad it doesn't come with any kind of Evasion; some defenses would've been real cool on Gogo. Too bad. At least the Special

Scorpion Tail's

Bio is quadrupled in power when Gogo uses !Catscratch through the Stray Cat Rage.

It's time to head back to the Shrine of Repose. Descend the newly created staircase, hop over the chests to the left side of 'em, all the way to the west and then all the way to the north for the Shrine of Repose. Save up and enter the Inner Eye Labyrinth. Seek out the button tile there; it's to the left. Now, switch to Party 2!

Switch to Party 2

All you have to with this party is get off the button tile and walk up into the Grand Cavern and into the Shrine of Repose so it doesn't get stuck when we go out partying all night with Party 1.

Switch to Party 1

Walk up to the opening there, abandoning the button tile. You'll just walk into the Inner Eye Labyrinth, where a stone is being kept up for you by Party 3. Hop across and land on the lower level. There's a Armor

Force Armor in a chest here, to your left, so go grab it. You quickly discover there's nothing more for you here but a Seal of Heaven you can't do anything about, so go switch back to Party 3.

Switch to Party 3

Step off the button tile and go up, where the rock is that was created by the four ton weight a while ago. You'll reach a new button tile there; go stand on that one.

Switch to Party 1

You'll see a new stone appearing. Go stand on the small ledge and you'll jump a level up. You can now enter the Shrine of Repose, so go there and meet up with Party 2.

Switch to Party 3

You can now walk to the Shrine of Repose as well to meet up with the rest of your expedition. We've only laid the smackdown on two more dragons since the last time we met up, which is kind of disappointing, but at least we can use the GAs as an excuse. For the next part, just pick your strongest party (the one with the strongest focus on

Arise and

Reraise and damage dealing); we'll take it back after its ordeal so it doesn't really matter which one. The

Force Field Lore will come in handy.

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Caves of Narshe: Final Fantasy VI
Version 6
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