Cornelia & Chaos Shrine

Your four Warriors of Light begin south of Cornelia with 500 Gil and the class combination you chose at the title screen. Head north into town, gear up, then march on the Chaos Shrine to rescue Princess Sarah.

Rescue Princess Sarah from the Chaos Shrine. That's the entire goal of this chapter. Your class picks are locked in, so walk straight into town and spend that starting Gil wisely.

Cornelia Town

You start with 500 Gil. There are four shops in town, here's where to spend it:

• Armor Shop: Chain Mail (80 Gil) for your Warrior, Leather Armor (50 Gil) for everyone else who can wear it
• White Magic Shop: Cure (100 Gil) for your White Mage or Red Mage
• Black Magic Shop: Fire and Thunder (100 Gil each) for your Black Mage or Red Mage
• Item Shop: Spend the rest on Potions (60 Gil each)

For Black Magic, Fire is the clear pick. Most enemies in the first few dungeons are undead or weak to it, and it'll outperform physical attacks from your caster by a wide margin. Thunder is a solid second choice. Sleep has situational uses, and Focus has no obvious application in normal play.

For White Magic, Cure is non-negotiable. Blink is worth grabbing for your squishier party members. Dia does light damage to undead and sees real use in the Chaos Shrine, where Skeletons, Zombies, and Ghouls make up the majority of encounters; it'll save your Black Mage's Fire charges for the boss. Protect sounds appealing on paper, but the defense boost is so small at this stage that you'll never notice it. Skip Protect entirely.

Skip the weapon shop unless you need a Rapier for a Thief. Monks deal comparable damage bare-handed, and it only gets better as they level up. And if your party has no caster at all, skip both magic shops too; put everything into Chain Mail and Potions.

Cornelia Castle

The castle is north of town. Talk to the guard and he'll let you through to the King. He asks you to rescue Princess Sarah from Garland, a rogue knight holding her at the Chaos Shrine to the north.

Locked rooms on both sides of the first floor hold Iron Armor, a Saber, Mythril Knife, and the Nitro Powder (a key item you'll need later). All of them are sealed behind doors that need the Mystic Key, which won't be found for a while. Leave them for now.

Grind south of town until level 3. Goblins and Wolves go down fast, and the Inn only costs 30 Gil, so run a few fights then rest between them. Level 3 is enough for the Chaos Shrine. But a Black Mage benefits from pushing to 4 for the HP bump. Level-ups don't restore HP or MP, so always hit the Inn before heading out.

Chaos Shrine

Walk north past the bridge to the large gray shrine. The encounters get tougher on the way. Warg Wolves hit noticeably harder than the Goblins around town, and Werewolves are the biggest physical threat you'll face this early, dealing double the damage of anything near Cornelia. Keep your HP above 20 between fights or you'll risk a wipe from an unlucky opening round.

There are four rooms inside, one in each corner. Grab the chests from the two west rooms before fighting Garland:

• Northwest room: Potion, Tent
• Southwest room: Leather Cap

Put the Leather Cap on your White Mage or Black Mage. The two east rooms are locked (the Mystic Key again). They hold a Werebuster, Gold Needle, and Rune Blade, so make a note to come back. You can see the full Chaos Shrine chest list for details on what's behind those doors.

Ghouls are the real threat inside the shrine. They can paralyze a party member, and if that lands on your healer it's usually a reset. Skeletons, Zombies, and Ghouls are all undead, so Fire and Dia tear through them. Your first twelve bestiary entries come from this chapter alone (including the boss), so fight everything at least once. Save at least a couple of Fire casts for Garland. Warg Wolves and Gigas Worms resist magic, so leave them to your melee fighters.

If you run low on HP or MP, walk back to Cornelia and rest. It's a short trip. Once your party is topped off, head to the center of the shrine. Garland is standing at the altar with Princess Sarah; talk to him to start the fight.

Garland has 212 HP, no elemental weakness, and attacks purely with physical hits dealing 15-25 damage per turn. Have your fighters attack while the Black Mage opens with Fire. White Mage heals anyone who drops below 30 HP. At level 3, the fight takes 3-4 rounds.

Rescuing Princess Sarah

After the fight, Sarah teleports your party back to Cornelia Castle. The King orders the bridge north of town rebuilt, and Sarah gives you the Lute. It has no obvious use right now, but hold onto it. The Chaos Shrine itself is revisited at the very end of the game as the final dungeon, and the Lute is what gets you past its sealed floor. Talk to the NPCs around the castle and town if you want; many have new dialogue after the rescue. Level 3-4 is a comfortable place to be heading into the next chapter.

Sarah's teleport doesn't restore HP or MP, so head back to Cornelia and rest at the Inn. Stock up on Potions and grab a couple of Antidotes; the enemies past the bridge can poison you. Pick up any spells you skipped earlier if you have the Gil for it.

Cross the bridge for a cutscene, then follow the coast east toward Pravoka, where you'll deal with Bikke's pirates and earn your first ship.