Crescent Lake & Mount Gulg

With the Earth Crystal restored, sail southwest from Melmond past the Cavern of Earth peninsula. Keep going west across the sea until you hit the eastern shore of the next continent. Dock at the port and walk southwest through the forest, around the crescent-shaped lake until you get to town.

Crescent Lake

Crescent Lake sits at the edge of a forest shaped like its namesake. The overworld around here is tougher than Melmond. Ankhegs burrow underground and ambush with moderate physical damage, Hill Gigas can still two-shot your mages, and Trolls regenerate HP each turn. Check the bestiary for full stats; none of the overworld enemies here have an elemental weakness, so save your MP for the dungeon and rely on physical attacks out here.

Cross the bridge in the northeast corner of town to find the Circle of Sages. Talk to the sage standing to the right of Lukahn and he'll give you the Canoe, which lets you travel on rivers. You'll need it to reach Mount Gulg.

Crescent Lake shops

Level 6 spells cost 13,000 Gil each. Buy only what you need; the rest can wait until after Mount Gulg when the dungeon fights have covered the cost. White Mages should leave one spell slot open for Exit after class change.

• Level 6 Black Magic: Thundaga is the must-buy. It's your strongest AoE spell right now and four of the seven river enemies are weak to Thunder. Stun has a chance to paralyze bosses but it's unreliable. Quake deals solid earth damage but misses flying enemies entirely. Death is instant-kill on paper but rarely lands on anything worth casting it on.
• Level 6 White Magic: Protera and Invisira are your boss-fight pair; both raise party defense and you'll want them for Marilith. Stona cures petrify (useful if you're low on Gold Needles). Exit teleports you out of dungeons instantly but is restricted to White Wizards and Red Wizards, so your White Mage can't learn it until after class change. Save the slot.
• Weapons: Mythril Sword (3,200 Gil) and Mythril Axe (3,600 Gil) are decent upgrades if you skipped the Wyrmkiller at Mt. Duergar. Otherwise save your Gil.
• Armor: Don't spend much here. Mount Gulg's chests have a Mythril Helm, Mythril Shield, Mythril Gloves, and Mythril Axe for free. Mythril Mail (6,000 Gil) is the only buy worth considering if your Warrior still has Iron Armor.

Red Mages can't learn any Level 6 spells until class change. If you're running one, save the Gil for now.

River to Mount Gulg

Use your new Canoe on the rivers west of Crescent Lake. Level 22-25 is comfortable for Mount Gulg.

• Paddle west until you hit a fork, take a right.
• At the second fork, take a right and then take a left.
• At the final fork, take the left and follow the path until you reach Mount Gulg.

River encounters give solid EXP if you need to grind before the dungeon. Piranhas, Crocodiles, White Crocs, and Ochus are all weak to Thunder; Thundaga wipes a full group in one cast. Red Piranhas, Neochus, and Hydras have no elemental weakness but go down to physical attacks. Encounters here are frequent and the EXP per fight is high, making this one of the better grinding spots in the game.

Mount Gulg

Seven of the new enemy types here are weak to Blizzard: Fire Elementals, Fire Hydras, Lava Worms, Hellhounds, Pyrolisks, Fire Gigas, and Fire Lizards. Blizzara handles groups; save Blizzaga for the tougher packs. Gray Ooze is the odd one out, weak to Thunder instead (same as the Marsh Cave). Red Dragons on B5 have no elemental weakness and hit extremely hard, so buff your party before engaging one. Wraiths still appear on the upper floors and burn to Fire and Dia as usual.

Mount Gulg directions

B1. No treasure. Head northwest to the stairs.

B2. 18 chests, the biggest haul in the dungeon. Skip the first door and enter the second. Work southeast to northeast, grabbing chests along the zigzag paths. The left zigzag has a Great Sword (put it on your Warrior if you're still using the Wyrmkiller). Head south into the big southwest room with 12 chests. Mythril Helm, Mythril Shield, Mythril Gloves, and Mythril Axe are all in here for free. A few chests have Lava Worms inside. Exit through the door on the right side of the room, head south through the corridor, and take a left to reach B3.

B3. No treasure. Head east to the stairs.

B4 (pass-through). No treasure. Go southeast and take the stairs back up to a different section of B3.

B3 (second section). No treasure. Go southwest to the stairs leading down to B4's treasure floors.

B4. 15 chests across six rooms. Clear them all before heading down:

• North room: 2,750 Gil and a Gold Needle. Both guarded.
• Next room south: 1,760 Gil.
• West room: 5 chests including the Ice Brand and Flame Shield. Put both on your Warrior immediately; they're your best gear for the boss fight. Two chests are guarded.
• Central room: monster guards the entrance. 1,150 and 1,155 Gil inside.
• East room: Cottage, 2,000 Gil, Potion.
• South room: Staff and 1,250 Gil. Both guarded by Fire Lizards.

Head south past the last room to reach the stairs for B5.

B5. Four chests and the boss. Head west first for the Flame Mail (guarded by a Red Dragon and Fire Lizard; equip it on your Warrior for fire resistance). Grab the three Potions from the northeast, east, and southeast rooms. Then head southwest to face Marilith. Heal up before stepping in.

Marilith

Marilith has 1,440 HP, six physical attacks per turn, and casts Fira for party-wide fire damage. She has no elemental weakness. Open with NulBlaze to cut fire damage in half, then stack Haste and Temper on your Warrior (the Ice Brand from B4 helps here). White Mage stays on Curaga every turn; Protera and Invisira both soften her physical hits.

She can also cast Hold and Dark to lock down party members or drop accuracy. But the fight ends fast if you keep pressure on. Quake has a small chance of paralyzing her if your Black Mage has a free turn, though it isn't reliable enough to count on.

Defeat Marilith and the Fire Crystal is restored. Step into the portal to exit Mount Gulg.

Take the canoe back to Crescent Lake and rest at the Inn. Pick up any Level 6 spells you skipped earlier; the fights in Mount Gulg should have earned you the Gil. Restock on healing items, then sail north to the Cavern of Ice for the Levistone and the Airship.