Cave of Mysidia

The Cave of Mysidia sits east of town, tucked inside a ring of mountains. Five floors of hidden walls, undead, and status-inflicting enemies stand between you and the Crystal Rod. This chapter has 19 chests, 2 new bestiary entries, and one new location.

Reaching the cave

Head back to Mysidia first. Rest at the inn and restock on Ethers and Antidotes. Make sure you have the Black Mask from Tropical Island; a doppelganger on B1 won't let you pass without it.

From Mysidia, head north and then east along the coast. When the mountains open up, cut south into the gap. The cave entrance is inside a circular mountain range in the center of the continent; enter through the small opening on the right side.

Cave of Mysidia

Malboros (750 HP, 50 ATK) are the biggest threat inside. Bad Breath hits your entire party with multiple status effects, and if everyone gets paralyzed at once, you're watching a slow wipe with no way to recover. Keep Esuna leveled to at least 3; anything lower and the cure rate is too unreliable. Maiden's Kisses work as a backup but only fix one ailment at a time.

Death Flowers and Gigantoads (450 HP, 40 ATK) are common on the earlier floors. Neither is individually dangerous, but Death Flowers can poison your whole party and the damage adds up between fights. Changers morph into copies of stronger enemies; kill them fast before the transformation completes. Brains and Parasites both use status magic that can disable your casters at bad moments. And the undead here (Ghasts, Revenants, Wraiths, Specters) are weak to Fire and Holy. If you bought Holy in Mysidia, this dungeon is where it starts paying for itself.

B1. Go left from the entrance and follow the path all the way west to the far wall. Down the stairs for Chest 1 (Gold Hairpin). Head back east and take the first south path to a four-way intersection. Go right and down the stairs for Chest 2 (Black Garb). Continue south and east until you reach a doppelganger of Firion blocking the door. Use the Black Mask from your key items to dispel it. Take the stairs down to B2.

B2. Up the stairs from the entrance and north past the first split, then east to the end. Down the stairs for Chest 3 (Power Staff). Head back up, then east and south past a split. The third wall tile from the bottom on the right side is a hidden passage; walk through it and head north for Chest 4 (Flame Lance). Both the Power Staff and Flame Lance are sold in Mysidia's weapon shop, so these chests save you 23,000 Gil if you held off on buying them. Exit back through the hidden wall and go all the way west, then south through the door at the bottom-left to reach B3.

B3. Up the stairs and left. Another hidden wall here; the fourth tile from the bottom above the long wall on the west side lets you pass. Walk through for Chest 5 (Ice Bow), then back out and south. Take the first right and follow the path around to Chest 6 (Ogrekiller), which is guarded by 5 Bombs. Kill them quickly before they self-destruct; the explosion deals heavy damage to your entire party. Skip the first door you pass and take the second one to reach B4.

B4. Head south, up the stairs, then west. Follow the path around to the top-right corner for Chest 7 (Potion). Go south to find three doors. The middle one leads to a room with Chests 8-10: Phoenix Down, Bell of Silence, and Gold Needle. Exit the room and head to the bottom-right corner; the door there leads down to B5.

B5. Chest 11 (Drain Tome) is on the right side near the entrance, guarded by 5 Ghosts. Holy makes quick work of them. Head south and east, then north along the right wall. Just before the grassy area ends, there's a hidden passage on the left; walk through for Chest 12 (Mini Tome), then north inside the hidden area for Chests 13-16 (Potion, Ether, two Hi-Potions).

Exit through the hidden passage and continue north around the room. Head west, then south down the stairs, then all the way west and north through the door. The final room holds Chests 17-19: Drain Tome, Crystal Rod, and Osmose Tome. Osmose is worth learning on your primary caster; it drains MP from enemies, which keeps you fueled during long dungeon stretches without burning through Ethers. Drain is situationally useful for self-healing when you can't spare a turn for Cure.

Teleport out once you have the Crystal Rod. Sail north from Mysidia toward the Mysidian Tower. But the trip doesn't go as planned; the next chapter is a one-time dungeon with 5 permanently missable chests (including the Gaia Blade), so save before sailing.