Jade Passage

Leon joins your party permanently. Before heading to the Jade Passage, pick up Excalibur from Castle Deist and verify your bestiary is up to date. Everything past this chapter is endgame.

Castle Fynn

The Wyvern drops you in Castle Fynn's throne room after the events at Castle Palamecia. Leon is your permanent fourth party member now, so give him your best spare armor and the Blood Sword.

Firion walks out automatically, but head back into the throne room and talk to Hilda. She teaches you Jade Passage, the final password.

Ask Hilda and Gordon about the new keyword to learn that the passage leads underground to Pandaemonium, where the Emperor has established his new base.

Obtaining Excalibur

Before heading to the Jade Passage, there's a quick detour to Castle Deist. Board your Airship and fly northeast.

Once you've landed, go inside the castle and visit the mother and child on the second floor. Talk to her and ask about Dragoons.

She hands you Excalibur, one of the strongest swords in the game (second only to Masamune). Put it on Guy since his sword skill should be high enough to make full use of it; Leon needs the Blood Sword for the bosses ahead.

Levelling Up for Trophies

The Weapon Tactics and Magic Tactics trophies require level 16 in their respective skills, and this is your last comfortable opportunity to grind them before the final dungeons.

Weapon Tactics. Give Guy two weak swords (Longswords work fine) and have everyone else Defend. Set Firion to Cure All if damage gets too low, then use auto-battle with boost mode to speed through the grind.

Magic Tactics. If you've been casting Cure throughout the game, it should already be at 16. Otherwise, have three party members Defend while Firion casts Cure on the group repeatedly. Stock up on Ethers and use boost mode.

Prep and Bestiary Check

Board the Airship and fly southwest. The Jade Passage entrance is near some mountains on the edge of a large landmass. Before you land, check your bestiary. You should only be missing 22 entries at this point:

#034, #037, #047, #060, #062, #064, #067, #069, #070, #072, #075, #089, #092, #095, #119, #122, #123, #124, #125, #126, #127, #128.

If you're missing anything else, go back and hunt it down now since you won't be able to return easily after entering the passage.

When you're stocked up and ready, fly to the passage in the middle of the map where the continents are separated by water. Just below the mountains on the left side, you'll spot a large hole. Land and enter.

Jade Passage

Fourteen chests, a hidden magic vendor behind a waterfall, and three boss-level monster chests. The waterfalls deal 1 HP per step to each party member; heal after each crossing.

Abyss Worms (1,290 HP, 150 ATK) are the most dangerous random encounter here and they hit nearly as hard as some of the boss monsters. Salamanders (1,290 HP, 100 ATK) resist physical attacks and fight in groups. Great Malboros (1,290 HP, 85 ATK) carry the same Bad Breath stunlock from earlier dungeons, except now they have more HP to survive your opening burst. And Chimera Sphinxes (1,140 HP) cast high-level status magic that can disable multiple party members at once. Hecteyes and Pit Fiends round out the encounters but are handled with standard physical attacks.

B1. From the teleporter, walk south into the passage. East and then south for Chest 1 (Diamond Mace). Southwest corner holds Chest 2 (Hellfire). Head east and through the door to B2.

B2. Top-left for Chest 3 (Hellfire), then follow the water path right and around the bend. A small passage branches right for Chest 4 (Antarctic Wind). South of it is Chest 5 (Cat Claws), but opening it triggers a boss fight.

From Chest 5, go east until you hit a wall, then up through a narrow passage between the vines. Door to B3 is at the top.

B3. Follow the path and take the first set of stairs down. Walk up the steps when you see Chest 6 (Rune Axe), which triggers another boss fight.

Go back down and continue on the path. Skip the door and keep working your way down, following the path underneath the waterfall where a mage sells Berserk, Death, Flare, and Haste Tomes. Buy Berserk and Haste if you haven't already; both are critical for the bosses in Pandaemonium. Three doors ahead, take the rightmost one for B4.

B4. North to Chest 7 (Betrayal Fang) near some spiky rock. Go around the left side of the rock and continue north to a door leading to a room with Chests 8, 9, and 10 (Aegis Shield, Dragon Armor, Holy Lance). Exit and go east to the top-right corner for Chest 11 (Yoichi Bow), which triggers the final boss fight in this dungeon.

From the chest, head south to the bottom-right corner and through the door to B5.

B5. Follow the path and grab Chest 12 (Hi-Potion) as it curves left, then Chest 13 (Protect Ring) straight ahead. Skip the door. Chest 14 (Elixir) is tucked into the eastern wall before the path bends down toward the exit. But don't rush past the encounters on this floor; several of the enemies here are needed for your bestiary and won't be found anywhere else.

B6. Follow the path to the purple telepad at the end. This warps you straight into Pandaemonium, the final dungeon. Save before you step on it. The remaining 11 bestiary entries are all found inside, and there's no way back once you enter.