Mysidian Tower

Three bosses stand between you and the Ultima Tome. The Mysidian Tower is 10 floors of elemental hazards, each section themed around fire, ice, or lightning. The gear you find inside counters the boss at the end of each section. Pay attention to what you pick up and equip it before the next fight.

Floors 1-2

Use the Crystal Rod to enter. First floor has 4 chests spread around the perimeter. Top-left corner: Potion. Top-right: Ether. Bottom-right, slightly tucked away: Hi-Potion. The real find is chest 2. Walk into the right-side wall near the middle of the floor. There's a secret passage leading to a White Robe. Equip it on your healer immediately.

Head up the stairs in the center. Second floor: go up from your starting position, hit the wall, then right. Follow that path for chests 5 and 6 (Spider Silk, Phoenix Down) in the top-right corner. Back down and left past the stairs, follow the left path all the way to the end for chest 7 (Elixir). Stairs to the next area are in the bottom-right corner.

Basilisks show up starting here; they can petrify a character in one hit. Carry Gold Needles. Malboro Terra is the upgrade from regular Malboro, and yes, Bad Breath is worse. Kill them before they act or you'll spend three turns curing status effects.

Floors 3-4: Fire Section

The third floor has fire on the ground that hurts with every step. Skip every door along the left side and go straight to the leftmost door. Through that door, cross to the right for chest 8: Flame Sword. Back out and up the central stairs. Top-right corner has chest 9: Flame Helm. Go left past a door to find chest 10: Flame Armor. Then through that door to the next area.

Fourth floor. A mage in red blocks the stairs. That's your first Gigas.

Easiest of the three Gigas. If your Blizzard is at level 6 or higher (and it should be by now), this fight lasts two rounds. Maybe three. His Boulders attack hits hard but Blink dodges it entirely. Cast Protect as backup and pour on the ice magic.

Floors 5-6: Ice Section

After Fire Gigas, head up the stairs. Fifth floor has ice covering the ground. Each step hurts. Go down and left, take the stairs, follow the path for chest 11 (Cottage). Back out. From your starting position, go around the stairs to the top-left corner for chest 12: Ice Shield. Down past the stairs on the left side, then right for chest 13: Ice Gloves. Follow the snaking path and chest 14 (Ice Brand) sits tucked next to a wall. Stairs to floor 6 are in the top-right corner.

Sixth floor is a short corridor. Chest 15 (Acid Phial) is on the right side as you head up toward the exit. Through the door, a mage in blue waits.

Remember that Flame gear from floor 3? Equip it now. The Flame Sword deals fire damage on every swing, and the Flame Helm and Armor resist his Blizzard attacks. Between that and Fire spells from your caster, Ice Gigas goes down fast. He's got 200 more HP than Fire Gigas and hits a bit harder, but the strategy's the same. Buff, blast, done.

Floors 7-8: Thunder Gigas

Seventh floor. Electricity panels on the ground deal damage like the fire and ice before them. Head right from the start and go all the way to the right side for chest 16: Elixir. Back left and down, then left across to the other side. Head down, avoid the door on your right, go left and up for chest 17: Sage's Wisdom (permanent Intelligence boost). Use it on your best mage. Exit through the door at the top-left and up the stairs.

Eighth floor. Go directly right for chest 18: Saint's Spirit (permanent Spirit boost). Use it on your healer. Continue right past the door, up to the top-right for chest 19: Hourglass. Go left around the pillars for chest 20: Spider Silk. Exit through the door on the left.

A mage in green. The hardest Gigas.

This one's a real fight. Thunder Gigas has 150 Attack, 150 Defense, and his Thunderbolt hits everybody. Physical attacks bounce off that defense. You need Scourge (the poison spell from Tropical Island) leveled to at least 5 or 6 for reliable damage. But if you didn't level Scourge? Long, painful slugfest. Blink and Protect are mandatory. Sleep can work if it's high level, buying you free turns. Don't be stingy with Ethers.

Floors 9-10

Ninth floor. From the starting position, head right and go up to a wider central corridor. Follow it all the way up. At the top, go right for chest 21: Flare Tome. It's a monster-in-box (Gottos and Devil's Bloom), but they're not bad.

Back to the central corridor. Go slightly down, take the right path below where the chest was, through the door, and up stairs to floor 10.

Tenth floor. Go directly left for chest 22 (Ether). Back toward the entrance, then up the diagonal path right for chest 23 (Bell of Silence). Head all the way left, then up the stairs. In the top-right corner of the upper section sits chest 24: Black Robe. It's guarded by a White Dragon.

White Dragon has 3,500 HP and resists most elements, but Fire works. Cast Fire spells and use physical attacks with Berserk active. Blink and Protect as always. The Black Robe it guards is the best mage armor available right now. Worth the fight.

Head back down from the chest. On the raised section going right, you'll reach 4 doors. Take the second door from the left to reach Minwu.

Minwu and the Ultima Tome

Minwu is here. Your former party member has been studying the seal on the door that holds the Ultima Tome. He tells you the seal can only be broken by sacrificing one's own life force. He's already decided. Before you can stop him, Minwu channels everything he has into the barrier. It shatters. He doesn't survive.

Walk through the unsealed door.

Inside are 5 crystals. Four silver, one gold in the center. Touch all four silver crystals first. Each one gives a stat boost to your entire party:

• Strength crystal
• Spirit crystal
• Agility crystal
• Intellect crystal

Touch the gold crystal in the center to receive the Ultima Tome. Ultima is White magic, not Black. Its power scales off the Spirit stat. Teach it to whichever character has the highest Spirit. Step on the purple warp pad to teleport out of the tower.

Sail south out of the mountain enclosure, then east and north to reach the mainland. Head back to Castle Fynn.

Enemy Encounters

19

19 enemy types in the Mysidian Tower. Fire Gigas, Ice Gigas, and Thunder Gigas are the three main bosses. White Dragon guards a monster-in-box on floor 10. Gottos and Devil's Bloom appear as monster-in-box guardians for the Flare Tome. Hill Gigas, Killer Mantis, and Chimera are among the tougher random encounters.

#033 Gottos

#035 Chimera

#038 Death Flower

#039 Devil's Bloom

#048 Big Horn

#056 Flying Ray

#063 Imp

#066 Malboro Terra

#068 Basilisk

#078 Red Mousse

#080 Red Soul

#083 Vampire Girl

#087 Killer Mantis

#102 Bomb

#114 Hill Gigas

#115 Fire Gigas

#116 Ice Gigas

#117 Thunder Gigas

#120 White Dragon