Gulgan Gulch & Tower of Owen
The Enterprise opens up the inner sea. Before climbing the Tower of Owen you need the Toad spell from Gulgan Gulch, and there are a couple of missable sea enemies to farm on the way over. This chapter covers Living Woods, Gulgan Gulch, Chocobo Woods, and the Tower of Owen for 12 chests, 1 item, 13 new bestiary entries, 2 missable enemies, and the Living Woods missable location.
Missable Sea Enemies
New Enemies (*Missable)
Both new sea enemies are weak to Lightning, so Thunder or Thundara from your Black Mage clears them quickly. Tangie opens with Sleep Gaze roughly 40% of the time, putting your whole party at risk of a chain wipe, so drop the Tangies first in every encounter. Sahagin has the highest HP at 140 but only swings physical attacks.
Living Woods
After both sea entries are registered, sail west from Nepto Temple to a forest on an isolated peninsula. The fairies inside mention that a mage named Hein has stolen the Elder Tree from them, which the next chapter follows up on.
The map shows 0/1 Item for this location. The missing item is story-tied and comes back later, so you don’t need to worry about it on this visit.
Sail back to the ship, continue north as far as you can, and dock on the northwest shore near the tower. Four new enemies spawn on the overworld between the dock and Gulgan Gulch:
New Enemies
Lizardman (155 HP) is weak to Lightning, so keep Thundara queued for it. Flyer is weak to Wind, so spend any spare Aero charges on it. Knocker and Gorgon have no exploitable weakness; bring them down with physical attacks from your Warrior. Walk west toward the mountain range and take the southwest fork into a cave.
Gulgan Gulch
The Gulgans are a race of blind seers. Walk past the circle of Gulgans on the entrance floor and downstairs to find the elder on an altar. Speak with him and he hands over the Toad spell, required to pass the Tower of Owen’s entrance barrier.
Before leaving, walk south through the hidden passage behind the altar for three chests: Fire Rod, Ice Rod, and Mage Robe. The rods are elemental weapons that turn the wielder’s physical attacks into Fire or Ice damage; equip one on your Black Mage or Red Mage so they contribute damage between spell casts. The Mage Robe is a flat body-armor upgrade for any mage and bumps Intellect and Spirit by 1 each.
Chocobo Woods
Exit Gulgan Gulch and cut left at the fork on the overworld. The small forest just past the bend is the Chocobo Woods.
Walk inside to register the Chocobo Woods location. There’s no boss or chest here, just a friendly chocobo and the location tick.
Loop back east on land past your docked ship to reach the Tower of Owen at the tip of the peninsula.
Tower of Owen
The Tower of Owen is the chapter’s main dungeon: 10 floors with 9 chests and 6 new bestiary entries. Save before entering and make sure your party is healed and on full MP.
New Enemies
At the entrance hall, cast Toad on your full party to turn all four characters into toads at once. Walk into the centre of the room to pass the barrier, then cast Toad again to return everyone to human form.
Petit Mage is the priority target: it alternates between Silence and Blizzara at 40% each, and Silence on your Black or White Mage shuts down your spell economy. Drop Petit Mages first. Fury only spawns on the waterlogged 1F at 25% and disappears once you climb past, so loop the entrance floor a few times until it registers. Blood Bat is weak to Wind if you have spare Aero charges. Aughisky is a heavy physical hitter but only swings; back row reduces the damage. Conserve MP through the early floors; there’s no spring or save point inside the tower until you exit.
1F-2F. The first floor is a short corridor to the stairs. On 2F, cross the bridge and grab a Maiden’s Kiss from the chest on the right before climbing.
3F-4F. Third floor has no chests. On 4F, take the south bridge and loop east to find Tyrfing, an ATK 28 sword with no curse (unlike most other FF appearances). Only your Red Mage can equip it right now; Ninja unlocks the same access later, so hold onto it.
5F-6F. Desch points out a hidden switch in the centre of 5F. Hit it to open the path, then loop all the way west for a second Maiden’s Kiss before climbing. The sixth floor is empty.
7F-8F. The path splits immediately on 7F. Take the right fork first for Echo Herbs and Bomb Fragment, then climb the left path. On 8F, break off to the upper-right corner for another Echo Herbs.
9F-10F. Three chests sit in plain sight on 9F with no hidden paths: Salamand Sword, Flame Mail, and Zeus’s Wrath. The Salamand Sword is an ATK 30 Fire-element upgrade for your Warrior and item-casts Fire for free, joining the Fire Staff trick from earlier. The Flame Mail is a flat Defense upgrade (def 21) over Shell Armor and resists Ice; equip it on your Warrior. Climb to 10F for the boss.
With all 9 chests collected, walk to the centre of 10F. Medusa waits in the alcove ahead, and her petrify mechanic can cascade into a wipe on a bad turn, so heal everyone to full and have Gold Needles ready before the encounter.
How to Beat Medusa
After the fight, Desch sacrifices himself to stabilise the Tower and stop the Floating Continent from collapsing onto the surface. He teleports your party outside, the whirlpool vanishes, and the outer ocean opens up. Save, sail north to the outer ocean, then go west toward Dwarven Hollows on the island.