1. The Circle of Sages

   Time to finally get to the bottom of all this...

2. Preparation for the Final Battle

   Level up like you've never leveled up before...

3. The Temple of Fiends

   A journey through time begins now...

4. The End

   ...

Recommended levels:
• Level 25+

Maps:
• Crescent Lake
  Temple of Fiends
  Temple of Fiends 1
  Temple of Fiends 2
  Temple of Fiends 3
  Temple of Fiends Air
  Temple of Fiends Chaos
  Temple of Fiends Earth
  Temple of Fiends Fire
  Temple of Fiends Water

The Circle of Sages in Crescent Lake will point you to your final destination: the Temple of Fiends. Using the four lit Orbs, travel back in time 2000 years to face the final battle. All four Fiends, the most powerful sword in the game, and the final boss await you in the Temple.

The Circle of Sages in Crescent Lake are sure to have some interesting things to say about that "force" flowing into the Temple of Fiends. So hop into the Airship and pay them a visit.

The Circle does indeed have some information for you. As you saw, the Temple is the center of the Four Altars. The REAL enemy wasn't the Fiends after all. It's something else entirely.

The "true enemy" is 2000 years in the past! That's not good. How the heck can you fight something that's 2000 years in the past?

And what the heck is this Time-Loop thing?

Very interesting. "Someone" travelled 2000 years into the past, and sent the Fiends forward. That's why they are... er, WERE here destroying the world. Good thing you killed them. But then again... you killed them in the present, but they still exist in the past, don't they?

This is what the Time Loop means. Whoever went back in time 2000 years, will keep getting stronger, and stronger, until eventually.... BAM!

Break the Time-Loop, eh? How the heck are you supposed to do that. Oh well, the Temple of Fiends is obviously where they want you to go. So go there.

Head to the Temple of Fiends. Park your Airship outside, and walk on in. Don't worry, you're not going to start the Final Battle yet, you're just here for info, for now.

Remember a looooooong time ago, when you fought Garland here? Remember the Orb in his room? If you remember that, you've a better memory than I. There are also a bunch of bats in here, if you'll recall. Well, talk to a couple of the bats. Holy plot twist! The bats are none other than the Sky Warriors, from Lefein! Bet you didn't see that one coming.

The Sky Warriors went up against this super-evil power thing that was controlling the Fiends, but they lost. The Fiends turned them into bats.

The real enemy is 2000 years in the past, as you've heard already. But, how can you travel 2000 years into the past?

There's your answer. Put the Four Orbs over the Black Orb and the Time Gate will open. (that was a lot of capital letters)

So, examine the Orb. Sure enough, it disappears, and the Time Gate opens. To take a step forward is to travel 2000 years into the past. But before you do it, you need to prepare. This is the Final Battle, after all. It's going to be hard. Leave the Temple of Fiends, for now.

To prepare, there are a couple things you should do. First of all, you need to level up. The higher your levels, the better. If all your characters are at level 25, you will be able to make it through the Temple, just barely. At level 27, it'll still be a bit hard, but easier. If you're at level 30 or higher, it will be a piece of cake. Of course, this all depends on what your party is too. If you have 4 Fighters, you won't need to be at as high a level as 4 Black Mages would be. But, the higher your levels, the better.

Where to go to level up, you ask? Well, the Temple of Fiends itself is a pretty good place. But the monsters in there are HARD; there are Frost Ds and Gas Ds all over the place, and they will whoop the crap out of you, even if you are at high levels. As an alternative, if you're strong enough, go take on Warmech a couple times. He's worth 32000 total EXP (8000 per character, if they all survive the battle), and that's usually more than enough to level up. The monsters you fight while trying to find Warmech in the Sky Castle are also pretty good for EXP. You can also try wandering around near Lefein or Gaia, or repeatedly fighting the Eye in the Ice Cave, or the monsters in the Waterfall. There are plenty of places to level up, enough that you should be able to get to level 30 without being bored out of your mind.

Once you've gotten your levels up as high as possible, you need to go shopping. Get 99 Heal Potions, first of all. You should have three spells for each magic level for all of your characters, and you should have the best equipment possible. If you haven't gotten the XCalber from Smith the Dwarf, get it. You should have 3 Ribbons, and everyone should have a ProRing. You should also already have the Heal Staff and at least one Heal Helmet. One last thing that you NEED to have. Using the EXIT or WARP spell is the only way to exit the Temple of Fiends. Repeat: the ONLY way. There are no stairs, no teleporters, nothing. So unless you have a Wizard with one of those spells, you will be stuck in the Temple, unable to save your game. Make sure you have one or both of those spells before entering the Time Gate.

That's about all you'll need. If you've done everything above, there's nothing left but to enter the Temple.

You're ready now to enter the Temple of Fiends, and travel back 2000 years to face the Last Boss. Hop onto the Time Gate, and you'll be whisked away to the Temple of Fiends of the past.

The Temple of Fiends is pretty much the hardest dungeon in the game. The first couple floors are ridiculously hard, packed with Frost Ds and Gas Ds. On the last four floors, there are enemies from the Earth Cave, Gurgu Volcano, the Sea Shrine, and the Sky Castle. Plenty to keep you occupied, to say the least. As an added bonus, you get to fight all 4 of the Fiends again! And they're harder this time. They have stronger spells and attacks, and more HP. And you don't get to save after beating them; if you leave the Temple and come back, they'll be there again. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Your main threat, though, is the Frost Ds. They appear in groups of four, usually, and no matter how strong your party, they will decimate you with their Blizzard attack. The Ribbon will protect you somewhat, but the character without the Ribbon is going to get hurt, badly. If you have NUKE, use it on them. Save one or two NUKEs for later, though, you'll need them.

Anyways, this is where you'll appear. Notice how there's no portal to get back? EXIT or WARP is your only way out. The Temple is a bit of a maze, but it's not too hard to make it through. Especially seeing as how I'm going to tell you the way. Go down and to the right.

These are the stairs to the next level.

This is the next floor. Pretty self-explanatory.

Here is where you'll appear. Go down and to the left, to find the door into the room in the middle of this level.

Right inside this door lurks a rather strong enemy, so prepare yourself. It's not too hard, though, it's just the Phantom.

The Phantom is undead, so FIR3 and HRM3 it to death. It uses strong magic, but it should be dead before it gets a chance to use it on you.

There is a whole lot of G in those two treasure chests. I bet you could've used that near the beginning of the game. Oh well, whatyagonnado.

After you get the treasure, examine that big plate on the floor. It's another one of those Plates of Evil, like at the Earth Cave! However, this time, the Rod doesn't work. Hmmmmm....

To remove the Plate, you need to use an item you've had with you the entire game. That's right, the Lute! Use the Lute, and the Plate will vanish. Take the ladder that is revealed to go deeper into the Temple.

You will now appear here. Looks kind of familar, doesn't it? You were just on this level. Go up and to the left, to find the next staircase.

Here are the stairs. Take them.

By some miracle, you appear on the next level on the right side of the Temple, even though the stairs you came down were on the left. I'm not going to try to figure that one out. Head straight to the left to find the next set of stairs.

This is the next set of stairs. Go down them, to the next level: the Earth Floor.

The Earth Floor has a lot of Earth monsters, namely Earths (kind of obvious, I think). They are nothing to worry about. Head all the way up, then all the way across the top, then all the way down, to find the next set of stairs.

Before you take the stairs, though, prepare yourself. Right in front of the stairs is Lich.

Lich has learned some new tricks since the Earth Cave. NUKE, ZAP!, XXXX, and other powerful spells are now Lich's to use at will. If you have NUKE, use it; if not, FIR3 and HRM4 or HRM3 will work well. Lich has more HP than he did in the Earth Cave, but not he's still not all that tough. Kill Lich as fast as possible, then take the stairs.

This is the Fire Floor. There are Fire monsters all over the place, but ICE2 and ICE3 will get rid of them quickly.

To get to the next staircase, you need to go up, through the big room at the top, and exit out the other side.

This is the next staircase. Before taking it, though, go down to the bottom, to find some more treasure.

There are four chests down here; you can find a ProCape, a ProRing, another Katana, and 26000 G. To reach the Katana, you need to go into the room on the right, exit it at the bottom, and follow the path around to the room surrounded by blue stuff (I don't know what the blue stuff is...)

After you're done treasure hunting, approach the stairs. Before you can reach the next level, you must face Kary, Fiend of Fire.

Kary is pretty strong, but not too much stronger than when you faced her in the Volcano. Use FAST on your fighters, and beat the crap out of her. Don't even bother wasting magic, save it for later. Once Kary is out of the way, take the stairs to the next level: the Water Floor.

The Water Floor is pretty easy. LIT2 and LIT3 the monsters here out of your way. They are not too hard at all. You need to head right, through the room there.

From there, head down and to the right a bit, to this door. Go inside, and follow the room down.

You should come out of the room here.

Go into this room next, and go to the left a bit.

Here is where you will exit this room. From here, just head straight down, to the narrow hallway at the bottom.

Once again, prepare yourself. You will now face Kraken, Fiend of Water.

Like the other Fiends in the Temple, Kraken is a bit stronger this time. Use LIT3 to kill him quick, and use INV2 and ALIT to protect against Kraken's foolish attempts to harm you. With Kraken out of the way, head to the right, to the next staircase, and the last elemental floor: the Air Floor.

The Air Monsters on this floor are not too hard. To the best of my knowledge, you will not find Warmech here, which is a good thing, obviously. Head straight down from the stairs until you find a long, narrow path leading down and right.

Follow this path to the right. There is a treasure chest at the end.

Now prepare yourself for a treat. In that chest is none other than the Masmune!! It's the best weapon in the game! It's even better than XCalber. What's more, ANY character can use it! It doesn't get any better than that. Give it to your best fighter to make him a one man army, or give it to a mage to add another fighter to your party! I seriously recommend EXITing the Temple at this point and saving, if you want to play at all later and still have the Masmune. If you continue to the next level and beat the game, you will not have the opportunity to save, and you'll lose the Masmune.

Anyways. Tiamat is waiting for you near the top of this level, in this tiny connecting hallway.

Tiamat is strong, but use BANE or BRAK and you will kill him quite quickly. After he's dead, head to the right, and up a bit, to the next staircase.

This is the last staircase. Take it!

There are no enemies on this floor. Head down to the bottom, to find the door into the large central room.

Before entering this room, make SURE you are at full HP. You should still have a good supply of magic left, including a couple CUR4 spells, and some good offensive spells, plus at least a couple shots of FAST. If you were beaten up too badly on the way down through the Temple, EXIT, save, and come back. It'll be easier the second time, because of the levels you gained (hopefully) on the way through the Temple. If you think you're ready, enter the room.

Here, you find none other than... Garland! That's right, it's the punk you killed at the very beginning of the game! Talk to him, and he'll insult you some more (you impertinent fool) and reveal that it was HE who was sent back 2000 years in the past by the Fiends.

Now he explains the Time Loop. Garland sends the Fiends forward, they send him back, he sends them forwards... it's all rather complicated.

I don't really understand this comment, about the Time Loop "closing". But it doesn't matter. It's clear what must be done. You have to kill Garland again! Think he'll be harder this time? (he he he...)

This time you must face Garland in the guise of Chaos. Chaos is quite simply the hardest boss in the game. He has spells that you've never heard of, that will obliterate your party. He can CUR4 himself back to full HP whenever he wants. (full HP for Chaos means 2000HP!) And his physical attack is crazy strong. Whether you beat Chaos or not depends pretty much on which spells he uses on you, what level you're at, and pure luck. FAST yourself, use WALL on everyone you can, and use NUKE, FADE, and whatever other offensive spells you have. Make sure you keep your HP high, because Chaos can whip out a weird destructive spell when you least expect it. If luck is with you, Chaos will fall, and you will have beaten Final Fantasy!

Chaos disintegrates, and the Temple of Fiends collapses. What is to become of the Light Warriors? Never fear. :) I'm going to let the ending text speak for itself from here on out. It's been a fun 10 Chapters. I hope you found this walkthrough useful!