===================================
Final Fantasy VI Advance
Soul Shrine FAQ, 2nd ed.
by STobias
[email protected]
Not to be reproduced anywhere outside of GameFAQs.com in any form.
©2007-2009 All rights reserved.
===================================
Contents
1. Introduction (int01)
2. Recommendations (rec02)
3. Glutturns (urn03)
4. Walkthrough (wlk04)
5. Glossary (gls05)
-----------------------------------
Introduction (int01)
-----------------------------------
The Soul Shrine is an additional challenge unlocked after clearing the
game. There are no random encounters or puzzles to solve, and no groups
to break up into, just four of your characters against a marathon of 128
battles. You will get a few breaks in between to heal and change your
equipment, which you may want to do in response to the battles ahead.
What do you get for completing the challenge? Nothing exciting,
unfortunately. However, during the run, you will have the opportunity to
get extras of some rare items that can be only obtained in this way.
You can use the tags listed in the table of contents to jump to a
specific part of the FAQ. If you see a term that you are not familiar
with or want more information on, check the glossary at the end. Terms
listed in the glossary will be marked with a star (*).
There is a significant amount of randomness involved with the battles within
this event. I consider this to be a collaborative document and I welcome your
contributions should you have new information from reproducible results or if
you present a reasonable, viable strategy. References for in-line citations can
be found at the end of this document.
Before we move on with the FAQ proper, I should note that with regret I do not
directly answer questions about the game; all of the information you need is
either here or elsewhere on GameFAQs. Do not neglect the message board
or the collection of Final Fantasy III FAQs hosted on the site. Information
found in either location is typically valid.
-----------------------------------
Recommendations (rec02)
-----------------------------------
- Characters
Chances are, if you've fully explored the Dragon's Den, that you will
have at least four characters who possess a lot of magic and are
fairly high level. When selecting your characters for this, keep in
mind that this is a marathon and you will be fighting difficult
encounters in strings of ten in a row or more without a break. As such,
you want characters that have both high HP and some measure of durability.
It is for this reason that I highly recommend that you include Mog in
your run. Equipped with the Snow Scarf(*) and other good equipment,
you will not have to worry about physical attacks on him. Whether
you build him for magic or physical attack, I suggest giving him (and
your other party members, as well) a wide array of magic to boost his
utility.
I also suggest using the Lightbringer(*) sword on this run, so you
will need either Terra, Edgar, Locke, or Celes to use it. You
probably also want to bring someone who has a special that always hits
(that is, Sabin, Edgar, or Cyan), since you will be up against a lot
of monsters with high evade, and the relic slot that a Sniper Eye
would take is best left for other items. Also consider Terra and/or
Celes because of the Minerva Bustier(*), which has elemental
protections that will come in particularly handy on your run.
I do not recommend using Umaro or Gogo. They are both wildcards
somewhat, and their weaknesses outweigh their benefits for this
run. Gau also has his positives and negatives; you can set him up
in a magic-using Snow Scarf build, but you probably always want to
keep a Ribbon on him to prevent him from being controlled or
confused, and end up in Rage. Out of your four characters, you
should have at least one heavy magic user. If you are interested in
acquiring some especially rare items, you will need Gogo, Locke, or
someone in a Thief's Knife(*) build to do so (see the section on
Glutturns below).
Your party should be, at a bare minimum, level 60. Several enemies
in the run cast Lv. 5 Death, so avoid having several of your party
members at such a level. You should have at least two characters at
or near 9999 HP, Which you can achieve before level 99 via equipment
or Esper boosting. The higher your HP here, the better your chances;
your other stats are not as important.
- Equipment
First off, Ribbons are absolutely essential. You don't need them on
every character, but I would suggest having Ribbons equipped on at
least two party members. If you haven't already done so, take the
time to get your Paladin's Shield(*), which is probably most useful
here for its elemental protections, but has solid benefits overall.
You should have a Soul of Thamasa(*) on your magic user, which, of
course, works well when paired with the Celestriad. However, you
will have a number of opportunities to Osmose MP from your enemies,
so there may be times when you wish to opt for a Ribbon instead of
the Celestriad.
HP will be your most important stat here, so using a Muscle Belt in
a free relic slot is not a bad idea if it pays off. Zephyr Cloak(*)
always makes an excellent addition all-around, but is not essential.
You may have other preferences.
So, here's a sample build, without leveling all characters to 99:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mog
- Gungnir
- Paladin's Shield
- Red Cap
- Snow Scarf
- Ribbon
- Zephyr Cloak
Terra (back row)
- Lightbringer
- Aegis Shield
- Red Cap
- Minerva Bustier
- Ribbon
- Zephyr Cloak
Celes
- Save The Queen
- Genji Shield
- Genji Helm
- Minerva Bustier
- Celestriad
- Soul of Thamasa
Sabin
- Godhand/Tigerfang
- Aegis Shield
- Royal Crown
- Red Jacket
- Master's Scroll
- Ribbon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note that this build will allow you to handle castings of Meltdown
unharmed. Keep this sort of tactic in mind, as you will run into
enemies that cast the spell. Of course, high level characters can
use something other than the Red Cap. Terra and Celes are arguably
more useful than Edgar or Locke due to their use of the Minerva
Bustier, and furthermore Terra also can enter Trance mode for a boost
when needed. Mog is virtually untouchable with his gear, and Sabin's
blitzes give him some extra utility in hectic situations. The other
characters have their merits, however. Sabin has fairly weak defense
with this build, and Celes' Runic ability will not be very useful.
Sabin's Godhand represents one example of a problem with the
higher-end weapons in this game; non-elemental weapons are better in
many situations. While several enemies are vulnerable to Holy attacks,
many absorb Holy damage, including some who will confuse or berserk
your character. This can lead to significant problems, so if you
intend to use Sabin or Cyan, be sure to have non-elemental weapons
on-hand to switch to as necessary.
- Magic
On all characters, you should have the following, at a minimum:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Curaga
- Arise
- Reraise
- Esuna
- Hastega
- Rasp
- Osmose
- Imp
- Reflect
- Dispel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Any character that will not be using physical attacks in difficult
situations should have Ultima. There will be a couple of monsters that
change elemental weaknesses, so having Libra and a variety of elemental
attacks at your disposal will also be useful. You may also want Quick
on your Dualcast user for some cheesy Ultima casting as well. Valor
and Berserk could also have uses. Essentially, you should just build
on your existing single-group strategy. You don't need to completely
change your mindset for the run, but you will need to tweak it a bit.
- Espers
While most Esper summons are limited to damage, healing or other
support magic that has long since been surpassed by your characters'
abilities, there are a few unique ones that may be of use:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Phantom
Casts Vanish on all party members. While this makes them especially
vulnerable to magic, this can be a handy way of avoiding heavy
physical damage, such as from the Ether variety of Glutturns (1).
- Quetzilli
Provides a free round of physical attacks (2). This can be helpful when
facing encounters that are vulnerable to direct attack but dish out a lot
of damage.
- Zone Seeker
Increases magic defense. This summon may have occasional utility (3).
-----------------------------------
Glutturns (urn03)
-----------------------------------
You will run into a new type of enemy in the Soul Shrine, all of which
look like the Magic Urn from the Cultists' Tower. At the start of the
battle, they will demand an item, and if you do not provide them with
the item after a time or attack them, they will attack. Often times
they will demand more of the item. You can end the encounter this way,
but chances are, you won't want to give up your hard-earned items.
When they turn to combat, these encounters are arguably the most
difficult in the game, and while it is possible to defeat them, they
will put up quite a fight. Glutturns show up randomly throughout the
run and at specific times. Overall, you will probably encounter them
three or four times per complete run. However, what is probably the
most important aspect of these creatures is what you can steal from them
(see below). They also provide a large amount of experience and gil.
All Glutturns will flee after a certain amount of damage has been
dealt. For the most part, Ultima is the best way to deal damage to
them. Here are their attack patterns:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Glutturn (demands Ether)
Steal: Force Shield
- Per turn: Physical attack x4
- Upon fleeing: Physical attack x10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This one is not very difficult. It does hit hard, so you will need to
keep your health up, but it will take magic and physical damage fairly
easily. Vanish can be helpful to avoid damage (1).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Glutturn (demands Hi-Ether)
Steal: Celestriad
- Per turn: Punish x2 (instant KO)
- Upon fleeing: Blaster
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Possibly the most difficult of the four, you will need to stay ahead
of its casting and do damage at the same time. Hi-Ether Glutturn has
fairly high physical defense, so you should stick to Ultima for damage.
You should spend the first couple rounds of combat casting Reraise and
Hastega on your party. Don't bother using Arise for obvious reasons,
and hopefully you have good enough equipment to survive the Blaster.
An alternate strategy is to use Vanish or summon Phantom to go
invisible. However note that this will make your party vulnerable to
Blaster, so have Reraise up (6).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Glutturn (demands X-Ether)
Steal: Master's Scroll
- Uses a combination of Berserk on all party members, Overture(*),
Entice(*), and finally, Cloudy Heaven(*). Not pretty if you don't have
Ribbons equipped.
- Upon fleeing: Disaster, Diabolic Whistle (number of status effects
on the party)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There's not much to worry about here if you have Ribbons on at least
two of your party. If the rest of your party is not equipped with
elemental weapons, you may be able to take this one down swiftly. If
you accidentally went into this fight without Ribbons on, well, enjoy
the show. Use special physical attacks or magic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Glutturn (demands Elixir)
Steal: Soul of Thamasa
- Per turn: Ultima
- Upon fleeing: Heartless Angel(*)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another urn that you will have to keep up with; here is where a
character or two with high magic comes in handy for healing. Reraise
is useless here; use the free turns to Haste and heal damage from
previous fights. You will probably need to stay above ~6000 HP to
survive each casting of Ultima. Have a Curaga and some offense going
every round. Ultima will penetrate Reflect, Shell, and magic defense,
so it's really just you at the mercy of the caster's magic power.
Make sure you stay on the attack and don't let up; this guy can be
quick at times on the casting. Heartless Angel will also give you
trouble during your next fight.
-----------------------------------
Walkthrough (wlk04)
-----------------------------------
The list provided here should only serve as a rough guideline to you
as to where you are, and how far you have until a break. It is important
to note that there is randomness involved in the run; up until last few
battles, encounters from the Dragon Den may show up at any time.
Anything is fair game, from those annoying girls that cast Overture to the
mini-bosses such as the Dark Behemoth and Earth Eater. You may also
run into Glutturns randomly, as well. Should you be tracking your progress,
also note that the random encounters are substitutes (4).
-Start-
1 - Imperial Soldier x2, Magitek Armor
2 - Zaghrem, Trillium, Spritzer x2
3 - Nautiloid, Exocite, Lesser Lopros
4 - Satellite
5 - Oversoul, Living Dead x2
6 - Opinicus Fish set, followed by Rhizopas
7 - Angel Whisper, Living Dead, Cloud x2
8 - Hell's Rider
9 - Heavy Armor, Corporal x2
10 - Paraladia, Vulture, Iron Fist
11 - Veil Dancer, Gobbledygook x3
12 - Hill Gigas, Harvester
13 - General, Onion Knight x2
14 - Chaser, followed by Trapper x3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battle 15 - Death Warden
Death Warden, as the name implies, will cast Death on you and could
very well succeed, depending on your build. It is otherwise not
difficult, though. You will get another Tigerfang here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
16 - Murussu, Baalzephon
17 - Bomb x6
18 - Io
19 - Fossil Dragon, Bug x3
20 - Zombie Dragon, Outcast x2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First Break
You will be taken back to the room with the ghost. You can go to
your menu, heal, change equipment, espers, and so forth. Note that
if you leave, you will reset your run. Continue the run by talking
with the ghost.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
21 - Balloon x6
22 - Adamankary, Bonnacon x2
23 - Mega Armor, Proto Armor
24 - Gigantos x2
25 - Brainpan x2, Misfit, Apocrypha
26 - Behemoth, Misfit x2
27 - Ninja x2, Platinum Dragon
28 - Grenade
29 - Land Ray, Peeper x2
30 - Black Dragon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battle 31 - Daedalus, Ahriman
This battle may come as a bit of a surprise considering the previous
set of battles. Ahrimans are always a pain, of course. Daedalus
will cast Lv. 5 Death, too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battle 32 - Intangir
You may or may not have run into Intangir in the World of Balance.
He is invisible and can only be hit by magic attacks while
invisible. He will recast invisibility every time he is uncovered,
so this is primarily a magic fight. He is also good to Osmose from
too, as he has a lot of MP and this is a fairly controlled battle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
33 - Vector Chimera x2
34 - Lenergia x2, Destroyer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battle 35 - Glutturn
On every run I have done, this is the Ether Glutturn. Not
especially difficult, just keep yourself healed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
36 - Landworm
37 - Neck Hunter, Cruller, Humpty x2
38 - Dante
39 - Dropper x3
40 - Borghese, Cloudwraith x2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battle 41 - Tonberries x3
As you may remember, the Tonberries have high evasion. If you are
lucky, a Minerva Bustier drops here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-break-
42 - Skeletal Horror
43 - Malboro, Exoray
44 - Knotty x4
45 - Punisher x2, Devil Fist
46 - Glasya Labolas, Mugbear, Devil Fist
47 - Gorgimera
48 - Primeval Dragon, Great Malboro
49 - Test Rider
50 - Magna Roader x2 (large purple, small red)
51 - Magna Roader x3 (large yellow x2, small brown)
52 - Blade Dancer x2, Crusher x2
53 - Rafflesia x3
54 - Mahadeva
55 - Sorath, Warlock, Creature
56 - Armored Weapon
57 - Enuo, Devil, Figaro Lizard
58 - Pluto Armor, Schmidt
59 - Weredragon, Parasite x3
60 - Alluring Rider, Pandora x3
61 - Coco, Samurai, Suriander
-break-
62 - Tyrannosaur x2
63 - Greater Mantis, Sprinter, Lycaon x2
64 - Basilisk x2, Leap Frog
65 - Great Behemoth, Great Malboro, Vector Lythos
66 - Purusa, Gloomwind
67 - Face, Zeveak, Necromancer x2
68 - Clymenus x2, Necromancer
69 - Chaos Dragon, Ouroboros, Seaflower x2
70 - Amduscias, Covert x2
71 - Baalzephon x2, Shambling Corpse x2
72 - Wartpuck, Kamui
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battle 73 - Level 10 Magic, Level 20 Magic
One surprising thing you will notice, now that you can use physical
abilities, is that the monsters from the Cultists' Tower have
especially high physical defense and/or evasion. You will need to use
mostly magic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
74 - Level 30 Magic x3
75 - Level 60 Magic, Level 30 Magic, Level 10 Magic x2
76 - Level 70 Magic, Level 50 Magic, Level 40 Magic
77 - Level 90 Magic, Level 80 Magic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battle 78 - Glutturn
This will be your first real challenge. Heal up at the end of 77 to
get a headstart here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-break-
79 - Angler Whelk
80 - Dadaluma
81 - Crane x2
82 - Number 024
83 - Number 128, Left Blade, Right Blade
84 - Glutturn
85 - Air Force, Laser Gun, Missile Bay
86 - Master Tonberry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battle 87 - Brachiosaur
The rare encounter from the Dinosaur Forest(*), Brachiosaur uses
Ultima, so stay healed. There is a small chance of a Celestriad drop
here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-break-
88 - Gamma
89 - InnoSent x3
90 - Junk x3
91 - Demon Knight, Yojimbo
92 - Muud Suud
93 - Prometheus, Fortis
94 - Duel Armor, Death Machine, Fortis
95 - Outsider x2, Dark Force, Cherry
96 - Mover x3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
97 - Fiend Dragon x2
Not the easiest fight. You will see Heartless Angel used liberally
here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Break: Dragons
Here you will be up against the original eight Dragons. Nothing much
to worry about. All of these dragons will drop the same items they did
earlier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
98 - Ice Dragon
99 - Storm Dragon
100 - Earth Dragon
101 - Gold Dragon
102 - Skull Dragon
103 - Holy Dragon
104 - Blue Dragon
105 - Red Dragon
-break-
106 - Tentacle x4
107 - Dullahan
108 - Humbaba
109 - Malboro Menace
110 - Curlax, Laragorn, Moebius
111 - Samurai Soul
112 - Magic Master
113 - Hidon, Erebus x4
114 - Deathgaze
-break-
115 - Inferno, Ketu, Rahu
116 - Guardian
117 - Demon
118 - Goddess
119 - Fiend
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-
Break: Dragon's Den
Now you will fight the dragons again, but this time it will be their
Dragon's Den versions. Refer to KinieWings' Dragon's Den Walkthrough
for strategies if you need them. Ribbons are highly recommended at
this point. Like the original dragons, these will drop the same weapons
that they did in the Den.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
120 - Ice Dragon
121 - Storm Dragon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battle 122 - Earth Dragon
Try to be healed at the end of this fight, as the Gold Dragon won't
let you cast magic next fight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
123 - Gold Dragon
124 - Skull Dragon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battle 125 - Holy Dragon
There is a little luck involved here. Just take this fight slowly,
since you don't want to go up against the Blue Dragon right after a
Heartless Angel. Don't forget to cast Reflect on it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
126 - Blue Dragon
127 - Red Dragon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battle 128 - Kaiser Dragon
It has been mentioned elsewhere but deserves repeating; Kaiser Dragon
is very dangerous if it shifts to Ice. Try to get Hastega up as soon
as you can in case this happens. Don't forget to put up Reraise as
the battle winds down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Defeating the Kaiser Dragon gets you the Master's Crown (not
equippable) and bragging rights.
A full run will also get you a bunch of experience, a Master's Scroll,
a Muscle Belt, some more Force gear, and a lot of weapons. And if
you are feeling lucky, you can steal some goodies from the urns.
-----------------------------------
Glossary (gls05)
-----------------------------------
Cloudy Heaven
A curse that inflicts Doom status on all party members. Unprotected
characters will be inflicted with zombie status upon death or when
countdown timer reaches zero.
Dinosaur Forest
A small forest found north of the Veldt in the World of Ruin. A
popular spot for level building. A common strategy is to use two
party members with Growth Eggs; a couple of characters can gain 40
levels in short order using this method.
Entice
Causes one party member to randomly attack other party members. More
difficult to deal with than Confuse.
Heartless Angel
Reduces all party members' HP to 1. Unblockable.
Lightbringer
A sword with excellent stats that uses MP to deliver critical hits.
Equally as effective from the back row. Obtainable from the Colosseum
by bidding the Ragnarok sword.
Minerva Bustier
Armor that can only be equipped by Terra or Celes. Provides a bonus to
maximum MP and negates or halves damage from all eight elements. One
is found in Kefka's Tower, another may be found from Tonberries fought
in Umaro's Cave. Also may be obtained from the Colosseum by bidding a
Regal Gown.
Overture
Causes one party member to defend all standard physical attacks made
against caster. Special physical attacks (such as Blitz or Tools) and
magic bypass the effect, as well as specially enhanced physicals (such
as those used with a Master's Scroll) (5).
Paladin's Shield
A shield that grants immunity to elemental attacks, teaches Ultima, and
has high defensive stats. Created by dispelling the curse on the Cursed
Shield, found in Narshe. The curse is dispelled by getting 256
victories with the shield equipped.
Snow Scarf
Armor with very high physical defense. Combined with sufficient
defensive gear, allows for physical attacks to be reduced to nearly zero
damage. Also halves fire damage and absorbs ice. Equippable by Mog and
Gau. Obtained by bidding a Behemoth Suit in the Colosseum.
Soul of Thamasa
Found at the top of the Cultists' Tower, this allows two magic spells to
be cast in one turn. By casting Quick, this allows a caster to attack
multiple times in one turn. This may be an essential strategy for some
of the more difficult battles during this run.
Thief's Knife
Used as an alternative method of stealing items, this works best when
paired with the Master's Scroll. Without assistance, this method allows
Shadow to steal items. When a Merit Award is equipped, several other
characters can use this item as well.
Zephyr Cloak
Purchased from the child merchant in Nikeah, this relic increases physical
and magic evasion, and also randomly evades physical attacks. Generally
the best option to fill in relic slots.
-----------------------------------
References
-----------------------------------
1. Contributed by Adam Michaud, via e-mail.
2. ibid.
3. ibid.
4. Contributed by Duncan, via e-mail.
5. Contributed by Solomon, via e-mail.
6. Contributed by Adam Michaud, via e-mail.
-- End of file --
