Final Fantasy V Missable Achievements Guide - RetroAchievements/guides GitHub Wiki
Set developed by Altomar, guide written by benit149
Hello, and welcome to my guide for the SNES version of Final Fantasy V’s missable achievements, as well as directions for how to complete some of the more vague but non-missable objectives. This is a comprehensive and (hopefully) chronological order of when each achievement occurs and how to acquire them. Although this was written for the SNES version’s achievement set, this can have practical applications for the Playstation 1 and Game Boy Advance versions too.
Due to heavy reliance on story triggers, there will be major spoilers involved. If you wish not to have the story spoiled for you, please do not read further.
Final Fantasy V’s battle system is the same as previous installments, but allows for the four main characters to swap between a large pool of classes, called Jobs, to earn Ability Points (ABP) so that more skills can be unlocked. These Jobs are acquired as the party finds the world’s four elemental crystals, and some plot-related stuff happens. Once a Job is mastered, that character can switch to a different one. If a character masters every possible Job, this makes their default Freelancer Job exceptionally powerful since they can benefit from both the skills and stat bonuses granted by the other Jobs.
This system allows for a tremendous amount of customization, which makes outlining strategies for boss challenges almost impossible since everyone has their own play style. The only thing I can do is outline what I personally did, and point you towards other available strategies if you don’t care for my methods. Two Jobs I suggest starting to work on as early as possible are Blue Mage and Trainer/Beastmaster. Blue Mages learn specific spells from monsters by having said spell used on them, then winning the battle. Some of these spells are very useful and have unique uses, such as White Wind, Level 5 Death, ???? (or “Question Marks”), Pond’s Chorus and such. Some of these spells will never be used on the party though, so a Trainer/Beastmaster’s Control ability allows you to freely use the monster’s abilities on the Blue Mage. If one Blue Mage learns a spell, it will be accessible to all four Blue Mages at any time.
The game’s real difficulty comes in not through its combat system, but by how the storyline approaches its overworld. This game has three distinct overworld maps, and you cannot return to the previous map once you make enough progress in the story. They are divided as such:
World 1: Butz’s world
World 2: Galuf’s world
World 3: Merged worlds
Thus, you have to collect every item, spell and such, and witness all scenes seen throughout Worlds 1 and 2 before progressing to World 3 and remaining there for the rest of the game. If you realize you progressed too far and thus missed something, you need to either use a backup save or start a new game. It’s for this reason that I decided to write this guide in the first place – the complicated nature of the three worlds and all of the missables found therein make it difficult to keep everything straight. The achievement set is also not designed to have missables in an intuitive and logical order, so it’s incredibly easy to bypass something by accident (yes, that's happened to me too). Thus, I divided this guide between the three worlds and in as best of a chronological order as I could.
With all that said, let’s proceed with the achievements themselves.
NON-MISSABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
These ones can be considered oddities as while they’re not missable, they are a bit out of the way if you don’t know where to look. That’s why I’ve placed them in this section on their own.
Play and master all 8 pianos around the world
You’ll want to be prepared for this through your playthrough, as the first piano can be found in Tule’s pub. You need to sit on the stool next to the dancers’ stage, witness the cutscene so the dancers can get out of the way, then play the piano. Apparently none of these are missable, so I’m not sure why this achievement is marked as such. Still, it’s not a bad idea to keep these in mind if you want to make progress as you go through the story, rather than doing a bunch of backtracking in World 3. All of the pianos can be found in the following locations:
- Tule Pub
- Carwen Pub
- Karnak Pub
- Jachol Pub
- Crescent Town (Minstrel's House)
- Regole Pub (hidden passage)
- Moore Pub
- Phantom Village (hidden passage)
Try to be a salesman in Val Castle
You can do this once you reach Val Castle in World 2, and is still available in World 3. Go to the weapon/armor shop, go up the stairs to the roof and go into a hidden entrance behind the tower, then interact with the switch on the wall behind the salesmen. Stand in the middle of the sellers to initiate a short event, after which one of them gives you a Lamia Harp.
Be greedy and enjoy the hospitality until they are out of stuff
In the village of Kelb/Quelb, go to the inn and sit in the left seat at the table, being sure to face right to trigger a cutscene where the werewolf treats you to a meal plus 8 Potions. You can do this up to three times.
Fulfill the request of the man from the well
Again in Kelb/Quelb, you need to capture a Kornago (reddish frog) with a Trainer/Beastmaster, then bring it to the well in town. The man will pop out, then ask for the frog and 10,000 gil in exchange for the Kornago Gourd, an accessory that increases the success rate of capturing enemies, requiring you to deplete their health to 1/2 instead of 1/8.
One Thousand and One Nights (5)
Obtain the Magic Lamp
Progress through the story in World 3 until you’re able to ride the Chocobo to Istory Falls in the far northwest of the world map. You do need to advance the story enough to make a mountain blocking the path disappear. This video is a good visual example of the path you need to take. Once there, just examine the waterfall to receive the Magic Lamp. This allows you to summon the espers in a sequential order, as follows:
- Bahamut
- Leviathan
- Odin (never uses Gungnir)
- Syldra (Hydra)
- Carbuncle
- Shoat (Catoblepas)
- Golem
- Titan
- Ifrit
- Ramuh
- Shiva
- Remora
- Sylph
- Chocobo (summonable 18 times, after which you get an Eggman)
Notice that these summons are in descending order of strength, and that Phoenix cannot be summoned with this method. The lamp can be recharged by either returning to Istory Falls where you found it, or going to the Great Sea Trench in the submarine.
Obtain the Syldra esper
Once you have the airship in World 3, return to the Pirate’s Cave and a cutscene will initiate in the hideout with Faris.
His location is a mystery but he seems to know a lot of stuff
You need to be in World 3, and Cid and Mid need to upgrade the airship to be able to transform into the submarine. From there, follow the instructions outlined here, as I think they do a better job of explaining this than I could. This guy only provides stats about your gameplay such as number of battles, treasure percentage and such.
Obtain the Mimic crystal
Remember way back in Walse Tower when the crystal broke, and there was one shard you couldn’t access then? Now’s the time to get it in World 3 with the submarine. From where Walse + Walse Castle used to be, take the submarine north until you see an aqua-colored tower on the sea floor. This is Walse Tower, and you have seven minutes to go from the top floor to the bottom floor. Assuming you have the Thief’s Sprint ability plus you run away from battles, this is plenty of time. A new chest you’ll see actually replenishes your air, so you don’t have to worry about new treasures here. At the end is the crystal shard and a boss battle against Gogo. You need to respond to his question with “No”.
Anything you do to Gogo, he’ll retaliate with the same move, and likely hit harder than you do. You don’t have time for a drawn-out fight either. So what do you do? Nothing. That’s right – sit there and do absolutely nothing. This will take a couple of minutes, but just be patient. Eventually, Gogo will comment on the party’s ability to mimic him doing nothing and let you take the Mime crystal shard before banishing himself. Okay… pretty odd concept of a battle, but you can’t argue against a free win. You still need to rush back to the submarine before the timer runs out though, so be quick.
Obtain the Phoenix esper
There’s a tower found in the southwest corner of the desert immediately north of the sunken Walse Tower, in an area that you can’t land the airship on. To reach this area, you need the Black Chocobo. Go to Phantom Village and go through the back entrance of the pub, then find a secret passage in the next building that heads left into a tiny room with a set of stairs (use the Thief’s Passages ability if you aren’t sure – it’s the same passage that leads to the town’s piano). Go up the stairs and catch the Chocobo, then fly it due south and land in the forest next to the desert. The enemies in the desert are quite scary, so save first before moving forward.
The tower itself has 30 floors, where you need to examine a wall to make the next set of stairs to appear. On every fifth floor are a pair of pots, one containing gil, the other a monster encounter with a Magic Pot. Throw Elixirs on the Magic Pot until it flees, gifting the party with 100 AP each encounter. This is an amazing opportunity to boost some of the more demanding Jobs like Red Mage or Mime. There's no boss at the top, although there is a moral choice presented. I don't believe the choice matters, so I just went with "no".
Obtain the Odin esper
Go to Jachol Cave and head for the end, where there is a wall you can climb. The room here has a glowing green orb where Odin can be fought. The objective is to deal 17,000 damage in 60 seconds, so things like throwing Fuma Shurikens, Gil Toss, casting Flare or Fire3/Firaga and strong attacks from Knights and/or Berserkers are crucial. Do not cast Holy or have the Excalibur equipped though since Odin absorbs holy elemental damage.
Obtain the Bahamut esper
At the end of the Pyramids, a story sequence occurs where Bahamut is released from his sleep and awaits the party in North Mountain. You need the Black Chocobo to reach North Mountain since it’s in the same desert stretch as Phoenix Tower, but in the northeast. The battle is essentially the same deal as with Odin, but Bahamut’s Mega Flare can deal 2500 damage to everyone, so he needs to be defeated as quickly as possible while also using strong healing like Curaga or White Wind. You are able to use Holy and/or Excalibur in this fight.
WORLD 1 MISSABLES
These are permanently lost once you go to World 2. This occurs when Galuf leaves the party, and the other three party members plus Cid and Mid investigate for a way to let the trio follow Galuf to his world. Once you step onto the warp portal that the four meteors point to and wind up on an unknown island, you have crossed the point of no return.
Obtain every treasure from World 1
There are 104 treasures to find in World 1, and are not exclusive to chests. Look in urns, barrels, boxes, and other odd locations. I’ve written a checklist to help with finding everything on all three worlds, so use it in conjunction with a separate guide.
Get expelled from the Beginner’s School at Tule
At the beginning of the game, you’ll arrive in the first town of Tule. The building on the lower left is the Beginner’s School. Speak to the woman, and she’ll ask if you are a beginner. Say you are not, and she’ll kick you out for this achievement. Go back in and say yes so you can pick up some treasures.
Learn something about Faris that even her crew didn't know
The pirates will congregate to the pub upon first entering Tule. Go upstairs to Faris’ room in the pub and try to enter, which initiates a cutscene. This is missable though, if you do all of the story events at Zok’s house and proceed to the canal.
Find out what happened to Boko after the events in the Wind Shrine
You can do this as soon as you get the dragon from North Mountain. Fly to the pirate cave and go through to the pier, then enter the middle of the three rooms. This is the infirmary, where Boko can be found.
My Grandma Can Do Better Than You (10)
Defeat Garkimasra with a party of level 18 or lower
Garkimasra, also known as Garchimacera or Jackanapes, is found in Castle Walse’s basement. Go downstairs from the first floor, then take the upper right door and take the stairs down. This room has three urns with treasures and a Time Mage spell, plus a chest containing an Elf Cloak. However, it also has an encounter with this highly dangerous enemy, who will always rear attack you. There are a variety of strategies available depending on the classes you use. My method was simply having four Berserkers (need to clear Karnak first) with Axes and Shields equipped, all placed in the back row upon being rear attacked. This takes some luck since the attacks will miss plus your party needs to use their shields to dodge some of Garkimasra’s attacks. Whichever method you use, just be sure you’re below level 18 before attempting this. I had used Level 5 Death on him at level 18, yet the achievement didn’t trigger for me, so I had to do this on a new run to be sure.
I am the Alpha and the Omega (25)
Obtain every spell, esper and Song in the game
This achievement essentially begins with Shiva being a missable esper. Every spell includes those in the Black, White, Time, Summon, Enchant (from Mystic Knight), Blue, and Song categories. This means you need to be diligent with buying spells in shops, collecting spells found in odd locations, and acquiring Blue Magic spells whenever you can. This goes hand-in-hand with the Master Summoner and Pop Star achievements, which are themselves also missable. None of the other categories have spells that are missable, although it is highly recommended to use a Blue Magic guide and get each spell as soon as it’s available.
Since it’s way too easy to miss even just one thing, I’ll list the steps for all of the missables in a quick chronological format here so you can check each one off as you go, as well as explaining why each one can be lost permanently.
- World 1: Obtain Shiva inside Walse Castle (Walse + Walse Castle disappear in World 3)
- World 1: Burn a book at the top of the Library of Ancients, for a later step
- World 1: Get the airship, go to Lix, listen to the music box in Butz’s old house, then speak to the bard in said house to obtain Charm Song (Lix disappears in World 3)
- World 1: Go to Istory, get kicked over the fence by the sheep, and speak to the bard to obtain Love Song (Istory disappears in World 3)
- World 2: Get the submarine, go to the northwestern dot on the undersea map, pass through a short cave to emerge in a forest, then look for Shoat in a random battle. Defeat it to obtain it as a summon (Shoat no longer appears in World 3)
- World 2: Find Carbunkle in Exdeath's Castle and defeat him (Exdeath's Castle vanishes in World 3)
- World 3: After burning the book at the Library of Ancients and doing everything up to acquiring the Sealed Book from Ghido, speak to the scholar at the top to learn Magic Song before clearing the Pyramid of Moore (the Library disappears right after clearing the Pyramid and defeating Melusine – this has an incredibly narrow timeframe to learn, so watch out!)
Defeat and obtain the Shiva esper
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Defeat Shiva before you acquire Fire2/Fira, without Fire Rods, and are lower than level 20
In Walse Castle, go downstairs on the first floor as if you’re heading for the Garkimasra room, but then head down the lower right door (seen only as an indent in the wall) and follow the path to the waterfall, where you can enter. Proceed through the rooms, then in the snowflake-shaped room, approach the green orb from the bottom. Shiva is a permanently missable summon, so get her as soon as you can.
For the challenge, there are a large variety of strategies available depending on the classes you choose. The method I used was purchasing Slow, Sleep and Fire in Karnak, then backtracking to Shiva and using a party of two Black Mages, one White Mage with Black Magic, and a Time Mage with Black Magic. The Time Mage cast Slow on Shiva, one Black Mage cast Sleep on all targets to hopefully incapacitate the minions, then used single-target Fire on Shiva to defeat her first while healing any damage. Once she was down, I did AoE Fire casts on the minions. I’m not positive if you’re allowed to purchase Fire2/Fira or have Fire Rods in your inventory, so long as you don’t use either of them. I erred on the side of caution and avoided having either.
Escape Karnak Castle in time and with every treasure
This was a bit of a struggle for me since I hadn’t properly prepared for this. Immediately following the Liquid Flame boss and some cutscenes, Karnak Castle is set to explode in 10 minutes’ time. You need to run through the castle and acquire all of the treasures that had been previously blocked by plumes of fire, defeat a forced encounter at the castle’s exit, and escape before the timer runs out. The Gigas enemies you find in the treasure chests here can teach a Blue Mage both Aero and Aero 2, and Iron Claw can teach Doom Claw, though I doubt you’ll have the time to get this spell. You can acquire all of these spells through simpler methods anyway, so you don’t have to bother if you just want to rush through. I’ll quote the guide I used for the directions to get everything.
“Save your game and then head up through the door. Open the cell door on your right and grab the chest containing '2000 GP.' Head up and when you reach the door then go down into the cell, there's two chests here and the one that isn't open has a monster-in-a-box. After defeating them you get an 'Elixir.' When you go through the door make a left and open the one chest among the three of them, there's monsters inside and once they area defeated you receive 'Ribbon.' Run to the right and open the chest for more monsters and a 'Shuriken.' Go up through the double doors and around to the lower doors, from here continue up the stairs to the main hall and then take the upper right door. Open the two chests here for '2000 GP' and 'Elixir.'
“Take the stairs at the upper right and follow the path around to reach a chest with monsters in it and then a 'Hunting Knife.' Return to the room with all the chests and run to the bottom where you'll find two more both containing monsters and two 'Elixir.' Take the bottom exit and go left into the next room, right here are two more chests and two more 'Elixir' with monsters. At the top is one 'Elixir' with monsters and '2000 GP' without. Follow the upper left stairs around to the bottom again and battle the monsters in the chest for an 'Elf Cloak.' Finally it's time to return to the front hall, before leaving the castle take the path left of the front door and battle the monsters in the chest, afterward you automatically learn the magic Esuna. Open the chest on the right side and defeat the monsters for a 'Lightning Scroll.' Now leave the castle and get ready for Iron Claw. Once he’s defeated, escape from the castle just by running down and you're home free.”
Defeat Prototype with a party of level 25 or lower
This can be done as soon as you acquire the Fire Ship (don’t speak to the man in Crescent Town yet, or you’ll lose the ship). Prototype is a tough monster that can be found near Crescent Island, on one of the southernmost small islands. Just keep running into encounters as you cross each island until you find the correct one. Since it’s next to impossible to damage this enemy through conventional means, the most reliable method is to have a Trainer/Beastmaster use Control on Prototype, then have it do Self-Destruct/Exploder to destroy itself. It also has the Blue Magic spell Missile if you want to acquire it here.
Visit Butz’s hometown and have some fond memories
Once you have the airship, go to the village surrounded by mountains just north of the Wind Shrine. There is the possibility of using the Black Chocobo near Crescent Town after losing the Fire Ship and flying northward. Basically, do this before finishing World 1. This is Lix, Butz’s hometown. There are three cutscenes that need to be initiated – speaking to the scholar in Butz’s old house (speak to him again for a Bard song), examining the music box in said house, and sleeping at the inn.
Obtain all Songs
Due to events that occur late in the story, Lix will be permanently cut off from access in World 3. There is no opportunity to visit Lix with the airship in World 3, so Charm Song has to be learned in World 1 or else the song acquired from the scholar in Butz’s old house will thus be lost if you don’t talk to him. Also, at the beginning of World 3, you have to speak to the scholar at the top of the Ancient Library burning books to learn Magic Song before clearing the Pyramid, or else that song will be lost as well. All of the Songs can be found in the following locations:
- Power Song: learned on Crescent Island in World 3 after playing seven pianos, then playing the piano in the bard’s house before speaking to the bard himself
- Vital Song: learned from a bard in the lower right house of Crescent Town in World 1
- Hero Song: After playing all eight pianos, go back to the bard in Crescent Town in World 3 and play the piano in his house before speaking to him
- Love Song: In the town of Istory/Easterly in World 1, poke the sheep near the fence so that he kicks you over, then speak to the bard [missable!]
- Speed Song: In Surgate Castle in World 2, go to the king’s bedroom and read a book
- Magic Song: Top of the Ancient Library in World 3, learned from a scholar burning books [highly missable!]
- Requiem: Learned from the dancing wolves in Kelb in World 2
- Charm Song: In Lix, listen to the music box in Butz’s house in World 1, then speak to the bard [missable!]
Witness Faris and Lenna's memories when they were little girls
Get the airship, fly to Tycoon Castle and speak to the chancellor, then spend the night there. This has to be done BEFORE Galuf leaves the party! If he leaves and you go to Tycoon Castle, you’ll get the following achievement, but you’ll miss this one.
Learn of Sarisa's fears as a kid
Same steps as before, but this time Galuf needs to have left the party. Don’t worry if you miss this in World 1, as you have another opportunity right at the beginning of World 3. During the ball, go into the upper left room and into King Tycoon’s empty room, where you can read his diary to trigger the cutscene.
WORLD 2 MISSABLES
These are permanently lost once you go to World 3. This occurs when the party infiltrates Exdeath’s Castle and fights Exdeath.
Obtain every treasure from World 2
Same deal as Treasure Hunter I, this time with 51 treasures to find. Again, refer to the checklist. You want to have 40/51 treasures before venturing into Exdeath’s Castle to close out World 2.
The Legendary Wine of Rugor (5)
Have a drink with Galuf, you deserve it!!
This occurs after the infamous battle on the bridge with Gilgamesh shortly after arriving on World 2. After being blown away to a different part of the world, head all the way east to a small town. This is Lugor, or Regole as this guide uses. Stay at the inn for free, and this cutscene will play out.
Defeat Shield Dragon with a party of level 35 or lower
Once you’re done your business in Regole, proceed south for the Moogle Village as your next story destination. Along the way, you will encounter a castle – this is Kuza, the Sealed Castle. Shield Dragon is found here, making this your first opportunity to fight him. A tried and true method is the same as dealing with Prototype - having a Trainer/Beastmaster use Control on Shield Dragon and having him use Blaze on himself. The Fight command will knock Shield Dragon out of the control, so don’t use it! The other party members should just defend.
Defeat Sand Crawler with a party of level 35 or lower
This enemy appears in the desert where you need to follow the Moogle to the Moogle Village after saving it in Moogle Forest Cave. There are several methods to accomplishing this, such as the Blue Mage’s Aqua Breath, the Chemist’s Phoenix Down + Dark Matter mix, the Black Mage’s Break spell, throwing gil with the Samurai, or throwing Water Scrolls with the Ninja.
Dress like a Moogle
In the Moogle Village, go into the center house and you’ll find a lone Moogle… or rather, a costume. Try it on and you’ll get the achievement. You need to do this to open the chest in the house left of this one. Speak to the Moogle inside, who becomes enamored by Moogle Butz and lets him take the treasure. This counts towards the Treasure Hunter II achievement.
Defeat Gil Turtle with a party of level 40 or lower
You are able to access the Gil Cave once you have access to Val Castle after leaving Moogle Village, and is found directly east of the castle. This is definitely the hardest of the low-level boss challenges, and a great deal of preparation and strategy will be needed. There is an ideal AP grinding spot in Val Castle where you can use Level 5 Death or Gold Needles to instakill the statue enemies. Some classes you may want to consider leveling include Knight, Mystic Knight, Black Mage, White Mage, Time Mage, Ninja, Summoner, and/or Bard. You also want the Float spell (Time Magic) from the chest in Surgate Castle, since Gil Turtle can cast Earthquake.
Gil Turtle is undead, but don’t use the Raise spell or healing items due to its Heavy status (immune to instant death and fractional damage, i.e. Gravity spells). Common strategies for defense involve casting Blink, Image, or summoning Golem. Gil Turtle is also weak to ice, so some offensive strategies include the Requiem song, the Blizzaga spell with an Ice Rod equipped to boost the elemental damage, the Blizzaga Spellblade command, and level 3 Flare since it is level 57. Having three party members at critical health while a Knight has full health is also a common method, though one member should be dedicated to healing the Knight while the other two attack. Hastega is a good support spell to have.
I personally had a party of a Knight, a Blue Mage with White Magic, a Time Mage with Blue Magic, and a Summoner with Medicine from the Chemist class, all at level 30. Everyone except the Knight was at critical health, obviously. In hindsight, I probably should’ve went with Black Mages instead of Blue Mages because Level 3 Flare only does around 1300 damage, whereas Blizzaga can do more for slightly less MP cost. It was also a little more difficult for me because I ran out of Ethers and had to rely on Elixirs, which messed up the Knight’s guarding duties. I was also out of Phoenix Downs, but the Blue Mage’s White Magic can rectify that. If there’s anything to take away from my experience, it’s to have plenty of items in stock, particularly Hi-Potions, Ethers and Phoenix Downs.
Gilgamesh vs Heroes – Round 1 (5)
Steal the Genji Gloves and then defeat Gilgamesh
This battle occurs on Xezat’s ship, and is the third battle overall against Gilgamesh. It is mandatory to have a Thief in the battle for their Steal ability. This is going to be the same for all of the Gilgamesh battles going forward. Once you steal the Genji Gloves, you can defeat him and Enkidu.
Obtain the Aegis Shield in the great forest of Mua (Moore)
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Obtain the Flame Shield in the great forest of Mua (Moore)
In Moore Forest, there is a specific chest that is seen during the cutscene where some fire starts to consume the forest. A Moogle will show up and save the party from being burned to death. The timing for opening this chest is important. Open it before the Moogle rescues the party to get the Aegis Shield, or wait until after this cutscene and the forest is burnt to get the Flame Shield instead. You can only have one or the other, so decide which one you want. Most recommendations I looked up say to choose the Aegis Shield since it has resistance to the Petrify status, there are more places where Flame Shields can be acquired compared to Aegis Shields, and there are rings sold that grant resistance to fire. Either way, choose the one you don’t want to keep first, then reset and choose the one you want in the second go.
Defeat and obtain the Shoat esper
After concluding all of the story events in Moore Forest, go back into the submarine and head for the white dot on the northwestern continent. This is an underwater cave that leads to a forest where Shoat can appear as a random encounter. Shoat may also be known as Catoblepas in other translations.
Defeat and obtain the Carbunkle esper
This is a summon found within Exdeath’s Castle. Carbunkle is susceptible to the Petrify status, so summoning Shoat or using the Mystic Knight’s Break Spellblade are good options. Casting the Black Mage’s Break spell isn’t wise because Carbunkle has Reflect on him.
Gilgamesh vs Heroes – Round 2 (5)
Steal the Genji Helmet and then defeat Gilgamesh
This is the fourth encounter overall with Gilgamesh, seen within Castle Exdeath in World 2 when you examine a suspicious chest. This steal is trickier than before because the Genji Helmet will not be available until you do enough damage to Gilgamesh and he starts talking (“Enough expository banter! Now we fight like men! And ladies! And ladies who dress like men!”) before using the Morph ability to change into his multi-armed form. You only have three turns to successfully steal from him, or else the battle will end automatically, forcing you to reset. Equip the Thief Gloves to improve your Thief’s chances at stealing, or have all four characters be Thieves to have 12 opportunities to steal rather than just three.
Defeat Exdeath without any casualties
Remember that defeating Exdeath here is the cutoff for World 2. Don’t forget to collect all 51 treasures for Treasure Hunter II and do any other World 2 missables before initiating this battle.
The trouble here is that Exdeath can potentially (but not always) cast Condemn (a.k.a. Doom), which starts a timer that counts down to a character being instantly killed. Thus, it isn’t a good idea to learn the Condemn Blue Magic spell here unless you get the achievement and reset. You could cast Slow on the afflicted character so their turn comes a little bit later, but you otherwise need to be quick with defeating Exdeath. Gil Toss and throwing Shurikens tend to be favorable techniques since they can be used from the back row, and Elixirs can take care of healing. Another strategy involves summoning Carbunkle to reflect Exdeath’s spells back at him, freeing you to do other things. The effect isn’t permanent though, so you do need to resummon Carbunkle when Reflect wears out (after taking enough damage, not after a period of time like in other Final Fantasy titles).
WORLD 3 MISSABLES
Obtain every treasure from World 3
Same deal as before. This time there are 101 treasures to look for. Consult the checklist for further details.
Obtain every treasure in the game
There are a total of 256 treasures across the three worlds. So long as you get all 104 in World 1 and all 51 in World 2, you should be home free to find the last 101 in World 3. There are some obscure and missable ones to still watch out for in World 3, which the checklist explains.
Around the World on a Yellow Chocobo (5)
Obtain the Mirage Vest for your trouble for traveling around the world
You can do this one as soon as you have access to the airship, after completing the Pyramid of Moore and defeating Melusine. Get your Yellow Chocobo and ride it to Phantom Village. In the town, speak to the NPC in the storage room in the back entrance of the pub. He’ll offer the Mirage Vest if you ride your Chocobo around the world in one session. There is always a path available during your trek, so this shouldn’t be too difficult. Make a full circle around the world map back to Phantom Village, speak to the same NPC again, and he will give you the vest. I went around clockwise, but you can probably do this counter-clockwise as well. This is missable because the NPC will disappear when the party enters the final dungeon.
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Obtain the Brave Blade and Chicken Knife respectively
In Moore Village, go into the secret back door of the house at the lower left to find a place where you can choose between the Brave Blade and Chicken Knife. You can only choose one of them, so pick the one you don’t want first for that achievement, reset, then choose the one you want for your playthrough. You actually need to equip the weapon for the achievement to pop.
The Brave Blade is at maximum power by default, but loses power when you flee from battle, which you most likely will have done at some point. Conversely, the Chicken Knife is at its lowest power by default, but gains power as you flee battles. Naturally, the Chicken Knife is the better of the two choices here, especially since you can easily get it at maximum power for almost no cost except the time it takes to run in battles. The Chicken Knife can also be equipped by a variety of classes, in contrast to the Brave Blade which only a limited number of classes can use. The downside is that the knife may cause you to automatically flee from a fight when you don’t want to. I suggest reserving it for boss battles.
Gilgamesh vs Heroes – Round 3 (10)
Steal the Genji Shield from Gilgamesh and then defeat him
This is during the fifth and final battle against Gilgamesh in the Interdimensional Rift, sandwiched between the battles against Twintania and Necrophobe. Have a Thief in the party and steal the Genji Shield, just like before.
Do note that there is a fourth piece of Genji equipment that doesn’t have an achievement attached to it. This is the Genji Armor that can be stolen from Gilgamesh during his confrontation with Necrophobe. It too is missable, so nab it anyway for the full set of Genji equipment.