Pharos - Third Ascent - Mete of Dynasty
On this floor, you will be using a complex network of way stones to move through this level, if you touch two incorrect way stones you get sent to a room full of zombies. So don’t do it.
SPIRE RAVEL – 1ST FLIGHT:
Kill the bombs then run up and touch the Black Sigil Stone (located in the north west corner of the platform).
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| The Ara Pacis - buit to commemorate Roman Peace |
Run down the hallway which will end at a large stone room (it looks like the Ara Pacis) but with a dragon inside it. I suggest skipping the dragon to save health. Turn south from the stone room entrance head down what looks like a dead end. At the very end of the eastern wall there is a segment that looks like a garage door. Go up to it and it will say “Fool’s Façade” press the “X” button. The wall crumbles so proceed through it. Get the treasure and press the green sigil.
SPIRE RAVEL – 2ND FLIGHT:
The first trap you see in front of you will heal you. The rest of them do not. Run down the right hallway until you get to another fool’s façade. Bust through it and then the second one.
Head up the stairs, defeat the aeronite with oil and firaga and then touch the Red Sigil of Sacrifice.
Fight the two lag-inducing aeronites, grab the treasure, and then touch the stone that corresponds to the ability you gave up in the 2nd ascent. I listed them with their cardinal direction in parenthesis.
Pink = Knowledge (SW)
Yellow = Items (NW)
White = Weapons (NE)
Purple = Magick. (SE)
Yes pink and purple look the same so pick the one in the Southwest corner if you gave up the minimap.
You got to the right place if there is a Carven Pillar at the end of the hall. Don’t worry about fighting the monsters on the platform because those way stones are all fake. Head north through that long dead end hallway. Along the west wall is another one of those garage door-esque “fool’s façades”. Break it and touch the way stone in the room.
In the new room, there may be a giant golem called Tower. Dispel his shell. He is immune to fire so just beat on him. Have 2 healers and 1 tank. When Tower is dead, heal up your party because your next stop is a fight with another boss. Enter the elevator and go to 90F.
This boss looks like Squenix took a bald eagle and infused it with kick-ass nethicite. I mean check out its guns, they are bigger than its thorax. Forget the bald eagle, I think America has found its next national mascot: Hashmal. I actually downloaded the US National Anthem and played it during the fight.
----- BOSS: Hashmal -----
GAMBITS:
Tanks
[Ally: Disease > Vaccine]
[Foe: any > attack]
Healers –
[ally: any > arise] //towards the end of the fight use Phoenix Down to speed up your healing.
[ally: any > protect]
[ally: any > haste]
[HP < 30 cura], Use araise, save phx downs till the end
- Send in 2 healers and 1 tank.
- Hack away. As long as you are in a good groove don’t use quickenings. They don’t work that well against him and you will drain everyone’s MP
- Swap out you healers when then run out of MP.
----- END: Hashmal -----
You defeat Hashmal and it starts snowing and then explodes. You get an apple jolly rancher as your prize.
Cut Scene: Fran can hear the mist because the Sun-cryst is near. Shot# 12 of that water tube. Panelo wonders aloud if Ashe is really going to take revenge on the Empire and cut out more nethicite. Now buckle up because here comes the moral of the whole story: Penelo concludes that “we can’t change the past” and we have to remember who we lost but once they are gone we have to move on. That was it. Wait a minute... that is the same moral from the Lion King.
Reddas comes by and tells Penello to forget everyone you used to know. They are just baggage. Wow that is harsh but I can smell that pirate beer under his breath so he is probably just drunk again.
The next scene is quite interesting when you look at how the symbolism is used. Just keep in mind that the blue Treaty Blade represents revenge and the bronze Sword of Kings represents forgiveness and and peace. See how these elements are interwoven in the scene’s drama.
The Party arrives on the top floor with the Sun-cryst which looks like the background to one of those black light paintings of Bob Marley. Ashe holds in her hands two swords, one to end nethicite the other to propagate the madness. Vaan says you are going to kill the stone right? She says shut up Vaan. The make-more-nethicite sword starts glowing and she raises it causing fireballs to circle around the tower. The seas rise and clouds collect around the point of the tower.
Rasler appears and this time everyone can see him. Rasler’s vote in the revenge vs peace is revenge – he wants there to be more nethicite. Doesn’t seem like prince charming anymore.
Judge Gabranth comes in from the windowsill. With all that armor he should be careful around all that lightning. Gabranth immediately starts over-acting and preparing his Darth Maul-esque double sword. He urges Ashe to take revenge by reminding her that he was the one that killed her father. You can see how she feels by what sword she caries.
Reddas stops all this excitement by barging in with his own sub-plot. It turns out that Reddas was a judge too (who wasn’t a judge in this whole fable). Working in the name of the Empire, Reddas, stole the Midlight Shard from the Nabrudians and used it in the battle of Nabudis. Back then it was Cid who ordered the attack as a proof of firepower experiment. Reddas was so upset by his actions that he left his judgeship – he was named Judge Zecht. Reddas says lets fight and lets cut stone, just be sure to think long term. Oh, and did you hear Reddas use the word History? In order to make the jump on Gabranth, Reddas attacks. However, just as in his battle against Cid, Reddas gets pushed aside quite easily.
Vaan picks up Reddas’ sword to continue the fight. He readies his attack against Gabranth, and Vaan is now the one seeking revenge for his brother. Watching this, Ashe realizes how out of control and worthless all of this has become. Ashe realizes that the insistence on revenge does not match the person he really was. She slashes at him. So, I think this is essentially Ashe separating from her husband. Poor girl. Really, how many people do you know that have been widowed and divorced to the same person and in that order? With that, ghost Rasler speaks and it turns out his is just an Occurian disguised as Rassler. She speaks, realizing that even though Dalmasca was founded under the Dynast-King’s Dusk Shard nethicite, it was never used so was not as important as she thought it was. Taking in all of these latest revelations, Ashe decides to destroy the Sun-Cryst. Vaan fully accepts his brothers death but not without Gabranth totally rips on his brother, saying he is a failure and such.
----- BOSS: Gabranth -----
Levels: 44s and a few 45s
- Cast dispel on Gabranth
- Send in 2 Tanks 1 healer
- Keep your tanks protected and hasted
- Berserk one of your Tanks
----- End: Gabranth -----
Gabranth starts panting and breathing real hard. I can’t imagine what kind of phlegm is collecting inside of that helmet. As he huffs and puffs, Cid comes in to stop the fight. Cid scolds Gabranth for forsaking his duty in protecting Larsa. Having nothing else to swing at, Gabranth swings at Cid, only to have him flash his Venat who teleports beside him. The Occurian sends Gabranth flying across the room and almost smashes him against a Voussoir but instead, Gabranth hits the arch just a little too low.
Ashe accuses Cid of being a puppet to Venat. He does not deny it but he does say that because Ashe decided not to cut more nethicite she is turning from the Occurians just as Cid is. Ashe says the “Sun-Cryst be damned” and Cid says “Be sure that it is!” like he is the Joker. God I love Cid. He alley-oops the Nethicite to Venat who uses it to demonstrate how Earth and Mars revolve around the sun. Explosions start and Cid floats above the party and starts looking like Christ, or rather Cryst. It occurs to Balthier that Cid wants to be a God and is, of course, against this (even though if he would just let this all play out he would automatically become the son of god.) Cid calls out for his own esper named “Ffamfrit” (Notice: Cid typo-ed his own esper).
----- BOSS: Cid -----
- 2 Healers, 1 tank
- Dispel him
- Hack away at Cid rather than his helper
- Watch out for Cid’s huge gatlin gun – man I wish this game where like mega man where we get his power after he is dead.
Cut scene: He shows a piece of manufactured nethicite and throws it out which creates the star of Bethlehem. He summons a new beast called Famfirt who has a keg on his shoulder and is all “hey where the party at?”
Part 2:
- Dispel the new foe
- Focus all of you attacks at Famfrit
- Cast oil on him
- Cast firaga
- Watch out for the silence attacks
Part 3:
- Attack Cid
----- End: Cid -----
Cut scene: Cid tries to raise his guns one last time but falls. As he dies he looks like Stephen Baldwin. We get Fanfrit but I would rather have that gatlin gun. Balthier runs up to help his father. Venat has this look on his face like “will you be my master if Cid dies?” Cid say good bye to eachother before Cid dies. His final words were “Fool of a Pirate.” He must have been a Jedi or something because when he finally passes Cid turns into mist. With everyone standing so close, they are probably inhaling Balthier’s Dad. Fran says the mist burns. Balthier tries to help her. She tells the clan to run as fast as they can. Then in a touching moment, Fran looks into Balthier’s eyes and says “you fly don’t you?” – well not for most of this game.
Meanwhile, Ashe and Vaan run toward the activated Sun-Cryst and try to destroy it. Each caries one of the two swords; one is like the Truman doctrine of escalating weapons production to serve as a deterrent to further usage of atomic weapons. The other sword is like Reagan Era SALT, in which a de-escalation of weapons would serve a better purpose. However, they can’t get up there. Reddas says you guys can’t do anything right and attacks with the Sword of Kings (the one that will destroy all nethicite). Everyone in all of Ivalice stops like someone forgot to enter in 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.
I figured it out, the Strahl looks like one of those tools to break lobster shells. Well anyway, the party escapes from the explosive crystal and fly off. Vaan sulks in the cockpit because he is sad for Reddas. I would be feel sorry for him but I just can’t keep my eyes off his new hair cut - it looks like he went to Ashe’s stylist? Everyone else is sad too but why don’t they just use a Phoenix Down on him? Maybe they just choose not to because all he did for them was get drunk and then hand out awkward advice. Oh yah and his sideburn hair got everywhere.
The clan pulls into the pirate port and it is empty. His two captain buddies use a lot of words to say “don’t forget him and he would have like it this way.” For pirates they sure do talk a lot. Then they call us Vaan’s crew – the kid doesn’t even know how fly an airship. Who died and made him pirate?
Cut Scene: Al Cid is sitting at Reddas’ pirate desk. He barged in because he had to report urgent news and it required “haste.” I love how he says haste. He tells us that the war is starting. A few rogue Rozarrian generals got too excited for war, ventured into Imperial territory and so the Marquis used it as an opportunity to attack the Empire. See Dr. Strangelove. Balthier concludes that this will pull Rozarria, Dalmasca, and Arcadia into the fight and will be a war “between empires” – actually Balthier with three or more parties it would be a “war AMONG empires.” Al-Cid predicts that Vayne will crush the other kingdoms and the resistance not with his Nethicite but with the Bahamut. This secret weapon is fueled by Mist and when Dr. Cid opened up the Sun Cryst the resulting tidal wave of Mist super charged the Bahamut. Dr. Cid was planning this from the beginning and I guess because Balthier is his son he says “and So it comes to me – to put an end to the thing.” Oh shut up Balthier, for the last time, you are not a Christ figure.
Ashe and the party will attack the Bahamut while Al Cid tries to slow the rebellion’s attack against the Empire. With the plan set, Al-Cid takes some time to work it with the ladies – primarily Ashe. He wants to show her his Rozarria and Balthier fumes in the background because Cid didn’t ask him to see the Ambervale. Fran looks over and is all “don’t worry, mama-Fran still loves your skinny sky pirate ass.”
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