Sabin's Scenario: Getting Your Bearings

As his scenario begins, Sabin finds himself washed up quite a ways from his destination of Narshe. He'll need to make a long trek south in order to head back west. This is the longest of the three scenarios, and the one that involves the most characters. You'll notice a House that should be your first destination immediately to your east.

There are a number of points of interest here. If you speak to Shadow, he'll tell you that the Empire has its sights set on Doma Castle and offer to join the party. When he says that he may leave at any time, he means it: after any battle he's alive and healthy at the end of, there's a 1/16 chance Shadow walks off. You can always save often and reload if he does this since it's random, but while he certainly helps in the coming battles, he's not vital. If you reach the Phantom Train with Shadow still in tow, he won't leave for the duration of that area (since he has nowhere to go).

The aged man inside the house has a whole cycle of strange things to say if you keep talking to him. You can also rest in his bed for free. If you go back outside again, a Wandering Merchant (who looks like a green Imperial officer) will arrive on a chocobo. He sells Plumed Hats which will be an upgrade for Shadow and possibly also Sabin and some basic items, but the Ninja gear he sells is all new.

Shuriken are used with Shadow's Throw command, which never misses, ignores Defense, and deals double damage. They are cheap and far better than his typical attacks, so buy a bunch if you plan to keep Shadow around. The Inviz Edge and Shadow Edge are support-type Thrown Objects which will grant Shadow the Clear and Image statuses, respectively. These are expensive but can be very useful against physically attacking enemies.

The Northeast area of the World Map contains a whole new mix of monsters. Beakors have the most HP and can counter any attack that doesn't finish them off. Interestingly, they counterattack Fight with a normal attack, but anything else (e.g., Blitz or Throw) with Duster, which causes Poison. But since those attacks are likely to take them out in one shot anyway, it isn't a big problem. Rhobites also appear on the plains, but aren't much of a threat and don't have any notable qualities.

Things are a bit more interesting in the forests. CrassHopprs can cause Berserk with Wing Snap, but this isn't really a problem for Sabin or Shadow. Their enhanced attacks should work as well as their usual abilities. Stray Cats are only noteworthy because of their occasional Catscratch attack, which deals four times their usual (low) damage. You'll want to fight at least one of these so Gau can learn that Rage later, though there are plenty of chances to do so coming up.

To the Imperial Camp

Your destination can be reached by heading west, then south. At some point, the encounter set will change a bit, with the previously forest-exclusive monsters now appearing on the plains. There are no new enemies, though. If you happen to get drawn into an encounter while traversing the desert area that contains the Imperial Camp, you'll find encounters similar to those around Figaro Castle.