Temple of Fiends Past

Temple of Fiends Past

The final dungeon in the game is, appropriately, also the longest. It has eight floors, and you will explore each fully. There isn't much treasure here, but that which you will find is well worth the effort. Note that you cannot leave the Temple of Fiends Past without the EXIT or WARP spells. Also note that you will need the LUTE, so if you forgot to do so earlier, speak to Princess Sara in Castle Coneria before coming here.

The upper floors of the Temple are filled with nasty enemies but don't have any particular theme. However, the basement levels each align to one of the four elements. You'll fight enhanced versions of all four Fiends on each trip through the Temple. In total, a full trip includes six boss fights, all of which you'll have to fight again if you leave, and none of which yield substantial rewards.

Temple of Fiends Past 1F

The biggest threat on the first floor is the large groups of Frost Ds which can dish out a lot of cumulative damage with BLIZZARD, regardless of any Cold resistance. The new WORMS are nothing special, but you can't run from them. A few physical attacks should take them out easily at this point. CHIMERAS are not as dangerous as Frost Ds but are harder to take out quickly.

There are stairs down to B1 in the southwest corner of the map, but they are a dead end. You can wander around that floor for some time, but you won't find anything there. Instead, head southeast and take the stairs to 2F.

Temple of Fiends Past 2F

Your first trip to 2F will be very short. You appear in a small central room with the stairs to 3F just across the way. You'll spend more time on this floor in the near future.

The creatures on 2F are an eclectic bunch. Neither ZombieDs nor FrGIANTS pose much threat (though you can't run from either), and FrWOLVES can be taken out with spellcasting items like the Mage Staff. The CHIMERAS and JIMERAS are more annoying than dangerous. SLIMES require Fire, which is also useful against the rare WzVAMPS.

Temple of Fiends Past 3F

Groups of Gas Ds patrol this floor, and their POISON attack will deal significant damage to any Warriors without a Ribbon. You can't run from this difficult encounter. This is the best place in the entire game to gain Experience and Gold, based on average encounter rewards, but this fight makes doing this for any length of time difficult. Huge groups of BADMEN will also plague you here. The Bane Sword and other free spells can thin their ranks. MAGES return from the Ice Cave here, and are supported by FIGHTERS. Your resistances should blunt their spellcasting assault quite nicely, although the FIGHTER's XFER spell will negate even a Ribbon for a single battle.

You will find yourself in the northwest corner of the floor, and your goal is the central room. You need to approach from the south, so the quickest path is south, then east past the corner rooms and back north. Just inside the central room, you'll be faced with the first boss encounter of the Temple of Fiends Past: the PHANTOM. "Boss fight" is a bit misleading, to be honest, because this is an easy fight. The PHANTOM can take a few hits, but its attacks are ineffective if you have a good set of resistances. You won't gain anything from this fight, but you will find 110,000 G in two chests in this room. You probably don't need Gold at this point, but it can't hurt.

With the PHANTOM defeated, use the LUTE to open a path back down to 2F from the central room. Now your path to CHAOS is clear.

Back on 2F, you'll now find yourself with access to the outer halls. The stairs to 1F are in the northwest corner, so head that way. You'll appear in the northeast of 1F, with the stairs down to B1 located directly to the west.

The Earth Floor

This is the first elemental floor, featuring Earth-themed monsters. The only ones actually returning from the Earth Cave are EARTHS, which now appear in groups. They are still surprisingly powerful, though they shouldn't offer much threat in the grand scheme of things. Combinations of MudGOLS and RockGOLS are only problematic if the RockGOLS manage to hit your KNIGHT (or whoever) with SLOW. GrMEDUSAS are easily destroyed with the Mage Staff. You aren't likely to run into SAURIAS, but they are another monster that lacks offense due to your party's resistances.

There are two entrances to this floor, but the one that leads onward is in the southwest tower. You will need to walk all the way north, east, and south around the outside of the floor. In the southeast, you'll notice the staircase to B2 has decorations around it. Prepare for a fight when you approach.

LICH

The rematch with LICH is fairly straighforward. Unfortunately, this usually means being hit by NUKE in the first round of combat. There's nothing you can do about this, so count on using a lot of healing items after the fight. LICH only has 500 HP, so he's not difficult to take down even without FAST. LICH uses all four level 8 black magic spells, but you should be immune to the effects of everything except NUKE.

The Fire Floor

Every enemy on this floor is a retread from Gurgu Volcano, though they tend to appear in larger numbers here. AGAMAS can wear down the party (and your patience) with repeated uses of HEAT, and FIRES are dangerous in groups. The rare groups of Red Ds are especially nasty, but you're not likely to see them.

This is the first floor of the Temple of Fiends Past with real treasure. You'll start off in a central area, and you'll have to head through a northern room to make it to the east side of the floor. All of the treasures are found in the southern room, which is accessible if you head south past the stairs to B3. The big prize is a second ProCape, found in the southeastern room. You can follow the path east from this room to find 26,000 G. The southwestern room contains a ProRing and a path leading to a second Katana. This isn't of much use unless you have two NINJAS. When you're ready, heal up and head for the stairs.

KARY

KARY awaits you in front of the stairs to B3. Just as before, KARY's physical attack is her most dangerous form of offense. She will cast FIR3 interspersed with castings of RUB and STUN if she decides to cast, so count on taking damage in any case. KARY has no special vulnerability to Status this time around, so a concentrated physical assault should be your top priority. FAST and FOG2 are both very effective in this fight. KARY has 700 HP and her 60 Absorb makes it difficult to take her down quickly.

The Water Floor

The monsters here are all taken from the Sunken Shrine, and aren't any more dangerous than they were then. WATERS are a threat you can't run from, and combinations of GrSHARKS and WzSAHAGS can be somewhat difficult to take out quickly. The Zeus Gauntlet and Thor Hammer will see a lot of use here.

There is no treasure on this floor, but you'll have a long trek to the stairs in the southeast corner. Use the small room near the entrance to make your way east, then head south and enter either side room to continue further south. From here, head back north to the wide central room, taking the central door south to reach the exit. Be ready to fight before entering the narrow eastern hallway.

KRAKEN

For the first time in a Fiend rematch, KRAKEN actually uses a less dangerous strategy in this battle than the original. In addition to INK, KRAKEN will now occasionally cast LIT2. You should consider yourself lucky when he does, because his physical attacks are even more ridiculous in this fight than last time. FOG2 helps, but this is a fight you'll want to end quickly. KRAKEN has 900 HP and 70 Absorb. FAST on your best fighters should be enough to take him out in a few rounds.

The Wind Floor

The encounters on this floor are varied and dangerous. AIRS appear in large groups, but you can run from them if necessary. You can't run from WORMS, but you won't have to. You also can't run from the rare IronGOLS, foes that are notable only because you are so unlikely to ever fight them. Pairs of EVILMEN are very dangerous, and should be killed quickly before they cast NUKE. The last new threat here is huge groups of SORCERERS. Don't hesitate to hit them with powerful elemental attack spells, since they will be useless against both TIAMAT and CHAOS.

This floor consists of four interconnected square hallways. TIAMAT awaits you between the two northern squares, and the stairs to CHAOS are found to the northeast. However, it's well worth taking the time to explore the southern part of the floor. A path leading from the southeast square ends at a small room containing the Masmune, the best weapon in the game.

Oddly, anyone can use the Masmune (even if you've gotten this far without a Class Change). The decision of who to give it to therefore becomes very interesting. If you have only one KNIGHT, allow him to keep using Xcalber. The Masmune is effective in the hands of a RedWiz or a NINJA, but should not be given to a MASTER. In a pinch, it can be wielded by a Wh.Wiz or a Bl.Wiz, but they are probably better off using spellcasting items in most cases. Whoever you give it to for normal adventuring, make sure it's in the hands of someone who is going to physically attack CHAOS when the time comes. You don't want to waste any advantage you can get! You may even want to cast EXIT and save once you have the Masmune so you don't need to find it again. This also allows you to use it against WarMECH, if you so choose.

TIAMAT

When you're ready, engage TIAMAT. Like KARY, TIAMAT has lost her odd weakness to Poison in this fight, so BANE and BRAK aren't easy answers this time. And like KRAKEN, TIAMAT has added weak spells to her arsenal, which will actually make the battle easier. That said, she has 1,100 HP and 90 Absorb, so taking her down will take some time even with FAST. As before, shore up any elemental weaknesses with WALL if needs be, then put up defenses like FOG2 and INV2 while attacking repeatedly. Her attack is not nearly as deadly as KRAKEN's, and unless you came in low on HP, you should be able to win this fight with relative ease.

Temple of Fiends Past B5

There are no encounters on this final floor, though apparently there were in the original Japanese version of the game. All you need to do is head for the central room and speak to the final boss to begin the end game. Good luck!