Gamer Corner Guides

Deist Cavern is another five-floor dungeon, this one split into three distinct paths. Conveniently, this split happens right on B1. The first time you enter, you'll be looking for the Pendant, which is quickly found on B2. Another of the three paths leads to treasure, while the third leads to the Life Spring that you'll need to return to shortly.

Deist Cavern B1

The monsters on B1 are mostly similar to those found on Deist Island. There are no more Stalactite groups, and Hill Gigantes are more common. The rare new monster are Yellow Souls. They absorb every element but go down quickly to physical attacks with only 20 HP (but 25 defense). Split up your attacks and thin their ranks quickly, because they will repeatedly cast Fire 5 until you do.

B1 is a simple and largely open floor. The entrance is in the northwest corner, and there is a staircase in each other corner. The Pendant can be reached via the northeast stairway, so head due east from the start the first time you come here. You'll find a chest with a measly 30 gil along the way. Examine the body on B2 to receive the Pendant. From there, you should return to Castle Deist to receive your next objective.

You can explore further and find some treasure at this point, but given how close Castle Deist is, there's little incentive to do so before returning to the Wyvern with the Pendant first.

Back to Castle Deist

Pendant in hand, return to Castle Deist speak to the dying Wyvern. It will give you the Wyvern Egg and ask you to incubate it in the Life Spring in the lower depths of Deist Cavern. With the Wyvern Egg in hand, return to the Cavern and prepare for a longer trip than your previous one.

There are two paths you can take. The southwestern stairs lead to a Potion and eventually to four treasures including a Flame Bow, one of which (the Knight's Armor) is guarded. The southeastern stairs lead to more treasure and eventually to the Life Spring. A broken bridge on this path will deposit you on the first path if you try to cross it.

Deist Cavern B2

The new enemy on B2 is the Revenant, a powerful but vanilla Undead creature that is most notable in that it will likely survive a single group casting of Fire. Their attacks are only slightly more intimidating than most of the other monsters in the Deist Cavern. The exception, of course, is the Hill Gigas, groups of which are even more common on this floor than on B1. They remain the main threat to both your characters' HP and your MP resources.

The treasure path from the southwest stairs on B1 will pass a side area containing a Potion on the way down to B2. You can alternately reach the deeper parts of this route by intentionally falling off the collapsing bridge on B3.

The southeast stairs from B1 lead to the same corner of B2. This path takes up the bulk of the floor. You'll find a Mythril Helm and Mythril Armor on side paths before reaching the first stairway to B3. This leads to an island where you can find Mythril Gloves and a rare Mythril Mirror. If you continue past those stairs on B2, you'll find the Mage's Staff guarded by harmless Green Souls and a second stairway to B3 that leads to the Life Spring.

Deist Cavern B3

Gone are the groups of middling Undead on B3, replaced by more Yellow Souls and Revenants. The new rare encounter on this floor is with a group of Ogre Chiefs and Ogre Mages. Ogre Chiefs are yet another beefy 300 HP monster without any elemental weaknesses. The Ogre Mages may still be a better primary target due to the possibility of casting Blink or status ailment spells, combined with their lower HP. Fortunately, both types of ogres have multiple noteworthy rare drops.

The treasure path on B3 is a short walk in the southeast corner of the floor. As mentioned earlier, the first branch from the main route leads to the central island. The second branch leads to the southeast corner, and you'll need to follow the outside of the floor clockwise to progress towards the Life Spring. You can pick up a Mythril Shield south of the bridge when going this way.

The discolored tile of the bridge connecting those two paths will collapse if you walk on it, leaving you in the southwest corner of B4 on the treasure route. You can proceed north from this point to reach the four treasures, but you'll need to walk back, cast Teleport, or cast Warp (which can return you to the bridge and let you finish crossing).

Deist Cavern B4

For a mercy, you'll find no more Hill Gigantes on B4. They've been replaced by a far less dangerous encounter with an Adamantoise or two, sometimes accompanied by Dual Heads and/or Stalactites. random encounters with Yellow Souls remain the most common encounter on the floor.

This floor is dominated by an empty area along the treasure path, including the landing point from the bridge on B3. The north stairs lead to the treasures on B5, while the western stairs lead back towards the surface. The route to the Life Spring is simpler, consisting of a small counter-clockwise loop.

While headed for the Life Spring, you will find a chest containing an Acid Phial. This single-use item casts Poison Cloud 16 on all monsters when used. There aren't a lot of monsters vulnerable to Poison, so you may as well use it on whatever seems appropriate. Despite the powerful effect, Acid Phials are only worth 300 gil.

Deist Cavern B5

B5 has arguably the least dangerous encounters in the Deist Cavern. Yellow Souls are gone, replaced by a rare encounter with Gigantoads. While these are powerful, Poisonous attackers with 450 HP, they are vulnerable to Ice and can be defeated quickly with the Blizzard spell.

The end of the treasure path starts in the northwest corner and proceeds south and then east. The three clustered chests are unguarded and contain a Flame Bow as well as a Saint's Spirit and a Sage's Wisdom. The lone chest to the south contains Knight's Armor but is guarded by a group of Adamantoises. They shouldn't pose much of a threat in the face of Ice spells.

The path to the Life Spring is shorter, but trickier. You'll come upon four doors, three of which are trap rooms. The second from the right will instead move you to a hall leading directly to the Life Spring. However, you'll need to fight your way past a boss in the form of 1–4 Chimeras. Exactly how many appear will largely determine whether this fight is a cakewalk or a nightmare.

Chimeras have no elemental vulnerabilities or resistances, and have only 540 HP apiece. While their defense is high at 50, they are Flying and therefore vulnerable to the Demon Spear and Wing Sword, both weapons you're likely to be using already. Chimeras spend about 1/3 of their turns using Blaze 7, and the damage will add up if you're facing several of them. The Ice Shields resists Blaze, but your best defense is a strong Cure spell.

Once the Chimeras are defeated, head over to the Life Spring and use the Wyvern Egg. With that, your work here is done. You can Teleport to the surface and head back to Altair at your leisure. The mother and son back at Castle Deist will acknowledge your efforts if you stop in to speak to them first.