Gamer Corner Guides

Secret Paths in Castle Fynn

Return to the throne room and interact with the eastern wall in the northeast corner, using the [Ekmet Teloess] keyword. This opens a path that leads all the way to the basement. However, before descending the stairs to B1, check the eastern wall just before they start. This is false wall leading outside the castle, and you can find another false wall just to the south (one square from the bottom) leading back in. This leads to a treasure room containing Golden Armor, a Golden Shield, and a Gold Cuirass. Oddly, there is an NPC walking around down here—did he know about the path and [Ekmet Teloess] too!?

Castle Fynn B1

Castle Fynn's basement is a unique dungeon. It has the usual five floors, but you cannot use Teleport or Warp to leave. Each floor consists of only two possible random encounters, one of which appears over 98% of the time. The rare encounter on each floor is against a group of benevolent Green Souls. The primary encounters are all quite different, and on B1 you'll find combinations of Revenants, Ghasts, Stunners, and Wraiths. A good shot of Fire should take out the weaker Undead, but none of these monsters should be particularly threatening at this point.

There are no treasure rooms in Castle Fynn's basement, only trap rooms. These rooms feature encounters with large groups of Stalagmites, which aren't very tough but take a while to defeat. It's best to avoid them just to save time. The three treasures on B1 are nearly worthless, though the quality of treasure on these floors will improve dramatically as you descend. Here, you'll find a Knife, Eye Drops , and some Clothes.

Castle Fynn B2

The encounters on this floor are against groups of Parasites, Brains, and Changers. The Brains and Changers can both cast Swap, which could lead to some low HP totals but moderate MP totals throughout this floor. The Brain's Fog spell is the most annoying attack you'll need to worry about, requiring Esuna at level 3 or higher to remove outside of combat.

The treasures on B2 aren't much better than those above. You'll find a Potion near the stairs, as well as a second in the southwest corner. There are two trap rooms, and a final chest in the northwest corner that contains a Maiden's Kiss.

Castle Fynn B3

The monsters make a sudden shift from silly and annoying to deadly on B3. You'll find the new Killer Mantis in groups of up to three. They have five powerful attacks to go along with their high HP and defense. They are vulnerable to Ice, and a good mid-level Blizzard spell should take one out at a time. Blink is not a bad idea if you come upon several of them at once.

The layout of B3 is slightly more interesting than previous floors. There are three trap rooms and more paths to explore. You'll find treasures in all three corners aside from the northeast where you enter. In clockwise order, they contain a Potion, a Flame Shield, and a Spider's Silk. The Flame Shield is statistically equivalent to an Ice Shield or Golden Shield, but offers resistance to Ice.

Castle Fynn B4

The monsters on B4 are back to being more annoying than threatening. You'll fight various combinations of Stalagmites, Adamantoises, Ogre Chiefs, and Ogre Mages. Taking them all out will take some time, and they'll get in some minor damage, but if you've come this far, you should be OK.

This is the longest floor to walk so far, but contains excellent treasure. Head north from the start, and the path will turn east and split. The northern branch contains arguably the best item in the game, the Blood Sword. You'll have to defeat a relatively powerful combination of Undead for it, though: the Specters and Revenants are the main threat, while the Ghasts and Wraiths are basically fodder for a Fire spell.

The Blood Sword seems (and generally is) incredibly weak, with no accuracy bonus and 0 attack. It will drain ¹⁄₁₆ of the target's HP with each hit, which isn't very impressive against most normal monsters. Against bosses or monsters with huge HP totals, though, it will wildly outclass normal weapons. The fact that it heals the wielder on top of that is just gravy. Put this in the reserves of your sword user and don't look back! (Unless you think the Blood Sword is an unfair advantage and want to preserve some challenge later.)

Back on the southern path, you'll reach another branch. A Betrayal Fang, an item which can cast Confuse 16 to great effect, lies at the end of the southern branch, along with the stairs to B5. Don't miss the Flame Armor on the northern branch before you descend. This provides 7 more defense than the Knight's Armor or Gold Cuirass, but with a hefty −33% evasion % penalty. Also note that, while the Flame Shield resists Ice, the Flame Armor instead resists Fire. Thus, if you want both protections, you can equip both at the same time (the same is true for the Ice Armor and Ice Shield).

Castle Fynn B5

The lowest floor of the Castle Fynn's basement features encounters with large groups of Stalagmites, the same as in the trap rooms throughout the dungeon. Fights with them will be a slog, but they should pose little threat to characters with high defense and/or evasion.

The layout of this floor differs from the others, and there are several routes you can take. The quickest is to head for the chest, which contains the powerful Orichalcum. Beware, though, as it is guarded by 1–4 Rhyoses. These are dangerous foes, and the closest thing the Castle Fynn's basement has to a boss. They are similar to Chimeras, but can use Bad Breath to turn party members to Stone. This requires a Gold Needle or Esuna (5 outside of combat) to recover from. If you happen to run into a full group of four of them, you could have a problem on your hands. The Orichalcum is a massive attack upgrade over the Main Gauche, though it doesn't feature a 5%×level evasion % bonus.

There are six doors in the northeast corner of B5, five of which are fake. The second from the right is the one you want. Within, you'll find the White Mask, unguarded, as well as a teleporter back outside. White Mask in hand, your quest here is done.