Darill's Tomb

Encounters in Darill's Tomb

Darill's Tomb is the most involved dungeon you've seen yet in the World of Ruin. The Monsters are powerful, but the rewards are great. As has been the case often in the World of Ruin, there is a Status theme in this dungeon. This time it's Zombie, so once again Ribbons and Amulets will be invaluable. (If you want to buy extra Amulets, you can return to South Figaro via Figaro Castle—or you can fight Orogs or PowerDemons for them) If you don't have full Zombie protection, invest in some Revivifies. The entrance to Darill's Tomb will remain sealed if Setzer is not in the party to open it.

There are three different Encounter sets in Darill's Tomb, distributed somewhat unpredictably. Basement 1 has a unique set, and is the only place you'll see an Osteosaur. They are undead creatures with brutally powerful attacks and the ability to turn a Character into a Zombie with Fossil. ChokeSmoke can turn Wounded Characters into Zombies, but Osteosaurs don't actually target said characters so it's a moot point. They have the usual undead weaknesses (Fire and Pearl) and resistances (they absorb Poison).

Orogs are also undead and unique to Basement 1, appearing either in pairs or alongside a pair of PowerDemons. Their only automatic attack is Zombite, which as you may imagine turns the target into a Zombie. Aside from turning the party on itself, they deal damage only with counterattacks. Bio may be used to counter Magic, while a normal attack counters other actions. Orogs do serve a special purpose—they almost always drop Amulets. If you're short on Amulets and don't want to trek back to South Figaro, you can farm them here, though it's risky. (The Osteosaur serves a similar purpose, but they instead drop Revivifies.)

PowerDemons have a less powerful attack than most of the other Monsters in Darill's Tomb, but they can use Daze Dance to give that attack a drain effect. They also use Soul Out, which is yet another source of Zombie. They are as undead as the Orogs they appear with, so attacks like Fire 2 and Fire Dance are effective. PowerDemons are not unique to Basement 1, appearing as a solo Monster or alongside two Exorays elsewhere in the dungeon. Like Orogs, they often drop Amulets.

Exorays are undead flowers that use DoomPollen as yet another source of Zombie. When there's only one Exoray left, it will switch to using Virite, which Poisons the entire party. Fortunately, if you have protection against Zombie, you are also protected against Poison, so this is nothing to worry about. In that case, Exorays have to rely on their relatively weak basic attacks to harm you. They can appear in trios or alongside PowerDemons or Mad Oscars.

Mad Oscars (or as they are usually known, Malboros) are the one normal Monster in Darill's Tomb that does not inflict the Zombie Status. Instead, their Sour Mouth (i.e., Bad Breath) Ability inflicts the Dark, Poison, Imp, Mute, Muddled, and Psyche Statuses. Fortunately it only targets one Character at a time. Mad Oscars are not undead and do not share the vulnerability to Pearl that the other denizens of Darill's Tomb have, but they are vulnerable to Fire like everything else. The Remedy Spell or Item will take care of the effects of Sour Mouth, as well as the Seizure caused by their Drool special attack.

Exploring Darill's Tomb

Darill's Tomb is a complex dungeon with some puzzle elements and a lot of great Treasures to find. After the straightforward Basement 1, you'll find yourself in Basement 2 with five paths to choose from. The Northeast Room contains a tombstone. Examining it turns the northern window into a doorway. This doorway leads to a switch that will raise the water in the Central Room. While you're on the eastern side of the floor, enter the Southeast Room to find a powerful Genji Helmet that anyone can use.

Head back to the main room again. Take the door to the Central Room and cross the now-raised water on the turtle. You'll find yourself on the upper level of the Water Room. You can hit the switch here to raise or lower the water level, but do not do so yet. If the water here is raised, you won't be able to unlock the door to the next room. Instead, head south to a room containing four tombstones. Each contains a hint: "ERAU", "QSSI", "DLRO," and "WEHT." This sounds like gibberish, but if you combine and reverse them you get "THE WORLD IS SQUARE." Go to the Basement 2 Northwest Room and carve that into the blank tombstone (backwards). This reveals that there is a secret passage in Basement 3 where you can find the Exp. Egg. This is a nice Relic for leveling up specific Characters.

To proceed and find the Exp. Egg, head for the Southwest Room. Here you'll find the Crystal Mail as well as the stairs down to Basement 3. There's a chest in the middle of the room containing the Czarina Gown for Relm. The secret passage to the Exp. Egg is hidden in the eastern wall. Enter near the bottom of the screen. The door to the north leads to another switch. If you raised the water level in the Water Room earlier, you will not be able to enter this room to hit this switch. Hitting the switch opens the door to the north. With that done, head back up to Basement 2.

Return to the Water Room via the Central Room and use the switch to raise the water level. Now you can ride the turtle on the raised water and go through the open door to reach the Tomb Approach. This is a long, vertically-oriented room with a branching path. The western branch contains a save point and a monster-in-a-box, Presenter. The reward for winning this battle is the powerful Dragon Claw, a Pearl-infused upgrade for Sabin. This fight has boss music and everything, so you know it will be an interesting one.

Presenter is similar in both structure and appearance to the Whelk from the beginning of the game. The Head and Shell both act independently, and you only need to defeat one or the other to win the battle. The Shell likes to counterattack with Giga Volt, so the Head is the better option. The Head will repeatedly hide for approximately 20 seconds after you've hit it twice. While it's visible, it will use a powerful basic attack, a weak Mega Volt, a moderately powerful El Nino, and the Petrifying PetriBlast.

The Shell will normally attack with weak basic attacks, a weak Mega Volt, or the 1,000-damage Blow Fish. While the Head is hidden, it will instead use Magnitude8. This can be avoided with Float. Its Giga Volt counter is powerful and can be used regardless of the Head's status. Both parts of Presenter are vulnerable to Fire and absorb Ice, Thunder, and Water. The Head also resists Poison.

When Presenter is defeated, save and head up the eastern path. The chest contains the Man Eater, a powerful dagger that deals double damage against human targets. Setzer can use it to upgrade his Fight damage, though it can't be used at full power from the back row like his gambler weapons.

In the next room you'll find a monument to Darill herself. Dullahan will attack when you examine it. He opens with L? Pearl, which will hit any party member whose level is evenly divisible by the last digit of the party's GP total. Fortunately, it's not so powerful that you can't recover even if it hits multiple Characters. He will switch between casting Ice 2, Ice 3, and Pearl. All are powerful, though obviously Ice 2 is the least deadly of the bunch. Dullahan can counter attacks with a powerful basic attack of his own as well. He has another unique counter ability, in that he will target a Character that is protected by Reflect with Reflect???. This pierces Reflect and causes Dark, Mute, and Slow, but he'll only do it once.

Once you've attacked at least 8 times, Dullahan steps up his game. He'll start using the double-damage Morn Star special, N. Cross to inflict Freeze, and Absolute 0 as well as continuing to use Ice 2 and L? Pearl. He'll also heal himself with Cure 2 after taking at least 13,210 damage. This won't make much difference, but does indicate that he's almost half dead.

Despite his appearance, Dullahan is not undead. He is vulnerable to Fire and absorbs Ice, and has a constant Haste effect. Hit him with the best attacks you have and keep yourself healed. He has 23,450 HP, so this will most likely be a long battle.

When you are victorious, head through the northern doorway. After some cutscenes about Setzer's history with Darill, you will earn use of the Falcon. This opens up the World of Ruin to you. In fact, this is technically the last required plot point in the game other than Kefka's Tower itself. From here on out, your goal is to gather allies and power to prepare for the final confrontation with Kefka.