Castle Palamecia
Pick up the Airship from Poft and fly to Castle Palamecia. The castle is one-time; clear it in a single visit. This chapter covers Castle Palamecia for 17 missable chests and 5 new bestiary entries (4 missable).
Cid’s Airship
From Castle Fynn, walk to Fynn town and return to Paul’s house in the bottom-left. Cid is in the bedroom; talk to him and he lends you his Airship.
Speak to Paul next; he confirms the only way into Castle Palamecia is by air. Exit Fynn and take your boat to Poft, where the Airship is waiting on the dock.
The Airship lands on any flat terrain, so the entire world is yours now. Fly southeast toward the Coliseum and Castle Palamecia is right next to it.
Land and interact with the castle to be dropped onto the top floor; the dungeon works downward then back up.
Castle Palamecia
New Enemies (*Missable)
Black Knights (1140 HP) hit 7 times per turn at high attack and can two-shot squishies. Stone Golems (1800 HP, weak Poison) have very high physical defense; Berserk frontline or high-level Scourge are the answers, and they cast Stop often. Skulls (640 HP, weak Fire) lean caster: Lv12 Blizzard dominates their rotation, with Stun and Toad mixed in. Cockatrices are back with the same Petrify Beak. Coeurls (1000 HP) spawn on 8F near the throne and also appear later in Pandaemonium, so logging here isn’t required.
7F (entry). Walk straight up from the entrance and through the door, then step on the trap floor between the two columns to drop down to 1F.
1F-2F. From the warp point, go south for the Diamond Cuirass on the right. Back up and right to the corridor’s end, then down. First left, up the stairs, Hourglass at the end. Return down the stairs, continue right and south to the bottom-right corner, then all the way left for Garlic. Backtrack and take the first left going north to reach 2F. At the split, go right then south. Ether is straight down and Buckler is directly north of it. Turn left and circle the floor until you reach the stairs to 3F.
3F. Up until you hit a wall. Left path leads to the Thunder Spear, the first monster chest of the dungeon. 1 Imperial Shadow ambushes it; Holy and Fire are effective against undead, and the Blood Sword is the wrong tool here. Back to the split, take the right path and continue up the stairs to 4F.
4F. Up, left, then first path down for Saint’s Spirit. North from there and left to the dead end for Sleepgrass. Return and take the first path up, then left through the winding corridor to a door. Inside are three chests: Mage’s Staff, Healing Staff, and Wizard’s Staff. Exit and continue up and right to the stairs to 5F.
5F-6F. Left and up the stairs. Down the path until a small side corridor branches off; the Sun Blade chest sits there, the second and last monster chest of the dungeon. 5 Coeurls and 1 Lamia Queen ambush it. Coeurls (1000 HP) cast Blaster often, which can instant-kill a party member; focus them down first with AoE magic before the Lamia Queen’s Confuse charms anyone.
Continue on and reach the stairs in the top-right corner leading to 7F. A room on the left holds three Elixirs. Backtrack to 6F, then to 5F.
5F-7F-8F. Take the south path on 5F and circle around to find stairs up. On 6F continue until you find the next staircase to 7F, then walk straight through to reach 8F.
8F. Continue until you see the red carpet leading to the throne. Skip it for now and go all the way left to the end of the hallway, then north for the last two chests: Hellfire and Wind Flute. That’s all 17 chests collected. Return to the carpet and approach Leon.
Confronting Leon
Leon has declared himself the new Emperor, but the original returns from Hell before anyone can react. He announces his intention to rule both worlds. The Wyvern rescues your party but Ricard stays behind to hold off the Emperor. The castle collapses, and in its place rises Pandaemonium.
Back at Castle Fynn, Leon officially joins as your fourth permanent member. Talk to Hilda and the others, then move to the next chapter.