Habitica, ADD and Studying

More than a year since I first discovered Habitica (formerly HabitRPG) I'm still using it.  As I've discussed in previous posts, it's a gamification site.  You set yourself daily tasks or habits (to do, or not do, whenever) and tick them off.  Each tick gives your little character more experience, gold, and items for collecting pets.  If you're on a quest then your actions will also damage the enemy.

Since September I've been attending college, completing an access course with the goal of attending university from 2016.  I've found Habitica quite invaluable in managing my ADD and completing tasks.

Add is essentially a lack of executive memory; it's hard to organise information.  There's also an element of time-blindness; it's harder to evaluate longer tasks and to motivate oneself to complete them in good time.

In class, I add a sticky note to every paragraph or info-point in my notes. During class, I don't make a point of reflecting on the information; I just write it down.

Later, I write up my notes and remove the stickies, which is one of my positive habits - remove the stickies ('Revision Tabs').  I get a tick for every single one that I get rid of.  This is also when I reflect on the information; I rephrase, rewrite and tie things together.  The act of doing this also helps me to remember it.


One of my dailies is to study.  I would struggle with a more holistic approach, like studying more when I need it or less when I don't.  I work better with an all or nothing thing, so I try to do an hour per day; it's fine to miss a day as long as it adds up to seven hours by Sunday (note: 52 uninterrupted minutes is an hour as far as this is concerned).  I track those hours as a 'to do'.  Every week I start a 'study' goal.  I add each hour I complete as a line on the checklist - each check works as a multiplier on the rewards I get when I tick the item off on Sunday.  You'll notice from the large image above that I also have a '5 minute study' goal.  I get to tick that once for every five minutes each day that I study over my hour.

The 'extra study' goal is there for things like reading Essential Biology for Dummies (literally - it's pretty good) or working from another text book on something that's relevant but isn't strictly for class.  I've done it that way so I'll still get credit for the hours I put in but I won't use it to avoid actually working on the things I should do - another symptom of ADD is a fear of starting tasks.

Speaking of a fear of starting tasks sometimes I go a little bit easy on myself; I'll use the first few minutes of a study session to make piles of my notes and to write a quick list of what to get through.  I can do this without turning off my audiobook or netflix right away.  It splits up the tasks.  Instead of the big thing of sitting down to study I start my timer, get myself organised, then turn off my entertainment and focus.  Once I've done it the first time it's all ready for the next set and it's easier to start.

I also use to-dos to note down my assignments and what I want to complete in my study sessions.  This needs some work; I only have a vague idea of what I want to complete.  I should probably overhaul this a little more.

Finally, I also use to-dos to manage my attendance.  The first half of the autumn term was six weeks long.  With three class days per week that's 18 days.  I put each of those days on a checklist and ticked off the entire to-do at the start of half-term for a big reward.  I'm doing the same thing with the second half of the autumn term - nine more days to go.

Celestian Tales: Old North - Weapons and Medallions

Chapter 1

• Sutandi - Levantine Castle
• Hahtonen - Levantine
• Robby - Levantine Docks
• Laith - Mudtown

Chapter 2

• Lockbow - Grenoble
• Shogo - Map
• Kukri - Orsea
• Korhill - Orsea
• Hunter's axe - Orsea
• Recurve Bow - Orsea

Chapter 3

• Ritual Blade - War Camp
• Voulge - War Camp
• Bergeron - War Camp
• Greataxe - War Camp

Chapter 4

• Elpas - Longtooth Pass
• Arbalest - House Uicisse
• Misericorde - House Uicisse
• James - Moncalm
• Tevio - Moncalm
• Composite Bow - Moncalm
•  LLoyd - Grenoble
• Mitsuo - War Camp
• Trident - War Camp

Chapter 5

• Flamberge - House Uicisse
• Berger - House Uicisse
• Leaftanuki - Levantine

Chapter 6

• Prince - White Rock Hills
• Sutrisno - shore of White Rock

Chapter 7

• Mikers - Levantine
• Levaque - White Rock Hills

 

Celestian Tales: Old North

Celestian Tales: Old North is a game released on Steam last month.  I picked it up in a sale.

Old North is the start of a three-part series from Ekuator Games.  It was funded on Kickstarter, a campaign which I managed to miss although I certainly intend to throw some cash at them for the next one!

Old North is a JRPG-style game.  Fairly short - my first playthough was 7:46 - and easy.  Battles are turn-based, and your characters have stamina points which build up each turn to allow you to use skills.

The most interesting thing about the game is the six main characters.  You can play through as any one of them (and get an achievement for finishing the game as all six).  While the main plot remains the same, each character has a unique viewpoint, with their own scenes and knowledge.  Camille, for example, learns something very important from her brother near the end of the game which the other five characters remain totally unaware of, while Aria, the dogmatic Paladin, seems a lot more human when you see her defying her father and struggling with honouring a dead soldier of another religion.

The overarching plot is that of these six characters becoming Squires, and taking part in a war and various political events which shape their world.  As the game is the first chapter of three, it ends of something of a cliffhanger.  Throughout the game you make choices - such as letting a group of bandits go to trial or be hanged by the villagers - which, in theory, will change the shape of the future games in the series.

The game is short and simple enough - with one hidden boss to beat and some weapons to upgrade as side-plots - that playing through it six times only feels like a bit of a chore, especially with the added intrigue of new scenes.  This game has seven short chapters and a maximum level of 30.

I like that, of the six main squires, four are women.  I like that those women are dressed practically and not to titillate.  And I like the subtleties and moral ambiguities present in the game.

Labyrinthine Dreams - Maze Master Guide

Final Fantasy 8: Spoiler Free Guide

Advice on cards and drawing are based on the assumptions that you are playing cards, making use of card mod and various refine skills, and remaining at the original level.  Feel free to ignore.  Since I'm trying to avoid spoilers, this guide will include odd, unexplained actions.  I will sometimes link to a relevant guide to explain the subquest, but those will contain spoilers.

GF
Magazine
Weapon 
Cards 
Blue Magic

Things to Do Differently on Future Playthroughs

This is the second iteration of this post, and I have attempted to fix the below regrets.  I have added an explanation for why onto each point.

- Begin Card Queen Quest on Disc 1 - ie, send her to Dollet before beginning Timber Mission.  Also, lose only the relevant cards to her, instead of using an unrelated card to shuttle her around.  This is just to be efficient.
- Have Seifer level Ifrit up to level 10 during Dollet Mission on Disc 1.   Ifrit needs to reach level 10 to unlock Ammo-RF which is useful for Irvine's limit break and for some weapons.  I usually play a low-level game until I obtain GFs with stat boosts, so not unlocking this early means getting weapons later than necessary.
- Finish the dog bone quest in Dollet later for better items.  I did not previously realise that you get different items based on whether you get them before or during disc 3.
- Watch the scenes between Zell and the library girl.  When you obtain the Combat King 003 magazine, it is accompanied by a scene.  You only see the full dialogue if you've seen enough prerequisite scenes.

Balamb Garden

- 8 Beginner Cards from the Guy near the 2nd Floor lift.
- Shiva at desk or Front Gate.
- Quetzalcoatl at desk or Front Gate.
- Occult Fan I and Esuna drawpoint in Library.  Speak to the pony-tail girl at the desk.  She'll tell you the library rules.
- You can draw Sleep and Silence from Grats in Training Centre.
- Blizzard drawpoint in Training Centre.

Fire Cavern

- You can draw Cure, Scan, Thunder, Blizzard and Fire from enemies on Alcauld Plains.
- Defeat Ifrit. 

Dollet

- Draw Cure, Fire, Thunder and Blizzard from G-Soldiers.  Level Ifrit to 10 to unlock Ammo-RF, which is necessary for Irvine's limit break and weapons.  I suggest doing it here because you can use Seifer if you're trying to keep your party's level low.
- Blind Drawpoint in the Comm Tower.
- Draw Esuna from Wedge.  I suggest getting 100 each, they are excellent for junctions.
- Draw Siren and Doubles from Elvoret.  I suggest getting 100 each, they are excellent for junctions.  However, this is quite difficult, so don't worry about the doubles if you can't be bothered.
- Weapons Mon Mar automatically.
- You can only defeat the X-ATM092 for good on or after the bridge.  You can draw protects from it, but be aware of the time limit.

Balamb

- Timber Maniacs in Hotel Room or at Train Station.  Where you read it changes the first scene with Julia.
- Fastitocalons on the beach give 3AP each and drop Fish Fins which you can turn into Water spells with I-Mag-RF from Shiva.  They're good on strength.  You can use Card-Mod to turn 5 Fastitocalon-F cards into a Water Crystal, from which Quistis can learn Aqua Breath.
- You can get a Spider Web from a caterchipillar, either after battle or by using Card-Mod on its card.  Quistis can learn Ultra Waves from this.
- Card a Bomb in the Fire Cavern and a T-Rexaur in the woods on Alcauld Plains to make card games easier.
- Win the Zell card from Ma Dincht.  I suggest collecting Elnoyle cards, Malboro, and Iron Giant cards in that order of priority if they come up, they'll be useful for later weapon upgrades.  If you want to change the trading rule, pick up the one you want by beating the Card Queen with it before playing with Ma Dincht.

Balamb Garden

- Win the Minimog card in the Foyer.
- After receiving your grade, speak to Cid before leaving his office to obtain the Battle Meter.
- You can draw Protects from Raldos and Blind and Shell from Granaldo.
- Pick up Weapons Mon April from Squall's new desk.
- Before meeting Zell and Selphie, head to the library to watch the conceited SeeD talk to the Library Committee member at the desk.  You may need to enter and exit a few times before it happens.  I went and got the Quistis card and then came back before I saw it.
- Win the Quistis card from her groupies in the Cafeteria.
- Pick up the Magical Lamp from Cid immediately after meeting Zell and Selphie.  Use it and defeat Diablo to obtain GF and Card.  You can draw Demis from him, but it's difficult.
- Visit the library with Zell in your party so he can ask pony-tail girl about a book.
- Obtain Seifer card from Cid in his office.
- Use Diablos's Status Mag RF to make Break magic from Cockatrice Pinions and Softs before heading to Timber.  If you're playing a low level game, you will need this to avoid gaining exp from human enemies.  You'll probably also want to learn Enc-None as soon as possible.  T-Rexaurs give 10AP each.

Train to Timber

- In Balamb, buy enough tents to give everyone 100 curagas (via Life Mag RF).  It's great on HP.
- Lose the MiniMog Card to the Card Queen and move her to Dollet (speak to her again before leaving the screen and she'll tell you where she's going).  You may need to reset a few times.
- Pets Pals Vol. 1 automatically.

Timber

- After the briefing obtain the Angelo card from Watts.
- Pick up Pets Pals Vol. 2 in Rinoa's room. 
- Buy Pets Pals Vol 3 and Pets Pals Vol 4 from the Pet Shop near the station.
- You can get free potions from the guy standing on the bridge over the train tracks if Rinoa or Quistis are in your party.  I don't think they're limited, you just need to exit and re-enter the screen.
- Pick up Girl Next Door in the stacks of magazines in Timber Maniacs.
- Read the issue of Timber Maniacs in the main office.  Encourage the journalist outside to follow his dream.
- Try the Owl's Tears in the house near the railway.
- You can find the man's 500 gil savings if you keep checking the cupboard, but you won't be able to use the Owl's Tears for healing any more.

Side Trips - Dollet, Timber Maniacs, Siren Card, Starting the Obel Lake Sidequest

- You need to get off the train at the right station, or your SeeD rank will go down.  You can then walk to Dollet.
- I suggest spreading Open and abolishing Random.  This thread has some advice that worked for me, even after I spread Open in a different way.
- Read the issue of Timber Maniacs in the hotel room.
- Read the issue of Timber Maniacs upstairs in the Shining Bomber pub.  If you have Move-Find there's a handy save point.
- The Card Queen will also be upstairs in the Shining Bomber.  Ask her about her artist father, and she'll confirm that the Kiros Card has been created.
- You can win the Siren Card from the pub owner, near the pool table.  When you beat him, he'll invite you to his private room and give you 5 Geezard Cards, 4 Red Bat Cards, 3 Buel Cards, 2 Anacondaur Cards, and a Cactuar Card.
- By examining the magazines around this room, you can randomly find various healing items, Geezard Cards, and, eventually, Occult Monthly II.  Exiting and re-entering seems to reset the pile.
- Speak to the boy outside the house nearby, then follow him inside.  If you continue with his quest now - looking at the painting and then looking at the location where the bone is three times - you'll gain a potion, a phoenix down, and a soft.  If you wait until Disc 3, you'll gain better prizes.
- You can win your Minimog Card back from the boy.
- Fight on the beach nearby until you're able to win a Whisper from an Adamantoise, which can be used to teach Quistis White Wind.  They can also be refined into 50 Curagas.

- Head back to Timber.
- Read the issue of Timber Maniacs in the Timber Hotel.
- Go to Mandy Beach  just northeast of Timber and run around until you see an alien abduct a statue.
- Go to Obel Lake and try humming until you are asked to find Mr Monkey.
- Find Mr Monkey in the forest west of Dollet.
- Return to the lake and hum to relay the whereabouts of Mr Monkey.
- Throw a rock in the lake until it skips "many many times".
- Throw a rock at Mr Monkey in the forest until he throws one back.

Excavation Site

- The odd actions listed here allow you to find several items later, further detailed here.  I've written the below assuming you enter from the ladder further to the north, by the 3-branching path rather than the fork.  It doesn't really make a difference, as long as you try to pick up both old keys and tamper with all 3 hatches before hitting the fuses.  Going north from the save point will cause you to leave the area permanently, so just get everything done before then.
- Go down the ladder and pick up the Old Key.
- Tamper with the middle door.
- Leave then return and try to tamper with the far-right hatch.
- Pick up the second Old Key on the next screen.
- The right path leads to the ladder near the fork I mentioned earlier.  From here you can loop round to try to tamper with the left hatch.
- Hit the red fuse followed by the blue one.  Both hatches should swing open.
- Move the boulder to find a cure drawpoint.

 Galbadia Garden

- After the story events, you have a good opportunity to abolish undesirable card rules from Trabia.

• Play the student in the locker room near the hockey rink until Open spreads throughout Trabia.
• Play with the students in the nearby classroom to pick up the Galbadian rule set; do not mix rules.  
• Play with the student until Random or Plus is abolished.  Repeat above until the second one is also abolished.

- Life Drawpoint in Locker Room.
- Haste Drawpoint in golden light.


Deling City

- Pick up Timber Maniacs in the hotel. 
- You can use the woman downstairs in the hotel and the woman outside to edit the rules of FH as you did Trabia earlier.
- The man in black on the left side of the shopping area has the Kiros Card.

Tomb of the Unknown King

- You can draw Life from Sacred and Double from Minotaur.
- Defeat Sacred and Minotaur to gain the Brothers GF and their cards. 
- Now you have the Sacred Card, you can lose it to the Card Queen in Dollet.  This will make her move elsewhere.  Make sure it's somewhere convenient, like Deling City or Timber.  Make a note of where she goes.  You can then win the Sacred Card back from her son.

Deling City

- As Rinoa, pick up Weapons Mon May from the sewers.
- Draw Carbuncle from the Iguions.
- If you have mug you can steal a Hero from Seifer and an Elixir from Edea.

Winhill

- Spend all of Laguna's money at the shop. 

D-District Prison

- You can draw Reflects from Wedge and Haste and Regen from Biggs.  If you have mug, you can steal a Regen Ring from Wedge and a Strength Love from Biggs.
- Go downstairs before going up.
- Play cards on level 5 for a 1/32 chance to win a Luck-Up or a 3/256 chance to win a Phoenix Pinion.
- Tent on level 4.
- Pet House on level 3.
- Pet Nametag and Str Up on level 2.
- Combat King 001 on level 1.
- Play cards on level 10 to improve your Battle Meter.
- Play cards on level 11 for a 1/128 chance of winning a Rosetta Stone.
- Pick up a Cottage and a Rename Card from two moombas on the top floor, after control switches back to Squall.

Missile Base

- Selphie can win Rinoa's card from General Caraway if you head to Deling City first and lose your Ifrit card to him.
- Full-Life Drawpoint in Missile Launch Bay.
- Weapons Mon June automatically from BGH251F2.


Balamb Garden

- Mega-Potion from the SeeD by the gate.
- Remedy from SeeD in library.  If you have Zell with you, this is a Mega-Phoenix.
- Remedy from SeeD in Training Area.
- Tent from SeeD in Parking Lot.
- Gysahl Greens from SeeD in Canteen.
- X-Potion from SeeD in the Quad.
- Elixir from Dr Kadowaki.
- Full-Life Drawpoint under Garden.
- Challenge the CC Club's Jack near the directory.
- Challenge the CC's Club's Club in the hallways of Balamb Garden.
- Win Leviathan card from Joker in the Training Centre.  He will improve your Battle Meter.
- Defeat Diamond by the Directory.  They have a full set of level 7 cards.
- If you have Mug, then steal a Mag-Up from Left Orb, a Spr Up from Right Orb, and a Circlet from Norg.  If you don't have mug yet, go kill/card a few T-rexaurs first.
- Draw Leviathan from Norg.
- Defeat Spade near the 2F lift.  He also has a full set of level 7 cards.
- See the conceited SeeD and the librarian with a ponytail talking about books.  They'll be interrupted by another librarian, and ponytail girl will get embarrassed.  Zell must not be in the party.  Although I brought him to Balamb, I saw this scene when Squall was alone after the ship arrived.  You might also be able to see it when Squall and Irvine are alone after battling the BHG251F2 (always happens, not dependent on your party choices).


Fisherman's Horizon

- Head down to the Master Fisherman and say "What are you talking about?" to obtain Occult Fan III.
- Read the issue of Timber Maniacs in the Grease Monkey's house.
- Read the issue of Timber Maniacs in the hotel.
- Speak to the fishing kid near the weapon shop until he runs out of dialogue.
- Win your Ifrit Card back from Martine.
- Win the Quetzalcotl card from Mayor Dobe and the Irvine Card from his wife.  
- Ultima drawpoint in the Mayor's House.
- Steal Adamantine from BHG251F2.  If you've been doing enough card-playing, you might be able to get Selphie's Strange Vision.
- Return to the Master Fisherman.  Meet him at the inn as requested.  Follow him and listen to his story for a Megalixer.
- Take Irvine and Squall down to the Grease Monkey's House for a Mega-Phoenix.
- Full-life Drawpoint where the fisherman was standing.
- As Irvine alone, visit the library and speak to the ponytail girl near the Esuna drawpoint.
- As Irvine alone, head back to the Grease Monkey's place for a Phoenix Down.  Examine the Sergeant for 5 AP, 5 Fast and 5 Pulse Ammo.   Do not use the Pulse Ammo in battle, you need it for Squall's ultimate weapon.
- The next day, take Squall alone to the library and see the conceited SeeD asking about the library committee members at the desk.  You might also want to take this opportunity to run in and out of the library a few times, since you'll need to have entered 50 times before the final scene in this sidequest.

Side Trips - CC Club, Chocobo Forest, Odin, Tonberry, Blue Magic...

Misc

- Challenge Hearts on the bridge.  Hearts has the Carbuncle card.  
- Take Zell to the library so the committee can question him on his favourite things.
- Challenge Dr Kadowaki then rest in your Dorm Room (alone) to face King.  It's random, you might have to try a few times.  King has the Gilgamesh card.
- On the way past, search Balamb Beach for a stone with letters carved on it.
- Pick up a Pet Nametag from the guy outside the Timber Maniacs Building. 
- Head to the Island just north of the railway bridge near Timber.  It's classed as part of Mandy Beach and there's another rock with letters on it here.

Chocobos

- Head to The Basic's Forest on the western tip of Trabia, Sorbald Snowfield.  After catching the Chocobo blow the whistle on the western side of the screen for a Flare Stone.  There is a more detailed guide here.
- Head to The Roaming Forest, north of Trabia Garden.  The hidden items here are a Shell Stone and a Holy Stone.
- Head to the  Beginner's Forest next to Shumi Village.  The hidden item is an Aura stone.
- Head to the Chocobo Forest of Solitude north of the Centra Ruins.  The items are a protect stone and a Meteor Stone.  You'll need to challenge Chocoboy to a card game, then ask him to move.
- Head to the Chocobo Forest of Fun east of Edea's house.  The prizes here are a Fire Stone, Meteor Stone and Ultima Stone.
- Ride the Chocobo to the eastern edge of this island to find the Enclosed Forest.  The prize here is a Meteor Stone, a Holy Stone and an Ultima Stone.
- While you're here, head to Kashkabald desert to watch an alien abduct a pyramid.
- You can gain lots of AP and very little exp from Cactuars on the edge of Kashkabald Desert nearest to Cactuar Island.  It is considered part of Cactuar Island and is named as such in the menu.
- Go back to the Roaming forest north of Trabia and ride the Chocobo to the forest on the north-easternmost tip of Esthar, over the water.  Speak to the Chicobo to obtain a Chicibo card.
- Find the Card Queen, wherever you sent her, and lose the Chicibo card to her.  Return her to Dollet, where you can ask her about her artist father and win your Chicibo card back from the Queen's son.
- Win the Chubby Chocobo card from the Seed on the 1st floor near the Training Centre.


Winhill

- Watch an alien abduct a cow across the Winhill bluffs.
- Complete the Vase quest for a Holy Stone, by finding the five pieces hidden throughout the town.  You'll need Irvine to find one of the pieces.
- Pop the Chocobo into the air for a Phoenix Down and some Gysahl Greens.


Centra Ruins

- This sidequest is straightforward, but there is a time limit so be sure to save beforehand.  The time limit just boots you out, you can try again.  It doesn't reset your Tonberry count.
- You can draw Stops, Deaths, Doubles, and Triples from Odin and mug for a Luck-J scroll.  Defeat Odin to gain Card and GF.  Odin will randomly defeat enemies for you, so you might choose to wait until later.
- Fight tonberries in the ruins until King Tonberry shows up after 20. You can go out and save, the count won't reset.  If you card them it won't count, but they don't give any exp anyway.  Tonberry King is extremely useful for getting the items needed for weapons because of his level up and level down skills.  

Items for Ultimate Weapons

- Full post here.  Level up/down always doubles/halves the monster's level, so if you struggle to get them between 20-29, try levelling them to 100 and then back down to 25.
- If you mug an enemy, it won't drop anything.
- Your Chicobo may bring you some of these things if you're playing the Chocobo World game.
- You'll need 7 Energy Crystals which are difficult to get at the moment.  You can Card-Mod 10 Elnoyle Cards into one energy crystal.  I suggest trying to get at least 1 and then using Ammo-RF to turn it into 10 Pulse Ammo.  That, combined with the 5 Pulse Ammo from FH will be enough for Squall's Lionheart.
- 18 screws.  You can get 5 by card-modding 1 Geezard card, or they can be won by battling Geezards.
- 4 Sharp Spikes - Card-Mod Grand Mantis cards.
- 2x Windmills.  You can create them by Card-Modding Abyss Worm cards.
- 4 Dragon Fangs, dropped by T-Rexaurs at level 20-29.  You can also mug Star Fragments from them at level 30+.
- 5x Star Fragments (4 if you already have Selphie's weapon) - each takes 3 Iron Giant cards, or are sometimes dropped by T-Rexaurs over level 30.
- Mug six Steel Pipes from Wendigos in the forest near Timber.   They will always have steel pipes to steal at levels 20-29, with more at level 30+. These are needed to obtain a future GF.  Alternatively, you can Card-Mod Elastoid cards.  Anacondaurs also show up in this forest sometimes.
- 4x Dragon Skins, dropped by Anacondaurs at level 30+.  They can be found near Dollet.  At this level, you can also mug Star Fragments from them, with a 4.68% chance of success.
- You'll need 3 adamantines (2 if you already got Selphie's weapon).  Level-Up Adamantoises on the beach near Dollet until you have 2 more Adamantines (dropped at 30+).  You can also mug a Whisper, at any level, to teach Quistis White Wind or mod into 50 curagas.
- You need 2 curse spikes (unless you already got Selphie's weapon).  You can mod Tri-Face cards.
- 2 Dino Bones, dropped by low level (20-) T-Rexaurs or from card-modding T-Rexaur cards.
- 1 Fury Fragment from Card-Modding 4 Blue Dragon Cards.
- 2x Malboro Tentacles from Card-Modding 4 Malboro cards each.  You'll need another six to obtain a future GF, but no hurry.
- For Rinoa, you'll need a Regen Ring, which you can get by modding 10 Chimera Cards.  This can wait until later.
- For Rinoa you'll need a Force Armlet (as well as two Energy Crystals).  You may have won this from X-ATM092 (20% chance), or you'll have a chance to win one from a boss soon.  Alternatively, you can level up Ochus in the forests near Timber for a 4.68% chance of them dropping one.  Since you'll need two energy crystals anyway, I suggest waiting a bit.
- for Irvine you'll need a moonstone, which will not be available until Disc 3.
- You should now be able to get Lion Heart, Ehrgeiz, and Strange Vision.

Shumi Village

- Ultima Drawpoint near the entrance. 
- Pick up the issue of Timber Maniacs on Artisan's Bed in Shumi Village.   Reading this now means Ward will not show up in a later flashback.
- Collect all the stones in Shumi Village for a Phoenix Pinion. 
-  Leave and return.  Talk to Elder, Assistant and Artisan until you are asked to find a way to convince Artisan to help.
- Visit the Grease Monkey in FH, then return to Artisan.  Return to the Elder after convincing Artisan to help to receive a Status Guard.

Balamb Invasion

- You can win the Pandemona card from the hotel owner's daughter now or from the hotel owner by returning to Balamb after this event.
- Draw Pandemona and Full-Lifes (if she's over level 30) from Fuijin.  There are limited places to obtain full-lifes, so I suggest making sure you get the full 300 here.
- Mug two Strength-Ups from Raijin. and Fuijin for a Hero/Megalixer.
- Win Combat King 002 automatically from Raijin.
- Speak to the girl in the SeeD uniform at Balamb Train Station (I missed this one).

Trabia

- Pick up Weapons Mon August, south of the statue. 
- Pick up Timber Maniacs at the graveyard.
- Aura Drawpoint near the rocket.
- Win the Selphie card from her friend. 
- Take Zell down to the library to see the committee discussing his answers.  They're by the esuna drawpoint.

Galbadia Garden

- The important orders are for attack, defence, and care of the junior classmen. 
- Pick up a Cottage on 2f of Balamb.
- Aura Drawpoint under the two trees after rescuing Rinoa.
- Life drawpoint in locker-room.
- Mug Cerberus for Speed-J scroll.  You can draw Doubles, Quakes, and, if he's over level 30, Triples.  Defeat Cerberus for GF and Card. 
- Mug Seifer for 8 Mega-Phoenixes or don't and he'll drop eight mega-potions.
- Draw Hastes from Seifer. 
- Draw Alexander from Edea and mug a Royal Crown or don't and she'll drop a Force Armlet.  You can also draw Demis and Esunas.

Balamb


- With Zell in your party, speak to the library girl at the desk in Garden.
- Pick up Weapons Mon July from the Training Centre.
- Speak to the girl with the red skirt at the entrance to Balamb.  Head to Zell's house then stay at the hotel.  You should receive Combat King 003 in the morning.  I was still missing a single line of dialogue, possibly due to the scene I missed above.

Edea's House

- Try to spread Open and abolish Random in Cetra, just to make your life easier.  The instructions here worked for me.  Because Balamb only had the open rule, which had already spread to Cetra, I used Dollet and Winhill (which counts as Cetra).
- Win Edea's card from Cid.
- Pick up the issue of Timber Maniacs.

Esthar Mountains

- You can level up Ruby Dragon to 45+ to steal Flares, Reflects and Meteors.  This is quite tricky - especially without Selphie's Full Cure - so you might want to wait to hunt them down later.  I'd recommend getting at least one Meteor.
- This was the scene affected by the issue of Timber Maniacs in Shumi Village.  If you avoided picking the magazine up earlier, you can go back and get it now.

White Seed Ship

- Pick up the issue of Timber Maniacs.
- Give Girl Next Door to Zone for free, and you'll get a rename card and the Shiva Card.
- Holy Drawpoint in the Cabin.

Salt Lake Flats

- Have Edea level your GFs if necessary.
- As Laguna, pick up Weapons Mon First in Odine's Lab.  
- Flare drawpoint in O-Lab.

Esthar


- Win Ward card from Professor Odine. 
- Buy Pet Pals 5 and 6 at the Pet Shop.   You can also buy Combat King 4 and 5 from the Book Store, though you'll be getting those last two for free soon.  Click on Cheryl's store until you get a Rosetta Stone.  Click on Esthar Shop!!! until it lets you in at least once.
- Speak to Presidential Aide outside of the Airstation then speak to him again outside Odine's room at the palace.  Examine the stack of magazines to receive Occult Fan IV.
- Pick up the Solomon's Ring from Tear's Point.  You can win Malboro Tentacles from the Malboro's around here when you return after plot events.  You'll need 6 of those, 6 Steel Pipes, and 6 Remedy Pluses (Use Alexander's Med Level Up ability), then you can use the Ring to summon Doomtrain.

Lunatic Pandora
 
- As Zell, pick up Combat King 4 from the running soldier on the high walkway in Esthar.  After speaking to Odine, the first contact point is one screen to the right of this one.
- Meteor Drawpoint in entrance to Lunatic Pandora.   Lift 1 leads to the next part of the game, so go there last.  Lifts 2 and 3 form a loop.
- Go down the ladder after elevator 3 to find a LuvLuvG in the nearway doorway and a Phoenix Pinion and a Power Generator under the panels you opened as Laguna.
- Combat King 005 and Ultima Drawpoint in the next corridor.
- Holy Drawpoint in corridor after lift 1.
- Speed-J scroll where you pushed the boulder as Laguna.  Use Move-Find to save,

Space

- Because Space has all the card rules, there's a chance one will be randomly abolished after playing a game (or choosing to play then quitting).  If you challenge Piet before putting Rinoa down, you'll be right by a save point.  I suggest trying to get rid of Random.  Saying 'no' once and then saying 'yes' and quitting repeatedly worked for me.
- Win the Alexander card from Piet.
- Win the Laguna card from Ellone.

Ragnarok and Side Trips

Misc

- You can do the below anytime after obtaining the Ragnarok and before entering the Lunatic Pandora again.  I suggest at least going to the Sorceress Memorial first.
- Set Rinoa up for the Meteor trick.  Basically, give you only magic which targets the party and meteor, and when your use her new limit break, she will only cast meteor.  This is a good thing, because meteor is multi-hit, allowing her to do more damage per cast than other spells.  You should also try to get her magic stat as high as possible.  It will be tripled when she is under her new limit break.
- Full-Life drawpoint in downstairs corridor of Ragnarok.
- Win the Squall card from Laguna in Esthar. 
- You can farm energy crystals in Esthar by repeatedly talking to the soldier on the low bridge, who will turn into an Elnoyle.  You can mug a moonstone at any level and it will drop Energy Crystals at level 30+.   These should be the last items you need for weapons.  Level-Up doesn't work, so you can either farm the cards or come back after levelling.  You can draw Pain, and Moon Stones can be turned into 20 Holys with L-Mag-RF.  You can also draw doubles which can be refined into Triples with High-Mag-RF.
- You can mug a Regen Ring from a Torama in or around Esthar.
- You can mug Malboro Tentacles from Malboros in Grandidi Forest (including the forest-y bits on top of cliffs) or the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell.  You'll need to either protect your characters from berserk with junctioning and get lucky, or, ideally, protect them with the Ribbon ability.  The latter is only an option if you have access to Chocobo World, as your chocobo will occasionally find the Ribbon item your GF's need to learn the ability.
- Draw Ultima, Aura, Flare, Meteor, Full Life and Quake at the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell.  These are good levelling spots, but I suggest holding off until you have Cactuar and all his stat-up abilities.  Ability x4 is also essential.
- Buy Hypno-Crowns from the Esthar Pet Shop.  Use Tool-RF to convert to 10 Aura Stones, then use Supt Mag RF to refine to Aura spells, if you need them.
- Use a Phoenix Pinion in battle at some point.  This unlocks the possibility of the Phoenix showing up to save you if you're all KO'd.

Alien

- Run around on the island near Heath Peninsula until you see an Alien abducting a glyph.
- Defeat the alien Spaceship on Grandidi plateau, north of the Chocobo forest.
- Go to the remains of Balamb Garden to fight Pupu.  Give him five elixirs to receive his card.

Card

- Head to Dollet. Ask the Queen about her artist father and hand over your Alexander card. Win it back from her son.  You can finish his dog quest while you're at it.
- Win the Doomtrain card from the Timber Pub Owner.
- Give the Card Queen your Doomtrain card to get her back to Dollet.  In my case, the RNG was not in my favour.  I tried asking her to play cards X amount of times, saying no, then playing on the next turn.  It took 12 nos before the RNG finally hit Dollet.  You can then try to move her to wherever you want her to stay for the rest of the game.  There's a discussion here.  Avoid leaving her with Direct as her personal trade rule.
- Ask about her Artist father, then win the Doomtrain Card back from her son.
- Win the Phoenix card from the Presidential Aide in Odine's office in Esthar.


Obel Lake

- Head to Monterosa Plateau, above the previous site of Galbadia Garden.  Search until you find a bird guarding a nest and choose to check it out, or keep checking until the birds have left.  If you choose the former, you can level up the Thrustaevis until you can draw Tornados if you want them.
- Head back to Obel Lake and show the rocks to the creature.  Have it tell you to take some time off at Eldbeak peninsula.  You might have to come back after finding the treasure at Mordred Plains.
- Head to Mordred Plains, north of Esthar.  Click around until the rocks start talking to you.  Remember that the red rocks always say the opposite of the truth and search for a Three Stars.
- Read the pillar at the tip of Eldbeak Peninsula.  Head to Minde Island and search until you find a Luck-J scroll.  It won't be there unless the lake creature has told you to take some time off at Eldbeak Peninsula even if you found the clue anyway.

GFs

- Head to Cactuar Island and draw Meltdowns and Tornados from Jumbo Cactuar.  Defeat him to gain him as a GF.
- Head to the Deep Sea Research Centre. Avoid moving when the light is on.  You'll be forced to fight at least two Ruby Dragons, which do give exp.  There's a hidden answer on one of the questions you're asked, scroll down further than you should be able to.  Draw Full-Life and Flare from Bahamut.  Defeat him to obtain Card and GF.
- Return to Deep Sea Research Centre.  You can farm for Curse Spikes here if you want.  I didn't bother because I got plenty of Rosetta Stones from Chocobo World, and I only needed 200 more Ultimas, which can be drawn from the next enemy or created from Energy Stones.
- Draw Ultimas, Regens, and Eden from Ultima Weapon.  Defeat Ultima Weapon to obtain Eden card.
- If you have 6 Steel Pipes, 6 Malboro Tentacles, and 6 Remedy +s, use Solomon's Ring to obtain Doomtrain.

Levelling and Stats

- It's at this point that I generally level my characters to 100.  You don't need to; enemy levels will match yours, so if your junctions are good, you can defeat everything at whatever level you are.
- Between Cactuar and several other GFs, you should have two each of mag up, str up, vit up, spr up, and HP-up. 
- I generally equip all but str-up to the ladies, level them until their HP hits 9999 with junctions (auto, magic), and then swap the hp up for str up.  At level 100, I equip them with a ribbon, spr +40% (or 60%), vit +40% (or 60%), str +60%, and ribbon.
- The same for the guys, but give them str up from the beginning and mag up when their hp hits max.  Give them mag +60% instead of str.
- This should give you almost perfect stats, with maybe a little more needed on magic or strength.  To increase those, you can farm str ups or mag ups.  For str ups: buy 100 of the Power Wrists from Esthar Pet Shop.  Use Gf-Abl Med-Rf to turn them into 10  Hyper Wrists.  Then use Forbid Med-Rf to turn those 10 Hyper Wrists into 1 Str Up.  You can do the same thing with Hypno Crowns to Royal Crowns, to Mag Up.
- This is expensive.  If you need money - approx 1 million gil for 5 Mag or Str ups - use the mega-potion trick.  Buy tents and cottages, convert to mega-potions, sell the megapotions for a profit.
- All of this is much quicker with Tonberry King's Call Shop, Haggle, and Familiar.
- Alternatively, you can Devour T-Rexaurs for strength and Behemoths for magic.  I've found this takes longer than just buying stuff.

Lunatica Pandora

- Mug 2 Megalixers from Fuijin. 
- Mug 8 Megalixers from Rinoa.
- Mug a Samantha Soul from Adel.

Time Compression

- Go through the second arch and head to the Chocobo forest on the North-Eastern tip of the Centra continent.  Head to the Ragnarok, which is indicated by a red dot on the map.  There'll be another arch near there.  If you enter it, a fourth arch will rise near the other three, as a shortcut back here.
- Play Triple Triad with the CC Club on the Ragnarok if necessary.  If you've modified rare cards you can win them back from the CC Club (unless they're from the Card Queen Quest).
- Within the castle, you'll need to defeat a number of enemies to unlock your abilities.  You can find Ultimecia by climbing up inside the clock tower, out over the clock face, and then across a bridge.  The game will warn you and allow you to turn back before facing her.

• Sphinxara, on the stairs.
• Tri-Point, in the wine cellar.  Go up the stairs from the entrance and try to cross the chandelier.  When it falls, it will damage the trapdoor to the cellar, allowing you to open it.
• To get across the chandelier - to fight Krysta - have one party stand in the green thing to the right of the trapdoor, switch, and have your other party cross.
• Trauma, in the library.  There is a puzzle involving using the clock on the floor (visible from the balcony) and the names of the paintings, in order to divine the name of a painting which has been damaged.  The name of each painting includes Roman numerals.  You need to enter the names of the paintings corresponding to the hour, minute, and second of the clock, in that order.  Full solution here.
• Tiamat, by climbing up inside the clock tower past the piano, and using the bell to swing across the gap.
• Gargantua is in the Armory, past the library.  The Armoury Key is on the bridge, up past the piano.  Walk, don't run, or it will fall into the water.  If it does fall, it will be the sparkly object in the water right outside the armory.
• You can also use the floodgate key on the lever in this area.  The floodgate key requires both parties.  One will need to go up the stairs from the lobby, then left, and stand on the lift.  The other party will need to go through the library and round to the left, in order to stand on the other side of the lift and raise the first party.  Once raised, the first party can continue left to grab the floodgate key.  Operate the lever near the prison cell until the water drains away.
• Red Giant appears in the prison cell, once you go for the key.
• Once the water is drained, you can access the waterway to the right of the fountain.  First, play every key on the piano, to make the spikes blocking the waterway withdraw.  You can then walk down, picking up the a rosetta stone on the way, to the other door of the prison cell.
• Catoblepas is in the treasure vault, so you'll need the key out of the fountain, just before the piano.  The treasure vault is in the long corridor, if you head left out of the upstairs lobby.  You'll need to make all the boxes open for him to appear.

- Omega Weapon is an optional boss.  He'll appear in front of the piano for one minute after you ring the bell in front of the library.  It's just outside, near the stairs.  It's easiest to park the party you intend to use in front of the fountain, have the other party save near the dungeons then ring the bell, and then switch parties to reach Omega in time.  He'll open the battle with level 5 death on everyone, and cast Megiddo Flame shortly afterwards, which will do 9998 damage to your party.

Final Fantasy VII - Spoiler-free Item, Achievement & Subquest Walkthrough, Part 3

Start of Disc 3

- Head to Cosmo Canyon and up to Bugenhagen.  After a scene, you'll have Red XIII's Final Weapon.
- Head to the basement of Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim for a scene.

Ancient Forest

- Now that you've defeated Ultima Weapon, you can walk over the crater to the Ancient Forest.  You can get here earlier with a Gold Chocobo, if you prefer.
- In the first area, pick up three insects, and put them near the three flowers hanging from the top of the screen.  Place the insects into the flowers and leap over before they are digested.  You can pick up a Spring Gun Clip on this side, and you can grab the Supershot ST by carefully walking into the snapping flower from the right.
- In the second area, grab an insect, then use the vine to jump up.  Place the insect in the hanging flower, then jump across.  Here, you can pick up a frog.  Place it on the left hanging flower, and have Cloud stand on it until it spits the frog out.  That'll throw you up to a ledge with a beehive, which you can put in the snapping flower so you can access the Slash All Materia.  Finally, use another frog on the right pitcher flower and have Cloud stand on it until he is thrown into the next area.
- in this third area, use two insects to jump across the hanging flowers to the vine.  This will slingshot Cloud up into higher branches.  First follow them up and round to the right to get the Typoon Materia.  Then go back to where you were and follow the branches down to pick up the Minerva Band you could see in area 2.  Use the frog to get back to area 3.
- This time, go up to the vines and, instead of jumping across the three vines, go down (use select to see the path).  You'll be back in area 3, running down a rope.  Head over to the right, and use an insect to jump across the hanging flower to grab the beehive.  Use the beehive to close the snapping flower, use another insect to get back to the left side of the area.  Use one of the insects here to lure a frog out of the hollow tree.  Use the other insect to get back over to the right, and throw the frog into the far-rightest hanging flower.  Stand on this until it flings you into area 4.
- Pick up the Apocalypse sword and an Elixir, in chests.

Northern Crater

- Go to the northern crater and press cancel to lower the airship into it.  You can still get out of here later.
- Pick up the save crystal in the first chest you come to.  Go down the spiral, and pick up the guard source from the chest.  You can learn Dragon Force from the Dark Dragons down here.
- On the next screen, go down via the right side to pick up a Guard Source.  Carry on down on the right to get a Mind Source.
- Go left and climb back up to get a magic source and an elixir.  Climb up a bit further for a Power Source, with a HP Absorb Materia hanging out on the same ledge. Run back down to the new area.
- In this new area, run to the right to drop down to the ledge with a Mind Source.
- Jump up and go over to the other side of the Mind Source chest.  You can enter the cave to obtain a Megalixer.
- Come back out to the ledge and go all the way left to jump down to a lower ledge with a chest containing a Hero Drink.
- Go into the cave near the Hero Drink.  Pick up the Guard Source, then go north and into the tunnel.  You'll come out near the chest containing a Power Source.  Finally, exit this screen to the north.
- Go down as far as you can, sticking to the right side of the screen and running through the interconnecting tunnels when necessary.  Eventually, you can drop off the bottom of the screen and meet up with your party members. Consider using the save crystal before doing so.
- When you first split the party, send everyone except Tifa left.  Tifa goes right.
- At the second split, send Cloud, Vincent and Cait Sith down, everyone else goes up.

Left-Down

- There are chests containing a Remedy, Elixir, and X-Potion in this first area.
- In the second area, jump down to the path.  There's a Turbo Ether in the chest near the bit where you can climb back up, a vaccine to the right, and a Magic Counter materia when you loop round to the left.  It's in the Mako - examine the side of the path.
- There's a Turbo Ether and a Speed Source in the chests on this screen.  You can pick up the Mega-All by pressing confirm at the right time during Cloud's jump.  It might take a few goes.

Head to the next screen and grab the luck source.  Don't go anywhere else.

Now go all the way back up the way you came.

Right

- Go down the right path (the one you sent Tifa down).  At this point, put all of your Enemy Skills on one character.  You may run into a Dragon Zombie around here, from which you can learn the skill Pandora's Box.  However, this will only be used once, by one Dragon Zombie in the game.  It will be used as a finishing skill on the character who deals the final blow.  You can also meet Marlboro's around here, if you missed the Bad Breath skill earlier.  You can also learn Roulette from Death Dealers.  Finally, you can run into Pollensalta's down here, which you can manipulate to learn Angel Whisper.  In other words, you can master your enemy skills materia here.
- Go down the spiral and pick up the Elixir and the Mystile Armour.
- Further down, you can pick up a Tetra Elemental, a speed source, and two Megalixirs.  They're located to the far left and far right of this screen.
- Climb down the dragon skeleton, and up through the exit nearby, which leads back to the left/down path.

Backtrack!

Left-Up

- In this area, you will face Magic Pots.  Use an elixir on them and then defeat them for lots of exp and ap.
- You can pick up a magic source and a remedy on this screen.
- Grab the vaccine and the Shield Materia, then go left from the materia to reach the chest containing the Imperial Guard.  To the far right, you'll find a chest containing a Hero Drink.
- In the next room, you'll find the (support) Counter Materia in the middle of the glow.  You'll also find the W-Magic Materia in the trees to the far north.  And that should be the last Materia in the game!
- Collect the Luck Source and meet up with your characters, who should provide you with duplicates of several of the items in the tunnels.

Now you can go back up and finish anything you have left in the game.  At this point, I still need to level up my characters, collect sources, master materia, and defeat Ruby and Emerald Weapons.

Defeating Emerald Weapon

I faced Emerald at level 77.  Cloud had W-Summon, KOTR (level 2), Hades, a mastered Magic Plus Materia and mime.  Tifa has Phoenix and W-Item.  Barrett has Mime and 7777hp.

Barrett begins the battle by doing 64 * 7777 damage with lucky 7s, which is almost half of Emerald's HP.  Cloud double cast KOTR and Barrett mimed it.  With Magic Plus Cloud does over 8000 damage per hit while Barrett does 7777 per hit.  That's 26 hits each, which brings Emerald down to approximately 92,070hp.

If Emerald does attack Barrett after your first round of attacks,  thus negating the lucky 7's state, he'll still do approximately 4000 * 26 damage, bringing Emerald down to 190272hp.

You want to hope Cloud is still alive to mime KOTR again as this will defeat it.  Otherwise, have Tifa use either Pheonix or phoenix downs and megalixers to heal everyone.  If you're unlucky, hopefully double-casting Hades and limit breaks will kill Emerald before it kills you (hint: I was lucky).

If you struggle with this, try putting mime on Tifa, or even levelling enough to gain another mime.  I also had to rely on luck because my KOTR was so low-levelled, meaning once I'd lost my chain of miming I could't cast it again.

- Emerald Weapon: Achievement.

Defeating Ruby Weapon

This was tougher, since Lucky 7s won't help - you can't damage Ruby until it drops its claws into the ground.

I gave character 1 (Tifa/Yuffie)  Phoenix attached to Final Attack, and Mime.  Then I filled the rest of her slots with unmastered All Materia since I'm going for the Gil achievement.

I gave character 2 (Cloud) Master Summon attached to HP Absorb, Mime, and W-Summon.

Finally, character 3 (Red XIII) had Mime and W-Item.

All characters had a double or triple AP weapon and a Mystrile as Armour.  All spare slots filled with all Materia.

Enter the battle with all characters except Tifa KOd, and summon Phoenix to revive them.  Have Cloud W-Summon Hades and KOTR.  Hades will paralyse Ruby and prevent it from countering with Ultima while KOTR is for damage.  Mime constantly.  You might take a hit or two from the tentacles, but HP-absorb will fix that.  Ruby has 800,000hp so if you do around 6000 damage per hit it takes about 11 castings of KOTR to take Ruby out.

If all of your characters die, Phoenix should revive you.  Use a megalixer or two and start the mime chain again.

- Ruby Weapon: Achievement.

End Game

Head back to the Left-Up section of the Northern Cave to finish mastering Materia.  Remember that you need to have all mastered Materia in your inventory for it to count.

- Materia Overlord: Achievement.

Keep one or two All Materia on every character; this will let you keep mastering them, for 1,400,000 gil each time.  This is the easiest way to get 999,999,999 gil.

- Master of Gil: Achievement.

Level to 99.

- Top Level: Achievement.


Defeating Sephiroth

When you're ready, head further down into the crater.  Pick two companions and start jumping; you've got a chance of facing a battle with every jump and Jenova Synethsis is waiting at the bottom.

Jenova Synthesis

If you use Knights of the Round, Sephiroth will gain 60,000hp.  I took him out with two 4x cuts from Cloud and a couple of Pandora's Boxes.

Bizzaro Sephiroth

You'll need to split your party into three groups at this point.  You'll get the chance to change their equipment and equip materia.

Safer Sephiroth

This is the final battle.  Don't hold anything back.

Where I'm Up to in Final Fantasy VII

I got super-muddled, and this is always what stops me from finishing a game.  So I'm going to write lists.

I'm at the point of entering the Northern Cave for the Final Battle.

- I have everyone's ultimate limit break.
- I need Red XIII's Ultimate Weapon.
- I have all magic Materia except Shield, which is in the final dungeon.
- I have all Command Materia except Slash All which is in the Ancient Forest and X-Magic from the final dungeon.
- I have all Support Materia except Magic Counter from Chocobo Racing and (Support) Counter from the Final Dungeon.
-I have all Independent Materia except Enemy Away from Chocobo Racing and Mega All from the Final Dungeon.
I have all summons except Typoon from the Ancient Forest.
- I need to defeat Ruby and Emerald Weapon.
- I need to complete the Ancient Forest.
- I need to finish levelling up in the Sunken Gelnika.
- I need a few more enemy skills, all of which are available in the Northern Cave.
- I need to max my gil.


So, I need to go grab Red XIII's weapon, finish the Ancient Forest, do some more Chocobo Racing, go far enough through Northern Cave in order to pick the materia, level them, then finish the game.  And at some point in there, defeat the weapons and max out my gil.

Later

Okay, got Red XIII's weapon, the Chocobo Racing materia, and I've finished the Ancient Forest.  Time to go defeats the Weapons and get the last two items from the Kalm traveller.

Final Fantasy VII - Spoiler-free Item, Achievement & Subquest Walkthrough, Part 2

Start of Disc 2

- FC Battle 13 is unlocked at the start of this disc.  Your prize is three elixirs.
- You can still get the Umbrella at this point, but it will stop being available as soon as the airship is unlocked.
- If you're close to mastering any Materia, enemies around Mideel (southern continent) give around 200ap per battle, which can rack up quickly if you're using double ap weapons.
- Master Materia: Achievement.

Coral Valley 

- Head back to the Forgotten Capital.  From the house where you can rest, on the right, go to the next fork and go right to enter the Coral Valley.
- Go left round the shell to pick up the chest on the right, which contains a Viper Halberd.  Carry on up the shell and enter the cave on the left.
- Here you can climb up various cracks in the cave wall.  You can pick up a Bolt Armlet, a HypnoCrown, and a Megalixer.  When you get to the ladder on the left, climb down to find a Magic Plus Materia.
- In the next area, you'll find a Power Source.

Icicle Inn

- There's a weapon shop on the left with lots of shiny things for everyone.
- in the house on the right, with the snowman outside, you'll find a Hero Drink, a Glacier Map, and a Vaccine.
- in the Inn, you'll find an x-potion upstairs, by the window.
- In the house on the upper left you can find a number of videos of Aeris' parents, along with a Turbo Ether downstairs.

Great Glacier

- Here, you  can pick up a Mind Source, a potion, a Safety Bit, an Elixir, an Added Cut Materia, an All Materia, and Alexander.

- I suck with this area, so go ahead and refer to Absolute Steve's guide instead.

Gaia Cliff

- you won't be able to return to this area later.
- you can learn Trine and Magic Breath from Stilva.  At this point, none of your three enemy skills will have Magic Breath, but one or two will have Trine, so try putting them on different characters, so you can learn both skills in one battle.  You can also learn Bad Breath from Malboros. 
- When you get up to the cave, head north into the next area, then left and south to loop back.  Head over the bridge; there's a secret entrance there if you carry on in the same direction, which leads to a chest containing a Ribbon.
- Head back out and north.  There's a chest containing a Javelin here.  In the next room, you can go through the tunnel and kick the boulder off the cliff to destroy the ice crystals below.  Then you can run right back to the beginning, then north and through the tunnel to exit this cave.
- After climbing the cliffs you'll find yourself in a cave with an elixir and a save point.
- Head through the doorway on the right and round the cliffpath.  You'll come to a room containing a chest with a fire armlet on the right and a chest with a megalixir on the left.  You'll need to fight a few icicles to open the path below.  Afterwards, exit and come back in to get the option to jump down, or just run back round on the path.
- You can now pick up the speed source in the chest to the upper left.
- There's a chest containing an Enhance Sword right in front of you when you go through the right door.

Boss: Schizo

You can steal a Protect Ring from the right head.  One head absorbs fire, the other ice.  

- Carry on into the whirling winds.  After Tifa joins the party, you'll come across a Neo-Bahamut Materia followed by a save point.
- Speak to the first two men in black to get a Hi-Potion and an Ether.
- There's a Kaiser Knuckle in the chest along the path.

Boss: Jenova * Death

Uses only fire attacks.

Junon & The Highwind

- Following your escape from Junon, you'll be in control of the Highwind - an airship!
- You can complete FC Battle 12 now.  The prize is three elixirs.
- The last weapon shop in Junon - near the guy who calls the helitaxi - has new items, but you have better already.
- The man in the bar in Costa Del Sol has loads of new weapons with decent attack and eight slots.
- There's some new armour in the weapon shop in Rocket Town.  You'll also find a Fourth Bracelet in the weapon shop, and a Guard Source in a chest in the bedroom of the item shop.
- Check Tifa's piano to receive an Elemental Materia, assuming you played it as Cloud during the flashback.
- In Cosmo Canyon you can get into the backroom of the item shop (go to the far right of the campfire and up the ladder).  There's a Fullcure Materia, an Elixir and a Magic Source there.
- On the northern continent, north of the Coral Valley Cave, you can find the Chocobo Sage.  Speak to his Green Chocobo and you'll get the fourth Enemy Skill Materia.
- Now you have all of the Enemy Skill Materia, you can go ahead and complete Yuffie's Sidequest in Wutai.  Head to the Pagoda and agree to climb.

Boss: Gorky

Try using a combo of Choco-Mog and Elemental in a weapon to increase physical damage. He went down in one hit.

Boss: Shake

Try using poison.  Two castings of Bio 3 and a physical attack was all it took.

Boss: Chekhov

Use poison again.  Have Yuffie equiped with something that prevents paralysis - Ribbon will work.

Boss: Staniv

Try poison and physical attacks again.

Boss: Godo

Try poison and gravity.  Remember to learn Trine for your final Enemy Skill Materia.

You'll earn the Leviathan Materia and All Creation.

- Yuffie's Final Limit Break: Achievement.

- At this point, you can gather a few more Enemy Skills - though some will need to wait until you enter the Northern Cave.
- you can morph cactuars into Tetra-Elementals.  You'll find them on the desert island south of Cosmo Canyon.  This is an accessory that absorbs Fire, Cold, Lightening and Earth attacks.
- You can pick up a second Chocobo Lure at the Chocobo Ranch now.  You can also begin finding Chocobo's and renting stables, though you won't be able to race them until Gold Saucer reopens.

Mideel

- Mideel is on the south continent.
- speak to the panicking woman in every shop.  Give her white Chocobo some Mimett greens and tickle it behind the ears to receive the Contain Materia.
- At the weapon shop, inspect the door in the back.  Then go out and across the bridge.  Round the side of the Accessories store, you'll find an old key.  Try it in the door, then confess the truth when asked to received the Cursed Ring.
- Return to Mideel after the scenes.  You'll find an elixir in the house in the middle.

North Corel

 - Head to the Reactor.  It's probably easier to access this from the cave on the other side of the mountain.  Try to enter and you'll have to fight an attack squad.
- Enemy Skills like Trine and Laser are useful against the enemies on the train.  Steal the Warrior Bangle from the Eagle Gun.
- Stop the train correctly, and you'll receive the Huge Materia and then the Ultima Materia when you walk further into town.
- After resting at the Inn, speak to the women in the house below and to the left.  She'll give you Barrett's Final Limit Break.

- Barrett's Final Limit Break: Achievement.

Fort Condor

- This is the last battle.  Let the enemy reach the shack and you can battle the Commander for an Imperial Guard.
- If you don't go outside, you can pick up an extra Phoenix Materia from Bone Village in Disc 3 before you collect this one.  Otherwise, grab the Phoenix Materia now, and get the Huge Materia from the guy at the table downstairs.

Boss: Ultima WEAPON

Do as much damage as you can and steal its Cursed Ring before it flies away.

Optional Quests

Now you've got Cloud back, there are a few things you can take care of.
- go to Bone Village and find the Key to Sector 5.  If you tell them to dig on the upper level, right inbetween the smoke and the fireplace, they'll find it.
- You can then re-enter Midgar.  Pick up Tifa's Ultimate Weapon from the Item Shop with the gun in Wall Street, then buy the Sneak Glove from the guy who sold you batteries earlier.
- Head back to Nibelheim and play the Highwind Theme.  On Steam, this was;

cancel
switch
menu
page-up + menu
page-up + switch

cancel
switch
menu
page-up + cancel
ok

cancel
switch
cancel

- You can finish breeding the Gold Chocobo now.

- Gold Chocobo: Achievement.

- With your Gold Chocobo, you can pick up four Materia; Mime, HP <-> MP, Knights of the Round and Quadra Magic. Their locations are pictured below.

 - Knights of the Round: Achievement.


-  Head to the circular area behind Nibelheim and dismount near the ledge.  Enter with Vincent for a scene, which is important for picking up his final limit and final weapon later on.  Come back after 10 battles to pick up Vincent's best weapon, the Death Penalty, and his final limit break, Chaos.

 - Vincent's Final Limit: Achievement.

- At Gold Saucer, if you have your Gold Chocobo - or any other - win ten S-rank races, Esther will give you a pair of Sprint Shoes, a Precious Watch, Cat's Bell, Chocobracelet, and a Counter Attack Materia.  You can also pick up a Sneak Attack Materia from winning an S-Ranked race.

Junon

- Now, back to the plot.  Head to Junon, to the upper level, and down the tunnel where the soldiers are practicing.
- In the underwater tunnel, Morph a Ghost Ship into a Guidebook.
- You can steal Shinra Alphas from the Underwater MPs.

Boss: Carry Armour

Use Magic Hammer twice, then Trine until the arms die. 

- After defeating Carry Armour, pick up the Battle Trumpet, Scimitar, and Leviathan Scales form the chests, before boarding the submarine.
- You'll need to sink the red submarine to gain the Huge Materia.  I had to look at this video and hope, because the game makes me motion sick.
- Head to the top of Junon to watch the plane take off.

Optional Extras with the Sub

- Find the Red Submarine and pick up the Huge Materia.  It's in the southwest corner of the ocean.
- Find the Sunken Gelnika.  Head towards Costa Del Sol, and from there, to the dock towards the Gold Saucer.  The Gelnika is just here; try to avoid the Emerald Weapon.  Every enemy in here can be morphed into some sort of source, which will allow you to power up your characters.
- Head to the save point.  There are no encounters in this room, but you will find a chest containing Heaven's Cloud.
- Head into the northern room first.  There's a Megalixer and an Escort Guard in the chests here.  Head downstairs around round to the upper right corner; there's a Double Cut Materia here.  Yuffie's best weapon, the Conformer, is in the top left corner on this level.
- From the save point, head left to battle Reno and Rude.

Boss: Reno and Rude

They will try to cause confusion.  You can still a Tough Ring from one and the Zeidrich armour from the other.

- In the next room, you'll find chests containing a Megalixer and a Spirit Lance on the upper level.
- Downstairs is the Hades Materia, the Outsider weapon for Vincent and Cid's Final Limit Break, the Highwind.

 - Cid's Final Limit: Achievement.

- Sail the Submarine over to Bone Village and submerge. There's a tunnel nearby, within which you can find the Key of the Ancients.
 - Head back to Wutai, and up the cliff to the cave with the flames.  You'll be able to put them out and pick up the Oritsuru and the Steal as Well Materia.

- Head back to Kalm, and go to the house on upper right.  Upstairs there's a man who'll trade you the Underwater Materia for a Guide Book (morph a Ghost Ship, either at the Underwater Reactor or in Battle Square).

Rocket Town

- When you're ready to get on with the plot, head back here and on to the rocket.  You'll face a few attack squads of normal enemies before facing Rude.

Boss: Rude

Steal his Zeidrich then waste him.  Physical attacks will do, he only has 9000 hp.

- On the rocket, head right and up to the Huge Materia.  The passcode is [OK][Switch][Cancel][Cancel].
- Afterwards, head back to town and speak to the guy outside the Item Shop.  He'll give you Cid's Ultimate Weapon, the Venus Gospel.


Diamond & Ultimate Weapons

 - Speak to Bugenhagen upstairs.  If you haven't failed any missions, four huge Materia will pop up.  Examine the blue one to receive Bahamut Zero Materia (only if you have Neo Bahamut and Bahamut materia).
- Head to the City of the Ancients.  Take the left path and head back to the circle room.  After a couple of scenes, leave the area to find that Diamond Weapon is heading towards Midgar.  Go and wait for it on the beach.

Boss: Diamond Weapon

Try limit breaks, or Knights of the Round, or W-Summoning Bahamut Zero and Neo Bahamut.  Then mime until it dies.  You can steal a Rising Sun weapon from it, and it gives lots of exp and ap so bring a couple of double AP weapons and all your spare AP along.

 - Defeat Diamond Weapon: Achievement.

Boss: Ultimate Weapon

Ultimate Weapon will spawn near Junon after you defeat Diamond Weapon.  Again, lots of exp and AP.  You'll need to chase it down and ram into it a couple of times until it'll let you fight it, and it'll take a few battles because it keeps running off.  It does not heal HP between battles.

 It took me three castings of Knights of the Round to defeat it.  Put all of your Enemy Skills on the person who deals the finishing blow because it'll cast Shadow Flare. 

This will earn you Cloud's Ultimate Weapon - Ultima Weapon.

 - Defeat Ultimate Weapon: Achievement.
 

 Special Battle at Gold Saucer

With Ultima Weapon, you can face a special battle at the Gold Saucer.  Just go up to the desk at Battle Square as usual and the assistant will ask if you want to take part.  If you win once, you'll get a Final Attack Materia.  Winning ten times will net you a ribbon; you can also morph the Ho-Chu which shows up in the second battle into a Ribbon, which is probably a lot simpler.

Midgar

- Fly over the North Canyon for a scene.
- Fly over Midgar to parachute in.
- After going down under Midgar, take the upper path - left from Cloud's view.  This will lead you to a Megalixer and an elixir.
- Go back to the starting point and take the other path.  Once you're down, go left and up this ladder to open the chest containing an Aegis Armlet.
- The path will break when you go right.  Follow the left path round until you reach two chests containing an Elixir and a Starlight Phone.
- Head down the stairs and the tube first, then up a ladder to pick up the Max Ray weapon.
- Go back to the two chests then take the upper path.  After the save point, climb through the tube and there's a boss battle.

Boss: The Turks

Steal an item from each of them; a Tough Ring from Reno, a Zeidrich from Rude and a Minvera Band from Elena.  Try to take them out together, as they'll run away if you take out one of them.

- Head south down the tunnels.  In '3' you'll find a chest containing a Power Source. There's a Guard Source in '2'.  You'll find a Mind Source and a Magic Source to '1'.  At the very end, you'll find a save point and the W-Item Materia.
- Go back to where you fought the Turks.  Go right till you reach a dead-end, then backtrack one screen and take the left to reach the Shinra Building.  This is optional, but is your only chance to retrieve a few items.

Shinra Building

- Take the stairs.  There's a Behemoth Horn on them, in a bag.  If you go straight up the stairs, sometimes it skips screens so you'll miss the horn.  If you reach the top and go back down, you'll be able to pick it up.  You can also grab the Elixir if you didn't before.
- If you go through the front entrance, you can view Turtle's Paradise Newsletter 2 on the message board in the top right corner.  On the second floor, you can find an item shop in that same corner.  There are chests containing a Pile Bunker and a Master Fist here.
- You can pick up a Glow Lance in a bag on the 63rd floor.  You can see it from the elevator.
- On the 64th floor, you can get a Mind Source and the Speed Source by banging on the vending machine.  You can also pick up Cait Sith's Ultimate Weapon, the HP Shout from the lockers.

- Head back down to the tunnels and take the other path.  You'll eventually go up a ladder and meet a boss.

Boss: Proud Clod

Try a casting of Knights of the Round, then mime it if you need a few more hits.  Nothing to steal.

- After the boss, head forward to the save point.  You'll find chests containing a Mystile and an Elixir nearby.   Put Barret in your party now, or else the chest containing his ultimate weapon won't appear.

- Head upstairs.  Up another flight, past Vincent, you'll find the chest containing the Missing Score.
- Steal a couple of Shinra Alphas from SOLDIER:1ST.

Boss: Hojo

This battle is in three parts.  Use physical attacks to take Hojo down in the first part  and his two pets will disappear with him.  I used w-summons, mime, and KOTR to take down the next two forms.