Chapter 1: War-Three Hours that Changed the World-Mission 0

Taking Back Akademeia

S-Rank Requirements

The Vermilion Bird Gate

Head straight toward the gates and they’ll open automatically. Defeat the Imperial Troopers as they appear while making your way to the top of the stairs. Once you defeat the Commanding Officer at the top of the stairs, use the Recovery Portal before leaving the area.

Before proceeding through to the next area, head up the flight of stairs to the right of the door leading out of the Vermilion Bird Gate to find a Potion on the ground.

The Terraced Square

Once you’ve defeated the three Imperial Troopers in this room (two in front of you and one in front of the stairs on the right), a giant monster shrouded in smoke appears. Lock On to the monster and evade its fireballs. You can use Ace’s Wall to give yourself some added protection. The monster will disappear after a minute or two, so attacking isn’t necessary.

In the center of the room is a Knowing Tag. Once you’ve grabbed that, head to the north side of the room to find a Recovery Portal and a locked door. Use the panel directly in front of the door to open it and move to the next area.

Tasuki Bridge

Grab the Hi- or X-Potion off the ground near the barricade in front of you and head across the bridge. Use Ace to take out the two Troopers in front of you and the two on each side of the bridge. Make sure to dodge a lot to avoid getting shot by the Troopers on the sides of the bridge.

Rubrum Square (Safe Zone)

In the center of Rubrum Square is a Relic Terminal where you can save, and another Recovery Portal. Save your game whenever you get the chance, but hold off on upgrading your characters for now. When you’re finished with your business in Rubrum Square, head through the passage on the east side of the area to enter the Airship Landing.

Airship Landing

After entering the area, head toward the panel on the east side of the room while defeating the nearby Troopers. Activate the panel to raise a platform that will create a bridge to the northeast side of the room. A CO in a giant, Magitek Armor called a Nymurod will be standing in front of the lift leading to the next area. Defeat the walker with Ace by staying a few feet away from it. Staying near the Nymurod will cause it to leap into the air frequently, but will also help you avoid the jumps. Stay to its sides to avoid being shot by its front-facing machine guns.

Once you’re finished in this area, walk onto the lift behind where the CO’s Nymurod was standing to be taken up to the Imperial Flagship.

Imperial Flagship

While the lift is climbing to the Imperial Flagship, two Imperial Troopers drop down onto it from above. Once the lift reaches the Flagship, you find three more Troopers, all hiding behind a barricade. Switch to Ace and use Blizzard BOM while standing next to the barricade to knock it out in one hit. There is also a RPG-155 Gunner in a balcony directly to the right of where the barricades were. Use Ace’s normal attack to take him out, then head for the next area.

Main Deck

There will be four more Imperial Troopers, two of which are hiding behind more barricades. Use Blizzard BOM to destroy them and defeat all four Troopers in the area. Head to the north side of the room to find another CO, a couple of Troopers, and several more RPG-155 Gunners on the balconies on either side of the CO.

Once you’ve cleared the area of enemies, the northern door opens and the Flagship’s core is exposed. Approach the core and plant a Magicite Bomb. Head to the south exit of the room. When you reach the south exit, more Troopers and another CO appear. The CO is piloting Magitek Armor and will try to hip-check you with it if you get too close. Charge up Queen’s Thunder SHG or use Ace’s Blizzard BOM to quickly defeat the CO. Fire slowly moves toward you from the north side of the room, so you’ll need to defeat the CO quickly. Once he has been defeated, you’ll be escorted back to [5] The Airship Landing.

Airship Landing (Destroyed)

Heading straight will take you back to Rubrum Square, but you won’t be able to come back to the Airship Landing. Before you go, if you take a right from where you landed and head up the rubble on the north side of the room, you’ll find an Elixir or Ether. Once you’ve grabbed the item, head down the broken path to reach Rubrum Square.

Rubrum Square Revisited

If you head past the Relic Terminal to the large puddle of blood where Bahamut was lying, you’ll find a Potion. This is a good time to upgrade your party’s skills, but you are also free to save your AP for later. Use the “Class Zero” section of the guide to get suggestions on how to upgrade your party.

Once you’re ready, head to the north side of the area to enter the Fountain Courtyard.

Fountain Courtyard

In the center of the courtyard are two more Nymurods. Once you’ve dealt with the Nymurods, you can head up the flight of stairs to the north and grab either a Hi-Potion or a Fortified Ration—an item that will restore 50% of its user’s health and give them the Aura buff, which allows whoever has it to do double physical damage for a short period of time. Equip this item before moving on to the next area.

Arena Boss: Dáinsleif The Dáinsleif isn’t particularly fast, and Odin is more than capable of dealing with it. Just keep in mind that Odin isn’t invincible, and if you leave him to take too much damage before defeating the boss you’ll lose the fight. The fastest way to defeat the Dáinsleif is to charge up Odin’s Zantetsuken ability. As you hold the button assigned to this attack, a percentage appears above Odin’s head. When that percentage reaches 100, move toward the Dáinsleif and release the button to perform the attack. Zantetsuken is Odin’s ultimate attack. It can kill anything—god or beast—in a single hit. Or at least it’s supposed to be able to. Unfortunately, Zantetsuken will only destroy the Dáinsleif’s treads, disabling its ability to roll around the Arena. All is not lost, however: the Dáinsleif is mostly immobile and will only attack by using satellite strikes, which are easily dodged so long as you keep dodging. Whenever it begins attacking with the satellite strikes, it fires a total of four before taking a breather. For this leg of the fight, we suggest using Jack. His damage output will make this fight easy and his dodge nearly warps him as fast as Ace’s does. This means he can dodge out of the satellite strikes over to the other side of the Dáinsleif’s head, strike, and then dodge out of the way again, avoiding all four of the strikes with ease. Just don’t wait too long to move, as his dodge does have a bit of a wind-up. After a dozen or so attacks, the Dáinsleif will be finished.

Mission Accomplished

After your fight with the Dáinsleif, you’ll be transported back to the Fountain Courtyard where your fellow cadets are tending to their wounds. Head through the northern door to complete the mission.