Chapter 1: Moonflow, Guadosalam, Thunder Plains and Macalania

Story mode. Written for a first playthrough and kept free of spoilers — it will not tell you what happens here, only what the game is asking of you.

Four places, one real job, and a lot of conversations. The job is on the river. The conversations are in the woods.

The Moonflow

Warp in from the airship rather than walking from the temple. You land on the south bank.

Find the little man in red first. He is running around east of the wharf, fretting about a delivery. Talk to him before anything else, then save at the Save Sphere one screen west of him.

Now go south down the long road. A Hypello with a chocobo wagon is begging for help. Talking to him starts the escort back north.

Walk just ahead of the wagon. Bandits come in three waves — one, then two, then two — and go for the crates on the back. Run straight at each one and press the button to start the fight before it gets there. If one gets away with a crate, reload and do it again. Bring all five crates home and the reward triples: a new dressphere, an accessory and a garment grid. Botch it and you only get the dressphere.

The dressphere is the Gun Mage. It learns enemy skills by being hit by them, so keep it on someone for a while.

Then ride the shoopuf across and walk up to Guadosalam.

Guadosalam

Nothing to pick up here this time. Walk to the Farplane gate at the top — west from the Save Sphere, along the south wall and up the slope — for a short scene. Then go back to the Save Sphere on the bottom level. The way to the Thunder Plains is straight down the corridor from it.

The Thunder Plains

Rikku has news when you arrive. The lightning is under control now, so take your time.

Six chests: three in the south half (one tucked behind a rock wall near the first Save Sphere), three in the north half past the travel agency. The last is by a small pond under a sheltered tower and the fog hides it. This is a good place to level the Gun Mage, White Mage or Black Mage.

Head out the far north end into the woods.

Macalania Woods

The woods are full of musicians who have lost each other. Talk to every one you find: the harpist near the entrance, the drummer at the spring past the guards, the horn player on the trail in the next area.

Then find the Guado with turquoise hair at the spring off Lake Road. Talk to him four times. He leaves after the fourth and hands over Paine’s special dressphere and the grid that lets her use it.

There is a chest at the top of the tree-branch path north of the Save Sphere.

The lake and the chase

Northwest from Lake Road is the travel agency. You get an Al Bhed Primer in the scene there; if you somehow do not, talk to the Al Bhed woman outside. There is a chest behind one of the snowmobiles by the east wall.

Walk past the shopkeeper and he runs. Follow him. The shimmering path has no random fights, only one forced battle you can run from. On the next screen, take the left turn to a dead end for a chest.

You find him hiding in the campsite: east twice from the woods entrance, then north. Talk to the old Guado for hints and check the tree in the northwest corner. When you are asked what to do with him, hide him on the airship. You get a garment grid either way, but this is the answer that pays off.

Back on board, talk to him in the cabin and open his shop.

Completionist mode. Full spoilers, in play order, with every permanent loss called out before you reach it. 2 entries below are marked where our sources disagree with each other — we have not picked a winner for you.

Spoilers from here.

The Moonflow has the only losses in this stretch that happen inside the area. Everything else closes with Chapter 1.

What closes, and when

• Tobli’s scene closes the moment you talk to the Hypello. Without it, Chapter 1 cannot reach 100%, and with it go the Perfect Ending and Sweet Perfection.
• The perfect escort. One crate lost and the Circlet and Helios Guard are gone, along with 100% and the route to the Mascot dressphere. Reload; there is no reason to keep a bad run.
• Hiding O’aka. Handing him to the Al Bhed still gives Ice Queen, but loses 100% and his Chapter 5 discount.
• End of Chapter 1 (beating YSLS-Zero at Kilika): the Guadosalam and Thunder Plains scenes, the three musicians, Tromell’s three lines, O’aka’s cabin scene and the area scenes.
• End of Chapter 2: Full Throttle. Most guides say Tromell still gives it in Chapter 2 if you skip him now (one missables list says Chapter 1 only), and his three Story Completion lines do not wait either way. Do all four talks today.

There is no boss anywhere in this area.

Moonflow: Shave the Hypello?

Warp in from the Celsius. Coming down from Djose on foot works but puts you at the wrong end.

Tobli first (0.2%). He is on the South Bank, east of the wharf. Save at the Save Sphere one screen west of him.

The Hypello is south down the South Bank Road. The escort has three bandit waves of one, two and two. Mashing through the Hypello’s dialogue buys a little time, except before the first wave. Chase each bandit and press the button to start the fight; they are weak and carry decent gil if you have Pilfer Gil.

All five crates: Tobli gives the Gun Mage, a Circlet and the Helios Guard grid. Any losses: Gun Mage only.

The non-100% branches are worth knowing for a second save, not this one. Skipping the escort entirely moves Gun Mage to Chapter 2 and earns an Enterprise (Break HP Limit) in Chapter 2. Starting the escort without talking to Tobli and still saving every crate leads to Minerva’s Plate in Chapter 2 Macalania. Those accessories also come from the Fiend Arena cups, so the 100% route gives up nothing permanent.

The Gun Mage learns Blue Bullets by being hit by enemy skills and surviving. Support skills (White Wind, Mighty Guard) need a confused enemy to cast them on you. Five learned is an achievement.

Moonflow scenes: about 0.6% with Tobli.

Guadosalam

No chests this chapter. Two scenes: the arrival, and the Farplane gate — west from the Save Sphere, along the south wall, around the U-turn and up the slope. The gate is shut and Yuna narrates (0.2%).

Thunder Plains

The entry scene (Rikku’s fear of thunder, cured; 0.2%) is the only Story Completion here. The Al Bhed by the first Save Sphere explains the calibrated towers.

Six chests, matching the plains’ Chapter 1 set exactly:

• Echo Screen x3, behind a rock wall southeast of the Save Sphere.
• Potion x2, right side, mid-way through the south half.
• Black Choker, near the screen change at the end of the south half.
• Phoenix Down, past the travel agency.
• Grenade x2, north of the agency against the east wall.
• Ether, by the pond under the sheltered tower, northwest of the Grenades. Fog hides it.

Macalania Woods

The Spirit Musicians, 0.2% each:

• Bayra, the harpist, near the south entrance. Automatic.
• Donga, the drummer, at the spring: east from the Save Sphere past the guards to the four-way junction, bottom path.
• Pukutak, the horn player, on the trail in the next area. Talk until she fades.

White Ring at the top of the tree-branch path north of the Save Sphere — Ice damage halved, Blizzard, Magic +4.

Tromell, at the spring northeast of Lake Road. Four talks; the first, second and fourth count (0.6% together), and the third is needed to reach the fourth. He gives Full Throttle — Paine’s special dressphere and the Specialty achievement — and the Unerring Path grid. Activate every gate on Unerring Path in battle and Paine can switch to Full Throttle.

Lake Macalania: Follow That O’aka!

Northwest from Lake Road to the agency. The Al Bhed Primer comes in the agency scene; if it does not, the Al Bhed woman outside has it. Hi-Potion behind a snowmobile on the east wall.

Walk past O’aka and he runs. Follow him to Lake Road and take the shimmering path southeast. It has no random encounters, only one forced Amorphous Gel at the junction. Run: its physical attacks leave a character at 1 HP and it follows up with an all-target spell.

Next screen: left turn to a dead end for a Turbo Ether. Then south to the woods entrance, east, east again and north into the campsite. The old Guado has hints. Examine the tree in the northwest corner.

“Let’s hide him on the airship!” (0.2%) and Ice Queen. Then talk to O’aka in the Celsius cabin and open his shop (0.2%). He owes the Al Bhed 100,000 gil and pays it down as you buy. That debt has a deadline in a later chapter and decides whether he sets up shop in Macalania in Chapter 5.

The agency and chase scenes add 0.6%. Macalania comes to 2.2%, and the running total should sit around 20.4%.

Haizhe in the lake area carry Mighty Guard and Absorb for the Gun Mage. Mighty Guard needs the Haizhe confused first, and it is worth having before Chapter 3.