This is a one-time visit, make sure you collect everything before the castle explodes.
After the cutscene, you'll fall to Karnak Castle - B5, then a 10-minute countdown starts. You'll need to escape the castle before it explodes.
One of the monsters in the chests here called Gigas has a blue magic Aera.
There are a total of 15 chests, 12 of them have monsters (and monsters in the chests are also random encounters).
Before you start, equip the Learn ability on everyone until the end so that you can learn both Aera and Death Claw.
There are 4 types of monsters here. You'll only encounter Sergeant and Cur Nakk when running, while the other two, Sorcerer and Gigas, are monsters in the chests.
Common encounters:
- Cur Nakk (3), Sergeant - Cur Nakk will run away if Sergeant dies.
- Cur Nakk - it will run away.
Monster-in-the-chest encounters:
- Cur Nakk (2), Sorcerer - Cur Nakk will run away if Sorcerer dies.
- Sorcerer (2)
- Gigas
Tips:
- Using Healing Staff is very useful here because you'll run out of MP very quickly.
- Cur Nakk will always flee when they are the only ones on the battlefield, so during the encounters with Cur Nakk (3), Sergeant and Cur Nakk (2), Sorcerer, you can one-shot the Sergeant and Sorcerer with Blizzara (with Ice Rod) to force them to flee. This will save you time and MP. Make sure you kill at least one for the bestiary.
- Gigas will often counter any damage with Aero, so avoid more hits if possible. You can easily kill it with 2 Blizzara.
Bestiary Checklist:
There is a healing pot on B6; use it to fully recover if needed in the beginning.
B6 and B5 don't have monsters.
Blue Magic (7/30): Aera
From Gigas
The monster in the chest Gigas, wait until it casts Aera on you before killing it.
Item Checklist:
- C-046: 2000 gil
- C-047: Elixir (Monster)
- C-048: Ribbon (Monster)
- C-049: Shuriken (Monster)
IMPORTANT: There is a missable boss at the end. It also has a blue magic Death Claw, so make sure to trigger the boss transformation to obtain both the bestiary entry and the blue magic.
Again, make sure you equip the Learn ability before facing the boss.
Item Checklist:
- C-050: Elven Mantle (Monster)
- C-051: 2000 gil
- C-052: Elixir (Monster)
- C-053: Elixir (Monster)
- C-054: Elixir (Monster)
- C-055: Elixir (Monster)
- C-056: Elixir (Monster)
- C-057: 2000 gil
- C-058: Main Gauche (Monster)
- C-059: Esuna (Monster)
- C-060: Lightning Scroll (Monster)
Make a Quicksave before facing the boss.
Boss: Cur Nakk (3), Sergeant (Iron Claw - MISSABLE)
Blue Magic (8/30): Death Claw
To force the Sergeant to morph into Iron Claw, you'll have to kill all 3 Cur Nakks and wait for the Sergeant to transform.
Wait until it uses Death Claw before killing it.
Jobs: Beastmaster, Geomancer, Ninja
Once you regain control, you'll find the wall is broken after the castle explosion.
Karnak - Treasure
- Optional: you can visit Cid on the Fire-Powered Ship before entering Karnak for more dialogue.
- Enter Karnak and grab one hidden item in the bottom-left corner (on the wall).
- Buy Thunder Rod, Flame Rod, and Frost Rod for everyone; they'll be useful for future dungeons.
- Optional: you can talk to Cid again for even more dialogue in the Pub, on the 2nd floor.
Item Checklist:
- I-026: Flame Rod
