Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Walkthrough by PuppyLand

Last Updated 2016-12-07

Walkthrough Introduction

Walkthrough Introduction

Class	Eidolon	Unlocked
Ifrit	Ifrit	Speak with Koharu in The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold
	Firebrand	United Front (Officer)
	Rubicante	SO in Operation MA Demolition
	Vulcan	SO in The Battle of Judecca
	Calamity	A Charge on the Border (Officer)
	Ignis	The Clash on Big Bridge (Agito)
Golem	Golem	The Infiltration of Iscah (Iscah)
	Gigas	Expelling the Empire (Officer)
	Troll	Colonel Faith's Revolt (Officer)
	Ogre	A Fog-Laden Foray (Officer)
	Titan	SO in Machina's Struggle (Chapter 7 story mission) (New Game+)
	Dwarf Golem	The Climactic Clash at Azurr (Officer)
Shiva	Shiva	The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold (Officer)
	Shankara	Operation Breakthrough (Officer)
	Petite Shiva	Covering the Cadets (Agito)
Odin	Odin	The Clash on Big Bridge (Officer)
Odin	Grimnir	Mission Under Ceasfire (Agito)
Diabolos	Diabolos	Operation Dragon Slayer (OfficeR)
	Baalberith	SO in Operation Vulturnus
	Astaroth	Dominating the Dragon's Nest (Officer)
Bahamut	Bahamut	Operation Vulturnus (Officer)
	Neo Bahamut	Colonel Faith's Revolt (Agito)
	Bahamut Zero	Never unlocked; summoned automatically in The Battle of Judecca, if every character dies in the boss fight

Farming SPP up to 10,000 & 15,000

"Why would I even want to farm Killsights?" -- because at 300 Killsights with any character there will be a very powerful weapon with the ability Double EXP for sale in the SPP Shop

Eidolon
สำหรับคนที่อยากเก็บเลเวล Eidolon ขอแนะนำให้ใช้ Rem และติดตั้ง Undying Wish ค่ะ โดยให้ใช้ Undying Wish ทุกครั้งก่อนจะเรียก Eidolon พอเรียกแล้วก็ตีศัตรูไปจนกระทั่ง Eidolon หมดเวลา พอหมดเวลา Eidolon หายไป ตัวเราก็จะฟื้นเพราะผล Reraise จาก Undying Wish แล้วก็... เรียกใหม่ เก็บเลเวลต่อจนพอใจ

อาวุธexp x2

according to this http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Final_Fantasy_Type-0_Weapons, this is a way to unlock last 6 weapons from the list.

1) 700 Kills by Char => SPP 2500 credits (wiki description: Bring "Char" in Multiplayer Mode 300 times) / check!
2) Bethnel Cavers (next to Meroë) - Random Chests, you can rerun this Cave forever / check!
3) 200 Killsight by Char => Armory 35000 Gil Weapon (wiki description: Bring "Char" on missions 200 times) / check!
4) 300 Killsight by Char => SPP 5000 credits (Double EXP Weapon อาวุธexp x2) / check!
5) Clear "???" Mision on "Agito?" diff mode => Armory 60000? Gil Weapon / need confirmation!
6) Defeat GILGAMESH with specific character => ULTIMATE WEAPON / need confirmation!

Name	Effect	Unlock
Luminous Robe	All Magic +15, MP +50%	Earn cumulative 80,000 SPP (SPP Shop)
Elementalist Ring	All Magic +30, MP +30%	Area 11 in Mount Jubanla
Lilith Rod	All Magic +30, MP +100%	Complete A Charge on the Border on Agito difficulty (SPP Shop)
Duke's Gauntlets	DEF +20, Damage Resistance -25%	Chest in Area 12 of Bethnel Caverns
Aria's Amulet	Prevents Burn, Freeze and Shock	Free Time 4.1, talk to Aria with Glass Pendant in inventory
Super Ribbon	Prevents Death and all other ailments	500-hour reward from Class First Moogle
Growth Egg	EXP x2	50-hour reward from Class First Moogle; Rumble in the Ruins Task
Mog's Lucky Charm	EXP x4	Top floor of Tower of Agito on second plus trip; Complete Expelling the Empire (Finis)

Name               Effect                              Unlock

Super Ribbon Prevents Death and       500-hour reward from Class First Moogle
                   all other ailments

Growth Egg       EXP x2                50-hour reward from Class First Moogle;
                                            Rumble in the Ruins Task

Mog's Lucky Charm EXP x4                Top floor of Tower of Agito on second plus trip;
                                            Complete Expelling the Empire (Finis)

ข้างล่างเป็นเงื่อนไขเก็บ S ของแต่ละด่าน (ต้องได้ A 3 อัน หรือ A 2 อัน B 1 อัน ในกรณีที่เล่นโซโล่) ผมไม่ลงชื่อด่านไว้ละกันนะ พอขึ้นมาเป็น HD มันเปลี่ยนชื่อ เปลี่ยน skill แทบยกแผง ดูเลเวลข้างหน้าอ้างอิงเอาละกันครับ

เลเวล / เวลา (นาที) / phantoma / จำนวนตาย
บท 1 (ด่านกู้เมืองหลวง เปิดตัวคลาสซีโร่)
- / 07:40 / 40 /0
บท 2
12 / 05:50 / 48 / 0
13 / 05:00 / - / 0
13 / 25:00 / 90 / 0
บท 2 (ng+)
34 / 12:00 / 120 / 0
บท 3
17 / 15:00 / 110 / 0
22 / 30:00 / 70 / 1
บท 3 (ng+)
37 / 10:00 / 70 / 0
combat ex
35 / 3:20 / 32 / 0
36 / 12:00 / 110 / 0
36 / 21:00 / - / 0
37 / 5:00 / 30 / 0
บท 4
23 / 25:00 / 90 / 0
บท 4 (ng+)
38 / 7:00 / 50 / 0
บท 5
23 / 23:00 / - / 0
29 / 35:00 / 70 / 0
บท 5 (ng+)
42 / 24:00 / 100 / 0
combat ex
38 / 24:00 / 140 / 0
38 / 21:00 / - / 0
40 / 5:00 / 7 / 0
41 / 15:00 / 40 / 0
บท 6
32 / 25:00 / 108 / 0
บท 6 (ng+)
43 / 23:00 / 45 / 0
บท 7
34 / 35:00 / - / 0
36 / 1:00 / 0 / 0
บท 7 (ng+)
36 / 15:00 / 20 / 0
combat ex
45 / 30:00 / 110 / 0
45 / 21:00 / - / 0
46 / 5:00 / 14 / 0
47 / 6:00 / 25 / 0
46 / 7:00 / 16 / 0
46 / 21:00 / 108 / 0
37 / 3:00 / 11 / 0
49 / 5:00 / 15 / 0
49 / 17:20 / 107 / 0
51 / 2:30 / 18 / 0
51 / 30:00 / 135 / 3
บท 8
ลุ้นกันเอาเองเน้อ

- อันไหนที่ไม่มีแฟมธอม่าคือมิชชั่นยึดเมือง แต่จะมีเงื่อนไขจาก moggle บอกว่าอยากให้ทำอะไร
- ng+ ไม่ใช่เพิ่มความยาก เพิ่มเลเวล แต่เป็นมิชชั่นใหม่ไปเลย (ประมาณว่า ณ เวลานั้น อีกด้านหนึ่งของสงครามมันเกิดอะไรขึ้น เราถูกส่งไปตรงนั้น) การจะได้เนื้อเรื่องครบเลยต้องเล่น 2 รอบ
- หอคอยอากิโตะ น่าจะเห็นกันแล้วผ่าน world map จะไปคือต้องได้เรือเหาะ ผม no comment ละกันเพราะมัน post game
- ใครอยากได้อาวุธ "เกือบ" สุดยอด ไปที่ถ้ำเบฮีมอธครับ ได้จากหีบ อัตราต่ำแต่ได้แล้วคุ้ม (เข้าไปฟาร์มได้เรื่อยๆ) อย่างไพ่ของ Ace ถ้ำเบฮีมอธโจมตีราวๆ 48 อาวุธแรงกว่านั้นคือปลดล็อคจาก Armory โดยเอา Ace เข้า Mission 200 รอบ หรือมากกว่านั้นเป็นอาวุธจากแต้ม SPP (ในเวอร์ชัน PSP ใช้แต้ม 20k จำไม่ได้ว่าต้อง SPP แรงค์ระดับไหน) อาวุธรองสุดยอดของทุกคนคือได้ S จากมิชชั่นหลังๆ (บางคนเป็นมิชชั่นของ ng+) ในความยากระดับ Agito อาวุธสุดยอดต้องเล่นรอบ 3 สู้กับกิลกาเมชเวอร์ชั่น... (แฟน FF คงรู้)

วิธีฟาร์ม SPP
การฟาร์ม SPP สามารถที่จะฟาร์มที่ไหนก็ได้ครับ
- ห้ามแย่ง Avatar ฆ่า
- ควรใส่เครื่องประดับที่ติดสถานะ protect เพื่อให้ร่าย Cure/Cura ไม่สะดุด กรณีมันเก็บแต้มมาเยอะแล้วใกล้ตาย (AI/Avatar มันไม่ Heal ตัวเองครับ) หรือจะโยนยาใส่มันก็ตามสะดวก อีกประโยชน์ของ Protect คือเอาไว้เก็บ killsight ตอนที่เรา AG หมด อัดสวนไปเลยครับ ตัวเราไม่ปลิว ดาเมจเข้าตัวก็เหลือครึ่งเดียว
- เลเวล Avatar เท่ากับเลเวลมอนเตอร์ ความยากเลยมีค่าเท่ากันหมดสำหรับ SPP แต่ถ้าไประดับที่ยากกว่าจะได้ Phantoma ที่ดีกว่า

รูปแบบ/วิธีการฟาร์มที่นิยมทำกันโดยส่วนมาก

1. ใช้ Deuce เปิด Concerto โดยจะให้ผล Aura/Protect ทำให้ Avatar ตีแรงขึ้น รับดาเมจลงครึ่งเดียวและโดนโจมตีไม่สะดุด เป็นวิธียอดนิยมที่สุด

2. ปล่อยบอทค้างคืน โดยฟาร์มที่มิชชั่น Operation MA Demolition เอาตัวถึกๆไปยืน ใส่เครื่องประดับ+HP/DEF เยอะๆ (ยืนเฉยๆเลือดฟื้นครับ แม้ว่าจะชักอาวุธออกมาเลือดก็ฟื้นทัน) หาพื้นที่ยืนดีๆที่คิดว่าโจมตีแล้วตัวละครไม่เคลื่อนที่จนเปลี่ยนฉากไป แล้วก็นอน ตื่นมาก็วิ่งสปีดไปจบมิชชั่น (ฝรั่งทำกันเยอะนะ บางคนใช้วิธีติดเครื่องประดับ Freecast + เวทย์ Avoid)

3. ใช้ Trey ยิง Grand Delta หรือ Burst Delta โดย Ability นี้จะดูดเลือดศัตรูและทำให้ศัตรูติด Killsight ทำให้ Avatar ที่กากแค่ไหนเข้ามาตีศัตรูทีเดียวตายเก็บ spp ได้เลย แต่ข้อเสียคือเป็น Ability ที่ยิงถี่ไม่ได้ กิน AG เยอะ ต้องยิงศัตรูเก็บเกจ AG ใหม่

4. ใช้คาถาสุซาคุ Force ให้ Avatar ฆ่าศัตรู วิธีนี้จำเป็นต้องติดเครื่องประดับ Freecast เพื่อให้ร่ายคาถาได้ตลอด โดยจะทำการยิงคาถาแค่เลเวล 1 เท่านั้น (มันตายแล้วครับ อย่าร่ายให้เสียเวลากว่านี้เลย) หากว่าศัตรูอยู่เป็นกระจุกหรือว่าอยู่ในแนวยิงของกระสุนที่ตัว Avatar ยิงไป ก็ถือว่า Avatar ตัวนั้นทำการฆ่าศัตรูทั้งแนวนั้นด้วย ข้อเสียคือต้องมากด / O บ่อยๆ แต่ SPP ค่อนข้างชัวร์มาก เท่าที่ผมใช้วิธีนี้มา โอกาสที่เราจะไปแย่ง kill จาก Avatar นั้นมีน้อยมาก

** ทางบอร์ดนอกบอกว่า Operation Breakthrough ซึ่งเป็น Code Crimson Mission ของบทที่ 2 ฟาร์มได้ค่อนข้างไวกว่า ใครมีโอกาสก็ลองไปด่านนั้นดูครับ

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD - All 43 L'Cie Stone Locations

In this section of our guide to Final Fantasy Type-0 HD we will show you where to find all the precious L'Cie Crystal to gain access to the Night Bazaar and many useful items!

On the continent of Orience there are at least 43 L'Cie (Cie'th) Stones that you have to collect and then deliver to ATRA in the city of ISCA. Then you will be reworded with access to his mysterious shop, NIGHT BAZAAR. This store sells accessories in extremely powerful, useful to defeat any foe too hard. Unfortunately, however, these items are very expensive and prevent the character wearing them to get experience (EXP).

Below is a list of Stones that can be obtained and the method to unlock them:

Stone 1. L'Cie Mizu'a
Having regained the city just outside at Akademia in Chapter 2, talk to the mayor (the city on top of the raised area) and help him gather all the people for speech. You'll have to talk to all the citizens that you see in the square and check all the doors of the city to call other people. After gathering all, talk to the mayor to get stone.

Stone 2. L'Cie Kayahara
Can be found on the ground, in the city center of courses.

Stone 3. L'Cie Yu'u
This will get to the stone Aqvi, in the Region of rubrum. Talk to the girl named Nazuna, who is standing under the tree, twice. Once done, talk to one of three children playing near the tree and then talk again with Nazuna. The girl runs away, talk with her again and then head to the entrance of the city to see coming a member at 'Akademia. Talk to him to receive a LETTER from sister Nazuna. Deliver a letter to the child to get the Gemma.

Stone 4. L'Cie Lazuline
A Keziah in the Togoreth region. Talk to the man with the red cap at the entrance of Keziah to deliver the letters to the homes of the city. You will have to deliver ten missives. For the tenth will need to speak with the citizens in the city so as to discover the recipient. Finally, speak with the man who gave the letters to get the stone.

Stone 5. L'Cie Yuka
Get this stone in the North Region of Togoreth. After freeing Mi-Go, you will see four men in the far right of the city. They are all looking for tips on how to attract women. Answer their questions with the answers below to get Stone:
"Just be nice to her."
"With a friendly 'Heya!'"
"Cheerful colors, like a rainbow."
"Wild and Sexy".

Stone 6. L'Cie Shamhat
This gem is obtained in Isca. Talk to the mayor in the city center twice. As soon as you start the second conversation, the guy standing next to the mayor will steal money from the treasure chest nearby. Follow the boy until he stops, then return to the mayor. You agree to help the mayor to find the stolen object. Come back from the guy and ask him to return the item to find out that he lost. Head back to the mayor and then head down the path until you reach a boy named Atra. Atra is the owner of the Night Bazaar and to which you deliver the crystals to receive prizes. If you talk to him twice, will inform you that he has taken the stolen object to the mayor but a giant monster stole him in turn. Refers to a poor chocobo! Go up the stairs just after the mayor and take the road on the right once on top. At the end of the trail is a member Akademia with his Chocobo, talk to him and ask to examine the animal to finally receive the stolen item. Finally speak with the mayor and return the object to receive the Crystal.

Stone 7. L'Cie Maona
This gem you'll find it in Rokol. Talk to the Mayor near the entrance to know who is in search of the secrets of the legionnaires scattered around the city. Talk to each of the Legionaries of Rokol Quaestor and the entrance to the city, then return by the Mayor that will reward you with Stone.

Stone 8. L'Cie Kanna
This gem you'll find in the Toguagh (Eibon) Region. Talk to the man sitting next to the child. Will tell you that he is an artist, but is blind. He wants to recreate the monument in the center of Toguagh, but needs someone to describe him. Tell him:
-E 'Hex
-A Hundred feet
-Gray granite

In this way, he will reward you with a gem.

Stone 9. L'Cie Suzusu
This gem you'll find it at Meroe in the Isca Region. In the alley on the east side of the city.

Stone 10. L'Cie Ehm
This gem you'll find in CETME. It is located behind the Mayor, on top of the fourth flight of stairs.

Stone 11. L'Cie Augusta
This stone you'll find in Roshana, talk to a Legionary of Subaru that will tell you to eliminate 10 Mandragore near the city, just look for them in the plain, NOT in the forests because not worth counting. Head back to town and go up the ramp to the right and then take another flight to the right to reach another Legionnaire. Talk to him to get him to move and find the stone under his feet.

Stone 12. L'Cie Caelan
This stone you’ll will find in Rama in the Province of Roshana. Complete the quest Yukisato to gain entrance to the city. Talk to the mayor standing in front of a gate, you will be asked to answer a question. The answer changes every time you visit the city and you will have two attempts with each visit. If you make a mistake twice, you'll have to leave, then come back and try again. The man on the right, entering the city will give you a hint of what the answer to every visit. For example, "Today I saw two strange animals ..." means that the answer is the second on the list. After answering correctly to both questions, you can overcome the gates. You must answer the question correctly, 5 times in a row, you will eventually come down the street and take the Crystal.

Stone 13. L'Cie Jogge
This gem you'll find at Bazz in the western district of Nesher. Go down the stairs on the opposite side of the city, and look in the alcove just to the right to find the gem.

Stone 14. L'Cie Anatidus
This stone you'll find it at Rilochy in the Province of Shakara. Go up the ramp on the left side of the city and accept the quest. Once completed pearly with the woman who is close to the gate on the same flight on which you climbed before. Respond "Oh, sounds interesting." Talk to her to know of a precious stone. Go up the ramp on the right side of the city and talk to the man on the right side of the platform. Will ask the objects, give it to get the stone.

Stone 15. L'Cie Daphnia
This stone you'll find it in Rilochy. Go into the city and stay longer in the back of the line at the gate. After about five seconds, the door will open. Go straight and talk to the priestess at the end of the corridor to donate 100 Gil. Leave town and repeat this process until you have donated 1,000 Gil. To thank you for your generosity, the priestess will give you the Stone.

Stone 16. L'Cie Albus
This stone you'll find it at the Amiter Dragon sanctuary. Complete the quest Otokusa, then wait outside the city, on the plain until it reaches the fog. Once arrived, returned to Amiter and you will find two Tonberry. Talk Tonberry over the last ramp to the right and you will receive the stone.

Stone 17. L'Cie Aloe
This stone you'll find it in Azurr. Complete the quest to receive the Key from Okita MPV-B2. After completing the quest, talk to the person who seeks the keys to the city. The doors at the rear of the vehicle will open and you will find yourself stone.

Stone 18. L'Cie Erragal
This gem will find it in the region of Zero Last of Ancient Lorica.

Stone 19. L'Cie Kaimanu
This gem you'll find it in Mount Jubanla in Jubanla Region.

Stone 20. L'Cie Urshanabi
This Stone you'll find in the Bethnel cave in the Meroe Region.

Stone 21. L'Cie Satori
This stone you'll find it in Setzer in the southern point of the Veil Desolate.

Stone 22. L'Cie Yugino
You’ll find this stone in Akademia. The Cactuar that appears randomly in Terrace, in the Chocobo Ranch or Zone of mooring Aereonave, could drop it to the ground.

Stone 23. L'Cie Siduri
This gem you'll find in the desert of Berith. Look on the floor in the southeast corner of the desert to find it.

Stone 24. L'Cie of Nimrud
This gem you'll find in the Valley of the Monsters in the North. You need the airship Setzer to reach the Valley to the north and take the Stone.

Stone 25. L'Cie Clareus
This gem you'll find it on the grass on the east side of the Coast Region Innsmouth.

Stone 26. L'Cie Anshar
This gem you'll find it just past the red gem floating rescue in the House Desert region of Ancient Lorica.

Stone 27. L'Cie Tagisu
This gem you'll find it in the Tower of Agito in the Eibon region. You need the airship Setzer to reach the Tower of Agito.

Stone 28. L'Cie Enlil
This gem you'll find it in a pit to the southwest in the valley of the North. You need the airship Setzer to reach the Valley of the North.

Stone 29. L'Cie Ziusudra
This gem you'll find in the region Jubanla. Passing by the Northern Corridor, the Gem is on the ground right after crossing the bridge.

Stone 30. L'Cie Vesta
This gem is located at the end of the road in Mahamayuri.

Stone 31. L'Cie Wehrer
This gem is located in a southwest corner of the bridge north of the district Azurr.

Stone 32. L'Cie Theo
This gem is located on the ground, near the western tip of the great crevasse in the center of CETME district.

Stone 33. L'Cie Rino'i
This stone can be find in the region of Isca. Climb the structure southwest, the center of the Region Isca. The Gem is located on top of the structure.

Stone 34. L'Cie Argenia
This gem is located in the province of Rilochy, along the coast, directly south of the city of Rilochy.

Stone 35. L'Cie Rhiane
This gem is located on the ground near the coastline around the area north-west of the West Nesher district.

Stone 36. L'Cie Jorug
This gem is located in Nesher in the Eastern District. From Base Gehwer, is located on the ground to the southwest near the bridge.

Stone 37. L'Cie Kiyosaki
This gem is located on the ground on the northern tip of the Region Eibon.

Stone 38. L'Cie of Darkness
This gem is obtained on the center of the Province Roshana.

Stone 39. L'Cie Aarmad
You’ll find this stone in the north-east of the Innsmouth Region.

Stone 40. L'Cie Caetuna
You’ll find this stone in the Meroe region, located in the west land of Cave Bethnel.

Stone 41. L'Cie Qun'mi
This stone can be find in the region of Ancient Lorica, is located on the ground north of the Desert House, on the west side of the site of the explosion.

Stone 42. L'Cie Rem
You will find this gem in the course of Chapter 8, on the ground of one of the areas of Pandaemonium.

Stone 43. L'Cie Machina
You will find this gem in the course of Chapter 8, on the ground of one of the areas of Pandaemonium.

Chapter 1: War - Three Hours That Changed The World

Settings
Before we start, double-check the game Preferences and tweak some settings if needed. In the Controls, for Command Inputs, I have type A command layout (Square/X normal attack, X/A command 1, Triangle/Y command 2, Circle/B defense).
Lock On: Press R1/RB is better than Hold R1/RB.
Subcommands: choose Press D_Pad at any time.
If you want subtitles on, check the Options in the Preferences.
For difficulty, I strongly recommend Officer. You can change difficulty at any Relic Terminal, but remember that Agito is most likely too much for your first playthrough (don't even think about it if this is your first playthrough ever), while Cadet is just a bit easier but you won't get the same rewards that you would get on Officer.
WARNING: This mission cannot be replayed from the Title Screen menu! If you intend to get S Ranks on all missions for some reason, make sure to do it now, or else your next chance will be on a brand new playthrough (New Game/New Game+). On the other hand, if this is the first time you play the game, I suggest against going after the S Rank: just learn how the game works and have fun for now, you can always make another playthrough later for the S Ranks (much easier when you know how the game works).
Just in case you're having problems at any point during the mission, or you'd like to see how an average gameplay of this game should look like, here is a video demonstration:
[1] Vermillion Bird Gate

You can choose to view the tutorial -- make sure to do so if this is your first playthrough (and make sure to say No on your next playthroughs if you don't want to be interrupted at every other corner during the mission. The game will teach you its basic gameplay mechanics during this mission. I'll go on and explain a few things myself. To make it easier for you to read, I will put "explanatory" paragraphs in indent text, like this paragraph, while the actual walkthrough (go there, kill those, grab that) will be in regular paragraphs. Also, don't worry: I'll have a lot of explanations to do in the first couple of areas, but then we'll pick up the pace :p

During this mission you'll wear a special accessory, the Life Armlet (not obtainable in any other way outside of this mission), which grants permanent Reraise status. In other words, you can't fail this mission (you can still die, but it will always resurrect your fallen characters). Use LS to move around, and RS to rotate the camera around your characters. You can also press LS (as a button) to speed up the movements of your characters: by default you are at normal speed; press LS once for faster speed, and press it once more for the fastest movement speed; press is once again to return to regular speed.

You are given three default characters for this mission. To keep things simple, Nine is a fast, tanky, strong melee character (so he's a great choice for melee combat); Ace is a quick-to-dodge, middle-ranged, fast-attacking ranged character; Queen is a rather strong spellcaster (her Thunder SHG spell will be useful against some mechanical enemies later). You should probably start this mission and play through most of it with Nine, then use Ace when there are enemies out of melee range, and Queen against the mechanical enemies. To switch between characters, press the D-Pad_Left/Right.

Go ahead and you'll fight a single enemy -- press Square/X to perform standard attacks and defeat him.

You don't need to button-mash the attack button to land multiple hits: simply hold down the attack button and the game will automatically fire multiple attacks for you.

You can lock on an enemy by pressing R1/RB, and (when more than one enemy is available) you can tilt RS_Left/Right after locking on an enemy to lock on different enemies. You can also press L2/R2 (LT/RT) to switch between targets, instead of tilting RS (I prefer tilting RS myself).

You can dodge enemies' attacks with the Circle/B button along with LS in any direction.

Triangle/Y (or more generally, the "command 2" button) can be used (by default, but you can change the command assigned to this button later on, at the Relic Terminals) to perform magic attacks (Blizzard BOM is the first, default spell you have on Ace), but save these for stronger opponents. Lastly, the X/A button is (by default) used to perform a special attack, which for Ace right now is Cut Cards, or Jump in Nine's case.

Special Attacks consume the AG bar (that yellowish gauge above the commands, in the bottom-right corner of the screen), which can then be replenished (and quite quickly, too) by performing regular attacks on the enemies. Ace's Cut Cards is actually one of the most complicated special attacks of the game, but if you're curious you can check Ace's character description in the corresponding page of this walkthrough to learn about its mechanics. In short, it works like this: press X/A to "draw a card" from Ace's deck, and depending on the type of card you drew you'll be able to perform a special move (with Square/X). The special move depends on the type of card extracted, which can be HP recovery, MP recovery, and damage-dealing type of attack. You can draw up to four cards in a row, and each time it'll be either an HP/MP recovery card or a damage-dealing card; if you can get multiple cards of the same type (for example two HP recovery cards in a row), the effect of the special move used will be enhanced.

Anyhow, proceed forward and defeat the first enemy in front of you. The game will then instruct you about extracting Phantoma from fallen enemies: lock on a fallen enemy with R1/RB, and then press Square/X to "harvest his Phantoma" (do so).

Every non-mechanical enemy of the game has a Phantoma to extract, and there's quite a lot of differenty types and varieties of Phantoma that you can collect. Keep in mind that the dead body of fallen enemies will stay on the screen for a few seconds during which you can harvest their Phantoma, but if you don't do so in time their bodies will ultimately disappear and you won't be able to collect their Phantoma anymore. Don't worry though: since every enemy has a Phantoma to harvest, this makes Phantoma extremely common, so it's perfectly fine to ignore/miss them during more hectic battles.

This will be true for most of your fights, although later (much later) on you'll also need to farm specific Phantoma types to power up your spells (we'll learn about this later on). The other reason why you may want to collect Phantoma is that the amount of Phantoma harvested during a mission will influence your score on that mission: the more you get, the higher your score. Lastly, Phantoma also recover a few MP on your characters -- this is an additional reason to want to harvest them if you use spells a lot, but keep in mind that the amount of MP recovered is very small (so small that you can't really use spells much more just because you harvest all the available Phantoma. You can get another 2-3 spells cast with the MP recovered, but that's about it).

As you proceed further ahead, the game will tell you about Energy Walls, which appear as light-blue walls of energy that block your path. Whenever you see one you'll need to defeat every enemy before it in order to make it disappear.

The game will also instruct you on switching between targets, as we already explained before with the additional explanations that pressing RS_Up will switch you lock-on to dead bodies to harvest for their Phantoma, while RS_Down will switch your lock-on to the closest enemy. I never used the latter much during my playthroughs, but RS_Up is a very important shortcut to remember to harvest Phantoma more easily when there are multiple enemies to fight at once.

Moreover, the game will inform you that you can also press L1/LB to draw/put away your weapons during a mission. Putting your weapons away will speed up the rate at which your characters automatically recover their HP, but it will also increase the amount of damage taken if an enemy hits you. You can also recover HP, but more slowly, if you stand still with your characters even with their weapons drawn. In general, standing still to recover HP is a bad idea while a fight is taking place, so I recommend that you stand still to recover HP only if there are no enemies nearby. If instead you need to recover HP during a fight, use a Potion instead (press the D-Pad_Down to use the currently-equipped item, which by default is a Potion). You have 5 Potions by default, and each one recovers 50% of your character's max HP, so use them only when necessary.

Defeat a couple of more enemies at the first Energy Wall, and then continue up the stairs.

The game will tell you about Breaksights/Killsights before another two enemies show up. For more information on these features (Breaksights and Killsights), please refer to the Gameplay section of the walkthrough. In short, they are a sort of counterattack which can respectively inflict huge damage to enemies/kill them on the spot. They appear respectively as yellow target icons/red target icons on an enemy, but only if you're locked on that enemy. You usually can't see a Breaksight/Killsight target icon if you are already hitting the enemy when the Breaksight/Killsight icon is supposed to appear, so sometimes (especially if your basic attacks don't do much damage) it's best to avoid attacking the enemies, wait for their Breaksight/Killsight icon to show up, and then use a single attack to inflict massive damage (with a Breaksight) or kill them instantly (Killsight). For the regular enemies like the Imperial Troopers here, this isn't really necessary (not on Cadet/Officer difficulty anyway), so feel free to use regular attacks on them all the time -- any Killsight you may randomly inflict will be a nice extra, but it won't really save you a significant amount of time.

Another short tutorial will be about using the D-Pad Left/Right to switch characters (i.e. change the current main leader, which is the character you manually control among the three that you deploy in every battle). You also consume a little bit of AG when you switch leader by the way, but it's just a very small amount (plus AG is easy to recover anyway).

After going past the second Energy Wall the game will introduce the "Leader" figure, or Commander Officer if you prefer (I call them leader). Basically sometimes there will be a "Leader" in a group of enemies, characterised by an orange arrow-looking icon on his head. The Leader is usually the strongest enemy of the group, and defeating him will cause the other enemies to attempt to escape. Any enemy that attempts to escape has only a handful of seconds to do so: if they can't reach the boundaries of the current area and leave through them (and most of the time they won't), they will then stand still (with their hands raised in a surrendered stance, if they are humanoid enemies) and you can press X/A to interact with them (while standing right next to them) and receive a random item. The random items are usually very shabby, common items, but sometimes (very rarely) they can be interesting "Enhancer" items that can permanently boost your characters' stats. Unfortunately I have to burst your bubble about stats maxing right away: this event is way too rare to be a reliable source of Enhancers. For more information on this topic (stats maxing) you can check the Stats maxing section of the walkthrough.

For the record, any enemy that is attempting to run away after defeating the area leader will fall into Killsight condition during the escape, so if you want you can execute them during their attempted escape (and then harvest their Phantoma) if you don't want to try your luck with the items they'll give you if you let them surrender. I don't recommend doing this though (might as well try to get the items, no?), but it's up to you.

Lastly, in case you're wondering, no, you can't let them surrender, get their surrender-items, and then kill them: it's either the one or the other, it can't be both (they will disappear immediately after giving you their surrender item, making it impossible for you to kill them).

Get rid of the Leader and its only minion afterwards, and then step on the Recovery Portal (the light-blue "snowflake" platform) on the ground to recover HP/MP/AG to the max. Then check the upper-right corner of the area to find some stairs, and follow them up to reach a sparkling object on the ground -- examine it to get a Potion. Then proceed North to the next area.
[2] Terraced Square
There are three regular enemies here, and you can examine a dead body in the middle of the area to find a sparkling object. This one is a Knowing Tag; you'll learn what these are from a storyline point of view later during the game. Note that the Knowing Tag is only available (in this particular case) before defeating the three enemies, because then an event will trigger, making the item disappear.

To pick up items on the ground, simply press the confirmation button (X/A) near them. However, where there are also enemies nearby you will probably need to kill all the enemies first (if not, the character will use the Command assigned to the X/A button instead of picking up the item). There is another way to pick up items when enemies are around. First you need to lock on an enemy with R1/RB; then stand close to the item; then move RS_Up to "switch target" (from targeting the enemy to targeting the item) and lock-on the item; then pick up the item with the confirmation button. This isn't really important in this case, but it's useful to know this method of picking up objects without necessarily having to fight enemies.

Gameplay-wise, you'll find plenty of Knowing Tags here and there in missions and dungeons both, which can be traded in exchange for other items (I'll let you know where to do this trade later). To be honest the rewards for trading in the maximum amount of Knowing Tags (99) are surprisingly shabby (semi-common items, like Phoenix Pinions, which you can acquire from many other sources), so you really shouldn't worry if you skip/miss (or deliberately ignore them altogether) a few Knowing Tags: they are far less important than you might think (they are more interesting for the storyline implications of finding them).

After defeating the three enemies, a short cutscene will play, and then the area will become dark and an "Unidentified Target" will appear up in the sky. This monster here is Nox Suzaku, and this will be your first and only encounter with him during the current playthrough. On subsequent playthroughs you'll find this monster again in other areas, and you can defeat him as an optional boss. Anyway, you can't defeat him during this mission (even if this wasn't your first playthrough), so try to avoid his attacks and stay alive for about a minute until he automatically leaves. You can simply stand in a blind spot up the stairs on the right side (next to the orange Energy Wall that prevents you from proceeding) and his attacks (fireballs) won't ever hit you.
After the monster leaves, go beyond the now-vanished Energy Wall and check the middle of the area to find another Knowing Tag. Proceed up some more stairs and then check on the right side to find yet another Knowing Tag on a small grassy area.
[3] Tasuki Bridge
There is an X-Potion/Hi-Potion at the start, on the right, just a bit before the first "barricade". Hard to spot it (just move a bit forward and to the right after entering, and check before the barricade).
Defeat enemies to continue; you'll need to use Ace's ranged attacks against the enemies on the balconies on either side.
[4] Rubrum Square
There is a Relic Terminal and Recovery Portal here. We'll talk a bit about the Relic Terminals features later; for now, consider them as the save points of the game (save while you're here).
There is a Knowing Tag somewhere northeast.
[5] Airship Landing
There are multiple enemies here: enemies on the ground, one enemy on a container (only Ace or ranged spells can hit this one), and later also a mechanical enemy. For now go right and kill the enemies with Ace/Nine, and examine the control panel at the end of the path on the right side. This will raise a platform to reach the left side of the area, where you can kill the enemies (the mechanical enemy is a leader) to continue.

To fight the Nymurod on the left side, you can either spam spells (Blizzard BOM with Ace, Thunder SHG with Queen), or simply use regular melee attacks to kill him. If you want, you can also do as we will do later, against more powerful versions of these enemies: play as Nine, stand in front of the enemy (stand really close to it); the enemy will first use a machinegun attack (dodge left/right), and then, if you stand in front of him again after the machinegun attack, he will use a "stomp" attack where he raises on his hind legs and tries to crush you underneath. During the stomp attack there will be Breaksight, so be ready to attack at that moment for a lot of damage. Truth be told, this is more for practice than necessity, since you can easily kill him just with regular attacks and/or some spells-spam.

[6] Imperial Flagship
As the platform raises, expect two enemies.
Once you are inside, more enemies will show up, some of which behind barricades. Blizzard BOM is quite effective against Barricades, but you can destroy them easily with Nine's attacks too.
There is a Recovery Portal up ahead beyond the enemies.
[7] Main Deck
Kill enemies (there is one on a balcony up and to the right near the entrance, and another one on a balcony in the upper-left corner of the room), and plant the Magicite Bomb.
As you leave, a Recovery Portal and more enemies will spawn: some Imperial Troopers, and a "Striker" machine enemy. For the last one, you can either spam spells again (Thunder SHG is particularly effective), or wait for two consecutive "dash" attacks which will be followed by Breaksight (dodge them both, then counter after the second one).
[8] Airship Landing
From where you resume, ignore the marker pointing west/southwest, and go east/northeast to find an Elixir/Ether on the ground. Then follow the marker to continue.
[9] Rubrum Square
Another Relic Terminal here. The Life Armlet will "shatter" here, meaning you don't have Reraise for the last part of the mission (no big deal).
There is a Potion on the ground, near a large puddle of blood (west side); you need to wait for the eidolon to fly away before you can collect it.
[10] Fountain Courtyard
There are two Nymurod enemies here (weaker versions of the one fought earlier). Queen's Thunder SHG is very effective; when she runs out of MP switch to Ace's Blizzard BOM, and both Nymurods should be dead.
There is also a Knowing Tag near where you entered the area, on the left side (near a dead body). At the north end there is a Fortified Ration/Hi-Potion on some stairs.
[11] Arena
Here you will control a very overpowered version of the eidolon Odin. Feel free to mess around with the various attacks, but you can simply use Zantetsuken for the first fight (lock on the boss and wait until it's charged to 100%).
Then there will be a second part to the fight, where you control Ace, Jack, and Seven. I suggest switching to Jack as your manually-controlled character for the second fight. He's very slow in moving, but he has great attack (power and speed are top-level) and a very good dodge. Indeed, I'll suggest using him as our main Active leader for most of the first playthrough. He should be played something like this: dodge to get close to/away from the enemy, hit, dodge, hit, ....
The fight, like most boss fights, will end only when you Killsight the boss. In this case, you want to attack the boss if you don't see any attacks coming in, but stop attacking if you notice/hear some incoming attacks (the attacks look like the boss is dropping bombs around you), because during those attacks (if you are not blindly attacking, but instead you are waiting for an opportunity) you can land a Breaksight.
After taking the boss's health down to 1, the boss will probably recover a bit of health. Keep attacking to take the enemy's HP down to 1 again, wait a few seconds (don't attack), and the enemy should then be stunned and in Killsight, ready for your finishing blow.
Mission Reward*: spell Fire SHG.
*Mission rewards refer to the rewards on Officer difficulty.
After the mission you can speak with some NPCs while listening to the Chancellor's speech, or just wait until the game proceeds on its own. You can also access the building on the left side (up the stairs) to immediately continue.

Chapter 2: Raise the Vermilion Banner

Chapter 2: Free-Time Break 1

Akademeia
Since it's your first time through (probably), I'll give a somewhat detailed explanation of the various areas. I'll write down a summary of the important things to do first, and then I'll go on and speak about the various areas. If you're not interested in reading all that, just use the summary below and then skip to the next mission. I would recommend reading it all though, and don't worry -- the next free-time breaks will be much shorter and quicker to read-through!
Summary:
1. Speak with Aki in Fountain Courtyard.
2. Go to Classroom Zero.
3. In Classroom Zero, approach Mog, then speak with Mog.
4. Examine the gate to the Cemetery from the Back Garden.
You have 6 hours available, and 3 optional Events can be viewed.
5. Do the Event in Cemetery; you need to have Rem or Machina as Active character. Reward: X-Potion (+Elixir for being your first Event).
6. Speak with Aki in the Entrance.
7. Do the Event in Sorcery with Mother. Reward: Elixir.
8. Speak with the NPC in Sorcery to activate SOs.
9. Speak with the NPC in the Chocobo Ranch to get 20x Chocobos and 3x Gysahl Greens.
10. Do the Event in Terrace with Machina/Rem. Reward: Hi-Potion.
11. Speak with Kurasame in Classroom Zero to activate the next story mission.
12. Exit to the World Map.
Now for the more detailed walkthrough:
[1] Fountain Courtyard
You start in the Fountain Courtyard. If you press Start at any moment while in Akademeia, you can see the map of the facility.
You can talk with the people in here for random pieces of information on the game's story. The dialogues will always update when you advance with the story, so it's a good idea to talk with each and every NPC (Non-Playable-Character) after every story mission, if you're interested in learning more about the game events and immerging yourself into this game's world.
Notably, floating up the stairs to the North, before the door to the facility, there is Class First Moogle, an NPC who in the future will give you some nice items depending on how many hours of gameplay you've accumulated on your system file. Check the corresponding section of this walkthrough for more information (the first one will be at 10 hours, then 30, 50, 70, 100, 200, and lastly 500 hours. None of his rewards are actually useful by the time you can access them, except maybe the 10-hours reward. We'll see it in due time).
While you're here, speak with Aki (she will be a "tour guide" for now). She and her sister are part of a sort of "quest", and by talking with them at every chance we have (I'll mention every instance of it) you'll be able to get a reward near the end of the game. The quest and the rewards aren't actually anything important, but you may want to do it anyway.
There are four exits from this area (south to Main Gate, west to the Arena, east to Airship Landing), but for now we can only go north to the Entrance.
[2] Entrance
North of the Fountain Courtyard is the Entrance. It's basically the main hall of Akademeia, from where you can access a variety of places. It might be a little confusing at first, but it's really not that hard to navigate around.
First of all, left and right you'll see a series of portals leading to all the Classrooms, except Classroom Zero. None of these Classrooms ever become available, so the portals are actually just for show.
Later there will also be a portal in the middle of this room, which can lead you to a series of other locations in Akademeia (we'll discuss them soon). There is a room up some stairs to the north (leads to Central Command), and a door to the east (to the Crystarium), but for now you can only go west to the Hallway.
[3] Hallway
West of the Entrance is the Hallway.
A Relic Terminal is available here.
Later, a portal to the Altocrystarium will also appear in this area (it will be opposite the Relic Terminal). We'll talk about it when it becomes available.
[4] Classroom Zero
Go west from the Hallway to reach Classroom Zero.
This is where you can attend Mog's classes (they are a type of Event; right now there are no classes available).
A basic-items shop is also available here, by talking with the girl with the INFO icon above her head. This will actually be your main shop throughout the whole game, since it sells Potions (and later Hi-Potions), and you'll definitely want to stock up on them when you have a chance.
Approach Mog for a scene. Then talk to Mog for a scene.
Talk to the "shop" girl, Aria, for a scene. Then you can check her shop; do so, and buy as many Potions as you can (you don't really need Gil for anything else at this point).
After buying them, press Start, then go to the Item tab, then select Equip and confirm Potions (they should be equipped by default). The "equipped" item (tagged as "SET" in your Item list) is the item that you can access instantly during battles by pressing D-Pad_Down. Since healing spells are not really abusable, whereas Potions are very cheap, using Potions will be your main source of healing throughout the entire game. Make sure to restock whenever you have a chance/need.
[5] Back Garden
Use the door on the right at the bottom of Classroom Zero to reach the Back Garden. Some very interesting cutscenes and Events will take place here in the future, but there's nothing else other than story-related stuff.
[6] Cemetery
You can never actually "enter" the Cemetery, but you can sometimes trigger cutscenes by examining the gates (at the end of the path, to the right, while in Back Garden) leading to the Cemetery. In this case, it's actually mandatory that you do so to proceed with the story.
[3] Hallway
Backtrack to the Hallway to get a couple of tutorials from Mog, including one about Relic Terminals.
Here is a recap of the features of the Relic Terminals:
- Assignment: it lets you choose which character is your "leader", your "ACTIVE" character. This is the character that you will manually control, and also the character that will be displayed on screen when you're not on a mission. Keep in mind that some Events are only available when you have a specific character Assigned (I'll specify that you need to use a certain character, when these Events occur). Indeed, one of the Events available right now can only be triggered if you're playing as (read: if your currently-"Assigned" character is) Rem/Machina, so assign Rem (or Machina) while you're at it
- Reserves: this is mostly a feature to arrange your Roster, so you can maybe place your favorite characters on top of the list (so they're easier to access) and your least favorite ones at the bottom. However, there is a practical implication of the Roster order too: when you go outside on the World Map, or enter a dungeon from the World Map, the first two non-Active characters on the list will be the ones joining you in combat (on the other hand, during missions you will be able to choose which characters to deploy regardless of the order of the Roster)
- Armament: this allows you to change equipment. This includes weapons, accessories, but also Abilities/Magic (the two possible Commands)
- Promotion: this lets you unlock new Abilities for your characters by using AP. AP are accumulated mostly by leveling up. Certain abilities are unlocked by leveling up; others by unlocking "prerequisite"-abilities first. Some abilities are remarkably more important than others; I'll let you know which ones you should upgrade after the next missions (or you could check the Characters section of the walkthrough for a full list, although I wouldn't really recommend it)
The "Stats" promotion allows you to permanently increase someone's stats by consuming some rare items
- Difficulty allows you to change the difficulty you're currently playing on. I strongly recommend to stay on Officer
- Save/Load are quite self-explanatory
Change your Active character to Rem or Machina.
[6] Cemetery
If you are playing as Rem/Machina, you can examine the Cemetery gate for an Event. In this first free-time break we have exactly enough time to do all the three possible Events, so go ahead and trigger it.
Events can either be cutscenes (which activate as soon as you interact with something or someone), or "chats" (in this case you'll be asked if you want to "Keep talking"; if you refuse, you are not actually viewing the Event). Every Event consumes 2 hours of free time. If you haven't noticed by now, in the bottom-right corner there is a "timer" of some sort. That "timer" to Mission Day is not actually in-game time though: the time will be consumed not by actual hours, but by doing certain things. As I just said, Events consume 2 hours of your "Time to Mission" timer.
Other things consume the time in different manners:
- Tasks do NOT consume time
- Going out to the World Map consumes 6 hours
- Accepting an Expert Trial consumes "6+6" hours. Expert Trials take place on the World Map. Although doing the Expert Trial per-se consumes only 6 hours, since they always require you to go out on the World Map the actual time consumed will be 6+6 hours, so 12 hours
Keep one more thing in mind. Later you will have "days", and not just hours of free time. A "day" of time in this game is not 24 hours, but only 12 hours! So if you read 1d 12h (one day, twelve hours) of free time, that actually means 12 hours + 12 hours of free time (24 total).
[2] Entrance
The main portal in the middle is now operational, as another conversation with Aki will explain.
Step on the portal to be asked if you want to activate it. If you decline, you can step off the portal, and then back on, to be asked again if you want to activate it. You can also press the confirmation button while on the portal to be asked to activate it. In any case, "activating" the portal will prompt a series of possible destination to reach.
Before that, you can also access Central Command and the Crystarium, so let's check those out first, and then the possible destinations from the portal.
[7] Crystarium
If you go east from the Entrance, you can access the library called Crystarium.
Here you'll find the Rubicus (it's basically the game's encyclopedia), useful if you're interested in learning more about events and people. More importantly, the Rubicus can be useful also to keep track of your quests progression, and it might be very useful to check which parts of certain quests you've already completed (especially for longer quests, like the Kazusa/Emina questlines). It also provides info on the characters' stats, and is a very interesting source of additional information about the characters and the story.
[8] Central Command
Up the stairs north of the Entrance you can access the Central Command.
You'll find several interesting NPCs here. One of them allows yuo to "skip to mission day" during story missions. This feature allows you to immediately "run out" of free time between missions, and should never be used in your first playthrough (you never have excess of time that you don't need, unless you deliberately just want to skip stuff). It's very useful for your second/third playthrough though, since it speed things up when you don't really have anything more interesting to do.
One other NPC here has a "SPP Shop", which allows you to get very interesting items in exchange for SPP (Support Personnel Points). SPP are acquired when you are assisted by random NPCs (called SP, Support Personnel) during missions (these NPCs will randomly come in and replace your regular characters). You can turn this feature ON/OFF any time you want (press Start, then Preferences, then Options; here, the option "Backup from Akademeia" refers to the SP feature). We'll talk more about SPP after the next couple of story missions.
[2] Entrance
Now examine the portal in the middle and explore the other areas.
[9] Sorcery
Here lies Mother's (= Dr. Arecia's) office, althought it's like the Cemetery since you can't actually access it (you can just watch cutscenes in there when Events are available).
In here there is also an INFO NPC that allows you to activate or deactivate SOs (Special Orders) during missions. You'll learn about SOs soon, as you see them pop-up in the next story mission. There is no reason to ever deactivate them, since you can always ignore or decline them if you don't feel like doing them. At any rate, make sure to activate SOs by speaking with this NPC.
There is currently an Event here, by speaking with Mother. Just out of curiosity, the dialogue will be different if you're using Rem/Machina instead of other members of Class Zero.
[10] Armory
There is a weapon/accessory shop in here, but the items for sale will be shabby throughout the entire game (there is always going to be better stuff elsewhere). Chat around if you wish.
[11] Ready Room
Nothing important here, just people to talk to.
[12] Lounge
Same as the Ready Room: unless an Event or Task takes place here, there is just random chat to do.
[13] Chocobo Ranch
Before visiting the Terrace, access the Chocobo Ranch and speak with the NPC here to receive 10x Male Chocobos, 10x Female Chocobos, and 3x Gysahl Greens.
Chocobos can be used on the world map as a fast and enemy-encounter-free means of transportation, and they also serve an offensive purpose during RTS missions (our second-next story mission will be an RTS mission, so you'll see what I mean). We'll talk about Chocobos a bit more in the future. For now, just know that after a few more missions you will be able to breed male and female Chocobos by using "greens" (Gysahl Greens are the simplest kind). Breeding chocobos takes 6 hours of "Time to Mission". Note that this doesn't mean that it CONSUMES 6 hours; it means that you need to spend at least 6 hours (doing whatever you want, even just going out to the World Map and then immediately back inside to consume 6 hours) for the chocobos eggs to hatch. We'll talk more about chocobo breeding later in the game, since right now it honestly isn't important at all (in fact, you can go your entire playthrough without ever breeding them once) since you can't really get any substantial result from it.
[14] Terrace
This area is also a "chat-purpose" area.
Right now, an Event with Machina/Rem is available here, so activate it to finish all the Time to Mission available and continue with the story ("Mission Day" will come).
[4] Classroom Zero
Return to Classroom Zero and speak with Kurasame to "activate" the next story mission.
[1] Fountain Courtyard
You can now access Airship Landing by going east, as well as Main Gate (our next destination) by going south. You can't access the Arena to the west just yet though. Let's just talk about them for a moment before proceeding.
[15] Airship Landing
East of the Fountain Courtyard is the Airship Landing, which once again is not available to you just yet. This area will provide a fast-travel means of transportation later on (for a small fee). This system is not very important to be honest, since you can quickly ride across the World Map with Chocobos. There is a Relic Terminal here too.
[16] Arena
West of the Fountain Courtyard is the Arena, which will be accessible only later.
In here you can fight "soldier" enemies to practice fighting without the risk of a game over (if you die you'll just respawn out of combat). Useful for when you're required to perform certain fighting-related actions for certain Tasks, since this allows you to complete them without leaving Akademeia (and since leaving Akademeia has a price (six hours of free time), this is important to optimize your resources).
Even more interestingly, there is a thing here called "Secret Training", which allows you to level up one character automatically when you quit the current playing session. In other words, you can use this feature to level up someone overnight, or during any period when you are not actively playing the game. Since the game calculates how much Exp to give you after a Secret Training session based on the system's clock/calendar, it's possible to exploit this system to reach level 99 with any character(s) you want as early as the Arena becomes available. This feature can be abused if you tamper with the calendar, but it's not game-breaking if you only use it to level up overnight between your gaming sessions (which is how it's meant to be used), so don't be afraid to spoil your fun by using it and just enjoy the extra few levels it will give you throughout your experience with the game.
[17] Main Gate
If you turn around, south of the Fountain Courtyard is the Main Gate, which serves as a "corridor" to the World Map. This is also where you will find the NPC for Expert Trials (when available).
There is also a Relic Terminal here, just by the exit to the World Map -- use it every time you are about to go out!

Story Mission: The Cadets' First Deployment

Before continuing, we need to talk a bit about how missions are set-up, and which characters you should be using. While there isn't a definitive answer that can suit every person, starting from this point onwards I will assume that you follow my advice (especially with the characters choices). You are free to use different characters of course, but if you do so then you may struggle with the strategies I will suggest.
From the World Map, reach the closest town of McTighe.
The pre-mission setup can be a bit confusing, so I'll talk a bit about it too (I've talked about it more extensively in the Gameplay section of the walkthrough, but I'll recap the key points below).

The first thing you're asked is to "Select members to participate in the mission". This means that you're choosing which of the 14 characters you want to bring, and it's probably the most confusing part. If you are wondering "why do I need to choose which characters to bring when I can bring all of them?", that's because for this mission (and actually most of the story missions) it just so happens that you CAN bring all the 14 characters, so it's kinda pointless to ask you which ones you want to bring (you'll just select them all). However, in other missions you may only bring, say, 5 characters: in that case, asking which members will participate in the mission makes much more sense.
Next the game will ask if you want to change equipment. It's usually advisable to change equipment before heading out to a mission, but this option is useful in case you forgot to do so in time (remember that you can only change equipment/abilities/magic at Relic Terminals, other than at this point before the mission).
Then the game will ask you to select the Active Members. These are the 1-3 characters that will be deployed at the start. You actually don't need to deploy 3 characters out of the 3 possible: if you want, you can deploy only one (or two) characters, then press Start to confirm and initiate the mission. However, there is no point in using less than 3 characters for now (you want to deploy all the characters possible, so you are stronger and more characters can get Exp from the battles).

Note that the first Active Member you choose will always be your default "leader" (the manually-controlled character), while the next two will be controlled by the AI. You can use D-Pad_Left/Right to switch Active Member whenever you want. On the other hand, keep in mind that you can only replace the chosen Active Members with characters in the Reserves at Relic Terminals, OR if one of the Active Members dies (in that case, press D-Pad_Up to bring the list of Reserves available, and then choose which Reserve character will take place of the fallen comrade). Therefore make sure to choose the right Active Members!

Speaking of which, there are no "right" or "wrong" characters to use, so it's really up to you. HOWEVER, this doesn't mean that some situations can't be made significantly better with some characters rather than others. As much as you can argue that players should be left to explore each character individually so they can make up their own mind and act according to their preferences, I'll give my advice in this walkthrough. You're free to follow my choices, or make your own, but you must keep one thing in mind: some characters are ranged, others are not.

Because of this, in some situations (where there are out-of-melee-range enemies), having ranged characters can be MUCH better than having a party of only melee characters. Moreover, some characters are "more ranged" than others. To keep things simple, we can say that Trey and King have the longest range and very fast projectiles (Trey deals more damage); then Cater has good range, slow projectiles, and somewhat "average" damage; then Ace (fast projectiles, middle range, average-high damage); Deuce is technically ranged, but sometimes there is a strong delay in her attacks (try her out and you'll see what I mean). Everyone else is pretty much "melee" (some like Seven have some large area-of-effect attacks; others like Jack will hit much smaller areas with each attack).

Another important thing to keep in mind is that having characters with the spell Cure (or Cura, or Curaga) as their Defense command can be useful (not only to keep your controlled character alive, but also to keep the other two alive as well). You can change the equipped Defense command, so even though come characters are better healers (stronger Magic stats, more MP), this is not a priority.

Also, some characters will come in handy later in the game. Given that you can always level anyone up, and "make your own decisions", MY suggestion is to have this main party with you throughout your experience:

Trey: by far the best choice for Expert Trials with RTS missions. He should be used as your manually-controlled character if there are ranged enemies. If he dies, replace him with another ranged character (King, Cater, or Ace)
Rem: by far the best choice for the hardest missions, since she allows you to summon "without dying". She has Cure (Curaga, in fact) by default, and by far the highest MP, making her ideal for healing
Jack: by far the strongest melee character, he will help a lot against certain enemies. He moves very slowly, but that won't be a problem: while you're fighting, move around by using his dodge instead of walking; when there are no enemies around, put his sword back (press LB) and he'll run normally like anyone else. His attack animation is also extremely fast, making him ideal for quick counterattacks (Breaksights and Killsights)

For the last time, you're free to choose other characters as well. There is no "wrong" choice, but I believe that if you use these 3 main characters most of the time you will be able to accomplish everything with them, even if you pretty much ignore the development of everyone else. More bangs for your bucks, so to speak.

One last thing you'll be asked before the mission starts is if you want SP support. You should usually Refuse, so your actual characters can benefit from the Exp you receive. You can change this at any point: press Start, then Preferences, then Backup from Akademeia (Accept/Refuse). If you ever find yourself in a difficult situation (for example you are in a mission where a lot of your characters are dying), consider the possibility of Accepting the SP to help you through the mission.

Finally, before we start, please don't be concerned with S-Ranking missions, and focus on doing the important SOs/collecting items instead (and, in this first mission, also to get acquainted with the game mechanics). It is highly unlikely that you'll be able to achieve an S Rank your first time through (except during RTS missions), even if you are experienced with the game mechanics. S Ranking is radically easier if you replay missions later. Moreover, the rewards for S Ranking missions are not very interesting anyway.
For this mission, deploy Jack, Trey and Rem. Equip Blizzard BOM (it will read as Blizzara BOM due to her high Ice Magic stat) on Rem instead of Fire RF (which is the first spell for her, by default), since it might come in handy later.
Mission Start!
Like for the first mission, I have a video to show you how the "average gameplay" should look like (obviously you may not be as smooth and efficient as the video if you are still learning; it's just to give you a general idea):
[1] McTighe Midtown

Keep in mind that you'll be receiving SO (Special Orders; they appear as white/red letters on-screen, and you can check them by pressing Select/Back), if you activate them back in Akademeia (in the Sorcery area), all the time. However, you want to ignore most of them.

Instead, we'll be focusing only on the "red SOs", which are special SOs that always appear in certain areas. These are the important ones, the ones that give interesting rewards (sometimes more interesting than others, but they are worth checking out). The other "white SOs" are random, so I couldn't list them even if I wanted to. I'll tell you about the important SOs when we come across them (first one will be in the fourth area).

In case a "white" SO appears before a "red" SO, open the "white" SO (with the Back button), Decline it, and wait until the "red" SO you are expecting shows up.

Use Jack as leader to quickly kill the enemies (3 soldiers) for the time being. There is an item on the ground on the right side, if you go all the way around some broken walls (Fortified Ration/Combat Ration).
[2] McTighe Midtown
Kill the enemies.
Ignore the yellow marker for now (it leads to area [5]), and go east instead to access the optional area [3].
[3] McTighe Midtown
Kill the enemies.
There is a Knowing Tag in the corner. Continue north to another optional area.
[4] McTighe Midtown
The first "red" SO will be here. I'll write down SOs in this layout:
"SO (time you have to complete the SO): task required to complete the SO. Reward: reward for the SO". I'll also add comments on how to do them, if necessary, and occasionally advise for or against them (sometimes the rewards are not worth the trouble; other times even if the SO is hard you really want to try your best because of the good rewards).
SO (5'): defeat the enemies here. Reward: Elixir.
A couple of slashes on the leader, by Jack, will end it.
There is also a Strength Serum/Medical Kit on the ground (right side, beyond the walls; you need to go all the way around).
When it's done, backtrack to area [2], then go north from there to area [5].
[5] Imperial Line
SO (5'): go through the enemies' barricades and kill them. Reward: Ferric Ring.
Note: you may receive a "white" SO before the "red" SO appears. As always, if that's the case, Decline the white SO to "make room" for the red SO, which is the one we're interested into.
Note: an alternative SO can also be accepted in this area, if you don't do this first one. Read at the end of this section for more information.
Break through the barricades with Jack's attacks or Blizzard BOM and destroy a couple ot autoturrets on top of the stairs (two hits with Jack's katana will destroy them). Then turn left to find another autoturret (help yourself with the radar/minimap in the top-right corner of the screen to locate the enemies; they are marked as orange icons) and destroy that one as well. At this point a leader and a few more regular enemies will come out -- kill them as well (even just the leader) to complete the SO.
At this point, follow the yellow marker to continue. You could, if you wanted, reach optional area [6] too by going west from the lower level of this area. If not, skip to area [7].
Regarding the "alternative SO" (quite a peculiar thing actually), if you ignore the first SO and reach area [6], and then return to area [5] from its secondary exit which will lead you behind the enemy lines, another red SO will appear as you're approaching the enemies. This SO requires, with a 5 minutes time limit, to kill all the enemies within that time. The reward for it is an Iron Bangle. Since you can't do both SOs at once, you'll need to do the "other" SO in a Mission replay. That being said, neither reward is actually worth the trouble of a whole mission replay just to get it, so I'm really just mentioning this for the sake of giving you all the information I have about the mission, and not because you should actually do it.
[6] McTighe Midtown
If you go all the way down the street from where you enter, you'll find a Combat Ration/Fortified Ration.
You can either head back the way you came, or go up the slope to return to area [5] from a new position (from here you could have attacked the enemies of area [5] from behind, bypassing the barricades, and triggering the alternative SO).
Either way, find your way to area [7].
[7] McTighe Midtown
In this area there will be a couple of ranged enemies that you can only target with a ranged character (as well as two more on the ground), so use Trey or any other ranged character. Or just skip the fight.
There is a Recovery Portal on the ground, too.
[8] McTighe Midtown
Kill the leader to end the fight here.

As a side note, the enemies on the balconies will respawn for a while (but not forever) if you don't kill the leader, thus allowing you to collect Phantoma from them. Although you don't want to do it right now, ignoring the leader to allow the enemies on the balconies to respawn will allow you to collect more Phantoma from them, thus helping you achieve an S Rank on the mission, provided that you care about it. As I said earlier, ignore the S Ranks for now -- you're not going to achieve them, most likely, even if you farm some extra Phantoma here.

Also, in case you're thinking "you know what, I want to max out my Phantoma, so I'll farm them here", know that the Phantoma you'll get here are virtually worthless and you'll max them out in no time anyway.

[9] Demolished Square
Pick up the First Aid Kit on the left, on the ground. Then continue.
[10] Imperial Command
SO (5'): destroy the Fuel Tank near the enemy. Reward: Megalixir.
Do this with Trey, since the tank will explode damaging any character nearby.

After the SO, switch to Jack and hack at the Major Massena leader. You can either wait for his Breaksights, or just attack him relentlessly with Jack (attack, dodge left/right, attack, dodge left/right, ...). The other enemies of this area will continue to respawn until you defeat the leader (so you can farm Phantoma from them too, for S-Rank), so focus on him and ignore the rest.
If you want to use Breaksights on the leader, remember what we mentioned earlier in the first mission: stand in front of the enemy; then dodge left/right (with Jack, you can also stand still and Block with the defense command; you'll take very little damage, so it's actually a good option. Just remember that using Block consumes his AG a bit) to avoid his first machinegun attack; then wait for his "stomp" attack and use Breaksight now to deal massive damage.
Mission Reward: Remedy available at the orderly (Aria's) shop.

Chapter 2: Free-Time Break 2

World Map

We could roam around the World Map at this point, but there isn't much to do other than listening to the map theme and fighting some casual encounters. You may have noticed it earlier too, but you can press Square+X/X+A to "call" for a Chocobo. When riding a Chocobo you won't encounter any enemies on the World Map, and of course you will also move around faster. Note that after a while the Chocobo will simply flee on his own, and he'll be gone for good. Likewise, if you enter a town, or dismount the Chocobo (press the same buttons that you use to summon the Chocobo in the first place), the Chocobo will flee away. This isn't a big deal, since Chocobos are plentiful in the plains of Orience (we'll be able to hunt them and breed them soon).

Enter the town of McTighe.
McTighe

Pretty much whenever you liberate a town there will be some quests and/or tasks you can take in those towns. Most towns also have shops that sell unique goods (this one doesn't sell anything interesting, so save your Gil for now). There are also typically quests, of various difficulty, which will reward you with some "l'Cie Crystal" unique items. Those l'Cie Crystals are part of a quest/collection; while they are not really important if your goal is to just beat the game and the hardest bosses, they are of course essential if you want 100% completion.

In this town, speak with the Dominion Citizen sitting on the ground on the upper level, and when asked a question answer "Gather them". Then you have to speak with everyone in this small area, plus with some "houses" (there are three: one left, one right, one "south" near the Relic Terminal). Once you've spoken with everyone (when there's a group of people it's enough to speak with one of them), including the kids running around, the Dominion Citizen will automatically stand up. Speak with him again to receive the l'Cie Mizu'a's Crystal.
Then either walk back to Akademeia, or press Start, then Return to Akademeia for an instant-travel back to the facility (this can always be used when you're out on the World Map).

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 12h

First of all, it might be time to get some Abilities upgrades for your characters. If you've listened to my advice and used Trey/Jack/Rem, and hopefully Trey is now level 11, he will be able to learn the crucial ability Charge Level-IV (2AP) and Charge Level-V (8AP). Unfortunately he won't have enough AP to learn MAX Charge (requires 12 AP), but with more level-ups he will.
It isn't really important to learn any ability with Jack or Rem for now.

New feature: Class First Moogle Rewards!
You can now receive rewards by speaking with the Class First Moogle in the Fountain Courtyard. The rewards depend on how long you have cumulatively played with your playthroughs so far.

Unlike last time, when we had just enough time to watch all 3 Events, this time you'll have to make a choice on what to do and what to ignore/leave for another playthroughs. Now, this is very important, so read very, very carefully.

While there are no "wrong" choices (like when choosing characters), the fact that some Events should be prioritized is not up for debate. Some Events are just random chat worth absolutely nothing (like NPCs rambling about their own problems). Other Events are interesting chats that will add up pieces of information that help you better understand the story. Other Events are cutscenes (registered in the Rubicus).
Other Events are part of quests, and missing even one of them will cause you to miss out on those quests for your entire playthrough.
Now, it's not the end of the world if that happens...but we all know it's very annoying when you find out that you missed one thing in Chapter 2 and you're now in Chapter 5 and can't finish one of the longest quests just because of that one slip. So I'll be giving my advice very clearly on what to do. If you decide to ignore it and then quests become incompletable for you, don't blame me :p

Another thing to point out is that soon there will be Tasks available as well. While it's nice to complete Tasks for completionism, a lot of them (really, the overwhelming majority) simply don't pay off, with poor rewards for the effort required. I'll still list these Tasks in the walkthrough, but I'll specify whether or not they are worth your trouble (from my point of view anyway).

I'll always list the Events available in every "free time" (all of them, including the "useless" ones), with a layout like this:
Number on the list. (Event) @Location where the event takes place: reward for the Event. Any additional info (if it's part of a quest, if it requires a certain time of the day to trigger, if it requires certain characters as Active member, etc.) will be added.
AFTER the whole list I will then tell you which Events to do, in which order, at which time. Again, you can choose a different path, but my choices will allow you to get the most out of your free time, by completing the Kazusa/Emina quests, all the Expert Trials, all the "recruitment" quests, as many Tasks as possible, and anything else important from a gameplay point of view. Needless to say, if you are a completionist you will need to do everything else too in your next playthroughs (things that we technically can't do because there isn't enough free time). Even then though, following my plan will clear out all the "connected questlines" in the first playthrough, leaving you only with single Events to trigger in your next playthroughs. Trust me when I say this: it takes hours of planning ahead to optimize your free time in the first playthrough. I had to spend hours to figure the best way to fit everything into the small time frame we have; you have the luck to be able to just read what to do and do it -- don't throw this gift away by trying to reinvent the wheel :p
Events available (list) (THE LIST INCLUDES THE ONES YOU SHOULD IGNORE):
1. Mog Class #1 @Classroom Zero: Exp +2,000 (Mog Classes' rewards apply to all of your characters. Sadly they can't be repeated in the next playthroughs).
2. Mog Class #2 @Classroom Zero: Defense Magic +2.
3. Enra @Main Gate: Hi-Potion.
4. Celestia @Fountain Courtyard: Turbo Ether. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event.
5. Azuma @Fountain Courtyard: Elixir.
6. Dominion Citizen @Airship Landing: Hi-Potion.
7. Class Eight Moogle @Entrance: Mega-Potion.
8. Machina/Ace @Crystarium: Turbo Ether. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event.
9. Kazusa @Armory. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event. Only available if there are 6 or less hours left in the day. It's the first Event for the Kazusa quest.
10. Kazusa @Armory: Ether. This Event becomes available after the previous one, and also requires you to have 6 or less hours left in the day.
11. King @Armory: Ether.
12. Carla @Ready Room: Pretty Pelt. This starts the Carla quest. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event.
13. Tokito @Terrace: Hi-Potion. Only available if there are more than 6 hours left in the day (6 hours won't work).
14. Class Third Moogle @Terrace: Mega-Potion.
15. Emina @Terrace: no reward. This starts the Emina quest. Only available if there are 6 or less hours left in the day.
16. Machina/Rem @Terrace: Mega-Potion. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event.

You can probably already tell that there is no way you can even get close to completing all of this in the little bit of free time (12h = 6 Events) available. But don't worry.

First of all, you might be thinking "why don't I just save the game, watch the Events to learn the story parts, then reload, watch more Events, then reload again, and do the Events that I need for quests and rewards?". If so, good guess, because that's exactly what I'm about to suggest.

First of all, save at a Relic Terminal (the one in the Main Gate is good enough).

The following Events "only" provide information (other than the item Reward, but the rewards are really not that important, even when they are Elixirs). Some of these may also provide entries in the Rubicus, so if you're after 100% in the game you may disagree when I say that they serve "no other purpose". In any case, the following Events should be watched for the info they provide, then you should reload the save, watch more Events, and continue doing this until you only have "important" (= those that give you rewards, or are part of quests) Events left to do. Then you'll do those "important" Events and finally proceed with the story.

Alternatively, you can also simply ignore these "watch-and-reload Events" altogether during your first playthrough, and just do them in the second playthrough (that's when I'll tell you to do them). The downside of ignoring them now is simply that you won't acquire the information provided by these Events until later, obviously, but if you don't care about that then you can simply save time and skip them until you are on your second playthrough. Your choice.

Watch-and-reload Events (refer to the above list):
3,4,5,6,7,8; reload; 11,13,14,16
Reload again after seeing the last of the previous Events.
Time to Mission: 12h
With 12h left now, let's do some important stuff. First of all, attend Mog's classes for their nice rewards (the cutscenes during classes are random, and may repeat themselves; they don't really matter):
- Do Event 1 (Mog class @Classroom Zero) for its nice rewards
- Do Event 2 (Mog class @Classroom Zero) for its nice rewards
Next, let's start with the first Event for Carla's quest:
- Do Event 12 (Carla @Ready Room) to start the Carla quest

Then we are going to start with Kazusa and Emina's quests (both only available when there are 6 or less hours in the current day). I have a dedicated section of the walkthrough to talk about them, but you don't need to go there -- all the necessary info will be provided in due time in the story walkthrough pages.

For the Kazusa quest it's crucial to keep track of who is your Active character when you speak with him. The thing is, after the first two conversations, the next steps of his questline will require you to visit him with different characters to unlock different scenes. Thankfully, it's possible to keep track of the scenes you've watched in the Rubicus (which is the big book in the Crystarium with the LORE icon), so if you lose track you can check it out and know what you need to continue. To be more specific, you'll need to check the Annals of Orience entry, and just past midway-through in the list there will be the Kazusa events.

The first two Kazusa events are actually not character-related, meaning any character will trigger the same scenes (which, in Annals of Orience, are the "Encounter with Kazusa" and "Drugged by Kazusa" entries). Across the future free time breaks, we will then unlock "Kazusa's Mutterings 1-7", knowing that:
- Kazusa's Mutterings 1 is triggered by vising him with Cater
- Kazusa's Mutterings 2 is triggered by vising him with either Cinque or Sice
- Kazusa's Mutterings 3 is triggered by vising him with either Deuce or Seven
- Kazusa's Mutterings 4 is triggered by vising him with either Nine or Jack
- Kazusa's Mutterings 5 is triggered by vising him with either Ace or King
- Kazusa's Mutterings 6 is triggered by vising him with either Trey or Rem
- Kazusa's Mutterings 7 is triggered by vising him with either Eight or Machina

(Yes, Queen is not in this first list)

It doesn't matter in which order you view the Mutterings scenes, but you have to get them all, so it's good to keep track of which ones you have and which ones you need. Obviously I'll keep track of them for you and let you know when it's time to view the various Mutterings, so you don't have to worry about it if you follow my instructions. Keep in mind that this is only half of the quest; there is another set of Mutterings that will only be available in Chapter 7. Also, and this is valid for Kazusa and Emina's scenes both, you'll be able to move the camera around during the scenes, and you can also end them prematurely by pressing Start. Ending them prematurely/moving the camera around doesn't affect the quest.

Anyhow, for now we'll only be doing the following (Time to Mission: 6h):
- Do Event 9 (Kazusa @Armory) to start the Kazusa quest
- Do Event 10 (Kazusa @Armory again; choose "Of course!". After this Event you will unlock another location in Akademeia, Kazusa's Lab, which you can access at any time you want by examining a bookshelf on the left side of the Crystarium

We won't do any "Mutterings" Events for now. Instead, we'll use the last 2 hours for the first Emina Event of her quest. The Emina quest will also span across multiple free time breaks, and you'll need to watch certain different "scenes" with her as well. In her case, it's not the character that speaks with her that matters, but the "gift" you give her (we can get gifts in towns we'll visit later). For now, the first scene that we're about to see is a generic "first scene" which doesn't require any presents.

Lastly (Time to Mission: 2h):
- Do Event 15 (Emina @Terrace) to start the Emina quest
Mission Day!
The sirens of Mission Day will now echo in the halls of Akademeia, so head to Classroom Zero and speak with Kurasame.

The RTS missions (Real Time Strategy missions) are all optional, and you're always given the choices "Join Sortie" (= do the mission), "Skip Sortie" (= skip the mission), and "Cancel" (exit the choice menu to roam around Akademeia some more...not really useful, but it's there for some reason). I personally find the RTS missions very enjoyable for their strategic aspect (it's not just about fighting, unless you are so overpowered that it doesn't matter what strategy you choose, you'll always win), especially the "figuring the strategy" part. You may want to figure out a strategy on your own when playing them, but I'll be here to give my suggestions too, in case you can't do it on your own.

Decide to Join Sortie, then head to Main Gate. Before going out, make sure to rearrange the Reserves list at the Relic Terminal so that the first three characters on the list are the characters you want to use. See, while in regular missions you can choose three Active Members before the mission starts, in RTS missions you can only choose the first Active member for the parts that require one character only, whereas for the parts that require three characters the game will automatically deploy the Active character you chose at first along with the first two characters on the Reserve list (it won't ask you which other two characters to choose). If you followed my advice in regards to which characters to use, place Trey, Jack, and Rem (in any order) on top of the Reserves list.
When you're ready, exit to the World Map.

Chapter 2: Raise the Vermilion Banner (Continued)

Story Mission: Operation Reconquista (RTS)

Let me start by saying that I'm very fond of RTS missions. However, unfortunately this first mission doesn't quite picture how fun they can be, because it's very straightforward. The mission should be good for a tutorial, at least. Like I did with your first "normal" mission, I will provide a rather comprehensive analysis of RTS missions down below. I don't necessarily advise you to read that text now actually, since it might confuse you more than help you. Instead, use it as reference for things that you may not understand, and/or for future better understanding.

The general idea in RTS missions is this: you play on the world map, where you won't have random enemy encounters. Instead, you'll see various "domains" and cities sending groups of units from one domain/city to the others. Your goal is to conquer all the domains and cities, although in theory your goal is only to capture a specific city (in reality, capturing the ultimate city of an RTS is only possible if you capture everything else before). The order in which you capture domains and cities depends on the situation, and it can sometimes be chosen. Other times you don't really have a choice: if something has to be captured, you have to do it or you won't have enough forces to push further.

All the domains/cities in the RTS will spawn units at regular intervals. There are two main types of units: Blaze Unit (good against infantry, and good for capturing domains/cities), and Spark Unit (good against MAs (the "mechanical enemies), but bad for everything else). Sometimes there are also special units available, but we'll deal with those when they appear. Also, later on you will see Frost Units (we'll talk about them in due time).

To conquer a Domain/City, the units spawned by your own domains/cities have to attack that domain/city until it's "destroyed". In reality, that domain/city won't be "destroyed", but rather "converted", as it will start spawning your units once its health goes to zero. We'll talk more about this later.

You can only use one Active character during the world map part of RTS missions, and this character can help fighting the units on the world map, thus giving the numeric advantage to the units spawned by your own domains/cities. This will ultimately push the balance in your favor, allowing you to capture the target domains/cities. Sometimes this won't even be necessary, because your own units are strong enough to capture other domains/cities without the "manual" assistance of your character. As a rule of thumb, however, attacking enemy units at the very least will speed things up for you, and sometimes it will be absolutely essential.

For this reason, you always want to deploy a strong, ranged character. The "ranged" part may not seem very important in this first RTS mission, but in future ones you will face flying MAs which can't be targeted by melee characters. Another thing to keep in mind is that the enemy units will counter each and every attack you make against them. Therefore, it's ideal to deal as much damage as possible with as few attacks as possible. This is why Trey's charged shot is such a great help in these missions. Jack isn't bad either, but he lacks mobility and range.

As I just said, every time you attack the enemy units will counter with an attack that can't be dodged. The only way to avoid the counterattack is if you are standing so far away from them (possible only with Trey's charged shot) that even your own character can't target them (but if you position Trey in the right spot, the arrow will still hit its target), so they won't fire back in retaliation. This is very unreliable though, so it's more of a trivia fact than something you can realistically exploit. Another way to avoid being countered of course is if you kill them with your attack. One more way to avoid the counter is if you attack them when they are engaging one of the units spawned by your domains/cities.

You also want to know that you can hit more than one enemy group at the time with a single attack (Trey's charged shots can hit multiple targets in a row if they are on the arrow's path), but if this happens, EACH of the enemy groups you hit will counter.

Therefore it's very important that you equip Potions and use them as you lose health from the enemy's counters. There are some Recovery Portals on the map that you can use, but in harder missions you will definitely need to use Potions (and use them by the dozens) to keep Trey alive (he really can't be replaced, he's by far the best choice). Keep your health high at all time, and remember that enemy units can attack you if you are standing on their way (they will always ignore you if you're not on their way though). Also keep in mind that their attacks can critical-hit, thus doubling the damage dealt with a single blow.

Another subtle, but also important thing to keep in mind is that during these missions you'll be given "orders" by Mog. Although these orders are important because they're factored in the score for the mission, the really important thing about them is that if you succeed with an order, you are sometimes rewarded with being allowed to directly control the Domain/City involved in that order. If you fail, that domain/city will spawn its default unit to its default target, and this can be extremely detrimental because it won't allow you to use the right units on the right target.

When a certain domain/city can be "tasked" (i.e. you can choose which units to deploy, and where), you will see a certain icon on it (you'll see it in the next RTS mission), and you'll be able to press the confirmation button near it to open the menu from where to select the desired units. In the next mission, Domain 1 will be an example of this after you fulfill the Mog's order of destroying the Autoturret in the woods.

In order to actually capture a Domain, you need to "damage" it with the units coming out of your other domains/cities. Your Active character cannot damage Domains/Cities, so you have to rely on those Blaze Units/Spark Units. As we said earlier, you need to wait until its health goes to zero, and then it will be conquered.

In order to capture a City or a Stronghold (the only difference between cities and strongholds is that you can enter Cities after RTS missions, but you can't enter Strongholds after RTS missions), you not only have to damage it (and again, your Active character can't do anything to directly damage it), but you also have to "Invade" it afterwards. You'll see it in practice very soon with the invasion of the next two cities, but for now I just want to explain that before a city can be "Invaded" you need to damage it enough first. Below I'll explain how things will happen.

Whenever your units come close enough to a Domain/City, that domain/city will "tighten its defenses", meaning that it will stop spawning units while it's under attack. On the other hand, it will start attacking the units surrounding it (the ones that are trying to take it down and conquer it). It's important to understand that when your units are close enough to a domain/city, this "tighten the defenses" move is a crucial moment, because it means that without some kind of external help the assault will ultimately succeed, or at the very least it won't be pushed back. What I mean is that in order for the enemy to push you back, he needs units (spawned from domains/cities); however, if those units are not spawned anymore because that domain/city is under siege, then the worst that can happen is that your units are not strong enough to conquer the domain/city, but at least they won't be pushed back and it will be a "tie" for the time being. For this reason, in harder missions your efforts should be addressed to making sure your units can get "close enough" to trigger the "tighten the defenses" of your target, because that's basically the "tipping point" when your units will almost inevitably turn things around and do the final push to succeed.

Keep in mind that Cities typically have an "energy wall" around them, unlike domains. The first energy wall usually gives the city a "Regen" effect, meaning that it will recover its health over time. For this reason it's possible to "tie", so to speak, meaning that your units constantly try to conquer a city, but the Regen effect heals the damage that your units are dealing. If this ever happens to you, it's probably because you're using Spark Units instead of Blaze Units (Blaze Units conquer better than Spark Units, so task them instead of Spark Units to solve the problem), or maybe you simply don't have enough conquered domains/cities to spawn enough units in the first place (in this case, ignore the conquest of the city for the time being, conquer some "easier" domain/city, and then take down your intended target).

I know this sounds very confusing at first (probably), but it's much easier to understand when you see it first-hand.

A few more points I want to touch are these: you can use Chocobos to move around faster, and also use the Chocobo Kick attack to deal more damage to enemy units. If you're damaged, however, the chocobo will run away (how much damage it will take is completely random, from what I can tell).

You automatically recover MPs by standing near captured Domains/Cities. Very useful in some situations.

It's also important that you know that town invasions are done by the character deployed on the World Map along with the first two characters of the Reserves List, as I anticipated earlier too.

And lastly, for now, know that after a town invasion you will return on the world map (to continue the RTS mission) with the character you had as Active member (= the character you were controlling) when the town invasion ended. This is actually very important, because if you finish a town invasion and for some reason you are controlling a "bad" character (say, Deuce), then you'll be stuck on the world map with a character that is not ideal for RTS missions. The only way to switch back to the character you wanted is to let the Active member die and replace him with the desired Trey (or whoever). Therefore, make sure to switch back to your intended Active character just before the town invasion part ends (of course this problem doesn't exist if you use the same Active character on the world map and in town invasions; however, sometimes you may prefer other characters to Trey for the town invasion).

Preparations for the mission:
You don't really need any particular preparation for this mission. As anticipated earlier, you should use Trey for the world map parts of RTS missions (and since RTS missions always start on the world map, choose him as Active leader in the pre-mission screens).
Mission Start!
RTS - Part 1
1. Capture Domain 1.
2. Destroy the Autoturret hidden in the woods Southeast of Domain 1.
3. You now control Domain 1. Task Domain 1 to send Blaze Units on Aqvi.
4. Invade Aqvi.
Aqvi Invasion
There are no SOs or items to pick up, so simply clear out the enemies in each and every area to continue (feel free to use Jack for the time being). At the end you'll need to collect five Phantoma to complete the invasion.
As soon as you collect the last Phantoma, make sure to switch back to the character you want to use on the RTS (world map part of it) (Trey most likely) as soon as possible -- if you wait too long, you'll be stuck on the world map with whatever character you were currently using as Active member.
NOTE: this area can be exploited to farm SPP. I really don't advise doing it now, but in theory you could start farming SPP as early as at this point. I'll talk about it a bit more after the mission.
RTS - Part 2
1. You now control Aqvi. Task Aqvi to send Blaze Units on Domain 2.
2. Task Domain 1 to send Blaze Units on Domain 2.
3. Corsi will start sending MAs to McTighe. Normally this would mean that you should deploy some Spark Units to deal with them, but in this situation you really don't have to worry about it. Just wait until Domain 2 is captured, and then the units will automatically go to Corsi and take it down long before the MAs become a problem for McTighe.
Corsi Invasion
Nothing to point out here, really -- Jack will destroy everything as usual.
Mission Reward: Auric Ring.
You most likely also have earned an S Rank for this mission. Don't let this make you think "S Ranks are easy after all": in RTS missions they are typically very achievable, but the next story mission will soon remind you how hard they are in standard non-RTS missions.

Chapter 2: Free-Time Break 3

Corsi
After the mission is over, enter Corsi, where there are a few things of interest.
First of all, check on the left side of the road to find the l'Cie Kayahara's Crystal.
In Corsi there is a Phantomist (guy who sells Phantoma), but there is virtually no use to his shop (too expensive to buy, too little income for selling). He's located at the end of the path, and doesn't have any icon (he looks like any other guy until you speak with him). Just for the record, he sells Red, Blue, Yellow Phantoma for 1,000 Gil each.
More interestingly, visit the "normal" shop here and purchase these two articles:
- "'Til Finis Comes, With You" (1,000 Gil)
- Hydrangea Bouquet (1,000 Gil)
These two items are gifts necessary for the Emina quest.
You may also want to purchase the Sexy Swimsuit article (1,500 Gil) from the shop. This item is required for a Task in Akademeia. To be honest, that Task isn't really worth the trouble, so if you are interested in the "juicy ones" and you're ok with ignoring the less important ones, you can skip buying the Sexy Swimsuit. On the other hand, if you are a completionist (so you probably want to complete as much as you can as soon as you can), make sure to buy it so you can do that Task in Akademeia (I'll mention the Task in due time).
Also, you can speak with an NPC on the right side near the entrance to hear rumors/info about various locations on the World Map (most of them can't be accessed yet, but we'll take care of them all at some point); it's not necessary, but you may want to check them out just for the sake of it.
Soon enough, in Corsi there will be a Task you can accept, but for now there's nothing else available, so head outside and then to Aqvi.
Aqvi
Head down the streets until you find a shop. The local shop here sells various accessories, but they are all quite bad, so don't buy any of them. Instead, purchase a few (3 should be more than enough for now) Teleport Stones: although they sell for 2,000 Gil each, they can be extremely useful in certain situations. They are also a life saver in case you are in a world-map fight against strong enemies (you never know).
Near the shop there is also a little girl standing by a tree. Speak with her twice, and the other kids in the area will approach her. Now speak with the other kids (one of them should be enough), and then speak with the little girl again -- she'll run away. Head for the entrance of Aqvi: as you approach the gate, a Dominion Legionary will come in. Speak with this NPC (the Dominion Legionary that appeared in front of the entrance) and pick the first answer "Of course I know her!" to receive the Letter to Nazuna item. Then find Nazuna (the little girl) again (she'll be just a bit southwest of the tree where she started, near a building) and select "Yes" to receive the l'Cie Yu'u's Crystal.

Optional: early SPP Farming?

We just got started with the game, but you may want to know about this very early on. Eventually, during your first/second playthroughs, you will want to farm SPP (the Support Personnel Points, acquired by letting Support Personnel play in your missions instead of your regular characters). There are various ways to do so, but in all of them you want to save the game, then quit to the Title Screen menu, and then choose the Missions menu from there to replay the desired mission to farm SPP; then, after farming to your heart's content, you'll finish the mission, save the game, and then Continue with the new save you created to return to your playthrough with all the SPP earned in the meantime.
I won't assume you have done any SPP farming until the late Chapter 7, where we need to talk about the hardest dungeons and possible future playthroughs. My advice would be to learn about SPP farming soon though, so that the next time you go to sleep/work/school and can't play the game you can actually set up the farming method and leave -- you will collect SPP in the meantime (while you're away), and when you come back you will be closer to your ultimate goal of 150,000 SPP. If you ignore this process and wait until the last moment to do it (let's say you start doing it in Chapter 7, when you really need to already have the last rewards from SPP farming), then you may get "stuck" because you can't continue with the other optional things this game offers and you'll need to put your actual play-time on hold to do the farming instead.
Bottom line is: since you have to do it at some point, start doing it whenever possible, so by the time you're done with the average-level challenges of the game you already have the SP Crystal accessory/Ultima spell, which are the final two rewards for SPP farming. Moreover you will have enough SPP to purchase any Double-EXP weapons you may have unlocked by scoring 300x Killsights with each character. I'm not saying you should deliberately farm SPP yet; I'm just saying that if you know you won't be able to play because you're going to sleep/work/school (or even smaller breaks, when you are eating, watching TV, etc.), then instead of doing nothing (or using the Arena's secret training) you could leave the game running during the farming process and rack up some SPP.
In case you are wondering, no, the SPP farming process won't "break the game" making the final story missions too easy. First of all, remember that you can increase the difficulty to Agito (+30 levels for enemies), which will definitely overcompensate any level you may have reached with your characters even after doing all the Expert Trials with Growth Eggs. Second, the SPP farming process barely gives you enough Exp to do a few level-ups. Moreover, the suggested character for early SPP Farming is Nine (because of his high HP), who shouldn't even be in your primary team; later in the game, you will be at such a high level that if you SPP-Farm you won't really be getting more than 1-2 additional levels from the whole process. Even the farming rewards, the spell Ultima and the SP Crystal accessory (or the other "SP accessories"), can simply be unequipped if you don't intend to be overpowered early on. Therefore there is no risk of making things too easy just because you SPP-farmed early on.
Also, you don't really need to farm all the way to 150,000 SPP yet, since there will be a more efficient method later, in Chapter 5. That method, however, can be made better if you already have the reward for 40,000 SPP (the SP Cape accessory). Therefore the best thing to do is, probably, to farm early on (first chance you get) until you have 40,000 SPP (that should be accomplished in less than one night of sleep) until you get the SP Cape, and then wait until Chapter 5 for the more efficient farming method which will be made even better by the SP Cape that you already have by that point.
Here is a link to the section of the walkthrough where I explain how to SPP-Farm a bit. Again, you don't have to do it NOW, but it would really help if you would do a bit of SPP Farming every now and then -- 150,000 SPP is a lot if you have to do it all at once, but you won't even notice it if you do it gradually from time to time.

World Map
Regardless of our SPP Farming discussion, we can visit the first optional Dungeon of the world map: it's the Corsi Cave, located just east of the town of Corsi. Note that the detour isn't really THAT interesting, but it will allow you to get items for some of the next Tasks, as well as a bit of extra Exp. I did say it's an optional Dungeon after all.
Beware that dungeons are typically harder than the last story missions you did before unlocking them. In this case, the dungeon has level-22 enemies. You can clear it just fine with level-11/13 characters though, don't worry. Just be careful, and maybe save the game (Corsi is the closest Relic Terminal) before heading in.

Optional Dungeon: Corsi Cave

Dungeons in this game are usually rather linear and simple. You will typically see some areas with items (harder dungeons have more interesting items), which usually require you to kill all the enemies (or use a Teleport Stone) to get out of said areas (you are locked in as soon as you access them). In some dungeons, including this one, you will also meet an NPC, Akane, for a small side-quest. The side-quest has no real rewards, and can be done at any point in the game. We'll do it just for completionism's sake.

Dungeons do not feature SOs, and almost never have Relic Terminals or Recovery Portals. You cannot have SP Support, and your Squad Command is always Triad Maneuver (you haven't unlocked any Squad Command yet, but this will apply in the future).

The suggested lead character for this dungeon is Trey. King is actually useful too, even if you haven't used him so far; even at low level, King's fast ranged attacks can be very effective for Breaksights. You should probably clear the dungeon mostly with Jack/Trey and save King for the final fight in the last area.
Note: there is potentially (with decent chances, too) a pretty good accessory in the last area of the dungeon. If you want, you could speedrun ignoring all the enemies (and detours) to the final area, open the chest, and see if you are lucky to get the Circlet (25% chances). If not, reload and try again. I don't particularly recommend it (it's not THAT important), but it is a significant upgrade at this early stage of the game.
[1] Corsi Cave
Speak with Akane for the first step of her quest.
In this first area there is a chest on the right side -- open it to get the Rubrum Analects (item required for a future Task).
[2] Nameless Tunnel
Lesser Coeruls keep respawning here, so ignore them and continue to the next area.
[3] Unknown Path
More enemies here; ignore them.
[4] Tridentine Path
Same as above; there is a Knowing Tag on the left side.
From this area you can either continue north to area [7] or east to area [5]. There isn't really anything interesting, but if you want, make the detour east first.
[5] Unspoken Path
More enemies to ignore. Note that in the next area you'll be forced to fight in order to leave.
[6] Forgotten WaterfallYou must defeat a group of Lesser Coeruls here, one of which is a leader. You can either dodge-hit-dodge-hit repeatedly with Jack (most hits will miss, but you will eventually land a hit), or wait patiently (maybe Block with Jack) for their "jump" attacks to counter with Breaksights. Focus on the leader of course.
You can find a chest here containing Mimett Greens/2x Mimett Greens/2x Curiel Greens/Amulet (probabilities, in percentages, are respectively 37.5/37.5/12.5/12.5). Amulet is an accessory that gives MP +20% and All Magic +4 (meh).
When you're done, head back to area [4], then north from there.
[7] Winding Walk
Ignore the enemies and continue.
[8] Coerul's Den
In this final area you are forced to fight in order to leave. There is a final treasure here: Crystal Ball/Megalixir/Circlet (50/25/25).
The Crystal Ball gives MP +30% and All Magic +10. Circlet is even better, and it gives MP +40% and All Magic +15.
As I anticipated earlier, you could speedrun to this area, and open the chest before fighting the "miniboss" here (remember how to open chests when enemies are present? You need to lock on the enemy, then approach the chest/item, then use RS_Up to lock on the chest/item, and then examine it to open it/pick it up). If you get the desired Circlet, continue; if not, reload and try again (or just be happy with it; as I said earlier, the Circlet is a good upgrade, but by no means necessary).
Here is a video demonstration, if you'd like to take a look:
The enemy here is a Coerul, and is quite powerful. This enemy can summon 3x Lesser Coeruls, can create a shockwave-field around himself, and can summon a yellow thunderball that slowly comes near you (you can attack this fireball and destroy it easily, since it's in Killsight status).
The best way to defeat the enemy is by using a ranged character, like King, and run around in circles as you wait for a chance to Breaksight it. Ignore any Lesser Coeruls that might be summoned, unless the main Coerul simply disappears (in this case, kill a few Lesser Coeruls until the Coerul reappears).
Breaksight for the Coerul happens in two instances, mostly. One case is after the shockwave-field attack (with the delay of King's bullets, this means you should fire just as soon as the shockwave field appears -- by the time the bullets reach the Coerul, he should be in Breaksight). The other, and main source of Breaksights, is after the enemy "becomes invisible" (but hasn't disappeared completely, so you can still target him) and then moves a bit to the left/right: after moving, he will be in Breaksight. If you get the timing right, you can pretty much just wait for the enemy to become invisible, move a bit, Breaksight, then wait until it moves again, Breaksight again, and repeat until he dies.
World Map
Here is a checklist of things you want to have before going back to Akademeia:
- "'Til Finis Comes, With You"
- Hydrangea Bouquet
- Sexy Swimsuit
- Rubrum Analects
- Pretty Pelt (you should already have it from the Carla Event earlier; if you don't have one anymore, kill some Lesser Coeruls to get one)
We've done everything for now, so head back to Akademeia.

Akademeia: Time to Mission: 1d 12h
(Remember: a "day" is actually worth only 12 hours, so you really have 24 hours total here)
Like last time, I'll list all the "things" (Events and Tasks this time) available, and then give my advice on which ones to do. There are also a bunch of new features available, too.

New feature: Chocobo Breeding!
On another note, during all the Events and "things" we'll be doing, you could also do some Chocobo breeding (available from this point onward). Remember, it takes 6 hours (= you need to wait 6 hours of "Time-to-Mission"; you don't actually consume Time-to-Mission hours) to get the new chocobos after breeding, so with a 12h break like the current one you could breed chocobos twice. That being said, I think it's quite a waste of time to do early breeding, for a simple reason: the very best chocobo is the Master Chocobo, and the simplest way to obtain one is by breeding two Evasive Chocobos for a Stealth Chocobo, and then two Stealth Chocobos for a Ninja Chocobo, and then two Ninja Chocobos for a Master Chocobo.

The simplest way is not necessarily the easiest or the one that gives you access to the Master Chocobo the earliest, BUT keep also in mind that you will mainly be using Chocobos as a means of fast-travel on the World Map, even though they could serve a purpose in RTS missions too. However, even in RTS missions there are usually better alternatives (namely Trey's charged bow attacks) instead of attacking with Chocobos, so all in all even though you could breed Chocobos even now to get slightly better chocobos to use in RTS missions, in reality you won't really be able to see any significant difference between the standard regular Chocobos (like the 20 you have by default) and the ones you can breed for the foreseeable future.

Lastly, an infinite supply of regular Chocobos can be found on the world map (we haven't met any so far, but they will be available in the upcoming regions), meaning that you don't need breeding for transportation purposes either (if you need more Chocobos, just capture those on the world map).
For all of these reasons, I don't encourage you to spend time breeding Chocobos, but you're free to do otherwise if you wish so. In that case, check the Chocobo Breeding section of the walkthrough for more information.

New feature: Knowing Tags trade!
The Class Eight Moogle in the Entrance now has an INFO icon on his head. From this point onward, he will trade Knowing Tags for some items. Keep in mind that the rewards are not for cumulative Knowing Tags. In other words, giving him 10 Knowing Tags now, and then 10 later, will not earn you the 20-Knowing-Tags prize, but two 10-Knowing-Tag prizes! For this reason it's wiser to just accumulate Knowing Tags until you have enough to get the prize you want. Honestly, it's even wiser to ignore the thing altogether, since the rewards are rather "modest" anyway.

New feature: Arena!
The Arena is now open, just so you know it.

New feature: Akademeia Cactuar!
Starting from Chapter 2, you may randomly run into a "wild Cactuar" in certain areas of Akademeia. The cactuar can be found, randomly, in one of these locations: Airship Landing, Back Garden, Terrace, Chocobo Ranch. When you find him, he will immediately flee, but he will also leave behind, on the ground, an item. The item in Chapter 2 isn't important (a shabby accessories), but in Chapter 3 it will be a l'Cie Crystal, and in Chapter 5 it will be a key item for a quest. For more details you can check the corresponding section of this walkthrough, but I'll remind you of the important ones in the story walkthrough pages, later on.

Keep in mind that he doesn't appear in one of the four possible locations only; he can appear in any location, and you don't need to reset your system, restart the game, reload, or anything like that to change the place where he spawns. In your game, at any given time, he could spawn in any of the four possible locations. For this reason, the best way to get the item is by going in and out of Airship Landing (go to Fountain Courtyard, then back to Airship Landing, and so on) until you eventually run into the cactuar message (the message will appear on the left of the screen, informing you that the wild cactuar fled). The reason why you should use Airship Landing is simple: the other three possible locations require you to either use a portal or a door, whereas going in and out of Airship Landing only requires you to walk. No location is more likely to host the cactuar than any other one, as far as I know, so just go in and out of Airship Landing until you get lucky (it may take a few minutes; shouldn't be too long though).

From what I've read, the estimated chances of meeting the cactuar are somewhere between 3-10%. If you meet him once in the current Chapter, he won't be found again in the current Chapter. This isn't a problem anyway. For now you can ignore the Cactuar altogether, but I'll remind you to look for him in Chapter 3, and then again in Chapter 5.

New feature: able to leave to the World Map!
From now on you can leave to the World Map whenever you want. Remember though: each time you go out it will subtract 6 hours to your Time-to-Mission! If you don't have at least 6 hours, you won't be able to leave. Do not leave unless I specifically say so.

New feature: Altocrystarium!
You'll be introduced to the Altocrystarium on your way to Classroom Zero. The Altocrystarium is an actual place accessible through a portal in the Hallway. It's basically a service that allow you to upgrade your spells. It's a bit complex, so you may want to check the gameplay page to read more about it. For now, know that you NEVER want to consume Ivory Phantoma (very rare and precious), since saving them for the most powerful spells is a much better idea than using them to upgrade some shabby spells early in the game.

Also, you want to access the Altocrystarium and examine the control panel in it at least once. Doing so will earn you the Thunder RF spell, and it will also allow you to access the Altocrystarium remotely from any Relic Terminal from then on!
Events (list of all of them; advice on which ones you should do will follow):
1. Mog Class #1 @Classroom Zero: Magic Power +1.
2. Mog Class #2 @Classroom Zero: Fire Magic +1.
3. Mog Class #3 @Classroom Zero: Ice Magic +1.
4. Mog Class #4 @Classroom Zero: Lightning Magic +1.
5. Machina/Rem @Classroom Zero: Ether. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event.
6. Dr. Al-Rashia @Sorcery (Dr. Al-Rashia's Office): Hi-Potion. Must play as (= have as Active member) Ace. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event.
7. Naghi @Lounge: Ether. This starts the Naghi quest. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event.
8. Koharu @Ready Room: Mega-Potion.
9. Dominion Legionary @Ready Room: Hi-Potion.
10. Sice @Central Command: Ether.
11. Class Fifth Moogle @Entrance: Hi-Potion.
12. Class First Moogle @Fountain Courtyard: Hi-Potion.
13. Class Tenth Moogle @Airship Landing: Hi-Potion.
(14/15. Kazusa and Emina events for the respective quests.)

Like last time, I'm now going to list the Events you should watch AFTER saving at a Relic Terminal, and then you should simply reload your save after viewing them so you can get your Time-to-Mission back to do something more important. Again, if you'd like you can also simply ignore these Events altogether and wait until the second playthrough to do them.

Watch-and-reload these Events:
5,6,8,9,10,11,12,13; reload when you're done
Tasks are a bit more complex than Events. My layout for them will generally be something like this:
Number. Name of the Task (My opinion on the Task's importance: optional/recommended/skip it/must-do*)
(Person who gives the Task) @(Location of the person). Request: request. Reward: reward.
How/where to complete the Task (you always have to return to the person that gave you the Task to complete it; this is implied).
*This is subjective of course. As always, if you are a completionist you probably want to do everything. By "optional" I mean a Task that doesn't really give any important reward, but you should do it for completionism if you care about it (get it done in your first playthrough so you don't have to do it again in the future playthroughs); "recommended" is a Task that gives really nice rewards; "skip it" is for Tasks that are virtually impossible, or actually impossible in the first playthrough; "must-do" are Tasks that are tied to major quests and rewards, and should be done even by players who don't care about completionism, but care enough about the game to at least do the important things.
I will first list all the available Tasks, and then let you know which ones to do.
1. Sanative Supplier (optional)
Logistics Officer @Main Gate. Request: 3x Potions. Reward: 1x Ether.
2. Mad about Ms. Tokimiya (optional)
Enra @Fountain Courtyard. Request: speak with him with Rem as Active member. Reward: Phoenix Down.
Very easy and, given how rare Phoenix Downs are in this game, worth the trouble.
3. Secret Agent Agito (optional; requires leaving Akademeia; we'll do it later, just follow my instructions)
Class Ninth Cadet @Crystarium. Request: kill one Striker. Reward: Ignis Primus, Vol. II (accessory).
Strikers are those MA (Magitek Armor; mechanical) enemies like the one you encountered in the very first mission after placing the Magicite Bomb. You can encounter them on the world map, in the Rubrum Region. As I said a moment ago, wait until I tell you to do this Task before doing it.
4. Monster Pursuit (optional; requires leaving Akademeia; we'll do it later, just follow my instructions)
Dominion Officer @Central Command. Request: defeat two Vertigo. Reward: Glacies Prima, Vol II. (accessory).
Vertigos are those "eyeball-bats" enemies flying around. They can be found in the forest areas in the Rubrum Region (the forests are near Aqvi/Corsi). All Tasks similar to this one (requiring to kill a certain enemy) are NOT retroactive. In other words, if you killed 5 Vertigos before accepting the Task, you will still need to kill two more after accepting the Task.
5. The Phantoma Menace (optional)
Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery. Request: give one Red Phantoma. Reward: Ferric Ring.
6. Slayer's Spoils (optional)
Guildsman @Armory. Request: give one Pretty Pelt. Reward: Iron Bangle.
You should have one from Carla. If not, the Lesser Coerul enemies in the Corsi Cave (access it from the world map; it's east of Corsi) drop this item.
7. An Education in Love (optional)
Tokito @Ready Room. Request: give 1x Sexy Swimsuit. Reward: Fulgur Primus, Vol. II.
The item requested is for sale in Corsi (1,500 Gil price).
8. SPP Scavenger (optional; requires farming SPP; read after the Task list for more information)
Administration Official @Lounge. Request: 100 SPP. Reward: Megalixir.
I'll talk about this one a bit more later.

Remember, Tasks don't actually consume "Time-to-Mission", so it's usually nice to try and complete them. Most of the Tasks don't give good enough rewards that I would encourage you to do them, except for completionism's sake. Just so you know it, you can only accept one Task at a time. In theory you could accept a new Task after already accepting a Task if you want, but doing so will cancel the Task previously accepted; you can still re-accept the first Task later, if it's still available, but of course it's better if you know what you're doing (follow my instructions and you'll be fine). This is quite a big deal, especially for those "kill [enemy]" that require you to leave Akademeia, since for each and every one of them you need to leave Akademeia, effectively costing you 6h for each Task.

As a general rule, Tasks given by NPCs outside of Akademeia will (almost) never expire, while Tasks in Akademeia are time-bound to the free-time break when they first appear (then, at the next free-time breaks, they will be expired).

One last thing to know, which is useful sometimes, is that if you press Pause and then select Request you can actually see the progression towards the current Task. Thanks to this you don't have to "mentally" keep track of things during a Task (you also receive a notification when you complete a Task, but you may not notice the notification sometimes).

We'll worry about the Tasks on the World Map (by NPCs in the various towns) later.

Now, let's talk about what you need to do here in Akademeia.
Time to Mission: 1d 12h
- First of all, visit the Altocrystarium (use the portal in the Hallway) to get the Thunder RF spell
- Speak with Aki @Entrance (this is not an Event) for a chat with her (part of her mini-quest)
Then attend Mog's classes (1d 12h):
- Do Events 1,2,3,4 (Mog classes @Classroom Zero) for their nice rewards
Time to Mission: 1d 4h
With 6 hours or less in the current day, we can do some bits of the Emina quest. For now, we'll proceed with these:
- This one is not an Event. In the Sorcery, speak with the Sorcery Researcher (he has no icon) on the right side (not the one with a Task, the other one). He'll say something about Emina
- Now go to Emina in the Terrace; this is a "cutscene" Event (-2 hours)
- This one is not an Event. Speak with the same Sorcery Researcher in the Sorcery, again. He'll give you a "spell" called Sheer. In reality, this is not a spell usable in real battles, but just a quest-related "spell". You can think of it as a key item for this quest; it has no purpose other than that
Time to Mission: 1d 2h
As much as it bothers me to waste 12 hours just to do two Tasks, neither of which is even important (no interesting rewards), we're going to have to do just that. But first, let's take care of the Tasks that don't require us to leave the facility or consume hours:
- Do Tasks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8*

*For Task 8 you need to farm SPP. If you don't know yet, SPP is Support Personnel Points, which are obtained by allowing Support Personnel characters during missions. There will be quite a lot of similar Tasks throughout the various free-time breaks, requiring increasing amounts of SPP. In my opinion, if you're going to do these Tasks then you should probably start farming SPP (a bit) now, or before the next similar Task in the next break at the most. There is really just one way to farm SPP at this point, aside from replaying Missions regularly (which isn't really farming, it's just gaining a few SPPs), and that's the Operation Reconquista method explained in the SPP farming section of the walkthrough.

Whatever method you decide to earn SPP now, you'll need to save the game, quit to the Title Screen, and then choose Missions; load the latest save you made, then choose a Mission to replay, and make sure to Accept SP Support to farm SPP as you replay the mission. Since you only need 100 SPP for this Task, you can get that amount easily just by replaying the first mission, without necessarily setting up the farming process in Operation Reconquista.

Time to Mission: 1d 2h
Now, for what is probably the most inefficient use of our Time-to-Mission (there is no other way to do these Tasks though), save the game, then accept Task 3 (from Class Ninth Cadet @Crystarium), and head out to the World Map.
World Map
The only reason why we're here is to kill a Striker (remember, they are those mid-sized MAs) for the Task we just accepted. Strikers are somewhat uncommon fights in the Rubrum Region. Simply roam around the plains near McTighe (or anywhere else) to eventually encounter a Striker, and defeat it to fulfill the Task requirements. Remember that on the world map you can spam powerful spells because you recover all your MP between different fights (not between chained fights though), so you can kill enemies very quickly with Blizzard BOM.
Akademeia - Time to Mission: 8h
Report the Task 3 completion to the Class Ninth Cadet @Crystarium. Then accept Task 4 (Dominion Officer @Central Command) and go outside to the World Map again.
World Map
You need to kill 2x Vertigos in the forests of the Rubrum Region. Go in the forests between Corsi and Aqvi to find them. When you're done, return to Akademeia.
Akademeia - Time to Mission: 2h
Report the Task 4 completion to the Dominion Officer @Central Command. Then, last but not least:
- Do Event 7 (Naghi @Lounge) to start Naghi's quest
Mission Day!
Mission Day is here, so speak with Kurasame in Classroom Zero. Before heading out, make sure you have enough Potions (ideally, spend all your money to max out and have 99 of them), and then head out.

World Map - Tasks Cleanup
As mentioned earlier, there are some Tasks you can accept and complete outside of Akademeia. The second one here is really nice, and it will earn you an HP Enhancer. You can then use the HP Enhancer on any character you desire to permanently boost his/her HP by +100 (use it at the Relic Terminal, then Promotion, then Stats). My advice would be to use it on either Trey or Jack (Jack tends to take more damage than Trey, so maybe he should be prioritized).
1. A Vogue Dilemma (optional)
Amane @McTighe. Request: defeat 3x Lesser Coeruls in Corsi Cave. Reward: Silver Bracelet.
2. Bragging Rights (highly recommended)
Takano @Corsi. Request: defeat 10x Aqua Flans. Reward: 1x HP Enhancer.
The Aqua Flans can be found in the plains of Rubrum Region. It really won't take long to get the required amount of kills. You will also probably fight a few "bomb" enemies, which drop Fire Shards (which will come in handy later, so try not to use them unless necessary). If you are lucky and you can chain battles with Aqua Flans, do so to speed things up (you should probably not chain beyond the third fight, since at the fourth and fifth fight things will get quite a bit harder).
3. Spelunk and Search (optional)
Koki @Aqvi. Request: give a Fire Shard. Reward: Ferric Ring.
Fire Shards are dropped by the Bomb enemies.
When you're satisfied, continue to the north to reach the next area.
World Map - Togoreth Region

Here you will start seeing wild Chocobos and feral beasts on the field. Long story short:
- Chocobos on the field will respawn every time you exit-enter a certain area of the world map, so there is really a fast and infinite supply of chocobos right here and now (there are better places to hunt them though). To catch a wild chocobo, simply approach it until you touch it

- The beasts on the world map will trigger fights against level-99 enemies. These enemies will likely wipe you out, and even if you were skilled enough to dodge their attacks and counter with Breaksights, you still couldn't kill them because they would flee sooner than later. They will also flee after killing "enough" of your characters (the default 3 are enough), which is a life-saver since you probably couldn't defeat them once they are engaged. It goes without saying that the best thing to do would be to avoid them altogether. You'll only be able to fight them properly at the end of the game. Should you accidentally engage, let them kill your party without replacing any character to quench their bloodthirst and make them leave

Reach your destination and start the mission.

Story Mission: The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold

Now things start to get serious. So far, everything was a cakewalk, and you may never have lost a single character. Easy SOs, easy enemies, linear progression, and minibosses that couldn't really pose a threat if you let them. Thins are about to change, really fast in this mission. So here's a small anticipation of what to expect.
Preparations:
At the end of the mission there will be a mini-boss, and then an actual, strong boss. Both of these bosses are best dealt-with by using a ranged character (the final boss of this mission can pretty much only be attacked with ranged characters), so make sure to save a ranged character (possibly Trey; King is a good second choice; Cater and Ace after King) for the end.
There is an SO at the end which requires you to use a Thunder spell (Thunder SHG for example), so equip that on someone (Rem).
Some SOs also require a ranged character, so always have one in your team.
Most of the enemies here will deal Ballistic damage, so if you have any accessory that protects against that, it could be useful to equip them (although at this point you probably don't really have anything that would make a difference).
Suggested team consists of Trey, Jack, Rem (Jack main leader, switch to Trey when you need range, Rem when you need spells).
Mission Start!
[1] Main Gate
SO (3'): kill the Leader (he will appear as you continue) with your Active character. Easy with Jack. Reward: Elixir.
To quickly get through this part, you can ignore all the enemies and run to the Leader (he's a Supersoldier). Then stand next him and use Jack's Reflex ability when he starts shooting at you (it should be an instant-kill).
There are two items on the ground, too: Potion/Hi-Potion, and Fortified Ration/Combat Ration.
[2] Central Stairwell
SO (3'): kill the Leader (he will appear as you kill other enemies). Reward: Ignis Tertius, Vol. I.
The Leader will be on a balcony, out of melee range, so you need to use a ranged character (Trey) to do it. Note that the SO "bonus status" will be Invincible, which is very nice since it allows you to clear everything quickly and safely with Jack on the ground level before switching to Trey.
Continue west.
[3] West Stairwell
SO (1'): don't let anyone die. Reward: spell Fire ROK-II.
Note that the SO will appear when the Golem appears; the Golem appears after you try to damage the portal on the right side, as instructed. If any other SO ("white" letter icon instead of the "red" letter icon) appears before the one you desire, simply Decline it until you get the one you want (red letter).
The reward is nice, but be very careful: the enemy here (Golem) is very strong. Thankfully you can simply run back and forth to the extreme ends of the area (where you came from, and then run forward from there if the enemy is approaching) to be pretty much safe from any damage. If the Golem is getting too close, simply run past it AFTER it uses its punch-throwing attack. If you fail, you may just want to quit and try again, since we're still quite early in the mission at this point. The reward is a spell, so it's nice to have it.
NOTE: there are two possible ways to continue at this point. One way leads to less rewards, so we're going to ignore it, and it's through the portal/stais where the Golem came from (in other words, the East exit). The exit you want to take is North.
[4] North Gate
SO (1'): kill 3x Imperial Troopers with your Active leader. Reward: Feathered Cap.
Easy with the usual Jack, just make sure not to kill the enemy leader before the SO is completed.
[5] Second Laboratory
This is a safe area (no enemies) with Recovery Portal and Relic Terminal.
On the ground you'll find a total of 3x Knowing Tags and Ether/Hi-Potion.
Note: a few areas ahead of where we are now you will be in an area with a decent chance of losing your AI-controlled characters (we need to fight another "gate" to open the way beyond a powerful Golem, but in that case the room will be even more narrow than it was the first time we met a Golem). There are two things you could do. One is switching to Jack solo (use the Relic Terminal, and assign only Jack as Active character; press Start when you've done so to continue). The other (and you may prefer this option) is by leaving Jack in your party, and replacing (for now) Trey and Rem with someone else (anyone else, really). This way, even if your AI-controlled characters die, at least it won't be Trey or Rem (you will then put Trey and Rem back in your party after the part with the Golem).
[6] Matériel Storage
SO (1'): protect the dominion legionary NPC (in other words, kill the enemies quickly before they kill the legionary). Reward: Lustrous Deck (Ace's weapon).
You know the drill -- easy with Jack, focus on the leader.
There is also a Knowing Tag here.
[7] Inner Corridor
SO (1'): score two Killsights on two Warriors. Reward: Megalixir.
Jack is a bit too strong and may kill them "accidentally". You may want to ignore this SO (or attempt it, but make sure to run out of the area if you fail and accidentally kill enemies without Killsights). If you still want to at least try it, remember that the Killsight will appear after two consecutive (and rather quick) "dash" attacks where the Warriors charge for a moment and then throw themselves at you.
[8] Sample Depository
Speak with the NPC here to receive the Summoning Permit, which allows you to summon an eidolon (Ifrit, by default). Summoning always kills your current Active member, so try to avoid it for now, if you can (and if you have to summon, at least use a non-important Active member).
After some scenes, you'll have to kill a couple of Demonicorns followed by some soldiers -- they are no match for Jack.
Continue to the next area when ready.
[9] Dynamo Access
SO (1'): kill the Golem. Reward: Mythril Gloves.
This SO is not meant to be done on your first playthrough (if the timer wasn't so strict you could maybe try to kill him with Breaksights, after a long and hard fight; without enough time, it's just flat out impossible unless you wait until the Golem is almost dead before accepting the SO). The reward isn't anything special either, so ignore it. I can already anticipate you that this is the only SO I ultimately recommend not to do the first time through (there will be very hard SOs in the future too, but this one is just ridiculous). I tried summoning Ifrit, I tried relying on Breaksights, I tried using Jack's Reflex -- nothing works unless you are at a much higher level than you should be.
Note: in order to get a few additional items, you need to ignore the Channelgate for now, and instead exit to optional area [10] by going downstairs, then west (left) and upstairs (simply run past the Golem; he's too slow to catch you if you run with your weapons put back).
[10] First Laboratory
If you come here before reaching area [11], you will find 2x Knowing Tags and an NPC. Speak with the NPC and choose either option to get a Knowing Tag or Mega-Potion/Hi-Potion (the former if you lie, either one of the latter if you tell the truth). Go back to area [9] afterwards.
[9] Dynamo AccessFocus on destroying the Channelgate behind the Golem. Jack's attacks will work well here, but unfortunately your other two characters will probably die by the time the gate goes down. If you did as I suggested and either put Jack solo, or at least replaced Trey and Rem with two "dummy" characters, then it won't be a big loss.
For the record, there are two items to pick up in this area as well, on the upper level: Combat Ration/Strength Serum, and Combat Ration/Medical Kit. There are two ways to get these items: one is by defeating the Golem first (virtually impossible). The other way is to lock on the Golem, and then tilt the RS_Up so that your character will "target" the objects on the ground, and then you'll be able to pick them up (like we did with a Knowing Tag in the very first mission). Or, and this is my favorite option, ignore them and just rush to the exit to get them later.
The exit of this area is past the broken Channelgate (so go north).
[11] Central Dynamo
Approach the "dynamo" in the room and examine it. This will make a Recovery Portal and Relic Terminal appear -- use them both, and put Trey and Rem back in your party if you switched them out earlier.
[9] Dynamo AccessThe Golem will be gone, but a few regular enemies will appear now, including a leader. Kill them all, and then continue to the next area.
[12] Stronghold Core
A couple of items can be picked up on the upper level: Hi-Potion/Strength Serum (left from the entrance), and Fortified Ration/Strength Serum (right from the entrance). You can actually skip the enemy fights here if you want, just go north. If not, fight all the enemies until "Victory" appears on the screen.
[2] Central Stairwell
Yep, we're back almost where we started. Head south to the first area for an optional SO.
[1] Perimeter Gates (former Main Gate)
SO (2'): harvest 5x Phantomas.
Use Trey or any other ranged character, since the enemies are out of melee range. Reward: Ballistic Armor (accessory).
Leave the area when you've finished the SO (the enemies just keep coming) and return to area [2]. Then go west from there to area [3].
[3] West Stairwell
SO (2'): land 3x Killsights on Imperial Troopers. Reward: Elixir.
Again, Trey is better here, although it's possible with Jack too.
Use Trey to take down the aerial MA in this area.
If you want, you can tackle another optional SO by going back north.
[4] North Gate
SO (2'): land 7x Killsights on Imperial Troopers. Reward: Megalixir.
You will need a ranged character here as well, because most of the enemies will be (and will respawn for a while) in the garden around the fortress (check outside the "balcony" where you are).
When you're satisfied, go back to area [3], and then east from there (follow the marker).
[13] West Stairwell (upper level)
SO (1'30''): defeat 3x Warriors with your Active leader. Reward: Firewyrm Armlet.
[14] South Concourse
Among the other enemies here, there is also a flying Mid-Sized Carrier (and an enemy on a small balcony on the left), so you'll need a ranged character (Trey) to take it down.
Use the Recovery Portal on the way. Read about the next SO before accessing the next area.
[15] East Stairwell
SO (2'): collect an item from the surrendered units. Reward: U1-Shock Damper).
To do this, you need to kill the Leader, who will be found on the way as you continue. Make sure not to kill all the non-Leader units, so that you can get an item from the survivors.
[16] North Stairwell
SO (1'): kill 3x enemies with your Active leader. Reward: Metal Gloves.
[17] Upper Corridor
Safe area with Recovery Portal and Relic Terminal.
At this point, I strongly recommend having someone (Rem ideally) in your party with Thunder SHG, which will help a lot during the final boss fight of this mission. Jack will be useful for the mini-boss before the final boss, too.
[18] Imperial Command
There is an item on the lower level (Potion/Hi-Potion), but kill the two enemies on the slope first.
Fight your way through some corridors (Jack can clear everything easily), until you reach the corridor before the final room.
In the final room there will be some soldiers and a new enemy type Leader, the "Imperial Officer". They are in Rage status, which means they will deal more damage, but after a while (when Rage expires) they will be in Killsight status for a short period of time. Hide behind a wall with Trey, and charge his shot. Wait until they have Killsight status, and then fire at them for a one-shot-kill. In particular, try to snipe the Supersoldier.

The Imperial Officer in the room won't be killed as easily though: the Killsight status for him will actually mean that your attacks will be Breaksights, not Killsights. Once you've killed the Supersoldier, the safest way to take out the Leader is to charge a shot with Trey as you hide behind a wall, and then counter after the boss's shots (which will hit the wall) for a Breaksight every time. It'll take a couple of tries to get the timing right, but you should be safe and win quite easily.

Alternatively, and I'm a fan of this method (it's risky, but you saved a minute ago), you can just blaze into the room with Jack, get close to the Imperial Officer, and use his Block ability to defend against the enemy's bullets. Then, after the blocked attack, counter with a Breaksight. Repeat until the enemy dies.

[19] Outskirts
The real boss, General Qator Bashar, is here. This flying MA is incredibly fast and hard to hit. Before discussing a good strategy, let's talk about the "worst case scenario strategy": if you reached the end of the mission with the worst character possible, you can still win this fight (it will be a bit time-consuming though) because the boss, after a long series of attacks, will eventually collapse on the ground, in Breaksight status, and you can chain a few Breaksights one after another before he gets up again. This is the fail-proof method that the developers put in place, in case you don't have any other option (ranged attacks) to deal with the boss. So, in other words, run around patiently for the boss to auto-incapacitate himself, and then use the Breaksights to deal the much needed damage.
There can be an SO during the fight. At one point, after a few minutes of fighting (unless you win before then), the weather will change and it will start to rain. In addition to making Fire spells less effective, this also unlocks the following SO:
SO (2'): land 3x hits with Lightning spells. Reward: Elixir.
You can probably tell that the SO is not really worth doing, so if you have a chance to end the fight sooner you should probably do so.
The best course of action would be to use ranged attacks and Breaksight the boss when he attacks (best chances are after his "purple fireballs" attacks). In particular, the spell Thunder SHG is very effective (albeit MP-expensive, but that's not a problem for Rem), as well as the usual Trey attacks (run in circles around the boss to try and dodge). Make sure to always heal whenever your HP are falling in the 50% zone (use a Potion). After a successful Breaksight, the boss will fall to the ground and a series of consecutive Breaksights will occur (use regular attacks for these ones, no need to use spells). Hit him as much as you can, then rinse and repeat.
Mission Reward: eidolon Shiva.

Chapter 3: Weapons of Mass Destruction

Chapter 3: Free-Time Break 1

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 3d 12h
Before doing anything else, speak with Kurasame in Central Command to be officially given the opportunity to summon in missions.

From now on you can choose, before starting a mission, which special command to have: Triad Maneuver, Eidolon (and among the ones you have you can choose only one Eidolon), and later also another option. The pros and cons of each move are discussed a bit more into details in the gameplay section of this walkthrough (I suggest that you read it). In general, Eidolons are a far superior choice in my opinion (they are simply overpowered in this game, and you'll see it very clearly if you follow my suggestions). The Triad Maneuver comes in handy especially when summoning is simply not possible (in dungeons, for example, or on the world map fights). Feel free to experiment with it a bit if you feel like it.

New feature: Expert Trials!
In addition to Events and Tasks, we now also have Expert Trials available. Too many people think that Expert Trials are "not meant to be done on your first playthrough", and I completely disagree with this view. Their argument is that they are either too hard to do on low levels, or that you need to overlevel early on in order to do them, thus decreasing the fun/challenge for the rest of the game. Although "how much difficulty you can take" is somewhat subjective, I do believe that with the right strategy (and a lot of cheapness, especially for the later trials) these trials actually provide some of the most intense moments of gameplay that this game has to offer.

Now, please keep one thing in mind, and this is very, very important. One of the first trials we'll do, soon, is the hardest that you'll do, most likely, in this playthrough. Don't let it put you down, though: if you succeed, you will receive a reward (a very powerful Eidolon) that makes you so powerful that all the next, upcoming Expert Trials will become a lot easier (if you're willing to "cheat" a bit with Summon spamming). There will be a chain of rewards from the first, hard mission, which will make your experience that much more complete, and even easier on the long run.

Skipping the Expert Trials is something that nobody should do. Give them a chance, and try to follow my suggestions -- chances are that even with very low-level characters you will be able to complete them and reap all the rewards.

Before the trials though, we have the usual Events to list and talk about.
Events (list of all of them, as usual):
1. Mog Class #1 @Classroom Zero: 10,000 Exp.
2. Mog Class #2 @Classroom Zero: Magic Power +1.
3. Mog Class #3 @Classroom Zero: Defense Magic +2.
4. Mog Class #4 @Classroom Zero: Max HP +20.
5. Class Sixth Moogle @Main Gate: Hi-Potion.
6. Orderly @Fountain Courtyard: Glass Pendant. This Event is necessary to acquire another (unique) accessory later in Chapter 4.
7. Class Fourth Moogle @Airship Landing: Hi-Potion.
8. Quon @Crystarium: Turbo Ether. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event. This Event starts the Quon quest.
9. Tachibana @Crystarium: Hi-Potion.
10. Trey @Central Command: Mega-Potion.
11. Dominion Legionary @Central Command: Hi-Potion
12. Examine the bench @Back Garden: Elixir. You need to play as Ace. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event.
13. Cater @Back Garden: Ether.
14. Dr. Al-Rashia @Sorcery (Dr. Al-Rashia's Office): X-Ether. You need to play as Rem. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event.
15. Mutsuki @Armory: Mega-Remedy. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event. This Event starts the Mutsuki quest.
16. Carla @Lounge: no rewards. Give Carla 1,000 Gil. This continues the Carla quest.
17. Akagi @Lounge: Hi-Potion.
(18/19. Kazusa and Emina events)
As always, some Events should be watched after saving the game, and then you should reload the game after watching them.
These are the watch-and-reload Events:
9,10,11,13,17
There are new Tasks available, too.
1. Sanative Supplier II (optional)
Logistics Officer @Main Gate. Request: 3x Ethers. Reward: 5x X-Potions.
2. Secret Agent Agito II (optional; requires leaving Akademeia; we'll do it in the appropriate moment later)
Class Ninth Cadet @Crystarium. Request: "take one prisoner" by defeating a Leader soldier in the forest of North Togoreth. Reward: Ballistic Shield.
In other words, you have to found a group of imperial soldiers that has a leader in it. Spare the non-leader enemies, kill the leader, and "capture" the survivors.
WARNING: this Task is missable, because imperial soldiers will be found in that area only before you conquer it. Therefore it must be done before the Expert Trial "United Front". However, you must first accept United Front to unlock the North Togoreth region in the first place. So, in other words, it must be done between the time when you accept United Front (which unlocks the necessary area) and the time when you've completed United Front (which makes the required enemies disappear).
If you miss this Task during your current playthrough you can always try again on next playthroughs though, don't worry.
3. Probing into the Past (optional)
Provost @Crystarium. Request: retrieve the Rubrum Analects, found in Corsi Cave. Reward: Wizard's Hat.
4. Commander's Orders (highly recommended)
Kurasame @Central Command. Request: land 10x Breaksights/Killsights. Reward: 10,000 Exp.
Do this in the Arena, so you don't have to leave Akademeia. It should be very easy with Jack (but it doesn't really matter; the reward will be applied to all the characters, not just the one that did the Task). You can "Abort Mission" (press Start to see this option) while in the Arena combat simulator, after you're done with the request. Also remember, if you die in the Arena combat simulator you will simply respawn in the Arena (no game over, no other penalty).
5. Monster Pursuit II (optional; requires leaving Akademeia; we'll fit it into our schedule somehow)
Dominion Officer @Central Command. Request: defeat 6x Perkunas. Reward: Aegis Veritas.
The Perkunas are "thunder Bomb" enemies. They appear in the North Togoreth region, which can be accessed only if you do the United Front Expert Trial.
6. Mother Says (highly recommended)
Dr. Al-Rashia @Hallway. Request: kill 3x Enemies with Fire RF. Reward: Magic Power +3.
Do this in the Arena. Rem is a good character to use.
7. The Phantoma Menace II (optional)
Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery. Request: 3x Green Phantoma. Reward: Argentic Ring.
If you don't have the required Phantoma, you can get them by killing enemies in the Arena with Killsights (it won't always be Green Phantoma, but it will be about 50% of the time).
8. Slayer's Spoils II (optional)
Guildsman @Armory. Request: 3x Tree Sap. Reward: Shock Shield.
Tree Sap is dropped by Cappawires enemies, in the Togoreth Region. Don't worry if you don't have the item yet, I'll remind you to get it later.
9. SPP Scavenger II (optional)
Administration Official @Lounge. Request: give 300 SPP. Reward: Fulgur Secundus, Vol. II.
There are currently no new Tasks in cities outside of Akademeia.
Let's see what to do now (3d 12h):
- Speak with Kurasame in Central Command, if you haven't already. This is not an Event
- Speak with Aki and "Trainee" (Fuyu) @Terrace. This is not an Event. They are on the left side, on the balcony (they may only appear if there are 8 or more hours left in the current day)
For some actual Events (3d 12h):
- Do Events 1, 2, 3, 4 (the four Mog Classes @Classroom Zero) for their nice rewards
- Do Event 6 (Orderly @Fountain Courtyard), so you can get an accessory later in Chapter 4
- Do Event 8 (Quon @Crystarium) to start Quon's quest
(2d 12h):
- Do Event 15 (Mutsuki @Armory) to start Mutsuki's quest
- Do Event 16 (Carla @Lounge) (give her 1,000 Gil) to continue with Carla's quest
Then let's do a couple of non-Event things (2d 8h):
- Do Task 4 (Kurasame @Central Command) for its nice reward (do it in the Arena). Probably easiest with Jack (doesn't really matter)
- Do Task 6 (Dr. Al-Rashia @Hallway) for its nice reward (do it in the Arena). Easiest with Rem (doesn't really matter)
- Restock your Potion supply
Do the other less important Tasks too if you desire (2d 8h):
- Do Tasks 1, 3, 7, 8*, 9**- Accept Task 2 (we'll do it later)

*For the Tree Sap-requiring one, if you don't have the required item already, put this Task on hold for now. We'll farm some Tree Saps the next time we go outside in the world map. I'll remind you to do this Task again later, just in case you couldn't do it now.

**For the SPP-requiring Task, at this point you should really consider trying to do a bit of farming with Operation Reconquista. Given that you can still obtain the required SPP easily by replaying a mission legitimately, the next SPP Scavenger Tasks will require more and more SPPs, to the point where you'll need to replay missions multiple times just to get enough SPP. Therefore I suggest using the Operation Reconquista method, explained in the SPP Farming section of the walkthrough, to gain around 20,000 SPP (that's about three-four hours of farming, worst case scenario, but you only need to be actually present for 10 minutes or so; the rest of the time you can leave the game running on its own!), which will be way more than enough for SPP Scavenger Tasks, and will also unlock the first interesting "SP accessories" (which are actually rather overpowered at this early stage). If you feel like 20,000 SPP are too much at this early stage, at least farm around 5,000 SPP (half an hour/an hour of farming).

On another note, with all the free Exp (+20,000) you received from Mog's classes and Kurasame's task, you should definitely learn a few more abilities for your characters. For the record, my main characters were at level 19-20 (Trey, Jack, Rem) at this point; everyone else at level 15-16. The important abilities are the following ones.

Trey:
- MAX Charge (12 AP)
- Concentrate (1 AP). Equip it to replace Raining Arrows
- Concentrate: Effect up (6 AP)
- Accelerate (3 AP), Untouchable (3 AP) are also quite nice
- Triple Slip (1 AP), Slipstream (6 AP) too, if you have the AP for them

Jack:
- You have to learn the only possible ability available to unlock the new ones with him. The first interesting ones are Triple Slip and Combo Bonus (by now you should definitely have enough AP for both)

Rem:
- Undying Wish (3 AP). Equip it to replace Fire RF (keep Thundaga SHG for now)
- Undying Wish: AG down (6 AP)
- Anything else defense-related (Triple Slip, etc.) if you want
- If possible, avoid spending AP for unnecessary abilities, and start saving them. Later (much later, in Chapter 7) you'll be able to learn three very interesting/useful abilities which will cost 63 AP in total. While those abilities are not strictly essential, it would be nice to have them, but you won't have enough AP at that point if you start wasting AP for other abilities now

One last thing to do in Akademeia is look for the Cactuar: since we are in Chapter 3, he will now drop (if you can find him) the l'Cie Yugino's Crystal. As explained earlier in Chapter 2, you want to go in and out of Airship Landing (go to Fountain Courtyard, then back to Airship Landing) until you get (in Airship Landing) the message about the wild Cactuar. At that point, look on the ground, on the right side, for a sparkling object -- pick it up, since it's the aforementioned crystal.
At this point (2d 8h) we can finally start with Expert Trials. To accept the Expert Trials, speak with the NPC in the Main Gate and choose the desired one. We'll start with the second one on the list, United Front, so accept it (we need to accept the second one first if we want to optimize our trips outside and do the Tasks efficiently).
Before heading outside, make sure you have accepted Task 2 from Class Ninth Cadet @Crystarium. Then save at the Relic Terminal in Main Gate (it never hurts), and head outside.

World Map - North Togoreth Region
On the World Map, save the game in Corsi (closest Relic Terminal), then proceed north to the North Togoreth region, which is now available.
In the forest just south of Mi-Go (your destination) you can encounter soldiers with leaders for the "Secret Agent Agito II" Task. Note that you may also encounter soldiers in other groups (without a leader), which can't be used for the Task. What you need is a group of 3 soldiers, one of which is leader. When you find one, defeat the leader while at least one of the other soldiers is still alive; this will fulfill the request. If you do so successfully, go back to Corsi to save before attempting the Trial in Mi-Go.
Also, you may notice that North of Mi-Go, along the mountains, there is the entrance to the Northern Corridor dungeon. It's currently sealed off, but it will open up later in the game.
Moreover, if you couldn't complete Task 8 earlier because you didn't have the necessary items, also farm 3x Tree Sap from the Cappawires in the Togoreth Region (NOT the North Togoreth Region; the regular Togoreth Region is fine). We'll do Task 8 later, if you haven't already done it earlier (I'll remind you to do it on our next chance).
Make sure to go back to Corsi and save the game after fulfilling the request for the Task. You don't need to report back to Akademeia just yet -- we'll do so after completing the Expert Trial.

Expert Trial - United Front
Preparations: ok, this is probably going to be the hardest trial for you in this game, due to the combination of (probably) low-level party, the lack of magic/eidolons for this mission (they are forbidden), and LENGTH of this mission (it's not THAT long, but because of the high difficulty it might feel like an eternity). At least you can bring all 14 characters, but a lot of them are going to die.
You must know that there will be a lot of ranged enemies, and some optional areas where you may get trapped (i.e. you need to kill enemies to exit) with out-of-melee-range enemies. It's very important that you follow my directions to avoid entering those areas, since they are optional (the less you fight, the better) and you really don't want to be stuck, maybe without any ranged characters left, in an area where the only way to continue is killing ranged enemies that you can't touch with melee characters.
Trey is also a crucial character, especially in one area with some pesky ranged enemies. In general, you'll have to rely on Killsights/Breaksights for most of your damage output against melee enemies, so any character would be ok (although some characters are better of course, because they attack faster). We'll clear the Trey-"required" area first, so in case he dies on the way to the end of the Trial, you should still be able to finish it with other characters by exploiting Breaksights on the enemies.
Other than Trey, save the ranged characters for last, if possible, since they will be useful (but not necessary) for the final part of the mission against the MAs.
Anti-Ballistic-damage accessories are useful, although the damage output from the enemies is so high that you may be one-hit-killed regardless. If you managed to get the SP Robes accessory (for 20,000 SPP earned in total) with the Operation Reconquista method, then this Trial will be considerably easier (give it to Trey) because of the much higher survivability you'll have. That's just for extra help though: you can do it just fine without fancy equipment (you will just need to be extra careful).
When starting the mission, only deploy one "dummy" character (I used Nine). Ideally, you want a character that you don't mind losing, and then (after this character dies) replace him/her with Trey for the Trey-required area. You want this "dummy" character to have a decently fast melee attack, because his purpose will be to kill a Supersoldier leader in an area (best killed with a series of Breaksights, then Killsight) before being replaced by Trey. Jack could do it too, but Nine is more mobile and preferable in this context (plus you can save Jack for later, which doesn't hurt).
Definitely accept SP support. For the record, my characters were Trey/Jack/Rem level 19-20, and the rest level 15-16. Magic/Eidolons don't matter since they can't be used.
Also, there will be items and SOs in this mission. Even though you want to clear everything as quickly as possible, the SOs are mostly for doing things that you would do anyway during the mission, so they might be worth checking out (I'll list them). The items, however, are shabby common items in areas where the last thing you want to do is looking for treasure. I will list them, but just for the record -- ignore them!
Trial Start!
Here is a video demonstration of the mission, as detailed below:
[1] Mi-Go MidtownSafe area. Un-sheat your weapon (press L1/LB) so you're ready to fight when the time comes. Again, my advice would be to have only Nine on screen right now.
[2] Town Square
You can skip fighting in this area, so do just that and run past the enemies (do the same in every area where you don't HAVE to fight). There are 3 possible exits, but you want to go east for now (go up the slope, and then right).
[3] Mi-Go Midtown (area southeast)
Skip the fights in this area. Follow this path: go forward, then left up the slope and all the way up the slope (forward) ignoring the turn left.
For the record, there is an item (Aes Medica/Argentum Medica) on the ground. To find it (but seriously, just ignore it, it's not worth it), turn left into a dead end, midway-up the slope, just before going out of this area. After turning left, the item will be on the right, on the ground.
[4] Mi-Go Midtown (orange area east)
You have to fight here, but you only need to take down the leader on the ground (there are some ranged enemies on the balconies as well). This is where Nine, or any other "dummy" character comes into play: let the Supersoldier leader approach so he tries a melee attack, then counter with a Breaksight until you kill him. Very easy with Nine, but you must keep moving around (go in circles around him) to avoid getting shot (probably one-shot-killed) by the enemies on the balconies. If Nine dies, replace him with another "dummy" character (like Sice) and take advantage of the Invincible status (you are Invincible for a few seconds when deploying a new character from the Reserves) to stand close to the leader, ready for more Breaksights. Note that the Supersoldier here always starts with the bomb-throwing attack, so if you run towards him and immediately attack him when you enter the area you can most likely land the first Breaksight "for free".
When the leader dies, go east.
[5] Mi-Go Midtown (east area)
SO (3'). Read below for requirement/explanation. Reward: Thunderbolt Armlet.
This is the first area with a "communication tower" to deactivate. To deactivate a tower you need to press the confirmation button near it, and then stand (you can move around, but you have to stay in range) within the "range" displayed around the tower until the process of deactivation is complete. You can move, you can fight, but if you ever step out of that "range", the process will end and you have to restart it from the beginning.
For the record, you can accept and SO here that requires you to deactivate the antenna (if it's safe to do so, accept it). The reward is nothing great, just a Thunderbolt Armlet. If you want to do it (why not, after all), wait until after you killed most of the enemies, so it's safe.
Normally, the best course of action would be to kill all the enemies first, and then safely deactivate the tower. In this case, however, what you want to do is a bit sneakier.
There will be some "gatling-gun" enemies (Heavy Gunners) and some regular Imperial Troopers spawning and respawning in the main part of this area. The Heavy Gunners, despite the name, are not your main concern (they won't one-shot-kill you); the Imperial Troopers are (they deal extremely high damage, most likely one-shot-kill). Moreover, there is a respawning Imperial Trooper on the right side, beyond a wall, which can only be targeted with a ranged character.
What you want to do is this: first of all, run with your dummy character to the antenna, and immediately press the confirmation button to close the annoying "tutorial" box that pops up, so it won't pop up later in the middle of the action while you're using Trey. Then ignore the tower for now, head back to the entrance of this area, and switch to Trey (if the dummy dies on the way, switch to Trey to do what I just said; he will be Invincible for a few seconds after you deploy him, so you should be able to make it back and forth safely).
With Trey, stay near the entrance of this area (out of the range of the Imperial Troopers hiding behind the walls on the right side), and use your charged shot or Killsights to kill the Imperial Trooper on the main part of this area. Try your best not to kill the Heavy Gunners, because they will respawn near the entrance where you are. When the first Imperial Trooper dies, wait for him to respawn; kill the next Imperial Trooper; then let him respawn, then kill again. After killing 3x of them, they shouldn't spawn anymore (the Heavy Gunners are still around though).
Now make a run for the communication tower, hide beyond it, and turn around (face west). In this position (between the antenna and the eastern wall) you should be somewhat safe from the enemies in the main part of the area. The only problem now will be the Imperial Trooper on your left (south), but you can deal with him easily with some charged shots and/or Killsight. You may also want to use Trey's Concentrate ability to boost his damage output, but Killsights should do the job just fine. You need to kill the first one, then two more respawns before they stop coming.
After killing the Imperial Troopers, accept the SO if you haven't already, and then examine the antenna and wait for it to deactivate (hide behind it).
When the antenna is destroyed, some friendly Bomb enemies will spawn in the area, along with more soldier enemies. Ignore the enemies, and just run back to the previous area.
[4] Mi-Go Midtown (orange area east)
Go north now.
[6] Mi-Go Midtown (area northeast)
This area is a bit of a small maze, so read carefully.
From where you start, go immediately left, and then turn right up a slope. As you go up, there will be a crossroad with an Autoturret in the middle. Ignore the turret, and proceed forward up the slope. At the end of the slope, follow the only possible path to the left to reach the next area.
For the record, there is an item on the ground. As usual, I suggest that you ignore it. If you want to get it though, from where you enter you need to go forward up the slope, and turn right at the top to find Aes Medica/Ferrum Medica on the ground.
[7] Plaza
Go forward from where you enter (so go west).
[8] Mi-Go Midtown (area northwest)
Another antenna here.
First of all, ignore the enemies on the lower level, and instead go close to the enemies on the upper ledge (go up the slope on the left side). Kill these two enemies first (they won't respawn), and then focus on killing every other enemy on the ground. Killsights shouldn't be too hard to accomplish, but Trey might very well die at this point. It's ok though; he did his part, and now any other melee (or ranged) character can deal with the rest of this mission.
Personally, I suggest using Jack at this point, since his counter is the fastest of all the characters, and therefore the most reliable as well. After Jack (assuming he dies at some point), go through the list of your reserves (in no particular order, although I would try to save the ranged characters for last since they'll make things slightly easier later), trying to avoid losing them, and clean up the area of all enemies with Killsights. When it's finally clear (the word VICTORY will appear on screen; enemies will respawn for a while, but it will be over sooner than later), deactivate the turret in all safety.
Friendly Bombs will spawn again; then proceed south (follow the yellow marker).
[9] Mi-Go Midtown (area south of the northwestern one)
SO (1'). Read below for requirement/explanation. Reward: Sentinel Emblem.
Another sort-of-a-maze area. Go forward, then turn right (only possible path) down a slope. Go all the way down the slope, and then left (south, where the marker points) to exit.
For the record, there is an SO here for killing all the (just two, actually) Shock Troopers. You really shouldn't (potentially) waste characters with this SO (the reward is a Sentinel Emblem), so it's best to ignore it. Truth be told though, they die quite fast at the end of the SP characters (plus you can Killsight them while they're busy attacking SP units), so it's not a very hard SO.
Also just for the record, there is an item (Aes Medica/Ferrum Medica) on the ground. To find it, after you go all the way down the slope, go right instead of left.
[10] Mi-Go Midtown (middle west area)
The final antenna is here. There will be enemies on the ground and enemies on balconies. My advice here is to kill the enemies on the ground (with Killsights, as usual) and completely ignore those on the balcony. When the enemies on the ground are dead (they may slowly respawn, but you should be fine at that point), "confirm" on the turret to start the deactivation process, and then simply run in circles around the turret to avoid the bullets from the enemies on the balconies (it should work quite well). If any enemy on the ground has respawned and approaches you, you should manage to land a Killsight on him while still staying in the "deactivation circle" around the turret.
After the third and final turret is deactivated, the final part of the mission will begin. Now you'll have to deal with groups of soldiers and 3 MAs, one of which is always a leader (focus on the leader). Thankfully these enemies are easily killed (and they don't kill you as easily as regular soldiers), since they typically use their "throw-themselves-at-you" dash attack, which is very slow and predictable, and always offers a Breaksight chance afterwards. They also have other attacks though; the most popular one will be a "fire-breath" attack that also offers a Breaksight after a few instants (the Breaksight is during the attack). The Bomb friendly-foes will also assist you in fighting (and they actually do a good job). Lastly, usually after the fire-breath attack, they can "stomp" the ground around them (this will happen after they appear surrounded by steam for a few seconds). The fire-breath Breaksight is very easy to exploit with ranged characters (so at this point it might be worth deploying one among Ace, King, Cater); the dash-attack Breaksight is easily done with ranged/melee characters alike. Really, just choose a character you are comfortable with, and stick with him/her for Breaksights.
After clearing this area, you need to reach the other two areas. Again, be careful of where you go, because you don't want to visit unnecessary areas. In particular, you want to exit south at this point (you may have to break through some Barricades on the way).
[11] Mi-Go Midtown (area north of the southwestern one)Go forward, then left to follow the path up the slope. At the crossroad with an Autoturret in the middle, proceed forward all the way up the slope until you exit east.
For the record, there is an item (Aes Medica/Ferrum Medica) on the ground. To find it (but I urge you to ignore it!), at the "crossroad-Autoturret" you need to right and then all the way to the end of the path.
[2] Town Square
SO (3'): kill the enemy Leader with your Active character. Reward: Platinum Deck (Ace's weapon).
I suggest you to do it to receive the Platinum Deck weapon for Ace (which is actually quite strong, and might come in handy in the future).
Now you have to return to the Plaza area, basically following the same path you took to get there the first time. I'll write down directions just in case.
From Town Square, go east (NOT where the marker is pointing!).
[3] Mi-Go Midtown (southeast)
Follow the path forward, then left, and then continue all the way up the slope.
[4] Mi-Go Midtown (orange area east)
Go north.
[6] Mi-Go Midtown (northeast)
Go immediately left; then take the next turn right up the slope, and go all the way to the end of the slope.
[7] Plaza
SO (5'). Read below for requirements/strategy. Reward: Blaze Armlet.
The last MA leader is here.
There is an SO here for making any of your "Bomb" allies defeat any of the enemies. You can damage the enemies; your allies just need to deal the finishing blow. It's somewhat random, honestly, and the reward is just a Blaze Armlet anyway, so you should probably ignore it this time through. If you want to do it, take down one of the non-leader enemies to the last of his health bars, and then wait for a Bomb friendly monster to explode, taking the enemy down with him. If it works, the SO will be completed.
After this, the mission will finally be over!
Trial Reward: eidolon Firebrand.

World Map

If you did the previous Trial, your reward is the Firebrand Eidolon, an extremely (at this point of the game anyway) strong Eidolon. He belongs to the "Ifrit Class" (if you didn't notice yet, the Eidolons have "classes". The Eidolons of a same class share the same appearence and general features, but they differ from abilities and stats), and starts at level 56. Level FIFTY-SIX means that it will annihilate the large majority of enemies (bosses included) in the game, even in the upcoming Expert Trials. Despite this, believe it or not, there will be even better Eidolons later on (one, mostly). At any rate, with Firebrand available, combined with Rem's Undying Wish ability (which grants Reraise for the small fee of a few AG points) which means you can summon it multiple times without actually losing the summoner character, you are now almost unstoppable for any situation where summons are available. We'll "test" Firebrand in the upcoming Expert Trials, and rely extensively on him to assist us in the toughest situations.

Mi-Go
In general, whenever you complete Trials that unlock towns, in reality you are just unlocking those towns earlier than they would be unlocked during the story (if you progressed with the story enough, Mi-Go would have been unlocked regardless of the Expert Trials you did). It's nice to unlock these towns ahead of time though, as an added bonus for completing the Expert Trials.
In Mi-Go there are two shops, an l'Cie Crystal, and a Task.
The first shop sells gift for Emina, while the other one has various items including new "Greens" for Chocobo Breeding. You probably have enough money to buy the following, after the previous mission:
- Tea Set (2,000 Gil)
- Perfume Set (3,000 Gil)
- Tantal Greens (100 Gil); buy 5x of these
- Pahsana Greens (100 Gil); buy 5x of these
One of the shops also offers Teleport Stones (2,000 Gil), should you need to restock, as well as some decent (but expensive) accessories.
The Tantal Greens and Pahsana Greens will come in handy later (much later, actually), so buy about 5x of each if you can afford them (they are just 100 Gil each). Other than that, I suggest saving money (you'll need quite a bit of Gil later on) and ignoring everything, except the two aforementioned gifts and greens (buy the Tea Set and the Perfume Set; buy 5x Tantal Greens and 5x Pahsana Greens).
1. Dam-sir in Distress (optional; we'll do it later, since now we are busy with the Task "Secret Agent Agito II" from Akademeia)
Moto @Mi-Go. Request: defeat 10x Hundlegs. Reward: Aegis Tertia, Vol. II
The Hundlegs required for this mission are found in the plains of the Togoreth Region. I'll remind you to do this Task later on.
The miniquest for the l'Cie Crystal here consists in speaking with the four men in a small circle, in a corner of the area. Give them these replies:
- Just be casual with her
- Get a wild and sexy tan
- Smart colors, like a suave navy
- With a friendly "Heya!"
Then speak with one of them (it should be the one near the Task NPC) again to receive the l'Cie Yuka's Crystal.
In case you're wondering, if you give the wrong answer you can speak with them again afterwards, and they'll ask you again if they should stick with the choice you first gave, or rather change it to the other option (so if you pick the wrong option, don't worry -- you can "correct" your decision right after).
When that's done, we can return to Akademeia.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 1d 8h

New feature: Airship service!
After Mi-Go became available (via Expert Trial, or via story progression), the airship transportation system will become available. The system is simple: pay a small fee in Gil, and you'll be instantly transported to one of the cities you liberated. Unfortunately not all the cities can be selected (just a few, in fact), so moving around with Chocobos is still a very valid option (especially for the time being, since all the possible destinations you can choose are close enough anyway).

First of all, report Task 2 to Class Ninth Cadet @Crystarium to complete it.
If you couldn't do it earlier, also accept and complete Task 8 (the one for Tree Saps) from the Guildsman @Armory.

If you didn't already do so, and assuming you got it in the first place, equip the Platinum Deck weapon on Ace. This will probably make him the character with the highest Attack for a while, even if he's a bit behind with levels. I still suggest sticking with Trey-Jack-Rem though, as it will pay off more.

Before you continue with the next Expert Trial, you should also accept the Task 5 (Dominion Officer @Central Command) and do it after the next Expert Trial (I'll remind you of it). We'll then report to Akademeia once we return. Also restock on Potions, if necessary. Then accept the The Keziah Diversion trial.
After saving at the Main Gate of Akademeia, exit to the World Map. Head for Corsi, and save in Corsi (it's the closest Relic Terminal before the Trial). Then exit Corsi, and reach your destination (follow the yellow marker).

Expert Trial - The Keziah Diversion
Preparations: this Expert Trial only allows you to bring four members instead of the usual fourteen (all) which we saw up until now. Therefore, choose very carefully who you want to bring (the strongest ones, of course). My choice would be the usual Trey, Jack, Rem, and then Ace or another ranged character for your fourth reserve.
The squad command doesn't matter for now.
Accept SP Support, as always. Any accessory that reduces Ballistic Damage is nice, since that's the typical damage you will incur in this mission.
For the record, my characters were Trey, Jack, Rem, of level 20 (give or take), with default equipment. I started with Jack solo.
If you want, you can also "test" Firebrand (he's in the Ifrit Class) and see how ridiculously powerful he is compared to the enemies of this Expert Trial. It's not necessary though.
Trial Start!
[1] Back Entrance
You must defeat the 3 enemies here to proceed. Focus on the soldiers first (try to get a Killsight by going close to them and waiting for their melee attack). When they're dead, "bait" (by standing close to him) the Striker to do his dash attack where he throws himself at you (dodge it); a Killsight will appear after he does so. Alternatively, you can slash away at his health with Jack.
[2] South Square
You must fight here too. There are some regular soldiers, some Shock Troopers (deal with them with Killsights, after they come in close for a melee attack), and a Nymurod MA. Kill the soldiers first, and then focus on the MA. The best (probably) way to kill the MA is by Breaksighting it when it does its "stomp" attack (it will raise on its hind legs, and then try to crush you). To bait him to do this attack, stand in front of it: if it uses the bullets attack, dodge or Block; if it uses the stomp attack, take the opportunity to counter with Breaksight/Killsight.
[3] South Street
Kill some regular enemies to start (you can ignore them, but you may have to deal with them later if you do so), and then head down the street. A leader Colossus (Lieutenant Colonel Lindemann) will appear along some other minions "Martinets". This is where you definitely want Trey instead of Jack: Jack is too slow and will probably get killed in the skirmish (when he does, replace him with Trey). Trey, on the other hand, should charge his shots from a safe distance (hopefully the SP characters will keep the Martinets busy for you), constantly moving left and right to avoid any incoming attack, and wait for a Breaksight on the Colossu (the leader).
Breaksight occurs in various moments. The most common one will be when colossus charge a shot with its left arm (watch him a few times and you'll learn the pattern). Definitely ignore the Martinets, and focus everything on the leader. When the leader goes down (about 5 Breaksights), the mission will be complete.
Trial Reward: spell Bio.

Keziah
In Keziah there is a shop selling various accessories (nothing noteworthy) and Gysahl Greens. No need to buy anything here though. There is also a Task, and a quest for an l'Cie crystal.
1. Tonic with a Bang (optional; ignore it for now if you are doing the Task "Monster Pursuit II" from Akademeia)
Nenji @Keziah. Request: defeat 4x Bombs in the Northern Corridor dungeon. Reward: 3x Blaze Armlets.
Northern Corridor is the dungeon located in the North Togoreth region, but it's currently unavailable. I'll remind you of this Task the next chance we have to clear it.
Speak with the Dominion Quaestor at the entrace of Keziah for a miniquest in town. Pick the first option when asked, and then speak with her again. You now have to deliver letters to the houses of Keziah, then report to the Dominion Quaestor for another letter, deliver it, report, etc. until it's done. In this order:
1. Cressida is on the left side (lower level).
2. Iona is on the right side (lower level, first house).
3. Anna-Lena is on the left side (upper level, second house).
4. Kycilia is on the right side (upper level, last house).
5. Thalassa is on the right side (upper level, first house).
6. Kakia is on the right side (lower level, second house)
7. Cycoco is on the left (upper level, last house).
8. Madeline is on the right (lower level, last house).
9. Marga is on the left (upper level, first house).
10. Last letter requires to steps. First, go right (lower level) all the way and speak with the blonde male Dominion Citizen at the end of the path. Then go to the upper level, right side, and deliver it to the house with the large gates (interact with the gates).
Report to the Dominion Quaestor to receive the l'Cie Lazuline's Crystal. Then head outside and north.
World Map
Go to the North Togoreth Region and kill the six Perkunas necessary for the Task "Monster Pursuit II". These enemies are "Bomb" type enemies, and they appear on the regular field (not in the forests). You can farm them easily just outside of Mi-Go. Since they are not very common and only appear in groups of one, try to chain four consecutive battles (not more, it's too risky) if you get a chance. When it's done, save and warp back to Akademeia.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 8h
If you did it, report the Task to the Dominion Officer @Central Command for your reward.
Now we have more Time to Mission than the time needed for essential Events for quests or Expert Trials, so let's do some other Events for this free-time break. The following Events have no specific purpose, other than completionism (do them for the sake of having them done):
- Do Event 5 (Class Sixth Moogle @Main Gate)
- Do Event 7 (Class Fourth Moogle @Airship Landing)
- Do Event 12 (examine bench @Back Garden; must be playing as Ace)
- Do Event 14 (examine door to Dr. Alrecia's office @Sorcery; must be playing as Rem)
Mission Day!
Speak with Kurasame in Classroom Zero, and he'll give you the spell Protect along with 3x Magicite items (which are key items you will automatically use in the next mission).
The next mission shouldn't be too hard, especially if you survived the two Expert Trials. Restock on Potions if needed.
Save at the Main Gate, then hop on a Chocobo and ride it to the Iscah region, where your destination lies.

Story Mission: The Infiltration of Iscah

Preparations: fire magic will be less effective because of the "Fog" weather condition in this mission, so avoid those spells for your main characters (though you'll probably just use regular attacks most of the mission, so it's not like you really need to check all your characters and switch their Fire magic for something else). Just so you know it, the Fog condition also prevents you from targeting enemies from the usual distance (you have to get closer than usual).
More importantly, make sure to have a character with Thunder spells for an SO at the end of the mission (Rem's Thunder SHG is good). Another SO at the end of the mission requires a ranged character, so save someone (Trey, Ace, Cater, or King) for the end (that SO is kinda worth it, even though it's not the end of the world if you miss it).
Blizzard BOM is probably worth equipping on your main characters (Jack and Trey anyway; leave Rem with Undying Wish and Thunder SHG) since it helps when killing the Flame Flans you'll encounter. It's not essential though.
Mission Start!
[1] Iscah Aqueduct UG-91
Safe zone, proceed.
[2] Iscah Aqueduct UG-92
Use the drain valve on the left side to drain the water (it'll take a short while). The first enemies will be found as you go up some stairs (nothing special), so Jack them away.
[3] Iscah Aqueduct UG-93
More enemies here. For the Flame Flans, either use Blizzard BOM (especially when more than one Flame Flan is nearby), or wait until they attack you (dodge to the side, or wait in front of them while you use Jack's Block ability) to counter for a Killsight.
Go right (east).
[4] Eastern Dynamo
Defeat a handful of enemies, and then place the magicite in its designed location (near a wall, follow the marker).
If you can be bothered to look for it, there is a Potion/Hi-Potion somewhere on the ground (on some stairs, east). Then backtrack to area [3] and go west from there.
[5] Iscah Aqueduct UG-94
Defeat a few enemies, then turn left (south).
[6] Iscah Aqueduct UG-95
Kill some enemies, and then follow the orange marker on your minimap/radar to find another drain valve. Use the drain valve, then take the exit west.
[7] Southern Dynamo
Same deal as the Eastern Dynamo, but with Evil Eyes instead of Ankhegs (no items in this area). Place the second Magicite and head back to area [5].
[5] Iscah Aqueduct UG-94
After using the drain valve in area [6] you can now continue downstairs in this area. Make your way through to exit north.
[8] Iscah Aqueduct UG-96
SO (1'): don't use magic. Reward: Ignis Tertius, Vol. I.
Easy, just make sure to wait until the SO timer runs out before you leave the area.
There is also a Potion/Elixir southwest.
Exit east (follow the marker).
[9] Iscah Aqueduct UG-97
Continue to the north.
[10] Northern Dynamo
Same as the previous two "dynamo" areas, but with Flame Flans. Place the third Magicite and then head back to area [8], and north from there.
[11] Iscah Aqueduct UG-139
Safe area with Relic Terminal and Recovery Portal. This is the only Relic Terminal of this mission, so if you haven't done so already, make sure to have someone with a Thunder spell for the final SO of this mission, later on (like Rem's Thunder SHG).
[12] Iscah Aqueduct UG-142
A timer will start in this area. It's a 25-minutes countdown to a game over. A very theoretical game over anyway, since the mission can be completed much faster than that. Still, don't leave the game running while you take a break at this point (and if you have to, pause it first at least).
Slash the enemies and continue north (if you kill the enemies "too quickly" you'll need to wait a few seconds until more enemies spawn; after them, the gate leading north will open).
[13] Iscah Aqueduct UG-143
Kill the enemies, then use the drain valve. Some Ankhegs will spawn as the water is drained, so kill time by killing them. When the way is open (water drained), proceed downstairs.
There is a Fortified Ration/Combat Ration to pick up, if you want, on the ledge on the east side (go up some stairs, then all the way left).
Your destination is on the lower level (a passage leading east to area [16]), but you can ignore it for now if you wish, and visit a couple of optional areas [14] and [15] instead. If you decide to do so, proceed to the northwestern passage (on the lower level) for the optional areas.
[14] Iscah Aqueduct UG-144
There will be 3x Flame Flans in a very narrow space -- Blizzard BOM works wonders here. Either way, continue on the only possible way.
[15] Iscah Aqueduct UG-145
There is a Diceraptor enemy here (nothing special; stronger than average, but goes down to Jack's slashes just as fast as anybody else). Southeast there is also a Knowing Tag. That's about it (not the most rewarding detour, I'll admit), so head back a couple of areas to area [13], and then proceed through the other passage (follow the marker) on the lower level.
[16] Iscah Aqueduct UG-146
From where you enter, go forward and then turn left. Follow the path around (head towards a blue energy wall, if it's still there), and keep heading west.
At the western wall some imperial soldiers will attack. Kill them to remove the energy wall.
Continue forward and left (thus going northeast). When you reach the eastern wall, go right and follow the marker on the map to find the exit (there is also a Knowing Tag near it).
For the record, you need a ranged character to kill the last enemy up on a ledge in this area.
[17] Iscah Aqueduct UG-147
Slay all the enemies in this narrow corridor to continue. You may want to switch to Rem for the next area (which is best dealt-with by spamming Thunder SHG), but it's not necessary.
[18] Iscah Aqueduct UG-148
Same as above, but be careful because the Martinets hit hard. You may want to use spells here (Blizzard BOM, Thunder SHG). Use spells freely, since there is a Recovery Portal in the next area.
[19] Iscah Aqueduct UG-149
Use the Recovery Portal ahead, but don't relax just yet -- there are enemies here, including a leader, so focus on him to end it quickly.
[20] Iscah Aqueduct UG-151
(yea, there is no UG-150) Keep going.
[21] Iscah Aqueduct UG-26
SO (2'): search the fallen soldier for an item. Reward: Elixir.
The item is the Sullied Ring, located in the eastern part of the area (go right whenever you can).
Kill the enemies and proceed.
[22] Iscah Aqueduct UG-27
Another corridor area, nothing special about it other the fact that Martinets here can only be attacked with ranged attacks, and there is a Shock Trooper leader (so continue until you find him, and then focus on him).
[23] Iscah Aqueduct UG-28
Nothing special. The Panjandrum enemies look like Fuel Tanks, but they won't explode when you destroy them, don't worry (well, they will explode, but the explosion won't damage you).
[24] Aqueduct Exit
Careful not to hit the Fuel Tank on the left when you deal with the enemy near it (beware also when you collect that enemy's Phantoma, since the Phantoma extraction will make the Fuel Tank explode if the enemy's body was close enough to it).
There is a Fortified Ration/First Aid Kit just beyond the aforementioned Fuel Tank (one some small broken stairs).
[25] Downtown Iscah
Recovery Portal here.
[26] Imperial Command
SO (2'): kill the characters on the high ground using your leader. Reward: Phoenix Pinion.
There should be just a couple of them, and they should be one-shot by regular (non-charged) Trey attacks.
Defeat enough enemies, and then a Colossus leader (Major Odilon) will appear, and a "red" SO with him. As always, if there are any "white" SOs before the "red" one appears, open the white one, Decline, and then accept the "red" one when it comes up.
SO (5'): use Thunder magic ("find his weakness") on the Colossus. Reward: Megalixir.
Just cast any Thunder spell (Thunder SHG) to complete it.
To kill the Colossus easily, perform a Triad Maneuver next to him -- Jack's Skull Splitter will take most of its health off, or kill it right away.
Mission Reward: eidolon Golem.

Chapter 3: Free-Time Break 2

World Map - Iscah Region
There are several l'Cie Crystals scattered around the world map regions. The first one we'll pick up is the l'Cie Rino'i's Crystal. This is actually pretty hard to see, so refer to the following image to see its position more easily. In words, if you look at the Iscah Region, in the middle there will be a brownish-patched area with a bunch of ruined walls/ledges. If you go south/southwest you'll notice some stairs to climb up one of these ruins (you can also go up the stairs on the ruins northeast, but there's nothing of interest there). Climb up the ruins southwest, and move around until you notice the "target" icon of the item on the ground (it's close to the western edge of the ruins, on top of the ruins).
Iscah
As usual, enter Iscah for some optional stuff. There is an accessory shop in town (nothing special), as well as a Task that we want to do right away.
WARNING: you must do the Task "The People's Hero" in order to initiate the reconstruction of Iscah, which will ultimately be completed in Chapter 7. From what I've read, it's enough to do it once in any playthrough, and then the reconstruction of Iscah will always happen in Chapter 7, even on subsequent playthroughs, even if you don't do the Task again on those following playthroughs.
1. The People's Hero (must do it!)
Mayor Aoba @Iscah. Request: defeat 2x Imperial Commander around Iscah. Reward: Sentinel Emblem; Atra appears in town (and the town theme changes to something more cheerful); Iscah's reconstruction begins.
The enemies you want are the Leaders of one of the possible enemy groups in the area around Iscah (I found them just north of Iscah, but I guess you can find them on any other plain nearby too). There can be monster encounters, and two types of humanoid encounters near Iscah (for now); one group is made of two soldiers and a Colossus (this is not the one you need; use Triad Maneuver to kill him quickly); the other is made of three soldiers, one of which is a leader called Imperial Commander (this is the one you need).

After doing the Task, an NPC called Atra will spawn in Iscah. He's a fully-armored guy at the end of the street. This NPC is the one that will retrieve the l'Cie Crystals you've been collecting, to tell you stories (so also unlock Rubicus entries) about them. Doing his quest also opens up a special shop with him, although the accessories he sells will turn out to be absolutely worthless since despite their great passive abilities they not only cost hundreds thousands of Gil (up to a million), but they will also shatter (= be permanently lost) after using them for a while.

Speak with Atra, and "listen to his plea". Then you can speak with him again multiple times to give him all the crystals obtained so far (it's not necessary that you do so now though; the reward will only come up once you give all of them). We'll finish his quest (give him all the crystals) only in the second playthrough (it's impossible to complete his quest in the first playthrough).
You may now warp back to Akademeia.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 3d 12h
Let's start with the list of possible Events, as always:
1. Mog Class # 1 @Classroom Zero: spell Esuna.
2. Mog Class # 2 @Classroom Zero: spell Fire BOM.
3. Mog Class # 3 @Classroom Zero: spell Blizzard RF.
4. Mog Class # 4 @Classroom Zero: spell Thunder BOM.
5. Asato @Main Gate: Hi-Potion.
6. Nadeshiko @Fountain Courtyard: Ether.
7. Kiyo @Airship Landing: Elixir.
8. Examine bench @Back Garden: Phoenix Pinion. Must be as Ace. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event.
9. Nine @Back Garden: Mega-Potion.
10. Queen @Central Command. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event.
11. Quon @Sorcery: Ether. This continues Quon's quest. (Agree to help him when asked)
12. Cinque @Armory: X-Potion. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event. This starts the Ryid quest.
13. Carla @Ready Room: X-Ether. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event. This continues Carla's quest.
14. Jack @Ready Room: Mega-Potion.
15. Class Seventh Moogle @Lounge: Ether.
16. Machina/Rem @Terrace: Hi-Potion. Must play as either Machina or Rem.
(17/18. Kazusa and Emina events)
Watch-and-reload Events:
5,6,7,9,14,15,16
There are new Tasks available here in Akademeia, too.
1. Sanative Supplier III (optional)
Commissar @Main Gate. Request: 10x Elixir. Reward: 5x Megalixir.
If you are low on Elixirs, a fast way to get them is by replaying easy missions and re-doing SOs. For example, replay The Cadets' First Deployment (there are 3x SOs: one for surviving the ambush in the optional area on the east side; one for killing the enemies in the area with multiple barricades up some stairs; one at the end for shooting the Fuel Tank).
2. Secret Agent Agito III (optional; requires leaving Akademeia; we'll do it during The Clash in the Caverns)
Class Ninth Cadet @Crystarium. Request: capture 3x prisoners by defeating enemy leaders in fights around Iscah. Reward: Flak Jacket.
The fights you're looking for are the same ones explained for the Task in Iscah, in case you're interested.
WARNING: like most of the similar quests, the imperial units required for the Task will leave permanently (for the current playthrough) if you proceed too much with the story or if you liberate the nearby areas with the Expert Trial "Expelling the Empire". If you want to do it anyway, the best time is when you go out for the trial The Clash in the Caverns (as long as you do this trial before Expelling the Empire), as I will suggest later.
3. Monster Pursuit III (optional)
Commandant @Central Command. Request: kill 15x Imperial Troopers. Reward: Protector Ring.
It can be done in the Arena.
4. The Phantoma Menace III (highly recommended)
Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery. Request: 1x Purple Phantoma. Reward: allowed to use the command Vermilion Bird.
You should already have plenty of Purple Phantoma (a few of them anyway) from the missions played so far. There isn't a very specific way to obtain them, but if you have none in your inventory your best bet would be to replay the first story mission and kill as many enemies as possible with elemental spells (Thunder SHG, Blizzard BOM; use Rem), without Killsights. Alternatively, the regular monsters on the world map, in the Rubrum Region, work just as well (you'll need to wait until you go out for the next Expert Trials though); again, kill them without Killsights, and with an elemental spell. Most of the times you'll get a Phantoma of the same element as the spell (for instance Blue Phantoma if you use an ice spell), but you will occasionally receive a Purple Phantoma instead.
5. Slayer's Spoils III (optional)
Guildsman @Armory. Request: 5x Light Feathers. Reward: Shock Shield.
Light Feathers are dropped by the "flying eye" type of enemy. You most likely have a lot of them by now. If that's not the case (I doubt it), farm them in the Rubrum Region the next time you go out, and remember to do the Task when you come back.
6. Mad about Ms. Tokimiya II (optional)
Enra @Ready Room. Request: give a Potion; must play as Rem. Reward: Crystal Shard.
For the record, Crystal Shards are used to upgrade the Vermilion Bird command. There are other ways to farm Crystal Shards (by defeating level-99 enemies; this is not something you can do now of course).
7. SPP Scavenger III (optional)
Administration Official @Lounge. Request: give 500 SPP. Reward: Auric Ring.
In addition to this, there are also two new Expert Trials to do.
First thing first, let's do some important Events (3d 12h):
- (This is not an Event) Speak with Aki and Fuyu in the Crystarium (on the left)
- Do Events 1, 2, 3, 4 (the 4x Mog Classes @Classroom Zero) for their rewards
- Do Event 11 (Quon @Sorcery) to continue with Quon's quest (choose "I guess...")
- Do Event 12 (Cinque @Armory) to start Ryid's quest
Let's continue with some more Events (2d 12h):
- Do Event 13 (Carla @Ready Room) to continue with Carla's quest
We also have time for a couple of "filler" Events (Events with no special reward tied to them per-se, but we have enough time for them, so let's do them anyway):
- Do Event 8 (examine bench @Back Garden; must be playing as Ace)
- Do Event 10 (Queen @Central Command)
At this point we have 2d 6h left. Let's continue with the Tasks:
- Restock your Potions supply if needed
- Do Task 4 (Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery) to unlock the Vermilion Bird command

The Vermilion Bird is the final possible command you can choose before a mission (other than Triad Maneuver and Eidolon). It's the weakest of all, it consumes MPs, and requires you to farm Crystal Shards (which can't really be farmed for a long while) to get a bit stronger. Even then, it's not really all that strong. All in all, it's by far the worst choice, and I never found a situation where it would have been useful to have it. Still, it's an additional command, so it's worth unlocking it at the very least I guess.

Do the other Tasks too if you desire (2d 6h):
- Do Tasks 1, 3, 5, 6, 7
Next, accept Task 2 from Class Ninth Cadet @Crystarium. Then we'll proceed with the two Expert Trials available, and then (with the 6 remaining hours) with three more Emina Events.
When you're ready, head to the Main Gate and accept the second Expert Trial, "The Clash in the Caverns" (don't accept/do Expelling the Empire just yet, or else the Task "Secret Agent Agito III" will become unavailable). Then save before heading out.
World Map
On the world map, reach Iscah and save at the Relic Terminal (it's the closest terminal to the next mission). Then head back outside, and reach the marked Rokol Caverns for the trial.

Chapter 3: Weapons of Mass Destruction (Continued)

Expert Trial - The Clash in the Caverns
Preparations: this Trial is actually very easy. You can only deploy four characters, but you can actually skip most of the fights. Even though the trial takes place in a dungeon, you can actually summon Eidolons (normally you can't summon in dungeons), so Firebrand (the eidolon from the previous Expert Trial) will deal with any problem you may have. And you probably won't have any problems in the first place, due to the fact that you can skip almost all the fights.
My advised team consists of Jack, Trey, Rem, and Nine. I suggest to deploy only one character (Jack for starters, useful for an early SO) and accept SP support. Also choose Firebrand as Eidolon.
Equip an Ice magic on at least one of your characters (all of them if you think that character might die in the mission), since there is an (easy) SO towards the end that requires an ice spell.
Trial Start!
[1] Rokol Caverns
Safe area, go on.
[2] Rokol Caverns
SO (2'): take down a Supersoldier with your Active leader. Reward: Mythril Gloves.
Normally I recommend against "unnecessary" SOs during Expert Trials, but since this one gives you Invincible status for 30'', I actually suggest doing it (use Jack to attack the Supersoldier closely; rely on Breaksights against his melee attacks).
[3] Rokol Caverns
You can (should) run past the enemies to the next area.
[4] Rokol Caverns
Same as before, make a run for the exit.
[5] Rokol Caverns
SO (1'): destroy the Autoturret. Reward: Gold Bangle.
It's not particularly worth it, but it's not too hard to be fair. You could simply accept the SO, run to the turret, and try to Killsight it (after its attack). If your current character (Jack) dies, replace him with Nine (who is also good for fast attacks, and therefore Killsights) and use the Invincible time (the free Invincible status that you have when you replace a character) to easily kill the Autoturret.
There is a fork in this area, too. You can either follow the marker to the north to reach area [7], or go east for a detour. Definitely avoid the detour, since the optional area [6] ...
[6] (Rokol Caverns) (east area)
...has a few enemies and a chest containing a mere First Aid Kit/Support Serum. It's not worth risking your life for it. Instead, from area [5] go north following the marker.
[7] Rokol Caverns
SO (1'): kill the enemy Leader. Reward: Mythril Ring.
This is the only area with a mandatory fight. The Leader is a Supersoldier, and there are minions spawning too. If you are starting to run low on characters, this is a good time to summon Firebrand (keep one character alive for the last SO requiring an Ice spell).
[8] Cavern Depths
Safe area. Examine the case in the middle of the room, and then backtrack all the way to the entrance. There will be an SO on the way back.
[7] Rokol Caverns
Nothing here.
[5] Rokol Caverns
Flame Flans will be start to appear here, but you can ignore them (do so).
[4] Rokol Caverns
SO (3'): hit a Flame Flan with a Blizzard Spell. Reward: Phoenix Pinion.
When that is done, don't waste any more time and just run back to the entrance (area [1]) to end the mission.
Trial Reward: spell Blizzard MIS.

World Map
This is your last chance (assuming you follow my directions), for the current playthrough, to do the Task "Secret Agent Agito III". To fulfill the request, fight groups of soldiers with a leader in the area near Iscah, for example on the small cliff near the city, and kill the leader only if possible. Make sure the other soldiers are alive; when you kill enough leaders with a total of 3 cumulative survivors still alive, the request will be fulfilled (make sure that's the case, by checking the Request after pausing the game).
When you're ready, save and head back to Akademeia.
Akademeia - Time to Mission: 1d 6h
Report to Class Ninth Cadet in the Crystarium to complete the Task "Secret Agent Agito III", assuming you decided to do it.
Then accept the Expelling the Empire Expert Trial in the Main Gate area. As always, restock on Potions if needed, and save before heading out. Corsi has the closest Relic Terminal.

Expert Trial - Expelling the Empire
Preparations: this will be an RTS Expert Trial. If you thought that RTS missions were easy after the first story-related one, this one will certainly make you change your mind.
In this RTS mission it's very possible that you will fail certain orders by Mog. Other than making the Moogle sad, this will cause you to not be able to control the captured Domains/Cities. This in turn means that you won't be able to assign Spark Units against the MA units of your enemy, which ultimately means that it's possible to end up in a situation where you simply cannot win anymore because you just don't have enough Spark Units (if any at all) to push the enemy back. For this reason, you need to be very, very careful with what you do. Hopefully following my instructions one by one will be enough.
Preparation-wise, Trey is a must in this mission. You also want to have a bunch of items in your inventory that give the status Aura. Although this is not strictly necessary, it will definitely make things easier. Thankfully, the very common Fire Shard item (which can be farmed from the weak Bomb enemies in the Rubrum Region, and even the Corsi Cave) gets the job done just fine (by this point I personally had over 20x of them, and we really only need one for this mission). Trey MUST have the ability MAX Charge for his charged shot ability. If he doesn't, your possibilities here are much more limited, but you're not necessarily doomed yet.
The next-best thing after Trey is Rem with Thunder (or Thundara, or Thundaga) SHG, enhanced by the Trance (and possibly Quick too) status (use some Flan Ooze dropped by Aqua Flans in Rubrum Region to apply both statuses). Although it's not as good as Trey's charged shot, the fact that "friendly" Domains/cities regenerate your MP, combined with the high Magic Power and MP of Rem's, should be enough to make it work in a pinch.
The Eidolon Firebrand will make the "town invasion" parts significantly easier, and I'm going to assume that you obtained it. If not, you can still complete this trial, but you'll have to work for it with a lot of Killsights and Breaksights. Although, to be honest, at this point I really think that your best course of action if you don't have Firebrand is to simply reload an earlier save and go do the trial United Front to acquire this very powerful Eidolon (he's not essential in this trial, but he pretty much will be in the upcoming ones).
EVERY detail is key in RTS missions (the Expert Trial ones anyway), so make sure you're following exactly what I say.
Deploy Trey as your Active character. For the record, my Trey at this point was level 23 (and I tested the "Rem strategy" with Thunder SHG when Rem was at level 23 too).
Trial Start!
I have a video of this mission if you'd like to see how to proceed:
RTS - Part I
1. Immediately as the mission starts and you gain control, press Start to open the menu and use a Fire Shard on Trey to give him Aura (this doubles his physical damage output). Then immediately start charging his shot.
2. Use charged shots on the Mid-Sized Carrier attacking Domain 1. The carrier should go down with 2 Fully Charged Shots plus "some" (the amount depends on how strong your Trey is) additional non-charged (or partially-charged) shots.
3. As soon as the carrier is shot down, use Charged shots against the Infantry units attacking Domain 1. Depending on your Trey's strength (and a bit of random luck), you may need to use a second Fire Shard to buff Trey's attack again. Do whatever you can to kill Infantry units as fast as possible. You only need to hold on until the timer on the right side of your screen goes to zero. At that point, even though we still have a long way to go, you can catch your breath since the worst part is over.
NOTE: the previous part is slightly luck-dependent, in the sense that to kill the carrier in few (3 ideally) charged shots, each shot needs to critical-hit. While this sounds really bad, it's actually not that bad at all due to the extremely high critical hit rate of a fully charged shot with Trey's bow. In fact, it's far less common for his shots to NOT critical hit than it is to critical hit. So I'm really just mentioning it "just in case". If you're unlucky and one of the shots doesn't critical-hit, you may fail. If that's the case, simply reload and try again -- the chances that you'll be unlucky again are very slim, and you're bound to succeed sooner than later (probably on your first try).
ALTERNATIVELY
If you can't use Trey, use a similar strategy, but replace Trey's charged shot with Rem's Thunder SHG (charge it to Thundara/Thundaga only at the beginning, when you are still waiting for the Mid-Sized Carrier to be in range), and instead of using an Aura item (like the Fire Shard), use the Trance/Quick item (Flan Ooze). You should manage to save Domain 1, even if just barely.
ALTERNATIVELY
If for some reason this strategy cannot be used in your situation, the next-best thing to do is to use a chocobo to run to the Autoturret on top of a building ahead of Domain 1, completely ignoring the Mid-Sized Carrier and the Infantry on Domain 1. Use Aura and your strongest attacks on the Autoturret to take it down as quickly as possible, and then run with the chocobo to try to stop the Domain 1 assault on Domain 2. If Domain 2 falls, it's pretty much game over. If you can push the attack back from Domain 2 to Domain 1 and conquer Domain 1 back, then you can still complete the RTS if everything else goes as planned. In this case, however, you won't be able to control Domain 1 (but you can still control Domain 2 at least).
Now that you have Domain 2 (and hopefully Domain 1 too) under your direct control, proceed as follows:
4. Task Spark Units from Domain 2 to Rokol.
5. Destroy the Autoturret between Domain 1 and 3. It's faster if you use Aura, but if you're not in a hurry you can simply use a series of regular Charged Shots with Trey (it will go down eventually).
Now wait until your units take down the energy wall at Rokol. You can speed it up by re-tasking Domain 2 to Blaze Units after the assault on Rokol starts (and so the Warrior units stop coming out of it), but you might as well just wait -- it will happen eventually, even if you are still using Spark Units.
Rokol Invasion
Accept SP support when asked.
Trey is not really fundamental at this point anymore (especially if you successfully protected Domain 1 and 2, meaning you can now control them both directly), but it wouldn't hurt to have him for the rest of the mission either. So if you can avoid letting him die it's better (but if he dies you should at least still try the rest of the mission).
The best way to complete the town invasion is by summoning Firebrand and let him deal with everything. The enemies don't stand a chance against Firebrand, but be careful when using him in the third area, because of something I'll explain when we reach it.
[1] Town of Rokol
Skip the fight in here.
[2] Town Square
A tough Leader (Imperial Commander) + minions fight takes place here. You can't skip this fight. Firebrand will make quick work of the Leader, so it's my recommended choice (summon him with someone else other than Trey, because you want to keep him alive if possible. Then again, it's not the end of the world if he does die).
Alternatively, you can try to snipe the Leader from a safe distance with ranged attacks (like Trey's), but the timing to land a Breaksight will be a bit tricky because of the long distance the projectile has to travel. All in all, Firebrand is just a superior choice (any of his attacks will work just fine).
[3] Angular Alley
WARNING: there is a special order from Mog in this area, which is easy to miss if you're not careful or if you attack with "too much enthusiasm" with Firebrand. The order requires you NOT TO KILL the MA in the upper-left corner.
Keep in mind that Firebrand's default melee attack consists of a single melee-hit if your target is close by; however, if your target is far from your current position, Firebrand will rush towards him for a charge-attack. While this is actually a nice way to close the distance between you and your enemies (it has low accuracy though), in this case you absolutely want to avoid it, because Firebrand might accidentally "run into" the MA you're supposed to keep alive, thus failing the order. If the order fails, you won't be able to control Rokol directly once you're back on the map for the second part of the RTS mission!
The best course of action is simply to approach the area Leader and use a regular melee attack (with Firebrand) when you're close to him.
[4] Town Hall
Exactly the opposite of what we said in the previous area, in this case you want to attack relentlessly to finish the Leader off before the summon time is over (no big deal if that happens, as you can always re-summon; that will cost you another death though, but then again you can simply use a "dummy" summoner like Deuce or any other character you don't plan on using anyway).
RTS - Part II
If you did everything right, at this point you directly control Domain 1, 2, and Rokol.
If that's not the case and you don't control all three, then there are two possibilities:
- If you control at least two between Domain 1, 2, and Rokol, then you'll have to assist them a bit in the capture of Limbo (in other words, you'll need to do some damage to the MAs coming out of Limbo, because your units aren't strong enough on their own)
- If you control only one between Domain 1, 2, and Rokol, then you should probably reload and try again because you are very unlikely to be able to support your units enough to push to Limbo (you would need Aura/Trance+Quick and strong characters)
Before any of that, however, two more Mid-Sized Carriers will appear on the map. One of them will alternate between Rokol and Iscah; the other one will alternate between Domain 1 and Domain 2.
1. Use Trey's fully-charged shots (no need to use Aura, although it makes things go faster if you wish to do so) on either Mid-Sized Carrier. Then keep attacking until it flies away.
2. At that point, ignore the carrier you were attacking, and go attack the other one instead. Use a fully-charged shot, and keep attacking until it flies away.
3. Then go back to the other carrier, and repeat this process until they're both gone (in my case, one fully charged shot dealt around 400+ damage, which was enough to make the carrier fly away immediately. After 5 shots, a carrier goes down).
4. Task all (Domain 1, 2, and Rokol) to send Spark Units to Limbo. Don't worry about Domain 3 being on the way (assuming you haven't captured it yet) -- you'll capture it automatically as the units "run into" Domain 3 on their way to Limbo.
With 3x Spark Units headed for Limbo, you will eventually manage to put Limbo under siege. This may take a few minutes though (you'll make baby steps with each attack, even if it doesn't look like it). You can significantly speed things up with just a few attacks on the MAs coming out of Limbo (ideally charged shots with Aura on. Any contribution you can give, even just regular attacks, will still help).
If you could only control two areas directly (so you can only deploy 2x Spark Units, and the third one is a Blaze Unit by default instead), at this point you need to use Charged Shots (possibly with Aura) on the MAs coming from Limbo to support your units. Alternatively, Rem's Thundaga SHG (in this case, make sure to charge to Thundaga to save MPs and HPs by dealing as much damage as possible with each casting) enhanced with Trance/Quick can also do the job.
5. Once Limbo is under attack, you can switch your Spark Units for Blaze Units to take down its energy wall faster, but this isn't actually necessary.
Limbo Invasion
[1] Stronghold Ramparts
Definitely summon Firebrand again here, since there are too many enemies to comfortably deal with them "regularly". You need to kill them all to continue.
[2] Main Gate
Depending on how fast you were in the first area, you may need to re-summon. Do so if necessary, and use Firebrand to kill the single Leader in here.
Trial Reward: eidolon Gigas.

Rokol
Even though our last stop was Limbo, Limbo is actually a "stronghold" and not a city, so you can't access it anymore. Instead, head for Rokol, a proper city.
In Rokol there are the usual features: shopping, a Task, and a l'Cie miniquest. As far as shopping goes, you can ignore the weapons and accessories for sale at the second shop (nothing worthy of your Gil), and instead purchase the following two articles:
- Potted Plant (5,000 Gil)
- Music Box (5,000 Gil)
Very expensive, but there isn't really another option to proceed with Emina's quest anyway. Then we have the Task, which is actually interesting because of its reward.
1. Challenged by a Child (highly recommended)
Nana @Rokol. Request: kill 6x Evil Eyes in the Iscah Region. Reward: MP Enhancer.
The enemies are found simply in the plains in the Iscah Region. Like last time, spamming Rem's Blizzard BOM when farming kills out in the world map is a fast way to do it. For the record, I farmed them in the "sandy" area just outside of Rokol (I also encountered them on the green patches though).

You can give the MP Enhancer to any character you like, but my suggestion is to use it on Rem -- it's true that she already has the highest MP, so you could argue she needs it the least. In my opinion, however, I basically never used magic with any other character because their MP count is just too low to do anything other than a couple of unreliable spells here and there. Therefore I personally prefer to make Rem even stronger and more reliable for magic purposes instead of trying to slightly improve someone else who will still be too far behind Rem to really be a good second choice for magic.

Lastly, for the l'Cie Crystal of this area you need to speak with the Dominion Citizen in the corner between the two roads of the town. He'll then ask you to "find some juicy secrets". Long story short, you need to speak with the Dominion Legionaries (wearing dark-red capes) in Rokol (all of them), as well as the Dominion Quaestors (dressed in green) near the entrance and the one at the end of the street. After speaking with all of them, report back to the citizen to obtain the l'Cie Maona's Crystal.
Then return to Akademeia.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 6h
With the little time we have left, we can advance with Emina's quest.
- Visit Emina in the Terrace and give her the first "Gift". It doesn't matter in which order you give her gifts, but what gift you give her does matter. Just like some characters trigger certain cutscenes with Kazusa, some gifts will trigger certain cutscenes with Emina. For now, give her the "'Til Finis Comes, With You" gift to unlock the scene "Prove Emina's Identity 5: Sheer" (you can double-check in the Rubicus, Annals of Orience section). Note that you don't need to move the camera around or watch the scene until the end; you can press Start at any point and it will still register the scene regularly
- Visit Emina again and give her the Hydrangea Bouquet to unlock "Prove Emina's Identity 4: Sheer"
- Visit Emina one last time (for now) and give her the Tea Set to unlock "Prove Emina's Identity 2: Sheer"
Mission Day!
Speak with Kurasame for a scene. Make sure you're stocked up on Potions, and then reach the Main Gate. Save here, and head outside.

Major Grinding Time?

Just for the record (and this time I mean it: do NOT do what I'm about to say), after the next story mission there will be a Task which can only be completed right after the next story mission. The Task requires you to have 255 Attack with any character you want. While unlikely, and I strongly suggest against it, it's not technically impossible to do it in your first playthrough, and it won't require you to cheat your way to level 99.

The ONLY reason why I'm even mentioning this is for people who want to complete the absolute maximum amount of things in a single playthrough. For everyone else, working on this Task's requirement would be a major waste of time. Also keep in mind that you can do this Task much more easily in your second playthrough, not to mention that the reward for this Task is a terrible (unique, but almost completely useless. It protects against weather effects in the game, which you may not even know they existed at all, for how much they matter) accessory.

However, if you do intend to do this Task on your first playthrough (don't!), then the best way to proceed is by farming SPP in Operation Reconquista until you acquire (120,000 total SPP) the SP Crystal. Then you'll need to farm 300x Killsights with a strong-enough character to unlock his Double-EXP weapon at the SPP Shop in Akademeia (the Double EXP ability is not the important part here; what matters is the Attack value of the weapon, which happens to be the highest possible on the Double EXP weapons at this point), purchase the weapon, and then equip both the SP Crystal accessory and the Double-EXP weapon to possibly reach Attack 255 even if the character is still around level 25.

Given that Jack has the strongest Attack value, and he probably already has lots of Killsights if you've been using him regularly, it makes sense to get his Double EXP weapon. You can farm SPP in Operation Reconquista as I said earlier, and Killsights in Operation MA Demolition (the sewers, where enemies keep respawning). It's actually not an insanely long grinding (most of it will be done passively without requiring your active presence; the Killsights won't take more than half an hour at the most), but before saying "meh, I'm gonna have to do it at some point anyway" remember that in Chapter 5 we will unlock a faster method for SPP farming, and that Rem will become the most important character later on (while Jack will become obsolete; therefore wasting time to get his Double EXP weapon is probably not worth it).

So, again: I absolutely recommend against doing this now, but know that it's possible. It's much wiser to wait until the second playthrough to do that Task, and that's how I suggest to proceed.

World Map
On the World Map, hop on a Chocobo and reach Rokol (now available regardless of whether you did the previous Expert Trial or not). In Rokol, speak with the NPC in the MA at the end of the street to start the mission.

Story Mission - Operation MA Demolition

Preparations: ok, this is going to be a long mission, and not an easy one at all. There will be a lot of tricky SOs, items, and tough fights (including boss fights), so prepare well.
Starting from the end, at the very end there will be a boss fight with an SO that requires you to land 30x hits on the boss. This boss moves fast and stays out of melee range most of the time, so the best characters for this SO will be Cater/King/Ace/Deuce (my preference goes to Cater for this purpose). The SO isn't very important (shabby, albeit unique, reward), but if you want to do it, keep one of those characters alive for the end.
Before that, a boss fight will be made easier if you have ranged characters still alive at that point. There are ways around it, but you may want to save at least one ranged character for the boss fight. The strategy I will recommend relies on casting the [Spell] RF spells (Fire RF, etc.) at least six times, so worst case scenario, at least make sure that you have at least one character alive with 150 MP (assuming your RF spells still cost the original 25 MP they cost by default).
Before that, an SO will require you to quickly kill some moving targets. Those moving targets are best hit with someone like King, so try to keep him alive until then. Alternatively (and this is actually the preferred strategy in my opinion) you can use a [Spell] ROK instead. You should already have Fire ROK-II from an earlier SO; you will also be able to get Blizzard ROK from the very first SO of this mission. If you have the Blizzard ROK spell, you won't need King anymore (but you'll need someone capable of casting the ROK spell 3 times).
Lastly, if you really want a challenge, there is an early SO for defeating the powerful Marduk enemy (which is completely optional). Most players will probably want to ignore him (and honestly, that's my advice too, at least for your first run through this long mission. It makes no sense to cripple your party early on when there are so many dangers up ahead), but IF you want to try it (possibly on a mission replay and not your first time through), then you most likely want to start the mission with only one character (Trey is probably the best one), and maybe even activate SP support, in order to minimize casualties as you fight the foe.
[0] World Map - MA minigame
Before the actual mission, there is a minigame where you control an MA Striker on the map, and you can collect a few items scattered here and there. There is a countdown in this minigame (the "fuel duration" for the MA), but there are also fuel tanks everywhere that you can use to extend the timer. Furthermore, the timer is extremely generous (you can check the entire area without ever needing a single fuel tank, provided you are running at fastest speed; click on LS to increase speed, if you haven't already done so). On the other hand, the items are not exactly what I would call "exciting" (common items, some mediocre accessories). Still, it could be fun to run around on the field with the MA and look for some treasures here and there. If you can't be bothered to do so, or when you're simply done scavenging around, simply proceed to your destination to start the actual mission.
Personally, I always found these (I read that the items are supposedly random, but they were fixed for me):
- Combat Rations (20x) on the northern side of a small "hill" on the left (south) side
- Ballistic Armor on the southern (southwestern) side of the same small "hill"
- Shock Buckler on the northern side of another small "hill" on the right (north) side

[1] Matériel Depot
SO (10'): don't trigger the alarm. Reward: spell Blizzard ROK.
The SO is actually really simple, but be careful. You probably want to set the lowest movement speed (with LS) for your characters, so you have more control over their movements. The status Haste, granted by the SO, actually hurts the accuracy of your movements (or it could hurt it, anyway), so it's easy to mess up if you're going too fast.

There are two possible ways to be detected (here, and in the upcoming areas). One is by the Nomads, which are floating MAs enemies shooting a green laser that they use to scan the area (and possibly detect you). The other way to be detected is if you step in the range of Panjandrums (the "fuel tank"-looking enemies on the ground; they are idle by default, but will activate if you get caught); the range is clearly visible as a red circle around them.

Attacking the enemies will also activate the alarm, unless you can one-shot them (powerful spells like Blizzard BOM, or Trey's MAX Charge shot, can most likely one-shot them). Keep in mind that they may respawn after a few seconds though, so don't linger in the areas after killing them. For the record, my Trey was at level 25, and he could definitely one-shot them with a MAX Charged shot.

Also, if you're worried about the AI stepping in the wrong place and getting caught, don't -- AI characters don't activate alarms.

You start in the bottom-right corner of the room, and you need to proceed counterclockwise to reach the upper-left corner. In order to succeed, all you have to do is let the Nomad run past you (he will go around the room counterclockwise, just like you need to do), and then "follow" it to the upper-left corner, where you'll find a corridor to proceed. To avoid Panjandrums, simply keep out of their range.
Once you reach the corridor, proceed to its end for a small scene. You're safe here, don't worry; so feel free to stop by and take a look at the giant MA that came in to say hello. When you're done "mirin' ", follow the marker to access a ladder to exit the area, thus completing the SO.
[2] Waterway Sector UG-1

All the "large" underground areas of this mission may feature the powerful opponent Marduk. This enemy is too much even for Firebrand at this point of the game (he's at level 79 if you're on Officer). The enemy may be sleeping, or he may be awake and fighting other enemies (flans most likely). Either way, you want to run away from him, because defeating him is highly unlikely to happen without heavy casualties, even if you want to commit with lots of Breaksights. The problem is (if you're still thinking about it) that this opponent has area-of-effect attacks (some poisonous bubbles), which are hard to dodge in such a small place. He also has a tail-sweep attack, which is sudden and even harder to avoid. Lastly, he has a series of attacks where he floats around the room for a few times, and then stops to make a swirl-attack followed by bubble-throwing. This last attack is the only Breaksight opportunity he offers (just as he's doing the swirl), but he will only start using it after losing a bit of his health (I think you need to deal somewhere around 10,000 HP of damage first. Or it might be after a certain amount of times that you awaken him). He does have another Breaksight opportunity after he chases after you spitting poison bubbles for a while, but it's very unreliable, so let's pretend it doesn't even exist.

So, just for the record, there is an SO here (either in this area, or in any other area where he might appear; it's random) for defeating Marduk. The SO allows 40 minutes to be completed, but the reward is a Diamond Bangle (HP +80%), which to be honest isn't all that great (it's definitely a huge upgrade at this point, but it's not like having it will allow you to survive impossible situations where you would otherwise be doomed to certain defeat).

If you really want to commit, it is possible (and not insanely hard) to kill him. In order to do so, you'll need to use a ranged character to run in circles while you have Marduk locked-on. Wait for his "float-around-the-room" attack (you can see AND hear him moving; he will "move" two to six times, then swirl (Breaksight now), then bubble attack), and then use the Breaksight to deal massive damage. Since you first need to damage him a bit before he starts using that attack, the best way to do so is by using Trey's MAX Charge attacks enhanced with his ability Concentrate and, ideally, also a Fire Shard for extra damage. Try your best to keep Trey alive, and play it safe, attacking Marduk only when you can. Keep running in circles, and eventually you will read the message "The Marduk has gone mad!". At that point he will start the "float-around-the-room" attack series -- use ranged attacks to Breaksight him when he stops moving for his swirl. Trey is not the best character for this purpose unfortunately (King's projectiles are faster), so you may want to sacrifice him at this point and switch for King instead. Ace also works quite well, and same can be said for Cater.

In case you're wondering about "what level should I be", I personally defeated Marduk in about 6 minutes (four to make him mad, two to take down his health with Breaksights) with a level 25 Trey and level 16 King and Ace. Trey did the first part (to make Marduk "go mad"), while King and Ace used Breaksights to finish him off (in this case their level doesn't really matter since they will do fixed damage anyway). Assuming that "going mad" depends on how much HP of damage you deal (and again, I'm not entirely sure that's the factor; it might simply be how many times you awaken him, regardless of damage dealt), in my case Marduk went mad when the ivory-colored health bar (the first health bar you take down) was about in correspondence with the "ar" of mARduk. Below is a video demonstration of the fight:

More importantly, keep in mind that in all the underground areas of this mission there will be INFINITELY respawning enemies. This can be useful for farming (but let's not worry about that right now), especially farming Killsights in a certain area thanks to a conveniently placed treasure chest. At any rate, don't try to kill the local enemies unless it's strictly necessary -- the best course of actions is to simply run out of this place.

Lastly, these areas are a bit confusing. Following the yellow marker is simply enough, but if you want to collect the treasures (which I don't particularly recommend, anyway) then you need to be careful which exit you take. So follow my directions carefully.

From the first area, go forward, and then turn right. You'll see two parallel exits. If you want some extra treasures (nothing important though), take the second one (the western one; it's the one where the marker is NOT pointing) to area [3]. If not, take the eastern one to area [6] to skip the optional and continue with the mission.
[3] Waterway Sector UG-3 (west)Go forward, and then you'll see two exits to your left. This time it doesn't actually matter which one you take, since they both lead to the same area.
[4] Waterway Sector UG-2
Our destination is area [5] (there are three entrance points from this area; two parallel paths lead back to area [3], while the one northwest leads to area [5]).
[5] Waterway Sector UG-5There is a chest in here, and a single respawning Flame Flan. The chest contains Insect Oil/Flan Ooze/Rigid Scaleskin/Support Serum.

More interestingly, this is a good place to farm Killsights. The farming process (which you don't want to do now, but you may want to use it in the future) is like this:
- Place your character behind the chest
- Wait for the Flan to attack you; it will get stuck before the chest, thus failing the attack and exposing itself to Killsight without actually being able to hit you (so you don't need to dodge; just stay safely behind the chest)
- Killsight
- Wait for Flan respawn and repeat

"Why would I even want to farm Killsights?" -- because at 300 Killsights with any character there will be a very powerful weapon with the ability Double EXP for sale in the SPP Shop (the one in Central Command, which uses SPP for currency). Now I made you want to farm Killsights, haven't I? That can wait though, so let's just leave it for quite a bit later (also, in my opinion there are better locations to farm Killsights, such as in the mission The Reclamation of Eibon, as we'll discuss later in Chapter 5).

Head back to area [2]: from area [5] go back to area [4]; then back to area [3] with either of the two parallel paths; then take the long path back to area [2].
[2] Waterway Sector UG-1
Back where we started, let's now take the yellow-marker path (the eastern one).
[6] Waterway Sector UG-3 (east)
There are four possible entrances/exits here. One south is where you come from.
Then there is the exit to the north, which is your destination (yellow marker leads here), and it's area [8]. Go there if you want to continue; if not, there are two more exits to your right (east).
Assuming you want to detour in the optional areas, take either of the two parallel paths leading east.
[7] Waterway Sectory UG-4 (south)
Other than the two parallel paths where you came from (you came from either one of them), there is another path to the right, leading to a dead end with a treasure chest containing Insect Oil/Flan Ooze/Rigid Scaleskin/Elixir.
Then backtrack through either one of the parallel paths.
[6] Waterway Sector UG-3 (east)
Now follow the yellow marker to exit north.
[8] Waterway Sector UG-6
Other than where you came from (south), there are two possible exits: one to your right (east), and one in the upper-left corner (northwest). The latter is where the yellow marker points, and it's area [11] -- go there if you want to skip the optional area [9]. If not, take the exit east to area [9].
[9] Waterway Sector UG-7
SO (5'): score 4x Killsights on the Flame Flans in the area. Reward: Elixir.
Easy; they even respawn.
There is only one possible exit other than where you came from, so do the SO (Marduk might be around too, so be careful) and then proceed south.
[10] Waterway Sector UG-4 (north)
Small area with just a chest in it. In this case you'll probably need to target an enemy, then use the RS_Up to target the chest in order to open it. Its content is the usual random item between Insect Oil/Flan Ooze/Rigid Scaleskin/Support Serum.
Now backtrack to area [9], then area [8]. Then follow the marker to area [11].
[11] Waterway Sector UG-5 (north)
Follow the marker to the exit.
[12] Control Room 16
This is a safe area with Relic Terminal and Recovery Portal.
Make sure to save the game, and then check your current status. If you fought Marduk you probably need to rearrange your party at this point. If not, you still want to make sure you're prepared. Although in the upcoming areas there won't be fights again enemies (unless you are careless and activate alarms), you still need the "right" character to complete a bunch of SOs.
In my opinion, the best choice would be Rem equipped with Blizzard BOM, or Eight equipped with Blizzard BOM. The reason for this is that you'll need to kill very weak enemies very quickly, so ideally you want either a strong spellcaster (Rem) who doesn't need to worry about MP consumption, or a very fast-moving character (Eight) with an area-of-effect spell just in case things get messy.
If they are both still alive (hopefully that's the case), just deploy them both, and for now use Rem as Active character (third character can be anyone). When you're done, continue.
Since the next section might be a little confusing (and one area, the third lab, is particularly tricky), you may want to check the following short video that demonstrates how to clear the next areas without being detected (or getting lost :p).
[13] Warehouse RD-1
SO (5'): don't trigger the alarm and reach the Sensor Calibration Lab. Reward: Phoenix Down.
There are no enemies here other than Nomads patrolling the room and Panjandrums scattered everywhere. There is an SO, which is easy to complete since it only asks you not to trigger the alarms (i.e. don't run in Nomads/Panjandrums). The only thing you need to worry about is going to the right destination (there are multiple possible exits).

Just for the record, you could take the southern exit to area [19] and continue with this mission, but that would mean skipping a lot of SOs and making the boss at the end of this mission even harder than it already is. Of all the "you could do this, but let's not" warnings I've been giving you so far, this is the one that I strongly recommend against (you just miss on game content and you make things harder. Why would you?). Maybe remember that you can do this for your future playthroughs, if you maybe want to speedrun through this mission more quickly, or just want to try something different in this mission. For now, we'll proceed as the game intended you to do.

In order to reach the Sensor Calibration from where you start, go left, then left again, then right (now you should be near a couple of Panjandrums), and then right again at the first chances you get.
If you get lost, the best way to find your way back is to head for the southern part of the room (where there is a large gate; if you go through this gate you will skip a big part of the mission, as mentioned earlier). From the "don't-go-through-it" gate, look north and you'll see a couple of Panjandrums on either side of a small corridor leading to a yellow door -- that's the lab.
[14] Sensor Calibration Lab
SO (3'): don't let the scientists activate the alarm. Reward: Sleipnir Tail (Seven's weapon).
The SO is made extremely easy this time because it gives you the Invisible effect. There will be two more SOs like this later, and they all work like this:
- Enter the lab
- Locate the alarm
- The scientists will try to reach the alarm; if they activate it, you fail the SO (and a lot of enemies will storm the area)
- After the scientists try to reach the alarm (but also before they actually reach it), you'll be able to destroy the alarm. The tricky part is that you can't destroy the alarm before a scientists makes a run for it (so you need them to notice you before you can destroy the alarm)
- After destroying the alarm, kill all the scientists (they get one-shot by any attack) to get a keycard and secure the area; then use the marked computer to continue
In this first case, things are very easy, so you can proceed like this:
- Take your time to locate the alarm (it's along the northern wall)
- When you've seen it, attack and kill the closest scientist to make them aware of your presence, thus allowing you to attack the alarm
- Run back to the alarm, destroy it (use a BOM spell to make sure you hit it)
- Kill all the scientists (no hurry anymore, they can't use the alarm at this point)
- Use the retrieved ID Card on the computer marked with an in-game icon
Return to the previous area when done.
[13] Warehouse RD-1
After exiting the lab, go back to our reference point, the big "don't-go-through-it" gate to the south. From the gate, turn around and proceed directly north. After going all the way north you'll reach a brownish container. Make a left turn here, and then you'll see a downward path on your right (one of the two yellow markers are here), leading to the next area.
[15] Warehouse RD-2
SO (5'): don't trigger the alarm and reach the Armor Development Lab. Reward: Elixir.
From your starting position, after accessing the main room of the warehouse (in other words, when you're standing by the first Panjandrum you come across) all you have to do is hug the wall on the right side and follow it to every turn to the right in order to reach the next lab (there might be a red-laser barrier blocking you; just wait until it goes down to continue).
If you want, there are two items on the ground, northwest: Support Serum/Strength Serum; Combat Ration/Fortified Ration. These can be reached if from the starting position you hug the wall on the left and just follow it all the way to the end. On your way to these items there will be a Panjandrum that really seems to be able to detect you if you pass by it. In reality, if you stick as close to the left wall as possible, you can sneak past it even if it will look like your Active character is partially within its range.
[16] Armor Development Lab
SO (3'): don't let the scientists activate the alarm. Reward: Phoenix Down.
This is already more complex than last time. Accept the SO, and then take a moment to study the room a bit. Instead of going right in, look at the lab through the windows on the upper level (where you start) and try to locate the alarm. In this case, the alarm will be placed alongside the southern side of the room.
In order to reach it quickly, make sure your characters movement speed is at max (press LS to change it, if needed). Then go left from your starting position (so go east) and go downstairs. As soon as you are downstairs, turn immediately right and head for the alarm -- the enemies will be alerted by now, so cast a quick Blizzard BOM near the alarm to eliminate the threat, and then retrieve the ID Card to use the computer.
[15] Warehouse RD-2
To reach the next Warehouse area you can either backtrack to the first warehouse, or go to the third one directly from here. Since there is no need to return to the first one (the yellow marker points there though), proceed as follows.
After exiting the second lab (where you just were), go forward and right until you reach the eastern wall. At this point, turn right again to head south a bit, and you'll soon see the corridor where, on the left, there is a door leading east to area [14].
[17] Warehouse RD-3
SO (5'): don't trigger the alarm and reach the Parameter Stabilization Lab. Reward: Elixir.
From where you enter, the last lab is simply northeast (go forward and right).
If you want, northwest there are two more items to pick up: Combat Ration/Power Core, and White Tiger Ale/Combat Ration.
[18] Parameter Stabilization Lab
SO (3'): don't let the scientists activate the alarm. Reward: Phoenix Pinion.
This is quite hard, especially your first time. The alarm is placed in the northwestern part of the room, but there are workstations (computers and stuff) on the way to reach it, so you can't just walk to it directly from the stairs where you come from.
The path you need to take is something like this (I suggest checking out the end of the last video I posted to know exactly what to expect):
- Make sure to know where the alarm is, by looking through the windows
- Reach the western stairs from the upper level
- Start charging a Blizzard BOM spell, and hold the button down to keep it ready for use
- Go down the western stairs
- Immediately down the stairs, go right; then take the first turn left, and then turn left again to reach the alarm -- unleash Blizzard BOM now
A fast character like Eight should reach the alarm before any scientist can activate it (I'm pretty sure other characters can reach it in time too; just don't use Jack :D).
After that, backtrack following the yellow marker to return to the first warehouse (area [13]) and then finally go through the southern gate.
[19] Perimeter
This is a safe area with a Recovery Portal and a Relic Terminal. If you changed your party for the SO earlier, now put your main team back together (Trey, Jack, Rem for me). Jack as Active should be good for the upcoming SOs (lots of Killsight-related ones).
There is also a Hi-Potion on the ground by a fence northeast.
[20] Corridor
SO (5'): score a Killsight on the Leader. Reward: Thorn Bow (Trey's weapon).
The SO is oddly hard in this case, because if you're strong enough it's possible that you will kill the leader with regular attacks, or with a Breaksight (which doesn't count). With the party I had at this point (Jack level 25), one Breaksight by Jack took the Leader to critical HP, so the next one was a Killsight. Don't kill all the other enemies: if possible, kill the Panjandrums and one Imperial Trooper, but leave the other one alive so that your AI-controlled characters focus them down and don't accidentally kill the Leader for you.
[21] Transport Route MA-1
SO (5'): don't take any damage and leave the area. Reward: Silver Gloves.
Go immediately left as soon as you enter, so you get out of the enemy's line of sight. This SO can be accomplished very easily if you know what to do, and you DON'T open it until every enemy is dead (don't even open it, or else you'll have to choose between accepting or declining).
First of all, you'll face an MA enemy (he's one of those that does a double "dash" attack before his Breaksight triggers), so deal with him (you could ignore him, but don't you think he should be punished for daring to attack you?). Beware of some rogue shots coming from afar in this first area, too.
Then a gate behind you will open, leading to a corridor with 3 more enemies at the end of it. One of these enemies is leader. What you want to do, ideally, is to land the finishing blow on the leader and then open the SO immediately as you do so. Remember that SOs will disappear if all enemies are dead, so you have to make sure to accept it slightly before the last enemy (or the leader) dies. I found that if you land the finishing strike, and then spam Select/Back to open the SO, even though the SO icon disappears from the upper-left corner of the screen you will still be able to open it and accept it.
Alternatively, you can actually efficiently run past the enemies (don't use Jack as Active in this case) and exit to the next area -- chances are the enemies won't manage to attack you, and the SO will be completed. In this case, I suggest accepting the SO in the area where you start, while taking cover on either side (if you stand in the middle, those "rogue shots" can hit you), after killing the MA. Then make a run for the exit at the end of the corridor, and maybe dodge when you are close to/past the enemies to be even safer.
[22] Arsenal 61
SO (5'): score a Killsight on a Shock Trooper. Reward: Elixir.
There will be two Shock Troopers coming in from the left near where you start. Then cut your way through the enemies to open the path to continue.
[23] Arsenal 68
SO (5'): kill 7x enemies with your Active leader. Reward: Fulgur Secundus, Vol. II.
Nothing special. The SO shouldn't be too hard, since there are more than enough enemies to do it (there are more enemies in the second room, in addition to the first ones; the second room has a leader).
[24] Control Room 21
This is a safe area with a Relic Terminal and Recovery Portal.
At this point you definitely want to have Rem in your party, equipped with Undying Wish. Failing that, the next best thing would be to have a "dummy" character to sacrifice. The thing is, there will be a mandatory death in the very next area (your Active character will be defeated in a scripted battle), and since you don't want to lose your best Active character, then you can either use Rem's Undying Wish (that way the fallen character will be revived without any losses), or you can use a "useless" character (let's say Deuce :D) to take one for the team and die in lieu of your regular Active character.
You could also use a Phoenix Pinion (or any other similar item) to cast Reraise on your characters, but it would be a waste of a precious and somewhat rare item that is best used in other situations. Rem's Undying Wish grants Reraise for free, so it's better; a dummy character's death is no big deal, so it's still better than consuming a precious Phoenix Pinion in my opinion.
[25] Transport Route MA-2
SO (5'): harvest 3x Phantoma. Reward: Glacies Secunda, Vol. II.
Defeat the enemies on the way and complete the SO while you're at it. Go down the slope.
BEFORE crossing the small bridge, use Undying Wish (or switch to the dummy Active), since it's precisely on this bridge that the mandatory death will happen.
Use Undying Wish or sacrifice a dummy on the bridge. Then feel free to switch back to your original, regular Active character.
Just so you know it, the score for this mission won't be negatively affected by this death (this death will be counted, but if you only lose a character here then you can still achieve the perfect score relative to this mission).
[26] Arsenal 71
SO (5'): kill 4x Shock Troopers with your Active character. Reward: Ignis Secundus, Vol. II.
There will be 2x Shock Troopers early on; then one more on the lower level in the next area; then 3x more (one of which leader) on the lowest level of the area.
On the lowest level you can also find a Fortified Ration/Combat Ration/Strength Serum.
[27] Arsenal 105
SO (5'): take down 3x Martinets with your Active character. Reward: Auric Ring.
A ranged character is better for this SO, but Martinets can come in melee range every now and then too. There is only four of them as far I could tell.
There is a Power Core in the middle of the room, on the lower level.
[28] Sentinel Hangar
Safe area with a Relic Terminal.
Make sure to have either someone with a ROK spell (for example Blizzard ROK received from the first SO of this mission, or Fire ROK-II received from the SO for avoiding death by Golem back in Togoreth), or a ranged character like King. Ideally, you want a character that has enough MP to cast that ROK spell three times.
[29] Sentinel Hangar
SO (5'): don't let the pilots activate the Colossi (except the first default one). Reward: Magnati (King's weapon).
This SO can give you lots of problems if you don't know what to expect/how to do it, so here's another video to show you what do to.
Accept the SO at the start. First of all you'll need to defeat a Colossus, which is kind of annoying, but not the main problem here. If you have Jack, thanks to the Invisible status from the SO you should easily take him down with regular attacks (do a full combo, if you have his combo ability) before Invisible expires. If not, you may have to fight without Invisible on; in that case, simply rely on Breaksights.
Switch to the character with the ROK spell immediately after you land the finishing blow!
The big problem will be after you defeat the first enemy. What will happen is this: enemies will run from their spawn position, on the upper level, to a Colossus MA. If they get in the MA, the SO will fail. If you shoot them before they get in, you complete the SO. This will happen twice in a row, and then a third time after a brief pause. To be more specific:
- First enemy will run on the ledge northwest
- Second one will run on the ledge southwest
- Last one will run on the ledge southeast
There are various ways to do this, but the easiest and most reliable is by using the ROK spells. If you never tried them before, the ROK spells work like this: you charge them , then a "crosshair" will appear on screen and will allow you to manually aim where to cast the spell. Then you release the button, and the spell will be cast there, with quite a decent-sized area-of-effect too. The enemies will be in Killsight status, so any kind of damage will work. With the ROK spells it should be a breeze (especially if you use Blizzard ROK :p) to hit the enemies in time, before they can enter the MA.
A few additional precautions you can take are:
- Don't lock-on the targets to make it easier to move the camera around and locate the enemies on the ledge. You don't want to be locked-on the Colossus either (if you're using Jack, just stand next to the colossus and hold down the attack button -- he'll do the rest)
- Before you defeat the Colossus, make sure that you are already facing northwest (which should be the direction you automatically face if you attack the Colossus directly from behind)
- Immediately switch to Rem after the Colossus is defeated, and don't waste any time with colleting its Phantoma
- Don't aim where the running-enemies are; aim ahead of where they are, which is where they will be by the time the spell reaches them (I can't give you an exact distance; it's something you have to "feel"). Thankfully because of the area-of-effect damage of the ROK spells, you don't have to be particularly accurate
- If necessary, aim slightly higher than the ledge where the enemies are to adjust the trajectory of the spell
Once you understand how it works, you should be fail-proof.
If for some reason that's not possible, your second-best option is to use a ranged character. King works well because he's fast and accurate. However, even he will have troubles hitting the enemies while they're running. Instead, there is a fraction of a second where they will stand still in Killsight, and that's just before they actually start getting into the MA (they aren't running anymore, they're just waiting for the MA to be low enough to enter). That's where you should strike.
After that is done, a small cutscene will play and then more enemies will enter the area, bringing a new SO with them.
SO (5'): score 3x Killsights. Reward: Medical Kit.
The SO itself isn't hard, but the enemies can hit for quite a bit of damage at first because of their Rage status (after Rage expires they will be in Killsight status though). Enemies will keep respawning until you kill the Imperial Officer enemy. So get the SO done, and then focus on the main enemy. I suggest waiting for the enemies to come towards you as you retreat in the back of the room. For the Imperial Officer, if Jack is still alive you can use the strategy suggested earlier in Togoreth (go right next to him, Block, then Breaksight). Beware that the Imperial Officer will blow himself up after being defeated (he won't deal a lot of damage, but still).
The Medical Kit reward from the latest SO is an accessory by the way, not an item.
[29] Sentinel Hangar (continued)Recovery Portal and Relic Terminal will appear once every enemy is defeated.
You probably want to switch to a single character at this point -- either a ranged character (if you still have one), or any character with the spell Fire RF equipped (any other RF spell should work too if you can't use Fire RF). This is to defeat the next boss. Do not deploy more than one character, as it will just be a waste and they will potentially die for nothing.
You also want to have a character capable of landing a lot of hits quickly ready (it can be the same character as the one with the RF spell, or someone else in the Reserves), for the fight after the next one. This could be Rem with Thunder SHG for example, or Ace with his regular attacks. Cater (with her regular attacks) is the top choice, if available, in my opinion.
[30] Hangar 9
SO (5'): destroy Brionac within 5 minutes. Reward: eidolon Rubicante.
The problem is not the 5'; it's defeating Brionac. First of all, the strength of the boss will be at its lowest if you deactivated its various parts in the three laboratories (we did so earlier), so hopefully you did just that.
Second, the boss can probably one-shot every one of your characters with each and all of his attacks at this point.
Third, the boss has a different behavior based on your position on the battlefield. The arena where you fight has a corridor in the back (where you come from, and where you start), and then a platform ahead of you. Now, I remember the first time I was at this point and I was desperate because I had no more ranged characters left to use Breaksights after his "close-range" attacks. Fortunately, the developers thought that you might have been without any ranged characters at this point, and they implemented a way for you to deal damage even just with melee attacks.
In our case, we'll do the simplest (in my opinion) possible strategy. A demonstration of the process can be watched in the video below:
For starters, walk forward to make the boss appear.
Then immediately turn around, and send your character in the bottom-left/right corner of the corridor in the back (run back and left/right to hug the wall). The boss will use an attack where he sticks his "claw" in the corridor, and then spins it around to kill you. If you stay near the walls in the back, however, you'll be safe.
After this attack, Brionac will use an attack where he "charges" some MAs, and then throws them at you. The idea here is to hit the MAs before they hit you, and this will cause you to send them back to Brionac, thus dealing damage and gradually stunning the boss. If you try to do this with your regular melee attacks you'll find that the timing is all but easy. However, if you equipped the Fire RF spell (and I assume any other RF spell will work the same), the timing will be incredibly easy, because the RF spells are launched forward and will hit anything in their way (so as soon as they come across the thrown-MA, they will hit it and send it back to Brionac. We'll be using this trick in a similar situation in a later mission as well).
Make sure that you're aiming at the MA Brionac throws at you, and not at Brionac himself (you can target the MAs when they're close enough), when you cast Fire RF. Keep the spell charged, and release it as soon as the MA is starting to approach you (don't need to wait until the last second. As I said earlier, you don't need good timing; just don't release the attack before the MA is even launched, and it will work). The best moment to release the spell is as soon as you see the MA going up (when it's launched at you, it goes up first, then forward towards you).
Also make sure you're close enough to the boss so that the MAs will actually hit him when you throw them back. A good place is more or less between the corridor in the back and the open room, just a step or two past the corridor and into the room.
After a few successful MAs throw-backs (the MAs need to hit Brionac three times; if you only hit the MA, but the MA doesn't hit Brionac back, it won't count. Sometimes you may need four, for some reason), Brionac will be stunned and will offer a few Breaksight opportunities in melee range. When that happens, walk forward and to the right, so you're in position to hit Brionac with Breaksights once he's stunned. When Brionac gets up, run back to the corridor and repeat the process one more time to end the fight. With the default cost of Fire RF (25 MP), this means you will need 150 MP to cast it six times (minimum amount), which even the lowest-MP character of your party (Nine) should have.
In order to finish Brionac you must Killsight him (if you can't seem to defeat him it's probably because you are not locked-on).
[31] Engine Room
SO (3'): land 30x hits on Nimbus with your Active character. Reward: Tiz's Prayer.
This fight can't be won, even if you cheat. The best possible result is to avoid anyone's death, which is accomplished somewhat easily if you keep running around with a single character (whereas if you have 3 characters, the two controlled by the AI will probably be dead within seconds).
There are two ways to end this mission. One is by waiting a few minutes (it should be 3 minutes); at some random point, the fight will end no matter what. The other way is by letting the boss kill all of your characters; this is much faster :p (each death will be counted for the mission score though, and you'll be penalized for it; assuming you care about it, that is)
There is actually another way too, to be precise: you can let him kill your Active character only, and then avoid replacing the dead character. Then wait until the game lets you continue. You still must have one death for this to work, though, so it's kinda pointless to be honest (neither you speed things up, since you still have to wait for the hidden timer, nor you potentially keep a perfect mission score, since you need to allow a casualty).
And to be completely honest, there is even another way, which is virtually impossible at this point: if you can take the boss's HP down to minimum level (you can't kill him, but you can take him down to 1 HP), the mission will also end shortly after. Again, there is no way (even with Breaksights) to do this now unless you have done insane grinding before this point; you may want to try it out in future replays of this mission (if you ever replay it), just for fun, if you ever become so powerful that you can beat the boss.
While we're here we can at least attempt the SO though. The best way to do it is with a fast-firing ranged character, like Cater or Ace (I prefer Cater here). You want to rely on this attack by Nimbus: he will summon "pillars of light" that will kill you on the spot, while he's standing on the northern side of the arena (out of melee range) or in the air in the middle-lower part of the room. If he does it by the northern part, rush towards him and unleash your attacks while making sure to dodge left/right away from the white circles on the ground (which is where the pillars of light will strike).
If he does it in the middle of the room it's even easier to hit him, because you can stand close to the wall (the pillars of light can't hit you there) and shoot him in all safety.
Another possible type of attack by the boss is a combo with some "light-saber" kind of weapons. After disappearing for a few seconds, he will then teleport near you and then chase you until you're in range of his attack. One last type of attack is a light-saber "thrust" attack. To anticipate him, it's useful to look at the minimap/radar in the upper-right corner, since you will immediately see him appearing and you can then act consequentially. In both of these cases you want to let him approach you (so he's in range to attack), and then immediately dodge away from him -- this way he will start the attack sequence while you're running to safety, and once you're far enough you can attack him for some extra hits.
Doing the SO with spells or a melee character is considerably harder. With enough MP, Rem stands a chance with Thunder SHG (which might hit multiple times, but also miss entirely), but any other melee character pretty much can't hit Nimbus at all, let alone 30 times in 3 minutes while staying alive.

In case you're wondering "what is a Tiz's Prayer", it's a special item that allows you to (rarely) receive SP support from a special character who will be named "???" and is in fact the "Lean Joker" (you will first hear of Tiz and Lean Joker at the end of the game). This item is really cool once you learn who they are, but practically speaking, that "???" character doesn't really do anything special (it's not like he's some kind of overpowered ally that can let you clear impossible missions if you're lucky enough to have him), so...yea, you have my permission to ignore the SO if you don't feel like trying :D

End the mission in any way you want (let him kill your characters/run around until it's over).
Make sure to save the game when the new chapter starts.
Mission Reward: spell Fire ROK.

Chapter 4: The Last Queen's Return to Oblivion

Chapter 4: Free-Time Break 1

Time to Mission: 12h

This is a very particular chapter and free-time break, because you are temporarily located in the Imperial Capital of Ingram.

Despite this, as you will soon see, you can still access the combat simulator (for what it's worth) and the "skip-to-mission-day" feature from Mog outside, and Aria's shop will be here as well to restock your Potions supply if needed. The Armory shop is also available (as if it sold anything interesting). There are also Events and Tasks available in the few areas you can visit at the moment; in fact, we don't even have enough free time to do everything right now.

Here is a list of all the Events available:
1. Trey @VIP Suite: X-Potion. This is a cutscene (so you don't need to confirm before the Event starts; you know the drill by now). This Event is only available before leaving the first area (*).
2. Sice @VIP Suite: Hi-Potion. This is a cutscene. This Event is only available before leaving the first area (*).
3. Rem @VIP Suite: Elixir. This is a cutscene. This Event is only available before leaving the first area (*).
4. Aria @Hotel Armada: Hi-Potion. This is a cutscene.
5. Piett @District 0709: Hi-Potion. This is a cutscene.
6. Imperial Trooper @District 0709: Ether.
7. Imperial Trooper @District 0709: Hi-Potion.
8. Jack @District 0711: Hi-Potion. This is a cutscene.
9. Cater @District 0711: Hi-Potion. This is a cutscene.
10. Imperial Trooper @District 0711: Ether.
11. Imperial Trooper @District 0714: Hi-Potion.
12. Eight @District 0714: Mega-Potion.
(*) Users DCdemonic1 and rpggamer29 correctly pointed out that these three Events are only available at first. Leaving the first area (VIP Suite) will cause them to be missed in the current playthrough (they are still available in future playthroughs of course).
None of these Events is really "important" in the sense that they don't belong to rewarding quests or anything like that. So you could choose any one you want to watch. My suggestion is to watch the non-cutscene ones and one of the cutscenes first, then reload the save made when Chapter 4 started, and then watch six of the cutscenes to continue (cutscenes are usually more meaningful and they are also part of the Rubicus). Or, as always, completely ignore the ones that you intend to skip and just do the ones that you want to do (then do the ones you skipped in the next playthrough).
So proceed as follows (12h):
- Exit the VIP Suite by speaking with the NPC here (ignore Events 1, 2, and 3 for now)
- Watch-and-reload these Events: 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12
- After reloading the save made when Chapter 4 started, watch these Events: 1, 2, 3, (speak with the NPC to go outside again), 4, 5
- Reach the last area (District 0714) for a scene; head back one area (District 0711) for another scene
- Do Event 9 (Cater @District 0711) (you'll understand the meaning of this one later)
After doing Event 4 with Aria, access her shop and speak with her again to receive Aria's Amulet, which is the promised accessory that required a conversation with an Orderly in the Fountain Courtyard a while back.

Don't forget to equip the new weapons (and maybe accessories too) on your characters: Thorn Bow for Trey, Sleipnir Tail for Seven, Magnati for King.

Also get any Abilities upgrades you want/can.

There is also a Task which you can't realistically complete at the moment (it is not technically impossible, just extremely time consuming since it would require dozens of hours of grinding). I'll write it down just for the record:
1. Flex for Her Majesty (skip it; unrealistic at this point)
Clemente @Ingram, District 0714. Request: speak with her when you have a character with 255 Attack. Reward: Draconic Gemstone.
This is definitely a Task for the second playthrough. I warned you about it before we went out to the previous story mission, if you recall.
It's not impossible to do it on the first playthrough, just far from recommended. One possible method is by combining the SP Crystal accessory with a Double-EXP weapon on a strong character like Jack (around level 25 will be enough to reach Attack 255). Other methods include cheating your way up to level 99 in the Arena and using the SP Crystal only (Jack has base Attack of 168 at level 99; SP Crystal gives +100 Attack among other things).
Oh, and in case you're wondering, the Draconic Gemstone is an accessory that nullifies all weather effects. Right hand to God, even an Iron Bangle would be more useful. Do not bother with the Task, really.
Lastly, a final note: this Task can only be completed once per save file. After completing it once, the Task giver won't be here anymore on subsequent playthroughs. She will still be here in the next playthrough if you don't complete the Task right now though, don't worry.
Once you're done with the Events, follow the markers on the map to continue with the next story mission.

Story Mission: Escaping the Imperial Capital

Preparations: if you thought the previous mission was long, wait until you see this one! Seriously.
Going backwards, at the end of the mission you'll probably want a somewhat weak character alive to do an SO that requires you to hit an enemy 30x times. It's unlikely, but if you are at that point only with Jack alive (or some other crazy situation), it's possible that your attacks will all be so strong that you simply won't be able to land 30 hits before the enemy dies. It's very unlikely though, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.
Before that, a couple of SOs in the second half of the mission will require you to have ranged characters (they cannot be done with non-ranged characters). You also need a lot of range, too, so Ace or Deuce or some RF spells won't be good enough. Therefore, keep Trey/King alive (possibly just keep Trey in your main party all the time).
Before that, even just to proceed you'll really want a ranged character in your party since you'll need to kill some airborne enemies at one point. Although they can be killed with melee attacks too, a ranged character will make it much easier.
All the preparations required are included in the Trey-Jack-Rem party, so that's the one I recommend deploying from the start. Jack should be good as Active for most of the mission; you'll need Trey here and there though.
Choose Eidolon Firebrand as Squad Command; this is particularly important for a very hard SO (Firebrand will make it easy).
Mission Start!
[1] Grand Foyer
SO (2'): pick up 2x Guest Registers. Reward: Elixir.
The SO appears after the first wave of enemies. The items for this SO are on the counters in the other side of the room (go upstairs, then cross to the other side, then downstairs, then you'll have access to them). Kill all the enemies first to make things easier.
[2] Hotel Entrance
Safe area with Recovery Portal and Relic Terminal.
[3] Hotel Armada
SO (2'): defeat the enemy Leader with your Active character. Reward: Vitality Apparatus.
The SO appears after the first set of enemies, when the Leader appears.
[4] District 0709
SO (2'): harvest 3x Phantoma. Reward: Elixir.
There is just enough enemies to complete the SO, so don't waste any. The Leader (Piett) will run away.
Also, in case you're wondering, Piett will always be here regardless of whether or not you spoke with him during his Event before the mission.
[5] District 0711
SO (5'): destroy the Mid-Sized Carrier with your Active character. Reward: Blizzard ROK-II.
Use Trey (or another ranged character) for the SO. With Trey, use Concentrate and then a MAX Charge shot to instant-kill (most likely, anyway) the carrier.
Defeat the enemy Leader and continue.
[6] District 0714
SO (4'): score 3x Breaksights on the Colossus. Reward: Rune Rapiers (Machina's weapon).
There is a Colossus right away, and then one more (the second one appears a bit later, as a Leader; he counts too). Killsights don't count.
[7] District 0720
Safe area with Recovery Portal and Relic Terminal.

If you have any accessory that boosts HP, it would be a good idea to equip them on Jack/Trey (not on Rem though). The reason for this is that you MAY want to summon Firebrand to defeat an otherwise un-defeatable (or extremely hard to defeat anyway) enemy. If you decide to do so, Rem will use Undying Wish to get Reraise for herself, so she'll be fine; the other two characters, however, might get hit by the enemy before Firebrand can kill him (it's very probable); therefore, to increase their chances of survival, you want to buff their defense as much as possible. You could give Trey the Gold Bangle and Vitality Apparatus, and Jack the Iron Bangle and Silver Bangle. If you have it, obviously the Diamond Bangle is even better.

Alternatively, and this is a preferable option, you could temporarily replace Trey and Jack with King and Nine: King can do Trey's work if you need to Killsight airborne enemies/enemies from afar; Nine can do Jack's work if you need to Killsight enemies in close melee range. That way, even if King/Nine die, at least you still have Trey and Jack for the rest of the mission (and as I said earlier, it's a LONG mission, and you really want at least Trey alive for some SOs).

[8] District 0722
Run forward to make a Leader spawn, then take him out to continue.
[9] District 0723
SO (4'): collect 3x Army Notebook. Reward: Elixir.
The items are located on the west side (on some boxes near the wall), in the middle (on the ground, between some grey metallic containers), and southeast (on some boxes).
For this area, if you feel like Nine/King just can't compare to Jack and Trey, you could use Undying Wish with Rem and summon Firebrand to kill the enemies more easily. Obviously this will add more Casualties to your score, but it will avoid a frustratingly slow progression (especially against the many Colossi you will encounter).
[10] District 0724
SO (1'): "monitor" Akkad (= do whatever you want until the timer goes to 0). Reward: Platinum Piccolo (Deuce's weapon).
It helps to kill the two regular soldiers, just to keep the area as clear as possible. Other than that, stay away from Akkad. You don't need to lock on him.
(Is it just me, or does Akkad sound incredibly similar to the Robot Devil from Futurama? Anyway, moving on)
[11] District 0725
SO (2'): harvest 3x Phantoma. Reward: Phoenix Down.
Since there is a Leader in here, make sure to avoid killing him until you've completed the SO.
Before you continue, read about the next area's SO!
[12] District 0726
SO (2'): score a Killsight on the Imperial Trooper. Reward: Elixir.
There is only ONE Imperial Trooper, right where you start! Suppress your instincts to kill him on sight until you accept the SO.
You may notice that there is an exit southwest, but it's currently sealed-off. Ignore it, and follow the marker to the north.
[13] District 0727
There will be a Leader and some enemies in this room. If you're fast enough you could kill the Leader, but you actually want to let him escape so you can do a few optional things.
Continue to the north afterwards and you'll find out that you need to use a Gate Key on the panel nearby to continue, but the Leader that just escaped has the key, so turn around and chase him down.
[12] District 0726
SO (5'): defeat the Leader (Colossus) with your Active character. Reward: Megalixir.
After the first SO, another one will be available.
SO (5'): hit Akkad with 3x spells. Reward: Phoenix Pinion.
And then another one:
SO (5'): score 3x Breaksights on Akkad. Reward: Buster Hammer (Cinque's weapon).
Note that you have Invincible for a minute during this SO. Breaksight occurs during his attacks (before his "skullcrusher" attack). Thanks to Invincible you can simply stay next to him with Jack and release the attack when you hear/see Breaksight. Try to complete it as soon as possible, especially if you want to do the next SO too.
And then a final one as well:
SO (99'99''): kill Akkad. Reward: Ribbon.

This goes in the list of SOs, like the one for defeating Golem in Togoreth and Marduk in the underground passages of Ingram, that you should ignore the first time through a mission. It's not impossibly hard, but it simply doesn't give you a reward that you actually NEED. See, normally in Final Fantasy games the Ribbon accessory is one of the best ones because so many enemies can cause so many annoying status ailments (like Confuse, Zombie, and so on). In this game the worst that can happen is what...Poison? Stop, which works for a few seconds? It's simply not important in Type-0 (at least not in the overwhelming majority of situations, including hardest enemies), and that's probably why there are so many other, easier chances to get a Ribbon (to name one, a Ribbon is given by the Moogle in Fountain Courtyard after 30 hours of gameplay). So if you have to kill Akkad here, don't do it for the Ribbon -- do it for your pride or for the thrill of a challenge.

Or don't do it -- do you even remember when was the last time you saved?

If you decide to do it, the best way is by summoning Firebrand. Firebrand's attack will mostly "Miss" for some reason, but every now and then some of the attacks will connect properly, dealing around 5,000+ points of damage. That's enough to, with a couple of summonings, eventually take down Akkad. It goes without saying that if you use Firebrand you'll have more casualties on your report (bad for your score, if you care about it); assuming you don't care about the score, use Rem's Undying Wish before summoning, so she will be automatically revived after the eidolon leaves and you don't actually "lose" her for the rest of the mission.

There is still a good chance that your other two characters might die during the fight unfortunately, but that's part of the risk when doing a hard SO like this one. Hopefully, if you're a bit lucky, the other characters will stay out of Akkad's attacks, and/or will still be under the Invincible status from the previous SO, and/or will still be under the Reraise effect of Undying Wish when they get hit. That's a few lucky things that might happen, but if you're unlucky, the price to pay for this Ribbon will be two characters that you might have needed for the rest of this long mission. Hopefully you replaced Trey and Jack at the previous Relic Terminal as advised earlier; if not, losing Trey and Jack now "in exchange" for a Ribbon is a really bad deal.

After doing the SOs you want, continue to the newly-available area [14].
[14] District 0728
SO (4'): collect 3x Railway Map. Reward: Stormwyrm Armlet.
One can be found on the upper ledge, on some boxes; another in the middle, on some boxes; the last one is on other boxes in the middle-southern path.
You can finally kill the Leader that was running away this entire time. Do so to get the Gate Key.
Then return to area [13], and north from there to area [15] using the Gate Key.
[15] District 0729
Safe area with Relic Terminal+Recovery Portal. Use them, then move on.
[16] District 0730
SO (2'): pick up 3x Formation Chart. Reward: Rune Daggers (Rem's weapon).
There are actually 4x Formation Chart in this area: one on the left on the upper level where you start (on some boxes); one in the northwest corner (on some boxes); one by the northern wall (on some boxes); a last one (not necessary for the SO) can be found south of the previous one, in the middle of the room (on some boxes, behind a container).
As soon as you enter the room there will be a 3-minutes timer, and you need to kill the enemy Leader and board the train before the timer runs out. The Leader is apparently out of melee range, but you can actually reach him through a somewhat hidden path. To do so, go down the slope on the west side, and then turn around and go all the way south. Look left, and you'll then see a small passage that will ultimately lead you to the Leader.
When you're done, reach the middle of the room (go east from the northwestern corner; then south when you can't go east anymore, and then go right (=west) to find a path leading to your destination) and board the train.
[17] Tiger Liner 703A
Safe area with the usual Recovery Portal and Relic Terminal. Get some ranged character (Trey) in your team.
[18] Tiger Liner 703A
SO (2'): kill 3x Imperial Troopers with your Active character. Reward: Icewyrm Armlet.
This SO will appear only in the second part of the area.
In order to proceed you'll need to examine some platforms to make them fall, thus creating a "bridge". After doing so with the first one, turn right and go down a small ramp to find a precious HP Enhancer.

The HP Enhancer will be here every time you (re)play this mission, and is therefore a valuable and reliable source of HP Enhancers from now on, provided you want to spend time farming it. Check the stats boosting section for more info on Enhancers if you'd like, and maybe the section about Aborting Missions where I mentioned how aborting a mission replay can be useful to farm HP Enhancers.

Other than that, you just have to make your way through the enemies to continue. A ranged character will help a lot against the airborne ones.
Near the end the SO will show up and there will be a Combat Ration/First Aid Kit to pick up. You need to kill every last enemy to continue.
[19] Station 3348
Safe area with Recovery Portal and Relic Terminal. Make sure to use the HP Enhancer on someone (ideally your primary Active character; Jack or Trey, preferably Jack, if you've been following my advice so far).
Also make sure to have a long-ranged character (Trey is ideal) in your party.
[20] District 3348
SO (2'): score 2x Killsights on Imperial Troopers. Reward: Firewyrm Armlet.
This SO will appear only in the second part of the area.
Kill some enemies to proceed, then more will come from some trucks. This is where the SO will appear. After the second wave, a third wave with a Leader will spawn. If you take the Leader first, the surrendered soldier will give you the MPV-A1 Trunk Key. Use this key to open the truck on the right and find two more surrendered soldiers inside -- one will give you a Hi-Potion, and the other one a MPV-B1 Trunk Key. The second key can be used to open the other truck, with a "surprise guest" inside (assuming you remember him).
Continue when you're done.
[21] District 3349
Kill more enemies here. An airborne-MA-Leader will appear; defeat him to get the MPV-A2 Trunk Key which you can then use on the truck in this area. This time the truck has a Support Serum in it.
[22] District 3350
Step into the street ahead and a sort of mini-boss fight will start. The enemy Vajra isn't anything special (for now anyway), so treat it like a regular MA and hack it with Jack's sword a bit. Before even losing one health bar, Vajra will retreat away, out of melee range, and it will camp on a building in the background. Now an SO will trigger.
SO (1'): avoid taking damage. Reward: Argentic Ring.
Very easy SO actually: Vajra will do a missile-rampage attack in the street where you met her, but if you retreat to the alley where you came from you will be safe from any damage. So just hide until the timer reaches 0.
After completing the previous SO, try to reach Vajra, and stay on the left side of the street. The street is blocked, but if you wait a bit, Vajra will blow-open a passage for you (she will destroy the truck on the left). Dodge her next attacks as you continue forward, and eventually Vajra will reposition herself on tall bridge (a railway maybe) ahead of you, in the background. At this point another SO will appear.
SO (7'): attack Vajra until it retreats. Reward: Fulgur Essentia.
Very easy with the right character; impossible with others. You need long-ranged attacks. Trey's MAX Charge, especially if enhanced with Concentration, will complete this SO in no time. It's possible to do it even with some less-strong characters like King, but obviously it will take a longer time. Note that you can take cover behind the barricades on the street. I don't know exactly how much damage you need to deal, but you have to take Vajra's health bar down to the yellow-teal bars (the last two). It's probably between one and half health bars left and two health bars left.
Note that if you want to skip the SO (or if you can't do the SO) you can simply let Vajra blow-open a passage on the right side to continue.
[23] A-13 Building
You can't do anything but wait in this area. You'll be attacked by a barrage of missiles, but there are some blind spots in the room (for example, if you run in the upper-right corner you'll be safe). After a short while you'll be able to continue, as Vajra has retreated again.
[24] A-13 Building 1F
Relic Terminal with Recovery Portal here. Switch back to Jack if you can.
[25] A-13 Building 2F
SO (2'): score 2x Breaksights. Reward: Gold Bracelet.
The SO will appear along the only enemy of this area, a Snow Giant. His pattern is like this: three melee attacks (a "clap" attack); then he will jump in the air (looks like he slipped on a banana peel or something) and slam the ground; Breaksight happens when he hits the ground. He has two more attacks, but you won't see them in this narrow space.
After the fight, ignore the marker pointing north to area [28], and take a detour to the left instead.
[26] A-13 Building Basement
There will be some Bat Eyes in the area. Kill them all to gain access to the next area.
A Support Serum can be found in the last corridor, in a corner. You may also see a Snow Giant fleeing into the next area -- follow him.
[27] Underground Storeroom
SO (1'30''): defeat 2x Snow Giants with your Active character. VERY LIMITED TIME. Reward: Thunder ROK-II.
I just wrote it, but I'll repeat it: this SO has a very short time span to be completed. In order to avoid failing it for lack of time, don't open the SO when you enter the room, and instead attack the Snow Giants for a while. When at least one of them is at his last health bar (if you're confident enough you can wait until they both are, but in that case make sure that you don't accidentally kill one of them while lowering the other's health), open and accept the SO.
To be honest you could accept the SO when you enter the room too, but in that case you would need a strong character (Jack and Trey with Concentrate definitely qualify as such, if they are around level 23+) to deal lots of damage with each regular hit (the status Aura that comes with the SO, even for just 30 seconds, will help). If not, you'll have to rely on slow Breaksights, which will definitely take longer than 1'30'' to kill both of them. To give you an idea, my Jack killed them both in less than 20 seconds (level 27 at this point), so if that's where you're at you should be fine with opening the SO right away.
Just so you know it, there will be two new attacks by the Snow Giants here. One is an area-of-effect punch to the ground, which causes some ice damage around them (slow and predictable) along with the Freeze status. The other new attack is a "rush-charge" attack against you (very fast; offers Breaksight, if you have a ranged character). At any rate, kill them to complete the SO.
If you look around the room you will also find 3x Support Serum.
When you're done, head back to the corridor where you fought the first Snow Giant and then follow the marker north (get Trey ready, there are some ranged enemies in the next area).
[28] Supply Route
SO (4'): collect 2x Supply Slip in this area. Reward: Rune Saber (Queen's weapon).
The first one will be found near the entrance, on the ground near some white boxes/green barrels; the other one near the exit, hidden among some white/grey boxes.
Proceed after completing the SO. You will see a Behemoth in the next room -- indeed, he's our next opponent. You may want to switch to Trey: not because Jack is a bad character against Behemoths, but because Jack might be too strong and you may kill the Behemoth too quickly to do both of the next SOs (#firstworldproblems).
[29] Elevator Lobby
SO (2'): score 2x Breaksights on the Behemoth. Reward: Ignis Tertius, Vol. I.
Behemoths are rather predictable, albeit very strong enemies. Get familiar with their attack patterns, since we'll fight a lot of them in the future.
For now, learn a couple of their attacks: the tail-spin attack, and the claws-combo attack (can be any amount of attacks, but always two at the time; sometimes the claw combo is followed by a tail-spin). After either attack there will be a Breaksight -- use it to complete the SO. The easiest way (especially if you are underleveled) is to stay away from him, and wait until he does his predictable tail-spin attack. If you have a strong party, use Jack and go stand in front of him; wait for his claw attack, dodge left/right, and Breaksight after his combo.
Another SO will trigger right after:
SO (30''): kill the Behemoth. VERY LIMITED TIME. Reward: Feathered Cap.
The second SO will become available after the first one is completed. Since the time given by the second SO is very limited, try to avoid opening it until the Behemoth is at its last health bar. As I said earlier, if you have a strong Jack/Trey you will encounter the opposite problem (you may kill the Behemoth too fast to even see this SO), but you may not be so lucky.
Piett will appear after the Behemoth is dead. He behaves like a Supersoldier, so he will typically dodge most of your attacks. Best way to deal with him is by letting him come close, and then Breaksight him before he can hit you. In case you're wondering, yes, he'll be here regardless of whether or not you opened the truck with him inside, earlier in area [20].

On a side note, if you get a Beast Flesh from the Behemoth make sure NOT to use it, since we'll need two of them for a Task later in Akademeia (we'll acquire more Beast Flesh in an optional dungeon, but since they are quite hard to obtain at this point you probably want to hold on to the ones you already have). Sometimes you'll get a Beast Horn instead of Beast Flesh; Beast Horns aren't related to any Task.

[30] A-13 Building Rooftop
Safe area with the usual Recovery Portal and Relic Terminal. You're going to need a ranged character for one of the next SOs.
[31] Emergency Stairs
SO (2'): harvest 3x Phantoma. Reward: Aegis Secunda, Vol. II.
Easy enough, you'll find two enemies at first, then a few more when you go down some stairs (plus some other enemies midway through, shooting at you from some buildings in the background).
Do the first SO and continue downstairs until you see Vajra attacking you from some far away buildings in the background. At this point another SO will be available:
SO (7'): attack Vajra until it retreats. Reward: Elixir.
Same as last time; Trey with Concentrate and MAX Charge is the ideal choice. You'll need to deal even less damage than last time to make Vajra run away.
[32] District 3352
Defeat a couple of Supersoldiers with Jack, and then continue. An SO will appear -- use Trey to do it.
SO (1'): use a Fuel Tank to deal damage to an enemy. Reward: U1-Shock Damper.
Wait until an enemy approaches a fuel tank (the Colossi should pass right by one of them just about the time when the SO appears) and then hit the tanks with a ranged character (a melee character can do it too, but he'll take heavy damage).
After the first SO, another one will appear.
SO (3'): collect the 2x Drill Manuals in the trucks. Reward: Elixir.
The key to open the truck (MPV-B2 Trunk Key) is dropped by the Leader, so defeat him first and then open the trucks where you'll find the required items.
[33] District 3360
Safe area with Relic Terminal and Recovery Portal.
For one of the next SOs you probably want to equip a [Spell] RF spell on someone (Fire RF on anyone you want). Especially if you are strong at this point, I also recommend using only one character who can deal little damage with his attacks. If you've been using Jack-Trey-Rem so far, Deuce fits this description perfectly, so deploy her alone at the Relic Terminal, and then go to the next area.
[34] District 3361
This is a boss fight vs Vajra. Not the hardest, arguably (and thankfully, after such a long mission). First order of business would be to do the SOs, so to avoid killing her prematurely you want to just run in circles until the first SO appears (it may take a while, but it will happen).
SO (8'): repel 2x Missiles. Reward: Silver Gloves.
This SO will appear at some point during the fight. Some people say you may need to damage the boss a bit first for it to appear; others say this is only doable before you deal too much damage, because then the boss won't use the required attack anymore. I found both things to be false (the required attack triggered at full health or at less than half of the boss's last health bar).
Here is a video demonstration, should you need it:
More importantly, it drove me crazy to realize it, but eventually I discovered that the regular projectiles that the boss fires at you are NOT the missiles the SO mentions. The attack you're looking for here is an attack where the boss comes to the ground level and then starts firing in all directions. In the attack the boss will also occasionally fire a slow-paced (maybe not really "slow", but I certainly wouldn't call it "fast), moderately-sized missile. The missile is considerably bigger than any other bullet projectile the boss normally uses to attack. When you finally see a missile like that, lock on it and cast Fire RF (I assume any other RF spell would work too) against it (it will be in Killsight by default), kinda like what you did against Brionac in the previous mission. Do this twice (she uses two missiles in each of these attacks, so if you're good you won't need to wait for this attack again to finish it) to complete the SO.
Note that the boss also has a variant to the previous attack, where she does NOT fire the "big missile" that you need for the SO. Trust me, if the missile is deployed you will clearly notice it.
A second SO will appear after the first one.
SO (3'): hit 30x times. Reward: Silver Bangle.
The only possible problem with this one is that the boss might die before you can land 30 hits. To avoid it, use weak attacks, for example King's standard attack or some weak spell (like Fire RF that you used earlier, maybe). If you're using Deuce, just play the flute while strolling around the arena -- if you can land a Breaksight, the boss will be stunned, allowing for an enormous amount of consecutive free hits (as well as a few more Breaksights).
When that's done too, bring Jack/Trey/Rem back and finish her (you need a Killsight to finish her).
Mission Reward: spell Thunder ROK.

Chapter 4: Free-Time Break 2

Deserted House - Time to Mission: 8h

The Deserted House is home to the most elusive (in my opinion) item of the game: some Gyzahl Greens. I've talked about them a bit at the end of the Chocobo Breeding section of the walkthrough. For now, know that if you have zero Gyzahl Greens you can find, in this area, among the bushes closest to where Queen is at first, a sparkling object which turns out to be Gyzahl Greens. The item only appears if you have zero Gyzahl Greens in your inventory, and only after the story events which trigger now (so you won't find it now). While it's not an important item per-se (you most likely have more Gyzahl Greens now than you could possibly need in your entire game), I can't begin to tell you how long it took me to figure how to actually get them due to the fact that everyone said that this item was supposedly obtained in a completely different way ("as a gift from the other Cadets").

There is a Relic Terminal in this area, and four Events for our 8h. Just for the record, you can leave the area to the World Map if you want, but this will cost you the usual -6h and your movements will be pretty limited anyway (you can't go far from where you are), so there is really no point in leaving.
Also, you can speak with Eight to skip the 8h and proceed directly with the story. Or you can just do the four Events, as I obviously recommend, by speaking with Cinque, Deuce, Cater, and Queen (rewards: Turbo Ether, Hi-Potion, Mega-Potion, Hi-Potion) in any order.

Remember to equip your new weapons (Rune Rapiers for Machina, Platinum Piccolo for Deuce, Buster Hammer for Cinque, Rune Daggers for Rem, Rune Saber for Queen).

After the scenes, the next day there will be the l'Cie Anshar's Crystal on the porch near the Relic Terminal -- collect it, rearrange your party if necessary (by default you are controlling Ace) and then exit outside. From the World Map, follow the yellow marker (you'll have to fight this time, since Chocobos aren't available) until you reach your destination, thus returning to Akademeia.

Chapter 5: The First Battle of Judecca

Chapter 5: Free-Time Break 1

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 4d 12h
List of the Events:
1. Mog Class # 1 @Classroom Zero: 40,000 Exp
2. Mog Class # 2 @Classroom Zero: Magic Power +1
3. Mog Class # 3 @Classroom Zero: HP +50
4. Mog Class # 4 @Classroom Zero: MP +10
5. Ryo @Airship Landing: Elixir.
6. Ryid @Airship Landing: Ether. This continues the Ryid's quest.
7. Quon @Crystarium: Ether. This is a cutscene. This continues Quon's quest.
8. Cadetmaster @Central Command: Elixir. Must play as Machina. This is a cutscene.
9. Cinque @Back Garden: Mega-Potion.
10. Carla @Ready Room: Hi-Potion. This is a cutscene. This continues Carla's quest.
11. Class Twelfth Moogle @Ready Room: Hi-Potion.
12. Enra @Ready Room: Ether.
13. Deuce @Lounge: Mega-Potion.
14. Orderly @Terrace: Mega-Potion. This also adds the "What Happened to Aria" entry in the Rubicus. This Event is only available if there are 6 or more hours left in the current day.
(15/16. Kazusa and Emina events)
NOTE: "What Happened to Aria" is a cutscene which you can watch only if you select it from the Rubicus - Annals of Orience (it's about mid-way through). I suggest watching it.
Lots of Tasks available as usual.
1. Sanative Supplier IV (optional)
Logistics Officer @Main Gate. Request: give 1x Phoenix Down. Reward: Mythril Gloves.
2. Mad about Ms. Tokimiya III (probably skip it; unnecessarily hard and time-consuming right now; I will propose a strategy for it later though)
Enra @Fountain Courtyard. Request: achieve an S Rank in the Expert Trial "Covering the Cadets" while Rem is on your team, then speak with him. Reward: Gold Bangle.
As I said in the "title" of the Task, it's a hard Task at this early stage, and you probably don't want to try it (the reward isn't important). If you still want to try it, we'll discuss it in more detail later (before leaving Akademeia in this free-time break).
3. Secret Agent Agito IV (must do it)
Naghi @Crystarium. Request: give him a Cactuar Blossom. Reward: Ballistic Shield.
This Task is part of Naghi's quest, so we must do it. It's easy, but it might be rather time-consuming. Remember the Cactuar in Akademeia (we talked about it in Chapter 2 and 3) ? You have to find the Cactuar again in Chapter 5 to get the Cactuar Blossom, aka "proof of cactuar". You can use the usual Airship Landing location (the item will be dropped near the two Class Eight Cadet girls chatting on the right). เข้าออกๆ ที่สุสาน

4. Monster Pursuit IV (optional; requires leaving Akademeia; we'll do it on the way to the Expert Trial)
Dominion Officer @Central Command. Request: kill 6x Bombs in the Jubanla Region. Reward: 5x X-Potion.
The Jubanla Region can be accessed if you go through the Northern Corridor dungeon, which is a dungeon located northwest of Mi-Go.
5. Slayer's Spoils IV (optional)
Guildsman @Armory. Request: 5x Fire Shards. Reward: Thunderbolt Armlet.
You most likely have plenty of Fire Shards by now. If not, they're dropped by Bomb enemies (the common ones outside of Rubrum are just fine).
6. The Phantoma Menace IV (optional)
Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery. Request: give 7x Cyan Phantoma. Reward: Crystal Shard.
7. Mother Says II (must do it)
Dr. Al-Rashia @Sorcery. Request: kill 30x enemies with Blizzard BOM. Reward: 12x Jeweled Ring.
It just so happens that you will need a Jeweled Ring to continue Quon's quest. By the way, they are 12 because there's one for every "child" of Alrecia's (it should be obvious, but it took me a while to figure it out :p). You can do it in the Arena.
8. SPP Scavenger IV (optional)
Administration Official @Lounge. Request: give 800 SPP. Reward: 3x Megalixir.
Lastly, there is also an Expert Trial, which we'll be doing.
We have enough time to do all of the Events in this break, but we also want to start working on the Kazusa and Emina scenes (which are only available when there are 6 hours or less during the current day). Proceed as follows with your Events (4d 12h):- Do Events 1,2,3 (the first three Mog Classes @Classroom Zero) for their nice rewards
- Visit Kazusa's Laboratory (in the Crystarium, examine the shelves in the upper-left side) with Cater as your main (Active, Assigned; call it what you want, I'm referring to the one on-screen) character. This will trigger the scene Kazusa's Mutterings 1 (you can double-check in the Rubicus, Annals of Orience section, if you wish. No need though). Note that you don't need to move the camera around or watch the scene until the end; you can press Start at any point and it will still register the scene regularly
- Visit Kazusa's Laboratory as Cinque or Sice (either one is fine. Just for the record, I personally always used the first of the two possible characters (so in this case I went with Cinque; for the next one I used Deuce, and so on)). The scene will be Kazusa's Mutterings 2
- Visit Kazusa's Laboratory as Deuce or Seven. The scene will be Kazusa's Mutterings 3
Continuing (3d 12h):
- Do Event 4 (the last Mog Class @Classroom Zero) for its reward
- Do Event 5 (Ryo @Airship Landing); it's a filler Event (no specific purpose to it, we just do it because we have time for it)
- Do Event 6 (Ryid @Airship Landing) to continue with Ryid's quest
- Visit Kazusa's Laboratory with Nine or Jack to unlock the scene Kazusa's Mutterings 4
- Visit Kazusa's Laboratory with Ace or King to unlock the scene Kazusa's Mutterings 5
- Visit Kazusa's Laboratory with Trey or Rem to unlock the scene Kazusa's Mutterings 6
More Events (2d 12h):
- Do Event 14 (Orderly @Terrace) to unlock an additional scene (watch it in the Rubicus's Annals of Orience afterwards)
- Do Event 8 (Cadetmaster @Central Command; must be playing as Machina); it's a filler Event
- (note that you also unlocked another scene simply by visiting Central Command in the first place; this one wasn't an Event; the chat with the female Cadetmaster is)

- Do Event 9 (Cinque @Back Garden); it's a filler Event

We are now going to continue with the Emina quest/Events. By this point you should have 3 of her scenes with "Sheer" (so they are called "Prove Emina's Identity (number): Sheer"). This is the prerequisite to continue with the Emina quest, which allows us to advance and upgrade Sheer to Sheera. HOWEVER, if you want to unlock all the possible scenes in the Rubicus you'll need to do the optional (unnecessary) scenes with Sheer, and later Sheera and Sheerga too. Keep in mind that regardless of how you want to proceed (unlock all the scene or "take the shortcut" and upgrade to Sheera as soon as possible, thus skipping the optional Sheer scenes) you still won't have time to do the Emina/Kazusa quests and the Expert Trials of Chapter 7 in this playthrough at the same time (you can still see the ending of the Emina/Kazusa quest and do the Expert Trials though; I'll explain why and how when we are in Chapter 7). Therefore there is basically no reason for you to upgrade to Sheera now: even if you do so, you'll still need to wait until the second playthrough to do everything anyway. Ergo, let's continue with Sheer for now, even though we could have upgraded to Sheera.

Continue (2d 6h):
- Visit Emina @Terrace and give her the Perfume Set, which will unlock the "Prove Emina's Identity 6: Sheer" scene
- Visit Emina @Terrace and give her the Music Box to unlock the scene Prove Emina's Identity 8: Sheer
- Visit Emina @Terrace and give her the Potted Plant to unlock the scene Prove Emina's Identity 1: Sheer
Task 2: to do or not to do?At this point (1d 12h) we need to stop and think about what to do next. In particular, you can choose to do or to ignore Task 2, which requires you to S-Rank a tough (but not absurdly difficult) Expert Trial while Rem is on your team. First of all we need to discuss time-management. The thing is, there are two Tasks that require you to go out on the World Map at this point: Task 2, and Task 4. The latter is much easier, and simply requires an easy detour.

If you do not feel like doing Task 2 (it will require quite a bit of time, skills, and patience, and you may not succeed right away), then you want to accept Task 4 before you go out to the next Expert Trial (Covering the Cadets), do Task 4 while you are on the World Map, then do the Expert Trial, and once you come back to Akademeia you will have 12h left. With only three "important" Events left to do (Event 7, Event 10, and a visit to Kazusa for his "Mutterings 7" scene), you will be left with 6 hours to spare, which you can use for three filler Events (I will suggest Event 11, 12, and 13). This is probably the most recommendable choice. However...
...if you want to do Task 2, it's very possible if you're willing to, and I will guide you through it. In this case, you will want to accept Task 2 before you go out to the next Expert Trial (Covering the Cadets), then do the Expert Trial (you don't have to fulfill the Task 2 request right away, as I will explain in a moment), and come back to Akademeia. Now you will still have 12h left, but you also still have to do Task 4. Before doing anything else, you will need to take care of Task 2: if you succeeded in doing it the first time through, simply report to Enra to complete it. If not, save the game in Akademeia, then quit to Title Screen, and replay Mission "Covering the Cadets" from the Title Screen menu -- if you get an S Rank during the mission replay you will still be able (after saving at the end of the replay, and after loading up the save you just made) to complete the Task by speaking with Enra.

Then, in order to also do Task 4, you will need to accept it (after completing Task 2), then leave to the World Map just for the purpose of doing Task 4, then come back to Akademeia. Since you've gone out to the World Map you will have six less hours, so you won't be doing the three filler Events (you won't do Event 11, 12, and 13), but only the mandatory ones (Event 7, 10, and the visit to Kazusa).

Bear in mind that if you do not accept Task 2 before doing Covering the Cadets, Enra (the Task-giver) will be gone once you return to Akademeia. On the contrary, if you accept Task 2 before leaving, then you complete the Trial, and then you come back to Akademeia, even if you didn't succeed in getting an S Rank with Rem the first time through you can still save the game in Akademeia, use the Mission replay feature from the Title Screen, get the S Rank from the replay, and then speak with Enra to fulfill the requirements for the Task. This is why you cannot do Task 4 and Covering the Cadets with a single exit to the world map: if you do so (accept Task 4, then go outside to do Task 4 and Covering the Cadets), when you return Enra will be gone for good and Task 2 along with him (you can still do it in the next playthrough of course).
We will discuss how to get the S Rank in a dedicated section after the Expert Trial description.
Let's continue with a handful of non-Event things (1d 12h) before the Expert Trial:
- Speak with Aki @Chocobo Ranch (this continues her quest; it's not an Event)
- Restock your Potions supply
- Do Task 3 (Naghi @Crystarium) to continue Naghi's quest
- Do Task 7 (Mother @Sorcery) for the Jeweled Rings
- If you wish, do Tasks 1, 5, 6, 8
Before going out, either accept Task 4, or accept Task 2 (read above for more info). Then, at last (1d 12h), accept the Expert Trial "Covering the Cadets". Save and then head outside.

World Map
If you are doing Task 4 we will now visit the optional dungeon Northern Corridor (we have to go through it in order to reach the Jubanla Region, which is the area necessary for Task 4). It's located west of Mi-Go (which is located northeast on the map). If you are doing Task 2, you can ignore this part for now, and skip to the Expert Trial -- we'll do this part later.

Optional Dungeon - Northern Corridor

This dungeon is nothing special; its main purpose is to provide early access to the Jubanla Region. Although the area where it's located was available earlier too, it's only in Chapter 5 that you can actually enter the dungeon.
[1] Rubrum Entrance
Run past the enemies (or fight if you want).
[2] Trident JunctionThere is a Knowing Tag on the right. If you want, go west for an optional area (you'll be forced to fight) [3].
[3] Cascade Corridor
You must fight to be able to exit. If you are stuck for whatever reason, you can always use a Teleport Stone to flee. You shouldn't need to though, there are just 3x Lavaballs (lv 32).
There is also a chest in here, containing a Megalixir/Shock Armor (75/25). Then backtrack to area [3] and go north.
[4] Stalagmite Tunnel
There is a chest on the right containing a Potion/Mega-Potion/Phoenix Pinion (91/6/3).
[5] Lorica Entrance
Nothing important here, so exit.
World Map - Jubanla region
Here you can farm the 6x Bomb kills for the Task in Akademeia (Monster Pursuit IV). You can encounter Bombs anywhere (they are kinda uncommon though). I farmed my six kills directly in front of the Northern Corridor entrance/exit, on the small cliff. When you're satisfied, head back through the Northern Corridor and hop on a Chocobo to go west until you reach the Expert Trial.
On the way it would be wise to stop by Rokol, as it's the closest place to save the game before the trial.

Expert Trial - Covering the Cadets
Preparations: depending on whether or not you are going after Task 2, things might be a lot harder for you. Let's start with some general talk.
There is nothing out of the ordinary here, except that you can only bring six characters in this trial. The trial is short and easy though: if you've been using the same three characters in all the missions so far (Jack, Trey, Rem as suggested from the beginning), by now they must be close to level 30 (maybe even above), which is not far from the level of this Trial (it's at level 37).
I suggest bringing in the usual team of Jack, Trey, Rem. Choose Firebrand as summon command, just in case you need it for a cheap boost in damage output. Ballistic resistance will be useful, as usual in the missions against imperial units. I suggest starting with Jack solo, assisted by SP support. For an SO you probably want to give Jack Fire RF.
If you want, you can simply summon Firebrand to clear the mission extremely easily. If not, you can do it with your regular characters (probably), albeit with some minor difficulties.
If you are going after Task 2, my advice is to simply play through the trial regularly the first time, so you can do the SOs and get a feeling of what we're dealing with. Then you will return to Akademeia, and by replaying the mission from the Title Screen "Mission" replay menu you'll get the required S Rank with Rem (in the mission replay), thus being able to complete the Task.
Below I will describe the Expert Trial's "normal" run-through. I will have more specific information about the Task 2 (S Rank) run-through after the regular one (which should reflect how you should go about it: first learn the trial by playing through it once, and doing its SOs for the rewards; then replay it for the S Rank).
Trial Start!
[1] Meroe Midtown
Safe area, go on.
[2] Memorial Square
Forced fight against a striker Leader and some minions. This is one of the strikers that uses a single "dash" attack instead of multiple ones in a row. Ignore the minions, and focus on Breaksighting the Leader to death.
Go east next.
[3] Meroe Midtown
Ignore the enemies, and focus on taking down the barricades to continue further east (hopefully the SP will tank and take some hits for you).
[4] Meroe Midtown (area north of the southeastern one)
Nothing here, exit south.
[5] Town Square (southeast)
SO (5'): help the NPC Cadets kill 3x Imperial Troopers. Reward: Gold Bangle.
Ugh, I hate these SOs. Feel free to ignore it. If not, use Jack to weaken the Imperial Troopers, and pray that the Cadets kill them quickly (it shouldn't be hard; just random).
You should already know how to deal with Nymurods (the Leader): stand in front of him, then dodge or Block the machinegun attack; then Breaksight when he does the "stomp" attack.
Once the Leader goes down, return to the previous area [4], and from there go north.
[6] Meroe Midtown
SO (1'): kill 3x Imperial Troopers on the balconies. Reward: Auric Ring.
A ranged character can make this SO easier, but Jack can handle it too with Fire RF, if you time it right. In particular, stand close to the balconies where the enemies are, and release the spell as soon as you see the enemies "charging" their guns (you know, when they make that sound before aiming, slightly before they are in Killsight).
Feel free to ignore the enemies altogether though, and proceed west.
[7] Firebird Square
Forced fight against a MA (Striker type) Leader and some respawning minions. This Leader sometimes uses two consecutive "dash" attacks; other times just once, so he's a bit unpredictable. Nothing too hard though.
Exit north once it's done.
[8] Kayahara Square
Nothing interesting here, so take the exit immediately to your right (east).
[9] Dominion Square
Another area with the usual Nymurod Leader here.
When it's done, backtrack to area [8] and then (by going south) area [7] from there. Once you're in area [7] again, exit west.
[10] Meroe Midtown
Ignore the enemies and go west.
[11] Meroe Midtown
Ignore the enemies and go north.
[12] Rubrum Square
Third and final area with the Nymurod Leader to kill the usual way.
After doing so, you'll be back in area [1].
[1] City Center (yea they changed its name)
Safe area, still. Now you'll have to reach three areas where you need to use Datalink to defuse some bombs...sigh.
Go north to area [2], then west to area [13].
[13] City Center (area southwest)
SO (5'): defuse the time bomb. Reward: Megalixir.
Defusing the bombs is really easy actually, at least if you have SP that will distract the enemies for you. I always managed to simply keep my Active character hidden behind the bombs (activate them when you're close), and then kept him safely behind the bomb while they got defused. Support Personnel distracted the enemies, so I didn't have to fight at all. If any enemy gets close, simply run around the bomb in circles.
Do the same with the other two areas (use your in-game map to find them easily; take any route you want, it's the same) with a bomb to defuse.
For the record, there are items to be found on the ground, on the elevated ledges in the three areas where you fought alongside the Cadets earlier; the items are just more or less common stuff (X-Potion/X-Ether/Support Serum), so you should probably ignore them.
[14] Lupinus Park
Lastly, after defusing all the bombs, you'll have to reach a final area where one last battle will be fought. This final area is much messier than any of the previous ones, with Imperial Troopers and Supersoldiers on the ground, AND enemies shooting cheaply at you from the balconies.
There is also a 10-minutes timer, which I assume will cause a game over if it reaches zero. I never even got close to 5 minutes though, and you probably won't either (if you are not strong enough you'll die before then; if you're strong enough you'll win before then). Anyway, the goal is to kill enough units until a Supersoldier type Leader appears. At that point, kill the leader (3x Breaksights should do it) and you'll complete the Trial.
Trial Reward: spell Fire RF-II.

After the Trial, if you decided to do Task 4 you can skip the following section, and resume reading at Meroe.
If you decided to do Task 2 (and then Task 4, later), return to Akademeia and save the game. Then go back to the Title Screen menu, and replay the mission with the settings suggested below. We will do Meroe, Bethnel Caverns, and Task 4 after completing Task 2.

Expert Trial (Replay for S Rank) - Covering the Cadets

Preparations for Task 2 (= S-Ranking this trial with Rem):
- Have Rem at least around level 30 (mine was level 31)
- Give Rem your best HP-boosting accessories (in my case, Vitality Apparatus and Gold Bangle, bringing her to 1200+ HP)
- Equip Blizzard BOM and Fire RF on Rem
- It wouldn't hurt to have Protect as her defensive spell (it's not fundamental though)
- Have at least half a dozen of each of these items ready in your inventory: Light Feather (for Freecast; dropped by "evil eye" enemies); Flan Ooze (for Trance and Quick; dropped by "flan" enemies); Ice Shard (for Protect; dropped, among others, by Aqua Flan); Ether and/or Elixir
- When the mission starts, go Rem solo (don't select any other character; bring only Rem, instead of the six possible total characters): we don't want anyone accidentally killing enemies for us, or worse yet, dying to add to the Casualty counter
- Do NOT accept SP Support, for similar reasons
I'm going to add a piece of information that I'm not so sure about. In any case, I personally had this experience: even with an A Rank, obtained with A on time (less than 24:00), C on Phantoma Harvested (119 Phantoma), and A on Casualties (0 casualties), by going as Rem solo I obtained an A Rank, but apparently that was enough to fulfill the Task! Still, I don't recommend going for an A-C-A score: if you can accomplish ACA, then you can definitely accomplish an AAA as well. However, if for some reason, say, you are late in the mission (you know you'll complete a bit later than 24 minutes), or maybe you get a death in the last stages of the mission, you may still want to try and finish the trial anyway: MAYBE, just maybe, an A Rank is enough (it was enough in the conditions I wrote earlier: Rem solo, ACA score leading to A Rank; it's possible that other A Ranks, with different conditions, may not be enough to fulfill the quest).
Two things will also help a ton here. First of all, play on Cadet, since difficulty doesn't matter for this Task.
Second, in the Mission replay menu, right after selecting the difficulty the game will ask which characters to bring. As I said earlier, you only want to bring Rem. In the same screen as where the characters list first appears, you want to make sure that Rem is Primed (double damage dealt, half damage taken). If she's not, close the mission menu to go back to the previous screen, then try again -- repeat the process until she's finally Primed, and then select her (and her alone) and start the mission.
The "long story short" version of the strategy here is this: use Fire RF to Breaksight/Killsight enemies (it's faster than Rem's regular attacks, and she can afford the 25 MP for each spell; use Ethers to replenish MP; don't be cheap, don't try to do it with her melee attacks, or you'll probably waste too much time and miss too many Killsights), and whenever you are in an area where Imperial Troopers respawn, keep killing them until they either stop spawning, or the situation becomes dangerous (like, for instance, if Warrior MAs start to spawn in addition to the soldiers; in that case, end the battle and leave the area). Blizzard BOM will be used against MAs or more powerful enemies. Use Ethers whenever you need to replenish MP. You won't need any Flan Ooze/Light Feather early on; you will probably need an Ice Shard during each of the three "bomb-defuse" phases. You will only need to use Flan Ooze AND Light Feather AND Ice Shard in the very last area, for the final fight where you will spam Blizzard BOM (forget about Killsights in that area).
You'll need to have a perfect AAA Score in this mission (unfortunately in this trial even if you go solo, the game won't give you the Army of One bonus, but just the A Lonely Battle bonus (Army of One can only be obtained if you deploy a single character in missions that allow more than 6 characters to be deployed. Without going into too many details, let's just say it doesn't work with this one). The score requirements are:
- Time: 24:00 or less (it took me 19:15)
- Phantoma Harvested: 140 or more (I got 155)
- Casualties: 0 (0 for me as well)
Lastly, here is a (rather long actually) video of me doing this mission the way I described it above/below. To be honest it's a rather boring video to watch (22 minutes of Killsights with Fire RF :D), so I don't particularly encourage you to watch it. Do so, however, if you think it will help.
[1] Meroe Midtown
Nothing in the first area.
[2] Meroe Midtown
In the second area there is a Warrior MA leader, and respawning Imperial Troopers. Use Fire RF to Killsight the Imperial Troopers (the spell is faster than your regular attacks), and don't attack the leader at first. After a good amount of Imperial Troopers have been defeated, regular Warrior MAs will start to spawn. At this point it's time to end this battle, so focus on Breaksighting the Warrior MA leader (ignore everyone else). If you are having a hard time Breaksighting the MA leader, you can also use Blizzard BOM on him (with a Primed Rem, it shouldn't take more than a few spells to kill him).
Go east.
[3] Meroe Midtown
Use a Blizzard BOM spell on the barricade on the way to destroy it.
Kill the Warrior MA near the barricades (use a few Blizzard BOM spells), and then start farming Imperial Troopers (they will respawn, one or two at the time, on the left past the broken barricade).
When you can't see any more Imperial Troopers spawning, ignore the respawning MAs and proceed east.
[4] Meroe Midtown
Kill one Imperial Trooper, then leave the area (MAs will start to spawn in couples). Exit to the south.
[5] Town Square
By this point (as you enter this area) you should have about 35-40 Phantoma, and you should be about 4 minutes into the mission. If you are behind with the Phantoma, you may want to consider farming some Imperial Troopers in this area. If not (you already have about 35-40 Phantoma), you can probably get away with killing only 4-5 of them, and then you can focus on the Nymurod leader.
For the leader, simply stand in front of him so he alternates the machinegun attack and then the stomp attack (the stomp attack offers Breaksight, so use Fire RF to deal massive damage).
After winning (around 5:30 time, and 40-45 Phantoma), head back to area [4], and then proceed north from there to area [6].
[6] Meroe Midtown
In this area there will be enemies on balconies, which die quickly from Fire RF (even without Killsight). There will also be MAs on the ground, so try to snipe a few soldiers on the balconies, harvest their Phantoma, and then move on to the next area.
[7] Firebird Square
This is another area like area [2]: an MA leader, and respawning Imperial Troopers. Farm Phantoma until Warrior MAs arrive, and then end the fight by killing the leader.
By the end of this area, you should be at about 7:30 (time) with somewhere around 65-70 Phantoma.
Continue north.
[8] Kayahara Square
Ignore the exit to the north (just MAs there; they can be Killsighted right away though, so if you are behind with Phantoma this is not a terrible area to rack up some quick Phantoma, although it's also more dangerous compared to farming Imperial Troopers).
Go east.
[9] Dominion Square
The second Nymurod leader with respawning Imperial Troopers is here. Kill about 5+ Imperial Troopers (more if you are lagging behind with the Phantoma counter), then focus on killing the leader.
By the end of this area you should be around 9:00 with 70+ Phantoma harvested.
Backtrack to area [8], then area [7]. From area [7] follow the marker and go west.
[10] Meroe Midtown
One single Imperial Trooper followed by MAs -- get the Phantoma from the soldier, then run west.
[11] Meroe Midtown
Just MAs here for now, so run north to the next area.
[12] Rubrum Square
The last Nymurod leader is here. As always, farm about 5 kills on the Imperial Troopers before killing the leader.

NOTE: for the second part of the mission I have "reset" the [area numbers] (for instance, area [3] of the first part of the mission will be a different area than area [3] of the second part). I don't want you to lose track of where to go next for the enemies, so follow the numbers and directions below.

[1] City Center
When the second part of the mission starts, you should be at 10:00 with 80-85 Phantoma Harvested. If so, good for you; if not, try to be faster/harvest more phantoma.
[2] Memorial Square
Ignore the MA, and go west.
[3] City Center
The first "bomb" to defuse is here. Hide behind the bomb to avoid getting attacked. If Shock Troopers come close to you, circle around the bomb to try and avoid them; if that's not enough, spam Blizzard BOM (the spell may not damage them at all, but they will be pushed back by it a little bit). It also helps to have Protect on Rem (use an Ice Shard or cast the Protect spell if you have it), since it will greatly reduce the "recoil" effect (without Protect, the enemies can "ram" you out of the area around the bomb, thus nullifying the defusion process).
When the bomb is defused, go NORTH.
[4] City Center
Lots of Imperial Troopers will spawn here, without a single MA to bother us. Kill the first two, then farm a few respawns of a single Imperial Trooper from a nearby corner (on the right).
After the Imperial Trooper stops respawning, head north down the street, and two more Imperial Troopers will start to spawn and respawn. After a while, the word "Victory" will appear on screen, meaning there are no more respawns.
By the end of this area you should be at 13:00 with 100+ Phantoma Harvested.
Go further north.
[5] Rubrum Square
In this area, like the other two areas where you previously fought Nymurods, there will be Shock Troopers and Imperial Troopers. Since the Shock Troopers are bad for farming Phantoma quickly, just spot the two Imperial Troopers, then kill them and harvest their Phantoma. After getting the two Phantomas, backtrack to area [4], and then go east.
[6] City Center
In here there will be two respawning Imperial Troopers, one at each end (west and east) of the area. Go up and down from end to end, killing them and harvesting their Phantoma until the word "Victory" appears on screen.
Then exit east (at the end of this area you should be at 14:00 with 110+ Phantoma).
[7] Firebird Square
Ignore the MAs here (I fought them in the video, but that was quite a waste of time to be honest), unless you are really behind with the Phantoma harvesting.
Exit north.
[8] Kayahara Square
Two Imperial Troopers will greet you here, and then one will respawn 3 times on the left side. After the third respawn there won't be a "Victory" on screen, but no more enemies will respawn -- head north.
[9] City Center
Second bomb to defuse here. Definitely get Protect on Rem, as this area is more dangerous than the previous one.
Return to the previous area after defusing the bomb.
[8] Kayahara Square
Two Imperial Troopers will spawn and respawn here now. Unfortunately one of them is up on a ledge, while the other one is on the lower level. Because of this, going from one to the other will be rather time-consuming. If you are on schedule (around 120 Phantoma), don't bother with them (just fight the first two, but ignore their respawns) and exit east instead.
[10] Dominion Square
Same as the Rubrum Square -- just kill the two Imperial Troopers, then leave.
Return to area [7], and from there follow the marker to reach the final area with a bomb.
[11] City Center
Defuse the final bomb here. Again, use Protect and hide/circle around the bomb.
When it's done, go west.
[12] City Center
At this point you should be at about 17:00 with 125+ Phantoma Harvested. If that's the case, you can easily proceed to the final area now, although you may want to farm until you have 130+ if you can spare the time.
If you have less than that, farm the Imperial Troopers here until you reach around 125-130 Phantoma (let's make it 130-135 if you can spare the time; leave at least 3 minutes for the final area), and then reach the final area.
[13] Lupinus Park
In here there will be Imperial Troopers, Supersoldiers, and enemies on the balconies. At this point it's time to go all-in: use a Light Feather + Flan Ooze + Ice Shard to make sure you have Freecast, Trance (+Quick), and Protect constantly on Rem, then run around and spam Blizzard BOM as soon as you are close to an enemy. For the enemies on the balconies, you can either ignore them or use Fire RF on them. DO NOT use the Protect spell here, since Rem might get heavily hit during the spell casting time (it's not likely, but possible): use the Ice Shards, it's just safer and better.
Make sure to renew the enhancements on Rem as soon as they expire; run to safety and heal with Potions whenever needed, and as soon as the Supersoldiers spawn be particularly careful of their "walk towards you while firing machineguns" attacks, since they can be deadly if you get stuck. Against Supersoldiers you simply want to keep spamming Blizzard BOM (they will dodge, but because of the prolonged effect of Blizzard BOM they will still get damaged if they step in the area affected by the spell after dodging). It will be tough, but you should be relatively safe if Rem is Primed and with Protect.
Once the enemy leader spawns (you will hear them say "What's taking them?", and the leader icon will appear on the minimap/radar), focus on him. It took me about one minute to spawn the leader (with massive Blizzard BOM spam), and 10-15 more seconds to finish him off. In the meantime I acquired more than 15 additional Phantoma in this last area.
After completing the mission, make sure to save the game after the scenes, and then report the Task completion to Enra in Akademeia. As a reminder/recap, in order to catch up you will now (Time to Mission: 12h) need to:
1. Accept Task 4 in Central Command.
2. Head outside to the World Map. On the World Map, check the previous sections about the Northern Corridor/Jubanla Region, and do Task 4.
3. While you're still on the World Map, visit Meroe (refer to the section below), and then Bethnel Caverns.
4. When you will return to Akademeia you will have 6h left instead of 12h; it's not a problem, simply avoid doing the "filler" Events (11,12,13), and only do the important ones (7, 10, and the Kazusa Mutterings 7 one).

Chapter 5: The First Battle of Judecca (Continued)

Meroe
After resuming the game, enter Meroe. Like all the previous cities, it has shops, a Task, and a miniquest for a l'Cie Crystal.
The shops here sell various accessories (meh), and more importantly Krakka Greens and Teleport Stones. There is also a gift shop, but all the scenes visible with these gifts were visible with other, cheaper gifts from elsewhere. We don't need to buy Krakka Greens (not if you follow my advice on Chocobo breeding anyway).
The quest for the local l'Cie Suzusu's Crystal doesn't actually exist, because it will be found on the ground on the right side.
The local Task can be done, but if you're currently in the process of doing the Task from Akademeia (Monster Pursuit IV) then you want to put this one on hold for now.
1. The Dungeon Master's Dare (optional; we'll do it another time, assuming you are doing "Monster Pursuit IV" now)
Shigeto @Meroe. Request: defeat a Behemoth in the Bethnel Caverns. Reward: Ignis Magnum.
For the really juicy part we need to exit back to the world map, and enter the nearby dungeon Bethnel Caverns. Save in Meroe before going out!

Optional Dungeon - Bethnel Caverns

In here you will meet Akane again (it's the girl whose boyfriend was turned into a frog; we met her for the first time in the Corsi Cave). Speak with her again to trigger another conversation with her.
The "long story short" version of the paragraphs below is this: make sure you have a Teleport Stone, then reach area [7] (the orange area in the middle, on your in-game map); open all the chests -- maybe you'll get lucky and get some great weapons, maybe not, but you only need the Diamond Ore (100% treasure) for now, since it's a Task-related item (not an important Task, by the way). Since there are good chances to also get Reagan Greens (we'll need one, later on) (6% chances in each chest, but there are five chests in which they can appear), try to also get some Reagan Greens -- if you are not lucky (no Reagan Greens), reload the previous save in Meroe and try again. Once you get the treasures you want (Diamond Ore and a Reagan Greens), use the Teleport Stone to leave the dungeon.
If you want, you can also go all the way to the end of the dungeon for an l'Cie Crystal, but it's kinda pointless at this point. Since we are in no hurry to get that crystal, we'll leave it for later (I'll remind you to explore this dungeon when we are much stronger). Assuming you've obtained the Diamond Ore and a Reagan Greens, that's all for now -- warp back to Akademeia to do the final Events of this break, and then continue with the story.
Read the paragraphs below for an explanation on the possible treasures you could get in this dungeon if you want, but the bottom line will be that they are not worth the time it takes to get them (unless you are very lucky and get them in just a few tries). If you really want an overpowered weapon at this point, then you should probably just get the Double EXP weapons from the SPP Shop. If you follow my advice and just ignore them (and the Double EXP weapons, for now), then skip the next part and resume reading when we return to Akademeia.

The Bethnel Caverns are home of the Behemoths (and Behemoth Kings). If you thought the Behemoth in the previous story mission didn't quite live up to the expectations for the classic monster, this dungeon will definitely make you reconsider how strong Behemoths are. Without any help from Eidolons either (we're on the World Map, can't summon here), the Bethnel Caverns are a real challenge at this point in the game.

I'm not trying to make you actually fight any Behemoths right now though. Indeed, we can (and really should) mostly leave the dungeon for later exploration, but I just want you to know what this place could offer at this point.

In an area close to the entrance (you don't need to fight a single Behemoth to get there) there are SIX chests, five of which containing, potentially, a great piece of equipment for this stage of the game. The downside is that the probability of getting the equipment you want are a bit low (but not too low; they are around 6% for each of the items), and the fact that in order to LEAVE the area you need to fight a Behemoth King. However, you can also use a Teleport Stone to conveniently warp out of the dungeon after looting the chests and obtaining the desired treasures.

To be more specific, I'm talking about area [7], which is the orange area in the middle (check your in-game map to see it). From the entrance you need to go north, then east, then north, then north again, and then west to reach this area.

Before we check the goods, I have to point out that the best items to be found (other than a couple of unique items, the Diamond Ore and an l'Cie Crystal) are rare accessories and unique weapons with high stats (43-53 Attack). Although this sounds great in theory, the fact that there is only 6% chance of obtaining them from the chests make things a lot worse. The odds per-se aren't awful, but you must remember that you can get even stronger (if only slightly stronger) weapons with the Double EXP passive ability if you score 300x Killsights with a certain character. Let's think about it for a minute before you enthusiastically start spending the better part of an hour to try and get some weapons here in the caverns.

Sure, with the Double EXP weapons you also have to buy the weapons which cost 5,000 SPP, plus around 30-40 minutes to get from 0 to 300x Killsights. On the other hand, you'll need to farm SPP anyway to get one of the best (and crucial) accessories of the game, so the SPP cost can be somewhat ignored. Also, unless you plan on maxing out everyone's level (which takes quite a long time, actually, and is definitely pointless unless you are a completionist), all you really need are the Double EXP weapons for your main characters (main 3, if not even just the main one who will eventually become Rem because you'll need high magic later on). Furthermore your main characters probably already have a lot of Killsights by now (my Jack had well over 100 at this point), so unlocking three Double EXP weapons (for Jack, Trey, Rem) would take closer to an hour than two hours, and farming the 15,000 SPP necessary to purchase them would simply be part of a farming process (we'll need to gain a total of 120,000 SPP at some point!) which by the way can even be done passively as you leave the game running while you sleep.

Because of all this, the conclusion that I draw is that the weapons in the Bethnel Caverns are, yes, great for this stage of the game. However, they are both unnecessary at this point (if you've been using Jack, Trey, and Rem consistently, by now they are well beyond the "average" enemy on Officer, and they can do well even in Expert Trials), and not a good investment long-term (they are not the best weapon, they do not provide Double EXP or any similar great buff). If you got lucky and obtained the weapons you wanted in, say, half an hour at the most, then I would consider it a good investment of your time (although at some point you will eventually want those Double EXP weapons anyway). Should you be unlucky and waste half an hour to end up with great weapons for your reserves, but due to bad luck still nothing good for your main characters, then you effectively wasted half an hour for an "ok" investment for characters you don't even use.

In conclusion, my advice is to avoid attempting to get those weapons/accessories unless you have a very specific plan for them. If that's not the case, I'd rather have you get the 300 Killsights, and then farm SPP for the Double EXP weapons: it might take a while longer to get them, but you're guaranteed to obtain them at some point, and you'll have the Double EXP with you from now on. And truth be told, an even better advice is to tell you to simply ignore these powerful (yet accessible, now) weapons, and proceed with whatever you have (even the default weapons) -- it's more than enough, even if sub-optimal. Then do as you please.

[7] Waterfall Grotto
There are six chests here, and a Behemoth King. If you haven't learned this trick yet, you can open chests (or pick up items, in general) when there are enemies nearby if you lock on an enemy first, and then you switch targets with RS to aim at the chest/item. By doing so you can open all the six chests without fighting the Behemoth King. Since you're locked in this room after entering it, you need to either fight or use a Teleport Stone to leave.
Let's number the chests from left to right (from your starting perspective when you enter), which is from south to north, 1,2,3,4,5,6. In brackets (number) there are the respective percentages to obtain that item out of that chest (yea, I know the sum is not 100; you'll have to deal with the approximations :p). The "great" weapons all have in the ballpark figure of +45 Attack as stats (+53 for Jack's Conquerer), and occasionally some additional benefits too.
Chest 1: Elixir, Scythe, Katana (43/12/12); bad items
Chest 1: Mage's Miter (All Mag +38), Sand Visor (Sandstorm Null), Reagan Greens (6/6/6); ok items
Chest 1: Persephone's Scythe, Conquerer (6/6); great items (weapons for Sice and Jack respectively)
Chest 2: Elixir, Playing Cards, Longbow (43/12/12); bad items
Chest 2: Platinum Gloves (Def +35), Balaclava (Snowstorm Null), Reagan Greens (6/6/6); ok items
Chest 2: Cardshark's Deck, Rune Bow (6/6); great items (weapons for Ace and Trey respectively)
Chest 3: Elixir, Brass Knuckles, Longsword (43/12/12); bad items
Chest 3: White Cape (Silence Ward), Smoke Hood (Heatwave Null), Reagan Greens (6/6/6); ok items
Chest 3: Godhands, Voltaic Saber (6/6); great items (weapons for Eight and Queen respectively)
Chest 4: Diamond Ore (100%); it's an item for a later Task.
Chest 5: Elixir, Flute, Magicite Pistol (43/12/12); bad items
Chest 5: Circlet (MP +40%, All Mag +15), Mist Mask (Fog Null), Reagan Greens (6/6/6); ok items
Chest 5: Voltaic Flute, Missing Score (6/6); great items (weapons for Deuce and Cater respectively)
Chest 6: Elixir, Mace, Whipblade (43/12/12); bad items
Chest 6: Red Beret (All Mag +26), Snow Goggles (Flurry Null), Reagan Greens (6/6/6); ok items
Chest 6: Voltaic Mace, Voltaic Whipblade (6/6); great items (weapons for Cinque and Seven respectively)
You will soon notice that the "great weapons" for Nine, King, Rem, and Machina are missing. Well, not really, because they are actually found in other rooms of the Bethnel Caverns. In particular, in room [10], which is the third-to-last...
[10] Winding Beastpath
...we'll find another chest with this content:
- Elixir/Twin Revolvers/Daggers (43/12/12); bad items
- Star Pendant (Poison Ward), Rain Hood (Rain Null), Reagan Greens (6/6/6); ok item
- Supershot STs, Voltaic Daggers (6/6); great items (weapons for King and Rem respectively)
And lastly, in the final area...
[12] Bed of the Behemoths
...we have a couple more chests, as well as the l'Cie Urshanabi's Crystal lying on the ground. There is a forced fight here too, against 2x Behemoth Kings (a Teleport Stone can still save you if needed).
Chest 1 (can only be opened once per playthrough):
- Red Beret (All Magic +26), Tiara (MP +60%, All Magic + 20), Duke's Gauntlets (Def +20; All Resistance +25%) (50/25/25)
Chest 2:
- Elixir, Lance, Bolt Rapiers (43/12/12); bad items
- Hermes's Sandals (Stop Ward), Waterproof Mask (Downpour Null), Reagan Greens (6/6/6); ok items
- Voltaic Spear, Icebrands (6/6); great items (weapons for Nine and Machina respectively)
For completion's sake, we also have to say that in area [4] (the orange one to the southeast)...
[4] Waterfall Grotto (southeast)
...there is another chest with some nice stuff:
- Crystal Ball (MP +30%, All Mag +10), Circlet, Dominion Helmet (All Mag +12), Red Cap (25/25/25/25)
There are two Behemoths here, and a forced fight if you want to leave (as always, Teleport Stones work).
I know you don't care about Knowing Tags anymore at this point, but there are a few to collect in area [3], [6], [9], and [11] (one in each).
After all this (or none of this), return to Akademeia.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 12h (6h if you did Task 2)
Report your completed Task 4 to the NPC in Central Command.
- Do Event 7 (Quon @Crystarium) to continue with Quon's quest
- Do Event 10 (Carla @Ready Room) to continue Carla's quest
- (Skip this one if you have 2h left) Do Event 11 (Class Twelfth Moogle @Ready Room); this is a filler Event
- (Skip this one if you have 2h left) Do Event 12 (Enra @Ready Room); this is a filler Event
- (Skip this one if you have 2h left) Do Event 13 (Deuce @Lounge); this is a filler Event
- Visit Kazusa's Laboratory with Eight or Machina to unlock the scene Kazusa's Mutterings 7
At this point you should have all the first scenes (Kazusa's Mutterings 1,2,3,4,5,6,7). Double check in the Annals of Orience at the Rubicus if you want. The Kazusa's quest cannot proceed any further at this point, so we'll have to wait until Chapter 7 before continuing.
Mission Day!
Speak with Kurasame and decide to Join Sortie for the optional (but extremely recommended, since it will be used as a primary farming location for SPP later on) story mission The Reclamation of Eibon.

Story Mission: The Reclamation of Eibon

Preparations: this is an RTS mission. By now, if you've been doing the Expert Trials's RTS missions, you should be familiar with the general idea, and you should know better than to be worried about these missions. There isn't really any additional or different preparation than the usual, with the difference that you won't need to use summons or Fire Shards because the enemy forces are considerably weaker than those fought in the recent RTS Expert Trials.
RTS - Part 1
1. Take Domain 1 (support with Trey's regular attacks; you don't even need to charge, if he's around level 30).
2. Take Domain 2 (same as above).
3. Assist the defense of Main Camp (same as above) by killing the infantry units coming from Domain 4. Don't try to take Domain 3 yet, just wait until the timer reaches zero.
4. After the countdown you will command Main Camp. The powerful Enra Unit will be stationed between Main Camp and Domain 4.
5. If possible, take Domain 3 (assist the Blaze Units from Main Camp with Trey's charged attacks). You can also take Toguagh first and Domain 3 after Toguagh (do so if you are not strong enough to take Domain 3 now).
6. With Domain 3 taken, task Blaze Units from Main Camp to Toguagh. On your way, a flying MA "Colonel Faith" will try to annoy Domains 1 and 2 -- shoot him down with charged attacks.
7. Succeeding in taking down the MA will give you direct control over Domain 1 and 2, but you shouldn't need to change anything to take down Toguagh.
Toguagh Invasion
[1] Southern Square
Safe area. There are two exits (east or north), but going east leads to area [4] which is currently empty. Go north then.
[2] Main Street
This area is nothing special per-se, BUT since the Imperial Troopers here will continue to respawn, 3 at the time, from the northeastern corner, this place will turn out to be the best location to farm SPP later in the game. Right now you don't want to do any farming, since you would need to be present in order to monitor that everything goes fine (you are not strong enough to be able to leave the game running while you do something else (sleep, etc.)). Still, take a look around while you're here, because we'll come back for more at some point in the future.
[3] Central Square
Colonel Faith will be here. Remember the annoying boss at the end of the Togoreth mission? Yea, he's THAT kind of guy. At this point he should be no match for your Trey (use Concentrate to deal even more damage if you want), so you shouldn't need to go after Breaksights to have a substantial damage output.
After defeating him (or so it seems), you'll have to backtrack to area [1], and then east from there to area [4].
[4] Back Alley
A few ordinary enemies here, with a Leader (one of the annoyingly overpowered "Imperial Officers"; not so overpowered here though) to defeat for faster clearance. Jack is useful (he should be strong enough to take a few hits when getting close).
RTS - Part 2
0. If you didn't take Domain 3 earlier, take it now.
1. Task Toguagh's Spark Units to Eibon.
2. After doing that, leave this side of the battlefield and go back to Main Camp. By default there should already be Blaze Units going to Domain 4. If not, task them to do so. Help Main Camp take Domain 4.
3. Then take Domain 5 (if you are strong enough, you can stick with Blaze Units; if not you may need to deploy some Spark Units).
4. Wait until Eibon falls. At this point, Colonel Faith will show up again -- attack him until he leaves again.
5. Invade Eibon.
Eibon Invasion
[1] West Stairs
Advance a bit and Colonel Faith will show up again. Use Trey's MAX Charge with Concentration to take his health down fast, just to see him run away once more. Then continue through the next areas.
[2] South Corridor
Just run through it.
[3] East Corridor
Same as above.
[4] Main Stairs
Same as above.
[5] Command Center
A bunch of Imperial Troopers and few Supersoldiers on your way to the Leader, who is another of the "Imperial Officer" types. Nothing Jack can't slash through with ease.
Mission Reward: spell Blizzard SHG.

Optional: SPP Farming continuation?

A while ago I talked to you about farming SPP early on, in Operation Reconquista, and I suggested doing so until you got the SP Cape accessory (reward for 40,000 SPP accumulated in total).
At this point we can use The Reclamation of Eibon to "upgrade" our SPP farming method to the most efficient one available in the game. You can check the SPP Farming section of the walkthrough for more information. You don't necessarily have to start doing it now though; it's ok if you want to wait until Chapter 7 to do it (then again, the sooner you do it, the earlier you can reap the rewards).

Chapter 5: Free-Time Break 2

World Map - Eibon Region
On the World Map you can find the l'Cie Kiyosaki's Crystal on the ground. From Eibon, proceed north and check the ground on the right (east) side as you reach the northern tip of the Eibon Region -- you'll see the sparkling item on the grass, in the moderately small area between the forest and the sea.
We can't enter Eibon (it's a stronghold, not a city), but we can visit Toguagh for the usual features.
Toguagh
The shops here sell some new gifts for the Emina quest. In particular, you want to buy:
- Wooden Coeurl (10,000 Gil)
- Crystal Chandelier (15,000 Gil)
Yea, they are expensive. Thankfully they are also the last gifts you'll need to buy for now. Indeed, we need to start saving Gil for a big "purchase" later on (100,000 Gil, soon enough). For the record, after buying the previous two gifts (Wooden Coerul and Crystal Chandelier), at this point I had 42,000 Gil. If you are around that figure, you should be fine.
There is also a Phantomist at the end of the path, to the north (assuming the entrance is "south"). He sells the lowest-level Phantoma for 1,000 Gil each: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Purple.
You will see a few people sitting in front of the monument in the middle of Toguagh. Speak with the guy on the right side (the one near a child) and choose the first option to help him. Then answer the three questions correctly (if you get any of them wrong, you'll be able to try again, don't worry):
- Hexagonal (second option)
- Thirty feet (first option)
- Granite grey (first option)
Speak with the man again and he will give you the l'Cie Kanna's Crystal.
1. Buzzkill on the Beach (optional)
Issei @Toguagh. Request: kill the Dracoknight in the Innsmouth Coast. Reward: Diamond Shield.
This Task isn't easy (the in-game recommended level is 51!), but it's not impossible either if you play your cards right. Keep reading below for a strategy.
WARNING: this Task is missable. In particular, if you kill the Dracoknight before accepting this Task, the Task will disappear for the current playthrough. No big deal though.
First of all, the location is a bit tricky here, so follow the directions below.
World Map - Innsmouth Region
Exit Toguagh, and hop on a Chocobo to head back towards Rubrum. After crossing the second bridge on the way back, turn left (south).
You are now in the Innsmouth REGION. The Innsmouth COAST is a one-area "dungeon" (if you can call it that) located on the northwestern corner of the island located southeast on the world map. Although it looks like it's out of your reach, there are some shallow waters that you can cross, but only if you are riding a Chocobo. So, from the entrance of the Innsmouth Region, you want to go south, then west, then south, then east, then north, then northwest.
Before reaching the Task destination, pick up the l'Cie Aarmad's Crystal from the northeastern end of the area.
The destination you're looking for is the small "mountain"/rock visible on the island, about in the northwestern part of the area.

Innsmouth Coast

This small area will be a pain in the butt later, even more so than it already is at this point. The enemy here is the Coastal Warden (the Dracoknight). He's at level 51, he has lots of HP and an unfortunate Auto-Regen effect. He hits hard, he defends well. So how do we defeat him?
Breaksights are the first answer that comes to mind, but quite frankly that's going to take luck and appropriate timing, other than skills. On the other hand, there is another, better, cheaper way. If you approach him you can then unleash the Triad Maneuver to deal some decent amount of damage. After using it, switch to the next character, and use the Triad Maneuver with him/her too. Then use the third character for it as well.
Here is a video demonstration of the process:
Characters will die very quickly; when that happens, immediately replace the fallen characters and then use the new entries to unleash more Triad Maneuvers. It's messy, it's ugly, and it's also a bit random, but it works if your characters are strong enough.
An optimized strategy, at this point, is with Jack. Give Jack a Fire Shard, then go close to the enemy and perform the Triad Maneuver; make sure your attack lands, and it should deal around 2,000 damage. Then immediately switch to Trey, use the Triad Maneuver with him as well, and if Jack's attack (by the AI) connects again the enemy will probably be dead at this point. If not, the third attack (switch to Rem) definitely should, provided that Jack's hit lands again.
The most important thing is probably the timing when you perform the attack. I found that the best moment to activate the Triad Maneuver is when you are close to the enemy and he's preparing for his attack (you get some invincibility seconds when you launch the attack); then unleash your Active character's attack when you are sure that the hit will connect.
After the fight, while still in the Innsmouth Coast, scout on the sand on the right side to find a somewhat hidden l'Cie Clareus's Crystal.

If you miss this item the first time you're here, don't go for it again anytime soon -- we'll be back in the Innsmouth Region when we are stronger, and I'll remind you to pick up this crystal in case you missed it now. If you return to the Innsmouth Coast there will be an Adamantoise (probably too powerful for you at this point), so that's why you should wait until later to come back and retrieve the crystal, if you miss it now. There might also be a chest in the upper-left corner of the area, but chances are that it doesn't contain anything useful (if it's even there, and most of the times it isn't).

Innsmouth Region - Acquiring the Evasive Chocobo (optional)

This is the first step to eventually get the Master Chocobo. Note that there other ways to obtain the Master Chocobo, but this is the simplest one of all. Also note that we won't do much in regards to Chocobo breeding until the late Chapter 7; that's for the best (you COULD get the Master Chocobo as early as now, but it would be an absolute major waste of time for an overall shabby reward: the Master Chocobo isn't all that great if you use Trey in RTS missions).

You may have come across some "non-standard" Chocobos in your travels through the World Map. Very rarely, in some areas, you can find particularly good Chocobos which will be distinguished by a different color of their plumage. You can find a list in the Chocobo Breeding section of the walkthrough, although it isn't important that you check it now (or ever), since the only one that we need is the Evasive Chocobo here.

There are several spots to find an Evasive Chocobo, but the one where I suggest looking is just at the entrance of the Innsmouth Region. Go in and out of the Innsmouth Region (go between that region and the Eibon Region) until eventually, after a few minutes, you will find the Evasive Chocobo hopping around this area.

(To avoid any confusion, there are no "minimum level requirements" to find these special Chocobos. In the pictures above I was at higher level, but I could find them here and now with Jack level 31 too. The odds are not very high, but you will eventually find one within 5-10 minutes of trying -- just keep at it)

You are going to need a male and a female Evasive Chocobos, but we can get one of the opposite sex by breeding an Evasive Chocobo of either sex with a regular Chocobo using any type of Greens. However, the Tantal Greens or Pahsana Greens, sold in Mi-Go, can increase your odds in these regards. In particular, the Tantal Greens will increase the likelihood that the offspring will be the same type as the father's type, while the Pahsana Greens increases the likelihood that the offspring takes after the mother. Therefore, if you caught a male Evasive Chocobo, you should purchase Tantal Greens, so when you breed him with a female Chocobo the "chicklings" will be Evasive Chocobos (male and/or female) more likely than with other Greens. A while ago I suggested you to purchase these greens when we were in Mi-Go, so double-check your inventory: if you already have them, you're good to go; if not, go buy them now.

Also, I hope it goes without saying, but you are going to need the Evasive Chocobo for breeding. Ergo, don't "consume" it on the world map!

World Map - Tasks Cleanup
Now is a good time to do a few Tasks in cities that we had to ignore earlier since we were busy with Tasks for Akademeia. But frst, if you haven't done so already, report the completion of the Task in Toguagh.
1. Tonic With a Bang (optional)
Nenji @Keziah (Keziah is the town in the Togoreth Region, north/northeast of Rubrum Region). Request: kill 4x Bombs in the Northern Corridor dungeon. Reward: 3x Blaze Armlet.
We've just recently been to the Northern Corridor (the dungeon leading to the Jubanla Region), but in case you forgot, the Northern Corridor is the dungeon west of Mi-Go (Mi-Go is north of Keziah).
2. Dam-sir in Distress (optional)
Moto @Mi-Go (Mi-Go is the town in the Northern Togoreth Region). Request: defeat 10x Hundlegs. Reward: Aegis Tertia, Vol. II
The Hundlegs required for this mission are found in the plains of the Togoreth Region. Note that Hundlegs can be found in the North Togoreth Region too, but only the ones in the Togoreth Region count! I farmed mine near the small bridge, for what it's worth, but any plains area (non-forest areas) should be good.
3. The Dungeon Master's Dare (optional)Shigeto @Meroe (Meroe is the town in the northwestern-most region you can reach at this point). Request: defeat a Behemoth in the Bethnel Caverns. Reward: Ignis Magnum.
You can do it with Jack or Trey, but really any character can work well too. Focus on Breaksights; stand in front of the enemy and wait for his claw attacks, and then dodge on either side and get ready for a counter. Triad Maneuver won't work very well, so just rely on Breaksights. Should your favorite characters die, simply switch them for any other one and keep going for Breaksights.
For an upcoming Task in Akademeia (not an important one) we will need 2x Beast Flesh, dropped by Behemoths. If you intend to do that Task, make sure you have two of them in your inventory at this point, before going back. If you are lucky, and the Behemoth of the story mission and the Behemoth you just killed both dropped a Beast Flesh, you may not need any additional farming. If not, go in and out of the Bethnel Caverns to respawn the first single Behemoth in the second area, and keep killing him until you get the required items.
When you've done everything, go back to Akademeia.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 4d 12h
A member of your party has temporarily left the group. "Temporarily" actually means for the next two story missions, which are both long and intense -- that sucks if you were using that character. The character is: none other than Machina.
Let's list the Events and Tasks:
1. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Fire Magic +1.
2. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Ice Magic +1.
3. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Lightning Magic +1.
4. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Defense Magic +1.
5. Lady Caetuna @Main Gate: X-Potion. This is a cutscene.
6. Yano @Fountain Courtyard: Hi-Potion.
7. Dominion Legionary @Fountain Courtyard: Ether.
8. Orderly @Airship Landing: Mega-Potion. The "Assign Her to My Custody" entry will be added to the Rubicus.
9. Mutsuki @Airship Landing: Hi-Potion. This continues the Mutsuki quest.
10. Examine gate to cemetery @Back Garden: Phoenix Pinion. This is a cutscene.
11. Hiiragi @Crystarium: Ether.
12. Class Second Moogle @Central Command: Hi-Potion.
13. Kurasame @Terrace: X-Potion. This is only available if there are more than 6 hours left in the day. This is a cutscene.
14. Orderly @Ready Room: X-Potion. The "On Second Thought..." entry will be added to the Rubicus.
15. Carla @Lounge: no rewards. She requests 10,000 Gil. This continues the Carla quest.
16. Ryo @Airship Landing: Elixir. This is event is only possible if you didn't talk to Ryo in the previous break (if you did, he won't be here; this Event is exactly the same one as earlier).
(17/18. Kazusa and Emina events)
NOTE: "Assign Her to My Custody" and "On Second Thought" are cutscenes that can only be watched if you select them from the Rubicus - Annals of Orience (they are about midway through). I recommend watching them.
Let's continue with the Tasks.
1. Sanative Supplier V (optional)
Logistics Officer @Main Gate. Request: 3x Mega-Potions. Reward: Platinum Gloves.
2. An Education in Love II (optional)
Tokito @Fountain Courtyard. Request: give 1x Diamond Ore. Reward: Good-Luck Charm.
The item requested is found in the Bethnel Caverns, area [7] (it's always there).
3. Secret Agent Agito V (optional; requires leaving Akademeia; we'll do it on our way to the next Expert Trials)
Class Ninth Cadet @Crystarium. Request: "take 3x prisoners" from enemy groups in the Meroe Region. Reward: Protector Ring.
WARNING: it must be done before the Expert Trial "A Charge on the Border", or else the required enemies won't be available anymore. Also, simply accepting the Trial will cut you off from the area where the enemies are found.
Like all similar tasks, you need to find a group with a Leader and then kill only the Leader to "take prisoners" (= the survivors). In this case the enemies will be in the forests of the Meroe Region (the big forest in the middle is a good location). We'll do when we go out for the Expert Trial "Colonel Faith's Revolt".
4. Monster Pursuit V (optional; requires leaving Akademeia; you can do it on the way to the next Expert Trials)
Dominion Officer @Central Command. Request: kill 1x Striker in the forests of the Eibon Region. Reward: 10x Elixirs.
5. The Phantoma Menace V (optional)
Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery. Request: give 10x Sepia Phantoma. Reward: Crystal Shard.
6. Slayer's Spoils V (optional)
Armory Guildmaster @Armory. Request: 2x Beast Flesh. Reward: Gold Bangle.
The Beast Flesh comes from Behemoths. You should already have one from the story mission, and another from the Behemoth killed from the Task in Meroe.
7. SPP Scavenger V (optional)
Administration Official @Lounge. Request: give 1,000 SPP. Reward: 5x Phoenix Down.
8. Commander's Orders II (optional)
Kurasame @Terrace. Request: land 20x between Breaksights/Killsights. Reward: Shock Shield.
NOTE: Kurasame only appears if there are more than 6 hours in the day. You also need to have seen his Event before this Task is available.
Do it in the Arena.
We also have three more Expert Trials to do. But first let's take a moment to discuss Chocobo Breeding plans. It's not necessary that you read the next paragraphs in indent text: they explain why I'll tell you to do things the way I'll say, but if you trust my judgment then you can just read what to do right away.

Chocobo Breeding - Part 1 (getting Evasive Chocobos)
Keep one thing in mind before doing anything. The results of breeding are random, but (at least from what I can tell) the game decides which chocobos you'll get right after you confirm the breeding process (= when the eggs are laid). Therefore you want to save BEFORE you select which chocobos/greens to use for breeding, then wait until six "time-to-mission hours" pass, and then check back to see which Chocobos you got: if the result is what you desired, continue; if not, you have to reload the save BEFORE breeding. This is quite a painful thing to do, because it means that you'll have to repeat all the Events you did to spend those six hours (you can't just save the game before checking which Chocobos you got, then reload that save and try again if you are not happy with the results; you actually have to redo everything from the breeding starting point onwards).

Also, just so you know it, I tried selecting the breeding partners, then doing two Events to spend 4 hours, saving, doing another Event to spend 2 more hours, then checking the breeding; then reloaded the save made after doing the first two Events (so 4 hours into the breeding, 2 left to go), redoing the last Event to spend the last 2 hours, and checking the breeding again: the results were always the same. In other words, all the tests I've done point to the conclusion that the offspring is determined at the moment when you confirm the breeding.

That's one more thing that discouraged me from chocobo-breeding: getting a Master Chocobo without insane luck/grinding in the Innsmouth Coast requires having the Setzer airship, acquired later in Chapter 7. When you have the Setzer, you will spend your Time to Mission to do Expert Trials, which means you are very unlikely to want to repeat a whole Expert Trial if the breeding doesn't go as you planned. On the other hand, when passing time is easier (just Events in Akademeia, like it is now), we don't have the necessary Sylkis Greens to get the Master Chocobo. If you think about it, the best time to breed a Master Chocobo will be in Chapter 7, in-between the few non-Expert-Trial Events, where you will pass the time with easy and fast Events, so it's not such a big deal if you have to reload, re-breed, and re-Event to try again.

Things are not as grim as they may seem though. Thankfully, the chances of getting the desired chocobos are moderately high (maybe even certainty in some cases), so the only time where you are going to need to save and reload are for the last step of the breeding process.

One other very important thing to know is that Chocobo parents are somehow "consumed" by the breeding process: the two Chocobos selected as "Sire" (father) and "Dam" (mother) for breeding will disappear along the Greens used for breeding. It's weird, but that's how it is. Normally the offspring will be better than the father/mother, but that's not always the case. Therefore a failed breeding can not only be a waste of 6 hours, but also a waste of a good chocobo parent.

If you want to get a Master Chocobo (it's theoretically possible to get it now; I cannot emphasize enough how much that would be a waste of your time though; we'll be doing it in Chapter 7 instead, when it's much easier and faster) the first step will be to obtain one Evasive Chocobo for each sex (one male, one female). Depending on which sex the Evasive Chocobo you caught on the world map was, breed a regular Chocobo of the opposite sex with the Evasive Chocobo you caught, and feed them the right type of Greens (Tantal if the Evasive Chocobo is a male; Pahsana if it's a female; you could get Evasive Chocobos offspring even with Gysahl Greens, but I wouldn't risk it).

Note, also for future reference, that the game may predict a different type of Chocobo (for example War Chocobo) instead of the expected result (Evasive Chocobos in this case) from the hatching process; this is normal. You can select "No" when asked the final confirmation, then re-select the same greens you selected a moment ago, and the hatch prediction may or may not change. It doesn't really matter though: even if they predict War Chocobos you are still going to get a few Evasive Chocobos (in fact, from the limited amount of tests I made, I found that sometimes you get more Evasive Chocobos from the War Chocobo prediction than you get from the Evasive Chocobos prediction. If you use Tantal/Pahsana Greens correctly you should always get an Evasion Chocobo prediction; unfortunately this doesn't 100% guarantee Evasive male AND female offspring (remember, the parents are "consumed" during breeding, so if you breed an Evasive male and only get an Evasive female in the offspring, you will now have an Evasive female but not the Evasive male. So you are really at the same point where you were earlier). Hopefully it won't take too many tries to get both an Evasive male and an Evasive female.

Also note that this first step of breeding, if done now, won't be as tedious as the next ones. The reason is that THIS TIME you don't actually need to save before breeding and reload if you don't get both a male and a female Evasive Chocobo (the desired results), because you have so many chances to breed that as long as you get at least one more Evasive Chocobo you can simply breed the Evasive Chocobo you just got from breeding again in the following 6 hours, until you eventually get a male and a female Evasive Chocobo (the only case when you need to reload now is if you somehow don't get any Evasive Chocobo at all after breeding. In that case, since you would need to capture another Evasive Chocobo on the world map to try again, it would be wiser to reload).
Later in Chapter 7, when we continue with breeding, we will only have barely enough Events to do to spend the six hours to do the breeding properly. Therefore, in Chapter 7, if we don't get the desired breeding results right away we are going to have to quit and reload to try again.

So, to clear things up, THIS TIME what you need to do is breed the Evasive Chocobo of one sex with a regular Chocobo of the opposite sex using either Tantal (if Evasive is male) or Pahsana (if Evasive is female) to make some more Evasive Chocobos. After selecting the breeding, do 3x Events, then check the breeding results; if you got NO Evasive Chocobos at all from the breeding (so at that point you have zero Evasive Chocobos left), you need to quit and reload. If you get a male AND a female Evasive Chocobo (one of each at least), then you can stop breeding. If you get only males or only females Evasive Chocobos, then repeat the process (breed again with a Chocobo of the opposite sex using Tantal/Pahsana depending on the Evasive Chocobo's sex), do 3x more Events, and check the results again. Keep doing so until you finally get one male and one female Evasive Chocobos. Once you do, do NOT use them on the world map, obviously, since we'll be needing them for breeding later in Chapter 7.

Proceed as follows (4d 12h):
- (Do any Chocobo Breeding you want/need in-between Events; remember, it's one breeding "session" every 3 Events)
- (This is not an Event) Speak with Aki and Fuyu @Ready Room to continue the mini-quest with them
- Do Events 1,2,3,4 (Mog Classes @Classroom Zero)
- Do Event 8 (Orderly @Airship Landing) to unlock an additional scene (watch it in the Rubicus's Annals of Orience afterwards)
- Do Event 9 (Mutsuki @Airship Landing) to continue with Mutsuki's quest
Then (3d 12h):
- (Keep breeding if you haven't obtained a male+female Evasive Chocobo yet)
- Do Event 10 (examine gate @Back Garden), just for the scene and reward (filler Event)
- Do Event 13 (Kurasame @Terrace), just for the scene, the reward, and to unlock his Task
- Do Kurasame's Task 8, just for the reward, if you wish (you may have to leave and return to Terrace to make him give you the Task)
Continuing (3d 8h):
- Do Event 14 (Orderly @Ready Room) to unlock an additional scene (watch it in the Rubicus's Annals of Orience afterwards)
- Do Event 15 (Carla @Lounge) and give her 10,000 Gil to continue with her quest
- Visit Emina @Terrace and give her the Wooden Coerul to unlock the scene Prove Emina's Identity 3: Sheer
- Visita Emina @Terrace and give her the Crystal Chandelier to unlock the scene Prove Emina's Identity 7: Sheer
We are done with Emina's quest for now (we've done all the eight possible Sheer scenes too); we'll resume in Chapter 7.
Then (2d 12h):
- Do Tasks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 if you want
Now (2d 12h) it's time for the next three Expert Trials. Let's start with Colonel Faith's Revolt.
Accept missable Task 3 "Secret Agent Agito V" (Class Ninth Cadet @Crystarium) before leaving the facility, if you want to do it. This is the last chance to do it while still being able to do all the other Trials as well, so don't delay it.

World Map
Before going to the Expert Trial, let's get the missable Task out of the way first. Reach the Meroe Region (northwest), and search through the forests until you find groups of soldiers with a leader. As always with these Tasks, defeat the leader to "capture" the other soldiers who surrendered. Do this with a total of 3 surrendered soldiers to fulfill the Task requirements. We'll report it back to Akademeia after the Expert Trial. Note that you can find group of enemies with leaders even outside the forests (on the plains), but only the groups in the forests count.
For the Trial, the closest Relic Terminal is in Aqvi. Make sure to save in Aqvi, since it's a rather dangerous trial to do.

Expert Trial - Colonel's Faith Revolt
Preparations: this is a potentially short, but very intense Trial. You can potentially do everything in the first area, but if you don't summon Firebrand to kill the mini-boss quickly, then he will flee and the mission will become even longer and considerably more annoying. Therefore summoning Firebrand is highly recommended. If you decide to do so, you don't need any other preparation.
If for some reason you don't want to or can't use Firebrand, then you will need ranged characters to deal with a fast-moving flying MA mini-boss. Trey is the usual recommendation, alongside Jack and Rem (Jack to kill enemies on the ground, Rem for emergency summoning). Enemies will deal heavy ballistic damage, so the key to succeed is completing the mission as fast as possible.
Trial Start!
[1] Downtown Toguagh
Empty area.
[2] Downtown Toguagh
Skip the fight.
[3] Town Square
You'll meet Colonel Faith here for the first time. If you want to make your life easier, summon Firebrand right away and punch the enemy to death. This will make you skip right to the final part of the mission, which is area [7] that we'll mention at the end. If not, you can try to do the SOs in the next areas (they are not hard, just tedious).
Colonel Faith will periodically move from one area to another, and your goal is to take his health down eventually. As far as I know, from what I've seen, Colonel Faith seems to always run east/northeast first, then towards the middle, then west. For this reason, I suggest (if you want to even do them) doing the SOs in the order described below. To reach the next area from area [3], go east, and then follow the only possible path.
[4] Nishiki Bridge
SO (1'): land a Breaksight on Colonel Faith. Reward: U2-Shock Damper.
This area is not adjacent to area [3], but I called it area [4] anyway because it's the next area of interest, if that makes sense. This area is the one south of the northern-most area containing a treasure (looking at the map, it's in the second row from the top, third column from the left).
First of all, eliminate the four Martinets (two ahead of you, two more on the left); then Decline any "white" SO that might have appeared so you're ready to accept the "red" one when it appears (it appears when Colonel Faith enters the area; just keep waiting, he'll be here sooner than later).
Easy-ish SO; as I said, it will appear only once Colonel Faith is in the area (if he isn't, wait for him to come here). From what I've experienced, he always seems to spawn in the lower-left part of the area (below the bridge level). As far as landing the Breaksight goes, if you use Trey then you want to release the shot as soon as the boss starts his quick-fire attack animation -- by the time the arrow reaches him, he should be in Breaksight. If the boss uses his slower attack (where he shoots sets of missiles), then Breaksight will occur at the end of the attack (so fire just about when he's finishing the sequence).
To reach the next area, exit west, then west again, then south.
[5] City Center
SO (5'): kill the enemies. Reward: Phoenix Pinion.
This area is the only orange area on your map. The SO requires you to simply kill the enemies (focus on the Leader), so do just that. The Leader here is the Nymurod type (the big MA that does the "stomp" attack when you stand in front of it), so it should be pretty easy with Jack. Just make sure to kill the other enemies when they come close, because if you let them attack you it's very possible to incur into an early death.
The last SO-area is just south of here.
[6] Gillia Bridge
SO (10'): ambush Colonel Faith. Reward: Megalixir.
On the minimap (press Start to see it), this is in the area south of the only orange area.
The SO requires you to wait until Colonel Faith spawns in this area. It's somewhat random (or so they say; it was quite regular to me through my various test runs), and it may take a few minutes -- just wait. It's just a Megalixir, so to be honest I would ignore this SO altogether if I were you. If you decide to do it anyway, then at least kill all the enemies roaming around first (they won't respawn). The SO will be completed once Colonel Faith spawns. In my experience, this happens at about 6:30 of your total mission time (not the SO timer, I mean the Time Elapsed from the start of the mission), assuming you reach area [3] right as the mission starts.
When you are satisfied with the SOs, go to an area that suits your play style (go back to the first area where you met Colonel Faith maybe; in my experiences, he's back in area [3] at 9 minutes of Time Elapsed) and fight until you kill him. If you want, and I highly recommend doing so, summon Firebrand (you may have to use Meteor Strike, depending on the enemy's position in the air).
If you thought killing Colonel Faith would end the mission, I am sorry to disappoint you -- there is another area before we can call it a win.
[7] Occupation Headquarters
SO (3'): kill 20x enemies. Reward: Diamond Fists (Eight's weapon).
You need to wait five minutes against infinitely-respawning enemies to end the trial. The enemies include Imperial Troopers, Supersoldiers, Strikers (Warriors), and even Colossi. The SO isn't too hard, but Firebrand is going to die from all the damage taken at some point -- just hope he dies after completing the SO, or else it will be hard to complete it with regular characters (Jack can still do his part, but he will die fast if he gets hit). Try to avoid Colossi as much you can, because they are really strong even for Firebrand.
Alternatively/afterwards, you can simply run in circles around the area until the timer reaches zero. You should be surprisingly fine despite all the mayhem happening around you; just make sure to dodge if you run into an enemy that is about to attack you.
Just in case you're thinking about it, do NOT let a character die and then skip replacing him so the timer continues to run while nobody is on the field. This trick doesn't work, because after waiting for a few seconds with a dead character you will trigger a Game Over, even if you still have Reserves who are alive and well!
Lastly, just in case you're wondering, the three areas with items will contain something among these possibilities: Ether, Medical Kit, Elixir, X-Ether, Support Serum.
Trial Reward: eidolon Troll.

Akademeia - Time do Mission: 1d 12h
Report Task 3 to Class Ninth Cadet @Crystarium to complete it.
If you want, accept Task 4 "Monster Pursuit V" (Dominion Officer @Central Command); then accept the next Expert Trial: A Charge on the Border.
World Map
If you want to do the Monster Pursuit V Task, go east towards Eibon first, and check in the forests to find (eventually) a Striker enemy -- kill him to fulfill the request (we'll report back in Akademeia later). I personally used the forest between Toguagh and Eibon.
Then proceed to the Expert Trial; Rokol has the closest Relic Terminal.

Expert Trial - A Charge on the Border
Preparations: this is an RTS trial. By now you hopefully figured that Trey is a crucial character for RTS missions (especially the Expert Trial ones). The next-best choice is still Rem with Thundaga SHG (and Flan Ooze to boost her power and casting speed), but the more we go on, the bigger the quality difference between Trey and her will become.
You want to have a few Fire Shards with you, so you can cast Aura on Trey for an attack boost. The Eidolon Firebrand is a highly recommended choice for the town-invasion parts. Accept SP as always for the Expert Trials. Also, make sure to follow my instructions so you don't lose any orders by Mog (and the direct control of domains/cities with it) or accidentally trigger some heavy counterattacks by the enemy.
It goes without saying, but remember to sort your Reserves so your top 3 characters are the ones you want to use during the town invasion parts. Also, equip Trey with anything that can help him resist against Ballistic Damage, or damage in general (HP-boosting accessories are nice too).
Trial Start!
I have a video of this Trial, although it shouldn't be necessary to watch it:
RTS - Part I
1. As soon as you start, head downhill and use a Fire Shard on Trey; then fire some MAX Charged shots on the Autoturret.
2. After that, fight the MAs going for Meroe to help push back against Domain 1.
Now, this is a very important part for this mission. I'm not entirely sure what causes it, but sometimes at this point (or very soon) your Domain 3 may be under heavy attack. If that's the case, then Meroe will be under attack very soon too, and things will get really bad for you. I think that this may have something to do with how much you wander off towards Domain 3. More specifically, I think that if you try to help Domain 3 fight its battle versus Domain 4 (which is currently a "tie"), then stronger units will be deployed by the enemy, and Domain 3 will soon fall. On the other hand, if you leave things as they are (after destroying the Autoturret and Domain 1, go for Domain 2, ignoring the rest of the area entirely; don't even walk near there), in my experience Domain 3 (and Meroe as a consequence) should be fine for the time being.
Another possible explanation, other than "don't peek/mess around Domain 3 or the enemy will become stronger", is that it's purely based on random luck, or some other factor that I honestly can't figure. In any case, if you read that Domain 3 is under attack (now, or soon), then chances are that the mission will fail because it's quite hard push it back. It's possible though, especially with Trey's MAX Charge buffed with Fire Shards, so you may want to try helping Meroe push back to Domain 3. Me, personally, I would simply quit and try again until everything goes as planned and Domain 3 does not get pushed back and then taken by the enemy.
3. As soon as Meroe starts its attack on Domain 1, run towards Domain 2. In the woods near it you will find an Autoturret -- start attacking it with MAX Charged shots (you shouldn't need to use a Fire Shard, but you may have to in order to speed things up; if you're fast and Trey is strong enough, you should be able to defeat it in time), and hopefully you will destroy it just a few seconds before the Mid-Sized Carrier reaches Domain 2.
4. Shortly after conquering Domain 1, a Mid-Sized Carrier will be dispatched on Domain 2. Take care of it (Trey's MAX Charged shots); again, you shouldn't need to use another Fire Shard here, but using it will definitely help you succeed. Note that, for some odd reason, the Mid-Sized Carrier cannot be targeted at first (it will take a few seconds before you can target/attack it. It's weird, but can't be helped). More importantly, be careful because the Mid-Sized Carrier will counter you! Unlike previous Mid-Sized Carriers, which just flew away after you attacked them, this one (and the future ones as well) will stop attacking the Domain/City, turn around, and hit you with a barrage of missiles instead. For this reason, make sure to always move left/right when you're charging your shots, thus dodging any counterattack.
5. With or without the help of Fire Shards, after killing the Mid-Sized Carrier you will need to wait until the timer goes to 0. You may need to fire a few charged shots at the MAs assaulting Domain 2. As always, if needed you can rely on more Fire Shards to help you deal even more damage to help secure your position better. If you were fast enough with the Autoturrets and Mid-Sized Carrier, chances are that you can simply relax at this point, and just wait until the timer goes down.
6. After completing the special mission (= don't lose Domain 2), you will now control Domain 2 manually. There is also a special unit, the Ryo unit, that can be dispatched from Domain 2. This special unit is nothing great, but it works like a Blaze unit that can take more hits than usual before going down.
7. Your goal now is to use Domain 2 to attack Alerion. You can either task the Ryo unit or a regular Spark Unit from Domain 2 to Alerion -- it's pretty much the same (Ryo unit is so bad that they will probably die, either on the way, or during the assault). Either way, you will need to assist the push on to Alerion (use MAX Charged shots on the MAs coming from it; Fire Shards help as always, but shouldn't be necessary), or else your forces won't be enough. Once it's done, invade Alerion.
Alerion Invasion
This invasion is not going to be easy, so you may want to be cheap and summon Firebrand to make things a lot easier (if you do so, use Rem's Undying Wish and then summon with her). If not, you can try using Jack to cut through the enemy as quickly as possible, but you will want to change back to Trey after killing the enemies, to make sure he doesn't die.
It shouldn't be too much of a problem, but there is a 5-minutes-timer in the first part of the invasion (all of it actually, except the final fight). Although the timer is not too strict, don't linger around too much, or you will risk being too late to complete the orders.
[1] Alerion Base
Two Imperial Troopers will greet you -- Jack can deal with them easily, as well as with the Nymurod MA up ahead. There will be two high towers with enemies shooting from them, but these enemies will respawn, so ignore them and focus on those on the ground. The Imperial Troopers on the ground will respawn too at some point, but they shouldn't be a problem (try to ignore them).
Once the Nymurod has been dealt with, I suggest you switch to Trey and stick with him for the rest of the invasion just to make sure he doesn't die while being controlled by the AI.
Once the ground-level enemies fall, run to the communication tower and deactivate it. As you're waiting, circle around the communication tower to avoid the bullets from the enemies on the high towers. The deactivation will take a longer time than what you're used to, so be patient.
[2] Depot
Again, cut your way through and make a run for the communication tower, which in this case is located on a container. Once you reach it, start the deactivation process and then circle around it while you wait.
[3] Makeshift HQ
Kill the two Supersoldiers on the ground, ignore the rest. There are two communication towers to deactivate here. Do so, and then a Leader, Major Barbizon, will spawn. He's one of those overpowered Imperial Officers. The best strategy would simply be to summon Firebrand. Failing that, the next-best approach would be to hide behind the containers in the area (or if you're confident enough, walk left/right), let him fire, and then counter with a Breaksight. He should fire three times (one bullet at the time for a total of three shots) before taking a break and offering a Breaksight. Alternatively, you can also wait until he goes in Rage status, and then goes into Killsight (which is really Breaksight for him) status afterwards; this will take a lot longer though. Or, if you feel confident enough, go in melee range next to him with Jack, Block his attacks and wait for a Breaksight counter.
There will also be Panjandrums annoying you every now and then; make sure to kill them or at least dodge away from them before they can self-detonate.
It's not a completely crazy idea to give Trey a Phoenix Pinion and then summon Firebrand to make things easier, if you just can't seem to find a better way out of this situation.
Defeating the Leader will bring you back to the world map.
RTS - Part II
At this point you will command Alerion.
A Mid-Sized Carrier will go against Domain 3 at this point. An Imperial Dreadnaught will also appear, but you can't do anything about it -- it will take Domain 1 (and 4, if you conquered it in the meantime), and we'll just have to accept that. Thankfully it should then fly away and never come back to disturb you. Be careful if you are approaching it though, since it can "drop" missiles below and around it, thus killing Trey (the missiles are rather quick too). Really, you should just stay away from it.
Just for the record, it IS possible to defeat the Imperial Dreadnaught (maybe when you replay this mission at level 99 with the best accessories of the game); just very unrealistic at this point.
1. Focus on the Mid-Sized Carrier instead. If needed, use the usual Fire Shard to enhance your attack; if not, regular MAX Charged shots might be enough. In this case I would recommend using the Fire Shard anyway, not only to speed things up, but also because if it takes you too long you may start losing other Domains.
The Mid-Sized Carrier will move away after taking some damage, so you'll need to chase it around the map as it flies over to Alerion and Domain 2. If you're strong enough, the carrier will die after it moves to Alerion.
As you're dealing with the carrier, you may or may not lose other Domains; if so, you'll need to reconquer them before continuing (you need to have Meroe, Domain 1,2,3, and Alerion).
2. If you lost Domain 3 to the carrier and/or the units from Domain 1, help Meroe retake Domain 3.
3. Retake Domain 1 by tasking Blaze Units from Domain 2. As you're doing this, Alerion will need some extra support from you because Domain 2 is not there to help Alerion against Domain 4/Renown, so head there and fire some arrows while Domain 1 is being re-taken.
4. Once you've dealt with the waves of assaults (the Mid-Sized Carrier is down, and you have Meroe, Alerion, and Domains 1,2,3), it's time to focus on Domain 4. Task Domain 2 with Spark Units to Domain 4.
5. Task Spark Units from Alerion to Domain 4.
6. Help, if needed, by using the usual MAX Charged shots against the MAs coming from Domain 4 and Renown.
7. After taking Domain 4, help push to Renown (keep using Spark Units from Alerion and Domain 2).
Renown Invasion
Firebrand will make quick work of everyone, but you can do without it.
[1] Concourse
Nothing out of the ordinary here, easy Killsights (enemies won't respawn).
[2] Depot
You need to fight here too. This area is a bit more dangerous. Make sure to kill the minions (Imperial Troopers first, then Supersoldier) before focusing on the Supersoldier Leader.
[3] Living Quarters
Must fight again. This is an even more dangerous area, with Supersoldier Leader and MAs.
[4] Central Depot
Final area, final fight, and Major Weber waiting for you here. This is the hardest area of the mission, with another of those annoying overpowered guys for Leader. Fight with honor, or summon Firebrand to deal with this far more easily and complete the trial.
Trial Reward: eidolon Calamity.

Chapter 5: The First Battle of Judecca (Continued)

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 12h
Report the Task completion in Central Command, if you did it.
Then accept the last, easy Expert Trial of Chapter 5: The Battle on the Beach.
Then head for the Iscah Region, and stop by Iscah (closest Relic Terminal, plus there might be some optional business here now.
Revisiting Iscah (Under Reconstruction)
If you did the Task in Iscah in Chapter 3, the city will be under reconstruction now (the reconstruction will be complete in Chapter 7).
In Iscah "under reconstruction" there is an optional mini-quest that you can do. While this mini-quest is basically irrelevant, we can do it just for the sake of doing it. The only actual "reward" for doing this quest will be early access to three Phantoma Traders (by default at this point you can only trade 40x Magenta Phantoma for 1x FIR Enhancer). You most likely don't want to do any trading anyway (very bad deals at this point), so it's ok if you want to skip this part and just continue with the Expert Trial. Just to be clear, the Phantoma Traders will appear in Chapter 7 (rebuilt Iscah) regardless of whether or not you do this mini-quest now.
If you want to do the quest, in Iscah you need to speak with the Dominion Legionary (red-cape guy) near the Chocobo, near the entrance. He will ask you to find three Chocobo chicklings, one by one. You need to find one, then speak with him to make the next one spawn, find the next one, speak with the legionary again to spawn the last one, find the last one, and then finally speak with the legionary one last time.
The first chickling (the one near the big Chocobo doesn't matter) is located behind a barrel and a couple of wooden boxes on the upper level of the area (on the left as you go). The second chickling will spawn just left of the entrance. The third and last one will appear at the very end of the area.
When that's done, four NPCs will trade Phantoma at the end of the path:
- 40x Magenta Phantoma for 1x FIR Enhancer
- 40x Cyan Phantoma for 1x ICE Enhancer
- 40x Sepia Phantoma for 1x LTG Enhancer
- 40x Verdant Phantoma for 1x DMG Enhancer

Expert Trial - The Battle on the Beach
Preparations: it's probably the easiest of all the Expert Trials, so if you've come this far you don't need any new preparation. For the record, you can only bring four characters, but they'll be more than enough. There is an optional ranged enemy.
Trial Start!
There are four foot soldiers and a Mid-Sized Carrier at first. The Carrier doesn't even do anything, and it will actually flee if you don't kill it fast enough.
After the first set of enemies, two Colossi will approach from the sea -- kill them to end the mission.
You can probably even S-Rank this mission, if you are fast enough and manage to kill the carrier (you need 7 Phantoma to S Rank it, and there are 7 enemies including the carrier). You get what you work for though, so don't expect a good reward.
Trial Reward: Crystal Ball available for sale at the Armory.

Akademeia - Mission Day!
Before anything, on Mission Day you can speak with Aki and Fuyu @Main Gate, to continue the "quest" of chats with them.
Head to Airship Landing to prepare for the next, awesome mission(s). Save at the Relic Terminal now!
Then speak with the NPC here, and you'll be asked something weird this time around.

From what you're told, you first have to select a party for the mission The Clash on Big Bridge, which is actually the mission AFTER the next one (there will be two consecutive missions without a free-time break in-between). For this mission you'll be asked to send only three characters; then, for the next mission, you can bring the other ten (the fourteenth, Machina, is still missing).

The part that you can't know from what the game tells you is that after the next mission, the game will actually let you "call back" up to five characters from the first mission (regardless if they died or not). Therefore, the best thing to do is to send your WORST three characters to The Clash on Big Bridge, and everyone else to the first mission. Then, after you've completed the first mission, as you're preparing for The Clash on Big Bridge (for real, this time), you will select your best characters among the 13 you have (you'll be able to choose a total of 8 between the 3 that you have sent to The Clash on Big Bridge just now, in Airship Landing, and 5 more from the 10 that you have sent to the next mission, The Battle of Judecca).

Unfortunately, in addition to Machina, Rem also won't be available for the first part of The Clash on Big Bridge because, as you'll be told in-game before the mission, the enemy will use a crystal jammer that prevents Rem (and Machina, if mr. teenagerhormones was here) from using magic (you can deploy her in the second part of the mission though).

My personal suggestion would be to send Deuce, Queen, and Cinque off to The Clash on Big Bridge now (keep Seven for The Battle of Judecca; she could be useful against a new particular type of enemy).

Story Mission: The Battle of Judecca

Preparations: there will be a lot of SOs. Starting from the last one, you definitely want to keep a ranged character (in my opinion, Ace works best for that situation) for an SO against the boss at the end.
Before that, a lot of fights (and some SOs) will rely on using ranged characters and/or a character that can deal a lot of damage in just a few hits.
Equip Rem with Blizzard BOM, as it will be useful for an early SO as well as later fights.
Seven can be very useful in a couple of large fights against fast-moving enemies, so even if she's not high-level at this point, try to save her for those situations (fights against the Dracobaltian enemies).
Since there won't be soldier-type enemies, switch any accessory that gives Ballistic Resistance for something that increases defense in general or Impact defense.
Lastly, when deploying characters you probably want to only send a ranged character at the start of the mission (King is ideal thanks to his LOW damage output) to make an early SO easier. In that case, give King all the HP-boosting accessories you can, so he can survive a few shots.
[1] Aximo Deck
SO (1'30''): shoot down 15x Wingverns with the cannon on board. Reward: Killer Knuckles (Eight's weapon).
The SO is simple, and it requires you to play a sort of minigame where you reach the cannon (or whatever you want to call it) on the right of where you start. From there, shoot down the Wingverns that come close enough to be shot. Keep in mind that you will see a lot of Wingverns in the background, out of your reach; after a few seconds, a few of them, in small groups, will approach (they appear bigger since they're closer); that's when you can shoot them down.
When more than one Wingvern approaches you at once, one of them will always be in Killsight until there is only one left -- try to locate the one in Killsight (you'll hear the typical "Killsight noise") and focus on him first.
After that minigame is done, an enemy will get on board. You can get a Knowing Tag during the next fight if you want.
SO (2'): score a Killsight on Zuiun. Reward: Elixir.
This is one of those SOs where "if you're too strong it might be hard". If you followed my suggestion and brought only King to start the mission, then you can easily and safely take down the enemy's HP with Breaksights (easy after his blue-fireball attacks) until a Killsight is available.
Assuming you only had King until now, at this point you want to add Rem into the mix so she can cast Cure, if you ever get hit.
The next part of this area consists of another minigame like the first one.
SO (1'30''): shoot down 20x Wingverns with the cannon on board. Reward: Auric Ring.
The timing on the first SO was a bit strict, but for the second one, even though you need to kill even more Wingverns, it's not. The reason is that enemies will spawn more frequently this time, so you should be able to complete the SO.
The next and final part consists of another shooting minigame against a "boss".
SO (1'): don't take any damage. Reward: Regal Armor.
This SO is easier than you may expect. The enemy has only two basic attacks, where he can throw orange-colored ("fire-colored" I guess, if fire has a color) fireballs OR blue-colored fireballs. The latter (the blue ones) actually have a "homing" property in them, and they are shot in larger numbers than the orange fireballs. By "homing" I mean that they don't follow a linear trajectory, but they will try to "steer" left/right to hit you. For this reason, you have to make sure to always be on the move and dodge away at the right time. It's very easy though.
Since you also need to shoot this enemy with the on-board cannon, and you can't dodge away while you are using the cannon, you'll need to stop using it (press the "cancel" button) before dodging away.
After a short while (after dealing enough damage to the "boss"), you will automatically proceed to the next area.
[2] Crash Site
Safe area with Recovery Portal and Relic Terminal.
Rearrange your party here (Trey, Jack, Rem); make sure to give the accessories back to their rightful owners (assuming you had to remove some Gold Bangles from the main trio to give them to King earlier).
There is a Knowing Tag behind you starting position, and a Ferrum Medica on the left just past the Relic Terminal.
[3] Frozen Trail
SO (1'): kill a Flame Flan with your Active character by using a spell. Reward: Megalixir.
Blizzard BOM works wonders.
[4] Frozen Trail
SO (2'): score 2x Killsights on Dracoknights. Reward: Draco Medica.
A fast ranged character can do it, but you can also hit them upon landing with a melee character. There will be two of them at first, and then a couple more. Stay away from them (middle-long range away from them), and wait for them to use their "jump" attack; unleash Trey's shot as soon as they land (they are in Killsight during the attack animation, and they remain in Killsight for a few instants after landing; since you would most likely miss during the animation, attack upon landing).
The enemy Seiku will show up in this area. A ranged character can deal with him more or less easily, especially if you land Breaksights. Oddly enough though, I've found that Jack can actually hit this enemy from the ground even if it looks like the enemy is floating too far high in the air for the hit to connect. The hits seem to always connect if you attack when the enemy is in Breaksight (this same thing happens with all the other similar dragon-Leaders for the next areas as well).
[5] Frozen Trail
You must fight in this area to continue.
There is a Hi-Potion in a small side-path to the northeast.
[6] Frozen Trail
SO (4'): kill Mikazuchi using your Active character. Reward: eidolon Vulcan.
Mikazuchi is a somewhat powerful opponent, at least for his level (34). He has very powerful area-of-effect attacks, so you want to kill him quickly before he can kill you. The best approach is probably by using Jack enhanced with Aura (use a Fire Shard), and then slash him down as quickly as possible using attack-dodge-attack-dodge patterns. Don't be too worried about being so close to the enemy, since he typically stands still (he won't turn around and kick you in the face if you stand behind him). The key to succeed is killing him fast, before he goes berserk and starts running everyone down.
[7] Dominion HQ Pro Tem
Kill the Leader enemy Ginga to secure this area.
After the fight there will be a Knowing Tag to the north (speak with the Cadet on the ground that is being healed by another Cadet), and Hi-Potion/Ether by the west wall near some boxes. Continue toward the yellow marker on your minimap, and a familiar NPC will give you instructions (speak with him) to continue.
[8] Dominion HQ Pro Tem
Safe area with Recovery Portal and Relic Terminal.
[9] Yugumo Approach
Kill the enemies to be allowed to proceed.
There is an Aes Medica/Ferrum Medica in front of where you enter. It's actually located in a small crater (the first crater near the entrance), so if you look for it from the right angle (look in the crater from south to north) you should be able to see it.
[10] Yugumo Approach
Kill the Leader dragon to continue. There is a Recovery Portal in here as well, so you can go trigger-happy with your spells (not that you should need to).
[11] Glacial Plain
SO (1'): collect the Knowing Tag in the area. Reward: Elixir.
The Knowing Tag is on the left, near some debris and flames not too far from the exit (southeast). Note that this SO gives you Invincible for 15 seconds, which is useful to kill the Behemash.
[12] Yugumo Crash Site
Safe area with Relic Terminal and Recovery Portal.
There is a Knowing Tag behind you. For the next section you'll need to kill enemies very quickly, so Jack should be your primary Active character. You also need a ranged character.
[13] The Yugumo
SO (1'): collect the Knowing Tag in the area. Reward: Phoenix Down.
The Knowing Tag is about mid-way through, just beyond the fork which could lead to the right (west) (continue a bit to the north to find the item).
Note how there is a big dragon enemy that killed an NPC Cadet as soon as you entered the area. Although we couldn't save this Cadet, if you're fast enough we can do so in the next areas.
[14] Central Station
SO (1'): collect the Knowing Tag in the area. Reward: Megalixir.
The item this time is near the debris with flames in the middle of the area. Do the SO after saving the Cadet (read below).
To save the Cadet NPC you'll need to use ranged attacks on Sanzashi (the dragon-rider, and not the dragon) from the higher ledge where you start when you enter the area. Do not attempt to go in melee range, because it won't work. Instead, use a ranged character to attack the dragon rider, and after a few hits (three should do it) it will fly away, thus sparing the Cadet.
Kill all the enemies (a couple of Bomb-types) with Jack, and the saved Cadet will thank you with a Hi-Potion.
Then quickly chase after Sanzashi before the timer expires; he may go in any of the next areas, so just follow your in-game marker and check the description for the corresponding area from the paragraphs below.
[15] Eastern Station
More fighting, more Cadet-protecting (remember to use a ranged character to focus on Sanzashi, and not the dragon). If you can save the Cadet, he'll then give you an Ether.
[16] Western Station
Same as always; if you can save the Cadet he'll give you a Mega-Potion.
[17] Southern Station
Same as always; this time the rescue-reward is an Elixir.
When that's all done, head back to area [12].
[12] Yugumo Crash Site
Make sure to save the game at the Relic Terminal, as the next SO is a bit tricky. Then proceed to area [11].
[11] Glacial Plain
SO (2'): kill Sanzashi without killing the Flyvern. Reward: Reaper's Scythe (Sice's weapon).
The enemy here is a bit particular, since it's made up of two parts: the humanoid that controls the dragon, and the dragon itself. The goal of the SO is to kill the humanoid without killing the dragon. If you are strong enough, killing the dragon is actually possible; if not, defeating the humanoid is your only real option here anyway.
The strategy here relies on waiting for the right opportunity to attack, which will be when the dragon lands on the ground (until then, just run in circles). At this point the boss should do a "fire-breath" attack, which already gives you a chance to do some damage on Sanzashi. After that, the dragon will jump, and then land again. At this point he will start a "long" attack animation where he pulls your characters towards him. It is after the "breath-in" part of the attack that you can score a Breaksight (make sure you are targeting Sanzashi!) which will stun the dragon and humanoid both, allowing you to deal a lot of damage on either (focus on the humanoid though). You will have to repeat this twice (Sanzashi only dies with a Killsight); hopefully you'll have enough time to defeat the humanoid within the 2 minutes allowed (in my experience, the boss will come to the ground after a fixed amount of time, so he will always land about once per minute, so twice within the two minutes). If not, you may want to reload and try again (you just saved after all), and this time wait until after the dragon lands for the second time before opening and accepting the SO.
After the fight, you can actually examine the "captured" Flyvern (Sanzashi was technically the Leader in this fight) for an item (which is kinda funny).
[18] Dracobaltian Dreadnought
Safe area with Relic Terminal and Recovery Portal. Proceed towards north to trigger a scene which will take you to the next area. An oddly hard part is about to begin.
[19] First Deck
SO (3'): collect the Wyvern Femur in the room. Reward: U1-Shock Damper.
The item is found just near the first Dracobaltian you'll find, in a small side-path to your left as you continue.
(the yellow marker seems to point left when you enter, but it's actually pointing DOWN the path, so that's where you need to go to eventually find the exit)

Starting from this area, you will encounter Dracobaltians, creepy and dangerous humanoid creatures. These enemies are strong because they deal a lot of damage and they are actually not that easy to hit (if you hit them they die rather fast; the problem is hitting them, since they dodge more than a Supersoldier). There are various attacks they can perform. Other than generic "melee" type of attacks, be on the lookout for their "slime-throwing" attack (which gives a Breaksight opportunity to hit them from afar) and the attack where they go underground and then pop up behind you for a surprise attack.

There isn't really a "best" way to kill them that I found, but area-of-effect spells like Blizzard BOM, or attacks that hit a larger area (like Seven's weapons) can be pretty effective. Jack's attacks also work wonders, especially if you use the usual attack-dodge-attack-dodge pattern or the three-hits combo (the latter only if you can corner the Dracobaltians). A great time to attack is also when they are "hugging" your other characters (damaging them). Jack's fast attack speed (and the fact that he can one-shot them) is what really helps here.

Should the worst happen, and you start losing characters (not really a danger against one Dracobaltian, but wait until they are massed in larger numbers), my advice is deploying Seven among your Reserves and use her regular attack combo to keep the enemies away while also damaging them (they don't seem to dodge her whip attacks as well as they dodge other types of attacks). Of course none of this should be needed if you have a strong Jack/Rem (for Blizzard BOM).

There is only one Dracobaltian in this area.
[20] Second Deck
SO (3'): find the Kingdom Helmet in the room. Reward: Elixir.
The item is found on a small side-path to the left, near the exit (not the first side-path to the left; the second one). There will be two Dracobaltians (the only two that you can defeat in this area) near the item, spawning from underground -- one is just next to the object, and the other one is behind you!
For the record, there will be some Dracobaltians up on some higher ledges which will shoot some poisonous bubbles against you -- ignore them.
[21] Third Deck
SO (3'): find the Kingdom Armor in the room. Reward: Plated Armor.
This one is on the first side-path to the left. A Dracobaltian (the only one you fight in this area, other than those on the ledges) will surprise you after you get the item, so don't get caught off-guard!
In case you're wondering, the Kingdom Armor is an item (serve no purpose other than doing this SO), like the Kingdom Helmet. It's not an actual accessory.
[22] Bottom Deck
Try to leave the area, and two waves of Dracobaltians will ambush you. Just what we needed, right? If your party is really struggling hard here, and deploying Seven doesn't seem to fix the problem, take in consideration the possibility of summoning Firebrand to help you through. The first wave is the hardest (lots of enemies; 10 actually); the second one is just three more enemies, and you can actually run away from the area (you must fight the first wave; you can ignore the last three).
[8] Dominion HQ Pro Tem
Safe area, how I missed thee! Use the Relic Terminal and then continue.
[7] Dominion HQ Pro Tem
Nothing but a small scene here.
[23] Crystalline Cloudfield
SO (1'): don't engage any enemies. Reward: Blizzard MIS-II.
Simply run back and forth a few times until the timer reaches zero; then follow the NPC to the next area (no need to fight). Just so you know it, this SO requirement only applies to your Active character (it's ok if your AI characters attack).
Not that it really matters, but there is an item about a quarter of the way through, by the east side: Ferrum Medica/Aes Medica.
[24] Ark Moorage
SO (4'): kill 5x Dracobaltians with your Active character. Reward: Magicite Prime (Cater's weapon).
Kill the dragons first, and then the SO will appear.
There will be plenty enough of Dracobaltians for the SO ("thankfully", I guess?) (a dozen of them, in waves of 3 at the time), but make sure all the dragons are dead before focusing on the Dracobaltians. Like last time, don't be ashamed of calling your eidolon for help if you need to.
[24] Ark MoorageAfter winning the fight, make sure to use the Recovery Portal and Relic Terminal that will appear in the area before continuing.
At this point there will be a particular boss in the next area. The boss hits extremely hard, but it's also very easy to avoid all the attacks entirely. The best way to deal with the situation, in my opinion, is with Ace solo (don't deploy 3 characters; it's unlikely that the two AI-controlled characters will survive longer than a few attacks from the boss), since he has fast and ranged attacks that will be ideal to counter the boss, fast movement speed, and a great dodge. Any ranged character could work, in theory (Trey too if he's still alive), but Trey's attacks and movement speed are a bit slower, and may not necessarily suit you in this context. Any ranged character can work though; we'll be relying on Breaksights. If you haven't done so until now, make sure to learn Ace's "movement" abilities (Accelerate, Triple Slip, Slipstream, Untouchable) before you go on.
[25] Cimmerian Icefield
SO (2'): avoid taking damage. Reward: Crystal Ball.
The SO is actually easy, since the boss pretty much uses only two attacks: the fast orange fireballs, and the slow (but numerous, and "homing") blue fireballs. All you need to do is run at maximum speed (press LS to make sure you're going at maximum movement speed) in circles or left/right, with the occasional last-second dodge, to avoid all incoming fire.
The boss also has another attack, where it can land (only now you can actually hit the boss back), and then do a spin-attack which causes instant-death. To avoid getting killed during this attack, lock on the boss and use Breaksights to not only stay safe, but actually damage the boss herself.
After the SO, there are then two ways to proceed, both of which are definitely worth exploring. Another SO will appear, too.
SO (5'): kill the boss. Reward: Venom Bow (Trey's weapon).
The first way to go about it is by letting the boss kill all of your characters. Now, I know what you're thinking: "just like Nimbus, man that's boring". But it's not; try it out, and thank me later. I don't want to ruin the surprise, but I'll just say, in case you get stuck, how to proceed: after everyone dies, an Eidolon will be automatically summoned. Use the Eidolon's regular attacks against the boss (including Breaksights, if you can; regular attacks are fine too though). Once the boss's health is at minimum level, make sure to Breaksight the boss. After a few Breaksights, Mog will instruct you to use the Eidolon's special attack. At that point, charge the special attack to its third level, and then release to finish the battle.

As far as I know, you can't just "wait" a certain amount of time to make the thing I just said (Eidolon summoned automatically) happen; you must lose your characters. This is kinda weird, because official sources report that you can get an S Rank in this mission by letting that thing happen while still preserving 0 Casualties. I don't know if it's a technical mistake, or if I'm missing something; I do know that I tried surviving (running around) for over 15 minutes without anything happening. Maybe you need to be using a certain character for that to happen regardless of characters killed? (I tried with Rem) I honestly can't tell. Doesn't really matter though; just a curiosity.

The second way to do it (I really suggest doing the first method, then reload your pre-battle save and do this other method instead; the SO for killing the boss can't be done if you use the first method, and it gives a really nice weapon for Trey) is by waiting until the boss stops floating out of range in the background, where you can't hit her, and lands on the ground. Immediately as she lands, a Breaksight will be available -- strike now, and the boss will be stunned, opening herself to even more consecutive Breaksights (for these ones you don't need timing; you can continuously attack and you will get every Breaksight possible). After a short while, the boss will get up and go back to floating and attacking from the background. Repeat the process (wait until she lands, then Breaksight, then Breaksights) until the boss dies.
Here is a video demonstration of the process I just described:
You should have enough time (5 minutes) to do it all within the SO allowed time, even if you are using Ace with his default weapon and his minimum level (i.e. the only level-ups he got were from the Mog Classes/Tasks Experience). If you don't feel like risking it though, simply don't open the SO until the boss is at the last health bar. For the record, my Ace was doing about 700+ damage with each Breaksight, and after accepting the SO as early as possible I still had around 50 seconds left when the boss died.
Mission Reward: spell Fire MIS if you complete the mission by letting everyone die in the boss fight.
Mission Reward: Lunar Armlet available for sale at the Armory shop.

Chapter 6: Terra Mortis - Khalia's Decision

One-mission-only chapter 6 time. You don't have any free time or optional things to do, so go ahead until you find various services (Armory shop, Orderly shop, Combat Simulator, and Relic Terminal).
Speak with Kurasame when you're ready, and he'll let you choose 5 characters to bring back and deploy (in addition to the 3 that you sent here earlier) between the 10 characters that were in the previous mission.
Preparations: unlike the previous mission, we're back fighting against Ballistic-damaging enemies here, so you may want to equip some Ballistic Shields.
My advice will be Trey, Jack, and Rem, but since Rem can't be used then you can replace her with Cinque (she' tanky and she can use Cure). Remember to equip the Venom Bow on Trey, if you got it from the last SO of the previous story mission -- it's a pretty big upgrade.
Start by controlling Trey instead of the usual Jack. A ranged character will be useful throughout the whole mission. Other than that, there's nothing special to point out.

Story Mission: The Clash on Big Bridge

Mission Start!
[1] Last Line
SO (1'): avoid enemy fire. Reward: Elixir.
Maybe it's just me, but I never got hit in this area. You can really just proceed down the path and to the exit (the SO will be complete once you reach the exit or once the timer expires; the former is faster).
On the way you can find a Mega-Potion/Hi-Potion (on the right, midway through), and then Hi-Potion/Ether.
[2] Second Line
Kill the flying-MA Leader to continue (Trey's MAX Charge will do it in a couple of hits).
There is a Hi-Potion/Ether on the right (north).
[3] First Line
SO (2'): don't let anyone die. Reward: Fire MIS-II.
Colossi will keep spawning for quite a while (there is six of them). Thankfully, by this point Trey can one-shot them with a MAX Charge shot preceded by Concentrate (renew Concentrate every now and then if it expires).
This area features a Recovery portal and a Mega-Potion/Hi-Potion in the middle. After a minute and half, the "support" from the Bahamut Squad will become available. You can summon them with the "First Command" button (the confirmation button) for some heavy shots on the enemies, but you probably don't need to at this point. We'll need to use this support attack later for an SO, so feel free to wait until then to try it out (or maybe try it out now so you know what to do later).
Make sure you don't leave the area before the SO is completed.
[4] Border Plains
Safe area with Recovery Portal, Relic Terminal, and 2x Knowing Tags on the ground.
[5] Former Encampment
SO (1'): score 4x Killsights on the Imperial Troopers. Reward: Elixir.
There is just five of them, so "don't waste them".
You can find a First Aid Kit/Strength Serum southwest.
[6] East Bank
SO (1'30''): kill 3x Warriors with your Active character. Reward: Black Widow (Jack's weapon).
This SO will only appear after the first wave of enemies (some of which are out-of-melee range, but they will run away if you kill everyone on the ground first), when the gates to Big Bridge will open and 3x Warrior enemies will spawn (two first, the third one after you kill one). Discard any "white" SO that may have appeared before this one. One of the Warriors is a Leader, so make sure to kill him last.
There is a First Aid Kit near a fence to the north/northeast.

You may also notice a locked storehouse, but to get the Keycard to open this one you would need to kill the leader Warrior, spare the other Warrior, and then get the Keycard from the Warrior that survived and surrendered (assuming he doesn't run out of the area). Since we need to kill the Warriors for the SO, and since the content of the storehouse is nothing important (Support Serum or something like that) (not that the SO's reward is much better to be honest), ignore this storehouse altogether.

[7] Big Bridge
After proceeding on the bridge, kill the first set of enemies and another portion of the bridge will lower, allowing you to continue. Defeat the second set of enemies (one of which is a Colossus) and the bridge will be lowered even further. At this point, a third group of enemies consisting of a Leader with two Colossi will spawn, along with an SO.
SO (2'): kill the 2x Colossi. Reward: Thunder MIS-II.
Just make sure not to kill the enemy Leader first. Note that you have Invincible status for a minute during this SO.
[7] Big Bridge
After the fight there will be a Recovery Portal/Relic Terminal here. Make sure to equip the Black Widow on Jack if you obtained it in the previous fights (it's only +5 attack compared to his default weapon, but better than nothing I guess).
[6] East Bank
When you try to proceed to the next area you'll be asked to choose a single character to send in a solo-battle against a bunch of regular soldiers and a few Colossi as well. Jack would be my choice here, but keep in mind that the other characters will have to defeat a mini-boss before the character that you send away now can come back. Despite all this, you can manage without Jack in that fight (especially if you have a strong Trey).
Defeat the enemies on the way. After killing the 3x Colossi, an SO will appear.
SO (2'): score 5x Killsights. Reward: Topaz Shield.
Easy, since there will be plenty of weaker enemies to do this on.
A Leader will join the fight at some point -- kill him to end this battle, and then rearrange your party when asked (you can go Trey solo if you want).
[8] West Bank
SO (1'): kill the enemy with your Active character. VERY LIMITED TIME. Reward: Elixir.
This SO's timer is quite short, especially if Jack is not here to help deal a lot of damage. The best choice would be to either ignore the SO (it's just an Elixir after all), or to open the SO only when the enemy is at less than a health bar away from death. You do get 30'' of Aura from the SO, but that may not be enough.
The fight here is not too hard, but you'll need to circle around the boss to avoid the barrage of missiles that he'll shoot at you all the time. Circle around him, shoot when Breaksight is possible, or simply rely on MAX Charged shots (with Concentrate, or maybe a Fire Shard for Aura, to enhance damage output) to eventually take him down. Be careful of the other enemies in the area, too, and keep at full health all the time.
All of that being said, keep in mind that my level-32 Trey with Concentrate took the boss to less than his last health bar after a single Concentrated-MAX Charge shot, and the second hit killed the boss. So the time is short for the SO really only if you aren't prepared properly.
[8] West BankAfter defeating the mini-boss, the crystal jammer will be broken and you can finally deploy Rem again (plus, the character you sent away earlier will be usable again). Therefore make sure to rearrange your party (you can use Trey-Jack-Rem again) accordingly (you can do so when prompted, and then you can do it again at the Relic Terminal that will appear in this area after some scenes).
[9] Fortified Area
SO (1'): kill 1x Helldiver with your Active character. Reward: Blaze Armlet.
Fight to exit the area. The Helldivers are best dealt-with by using a ranged character like Trey to take advantage of Breaksights after their bullet-attacks (Trey's MAX Charge can one-shot them with Concentrate buff preceeding it).
[10] Fortified Area
SO (1'): score 3x Killsights on Shock Troopers. Reward: Elixir.
I strongly suggest avoiding this SO (bad reward, hard to pull off within the time given, and very luck-based since the Shock Troopers may decide to not use the attacks that allow Killsights). If you have to do it, use Trey and fire some non-charged arrows at the Shock Troopers to get their attention -- then they should charge at you, allowing a Killsight counter. There is only 4x Shock Troopers in total.
Nothing out of the ordinary here; some enemies (including the Nymurod) will be out of melee reach, so you'll need some ranged attacks to kill them. Alternatively, you can simply ignore them altogether.
[11] Airbase M-680
SO (1'): take down a Helldiver with support from the Bahamut Squad. Reward: Fulgur Tertius, Vol. II.
There will be a total of 4x Helldivers in this area (two first, one at the time, then two more after a fixed amount of time). Since you only need to kill one with the support command, feel free to kill the other three (although, if you are "too" strong, it's best to leave two of them alive in case your AI characters kill them by accident). Note that the SO, along with support command, will only be available after 2 minutes (there will be a timer countdown visible), so just roam around until it's available (the last two Helldivers should show up when the timer is at 30 seconds left; the SO when the timer expires).
There are two possible exits from here (plus the one located east where you came from); take the exit to the south for an optional area [12].
[12] Airbase M-680
SO (1'30''): kill the enemy Leader with your Active character. Reward: Knight's Lance (Nine's weapon).
The enemy Leader only appears after killing some of the other enemies already present in the area (kill two Helldivers), and the SO only appears a few seconds after the Leader himself spawns (so be patient and wait for it).
When it's done, head back one area and exit to the north.
[13] Field Artillery Station
This is a safe area with the usual Recovery Portal and Relic Terminal.
[14] Heavy Artillery Depot
SO (2'): kill 3x Colossi with your Active character. Reward: Phoenix Pinion.
The time is not very generous here, but you can do it if you use Jack (the SO gives you Aura for a minute; use a Fire Shard after that, if needed) and approach the Colossi (there is a path to reach them; it will be open on the right side after the second Colossus spawns) to get in melee range, even without having to rely on Breaksights. Alternatively, Concentrate+MAX Charge by Trey should be davastating.
After killing 4x Colossi, a supersoldier and a Leader will join the party -- he's one of those overpowered Imperial Officers, so you'll probably want to go all-in against him (use some Fire Shards on Jack, or simply rely on Breaksights from safe distance with Trey).
After killing the Leader too, an 8-minutes countdown to death will start, so run back to the previous area.
[13] Field Artillery Depot
SO (1'): score 2x Killsights on Shock Troopers. Reward: Elixir.
This is not a safe area anymore, obviously.
You don't have to fight, so just do the SO (if you want to), and then move on, grabbing the Keycard on the ground on the path back to area [11] (it's just before the exit).
[11] Airbase M-680
SO (1'): score 2x Killsights. Reward: Elixir.
There are two more Keycards in here (one near the turret close to where you entered; another one will be visible as you approach the exit where the yellow marker points), but you should be more interested (so to speak) in using the Keycard on the storehouse southwest to receive a First Aid Kit/Strength Serum (yay).
If you really want to, you can re-visit area [12] too...
[12] Airbase M-680...just for the sake of opening a couple of storehouses here to receive more "formidable" prizes (Combat Ration/First Aid Kit/Fortified Ration). After that you will also be ambushed by more enemies in here. How about no? From area [11], proceed east to area [10].
[10] Fortified Area
SO (1'): find a Keycard. Reward: Megalixir.
There is one up ahead from where you start, and another one in the southeastern part of the area.
There is another storehouse northwest, with the usual junk items in it.
[9] Fortified Area
SO (1'): find a Knowing Tag. Reward: Glacies Tertia, Vol. II
There will be one right in front of where you start, and another couple to the northeast/southeast.
There are also two more storehouses and a Keycard in the north and southwest.
[8] West Bank
The timer stops at this point.
There is a Relic Terminal and Recovery Portal combo here. Save, and prepare for the upcoming boss fight. Well, not that you really need to prepare to be honest, since any character will do. A preferred choice here could be Trey or another ranged character. Don't deploy more than one character though; it's best if you go solo (you can only really deal damage with Breaksights anyway).
[7] Big Bridge
You'll fight an optional boss Gilgamesh here. This is another of those situations where you can let him wipe your party out to end the mission, OR you can fight bravely to win (you won't actually kill him though, he always survives). The boss is strong, but not too strong (you can actually survive his attacks, if you're strong enough). Dealing damage to him is quite easy too. In particular, you can even force a closed cycle of Breaksights:
- For the first Breaksight (the hardest), run around him and wait for him to do a sword-swinging attack
- After the first Breaksight, DO NOT HIT HIM AGAIN
- If you wait patiently, he will partially crouch and stop. If you wait another few instants, he will then be in Breaksight three more consecutive times, so unleash your attacks now
- After he recovers, he will do a sword-swinging attack (no Breaksight here). Then he will follow this attack by an attack where he chases you (he starts running towards you); as he does it, another Breaksight will be available
- If you can hit him, he will "crouch" again, and you can repeat this cycle until he dies
Should you break the cycle, simply wait for another Breaksight opportunity to restart it, and repeat until the fight is over.
Mission Reward: eidolon Odin.

Chapter 7: Fate of the Crystal - The Endless Battle

Chapter 7: Free-Time Break 1

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 7d 12h

Hi-Potions are now available for sale at the "orderly" shop in Classroom Zero, but you don't need (or want to) stock up on them just yet. Instead, save your Gil for the big investment that we're about to need very soon.

Before going through the various Events and Tasks, at this point we need to start considering our long-term plan with the game. We are nearing the end of our first playthrough, and there are still a lot of things to do, especially Expert Trials. At this point we can send Firebrand to the retirement house, because Odin (obtained as reward for the previous mission) is just superior in every possible way.

In fact, Odin is so powerful that we'll be using him to go quickly and cheaply through all the remaining Expert Trials. You're free to do differently (Odin is so incredibly powerful; you'll see), and continue to deploy your regular characters if you want an extra challenge. However, from now I am going to assume that for the hardest Expert Trials you'll do as I suggest, i.e. summon Odin and make everything easier. If that's not your style, then I'm sure by now you have learned the game enough to find your own way through these missions.

In general, get ready for a long series of optional things to do -- this will be the busiest Chapter of the game!
List of the Events available:
1. Mog Class # 1 @Classroom Zero: 100,000 Exp.
2. Mog Class # 2 @Classroom Zero: Magic Power +1.
3. Mog Class # 3 @Classroom Zero: Max HP +50.
4. Mog Class # 4 @Classroom Zero: Max MP +20.
5. Yamato @Main Gate: Elixir.
6. Izumo @Airship Landing: Elixir.
7. Queen @Altocrystarium: Mega-Potion. Do NOT go as Rem or Machina for this Event, because if you do the conversation will be different and you'll miss on an important (although maybe obvious) piece of information about Phantomas.
8. Naghi @Hallway: AP +10. This completes the Naghi quest. This is a cutscene.
9. Rem/Trey @Classroom Zero: Phoenix Pinion. This is a cutscene.
10. Machina @Back Garden: Mega-Potion.
11. Examine gate to cemetery @Back Garden: Phoenix Pinion. This is a cutscene.
12. Class Ninth Moogle @Crystarium: X-Potion.
13. Seven @Central Command: all BOM Spells +10 Magic Power. Only available after completing Mutsuki's Task/quest. This is a cutscene.
14. Shijima @Central Command: Elixir.
15. Ryid @Armory: Attack +3. Only available after completing Ryid's Task/quest. This is a cutscene.
16. Carla @Lounge: nothing. Give her 100,000 Gil. This continues the Carla quest.
17. Tokito @Terrace: X-Potion. There must be more than 6 hours left in the day.
(18/19. Kazusa and Emina events)
There are many important Tasks at this time. First, I will list the optional ones.
1. Sanative Supplier VI (optional)
Logistics Officer @Main Gate. Request: give 3x Mega-Remedy. Reward: 10x X-Potion.
Mega-Remedies can be purchased in the SPP Shop for 400 SPP each (it's unlocked in the shop after earning a total of 1,000 SPP). I don't know of any other source, aside from this one and the single Mega-Remedy given by Mutsuki in her first Event.
2. Lost in Traslation (optional)
Tonberry @Classroom Zero. Request: land 30x Breaksights/Killsights. Reward: Shock Armor.
Do it in the Arena.
3. Monster Pursuit VI (optional; requires leaving Akademeia; you can do it on your way to the next Expert Trials; I'll let you know a good time to do so)
Dominion Officer @Central Command. Request: kill 10x Ankhegs in the Old Lorica Region. Reward: 3x Megalixir.
4. Slayer's Spoils VI (optional; requires leaving Akademeia and killing strong enemies; we'll talk about it later)
Guildsman @Armory. Request: give 10x Turtle Shell. Reward: Diamond Gloves.
The requested item is dropped by very tough monsters in the Innsmouth Coast (the Adamantoise). You may be strong enough to kill these enemies regularly by the end of this free-time break, so I'll remind you of this Task later (one of the last times we head outside of Akademeia for other business).
5. SPP Scavenger VI (optional)
Cadetmaster @Lounge. Request: give 1,500 SPP. Reward: 5x Phoenix Pinion.
6. The Phantoma Menace VI (recommended)
Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery. Request: give 15x Mauve Phantoma. Reward: spell Thunder MIS.
There are four more Tasks that will be important for the quests we've been doing so far, too.
7. An Innocent Favor (must do it)
Quon @Sorcery. Request: give 1x Jeweled Ring. Reward: Dominion Helmet.
This Task continues the Quon quest. The required item was given as reward from a Task from "mother", in an earlier break.
8. Last Days of Lorica (must do it)
Ryid @Armory. Request: 1x Lorican Diary. Reward: Crystal Gloves.
This Task continues the Ryid quest. The required item is found in the Ultima Ground Zero dungeon; we'll visit it later.
9. Hazardous Material (must do it)
Mutsuki @Armory. Request: 1x Dark Matter. Reward: Diamond Ring.
This Task continues the Mutsuki quest. The required item is dropped by Malboros in the Roshana Province (unlocked with certain Expert Trials that we'll see later).
10. Secret Agent Agito VI (must do it for the Kazusa/Emina quests; we'll talk about it later)
Naghi @Crystarium. Request: 1x Commander Kurasame's Tag. Reward: X-Potion.
This Task is part of the Kazusa/Emina quests. We'll talk about it later on. For now, just know that the Task appears only after doing two more Events with Kazusa, but do not do anything until I'll talk about it (after the trial The Retreat from Roshana) !

Emina & Kazusa vs Expert Trials - Time management considerations
Now let's crank up some numbers. There are TWELVE more Expert Trials in Chapter 7, and only two free-time breaks (this one, worth 8d, and the next one, worth 6d; in total, that's 14d). If we want to do them all, that means that we'll need to spend twelve of our fourteen days doing them.
Unfortunately for us, there are also Events tied to quests which need to be done, in this break as well as the next one. The worst part is about the Kazusa/Emina quests, which will ultimately leave us without enough time to do everything. See, if we have to spend 12 of our 14 days for Expert Trials, that leaves 24h for everything else. Unfortunately, only half of those hours can be used for the Kazusa/Emina quests, because their Events are only available when there are 6 hours or less in the day. That means that with all the Expert Trials done, we'll be left with only 12 hours for the Kazusa/Emina quests, which means 6 Events. We have way more than that to do with them, which means you'll have to make a choice at this point.
You can either choose to continue with the Kazusa/Emina quest, which are actually disappointingly void of any decent rewards (you would expect something great after all that time wasted on them, but that's not the case), thus sacrificing some Expert Trials; OR you could do the Expert Trials, and leave the Kazusa/Emina quests incomplete.
The "best of both worlds" is the way I personally prefer to go. See, Expert Trials do provide concrete, tangible rewards (Exp, Phantoma, spells, Eidolons, etc.), so I am not going to sacrifice them. However, even though the Kazusa and Emina quests don't give any reward per-se, they have some interesting scenes tied to them. So, what do we do when we want to see scenes but we don't want to lose the Time to Mission necessary to watch them? We save, do the scenes, and then reload the game to get our time back!
Granted, this approach won't let you keep the unlocked scenes in the Rubicus. On the other hand, you may not care about filling the Rubicus at all, and if you do, you're still going to need to replay the game a few more times (at least another playthrough, if you have followed this walkthrough and you'll keep following it for New Game+ as well) to unlock all the other scenes we had to miss until this point (there simply isn't enough time for everything). So in my opinion this was the best course of action, because it will allow us to complete the Kazusa and Emina quests at this point, but then by reloading the game we can keep the scenes in our memories and the Expert Trials on our console's memory storage :p
Also note that there is an additional scene if you do the Emina quest after getting an item (a Letter) in the Expert Trial "The Retreat from Roshana". Since we need to do that Trial anyway, we're going to start by doing that Trial first, and then we'll do the watch & reload of the Kazusa & Emina quests/Events.
So, IF YOU WANT TO DO AS I SAY, which means you'll see Kazusa and Emina's quests completed, but then you will reload the save at the start of this Chapter and completely ignore their quests altogether, keep following the walkthrough regularly until after the trial The Retreat from Roshana. At that point I will instruct you on how to proceed to complete the Kazusa and Emina quests, so you can save the game, then do the quests, then reload, and then continue with the rest of the Expert Trials.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 7d 12h
Before doing anything valuable, we're actually going to do the watch-and-reload trick (if you can call it that) for all the unnecessary Events of this free-time break.
Watch-and-reload:
- Events 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17

The last things to consider at this point are the Events we can actually do, assuming we want to leave time for all the Expert Trials. So far we never questioned that Mog's classes should always be a top priority in every free-time break, but in this case you have to remember that between this break and the next one we'll only have a total of 24h for Events. In this break, for quest-related Events (which have the absolutely highest priority), we'll need 8h (Events 8, 13, 15, 16); in the next break, we'll need 6h for three more Events (one final Quon Event, and two Carla Events). That means that in this break we have only time for 4h worth of Mog Classes (therefore two classes), and in the next break we'll have time for three Mog Classes.

It's not the end of the world, although I understand it's quite annoying to have to leave those permanent stats boosts "on hold" until the next playthroughs. Then again, let's be honest: how much is Magic Power +1 (second Mog Class of this break), or HP +50 (third class of this break), or MP +20 (fourth class of this break) REALLY going to matter? Ironically, the first class which gives Exp (which you can get against monsters at any time) is the only one that, even though only in the short term, affects your party in a significant manner. So cheer up, it's not really a big loss when you think about it :D

At last, let's continue with our game (7d 12h):
- (This is not an Event) Visit Aki and Fuyu @Terrace to continue with her chat mini-quest. Note that they'll be there only if there are more than 6 hours left in the current day. Also note that Aki will be near the balcony (outside), whereas Fuyu will be in the bottom-right corner, somewhat hidden in the dark, in the "inside" part of the Terrace. Speak with them both!
- Do Events 1 and 2 OR 1 and 3 OR 1 and 4 (Mog Classes # 1 and # 2/3/4 @Classroom Zero) for their nice rewards. You can choose any two classes (ONLY TWO) you want, but I think the Exp-giving one (first one) should not be questioned, since it's easy level-up for everyone, especially the characters in the Reserves
- Do Event 8 (Naghi @Hallway) to end the Naghi quest and get your reward
- Do Task 7 (Quon @Sorcery) to advance with Quon's quest
(7d 6h)

We could do Event 16 now, but you may not have the necessary amount of Gil to do so. Therefore, let's assume that you can't do it now, but you'll take care of it after the Expert Trials (which should give you quite a bit of Gil). After the next Expert Trials we'll do Events 13, 15, 16 too, which will cost us 6h.

There are two Tasks necessary in order to do Events 13 and 15, but we can obtain the items required for the Tasks completion while we're out doing the Expert Trials, and then accept and complete both Tasks right away when we come back to Akademeia. Just in case you're feeling brave/lucky and want to attempt the Mutsuki Task now, know that you CAN'T, because the required enemy to obtain the requested item (Dark Matter from Malboros) is the one found in the Roshana Province, and NOT the level-99 ones that you may encounter on the world map, in the Eibon Region (they don't drop Dark Matter!). We will temporarily unlock the Roshana Province from the first Expert Trials we'll do in this break, and then permanently (at least for this playthrough) unlock it after the second Expert Trial, "Operation Dragon Slayer".

You can do some of the other Tasks as well (7d 6h):
- Do Task 1, 2, 5, 6 if you want
So, after doing a couple of Mog Classes, completing the Naghi's final Event, doing Task 7, and possibly also Tasks 1,2,5,6, head to Main Gate. Please notice that there are TWO NPCs giving out Expert Trials in Chapter 7 -- one is the usual one, the other one is near the opposite wall.
WARNING: the Expert Trials in Chapter 7 need to be done in a rather specific order. Not only we have just enough time to do all the Trials, but some Trials are available only in the first free-time break (this one)! In particular, the "missable" Trials here (available only in this break) are the first four from the "other" NPC giving Trials: The Retreat from Roshana; Operation Dragon Slayer; Thwarting the Royal Ambush; Wyverns in the Woods. The first two Trials from the usual NPC are also only available in this break; they are: Operation Sticky Fingers and Secret Agents Zero. That's actually six of the seven Expert Trials we need to do in this break. The last one (which is available also in the next break, but due to lack of time in the next break we'll have to do it in this break) that we'll do is The Climactic Clash at Azurr.

Chapter 7: Fate of the Crystal - The Endless Battle (Continued)

Growth Egg?
Before continuing with the Trials, you may want to know that a Growth Egg is probably within your reach at this point. In particular, you can replay the mission (from the title screen choose Missions, then load your latest save) Expelling the Empire on Agito difficulty to get the Growth Egg reward from it. This is an accessory that doubles the EXP received, but only for the character equipping it. Thankfully, this item also stacks with similar items (other Growth Eggs, or the Double EXP weapons, or anything that boosts EXP in general).
In order to be able to do this mission on Agito while you're around level 30-35, you'll need to spam Odin during the town invasion parts of the mission. Also, the start of the mission will be a little different (if you're eager to know more now, search "Mission Replay: Expelling the Empire (Agito difficulty)" later in this walkthrough).
Odin is not quite strong enough to win at his starting level, but he will be strong enough very soon. If you feel like you MUST get the (first) Growth Egg now, then one possible course of action would be to replay some older missions and summon Odin with Rem (use her Undying Wish ability before summoning of course), let Odin reach level 60-65 (eidolons have an insane EXP multiplier, so it won't take long at all), and then do Expelling the Empire on Agito. That's unnecessary though, so my advice is to (ab)use Odin in the upcoming Expert Trials (on Officer difficulty Odin will be just around or even above the Trial's level), and by the time we've done a few of them Odin will have reached a high enough level to virtually one-shot every enemy of Expelling the Empire on Agito.
In other words, it's much easier to get the Growth Egg if you can wait a bit more and let Odin level up with the next Expert Trials (on Officer) before replaying Expelling the Empire on Agito. So, again, I suggest using Odin for the next Expert Trials to make things easier, faster, and level Odin up at the same time. Trust me, you'll most likely want to Odin-spam your way through the hardest Trials that we're about to tackle.

World Map

There are several things we're going to have to do while we're out doing Expert Trials, but for now I suggest ignoring them. Just for future reference, we're going to need to visit a couple of level-72 dungeons in the Old Lorica Region, then we're going to have to kill a Malboro in the Roshana Province, and on our way to doing all this we can also collect a bunch of items on the world map and kill the Ankhegs for the Task in Akademeia. Some of these things can be done right away, others require us to do some Expert Trials first. Even for the things we can do now, I suggest waiting until later so that hopefully you will have gained a few extra levels and things might get a bit easier.

There are a couple of things that can't wait though, so we'll do them now. On our way to the Trial's location we need to pick up a few items. Start by heading to the Meroe Region (northwest), and check on the hill where Meroe is (further west than Meroe) to see two sparkling items on the grass:
- Commander Kurasame's Tag (on the grass on the small hill, just west of Meroe)
- l'Cie Caetuna's Crystal (same as above)
Then go towards Toguagh (in the Eibon Region; it's east of the Rubrum Region). Save the game, as it's the closest Relic Terminal to the next trial.

While you are here, upgrade any Ability you can at the Relic Terminal (we did just receive +100,000 EXP and +10 AP). If you have been saving AP with Rem, by this point you most likely have enough AP to learn Reflex Cast, Quick Draw II, and Quick Draw III. These three abilities put together will allow her to perform a single physical attack (the first hit of her combo) followed by a level-3 spell (hold down the corresponding Command button for the spell after doing the single physical attack). While this isn't really going to make a big difference yet, you may want to start practicing it a bit, at least against weaker enemies, with some Blizzaga BOM. It will really only come in handy when you get the BOM-II spells though (which won't happen until the second playthrough).

Also note that Odin can be upgraded right away with an HP boosting ability, so do that too (choose Promotion, then Eidolon, then spend 4 AP on the first HP upgrade for Odin).

Before the next Trial, I strongly suggest leveling up Odin a little bit. Although it's very possible to use him at his default level, investing just 10 minutes to replay a mission for some additional Exp will make a huge difference -- let's do just that. There are various possible options/choices among the missions you could replay: story missions replayed on Agito (higher level = more Exp) are good, but Expert Trials replayed on Officer are also good. I don't really have any particular preference/strong suggestion, but I believe that one of the (or the) best option, currently, is replaying Covering the Cadets on Officer.

Expert Trial Replay - Covering the Cadets (Officer difficulty) (Exp farming)
Bring Rem with Undying Wish, and deploy Trey and Jack too (it doesn't hurt to let them get some additional Exp).
This mission is rather packed with enemies which die quickly and can't really do much against Odin. You don't want to "farm" kills (like you may have done to complete the S-Rank, if you did that Task earlier) here; just summon Odin (use Rem's Undying Wish, then summon; if she runs out of AG, replace her when she dies and summon with someone else) and clear everything on your way without waiting for respawns. Don't make any particular detour; just head for the yellow markers, and kill all the enemies that you encounter. You will be able to destroy every enemy quickly with Moonring Blade (which consumes MP by the way, so don't spam the attack when it's not necessary/useful), whereas Cavalier Charge can be useful to clear the strongest ones (the Nymurods, and maybe the Warriors/Strikers too). Don't bother with Zantetsuken; Odin is not strong enough to be able to really make it work just yet.
It took me just about 7-8 minutes to replay this mission with Odin spam, and by the end of one single replay he jumped from level 49 to level 56.
After reaching this level (56, give or take), make sure to upgrade his abilities again to get some summon extension time, as well as more power for Cavalier Charge. You're free to replay more missions to level him up even further, but it's not necessary -- he'll get plenty of Exp from the upcoming Expert Trials, and he's more than ready for them.
When you are ready, proceed with the trial. From Toguagh, go north, and then look east towards a "fortress"; go through it to reach the Roshana Province.

Expert Trial - The Retreat from Roshana
Preparations: this Trial can be made easier by using Odin. Ace could be useful for his dodge at the end, so try to keep him alive. In general, there are many SOs worth doing in this Expert Trial, so do your best to complete them (with Odin, it shouldn't be too hard; in some occasions you need to be fast though).
Especially if you are using Odin, refuse SP Support (with Odin providing all the damage you need to kill enemies quickly you can probably afford to keep your regular characters in the party alongside Odin, so they get the Exp from the Trial's enemies instead of wasting that Exp on SP characters). If things get bad for whatever reason, remember that you can always accept the SP support during the mission (press Start, then check in the Preferences tab).
Please note that a few extra levels on Odin will make a big difference in how quickly he will kill enemies; I suggest having him at least at level 55-56 (see previous section). There is, however, an early SO that will require you to inflict 5,000+ HP of damage on your first hit, and that's more and more likely the higher his level is. I managed to do it with Odin at level 56, but it may require a bit of luck (you need a critical hit with Cavalier Charge, which does tend to critical-hit often, but not always). To eliminate the "luck" requirement you would need Odin at a much higher level, so I recommend to either ignore the SO (main recommendation) for now (maybe do it on a mission replay, in the future), or try your luck and simply reload the game if you fail (the SO is early in the mission, so to get from Toguagh to that point will take about 3 minutes, including loading times). The reward is just a Ribbon anyway.
Make sure to have Undying Wish equipped on Rem, so you can sacrifice her repeatedly to summon Odin multiple times. She will eventually run out of AG during the mission; when she does, don't bother replenishing her AG gauge. Instead, summon with her one last time, then replace her dead body with someone else (a dummy character), and use the "dummy" replacement to summon.
Trial Start!
[1] Downtown Roshana
SO (2'): defeat the Wingvern. Reward: Wildfire Mace (Cinque's weapon).
This SO appears after you reach the energy wall.
If your Odin has been trained a bit already, you can mow everyone down with Moonring Blade. If not, against the Wingverns you'll need to use Moonring Blade to Breaksight them -- it's very easy, given how large the area affected by Moonring Blade is, and how fast the attack is. After Breaksighting Wingverns, they might actually fall down to the void below (if they were flying above it), thus causing instant-death; if not, they will collapse to the ground, allowing you to kill them in 2-3 hits with Cavalier Charge.
Do not attempt Zantetsuken; it will take too much to charge it to 100% if Odin is underleveled. Also remember that Moonring Blade consumes MP; it's not something you must worry about, but keep it in mind in case you were planning on just spamming Moonring Blade.
A single Dracoknight will appear after the fourth and final Wingvern. The Dracoknights can be killed rather quickly with Moonring Blade, so use that.
[2] Downtown Roshana
You can either go north to an optional area [3], or south to area [4]. Avoid area [3] if your Odin is not at least around level 55; even then, it might be a bit of a gamble to do the SO (but you can still enter the area if you want; just don't necessarily do the SO).
[3] Downtown Roshana
SO (1'): deal at least 5,000 HP of damage with the first hit. Reward: Ribbon.
Odin's Cavalier Charge can inflict that damage on the Behemash, but only if Odin has been leveled up already. At level 56, I had no problems succeeding, although you also need a critical hit (which is somewhat probable, but not guaranteed) to succeed at this "low" level. Then again, the SO is quite early into the mission, and you may want to attempt it anyway.
Also, remember that you can always try to dodge the three "glyphs of death" (three in total, one at the time) if you fail the SO to avoid death. Whatever you decide, just don't lose Odin this early, because you really need him for the rest of the mission as well.
Note that it must be your first hit that deals 5,000 damage, which can be an additional problem when using Odin because sometimes Odin will "emit" some "darkness balls" which can hit enemies upon simple contact with them (so if you stand too close to the Behemash, the "first hit" you land might be the weak darkness balls coming from Odin, and not Cavalier Charge).
Also, if you are wondering, a Breaksight will deal just around 4700 HP of damage, while Trey's MAX Charge+Concentrate+Fire Shard+critical hit will be around 4500-4700 with a level-36 Trey (that was my Trey at this point, without any additional leveling up).
And lastly, there is also a Knowing Tag in the area (examine the body on the ground).
[4] Downtown Roshana
You can either exit south to area [5] or east to area [6].
[5] Downtown Roshana
Nothing special in here, so continue to area [6]. It might be wise to let Odin expire before going on.
[6] Downtown Roshana
SO (3'): kill at least 50x enemies. Reward: Blessed Armlet.
Oh yes, we're gonna have some fun in here. This is the first part of the mission where you need to fight a whole horde of enemies that will just keep coming and coming. You will be automatically positioned (after a short interruption) on the eastern end of a bridge, with enemies coming from west. Be ready to summon as soon as the enemies start to spawn. Note that you will "barely" have enough time to kill enough enemies if you use Odin (you can't collect Phantoma, so the respawn time for the enemies is slower), but you should definitely suceed if you accept the SO right away (you have about 30 seconds to spare).
Instead of standing on the eastern end of the bridge, I also recommend walking forward towards west: that's closer to the enemies, and therefore you will kill them faster and more efficiently. Do not waste MP for unnecessary (= when there are no enemies) Moonring Blade, but don't wait until there are multiple enemies on-screen either: unless you are very low on MP, it's still a good idea to use Moonring Blade even on just one enemy so you can kill them faster, albeit less MP-efficiently.
The enemies will try to walk past you on the bridge; if they manage to attack the area behind you, it will eventually mean game over -- make sure to constantly wipe them out with Moonring Blade! You'll have to resist for 3 minutes, which is longer than Odin's time lasts. Thankfully the enemies will spawn only after the corpses of the previous enemies disappear, so you will have enough time between the respawns to resummon Odin again.
Make sure to use the minimap/radar to see enemies coming even before they show up (they will appear as orange icons on the radar).
Having a strong Odin here (if you started the mission at level 56, by now he should be level 58, give or take) will make an enormous difference: even just a few levels will determine whether or not Moonring Blade will inflict instant-death or just regular damage (at level 58+ it should be instant-death about 50% of the time, on average) to the enemies. It goes without saying that there is a very big difference between dealing a small amount of damage to each enemy, or wiping them all in one shot, especially long-term.
When it's all done, proceed following the marker.
[7] Downtown Roshana
There is a Recovery Portal in this area, just for the record. Kill all the enemies and continue.
There is also an item (Hi-Potion or similar) on the west/southwest side, near a gate.
[8] Downtown Roshana
Nothing special about this area (you start seeing Snowsquatch enemies here), just kill all the enemies to proceed.
My Odin at this point was level 62, so Moonring Blade insta-killed Snowsquatch enemies very efficiently. If that's not the case for you, use Cavalier Charge on them.
[9] Central Plaza
SO (3'): deal 30,000 HP of damage cumulatively. Reward: Celestial Armlet.
This is cumulative between multiple hits and multiple enemies as well. As long as you use Cavalier Charge on everything (focus on the horsie in the middle first), you should deal far more than 30,000.
[10] Downtown Roshana
Same as always.
There is an item (Ether or similar) on the east/southeast side.
You can either exit southwest to optional area [11], or south (follow the marker) to area [12]. Note that in area [12] there will be another part of the mission where you need to defend the bridge, so you may want to let the summon expire before moving there.
[11] Downtown Roshana
There is just an ambush (and a small piece of information on a dirty tactic by our enemies, but war is war...) here. Examine the body on the ground to get things started.
There is also a Knowing Tag on the ground, for what it's worth.
[12] Downtown Roshana
SO (3'): prevent the enemy from reaching the door (south side) for 3 minutes. Reward: Thundersnow Ring.
You have to hold the bridge for five minutes this time. The SO is definitely manageable with Odin.
Beware that there will be Wingverns spawning in the air, on either side of the bridge, towards the end. One will start spawning on the northern end of the bridge after 2 minutes, when 3 minutes are left; then one more on either side of the bridge will start to appear when there is about 1:30 left. Do not stand on the northern end of the bridge (where the enemies come from) this time, but rather stay in the middle/southern end of the bridge instead. Against the Wingverns on either side of the bridge, remember that if you Breaksight them while they are floating above nothing they will basically be insta-killed by falling to the void below.
After winning, you will be moved to area [13] automatically.
[13] Road to Outskirts
In here you can speak with Tokito near the Recovery Portal -- he'll give you a Letter (he's the guy that is in love with Emina). Prepare for a tough final area!
There is also a Knowing Tag on the path to the exit, on the left side, by examining a body.
[14] Cursemire of Naraku
SO (3'): kill 3x Dragoniers (the dragon-riders). Reward: Regal Armor.
In this area there will be an infinite respawn of Dracobaltians (did you miss them?) and Flyverns+Draconiers on their back. Even with Odin, this SO is still potentially hard to do because of the high damage you will take from the Flyvern's "thunder" attacks.
You have to survive for 5 minutes to complete the Expert Trial. You can simply just run in circles until it's over. If you want, you can use Ace's dodge non-stop (just hold down the dodge button, and then move LS around) to avoid attacks more easily than by running.
If you intend to do the SO, Odin's Moonring Blade is a good option (remember to lock on the Draconier, and not the Flyverns!), but it won't be easy to keep him alive until the end of the SO (mine was level 65 at this point, but he still perished early on). Should Odin fall, you can still do the SO if you use ranged characters. The enemy's patterns are basically the same as the encounter with Sanzashi, early in the story mission of Chapter 5, but killing 3 of them in 3 minutes will not be easy to accomplish either. You can either wait until the dragon lands and eventually uses the "breath-in attack", which will provide a Breaksight on the Draconier, or you can target the Flyverns and Breaksight it when it does the "swooping" attack (it flies and glides at very low height, near the ground). If you can land a Breaksight on the Flyvern, the Draconier will be exposed to damage for a short while -- use a Fire Shard to speed things up, and a couple of these events should be enough to kill a single Draconier. The problem here will be the time, mainly, but you also need to stay alive as you do all of this (and with the Dracobaltians around, that's easier said than done).
Worst case scenario, you could always replay this mission later (maybe after acquiring the Growth Egg, which is not too far from us now) and attempt the SO during the replay -- the mission gives very good Exp anyway, so it won't really be a waste of time if you replay it. If you do intend to replay the mission later, wait until you get the Growth Egg and a few more levels on Odin before doing so.
There is also an Elixir on the ground, southwest, if you want to pick it up as you wait.
Trial Reward: Blizzard RF-II.
Return to Akademeia after completing the trial.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 6d 6h - Temporary Completion of Kazusa/Emina quests
Now we can finally do the last parts of the Kazusa/Emina quests. Remember: we want to save the game before doing them, then do them all, and then reload the save before doing them (the save at 6d 6h) to continue with our main plan (Expert Trials and important Events).

Note that you can skip doing this for now if you want -- we'll be doing basically these same steps in New Game+ to actually complete the quests and register the scenes in the Rubicus. Of course if you don't do them now you'll need to wait until then before seeing how the quests end, so you may want to "waste" time doing them now to satisfy your curiosity, and then do them again in New Game+ (in a dozen hours (or more) from now) to registered them in the Rubicus. It's up to you, really.

Also, we have just exactly enough time to do everything now. Should you make any mistake and accidentally waste time (so you don't have enough time to do everything anymore), instead of reloading and restarting from the beginning, you can temporarily continue with the story and Skip Sortie to skip the next story mission; don't save the game, obviously; then do the last steps to watch all the scenes, and then reload all the way back to before doing any of this.

1. SAVE THE GAME!
2. At this point you will have (6d 6h). Visit Kazusa with any character for an Event (not one of his usual "drugged" Events; it's a normal chat). For what it's worth, I went with Rem.
3. Speak with Naghi @Central Command. This is not an Event. He will give you the Eyeball Specimen (you'll figure whose eyeball soon).
4. Speak with Kazusa again for another non-drugged Event. Again, it doesn't matter who you go as; I used Rem.
5. Naghi will appear in the Crystarium with a Task now. This is Task 10 (long story short, give him the Commander Kurasame's Tag, which we found in the Meroe Region).
6. Then (6d 2h) visit Kazusa once again to get another scene which doesn't depend on which character you use to visit him. Once again, I used Rem, just for the record.
7. Now (5d 12h) leave Akademeia. Not only we need to make 6 hours pass, but we also need to purchase a bunch of gifts for a total of six more scenes with Emina. Go to Corsi (last town of Rubrum Region) and buy "'Til Finis Comes, With You" and the Hydrangea Bouquet; go to Mi-Go (in Togoreth Region, north/northeast of the Rubrum Region) and buy the Tea Set and Perfume Set; go to Rokol (Iscah Region, northwest from Rubrum Region) and buy the Potted Plant and Music Box.
8. Back inside (5d 6h), it's time to continue with the drugged-scene Events (which will be different depending on which character you use to visit Kazusa). Start by going as Sice to unlock the scene Kazusa's Mutterings 8. Then visit Kazusa again as Cinque, and then Ace, to unlock the scenes Kazusa's Mutterings 9 and 10 too.
9. Once again (4d 12h) leave Akademeia to waste six hours.
10. Inside (4d 6h), visit Kazusa as Nine, Jack, and Trey, to unlock the scenes Kazusa's Mutterings 11, 12, and 13.
11. Leave Akademeia to waste the usual six hours.
12. At this point (3d 6h), visit Kazusa with Cater for Kazusa's Mutterings 14, and then lastly as Seven for one last "empty" scene of the "drugged" type (no dialogue, just noise of a hammer or something).
13. Speak with Kazusa again one last time (I did it as Seven, but any character will do) to unlock the final scene of Kazusa's quest (it's the one right after Kazsa's Mutterings 14 in the Rubicus; it's entitled "The Ice Reaper Resurrected!?".
Now (2d 12h) Kazusa's quest is complete, at last.
14. Go to the Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery (the first one on the left) and speak with him. Agree to upgrade your Sheer spell to Sheera, so we can continue with Emina's quest. This is not an Event.
15. Leave Akademia and return to make the time pass.
16. Now (2d 6h) visit Emina @Terrace and give her the five presents we bought for her while we were out (three now, two more later): "'Til Finis Comes, With You", Hydrangea Bouquet, Tea Set. This will unlock three "Sheera" scenes. Do not use the Music Box just yet; we need that one specifically for a Sheerga scene.
17. Leave Akademeia and return to make the time pass.
18. Then (1d 6h) visit Emina @Terrace and give her two more gifts: Perfume Set, Potted Plant. Again, don't use the Music Box yet, but use the two I wrote instead.
19. With a total of five "Sheera" scenes, and with the Kazusa quest completed, you can proceed by going to the Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery (the first one on the left) to upgrade your Sheera to Sheerga. This is not an Event.
20. Now (1d 2h) visit Emina @Terrace and give her the Music Box (it must be a gift that triggers the "8" scene). Zoom-in on her upper back to see "something".
21. Leave Akademeia and return one last time to make the time pass.
22. Now (6h) speak with Emina again, and when given a choice, decide to "Ask her about (...)" instead of giving her another gift. Then pick the answer that starts with the number 9.
23. Speak with Emina again to deliver her the Letter from Tokito. This is not an Event; it just adds a few more lines of dialogue for completion's sake.
24. Speak with the Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery. This is not an Event. Pick whatever option you want; I chose the second one (tell the truth).
25. (4h) Speak with Emina @Terrace for the last Event of her quest.
26. If you want, speak with the Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery one last time. This is not an Event, but will give the final piece of the puzzle in regards to Emina's story.
27. With the last 2h, we have one more bonus scene with Kazusa, if you visit him one last time (if him drugging you wasn't creepy enough, now you are drugged with Sheerga!).
28. RELOAD the save you made before all this, and get all your lost days of free-time back.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 6d 6h
After reloading the game (6d 6h), accept the Expert Trial "Operation Dragon Slayer" from the second NPC @Main Gate. Restock your Potion supply if needed, and then move out to the World Map. The closest Relic Terminal is still in Toguagh.

Expert Trial - Operation Dragon Slayer
Preparations: there isn't really anything special about this RTS Trial. Being an RTS mission, you want to bring the usual Trey as main lead for the World Map parts. Be careful when you do the first town invasion, since there will be a tricky order from Mog for harvesting certain Phantoma types, and if you kill too many enemies too quickly you may be unable to complete the order in time.
On the same note, you may want to give Rem the two spells Blizzard BOM and Fire BOM. The reason for this is that most of the enemies of the Ice/Fire type will be "flan"-type enemies (whereas most of the Lightning-type enemies are "bomb"-type enemies), so using these powerful spells instead of relying on Killsights (which are the second-best way to kill flans) will speed things up.
Trial Start!
RTS - Part 1
1. Use MAX Charge to help take Domain 3.
2. After taking Domain 3, Main Camp will be under attack -- help defend against the Wingverns with MAX Charged shots. Once the timer on the right expires, you'll be able to control Main Camp.
3. If you check on Main Camp, you'll see a new type of unit, the Frost Unit. This is the counter unit against monsters (Flyverns and such), just like the Spark Unit was the MA-counter in the RTS missions against the Imperial forces. For now you can keep using Blaze Unit on Domain 1 to conquer it (assist the push with MAX Charge as always).
4. A stronger Flyvern will appear and attack your domains after conquering Domain 1/4 -- shoot it a few times to send it away.
5. Take Domain 4 if you haven't already.
6. Wait until the Roshana energy wall is down, and then invade the city.
Roshana Invasion
The Roshana invasion is a bit particular, because it requires you to collect certain Phantomas from the enemies you kill in the various areas. Since there aren't many enemies, AVOID killing any unnecessary enemy (especially the element-type ones), so you can kill them once Mog asks you to collect Phantomas from them.
In general, there are elemental enemies in every area, but some areas are more "rich" of certain enemies than others. In particular, the first area doesn't really have much (a bit of each element; not a lot of lightning-based enemies though); the second area has a lot of ice and fire type enemies; the third area has a lot of lightning type enemies.
You can see orange icons on your minimap/radar in each area, indicating the position of the currently-requested elemental enemies (if there is no marker, there are no enemies left of the required element).
As I anticipated in the "preparations" to this mission, you may want to use Blizzard/Fire BOM with Rem to speed up the killing process of the flan enemies. Keep also in mind that Killsight against these "advanced" flans won't be as easy as the typical average flan: while the "easier" flans used the attack where they just "launched" themselves at you to attack (very easy to counter), these ones like to spam the attack where they "flatten" themselves, then travel quickly along the ground, and then pop up from underneath you (and they typically do so out of range for a quick counter). You can easily use Jack against the bomb-type enemies, but I strongly recommend the BOM spells when there are flans (especially more than one at the time) to kill.
If it takes you too long to collect the required Phantoma, the special mission from Mog will fail, meaning you won't be able to control Roshana directly once you're back to the RTS part of the mission on the world map. That's no big deal if your Trey is strong enough though, but still, it's not hard to complete the Mog order if you avoid killing enemies "randomly" and instead focus on the required ones.
Regardless of your success or not, you'll be asked to kill all the enemies in the third area ("central square", which is Central Boulevard) to end the invasion. Remember to switch to Trey before killing the last enemies!
RTS - Part 2
1. The Flyvern will be back harassing your Domains -- follow it around (it will head for Domain 2/Main Camp first) and kill it. If you are not strong enough to kill it, keep attacking until it flies away and eventually decides to float around Rama in a defensive stance. Note that even if you don't have a ranged character you can still deal with the Flyvern -- you'll just have to wait until he lands on ground (after flying around for a little bit).
2. Conquer Domain 5.
3. Conquer Rama.
Rama Invasion
Nothing you can't figure out in-game on your own in this part: defeat the Wingverns (you can ignore everything else) on the way to remove the energy barriers from your path, backtrack to kill a certain enemy when asked, and then reach the last area to find and kill the Behemash.
Trial Reward: eidolon Diabolos.

World Map - Roshana Province (Fighting a Malboro for Dark Matter)
After completing the trial, you will finally have free access to the Roshana Province. In here, aside from the town of Roshana and Rama, there are also Malboros you can fight, which drop a Dark Matter, which is the item required for the Task given by Mutsuki in Akademeia.

Malboros are not just random encounters here, but they are actually "world map monsters" (you see them on the world map, like the usual lv 99 monsters), and sometimes they will spawn, other times they won't. One very convenient Malboro can spawn right outside of Roshana. If you do not find a Malboro just outside of Roshana, enter the city and then go back outside again until you find one.

Once you find the Malboro, engage him -- he won't be a level-99 monster (like the Malboros in the Eibon Region, which, as I told you a while ago, cannot drop Dark Matter), but a level-50 monster instead (that's much more manageable). The Malboro has two attacks: the classic "bad breath" attack, and an attack where he spawns a bunch of poisonous bubbles that will slowly float towards you. Breaksight occurs during/after his attacks...but not always. See, I'm not entirely sure how it works, but it seems that the enemy can "randomly" (but I think there is a pattern to it) have an extremely high defense that even prevents Breaksights, or he can be in a state of weakness where regular attacks can deal hundreds or even thousands points of damage, and Breaksights are possible. I think that you simply need to damage him enough with regular (weak) attacks before you can see the first Breaksight. Then, after your first Breaksight lands, his defense will be significantly lower, allowing you to kill him quickly (after a while he may resume having high defense, or he may die before he can do so).

In any case, the way I suggest fighting him is with Trey: charge the shots, run in circles, and release MAX Charged shots when it's safe. As soon as you see a Breaksight, do your best to score one. Once that's done, your next MAX Charged shots (after Concentrate maybe) should deal (with Trey level 35+) thousands points of damage, and the Malboro should be dead shortly after. In order to acquire the Dark Matter, you need to extract the enemy's Phantoma (like all the monster spoils, you receive the dropped item when you extract Phantoma). I don't think it's possible, but if for some reason you are so unlucky that he doesn't drop it, then go back to Roshana and out again to find more Malboros.

Also, just to be clear, you don't have to speak to Mutsuki in this Chapter to encounter Malboros/for them to drop Dark Matter here. As long as you are fighting the level-50 Malboros, and not the level-99 ones, you should be able to get the Dark Matter from the first one of them.

Once you finally obtain a Dark Matter, look around in the foggy-as-hell (most of the time anyway) Roshana Province to find the l'Cie Tenebra's Crystal. It's a bit hard to explain in words where to look, so take a look at the picture below. In words: if you open the regional map (not with Start, but by pressing Select/Back instead) you will see four forests in the Roshana Province. The four forests are roughly one in the north, one south, one east, and one west. Reach the western forest, and check around the ground to the northeast of the western forest to find the sparkling object on the ground.
When that's done too, enter Roshana to see what it has to offer.
Roshana
The shop here sells some nice weapons and an MP+50% accessory, but nothing you need/really want to buy right now. Instead, let's focus on the local Task, which is tied to the local l'Cie Crystal as well.
1. Do unto Others (must do it)
Subaru @Roshana. Request: kill 15x Mandragora in Roshana. Reward: Gold Anklet; access to l'Cie Augusta's Crystal.
The Mandragoras are found in the plains (not the forest areas) in the Roshana Province. They are not the only enemy group possible, but you'll find them four at the time. I farmed mine just down the hill near Roshana, for what it's worth. As usual, spam BOM spells to kill groups of enemies more quickly with Rem (this might be a good opportunity to practice Reflex Cast if you'd like).
After completing the Task, speak with the Dominion Quaestor (the lady dressed in green, not too far from the shop, in the middle of the area). She will ask you to speak with a Dominion Legionary; in particular, the one located in the upper-left corner of the city (on a ledge/balcony). You will recognize the Dominion Legionary because a sparkling object has appeared at his feet -- speak with him to make him move, and then collect the l'Cie Augusta's Crystal as he leaves his post.

Rama
Before we can access the whole town, we need to do the Task on the way.
1. Prevailing over Prejudice (must do it)
Yukisato @Rama. Request: kill 2x Marduk in the forests of Roshana Region. Reward: Crystal Shard; able to access the rest of Rama.
Any forest will do; for what is worth, I used the one between Rama and Roshana. You may remember Marduk from the sewers of a story mission -- this one is much weaker (lower level; maybe even lower than your Trey's current level), so it should be easy to kill him with the usual Concentrate+MAX Charge shots combo.
Once you complete the Task, speak with the nearby kid to make him lower the gate to the rest of Rama...part of it anyway.
There will be another kid at the end of the path, in the middle, near another gate. This character will lower the gate behind her if you give the right answer to her question. The right answer will change every time you enter/exit the city; if you guess wrong twice you'll need to leave and re-enter Rama to try again. The key to answering correctly lies in the answer's number (first answer, second answer, third answer). A clue to the correct answer is given by the NPC on the right immediately as you enter Rama (the one closest to the Relic Terminal). That NPC will say something that seems random, but contains a hint to the answer for the gate NPC. If, for example, the NPC near the entrance says something about her nephew being a genius, the "FIRST of his class" (without capitalization, in-game), that's a clue that the right answer for the gate NPC is the first one.
Beyond the second gate there will be a Phantomist (sells Magenta, Cyan, and Sepia Phantoma for 2,000 Gil each). There is no other classic shop in this town. That's not the most interesting thing though.
If you leave and re-enter Rama, the password will change (unless, by coincidence, it just happens to be the same one as the previous one). Speak with the NPC near the entrance so you can know which password it will be this time; then speak with the gate NPC and give the correct answer a total of 5 times in a row -- after 3 times in a row, the western gate will lower, allowing you to pick up 3x Hi-Potion on the ground (hurray...)(they are barely visible due to the brightness contrast, but they are there, just beyond where the gate was); after 5 times in a row, the eastern gate will lower, giving access to the l'Cie Caelan's Crystal.
When all is done, you can go back to Akademeia.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 5d 6h
Although we could complete the Mutsuki questline at this point, I suggest not do to that just yet. The reason is that for Chocobo-Breeding-related reasons you will want to have three Events left to do after the last trial in this free-time break.
So, without doing anything else, accept the next trial by the second NPC: Thwarting the Royal Ambush. The closest Relic Terminal will be in Mi-Go.

Expert Trial - Thwarting the Royal Ambush
Preparations: nothing special, really, just expect a lot of airborne enemies. You can only bring six characters, but they will be plenty enough.
Odin will clear (almost) everything without a problem. The very first enemy you encounter will be very hard to defeat (even Odin can't really do much at this point), but you may have a chance, barely, if Jack has learned Tranquility, Tranquility Power up, Tranquility Killsight (mine was at level 39, and he had just about enough AP to get these abilities).
Trial Start!
[1] Mi-Go Quay
The trial begins with an almost invincible Adamantoise enemy, "Josai", who has a constant Regen effect along with other buffs (Protect and similar). Because of the ridiculously high defense of the Adamantoise in general, and Regen too for this one in particular, defeating him is almost impossible at this point -- not because you can't/he's too strong, but because after about 3 minutes Mog will force you to another area.
In order to possibly defeat the enemy here you will need Odin's Zantetsuken (even his Cavalier Charge doesn't deal enough damage), which can be charged, slowly, only up to 19%. Honestly, I wouldn't even bother to try. You can also simply run around and avoid his attacks until the game automatically transports you to the next area.
Alternatively, you can also use Jack's Tranquility (a counterattack; just press the Tranquility button slightly before an attack by the enemy lands on Jack; you must be in close-quarters for the counter to actually work) over and over to counter the Adamantoise's attacks, and this will deal 9,999 HP of damage each time. Even then though, it will take a lot of Tranquility-counters to kill the Josai, and you barely have enough time (the 3 minutes) to finish him. If luck is not in your favor, and Josai simply wastes a lot of time with silly animations (like when he acts as if he's "upset" or something), even if you successfully use Tranquility at every chance you have you may still find it impossible to kill the Josai in time.
You may still want to "practice" with using Tranquility on him a bit -- we'll actually need to use Tranquility to farm Adamantoises (regular ones though, not this colossus with Regen and ridiculous HP) in the Innsmouth Coast, later on, for a Task back in Akademeia. I will have a video demonstration of the process at that point; I won't post it here now, because I strongly encourage you to either just wait the three minutes or maybe try with Odin's Zantetsuken if yo just have to.
If you do manage to kill him in time, you will receive a fantastic accessory: Ignis Tertius, Vol. I. No, really, aren't you excited about an accessory that gives Fire Magic +10 (and MP -24%) if by a combination of luck, skills, and patience you actually manage to kill the Josai? No? Oh well, moving on.
[2] Bluff
Regular enemies in this area; kill everything and continue (summon Odin and it will be very, very easy with Moonring Blade).
[3] Mi-Go Coastline
Enemies, etc. etc.
[4] Bluff Shade
Final area.
Trial Reward: Mythril Gloves available for sale at the Armory Shop.
When the mission is complete, head back to Akademeia.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 4d 6h
Nothing much to do here, other than accepting the next (last, for now) trial from the second NPC: Wyverns in the Woods. Roshana has the closest Relic Terminal.

Expert Trial - Wyverns in the Woods
Preparations: again, nothing special here. Again, only six characters can be used in this trial. Make sure to follow my directions though -- it's easy to get lost!
Trial Start!
The forest here is made in a deliberately confusing way. See, normally if you go north in one area, and then south in the next area, you'll be back in the area where you originally started. That's not the case here. If you get lost, a yellow marker will start appearing on your minimap/radar, but it's just easier to follow these directions.
From the first area (without any enemies in it), go:
- North
- North
- South
- South
- East
- West
- East
If it were any other place, this would seem the same as going east once (north north and south south cancel each other, and so do east and west), but as I said earlier, that's not the case. So simply follow the directions I just wrote, starting from the first area, and you'll reach the Forest Exit area. In here, a Diepvern-type enemy (those big horses) will wait for you -- Odin will take care of him in no time.
Trial Reward: Red Beret available for sale at the Armory shop.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 3d 6h
After the trial that we're about to accept and then complete there will be a lot of additional things to do on the World Map (and possibly in Mission replay mode).
Before heading outside, accept Task 3 (Monster Pursuit VI) from Dominion Officer @Central Command. Then speak with the NPC in Main Gate that used to give us Trials in the previous chapters too, and accept the first Trial of her list: Operation Sticky Fingers. Save at Main Gate, then head outside.
World Map
The closest Relic Terminal is in Meroe.
Reach the Cetme District (west of Meroe). On your way to the Trial, just at the "tip" of the crevasse to your left (where you have to make a 180°-turn to reach Cetme) there will be another item:
- l'Cie Theo's Crystal

Expert Trial - Operation Sticky Fingers
Preparations: you won't need anything special if you use Odin. You can only deploy 4 characters; make it Jack, Trey, Rem, and a fourth of your choice. Give Rem Undying Wish (you may have replaced it earlier for a second BOM spell), and start by controlling her.
Trial Start!
[1] Back Alley
Use Undying Wish followed by Odin right away. As you turn around the corner, a Leader (Colonel Tuscott) will start running away -- clear the minions with Moonring Blade, and then use Cavalier Charge on the Leader before he can run away. Should the Leader get away, you'll make Mog sad and you'll have to fight him at the end of the mission.
More enemies will spawn after that part; kill them all until you read the Victory message. Then you'll need to continue upstairs.
Since Odin can't go upstairs, either switch to another character to go upstairs, or wait until the summon expires. The second option, even though slower, is safer since it will allow you to summon and control Odin on the Rooftop (whereas if you switch from Odin to a character now you will reach the Rooftop with an AI-controlled Odin, and you'll need to wait until the summon time is over before you can resummon Odin and control him manually again (remember, you can't switch back from a character to an Eidolon). In any case, Odin isn't really necessary in the next area, so it's ok if you want to speed it up a bit and just switch to Trey to continue.
[2] Rooftop
There are 2x Panjandrums and a Helldiver here. You can do it without Odin if you want to (use Jack for the Panjandrums, then switch to Trey to kill the Helldiver with Concentrate+MAX Charge). After winning this easy fight, you'll be transported inside the building.
[3] Abandoned Building
This part is considerably harder without Odin. If Odin is still in your party when you start, you'll have to wait until the summon time expires because he can't go downstairs (that's so lame lol).
Read my directions carefully, because it's easy to get lost and the fog all around you won't help either.
Once you are back controlling Rem (and hopefully the other two are still alive too), immediately cast Undying Wish. Then go down the first set of stairs, and then turn right and quickly down the second set as well. By now you will be ambushed by a couple of Mark Agents (strong Supersoldiers, basically). Ignore them, and keep running with Rem. After the second set of stairs, turn immediately left, and then look for the nearby turn to your right to reach a corridor that is wide enough for you to summon Odin in it (make sure you're standing more or less in the middle of it).
So, to recap: use Undying Wish where you start; go down two flights of stairs; turn immediately left, and then right as soon as possible to reach a corridor where you can summon Odin.
Odin's Moonring Blade (and/or Cavalier Charge if you run out of MP) will make quick work of the Mark Agents (there should be five in total; 2 first, then 3 more after; look for them in the corridor where you summoned, or in the corridor before that one).
When they are all dead, Mog will inform you that you're almost done, and two orange markers will appear on your minimap. To reach the room where these last two enemies are, from the corridor where you summoned Odin you need to go left, then follow the path (turn right, and then right again into the room).
The final two enemies here are "Freaks", which is the enemy type that Supersoldier Akkad had. They are easily killed with Cavalier Charge, so do just that to end the Trial.
Trial Reward: Fulgur Essentia available for sale at the Armory shop.
READ the following text before actually entering the city of Cetme (read the part about the surrendered soldiers' rewards).

Cetme
Let's enter Cetme after the Trial.
In Cetme there will be a bunch of "surrendered soldiers" that you can examine (just like in an actual battle) to receive items. However, because of a kid running around stealing their (or should I say, OUR) stuff, depending on how quickly you go and talk with the soldiers you may get or miss the items that they give. For this reason, read about the soldiers' positions and rewards, and go after the ones that you want:
- The first soldier you can find is on the ground level, in the corner; he gives a Flak Jacket (Ballistic Resistance +25%). He's the first one to get robbed by the kid
- If you go upstairs there will be two more surrendered soldiers on the middle level. The first one you come across has a Talisman (Max MP +20%; All Magic +8); he's the last one to get robbed
- The second one on the middle level (near a dead body) has a Wizard's Hat (All Magic +8); he's the second one to get robbed
- If you go upstairs, you'll find two more soldiers (and a sparkling object on the ground, which is a l'Cie Crystal as I'm gonna write soon); they get robbed after the second soldier (the one giving the Wizard's Hat). The soldier on the left gives Platinum Gloves (Def +35)
- The soldier on the right gives a Bulletproof Vest (Ballistic Resistance +20%)
If you are fast enough, you can get all the possible items before the kid can reach the soldiers. You may have to do an "exploration run" through Cetme to learn the soldiers' positions first, and then reload your save and rob each one of them before the kid can get to them. The rewards aren't particularly great, but they are not too shabby either.
Moreover, you can also speak with the kid after he's done looting around. He will ask 300 Gil to feed his starving relatives. There are no rewards for giving him the Gil (in fact, you'll probably regret it if you speak with the kid after giving him the money).
Before leaving the city, climb up the stairs as high as you can to find, near a Dominion Tribune, the l'Cie Ehm's Crystal on the ground (he's close to the last two soldiers).
There is also a shop (it sells some decent accessories and weapons, but nothing you have to get; remember you'll need 100,000 Gil for the Carla quest), and a Task.
1. Stamp Out the Stragglers (optional; ignore it for now if you are busy with the Task from Akademeia; I'll remind you of it later)
Yatsude @Cetme. Request: kill 20x imperial soldiers in the Cetme Region. Reward: Quake Killer (accessory).
Interestingly enough, you can do this Task during the next Expert Trial (which takes place in the Cetme Region, technically speaking). I'll remind you to accept this Task before starting the next Expert Trial.

World Map - Optional things
This time is as good as any other to do a bunch of optional stuff. We could have done most of these things earlier too, but I thought it was worth waiting until now since a few extra levels on your characters (after the previous Trials) will make things considerably easier (especially Jack and Odin's levels).
I'm going to write down a summary of the things we'll be doing before going back to Akademeia:
- Get a Growth Egg from a Mission replay
- Explain/work on SPP Farming (and therefore obtaining the SP Crystal accessory and the spell Ultima)
- Explain/work on unlocking (but not buying yet) the Double-EXP Weapons (only need to do it for Rem)
- If you didn't get them earlier, acquire Reagan Greens from Bethnel Caverns (to continue with Chocobo Breeding at the end of Chapter 7)
- Revisit Iscah
- Farm 10x Turtle Shells from Adamantoise in Innsmouth Coast (for a Task in Akademeia)
- Get the Lorican Diary for the Ryid Task in Akademeia (requires going through a couple of tough dungeons)
- Kill 10x Ankhegs in the Old Lorica region for the Task in Akademeia (which we accepted before leaving, last time we went out)
By this point, my Odin was at level 68, which is more than enough to do something that I mentioned a while ago: getting the Growth Egg from a mission replay on Agito. In order to replay a mission, save the game, go back to the title screen, then choose Missions, and then load the data from the latest save you made. Then choose the mission Expelling the Empire, and choose Agito difficulty. Below I'll write the key points that you should keep in mind when replaying this mission.

Mission Replay: Expelling the Empire (Agito difficulty)
1. First thing to know is that you need to bring Odin as Eidolon this time around. Odin is a game changer, and will ridicule the enemies with his attacks. Moonring Blade should be your primary attack. Against the Imperial Officers (the leaders), use Zantetsuken instead (charge to 100%).
2. The second thing to know is that the start of the first RTS part will be slightly different for you than the first time we did it. There is no way that an average-level Trey (35++ being the "average level" if you've done everything I suggested until now) will be able to take down the Mid-Sized Carrier attacking Domain 1 at the start (not in time to save Domain 1, that is). Instead, you have to do the beginning of the mission in a different manner.
Below is a video demonstration of how the mission should start during this replay. I'll give an explanation in words after the video:
When the mission starts, immediately get on a Chocobo and ignore Domain 1. Instead, run for the Autoturret, and dismount the Chocobo when you're there. At that point, use a Fire Shard and MAX Charged shots to take down the Autoturret as soon as possible.
Then hop on your Chocobo again and reach the area between Domain 1 and 2 as soon as possible. Then help Domain 2 push back to Domain 1 (use another Fire Shard if needed). Once Domain 1 is conquered, the rest of the mission is pretty much the same as the first time you did it, with the slight exception that you'll need to support the push on Limbo a bit more (use Trey's MAX Charge shots with a Fire Shard for Aura) than you needed last time, since you will not have Spark Units coming from Domain 1.
3. Remember, when you invade Rokol, to complete the special order from Mog and avoid destroying the MA (to make sure you don't destroy it, carefully attack the Leader of the area with Odin's Cavalier Charge instead of Moonring Blade). For the rest of the areas, use Moonring Blade to wipe out every enemy with ease (Zantetsuken on the Imperial Officers).
4. You may want to use a Phoenix Pinion on Trey during the Rokol invasion, just to be safe in case he gets killed while Odin does his job.
5. On the other hand, don't use Undying Wish with Rem before summoning Odin -- you WANT her to die, so that when you are back on the world map for the second part of the RTS mission you can replace her (dead, after summoning) with Trey. If she has Reraise and comes back to life, you'll have to send her to her death before you can switch back to Trey.
Growth Egg - Characters Choice (Long-Term Considerations)
If you succeed, you're free to give the Growth Egg to anyone you like; however, there are some things to consider.
We are nearing the point where Jack and Trey will not be as useful as they used to be in the past, because we will start relying on spells more and more (and when I say spells, read Rem). Given that we still have a lot of missions to do where Jack will probably be your primary damage source, you could argue that he's the top priority when it comes to party development. Also consider that, if you decide to summon Odin with Rem for the rest of the Expert Trials, then Rem won't be getting any Exp in the first place (she's the summoner, so she's out; Jack and Trey remain though). So one possible advice is to give all the Exp-boosting items you can get to Jack for the time being (if you have any additional items that Jack can't equip, then Trey is the next one in line), and keep using Rem's Undying Wish+Odin combo whenever possible.
There is, however, a more forward-thinking approach. Since we are, without a shade of a doubt, going to use Rem in the latest and hardest phases of the game (optional dungeons and stuff), but we're also going to need Jack's strength for just a bit longer (in particular in the Silent Key dungeon), you might just want to continue the upcoming Expert Trials with Rem, Jack, and a dummy summoner character (it can be Trey or anyone else). By doing this, Rem should equip the Exp-boosting accessories to get more Exp, while Jack still gains quite a lot of Exp anyway. Trey is obviously left out (replace him for a dummy Odin-summoner), but that's ok too since Trey's usefulness at this point is greatly diminished (we only need Trey for a few airborne enemies here and there, and the RTS missions; even then though, if he's at level 40 (give or take) then he doesn't really need any additional level-up to deal with whatever is left for him to do).
This "forward-thinking" approach obviously assumes that you'll be spamming and abusing Odin (which I still strongly recommend, but it may not be for everyone). If that's the case, then I suggest focusing mostly on leveling up Rem (therefore, give her the Growth Egg), and secondarily Jack as well just because he will make things a bit faster in the Silent Key dungeon, while pretty much leaving Trey out of the picture in favor of Odin unless there is a specific situation (like RTS missions) that specifically calls for Trey's bow.

Chapter 7: Fate of the Crystal - The Endless Battle (Continued)

SPP Farming & Double-Exp Weapons

If you haven't done so yet, it's now time to start considering doing some serious SPP farming. Our ultimate goal will be to have 150,000 SPP total (between current SPP and SPP spent), which will grant access to the spell Ultima and, earlier, to the SP Crystal accessory. It's not really necessary to have the SP Crystal/Ultima for quite a while actually, so I won't include them in the upcoming strategies just yet (Odin is "cheaty" enough on his own). However, having them at this point will certainly help, because you can equip the SP Crystal on Rem, and make her the primary damage-dealing character (just spam BOM spells over and over; don't charge them, unleash them as they are).

It's still ok if you don't want to do any massive farming just yet, actually: although it's possible to go out and attempt to clear the hardest dungeons of the game (which is where you really need the SP Crystal and Ultima) in your first playthrough, before finishing Chapter 7's final free-time break, I will strongly suggest against it (you would just waste time). Therefore you won't realistically really need the SP Crystal until your second playthrough (which is when I will suggest doing those hardest dungeons).

In other words what I'm trying to say is this: at this point you have all you need to farm SPP efficiently. Since you'll need to do it sooner than later, start working on it whenever you have a chance (whenever you aren't playing the game actively, and you can spare a few hours of passive farming while you're sleeping or something like that), so by the time we'll need it (in the second playthrough, if you do as I suggest) you are ready to continue and you don't have to pause and wait a few real-life days to catch up with SPP Farming.

If you've been following my advice from the beginning, you might actually already have the SP Crystal/Ultima. If not, start now!

SPP Farming Summary
Below there is a summary that briefly recaps what you need to do. A more comprehensive explanation can be found in the SPP Farming section of the walkthrough.
1. Farm passively (while not actually playing) in Operation Reconquista until you get 40,000 SPP, and therefore you unlock the SP Cape which has Auto-Protect and Auto-Regen. To farm here you need to reach the second area of the Aqvi-invasion part, let the enemy kill the Dominion Legionaries (who are your allies, but they will steal kills from SP characters if they stay alive), and then call SP Support to start farming. Remember that one Dominion Legionary will continue to respawn infinitely; that's fine, it will help you stay safe even though it will also lower your SPP income.
Expect an average of 5,000-10,000 SPP per hour from this method.
2. Once you have it, equip the SP Cape on your strongest character, and then farm passively in The Reclamation of Eibon. Here you need to reach the Toguagh-invasion part, and then the second area of the invasion where you'll find three infinitely-respawning Imperial Troopers. Call SP Support here, and use a rubber band on your controller to run into a corner next to where the enemies spawn.
Expect an average of 10,000 SPP per hour from this method.
You can farm from 40,000 to 150,000 SPP all in a row, maybe overnight, or you can split it in multiple sessions (advisable, if you don't feel like leaving your console on for too long).
Double EXP Weapons (= Farming Killsights)
To unlock the Double EXP weapons for any character you will need to first score 300x Killsights with them, and then purchase the unlocked weapon in the SP Shop in Akademeia's Central Command (talk to the "INFO" NPC on the left of the table in the middle). You can check how many Killsights you have from the "Historical Personae" section of the Rubicus in Akademeia's Crystarium* (they are called "Sight Kills"), and then subtract that amount from 300 to know how many more you need. While farming Killsights during a mission, you can check how many Killsights you have done in that mission by pressing Start and reading the Phantoma Extracted count; it's not the same as Killsights, but it you are consistent with Killsights then the numbers should match up pretty well.
*Since we're not in Akademeia right now (and we still have things to do outside), save the game, then return to Akademeia, check the Rubicus, and then reload once you find out how many Killsights you have with the character you're interested into.
Difficulty level doesn't really matter to farm Killsights, so go with Cadet to make your life easier.
One possible farming location for Killsights is in Operation MA Demolition. You need to reach the sewers, then head for Waterway Sector UG-5 (from the first sewer area, take the western of the two parallel paths, ignoring the yellow marker; then continue from there to reach this area) which has a treasure chest and a single spawning Flame Flan. Hide beyond/behind the chest so that the Flan attacks can't actually hit you, and then Killsight it as a counter.
Note that you can also farm Killsights in Main Street of Toguagh, during The Reclamation of Eibon. Indeed, I find it to be a better (faster) farming location than the single flan in Operation MA Demolition, so that's where I would recommend doing it (the flan in Operation MA Demolition was a great early location, but if you've come this far and have the SP Helm/Crystal, then do it in Toguagh).
For most characters, farming Killsights should be easy enough with regular attacks. For some characters, like Deuce, you may want to use spells instead (Blizzard Bom, Thundaga SHG, etc.). It goes without saying, but if you are using spells then you need a Freecast accessory (like the SP Helm or SP Crystal, realistically the only two you can have at this point) in order to sustain the process long-term. If you are doing it in Toguagh, since you don't want to kill too many soldiers with a single attack, I suggest using Fire RF instead (it's fast and it should only hit a single enemy).
To farm with Rem, use SP Crystal and Fire RF (this spell hits faster than her melee attacks). Again, you can check how many Killsights you already have in the Rubicus (search for Sight Kills in the character's stats). Once you think you have 300x total Killsights, you can Abort the mission and save after aborting it (unlike SPP farming, you don't need to finish the mission to save the accumulated Killsights). You will need to complete a mission, any mission (The Battle on the Beach is really short, so it's recommended), to actually receive your reward (which consists in unlocking the weapon for purchase at the SPP Shop in Akademeia's Central Command). I'll remind you to purchase the weapon later.
Of all the characters, you really only need Rem's Double EXP weapons -- everyone else will become obsolete once Rem has Freecast and powerful spells (like BOM spells, or even Ultima -- she can absolutely destroy everything), even our dear Jack and Trey. Of course if for some reason you plan on getting everyone to level 99 (highly unnecessary), then you should get everyone's Double EXP weapons at some point.

Go to Meroe, and save the game in the town, just in case. Then head outside and reach the nearby dungeon.
Optional Dungeon - Bethnel Caverns (revisited, if needed)
We came in the Bethnel Caverns earlier to get a Diamond Ore and some Reagan Greens, and then we left the dungeon with a Teleport Stone. At this point my Trey and Jack were at level 40- (38/39). Although that's not quite enough to deal with level-55 Behemoths easily, it's definitely enough to deal with them without having to rely exclusively on Breaksights/Killsights. In particular, Trey's Concentrate+MAX Charge combination, or Jack's Tranquility counters, will provide very strong damage output (Trey is safer of course). Rem with the SP Crystal can simply spam BOM spells to kill Behemoths very quickly, too.
We don't really need to do much more than the first time we were here though, so you can ignore most of the Behemoths unless you have some other plans (like getting the unique weapons hidden in here, but that's kinda pointless at this point since we're about to get the Double EXP weapons anyway).
The two things we need this time, which were actually accessible (but maybe you wanted to leave them until now) even earlier, are:
- Reagan Greens: try your luck in area [7] (the middle one marked in orange on your in-game map); there is a 6% chance in each of the five chests to find a Reagan Greens. You need to fight off a Behemoth in order to be allowed to leave the area (you can also still use a Teleport Stone to run away, but you should definitely be strong enough to fight now)
- l'Cie Urshanabi's Crystal: on the ground, as a sparkling object, in the final area of the dungeon (again, you are trapped and need to fight to leave the area; that, or you can use a Teleport Stone)

Revisiting Iscah
Return to Iscah, the eastern town of the Iscah Region (northwest from Rubrum Region, east of the Meroe Region). If you remember, in the previous Chapters it was just a ruined city/city under reconstruction, but it has now been rebuilt to its full splendor (so to speak).
Walk down the street, and before going up some stairs you'll see a guy near a kiosk-tent and a big treasure chest (there's also a kid nearby). Speak with the man, who is Mayor Aoba; speak with him again, and the chest will be opened by the nearby kid who will then run away. Speak with the mayor a third time and agree to help him (first option).
Follow the kid (he will end up in the upper-left corner of the city; from the Mayor, go upstairs, then right and then immediately left; go forward until you find more stairs leading down, and the kid will be at the end of this path, near some barrels). Speak with the kid, and pick the first option.
Then (sigh) go back towards the mayor, and follow the street where he is all the way to the end, to find Atra (the big dude in black armor; he's the guy you are supposed to give l'Cie Crystals to). Speak with him, and pick the first option.
Then go back towards the mayor, go upstairs again, and this time turn right and follow the path all the way to the end to find a legionary near a Chocobo. Speak with the legionary near the birdie, and pick the first option twice to receive the Jewel of Iscah.
Lastly, return to the mayor and give him the item -- this will earn you the l'Cie Shamhat's Crystal.
Furthermore, you can now access the secret "after-hour" shop of Iscah: speak with the mayor after doing the previous miniquest, and ask to check the night market to be transported into an area where the market takes place. In "Iscah at night", speak withe the mayor again (he's the guy with the SHOP icon) to see what he has to offer. The items here are very expensive, and seemingly very good...but as it turns out, the best stuff is described as "fragile" or "highly fragile", which means that the accessory will shatter and be permanently lost after you take a few hits (dozens or a few hundred, but it's still gonna happen sooner than later).
I strongly recommend against purchasing anything, since the only use you can really make of those items is collecting them (but you can't really use them because they shatter). If that's the case, and you want to get all the possible accessories just for the sake of it, at least wait until your second playthrough (when you can get Gil extremely quickly with a certain trick that I'll explain in due time) before wasting your Gil on the night market's collection.

Next, we'll need to do some things in the Innsmouth Coast (which is a "dungeon" accessed from the Innsmouth Region, which is southeast of the Rubrum Region; access it from the Eibon Region). If you remember, the Innsmouth Coast was home to a powerful Dracoknight for a Task a while ago (we had to use Triad Maneuver to kill him; does it ring a bell?).

Before going anywhere, read the next paragraphs first. If you return to the Innsmouth Coast now, you will always find a fixed encounter with an Adamantoise. BEWARE of this encounter! The Adamantoise is level 51, and moreover you can't leave the area until he's defeated. The exception to what I just said is if you use a Teleport Stone.

Innsmouth Coast - Adamantoise Farming (+Sylkis Greens?) (+l'Cie Crystal?)

In the Innsmouth Coast there MIGHT be a treasure chest containing a series of objects. However, the one you might be looking for is the Sylkis Greens, which is in the chest only 6.3% of the time (so statistically speaking you'll find it once every 17 chests you open, and the chests isn't even there all the time). Not very good odds.

There is a far better alternative (to get Sylkis Greens), thankfully, in an extremely dangerous dungeon called The Valley of Monsters. The odds in that case are 25% for a Sylkis Greens, and another 25% for 2x Sylkis Greens. I don't know about you, but I like these odds MUCH better. The "problem" is that this dungeon is only available via airship, which we don't have just yet. If you wanted to get an early Master Chocobo (early so to speak) you would have had to deal with the chest in the Innsmouth Coast; I hope you can agree that, aside from the novelty of a Master Chocobo, that would have been a bad decision from a gameplay "efficiency" point of view, hence why I didn't recommend anything in that regards.

Let's put the Valley of Monsters aside for a moment, and talk about the Adamantoise in the Innsmouth Coast instead. A Task in Akademeia requires you to collect 10x Turtle Shells, which are dropped by the Adamantoise enemies (in Innsmouth Coast) only. Killing the Adamantoises without a proper strategy is a bad idea, because they have very high defense, rarely offer Breaksight, and when you do Breaksight them they don't really take a lot of damage anyway.

There are various possible methods to kill Adamantoise efficiently, so let's quickly go over them:
1. Hawkeye. This ability is available to Trey, King, and Cater, and allows you to enter "sniper mode" (while consuming the AG) to aim at critical spots on the enemies. For Adamantoise, that would be his head. You know you are aiming in the right spot if the crosshair changes and becomes made up of four larger blue pieces instead of its default appearence. The problem is, the enemy moves his head (critical spot) a lot, so it's not the most reliable way of killing him and you will also need to replenish your AG with regular attacks a couple of times in order to have enough AG to finish him.

2. Deuce. If she is at high-enough level to survive and deal enough damage (let's say, around level 40++, 50 ideally), you can reach a blind spot in the upper-right corner (from the entrance perspective) where the Adamantoise can't reach you (he gets stuck). From there, you can only be hit by his "earthquake" attack (when he "stomps "the ground) and his "bubbles" attack. If Deuce is strong enough, you can hold down the attack button and watch his health trickle away in a minute or so (each attack should deal around 100-150 damage). The downside here is that Deuce needs to be at a high level, and that's probably not the case for you. Note that in this strategy you will need the ability Crescendo for Deuce (it allows you to boost her regular attacks; the boost will continue if you keep holding the attack button, but the attack power will go back to zero if you stop playing the Flute at any moment), and a character (Rem maybe) with Cura to help Deuce survive while she plays the flute.

3. Jack's Tranquility. This is one of the last abilities learned by Jack, but if he's around level 40 (he should be by now) he should now have it in his arsenal (if not, learn it from the Relic Terminal). The ability works like this: once equipped, use Tranquility right when the enemy's attack connects on Jack, and Jack will dodge and land a "Breaksight" hit on the enemy instead. Thanks to this counterattack it will be a breeze to kill the Adamantoise, and it's my favorite method since you should already have all the necessary things to do it (all you need to do is learn the timing). Here is a video demonstration:

4. If you already have them, using Rem with the SP Crystal accessory and then spamming Blizzard BOM or Ultima (or Blizzaga BOM with Reflex Cast if you want) is also an extremely fast way to clear the enemy, but its efficiency is highly dependent on Rem's level and owning the SP Crystal.

Whatever you decide, go in and out of the Innsmouth Coast until you have collected 10x Turtle Shells from the Adamantoise. Each and every trip you make, look for a chest in the upper-left corner of the area: if it's there, open it and maybe you'll get lucky with a good item. If not, don't worry -- we'll get Sylkis Greens easily from the Valley of Monsters.
Also, if you missed it a while ago when we first came here, on the ground in the Innsmouth Coast, on the right side (somewhat hidden in the sand) you will find the l'Cie Clareus's Crystal.

Our next stop is the Northern Cavern dungeon, which is located west of Mi-Go (which is north/northeast from the Rubrum Region). We don't actually need to do anything in the dungeon, but we need to go through it to exit in the Jubanla Region, which you may remember from an earlier Task which required you to kill 6x Bombs there.
World Map - Jubanla Region
In the Jubanla Region, from the Northern Cavern you want to proceed west until you cross a small bridge. Then check on the right side, on the ground, to see the l'Cie Ziusudra's Crystal.
Then go west from there (use a Chocobo) to reach the Old Lorica region.

You may have noticed a volcano in the Jubanla Region, too (it's north of the Northern Cavern). It's actually another optional Dungeon, but it has high-level (60-70) enemies, and therefore we'll deal with it in the future or even in our second playthrough.

World Map - Old Lorica Region/Deserted House
In the Old Lorica region, dismount the Chocobo if you want to fight random enemies, including the 10 Ankhegs required for the Task in Akademeia.

Note that you can access the Deserted House (which you visited during the story) if you enter the small forest on the left shortly after the entrance to the Old Lorica Region. This is a handy Relic Terminal, so you should probably make sure to use it, just in case something goes wrong (and it really might) in the next dungeons. I found the Ankhegs (kinda uncommon, but at least they come in groups of 3) in the area just outside the forest of the Deserted House, in case you're wondering.

I also suggest using the Relic Terminal to make sure Rem has a BOM spell (Blizzard BOM is the one I used), since it will probably be part of your strategy in the next dungeon (it's a possibility, anyway).

In the Old Lorica region, aside from the 10x Ankhegs for the aforementioned Task, we can also find the l'Cie Qun'mi Crystal on the ground (from the Abandoned House, go north and stay near the edge of the crater to find it, on your right).
The other reason why we're here in the Old Lorica Region is the dungeon Black Tortoise Crevasse, located northwest of the crater (it's just a triangular crack in the wall, but you should find it easily) -- find it, and go through it.
Dungeon - Black Tortoise Crevasse
As soon as you enter, switch to Rem -- you want to make sure she's alive when we reach the dungeon after next one (she's probably the best character to fight the enemies there).
You can find Akane here (the girl with the frog boyfriend); speak with her to continue her mini-quest (this is the third encounter; one more and the quest will be completed).
There are no items of interest (just Potions/X-Potions and Knowing Tags) in this whole dungeon, so use the in-game map to navigate to reach the exit as soon as possible (skip the encounters; enemies here are at level 72!).
After going through the Black Tortoise Crevasse you will be on a small ledge in the Old Lorica Region again. Follow the ledge up ahead to reach another dungeon.
Dungeon - Ultima Ground Zero (getting the Lorican Diary)
This is another dungeon with extremely high-level enemies (level 72), so you'll want to fight as little as possible. Although there are some interesting items to be found in the area, my suggestion is to simply head for the item of interest we came here to get (the Lorican Diary, necessary for the Ryid Task in Akademeia. Like for the Dark Matter for Mutsuki, you don't need to have accepted the Task or spoke to Ryid at all in order to find the item) and ignore everything else, for the time being. Be prepared to fight though, because you're gonna have to in order to open the doors to proceed!
Just for the record, there is also a l'Cie Crystal in this dungeon, but it's not a good idea to go after it at this point (too risky, too pointless). We'll come back for it later, possibly in our second playthrough, at a much higher level than we are now (I'm assuming you're still around level 40 with your main characters; even with the SP Crystal you would still struggle a lot to kill the enemies here).
[1] Blast Site
Safe area.
[2] Southeast Crater
This is the first of the two areas where we need to fight, and the hardest one as well. There will be a Juggernaut enemy here and two Kukulcans (giant flans). The Kukulcans are nothing special, since they behave like regular (buffed) flans and can easily be killed with Breaksights after their clumsy attacks. The Juggernaut, on the other hand, will be a tough opponent.

The best way to kill the Juggernaut, in my opinion, is to run around with Rem while charging Blizzard BOM. The Juggernaut's attacks basically consist only of "running you over". Whenever he does so (tries to run you over), he will be in Breaksight. If you release Blizzard BOM slightly before he runs you over, the spell will hit the enemy and it will cause Breaksight to occur, which in turn will make the enemy stop, thus saving Rem and heavily damaging (via Breaksight) the Juggernaut. The nice thing about Blizzard BOM (or BOM spells in general) is that its area-of-effect will deal damage for a few instants, and not just the instant when you cast it, which translates into a much larger window of effectiveness for the Breaksight (in other words, you can cast the spell a few instants before the enemy touches you, and it will still hit the enemy once HE comes close to the cast spell. It's as if you were placing a trap on the ground, and he walked right into it). The only downside is that you'll need a lot of MPs to cast the BOM spell quite a few times, but Rem has more than enough to do the job even if you miss a few times. Below is a video demonstration:

Alternatively (or if Rem dies), you can simply try to dodge-and-counter his "run-you-over" attacks using any ranged attack/character. King is great for this purpose; Trey is quite good too, and so is Cater. A bold approach could be to simply stand in front of the enemy, wait for him to prepare to run you over, then step back before he does, and unleash a shot right in his face. You need to know his movement pattern a bit before you can confidently rely on this approach; I feel like using Blizzard BOM "traps" is safer.

Once the Juggernaut is dead, the two Kukulcans should be very easy to kill: focus on one of them at the time, approach them so they do their "clumsy" attack, dodge around/behind them, and then use a melee attack for Breaksight. They will go down very fast.

Assuming she's still alive, replenish Rem's MPs with an Elixir (you probably have plenty of them by now; it's not like you're gonna need them any other time, so feel free to use them now), or Ethers if "Elixirs are too precious" for you. Anyway, just make sure you can fight off another Juggernaut, because that's exactly the next, last forced fight we need to do here.
There is also an item on the ground that you can pick up in here, the Mobilization Strategy (just a random key item which adds an entry in the Rubicus).
There are two possible exits that become available upon defeating the enemies, and you want to take the one leading to the Trail of Ruin (east; it's where the marker is pointing). If you want, you can access the other area [3] anyway...
[3] (Southeast Cavern)
...to find another Kukulcan and a treasure chest. Nothing important in here though.
[4] Trail of Ruin
There is a single Juggernaut in here to defeat. The room isn't very big, but you can focus on the enemy quite easily -- defeat him to unlock the next door.
[5] Trail of Ruin
There are some giant bomb enemies in here (Perkunas). They dodge like crazy, but thankfully you don't have to fight them to reach the next area.
If you want you can open a treasure chest at the end of this area (lock on the enemies, then use RS_Up to lock on the chest and open it).
[6] North Crater
This is the area where the Lorican Diary lies. Be careful: there are 2x Perkunas and another Juggernaut in here! We don't need to fight them though: just locate the Lorican Diary (sparkling item on the ground; it's by the eastern wall, to the right of where you came from), pick it up (as always: lock on an enemy, then use RS_Up to lock on the item) and then leave this dungeon (either via Teleport Stone, if you can spare it, or by backtracking on foot).
We can finally go back to Akademeia now.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 2d 6h

Like last time with Mutsuki's Task, don't do Ryid's Task/Event just yet -- it won't really give you any reward that will make a difference in the next two Trials, and we still need to leave 6 hours of Time to Mission at the end of this free-time break for Chocobo-breeding purposes.

Report the Task 3 completion in Central Command, if you killed the 10x Ankhegs in Old Lorica Region, for your reward.
While you're here, purchase the Double-EXP Weapon for Rem, if you got the 300x Killsights with her -- it's the Zwillblades, which costs 5,000 SPP and gives her Attack +54 other than Double EXP. Nice!
Also do (accept and complete) Task 4 (Guildsman @Armory), if you have the 10x Turtle Shells from the Adamantoise farming.
Then accept the next Expert Trial: Secret Agents Zero. Instead of going there on foot/chocobo, feel free to use the Airship Landing's service to be taken directly to Cetme. In Cetme, save the game (it's the closest Relic Terminal), upgrade Odin at the Relic Terminal (from the Promotion menu), and accept the Task in Cetme before going outside (as we said earlier, you can actually complete it during the next Expert Trial). Then head outside and continue to the trial.

Expert Trial - Secret Agents Zero
Preparations: like the previous times, Odin will absolutely OWN this Trial. If you have the Growth Egg and decided to give it to Rem (best choice, long-term), you'll want to summon with "dummy" characters instead of using the Undying Wish+summon combo by Rem. As I mentioned earlier, we can still benefit from a few additional level-ups on Jack's part, while Trey has pretty much ran his course and we'll only really need him for the last RTS missions (for which he should already be ready; if he is level 40, he doesn't need any more Exp).
Therefore, deploy a team of (dummy), Jack, and Rem; summon with the dummy character, and when Odin's time expires replace the dummy (dead) character with another dummy character to summon with him/her too, and so on. You will finish the mission long before you run out of "dummies" to sacrifice, don't worry.

Trial Start!
[1] Mt. Klimov Base
Summon Odin and slash your way through the enemies (or just run to the exit, since they'll just keep coming and coming).
[2] Snow-swept Slopes
There is a Keycard to pick up on the ground, which you'll need to continue -- make sure to pick it up. Use Cavalier Charge against the Snow Giants if Moonring Blade doesn't seem to instant-kill them very often.
[3] Snow-swept Slopes
You'll need to use the Keycard on the gate to continue.
You will also be told that "if you need to rest, go in the caves on the side", but you can ignore that if you're just blasting through with Odin. If you want to explore them anyway (just for the sake of it), go east to area [4]; if not, continue north to area [5].
[4] Klimov Caverns
A couple of items can be found in here: another (unnecessary extra copy of it) Keycard, and a Knowing Tag.
Head back to area [3], and then north from there to area [5].
[5] Mine Gate K-01
SO (2'): take down the Snow Giant. Reward: Shock Shield.
The SO appears in the second half of the area (Decline any previous "white" SO that may have appeared in the meantime).
You can take a detour to the right into another cavern, which is area [6]; the detour will let you get some extra Exp and items, so I suggest doing it (especially if you are using Odin, so you don't have to struggle and at the same time you'll level him up). If not, you can continue north to area [15].
There is also an empty cavern to the left, which is area [14] (mentioned just for the record).
[14] (Kilmov Caverns)
(mentioned only for the record; you shouldn't be in this area)
This is west of area [5]; empty.
[15] (Snow-swept Slopes)
(mentioned only for the record; you shouldn't be in this area)
This is the area east of the first "red" area of your in-game map. Nothing interesting here, but this is where you would go if you wanted a faster and more direct route to your destination. From here you can go west to area [13], skipping every other area in-between area [5] and area [13].
[6] Klimov Caverns
This it the cavern area accessed by going east from area [5].
Defeat the enemies and go further into the caves.
[7] Frozen Precipice
SO (1'): wait one minute ("keep fighting in spite of the snowstorm"). Reward: Phoenix Pinion.
Go up the slope. Take the first turn left into a cave, which is area [8], ignoring (for now) the exit forward which leads to area [9].
[8] Klimov Caverns
There is a Knowing Tag and a Fortified Ration/Combat Ration here. Go back outside, and then exit to the north to area [9].
[9] Frozen Precipice
Just near the entrance, go left to area [10]. Note that there is a second cave further ahead, which is area [12], which then leads to area [13]. You can ignore area [12].
[12] (Kilmov Caverns)
(mentioned only for the record; you shouldn't be in this area)
If you continue and take the second exit from area [9], you reach this area. Exit west from this area to reach area [13].
[10] Klimov Caverns
Fight the enemies; then continue to area [11].
[11] Snow-swept Slopes
This is the red area (the one south of the area with a Recovery Portal), for reference.
There is a First Aid Kit/Strength Serum on the west side (from the cave where you came from, it's up and to the left). Go north to area [13].
[13] Mine Gate K-02
This is the area with the Recovery Portal, for reference.
Defeat the enemies, use the Keycard on the gate, and access the second half of the area. In the second half, on the left there will be a Recovery Portal.
There is a Combat Ration/First Aid Kit behind a tree on the right side. When you're done, exit north.
[16] Excavation Site
SO (5'): kill the enemies. Reward: Gold Anklet.
Moonring Blade is so overpowered, isn't it?
After completing the SO, use the Keycard on another gate to continue.
[17] Snow-swept Slopes
A 10-minutes timer will start here. There are more detours possible on the way to our goal, although most of them don't lead anywhere interesting.
The first possible detour is on the west (right) side of this area; it leads to the empty area [18] (skip it, or go in there just for the additional kills for Odin). When you're ready, proceed south to area [19].
[18] (Klimov Caverns)
Empty area, aside from the monsters.
[19] Snow-swept Slopes
Before going anywhere you'll need to defeat a couple waves of enemies.
Another detour is possible on the left (east) side. It leads to area [20], which then leads to area [21] with a shabby item in it. Feel free to ignore them and continue south to area [22].
[20] Klimov Caverns
Go on to reach area [21].
[21] Klimov Caverns
Defeat the enemies and pick up the First Aid Kit/Strength Serum on the ground.
[22] Snow-swept Slopes
Another possible detour to your left (east) here, but it leads to empty area [23]. Instead, continue south to area [24].
If you accepted the Task back in Cetme, by this point you should have completed it (if you didn't already complete it in the previous fight against Imperial Troopers).
[23] (Klimov Caverns)
Nothing interesting here.
[24] Mine Gate K-03
This is another "red" area with a bunch of soldiers.
You can detour to the right (west) to area [25], but it's empty once again. Instead, continue south to area [26].
[25] (Klimov Caverns)
There aren't even monsters in here.
[26] Snow-swept Slopes
Safe area with a Recovery Portal. The timer will stop at this point (if you've been using Odin, with all the possible detours, including the unnecessary ones, you probably have over 6 minutes left anyway).
[27] Supply Depot
Kill a bunch of enemy soldiers, and the word Victory will appear on screen. After a short break, another fight will start against a few Colossi. After them, an SO will appear.
SO (2'): deal 5,000 damage to the Snow Giant. Reward: Wildfire Saber (Queen's weapon)
With Cavalier Charge by now (Odin level 70+) you should deal over 6,000 HP of damage without a critical hit.
Trial Reward: Ignis Essentia available for sale at the Armory shop.

Cetme
Return to Cetme to turn in the Task, assuming you did it, and receive your reward. After that, fast-travel back to Akademeia.

phxisave

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 1d 6h
Choose the next Expert Trial, which is The Climactic Clash at Azurr, a very fun (and challenging) RTS mission. You can take the Airship to Cetme, then save at the Relic Terminal in Cetme (it's the closest to the Trial), and then chocobo-hop to your destination.
Expert Trial - The Climactic Clash at Azurr
Preparations: if possible, have a few (4-5 should be more than enough to cover "accidents") Reraise-granting items (Phoenix Pinions will be your main choice, most likely) in your inventory -- it's very possible for Trey to die on the RTS part of the mission this time around! Also make sure to have a few Fire Shards in stock (try to have at least 10 or so, just to be safe), since we're going to need the extra power.
Odin is definitely of great help in this mission; I'm going to assume he's at high enough level by now (level 70+; mine was at level 80-), and that you have acquired all the passive abilities available to him up to now (at least get the first Summon Extension). This will allow you to deal with the town-invasion parts (there are three this time) very easily, as opposed to it being a hardcore challenge if you were to avoid using Odin (not only it's hard to complete the town-invasion parts per-se, but it's even harder to complete them without losing Trey. So definitely use Odin (summoned by someone else, of course)).
Trial Start!
I have a video of this trial. While it's not really necessary if you can understand the text instructions, it might be worth watching it at least for the last RTS part (starts at 9:28):
RTS - Part I
1. Use a Fire Shard to give Trey Aura, and then fire some MAX Charged shots at the Mid-Sized Carrier attacking Domain 1.
2. Task Spark Units from Domain 1 to Morina.
3. Destroy the Autoturret (use another Fire Shard for Aura, and the usual MAX Charged shots) on the way to Morina.
4. Wait until you can invade Morina.
Morina Invasion
You may want to give Trey Reraise here (via Phoenix Pinion), although since it's the beginning of the Trial you can just reload if he happens to die now.
[1] Main Gate
Summon Odin with someone else (anyone that isn't Trey). If you are fast enough, you'll only need one summoning (with Summon Extension). If not, you may need to summon again at the end of the invasion. Remember not to use Undying Wish (or any other form of Reraise) on your non-Trey summoner, because you WANT the summoner to be dead, so that once you are back on the world map RTS part of the mission you can switch the dead summoner for Trey.
Spam Moonring Blade to quickly clear the area (don't wait for the next waves of enemies), and then continue to the next one.
[2] Central Concourse
In this area and the next ones you'll need to destroy a bunch of Fuel Tanks (marked on your minimap/radar) to continue. You don't need to fight any enemy, although Moonring Blade will take care of both the enemies and the Fuel Tanks.
Use Moonring Blade a few times to clear the first set of enemies, and then expect a few more (and a Fuel Tank) in the upper-right corner. You can tell if there are any enemies left nearby if you listen to the background music (if there is a battle theme, there are enemies; if not, it's all clear).
[3] Central Square
Use Moonring Blade to kill the Colossi, but ignore the rest of the enemies for now (there is one on top of a turret; Moonring Blade is kinda hit-or-miss with this one, so leave him be). Instead, to speed things up, turn immediately left from the entrance to reach another area [4].
[4] Western Warehouse
A couple of Moonring Blades should clear everything, Fuel Tanks included. Turn around and quickly head back to area [3].
[3] Central Square
Finish clearing the enemies and Fuel Tanks, then reach the last area
[5] Northern Warehouse
Spam Moonring Blade from your starting position. There should be a Helldiver behind you/to your left too, so turn around and take him out as well. Then clear any remaining Fuel Tanks (there is one in the upper-left corner that is probably out of reach of your initial Moonring Blades).
When it's all clear, backtrack to the first area as fast as you can, ignoring all the enemies on the way. If you have 25 seconds left in your summon time at this point, you should be able to complete this invasion without a second summoning. If you have 20, it's very tight, and you'll probably need a second summoning since you don't know what to expect and you'll waste a few more seconds for that. Therefore, in that case (less than 25 seconds before you start heading back), I suggest waiting until Odin's time expires, and resummon in area [5] (which is now a safe area).
[1] Main Gate
Start charging Zantetsuken as soon as you enter. Then proceed forward, and be ready to turn around as soon as you hear soldiers entering the area (this should happen more or less when you reach the last barricades towards the exit). Unleash Zantetsuken on the enemy Leader (the "Imperial Officer" type) for a swift victory.
RTS - Part II
1. Task Morina, now under your direct control, to send Spark Units to Domain 2.
2. Use a Fire Shard to defend Morina from the Mid-Sized Carrier attacking it.
3. Take care of the Autoturret between Morina and Domain 2 too. You don't really need to use another Fire Shard here. Morina will be heavily under attack now, but it should be able to survive while you're destroying the Autoturret.
4. Stay near Morina, and help it defend against Helldiver and Infantry squads. You shouldn't need to use any Fire Shards. Your goal here is to hold on until the timer expires, marking the arrival of the powerful Izumo Unit.
5. Once the Izumo Unit arrives to defend Morina, head towards Domain 1 and destroy the Mid-Sized Carrier attacking it. Once again, a Fire Shard shouldn't be needed.
6. The almighty Izumo Unit will clear the way to Domain 2, and you'll take it without any additional effort on your part. It wouldn't hurt to task Spark Units from Morina to Arwen though; in that case, you may have to re-task Blaze Units to help take Arwen (so all in all I suggest leaving the default Blaze Units; it will just take a few more seconds).
7. Likewise, Izumo Unit will help you push and conquer Arwen.
Arwen Invasion
There is just one area in here. Summon Odin with anyone-but-Trey, and then wipe out the 3x Striker enemies.
You will see an icon on your minimap/radar, which indicates a Mid-Sized Carrier that you can't see yet. After a short while, it will appear and run past you, on the east side of the area. If you are fast enough, you can use Moonring Blade on it to instant-kill it. If not, it shouldn't be a problem. Note that killing this carrier is part of a special order from Mog, so for S-Ranking this mission, in the future, you'll need to take the carrier down. As a matter of fact, this is probably the hardest/trickiest Mog order in any RTS mission. For future reference, you'll want to use the spell Ultima (which you don't have now, most likely), cast at the right time, in order to kill the flying-by carrier (any other attack has too much of a high chance to miss, and obviously you can't use Odin if you want to S-Rank since it would add to your Casualties). After the first carrier, two more carriers will eventually show up. I've talked about this in the S Ranking section about this mission.
After the carrier flies by, a Colossus activated by a Leader will spawn to your left (west). Defeat this enemy with either Zantetsuken or Moonring Blade. Then a supersoldier-Leader will spawn; use whatever attack you want to take him down.
RTS - Part III
Now the real fun begins. Here's the situation: you still need to take Domain 3, and then Azurr beyond Domain 3. Azurr will dispatch a heavy flow of Helldivers, while Domain 3 uses tanky Colossi. Furthermore, a special enemy will be deployed on the field: it's a scorpion-looking MA called Vigilante.
As anticipated earlier, I recommend watching the video at about 9 minutes and a half to see how this next section should be played -- it's very possible to die at this point if you don't know exactly what to do.
Our goals will be to take control of the Izumo Unit first, which can be accomplished by either losing Domain 1 or conquering Domain 3. Then we'll fight off the Vigilante with the help of the Izumo Unit. Then we'll take Domain 3 and Azurr.
0. Use a Phoenix Pinion on Trey, just to be safe. Should Trey die and you're out of Phoenix Pinions, don't panic and just deploy another ranged character instead.
1. Since taking Domain 3 is probably too much for you right now, just let the enemy take Domain 1. After the enemy takes Domain 1 you'll be able to summon the Izumo Unit in any place you want (use the "Mog-advice" buttons to summon it). Note that you need to be within a certain distance from the current position of the Izumo Unit to be able to summon it (you don't have to be very close, but if you are too far you won't be able to summon it).
2. Start by placing Izumo near Domain 1, between Domain 1 and 3 -- you will retake Domain 1 very quickly with the units coming from Morina.
3. With Domain 1 back in your hands, place Izumo Unit near Domain 3 (place it just beyond Domain 3, so it can anticipate the Helldivers coming from Azurr).
4. As soon as you take Domain 3, the Vigilante will appear.
Now the next part is crucial. You'll have to kill the Vigilante with the help of the Izumo Unit, but the Izumo Unit will take heavy damage from the Vigilante if you let it happen. Your top priorities here will be to move Izumo Unit out of the range of the Vigilante while they cannot engage the Vigilante (keep reading to understand); then you need to make sure to position the Izumo Unit near the Vigilante while they can engage; then you also need to make sure to distract the Vigilante by attacking it while the Izumo Unit is fighting. If you don't distract the Vigilante, who will turn around and focus on you, then the Izumo Unit will quickly die. Therefore you don't really need/want to charge your shots against the Vigilante -- any kind of hit will be enough to draw the attention to Trey, away from the Izumo Unit, so that the Izumo Unit can dish out a lot of damage while kept safe by your decoy-attacks.
The tactical part of all this lies in the Vigilante position. See, the Vigilante will stay up on a cliff/hill at the start, and while the Vigilante CAN attack you and the Izumo Unit from up there, you CANNOT do the same back against him. Therefore, in this situation, you need to keep Trey AND the Izumo Unit away from the Vigilante attacks (they will one-shot Trey, and heavily damage the Izumo Unit each time the hits connect).
Then, after a while (three sets of missiles), the Vigilante will hop down and start attacking the Domains/Cities you have. It's now that you need to summon the Izumo Unit near the Vigilante, and at the same time attack and dodge with Trey to keep the Vigilante's attention on you.
You can expect two attacks from the Vigilante. When it's up on the cliff, a deadly barrage of missiles will be shot over a large area. Then, when it comes down, it will counter your attacks with a lightning ball of some sort, which will detonate upon impact with the ground, and it will continue to be deadly (if approached) for a few seconds. All you need to do here, really, is run left/right while firing arrows. Don't over-charge your shots; unleash the shots as soon as the enemy seems to have lost interest in you and turns around to attack Izumo Unit/domains/cities. For obvious reasons (you are attacking to distract, not really to deal damage), you will NOT need to cast Aura on Trey with the usual Fire Shard, so save them for other occasions.
The Vigilante will run away back on the cliff as soon as you take down a whole health bar of his. Then he will eventually come back down to attack Domains/Cities, and then go back to the cliff after losing another whole health bar, and so on until it's defeated.
I found that the best location to "park" the Izumo Unit while the Vigilante is on the cliff is by the southern cliff, about half-way between Domain 1 and 3. In that position it may not be completely safe from the Vigilante missiles, but safe enough to survive easily while at the same time being close to Domain 1/3 (the first ones to typically receive the Vigilante attacks) to quickly reach the Vigilante when ready to engage. Also, this position will prevent any Helldivers coming down from Azurr to Domain 1, once Domain 3 will (almost inevitably) fall.
As far as Trey goes, you can position him very close to the cliff just west of Main Camp. If you stand just next to the cliff, the Vigilante's attacks will actually land on the cliff where the Vigilante is, thus preventing any kind of damage to you, Izumo, and the domains.
5. Fight-off the Vigilante with the strategy detailed above. You will lose/recapture/lose/... Domain 3 over and over again as you are busy with the Vigilante.
6. Should Domain 1 fall to the Vigilante, reconquer it (you may have to manually task Morina, but probably not). You will probably do so without even realizing it, since Main Camp will send Blaze Units through/to Domain 1 by default.
7. Once the Vigilante is dead, recapture any Domain lost (hopefully just Domain 3), then push alongside the Izumo Unit to reach Azurr. You won't have to do anything with Trey after the Vigilante dies -- just move the Izumo Unit forward every time you can, so you can push the enemy further and further back to Azurr until you put it under siege.
Azurr Invasion
[1] Provisional HQ
Summon Odin (you can do so with Trey at this point; it should be your last or second-to-last summon of the mission, and there are no more RTS parts after this invasion), and clear all the enemies with Moonring Blade. There will also be a, Imperial Officer Leader, but he will escape before you can kill him (you can't reach him upstairs with Odin, but Moonring Blade can still hit him from the bottom of the stairs).
[2]/[3] HQ Interior/Rooftop
After a few seconds after the Leader's escape, you'll automatically be transported inside. Thankfully, Odin can go up the larger stairs of the building here, so do just that and clear every enemy on the way. You will eventually reach the last area, on a rooftop, where the final fight against the Imperial Officer will take place -- Zantetsuken him out.
Trial Reward: eidolon Dwarf Golem.

World Map - Azurr Region
To the north of Azurr there is the capital Ingram, which we visited earlier in chapters 3/4. On the world map, if you approach Ingram you will see a bridge. Stand on the bridge, and look on the ground: on the southwestern side of the bridge you will find the l'Cie Wehrer's Crystal.
Azurr
The local shop here sells some decent accessories, although nothing I would personally deem worthy of your money. There is also a Task to do for the local l'Cie Crystal.
1. A Watchdog's Wish (must do it)
Okita @Azurr. Request: kill 8x Floating Eyes in the forests of Azurr District. Reward: Gold Bangle, MPV-B2 Trunk Key.
I used the small forest near Azurr, but I'm sure any other one will do just fine. The encounters with Floating Eyes aren't particularly common, so make sure to chain multiple fights in a row if you are lucky enough to be asked to. Do not confuse the Evil Eyes (another possible encounter) with Floating Eyes -- you need the latter, not the former, for this Task.
The Gold Bangle reward is nice, but the important one is the trunk key -- speak with the Dominion Citizen near the first truck on the left side (he's dressed with orange clothing) to open it, and then pick up the reward from inside: the l'Cie Aloe's Crystal. Then head back to Akademeia.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 6h
Before anything, go save at the Relic Terminal in the Hallway, just in case something goes wrong.
Then (6h) let's turn in the various Tasks we've worked for:
- Do Mutsuki's Task @Armory (give her 1x Dark Matter). Reward: Diamond Ring; Seven Event @Central Command unlocked (wait before doing the Event with Seven!)
- Do Ryid's Task @Armory (give him 1x Lorican Diary). Reward: Crystal Gloves; Ryid's final Event unlocked (wait before doing the Event with Ryid!)
After turning in the Tasks (6h left, still), if you are interested in Chocobo Breeding, go SAVE THE GAME at the Relic Terminal @Hallway (or any other one; this is the closest one though).

Chocobo Breeding - Part 2 (getting Stealth Chocobos)
If you are still going after the Master Chocobo, before doing any Event you can now finally breed the two Evasive Chocobos (male Evasive + female Evasive) obtained a while ago, using Reagan Greens. In this case, the Greens are non-negotiable: it must be the Reagan Greens. The prediction can either be Stealth Chocobo, or Sneaky Chocobo (or even Evasive Chocobos). As you may have read earlier, the prediction doesn't really seem to affect the actual results (sometimes a predicted Sneaky Chocobo will actually turn out to be mostly Stealth Chocobos, and vice-versa). In any case, the result you are expecting is Stealth Chocobos. You're going to need a male and a female Stealth Chocobo to continue; hopefully you'll get both at once this time. If that's not the case (you don't get a Stealth male AND female), reload, re-breed, re-do 2x Events, and hopefully you'll acquire the desired Stealth Chocobo siblings (and soon-to-be breeding partners. Yep) sooner than later.

After selecting the breeding process of Evasive+Evasive with Reagan Greens (6h), do the remaining 3x Events:
- Seven @Central Command. Reward: all BOM spells +10 Magic Power!
- Ryid @Armory. Reward: Attack +3. Ryid quest completed!
- Go check the Chocobo Ranch for the breeding results (4h have passed; you don't get your Chocobos yet (you need two more hours for that), but you can see the results from the "chicklings"). If the results are what you wanted (you now have a Stealth male and a Stealth female), continue; if not, reload the save made BEFORE breeding, re-select the chocobos for breeding, re-do the two Events, and check the Chocobo Ranch again until you get lucky. Remember that you can skip the cutscenes in the game by pressing Start
- Carla @Lounge (give her 100,000 Gil; if you somehow don't have the money by now, replay some Missions from the Title Screen menu)
Mission Day!
Speak with Mog in Classroom Zero, and choose to "Join Sortie". Save at the Main Gate and head outside for the next story mission, which is an RTS mission (to reach the area, you need to go through the big "fortress" in the Eibon Region). The closest Relic Terminal will be in Rama (which, along with Roshana, is now available regardless of whether or not you unlocked them via Expert Trial).

Story Mission: The Kingdom's Final Hours

Preparations: there is no way you still need preparations for this mission at this point. There are no SOs either, so you can really just blaze through the mission on your own, using Trey for the RTS parts.
In fact, if you've done the Expert Trials so far you are probably going to just waste your time reading the next section, since you are probably strong (and knowledgeable on the game) enough that you don't need guidance for simple missions like this one. Feel free to skip to the section after this mission (when we visit Rilochy & co.).
Mission Start!
RTS - Part 1
The "new" thing about this RTS is that there will be Wingverns instead of MAs, and they are countered by Frost Unit like the Spark Unit did against the MAs against the Imperial forces during the older RTS missions. But you already knew this if you did the Operation Dragon Slayer trial earlier, so...
1. Your first goal is to attack the Atmosvern (a big, high-level dragon) near Shakara to make him flee -- do so until he leaves.
2. Shoot down the Wingverns coming from Shakara, so the Frost Units from Domain 1 can reach the stronghold. They are not strong enough to take the energy wall down though, so we need also to...
3. ...shoot down the Wingverns coming from Domain 2, so that Main Camp can conquer Domain 2. When that's done, the Blaze Units from Domain 2 will assist in taking down Shakara's energy wall, allowing you to invade it.
Shakara Invasion
There are two enemies at first, and then a Leader will spawn alone too. The only interesting thing about this part is that the Leader drops a unique Argent Phantoma (it's the only Argent Phantoma you can find in your playthroughs!).
If you want, you can switch to Jack (he can be used just fine for the rest of the RTS mission); if not, continue with Trey.
RTS - Part 2
(King Joffrey of Concordia lol)
1. The Atmosvern will appear again, attacking Domain 1. Use Jack (or Trey, depending on who you have) to slash him down. A few shots will scare him away again and he will then start camping around Domain 4. If you are using Jack, he might even die around Domain 1. If not, Trey's bow will finish him off at Domain 4.
2. Domain 2 will be under a strong (so to speak) attack from Domain 4; Domain 1, on the other hand, will attack Domain 3 with the help of Shakara. You can task Shakara to send Frost Units to either Domain 2/4 (to help Domain 2), or to Domain 3 (to help Domain 1 take Domain 3). In my case it didn't matter anymore, because my on-field character could one-shot the enemies coming from Domain 2 and 4, so regular Blaze Units were enough to take both. If that's not the case, focus on Domain 3 first, then Domain 4.
3. After Domain 3 and 4, take Rilochy.
Rilochy Invasion
Nothing special here, just a bunch of enemies to kill (Trey helps since there are several airborne ones).
After killing all the enemies, a particular part of the mission will start: you'll be on the "snake-way" to the capital. There are dragons on the way, but you can ignore them all, hop on a chocobo, and reach your destination to complete the mission.
Mission Reward: Growth Egg.

Chapter 7: Fate of the Crystal - The Endless Battle (Continued)

Chapter 7: Free-Time Break 2

This will be the final free-time break of your first playthrough!
Akademeia - Time to Mission: 5d 12h
You should remember it from last time, but I'll repeat what anticipated earlier: we barely have enough time to complete the remaining Events+quests+Expert Trials, so don't waste a single hour of this free-time break. As always, let's start with the Events list:
1. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Defense Magic +2.
2. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Fire Magic +2.
3. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Ice Magic +2.
4. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Lightning Magic +2.
5. Hiruhata @Airship Landing: Mega-Ether.
6. Quon @Hallway: Magic Power +5. This is a cutscene. This ends the Quon quest!
7. Tonberry @Classroom Zero: Ether.
8. Deuce @Classroom Zero: X-Potion. This is a cutscene.
9. Ace @Back Garden: Mega-Potion.
10. Examine gate @Back Garden: Megalixir. This is a cutscene.
11. Class Eleventh Moogle @Armory: Mega-Ether.
12. Carla @Ready Room: (Gil lent to her x 2; 222,000 if you gave her 111,000 Gil).
13. Carla @Ready Room: Sublimation Ring. This is a cutscene. This ends the Carla quest!
14. Seven @Lounge: Mega-Potion.
15. Izumo @Airship Landing: Elixir. This is the same Event as the one available in the previous break; it's only here if you missed it earlier.
(16/17. Kazusa/Emina events)
You can watch-and-reload the following Events:
- Event 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14
There are also more Tasks to do in Akademeia.
1. Sanative Supplier VII (optional)
Logistics Officer @Main Gate. Request: give 5x Megalixir. Reward: Stalwart Ring.
2. Secret Agent Agito VII (optional; requires leaving Akademeia)
Class Ninth Cadet @Crystarium. Request: take 10x soldier prisoners in the forests of the East Nesher Region. Reward: Ballistic Shield.
WARNING: this Task requires you to have accepted, but not completed, the trial Colonel Faith's Last Stand. We'll do it just before starting that trial.
3. Probing into the Past II (optional)
Provost @Crystarium. Request: give 1x Lost Tome. Reward: Gold Anklet.
The Lost Tome can be found in the Silent Key dungeon, one of our next stops.
4. The Chancellor's Challenge (optional; requires grinding)
Chancellor Chival VI @Central Command. Request: reach the SP Rank of Commander (50,000+ SPP). Reward: you can wear the Formal Attire.
Refer to the SPP Farming methods if you haven't done so already.
5. Monster Pursuit VII (optional; requires leaving Akademeia; we'll do it later)
Commandant @Central Command. Request: kill 6x Sandworms in the Berith Desert. Reward: Diamond Bangle.
The Berith Desert is located northwest on the world map.
6. The Phantoma Menace VII (optional)
Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery. Request: give 1x Ivory Phantoma. Reward: Crystal Shard.
If you do this Task, do it only for completionism's sake. The Ivory Phantoma you need to give is definitely more valuable than a Crystal Shard. If you don't have any Ivory Phantoma at all, you can get them somewhat "frequently" from Behemoths (not Behemoth Kings) in the Bethnel Caverns (about 12% drop rate if you kill them via Killsight).
7. Slayer's Spoils VII (optional; requires leaving Akademeia; requires the most grinding you'll do in the game)
Armory Guildmaster @Armory. Request: give 1x Darksoul Swarm. Reward: Soul of Thamasa.
The accessory reward is great, but the requested item is found deep into the Tower of Agito (basically at the end of it), the hardest dungeon of the game (far out of your reach at this point). With enough grinding, this Task can be done though. However, I strongly recommend waiting until the second playthrough, for a series of reasons that I will explain later (towards the end of the Chapter 7 section of the walkthrough), in a small "Tower of Agito Considerations" section.
8. SPP Scavenger VII (optional)
Cadetmaster @Lounge. Request: give 2,000 SPP. Reward: Crystal Ball.
Don't do any Event just yet (5d 12h) !
Check your inventory, and see if you have at least 20x Hi-Potions. If not, purchase them at the "orderly" shop in Classroom Zero -- we'll need them to get a l'Cie Crystal in Shakara.

Also remember to equip the Growth Egg you got from the previous story mission on someone (ideally, give it to Rem along with the other Growth Egg you already had, so she can get 4x Exp, and even more than that if she also has the Double EXP weapon).

For now just accept the Expert Trial "Operation Homecoming" from the "old" NPC in Main Gate. Use the Airship Landing service to reach Cetme. Save at the Relic Terminal in Cetme, as it's the closest one to the next Trial.

World Map
Exit Cetme, and hug the mountains to the south. Just a short distance west of Cetme you will see a passage in the mountain -- take it to reach the West Nesher District. From there, reach your destination.
Expert Trial - Operation HomecomingPreparations: there is nothing to worry about in this very short trial. You can only bring four characters, but they are more than enough to clear the two areas. A single Odin summon is more than enough.
Trial Start!
[1] Bazz Boulevard
A handful of regular enemies need to be defeated before continuing. You will receive anothe trunk key to open the trucks near the exit and the two near the entrance, but they contains the usual garbage items (Combat Ration, Support Serum, White Tiger, or something like that), so it's not worth the time to switch from Odin to someone else just to collect it.
[2] Cul-de-sac
Kill a few more enemies in here and you're done.
Trial Reward: Glacies Essentia available for sale at the Armory shop.

West Nesher Region
If you reach the northwestern end of the area you will find, on the ground, the l'Cie Rhiane's Crystal.
Then enter the town of Bazz.
Bazz
We now have access to the town of Bazz, so let's explore it for a bit. There are no shops at first, but a miniquest (not so "mini", actually) will make one open. There is also a Phantoma Trader on the lower level of the town, in the second "alcove" on the right (40x Lavender Phantoma for 1x HP Enhancer; worst possible trade, because of the rarity of Lavender Phantoma and the relatively easy way to get HP Enhancers by replaying half the mission Escaping the Imperial Capital).
To open the shop (which sells some decent weapons, but they are too expensive for their value at this point of the game) you need to speak with the guy near a truck and a Colossus MA. His story is quite funny, but in order to help him you'll need to speak with 4 more people:
- The very next person on the street beyond the guy near the truck is an orange-dressed NPC. He will help you if you find his son, who is the little kid roaming in the lower level of the city (just speak with the son to complete this step)
- One person down the street, dressed in blue, will agree to help if you give him a Diamond Ring, which was the reward for the Mutsuki Task in Akademeia
- One more person is the Class Fifth Cadet at the end of the lower path; he'll help you without anything in return
- One last person is the Imperial Citizen on the lower level of the city, and he'll help you for 10,000 Gil. You should have enough money at this point to be able to afford the 10,000 Gil
You also want to explore the lower level of the city (the stairs to reach it are at the end of the road on the upper level, to the right), and find, in the first alcove on the right side, on the ground, the l'Cie Jogge's Crystal.
Even more interestingly, make sure to accept the Task in town, because it will soon reward you with another Growth Egg.
1. Rumble in the Ruins (extremely recommended)
Sakuya @Bazz. Request: kill 1x Iron Giant in Silent Key. Reward: Growth Egg.
WARNING: the Task-giver will disappear after completing the Silent Key dungeon, so you must report the Task BEFORE you complete it!
Also keep in mind that there is a limited amount of Iron Giants, and they are available only before you do the next side-quest (which you definitely want to do) by completing the Silent Key (which is an oddly-named dungeon, by the way). Therefore make sure to accept this Task NOW.
After accepting the Task, save at the Bazz Relic Terminal, then head outside and hop on a Chocobo.
World Map
Head east from Bazz, then south when you can to go up on a higher ledge, and then south from there to reach the Veill Desolands area. From there, use your in-game map to find your way to the very end of the peninsula to the south (basically, from where you enter you need to stay on the right side and go south). This will take you to the Silent Key dungeon.

Dungeon - Silent Key (NOT AVAILABLE FOREVER)

This dungeon will not be available forever! After completing the events inside, it will become unaccessible for the rest of the current playthrough, so make sure to get everything important done NOW (you can leave and re-enter without any problems; just make sure to do everything before you examine the control panel at the very end).

This dungeon features only two enemies: the Iron Giant and the Red Giant. You are going to fight only one of them at the time, but they can be very dangerous if you are underequipped. My advice is to use the usual Jack, buffed with Aura from Fire Shards if needed (it's not needed if he's around level 40, which he should be by now). You may not be able to defeat the Red Giants if you are not strong enough: not only they hit hard (and will one-shot you if you are underleveled), but the problem is that they have a lot of health AND Auto-Regen, meaning that if you are not lucky and skilled to use all the Breaksights available, they may become undefeatable. That's why Jack is so helpful here, since he can deal significant damage even without Breaksights, thus providing a fail-proof way of winning.

If your Jack is not strong enough (around level 40 is strong enough), I actually suggest spending a few minutes to level him up. The best way to do so at this point is by replaying the mission Operation Homecoming (the last one you did) on Agito difficulty, and mow down the enemies with Odin (summoned by someone else, not Jack of course), while Jack has Growth Eggs equipped to speed things up. You will get an enormous amount of Exp if you play on Agito, and Odin should be able to handle the enemies just like on Officer (by now he should be well over level 70). The mission replay should last only a minute or two, and within a few replays you will have Jack at level 40.

[1] Silent Key
Once you are ready, enter the Silent Key and save the game at the Relic Terminal in the entrance. Since the enemies won't respawn after you defeat them, you may want to come back here to save the game after you kill each of the enemies in the upcoming rooms (so if Jack dies you can simply reload instead of having to go back to Bazz to resurrect him). If you're confident enough, that won't be necessary, but I still suggest doing so. Anyway, that's up to you.
[2] Rear Concourse
Access the first room on your left.
[3] First Control Room
The first Iron Giant will be here.

Note that neither these enemies, nor the Red Giants, will attack you until you attack them first. For more or less extended periods of time they will just stand and "prepare" their attacks (they are kinda weird; they will roar or something). The possible attacks are a skullcrusher attack (easy to avoid) (they jump up first); a sword-sweep attack (careful: this can hit partially behind them too, especially behind and to their right); a sword-throwing "boomerang" attack (only if you are standing far from them; "boomerang" because it hits you when it comes towards you, and then hits you again when it goes back to the giant). Each of these attacks offers a Breaksight afterwards, so make sure to take advantage of it too.

The fight is all easy and simple until the end, where they go berserker mode and start attacking much faster, and consecutively multiple times in a row. Furthermore, they can only be killed with a Killsight (or a Breaksight that is strong enough to take their remaining health), so after you take their health all the way down you're going to need to wait for it in order to finish them off. Also, the Killsight/Breaksight to kill them can't be the one when they are stunned (which happens after you attack them multiple times); it has to be a "counter-attack" Killsight/Breaksight.

The best way to kill them is with Jack solo: after the initial attacks (you can do at least two full 3-hit-combos before they start attacking), stand in front of them with your fingers ready on the defense command. When they start attacking, press the defense command and behave accordingly: if you see that it's the sword-throwing "boomerang" attack, just Block both hits and then counter with a Breaksight (add a couple of extra shots after the Breaksight, so you slowly stun them, you recharge your AG gauge, and deal some extra damage); if they do the skullcrusher attack, dodge twice on either side to sneak behind them and then Breaksight (same as previous); if they do the sword-sweep attack, Block and counter with Breaksight. Note that they will probably use the sword-sweep attack most of the time, and they usually use it at least twice in a row (sometimes even more times after losing enough health), so be ready for consecutive attacks. It may take a few tries, but you'll get the hang of it sooner than later.

Here is a video demonstration against a Red Giant:

If you want to quickly replenish your AG for the next fight (not really needed, but might be useful for some people), exit and re-enter Silent Key. All the attacks you land on them after the Breaksights should be more than enough to continue this strategy infinitely though.

An alternative possible method would be with Deuce: circle around the giants and keep playing the flute until you stun them (Deuce is very good for stunning enemies thanks to her repeated attacks), then Breaksight them, and repeat. This is much slower than Jack though, so it's more of a backup plan for someone that doesn't feel like spending a few minutes to level Jack up with Odin.

After defeating the enemy (and fulfilling the requirements for the Task in Bazz), the door to the next area will open.
[4] First Dynamo
You can find a Frosthield Cloak/Platinum Bracelet/Bulletproof Vest (50/25/25) in here, as well as a control panel to activate -- do so.
Backtrack to area [2], return to area [1] to save maybe, and head back outside.
World Map - Bazz (Task-reporting)
Although it's quite boring to do so, return to Bazz to complete the Task and get your third Growth Egg. Then return to Silent Key to continue.
Silent Key (continued)
Go to area [2], then north from there to area [5].
[5] Central Concourse
There is an Iron Giant here, but you can ignore him altogether (he won't even attack if you don't hit him first).
Turn right to enter the next side-area.
[6] Second Control Room
Another Iron Giant guards this area -- defeat him to access area [7].
[7] Second Dynamo
There is a Flameshield Cloak/Auric Ring/Mythril Ring (50/25/25), and the second control panel to activate (do it).
Then head back to area [5], (backtrack to the entrance to save), and simply run past the Iron Giant to reach the next area.
[8] Front Concourse
Go left to the next side-area.
[9] Third Control Room
This time the enemy to defeat is a Red Giant. Treat him the same as an Iron Giant, with the difference that you need to take his health down quickly or else he'll heal faster than you can damage him. Using a Fire Shard on Jack is not a bad idea if you are underleveled; same goes for using Triad Maneuver.
[10] Third Dynamo
The item here is a Sparkshield Cloak/Platinum Gloves/Warrior Ring (50/25/25), and the third control panel to activate (do it).
Once again, go back to the "concourse" areas, (save back at the entrance), then continue to the next one.
[11] Bridge Access
There is an Iron Giant and a Red Giant in here, but they can be ignored.
There is a Voyage Log on the ground to the left by the Iron Giant (remember how to pick up items when enemies are nearby: target the enemy, then use RS_Up to target the item, then pick it up). To the right is the last forced fight of the dungeon.
[12] Fourth Control Room
Red Giant again -- you should know what to do by now.
[13] Fourth Dynamo
There is an Unusual Artifact on the ground (this is a nice accessory, and you probably want to equip it on Jack since Rem has two Growth Eggs while Jack has just one).
Activate the last control panel in here to receive the Lost Tome item (will be used for an optional Task later) as well. Then head back outside, keep ignoring the two giants, and go north to the final area.
[14] Setzer Flightdeck
MAKE SURE TO PICK UP THE ITEM IN HERE: it's the l'Cie Satori's Crystal, located on the lower level, in the middle (easy to spot, but if you miss it now it's gone for good until your next playthrough).
After collecting the important key items of this dungeon, after making sure that the Task in Bazz has been completed (not just Request fulfilled; Task completed, reward received), and maybe after double-checking that you have the other less-important items of Silent Key too, you can examine the control panel in this room and "Activate the device". Do so, and the Setzer will be yours!

World Map - Setzer

The Setzer is the Airship of the game, and it's all yours now! You can summon the Airship while you are on the ground by pressing Triangle+Circle/Y+B. Steering is done with the LS, landing with Circle/B; the Triangle/Y button gives a temporary boost (feel free to abuse it to move around faster), while L1/LB makes you slow down/stop (useful for landing in a more precise spot). You can also lock-on the airborne enemies you will find with R1/RB, and shoot at them with Square/X.

The last part (the enemies shoot-down) is not very important; more of a minigame that can earn you Gil. However, thanks to a glitch (or maybe it was an intentional exploit put there by the developers), in your next playthroughs (not the first one unfortunately) you'll be able to get the maximum amount of Gil possible using this minigame. For now you can ignore it, or just mess around to shoot some Wyverns/Mid-Sized Carrier MAs for the sheer pleasure of it. Running into the enemies also kills them (you don't take any damage, don't worry), but it will reset your "combo meter" for the minigame (which doesn't really matter since you're not going to get any decent Gil reward from it right now anyway, unless you spend A LOT of time doing it, which I don't recommend).

It's also nice to know that once you unlock the Setzer, it will stay available from the very beginning in all of your New Game+ playthroughs (although it becomes usable only when you can freely leave to Akademeia, during the third free-time break of Chapter 2. That's still quite early on anyway).

We don't have much to do with the airship right now though, so just fly east to the Rilochy Province, where there will be a couple of new towns (unlocked after the previous story mission) to explore.
World Map - Rilochy Province
Out in the world map you can find the l'Cie Argenia's Crystal, just south of Rilochy.
Near Rilochy you can also find another "fortress-looking" building: approach it, and enter inside.
Mahamayuri
There is very little we can explore in the capital of Concordia. In fact, just the "snakeway" is accessible to us. Go all the way to the end of it to find the l'Cie Vesta's Crystal, and then leave to reach Rilochy.
Rilochy
On the left side near the entrance there is a Phantomist (as always, he's not marked with any special icon) who sells Magenta, Cyan, Sepia, and Verdant Phantoma for 2,000 Gil each. There are no other "regular shops" here.
In order to lower the gate to access the second half of the city you need to stand at the end of the line (wait a few seconds behind the last NPC of the queue). In the second half of the city you can speak with a person giving a Task.
1. Plight of the Pilgrims (optional)
Akari @Rilochy. Request: kill 10x Flame Flans in the Rilochy Province plains. Reward: Mythril Gloves.
I farmed mine just outside of Rilochy. Since you will encounter a mix of either bombs or flans of all elements, it might be a good idea to bring Rem with Blizzard BOM and Fire BOM; that way you can simply use Blizzard BOM on the fire/thunder enemies, and then Fire BOM on the ice enemies (who are immune to or even absorb Blizzard BOM). Keep practicing that Reflex Cast maybe.
The last person at the end of the path will ask you for a donation in Gil, and you can choose to donate 10 Gil or 100 Gil. You can only make one donation each time you enter the city, and you need a total of 1,000 Gil donated for your reward. Therefore, go in and out of the city a total of 10x times, donating 100 Gil every time, until you've donated 1,000 Gil. At that point you'll be awarded with the l'Cie Daphnia's Crystal.
Shakara
Shakara is the other city of the Rilochy Province. It has a regular shop with some shabby accessories for sale; we can ignore it.
In order to get the local l'Cie Crystal we need to do the Task first, and then speak to a few people in a certain order.
1. Boom or Dust (must do it)
Ametsuchi @Shakara. Request: kill 10x Bombs in the Rilochy Province. Reward: Blaze Armlet; access to the l'Cie Anatidus's Crystal.
Only the "fire" Bombs count (they are the ones called "Bomb" after all).
After completing the Task, go down the ramp on the right near the entrance and speak with the female character, so she mentions something about gemstones.
Then go up the ramp on the left side and speak with the other female character here, who will talk about her son. After two dialogue-boxes, a choice will prompt: you can either let her continue talking (first option), or tell her to shut up (second option). Choose the first option. Then speak with the same female again, and choose the first option to hear more about her son again. And again. And again one last time; now she'll mention something about a gemstone. Speak with her a fifth time and she'll only say something about the gemstone, instead of talking about her son.
Next, speak with the white-dressed (white shirt, black pants) NPC going up and down the ramp on the left side, and he'll say something about a gemstone.
Lastly, go up the last ramp in the upper-right corner of the town, and speak with the blue-dressed NPC here. Give him 20x Hi-Potions and you'll get the l'Cie Anatidus's Crystal.

World Map - Northern Valley
We need one last (for now) detour while we're out in the world map. This detour is for Chocobo-breeding purposes (we'll get the Sylkis Greens). Make sure you have at least one Teleport Stone (possibly more; 2-3 should be enough; you can purchase them in Meroe, for example), since our goal here is to open a chest located in an area where you'll be forced to fight in order to be able to leave (kinda like the Waterfall Grotto in the Bethnel Caverns). The chest will contain 1x Sylkis Greens 25% of the time, and 2x Sylkis Greens another 25% of the time (so you have 50% chances to get at least one, and 25% to get two!) (remaining 50% is Elixir/Megalixir). We need a total of at least 2x Sylkis Greens.
We have to reach the Valley of Monsters, which is a dungeon located in a sort of canyon in the Northern Valley region, which is the area of the world map to the northwest. The closest town to save the game (do so, for safety reasons) is Azurr.
After landing in the Northern Valley with the Setzer, get on a Chocobo and find the way to reach the entrance to the Valley of Monsters. Before that, look for the l'Cie Enlil Crystal, at the southern end of the crater on the west side.

Unfortunatley the Setzer always drops you off in the middle of the area, which means you'll have to go (from the disembark point to the Valley of Monsters) south all the way, then east all the way, then north until you find a slope to descend. Go down the slope, then proceed south; ignore the first turn to your right, watch out for the Behemoth lv 99 on the way, run past him, and turn right at the next chance you get. Then at the fork go right again. You can check the picture below if you need (it shows the path you need to follow).

Optional Dungeon - Valley of Monsters

In The Valley of Monsters there will be level-92 enemies, so don't fight anything (if you have SP Crystal, you can spam Fire BOM over and over again to possibly kill everything; not that it's really efficient or actually worth it though).
Here you will find Akane for the fourth and last time. If you spoke with her in the previous three dungeons (Corsi Cave, Bethnel Caverns, Black Tortoise Crevasse), now her boyfriend will be back to human form. Speak with her again to complete the quest, then with the boyfriend.
She also sells Phantoma in here: Cerise, Smalt, Jasmine, and Ivy Phantoma for 3,000 Gil each.

If you want, in the future, you can speak with the boyfriend in any of the other three dungeons (Black Tortoise Crevasse, Bethnel Caverns, Corsi Cave) for a minor reference to Final Fantasy X/X-2. It's nothing special, just a random reference for the sake of it.

Make a run for the area northeast (the one with an item in it), where you'll find two Malboros and a chest. Ignore the Malboros, open the chest with the usual trick (lock on an enemy, then switch target to aim at the chest), and then use a Teleport Stone to flee -- if you got one or two Sylkis Greens, fly back to the closest town and save the game before coming here to try again; if not, re-enter the dungeon and try again. In this case, since it takes a short while to reach the Valley of Monsters, you may want to re-enter (thus "spending" a Teleport Stone every time you attempt to go in) right away instead of reloading the previous save. Anyway, once you have 2x Sylkis Greens you've done your job.
Since we're already here, you might as well head northwest too (in the Valley of Monsters, that is): in the area west of the Trident Intersection (which is the safe area with no enemies, in the middle, where the fork is) there will be, on the ground, on the right side, the l'Cie Nimrud's Crystal. There are enemies in here too, but you can escape outside without a Teleport Stone since you won't be locked in the room upon entering.

Just for the record, in case you're wondering, the final room has a chest that contains some accessory in it, or a Phoenix Pinion. The chest can be opened only once per playthrough, and the items can be: Ignis Veritas, Glacies Veritas, Fulgur Veritas, Aegis Veritas (18.8% chances for each); then you have 18.5% chances to get a Phoenix Pinion; lastly, the "best" item is the Black Cowl accessory (6.3% chances). Just so you know, the "Veritas" accessories give +20 to the respective magic stat (Ignis Veritas is +20 Fire, etc.) while also reducing Max MP by 36%; garbage, quite honestly.

The Black Cowl is quite a bit better, since it gives All Damage Resistance +10%, and auto-Quick. Incidentally, the SP Crystal gives a lot of buffs, but not Auto-Quick, so pairing up the SP Crystal with the Black Cowl is not bad at all. However, there will be an accessory available only in the second playthrough which gives All Magic +100 and Auto-Quick; it's obviously a better choice over the Black Cowl. Therefore I would say that the Black Cowl might be worth obtaining if you just "must" do the hardest dungeon (the Tower of Agito) in your first playthrough; if, on the other hand, you want to do it in the second playthroughs (which I strongly recommend), then the Black Cowl isn't worth the trouble at all.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 4d 12h
We're going to have to do Events 6, 12, 13 to complete the respective quests, and then three Mog Classes of your choice (we just don't have enough time for all four, unfortunately) -- I personally prefer to skip the first class and focus on the other three.

Chocobo Breeding - Part 3 (getting Ninja Chocobos)
The next step in our quest for the Master Chocobo will be to breed Stealth Chocobo + Stealth Chocobo with Sylkis Greens. The majority of the times the offspring will be mostly Ninja Chocobos, thankfully. Your ultimate goal will be to acquire a male Ninja and a female Ninja to breed together, so keep reloading the pre-breeding save, re-breed, re-do the 3x Events, and check the Chocobo Ranch again until you get lucky.

Proceed as follows (4d 12h):
- Speak with Aki and Fuyu @Lounge, for another conversation with them for their mini-quest
- Save the game
- If you're interested in it, breed Stealth Chocobo + Stealth Chocobo with Sylkis Greens; you need to obtain a male AND female Ninja Chocobo
- Do Event 6 (Quon @Hallway) to complete the Quon quest!
- Do Events 12 and 13 (Carla @Ready Room) to complete the Carla quest!
- Check the chocobo breeding results; if you got what you wanted (at least a Ninja male AND a Ninja female), continue; if not, reload, re-breed, re-do the 3x Events, and check again

Chocobo Breeding - Part 4 (getting a Master Chocobo)
The second-to-last step is to acquire at least one Master Chocobo (the last step will be to breed Master Chocobo with some other Chocobo in order to obtain more Master Chocobos). To do so, breed a Ninja Chocobo with Ninja Chocobo, using another Sylkis Greens. The hatch prediction will be Ninja Chocobos most of the time, but if you keep trying it will eventually predict Master Chocobo. As always though, I don't think the prediction matters, so feel free to confirm the breeding even if the prediction is Ninja Chocobo (or, if you think it might affect your odds negatively, refuse breeding and try again until the prediction says Master Chocobo). The chances of getting a Master Chocobo aren't that great, but thankfully you only need to do two/three Events to check the results.

Continue as follows (4d 6h):
- Save the game
- If you're interested in it, breed Ninja Chocobo + Ninja Chocobo with Sylkis Greens to obtain, hopefully, a Master Chocobo. This time it's ok if you get only a male or a female; as long as you get one Master Chocobo you're good to go
- Do 3x among the 4x possible Mog Classes @Classroom Zero (Events 1, 2, 3, 4; pick three among these. As I said earlier, I prefer # 2, 3, and 4) for their nice rewards
- Check the Chocobo breeding results; reload if needed

Chocobo Breeding - Part 5+ (getting a Master Chocobo flock)
If you have a Master Chocobo, you can breed him/her with a regular Chocobo, using Gyzahl Greens. By doing so, if you are lucky you will get a "whole flock of" (99x) Master Chocobos. If not, you should at least get a few Master Chocobos (I tested this 10 times; I never got a result where there were no Master Chocobos in the offspring (I guess "the seed is strong" :p). I can't guarantee that you will always get at least a Master Chocobo in the offspring, but I think that's highly probable at the very least).
If you get a male and female Master Chocobo, at any point, breed them together with Gyzahl Greens instead of breeding either one with regular Chocobos. Then I think you can stop breeding once you get 99x Master Chocobos, as they will probably last you for the remainder of your playthroughs :D
All of the above steps can be done without too many worries between the upcoming Expert Trials. So, in other words, select the breeding you want before going out for an Expert Trial, and then come back and check the results after the trial. Then do more breeding before the next trial, and so on until you're satisfied.

Breeding or not, we can do a few optional Tasks while we're here (3d 12h):
- Do Task 1 @Main Gate
- Do Task 3 @Crystarium (from Provost; it's "Probing into the Past II")
- Do Task 6 @Sorcery
- Do Task 8 @Lounge
- Do Task 4* @Central Command (from Chancellor Chival VI; it's "The Chancellor's Challenge")
- Accept Task 5 @Central Command (Monster Pursuit VII); we'll do it when we go out for the next Expert Trial
*In case you're wondering, the Formal Attire (like the "Summer" clothing) can be changed at the Relic Terminal; choose Armament, then use L1/R1 (LB/RB) to toggle between attires.

Then head for the Main Gate, and speak with the "old" Trial-NPC to accept the next one: Protecting the Defector. Save the game.

Just to be completely safe, AFTER saving the game in Main Gate you could go outside to the world map, then go back inside and go check on the Chocobo Breeding results. As I said earlier, I never got any result (by breeding Master Chocobo + regular Chocobo with Gyzahl Greens) where there were no Master Chocobos (always 2-3 at minimum). Since we're about to go out and do some rather time-consuming things though, you may want to check the results now just to be sure (remember: the breeding results are determined when you confirm the breeding process, and not when you check the results). Then, after confirming that you did, in fact, receive Master Chocobos, reload the latest save you made (the one in Main Gate, before going out to the world map) to get your six hours back (the ones you lost by going out, and then back inside again) and proceed with the next things we're about to do already knowing in advance that the results of the breeding process will be Master Chocobos.

World Map - Berith Desert
Before going to our destination, locate the Berith Desert region of the world map (use the Setzer to get there). It's located northwest, northwest of the Meroe Region/north (northeast) of Azurr. Save in Azurr before going there! You should probably give Jack the SP Crystal if you have it. If not, and he's hopefully at least level 40+, give him the Unusual Artifact and the Crystal Gloves. The enemies also frequently inflict Stop with their attacks, so you may want to equip something for that too (a Ribbon if you have it, or just the Mobility Gear which you can purchase in Azurr). I personally prefer equipping the Unusual Artifact/Crystal Gloves on Jack though.
In the desert you'll want to fight and kill 6x Sandworms (the random encounters, NOT the level-99 enemies which trigger when you come across the tornadoes) for the Task in Akademeia. They are somewhat rare encounters, but you should be able to find them anywhere (I personally farmed them in the northeastern corner). As you are looking around for them, reach the southeastern corner on the desert where you can find the l'Cie Siduri's Crystal.
Be very careful in the fights against Sandworms (level 50+). So far all the "kill these enemies" Tasks were really just a formality, and we could kill them all very easily -- that's NOT the case with this Task. The "worms" are very resistant against spells, but somewhat vulnerable to physical attacks. Use Jack's regular attacks to slash them down. It's a good idea to use Fire Shards too, if you have them. The typical attack they will use is a "homing" wind-projectile of some sort, which inflicts Stop -- dodge them if you can.
he enemies might hide under the sand sometimes; if that's the case, put your weapons back and run in circles until they respawn. Avoid the tornadoes (they appear after the worms hide under the sand) and quicksands on the battlefield too, or else you'll take very high damage/die! Moreover, unfortunately, the groups of these enemies sometimes contain Landworms, which are basically the same monster except that they don't count for the Task.
I personally did this Task with Jack at level 43. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't too hard either. When it's done, proceed to the Expert Trial (closest Relic Terminal is in Bazz).

Expert Trial - Protecting the Defector
Preparations: this is another short Trial (three areas only) which will be made extremely easy by Odin. You can only bring four characters.
Trial Start!
[1] Third Station
Foot soldiers, no match for Odin.
[2] Fifth Station
(who taught them to count?)
More foot soldiers, some Airborne Troopers/Martinet MA, and even a good old Autoturret on the way to the next area.
[3] Seventh Station
Clear all the enemies here to save the "defector", and then wait a few seconds until he speaks to you and rewards you with a Glacies Tertia, Vol. I. After that you'll be able to backtrack through area [2] to return to area [1]...
[1] Third Station
...where a final fight against various enemies, including a Colossus Leader, will ensue -- kill them all to complete the trial.
Trial Reward: Gold Bangle available for sale at the Armory shop.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 2d 12h
The last Trial from the first NPC is available: it's Colonel Faith's Last Stand, which is probably the hardest of all the Trials. Still, no match for Odin (mine was around level 80+ at this point).
Before heading outside, report the Task 5 completion @Central Command. Then accept missable Task 2 (Class Ninth Cadet @Crystarium). You may also want to check on the Chocobo breeding you've done, and/or do more if you desire.
Restock on Potions if needed, and give Rem the Fire BOM spell (useful to farm enemies outside).
Then save and go outside. Head southeast, which is where the Trial takes place.
World Map - East Nesher District
You can find the l'Cie Jorug's Crystal in this area. To find it, approach the trial location (which is the Gewehr Base). Cross the closest bridge back from north to south; look southwest of the bridge closest to the base, and you'll see the crystal on the ground.
After accepting Colonel Faith's Last Stand, but BEFORE doing it, you can find groups of soldiers in the forests in this area. I used the forest closest to the Expert Trial location. Run around until you find groups of soldiers with a leader, and then kill only the leader to "capture" a total of 10x soldiers. When that's done (and the request for Task 2 is fulfilled), you want to go save in Bazz since the upcoming trial is one of the hardest of the game (even with Odin).

Expert Trial - Colonel Faith's Last Stand
Preparations: this trial is LONG, and there are A LOT of enemies in it. Tough enemies, too. Summoning a high-level Odin is the only realistic way to complete this Trial at this point of your playthrough.
The Trial features a lot of SOs (there are also some items on the round to pick up, but at this point who cares about Fortified Rations and Knowing Tags lol), but you probably want to ignore most of them your first time through. In particular, the two SOs that reward you with a Ribbon require you to deal a certain amount of damage (which might be too much for Odin, unless you get lucky with a Critical Hit; sadly, it has to be the first attack on an enemy, and it's very annoying if you fail the SO and lose Odin (that pretty much means you need to restart the mission, which still has a long ways to go)), and to survive for two minutes without getting hit (and Odin does everything well, except dodge multiple enemies attacking him at once). Also remember what I said earlier for the first Ribbons that were available to us: Ribbons just aren't that important in this game, and whatever importance they might have, they are not worth the frustration of restarting a long mission just to get one or two of them. The other SOs are much more affordable, so I will suggest doing them.
Trial Start!
[1] Base Area G-377
Kill the enemies and continue.
[2] Base Area G-368
SO (2'): kill all of the enemies. Reward: Megalixir.
This SO appears after killing the first set of enemies. Easy SO with Odin, so you might as well do it even though the reward isn't anything exceptional.
Kill the enemies and proceed.
[3] Base Area G-352
SO (1'): deal 9,999 (or more) damage to a Colossus with your first hit against him. Reward: Ribbon.
As I said earlier, you would need a Critical Hit with Cavalier Charge to complete this SO. It's true that this is pretty much the beginning of the mission, so restarting isn't a big deal; still, if you don't get lucky soon you might end up spending half an hour until you finally manage to land a first-hit-critical on the Colossi. It's not worth it in my opinion, so feel free to ignore this SO. Note that if you deal more than 9,999 (Cavalier Charge can break the 9,999 limit; the spell Ultima can do so too) it will still be counted towards the completion of the SO.
Deal with the enemies to move on.
[4] Base Area G-350
There are two possible exits from this area: north or west. Go north, following the yellow marker.
There is also a shabby item to collect, for the record (Strength Serum or something like that); it's on the east side, somewhat hidden by a small building/tent.
[5] Base Area G-344
SO (2'): kill the Freak. Reward: Judgments (King's weapon).
The SO will appear once the Freak spawns (after the first set of enemies). Easy, use Cavalier Charge.
There are two exits here as well: north or west. Go north (which is NOT where the marker is pointing) for an optional area (might as well clear it for extra Exp, no?).
[6] Base Area G-226
Annihilate the enemies, and then exit southwest (follow the marker).
[7] Base Area G-332
Nothing special here, kill everyone and then exit west (follow the marker).
[8] Base Area G-299
There are two more "Freak" enemies here, but nothing Odin can't handle.
Of the two exits (north or south; east is the entrance where we came from), you can go north first for an optional area [9] with an SO (which isn't worth it), or south to area [10].
[9] Base Area G-231
SO (2'): use the Fuel Tank to kill an enemy. Reward: Megalixir.
Almost impossible with Odin (his attacks aren't going to hit the Fuel Tank without killing everything nearby in the process); not worth switching from Odin to a character just to do this SO. If you HAVE to do it for some reason, "bait" an Imperial Trooper near the fuel tanks (on the left side), and shoot them when the soldiers are up-close. The explosion won't kill you (worst case scenario it will leave you with 1 HP), and the SO should be completed.
When that's done (or not), go back to area [8], then south from there to area [10].
[10] Base Area G-251
Kill the enemies to continue to the east.
There is also a shabby item, Fortified Ration or something similar, on the small container northwest.
[11] Base Area G-249
This is a safe area with a Recovery Portal -- use it (not like Odin needs it, since it doesn't replenish eidolon's HP), then think about what you want to do for a second. In the next area there is an SO for avoiding damage for two minutes. With Odin, this is almost impossible and definitely not worth the risk (you are mid-way through this mission, you don't want to lose Odin now). However, if you let the Odin summon time expire, and then try the SO with a dummy character (like Ace for his great dodge, or Eight for his great movement speed), it could be worth the risk (worst case scenario you lose a character you don't really care about).
Also note that this will most likely mean the death of your other two characters, so if you were taking advantage of this trial to level up Jack and Rem alongside Odin, this will probably be where they die and stop gaining Exp (not a big deal, but Ribbons are so useless that I'd rather take the Exp). In that case (if you wanted to continue earning Exp with Rem), then the best course of action is probably to switch to Rem to do this SO, and then replace one of the two dead characters with a dummy to summon Odin (while Rem is, hopefully, still alive) after completing the SO.
[12] Base Area G-218
SO (2'): avoid all attacks. Reward: Ribbon.
Not only you have to avoid all attacks (almost impossible with Odin), but you actually have to refrain from killing the enemies because if they die then you will continue to the next area and the SO will be cancelled. If you are desperate for a Ribbon, then this SO can be done by using a regular character to run in circles around the enemy Leader for two minutes (lock on the Leader in the middle to make sure you don't walk into his bullet attack). It's not worth the time in my opinion though. Whatever you do, do NOT do this SO with Odin -- the mission is far from over!
If you do the SO, then summon Odin when it's done so he can take care of the enemies. Be careful, since the Leader here can actually deal significant damage to Odin (use Cavalier Charge to kill him asap).
[2] Base Area G-368
After the fight, you'll be taken back to area [2]. From there you'll have to chase down Colonel Faith through the other areas until you corner and kill him.
One of the dead dominion legionaries here might have a Knowing Tag to pick up (though I've read that sometimes they don't, and it's random...anyway), just for the record.
Go north to area [10].
[10] Base Area G-251
SO (5'): use the Recovery Portal in the area. Reward: Phoenix Pinion.
The portal is found beyond a fence (which is initially blocked by a blue barrier; then it's unlocked after defeating the first enemies), on the left. You don't actually have to heal damage, so even Odin can do this SO.
[8] Base Area G-299
Colonel Faith will be found here. Be careful, he can hit pretty hard even against Odin. You'll just need to damage him a bit to make him flee, so go with Moonring Blade (use Cavalier Charge if Odin is not level 80+).
After that, you'll need to chase Colonel Faith back to area [12]. Since the direct route is blocked, you'll need to follow the yellow marker on your minimap/radar to reach the area.
[7] Base Area G-332
You know the drill -- kill everything and move on.
There is a shabby item southwest, but whatever.
You can detour back to area [6] (go north) if you want...
[6] Base Area G-226
...but there is nothing interesting here (just a shabby item northeast).
[5] Base Area G-344
Same as always, clean up and move on.
[4] Base Area G-350
Same as always. There is a Freak when you start; go immediately right from the entrance to reach him. Two more Freaks will spawn after the first one is dead.
[11] Base Area G-249
SO (5'): kill the enemies. Reward: Lustrous Armlet.
Easy with Odin, so do this SO.
[12] Base Area G-218
Final showdown with Colonel Faith here. Hopefully Odin is still alive at this point; if that's the case, 3-4 Cavalier Charge will kill the boss. If you have trouble hitting him, then aim for a Breaksight first, and then use Cavalier Charge after he collapses to the ground.
Trial Reward: Aegis Veritas available for sale at the Armory shop.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 1d 12h
Report the Task completion @Cyrstarium, and do any Chocobo Breeding you desire.
Then accept the next Expert Trial (from the second NPC): The Amiter Resistance. Our destination can be reached only via Setzer, so there isn't really a "closest Relic Terminal" (might as well just save in Akademeia). Also, the trial will be rather easy, as reflected by limited amount of characters you can deploy.
Expert Trial - The Amiter Resistance
Preparations: short and easy Trial. You can only bring six characters. Make sure to bring a strong ranged character (the usual Trey maybe); this time we don't need and don't really want to summon Odin -- lots of SOs with decent rewards await ahead. Start with Jack; equip Tranquility on him to make things a bit faster (if you used Tranquility against the Adamantoise back in Innsmouth Coast, by now you should know how great this ability is).
If you have the SP Crystal and Ultima, then you can use Rem instead (especially after the +10 Power upgrade for Fire BOM, she can now deal a lot more damage than Jack even if she's 20 levels behind him).
Of course Odin is also an option (you can do the SOs just fine with him too).
You need the airship Setzer to reach the island Dragon Sanctuary where the mission takes place.
Trial Start!
[1] Town of Amiter
SO (3'): kill the Behemash. Reward: Celestial Armlet.
Jack will make quick work of this enemy. If you have Tranquility, use that ability to counter the Behemash to end the battle much faster.
[2] Town of Amiter
SO (3'): kill the Snowsquatch. Reward: Arctic Armlet.
Same as above.
Switch to Trey before going to the next area, and read about the SO carefully.
[3] Town of Amiter
SO (2'): kill the Wingvern. Reward: Mythril Ring.
You may have noticed this in earlier "Roshana-area" missions, but if you shoot down (even just with Breaksight) a flying enemy while this enemy is floating outside of the bridges/balconies, the enemy will fall down to the void beyond the balconies instead of falling to the ground. If this happens, you can't harvest that enemy's Phantoma, and it won't count as a kill. Therefore, to make sure you get this SO done, shoot the Wingvern only if he's above the ground, and not if he's above an empty space; if not, wait until it moves in a proper position.
There is a Recovery Portal in this area. Also try not to get killed by the Petrifeye (there are 3 in total; 2 near the entrance, and the one near the Recovery Portal) somewhat "hidden" near the Recovery Portal.
[4] Town of Amiter
SO (3'): kill the Diepvern. Reward: spell Death.
Easy with Jack, even just with regular attacks.
Switch back to Trey.
[5] Town of Amiter
SO (2'): kill the Skyvern. Reward: Blaze Armlet.
Same as the Wingvern.
[6] Town of Amiter
No SOs here; just a Leader of the Diepvern type. He's stronger than the rest of the enemies you fought so far in this trial, but nothing special. You can either summon at this point, or rely on Breaksights (stand close to him, and he'll do a "stomp-and-run" attack where he raises on his hind legs first and then tries to hit you; kinda like the Nimurod MAs).
Trial Reward: spell Aloud.

Amiter
The local shop sells "Mythril" weapons, which are actually quite nice (and at this point you should have 222,000+ Gil from the Carla quest). Before you purchase anything though, remember that you will very soon (or maybe you have already done so) start farming for the Double EXP weapons, which have considerably better stats in addition to the passive ability Double EXP. So the Mythril weapons are actually quite outclassed, but anyway.
In any case, there is a Task here which is tied to an l'Cie Crystal. And what a Task...
1. A Tonberry in Need (must do it...eventually)
Otokusa @Amiter. Request: kill 99x Lesser Lopros in Dragon Sanctuary. Reward: Grand Bangle; access to the l'Cie Albus's Crystal.
This Task is not a priority right now, but we're going to have to do it at some point. For the record, the local enemies are at level 72. The Lesser Lopros are only encountered one at the time, on the plains (non-forest) areas; they are not the only encounter possible either; they are the Wingvern type of flying dragons. Not easy, not fast, not recommended at this early stage where you would be considered overleveled if you were level 50+.

Note that you can take on the Task if you have the SP Crystal and give it to Rem to spam spells. However, I recommend leaving it for the second playthrough to make it a lot easier. I won't assume you've done it, for now, but there are valid reasons to wait (it becomes easier later; if you do it on New Game+ you can also work on spawning Nox Suzaku while doing this Task, since you'll be collecting hundreds of Phantoma as you do it).

If you still decide to do it anyway, make sure to return to Amiter, and keep going in and out of Amiter until there is Fog in the city. When that's the case, find a couple of Tonberries on the ledges on either side of the town, and speak with one of them to receive a l'Cie Albus's Crystal. I'll remind you of this Crystal on New Game+, when I suggest doing the Task.

You can also talk to the various people in town to learn more about the story of the city and the local Tonberries (one of them will mention an acquaintance of ours).
There can be a Phantoma Trader at the end of the path in the middle, but he seems to spawn only after completing the local Task/in Foggy weather. He trades 40x Ivy Phantoma for 1x MP Enhancer.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 12h
Do any Chocobo breeding you like, and then accept the next Expert Trial: Dominating the Dragon's Nest. Don't go out just yet though.

Tower of Agito Considerations

At this point we have to make a choice in regards to whether or not we'll be doing the hardest dungeon (the Tower of Agito) in this playthrough. The "long story short" version is: don't do it now, and instead wait until Chapter 5 of the second playthrough to make everything faster and easier.
To keep things simple, there is one pro and several cons to doing the Tower of Agito in the first playthrough. The obvious "pro" is that you will get its rewards right away, without having to wait a few more hours (really, just 2-3 hours in New Game+) to be able to access it. Then you could argue that you may want to brag about how you have as many Agito Insignia accessories (can only get one per playthrough) as the amount of playthroughs you've done (both of these things can be verified in your game file, so if you are after a "Perfect Game" leaving one potential Agito Insignia out might be an issue for you).
Realistically speaking though, these are not sensible reasons that are enough to convince the average player to try the dungeon in the first playthrough. The only valid reason to consider doing the dungeon in the first playthrough is that the Tower of Agito offers a great opportunity to farm some rare Phantoma. In your first playthrough, farming Phantoma is never an issue (aside from how rare the Phantoma might be), but from the second playthrough onwards it's possible to randomly encounter a "problem" in gathering Phantoma. Basically, every now and then, randomly, Nox Suzaku will show up, and you can't collect Phantoma for a while when he's around. He will eventually leave, but if he shows up while you're farming Phantoma in the Tower of Agito, and because of bad luck this happens multiple times for you, then it will be rather frustrating and you might regret not farming the Phantoma (and therefore doing the Tower of Agito) in your first playthrough.
However, it must be pointed out that Nox Suzaku only shows up after you do the "New Game+ exclusive" mission of Chapter 6; therefore, if you either skip that "exclusive" mission, or you go to the Tower of Agito before that mission, even this argument in favor of attempting the Tower of Agito in the first playthrough ceases to exit -- you can farm Phantoma safely without worrying about Nox Suzaku if you, for instance, visit the Tower of Agito in Chapter 5 of your second playthrough (which is ultimately the best time to do it, in my opinion), before doing the "exclusive" mission of Chapter 6.
On the other hand, there are multiple valid reasons to wait until the second playthrough, including:
- Mog's Lucky Charm: this accessory gives Exp x 4, and can only be obtained in the second playthrough. You'll need to level up quite a bit to be able to deal with the enemies in the Tower of Agito. It's true that you can equip 2x Growth Egg + the Double EXP weapon for a great Exp boost, but it's also true that with Mog's Lucky Charm + Growth Egg + Double EXP weapons you will gain Exp even faster (8x multiplier vs 6x multiplier)
- Akatoki Amethyst: this accessory gives All Magic +100 and Auto-Quick; obtained in Chapter 4 of the second playthrough
- Meteor: this is a very important spell in a couple of fights in the Tower of Agito, but you can only unlock it by playing a certain mission on Finis difficulty, and Finis difficulty is unlocked after completing the game once. Not having Meteor might make things slower and/or harder
- Fire BOM-II: this is the primary spell we'll be using in the Tower of Agito, and it just happens to be unlocked after the next story mission
In my opinion, there is no doubt that all the advantages of leaving Tower of Agito for the second playthrough (you can level up faster, you have Auto-Quick, you have much higher Magic stats, and you have the best spells for the job) greatly offset the small advantage of having access to Phantoma-farming possibly (but not even necessarily) more efficiently because Nox Suzaku won't show up in the first playthrough. Moreover, as I said earlier, you have until Chapter 5 of your second playthrough (and if you skip the "special" mission in Chapter 6, you have time until the third playthrough!) to do your Phantoma farming without encountering Nox Suzaku, which is plenty enough time to complete the preparations and do the Tower of Agito at full strength.
Therefore, that's when I'll be detailing it (in the second playthrough, Chapter 5). If you are interested in attempting it now, you can read ahead to the Tower of Agito section of the walkthrough for more info on the dungeon in general. You'll need to adjust the strategies to whatever you have available in the first playthrough though, which will be far from optimal.
Keep in mind that this is the last time (for the current playthrough) you are in Akademeia and you can still go outside to the World Map, so if you want to use the Arena's secret training and manipulate your system's clock/calendar to at least reach level 99 "instantly", this is your last chance to do it. The Tower of Agito is a dungeon on the world map, and the next time we go outside (for the last trial, which we're about to do) is the last time you can access it in this playthrough. Then again, being level 99 helps a lot, but won't ultimately be quite enough to compensate for the lack of the best spells and accessories (not to mention you may even want to avoid getting to level 99 with that cheap trick for "ethical reasons" of your own).

Chapter 7: Fate of the Crystal - The Endless Battle (Continued)

Expert Trial - Dominating the Dragon's Nest
Preparations: the closest Relic Terminal is in Amiter.
This mission is very long, but actually pretty easy: you can skip fights in most of the areas, and there is just one SO (very easy with Odin) in an optional area. The tricky thing about this mission will be at the end: you'll have to fight a "dragon egg" with insanely high damage-resistance and HP. Just to put things in perspective, there are no mandatory deaths in this mission, but you can still achieve an A score on Casualties with 3x Casualties. The reason for this unique "concession" (in every other mission or trial you must have the minimum possible amount of casualties to get the A score for Casualties; that's typically = 0, except when there is a mandatory death) is, most likely, that the developers knew that the best way to defeat the Dragon Egg is by summoning. In our case, we'll be summoning Odin; it will take two full summonings to kill the Dragon Egg with Cavalier Charge.
Keep in mind that having high stats doesn't really mean much in this case, because the egg has resistance to all damage. Therefore the attacks that work best are the "special" attacks which are neither physical nor magical -- Cavalier Charge just happens to fit the description. Other possibilities include the spell Aloud or Deuce's regular attacks; Meteor works too, but you can't have it on your first playthrough; Ultima works well if you are at high level, but takes too long to charge compared to Cavalier Charge. Unfortunately, none of these comes even close to the damage output of Cavalier Charge.
So the bottom line is, bring Odin in the mission!
Trial Start!
As long as this trial is, there is actually little to say about it. It's not that I'm lazy; it's that I know I'd be wasting your time telling you "kill the enemies and go on" in each and every area, and that's pretty much the only thing to mention about the trial.
Just keep in mind that sometimes the yellow marker will point towards exits that you can't reach directly (for example it seems to point across a broken bridge that you can't use to cross to the other side). If that's the case, it means that there is a detour you must make to go around (you typically need to exit to the balcony (the "Cliff" areas), then access the other side of the room (across the bridge) from the balcony itself). This will happen in:
- Sunlit Atrium 3F (go southeast to balcony and then enter from the other side, following the marker)
- Sunlit Atrium 5F (go east to another Sunlit Atrium 5F area, then south from there to the balcony, then follow the marker)
- Sunlit Atrium 7F (go southwest to balcony and then enter from the other side, following the marker)
- Sunlit Atrium 8F (exit east to another Sunlit Atrium 8F area then follow the marker)
There are items in some rooms (you can see the item icon on your in-game map), but they are only something like Aurum Medica, Draco Medica, Argentum Medica.
The only special room is on the ninth floor, where the only SO takes place.
As soon as you start reading "9F" in the area name, come here and read the following directions to reach the area with the SO:
- The first "9F" area is Sri Raja Cliffs 9F (balcony area); go east
- The next area has the same name as the previous one; also a balcony. Go north
- This is the SO area
Botanical Gardens
SO (5'): kill all the dragons. Reward: Hypno Crown.
There are just three in total (two airborne, one horsie).
Then continue to the Dragon Nest, and kill the dragon by summoning Odin and just spamming the Cavalier Charge attack. Use Moonring Blade to kill the respawning dragons. Ultima (with SP Crystal of course) also works wonders if Rem is already at a high level. In my case, thanks to giving her the Growth Eggs and Zwillblades and letting her get the Exp from the latest Expert Trials, she was about level 55-60, which actually makes her spamming Ultima superior compared to using Odin.
Trial Reward: eidolon Astaroth.

World Map - Final Chance to do stuff outside!
This is it: our final chance to visit the World Map and do whatever we want for this playthrough. If there is something you want to do, do it now. It's no big deal if you "forget" something important now and then want to do it -- it will only take a few hours to do the second playthrough anyway, so you'll be back to this point again very soon. Still, if you need to buy something from the shops, do some Tasks you left behind (like the one in Amiter, which I still suggest putting on hold until the second playthrough), want to attempt the Tower of Agito, or whatever else, then this is the time to do it. Once we get back to Akademeia there will only be room for story missions!
In the unlikely case that you don't have any Chocobo (of any kind) right now, I strongly suggesting hunting a couple of them -- trust me, you'll need at least two after the next story mission!
Akademeia - Mission Day!
On Mission Day there will be one more conversation with Aki @Fountain Courtyard.
WARNING: one character will leave the party before the next mission starts (this will happen after you speak with Mog and then reach the Fountain Courtyard to continue). Make sure to save the game before continuing, so you can then reload and un-equip anything important from this character if it turns out it was a character you were using. Or you can just read the character's name in the following spoiler: Machina -- what a surprise!
After the chat with Aki, go to Central Command and speak with the Commandant; then speak with Mog in Classroom Zero; make sure any important item is unequipped from that character who's about to leave us; then go to Airship Landing, save the game, and finally depart.

Story Mission: Capturing the Imperial Capital

Preparations: as absurd as this might sound, the final mission of Chapter 7 is a single boss fight in which you can bring all 13 remaining characters. The boss is a ranged MA; there are various SOs, so you actually want a bit of preparation.
One SO will require you hitting the boss 30+ times; Cater can be useful for this purpose (King/Trey don't have good "homing" properties, so their projectiles will mostly miss when the enemy is moving). Another SO will require using Fire magic on the boss; one other SO will require the use of Ice magic; one more requires Lightning magic. One last SO is for waiting 5 minutes without using magic.
Since unfortunately the SO order is random, you can't really plan ahead. My advice is to either ignore the SOs (they don't give anything you should really care about), or do the following (boring, but effective). Use Rem as primary character; give her Thunder SHG and Fire BOM (by the way, Fire SHG and Blizzard SHG didn't seem to fulfill the SOs when I tried using them). Then put, on top of your characters Reserve list, someone with Blizzard BOM.
Deploy only Rem at the start, run in circles while charging Thunder SHG (so it's ready to be used; it doesn't matter if it's Thunder, Thundara, or Thundaga SHG) and then Breaksight the boss every time an SO appears. Open the SOs only AFTER successfully Breaksighting the boss (this will make him collapse to the ground). If it's the 30-hits SO, or the Lightning or Fire attacks one, or the don't-use-magic SO, use Rem to do the SO. If it's the Ice attack one, quickly deploy the Blizzard-BOM character on top of your reserves list, switch to that character for a moment, cast Blizzard BOM to complete the SO, then switch back to Rem.
NOTE: if Rem is "too strong" at this point, use someone else like Queen in her place. For Queen to use two spells you need to learn her Divine Judgment: HP up ability, and then Twinspell (unlocked after the former ability). You'll also need to recharge Queen's MP every now and then (just use an Ether, or one of the countless Elixirs you have piled up by now. It's not like you'll need them for anything else).
Choose the Odin summon, just in case all your best offensive characters die trying to do the SOs and you have nothing else to finish the fight.
Mission Start!
The boss fight here is against General Bashtar, basically an overclocked Helldiver similar to what you fought back in the earlier mission of Togoreth. By now I don't think you need to be told how to fight (last time we took him down with Thunder SHG; it's still a viable option), so I'm just going to focus on the SO list (the order in which they appear is random).
SO (5'): land 30x hits on the boss. Reward: Ribbon.
Spam Thunder SHG for this one. You can also try to Breaksight the boss and then pummel him when he hits the ground (two Thunder SHG here should clear the 30 hits required) -- the most predictable time for Breaksight is when he does a "rush/charge" attack which starts from outside the battle arena (Breaksight occurs during the attack). Another predictable Breaksight is when he tries to do a "landing" attack: he will twirl up in the air, then land; Breaksight occurs upon landing.
SO (15''): land a Fire-based attack on the boss. Reward: Blaze Armlet.
Refer to the mission preparations for a strategy.
SO (15''): land an Ice-based attack on the boss. Reward: Arctic Armlet.
Refer to the mission preparations for a strategy.
SO (15''): land a Lightning-based attack on the boss. Reward: Thunderbolt Armlet.
Refer to the mission preparations for a strategy.
SO (5'): do not use magic. Reward: Wildfire Spear (Nine's weapon)
Note: even if this is the last SO, defeating the boss won't complete the SO. You actually need to wait five minutes (run in circles I guess) to complete it.
Mission Reward: spell Fire BOM-II.

Chapter 7: Epilogue
I hope you have a Chocobo, because you are going to have to walk all the way back to Akademeia from the Azurr District (and you can't use the Setzer either!).
Before you go back to Akademeia, stop by a nearby town (like Cetme maybe) and use a Relic Terminal to adjust your equipment: another character will leave the party when you arrive in Akademeia, and you may want to remove any important accessories from that character. If you don't want to read the spoiler (you are about to find out in-game very soon anyway), then at least save the game in Cetme (it's actually the closest accessible town to Akademeia which you can actually enter; the rest of the towns in the other regions are not accessible), so you can then reload after seeing who that character is, un-equip anything important from that character (if that character had anything important in the first place), and continue from there.
The character is: for starters, Machina is still missing (and won't be back for the final mission either); the other character that also won't join for the final mission is Rem though.

Chapter 8: ???

Be very careful, it's easy to miss important stuff here!
[1] Main Gate
There are three Knowing Tags to pick up in here (they are not important, but whatever).
[2] Fountain Courtyard
There will be a voice-over narration by someone familiar. The game will alternate phases while you are up against a level-99 legendary opponent (neither you nor the enemy have a health bar, so don't bother trying to fight/defend), and phases while there is a picture with some narration over it. For now, just run around the Fountain Courtyard until the narration ends.

Verdict: Finis

After the narration ends, the enemy will disappear. You can now pick up four more Knowing Tags in total (two in the south, one west, one north). You can visit Airship Landing if you want...
[3] Airship Landing
...but there are only two more Knowing Tags to be found.
[4] Entrance
Two more Knowing Tags can be found in here, after a scene. That's the last of them.
[5] Classroom Zero
Head to Classroom Zero for some scenes. Turn around and try to leave the classroom for more scenes.
Still in the classroom, there is an Event with Sice. There is no Time to Mission, so you can do all the available Events without any problem. You can also speak (no Events) with the other members of class zero in the Back Garden.
You can use the oderly shop in here too (restock on Potions and Hi-Potions).
[4] Entrance
The final chat with Aki and Fuyu (or should I say...) can be done here, now, near the small fountain/statue between the stairs to the Central Command. You will receive a reward depending on how many of the "chats" with them you had (40,000 Gil for all the chats).
[6] Central Command/Entrance
Speak with Naghi in Central Command to advance the plot.
Then speak with the Dominion Tribune in the Entrance to advance the plot.
Then back to Naghi in Central Command again.
[5] Classroom Zero
Then speak with Queen in Classroom Zero (you will automatically go to the Altocrystarium).
SAVE THE GAME after the scenes.
[4] Entrance
Approach the entrance of the Entrance for yet another scene. After this one, you'll be told that once you leave, you've left Akademeia for good. You are also informed that you won't have automatic HP recovery by standing still, in the final dungeon, so you should definitely stock up on Potions/Hi-Potions if you haven't done so already.
However, the real reason why I've put that "save the game" in caps, and warned you from the beginning of this Chapter, is another one.
The missable cutscenes of Type 0
The only, true missable thing of Type 0 is NOW. In these final moments in Akademeia, ON OUR FIRST PLAYTHROUGH, we can get cutscenes that may later become permanently unavailable to you (even on New Game+). I've talked about this a bit more in details earlier in this walkthrough, but suffice to know that if you see the following Event-cutscenes now you should have secured your potentially-100% completion.
MISSABLE EVENT 1. Quon @Crystarium. The cutscene is called "Tempus Finis Hat Come".
MISSABLE EVENT 2. Carla @Crystarium. The cutscene is called "The Melancholy of Carla Ayatsugi".
MISSABLE EVENT 3. Ryid @Central Command. The cutscene is called "A Test of Our Mettle".
MISSABLE EVENT 4. Mutsuki @Central Command. The cutscene is called "Kablooey!".
Event 5. Orderly @Central Command. You will unlock the cutscene called "Aria's Final Moment" in the Rubicus (to find it in the Annals of Orience, scroll all the way down, then press L1/LB twice to find it in the middle of the list).
The first four missable events also each give you a Megalixir for a total of 4x Megalixir; the fifth one (not missable as far as I know) an Elixir.
Once you've unlocked all the missable cutscenes (double check in the Rubicus), you're good to go: you can speak with Celestia in the Entrance, and leave for the final dungeon (not before reading the "preparations" below though).
Final dungeons preparations
Save the game again, just in case it turns out that the final dungeon is too much for you. Although there are no more missions and free-roaming you can do at this point, you can always replay Missions from the title screen menu to level up as much as you'd like. To do it quickly, summon Odin with someone, and run through some quick but enemy-dense mission like Operation Homecoming on the highest difficulty you can handle; even on Officer you'll get a lot of Exp.
The final dungeon is not exactly going to be a cakewalk, but if you have a Trey & Jack at level 40+ (each), then you'll be fine. Also keep in mind that the final mission will be at a variable level determined by the average level of your party minus ten levels (so it's actually a good thing if you only have a couple of strong characters while everyone else is weaker: the low-level characters will drop the average level of the whole team, thus making the final mission easier).
Rem and Machina are both unavailable for the last mission, which isn't a big deal because the final mission doesn't really require you to have a strong party, and Jack & Trey can handle the few mandatory fights just fine.
At one point you'll have to fight enemies without using physical attacks, so give some of your characters some strong spell they can use (like Fire BOM-II). If you have the SP Crystal, then give it to your strongest spellcaster (Queen is a good candidate). Alternatively, equip that spellcaster with the best magic-boosting accessories you have (like the Tiara and Hypno Crown). Also make sure that the spellcaster has Twinspell (learn it if you haven't already; we mentioned it for the previous story mission for Queen), and equip Fire BOM-II along with Thunder SHG (the latter is useful against the various airborne enemies you'll find).
As mentioned earlier, you also won't receive automatic healing for standing still, so stock up on Potions if you haven't done so already. Know that your characters will be resurrected in the middle of the mission though, so don't panic if you somehow lose Jack or Trey early on for some mistake -- they'll be back for more, eventually.

Final Mission: Pandaemonium

WARNING: This mission cannot be replayed from the Title Screen menu! The rewards for S Rank are absolute garbage though, so don't worry about it and just enjoy the final mission.
[1] Shrine of Coronation
You will be asked to choose three characters for the first party (let's call it Group A), and three more for the second party (Group B). The remaining characters will be Reserves for either party. Keep in mind that the challenges you're about to face are not "symmetrical" (i.e. one group will have to do certain things, while the other group will do different things), so you'll want to put "strategic" characters in either group, as I will recommend. Put Jack in Group A; put Trey in Group B. You can put anyone else you want as second/third characters.
After choosing the party members, you will control Group A first. With Group A, go west.
[2] Hall of Transgression (west)
You will now be explained that the SOs here ("Cid's Crucibles") are mandatory. Basically, they aren't really SOs (they don't even give rewards), just something you must do to proceed.
In this area, the Cid's Crucible requires you to eliminate all enemies (10').

There will only be a single enemy, Rursan Reaver; Jack will make quick work of him with regular attacks. Remember that, as you may have heard from story-related conversations, the only way to kill these guys is by depleting their health first, and then harvesting their Phantoma. If you don't harvest their Phantoma, they will resurrect after a while.

It's not really a problem against one of them, but for future fights beware of these guys: their long-ranged sword attacks can put you in Killsight status, so even if they don't deal a lot of damage they can still two-shot you for this reason. Killsight status will expire after a few seconds.

Go towards the yellow marker after completing the CC (Cid's Crucible), and you'll switch to Group B. As Group B, go through the eastern portal.
[3] Hall of Transgression (east)
CC (2'13''): survive until the timer runs out. You don't need to kill anything, so just run around until the timer expires. Enemies will just keep respawning, three at the time. You could also shoot them to kill them, avoid harvesting their Phantoma (so the next ones don't respawn), and knock them down again after they are revived. Either way, once the CC is done you can continue -- you'll be back to Group A.
[4] Cloister of Adumbration (west)
Safe area; pick up the Cinnabar Phantoma from the upper-left corner of the room, then continue onward.
[5] Cloister of Revelation (west)
CC (10'): go to the other end of the room twice, while avoiding obstacles on the path. This is easy: put your sword back and just make a run for it; spam the dodge button along the way (you can just hold down the dodge button and then use LS to "roll" safely to the other side).
[6] Chamber of Fate (west)
Nothing here, just take a look out of the windows on the left if you'd like.
[7] Cloister of Inspiration
Follow the marker and you'll switch to Group B.
[8] Cloister of Adumbration (east)
Pick up the Cinnabar Phantoma in the upper-right corner, then continue to the next room.
[9] Cloister of Revelation (east)
CC (10'): kill all enemies. This requires shooting those "cubes" against the walls on either side of the room; they are out of melee range, so you'll need a ranged character (Trey) to deal with this.
A Rursan Reaver will also appear, but he's invincible until you also "light" (=hit) the candles hanging from the ceiling, on the left/right side of the room.
[10] Chamber of Fate (east)
Take a look out of the window if you wish, then continue.
[7] Cloister of Inspiration
You'll have to fight an Iron Giant to continue. He's nothing more (in fact, quite a bit less) than what you dealt with in Silent Key. Shoot the enemy from afar with MAX Charged shots, then go in melee range to force him to make attacks that are easy to dodge and counter for the Killsight finisher (like his skullcrusher attack).
[11] Chamber of All
A question will be posed to you at this point. Normally I would tell you to "figure the right answer by yourself", but since we've just played through 10 minutes of this mission and you may not want to accidentally pick up the wrong answer, below is the right answer in spoilers:
Remain mortal.
If you choose the other answer, the game cannot end and you'll be stuck in an interesting "alternative ending", if you can call it that. I suggest picking the "wrong" option at some point later on (after you finish the game once maybe), so you can see what that's about (I will talk about the "Alternative Ending" after dealing with the "normal" continuation of the story).
After picking the right answer, save at the Relic Terminal in this area. Note that you have regrouped with the other party, so you can rearrange your characters as you like. Instead of putting Jack and Trey back together, now I actually suggest that you deploy only Jack.
[12] Cloister of Premonition
CC (10'): reach the exit while harvesting 7x Phantoma.
This is a very, VERY confusing area if you are not following a guide. Follow my directions carefully, or you will get lost (it's kinda like the "Wyverns in the Woods" Trial, if you remember it).

This section is made up of various platforms with several possible exits which will take you to other platforms. If you do end up getting lost because you mis-read my directions, or whatever, then try to follow the portals that have a red jewel (ruby or something) above them. I tried drawing a map to show the area, but it actually turned out to be more confusing than helpful (the problem is that some doors in the rooms are only open if you enter from a certain other door, and that's really confusing when you try to represent it). Therefore, quite frankly, if you get lost I think you should either follow the portals with red rubies (which I'm not actually entirely sure will always lead you to the exit, although they should), or more simply just reload the save before getting into this area -- it's probably faster than roaming around cluelessly while trying to figure your position (there are a few maps of this area online, but as someone that used them when I got lost, trust me when I say they might very well just confuse you more).

There are two optional items to collect on the way, too. To get everything, follow these directions.
From the first platform, go North; fight the Reaver and then go East; fight Tonberry and then go North; Mega-Ether here. Then return to the second platform with this path: West; fight the Tonberry and then go East; you are back to the second platform.
Now go East again; then go West; fight the Reaver and then go West; fight Tonberry here and go East; fight the Reaver and go South; fight Tonberry (this will be your seventh Phantoma extracted in this labyrinth, if you collected everyone's Phantoma up until now) and go North; fight Reaver and go West; Megalixir here. You can put your sword back, since there won't be enemies until the last platform.
At last, go North, then East, then South, then North, then South to fight two Rursan Reavers and continue.
[13] Cloister of Adumbration (2)
You are asked to split your party again here. All dead characters are revived here, too.
For Group A you want to choose at least one spellcaster, possibly with Thunder SHG (for example Queen), and ideally a moderately strong ranged character (like Ace, or maybe Cater). For Group B, choose Trey, Jack, and a dummy character.
Go left (east) with Group A.
[14] Cloister of Manifestation
CC (10'): kill enemies without physical attacks. Attacks by the AI don't count; it only matters what your Active character does.
To make things faster you can use a Flan Ooze for Trance & Quick, and/or a Light Feather for Freecast (neither one is necessary if you boosted Queen's magic as I suggested in the preparations earlier). Just in case you have Deuce in your party, make sure not to switch to her as Active character if the floating ball of her attack (done by the AI) is present, because if that ball touches the enemy and you are controlling her, you will fail the CC.
First you need to kill two Dark Eye (bat) enemies; then a Reaver and two Wingverns; then another Reaver after the first one dies. Before you actually engage, make a run for the treasure chest located southeast, containing a rare and valuable Violet Phantoma. Focus on the non-Reaver enemies first, and then finish the CC to continue.
You resume with Group B in Cloister of Adumbration (2); go right (west) with them.
[15] Cloister of Exhibition
CC (6'): kill all enemies to proceed.
The enemies aren't tough; if you have a strong Trey, they are even less of a threat. Just try to avoid stepping on the "red" platforms on the ground, since you'll take quite a bit of damage if you do so. If you want, use Jack for easier Breaksights on the Zabaione enemies (big flans); use the usual MAX Charged shots against the Reavers.
The game will go back to Group A afterwards.
[16] Cloister of Revelation (east)
Pick up the Cinnabar Phantoma from the bottom-left corner, then continue.
[17] Amphitheater
CC (10'): kill all enemies without magic. Much better than the last no-physical-attacks one. You can use Queen's melee combo against the Reavers, and then switch to Ace for the Bombs (which might be out of range).
Kill all the enemies near the entrance, and then explore a bit to find, on a ledge on the west side, a treasure chest. Reaching it is a bit boring/time-consuming, but it's worth it since it contains an Ivory Phantoma. In order to get there, reach the inner-most "ring" of the area, then wait until there is a path connecting the outer ring where the chest is, the closest middle ring, and the inner ring (a possibility is the path shown in this picture, but there are other combinations possible).
Then go back, and find your way to the exit (in this case don't wait for a total alignment of inner, middle, and outer platforms all at once; instead, from the inner ring hop onto the middle ring closest to the exit; then wait for a platform to connect you with the outer ring (by now the connection with the inner ring is gone), and therefore the exit).
I know it's confusing and messy, but it's one of those things that are easier to do if you think about them less. Or if you just go "randomly" -- you are bound to find your way eventually.
[18] Chamber of Fate
Nothing to do, just watch the Dreadnaught outside the window if you want.
[19] Cloister of Inspiration
Try to continue and you'll take control of Group B.
[20] Cloister of Revelation (west)
Pick up the Cinnabar Phantoma from the bottom-right corner, then continue.
[21] Amphitheater
CC (10'): "destroy the pillars to discern the flame's position". Ok, this one is confusing as hell.
Let's take a look at the room. There is a yellow sigil of some sort, floating in correspondence with the yellow marker on your minimap/radar; that's where the exit "has to go" (south). Every few seconds, a couple of flames will be lit in different positions in the room (they "move" counterclockwise).
You'll notice the walls spinning around you, and you may also notice the two "doors" at opposite ends. Truth is, neither one is important, so you can actually ignore them and their position.
There are four pillars in the room, which you can attack to "activate" them (break them, really). They will respawn after a while, so don't worry if you mess up the first time. It doesn't matter when you break the first three pillars, so just do that quickly whenever you are ready. What matters is when you break the last of the pillars (you can break them in any order, if that wasn't implied). Your ultimate goal will be to break the last pillar when the flames are lit in correspondence with the yellow sigil.
The thing is, after you hit the final pillar the door to the exit will end up being in correspondence of where the flames were. Once that position is to the south, the path will be open.
Enemy-wise, there will be two Reavers at first. After defeating them, two Cubes will also spawn, along with two more Reavers. Since there won't be any more respawns unless you make a mistake, it might be a good idea to clear the area first (use Trey), and then focus on the pillars.
If you fail, more enemies will spawn, but the pillars will also respawn, so you can try again.
[22] Chamber of Fate
Nothing as always.
[19] Cloister of Inspiration
There will be a Behemoth here, and the party will be reunited -- fight him to gain access to the next area.
[20] Chamber of Life
Relic Terminal here. I suggest going Trey solo for now.
Continue on the only possible way.
[21] Cloister of Instruction
Kill a Rursus Reaver, who will then resurrect into a stronger version of Rursus Reavers.

Nothing much changes between regular and "new" Rursus Reavers, but keep in mind that aside from having more HP, the new enemies will "go berserk" if you land a Breaksight on them. If that happens, you should probably dodge away from their attacks -- their fury will last quite a while, but they'll go back to normal, eventually.

[22] Portal of Destruction
Another Relic Terminal here, with four possible paths to take. We need to clear all four to continue. We can do them in any order. I suggest continuing with Trey solo for now; give him Fire BOM-II maybe, and also the SP Crystal if you have it.
[23] Chapel of Destruction (southwest)
CC (15'): "deliver those pitiful souls".
This area represents Rubrum. Kill the first two Reavers (buff Trey with Concentrate if needed), then go to the next area where you will fight four humanoids and a Golem (all easy).
[24] Chapel of Destruction (southeast)
CC (10'): eliminate the enemies without dying.
This area represents Concordia. You are put in Poison status from the start, so make sure to heal with Potions at regular intervals. Kill a Reaver, then one more, then two more. Use Concentrate followed by MAX Charged shots for quicker kills.
After defeating the enemies, detour to the right after the small bridge to find an alcove with a treasure chest in it -- open it for a Pearl Phantoma (it serves no purpose). Then continue to the next area, where you will have to fight six Dracobaltians. If you want, use a Light Feather on Trey and spam Fire BOM-II. If not, you can switch to Jack for this part. If for some reason that's not possible, then fire regular non-charged shots -- you will mostly miss, but some hits will connect and eventually clear the area.
When you return to the Chamber of Life, consider equipping Thunder SHG for the next area.
[25] Chapel of Destruction (northwest)
CC (10'): eliminate the enemies.
This area represents Milites. There will be a Reaver first, then two more.
In the second area you'll have to fight against two "overclocked Helldivers" (basically like the boss fights in Togoreth and the last mission of Chapter 7, but with much less HP). Thunder SHG is always a valid option, especially after the attack where the enemies float in the air and then use a Machinegun to try and shoot you (run in circles just below them, then unleash Thunder SHG when you "hear" the Breaksight noise).
[26] Chapel of Destruction (northeast)
This area represents Lorica. A fight against a weak Gilgamesh-like opponent will be your challenge here. Remember that after a Breaksight, if you let the enemy rest for a moment, a series of Breaksights will follow up. The enemy here is so weak that you can also use MAX Charged shots -- with Concentrate, they will actually deal more damage than Breaksights.
Just watch out for the missiles coming from the background -- they can actually hit you.
[20] Chamber of Life
Once all the trials have been completed in the Chapels of Destruction, all your characters will be revived (assuming anyone even died).
Save the game again, assign only one character (anyone, although you may want Trey) in your party, and continue.
[26] Spiral of Rebirth
CC (10'): reach the top without falling in.
The blood in the background will rise, so climb up the stairs as fast as you can (well, not really, since you have plenty of time). On the way there are plenty of "Cube" enemies shooting at you; you can either ignore them, or shoot them (that's why I said you may want Trey).
Once you reach the top, you will probably find out that you failed this Cid's Crucible. Can you guess why? Well, it's because the CC will actually fail no matter what you do :p

Just for the record: since the deaths here will be counted towards your Casualties score at the end of the mission, if for whatever reason you wanted an S Rank, your only chance is to get only one character killed (hence why I told you to put only one character at the last Relic Terminal we visited), which is the minimum amount of deaths and will allow you to earn the S Rank (provided you have no other unnecessary Casualties, you have collected enough Phantoma, and you've cleared the mission fast enough; all things that are unlikely your first time through). This was more of a warning/precaution for perfectionists, or for future reference if you ever decide to come back and attempt an S Rank in this mission later on (but again, there are no good rewards even if you succeed).

[27] Sanctuary of Descension
You'll be walking in zombie-mode for a short while; if you dodge forward you will move a bit faster (you can't dodge consecutively, but it's better than nothing).
Approach the crystals on the left side for a scene. Approach them again for another scene.
Then approach them another time to pick up the two items on the ground: l'Cie Rem's Crystal and l'Cie Machina's Crystal.
[28] Sanctuary of Descension (2)
One last Relic Terminal here. Give every non-ranged character (and Deuce) Thunder SHG, and possibly remove the best accessories you have from your characters.

The reason why you (may) want to remove the best accessories, especially the SP Crystal and any other particularly good accessory, is that you MIGHT want to do the first mission of the game, on New Game+, on Finis difficulty (I'll talk about this before we start the next playthrough). Since that mission can be made easier if you equip SP Crystal or other great accessories on the deployed characters (Ace, Nine, Queen; then Jack/Seven), un-equipping these accessories now will make them available in the first mission on New Game+ (whereas if they were equipped, say, on Trey now, then you wouldn't be able to access them until after the first story mission).

Also, the final boss fight won't be made any easier (not even one bit) by having good accessories; trust me on this one, you'll soon see for yourself.

Then "roll" to the exit.
[29] Consecrated Ground
READ THE FIRST PARAGRAPH before doing anything on your own.
Final Boss
The fight will be scripted, mostly. In the first phase you need to wait until the boss kills all of your characters. Make sure that the last character to die is a fast, ranged character (King, Cater, Ace, Trey, in order of preference), since that will be the first one you will use in the second part of the fight (and you really want a fast, ranged character). Then, in the second part of the fight, deploy ranged characters first, and then someone whose attack is fast like Jack and Nine. Knowing this, feel free to do the fight on your own without reading the following text -- you'll probably figure how to proceed (it doesn't hurt to read a strategy if you seem to have problems with it though).
After a scene (after everyone dies), the real fight will begin. Here are the rules: one at the time, your characters have to Breaksight the boss, then harvest the Phantoma from one of its body parts (a body part dies after each Breaksight), and then they will be killed. Do this with everyone and the fight will end. Your characters cannot be killed by the boss before they do their job and harvest one Phantoma (their health will constantly replenish, and can't go to less than 1 HP). Spells don't work on the boss (he just reflects them back) until you harvest six Phantomas from him.
A good time to counter is after the boss's "human" part comes down to the battlefield level to do a "linear shockwave" attack -- dodge it left/right, and Breaksight. Another opportunity for Breaksight is during the boss's "thunderstorm" attack (he will place the giant arms on either side of the battlefield, and then the human part will appear in the middle).
Ideally, you want to use the fast ranged characters in the first phases (Breaksight is harder), and then the slower melee characters afterwards. I once started with Cinque, and holy sheeeeesh it was bad. After "using" Ace, Trey, Cater, and King, go with Jack and Nine (two fast-hitting melee characters, almost as good as the ranged ones) so that the six Phantomas required to knock the boss down a notch will be harvested. Now his anti-magic shield is down, and you can use Thunder SHG to easily land Breaksights with the remaining characters who are neither ranged nor fast-hitting (but Thunder SHG is both ranged and fast-hitting, so there's that). The last character will need multiple Breaksights (all the way to a Killsight) to harvest the final Phantoma.
In case you're wondering, it's impossible to defeat the boss without this Breaksight-Harvest pattern: even if you continued to deal regular damage (no Breaksights) and ignore Phantoma harvesting, you would only be able to take down the boss HP to 1. He would then continue to be at 1 HP until you harvested all the necessary Phantoma to kill him.
First playthrough completed!
Do not leave the console when the first set of credit starts: keep watching (and listening/reading the translation maybe) until the song is played, because more cutscenes will follow. After those cutscenes, and a monologue by "someone", the rest of the credits will start rolling (only music, no lyrics in the background theme). The music is nice, plus there are some nice artworks in the background, and after the credits a few more pieces of text will appear to say something about the story.
Then your mission report will come up (forgot about that one, huh), along with the mission rewards. Among them, you will unlock the Platinum Gloves for sale at the Armory shop and receive 3x Auric Hourglass, which are items that can give you more Time to Mission in Akademeia (they can be farmed from certain future missions too, allowing you to reduce the number of playthroughs needed to see all of the possible Events).
Moreover, you will also unlock any of the "special accessories" (exclusive for a single character), if you had fulfilled the requirements to unlock them (harvesting 800 Phantoma with that specific character; the only exception is Queen, who gets her special accessory from an Event in New Game+), such as the Bethrotal Ring for Rem.
By completing the game once, on any difficulty, you will also unlock the difficulty Finis. You will also unlock the "Chapter of Truth" entry of the Rubicus - Annals of Orience. The game will ask you to save -- this save is what allows you to start a New Game+.
Watch the "Chapter of Truth" right away! From the title screen, choose History, then load the latest save you made just now, and find this entry (it's one of the very last ones in the Annals of Orience).
And now that you have more questions than ever before, we can start our second playthrough! Or maybe you'd like to see the Alternative Ending?

Alternative Ending

By choosing to become a l'Cie during the final mission you will enter the "alternative final chapter".
Chapter of Darkness: The Place of Final Judgment
After a scene you will be put in "l'Cie Mode", which basically gives a bunch of buffs to your characters. You'll also be leveled up to almost level 99.
In the first area you will find a special item near a dead body (bottom right corner); it's the Phoenix Ichor. This special item is said to have incredible enhancing properties, but it's actually a key item that doesn't really do anything. Moreover, since you can't save the game/continue from this alternative ending, you won't actually be able to keep the item in your inventory. Still, this item exists in the game, so I thought I'd let you know about it.
After fighting a bunch of enemies you'll be sent to the world map, outside of Rubrum, where a few waves of seemingly endless Rursi will keep spawning. Kill a few waves of them, and then a yellow marker will point back to Akademeia -- go there.
Once you're back to Akademeia, another item will be available on the ground: this time it will be 80,000 Gil. Keep fighting enemies until the yellow marker shows up again, pointing to the Rubrum Square.
In Rubrum Square, what in general consensus seems to be an infinite respawn of enemies will begin. I tried fighting them for about half an hour, but they just kept respawning, each time 5 levels higher than the previous time, until a level cap was reached (in my case they reached level 242; others have reported reaching higher levels with them; maybe the level cap depends on your characters' real levels).
After reaching the level cap for the enemies, they will still continue to respawn. As I said earlier, nobody has found a way to stop the respawn from happening, or proceed in any other way. After the last of your characters dies, a couple of scenes will trigger, and then Game Over will appear on screen.
Now, I know it's suspicious for at least a couple of reasons: one is that the game gives you an item and some Gil, which would make you think that maybe there is a way to finish the game without a game over, so you can actually spend the acquired Gil at some point later on. The other suspicious thing is that the game seems to end with a "Game Over", which in every other circumstance indicates that you've done something wrong and there was another way to proceed.
The most likely explanation is that the developers wanted to really make it seem like you had a choice, and maybe it was possible to continue life after choosing to become a l'Cie, but in reality that choice always leads to the world "going back to its spiral". Keep in mind that, from a storyline point of view (spoilers below; do NOT read if you haven't finished the game with the "good choice" yet)...
...the history of Rubrum basically repeats itself in cycles, and the events you witnessed keep happening over and over again, with the destruction of the world at the end of each cycle. This is because each of the previous cycles ended with Class Zero choosing to become a l'Cie, which in turn meant the destruction of the world at the hand of the Rursi, and thus another cycle would restart all over again. The only way to "break the cycle" is by choosing to NOT become l'Cie, and instead proceed to defeat the Rursan Arbiter, which is the "Remain Mortal" ending you should have already chosen.
Of course there is always a possibility that we are all missing something, and there is in fact a way to complete the game by choosing to become a l'Cie without a Game Over. After all, they did discover a new quest for Final Fantasy IX after many many years from its release. Then again, with a world-wide network, and official guides like Ultimania, in these days it's hard to believe nobody has found a way to ultimately defeat the Rursi, not even people who wrote official guides in collaboration with the very same developers that coded the game.
So I really don't know at this point. Maybe if you stay outside of Akademeia and keep fighting for a few days at some point the game will stop spawning Rursi. Maybe after a few days fighting inside Akademeia the Rursi will finally be pushed away for good. Maybe you need to have all characters level 99 as you play on Finis/l'Cie Mode in order to be able to actually defeat them. Or maybe the simplest explanation is that the developers wanted to send the (possibly confusing) message that you do have a choice, but if you make the wrong one you are doomed to lose no matter what. That would actually make a lot of sense, given the game's story, and it also makes the player feel like the Class Zero members are supposed to feel in the game: powerless, no matter how strong they are, no matter how hard they try.

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