Final Fantasy 12

Garamsythe Waterway

A somewhat detailed explanation of the game's Gambit system awaits you at the bottom of the stairs. Examine the corpses of the fallen soldiers and then proceed south. Turn left, and inside the urn you will find the map to the Garamsythe Waterway.

Head west, but ignore the stairs (unless you want a chest with no chance of a decent item). Follow this path around and up the stairs. Continue around and make your way south until you reach the next area. Oh the way down keep an eye out for a chest which may appear in the eastern alley and contain a Hi- Potion.

Keep moving south in this area and make a left at the bottom. You'll soon reach a section of walkway which forces you to run around a sort of rectangular shape (in addition to encountering your first large toad enemy). Keep an eye out for any chests that spawn along this path, there's a chance they could contain a Long Sword and Escutcheon.

There's a set of stairs at the end of this walkway. Climb up them and ignore the next stairs going down as you proceed south to a dead end with a possible chest. If it appears, it may contain Leather Armor.

Descend the stairs leading south and once again, up another set. The north path here takes you down a walkway parallel to the one with the previous chest, though this chest contains nothing special. Your destination lies still further south from here. Proceed into the next area.

We are now in the East Sluice Control (as determinable by pressing the select button and looking at the map). Follow this relatively linear path until it leads you to a Save Crystal (which you should use). If you think you are prepared for a battle, then simply descend the nearby stairs.

Four Imperial Soldiers drop down to do battle with both you and the mysterious woman. While this is by no means a boss battle, there are a few important points to keep in mind if you wish to stay alive:

I would suggest making Vaan the primary healer of this battle assuming you have already had him learn Cure. While it will still be your responsibility to target and attack enemies, make sure to keep an eye on the health bars (or values) of the rest of your party.

Both Balthier and Fran should already have gambits which tell them to attack the leaders' target (your target). The girl will attack whomever she pleases, though the battle will be easier if everyone focuses on one target at a time, so try to focus your attacks on any soldier the mystery girl is fighting.

After the battle, she (Amalia) joins the party as a guest character (similar to a Final Fantasy Tactics guest in that you cannot control their actions). With the battle complete it would probably be in your best interests to save your game again (thus healing your party entirely).

Take the west exit and note the wide open battlefield-esque area, along with the ensuing fight you saw coming from a mile away. The Flans serve as the hardest battle you have faced thus far, but you should be prepared for it regardless of how your party is setup.

The most important point to note is that the Flans have an extreme weakness to Fire. Vaan may not yet have Fire Magick, but Fran comes with it by default. Open the menu and change Fran's Gambit from attacking the leader's target, to casting Fire on it.

Now do your best to target everyone on a single Flan and start attacking. They will inevitably cast Blind on your party which can be dispelled using Eye Drops. Make sure that you or some member of your party is configured to heal when the HP of others gets low. The Flans too will heal each other, but you should be able to rack up enough damage to easily offset this advantage.

With the Flans dead, I would once again suggest going back to the Save Crystal. It saves you from having to use items to heal or cure the Blind ailment.

Check both the east and west sides of the battlefield for chests that have good probabilities of dropping a Leather Shield and Dagger. Take the west exit and keep an eye out for a chest here which will inevitably contain a Tuft of Phoenix Down.

Take the stairs to the south up to the higher level. Do not forget to change Fran's Gambit back to a regular attack before pulling any enemies here. Now proceed north to the next area.

Check the western paths for chances at finding a Cotton Shirt in one of the chests. I find that it's very dangerous to take on some of the enemies in this area, especially the ghosts, as they will teleport away and pull huge groups of mobs to pound your party into submission. Just my experience. It's always good to exercise caution.

Continue up and take the east path. Notice you will come to a section of walkway that makes the shape of a "D" on your minimap. On the southeast side of this "D" there is a chance of a treasure chest appearing with interesting contents: the new Gambit "Foe: Targeting Self." If you consider the chance of the chest appearing, the chance of it having an item, and the chance of the item being the Gambit, it's only roughly 25%.

Keep in mind if you don't get it here, you can get it very easily later. There is no point in this game where you have to worry about resetting over and over until a chest drops a particular item, everything you can find in this manner can still be found elsewhere.

Head east and use the Save Crystal in the middle of the Central Waterway Control. When you're ready to fight the boss, examine the Overflow Cloaca on the north wall of this room.