Final Fantasy XII - 29 - Draklor Laboratory

Overview: I should note first off that once you come to this area you cannot leave until you complete your mission, and further, once you leave this area, you won't be able to come back under any circumstance, so make the most of your visit. Any items you want from here, you must get now, and there are two items you will certainly want, namely Foe: wind-weak, and Foe: dark-weak.

Draklor Laboratory/ 66th Floor

Guide: Sure is quiet? You begin in the central, southern portion of this area. You can't go east with the door closed, so west it is. Well, snap. That's a lot of bodies. Head to the northern end of the area and find the lift. Head up to the 67th Floor.

Draklor Laboratory/ 67th Floor

Enemies: Imperial Swordsman, Imperial Hoplite, Mastiff, Imperial Pilot

Treasure: In the southwestern corner you can find chests that may contain Foe: dark-weak, and a Doom Mace.

Guide: Head to the northeastern corner and head into the room labelled C.D.B. Inside you'll find a cutscene, a location map, and a card for opening security doors. When you leave, you'll find your mini-map scrambled, and many of the bulkheads have been dropped, making travel difficult. Head into the side-room labelled Room 6704 East and talk to the...oddly calm research staff, and you can make use of the Save Crystal, but again, since you cannot return or leave until you're done, you may want to use a new slot. Leave, and enter 6703 East. Here you will find one of the many Bulkhead Control Panels. The Red Bulkheads will be open, so close them and open the Blue Bulkheads, then leave the room. You'll notice that access to the southeastern portion of this level has been cut off, but don't worry, there's nothing interesting down there. Head west, and you'll probably be joined by Imperial guards finally. You might also notice that periodically they will appear out of the elevator.

Head to the western corridor and enter Room 6703 West and flip the Bulkhead Control, opening the Red Bulkheads. Use this to access Room 6711 West, and collect the treasure within. If it isn't the proper Gambit, you'll have to exit the Floor and return. After getting the treasure, open the Blue Bulkheads and head back down to the 66th Floor.

Draklor Laboratory/ 66th Floor

Enemies: Imperial Swordsman, Imperial Hoplite, Mastiff, Imperial Pilot

Treasure: In the northeastern corner some chests may contain a Power Vest, and Foe: wind-weak.

Guide: Now that you can open bulkheads, head east to Room 6613 East, and collect the treasures within. Once you're done with that, head up the 68th Floor.

Draklor Laboratory/ 68th Floor

Enemies: Imperial Swordsman, Imperial Hoplite, Mastiff, Imperial Pilot, Lab Rat, Hecteyes, Judge

Guide: Head east from the lift, then north and go into Room 6803 East and open the Red Bulkheads. You can pop into Room 6814 East for a funny little diversion killing Lab Rats, or head south to Room 6801 East, where you can switch the Bulkheads again, then head further south to Room 6811 East where Hecteyes drops from the ceiling. To reach the second lift on the level, head west across the northern passage with the Red Bulkheads open. When you reach the western side of the level, enter Room 6804 West and open the Blue Bulkheads. Head southwest, past Room 6813 West, which contains a single Judge, and south to Room 6811 West and open the Red Bulkheads, then head out, and head northeast to the southern lift. You can ignore Room 6801 West, it has literally nothing in it. At the Southern Lift, head up to the 70th Floor.

Draklor Laboratory/ 70th Floor

Treasure: In Room 7002 East, you might find a chest with a Pheasant Netsuke.

Guide: Save, check the side room for treasure, then cast Bravery on everyone and head up the stairs. A word of warning though, once you head up the stairs, you will never be able to return to the areas below.

Draklor Laboratory/ Energy Transitarium

Enemies: Doctor Cid, Rook x4

Guide: As soon as the cutscene is over, the battle begins.

Strategy: First things first, the Rooks must go. You can't make much progress on Cid until they're gone, and they continue to cast positive statuses and heal him while they're alive. Physical attacks are your best bet, to avoid their Reflect. Focus all of your party on a single Rook using Foe: lowest max HP - Attack, until it's gone, then move to another.

Once the Rooks are out of the way he'll probably erect Greater Barrier. Dispel him, and he might bring up a Paling to make himself immune to Physical Damage, just switch to magic for a bit, but avoid elemental magic, stick to Bio, and avoid Dark or Darkga, as he absorbs it. Once his Rooks and Greater Barrier and Paling are down, he'll loose life very rapidly, as he has a terrible defense, and with Bravery, you should be doing 2000 damage a hit if not more. During this period he'll turn to his cinematic attack, S-27 Tokamak, which can be avoided if you're behind him. It'll usually do over 1000 damage. When he gets down to about 30%, the battle will finish, so enjoy the cutscene. Afterwards, you will find yourself in Balfonheim.