Final Fantasy XII - 2 - Rabanastre Before the Parade

Overview: Vaan has limited run of Rabanastre during the lead up to the Consul's Parade. But during this time, there are a number of exciting things to do in and around the city.

Garamsythe Waterway/ Overflow Cloaca

Enemies: Dire Rat

Guide: Interesting note: Cloaca is the word for the orifice that primitive animals use for both waste and reproduction. Kinda gross, huh? Anyway, Vaan has a less intimidating challenge ahead of him than packs of Imperials, Dire Rats. Honestly the greatest difficulty in this battle is chasing them down. I highly recommend stealing a Rat Pelt from each rat. The money you can get selling them will soon be important. After you assert your dominance, you'll head topside with Kytes.

Rabanastre/ East End

Enemies: N/A

Guide: You're stuck in the East End until you talk to Migelo, so go see him before you browse the shops with your limited funds. After your chat, head north to the Sandsea and you'll find yourself on the tail of a much more exciting enemy: the Rogue Tomato. Tomaj gives you two important items: a pass for the gate, and a Clan Primer which holds a wealth of information. Then, he walks you through a tutorial on Licenses and you're free to go. Before you go track down the obnoxious fruit, you should make some preparations. A few spells will make your life in the Estersands quite easy, but you'll need to gather some money. Start by selling the Rat Pelts you stole in the Overflow Cloaca. Then head south into the Southern Plaza.

Rabanastre/ Southern Plaza

Enemies: N/A

Guide: In the Southern Plaza, you're looking for a Bangaa with the title Desert Merchant. He's near the central fountain talking to an Imperial. He wants you to take a package to a friend outside the gate. Agree, then take the package back to Yugri's Magicks and sell it. Don't feel too guilty, you don't get any reward for completing the errand. Back in Yugri's, you should have at least 400 gil now, between the small package, the Rat Pelts, and your initial money. Buy Cure and Fire, then head back to the Southern Plaza. (If you forgot or failed to steal a few pelts from the Dire Rats, sell some Potions. Now that you have Cure, they're not crucial.) Once in the Southern Plaza approach the east gate and trigger a scene.

Rabanastre/ Eastgate

Enemies: N/A

Guide: There's a Save Crystal here, and I recommend you save before heading out into the Estersands. Aside from that, not much else. However, if you want to get back inside the city, you need to wait in line. Head on out to the desert.

The Estersand/ The Stepping

Enemies: Cactite, Wolf, Wild Saurian, Cockatrice

Treasure: In the north west corner is a chest that has a chance of containing an Escutcheon.

Guide: The Stepping is a circular piece of desert broken up into numerous elevations by cliffs and plateaus. The Rogue Tomato is at the edge of the projections of rock nearest the entrance to Rabanastre, but I recommend avoiding him for the moment. He isn't particularly threatening, but you should take this opportunity to gain some levels and licenses. The Cactite are passive, and easily killed in two to three blows. The Wolves are aggressive and usually take four to five. You might want to avoid the Cockatrice before you gain a level or two, they attack very quickly and often gang up on you.

And of course there's the Wild Saurian. He is what I would like to call The Shoopuf in the Room. In many areas throughout the game, there will be a single passive enemy that is far more powerful than the enemies around it, and while passive, can usually be set off by certain actions. The Wild Saurian won't attack you unless you attack it, though it will eat wolves from time to time.

Take the time to look in all the corners, a great deal of chests spawn on this map. Most have a Potion, or fifty to a hundred gil. But the money is very useful this early in the game. Also avoid drawing the attention of large mobs of enemies at once. At this early stage it can be very fatal.

Also, there are two useful items you might want to steal from the Wolves and the Cactite. From the Wolves you can steal Pointy Hats, and you can steal Broadswords from the Cactites. They can be sold for a nice sum, or equipped once you have the licenses. Either way, stealing from every battle is a good way to go, as even a dozen Cactus Fruits can bring in serious money at this point in the game. If you're just not having a lot of luck stealing the Broadsword and Pointy Hat, don't fret over it.

I recommend training on the enemies here until you are level 4, then going on to fight the Rogue Tomato. By then you should have the LP to buy the first White and Black magic licenses, making this and future fights much more manageable. If you wish, however, you can rack up a fair amount of points, and buy out a number of licenses, though this is time consuming.

Strategy: This Mark is a simple fight. He'll stick to Attacking until you bring his HP down to half, then he leaps off the cliff and you have to chase him down. Engage him again, you might get hit with a Fire Breath or two, but it's rather weak. Open up with a Spell, and cast Cure when you're running down to finish him off, and you should be more than safe.

Guide: After you've finished off the Rogue Tomato, you might want to pop over to Dalmasca Estersand/ Outpost, where a couple treasure chests are, and you can find small amounts of gil in the sand. Otherwise, head back into town. You'll find a scene at the gate.