Final Fantasy XII - 26 - Sochen Cave Palace

Overview: This is a long area with puzzles, tough monsters, and lots of treasure you might find yourself zoning in and out searching for. This is made even more difficult by the fact that the Save Crystals are at the very beginning and very end of the area, so when you're sitting down to work on this area, have some time open. This is a great place for magic Gambits, and you should take some time to pick them up.

Sochen Cave Palace/ Doubt Abandoned

Enemies: Iguion, Zombie Knight, Imp, Gorgimera

Treasure: You can find a number of crucial Gambits here, namely Foe: fire-weak, Foe: earth-weak, Foe: fire-vulnerable, Foe: earth-vulnerable.

Guide: This area has a wealth of desirable Gambits and plenty of places to hide them. There's also the trouble of all the traps in the central area, and the monsters. Thankfully, the Imps are weak to Ice. Due north is Sochen proper, though you should probably be familiar with this area from doing the Mandragora Hunt.

Sochen Cave Palace/ Hall of Lambent Darkness

Enemies: Mandragora Boss Battle

Guide: After the Mandragoras are kicked out, this area is left pretty empty. You can exit on either side to reach the next area.

Sochen Cave Palace/ The Acolyte's Burden

Enemies: Crystalbug
   Treasure: Again, make sure you Steal a Feystone from this Crystalbug. This is the easiest way to get the three needed for the Tournesol. The only item it has is a Feystone, so keep at it until you get it.

Guide: A nice rest spot to save, after you deal with the fake crystal. The exit to the next area is to the east.

Sochen Cave Palace/ Mirror of the Soul

Enemies: Zombie Knight, Imp, Pit Fiend, Gorgimera

Treasure: Here you can find Foe: thunder-weak, Gokuu Pole, and behind the Pilgrim's Door a Koga or Iga Blade and Dark Matter that won't respawn.

Guide: Head through the Ancient Door and say hello to the pack of Zombie Knights inside, then head through another Ancient Door, into the cave network. Down the eastern paths you'll run across the location map for this area. Packs of Imps and Pit Fiends here, and they like to gang up, so watch out for groups and make use of Blizzara. As you make your way through this area, you'll stumble across a sealed door called the Pilgrim's Door. Well, we can't have that now can we? Don't worry, we'll get it open soon. Take the far right exit to the north to the next area.

Sochen Cave Palace/ Falls of Time

Enemies: Striker, Focalor

Treasure: You can find Foe:Ice-weak, a Kiku-ichimonji that won't respawn, and an Officer's Hat here.

Guide: As you move about this room you'll realize that there are a number of paths blocked off by waterfalls, not to mention the fracturing of the floor that makes this area tricky to navigate without adding water. Welcome to the Waterfall Puzzle. While you don't have to complete it now, you're here, why not? The rewards are nice anyway. If you want to try and figure it out on your own, I will tell you this: You must enter and exit the Mirror of the Soul, the Falls of Time, and Destiny's March in a specific sequence. If you'd like a further hint: You must begin in the Falls of Time and enter the Mirror of the Soul as the first step in the sequence.

The problem is, there are 9 exits between these three areas. That's 362,880 combinations without repeating, and 387,420,489 combinations with repeating options. Long odds, eh? Here's how to do it:

Starting from the left and going right, I will refer to the northern exits between the Falls of Time and Destiny's March as 1 through 5, and starting at the left and going right, I will refer to the exits between the Falls of Time and the Mirror of the Soul as 6 through 9. Now, you might look at your map and see that there are technically 5 exits between the Falls of Time and the Mirror of the Soul, however, the middle exit is not used to complete the puzzle, so forget about it. Visual time:

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9

Alright, got it lined up? For short, the Falls of Time are FT, Mirror of the Soul is MS, and Destiny's March is DM. Let's begin.

Step 1: Beginning in the FT, take exit 9 to the MS.

Step 2: From MS, take exit 6 to FT.

Step 3: From FT, take exit 1 to DM.

Step 4: From DM, take exit 4 to FT.

Step 5: From FT, take exit 8 to MS.

Step 6: From MS, take exit 7 to FT.

Step 7: From FT, take exit 2 to DM.

Step 8: From DM, take exit 3 to FT.

When the sequence is completed, you should receive a message saying that you hear a door open in the distance, it's the Pilgrim's Door in Mirror of the Soul. Head south to the exit that wasn't part of the puzzle and you'll find the other side of the Pilgrim's Door. Open it, and receive your reward.

When you're ready to continue, head north into Destiny's March

Sochen Cave Palace/ Destiny's March

Enemies: Zombie Knight, Striker, Wendigo, Wendice (Trophy Game)

Guide: Make your way north along any of the paths. It sure is a funny looking area... Well, snap, another door. You can find the Ascetic's Door in the far western end of the diamond paths that make up the center of this area. I'm going to say, with all honesty, ignore this one. You don't want what's behind this door. That's for later. Head north, and before you enter the next area heal up, restore your MP, and cast Shell on your entire party.

Sochen Cave Palace/ Hall of Shadowlight

Enemies: Ahriman

Treasure: The chests here won't respawn, and one of them might contain a Gaia Hat.

Guide: As soon as you enter, the boss appears.

Strategy: Don't you wish you had Holy? Regardless, your challenge here is dealing with his Status effects, namely Doom, Immobilizega, and to a lesser extent Poison. You should have all the Remedy Lores by now, so Ally: Any-Remedy can help. Also, the only status you can inflict is Slow, so if you have Nihopalaoa, use it to Slow him, or cast Slow if you don't. When his health drops, he'll start dividing, which can be problematic, since they all look similar. However, the real Ahriman will be a touch more see-through. If you switch to Foe: Highest HP or Foe: Highest Max HP, you'll keep hitting the real Ahriman. Try to Steal from him, he has the rare Death Powder loot, which is hard to get. Thankfully, he just doesn't have a lot of HP, so he can be brought down with a Quickening Chain from 40% health or below, without too much trouble.

Guide: Once Ahriman is defeated, check the room for chests, cast Float, then head into the next area.

Sochen Cave Palace/ Temptation Eluded

Enemies: Striker, Imp, Cubus (Rare Game)

Treasure: You can find Foe: water-weak, and Foe: water-vulnerable here.

Guide: Glad you avoided the trap, eh? Follow the path to the central room, and there are more traps to avoid along the way. Check for chests in the central room, then head north to the next area.

Sochen Cave Palace/ Chamber of the Chosen

Guide: Climb the ramp up to the elevator, and use the pedestal to activate it.

Sochen Cave Palace/ Skybent Chamber

Guide: Don't slip out without taking advantage of the Teleport Crystal. When you're ready, head north.