En-route to Wutai¶

This is an entirely optional quest, but a lucrative one, and it’ll open the door for more goodies later on, so there’s no harm in starting it now. If you don’t care to bother with this side-quest, skip to the page “Temple of the Ancients”, otherwise sail back to Rocket Town. West of Rocket Town there’s a small, vertically-oriented continent, which you can now reach with the Tiny Bronco. Sail to the southern end and disembark on a beach, after which you’ll want to head north, up some slopes, across some bridges, and onto grasslands where you’ll find the city of Wutai.

…at least, that’s the plan. Along the way, Yuffie will show up and offer to play scout. Before your party can question her unusual helpfulness, some Shinra soldiers show up and attack. During the battle, you might note that your combat options are somewhat limited. Fortunately your foes aren’t too strong, so defeat them however you must, and after the battle your party will confirm the obvious; you’ve been robbed!

Without Materia, the trip to Wutai will be somewhat more dangerous than it otherwise would be. If you’ve been stocking up on Materia, Yuffie may not have stolen all of it - she can only carry so much, after all - but she will have made off with your best Materia, and there’s really no option but to go after her. The critters along the way can be a hassle, especially the Thunderbirds, who can cast “Lightning”, which hits all characters for over 300 damage. If the going is tough, you can always flee from these fights for now and live to fight another day… but at least the beasties here are generous about dropping healing items. When you reach Wutai, Yuffie will be miffed at our obstinance and run off. Looks like she’s not going to make this easy…

Catching the Kleptomaniac Kunoichi¶

Ignore the houses to the north-east and cross two bridges to the north-west to find a large establishment outside. Read the sign out front to find out that this is the fabled “Turtle’s Paradise”. Oh boy! Head inside to find the Turks; Rude, Reno, and Elena. Talk to them and the two lazy men-folk will decide that you’re not worth ruining their vacation over. High-strung Elena, abandoned by her comrades, backs down. Leave them alone and prevent Rude’s booze from souring further and head back outside.

Cross a bridge to the north-east, then exit to another screen by heading north-west (away from the Save Point). Once here, head to the large house to the east and go through some doors to the north, then go behind a tapestry to the north-west, down a hallway, and loot a chest containing a Magic Shuriken ; a three Materia socket, 64 Attack weapon… for Yuffie. Return to the previous screen and return to the main hallway, continue south-east around a Koi pond. In the next screen go through a door to the north-east, then through a secret door the the south-east. Run down a hallway to score another chest, within which lies a Hairpin , a 57 Attack weapon for Red XIII with no Materia sockets at all… yeah, the Seraph Pin is better than this in nearly every way.

Return to the room with the secret door, then into the hallway. Continue north-west, then go north-east through some more doors to find a man named Godo laying around. Talk to him several times and he’ll deny knowing Yuffie and mention the Shinra. Afterward, Yuffie will make an appearance, provoke Godo (who clearly does know her) and run off. After Godo gives up, leave the house, then return to the previous area.

Make your way to the item store near the Save Point, where you can buy some items, including Fire Veils and Swift Bolts, which you can use to substitute for your lack of Materia. At 800 Gil each, though, it’s an expensive workaround. Loot the chest in the shop to get some MP Absorb Materia , but… well, easy come, easy go.

Item Shop

Leave the item shop and head back to the entrance of Wutai. Enter the first house to the north and a kid inside will exclaim “Oh no! More weirdos!” More, eh? Search the screen near the entrance to find Yuffie’s childishly obvious hiding place. She puts her ninja skills to good use, and you’re forced to chase her outside. Return to the Turtle’s Paradise store and search the urn - which is now curiously animated - outside. After a bit of planning, punish the urn and Yuffie will meet her match.

Watch the situation with Shinra continue to develop, then back at Yuffie’s house follow her downstairs and she’ll tell you a sad story. Cloud is in no mood to listen to her excuses, though, and will insist on having the Materia back. Press the lever she directs you to, or not, and Yuffie will do what Yuffie does best. Flip the lever again, regroup, and return to the hallway. On the wall to the south-east you’ll find the “Turtle’s Paradise No. 6” newsletter, which you should read before you leave.

Time to chase down Yuffie and finally put an end to this. Return to the Turtle’s Paradise and talk to the bartender to claim your reward for finding all the posters; a Power Source , a Guard Source , Magic Source , a Mind Source , a Speed Source , Luck Source and a Megalixir . Once done, return outside, head to the Save Point, and use the PHS to put Barret in your party if he isn’t already, as he’ll come in very handy in an upcoming fight. Just make sure he’s got the “Mindblow” Limit Break, and you’ve set his active Limit to Level 1. Equip your strongest weapons (Materia considerations obviously don’t matter) and ensure you’ve got a healthy stock of items.

Dropping the Don¶

Head north-west to Wutai’s second screen and go up to the bell-structure to the west and ring the bell, then head through the doors that appear to the south. Here you’ll find that Yuffie has been out-ninja’d by some men working for an old acquaintance from Midgar. When the run off loot the chest to the east to get a Swift Bolt , and the one to the west to find an Elixir , then head upstairs. Cornered, your quarry will be surrounded by some Shinra troops, but he gives them the slip and they end up fighting you, because clearly they have trouble recognizing targets. During the fight, it might be a good idea to let Barret take some damage to build up his Limit gauge.

Leave the house and talk to Reno, who will call a ceasefire and give you a vague clue as to where Corneo ran. Make your way to the Wutai’s first screen, then go to the Save Point. From here, head north-east, cross a bridge and make your way to the statue-covered mountains around Wutai. Approach the Turks, then after they leave head up a path to the north-west until you reach a fork, at which point head north-east, as the north-western path is a dead-end. In the next screen continue north until you reach another fork. The eastern path leads nowhere, so continue north, around a giant stone head, then south-west to another screen.

Continue west until you reach a fork, at which point head north, then follow Rude into a cave. Further on he’s found some flames that make the way forward impassable, but you can loot a chest to obtain a Dragoon Lance , which is worth grabbing… with eight unjoined Materia slots and 66 Attack, it might just be the best weapon you’ve found so far, and it’s certainly the best weapon Cid can use right now. Make your way back outside and continue south to another screen, where you’ll finally catch up to Corneo. He’ll ponder which girl he wants to play with first (to their disgust) before the party shows up and puts a stop to his heinous game. After he tries to tell a story, he’ll sic another pet on you.

Boss Battle: Rapps¶

Rapps is an odd boss in that it’s not resistant to Gravity, meaning in theory you should use spells like “Laser” to… oh wait. Yuffie stole our Materia. Good job, Yuffie. Well, you’ll just have to make do without Materia, then. Rapps isn’t too bad save for one wretched attack - “Aero3”, which can do over 1300 damage per cast to one character. Rapps can cast this six times in a fight with its MP reserves, which is pretty brutal. You can either take the shots and heal with X-Potions, or use Barret’s “Mindblow” Limit Break to knock out Rapps’ MP entirely, thus preventing it from casting “Aero3” again. Its other attacks deal around 400 damage a hit, which is still painful, but not nearly as bad. As for your own offense… you have little option. Use items like “Dragon Scales” or “Right Arms” to deal a bit more damage than normal, or just whittle Rapps down with physical attacks and Limit Breaks. If you have a decent stock of X-Potions and aren’t too low-leveled, you should be able to trade blows with Rapps until you’re victorious.

After the battle the Turks will make a timely intervention and interfere with Corneo’s backup plan. After the Turk turn Corneo’s questioning on himself, he’ll take a dive, and the Turks will decide to ultimately continue their vacation. Elena learns a lesson in restraint, and you get your Materia back and Yuffie’s disposition towards you will increas (+10 Yuffie)… although Yuffie’s memory of where it all goes leaves something to be desired. To patch things up, she’ll also fork over the MP Absorb Materia she stole. You’ll end up outside of Wutai, your ordeal apparently over. Before moving on, however, return to Wutai and stop by the weapon shop - the building east of Turtle’s Paradise - where you can now shop for new weapons, all of which have five Materia sockets (two joined, one unjoined) and Attack in the low 50s.

Weapon Shop

Once you’re done in the weapon shop, head back east across the bridge, then go north to reach a smaller house next to Yuffie’s house, which is filled with cats. Go to the stairs in the back of the house and ascend them (hit [Circle] like climbing a ladder) then move towards the camera to reach a hallway with a chest at the end, which can be looted for HP Absorb Materia . You’re now done with the city of Wutai, but there’s still an essential Enemy Skill worth grabbing from the critters in the area (see below). Once that’s done, it’s time to go to this Temple of the Ancients, which requires us to obtain the Keystone from Dio…