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The Gil Cave

Guide by  Djibriel
Contributor
Edited by  Death Penalty
Contributor

In here, there's a turtle to punch. This sidequest can only be done in the second world. Basically, all you get from it is a lot of Gil, and the only thing you have to do is punch a turtle.

I shouldn't forget to mention that this turtle is an undead demonic testudine with the strength of a thousand evil armies and almost impenetrable defenses. It's also poisonous. Most parties won't be able to defeat it, and even if you followed everything I've told you so far Gil Turtle is an extremely powerful opponent which requires you to utilize special tactics to take him down.

Should you want to travel between Castle of Bal and Exdeath's Castle, you could take the Wind Drake and make a detour over Drakenvale and Quelb. However, a more direct route takes you through Gil Cave, of which the entrances lie east of Castle of Bal and south-west of the Big Bridge. Here, only Undergrounders appear; giant centipedes which attack with physical attacks and Earthquake, an multi-target Earth-elemental attack which you can avoid with OFloat. OLevel 4 Graviga can be used to quickly put a dent in all Undergrounders' HP, then finish with whatever.

In the middle of the path under the mountains is a pathway downwards which eventually curls upwards to a door. There's a bit where you can't see your lead character, but as soon as you can see him or her again, every tile will award you Gil! However, only the sun is free these days and for every step you take there's a chance Gil Turtle will attack you. He'll only attack you when you pick up Gil, so on the way back he won't make a showing.

Gil Turtle
Gil Turtle
Bestiary #282
Type
Level
HP
MP
Gil
EXP
Speed
Undead
57
32768
8000
5000
0
66
Strength
Attack Mult.
Magic Atk.
Evasion
Defense
Mag. Def.
Mag. Evade
115
13
90
40
40
55
90
Stolen Items
Dropped Items
Common: Potion
Rare: Hi-Potion
None
Command Immunities
Elemental Immunities
Catch, Control
Holy
Elemental Absorb
Elemental Weakness
FireLightningPoisonEarthWindWater
Ice
Blue Magic
Status Immunities
None
DarknessPoisonMiniToadPetrifyDeathSilenceBerserkConfuseParalyzeSleepOldStop
 
Strategy
 
Gil Turtle is fast and uses physical attacks, and counters every attack twice, sometimes adding Darkness and Poison. If you beat him, he'll kill everyone not floating in retaliation. Up your evasion, put up Golem, haste yourself up, and use as many Ice-based attacks as you have available.
 


Gil Turtle's AI script is simple and effective. He's fast like greased lightning and attacks physically every turn. When damaged by whatever, he'll counter with !Turtle, which deals the same amount of brutal physical damage and sets Darkness and Poison. He counters twice. When defeated, he'll use an Earthquake attack which deals around 3500 damage to the entire party. If you're not Floating, you die. Cast OFloat beforehand, I suppose.

The strategy here depends a little on luck. His weakness is Ice, and that's what we'll have to exploit in order to defeat the thing. Boosted OBlizzaga spells and Blizzaga spellblade effects are your best options on the offense; Requiem and OLevel 3 Flare also deal damage though quite a lot less. The key to your protection is the fact that whatever Gil Turtle is throwing at you, however, intimidatingly powerful, are simply blockable physical attacks. Also, Gil Turtle's fast and will decimate you if you're loitering, but his true strength is his dual !Turtle omni-counter. This means that you can relatively safely boost your own strength in the meantime.

Equip KnifeMain Gauches and AccessoryElven Mantles; you've got two of the former and three of the latter if you picked up everything so far (assuming this is the last thing you do in the second world, which it should be). Evasion is far superior to defense in this battle. The OBlink spell and the Ninja's !Image ability both grant the effected character the prospect of dodging the next two physical attacks, and Golem's Earthen Wall stops his attacks as well. With Golem, a few images and your own enhanced evasive abilities, Gil Turtle will get in precious few hits.

Set up the above and cast OHastega. Now, have every character capable of dealing significant damage do so. If a character is not capable of making a large impact (say, you've made a Time Mage with !Summon to support the party) just use Defense rather than deal a little damage, as Gil Turtle's counterattacks aren't worth it. Keep healing, reviving and damaging and you should be able to outpower Gil Turtle, if you have some luck on your side.

If you want to get the Gil Cave's treasures though lack the power to battle Gil Turtle for it, there's a Quicksave trick you can try in the Advance version. Every time you Quicksave and return, the tiles Gil Turtle is waiting for you randomizes. This means that you can take the money one tile at a time, use OTeleport and Save on the Overworld Map. When you encounter Gil Turtle, reset and try again. This way, you eventually pick up all the money without ever having to meet Gil Turtle.

Note that once you leave the area behind the door, the tiles reset. Again, the first tile contains 10 Gil, the last tile contains 40960 Gil and Gil Turtle may appear whenever it feels like it. Infinite amounts of money, sure, but one trip gets you 81910 Gil which already is a all the Gil you'll be spending in the future so there's really no good reason to do it all again.

Caves of Narshe: Final Fantasy V
Version 6
©1997–2024 Josh Alvies (Rangers51)

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