Final Fantasy 1: Dawn of Souls *Extras*

Alright, time to cover the first of the Dawn of Souls bonus dungeons - the Earthgift Shrine. It is located between Cornelia and the Chaos Shrine, on the left. One thing to note about these dungeons is that the floors will always show up in a random order, so one can't really make an exact walkthrough for them. The floors containing bosses will always be the same, however.

All treasure chests contain random items (random out of a fixed set, at least which I may try to compile a list of later) and on bigger floors there will usually be 5 or 6 possible chest locations with only about 3 appearing at a time.

Before Lich: This is the Earthgift Shrine. Lang ago ye could enter, but the way's been shut syne the land began tae decay.

Statue: The putrid stench of decaying earth hangs heavy on the air

After Lich: The stink went away, sae Ah took a keek inside. It was lippin ower with gruesome monsters! Ah'd stay oot if Ah were ye.

Right then, let's ignore the dwarf and go in.

Recommended Level
25+

Dangerous Enemies
Catoblepas - A black lizard, its Gaze can cause instant death
Abyss Worm - As far as I know, it only appears on the desert map. Attacks do 500 damage to one character and they can cast Quake.

Notable Floors

Purple Forest
You will see the exit as soon as you enter, but in order to reach it you will have to go all the way around the perimeter of the map - and it's a very large map. You will also have to interact with the monster soldiers along the way, defeating them to remove them from your path. If you want to get the treasure chests here it is going to take you around 15 minutes to search every nook and cranny. 

Desert
This map can drive you crazy if you don't know what to do. There's various different places you can start in, and there are no borders. It loops endlessly. To make it worse, this is where the two most dangerous enemies in the dungeon are found. Luckily, there are groups of trees scattered about the map arranged in arrows that will point your way to the oasis in the center. I wouldn't bother trying to find the chests unless you've gone through the dungeon a few times and are relatively familiar with the desert's layout.

Simple Floors
Cave x2
These are very easy to navigate.

Boss Room
This is a large cavern with four rooms - one in each corner (more or less). Each one has a different boss inside, so yes, you will have to come through this dungeon 4 times to get them all. But it's super easy, so no biggie right? Maybe. Anyway, here we go.

In me are all things great and small extinguished. Die now, Warriors of Light!
Northwest: 2-Headed Dragon

The dragon can pretty much kill you instantly if you don't know how to handle it, but if you do it becomes the easiest boss out of the set. Cast Slowra on Mr. Pointyguts right away, and then...well, that's pretty much it actually. The dragon doesn't have any magical attacks at all. Increase your attack power with Haste and Temper and then just attack until you win.

Reward: Bard's Tunic

So, you've managed to reach these depths. I commend you. But your journey ends here, I'm afraid.
Southwest: Cerberus

You want to start this fight using a Blue Curtain (can obtain one from one of the "Cave" floors in the dungeon) or NulShock if you have it. Or both, if you want to increase your chances of getting your defense up before he unleashes his dangerous Thunderbolt move. After that, just beef up your physical fighters with Temper and Haste and lay ruin to the demonic pup. His attack score is awful, so don't bother using Protect or anything.

Reward: Kotetsu (Light Sword)

There are none who can stop me in all of creation! You, too, shall fall before me!
Northeast: Ahriman

I didn't find any special tricks that worked for Ahriman, which is unfortunate because Silence would be very helpful here. Use NulBlaze and NulFrost if you have them, because Ahriman likes to use the powerful Blaze and Icestorm attacks one right after the other which can easily wipe out your entire party. NulDeath would also be useful (though it's available very late game) because this boss knows Earthquake. Other than that, just use the same strategy for your fighters - temper and haste, heal and attack.

Reward: Dry Ether (there's also a chest beside him which has a Megalixir)

You've done well to come this far... but you will go no further!
Southeast: Echidna

NulDeath is very helpful here, because Echidna will cast both Quake and Death on your party. She also knows the strongest black magic spell in the game - Flare - which will hit your entire party for 200+ damage. Other than that, she doesn't have many tricks up her sleeve. Despite what the game says, she is not immune to sleep - I found Sleepra actually has a very decent success rate. Simply send her to snooze town, buff up your fighters, and have a healer keep healing even when she's asleep - just in case.

Reward: X-Potion

And there we have it, that's the Earthgift Shrine! I actually even went through a fifth time so that I could get an extra Bard's Tunic for my Red Wizard (I gave the other to my White Wizard). 

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