Thunder Plains and Lake Macalania

There isn’t much to do in Thunder Plains this chapter. You can use the maps to explore the areas and pick up any available treasure chests.

Guadosalam 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5

Legend

1	Echo Screen ×5
2	Hi-Potion ×2
3	Safety Bit

Macalania
Woods 1 2 3 6 7 8 9 10

Legend

1	Phoenix Down ×3
2	Dark Grenade ×2
3	Ether ×3

You can find Cid still moping near the lake in the southern section of the Thunder Plains. Just look for the purple icon to find him. Where he stands and what he says depends on your answer in the Zanarkand Ruins, but either way it is the same 0.2%.

Continue north towards the large structure you can stand under. You’ll find Lian and Ayde loitering around here in the area. Similar to Cid, the Ronsos will only appear if you interacted with them in the Calm Lands in the last chapter. This second interaction triggers some Story Completion Percent, but then you’ll have to decide where to send them: Djose Temple, The Moonflow, or Kilika Island.

It doesn’t matter where you send them; you will be viewing all three of these locations through the CommSpheres when you get to Chapter 4, so you can pick any of them. This will only impact which CommSphere they appear on in the next chapter (in other words, it has no impact at all).

Lake Macalania

As soon as you land in Macalania Woods, you’ll be thrown into a Mission that involves defending the Travel Agency.

Mission: Secure the Agency!

This Mission involves defending the Travel Agency from six consecutive groups of fiends. And, as the pop-up message mentions, you won’t be able to heal up between the battles. Generally, these battles won’t be hard, but be cautious, because a couple of Oversoul enemies can really turn the tide and send you hurtling towards a “Game Over” screen in no time.

You will face the following battles in this order:

• Rhyos and Vertigo
• Barbuta x3
• Flan Blanco and Barbuta
• Rhyos and Vertigo
• Barbuta x3
• Flan Blanco and Barbuta

(Yes, you’re reading that right. You’ll face the same three sets of enemies twice, back-to-back.)

Completing this Mission will earn you the Pride of the Sword Garment Grid and a brand new Dressphere, the Berserker. The Berserker has some niche uses, but it’s generally not considered to be a top-tier Dressphere. Use the links below to read more:

You’ll also receive Al Bhed Primer. Lots of rewards for this Mission! Make sure you step a short distance away from the Travel Agency to trigger another short cutscene with O’aka XXIII, where he will run out and reaffirm his commitment to the shop (and to sell items to his friends). He will actually have a fair number of items in his shop worth checking out in Chapter 5 when his shop re-opens, but you’re done in Lake Macalania for now.

Don’t forget to make a quick stopover, though, to complete the Publicity and Marriage Campaign steps while you’re here. The easiest way is to go back into the Travel Agency, use the Save Sphere, then warp back down to Macalania Woods (entrance).

The next destination is a new place called “Cactuar Nation.” Warp back up to the Celsius using a Save Sphere, but while you’re up there, speak to Shinra and watch “Crimson Record 4.”

After you’ve watched it, warp down to Bikanel.