For a game that was released in 1991, Final Fantasy IV is pretty played and talked about and that shouldn't surprise anyone of us, FF fans. Developed back at the times when Square-Enix was just Square Co., the fourth installment in the Final Fantasy saga got ported on the GameBoy Advance console in an attempt to revive the original game. You'll play as Cecil, one of the knights from the kingdom of Baron and you'll fight your way through a huge universe trying to defeat the evil Golbez. Final Fantasy IV brought a new feature called "Active Time Battle" and that was so well-received and useful that it remained with the series for another five titles. There's a lot of stuff to find out about Final Fantasy IV so you'd better check out the hints below:

Adamant Armor
The Adamant armor is an incredible piece of armor that is pretty much a stone wall defense-wise. To get it, you first need to get a Pink Tail from Pink Puffs in a tiny room in the Lunar Subterrane's B5F. Sounds easy, doesn't it? The catch? The Pink Puffs rarely (and I mean rarely) ever appear, and even when they do, you have a 1/64 chance of receiving a Pink Tail. Anyway, once you get the Pink Tail, go back to Earth and head to Silvera with the hovercraft. Land the ship and the hovercraft next to Silvera. Get out of the ship, go in the hovercraft and head southeast to the small cave by the rocks. Go inside, give the Pink Tail to the little guy inside and get your beloved Adamant Armor. I suggest equipping it on your weakest but most helpful character, like Rosa, Rydia or Edge.

Cave of Summon Monsters
This sidequest is important if you want to get summons such as Bahamut, Odin, Leviathan and Asura. Head to the underground world (the Lunar Whale can't fit, so take the Falcon), then so southwest until you see a small isle with a cavern entrance, land your ship and enter. Rydia will tell you that she came from there, so they should ask for help. Do not step on the flashing tiles, since they will decrease the party's HP by 40. So, avoid them when you can, but when you can't, cast Float on the party. Head southeast to the treasure chest and get a Cure2 from inside. Go all the way north and open the treasure chest for a Life. Head west into the secret passageway and get the treasure chest there for Ether1. Go back east, then south, and northwest and to the next floor by the stairs.

Now, go east, then southeast and open the treasure chest there for a Cure2. Go up a little, then northwest. Open the treasure chest for a Cabin. Go east and down the stairs. Follow the pathway until you reach a treasure chest. Open it for another Life. Go all the way east, and open the treasure chest for a Cure3. Go east, follow the secret pasageway south and go east to the treasure chests. They contain a Cure2, a Poison axe and a Ninja sword. Make your way back to the secret passageway. Head northwest and open the treasure chest for a monster battle. Defeat the monsters and get the Defense Sword from within. Now go back to the teleporter in the center of the room. You'll end up in the populated area of the summon monsters cave.

Go northwest as you enter and open the treasure chest for an Ether1. Go north up the stairs and open the treasure chest for 2000GP. Go all the way east and open the next treasure chest you see for another 2000GP. Go south and open the treasure chest for 3000GP. Step back on that teleporter you saw earlier up north. When you warp to the next floor, warp back and open the previous inaccessible treasure chest for a Rat's Tail. This is an extremely important item. Go back on the teleporter. You'll be in the town of summon monsters now. There are a variety of shops to look in, just like normal shops in towns. You have to head to the library west of the town, next to the chocobo. If you want, rest at the inn and buy some items at the item shop. Once you're finished, head to the library. Head down the stairs and onto the teleporter. You'll be in the lair of King Leviathan and Queen Asura. Speak to Queen Asura, say Yes when prompted and prepare for a tough battle.

Developer's Room
The Developer's Room is a place where the developer's of Final Fantasy IV are at. There is no Developer's Room in Final Fantasy II, the SNES version that came to the United States. To get here, go to the Dwarven Castle in the Underground. Go to the spot between the Weapon and Armor counters. Go north in the secret passageway. You'll end up in the hidden Developer's Room. In this room, you can talk with several Final Fantasy IV developers. You can also encounter random battles with some of them. It's pretty much just a big Easter egg.

Excalibur
While the Excalibur is not as strong as the Crystal Sword, it's still powerful and worth the time it takes to get it. First of all, remember the Rat's Tail that I told you would be extremely important? You'll be needing that for the Excalibur. In the upper world, go to Silvera with your hovercraft (remember that you can't use the Lunar Whale to pick it up, so you need your previous ship first). Land next to Silvera and get in your hovercraft. Go to the cave southeast of Silvera. Enter the cave and talk to the little man in the center. Give him the Rat's tail. He'll give you Adamant Ore. Now, head back to the underground world. Go to Tomra, a hidden city all the way south of the underground. Go in the town, then find the blacksmith east of the town. Give him the Adamant ore, and he'll start making the Excalibur. It will take a while to make, so you should do another sidequest while you're waiting. Come back later (20 minutes is good) and get the Excalibur.


Hidden Summons
There are a few hidden summons in Final Fantasy IV.

To get the Imp summon, get the Imp Item from an Imp or Tricker battle. The item is randomly dropped.

To get the Mage summon, get the Mage Item from a Mage. The item is randomly dropped.

To get the Bomb summon, get the Bomb Item from a Balloon or Grenade. The item is randomly dropped.

To get the final hidden summon, Cocatris, get the Cocatris Item from a Cocatrice, Roc Baby or Eagle. The item is randomly dropped.

Getting Bahamut
You can find King of Summons, Bahamut, on the Moon. Like Odin, you must have completed the Cave of Summon Monsters sidequest first. West of the Crystal Lair is a small circular rock. Land on the rocks around it, and go inside. Head south and open the treasure chest for a Samurai Gauntlet. Equip it on Edge, then go north and east. Follow the path to the next floor. Go north and open the western chest for a Samuari armor. Now go all the way east and open the chest for a Samuari helmet. Go north across the narrow pathway and you'll encounter a Behemoth.

Behemoth
HP: 23000
EXP: 57000
GP: 65000

Behemoths are tough opponents. Their HP isn't very high, but they have incredibly power when attacked. Use your usual technique. Kain jumps, Cecil attacks, Edge throws, Rosa heals and Rydia summons. She can use Titan, which will do some good damage. Once their defeated, go up north into the next entrance. Go south, and you'll encounter another Behemoth. You'll encounter a few Behemoths along this path, so make sure you brought some Elixirs. Once you get to the end, head north and approach King Bahamut to fight him.

Bahamut
HP: 45001
EXP: 35000

Bahamut doesn't attack until his countdown meter drains to 0. Then, he'll use MegaNuke, a very powerful attack that could demolish your party that moment. You can avoid this powerful attack by casting Reflect on all of the party members. MegaNuke will bounce back at Bahamut with Reflect cast. Do the usual attack patterns, but if you want, you can have Kain attack until the countdown is 3 or 2 (or even 1 but it's risky), then Kain should jump, Bahamut will attack, and Kain will jump down and impale Bahamut for major damage. You should have high attack power if you plan to beat him.

Getting Odin
First of all, you cannot get Odin until you finished the Cave of Summon Monsters side quest, and he only appears after the Baron raid. To get the Summon Odin, go to the center in Baron Castle. The guards here will say that they keep hearing voices from the basement below. Take the eastern staircase and follow the path. Go through the southern door, then under the northern gate outside. Head west down the staircase, then go all the way east until you see a red carpet. The King's ghost will call Cecil's name, and after the scene here, you must fight Odin.

Odin
HP: 20001
EXP: 18000

Odin is similar to Plague from the Lunar Subterrane. He will start out with an invisible timer, and when it reaches zero, our party's done for. So, attack him furiously and use powerful Lit3, Edge's Blitz and Rydia should summon Indra. He doesn't have too much HP, so just focus everything on him, including Rosa. Rydia might want to slip in Bahamut if she has him.

After the battle, Odin will join you as a summon.

Here's the toughest battle in Final Fantasy IV and I must say that Zeromus is one tough nut to crack:



The Sylvan Cave
Similar to the Cave of Summon Monsters, there is another "sister" cave northwest of the underground. Land next to the entrance, save and enter the Sylvan Cave. Remember what I said about the flashing tiles? Head east and you'll see three treasure chests...The first two accessible chests contain a Charm arrow and a Cure2. After that, go back west and head south and down the stairs. Go around the wall from where you came from and head up the stairs there. Go northwest and up the stairs to a hidden floor. Go north and you'll see two chests, each containing a Cure2 and a Heal. Go through the small loop passageway east of that to get to the third treasure chest against the wall.

Open it for a Charm rod. Now go back towards the staircase from where you came from, but instead, go east when you see the hidden passageway outlined. Follow it and up the stairs. Go east and follow the narrow passageway until you see four treasure chests west of you. Go inside the small "room" and open them. They each contain a Cure2, 3000GP, 2000GP and another Heal. Go back east and down the passageway here. You'll see some treasure chests, some of them open and some of them closed. There are five unopened chests, each containing a Heal, Cure2, Ether1, Cure2 and a Cure3. Fall down the black hole. Head all the way north, then go west in the secret passageway. Step on the teleporter. You'll end up in a room with 6 treasure chests. They each have a monster battle, so open them at your own risk.

- Northwestern one contains an Elixir.
- Northern one contains an Elixir.
- Northeastern one contains an Elixir.
- Southwestern one contains a FullMoon boomerang.
- Southern ones contain an Avenger sword.
- Southeastern ones contain 10 Medusa Arrows.

The Avenger sword is necessary for the duplication trick. Once you're done, head east on the teleporter to exit the cave. Re-enter, so we can get the Slyph summon and the other treasures. Go back to B2F. Go south and up the stairs there. Go all the way west and north at the wall. The two treasure chests contain a Cabin and 1000GP. Go back and go east. Step on the save point. You know the drill. Once you're done, go up northeast and into the hidden passageway. Follow it all the way to the treasure chest. Open it for an ElvenBow. Go back to where you saw the second western staircase. Go down it, then head west. Go northeast and up the staircase there. Go north and you'll see several treasure chests. They contain Fire arrows, Ice arrows, Lit arrows, an Ether1 and Cure2.

Go back south and down the stairs and back to the hallway. Go all the way north, then east in the hidden passageway. Go to the treasure chest through the eastern side and open it for a Mute dagger. Go back and down the stairs. Open the treasure chest at the other side for an Elixir. Follow the southern path to a house. Go inside the house. Ignore the faeries for now. Open the treasure chest for Cat Claws, then open the second one for Poison claws. Now, talk to the faeries. They'll join you in place of Yang. Go up the stairs, step on the pedestal and you'll be warped outside of the cave. Congratulations, you've received another summon!