Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles has a wide array of characters you can recruit in your fight, from cute and cuddly Chocobos to Cid the Thunder God. While most of these characters will join your party automatically, the game does have a handful of secret members — including a cameo from Final Fantasy 7’s Cloud Strife.
Although The Ivalice Chronicles does make getting these characters more obvious, it’s still a convoluted process with a multitude of steps. On top of this, Cloud even has a new weapon exclusive to this version. With that in mind, we’ll walk you through each step, so you can get every secret character in Final Fantasy Tactics.
Beowulf and Reis (Dragon Form)
Beowulf is the first character you’ll need to recruit in order to kick off the events to get everyone else. The first absolutely crucial step to do this is to make sure you recruited Mustadio earlier in the game and he’s still a member of the party (meaning you can’t lose him in battle earlier).
With that in mind, you’ll need to progress to Chapter 4. At any point in that chapter, head to the Clockwork City of Goug. Once there, you’ll see a cutscene with Mustadio and his father where they investigate a mysterious steel ball. Now, head to the Mining Town of Gollund and read “The Haunted Mine” rumor at the tavern.
This will unlock a new battlefield just to the North of Lesalia, and Beowulf will ask to join your party as a guest. Head to the new battlefield marked on your map, and you’ll have to fight a series of four fairly tough battles.
For these fights, we’d recommend being around level 50, and bring a party that has high speed and movement — a Ninja or a Dragoon is a good idea. Here are a few quick tips for each battle, and do note Beowulf will be a guest for each.
- Colliery Floor - You’ll be going up against a lot of Chemists for this fight, who are slow but mostly have guns equipped. A Ninja who can dash in and take them out quickly is your best friend, and even better if you have a Time Mage to apply Haste. That Time Mage should also have White Magic so you can apply Protect and heal. Try and keep your squishier magic units out of the Chemist’s range, while your warrior types take them out.
- Colliery Slope - This fight shouldn’t pose any problem, as you're fighting a handful of Chemists, Thieves, and Behemoths. Zero in and take out the Behemoths first, preferably from range or with magic, as they can hit hard with Counter.
- Colliery Ridge - This one can be a bit tough, mostly because of the Blue Dragons who hit incredibly hard. Again, apply Haste to your party as quickly as possible, and try to use magic or the Ninja’s throw to take out the dragons first. A Dragoon’s jump ability can be tremendously helpful.
- Colliery Shaft - A fairly easy last battle, the main thing you need to worry about is keeping Reis alive. The dragon will typically attack at first, before retreating after taking damage. The big problem is getting to her to heal. For this, your best option is a Ninja with the Item ability. Put Haste on the Ninja and get to Reis as soon as possible, to use X-Potions. Another good option it to use a Bard to buff your party’s speed, or a Dancer to debuff the enemy’s speed.
After you’ve completed this sequence of battles, both Beowulf and Dragon Reis can be recruited into your party.
Construct 8
Construct 8 is incredibly easy to unlock. Once you’ve done the sequence of battles and unlocked Beowful and Reis, you’ll also be awarded the Aquarius Zodiac Stone. With that in tow, simply head back to Goug for another scene, where Mustadio and his father awaken the hulking robot.
After the scene, you’ll be asked to recruit Construct 8, and that’s it. This interesting party member has a lot of math-based attacks, very similar to the Arithmetician.
Reis (Human Form)
To transform Reis into a human (and more powerful characters) you’ll need to proceed through Chapter 4 until you unlock the Trade City of Sal Ghidos. When this happens, you’ll want to read the rumors at Zeltennia Castle. After that, head back to Sal Ghidos. There’ll be a scene where a flower girl asks Ramza to buy a flower. Make sure you say yes, as you have to do this to get both Reis and Cloud.
Now head to the city of Goug, and you’ll see a scene that unlocks Nelveska Temple. Head there and you’ll be in for a fight with Construct 7 and five extremely powerful monsters. You should be well over level 50 for this fight, and near level 60 — and it’s highly recommended to bring Cid as well.
While the Hydras and Juravis can decimate you, the only enemy you need to eliminate is Construct 7 — so if you want to focus on it, you can. But do note that after taking out Construct 7, there’ll be a short dialogue, and it’ll get back up with 1 hp, meaning you have to attack it again.
If you do want to drag the battle out, the Hydra is a great option to Poach, to turn in their pelts. There are also two extremely powerful pieces of equipment on top of the pillars, Escutcheon+ and Javelin+.
But after you defeat Construct 7, Reis will be transformed into a human and join your party.
Cloud
After doing everything with Reis, head back to Goug yet again, and you’ll be treated to a scene where Cloud gets summoned by an ancient machine, before heading off on his own. Now head back over to Sal Ghidos for a fun little interaction with Cloud and Aerith, before a short battle where you need to protect Cloud. This battle is extremely easy, as you’re only going up against some Squires, Thieves, and Monks. Just note that Cloud won’t do anything but move and defend, so you may need to heal him.
After the battle, Cloud will join your party, but there’s one thing you need to do if you want him to live up to his full potential.
How to Get Cloud’s Materia Blade +
Unlike the original Final Fantasy Tactics, Cloud already comes equipped with a Materia Blade, so he can use his Limit attacks. But, in place of finding the hidden Materia Blade, you can now find a Materia Blade + that’s significantly stronger. To get this head to Mount Bervenia and start a battle. Make sure you have someone with the Treasure Hunter ability (learned via the Chemist job).
The only thing you need to do is have the unit with Treasure Hunter step on the tile at the very top of the mountain on the map (as seen in the image above). This will give you the Materia Blade +, which you should immediately equip on Cloud.
Byblos
Byblos is the last, and hardest to get, secret character. You need to play all the way through Chapter 4 until you reach the very last series of battles, where the objective says the “final battle” is at Orbonne Monastery. Once you’re there, you can head to the Port City of Warjis and go to the tavern for a short scene.
This will unlock Midlight’s Deep just off the coast, a ten-battle deep dungeon that’s the hardest part of the game. That’s because in each area you not only have to defeat all enemies, but also find a secret door to get to the next layer — and to top it all off, every battle is cloaked in darkness. If you make it to the last battle of Midlight’s Deep you’ll have to take down the wizard Lahabrea, and Byblos will join you as a guest. Keep the Byblos alive until the end of the battle, and it’ll join your party.
