Henne Mines

LEVELS Recommended for the Henne Mines: 17 for all characters

Return to the Golmore Jungle.  If you encounter a Treant, use Aero spell to really damage it.  This is a good area to level up.  Target the Panthers and Malboros.  

When you are ready, proceed north through NEEDLEBREAK > PATHS OF CHAINED LIGHT.  Use the save crystal in SUNLIT PATH and talk to the two soldiers.  Offer up the potion and get a chocobo in return.  You need it to access the hidden path to the mines.

Take the Chocobo through SUNLIT PATH > FIELD OF LIGHT WINDS > THE SHRED

FIELD OF LIGHT WINDS
To get to THE SHRED run along the southern wall of FIELD OF LIGHT WINDS.  Turn left at the white flowers, there is a chocobo standing there.  Continue south from there.

NORTH ENTRANCE
Cut scene:  Along the grassy entrance to the cave lie dead soldiers and civilians.  Larsa asks “what were researchers doing here?”  Balthier replies “Research” and I can’t figure out if it was sarcastic or mournful.  Dismount the Chocobo and enter the mines.

NORTH ENTRANCE > PITHEAD JUNCTION A > PHASE 1 SHAFT > PITHEAD JUNCTION A > PHASE 1 DIG > CROSSOVER A > CROSSOVER B > PITHEAD JUNCTION B > CROSSOVER A > CROSSOVER B > STAGING SHAFT

NORTH ENTRANCE
Henne Mines has a bit of an Art Nouveau style to it.  If you have ever seen those Metropolitain subway signs in Paris you will know what Art Nouveau looks like.  Proceed south and stop at the switch, the map indicates it with gears.  Press it.  Continue down the right path and read the notice posted on the wall.  The switch will toggle between blue and red doors. 

PITHEAD JUNCTION A
Talk to the guard then look for a second switch located in the junction.  Before you hit it ensure that your party is ready for an ambush by casting protect on everyone. 
Set the following gambits:
Caster:
     [enemy: any > oil]
     [enemy: oil > fire]
Tank:
     [enemy: oil > fire]

Hit the switch and jellys fall from the sky and will continue to come in multiple but finite waves.  If your party is looking ragged, run out of the zone and get your party healthy again before returning to the fight.  

PHASE 1 SHAFT
After defeating the jellys, heal your party and then head south to get the map.  You will be ambushed again but this time by bats.  You can fight them or just dash in, get the map, and then escape. 

PHASE 1 SHAFT
Go back to the pithead junction A, press the switch and go west and then south through PHASE 1 SHAFT

PHASE 1 DIG
Work your way through the winding shafts towards the exit on the east.  As you proceed, keep a lookout for the many treasure chests scattered throughout this zone.

CROSSOVER A
Follow the tunnel north.  In the hallway is a powerful T-rex.  Why, you may ask, is a dinosaur down here?  Because, dinosaurs love mines.  That’s why archeologists have to dig so deep to uncover them.  To defeat him get all the spell casters to shoot Aero at him.  Don’t worry about the bats, just work on him.  When defeated, continue to the north end of the tunnel and turn east to...

CROSSOVER B
Fight any baddies in this room.  Then, get everyone all healed, protected and charged up before heading into the next room.  When ready, move south down the last hallway to...

PITHEAD JUNCTION B
Position yourself so you can make a quick escape out the western red gate.  Hit the switch and it is jellys all over again.  Just run, it is not worth fighting all of them especially since there has not been a save for a while.  Once you are out of PITHEAD JUNCTION B stop, don’t run too far.  Recharge after the slime humanity. 

CROSSOVER A
Slowly proceed west and take care of the next two T-rexes one at a time.  When done, continue west, then north. Go east to CROSSOVER B and west to STAGING SHAFT where there is a save.

STAGING SHAFT
Cut scene: The party enters the mines and Larsa admires all of the magicite.  He surmises that the weapons research facility called Draklor is heading this operation as a source for their development of manufactured nethicite.  The Empire is focusing on the Henne mines specifically because it will still be in their hands if they go to war with Dalmasca.  The first mines we visited in Bhujerba were located in Dalmascan territory and would be cutoff at the first sign of conflict.

Something growls and then runs off.  Fran thinks it may be Mjrn.  It is!  She saunters in and is totally blotto.  She boozes philosophically about the party: “the stench of humes”, “the stench of power.”  Yup! That would be Basch and Ashe and in that order.  Ashe asks what’s wrong with her and she whips her head around and points the bitch-finger right at Ashe.  “Power-Needy Hume!”  Ashe is all “Oh my god nuh-uh.”  Then, Mjrn drunkenly runs into the next room.  This is just like Prom!

The boss in the next room is a doozy.  You will need to go back to town in order to prepare for this battle. 

-- Shopping List –

- Levels: 17
- Upgrade the Shields and Armor for your front line – aka tanks.
- Make sure they have Shield Block abilities purchased from the LP board.
- Buy 20 x Phoenix down, 20 x Hi-Potion
- Make sure healers have: revive, ensuna, charge
- Several Quickenings across multiple characters

When you are ready enter the next room to fight the next boss. 
 
Mjrn tiptoes around and darts right under a T-rex with wings.  Ahwwwww it looks like the little terror got his head stuck in that metal ring that goes around the garbage disposal.  Which I think is called the shiny-grindy-ring.

     ----- BOSS: Tiamat (x22a) -----

GAMBITS
Casters:
[Ally: Any > Phoenix Down]
[Ally: any > Ensuna]
[Ally: HP < 40% > Hi-Potion]

Tanks
[foe: any > Attack]

PARTY: 1 healers, 2 tanks, Larsa
- Start off using your Quickenings, and Summon the Esper – But before you start your quickening, take out your casters so that it does not drain their MP.
- Always ensure that Larsa is alive, healthy, and non-disabled because he is your major healer with his unlimited supply of Hi-Potions
- keep reviving fallen comrades instead of swapping them out with other teammates.
- Keep an eye on you MP because this fight is long enough that your tanks should fill up their MP enough to cast a second quickening.
- Save the second quickenings for the end because as Tiamat’s health is low, his defense goes up.
- It will take many tries to beat this one, so just be patient.  Go back and level up some more if you are still having problems.

Cut Scene:  Whatever Migr was on finally catches up with her as she falls into a pile of ears and platinum hair and then teeters on consciousness.  As she wobbles, she drops a nethicite crystal.  It shatters and a ghost without arms appears behind her.  When she falls Vaan asks “That thing insider her?  What was it?”  Migr comes to, recognizes Fran and then describes how she got into the state she was in.  Some soldiers entered the wood.  And like her sister Fran, Migr got a bit curious about human men.  She followed them into the mine and then they gave her some nethicite - perhaps they were expecting to have a rohipinol-like effect.  Then she went bonkers just like Fran did on the Leviathan.

This makes Larsa realize that manufactured nethicite has more potent than he thought.  He snatches it from Penelo because girls just can’t handle the stuff.  Ashe says “There is a place for all things, even dangers like this.”  Yes, Yucca Mountain.

Cut Scene: The clan returns to Eruyt village.  All of the girls are standing together in a line, god they look like someone ran the negative filter on them.  Jote says the wood told her about the clan’s deeds.  Because they have a noble goal, she decides to give them Lente’s Tear.  With it, the clan can pass the barricades and deeper into Golmore jungle.

When she was out man hunting, Mjrn got a taste of the real world and pleads Jote to do something to stop the decay of Ivalice.  But really, what would the Viera do to save this world?  Touring Negligee shows?  Hair grooming clinics?  Mjrn tells Jote that she wants to leave the wood - once you go Hume you never go back.  Fran tells her to stay in the wood and forget she even has a sister.  Fran can no longer identify with the wood, can’t hear it, and for that reason, she doesn’t want her sister to go through the same transformation.  Fran asks Jote to ask the forest if she hates her.  Jote tells her “the wood longs for you” (use whatever penis joke you have now)