Sochen Cave Palace The Sochen Cave Palace is a location in the land of Ivalice in " Final Fantasy XII " . It is an underground network of caves and broken down palaces that provide a passageway to the heart of the Archadian Empire : the Imperial City of Archades . Sochen Palace is an ancient palace overrun with undead , bats , imps , and other dangerous creatures . The only royalty currently residing within the temple are a family of Mandragoras . These Mandragoras have caused problems for hunters in the Archadian wilderness . Several ancient and powerful creatures are locked away in the depths of the cave palace . The party is on their way to Archades on foot to avoid detection and must travel through Sochen Cave Palace to reach Archades . The door is locked , unless the player talks to the Archadian Wayfarer in the Tchita Uplands . Location . The Sochen Cave Palace is located just to the northeast of Tchita Uplands and gives access to Old Archades . Treasures . The most common item treasure is Hi - Potion . When the Diamond Armlet is equipped the common item treasure is Knot of Rust and the rare item is a Hi - Ether . In the Doubt Abandoned area the player may find gambits to opponents weak or vulnerable to Fire or Earth . In the Mirror of the Soul area , the treasure that spawns nearest to the southern exit can be the Gokuu Pole . The little deadend along the path to the west can have the gambit for a foe weak to Lightning . The treasure that can be reached only by doing the waterfall puzzle ( see below ) is either Iga Blade or Koga Blade when the Diamond Armlet is not equipped ; with the Diamond Armlet the treasure is always Knot of Rust . In the Falls of Time , the westernmost treasure can have a gambit for a foe weak to Ice . The treasure that spawns on the right side of the westernmost exit to south can have the Officer ' s Hat . The treasure in the middle , in the area that can be reached by doing the waterfall puzzle ( see below ) is gil 10 % of the time , but when it is an item it has either Elixir or Dark Matter . With the Diamond Armlet equipped the treasure is 90 % Knot of Rust 10 % Megalixir , and if the treasure is gil , it will be 28 , 000 as opposed to the 7963 it can be without the Diamond Armlet equipped . The treasure will never respawn . There is yet another treasure that won ' t respawn and can only be reached by doing the waterfall puzzle a bit to the east of the middle treasure ; this treasure is also gil 10 % of the time , but when it ' s an item it is either an Elixir or Kiku - ichimonji . With the Diamond Armlet equipped the treasure is 90 % Knot of Rust 10 % Elixir , with 30 , 000 gil if the treasure is gil instead of items . The Hall of the Wroth God , where Hell Wyrm is fought , has a treasure that can be a gambit for a foe vulnerable to Water . The Hall of Shadowlight has three treasures that never respawn once claimed . One is always a Phoenix Down , but the treasures in the north are usually Elixir , although the other has a chance of being a Gaia Hat . In Temptation Eluded the treasure in the middle can be a gambit for a foe weak to Water , and the treasure in the western deadend is either a Balance or Holy Mote and will never respawn . Hall of Lambent Darkness . These chests only appear in the " International Zodiac Job System " version . The Acolyte ' s Burden . These chests only appear in the " International Zodiac Job System " version . They do not respawn . Destiny ' s March . These chests only appear in the " International Zodiac Job System " version . Hall of Shadowlight . Chests in this location do not respawn . Hall of the Wroth God . Chests in this location do not respawn . Quests . Mandragora Hunt . An Archadian noble on the Tchita Uplands gives an unofficial hunt to hunt down the Mandragoras inside Sochen Cave Palace . They use deadly status ailments that don ' t miss : Confuse , Blind , Disable , Slow , Poison , Sleep , Sap and Silence . It is best to equip Nishijin Belts to avoid Sleep and an " Ally : any ( > ) Remedy " gambit is priceless . If these options are not available , an " Ally : status = Sleep ( > ) Esuna " is just as effective , since Sleep is almost always inflicted along will the other statuses . Each Mandragora has its own elemental weakness that can be exploited . It ' s better to focus on them one at a time , though they tend to run away at low HP . The Mandragoras can take off quite a chunk of HP with their physical attacks while in groups . It is possible to Dispel their Haste , and one can set up a " Foe : status = Haste ( > ) Dispel " gambit for quick removal . The Mandragoras have a pattern where they rush into the party to cast status effects and attack , then run away and cure , but they will always move in a group . The best way to defeat them is to wait until they are grouped together and chain a Quickening on them . The player should stay on one side of the room and wait until they run toward the party , grouped . A well - aimed Quickening chain can totally pulverize the group quickly . The player should kill the Pumpkin Star first , because it casts Confuse . It is best to manage the party well and not let the party members mindlessly run around the room . Mandragoras are hard to steal from , but the items they hold are nothing special , although the Onion from Onion Queen can be sold to make Megalixir in the bazaar . After defeating the Mandragoras , the party can join the Rare Game hunt club on Phon Coast after the storyline events in Archades . Hunts . The Darksteel is a Rank IV Mark whose hunt becomes available upon reaching Archades . The Darksteel can be found in the Temptation Eluded area and all of the other enemies will be cleared out when the player enters it . It is petitioned by the Homesick Man in Archades ' s armor shop . The Overlord is a Rank VI Mark whose hunt can be undertaken after the events in the Draklor Laboratory . The Overlord can be found in the Doubt Abandoned area of the Sochen Cave Palace . The Insecure Seeq assists the party in battle , but he falls in one shot from Overlord ' s Pyromania . The seeq is the petitioner , found in the Technick shop in Archades . Rare Game . To find Anubys the player must have spoken to the " Huntmaster " in Phon Coast and defeated Thalassinon , which will trigger the start of the Rare Game quest . Anubys then appears in the secret room that does not appear in the map , called Mirror of the Soul . The player has to complete the waterfall puzzle ( see below ) , and once the player reaches the room , Anubys will drop down . The Temptation Eluded area is filled with Pit Fiends and Wendigos 25 % of the time . After killing all of them , Cubus will drop down right next to the player . This will only work if Pit Fiends and Wendigos spawn , not Strikers and Imps . To find Wendice the player must have spoken to the " Huntmaster " in Phon Coast and started the Rare Game quest after defeating Thalassinon . The player then has to kill three or more Wendigos before the Wendice will spawn . After killing the required number of Wendigos , it will spawn in the center of Destiny ' s March . The easiest way to do this is to run around the diamond shape of Destiny ' s March killing all the Wendigos around , and soon a red dot shows up in the center . It seems that the player has a certain amount of time to kill the Wendigos , so it is best not to waste time running around . Opening Pilgrim ' s Door . A powerful ninja sword can be found behind the Pilgrim ' s Door ( Knot of Rust if Diamond Armlet is equipped ) . The player should start within the Falls of Time area and travel through the southeast - most door and proceed clockwise following the pattern in the picture . While following the path , each time one enters into the Falls of time area a message appears that the waterfalls have changed their course . At the end , the player will receive the message " You hear a door open in the distance " . From then on it doesn ' t matter what order the player enters or exits the Falls of Time area . The process is shown in this video . Opening Ascetic ' s Door . The Ascetic ' s Door is located at the westernmost wall of Destiny ' s March . It is recommended the player enter this area later because it holds more difficult enemies than the rest of the Sochen Cave Palace area ( namely the Hell Wyrm ) . The player should begin by entering the easternmost chamber from the caves to the east , then proceed clockwise around the diamond shape until one arrives again at the eastern chamber . Upon completing the route once will give the message " You hear a door open in the distance " . Enter the chamber in the end , the player needs the Age Worn Key from the Wyrm Philosopher side quest . Hell Wyrm . Hell Wyrm is an optional boss reached if the player opens the door to its lair with the Age Worn Key . The player must have already defeated the Vyraal Hunt # 21 : Get My Stuff Back and received the key item Dragon Scale . The player must then search Windmill # 10 in Cerobi Steppe ( located in the Northsward ) to trigger a scene with the Wyrm Philosopher who will trade the Dragon Scale for the Age Worn Key . The battle against Hell Wyrm can be considered a prelude to the battle against the game ' s superboss Yiazmat . The battle can be abandoned at any time , and the Hell Wyrm ' s HP stays at the point where the player left it . It is weak against Holy - elemental damage and absorbs the Dark element , the opposite of Yiazmat . Level 55 or higher is a good level for fighting Hell Wyrm . Musical themes . The theme of Sochen Cave Palace is called " The Sochen Cave Palace " .