
Choose the option to go back into the Farplane, choosing any dungeon you wish. When you have finished all of the side quests that you wish to partake in, get on the Celsius and speak to Brother. Since the next two battles (and the battles afterwards) are going to be a doozy, go take the time to complete the remaining missions and gain some more levels. You can continue going into the Farplane, or head back to the Celsius and complete the rest of your missions. Once you have defeated Dark Shiva, a save point will appear. Shiva isn't a very hard Aeon to beat, even though she's one of the final ones you'll face, but she does attack often enough that she poses a problem at times. Have your third character as a supporting character who can switch between support as White Mage and attacker as Dark Knight. Shiva's Heavenly Strike also inflicts Stop on one character so equip everyone with Ribbon or Kinesis Badge to prevent. She has a very high speed rating compared to the other Aeons, so have one of your characters change roles into a Warrior and use your Break abilities, while another is a Dark Knight (or Samurai) and deals damage with regular attacks. NulIce works well to keep you protected, and a Fire Gleam helps you do more damage with your physical attacks. Like in previous Final Fantasy games, Shiva is an Ice-based warrior, so a lot of her spells are ice based. Before you jump onto this, equip yourself with any NulIce equipment or anything that will give your physical attacks Fire elements. Go left first at the fork to collect the treasure chest, then turn around and go the other way until you see a large platform. You should probably do yourself a favour here and choose Besaid or Kilika. If you ask Buddy to take you to the location and you walk there on your own, you won't be able to enter the pit. If you do this, note that to enter the depths again, you need to speak to Brother to choose one of the five entrances. This will allow you to explore and level up your characters further. It's possible to return to the ship one more time after the first three boss battles. Dark Yojimbo's temple is the hardest, while Besaid and Kilika are the easiest. You have a choice of going down to the Farplane via one of the five temples (or four if you did not bother with killing Dark Yojimbo at the Cavern of Stolen Fayth in Chapter 3). This automatically happens when the chapter begins, so make sure that you're properly equipped. After a funny scene with Brother, Buddy and the rest of the Gullwings, you'll descend into the depths of the Farplane to figure out just what's going on.
