Mt. Woe floats above Earthbound Island in 12,000 BC. It is a dungeon and Key Item Check. Completing Mt. Woe can take some time and is a bit of a gamble if the player isn't sure they're getting a progression item, however the treasure found there is very valuable. In addition, the encounters provide plenty of EXP and TP, even outside of the rare Rubbles, which never respawn.

In vanilla, Mt. Woe becomes unavailable as soon as it is completed. In Jets, it will remain on the map after completion. It is lost forever if the player loses to Lavos at the Ocean Palace and continues through to the new Dark Ages map.

Enter Mt. Woe through Terra Cave, as shown above. You must traverse the tiny “beast's nest” area before entering the mountain - the encounters for the nest are included on the table on this page, and the boss has been removed from Jets.

Requirements: Access to the Dark Ages, typically via the Gate at the End of Time (you MUST enter a Gate once to register 12,000 BC on the Epoch's dial). Also becomes available after completing Magus's Castle or Tyrano Lair - though at this point the player is most likely in Go Mode.

Recommendations: High-powered techs, especially one that can clear the screen quickly - this will be mostly the high-tier ones like Flare, Luminaire, and Dark Matter; a high-powered Fire 2 is also enough. In addition, having one character with a Speed of 13 helps to run away from battles quickly. As the enemies on Mt. Woe are powerful, this can save the player a lot of grief. If the party's damage output is on the low side, bringing Fire or Shadow protection can extend staying power against the boss.

Mt. Woe is full of Rubble monsters, which are great for grinding as long as you can hit them - if you can't, the battle can waste a lot of time with no reward. Players who want to fight them can increase their odds of quickly defeating them: using Lucca and Marle (characters who attack based on their hit stat), equipping weapons with high critical hit rates (such as the Rainbow), equipping accessories that raise Hit Rate, and using Haste Helms or Berserkers to improve turn economy are a few such strategies.

Giga Gaia

Boss Randomization

Mt. Woe Skips

Unavoidable encounters in skippable areas are marked with *.
#	Enemies	XP	TP	G	Avoid	Run	Location
1	Beast x2	408	10	900	No	No	Beast’s Nest
2	Beast x2	408	10	900	No	No	Beast’s Nest
3	Rubble x1	1000	50	0	Yes	Yes	Entrance
4	Bantam Imp x2	1800	30	2200	Yes	Yes	Entrance
5	Rubble x1	1000	50	0	Yes	Yes	Entrance
6	Bantam Imp x2	1800	30	2200	Yes	Yes	Entrance
7	Rubble x1	1000	50	0	Yes	Yes	Second Area
8	Gargoyle x2	800	14	900	No	Yes	Second Area
9	Bantam Imp x2 Gargoyle x1	2200	37	2650	Yes	Yes	Second Area
10	Rubble x1	1000	50	0	Yes	Yes	Second Area
11	Gargoyle x4	1600	28	1800	No	Yes	Second Area
12	Bantam Imp x2	1800	30	2200	Yes	Yes	Second Area
13	Stone Imp x2 Gargoyle x2	1600	24	1900	Yes	Yes	Second Area
14	Bantam Imp x2 Gargoyle x2	2600	44	3100	No	Yes	Second Area
15	Rubble x1	1000	50	0	Yes	Yes	Second Area
16	Gargoyle x3	1200	21	1350	No	Yes	Second Area
17	Man Eater x4	1200	24	1200	No	Yes	Third Area
18	Gargoyle x3	1200	21	1350	Yes	Yes	Third Area
19	Rubble x1	1000	50	0	Yes	Yes	Third Area
20	Man Eater x2 Gargoyle x3	1800	33	1950	Yes	No	Third Area
21	Gargoyle x3	1200	21	1350	No	Yes	Third Area