___________ __ __ \_ _____/|__| ____ _____ | | | __) | |/ \\__ \ | | | \ | | | \/ __ \| |__ \___ / |__|___| (____ /____/ \/ \/ \/ ___________ __ \_ _____/____ _____/ |______ _________ __ | __) \__ \ / \ __\__ \ / ___< | | | \ / __ \| | \ | / __ \_\___ \ \___ | \___ / (____ /___| /__| (____ /____ >/ ____| \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ _______ ___ | \ \/ / | |\ / | |/ \ |___/___/\ \ \_/ ____________________________________________________________________________ |~\/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\/~| | || Guide written and compiled by A I e x || | |_||______________________________________________________________________||_| |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| | This guide is dedicated to James Alexander Waters, the father of a | | good friend. He passed away in March 2005 while it was being written. | |____________________________________________________________________________| |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| | Author: Alex Eagleson | | Began: March 10th, 2005 | | Completed: May 12th, 2005 | | Email: StarOceanDC(at)gmail(dot)com | | University of Guelph, Ontario | |____________________________________________________________________________| |~\/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\/~| | || Plot spoilers are omitted wherever possible || | |_||______________________________________________________________________||_| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ O============================================================================O | Table of Contents | O============================================================================O ** In order to navigate this guide I have implemented a Ctrl+f system, which means you press ctrl+f in your browser or word processer to bring up the search menu, then enter the letters in brackets on the right of the section that you're looking for. 1. The Basics..........................................................(000F0) 2. The Characters......................................................(000G0) 3. Full Walkthrough....................................................(00000) i - Theather Ship.................................................(00001) ii - Alexandria...................................................(00002) iii - Alexandria Castle...........................................(00003) iv - Evil Forest..................................................(00004) v - Ice Cavern....................................................(00005) vi - Dali.........................................................(00006) vii - Cargo Ship..................................................(00007) viii - Lindblum...................................................(00008) ix - Qu's Marsh...................................................(00009) x - Gizamaluke's Grotto...........................................(0000A) xi - South Gate...................................................(0000B) xii - Burmecia....................................................(0000C) xiii - Summit Station.............................................(0000D) xiv - Treno.......................................................(0000E) xv - Gargan Roo...................................................(0000F) xvi - Cleyra Trunk................................................(0000G) xvii - Cleyra.....................................................(0000H) xviii - The Red Rose..............................................(0000I) xix - Alexandria..................................................(0000J) xx - Pinnacle Rocks...............................................(0000K) xxi - Lindblum ...................................................(0000L) xxii - Fossil Roo.................................................(0000M) xxiii - Conde Petie...............................................(0000N) xxiv - Black Mage Village.........................................(0000O) xxv - Conde Petie.................................................(0000P) xxvi - Mountain Path..............................................(0000Q) xxvii - Madain Sari...............................................(0000R) xxviii - Iifa Tree................................................(0000S) xxix - Madain Sari................................................(0000T) xxx - Iifa Tree...................................................(0000U) xxxi - Alexandria.................................................(0000V) xxxii - Treno.....................................................(0000W) xxxiii - Alexandria...............................................(0000X) xxxiv - Lindblum..................................................(0000Y) xxxv - Black Mage Village.........................................(0000Z) xxxvi - Desert Palace.............................................(00010) xxxvii - Oeilvert.................................................(00011) xxxviii - Desert Palace...........................................(00012) xl - Esto Gaza....................................................(00013) xli - Mount Gulug.................................................(00014) xlii - Miscellaneous..............................................(00015) xliii - Daguerreo.................................................(00016) xliv - Ipsen's Castle.............................................(00017) xlv - The Shrines.................................................(00018) xlvi - Terra......................................................(00019) xlvii - Bran Bal..................................................(0001A) xlviii - Pandemonium..............................................(0001B) xlix - Black Mage Village.........................................(0001C) l - Memoria.......................................................(0001D) 4. Plot Summary........................................................(00090) i - Theather Ship.................................................(00091) ii - Alexandria...................................................(00092) iii - Alexandria Castle...........................................(00093) iv - Evil Forest..................................................(00094) v - Ice Cavern....................................................(00095) vi - Dali.........................................................(00096) vii - Cargo Ship..................................................(00097) viii - Lindblum...................................................(00098) ix - Qu's Marsh...................................................(00099) x - Gizamaluke's Grotto...........................................(0009A) xi - South Gate...................................................(0009B) xii - Burmecia....................................................(0009C) xiii - Summit Station.............................................(0009D) xiv - Treno.......................................................(0009E) xv - Gargan Roo...................................................(0009F) xvi - Cleyra Trunk................................................(0009G) xvii - Cleyra.....................................................(0009H) xviii - The Red Rose..............................................(0009I) xix - Alexandria..................................................(0009J) xx - Pinnacle Rocks...............................................(0009K) xxi - Lindblum ...................................................(0009L) xxii - Fossil Roo.................................................(0009M) xxiii - Conde Petie...............................................(0009N) xxiv - Black Mage Village.........................................(0009O) xxv - Conde Petie.................................................(0009P) xxvi - Mountain Path..............................................(0009Q) xxvii - Madain Sari...............................................(0009R) xxviii - Iifa Tree................................................(0009S) xxix - Madain Sari................................................(0009T) xxx - Iifa Tree...................................................(0009U) xxxi - Alexandria.................................................(0009V) xxxii - Treno.....................................................(0009W) xxxiii - Alexandria...............................................(0009X) xxxiv - Lindblum..................................................(0009Y) xxxv - Black Mage Village.........................................(0009Z) xxxvi - Desert Palace.............................................(00080) xxxvii - Oeilvert.................................................(00081) xxxviii - Desert Palace...........................................(00082) xl - Esto Gaza....................................................(00083) xli - Mount Gulug.................................................(00084) xlii - Miscellaneous..............................................(00085) xliii - Daguerreo.................................................(00086) xliv - Ipsen's Castle.............................................(00087) xlv - The Shrines.................................................(00088) xlvi - Terra......................................................(00089) xlvii - Bran Bal..................................................(0008A) xlviii - Pandemonium..............................................(0008B) xlix - Black Mage Village.........................................(0008C) l - Memoria.......................................................(0008D) 5. Sidequests..........................................................(000S0) 6. Boss Guide..........................................................(000B0) 7. Shop List...........................................................(000C0) 8. Skill/Spell List....................................................(000D0) 9. Ability List........................................................(000E0) 10. Item List..........................................................(000J0) 11. Moogle List........................................................(000Q0) 12. Stellazzio List....................................................(000V0) 13. Equipment Abilities................................................(000M0) 14. Equipment List.....................................................(000L0) 15. Version History....................................................(000X0) 16. Legal..............................................................(000Y0) 17. Credits............................................................(000Z0) O============================================================================O | The Basics (000F0) | O============================================================================O Final Fantasy IX is a role-playing game, the ninth in the main Final Fantasy Series. You play as Zidane, a thief and member of the group Tantalus who begin the game with a mission to kidnap Princess Garnet, themost beautiful princess in all the land. Everything of course escalates from there in the traditional Final Fantasy style but the story remains unique. Combat is turn based with an ATB battle system meaning that you, your characters and the enemy take turns attacking however the keyword "active" means that if you're just sitting there trying to make up your mind which command to use the enemy won't hesitate to keep attacking, you do however have an infinite amount of time to choose spells and abilities without being attacked. Outside of battle you will either find yourself walking around in a town, dungeon or the world map. The main difference between towns and dungeons besides the aesthetics is the fact that for the most part there are no random battle encounters in town. On the world map you will encounter random battles and have the ability to move between different areas or ride vehicales/Chocobos if you have acquired them. Battles are encountered randomly in this game meaning in dungeons and on the map you will find yourself thrust into battles quite often just by moving around. You will never encounter random battles while standing still. Outside of battle you can customize your characters in the menu screen (press triangle to access the menu.) The first option you will see is item, throughout the game your party will collect items and you can use them in the menu (or in battle.) Some items can only be used in the menu, some can only be used in battle, most can be used in either case. Next we have Abilities. Your characters will learn abilities by equipping different weapons, armour etc and once these abilities have been learned you can equip them (if they're equippable.) Some abilties are spells and such that can be used in battle. The equip menu allows you to change weapons, armour, armlets, headgear and add-ons that you have acquired throughout your quest. Different pieces of equipment not only upgrade your stats but they also teach you abilities if you have them equipped during battle. Each ability on a piece of equipment has a certain amount of AP needed to learn so that once you take off that piece of equipment the ability will still remain. AP is gathered along with experience and Gil at the end of every battle. Experience will allow your characters to level up and increase their stats, Gil is the currency for this game with which you can purchase different items and equipment. The status menu show you the stats, learned abilities and more of whichever character you choose from your active party. HP represents how much damage the character can take before death, MP is how much magic the character can cast before needing to refill, speed, strength, magic and spirit are modifiers for how proficient the character is in getting more turns, attack power, magic power and defense respectively. Attack is the actual stat that will mean the person does more damage when increased, defense is their ability to lower damage received, evade shows how good they are at dodging attacks, magic def is how much damage is reduced from magic attacks and magic eva is how good the character is at dodging magic attacks. Level maxes out at 99. Order allows you to change what row your character fights in. Characters in the back row take 50% less damage from physical attacks but deal 50% less damage physically themselves. This means that attacks should always be in the front row while mages and magic casters are best left in the back row so they will take less damage but their magic power remains as high as possible. Here are the basics as outlined by the great Alleyway Jack. First of all you need at least five cards to play the card game. Speak to someone using the square button to challenge them to a card game, not everyone is willing to play of course. The basic game takes place on a 4X4 grid where you and your opponent take turns placing cards down. If one of your cards has a yellow arrow pointing where you're opponent's does not then that card flips and becomes yours, if two arrows meet then a card battle begins. When a card battle begins if it takes place between more than one card you can choose where the card battle starts and that will in turn affect how the card battle plays out, you can also get combos. If you win a card battle with your opponent all the cards facing in the direction of your opponent's card's arrows will become yours. The same thing happens to you of course if you opponent gets a combo. A perfect game occurs when you flip every one of your opponent's cards, you them win all of his/her cards as opposed to the one card you would normally win from a basic win. More perfect games will increase your collector's level. And so you have the basics of playing the card game. Card shows all the current cards you have, Final Fantasy IX has its own little card game which is best outlined by the great Alleyway Jack. First of all you need at least five cards to play the card game. Speak to someone using the square button to challenge them to a card game, not everyone is willing to play of course. The basic game takes place on a 4X4 grid where you and your opponent take turns placing cards down. If one of your cards has a yellow arrow pointing where you're opponent's does not then that card flips and becomes yours, if two arrows meet then a card battle begins. When a card battle begins if it takes place between more than one card you can choose where the card battle starts and that will in turn affect how the card battle plays out, you can also get combos. If you win a card battle with your opponent all the cards facing in the direction of your opponent's card's arrows will become yours. The same thing happens to you of course if you opponent gets a combo. A perfect game occurs when you flip every one of your opponent's cards, you them win all of his/her cards as opposed to the one card you would normally win from a basic win. More perfect games will increase your collector's level. And so you have the basics of playing the card game. Config will let you change some of the basic game options like battle and text speed, more advanced things like button configuration of personal preferences for the game in general. Basically you should access these as early in the game as possible and set everything up the way you want it, after that point there's pretty much no reason to access this menu ever again. For those wondering how to save the game, saving is performed at save poinrs of course which in this game take the form of Moogles, this is also where you use tents, On the world map press the square button to summon the default save Moogle. O============================================================================O | The Characters (000G0) | O============================================================================O Zidane - Zidane is the main character of this game, he is also a thief. Given that the main character in Final Fantasy IX is a thief, stealing plays an integral part in the game. Unlike previous games most bosses carry three items instead of just one, and they are almost always pieces of equipment that you either have not had a chance to purchase yet, or possibly even thing which cannot be purchased. For this reason Zidane will almost always begin boss fights by stealing from the enemy until all three items are acquired, after that his physical attack are quite strong so he makes a good attacker. He also has special thief skills with various effects like automatic running from battle instantaneously etc. When Zidane goes into Trance his physical attack power increases and he gains the ability to use special skills called Dyne. The Dyne skills Zidane has are directly related to the normal thief skills he has, the more thief skills he's got the more Dyne skills he's got. Dyne attacks are some of the most powerful attacks in the game which is why Zidane averages out to be one of the most useful characters you can have. Vivi - A small Black Mage with a lot of power. Vivi has the ability to cast black magic which is another word for attack magic or offensive magic. Most of his spells are elemental in nature meaning they can be used to either exploit enemy weaknesses or be weakened by enemy defenses depending on how you use them. Vivi's other skill is Focus which simply uses one of his turns in order to increase his magic attack power for the next one. When Vivi goes into Trance his black magic command changes into Double Black allowing him to cast two spells in a single turn, either the same spell or different ones. Steiner - Steiner is the game's knight, he is a powerful attacker who is able to equip strong armour giving him powerful defenses as well. Steiner's Sword Art are special knight attacks which can be learned and have various effects. His Sword Magic is a very unique command where it can only be used if Steiner is in the party alongside Vivi. The spells will use up Steiner's MP, Vivi casts any spell that he has already learned on Steiner's sword which combines the power and element of Vivi's magic with the strength of Steiner's sword to do massive damage to the enemy. When Steiner entes a trance state unlike the other characters he does not gain new abilities, instead his physical attack power just increases almost exponentially, don't underestimate it. Dagger - She is the primary summoner in the game, the summon spells she begins the game with cannot be used due to a serious lack of MP but in time she will get the ability to cast more and more of them. Summon is a command to call down great creates to either attack the enemies or perform other support effects. Dagger is also a white mage so she can heal the party when they need it as well. When she goes into trance her ability and power of summon monsters (Eidolons) increases and lengthens their animations as well. Freya - She's a Lancer in this game. Lancer's are special dragon knights who wield deadly spears and have the ability to jump high in the air coming down on their enemies with tremendous force. Lancer's also learn dragon magic which are various magic spells with differing effects. When Freya goes into Trance her jump command changes so that rather than firing a single spear down on the enemy, she rains spears down and remains in the air instead of coming down after each spear is thrown to maximize speed and power equally. Quina - The game's blue mage. Unlike previous games where you had to be hit by a spell to learn it, Quina lears his/her spells by eating enemies and then seeing if they taste good or bad. If they taste good then he/she may learn a new magic skills from them. In order to eat an enemy you must first damage it to the point where it has less than about 1/8 of its HP remaining. When Quina goes into trance it can now not only Eat an enemy but also Cook them as well, this means you don't need to deal nearly as much damage beforehand. Eiko - A similar character to Dagger except somewhat opposite. Dagger emphasizes summoning and can also cast white magic while Eiko emphasizes white magic and can also cast summon spells. Her arsenal of white magic is quite extensive and when she goes into Trance, similar to Vivi her white magic changes into Double White and allows her to cast two spells in one turn. Amarant - Amarant is Final Fantasy's IX's monk. He uses the power of his own hands to smash all those who defy him. Of course he comes with powerful monk abilities too which often focus on the monk's uncanny ability to channel it's power into a healing force, healing others around them or even bringing them back from an unconscious state. One other ability Amarant possesses is the ability to throw weapons you have in your inventory. In a Trance state he can use two monk abilities in a single turn and his power is greatly enhanced. O============================================================================O | Full Walkthrough (00000) | O============================================================================O __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Theater Ship | (00001) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o You start off in control of your character | | in a dark room. Approach the table in the | None...................... / | middle of the room and light the candle | | using the X button. You've barely started o------------------------------o the game and it's time to fight already! O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Masked Man | HP: 160 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Potion | | For the very first boss you have a party of |----------------------------| | four thieves meaning that stealing is quite | Wrist | | quick and easy. Be sure that you steal the |----------------------------| | three items the boss has and then from there | Mage Masher | | you can attack until he drops, the fight is O============================o | designed to give you a feel for the battle | | system, it's not meant to be difficult. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Alexandria | (00002) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o If you're getting annoying my that little | | hand above the charater's head press | Potion................._____ | triangle to go to your menu and select | Goblin Card............_____ | config, from there you can turn off the HERE | Potion................._____ | icon. Stick to the left side of the path | Potion................._____ | and look for an exclamation point icon above | Flan Card.............._____ | your character's head, when you see this | 27 Gil................._____ | press X and you'll find a 'Potion.' | Goblin Card............_____ | Continue up to the next screen. Move toward | Fang Card.............._____ | the camera and check the grass on the left | Skeleton Card.........._____ | and right sides to find 'Goblin Card' and | Ether.................._____ | 'Potion.' Enter the house above you and | Phoenix Pinion........._____ | check the lower right corner for a | Eye Drops.............._____ | 'Potion,' and the lower left corner for a | Potion................._____ | 'Flan Card.' Before leaving check the floor | 92 Gil................._____ | on the left side to get '27 Gil.' Leave the | | building and continue left. Go into the o------------------------------o shop on the right side and you'll find '38 Gil' in there. You can also make some purchases if you wish. Just a quick note, if you head to the Southern part of town right beside the entrance you can go into the house on the right for a few items and another item across the street, they're mentioned later in the guide but it's just a bit of a heads up for now. Nothing much decent anyway. Head up and approach the ticket booth and speak to the person there. He'll give you a 'Goblin Card,' 'Fang Card,' and o- Item Shop ------------------o 'Skeleton Card.' Enter the shop on the | | right (the synthesis shop) and check the | Potion................50 Gil | ground to find an 'Ether.' Back in the main | Phoenix Down.........150 Gil | square again as you head up toward the top | Antidote..............50 Gil | you can find a 'Phoenix Pinion' on the left | Eye Drops.............50 Gil | side. Speak to the children playing jump | Tent.................800 Gil | rope, if you do well you can win some nifty | | prizes. When you see the exclamation point o------------------------------o press X to jump and press it in time with the rope to keep jumping. Timing is important here, not speed, so button mashing won't work. Proceed down the path on your left. When the rat kid offers you a proposal, agree to it and tell him that no one is coming. If you speak to the man who appears in the alley you can get a tutorial on the card game if you wish. Follow the rat kid down the alley to the next screen. Before going into the steeple check the house on the left first, the door is between the two patches of grass. Check beside the table to get some 'Eye Drops.' Enter the steeple and check the right side to find a 'Potion' on the ground. When you try to climb the ladder a Moogle will drop down. Moogles are the save points in this game so speak to the Moogle and save your game. Also speak to the Moogle and learn about Mognet. Kupo will give you a letter to take to Monty and you should accept it of course. After you've saved the game climb up to the top of the ladder. Cross over the platforms and make your way to the upper left house, if you examine the chimney you'll get '92 Gil.' Head over to where Puck is waiting and watch the cutscene that follows. You'll be thrown into a battle automatically. The steal command is replaced by the SFX command which allows you to use some dazzling special effects spells that actually don't do any damage at all, and since the fight ends when King Leo has taken a certain amount of damage there's little reason aside from aesthetic appeal to use anything other than normal attacks. Don't even target the henchmen, just King Leo. Next come the sword-fighting chapter. For this part you will have to perform a sword fight against blank to impress the queen. All you really have to do is execute the commands that Blank calls out to you, you're judged on quickness and correctness, correctness obviously being the most important one, missing a command should be avoided at all costs, focus on doing it right not doing it fast. Doing this well can earn you nearly 1000 Gil so there's good incentive to do it right. If you screw up you can try it again too so feel free to repeat it until you're satisfied with your performance. Watch the scene when you're done the sword fight. __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Alexandria Castle | (00003) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o Start by going up the stairs and a scene | | will automatically take over. With control | Phoenix Down..........._____ | of Steiner now, head into the room on the | 47 Gil................._____ | right to find another Moogle, it's not the | Potion................._____ | Moogle you're looking for to deliver the | Phoenix Pinion........._____ | letter, but you can save your game if you | Phoenix Down..........._____ | wish. Select Mognet anyway and you can read | | a different letter the Moogle received. o------------------------------o Examine the lower left corner to find a 'Phoenix Down' and then leave the room. At the bottom of the stairs move up into the next room and descend down the main staircase. Continue down to leave through the main doors. When you reach the fountain there's a quick text bubble, after that head left and go through the door. Climb the large circular stairs all the way up to the top. As Zidane proceed past the door on your right. Ignore Ruby and the princess for now, go down the stairs and examine the ground on the upper left side to find '47 Gil.' You'll also find a 'Potion' directly across from it. Go back upstairs again and speak with Ruby. When she moves follow her downstairs. After the scene examine the engine right above you and turn the wheel to the left, then turn it to the right. You may have noticed while doing this that two objects fell down, these were actually treasure chests so descend the stairs at the top and go around behind the engine to get the first one containing 'Phoenix Pinion' and the second one containing 'Phoenix Down.' Now leave this room. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Steiner | HP: 200 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Silk Shirt | | Be sure to steal from this boss before you |----------------------------| | start attacking, you've still got three | Leather Hat | | thieves in your party so it isn't exactly the |----------------------------| | hardest thing you'll have to do. The game | N/A | | is still at the point where these fights are O============================o | only part of the story sequence and aren't | | meant to be difficult. Little more than normal physical attacks are | | needed to defeat Steiner and while it probably won't even come up, if need | | be you can always heal your party using the Potions in your inventory. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o After the battle another scene will occur until you are thrust into yet another battle with Steiner. This is a simple normal fight, ignore the knights he has with him and just use normal physical attacks with everyone except Vivi who should cast the Fire spell. You don't have the Steal command so don't worry about anything like that. Another scene follows this. For the next battle have everyone in the group use the Defend command over and over, it doesn't matter how much you hit Steiner the fight is completely scripted so you're better off defending than attacking pointlessly. When the battle ends there's a cutscene and everything proceeds from here automatically. __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Evil Forest | (00004) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o After you land in the Evil Forest you'll get | | a quick tutorial on Active Time Events which | Phoenix Down..........._____ | are basically just optional scenes you can | Bronze Gloves.........._____ | watch if you want (though some aren't | Wrist.................._____ | optional.) With control of Zidane once | Ether.................._____ | again speak to the Moogle. You can't do | 116 Gil................_____ | anything with Mognet but you can save your | Ether.................._____ | game, so do that. Above the Moogle beside | Rubber Helm............_____ | the corpse you can find a 'Phoenix Down' on | Potion................._____ | the ground. Run down through the log at the | Ether.................._____ | lower right corner. I would recommend you | Blank's Medicine......._____ | level up in this area to approximately level | Moogle's Flute........._____ | four and stay on this screen while doing it. | | It doesn't take very long and you'll be o------------------------------o happy you did. Assuming you stole the items from the previous bosses you can upgrade Zidane's equipment with the Mage Masher and the Silk Shirt. After leveling up return to the Moogle, save your game and heal then head right past the area where you were leveling up to find a large enemy on the next screen. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Prison Cage | HP: 500 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | N/A | | At the beginning of this battle you will get |----------------------------| | a tutorial on Trance, what Trance is, is like | N/A | | previous build-up specials from the other |----------------------------| | games, Limit Breaks etc. When you take | N/A | | enough damage the little bar below your O============================o | health builds up and you go into a Trance | | statue which is different for every character. In Zidane's case he gets | | the ability to use special "Dyne" attacks as well as increased power to | | physical attacks. Since the boss doesn't have anything to steal you're | | free to attack all you want, whatever you do however do not use the Dyne | | ability Tidal Flame otherwise you'll end up completely wasting Garnet. | | The boss will siphon Garnet's HP repeatedly throughout the battle but you | | have the ability to select a Potion from your inventory and use it on her | | whenever you want. All you really need to is use the Free Energy Dyne on | | the boss two times to kill it, no need to even heal Garnet at all. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Prison Cage | HP: 500 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Broadsword | | Same basic battle except with Vivi in the |----------------------------| | trap this time. On the positive side Vivi | Leather Wrist | | will be using magic on the boss the whole |----------------------------| | time. On the negative side since you aren't | N/A | | in a Trance state it will take you longer to O============================o | kill the boss and you will probably have to | | use a Potion or two on Vivi. It will also take longer because the boss | | actually has items to steal this time so use your thieving abilities to | | grab both of them. After that normal attacks work fine assuming you break | | in between to heal Vivi, Zidane and Steiner aren't at much risk. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o There's a couple of Active Time Events to watch after the battle is won. Open the treasure chest beside Baku to get a pair of 'Bronze Gloves.' Also check the chest at the bottom of the stairs on the left to get a 'Wrist.' Enter the room on the right and speak with Vivi. There's a chest at the top containing 'Ether,' and up the ladder on top of the bed is '116 Gil.' After leaving the room say that you want to go look for Garnet. Head through the left door and open the chest below you to get 'Ether.' In the room downstairs in front of Marcus you'll find a 'Rubber Helm' at the top. Check the room on the right to find Baku. Before leaving the room open the chest below you containing 'Potion.' Speak with Baku when you're prepared to enter a battle. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Baku | HP: 250 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Hi-Potion | | Baku's attacks are pretty weak and even then |----------------------------| | sometimes he ends up just falling down on his | Iron Sword | | way to attack you, this will mean it's quite |----------------------------| | easy to steal both the items he has. After | N/A | | it's just a matter of dealing a couple O============================o | hundred damage, maybe two - three hits max. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o After the battle ascend the stairs and go through the door that is no longer being guarded by Marcus to recruit Steiner into your party. Go back into the room after getting him and open the chest for an 'Ether.' Return to Vivi's room and recruit him as well. Leave the ship through the door below where you fought Baku, Blank will give you some of 'Blank's Medicine' before you go. Take Baku's advice and set each of your character's abilities. Enter the menu, select ability and then equip. The number beside the green orb on your character's profile is the total amount of abilities they can hold, each ability has a o- Item Shop ------------------o different value depending on how good it is. | | At this point each of your characters can | Potion................50 Gil | probably equip all of their abilities. | Phoenix Down.........150 Gil | Speak with Cinna and you can make some | Antidote..............50 Gil | purchases if you wish. Speak with the | Eye Drops.............50 Gil | Moogle and ask about Mognet, you should get | Tent.................800 Gil | a letter from him. Follow the path down | | into the forest. It remains pretty straight o------------------------------o forward until you reach another Moogle. If you examine the water stream your HP & MP will be recovered back to maximum. Speak to the Moogle in the tree stump, you finally found Monty, the Moogle you have the letter for. After reading the letter once read it again and he'll show you a letter from Stiltzkin. This is a recurring theme in the game, after reading a letter for the first time you should always read it again in case something else happens. Save your game and continue along the path. You'll probably want to get Steiner and vivi to at least level three before you proceed any further after the cutscene. Prepare for a boss fight. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Plant Brain | HP: 1500 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Eye Drops | | By most standards, this is going to be your |----------------------------| | first real boss fight, meaning that a game | Iron Helm | | over is quite a realistic possibility, but |----------------------------| | hopefully you leveled up a little bit before | N/A | | the battle. The boss will use an an ability O============================o | which puts all your allies under the Darkness | | status making it so their attacks miss more often. This is fine because | | Zidane should Steal, which can't miss, Vivi should use Fire, which can't | | miss, and Steiner should use the new ability Sword Mag and select the Fire | | spell which can't miss and deals over 400 damage. In fact you may want | | to hold off on this so you don't accidentally defeat the boss before you | | Steal all the stuff. At around 900 damage Blank will join the battle, | | you may want to just get him into the fight since he has the Steal command | | and it'll make grabbing both items go faster. After that use Fire Sword | | magic to finish him off. If you're having trouble staying alive make | | sure to check your inventory and notice that a lot of the equipment you | | have reduces Thunder damage by 50%, since Thunder is one of the boss' | | primary spells you'll want to equip as much of that stuff as possible. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o You're not out of woods yet (pardon the pun), a number of plant spawn will begin to chase you down. Run as fast as you can to avoid battles with them. When you get into a battle you can defeat them all relatively easy and quickly. Select Vivi's Fire spell and press R1 to target all enemies, this should defeat every one of them in a single turn. Keep running and a scene takes over. In the morning you can read through a little tutorial about the new stuff that's available now, but you've got most of the basics down already. The most important thing to note is that you can call for a save Moogle on the world map using the square button thanks to the 'Moogle's Flute.' Directly South of you there is a kind of blue door in the side of the mountain, when you approach it the words "Ice Cavern" appear and you can press X to go inside, this is your next destination so you might as well go in. __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Ice Cavern | (00005) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o Examine the step with the chest on it to | | jump up and then open the chest to get a | Tent..................._____ | 'Tent.' Hop up again and head up to the | Ether.................._____ | next screen. Climb the stairs on the right | Potion................._____ | side and examine the ice wall. You might | Elixir................._____ | notice there is a burst of air coming across | Potion................._____ | the path up to the top, if you are hit by | Mage Masher............_____ | this burst of air it will trigger a battle | Phoenix Down..........._____ | automatically. What you need to do is just | Leather Wrist.........._____ | wait for it to subside and then move, unless | 135 Gil................_____ | of course you wish to fight more battles, | Hi-Potion.............._____ | then by all means. You will come across | | these air bursts periodically throughout the o------------------------------o cave, the same thing applies to all of them. Use Vivi to knock down the wall and get the 'Ether' from the chest inside. There's another staircase on the left but ignore it for the moment and follow the path that goes around behind it to find a chest containing 'Potion.' Ascend the stairs and exit this room. Make a left at the fork and run up to the top where you will come across another wall that Vivi can knock down using his magic. Inside the treasure chest you will find an 'Elixir.' Also make sure you climb across the pillar at the bottom to find a chest containing 'Potion.' Run down the pillar and examine the left side to have Vivi knock it over, allowing you to open the chest containing 'Mage Masher.' Make your way up to the next screen, take the right branch at the fork and open the chest for a 'Phoenix Down.' At the intersection take the left path to a section of the wall that Vivi can knock down. This path leads around to a chest with a 'Leather Wrist' inside. Head back to the intersection and go up to the next screen. Go left at the fork and examine the Moogle. After another tutortial from the great Mogster you can speak to this Moogle. Use Mognet and he'll ask you to deliver a letter to Gumo for him. Since you should have a Tent in your inventory and you'll probably seed it, use a tent and save your game. When you think you're ready to fight a boss go back and take the right branch at the fork for a scene. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Black Waltz 1 & Sealion | HP: 250 & 450 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Remedy | | The first two items on the right are stolen |----------------------------| | from the Black Waltz while the second two are | Silk Shirt | | stolen from the Sealion. The second two are |----------------------------| | are really the only ones that matter so go | Ether | | for them. By the time you've got both items |----------------------------| | Zidane will most like be in a Trance state. | Mythril Dagger | | The Tidal Flame Dyne attack will not only O============================o | kill off the Black Waltz in a single hit, it | | will also damage the Sealion so much to the point where a single physical | | hit will likely kill it, so as you can see the most difficult part of this | | battle is trying to stay healed while stealing all the goodies. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o Once the battle is over climb up the top and exit the cave. You'll see the village in the distance and beside it is some kind of mountain, before you visit the village head there first. When you arrive go over to the right side and examine the ground to find '135 Gil.' There's also a hidden chest below the front door containing 'Hi-Potion.' Enter the house and speak to the man inside, it seems he's looking for some rare coffee and it's going to be your job to bring it to him. With that taken care of, head off to the village. __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Dali | (00006) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o There's a scene right as you enter the | | village of Dali. In the morning check the | Potion................._____ | lower left corner of your inn room for a | Antidote..............._____ | hidden chest containing 'Potion.' There's | Aries.................._____ | also a much more visible chest at the lower | 156 Gil................_____ | right with 'Antidote' inside. Leave the | Potion................._____ | room and speak to Gumo, remember that you | Eye Drops.............._____ | have a letter to him from Mois. Leave the | Ether.................._____ | inn and go into the shop on your left. You | Potion................._____ | can purchase all sorts of new equipment | Iron Helm.............._____ | here. Actually the only real "new" piece of | 95 Gil................._____ | equipment is the Feather Hat, but you can | Phoenix Down..........._____ | buy things like leather Wrists for everyone | Potion................._____ | and so on. This would be a good time to | Phoenix Pinion........._____ | mention something, selling old equipment is | | actually not such a good idea in this game. o------------------------------o You haven't seen them yet but later there are special shops called synthesis shops which take not only money but also other pieces of equipment to create special equipment and if you sell it all off then you won't have any way to get all the great stuff. If you're desperate for money then Ethers are a great source of income, you don't really need those all that much. If you need items check the shop at the top of town, on Vivi's right. Next enter the building on Vivi's left, around behind the moving pillar you'll find 'Aries' on the ground. Leave the house and speak with Vivi. Just as an aside you may have noticed a number of places or treasure chests you'd really like to get but seem o- Item Shop ------------------o inaccessible, the fact is that at the moment | | they ARE inaccessible, there comes a time | Potion................50 Gil | later when you can return here and get them, | Phoenix Down.........150 Gil | when that time comes I'll be sure to let you | Antidote..............50 Gil | know. Enter the shop again and speak with | Eye Drops.............50 Gil | Dagger. Return to the inn and speak with | Tent.................800 Gil | Dagger to trigger a scene. Aferward when | | you're sent to look for Vivi approach the o------------------------------o spot where he was standing most recently for yet another scene. In order to get o- Weapon Shop ----------------o underground go into the house on your left | | and examine the large cover on the ground in | Dagger...............320 Gil | front of you. Opt to climb down. There is | Mage Masher..........500 Gil | a lever that operates the small elevator to | Broadsword...........330 Gil | lower you down to the path below. Open the | Iron Sword...........660 Gil | chest at your feet when you stop to get '156 | Rod..................260 Gil | Gil,' then follow the path up. After a | Mage Staff...........320 Gil | quick event check the little gazebo where | Wrist................130 Gil | the people were holding Vivi to find a chest | Leather Wrist........200 Gil | containing 'Potion,' and another directly | Bronze Gloves........480 Gil | across containing 'Eye Drops.' Examine the | Leather Hat..........150 Gil | barrel in the next room to reveal a Moogle, | Feather Hat..........200 Gil | this is Kumop and he wants you to deliver a | Rubber Helm..........250 Gil | letter to Mogki, obviously you should agree. | Bronze Helm..........330 Gil | Save your game then go around behind the | Leather Shirt........270 Gil | barrel, when you see the exclamation point | Silk Shirt...........400 Gil | icon press X to jump on the box and from | Bronze Armor.........650 Gil | there jump up to the chest containing | | 'Ether.' Beside the door check the crank o------------------------------o when the question mark icon appears and opt to kick it, this makes a treasure chest fall down with 'Potion' inside. There's a number of things to do in the first room, start by opening the chest on the right side to get 'Leather Wrist,' then jump up to the top of the boxes on the left so you can access the second treasure box containing 'Iron Helm.' Watch the scene in the next room and then open the chest at the top to get '95 Gil.' If you choose to go through the door above you (which you should, but it IS optional) then you'll have to fight a battle against a couple of normal enemies, no big deal. Check the room to find two visible chests and one hidden chest containing 'Phoenix Down,' 'Potion,' and 'Phoenix Pinion.' Leave the room and continue to the right to trigger another event. As Steiner descend down the stairs and speak with Morrid to continue the scene. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Black Waltz 2 | HP: 1000 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Steepled Hat | | The Black Waltz will not target Dagger under |----------------------------| | circumstance so you don't have to worry about | Leather Plate | | her much, but she's got a big responsibility |----------------------------| | keeping the rest of your party alive. The | N/A | | boss is fast and powerful, a deadly combo O============================o | here. Start the fight by stealing his items | | then use Steiner's Magic Sword and Zidane's normal attack for damage, | | Vivi's magic is iffy because it doesn't hurt the boss too much and it | | causes him to counterattack with magic on his own, so if you're going to | | use Vivi you may as well use Focus a few times first beforehand. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o When asked if you want to go back and take a rest, make sure you say that you do. Afterward save your game at the Moogle in the inn. When you're ready to proceed head back to the area where the cargo ship stopped and get on. __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Cargo Ship | (00007) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o With control of Zidane again head toward the | | top and climb up the ladder. Speak to | None...................... / | Steiner then go into the main pilot area. | | After the scene you'll have a chance to o------------------------------o equip your party before battle. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Black Waltz 3 | HP: 1200 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Steepled Hat | | Vivi automatically gets to Trance at the |----------------------------| | beginning of this battle. This is the first | Linen Cuirass | | of many infuriating battles where the steal |----------------------------| | rates are just so inhumanly low that it does | Silver Gloves | | nothing for the game at all. Take this O============================o | circumstance for example. With the Bandit | | ability on which increases your steal chances, a total of 25 attempts to | | steal his third item, 15 wasted Potions, 5 wasted Hi-Potions, and a game | | over screen. The factor can get extremely frustrating and it's going to | | to continue this way for the rest of the game. If you have no interest in | | stealing the boss' items then this will just be a breeze. Have Vivi | | double cast Fire on the boss while the other two use normal attacks. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Lindblum | (00008) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o Follow the minister to the next room but | | instead of stepping on the elevator ascend | Glass Armlet..........._____ | the stairs on your right. Proceed through | Ether.................._____ | the door at the top of the stairs. You'll | 163 Gil................_____ | find a treasure chest on the second level of | Echo Screen............_____ | this area containing 'Glass Armlet.' Open | Hi-Potion.............._____ | the chest at the top to get an 'Ether' and | Tent..................._____ | then speak to the Moogle. This is Mogki, | Silver Gloves.........._____ | the Moogle you have a letter for. After | Leather Wrist.........._____ | reading it, read it one more time and he'll | Mimic Card............._____ | ask you to deliver a letter to Atla. Save | Steepled Hat..........._____ | your game then return back to where you are | Ore...................._____ | supposed to go, down from the fountain. | 127 Gil................_____ | Another lengthy scene follows until you | 68 Gil................._____ | finally have control of Zidane in Lindblum | 282 Gil................_____ | again, now is when the real exploring | 97 Gil................._____ | begins. You can get a tutorial on synthesis | Mini-Burmecia.........._____ | shops if you want, but it's not too | Coral Ring............._____ | complicated. Speak to the Moogle in the | Master Hunter.........._____ | next room and ask about Mognet to get a | Tent..................._____ | letter from Ruby. Save your game and go | | downstairs. Check the lower left corner to o------------------------------o find '163 Gil' then leave the inn. Head up to reach the next screen of town. Go through the door just above you, beside the fish cart. There are two treasure chests in this house containing 'Echo Screen' and 'Hi-Potion.' Exit the house and o- Item Shop ------------------o go up the path on your left. Check around | | the tree beside the main door to the church | Potion................50 Gil | and you'll find a 'Tent.' Return to the | Phoenix Down.........150 Gil | previous screen and take the upper right | Echo Screen...........50 Gil | path this time, it leads to the shopping | Soft.................100 Gil | district. Check out the synthesis shop at | Antidote..............50 Gil | the upper left corner, you can see what kind | Eye Drops.............50 Gil | of items you're going to need to create | Tent.................800 Gil | these special pieces of equipment. You can | | also pick up the 'Silver Gloves' from the o------------------------------o table at the back left. Make whatever weapons and armour you need then check out o- Weapon Shop ----------------o the weapon and item shops across the street. | | When this is done your next destination is | Dagger...............320 Gil | the air cab station across from the inn | Mage Masher..........500 Gil | where you first came from. Choose to fly | Mythril Dagger.......950 Gil | to the Industrial District and go up. | Iron Sword...........660 Gil | | Javelin..............880 Gil | When you climb the stairs here go left and | Rod..................260 Gil | down a bit, below the cat, to find a | Fork................1100 Gil | 'Leather Wrist.' Ascend the stairs at the | Leather Wrist........200 Gil | top and go up to the house at the far end of | Glass Armlet.........250 Gil | the road. You'll find two chests upstairs | Bronze Gloves........480 Gil | containing 'Mimic Card' and 'Steepled Hat.' | Silver Gloves........720 Gil | With that it's time to return to the air cab | Steepled Hat.........260 Gil | and head off to the theater district. Enter | Headgear.............330 Gil | the house directly below the exit of the | Iron Helm............450 Gil | station to find a chest containing 'Ore.' | Leather Plate........530 Gil | Just outside the door down toward the camera | Linen Cuirass........800 Gil | at the bottom there's a stash of '127 Gil.' | | Descend the stairs on the left side and head o------------------------------o o- Synthesis Shop --------------- Required Items ----------------------------o | | | Butterfly Sword......300 Gil Dagger.................Mage Masher......... | | The Ogre.............700 Gil Mage Masher............Mage Masher......... | | Cotton Robe.........1000 Gil Wrist..................Steepled Hat........ | | Desert Boots.........300 Gil Leather Hat............Leather Shirt....... | | Yellow Scarf.........400 Gil Feather Hat............Steepled Hat........ | | Glass Buckle.........500 Gil Glass Armlet...........Leather Wrist....... | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o through the door. This is the Tantalus home base. After the scene open all the chests here to get '68 Gil,' '282 Gil,' and '97 Gil.' Also climb up the ladder on the left side and grab the 'Mini-Burmecia.' Your next destination is the Lindblum castle so get on the air cab and ride it to the castle. When you get off head down and into the castle. Enter the bedroom again where the princess is being guarded. You'll find Steiner there, after talking to him use the Moogle to save your game. Try to get onto the elevator but the guard won't let you on. Return to the previous room and speak to the guard downstairs who is asleep. Once you've got his outfit you can pass the guard in front of the elevator and ride it up to the top. Climb the stairs on the left and make your way up to the top, watch the scene when you arrive. When you're looking through the telescope move it around to find different exclamation point and press X to examine them. Once you've seen them all the scene continues from here automatically, and goes on for a while. It's time to participate in the Festival of the hunt. Zidane's prize will be Gil while Freya's is an Add-On and Vivi's is a Card. You have no control over who wins the tournament, althrough the Add-On is probably better than the money so if Freya wins don't bother resetting or anything. The Add-On isn't anything too special or unique so why not try to get Zidane to win. Basically what you have to do is run around town defeating as many monsters as you can before the time is up to maximize your score. Save your game at the Moogle and equip Zidane with the best equipment you have, which should almost definitely include "The Ogre" as his weapon. Also be sure to give him the Leather Wrist as opposed to the Glass Buckle so he can have the Beast Killer ability (unless he already learned it) and the Yellow Scarf so he gets the Bird Killer ability, with this you're more than prepared. Leave the castle and head for the air cab, when you're ready to begin ride it to the Theater District. Once you disembark it's time to begin the Festival of the Hunt! You're pretty much guaranteed to win this if you defeat that large beast monster you saw in an earlier scene, I'll tell you how to get to it when it becomes available but for now start exploring the Theater District for all the enemies you can find. Don't waste too much time however, start by saving the man being attacked by a Mu. One interesting thing to take into consideration is that the timer doesn't move any faster or slower depending on your battle speed, so at least for this part if you have it at anything lower that max speed you're only hindering your performance. Run down past Tantalus' lair and a bird will attack you as you go. with the Bird Killer ability it will fall in a single hit. Descend the stairs and wait by the barrels, within a few seconds a beast will appear and jump over them to attack you. Now turn around and make your way back to the air cab. Right before you go back into the station battle the bird perched atop the stairs, at the end of the battle you're doing fine if you've got approximately nine minutes remaining. Get on the air cab and ride it to the Industrial District. Defeat the monster chasing the dog around the statue here. When you go to ascend the stairs at the top a Mu will appear and attack. If all has been going well so far you probably won't be leading, but it'll be close after that Mu. Continue up the stairs and ignore the bird flying overhead, defeat the Mu up at the top. At this point you'll be down to about six minutes. Return to the air cab and ride it to the business district. You'll probably be attacked by a bird as you exit, don't worry, just smash it. There should also be a Mu nearby on this screen as well. Continue up to the next screen. Now if you have more than four minutes left on the clock at this point fight the beast standing around on the left. If you have less than four minutes ignore all the monsters and run to the shopping area at the upper right. Here you will find the large beast, the ultimate enemy! You'll fight it with Freya's help. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Zaghnol | HP: 1500 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Mythril Gloves | | Here's how I would recommend proceeding with |----------------------------| | this fight. The points actually go to | Needle Fork | | whoever deals the finishing blow so you can |----------------------------| | easily make that Freya's job. For the record | N/A | | Zidane's prize is 5000 Gil while Freya's O============================o | prize is a Coral Ring, something superior to | | the money at this point in the game. You'll also be able to pick up two | | other new special items if you steal from this thing so here's what to | | do. If you have Zidane equipped with Beast Killer and The Ogre each of | | his attacks will deal about 600 damage while Freya's Jump will deal about | | 300 damage. If you started the battle at about four minutes have Zidane | | attack once and then steal every turn after that while Freya Jumps twice | | and then waits for you to steal both items before jumping again. If you | | are low on time have Zidane attack twice so it is almost dead and then | | pray you can grab both items before time is up, not that they're ultra | | rare or anything. Who makes the final blow here is up to you. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o Assuming you let Freya win you'll get a 'Coral Ring' at this point, otherwise a reward of 5000 Gil. If Vivi won for whatever reason, you'll get a card like he said. Also as a bonus reward you receive the 'Master Hunter.' There's a scene that follows this ceremony and then afterward you need to head for the elevator. Ride it down to Base Level and then get on the left trolley which takes you o- Serpent's Gate -------------o to Dragon's Gate. Check to the right of the | | exit door when you arrive to find a hidden | Potion................50 Gil | chest containing 'Tent' then speak to the | Phoenix Down.........150 Gil | Moogle. Talk to him about Mognet, it's not | Echo Screen...........50 Gil | Atla, but he does have a letter from | Soft.................100 Gil | Stiltzkin. Speak to the guy above the | Antidote..............50 Gil | Moogle and he'll sell you some items before | Eye Drops.............50 Gil | you head off on your journey. The time has | Tent.................800 Gil | finally come to leave Lindblum. Make your | | way North and about half way between the o------------------------------o Dragon's Gate and Gizamaluke's Grotto you'll come across an area of marshland, head in. __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Qu's Marsh | (00009) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o Start running up, past the Moogles, through | | the tall grass up to the swamp where you'll | None...................... / | find an odd looking... thing trying to catch | | frogs. Head to the right side and grab the o------------------------------o frog just sitting on the ground then talk to the thing again. A scene follows and when it is over Quina will now be a member of your party. Quina is equivalent to the classic notion of a Final Fantasy Blue Mage, his/her ability to eat enemies will sometimes result in learning new enemy skills if they taste good. It's an interesting spin on the old idea where you don't have to sit around like an idiot waiting for the spells to be cast on you. You can start by eating a few of the enemies in the marshland, if I'm not misteken you can learn a spell or two. You'll also want to equip Quina with the Needle Fork if you stole it from the boss. When you're ready then you need to leave the marsh and continue on your trek North toward Gizamaluke's Grotto. __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Gizamaluke's Grotto | (0000A) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o Enter the cave and go right, speak to the | | wounded soldier on the floor to get | Gizamaluke Bell........_____ | 'Gizamaluke Bell.' Examine the door and | Gizamaluke Bell........_____ | choose to ring the bell. When you enter the | Gizamaluke Bell........_____ | next room you'll automatically be thrown | Magus Hat.............._____ | into a battle. Take out the other Black | Gizamaluke Bell........_____ | Mage wandering around in the centre of the | Holy Bell.............._____ | room as well. For doing that you get | | another 'Gizamaluke Bell.' Climb the stairs o------------------------------o in the middle and examine the door on the left. Head around the walkway and get the next 'Gizamaluke Bell' form the soldier. Descend the stairs and use it on the door on the far right side. This leads around underneath the bridge where you will find a 'Magus Hat' if you press X when the exclamation point appears. Approach the large bell for a quick scene. After it's over open the chest to get another 'Gizamaluke Bell' and use it to open the door on the right. Speak to Mogmi and check the Mognet for an interesting letter from Moodon, but you still haven't found Atla yet. After that save your game, then when you try to leave the other Moogle stops you and gives you the 'Holy Bell.' You can use this to unlock the door on the left side, head in and watch the scene. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Gizamaluke | HP: 3000 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Elixir | | Before the battle make sure everyone is |----------------------------| | wearing Heagear and Glass Armlet. Make sure | Magus Hat | | Freya is wearing the Bronze Helm. All three |----------------------------| | of these pieces of equipment reduce Water | Ice Staff | | damage by 50% and Water is one of the boss' O============================o | primary attacks along with Crash, its main | | physical attack. The boss counterattacks just about every normal attack | | with the Crash ability but will not counterattack against skills like | | Jump so use that as much as possible after you've stolen the items you | | want. If you cast magic on the boss he will automatically counter with | | a silence spell, I'm pretty sure none of the equipment you've found | | so far has the Loudmouth ability, but if any of it does then putting it | | on Vivi would be a geat idea, otherwise just Echo Screen him a lot. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ South Gate | (0000B) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o When you get through the gate speak with the | | woman near the alley, then the man. After | Gate Pass.............._____ | that talk to the rhinoceros man working on | Potion................._____ | the gate on your left then talk to the man | | again. The coast should be clear at this o------------------------------o point, as you approach the alley you'll be confronted by a guard. After he's gone you get a 'Gate Pass' and you can finally move to the alley. Now you can speak to the guy in the booth on the right and purchase some items if you wish. Open the o- Item Shop ------------------o chest on your left to get a 'Potion,' then | | speak to the Moogle right below it. Speak | Potion................50 Gil | to him about Mognet and he'll ask you to | Phoenix Down.........150 Gil | deliver a letter to Nazna. Save your game | Echo Screen...........50 Gil | then speak to the person at the door of the | Soft.................100 Gil | train to get on board. Once you're on the | Antidote..............50 Gil | train you'll be witness to a scene and then | Eye Drops.............50 Gil | back at Gizamaluke's Grotto again. The | Tent.................800 Gil | Kingdom of Burmecia is located directly | | North of the exit on the world map. o------------------------------o __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Burmecia | (0000C) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o Check the debris on the left side of the | | road to find the 'Cancer' among it. When | Cancer................._____ | you go to the next screen there's a quick | Soft..................._____ | scene under the balcony. You'll have to | Potion................._____ | fight a normal battle but it's nothing | Soft..................._____ | particularly difficult. Proceed through the | Germinas Boots........._____ | door on the left. There's a chest directly | Ether.................._____ | on your right when you enter containing | Protection Bell........_____ | 'Soft,' and another on your left containing | Phoenix Down..........._____ | 'Potion.' Leave the room and go up to the | Tent..................._____ | right side, through that door you will find | Mythril Spear.........._____ | a chest behind the staircase that is | Lightning Staff........_____ | somewhat hidden by the railing, it has a | Soft..................._____ | 'Soft.' At the top of the stairs there's a | Hi-Potion.............._____ | chest close to the screen, when you approach | Ether.................._____ | this chest it comes alive and attacks you! | Kupo Nut..............._____ | Like most normal enemies it will drop in a | | couple of hits though and you should get a o------------------------------o couple decent items for defeating it. Head left but ignore the door and continue to the next room. The path ahead of you will drop, I can't remember if it automatically drops after you get the chest or if it drops right when you run on it. o- Atla's Mogshop -------------o The point is that I slowly walked across | | using the D-pad and just to be safe you | Needle Fork.........3100 Gil | should too, the chest on the other side | Glass Armlet.........250 Gil | contains 'Germinas Boots' which you probably | Mythril Gloves.......980 Gil | don't have yet. Once the platform falls | Steepled Hat.........260 Gil | what you're going to want to do is run all | Headgear.............330 Gil | the way back to the bottom and go through | Magus Hat............400 Gil | the door on the left. On the other side | Barbut...............600 Gil | you'll find a living chest and a door that | Bronze Vest..........670 Gil | leads into the room on the right. Go out | Linen Cuirass........800 Gil | onto the balcony and jump across to the next | Potion................50 Gil | room. Check the back left corner for a | Phoenix Down.........150 Gil | hidden chest containing 'Ether' and then | Echo Screen...........50 Gil | check behind the bed to find a 'Protection | Soft.................100 Gil | Bell.' Remember that door you passed twice | Antidote..............50 Gil | you can reach by going through the front | Eye Drops.............50 Gil | door of the house on the right side of the | Tent.................800 Gil | two balconies? Well return to that large | | door and use the protection Bell to open it o------------------------------o up. After the scene go forward and through the arch between the stairs. Just watch the scene here and then leave. Ascend the stairs and proceed through the second door at the top, the one on the left side. The two chests beside you when you enter contain 'Phoenix Down,' and 'Tent.' Be sure to go around on the right side and battle the monster chest. Through the door at the top you'll come to two doors in the central square. Check the one on the right for a quick scene that nets you Freya's 'Mythril Spear.' Now check the room on the right and speak with the Moogle. At the back of the room is a camouflaged chest containing 'Lightning Staff.' Around now Stiklzkin will walk in and you can buy your first special Moogle travel package, if you buy them more will be available as you meet up with Stiltzkin periodically through the game and all of them are a great deal. For example, just the Ether from this package sells for 1000 Gil, and since the price is 333 you're already making a profit. Purchase the 'Soft,' 'Hi- Potion,' and 'Ether' from him. There's more good news, not only does the other Moogle run a special shop, it's also the Atla you've been looking for, for quite awhile. Deliver the letter to Atla from Mogki. In exchange for the delivery not only are you given another letter to take to Monev, you also get a 'Kupo Nut!' Save your game, check out the shop and then leave the room. Head up the path to trigger an event, that eventually leads to a boss. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Beatrix | HP: N/A | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Phoenix Down | | Unfortunately Beatrix has an attack that is |----------------------------| | virtually unsurvivable, the Shock attack can | Chain Plate | | do more than 600 damage in a single hit at |----------------------------| | times so no matter what you're doing you are | Mythril Sword | | going to need some Phoenix Downs. One thing O============================o | that is both helpful and frustrating about | | this battle is that it is timed so there's no need to attack Beatrix at | | all, after about ten turns or so she will use the Stock Break attack and | | end the battle. The frustrating part about this is obviously trying to | | steal all her items, it comes down to even more of a luck factor than | | usual meaning if you don't steal all three items in those ten turns, too | | bad, you're out of luck. Luckily at least the items, while not appearing | | at this part, aren't rare or unique in any way. At least try to grab | | two of the three though. Keep reviving those who fall and equip someone | | with the Coral Ring to absorb her Thunder Blade attack and you're set. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Summit Station | (0000D) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o Take either set of stairs to reach the rest | | area. At the lower left corner you'll find | Phoenix Down..........._____ | a chest containing 'Phoenix Down.' Speak to | 1610 Gil..............._____ | the person on the left behind the counter, | | then talk to the guy at the counter down at o------------------------------o the bottom, he'll sell you nice nice new equipment. Speak with the Moogle Nazna for whom you have a letter. After giving the letter to Nazna, read it a second time to get a letter from Nazna to Mochos. Assuming you spoke to the man behind the counter of the left side, leave the rest area and then go right back in. Speak to Marcus, then to Steiner. Equip both your characters as best you can, then save your game and get onto the train when you're ready. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Black Waltz 3 | HP: 1300 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Steepled Hat | | Have Dagger on healing duty while (since |----------------------------| | no Zidane is around) Marcus focuses on | Lightning Staff | | stealing the monster's items. He is barely |----------------------------| | capable of casting anything more than basic | Flame Staff | | level one spells so really he's just a O============================o | target waiting to be beaten up. With | | Dagger's White Magic you shouldn't have any trouble staying alive, the | | only thing really that suffers in this battle are your offenses. Steiner's | | sword can cut through the enemy just as well as anything else, especially | | if you upgraded to the one you stole from Beatrix so the battle shouldn't | | be nearly as difficult as some of the other ones you've faces thus far. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o When you're off the train you can check out o- Weapon Shop ----------------o the item shop on the right side if you want. | | There's a fork on the next screen, take the | Air Racket...........500 Gil | right branch and cross the bridge. There's | Mythril Rod..........560 Gil | a small set of steps on the other side of | Glass Armlet.........250 Gil | the bridge leading down to a chest with | Silver Gloves........720 Gil | '1610 Gil' inside it. Continue right and | Mythril Gloves.......980 Gil | exit onto the world map. Head East and | Steepled Hat.........260 Gil | you'll quickly reach the city of Treno. | Headgear.............330 Gil | | Magus Hat............400 Gil | o- Item Shop ------------------------------o | Rubber Helm..........250 Gil | | | | Iron Helm............450 Gil | | Potion............................50 Gil | | Barbut...............600 Gil | | Phoenix Down.....................150 Gil | | Bronze Vest..........670 Gil | | Antidote..........................50 Gil | | Linen Cuirass........800 Gil | | Eye Drops.........................50 Gil | | Potion................50 Gil | | Tent.............................800 Gil | | Phoenix Down.........150 Gil | | | | Echo Screen...........50 Gil | | | | Soft.................100 Gil | | | | Antidote..............50 Gil | | | | Eye Drops.............50 Gil | | | | Tent.................800 Gil | | | | | o------------------------------------------o o------------------------------o __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Treno | (0000E) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o Note that if you watch the Ambition Active | | Time Event you will lose 1000 Gil, just an | Gemini................._____ | advance warning, nothing special or | Yeti Card.............._____ | interesting happens in it anyway. Examine | 1 Gil.................._____ | the fountain on your left, notice you can | Taurus................._____ | throw 10 Gil in and it makes you "feel | Mythril Dagger........._____ | happier." While there's nothing | 1000 Gil..............._____ | particularly special about this, throw in 10 | Phoenix Pinion........._____ | Gil a total of thirteen times and you'll | 2000 Gil..............._____ | receive the 'Gemini.' Let's start by | Blood Sword............_____ | heading right. Make a right at the fork and | Tonberry Card.........._____ | climb down the ladder. You'll notice chests | Supersoft.............._____ | on your left and right, open them to get a | | 'Yeti Card' and '1 Gil.' Examine the ground o------------------------------o behind the broken card beside the shop and there you will find 'Taurus' on the ground. Ascend the ladder and run up to the next screen. Head left through the arch to scare a Moogle out of there, speak to him and read the letter from Stiltkzkin then o- Item Shop ------------------o save your game. The door beside the Moogle | | leads into the weapon shop. There's a | Potion................50 Gil | monster below the shop which you can fight | Phoenix Down.........150 Gil | if you speak to the man. It's quite | Echo Screen...........50 Gil | difficult, even if you choose to challenge | Soft.................100 Gil | it you may want to wait until you've done a | Antidote..............50 Gil | couple of other things in Treno, there's | Eye Drops.............50 Gil | still a new weapon to get for Steiner on the | Tent.................800 Gil | other side of town. Return to the town | | entrance and this time make a left. Run to o------------------------------o the far end where you will find a chest containing 'Mythril Dagger.' Go down o- Weapon Shop ----------------o through that tower-like thing to the lower | | area. On the left side up a little bit is | Dagger...............320 Gil | the door leading around to the synthesis | Mage Masher..........500 Gil | shop. Leave the shop and make your way up. | Mythril Dagger.......950 Gil | In this house you will find Queen Stella, | Mythril Sword.......1300 Gil | who collects those birth sybols also known | Mythril Spear.......1100 Gil | as Stellazzio you've been collecting. You | Air Racket...........400 Gil | should have four of them by this point so | Mythril Rod..........560 Gil | exchange the four of them for '1000 Gil,' | Flame Staff.........1100 Gil | 'Phoenix Pinion,' '2000 Gil,' and 'Blood | Ice Staff............980 Gil | Sword.' Now return to the save Moogle out | Lightning Staff.....1200 Gil | front of the weapon shop and head up to the | Fork ...............1100 Gil | auction house, recruit garnet back into your | Needle Fork.........3100 Gil | party and see if you can afford any of the | Leather Wrist........200 Gil | items or artifacts you may want. Now if you | Glass Armlet.........250 Gil | want to defeat that monster you can probably | Bone Wrist...........330 Gil | do it pretty easily, I was able to do it at | Mythril Gloves.......980 Gil | only level six. Equip Steiner with the | Magus Hat............400 Gil | Blood Sword, Chain Mail and Gold Choker. | Bandana..............500 Gil | The Blood Sword will heal you HP back to | Barbut...............600 Gil | full with every hit most likely. The Chain | Silk Shirt...........400 Gil | Mail will give you the Bird Killer and | Leather Plate........530 Gil | HP+10% abilities, both of which you will | Bronze Vest..........670 Gil | need since the thing is a bird. The Gold | Chain Plate..........810 Gil | Choker's Auto-Potion is completely | Linen Cuirass........800 Gil | unnecessary since the Blood Sword will heal | Chain Mail..........1200 Gil | you to max every turn, the reason you equip | | it is that it reduces all wind damage by 50% o------------------------------o and the bird's Aera spell does about 600 damage, with this it only does 300. Now you're set to defeat the monster, for doing so you get a 'Tonberry Card' and... some pride too I guess. If you remember when you take the right path from the entrance of town and go left at the fork, opposite the ladder, there is a bar. Well you'll find Marcus there now. After the scene you'll be back at the bar, make your way to the far left side of town and climb up the tower. Watch the scene where you automatically get the 'Supersoft,' then climb up the ladder and descend through the opening. o- Synthesis Shop --------------- Required Items ----------------------------o | | | Butterfly Sword......300 Gil Dagger.................Mage Masher......... | | The Ogre.............700 Gil Mage Masher............Mage Masher......... | | Cotton Robe.........1000 Gil Wrist..................Steepled Hat........ | | Desert Boots.........300 Gil Leather Hat............Leather Shirt....... | | Yellow Scarf.........400 Gil Feather Hat............Steepled Hat........ | | Glass Buckle.........500 Gil Glass Armlet...........Leather Wrist....... | | Germinas Boots.......900 Gil Desert Boots...........Fork................ | | Cachusha............1000 Gil Magus Hat..............Rubber Helm......... | | Coral Ring..........1200 Gil Lightning Staff........Rod................. | | Gold Choker.........1300 Gil Linen Cuirass..........Soft................ | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Gargan Roo | (0000F) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o Speak to Mochos the Moogle, you should have | | a letter for him from Nazna. You don't get | Chain Plate............_____ | another letter from him but you can save | Phoenix Down..........._____ | your game of course. Take the path on your | | left and open the two chests for a 'Chain o------------------------------o Plate' and a 'Phoenix Down.' There's a lever at the top, pull this lever then return to the previous room and go right. Head up and pull the lever there to make the Gargant appear. Follow Doctor Tot down and pull the feed switch at the bottom. The rest of the scene occurs automatically, and then... O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Ralvurahva | HP: 2500 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Bone Wrist | | I'm not sure if it's a coincedence, but I |----------------------------| | find it really hard to steal from this, | Mythril Fork | | though it's probably because it has two |----------------------------| | decent items rather without that third | N/A | | useless one they usually have. Regardless O============================o | if Steiner's equipped with the Blood Sword | | then this fight has already been decided, it really doesn't matter what | | everyone else does. Have him attack while Garnet uses Cure on everybody. | | If you purchased the Madain's Ring from the auction house be sure to | | equip it so you can absorb the boss' only powerful attack, Blizzara. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Cleyra Trunk | (0000G) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o To reach Cleyra simply head Southwest of | | Burmecia, it's the enormous tornado and it's | Phoenix Down..........._____ | extremely difficult to miss. Approach the | Magician Shoes........._____ | main door and climb the stairs on the right, | Ice Staff.............._____ | pull the lever to open it up. In the next | Ether.................._____ | room you'll find a chest on the right side | Needle Fork............_____ | containing 'Phoenix Down.' Head up to the | Tent..................._____ | next screen where you'll find a hard-to-see | Flame Staff............_____ | chest at the bottom with 'Magician Shoes' | Desert Boots..........._____ | inside. Another hidden chest lies at the | Remedy................._____ | top, it yields an 'Ice Staff.' Leave this | Mythril Gloves........._____ | room and head up the hill outside. There's | Mythril Vest..........._____ | a chest at the top with 'Ether' and a hole | Potion................._____ | right below it. You have the option to put | Elixir................._____ | your hand in the whole, do so to activate | Hi-Potion.............._____ | the switch. Return to the previous screen | 900 Gil................_____ | and climb up the vine beside the sand-fall. | Gysahl Greens.........._____ | Continue though the hole on the left side, | | right beside you in this next room is a o------------------------------o chest containing 'Needle Fork.' Up the hill you'll find another chest with a 'Tent' in it where the path forks. On your left you'll see a Moogle, speak to it and give Monev you're only current letter and for the first time since the beginning of the game, you're going to me without any Mogmail! Meh. Anyway save your game and continue to ascend further up. Just a quick note, if you happen to encounter any Sand Golems, a single Blizzara spell on their red core will put them right out of comission. Make a left at this next fork as well and grab the 'Flame Staff' from the treasure chest. Across the bridge is a large cave area, make sure to explore it thoroughly. Around the middle is a chest with 'Desert Boots' inside. On the far right you'll find a 'Remedy' in the chest and a path leading up. It actually leads around to the back where you will find a secret path at the far end that takes you to a chest containing 'Mythril Gloves' and goes further to a large crank device. Pull the lever and then head back to the cave room. Just left of the secret path you found in the large cave room is a hidden chest containing 'Mythril Vest.' Make your way around the left side and follow the path up to the next screen. Open the treasure box in front of you which just has a 'Potion' then make a right at the fork and get the 'Elixir.' Next were have a number of whirlpools, if you get too close they'll suck you in and you have to quickly tap the X button to get out. In order to get the first chest you have to pretty much hold up on the analog stick and basically use the wall to nudge you along, any further back and you'll be sucked in... plus it only contains a 'Hi-Potion.' The other one which is much easier to reach has '900 Gil.' Move over to the left exit and get out of this room. In order to actually reach it you'll have to fall into the whirlsand and hope you jump out in the direction of the exit (you jump in a random direction.) Before you climb up the ladder be sure to open the chest behind it and get the 'Gysahl Greens.' __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Cleyra | (0009H) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o If you want you can get a tour of Cleyra but | | it's probably more fun if you just go | Phoenix Pinion........._____ | exploring yourself. Just up this first set | Ore...................._____ | of stairs on your right you'll find a | Echo Screen............_____ | 'Phoenix Pinion.' Continue up and make a | 1250 Gil..............._____ | right at the fork, this should take you out | Remedy................._____ | front of a house. On your right among the | Echo Screen............_____ | pretty flowers you'll find some 'Ore.' Up | Yellow Scarf..........._____ | the stairs you'll find Dan, the solder you | Thunder Gloves........._____ | met in Burmecia, he's perfectly happy to | | sell you some awesome new equipment. Head o------------------------------o into the inn behind him, at the back left corner is an 'Echo Screen' while on the lower right you'll find '1250 Gil.' Examine the cabinet upstairs to get an 'Ether' then speak to the Moogle to save your game and check Mognet, there should be o- Item Shop ------------------o a letter to Zidane from Ruby. Check the | | stairs on the right side of the inn | Potion................50 Gil | (outside) to find a 'Remedy' then go up them | Phoenix Down.........150 Gil | to the next screen. At the fork go up again | Echo Screen...........50 Gil | to find the town hall or whatever it's | Soft.................100 Gil | called, but don't progress the game yet. | Antidote..............50 Gil | Instead examine the ground out front to find | Eye Drops.............50 Gil | an 'Echo Screen' and if you actually go | Annoyntment..........150 Gil | inside and check on the left you'll find a | Tent.................800 Gil | 'Yellow Scarf.' Down the path from here | | speak to the girl if you wish to buy some o------------------------------o items. Take the left path down to the area with the water wheel, on the right side you o- Weapon Shop ----------------o can find some 'Thunder Gloves' on the | | ground. At this point I think you've seen | Partisan............1600 Gil | about all Cleyra has to offer. Head to the | Multina Racket.......750 Gil | top of town and go into the town hall, speak | Mythril Rod..........560 Gil | to the two people there, then return to the | Flame Staff.........1100 Gil | inn. There's a scene here, the next thing | Ice Staff............980 Gil | for you to do is return to the | Needle Fork.........3100 Gil | entrance of town and head right. | Bone Wrist...........330 Gil | | Mythril Armlet.......500 Gil | o---------------------------------------------o Mythril Gloves.......980 Gil | | Thunder Gloves......1200 Gil | | Magus Hat..........................................................400 Gil | | Bandana............................................................500 Gil | | Mage's Hat.........................................................600 Gil | | Mythril Helm......................................................1000 Gil | | Chain Plate........................................................810 Gil | | Mythril Vest......................................................1180 Gil | | Chain Mail........................................................1200 Gil | | Mythril Armor.....................................................1830 Gil | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Antlion | HP: 4000 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Annoyntment | | The boss' most annoying attack is the |----------------------------| | sandstorm which takes your party down to | Mythril Vest | | critically low HP but will not kill you. |----------------------------| | Without a White Mage you need to heal the | Gold Helm | | damage using only Potions and the like. O============================o | Other attacks are moderate-to strong. You | | might notice the boss takes two turns to recover from using Sandstorm, | | this is deliberate so use this opportunity as best you can. If you're | | wondering what the status ailment "Trouble" does it makes it so any | | character who is affected, in the event they get hit, the damage will | | spread to the entire party. The problem that the boss is so freakin' | | easy, all you need to do is use Blizzara four times, but the Gold Helm | | is just so friggin hard to steal, this game pisses me off sometimes. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o There's a long scene that takes place after | | the battle, eventually you will have control | Hi-Potion.............._____ | of Freya again. Return to the inn and speak | Ether.................._____ | to Stiltzkin, you can purchase a 'Hi- | Phoenix Pinion........._____ | Potion,' 'Ether,' and 'Phoenix Pinion' for | Remedy................._____ | 444 Gil, well worth it. Now save your game | Phoenix Down..........._____ | and check Mognet, there's a new letter you | Elixir................._____ | can read. Return to the town entrance and | Nymph Card............._____ | start climbing down Cleyra's trunk. On the | Zuu Card..............._____ | way you will encounter some soldiers which | Ether.................._____ | just amount to a normal battle. Continue | Phoenix Pinion........._____ | down until you trigger a scene. Like the | | Alexandrian soldiers, the Black Mages are o------------------------------o nothing to get too worked up about. A couple of hits and they will fall. Before going into town check out the area where you fought the Antlion, despite the fact that it's the same Moogle you'll want to select Mognet again and read either of the letters, doing so will prompt the Moogle to ask you to deliver a letter to Serino. Agree to the request and save your game. After fighting some enemies you'll be asked which direction to go, say to go right. When you meet up with Dan's family have them go left. On the next screen tell them to cross the bridge on the right. Say that it's not over yet and watch the scene. Afterward head out of the king's chamber and talk to the people on the right to get a 'Remedy,' and a 'Phoenix Down.' Talk to Dan's family to get an 'Elixir,' 'Nymph Card' and 'Zuu Card.' Finally the other two will give you 'Ether' and 'Phoenix Pinion.' Speak to Mopli, use a Tent and save your game before you leave the room. Be prepared to fight a boss when you go outside. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Beatrix | HP: N/A | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Phoenix Down | | This is yet another timed battle meaning |----------------------------| | stealing all three items could be a little | Thunder Gloves | | bit difficult. The Shock attack is still |----------------------------| | painfully powerful but the fight is nearly | Ice Brand | | identical to the one you already faced, O============================o | equip the Coral Ring and anything else to | | either absorb or reduce damage taken from Thunder attacks and you'll be | | set, hopefully you can grab that Ice Brand but if not, don't worry. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ The Red Rose | (0000I) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o Climb the stairs beside you and head down | | the walkway. Watch the scene here, now head | None...................... / | up to the previous screen and then come | | immediately back again to find a Moogle, o------------------------------o this is Serino, the Moogle for whom you have a letter. Read the letter a second time and you'll get a letter to deliver to Moodon. Find Vivi downstairs and speak to him. When he offers a suggestion, agree to give his plan a try. __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Alexandria | (0000J) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o In order to escape from this cage you're | | going to have to shift your center of | Running Shoes.........._____ | gravity around a lot. Press left or right | Ice Brand.............._____ | on the D-pad depending on which way you're | Tent..................._____ | moving. As you move faster and faster | | you'll actually be able to shift yourself o------------------------------o more than once on each pass, eventually you'll crash over on the right side and you need to make your way left to reach the stairs on the other side while fighting off Alexandrian soldiers the whole time. Now if you've got a rapidfire controller handy there's no reason you can't get Steiner to level infinity here, simply set the X button to repeat and leave the controller, since the Alexandrian soldiers run up and fight him automatically this will go on forever. In order to actually stay alive all you have to do is equip the Blood Sword and he can't die. Set the Level Up ability on as well and you're more than set, leave that overnight and you could probably wipe up for the rest of the game. Note that you have to stand at the base of the ladder on the left side, you can't stand on the right side. After all this is done climb up the ladder on the left, it's actually interesting that you can do this right here because you've got the option to fight an optional boss here that isn't around at the end of the game so you may want to take him on here (though I'm fairly sure it's possible on disc three. Approach the main door of the castle and go in. On your left is the library and on one of the lower bookshelves is a conspicuous book sitting on top. When you try to examine it you'll have the option of fighting, remember it's an option, the boss is hard! O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Tantarion | HP: 20,000 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Ether | | The game first optional boss and quite a |----------------------------| | difficult one at that, here's how I would | Elixir | | recommend approaching this battle. Set every |----------------------------| | single character in the back row, there's | Silver Fork | | no need for any physical attacks in this |----------------------------| | fight and being in the back row is about the | Demon's Mail | | best possible thing you can do for your O============================o | party. The boss has an attack called Paper | | Storm that will deal about 800 damage to all your party members however | | those in the back row will probably take less than 400. The boss' only | | other attack it uses (at least at the beginning) is the Edge hit which | | hits a single member for about 1000 damage or 500 if in the back row. | | The boss has some nice equipment to steal but really you shouldn't make it | | a priority. You'll quickly realize that the two main offensive parties | | in this battle are Vivi and Steiner with Freya and Zidane as support | | meaning when they're not healing there's probably nothing wrong with | | trying to steal. Now let's talk about attacking the boss. There's only | | one attack that will penetrate the boss' hard outer shell, and that's | | Steiner's Minus Strike which deals damage equal to his total HP minus his | | current HP. Given this fact you might want to avoid healing Steiner much | | in this battle, probably just enough to survive a Paper Storm or maybe an | | Edge. If you leveled him up a lot just before this he'll have a large | | amount of HP and be able to really cream the boss. If not you may need to | | be a bit riskier. Even if you keep him at single digit HP, remember that | | you can use a Phoenix Down the instant he dies to bring he back and ready | | to do a lot of damage with Minus Strike since a Phoenix Down will only | | give him a couple of hit points. You may notice that the boss randomly | | opens pages all the time, eventually it WILL find something, a blue headed | | monster. When it finds this you can breathe a sigh of relief, the only | | attack I've ever seen it use is a crappy Poison spell, have everyone with | | Antibody and you're home free. Immediately after being hit with a | | physical attack the book closes, so... don't use physical attacks! Have | | Vivi cast Fira and have Steiner use Fira Sword the whole time, this will | | maximize the amount of time the boss remains in this form but eventually | | it will go back. Around this time the boss will begin casting the Doom | | spell on your party which gives them a ten count before death, remember to | | time your attacks and be ready to heal a fallen party member. Abilities | | you are going to need for this battle are as follows, Antibody, Auto- | | Potion, HP+10% on Steiner, Bandit of Zidane (probably) and if you have | | anything that protects from instant death attacks, it would work great, | | but I doubt you do. The time limit shouldn't be too much of a problem, | | taking my time I still had the boss dead just below the 15:00 mark. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o For defeating the boss you get the 'Running Shoes' along with a hell of a lot of experience and 30 AP! It's a great reward, plus whatever you stole from the boss. Head upstairs in the castle and straight through the doors ahead of you to reach the queen's chamber. Examine the candlestick at the back left corner to reveal a hidden staircase. Down one level you will find a rotating platform, jump on the side that stops at the two chests to get 'Ice Brand' and 'Tent.' At the very bottom go through the double doors for a scene. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Zorn & Thorn | HP: 4000&3000 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Mythril Armor (Thorn) | | If you defeated the optional boss then you |----------------------------| | start laughing like a pirate here, because | Mythril Armlet (Thorn) | | these two are about ten billion times less |----------------------------| | difficult. In fact they can't even attack | Partisan (Zorn) | | you if you do everything right. Basically |----------------------------| | what happens is one of them gives the other | Stardust Rod (Zorn) | | the power to cast a moderately powerful O============================o | spell on the next turn. Immediately after | | one has received such power attack him and the power disappears. This is | | their only attack so just do it every time one gets power and the battle | | won't last long. Normal attack work best here, preferably from characters | | who have the Man Eater ability. Try to steal the Stardust rod from Zorn, | | it's the only thing worth stealing, and make sure you only attack Thorn | | since the instant one of them is defeated, both of them are. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o With Dagger in hand turn around and speak to the Moogle, he's got a new letter for you to read in Mognet. Now save your game and use a Tent. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Beatrix | HP: N/A | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Phoenix Down | | You've fought this battle twice before, you |----------------------------| | know the drill. Stand around and take it | Ice Brand | | while you steal all the items. I find that |----------------------------| | putting Auto-Haste on Zidane actually gives | Survival Vest | | you a decent chance to steal all her items O============================o | before the battle is over automatically. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o After the scene a battle triggers and you actually get to control Beatrix. While you may want to use her abilities just to see them there's no real reason to, her normalattacks are enough to take down these monsters in a single hit and she doesn't really have enough MP to use those abilities more than a few times. When you reach the bottom with Zidane's party be sure to go up through the doors and speak to Mosh, he's got a letter he wants you to deliver to Monty. When you're ready head down for another scene. O===============================o===============o============================O | Boss: Ralvuimago | HP: 3500 | Steal | O===============================o===============o============================O | | Phoenix Down | | An easy boss is nice to end your alreay large |----------------------------| | wave of bosses you've been fighting recently. | Adaman Vest | | If you choose not to steal from this boss you |----------------------------| | can actually defeat it without being hit. | Oak Staff | | When hit by a physical attack the boss coils O============================o | up so here's what to do. Have Vivi cast Fira | | and Zidane attack, on the attack the boss will coil up. Get Vivi's next | | turn ready and the instant the boss uncoils use Fira + Zidane's attack | | again. Between these the boss won't even get a turn. You can also try | | to steal all you want really. The boss' attacks are really weak, and you | | can just have Dagger cast Cure on everyone if you really need to. | | | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Pinnacle Rocks | (0000K) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o Start by speaking to the Moogle and going to | | Mognet, you should have a letter for him. | Mythril Vest..........._____ | Now save your game and get ready to explore | The Ogre..............._____ | the area, you need to find the five images | Mythril Armlet........._____ | of Ramuh to piece together the story. Check | Elixir................._____ | the bottom of the hill first to find a chest | Phoenix Down..........._____ | with a 'Mythril Vest' inside. At the back | | right corner of this screen on ground level o------------------------------o Ramuh will tell you the story "Human." Head left to the next screen and approach the chest, Ramuh appears again. Inside the chest you'll find 'The Ogre.' Go around behind the ramp and speak to the next image of Ramuh to hear the story of "Silence." Two more storis remaining. Return to the previous screen and ascend the sloping path. Head down at the fork and then right to the next screen. Speak with Ramuh to hear the story "Beginning." Go back and make your way up, after crossing the bridge on the sloping path you can jump down to the chest below and get the 'Mythril Armlet.' You'll find the last spirit if you return to the first screen and take the path from the top up to the area where you crashed. Now head to the end, cross the bridge and go down to find the final image of Ramuh. Tell him the story as follows: "Once upon a time, 33 small countries fought together against an empire. One day, a rebel troop visited a man named Joseph, who lived with his daughter. Owing a debt to the troop, he gladly accepted their plea for help. The headed for a cavern in the snow field. With Joseph's help, the troop defeated the adamantoise in the snow field cavern and acquired the Goddess Bell they needed to enter the empire's castle. On their way home, they fell into a trap set by a traitor. Joseph gave his life to save the troop. The troop left without telling Joseph's daughter, Nelly, about this tragedy. The fact that they didn't report Joseph's death to his daughter was indicative of their guilt for failing to protect him. In the end, heroes are also human." In other words the ordering is Beginning, Cooperation, Silence and Human. It actually really doesn't matter how the story ends, but I say that's the ending and that's the way it's going to be. These a big event and cutscene when you leave and you'll eventually find yourself in Lindblum, leave Linblum quickly and return to Pinnacle Rocks to find two chests containing 'Elixir' and 'Phoenix Down.' Now save your game and return once again to Lindblum. __ |__ inal Fantasy IX /--------------------------------------------------------o | --------o--------\ Lindblum | (0000L) \-------------------------------------------------------o o------- Item Checklist -------o Head to the inn and go upstairs, speak to | | the Moogle and deliver you letter, then | Lindblum Card.........._____ | speak to him again to read a letter for | Ether.................._____ | Zidane and a third to to get a letter from | Phoenix Pinion........._____ | him to bring to Moonte. Go up one screen in | Ore...................._____ | town to the business area, examine the | 292 Gil................_____ | rubble blocking the upper left path to find | 313 Gil................_____ | a 'Lindblum Card.' Be sure to check the | 993 Gil................_____ | house beside that area as well, the chests | World Map.............._____ | have respawned and now contain 'Ether' and | | 'Phoenix Pinion.' When you try to go to the o------------------------------o shopping area a scene triggers and you'll have to wait before picking up some new goods. When the scene is over you're given '3000 Gil' spending money and the chance to check out the shops before you leave, like the guy said you won't be coming o- Item Shop ------------------o back anytime soon so make sure you grab | | everything you can. You can still leave the | Potion................50 Gil | shop