FINAL FANTASY IX IN GAME CONTROLS Triangle = Menu O = Cancel Square = Save Game (only on world map ) X = Select Start = Pause Game Left Analog Stick = Movement BATTLE CONTROLS Triangle = Nothing O = Cancel Square = Help X = Select Start = Pause Game Control Pad = Scroll up and down menues PLAYING THE GAME EQUIPMENT During the game you will find many items like hats, shirts, rings or gems which may have a hidden ability for you to learn inside it. Every time you win a battle you recieve AP (ability points ). Once you have enough AP you will learn the abilitys from your current equipment. If you have not learned the ability yet you can still use the ability as long as the equipment is equiped but as soon as you un-equip the item the ability will disappear. For example, if you find a weapon that is better than the one you have equiped you may not want to switch them right away as you may miss out on valuable abilitys. ABILITIES During the game your charecters will learn many abilities. These abilities can be turned on by attaching magical gems to your charecter. Charecters only have a limeted amount of magical gems but as they level up there amount of magic gems increases. Depending on the different areas you are in you may want to change the abilitys you have equipped eg. if you are in a place filled with poisenes enemys you may want to equip abilitys that give you immunity to poisen. LEVELING UP After battles you will gain EXP (experiance points) as well as AP. When enough EXP points are gathered you you will level up and your HP, MP and other statistics ( attack, defence, Magic...) will increase, making your charecter stronger. Take part in as much battles as you can as this will greatly help you in this game. SAVING AND MOOGLES To save the game you must talk to a moogle ( the little white bear things ). When you are on the world map you can summon a moogle by pressing Square. Also you can use tents when talking to moogles to restore your health. Also at the beggining of the game a moogle will ask you to deliver a letter for him. This is a miny-game called mognet that can have great rewards latter on in the game, so every time you see a moogle ask them about mognet. CHARECTERS Name: Zidane Tribal Quete: "You don't need a reson to help people" Seemingly alone in the the world the only family Zidane has is the thiev group Tantalus. He's the main charecter in the game but despite all his maturity and morality at the end of the day hes still only 16. Name: Garnet Til Alexandros 17th ( a.k.a Dagger) Quete: "One day I will be queen but I will always be myself" Garnet was adopted at birth by Queen Brahne purely because she was a summoner. Now that she has turned 16 and her powers are about to fully developed Queen Brahne wishes to extract them from her and use them for her own greedy porposes. Name: Vivi Ornito Quete:"How do you prove that we exist? Maybe we don't exist. Vivi is a black mage kid who, when his grandfather died, was forced to grow up. He turns up in Alexandria for no aparent reason. Hmm, strange. Name: Adelbert Steiner Quete "Having sworn felty must I spend my life in sevitude?" Steiner is the captain of the pluto knights and one of Garnets guardians. He takes his jobs seriously but eventually learns to lossen up a bit. Name: Freya Crescent Quete: "To be forgotten is worse than death." Freya was once one of Burmucias most talented knights but when, but when reports of her true love, Sir Fratley's, death came in she quiet her post. For 5 years she searched the globe for him but she has never found him. Quina Quan Quete: "I do what I like. You have problem?" Quina is a gaurmand, a race thats soul desire is to eat any thing that looks tasty. Quina wasn't brought up around many people so it is a very selfish and unsociable thing. Eiko Carol Quete: "I don't wanna be alone anymore..." Eiko comes from the town of summoners, Madain Sari. Years ago her whole town was destroyed and now she is raised by moogles. Amarent Coral Quote: "The only dependable thing about the future is uncertainty" Amarent was once a bodyguard in Treno until Zidane got him fired. After that Amarent met Zidane again and they fought. Amarent, who thought he was the strongest person in Gaia, lost and the joined Zidane to find out how he was so strong. NOTE: I will refer to the charecters using the above names. If you decide to change the charecters name then you'll just have to cope with me using the default names. THE GUIDE You'll start the game asa young boy. He'll light a match and tell you to light the candle in the centre of the room. Instead of lighting the candle head to the top left corner of the room and pick up some gil ( money ). Now light the candle and a group of people will walk through. They will start to talk to you and then you will get to pick your name. Now a big guy with a dragon mask on will walk in and start a fight with you. Boss: Guy with a Dragon Mask On HP:??? Attacks: Slashes with sword Items to Steal: Potion, Mage Masher, Wrist Notes: This isnt really a boss, just a battle to let you get to terms with the game. Make sure you steal from this guy to get the Mage Masher as it is quite a good weapon for Zidane to begin with. After the battle the mans mask will break revealing your boss, Baku. He'll run through the plan of what you'll be doing in your next job. It turns out you'll be kidnapping Princess Garnet. Sounds easy enough, right? A cutscene will occur showing the Tantalus airship arriving in Alexandria. ALEXANDRIA You'll take control of a little black mage boy who has just arrived in Alexandria. A little girl runs into him and he drops his ticket for the show, "I wanto be your crow"perrformed by the theatre group Tantalus (Does the name sound familier?) Go back the way you came to end up in a square. Search round the edges of the square to find the Zombie, Lizard Man and Sahagin playing cards ( These can be used for a miny game. This game will not be explained in this guide. Tetra Master Guide Coming soon ). Now go back to the alleyway and go into the house on the right. Search the house to find 9 gil, a potion and a fang card. Exit the house and head up the alleyway picking up the potion that is on the left hand side. Go into the tavern and rummage about to find a potion, a flan card and 27 gil. You'll see a boy that looks like a hippo called Hippaul. Search in the grass beside him for a goblin card. At the top right corner of the screen there is a item shop. Go in but don't buy anything just pick up the 38gil in the corner and leave. Go forward into the next screen. There is a ticket booth in the middle of the square so go and get your ticket stamped. The man (or wolf) in the both will tell you all about the city of Alexandria and of Princess Garnet and Queen Brahne. He'll aslo tell you your ticketis fake. The play is "I Want To Be Your Canery" not "I Want To Be Your Crow." He'll feel sorry for you and give you a goblin, fang and skeleton card. He'll tell you to talk to Alleyway Jack if you want to learn about the card game. Have a look around this area to find Hippaul who will tell you about his three precious cards. In one of the shops there will be an ether and at th castle gates you'll find a phoenix pinion. There will also be a group of girls skipping. This is a miny game and you can win some good prizes from it. SKIPPING GAME The best strategy for this miny game is to press X as soon as you hit the ground so you will jump at the right time. The prizes are: 20 Jumps = Some Gil 50 Jumps = Catuar Card 100 Jumps= Genji Card 200 Jumps = Alexandria 300 Jumps = ??? Now go down the alleyway next to the skipping girls. A guy will be fixing a broken sign. You'll trip up and he'll miss the nail and call you a clutz. Then a little rat guy will come down the alleyway and ask if you want to be his slave in exchange for getting to see the show. Say no and wait until you see a man coming down the alleyway. This is Alleyway Jack and he'll teach you about Tetra Master ( the card game). If you don't talk to him quickly enough he'll mug you so be fast. Head into the bell tower and climb the ladders. Ring the bell a few times and some cards will fall out (these are Hippauls "precious" cards). Now if you go down to the docks and a little girl will walk out of her house. If you go into the house and go upstairs search for 3 gil ( if your concience can cope with stealing from a little girl ). Go back to the alleyway where you met the rat boy and wait for him to appear. Acceept his offer this time and just keep telling him the coast is clear. He'll steal the sign makers ladders and then he'll run to the bell tower follow him and climb up the ladders again. This time, Kupo, the moogle will fall out. He'll talk to you a bit and then tell you about saving and mognet. Now talk to him and select Mognet. He'll ask you to deliver a letter to Mosh in the castle so accept. Another moogle, Stiltskin, will walk in aand say he is going away on an adventure. Now instead of going up the ladder head to the docks and look for a little boy. He will ask if you've seen his kitten, Mittens, so go and help him look for it. Mittens can be located in the square at the begining of the game so head over there and find Mittens. Now head back to the docks and talk to the kid again to recieve a bomb card. Now head back to the bell tower and climb the ladders. You'll be on top of some roofs so follow the rat boy. Also check all the chimney pots for hidden money. Keep following the rat boy and he'll introduce him self as Puck and then he will ask for your name. Pick your name ( Vivi ) and then continue along the rooftops. Eventually Puck will throw the ladders down and climb up them to reach Alexandria castle. A cut-scene will occur with the play finaly starting. The camera will zoom in on Princess Garnet who looks extremly un-happy. The play will begin with King Leo ( Baku in costume ) announcing the play. Then Zidane and co. will rush on and challenge King Leo to a fight. Boss: King Leo + Guards HP:??? Attacks: Attack, Poly Items to Steal: None ( You can't steal in this fight) Notes: This, again, isn't really a boss just a little fight to get you used to the game. Just keep attacking as the SFX command doesn't do any damage ( Though it does look cool ). Now after some dialouge you'll have to perform in yet another miny game. SWORD FIGHTING GAME This game can only be done once so use this oppurtunity well. To play, press the buttons as they appear on the screen but try not to make mistakes as they will decrease the prize you get at the end. You'll find your score out at the end it will be how many guests you impressed out of 100. You can also impress the queen though I have never done it. If you felt you didn't do to well you can reapeat the miny game. If you impress 100/100 guests you will get 10000gil so try and do this. Once your done with the miny game you'll talk to Blank ( one of the members of Tantalus). Equip the mage masher you should have stole earlier and go to the equip menu and equip any abilities you have (You should have Protect Girls and Flee Gil). Head up the staires and you'll run into a girl. She'll run away and Zidane will realise that it's Princess Garnet. Now you'll see a cut-scene involving two jesters, Zorn and Thorn. They tell Queen Brahne about Garnets disappearence and she will send her knights Steiner and Beatrix to search for her. You will now be take control of Steiner, the captain of the knights of Pluto. He will try to assemble his knights but they have been beaten up by Zidane and crew. Follow them into there changing room and speak to Mosh ( Here is a chance to use Mognet). Speak to the two knights and they will go and search for the princess (there is quite a few knights but I cant remember so you'll have to find them yourself). Now go and talk to the queen and she will give you a silk shirt. Now go to the main hallway and have a look. Head outside this bit is a bit hard to describe but try and find another way into the castle. There should be a spiral staircase and about halfway up there is one of the knights of Pluto who will tell you if you have found everyone else. If you have you will get a elixer. Keep goin up and there will be another cutscene involving Zidane chasing the the princess. Now you will be aboard the theatre ship, Prima Vista just keep goin through all the screens until you come to the the screen where you started the game. She tells you she wants to be kidnapped and then Cinna will walk in and show you where you need to go he'll show you into a secret hatch witch leads to the engine room. You should see a valve so turn it to the left then to the right to reveal two treasure chests. Head down some stairs where you will find the chests witch hold phoenix down and a phoenix pinion. Now go throw the door. Looks like Steiner has caught up with you so you will have to fight him. Name: Steiner HP: Not much Attacks: Sword attack Items to Steal: Silk Shirt, Leather Cap Notes: Again not really a boss. Just steal the items then lay into him until he uses a sword arts attack witch will reveal Blanks pakkage filled with oglops. After that you will end up on stage and everyone will just play along. The pluto knights chase Vivi onto the stage and he'll get scared cast fireand reveal Garnet. Now you will have to fight Steiner again. Name: Steiner + Knights of Pluto HP: Not enough to care about Attacks: Sword attacks Items to steal: None Notes: Just attack and don't bother about using Garnets summons as she doesnt have enough MP, just use her to heal. Also don't bother attacking the knights because if you beat Steiner they will run away. After that the ship will start to fly away but Queen Brahne will attack with the castle defences. They will fire a bomb at you and Steiner will attack you again. Name: Steiner + Bomb HP: Infinet ( The battle ends after a few turns ) Attacks: Sword Attack Items to Steal: None Notes: Just attack for a while until th bomb blows up. You can't attack the bomb by the way. The Prima Vista will escape in barly one piece but it crash lands in somewhere even worse the, EVIL FOREST Steiner, Vivi and Garnet are missing and the Prima Vista is on fire. Outside the Prima Vista talk to Mosco the Moogle who will teach you about ATEs (Active Time Avents) which tell you about events that are happening elsewhere. Search around the area for a phoenix down then equip some of your well gathered equipment. The silk shirt is good even if it does mean you will have to learn it later so equip it or you can go into the next area and try and learn protect girls now. Anyway go into the next area which will be occupied by fangs and goblins. Fight some for some exp and try and level up a bit. In the next area will be your first boss fight so be ready. It will be holding Garnet inside of it so watch you don't hit her. Name: Prison Cage HP: ??? Attacks: Basic Attack , Absorb Items to steal: None Notes: Zidane will immediatly get his trance. With every new dagger you find you will get a new Dyne ability for Zidane which can only be used when he is in this state. You should have high energy and tidal flame but don't use the tidal flame as it might kill the princess. If the princess gets hurt to much heal her with a potion. Once you have defeated it it will retreat with the princess but then come back and capture Vivi so fight it again. Stage 2 Items To Steal: Broadsword, Leather Wrist Notes: Just steal the items and keep Vivi alive. Vivi will occasionly use his fire magic which can help. The prison cage will die and realease Vivi but then it will poisen them. You will be in the Prima Vista. Baku will tell you that you can't go lookin for the princess. Take the bronze gloves from the chest and head down stairs so you can now watch three ATEs. Pick up the wrist from the chest then talk to blank and he will tell you where Vivi is so go into his room for an ether and climb up the bunk bed for some gil. Leave Vivi alone now and Blank will talk to you. Zidane decides to rescue Garnet and Blank suggests talking to Baku again. Get the ether from the room next door and go down stairs and look for a rubber helm. Find Baku and talk to him. He'll challenge you to a fight and leave the room so collect the potion. Leave the room and fight Baku. Name: Baku HP: ??? Attacks: Normal Attack Items to Steal: hi-potion, iron sword Notes: Try and steal the items from him and if he hurts you heal with a potion. Once you have the items attack him until he gives up. Go through the door at the bottom of the screen and get the leather hat. Go to Steiners room and talk to him. He'll agree to come with you so grab the ether from his room and leave. Now go get Vivi and sort out some equipment. Give Vivi the silk shirt, steiner the bronze gloves and anything else that is better than what you have. Vivi can now use thunder YAY! Leave and Blank will give you some medicine for the princess. Talk to the moogle and he will let you read a letter from your friend Ruby. Also Cinna will be outside selling some things so buy what you like. Now go and have a few practise fights. Steiner will have a new move Sword Magic which can be used when him and Vivi are in a party together. Keep going and you will find a spring. Drink from it as it will revitalise your HP and MP. Also Monty the moogle will be hiding in a tree trunk so talk to him and give him the letter from Kupo. He'll also have a letter from Stiltskin so read them both. In the next area there is a new enemy, the dendbrium, so fight a few as they give good exp. eventually you will find the princess but she won't be alone. Name : Plant Brain HP: 1200 Attacks: Pollen (dark), thunder, right tentacle Items to Steal: Iron Helm, Eye Drops Notes: Just keep using fire and fire sword and stealing with Zidane. Eventually Blank shows up to help so if you haven't got the items steal them now. Now hordes of insects will appear and start chasing you so fight as many or as little as you want. Take all the good equipment from Blank and give Steiner the Iron Helm and blanks Iron Sword. Once your finished with fighting just keep running through the screens. The forest will start to turn to stone. Blank gets caught but before he turns to stone throws you the world map. Everyone will fall asleep and in the morning Monty the moogle will come out. There will be an ATE about a moggle named Mogster telling his little brother Moggy some things about the game so listen in if your interested.. Monty will give you the moogles flute which can be used on the world map to save the game and use tents. Equip Garnet with a wrist, a leather hat and a silk shirt. Now go onto the world map and do a bit of exploring. World Map The enemys in this srea are weak so train so you can break Garnet in. She is a good white mage so use her to heal. Follow the valley to the west to get to Melda Arch. You can't pass through this gate but you can buy some potions and open the chests that are here. Now head back through the valley and enter the Ice Cavern. Ice Cavern Apparently the cavern is a way out of the mist so you'll want to go this way. All enemys in here hate fire attacks, so make use of Vivi's fire and Steiner's fire sword. In the first room there is a chest so collect it then travel on. In the next few rooms there will be various blocks of ice so melt them with Vivi's fire magic. Collect the ether and watch for a hidden path to the right of some stairs where you can grab a potion. In the next room use fire to get an elixer then climb up a frozen log to get another potion. Use fire on the log to melt it revealing a way down to a mage masher. Go on to the next room and open the chest. Go down the left path and ask Vivi to melt the wall to get a leather wrist so give this to Zidane to he can learn a new ability, beast killer. In one of the next rooms you wll find a stone alter with something inside so melt it with fire. It's a very pissed off moogle and once it's finished shouting abuse at you you can learn some stuff from Mogster and save your game. On the next screen everyone will faint then a while later Zidane will wake up to the sound of a bell. Go and save your game and make sure Zidane is about a level seven and is equipped with the silk shirt and then head onto the next screen. A strange wizard guy will attack you. Name: Black Waltz I RL ( Reccomended Level): 7 HP: 250 Items to Steal: Remedy, Silk Shirt Attacks: Fire, Blizzard Notes: At the beggining of the fight Black Waltz will summon Sealion (more about it in a minute). Steal the items from him then kill him. Now to consintrate on the Sealion. Name: Sealion HP: 600 Items to Steal: Mythril Dagger, Ether Attacks: Wing, Tsunami, Blizzard, Blizzara Notes: This boss has three stages but there is an easy way to avoid having to deal with them. First steal the items from him then, if your trance bar is ready use it. If your trance bar isn't ready just attack until it builds up. Remember to heal if you are running low on HP. Now go back and check on everyone. There fine so get moving but first equip Zidane with the mythiril daggers and the leather shirt if he hasnt learned protect girls. Go back to where you beat Black Waltz and climb up the hill. Looks like Garnet wants to change her name so call her Dagger (or any other name you want to give her). WORLD MAP You'll be in Nolrich Heights, an area free from mist (but there is still lots of monsters) so do a bit of exploring. Steal some ore from the enemys and then go into the forest next to the Cave. Keep fighting until you get in a battle with a Mu and some weird music. Give it some ore and it will give you 10 AP at the end of the battle. Now head towards the small village infront of you but don't enter it, instead go into the tower next to it. There will be some chests and a house so open the chests, enter the house and then talk to the old man inside. He seems to love coffee and asks you to find him some rare coffee in exchange for his model airship. Now enter the village. DALI Rest at the inn. When you wake up you will be alone so search the room for an antidote then leave. you should get a few ATEs so watch them and talk to Gumo the moogle so give him his letter and save the game. Now go into the shop opposite the inn and spend some of your well earned cash on a leather wrist and some feather hats. The feather hats teach Zidane add status which, depending on which weapon you have equipped, can infevt your foe with silence, dark etc. Go find Vivi and talk to him then enter the wind mill. There is a hatch being guarded so come back later. Search the room for an Aeries then leave. Talk to the little girl beside the well. Why the hell is there a chocobo down the well! Crazy town. atch the ATEs then go to the shop and get Dagger. Go to the inn and wait for Vivi. Seeing he hasn't come back yet go look for him in the windmill. The hatch isn't being guarded so go down and walk along the path. You'll see some people holding Vivi prisoner and then they'll take him away. Open all the chests along this path and eventually you will find Vivi stuffed in a box. There will be ghosts and vices here so make sure you are well equipped and at level 9. Eventually someone will come down the corridor so you'll have to hide in a machine. Now you will be Steiner so talk to Morrid until he walks away. Now go into his house and talk to him until he tells you that there is a cargo ship bound for Alexandria. Now Steiner will be outside the cargo ship with a moving box. Pick an option and Zidane, Vivi and Dagger will jump out the box. Steiner will tell everyone that the ship is bound for Lindblum (LIER!) but then a black mage appears. Name: Black Waltz II RL: 9 HP: 900 Items: Leather Plate, Steepled Hat Attacks: Teleport, Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Fira Notes: Don't attack with any magic in this fight or your full party will be attacked with Fira. Heal with Dagger, defend with Vivi, Steal then attack with Zidane and just keep attacking with Steiner. Do this and you should win. Now go back to the village,heal up and save. Use this opportunity to try and learn most of your abilities and to make sure everyone is about level 9 then after all that board the cargo ship. Inside the ship there is black mages that look like Vivi which freaks him out. He trys to get them to talk but they completly ignore him. Zidane realizes the ship is bound for Alexandria and try to find a way to turn it around. Zidane has an argument with Steiner and he changes the course of the ship. Little do they know that Vivi is about to be attacked by Black Waltz III. The black mages stand up for Vivi but Black Waltz kills them all. Zidane tells Dagger to stear the ship and they battle the final Black Waltz. Name: Black Waltz III RL: 9 HP: 1000 Items: Silver Gloves, Linen Cuirass, Steepled Hat Attacks: Thundara, Hit Notes: Vivi gets his trance straight away so use it and then use Steiners Sword Magic. Now defend or heal until Zidane has stolen the items. After that just kill him. He'll run away but then chase you in his own ship. Dagger stears the ship through the southern gate and Black Waltz gets crushed. Now you'll be in Linblum. LINDBLUM You'll arrive in Linblum Castle so have a look about. Find the guest room and get the glass armlet and the ether that are inside. Give a letter to Mogki and he will give you yet another letter to deliver. Talk to Erin and Zidane will try to chat her up. Now sort your equipment by giving Steiner the Linen Cuirass and the Silver Gloves and Zidane the Glass Armlet. Now find the throne room. Turns out the ruler of Linblum, Regent Cid, has been turned into an oglop ( You should know what these are by now ). Cid will explain why he is an oglop and that it was him that hired Zidane and co to kidnap Dagger. Now the fun begins because you get to search the city! Theres lots of things to do in Lindblum so lets get started. Watch out for ATEs as there are loads in Linblum. Use the air bus to travel to the bussiness district and here search for the weapons shop. When you get there buy a mage masher (trust me), some Glass Armlets and a Steepled Hat. Now find the Synthesis shop where you can find a pair of Silver Gloves and a Tauros. Now Synthesis everything and equip Zidane with some new equipment. He should be given the yellow scarf and the butterfly even though its not as strong as the ogre (its got a good ability). Go into the church and climb up the pair of ladders to get a leather plate. Now head for the Industrial District and search outside the cafe for a bronze vest and then enter the steam house for a mimic card and a steepled hat. Now its time to search the area outside of Linblum so travel back to the Business District and go through Hunters Gate.