Final Fantasy IX Walkthrough for PlayStation Game Name: Final Fantasy IX Format: PlayStation Submitted By: Cuboid You start the game as a young boy by the name of Zidane. You’re on a ship run by the renegade group of thieves, ‘Tantalus.’ The room is pitch black – before you light the candle in the centre of the room, pick up the money in the top left-hand corner, and read the sign on the right-hand side. Seeing the light come on, a group of dodgy-looking people enter the room. Thankfully, they’re your mates. After you’ve chin-wagged for a while, a big man with a dragon mask walks in and challenges you all to a fight. This isn’t really a proper fight – the man can’t see where he’s going with that stupid mask on, and as such his attacks won’t be very strong. Use the ‘Steal’ command on him until you have stolen the Mage Masher. Then use the ‘Fight’ command until his mask falls off. It turns out that this is your leader, Baku! He’ll challenge you whenever he thinks that you’re slacking off. To be honest, it’s just Baku’s way of making an entrance. The real reason he’s here is to hold a meeting for the next job. It turns out that you have been hired to kidnap the beautiful Princess Garnet, under the guise of a group of travelling performers. It’s Zidane and Blank’s job to grab the Princess while the others perform the play. A cut-scene shows you the Tantalus ship arriving in Alexandria. You find yourself in control of a clumsy little mage who has just arrived in town. It’s a big town for a little kid like him and he’s understandably awe-struck. He’s so busy looking around that he keeps walking into people! A little girl runs into him. Everybody is in such a hurry today. What’s the big deal? The kind little girl stops and apologises for knocking you over. You appear to have dropped something. It’s a ticket – but what for? She’s off like a rocket before you can find out. Never mind, there will be someone around who can tell you. Turn around and head back in the direction from which you came. You’ll find yourself in an open area with a statue in the centre. General Madelene, huh? Died at 13…poor kid. Have a look around the perimeter – someone has been leaving their playing cards lying around. There’s a Zombie Card, a Sahagin Card and a Lizard Man Card! Head back to the alleyway and go into the house on the right-hand side. Talk to the old woman. There are loads of things to pick up in this room – she won’t mind, right? On the ladder side of the room, there is 9 Gil and a Potion, each in a different corner. Go up the ladder and search around for a Fang Card. You can also look at the patterned material on the wall on the other side of the room. It’ll make our little friend so dizzy that he falls over! Leave the house and walk up the street. There’s a Potion to be found on the left. Go through the archway. A group of nobles are being escorted somewhere. What have they ever done that is so special? Nothing, I bet. Have a look inside the Tavern. They are expecting a busy night but they still won’t say what’s going on. There is a Potion in the bottom-right corner, a Flan Card in the bottom-left corner, and 27 Gil in the little alcove on the left. The stairs are broken – the woman says that she might fix them…one day. Go outside and talk to Hippaul. He feels the same way about the nobles. Have a look in the grass next to him to find a Goblin Card. People should really be more careful with their possessions. Swindled! Keep walking left until you get to Mick – he’s standing in the doorway. Ah, I see! It’s a ticket for the show. That must be where everyone is going. You’ll need to get it stamped in the square, otherwise you won’t be allowed in. Read the sign on the other side of the road – ‘Doug’s Item Shop’. You may as well go in. There’s 38 Gil in the corner. You don’t really need anything, so don’t let him talk you into spending your newly acquired money. Keep exploring and you’ll find the Ticket Booth. Hang on, isn’t that Hippaul over there? He’s going on about his ‘three precious cards’. Crazy fool – what is he talking about? Go up to the Ticket Booth and talk to the Ticketmaster. Finally, someone who can tell you what’s going on. Ask him what is being shown today. Apparently, the Tantalus Company are performing ‘I Want To Be Your Canary’. Sounds great. Keep asking him about the play until your curious juices run dry. Now ask him about Alexandria. He’ll tell you about how Queen Brahna has been acting strangely recently and that her daughter, Princess Barnet, is the most beautiful girl in the land. You really must meet this girl! After all that information, don’t forget to get your ticket stamped. What! It can’t be a fake. The Ticketmaster obviously feels sorry for you, so he gives you three playing cards – a Golin, Fang and Skeleton Card. Cool! He says that you should go and see Alleyway Jack to learn about playing the card game. Take a look around. There are lots of things to look at in this area. There’s a Phoenix Pinion near the gate, and a statue of the ‘Three Heroic Knights Of Pluto’ on the right. There is an Ether to find in the Synthesist’s Shop and a recruitment notice for the Knights Of Pluto in the Equipment Shop. Sounds like fun – maybe you should speak to the Captain. There’s nothing to pick up in the Inn, but it’s worth going upstairs just for the view from the balcony. Hey, there are some girls playing with a skipping rope outside. They might let you play if you ask them nicely (take a look at the ‘Skippy The Mage’ box for more on how to play). Skippy The Mage This is the first of many sub-games that you can take part in. Talk to the girl in the centre. She’ll ask you if you want to have a go. Depending on how good you are, you could win some pretty cool prizes. Use the 5 button to make Vivi jump. The trick is to press the 5 button as soon as Vivi hits the ground. That way, he’ll clear the rope. After 20 successful jumps, the girls will give you some pocket change. At this point, the girls swing the rope a bit faster. After 50 successful jumps, you get the Cactuar Card. Again, the rope swings become faster. After 100 successful jumps, you receive the Genji Card. After 200 jumps, you get the much-sought-after Alexandrian Card! That’s enough fun for now. You should go and find Alleyway Jack. Go down the alleyway next to the three girls. After the sign-maker has finished having a go at you, a little rat kid comes to speak to you. Hmm, he seems familiar, and pretty smart too. There’s more to him than meets the eye. Take him up on his offer: after all, you want to see the play, right? When the coast is clear, he’ll grab the ladder and make a run for it. Hang around for a bit. A man comes down the alleyway. Maybe it’s Alleyway Jack. As you go to talk to him, he mugs you! Run after him! Damn, it looks like he got away. Never mind, back to the rat kid. Hey, there’s someone else. This time it definitely is Alleyway Jack. He’ll teach you the rules of the card game. Listen to everything that he has to say. At the end of his lesson, he gives you the opportunity to play him. Only do so after you have read the card game section in this guide. You received some great cards from the skipping girls and you don’t want to lose them at this stage. Go back to the alleyway. The stairs are blocked off. Maybe it will be finished when you visit next time? Catch up with the rat kid, but don’t follow him into the steeple just yet. Read the jump-rope sign on the wall, just to remind yourself of how good you are. Then go into the house next to the steeple. There are some Eye-Drops in the corner. Ilia won’t let you pass, so go outside. As you go down to the water, Ilia leaves. It’s not worth going back – there’s only 3 Gil upstairs anyway. Talk to the two men, or take some sleeping pills – both will have the same effect! Little Tom has lost his kitten, Mittens. It’s brown, so keep an eye out for it. Go all the way back to the entrance to the city (with the statue in the centre). It’s Mittens! Tom thanks you and takes Mittens back with him. Make your way back to the steeple area and visit Tom to get the Bomb Card. Go into the steeple. There is a Potion and a Tent to be collected before you climb the ladder. As you attempt to climb up, Kupo the Moogle falls from above in comedy style. Stiltskin toddles in as well. It looks like he’s embarking on a journey. Oh well, he looked pretty strange anyway! Talk to Kupo about the Mognet and agree to take his letter for him. Save your game, then climb up the ladder. You’re on the rooftops. Use the sticks to get across the gaps. The rat kid chooses a certain path, but there are many different ways to go. Explore every walkway in order to get the money that people have been stashing up here. The rat kid decides to introduce himself. His name is Puck. You’ll also get the chance to confirm your name, which is nice. Climb over the castle walls and get ready for some great fireworks! I Am Not Amused! Wow, risking life and limb on those rooftops was definitely worth it. The show is amazing! That must be Queen Brahna – she is one fat mama! Is that the Princess Garnet sitting next to her? She is so beautiful, how can they possibly be related!? The Princess doesn’t look very happy. How can she not be having the time of her life? Something must be up. It’s time to nab the Princess. Your first job will be to get the audience on the edge of their seats so that they won’t question anything strange that happens. A battle with some great special effects should do the trick. Use the SFX command a couple of times. That should impress the audience. After that, attack Baku and his two sidekicks. Now it’s time to really show off. A sword fight should do the trick. This little show involves you using the D-pad and the four main buttons to perform sword swipes, blocks, ducks and flips. Press the relevant buttons as they appear on the screen. At the end, you’ll get the chance to come back and do it again. Do it as many times as you want. The more impressive you make it look, the more money you’ll receive at the end. You can tell how well you are doing by looking at how many people you managed to impress. With that over, Zidane needs to get down to the business at hand. Remember that Mage Masher which you stole from Baku? Now is the time to use it. Go to the Equip menu and choose the Mage Masher. This sword allows you to learn the Detect and Flee abilities. Go to the Abilities menu and put magic stones in the Protect Girls and Flee Gil slots. You’ll have to be careful as the castle is being patrolled by Alexandrian Soldiers. As you run up the stairs, you bump into a girl wearing a hood. Suspicious, don’t you think? Take a look at her face. Before Zidane can say anything, she’s off. Zidane suddenly clicks that the girl was, in fact, Princess Garnet! Who the hell are these guys? They look like court jesters and they seem like trouble-makers. You’d better watch out for them… bunch of creeps! After telling the Queen about the Princess’s little stroll, Captain Steiner and General Beatrix are sent to look for her. Those two are a bit competitive. What are the bets that they get it on? You’ll now be in control of Captain Steiner. He is the Captain of the Pluto Knights. They don’t seem to be very organised – actually, they look like a bit of a joke. Follow the knights into the changing room. Kick them into shape, then take a look at the register on the wall. Have a chat to Mosh before you leave. Read the letter with him. So, something amazing happens if you jump the rope lots of times? What could it be? Save your game and grab the Phoenix Down from the corner of the room. Now you’ll have to figure out where the Princess has gone. Go up the stairs and ask the guards. Squad Beatrix? PC Plod and the blood-sucking ticks more like – they’ll be smiling on the other side of their faces when you find the Princess. Maybe the Queen will grant you a kingdom to look after? Go outside and talk to the Queen. She’ll give you a Silk Shirt. Go out into the main hallway. Check out the side-rooms and go into the kitchen. That guy certainly is qualified to be the Head Chef – he/she/it must have eaten a lot of pies to get that big! Nobody seems to know where the Princess is. She must be outside somewhere. Get the lazy soldier off of his arse – this is no time to be gazing at your reflection! After reaching a few dead ends, you’ll end up at the spiral staircase. It’s lucky that you work out – otherwise there’s no way that you’d be able to run all the way to the top. Hey, there she is, and she’s being hassled by some young scallywag! What the… no!! It’s in this cut-scene that you start to understand Zidane a bit more. It looks like he could be a nice guy after all. As you’d expect, he is genuinely shocked and worried when the Princess falls – he soon regains his composure when he realises that she has grabbed hold of a rope. Steiner reacts out of a sworn duty to the Princess, whereas there is something more behind Zidane’s response besides the job at hand. More importantly, Zidane does it with style, whereas Steiner just looks like an idiot. Nice trainers! You’ll now be aboard the Prima Vista. Chase the Princess inside. Ruby gets in your way – something tells you that she has got the hots for Zidane. Geez, the love triangles are going to be quite something! Finally you’ll get the Princess on her own. It turns out that she actually wants you to kidnap her. Anyway, enough talking. The Captain will be here soon. You need a plan. Thankfully, Cinna has it all sorted. Steiner is right behind you, but don’t worry. That Pluto Knight has got some really weird clothes on – he looks an awful lot like Blank… The secret hatch leads down into the engine room. Turn the valve wheel on the generator to the left, and then to the right. Each time, the vibrations will shake loose a treasure chest. What were they doing up there in the first place? Go down the steps and grab the Phoenix Down and the Phoenix Pinion. Run into the next room. Somehow, Steiner has managed to find a short cut. Maybe he’s not as stupid as he seems. Never mind, he won’t stand a chance against all three of you. Before you attack him, use Zidane’s Detect Skill to see what Steiner has on him. Steal the Silk Shirt and the Leather Cap from under his nose. Then continuously attack him. Steiner will get desperate and use one of his Sword Art moves. Amusingly, all he manages to do is free the Oglops, which Blank had as his last resort. Time to fly! Well, the Tantalus crew certainly are very good actors. Better than most film stars in fact. The audience is captivated, but that doesn’t matter because Vivi is about to ruin the whole thing. The Pluto Knights chase him on-stage, where he gets scared and uses his fire magic. The hooded girl’s identity is revealed – now you’ve got problems! Concentrate your attacks on Steiner. Don’t bother with the Princess’s Summons – she doesn’t even know what a Summon is at this stage. Steiner will soon fall and his Knights will run off home. Now for the real problem… the castle defences. This is bad. Trying to protect the Princess would be understandable, but the castle’s defences are more than likely going to kill everyone on board, including the Princess! What is wrong with the Queen? It’s almost like the Princess is indispensable… It looks like the Prima Vista might just get away, but then the castle’s secret weapon arrives. Fighting Steiner is the least of your problems. That bomb looks evil and it’s growing larger by the minute. Keep attacking Steiner. You need to either get rid of him, or you need to persuade him to quit being an idiot. If only he would look behind him! Eventually he does, but by that time it’s too late. Somehow, the Prima Vista stays in one piece, but it is badly damaged and is losing altitude at an alarming rate. It just makes it past the city walls and crashes with an almighty explosion in the forest beyond. The Queen is up to something and it doesn’t sound good. The Princess, Steiner and Vivi are missing. They must have got thrown off, which means that they could be anywhere. Talk to Mosco the Moogle to learn about ATEs (Active Time Events). The Princess is in trouble – you’d better go and find her. Find the Phoenix Down behind the Conductor, and sort your equipment out. Equip the Silk Shirt: although it doesn’t have any abilities, it has more protection, and you can always learn Protect Girls later. Save your game with Mosco, then venture through the hollow log, into the Evil Forest. Along the trail, you’ll encounter Fangs and Goblins. Your Mage Mashers will take them out with one hit, so don’t panic. Stay in this area for four or five battles. Once you’re used to the command setup and the location of the items, move on. You’ll come across the missing trio in the next area. Vivi is lying scared on the floor, while Steiner is facing up to the bizarre creature which is holding the Princess captive. Let’s get him, Rusty! At the start of the battle, beams of bright blue light shine out from Zidane’s body. This is his Trance ability, and it will appear whenever a character’s Trance bar is full. Zidane’s Trance allows him to use the Dyne ability. There’s a different ability for every set of blades that you pick up. As you have two different sets of blades, two moves are available. Unfortunately, Tidal Flame will hurt the Princess as well as the Prison Cage, so you’ll have to use High Energy instead. You should be able to use this move twice before Zidane returns to normal. Keep an eye on the Princess’s health. If it goes below 40HP, get Steiner to give her a Potion. The Prison Cage retreats, taking the Princess with it. When it returns, it grabs Vivi and you’ll have to fight it again. This time it’s going to die! Once again, keep an eye on Vivi’s health. The Prison Cage has a Broadsword and a Leather Wrist. Steal them, then attack with all your might. Eventually it’ll keel over and release the little mage. As it dies, it excretes a gas which sends Steiner and Vivi to sleep. Baku just won’t listen to reason. The Princess is in big trouble and he won’t let Zidane go after her. What can he do? Well, nicking some items would be a good start. Grab the Bronze Gloves from the chest. Go out to the stairway – you’ll be able to watch three ATEs involving Steiner, Ruby and Cinna. Go down the stairs and pick up the Wrist from the chest. Talk to Blank. It seems that little Vivi is recovering – maybe you should go and see him? Collect the Ether from the chest in his room and the Gil from the bunk bed. Zidane starts thinking about the Princess. There’s no way that he can leave her out there! Blank suggests talking to the boss again. Collect the Ether from the chest next door and search the room at the bottom of the stairs for a Rubber Helm. Go into the Meeting Room; there’s a Potion in here. Baku challenges you to a fight. Go back outside and roll your sleeves up. Baku is carrying a Hi-Potion and an Iron Sword. You might find it hard to get the sword from him. Attack him until he gets bored. Ouch! Maybe you’re not so strong after all. Go through the door at the bottom of the screen and collect the Leather Hat. It’s time for you to get your team together. Go and talk to Steiner. It takes a bit of convincing, but he agrees to come. Anyway, what choice has he got? Collect the Ether from his room, then make your way to Vivi’s room. What are those two whispering about?… Now that your party is complete, you need to equip yourself. Give Steiner the Bronze Gloves, and give Vivi the Wrist and the Silk Shirt. Vivi is now able to use the Thunder spell. Go to the Abilities screen and equip all of Steiner’s and Zidane’s abilities. If you go back into Vivi’s room, you’ll be able to have a rest before you go out. Say goodbye to Baku (he’s in the Control Room) and head out. Blank gives you Blank’s Medicine and a note from Baku before you go. Cinna is waiting outside; you may as well buy two or three Antidotes and Eye Drops from him. Save your game with Mosco. He’s got a letter for you to read. It’s from Ruby – she’s doing OK. Who is that stranger that she’s talking about? Never mind, she’s probably been dreaming again. You know what enemies to expect in this forest, so you shouldn’t have a problem. There will be a couple of ATEs along the way, showing you how things are progressing back at the crash site. When you get to the grassy knoll, head left and have a look at the waterfall. Keep going until you come to a spring – its water will revitalise you, so be sure to take a good long drink. Monty is hiding in the tree trunk. Give him the letter from Kupo. He has also just received a letter from Stiltskin. Read them both, then save your game. Monty hinted that he saw the Princess just now. Maybe it’s not too late! In the next few areas, you’ll come across a new enemy; the Dendrobium. By now the enemy knows that you are coming. Prepare yourself! This boss’s Pollen attack will cast Darkness on your entire party, which means that most physical attacks won’t connect. Counter this with Eye Drops. The boss is carrying something worth stealing – an Iron Helm. Grab it, then concentrate on killing this foul beast. The tentacle attack will hit for about 25HP. The Thunder attack only hits for about 30HP against Zidane and Vivi, but Steiner will take double the damage as he is wearing armour. Hit it with Vivi’s Fire and Steiner’s Fire Sword Magic. Towards the end of the battle, Blank turns up. It looks like he cares after all! A few more hits is all that is needed to finish this boss off. With the Princess free, Zidane gives her Blank’s Medicine. Unfortunately, there is more bad news to come. Hordes of insects are crawling in from every entrance. You’d better make a run for it. Take the Iron Sword from Blank and give him the Broadsword and the Wrist. Immediately give Steiner the Iron Helm and the Iron Sword, then go to Abilities. Switch Antibody off and put Bright Eyes and Level Up on. The only enemies that you’ll encounter from now on are Plant Spiders. You can fight as many or as few as you want. When you get bored, run for it. Clear Skies Ahead Blank and the rest of the Tantalus crew have been lost to the petrified forest. There’s nothing you can do about it. Just keep going. In the morning, Monty comes out of the forest. In an ATE, he lets you listen in on Mogster teaching Moggy a few things. Read everything before you exit. That Mogster sure knows a lot. He’s a bit arrogant though. Monty gives you the Moogles Flute. You can use it to call a Moogle on the map screen at any time (just press n); this enables you to use a Tent or save your progress. Don’t call them without reason though, as they’ll get quite annoyed. At this point, you should equip Garnet with the Wrist, the Leather Hat and the Silk Shirt. If you don’t have any spare, take them from Vivi (Wrist) and Zidane (Silk Shirt), as they can’t learn anything from them. You need to get to the Ice Cavern, but you won’t be coming back here for a long time, so explore for a while. Mu and Pythons inhabit this area. They won’t do you any harm and they carry nothing useful. It’s a wonder why they bother to challenge you – they’re going to die straight away! Follow the valley westwards until you get to an arch. This is the gateway, called Melda Arch, which divides Alexandria and Burmecia. The people inside won’t open the gate for you, but if Zidane can think about something other than women, you’ll be able to buy some Potions. Search the chests behind the fence before you leave. Make your way back through the valley to the Ice Cavern. Vivi seems to think that the Ice Cavern will take you out of the mist. Poor Vivi, does he have any family? It’s probably best if you move on, before Steiner goes and puts his dodgy-trainer-clad foot in it again. There’s a chest in the first room; press 5 in front of the step to get to it. Being an ice cavern, the enemies in here fear fire attacks. Vivi’s Fire or Steiner’s Sword Magic will take them out with ease. The Cave Imps will send you to sleep with their Sleeping Juice. Wake them up by attacking them, then slaughter the imps. Go into the second area. Examine the area at the top of the steps on the right. It looks like there’s something behind the ice. Vivi should be able to break through it. Melt the ice and grab the Ether. Go over to the steps in the centre of the room. There is a hidden path just to the right of the steps, which takes you to the chest on the left-hand side. Grab the Potion and go into the next room. Follow the left path until the exclamation mark appears. Vivi can use his magic to uncover an Elixir. Go down to the right-hand side of the cave. Zidane can climb up the frozen log to get the Potion. There must be some way of getting to the other chest. Try getting Vivi to melt the ice around the base of the log. Haha! It’s a… Mage Masher. Okay, so you already have one of these, but you should keep it as it’ll be useful later on. Head on up to the next cave. There’s a chest on your right. Follow the left path and ask Vivi to break through the wall. There’s a Leather Wrist at the end of the path. You should give this to Zidane, as he can learn Beast Killer from it. Be sure to equip it in the Abilities menu if you want him to use it. If Vivi doesn’t already have one on, equip him with the Wrist that you took from Zidane. Move on into the next cave. If you follow the left path, you’ll come to a stone alter, at the top of which is a block of ice. It looks like there is something inside. Vivi melts the ice to reveal a Moogle! Hey, steady on missy, we just saved your life! She’ll ask you to deliver a letter to Gumo. You’ll also have the pleasure of listening to the Mogster again. Read everything that he has to say. Don’t save just yet. Go back outside and to the next area. It’s freezing out here! Even so, it’s not cold enough for people to start passing out – what’s wrong with Vivi? And Steiner too? Urgh… feeling sleepy… was… kowin… on… Whoah, must have fallen asleep. What was that tinkling sound? You’d better go and save before you venture any further. Visit Mois’s cave. Put on the Silk Shirt, heal yourself up and save your progress. It’s time to figure out just what is going on. So this is the guy who’s causing the problems. You’re going down! Ignore the Sealion for the moment and concentrate on the Black Waltz. He only has two attacks, both of which are pretty lame. Steal his items and hammer him into the ground. Your master is dead – shouldn’t you be going? No? We’ll see about that! Steal the items, then attack. There are three different stages to this boss. If you get a Trance, you won’t see them all, as your Tidal Flame will kill it straight away. In Stage 1, the gem glows blue. The Sealion uses its Wing attack and Blizzard. In Stage 2, the gem glows red. The Sealion uses the powerful Tsunami attack as well as Blizzara. In Stage 3, the gem glows yellow and the beast goes a bit mental. Not to worry – one attack will kill it in this stage. Should’ve known that those two had something to do with it. They’ll get what’s coming to them. Black Waltz II and III, you say? Yeah, bring it on – they’ll be waltzing on the other side of their face when we’ve finished with them! After checking up on the gang, give Zidane the Mythril Dagger. He can learn a new ability. Equip him with the Leather Shirt so that he can finish learning Protect Girls. Head back to the boss area and climb up the slope. It looks like the Princess wants to be called Dagger – okay, anything to keep her quiet! You’ll now be in Nolrich Heights, free of the mist, but sadly not free of the monsters. This area is home to Carve Spiders and Pythons. Make sure that you steal some Ore from them, as you’re going to need it for the start of your first sub-quest. Once you have obtained some Ore, go into the forest next to the entrance to the Ice Cavern. Keep getting into fights in this forest until the music changes to a plinky-plonky tune. You’re now be faced with a character called Mu, who is asking for some Ore. In return for the Ore, you’ll receive 10AP! It’s time to take a look around – just behind the forest is a gate. You won’t be able to get through unless you have a Gate Pass. Not to worry, you don’t need to go through here yet. Go and visit the Observatory Mountain. There are some chests outside the house. A man named Morrid lives inside. He loves his coffee and agrees to give you his rare model airship in return for three types of coffee. Sounds like sub-quest number two to me! For the final stop in Nolrich Heights, pop around the corner and stroll on into the Village Of Dali. After a rest, you wake up to find everyone gone. They must’ve gone exploring. There’s a book on making your millions in the corner, as well as an Antidote and a Colour Fortunes game by the mirror. In an ATE, Vivi seems to be having trouble with the locals – why are they so scared of him? In a second ATE, Dagger tries hard to blend in with the locals. Hmmm, she’s not quite there yet. It will come in time. Go outside for the third ATE. Something dodgy is going on in this town. Money and greed do bad things to people – this doesn’t sound good. Go back inside and talk to Gumo. You have a letter for him. Read it and save your progress. It’s nice to have some time to explore. Maybe you should spend some of that hard-earned cash that’s burning a hole in your pocket. Go into the shop opposite the Inn. Shopkeeper Eve is really into her cards, so this is a great opportunity to get some new ones. With your cards, you can’t fail, so challenge her to a game. She has two cards that would look nice in your collection – a Zuu and a Yeti. Make them yours! Let’s see what she has to sell. Dagger, Mage Masher, Iron Sword… nah, you’ve got it all. Hold on, another Leather Wrist might prove useful, and those Feather Hats look cool. That’s about it though. Equip Zidane with the Feather Hat. He can learn Bright Eyes and Add Status with it, so be sure to switch them on. Add Status will allow Zidane to cast his weapon’s status effect (Mage Masher – Silence) on the enemy. There are lots of things to do in this village. You can look in through the Inn window to check if anyone has returned. Opposite here is the Mayor’s House. He’s quite on edge for someone who’s supposed to be a friendly, community man – what’s rattled his cage? There’s Vivi. He seems a bit lost in thought – better leave him to it. The windmill has a locked door in it and a hatch that someone is guarding. The door can only be opened with the Mayor’s key. It’s probably best not to ask him right now. Grab the Aries from the back and climb up the ladder. There are some chests up here, but there’s no way that you’re going to get them until those cogs stop turning. Go outside and talk to the little girl by the well. What is a Chocobo doing at the bottom of a well? This place is weird! A couple of ATEs will follow, involving Dagger trying ever so hard to blend in, and one involving the Inn Keeper. Head back to the shop and get Dagger. Take her back to the Inn and wait for Vivi. Steiner’s up to something, but it needn’t bother you at the moment. Vivi is taking a long time to come back. Something must have happened to him. This town has got a bad feeling to it – the last time you saw Vivi, he was near the windmill. You can ask that person in the windmill if they’ve seen him. The hatch isn’t being guarded any more. Down you go! Hey! There’s Vivi. Where are they taking him? You’d better stay quiet for now, at least until you know what’s going on. There are loads of chests to open, so explore every room before you move on. Eventually you’ll find Vivi – he has been shoved in a box! Get him out and equip yourself. Make sure that everyone has a Leather Wrist on. If Zidane has learned his Detect move, give him the Mythril Dagger. If not, keep the Mage Masher until he has. Go through the door at the top. There is a mist-sucking machine in here, along with three chests and a new enemy: Ghosts. Go back into the main room and follow the path by the mist engine. There are Vices about – take them out quickly before they steal from you. Quick, there’s someone coming! You can hide in the machine. What the? Ouch! Steiner is being his usual annoying self. Talk to Morrid until he walks away. Follow him down the stairs and into the house. When you get your answer, you can leave. After Steiner blatantly lies about the cargo ship, an ugly mage shows up. Yup, you guessed it – it’s the Black Waltz II! If you equipped yourself earlier, you’ll be ready for him. Killing him is easy – just make sure that you nick the Steepled Hat and Leather Plate first. With that out of the way, use Dagger to heal, set Vivi to Defend, and attack with the boys. Whatever you do, don’t cast any magic. Doing this will result in the boss using Fira on your entire party. After all that rushing around, you should take a break. Go back to the Inn and save your progress. There’s nothing more to do in this village, so make your way back to the cargo ship. Uh-oh, if you don’t hurry up it’s going to leave without you. Damn it, Dagger! Now is not the time to be thinking! Nice bum, by the way… Dagger’s mood soon swings back when they realise what is inside the airship. Those puppets… they’re alive! But they can’t talk. What must be going through Vivi’s head? Anyway, there’s nothing much you can do about it now. This ship is headed for Alexandria, so you’d better find a way of turning it around. Go to the end of the gangway and climb up the ladder. Great… it’s Steiner. What is he doing? Is everyone from Alexandria always so stressed out? After having a massive go at you, Steiner decides to confine you to the upper deck. Fine, it’s quite nice up here anyway. And besides, this is where the steering wheel is. Zidane changes the course of the ship. Little does he know that Black Waltz III is watching nearby. The Mage massacre that follows fills Vivi with an uncontrollable rage. I wouldn’t challenge Vivi if I were you! Vivi is pretty angry. His Trance comes up straight away. Cast double Fire and attack with Steiner. That will take off half of his energy straight away. Then heal or defend with Vivi and Steiner, and concentrate on stealing the three items from the boss. The boss’s only major attack is Thundara. This Level 2 lightning attack hits your entire party, so keep an eye on your HP. Steal the items and keep attacking. The Black Waltz will completely lose it and fly off back to his ship. Dagger has done well to steer the ship towards the South Gate, but the trouble is far from over. The Black Waltz has only got one thing on his mind. Kill! Kill! Kill!! Phew, you only just made it! Dagger has been here before, so she knows her way around. Go up the stairs to the guestroom. Get the Glass Armlet and the Ether from the chests. Equip Steiner with the Silver Gloves and Linen Cuirass. Give Zidane the Glass Armlet. Talk to Mogki and give him the letter. He’ll also ask you to deliver a letter to Atla. Save your game, then go and speak to Erin. She can be found at the bottom of the stairs (outside the guestroom). Zidane keeps up his ‘chat up everything in a skirt’ reputation, only to have her run away on him! Go back to where the Minister went. He’ll be waiting for you in the lift and take you to see the Regent. It turns out that the Regent has been turned into an Oglop! What can an Oglop do against an army of Mages? Oh dear… Zidane’s stomach has taken him back to an old bar that he used to frequent. A Burmecian warrior by the name of Freya is here. Zidane seems to know her quite well. Meanwhile, Dagger tells Cid about her mother. It was Cid who ordered Tantalus to kidnap the Princess, because he was concerned about her safety. Cid also tells Dagger the real reason for his current form. Huh, should’ve known! You’ve got some free time ahead of you. Vivi wants to go off on his own, which is fair enough. In an ATE, Mogster teaches you about Synthesis (more about that when you come to it). There are two places that have been recommended to you in Lindblum: the Synthesis Shop and the Colour Fortunes Shop. Keep an eye out for them. Use the map to find Card Freak Gon’s House. There is a man called Wimpy Guy outside. It’s worth challenging him to a game as he has an Ironite Card. Card Freak Gon doesn’t have any new cards, but it’s worth beating him, just to feel smug! Go to the Weapon Shop. Buy a Mage Masher (trust us), a Steepled Hat and some Glass Armlets. Go to the Chemists – they’re out of Kupo Nuts (damn shame), but pick up some Softs while you’re there. Now it’s time to go to the Synthesist’s Shop. Pick up the Silver Gloves, which are lying next to Torres. Go to the front of the counter and talk to Wayne. If you have been following the guide, you should have enough items and Gil to be able to buy everything. Even though The Ogre is more powerful, equip The Butterfly so that you can learn its abilities. Give Zidane the Yellow Scarf as well. Go to the Church and challenge little Yaup to a game of cards. He’s quite good for a kid, but persevere, as he has some cool Wyerd, Ironite and Bomb cards. Climb up the ladder and collect the Leather Plate. It’s time to explore the area surrounding the castle. Head for the Hunter’s Gate. Travel east to Pinnacle Rocks. There is a sign near the entrance, announcing that a ghost has been seen in the area. Open the chests and leave. Don’t bother waiting around for the ghost as he won’t turn up. There are two forests near here. They both have Bombs in them. These guy can cause you a problem, but it’s worth fighting them, as they give you 178 EXP each. There is also a Pop Quiz to take part in. Keep fighting and eventually you’ll come across it. Answer correctly to receive 1,000 Gil. When you get bored, head back to Lindblum and into the Air Cab Station. In an ATE, Vivi manages to get the last Kupo Nut from the Chemists. Jammy git! Old Margaret has a Mimic Card, so challenge her to a game. When you have won it, jump on the cab to the Theatre District. Speak to Marian. She has a Mandragora Card which would look nice in your collection. The guard who is standing near her also has some nice cards. Leave the station for another ATE involving Steiner. There’s some Ore in the Artist’s house and some money in the bushes. Everyone in this sector plays cards, but none of them has anything that’s worth fighting for. Go down the stairs and into the Tantalus Hideout. Have a chat with the kids and, when they’ve gone, raid the chests. Don’t forget the Mini-Burmecia from the bunk-bed. What? Another ATE? Hey, it looks like the gang managed to get out of the Evil Forest after all. Thank goodness, the guilt was really doing my head in. Go down the stairs – there are a bunch of crazed women queuing to see some actor named Howell. He must be a jerk – time to leave! Take the cab to the Industrial District. There is a Leather Wrist by the side of the subway. Say hi to the people in the café. Pick up the Bronze Vest, which a very careless person has left outside, and equip it. Visit the Steam House. There is a Mimic Card and a Steepled Hat upstairs. When you get back to the Guestroom, Dagger will have gone. As expected, Steiner is going nuts, and it’s your fault of course. She must have gone upstairs to be on her own – the only problem is that the guard won’t let you use the lift. Go to the balcony below the Guestroom. You should be able to trick the sleeping guard into following you. Ta da! Pretty smart, huh? Now you can use the lift to get upstairs. Head left at the junction and climb to the top of the tower. There she is. Talk to her for a while. Use the telescope to scan the area. When you see an exclamation mark, press 5 to see what it is. After seeing what everyone else is up to, you’ll go back to the guestroom. The Festival is an event that happens every year in Lindblum. Tons of animals are set loose in the three main districts. It’s then up to the hunters to battle it out. Each successful battle earns the hunter a set amount of points. The hunter who has gathered the most points, when the clock reaches zero, is the winner. Zidane, Freya and Vivi are taking part. If Freya wins, she’ll receive a Coral Ring. Coral Rings will turn up soon enough, so it’s not a great prize. Vivi will win a card, but Vivi never wins! Zidane has the chance to win 5,000 Gil. If you want to win, you’d better follow these tips… Go down to the Air Cab. It’ll automatically take you to the Theatre District. Jump back in and go straight to the Industrial District. Fight the Fang which is chasing the cat. Run up the stairs and fight the Mu. Fight the Fang and the Trick Sparrow in the far corner. Ignore the other Trick Sparrow and make your way to the Theatre District. There is a Mu circling the old man outside the station. Fight it, then fight the Fang which comes out of the theatre. Ignore the Trick Sparrows and go to the Business District. A Trick Sparrow swoops down at you, so you’ll have to fight it. As you pass the door on the right, a Mu jumps out at you. Run to the next section. Challenge the Fang on the left. Go up to the church area. Kill the Fang, then run back to the previous area. You’ll see Vivi running away from a Fang. Kill the Fang, then go to the Synthesist’s Shop. The boss creature, Zahgnol, is waiting for you. Freya turns up to help you. It should only take four strikes to kill Zahgnol. Be wary, as his Heave move hurts quite a bit. As long as you kill him, you are bound to win the competition. During the presentation ceremony, a Burmecian messenger will arrive. He’s nearly dead! The war has begun. Freya’s home town has been attacked by Black Mages. It can only be Queen Brahna. Dagger wants to try to talk her mother out of it, but Cid and Zidane are adamant about her safety. Dagger gets around it by putting Sleeping Weed in everyone’s food (remember, Zidane gave her some earlier). She then sneaks off with Steiner. By the time the gangs wakes up, Dagger is long gone. It’s a real shame, and the road ahead is going to be all the more difficult without a healer, but you need to get to Burmecia. Equip your party as best you can. Use the lift to ride to the base level. Take the train to the Serpent’s Gate. There is a chest here containing a Wyerd Card. Jump back into the train and go to the Dragon’s Gate. Moonte is here. Read the letter from Stiltskin before you leave. The vast expanse that lies ahead of you is the Eunorus Plain, home to Ladybugs, Serpions, Hedgehog Pies and Vices. None of these should cause a problem. The Serpions have a Poison Counter move – as long as you have Antidote equipped, you won’t feel a thing. Over to the right of Lindblum is a large forest. You can take part in your second Pop Quiz! Remember that the questions are random. Head over to South Gate. This is where the Tantalus crew were earlier. Restore your health at the spring and grab the Ether. Now it’s time to catch a Chocobo! Make your way to Chocobo Forest. Be careful, as there are Ironites in this area. Speak to Mene about Chocobos. She’ll give you some Gysahl Greens and instructions on how to catch Choco. Leave the forest and press R1 to get a bird’s-eye view of the landscape. This makes it easier to see the Chocobo tracks. Stand on the tracks and use the Gysahl Greens. Ride Choco back to the forest. Buy some Greens from Mene, then ask her about the big secret. It turns out that she can’t ride Choco, but you can. Play the Chocobo Hot And Cold game. Keep playing it until you find the Stone With Patterns On. This stone is a Chocograph. Leave the forest and press the s button. Set the Chocograph to search for the streamside location. There is a place to the south of here, where the river meets the ocean. Get Choco to dig for treasure in this area. Okay, so the treasure isn’t all that, but you’re bound to find something great sooner or later. The last place to visit before you go to the grotto is Qu’s Marsh. This is where the Mogster lives! Resist the temptation to cane his cocky arse – run through the reeds until you get to an opening. Isn’t that the Head Chef from the castle? He/she/it doesn’t seem to be paying you much attention. It’ll soon talk to you if you catch a frog. Follow it back to its master. Quale asks you to take Quina with you on your travels. Hmmm, this thing is really weird, but you do need all the help that you can get. Sure, why not. Vivi seems to think that Quale looks just like his grandfather. Huh? Vivi’s father was a Gourmand? Quale doesn’t want to talk about it anyhow. Go back to the frog pond and let Quina catch some frogs. Quina has an ability called ‘Eat.’ If enemies are low on HP, he/she/it can swallow them whole. Quina will then learn the ability which characterises that enemy. Not all enemies taste good. You’ll just have to try them all! Ride the Chocobo to Gizamaluke’s Grotto – you really should be getting to Burmecia! Equip the new boots and enter the grotto. This is bad: the Burmecian guards are lying everywhere, dead. You’d better hurry or it’ll be too late! Hold on, there’s a survivor. He’s just hanging in there. It looks like we’ll need this bell. Use the bell to get through the doorway. Huh, should’ve known that they would be behind this. Shove the Mages out of the way and go through the arch. Kill the next two Mages to receive another bell. This bell can be used to open the large doors at the top of the stairs. Hold on, what’s this? What is a Moogle doing here? It turns out that Mogmi has just held her wedding here, but the bell fell on her husband! Right, okay… she seems to think that Vivi’s Kupo Nut will solve everything. Wow, that’s one strong Moogle! Get the bell from the chest and go into the right-hand door. Cool, they have received a letter from Moodon. Read the letter and save your progress. It’s possible to climb up the vines to a plateau, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Well, okay, you can go up there, but you’ll be sorry! Go back into the grotto – as you leave, Moguta gives you the Holy Bell. There is a stairway that runs around the room. Walk along it and pick up the Magus Hat from where it is crossed by the path. Give it to Vivi straight away. Make your way back to the dead guard at the start of the grotto. It might seem a bit grim, but you’ll have to search his body to get another bell. Go back to the room with the large doors. Open the door on your left. There is some more Bronze Armour up here, as well as the final guard. This bell will open the door on the right – you won’t need to do that, as you’ve taken the quick route. Use the Holy Bell to open the door to the left of the big bell. Equip The Ogre and Headgear (all members). What could be through here? Zorn and Thorn have taken control of the Burmecians’ guardian. It has a lot of hit points, but it doesn’t have any major attacks. As long as Zidane has learnt Bandit, stealing the items won’t be a problem. Once you have them, attack with Zidane, cast Thunder with Vivi and Jump with Freya. If the boss casts Silent Voice on Vivi, counter it with Echo Screen. A Shift Break from Zidane and you’re laughing! Hmmm, so that’s where they got to. Everyone is on the lookout for the Princess, so it’s going to be hard to get her past the border. How on earth did he get her to agree to sit in a sack of Gysahl Pickles!? Well, it worked. There’s a Multina Racket on the left as you walk in. Talk to the creature on the left. He’s supposed to be fixing the gate – it’s not like you’re a creep or anything, but if you get him into trouble it will take some of the attention off you. Find the Chief Engineer and let it slip about his employee’s antics. Now, I need to get that woman out of the way. Perfect! I’ll just tell her to go and console her unemployed friend (damn it Princess, stop kicking!). Ah, the coast is clear. Uh-oh, we’ve been spotted. What does he want now? Oh, I guess we would need a Gate Pass to get through. Now that the guard has gone, you can go down the alleyway and let Dagger out. Explore the area and talk to Grimo. He has a letter which he wants you to deliver to Nazna. Save your progress and jump onto the train. You are back in control of Zidane’s party. Head north to North Gate. This place is guarded well, so don’t even try to get through. Ransack the chests and get out. Before you go to Burmecia, explore the area. There are Lizard Men, Nymphs and Skeletons everywhere. The sandstorm area is inaccessible at the moment. Burmecia is a mess. Bodies are strewn everywhere and the persistent rain is washing away all signs of life. You must hurry! Pick up the Cancer from behind the wheelbarrow on your left. Ironites, Magic Vices and Basilisks patrol the area, so keep on your toes. When you reach the balcony, you’re greeted by Zorn and Thorn. They’re always one step ahead – their time will come. Take out the Type A Mages and go up the stairs on your right. Grab the Soft, then go upstairs. The chest in the foreground is, in fact, a Mimic. Defeat it and go through the door. You won’t be able to go through the double doors just yet, so go into the next room. Woah, the floor just caved in! Remember the position of that chest in case you ever come back. Go back outside (where the Mages attacked you) and enter through the left door. Search the chests, then head upstairs. There’s another Mimic by the door. The next room has nothing of interest, but it allows you to get to the balcony, from which you can jump to the opposite side. The Burmecian tells you that the bell (the one to open the double doors) is by the bed. Grab the Protection Bell and open the chest – quickly get back to the double doors and use the bell. Dan comes running down the stairs with his family. Apparently there are Black Mages everywhere and he doesn’t know where the King is. Are you too late!? Go through the doorway ahead of you. What is wrong with these people? They all give up so easily. Run up the stairs and go through the opening on the far left. There are some chests to search first. They don’t contain anything special, but it all counts, right? The final Mimic is on the right-hand side. Go through the double doors. There’s the castle – just a bit further. Check out the door on the left. Hey Freya, surely you could use that spear? Yup, she can. The Mythril Spear enables her to use Reis’s Wind, a regenerative spell for the whole party. Now go and check out the door on the opposite side. Thank the Lord, it’s a Moogle! Give Atla the letter. In return, she’ll give you a Kupo Nut (you know what to do with that, don’t you) and ask you to deliver a letter to Monev. Well, well, well – this is turning out to be quite a cosy little get-together. All we need now is… speak of the devil, it’s Stiltskin! Buy his treasures from him and don’t forget to grab the Lightning Staff from the back of the room. Rest up and save before you leave. Upon approaching the castle doors, you’ll realise that there is no way in. Zidane is just about to go and look for another way when Freya jumps 15 metres into the air and disappears into the castle. Hey, we can’t all do that! Ten minutes later, the rest of the party catches up with her. You’ll get a bit of an insight into why Freya has been wandering around for the past five years: all because of a lost love (sigh). Snap out of it, girl; we need your full attention on this one! Hold on, who is that ‘Kuja’ person? It looks like he is working for the Queen. Oh no! There always has to be a hero. We could have got out of here without them knowing, but now we’re going to have to save that guy’s life. The trials of a warrior! Here goes… Immediately cast Mighty Guard (if you have it) and Reis’ Wind. Get Vivi to Focus, then use Blizzara and Thundara. Use Zidane to steal the items. You won’t have to worry about holding back until he has stolen them, as Beatrix has plenty of HP. If you manage to get her Mythril Sword, you’re very lucky! Her Shock move will hit for around 600HP, so make sure that your levels are high enough. When she gets bored, she’ll turn around and use Stock Break on you. This reduces you all to 1HP and leaves you sniffling on the floor. Kuja just laughs and flies away on his fluffy white dragon. We’ll get you! DISC 2 The cable car is about to arrive at Summit Station. This is the change-over point, where the train for Treno leaves from. There is a shop inside, which will sell you some new weapons for Dagger. Buy whatever you need, then talk to Nazna in the corner. You have a letter for him. He asks you to deliver one to Mochos. Take the letter and save your progress. There are some great cards to collect in this area. The two workers and the chef have Antlion, Hecteyes, Crawler and Ralvuimahgo Cards. You may have to keep beating them for a while, as they won’t play with them straight away. When you’ve finished, go and talk to the attendant. Marcus and Cinna turn up. They’ve missed their train due to Cinna being a fat waster. Never mind; it means that you can find out where they’ve been. Or you could if that idiot Steiner would let you talk to them! While you’re seeing to Steiner, the cable car to Alexandria will turn. Jump on! Marcus is going to Treno as well – apparently he has found an item called Supersoft, which will cure Blank. Yawn, yawn, yawn. You really think that you can hurt us with your Fire and Thunder attacks? Geez, that was so four hours of gameplay ago! Steal both the items with Marcus, then attack with Marcus and Steiner. A bit of a distraction, that’s all. Be gone, foul creature. And so, it went! You’ll finally reach Alexandria Station. Buy some supplies if you wish – don’t bother playing cards with her. She hasn’t got anything decent. Going left at the junction takes you out to Nolrich Heights. There isn’t much to do there, so take the right-hand path. Jump over the broken bridge and grab the money. Ta-da! Welcome to Bentini Heights. Treno is up on your right, but you should explore a bit before you go there. Mr Ghost can be found in the forest. Give him some Ore and receive 10AP in return. Thank you, kind sir (you have to be polite – he seems kind of posh). There’s a new enemy to be found in this forest: the Mandragora. They come in groups of two or three and cause you a bit of a problem until you increase your levels. Follow the forest until you come to a cave. This is Quan’s Dwelling. That name rings a bell. Hey, that’s Vivi’s grandfather. This must be where Vivi used to live. Climb down the rope and run to the end of the walkway. There’s a Scorpio, an Ether and a regenerative spring down here. Go into the next room. There’s a large egg on a stool. There’s some writing on the wall. What!? Still too small to eat? You should’ve know that a Gourmand couldn’t be nice to someone. I guess it’s lucky that Quan died! There’s nothing else to find, so you may as well head over to Treno. Steiner just can’t keep his comments to himself, can he? Now the Princess has gone – thanks to him, she gets mugged. That means that you lose money, by the way! Check out the fountain on the left. Keep putting money in until you get the Gemini coin (it takes around 100 Gil). There will be several ATEs, involving Dagger and Marcus, as you explore the city. The first thing to do is to try and apprehend the thief. You might want to play some cards too – most people in this town have great cards in their collection. It’s just a matter of playing them enough. Among the cards available are Mandragora, Sand Scorpions, Sand Golems and Zuus. The only people that don’t have any decent cards are the Café Carte gang. Go into the Bishop’s House (opposite the café).The four-armed thief is there. Steiner doesn’t know who he is, but the thief pretty much tells Steiner that he did it. He’s so scared that he gives you a Power Belt! What a loser! Follow the corridor to the shop. There are some new accessories to buy. Visit the Weapon Shop on the other side of town if you fall short of some of the requirements. Now it’s time to visit Queen Stella. You should have collected four Stellazio Coins by now. Give them to her in exchange for 1,000 Gil, a Phoenix Pinion, 2,000 Gil and a Blood Sword. Equip the Blood Sword straight away. This next part may seem impossible, but follow our instructions and it’ll be a breeze. Go to the Knight’s House. There is a monster in the room below you. The shopkeeper tells you that the owner likes to watch people get defeated by it – well, it looks like you’ve never met anyone as hard as us then! The monster uses Wind attacks, so equip the Bronze Armour. This will cut wind attacks by 50%. Equip the Power Belt and switch on Counter, MP Boost and Bird Killer – this is a lethal combination. The monster will probably get in the first hit. Steiner will counter it, and then attack. This is enough to kill the monster! Steiner’s attacks take off so much due to the MP Attack and the Bird Killer. The Blood Sword lets Steiner gain any damage that he inflicts. In this fight at least, you’re pretty much invincible! Your prize is the Tonberry Card. Go and find Dagger at the Auction house. You can buy items such as the Reflect Ring, Doga’s Artifact, Une’s Mirror, Mini-Cid, Madain’s Ring and the Griffin’s Heart. Try bidding for the Mini-Cid, as it could be unobtainable later. Everything else costs far too much – you’ll be able to find them cheaper later on. Go towards the Items Shop. Mogrich flies out from the turret. Use him to save your progress, then go to the Items Shop and search around behind it for the Taurus. Take it to the Queen, in return for 5,000 Gil. Head over to the Inn and speak to Marcus. It’s time to go and retrieve the Supersoft. You’ll get there by Gondola – Steiner and Dagger desperately try to reassure themselves of why they are here. Dear, oh dear – tell yourselves what you want, guys. All that matters is that you are doing it, right? It turns out that the Supersoft is being kept in the Synthesist’s Shop. Hold on, there’s someone coming. It’s Dr Tot, Dagger’s old tutor! He agrees to get the Supersoft for you, although you’ll have to meet him in his tower. You know where to go. There are loads of cards to be won and found in Treno. The nobles here have enough money to buy any cards that they can’t win, and the criminals just steal them! The best people to plat against are the Thug and the Nobles who are standing near the entrance. You can also play in the Card Tournament at the stadium, or play against Queen Stella. There is a Tonberry Card to be won by defeating the monster in the Knight’s House, and a Yeti Card in a chest near the Items Shop. Phew! You need to get back to Alexandria. Get the Supersoft from Dr Tot. Dagger will have a flashback – ahhh, isn’t she cute! Enough of that. The Doctor has a method of transport, which you can use to get to Alexandria quickly. Climb down the hatch into Gargan Roo. You’ll need to find the switch to activate this transport that he keeps talking about. Before you go, give Mochos the letter from Nazna. I don’t know – the whole Moogles in love thing is starting to get a bit complicated. Stop thinking about it and take the left path out of here. There’s a chest and a switch in this next room. It’s worth staying here for a while – the enemies (Dragonflies and Crawlers) will boost your levels, and with the Blood Sword they’ll fall like flies. This is also a good chance to learn a lot of abilities. Equip Dagger with the Cachusha and switch on Ability Up. This will decrease the amount of time that it takes her to learn an ability. It’s possible to have everything learnt before you leave this room! Go back and take the right-hand path. Pull the cord at the far end, as Dr Tot tells you to. What is that? It looks like a giant insect pulling a basket. Well, if it does the job… Now you will have to stop it. Go to the other end of the corridor and push the ‘Feed’ button. Jump on – that was a bit easy! Looks like you spoke too soon. The Gargant won’t go any further because there is a huge wormlike creature in the way. With Steiner’s current setup, you won’t have a problem removing it. Use Marcus to steal, and attack with Steiner. Now that was one easy boss! You are now in the depths of the Alexandrian castle. Dagger seems to be worried about something, but as usual, Steiner knows best…or not. Zorn and Thorn are out of reach yet again. Something bad is going to happen them very soon. I can feel it in my bones. Up We Go Zidane’s team has just about recovered from the beating that Beatrix gave them. There isn’t a second to lose. If you’re quick, you can get to Cleyra before Brahna has time to get her troops there. Cleyra lies inside the sandstorm, which you’ll have seen earlier. The path takes you into Cleyra’s Trunk. The sand has seeped inside, leaving many openings blocked. Hit the switch on the right to open the door. There are Dragonflies, Carrion Worms and Sand Golems in this area. When the Sand Golem is standing up, don’t attack the core, otherwise it’ll counter you. Attack the sand until it falls – then attack the core. Alternatively, use Blizzara on the Core to kill it straight away! There are two chests to find in the room with the tree. Go through to the next area. There is a climbable vine, but it has no use at the moment. Carry on up the path until you get to a dead end. There is a hole by your feet. Stick your hand in and pull the switch. Uh-oh, this is all very Indiana Jones. I’ve got a bad feeling. Go back to the climbable vine. The sand has filled in the cavern and you can walk across the surface. Keep going and you’ll find Monev, quite happily standing in the mouth of his cave. Give him the letter from Atla and save your progress. At the next fork, head left for the Flame Staff, then double-back on yourself and go right (following the sign for Cleyra). This path takes you across an old wooden bridge and into a large cave. There are two exits to this cave. The first is directly ahead of you – it leads to a lever which shuts off some of the sand flow. The second exit is on the left. This one takes you to the areas that have been affected by the lever. After you’ve hit the lever, take the left exit, then go right at the fork. Grab the Elixir. The next room has a number of quicksand spots. If you fall in, hammer the 5 button to jump out again – otherwise you’ll have to fight a Sand Scorpion. Follow the path until you get to the ladder. Pick up the Gysahl Greens from behind it, then climb up into the Cleyra Settlement. One of the Burmecians offers to give you a guided tour. You’d better take her up on it – Vivi will only moan otherwise. Hmm, looks like they have everything sewn up. It’s so noisy up here though! Go into the area behind the guide. This is where the Antlion lives. Pick up the money from behind the sign, then go back to the guide. There are a couple of ATEs to see while you are exploring. Quina can’t find anything to eat – not a good thing considering the fact that it is only staying with you so that it can find new food-types. Go to the Waterwheel and talk to Moon Maiden Claire. Apparently the sandstorm is summoned by performing a sacred dance to the melody of the magical harp. There must be something in the water – they’re all mad! Pick up the Thunder Gloves before you go. You’ll find Star Maiden Nina by the Windmills. She has some items for sale, so stock up if you need to. There is a Phoenix Pinion on the floor. Vivi needs a comforting shoulder at the moment, so go over to the Inn and chat with him. There are some items and money to be found while you’re here. Mopli is upstairs and has a letter for Zidane. Ruby is starting up a theatre of her own. She has got enough drama in her to spread around the whole of Gaia, so she should do well! Once you have seen the ATE, in which Quina eats the mushroom, go back to the Antlion’s Lair. Quina jumps into the pit – you’ll have to go after it. You land on a platform near the base of the trunk, right next to two chests. Grab the treasures and make your way back up to the settlement. Once there, go up to the Cathedral. Freya has left a message asking you to wait at the Inn. Grab the Yellow Scarf, and go to the Inn. Before you even get there, a Burmecian begs you to help him defeat the Antlion. It has captured a kid! Before you go, make sure that your current team has Bright Eyes equipped. When you get there, you’ll see that the kid is none other than Puck. What is he doing here? The Antlion’s Sandstorm attack reduces your party’s HP to yellow alert. When this happens, use Quina’s White Wind (if you haven’t learnt it yet, use Potions and Hi-Potions instead) and Freya’s Reis’s Wind to heal yourself. Cast Slow with Vivi and Soulblade with Zidane. This will slow it down and cause it to miss with the Counter Horn. Steal the items, then cast Blizzara two or three times to defeat it. Easy stuff! No sooner is Puck safe than he’s off again. The Antlion was upset about something. Perhaps it sensed evil approaching. The Cleyrans decide to perform the ancient dance with the aid of Dragon Knight Freya, in the hope that it will succeed in strengthening the sandstorm. At the end of the long dance, the strings on the magical harp snap, all at once. Now come on – if that isn’t a bad omen, what is? No sooner have the strings snapped, than the sandstorm breaks down and disappears. This is not good! Meanwhile… Steiner and Marcus have been locked in a cage, which is hanging high above the floor. Just how stupid is Steiner? He still has faith in his Queen. Dagger is in her room trying to figure out what is going on. Uh-oh, here comes trouble. Dagger still hasn’t got the hang of it, has she? Zorn and Thorn take Dagger to see Queen Brahna and Kuja. Do what? Extract what!? Damn it Zidane – where are you when we need you? Now you can see why the Queen has suddenly changed. Dagger’s powers couldn’t be extracted until she was 16 years old. Zidane and Freya are going to check out the trunk, just to make sure that no-one is going to attack from that direction. Before you go to the entrance, visit the Cathedral. Go into the Throne Room and speak to the High Priest. He gives you the Emerald. There a couple of other items to pick up in here before you go. Head down to the Inn. Dan will sell you a load of stuff if you need it. Who’s that upstairs? Hey, it’s Stiltskin! He’s got some items for sale. Buy them from him, then talk to Mopli. She has a letter from Monev. Oh no! Monev says that people are climbing up the trunk. You’d better get down there. Equip everyone before you leave the settlement. Make your way back down the trunk. What the… Alexandrian soldiers? Here? That was quick. Kill them! Keep fighting until you get to the bridge. This all seems a bit too easy. Ever get the feeling that you’re being led away? It’s Puck. He says that the town is being attacked. Get back there as soon as you can. Type B Black Mages are attacking the inhabitants. No! There goes Dan! Take out the Mage, then go and see Mopli in the Antlion’s Lair. She wants you to deliver a letter to Serino. Take it and save your progress. Equip Man Eater and Devil Killer. You’ll eventually have to make some decisions as to which way to send people. Send the first two Cleyrans to the right-hand path. Send Dan’s family to the left path. In the next area, send them down the left path. Some soldiers will engage them, but you’ll get there in time. Take them to the lookout point and tell them that it still isn’t safe. You’ll get surrounded at the Cathedral. There is no way that you can save them all. Hold on… who’s that? A strange man with a long axe-headed spear appears, as if from nowhere, and kills all the enemies. If he looks familiar, that’s because you have seen him before in Freya’s flashbacks. Yup, it’s her long-lost love, Sir Fratly. Puck explains how he found the ex-Dragon Knight on his travels. Sir Fratly must have received a serious knock to the head to have forgotten so much. Anyway, that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Beatrix is standing right next to you! She nabs the jewel and runs off. She’ll pay for that! The survivors all have something to give you. Among the items are a Zuu Card and a Nymph Card. Save your progress before you go outside. You have to wonder what the point in battling her is. After all, when she decides to, she can defeat you all with one hit. Still… Immediately cast Mighty Guard with Quina, and Reis’s Wind with Freya. Get Vivi to focus and use Blizzara. Steal the items with Zidane and then attack. When Beatrix gets bored, she’ll use Stock Break on your entire party. Zidane doesn’t seem at all phased by the destruction of Cleyra. Like a true leader, he is focused on the job at hand. Right now, you’ve got to worry about who is on this ship. Beatrix seems pretty peeved off about what just happened. Maybe she could be swayed away from the Queen. What!? Queen Brahna is going to have Dagger beheaded! You’ve got to get to Alexandria, now! Hold on, that was a Moogle. It’s Serino. Give her the letter. She also has a letter for you to deliver. Vivi reckons that you should use the pod to get to Alexandria. Sounds like a good idea. Let’s go. Meanwhile… you really need to get out of this cage. The door isn’t locked, but it’s a long way down. Push g on the D-pad to start swinging. Let gravity swing the cage back – as the cage passes its lowest point, press right to swing the other way. Once the cage is swinging enough, you’ll have time to press g/c twice in one swing. It won’t be long before you smash into the platform above. Obviously, this has grabbed the attention of the guards. With your newly equipped Ice Brand, they won’t be a problem. Fight off the guards, then climb the ladder at the far end. Steiner must be loving this – showing Beatrix’s soldiers who’s boss! Marcus is off to save Blank – not a problem! Zidane and co have arrived. The Red Rose will be here in 30 minutes. You need to find Dagger before then. Go straight into the castle. You may as well fight all the soldiers that you come across, as you have quite a lot of time. Everyone in the library has been doing research on the sacred crystals. They all seem to think that there’s a secret in the purple flame, which can be found in the Queen’s room. Get up there as quickly as you can. There is a book in the left library – an evil book, which will challenge you to a fight. Firstly, you don’t have the time; and secondly, it is far too strong for you to beat right now. Go ahead and try if you must, but you’ll be dead within two minutes! There is nothing to be found in any of the rooms, so don’t bother exploring. The only information of interest comes from one of the chefs. Apparently, the Queen’s favourite dish is Deep-Fried Bat. Could be useful in a Pop Quiz? Go into the Queen’s Chamber. There’s that purple flame. Ah, the candle moves likes a lever. Go into the fireplace. Follow the stairway until you get to a circular platform with two exits. Heal yourself and get ready for battle – you’ve been waiting for this for a long, long time! The only hard thing about this fight is stealing the items. It is nigh on impossible to steal the Stardust Rod, and if you try for too long you’ll run out of time. The pesky jesters’ attacks won’t hurt you much. Slow and Soulblade will affect them. A couple of MP Attacks from Steiner will send them running to their mistress. Get over to Dagger as soon as you can. In an ATE, Marcus has reached the Evil Forest and is about to give the Supersoft to Blank. Good old Marcus – faithful to the last. Enough talking, you’ve got to get Dagger to safety before the Queen gets down here. The best way would be to go down the stairs and take the Gargant, but the barriers are still up. Up the stairs is it then. For some bizarre reason, Zidane wants to let Dagger rest. The Queen is going to be here any second – what are you thinking!? Steiner finally seems to be getting a grip on things. Maybe now he won’t be such an idiot. Not again! Use all the usual tactics. This time Slow seems to affect her. Steal the items, then keep attacking with Steiner. Beatrix has got a new move to use on you when she gets bored – the Climhazzard! Zidane quickly makes the General see sense. After all, it’s her duty to protect the Princess, even if it is the Queen who is hurting her. Beatrix will now be in your party. The Bandersnatches won’t be a problem for her! It’s time for Zidane’s party to get out of here. On your way to the bottom, Bandersnatches and Type C Black Mages attack you. Neither should cause a problem. As soon as Steiner learns Counter (he should learn it sometime soon) give the Power Belt to Zidane. On the way down, Steiner’s conscience gets the better of him, and he goes back to help the other team. Speak to Mosh before you leave – he asks you to deliver a letter to Monty. When you get to the bottom, the barriers are down. It could be a trap, but it’s a chance that you’ll have to take. Damn you, Zorn! Trapped again! Hey, it’s Marcus… and Blank! Now’ s your chance to escape. The temptation to kick the jester twins is extremely high, but you need to go. Jump on the Gargant and get out of here. At last, an opportunity to get another staff for Vivi! This boss’s Ultra Sound Wave will cast Mini on whoever it hits – this shouldn’t cause too many problems. Cast Soulblade with Zidane, and use Dagger to cure your party. Don’t bother attacking it when it coils up. Use this opportunity to steal from it. It doesn’t have many HP and will be dead in no time at all. Well, you thought that it was dead, right? I’m afraid not. It’s behind you now – the Gargant is pretty scared of this foul beast, and so it should be. There’s no way of stopping the Gargant, so you’ll soon see Treno Station whizz past. What now? Where exactly does this tunnel go? Two mysterious people have turned up to see the Queen: someone called Lina, and a red-headed man. The Queen has hired them to find and kill Zidane, Vivi and the Princess. They don’t look too strong, but then Beatrix doesn’t look like much either. This could cause problems – mind you, they’ll have to find you first. That could take some time seeing as even you don’t know where you are! The Gargant has taken you all the way to Pinnacle Rocks. Isn’t that the place where that ghost was supposed to be? Not a ghost exactly, but Ramuh, the God of Thunder. He has agreed to give you his powers if you past his little test. He has hidden five manifestations of himself in Pinnacle Rocks. Each manifestation will tell you a story. Put the story together in the right order to pass the test. Go back to the broken carriage for the first story. Monty is in the next area. He sure gets around! Give him the letter and save your progress. There are Sand Scorpions, Seeker Bats and Zahgnols in this area. The Seeker Bats will only cause a problem if you leave them to use their Absorb Even More move. Take them out with MP Attack and Fira as soon as you come across them. Carry on down to the stream. The second story is at the back. Head left –the third story is in front of the chest. You can go up the slope to your right – before you do, go to the back of the screen and find the fourth story. Go up the slope and walk towards the screen to find the final part of the story. Go back to the previous screen. There is a chest on a grassy platform in the centre of the screen. You can jump down to it, but you’ll have to make your way up here again. Go through the tunnel to your left. Ramuh stops you and asks you to put four of the stories together to make one large story. Put them together in this order: Beginning, Co-operation, Silence, Human. Whether or not the story was right is irrelevant: Ramuh would have helped you anyway. Before you leave, go back and see Monty. He has just received a tattered letter from Stiltskin – he can’t be dead! Surely not!? Too many people are dying – you’ve got to get to Lindblum. The Red Rose is already there, you’re too late! The town is in a state of disarray. Families have been scattered, and casualties from both sides line the streets. Go and see Mooden at the Inn. Give him the letter. He has a letter for you from Ruby. He would also like you to deliver a letter to Moonte. Go to the Synthesist’s area. Minister Artania is here. He’ll take you to see Cid. So, Kuja is a weapons dealer. If he has come from the Outer Continent, then that is where you need to be headed. Cid seems to think that there is a secret passageway to be found in Qu’s Marsh. Don’t remember seeing anything the last time we visited. You had better tool up before you leave. The Synthesist has got a couple of new accessories as well as a new weapon for Zidane (at long last). If you didn’t get the Stardust Rod from Zorn and Thorn, buy it from the Weapons Shop. Go back out to the Pickles Stall area. You’ll see an ATE in which the Alexandrian soldiers are pulling out. All they wanted was the Falcon Claw. There are some items to pick up in Card Freak Gon’s house. The mighty Lindblum Card can be found in the rubble to the left of Gon’s house. You should now be ready to leave Lindblum. Go back and tell the man that you are ready. Zidane and Dagger meet up with Cid on the Base Level. Cid has managed to create a blockade somewhere between here and the Serpent’s Gate, so you shouldn’t be followed for a while. Cid gives you the World Map before you go. Moonte is waiting at Dragon’s Gate. Give him the letter and save your progress. Before you go traipsing off to Qu’s Marsh, you should visit the Chocobo Forest. There are some Chocobo tracks near the entrance to Lindblum. Call Choco and ride him to the forest. At the moment, Choco is a bog-standard Chocobo. In this form there are several locations in which he can find treasure. You have already discovered treasure from the riverside, but finding other Chocographs will enable you to find other treasures. Keep playing Chocobo Hot & Cold until you find another one. You’ll probably find a piece of a Chocograph as well as many other items. It might take anywhere up to ten attempts at the game for you to find the Chocograph. As far as points go, there are ways of getting more points. Generally, the deeper the treasure, the higher the points. You can also get bonus points for finding more than four treasures within a minute. If you manage this, all the treasures that you dig up after the fourth one will earn you double points! Keep playing until your Chocobo’s beak gets to Level 10. Ride Choco to Qu’s Marsh. Amazingly, Quina is alive and well, and catching frogs! How on earth did it get away from the blast? Oh well, it wants to come with you to the Outer Continent, so that’s cool. Catch all the frogs to receive a Silk Robe and Elixir from Quale. Quale seems to think that the entrance may be covered in brush – yeah, that’s very helpful considering that this whole marsh is covered in brush! Go to the area behind the hut. Quina has got frogs on the brain. Where are you going now? Hold on, this is it! Nice one Quina. As soon as you walk in, you’re attacked by a mechanical beast. This creature calls itself a Armodullahan and is supposed to be a boss, but it’s a complete wimp of an enemy! It doesn’t have anything worth stealing and will fall to the ground after 1,000HP of damage. The only problems lie with the fact that it casts Level 5 Death, Death and Thundara. Cast Silence to render it useless. When it falls to the ground, you can run away. Avoid the axe swings and keep running. You may have to fight it again, as it’ll get up and chase you. When you see the gap in the walkway, stop and heal your party. The ‘boss’ will fall into the hole, to its death hopefully. No sooner have you finished with the Armodullahan, than Lani will strike. She wants the pendant, but there’s no way that she’s getting it while Zidane is alive! Lani will concentrate her efforts on one person. After scanning them (to reveal their weaknesses), she’ll choose her spells and attack. She can be conquered quite easily – Bio, Drain and Zidane’s standard attack hurt her considerably. The problem stems from the fact that it’ll take you ages to steal her items. It’s worth hanging on though. Once Lani scans an opponent, cast Auto-Life with Quina. This solves the problem of having to waste turns by using Phoenix Down and Hi-Potion. After around 6,000HP of damage, she’ll ‘get fed up’ and run off. Yeah, I bet! She knew that she was dangerously close to being defeated. The Gladius is a weapon that Zidane can use. It isn’t as powerful as the Exploder, but it has an ability worth learning. Switch to it when you have learnt all the abilities for the Exploder. This could get confusing, so pay attention. You are now inside Fossil Roo, an old mine running below the ocean. The Gargants down here are untamed. However, there are plants growing in certain areas – the same plants that you used to feed the Gargant in Treno. Go over to the plants and grab a handful. Stand in front of the tunnel and wave the plants about a bit. There, it works. Go up the wooden steps, into the doorway. There are people down here! And there’s Stiltskin – how did he make it out alive? Apparently this place is full of treasure. You’ll need to use the switches to get around, though. Talk to Mogki and read his letters. The letter says that a Moogle has hidden himself in this network of caves. We’ll call this section, ‘Area 1’. Follow the path by the Moogles and jump onto the Gargant. There are some Fairy Earrings at the end of the path. Go back to Area 1 and take the top-right exit. Eventually, you’ll come to a switch. Hitting it changes the Gargant’s route. The Gargant now takes you to a new location. Climb the steps and get the Ether from the end of the path. Follow the lower path to the switch in Area 1. Hitting this switch affects the Gargant that took you to the Fairy Earrings. Now you’ll have to go all the way back to the Moogles. Take the Gargant to the new location. The next treasure hunter has a plethora of items for you to buy – nothing out of the ordinary, but it’s useful to stock up. Run up the stairs to Switch 4. Run through and ride the Gargant. You’ll find yourself on a ledge above another treasure hunter. Grab Lamia’s Tiara from the chest and go back to Switch 4. Switch it back, then ride the Gargant. Follow the path until you come to a wall covered in creepers. Shimmy over to the right – a jet of water knocks you down. Jump out and take the bottom-right exit. This takes you to another Gargant, which transports you to a passageway containing a Survival Vest. Run around the corridor, into the cavern with the treasure hunter. He’ll let you hunt for treasure in exchange for a Potion. Believe me, it’s worth it! There are plenty of items to be found, such as Ore and Hi-Potions. Up on the right-hand side, there appears to be some loose rubble. What’s that? Something is inside… it’s Kuppo! Looks like you found him. Play the treasure hunter at cards before you go. He has got some new cards, namely Ochus and Carrion Worms. Take the left exit out of here. Climb straight up, then shimmy left until you get to the switch. Finally, the exit-switch! Hit it and take the Gargant from the bottom-right path. What’s going on – there’s no mist here at all! Forks & Frogs Well this is refreshing. You can actually see what is ahead of you. This sun will do you the world of good. Jump into the forest ahead of you. Ladybug will appear and ask for some Ore. You’ll have to give her two lots in order to receive the 10AP. Follow the gully until you get to the beach. Turn right – there’s another marsh ahead of you. This is a great opportunity to get another weapon for Quina. Head straight for the pond. If you catch all the frogs (you should have 23 in all), Quale will turn up and give you the Silver Fork. This new weapon has an attack value of 53! Get up onto the plateau, and head over to that weird structure that you passed under a little while ago. This is Conde Petie, village of the Dwarves. What a weird bunch! Rally what? This could get tiresome… None of the locals seem to be afraid of Vivi – maybe Queen Brahna hasn’t travelled this far yet. Pick up the money that is lying around behind Harold Pathknower. Turn right and go to the Item Shop. Mogmatt has decided to stay in the Dwarf village for a while, and would like you to deliver a letter to Suzuna. Fine by us! Go up the stairs in the Shrine. Quina is having a really hard time with the locals – hold on, who’s that? Looks like a thief to me. It seems that the Shrine is where the Dwarves get married. After that, they go to the Sanctuary. Something strange is going on: the dwarves are acting like they know Vivi. Who could they be mistaking him for? Go to the Inn and play Granin Miller at cards. There are some great cards waiting to be won, such as Sand Golems, Antlions and Frogs. Barbara Gibgab has got a really smart Cactuar Card. Once you’ve finished kicking their arses at cards, pick up the money from the bed and go over to the fountains. You’ll be able to listen in on the old wives’ tales before you leave. You really should go and see who that Mage is. Head back to the Items Shop. There he is! As soon as he sees you he’ll run off. Apparently, a whole bunch of them live in a forest to the southeast of here. Time to go then. Before you leave, check out the Weapons Shop – it can be found by following the upper path from the Items Shop. To get to the Black Mage Village, you’ll need to go back towards the beach again. You may come across Cactuar and Goblin Mages on the way. Don’t attack the Cactuar until they come out of the sand. Attacking them while they are underground will only result in them using their 1,000 Needles Move (1,000HP damage). When you get to the beach, turn right and walk through the Magdelene Forest until you get to the round forest at the end. One of the Dwarves said that the village was so deep that not even owls went there. All you have to do is follow the signs that say ‘no owls’. Take the right-hand path, then right again, then left, then right. The Black Mage will open up a doorway to the village. Jump in while it’s still open! The Black Mages run off screaming as soon as they see you. Hey, what’s the problem? You’d better go and sort it out. The first shop on the left sells weapons and armour, although it doesn’t have anything new. The hut ahead of you is an Items Shop – at last, somewhere that sells Hi-Potions! The back door leads through to an Inn. They won’t check you in just yet. Pick up the Virgo from the bedroom, then leave. The hut to the left of the Items Shop is a Synthesist. After annoying Dagger (she’s so stressed out today!), climb up the ladder and find the money. The Synthesists have a lot of new items for you. Among them is the acclaimed Reflect Ring. You’ll need an Anklet to make one – have you ever seen one before? Nope, nor have I. Pick up the 2,000 Gil before you leave. As you head left to the cemetery, Vivi barges past you. What could they have said to him? You’ll soon find out as you talk to the Mages. The last place to visit is the Chocobo Hut, over in the far right corner. Quina is at it again – it doesn’t look like they’re going to give in, though. Talk to Mogryo and take the letter from him. Then head back to the Inn and get some rest. In the morning, Dagger finds out that Kuja has been seen in the northwest. The only place that you haven’t been to in the area is this ‘Sanctuary’. You’d better go and talk to the Dwarves. Go and see Mogryo before you leave. He has just received a letter from Stiltskin – he says that he is going to Conde Petie. Maybe you’ll see him there. On your way to Conde Petie, pop in to Qu’s Marsh. Let Quina catch some frogs. Now that you have the Silver Fork, you should start doing things properly. Catch all the frogs bar one adult male and one adult female. Leave these two so that they can breed. Get over to Conde Petie. The two Dwarves who are guarding the entrance to the Sanctuary tell you to go and see His Holiness. Father David can be found outside the Inn. It seems that the only solution to getting past the twins is for you and Dagger to get married. Amazingly, Dagger is really up for it! The two of them take part in the ceremony. Zidane makes a right fool of himself by trying to kiss Dagger and falling flat on his face. Poor guy… There’s still a problem though. How are Quina and Vivi going to get through? They can get married, of course! Yuk, I don’t know who to feel more sorry for. As you are about to leave, a little girl and a Moogle rush past you. They have just stolen some food from the stall. Well, you’ve found the thieves – now to apprehend them. If only Steiner were here! The little girl has got stuck on a branch. Her Moogle friend runs off when it sees Quina, which is understandable. The girl’s name is Eiko. You may as well take her home. The first thing that you’ll notice is that she has a horn! Then you’ll realise that she can use Summons in battle. Huh? Never mind, you can ask questions later. Go up to where Quina was standing and climb up the vine to the chest. Keep going right until you get to a statue of some sort. Take the Blue Stone that is set in the rock. Go back to the start and head right. Climb up the vine and go left into the previous area. Open the chest and take the Red Stone from the statue. I wonder what these stones do? Keep going right until you come to Stiltskin. He’s got some items for you, as usual. Give Suzuna the letter and save your progress. If you take the left path, you’ll be able to see a huge tree. It must be so old. It has got tons of mist around it as well. How strange. Make sure you equip Desert Boots on as many party members as you can. You’ll see why in a minute. Wow, he’s big! His main attack is the Earthquake. Anyone wearing Desert Boots will only take half the damage. Killing this guy isn’t a big problem. Just use Fenrir (you must use this to get a reaction from Dagger), Ramuh, Bio, Drain and Zidane’s attack. The problem lies with getting Hilgigars to part with his Fairy Flute. He just won’t let go of it! Eiko reckons that her whole tribe can use Summon magic. She’s joking, right? Grab the Yellow Stone and take the right-hand path. At the next fork, take the right-hand path again. There is a chest and a Green Stone to be picked up. Go back to the Moogles and take the right-hand path. Put all four stones in the hole. In return, you’ll receive the Moonstone. Go back to the vine pathways and keep going until you get to the Lucid Plains. Eiko’s home is over on the left, but visit the forest first. Yeti is waiting for some Ore and you wouldn’t want to go without those 20AP, would you? Madain Sari is an old Summoners’ village. It’s in ruins now, but Eiko still lives here with her friends the Moogles. This should be fun! It looks like Eiko has got a crush on Zidane. Uh-oh, not another love triangle? Hold on, she’s only six years old! She has gone off to make you something to eat, so you’ve got a while to make yourself seem unattractive to her. Good luck! There is a Libra to pick up from the fountain. Dagger is pretty much standing on a Tent, so push her out of the way and grab it. Take the top-right path and talk to Moco. She won’t let you through, and is completely outraged by Quina’s disregard for what she has said. What a surprise… Rock-fisted potato stew and barbecued fish, huh? Sounds nice. If only Quina were here to help her make it. Set the Moogles their tasks – it doesn’t matter who does what. As Zidane, check up on Vivi, then try to enter Eiko’s house. Is it ready yet? Nope, but it looks like you’re going to get into the restricted area after all. Go and get Dagger and take her to see the Eidolon Wall. You never know, it might jog her memory. Eiko needs to get the right amount of water for her stew. Let’s see… there’s Zidane, Eiko, Dagger, Vivi, Chimomo, Mocha, Momotose, Mog, Moco and Morrison. That makes ten people. If Quina smells food, it’ll come running, so you’d better add another two to that. You need water for 12 people, I’d say. The little Moogle has got a bite – leave the stew for now and catch that fish! Ahhh, it’s Quina! Actually, that’s quite useful. It can help you make the stew. It’s nice to know that your calculations are being appreciated by a professional. The meal should be ready by now. Go over to the hut and tuck in. After the meal, pick up the pot and take it into the kitchen. You can try and talk Eiko into breaking the Iifa Tree seal, but she won’t agree. What’s that over by the waterfall? Ah, Kirman Coffee. That Morrid person wanted some of that. Go back in and chat to Dagger. There is some writing on the wall – Eiko and Mog are the same age! Get some rest. In the morning, Eiko decides to join you (there’s a surprise). Go back into the village to stock up on items. Pick up some Magic Tags. Grab the Poison Knuckles if you don’t have them already. Now you can leave. The Iifa Tree can be reached by taking the left exit from the Hilgigars site. You’ll find yourself in Pualei Plains. Visit the forest on your left. Nymph can be found here, and is waiting for three lots of Ore. In return, you’ll receive 30AP. Tasty, huh? Make your way along the roots of the tree. There are Zombies and Stropers everywhere. Simply cast Cure/Curaga on the Zombies – being ‘undead,’ this will hurt them. Mochi is standing at the entrance to the tree itself. Give him the letter and save your progress. Follow the branch until you get to the circular platform. Get Zidane to stand on it – it’ll take you down to the next level. Keep going until you come to a part of the branch that has two alternative paths. The second has a switch on it. Press the switch to reveal a chest on the first path. Grab the Phoenix Down and keep going. Search all the nooks and crannies along the way – there’s a Lamia’s Flute to be found! Eventually you’ll come to another lift. As you start the seemingly endless drop into the depths of the tree, you’re attacked by monsters. Keep fighting until you reach the bottom. It’s so humid down here – the whole place is dripping. Go down to where Eiko and Vivi are. There are two chests to find down here: one by the steps, and one on the opposite side. The Brigandine is one of the treasures. Finally, Zidane will be able to learn Ability Up! Equip as many people as you can with Adaman Vest, and switch on the Body Temp ability – something big is coming your way! So this is who has been producing all the mist. Trying to bring about the fall of civilisation, huh? We’ll see about that! First things first. Cast Sleep on him. This won’t work every time, but keep trying and he’ll doze off. While he is asleep, you can steal to your heart’s content. Once you have all the items, attack with full force. Bio, Fenrir, Ramuh and Zidane’s standard attack will all hurt him. All you need to do is survive for a couple of rounds. The Mustard Bomb inflicts Heat on its opponent – the Body Temp ability will prevent this. None of the other attacks should cause any problems, unless one of your characters is on Level 30, in which case Level 5 Death will affect you. Now that the mist monster has been defeated, the mist will start to withdraw its hold on the surrounding continents. Something bad has happened back at Madain Sari. Get bac