FINAL FANTASY IX
No Equipment Challenge FAQ
By Ultima13
Version 1.05
October 18, 2004
----------
DISCLAIMER
----------
This guide is for personal use only. You may not use it on your website. It
may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private
use. The only place this guide should be found is on GameFAQs. Violation of
this discaimer is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.
---------------
VERSION HISTORY
---------------
Version 1.05 - 10/18/04 - Fixed some mistakes.
Version 1.00 - 4/13/04 - First version, walkthrough for the No Equipment game.
===============================================================================
INTRODUCTION/FAQ
===============================================================================
1. What is the No Equipment challenge?
The No Equipment challenge was originally created by CenterStream on GameFAQs
and was first completed by KADFC. Like the name implies, you must complete the
game without using any equipment at all. You must remove any equipment you
have at the beginning of the game and keep it that way for the entire game.
2. What about weapons?
You cannot remove your weapon in this game, so you must keep your initial
weapon on for the whole game. This means your attack power will be very weak
for the whole game, and you will hardly have any abilities.
3. Is this challenge harder than <insert name of challenge>?
There are many challenges for Final Fantasy IX, and each of them have their
hard parts. I honestly don't know which one is the hardest. This challenge
requires patience and strategy because your attack power is so low, you'll have
to find other ways to defeat your enemies besides attacking them. They will
also be able to deal a lot of damage to you because your Defense, Magic
Defense, Evasion, and Magic Evasion will all be 0.
4. How long will this take?
It depends on how well you know the game. I've played this game many times,
and this challenge took me about 27 hours to complete. It may take you more or
less time to do it.
5. What level should I be at in <insert place here>?
I will tell you when to level up in the walkthrough. I was around Lv. 30 at
the end of Disc 1, and around Lv. 50 at the end of the game. If you are having
trouble, you may need to level up more.
===============================================================================
WALKTHROUGH
===============================================================================
If you're doing a No Equipment challenge, than you're probably already familiar
with the game. The walkthrough here is brief and contains only what you need
to get through the game with no equipment. I rarely go into detail on any
dungeons or the location of treasure chests, etc. I will only cover the
sidequests that are important to this challenge, and those will only be covered
briefly. If you need a complete walkthrough, there are plenty of other FAQs
for that. With that said, here's the walkthrough.
DISC 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alexandria
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You start off as Zidane in the Theater Ship. As soon as you control him, open
the menu and remove his equipment. Then light the candle in the middle of the
room.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Masked Man
This fight is quite easy. Just attack with all four characters and you will
win.
*******************************************************************************
Now you control Vivi. Remember to remove his equipment Go to the town square
and show your ticket to the man in the booth. He will tell you it is a fake.
Then head left into an alley. You will meet the rat kid there. Accept his
offer to become his slave. Follow him to the steeple where you can save your
game, then follow him over the rooftops to the castle.
You will now fight Baku in the play. It's not hard; just attack Baku and it
will be over pretty quickly.
Now comes the swordfight. It will make things much easier for you if you get
a perfect score in the swordfight, which will get you 10,000 gil. You must
press the buttons Blank tells you to both quickly and accurately. If you do
it fast enough without any mistakes, you will receive 10,000 gil. This can be
very frustrating, but I strongly recommend you get a perfect score.
After the swordfight, control Zidane. Go up the stairs and watch the scene.
You will now control Steiner. Remove his equipment. If you got 100 in the
swordfight, talk to Brahne to receive a Moonstone. Even though you can't equip
it, these are very rare. Now go into the main hall of the castle and down to
the courtyard. Head towards the left tower and climb all the way up. Watch
the scenes, and you will assume control of Zidane. Follow Garnet until you
meet up with Cinna. You will now fight Steiner.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Steiner
Another easy battle. Just attack him and you will win. He might kill Zidane
since he has no equipment, but don't worry about it. Blank can finish him off.
*******************************************************************************
Watch some more scenes, and you will fight Steiner again.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Steiner
Don't worry about the Pluto Knights; concentrate on Steiner. Have Vivi cast
Fire, Zidane and Marcus attack, and Dagger heal.
*******************************************************************************
After some more scenes you will fight Steiner for the last time.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Steiner
Do not do anything. Just sit there without attacking, and you will win.
*******************************************************************************
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evil Forest
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Save your game and go to the bottom-right of the screen to enter the Evil
Forest. You may want to put Zidane in the back row now, so he won't take as
much damage. It would also be a good idea to gain a level now. When you're
ready, go to the right and to the next screen.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Prison Cage
This battle is easy because Zidane is in Trance. Have Zidane use Free Energy
twice and the battle will be over. Now you fight another Prison Cage.
*******************************************************************************
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Prison Cage
This one is not as easy. Vivi will cast Fire every turn. Have Steiner attack
and have Zidane heal when necessary.
*******************************************************************************
Back at the Prima Vista, talk to Vivi and then go down and talk to Baku. He
will challenge you to a fight. Now go outside and save. Make sure Zidane is
in the back row and you have several Potions. Now fight Baku.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Baku
He will attack you and deal around 40 damage per hit, and sometimes he will
miss. Attack him once or twice, then heal if your HP goes below 40. If you
keep your health high, you won't have a problem.
*******************************************************************************
Now talk to Steiner and Vivi. Go out and save your game. Talk to Cinna and
he will sell you items. If you got the 10,000 gil from the swordfight, buy
a lot of Potions, I'd recommend about 50. Also, put everyone in the back row.
Enter the Evil Forest and follow the path until you come to a spring. Flee
from any battles you get into. Once you're at the spring, save your game.
This is a great spot to level up, since the spring can restore your HP and MP.
Just run around for a little on the next screen and fight some battles,
coming back to heal as necessary. I'd recommend you get to Lv. 4 or 5. When
you're ready, save and continue on to fight the Plant Brain.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Plant Brain
Steiner and Vivi will be your main attack force. Have Vivi use Fire and
Steiner use Fire Sword. Have Zidane use Potions when someone's HP gets too
low. Don't worry if Zidane dies, just keep using Fire. Eventually Blank
will come, so have him use Potions too. This battle isn't too bad, as long
as you keep Vivi alive.
*******************************************************************************
After the battle, heal if need be and then exit the screen. You will
eventually have to fight some Plant Spiders, so have Vivi use Fire on all of
them at once to win. Just follow the path and you will be out of the Evil
Forest. Watch the scenes, then you will be on the World Map. Remove all
of Dagger's equipment, then walk across to the Ice Cavern. Be sure to save
your game before entering.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ice Cavern
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't worry about getting any treasure chests; most of them have equipment,
which you can't use. Just keep going north until you reach a fork. Take the
left path to find a moogle. Save your game. You are about to fight a
difficult battle, so I'd suggest you level up Zidane now. You can kill off
Steiner and Dagger to give more EXP to Zidane. To win the battles, have Vivi
cast Fire on all the enemies. I'd suggest getting to about Lv. 7 before
continuing. Once you're leveled up, save again and then take the right fork.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Black Waltz and Sealion
This is a long and difficult battle. First, you need to kill the Black Waltz.
Do not attack; just sit there and let them attack you, and heal when your HP
gets below 150 or so. When your Trance gauge fills up, use Free Energy on the
Black Waltz to kill him. You should have 2 Trance turns left, but it would be
safe to not use them. Just keep healing while the Sealion attacks you. Now
you have to fill up your Trance gauge again. Just heal when you need to, and
be patient. Make sure you are at full health when you go into Trance. Use
Free Energy on the Sealion. This will get his HP pretty low, and he will use
Tsunami, followed by another attack. Hopefully, you will survive this and be
able to use Free Energy again to kill him.
*******************************************************************************
After the battle, you can go back and save if you want, then exit the Ice
Cavern. On the World Map, head towards the village of Dali.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dali
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you control Zidane, go to the item shop and stock up on Potions and
Phoenix Downs. Also, if you got the 10,000 gil at the beginning, you can do
a money-making trick. Buy as many Wrists as you can from the shop here and
save them. If you get the Wrists here, you can do the Cotton Robe Trick when
you get to Lindblum, which can make you up to 60,000 gil.
Head north and talk to Vivi. Then go east and enter the farm. Then go into
the weapon shop and you should find Dagger. Watch some scenes, then go to the
place where Vivi was earlier. After that, go inside the windmill and open the
hatch and go down. Continue on until you get to a moogle, and save your game.
Proceed and you will find Vivi. You can get the treasure chests if you want,
but don't open the door with Mist coming out of it, because that will release
monsters and you will have to deal with random battles. Go all the way to the
end, and then you will switch to Steiner.
As Steiner, go down the stairs and wait for Morrid to come down the stairs.
Then enter his house and talk to him. After you talk to him, leave the
observatory and get ready for a boss battle.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Black Waltz 2
It is very important that Vivi does not cast Fire in this battle. If he does,
the Black Waltz will counter with Fira, which will most likely kill you. Have
Zidane attack, Steiner use Fire Sword, and Dagger heal every turn. Vivi can
use Potions if need be. Just be sure to keep Vivi alive so Steiner can use
Fire Sword.
*******************************************************************************
After the battle, choose to go back to the inn so you can save your game.
Buy anything you need, then go back to the farm and depart. Once on the cargo
ship, go up to the deck and talk to Steiner. Then you will turn the ship
around. After some scenes, you will fight Black Waltz 3.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Black Waltz 3
This battle is harder than the last, because you don't have Dagger to heal.
Vivi will automatically Trance, so he should use double Fire spells. Have
Steiner use Fire Sword. Zidane can use Potions on whoever needs them. It's
important that you keep Vivi alive, because Steiner can't use Sword Magic
without him.
*******************************************************************************
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lindblum
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After a bunch of events, you will control Zidane. Go north into the town and
stop at the shops. Stock up on Potions and Phoenix Downs, and buy a few Tents
too. Also, if you bought a bunch of Wrists in Dali, you can do the Cotton Robe
trick here. To do this, go to the weapon shop and buy some Steepled Hats.
Then synthesize them into as many Cotton Robes as you can afford. Take the
Cotton Robes back to the weapon shop, buy more Steepled Hats, synth more Cotton
Robes, and repeat until you are out of Wrists. It's a bit tedious, but you
will end up making over 60,000 gil by doing this.
After you're done shopping, head over to the air cab station across from the
inn and ride to the Theater District. Once there, go down and enter Tantalus's
hideout where there will be a scene. After that, go back to the air cab and
ride it to Lindblum Castle. Go up to the room with the fountain and take a
right, and then enter the guest room to find out that Dagger is missing. Go
back to the fountain room and try to ride the lift. Then go back towards the
guest room and go down the stairs to find a sleeping guard. Talk to him and
you will steal his uniform. Now you can ride the lift up. Once at the top
floor, go left and up the stairs to find Dagger. You will see some scenes and
then you will have to look through the telescope. There will be some more
scenes. Then you will begin the Festival of the Hunt.
Ride the air cab to the Theater District. On the first screen, there is a Mu.
Get into a battle with it, and kill Zidane. This will save you the trouble of
winning the festival, and Freya will win automatically. There will be some
more events, and then Freya will join your party. Be sure to remove her
equipment. Ride the lift down to the base level and ride the trolley on the
left to Dragon's Gate. You can save your game and buy items from the man
there. When you've prepared, exit Dragon's Gate.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Qu's Marsh/Sidequests
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are several things you can do before going to Gizamaluke's Grotto.
CHOCOBO SIDEQUEST
From Dragon's Gate, go northwest, crossing the bridge over the river, and enter
Chocobo's Forest. Talk to Mene there and he will give you Gysahl Greens. Go
outside and stand on the chocobo tracks and use the Gysahl Greens to call
Choco. If you want, you can go back in and play Chocobo Hot & Cold and buy
some more Gysahl Greens. I would recommend doing the chocobo sidequest, even
though you can't use the equipment, because it gets you some healing items and
some good Throwing weapons that Amarant can use later. I'm not going to cover
the chocobo sidequest, so look in one of the Chocobo FAQs on GameFAQs if you
need help.
QU'S MARSH
Qu's Marsh is located north of Dragon's Gate. Go inside and head north a few
screens to find Quina. Catch a from and give it to him and s/he will join you.
Be sure to put him in the back row. Once you have Quina, you can learn some
Blue Magic, which will greatly help you in this challenge. I strongly
recommend you learn the following Blue Magic:
LIMIT GLOVE - You can learn this from Mandragoras, found in forests around
Chocobo's Forest. They are kind of tough, but you shouldn't have too much
trouble eating one. If you can't eat a Mandragora, you can go all the way up
to Lindblum Plateau by exiting south from the Business District. You will find
Axe Beaks there, which also teach Limit Glove and are a lot easier than
Mandragoras. Limit Glove is very useful because it does 9999 damage when
Quina has 1 HP.
FROG DROP - This isn't going to be of much use to you now, but you're going to
need to get it sooner or later. Frog Drop deals damage equal to the number of
frogs caught x Quina's level, so it can deal 9999 by the end of the game. You
can learn this from a Gigan Toad, found inside Qu's Marsh.
You can also learn the following Blue Magic now if you want to:
Aqua Breath (Axolotl, Qu's Marsh)
Pumpkin Head (Hedgehog Pie, on the plains near Dragon's Gate)
Angel's Snack (Ironite, plains near Chocobo's Forest)
LV3 Def-less (Carve Spider, around Lindblum)
Mustard Bomb (Bomb, forests on Lindblum Plateau)
Vanish (Vice, plains around Dragon's Gate and Chocobo's Forest)
Mighty Guard (Serpion, plains around Dragon's Gate and Chocobo's Forest)
FROG CATCHING
Inside Qu's Marsh, if Quina is in your party, you will be able to catch frogs.
You will have to catch 101 frogs by the end of the game if you want Frog Drop
to do 9999 damage, so you might as well start now. Don't catch all the frogs
in the marsh; if you do, they will take forever to respawn. It's best if you
leave a male and female frog in the marsh. That way they'll respawn much
faster. So from now on, every time you see a Qu's Marsh, go in and catch some
frogs so you won't have to catch all of them on Disc 4.
If you need to, go back to Dragon's Gate to buy anything you forgot. When
you're ready, head north from Dragon's Gate to get to Gizamaluke's Grotto.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gizamaluke's Grotto
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go inside and to the right and talk to the soldier to get a bell. Use the bell
to open the door. You will fight 2 Type A black mages. To beat them, have
Vivi cast Fire and Freya use jump. They might kill a couple characters, but
it's okay. You can put everyone in the front row if you need to do more
damage. After the battle, go under the bridge and fight 2 more black mages to
get another bell. Go up the stairs and use the bell on the big door on the
right of the platform. Go in and watch the scene with the moogles, and give
them your Kupo Nut. Afterwards, take the bell from the chest and use it on the
door on the right. Go inside and save your game.
Now, if you did like I said and learned Limit Glove, you can raise your level
very quickly by killing the Grand Dragons. First, get into a battle and kill
Quina, then save. Use a Phoenix Down on Quina, which will give him anywhere
from 1 to 10 HP. If it does not give him 1 HP, reset and try again until it
does. Then climb the vines next to the moogles to get to the world map. Make
sure you save your game. If you walk around on the grass here, you will
encounter Grand Dragons, which will give you about 35,000 EXP. To defeat them,
have Quina use Limit Glove to deal 9999 damage, then have Quina eat it on the
next turn. This may take a few tries if the dragon uses Thundaga or kills
Quina, but you will get a huge amount of EXP when you win. Spend some time
here to level up as high as you want; I leveled up to Lv. 30. After you're
done, go back into Gizamaluke's Grotto and save.
Talk to Moguta and tell him you like Kupo Nuts. Then try to exit the room and
he will give you another bell. Take it outside and use it on the left door.
Enter the door and you will fight Gizamaluke.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Gizamaluke
Gizamaluke can be quite difficult, but he has a weak point - he is vulnerable
to Silence and Darkness. When the battle starts, have someone use a Tent on
Gizamaluke. There is a good chance this will inflict Darkness and Silence on
him. If not, just try again. Once he is blinded and silenced, he won't be
able to do much to you. Just use Jump and have Quina attack and you will win
eventually.
*******************************************************************************
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South Gate
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You will now control Steiner. Approach the guards and talk to the, then enter
South Gate. Talk to the woman in the back and console her to get her to move
out of the way. Then talk to the worker on the far left to find that he left
the gate broken. Tell this to the man on the right and he will move out of
the way. Now try to enter the alley and a guard will give you a Gate Pass.
Now enter the alley for a scene. You will now control Dagger. Buy anything
you need from the item shop here, and save your game if you like. When you're
ready, talk to the cable car conductor to enter the cable car. Sit down for
a short scene, and you will return to controlling Zidane.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Burmecia
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go two screens up and you will have to fight 2 black mages. They should be
pretty easy if you beat some Grand Dragons earlier. After the battle, go up
the stairs on the right. Inside, go up the stairs and through the door on the
left, and continue to the left. On the other side, run across the bridge to
make it fall, then go back outside. Go through the door on the left of the
building and go up the stairs and through the door. In the next room, choose
to go out onto the balcony. In the next room, talk to the soldier and then
check under the bed to get a bell. Go back outside and through the right door,
and when you get to the next area, use the bell to open the door.
There will be a scene, then you will be in the uptown area of Burmecia. Go
through the door on the bottom for a scene, then go up the stairs and over the
statue that just fell so you can go through the door on the left. Continue on
to the square, and enter the building on the right. Behind the moogle is a
Thunder Staff. Grab it and Stiltzkin will come. Talk to him and buy the stuff
he offers you. Then save your game. You can also buy items from the moogle
here. When you're ready, go north from the square for some scenes, and then
you will fight Beatrix.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Beatrix
Beatrix can be very difficult, but there is a trick. The battle ends after a
set period of time automatically. So you just have to survive the battle, not
win it. Beatrix can only kill one person at a time, so just revive anyone
that dies. If you keep everyone alive, eventually Beatrix will use Stock Break
to end the battle.
*******************************************************************************
DISC 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summit Station
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There will be some scenes, then go into the room on the right. Talk to the
attendant, then exit and reenter. Talk to Marcus, Cinna, and Steiner. Buy
anything you need and save, then board the cable car. After talking to Marcus,
you will fight Black Waltz 3 again.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Black Waltz 3
This fight is not really hard, but it's slow. Marcus will have his equipment
on, but he will still be weak. You can put Steiner in the front row to
increase his damage, but he still won't do much. Dagger can heal when you need
to (probably every turn). I had Marcus doing about 120 damage and Steiner
doing about 60. It will take a little while, but you will win pretty easily.
*******************************************************************************
After the battle, there will be more scenes. Remember to remove Marcus's
equipment. Head up and take a right at the fork to go to the world map. Walk
east to reach Treno.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Treno/Gargan Roo
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dagger and Marcus will leave. Take the left path and go to the auction house
to meet Dagger. Then go back the way you came and go into the inn to meet
Marcus. Go with them to look for the Supersoft and you will meet Doctor Tot.
Then go to his tower, which is on the west side of Treno. Once inside, talk
to him for a scene and then climb down the ladder to enter Gargan Roo.
This is a good place to gain a few levels. You will be too weak to kill the
monsters here with just your attacks, so use a Tent on them to Blind, Silence,
and Poison them. Then just attack to kill them. The Crawlers give a good
amount of EXP, so kill a few of them before moving on. My characters were Lv.
6 or Lv. 7 after killing a couple Crawlers.
Go left and flip the lever here, then go right and pull the north lever. Now
save your game and pull the south lever. You will then fight Ralvurahva.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Ralvurahva
This boss is pretty tough. His attacks will kill Dagger and maybe Marcus in
one hit, plus he can inflict Slow and Poison. To start off, you can use a Tent
on him to Blind him (he is immune to Poison and Silence). However, this won't
help much because your evasion is so low without equipment that he will still
hit you a lot, even with Darkness. Put Marcus and Steiner in the front row
for this battle. Marcus will have the highest attack power, so always use him
to attack if you can. Have Dagger heal/revive if possible; if not, then use
Steiner. After quite a few hits from Marcus and Steiner, he will escape.
*******************************************************************************
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cleyra
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Head southwest of Burmecia to find Cleyra. Head up the trunk. On the way to
the top, make sure you learn the following Blue Magic:
Auto-Life - This one is very important. Not only will it revive you when you
die, but it will revive you with 1 HP, very good when you need to use Limit
Glove. You can learn this from a Carrion Worm, which are found in the areas
past the moogle.
Matra Magic - Learned from a Dragonfly. This will reduce the target's HP to
1, which is useful in learning other Blue Magic.
White Wind - Restores HP of the entire party equal to 1/3 of Quina's max HP.
You can learn this from a Zuu, found in the upper area of the trunk.
When you arrive at the Cleyra Settlement, take a look around, buy some items,
and then head up to the cathedral. Talk to the people there, and then head
back down towards the inn. Dan will tell you that the Antlion is attacking a
kid. Save your game, then go down to the Antlion pit.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Antlion
Start off by having Quina cast Auto-Life on himself. Then keep attacking Quina
to kill him, and s/he will revive with 1 HP. Use Limit Glove to win the
battle. The only thing you have to watch out for is his Sandstorm attack,
which reduces everyone to single-digit HP and inflicts Darkness. Have Quina
use White Wind to heal everyone if he uses this.
*******************************************************************************
After the battle, there will be a bunch of events, then you will control Freya.
Go to the cathedral and get an Emerald from the high priest, and go to the inn
and save. Stiltzkin should also be there, so buy his stuff. Then go down to
the bottom where you will meet everyone else. Head down the trunk.
On your way down, you will have to fight 3 pairs of Alexandrian soldiers.
There are several ways to deal with them. It's best if you have Zidane, Vivi,
and Freya use their best attacks (Attack, Fire, and Jump) on one of them.
Quina can use Matra Magic on the other, and if it hits, the soldier will run
away.
Once you get to the bridge, Puck will come and tell you the city is under
attack. You will fight one or two black mages, then you can save. When you
head up, you will fight 2 more battles with Alexandrian soldiers and black
mages. Just deal with them like you've done before. When it asks you to give
directions to the people, have them go right, then left, then right again.
You will fight more battles on the way. When you get to the top, there will
be some scenes, and then Beatrix will run off with the jewel. Save your game
and get the items the people offer you, then go outside to fight Beatrix.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Beatrix
You can do this battle two ways. One, you can do like before and just sit
there and revive people who die. After a certain time, Beatrix will use Stock
Break to end the battle. Another way you can do it is to cast Auto-Life on
Quina, kill him, and use Limit Glove. This will deal 9999 damage, and Beatrix
will use Stock Break to end the battle. I would recommend the Limit Glove
method.
*******************************************************************************
After the battle, there will be some scenes and you will be on the Red Rose.
Go up the stairs for another scene. Then go down and talk to Vivi (if you go
back to the cabin before talking to Vivi, you can save your game). You will
teleport to Alexandria.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alexandria Castle
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steiner and Marcus will now try to escape. Swing the cage back and forth by
pressing left or right, and gather enough momentum to crash into the wall.
After you escape, there will be two pairs of Alexandrian soldiers to fight.
Just escape from these battles, because you're not strong enough to kill them.
When you meet up with Zidane, go into the courtyard and north into the castle.
Head up and go up the stairs, into the room where you first saw Garnet. Go up
the stairs there and through the northern door. In the next room, go through
the far door. You shouldn't have to fight any soldiers on the way if you're
quick enough. Once inside, move the candle to open a passage into the dungeon.
Go down the spiral stairs and into the door at the end. Also, put Freya,
Zidane, and Steiner in the front row.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Zorn and Thorn
These two are very easy, but it will take a while due to your weak weapons.
Freya will do the most damage; she was doing about 300 for me. Have her attack
Thorn every turn. When Thorn gives Zorn Meteor powers, have someone attack
Zorn quickly to neutralize the Meteor power. Vivi's magic will do almost no
damage, so he should be the one to attack Zorn if possible. Just make sure
Freya hits Thorn every time, and Zidane and Steiner can help her, and you will
win easily.
*******************************************************************************
After the battle, go rescue Dagger and save your game on the way out. You
should probably put everyone in the back row again, too. Go all the way back
up the stairs and into the bedroom. You will fight Beatrix for the final time.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Beatrix
This battle is pretty much the same as the previous ones. If you last long
enough, Beatrix will automatically end it. You don't have Quina to use Limit
Glove, so just concentrate on reviving anyone who dies and Beatrix will
eventually use Climhazzard to end the battle.
*******************************************************************************
After the battle, Beatrix will join you and you will fight a Bandersnatch.
Beatrix has her equipment on and you can't remove it, so these battles will be
easy. Just attack it once and it will die.
As Zidane, descend the staircase. You will have to fight 3 Type C mages. I
found the easiest way to deal with these guys is to use Tents on all of them.
It will inflict Darkness, Silence, and Poison. The poison should kill them,
but if it wears off just attack them and they will die.
Keep going down and you'll have to fight 2 Bandersnatches. Use Tents on them,
too, and you will win. Steiner will leave your party, and you will fight one
more Bandersnatch. Use a Tent on him and then kill him.
Almost done. You will fight 2 pairs of Bandersnatches with Beatrix in your
party. Just use Climhazzard for an easy win both times.
Now you will switch back to Zidane. Go into the chapel and save your game.
When you get to Gargan Roo and ride the gargant, you will have to fight
Ralvuimago.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Ralvuimago
This one isn't quite as hard as the first one. The important thing is that you
don't attack it physically. If you do, he will become compact and then use
an all-party earth attack. So stick to magic. He will use a physical attack,
Thundara, and a Mini-inflicting attack. Have Vivi use Focus four or five
times. Dagger should heal just about every turn. Zidane will be your support
character, using Remedies on anyone who has Mini and using Phoenix Downs and
Ethers if needed. Once Vivi is powered up, have him use Fire repeatedly until
the battle is over.
*******************************************************************************
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pinnacle Rocks
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here you will be given the opportunity to do a sidequest to get Ramuh.
However, you can't use Ramuh in a No Equipment game, so just skip it. Go down
to the ground level, then climb back up on the other side. Go over the bridge
and down to get to the exit. Tell Ramuh you give up. When you get outside,
jump down and there will be an event.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lindblum
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to the area by the shops and you will find Minister Artania. He will take
you to Cid. After a scene, you will be back in the Business District. Buy
any items you need. When you're ready, talk to the man there to go back to the
castle. You will ride to Dragon's Gate. You can buy items here and save your
game, then exit to the World Map.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Qu's Marsh
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go back to Qu's Marsh and talk to Quina to get him in your party again. Now
you can take this opportunity to learn any Blue Magic you missed. Also, you
may want to kill a few Grand Dragons to get Dagger's level up a bit. You can
also catch some frogs and do the chocobo sidequest if you want. When you've
done everything you need to do, go back to Qu's Marsh and turn right when you
get to the moogles. Go all the way to the end, and then go north. You will
end up at the excavation site. Go north and you will enter Fossil Roo.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fossil Roo
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You'll start off being chased by Armodullahan. When you're running away from
him, you'll be blocked by swinging blades. Just wait for the blades to go the
other way before you run past them. If you do get caught, you can escape from
the battle. After you are safe from Armodullahan, Lani will come and you will
have to fight her.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Lani
Since Quina is in your party, you can cast Auto-Life on him, kill him, then
use Limit Glove for an easy win.
*******************************************************************************
Now comes a very annoying part of the game. Ride the gargant and continue into
the main room. Take the north path and ride the gargant to Switch #1. Flip
it, and ride the gargant to the next area. Take the lower path to Switch #2
and flip it, then go back to Switch #1. Flip Switch #1 back to its original
position and ride the gargant back to the main room. You can save your game
and buy items from the moogle here, and also buy Stiltzkin's stuff. Now take
the lower path and ride the gargant. Continue past the the next switch, don't
flip it, and ride the gargant again. In the next room, climb the vines to
reach Switch #3 and flip it so you can exit. Take the bottom-right exit from
this area and ride the gargant one last time to the exit.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outer Continent
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go north, and head through the valley under Conde Petie and go towards Qu's
Marsh. You can eat a Cactuar in this area to learn 1000 Needles. You should
also stop by the marsh here to catch some frogs. Remember to leave a male and
female frog in the pond (and a golden one, if there is one) so the frogs will
regenerate faster. After you're done you can call your chocobo and ride up to
Conde Petie
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conde Petie
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Head right to the item shop, then go up the stairs and talk to Vivi. Also,
grab the Diamond in the boat shrine. Then go back down to the item shop for
a scene. Now exit Conde Petie and head for the Black Mage Village.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Black Mage Village
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ride your chocobo down towards the Qu's Marsh, then turn into the large forest.
At the end of the forest is the Black Mage Village.
First of all, you have to get in. There will be a fork in the trail, and you
need to go where there are no owls (check the sign to see where there are owls
and no owls). The correct path to take is right, right, left, and then right.
Now you are in the Black Mage Village. Go left to the cemetery for a scene.
Vivi will then run to the inn, located behind the item shop. Go there and talk
to him, then talk to Dagger and choose to rest. There will be some scenes, and
then you will be ready to leave. Before leaving, stop in at the item shop and
buy as many Hi-Potions as you can afford, because you will need a lot of them
for the fight against Amarant. You should have at least 50, I just bought 99.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conde Petie/Mountain Path
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go past the item shop and talk to the twins. They will tell you to talk to
"his holiness". Go back to the entrance and take the left door to find him.
Talk to him and you will undergo the ceremony. After that, go down to the
weapon shop and Eiko will run by. Exit Conde Petie and enter the Mountain
Path.
Quina will now leave your party, so no more Limit Glove for a while :( Eiko
will join you now. Don't forget to take her equipment off and equip Auto-
Regen. Go right and up to get to a moogle where you can save, and buy
Stiltzkin's items.
Now climb the ladder and go right and you will have to fight Hilgigars.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Hilgigars
This is going to be a very long fight, and it will be hard if you're levels
aren't high enough. My characters ranged from Lv. 24 to Lv. 31. Start off
by using a Tent on him to Silence him. That way he won't be able to cast
Curaga. Then have Vivi use Focus about five times. After that, have Vivi
use Fire every turn. Hilgigars has over 8,000 HP, so this is going to take
a long time. Zidane can also attack, but it won't do much good. When
Hilgigars uses Hip Hop or Knockdown, have Dagger heal that person. When he
uses Earth Shake, you will probably need to have Dagger and Eiko heal everyone.
*******************************************************************************
Take the upper-right path to exit the Mountain Path. Now cross the plains and
enter Madain Sari.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Madain Sari
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After a scene, take the top-right path to get to the Eidolon Wall. Talk to the
moogle there. Then go to the kitchen (left path) and the moogle will take you
to the Eidolon Wall. Go to the entrance of Madain Sari to get Dagger, then go
back to the Eidolon Wall. Then go back to the kitchen and the food will be
ready.
Afterward, take the pot into the kitchen and talk to Eiko. Then leave, and
a moogle will ask you to rest. Do so. There will be some scenes, then you
will head for the Iifa Tree. You may want to buy some Magic Tags before
leaving.
Go back to the Mountain Path and take the top-left path to get to the world
map. The Iifa Tree is located here.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iifa Tree
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eiko will break the seal. Walk over the roots and go inside the tree. Note
that the Zombies and Dracozombies here are undead, so you can kill them by
casting Life on them. Also, the Stropers are stone, so you can kill them with
a Soft. Save your game and ride the platform to the lower level. Go down the
winding path here and you will eventually reach another moving platform. You
will fight two battles on this platform on the way down - one against 2 or 3
Zombies and one against a Dracozombie. Just use Life to kill them.
When you reach the bottom, talk to Eiko, examine the area on the left, then go
up and help Dagger. After that, you will fight a boss.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Soul Cage
This boss is the easiest in the game. Since he is undead, just cast Life on
him and you win.
*******************************************************************************
Now you will need to go back to Madain Sari by way of the Mountain Path.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Madain Sari
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to the room under the kitchen and talk to Eiko for a scene. Then go to the
Eidolon Wall and talk to the moogle there a couple of times. Before going in
to save Eiko, go outside and save your game. Make sure you have plenty of
Hi-Potions. If you want, you can go back to the Black Mage Village to buy as
many as you can. Also, make sure Zidane is in the back row. When you've
prepared, go into Madain Sari and choose to save Eiko. You will then fight
Amarant.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Scarlet Hair
This is an outrageously long battle. Zidane will only be able to do around 40
damage, so you have to rely on Free Energy. So you're going to have to let
him attack you, healing with Hi-Potions, until your Trance gauge fills up.
Then use Free Energy on him 3 times. Then repeat the process over and over and
over. Your Free Energy should do about 400 damage to him, and he has almost
9,000 HP, so be prepared for a long fight. I hope you have a lot of Potions
and Hi-Potions.
Amarant does have a weak point that I found on accident. Here is his attack
pattern - he will attack you 3 times, then jump around in the back, then come
back to the front and attack you 3 times and repeat. If you attack him while
he's in the back, you will probably miss and he will counter your attack.
However, Free Energy will hit him even in the back and he will not counter.
But here's the trick; he has to be in a certain position for you to deal extra
damage to him. There are 4 pillars in the background. I will call the one on
the left Pillar 1, the left-center one Pillar 2, the right-center one Pillar 3,
and the right one Pillar 4. When he jumps around in the back, just before he
goes to the front again, he will end up in one of two places - to the left of
Pillar 4 or to the right of Pillar 3. He will alternate positions every turn.
If you use Free Energy on him when he's to the right of Pillar 3, just before
coming to the front, your attack will do almost triple damage. So if at all
possible, hit him with Free Energy when he's in that position and the battle
will go much faster. I was doing over 1,000 damage in one shot using this
trick, and I beat him in 30 minutes.
*******************************************************************************
After you beat him, go back to the room under the kitchen and talk to Eiko.
Then go outside the house and examine the edge of the cliff for a few scenes.
Then Amarant will join you and you can choose your party. You can take anyone
you want, as long as you have Eiko. If you take Amarant, be sure to remove his
equipment and put him in the back row. Now go back to the Iifa Tree.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iifa Tree
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walk over the roots again and then you will climb to the base of the tree.
There will be some scenes with Kuja, and then you will have to fight 2 battles
against Mistodons. These are very easy since they are undead; just have Eiko
cast Life on them to kill them. You can also use a Phoenix Down to lower their
HP and then attack them once.
Dagger will then leave your party if she was in it before. Run down the roots
after her. There will be one or two Mistodon battles on the way down. When
you reach the bottom, there will be a lot of scenes, and then you will be done
with Disc 2.
DISC 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alexandria
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you control Vivi, go into the alley and talk to Blank and Marcus, then go
down into the theater. There will be some scenes. Then you will control Eiko.
Go down the stairs and you will meet Doctor Tot. After a scene, try to exit
the castle and you will run into Baku. More scenes. Then you will control
Zidane. Go north from the town square to meet Freya and Amarant, then ride the
boat to the castle. Go north into the castle for some more scenes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Treno
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you get to Treno, head over to the auction house. The last item should be
a Dark Matter. This item will be very useful because it can deal 9999 damage
when used in battle. You will want to save it for one of the final battles.
It shouldn't cost you more than 15,000 gil to buy it.
I would also recommend you make a side trip to Dali by way of South Gate. When
you get to Dali, go into the mayor's house and search the shelf, the shelf
again, and then the heater to receive the Mayor's Key. Now go inside the
windmill and use the key on the door in the back. There you will find a chest
containing 30,000 gil. If you examine the chest again, you will get the Burman
Coffee. Now go back to Treno.
Go to the card stadium and talk to the receptionist to register for the
tournament. Enter the stadium to play round one. You have to win at least the
first two rounds to progress in the game. If you're having trouble because you
have no good cards, discard all of them and talk to Doctor Tot and he will give
you some decent ones. After you win the first round, save your game. You can
also view the ATE called "Hippo's Prize" if you want to win the Namingway card
in the next round.
Go back into the stadium for round two. If you viewed the ATE mentioned above,
Mario will probably play at least one Namingway card, so try to win one if you
can. After round two, go back and save, then go into the stadium for round
three. This is the championship round. It's not too hard, and when you win</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
you get a Rebirth Ring. It's a shame you can't use it :( There will be some
more scenes, and you will be back in Alexandria.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alexandria
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After you give orders to the Knights of Pluto, you will control Steiner and
Beatrix fighting Mistodons. Now you can access the menu, so you have to
remove Beatrix's equipment and put her in the back row. The Mistodons are very
easy because they are undead. Just have Beatrix cast Life on them, or use a
Phoenix Down and attack them once to kill them. Just head south towards the
town entrance and kill all the Mistodons.
Then you will switch to Dagger. Go up the stairs and into the interior like
you did on Disc 2, but then go through the left door and climb the stairs.
There will be a short scene, then you will have to climb more stairs. Then
there will be more scenes.
You will control Zidane now. Go the same way Dagger went and there will be
some more scenes. Afterwards, you will end up in Lindblum.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lindblum
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go out into the hallway and ride the lift to the upper level. Then go up to
the roof like before and talk to Dagger at the telescope. Then go back down
and try to leave the castle and the guard will tell you to see the regent. Go
back to the upper level and enter the royal chamber. There will be a scene,
and everyone will be in the conference hall. When Eiko tells you Dagger has
lost her voice, go to the guest room to see her. Back up in the royal chamber,
you will be told to get 3 potions. Go outside and ride the air cab to the
Business District.
Go to the town square and ask Alice about potions. She will give you the
Beautiful Potion. Then ride to the Theater District. After a scene, go down
into the artist's studio and ask him about the potions. Then examine the
corner of the room to get the Strange Potion. Then go down to Tantalus's
hideout, and Cinna will give you the Unusual Potion. Now go back to Regent
Cid. There will be another scene and a conference, then ride the lift to the
base level and ride the trolley to Serpent's Gate. Board the Blue Narciss
there.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
World Map/Sidequests
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First of all, you have to choose a party. I would recommend Eiko, Amarant, and
Quina to go with you.
Now that you have the Blue Narciss, you can do a few sidequests and prepare
for the next part of the game.
CHOCOBO SIDEQUEST
Now is a great time to do the chocobo sidequest. Dig up as many chocographs as
you can, and get a ocean chocobo. If you dig up all the treasures, you will
get some good throwing weapons for Amarant. Also, you should get as many Dead
Peppers as you can because they can deal pretty good damage if you have a lot
of them.
LV5 DEATH/GRAND DRAGONS
Go to Salvage Archipelago, which is the group of islands in the southwest of
the world map. On the beaches there, you will encounter Whale Zombies. Use
a Phoenix Down and then Eat it to learn LV5 Death. You can use this on Grand
Dragons to kill them instantly, making leveling up much faster and easier than
using Limit Glove. Now is a good time to get your levels up. There will be
a few tough bosses coming up, so spend some time killing Grand Dragons now.
FROG CATCHING
Keep in mind that you will eventually need 101 frogs or more to get Frog Drop
to do 9999 damage. You now have access to 3 of the 4 Qu's Marshes in the
world, so take some time now to catch some frogs. The marshes are located on
the Mist Continent north of Dragon's Gate, the Outer Continent near Conde
Petie, and on Salvage Archipelago north of Daguerreo. There is also one on the
northern area of the Forgotten Continent, but you can't get there yet.
COTTON ROBE TRICK
If you want to make some quick money, you can do the Cotton Robe trick. Go to
Dali and buy 99 Wrists, then go to Atla's Mogshop in Burmecia and buy 99
Steepled Hats. Then synthesize them into 99 Cotton Robes in Lindblum. Sell
the Cotton Robes to make over 60,000 gil profit. You will be able to do this
faster after you get the airship, because then you can buy Steepled Hats in
the Black Mage Village instead of going all the way through Burmecia.
When you've done everything you need to do, go to the Black Mage Village.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Black Mage Village
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go left to the cemetery. After a scene, go right to the chocobo shack. There
will be another scene there. Then you will have to go to the Desert Palace.
To get there, ride your chocobo (or the Blue Narciss) to the eastern side of
the Outer Continent. There will be a desert there with 4 sandpits. Look at
each one carefully, and you'll see that 3 of them blow out sand every few
seconds. Enter the one that doesn't blow any sand out.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Desert Palace
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the scene, stand between the two black mages and then talk to Kuja. He
will tell you to select your party to take to Oeilvert. Choose Amarant, Freya,
and Steiner to go with you. When you're teleported outside, follow the path
up and to the left to reach the Hilda Garde. You will ride this to the
Forgotten Continent.
Once at the Forgotten Continent, go north past the Qu's Marsh, and a little to
the west. You will find some chocobo tracks there where you can call your
chocobo. You can now dig up the Forgotten Plains and Dusk Plains chocographs,
as well as the two mountain cracks near Oeilvert. After you've gotten those,
ride your chocobo to Oeilvert, located near the center of the continent.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oeilvert
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go up the path and enter Oeilvert. Before doing anything, go to the right one
screen. Stiltzkin will be there. Buy his stuff. Then go back to the first
room, climb the stairs, and take the left door. Examine the orb here and it
will turn red. Go back to the main room and take the lower-left door. Take
the lower path here to the next room.
In this room, examine the holograms starting at the upper-left and going
clockwise. When they're all on, go up the stairs to the next screen. Cross
the bridge here. When you get to the middle, examine the orb for a scene.
Then cross the bridge to the other side. You'll end up in the room you were
in earlier. This time, take the upper door, which will unlock. There will be
a scene inside. Then go back to the room Stiltzkin and the other moogle were
in (Stiltkin will be gone now). Save your game. Then go right to the next
screen and ride the platform down. At the bottom, try to take the Gulug Stone
and you will fight Ark.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Ark
This boss is pretty tough. If you did the chocobo sidequest like I said, you
will have some Wing Edges and some Dead Peppers. Have Amarant throw any weapon
you don't want to keep, or he can throw Wing Edges. Have everyone else use
Dead Peppers. I had 40 Dead Peppers, so they were doing around 1200 damage.
The Wing Edges should be doing around 6000 damage. Ark has around 20,000 HP.
Ark has some nasty attacks, particularly Propeller Wind. This attack will
confuse your entire party, which is very bad. If he uses this, you juse have
to wait for someone to get attacked so you can gain control. Have that person
use Remedies on everyone to cure them. He also has an attack that will reduce
a person's HP to 1. Just use an Elixir to fix this. Your top priority is to
keep Amarant alive and at full health, since he will do the most damage. Use
Dead Peppers if nobody needs healing.
*******************************************************************************
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Desert Palace
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You will play as Cid now. Go into the room on the right. You will have 6
minutes to reset the hourglass. First you have to get the key by pressing O
when the monster isn't looking. When he turns around, immediately stop
pressing the button. Just take your time; 6 minutes is more than enough time.
After you have the key, go to the scale and put weights B, C, and D on the
scale. Then jump on it to reset the hourglass.
Now you will play your other party in the Desert Palace. First of all, go into
the room Cid was just in and save your game here. Then go back and go to the
left and up the stairs to enter the main area of the palace.
Light the candle on the left and take the bloodstone on the right. Go up to
the next room. In here, walk all the way to the right and then to the left and
a path should appear. Take the path up and light the candle at the end. Then
go back down and enter the room on the left.
There are 3 lamps in the left section. Light all of them. Then go through the
door to the right area. Light the bottom-left candle here. Now go back to the
left section. The statues are gone now, so light the 2 candles in the center
section. The rest of the statues are now gone, so light all of the candles on
the right section. Finally, light the bottom candle and take the bloodstone.
Now go through the door on the right.
In the short hallway, light the candle and take the bloodstone. Then go left
and up the stairs. There is another candle on the next screen to light.
Continue to the library.
In the library, light the left candle on the bottom to reveal a staircase. Go
up the stairs to the top level and light the candle up here. Go through the
door that is revealed and take the bloodstone. Now go back to the library and
climb the stairs to the middle level. Light the candle and go through the
door. There is a candle on the side of the path, and another one at the end
of the path. Light them both and return to the library. Now light the candle
on the bottom level, go through the door, and light the candle here. Go back
to the library and go through the glass on the left, where there is a moogle.
In the next room, light both the candles in the right section and take the
bloodstone. Then extinguish the left candle. Go though the door to the left
section. Light all the candles here and take the bloodstone. Then extinguish
the candle to the left of the statue. A staircase should be revealed. Go up
the stairs and try to light the final candle. You will fight a boss.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Valia Pira
If you got all the bloodstones, this boss will be pretty weak. All you have to
do is cast Auto-Life on Quina, kill him, and then use Limit Glove twice to
win. The boss will use Lv. 3 elemental spells, but you shouldn't have any
problem beating him.
*******************************************************************************
After the battle, light the last candle and use the teleport platform.
Then you'll control Zidane. Just follow the path back to the teleport platform
and teleport into the desert palace. Go up the stairs and into Kuja's chamber.
There will be some scenes. Afterwards, go back to the teleport plaform you
came here on and go back outside. Follow the path to the end, then kick the
lever and climb down the ladder to exit the Desert Palace.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Esto Gaza/Mount Gulug
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You will land the Blue Narciss at the Lost Continent. Esto Gaza is just west
of your ship. When you get inside, go up the stairs and enter the building.
There will be a scene, and you'll have to choose a party. Take Quina and
Amarant with you. Stop by the shop on the right and buy some throwing weapons
if you like. Then go outside and save your game, then take the right path.
Continue on to Mount Gulug.
Inside, go to the right until you reach a well. Go down the rope to the second
level and pull the lever down 3 times. Now you can go to the bottom level.
When you reach the bottom, you will fight 2 Red Dragons. To beat them, use
Tents on them. After the poison wears off, you can use Dead Peppers, 1000
Needles, Frog Drop, or Limit Glove to finish them. The only thing you have to
watch out for is Aerial Slash, which they can still use, but it's not too
powerful. Also, make sure you eat one of them to learn Twister. This ability
will come in handy at the end of this disc.
After the fight, there will be some scenes and you will fight Meltigemini.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Meltigemini
This boss takes a little luck to beat, but shouldn't be too much of a problem.
He has a few all-party attacks that are pretty annoying, and he can inflict
Poison and Venom. Eiko will be your healer, using Cura and Life, and she can
also use Dead Peppers if she's free. Zidane can be your secondary healer or
use Dead Peppers. Have Quina cast Auto-Life on himself, kill him, and use
Limit Glove. Have Amarant throw some powerful weapons, or Rising Suns or Wing
Edges. The tricky part is keeping Quina alive at 1 HP. Since he will use
attacks against your whole party, you may have to repeat the Auto-Life process
a time or two.
*******************************************************************************
There will be a bunch of scenes afterwards, and you will end up in Lindblum.
Go up to the conference room for a lot more scenes. Afterwards, you will have
the Hilda Garde 3.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sidequests/Preparation
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that you have the airship, you can do a lot of sidequests and continue the
ones you've already started.
CHOCOBO SIDEQUEST
You can now dig up the last 2 Chocograph Pieces and get a gold chocobo. Then
you can dig up the chocographs at the air garden. When you find all the
chocograph treasures, go to chocobo's paradise, located in the corner of the
world map. If you go inside and talk to the chocobo to the left of Fat
Chocobo, he will give you 99 Dead Peppers. You can get 99 Dead Peppers from
him at any time, so come back often to keep your Dead Peppers doing max damage.
BLUE MAGIC
Now is a good time to learn most of Quina's Blue Magic. You should already
have most of the important ones like Auto-Life, Limit Glove, and Frog Drop.
Here is some other Blue Magic you may want to learn now if you haven't already:
White Wind - Garuda, Popos Heights forest, Esto Gaza
Angel's Snack - Ironite, plains around Chocobo's Forest, Burmecia
Mighty Guard - Serpion, plains around Chocobo's Forest
Magic Hammer - Magic Vice, Burmecia
Bad Breath - Anemone, Qu's Marsh on Salvage Archipelago
Vanish - Vice, around Chocobo's Forest
Roulette - Zombie, Iifa Tree
The best way to learn Blue Magic is by casting Matra Magic on the target, which
will redice its HP to 1 if it hits. Also, with Undead monsters, use a Phoenix
Down on it to reduce its HP to 10 or less.
LEVELING UP
You may want to level up some more by killing Grand Dragons with LV5 Death. I
had my characters around Lv. 42 at this point. Quina was a bit higher.
FROG CATCHING
Don't forget about Frog Catching. I had almost 50 frogs at this point. You
will eventually need over 100 frogs if you want Frog Drop to do 9999 damage.
COTTON ROBE TRICK
This is a good time to do the Cotton Robe trick. You can get your Wrists from
Dali and your Steepled Hats and Cotton Robes from the Black Mage Village. So
you'll just be flying back and forth from the BMV and Dali, making over 60,000
gil each time.
DAGUERREO
Daguerreo is on the largest island of Salvage Archipelago. When you get
inside, go left. There are 3 levers here. Pull the left one twice and examine
the hole that is revealed. Then get the pole nearby and put it in the hole.
Then pull the right lever twice and you can ride the lift up to the weapon
shop. Also, go to the synthesist in the right hall and synthesize 99 of one
kind of gem. I'd recommend Opal or Topaz because they're cheapest and easiest.
You can use these for healing.
You can also do some other sidequests, but they're not important to this
challenge. When you've done these things, go to the northern area of the
Forgotten Continent to find Ipsen's Castle.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ipsen's Castle
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amarant will run off on his own, so replace him with someone with a high level.
Freya would be a good choice. Go up the stairs and enter the castle. From
the main hall, go through the right door into the next room. Save your game
here if you want. Then go down the pole to the room below. Here, climb the
ladder and go left through the next door, then through another door. Climb
down the ladder here and go up the stairs, then climb the next ladder all the
way to the top. When you reach the next room, use the lift to go up a floor.
You will meet Amarant here. Take the 4 mirrors from the wall and Taharka will
appear.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Taharka
If you got those 99 Dead Peppers from Chocobo's Paradise, this battle will be
very easy. First, have Quina cast Bad Breath until it hits. This will give
him Poison and Slow status. Then have Quina cast Auto-Life and kill himself
to use Limit Glove. Eiko will be your healer. Zidane and Freya (or whoever
you chose) will use Dead Peppers. If you have 99, they will deal almost 3,000
damage each. Taharka doesn't really have any strong or all-party attacks, so
you should have no trouble beating him.
*******************************************************************************
After the battle, go back outside the way you came. Now you have to find
Amarant. He at the bottom of the room after you slide down the pole. After
you find him, exit Ipsen's Castle.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Four Shrines
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You will now split into 4 groups and go to the 4 shrines. First, drop off Eiko
and Dagger at the Water Shrine, located south of Ipsen's Castle. Then drop off
Freya and Amarant at the Fire Shrine, which is located in the eastern area of
the Lost Continent. Then drop off Steiner and Vivi at the Wind Shrine, located
south of Oeilvert.
Before going to the Earth Shrine, make sure Quina has some good Blue Magic and
make sure your levels are high enough. Then go to the Earth Shrine, which is
located in the eastern area of the Outer Continent. There will be some scenes,
and you will fight the Earth Guardian.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Earth Guardian
Start off by casting Bad Breath on it to inflict Mini, Darkness, and Slow.
This will make the battle a lot easier. Then use the Auto-Life/Limit Glove
routine with Quina and have Zidane use Dead Peppers. If you need to heal, use
a gem (Topaz, Lapis Lazuli, etc). If you have a lot of gems, they will heal
you completely. Also note that you can Eat this boss, so if you get its HP low
enough, just use Eat to finish it off.
*******************************************************************************
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shimmering Island
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before going to Shimmering Island, make sure you've done everything that needs
to be done. See the sidequest section above to make sure. You may want to
level up, because there are some tough battles in Terra. Also, go back to
Chocobo's Paradise and get a full supply of Dead Peppers. When you've prepared,
enter Shimmering Island, which is south of the Lost Continent.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Terra
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you arrive, there will be a scene. Then go right to the next screen. The
path to Bran Bal is pretty straightforward. Just follow the path for a while,
then climb down the ladders, then walk along the path again. You will
eventually arrive at Bran Bal.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bran Bal
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take the right path. Go into the first door here on the right to find a
moogle. If you exit and reenter the room, Stiltzkin will be there, so buy his
items. Then go left to the next screen and enter the door on the left. Dagger
will rest here. Then go outside and enter the north door and go into the
basement. Talk to Mikoto here.
Now you'll control Eiko. Go right and talk to Vivi and he'll join you. Go to
the next screen, and Amarant will join you. Go north for a scene. It would
be a good idea to go back and save your game now. After that, go back to where
you were and talk to Mikoto.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pandemonium
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Head north and Garland will appear. Just follow him and talk to him. You'll
eventually see a few scenes, then you'll have to fight 3 tough battles.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Amdusias
You'll start this battle alone. Use a healing gem if you're attacked. Freya
will eventually show up. Keep healing yourselves and using Dead Peppers.
After a little while, Amarant will come. Now use Dead Peppers and throw a Wing
Edge to end the battle.
*******************************************************************************
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Abadon
The Abadon is tough. He has a physical attack, an all-party attack, a Virus
attack, and Thundaga. All of those will hurt you pretty badly. Do not try to
use Limit Glove, because he'll kill you before you get a chance. First of all,
soften him up with some Dead Peppers until Zidane gets there. Then have Quina
cast Twister every turn. It should deal huge damage to the Abadon because he's
weak to wind. Have Zidane use healing gems if necessary. I finished him with
2 Twisters.
*******************************************************************************
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Shell Dragon
For some stupid reason, the game automatically puts your physical characters
in the front row for these battles. Start out by putting Zidane in the back
row. Then use Dead Peppers or healing gems until he uses Smash. Dagger will
come to your aid now. Just use Dead Peppers and healing gems. He will
probably kill Dagger if her level is too low, but just keep using Dead Peppers
and he will die.
*******************************************************************************
After these battles, go back the way you came to find the rest of your party.
Take Eiko, Quina, and Amarant with you. Be sure to save your game. Return to
where you fought the Shell Dragon and go to the left. Press the button in this
room. You will be given 30 seconds to get to the next room. Just don't walk
past a light when it is on, and you'll make it in plenty of time. In the next
room, use the control panel to set the platform to position 4. Go to the next
room and ride the platform up a level. Then walk to the upper level and ride
it again to the next room. Then teleport to the maze. Make your way through
the teleport maze to the moogle at the top. Save your game, then exit the
maze and you will fight 3 bosses back to back.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Silver Dragon
Again, Limit Glove probably won't work because he'll kill you before you can
use it. Have Quina cast Twister instead for big damage. have Amarant throw
Wing Edges. Eiko and Zidane use Dead Peppers or healing gems. This is
probably the easiest of the 3 fights.
*******************************************************************************
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Garland
Cast Auto-Life on Quina in case s/he dies so you can use Limit Glove. Then
have Quina cast Twister or Frog Drop, Amarant use Wing Edges, and Eiko and
Zidane use Dead Peppers or healing gems. If Quina gets killed, s/he will
revive with 1 HP, so use Limit Glove. Garland doesn't really have any nasty
attacks.
*******************************************************************************
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Kuja
Pretty much the same strategy as Garland. Cast Auto-Life on Quina, then cast
Twister or Frog Drop. Use all the Wing Edges you want because you will get a
better throwing weapon on Disc 4. Eiko and Zidane will use Dead Peppers or
Gems. If Quina dies, use Limit Glove.
*******************************************************************************
After these battles, there will be some scenes. Then you'll have to walk
across a bridge and teleport back to Bran Bal. When you get there, there will
be some more scenes and you will be done with Disc 3.
DISC 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Final Preparation
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After a scene at the BMV, you will be on the world map and you'll have the
Invincible. You can go to the final dungeon now, but first you need to prepare
yourself and do some sidequests and leveling up.
CHOCOBO SIDEQUEST
You can now get the Dead Pepper treasure where Shimmering Island used to be.
This should be the last treasure. Go to Chocobo's Paradise and talk to Fat
Chocobo by pressing Square to initiate the beach quest. You just have to go to
every beach in the world and press O, and then you'll be able to heal at any
beach just by pressing O. It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes, and it can
be helpful when leveling up. Also, don't forget to get a full stock of Dead
Peppers.
FROG DROP
As you've probably noticed from the last few bosses, Limit Glove is not as
useful now as it is in the beginning of the game because bosses now are using
all-party attacks, and it kills Quina before you can use Limit Glove. So now
you're going to want to power up Frog Drop. The formula for Frog Drop is
(# of frogs caught) x (Quina's level). So if Quina is at Lv. 99, you need 101
frogs to get 9999; if s/he is at Lv. 80, you need 125 frogs, and so on. So
just be catching frogs as much as you can, and remember to leave a male and
female in the marsh so they respawn faster.
You actually don't need Frog Drop to do 9999 damage. I made it okay with it
doing about 6500. It will help if it does more, but it's not necessary.
LEVELING UP
Your party should be Zidane, Eiko, Quina, and Amarant. Quina and Amarant are
going to be crucial for Memoria's bosses, so make sure they are leveled pretty
high. I would recommend getting Quina to at least Lv. 70 or 80 and getting
Amarant to about Lv. 50-55. Zidane and Eiko aren't as important, but you
should still level them to about Lv. 45 or more. It's going to take quite a
while to get your levels up this high, but it's very important that you can
survive attacks like Waterga and be able to deal a lot of damage.
As usual, just use LV5 Death on Grand Dragons to level up. First, concentrate
on leveling Quina up. Kill everyone off but Quina and Eiko, then get into a
battle with a dragon. Have Eiko kill herself if the dragon doesn't, then have
Quina use LV5 Death to get all the EXP. Then revive Eiko and repeat. The
reason I like to have Eiko alive (but in critical health) is because the dragon
can attack her instead of Quina, and she can also heal Quina after every
battle.
ULTIMA SWORDS
Ultima Swords are one of the most powerful throwing weapons you can buy. They
are much better than Wing Edges. You can buy these at Daguerreo for 14,000 gil
apiece. So spend all your money on them. You should have plenty from the
Grand Dragons, so buy at least 30 of them.
When you're ready, go to the Iifa Tree and enter Memoria on top of it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memoria
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first thing you'll do is fight a boss.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Nova Dragon
This one is pretty hard. Almost all of his attacks will affect your entire
party. Have Amarant throw Ultima Swords. Have Zidane and Eiko use Dead
Peppers or heal. Quina should cast Auto-Life on himself and then use Frog Drop
or Twister. You just have to kill him quickly before he can kill you.
*******************************************************************************
You will now be in Memoria. Go up the stairs and save your game. Then follow
the path until you get to a bridge. You will fight the first Chaos guardian
here.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Maliris
This is probably the easiest of the Chaos guardians. She will cast Mustard
Bomb on you, so beware of the Heat status. Just sit still and don't move, and
it will wear off shortly. Have Amarant throw Ultima Swords and Quina cast
Auto-Life and then Frog Drop. If Quina dies, have him use Limit Glove. Eiko
and Zidane will be your healers. Maliris doesn't really have any really bad
attacks except after you kill her. Then she will use an all-party sword attack
which might kill you if your levels are too low. Auto-Life will protect you
from this.
*******************************************************************************
Keep going through Memoria. When you get to the room where there is an image
of Alexandria castle, examine the area to the right of the gravestone to find
a hidden save point. Then continue through Memoria. When you get to the room
called Time Interval, you will fight the next Chaos guardian.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Tiamat
Tiamat is pretty easy. He will mostly use Absorb attacks, which will not harm
you, unless he absorbs your MP. Have everyone do their standard attacks
(Ultima Sword; Auto-Life/Frog Drop/Limit Glove; Dead Peppers/healing). There
are a couple of things you need to watch out for. One, if he casts Float on
you, do NOT attack him, or he will snort you out of the battle. Also, he has
an all-party Heat attack called Jet Fire. Do not move while you are in Heat
status or you will instantly die.
*******************************************************************************
Continue on until you get to the save point near the waterfall. Then go to the
next screen. If you're feeling brave, you can take on Hades here. This will
help because you can synth Phoenix Pinions to increase your chance of Rebirth
Flame after getting killed. Hades is behind the rock to the right of the
screen.
*******************************************************************************
OPTIONAL BOSS: Hades
Hades will waste a lot of turns by casting Reflect, Heat, and Freeze and
charging his sword. Have Quina cast Auto-Life on himself. Have Amarant throw
your most powerful weapons. Zidane and Eiko should be busy healing, but you
might be able to get a Dead Pepper or two in. You might also want to use your
Dark Matter here, but you should save it for Necron if you can. When he
charges his sword, he will count down from 3, so hit him hard until he gets to
0. Then he'll use Curse of Doomsday and probably kill all of you. If Quina
has Auto-Life, s/he will revive. Cast Auto-Life again and keep yourself alive
until he starts to count down again. Then get as many Limit Gloves in as
possible, and hopefully you'll kill him in time.
*******************************************************************************
Afterwards, he will open a synth shop. Synth 99 Phoenix Pinions here. After
you are killed in battle, there is a chance that Phoenix will revive you
according to the number of Phoenix Pinions you have. If you have 99, there is
a 99 in 256 chance of being save, which isn't bad. After the battle, go back
to the waterfall and save. Then continue on and you will fight one of the
hardest battles in the No Equipment challenge.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Kraken
Kraken is very hard because he has 3 parts, and they will all hit you hard.
You need to take out his tentacles before you touch him. Have Amarant throw
weapons at them and Zidane and Eiko use Dead Peppers. Have Quina use Twister
to get all of them at once. It may take a few tries, but it's much easier
after you get rid of the tentacles.
Now Kraken will only have 1 turn instead of 3. He will use either Leg or
Waterga on his turns. Pray that he uses Leg. Have Quina use Frog Drop (1 HP
for Limit Glove is too dangerous). Also, make sure at least 1 person,
preferably Quina, has Auto-Life. Have Amarant throw Ultima Swords and Zidane
and Eiko heal or use Dead Peppers. Also, if he wipes you out with Waterga,
there is a good chance Phoenix will save you if you beat Hades.
Also, you can use Magic Hammer repeatedly until you drain his MP. Then he will
not be able to cast Waterga. Thanks to KADFC for this tip.
*******************************************************************************
Make sure you go back and SAVE YOUR GAME after you manage to beat Kraken. Then
return the way you came and continue on to Lich.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Lich
Lich will use Doom and Death attacks as well as Earth Shake. Auto-Life is
helpful here. As usual, have Amarant throw Ultima Swords. Have Quina either
cast Auto-Life or use Frog Drop, or Limit Glove if at 1 HP. Have Eiko and
Zidane reviving dead characters or healing. This battle isn't too hard.
*******************************************************************************
After the battle, you will be in space. Press Up to get to the Crystal World.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crystal World
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow the path to the end, where there is a save point. You can teleport to
the entrance and go back to the world map if you need to prepare. When you're
ready, go through the teleport at the end and you'll fight Deathuise.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Deathguise
Deathguise can be tricky. He will use Spin a lot, which is a physical attack
against all party members. He will also use Meteor. Have Amarant throw
Ultima Swords. Have Quina cast Auto-Life, then cast Frog Drop, or Limit Glove
if s/he has 1 HP. Zidane and Eiko will be kept busy keeping everyone alive.
Having 99 Phoenix Pinions will also help in case you die. It may take a few
tries, but you will get past him.
*******************************************************************************
After you beat Deathguise, go back and save. Then go back to Kuja and you will
fight him.
*******************************************************************************
BOSS: Trance Kuja
He's not too hard. Have Amarant throw Ultima Swords or some other powerful
weapons. Quina will cast Auto-Life and then use Frog Drop or Limit Glove.
Eiko and Zidane use healing gems constantly. Kuja will use Flare and Holy on
one person, hopefully Zidane or Eiko. He will also use Flare Star, which deals
damage equal to the character's level x 35 to all party members. He will
occasionally give you a break and cast Reflect on himself. He can also cast
Curaga, but it won't heal very much HP. Just keep hitting him with your best
attacks and he'll end the battle by casting Ultima.
*******************************************************************************
You will be given a chance to select your final party. Just keep it the same.
You can open the menu and prepare, and then you will fight the final boss of
Final Fantasy IX, Necron.
*******************************************************************************
FINAL BOSS: Necron
This battle is very hard, and will take quite a bit of luck and patience.
Necron has some very nasty attacks. Grand Cross will deal all kinds of
terrible status effects on your party, including Death. He will also use
Neutron Ring, which deals major damage to your whole party. He can cast Lv. 3
elemental spells, and cast Protect and Shell on himself. He also has an attack
called Blue Shockwave that reduces one person's HP to 1.
If you still have your Dark Matter, use it at the start of the battle. Have
Amarant throw Ultima Weapon and Ragnarok. Quina should cast Auto-Life
immediately, then start using Frog Drop. Zidane and Eiko should try to keep
everyone alive for as long as possible.
After he uses Grand Cross, hope that Quina is still alive and well. If he uses
Blue Shockwave on Quina, then you can use Limit Glove. Sometimes he will cast
Blue Shockwave repeatedly, so you can get several Limit Gloves in. If he does
manage to kill you, you still have Auto-Life, hopefully. And if he kills you
after that, there is a good chance of Phoenix reviving you if you have 99
Phoenix Pinions. So you can stand to die at least 2 times. This should give
you enough time to deal the 54,100 damage it will take to kill him.
*******************************************************************************
Congratulations, you have beaten the FFIX No Equipment challenge! Sit back and
relax and watch the ending.
===============================================================================
CLOSING
===============================================================================
I hope you found this FAQ useful in helping you complete this challenge. You
can look for more information, such as optional bosses, in later updates.
CREDITS/THANKS
I would like to thank the following people for helping with this guide:
CJayC - For all his hard work in creating and maintaining GameFAQs, the
greatest site on the entire Internet. Without him, I would not be able
to bring you this guide.
KADFC - He was the first person to complete this challenge. He gave me a lot
of tips along the way and helped me complete the game.
CenterStream - He was the creator of the challenge and one of the first people
to do the challenge.
Rebirth Flame - His Monster List was very helpful in completing this challenge.
It helped me with boss's HP, strengths and weaknesses, and
learning Blue Magic.
Hyprophant - Some of the strategies in her Level One Ozma FAQ also work in this
challenge, such using Tents to help defeat enemies.
