Carbon Ocelot's Final Fantasy IX Walkthrough

Disc 2

Back to the Rusty & Dagger story

OK. So when the dust, er disc settles, you'll be up at the top of the summit for South Gate. Talk to people (if you want) then head inside the area to the right and go talk to the Moogle (Nazna). You have a letter for him. Give it to him, then get a letter for Mochos. When you are done talking here, talk to the attendant lady (only person on left wall). Grab the Phoenix Down out of the chest in the bottom left corner of the screen, then head out the bottom left entrance to see Marcus and Cinna then head back inside.

Try talking to them, if you want, then go yell at Steiner and leave - but be sure to equip your guys with anything you think you'll need and save if you want - you'll be fighting. When you have a chance to walk around and talk, talk to Marcus last. Since you don't have Zidane, you'll have to rely on Marcus for your stealing. He doesn't seem to have a detect skill, though. You can steal a Steepled Hat , Lightning Staff and a Flame Staff . Feel free to unequip stuff from Marcus at this point, if you want some free stuff. You'll get control after the battle at the bottom of the hill. Go up one screen, then head left if you want to visit Dali, or right if you want to go to Treno. Let's go visit Dali. Just FYI: You can't do anything with the coffee just yet. However, it's super helpful to have 3+ Rod weapons so you can Synth something cool a little later on.

Remember that lady who was out in the farm patch? She's moved away so you can get to the chest now. There's an Elixir there. You can also read more about the card game in the weapon shop. Don't bother heading to the Ice Cave. I wanted to go down there and chocobo dig, but there's a person blocking the entrance (from the top, at least). Head back to south gate and on to Treno (take the right most path at the fountain in Southgate. Once you jump across the bridge there, be sure to take the first right down to where there's a chest. It's got 1,610 Gil. Get back on the path and head right; try to walk through the gate to get the guards to lower it.

Quan's Dwelling

Once outside, you could follow the mountain to Treno (in which case, skip to the next section), unless you wanna visit Vivi's "boyhood home" while you are on the way (you'll get the Scorpio Stellazio, BTW). To get there, simply follow the mountains all the way to a dead end. I recommend saving outside of Treno, though. You never know which random battle will be your last, and this path is a little dangerous. I ran into ragtime on the way, so I didn't get into any major trouble. Heh heh.

You'll know you are close to the cave you want because there will be a tiny patch of green grass area between the forest and the mountains. It's not too difficult to see. It'll be marked with a question mark. Head along the path and down the stairs on the right to the small platform. There's a chest there with an Ether . Head back up and around behind the pillar to the rope ladder and go down the rope. Walk along the NON-WATER edge of this next section; there are TWO chests down here. The hidden one at the bottom of the screen has the Scorpio Stellazio (See the Stellazio Side Quest Section for more information).

The obvious chest there has an Ether . Now walk over to the water and examine it for HP and MP Restored! Head back up the rope ladder and off into the back of the cave. Climb up to the top of the ladder for an Ether . Examine behind the table for a surprising twist on the Vivi story, then head out the door to the right. Examine the clock and the bucket. You'll understand the clock, just remember the bucket for now. OK, lets head back to Treno. On the way back, I ran into Ragtime again! AND Mr. Ghost! (See the Friendly Monsters Section for more info.) Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Clause!

Treno

Save outside Treno (if you like irony, unequip everything from Marcus; thief theft for fun and profit!) Then head in. For your first ATE, select "A Treno Tradition." You're going to loose 1000 Gil - unless you're fast with the X button. Quickly clear Dagger's comment, then when the guy approaches you from the left, press X when the ! appears near you. That will at least allow her to notice and you'll only loose 500 Gil. :) When you have control of Steiner again, head to the fountain on the left and start throwing in money. When you've tossed in 13 coins (at 10 gil coins, that's 130 Gil), you'll get the Gemini Stellazio Coin (see Stellazio Coins Section). When that is done, take the right path up the stairs. Watch either ATE, then head down the ladder to your right. There's a chest at the bottom right with 1 Gil in it. In the chest to the left of the Item shop is Yeti Card. On the ground behind the shop (straight up from the 1 Gil chest) is the Taurus Stellazio coin (see the Stellazio Side Quest Section). Go back up the ladder, chat with the kids if you want, and...

Continue down the path and into the tower on the left. You'll flush out a dog and a Moogle (Mogrich). Chase him around a bit until you can mognet/ Tent /save (if you want). Read a letter from Stiltzkin. Before you continue along that path to the auction house, I'd recommend taking the other path down and heading left past the card stadium, then on the next screen go up and left to enter a building. You want to find the four-armed man who stole from Dagger earlier. Talk to him and eventually you'll shake out a Power Belt . You can synth on the next screen to the left, but you probably want to make sure you save some money to be able to buy a Reflect Ring instead. Head back to the auction house. On the ground to the left of the entrance door is 2225 Gil! Enter the auction house and hook up with Dagger. Wander back inside the auction house (when your characters leave) and buy the Reflect Ring . You should talk to the other people during the auction to encourage them to buy OTHER stuff. The guy in the red on the front row is the one who will hurt you (financially speaking) if you try and buy the ring out right. Go over next to him and mash the talk button while facing him- all throughout the auction. He'll eventually buy something that's NOT the main item. I got the ring for 10,700. I also went back and bought Fairy Earrings and the Pearl Rouge . Trust me; buying at LEAST the Reflect Ring is TOTALY worth it!!! Don't bother equping it yet, though. When you've bought what you want, leave the auction house.

If you go into the room to your right and try to fight the Griffin in the lower level, I'd recommend a few precautions. First, use Steiner and equip him with a Blood Sword (see below), Bronze Armor , and a Gold Choker . The armor will reduce Wind damage, which is important. I'd also recommend saving at the Moogle right there. When you're finished, take the other path (not the one you came through the tower on). Head left one screen past the Card Stadium. On the next screen, head straight forward one screen to where Queen Stella is. Talk to the people outside, then head in and talk to her. I left with 8,000 Gil (1,2 and 5k chunks), a blood sword and Phoenix Pinion . In the grassy area to the left is an Ether . If you miss it, you can always get it later. Now leave that are and head down one screen. The building on your left has a place you can wander around and hear the people below talking. That's where you hear about the auctions and talking to the guy in the front row. Head further down the walkway to the Synth Shop. You really want both a Coral Ring and Cachusha , so buy (but don't equip!) them. In fact, if you have 3x Rod (buy over in Dali) and Lightning Rod (buy in the shop just to the right of the auction house), you can make 3x Coral Ring , which will be REALLY helpful when combined with the Reflect Ring in the next section. :)

Get anything you don't have, then had back to where the Moogle is and save. Buy anything else you want at the auction, synth or item shop now. When you're ready, head through the tower and up the stairs to the upper path (past the drunk), and go down one screen. When you get to the ladder that leads down to the item shop, head left into the inn instead. Go down the stairs there and talk to Marcus. On the next screen, flee from Steiner, but don't give in. Man he's annoying! heh heh. Head down to the dock and talk to Baku, then watch a bunch of cut scenes. Leave the inn and go back to the entance to town, this time go left from the main entrance and continue along the path until you get to the end. There's a chest with a Mythril Dagger at the far left of this screen. Head up the stairs to where Tot is. If you want to card battle him, you'd better do it now. You won't be able to do so once he goes down the ladder - which he will do if you leave this screen. When you're ready to move on, talk to him and then follow him down the ladder.

Gargan Roo

Be sure to equip anything you need for battle, but *not* the Reflect Ring or the three coral rings. You want to make sure Zidane's party can use that later, and you can't unequip it after the big battle down here. (You've got a few easy battles, and then a hard one. You just want to make sure you don't have it equiped for the hard one. I'll tell you when to unequip everything.) Frankly, I'd suggest not equiping the Cachusha either, since that teaches ability up to girls! To start off, though, talk to Mochos and mognet/ Tent /save (if you want). Give him a letter, then take the left path. If you run across a Crawler, you can use both Silence and Blind on him. That makes him mostly harmless. You can steal an Antidote , Phoenix Down , Hi Potion , etc. He's only got 625 HP/344 MP, so it's fairly easy to kill him off.

You can steal Eye Drops and a Tent from a Dragonfly. He can be blinded and silenced, too. Open the two chests here for Chain Plate and a Phoenix Down , then pull the lever at the far end. Head back to the place with the Moogle, and continue right. There are two switches here - one up from the entrace, and one down. Press the switch UP from the doorway (not down). Follow Tot and talk to him. Be ready for a major battle before you pull the next switch. Be sure you don't have the Reflect Ring equiped. When ready, pull the switch at the bottom. Watch some cut scenes, then get into a fight. Meet Ralvurahva. He can be blinded, BTW. ;) He appears to be guarded against Silence, though. I can't scan on him, either. Use Dagger's healing magic while Marcus steals stuff, then wail on him until he runs away. You should be able to steal a Bone Wrist and a Mythril Fork , then watch more scenes before waking up as Zidane.

Optional: Road to Clyra: Serious Levels Ahead!

Strictly speaking, the next thing you really have to do is head to Clyra. I recommend a few things first. There are Great Dragon enemies you can fight who use massive thundaga attacks. But if you can reflect or absorb Thunder magic, you can defeat them at a rediculously low level. If that sounds like fun, follow along with this section to earn nearly 9,000 XP for each battle (more for Freya, if you learned the "Level Up" ability from an Iron Helm ).

Save your game and equip the cool stuff you bought in Treno - especially the Reflect Ring . If your goal is quick levels, that ring is the key. You'll want all your characters to learn auto-reflect. It's gonna take some time, but I think it's worth it. To go quicker, give the Cachusha to Freya and have her learn Ability Up, then go frog catching so you can get the Silk Robe , which will allow both Vivi and Quina to learn Ability Up. You can either have Freya learn Ability Up and Quina learn Millionaire by random low-level enemies, or you can jump straight into the hard battles, knowing you'll need to use a lot of phoenix downs to keep your characters alive.

My recommendation is to do a few side quests that will allow your characters to get a head start learning ability up and auto-reflect. Get all the blue magic you can get in this area (Near Qu's Marsh, eat a Serpion on the beach for Mighty Guard. In Gizamaluke's Grotto, eat a Lamia for Level 3 Def-less and a Hornet for Vanish. In or around Qu's Marsh, eat an Axoloti or a Clipper for Aqua Breath and a Gigan Toad for Frog Drop. In the ruins of Burmacia, eat an Ironite for Angel's Snack and a Magic Vice for Magic Hammer.). Next, go after any Chocographs (first get all the Chocographs possible in the Chocobo Forest, if you haven't already. See Chocobo's Section for more information and a list of which Chocographs you can access at this time. Also, be sure to visit the Chocobo's Forest after Choco learns the REEF ability.) Oh, and if you haven't gotten it before, north of Chocobo's forest you can aquire the Moccha Coffee (see the Mordid's Coffee Section for more information).

Since Freya has the Cachusha , give the Reflect Ring and the Silk Robe to Vivi. Be sure to enable auto-reflect and ability up. Give Zidaine and Quina a Coral Ring. If Quina doesn't know Millionare yet (and you're up for a really hard fight), leave the Yellow Scarf on Quina until that ability is learned, then switch to the Coral Ring . By the time Vivi has learned auto-reflect, Freya should know Ability Up. Swap the reflect-ring to Freya and enable auto-reflect. Since Zidaine is the only one in my party who doesn't have access to Ability Up, I opted to give him the Reflect Ring last. If your characters still have ability points left over, set Antibody first (the Venom attack is brutal), then Level Up. Head back into Burmecia and make your way to the Moogle shop toward the back of the town. Buy 99x Phoenix Down . Now head back into Gizamaluke's Grotto and go find the Moogles. Give a Kupo Nut to Moguta and you should receive a Phoenix Pinion (remember to keep one or two of these in your inventory at all times - I'll explain why later.) Tent /Save with Mogmi and head up the "Dangerous Vine." You're going hunting for Great Dragons. Quickly move out of the trees and onto the green plains area.

Walk around until you get into a fight. You should be up against a Great Dragon. You're concentrating on SURVIVING, not winning, for the first battle or two. Have Quina and Freya revive (read: Phoenix Down ) people, while Zidane just tries to steal tents/ethers/rising suns. Vivi should cast Bio or Poison until the Great Dragon has the little purple flame indicating he's poisoned. After that, have Vivi cast blizzara all on the party if you have reflect for everyone, or cast thundara all if you don't (otherwise the blizzara will kill off your one character using the Coral Ring . Note that Zaidane can wear Leather Plate , which reduces Ice Damage by 50%, and your guys can equip a Madain's Ring to absorb Ice attacks). If you're new to Final Fantasy, reflecting magic off multiple allies will multiply the damage to significantly more than simply casting the spell against your enemy directly. Let the Great Dragon kill himself off by casting thundaga against your whole party. The reflect will bounce it all back at him, doing LOTS of damage. You should be able to win at least one battle this way, and you'll get massive ammounts of EXP and Gil (Quina's Millionaire ability RULES!) At least one of my characters went up 5 levels after the first battle. :) Now call your friendly moogle and Tent /save. Repeat.

After 5 to 10 levels, you'll stop having to call Mogou and Tent /save after each and every battle. You can go maybe two. :D When you're more confortable with this, have Quina use his pumpkin head blue magic on the enemy; this will do MaxHP - CurrentHP damage. If you find it's too hard to stay alive, forget having Vivi use magic and instead have Freya and Quina attack while Vive uses Phoenix Downs. If you have Freya use Cover and put her next to Vivi, you'll almost never have Vivi get killed. In either case, be sure to make use of Quina's LV3 Def-less Blue Magic.

Also, don't forget to equip new abilities as you level up and earn more skill points. Here's my list of what order you want your guys to start equiping which skills (in case it's not obvious, you don't need to equip Ability Up if that character has nothing learnable equiped.):

• Zidane: Auto-Reflect, Antibody, Level Up, Ability Up, Bandit, Steal Gil, Distract, Alert.
• Vivi: Auto-Reflect, Antibody, Level Up, Ability Up, Loudmouth, Insomniac
• Freya: Auto-Reflect, Antibody, Level Up, Ability Up, Dragon Killer, Distract, HP+10%
• Quina: Auto-Reflect, Antibody, Level Up, Ability Up, Millionaire, MP+10%

Clyra

When you have finished leveling-up, head toward the big tornado south and west of Bermecia. [ [ If you are interested in Time stamps (some people are, really - no kidding!) I'm at 20:28:48. That's why Zidane, Qunia, Freya and Vivi are all between levels 50 and 52. ] ] When you fist arive at Clyra's Trunk, the wind abates just long enough for you to enter. You'll be greeted with a cut scene, then it's time to go. Be on the lookout for a Carion Worm and a Zuu through this whole area. If you can find one, you REALLY want to have Qunia eat it. He'll learn blue magic Auto-Life or White Wind (respectively); these are a few of the most useful blue magics in the game. If you run across a sand golem, ice magic seems to work well. If all your folks have auto-reflect enabled, you can reflect blizzara off all your guys and it will probably kill him off in one shot.

Head forward one screen. On the next screen, go up the path to the right and examine the thing over there. "Pull Lever" then head through the now-open door. The chest on the right of the next screen has a Phoenix Down in it. Grab it, then head forward to the next screen. You'll see a tree in the middle of the sand there. Nearly hidden at the bottom of that screen is a chest with Magician Shoes . Equip this to Vivi first, then Freya, then Quina, then Zidane; clear-headed prevents Confusion, and is VITAL to have later on. There is also a chest near the top of this screen, obscured by the tree, which contains an Ice Staff (the chest has the staff, not the tree ;) )). You probably already have it, but it's nice to have more than one. :)

When you have those two chests, head out the door to your bottom right and take the path to the right. If you find a zuu while you are outside, take the time to have Qunia eat him. You'll learn "White Wind" which is a VERY usefull skill. I think you need to knock off about 1100 HP before he can eat it. FYI: You can have vivi put him to sleep, then hit him with low level magics to get him wounded. At the top of the path is a cave in which you can open a chest wih an Ether . Then go to the bottom of that screen and "Put hand into hole." Leave this screen and go back down toward the cave you came out of, but don't go in (not that you could). There's a vine outside you can climb up. Climb it, and then climb the one on the next level.

Go into that cave, and through it. On the next screen, you'll see a chest on the left. Open it for a Needle Fork . Up the pathway to the right is another chest with a Tent in it. Head directly left from that across the little "sand fall" and mognet/ Tent /save with the moogle there (Monev). You'll get a Kupo Nut for delivering a letter, the continue up the path to the top of the screen and beyond. On the next screen there are two paths. The one going up and left leads to a Flame Staff (and a short, dead-end branch.) Grab that, then take the other path to the top right.

Cross over to the other side of the bridge and head right one screen. Head right on the next screen and grab the chest that scrolls into view (for a Remedy ). Continueing past the chest and wrapping left will dump you out toward the middle of the screen. Straight up from that is an exit. Head out and follow the path there for Mythril Gloves . Continue down along that path and you'll see a lever you can pull. Do it, then back track two screens. There is a psudo-exit to your immediate left with a chest contaning a Mythril Vest (hidden from view).

Grab that, then come back into view. Head straight down to find a chest with Desert Boots hidden behind the main support root for this cave. Head off down the path to the far left. On the next screen, grab the chest near the entrace for a Potion and head up the right fork to get the Elixir on the next screen. Come back and take the left path this time, to the room with the sand whirl pools. (I went back at this point and made sure I had the Carion Worm abilities eaten and learned by Quina. Then I saved and came back. If you don't have the Carion Worm Auto-Life skill learned, it's WORTH it to go back). Anyway, you'll want to walk along the top wall VERY closely so that you can get the chest on the upper right for a Hi Potion .

Go back along the wall and try to "fall in" to the bottom left sand pit. Press 'X' repeatedly until you jump out. You'll randomly jump to one of three places, one of which is where the upper left chest is. Get it for 900 Gil. Repeat the Fall and Mash procedure on the far left pit until you end up on the far left of the screen, then exit the screen via the doorway there. On the next screen you should be able to run across a Zuu and learn White Wind. I'd recommend it. Once you have it, go past that screen, and under the ladder on the next to the chest at the far edge. It has a Gyshal Greens in it. Make sure anyone who can enable the Bright Eyes ability has done so, then jump up onto the ladder and head up. At the top of the ladder head up and right to Clyra Settlement.

Clyra Settlement

When you first reach Clyra Settlement you'll lose Freya and pretty quickly Quina too. Feel free to let the lady there guide you around town. When you're finished, you'll be right back where you started. Head right one screen and walk along the bottom edge of the screen to pick up the 970 Gil hidden behind the broken sign. Head back to the village entrance, and up one platform to grab a Phoenix Pinion , then up and follow the path to the right. In the flowers to the right on the next screen, you'll find an Ore . Up the stairs on your left, you'll find a friend from Burmecia. Talk to him and buy all the weapons you'll need, then head into the inn behind him.

At the far left of the bottom floor of the inn, you'll find an Echo Screen . At the bottom right of the screen, you can find 1250 Gil. Upstairs, to the right of the top row of beds, you'll find an Ether . Mognet/ Tent /save via Mopli. You'll get a letter from miss Ruby. Leave the inn and head up the stairs to the right, pausing to get the Remedy hidden near the ladder. Watch the ATEs and talk to the madens on the observation deck, then head left. Where the walkway meets the platform, you can find a Phoenix Pinion . You can talk to Star Maiden Nina to buy items (Finally! You can buy an Annoyntment here! Also, if you leveled up like I suggested, you can likely sell off your extra Ether or 50 here for a small fortune - not that you need it if you were following along; you'll have at least 200k Gil already), then head down the left path. Search around the edges of the platform here for Thunder Gloves . You can wander around places and get more information about the ATEs if you want, but that's all the objects you'll find on the lower levels.

Head up to the highest level, and search near along the path edge for a Gyshal Greens and an Echo Screen (along the lower edge and the upper edge respectively). Talk everyone here, then head inside the temple. Just inside the entrance (on the left) is another Yellow Scarf . Talk to the oracle by the stairs. When they tell you to wait at the inn, head to the lowest level via the left most path. (where you came in) and go right. Talk to Quina. When you have control again, you'll find two treasure chests. One has a Silk Robe , the other (hidden toward the bottom of the screen) has Magician Shoes . Walk across the ledge there until you get to the middle, then jump down and head back up to the top. Feel free to save on the way.

When you get back to the top, head toward the inn. You'll be accosted along the way but head into the inn, enable all of Zidane's steal helpers, then have Mopli save your game. Head to the place were Qunia jumpped into the sand (all the way to the bottom, then head right). Now you get to fight an Antlion. You can steal a Gold Helm , a Mythril Vest and an Annoyntment . The Gold Helm should be all you really need to steal. This guy may cast sandstorm pretty early on, which reduces your party to very little HP and causes status ailment Blind. It may have been unrelated, but I had a terrible time trying to steal while blind. I've found a good strategy is to have Vivi cast sleep and knock him out, then have Zidaine steal and other characters either buff or magic attack to whittle him down. If you have very powerful guys, and everyone has reflect still enabled, you can have Vivi cast Blizzara at the whole party which should kill him with one shot. Otherwise, you may have to do lots of attacking. When you're finshed, you'll watch "Lord of the Rat-Dance" and then watch some cut scenes. After that, it's back to...

Trunk Mages

You'll watch a bunch of cut scenes, then you'll regain control as Freya. Equip all her new armor/weapons, then head to the town entrance, but visit everywhere first. Head up to the top of the tower and get the Emerald from the Cleyran High Priest. Off to the left from him is an Ether , on the throne is an Ore . Behind the harp is a Phoenix Pinion .

Head down to the inn and head upstairs to talk with Stiltzkin again. Buy a Hi Potion , Ether and Phoenix Pinion for 444 Gil, then mognet with Mopli and save. After that, head to the bottom and join the party together again. Equip the Emerald to Freya; you REALLY want her to learn White Draw (it restores MP of all party members!) I'd tell you to equip stuff to your other characters, but it's pretty minor stuff. Feel free to do it anyway. ;) Now head back down the trunk (the same way you came up). When you get to the bridge, you'll end up turning back. You'll get control again at the bottom of the settlement. Fight a battle, then head right one screen and talk to Mopli there. Mognet until he asks you to deliver a letter to Serino. Save, then head up the tree. You'll get in a few fights on the way.

You'll meet people who want to know which way they should go. I told the first two guys to go right. Then I told the woman and her kids to go left. Then, I told them to go right (across the bridge). Finally, I told the kid he wasn't safe yet. Eventually, you'll end up at the top of the city and have control of your party right before fighting Beatrix. Talk to everyone in the room. Realy. You'll get a Nymph Card, a Zuu Card, an Elixir , an Ether , a Phoenix Pinion , a Remedy and a Phoenix Down . Remove everything you can from Quina (equip an old weapon, too). When you're ready, save and walk outside after Beatrix (it will be a timed battle, so be sure to save in case you can't steal something you really want - meaning the Ice Brand .)

You can steal an Ice Brand , Thunder Gloves , and a Phoenix Down from her. All you really care about is the Ice Brand , though, since you should have the other two. I couldn't help but steal the Thunder Gloves before I could get the Ice Brand , though. Watch a few more cut scenes. Now is your last chance to unequip this party before you have to fight as a new party. Head up the stairs and follow Beatrix, then after the cut scenes follow Vivi. On your way down the stairs, you should see a Moogle dash into - and just as quickly out of - view. That's Serino. Change direction and go follow him. Mognet/ Tent /save. Give him the letter from Serino, then get a letter for Moodon. Head back down the stairs, talk to Vivi and hop into the pods.

Rusty and Marcus, Sittin' in a Cage!

So yeah. Watch one more cut scene and then you get to play swing-the-cage with Marcus and Rusty. Just press left once, and the cage will go that way. When it starts to swing back right, press right. When it head's left, press left. Repeat until you crash. You can press more that once, btw. When you have control again, you'll start running around the balcony. If you've been following my advice, you may be slightly depressed at the fact that Rusty is at level, I dunno, 12 right about now. It's OK. The Blood Sword will help him stay alive.

Use potions on Marcus, though, if you want. For either character, equiping a Madain's Ring will cause Ice magic to give you HP. If Steiner can stay alive, killing off Marcus will mean all XP goes to Steiner. Marcus will leave as soon as you get to the top of the stairs, anyway, so consider unequiping everything you can. Re-equip Steiner and reset his abilities. I'd suggest the following, in order of importance: Level Up, Alert, Man Eater, HP+10%, Distract, Cover, Chemist. You can go to the top of the screen and just stand there while people come to you, btw. Unless you have a controler with turbo (automatically presses the same button over and over), I don't recommend this. It's very boring. On the other hand, killing off the female Alexandrian soldiers is how you get the Mythril Sword cards, so it may be worth your while if you want to farm a few of those. I waited until Steiner had learned a few skills he was close to, then I equiped other equipment and moved on. To move on, head to the ladder at the far left of the balcony and go up. At the top of the ladder, head left. You'll end up with 30 minutes to save dagger, or Brane will show up and you lose.

You'll end up playing more than just rusty, and you'll head down toward the bottom of the screen. You are in the rightmost tower of Alexadria Castle. You need to go to the Queen's Chamber and down into the dungeon beyond. As best I can tell, from playing around here, there are not any items to be found here (except the chests just inside the fireplace). If anyone knows different, please let me know. If you get to close to one of Beatrix's soldiers, you'll have to fight her (or a group of them). The knights of Pluto, however, don't attack. It's possible, if you do this right, to run all the way to the bottom of the stairs in 3 minutes with no battles (I just did it to make sure). Here's the pathway:

1. Run down one screen from where Marcus leaves
2. Go left one screen to the fountain.
3. Go up 1 screen to the castle entrance.
4. up another to the weird painting entry way room.
5. Go up either the left or right, and exit out the 2nd floor doorway opposite the gross painting hanging between the stair cases.
6. Don't bother trying to save in the Knights of Pluto dressing room; the moogle isn't there any more. Instead, dash up the winding staircase to your left.
7. You'll end up where Dagger and Zidane first met. At the top of that staircase, head up one screen.
8. There are three exits from this screen. The right one is the princess' room, the left one is locked and the middle one is the queen's chambers. Head straight to the queen's chambers.
9. If you try to leave, Zidane will give you a MASSIVE clue. Especially if you've been talking to people along the way.
10. Head up the two steps to where the purple light is glowing in the corner. "Try to move it." A doorway will open up, and you'll want to head down through it.
11. The bridge to the next area is moving around. "Examine" it to can get across it. If you can time it right, you can end up at the place where the two chests are stored, too. There is a Tent in the right one, and another Ice Brand in the one on the left.
12. Hop back on to the moving bridge and make your way to the rightmost platform.
13. Wind down the stairs to the 3/4 platform. You'll know it when you see it. There's a doorway at the top and a staircase at the bottom. Go through the doorway at the top.
14. You'll have to fight Zorn and Thorn. They aren't all that difficult. Thorn is the one on the right (in red) and Zorn is the one on the Left (in blue). Thorn Carries a Mythril Armlet and Mythril Armor . You probably have those both, so concentrate on Zorn. Zorn carries a Stardust Rod and Partisan (which you probably have). So it looks like you'll only care about the Stardust Rod , so concentrate on stealing from Zorn until you have it, then kill off Thorn to end the battle (be sure you don't kill either of them off until you have it!) During the battle, Zorn will keep giving Thorn magic power, and vice versa. As soon as you see that, just have your weakest character (prolly Vivi) physically attack the one that received the power; this will neutralize it without killing him off.

Run to Dagger. You'll see some cut scenes and then you'll evenualy be Zidane carrying Dagger. The timer should have stopped at this point. If you have the Emerald equiped on Freya, remove it and any other unique items (i.e., you have only one of). Head down one screen to the Moogle (Mosh) and mognet/ Tent /save. Head all the way back up to Queen Brane's chamber. You'll get into another fight with Beatrix. She's got a Survival Vest , another Ice Brand and a Phoenix Down . Try to get the Survival Vest , then kill her off / survive. It's not the end of the world if you can't get the Survival Vest , but it *does* allow Zidane to learn Mug, which is pretty cool. You'll be able to get another one before too terribly long, though. You'll have to fight a bandersnatch next, but you'll have a pretty strong ally.

Eventually, you'll be in control as Zidane's group. Be sure to equip Dagger with the Stardust Rod and Reflect Ring , then wind your way down the stairs. After fighting some Black Mages, then a Bandersnatch, be sure to unquip any unique stuff from Steiner, then head down to the 3/4 platform. You'll fight again as Beatrix and her group then you'll go back to Zidane's party. On the 3/4 platform, head up throught he door to the place where you picked up Dagger before; (GOING DOWN THE STAIRS EXITS THIS AREA.) You'll meet Mosh the moogle there again. This time, he has a favor to ask, kupo! Get his letter for Montey then Tent /save. Now head down to the lowest level. Continue down to the lowest level and you'll eventually get out into Gargan Roo.

You'll have to fight another Ralvuimago. You can steal an Oak Staff , an Adaman Vest and a Phoenix Down , but you really only want the vest. You should have everything else. You can't silence him or put him to sleep, but you CAN throw a Tent at him. I've never understood this part, really. When I did it, he was "Bitten by Silence/Darkness/Poison Snake." You can also "float" your guys with Dagger to keep them from being hurt by the Earth magic that he casts when he's hit twice in a row. Interestingly, it appears that float does NOT get reflected. You cannot float him, though, which kinda sucks. Anyway, don't attack when he's in his compact form. Also, Bio works really well! Watch a bunch of cut scenes, then get ready for.

That Pinnacle Totally Rocks!

When you wake up at Pinnacle Rocks, you'll begin a kind of bizarre mini game to test if you are worthy to have Ramuh. He hides 5 manifestations of himself throughout the little forest area, each with a different piece of the "Hero's Story." You have to find them all, listen to the story and figure out what order the story goes in. When you get control, you'll see a moogle (Monty) and the manifestation will temporarily show up below the bridge. Equip/Mognet/ Tent /save. Give him the letter from Mosh, and start looking for Ramuh's 5 Manifestations. Walk down the path toward the bottom of the screen and open the chest there for another Mythril Vest .

Head slightly left and toward the back to where you saw Ramuh when you first walked onto the screen. He'll recite "Human" for you. Continue past him and left to get to the next screen. Head straight toward the treasure chest, and you'll run into the next manifestation. He'll recite "Cooperation" for you. Open the chest to receive The Ogre . Head forward and right, but not up the grassy pathway. At the back of the next screen, you'll hear "Silence." You can't get to the chest here, so ignore it for now and head back to the screen you came from. This time, take the green grassy pathway that leads up and left.

At the top of the path, take the left fork and run right along the bottom of the screen. you should end up where you started, near Monty. You'll hear "Beginning" here. Go back left and this time take the other side of the path. As you wrap around near the treasure chest, you'll be able to jump off and get it (it has a Mythril Armlet , if that's worth anything to you). When you hop off the ledge the chest is on, head down one screen, up the grassy pathway and left back to the screen where Montey is, then go up one screen, back where you first met Ramuh. You'll hear "Hero." Go down one screen to where monety is, then left.

Head right and wrap around like you did when you were going after the chest on the ledge, but this time continue on to the bottom left of the path. Talk to Ramuh at the end of the path and he'll ask you to repeat back the four pieces of the story (one doesn't belong) in order. Chose: Beginning, Cooperation, Silence, Hero (or Human).

Here are all the story pieces (in order):

1. Beginning
   Once upon a time, 33 small countries fought together against an empire. One day, a rebel troop visited a man named Joseph, who lived with his daughter. Owing a debt to the troop, he gladly acceted their plea for help. They headed for a cavern in the snow field.
2. Cooperation
   With Joseph's Help, the troop defeated the adamantoise in the snow field cavern and acquired the Goddess Bell they needed to enter the empire's castle.
3. Silence
   On their way home, they fell into a trap set by a traitor. Joseph gave his life to save the troop. The troop left without telling Joseph's daughter, Nelly about the tragedy.
4. Hero
   Historia's explination: Although Joseph's death was not reported to his daughter, the manner of his death speaks for itself. This is the story of a true hero.
5. Human (You may chose this alternate ending instead of the one above, if you want.)
   Historian's Explination: The fact that they didn't report Joseph's death to his daughter was indicative of their guilt for failing to protect him. In the end, heroes are also human.

Lindblum Castle: Signs of destruction

After you've watched the destruction of Lindblum, you'll be able to witness it first hand. Technically you can leave the city as just Zidane and Dagger, but it's better to wait until you can level up with more characters, IMHO. Upon entering the city, head left to the inn and go upstairs. Give Moodon a letter from Serino, read a letter about Lowel from miss Ruby and finally get a letter from Moodon to Moonte. Tent /save and leave the inn. Go up one screen to the screen where the pickle selling lady was. Go all the way to the back left on that screen and pick up the Lindblum Card. The Card Freak house right next door has a Phoenix Pinion and an Ether inside (two chests). I'm sure you could have picked this up before, too.

Head up and to the right to the screen where the item and weapon shops were. You'll be taken to see the Regent, given a little gil and then dropped of right back here. When you are ready to leave, you can talk to the guy by the fountain. The weapon shop is open, and the item shop is now just a lady on the other side of the fountain. See the Shops Section for item lists. You definately want to Synth the Exploda and a Barette . Equip the Exploda to Zidane NOW.

Despite what the item store lady says, she actually has one more item for sale now than she use to. I'm not sure what that means. ;) Head down one screen and watch the ATE. If you want, you can leave and visit Pinnacle Rocks. You can pick up a Phoenix Down and an Elixir , if you didn't do it while Zidane was out here earlier. You can also head over to the Theater district, which I suggest you do. When you get there, head to the artist's shop and get the Ore out of the chest there. After that, head toward the plaza by Tantalis' hideout. You'll find Lowel mopeing around there.

Advise him of miss Ruby's theater, then head into the hideout. Talk to the kids, then hit up the hideout's treasure reserve. You'll get 340 Gil, 993 Gil and 262 Gil. When you are ready to leave, talk to The Man by the fountain and watch the ATE. After a while, you'll be back in control by the Dragon's Gate. Get the hidden treasure chest again (it's a Bandana this time), buy any supplies you need (you can pickup remedys here for the first time, and I recommend buying 50 or 60, if you can afford it.) Then mognet/ Tent /save. Give Moonte a letter from Moodon, then head out.

Go north to Qu's Marsh and head to the frog pond. Talk to Qunia to pick him up, then you have four things you can do. 1. You can catch frogs, if you want. 2. You can head up Gizamaluke's Grotto and out on to the plains at the top if you want to level up Dagger. 3. You can go hunting for chocographs. 4. You can move on. I'll assume you are doing 4, as you probably won't need help with the other three. If you are going to do this, though, I still think you should head to Gizamaluke's grotto and give your Kupo Nut to Moguta. Just don't forget to equip stuff to Quina. BTW: You'll get an Elixir for that Kupo Nut . My personal strategy is to level up Dagger, and I get lots of Gil in the process (using the Grand Dragon method I described earlier; don't forget to set auto-reflect for her!) I waited until everyone had learned all the abilities they could, then I saved and headed back to the marsh (Dagger was at level 50, the rest were 60+ - Timestamp: 26:45:22).

Qu's 'Chunnel' - Fossil Roo

Now that you have Quina back in your party, head to Quale's house and talk to him. Leave the house, then head off to the upper right of that screen. Head down into the excavation site, then down the stairs on the next screen. Head around the corner, and your guys will start running. If you opt to face and defeat this enemy, it will keep getting back up and attacking you, so you might as run to the right When you see the swinging axe blades, you'll want to dodge them. This enemy can't go all the way to the right, so let it chase you as far as it can. At some point, you'll probably get in a battle with Armodullahan. He casts Level 5 Death, so be prepared to revive your guys.

He's carrying an Ether , a Hi Potion and an Ore , so there's not really any reason to steal from him. Have Vivi reflect-all cast fira on him, and he'll be toast. Heh heh. Sorry, I couldn't help myself there. When you get out of that battle, be sure to heal up before you do anything else. You can't eat this, btw. You'll be facing another major opponant soon, and you don't want to have to waste battle time healing your guys. Run down three more screens and you'll hop a hole.

Whether you're ready or not, you'll be fighting Lani. You can steal a Coral Sword , a Gladius and an Ether . I recommend at least getting the first two. Have Qunia cast Mighty Guard, if you have it, then just sit back and relax until Zidane steals enough stuff. Having the ability for everyone to reflect at this point is a MAJOR bonus, as Lani uses magic more than most enemies. If you ARE reflecting, though, be sure to heal her to keep her alive (just cast cure-all on your party and reflect it back to her for thousands of HP!) until you have stolen everything you want. You can use both blind and slow on Lani, but not silence or sleep unfortunately. Of course, Magic Hammer can render her totally void of MP, and that plus darkness is pretty cool :D BTW: Reflecting Bio off all your guys is a fun path to annihilation.

It took a very long time for me to steal the Coral Sword , but that's probably random. If you could steal it, equip the Gladius to Zidane, then go ALL the way back to the beginning and look inside the cage. You'll get an Elixir for it. If you don't already know it, you can learn Night from an Abomination, LV4 Holy from a Feather Circle and White Wind from a Griffen (See the Blue Magic Section for more information). If you want to go back and do anything you've missed so far, this is your last chance. (Have you checked out all the Chocographs and caught the Golden Frog in this pond?) When it's time to move on, head back to the place where you fought Lani and continue on. Watch the hole where the Gargant dissapears. Next to it is a plant. Go examine it, then stand directly under the Gargant's path.

Now you get to wander around in Fossil Roo. When the Gargant drops you off, head up one screen and then walk down to the lowest level were the Moogles are. Buy a Phoenix Pinion , Remedy and Ether for 555 from Stiltzkin, then mogshop/mognet/ Tent /save with Mogki, then read a letter telling you where to find Kuppo. Now talk to the guy at the beginning of the screen to learn how this place works. Essentially, you ride the gargants to different areas, and you flip switches to get there. Here's the order to do this in so that you can get everthing most efficiently.

• Go down past the moogles and off to the right. Grab a flower there and step on the platform to the right. You'll ride the Gargant (Switch Two, Lower Path). At the end of the line, follow the path to the chest at the end. You'll get the Fairy Earrings . Equip them, if you need to, then grab a flower, hold it just down and left of the flowers, and ride the Gargant back to the moogles.
• Now go up and right and ride that Gargant (Switch One, left Course). Go right from there and flip Switch One, then return to the drop-off screen, grab a flower, head slightly right, and ride the Gargant back (Switch One, Right Course).
• Go up the stairs here and follow the ledge to get an Ether , then come back and take the path leading up and right from the Gargant drop-off point. You'll wind down a trail and eventually arrive at Switch Two (the one the guy told you about when you first got here). Flip it, then back track to Switch one (the gargant pick up point is at the top of the stairs), flip switch one again so you can get back, and back track to the moogles from there.
• Pass the moogles and take the lower right path again. This time, you'll take Switch 2, the Upper Course. Talk to the treasure hunter there to buy stuff (you probably already have all these), then head up the path to the upper right.
• On the next screen, you'll find switch four. Flip it, then head right and ride the Gargant through Switch Four, Left Course. Head right from where you are dropped off, and open the chest there for Lamia's Tiara . Equip it to Dagger if you need to (she can learn confuse!), then back track to switch four. Flip it and head right again.
• This time you'll ride the Gargant through Switch Four, right course. It's tough to see but there's a path that leads down and right. Take it, and hop onto the vines at the end of the path. Head right and you'll get sprayed down. Hop out of the water and to the right of the pond. At the top of the screen, hop on the vines and climb up and right to the next ledge. Head right.
• On the next screen, take the lower right path across the little bridge. When you get to the next screen, head to the lower left and examine the ground for a Survival Vest . Equip it if you need to, then go back to the other screen. Take the upper path and talk to the guy there. Trade him a Potion to dig. Just use square to dig. You may have to dig multiple times in the same spot to get stuff. I got a bunch of Ore , a Hi Potion , a Madain's Ring , etc. At the far back of the upper level is a bunch of rocks on the right wall. You should see "Ku..." after a few bangs, "Kupo..." after a few more and finally after a couple more, Kuppo will pop out. Mognet/Mogshop/ Tent /Save and then go talk to the treasure hunter and give him back his hammer.
• Head left one screen. Hop onto the vines and climb up and left. Once you flip this switch, it's going to be while before you come back to this area... Pass over all the statues except the far left one. Pass directly undernieth it and head to the ledge on the left. Flip switch number Three there.
• Hop back onto the vines and head down. You'll end up in the pool, but you can press X to jump out. Head down and right, grab a flower on the next screen and go all the way to the lower left edge of the path. Head right and out of the tunnel

Outer Continent

As you exit the cave, you'll appear on the outer continent with ocean on one side of you and a cliff on the other. Follow the cliff as it wraps around under a weird bridge and opens up to drop you off at a beach. Head right and you'll find a another Qu's Marsh. Walk around outside and you'll meet Ladybug (see the Friendly Monsters Section for more information). Due east of the Marsh there are Chocobo Tracks in the sand which are VERY tough to see.

If you have the Abandoned Beach Chocograph, Summon Choco, the search the grassy area at the mouth of the entrance to the dying forest (where black mage village is). Read a little further down to see where that is. If you want to catch frogs, head into the Marsh and go slightly right and up. Head straight ahead to find the frog pond. Otherwise (or afterwords) head south west toward the weird bridge you went under earlier. (I passed Ragtime as I went through the forests.) You have a LOT of oppertunity to eat stuff out here and learn some cool skills. When you get to the bridge thing, you'll watch a small Cut scene, then you're headed into...

Conde Petie

When you first enter, watch a few ATEs then wander around. Just past Harold Pathknower (the guy who wouldn't let you pass until you said "Rally-Ho") you'll find a chest off to the left with 2700 Gil. At the top left corner of the screen you'll find what looks like a treasure. Heh heh. Head up and left through the doorway; you'll end up in the hallway where Vivi had his ATE. Head in the doorway on your upper left to enter the Inn. There are four beds here.

Search along the top (headboard) left edge of the bottom left bed for 1800 gil. Go back out into the hallway and up the stairs at the far end of the screen. At the bottom of the next screen you'll find Vivi talkting to some people. Talk to him, then head right out the bottom right of the screen. When you have control again, head back to the right and through the doorway into the store. Talk to Mogmatt and mognet/ Tent /save then start up the stairs.

On the first landing, at the bottom edge of the screen, you'll find a hidden Phoenix Pinion . Head to the far upper-right of this screen to get to the weapon shop. After shopping, leave Conde Petie and head southeast. You'll see a forest on then other side of a cliff, with a big lump in the middle. That's where you're going. Basically, just follow the right edge of the cliff (if you are facing AWAY from Conde Petie) near you as you leave the town. You'll end up going east, and you'll come out in a ravine that's filled with forest. Go all the way to the end of that ravine, and you'll end up at...

Black Mage Village

Remember, the guy at Conde Petie said that the mages live so far back in the forest that the owls don't even live there. When you first show up, follow the black mage guy. After that, follow the signs at each fork (Go "where the owls are not). I don't know if this is random, so I'll just tell you that, for this game, it was:

1. right
2. right
3. left
4. right

You'll watch a little cut scene, then walk around and watch ATEs. When you first get control, walk up to the left most house and examine the right edge of the door jamb for an Elixir , then head inside to visit the weapons shop. Leave that shop and head to the far right and talk to Mogryo. Mognet/ Tent /save, then head inside. At the bottom right of the screen is Gyshal Greens . Try to have a conversation, then leave and go left back to the village entrance.

Head up the stairway and off to the left. Go left until Vivi runs by, then head where he left to visit the cemetary. Head back to the right and enter the first hut you come to (the synthesis shop). Have a conversation with Dagger, then examine the far left corner, by the tower for 2000 Gil. Synth stuff if you want, then head up the ladder. Head right across the boards there and up to the top left corner. There's no exclamation mark, but if you root around you'll find 843 Gil. Go back down and leave the shop. Head to the next shop over (to the right). On the left side (by the bookcase) you'll find an Ether . You can get items here. This is the first place you can buy a Hi Potion , so stock up if you want.

Head out the back door and go into the next building over (inn). Go into the room to the right and talk with Vivi. When Dagger shows up, call it a day and rest. Eventually, your whole group will be ready to leave. Before you leave, head back to the Guest Room of the Inn and pick up he Virgo Stellazio Coin on the ground by the ladder. Return to the Synth shop and climb the ladder. Outside you can hear some Black Mages talking below. One of them will say he heard someone ask the shop keeper for "the usual." Now head down and go to the shop. You should have a new option to ask the shop keep for the usual. He'll start looking for it. While he's doing that, head up the ladder he just cleared a path to, and examine the bed. You should get a Black Belt for your trouble. Equip the stuff you bought/synthed and head back to Conde Petie. Just follow the left edge of the cliff (if you are facing AWAY from the village) and you'll get there.

Return to Conde Petie

When you return to Conde Petie, unequip everything from Quina. Next, head right to where the item shop is, then head up and right past the weapons shop and talk to the dwarf there. You'll be told to talk to "His Holiness." Go left a few screens to where the kid and dog were, and you'll find Father David wandering in the halls. Watch the cut scenes, get hitched and head out. Recommend that Vivi and Quina get married too, then watch more cut scenes. When you have control of all your guys again, head down the vine to the right (you did unequip anything from Quina that you might want to use for a while, right?) and onto...

Mountain Path

First a bit of a note about these pathways. If you run across a Gnoll, you can win a Sapphire from them. If you do, be sure to equip it to Dagger so she can learn High Tide, then see if anyone else in your party can learn anything from it. Also, don't forget - if you like to use Zidane's Protect Girls skill, make sure he's in between two female characters if - hypothetically - your party were to change characters.

When you first show up, you'll lose Quina (conveniently) and gain Eiko. Be sure to equip her, then let's start the fun (now you know why you unequiped everything from Quina). You need to find four stones here, Blue, Red, Green and Yellow. Go left and up onto the ledge there. Climb up the vine and open the chest for a Remedy , then head right until you arive at a weird stone. Examine it to get the Blue Stone.

Back track to the beginning of this area, the head right one screen. There's a vine here which will allow you to go up one level (the brown one on the right, not the big green one in the middle). Do so, and head left. There's a chest here with a Tent in it, and a stone with the Red Stone in it. Get them both, then go back down and head right TWO more screens. Talk to Stiltzkin and by a Magic Tag , Tent and Ether for 666 Gil. Next talk to Suzana and mognet/ Tent /save (give her a letter from Mogmatt in exchange for a Kupo Nut ).

Next, head left and use the ladder to climb up and then head kinda down and right, making a bit of a circle around the ladder. You'll get a cut scene with the all-seeing eye, no wait, I mean the Iifa tree. Head right one screen and you'll get pulled into a battle with a Hilgigars. He's got a nasty earthquake spell, so be wary of it! (Remember how to float?) You can steal a Fairy Flute , a Mythril Fork and Phoenix Down . I got bored and decide not to steal the Fairy Flute ; it took too long. FYI: He guards against Blind, Sleep, Confuse, Scan, and apparently Demi, but NOT against Slow or Silence. Of course, Silence doesn't stop any of his attacks, as far as I can tell. One blizzara reflected off everyone seemed to do the trick.

After your guys finish yaking, grab the Yellow Stone out of the stone there and head right. On the next screen, take the small vine path to the lower right. Grab the Green Stone from the stone there, and open the chest for an Ether . Time to back track a little. Go all the way back across the vine (past the Iifa tree), down the ladder, past the Moogles and to the right. There's a statue here. Put the Red, Blue, Yellow and Green stones in it to get a prize (a Moonstone ; Eiko can learn Shell from this, if you don't already have a Cotton Robe that she can learn from).

Finally, go back past the Moogles ( Tent if you need to get your magic refreshed for your mages), up the ladder, across the big vine to the fork in the road. Head over to the right, and this time take the large vine path leading up instead of the small one that lead to the Green Stone . Go to the end of the vine and you'll end up back on the World Map . Quick note: there *are* chocobo tracks here, but you don't have any chocographs (yet) to make use of calling him; save your Gyshal Greens . A short distance away are two forests. Either wander around the smaller of the two, or head East toward the end of the peninsula. At the very end is a forest somewhat hidden behind a mountain range. Go wander around either forest, and you'll eventully run into the friendly Yeti (see friendly monsters section). When you are done with that, back track along the coastline and you'll eventually arive at a spot labeled with a question mark (?). In case you're curious, you don't need to unequip stuff before going in.

Madain Sari

Welcome to Madain Sari - Village of the Lost Summoners. Watch a few cut scenes, then an ATE. When you have control again, go and search the top right edge of the fountain for the Libra Stellazio (See the Stellazio Side Quest Section for more information). Right behind Dagger, there's a chest with a Tent . Head down one screen to the screen you were just on, then come back. You'll start an ATE. Choose who you think should serve do what for the meal. From the dialog with the Moogles, you can figure out who should do what.

Fishing: Momatose
Dig up Potatoes: Mocha
Help in the kitchen: Chimomo

When you have control of Zidane again, head up to the next screen and watch another ATE. Talk to the Moogle there, the head back to the fountain and turn left. Talk to Vivi then try to enter the house. When you are told to wait, you'll head right and watch another kitchen ATE. This time, you have to count people and Moogles to figure out how many to cook for. I counted 6 Moogles and 4 people for a total of 10, but you should always cook for more people, so choose 11 (really.) Then you have to decide if you should put in an oglop. Don't be tempted. Don't do it.

Doesn't it seem like it would be great if you had someone around who knew how to cook? Yeah, I think so too. Eventually you'll have to decide if you want to help catch a heavy fish, or if you want to stay and cook. Since Eiko does a bad job cooking and Chimomo seems to know a bit more, I decided to go help. Oh, hello Quina. You'll have control of Zidane again, so head down one screen and go talk to Dagger. Then go back up and up past the fountain, back to the Eidolon Wall. (You see those chests across the river? Don't worry about them. You can't get to them now, but You will get their contents later.) Watch and talk, then leave and watch another kitchen ATE. Since Quina actually knows how to cook, I'd recommend asking for advice. Head back to the house and you'll eat dinner and learn a little about Summoners.

When Eiko asks you to, help. Go around the table and talk to Dagger, then open the chest near her for a Phoenix Pinion . Run around to the other chest near the exit and get an Ore , the reach over and grab the pot and take it to the kitchen. Keep talking to Eiko for a while, then head to the lower left corner of the kitchen (not down the stairs, though). There is Kirman Coffee (see the Mordid's Coffee Section for more information) on the ground.

Leave the kitchen and head back to the dining room. Between where Dagger is standing and the door leading to the kitchen is a ledge you can look under. There's writing there indicating that Mog and Eiko are the same age. Try to leave, then sleep. Watch a few cut scenes, then head out. As soon as you do, though, head back. Heh heh. You can buy stuff from Morrison at the entrance to the village, including a Magic Tag (removes Zombie status). You'll want a few dozen of these. After that leave and head for...

Iifa Tree

Side note: For the longest time, I thought this said, "LIFA" tree. I only recently noticed that was an "eye" character, not an "el" character. Odd. Anyway, leave Madain Sari and head back to the Conde Petie Mountain Path. When you get back on the Mountain Path, head left two screens, then take the upper exit and end up on the World Map . Don't go directly to the Iifa tree when you first leave the path, though. We're going to visit Green Nymph in the forest there. When you leave the Mountain Path, you'll come out on the World Map . There is a forest to the south (just left as you exit the path, if you are facing away from the path). Go wander around in there and you find the Nymph (See the Friendly Monsters Section).

You can level up a little if you want, but it's not really going to buy you a whole lot, provided your guys are a decent level here (none of my guys are less than level 50). Head to the Iifa tree and Tent /save/enter. Welcome to Iifa, the Ancient Tree of Life. After Eiko breaks the seal (just ask her), equip the Ruby (it's not just an actress!) and head forward. Spend a few screens wandering forward. If you run across any zombies or Dracozombies, cast Cura or throw a Phoenix Down at them. Heh heh. For practically everything else, bounce Fire or Fira off your reflected characters. If any of your characters get hit with the Zombie status, use one of those magic tags you bought back in Madain Sari. Eventually, you'll run into Mocchi (the Moogle) near the top of the path. Mognet/ Tent /save. Give 'em a letter from Mogryo, then head past him to the end of the path.

Step on the circular thing and ride it down (don't worry, you can get back up if you want/need to). At the bottom, you'll wind your way lower and lower. On the next screen down, here's a hole you can reach into and push something (look toward the right, but not the upper right). Do it, then go up to the ledge and open the chest that falls down and you'll get a Phoenix Down ! Just a little below that, you can get a Hi Potion out of another chest. Wrap down to the next level. You can push a lever on the left side of the screen here. After that, continue down and find the Ether in a cave a bit further down. Don't go straight down from here! A little past this cave is a branch off to the left that leads to a chest with Lamia's Flute . Just to the left of that (barely visible) is another chest with a Remedy .

Open the menu screen and take a look at your levels. If your guys are a multiple of 5, you may want to level up until they aren't. Go back up a bit and take the path leading down. On the next screen, you'll hop on an el-leaf-vator and start down. Fight a few battles and talk with Vivi on the way. If you accidentally got on to this screen and missed Lamia's Flute above, you can ride back up at this time. At the bottom, walk down the stairs, past dagger and down the other flight of stairs. Hidden behind them is a chest with an Elixir in it. Go past where Vivi and Eiko are and look behind the wall to find a chest with a Brigandine (Zidane can FINALLY learn ability up, lol). Talk to your friends, then walk to the bottom left edge of the screen and examine it to start the next section. You can't go back after this, though, so you better be sure. Oh, and if you're planning to steal from a sleeping enemy, be sure to un-equip the "Mug" ability, if you have it enabled.

You'll fight "Soulcage" at the bottom of this level. I hope none of your characters are a level that's a multiple 5. He's vulnerable to sleep, so cast it as soon as you can. You can steal a Brigandine , a Magician Cloak and an Oak Staff . Between the Brigandine you just found and the weapon shop at Conde Petie, you should have all these. On the other hand, I reflected sleep off all four characters to put him to sleep, then my next three steals worked. You can certainly just kill him off if you don't want to try and steal everything; he's pretty easy to kill. You can have folks cast fire/cure magic at him, but I found it hilarious to reflect "life" off one of my guys to kill him in a single shot. No Exp, but 9 AP and an Elixir are good. Watch the cut scene and you'll eventually have control again and you'll run back to Madain Sari.

Back to Madain Sari

Go ahead and do it - there isn't really anything else for you to do at this point (I went all the way back to both Black Mage Village and Conde Petie, but there wasn't anything new to buy or synth. :( Also, you don't have Quina, so you can't really eat anything new or catch frogs, now, can you?) Save outside the village, then head inside and go through her house, through the kitchen and down the stairs where the Moogles went fishing and into the lower room. After a bit, you'll be in control again. Open all the chests here before you go running around. There's a Phoenix Down and a Survival Vest in here.

Grab them, then head toward the Eidolon wall. Remember those chest you couldn't get to? Talk to Morrison at the entrance to the Eidolon Wall. Peak inside and Moco and Chimomo will go grab those treasures for you. You'll get an Exploda and an Elixir . You probably have something better than the Exploda , but whatever. Go talk to Morrison again and ask about Mog then go save her. You'll end up in a one-on-one fight against "Scarlet Hair." Random Side Note: AFAIK, this is the only time you actually get to see Amarant's face. Odd.

You can steal Poison Knuckles and an Ether . You've probably got enough of both, so trash him. 7 to 10 shots should do it. I dunno. I got a trance and cast the 'Solution 9' dyne for over 7000 pts. When the battle is over, I ususally unequip everything useful from Dagger, and then follow Eiko out of the Eidolon wall area to the room below the kitchen. Let Eiko know she can leave if she wants, then you'll get the Memory Earring . Head out of the house and you'll hear Dagger. Pay close attention to these cut scenes.

When it's time to leave town, you'll be able to swap characters. I usually use this opportunity to swap out Dagger. Now head back to the Iifa Tree an watch Kuja come rinding up. Swap out people, if you want. When you're ready, head up the roots to the trunk and watch more cut scenes. Eventually you'll have to fight more mist monsters. The Mistodons are vulnerable to lightning attacks (and cure magic/items). You can steal an Ore and a Hi Potion from them, but really - why bother? Watch more cut scenes and get in more Mistodon fights. When you finally have control again, don't follow Dagger immediately. Go UP to the trunk. Mocchi is hiding there. Read a letter and Tent /save, then follow Dagger down (and of course fight more Mistodons) and watch more cut scenes. Save, if you want, then let's move on to Disc 3. Wooooah! You're half way there!!!