CContentsontents FINAL FANTASY® IX PAGE How to play 4 Controls 4 HOW TO PLAY Main Menu and other menus 6 HP, MP and other stats 8 Exploring your surroundings 8 The in-game Help option 9 Addressing people 9 About moogles and saving your game 9 Active Time Events – ATEs 10 Elemental Properties 10 Weapons and clothes 10 CHARACTERS Abilities 11 Battle System 18 Status Effects 21 A sample battle 23 Further adventures and side-quests 24 The Tetra Master card game 24 Here again: Chocobos 24 PlayOnline 24 How to use the Walkthrough 25 WALKTHROUGH Characters 26 Walkthrough 34 Walkthrough - CD 1 34 Walkthrough - CD 2 58 Walkthrough - CD 3 84 Walkthrough - CD 4 108 ITEMS Items 114 Weapons 114 Headgear 116 Arm protection 118 Armour 119 Add-ons 120 Items 122 Synthesis Shops 123 MONSTERS Monsters 124 The card game 158 A game of chance … or a science? 158 General card information 158 The Tetra Master rules 160 Hints and tips 161 Am I a good Tetra Master player? 161 Secrets 162 THE CARD GAME Shush: Don’t tell! 162 Chocobos and treasure hunting 167 The mini games 171 The secret boss monster 175 Index 176 SECRETS Credits 179 CONTENTS 3 FINAL FANTASY® IX Flight over fight: If your opponent seems overpowering, or if you simply do Battle System not feel like spending time doing battle, you can end the encounter by fleeing. Press the i and p buttons simulta- neously until you make your escape. Your party might not be able to flee immedia- A general introduction tely, and your characters may suffer some When facing fearsome monsters, the outcome is rarely decided up during battle. Once the ATB Gauge is full, the character or damage before making their escape. HOW TO PLAY by brute force or a well-honed blade. Instead, Final Fantasy IX monster can perform an action. This prevents participants in When hit, your party members take 50% If your opponent seems too strong, Press the o button to open the is structured to allow even a clearly weaker party to emerge battle from attacking incessantly, reflecting the fact that they more damage than usual as they are hold down the i and p buttons Target Window, enabling you to victorious from battle - as long as you familiarise yourself with must recoup their strength after executing an action. The attacked from behind. Such is the price simultaneously to escape. choose a target faster. the finer points of the battle system. Study the details well actions that can be executed depend on the character or mon- of flight! Note that there are some and outwit your opponents, putting their weaknesses to your ster in question, while the effectiveness of an attack depends opponents you cannot ”flee” from. advantage. on the opponent in question. It may sound complicated, but Final Fantasy IX uses the Active Time Battle System, or ATB. in fact it's all very simple. Choose a target faster: Each character (and each monster) has an ATB Gauge that fills If you have problems choosing a friendly or hostile target using the directional buttons of your controller (for example, if you want to heal a CHARACTERS party member during battle), simply press the o button. This opens the The damage display Target Window, allowing you to easily select your target. HP and MP: Characters whose HP drop to 0 are If you hit an opponent or if a party member KO’d and take no further part in the battle. MP receives damage, the number of HP lost is are required in order to use most abilities. briefly displayed on the screen. Some attacks The Battle Screen Ambush: The surprise attack also affect the number of the target’s MP. Final Fantasy IX uses the following system to indi- You'll sometimes have an opportunity to surprise your opponent and attack it cate gains or losses in HP or MP: from behind when battle begins. Unfortunately, the same can happen to you. Cursor: Shows which character’s ATB-Gauge: This fills over Whoever is attacked from behind receives 50% more damage than from a HP-Change: WALKTHROUGH turn it is next. The name of this time. A character can frontal hit. This character only turns around, ending this unfortunate party member is shown in yellow at execute a command once his or her ATB Gauge is full. situation, once his or her ATB Gauge is full, allowing your character to execu- 9999 HP White figures indicate a loss the bottom right of the screen. te his or her first command in battle. In this situation, your characters who 9999 HP Green figures indicate healing were originally fighting very comfortably in the back row, now find themselves on the front lines. MP-Changes: Commandos: The Attack and Item commands can be executed by all 9999 MP White figures indicate a loss party members. The two remaining 9999 MP Green figures indicate healing ITEMS Trance-Gauge: A character’s commands are specific to a Trance Gauge fills when this Your turn: the commands character. character receives damage In addition, four damage symbols indicate Once a character’s ATB Gauge is full, you can select one of the four available specific circumstances, and are displayed in from opponents. Once the commands or you can choose to defend. In addition to the straightforward gauge is full, the party mem- the following situations: This screen shows a typical battle situa- ber enters Trance. The Trance Attack option or the opportunity to use an Item, each character has two tion. It is a party member’s turn, and Gauge first appears after a individual commands at his or her disposal. For example, Zidane can attempt MISS If an attack or other action you plan your character’s next action, specific event on CD 1. to steal items from monsters, while Vivi misses its target. selecting one of his or her commands. can cast powerful spells with the Blk Mag CRITICAL If the target receives critical command. Garnet will eventually be able damage. to use her summon command after a cer- KO If the target is disabled instantly. tain event on Disk 2. GUARD If the target is protected against MONSTERS If you find yourself spoilt for choice at status effects or elemental the start, gain time by setting the ATB attacks. option in the Config Menu to Wait. This halts the battle action, allowing you to choose from the options offered When hit, a target Read before attacking Your character can execute one of within a command at your leisure. Of loses the number four commands once his or her ATB course, the main decision is not of HP displayed in Gauge is full. delayed: which of the four commands white. A green to select? For the sake of fairness, figure would CARDS your other party members’ ATB Gauges indicate that the Change of character: There is little you can do other than plan your next do not fill up either during this time. target is healed actions while the ATB Gauges of your party members fill up. Use the time to Once a character has executed the sel- by this number of compare your characters' ATB Gauges. You should wait if a weak character - ected Command, his or her ATB Gauge HP. let’s call him or her A - is next to perform an action, and the ATB Gauge of is emptied and begins to fill up again a stronger character - called B here - will be filled soon after A’s. Press the from scratch. e button when B’s ATB Gauge is filled to change from A to B. This prevents Four damage sym- you from wasting time on the comparatively ineffective action of a weak Once the ATB Gauges of several bols indicate speci- party member - time which the monster may use to launch an attack of its party members are full, toggle bet- al circumstances ween them by pressing the e but- during battle - such own. Having selected an action from B, you can skip back to A. SECRETS ton. as an attack that Set the ATB option in the Config misses its target. Menu to Wait. This gives you unlimi- ted time to choose spells, items and the like to use during battle. 18 HOW TO PLAY HOW TO PLAY 19 FINAL FANTASY® IX Action-Abilities ABILITY AP REQUIRED CCharactersharacters Ark 100 Atomos 30 Bahamut 80 The following pages introduce you to eight characters whose Berserk 30 Blind 40 fate lies in your hands as you play Final Fantasy IX. You'll find Confuse 35 HOW TO PLAY the ability tables particularly interesting, since they list the GARNETS ABILITIES Cura 50 specific Abilities which each of your characters can learn Curaga 155 Cure 30 during his or her adventure. You may want to document the Float 20 progress of your various characters by ticking the relevant box Ifrit 35 each time they learn a new ability. Leviathan 40 Life 30 Mini 40 Odin 30 Panacea 15 CHARACTERS Protect 30 Zidane Tribal Ramuh 30 Reflect 20 This 16-year-old thief is the central character in Final Fantasy IX. Zidane is Scan 25 guided by impulse rather than by concepts such as ”good” or ”bad”. He is Shell 35 generous and always helps those in need, while his uncanny instincts have Shiva 20 saved him from many a dangerous situation. Zidane is also a romantic, falling Silence 30 Stona 25 in love with every pretty woman who crosses his path. Action Abilities Support-Abilities WALKTHROUGH ABILITY AP REQUIRED ABILITY AP REQUIRED Annoy 50 Ability Up 95 Detect 40 Accuracy+ 30 Flee 40 Add Status 35 Garnet Til Alexandros 17th Free Energy - Alert 40 Despite being raised in her own safe and Grand Lethal - Antibody 20 Support-Abilities Lucky Seven 85 Auto-Float 20 protected world, the 16-year-old princess ITEMS ABILITY AP REQUIRED ZIDANE'S ABILITIES Meo Twister - ZIDANE'S ABILITIES Auto-Haste 55 has a well-developed sense of right and Ability Up 60 Sacrifice 55 Auto-Life 130 wrong, and is particularly worried about Scoop Art - Auto-Potion 30 Antibody 15 Shift Break - Auto-Reflect 95 the plans and actions of her mother, Auto-Float 20 Solution 9 - Auto-Regen 25 Queen Brahne.