=============================================== Final Fantasy IX Single Character Challenge Guide By : Dark Locke van_ff12@hotmail.com Version 0.85 =============================================== LEGAL DISCLAIMER : This FAQ is Copyright 2003 by me. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. This FAQ may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. Putting this FAQ on any web site without advance written permission is prohibited and a violation of copyright other than these sites : http://www.gamefaqs.com/ http://www.neoseeker.com/ http://faqs.ign.com/ Public distribution without my permission is also prohibited and is a violation of copyright. ============ I. Contents ============ I. Contents II. Version History III. FAQ IV. Characters V. Mini-Walkthrough VI. Special Thanks ==================== II. Version History ==================== Version 0.5 Initial Version (Was NOT submitted on gamefaqs) Version 0.6 Added Tips for each character and added a bit more info to the Walkthrough. Version 0.62 Fixed some spelling mistakes. Version 0.7 Updated the Mini-Walkthrough until Fossil Roo Version 0.71 Made a very small correction (in 0.7 I forgot to mention that you can pick 2 Stellazios at Treno Version 0.8 -Again I made small corrections and a strategy for learning Blue Magic for Quina (Thanks to Ultima13 for this) -Updated the Walkthrough until Blue Narciss (Disc III) Version 0.85 -Walkthrough up to Vaila Pira! ========= III. FAQ ========= 1- What is this challenge ? This Challenge is basically using ONE character to beat the game. This involves having the other characters KOed and the character of the challenge the only one alive also if the character of the challenge is unavailable you can use all of your party members freely. 2-Which Character can you do this challenge with ? All Characters I think but Dagger and Eiko are going to have a Hard time unlike the others. 3-How do I control my characters at Stall Points (When the SCC character isn't available ) ?? Use all four characters normally but do NOT use the strategies that require certain equipments (EXAMPLE : The Dagger SCC strategy against Ralvurahva requires Reflect Ring but if you're playing Freya/Zidane/Vivi/Quina SCCs you'll need Reflect Ring for battles in Cleyra). Also NEVER sell your equipment ... ======================= IV. Characters ======================= -------- Zidane : -------- Pros : -Steal -Good HP -Thievery Cons : -No good healing method until you get Hilda Garde 3 (You can get Gems by then to heal) -Doesn't have a very powerful Attack -Half of his skills suck (What's That ?!,Annoy,Sacrifice and Lucky Seven) Overall : Zidane is a good SCC and probably one of the easiest Difficulty : Easy Tips : -Flee ! this ability let you Escape easily (It's kind of hard to Escape using the Standard L1+R1 Method so this's useful). -Steal !! Zidane is the only one who can Steal items in this game and it's really useful (You can get very good Equipment from bosses). -Bandit : This ability makes Stealing much easier. -Zidane's Weapons can cause very good status effects (w/Add Status or Soul Blade) here's a list : Mage Masher/Butterfly Sword : Silence The Ogre : Darkness Gladius : Slow Exploda : Trouble Angel Bless : Confuse Saargantas : Petrify (VERY useful w/Soul Blade) Masamune : Death Sentence The Tower : Mini Ultima Weapon : Sleep -Sargantaas + Soul Blade = 100 % Petrify (given that the enemy is not Immune to it) -Thievery : this Skill does FIXED (NON Reducable) damage according to the following formula : Damage = Number of Steals * Zidane's Speed / 2 If you can get this ability to hit for 9999 it'll be VERY useful. -Zidane has the Highest Speed (23 Without any Boosters) in the game so take advantage of that. -Thief Gloves give you a +1 Boost in speed and teach you Master Thief so get them as soon as you get the Hilda Garde 3. (You can Synth them at Dagurrereo for 50000 Gil) -Orichalcon gives you a Speed Boost so if you have a 9999 damaging Thievery it might be more useful in Disc 4 to equip it instead of The Tower or Ultima Weapon (Unless you want to use Soul Blade but The Tower causes Mini and Ultima Weapon causes Sleep both of which are useless against bosses except Nova Dragon & Deathguise since you can cause Sleep to them but you can't cause Mini on Deathguise & Nova Dragon). -Auto-Reflect is useful since you won't cast Magic on your self. (Get the Reflect Ring as soon as possible) -MP Attack and "Killer" (Bird Killer , Undead Killer , Man Eater etc ...) abilities are useful since they increase Damage from the Attack command but remember that thet won't boost Thievery. -Remember that Zidane can't apply any elements in his Attack. -Dark Gear gives you a +4 Spirit boost so you can almost guarantee a perfect Steal against some bosses in Dosc 4 with Dark Gear + Rebirth Ring + Bandit. -For Zidane , Auto-Regen gives some healing in addition to healing gems so Auto-Regen will make you last longer. -Ending suggested setup : Orichalcon / Ultima Weapon Circlet Bracer / Power Wrist / Thief Gloves Power Vest / Ninja Gear / Dark Gear / Braver Suit Rosetta Ring / Power Belt Auto-Life / Auto-Potion / Auto-Regen / Auto-Haste / MP Attack ------ Vivi : ------ Pros : -Black Magic -Focus -Healer (Smack himself to heal) -Doomsday which is EXTREMELY useful against Necron & Kuja (w/Pumice Piece Equipped) Cons : -Lowest HP -Low Defense Overall : Vivi is a Middle Class SCC (He won't be easy like Zidane, Amarant,Freya But he won't be hard like Dagger,Eiko) Difficulty : Normal Tips : -Focus increases your Magic status which increases Damage from Black Magic Spells. -Robes are useful but remember that all of them Bar Robe of Lords make you weak against Fire so use them wisely. -Bio does very good damage if you get it early (You can get Oak Staff from Chocobo Treasure "Small Beach" before the end of Disc I). -Vivi can heal himself in a variety of ways he can use Elemental-Absorbing Accessories and cast Elemental Magic on himself or you can even equip "Healer" ability and smack yourself (Vivi NOT you) with Vivi's Staffs finally you can use "Doomsday" with Pumice Piece to do Damage and Heal at the same time. (But it can't be got until VERY late in the game) -Reflectx2 works really well in conjunction with Auto-Reflect. -Element-Raising Accessories are very good w/Elemental Attack. (Such as Magus Hat w/Blizzara) -Auto-Haste works well for Vivi since he is kind of slow. -Stop !! Vivi has that spell ... know that Stopping all enemies on a battle finishes it so this's kind of useful if monsters are getting anoying but you won't gain EXP and this won't work against Bosses. -Always Keep Vivi in the Back Row. -Robe of Lords give you high Defense and a Boost in Magic Defense and all Primary status so it's useful (Although you can't get it until Disc 4 unless you collect 10000 Points in Chocobo H&C) -Mag Elem Null is USELESS really. -Ending suggested setup : Mace of Zeus Circlet Dragon Wrist / Magic Armlet Robe of Lords Rosetta Ring Auto-Life / Auto-Potion / Auto-Haste / Auto Reflect / Reflectx2 / Half MP / Auto-Regen --------- Steiner : --------- Pros : -Strong Weapons -High HP -"Break" Skills -Strong Attack and Defense Cons : -Lacks a proper Healing method (Until you get the Airship since you can by then get Healing Gems) Overall : Steiner SCC isn't very hard although he'll have little problems but with the Right Setups he'll be easy Difficulty : Easy Tips : -Steiner is a Pure Fighter that's why he should be always put in the Front Row. (Unless you equip Long Range) -Use "Break" Swd Arts to make bosses easier. (Power Break,Armor Break and Magic Break) Mental Break is useless since you can't cast Magic on Bosses. -Flame Saber has an Added ST : Heat so it has a chance to kill opponents in one turn (Well kind of) that's why it might be better to equip it in Random Battles than to equip a more powerful weapon (Unless you're sure you can one-Hit opponents with your better weapon) -Use "Killer" abilities and "MP Attack" to increase damage. -Stock Break and Climhazzard (Believe it or not) are kind of useless since you can only get them at Disc 4 and by then you're going to Memoria and there aren't any Multi-Target Battles there Bar Kraken (Whose Tentacles don't have any obvious use whatsoever) -Shock causes 9999 most of the time but it's kind of cheap to use it for me I prefer the "Attack" Command. -Excalibur w/Rebirth Ring can be more powerful than the Ragnarok. -Iai Strike instantly kills a Target so it might be useful to finish Random Battles faster. -Blood Sword is a good way to Attack and Heal early on. -Thunder Strike is USELESS against bosses since it deals damage based on enemy HP %. -Darkside sacrifices 12% of your HP to and does an attack that does 50% Extra Damage (Shadow-Elemental) so it's good if you can keep track of your HP. (Auto-Regen) -TIN ARMOR !! Really this's the best armor in the game and it's exclusive for Steiner and it's specifications are as following : Tin Armor : Gives you 62 Defense !! Extra boosts : Evade+32 Magic Defense+27 Magic Eva+17 Of course to get it you'll need to beat Hades which can be a bit hard w/Steiner alone. -Ending suggested setup : Ragnarok/Excalibur Grand Helm Venetia Shield Grand Armor Rosetta Ring / Power Belt / Rebirth Ring Auto-Life / Auto-Potion / Auto-Haste / MP Attack / Auto-Regen -------- Dagger : -------- Pros : -Eidolons -White Maic Cons : -The First Boss Will be hard unless you level up to 15 -After the first three bosses your ONLY reliable Offenses will be Ramuh (which is WEAK and costs alot of MP) and reflected spells off Auto-Reflect until the end of Disc II -At the time of the Depression State Dagger can become really undependable -Middle Class HP Overall : Dagger isn't going to be an easy SCC First of all it's HARD to pass the first boss battle of course to pass them you need to LEVEL UP but it's going to be hard with Dagger's crappy Rod and Weak Monsters. And after the first four Bosses your ONLY reliable Offense is Ramuh (which is WEAK and costs alot of MP) and reflected spells until the end of Disc II Difficulty : Hard Tips : -Potions and Hi-Potions are useless because you have Cure,Cura and Curaga unless it's for Auto-Potion. -You can boost your Elemental Summons by equipping Element-Raising equips such as Magus Hat and Red Hat. -BOOST !! this lets you see a full animation of a Summon and thus boost it's power. -Confuse might be a good way to finish random battles faster since enemies will Attack themselves. -Save your Ethers because you'll always need them -Ark is hard to get because you have to beat Ozma OR Hades to get it and it isn't worth it so stick with Bahamut. -Bahamut vs. Leviathan : 1-Bahamut is more powerful in general. 2-Leviathan can be made MORE powerful w/Pearl Rouge and/or Golden Hairpin. 3-If you want 99 Garnets you'll need 99 Ores + 99 Remedies but if you want 99 Aquamarines you'll need to have 495 Ores ... a PAIN !!! 4-Leviathan costs 42 MP while Bahamut costs 56 MP so choose whats better for you. -Odin can Instant-Death random monsters so it's useful. -Auto-Reflect is useful for causing Damage. -The Depression State ... What can you do about it ?? Let's see You'll have to do TWO places : Dessert Palace : Vaila Pira : Beat him w/Leviathan AND Mt.Gulug (Luckily you won't have to fight the Boss there) so you can get around it. -Keep Dagger in the Back-Row always. -Robe of Lords give you high Defense and a Boost in Magic Defense and all Primary status so it's useful (Although you can't get it until Disc 4) -Reflect-Null works great if you use it in conjunction with Auto-Reflect since you can use Curaga without having it Reflected. -Ending suggested setup : Magic Racket (Magic Boost) Circlet Dragon Wrist / Magic Armlet Robe of Lords Rosetta Ring Auto-Life / Auto-Potion / Auto-Haste / Auto-Regen / Boost ------- Freya : ------- Pros : -Jump since you can boost the damage -Dragon's Crest -Fairly good HP -Good Strength -Good Skills Cons : -Some of her Skills are crappy Overall : Freya is one of the easiest SCCs in the game Difficulty : Easy Tips : -Freya's level when she joins you is determined by Vivi and Zidane's Level (Steiner and Dagger aren't counted) so before you get Freya you should only Level up Zidane and Vivi -Always put Freya in the back row because the only attacks you're going to use the whole game are Jump,Cherry Blossom and Dragon's Crest all of which ignore row. -Jump !! This increases the damage by 50% at no cost whatsoever. -Reis's Wind casts Regen so make use of it. -Initiative makes Pre-emptive Attacks occure more often so make use of it. -Luna can sometimes be useful since it casts Berserk on all targets INCLUDING Freya but once you use it you can't control Freya for the rest of the battle. ff -Six Dragons is really useless unless you're feeling VERY lucky. -Use "Killer" abilities and "MP Attack" to increase damage. -Dragon's Hair is useful since it's Freya's Ultimate Weapon but if you have a 9999 damaging Dragon's Crest you won't need the weapon. -Heavy Lance and Obelisk provide an Added ST of Stop and Petrify respectivly so make use of that. -Although Freya is a Dragon Knight but she can use Women-Only equipment such as Pearl Rouge or Barrete. -Freya has the ability Chemist which doubles the power of healing items but I don't think it works on Healing Gems. -Ending suggested setup : Holy Lance / Kain's Lance / Dragon's Hair Grand Helm Venetia Shield Grand Armor Rosetta Ring / Power Belt Auto-Life / Auto-Potion / Auto-Haste / MP Attack / Auto-Regen / Chemist ------- Quina : ------- Pros : -Blue Magic gives lots of Variety Cons : -Middle Class HP -Randomized Physical Damage Overall : Quina is a Middle Class SCC but a little harder than Vivi Difficulty : Normal Tips : -Quina is going to be mainly a fighter in most cases (Unless you use Earth Shake and Twister) so put him in the Front Row. -Mighty Guard casts Protect and Shell on Quina so it's very useful. -Mustard Bomb puts a monster in Heat status which makes the Monster self-destructive so it's useful. -Pumpkin Head might be useful if you have low HP since it deals damage equal to Max HP - Current HP -VANISH !! this lets Quina take NO damage from physical Attacks. -Magic Hammer can turn a powerful Magic monster into a helpless wimp. -1000 Needles causes 1000 damage to enemies so it's useful. -Frost Freezes an enemy and makes it die with a single physical Attack. -Good Night !! that's what Quina will be saying to his enemies when he is casting Night since it causes Sleep to all targets but don't forget to equip "Insomanic" since Night affects all targets. -Robe of Lords give you high Defense and a Boost in Magic Defense and all Primary status so it's useful (Although you can't get it until Disc 4) -Quina VS. His Master ... if you don't get it I mean do fight Quale as early as you can although he has the highest HP in the game but he's really not strong as Ozma,Hades or even Necron ... beating him nets you a Gastro Fork which is Quina's Ultimate Weapon. -Ending suggested setup : Gastro Fork Circlet Dragon Wrist / Magic Armlet Robe of Lords Rosetta Ring Auto-Life / Auto-Potion / Auto-Haste / Auto-Regen ----- Eiko: ----- Pros : -Very good white magic Cons : -Very Limited forms of attacking (Fenrir-Holy-Madeen) -Low HP -Starts Fairly Late .. Overall : Eiko is one of the hardest SCCs as her only forms of attacking (other than the Attack command) are Fenrir,Holy and Madeen (remember that you can't use Phoenix since it will revive your party members). Difficulty : Hard but ALOT easier than Dagger Tips : -Potions and Hi-Potions are useless because you have Cure,Cura and Curaga unless it's for Auto-Potion. -Boost lets you see a full animation of a Summon and thus boost it's power but by the time you get it you'll already have Holy. -Confuse might be a good way to finish random battles faster since enemies will Attack themselves. -Fenrir's very useful in Disc II (In fact it's the only practical attacking method at that time) -HOLY !!! Get the White Robe as early as you can (After getting Blue Narcisass by getting White Robe from Chocobo H&C -Keep Eiko in the Back-Row always. -Robe of Lords give you high Defense and a Boost in Magic Defense and all Primary status so it's useful (Although you can't get it until Disc 4) -Reflect-Null works great if you use it in conjunction with Auto-Reflect since you can use Curaga without having it Reflected. -Ending suggested setup : Magic Racket (Magic Boost + Raises Holy's power) Circlet Dragon Wrist / Magic Armlet Robe of Lords Rosetta Ring Auto-Life / Auto-Potion / Auto-Haste / Auto-Regen Yeah ... I copied lots of things from the Dagger section ... --------- Amarant : --------- Pros : -High HP -Good Skills (No Mercy,Aura and Chakra) Cons : -Doesn't start until the end of Disc II Overall : Amarant is one of the easiest SCCs in the game to do (If not the easiest) Difficulty : EASY !! Tips : -THROW !!! this useful command lets you Throw weapons at enemies to cause damage. -No Mercy cause Non-Elemental damage which is sometimes really powerful. -Aura casts Auto-Life and Regen on Amarant so it's useful. -Chakra can restore some of your HP and MP which is useful. -Put Amarant in the Front Row. -Use "Killer" abilities and "MP Attack" to increase damage. -Demi Shock is USELESS against bosses since it deald damage based on enemy HP %. -Power Belt and Dark Matter give you +3 Strength Boost. -Amarant CAN use Return Magic so make good use of it. -Kaiser Knuckles w/Fairy Earrings,Bracer and/or Black Belt might be stronger than Rune Claws and Duel Claws. -Wing Edges are very useful for Throw but remember that you can't buy them and you can only get them as H&C Prizes so use them wisely. -Ending suggested setup : Duel Claws / Rune Claws Circlet Dragon Wrist Power Vest / Ninja Gear / Dark Gear / Braver Suit Rosetta Ring / Power Belt Auto-Life / Auto-Potion / Auto-Haste / MP Attack / Auto-Regen / Return Magic ======================== V. Mini Walkthrough ======================== LEGEND : *NAME* : The Character joins you here thus his/her SCC begins here OR A Character returns after a Stall Point. : A Character leaves the party a bit due to the storyline. (Stall Point) ******************************************************************** A.DISC I ******************************************************************** 1-Prima Vista : *Zidane* Boss : Masked Man Level : Lv.1 Strategy : Zidane : At the beginning of the battle Kill off Blank,Cinna and Marcus then Steal the Mage Masher. After that Attack and heal if neccessary. 2-Alexandria : *Vivi* Level : Lv.1 Pick up the Various items in the city. 3-Theater Ship : *Steiner* When you control Steiner pick up your prize (for the Mini-Game) from the Queen. Boss 1 : Steiner Level : Lv.1 Strategy : Zidane : Steal the Silk Shirt *Vivi* *Dagger* Boss 2 : Steiner Level : Lv.1 Strategy : Kill off your characters and leave your SCC character then just attack Steiner and his companions. Boss 3 : Steiner NOTE : Use the same strategy for the previous fight. 4-Evil Forest/Prima Vista : Note : Level up to 3 (Even if you're playing other SCCs) before facing Prison Cage (Level up Zidane to 5 if you're playing SCC Steiner-Vivi) Equipment : Zidane : Mage Masher - Leather Hat - Wrist - Silk Shirt Boss 1 : Prison Cage *Steiner* Level : Steiner @ Lv.1 OR Zidane @ Lv.3 Strategy : Zidane : Kill Steiner then use Free Energy twice. Steiner : This fight is a little bit hard since you have to Attack, Heal yourself and Heal Garnet so Attack and heal when neccessary Boss 2 : Prison Cage Level : Zidane @ Lv.3 OR Steiner @ Lv.1 Strategy : Zidane : Steal the Leather Wrist and Attack and heal when neccessary. Steiner : Attack and Heal when neccessary. Boss 3 : Baku Level : Lv.3 Strategy : Steal the Iron Sword if you're playing SCC Steiner and Attack and heal when neccessary. *Steiner* *Vivi* Note : Before fighting the Plant Brain buy some Eyedrops and some Potions from Cinna. If you're playing a Dagger SCC buy 99 POTIONS !! Boss 4 : Plant Brain Level : Lv5 NOTE : When Blank comes in the middle of the battle kill him unless this is a Stall Point. Strategy : Zidane : Don't Steal anything just Attack and Heal If he uses Pollen use an Eyedrop Vivi : Focus a few times then use Fire and Heal when neccessary (But Don't Use Eyedrops) Steiner : Attack and Heal If he uses Pollen use an Eyedrop *Dagger* NOTE ON DAGGER SCC : from now on until Black Waltz 2 you can play the SCC in two ways : A.Play the game normally (really it's a pain leveling up Dagger while she can only do 15 Damage per turn) I think this should be allowed at this time UNTIL After BW2 since BW3 will hit himself if Dagger's the only one alive and for Ralvurahva and Raluvmigo you can have Auto-Reflect and thus reflect their own spells on them ... and from Pinncale Rocks and afterwards you have access to Summons ... B.Play it the hard way level up Dagger against Goblins,Mus and Pythons although this could be hard and you'll consume lots of resources ... And it'll be VERY hard really ... Personally I prefer the first method ... 5-Ice Cave : Pick up the Items in the Cave. Zidane : Just Attack the monsters here or Flee Vivi : Fire really is useful in this cave just use it on all monsters to finish battles in one turn Steiner : Broadsword w/Beast Killer is better than Iron Sword since all of the monsters here are beasts Dagger : You should be playing the game normally (As if it wasn't an SCC because really at Disc I Dagger is very pathetic Sigh ... Another Stall Point ... Boss : Black Waltz 1 w/Sealion Characters : Zidane @ Lv8 (Or 5 If you're playing other SCCs) Strategy : If you're playing Zidane SCC it's going to be easy if you're playing other SCC this could be hard Steal the Mythril Dagger if you're SCCing Zidane and Attack BW1 until he dies then Attack and Heal while waiting for your Trance when you get it use Tidal Flame several times to end the battle. *Steiner* *Vivi* *Dagger* 6-Dali : NOTE1 : Nothing Worth shopping except Feather Hats and 30+ Potions (Important in Vivi SCC) NOTE3 : Pick up Stellazio : Aries NOTE3 : Pick up the Items in the basement Level : Zidane/Steiner/Vivi @ Lv 10 Dagger @ Lv 15 or Lv10 Boss : Black Waltz 2 : Attacks : Thunder - Fire - Blizzard : Lv 1 Elemental Spells Thundara - Fira - Blizzara : Lv2 Elemental Spells (Counters with these if you use Vivi's Black Magic) Teleport : Physical Damage Hypnotize : Inflicts Sleep on Dagger (Yes her specifically) This means GAME OVER read Dagger's Strategy for more information Zidane : Steal the Items he has and then Attack him with the Mythril Dagger And if you Trance use Tidal Flame (600+ Damage) Vivi : You'll have to use some strategy here since he counters your Black Magic with his powerful Level 2 Spells so your best bet is to Focus 10+ times so your black magic does high damage then alternate between casting Thunder (320 Damage after 10 Focuses) and using Potions to heal. Note that when you deplete half of his HP he'll cast Fira (140 Damage because Silk Shirt makes you weak against Fire) followed be another attack and this's where you'll HAVE to be lucky so he uses Teleport and it misses or doesn't kill you (For me he used Fira followed by Teleport and I had 1 HP left !!) Also if you Trance do NOT use Dbl Blk and use Focus instead NOTE : The reason you use Thunder specifically is because he'll counter with Thundara which will be halved by Silk Shirt Steiner : With Flying Killer + Iron Sword this fight shouldn't be too hard just Attack (240 Damage) and heal when neccessary . Dagger : First remember that this Boss casts Hypnotize on Dagger if she's the only one alive and This means instant Game Over so you can go ahead and put another member alive and make sure that other member doesn't INPUT any command including Defend and if the other Member's HP is Low have Dagger cast Cure on him. You'll have to be Lv15 and have 3 Ethers just have Dagger cast Shiva and then use an Ether after casting Shiva three times this guy should die. OR Play this normally (Don't worry this's allowed because Dagger's very pathetic at this point) (By normally I mean w/All Characters) After this battle choose Return to the Inn and rest then restock on Potions and ride the Cargo Ship 7- Cargo Ship : Level : Lv12 Boss : Black Waltz 3 Attacks : Fira - Blizzard - Thundara Zidane : If you Stole from BW2 you don't need to Steal from this guy unless you're sCCing Freya then Steal the Linen Curiass then just Attack this guy (200 Damage) and Heal if needed and if you Trance use Tidal Flame (590 Damage) Vivi : Use Dbl Blk to cast two Thunders (120 Damage each) in a single turn and after your trance ends attack with Thunder and heal when neccessary Steiner : Same strategy w/Previous Bosses. 8-Lindblum : *Freya* Level : Lv 12 Note : Collect the Items in the city and get some new Equipment such as Glass Armlets-Steepled Hats and some Accessories from the Synth Shop (get one of each equipable for the character you're SCCing) from the shops and the synth shop (BUY THE GLASS BUCKLE !!!) Also make sure you pickup the Bronze Vest (It's hidden besides the Resturant in the Industrial District) Festival of the Hunt : Let Freya win so you can get the Coral Ring . Zidane SCC : Don't do anything when the time finishes Freya should win and you'll get the Coral Ring. Freya SCC : You'll first control Zidane wait until the time reaches under 4 Minutes head directly to the Foutain at the Business District you should Fight Zaghnol kill Zidane and let Freya defeat it by using Jump (280 Damage) several times. Other SCCs : The same thing for Freya SCC but remember that you can fight Zaghnol with both of your characters so Steal the Needle Fork if you're playing Quina SCC and Attack him with both of your characters. 9-World Map : *Vivi* *Quina* NOTE : If you're playing Quina SCC go to the Qu's Marsh to pick up Quina and catch some frogs Make sure you master "Bandit" for Zidane (Mythril Dagger) Head to Chocobo's Forest and dig up all the chocographs there (You can dig 9 Chocographs) Then go to the World Map and dig up all the diggable items. Defeat Ironites to get Hi-Potion (Get 10+) LV3 Def-Less (Carve Spider) (Forest outside Lindblum HUNTER's Gate (the upper gate)) Mighty Guard (Serpion) Mustard Bomb (Bomb) (Forest outside Lindblum HUNTER's Gate (the upper gate)) Vanish (Vice)* The best way to learn Blue Magic is to kill off all the enemies but one, then just start attacking it and hope you can get its HP below 25%. And move Quina to to front or back row if necessary to reduce/increase the damage s/he does. (Thanks to Ultima13 for this) *This one is hard because Vice escapes so the best way is to equip Quina w/FORK and in the back row and Attack ONCE then EAT but you'll have to be VERY LUCKY so it CAN take a while but in th end you'll do it ! Head to Gizamaluke's Grotto (Try to be at Lv15 before entering the Grotto) If you're having trouble leveling up here go to Lindblum and exit through Hunter's Gate and fight in that area 10-Gizamaluke's Grotto : NOTE : Collect the Items around (Magus Hat-Mythril Glove ...) Level : Lv16 Zidane : Just attack with The Ogre to kill the monsters fast and equip Man Eater for the Black Mages and Beast Killer for the other monsters Vivi : Hornets have an ability called Buzz which causes Berserk to your character so if this happens RUN !! otherwise just hit the monsters here with your Black Magic Freya : Again , Jump ... Quina : Just hit the monsters here with your Needle Fork (24~600 Damage) Boss : Gizamaluke Attacks : Crash : Physical Attack Water : Water Elemental Attack Silent Voice : Casts Silence NOTE1 : Using a Tent on Gizamaluke may inflict Silence/Darkness so do that NOTE2 : Equip Glass Armlet to halve the damage from "Water" spell. Zidane : Nothing worth Stealing so just Attack with The Ogre and use Soul Blade to Inflict Darkness via The Ogre. Freya : Use Jump to deal high damage and heal with potions if neccessary. Vivi : Focus a few times the use Thunder. Quina : Just Attack with Needle Fork and heal but keep your HP above 200 because his Crash attack does 210 Damage 11-World Map : Near Cleyra you can find a monster called Nymph .. Eat that monster to learn Night (Quina SCC) NOTE : If you're SCCing Vivi/Quina/Dagger/Eiko go to the west of Burmcia and past Cleyra and you should arrive at a Beach call a Chocobo and dig for "Healing Shore" your Chocobo will gain River ability now go back through Gizamaluke's Grotto and dig for "Small Beach" and "Bird's Eye Lagoon" and you'll get Oak Staff for Vivi and Magician's Robe for Vivi-Quina-Dagger-Eiko respectively. Head to Burmecia 12-Burmecia : NOTE : Collect the various Items (especially Mythril Spear,Thunder Staff and the Stellazio near the beginning of the area) and fight the Black Mages. Level : Lv 20 Zidane : Make sure you equip The Ogre + Man Eater to kill Type A quick and just Attack the other monsters normally. Vivi : BIO makes fun of ALL the monsters here (it can kill 2 Type A in ONE shot) and don't forget to pickup the Thunder Staff Freya : Jump !! and remember to pickup the Mythril Spear Quina : Slash the monsters with your Needle Fork Adjust your equipments and abilities before fighting Beatrix : Zidane : The Ogre Steepled Hat Glass Armlet Bronze Vest CORAL RING Man Eater Bandit Vivi : OAK STAFF Steepled Hat Glass Armlet MAGICIAN'S ROBE CORAL RING Auto-Potion BACK ROW Freya : Mythril Spear Barbut Mythril Gloves Linen Curiass CORAL RING Man Eater Quina : Needle Fork Steepled Hat Glass Armlet MAGICIAN'S ROBE CORAL RING and Equip "Auto-Potion" NOTE : If you're playing Steiner SCC then consider Stealing the Mythril Sword because it can help you ALOT on the coming fight altough Stealing it is VERY HARD .. (Equip Mythril Dagger + Bandit) Boss : Beatrix Zidane : Steal the Chain Plate if you want and then keep attacking and healing and remember that you can absorb Thunder Slash with Coral Ring. Vivi : Vivi is the easiest SCC in this fight with the Magician's Robe the Damage is lowered and he will use a Potion Automatically so just Focus a few times then cast Bio and use a Potion if needed (Although I don't think you'll need it). Freya : Cast Reis's Wind and use Jump to deal heavy damage on Beatrix and use a Potion if needed. Quina : With the Magician's Robe the Damage is lowered and s/he will use a Potion Automatically when hit also let Quina cast Vanish to make the fight alot easier after that just Attack and use a Potion wen you need it. If you find this fight hard level up a bit in Burmecia OR (Alternative Strategy) Keep your chareacter in the back row and keep using Potions until she quits. END OF DISC I ******************************************************************** B.DISC II ******************************************************************** 1-Summit Station : *Steiner* *Dagger* Level : Dagger @ Lv15 - Steiner @ Lv12 Shopping Guide : Dagger : Air Racket - Mythril Rod - Glass Armlet - Magus Hat Steiner : Mythril Gloves - Barbut - Linen Curiass Buy some Potions as well and SAVE at Summit Station Cafe. Boss : Black Waltz 3 (HP : 1292) Attacks : Blizzard - Fire - Thunder Hit : Physical Attack Freeze : Causes Freeze status Equipment : Steiner : Mythril Sword/Iron Sword Barbut Mythril Gloves Linen Curiass GLASS BUCKLE MAN EATER Put Steiner in the Front row. Dagger : It doesn't matter. Strategy : You'll HAVE to kill BW3 before he kills you since he can cast Freeze on your party member and if he uses a physical Attack after that then you're DEAD so : Steiner : Just Attack and Heal if needed and hope that he does NOT use Freeze and if he does use it Hope that it misses. Dagger : You can't lose this battle since BW3 will NOT attack Dagger so just do whtever you want. 2-World Map : Head to Quan's Dwelling and pick up the Stellazio there then head to Treno 3-Treno : -Watch the ATE involving Dagger and the 4-Armed Man and go talk to him to receive the Power Belt ... -Get Stellazio : Gemini and Stezllazio : Taurus here ... -Give Queen Stella your five Stellazio and get your prizes ... -BUY REFLECT RING FROM THE AUCTION !! -Buy Madain's Ring from the Auction .. -Weapon Shop battle : Griffon : Steiner : Attack with Blood Sword + Black Belt + MP Attack + Flying Killer -Shopping Guide : Steiner SCC : Mythril Sword (If you don't have it) - Chain Mail Dagger SCC : Bandana - Bone Wrist Cachushsa 4-Gargan Roo : Adjust your equipment if you're playing Steiner or Dagger SCCs Steiner : Blood Sword Barbut Mythril Gloves Linen Curiass Power Belt Bug Killer MP Attack Dagger : Mythril Rod Bandana Bone Wrist Magacian's Robe REFLECT RING AUTO-REFLECT AUTO-POTION Boss : Ralvurahva NOTE : IF you're plaing Quina SCC let Marcus Steal the Mythril Fork .. Steiner : Attack with Blood Sword (650+ Damage) and you'll never die because you'll heal while attacking Dagger : Put her in the Back Row and wait and heal if really needed .. (With the Auto-Reflect this guy's Blizzara will be reflected at him ^__^) *Zidane* *Vivi* *Freya* *Quina* 5-Head to Cleyra 6-Cleyra's Trunk : Pickup the items around here .. Blue Magic for Quina : Auto-Life : Carrion Worm White Wind : Zuu Matra Magic : Dragon Fly Master Sleep for Vivi (Fire Staff) 7-Cleyra : Level : 24 Shopping Guide : Partisan (Freya) Mythril Armlet (Quina - Freya - Zidane) Flame Staff - Ice Staff (Vivi) Thunder Gloves (Freya - Steiner) Mythril Helm (Freya - Steiner) Mythril Vest (Zidane) Mythril Armor (Steiner-Freya) Mage's Hat (Dagger-Vivi-Quina) Equip your characters before proceeding : Zidane : The Ogre Bandana Mythril Armlet Mythril Vest Power Belt MP Attack Bright Eyes Vivi : Oak Staff Bandana / Mage's Hat Mythril Armlet Magician's Robe Reflect Ring Auto-Potion Auto-Reflect Freya : Partisan Mythril Helm Thunder Gloves Mythril Armor Power Belt MP Attack Bright Eyes Quina : Mythril Fork Bandana / Mage's Hat Mythril Armlet Magician's Robe Reflect Ring Auto-Potion Auto-Reflect Boss : Antlion NOTE : Use Tent on Antlion to cause Silence/Darkness Zidane : Attack normally and heal with Hi-Potions (especially after sandstorm) Vivi : Cast Sleep on Antlion then beat him up with Bio Freya : Use Reis's Wind + Jump and heal if needed Quina : This strategy requires a little luck after causing Silence/Darkness using a Tent cast Auto-Life on Quina then let Quina kill herself and s/he'll be revived with 1 HP you'll have to be lucky to get an Attack that misses or Sandstrom then use Limit Glove to cause 9999 Damage .. For the battles against the Black Mages Auto-Reflect can protect you from them .... Boss : Beatrix NOTE : For Zidane/Freya/Quina Equip Power Belt instead of Reflect Ring For Vivi equip Coral Ring Strategy : This's basically the same strategy for the previous Beatrix battle 8-Alexandria Castle : *Steiner* Fight the Guards *Zidane* *Vivi* *Freya* Boss : Zorn & Thorn : Attack the one that recieved the energy and they'll never attack you NOTE : If you're playing Dagger SCC Steal Stardust Rod from Zorn .. NOTE : Equip FREYA with Insomaniac (If you're playing Freya SCC) Boss : Beatrix : Zidane : Steal Survival Vest and use the previous strategies for Beatrix Vivi/Freya : Use the previous strategies for Beatrix Steiner : Equip Ice Brand + Power Belt and equip MP Attack and Man Eater and Attack normally (1600+ Damage) and use Hi-Potions if needed *Dagger* BATTLE 1 : Bandersnatch x 1 Characters : Freya - Beatrix If you're playing a Freya SCC kill Beatrix and if you're playing other SCCs play using both .. BATTLE 2 : Type C x 3 Characters : Zidane - Vivi - Steiner - Dagger Auto-Reflect is useful (especially in Dagger SCC's case) BATTLE 3 : Bandersnatch x 2 Characters : Zidane - Vivi - Steiner - Dagger Coral Ring + Insomaniac (Zidane - Vivi - Steiner) Reflect Ring + Insomaniac (From Bandana) (Dagger) BATTLE 4 : Bandersnatch x 1 Characters : Zidane - Vivi - Dagger Coral Ring + Insomaniac (Zidane - Vivi) Reflect Ring + Insomaniac (From Bandana) (Dagger) BATTLE 5 : Bandersnatch x 2 Characters : Freya - Beatrix If you're playing a Freya SCC kill Beatrix and if you're playing other SCCs play using both .. BATTLE 6 : Bandersnatch x 2 Characters : Steiner - Beatrix - Freya Kill off your party and leave your SCC character BOSS : Ralvuimago Zidane : Attack and heal if needed Vivi : Use Bio and heal if needed Dagger : Use the same strategy for Ralvurahva 9-Pinnacle Rocks : If you're playing Dagger SCC GET RAMUH !!! Collect the items around ... 10-Lindblum : Shopping Guide : Exploda (Zidane) Multina Racket (Dagger) Barrette (Dagger) Magician Shoes 11-Qu's Marsh : *Quina* Catch some frogs if you're playing Quina SCC .. 12-Fossil Roo : Avoid the battle with the machine ... BOSS : Lani NOTE : Equip Auto-Reflect to avoid most of Lani's attacks and use a Tent to cause Darkness to make her even more pathetic .. Zidane : Steal the Gladius and attack with Exploda + MP Attack + Man Eater Vivi : BIO !!! Dagger : Cast Ramuh repeatedly and heal if needed Quina : Attack her with Mythril Fork .. Pickup the items in this area (Survival Vest - Fairy Earrings) Exit to the Outer Continent .. Head to Conde Petie 13-Conde Petie Go on with the story and exit Conde Petie and restock on items then head to Black Mage Village .. If you're playing a Quina SCC catch some frogs 14-Black Mage Village : Shopping Guide : Magic Armlet (Vivi - Dagger - Quina - Eiko) Ritual Hat (Zidane - Vivi) Magician Cloak (Vivi-Dagger-Quina-Eiko (Not really important)) Survival Vest (Vivi - Zidane if you don't have it) Hi-Potion (GET 99 OF THESE !!!) Synth : Rune Tooth (Zidane) Barrete (Dagger - Eiko) Extension (Dagger-Eiko) Pickup the Stellazio here ... Follow with the story and then leave the village and head to Conde Petie ... 15-Conde Petie Follow with the story and then head to Conde Petie Mountain Path (REMOVE QUINA'S EQUIPMENTS BEFORE S/HE LEAVES !!) Also sell any Potions you have (Leave Hi-Potions in your inventory) Master Fenrir for Eiko *Eiko* BOSS : Hiligigars Zidane : Equip Rune Tooth + Man Eater + MP Attack + Desert Boots + Auto-Potion and then use a Tent to Silence Hiligigars (So he won't cast Curaga on himself) then Attack and heal with Hi-Potions Vivi : Equip Magician Robe + Desert Boots + Auto-Potion and use a Tent to Silence this boss then attack with Bio and heal with Hi-Potions when needed Dagger : Equip Magician Robe + Barrette + Auto-Potion + Chemist and cast Float on yourself to avoid his Earth Shake attack then Silence him then start attacking with Ramuh and don't worry about healing (Since whenever Hiligigars attacks you you'll counter by healing 900 HP ^_^) and use Ethers if you need them Eiko : Equip Magician's Robe + Bone Wrist + Germinas Boots + Auto-Potion and cast Float on yourself to avoid his Earth Shake attack then Silence him then start attacking with Fenrir and use Hi-Potions/Ethers/Elixirs if needed Make sure you get the Moonstone here 16-Madain Sari : Pickup the Stellazio and go on with the story and head to the Iifa Tree ... 17-Iifa Tree : Most of the monsters here are Undead so you can kill them in one hit using a Phoenix Down .. Pickup the Brigandine (For Zidane - Amarant SCCs) BOSS : Soulcage (You can just use a Phoenix Down but if you're not cheap use the strategies) Zidane : Attack with Rune Tooth + Undead Killer + MP Attack + Auto-Potion and just Attack and use Hi-Potions if needed Vivi : Auto-Potion and Bio but NOT Fira Dagger : Summon Ramuh and heal if you need it .. Eiko : Cast Cura on the boss until it falls Return to Madain Sari .. 18-Madain Sari : You'll fight Red Scarlet with Zidane ALONE so set him as following : Rune Tooth Ritual Hat Mythril Armlet Brigandine Power Belt MP Attack Auto-Potion Counter Man Eater BOSS : Red Scarlet Zidane : Attack when he says "Here I go" otherwise wait and Steal the Poison Claws (If you're going to play Amarant SCC) with the above setup you almost Cannot die ... *Vivi* *Dagger* *Eiko* *Amarant* So if you're doing an Amarant SCC you can FINALLY begin it here .. You'll be asked to choose a party choose a party that contains your SCC character (or any party if you're playing at a stall point) and head to Iifa tree 19-Iifa tree : Zidane : Attack w/Rune Tooth + Undead Killer + MP Attack and equip Insomaniac to avoid Sleep Vivi : Bio on the monsters and equip Insomaniac to avoid Sleep caused by Mist Dagger : Insomaniac +Stardust Rod + Extension and use Ramuh repeatedly (Luckily Dagger'll only fight in the first battle) Eiko : Equip Insomanic and cast Cura on the monsters to kill them fast Amarant : Attack w/Poison Claws + Undead Killer + MP Attack and equip Insomaniac to avoid sleep End of Disc II (After the first battle) ******************************************************************** C.DISC III ******************************************************************** 1-Alexandria : You'll begin as Vivi (Go synth Angel Bless) then go to the Mini-Theater and after controlling Eiko go to the place that contains Brahne's picture then you'll control Zidane (With Vivi) .. Shopping Guide : Ice Lance (Freya) Healing Rod (Dagger) Twist Headband (Zidane - Vivi - Dagger - Quina - Eiko - Amarant) Gold Helm (Steiner - Freya) Plate Mail (Steiner - Freya) Angel Bless (Zidane) Anklet (Amarant - Dagger - Eiko) Pearl Rogue (Dagger - Eiko - Freya) (Optional) Head to the castle and eventually you'll find yourself in Treno .. 2-Treno : Shopping Guide : Coral Sword (Steiner) Give the Queen all your Stellazio .. Make sure you win the card tournament 3-Alexandria : When Beatrix asks you about how to send the Knights choose it like this : Blutzen and Kohel : Gather Info. Weimar and Hagen : Protect the people. Breireicht and Lando : Contact Lindblum for reinforcments. Dojebon and Mullenkedheim : Ready the cannons. If you did this right you should get Angel Earrings from Beatrix .. *Steiner* Equip Steiner (If you're playing Steiner SCC) as following : Coral Sword Gold Helm Thunder Gloves Plate Mail Power Belt MP Attack Man Eater Level up Steiner : With the above setup you can kill most Mistodons in one hit (Two at most) and Level up gets you more EXP , thus fast leveling up .. *Zidane* When you control Zidane head to the roof and proceed with the storyline until you return to Lindblum ... 4-Lindblum : -Pickup the Stellazio in Lindblum .. -Shopping Guide : (If you run out of Gil do this after getting Blue Narciss) Mantra Band Dark Hat Lamia's Flute (Eiko) Cypress Pile (Vivi) 99 Hi-Potions -Get the Egoist Armlet at the guests' room in the castle -Get the 3 Potions and give them to Cid -Pickup the Chimera Armlet near the Harbor -Ride the Blue Narciss. *Vivi* *Steiner* *Dagger* *Freya* *Quina* *Eiko* *Amarant* 5-Preperation for Olievert/Desert Place : Zidane : Try to learn all the abilities available at this point and get some Chocographs (Optional) and learn Auto Reflect and all the status protections a nd you're all set! You can also level up Thievery, but it's not required..... Vivi : Learn all the abilities and get the Black Robe from the Chocobo sidequest since it teaches you Flare!! Learn Auto Reflect and status protections. Steiner : Make sure you have the Coral Sword. Also, buy a optimal set of equipment. Learn as much abilities as you can and learn Auto Reflect and status protections and you're all set. Dagger : Get the Light Robe and Whale Wisker from Chocographs. Make sure you learn Curaga (Whale Wisker) and some other magics! Learn status protections! Freya : Make sure you have the Ice Lance. Equip Gold Helm and Plate Mail + a Diamond Helm and learn status protections you're all set! Quina : Catch some frogs to level up Quina's Frog Drop and learn some Blue Magic. Get the Black Robe from Chocographs and learn status protections. Eiko : GET THE WHITE ROBE! LEARN HOLY!! Learn status protections and Auto Reflect. Amarant : Get an optimal set of equipment and learn status protections and Auto Reflect 6-Oilevert : Zidane-Steiner-Freya-Amarant : Send your character here. Desert Palace is considered a stall point!! Vivi-Dagger-Quina-Eiko : Do NOT send your SCC to Oilevert. It is considered a stall point! Inside Oelivert there's a Moogle Shop. Buy optimal equipment! From now on, enemies can do some very serious status effects like Sleep,Stop and Petrification so ALWAYS have Jelly,Locomotion and Insomaniac equipped. Random battles here are not that hard. Before fighting the boss, equip MP Attack,Flying Killer,Auto Potion and CLEAR HEADED!! Equip some Wind protection! Boss : Ark HP : 20,002 Ark can use Propeller which Confuses your party. Equip Clear Headed to avoid this.He can also use Whirlwind which deals WIND elemental damage so equip something that halves WIND! PHOTON reduces your HP to 1 so use some Hi-Potions after it... Zidane : Easy, just attack. Heal if needed with some Hi-Potions! Steiner : Attack normally and heal if needed (Equip CHEMIST ability) Freya : JUMP!! Heal when needed... Amarant : Just attack it. Heal if needed! That was a LITTLE hard... 7-Desert Palace : From now on, enemies can do some very serious status effects like Sleep, Stop and Petrification so ALWAYS have Jelly,Locomotion and Insomaniac equipped. Proceed to the boss and pickup ALL of the treasures in the way!!! BOSS : Vaila Pira HP : 12,000 Equip Auto Reflect before fighting this boss! Vivi : Cast Water on yourself to Reflect it! Dagger : Leviathan with Boost Quina : Attack normally Eiko : HOLY! BEFORE PROCEEDING, MAKE SURE YOU EQUIP EIKO WITH WHITE ROBE AND ANTIBODY! ALSO, PUT HER IN THE BACK ROW! This's important because she'll leave and join you in the next boss fight! End of Mini-Walkthrough (More on the next update) ====================== VI. Special Thanks : ====================== SquareEnix for making this game CJayC and Gamefaqs for this great site Rebirth Flame 2002 His Monster's Guide really helped me plan my strategies in this Challenge and that guide also gave me the HP of the bosses. Ultima13 For his strategies for learning Blue Magic and for his support for me at the time I was writing this FAQ Theoden for pointing out that Black Waltz 3 will not attack Dagger. ME for writing this FAQ :p