Final Fantasy IX - Nintendo Switch

There’s a side quest where you find yourself in a battle against a friendly monster. The monster won’t attack but will ask the player for a specific item. If the player gives the requested item, the battle ends. There are several friendly monsters in the game, and giving each of them the item they want will make a particular fight in the game significantly easier. The video shows every location where a friendly monster can be found in Final Fantasy IX. The player can largely choose the order in which they seek out the friendly monsters and give them the items, but the monster at the very end of the video (the little sheep, also known as a "Yan") requires the player to have helped all the other friendly monsters first.

 

The bosses in this game often have an item that can be stolen from them, whether it's equipment or an item. The items that can be stolen from bosses in Final Fantasy IX are incredibly useful! Sometimes you can snag a piece of equipment that's really good for that point in the game, and of course, you save money as you won't need to buy as much gear. So, stealing is always worth a shot; there's really no good reason not to steal in this game.

Ozma is the superboss in Final Fantasy IX, and the battle against her is incredibly tough (even harder than the fight against the final boss), but there are a few tips to make the encounter easier.

1. Complete the Friendly Monsters Sidequest first; I've already made a post about this. Before you take on Ozma, make sure to do this. Ozma will be considered a flying enemy, meaning normal attacks won't reach her. However, once the sidequest is complete, normal attacks can hit Ozma. Completing the quest also gives Ozma a weakness to the "Shadow" element (otherwise, she absorbs attacks of that element). This means that Ozma’s Doomsday attack will no longer heal her but will instead deal damage to herself.

2. Ozma's behaviour changes depending on your party setup. For example, she has the attacks "L4 Holy" and "L5 Death." The first deals Holy damage to characters whose level is divisible by 4, while the latter kills characters whose level is divisible by 5, but she will only use these attacks if there is a character who would be affected or killed. Still, it’s wise to have one character at a level divisible by 4 and another at a level divisible by 5 in your party. Why? Because this reduces the chance that she uses "Meteor," which is a very powerful attack that deals a random amount of damage (up to 9999 damage!). Her Meteor attack also never misses.

3. Here are some equipment and abilities that can be helpful:
- Clear Headed (prevents Confusion; Ozma has an attack that can cause this)
- Bright Eyes (prevents Darkness; physical attackers can use this to maintain their attack accuracy)
- Antibody (prevents poisoning)
- Reflect Ring/Auto-Reflect (to reflect magic and protect against the "Berserk" status)
- Auto-Regen (to keep your HP in check)
- Auto-Life (to automatically revive one fallen character)

4. Use your strongest attacks; if you have a dark matter item, you can use it as it deals 9999 damage to Ozma in one hit.

5. Ozma has her own ATB gauge (the bar that empties after an action and then fills up again before another action can be taken), but hers works a bit differently. Her gauge fills up immediately when the player selects an action for one of the characters. Knowing this, it’s better to choose your actions while Ozma is performing her own action.

Even with these tips, the battle is still partly based on luck, so don’t get discouraged if you lose a few times. Save your game before entering the fight.

Throughout the game, there are a total of 4 Moonstones to obtain. This item is therefore very limited in availability. A Moonstone can be useful for several different functions:

- In battle, it can be used as a healing item (= NOT RECOMMENDED).

- As equipment, it grants the ability Beast Killer (= more damage against "Beast" enemies), and in the case of Dagger or Eiko, it also teaches Shell (= a spell that reduces magic damage taken by a chosen character).

- Eiko's summon Carbuncle gets a stronger attack if she is also equipped with a Moonstone.

Here are the 4 locations:

1. At the beginning of the game, there is a minigame with Zidane in a sword fight. After the minigame, you will receive a score from the audience ranging from 0 to 100. To obtain the Moonstone, you need to achieve the maximum score of 100 (if you fail, the game gives you the option to try again). If successful: when you gain control of Steiner, you must speak to Queen Brahne. She will give you the Moonstone.

2. In Conde Petie, there is a puzzle where you need to find 4 coloured stones to place into a statue. You will receive a Moonstone for this. I’ve included a video for the locations of the 4 stones.

3. During the Friendly Monsters Sidequest, one monster will give you a Moonstone. This is because another monster in the same quest wants this item.

4. After the events in Terra, Stiltskin can be found in the church tower in Alexandria. As always, he offers a collection of items. This time, there will also be a Moonstone included.

An important note is that the first 2 mentioned Moonstones are missable! The first one is only available at that point in the game. For the second one, you essentially have until just before you travel to Terra, but I recommend doing this during your first visit to Conde Petie.