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alt.games.final-fantasy FAQ (Part 2 of 3)
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From: nickzman@eskimo.com (Nick Zitzmann) Newsgroups: alt.games.final-fantasy, alt.games.final-fantasy.rpg, rec.games.video.nintendo, rec.games.video.sony Subject: alt.games.final-fantasy FAQ (Part 2 of 3) Date: 1 Jan 2002 01:32:41 GMT Message-ID: <a0r3jp$qkq$1@eskinews.eskimo.com> Summary: This posting describes the newsgroup alt.games.final-fantasy, and answers many of the more frequently asked questions that are received in this newsgroup. Archive-name: games/video-games/final-fantasy/part2 Posting-Frequency: weekly Last-modified: 2001/12/30 Version: 2.0.2 +---------------------------------------------+ | * * * The alt.games.final-fantasy FAQ * * * | | * * * Part 2 of 3 * * * | +---------------------------------------------+ +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | *** WARNING! *** | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ Sections 4 and 5 answer the most frequently asked questions about Square video games. Some of these questions include questions about some of the plot events in the game, or questions about parts of the game which some players might have not reached yet. It is important to **READ THIS PART OF THE FAQ AT YOUR OWN RISK!** From this point forward, there could be (and will be) some serious plot spoilers. If you don't like spoilers, you are hereby advised not to read any further. There are some serious dragons in here. +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ |* Sec. 4 -Frequently Asked Questions about the Final Fantasy Series *| +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ * 4.1 - General Hints about the Final Fantasy Series * 4.1.1 - Monster XXX or Boss YYY is too difficult, and I have no chance against them. What should I do? If you encounter an enemy which you can't defeat, there is one of two things evident. One: You may be getting ahead of your party and putting them up against monsters which - at your party's experience levels - are too difficult for your party. In this case, you need to go backwards and gain more experience by fighting enemies which are more of a match for your party. Two: In a battle - in a video game or in real life - most of your chances of winning depends on your strategy. You need to come up with a strategy which is effective enough to defeat your enemy, or your enemy has a better chance of winning than your party does: - In all Final Fantasy games, the character at the top of your party's battle formation is the character who is going to be attacked more, make sure that character has a lot of HP and a very good defense rating. Keep your weaker and less defensive party members near the bottom of your party. (Note: This does not apply to Chrono Trigger.) - Don't waste magic by overhealing a player or overkilling an enemy when using spells, use only minor spells to heal minor wounds or do minor damage to enemies. - Conserve your most powerful attacks and spells until you **really** need them. - Your most powerful character should attack the most powerful enemy, the last thing you want (especially in Final Fantasy I) is to have everyone jump on the same enemy. - Buy new armor as your currency allows. However, there are times when you'd be best off shopping around before you make any decisions on what armor to buy. You might see some armor in one town which looks like a good buy, but if you go to another nearby town, you might find some better armor for only slightly more money. Example: In Final Fantasy VI, Albrook sells Diamond Vests, but the other towns in the vicinity sell Diamond Armor with much better defensive power. - Fight fire with ice, ice with fire, water with lightning, and sacred power with the undead. - And always keep an eye on your characters' HP levels so you know who needs to be healed and who can fight... * 4.1.2 - What kind of a party should I choose? This only applies to Final Fantasy I, III, V, and all SaGa games since these games allow you to mix & match party members and their occupations. Final Fantasy I and V has lots of party choices, but the only important thing about them is how they must be balanced. Your FAQ maintainer's favorite party combinations consist of a Fighter, a White Mage, a Black Mage, and one of the following: Thief, Black Belt, or Red Mage. Your FAQ maintainer also highly recommends that you do **not** build a party without either a Red Mage or a White Mage, because if you use neither in your party, you will not be able to exit some of the later dungeons in the game. (This strategy would also apply in theory to Final Fantasy III.) In Final Fantasy VIII, keep in mind that the two most important ability junctions are HP and strength. Make sure that all characters in a mission-critical scenario have magic junctions to HP and strength. For all the SaGa/Final Fantasy Legend games, the FAQ maintainer's favorite selections are: Two humans and two mutants, two humans & a mutant & a monster, a human & a mutant & a robot & a monster, and four mutants. The absolute worst party you can make in any of the SaGa/Final Fantasy Legend games has to be a party made up of four monsters, since the four monsters can only upgrade themselves by fighting more powerful monsters, so the chicken & the egg syndrome kicks in... * 4.1.3 - Why do you refer to Final Fantasy III as "Final Fantasy VI"? Which Final Fantasy games were put out in the USA, anyway? This FAQ uses the Japanese names for all the games because all of these games (with the lone exceptions of Rad Racer II and Secret of Evermore) were released in Japan first, then brought over to the USA. The maintainer doesn't mean to confuse anyone. So, here are a few lists of all of the Final Fantasy/SaGa games released in Japan, along with their American equivalents... For the Nintendo Famicom/Entertainment System: Japan USA -------------------------------------------------------- Final Fantasy I Final Fantasy I Final Fantasy II N/A Final Fantasy III N/A Final Fantasy I & II* N/A For the Nintendo Super Famicom/Entertainment System: Japan USA -------------------------------------------------------- Final Fantasy IV N/A Final Fantasy IV Easytype Final Fantasy II Final Fantasy V N/A Final Fantasy VI Final Fantasy III Final Fantasy USA Final Fantasy Mystic Quest For the Sony PlayStation: Japan USA -------------------------------------------------------- Final Fantasy IV* Final Fantasy IV (Chronicles) Final Fantasy V* Final Fantasy V (Anthology) Final Fantasy VI* Final Fantasy VI (Anthology) Final Fantasy VII Final Fantasy VII Final Fantasy VIII Final Fantasy VIII Final Fantasy IX Final Fantasy IX Final Fantasy Tactics Final Fantasy Tactics For the Nintendo Game Boy: Japan USA -------------------------------------------------------- Final Fantasy Gaiden Final Fantasy Adventure SaGa I The Final Fantasy Legend SaGa II Final Fantasy Legend II SaGa III Final Fantasy Legend III For the Bandai WonderSwan: Japan USA -------------------------------------------------------- Final Fantasy I N/A Key: N/A = not available/not released * = Re-released games, available as a collection or separately What about Europe? Sadly, only Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and IX have been released in Europe. * 4.1.4 - Translation aside, what are the differences between the Japanese and American versions of these games? Final Fantasy I (Japan) -> Final Fantasy I (USA): - The "crystals" in the Japanese version have become "orbs" in the USA version. - The clinic's symbol was modified. Final Fantasy IV -> Final Fantasy IV Easytype/Final Fantasy II: - Almost all of the plot/character development, character special abilities, special items, and subplots were removed from the game. See article 2.3.2 for a summary. - When the dialogue was censored & translated into English, the censors didn't do a very good job in doing so. See article 4.3.15 for more information. Final Fantasy VI (Japan) -> Final Fantasy III (USA): - Much of the game's dialogue was censored and replaced with "appropriate" dialogue which would be less offensive in America. There were several translation mistakes made in the process. - The opera lyrics were changed. - The characters' job descriptions were removed. - About 90% of the monsters underwent name changes. For instance, the Sabotenders of FF VI became Cactrots in FF III US. - In the Returners' Hideout, there was a sheet of paper laying on Banon's desk. This sheet of paper was a joke that would only make sense to the Japanese, so no one really understands it in the American version. - The message on the tombstone in Darril's Tomb was changed. (In the Japanese game, it said: "Rest in peace, my friend..." In the US game, it says: "The World Is Square") - Mashe was renamed to "Sabin," and Tina was renamed to "Terra". Some other characters had smaller, more subtle name changes. Final Fantasy VII (Japan) -> Final Fantasy VII (USA/Europe): - Several characters had slight name changes: "Barett" is now "Barret," the Tarks are now Turks, "Ylena" is now "Elena," and "Aerith" is now "Aeris". - Square added four new items: the Desert Rose, Earth Harp, Rising Sun, and Guide Book. They also altered one materia, 'Underwater', which was in the Japanese game but was not usable in that version. - Two entirely new bosses have been added: Emerald Weapon and Ruby Weapon. An existing character, Diamond Weapon, was also made into a boss character. - Supposedly, an enemy has been removed: Test Zero (whose validity is doubted). - In the Japanese version, all the menus had two items/materia/etc. per line. In the US version, the item lists were made longer, but there could only be one object per line. - A new feature, 'Exchange', was added to the Materia Screen, which allows you to switch active Materia orbs between members who are not in you party. - The number of characters allowed for a name was increased from six to nine spaces. - The random encounter rate was reduced. - Square added some dialogue to some of the battles to help players through some battles (e.g. Reno in sector 7, the Tail Scorpion in reactor #1). - Overlays outlining exits and climbing points were added. Final Fantasy Tactics (Japan) -> Final Fantasy Tactics (USA): - Several of the job names were changed. For instance, "Ying Yang Mage" became "Oracle," "Beginner" became "Squire," and "Dragoon" became "Lancer". Final Fantasy VIII (Japan) -> Final Fantasy VIII (USA/Europe): - Selphie's trademark line was changed from "Ma-mi-mu-me-mo!" to "Booyaka!" - The food served at Balamb Garden's cafeteria was changed to hot dogs. - A few of the monsters, GFs, and battle techniques had minor name changes between localizations. For example, "Sabotender" became "Cactaur," Squall's "End of Heart" limit break became "Lion Heart," etc. - Square added the ability to draw out some GFs from the monsters in Ultimecia Castle if the player missed certain GFs earlier in the game. - The game's first timed encounter in the Fire Cave was made easier. - The USA version also received a much more extensive online help system. Final Fantasy Collections (Japan) -> Final Fantasy Anthology (USA): - Final Fantasy IV was unbundled from the collection. - Faris was given a pirate's dialect for the USA version of Final Fantasy V. - The translation and localization for Final Fantasy VI is nearly identical to the original localization of Final Fantasy III USA, with a couple of things edited (eg. "Vicks" became "Biggs," "Fenix Down" became "PhoenixDown," AtmaWeapon's speech has been uncensored, etc.). - The USA version also includes a music soundtrack CD containing a sample of the music from Final Fantasy V and VI. Final Fantasy IV (Japan PSX), Chrono Trigger (Japan PSX) -> Final Fantasy Chronicles (USA): - Final Fantasy IV was almost completely retranslated from scratch. However, the names of characters, monsters, and places were mostly taken from the original localization of Final Fantasy II USA. - Final Fantasy IV's load times were dramatically reduced from the original Japanese release. - The translation and localization for Chrono Trigger is nearly identical to the original localization of Chrono Trigger (see 4.1.5 below) - NOTE: The US re-release of Final Fantasy IV is based on the original Japanese game, rather than the "easytype" version that Final Fantasy II USA was based on. SaGa series -> Final Fantasy Legend series: No known differences. Some of the dialogue might have been censored, but without knowing any of it no one can really tell the difference. The censorship present in Final Fantasy II & III (USA) can be mostly attributed to Nintendo. Nintendo has, or appears to have, strict rules about what can or can't appear in one of their games. Specifically; their policies attack violence, sex/nudity, death, religion, vulgarity, blood, or anything else that might make American parents angry at them. There are a few exceptions to these guidelines (Mortal Kombat II comes to mind here), but unfortunately, the Final Fantasy games had to be watered down because of this. * 4.1.5 - In regard to the previous question, what about non-Final Fantasy games? OK... Chrono Trigger (Japan) -> Chrono Trigger (USA): - The tech selection box in the Japanese version had two columns while the American version had one column. - A few characters were renamed. For instance; Flea, Slash, and Ozzie are Magus's three henchmen in the American version. - The dialogue was probably censored, although we don't know how much was if it was at all. SaGa Frontier (Japan) -> SaGa Frontier (USA): - For some strange reason (translation perhaps?) "Kowloon" in the Japanese version became "Koorong" in the USA version. - "Coon" was renamed to "Riki" in the USA release. - Difficulty was increased by removing the pre-produced combinations battle menus. Parasite Eve (Japan) -> Parasite Eve (USA): - Some of the video appears to have been edited to make Eve less "revealing". Einhander (Japan) -> Einhander (USA): - The "free" difficulty level, which apparently added a stage select feature to the game, seems to have been removed from the USA release Xenogears (Japan) -> Xenogears (USA): - A few religious references were changed. For instance, the "Church" became the "Ethos," and the colony ship "Noah's Ark" became "Eldrige". Vagrant Story (Japan) -> Vagrant Story (USA/Europe): - The timing for chain combos and defensive tactics was made a little more forgiving. Chrono Cross (Japan) -> Chrono Cross (USA): - Several characters and items were renmaed. Some of the name changes from the USA release of Chrono Trigger still stand in order to be consistent. Other name changes include "Yamaneko," who became "Lynx" in the USA version. * 4.1.6 - Why can't I resurrect Tellah, General Leo, Aeris, etc.? In almost every Final Fantasy game, there is at least one character central to the story who dies. While it's always possible to revive fallen partners through Life spells or Fenix Downs or Life potions, there are several characters which Square's writers killed off purposely: Most of the characters who die do so in order to advance/thicken the game's story. Here's a summary of the characters (playing & non-playing) who die: FF I: N/A FF II: Cid, Richard, Minyuu, Josef FF III: N/A FF IV: Tellah, Anna, Edge's Parents, Baigan FF V: Galuf, Zeza, Kelgar FF VI: Vicks, Wedge, Leo, Banon (debatable), Shadow (debatable), Cid (optional), everyone in Mobliz except for the children FF VII: A bunch of characters, including: Biggs, Wedge, Jessie, Cait Sith*, Aeris, Tseng, Rufus, Hojo, everyone in the Sector 7 slums, President Shinra FF VIII: Reine FF Tactics: Algus, Bart, Malak*, Olan, Dycedarg, Teta, Gafgarion, Draclau, Wiegraf, Izlude, Miluda, Elmdor, Ovelia, Zalbag (who dies, is revived, and dies again), Larg, Goltana SaGa: Michelle, So-Cho, King Sword, King Shield SaGa II: Dad* SaGa III: Jupiah*, Dion* Frontier: White Rose* (Asellus's quest), Blue (Blue's quest - optional) CT: Crono* PE: Klamp Xenogears: Everyone in Lahan (except Dan, Citan, and the children) BF Musashi: Kojiro VS: Samantha, Grissom (who dies, is revived, and dies again), Sydney (debatable), Rosencrantz * = These characters are exceptions - they die at one point in the game, but can later be revived. Once these characters are dead, there's no way to revive them. Period! * 4.1.7 - Tables of Information The "Job System" ---------------- FF I: Jobs are fixed, however, the characters are promoted to better jobs roughly halfway through the game. FF III: All of the characters start out as warriors, but can learn new jobs depending on what crystals they've collected. FF V: Characters are jobless at the beginning of the game, but each time a crystal shatters in the first world, the fragments of the crystal are collected by the party. Each crystal fragment has one job associated with it. You get all of the jobs this way, except for the hidden "mimic" job. FF VII: The equivalent to the job system in this game is called "materia". Your characters can gain different abilities by collecting different materia. There are several kinds of materia: One that gives your characters magic, one that summons monsters, and one that gives your characters different skills. There are other materia which increase your characters' HP, stats, or allow them to do certain things at certain points of the game. FF Tactics: Same as FF V, except that jobs are a learned skill. Crystals are not needed to learn jobs. FF II, IV, VI, VIII, IX: No job system, each character has one fixed job. SaGa trilogy: No job system, characters are free to do what they want. Chocobos, the Final Fantasy equivalent of horses ------------------------------------------------ FF I: No chocobos. FF II: There is a single Chocobo Forest in the game with White Chocobos the party could ride on. FF III: There are some more Chocobo Forests in this game. White Chocobos have mutated so that they can ford rivers. There is also a Big (Lardass) Chocobo who can store the party's inventory away. FF IV: There are lots of Chocobo Forests, and the Chocobo Forest north of Toroia needs to be visited in order to finish the game. The Black Chocobo, which can fly & land in forests, make their first appearance. The White Chocobos can no longer be used for rides, but they have acquired magical powers, and can restore the party's mages' MP. The Yellow Chocobo first appears in this game, and is now the chocobo who can give the party rides. FF V: The main character (Butz) rides a Yellow Chocobo, but there are other chocobos scattered around the place. The White and Big Chocobos are extinct; only the Black & Yellow Chocobos remain. FF VI: The Black Chocobo is now extinct; only the Yellow Chocobo remains. Chocobos are so rare that they only appear in stables, as well as Figaro Castle. Also, Yellow Chocobos can no longer ford rivers. FF VII: The Black & Big Chocobos have been revived; and there are also new Blue (river fording/shallow swimming), Green (mountain climbing), and Gold (all territory (including oceans!)) Chocobos. Black Chocobos no longer fly, but they can fall off of cliffs or use waterfalls, as well as everything the Green and Blue Chocobos can do. Yellow Chocobos now appear in the wild, away from organized forest communities. The colored chocobos (with one exception, see article 4.5.33) can only be obtained through breeding Yellow Chocobos. FF VIII: Once again, there's only Yellow Chocobos, and they only show up in forests. A PocketStation minigame, "Chocobo World," allows players to use chocobos to acquire special items not available in the regular game. FF IX: Same as FF VIII, excep that the Chocobo World minigame has been worked into the main game, so no PocketStation is required. Also, chocobos no longer run away once dismounted. FF Tactics: Yellow Chocobos are the most common chocobos, but every once in a while, a Black or Red Chocobo is born. Chocobos can be allied with the party, but wild chocobos are not afraid to engage your characters. A mediator is needed to tame wild chocobos. SaGa trilogy: No chocobos. The Final Fantasy "big bosses," and their deadly attacks -------------------------------------------------------- FF I (Chaos): NUKE FF II (Parmeki): ? FF III (Dark Cloud): Flare Wave FF IV (Zeromus): Big Bang & Black Hole FF V (Neo-Exdeath): Almagest (Ultra Gust) FF VI (Kefka): Goner FF VII (Sephiroth): Super Nova FF VIII (Ultimecia): Apocalypse FF IX (?): ? FF Tactics (Altima): All-Ultima SaGa I (Creator): FLARE SaGa II (Arsenal): Smasher! SaGa III (Xagor): Dark Force & Flare Magic & how it works -------------------- FF I: Only mages, wizards, knights, and ninjas can learn to use magic. Spell points are given on a magic level basis - the more experienced the character, the more spell points he will have in a magic level. Characters may learn up to three spells in one level, and all spells are bought from magic shops. FF II: Everyone can use magic. Spells are bought as items, which can be used to cast a high level version of the spell, or teach a character a spell. If the spell is taught to the character, it goes up in level after repeated use. FF III: Only certain jobs can cast certain kinds of magic. All spells are bought from magic shops. FF IV: Only Rydia, Rosa, Tellah, Cecil (paladin), Palom & Porom, Edge, and FuSoYa can use magic. Instead of spell points being restricted to magic levels, each character has MP, and each spell takes a certain amount of MP to cast. Characters learn spells by experience; except for FuSoYa, who knows every spell in the game; Rydia, who only learns Fire after an encounter with an ice wall; and Edge, who gains some spells when he has released a certain amount of anger. (Tellah knows every spell in the game, except for Holy/White, and Nuke. He also can't cast Meteo, because he never has enough MP.) FF V: Everyone can use magic, but they must either be a mage or have mage skills. Most spells are bought from magic shops, and some can be found in treasure chests. Once a spell is learned, it is added to the party's shared spellbook. FF VI: Everyone can use magic, but only Terra and Celes have inborn magic ability. Spells are learned from obtaining Espers, which (almost always) must be found. The source of magic is the three Goddess Statues, without which magic can not exist. FF VII: Characters do not memorize magic, but gain it if they are equipped with magic materia. Common spells can be purchased in shops, but rare spells can only be learned from rare materia. The source of magic is the Lifestream. FF VIII: Magic is obtained by "drawing" each spell, use by use, out of monsters. There is no MP; up to 100 uses of a spell can be kept by each character. Sometimes, magic can be immediately drawn out and used. The closest approximation to a source of magic would be the sorceresses. FF IX: Magic and special attacks are learned through equipping weapons, armor, and accessories. Once an ability acquired through an item has earned enough AP, it can be used by the character without requiring the equipping of the prerequisite item. FF Tactics: Same as FF V, except that magic spells are learned skills. SaGa I: Only mutants and monsters can use magic. Mutants can learn up to four spells each. SaGa II & III: Same as SaGa I, except that humans & robots can learn to use magic. However, they do not have the inborn magic ability that mutants have. Travelology ----------- FF I - Pirate Ship: After the party defeats Bikke the Pirate, they acquire this ship. It only docks in ports. With the canoe, though, it can be docked in rivers. Canoe: The sages give this to your party for defeating Lich. It can float through rivers. Airship: The Lefeinish made these back in their heyday. It provides unrestricted travel. It can only land on grass. FF II - Canoe: Minyuu gives it to the party near the beginning of the game. It operates like the canoe in FF I. Ships: The party can buy one-way trips on pirate ships, which only go between two targets. Ice Sled: Josef's Ice Sled is like a canoe which travels over ice. Airship: Cid flies the party on the Airship for a fee. After Cid dies, he leaves the airship to the party. It provides unrestricted travel. It can only land on grass. Pirate Ship: After the party defeats the pirates, they acquire Leila and this ship. It's similar to the ship in FF I. Hiryuu: This dragon used to belong to the dragoons. It can fly the party into the Whirlwind. FF III - Hikuutei: The first airship, obtained at the beginning of the game. It's destroyed early in the game. Canoe: Obtained after the wreck of the Hikuutei. Like the canoe in FF I, it only floats through rivers. Enterprise: A Viking ship, which gets turned into an airship. It allows access to the mainland, but it gets shot down by two armies at the kingdom of Salonia. Nautilus: This super-fast airship, obtained from Allus in Salonia, is the only airship which can fly through certain areas of the game (with random encounters!). It also gets upgraded to a submarine later in the game. Invincible: It's an airship which is larger than the Nautilus, but it's nowhere near as fast. It does, however, have a number of shops on board and allows the party to disembark over any non-mountainous territory. Finally, it has an on-board cannon which damages enemies in random encounters. FF IV - Hovercraft: Edward's Hovercraft can float over shallow water. Enterprise: Cid's airship. It provides unrestricted travel, and later on, it can carry the Hovercraft. It can only land on grass. Falcon: Stolen from the Red Wings. It's the same as the Enterprise, except that it can be equipped with a drill. Big Whale: The Lunarians invented this airship. It can fly to the moon, and return safely. FF V - Ships: There are two ships in this game. Faris has one, and so does Cid. They can be docked anywhere. Dragons: Hiriyuus are an endangered race, but if you can find one, use it to your advantage. It can fly over everything except for mountains. Hiriyuus can only land on grass. Airships: Fabled ships that can fly through the sky. They provide unrestricted travel. Airships can only land on grass and water. Submarines: Same as ships, except that they can dive. The Airship gains submarine capabilities later on in the game. FF VI - Blackjack: It comes equipped with a refreshener and an item store. It provides unrestricted travel. It can only land on grass. It's destroyed after finishing the Floating Continent dungeon. Falcon: It's faster than the Blackjack, but doesn't have the commodities. Otherwise, it's the same. FF VII - Freighter: The Shinra Freighter moves between Junon and Costa Del Sol. At the beginning of the game, it's the only way to move between continents. It costs money to ride. Buggy: The buggy, acquired from Shinra, can cross the desert and go through shallows. It disappears during disc 2. Tiny Bronco: Cid's airplane can be used as a makeshift boat. It can only tread rivers and shallow water, and can only be docked at beaches. It disappears during disc 2. Highwind: Cid's airship, which was stolen by Shinra. It provides unrestricted travel. It can only land on grass. Submarine: Whereas the Tiny Bronco can only tread shallow water, the Submarine can only tread deep water. It can also dive into the water. FF VIII - Cars: Rental cars can travel over flat ground like a chocobo. They take fuel to drive. Balamb Garden: Yes, the Garden moves. It's slow, and can't cross cliffs. It can only land on flat ground. Ragnarok: This space ship also acts as an airship. It provides unrestricted trave. It can land on just about any flat surface. FF IX - ? FF Tactics - N/A SaGa I - Floating Island: Used in floor 5 to sail the seas. It can be docked anywhere. Glider: Used in floor 10 to speed over crevices. It can land anywhere, but can not fly through trees. It disappears after Byak-Ko is defeated, but can be re-acquired. Bike: A speeder bike, similar to the ones used in the Star Wars trilogy. It can only travel across flat ground. Door: An item which teleports the party to any level. SaGa II - Dragons: In Dragon Town, the faster the dragon you purchase, the faster it will go. They can only travel across flat ground. Aegis MAGI: An item which teleports the party to any world. SaGa III - Talon: A time machine/airship. It fights with the party during certain battles. Who the Airships belong to... ----------------------------- FF I: The Lefeinish FF II: Cid FF III: Cid & others FF IV: Cid FF V: The Lonkan people FF VI: Setzer & Daryl FF VII: Cid FF VIII: Esthar FF IX: Cid FF Tactics: N/A SaGa I: Byak-Ko SaGa II: N/A SaGa III: Sol Cid Anthology ------------- FF I: No one's sure. Cid may be a robot, but... FF II: Cid is the Master of Airships. FF III: Same as FF II FF IV: Same as FF II FF V: Cid is an engineer who invented the Crystal Amplifier. His grandson, Mid, is an aspiring & resourceful engineer. FF VI: Cid is the Empire's Magitek research lead. He created Celes and Kefka in genetic cloning experiments. FF VII: Same as FF II FF VIII: Cid is the headmaster of the Garden military academy. FF IX: Same as FF II. Cid is also a king. FF Tactics: Cid leads Ivalice's Nanten assault group, which fought for Ivalice during the Fifty Years' War. He can join Ramza at one point in the game. SaGa trilogy: Cid doesn't appear in these games. Bahamut Anthology ----------------- FF I: Bahamut is the King of Dragons, and can change the classes of characters to something better than they are. FF II: Bahamut doesn't appear in this game. FF III: Bahamut is a summoned monster. FF IV: Bahamut is the King of Monsters. Rydia can learn to summon him. FF V: Same as FF III FF VI: Bahamut is an Esper. FF VII: Bahamut is a materia. He also has two relatives in this game, Neo Bahamut and Bahamut ZERO. FF VIII: Same as FF III FF IX: Same as FF III FF Tactics: Same as FF III SaGa trilogy: Bahamut doesn't appear in these games. The Crystals & the Sources of Elemental Power --------------------------------------------- FF I: There are four crystals (called "orbs" in the US version) which contain the elemental power, and a black crystal which contains evil power. The four light crystals are darkened, and need to be relit in order for their power to be restored. FF II: The crystals guard the Ultima spell. There doesn't seem to be any specified source of elemental power in this game. FF III: The four elemental crystals have the same function as FF I, except that there's three more black crystals (for a total of four black crystals). FF IV: There is a grand total of 16 crystals in this game: Four in the Overworld, four in the Underworld, and eight on the moon. The four Overworld crystals contain the elemental power. FF V: There is a grand total of eight crystals in this game: Four in Butz's world, and four in Galuf's world. They contain the elemental power. If the crystals are shattered, something mysterious may happen... FF VI: No crystals. The elemental power is contained in the three goddess statues. FF VII: No crystals. The elemental power is in the Lifestream. FF VIII: No crystals or obvious elemental power. FF IX: ? FF Tactics: No crystals, but there are 13 Zodiac Stones that are sort of like crystals. The people of Ivalice practice a religion very similar to Roman Catholicism, which means that God contains the elemental power. SaGa I: There are four spheres in this game; each one unlocks a certain amount of the Tower. The elemental power is granted by Creator. SaGa II: No crystals. The elemental power is contained in MAGI. SaGa III: ? What's in a name?/Renaming the characters ----------------------------------------- FF I: You can't. FF II: You can't. FF III: You can't. FF IV: Namingway can rename your characters. He appears in every town in the game, including some obscure places. FF V: You can't. FF VI: You can win a Rename Card by fighting monsters in the Colosseum - see article 4.4.19. FF VII: You can't. FF VIII: You can't. FF IX: A certain subquest later in the game allows you to rename any character. FF Tactics: The Soldier Office can change monsters' names. SaGa I: Your original character can't be renamed. Other characters can be "renamed" by dropping them from the party and getting replacements from the Guild. (For obvious reasons, these replaced characters have different stats than your originals.) SaGa II: You can't. SaGa III: You can't. Relative data sizes of the Final Fantasy games ---------------------------------------------- FF I: 2 megabits (256 kilobytes) FF II: 2 megabits FF III: 4 megabits (512 kilobytes) FF IV (easytype, USA version): 8 megabits (1 megabyte) FF V: 20 megabits (2.5 megabytes) FF VI: 24 megabits (3 megabytes) FF VII: approximately 1.8 gigabytes FF VIII: approximately 2.4 gigabytes FF IX: approximately 2.4 gigabytes FF Tactics: approximately 650 megabytes SaGa I: 1 megabit (128 kilobytes) SaGa II & III: 2 megabits each The Name of the Party --------------------- FF I: Light Warriors FF II: Orphans FF III: Onion Warriors FF IV: N/A FF V: Light Warriors FF VI: Returners FF VII: Avalanche FF VIII: SeeD FF IX: N/A FF Tactics: Hokuten (chapter 1), N/A (all other chapters) SaGa trilogy: N/A * 4.1.8 - Known bugs in several Square games (USA releases, USA titles) Final Fantasy II (SNES version): - If one acquires the Frying Pan, and doesn't return it until after the Giant of Bab-il is defeated, it's stuck permanently in the inventory. Final Fantasy III: - Occasionally, using Relm's "Sketch" command later in the game can produce odd results in early copies of this game. See article 4.4.20 for details. Final Fantasy VII (PSX version): - It is possible to accidentally park a chocobo and the Highwind on the same space. Doing so usually causes the game to lock up. - Early copies of this game may suddenly crash during the dating scene on disc 1, and the scene following the defeat of Diamond Weapon on disc 2. Later copies of the game do not have this problem. Final Fantasy VII (Windows version): - This game has known problems with non-Intel CPUs. Some problems may have been fixed by now for Cyrix processors, but AMD processor users may be out of luck. - Certain system configurations may suddenly crash early in the game. This could be caused by anything. Should this happen to anyone, they should contact Eidos technical support. - Some system configurations may suddenly stop working during the Cosmo Canyon observatory scene on disc 1, and the scene displaying the coming of the weapons on disc 2. The problem's cause is unknown, and at the time of this writing, Square Soft has not resolved the issue. Secret of Mana: - Sometimes, using the software reset (Select, Start, L, R) does not correctly delete memory left over from the last session. This bug can be used to exploit some bizarre memory-related bugs (see article 6.8.1). Secret of Evermore: - See article 6.9.1 for an explanation of the "unlimited stamina" bug. Final Fantasy IV (PSX version): - According to Square EA, some early copies of this game were burned incorrectly and will not play. * 4.2 - Final Fantasy I * 4.2.1 - How do I get into the Sea Shrine? You need Oxyale to get into the Sea Shrine. Oxyale can be obtained from a spring in the Town of Gaia, but the fairy that lived at the spring seems to be kidnapped. A pirate in Gaia claims to have sold the fairy to a caravan. In the town of Onrac, on the other side of the world, a person there mentions that there was a caravan out in the desert and was holding a close-out deal. Move to the desert and go to the spot with the trees in it. The caravan is at this oasis, and they have a bottle on sale - for 50,000 GP. Although it's expensive, you need to buy it. Now, take the bottle to Gaia, and open the bottle. Head towards the fairy spring, and the fairy will be back there. Talk to her to get some Oxyale. You can now take the Oxyale back to Onrac and use the submarine to reach the Sea Shrine. * 4.2.2 - How do I get the Excalibur Sword? The blacksmith in the Dwarf Cave can make one for you. You reach this place in the game relatively early on, but he can't make you anything because his supply of Adamant is exhausted. Unfortunately, you don't get any Adamant until way later in the game. You can find some inside a chest in the Sky Castle. When you have it, take it back to the blacksmith, and he'll make Excalibur for you. Only a Knight can wield it. * 4.2.3 - How do I get into the Mirage Tower? First, you need to be able to speak the language of the Lefeinish in order to deal with them. If you can't speak the language of the Lefeinish, you can by first finding the Stone Slab, and taking it to Dr. Unne in Melmond. The Slab is on the top floor of the Sea Shrine, and it's rather hard to find, but you should be able to turn it up. Once you do this, you can deal with the Lefeinish. Talk to all of them, and one of them will give you a chime. Once you have this chime, you will be able to enter the Mirage Tower. * 4.2.4 - What do I do with Matoya? When you first meet her, she's not much use at all because she's blind. But if you can make her see again, she can help you wake the sleeping elf prince. To make Matoya see again, you need to find the Crystal. The Crystal is in the possession of Astos, the Dark Elf, and the only way to get it from him is by giving him the Crown and then beating him in a battle. The Crown is inside the Marsh Cave. You don't need anything special to get it, except for a lot of Heal Potions, because it is a very difficult item to salvage. Remember: Make sure your mages have either FIR2 or LIT2 - they'll need to save them for the Wizards that guard the crown. Good luck. * 4.2.5 - I defeated the Vampire, now what do I do? You need to take the Vampire's Ruby, leave the cave, and give the ruby to the titan in a cave to the northeast of the Earth Cave. You'll now be able to pass through the cave and talk to Sarda. Sarda will give you a rod which will allow you to reach the bottom of the Earth Cave. Take some Soft Potions with you, because the bottom two floors of the Earth Cave have lots of Cockatrices living in them. Cockatrices can turn a character to stone in one attack, making them the second most annoying monsters in the game behind the Sorcerers (who can kill a character in one hit). * 4.2.6 - I defeated Lich, now what do I do? Depart from Melmond and round the outside southern part of the continent. You'll eventually come across a port on the outside of the far eastern point of the continent. Dock and hike to Crescent Lake, and talk to the sages to find out what you need to do next. * 4.2.7 - I defeated Kary, now what do I do? Talk to the man in the upper-left corner of Crescent Lake to get an idea on what to do next. * 4.2.8 - I got the Floater, but what use is it? The people of Elfland know. Travel back to Elfland and talk to all of them again. They'll tell you what to do with the Floater. * 4.2.9 - I defeated Kraken, now what? See 4.2.3. You now need to deal with the Lefeinish in order to get into the Sky Castle to defeat Tiamat. * 4.2.10 - I defeated Tiamat, now what? You must now hurry to the Temple of Fiends to go to the final dungeon. On your way, talk to the Sages in Crescent Lake to hear an interesting story about the elements. (Why didn't they tell you this before?) * 4.2.11 - What items can I use in battles? Not many, all the ones you can use are quite rare. Here's a list of them... Item Spell Cast ------------------------------------ Black Shirt ICE2 Defense Sword RUSE Heal Helmet HEL2 Heal Staff HEL2 Light Axe HRM2 Mage Staff FIR2 Power Gauntlet SABR Thor's Gauntlet LIT2 Thor's Hammer LIT2 White Shirt INV2 Wizard Staff CONF Avoid getting rid of any of the above items at all costs! They are quite useful if you can find space to use them in. * 4.2.12 - What magic should I use to defeat the elemental fiends? Lich: FIRE, FIR2, FIR3, NUKE, HARM, HRM2, HRM3, HRM4, FADE. Kary: STUN, SLEP.* Kraken: LIT, LIT2, LIT3. Tiamat: RUB, BRAK, BANE, ZAP!, XXXX.** * = Contrary to popular belief, ICE spells don't work well on Kary. ** = Yes, using fatal spells on Tiamat works (according to Nintendo), but your chances of succeeding are slim. Your best bet is to take Tiamat down fighting. Rumor has it that BANE works every time on Tiamat when you fight her inside the Sky Castle, but I haven't confirmed this. * 4.3 - Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy IV Easytype (USA: Final Fantasy II) * 4.3.1 - Palom and Porom have been turned to stone. When I approach them, an item selector box pops open, but nothing has any effect. What do I do? Easytype version: What you're seeing is a bug. Original version: This isn't a bug; this is a chance to waste a Golden Needle. In the non-easytype version of this game, as well as the PSX versions, there's a needle item which could revive characters who were turned to stone if used, known as the "Golden Needle." If you had a needle and tried to use it on Palom/Porom, you'd get a message which said: "No effect. They have been turned to stone by their own will." The party would then lose the needle. The needle was taken out of the easytype version of the game, but the item selector box would still appear if you talked to Palom or Porom. And no, you can't unstone Palom and/or Porom at any point in either the original or easytype versions of the game. * 4.3.2 - I got the Poison Axe, but no one can use it. What gives? Cecil can use it, but you first need to un-equip his shield since the Poison Axe is a two-handed weapon. There are a few other two-handed weapons as well, like the Avenger Sword. * 4.3.3 - Where is Odin? Odin talks about some Summoned Monsters place. Where's that? Odin is in the basement of Baron Castle. At the beginning of the game, the area is off-limits to Cecil. When Cecil returns to Baron through the Old Waterway, the passage leading to the basement is magically sealed. Once Kainazzo is defeated, however, the seal will break and Cecil can go into the basement. When you first meet Odin, he will probably ask Cecil to go to the Land of the Summoned Monsters before returning. If you just defeated Kainazzo and came down here, keep in mind that it's going to be a very loooooooooong time before you get that far in the game. When Edge finds the Falcon Airship, and Cid has coated the ship so it can fly over lava, you can fly to the Summoned Monster Cave, which is on an island near the middle of the Underworld. At the very bottom of this cave is the Land of the Summoned Monsters. When you reach this point, before you leave, make sure Cecil talks to Queen Asura and King Leviathan. Also, read all the books in the library before continuing. (We mean it! They're important.) * 4.3.4 - How do I deal with cursed items? You can't, but rumor has it that the Cursed Ring does wonders for Cecil's magic defense. If someone can confirm this, well... * 4.3.5 - How do I defeat Asura? You need to prevent her cure spells from hitting herself. The best way to do this is to cast Reflect on her, then just keep fighting to take her out. Original version: This battle is a little tougher than in the easytype version, since Asura's opening spell is always "Armor," so it'll take a little longer to win. * 4.3.6 - How do I defeat Bahamut and/or Wyvern? Bahamut will slowly count from 5 to 1, and when time runs out, he'll cast MegaFlare on the party. The force of the spell will wipe out your entire party in one turn... To defeat Bahamut, you need to use the same technique you used to defeat Asura, except this time you should put those Reflect spells on your party. This will reflect the power of the MegaFlare attack back on Bahamut and save your skin. Wyvern is exactly the same as Bahamut, except he doesn't do a countdown before he launches a MegaFlare attack - he attacks immediately. (Fortunately, Bahamut's MegaFlare is stronger than Wyvern's.) * 4.3.7 - How do I defeat Odin? This one's a little harder. Read the book about Odin in the Land of the Summoned Monsters. Once you've read it, apply what you've read to when Odin sticks his sword up into the air. (You may have to do this before he does, or else he'll charge before you get the chance to pull it off.) If you're really desperate, read on... When it's Rydia's second turn during the battle, have her cast Lit-3 ("Bolt3" in the PSX version). All other characters should attack as normal. Keep attacking until the lightning bolt destroys Odin. (Note: Only Lit-3 works. Lit-1 and Lit-2 barely faze Odin.) * 4.3.8 - How do I get the rarest armor in the game? More Adamant. You got some Adamant by taking the Rat's Tail to the man in the mines in the Overworld, right? And you used it to turn your Legend Sword into the Excalibur, right? You can get a Pink Tail by fighting Pink Puffs somewhere inside the Subterranean Caves on the moon. Pink Puffs are the rarest monsters in the game, and your chances of getting a Pink Tail from one is something like 1:64, so good luck. * 4.3.9 - The Magus Sisters are giving me problems. How do I defeat them? Take out the one in the center first, as she can restore life to the other two. From there, just take them out, one by one. * 4.3.10 - Where can I find some really rare items? Here's a really complete list: Items not in the manual Obtained by battling ----------------------------------------------------- Adamant Armor N/A Artemis Bow 1 Warlock & 1 or 2 Karys Bomb (call magic) 2 Grenades/2 Balloons Crystal Sword N/A Dragon Whip 2 Blue Dragons Excalibur Sword N/A Glass Helmet EvilMasks Imp (call magic) Imps (various types) Lilith Rod Liliths Mage (call magic) 2 Mages Medusa Sword 3 Black Lizards Spoon N/A (see 6.3.2) Items _in_ the manual Obtained by battling ------------------------------------------------------------------ Artemis Arrows Edge - sneak from Karys Avenger Sword 2 Behemoths CatClaw Panthers & Black Cats Crystal Ring Behemoths or Red Dragons Cure3 Potions EvilMasks Cursed Ring Spirits/Ghosts/D. Bone Dragoon Gauntlet Red Dragons Dragoon Spear 3 Red Dragons/1 Red Dragon & 1 Behemoth Earth Hammer Edge - sneak from Staleman Heroine Robe 1 Warlock, 1 Kary & 1 Red Giant Poison Axe 2 Red Giants/MacGiants in group Power Armor 2 Behemoths Ribbon Warlocks Rune Axe 2 Red Giants/MacGiants in group Silence Staff Conjurers or Marions Zeus Gauntlet 2 Skulls and 3 Red Bones * 4.3.11 - What calls can I find and give Rydia? Little Rydia starts the game with the Chocobo call, and when she rejoins the party in the Dwarf Castle, she will also have learned the Mist, Indra, Shiva, Jinn, and Titan calls. Here's a rather complete list of all the calls you can find in the game: Monster Location Effect ----------------------------------------------------------------- Asura** Land of the Summoned Mnstrs. Random Cure/Life**** Bahamut** Bahamut's Cave MegaFlare Bomb*** 2 Grenades/2 Balloons Explodes Chocobo N/A Chocobop! dummy* N/A Cockatrice Attack Imp*** Imps (various types) Imp Attack Indra N/A Lit Elemental Attack Jinn N/A Fire Elemental Attack Leviathan** Land of the Summoned Mnstrs. Tsunami Attack Mage*** 2 Mages ? Mist N/A Mist Dragon Attack Odin** Castle Baron Destroys Enemies Shiva N/A Ice Elemental Attack Sylph Sylph Cave Steals HP from Mnstrs. Titan N/A Earthquake * = Was removed from the Easytype/USA version. You can still get it, but only by using codes on the Game Genie. ** = You must fight this enemy to learn its call. *** = These enemies are regular enemies that can be called on. Sometimes, when you defeat them in a battle, they'll give you their call magic as an item. If Rydia is in your party, use the item to learn the magic. (See 4.3.10.) **** = When Asura is called upon, she will randomly show one of three faces. Depending on what face she shows, she will do one of the following to all allies: Red face: Mega-cure (in the easytype version) Cast "Armor/Protect" on everyone (in the original version) Human face: Super-cure Metal face: Cast "Life1" * 4.3.12 - What spells should I use to defeat the elemental fiends? Milon: Fire, Fir-2, Fir-3, Blaze (Edge), Jinn (Rydia), Nuke. Kainazzo: Lit, Lit-2, Lit-3, Blitz (Edge), Indra (Rydia). Valvalis: White, Lit-3. Rubicant: Ice, Ice-2, Ice-3, Flood (Edge), Leviathan (Rydia), Shiva (Rydia).* * = Rubicant's weakness is only revealed when he is attacking. When Rubicant is cloaked, all spells used against him will heal him instead of hurting him. * 4.3.13 - How do I get to the Cave Magnes (the Dark Elf's Cave?) You can't land your airship there, and you can't swim across the sea. However, some people in Toroia mention a legend about flying Black Chocobos which can land in the forest. There's a Chocobo Forest just north of town. Wouldn't that be a great place to start looking? * 4.3.14 - How do I defeat the Dark Elf? Before you even enter Cave Magnes, you **must** have the TwinHarp in your inventory. If you don't, you'll lose every single time. (You can get the TwinHarp by finding Edward in Toroia Castle.) If you have the TwinHarp, though, after you lose the battle to the Dark Elf, Edward will start playing his harp, which will be broadcast through the TwinHarp and distort the magnets inside the cave. At this moment, you should re-equip all of your characters with their regular weapons and armor. Now, the Dark Elf should be easy for the party to demolish. Still having trouble? Hint: The Weak spell works against him. * 4.3.15 - Why are the characters speaking in really sloppy English? (US SNES version) Well, if you've played through this game, you've probably noticed that the game was badly translated. Ted Woolsey did not translate the game (he only translated FF VI and Chrono Trigger when they came to the USA), instead, this game was translated by a group of Japanese translators who must have not been totally fluent in English themselves. Note that most of these "mistranslations" would have made some sense in Japanese grammar, but were not translated with English grammar in mind, and that's the prime reason why the characters appear to be speaking in bad English. When Final Fantasy VI was released in the USA (as Final Fantasy III), the translation had English grammar in mind, which is why US FF III's translation looks so much better. Here's a couple of examples... - After Cecil and the party arrive in Baron for the second time and have fought Yang, Tellah says something to Yang which was something like: "It appears that the Baron was trying to use you while you were amnesiac." (This sentence would probably be correct in Japanese, but looks funny when literally translated into English.) - This isn't a real mistranslation, this was really a badly chosen word that the translators used and probably didn't know it wasn't used very often these days, at least inside the USA. When Tellah fights Edward in Damcyan Castle, Tellah says to him: "You spoony bard!" (He probably meant "you foolish bard" according to my dictionary. I've also been told that in the Japanese version, Tellah says "Kono yalou!," which means "You *%&hole!," so they couldn't do a direct translation for obvious reasons...) - This one's my favorite. After the party returns to Baron just after finishing the Tower of Zot, Cecil had to blurt this out: "Where is it?" Then Rosa replies: "It is your room in Baron..." - When you get to Baron the second time and talk to the guards in front of Castle Baron, they reply: "What are you?" (Again, this part was supposedly translated directly from Japanese, where the sentence was literally "what are you?". But translated into English, it looks incorrect and silly...) - Yang keeps talking about a "surprise" when Cid is digging up the Enterprise. Even if Yang was trying to say "secret" instead of "surprise," it still wouldn't go very well. - There were a few vaguely strange phrases in the game's intro, such as the whole dialogue between the Mysidian elder and Cecil... Elder: What have we done? Cecil: The crystal or your life! Elder: Never! Cecil: Then take the crystal by force! Note that many of the funny "Engrish" lines from the Super NES version are absent from the PSX version, with the exception of Tellah's classic "spoony bard" line. * 4.3.16 - How can I tell if I have the "original version" or the "easytype version" of Final Fantasy IV? As mentioned in articles 2.3.1 and 2.3.2, Square released two different versions of this game. There was the original game, and then there was the easy version of the game. The differences between the two are mentioned in article 2.3.2, but to clear up any confusion: If you have the version of Final Fantasy IV that was released on the PSX, whether in Japan or North America, then you have the _original_ version of the game. If you have the USA Super NES release "Final Fantasy II," then you have the _easytype_ version of the game. If you have the Japan Super Famicom release of Final Fantasy IV, and it says (in katakana) "i-ji taipu" on the title screen, under the word "Final Fantasy IV," then you have the _easytype_ version of the game. If you have the Japan Super Famicom release of Final Fantasy IV, and it does not say the above on the title screen, then you have the _original_ version of the game. Hopefully this sorts things out. * 4.4 - Final Fantasy VI (USA: Final Fantasy III) * 4.4.1 - What time is it? The folks living in Zozo are l-i-a-r-s. Remember everything they say about time, write it down, and take the one time which is _not_ mentioned by anyone. If you knew the time, you could reset the clock and get the Chain Saw from a passage opened by setting the clock properly. Desperate? Read on... The time is 6:10:50. * 4.4.2 - How do I get the Water Rondo dance for Mog? All the dances are learned in self-explanatory places (caves, deserts, etc.) except for this dance. There are only two places in the game where Mog can learn this dance - the Lete River and the Serpent Trench. Both places are only accessible in the World of Balance, so if you reach the World of Ruin and don't know this dance, you'll never be able to learn it. * 4.4.3 - I'm in the World of Ruin, and can't find Shadow... In the last few seconds before the World of Balance ended, and you made it to the end of the path, you were given the choice to jump, or to wait. If you jumped, then Shadow will die and won't show up anywhere in the World of Ruin. But if you waited, then just a few seconds before the world would end, Shadow will re-join your party and he'll be saved. You'll meet him in the World of Ruin again, and this time, he'll become a full-time member of your party. If you **did** save Shadow, but **still** can't find him, here's a hint: Look in the Cave on the Veldt. * 4.4.4 - How do I defeat Wrexsoul? Wrexsoul is a clever one. He only shows up when a randomly selected character in your party is either near-fatal or wounded. Wrexsoul chooses a pattern of possessing your characters before the fight begins, and sticks to this pattern throughout the fight. To get him to appear, you must hurt or wound a character, and see if Wrexsoul appears. If not, rejuvenate the person and try on another character. Keep going until you've figured out Wrexsoul's pattern so you can easily beat on a character to make Wrexsoul appear and then beat on Wrexsoul in the little time you have before he disappears again. Desperate? Read on... Of course, you can always cast X-Zone on the SoulSavers. If you can get both SoulSavers into the X-Zone, you've automatically won the fight. Careful! If you suck the SoulSavers into the X-Zone, you won't get the Minerva that Wrexsoul drops if he was defeated the usual way. * 4.4.5 - How do I defeat MagiMaster? You must find a way to prevent all of your characters from being struck wounded from his Ultima attack when MagiMaster runs out of HP. There are several ways of doing this: 1. If you finished the Phoenix Cave before you entered here, and one of your characters has all the Phoenix's spells, have him/her cast Life 3 on some party members so they will rise up again after Ultima knocks them down. 2. Buff a character up so they will totally ride out the spell when it's cast. The Muscle Belt helps here, if you have it. 3. The MagiMaster is a magic creature, and like all magic creatures, he dies when he runs out of MP. Use Rasp to drain his MP, and Osmose when your character's low on MP due to all of the Rasping. When MagiMaster reaches 0 MP, he'll cast Ultima, but won't have enough MP to cast it, so he'll perish without laying a finger on the party. 4. There's one other way. Use magic to weaken MagiMaster, and when the MagiMaster is critically low on HP, have one character use the Palidor Esper. The characters will jump into the air, and if the MagiMaster is defeated with at least one character still in the air during the fight, the character(s) in the air won't even be scratched by Ultima, so you will win the fight. Caution! If you try this, do **not** equip your Palidor-equipped person with the Gem Box. The Gem Box disables Espers from being used by its bearer... * 4.4.6 - Where is the Cursed Shield? It's in Narshe, but to find it, you must have Locke in your party. Only Locke can unlock the locked doors in Narshe. * 4.4.7 - What do I do with the Cursed Shield? Equip it on a character, and wear it for at least 255 battles. The curse will be broken, and the shield will become the Paladin Shield - the game's strongest. * 4.4.8 - Where is the Atma Weapon? (The one which is a sword usable by the party, not the monster with the same name.) It's somewhere deep inside the Gateway to the Esper World. The Atma Weapon appears simple at first, but becomes a deadlier weapon as your character gains HP. Like Dyrnwyn from Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, the Atma Weapon grows longer and longer with more and more HP, and delivers a harder blow as well. It's overall one of the game's most valuable weapons - it can also be the game's most powerful weapon if it's equipped on a very experienced character. * 4.4.9 - How do I increase my chances of getting critical hits on enemies? There are four weapons in the game - the Rune Edge, Ogre Nix, Ragnarok, and Illumina - which consume MP each time they're used to inflict a critical hit on the enemy. If you have lots of MP on one character, it might be worthwhile to try this out. * 4.4.10 - How do I revive General Leo? You can't. Let's put an end to this rumor _now_, folks. What's dead is dead, and what's lost can never be saved (thank you, Billy Corgan). * 4.4.11 - Where is the Air Anchor? A thief in Maranda knows the answer to this one. Talk to him in the Inn, then go search for it in the Fanatics' Tower. Remember what the thief said, as it is the key to getting the Air Anchor. Desperate? Read on... Head to the first Treasure Room in the Fanatics's Tower, then face the wall to the right of the treasure chest and press A. Another room will appear outside, and inside this room is the Air Anchor. * 4.4.12 - Where can I find the secret characters? One of them is in Narshe. To find him, you must first defeat Tritoch, then move on from where it was. The other is inside the Zone Eater. Don't know where to find the Zone Eater? Finish Doma Castle, then talk to a man standing outside one of the stores in Thamasa to find out where. If you ever find the Zone Eater, let it Engulf your entire party. (Really.) * 4.4.13 - How do I get the Crusader Esper? You need to defeat the Eight Dragons: One is in Narshe. One is in the Fanatics' Tower. One is in the Phoenix Cave. One is in the Ancient Castle. One is in the Opera House. One is in Mount Zozo. Two are in Kefka's Tower. Beat all of them, and you get Crusader. * 4.4.14 - Where is the Ancient Castle? Head back to Figaro Castle later in the game once you have the Airship and a considerable amount of experience, and submerge the castle. On the way back to the Figaro Desert, the engineers will report that the castle has run into something. Stop and explore. * 4.4.15 - Where are the Golem and ZoneSeek Espers? They're both on sale in Jidoor. You can catch them both at the Auction, but they're both rather rare auction items. You're unfortunately more likely to see an Imp Doll or an Airship Piece auctioned off instead. * 4.4.16 - Where is the Raiden Esper? Once you have the Odin Esper, you can convert him to the Raiden Esper. Have a scholarly conversation with one of Figaro's scholars. He will give you an important clue on how you can do so. Head back to the Throne Room of the Ancient Castle and try it. Give up? Read on... Go to the Throne Room of the Ancient Castle. Step into the Queen's Throne (the rightmost throne), step forward five times from the seat of the throne, and press A. Head back to the Queen's Room, and head down the stairs. Find the Queen's Statue, and the Esper will be converted. Careful! Odin is the _only_ Esper in the game which can increase your characters' speed. Without Odin, you will never be able to increase your characters' speed, and once you have Raiden, there's no turning back. * 4.4.17 - Should I get the Ragnarok Esper or the Ragnarok Sword? It's all up to you. The Ragnarok Sword is definitely a good sword - it uses MP to do critical hits on enemies, is ultra-strong, and randomly casts Flare on an enemy. However, with the Ragnarok Esper, you can convert enemies into items, and the bearer of the Esper will learn Ultima, the game's most powerful spell. * 4.4.18 - Where is the Experience Egg? Search for it once you enter Darril's Tomb (which only appears once you reach the World of Ruin). To find it, keep moving through the tomb until you find a room with four graves. Read all four graves, then head back to near the beginning. In the hallway where you began, in the door on the upper-left is a room with a blank grave. The four words from the tombstones will appear, and you need to make a sentence using them. .sdrawkcab knihT :tniH If you got the puzzle right, the location of the Experience Egg will be revealed to you. Mental block today? If so, read on... From the beginning, head left down the entry hall, turn down (south), go downstairs. Search the right wall. * 4.4.19 - Where are the Illumina, Muscle Belt, Rename Card, Marvel Shoes, Merit Award, Cursed Ring, etc... These are all rare items in the game which can only be obtained by betting certain items in the Colosseum and winning the following battle. The Colosseum only appears in the World of Ruin. (You can go to the house up north of Kohlingen in the World of Balance to talk to its devisor, but the Colosseum won't appear quite yet.) When you fight in the Colosseum, you need to bet an item you have in your inventory and battle a monster to get a more powerful item. If you bet a rather common, everyday item, then you will be placed up against Chupon. But if you bet a more unique or rare item, you will fight against a monster holding another more unique or rare item. If you lose the battle, you lose the item. But if you win the battle, you lose the old item and get the monster's item. If you exit the battle for any reason (ie Chupon sneezes the character away), nothing changes. There was a link here which pointed to a list of items usable in the Colosseum. Since it doesn't work anymore, it wouldn't hurt to post the entire list... --- Final Fantasy 3: Colosseum Betting List By: Albert Calis Completed and revised on February 19, 1997 This list is comprised of all the items that you win and the enemies that you have to fight there for them. Almost all of the lesser items you bet end up with you fighting Chupon and winning an Elixir. But I've deciphered those items that, when you bet them, you can fight some rather interesting monsters and possibly win some really cool items. They are as follows: Item Wagered Enemy fought Item Won ================================================================ Items and Consumables ---------------------------------------------------------------- Elixir Cactrot Rename Card Fenix Down Cactrot Magicite Rename Card Doom Drgn Marvel Shoes Megalixir Siegfried(?) Tintinabar Daggers and Dirks ---------------------------------------------------------------- Thief Knife Wart Puck Thief Glove Assasin Test Rider Sword Breaker Hardened Phase Murasame Graedus Karkass Dirk Valiant Knife Woolly Assasin Striker Chupon * Striker Stunner Test Rider Strato Knives and Japanese Swords ---------------------------------------------------------------- Murasame Borras Aura Aura Rhyos Strato Strato Aquila Pearl Lance Sky Render Scullion Aura Lance Spears and Lances ---------------------------------------------------------------- Imp's Halberd Allosaurus Cat Hood Pearl Lance Sky Base Strato Aura Lance Land Worm Sky Render Brushes ---------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow Brush Test Rider Gravity Rod Swords ---------------------------------------------------------------- Flame Sabre Evil Oscar Ogre Nix Blizzard Scullion Ogre Nix Thunder Blade Steroidite Ogre Nix Break Blade Lethal Wpn Break Blade Ogre Nix SrBehemoth Soul Sabre Drainer Enuo Drainer Soul Sabre Opinicus Falchion Falchion Outsider Flame Shield Crystal Borras Enhancer Ragnarok Didalos Illumina Illumina Scullion Scimitar Scimitar Covert Ogre Nix Atmaweapon GtBehemoth Graedus Rods and Staffs ---------------------------------------------------------------- Heal Rod Pug Magus Rod Punisher Opinicus Gravity Rod Magus Rod Allosaurus Strato Projectiles ---------------------------------------------------------------- Ninja Star Chaos Drgn Tack Star Tack Star Opinicus Rising Sun Special Weapons ---------------------------------------------------------------- Rising Sun Allosaurus Bone Club Bone Club Test Rider Red Jacket Sniper Borras Bone Club Wing Edge Rhyos Sniper Gambler Weapons ---------------------------------------------------------------- Doom Darts Opinicus Bone Club Trump Allosaurus Trump Fixed Dice Trixter Fire Knuckle Claws and Knuckles ---------------------------------------------------------------- Fire Knuckle Tumbleweed Fire Knuckle Dragon Claw Test Rider Sniper Tiger Fangs Mantodea Fire Knuckle Tools ---------------------------------------------------------------- Air Anchor Brontaur Zephyr Cape Shields ---------------------------------------------------------------- Thunder Shield Outsider Genji Shield Flame Shield IronHitman Ice Shield Ice Shield Innoc Flame Shield Force Shield Dark Force Thornlet Tortoise Shield Steroidite Titanium Helmet Aegis Shield Borras Tortoise Shield Genji Shield Retainer Thunder Shield Cursed Shield Didalos Cursed Ring Paladin Shield Hemophyte Force Shield Armor ---------------------------------------------------------------- Red Jacket Vectagoyle Red Jacket Nutkin Suit Opinicus Genji Armor Genji Armor Borras Air Anchor Imp's Armor Rhyos Tortoise Shield Moogle Suit Madam Nutkin Suit Chocobo Suit Veteran Moogle Suit Tabby Suit Vectaur Chocobo Suit Behemoth Suit Outsider Snow Muffler Minerva Armor Pug Czarina Gown Czarina Gown Sky Base Minerva Armor Force Armor SrBehemoth Force Armor Snow Muffler Retainer Charm Bangle Crystal Mail Covert Ice Shield Mirage Vest Vectagoyle Red Jacket Helmets ---------------------------------------------------------------- Thornlet Opinicus Mirage Vest Red Cap Rhyos Coronet Genji Helmet Fortis Crystal Helmet Regal Crown Opinicus Genji Helmet Coronet Evil Oscar Regal Crown Cat Hood Hoover Merit Award Crystal Helmet Dueller Diamond Helmet Titanium Helmet Brachosaur Cat Hood Relics ---------------------------------------------------------------- Cursed Ring Steroidite Air Anchor Relic Ring Sky Base Charm Bangle Blizzard Orb Allosaurus Rage Ring Moogle Charm Outsider Charm Bangle Rage Ring Allosaurus Blizzard Orb Charm Bangle Retainer Dragon Horn Gold Hairpin Evil Oscar Dragon Horn Dragon Horn Rhyos Gold Hairpin Hero Ring Rhyos Pod Bracelet Pod Bracelet Hemophyte Hero Ring Marvel Shoes Tyranosaur Tintinabar Gauntlet Vectagoyle Thunder Shield Genji Shield Hemophyte Thunder Shield Sneak Ring Tap dancer Thief Glove Thief Glove Harpy Dirk Ribbon Dark Force Gold Hairpin Memento Ring Chupon Memento Ring Tintinabar Dark force Exp. Egg Exp. Egg Steroidite Tintinabar Economizer Vectagoyle Dragon Horn Muscle Belt Allosaurus Crystal Orb Crystal Orb Borras Gold Hairpin Safety Bit Pug Dragon Horn Merit Award Covert Rename Card Gem Box SrBehemoth Economizer * = For the Striker, if Shadow survived the collapse of the Floating Continent, then you will fight him for the Striker and if you win, he'll join your party, as well as you winning the Striker. Any items not listed here means that if you bet that particular item, you will battle Chupon and try to win an Elixir. This is basically the entire list of all the important items. I might have missed one or two, but I plan to find them and update the list when I do. Enjoy! :-) \\ \\ --=========================================[|@|]:::::::::0 // // Illumina FINAL FANTASY GAMES RULE!!!!! :-) --- * 4.4.20 - I just gave Relm the command to sketch monster XXX, and everything got all weird/locked up, but now I have 255 Gem Boxes, etc. What happened? Congratulations! Many of the early to late copies of the game have a bug in them known mainly as "Relm's Sketch Bug". If you sketch certain enemies late in the game, especially invisible enemies or any of your characters who appear on the other side of the screen (ie Gau), this can happen. It is highly recommended that you do not sketch any enemies late in the game, because there are certain side effects to the bug. You can get lucky and win 255 Atma Weapons, Gem Boxes, Excaliburs, etc. but if you're not so lucky, all your saved games may just be erased. Be careful with this one, and find the FakeMustache as soon as possible. * 4.4.21 - The world has ended, and my party's missing! Where do I find them? Celes: Just start the game! Sabin: Tzen Terra: Mobliz* Setzer: Kohlingen Edgar: Nikeah** Cyan: Mt. Zozo Gau: Anywhere on the Veldt (you must have a party of 3) Relm: Cave on the Veldt*** and/or Jidoor Shadow: If he's not in the Cave on the Veldt****, he's dead... Strago: Fanatics' Tower***** Locke: Phoenix Cave Mog: Narshe Banon: He seems to have disappeared, don't worry about him. * = Terra will not join the party until Phunbaba is defeated. Your party must confront Phunbaba twice - once to scare him off, and then return to Mobliz later in the game to destroy him. ** = You'll meet up with Edgar in Nikeah, but he won't join the party until you reach Figaro Castle. *** = In this scenario, you must rescue Relm from the Cave, but she will not join the party until Chadarnook is defeated in Jidoor. **** = In this scenario, you must rescue Shadow from the Cave, but he will not join the party unless you bet the Striker at the Colosseum. ***** = Strago will not join the party unless Relm is in the current party. * 4.4.22 - My character was low on HP, and he/she just did a really strange but powerful attack. How did that happen? What you just witnessed was a "near-fatal" move, or a "limit break" as it would be called in future Final Fantasies. When a character is low on HP, there is a very small chance that they will do one of these. Each character only does one move, and those moves are as follows: Terra: Riot Blade Locke: Mirager Edgar: Royal Shock* Sabin: Tiger Break Shadow: Shadow Fang Cyan: Black Blade Celes: Spin Edge Setzer: Red Card Mog: Moogle Rush Strago: Sabresoul Relm: Star Prism Secret Character #2: X-Meteo Note that Gau and Secret Character #1 don't have near-fatal moves, because they don't have "Fight" battle commands. * = It's Royal _Shock_, not Royal _Shook_! * 4.4.23 - I want to know where all the Espers are, and I want to know _now_! OK, OK, calm down. Here's a list of all the game's Espers, their locations, uses, and spells. An asterisk next to a spell indicates that this spell is unique only to this Esper. Name: Ramuh Location: Zozo Effect: Ramuh appears and zaps the enemies with lightning. Spells: Bolt (x10), Bolt 2 (x2), Poison* (x5) Name: Kirin Location: Zozo Effect: The "Regen" spell is cast on the entire party. Spells: Cure (x5), Cure 2 (x1), Regen (x3), Antdot (x4), Scan (x5) Name: Siren Location: Zozo Effect: A siren will appear and sing a very off-tune song. Afterwards, all the enemies will be muted as if the spell "Mute" was cast on all of them. Spells: Sleep (x10), Mute (x8), Slow (x7), Fire (x6) Name: Stray Location: Zozo Effect: All enemies are Muddled as a stray cat skips by them. It doesn't always work. Spells: Muddle* (x7), Imp (x5), Float (x2) Name: Ifrit Location: Vector Effect: Ifrit appears and launches a fire-elemental attack on the enemy. Spells: Fire (x10), Fire 2 (x5), Drain* (x1) Name: Shiva Location: Vector Effect: Shiva appears and freezes all the enemies with an Ice-elemental attack. Spells: Ice (x10), Ice 2 (x5), Rasp (x4), Osmose (x4), Cure (x3) Name: Unicorn Location: Vector Effect: Cures all status conditions. Spells: Cure 2 (x4), Remedy (x3), Dispel (x2), Safe (x1), Shell (x1) Name: Bismark Location: Vector Effect: The battlefield is flooded by water as Bismark swims by and leaves the enemies in his wake. Water/Ice-elemental. Spells: Fire (x20), Ice (x20), Bolt (x20), Life (x2) Name: Maduin Location: Vector Effect: Terra's father appears and physically (non-elementally) attacks the enemies. Spells: Fire 2 (x3), Ice 2 (x3), Bolt 2 (x3) Name: Carbunkl Location: Vector Effect: Carbunkl casts "Rflect" on all party members. Spells: Rflect* (x5), Haste (x3), Shell (x2), Safe (x2), Warp (x2) Name: Phantom Location: Vector Effect: A ghost will drift across the screen and cast "Vanish" on all party members. While your characters are invisible, physical attacks can't hit them, but magic attacks will work on them and will also remove the effect. Spells: Bserk* (x3), Vanish* (x3), Demi* (x5) Name: Shoat Location: Vector Effect: A bull appears on the screen for a few seconds, and by the time he leaves, he attempts to dispatch all the enemies. It doesn't always work, though; especially against undead enemies which Shoat ends up healing. Spells: Bio* (x8), Break* (x5), Doom* (x2) Name: Sraphim Location: Tzen Effect: An angel floats across the screen and heals the party. Spells: Life (x5), Cure 2 (x8), Cure (x20), Regen (x10), Remedy (x4) Name: ZoneSeek Location: Jidoor Effect: ZoneSeek will appear and cast "Shell" on all the party members. Spells: Rasp (x20), Osmose (x15), Shell (x5) Name: Golem Location: Jidoor Effect: A stone golem will appear for a second, then disappear. After that, he blocks many physical attacks by the enemy on the party. Spells: Safe (x5), Stop (x5), Cure 2 (x5) Name: Starlet Location: Jidoor Effect: A goddess appears and heals the party. Spells: Cure (x25), Cure 2 (x16), Cure 3 (x1), Regen (x20), Remedy (x20) Name: Palidor Location: The Solitary Island Effect: Palidor will fly across the screen, and all the party members will jump on its back. After a while, they'll drop down and thrust at the enemies. Spells: Haste (x20), Slow (x20), Haste2* (x2), Slow2* (x2), Float (x5) Name: Fenrir Location: Mobliz Effect: The Fenris Wolf appears and makes multiple images of all the party members. As if in a house of mirrors, the enemies don't know which one of your characters is the real one, which means that until they figure it out or the battle ends, physical attacks won't hit a character who has multiple images. Spells: Warp (x10), X-Zone* (x5), Stop (x3) Name: Tritoch Location: Narshe Effect: The Esper which started this entire mess will launch a three-way elemental attack on the enemies. The air freezes and explosions fill the air as Tritoch appears and shoots lightning bolts at the enemies. Great for enemies with elemental weaknesses, but will heal enemies who are strong against any fire/ice/bolt elemental powers. Spells: Fire 3 (x1), Ice 3* (x1), Bolt 3* (x1) Name: Terrato Location: Narshe Effect: The Midgard Serpent will lift his head out of the ground, causing a massive earthquake. Your party is transported to somewhere safe, so it only effects the enemies. Spells: Quake* (x3), Quartr* (x1), W Wind* (x1) Name: Ragnarok Location: Narshe Effect: Will metamorph the enemy into an object usable by the party. The object you get depends on the enemy - different enemies leave different objects, and most carbon-based enemies will just leave you Dried Meat by default. It doesn't always work. Spells: Ultima* (x1) Name: Phoenix Location: Phoenix Cave Effect: This only works if one or more of your party members have been defeated, zombified, or they have been effected in some way. It does nothing if your whole party is hale and hardy. If (a) character(s) is/are wounded or zombified, the Phoenix will appear and return them to consciousness. If (a) character(s) is/are poisoned, seizured, slow, stopped, muddled, berserked, blind, imped, mute, etc. then a Phoenix will appear, cure their conditions, and then heal them. Spells: Life (x10), Life 2 (x2), Life 3* (x1), Cure 3 (x2), Fire 3 (x3) Name: Bahamut Location: DoomGaze's stomach (defeat DoomGaze to make him cough it up) Effect: Bahamut appears and launches a powerful nuclear attack against all enemies. The effect of "Flare" on all enemies. Spells: Flare* (x2) Name: Alexandr Location: Doma Castle Effect: A giant robot pops out of the ground, scans the enemies, then launches a massive attack of sacred power (aka "Pearl") on all enemies. Spells: Pearl* (x2), Shell (x10), Safe (x10), Dispel (x10), Remedy (x15) Name: Odin Location: The Ancient Castle Effect: Odin, mounted on Slepinir, will fly down from Valhalla and cleave at all enemies. The attack is more likely to work than Shoat's. Spells: Meteor (x1) Name: Raiden Location: The Ancient Castle Effect: Same as Odin, except a bolt of lightning flashes through the sky as Raiden attacks. It's just a visual effect, though. Note that you can't have Odin and Raiden at the same time (see article 4.4.16 of the FAQ). Spells: Quick* (x1) Name: Crusader Location: Beyond the reaches of all space and time... Effect: Three Mage Warriors (from the War of the Magi) appear and zap at each other with magic for a while. Once they leave, both the party and the enemies are damaged. Spells: Meteor (x10), Merton* (x1) * 4.4.24 - Where can I get the most powerful stuff in the game? If you're looking for power, and a chance to make this game become really easy, this is for you. Here are the locations of the most powerful items that a character can be equipped with: Atma Weapon: Found in the Gateway to the Esper World (in the World of Balance). See article 4.4.8. Offering Relic: Found in the Ancient Castle (in the World of Ruin). When a character has the Offering equipped and is instructed to fight, he/she will fight four times in the same battle turn to random enemies (like Cyan's Quadra techniques.) As far as we've been able to tell, this is the rarest relic in the game, since there are only two of them (the other one is in General Leo's inventory and can't be unequipped.) Gem Box Relic: Found in the Fanatics' Tower (in the World of Ruin). The Gem Box will allow a character to cast two magic spells in one battle turn. The only caveat: you can't summon Espers while the Gem Box is equipped. Ragnarok Sword: Found in Narshe (in the World of Ruin). Locke must be in your party to get this one - the weapon salesman in Narshe has it and can turn it into a sword. Casts Flare randomly in battle, and consumes MP for mortal blows like the Rune Edge. See article 4.4.17. Illumina Sword: Only available at the Colosseum. To get it, you must trade the Ragnarok Sword. The Illumina is a sword of mystic purity - it has all the same abilities as the Ragnarok Sword, but it casts Pearl randomly and raises a few stats a little more than the Ragnarok Sword does. Air Anchor Tool: Found in the Fanatics' Tower (in the World of Ruin). See article 4.4.11. Chain Saw Tool: Found in Zozo (any time). See article 4.4.1. Economizer Relic: Found by defeating Brachiosaurs (in the World of Ruin). Some Brachiosaurs carry this relic around, which can make it so that casting spells will only reduce a character's MP by one (as well as Strago's lores). Brachiosaurs are only found in a forest north of the Veldt, which is shaped like a Tyrannosaur head. Good luck, Brachiosaurs are the hardest regular enemies in the game. * 4.4.25 - I got a Snow Muffler and a Bone Club, but how do I equip it on my sasquatch? You can't. Secret Character #1 can't be equipped. Besides, why would you want to do that? Secret Character #1 already has the Bone Club and Snow Muffler equipped. Take a look at his inventory by selecting "Equip," then press L or R to select the party. Press A to look at the entire party's equipment. There's not much you can do with the Bone Club, but the Snow Muffler is probably the best armor you can equip Gau with. * 4.4.26 - Where is the Paladin Ring? The Paladin Ring does not exist. It has only been rumored to appear in some prerelease versions of the game. Please stop any rumors that this item may exist. We've talked it to death by now. (Note: To clear this up, the Paladin Ring does not exist in the vast majority of games which made it to the market. If you try uncursing the Cursed Ring and get a Paladin Ring, congratulations. But seeing that most copies do not have the Paladin Ring present, I would not even try.) * 4.4.27 - Where are the dragons in the forest north of the Veldt? There are no dragons on the Northeastern continent in the World of Ruin. This is a translation error in the American version of the game. The person on the Veldt which tips the party into this should have said "dinosaurs," but in Japanese, the Kanji for dinosaurs can also be applied to "fearful dragons," so the text was slightly mistranslated. As far as we know, this is the only major translation error in the game. If you do go to the forest on the Northeastern continent, you will find some of the most difficult monsters in the game - Tyrannosaurs and Brachiosaurs. Tyrannosaurs can cast Meteor and have a deadly bite, while Brachiosaurs can use Ultima against you (!). You get a lot of experience, though, if you emerge victorious. * 4.4.28 - What is the best way to get through Kefka's Tower? First, to enter the tower: Fly over the tower in the Falcon, and attempt to land on top of it. The character selection screen should appear after this, and you will be asked to divide your party into three groups. The group to the left of the screen will be referred to as "Group #1" from here on after, the middle group will be "Group #2," and the right group will be "Group #3". When selecting characters to go into these groups: Make sure you assess each and every party's strengths and weaknesses before you go. Group #1 should be your overall weakest party, Group #3 should be your strongest, and Group #2 should be somewhere in between the others. Group #1 will have the easiest path through the tower. There are no bosses to fight on the initial road through Kefka's Tower. After a while, Group #1 will run into a locked door in a room where the two other groups enter from the left and right sides of the room. The other two groups can step on switches to open this door up. (This room and the next room will be referred to as the "Convergence Rooms".) In the next room, Group #1 can either move left or right. If Group #1 moves to the left, they will have to fight the Doom Magi. If they move to the right, they will have to fight the Goddess Magi. (Hint: You might want to put Strago in Group #1. Doom is one of the only monsters who can teach Strago the Force Field lore, and Goddess is one of the only monsters who can teach Strago the Quasar lore. Either one of these should be beneficial to Strago in the final battles.) Group #2 should also have an easy trip through the tower. There is one optional boss they may fight - Atma - if you want a Save Point. In the Rooms of Convergence, the bosses Group #2 will have to fight depends on where Group #1 went: If Group #1 moved to the left, Group #2 will have to fight the Goddess Magi. If Group #1 moved to the right, Group #2 will have to fight Guardian and the Poltergeist Magi. Group #3 has the longest and most difficult path ahead of them. Along the path, they will be attacked by one boss. (Remember Baigan from FF IV? If so, this boss will be somewhat familiar to you.) In the Rooms of Convergence, the bosses Group #3 will have to fight depends on where Group #1 went: If Group #1 went to the left, Group #3 will have to fight Guardian and the Poltergeist Magi. If Group #1 went to the right, Group #3 will have to fight the Doom Magi. Groups #2 and 3 will also run into two dragons just before they reach the Convergence Rooms. In the Convergence Rooms, it is **highly** recommended that Group #1 moves to the left. This will put Group #2 on the right, and Group #3 straight up the center. The center bosses - Guardian and the Poltergeist Magi - are also the most difficult, and should only be attempted by experienced parties. After the Magi are defeated, have each group move beyond them and stand on the three switches. All three parties will now be teleported to Kefka's room. After you choose your order for the upcoming battle, the party will have to fight resurrections of all three Magi for a while before fighting Kefka. Doom comes first, then Poltergeist, and then Goddess. Once they are all killed, the party will then fight Kefka... Good luck! * 4.4.29 - How many endings are there? Is there a "secret ending"? There is only one ending in this game. If you were hoping for a "secret ending," that was a rumor that was made up back when the game was first released. There is **no** secret ending in this game. If you're still looking for a "secret ending," go play Chrono Trigger, where there **are** several secret endings. 'nuff said. * 4.5 - Final Fantasy VII * 4.5.1 - How do I revive Aeris? The same way that you revived General Leo in Final Fantasy VI. (In other words, you can't. Again, I will say that what is lost can never be saved...) * 4.5.2 - Why does Aeris have to die? Aeris is a Cetra, an Ancient. Even in death, Aeris will always protect the planet from anything that should try and destroy it. * 4.5.3 - Why are the characters swearing so much? Unlike the previous Final Fantasy games, the dialogue in FF VII USA was unaltered from the dialogue in the Japanese game. Speculation has it that Nintendo was responsible for censoring the language in the previous Final Fantasy games. If FF VII was released for a Nintendo system, even if it was released in the USA (probably as "Final Fantasy IV"), no one can imagine how much cutting would be going on behind the scenes. There are plenty of things that would be changed, but we're not going to list them all. If you've played both FF III and VII, you'd be able to tell what would be censored, though. * 4.5.4 - How do the 'Elemental' and 'Added Effect' materia work? For the 'Elemental' materia: You need to have a weapon or bracelet with two connected slots. Put the Elemental materia in one and any elemental damage-type materia in the other slot. The materia that can be paired are: MAGIC MATERIA SUMMON MATERIA Fire = Fire Ifrit = Fire Ice = Ice Shiva = Ice Bolt = Bolt Ramuh = Bolt Earth = Quake Titan = Earth Poison = Bio Leviathan = Water Gravity = Demi Phoenix = Fire Ultima = Non-element Alexander = Holy any Bahamut = Non-element* Chupon = Wind Choco/Mog = Wind * = With any type of Bahamut materia/or the Ultima materia equipped, you are protected from non-element attacks (such as Ultima). Attaching it to your weapon is pointless as your attacks are naturally non-element anyway. No matter how you equip it, this pairing won't show up on the status screen. Now, your weapon or bracelet is affected by that elemental type. If you have the Elemental Materia and one of the materia listed above attached to your weapon when you attack, you will do that type of damage (holy, fire, water, etc.). This is good in some situations, such as equipping Choco/Mog to your weapon and attacking flying monsters (who are weak against Wind), but it can work in reverse if you (for example) have Ice attached to your weapon and are attacking an Ice Golem (in which case, you may cause no damage, or even heal the enemy!) If your Elemental materia and the materia it has been paired with are attached to armor, then you are protected from that type of elemental damage. As your Elemental materia raises levels, the type of protection offered changes: Level 1: Half-reduction - Damage from this type of element is halved. Level 2: Void - Damage from this type of element causes no loss of HP. Level 3: Absorb - Damage taken from this type of element is instead absorbed as free HP. For the 'Added Effect' materia: You need to have a weapon or bracelet with two connected slots. Put the Added Effect materia in one slot and any abnormal status-inducing materia in the other slot. The materia that can be paired are: MAGIC MATERIA SUMMON MATERIA Mystify = Confusion, Berserk Choco/Mog = Stop Poison = Poison Hades = Confusion, Minimum, Poison, Seal = Sleep, Silence Silence, and Sleep Time = Slow, Stop Odin = Death Transform = Minimum Destruct = Death Your weapon or bracelet will now be affected by that status ailment. In battle, striking your opponent with a weapon that has, say, Seal attached has a small chance of putting that enemy to sleep or silencing them. Enemies that are immune to certain status changes (flying enemies cannot be turned small or changed into frogs, for instance) will still take normal damage, but won't be affected by that particular status ailment. Assuming you attached 'Added Effect' and one of the listed materia to your armor, you are now totally resistant to that type of status ailment. Note that you are only protected from the listed status ailments (so, if a Molbor used 'Bad Breath' on you and your bracelet had 'Added Effect' attached to 'Transform', you wouldn't be turned into a frog, but you would still run the risk of being put to sleep, poisoned, etc.). * 4.5.5 - What does it mean when a Materia is 'born'? When you've mastered a materia (raised it to it's maximum level by collecting AP), it stops growing. However, a new materia of the same kind will appear in your Materia menu: however, it will be at level 1 with zero AP. While you can usually find/buy more materia of the same type, there are some cases in which there is only one materia of that type (say, Comet or Odin) in the entire game. In that case, you have to master that materia if you want to get another one, via the 'birth' method. * 4.5.6 - How do I learn Enemy Skills? First, you need to have an Enemy Skill materia. They can be found in these locations: * In the sample chamber after you kill Sample H0512. * In the underground training hall in Junon. * Take the right road from the entrance of the Forgotten Capital. In the shell house where you can spend the night, look behind the headboard of the third bed. * Talk to the green Chocobo in the Chocobo Sage's house that's on the Northern Continent (Disc 2 or 3 only). Equip an Enemy Skill materia. When fighting certain enemies, they may use an Enemy Skill on you. Alternately, you can control some of them using the 'Manipulate' materia and have them use their skill on you. You'll know if you learned the skill because your character will spin around and you'll receive a message telling you what skill you got. At this point, you _have_ to win that battle in order to retain knowledge of the skill. If you die, run away, or otherwise escape from that battle, you will not have learned anything. Also, you can only learn enemy skills by having a monster use it's skill on you; you cannot have an ally use an Enemy Skill on another character in hopes of learning that skill. Furthermore, unlike other materia, learning all 24 Skills will not cause the Enemy Skill materia to give birth to a new materia. Here are the enemies you must fight to learn all the Skills, listed in the order that you can first learn the during the game: DISC ONE: * Learn 'Matra Magic' from the Sweeper Customs that will fight you just outside of Midgar City. * Learn 'L4 Suicide' from the Mus that live in the field around the Chocobo Barn. * Learn 'Beta' from Midgar Zolom in the nearby marsh. You must severely injure him (he'll start waving back and forth), before he will be able to use Beta against your party. * Learn 'Flame Thrower' from the Arc Dragons flying around in the Mythril Mine. * Learn 'White Wind' by Manipulating a Zemlezett (found in the area near Junon), and having him use it on you. (You need the Manipulate materia.) * Learn 'Laser' from the Death Claws in Corel Prison. You can also learn it from the Dark Dragons in the last dungeon (Disc 3). * Learn 'Aqualung' from the Harpys found near the Gold Saucer and in the Corel Desert area. You can also learn it from 'Jenova Life', who you fight in the Forgotten Captial. * Learn 'Frog Song' from the Touch Mes in the forests in the Gongaga Area. * Learn 'Big Guard' from the Beach Plugs that live on the shores of the Gongaga Area. * Learn '????' from the Judges that roam the halls of the Shinra Mansion in Nibleheim. You can also learn this skill from the Behemoths in the area below Midgar (Disc 2), and from the King Behemoths in the last dungeon (Disc 3). * Learn 'Death Sentence' from the Sneaky Step enemy in the cave under Cosmo Canyon. You can also learn this skill from the Bound Fats in Zango Valley. * Learn 'Trine' from the Materia Keeper boss that you fight in the Nible Mountains. You can also learn this skill from the Stilves in Gaea's Wall (Disc 2). * Learn 'Death Force' from the Adamantaimais that live on the shore of the Wutai area. * Learn 'Magic Hammer' from the Razor Weeds in the Wutai Area. DISC TWO: * Learn 'Bad Breath' from the Molbors on the outside ledges of Gaea's Wall. * Learn 'Magic Breath' from the Stilves in Gaea's Wall, or from the Parasites in the final dungeon (Disc 3). * Learn 'Chocobuckle' from the Chocobos found in the Mideel Area. You must feed that Chocobo a 'Mimett Greens' during battle, then cast L4 Suicide on it. After enough attempts, it will counter with 'Chocobuckle'. * Learn 'Goblin Punch' from the Goblins found on Goblin Island and Round Island. * Learn 'Shadow Flare' during the final battle with the Ultima Weapon. You can also learn it from the Dragon Zombies in the last dungeon (Disc 3). DISC THREE: * Learn 'Dragon Force' from the Dark Dragons in the last dungeon. * Learn 'L5 Death' from the Parasites in the last dungeon. * Learn 'Angel Whisper' from the Pollensalitas in the last dungeon. * Learn 'Roulette' from the Death Dealers in the last dungeon. * Learn 'Pandora's Box' from the Dragon Zombies in the last dungeon. This is by no means a complete list, by the way. * 4.5.7 - I'm at the Wall Market. What do I need to do in order to make Cloud dress up as a woman? All that you really need is a dress and a wig. First, go to the Honeybee Inn and talk to the silver-haired man. Ask about Tifa. Then, go up to Corneo's mansion and talk to the bouncer. After that, go to the clothing store and talk to the lady there. She'll tell you that her father is drunk at the bar. So, go there and talk to the man sitting near the entrance. He'll ask you what types of cloth should be used in making the dress. After he's done talking to you, return to the clothing store. The man will give you a dress depending on what types of cloth you picked out earlier. After Cloud tries it on, go to the gym and compete against Big Bro's trainees. Depending on how well you did at the squats game, you'll get a wig. At this point, you can return to the clothing store, put on the items, and then go off to Corneo's mansion. However, while you're still in your normal clothes, there are other areas to explore and other things to get. To get a tiara, go to the store that's closed at the north part of town. Talk to the man there and agree to listen to his problem. Say you'll help, then go to the inn and spend the night. Cloud will wake up in the middle of the night and go to the vending machine. Buy an item, then go back to the store the next day. Depending on the value of the item you bought, the man will give you a type of tiara as a reward. To get undergarments, talk to the fat man in the white shirt near the bottom of the first screen. He'll give you his Member's Card. Now, go to the Honeybee Inn and go inside. If you go into the upper-left room and talk to the image of Cloud, you'll pass out, but Mukki will wake you up. You'll be given the 'Lingerie' as a present. If you want the 'Bikini briefs' instead, enter the lower-left room and agree to sit in the tub with Mukki and his pals. After washing, he'll give you the 'Bikini briefs' regardless of how you answered his questions. A woman in the Honeybee inn will also put make-up on your face after you get one undergarment or the other, but I don't think this has any great effect on the game. There's another undergarment called 'Mystery Panties'. The description says that it has a 'childish design on the front'. I have no idea how to get this item at the moment. To get some cologne, enter the sushi bar, sit down, and order whatever dish you like. After eating it, tell the chef that it's okay, and she'll give you some Coupons. Go to the pharmacy and use the Coupons to buy one of three items. Now, return to the bar where you found the owner of the clothing store and try to enter the bathroom in the upper-left corner. Choose to give the item you got at the Pharmacy to the woman inside the bathroom, and she'll give you a type of cologne in return. The more items you have and the better they are, the higher the chance of Corneo picking Cloud as his bride. * 4.5.8 - Sector 7 has just been destroyed. I bought Batteries from the Weapon Shop in Wall Market, but I don't know what to do now. Return to the Sector 6 Slums and go to Aeris' house. Talk to Elmyra, her mother. After Barret has been reunited with his daughter, return to the Wall Market. Go up to the top screen where the entrance to Don Corneo's mansion is, and look for a path on the right side of the screen. You will see a bunch of kids run along the path. Follow them, and then climb up the pipe to continue your quest. * 4.5.9 - I'm fighting Reno at the support pillar in the Sector 7 Slums. What do I do about his 'Pyramid' attack? Simply attack your allies who have are surrounded by a 'Pyramid'. They will receive no damage, but the Pyramid will break. You must act quickly, because if all three characters are hit by Pyramids, the game is over! * 4.5.10 - I'm in the Shinra HQ. How do I solve Domino's puzzle? To solve Domino's puzzle, go into each library and read the names of the files. Each library room has a certain theme (Materia Use, Shinra Weapon Advancements, etc.). Look for the one file that has been misplaced (say, a file about materia in a room that is about Industrial Developments). Write down the first letter of that file's name. Find the misplaced files in all four rooms, and write them down. You need four letters to solve this puzzle. These four letters can be obtained from the "incorrect" books. The letters that you use are an equidistant number of letters from the left of each title, not counting spaces or punctuation. (In other words, if you have the sentences "Use Ultima to do damage to all enemies." and "Teioh, the Black Chocobo, won the race." and the number of letters from the left is eight, then you find the eighth letter from the left of each sentence. In the first sentence, the letter would be "m". In the other, the letter would be "e".) So, how are you supposed to find the number of letters from the left to use? You'll have to talk to Domino and get the possible answers in order to find out. Anyway, try to find and re-arrange the letters using the above criteria into a word that would fit as one of Domino's answers. If you got it right, Domino will give you the next Keycard and an item as a bonus. You'll get a less-valuable item depending on how many times you mess up, and eventually Domino will not give you anything aside from the Keycard if you messed up badly. (It should be noted that this puzzle changes every time you start a new game. The answer is always randomly selected, and the books are always randomly re-shelved.) * 4.5.11 - I'm still in the Shinra HQ. Where do I go now that Jenova has escaped? Return to the lab floor where you met Red XIII. Near the south part of the screen is a passage with two Potions in it that leads away to the right. It looks as if you'd have to enter this passage from the upper walkway, but in fact, you enter it from the ground floor. It leads up to the rest of the Shinra building's floors. * 4.5.12 - I'm currently listening to Cloud recounting his past at Kalm Town. Is there anything special I can do during his flashback? No. Nothing you do in the flashback has an effect on the rest of the game, nor can you get Vincent or Tifa's 'Final Heaven' manual during the flashback. The only exception is, if you explore Tifa's house and look in her closet, read her letters, etc., she will dislike you for doing so. * 4.5.13 - How do I capture a Chocobo? Do I have to have one in order to cross the marsh near the Chocobo Barn? To capture a Chocobo, you must have bought a 'Chocobo Lure' materia from Choco Billy in the barn. Equip it to any character. Now, go outside and wander around on the Chocobo tracks. Eventually, you'll enter a battle, and if you're lucky, the music will be different and one of your enemies will be a Chocobo. To safely capture the Chocobo, kill off the other enemies, but don't hurt the Chocobo. Work quickly, because if the other enemies start attacking the Chocobo, it will go berserk after a while, attack everyone, and then escape. You can prevent a Chocobo from running away by using Greens on it (which you can also buy at the Chocobo Barn; they come highly recommended). After killing all the enemies, the battle will end and you'll find yourself riding a Chocobo! As for crossing the marsh, since chocobos are much faster, it is easier to avoid the marsh snake (Midgar Zolom). However, if the snake's shadow touches you, you will still have to fight it. What's more, if you run away, you'll find yourself back on the side you approached the marsh from. You can get across the marsh without a Chocobo, but it requires a lot of luck. * 4.5.14 - I'm fighting Bottom Swell at Under Junon. What do I do about the Waterpolos that appear around my character? To kill the Waterpolos, cast attack magic on them, or use a Summon spell. Your character will take no damage, but the Waterpolos will die if you did enough damage (they have 40 HP). Any Waterpolos that are on-screen when Bottom Swell is killed will also vanish. When a character is encased in a Waterpolo, they lose life at a rapid pace, so act quickly before your ally is killed. * 4.5.15 - I'm supposed to use Mr. Dolphin to get Cloud up on top of the electrical tower. But, I can't seem to land on the beam. How do I get up there successfully? Don't move. When Cloud appears in the water, press Square once to make the dolphin come and flip into the air. You'll miss. Without moving, press Square again and Mr. Dolphin will take Cloud up to the beam. * 4.5.16 - Where do I go once I have the Buggy? Since the Buggy can cross fords, go across the river near the Gold Saucer, and continue exploring. You'll eventually find Gongaga Town, and later on, Cosmo Canyon. * 4.5.17 - There's an iron safe in the Shinra Mansion at Nibleheim. How do I open the safe? If you examine the paper in the southwest corner of the first floor, you'll find clues hinting at what the numbers are. Here is how to find the clues: * When reading the paper, move the cursor down to the blank space and try and choose it. * Examine the area around the bed on the upper floor. Then go out and look in the hallway nearby. * Search the opposite end of the broken piano. * Open the chest in the greenhouse, then examine the chest again for another clue. If you're not to be bothered with searching for clues, the combination for the safe is: * Right to 36, Left to 10, Right to 59, Right to 97. Remember, operating the lock is like operating a real-life combination lock. Turn in the specified directions, and don't go past the number you want, or the safe won't open. Since there's a time limit, I suggest hurrying toward the number you want, then slowing down when you are within 7 or so digits so that you won't go past the correct number. After beating the monster in the safe, you can get a key, the Odin materia, and the Cosmo Memory manual. * 4.5.18 - I just escaped from Rocket Town in the Tiny Bronco, Cid's airplane. What do I need to do now? Go to the weaponsmith's house on the peninsula near the Gold Saucer and talk to him. He'll tell you that you need the Keystone, which he gave to Dio. So, return to the Gold Saucer by means of North Corel. Go to the Battle Square and examine the Keystone atop the pillar in Dio's Show Room. Dio will appear. Accept his offer to fight in the Battle Square. While you'll get bonus items for winning lots of battles, you can lose even the first battle and he'll still give you the Keystone. From there, go to the Ancient Temple in the Woodland Area island to continue your quest. * 4.5.19 - Hey...when I went on a date at the Gold Saucer, it was with Aeris. But last time I played, it was with Tifa. What gives? After the 'Keystone' event, there is a dating sequence at the Gold Saucer. Up until now, the CPU has been keeping track of how Cloud has been behaving towards the other characters. If Cloud is nicer to one character than he is to another, he will date that character. If you got Yuffie early on in the game, she also becomes a possible 'girlfriend' for that night. And yes, if you're mean to all the women in your party, but nice to Barret, he'll date you (no, it's not like that)! Here are some of the events that determine who you will date: * Running into Aeris after the reactor explodes - tell her to get away (mean response), or chat with her (nice response) Aeris will also dislike you if you chat with her but don't buy any flowers. * Buying flowers from Aeris makes her look favorably toward you, and giving the flowers to Tifa makes her like you even more. Give the flowers to Marlene, and Barret will like you. * Ignore Tifa's story of how things were when she and Cloud were young, and she'll dislike you. * Teach Barret how to use Materia, and he'll like you. * When you meet Aeris in the church, telling her that you don't remember her will count as a mean response. So does letting her fight all the battles when Reno chases you out of the church. * During Cloud's flashback in Nibelheim, if Cloud accidentally enters Tifa's house, Tifa will ask if Cloud entered her house. You can either say 'yes' (mean response) or say 'no' (nice response). * Yuffie will ask Cloud for a tranquilizer while on board the ship from Junon. If you give her a tranquilizer, she'll like you more. * If you enter the Pagoda of the Five Strong in Wutai without Yuffie in your party, you will never be able to date Yuffie. Don't do it! * And so on.... Generally, if you want to go out with a certain character, be nice to them, and be as cruel as possible to the others. Since there are few direct situations which involve Yuffie, you can only date her by being mean to everyone, including Barret. Aeris is the prime candidate for a date, so unless you're careful, you'll almost always get her for your companion. In other words, make your decisions carefully! * 4.5.20 - I finished the clock puzzle and am trying to escape, but the Demon's Gate boss is beating me up! How do I kill it? There are two ways... When the battle begins, cast Barrier and Haste on yourself (or use Big Guard, if you've got it). Have your characters make physical attacks, and don't forget to summon Bahamut now that you have that materia. Although Demon's Gate can cause a lot of damage, this will help to raise your Limit bars. To further this effect, make sure that you have used Hypers on your characters prior to the battle. Use Aeris' 'Healing Wind' break when you need it, and the other characters should always attack with their best Break when the situation arises. I suggest that you have a Restore materia attached to an All materia so that you can heal your characters as needed. The Demon's Gate is level 45, and has 10000 HP and 400 MP. If you need more MP, use Ghost Hands or the Magic Hammer skill to siphon MP from the boss. Are you a pacifist? Try using Phoenix Downs on it to reduce it to one HP/kill it outright, depending on the situation. * 4.5.21 - Now, I'm at Bone Village. I need to find the Lunar Harp, but where do I dig? After choosing to dig for the Lunar Harp, try putting excavators at the four compass points of the digging area. Then watch in what direction they turn their heads--this will clue you in to the Harp's location. Give up? Go to the upper level of the digging area. Move _slightly_ south from the left edge of the tent and move a little ways to the west. Dig, and you'll get the Lunar Harp the next morning. * 4.5.22 - Okay, I finally got to Disc Two. How do I leave Icicle Inn? There seems to be no exit! After you encounter Elena and the Shinra guards, the town's entrance will be blocked. So, there must be another way out... Go to the house where there is a child in the back room. Talk to him and his pet will move out of the way, allowing you to take his snowboard. Exit, and enter the house by the snowman. Examine the map on the wall of the inner room and take it. Finally, go out to the forest and talk to the man near the trees. He will let you snowboard out of the town. * 4.5.23 - I crash-landed into the Great Glacier and don't know what to do now. Where do I go from here? Depending on the routes you took while snowboarding, you will crash land in one of four places. Your main goal is to make it to the red X shown on the map, so try to figure out where you are by comparing landmarks on the map and head towards the X. If you take too long, you will pass out, which will get you to where you want to be, anyway. * 4.5.24 - I'm having trouble navigating through the snowy wasteland that's between the Great Glacier and the old man's cabin. How do I get through this? Here is a simple map of the snowy field: Old Man's Shack +-----------------------------+ S | | A I t | | l M c o | | e a N e n | | x t | e | | a e W-- + --E G | | n r | a F | Cave | d i S t a | | e a e c | | r e | | +-----------------------------+ Ice Gate (Steaming Lakes) No matter where you are headed, if you touch any of the four boundaries at any point, you'll end up in that particular area. To tell in what direction you are headed, press O to lay down spikes in the snow. This way, when the screen rotates, you can tell from the position of the spikes in what direction you are facing and adjust your path accordingly. * 4.5.25 - If I go east from the snowy field, there is a woman who tells me to go away. What am I supposed to do here? Return to the Great Glacier area. The best path to take is to go south from the snowy wasteland. This will eventually lead to an area with hot springs (lakes with steam rising from them). Go down to the edge of the left lake and touch the water, you will hear a sound effect. Now, leave, and return to the woman. She will fight you, and if you win the battle, you'll receive the Alexander Materia. * 4.5.26 - Hey, I've been incarcerated in Junon! And Tifa's getting gassed! How can I free her before it's too late? Actually, Tifa cannot be killed by the gas, so feel free to take your time. What you need to do is manipulate Tifa by using the buttons, so that she can pick up the key and unlock herself. There are two ways to do this, but remember to pace your button presses in time with Tifa's movements: * Press: X, X, T, X+T, T+O, O (or) X, X, T, X+T, T+S, S. Once Tifa is free, examine the back of the room, on the left side of the chair in order to shut off the gas, then examine the door. From there, how to escape should become apparent. * 4.5.27 - Right now, I'm trying to get a Huge Materia and prevent North Corel from being hit by a train. I'm running out of time and don't know what to do! What you have to do is have your train catch up to the Shinra train, then get on it and stop it before it crashes into North Corel. To speed up your train, press Up and the Triangle button in a steady, yet fast motion (Up, T, Up, T...) Once aboard the Shinra train, fight your way to the front. Then, make sure there are no messages on the screen. With Cid grabbing the controls, press: * Up + T, Down + X, Down + X (or) Down + X, Down + X, Down + X Don't forget to clear any message boxes between presses. If you entered either command successfully, the train will stop. * 4.5.28 - I'm at the underground Submarine Dock, and Reno just sent a boss, C. Armor, to attack my party. How do I beat this guy? C. Armor is tricky, because he actually consists of three parts, the left and right arms, and the main body. C. Armor has the ability to pick up your allies and hold them there. This is bad because damage inflicted on the arm holding an ally will also hurt the ally. Even worse, if he's holding an ally and the other(s) are killed, the game is over! Since C. Armor and its components are weak against Lightning, use Bolt-based spells and attacks. Work on taking out it's arms before going after the main body. The Phoenix materia and Life spells come in handy here as you will need to revive your allies more than once, presumably. Also, keep your HPs high, as the main part of C. Armor has a deadly attack called the Lapis Laser, which causes around 1500 points of damage! I suggest using Big Guard, or at least Barrier and Haste, in order to protect yourselves. * 4.5.29 - What's the code to release the Huge Materia from Cid's Rocket? Cid will clue you in as to what the code is should you mess up initially. However, if you aren't able to get the code correct before the time limit ends, you'll lose the Huge Materia for good. Not going to bother with Cid's clues? In that case, the code (to be entered one button at a time per message box) is: O, S, X, X. * 4.5.30 - How do I fight the Ultima Weapon? It keeps running away! First, get in the Highwind and look for the newly-created lake near Junon. The Ultima Weapon will be there. Crash the Highwind into it and attack it. When it escapes, follow it as it swerves around in the air. What you need to do is ram it 4 or 5 times, at which point it will stop flying back and forth and fly straight to a certain, random location. Fight it again, and keep repeating this until the Weapon makes it's final stop at Cosmo Canyon (the number of fights you have to go through depends on the amount of damage you inflict on it before it escapes). After the battle at Cosmo Canyon, it will be dead for good. * 4.5.31 - I'm now on Disc 3, and am in the last dungeon. How do you kill those Magic Pots? In the Japanese version of FF7, all you had to do was attack. In the US version, these guys are invincible to all forms of damage unless you use an Elixir on them first, which will nullify all their defenses. Need Elixirs? Try stealing them from the Master Tonberries that roam the lower levels of the final dungeon. If you're fighting more than one Magic Pot, try using a Megalixir to affect them all (that is, if you really want to waste it). * 4.5.32 - Yeah, but what if I want to kill the Master Tonberries? They're tough! Try casting 'Freeze' on them four times (no, you can't use Quadra Magic, but you can Mimic the spell three times afterward if you want to conserve MP). They'll solidify and die after the fourth casting of 'Freeze'. (NOTE: This trick only works in the Japanese version of the game. It does not work in the USA version.) * 4.5.33 - There's this guy in Kalm Town who wants to trade things with me. What can I trade with him? There are three items that he will trade with you: * Trade the Guide Book for the Underwater Materia. * Trade the Desert Rose for the Gold Chocobo. * Trade the Earth Harp for a set of Master Materia. To get the Guide Book, go to Junon and fight enemies that appear in the glass walkway that leads to the underwater Mako Reactor. One of your opponents will be the Ghost Ship. Make sure you have a Morph materia equipped, and kill it with a Morph attack to get the Guide Book. Your reward, the Underwater Materia, is only useful when fighting the Emerald Weapon. When you wear it, your entire party can breath underwater, so you won't have to worry about the 20-minute time limit like you'd normally have to. To get the Desert Rose, kill the Ruby Weapon. If you give the Desert Rose to the trader, he'll put a Gold Chocobo in the stalls at the Chocobo Barn that you can use. Make sure you've bought a stall, though! To get the Earth Harp, kill the Emerald Weapon. Trade it with the man at Kalm and he'll give you a set of three materia: Master Command, Master Magic, and Master Summon. * 4.5.34 - I want to get Secret Character #1 in my party. How do I find this person? You can have Character #1 (Yuffie), join you during any disc. Go to either Junon Area or the Gongaga Area and run around in the forests. There is a slim chance that one of your fights will be against the 'Mystery Ninja'. Defeat her in battle, and you'll find yourself in a field. Be careful when answering Yuffie's questions! If you mess up, or if you try to save your game at a Save Point, she will escape and steal some gil from you! Answer her questions in this order: * Question 1: Second (lower) answer. ("Not Interested") * Question 2: First (upper) answer. ("...petrified") * Question 3: Second (lower) answer. ("Wait a second!") * Question 4: First (upper) answer. ("...That's right.") * Question 5: Second (lower) answer. ("...Let's hurry on.") Yuffie will chase after your group when you are done chatting with her and she will join you as a more or less permanent member. * 4.5.35 - Okay, now I want to get Secret Character #2. How do I get this person to join my party? Character #2 can join you during any disc. Go to the Shinra Mansion in Nibleheim. There, you have to open the iron safe on the second floor. Take the key inside, and go to the bedroom in the east wing of the mansion, on the second floor. Touch the curving stone wall to reveal a staircase. Go down it. In the pink caverns, look for a door on the northern wall. You can now open it, thanks to the key. Inside is a crypt; examine the purple coffin in the center of the crypt and Vincent Valentine will pop out. While talking to him: * When you're asked to pick between two choices, choose the second (bottom one, "Talk about Sephiroth."). Vincent will climb back into his coffin, so open it again. * When you're asked a question by Vincent, choose the second (bottom) answer ("Who are you?"). Vincent will once again lock himself in his coffin. Now, leave the crypt and try to exit the basement caves. Vincent will catch up to your party and insist on joining you. * 4.5.36 - Isn't there some way to get back into Midgar during Disc 2 or 3? How is it done? After getting the Highwind and getting Cloud back in your party, go to Midgar. There will be a man out front who tells you that he lost his keys. Go back to Bone Village and talk with the excavators. Choose any method that you want in order to dig for items. See the wrecked F-14 plane? Near the bottom of the screen, there is a piece of metal sticking out. Go to it and press Right, then Up, so that Cloud is firmly wedged next to the plane, below the piece of metal. Choose to dig here and you'll get the Sector 5 Key the next morning that lets you return to Midgar City. * 4.5.37 - I'm trying to find all six Turtles' Paradise flyers. Where are they located? It's important to find and read these flyers as soon as possible, because one of them can't be read after Disc 2 ends, preventing you from getting a reward from the owner of Turtles' Paradise. Here are the locations of the flyers, listed in the earliest order you can find them: * Midgar City, Sector 6 Slums. There is a two-story house with a kid upstairs lying on his bed. Examine the posters by the wall, near the stairs, to read the first flyer. * Shinra Building, first floor. Go all the way to the back of the room, and check out the message board near the elevators. If you miss this flyer now, you can read it again during the raid on Midgar in Disc 2, but if you miss it again, you're out of luck. * Gold Saucer, the Ghost Square. Enter the hotel and read the marquee on the wall labeled 'SHOP' next to the shop entrance. * Cosmo Canyon, Tigerlily Arms Shop. Read the piece of paper attached to the left-hand wood beam. * Cosmo Canyon, Shildra Inn. Look for the gold note hanging by the door on the second floor of the inn. * Wutai, Yuffie's house. In the room with the iron cage, walk all the way to the right end of the hall and look at the wall scroll. After