Final Fantasy IX

Great Enemy Ozma

Anyone who gets the reference in the title gets 24 bonus cool points and a free entry into my $10,000 cash prize pool to be established when I win the Pulitzer Prize for online game related content. ;) Wouldn’t that be a great category? I’D vote for it. Anyway, I recommend reading through this whole section a few times before trying this. If you don’t, please don’t say I didn’t warn you. ;) I really don’t recommend you try this if your characters are below level 99. You probably think I’m joking, don’t you?

It’s a VERY tough battle and level 70 characters can’t even stay alive long enough for everyone to have a single turn (I’m not exaggerating here, actually). Oddly enough, while level 70 characters are just toast, level 80ish characters can beat him. (Let me phrase it this way: My level 70 characters died off quickly, but I was able to beat him with all my characters at level 80.) That being the case, while you CAN start this battle on Disc 3 (as soon as choco can learn the “Fly” ability), I don’t really recommend it until most of the way through disc 4. After completing all the chocobo quest stuff (and the Friendly Monsters section, if you want to use physical attacks), with the possible exception of Zidane’s Ultimate Weapon, save your game (no really, I mean it) and head to Chocobo’s Air Garden.

Instead of talking to Mene, though, head to the back island (you can walk on the clouds, go under the land bridge and walk up the steps at the back) and look around the little hill there. When the battle begins, if you have completed the friendly monster section, you’ll get a message that says, “The spiritual power raised the attack range.” In other words: you can actually use physical attacks on him (if you have not completed the friendly monsters section, you’ll receive the standard ‘out of range’ message when you try to attack him.). He carries a , , and an . The is likely the only think you don’t have, so concentrate on that. Here are some additional tips for better results.

Defensive Tips:

Be level 99 (You think I’m joking, don’t you?)
Equip Weapons/Armor/Accessories that block or absorb Shadow and/or Holy Damage. , , , Ribbon. If you don’t take Steiner or Freya, but give the other 4 you choose as they nullify shadow damage. Also equip any Pieces you have - they absorb holy and shadow damage. A will nullify 50% of all magic elemental attacks and a Ribbon will nullify 50% of fire/ice/thunder/holy.
Auto-Regen is very useful, auto-reflect isn’t.
As far as status abnormalities, you only have to be prepared for: Confuse, Berserk, Poison, KO, Mini, Darkness and maybe Venom.
As implied by the above: You do not need to protect against Stop, Petrify, Heat, Freeze, sleep, Death Sentence, Gradual Petrify, Virus, Silence, Trouble or
Clear Headed and Antibody are musts, as is Bright Eyes for any character who will be using physical attacks.
Auto-Potion is useful.
If you have enough left over, give them - though I think it’s a must.
If one character is wearing a , it will cause to be summoned (one time only), if your party is annihilated.
Take Eiko and make use of
If you can do enough damage fast enough, he’ll busy himself with healing.

Offensive Tips

Be level 99 (Well, it’s true!)
Set your battle speed to slow
Holy does lots of damage
Flare does a little damage.
Meteor does a little damage.
Steiner’s Shock, Freya’s Dragon Crest and Zidane’s Grand Lethal (wait for a ) are good for whacking him

Miscellaneous Tips

You can’t cast reflect on him; he’s guarded against it (It would have let you deflect his curaga, though: If you thought of this strategy, you’re on the right track).
Try to get your characters close to , but not over
It’s a lot easier if your guys are not levels which are multiples of 4 or 5.
Use to remove berserk status, use for all other status abnormalities.
Don’t bother with a or an ; use your - they are give to you “For such a time as this.”
You will get EXP and AP for this. If you need them, Equip the Level Up or Ability Up abilities.
Counter isn’t useful; he never physically attacks you
Ozmose doesn’t work, don’t bother

OK. I know it looks bad, but for now I'm going to leave this as text. Here are the weapons/armor/accessories/abilities I used, as well as a play-by-play (which some people find useful).

Zidane (Level 97):
- Ultima Weapon - Auto-Haste - Counter
- Circlet - Auto-Life - Body Temp
- Chimera Armlet - Auto-Regen - Eye 4 eye
- Ninja Gear - HP+20% - Antibody
- Ribbon - Gamble Defense - Bright Eyes

Eiko (Level 78):
- Priest's Racket - Auto-Haste - Auto-Potion
- Holy Miter - Auto-Life - Clear Headed
- Chimera Armlet - Auto-Regen
- Demon's Vest - Guardian Mog
- Protect Ring - Antibody

Vivi (Level 81):
- Mace of Zeus - Auto-Haste - Antibody
- Holy Miter - Auto-Life - Auto-Potion
- Chimera Armlet - Auto-Regen
- Demon's Vest - Clear Headed
- Protect Ring - Mag Elem Null

Steiner (Level 80):
- Ragnarok - Auto-Haste - Level Up
- Grand Helm - Auto-Life - Antibody
- Gauntlets - Auto-Regen
- Demon's Mail - HP +20%
- Ribbon - Counter

Play-by-play:
* Ozma Casts Flare on Vivi (near death, uses potion)
* Steiner Casts Shock on Ozma
* Vivi Casts Focus on self
* Ozma Casts LV5 Death.
- Steiner Dies (Come back) * Eiko tries to cast reflect on Ozma, but he's Guarded?!? * Vivi Casts Flare on Ozma for 4606 * Ozma Casts Meteor
- Zidane Dies (Comes Back)
- Vivi Dies (Comes Back)
- Eiko Die (Comes Back)
- Steiner Near Death. * Steiner casts shock for 9999 * Ozma casts Berserk on steiner * Ozma casts LV4 Holy
- Steiner gets hit for 1630
- Zidane, Eiko and Vivi are missed. * Zidane uses elixir on self, but was already healed up. * Vivi Casts Meteor on Ozma, but that misses. * Ozma casts Curaga on self for 8160. * Eiko casts Holy for 4042 * Berserk'd Steiner hits for 5301 * Ozma casts Curaga on self for 8976. * Ozma Casts Flare Star:
- Zidane takes a LOT of damage.
- Eiko Dies
- Vivi takes very little damage
- Steiner takes moderate damage * Zidane finally throws useless elixir on Vivi. * Vivi Casts flare on Ozma for 4410 * Berserk'd Steiner attacks for 5358 * Ozma casts Curse
- Zidane takes major damage, Mini.
- Eiko was already dead
- Vivi takes major damage, Blinded, Mini.
- Steiner takes major damage, Blinded, Mini. * Zidane finally throws phoenix down on Eiko. * Ozma casts flare on Vivi - Vivi dies. * Eiko casts Esuna on Steiner: Un-mini, Un-blind, Un-Berserk. Celebrate for 2 seconds, then... * Ozma casts Curse.
- Zidane takes heavy damage
- Vivi is already dead.
- Eiko Dies, AND is mini'd.
- Steiner takes heavy damage, Mini, Blind, Berserk. * Zidane throws phoenix down on Vivi. * Mini Steiner hits Ozma for 261 points. Whee. * Ozma casts Holy on Zidane: "Guard" pops up. :) * Vivi uses a Remedy on Steiner, Darkness and Mini go away - still berserk. * Berserk Steiner hits Ozma for 4845 * Ozma casts L5Death
- Steiner Dies. * Vivi finally throws the Gysahl Greens that WOULD have woken up steiner. "Miss." * Eiko summons Phoenix "Rebirth Flame."
- Steiner wakes up
- Ozma hit for a whopping 22 points of damage. Whee.
- Ozma casts "Death" on Vivi, who of course dies. * Steiner hits Ozma for 9999 * Ozma casts Curaga on self for unknown amount. I really hate the display engine they use, you know that? * Ozma casts Curse again:
- Zidane trances.
- Eiko goes near death
- Vivi dies, mini
- Steiner takes major damage, mini. * Zidane casts Thievery for 6732. * Ozma casts curaga for unknown amount. * Mini-Steiner casts shock for 261 * Ozma casts flare at Eiko, who dies before she can summon phoenix (to bring vivi back). Grrrr. * Zidane casts grand lethal for 9999. * Steiner uses remedy on self. * Ozma casts curaga on self for 7500. * Zidane wastes DYNE by throwing a phoenix down on Vivi. * Steiner throws phoenix down on Eiko. * Ozma casts Holy on Zidane: Guard. That may be the coolest thing. * Vivi throws Remedy on self to cure mini. * Zidane casts Grand Lethal for 9999. * Steiner casts final shock (now he's out of MP): 9999. * Ozma casts curaga for 8160 * Eiko throws Elixir to Steiner, all MP back. * Ozma casts LV4 Holy.
- Steiner takes moderate damage
- Eiko, Vivi and Zidane are missed * Vivi casts "Ozmose" to try and steal some magic power from Ozma (It doesn't work: 0MP.) * Zidane casts Grand Lethal for 9999. OZMA DIES!!!!! EXP: 16383, 100 AP. Received: Pumice and 18,500 Gil. Mene: "Y-You're very strong, Kupo! That's amazing! Kupo!" Mene: "I recorded how I feel right now on a card, kupo! I'll give you secret info too!" Mene: "You have too many cards. I'm gonna leave it here, kupo." Received Strategy Guide. Mene: One More Bonus: HP and MP restored, Status effects removed. [ That was an Ozma card, btw. But I had a better one. ]