Final Fantasy IX Disc 2

South Gate, Treno, and Gargan Roo

Back to the Rusty & Dagger story

OK. So when the dust, er disc settles, you’ll be up at the top of the summit for South Gate. Talk to people if you want, then head inside the area to the right and go talk to the Moogle (Nazna). You have a letter for him. Give it to him, then get a letter for Mochos. When you are done talking here, talk to the attendant lady (only person on left wall). Grab the out of the chest in the bottom left corner of the screen, then head out the bottom left entrance to see Marcus and Cinna then head back inside.

Try talking to them, if you want, then go yell at Steiner and leave - but be sure to equip your guys with anything you think you’ll need and save if you want - you’ll be fighting. When you have a chance to walk around and talk, talk to Marcus last.

Boss Fight: Black Waltz No. 3 (South Gate)

Steal	, ,
Weak / Absorbs	No elemental weaknesses or absorbs
Reward	5 AP, 864 Gil
Drops	n/a
Strategy	Let Marcus steal while Steiner attacks. does not target Dagger, so have her keep Marcus alive.

Since you don’t have Zidane, you’ll have to rely on Marcus for your stealing. Marcus doesn’t seem to have a detect skill, though. Steal from the BW, then just attack. If Steiner get’s KO’d, it’s not the end of the work. The BW won’t attack Garnet, so just have her keep Marcus alive while he steals. You’ll get control after the battle at the bottom of the hill. Go up one screen, then head left if you want to visit Dali (you can get an ), or right if you want to go to Treno.

To visit Dali, head left and exit through the gate. Head to the town. Remember that lady who was out in the farm patch? She’s moved away so you can get to the chest now. There’s an there. If you’re interested, you can also read more about the card game in the weapon shop. It’s also super helpful to have 3 or more Rod weapons so you can Synth something cool a little later on. Head back to south gate.

This time take the right most path at the fountain in Southgate. Once you jump across the bridge there, be sure to take the first right down to where there’s a chest. It’s got 1,610 Gil. Get back on the path and head right; try to walk through the gate to get the guards to lower it.

Follow the mountain to Treno and save outside the city. You could go in now, or you can visit Vivi’s “boyhood home” along the way and score some decent loot.

Quan’s Dwelling

To get there, simply follow the mountains all the way to a dead end. This area does have some dangerous enemies, so be sure you saved! You’ll know you are close to the cave you want because there will be a tiny patch of green grass area between the forest and the mountains. It’s not too difficult to see. It’ll be marked with a question mark. Go inside.

Head along the path and down the stairs on the right to the small platform. There’s a chest there with an . Head back up and around behind the pillar to the rope ladder and go down the rope. Walk along the NON-WATER edge of this next section; there are TWO chests down here. The hidden one at the bottom of the screen has the Stellazio (See the Stellazio Side Quest Section for more information). The obvious chest there has an .

Now walk over to the water and examine it for HP and MP Restored! Head back along the path and up the rope ladder, head off into the back of the cave. Climb up to the top of the ladder for an . Examine behind the table for a surprising twist on the Vivi story, then head out the door to the right. Examine the clock and the bucket. You’ll understand the clock, just remember the bucket for now. OK, lets head back to Treno.

On the way back, I ran into ! See the Friendly Monsters Section for more info. If you’re doing that side quest, I recommend wandering around close to the city, rather than in the forest where the stronger monsters are.

Treno

Save outside Treno, then head in. For your first ATE, select “A Treno Tradition.” You’re going to loose 1000 Gil - unless you’re fast with the X button. Quickly clear Dagger’s comment, then when the guy approaches you from the left, press X when the ! appears near you. That will at least allow her to notice and you’ll only loose 500 Gil.

When you have control of Steiner again, head to the fountain on the left and start throwing in money. When you’ve tossed in 13 coins (at 10 gil coins, that’s 130 Gil), you’ll get the Stellazio. See the Stellazio Coins section for more details. When that is done, take the right path up the stairs. Watch either ATE, then head down the ladder to your right. There’s a chest at the bottom right with 1 Gil in it. In the chest to the left of the Item shop is Yeti Card. On the ground behind the shop (straight up from the 1 Gil chest) is the Stellazio. See the Stellazio Coins Section for more details. Go back up the ladder, chat with the kids if you want, and…

Continue down the path and into the tower on the left. You’ll flush out a dog and a Moogle (Mogrich). Chase him around a bit until you can mognet/ /save (if you want). Read a letter from Stiltzkin. Before you continue along that path to the auction house, I’d recommend taking the other path down and heading left past the card stadium, then on the next screen go up and left to enter a building. You want to find the four-armed man who stole from Dagger earlier. Talk to him and eventually you’ll shake out a . You should also be able to hear the people below give some hints about the auction.

You can synth on the next screen to the left, but you probably want to make sure you save some money to be able to buy a instead. Head back to the auction house. On the ground to the left of the entrance door is 2225 Gil! Enter the auction house and hook up with Dagger. After you characters leave the auction house, wander back inside and try to make the winning bid for the .

You should talk to the guy in red on the front row during the auction. This will encourage him to buy OTHER stuff. Go over next to him and mash the talk button while facing him - all throughout the auction. He should eventually buy something that’s NOT the , thus limited how much he’ll bid for it latter. When the ring comes up for bid, wait until the last second to be. When the auctioneer says, “Any more?”, wait a split second, then bit a tiny bit above the last price to win the bid. I got the ring for 10,700.

If you still have Gil, feel free to buy other stuff. I also went back and bought and the . But the is the secret to leveling up in FF9.

Optional: Sell Your Stellazio!

After leaving the auction house, take the other path on the lower-left (not the one you came through the tower on). Head left one screen past the Card Stadium. On the next screen, head straight forward one screen to where Queen Stella is. Talk to the people outside, then head in and talk to her. This is the reason you’ve been picking up all those Sellazio coins - she buys them off of you. I left with the , a , and 8,000 Gil. In the grassy area to the left is an .

Optional Battle: Griffin

This is your only chance to fight this optional boss. Save at the save point outside the Auction house and go in through the door there. Buy 3x Lightning Rod weapons, if you can afford to.

Boss Battle Prep

Equip auto-potion and Bird Killer abilities, if you can. Equip the , , and a . Talk to the shop keep and say you want to battle the monster there.

Boss Fight: Griffin (Treno)

Steal	n/a (you’re Steiner, remember?)
Weak / Absorbs	n/a
Reward	Tonberry Card
Drops	n/a
Strategy	Throw a to inflict Darkness and Silence.

If you prep well and use the trick, you should be able to pull this off at this point.

Optional: Cool Synth

Now that you know how much money you have left, return to the place you heard about the auction and continue further down the walkway to the Synth Shop. If you can afford them, you really want both a and . Buy them, but don’t equip them. If you have 3x Rod Weapons (which you can buy over in Dali) and Lightning Rod weapons (which you can buy in the shop just to the right of the auction house), you can Synth 3x , which will be REALLY helpful when combined with the in the next section. :)

If you still have money left, feel free to buy additional weapons/armor (where you fought the ), synth anything you don’t have, and do any last minute auctioning - then had back to where the Moogle is and save. Go through the archway to the right, past the drunk, and down one screen. When you get to the ladder that leads down to the item shop, head left into the inn instead.

Go down the stairs there and talk to Marcus. On the next screen, flee from Steiner, but don’t give in. Man he’s annoying! Head down to the dock and talk to , then watch a bunch of cut scenes. Leave the inn and go back to the entance to town, this time go left from the main entrance and continue along the path until you get to the end. There’s a chest with a at the far left of this screen.

When you’re ready to advance the story (you won’t be able to come back from here), head up the stairs to where Tot is. If you want to card battle him, you’d better do it now. You won’t be able to do so once he goes down the ladder (which he will do if you leave this screen.) When you’re ready to move on, talk to him and then follow him down the ladder.

Gargan Roo

Be sure to equip anything you need for battle. Talk to Mochos and mognet/ /save (if you want). Give him a letter, then take the left path. Both the and enemies in this are vulnerable to Blind and Silence. Open the two chests here for and a , then pull the lever at the far end. Head back to the place with the Moogle, and continue right. There are two switches here - one up from the entrace, and one down. Press the switch UP from the doorway (not down). Follow Tot and talk to him.

Boss Fight Prep

Be ready for a major battle before you pull the next switch. Make sure none of your characters have equipped a , a , or a . Make sure Marcus can steal, but remove any other good equipment from him.

When ready, pull the switch at the bottom. Watch some cut scenes, then get into a fight. Meet…

Boss Fight: Ralvurahva

Steal	,
Weak / Absorbs	Weak to Ice
Reward	n/a
Drops	n/a
Strategy	Let Marcus steal while Steiner attacks and Dagger heals Poison or damage.

. If you throw a , you can blind him. Use Dagger’s healing magic while Marcus steals stuff, then wail on him until he runs away. Watch more scenes.