Final Fantasy IX Disc 3

Ipsen’s Castle and the Elemental Shrines

Ipsen’s Castle

Prep Work

Before you go, be aware that your weapon damage will be reversed. Make sure everyone has wimpy weapons. That’s right, bad ones. Go to Dali and buy them, if you have to. Take the airship to Ipsen’s Castle. The place is marked on your map, and if you click ‘X’ while pointing to it on the map, Erin will take you right there. Park the ship outside and get ready for trouble.

Equip your worst weapons, but keep your best armor, magic, abilities, etc. Right away Amarent will ask to go off on his own. Go ahead and let him, then climb the stairs and enter the castle. Take a moment to read the enemy notes and blue magic notes below - it will save you some trouble here.

Inside the Castle

Area Enemies & Blue Magic: Ipsen’s Castle

Enemy	Eat to learn
	—


	—

See Blue Magic for the full reference.

To your immediate left upon entering the foyer is a chest with a . That’s a subtle hint that you need low power weapons. Across from that (on the right) is the Stellazio coin (see the Stellazio Coins Section for more information). You can’t leave just yet, so don’t bother trying to go trade it in (Zidane is worried about Amarant, I guess). If you climb the stairs and read the panel to your left, you’ll get another clue about all this.

Go ahead and go through the doorway to the next area. Mognet/mogshop//save with Kumool (you should get a out of this, if you aren’t already carrying one). There is a Cat’s Claw in the chest in the upper left corner of this room (it’s tough to see).

For the rest of the castle, I’m going to break out each room to make it easier to follow along:

Ipsen’s Castle route to
Step	Action
1	Jump down the Pole in the center of the room.
2	At the bottom, follow the path down and left to get to the ladder in the upper right.
3	At the top of the ladder, follow the path to the left edge of the screen.
4	Go through the doorway.
5	On the next screen, you’ll go slightly up and in another doorway.
6	On the next screen, jump on the ladder.
7	Go up and Jump off to the right.
8	Grab the from chest at the end of this path, then come back.
9	Jump off and go left until you reach the chest with a .
10	Go back to the ladder and this time head down.
11	At the bottom, hop off and follow the ledge right and up the stairs.
12	Jump on the ladder at the top of those stars.
13	Go up and jump off the ladder.
14	Grab the from the chest at the end of the path, then come back.
15	Take the ladder and go up to the next platform, then through the doorway.
16	Go to the far end of the screen and take the elevator.
17	Watch some dialogue with Amarant, ignore the chests and head back out.
18	Come forward and examine the weird thing on the wall to your right.
19	Take the options to push, then pound, then think.
20	Do them all again, then push a bunch, then (eventually) “Try something drastic.”
21	Rest after all that, and you should end up upstairs in the Foyer.
22	Go right and open the chest there for another .
23	Go back through the doorway to the previous room.
24	Take the elevator to the room where you met Amarant.
25	Go up to the wall and examine those discs on it.
26	When you’ve grabbed them all, PREP FOR A BATTLE BEFORE TRYING TO LEAVE.

Boss Fight Prep

Keep your weak weapons equipped. Fire and Wind attacks work well here, and Silence, Sleep, or Heat can make the fight much easier. When you’re ready to fight, try to leave.

Boss Fight: Taharka

Steal	, ,
Weak / Absorbs	Weak to Fire and Wind; immune to Earth and takes half damage from Ice
Reward	11 AP and 8,092 Gil
Drops	n/a
Strategy	Steal the , then exploit Fire or Wind damage or shut down with Silence, Sleep, or Heat.

Try to steal the if you can, then kill him off.

After the fight, head back the way you came; don’t stop until you reach the moogle Kumool. When you get to the top of the pole (en route), a trap door will open. Each time you fall down a trap door, another one will be visible when you come up. Look closely; you can see them. Save, then head to the corner of the screen where the chest (with the ) was. Walk around until you fall down, then get the chest there (). Hop of the ledge and head back up the pole.

Ipsen’s Castle optional treasures and exit route
Step	Action
1	Head out toward the front of the castle, but look left in the foyer.
2	There are two staircases there. Go up the right one (it used the be the sign).
3	On the next screen, go across the walkway to the other side.
4	Head left, and go through the doorway.
5	On the next screen, get the from the far left.
6	Go stand by the poll - it’s an elevator. This is a fun place.
7	First off, grab the chest there to get a .
8	There are two vases and three platforms.
9	Grab the right most vase and put it on the center platform.
10	Now alternate moving the vases to the empty spot.
11	You’ll essentially be moving them counter clockwise a few times.
12	Just keep it up untill a lot of lightning is channeled into one of them.
13	Pick it up to get the .
14	This allows to attack in addition to his insta-kill.
15	Head back to where the moogle is and climb UP the pole this time.
16	Open the chests hidden on the chadaler for a and a
17	Jump down and head outside.

When you get to the bottom, you’ll discover that Amarent is missing and go in after him. Head to the moogle room and hop on the pole; go down. At the bottom, head down and left until you find him, then battle your way back outside.

Now you’ll be treated to some ammount of logic. I know, I know. It’s out of character for a Final Fantasy game. But it’s funny. No wait! I mean it’s useful. Sorry, I get those mixed up in games like this. Eventually, you’ll head off to…

Breakin’ the Seals (dun dun un)!

Optional

Before you break anything, you might want to consider trading in your and any Stellazio you happen to have. As long as you are in Treno, you may want to fight the monster in the basement of the knights house if you missed it before, bid on auction items or play cards in the stadium. If you want to, head to Alexandria. You can find the jump rope group in the bell tower. If you have Vivi or Eiko in your party you can try your hand at jumping. I never really got into the jump rope thing, though.

Anyway, when you’re ready Let’s go break the seal. Save your game, then head to the swirling vortex in the large bay south of Ipsen’s Castle. You’ll fly the airship there and then let Eiko and Dagger off. After that, head north east to the Lost Continent (the frozen one). On the east side of the island is a large volcano. Go let off Freya and Amarent there. Head to the southern tip of the Forgotten continent, southeast of Oeilvert. Drop off Steiner and Vivi there. Finally, head to the Outer Contenent where the Desert Palace was. Go southwest until you see some weird looking stuff on the ground. That’s the earth shrine. When you head out, be sure to check your equipment.

Earth Shrine

You’ll wander down a path and watch a conversation with Quina. You’ll have to jump when the esclamation mark show up, so be ready for it. You’ll watch some stuff happening to Dagger and Eiko, then you’ll have control again and be told it’s time to put the mirror on the stone. Before doing so…

Boss Fight Prep

If you properly prepare for this battle, it’s actually really easy. If both Zidane and Quina have auto-float, auto-haste, and auto-regen enabled, you can withstand most of the attacks from this enemy. It’s also helpful to ensure Zidane has master thief and bandit enabled. (For the upcoming boss battle, I literally had Zidane steal twice, then had him use Thievery twice, then had Quina use Eat. Battle done.) If you’re not sure about your character’s power, an alternative strategy is to have a simple dagger equiped for Zidane (don’t give him a more powerful weapon). To start the battle, place the mirror on the stone.

Boss Fight: Earth Guardian

Steal	,
Weak / Absorbs	Weak to Wind and Holy; absorbs Earth and takes half damage from Shadow
Reward	11 AP and 4,512 Gil
Drops
Strategy	Block or absorb Earth damage, steal both items, then weaken the boss so Quina can Eat it for .

This enemy carries a and an . As I indicated above, I had Zidane steal them both quickly while Quina just defended. Once they were stolen, I had Zidane use Thievery twice, then had Quina eat it to learn the blue magic. If your party isn’t that powerful, here’s an aternative strategy:

Have Qunia use and to keep your guys healthy while Zidane steals. Once you’ve stolen those, try to eat him. Have Zidane use Thievery and Quina use Frog Drop. He’s got about 20,000 HP, so when you are getting close to that number, start having Zidane attack normally. With just a dagger equiped, he’ll do small amounts of damage, ensuring you don’t kill him off before Quina can eat him.

After a few more cut scenes, tell Amarant why you do what you do. Your choice will not impact the game outcome.