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| Final Fantasy IX owned by Square Enix. Images used for educational purposes only. |
Main Walkthrough
- After leaving the Ice Cavern you'll emerge on the high land above. There are two locations nearby: a gate and a town. The gate is of no use right now, so you might as well head west, to the town.
Dali
- After a series of cut scenes you'll be free to roam the small village of Dali, starting out at the Inn. You can find an Antidote in your room at the Inn, and as soon as Zidane wakes up you'll get the ATEs Vivi, Confused and Dagger Tries. If you check the left-most desk in your room at the Inn you can find a 'Color Fortunes' service, costing 10 gil to try. There's a Potion in a chest hidden beside this desk, behind a plant. Last, the Moogle in the Inn, Gumo, will accept a letter from the previous Moogle, Mois, in the Ice Cavern.
- Head outside. This triggers the Cat's Eye ATE. Across the street from the Inn is a Weapons and Armor Shop, and if you check the window on the northern end of the Inn you can look in at your (currently empty) room. Across the street from the window is the mayor's home, though he'll promptly kick you out.
- North of the mayor's home is the windmill Vivi pointed out when you arrived in Dali. Look behind the central mechanism for an Aries Stellazzio (more on these in this article), and check the upper floor to see two chests you can't currently access, since the windmill is active. Mind them for later. East of the windmill is a small shop where you can buy some medicinal items
- Vivi's in the north, between the mill and the second shop. Talk to him for a distressing cut scene. Afterward you'll get two more ATEs, Cat's Eye 2 and Dagger Tries Harder (assuming you watched the previous scenes). Enter the Weapons and Armor Shop to find Dagger, then head back to the Inn and talk to her again. You can watch her through the Inn's window for a bit of fun.
Below Dali
- After several cut scenes, head north to where you saw Vivi last. This triggers a cut scene. Next, enter the windmill and check the metal dome beside the door to find a ladder. This will take you below Dali. There's a small lift ahead; check the chest just south of the bottom of the lift for 156 gil.
- Head north to find a small, underground chocobo pen and a cut scene. Once it's done, check inside the small shack where two men were talking for a Potion and the chest just south of the chocobo pen for Eye Drops.
- The next room to the north has some coffin-shaped boxes. Check the barrel in the middle of the room for a Moogle named Kumop, who will request that you deliver a letter to Mogki. There's a rusted wheel by the exit in the northeast; kick it to bring a Potion tumbling down. You can get at the second chest in this room by hopping onto the crates behind the Moogle's barrel.
- The next area is a much larger storage area. You can hop onto a chest that's part of the scenery in the north and use it to get to a normal chest containing an Iron Helm. The chest on the ground in the middle of the room contains a Leather Wrist.
- A cut scene waits in the next room, to the northeast, and Vivi rejoins the party. There's a door in the north in this room; beside it is a chest containing 95 gil. If you open the door you'll get into a battle, and you'll find more inside. You can also find two chests, one containing a Phoenix Down, and the other (behind the machine sucking in Mist) containing a Potion. You can find a third item, a Phoenix Pinion, completely hidden to the right of the Potion.
- It's worth noting that the enemies down here include creatures called Vices. Though not terribly dangerous, Vices can steal items from your inventory. Any item stolen is permanently lost. Try to kill these things with magic and Zidane as quickly as you can, before they can filch anything.
- Head east in the previous room, then head northeast. Cut scenes.
- Steiner! You're now back outside, controlling the rusted knight. Run down the stairs from the lookout point, then, back on the ground, check the road to the right of the stairs for 135 gil. You can also find a Hi-Potion in a chest beside the barrels at the bottom of the screen. Speak to the old man, Morrid, in his home, then head southwest. This triggers a cut scene, and, following that, a battle.
Black Waltz No. 2
The second Black Waltz is similar to the first, though without an accompanying monster. It uses largely fire magic to damage your party, though it can also yank out a decently-damaging physical attack as well. The trick here, though, is that the Black Waltz will never deal damage to Dagger, only doing anything to her if the rest of the party is defeated. This is more dangerous than it sounds, as the Black Waltz only needs to defeat three of your four party members to win.
The Black Waltz seldom uses its more powerful magic for anything other than retaliation against Vivi's spells, so you can get around this problem by using Steiner's Sword Magic only, along with normal attacks from Zidane. Dagger should concentrate on healing each round. Defeating the thing won't take long.
You can Steal a Steepled Hat and a Leather Core from Black Waltz No. 2.
- After the battle you have the option to return to the Inn and sleep or hop on the airship and ride it away. Regardless of choice, you're going to hit a battle after several cut scenes.
Black Waltz No. 3
The third Black Waltz is quite similar to its fellows, relying on powerful spells to inflict damage. It doesn't do much else beyond cast spells, though, making it fairly predictable - it will either hit one character for about 90 damage or everyone in your party for less. Dagger isn't along for the fight, so you'll want to finish the battle before the Black Waltz can do a ton of damage. Go on an immediate offence and use spells (helped along by immediate Trance on Vivi), attacks from Zidane, and Spell Sword strikes from Steiner. Heal as necessary.
You can Steal a Steepled Hat, a Linen Cuirass, and, rarely, Silver Gloves from Black Waltz No. 3.
- After possibly the best cut scene in the game your ship will arrive in Lindblum, your next major destination. Huzzah!
Part Five: Lindblum
Main Walkthrough