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| Final Fantasy IX owned by Square Enix. Images used for educational purposes only. |
Main Walkthrough
- Upon defeating Ark and claiming the Gulug Stone with Zidane's team you'll jump to the Desert Palace, where your second team remains captured. For the moment you get to play as the only free member of the party: Regent Cid, master frog.
- Head down and to the right. In the next room Cid will have to sneak up on a caged monster and try to steal an Hourglass Key. Cid is a wuss as a frog, though, so you need to inch him forward by tapping a button when the monster isn't looking. You have six minutes to get it done. Easy enough, and the minigame is made even easier if you fail a few times, as the monster won't spin around as often.
- Once Cid gets past the monster he needs to place weights on scales so he can reach an hourglass to reset the trap threatening the party. Examine the four weights - wood, clay, stone, and iron - and put the clay, stone, and iron weights on the scales. Hop on the scale to save the party.
- This frees your B party, and they'll gather together under the command of one of them (likely Eiko or Steiner, though Vivi and Freya can take the lead too) and prepare to escape. Check the room with the monster and weights to find a Moogle, Mojito, who has a shop and some mail for Mogsam (these names are getting ridiculous).
- Head west in the main room. You'll proceed along a linear path until you reach two statues, pictured above. Examine the candles on your left to light a globe on your right. Inspect the globe to get a Promist Ring. The message accompanying the prize is cryptic, but it'll make sense by the time you reach the end of the dungeon.
- Carry on north to find a faux intersection with some unnerving gargoyle statues. After reading the inscriptions on the statues and pass by a pathway will appear near the central statue. If you climb the stairs you'll find a candelabra to light, though naught else. Return to the statue room and you'll find Fairy Earrings in a chest on your right.
- Head left and up a staircase to find a room with three platforms and several unlit braziers; light all three to create a path into another room, where there are three more braziers to light. Light the bottom-left brazier to trigger a sharp flash, making the statues on the left platform, blocking the central platform, disappear. Backtrack to get to the central platform, light the two braziers here to make the second set of statues vanish, and light the remaining braziers on the right. This will allow you to light the bottom-most brazier, unveiling a bloodstone to the north containing an Anklet.
- Lighting all of the braziers will also make the stained glass window on the right disappear. You'll see candles in the next hallway; light the third one up the hallway to make another bloodstone appear. This one contains Shield Armor. Continue along the hallway and up the stairs in the north.
- On the next screen you'll come up beside a candelabra. Light it, then head south. In the next room you'll find a small library. Light the candelabra on the ground floor, to the left, to make stairs appear on the right. Light a second candelabra on the top floor of the library, again to the left, to open a secret passage. Beyond is a bloodstone containing an N-Kai Armlet. Assuming you have Vivi, this is a good time to give him the Armlet.
- Head back into the library and light the candelabra on the second level of books to open another secret passage. This leads to more stairs. Light the candelabra on the way up, then another at the top. Backtrack to the library and light the final candelabra to open another secret passage, within which you'll find, surprise, yet another candelabra. Light it.
- Back in the library a passage will appear through the left wall, leading to Mogsam, a Moogle. You should have a letter for him from Mojito. Save and rest up, then continue walking past to the left. You'll appear in a room with a statue flanked by two candles; light both of them to make a bloodstone containing a Black Hood appear. Snuff the candle on the left before you leave.
- Walk through the door to the left of the statue to find the other half of the previous room, this with another statue, a painting, and three candles. Light both of the candles surrounding the statue for another bloodstone, this containing a Venetia Shield. That done, snuff the candle on the left of the statue and light the candle by the portrait. This should make a set of stairs appear back on the previous platform. Save again before ascending, if you're nervous, as a boss is coming up. Light the candelabra at the end of the path to begin the fight.
Valia Pira
This fight is muuuuch easier if you've been messing with bloodstones throughout the dungeon. Valia Pira draws power from the Desert Palace's bloodstones, and if you took the time to disable them it will be weaker, take more damage, and reveal a lovely weakness to water spells. Beyond these enhancements Valia Pira relies entirely on spells, so if you have Reflect, Eiko's Carbuncle Eidolon, or Auto-Reflect, it cannot possibly harm you.
Any attacks will work on the thing, though Vivi's Water, Steiner's Water Sword, and Dagger's Leviathan Eidolon typically do the most damage. Bounce spells off of your own characters if / when Valia Pira uses Reflect on itself to bypass its protection. All in all, a fairly easy fight.
- Attempt to light the candelabra a second time to make a teleport pad appear. Use it to jump back to Zidane's party, who have just returned to the Desert Palace. Run back to Kuja's room for several scenes, after which Eiko gets kidnapped and leaves the party for a bit.
- You're meant to head to a transport pad and leave immediately. Don't leave Kuja's room yet. First, check the foreground of the left side of the room. There's a stack of books on a table, and they contain a Namingway Card. This is your only chance to get the card. Don't miss it.
- Use the left teleport pad to head back to the airship. It is gone, and so is the Black Mage who was blocking the path out, past the dock. A cinematic after you leave the area will show you where the airship is headed, and you'll automatically give chase in the Blue Narciss.
Part Twenty-Two: Esto Gaza and Mount Gulug
Main Walkthrough