The last minute of Ozma (Hints & Strategies) - Guide for Final Fantasy IX
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Final Fantasy IX (PSX)
Title : The Last Minutes Of Ozma (Hints & Strategies)
Written by : Michael Chan
Email : [email protected]
Version : 1.00
Date : March 28, 2001
*All Rights Reserved*
Preface
For the last few days I've been "gambling" with the most colorful
yet most dangerous and devastating boss in FFIX. Through out those
tiring and exhausting hours, I've come to experience something that
you might have overlooked. There's no way you can be 100% sure in
beating this beautiful sphere. However, I may give you some hints so
as to raise your chances of winning to 95%. If you have confidence in
me please read on. And for those who said they could beat Ozma below
level 50, I really am impressed. Yes, I do. You are great!
Well, I suppose that you've finished the Chocobo Hot & Cold Game and
have all the items obtained. Now let's go through some of the things
you might have failed to notice.
Contents
I. Preparations -
A. Random Battles
B. Abilities
II. Reasons to choose high HP level characters -
A. HP regain from Auto-Regen
B. Interval of Auto-Regen
C. Power of Resistance
D. Max. HP values at EXP level 99
III. Able Characters -
A. Requirement
B. Combination
IV. Ozma's Attacks -
A. Major Attacks
B. Minor Attacks
V. Counter Attacks -
A. Under Normal Status
B. Under Mini Status
VI. Make Use Of Trance In "The Battle" -
A. Build Up Your "Trance Bar"
B. Different "Trance Bar" Set Ups
VII. Something About "The Battle" -
A. Case One
B. Case Two
C. Case Three
D. Case Four
E. Case Five
VIII. The Seventh Round
IX. The Reward
X. Copyright
I. Preparations
A. Just after finishing the Hot & Cold Chocobo game, head directly to
the Memoria entrance. Choose Steiner, Zidane, Freya and Armarant.
Equip them with the unlearned abilities' items and start fighting that
time-consuming and boring Random Battles as many as possible until
they reach an EXP level over 6000. You'll notice that it takes some
more EXP to reach up another level while you may just get one or two
more HPs. Yes, if you haven't killed Hades. Go kill him and come back
to the entrance to continue the "bore-fights". However, you'll realise
the importance of attaining high EXP levels later on and why I choose
those four characters.
B. If you haven't taken Freya and Armarant into your party before, you
can start right now. It's not too late. You'll find that they catch
up quite fast since they are in low EXP levels and they need less
EXPs to reach up one level. Don't forget to change their equip-
ments once they learn an ability.
II. Reasons to choose high HP level Characters
A. I'm sure you have noticed that there's a number, in green color,
coming up from the bodies of the characters after they learned
the ability called Auto-Regen during a fight. Let's call this
number the "Regain Value".
B. Now, have you ever noticed how long does it take for the
"Regain Value" to appear each time? I'm sure not many of you
have. Never mind. Let's call this very short duration of time
the "Regain Interval".
C. These are two of the many extremely important factors to resist
Ozma's attack. Since you have to spend such a long time in the
Memoria entrance to pile up the EXP levels for the characters,
why not write down the figures of the "Regain Value" and the
approximate time of each "Regain Interval" for all the members
so that you can do a comparsion after you pile up another 8 or
10 levels. Definitely, you'll see the big difference. Of course,
equipments, abilities both active and support also share equal
importance in this respect. Now you know this is the way how
you can strengthen the characters' power of resistance.
D. For those who are interested to know the maximum HP values of
each character when reaching level 99, we don't need to go to
this high number though, it definitely will give you a little
more advantage when facing Ozma.
Here you are :
1. Zidane - 6840
2. Steiner - 7881
3 Armarant- 7284
4. Freya - 7402
5. Dagger - 5066
6. Vivi - 5066
7. Eiko - 4795
8. Quina - I haven't trained Quina ever since. I don't have a good
impression towards her. This is merely personal.
I'm sure her max. EXP value should be somewhere just
over 5000, similar to those of Dagger and Vivi's.
Now you are well aware that why I discarded the last four characters.
They are not capable of obtaining high power of resistance. That's
the reason. Besides Quina, whom I don't know much about, none of the
other three are able to produce a 9999 attack. Am I right? As a
matter of fact, I like Eiko very much. She is small, swift. And the
way she moves, after getting a battle command, is exactly like
dancing to the music. She is simply adorable.
III. Able Characters
A. As you've realized the significance of what we called "Regain Value"
and "Regain Interval". Let's see the following comparisons :-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(RV) (RI)
HP Level HP Value Regain Value Regain Interval
1.Freya 86 6522 407 around 3.0 secs
2.Armarant 86 6522 407 " 3.5 "
3.Dagger 99 5066 316 " 4.0 "
4.Eiko 99 4795 299 " 4.0 "
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So "Able Characters" means those who can be better trained and be
able to attain high HP values, high Regain Values, short Regain
Intervals.
Among all the others, Steiner wins in each of the respective area
to a high degree. He is absolutely outstanding. Well, Zidane is
just okay. Freya and Armarant are a lot better than the rest of
the party.
B. You are right! You don't have much of a choice. My character
combination is thus obvious. Steiner, Zidane, Freya, Armarant
are the best in the selection. Remember I asked you to go to the
Memoria entrance to fight the Random Battles and all that? There's
no definition of what are the best EXP levels. Only that the higher
you get to, the more you'll be benefited both "physically" (to the
characters) and psychologically (to yourself).
Here are the characters selected and their respective equipments : -
1. Zidane - all abilties learned and on
Level - 93
HP - 6362
MP - 344
RV - 397
RI - around 2.8 secs
Weap - Ultimate Weapon
Head - Circlet
Wrist - Bracer
Armor - Brave Suit
Attch - Protect Ring
2.Steiner - all abilities learned, MP Attack off, Swd Skill learened
Level - 91
HP - 7345
MP - 312
RV - 459
RI - around 2.5 secs
Weap - Ragnarok
Head - Grand Helm
Wrist - Venetia Shield
Armor - Grand Armor
Attch - Rosetta Ring (Ribbon is okay)
3. Freya - abilities all learned, MP Attack off, Dragon learened
Level - 86
HP - 6522
MP - 347
RV - 407
RI - around 3.0 secs
Weap - Dragon's Hair
Head - Grand Helm
Wrist - Venetia Shield
Armor - Grand Armor
Attch - Protect Ring
4.Armarant- abilities all learned, MP attack & Healer off
Level - 86
HP - 6522
MP - 272
RV - 407
RI - around 3.5 secs
Weap - Rune Claws
Head - Circlet
Wrist - Bracer
Armor - Brave Suit
Attch - Protect Ring
IV. Ozma's Attacks : They must be over 10 different types. I don't want
to list them all out. You won't meet them all in
just a few fights anyway. I'll show you the common
ones of course. By the way, some of my son's
friends just called, asking me where the hell that
Ozma was (my son is 25. Can you believe it). Well,
Ozma is hidden in the mountain on the far side island
in the Chocobo Air Garden. Of course you need
finishing the Chocobo Hot & Cold game and have learnt
how to fly or else you'll never see HIM for the rest
of your life.
A. The first attack must either be Meteor, Doomsday or Flare Star.
I call these "Major Attacks". "Curse" is quite hard to classify.
It's deadly sometimes. But don't worry. I'll show you how to
counteract this attack later. It's simple but it costs time too.
B. Other than the above mentioned four, none other attacks can wipe
the whole party out. So, they don't mean anything to you as long
as you've learned all the abilities beforehand like I said.
V. Counter Attacks
A. Under normal status every one is living happily, using his/her best
skill to greet the FRIEND.
1. Zidane - ATTACK is the only way. Don't blame him . He's just
a thief. He is no famous knight nor fighter like his
partners. Anyhow, with the "MP attack" on, he can
execute 9999 power attacks most of the time if he is
in a high EXP level.
2. Steiner- His loyalty really touches me. He's strong. He's out-
standing in the area of achieving high HP value. His
sword art is peerless. He always has the ability in
producing a 9999 power attack by using SHOCK.
3. Freya - She's the best amongst her partners. She's faithful.
Her performance is stable no matter under what kind
of situation. Her Dragon Breath never lets you down.
4.Armarant- He is my admirer. He got spirits. He's brave.
Once he sacrificed himself just to save the lives
of his comrades to let them win the battle. I saw
it with my own eyes. Trust me! And his unique
capability of throwing Wing Edge(s) to the enemy
shows himself a real Pro.
B. Under Mini Status : Status under the Curse of Ozma
1.Zidane : THIEVERY is the best trick to fight the
Enemy. The damaging power is around 2400.
2.Steiner : CLIMHAZZARD is the only choice. It's power is
about 3500. I couldn't find any thing better
than this.
3.Freya : She's really good. The DRAGON BREATH still has
the 9999 power attack. Lovely!
4.Armarant: Use CURSE continuously since DEMI SHOCK seems to
have no effect and COUNTDOWNs always miss.
NO MERCY dosen't help much with only 111
damaging power. Still, I like him. He knows how to
return Ozma's gifts back to Him when he feels
doesn't like them.
VI. Make use of Trance in the Battle
A. You know what trance is, don't you? If you don't. Play the
game once again and be sure to read every line of the con-
versations. During Random Battles if one of the characters
is being hit by an enemy, you may notice that the red bar
of this particular character under ATB gets longer. Good,
as you are in the Memoria entrance area, go find the Iron Man.
As soon as you see him, command every character to Defend
mode (look, how cute Eiko and Quina are). Let the Iron Man
do the attacks. Just sit and pay attention to those red bars.
Oh! I almost forget to tell you, do this only after you have
raised the levels of the team to the levels you think best or
enough for the Fight.
When you find that all the Trance bars are getting longer
and longer until every one of them reaches about 90% of its
total length, except Zidane's, use Flee or Attack, as you
wish, to end the fight.
B. In reality, it's very hard to increase the lengths of these
bars to 90% of their total lengths all in one time, in one fight.
It really depends on the Trance situation of each individual
character. You can get help or take turns, I should say, with
Dagger, Eiko or Vivi to finish off the work. The arrangements
are flexible. As to Zidane's Trance bar, its best to set it to
80 to 85%. The reason for these different settings is to
cope with the combination attacks of Ozma. The "90%" means
immediate transformation to Trance status after one attack.
"80-85%" means effective after two majors or one major plus
a Curse. If you want to lower all Trance bars down
to zero, go to meet the Iron Man. He'll do it for you.
VII. Something About the Battle
After over 280 consecutive encounters with Ozma, I did
experience something. As I've mentioned earlier, the first
attack must be a major one including Doomsday, Meteor and
Flare Star. The second attack might well be Berserk, Mini
or Berserk, Berserk. The third one might be Lv 5 Death,
Lv 4 Holy or Curse or another Major, anything!
Doomsday hurts more evenly to the team. It might cut out
over 4300 HP from one or two members.
Flare Star is quite similar to Doomsday but it seems a little
bit less damaging in some cases.
Meteor, the strongest one I believe, may put one or two
characters to immediate death.
A. Case One
Doomsday followed by Minors- your chance of winning is 100%.
B. Case Two
Flare Star followed by Minors- you' ll surely win.
C. Case Three
Meteor followed by Minors resulting deaths of one or
two members - it takes longer to win.
D. Case Four
Either Doomsday or Flare Star followed by Curse –
The winning time will be much longer.
E. Case Five
Meteor followed by Curse – if all members died after the
first Major when Trance couldn't save you either. "Curse" will
end the game for you. This is the 5% no one can off set
or this is how the game was programmed.
Remember this is purely an attacking battle. If you don't cut off
Ozma's HP level within the first two rounds, you'll be in trouble.
That's why its second Major Attack less damaging and even misses
one or two targets in the third one.
Therefore, when you find that one or two members are dead after the
first Major Attack, don't try to save them at once. Remember every
turn of yours should be an attacking one. If you waste your precious
chance to hurt your enemy then you might be badly hurt or demolished
before the next turn. Ozma has a very high damaging as well as
healing power. Sometimes Ozma might issue a Major Attack before it
dies. Don't mix up. Always calculate by heart the approximate HP
difference between the damages you lay upon Ozma and the HP it
regains. Do the saving when you feel safe. This is a rare case
I can assure you.
Yes. Zidane's Trance bar set up is a compromise. The other members
may get into Trance right after the first Major Attack in order
to give more time for the whole team to regain the HP level ( Mind
you, the time when one member gets into Trance plus four members'
processes to finish the Auto Potion procedure takes over 33 seconds).
And if the second attack issued by Ozma is a Curse then Zidane will
still be in his normal status to show his best performance.
Of course, you can substitute Zidane with Armarant or you can set
both of them with the same Trance level. It won't make too much of
a difference.
VIII. The Seventh Round
This is something I really don't understand. I use the same save
to reload the game every time I beat Ozma (I have quite a many saves
in different levels). I always find that the 7th, 17th, 27th 37th
and so on, the hardest one to beat. This really puzzles me.
Never mind. Let's go to see what you can get after the victory.
IX. The Reward
As long as Ozma is beaten, you won't really care what you will be
rewarded I am sure. Anyway, here are the things you deserve to
know.
A. a pumice or a pumice plus a dark matter
B. 16383 EXP
C. 18312 Gil
D. 100 AP
E. a Strategy Guide (on cards) from Mene
F. an Ozma card from Mene
G. Mene will have your characters' MP & HP
restored, status effects removed
Finally I want to say that the % of the length of the Trance bar
is a real measurement and calculation on my TV screen. Whereas
the times of the Regain Interval are the best possible estimation
from my sight. It might not be too exact but the proportions are
right. I did these all by myself alone. Nobody assisted me.
X. Copyright
This article is under the protection of the Copyright Laws, U.S. 2001.
It is not allowed for person or persons or parties of any form to
republish it wholly or partially or to use it as means of profit-
making without the prior consent of the writer, Michael Chan.
