Final Fantasy IX

This game has a run page on SDA!

Useful Action Abilities

Limit Glove

Limit Glove is a very useful Blue Magic ability. If Quina's HP is exactly 1, Limit Glove will do 9999 damage; otherwise, it misses. This ability can be learned right after getting Quina the first time, from a Mandragora in the forest just west of South Gate.

There are a few easy ways to get Quina to exactly 1 HP.

• If Quina is already dead, use a Phoenix Down on him/her, and retry until Quina is revived with exactly 1 HP. (A Phoenix Down will give between 1-10 HP.) This trick works best at the very beginning of a segment.
• Learn the blue magic Auto Life. In battle, have Quina cast Auto-Life on him/herself, then kill Quina and s/he will be automatically revived with 1 HP. The best place to learn this is from a Carrion Worm in Cleyra's Trunk. However, this is the least efficient way (time-wise) to get Quina to 1 HP.
• Equip Quina with the Rebirth Ring and its Auto-Life support ability. This is much like the previous trick, except it skips the step of having to cast Auto Life on Quina. You get the Rebirth Ring by winning the card tournament in Treno on Disc 3.

Lucky Seven

If Zidane's HP ends in any number other than 7, Lucky Seven will do 1 damage. However, when his HP ends in 7, this ability will do either 7, 77, 777, or 7777 damage. Zidane's max HP will end in 7 at levels 13 and 17. Lucky Seven can be learned from Gladius, Exploda (most likely to be used in a speedrun), Rune Tooth, The Tower, and Thief's Hat.

Charge!

When Steiner uses Charge!, any party member whose HP is critical will immediately use a physical attack. This ability is useful against bosses who counterattack a lot (specifically Kraken and Trance Kuja), because the boss will counterattack only once when Charge! is used, even if all four characters attack. Steiner can learn this from Coral Sword and Aegis Gloves.

Useful Support Abilities

Certain support abilities can greatly increase the amount of damage that physical attacks do. These, along with strong weapons, make physical attacks the main source of damage later in the game.

"Killer" Abilites

The "killer" abilities make physical attacks do much more damage against certain types of enemies. Below are listed the most useful of these abilities, the equipment from which they can be learned, and which enemies are susceptible to them. Note: Only bosses and enemies in forced battles are listed.

• Bird Killer

  Learned from Adaman Vest, Yellow Scarf, Bronze Armor, and Chain Mail.

  • Gizamaluke
  • Valia Pira
  • Red Dragon (forced battle in Mount Gulug)
  • Taharka
  • Abadon (forced battle in Pandemonium)
  • Amdusias (forced battle in Pandemonium)
  • Silver Dragon
  • Nova Dragon
  • Deathguise
  • Trance Kuja
  • Necron

• Devil Killer

  Learned from Chain Plate, Demon's Vest, Cross Helm, and Thunder Gloves.

  • Meltigemini
  • Earth Guardian
  • Amdusias (forced battle in Pandemonium)
  • Maliris
  • Kraken (and his tentacles)
  • Lich
  • Deathguise

• Dragon Killer

  Learned from Barbut and Javelin.

  • Red Dragon (forced battle in Mount Gulug)
  • Shell Dragon (forced battle in Pandemonium)
  • Silver Dragon
  • Nova Dragon
  • Tiamat

• Man Eater

  Learned from Bandana, Coronet, Coral Ring, and Mythril Gloves.

  • Black Mage Type A, B, and C
  • Black Waltz 1, 2, and 3
  • Beatrix (all three battles)
  • Zorn and Thorn (Alexandria Castle)
  • Lani
  • Hilgigars
  • Scarlet Hair (aka Amarant, Madain Sari)
  • Garland
  • Kuja (Pandemonium)
  • Trance Kuja

MP Attack

This ability uses MP to make physical attacks do more damage. It can be learned from Red Hat, Power Belt, Battle Boots, and Cross Helm.

Distract

A character with the Distract ability will evade almost every physical attack. It can be learned from Judo Uniform, Diamond, Reflect Ring, and Shield Armor.

Avoiding Random Encounters

It's possible to get through the entire game with only 5 random encounters; however, the current run on SDA had 10 encounters. Each random encounter costs at least 30 seconds.

Almost every screen can be gotten through with no random encounters. The known exceptions are:

• In Magdalene Forest, the screen where you follow the signs to get to the Black Mage Village.
• In the Iifa Tree, the third screen after riding the platform down.
• Outside Kuja's Palace, the screen where the Hilda Garde is visible (must go through this screen 3 times).

The best way to get no encounters is to just keep retrying until it happens. Some have suggested a stop-run method, where you run for a little bit then stop for a little bit, but this usually ends up wasting time. On screens where there are lots of curves (such as the beginning of the Iifa Tree), it may help to use the d-pad instead of the analog stick to avoid getting stuck; when doing this, be sure that movement is set to "run" instead of "walk" in the config menu. Also, on the world map, it's impossible to get a random encounter as long as the name of a continent is on the screen (only available for Mist Continent and Outer Continent).

Minor Tricks

• In the main menu, you can switch between the Ability and Equip screens by pressing Square.
• The fastest way to skip dialogue is to alternate between pressing X and Square.