FFIX Excalibur II Perfect Game (Version X) - 38 To the Forgotten Continent, Oeilvert & Ark
4Chocograph Treasures: 12 Phoenix Down, 14 Ore, Kaiser Knuckles, Iron Man Card
Items: Remedy, Elixir, Rising Sun, Diamond Sword, Feather Boots, Power Vest, Shield Armor, Gaia Gear, Holy Lance (stolen), Power Vest (stolen)
Key Items: Gulug Stone, Hourglass Key
Gil Dropped: 128 Gil (1x Ogre)
Once prompted to split your party, take Zidane, Steiner, Eiko, and Amarant. The last version of the guide had Freya going to Oeilvert, but by leaving her at the Desert Palace, she will play a critical role in the Vaila Pira fight. More on that later.
You will likely get into one random battle on the way to the airship, so if Zidane can take another hit on his trance gauge, then you want to encounter an Ogre and wait for it's Flame attack, which deals a percentage of your HP, which Zidane will always survive. Other than Ark's Photon attack, this is the last attack that Zidane can survive before the forced fights in Pandemonium. Before fleeing, Amarant needs to be knocked out, because he needs to be in critical HP for the Ark battle!
Once on the Forgotten Continent, run toward the chocobo tracks and save. Once you restart your file, reach the chocobo tracks beyond the small forest and revive Amarant before calling Choco with a Gysahl Green. Select the Dusk Plains chocograph and head to its location and dig up Amarant's Kaiser Knuckles. This weapon will make almost every boss fight from here to the Excalibur II much, much faster!
Once you enter Oeilvert, it's time to buy some missable items:
Items Purchased: 1 Diamond Sword, 2 Trident, 2 Mythril Claws, 1 Magic Racket, 2 Fairy Flute, 2 Diamond Gloves, 7 Green Beret, 1 Gold Helm
If by some stroke of good luck you stole it from Antlion way back at Cleyra, you shouldn't have to buy a Gold Helm. It isn't missable, but Steiner needs it for the Ark battle, also pick up Mimoza's letter before saving.
On the restart, simply pick up a few treasures and set up your party for the upcoming boss fight. Move Amarant to the TOP of the order and to the FRONT ROW. THIS IS IMPORTANT!
Amarant - Kaiser Knuckles, Green Beret, Bone Wrist, Adaman Vest, Power Belt (Ability Up, Bird Killer, Clear Headed, MP Attack)
Steiner - Coral Sword, Gold Helm, Diamond Gloves, Shield Armor, Coral Ring (Clear Headed, Ability Up)
Zidane - Mythril Dagger/Exploda, Green Beret, Thief Gloves, Chain Plate, Reflect Ring (Ability Up, Bandit, Master Thief, Clear Headed)
Eiko - Lamia's Flute, --- , Magic Armlet, --- , --- (Clear Headed)
You will not be able to completely set up Steiner until you pick up the Shield Armor, so just set up what you can now. If you have Bandit mastered, then the Exploda can be used in its place since you still need AP for Lucky Seven anyway. If Amarant is already in critical HP, then you really don't need to set up Eiko except to give her Clear Headed. Eiko has no major purpose in the challenge and this is the last time she has any use.
After saving just pick up the remaining treasures and activate all of the displays shown in the video. When you pick up the Shield Armor, equip it to Steiner so he can gain some AP towards Distract.
On the lift going down to Ark, DO NOT SKIP the FMV! It only lasts 8 seconds and you will likely lose seconds if you try to.
Finally, the battle strategy for Ark. The way the party is set up, Amarant will deal about 5400 damage per attack. That means 4 attacks from him will win. Also Charge! allows all characters with critical HP to attack as one so in essence Charge means another attack from Amarant! More importantly, if more than one character is in critical HP, the attacks are carried out from the top to the bottom of the order, and this is why Amarant needs to be at the top. Therefore, 2 attacks from Amarant and 2 Charges from Steiner will win the battle. Reset if Ark uses Whirlwind or Boomerang, and if the boss uses Photon, Zidane CAN NOT enter trance if he is hit! Lastly, Zidane MUST steal the Holy Lance before the battle is over as Freya will need it for the battle with Vaila Pira! The Holy Lance is in the rare slot so you have a 1/16 chance of getting it, however with Master Thief active, those odds have improved to 1/8. This method is much better and faster than relying on Lucky Seven in previous versions, as now the only luck involved lies with the attacks Ark uses and the stealing of the Holy Lance!
Key Abilities Learned:
Amarant - Bird Killer, Add Status
Before picking up the Gulug Stone, give Eiko an Air Racket and remove all of her equipment along with Amarant's Power Belt as Freya needs it very soon. Also equip Zidane with the Dagger.
When it comes to getting the hourglass key, try not to get greedy for the sake of saving time. The Hedgehog Pie will turn around more often the closer you get, so just hit O about 5 times and wait for him to turn around. The timer should be no less than 4:20 when the ordeal is over.
Accept the next letter for delivery and save.
Target Time - 8:57:28
Gil - 99,000
Encounters - 1
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