Back on Gaia, you take the Invincible to the Black Mage Village, where the Black
Mages welcome the Genomes from Terra with open arms. Before setting out to
destroy Kuja, be sure to check out the village's Synthesist which can now
synthesize some very good items, including many of the eidolon gems. Before
heading to the final dungeon, there are a few things to take care of, and a few
things that can't be taken care of. First of all, the coffee quest can no longer
be completed since Observatory Mountain is blocked off by Iifa Tree roots. The
Mognet sidequest is also inaccessible since many areas containing moogles
important to that quest are blocked by Iifa Tree roots. There are also many
other places blocked by Iifa Tree roots. These areas include: Conde Petie,
Oeilvert, Esto Gaza, Ice Cavern, Pinnacle Rocks, Fossil Roo, and Observatory
Mountain. There are many things that you do need to do, however. First, get the
12th Stellazzio from inside the Invincible. Take it to Stella, and upon finding
out that there is a 13th Stellazzio, just go to Quan's Dwelling where the
Scorpio Stellazzio used to be. This is also a good time to complete the Chocobo
sidequest, since there is a chocograph that yields the poweful Ragnarok for
Steiner and there are other chocographs with good items as well. You also need a
chocobo to get Zidane's Ultima Weapon. You just need the Ocean ability, and then
take the chocobo to the exact location where the Shimmerin Island was and use a
Dead Pepper to dive to the ocean bottom and retrieve it. When you decide that
there is nothing left to do, fly the Invincible to the glowing sphere above the
Iifa Tree.
Memoria
An awesome FMV awaits you at the entrance of Memoria, and then there is a boss
battle before you can even enter the last dungeon. Your first battle is against
the Nova Dragon. Have Steiner use Shock, Vivi use Flare or Meteor, Dagger or
Eiko use whatever their strongest summon is, and all others use their most
powerful attacks. Memoria has no moogles, but it has spherical save points that
serve the same purpose. Fortunately, there is a save point near the entrance,
making it a good place to level up. In the next room, go to the left of the
entrance before the bridge to find the first card master. In the next area,
there is a balcony near the top with The Tower for Zidane. Continue on to come
to a bridge where you will suddenly be attacked by the first of the four Chaos
Guardians, Maliris. Have Steiner use Shock. Since Maliris may use Reflect, you
should have Vivi equip the Reflectx2 ability and use Reflect on him and bounce
spells off him and onto the boss. Be sure that your characters are in good
condition before finishing him off since he uses Raining Swords as a final
attack. In the next area where you see the scenes of Alexandria and Bahamut,
search on the little platform for Eiko's Angel Flute. Go to the left after the
entrance in the rainy area to find the second card master. In the next area with
the eyeball in the sky, search to the left to find the Rune Claws for Amarant.
Going up the stairs initiates a battle against the second Chaos Guardian, Tiamat.
Equip your characters with items that protect against Wind elemental and
Confusion. Have Eiko use the Earth elemental version of Fenrir, unless her
Madeen is significantly more powerful. Use Vivi's Flare or Meteor, Steiner use
Shock, Dagger use her strongest summon or act as a healer. Continue through the
ruined looking area, and when you come to the little back alley area, find the
third card master in the corner. Go on until you come to an area with a save
point and a waterfall. In the next area where Quina thinks she is underwater,
and it looks like you are in the ocean, go around the rocks to the right to find
the optional boss, Hades. Equip your characters against many of the status
effects. Have Steiner use Shock, and if Hades uses Reflect, cast Reflect on one
of your characters and bounce your most powerful spells off of him or her. This
fight is fairly difficult, but is definitely much easier than the other optional
boss, Ozma. After the fight, Hades opens up a synthesist shop, where you can get
many good items including the Save the Queen sword and Pumice, which allows you
to summon Ark in case you never fought Ozma. Continue past the underwater area
and go up the stairs in the next area to fight the third Chaos Guardian, Kraken.
Protect your characters against Water elemental and the Freeze status. Destroy
his two tentacles first and use Fire elemental attacks. In the next area with
the weird looking clock in the front, go to the back to find a hidden save
point. Go up the stairs to the right to find the fourth card master. The door on
the left leads to a room with a burning globe in the back. Go up the ladder and
come to a platform with another ladder. Before going up the second ladder, check
the left corner of the room for the Mace of Zeus for Vivi, and check the right
corner for the fifth card master. Go up the ladder to find the last Chaos
Guardian, Lich. Equip your characters with the Locomotion ability. Lich may use
Reflect so bounce spells off your characters with your own Reflect. Have Steiner
use Shock(of course) have Eiko use Madeen and Quina use Twister if s/he has it.
After the fight, check the left side of the room for another hidden save point.
In the next area that looks like Outer Space, just move upwards to continue. The
crystal area has enemies that are less powerful versions of the Chaos Guardians.
Eventually when you reach the save point, you are just a few steps from the last
boss. If you are having second thoughts now, the save point can teleport you
back to the entrance. Go on to find Kuja, who sends the demon Deathguise to
attack you. Equip your characters with Insomniac. Use Steiner's Shock and use
Vivi's Reflectx2 to do extra damage. After this fight, you can actually go back
to the save point. Approach Kuja to initiate your final battles. Kuja is very
powerful, but if you were able to defeat Hades or Ozma, then you will definitely
be able to defeat him. Your characters should have Auto-Life, Auto-Regen, and
High Tide equipped. Use whatever your most powerful attacks are. Don't hold back
at all! At the end of the fight, Kuja uses Ultima to wipe out the party. When
Kuja is gone, Zidane and the others are approached by Necron, the final enemy.
You have the chance to heal and equip your characters before the last battle,
fortunately. Equip your characters against all status effect since Necron is
adept at using Grand Cross which inflicts several status ailments. Like the
fight with Kuja, use your absolute best attacks, but it is also very important
to heal because you will need to do so very often. If you defeated Hades or Ozma,
then you should feel confident that you can beat Necron.
