Ludicrous difficulty spike

[TrollHunter]

I kindof want to get the psp emulator for it now...
Also ludicrous reminded me of this scene from spaceballs...
‪Spaceballs - They've gone into plaid‬‏ - YouTube

[Laddy]

Frankly, I found IX to be the easiest of the PS1 FF's.

I think you're underleveled. Are you learning skills properly?

[champagne supernova]

I remember the boss in the Ghetto owned me until I got Quina and the extra numbers made it a lot easier.

[Professor Complexity]

A few things you should always do in Lindblum:

• Synthesise the Butterfly Sword and the Ogre for Zidane in the Business District over from Dragoose's weapon shop.
• Let Freya win the Festival (the Coral Ring is more useful than 5000 Gill)
• Get Add-ons

If you don't get the upgrades before you enter Gizmalukes Grotto for the first time you'll need to wait until Treno on Disc 2 before you can access another Synthesis Shop as Lindblum recalls all trolley's and stops all access to the castle (the Guard tells you this).

I also seriously recommend you go to Chocobo's Forest and get the Healing Shore Chocograph, then the Small Island - the latter one gives you an Oak Staff with Drain, Bio and Stop in it - when you can't buy it in the shops until Condie Piete on the Outer Continent so it gives you a massive one-up if you manage to steal the Ice-Staff and Magus Hat from Gizmaluke before you arrive in Burmecia.

Regarding the Guarda and Grand Dragons:

Not impossible to beat, just very hard and it needs a lot of luck, a coral ring and the Ice staff. I first beat one at level 9, and I got very lucky - then it gets easier.

[FFIX Choco Boy]

Of course it would get easier after that. You'd go from 9 to like 20 in one battle.

[Depression Moon]

I don't ever recall IX being hard at all excluding the optional bosses.

[Darth Cid]

I dunno I never found FFIX and I don't see why another port would get tougher.

[Mirage]

It isn't a port, it is the same game.

[Professor Complexity]

Of course it would get easier after that. You'd go from 9 to like 20 in one battle.

You can't beat a Grand Dragon without worry until you're in your late 30's, early 40's and even then it depends on your characters, equipment, support abilities and action abilities.

Example:

Level 10 characters (Zidane, Vivi, Freya and Quina)

How do they fight something that can kill all of them in one hit?

Not easily; this is why Antibody and the Coral Ring are the two most vital "things" you can have; you should also have Level 3 Defence Less (Carve Spider, Lindblum Plateau) and Limit Glove (Axebeak, Lindblum Plateau), Whitewind (Garuda, Popos Heights) and Mustard Bomb (Bomb, Lindblum Plateau) - the last four abilities are spells in the Blue Magic category, and can be learnt by having Quina eat the listed monster; be warned that White Wind should be attempted to acquired last due to the fact that once you enter Gizmalukes Grotto for the first time, you lose access to Lindblum.

Hmm, perhaps I should just do a guide on it as there seems to real point to me typing it out here and now.

I don't ever recall IX being hard at all excluding the optional bosses.

Ozma *shivers* Wasn't that hard if you had the Egoists Armlet and Demons Mail though, you'd just either Guard or Absorb the Doomsday attack whilst he took damage (if you'd found all of the friendly creatures), watching Vivi cast it and just knowing that I was safe was a relief.

[Mirage]

Can't you just kill them with Lv5 Death?

After some research it seems like you can't get it that earl. I was under the impression that you could.

[Professor Complexity]

Can't you just kill them with Lv5 Death?

After some research it seems like you can't get it that earl. I was under the impression that you could.

No, Level 5 Death is learnt from a Dracozombie (Dragon Zombie), first encountered in the Lifa Tree, disc 2 when Quina is not with you (remember that s/he leaves the party at the start of Condie Piete mountain path to chase after Mog when you first "meet" Eiko). The earliest opportunity to learn that ability is disc 3, with the Blue Narciss at your disposal.

[Mirage]

Well that sucks.

[Professor Complexity]

Well that sucks.

But you can defeat the dragons on disc one, it just requires a bit of luck and making the right choices in Lindblum with the festival of the hunt.

[Jessweeee♪]

I always had a hard time there too because I hate grinding. Running around in circles in the same spot fighting the same monsters for three hours is not fun. It's work. I play video games for fun.

[Mirage]

I didn't really grind a lot in my current playthrough, and I can't recall anything that looked like a difficulty spike there.

I've pretty much played from the beginning of the game to Iifa over the last 3-4 days or so.