��������������������������������������������������� FINAL FANTASY IX c h o c o b o f a q v . 1 by Jov animanga, rpg -- http://www.chocobuckle.com playstation, rpg -- http://www.disc13.com ��������������������������������������������������� Final Fantasy IX is � SQUARESOFT Please do not copy this game guide without permission from me, Jov. Any questions about it should be e-mailed at the above address. Other FAQs and reviews I made can be found at http://www.disc13.com ��������������������������������������������������� T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S : x. Introduction xi. Version updates I. The World of Chocobo - what are chocobos? - who is Choco? - how do you call Choco? - Chocobo navigation II. Chocobo Colors and Abilities III. How to Play Chocobo Hot & Cold a.) KWEH translations b.) Types of hunting - digging grounds - world map > how to locate and identify islands in the world map. > tips on using clues IV. Treasure Digging Grounds a.) Chocobo's Forest b.) Chocobo's Lagoon c.) Chocobo's Air Garden d.) Chocobo's Paradise V. Types of Treasures a.) Items b.) Weapons and Equipments c.) Chocographs - checklist of all 24 chocographs: treasure, location, etc. d.) Chocograph pieces - listing of all 6 chocograph pieces and the treasures they clue in ______________________________________________________________________________ x.) Introduction ______________________________________________________________________________ Haven't we all missed those cute chocobos? ^_^ In Final Fantasy IX, the chocobos are back for fun! They're only here for the sidequest, though, and you can pretty much deal without them. But then again, who cares? We all love those feathred critters, dont we? ^_- Anyway, the chocobo quest here basically concerns digging up treasure. Well, it might not be as fun as those old Gold Saucer days, where you race and breed 'em (this is just my opinion--feel free to vent out your anger about this statement at the message board, haha), but at least you get plenty o' booty! It's actually a little frustrating at first, but as you level up and change colors, it's all gonna be pretty easy and you'll surely get the hang of it. Don't be surprised when you suddenly start humming the tune, or when you begin to tap your foot along with the music as you search for hidden treasures... ^_- Remember: an FF is not an FF without them chocobos. ______________________________________________________________________________ xi.) Version updates ______________________________________________________________________________ v.1 -- UNDER CONSTRUCTION. Still have to complete the list of treasure hunting grounds, chocographs, chocograph pieces, etc. ^^; ______________________________________________________________________________ I. THE WORLD OF CHOCOBO ______________________________________________________________________________ As I've said before, an FF is not an FF without them chocobos. ^_^ They're always there for some reason, mostly for travel purposes. Almost nothing alive can keep up with its speed, so they were used in past FFs to avoid enemy encounters. In the FF world, a chocobo is your regular horse--except that this "horse" bullets as fast, if not, faster than F1 race cars. Awesome, huh? In Final Fantasy IX, we use chocobos mostly for the same reasons as before, except that now we also use them to dig up treasures in specific locations. And, unlike in Final Fantasy VII, where you could own several chocobos and name them as well, you are only blessed with one faithful companion here (I'm referring to a chocobo, of course). His name is Choco! Choco is one of those special chocobos who evolve. He gains abilities every time he evolves/change colors. Also, his beak, which you use for digging up treasures, gains strength with each level. This makes the digging a whole lot easier. To call him, just stand over an area where there are chocobo tracks (notice those weird, giant bird-like footprints in some areas?) and use gysahl greens. By this, I mean that you open your menu, choose item, and click on "Gysahl Greens". Bear in mind that calling a chocobo in Final Fantasy IX IS NOT THE SAME AS CAPTURING A CHOCOBO in Final Fantasy VII. Please don't make the same stupid mistake as I did. Oh, and don't worry about the amount of gysahl greens you have at hand--you'll have much more of 'em when you start digging. And you can also buy some from Mene, the moogle at the digging grounds. Navigating him is fairly easy: Cursor keys - move Choco about in whichever direction you choose. Square - dig Triangle - look at chocographs; open menu Circle - dismount Choco; land X - mount Choco; climb higher area for digging; fly R1 & L1 - rotate screen R2 & L2 - toggle/change view; lock/unlock rotation You first meet Choco in Chocobo Forest, btw. Check out the "TREASURE DIGGING GROUNDS" section for more details. ______________________________________________________________________________ II. CHOCOBO COLORS AND ABILITIES ______________________________________________________________________________ There are five basic colors for Choco. In each color change comes a new ability. Note that the table bellow is arranged from the lowest type of chocobo color to the highest. Each type has one more ability than the one before it. As Choco evolves, he does not lose the previously learned ability. Also, you can't skip colors. Choco must go through all these evolutions before he can be come a Gold chocobo. +-----------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+ | COLOR | TYPE | FIELD ABILITIES | +-----------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+ | Yellow | Field Chocobo | Walk on plains/fields. | +-----------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+ | Light Blue | River Chocobo | Walk on shallow waters. | +-----------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+ | Red | Mountain Chocobo | Walk on higher terrains. | +-----------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+ | Dark Blue | Ocean Chocobo | Walk on deeper waters. | +-----------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+ | Gold | Sky Chocobo | Fly. | +-----------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+ The lowest level is the common type, YELLOW FIELD CHOCOBO. Choco will of course, start at this level. With this level, he can only walk on plains or fields, but at least you can avoid enemey encounters. Higher than the common type is the LIGHT BLUE RIVER CHOCOBO. Choco will evolve into this next. He is all that yellow type is, and more: he can cross rivers, and shallow reefs. RED MOUNTAIN CHOCOBO is next. Like the past colors yellow and blue, it can walk on plains and cross rivers/shallow water. But this one can walk on higher terrains like mountains. Choco will evolve into this after being a light blue river chocobo for some time. After crossing mountains, Choco will be able to evolve into DARK BLUE OCEAN CHOCOBO. He is all the past chocobo types and more: he can now wade in any part of the ocean, deep or shallow. GOLD SKY CHOCOBO is the highest type any chocobo can evolve into. It can travel anywhere a chocobo can--in plains, in sea water. But it is the only type of chocobo that can fly. Choco will evolve into this next, some time after being a dark blue ocean chocobo. Also take note that as Choco evolves into a higher type of chocobo, he is able to dig up faster than before. ______________________________________________________________________________ III. HOW TO PLAY CHOCOBO HOT & COLD ______________________________________________________________________________ As soon as you return to Chocobo's Forest with Choco, you can already play the Chocobo Hot & Cold game. Just talk to Mene and choose the first option. What is the whole point of the H&C game? Well basically, it is a very important sidequest. It opens up doors to several other quests which are just as rewarding. You dig up treasures and you get to keep them. All you have to do is dig around the area (in digging grounds like Chocobo forest or specific locations like those indicated on the chocographs) ______________________________________________________________________________ IV. TREASURE DIGGING GROUNDS ______________________________________________________________________________ There are several chocobo dwellings where you can dig for treasures and look for chocographs and chocograph pieces. Check out these locations: a.) CHOCOBO'S FOREST This area is located northeast of Lindblum. You can visit it on the way to Gizmaluke's Grotto; it's the perfectly shaped forest across the bridge to the east. Upon entering this forest, a moogle named Mene will greet you. You will be introduced to Choco. Aside from that, Mene will give you a couple of info on chocobos and gysahl greens. Where are the best spots to dig in the area? I don't know about others' games, but for me, it's usually near Mene or right smack in the middle, where there's a tiny patch of ground not covered in green grass. There's also the upper left area near the tree trunk and the mid-left area among the plants. b.) CHOCOBO'S LAGOON Once Mene tells you about it, you can outside the forest to check your world map. It's already there, located southwest. It's south of Daguerreo, actually, but just in case you haven't visited that place yet, Chocobo's Lagoon is in one of the spread of small islands at the lower left part of the map. How to reach it? First, you should at least have a light blue river chocobo. There is another small island above it (Salvage Archipelago), with a beach and some chocobo tracks. Land there, and call Choco. You can't travel directly southward to the other island where the lagoon is, no matter how much you try, unless of course you have a dark blue or gold chocobo at this point in time. You have to go the other way around (northeast), passing by the smaller islands, and a larger one where Daguerro is located, and the brown lands where it's always dusk (that area turns a bit yellow when you pass by it, like the way Treno darkens whenever you pass by it as well). Now digging in the lagoon is fairly easy for the first part. If you don't have a dark blue chocobo, then you can't dig on on the deep part of the lagoon. You're then restricted to search on the shallow half of the place, for half the price and half the time (30 seconds, 30 gil). It's not very hard to search for items here, but they're buried very deep ranging from 40-70 in the depth meter. You have to press very fast on that square button... These kickbacks are what discourages other players to dig in this area. They much prefer to hunt at Chocobo's Forest where the time limit is 60, but personally, I like Chocobo's lagoon better. For the first few times, it was difficult to dig up more than three items at one go, but for some reason, it's easier to level up here. And of course, as you level up, your beak gets stronger so the digging becomes much easier. *under construction* ______________________________________________________________________________ V. TYPES OF TREASURES ______________________________________________________________________________