Excalibur 2 perfect game

Even without speeding up the game, it is easily possible to claim the sword in under nine hours by making use of all other enhancements. In these versions, claiming the sword earns the player the achievement The Ultimate Sword. Usage of enhancements does not prevent the player from earning the achievement, however, as with all such enhancements, it is at the player's discretion whether such use constitutes cheating.

The Excalibur II is not technically missable , although it is missable within reason. It is possible to reset the game clock to allow a player to gain the Excalibur II again if missed the first time by allowing the game's internal clock not the displayed time to overflow and restart from the beginning.

If one is going after a "perfect" game save, there is much more that needs to be considered, such as many items, key items, and such cannot be obtained after their respective disc. This is made harder by the fact that to get the S rank medal , one will need to have not missed much treasure.

Another issue is achieving " perfect stats "; if one is to make the most of a character's stat potential one must play a "level 1 game" until disc 4, when the best stat-boosting equipment becomes available. There are four battles where EXP must be gained: the three battles fought in Pandemonium , and Tantarian. So players have to choose what characters absorb what EXP. For years, this challenge was thought impossible on the PAL PlayStation version, but later it was shown that a PAL playthrough is possible, but extremely difficult.

It is a fake version of Tournesol , one of the strongest weapons. It can be obtained after completing the post-game mission, "Mission The Hero Blade". An improvement upon perfection, this knight's blade has been honed to a razor-sharp edge. It is obtained during the Frimelda quest chain, and is referred to as Frimelda's weapon.

Excalibur II is one of the strongest swords. It is a level 99 sword with an ATK of It can be obtained as a drop from defeating the Steiner Friend Card. Excalibur II is a level sword, but still maintains the same effects as the first game. It can be obtained as a drop from defeating the No. A knight's sword from the faraway world of Gaia.

The blade holds an unusual green tone to it. This sword is known back in the world of Gaia as being the strongest of all knight swords, and is also notorious for how difficult it is to obtain. It provides ATK and is Light-elemental. A holy sword given to a great king by the Lady of the Lake, it is the counterpart to the blade with the selfsame name pulled from a great stone. So what's the "very notable" exception? It can be won from the Auction House as long as you don't have any in your inventory.

This means you can get a total of 9 copies from the Auction House equip one on each character and buy 1 more. However, 1 more copy is found in the Desert Palace. So if you buy all 9 from the Auction House before heading to the Desert Palace, you can have a total of This might make the 10th copy seem pointless.

In the case of Promist Ring this is 10, since it's the maximum possible amount and therefore not arbitrary - unlike 10 Power Belt, for instance. If you don't get 10 on Disc 3 then there is no way to have 10 on Disc 4. And if you sell the 10th copy at any time even on Disc 3 , it's gone forever. Therefore you can treat the 10th copy as a missable unique item, and the 9 others as the requirement for acquiring and keeping it.

Non-missable unique items, such as ultimate weapons and items such as Hammer, are not included since they're not really relevant to the main challenge. The quantities provided are maximum quantities without synthesis. So, you should have 1 Dragon's Claws and 1 Duel Claws in your perfect save. NOTE: Some of the gems are also temporarily gotten during the Friendly Monsters side-quest, but they cannot be kept without leaving the side-quest incomplete. Those copies are therefore not included here.

If not, you will have to reset and try again. Furthermore, you'll be able to collect the Rank S Medal if you do this, which is likewise essential for a perfect save. However, you'll mainly loot only the missable chests and field icons during the course of this challenge. There really are a lot of them and there's no reason to waste time picking up the non-missable treasures if they aren't useful.

Time does really add up doing this! You can find a complete list of all the game's chests and field icons, with locations and missability, in the Treasure Locations section. A short while later you'll be in Gizamaluke's Grotto and find 4 Gizamaluke Bells - you only need 3 to progress and can keep the 4th in your inventory or use it on the last remaining locked door at any time.

Either way it will be visible that you got all 4. The 4 colored stones are gotten on the Conde Petie Mountain Path on Disc 2 as part of a minor optional side-quest. You can trade them in for a missable and unique Moonstone, or keep them as missable key items. The former lets you have all Moonstone and complete the side-quest, while the latter lets you keep 4 nice key items proving you could have completed it if you had wanted to. It's your choice! At the start of Disc 3 you'll control Vivi in Alexandria and will have the opportunity to play a racing mini-game against Hippaul.

The Athlete Queen is your reward for getting him to Lv80, and can only be gotten then and there at the beginning of Disc 3. A few story scenes later you'll have the chance to finally finish the Mr. Morrid's coffee side-quest which you began by picking up the missable Moccha Coffee at South Gate on Disc 1. As with the colored stones, you can choose to complete the side-quest and get the Mini-Prima-Vista to appear in the Tantalus hideout, or keep the 3 coffees in your inventory forever.

Finally, the Rank S Medal: although it can be gotten on Disc 3 or Disc 4, the condition for this is missable in the sense that you can't reach Rank S if you don't collect enough treasures prior to Disc 4, since all the non-missable ones still available on Disc 4 are not enough to get you the best rank. So you need to collect a certain minimum of the missable treasures as well. This won't be a problem since we'll pick up all of them!

In the end, there is no real reason for not getting any of these key items as they can all be gotten within the limits of this challenge and require no compromises to be made in order to get them. Furthermore, you can only work on them after getting the Excalibur II as you are not only limited by the Lv at which you begin, but also by the available selection of equipment.

Simply put, you do not have access to all of the necessary equipment until after you get the Excalibur II, and if it is available, then you either don't have the time to actually get it or to level up with it to a meaningful degree. What does this mean for you? It means that you will be playing the whole game at Lv 1! If the game let you, that is.

There are many forced battles in the game and most of them can be won without absorbing any EXP by using the Stop spell and the Needle Fork's Add Status property, Petrify. Depending on what your priorities for your perfect save are, you may have to defeat Tantarian and gain his EXP as well. Don't be intimidated by a Lv 1 Game; it has its difficult parts, but it's very fun overall!

The issue of the Lv 1 Game and max stats is covered in detail in the next two sections of the guide. It's a bit complicated and lengthy, but you have to read and understand it if you want a perfect save which you'll be happy with. It wouldn't really be a perfect save if you missed any of the letters, especially since you have to deliver them anyway in order to revive Mognet Central on Disc 4.

Reading and receiving all other mail is also a part of this goal. That means you will receive all letters addressed to Zidane and read all the letters from Stiltzkin and other moogles to each other. The point is to have all the letters accessible at the end of the game under the moogles' Mognet menus. The easiest way to achieve this goal is to simply check the Mognet option every time you meet a moogle, even if it is for the second time in a row.

If there is anything to read, receive or deliver you will immediately be prompted to do so. Don't worry, though, as the walkthrough will always mention whether and which letters a moogle has at a particular time, as there are some rare instances when you can miss a letter if you don't purposely backtrack.

Here is a list of all the letters which you must deliver and read during the course of the challenge, in chronological order:. It is also very lucrative, as you can actually make a profit from most of his deals, get several copies of unique items, and even a Ribbon as a reward for buying all the offers.

They are all listed below in chronological order, with locations and prices:. You want to be as complete as possible in this challenge and you have to defeat Amdusias anyway as the Running Shoes are given as a reward. Thus, you may as well defeat the other 2 monsters for the sake of completion and some minor benefit 15, Gil from Catoblepas. The problem is that unlike with unique items or side-quests, stat perfection is rather subjective.

Due to the way the stat system is designed, it is impossible to max all stats for any character. Everyone is capable of reaching 50 Spirit, but no one can reach the max in the other 3 stats, except Zidane, who can reach 50 Speed.

They are all limited by the choice of stat-raising equipment available in the game, which isn't good enough to reach the max in any stat besides Spirit. So then how can you get "max" stats? The perfect result is therefore not the highest possible to be comprehended by the game, which would be 99, but rather the highest attainable in normal gameplay. After all, what is the point of considering 99 to be the maximum amount of Pumice Piece when you can't get any more than 3?

It's the same for stats. OK, so let's just reach whatever maximum is possible! Simply put, you effectively forfeit points in 1 or more stats in order to raise another; you can NEVER raise any stat without neglecting to raise another as much as possible.

For example, using the Robe of Lords will give each stat 1 bonus point, but that means you forfeit giving Magic 2 points with the White Robe, or Spirit 3 with the Dark Gear, and so on, depending on what equipment a character can use. That is why no character can have their highest rating in all stats at once. This in turn means that there is no universal set of highest stats for any character; each player can allocate stat points differently.

Consult letao's Perfect Stats Guide for a more in-depth explanation of the mechanics behind the game's stat system, as well as a calculator for finding optimal leveling strategies.

ORDERED paths maximize stats according to the practical importance of each stat to each character, giving priority to the more useful stats. Speed SPR is always maxed out because a it's the only stat which can be maxed for all characters, b it's the easiest to max, and c it's just as important as STR or MAG, if not more.

SPR determines critical hit rate, Steal rate, Trance gauge fill rate and Trance duration, Thief and Knight Sword damage, probability of Counter activating, the duration of status effects, and more. Note that with 50 SPR and Auto-Regen, your party's HP will fully regenerate even during moderate-length spells or attacks, effectively making your party invincible.

The next stat which is maximized is the character's primary stat. STR is the primary stat for those who tend to use physical attacks or whose moves are based on the STR stat. The opposite is true for MAG. Finally, SPD is pretty much ignored completely unless it is gotten for free along with other, superior boosts. Only one target can act at any given time and everyone else has to wait until the current animation ends.

In effect, battles play out in rounds. If your enemy is very slow then you could potentially act twice as often if you used quick physical attacks, but if that's your strategy then just activate Auto-Haste instead of permanently sacrificing other stats for SPD. This lets you get more stat points in total, but their distribution may not be optimal in practical terms.

However, since your party can beat everything in the game even at Lv 1, practical terms don't have much of a meaning to begin with, so with this approach you can max stats in a more literal sense. One thing to note is that each character's max combined stat total can be distributed in various ways without lowering the total.

This means that you can still order your combined stats according to the ordered approach, albeit to a very limited extent. I don't really like "maxing" stats if they don't hit a cap, though Zidane is the only character who is available to take all of the game's unavoidable EXP, so he is the only choice. Unlike max stats, the minimums are clearly defined and you can achieve all of a character's minimum stats simultaneously.

It can boost Defense, Evade, and so on - just not any of the core stats. This means you can stop playing the low-level game much sooner. Steiner can gain EXP from the very beginning of the game. You do need to dig up the Oak Staff, though, and the other characters must remain at Lv 1 until both Eiko and Amarant join at Lv 1, after which everyone can gain as many Lvs as you like, as long as they never have stat- boosting equipment on when doing so.

Technically, the lowest possible stats are gotten if characters join at Lv 99, because then they do not get the free boosts which are normally awarded upon leveling up from EXP. However, only half of your team joins at an average Lv, and it would require leveling almost everyone to Lv 99 before everyone joins.

That's not possible during this challenge, and it would lead to very lop-sided stats between the first half of your party, and the other one. On the way, you need to get past Amdusias, Abadon, Shell Dragon, as well as Tantarian if you choose to fight him. There is no way to avoid the EXP from the three Pandemonium battles.

Abadon is the only problem. Tantarian also awards EXP which you can't avoid if you fight him. Although you can choose to skip the battle, it's not worth it. Your stats will end up below the max due to Abadon anyway, so skipping Tantarian just means that on top of that you also miss the final copy of the Running Shoes and won't have defeated all optional bosses.

Which of the two is chosen depends on the stat path you follow. Steiner is not an option because he would lose considerably more points. This allows you to completely fill up your item list and display your party's natural max stats.

Taking final equipment into account is a problem because most of it gives a boost to SPR. So if you include final equipment, you would need to re- distribute SPR to another stat if you wanted max stats. But then this locks you into that equipment because if you remove it, your SPR falls below 50 and your stats may no longer be as optimal as they would be if you had a natural 50 SPR after all.

So you end up in a kind of catch, and it just gets really messy. But if you absolutely insist on including final equipment in your max stat calculations, then consult letao's guide URL above for assistance. The stat numbers indicate the effect on that character compared to their theoretical perfect stat set if there were no problems like forced EXP, not having necessary equipment when it's needed, etc.

That would end up being a waste of effort if you decide to take one of the other paths, which allow for more slack in terms of game time. So the option of delaying the decision is there, but it's in your interest to settle on a stat path from the start. How are these 6 paths handled in a single walkthrough? They form the basis of the playthrough.

They include the extra time needed and extra Gil spent, when applicable. The major branching points are Tantarian and Pandemonium, but the instructions before and after these points are still mostly the same for everyone. What you should keep in mind is that there is no need to finish the challenge with time to spare. As long as you make it to the end within 12 hours, you're fine. Therefore, feel free to take off some of the time pressure on difficult segments by using some of the extra buffer time.

How much extra time there is depends on which stat path you will follow:. If you're playing PATH C, then you shouldn't have too many problems either, but be aware that 30 minutes can be used up very quickly if you're not careful. If playing COMBINED, don't use up your buffer unless you absolutely have to, and try to keep it as long as possible - 7 minutes really won't get you that far. Using both buttons significantly increases the speed of running through text as opposed to using only one.

Just try to start with the X button when speaking to NPCs so that you don't initiate a card battle, and read through the text normally on practice runs to acquaint yourself with the timing of important prompts asking for a decision.

Some ATEs are not skippable. Provided you powerplay during the entire challenge, it is actually possible to also watch all of the game's ATEs. However, it won't be possible for all stat paths, and you may need to skip the 10th Promist Ring. Also, keep in mind that it's not actually possible to watch every single ATE in a single playthrough since some of them are forks leading to other ATEs but also locking you out of others at the same time.

As with ATEs, though, it's also possible to complete the challenge without skipping any of the FMVs - they "only" take 35 minutes so it's not even that difficult, provided you make some sacrifices or powerplay. It's even possible to combine this with watching all ATEs, but you'd need to skip other more tangible parts of the perfect save.

In any case, though, I don't think it's worth it and would recommend just skipping them. OK, but how do I skip them? But you should get a PS2 to take advantage of the much faster load times, which add up very quickly more on this below.

You don't need to wait for it to come all the way out, it's the signal to the laser that matters. This may differ between slim models so experiment to find the right moment.

I don't have one myself, but I have been told that neither the physical disc version nor the PSN version can be forced to skip the FMV. You need to be quick, otherwise the game will hang. After the FMV, on the other hand, can save up to s. What I do is this for PS2 : I open and close the disc tray. After about 10s, unpause, and the game resumes with no delay. Never fails. The reason? Faster load times. And yes, it makes a HUGE difference over the course of 12 hours and hundreds of screens.

In order to activate this mode, turn on the PS2 without a disc in the disc tray. You will be shown the PlayStation Driver's Options screen. Set "Disc Speed" to "Fast". While you're there, you may as well set "Texture Mapping" to "Smooth" to improve the game's graphics.

Back out of these screens, insert the proper FFIX disc and play as usual. Soft resets will thankfully not reset the PlayStation Driver's settings, but a "hard" reset i. This means you need to repeat this procedure every time you begin a new session of play. But it's very much worth it, so do make use of this excellent feature if you're playing on a PS2 which you should be! It happens to the best of us.

I use 2 blank memory cards. If you only have 1 memory card, I suggest you fill up the memory card with saves until there is no more room. Now you have another 15 save files! If you ever want to return to a previous save, you have to copy it onto the PS1 card before you can load it.

Unfortunately, you need another PS2 memory card for the next 15 FFIX saves, so you will need to rationalize the selection of saves at some point. Also, try not to save on a single file more than once, especially when doing longer and more difficult circuits.

This will save you real-life time in the long run as you won't suddenly find yourself having to redo an hour or more of game-time if you make an error and save it. Finally, if any more reasoning is needed, then saving on a blank slot is a second or two faster :.

This is very useful when checking whether a spell has succeeded, whether your characters have managed to knock themselves out, or when your next actions are determined by the effects of an enemy's or party member's attack.

The idea is to reduce the amount of ATB time between your characters' actions, thus minimizing the number of turns the enemy gets, and making it easier to carry out your battle strategies coherently. Opening the menu at the right time can literally mean the difference between a victory and a defeat.

By not opening the menu, you are letting actions play out in real time. If your other character s are only waiting to see the effects of an attack before doing something themselves, it is in your interest to open a menu. The action in question will still play out, but you won't allow your enemy's ATB to gauge to fill in the meantime, which could result in an enemy getting a turn between those of your party members.

This lets you use all your turns to the fullest, thus optimizing your performance both in terms of the chance of success and the speed of victory. Play and read each section once or twice before attempting it seriously; you need to acquaint yourself with treasure locations, shop lists, menu operations and the overall route through each area. Read a circuit or two ahead so that you have an idea of what you will be preparing for and what is waiting for you.

Also, don't let the clock stress you too much. Use the PAUSE button to your advantage; pausing the game also stops the timer, so use this when you need a break, or need to remember or think about what to do next, especially during battles. Finally, it's crucial that you have the minimum amount of enemy encounters possible; try to follow the guidelines provided in the walkthrough.

In no case should you ever settle for having more than 1 extra battle in a given segment. A random battle wastes at least seconds, which quickly adds up if you let it get out of hand. Flee from all battles unless instructed to do otherwise, and keep L1 and R1 pressed at all times during a battle in hopes of running away sooner. Learn to accept it. This guide aims to maximize your odds of success, whether it be with battle strategies, time-saving detours, tricks, or whatever else.

That said, many aspects still revolve around pure luck, and you need to accept that. Some parts simply require patience and perseverance until they work. If something isn't going your way, then take a break and do something else. You'll often get it within the first few tries when you return. Each section begins with the items to be collected during that part, followed by the instructions in bullet-point format, and ends with the suggested target time and target Gil which you should have at that point, as well as the number of random battles allowed during that section mostly 0.

Important AP gains and suggested progress on specific abilities are listed together with the battles in which you get the AP, mostly boss battles. Keep in mind that these are minimums; you may have more AP for some abilities if following one stat path as opposed to another, but as long as you have the minimum, you're good. You might also learn other abilities without it being mentioned - that's fine as well. Only the crucial abilities are tracked. A large part of the walkthrough up to Disc 3 is uniform for all possible stat paths, but from Disc 3 onwards there will be several forks in the road depending on which path you'll be following.

Path-specific instructions are given in separate information boxes, along with the estimated time and Gil changes due to the respective detour. If these detours apply to your game, then you need to apply the time and Gil changes to the target ones.

Otherwise ignore everything in these boxes. Z for Zidane, V for Vivi, etc. If you'd like to see what this challenge is really like, or need to see how some parts should be done in practice, check out the playlists below. All of them cover the complete game from start to finish, so you can watch any section you're interested in.

They're the official supplements to this guide : Please note that the guide has changed several times since each of these runs were posted. This means that some parts may vary considerably.

They are listed from newest to oldest. Nonetheless, the videos are still useful, and at the very least serve as quite a nice historical account of how this guide and challenge have developed and been refined over the years.

So don't expect to jump in and "simply do the same thing" right away. Also, most of them finish the challenge with a ton of time to spare. Unless you're looking to challenge yourself even more or break some sort of record, reaching the Excalibur II any earlier than is completely unnecessary.

It makes for exciting viewing and is a cool achievement, but if all you want is just to get a perfect save, then there's no reason to complete anything faster than you need to. But if you feel like you really need to do it then go ahead - it won't prevent you from completing the challenge.

Also, don't forget the Phoenix Pinion to the left of the main gate. There are 2 treasures in this house, but you can pick them up on Disc 3. The letter in question is the one Mosh receives from Kupo, about the Jump Rope mini-game. The letter specifically mentions your exact jump rope record, with the minimum required number of jumps being This letter also does not count in the total quoted by Mosh because only letters delivered by Zidane are taken into account.

However, if you care about getting truly every single Mognet letter, then you'll need to get this one as well. You can do so on the first try to have a clean record with as the first and only entry.

The entries are only visible after 3 att- -empts, but it's possible to show that you got on the first try by just playing 2 more games.

In this case, getting the letter with anything less than jumps would mess up your ranking, so you'd need to jump times now on Disc 1. However, the lower score will remain quoted in the letter and would be visible on Disc 4 if you could somehow access Mosh's Mognet menu. For jumps this comes to exactly 8 minutes.

Turn of the volume on your TV. Concentrate on accuracy rather than speed. If you make a mistake then you won't impress nobles no matter how fast you pressed all the other commands.

That said, you do need to be swift too. Even though it might seem like they follow a pattern, don't anti- -cipate any of the buttons showing up; take it one at a time.

You can try covering the TV so that you only see the prompts. The default option is to do the scene over, and you don't want that when you finally impress all nobles and Queen Brahne! He doesn't count towards the total, but Steiner will make a comment about there having been an extra knight in his count when getting the Elixir. Choosing the other option initiates an extra scene, but it takes an extra minute and has no special effect, so I suggest skipping it.

You have been warned. Wait for it to die down or turn dark; that's when it's safe to pass through. You may want to start with the Potion since it's the harder to grab without a battle. Since the save point is so close, I would reset if you get stuck watching too many spell animations before running away. Don't heal any damage yet. If it was him and he was knocked out then the boss did this step for you.

Auto-arrange your inventory if you like. If you're planning to have Zidane win the Festival of the Hunt read the next section for a detailed explanation then you should leave at least 1 Tent in your inventory, preferably 2. If you plan to have Freya win then you can just sell all your Tent. This may be important to you because it is visible on Disc 4 by checking the letter Mogmi in Gizamaluke's Grotto receives from Moodon. The rewards make little difference; the 5, Gil is nice but not essential, and the Coral Ring is useful, but can be synthesized soon enough anyway.

The Theater Ship Card is of course completely worthless. Likewise, the 3 minutes you save or lose is nothing permanent or game-changing either.

So I would recommend deciding based on who you prefer to win and whether you care about the number of points they win with. If you let Zidane win, then you can use the tables below to engineer the number of points he gets. You can get a very wide range of values and it's easy to get anything up to around ; for higher values you'll need a bit of luck with Zaghnol.

Just don't aim for the maximum - you would be more likely to win the lottery. FANG chasing a cat oo MU running down the stairs oo MU hiding in the pub oo MU end of the street ''. Freya wins by default if Zidane is knocked out, but since you need the Needle Fork to advance the challenge, you will have to have Freya deal the finishing blow against Zaghnol with Zidane knocked out to have her win.

Vivi is the winner if both Zidane and Freya are knocked out during the battle against Zaghnol. It is the only option which allows you to engineer the amount of points you get. The max score of of would require getting the best score on every single monster, which is practically impossible.

However, the minimum, which just so happens to be a nice, round , is easily attainable and isn't as arbitrary. Having Zidane win the festival also fits the storyline rather well, I think, and the 5, Gil certainly doesn't hurt.

The amount of points they win with is completely random and usually ranges from 50 to from my experience. Doing this also leaves you with the most possible options for monsters to fight after Zaghnol if you want a specific number of points for Zidane. Either the one standing on the left or the one chasing Vivi will do. Use a Potion whenever needed and knock out the Fang once you're 1 or 2 hits away from reaching Trance.

If you want to get then it should be possible for almost all values awarded for Zaghnol; check the tables. Hint: Type A x 2 '' o Equip your party as follows:. Once you have it, leave and save the game. Reset until you find a Chocograph.

You'll need both "Healing Shore" and "Small Beach", so reload the earlier save if you didn't get either. By doing it when you still have 2 Chocographs to get, you double your odds of getting one of the "right" Chocographs with the Chocograph Piece. This actually makes a second Chocograph Piece available, which you can then attempt to dig up with "Small Beach" when you return to this area for the Oak Staff. However, this only works if you dig up "Healing Shore" first, so it is up to you whether to reset if you first dig up "Small Beach" instead.

This method also works if you get a pre-emptive strike! There isn't much strategy to this, just practice a bit if you're having trouble. The important thing is not to stop before reaching the steps.

You may need to save again on the way, depending on how far you made it before your previous save. Thanks to Kamy41 for testing and confirming this unexpected time-saver.

Even if you decide to use it on Disc 4 to open the last door, it will still be visible that you got all of the bells. Or you can just leave the mage alone forever. Once one of them is Stopped or Petrified have Quina knocked out and use Stop for the win. Side Quest 1 Answer Dive spot 5 missing?

Side Quest 1 Answer what are the answers to the ragtime mouse questions? Side Quest 2 Answers Battle Assistance cheat? Build 2 Answers In game time pause? General 2 Answers. Ask A Question. Browse More Questions. Keep me logged in on this device.

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