==================================================================== F I N A L F A N T A S Y I X Yan Guide v1.1 (PSX Version) By DragonSquallZ Updated: 05 Apr 2002 ==================================================================== -------------------- Introduction -------------------- Hello there everyone! This is my first time ever writing any sort of FAQ so try not to complain too much or at all for that matter. In this FFIX Guide you will find information about challenging the toughest standard enemy in the game: The Yan. ++++++++++++++++++++ Contents ++++++++++++++++++++ - Disclaimer - Contacts - Updates 1. About the Enemy - Finding the Island - Island Treasures - Meet your foe - What makes it so tough? - What makes it worth it? 2. Ability Strategies - Overall Recommendations - Individual Character Sugguestions - Zidane Tribal - Princess Garnet - Vivi Ornitier - Adelbert Steiner - Eiko Carol - Freya Crescent - Quina Quen - Amarant Coral 3. Battle Strategies - Battle Overview - Individual Character Strategies - Zidane Tribal - Princess Garnet - Vivi Ornitier - Adelbert Steiner - Eiko Carol - Freya Crescent - Quina Quen - Amarant Coral - Full Team Stategies (NEW!) 4. Miscellaneous - Putting the Virus to good use - Yan EXP Charts - Q&A - Credits -------------------- Disclaimer -------------------- This FAQ belongs to me, DragonSquallZ and was created for personal use only. It should not be used to make any profit. Don't rip off parts of this FAQ and use them in your own or use this FAQ as a guide for your own FAQ. You may print a copy of the entire FAQ or a part of it, provided you only use it for personal purposes. From now on, this FAQ is exclusive to these sites only *GameFAQs.com *NeoSeeker.com *PlaystationCheat.net No hard feelings to all the other great FAQ sites out there. It's just that I find it annoying sending one update to multiple sites. -------------------- Contacts -------------------- Feel free to contact me with mistakes/strategies/suggestions. If you ask a question don't expect an answer right away. I'm not online very much. There's two ways you can contact me: E-Mail - dragonsquallz@yahoo.co.nz ICQ - 71741337 Only message me on ICQ, don't ask for authorisation because I won't give it to you. -------------------- Updates -------------------- 28 January 2002 (v1.0) - Initial Release 05 April 2002 (v1.1) - Updated Disclaimer - Updated Contacts - Minor additions/edits to Ability selection - Added one item to Quina's individual battle strategy - Added Full Team Strategies Section +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Part 1 - About the Enemy +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Finding the Island ------------------ There's only one place to challenge the Yans. Vile Island is to the South-West of the Iifa Tree. To make things more annoying there's only two ways to get on it - both of them by air. The easier of the two methods is to play the game until you get control of Garland's/Kuja's Airship the Invincible. You gain command of this airship at the start of disc four. The second way is a Flying Chocobo. Play Chocobo Hot and Cold, collect and dig up enough chocographs for Choco to evolve into a golden chocobo. You won't be able to collect enough Chocograph Pieces for Choco the evolve until you have control of Regent Cid's airship The Hilda Garde 3. You'd be mistaken for thinking you can land the Hilda Garde 3 here. The Hilda Garde can only land on grassy areas which Vile Island does not have. Island Treasures ---------------- I'm not covering this in detail since this is mainly side quest stuff and other FAQ's such as Yee Seng Fu's Side Quest FAQ cover these in depth. If you've gotten a gold chocobo you'll be able to find Chocograph number 23 (Fairy Island) here. This treasure chest contains: 33 x Potions 15 x Annoyntment 1 x Holy Mitre 1 x Dark Matter Card In the forest on Vile Island you'll encounter a special kind of Yan. He'll ask you if you've met his friends before running away. If you've met his eight friends around the world and met their demands the special Yan will stop running away and ask for a Diamond. If you give him this he will give you 50 AP and a Rosetta Ring for your troubles. Meet Your Foe ------------- Below is information about the Yan Level: 72 EXP: 42,672 HP: 19,465 AP: 2 MP: 3,378 Gil: 4,436 Status Immunities: Berserk, Silence Attacks: Comet, Virus Powder, Float, Aera, Snort Weak Against: Shadow Items Stolen: Ore, Elixer Items Won: Hi-Potion, Phoenix Down Blue Magic Learned: Auto-Life What makes it so tough? ----------------------- First of all his attacks. Although it rarely uses Aera magic all other moves are quite common. He pummels you with Comet almost every turn usually causing heavy damage to a single team member. (Usually anywhere between 1000 and the full 9999 damage). When he's not using Comet he'll probably be using Virus Powder, which damages for about 2000HP and inflicts the Virus status (In my opinion this is a helper. I'll discuss this later). In addition to doing big attacks he has high speed. Sometimes he can do two or three attacks in a row. But what makes him toughest by far is his counter-attack. Unless the attacked Yan is under the influence of sleep status ANY attack on him whatsoever (even if it misses) will immediately follow with his Float magic or the dangerous Snort attack. This counter will literally Snort the attacker out of the battle. The character snorted will not gain any battle EXP/AP similar to the Virus status. Losing any member from battle is bad because it leaves the remaining fighters to take up all the damaging attacks dished out by the Yans. What makes it worth it? ----------------------- Why put yourself in this sort of punishment? ANSWER: EXP and Elixers. A single Yan doesn't offer the most EXP per defeat (The Chimera offers more). But unlike Chimera's which only appear singley, Yans can appear in groups of twos and threes as well. SO that's 3 x 42,672 = 128,016 EXP!!! And that's without the Level Up Ability on! This amount of EXP makes it easy to level up to the maximum Lv99. Also, the only other way to get Elixers other than treasure chests and winning them from bosses is to steal elixers off the Yans. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Part 2 - Ability Strategies +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Overall Suggestions ------------------- By the time you have reached Vile Island you should have learned at least half of all your abilities and be around about level 50 (If not, you better if you want to stand a chance against them.) Since no-one has unlimited magic stones for equipping you have to ration out abilites. Remember, choosing abilities is totally up to you and the following are only sugguestions. The following abilities are highly recommended. *Auto-Life *Auto-Regen *Auto-Potion *HP +10%/HP +20% *Gamble Defence These three are recommended but not nescessary. *Auto-Haste *Antibody (I know this Guards against Poison/Venom but I also believe this reduces chances of the Virus status but I don't know for sure.) *Insomniac (See Quinas Battle Strategy to see why) Individual Character Sugguestions ================================= Since everyone has a slightly different variety in abilities here's some sugguestions for individual character abilites. Zidane Tribal ------------- Mug, Bandit, Master Thief, Counter, Eye 4 Eye, Protect Girls, High Tide. Princess Garnet/Dagger ---------------------- Half MP, Boost, Concentrate, Chemist. Vivi Ornitier ------------- Half MP, Return Magic Adelbert Steiner ---------------- Chemist, Cover, Counter, Eye 4 Eye, Alert. Eiko Carol ---------- Half MP, Boost, Concentrate, Guardian Mog. Freya Crescent ------------- High Jump, Initiative, Restore HP, High Tide, Chemist. Quina Quen ---------- Half MP, Millionaire, Absorb MP, Counter Amarant Coral ------------- Return Magic, Counter, Cover, Eye 4 Eye, Restore HP, Power Up. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Part 3 - Battle Strategies +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Battle Overview --------------- If you're around the Lv50 mentioned earlier each character should have at least 2500HP or more. This should be enough to survive Virus Powder. Damage caused by Comet seems very random (usually 1000+ damage). Cross your fingers and be prepared to heal. Yans have the advantage if ANY team member is KO'ed. Revived characters have low HP they will die again if the Yan decides to attack them. Don't wait for Auto-Regen to heal them, have someone heal characters who are critically injured as soon as possible. If you're manually healing your party avoid using Potions unless the character has the Chemist ability. Healing 150HP is nice but it just doesn't hack it against two attacks of about 1000-3000HP each. Use healing magics or Hi-Potions to restore HP. When battling Yans, concentrate on a single Yan. Attacking all three at once results in three seperate counter-attacks. A real time-waster. Don't bother trying to drain the Yan's MP. He has too much and even if he did run out of MP he still has Snort and Virus Powder. Instant death attacks are very handy in these battles. But be aware that if you miss, (which is quite often for death attacks) there's a fair chance that you'll be snorted away. If you're going to use special attacks go for maximum damage. Two hits of 9999 will kill him. Above all be prepared to lose at least one character from the battle. By dying or removal from battle it doesn't matter. Individual Character Strategies =============================== Each character has their own set of commands and so also need their own set of strategies. Below are tips for fighting the Yans for each individual character. Zidane Tribal ------------- The hero of the game will be in every single battle with the Yans (Since you cannot switch the leader). This is a bit of a downer since Zidane's range of attacks are a bit poor. If you plan to use Zidane to steal items from the Yans have the Mug ability equipped - If you're going to be thrown out of battle for stealing might as well hurt him some. If you plan to use him as an attacker power up Zidane's Thievery attack by using the Steal command lots (Each successful steal increases thievery damage by 14~15HP). After stealing hundreds of times Thievery will eventually reach the full 9999HP damage. Princess Garnet/Dagger ---------------------- Dagger can be used as either a healer or an attacker. Dagger has the Chemist ability which doubles the effects of Potions, Ethers and Hi-Potions. Use this ability to top up the teams HP/MP. Don't bother using Daggers status attack magics. They tend to miss and Yans have immunity to Silence. And Berserk. Using summons with the boost ability equipped is useful for characters with the Auto-Regen ability equipped. The summon animation will give some time for Regen to recover lost HP. Take note that this will probably get her snorted so use this at your own risk. Odin can instantly dispatch Yans (provided the attack hits) but will probably be snorted by remaining Yans. Learn Odin from the Dark Matter item bought from the Treno Auction house. If you have 70-80 Amethyst and are at a reasonably descent level, Atomos with the boost ability can do 9999 to all. Using this as a first blow will set other characters up for a single 9999 hit kill. Alternately have Dagger summon Ark since Yans are weak against shadow elemental attacks. There are two ways to obtain Ark: defeat optional boss Ozma or refine two pumice pieces in Memoria at the Legendary Synthesis Shop in disc four. Vivi Ornitier ------------- Vivi should mainly be used as support in Yan battles since Yans have high resistance to magic. More often than not, Vivi will die if he is hit by Comet. This is consistent with most mages with their high magic but low defense. The return magic ability will allow Vivi to counter-attack all Comet attacks thrown at him provided he doesn't die from their initial attack. However like the Yans Comet attacks, the damage from Vivi's comet seems pretty random. If you plan to attack using Vivi cast the shadow elemental magic Doomsday. Note that this can SERIOUSLY hurt your whole team too so equip Shadow elemental defense items. Learn Doomsday from the Mace of Zeus in Memoria (disc four). If you haven't reached disc four yet Vivi should Focus a few times before using his strongest magics such as Flare and Bio. Don't try using Meteor - I've never seen it hit. If you want to try a quick one-hit-kill use Vivi's Death magic. Learn this from the Black Hood. Adelbert Steiner ---------------- Steiner should be used as a full-on attacker. However, Steiner is one of the few characters who has Chemist so you may want to use him to top up characters with Hi-Potion/Ethers. Avoid using his Power/Armor/Magic/Mental Break attacks. These miss quite often and you can't afford to lose him just for reducing the Yans defenses. Use Steiners strongest attacks such as Shock, Climhazzard and Stock Break. Exploit the Yans shadow weakness by using Steiners Darkside attack. This attack costs HP instead of MP so heal after using it. Iai Strike can kill Yans instantly if the move hits. If Vivi's also in the attacking party use Steiners strongest sword magic attacks such as Flare and Doomsday. Eiko Carol ---------- Eiko should primarily be used as a healer in these battles. Try to keep Eiko in this battle. There's a faint chance that Phoenix will resurrect a fallen team. Similar to Dagger, the animation time of the summons will allow characters with Auto-Regen to recover lost HP. Remember that you'll need boost equipped to see a full summon animation. Cast Full Life to KO'd characters the moment they've fallen. This costs quite a bit of MP but use this anyway. You need to worry more about HP than MP. Learn this magic from the Siren's Flute or a Light Robe. If more than one person is KO'd in the battle cast Phoenix. It'll hurt the Yans while resurrecting fallen characters. You'll probably lose Eiko but in my opinion it's probably worth it. Freya Crescent -------------- Freya has the Chemist ability. Use this to top up HP/MP levels when they are getting low. The more dragons the party kills, the more damage Dragon's Crest inflicts. About 60 dragons killed will do 9999 damage. If you're feeling EXTREMELY lucky use Six Dragons. The outcome each time you cast is not very predictable. A more interesting way is to Trance Freya and make her jump. When Freya uses Spear the Yans will counter attack other party members until there are none remaining. When the other members are dead Yans will be unable to counter attack until Freya's Trance ends, but by then Freya should have killed them. Quina Quen ---------- Quina is perhaps one of the most helpful characters in these battles because he has a good variety of healing and attacking Blue Magic moves. Cast Auto-Life on characters who do not already have this ability equipped and be prepared to use this the moment someone has been revived to increase their chances of survival. Surprise, surprise! You learn Auto-Life by eating Yans! *NEW *If your whole team has the Insomniac Ability equipped make Quina cast Night. The Yans WILL be inflicted by the sleep status for a short time. During this time use magics or one-hit-kill techniques to hurt them. Don't use physical attacks as this will wake them up allowing the Yans to counter. Don't bother using Bad Breath. It rarely hits and Yans have immunity against most bad statuses. If you're feeling lucky try out Doom and Mustard Bomb. You'll learn Doom by eating Veterans in Memoria or Ipsens castle AND you'll learn Mustard Bomb from most enemies in Mount Gulug. If Doom hits he'll waste 3-5 seconds of the Death timer counter-attacking leaving him less time to live. Mustard Bomb is much more better. If he gets the Burn status, he automatically dies for counter-attacking :P If the party is protected against the sleep status cast Night. This puts anyone in the battle to sleep unless guarded against it. Yans will fall asleep leaving others to finish them off. Other notable mentions are Frog Drop, Lv3 Def-less, Lv4 Holy, Mighty Guard, White Wind and 1,000 Needles. Amarant Coral ------------- Chakra is a useful healing move as it also restores MP. Like Vivi, the Return Magic ability will allow Amarant to throw back any Comets thrown at him. Similar to Quina's Doom attack, Countdown will put a timer for Death to occur and the Yans waste some time counter-attacking. If you wish to use special attacks go for the No Mercy attack. Full Team Strategies (NEW!) =========================== This section was added so that you, the reader can submit your own strategies against the Yans. Submitted strategies will be cut and pasted into here so watch your grammar. Sent in by Pedro Cruz Have Quina in your party, make him cast night (protect your party from sleep 'cause this afflicts them as well), them Summon Odin, it'll kill two or luckily tree of them. The one that rest kill with Vivi Death magic since it's sleeping. Or Steiner Iai Strike. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Part 4 - Miscellaneous +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Putting the Virus to good use ----------------------------- Remember that 128,016EXP? That's how much EXP will be split between your team so they get 32,000 each. But if a single character got that amount of EXP in one go it pretty much guarantees a level up a battle until about Lv75. Yans occasionally uses Virus Powder, inflicting the Virus status. This stops the character from gaining any EXP/AP until the status has been cleared with the Vaccine item. Have all but one character inflicted with the Virus status. Make sure that this person will stay alive to reap in the EXP at the battle end. Because the other characters will probably be killed anyway have them keep the non-virus'd character alive while also attacking the Yans. Oh yeah, remember the Level Up ability? Equipping that on the character will increase the EXP gained by a factor of about 1.5 (I calculated this myself). So the more EXP gained in one turn, the more bonus EXP you get. Another point. Once you've reached Lv99 you'll still split EXP with other team members. Virus a Lv99 person so that they stop getting EXP they don't need. Yan EXP Chart ------------- Alright before you check these charts take note that THESE ARE NOT PERFECT They are not 100% accurate and should be used as a rough guide to show much EXP you get. OK. Here's a rundown of the columns # of Yans - How many Yans you defeated in the battle # of Survivors - The number of characters which survived the battle without being KO'd, Virus'd or Snorted EXP per Survivor - How much EXP surviving each character will get from the battle Level Up Ability Bonus - EXP added on top of 'EXP per Survivor' if the Level Up ability is equipped Total EXP received per Survivor - How much EXP you'll get after the battle with the Level Up ability equipped. Basically it's the two previous columns added together /------------------------------------------------------------------\ | # of | # of | EXP per | Level Up | Total EXP received | | Yans | Survivors | Survivor | Ability Bonus | per Survivor | |------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1 | 1 | 42,672 | 21,336 | 64,008 | |------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1 | 2 | 21,336 | 10,668 | 32,004 | |------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1 | 3 | 14,224 | 7,112 | 21,336 | |------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1 | 4 | 10,668 | 5,334 | 16,002 | |------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2 | 1 | 85,344 | 42,672 | 128,016 | |------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2 | 2 | 42,672 | 21,336 | 64,008 | |------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2 | 3 | 28,448 | 14,224 | 42,672 | |------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2 | 4 | 21,336 | 10,668 | 32,004 | |------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3 | 1 | 128,016 | 64,008 | 192,024 | |------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3 | 2 | 64,008 | 32,004 | 96,012 | |------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3 | 3 | 42,672 | 21,336 | 64,008 | |------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3 | 4 | 32,004 | 16,002 | 48,006 | \------------------------------------------------------------------/ Q&A --- Got any questions? I'll try to answer here if you ask nicely. #################### Hopefully this guide has helped many of you gamers out. Good Luck and happy Yan slaying! #################### -------------------- Credits -------------------- * Square for making this excellent game * CjayC for putting this on GameFAQs * You readers for suggesting ideas and notifing mistakes