Ipsen's Castle

FINAL FANTASY IX guide · The castle where items are inverted

Zidane and his companions explore an inverted, upside-down castle to obtain four elemental mirrors needed to break the seal to Terra. Amarant initially leaves the party to traverse the castle alone, forcing Zidane to rescue him after the main objective is completed. The castle features a unique physical distortion that reverses weapon power, making low-tier weapons hit the hardest.

Secrets

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A room with an elevator mechanism contains vases that can be moved between pillars in a circle to solve a puzzle and reveal the Ancient Aroma accessory.Finding Amarant requires descending deep into the castle's basement via a pole in the inverted courtyard after the mirrors are taken and the boss is defeated.

Enemies

Taharka

Weak to Fire, WindSteal / drop Mythril Fork, Orichalcon, Elixir

The boss guarding the elemental mirrors; shifts between a humanoid form and a boulder-like defensive shell.

Tips

Equip the weakest starter weapons (such as Zidane's Dagger or Steiner's Broadsword) because weapon attack values are inverted here, causing low-stat equipment to deal maximum damage.
Magic damage and ability formulas are not inverted by the castle's field, allowing mages like Vivi and Garnet to attack normally without penalty.

Not listed for this area: items, shops and people.

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Mount Gulug

Terra

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