Highwind Notes¶

Well, Cloud might be gone, Aeris is dead, and Sephiroth is about to destroy the world… but at least you have the Highwind! After some chatter, head into the ship and go down some stairs, where you’ll find a room with a red “Operation” sign. Inside you can talk to the crewman who will, at a later date, allow you to save your game and rest. Handy ability to have in your mobile base of operations. Outside and east of of the operations room you’ll find another crewman who will talk about their defection from Shinra and your rescue, and east still is a small Chocobo stable. Sadly, you’re not quite ready to mess around with Chocobos. While you can indeed catch them and breed them now, until you can race them, there’s little point.

Make your way east across a metal bridge south of the “Operation” room where Barret will be doing what Barret does best - yelling. After Cait Sith prompts you, make your way to the bridge, where Cid has made himself at home. Talk to everybody, then return to the “Operations” room where you can now pick a party. Do so, then return to the bridge and talk to the pilot, who has gained a level since you were last here. Good thing, too, because it’s time to fly!

Chocobo Sages Hut¶

Now that you have access to the Highwind and the world map again, it’s time to collect some goodies you couldn’t get previously. Fly to the northern continent and head east from the Icicle Inn or north-west from Bone Village to find a small hut nestled in the mountains. Fortunately, there’s a patch of grass near it - the only kind of terrain the Highwind can land on.

Land near the hut and head inside the “Mystery House” and talk to the Ancient inside, who will tell you a bit about himself, and more importantly, how to breed rare Chocobos, before growing forgetful. He’ll do this repeatedly every time you visit, remembering a bit more after every four battles you fight. Just be sure to stop by and listen to what he has to say periodically to gain his knowledge, which will come in hand when it’s time to breed Chocobos. The Chocobo Sage will also sell a variety of expensive and potent Greens and Nuts, which you don’t need just yet. Before you go, talk to the Green Chocobo and it’ll gift you with the fourth and final Enemy Skill Materia .

Chocobo Sage’s Shop

Optional Exploration With the Highwind¶

And now for the heart of this section of the guide; new things to see, and importantly, loot to gain now that you have the Highwind.

• You can tour the world and learn Enemy Skills on your new piece of Enemy Skill Materia. If you plan to follow the guide chronologically (hence doing the “Climbing the Pagoda” section next), this comes highly recommended. At least pick up “Beta”, “White Wind”, “Big Guard” and “Magic Hammer”.

• Return to the Chocobo Ranch and grab another piece of Chocobo Lure Materia in the south-eastern corner of the farm, near the fence where you enter. You can also rent out stables for 10,000 Gil each, if you want to get started with Chocobo breeding a bit early. Oh, and buy some Mimett Greens while you’re here. You can score a nice bit of Materia shortly if you do.

• Head to Fort Condor for your final optional battle there (see below). The Materia store there also sells new Materia… new to them, not to you, anyways.

Fort Condor’s Updated Shop

• If you return to Junon you’ll find that pretty much every shop has new stock. If you’ve missed any older weapons along the way, you should be able to buy them here.

• Purchase the villa in Costa del sol. It costs 300,000 Gil, which you might have from selling All Materia. It doesn’t do much, gameplay wise, but… c’mon. If owning your own beach house should be reason enough.

• The shady merchant in the bar at Costa del Sol now sells a selection of eight socket weapons, which have Attack scores between 58 and 68.

Shady Seller’s Updated Shop

• Return to the item shop in Cosmo Canyon, where you’ll now find that the indestructible rope barrier that blocked our way earlier is now gone. Head behind the counter to reach a back room, where you’ll find an Elixir and a Magic Source in an item bag and a chunk of Full Cure Materia .

• Head to Nibelheim and play the correct tune on the piano by pressing:

Playstation controller

X, [Square], [Triangle], R1 + [Triangle], R1 + [Square], X, [Square], [Triangle], R1 + X, [Circle], X, [Square], X

PC controls

[CANCEL], [SELECT], [MENU], [PAGE UP] + [MENU}, [PAGE UP] + [SELECT], [CANCEL], [SELECT], [MENU], [PAGE UP} + [CANCEL], [OK], [CANCEL], [SELECT], [CANCEL]

If you had Cloud say he “jammed on the piano” back in the Nibelheim flashback, you’ll get a piece of Elemental Materia. If you already played the tune with Cloud earlier, you shouldn’t need to even bother playing the piano again. How did that Materia get in there since the last time you were here?

• In Rocket Town, in the weapon shop, you’ll find a chest in the bedroom you can loot for a Fourth Bracelet.

• Also in Rocket Town, in the bedroom of the item shop, you can find another new chest, this one containing a Guard Source .

• Visit Goblin Island and obtain the “Goblin Punch” Enemy Skill (see below). You can also steal Zeio Nuts from Goblins, which will come in handy a bit later.