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Qu's Marsh Frog-Catching

Guide by  Shotgunnova
Contributor
Edited by  Death Penalty
Contributor

Around the world, there are "Qu's Marshes" that, not surprisingly, all have a frog pond. Only one is accessible at first, but eventually, Quina will get to take a dip in all of 'em. Pointless as it may seem, attentive frog catchers can get a couple of Quina's better weapons prior to their availability at shops. Perseverant frog catchers will be rewarded with Quina's ultimate weapon - but not without a fight. First, a few basics about ponds:

  • All frogs are worth 1 point.
  • Ponds all have frogs to catch!
  • Frogs can either be male or female.
  • Golden frogs (unisex) increase population regrowth.
  • A population grows faster when a male and female are left in.
  • A population grows faster when a male/female is already an adult.
  • Capturing a frog reduces the population and thus the respawn rate.
  • Time must be spent in-game (shutting off doesn't work) to respawn frogs.
  • If Quina is not in the current party, frog-catching cannot be performed.
  • After getting a certain number of captures, Quale will give Quina a prize.

As such, you'll want to harvest frogs in such a way so as to not overly hinder population regrowth (e.g., always leaving one adult male and one adult female), like the ecologically-aware RPG player you are. Note that the regrowth rates for the golden frogs themselves are often negligible and if you plan on continuing with the game before returning to the ponds, they probably won't be noticed (as opposed to leaving the quest to endgame and trying to do the sidequest in one go). Here is a list of all Qu's Marshes:

  1. Lindblum territory, lower marshland.
  2. Outer Continent, in about the middle portion by choco tracks.
  3. Forgotten Continent, on the northern part of the peninsula.
  4. Lanar Island, southern sea, NW of Daguerreo (tear-shaped).

And as far as catching frogs for prizes goes...

Frogs
Prize
2
5
9
15
23
33
45
99

Save before catching the ninety-ninth frog, though - you'll have to fight your master to obtain Quina's ultimate weapon. Here's how to prepare. First off, you'll want water-absorbant/-nullifying equipment: δRibbon works well here. You'll want to be able to remove the Mini status from your characters, so make sure you have Angel's Snack or someone with the Mini ability handy. Status effects are the main annoyance in this battle, so the abilities Clear Headed (confuseproof), Bright Eyes (darknessproof), and Loudmouth (silenceproof) will be useful. Quale has a few good things available for the stealing (such as the δRobe Of Lords), so you may also want to have Master Thief set.

Quale
Quale
Boss Monster
Can't Flee
Type
Level
HP
MP
Gil
Exp
Attack
Magic Atk.
Human
76
65535
3680
10800
65535
96
26
Evasion
Defense
Mag. Def.
Mag. Evade
Speed
Strength
Spirit
Eaten Magic
8
10
24
9
50
26
47
None
Stolen Items
Dropped Items
Dropped Card
Slot 1: δElixir
Slot 2: δNinja Gear
Slot 3: δGlutton's Robe
Slot 4: δRobe Of Lords
Slot 1: δElixir
Slot 2: δElixir
Slot 3: δElixir
Slot 4: δElixir
♥Grand Dragon
Elemental Absorb
Elemental Immunities
None
None
Elemental Resistence
Elemental Weakness
None
Thunder
Status Immunity
Petrify, Venom, Virus, Silence, Blind, Trouble, Zombie, Confuse, Berserk, Stop, Auto-Life, Trance, Defend, Poison, Sleep, Regen, Float, Heat, Freeze, Doom, Mini, Gradual Petrify
  

This frogface has the most HP in the game, but unfortunately doesn't have a lot of MP to match it. Thus, using Magic Hammer over and over will make his reservoir deplenish pretty easily (in about 6 turns). If you've got a stiff-arm passive ability up for the status effects, this battle's far, far easier - those are his main method of attack. (Quale's Rolling Attack is not too shabby, though, and can probably do 2000+ to front-row fighters.) If his MP is drained, he won't be able to do any counters (i.e. counter physical attacks w/ Confuse) - and will get "No MP!" messages over and over when his turn comes up! Take this time to erect Mighty Guard and slam away, but only after stealing all that good equipment. I prefer an Amarant/Eiko/Quina/Zidane party, since Amarant can use powered-up Chakra attacks (if you have Power Up ability) to keep the MP supply going with ease and Eiko can use Might to power up any physical attacks or use Phoenix to revive everyone.

After defeating the master, Quale forks over (pun very intended) the ultimate weapon for Quina: a δGastro Fork!

Caves of Narshe: Final Fantasy IX
Version 6
©1997–2024 Josh Alvies (Rangers51)

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