Epitaph is a stone enemy from Final Fantasy IX found in Oeilvert. Prior to sending Zidane to the Forgotten Continent, Kuja says to him, "I'd better send you with three of your friends just to be safe. Besides, nobody likes to fight against himself". This foreshadows the abilities of the Epitaph, and the great threat they would have posed if Kuja had indeed sent Zidane to Oeilvert alone.
Stats[]
Battle[]
Mirror.
Epitaph's Mirror ability allows it to create doppelgängers of one of the eight party members, who will attack the party. It will create these doppelgängers whether or not that character is in the party. If the character it mirrors is in the party, the mirror will deal 9,999 HP damage to the mirrored character, knocking them out. Against any other party members, the mirror will only use a normal physical attack that does minor damage.
Strategy[]
A good strategy is to equip the Man Eater and Stone Killer abilities to quickly destroy the mirrors and Epitaph, respectively. For a hassle-free but unrewarding technique, one can kill the Epitaphs instantly by using a Soft on it, but this yields only AP, not experience.
If one of the characters can kill the Mirror-image in one hit, the player should press 'Attack' the instant Epitaph starts casting Mirror. This will stop the ATB gauges from filling. As soon as the mirror-image enters the battlefield, the player can target it for the attack. This way one will place the player's attack before that of Epitaph/the mirror-image. If the mirror-image is indeed killed with one hit, the real character will not be killed. It is advisable to equip Jelly to prevent the characters from being petrified.
AI script[]
Using global variable dialogtarget
Using global variable dialogspeaker
Using global variable waitingdialog
Using global variable dialogstate
Using global variable epitaph
Using global variable mirror1
Using global variable mirror2
Using global variable mirror3
Using global variable mirrorindexcounter
Using global variable mirrorstate
Function Main_Loop
if ( waitingdialog )
while ( GetAttacker != dialogspeaker )
Wait( 1 )
Wait( 15 )
if ( #( NotMatching(SV_EnemyTeam[STATUS_CURRENT], PETRIFY | DEATH | JUMP) & dialogspeaker ) )
set waitingdialog = FALSE
if ( !( #dialogtarget ) )
BattleDialog( "I am Steiner!" )
set dialogstate |= 16
set dialogstate |= 8
else
if ( #( ( NotMatching(SV_PlayerTeam[STATUS_CURRENT], PETRIFY | DEATH | JUMP) ) & dialogtarget ) )
if ( dialogstate & 16 )
BattleDialog( "Who are you!?" )
else
BattleDialog( "I am Steiner!" )
set dialogstate |= 16
set dialogstate |= 8
set dialogtarget = 0
Wait( 1 )
loop
Function Epitaph_Loop
if ( !initflag )
set epitaph = SV_FunctionEnemy
set mirror1 = 16
set mirror2 = 32
set mirror3 = 64
set mirrorcounter = 1
RunBattleCode( Enable ATB )
while ( GetBattleState != 4 )
Wait( 1 )
set initflag = TRUE
if ( !( #( mirror1 & SV_EnemyTeam ) ) )
set mirrorstate = ( mirrorstate | 0x00F ) & ~0x00D
if ( !( #( mirror2 & SV_EnemyTeam ) ) )
set mirrorstate = ( mirrorstate | 0x0F0 ) & ~0x0D0
if ( !( #( mirror3 & SV_EnemyTeam ) ) )
set mirrorstate = ( mirrorstate | 0xF00 ) & ~0xD00
Wait( 1 )
loop
Function Epitaph_ATB
set mirrorindex = 0
while ( mirrorindex <= 2 )
if ( ( mirrorstate >> ( mirrorindex * 4 ) ) & 0xF == 1 )
break
set mirrorindex++
if ( ( mirrorindex >= 3 ) && ( GetRandom & 1 ) )
set SV_Target = RandomInTeam( NotMatching(SV_PlayerTeam[STATUS_CURRENT], PETRIFY | DEATH | JUMP) )
Attack( Petrify )
set SV_Target = SV_FunctionEnemy
Attack( No action )
Function Epitaph_Counter
if ( ( GetAttackCommandId == Skill ) && ( GetAttackId == What's That?! ) )
return
if ( #Matching(SV_FunctionEnemy[STATUS_CURRENT], PETRIFY | VENOM | DEATH | STOP | SLEEP | HEAT | FREEZE) )
return
set livingfoes = NotMatching(SV_EnemyTeam[STATUS_CURRENT], PETRIFY | VENOM | DEATH | STOP)
if ( !( #( livingfoes & SV_FunctionEnemy ) ) )
return
if ( --mirrorcounter <= 0 )
set mirrorindex = 0
while ( mirrorindex <= 2 )
if ( ( mirrorstate >> ( mirrorindex * 4 ) ) & 0xF == 1 )
break
set mirrorindex++
if ( mirrorindex <= 2 )
return
set mirrorindex = 0
while ( mirrorindex <= 2 )
if ( ( mirrorstate >> ( mirrorindex * 4 ) ) & 0xF == 0 )
break
set mirrorindex++
if ( mirrorindex >= 3 )
set mirrorcounter = 255
return
set dialogstate = 0
set mirrorcounter = 1
set SV_Target = SV_FunctionEnemy
Attack( Mirror )
Function Epitaph_CounterEx
if ( GetAttackCommandId == EnemyCounter )
set mirrorindex = 0
while ( mirrorindex <= 2 )
if ( ( mirrorstate >> ( mirrorindex * 4 ) ) & 0xF == 0 )
break
set mirrorindex++
if ( mirrorindex == 0 )
set currentmirror = mirror1
elseif ( mirrorindex == 1 )
set currentmirror = mirror2
elseif ( mirrorindex == 2 )
set currentmirror = mirror3
else
set mirrorcounter = 255
if ( !( #( SV_EnemyTeam & currentmirror ) ) )
return
set currentmirror[TARGETABLE] = 1
set currentmirror[SHADOW] = 1
set currentmirror[MODEL_ON] = 65535L
set currentmirror[PREVENT_ATTACK] = 1
set currentmirror[ATB] = currentmirror[MAX_ATB]
set mirrorstate += 1 << ( mirrorindex * 4 )
set SV_FunctionEnemy[PREVENT_ATTACK] = 1
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
An epitaph is an inscription honoring a deceased person, usually on a tombstone or plaque.