FFIX - Tetra Master
Tetra Master is the second card game in FF, after the highly successful card game,Triple Triad, in FFVIII. However, sad to say that Tetra Master is not as rewarding as Triple Triad. But still, there are a few new features to this card game which can be very captivating and absorbing. This card game can keep you hooked for hours (well,for me that is), and so, below are the mechanisms which I discovered about this card game.
Basic Mechanisms
There are only 100 different types of cards in this game and you can only hold 100 cards at any time, meaning that you have to discard any excess cards. Cards can be gained in the following ways:
- Won from Non-Participating Characters(NPCs)
- Dropped by enemies.
- As random items found around the cities,towns and dungeons, as characterisised by a ? or !
- Found as Chocograph treasures.
The card game starts with each player choosing 5 cards,with no Random Rule as in FFVIII. The game board is a 4 x 4 square grid, with 16 boxes. Randomly, 0 to 6 boxes may be covered at the start of each card game. This results in the player employing different strategies each time. I will not go into those strategies as they are too varied and not a sure-win method. I will continue to explain the mechanisms of the game itself.
You can win cards in 2 ways:
- Every card can have 0 to 8 arrows pointing in all directions, and the same type of card may have different arrow patterns, (i.e. if you have two flan cards, one may have 3 arrows, and the other 4, and they may point in different directions). When a card is placed with its arrow pointing towards an opponents card which does not have an arrow pointing back to your card, your card will automatically flip the opponents card.
- When your card arrow points to one with its own arrow pointing back at your card, a card battle will take place. The card which wins the battle (as explained later on), will take over the losers sides card. This means that it's possible to have multiple card battle at one time and you can choose the order of the card battle you want.
A card is basically represented in the manner: STUV, where:
- S represents the attack power of the card, in hexadecimal form.
- T represents the type of attack the card will take when it’s placed on the board and it results in a card battle. There are 4 symbols involved: P, M ,X and A.
- U represents the physical defence of the card, also in hexadecimal form.
- V represents the magical defence of the card, also in hexadeciaml form.
Hexadecimal form means that the cards number is represented in the order: 0123456789ABCDEF where 0 is the lowest number of the card and F is the highest of the card. Theoretically, the best card will be FAFF, but according to the mechanism and programming of the game, this is not possible. The type of card in the order will generally determine the numbers of the cards, meaning a weak enemys card will be low in numbers as compared to a boss card.
The second symbol on the card (T) represents the type of attack the card will be making. The meanings are as follows:
- P: The card will use its attack power (S) to attack the physical defence of the opponents card (U).
- M: The card will use its (S) to attack the magical defence of the opponents card (V).
When a card battle is won, there is a chance of 4/256 or 1. 5625% that the P card or the M card will be upgraded to an X card where: - X: The card will use its (S) to attack either (U) or (V), whichever is lower in power.
You can find X cards along the course of the game, although the chances are lower as compared to both P and M cards. Once there is an X card and it's placed on the grid board, causing a card battle and wins, there is a chance of 2/256 or 0. 78125% that it can get upgraded to the A status card, where: - A: The card will use the highest power in its card, can be (S), (U) or (V), to attack the lowest of the (S) ,(U) ,(V) in the opponents card.
Cards cannot be found or dropped or won from NPCs. The only way is to get them through upgrading X cards.
Advanced mechanisms
Each number of the hexadecimal form has its own number range (HP) and they are as follows:
| 0: | 0HP | 15HP |
| 1: | 16HP | 31HP |
| 2: | 32HP | 47HP |
| 3: | 48HP | 63HP |
| 4: | 64HP | 79HP |
| 5: | 80HP | 95HP |
| 6: | 96HP | 111HP |
| 7: | 112HP | 127HP |
| 8: | 128HP | 143HP |
| 9: | 144HP | 159HP |
| A: | 160HP | 175HP |
| B: | 176HP | 191HP |
| C: | 192HP | 207HP |
| D: | 208HP | 223HP |
| E: | 224HP | 239HP |
| F: | 240HP | 255HP |
The HP of the cards in (S), (U) and (V) can be seen when its symbol is involved in a card battle. There is a chance that a cards HP can rise by 1 HP after winning a card battle, but every card has its limit.
In a card battle, the cards are involved in a battle of HPs. The card which has a higher HP at the end of a battle wins. Its starting HP is any number between the range possible. Example, a card of 3M21 facing against 2P11. Your cards (S) is 3, meaning that its HP shown can be from 48 - 63 whereas the opponent’ card (V) can be from 16 - 31. An imaginary dice (cannot be seen) is thrown for each card. The cards number will subtract the result shown by the result of the imaginary dice, similarly it's thrown again for the opponents card. Note that the highest number the dice can show is the highest HP for the card possible, meaning the card will not have a negative HP at the end of a card battle. Note also that the results by both throws of the imaginary dice is not necessarily the same. Hence, although in this case, your card has a higher chance of winning, there's still a slight chance your card can lose and be taken over.
Card highest stats possible
I myself have reached the highest collectors rank and I am fairly sure that some of the cards have reached their limits. Here are the stats that I got:
| 1) | Goblin | 0A00 |
| 2) | Fang | 0A00 |
| 3) | Skeleton | 0A00 |
| 4) | Flan | 0A00 |
| 5) | Zagnhol | 0A00 |
| 6) | Lizard Man | 1A00 |
| 7) | Zombie | 1A10 |
| 8) | Bomb | 1A01 |
| 9) | Ironite | 1A10 |
| 10) | Sahagin | 1A10 |
| 11) | Yeti | 1A01 |
| 12) | Mimic | 1A11 |
| 13) | Wyerd | 1A01 |
| 14) | Mandragora | 2A02 |
| 15) | Crawler | 2A20 |
| 16) | Sand Scorpion | 2A21 |
| 17) | Nymoh | 2A02 |
| 18) | Sand Golem | 2A21 |
| 19) | Zuu | 2A02 |
| 20) | Dragonfly | 2A21 |
| 21) | Carrion Worm | 2A11 |
| 22) | Cerberus | 3A20 |
| 23) | Antlion | 3A31 |
| 24) | Cactuar | 3AC0 |
| 25) | Gimme Cat | 2A11 |
| 26) | Ragtimer | 3A21 |
| 27) | Hedgehog Pie | 3A12 |
| 28) | Ralvuimahgo | 3A40 |
| 29) | Ochu | 3A21 |
| 30) | Troll | 4A32 |
| 31) | Blazer Beetle | 4A51 |
| 32) | Abomination | 4A33 |
| 33) | Zemzelett | 4A26 |
| 34) | Stroper | 3A40 |
| 35) | Tantarian | 4A22 |
| 36) | Grand Dragon | 4A44 |
| 37) | Feather Circle | 4A22 |
| 38) | Hecteyes | 5A04 |
| 39) | Ogre | 5A51 |
| 40) | Armstrong | 4A24 |
| 41) | Ash | 3A33 |
| 42) | Wraith | 5A51 |
| 43) | Gargoyle | 5A32 |
| 44) | Vepal | 5A33 |
| 45) | Grimlock | 5A23 |
| 46) | Tonberry | 2A33 |
| 47) | Veteran | 5A19 |
| 48) | Garuda | 6A41 |
| 49) | Malboro | 5A36 |
| 50) | Mover | 6AD0 |
| 51) | Abadon | 7A62 |
| 52) | Behemoth | BA46 |
| 53) | Iron Man | CA60 |
| 54) | Nova Dragon | EA7C |
| 55) | Ozma | DA0B |
| 56) | Hades | FAC1 |
| 57) | Holy | 8A23 |
| 58) | Meteor | BAA0 |
| 59) | Flare | DA11 |
| 60) | Shiva | 5A05 |
| 61) | Ifrit | 6A91 |
| 62) | Ramuh | 4A16 |
| 63) | Atomos | 4A66 |
| 64) | Odin | 9A84 |
| 65) | Leviathan | BA61 |
| 66) | Bahamut | CA95 |
| 67) | Ark | EA65 |
| 68) | Fenrir | 8A21 |
| 69) | Madeen | AA16 |
| 70) | Alexander | EAB5 |
| 71) | Excalibur | FAB0 |
| 72) | Ultima Weapon | FA16 |
| 73) | Masamune | AAB3 |
| 74) | Elixir | 6A66 |
| 75) | Dark Matter | CA3C |
| 76) | Ribbon | 0ACF |
| 77) | Tiger Racket | 0A01 |
| 78) | Save the Queen | 7A30 |
| 79) | Genji | 0A6A |
| 80) | Mythril Sword | 2A00 |
| 81) | Blue Narciss | 8A91 |
| 82) | Hilda Garde 3 | 6A31 |
| 83) | Invincible | BA88 |
| 84) | Cargo Ship | 2A60 |
| 85) | Hilda Garde 1 | 6A40 |
| 86) | Red Rose | 8A17 |
| 87) | Theatre Ship | 2A51 |
| 88) | Viltgance | EA92 |
| 89) | Chocobo | 0A00 |
| 90) | Fat Chocobo | 1A11 |
| 91) | Mog | 0A00 |
| 92) | Frog | 0A00 |
| 93) | Oglop | 2A20 |
| 94) | Alexandria | 0AB6 |
| 95) | Lindblum | 0A6B |
| 96) | Two Moons | 7A55 |
| 97) | Gargant | 2A13 |
| 98) | Namingway | 7A77 |
| 99) | Boco | 8A77 |
| 100) | Airship | 8A77 |
What are the rewards of this game?
The rewards of this game, although not as important as in FFVIII, are interesting enough:
- Winning the card tournament in Treno, winning 3 consecutive games will gain you a Rebirth Ring. This is part of the games course and you cannot escape it.
- Having the Namingway card (#98) will allow you to change the name of your usable characters if you talk to a guy at the left hand side of the library in Daguerreo.
- Having lots of different types of cards will raise your treasure hunters rank, another side-quest in its own right, plus you can see your own card collectors points in the card menu. The points and ranks are as follows:
| 0 - 299 | Beginner |
| 300 - 399 | Novice |
| 400 - 499 | Player |
| 500 - 599 | Senior |
| 600 - 699 | Fan |
| 700 - 799 | Leader |
| 800 - 899 | Coach |
| 900 - 999 | Advisor |
| 1000 - 1099 | Director |
| 1100 - 1199 | Dealer |
| 1200 - 1249 | Trader |
| 1250 - 1299 | Commander |
| 1300 - 1319 | Doctor |
| 1320 - 1329 | Professor |
| 1330 - 1339 | Veteran |
| 1340 - 1349 | Freak |
| 1350 - 1359 | Champion |
| 1360 - 1369 | Analyst |
| 1370 - 1379 | General |
| 1380 - 1389 | Expert |
| 1390 - 1399 | Shark |
| 1400 - 1449 | Specialist |
| 1450 - 1474 | Elder |
| 1475 - 1499 | Dominator |
| 1500 - 1549 | Maestro |
| 1550 - 1599 | King |
| 1600 - 1649 | Wizard |
| 1650 - 1679 | Authority |
| 1680 - 1689 | Emperor |
| 1690 - 1697 | Pro |
| 1698 - 1699 | Master |
The points are awarded as follows:
| 1) | 1 Unique card |
| 2) | Unique card, non-unique arrows |
| 3) | Extra cards |
| 4) | Extra cards, non-unique arrows |
| 5) | X cards |
| 6) | A cards |
To get the highest possible collector points, which is 1700 points, you need to collect all 100 types of cards, plus all of them must have unique arrows and all must be at A status. The highest rank at 1700 points, incidentally, is "Wouldl you like to discard this card?" superimposed on the column where the rank is seen.