Grandjackal's Final Fantasy 6 Playthrough!

[grandjackal]

Yes, finally after a lot of time, I've finally gotten this on my Wii, and I am now free to see how what is considered the most ridiculous (in terms of fun) game in the series holds up to the rest under "efficient" means. What I mean is no grinding, but still going after all treasures that's worth the time/is actually possible to get (namely: Gem Box is impossible to get without Life 3, and Life 3 under these circumstances is impossible.). I'm already past the Narshe fight with Kefka, but I will name some interesting factoids up until this point. I should note I'm playing the SNES version.

-I did not get any treasures in Narshe Cave or Tunnel to South Figaro. Nothing important is gained.

-I have done some testing, and it would seem that Battle Power raises the damage of Edgar's Tools, but not Vigor (Thus meaning the Hyper Wrist doesn't really help Edgar do anything). I noticed this when I gave him the Mythril Pike I took off Mog during the Narshe Caves event at the start of the game, and noticed a huge increase in Autocrossbow damage. This made Mt. Koltz rather simple with him and Terra doing Auto/Fire nuking, basically walking through Mt. Koltz with ease. Or generally everything up until the river. Oddly enough though, Genji Gauntlets does not help his Tools despite the additional weapons upping his Battle Power. I'm supposing the 3/4 damage reduction blow-per-blow also takes effect on Edgar's Tools, or Genji giving you additional battle power is ignored as a unique case.

-MP on your two current casters is never an issue so far, it's never been an issue. You get Tents at the right times, so nuke to your heart's delight.

-That being said, while you have Edgar/Mages nuking the crap out of everything, Locke has nothing better to do than Steal. This makes healing outside of battle less annoying since you can get some free Tonics, Antidotes, etc. Even got a rare steal off a Rhinotaur getting me a Mythril Claw, another off Vargas and that's actually quite a bit of free money I got (even with Genji Double Mythril this early, it doesn't make Pummel better than Aura Cannon for Sabin). With his single targetting never dealing with full crowds any faster, real reason not to. No real damage, up until Genji Gauntlets. Then we come upon a strange paradox where he may actually be the best cantidate for it with the likes of Guardian and Air Lancet with how early he can get them. For those wondering how you get Genji THAT early, when you have Terra talk to Banon and he ass if you will be their light of hope, say no. Go back in and a path blocked by a returner will be open. Talk to said Returner, he gives you the Genji Gauntlet. There's other treasures, including the Air Lancet. With Guardian, that is about 300-320 a blow if he's in the front row. I'll get to why that's good in a moment.

Then we get to the route split.

-Take Banon first because they care the least, it's quick, and overall doesn't really gain anything anyways. You can decide to pick up the Rune Blade, but there's not much use to it at all. If you don't get it, in the WoR you can get a Ribbon. While I find the Ribbon to be rather pointless as well in this sort of run, Ribbon can be bet on something better in the Collesium.

-Do Sabin's scenario second. Plenty of reasons why. First off, getting the Earring here first is going to help Celes more when you have double Earrings. Secondly, Locke enjoys Shadow's Ninja Suit and Green Beret, along with the Hyper Wrist. Thirdly, Celes will appreciate the Magus Hat and Silk Robe you can buy on his scenario for additional magic boosting.

-Shadow can equip the Genji Gauntlets and all that, but you'll want Shurikens off the initial seller of them when you recruit him, they'll prove more effective. 30G, you can get 60 for a mere 1200 Gil. You'll be doing more with that than you will with Genji, because for some reason Shadow cannot equip Air Lancet or Guardian, so you're stuck with his Imperial and a Mythril Knife at best. Shurikens will prove more effective. You will notice this especially on the Phantom Train when Shadow can't OHKO things without them while Cyan's Dispatch and Sabin's Aura Cannon does. You will want Shadow, simply because 3 people is better than 2 for Phantom Train. And again, you wanna strip him of his armor before he runs off. Locke will thank you.

-Cyan starts with only Dispatch and Retort, meaning that I probably got here at a rather low level cause usually when I get to this point, he has Slash innately. Not that that matters (at the moment), but Dispatch does indeed get boosted by Hyper Wrist. Dispatch does what it needs to do, and that's all one really needs to be said about Cyan for the moment.

-Sabin, Cyan and Shadow are all effectively just doing the same thing: one shotting enemies one by one, because none of them have crowd control at this point in time. Nothing really differentiate eachother other than Shadow cost us a bit of Gil. Oh, and Earrings give Sabin a 100 damage boost at this point in time. That's always nice, helps you kill Red Pihrana thing at the waterfall before it gets off El Nino. Also helps in Serpent's Trench.

-Unless you run into one of the perfect encounters on the Veldt with Gau on your team between Mobliz and Cave in the Veldt (Templar, Stray Cat), Gau's up shit creek. M-Tek Armor is the only rage his has that's worth a damn, and basically it's complete ass. It does basically magically equal damage to Dispatch, except M-Tek Laser doesn't always come out while Dispatch always will. The physical damage it has also doesn't do him any favors.

-Cut to Locke's scenario, where the situation is rather unique. With Genji/Hyper Wrist and Guardian/Air Lancet, he can do the same amount of damage as Celes can with a single blast of Ice if she's packing all the magic equipment and double earrings, both able to wreck a target in one hit. In South Figaro, no encounter I believe gets beyond 3, so any fight ends in 2 turns regardless on if Celes nukes and Locke steals, or you smack them down one by one. One by one you only spend1 blast of Ice worth of MP along with durably helping you survive as you will have less attacks hitting you over time, the other costing 5 more MP and you taking more damage with the reward of more MP-free healing through Tonics/Potions as you get to Tunnel Armor. Make sure to steal another Air Lancet off the Tunnel Armor.

Then we get to Narshe, and things get rather interesting with team composition. You will basically have to deal with 3-4 fights before fighting Hellrider and Kefka. No enemies will even get close to Banon, so whoever you have as your main team is all you have to worry about. Character by character advantages.

Terra: Lots of enemies weak to fire, including the Hellrider. Best cantidate for the double Earrings, as Sabin can blow things away with a normal Aura Cannon anyways. Against Kefka, she makes up the damage that Sabin would get from double Earrings, so it's moot who gets the Earrings then. Against the Hellrider, she's one of the keys in a 3-person kill.

Edgar: Lots of things weak to Poison as well, so Bioblaster and Fire nukes basically win any fight. Hellrider is also weak to Poison, which is rather interesting. If you have Terra/Edgar, you have unbeatable crowd control, giving us a "Locke can steal without much penalty" situation.

Locke: Genji/Hyper Wrist and double Air Lancets can actually do similar damage Earringless Sabin's Aura Cannon, if you want a big shocker. Difference being one is magical and the other is physical. I bring that up because 2 of the 4 fights before Hellrider can possibly have Heavy Armor. These things have high defense, and can cast MTek Barrier, which reduces Locke's damage considerably, while Sabin doesn't care. This makes Locke typically inferior a choice, though with Edgar/Terra composition you can steal random stuff in battles. Potions/Phoenix Downs from Fidors, an Iron Helm off Heavy Armor, Mythril Vest off Hellrider (3 person kill makes this viable), and an Elixer off Kefka, and Tonics off Soldiers.

Cyan: You can't 3-person kill Hellrider without him, and Dispatch against Heavy Armor ignores all that defense AND MTekBarrier (can be problematic as that casts Protect/Reflect, meaning no magic). I must have just barely skirt the minimum, because the last fight before Hellrider gets me Slash, which in one blow does 650 damage to it+Injure. With double Earrings Terra hitting a weakness with Fire, generally any third person can blow over the Hellrider after it. Dispatch works on generally anything else, doing about 280-300 with Hyper Wrist.

Sabin: Aura Cannon does a solid amount of damage, which obviously helps in fighting Kefka, and is about as effective as Genji-Locke and Dispatch, except it's Magical so unlike Locke it can still pierce MTek Barrier off Heavy Armor (Which you possibly could end up fighting twice) since you can't Reflect Aura Cannon. Also has something to gain from EXP in the form of getting Fire Dance all the sooner. This helps in tandem with Flash from Edgar to basically work as your crowd control for Magitech.

Celes: Runic helps kill Kefka in a safer manner, but she doesn't really do anything really helpful outside of that. Even then, time spent doing Runic could be spent killing Kefka quicker. Nothing has a weakness to Ice, and no real good swords come out to have her Genji like Locke can. She has some of the worst offense here, making her one of the less desirable choices. At least Runic is a use.

Gau: He blows, are you shocked?

So now I sit, about to go to Zozo. In Narshe I can get 5K with a Wall Ring, Sneak Ring, another Elixer, and another Hyper Wrist and Earring for free. You can also get a Thief Knife, along with Full Moons for Locke if you wanna bring him. I actually sit here thinking of whom to bring with me to Zozo. My thoughts.

Edgar and Celes: Your nuking power. Chances are, they're getting in for free, that is unless Celes or Edgar alone can prove to be crowd control for Zozo. I might even choose Celes, because while she costs MP, she has Runic for those Blizzara dancers. Those things can one shot me, and that's not cool.

Cyan: Slash for Hill Gigas and Dispatch ignoring Protect on Dadaluma make him a strong consideration, along with double Hyper Wrist.

Sabin and Locke: Sabin's getting the slot, but Locke has a fighting chance. While one can say Flash/Fire Dance (FlashFire as I'll call it) can be crowd control for Magitek Research, so can any jerkoff throwing Ramuh because everything there's weak to Lightning. Sabin's now got his own Earring, and Locke still has Genji since he's got Full Moons/Thief Knife along with a free Hero Ring for either one of them while you're in the area. So why bring Locke? Cause Locke can steal Atlas Armlets off HillGigas. This I believe helps more than Hyper Wrists for a fellow like Cyan. I'll have to test out damage on the both of them when Sabin's got Earring/Hero Ring and Locke's got Genji/Hero. If it's similar, Locke has a fighting chance in Zozo. I still might take Sabin anyways to get him closer to Wind Slash for WoR. Though I have to wonder if I were to ignore Sabin and then by the time I get him in WoR his level will just jump...Though agan I have good reason to bring Sabin to Magitek, so I can build up his Magic stat with the new espers, so training up for Fire Dance might be warrented anyways, if only to make him even more effective in woR.

Gau can of course go to hell.

My levels are generally between 10-12 right now.

Edited November 4, 2011 by grandjackal

[grandjackal]

Alright, so I'm about to do something that is going to sound incredibly silly: I am going with a team of...

Cyan/Edgar/Celes/Locke

Then I'mma do a team where Locke is replaced by Sabin. I'll note any differences.

Zozo

Locke's Adventure

I buy an Iron Armor, 2 Mythril Shields and Iron Helmets for Cyan and Edgar because they were due to an armor upgrade, and it's getting to the point where extra def would help. I sell outdated armor, weapons and some useless relics (Peace Ring, Sniper Sight, True Knight), and I break even on that. I go to the small house on the cliffside for 5000 Gil, Thief Knife, Sneak Ring, Earring, Hyper Wrist and a Wall Ring, all good equips. I buy a single Full Moon because the Thief Knife offering Magic Block and extra Speed along with giving my physical attack innate Steal so I don't have to waste turns using normal steal. Sneak Ring increases the success rate of a normal steal, but I suppose on if I ever use it or not depends on how quick I can kill a HadesGigas.

My relic loadout is this.

Lvl 12 Cyan: Hyper Wrist/Black Belt

Lvl 11 Celes: Double Earrings

Lvl 11 Edgar: Sprint Shoes/Mythril Glove

Lvl 10 Locke: Genji Gauntlet/Hyper Wrist

I face 1 encounter with a single Leafer when I reach Figaro. I buy Edgar a Drill and Flash before I underground my way to Kholingen. I leave the castle, and head north to a house just north of Kohlingen, running into 2 encounters (x2 Vultures, x1 Vulture, x2 Red Fangs). Why do I go here? The Hero Ring of course! Time to test this sucker out, see who benefits most from it. Celes won't care, she has double earrings. Cyan's Dispatch increases by basically 100 damage. Flash goes from around the damage of OHKOing Red Fangs to leaving them severely wounded, so the Hero Ring barely does anything for Edgar. In fact, an Ice nuke still destroys random encounters out here. Locke on the other hand goes from 300 damage a blow to about 400 a blow, and gives Cyan 2 Hyper Wrists...Except 2 Hyper Wrists don't stack. Regardless, it shows that Locke can do quite a sizeable amount of damage in one blow at this point in time, all while stealing you some free stuff.

I run into 3 of the x1 Vulture x2 Red Fang encounters, Locke gaining a level. I notice a lot of enemies carry Potions that are stealable. I rest at Figaro and skip Kholingen entirely because there's nothing really of value there. On my way to Jidoor, I come across 2 more of the vulture/red fang encounters, 2 2x Mind Candies/x2 Iron Fists, 2 Vulter/Iron Fist, with Celes and Edgar gaining a level on the way. I make a pit stop at Jidoor to buy a White Dress for Celes to further boost her magic. I take a rest at the Inn, pick up a Forged for Cyan. I buy a Forged for Cyan, and I decide to test something out. On my way to Zozo I do some calcs and realize that even with double Forged with Genji and Hyper Wrist, Cyan would still be doing less damage than Dispatch. Basically meaning his damage roof is around 300, 400 if you give him the Hero Ring, or a Gigas Armlet from a HadesGigas (though Dispatch still basically gets the job done, and he has Slash for HadesGigas).

On my way to Zozo, I run into x2 Mind Candy/x2 Iron Fist, and x4 Mind Candies, Cyan gaining a level.

Zozo

Some notable things: Rare steals from Harvesters can possibly yield Dragoon Boots, so if you get lucky here then cool. I also note that outside of a Hades Gigas, Flash alone basically can do enough damage that physical attacks at the front row from Celes can finish things off, so you only really need an ice nuke for encounters bigger than 3 enemies (Possible with x4 Gobblegaks. By the way, you can steal Phoenix Downs off these guys, so don't worry about reviving). I also note that you don't really need the help of Slash to mae a Hades Gigas fight last beyond a single full turn. Hell, I didn't even need 4 people. I make sure to grab the Chainsaw before heading to the Relic shop (no reason to go to any of the other buildings). On my way to the boss, I pick up the Thief Gauntlets and Fire Knuckle. At the last minute, I manage to steal an Atlas Armlet off a Hades Gigas (I eat a Magnitude8 in this fight though, which sucked but I lived). Then we get to the boss. My levels before the fight.

Cyan: Level 14, Celes: Lvl 13 (Learned Imp), Edgar: Lvl 13, Loce: Lvl 12

Dadaluma

Dadaluma has nothing worth stealing (Jewel Rings suck, already have a Sneak Ring) so I just make sure my team is relic'd out to the best (I gave the spare Hyper Wrist to Edgar). Cyan with his Hero ring, Celes with all her magical goodness and Locke with Genji/Atlas. Ice was doing about 300 damage, Drill about 450, Dispatch nearly 500, and Locke was doing 400 before Protect went up (then it was more 240). Regardless, no Iron Fists came out. Was about 4 full turns, basically. That means at least 4 Steal attempts with the Thief Knife in hand, so you might end up getting an extra relic to sell anyways. Got a Headband for my troubles. Unfortunately no extra relic.

So I talk to Terra, I get my espers, I grab the Running Shoes and X Potion before I talk to the other 2 guys and leave. Then, I'm forced to take both Locke and Celes to the Magitek Research Facility. But for now, I take a break. I note that Sabin is still level 12, meaning he gained no levels while he was away. Also note that the other 2 you bring are going to be going to the Opera House with you.

I decide to take note of something: Namely that Sabin and Cyan before this whole thing started were basically the same level (12), and when Zozo's over, Cyan's at level 14, meaning he's 1 level away from Quadra Slam. However, if I had done this with Sabin, that means I'd be 1 level closer to Fire Dance. Anyways, my thoughts.

Characters in Zozo

Edgar: Definitely going to Zozo because Flash is ridiculous, and Drill/Chainsaw is too good. Insta-kill a Slam Dancer (any way to avoid getting nuked by those things is a good thing), Slash/Chainsaw can pretty much 2-person kill a Hades Gigas, and Flash is so strong that even without any way to bolster the magic damage, you could pretty much finish anything off with 1 attack (investing in a Flail may not have been a bad idea). You don't have anything that comes even close to the nuking power of Flash, so despite the fact that leveling does virtually nothing for him, you're taking him. End of story.

Celes: May actually be the weak link on my team. Ice Nuke was hardly necessary (It only sped up x4 Gobbledegack fights, which I maybe encountered twice), and only 300 damage on Dadaluma when I could have had more with Sabin (and better payoff in the end too. Fire Dance>Imp). Runic is nice for Slam Dancer encounters if she manages to have the ATB gauge near full at the start of the fight, but hardly reliable.

Locke: His damage output shocked me. Even better, unlike Aura Bolt and Dispatch, you can choose the target. Hey, who likes one shotting Slam Dancers? I know I do! He was probably more reliable in helping me avoid getting my ass blown up by those pains in the ass than Celes was simply because of his damage output and speed. His only iffy point was against Dadaluma when he put up Protect, but if I had Sabin, the damage would have been made up for. Regardless, still killed him before Iron Fists came out. Also, free Potions/Phoenix Downs and an Atlas Armlet never hurt anyone. Hell, you get lucky you could nab some Dragoon Boots too. Not that it would help anyone at this point in time.

Cyan: Slash does help against Hades Gigas (I think Magnitude 8 only comes out when he dies if you take too long to kill it), and Dispatch does it's job. If you nab a Gigas Armlet (If you run into a Hades Gigas before entering a building, might as well take time to steal one if Cyan's on your team), he can also one shot things with Dispatch with Hyper Wrist/Gigas Armlet (including Slam Dancers, so my team was fully capable of killing them on sight except for Celes). Without that Atlas Armlet though, he basically instantly loses the fight to Sabin. So, might mean you waste a few turns on a Hades Gigas to get a Gigas Armlet unless you get lucky. Be prepared to eat a Magnitude 8 in that case.

That being said, I imagine Sabin doing about 450/500 with Aura Bolt if he had the double Earrings instead of Celes. If we take into account that Celes only saves you a single character's turn on the rare 4-person encounters, you could actually probably kill Dadaluma in 2 turns. If we got 450-500 off Sabin and Edgar (1000 damage), 400 off Locke (was doing more damage than double Earring Ice), and 500 off of Cyan with Hyper Wrist/Gigas Armlet or Hero Ring (interchangeable beween him and Locke really), you can 2 round Dadaluma. You could probably kill him before he does his weird "Tonic Potion Potion Protect" move. So despite me and Life Admiral disputing if Locke or Cyan is better, so far I'm seeing the actual weak link is Celes! Looking at numbers, her lack of damage in comparison actually would keep me from 2-turning Dadaluma, can't OHKO Slam Dancers and only really has Runic as an answer, and generally Ice Nuke isn't THAT beneficial to smoothly progressing through this region. Cure also isn't that necessary, because the Thief Knife is providing us with free healing (including revivals with Phoenix Downs off Gobbledegaks!). On single targets, Ice won't do any more noticeable damage than Dispatch until you get the Atlas Armlet, which case Cyan beats her anyways.

In conclusion, the best setup for this region most likely is Edgar/Locke/Sabin/Cyan. Cyan will be all the closer to Quadra Slam, and Sabin will be all the closer to Fire Dance. Sacrificing them for Imp and being closer to...Scan...Does not make up for it at all.

Alternaticely to Cyan though, you can go nab Shadow if you decide to go with 3 people and pick him up. Skeans are available at this point I believe so he can help take care of the nuking aspect, and with Ninja Stars, Hyper Wrist and Hero Ring, he's doing Cyan's AND Celes's job, except he can individually target Slam Dancers to off them immediately with speed, unlike Dispatch on slow Cyan. Only issues are 1. Shadow himself gains nothing from this while Celes gets...Imp...and Cyan gets close to Quadra Slam for the Ultros fight), 2. This costs money(though that's not a big deal), and 3. He could leave your team at any given time. That's not cool. Still, Shadow has a say in this adventure too, and if you like him then take him I guess.

Gau. Your suspension. Continues.

I'm probably going to redo this with Edgar/Locke/Sabin/Cyan, but for a dry run on the Zozo region, this was rather fun to have some insight on this. Edgar is irreplaseable here, the Atlas Armlet opportunity alone makes me wanna always bring Locke even though he does great damage anyways, Sabin and Cyan both can blow a single target up while building closer to some important skills, Shadow is high risk/cost with moderate reward, Celes is basically a weaker version of Shadow, but gains...Imp. She's forced to go to Magitek, but it's not really an excuse. End of the day, you can slap Ramuh on her for that dungeon, the levels she'd gain here won't be that big a deal. Gau of course still blows nuts.

So now that begs the question. I'm forced to bring Celes and Locke to Vector, giving me only two slots, of which are fought over by Edgar, Cyan and Sabin. Flash/Fire Dance for the rats in the Opera House along with being free nuke killing in all of Vector for free pretty much concludes me to say Edgar/Sabin to fill the last slots. In this case, Locke is pretty much free to a +Strength or +HP Esper (+HP for Valiant Knife, and the fact his HP sucks for a guy who likes to front row thanks to Thief Knife) for his own benefit while he resorts to stealing while Edgar, Sabin and Ramuh do all the real work. I dunno how much damage Hyper Wrist/Atlas Armlet Cyan would do to a boss with Quadra Slam, but I know for the rats it won't be as helpful as Fire Dance/Flash (though now that I have Espers...), and that for the last boss in Magitek it would pose a problem due to multiple targets.

If I bring Cyan to the Opera House, that means Ramuh is going to him for the rats since I either won't have Flash or Fire Dance, so he'll be learning thunder magic while bolstering his Stamina stat. Sabin gets instant call for Stray because he wants more magic, Locke would want Siren. Edgar doesn't really care what he gets (stat bolstering isn't that big a deal for him, since it doesn't change much for him, so Kirin might be good for him), and Celes doesn't exist for the Opera House technically (though on the way TO the Opera House, she'll want Ramuh to learn the Bolt spells.

Edited November 5, 2011 by grandjackal

[grandjackal]

So I went ahead and did Zozo again with Edgar/Cyan/Locke/Sabin, and I'm actually happier with the results. Also, got 2 Atlas Armlets. However, now that it's passed, I have a team to make where Celes and Locke are forced, Celes I'm not too happy with being forced with. However, now I'm going to do something monumentally stupid! For the Opera House and Vector, I'm NOT bringing Edgar with me! Yes, my team is...

Celes/Cyan/Sabin/Locke

I do this because I have this sneaking suspicion, and I have to test it out...

Anyways, I go from Zozo to Jidoor, talk to the Impressario and get introduced to a fellow named Setzer. Ok cool, so I go straight to the Opera House and I de-quip everything important off Celes like her relics, and I have Sabin equip the Hyper Wrist and Hero Ring, then I put him in the front row. You might be wondering why...Well, just give me a minute.

So, my levels before the Opera House.

Celes: 12 Ramuh (Again, just testing something really), Bolt Mastered

Cyan: 14 Kirin

Sabin: 14 Stray

Locke: 13 Siren

Ok, let's get this show on the road.

Opera House

I always hated this part. It takes forever for it to get back into the action, I hate being put on a clock, I hate operas, and Ultros is a little bitch. It just makes me wish Setzer was at Jidoor and we asked him to take us, he said no unless Celes became his wife, she gets abducted and we sneak on board his ship to save her...In which we find Ultros, yadda yadda. Would have been better than this game-halting garbage.

So I decided to test out something. The rats were the big problem I was worrying about with this composition, since Flash works fine. BUT, I did notice you don't have Fire Dance either. I'd say that generally if Flash alone can't one shot the Sewer Rats (since there's no way you're killing Vermin in one hit unless you kill time by waiting for it to attack, then you kill the other 2 rats then either Aura Bolt/Dispatch it), the difference isn't really all that huge. Locke can one shot a Sewer Rat with a basic physical, so it's basically attack a Sewer Rat, then Dispatch/Aura Bolt and hope they both hit before Vermin summon another set of Sewer Rats. 1 turn regardless, so it's all cool. Besides, you can still slap Ramuh on someone. If you're THAT nervous, just have 2 people focus down the Vermin and your Ramuh caster blows everything else up But then the real fight starts...

Ultros, Revenge of the Squid

And I was absolutely right. Cyan starts with a Dispatch to Ultros's back, which he responds with an Acid Rain, turning to face Cyan to do it. Then Sabin hit him in the back for...1000 damage, and that is ignoring that Fire Knuckles can have an after-effect of Fire (which unfortunately didn't happen). Had that landed, I could have 1-turned Ultros, as Locke did about 600 since Ultros didn't turn his back to face Sabin. He retaliates by turning his back to Cyan to give Locke a nice pair of shades, and Cyan finishes him off with a Dispatch. That fight ended, as you would say, immediately.

So now that that's over with, Setzer abducts Celes, Celes lets me on his ship and we hustle him out to take us to Vector.

Vector

Now this is where things get a little...Problematic for me. You see, normally Flash/Fire Dance basically demolishes the Magitek Research Facility. I am lacking the Flash part (Fire Dance is not far away at all), meaning I am going to have to test 2 things. 1. If Fire Dance/Bolt can do the job, or 2. If Ramuh can indeed just blow up everything. Ramuh is again a huge problem, because it costs 25 MP and Celes only has 89 MP. I'm hoping Fire Dance/Bolt does the job...But we'll get there when we get there.

Albrook

I buy one last Earring just so I have 2 complete pairs, and I grab the Elixer and Potion. I take a rest, buy some Bard Hats (though only Cyan really cares), and an Epee for when I want to get Edgar back for extra power on his Tools (again, it's weird how his Tools work), and some extra stuff for Shadow since his time in the sun is soon approaching. At that, I leave for the capital, as the other 2 towns don't really have anything of worth.

My levels for before I enter the Research Facility.

Cyan: 14-Cure, Antidote (Kirin)

Sabin: 15(phew, just in time)-Imp (Stray)

Locke: 13-Sleep, Mute, Slow, Fire (Siren)

Celes: 12-Bolt (Ramuh)

I'mma give Locke the Sneak Ring because he's not needed for anything else. Double Earring Sabin and Celes knock this place ut of the park because Fire Dance/Bolt works, and both can one shot Proto Armors with Bolt/Aura Cannon. Fire Dance also one shots a group of Pipsqueaks. Just a bit of dry running before I take the facility for real. Have yet to really say I feel like I'm missing Edgar. As for treasure getting in the Facility, don't even bother getting the Tent. It's too long a treck for something you can just steal from a Commando. Also, fighting Ifrit is annoying. He's immune to Holy so I can't just blast him with Aura Cannon, and Locke can't really do anything to him. Shiva's a LOT easier to deal with, cause then he's at least got Flame Sabre and Fire Dance.

[grandjackal]

Magitek Research Facility

This dungeon is highly annoying, but due to Sabin having Fire Dance and the fact that Bolt exists, you can easily blow through this dungeon. Fire Dance/Bolt works like a charm on Commandos with Garms, Fire Dance alone one-shots groups of Pipsqueaks, and Aura Bolt can blow up a Proto Armor in one hit (and so can a single-target Bolt. I love Earrings). This bypasses the entire problem of enemies having ludicrous amounts of defense, and also negates the point of Locke and whoever your 4th slot is in existing until boss fights. So, since Locke is forced, I give him the Sneak Ring instead of the usual Atlas Armlet on account of the fact he would be more productive this way, since he has no magic at all aside from a basic Fire spell coming off his meh 30 Mag Pow.

So, what makes this dungeon annoying? Well, the fact that a lot of treasure is REALLY out of the way. However, you can avoid most of the treasures. The Gold equipment would help Cyan/Edgar slightly, but are otherwise ignorable. You can also forget about the tent, since you can steal them off Commandos. Also, if you find Proto-Armor, do cross your fingers for a lucky steal of Mythril Mail. That stuff is tasty. That's why it's annoying though, you would have to cover a lot of ground for stuff you don't really need, because a lot of things are REALLY out of the way, and there's no way to reliably cover all that ground without wasting a lot of time. So, I just axe the things I don't really need or care for, and move on.

I stop first for the Flame Sabre for Locke (Important), then head back to the main path, nabbing hte Tincture and X Potion. I head right on the rollers to get the Thunder Blade (Also good) and a Remedy (not bad). Then, I get onto the main production floor. These are the only things you really need to care about. Head a bit to the left and near the stairs, you'll find Dragoon Boots. Head back to the rollers that took you to this floor and take the stairs nearby. You'll eventually see a path to a pipeway hidden to the right of a wall between some boxes. Take this path to the Blizzard Blade (Again, important). Head south in the pipeway to end up back at the rollers, and simply ride them down to the next part because the rest of the treasure is too much time for too little. After Kefka's done being a dick, go down after the two espers.

Levels and setups before Ifrit and Shiva

Cyan: 15, Kyrin, Hyper Wrist/Atlas Armlet

Sabin: 15, Stray, Double Earrings

Locke: 14, Siren, Genji/Hero Ring, equipped with the Thunder Blade and Flame Sabre because they have nothing to steal, and the additional magic will help more against Shiva.

Celes: 13, Ramuh, Double Earring, equipped with Blizzard Blade.

Ifrit and Shiva

This fight is kind of annoying because Sabin can't just Aura Bolt it and win it for us, as these bosses are immune to Holy. Ifrit's rather simple, just start with Celes casting Runic while Sabin Pummels and Cyan Dispatches. When he uses Fire, react with Ice (720 damage). Locke is incredibly useless in this fight, so just have him throw potions on whoever's getting weakened, because Shiva basically counters anything you do with Ice. Shiva's a different story. The idea is more to kill her before she kills you. This time have Celes act LAST of your team, while Cyan Dispatches (about 500 damage), Sabin uses Fire Dance (1K damage), and Locke uses Fire (32 mag with two magic weapons and Flametongue lets him do 500 a blast, so I'm doing 2K a turn). I say have Celes act last after this to use Runic so that she absorbs the Ice 2 instead of an Ice counter. 4 turns.

I nab the two new Espers, giving Ifrit to Cyan, Shiva to Celes and Ramuh to Locke (again, good reason for this and I'll explain later). I want Celes to have Osmose for later along with Ice 2 being good to have, and I'm giving Cyan Ifrit for the same reason I'm keeping Stray on Sabin. +Strength can only help Cyan.

I climb up the stairs after using a Tent and saving. I have Cyan heal us up before the next fight. Did not have any increased levels, nor did I change my setup.

Number 024

I decided to finally test out Quadra Slam because this was the first fight it could be performed on. 130 a blow, meaning Cyan did a total of 520. Not that big a difference between it and Dispatch. Sabin with Aura Bolt still doing 1K damage, while Celes with a simple blast of Ice does about 500 damage. Locke has a bit of a risky choice to make. He can front row and do possibly around 40 damage with Genji/Hero if both attacks cast their spells, or you can play it safe and just do 200 per blast of Fire. OR, you can attempt to steal a Drainer off him (I believe you know it better as Blood Sword). Bad luck will only nab you a Rune Edge though. If you're doing things right, Wall Change shouldn't happen.

Got another Blizzard Sword, and Sabin learned Float.

So, we move past that joke of a boss fight and power the place down. Kefka blasts us, and we get the hell out of here. Celes warps off (DAMMIT), but on the bright side I have new stuff to equip. I give Bismark to Cyan, Maduin to Sabin, and I give Locke Ifrit. Now, I take my ride out of here on the tracks.

Fire Dance can basically one shot Mag Roaders, so don't worry about properly equipping your team for them. Have Locke steal what he can, as you can steal Skeans and Edges for Shadow. Basically just rinse and repeat until the boss.

Cyan learned Fire. Sabin gained a level. Locke gained a level. Cyan gained a level. Cyan learned Ice and Thunder.

Number 128, Left and Right Blades

Start the fight by having Sabin Fire Dance (should instantly kill the Right Blade), while Cyan and Locke cast Bismark and Ifrit. Should total to around 1K damage, and will take out the Left Blade. You can slip in an Aura Bolt onto Number 128, and you have it crippled. Try to have Locke steal a Tempest off him. Sabin's Aura Bolt only does 900 to this guy for some reason, but I figure it must be because his magic defense is better than his physical. I manage to slip in a Quadra Slam before he could regenerate limbs, and he was doing from 220-230 a blow. 880-920 damage. He died immediately afterwards, so this guy is basically 3 turned. You have really only 1 chance to try and nab Tempest off him, if you even care to have it.

So, now I'm out of the facility and getting chased by Chasers with Pipsqueaks. Basically Fire Dancing every turn takes care of it. But I'm not out of the woods yet!

Cranes

For real, game? Ok, fine. Be that way. This fight is a major pain in the ass, because unless you were psychic, you wouldn't know one crane absorbs Fire while the other absorbs Thunder. I say this because had I known that, I'd have slapped my 2 Blizzard Blades on Locke, so he felt like he was completely useless. You can still steal a Debilitator off the right crane though...But I got unlucky and nabbed a Potion, the rare steal instead! Dammit! Cyan with his Quadra Slam was doing again about 200 a blow, so he could still do at least 600 damage to 1 crane while doing 200 to the other, or 400 to both, or straight 800 to one. Sabin does about 800 with an Aura Bolt, and Setzer...Well, depends on what you get with his slots. Lagomorph is still nice healing, while 7-Flush still gets you about 300 on both targets. He died at the last minute though, not that he had anything to gain from this fight. Could have done better, had I not Fire Dance'd on the first turn...Or had Locke better equipped. Fight's not hard, just annoying and forgettable.

Locke learned Fire 2! After one incredibly annoying and long flashback, I get Terra back! I have the airship, though not much free range stuff to do. Next up I believe will be Thamasa!

Now, since I did this log sort of as a way to measure Cyan, I will say this. Having a slightly weaker Celes from not taking her to Zozo is not that big a deal. You can have Bolt on someone in some shape or form from the Opera House alone, and even on the way there you could have Celes learn Bolt. This means that Fire Dance/Bolt simply is going to happen, be it Celes casting Bolt or not. It also gets Cyan all the closer to Quadra Slam before MAgitek. Is it worth actually BRINGING him to Magitek? Ehh...Not really. You can sneak a +2 level on Cyan, possibly +3 depending on how close to a level he is after you beat Ifrit/Shiva, due to the Mag Roader block and the Chaser afterwards. That helps bolster Quadra Slam's damage quite immensely from what I can tell. But just having Edgar on just...you got Drill, Flash to replace Bolt so you don't have to cast Cure, and Chainsaw for when you wanna get risky on the bosses.

Thamasa is next.

[Life]

Cyan: Slash does help against Hades Gigas (I think Magnitude 8 only comes out when he dies if you take too long to kill it), and Dispatch does it's job. If you nab a Gigas Armlet (If you run into a Hades Gigas before entering a building, might as well take time to steal one if Cyan's on your team), he can also one shot things with Dispatch with Hyper Wrist/Gigas Armlet (including Slam Dancers, so my team was fully capable of killing them on sight except for Celes). Without that Atlas Armlet though, he basically instantly loses the fight to Sabin. So, might mean you waste a few turns on a Hades Gigas to get a Gigas Armlet unless you get lucky. Be prepared to eat a Magnitude 8 in that case.

If killed:

Target: All Characters

Magnitude 8 (33%)

It's pure randomness. The rest of a Hill Gigas' script is Attack and !Headbutt.

In addition, the Hi-Potion is actually the common steal from one of the Cranes while the Debilitator is the rare.

Edited November 10, 2011 by Kefka

[grandjackal]

If killed:

Target: All Characters

Magnitude 8 (33%)

It's pure randomness. The rest of a Hill Gigas' script is Attack and !Headbutt.

Ahh. Perhaps it's just my bad luck then. Just seemed it only worked when I was trying to steal, but wasn't having luck so it killed a bit of time.

In addition, the Hi-Potion is actually the common steal from one of the Cranes while the Debilitator is the rare.

Eh, no biggie. Probably would rip my hair out over a rare steal more than just waiting to get the Debilitator normally.

Anyways, where ya been? You were leaving your aim on like all last wee, then you vanished. Was wanting to talk about FF6.

[Life]

Been away. But I told you that on AIM.

I'm going to spend tomorrow away from Batman: Arkham Asylum and in FFVI land to see what's different between SNES and GBA. To anyone else reading this, GJ and I have a lot of debates mostly because he plays the SNES version and I'm addicted to the GBA one (more user friendly and Dragon's Den).

[grandjackal]

So I forgot the next portion is actually the Sealed Gate. I say that because I hate that place, and probably just went ahead and blocked it out of my memory. Oh well, team time! First though I buy a few Phoenix Downs at the Blackjack's shop, and then head for Narshe to report back.

Banon's mad crazy, just randomly being like "we must open the sealed gate". Why? Screw you old man, I'mma look around town. I remember there being a chest...Oh hey, Lone Wolf! Dude, I thought you died trying to protect the Fire Crystal! What're you doing here?...Oh, you're actually a criminal now. Well, I chase this dude all the way to where I fight Tritoc later, to see he has a moogle hostage! But soon we have a Cliffhanger moment where I must choose between a Gold Hairpin and Mog. Mog is awesome, and Gold Hairpin sounds an awful lot like "Not Earrings", so I make the obvious decision. Hope Lone Wolf enjoys his plummet to the craggy rocks below.

So, I check the shops to see they updated. I buy a few Poison Rods, sensing I'll be needing them later. I don't buy Boomerangs, because I'm not bringing Locke. I buy a Trident for Edgar, couple armor upgrades, and sell all my now junky and useless stuff.

So, my team looks like this.

Mog/Sabin/Edgar/Terra

Setups

Mog: Lvl 19, Bismark with Earrings (Dance)

Sabin: 16, Maduin, Double Earrings

Edgar: 14, Unicorn, Double Atlas Armlets

Terra: 14, Shiva, Genji Gauntlets and Hero Ring

So now we venture into...

Cave of the Sealed Gate

Now, I love the music here, but what more I like the atmosphere of the place, and the fact that it's a pretty straightforward dungeon as far as treasure is concerned. Nothing's too far out of the way. I get into a fight with 2 shadow creatures, and this SHOULD be a simple fight. Edgar and Sabin just Drill/Aura Cannon. However, it's here I noticed a significant problem with bringing Mog. Elf Fire. Many enemies here apparently absorb Fire, making the once dance Mog knows completely ass-backwards in usefulness, only Snare and Cave In being remotely helpful. I also like how immediately into the dungeon they throw the Assassin's Dagger at you, in a hole that is entirely infested with undead. That being said, if it's not a group of enemies automatically dusted off by Drill or Aura Cannon, I can't really think of a simple solution around it other than bring Celes since she probably knows Bolt 2 by now, or Noiseblaster their ass. So anyways, I move down and nab the Tempest, something I imagine would actually be reletively helpful here because I recall that weapon being able to do nuke damage through magic effect or something...One of Cyan's swords can do it.

Lava portion, simply grab the Coin Toss (Would have been more effective than Bringing Mog...Why the fuck did I bring Mog?), the X Potion and move on. I notice with a drill, Edgar does about 500 damage to Ing. This is the most problematic fight because 3 of them spawn, which coincidentally sounds like more than you can deal with in 1 turn on a reliable rate because they absorb fire, and are undead so Edgar runs the risk of botching things up with Chainsaw. So, now I'm in the main room of the dungeon, and the first chest is an Ether. Rather out of the way, Osmose exists, you can skip it. It's here I notice that Hyper Wrist/Dragoon Boots with a Trident, Mog can OHKO Ing...Nevermind everything I just said about Mog, he can one-shot probably the more annoying enemies here. This leaves Edgar and Terra free to focus down the last Ing in 3-spawns, or the last Zombone in a 2-spawn, because Sabin's Aura Cannon easily deals with anything. Remember: Cure works as good as any spell here, because everything's undead. So, I go to cross a bridge and pull the switch. Busts hte bridge, but unlocks passage to another Genji Glove! Sick! Now, back to the main path. It's around this point in time I start to realize I could have stocked up purely on Revivify, and I could easily be beasting through this place with ease. But, having Mog and Sabin eases my troubles at least. Had I brought others that could OHKO Ings and Zombones (Sabin has both, Mog has Ings), it would probably be simpler. I pull a switch and summon a Ninja who immediately blows Terra up with a Water Skean. But issalright, I blow him bac with a single Aura Cannon so it's all good. He tells you of something under the plaza, but whatever. Other switch reveals a save point and a Tent.

I pull another switch and get across to find another treasure waiting for me, holding an Ether. Bit less out of hte way than the first, but still out of the way. I continue through an unforseen path in a cave wall, swipe the Elixer, and then hit the switch in the fake chest, moving down to hit a button to reveal the hiding place of Atma Weapon, 2 shards of Magicite, and an Ether. It's around this point that Terra masters Shiva, so I switch her over to Maduin. Ice 2 also nearly one shots Ing at this point. I move on, finding an extra shard of Magicite, and I move on to the relatively close end of the dungeon.

Terra opens the gate, all hell breaks loose. I Warp Stone it out of there, and save. Levels.

Mog: 21, Learned Fire/Ice/Bolt

Sabin: 19, Maduin mastered

Edgar: 17, Cure 2 mastered, almost mastered Remedy

Terra: 17, Shiva mastered

Thoughts

You can't nuke your way through this dungeon, you have to find a way to OHKO each enemy one at a time. Not as hard as it sounds.

Mog: Dusk Requiem helps in Zombone fights, because if they're not hit by Snare, Elf Fire does about 2000 damage on them. He's able to one shot Ing in one Jump with Hyper Wristed Jump and a Trident. He's pretty decent here.

Sabin: Whatever he touches dies.

Edgar: I actually completely regret bringing him, mainly because he couldn't OHKO anything. Can't OHKO Ings without help, can't do anything significant to Zombones compared to Dusk Requiem and Terra's natural Fire. He existed solely to throw Revivify at things, or do Noiseblaster. At least Locke could have had Fire 2 for Zombones. Also, Atlas Armlets don't really increase the damage of his Tools.

Terra: She's part of the reason why Edgar feels like he sucks. Sabin and Mog can deal with the 2 big problem enemies here easy enough, and enemies come in groups of 3. Terra can't do significant damage to Ing until Ice 2, and before then, Cure+Chainsaw even doesn't do enough damage. As for Zombones, all she has is Fire. But the only problematic encounter with Zombones where Elfire/Snareand Aura Cannon doesn't blow it up is Zombone/x2 Ings. She exists solely to train her in certain abilities and for her to make up for lost time.

To be honest, Locke wth his Fire 2 and double Boomerangs probably would have proved more effective than Edgar. Due to Dusk Requiem for Zombones and just barely the damage for one shotting Ings with Jump most likely due to his extraordinarily high starting level maes him better than Edgar here by default. Cyan wouldn't have been much help with Dispatch or Quadra Slam since he would have to acted last to make sure what he's doing, which case you could have just had him toss a Revivify. Setzer would have sucked, and Gau would have continued to suck.

[grandjackal]

Ok, redoing the sealed gate, this time with a different team.

Mog: 19, Dragon Boots/Atlas Armlet, Bismark

Locke: 15, Genji Gautlet/Hero Ring, Ifrit

Sabin: 16, Double Earrings, Maduin

Terra: 14, Double Earrings, Shiva

Much happier with this team. Fire 2 allows Locke to gang up with Terra to kill a Zombone, whereas Edgar couldn't do such a thing, and Locke could actually one-shot Ing...Not consistantly though. I bought Hawkeyes, and while their highest damage output is ridiculous, it requires they land their "critical hit" to do the real damage, as otherwise it seems like you're hitting with half the force. Probably should have switched Bismark between Mog and Locke for their levels, as there was a wide enough gap. After a while, he starts to OHKO Ing with his level+Strength without needing to "crit".

Levels

Mog: 21, learned Bolt/Ice/Fire

Locke: 18

Sabin: 19, learned the level 2 spells

Terra: 17, learned Ice, Ice 2, but not quite wth Rasp and Osmose.

Rather long wal from Maranda to Vector after the ship crash lands. Locke on the way there gains another level (I have also replaced Mog with Cyan for the sake of the mission). +2 Str on a dude with Genji double Haweyes can prove to be delicious.

To manage the whole talk to soldiers affair, you will need Sprint Shoes and a way to OHKO Commandos and Mega Armor. Only one capable is Sabin, so be sure to bring him. For those of you who don't know what to do when negotiating with Gestahl, be as neutral as possible, ask all 3 questions, and don't take breaks. This will unlock the base treasury near the Sealed Gate, along with nabbing you a Tintinabar (a useless relic in other words unless you're in town and are THAT mad in wanting to save money from just using the damn Inn). I stop by the base first before going off to Albrook to nab an extra Flame Sabre, 13,000 Gil, a Wall Ring, an X Potion, a Cherub Down, an Ether, 8000 more Gil, a Cure Ring, a Back Guard, Running Shoes, and 20,000 more Gil. Along with the treasures you can nab at Vector like a Gale Hairpin and yet another Back Guard, you can rake in some serious cash for going here.

Heading back to Albrook, I take the ship over to Thamasa. Seems Shadow will be tagging along as well. I give him Ifrit and the Assassin Dagger for speed.

Thamasa

Unfortunately, Shadow decides to sleep on the job. Instead I get Strago, who's a cool dude. I give him double Earrings and Shiva as I enter the burning building. Not really a dungeon, but there are a few split paths to nab treasure. You can't really avoid any of the fights with how narrow the place is. Regardless, try to have Strago and Terra alternat between nuking with Aqua Rake and Ice 2. Have Locke just steal what he can. First split path, take the right door because the first door is a trap. Second junction, take the right door for a Fire Rod. You could probably do without getting this treasure. The second juncture, again take the right door for an Ice Rod. Now this you probably want to take for the boss that's just in the next door.

Flame Eater

Simple. Have Terra Morph and blast it with Ice 2. If Strago's learned Ice 2 by now (entirely possible), have him do it too while Locke either risks attacking the Flame Eater physically to avoid having to use the Ice Rod, or whip out the Ice Rod. If Strago hasn't learned Ice 2, just have him Aqua Rake. Then have Locke break the Ice Rod. VERY easy 1 turn kill.

Shadow saves our asses, then we have to go into the cave in the mountain to deal with the espers. With thatI should note I got Rasp and Osmose out of the Flame Eater fight for Strago, so I switch him over to Maduin for multi-elementals and +Mag Power.

Mount Thamasa

Nearest treasure houses a Heal Rod. Nifty way to save on healing, I give it to Strago. Should be noted that Strago and Terra will be doing hte heavy lifting in this area, so Locke should just restrain himself to Stealing. I give him the Sneak Ring and Sprint Shoes. Take the right pathway first as the other two just link to eachother. Some point you'll end up finding 3 golden statues. At this point we run into an old friend...

Ultros

Hero Ring Genji Double Flame Sabres, Morphed Fire 2 and Fire Rod off Strago. You probably only have time for 1 morphed Fire 2, but it's enough. 2 turns before it came down to sketching him out of the picture. Also, managed to steal a White Cape off him at the last second. Booya!

So now Realm is wasting space on my team. I equip her with Spring and Running Shoes while Locke goes back into Thief Mode, giving her Unicorn. I save, and take my dives. If she is to sketch anything, let it be Adamanchysts because she can cast Blaster on the whole enemy team then. Otherwise, just have her Heal Rod. The right pitfall leads to an X Potion, so you could probably just sip over that. Top square is the next and last one, as it leads to the exit, but before it is a Tabby and Chocobo Suit. Strago appreciates the Tabby Suit, and the Chocobo Suit is best on Relm.

So finally I reach the top to find the espers. All seems well, until Kefka shows up...Leo tries to show him what's up, but Leo goes the way of boba Fett in being a complete dissapointment.

So, next up is the Floating Continent, and here are my thoughts on reasons to bring people, barring Shadow being forced.

Terra: Simply put, Morphing is Boss Killing, and you'll have to deal with them twice. Also since she's mastered Maduin, she's most often the type able to deal the biggest damage to what are very durable enemies. You have to fight 2 bosses, it's hard to argue her out.

Sabin: Why WOULDN'T you bring him?

Edgar: I've been disappointed by him before, but due to the durability of enemies here, Noiseblaster could prove beneficial. Also, Chainsaw on the treasure-trap Gigas and Behemoths. If I can quickly thwart enemy teams though, he's once again just a detriment.

Cyan: Slash for said trap monster and Behemoths, Quadra Slam for boss killing. Wouldn't be too helpful in a common fight, however. Not unless I can show he can OHKO something with Quadra Slam as a sort of last-act in my team.

Locke: A surprising force on my team, his availability and his stupendous weapon choices actually make him hit like a truck, especially if you factor in all the Bismark levels. He's currently near 60 Str, and that's without Hyper Wrist. Throw in dual Hawkeyes, and he can smash things faces in potentially. Also, stealing. Only weakness is lack of nuke power.

Strago: Plenty of good potential Lore to learn here. Problem: Earrings and Magic Espers between Terra and Sabin already stretch it thin.

Relm: I'm not sure how potent Sketch is on the Floating Continent, but I imagine with all the crazy beasts up there they might be strong. It's a poor excuse though.

Mog: Uhhh..Learn a Dance? Not doing much otherwise.

Setzer: He's forced soon, and he's had literally no show time. At best, he's got gil wasting Coin Toss for straight 450 nuke, which is piss weak. He doesn't even need that much help. He's gonna get Loaded Dice/Master Scroll eventually. That's more than enough for him at endgame.

Celes: Just a weaker version of Terra who has Runic, which is useless up there. Generally Strago can do the same magic damage, except he actually gains something by going up there. However, again she is forced soon...Not that I care. She's got Bolt 2, she's good as far as I'm concerned.

So I know I'm bringing Sabin and Terra, so that's Shadow/Terra/Sabin. Thinking of who my third member should be...Basically it's between Edgar/Locke/Cyan/Strago.

[Life]

I suggest that Mog be allowed to collect his dances. He needs one fight in certain areas and doesn't even need to live through the entire fight. Let's see...

Grassland - Wind Harmony

Forest - Forest Harmony

Desert - Desert Lullaby

Zozo - Love Seranade

These 4 can be gotten easily (within 5 steps or so), bringing Mog's total dances up to 5. Snowman Rondo isn't until WoR, Water Harmony isn't happening unless you're playing FFVI on the GBA (can pull it in the Leviathan fight) and Earth Blues can be gotten on the Floating Continent rather than actually traversing half of Mt. Koltz. Unlike Gau who actually needs to be find specific monsters, Mog just needs a single fight in an area. With the airship, that's nothing.

I'm also looking at how to destroy enemies on the Floating Continent.

Spitfires and Sky Armours are weak against Lightning and Wind. Wind Harmony destroys them (home dance too so it always works), anyone with Thundara has a field day and... Death always works too. Go to town. Berserk and Confusion also do well since they erase !Reverse Thruster, Missile and especially Diffractive Laser (this one is annoying since Guardian loved it). Berserk is probably better when surrounded though.

Brainpans use 1000 Needles when alone so you need to watch out for that. They also have a rare Earring steal (nothing in the common slot) so I figure you'll like that. Sketch is NOT auto KO with 1000 Needles but it's 300 damage after that, Break and Death both kill it (Break has higher accuracy, I think) and it's weak to Fire, Lightning and Holy.

Misfits use Lifeshaver. That's all you need to know. Break or Death them.

Apocrypha responds to attacks with Lv. 5 Death, Lv. 4 Flare or Lv. 3 Confuse when alone. Once again, Break or Death them. If you pull a formation with all three in it (Brainpan, Misfit, Apocrypha), use Shoat. Battle over.

Dragons are still going to be annoying. 7000 HP, !Tail (x5 damage), Revenge Blast, Snowstorm and Freezing Dust. They're weak to Lightning so Sleep them and then use Thundara or Ramuh. Slow gives you more time but I don't know if you have Slow yet. They have a Genji Glove steal too.

Platinum Dragons are easy in comparison. Once again, Break and Death reign supreme. You can Sleep them, Confuse them, Berserk them... kinda ridiculous.

Behemoths also go down to Break and Death. That's about it. Also weak to Ice.

Ninja are the only other real threat there. Break DOESN'T kill them but Death does (Assassin's Dagger says hi). But what I would really do is hit them with Imp or Berserk to stop the scrolls from flying down your throat. Probably Imp.

And that's about it. The theme on the Floating Continent is "Shoat is your best friend. Learn his spells."

Edited November 11, 2011 by Kefka

[grandjackal]

I suggest that Mog be allowed to collect his dances. He needs one fight in certain areas and doesn't even need to live through the entire fight. Let's see...

Grassland - Wind Harmony

Forest - Forest Harmony

Desert - Desert Lullaby

Zozo - Love Seranade

These 4 can be gotten easily (within 5 steps or so), bringing Mog's total dances up to 5. Snowman Rondo isn't until WoR, Water Harmony isn't happening unless you're playing FFVI on the GBA (can pull it in the Leviathan fight) and Earth Blues can be gotten on the Floating Continent rather than actually traversing half of Mt. Koltz. Unlike Gau who actually needs to be find specific monsters, Mog just needs a single fight in an area. With the airship, that's nothing.

Question is, does Mog care? Cause Dance to me at best is flipping several coins just to do level 2 spells. Something I can do rather easily these days.

Spitfires and Sky Armours are weak against Lightning and Wind. Wind Harmony destroys them (home dance too so it always works), anyone with Thundara has a field day and... Death always works too. Go to town. Berserk and Confusion also do well since they erase !Reverse Thruster, Missile and especially Diffractive Laser (this one is annoying since Guardian loved it). Berserk is probably better when surrounded though.

Yeah I could definitely try to cause status...Or I could try to kill them immediately, something so far that hasn't been out of disbelief. I'mma see how much a Bolt Edge off Shadow does to them, cause I just remembered Shadow has free nuclear bombs. Well, not particularly good, but if he hits weakness he's being helpful.

Brainpans use 1000 Needles when alone so you need to watch out for that. They also have a rare Earring steal (nothing in the common slot) so I figure you'll like that. Sketch is NOT auto KO with 1000 Needles but it's 300 damage after that, Break and Death both kill it (Break has higher accuracy, I think) and it's weak to Fire, Lightning and Holy.

If they're weak to something I have a lot of (Aura Cannon, Fire Spells, Fire Skeans, Bolt Edges, Lightning 2), I won't need to worry about killing them through status. I also recall these enemies being undead.

Earring steals are always nice though.

Misfits use Lifeshaver. That's all you need to know. Break or Death them.

Those are those Ing recolors, right? Might also be undead, so I could just toss Revivify on them.

Apocrypha responds to attacks with Lv. 5 Death, Lv. 4 Flare or Lv. 3 Confuse when alone. Once again, Break or Death them. If you pull a formation with all three in it (Brainpan, Misfit, Apocrypha), use Shoat. Battle over.

I might not need Shoat, depending on how if I can find a way to OHKO them, or essentially nuke them to death.

Dragons are still going to be annoying. 7000 HP, !Tail (x5 damage), Revenge Blast, Snowstorm and Freezing Dust. They're weak to Lightning so Sleep them and then use Thundara or Ramuh. Slow gives you more time but I don't know if you have Slow yet. They have a Genji Glove steal too.

A Genji steal is always welcome. However, if these things only show up once, I'll have to see how much damage a Thundara does, cause one blast I estimate is looking to be around 4K if it's weak to it. Terra's awesome like that.

Platinum Dragons are easy in comparison. Once again, Break and Death reign supreme. You can Sleep them, Confuse them, Berserk them... kinda ridiculous.

I don't recall ever running into one. They a rare encounter?

Behemoths also go down to Break and Death. That's about it. Also weak to Ice.

I've got at least 2 characters with Ice 2.

Ninja are the only other real threat there. Break DOESN'T kill them but Death does (Assassin's Dagger says hi). But what I would really do is hit them with Imp or Berserk to stop the scrolls from flying down your throat. Probably Imp.

I'll be sure to have Shadow equipped with the Assassin, but I know for a fact you force a fight with 1 in the Sealed Cave, and it died to a single Aura Cannon. One shotting them should not be an issue. But remembering Ninja encounters in this place now sort of brought me back to 'Nam, because I recall these encounters with 2 Ninjas always infuriated me because Skeans/Edges just blow you up before you can do much of anything.

And that's about it. The theme on the Floating Continent is "Shoat is your best friend. Learn his spells."

I highly doubt this, Shoat might prove to be entirely redundant.

[grandjackal]

Alright, so I did some preliminary testing. My team as a note was about 21-23.

-Bolt 2 even as a nuke can take out Air Force enemies. Morphed, you can actually destroy all of the Boss Air Force's components, all while still one-turning it. You'll need Aura Bolt and something with quite a kick to it, like another Bolt 2, or something hard hitting. Terra alone trivializes the first portion, since she also does like 5500 with a blast of Fire 2/Ice 2 to Ultros/Chupon.

-Apokryphos's die to a single Aura Cannon.

-Brain Pans can be blown up with a simple Fire Skean. Fire 2 nuke also works.

-Misfits are indeed Undead.

-Taking some time out of your day for Shoat on Terra isn't a bad thing. You can get Break real quick, which is good for the Behemoths. Bio is never a bad spell to learn. You won't need Doom though, so as soon as you learn those, just bin Shoat. Behemoths if you miss with Break you can Slash for some heavy damage.

-Ninjas exist solely to piss you off and troll your run.

Terra is probably the best character to bring on this run, and Sabin/Shadow at this point of time are a good team. Your 4th member should then be someone who's good at dealing with Misfits to fill the void. Cyan is not one of those characters. I'll check what Locke and Strago are capable of.

[Life]

-Misfits are indeed Undead.

In that case, Break. Shoat's Petrifying Eye costs like 45 MP. Which is nothing compared to using Break over and over again. 45 MP to petrify everything on the field is awesome.

[grandjackal]

In that case, Break. Shoat's Petrifying Eye costs like 45 MP. Which is nothing compared to using Break over and over again. 45 MP to petrify everything on the field is awesome.

I also can only do this 3-4 times before I have to cast Osmose. I'm not just gonna cast a summon every fight when I can just have my team mess everything for as close as possible to free as I can. I'm not gonna blow MP out my ass and have to spend turns casting Osmose every 4th or 5th battle, ESPECIALLY if I rarely have to cast Break anyways.

[Life]

I also can only do this 3-4 times before I have to cast Osmose. I'm not just gonna cast a summon every fight when I can just have my team mess everything for as close as possible to free as I can. I'm not gonna blow MP out my ass and have to spend turns casting Osmose every 4th or 5th battle, ESPECIALLY if I rarely have to cast Break anyways.

1 attack or like... how many attacks does it take to turn everything into mushed jello?

[grandjackal]

1 attack or like... how many attacks does it take to turn everything into mushed jello?

Depends on the encounter. Like 3 Brainpans, you can do that with a Fire Dance or a Skean. Generally any encounter with Misfits tends to be the annoying ones. So 1 attack anyways to 3, ignoring the fact that ever few battles you have to have Terra cast Osmose, and this is if Terra is first to act.

I think you'd be surprised how little I'm actually depending on MP to get through this portion. I only really need Break for Behemoths.

[grandjackal]

Ok, time for Floating Continent! But first, I visit Jidoor for the auctions of Espers, because I just remembered you can get Golem and Zoneseeker. Golem's a pretty penny of 20K, but on the other hand I get Cure 2 and Stop at a rate of x5. Yes please. Zoneseeker only costs 10K, but check this out. 20x Rasp, x15 Osmose, x5 shell, +2 MAGIC POWER. All for 10K, hell to the yeah!

So now, it is time to decide my team.

Definitely bringing Terra and Sabin, Shadow is forced. So who s my 4th slot? Certainly not Edgar, Celes, Cyan, Gau, Mog or Setzer. So this leaves basically Locke's ass-destroying physical prowess vs Strago getting Lores and boosting his magic power while hitting just as hard with magic, and learning more magic as well. Well I learned just how Hawkeye works, and anything Flying or Floating takes extra damage. This is not only including the Air Force, but a lot of enemies on the Floating Continent as well such as Brainpans and more importantly, Misfits, Dragons, and weirdly enough Atma Weapon. x3 damage with Genji Gloves and Atlas Armlet is going to hurt like a bitch.

Strat for Sky Armor and Spitfire fights is to have Terra Bolt a Spitfire while Locke basically one shots a sy armor along with Sabin's Aura Cannon.

Ultros and Chupon

3 Fire 2s take out Ultros, so you can basically 1 turn him thanks to Sabin having Maduin mastered and Locke having had it since Magitek. Chupon takes 3 Ice 2s. Locke doesn't have Ice 2, so just have him Steal and try to nab something off Chupon.

Air Force

Morph Bolt 2 on Air Force, follow up with Sabin hitting it with his own Bolt 2, and finish with Locke possibly breaking a Thunder Rod.

Floating Continent

Hey Shadow. That fight with the entire Air Force got me Bio, so you can get Bio quite easily off Shoat. I grab the Muramasa and fight the beast hiding in a box protecting the Hardened Dagger. Bio does a good 5K damage, and you have it in a Pincer. Just hit it in the back a lot. So, some things I note.

-Ninja encounters. If you don't kill them first turn, they kill you. Simple as that. Luckily they're floating and only come in 2s. Thank you, Hawkeyes.

-Brainpans are dealt with by Fire Dance or Fire Skean.

-Acryphos can be destroyed by Aura Bolt. If you run into 1 with a Misfit and 2 Brainpans, have Locke kill the Misfit while Shadow Fire Skeans, finish off with Aura Bolt.

-Behemoths can be Break'd. You can have Break pretty soon into Floating Continent. Usually, they're accompanied by 2 Misfits. Have Locke kill one and Terra Break the Behemoth. Aura Cannon is defaulted to the last Misfit.

-Dragons are vulnerable to Stop. Thank you, Golem.

This is a long ass dungeon. Nothing really to speak of between the treasure trap and the Beret. Got a Ninja Star off a Ninja before Atma Weapon though. One thing I WILL note is that Floating Continent is ridiculously rich with AP gaining. By the time you're done with it, whatever team you brought with you will have nothing really left to master. You'll be running out of stuff to learn.

Atma Weapon

Ninja Star off Hyper Wrist and Atlas Amrlet doing 2500. Locke doing about 1000 to 3400. Sabin doing 200. Morph Terra has enough for about 3 Bios, each one doing about 4K. Atma Weapon has 24K. Let's do math. 2500+2000+3400+4000=11900 damage. Any lucky procs, you can 2 turn this boss. This is iff Hawkeye isn't finicky though. Regardless, this fight shouldn't take more than 3 turns.

Terra learned Sleep! Sabin learned Break! Elixer Get.

Shadow runs off like a bitch (and he keeps the Esper with him, not that it really matters. You've learned everything already).

So now I have to race off to my ship. Celes decides to join me, not that I really care. Naughtys are taken care of with Aura Bolt and Locke.

Nerapa

And so is he.

Fortunately Celes mastered Bolt 2, just in time for WoR. Good thing I had her have Ramuh in Magitek. So I sit and wait for shadow with like 2 and a half minutes to spare. And thus, the WoB ends. Before I save, I want to finish saving Cid (want Palidor). So, once I save him, I'll put up my character thoughts for the whole WoB.

Terra: For the time you ahve her at the start, she can nuke and otherwise doesn't really distinguish herself other than being part of the Edgar Autocrossbow nuke, outside of Ultros's Fire weakness. She then vanishes until the Sealed Cave and Thamasa where she's forced. This time is mostly used for learning new magic up until Flame Eater where Morph and her new magic finally gets itself realized that she is easily your best boss-slayer. Even if you have no magic, you can buy staffs to break. This gives you a lot of incentive to bring her to the Floating Continent to learn Bio, a very powerful spell. Also, you need a spare person to learn Break for Behemoths, though generally anyone can fill that slot. It's all good for her from here on in however.

Locke: Talk about the underdog. If you know how to get the Genji Gauntlet from the Returner's Hideout, he has what can only be described as the best weapons to team up with it, making his damage output a lot better than usually thought. Air Lancets from the Hideout and the Tunnel Armor, then Full Moons, Thief Knife, Hawkeyes, he's easily hands down the best recipient of the Genji Gauntlet. It affords him a lot of reason to go places he normally wouldn't go, like Zozo (where he can also steal Atlas Armlets to further his own damage and others like Cyan. Barring that, you can just go fetch hte Hero Ring from north of Kholingen). This affords him a lot of time in order to stack up on +HP Espers like Siren, and soon followed by+Str espers like Ifrit (You can get Fire 2 before Cranes, he has access to Flame Sabre) and Bismark. By the time you get off the Floating Continent (where he was outdamaging the almighty Sabin's Aura Cannon at that point), a place due to all the floating enemies Locke has a LOT of reason to go (along with helping possibly 2 turn Atma Weapon), Locke's Vigor coming out of WoB will be absurd.

Edgar: In the opposite sense, Edgar seems like an overrated bastard. Sure his tools are stupid good for random encounters up until a point where random encounters a couple people usually forced onto the team or have better reason than him to be on it make his tools redundant. After Zozo, you can basically drop him and not miss him. He and Cyan are semi-interchangeable at Magitek, but that's about it. Not that he really needs to go there, he's still useful just because Tools make him so static. Him not being in certain places will make him that much worse in WoR. He's still very much usable. Just, others tend to be more usable.

Sabin: Pretty much how we see him, though at some point, Aura Cannon stops being godly as Locke and Terra start matching and outdoing it. That being said, he's another character with a lot of reason to be available, letting him milk up MAgic Power along with learning other magic so he's not stuck to Fire Dance, along with multi-elemental sngle-target hits other than Holy. Then he gets Bum Rush quite quic in WoR, and he's god again till the end.

Shadow: He can be used rather easily in Zozo if you feel like spending money and replacing Edgar who can do the same stuff for free. He's got Stars to hit single targets rather hard basically for free, and he never really makes himself notable up until Floating Continent where Skeans make him pretty damn good. But he only exists here where he's forced. Though being forced on the Floating Continent isn't a bad thing. Lots of AP, has Bismark available to manipulate levels. It's basically to set him up entirely for WoR. He's not a wanted option, but if forced you don't mind him being there.

Cyan: His ignoring defenseon Dispatch makes him helpful, and he's got interesting boss strats in Magitek. Otherwise, he's not really noteworthy in WoB.

Gau: Very little time I actually need to bother taking him to the Veldt since a lot of my options let me deal easily with things without him without having to scrounge for rages. I forget about him the moment he's not forced. In fact, even when he was on my team, I didn't realize he was doing anything.

Celes: Quite underwhelming, as for the time's before Terra she can't actually manage the damage to make her a viable choice for Zozo, forced for Vector, and then doesn't exist until Floating Continent where she's forced at only AP part. Not only is she really meh, she doesn't exist for a lot of the time. Just get her a level 2 spell, and then get Terra quick. Then, just forget about Celes until Kefka's Tower. VERY underwhelming.

Mog: His high level is what let him be useful to one shot Ing in the Sealed Cave. Otherwise, not much use in the WoB. Not that he needs to be, WoR is his most noteworthy feature.

[grandjackal]

'Tis time. As a note, I will be going through with Side Quests here, but for now we tackle...

World of Ruin

After my rafting I head up to Albrook. To my shock, Bolt 2 does not nuke well even despite the fact it's coming off Celes with a Hero Ring and two magic swords, one of which being a Thunder Blade. Nothing of interest here other than you can buy a second Thunder Blade. So I head back out and go north, running into a Gilomantis, and I see even a focused Bolt 2 does not even one shot it. I cannot wait to replace Celes, I really can't. I head north to Tzen to see a house get blown up. The inn will heal you for free, so take advantage of that now. The house is kind of annoying. Scorpions you can't deal with efficiently, so just run from them. Anything else, just spam Ice 2 (again, might be in just the nick of time. If not, run from everything and avoid the chest near the stairs on the top floor and the upper left chest on the bottom floor). Ice 2 should nuke any other encounter. Overall you'll get a Heal Rod, a Pearl Rod, a Hyper Wrist, a Drainer and a shard of Magicite. The trap chests don't have anything in them.

After that, head to the upper right corner to find a dude finicking about in the bushes. For 10 Gil you can nab Sraphim, basically the ultimate quic fix healer esper with Cure 2 at x8 and Life at x5. You could get this earlier at the cost of more gil, but it's not super necessary at that point in the game, especially because Tzen at that point in time was insanely out of the way just for that one thing. I decide to head up to where Terra's staying (Again, so I can boot Celes's ass out of my party ASAP), and that it looks like a shorter walk there than to Nikea (you get a chocobo stall near Terra's new digs, so random encounter problems should not be a problem). Sabin on the team makes things easier because Fire Dance basically blows up everything at a stronger rate than an uber-boosted Ice 2 off of Celes. Just to show how pathetic she is.

Phunbaba

Fight starts with Terra getting her ass whooped, then Sabin comes in. He's got a rather simple pattern. Physical attack, Bolt 2, Blow Fish. So first turn just have Sabin cast Bio (does more damage than Aura Cannon at this point. Also, Poison Claws might have more to add to it) while Celes casts a spell first turn, Runic's after Sabin's Bio the next, and then hope you can make it flee before it casts Blow Fish (one hit kill at this point).

He flees, I get Fenrir. Getting Fenrir early is pretty important for a certain boss in a certain side quest...I give it to Sabin immediately for X-Zone. I then Chocobo run up to Nikeah, where I decide to buy 4 ENHANCERS! GET SOME! Yeah, lots of shitty equipment I had left over, magic swords not really needed any more after you get Enhancers. With Genji, this is high boosting magic, along with giving you like 46 Mag Ev, something that is tasty in the SNES version. I meet up with Gerad and head for Figaro.

I buy a chocobo and head for the cave.

Cave to Figaro

Now I avoided getting the useless treasures here in the WoB, so now let's see what they've grown into. Left treasure is close by, and it yields an X-Potion. Suppose that's nice. To the right is an Ether. Then there are steps to the side of the exit, containing a HERO RING. YES. *Fistpump*

Dantes are dealt with a blast of Bio, everything else dies to a Fire Dance. Only exception are Neck Hunters, the most annoying thing on the plannet because they have Mad Sickle to cause Confusion. Confusion in this game is a lot more dangerous in this game because confused characters can still cast magic. You'll need to hit it with something focused.

Now onto a new dungeon. A sinister place of foul evil...

Figaro's Basement

Just yanking yer chain. Place is rather simple. First room with chests contain a Crystal Helm, a Gravity Rod, and miscelennious items. Take the left stairs first for the Regal Crown. Gives Sabin +1 Magic, gives him some extra Mag Def, but more importantly is that it's a useful Collesium item. Now take the center door to end this straightforward dungeon.

Tentacles

Most suggest nuking these things, which is a terrible idea because you're always gonna be left with one leftover. Have Edgar spam Flash while Sabin and Celes focus things down individually. Lower right one is weak to Ice, lower left one is weak to Fire, and I'm not sure what the upper two are weak to, but I'm sure Bolt is involved. Also, a netcast of Bio to get poison damage on, since they take quite a bit of poison damage, though a Bio nuke alone doesn't do much (500).

Beat it, get the Soul Sabre from the suit of armor in the last room, go back up, resurface and buy a Debilitator along with whatever other things you feel you might need. Head on over to Kohlingen, and that's where I'll save and break for now.

[grandjackal]

I head on over to Kohlingen (or what's left of it), and I find Setzer getting drunk. He tells me we can find a new airship in a tomb. Now I KNOW he's hammered on something strong. Lay off the green fairy, dude.

Daryll's Tomb

Lots of undead enemies here. Don't spam Chainsaw.

Head to the left first and grab the Crystal Mail and Czarina Gown. There's a secret passage to the right for the EXP Egg if you want it, but it's not that helpful a relic, especially in this portion where enemies don't give a lot of exp. I don't like this dungeon simply because of Exoray Doom Pollen. Zombie is a pretty horrible status effect in this games effect. Just Fire Dance or Fire 2 them though. It's a very simple dungeon, just it throws a few annoyances at you. However, Exoray's are probably the worst it gets. Heading back up, I go right this time and go north to flip the switch to raise the water level after I had the basement door opened. Go south of that door to nab the Genji Helm, a sweet piece of armor at this point in time because the boss is going to love spamming magic. I give it to Edgar, then the Crystal Helm to Setzer.

Leap on the turtle. Forget about the door to the south, it's a puzzle that's useless as it just tells you where the Exp Egg is. I take a tent at the save point and take on the Presenter. Hit it with Debilitator and hope for a Poison weakness. Sabin can punch it in the face in the front row and do some pretty sweet damage off it with his Poison Knuckle, Celes spamming Bio. Just have Setzer attack (only Chocobop works as a slot, don't risk it unless you really like eating Gigavolt for meh damage) since he can't do much else, and Edgar revs up the Chainsaw. 2-3 turns, though it might hide once. You get a Dragon Claw for your troubles. Head to the right and get a Man-Eater Dagger before the boss.

Dullahan

Starts the fight automatically with Lvl? Pearl. Don't mind it and just blast Fire 2 at it, because it seems to have a weakness against it. That, or I'm underestimating the power of Sabin and Celes's magic. They were doing individually 2300 to 3500 damage. You can have Edgar try to hit it with a Debillitator and hope for a weakness that you have (as in not wind/earth/water/holy). Otherwise, just have him spam Drill, even though it won't do much. Have Setzer be the healer. This boss will typically just bludgeon you with pretty hard-hitting physical attacks (200-400 damage even in the back row, Morning Star doing 800), or spam Ice magic. He's pretty straightforward. Just kill him quick, cause try as he might, he can't really do anything disasterous to you.

We get a bit of Setzer's past in his own flashbacks, and we get the airship! It takes a stop by Maranda where if you do the little bit of question shows where to find Cyan, namely in Zozo. He'll have to wait though, cause I've got a different order in my mind. First off you can go ahead and grab Palidor if you want, though it doesn't really have any useful spells. I head back to Mobliz to get Terra so I can get a certain piece of garbage off my team.

Phunbaba, part 2

Rearrange your team so that Sabin and Celes are the second and last row. This way when on turn 3 he does Bababreath, he takes Setzer and Edgar away. After Bababreath, Terra comes in to inflict some serious hurt with her 4.5K Bio in Morph state. With Terra and Sabin, shouldn't take more than 2-3 turns.

Now thinking about it, probably should have just gone straight to get Bum Rush. I do that immediately after remembering to do so (Do it before Mobliz). I fit 3 people on my team and I head to pick up the most ridiculous thing ever.

Narshe

We're gonna go get Mog. Head to the left and take the old secret passage to him. It's around here that I notice Fire Dance isn't cutting it like it used to, but it IS still doing the same nuke damage as a Fire 2 off a 74 Mag Terra. Especially since Psychots in this area absorb Fire, and don't necessarily help 2RKO Wizards. Sabin and Terra gain a level before we meet him, and it stops at level 28 for Sabin. Meaning unless he can get 2 levels in Phoenix Cave, no Wind Slash. Just to the left of Mog now that we have the Moogle Charm is a Ribbon. Speaking of which, the items I left have most likely evolved, so I go grab them. Meaning I also get an Elixer and a Pod Bracelet. I head out and I run into Lone Wolf, who tells me only a treasure hunter could pick the locks here. We'll be coming back with Locke later. For now though I return to the Beginner Lounge and heal up at the bucket in the plaza. Tried fighting the dragon, but...it one shot me with Absolute 0. I'll try again after I get Locke. But first...

Sneaking About Kefka's Tower

Not doing a real run, but I AM grabbing what swag Mog can nab me without having to fight bosses. I manage to get the Minerva, a Tack Star, a Force Shield, Force Armor, a Ribbon, a Coronet, Fixed Dice, Red Cap, a Nutkin Suit, a Gauntlet, a Hero Ring and the Aegis Shield.

Collesium

Sky Bases can fuck off. So, I bet the Czarina Gown for another Minerva Plate, and the Regal Crown for a Genji Helmet.

So my next target...

Phoenix Cave

My teams are to have Mog go solo with Moogle Charm while I bring Sabin/Celes/Terra/Setzer. I have them equip the usual, but Setzer's got some interestng toys to play with. With Fixed Dice, I don't need him wearing any damage output relics. So I give him Sprint Shoes/EXP Egg, and he's leveling like every other fight. This is going to have his magic skyrocket. This is a dungeon place where random encounters are pretty difficult to do quickly. Ice 2, Fire 2, Bumrush and Setzer are your best bets here. Basically try to isolate it down to things Sabin can demolish with Bumrush as best you can. Have Mog take the left door, Sabin's team takes the right. Have Mog go get the Wing Edge (he doesn't have to fight anything, any damage he takes from anything is unimportant), and have him get the Wing Edge. Note that Chaos Dragons and those eagle things have an Ice Weakness, so if you see 2 of them and an Eagle, remember to blast them with Ice 2. Nuking them might actually be more effective than taking them down one by one. Sabin grabs a warp stone and an empty chest, heading downstairs to hit buttons and more empty chests. They wait for Mog to hop across, he pushing a button so that Sabin can go in and hit a button so that Mog can hit the last two buttons as Sabin's team gets to those areas. Sabin drains the water, Mog hits the switch, and Sabin goes to slay a beast.

Red Dragon

Start off with Terra and Celes casting Ice 2, Sabin Bum Rush and Setzer throw his dice (or if you have it by now, you could have him cast Ice 2 as well. This dungeon gives a ton of AP as well as EXP). After that, have Celes Runic after Terra casts Ice 2, cause you don't want to eat Fire 3. Kill it before it gets off Southern Cross. 3 turns, though I venture 2 is possible. Requires Setzer get REALLY lucky though.

Strato and Dragon Horn get! Have Sabin go over and push a button, and switch to Mog. Cross the path, go downstairs and nab the Ribbon. Mog leaps across and they hit the last two buttons together. I go find Locke and I get the hell out of here.

So now Locke is back in the fold. I get Phoenix. I really do hope I can get Life 3 before let's say Kefka's Tower so I can get the Gem Box...Oh right, Locke has some treasure for us for going to find all those empty chests. X Potion, Phoenix Down, X Ether, Elixer, Flame Shield and Valiant Knife!

Now, we go to Figaro cause I wanna get the Master Scroll, along with Raiden.

Underground Stratum

Team is Sabin/Terra/Setzer/Mog

First part is a rather simple cave formation with an Ether and a Wing Edge. Left door takes you closer to the Doom Darts while the right door leads you to a chest I remember being trapped. Do this AFTER you get Raiden. In the room before the stairs are a shard a Magicite and an X Potion. First, go and get Odin. You need him to get Raiden. Head to the right and look in the bucket for an X Ether. Take 5 steps off the right throne and hit the switch that's hidden there. Go back to the right and find the secret underground chamber. Here, we get Raiden. NOW I go back and fetch the treasure because I know some are booby trapped. Gold Hairpin, Blizzard Orb (trololol), and before I get the Master Scroll I put Raiden on Setzer and Phoenix on Terra...

KatanaSoul

3 turns of Bum Rush, Dice Throwing and Bio (Bio does additional poison damage). Didn't want to waste Morph quite yet. He didn't do anything even remotely dangerous. 5 AP.

Offering get! Forgot it's a different name in the SNES version. I give this to Setzer. I head bac downstairs to fight the dragon.

Blue Dragon

3 turns. Clean Sweep pretty much destroys Mog, and if you're feeling gutsy to just have Terra attack (might be for the better actually), you could probably 2 turn this depending on Setzer's dice. It's kinda funny how his damage output is basically now 200-9999 to the 4th power range in possibilities. However, he was on average doing about 4K damage for free, which is super duper. I could see a 2 turn possible. Maybe if I just had Terra morph and blow it up instead of thinking Mog meant something in this fight.

Scimitar Get!

Head back upstairs and get the last treasure that was trapped.

Master Pug

Can be 1 turned with Bum Rush/Master Dice/Morph Bomb. If you don't get lucky with dice (got 6K),might take an extra turn. Whatever man.

Gradeus get!

I go back above ground and save. I decide to go to Fanatic Tower to get the Pearl Lance and other goodies, but someone stops me on the way.

Doom Gaze

I manage to do a JUICY dice throw doing 13000 damage, and Sabin got in 2 Bum Rushes. He ran off, however.

Fanatic's Tower Initial Raid

I MIGHT be back, if I can get Life 3. I nab the Safety Bit, the Genji Shield, and the Stunner before fighting the dragon.

White Dragon

This fight takes a while just because you're stuck to using magic and can't Morph either. Just have Sabin and Terra lob Bio at it while Setzer throws level 2 spells and Mog breaks rods. Does about 5 a turn.

10 AP and Pearl Lance get! I grab the Force Armor and get out of there. I head for Jidoor next.

Owzer's Mansion

Now thinking about it, I probably should have come here before I got the Pearl Lance so I could see if I could get Cure 3 as well. There are a few forced encounters, but nothing too difficult. First treasure is a Moogle Suit when you hav a choice between two doors and you take the left. Head up from the right door and hidden in a random and seemingly useless alcove is a Relic Ring. It's useless anyways though. When given a choice of 3 doors, take the let one. There is then a room of 4 chests. They at the expense of a fight contain 2000 gil, a Potion, an Ether and a Remedy. So yeah, that wasn't really worth it outside of the 12 AP. Look at the middle painting to fight a Still Life, easily taken down by like a Bum Rush. At the save point, take the right door unless you wanna go through all this again.

Chardanook

This fight is annoying because you never know when you're supposed to delay your attack since he can morph in and out of forms whenever, and you want to kill the demon part. If you kill the the other part, it's game over. However, between Dice and Bum Rush, it was no match. I had Fire 3 which I had no business having at this point in time. It did unmorphed 9999 damage. BUT, I can see you CAN learn this off Phoenix with any reletive speed. So while on this boss it's ridiculous, but you CAN have it. I couldn't really tell how many turns it took because I was too busy being paranoid. It was over quick though. I estimate about 2 turns.

Starlet get! Only came here because all that was let was to help Mog become a competent healer.

I head back to Narshe and decide to go deal with an old problem or 4.

Ice Dragon

This guy can in fact be 1 turned if you Bum Rush/Dragon Jump/Fire 3/Dice it, but he used North Cross on me first and froe 2 of my guys. Oh well, still died.

Tritoch

Ahhh yes, been a long time coming...He cannot be hurt by physical means so have Mog break a Fire Rod. Just do the usual and he evaporates.

Tritoch get!...Whoops!

Umaro's Cave

This place is a gigantic troll, but let's get the treasures anyways. X Ether, and oh a trapped box.

x3 Pugs. Just Air Slash and Fire 3 and Dice. Have Mog heal I guess. 5 magic points...Nothing else. Trollish damn place. Just get those, head down and to the right then when you get to a place with 2 switches, hit the right switch. Examine the skull and prepare for a boss fight. Terrato get!

Yeti

Bum Rush+Fire 3=Dead. Only 10 GP gained. I am dissapoint.

I go out and save...I look at my AP and I start to think that Ultima on one person at least might be possible.