--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------FOREWORD-----------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This guide belongs to me. If you want to use it or sell it, you must
consult me about it first. If I allow you to use it, you must give me full
credit for the guide. This guide was intended to be put up only on
www.gamefaqs.com and dragon-tear.net. If you want to use it, put up a link
to one of those two sites instead of just putting it up on your own site.
This document is Copyright 2005-2006, Sean MacMahon (Best of the Worst).
All rights reserved.
BREATH OF FIRE and all related articles belong solely to Capcom Co.,
Ltd. No breach of copyright intended.
Now comes the "Thanks to" section...
- Big thanks go to Ragnarok500/Paltheos, for his consistent feedback on my
challenge, and contributing to some of my strategies. Not to mention for taking
the time to proofread this guide before I posted it.
- DavidK519, for his excellent walkthrough, which I used mainly to look up some
boss stats and attacks.
- Raiu, for his Dragon Guide, which I obviously used to learn more about Dragon
transformations so that I could pick the best ones for my strategies.
- Infinity Dragon, for his Stat Gains Guide, which helped me in deciding my
characters' master setups.
- ZC Liu, for his Secrets FAQ, which I used to learn more about Dragon Forms, as
well as other bits of info that helped in creating my strategies.
- CjayC for posting this guide and running gamefaqs.com.
Keep in mind that I assume that anyone who attempts this challenge has
already played through and beaten this game at least once. Therefore, even
though I won't try to write spoilers, I won't really care if I do. Read at your
own discretion.
Another thing I urge you to do is to use my walkthrough as a reference,
not a crutch. If you just read my strategies and use them yourself without
putting any thought into creating your own, then I've basically beaten the
challenge for you. Besides, I'm sure there's more than one way to conquer this
challenge, so try to find your own way first. If it comes to it, and you're
absolutely stuck on a certain boss/area, THEN is when you should check my
walkthrough; that's the scenerio it exists for.
On a final note, if you want to contact me, my email address is
thecanadian0710@hotmail.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------REVISION HISTORY-------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
v. 1.0 - The guide's first posting.
v. 1.1 - Minor grammar/phrasing changes.
v. 1.5 - More minor grammar/phrasing changes, plus some new stuff in sections
Iv, V, and VIII.
- Added a new section, with strategies for beating the Archmage and
Berserker.
v. 1.6 - Changed copyright section slightly.
v. 1.7 - Minor grammar/phrasing corrections.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------TABLE OF CONTENTS-------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the table of contents. To jump to a section, just type
control+F, and then type in the corresponding name of the section that you want
to skip to, including the roman numeral. If you want to jump to a certain
section of the walkthrough, type the name of the area, including the asterisks.
I. Introduction
II. Rules and Guidelines
III. Tips and Tricks
IV. Master Setups
V. Character Evaluations
VI. Walkthrough
*Dauna Mines through Bunyan's House*
*"?" Forest through Mt. Glaus*
*Post-Mt. Glaus through Outside McNeil Manor*
*Inside McNeil Manor*
*Post-McNeil Manor*
*Post-Balio and Sunder through Mt. Myrneg*
*Wyndian Catacombs*
*Wyndia through Eygnock Road*
*Genmel through Mt. Boumore*
*Momo's Tower*
*Coffee Shop through the Plant*
*The Dump*
*The Contest of Champions*
*Maekyss Gorge*
*Raphala through The Lighthouse*
*Faerie Village*
*Mt. Zublo*
*The Urkan Region*
*Angel Tower*
*Dauna Mines*
*Ogre Road to Cedar Woods and back to the Checkpoint*
*The Plant*
*The Tidal Caves through Cliff*
*Steel Beach*
*The Black Ship*
*The Lost Shore through the Colony*
*The Control Tower through Dragnier*
*The Factory*
*The Desert of Death*
*The Orbital Station up to Chimera*
*Eden*
*The Samples and the Final Battle*
VII. The Archmage and Berserker
VIII. Conclusion
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------I. INTRODUCTION--------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's not much to say as to how I came up with the idea for this
challenge. I wrote a guide for a No Equipment Natural Magic Game for Final
Fantasy 3/6, and one day when I saw my BoF3 disc lying around, I decided that
it would be fun to try a No Equipment Game for this game... and so I did :P.
Anyway, as the name suggests, the No Equipment Game is a challenge in
which your characters never use any equipment. As I'm sure you can guess, you'll
be dealing much less damage to your enemies, and taking MUCH more damage from
them. Because of this, conventional strategies often do not work so well, and
you need to be able to consider all angles, as well as plan ahead, if you want
to do well.
Surprisingly, I found this challenge to be rather easy overall. Hell,
up until the Factory I often forgot that my characters were fighting with no
equipment on. Still, if you're careless and you don't plan well, this challenge
can toss you aside like you're nothing.
Having said that, I can also say that this challenge was fun to do.
There are really no tedious sidetracking tasks that you need to do to complete
it (one of my complaints about LLGs is that you always get sidetracked trying to
get money), so when you're playing through thechallenge you're actually playing
the challenge itself. That about sums it up :).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------II. RULES-----------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- #1. No cheating. Seriously. That means no gameshark, pro action replay, game
genie, or any other cheating device that I might be forgetting. The same goes
for save states, for those of you using emulators. Just be honourable :).
- #2. No equipment is to be worn at any time. In the case of when characters
join you in the middle of battle (Garr and Rei), then you can pool their
equipment by highlighting it and pressing square.
- #3. Inoculations are also forbidden. I consider them equipment, even if
they're only temporary.
- #4. Since weapons can't be pooled, each character's weapon will be...
Ryu - Dagger
Rei - Ballock knife (pre-Balio and Sunder), Dagger (during and after the Mikba
fight)
Teepo - Dagger
Nina - Pointedstick
Momo - Ammo
Garr - Spear
Peco - <Empty>
...since these weapons have the least effect on their stats.
- #5. Don't use any stat-boosting items on your characters. Just sell 'em
instead.
- #6. The only items that you are allowed to use for battle are HP/AP/status
recovery items, and if you want to, Ivory Dice. Any attack/assist items
(including the hourglass) are forbidden.
- #7. Overlevelling... it's something that many people seem to like to do for
some reason. But seriously, completing a NEG with a level 99 party is nothing
to be proud of. For that reason, I'm setting the level cap at 45. However, you
really should NOT need to level that high. Hell, I beat Myria with my party's
average level being 34, so you know you don't need to level up that much to
conquer this challenge. All it takes is good planning and strategizing.
Of course, one has to wonder how to put this rule to practice. The way
that I always do it is to avoid wandering aimlessly. Simply go from point A to
point B, fighting enemies along the way as you see fit (sometimes retreat is
the best strategy), and the EXP that you get from those fights will level you up
"naturally".
- #8. This rule is sort of hard to explain and regulate clearly, so bear with me
here...
BoF3's healing items are very easily available and are very overpowered,
even early in the game. Whether it's through the use of Fishing, Copy Shops,
stealing, or seeking item drops from enemies, it's very easy to get these items
and very tempting to abuse them. However, in the interest of not allowing people
to be cheap, I am forbidding the use of whole party-targeting healing items and
Wisdom Fruits, except for in emergencies.
Now, obviously this rule does not apply to the final boss fight, since
you're supposed to go all out against her anyway. Throughout the rest of the
game, however, you should exercise restraint from using any of these items
unless you really feel that you'll die without them. In all honesty, you
shouldn't need to use them at all until you get to the Orbital Station and fight
fight the endgame bosses, so this rule shouldn't be such a big deal for you.
Hell, except for a couple of "Vitamins" (the party-targeting one) spread between
the Chimera and Dragon Lord, I never had to use any party-targeting healing
items until Myria.
One final note: I'm allowing a little leeway for this rule. See, the
big problem with these items is that it's easy to hoard them, and that's really
what I'm worried about. Therefore, if you happen to receive a "Vitamins" from
an enemy, and you weren't actively seeking it, then feel free to use it whenever
you want to (which would likely be for an emergency anyway, so the principle of
this rule still stands). It's just when you start walking around with massive
amounts of these uber-healing items, you don't have to focus as much on your
strategy, and that defeats the purpose of the challenge.
Other than that, do what you want to with items. If you want to stock
up on Black Porgys and Wisdom Seeds, feel free. Like having 99 Healing Herbs
and Vitamins on you at all times? Go ahead. Even Multivitamins aren't a huge
deal (although you really shouldn't need to use them too often).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------III. TIPS AND TRICKS-----------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
-Cash-
------
Since you won't be buying any equipment, you'll always have more money
than you know what to do with. Take advantage of this and stock up on all of the
basics: Healing Herbs, Vitamins, Antidotes, Eye Drops, and so forth. Having lots
of these items is great for healing after battle so you can save your AP for
enemies and bosses.
---------
-Masters-
---------
Master selection is very important for this challenge. While my in-depth
analysis of good master setups for each character is in section IV, I'll remind
you that overall, Fahl is the best master for this challenge. His HP and DEF
boosts are the best way to make up for your lack of armour. Sure, Bunyan gives
better PWR boosts and doesn't penalize AGL, but in a NEG the hardest part isn't
dealing damage (against many enemies, you'll hardly even notice that your
attacks are weaker), but taking it.
----------------
-Faerie Village-
----------------
Aside from the Copy Shop, the best use of the Faerie Village in a normal
game was to acquire all that awesome equipment. However, since you won't be
using any equipment in this challenge, the Faerie Village isn't really worth
your time. The only other conceivable use for the FV is to hoard items like Moon
Tears and Wisdom Fruits, but that's forbidden in this challenge... so when it
comes down to it you should never need to use the FV at all. Personally, I never
once set foot in Faerie Village except for when I was fighting the Dolphin.
-------------------
-Battle Formations-
-------------------
Throughout the majority of this challenge, you really should be using
the Defense Formation. One exception to this is when you're using Peco in the
early parts of the game, where a good strategy is to put him in the lead of the
Attack formation. Another exception is the Dolphin fight. More on those in the
character evals and walkthrough, respectively.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------IV. MASTER SETUPS-------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These were the master setups that I used for my characters. I'm not
sure if they were the best possible setups for this challenge, but they worked
pretty damn well. Just keep in mind that the strategies that I write in the
walkthrough are based on these master setups. Therefore, if you find yourself
stuck at a certain boss/area, and you've used notably different master setups
than I have, my strategies may not work for you.
Also, note that when I write "Final: Ladon" for a character's master
setup I mean that they were apprenticed under Ladon for the final battle. I did
this because Ladon boosts your characters' Fire, Status, and Death resistances
while they're apprenticed under him (check the Secrets FAQ for more detailed
information).
Ryu: Bunyan --> 8 - 17 This setup started out by giving Ryu lots of
Fahl --> 17 - 28 PWR, DEF, and HP at the cost of AP, and AGL.
Ladon: 28 - 36 However, once Ladon became available, Ryu had
Final: Ladon enough HP and AP for my purposes, so I decided
to focus on boosting Ryu's core stats. He still
got great boosts to PWR and DEF, and the AGL+1
that Ladon gives ended up being a real lifesaver
for the endgame areas and bosses.
Rei: Bunyan --> 20 - 33 Well, Rei's greatest asset is his high AGL, so
Final: Ladon putting him under Fahl would've been a waste.
The next best choice was Bunyan, since Rei
doesn't need lots of AP or INT. Sure, Rei ends
up being kinda fragile, but not so fragile that
he can't survive a few hits, which gives you
enough time to heal him.
Nina: D'Lonzo --> 10 - 14 I put her under D'Lonzo and Meryleep because I
Meryleep --> 14 - 22 I wanted the skills that they teach. The levels
Bais --> 22 - 25 that she gained after level 22 were for the
Meryleep --> 25-33 Archmage and Berserker fights.
Momo: D'Lonzo --> 11 - 13 At first there was no other choice to apprentice
Fahl --> 13 - 32 her to anyone but D'Lonzo, so I did. It helped
Ladon --> 32 - 33 since she got a boost to PWR and AGL, and also
Final: Ladon since D'Lonzo gives a boost to accuracy. I then
put her under Fahl for obvious reasons. The
level she gained under Ladon was from one of the
Samples. I could've just kept her under Fahl,
but she didn't really need any more HP or AP.
Garr: Fahl --> 13 - 24 Fahl was an obvious choice. I put him under
Ladon --> 24 - 25 Ladon when I felt he didn't need any more HP or
AP... not that Garr's AP is very good anyway.
Peco: Fahl --> 1 - 22 See Garr's analysis. I would've put Peco under
Ladon --> 22 - 25 Ladon earlier if I could've, but by the time I
got to Dragnier Peco was level 22. Oh well; he
turned out fine anyway.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------V. CHARACTER EVALUATIONS----------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ranking I give each character is from 1-6, 1 being the best and 6
being the worst. Also, keep in mind that my rankings are largely based on the
Master setups that I used for my characters. With that said, on to the evals!
-----
-Ryu-
-----
It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that Ryu is ranked at the top.
In human form he's a great fighter, with notably high PWR and capable of taking
hits better than Garr**. Needless to say, when he uses Accession he just becomes
overpowered. Another good thing about Ryu is that he'll have plenty of AP for
using those powerful skills and dragon transformations. However, while he does
have healing magic, his low INT due to the time spent under Bunyan and Fahl will
make them useless compared to the mass amount of healing items that you can buy
with all of your excess money.
**Some might say that it's not a fair comparison because Ryu will always be at a
higher level than Garr since you use Ryu all the time, but I compare stats based
on how high they are at any given *time*, not at any given level.
Overall Ranking: 1
-----
-Rei-
-----
Good old Rei. As always, his high AGL makes him a valuable member of any
party. This is especially true for bosses, where he can act as a very effective
item healer. Also, his weretiger skill is one of the most effective methods to
kill randoms with, and sometimes is the only reasonable method.
Keep in mind that you shouldn't train Rei under Fahl since you don't
want to penalize his AGL. As a result of this, Rei becomes somewhat more fragile
than the other characters, since Bunyan gives 2 less HP and DEF than Fahl does.
Even in randoms you have to be very careful not to let Rei's HP drop too low if
you want him to stay alive. Still, the ability to get EX-turns is worth the loss
in DEF.
Overall Ranking: 2
------
-Nina-
------
Two words: skill dummy. Seriously, Nina is a lost cause in a NEG. Her
stats just suck too much. She'll be too fragile for a NEG even if you train her
under Fahl. Her best use is to get skills from Masters that you would otherwise
not want to apprentice anyone to in a NEG. Otherwise, you should never use her
unless you're forced to...
...unless you're trying to defeat the Archmage and Berserker! That's
right, Nina is rather useful for defeating these guys. More on this in Section
VII.
Overall Ranking: 6
------
-Momo-
------
Momo starts out being somewhat fragile, and as a result you might be
inclined not to use her. Big mistake. Momo's stat boosters are indispensable in
this challenge. Also, her high PWR makes her very useful for any fight, and
after enough levels under Fahl she becomes pretty tough (certainly much tougher
than Rei). Another great thing about her is that she has lots of AP, which means
that you can get lots of use out of those powerful skills like Shadowwalk.
Overall Ranking: 3
------
-Garr-
------
Early in the game, Garr will more or less be a Ryu clone, only with less
AP and lower AGL. Later on, all of Ryu's stats will rise above Garr's. So what
does that leave him with? Well, even though Garr doesn't end up excelling at
anything, he's still a decent choice if you need someone tough. However, like
Peco, Garr becomes much less useful near the end of the game, when the damage
from your characters' normal physical attacks becomes very low, and having
useful skills becomes much more important than having high HP and DEF.
Overall Ranking: 5
------
-Peco-
------
Early in the game, Peco is really useful. His ridiculously high HP, DEF,
and reprisal rate actually make it reasonable to use the attack formation and
put him in the lead. He'll take most of the hits for the party, which he'll be
able to survive, and at the same time his high reprisal rate will let him attack
multiple times per turn. Also, the boost in PWR given to him for being the point
member of the attack formation more than makes up for his slightly sub-par PWR
rating. Another good thing about Peco is that his AP is decent, so he can use
those power skills fairly frequently.
Later in the game, however, Peco's use dwindles. The enemies start doing
much more damage, making the attack formation obsolete. As a result, Peco's
lower PWR rating starts to become a burden. Also, since he's so slow, he can't
really do much to help the party with item healing.
Overall Ranking: 4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------VI. WALKTHROUGH--------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
**BEFORE YOU START**
- It's a good idea to apprentice Nina and Momo to D'Lonzo during your first
visit to the Coffee Shop. In order to do this, though, you need to have 15
different weapons in your inventory. You can have up to 16, actually, but the
most cost-efficient way is...
1 Melted Blade
2 Daggers (1 equipped to Ryu, one in your inventory)
2 PointedSticks (1 equipped to Nina, one in your inventory)
1 Ballock Knife
1 Bronze Sword
1 Broad Sword
1 Bent Sword
1 Silver Knife
1 Oaken Staff
1 Mace
1 Magician's Rod
1 Rippers
1 Scramasax
1 Flame Chrysm
1 Ice Chrysm
(the Ammo will be equipped to Momo)
...so be sure not to miss any of these items!
- Assume that I am talking about the single-character healing item when I
talk about Vitamins, unless I put quotations around the word like this...
"Vitamins". That means I am referring to the party-targeting item. I'm not
sure if I'll even end up mentioning "Vitamins", but you'll know the
difference if I do.
- A (P) beside someone's name in the "My Party:" line means that they are in
position #1. Obviously, I only list this when I use the attack formation.
- In the "Skills to get" line that I list sometimes, the ones with asterisks
on either side of them are important skills that you'll NEED to learn. The
others aren't necessary, but are still useful.
- In boss fights, when I list "____'s skills", I will only be listing the ones
that are useful/essential to the strategy.
And now, here's the walkthrough!
================================================================================
======================*Dauna Mines through Bunyan's House*======================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 1, Teepo 1, Rei 5 (Defense Formation)
Skills to get: Burn, **Blind**, **Influence**
Nothing out of the ordinary here. Be sure to get the Melted Blade,
otherwise just play normally. Once you get to the Yraall Road, start your
training. First, get Ryu and Teepo to level 4, and get Rei to level 6. Next,
have Ryu learn Blind, Burn, and Influence. During this time, have Rei steal
3 bent swords from Goblins. Once you're done, go raid Bunyan's house.
================================================================================
=========================*"?" Forest through Mt. Glaus*=========================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 4, Teepo 4 (Defense Formation)
This entire section can also be played the same as in a normal game.
You should run from Puff Goos, though; they'll wear you out too much. Also,
remember to get the Coin. Eventually, you'll find Rei, and you'll fight the
Nue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Nue 1--
My party: Ryu 5, Teepo 5, Rei 6 (Defense Formation)
Ryu's skills: Blind
Again, this is pretty much as easy as in a normal game. Have Rei use
his physical, have Teepo use Flare, and have Ryu try to blind the Nue before
attacking with his physical as well. If Ryu has Protect you might want to use
it on your party, but it isn't necessary. You might have to heal once or twice,
but overall this is a cakewalk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Afterwards, you can head up to the cave. The bats and zombies do
more damage than all the enemies you've fought up to this point (save for the
Man Trap), but they're still not hard. You'll eventually find the Nue again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Nue 2--
My party: Ryu 6, Teepo 6, Rei 7 (Defense Formation)
Ryu's skills: Blind
Use the same strategy as before. This time, however, it's a better
idea to use Protect if you have it, since the Nue will eventually cast Jolt on
your party, dealing about 14 damage to everyone. If you aren't careful about
your HP, this attack can wipe you out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Congrats, you're now a hero :P.
================================================================================
==================*Post-Mt. Glaus through Outside McNeil Manor*=================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 6, Teepo 6, Rei 7 (Defense Formation)
NOTE: This is a good time to start fishing for Trout and Rainbow Trout, since
you need that Silver Knife for D'Lonzo. Also, extra Skill Inks are nice :).
First thing's first: apprentice Teepo to Mygas. As usual, stock up
on items like crazy, then give Mygas the leftover pocket change to get the most
bang for your buck. Use this opportunity to buy a bronze sword, as well. Now go
to McNeil's Manor, and make your way to the Pooch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Pooch--
My party: Ryu 6, Teepo 6, Rei 7 (Defense Formation)
Skills to get: **Snap**
Again, there's not much to this fight. Just wail on him and he'll go
down. If one of your characters gets his defense lowered too much from Snap,
just have Ryu use Protect once or twice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now make your way to Rocky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Rocky--
My party: Ryu 6, Teepo 6, Rei 7 (Defense Formation)
Nothing new here either. Just the usual "attack while keeping an eye on
your HP".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And now we're inside the manor.
================================================================================
==============================*Inside McNeil Manor*=============================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 7, Teepo 7 (Defense Formation)
You should run from any random encounter that isn't a Volt or a pair of
them. Other than that, it’s just more of the usual. The ghosts aren't really
worth mentioning other than saying you may have to play a little more
conservatively and spend more time healing, but probably not.
Anyway, once you get Rei back and you get the Broad Sword from the
roof, make your way to McNeil’s room for the boss fight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Amalgam--
My party: Ryu 8, Teepo 8, Rei 8 (Defense Formation)
Teepo should use Simoon, and Rei should just attack. Ryu should cast
protect on everyone and then remain on healing duty. Try to keep everyone's HP
above 25, so that Astral Warp doesn't kill anyone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After that's over with, watch McNeil cry like a baby, and prepare for
your demise :).
================================================================================
===============================*Post-McNeil Manor*==============================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 8, Teepo 8, Rei 8 (Defense Formation)
Skills to get: Frost
If Teepo hasn't gained two levels under Mygas yet, have him do so and
learn Frost. Now give Rei and Teepo each a bent sword. If you don't have the
following weapons yet...
2 Daggers (one equipped to Ryu)
3 Bent Swords (one equipped to Rei and one to Teepo)
2 Pointedsticks
1 Ballocknife
1 Silver Knife
1 Bronze Sword
1 Broad Sword } (It's too late to get these
1 Melted Blade } if you don't have them now.)
...be sure to get them now. Now give all your skills to Ryu. He should at least
have Blind, Influence and Snap, although having Frost and Burn is a good idea
too. If you feel you're prepared for the trek through Mt. Myrneg, go to your
house and get whooped by Balio and Sunder.
================================================================================
===================*Post-Balio and Sunder through Mt. Myrneg*===================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 8
Skills to get: Double Blow
Apprentice Ryu to Bunyan. Seriously. You'll need his stat boosts for the
next section of the game. Now just make your way through the mountain. I found
it to be a little easier than a normal game, since without equipment, Ryu is
faster than pretty much everything in here. It's also a good idea to learn
Double Blow from the NutTroops.
================================================================================
==============================*Wyndian Catacombs*===============================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 10, Nina 5 (Defense Formation)
Give Nina a PointedStick and remove all of her equipment. Now just
proceed through this relatively easy dungeon. Nina is weak, as usual, so you'll
have to heal her if she takes any damage at all or else she'll be at risk of
dying. Also, you should run from Thunders, especially if they're with Volts. You
won't be able to handle repeated Jolts from them.
================================================================================
==========================*Wyndia through Eygnock Road*=========================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 10, Nina 7 (Defense Formation)
Don't bother buying any weapons here, as you shouldn't need the claymore
to get D'Lonzo, and you can get a discount at Genmel anyway. Just do the usual,
and you'll end up in Genmel.
================================================================================
==========================*Genmel through Mt. Boumore*==========================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 10, Nina 7 (Defense Formation)
Buy yourself a Scramasax, Mace, Magician's Rod, and Rippers. You should
have 13 different weapons in your inventory by now. Mt. Boumore is easy enough,
although you should run away from Orcs for now. Be sure to get the Reverse Gene
from the "?" area.
================================================================================
=================================*Momo's Tower*=================================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 11, Nina 8 (Defense Formation)
This is the first tough area in the game. Against Lizards, use Jolt and
hope that they don't survive to kill Nina. Against Icetoads, use Simoon and
physicals. If you encounter more than one, try to get both of their HPs down as
far as possible, so that both of their Icebreaths will be as weak as possible.
You should still run from Orcs for now. Protobots and Armorbots are easy enough.
Once you get Momo, things become much easier. The same strategies apply
to the monsters here, only now you stand a much better chance against Orcs, and
against a pair of Icetoads, have Momo use her physical on one, and have Nina use
Simoon on the other. Ryu should attack the same one that Momo attacks, since she
misses a lot. If you encounter a Hyperbot, however, you should definitely run.
It's pure luck if you manage to kill one.
As far as items go, be sure to get the Wisdom Fruit from the crystal
challenge, as the Ring of Ice is of no use to us, and you can buy Multivitamins
from Genmel. Be sure to get the Flame and Ice Chrysm from the tile puzzle, and
it's also a good idea to the Bamboo Rod and Moon Tears. Also remember to get
the Thorn Gene from the crash site.
================================================================================
=========================*Coffee Shop through the Plant*========================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 12, Nina 10, Momo 11 (Defense Formation)
You should have 15 different weapons in your inventory now, so you can
apprentice Nina and Momo to D'Lonzo. With that out of the way, proceed through
the plot as normal, and then head to the Dump.
================================================================================
==================================*The Dump*====================================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 12, Nina 10, Momo 11 (Defense Formation)
Another dungeon in which normal tactics apply. The only thing to worry
about is if you encounter two or more Bombers. They can deal out quite a bit of
damage and are hard to kill, so it's best to just run from them. Make sure that
Ryu saves ALL of his AP for the upcoming boss fight, or if you REALLY want to
use his AP before the boss, restore it to full with a Black Porgy or two.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Mutant--
My party: Ryu 12, Nina 11, Momo 11 (Defense Formation)
First have Momo cast protect on everyone. Nina should use Simoon until
the Mutant loses his regeneration, and Ryu should just defend until that
happens. Once he has, Ryu should transform using the Flame + Defender genes and
attack with Flame claw. Nina should keep using Simoon, and Momo should be on
healing Duty. Overall, not very tough.
Ragnarok500/Paltheos has informed me that Mutant will lose his
regeneration regardless of whether or not you attack him or not. However, we
both tend to believe that attacking him speeds up the process (although we can't
confirm this). Therefore, you might want to take a more defensive approach and
save your AP until Mutant loses his regeneration on his own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now progress through the plot as normal and you'll end up in Genmel.
================================================================================
===========================*The Contest of Champions*===========================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 13, Nina 12, Momo 12 (Defense Formation)
Stock up again on items if you want. At the very least, you'll need to
have one Multivitamin in your inventory. Once you're ready, it's time for the
first fight of the contest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Claw and the Dodai--
My party: Ryu 13
Ryu's Skills: Blind, Snap
The only reasonable way to win this fight is to kill the Dodai. Ryu's
damage against Claw is miserable, and essentially two successful attacks from
Claw will kill Ryu. To make matters worse, though, Ryu's damage against Claw's
Dodai is equally miserable, and Claw's damage will outrun yours even if you use
a Multivitamin on your Dodai. In Frost Whelp form, Ryu's damage can only barely
keep up with Claw's. Also, whenever you heal your Dodai, Claw will attack Ryu.
The best way to win this fight is to have to heal yourself and your Dodai as
little as possible. Here's how to do it...
Have Ryu transform using the Flame + Reverse genes right away. Now have
him attack Claw with Blind until she (I think it's a she...) is blinded. If your
dragon form runs out of HP, and you have enough AP left to transform, do so. If
you can no longer transform, and Claw is not yet blinded, have Ryu use Blind
until she is. See, the only way that we can hope to keep up with Claw's damage
is if most of her attacks miss your Dodai. Her vulnerability to Blind makes this
easy enough. If Claw manages to blind you before you blind her, just reset and
try again.
~
Once Claw is blinded, wail on her Dodai with Frost Claw if you are still
in your dragon form. Otherwise, use Snap on her Dodai until you stop getting the
"Def. Down" or "Miss" message, and then just use your Physical. Even doing this,
don't be surprised if your Dodai starts to sink before Claw's does. When this
happens, first heal yourself if you aren't already at full health, THEN use that
Multivitamin on your Dodai. After that, you can just continue your assault until
Claw's Dodai goes down. If Claw makes your Dodai begin to sink twice before you
make hers start to sink, you are just very unlucky, so don't sweat it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After that, you'll gain loads of EXP. On to the next fight!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Emitai's Team--
My party: Ryu 16, Nina 12, Momo 12 (Defense Formation)
This fight is easy. Since Nina can't use any of her magic, just have her
Defend and Heal. Momo should use her physical on Emitai. Ryu should transform
with the Flame + Defender genes and use Flame Breath on all of 'em (his HP in
this dragon form should now be high enough for Flame Breath to be more effective
than Flame Claw - once Flame Breath starts doing below 55, heal Ryu or start
using Flame Claw). Once Emitai is down, the Golems will start attacking each
other. Take this time to learn Spirit Blast, if you feel like it, and wait for
one of them to die. Then just finish off the other one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once that's taken care of, proceed with the storyline as usual. See if
you can survive against Garr long enough for him to say "Let's finish this" and
start dealing loads of damage. It's not that hard, since without equipment Ryu
will get EX turns on him.
================================================================================
=================================*Maekyss Gorge*================================
================================================================================
The three bullies at the Gorge are nothing to worry about. Once all is
said and done, you'll fight Stallion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Stallion--
My party: Ryu 16, Momo 12, Garr 13 (Defense Formation)
Have Momo cast Protect on everyone while Ryu transforms using the Flame
+ Defender genes. Stallion has a slight resistance to Flame, so for the entire
battle everyone will be using their physicals if they aren't buffing or healing.
While Ryu is transformed, have Momo act as the main healer. Once he reverts,
Ryu will take over as the main healer. You'll probably have to heal Momo if she
takes any damage at all, and for Ryu and Garr, keeping their HP above 50 is a
safe bet. Overall this fight is actually not that hard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Watch the scene, then head down to the frog's house and get the Frost
gene. Now you have the freedom to do many things, but there are a few things
that we want to take care of first. Go to Bunyan and learn all of his skills up
to Super Combo. Even if you're one level away, don't bother with Disembowel; it
sucks. Also, at this point either Nina or Momo will probably have gained two
levels under D'Lonzo, so go learn Monopolize from her. Now it's time to get
Fahl, the best master for this challenge. Do whatever you want for the 30
battles, but be sure to keep Peco at level 1 until he can be apprenticed under
Fahl. Once you've done that, apprentice everyone to Fahl except Nina. Nina can
stay on D'Lonzo for now.
**NOTE: At levels 15 and 17, Ryu will gain 3 and 2 AGL, respectively. For this
reason, I recommend holding off on apprenticing Ryu to Fahl until he becomes
level 17. For me, Ryu was level 16 after the Stallion fight, but I gave him the
extra level for the agility before putting him under Fahl.
Next we'll train Peco. Give him Monopolize, go wherever you feel is
best for getting EXP (I went to the Dump), and train him to level 13. Once
you're finished with that, you may as well head to Raphala. Don't forget to get
the Thunder Gene from the "?" hut.
================================================================================
========================*Raphala through The Lighthouse*========================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 17, Garr 14, Peco 13(P) (Attack Formation)
Do the usual at Raphala, then head for the lighthouse. The enemies in
here are easy, but it's best run from Spectres, since they love to damage/drain
your AP. Once you're finished with the generator and the switches, you'll fight
Gazer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Gazer--
My party: Ryu 17, Garr 14, Peco 13(P) (Attack Formation)
Peco's Skills: Super Combo, Focus, Double Blow
Have Ryu cast shield once to cut down a little on Gazer's damage, then
transform using the Flame + Defender Genes and use Flame Claw. Since Gazer's
physical attack hits the entire party, chances are that Ryu's HP won't be at its
max, making Flame Claw more powerful for this fight. Have Garr use Pyrokinesis
until he runs out of AP, then have him use his physical. Have Peco use Focus,
then Super Combo if he has enough AP. Otherwise have him use Double Blow, and
then his physical once his AP is gone. Once Ryu reverts, put him on healing
duty. If you keep everyone's HP above 70, that should eliminate any risk of
Eye Beam OHKOing anyone.
Normally I wouldn't recommend giving Peco Focus when he's in the lead
of the attack formation, since his high reprisal rate makes it unlikely that
the power increase from Focus would go towards whichever skill Peco was
preparing for. However, since Gazer's only attack that can trigger a reprisal
is Eye Beam, which isn't TOO common, you can use it safely.
I haven't tried this, but Rag/Palth has suggested using the Flame +
Thorn genes instead of Flame + Defender. The tradeoff is a loss in DEF for
more damage with Flame Claw, and taking 0 damage from Eye Beam.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With that said and done, go up the stairs, grab the Eldritch gene, and
watch the scene.
================================================================================
================================*Faerie Village*================================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 17(P), Nina 13, Momo 13 (Attack Formation)
Before you come here, fish for 3 Black Porgys (baby frogs work best).
You probably won't need all three, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared for the
worst. Put Ryu in the lead of the attack formation, and then head to Faerie
Village to fight the Dolphin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Dolphin--
My party: Ryu 17(P), Nina 13, Momo 13 (Attack Formation)
Have Ryu immediately transform using the Thunder and Defender genes, and
then have him use Thunder Claw like there's no tomorrow. Nina and Momo should
just defend unless they need to restore Ryu's HP/AP. If one of them dies, just
use an Ammonia on them; even at full health they're both at risk of dying in one
hit from Dolphin's physical. That's really all there is to this fight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now that he's out of the way, you can get Meryleep as a master. I took
this opportunity to get Nina that final level so that she learned D'Lonzo's
final skill, and then put her under Meryleep.
Other than that, it's time to prepare for Mt. Zublo. I recommend a party
of Ryu, Momo, and Peco. Give Momo Super Combo, Focus, and Burn. Give Peco Double
Blow. Stock up on items if you need to, and then head in.
================================================================================
==================================*Mt. Zublo*===================================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 18, Momo 13, Peco 14(P) (Attack Formation)
Momo's Skills: Burn
Skills to get: Lavaburst
The enemies in here aren't too bad, although you'll still have to make
a small effort to heal yourself during battle. Be sure to activate any Vulcans
you encounter with Burn (they give lots of EXP that way), and learn Lavaburst;
it's a useful skill. Also, remember to get the Miracle gene. Eventually you'll
fight Gisshan, Scylla, and Charybdis.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Gisshan, Scylla, and Charybdis--
My party: Ryu 19, Momo 15, Peco 15(P) (Attack Formation)
Momo's Skills: Super Combo, Focus
Peco's Skills: Double Blow
Ryu should immediately transform using the Frost + Defender genes, and
then spam Frost Breath. Peco should use Double Blow on one of the snakes, then
on the other once the first one dies, then on Gisshan. Momo should use Protect
on herself and Peco, and then go on healing Duty. If everyone is close to max
HP, have Momo use Focus x1 (not x2), then Super Combo on whichever snake Peco is
attacking.
The great thing about this fight is that Frost Breath is so powerful
against the snakes that it's not uncommon for Ryu to finish them both off before
he even reverts. If they are still alive when Ryu reverts, they are definitely
close to death. That is, unless you got very unlucky and they kept using Wall of
Fire on Ryu before he would use Frost Breath. This is why I say that Momo should
just Focus one time; she will probably only use Super Combo twice in this fight,
and she should have enough AP to use it at least 3 times - and that's if you
used some AP before this fight and didn't restore it.
My reasoning for why Peco and Momo attack the snakes as opposed to
Gisshan is because I found that even if he and Momo attacked Gisshan whenever
they had the chance, the snakes still died first from Frost Breath. I figured
if they would die first no matter what, then it would be best to just have
them die as quickly as possible. Besides, you should be able to handle Gisshan's
wussy status attacks.
Anyway, in spite of how much I've written, this fight is not hard at
all. Gisshan can be annoying when he casts Sleep and Hypnotize, but it's no
big deal. Peco tanks most of the snakes' damage, and Momo can easily heal it
with a Vitamin. Also, this allows Ryu's HP to stay near max most of the time,
allowing him to do up to 200 damage to each snake with each Frost Breath!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With them out of the way, make your way out of the Mountain.
================================================================================
===============================*The Urkan Region*===============================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 19, doesn't really matter whom else
Skills to get: Air Raid, Flying Kick
There isn’t much to do now other than stock up. Also, feel free to learn
the skills from the enemies around here. Air Raid and Flying Kick are rather
useful if you give them to Rei. Once you're done, choose your party for Angel
Tower. Send all the skills of Whichever two characters you won't be using for
Angel Tower to the the skill notes, just in case you want to transfer them to
any of yourcharacters some time after the Dauna Mines.
================================================================================
==================================*Angel Tower*=================================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 19, Garr 15, Peco 16(P) (Attack Formation)
There are spectres in here, so feel free to run from them unless you
want to lose your AP needlessly. Phantoms and Cerebuses can cause some problems
with their attacks and skills, so be sure to finish them as quickly as possible,
and to heal after every fight. Just before you make your way down the final
staircase, send the skills from your third party member (as in NOT Garr or Ryu)
to the skill notes as well. Then a scene will ensue, and you'll fight Garr.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Garr--
My party: Ryu 20
Transform with the Miracle Gene. Meteorstrike x3 = dead Garr.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now Ryu will trip out, and you'll find yourself in the Dauna Mines.
================================================================================
==================================*Dauna Mines*=================================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 20, Garr 16 (Defense Formation)
*sigh* another easy dungeon. Just make your way to the boss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Dragon Zombie--
My party: Ryu 20, Garr 16 (Defense Formation)
This fight is more of a nuisance than a challenge. Have Ryu transform
using the Flame + Defender genes, and then use Flame Claw. Flame Breath is a
bad idea since you'll probably be poisoned throughout the entire fight, and it's
really not worth your time to try and cure it constantly. Garr should use
Pyrokinesis until he runs out of AP, and then just attack. Once Ryu reverts, he
should also just attack. Of course, you probably won't be using Flame Claw or
Pyrokineses quite as consistently as you'd like, since your characters will be
confused for most of this fight.
In spite of all this, this fight is not hard - just lengthy. All you
have to do is be patient, and chip away at Dragon Zombie's HP (and your own...
damn confusion) with regular attacks, healing occasionally. He will spend many
turns using Rotten Breath on you, but since you won't be bothering to heal your
Poison anyway, it's all a big waste on his part.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now head to Ogre Road.
================================================================================
=============*Ogre Road to Cedar Woods and back to the Checkpoint*==============
================================================================================
Bleh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Weretiger--
My party: Ryu 21, Garr 17 (Defense Formation)
You don't have to even transform if you don't want to, although it makes
the fight go a lot faster. Use the Miracle gene and spam Meteorstrike, and
you'll send him runnin'.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don't expect anything special from Mt. Levett either. Just go through
all the scenes at McNeil and Cedar Woods, then make your way back to Syn City,
and then go to the checkpoint. Watch the scene, and you'll fight Mikba.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Mikba--
My party: Ryu 22, Garr 18, Rei 20 (Defense Formation)
Garr's Skills: Influence
Ryu's AGL: 22
Rei's AGL: 38 (without armour, and the Dagger as his weapon)
Garr's AGL: 15
This is a hell of a fight. Mikba's attacks are STRONG, and it only makes
things worse that his reprisal and lucky strike rates are extremely high. On top
of that, he can cast Quake, which isn't as powerful as a lucky strike but hits
your entire party. Venom Breath, Multistrike and Resist are more of an annoyance
than a threat, thankfully. Still, don't underestimate Mikba. This fight calls
for a rather different strategy than what we've been using so far for this
challenge. Ryu won't even be using a dragon transformation! (omg)
You might be wondering why I listed my characters' AGL stats. Well,
that's because the key to this battle is AGL manipulation. My strategy worked
for me with these base AGL ratings. If your characters' AGL ratings are
different, you might have to do things a little differently (by "things", I mean
casting Speed/Slow on your characters in different numbers than I did). Without
further adieu, here's the strategy.
--PHASE 1--
First use an ammonia on Rei, but leave his HP at one. Mikba will most
likely open with Venom Breath. Don't worry about poison just yet, though. When
it comes to Rei's turn, have him remove all of his armour, and switch his weapon
to a Dagger. Then have him use a Healing Herb on himself. While he is doing
this, Ryu and Garr can cure themselves of poison/heal if they need to, otherwise
just have them defend. Once Rei's HP is no longer critical, he'll automatically
use Weretiger and attack Mikba. Rei will then get himself killed by one of
Mikba's reprisals, most likely sooner than later.
--PHASE 2--
Now that Rei will no longer auto-weretiger, it's safe to revive him and
heal him with a Vitamin. Here's where the AGL tweaking and DEF boosting begins.
First have Rei use Speed twice on Ryu. With my Ryu's AGL, this gave him an EX-
turn. Now have Rei use Slow on himself once. This will still give him an EX-
turn, but he will now be slower than Ryu. Leave Garr as he is.
During this, Ryu should cast Shield four times, then cast Protect two
times on Rei. Garr should be strictly on healing duty. You should also opt to
have Rei and Ryu use their EX-turns to heal if anyone needs healing. If, at any
point in this phase, Garr or Rei are ever left with nothing to do, have them
defend. You don't want to have to deal with Mikba's reprisals yet. The reason I
don't mention Ryu in that statement is because he will always have something to
do in this Phase, as his job takes the most number of turns to finish.
--PHASE 3--
Now that you're all buffed up, you're in the perfect position to kill
Mikba. Your DEF will be boosted SO much that it's uncommon for two lucky strikes
in a row to kill even Rei! Also, your AGL is set up in the optimal way to keep
everyone's, and more importantly, Rei's, HP full.
Have Rei become a weretiger (don't do this during one of his EX-turns),
and have Garr bait Mikba with influence. From here on out, then turn structure
will be as follows: Ryu heals if necessary, otherwise defends --> Rei attacks
--> Mikba reprisals (he will most likely do this) --> Garr uses a Healing Herb
on Rei --> Ryu uses his EX-turn to heal Rei if he needs it, otherwise defends
--> Rei attacks again.
NOTE: Yes, Garr will be using a Healing Herb every round of this phase. It's
just to prevent the worst-case scenario in which Mikba follows up a lucky strike
reprisal with another, both of them doing enough damage together to kill Rei.
With this setup, it's just a matter of healing everyone while Rei mauls
Mikba to death.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Rei really SHOULD use up his auto-weretiger before you start to
change everyone's AGL around, for a number of reasons...
1) The game doesn't actually register the AGL change from Rei's equipment loss
until he has died and been revived. Normally this isn't the case, so my only
guess is that the auto-weretiger state has something to do with it.
2) I tried keeping Rei's HP yellow while he cast Speed, then healed him and had
him transform. Things got REALLY glitchy. The worst case was when Rei would go
after Garr during normal turns (Garr did not even get an EX-turn), but Rei would
still end up getting an EX-turn, and was faster than Ryu during his EX-turn (Ryu
also got an EX-turn).
...so yeah, to avoid all this glitchiness, just follow the order that I used.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Skills to get: Charm, Shadowwalk, War Shout
Whew. With all of that out of the way, Rei will join your party. You'll
want to apprentice him to Bunyan ASAP. Other than that, Get the Deluxe Rod from
the locked room, and stock up. I took this time to learn all of Meryleep's
skills with Nina. Once you're ready, head to the plant.
================================================================================
==================================*The Plant*===================================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 22, Momo 16, Peco 16(P) (Attack Formation)
Skills to get: Flame Strike
The enemies in here are sorta tough, but you'll probably be fine as long
as you don't play stupidly. Remember to hurt Fly Men as much as you can before
they attack, since they use Firebreath, which is based on their HP. You'll
eventually fight the Hugeslug.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Hugeslug--
My party: Ryu 23, Momo 17, Peco 17 (Defense Formation)
Momo's Skills: Shadowwalk, Focus
Peco's Skills: Flame Strike
Yes, you'll need to use the Defense Formation for this fight; Hugeslug's
physicals are pretty strong. Have Ryu use Shield twice while Momo casts protect
on herself twice. Now have Ryu transform using the Flame + Force genes and start
wailing on Hugeslug with Flame claw. Momo can focus on healing, and otherwise
use Focus x2 + Shadowwalk, and Peco can just use Flame Strike or something. As
long as you beef up your defenses, this fight isn't hard. You probably won't
even need to heal that much.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once Hugeslug's out of the way, just make your way through the rest of
the dungeon until you've got the fourth password. Now go and switch Peco out for
Rei, and return to fight Shroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Shroom--
My party: Ryu 23, Rei 21, Momo 18 (Defense Formation)
Momo's Skills: Focus, Shadowwalk, Influence
Rei's Skills: War Shout
First set up your buffs. Rei and Momo should cast Speed twice on every-
one to make them faster than Shroom (giving Rei an EX-turn) while Ryu uses
Shield x4. Then have Ryu and Momo cast Protect twice on Rei and Momo while Rei
casts War Shout 2-4 times (there's no harm in using it four times, but two is
enough).
Now that that's out of the way, you can begin whittling away at Shroom's
HP with physicals (I'll explain this later) until he starts casting Restore.
Once he does, it's time to launch an all-out offensive. Have Rei use Weretiger,
and have Momo bait Shroom with Influence before starting the usual Focus x2 +
Shadowwalk chain. Ryu should transform using the Force Gene and start attacking
(or using Aura if you can spare the AP). Shroom should go down very quickly once
you start doing this.
The reason we do this is because Shroom has a phase in which he starts
to spam Restore. Attacking with consistent, lesser damage throughout the entire
fight won't be enough to get him past this phase without some luck. Therefore,
saving your AP for when he gets to that phase, and then going all out on him
will quickly bring him to his final phase, where he starts using Blitz. Blitz
shouldn't kill you if you've set up your buffs and kept your HP up, and since
he halves his HP every time he uses it, you'll be able to kill him with no
problem before anyone dies. For me, he only got to use Blitz once before I
finished him off.
As far as his attacks go, the only one that might make you worry is Head
Cracker. However, it's not hard to heal the damage away since all of your
characters should be faster than Shroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With that out of the way, it's time to meet Gaist. Head to Urkan Tapa to
talk to Sudama, and then go to the Tidal Caves.
================================================================================
=========================*The Tidal Caves through Cliff*========================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 24, Rei 21, Momo 18 (Defense Formation)
Momo's Skills: Influence
This place isn't too tough, although the enemies in here can hit fairly
hard. The easiest way to kill groups of enemies in here is for Ryu to transform
using the Thunder gene and use Thunder Breath. Alternately, you could have Rei
use Lightning and Momo use Lavaburst. Against fewer enemies, the weretiger works
best. Don't forget the Gross gene at the end.
Once you get to Cliff, watch all of the necessary scenes, then make sure
you have a Black Porgy or two before fighting Gaist.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Gaist--
My party: Ryu 24
First transform using the Frost + Force genes and hit each of the
torches with Frost Claw, then pound away at Gaist until you revert, whether by
AP or HP loss. Once you do, transform using the Force gene alone and keep
attacking him. If you run out of AP to transform with, use a Black Porgy on
yourself. You shouldn't need more than one, though.
One thing to remember for this fight: when Ryu is in human form he is
slower than Gaist, therefore you should only attempt to transform if your HP
is close to max. You'll have to develop a feel for when it's best to heal vs.
transform.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Get the Beast Spear if you want... *shrugs* it couldn't hurt :).
================================================================================
=================================*Steel Beach*==================================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 24, Garr 19, Peco 18(P) (Attack Formation)
Watch all the necessary scenes. Be sure to remove Momo's skills before
you lose her; they won't be doing any good on her until you get her back. Also
REMEMBER TO GET THE ??? GENE. It'll come in handy. Now go fight the Angler.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Angler--
My party: Ryu 24, Garr 19, Peco 18(P) (Attack Formation)
Peco's Skills: Shadowwalk
Garr's Skills: Double Blow
Ryu should use Shield four times before transforming using the Force
gene and attacking. Peco should use Shadowwalk, and Garr should use Double Blow.
Angler's attacks aren't all that hard to handle, but to avoid being killed by
Thunder Clap you should keep your HP above 100. Also, War Shout is a bad idea
here thanks to Bone Dart. Otherwise, this fight is a cinch.
Another strategy that I didn't use but would probably work rather well
is to transform into the Mammoth and spam Meteorstrike. The only problem that
could arise is if Angler used Venom Breath and poisoned the Mammoth. However,
with that kind of damage output, it'll only postpone the inevitable. I would've
used this method but I forgot to get the ??? gene before this fight :P. Oh well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now for the Black Ship.
================================================================================
================================*The Black Ship*================================
================================================================================
-Before the crane game-
My party: Ryu 25, Garr 19, Peco 19(P) (Attack Formation)
-After the crane game-
My party: Ryu 25, Rei 22, Momo 19 (Defense Formation)
I'm not sure why I switched my party halfway between the dungeon... oh
well. If you encounter a group of Bolt people, kill the Bolts before the Bolt-
Mages before the BoltArchers. If you encounter a group of Sleepys and a King-
toad, kill the Sleepys first... just be careful when fighting lone Kingtoads, as
they use Icebreath.
Anyway, make your way to the bridge, watch the scenes, and take Rei and
Momo to the Ammonites.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Ammonites--
My party: Ryu 26, Rei 23, Momo 20 (Defense Formation)
Rei's Skills: War Shout
Momo's Skills: Shadowwalk, Focus
First set up your defenses. Rei and Momo should work on setting up two
Speeds on themselves, while Ryu sets up four Shields. This should give Rei an
EX-turn and make Momo faster than the Ammonites. Now have Ryu transform using
the Thunder + Force genes and start spamming Thunder Claw. Rei or Momo should
now set Ryu up with 2 Speeds to give him an EX-turn in his Dragon Form. When
that's done, Momo should start using Shadowwalk (without focus) on the same
Ammonite that Ryu is attacking, and Rei should heal or cast War Shout. Once one
of them is gone, Momo can start using Focus x2.
The Ammonites attacks aren't *too* much of a threat since Rei will have
an EX-turn AND his normal turn to heal. The healing priority is Rei > Momo >
Ryu. Tsunami is, as usual, the biggest threat in terms of damage. Also, if Ryu
or Momo become confused Rei should smack them before they can attack your party.
Otherwise this fight is surprisingly easy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With that fight out of the way, you'll end up on the Lost Shore.
================================================================================
======================*The Lost Shore through the Colony*=======================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 27, doesn't matter (Defense Formation, unless you're using Peco,
in which case use the Attack Formation with
Peco in the lead)
Truthfully, this section doesn't warrant much attention. You should run
from Multibots, but otherwise the Steel Grave is easy. Also, the Colony's
enemies are fairly easy. Just be careful when fighting Assassins; one of them
won't pose too much of a threat, but fighting more than one at a time is very
risky, thanks to Disembowel. Also, the Codger + Assassin combo can be tough, but
it's less risky than the two Assassin combo. Don't feel bad about running if you
feel you need to.
So... yeah, that about does it, I think. *remembers* Oh yeah, don't
forget the Trance gene. With that done, it's time to take on the Control Tower.
================================================================================
======================*The Control Tower through Dragnier*======================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 27, Garr 21, Peco 21(P) (Attack Formation)
This place isn't too bad. You should kill Insectors quickly to avoid
being hit with Tornado. Also, remember to avoid attacking Tankbots until they're
the only kind of enemy left, to avoid being hit by Sacrifice. I recommend
mugging them for their Wisdom Seeds :).
Anyway, once you get to Dragnier, watch all the scenes, and then stock
up before fighting the Elder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Elder--
My party: Ryu 28, Rei 24, Momo 22 (Defense Formation)
Rei's Skills: War Shout
Momo's Skills: Focus, Shadowwalk
This fight was actually rather easy as long as you don't get careless.
Begin with the usual Shield x4 + Speed x2 on everyone, making 'em all faster
than the Elder and giving Rei an EX-turn. Afterwards, Rei and Ryu should be on
healing duty while Momo spends her time "Focus x2 + Shadowwalk"-ing. If they
have a spare turn, Rei should cast War Shout and Ryu should attack. Obviously,
after you've cast War Shout up to 4 times you can just have Rei join in the
attacking.
The Elder's attacks aren't devastating, but you'll probably want to keep
Rei and Momo at full health at all times to be safe. Myollnir can potentially
one-hit KO Rei or Momo, but it's not that hard to set them up with their buffs
again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whew. You know how the game has been relatively easy up to now? Well,
that's over. The remaining areas of the game are TOUGH. You'll even be FORCED to
use dragon transformations in order to win against certain randoms! But I'm sure
you're all up to the challenge :).
Anyway, you should have every dragon gene by now, so you can now use
Ladon as a master. At this point, I apprenticed Ryu and Peco to Ladon. Be sure
to stock up before heading to the Factory.
================================================================================
==================================*The Factory*=================================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 28, Rei 25, Momo 22 (Defense Formation)
Momo's Skills: Influence, Lavaburst
To avoid being redundant, I'll just say that except for the situations
that I'm about to mention, you should kill everything in here with the
weretiger while Ryu and Momo defend. Now then...
- If you encounter 3 or more enemies in a single fight, have Ryu transform using
the Frost + Defender genes (I say this simply because Pipebombs are very weak to
frost, and they're fairly common in here) and spam Frost Breath while your other
characters defend.
- If you encounter 3 Pipebombs in a single fight, run.
- If you encounter a pair of Giant Orcs, it's not a bad idea to set up Shield.
Also, using the Force Gene really helps, since they regenerate 50% of their max
HP at the end of every round.
Those strategies served me very well for this dungeon. Now, it's time to
face the Desert of Death.
================================================================================
=============================*The Desert of Death*==============================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 29, doesn't matter (Defense Formation, even if you use Peco)
There is only one reasonable way that I can see to make it through this
place. Thankfully, it is also a very effective method that isn't very costly at
all. Simply have Ryu transform using the Frost gene and use Frost Breath. The
Cacti and Scorpions are weak vs. frost, and it won't take more than two Frost
Breaths to kill entire groups of them. Therefore, it won't cost you more than
8 AP per fight. Draks, of course, are no threat at all since they enter the
battle paralyzed. You might want to simply run from Magmaites if you encounter
them, but something that might work that I didn't try would be to transform
using the Force gene and attack them. If you brought Rei along, you can use the
Weretiger to kill them easily enough. However, if you encounter two of them in
a single fight, you should just run.
The great thing about this method is that it only requires Ryu, so you
can just bring whoever you think needs to gain levels without any penalty. This
is especially nice in the DoD since the enemies in here give lots of EXP.
Anyway, you'll eventually fight Manmo.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Manmo--
My party: Ryu 30, doesn't matter (Defense Formation)
Simply transform into a Mammoth and hit him with Meteorstrike. It only
took four of em' for me before Manmo went down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once you get to the Oasis, take some time to prepare for the Orbital
Station. Make sure you're stocked up on all the proper items (the Tankbots in
the Container Yard are a great way of getting tons of Wisdom Seeds), check your
master setups (I switched Garr over to Ladon at this time), get any skills you
think you might need, yadda yadda. Once you're ready, it's time for the final,
and the hardest (appropriately so), area of the game.
================================================================================
=======================*The Orbital Station up to Chimera*======================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 31, Rei 26, Momo 26 (Defense Formation)
Skills to get: **Triple Blow**
Momo's Skills: Influence
*cracks knuckles in preparation for massive amounts of typing*. To
begin, I have to tell you about the enemies in here. This, however, is quite the
task, since there are so many different combinations of enemies in here that we
should and shouldn't fight. Oh well, I'll try to keep it short.
------------------------
-Maintenance Area/Lobby-
------------------------
Armours: The only time you should ever fight Armours is if you encounter one of
them, alone, or if you encounter one of them alongside a bunch of
deathbots/tankbots. When you fight them, Ryu should use Shield to cut
down on the damage you take while Rei uses weretiger.
Nitemares: They aren't so bad. Fighting up to two of them at a time isn't all
that risky, although three at a time is a stretch. It's best to use
the weretiger to kill them, or if you're facing a group of them, you
can also use an elemental whelp.
NOTE: the Radiance Whelp's Divine Breath isn't actually holy-
elemental, for some reason... so it doesn't do extra damage against
these guys.
Adept: These guys are pretty easy. It's easiest to kill them with the weretiger,
although their defense is low enough that you can do decent damage with
your regular physicals. However, you want to kill them quickly, since
MagicShuffle can be pretty unforgiving sometimes. Using an elemental
whelp can speed things up. Again, fighting three at a time is risky.
Deathbots/Tankbots: They are very easy. All you have to do is transform into
a Thunder Whelp and spam Thunder Breath. Of course, if you
encounter a lone one, weretiger is better since you don't
use AP.
If you encounter Deathbots with other kinds of enemies (not
including Tankbots) Ryu should still transform into a
Thunder Whelp and kill them, since we'll want Rei to be able
to focus on the other enemies. That way, we avoid having to
deal with Triple Blow. If you encounter tankbots with other
kinds of enemies (not including Deathbots), you'll want to
avoid damaging them until they're the only kind of enemy
left, to avoid demise by Sacrifice.
NOTE: You will *definitely* want to take the time to learn
Triple Blow, so don't forget about it!
------------
-Laboratory-
------------
Clones: They're weak on their own, but in large groups they can be devastating.
The best strategy is to have Ryu transform into a Frost Whelp while
everyone else defends. Frost Breath will take care of them promptly.
Even so, fighting four of them at a time can be risky, so don't be
afraid to run if you feel you need to.
Hoppers: Like clones, they're weak on their own, but tough in groups. They're
weak to lightning, so have Ryu use Thunder Breath while everyone else
defends. A fight with 3 Hoppers in it, or a fight with 2 Hoppers and
another enemy of some kind is risky.
Newts: Treat them like Armours.
Red/Blue Drakes: Run from these, even if it's just one of them.
-------------
-Garden/Eden-
-------------
Plant 42: Weretiger for a single plant, Flame Breath for groups.
Foulweed: They're pretty easy since they start out asleep. If you encounter a
lone Foulweed, you can just use weretiger and physicals. You can do
the same for two of them, but you'll have to be more cautious since
whichever one you don't attack first will wake up while you're still
fighting the first one. Against a Foulweed and a Plant 42, use Flame
Breath while Rei wails on the Foulweed as the weretiger.
Wraiths: Fighting these guys is no different than in a normal game.
Goo King: Run.
All other Goos: *chuckles*
I'll get to Ryu's Dream and the Security Card-A area later. Two final
notes on the enemies in here: 1) Any battle with 3-4 enemies is automatically
a risky fight unless I said so before, and 2) You WILL need to heal during these
battles, so don't feel compelled to save those Multivitamins if you know you
need one. You should have plenty of them, anyway.
Phew. Now that that's done with, I can tell you the strategy for the
Chimera.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Chimera--
My party: Ryu 31, Rei 27, Momo 27 (Defense Formation)
Rei's Skills: War Shout
Momo's Skills: Focus, Shadowwalk
Even Rei starts out slower than Chimera, which is a pain. For that
reason, the outcome of this fight depends largely on if you can set yourself up
safely in the beginning. Begin by having Rei defend while Ryu sets up Shield x4
and Momo casts Speed x2 on Rei. Once that's done, Rei can begin his duties as a
healer while Ryu casts the remaining Shields, and Momo sets up 3 more Protects
on Rei.
Now that you're buffed up, have Ryu transform using the Force gene and
start wailing on Chimera. Momo should cast Might once on herself and once on
Ryu before starting the usual Focusx2 + Shadowwalk Combo. Rei should be healing
and curing Paralysis constantly, with the healing Priority being Rei > Momo >
Ryu. If he has a spare turn, have him use War Shout. Curing paralysis should
take priority over healing unless someone is actually at risk of dying. If Rei
becomes paralyzed, have Momo stop whatever she's doing to cure him. Luckily,
Chimera never seems to use Paralyzer twice in a row, so as long as you keep your
HP up you should be fine.
Chimera's attacks aren't so bad. With your buffs up, his physical should
max out at 120 on Rei, and less than that on Ryu and Momo. Paralyzer will do
around 40-50, and Inferno and Blizzard will do the same range of damage on the
party. Myollnir will do around 100-110. Restore heals Chimera for 192, but
you'll be doing much more damage than that per turn, so don't worry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With that out of the way, make your way to Eden.
================================================================================
====================================*Eden*======================================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 32, Rei 28, Momo 28 (Defense Formation)
After meeting Teepo and watching all the scenes you'll end up in Ryu's
dream. The only enemies you should be fighting in here are the Vileweeds, since
they spend so much time trying to cast spells that they don't have enough AP
for, and you'll get EX-turns on them. If you encounter a Gonger, or later on,
a Thanatos, run away.
NOTE: Gongers and Thanatoses (Thanoti?) can dish out some serious damage, which
makes even running away very risky. The best way to get away safely from them
is to transform using the Failure gene. Basically, when you're in the Failure
Whelp form, you can try to run. If you revert, transform again and keep trying.
This strategy works well since it's essentially like equipping a Soul Gem on
Ryu, and it only costs 1 AP per turn.
Just head to the end of the dream to fight the Arwan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Arwan--
My party: Ryu 34
Ragnarok500/Paltheos gets credit for this simple, yet effective
strategy. Just transform using the Force gene. All it takes to take Arwan down
is Focus x1 + Aura, followed by another Aura. Since this strategy only takes two
turns, you'll definitely survive Arwan's attacks unless you're really unlucky
with a Sleep + Blizzard/Chill chain. Also, you'll be faster than Arwan as a
Warrior.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And now, it's time to fight Teepo.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Dragon Lord--
My party: Ryu 34, Rei 30, Momo 29 (Defense Formation)
Rei's skills: War Shout
Momo's skills: Focus, Shadowwalk
This is yet another battle in which it's better to have Ryu heal than
use Accession. Begin with Shield x4 and Speed x2 on Rei and Ryu. Afterwards,
have Momo cast Might twice on herself.
From here on out, Rei and Ryu will be healing while Momo does the usual
Focus x2 + Shadowwalk. Rei should cast War Shout if he has a spare turn, and if
Ryu gets a spare turn, just have him attack. However, I recommend saving Ryu's
AP in case someone dies and he has to re-buff him or her. As usual, the priority
for healing is Rei > Momo > Ryu.
Teepo's attacks are strong, but nothing you can't handle. Blizzard and
Inferno do 55-80 damage on the party (with Inferno doing significantly less to
Ryu thanks to Ladon), and Sirocco does 90-110 on the party (60ish on Ryu). After
the buffs, Teepo's physical does 50-60 on Ryu, 70-80 on Momo, and 85-100 on Rei.
Triple Blow does 75-100 on Ryu, 100-125 on Momo, and 150-170 on Rei (ouch).
Howling is definitely the biggest problem in this challenge. While Rei
and Ryu can't do too much damage to the party, Momo's beefed up physical can
really hurt. Also, you don't have control over your healers during this. Mind
you, since Momo will always act last in this fight, Rei or Ryu can always heal
away any damage she does to the party if they get hit.
Anyway, this fight will be long, but as long as you keep everyone's HP
near max at all times, you'll be fine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once you get the Security Card-A, you can finally head for the final
area.
================================================================================
=======================*The Samples and the Final Battle*=======================
================================================================================
My party: Ryu 35, Rei 31, Momo 31 (Defense Formation)
Momo's Skills: Influence, Lavaburst
You should run from any enemies you encounter in the hallway that
connects the lobby to the Samples' area. As far as the Samples go, they're not
too tough overall. Here's how I killed them...
Sample 1: Physicals are enough.
Sample 2: They have a ridiculous dodge rate, for some reason... so I just used
a Flame Behemoth to take them down quickly. If you want to you can
take them down with physicals - just remember to use Lavaburst or
something on them to take away their protective coating. Otherwise
you'll never be able to hurt them.
Sample 3: The Mammoth works best.
Sample 4: Shield x4, Speed x2 on Rei and Ryu, and then just pound away at it
with the weretiger and physicals. You'll need to heal for this one.
Sample 5: Cast Speed once on Ryu and twice on Momo if you want some insurance,
but otherwise you can just use physicals.
Sample 6: In the first turn, have Rei and Momo both cast Speed on Rei while Ryu
transforms with the Force + Thunder genes. Rei and Ryu will both have
EX-turns this way. Just pound on them with Thunder Claw and physicals
and they'll go down.
Sample 7: Again, the Mammoth works best.
Sample 8: Again, physicals are enough.
Sample 9: See above strategy.
Samples 10-12: Mammoth.
With that out of the way, all that's left is Myria. Head back out to
restock if you need to, but otherwise make sure that your characters are all
apprenticed to Ladon. Being under his tutelage gives your characters Fire,
Status, and Death resistance, which comes in handy for this fight. Once you feel
you have enough items, it's time to take on the Final Boss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Myria--
My party: Ryu 36, Rei 33, Momo 33 (Defense Formation)
Ryu's skills: Triple Blow
Rei's skills: War Shout
Momo's skills: Shadowwalk (no, she won't be using Focus)
Begin, as usual, with your buffs. This time, however, you won't want to
spend too much time casting them. One Speed on Rei plus two Speeds on Ryu is all
you'll want to start with. While Rei and Momo are doing this, Ryu should cast
Shield no more than four times.
Before these buffs are set up, everyone will be slower than Myria. Once
the Speeds are set up, Rei and Ryu will both be faster than her. As usual, Rei
will be running utility pretty much non-stop. Early on (or any time after Myria
casts Sanctuary and after you've set up your Speeds again) Rei should cast War
Shout up to two times if he doesn't have to heal. Otherwise, if he doesn't have
to heal, he should focus on restoring the party's AP or status. Ryu will likely
have to help Rei with healing on more than one occasion, but otherwise he should
be using Triple Blow. Momo should be using Shadowwalk. The healing priority for
this fight is Rei > Ryu > Momo.
NOTE: If Ryu is blinded, Triple Blow will miss, so you'll need to cure him
if that happens. However, blindness won't affect Shadowwalk at all.
Overall, Myria's damage is less threatening than Teepo's. Inferno will
do a measly 15-20 damage on the party. Blizzard and Sirocco will do 50-75. After
2-3 Shields, her physical will typically do 100-130 on Rei, less than 100 on
Momo, and less than 90 on Ryu. Myollnir will do 140-170 on Ryu and Momo, and
can do up to 200 on Rei (ouch). Holocaust typically does 100-120 on the party.
While she does have some nasty attacks, her damage output alone isn't
much of a threat so long as you keep your HP up. The real threat in this fight
comes from two of her non-damaging attacks: Venom and Sanctuary. Man, I hate
these attacks...
Unlike in a normal game, we can do nothing to protect against Venom, so
if Myria casts it we just have to hope for the best, essentially. This is why I
said to not cast War Shout more than twice; your characters can really hurt each
other if their PWR is too high. If she uses it, you can still survive as long as
you have one sane character left to heal everyone.
As far as Sanctuary goes, there was never anything that could've been
done to defend against it, but the big problem is that it will make Rei and Ryu
slower than Myria again. If and when she uses Sanctuary, you should immediately
have Rei and Momo work on setting up Speeds again, with more priority on
boosting Rei, since it only takes one Speed to make him faster than Myria.
During this time, it's a good idea to have Ryu use an "anticipatory" Multi-
vitamin on whomever you feel needs it (if everyone is close to full health, use
it on Rei) or if you're really in a jam, use a party-healing item of some kind.
Once Rei is faster than Myria again, Ryu can focus on setting up Shield again.
However, you shouldn't cast it more than twice this time. That's the best way to
recover from Sanctuary that I can think of.
NOTE: I tried using the normal formation against Myria. The only differences I
noted were...
1) My characters took more damage from physicals, and...
2) Rei was faster than Myria at base AGL, and could get an EX-turn on
Myria after casting Speed twice on him.
Since Myria doesn't use her physical too often, this seemed like a good
idea to me. However, the big problem wasn't Myria's physical, it was
Venom. When my characters were confused, they would do even more damage
to each other. Also, I couldn't always count on them being Blinded by
Venom. Since Myria likes to use Venom A LOT, I decided that the DEF boost
was better than the AGL boost. Besides, it's not all that hard to recover
from Sanctuary. Sure, there's an element of risk to it, but I don't think
there's a risk-free way to beat Myria in a NEG.
The key to this fight is consistency. If you rely on Momo too much for
damage, and if you have her use Focusx2 + Shadowwalk, chances are you'll be hit
with Venom and you'll have to start over again. With two War Shouts up, Ryu
will do 195-300 damage with Triple Blow, and Momo will do 300-350 with
Shadowwalk. With that kind of damage output, you'll be able to out-damage
Restore, and as long as you keep up a steady assault, you'll be able to take her
down. If you're worried about a long fight, or about AP consumption, just use
those powerful items that you've been saving (hopefully). It's no holds barred,
guys! Moon Tears, Wisdom Fruits, it's all good against the Final Boss!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With that, you've completed the No Equipment Game. Congrats! Enjoy
BoF3's terrible ending, and give yourself a pat on the back!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------VII. The Archmage and Berserker------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's right, you can kill them in a NEG. You don't even need to level
up that much! However, there are 3 things that are extremely important for
beating either of them:
1) A high AGL character (~65 for the Berserker, 81+ for the Archmage)
2) The Chain Formation
3) Resist
If you've got all those, you're pretty much set. I'm assuming that you already
have War Shout and Shadowwalk, since they're such awesome skills. It doesn't
really matter who you use to learn the Chain Formation from Bais, but I do
recommend using Nina for the high AGL character, for the following reasons:
1) The high AGL character won't be attacking anyway, nor will he/she be
taking any damage. Therefore, Nina is a better choice than Rei
because she has more AP.
2) She'll be easier to level up than Rei will be, since she'll be at a
lower level than him.
Of course, I can't force you to do anything, but those are just my
suggestions. Anyway, here are the strategies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--The Berserker--
My party: Ryu 36, Momo 33, Nina 28(P) (Chain Formation)
Nina's Skills: Resist
I had Nina lead the Chain Form with 65 AGL, which allowed everyone to
act before the Berserker did. I also gave her Resist, which worked very well
since it made her invincible, and the point member of the Chain Formation gets
targeted 50% of the time. I had Ryu in position #2 because he would be in
dragon form for the entire fight, and if he got attacked he would simply
revert, not die. Since the rear member only gets attacked 20% of the time, and
Momo was the most vulnerable character in this fight, it was the perfect spot
for her.
Anyway, the first thing I had Momo do was cast Speed on Nina twice,
giving her an EX-turn. During every Normal turn Nina would cast Resist, and
during every EX-turn she would run utility (heal, restore AP, revive, etc.). In
the meantime, Ryu transformed with the Flame + Force genes and started wailing
on the Berserker. After Momo finished speeding Nina up, I had her cast Speed
once on Ryu to give him an EX-turn, and then work on setting up 4 mights on
him. If Ryu was forced to revert, Momo would simply re-buff him. If she had
nothing else to do, she would also run utility, or else she would just defend.
Obviously, Nina took 0 damage from everything thanks to Resist. Fire
Whip did 0 damage to Ryu, and ~100 damage to Momo, which was easily remedied
with a Vitamin. The Berserker's physical would, of course, kill Momo, and cause
Ryu to revert. However, Nina could revive Momo during her EX-turn, and Momo
could use a Multivitamin on herself before the Berserker got in another attack.
Ryu could simply use Accession again. In his Warrior form, Ryu's physical would
do ~100 damage with no Mights, and 300-400 damage with 4 Mights. It was only a
matter of time before the Berserker fell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On a side note, I killed the Berserker first, and I had Nina use
Monopolize to steal all the EXP. She gained 5 levels and 16 AGL, which set her
up perfectly for the Archmage fight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--The Archmage--
My party: Ryu 36, Momo 33, Nina 33(P) (Chain Formation)
Nina's Skills: Resist, War Shout
Momo's Skills: Shadowwalk, Focus
This strategy is very similar to the Berserker strategy. Nina will still
be leading the Chain Formation with enough AGL to allow the party to act before
the Archmage (my Nina had 81 AGL), and she'll still be using Resist on every
normal turn to render herself invincible. Momo will still use Speed twice on
Nina to give her an EX-turn, and do the same for Ryu when he's in his dragon
form. Ryu will still be in position #2, and Momo in #3.
The differences are as follows: Ryu will transform using the Thunder +
Force genes to defend against Myollnir. Momo will also cast Speed twice on
herself. Nina will use her EX-turns, whenever possible, to cast War Shout up to
four times. After Ryu and Momo are all buffed up, have Ryu use Focus x2 + Aura,
and have Momo use Focus x2 + Shadowwalk. Here's a tip: Have Ryu and Momo start
using Focus while Nina is still working on setting up 4 War Shouts on them. The
faster you finish this fight, the less room there is for something to go wrong.
Any of the Archmage's attacks will kill Momo, but she'll only be
targeted 20% of the time, so you don't need to worry too much, not to mention
that you can still kill the Archmage without her... she just helps, is all. Ryu
can only be forced to revert via Mind Sword, so if that happens you should have
him transform again, set up one Speed and two Mights on him with Momo, then have
Nina use War Shout twice while he and Momo start using Focus. All in all this
fight is just as easy as the Berserker fight; the only major difference is the
mechanics.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------VIII. CONCLUSION--------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This challenge is a rather good indicator of what is most important to
a powerful BoF3 party. For one thing, I learned that, to a degree, equipment
= overkill in BoF3. I know, I can't say that it's complete overkill since my
master setups were rather different from what I (or most other people, IMO)
would use in a normal game, and there were many random encounters that were too
risky to fight without treating them like boss fights (which I would therefore
run from). But even still, by utilizing the proper skills and strategizing well,
I was able to overcome the majority of the fights that I came across, and even
finish the game with a party whose average level that was lower than what most
people finish with in a normal game. It really goes to show how proper
preparation (yay for alliteration!) can take you so much farther than your
standard "beginner" tactics (overlevelling, hoarding the uber-healing items,
etc.).
Another thing that jumps out at me is the importance of AGL. Early on
this isn't so apparent since the game is pretty easy anyway. Later on, however,
AGL becomes imperative to survival against the tougher enemies and bosses.
Simply by having a dedicated healer who's faster than whichever boss you're
fighting, you can stand up to tons of punishment long enough to finish it off.
Not to mention that the Archmage and Berserker were easy to defeat even in a
NEG, as long as you were faster than them.
Which brings me to another point that I've already mentioned earlier in
the Rules section. BoF3's healing items are WAY too powerful. To make a short
story long... early in the game Ryu's Heal spell will heal for 25ish HP, when a
single Healing Herb (which only costs 10 zenny) heals for 40HP. Then, shortly
after that, you can get Vitamins, which heal for 100HP (as good as a
Multivitamin at that point) and only cost you 50 zenny (35 if you buy them from
Genmel with the Flier), while Rejuvenate heals for 55ish HP. This clearly isn't
balanced. In fact, the only healing spell that ever comes in handy is Vitalize,
since it heals your entire party. However, once you get the Deluxe Rod, you can
fish for Black Bass, Spearfish, etc. very easily, and this spell becomes
obsolete. So... yeah, the easy availability and overpowered-ness of this game's
healing items make things very easy, regardless of whether you're doing a
challenge or not.
Yet another thing I've learned is how useful status-protecting equipment
is in this game. If could've equipped Light Bangles for Myria, or Balance Rings
for the Dragon Lord, I can only imagine how much easier they would have been. In
fact, any boss that could inflict Paralysis or Confusion on my characters would
have been much easier if I could defend against those attacks. Oh well.
A final thing that this challenge shows us, although you don't need to
play this challenge to know it, is who rocks and who sucks out of all the
characters. As she always has, Nina sucks because you simply can't keep her
alive. Garr's lack of the ability to do much other than attack makes him less
useful. Peco is in a similar boat, although his attributes make him much more
useful than Garr (higher HP and DEF, more AP to use skills with, a ridiculously
high reprisal rate). Another thing that makes Peco better than Garr (at least
for a NEG) is that he has better stat growths than Garr, and since his equips
were never very good to begin with, he suffers less from the restrictions of
this challenge. Momo's uber-powerful attack and her stat boosters make her
extremely useful to any party. Rei's crazy AGL and his many nifty skills also
make him extremely valuable. Ryu... I shouldn't even have to explain.
Well, that's all for now, folks. I hope you enjoyed this challenge.
Stay tuned for any updates on the guide!
~Best of the Worst
