Final Fantasy 3/6j Natural Magic Game FAQ Meeple Lard Date: 4/05/05 Version:0.3 Table of contents: FAQ History Legal Stuff 1. Overview of the Game Itself 2. Introduction to the FAQ and the Challenge 3. Rules of the Challenge 4. General Tips for the NMG 5. Characters and all that stuff 6. Mini Walkthrough 7. More tips 8. Frequently Asked Questions 9. Credits Version 0.2: -Added the list of spells and levels Terra and Celes learn everything -Grammar fix up in some areas -Continued Walkthrough -Added a few points here and there to older parts of the FAQ Version 0.1: -Guide's First Creation, not much to say. Legal Stuff: This FAQ is a copyright of Meeple Lard. It can be found on GameFAQs and only GameFAQs. If it's found anywhere else, then note that I did not give permission for them to use it. People who wish to use information from this FAQ for their own must first have my permission, and give credit where Credit is due. If you wish to contact me for such occasions, my E- mail is DbzFFlord@aol.com. My less used one, in case you're curious, is MeepleLard@hotmail.com. If you wish to speak to me directly, my MSN is MeepleLard@Hotmail.com and my AIM is DbzFFLord@aol.com. That's about it for this boring legal stuff. ------------------------------ 1. Overview of the Game Itself ------------------------------ NOTE: For those thinking this looks familiar, its cause this is straight out of my SCC FAQ. I didn't feel like typing this again, and it works just as well here, so why bother wasting time typing it again? Ok, some of you are wondering "WTF? We all know what this game is; don't bother with an overview of the game itself!" True, this game doesn't need much, but oh well, YOU CAN'T STOP ME! Anyway, I've also done this in my other 3 FAQs, all 3 of which were for games not released in the US, so this is really just I being consistent with my other guides. Anyway, this game has 2 known names. It's the 6th installment in the Final Fantasy Series, one of the most famous Series of RPGs, and one of the most successful of all time as well. In the US, it was the 3rd Final Fantasy game of the main series (Final Fantasy Legends was really Saga, Final Fantasy Adventure was really the first Seiken Densetsu Game (aka the Mana Series), and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest was just a spin off using the same name) to be released here, and thus, it was called "Final Fantasy 3." Well, most people nowadays call it FF6, since nearly everyone knows that it's really the 6th one, and to avoid confusion from FF3j, the REAL FF3. Anyway, this game was released for the SNES originally (or SFC if you're thinking Japanese), and later, re-released on the PSX (or PS1 if you rather) in "Final Fantasy Anthologies" along with FF5 (The first time the game LEGALLY came to the US, not including all those imports). For those who don't know (and if you're planning on doing the challenge, that means you've probably beaten the game already), FF6's background is 1000 years before the events in the game; a great war called the "War of the Magi" occurred, which was a war between Humans and Espers, Magical Semi Divine beings, so to speak. In the end of the war, Civilization was lost and destroyed, the World somewhat destroyed, and Man Kind forced to Start over, along with the Espers creating their own world and living away from the war stricken humans. 1000 years later, Man Kind and the World have made a full recovery, and peace once again exists. However, a certain person named Gestahl discovers the secret behind Magic, a powerful force which has not existed for 1000 years, and decides to use it to take over the world. Thus, another great war is about to ensue. At one point, Narshe, a neutral coal mine city, discovers an Esper frozen in their mines, and that gets the whole world's attention. The Empire, which Gestahl's force is referred to as, sends out an attack force using of 3 warriors in Magitek Armor, a giant mechanical suit of armor infused with magical energy. 2 of these were just normal soldiers, one of them however was a mysterious young woman, whom we later learn is named Terra, who apparently has extraordinary Magical Powers granted to her at birth, and has already wiped out 50 of the best Magitek Knights (warriors of the Empire infused with Magic) in under 3 minutes. Long story short, Vicks/Biggs (Depends version) and Wedge, the 2 soldiers, die, and Terra gets knocked unconscious. She wakes up with Amnesia, not knowing anything what happened in an old man's house, and learns that she was being controlled DIRECTLY through the use of the Slave Crown. Basically, that's the games intro; you should either know the rest of it, or if you don't you'll find out through playing the game. I don't want to get into those boring "A game of magic, mystery, betrayal, friendship, etc." kind of BS, so I'll just get to the point of this FAQ. -------------------------------------------- 2. Introduction to the FAQ and the Challenge -------------------------------------------- Alright, some of you might be wondering what a Natural Magic Game (called NMG from here on in) is. Well, it's probably the most basic (and easiest) of all challenges that is in FF6. Before reading on, I suggest you at least play the game once through, and unlike other challenges, however, this one can easily be done on your second (heck, some people do it on their first not realizing what Espers do, actually), given its got the smallest amount of restrictions. While doable on your first play through, you should at least play the game once through (I know I said this already) so you are familiar with the game itself, characters, basics, etc. Its just common sense playing a game once through before doing a challenge. Anyway, you still curious? Well, read on! The NMG is basically the concept of "How good would certain characters be if there wasn't the Esper System?" or "How many characters are reliant on the Magic Command to be good" and all that stuff. The NMG kind of shows how the game would be if you didn't have any Espers, and the only Magic around was from Terra, Celes, Relm's Sketches/Controls, Gau's Rages, and Gogo using any of the above. Where did I come up with the idea? Well, most people think of it themselves, so I really can't take credit for the idea, and such. Its probably the oldest and most practiced challenge (with the exception of the LLG), and again, probably the easiest as well. Before I go on, I would just like to point out the names used are assuming your playing the SNES version, "Final Fantasy 3 US" So if your playing it on the PSX via FFA, or your playing the Japanese version (w/ or w/out some fan translation), there might be a few name discrepancies. Example? When I say Trump, I mean Setzers weapon which is buyable in Kohlingen that "randomly dispatches enemies", and Doom Darts refers to the weapon found in the Cave to the Ancient Castle, which randomly casts doom, not the other way around, which from what I understand, is the case in FFA (Doom Darts are store bought, Trump is a chest item. The weapons are the exactly the same as before, just the names got swapped) So don't e-mail me something like "what the hell is this 'Memento Ring'" or "Dude! You can't have the Trump before Daryl's Tomb!", cause the obvious reason behind this is that your probably playing the PSX version, this assumes your playing the original. Keep in mind, besides the few name changes, the rest of games are pretty much identical, so you can still use this FAQ for the PSX version, as long as you know which refers to what, and you ignore any strategy involving Gau using the Merit Award (can't be equipped on him the PSX version, so I'm told, which means no Wind God Gau. Note that chances are, I'm not going to recommend any Merit Award set ups outside the Colosseum, so chances are, this is a moot point anyway) ------------------------- 3. Rules of the Challenge ------------------------- As the name of this section implies, this is for *Gasp* the Rules! That's right, what you can do, what you can't do, what you should consider, and things that you shouldn't even care about and I'm only listing them for humor value...or not *rolls eyes* For starters, the first question is "Why this is called a natural Magic game and not a No Esper game?" Well, that question will be answered later, in the Frequently Asked Sections part. This part is about the rules, darn it! Stay Focused! 1. First and for most, the most obvious rule, more so than the challenge itself. Cheating is not allowed! So don't use Game Genie/Shark, hacking, trainers, etc. This is just "Duh" but I'm saying it anyway. Come on, completing the game with 37 Ragnarok's hacked onto your entire team since the Opera house is just not fair. However, there is a form of hacking I'll allow, which is sealing off the "Esper" Command in the skills Menu, so you are not tempted to use it. I can see some people doing that, and in fact, I approve of it (I would do it, but yours truly sucks at hacking) But beyond ideas to help preserve the nature of the challenge, especially ideas used to downright make your life easier, are just obviously "NO!" Oh, and I consider Relm's sketch glitch cheating too. Well, the one that gives you loads of Illuminas, Ragnaroks, etc; the one that destroys your game is allowed, granted, I'm not sure why you'd want to use that. Also, try to avoid other exploitable Bugs. So while you don't have Doom in this game, you do have Gau's Rhodox Rage, so no Vanish + Snare combos, your not getting out those hard boss fights that easy (unless of course the enemy is stupid enough to cast Vanish on themselves, in which case, they are begging you to kill them *waves Hi to Intangr*) NOTE: Vanish + Spell is not necessarily forbidden, only in cases where its clearly abusing some shoddy programming/bug. In the case of, say, Vanish + Break, your just casting Vanish and wanting Break to have 100% hit rate, and if the enemy is immune to Stone, Break might hit, but the enemy won't be killed. Mind, I don't suggest you do this, heck, just to be safe, I'd say not try it, but just warning before hand. 2. Anyways, with the obvious "Do Not Cheat" rule out, here's the 2nd most obvious rule. You may not teach any character any spell unless they learn it naturally, hence the name of the challenge. What's a naturally learned spell? One learned through the course of leveling up, which means no Espers or spell teaching equipment. Who can learn Magic that means? Well, obviously, only Terra and Celes, since they are the only ones who learns spells this way. However, Gogo is allowed to use Magic if he is paired with one of those babes since that's his own special feature. Likewise, Gau can use magic through Rages (like Templar casts Fire2), or characters can use Magic if it's a random cast from a weapon (like Relm smacking an enemy with a Thunder Rod has a 25% Chance of casting Bolt2) Oh, and Relm casting magic by using Control or Sketch is allowed too, same reason as Gau, basically (and Gogo can mimic them, or use the skills themselves if he wants to, obviously) So yeah, the only characters who should have the "Magic" command in their battle menus are Terra, Celes, and if you wish, Gogo too. Obviously, the NMG doesn't start til right after Zozo, since that's when you get your first espers, and before that, you don't have much of a choice but to play an NMG. So don't expect to see any mentions before that. 3. Rod and Shield Breaking. Ah this is the fun part. What about this loop hole of using certain magic spells1? Well, the answer is, if the Rod is found in a chest, then I'll allow that. Otherwise, no. No store bought Rods so you can have everyone use Fire2, and such (let alone a Fire2 spell that ignores Defense and Random variance -_-) What about Rods found from random drops? I'll let you decide on that one. As far as Shields go, I'd say try and not using them. You shouldn't need them, only use them as a complete last resort (Same with Rod Breaking) 4. Try to avoid over leveling. By that, I mean no extra leveling just for the sake of getting strong characters. Lots of people pin end game levels at 40, some go as high as 50, others as low as 30. Now, you don't need to be any numerical level, but use judgment. Level 60 might be a bit high, for example, but still conceivable. Meanwhile, level 80 is obviously way too high, since you clearly when to the dino forest or something and spent a few hours there building up. Mind, there's no law about beating the game at lower levels, since it's just making your life harder. Feel free to beat the game at level 19 if you wish, I won't stop you, just suggest against it since it won't be a ride in the park...or something. 5. There are some equipment that are restricted. Basically, anything that teaches a spell. What items are banned? The following and reasons why: Flame Shield (Teaches Fire2) Ice Shield (Teaches Ice2) Thunder Shield (Gee, can't think of it, Bolt2 just doesn't fit here >_>) Paladin Shield (Teaches Ultima, sorry, no cheesey Blue Sphere of Doom that does 9999 for you) Tortoise Shield (Teaches Imp (though, I doubt anybody cares for this loss)) Imp Armor (See Tortoise shield) Titanium (See Imp Armor) Cursed Ring (Teaches X-zone, granted, you'd have to be insane to want to use this, let alone get it) Force Shield (Damn, as good as this Shield is...it teaches Shell, stupid shield teaching an illegal spell making it not legal itself *Shakes fist*) Now, some people think that its OK to give characters that already know said spells those shields, since it doesn't affect them, others think its unfair treatment. Use your own ruling here. If you do, however, then here's who can use what: Terra: Flame Shield (after learning Fire2), Paladin Shield (after Learning Ultima, which she shouldn't, given its learned at level 99 -_-) Celes: Ice Shield (after learning Ice2), Tortoise Shield (after learning Imp), Imp Armor (Ditto), Titantium (yup) Gogo: everything, go him for not learning spells the traditional way! Everyone else: Nothing, sucks for them (Ultimately, this means if you want an Imp Character, that character must be Celes or Gogo!) NOTE: I realize I called Gogo a He when that's not necessarily true. For sanity purposes, and simplicity, Gogo will be used in conjunction with Male pronouns, so no E-mailing me complaining about that! Mind, its not as big a deal as one might think, only Gogo really benefits (Paladin Shield...), since Terra and Celes are just getting redundant elemental resistances, thanks to their Minervas. 6. Merit Award. I wouldn't bring this up, but some people have asked about it on the Boards. Really, unlike the SCC (Where its meant to show characters special traits), there is no reason not to disallow the Merit Award (unless you consider NMG to stand for "No Merit-Award Challenge" as well) So...again, this I'll let you decide. Personally, I didn't use it, mind, I hate the darn thing for several reasons (outside of Wind God Gau), but again, that's just me. It doesn't mean I disallow the thing, it just means I didn't use it. So I'll let you make the call on this. 7. The game is to be beaten in total "completion" No, I don't mean go and get all 250 or so of Gau's Rages, that'd be mean. I mean do all side quests, get all Espers (not including Ragnarok if you want the sword (and given the nature of the challenge, YOU WILL!)) as if you were forced to, etc. How do you do the Fanatic's tower? I'll get to that later, worry not! 8. Lores are ALLOWED! Honestly, people who classify Lores as "Magic" really should just think of it as an alternative skill set to Magic, given that's exactly what it is. Why nerf Strago just cause his abilities are similar to magic? And if anything else, just considering Blue Mage learning style "natural" if nothing else. Honestly, Strago gets Lores, and so does Gogo. There is no restriction to Lores whatsoever, be it learning them naturally, from the help of Gau, Relm, or Gogo using Rage, Sketch or Control, whatever, just as long as its not cheating, obviously. 9. What the? Have fun? DIE! *Stabs* That is not a Rule, EVER, in my case! You are NEVER pressured to have Fun! You can do the challenge, be bored out of your mind, and still have done it with completion. Damn it, stop assuming that's a rule all of a sudden >_< Abiding by these rules aren't an option (even if I say "take them as you will"), it is an order. Failure to comply will result in being kicked...oh, bah, now I'm just acting like my friends who do this stuff (don't ask), just follow the rules, and when you finish, you'll have completed the NMG legitly. Have...wait, I just said you didn't have to >_> --------------------------- 4. General Tips for the NMG --------------------------- These are general tips for the NMG, meaning they are good throughout the whole challenge. If you don't see a specific tip in the Walkthrough, and die, then try a strategy, and start yelling at me cause I didn't list it, chances are, I did list it, here, since it was a general strategy that worked. So do not IM me about leaving something out of the walkthrough unless you check here first! -Back Row is your friend. Nearly every character in the game has a means of using the back Row. Terra and Celes have magic, Edgar's tools ignore back row, Locke has Plethora of "Long Range" Weapons, Strago has Lores, Sabin has Blitzes, Cyan has Sword Techs, etc. Only characters to consider front row are Gau (using a physical Rage), Relm (No form of long range offense besides the Morning Star which tends to suck late game), and...Locke without a Long Range weapon maybe. Mind, even Locke and Relm can compensate by just shoving on a dragoon boots, and their damage is now "Long Ranged", hurray! -Choose characters wisely. Remember, since Magic is no longer an aspect, nor is Esper stat boosting, characters are not going to be as strong as they were in a normal game. So yeah, don't expect Sabin's Low Magic Power to be compensated for late game with esper boosting, since he can't get boosted by said Espers (do not interpret this as "Sabin SUCKS!" though, merely an example) Use characters which would appear useful thanks to their equipment, special abilities, etc., not just cause you like them (unless you are confident to get through the area), or cause they kick ass in a normal game thanks to Magic (yes, Relm, I'm looking at you) -Just cause you aren't using Magic does not magic "Earrings" useless. There are plenty of Magical attacks besides that of which Terra and Celes (and Gogo) can use. Here's a list of a bunch of characters that have moves magical (I'm only listing damage ones, since that's all that matters for this purpose, nixing gravity attacks like Slash): Edgar's Bio Blaster and Flash All of Sabin's Blitzes not named Pummel or Suplex Cyan's Retort, Stunner, and Empower Shadow's Skean class throws All of Strago's Lores A Bunch of oddball attacks in Gau's rages like Giga Volt Any of Mog's dances Might be missing a few here and there, but see? All those attacks are classified as "Magic" -Raise characters equally. You'll be thankful when you go through Kefka's Tower with 3 parties of level 40 Characters instead of one team of level 60 Characters, and 2 other parties of level 25 characters, trust me on this -X-potions are as good as Elixirs...unless its Terra, Celes, Gogo or Strago that's in question anyway. -Tinctures are nearly worthless, with the exception of Terra, Celes, Gogo and Strago, you have no use for them, so don't spend as much money on them as you would. It's also suggested you use Figaro to buy them, since Edgar can get a discount there, and Tinctures cost more than they should. -Don't bother with Tents. Using Potions and Fenix downs to heal your characters will be just as effective, considering you have no MP to heal with the exceptions of those 4 I keep on listing. In that case, just use a Sleeping Bag, you have only one character using MP, why waste something that expensive on the others? Heck, best bet is have Terra/Celes cast their healing spells out of battle, then use a Sleeping Bag to heal them to full. -MP Critical Hit weapons don't work, unless used by Terra or Celes (mind, Punisher sucks to much anyway, so I'm not going to bother checking it works on Strago or Gogo) So don't waste that precious Rune Edge on Edgar, likewise, if you plan on using Illumina or Ragnarok as weapons for attacking (instead of Defensive equips), believe it or not, Terra and Celes will do better with that than Edgar and Locke, despite the lower physical Stats. Why is this? The game acts as though said characters have no MP, even though they have the listed stat, unless they have the Magic Command (not sure if Lores count or not, it doesn't matter in this case, Punisher sucks too much), so hence, no Critical Hit beyond the normally low chance. However, Terra and Celes always have Magic, so they can abuse this privilege with their hearts delight, while Locke and Edgar are annoyed that they can't. Mind, this isn't another restriction, it's a fact, hence why its listed here, that while you are allowed to do it, don't expect the same damage results with Edgar and Locke as you would in a normal game with above mentioned weapons. -Evade is still useless. Yep, M. Block is your friend still as well in that it should be called "All Block". Blind serves no purpose beyond stopping Strago from learning Lores, etc. This FAQ is under the assumption you are not using an Evade Bug Fix patch, of course. So yeah, as pretty as that nice 99% Evade Shadow can get in the WoB, its totally useless in reality, makes you want to shoot that bug, doesn't it? -When Danger reared its ugly head, the FF6 team turned its tail and fled (to the tune of "Brave Sir Robin" from Monty Pyhton and the Holy Grail.) In other words, if you feel you are going to die in a random fight, say because you were ambushed and hit with strong attacks right off the bat, do not feel obliged against running. You do not have to win every fight out there, if you are going to lose, better to run. He who lives and runs away is he who can continue the NMG by healing after the battle, and play the quest forth...or something like that. That's all I can think of for now. I'll add more on later. Anyways onto Character Evaluations! -------------------------------- 5. Characters and all that stuff -------------------------------- Alright, this is how characters are going to look under an NMG setting. Basically, it'll give you an idea of whose good to use, who sucks, whose good for situational use, and who just looks pretty *Runs* Anyway, characters being listed in order of appearance, meaning the order you either get to name them, or have control of them (which is why Mog is listed 3rd >_>), like I always do. Why? Cause I feel like it, and not you, or anybody else is going to stop me, damn it! Stop patronizing me ;_; ...wait that doesn't make sense...yeah... *Runs* ~~~~~ Terra ~~~~~ Pros: High Magic Power and MAGIC to use it with! Learns Cure2 naturally Morph kills bosses Great Equipment Selection Able to resist every element in some fashion, including nulling the big 3. Cons: A bit reliant on MP at times Morph is wasted on Randoms Overview: Terra is arguably the MVP of the NMG. With great variety of Magic to draw upon, and high offense, along with Great Equips, and Morph to boot. Probably a staple in your team, shame she doesn't learn Ultima earlier, but oh well. The Minerva is just insult to injury as well, kind of. And with Drain, she can conceivably solo many bosses herself, and in the WoR, the Soul Saber more or less stops any complaints about using MP cause of lack of Osmose (to say nothing of it you actually get an Econimizer). Oh, and when you get the Gem Box, the fun REALLY begins with her ^^ ~~~~~ Locke ~~~~~ Pros: Great weapon selection Good late game armor Able to steal some valuable items at times Games best speed (for what its worth) Cons: Completely lacking in the damage department til near the end of the WoB Has no form of magical damage whatsoever Overview: Locke might be a decent character in a normal game, but in an NMG, besides getting things like Econimizers for Terra, Celes and Strago, or some early Gaia Gears or something, he doesn't exactly bring much until he gets his Valiant Knife. And once then, he needs an offering to really do much good. Mind, if you usually give Locke the Offering, than that's good, but to be honest, Locke really tends to Lag in an NMG, the total lack of any decent damage hurts him greatly until the Offering is available, as well as getting him as late as you do in the WoR, and the fact that there is no real incentive besides getting the Dragon Horn to doing the Phoenix Cave in an NMG either ~~~ Mog ~~~ Pros: Best Defenses in general Snow Muffler makes him more or less immune to physicals Excellent at Physical damage with Right set up Dances destroy the WoB Absorbs Ice thanks to his Snow Muffle Cons: Dances can back fire at times, which sucks His defense sucks in the WoR w/out a Snow Muffler Lags in the WoR til he gets the Dragon Horn Overview: When you first get Mog, grab as many dances as possible. They will destroy the next few sections of the game as if it was nothing. In the WoR, it's a good idea to shift gears with Mog and turn him into a Fighter. A Dragoon Set up is the way to go with him, thanks to Spears. However, there will be times when you want to kick Mog for using the wrong dance at times, so make sure you have other reliable characters if you plan on using him. Don't rely too much on Mog's dances for healing (unless its Wing Song, but even then...) Can be a valuable asset with the proper set up, the Snow Muffler makes him especially so. ~~~~~ Edgar ~~~~~ Pros: Tools make him an offensive power house in the WoB Great overall equipment selection Has the option of Red Jacket if Fire Immunity is needed Good damage under right set up Cons: Total lack of healing Tools tend to get progressively worse after you get Chain Saw, relatively speaking WoB Armor seems pretty subpar besides the Shields. A bit Sluggish (for what its worth) Overview: Edgar kicks ass, as usual. He won't change much in the WoB, since your just spamming his tool usage. In the WoR, however, Edgar will most defiantly probably be used as a Dragoon, since he can't opt for a 128% M. Block Set up w/out Illumina/Ragnarok, and his Tools' damage starts lagging by then too. He is clearly, one of your more useful characters, but then again, when is Edgar ever a bad character? ~~~~~ Sabin ~~~~~ Pros: High Damage, both ST and MT Strong Weapon early on Fire Immunity through Red Jacket Can be gotten early in the WoR Cons: No Control of his ST damage Tends to be easily outclassed by at least one other character at everything Bad Selection of Armor Low M. Block scores Overview: Sabin as usual, enters with a bang, having Aura Bolt and such. Granted, he never quite seems to be the best as what he does, since Gau beats him in ST Damage early on (albeit, he can't be controlled), and soon Edgar gets Chain Saw. He has great MT damage early on, but unfortunately, Setzer matches that, and beats him in ST damage too. Sabin is good if you need to offensive Punch, and his damage being magic makes it decent, but don't expect a good tank at all. Not necessarily a bad choice, but often, there's usually someone who can do his job better, or almost as good, and brings more to the team. ~~~~~~ Shadow ~~~~~~ Pros: High Damage, both ST and MT Interceptor gives him 50% innate physical evasion ST Damage can be targeted Can hit every elemental weakness in the game with proper weapons Cons: Little use of him early on Needs lots of time and Money to make worth using No elemental resistance of any kind outside Gaia Gear (which most can use) Middling Equipment options at best Overview: Shadow early on will not be much help, from lack of his existence. In the WoR, he'll be a great asset though, with his high damage, which can be targeted manually (unlike Blitz or Swordtech), being able to hit all elements making him as strong a boss fighter as Terra, and for what its worth, he's got good speed to. His flaws are he doesn't take hits well unless you give him the Genji Armor, and something like Genji Shield or Aegis Shield (actually, those are the only legal things he can use that are better than the Mithril Shield) A good choice in most areas, in the WoR at least, and you won't feel it a handicapped that he's your forced 4th character on the FC either. ~~~~ Cyan ~~~~ Pros: Dispatch does decent damage early on Good damage if you don't mind the charge times Some good armor options late game Cons: Out classed by too many characters Horrible choice of weapons outside of the Tempest Bad "To Go" damage Fairly Slow (for those who care about speed) Overview: Cyan really isn't going to be all that helpful. The Tempest is nice, but before that, he really doesn't have anything going for him, being that, for starters, whatever he can do, Edgar can do better, and he has no control over his Sword techs target. If you plan on using him, make sure he always has a Tempest on (or maybe Scimitar, if you like Instant Death), since he otherwise lacks good MT damage that can be used first hand. ~~~ Gau ~~~ Pros: Maxed Defense from Snow muffler Amazing Variety Elemental Resistances obtained through variety of Rages Great Base stats Cons: Absolutely no way to control him unless you force him to use "Item" Choosing the wrong Rage can make him end up sucking Equipment options aren't too great before the Snow Muffler Lack of weapon means no extra stat boosts (not a big flaw, mind, but still one) Overview: Gau will become exceedingly useful. The ability to cast level 2s early on is as useful as it always is, and he's just about the only way to do good lightning damage consistently outside of Shadow (and Gogo). That is to say nothing of all those elemental and status immunities. Keep in mind that using Gau can be a pain at times, if you don't know what Rages are good for what situation, or he keeps using his fight command when you need him to cast Cure3. So, Gau isn't someone to be totally reliant on in the same way Mog is, but he's defiantly a good addition, just again make sure your other 3 characters won't to reliant on his use. However, never let that hold you back from using him, he's clearly a valuable asset at any time, just make sure you keep his Rage list up to par. ~~~~~ Celes ~~~~~ Pros: Access to Magic skill set All the same equipment options as Terra Cons: Her draw of Magic is a bit disappointing A reliant on MP No real advantages over Terra, especially if no enemies weak to Ice Overview: When you first think of Celes, you think Magic, and that this is a natural Magic game, and that she is going to be really helpful, right? Well, not as much as you'd expect. She misses a few key aspects that made Terra really great, such as missing Cure2, or Morph. Celes isn't a bad character per say, its just she's obsolete in this case especially, since in general, what she can do, Terra can do and better. However, having a 2nd person with lots of Elemental Resistances at all times is nice, and Cure is good for out of battle healing early on too. Not a bad character, necessarily, but she isn't as good as you'd expect at first. ~~~~~~ Setzer ~~~~~~ Pros: Slots are strong early on (if you know their timing) Fixed Dice do good damage, especially with offering, and work in the back row at full power Good draw of armors Cons: Slots suck if you can't time them right Lags a bit in the WoR before Fixed Dice Giving him Offering hurts Locke (and Vice Versa) Overview: Setzer is a decent choice, but only if you can use his slots consistently. Now, when I say that, I mean actually only 7 Flush and Chocobop, not H-bomb or higher (which can be rigged against you, though, you can unrig them by using an Echo Screen, believe it or not) oddly, those 2 attacks are stronger than you might expect. In the WoR, Setzer's slots stall to get pretty disappointing on damage, so if you plan on using him, I suggest going to Kefka's tower, grabbing his Fixed Dice, and then leaving, since it's the only ~~~~~~ Strago ~~~~~~ Pros: Lores are great supplements for Magic Some nice magic boosting equips Cons: Outside of Magus Rod, he has poor choice of weapons Absolutly horrid stats A bit too MP reliant like the girls Overview: Strago is a nice utility have to around. Pearl Wind makes him an excellent healer, and it can be gotten early on. His spells do some good damage too, especially Grand Train. His low Magic Power (for a Mage) though makes them do less damage than you'd want, and getting him late is annoying, in both the WoB and WoR. Still, if you plan on not using Terra, I recommend using Strago, he's a great choice in general. There is also a bit of the flaw that he's a bit MP reliant, and unlike Celes or Terra, he can't equip the Soul Saber. Nonetheless, Strago is without a doubt one of the most useful characters in an NMG, only Terra and Gau will see more use, most likely. ~~~~ Relm ~~~~ Pros: Her Weapons randomly cast spells doing great Damage Cat Hood gets 2x GP Cons: 3/4s of the time, her attack is complete crap Sketch and Control are too situational to be truly useful Overview: Relm's selling point in a normal game was her game best Magic Power, making her the strongest damage dealer with the Magic Skillset. Well, now you can see Relm suck to highest ends, w/out a magic skillset. Her game best magic power goes to waste, her special can't save her, and her weapons are just sad, only decency is 25% of the time, they can do high damage when they randomly cast their spell. Obviously, Relm has very limited use, even if that much. A waste of the game's best magic power, no questions asked. Shame too, since used properly, in a normal game, she's not a bad character by any means. ~~~~~ Umaro ~~~~~ Pros: Is totally unaffected in an NMG Setting Can be immune/absorb the big 3 Elements all at once Cons: Still has limited use outside the Fanatics tower -_- Can't be controlled at all Overview: Umaro will end up being useful in only one place, that being the fanatics tower. Beyond that...he's more or less the same as before, having unspecial (is that a word?) damage, no control, what have you. He's not as bad in comparison as he was before, but he's still someone who is likely to just gather dust on the Airship. ~~~~ Gogo ~~~~ Pros: Can use Magic w/ Terra or Celes as Allies Can use Lores, Blitzes (better than Sabin at that!), Rages, what have you *Can use any equipment w/out any restrictions from a normal game *This depends on interpretations of your own rules. I myself never actually cared enough about this (meaning Gogo doesn't end up with Illegal equips anyway), but your own ruling might differ. Cons: Still can't use anything close to a decent piece of Armor Still has trash stats, even if the others can't boost them Overview: Gogo is like Strago, but overall better, besides the lack of some of his nice equips (like Behemoth Suit) Probably, you'll start using Gogo more than Strago in the WoR, since Gogo can do most of what you were using Strago for, and more, such as higher damage with Bum Rush, mimicking usage of some kinds of attacks, what have you. Clearly, a great character to have, in this setting. With that, you can kind of see whose useful, who sucks, whose unaffected, who gets shafted, and who you just didn't care about before hand, in this setting. ------------------- 6. Mini Walkthrough ------------------- Ah, time for the longest section of the FAQ, at least I expect it to be. If not, then don't come with flaming torches, Pitch Forks, Bunnies, what have you if I'm wrong, this was only a guess, and its possible it might not be finished, so there! Well, I'll skip any part before finding Terra in Zozo, since that's when you get your first Espers, and prior to that, your just playing a darn normal game, so play it normally until then. But a few things I recommend: A. Get the Thunder Rod in Locke's Scenario. This means do not get the items in the Figaro Cave when you first go through there, but rather, wait til Locke's scenario to grab them. The Thunder Rod is far more useful than the Tincture, all things considered (and it's a free weapon for Strago and Relm when they join!) B. Make sure you have all the Rages you want. You aren't going to be able to go back to the Veldt after the opera house until after you beat the whole Magitek Factory, so if you plan on using Gau, make sure you have all the rages you want. I highly recommend getting the Aspik Rage. Gigavolt might feel a bit overpowered for now, but its nifty, all things considered. C. Get the Genji Glove. It's the only way to actually make Locke worth using, at all, and considering you're forced to use him right at the start of the NMG, you'll be thankful you got that. The Gauntlet sucks complete and utter ass. D. Make sure your characters have all their best equipment. Having 4 Green Beret's by now could help (though you'll be able to buy them soon, so yeah, don't worry about that), but here's what characters should look like. First off, Celes and Locke matter most, since you are forced to use them, so I'll list them first: Locke: Full Moon, 2 if you want to Genji Glove him (which I recommend), Ninja Gear for Armor. Oh, Sneak Ring could be helpful if you want to steal. Make sure you nab that from Narshe. Celes: Give her a Flail. Yeah, she can't use Runic, but chances are, you are not going to need it. Her damage is limited, especially in the back row, so with Flail, you can put her in the back row w/out any problems. White Dress is especially helpful too. I suggest having a Magus Hat in your inventory at least, you might find that +5 to magic Boost helpful from time to time (not necessary, but you never know) All Characters should have mithril Shields for a shield, since, duh, that's the best one around. Now for the others Sabin and Gau should both be outfitted with Ninja Gear, and Sabin should have his Fire Knuckles. Edgar doesn't care what weapon he gets, he's not using it really, his Armor should be Mithril vest, which is the best he's going to get. Cyan just needs a sword, doesn't matter what, just give him one, Dispatch > his Fight command, just about always. Armor also should be Mitrhil Vest. Done all that? Good. What about Shadow? Well, simply put, DO NOT USE SHADOW! He'll only hurt you since your going to lose him almost immediately anyway, and 3 characters is inferior to 4, and such so...yeah. Oh, and there's the fact you need to pay for his temporary services too... Finally, grab all the chests in the Narshe House. A few things there might seem a bit "bah" but the Wall Ring, Sneak Ring, and 3rd pair of earrings will be helpful. Also head North of Kolighen and get the Hero Ring, which could be treated as an Atlas Armlet, or a 4th Pair of earrings...or both! Grab all the Tools you can get in Figaro, if you're using Edgar, and the Chain Saw from Zozo, those will be exceedingly helpful early on as well. Now, I know a lot of this is common sense, but I don't want people complaining saying "why didn't you tell me this!" when they shouldn't be doing a challenge as basic as this w/out knowing basic knowledge, so yeah, don't feel bad if it sounds like I'm babying you, I just want to avoid some annoying E-mails. Anyway, on to the Walkthrough! Should be noted that its not as small as the word "Mini" might imply NOTE: #name# = Event, IOWs, a new area, place, plot sequence, what have you %name% = Boss fight. Self explanatory #After Zozo# Alright, first things first, who to1 use? Well, Celes and Locke are no brainers, your forced to use them, so that parts done, but what about the other 4? Well, here's what each bring: Edgar: Great Defense Ignoring damage, which is handy given the high defense creatures in the Magitek Factory, though, most of its ST. Flash is magical damage that is MT, but is a bit lower than you probably want, even with 2 Earrings/Hero Rings. Sabin: Strong Multi Target Magical damage, especially with 2 Earrings/Hero Ring, and Pummel is good for non elemental physical damage ignores defense to boot. Fire Knuckles will help you make a total mockery of Ultros Cyan: He brings...nothing, really. Whatever he can do, Sabin or Edgar really already cover, so your better using them. Dispatch I guess is good for killing an enemy outright, but Chain Saw and Pummel do that just as well anyway. Gau: Amazing Versatility and damage, both magical and Physical, but he's a bit unreliable. Gau is always like this, mind. So...who to use? Well, clearly, not Cyan, sorry to say, but being out classes by *2* characters completely in the next area is not a good thing. I suggest Edgar, since his damage is probably the best you have reliably, and he gets a few good equipment boosts in the next place. Now between Gau and Sabin...well, Sabin is better at Clearing Randoms, there's no mistake, but Gau is better at killing the Bosses in the next dungeon. Who is better is up to you. Really, using any 2 of those 3 is a good idea. I know I sound like I'm coming off as an Anti Cyan person, but I really can't see a situation where he'd be more useful than Edgar or Sabin in the upcoming stage, ESPECIALLY since Quadra Slam is nerfed to hell with those high Defense enemies. Chose with 2 you want? Good, I'm going to assume you chose all 4, even though that's impossible, since I don't know who you chose, just so I can give strategies, bwahahaha! Tricked you! *Runs* #Opera House# Alright, here, do the usual stuff, don't mess the Opera up, what have you. Then Ultros attacks, hurray! Now kill the rats time! The rats are fairly simple to kill. Kill the Yellow ones first, as always. Edgar's Chain Saw makes short work of them, especially since you can target it. Not much has changed here as a normal game. %Ultros% He's pretty simple. Locke should attack or act as a utility man, though this fight should be over pretty fast. Sabin w/ Atlas Armlet or Hero Ring can do some pretty disgusting damage to the guy, given his fire Weakness, the relative strength of the Fire Knuckles at the time, Ultros' low defense score, and the random Fire castings to boost. Edgar should use Chain Saw, or if that's being a ***** to you using mostly the instant death (Making it useless against Ulty), use Drill instead. Gau should Rage either Templar, Bomb/Vaporite, or Overmind, all of them use Strong Fire spells (Fire2 or better), and that is likely to do some really nasty things to the guy. Cyan...if you can get Quadra slam up, use it. Otherwise, stick to Dispatch. All in all, a pretty simple start to the challenge, though, beyond the lack of Cure spells, Bolt, and fire, this isn't much of a change. #Southern Continent# Alright, before doing anything, Re-equip Celes. Yes, I know the idea of Celes naked is arousing, but that leaves her defenseless and weak, and probably dead, and you don't want that, now do you? Anyways, first off, head to each different town. You may or may not want to give Celes an Epee. It'll raise her damage in the front row, lower her damage the Back Row (if your not using Fight Command, then it doesn't matter), and gives back the option of Runic (which has a use in a coming up fight soon, but you'll have better Swords then most likely) I'd keep Celes with the White Dress though, the higher Magic Defense and +5 to Magic Power is better than the minor defense increase from Mithril mail. Speaking of Mithril Mail, give that to Edgar and Cyan, if your using them, since unlike other characters, all their armor is just raw defense upgrades in the beginning (shame too) Mithril Helms don't bother with, they suck, since Green Beret's have a whopping 1 less defense and give you more HP (that, and Bard's Hats have higher Magic Defense and +10% M. Block..., as well as more MP to Celes to play around with). You might want to give Edgar a Trident too, if you plan on making him a dragoon. The Water elemental attack might have a use. That, or I'm just being an idealist >_> Gau and Sabin shouldn't have any equipment changes, though, if you can steal a few Tiger Masks from Ralphs, you might want to give that to them, but I personally would stay with Green berets. Locke should just have a Boomerang (or 2) on, since those > Full Moons in everyway (They are just upgrades all things considered). Also, he probably prefers the Mithril Mail to Ninja Gear, the defense > 2 points of speed, but if you're a stickler for speed, then keep the Ninja Gear, see what I care! After you are done getting all your equipment, do the most unthinkable thing ever! Go to Vector *Gasps are heard* #Vector# Be smart, and just don't fight the Guardian, nothing changes if you fight him and run, or something, its not worth wasting 2 minutes of your life. Now just go to the Magitek Factory. Before that, though, I suggest giving Sabin and Gau 2 Earrings/Hero Rings, those will be useful for wiping out entire battle fields. If you're not using either, giving 2 Earrings to Edgar might not be a bad idea to maximize Flash's damage, though I suggest using a Hero Ring at least for one of those earrings, to boost Chain Saw/Drill's damage. Cyan...Atlas Armlet, no questions asked, his only useful Swordtechs as of now are physical, so the rest is just "Duh" Celes should probably equip defensive relics, her damage is probably going to lag, so she'll be a healer here. Locke...heh, now he is going to make Celes look like a Damage Queen here, so, I guess make him defensive too, and have him randomly throw potions on people, so Celes can help the offensive a bit. Anyways, enemies here are weak to lighting. Well, you can get a Thunder Blade here, so maybe use that, but don't expect good results, enemies here have over 200 defense, making physicals look pathetic. Magic and defense ignoring attacks are the way to go. Sabin's Fire Dance will work wonders here, as will assorted Magical Rages by Gau such as Marshall, Aspik, what have you. Cyan just dispatch like crazy (Quadra Slam is going to suck), or if you want be bold, use Retort, Locke...there really isn't much to use him for. Celes can either cast Cure to heal, or Ice to do damage. Equip her with an Elemental Weapon (preferably thunder Blade if you were using Flail, that way, the damage won't change much at all, given the Lighting Weakness offsets the back Row), so she gets a nice +2 to Magic Power. Just grab everything you can here. Shouldn't be different than Normal. Give Edgar or Cyan the Gold Armor (Celes' White Dress is arguably better), the Gold Shield can go to any of the 3 Heavy Armor users, Gold Helmet just let it stay in your inventory and forget its existance. Break Blade...do what you want with it, but that's later, so worry not. Now, for the next boss fight. Before, just save, heal, what have you, and move on! %Ifrit and Shiva% Alright, first off, Wall Ring is a nice help here, so equip it (If you bothered to buy more, use those too) Celes' Runic is handy here, so give her the Thunder Blade and have her Runic. Why Thunder Blade? So Locke can swap between Blizzard and Flame Sabre to make the most of his damage. Use Flame Sabre on Shiva, and Blizzard on Ifrit. Now, for Gau, your thinking "Ok, don't use a Fire or Ice rage, got it" WRONG! Use a Fire Rage, actually, those will wreck Shiva a lot faster than you will expect (or use an Ice Rage like Dark Side or Slam Dancer, probably kills Ifrit fast too, though, Dark Side has fire weakness, so be warned) Those two gone, you get yourself more Magicite, yay! Shame they have no use besides looking good in your collection of Espers, given the whole point of the challenge is not using espers at all. Once your done pining over the loss of Ifrit and Shiva, I suggest you save, only so in case something like L5 Doom opening from a random kills your team, or something...or its just the usual common sense "Save whenever possible" aspect of RPGs. I dunno, but...lets continue... Grab the Break Blade, try to fight a Rhinox in case you want Life3 for later (and the Thunder absorption could be nice...maybe), since with that Rage, Gau can use it (no, its not the way to beat Magimaster later in the WoR either, unfortunately...) Ready for the next boss? Good... %Number 024% Well, first things first. He has high defense like most things there, so use Magic, or Defense ignoring attacks. Now, Locke has nothing to contribute in this fight, so yes, he's your utility guy, shove him in the back row, but try to steal from him, Rune Edge is good 3750 GP or Drainer is just nice commodity to get early on. Anyways, since he wall changes, Non Elemental Magic is helpful, but you lack that. So have Gau use Aspik Rage. Doesn't make sense, since he changes his elemental affinities? Wait! There's more to this plan! (assuming you have Gau, use Aspik Rage, obviously, if you don't, that advice is worthless) Have Celes open with Imp. Yes, now that he's imped, he can't do anything but Errors he occasionally gets (I don't understand HOW he uses Ice Rabbit and Sun Bath as an Imp), and his physical (which Criticals 100% of the time *hint hint Back Row! Hint hint*) Now Gau can start the blasting rampage. What if your not using Gau/what to do with the other non Gau character? Well, ok, fine, Gau isn't the greatest thing here, just trying to think of some creative way to make Imp sound more useful here (Still do it anyway) Celes should cast Ice, or heal w/ Cure after Imping the bastard. Edgar should use Chain Saw and/or Drill. Chain Saw does more damage, Drill is more reliable, though, any seasoned Edgar fan knows the difference *rolls eyes* Sabin should use Suplex or Aura Bolt, depending on what's doing more damage. If you didn't Imp him fast enough, and he wall changed to stop Pearl, then Suplex is a no brainer. For the record, this is one of the few bosses where Suplex actually has a use, so don't expect me to say "use Suplex" much. Cyan use Dispatch. Again, Quadra Slam vs. High Defense enemies = Sucks. Retort is unreliable, and Slash just plain won't work. Dispatch is the "duh" option here, especially since it can be used instantly. Once the guy is beaten...well just continue the game, and save at the next save point *rolls eyes* #Mine Cart Sequence# Fairly easy, really. You'll probably only fight Purple Mag Roaders here, but even if you fight Red ones (meaning you have the proper formation), then good for you, another Rage you can get. Anyway, the Purple ones are weak to Fire, the Red ones are weak to ice. Sabin's use here is pretty obvious: FIRE Dance. That should wipe out the whole battle field in a single shot. Locke should switch between Blizzard and Flame Sabre, depending on what Mad Roager he's fighting. Giving him Dragoon Boots will let you keep him in the Back Row w/out hindering his offense (which is good, considering Locke doesn't have much Offense to sacrifice as is, hurting it more would just be "...") Edgar...make him go Drill and/or Chain Saw happy, as usual. Cyan should use Dispatch, Gau should use a fire Rage like Vaporite or Templar, or an ice Rage like Slam Dancer. Again, not hard. Now for the boss. %Number 128% Alright, shove either Thunder Blade or Flame Sabre on Locke (not Blizzard, he absorbs it), or heck, Drainer if you have that, as well as Dragoon Boots, so Locke's damage goes from bad to meh, but meh > bad, especially when said character has temporary invincibility. If you have Gau, Aspik Rage him, since Gigavolt = His Strongest attack, and Catscratch = less damage from Back Row, and thus, we learn Aspik > Stray Cat, here. 2 Earrings on Gau wouldn't hurt either.. Sabin...Fire Dance I guess til the arms are killed, and then use Pummel or Aura Bolt. That way, you are insured to hit the center, and you take out the Arms while doing some damage to the mid section to boot. Edgar should Chain Saw/Drill the Mid Section, while Cyan should Dispatch or Quadra Slam, if you're bold. Or, if you can manage to steal the Tempest from the Mid Section (it's a rare steal, so your chances of getting it on your first attempt are already 1/8th lower than you'd expect from an enemy who has one item to steal), have Cyan equip that, and use that. Not a hard fight, really, just keep at it, and have Locke or somebody who feels lagging heal (or just whenever you need it instantly) Offensive Relics like Atlas Armlet or Hero Rings are your friends, remember. After 128 becomes scrap metal, save, and meet Setzer, and guess what, Boys and Girls? Its time for the... %Cranes% First things first, have Gau use a Rage that makes him Float. That way, at least one character will be immune to Magnitude 8. Now, because one Crane absorbs Fire, that means Sabin should not use Fire dance for his life, nor should Gau use a Fire Rage (and Sabin should avoid his "Fight" command with Fire Knuckles too) Edgar use Chain Saw as usual, or Drill, whichever you prefer, Cyan attack with Tempest if you have it (it'll damage both enemies if Wind Slash kicks in, yay!), or Dispatch. Sabin, knowing Fire Dance = No, should use Pummel or Aura Bolt, whichever is stronger, as usual. Gau...whatever you do, do not use a Fire or Thunder Rage (the other Crane absorbs Lightning), that'll kill you, possibly. So find a good flying Rage that doesn't use Fire, or Lightning (Dark Side w/ Ice2 works, but he's weak to Fire, so you'd been warned, since the cranes use Fire) is a decent choice. If you aren't afraid of Magnitude 8, I suggest Anguiform then, Aqua Rake can do some mean things to both, given they BOTH are weak to Water. If you must, you can steal a Debilitator from one of the Cranes (the one that absorbs Fire, if you must know. If you steal a Potion, then you lost your chance, if you steal a NoiseBlaster, you stole from the wrong Crane!) What to do with your forced characters, Setzer and Locke? Well, Setzer should use his Slots. His Fight command sucks, and Locke is even weaker and with higher speed, making Locke better for the sake of using items on your team *hint hint* All you need is 7 Flush, if you get something like H-bomb, Great! 7 Flush should suffice, its stronger than you think. Chocobop also works too, given they don't float (Fun Fact: Chocobop is a Meteor clone, only difference is it can't hit flying enemies) Alright, Cranes beaten, go see Terra's past, get her back, and good for you, you've gotten possibly your best character in this challenge back, hurray! #Narshe# Alright, stock up on equipment here. I suggest grabbing Mog, since his dances in WoB > Gold Hairpin. That said, things I suggest buying: Power Sashes for Locke, Sabin, Cyan, and Gau (at least enough for those you plan to use) Tiara for Terra, maybe, unless you prefer sticking with the Green Beret or Bard's Hat Gold Shield for Terra, Mog, Edgar, Cyan and Setzer (see Power Sash. You should have one already though, and keep in mind, you are FORCED to use Terra in the next part) Buy a Morning Star (or two if you plan to use Genji Glove) for Terra, a Hawk Eye (or 2) for Locke, Trident for Mog (Edgar doesn't need one), and you should be set. Just make sure you remember to grab some Armor for Mog (Mithril Vest, unless you plan to give him your only Gold Armor, which isn't a bad idea, persay.) Terra should steal Celes' White Dress. At this point, if you want, go to Thamasa's area, and steal some Gaia gears, if you please. These aren't easy to get, necessarily, but still something to consider And also UPDATE GAU'S RAGES! I suggest doing this during your "Mog's Hunt for dances" time. Also, you can get 7 of Mog's 8 dances, which I suggest you do. Here's where to go for each. The one you don't get, obviously, is Snow Man Jazz, the WoR only Dance. Wind Song: Best get it on the Veldt, No EXP, and you should be going there anyway Water Rondo: Serpent Trench. Lete River takes longer, and it's a lot closer to the Veldt than the Lete River, meaning you can get to your Air Ship easier Forest Suite: Any forest, I'll just say Phantom Forest, smile, nod, and... *Runs* Earth Blues: Just get into a fight on the OUTSIDE areas of Mt. Koltz (inside is considered Cavernous terrain). Easy enough Dusk Requim: Mog should have this already, from the "Save Terra!" sequence. If he by chance doesn't, then go into Narshe Caves, fight, and wala, that wasn't hard, was it? What? It's out of the way? Then fight on the INSIDE of Mt. Koltz, during your trip to get Earth Blues *rolls eyes* Love Sonata: Haven't beaten the Lobo in that "Monster in the Box" at Narshe tutorial house yet? Kill him then. But chances are you did, but do not digress, that was just the Easy and pitiful method of doing it. The real way I was going to suggest is just fight a battle in Zozo with Mog in your team Desert Aria: Well, if you want to get it in the Water Rondo run (making that trip as worthwhile as possible), you can fight in that little Desert patch where the Imperial Camp use to be near Doma, but if it annoys you walking in the same 2 squares back and forth, then just go to Figaro Desert and fight there Also, during Rage hunting, I advise bringing Terra. Most characters won't benefit at all from all this fighting (since on the Veldt, you get no Exp), however, Terra will. How so? Well, you'll notice that when fighting, you get Magic Points when Terra's in your team, but not otherwise. You assume its cause Terra has Magic, right? Then why doesn't Celes get Magic Points if she's in your team? Answer? Its cause Magic Points have a 2nd lesser known use! Most people (well, ok, lots of people do now) don't know that that Magic Points are what Terra's Morph is based off of. Likewise, bringing Terra to the Veldt will let her hoard lots and lots of Magic Points (just to clarify, the type you get after battle, not the same thing as "MP"), so when you finally think you'll need Morph, she'll have plenty of time to use it. And as I said before, besides maybe Mog who is learning dances (and he only needs one fight per terrain anyway), no one else will really benefit from these Veldt Fights. I also recommend using Setzer here if you don't know how to use his Slots properly. I know that sounds odd, but it actually makes sense logically. See, enemies on the Veldt aren't really hard (you've fought all of them once before, or at least ran from them...), so using weaker characters shouldn't hurt. And because of the lack of EXP you get, this would be a prime place to practice timing on Slots. Keep using Slots til you're confident about being able to pull off Chocobop and 7-Flush consistently. And again, since you don't get EXP here, your not giving Setzer any unfair level treatment (same goes with Terra) over other characters you might like, so don't feel like, say, Edgar or Sabin are missing out on useful time to build up their techniques, since they wouldn't getting much as is (not to mention leveling Edgar for learning Techniques is a stupid idea, since you know, you quite literally BUY his Techniques) Once you think you've gotten all the Rages you need (mind, I suggest fighting a Chimera in the forest west of Thamasa, so you can get that Rage. Quite handy, actually, in the next dungeon, basically a better version of Anguiform, all things considered) Don't bother getting Golem, Zoneseek and Sraphim, unless you feel like wasting 33000 GP for 3 useless artifacts...the reason should be obvious. Wait til the WoR if you want to be a "Completionist" to get them, when Seraphim's Price gets slashed down by 2990 GP, and you can get the money needed for Golem and Zoneseek in 3 Fights in the Miranda Desert, should you desire (2 if you use the Cat Hood) Alright, now for the Sealed Cave! #Sealed Cave# Alright, before you go here, you need to decide which characters to use. Here are your choices: Terra: Alright, this one is "Duh" you MUST use her here. If you don't, good luck beating the game w/out a character necessary to continue the plot, given the game won't even let you enter the Sealed Cave w/out her. So obviously, she's in, whether you like it or not. Locke: I honestly can't recommend using him. He brings very little. His Hawk Eyes are damaging when thrown, yes, but so are a dozen other attacks that are not random. Using 2 sounds good on paper, but keep in mind the Defense loses, and that they are still random. Use him if you wish, but there are far better options Mog: Great choice if you went on a Dance hunt. Dusk Requiem is useful only for Zombone's here (most enemies are Instant Death immune and absorb Fire, making the dance have limited use there) However, despite the risk of it Stumbling, Water Rondo is an excellent dance here. It's most common attack, El Nino, more or less kills entire battle fields in one use. And his Trident Weapon being Water Elemental, paired with Dragoon Boots, can do some pretty mean things to Ings here (a very common enemy) Edgar: As usual, a solid choice. Chain Saw is still great damage, and Noise Blaster still works well here. Sabin: He's not bad, but there are better choices. Nonetheless, lots of enemies here are Weak to Aura Bolt, so he at least is good at killing things one on one. However, lots of Fire Absorbing enemies make Fire dance less useful. I'd pick Edgar over him if only cause Edgar can control his attacks, though, again, not bad. Cyan: He's not as bad as he might seem at first. Given even if you don't have his tempest, he gets it right in early on, which lets him have a solid MT Attack, even if only 50% of the time. Dispatch is still passable at this point, though, again, there are much better choices around than Cyan, he's still probably a better choice than Locke. Gau: Great Choice, like Mog. Anguiform/Chimera Rage's use Aqua Rake which does a number on the enemies here. It's not as strong as El Nino (well, ok, Spell Power wise, its stronger, but it doesn't ignore Split damage), but shove on 2 Earrings/Hero Rings, and enemies are at least bound to be reeling in pain. Should you fight 2 Zombone Battle, have Gau use something like Templar, Bomb/Grenade, or Overmind (a fire rage, IOWs), since that will be extremely painful. Setzer: If you're good at getting 7-Flush and Chocobop, he's another great choice. 7-Flush MT is like Fire Dance that'll work on all enemies here, and Single Target, its stronger than Aurabolt (Well, ok, in the Sealed Cave, it won't be, due to the Holy Weakness, so yeah) Hard to say if he's one of the best choices are not, but there really isn't a flaw in using him. Now, if your bad at using Slots, then don't even touch him, though granted, I assume you wouldn't anyway, given those who can't use slots often deem Setzer as one of the worst characters (or they say Setzer = Fixed Dice only) So...choose 1-3 characters to take with Terra (you MUST choose one, mind. Terra will chicken out if you take her alone, so she at least needs one ally) Once you've decided who you want to use (besides Terra, obviously), and have all the resources you want (Hint: If you want Items, go to Figaro with Edgar in front, so you can get 2x the items for the same price in case you've forgotten Edgar's little discount thing), head to the... #Sealed Cave# Anyways, first and foremost, do not equip Fire weapons. Most enemies absorb it, so you'll just be doing them a favor. So Sabin should equip a Kaiser, since most enemies are weak to that, Terra a Morning Star, Break Blade, or Blizzard/Thunder Blade, Edgar any of those replacing Morning Star with Trident, Locke a Hawk Eye, and...that's about it for character who can potentially have fire Weapons. If you spent time to get Gaia Gears, I suggest equipping them, enemies here have Life Shaver, that is an earth attack, and nothing is more fun than watching an enemy have their own Parasitic Healing turn against them. Also, equip someone with a Ribbon, especially if their level is multiple of 3 (yes, Level 3 Muddle is used in the early parts), since enemies here have things like Imp song. A Wall Ring in the first few rooms is useful too, given you don't want to be hit with Fire 3 (no, that's not a typo, enemies really have that high level spell) from a Lich Now, if you bothered to stock up on more Revivifies and/or Fenix Downs than necessary (I didn't recommend it, since it's generally not practical), you can kill most enemies just by using it on them. In fact, the only enemy here who is not undead is Coelecite, which stop appearing after the switching bridges room Anyway, as usual, just grab whatever you can. Once you get the Atma weapon, you'd probably be inclined to use it immediately on Terra, Locke or Edgar. Don't bother, it's a pretty bad weapon this early on, the way its algorithms work, and the HP reliance hurts it further (in that it gets weaker as you get hit, of course, so don't go thinking Green Beret's will solve Low HP problems, since its not based off Max HP, but your Current HP relative to your Max). Save those Magicite you have, you might need them if you get desperate, you know, as a wild card option, albeit, you should never get into a situation like that, but they're helpful. If you plan on fighting the Ninja, hit him with your best Thunder Attacks (Giga Volt from Aspik Rage, Plasma from some of Mog's Dances, Dragoon Boots + Thunder Blade, etc.) or your best Holy attacks (Aura Bolt and...Aura Bolt...and I think that's it for Holy attacks...oh, wait, the Kaiser weapon!...which is also used by Sabin -_-) Shouldn't be too hard, just remember he likes to use Skeans on you, and if unprepared, he can wipe your whole party out fast. Now, if you don't have too many Fenix Downs/Revivifies, then you can always fight them normally. Mog's water Rondo dance does wonders here, as does Gau's Anguiform/Chimera Rage. Sabin's Aura Bolt can be pretty brutal here, and Edgar's Chain Saw and Noiseblaster are as devastating as usual. Cyan should be using Tempest, and Locke...well, just have him fight, steal, whatever, he can't do much anyway. Setzer should be playing his luck with slots. Terra should heal, use her fight command, and cast Fire (Fire2 if she knows it) on Zomebones (the only enemy who does not absorb fire here) From time to time, you can cast her Life Spell on the enemies here, and watch them die in one hit, just remember that it costs a hefty amount of MP this early on. It shouldn't be tough, but it can be a bit strenuous. So just muscle it out with what you got. If you prepared properly it shouldn't be hard at all, especially if you chose a good team (hint: One that doesn't have Locke) Oh, and if you do use Locke, for the love of god, DO NOT EQUIP THE ASSASSIN! This will make Locke go from Mediocre to USELESS. Remember, "X" death Weapons and Undead enemies don't mix...well, ok, they do, but not in the way you want. Locke will just end up healing the enemy a lot more than he would have with a Flame Sabre. Yes, a Flame Sabre on Locke is bound to be a better choice, despite the area, than an Assassin, since at least Flame Sabre Locke can hurt Zombones, Assassin Locke will keep healing them... Anyways, get to the end, watch Terra open the gate, give Kefka a nice love tap (or Nuke him with your strongest attack. You'll get the same result either way), walk out of the place (via short cut), you know what to do. For the next part, just play it normally. I suggest having Magical Attacks and Defense Ignoring ones (Basically, Pummel/Suplex, Dispatch, and Chain Saw/Drill) since the few fights you'll have in the Banquet area tend to have high defense. To get to Vector, its just fastest using the hidden Chocobo stable in the forest near bye, though, you CAN walk the entire way if you want to, its just easier using the stupid bird. Having a pair of Sprint Shoes is useful as always in the next part I have not much to say here, except just at least try and get as much as the Base open in the west. The Items there are defiantly the most useful rewards of anything the Emperor has to offer, the Tintinabar is nice for Rage hunting I guess, but nothing more really, oh, and you can get one in Mobliz anyway from the Wounded Soldier. South Figaro is always opened, Doma has nothing but "godly" Beads, and a few disposable items (you can get them in the WoR, anyway), but if you get the Base, you by definition have Doma opened. Charm Bangle...its really a wasted Relic slot, no matter how you look at it. Lower Encounter Rate for loss of a relic Slot, hmm...not worth it, if you ask me, mind, it doesn't mean you shouldn't try and get it, it just means don't feel disappointed if you miss it. Anyway, now you are forced to use Terra (yay!) and Locke (Drat.) Why do I sound so biased to those two? Well, Terra is one of the more useful characters in the challenge, and Locke just downright sucks in the WoB w/out Magic, all things considered. Ok, fine, ignore those statements, just take them. Equip them with whatever you want, raid the Base to the east, stock up on whatever you need, etc. Don't bother worrying about Shadow, he's in your team for too short a time for you to even start remotely caring about. Go see the Setzer scene if you wish, not that you have to, but...bah, you get the point. #Thamasa# Alright, first, buy 4 Gaia Gears, or at least, buy as many as you need til you have 4 Total. Why? You'll be thankful you did on the Floating Continent, that's all I can say. If you got the Blizzard from 024 and not a Flame Sabre (Blizzard is the common Drop, so chances are, you got that), then be happy, it'll be useful in the next area. If you didn't, then, oh well, just live with it. Anyway, get Terra her Mystery Veil, and heck, get another for Relm when she joins. There's a good chance Terra will be keeping this Mystery Veil on the rest of the game, except for the part where she gets automatically stripped in the WoR, just like everyone else. Don't bother buying weapons for the other characters, you can, you know, always come back afterwords. Don't bother buying any Rods too. You should already have the Thunder Rod from before (unless you decided to Break it against one of the Cranes, not that its needed), and you will get an Ice Rod and Fire Rod in the next place (Burning House) And don't bother buying Gold Armor either, at least not yet. Why? Follow this Equation: Characters who can use Gold Armor: Terra, Mog, Edgar, Setzer, Celes and Cyan Characters in your team right now: Terra, Shadow Locke Characters going to be in your team before you can Change: Strago and Relm Characters that fall into Category 1 and either Category 2 or 3: Terra How Many Gold Armors you should have at this moment: One from the Magitek Factory How many people Terra is: She is one person So...yeah, do the math >_> Same applies for the Gold Shield. I'm not going through that equation again, so figure it yourself, damn it! (Hint hint: Terra is the only one who can use it and you should already have one. Mind, this is assuming you didn't buy any at Narshe anyway) Finished your money Binge? Good, now grab all of Shadow's stuff, since he's just going to leave soon, and I can't remember if the game is so nice enough as to strip him automatically. Now go talk to the old fart, Strago, grab the Memento Ring upstairs, only cause its nice to have another item that protects against Instant Death. Why? Oh do shut up. Alright, fine, if you feel Shadow must go with at least SOMETHING, give him that Memento Ring, only cause...fine, I'll give you another equation: Memento Rings you have: 1 Memento Rings you will Have later: 2 Characters who can use Memento Rings: Shadow and Relm Characters who come with memento Ring on: Relm Pretty obvious reason again. Now please stop asking so many questions, you hypothetical reader ;_; Now, to the Burning House #Burning House# First things first, equip Terra with a Blizzard, Locke should probably stay with Hawk eyes, since Balloons Float, and that means Massive damage when said item is thrown. Strago just should spam Aqua Rake, just keep watch of your MP. Just do not miss Ice Rod and Fire Rod. Now, you can give the Ice Rod to Strago, if you please, if you want to save MP anyway, that will make him a physical Power house! ...at least if he's in the Front Row anyway (and he probably won't be), and he'll be weaker than Terra or Locke with a Blizzard in the Front Row anyway, so bah, forget I said anything about being a Physical Powerhouse %Flame Eater% Alright, there are 2 Ways to do this. The Cheap Nasty way, or the Honorable way. I'll be mean and tell you the honorable way first. Honorable Method: Alright, you don't have Ice2 like normal, since you can't use Shiva, Celes is busy questioning herself, and Gau is annoying Sabin and Cyan, most likely. So, you'll have to compensate somehow. First off, give Terra the Genji Glove, and 2 Blizzards. This will make her physical do quite painful things to the guy. Also, place her in the front Row. Now, give her an Atlas Armlet, or better yet, a Hero Ring (in case the random Ice spells kick in) Now, with that, Terra could easily dish out close to 1500 damage a turn with that set up, assuming your around level 20 anyway. But wait, there's more! Have Terra Morph, and now she almost reaches 3000 (more if Ice gets cast during one of those smacks, and even more if she criticals) The poor Guy has only 8500 HP, mind you, so you can potentially kill him in only 3 turns. Now, have Locke smack him with Hawk Eyes, or use Potions for Healing. Have Strago either whack the guy with the Ice Rod (or if you did bother buy others, 2), or cast Aqua Rake to kill off his Balloon allies. A few Aqua Rakes, Hawk Eye smacks or throws, and several massive Blizzard smackings from the nude pink sprite that is Terra, and Flame Eater should die. Ok, that sounded mean, and your wondering how that's the "Honorable" way? Well, compared to the dishonorable way, you'll think it's definitely the right way to do things *Rolls eyes* Cheap Nasty way: Alright, equip Terra with Mystery Veil (+3 to Magic Power), or Magus Hat if you're a perfectionist (+5 to Magic Power), White Dress (+5), Blizzard/Flame Sabre/thunder Blade (all have +2), and 2 Earrings/Hero Rings. Terra's Magic Power should be 49 now (51 if you use the Magus Hat) Now, unequip that one Ice Rod you found from Strago. Start the battle by having Strago cast Aqua Rake, killing his allies. Now that the guys alone, have Terra use Morph, and break the Ice Rod on the bastard. The damage, assuming your level 20 and did all of the above, will hit 9999, and guy WILL die. How is this legal? I said you can break Rods found in chests, right? Well, that one Ice Rod you found in a chest. This is the only Ice Rod you are allowed to break. Anyway, so yeah, anybody who says Sabin is the first character to hit 9999 is wrong, since Terra just did it a lot earlier than he did :P See how the first way is a lot nicer than the bottom one? At least the first one, you let the guy live long enough to tell you his name (if he could speak anyway) Well, you beat Flame Eater, and now you go to the Esper Mountain! Wait, why didn't I bring up Exploder before? Simple Reason: EXPLODER IS THE WORST LORE IN EXISTANCE AND ISN'T WORTH THE TIME LEARNING!!! I mean, seriously, Strago can do better damage already with Aqua Rake in the right Set Up, you think you'd rather kill the guy with a move that is weaker or something? You need to rethink your strategies... #Esper Mountain# Not much to say here. Just know that Abolishers, as long as they are not alone, use Pearl Wind on their 3rd turn, so just wait for them to go 3 turns, and then kill them. Pearl Wind will be a valuable asset, so getting it this early (and this easily) helps. Besides that, just play til you fight... %Ultros 3rd% Ah, good old Octopus. Anyway, the guy is weak to fire, so use a similar Flame Sabre strategy on this guy as you did with Blizzards on Flame Eater. I suggest Locke acts as utilities too, and if you have Pearl Wind, it wll help immensely. You can try to just cheese it the same way by breaking the Fire Rod on him, but if you don't plan on doing that, equip Strago with that Fire Rod, and let him join the smacking. Ultros is also weak to Lightning, so you can give Terra or Locke Thunder Blades instead of Flame Sabres if you wish, doesn't matter. I don't suggest Breaking the Thunder Rod on Ultros though, it might be useful in fights later (like Air Force), unlike the Fire Rod. However, having Strago bash the guy with Thunder Rod is perfectly fine, since you won't lose the item. When Relm comes, just sketch him, and you win! Hurrah! Mind, if the Relm Sketch glitch occurs here...well, then that just sucks, you by the code of honor, are to reset your game, and beat him again, unless you are absolutely sure are going to not to abuse it (that includes selling off all the random stuff you got. Mind, if you don't mind selling all your stuff you SHOULDN'T have (like having Excalibur at that point is bad, VERY bad), buying a lot more stuff, selling that, rince lather repeat til you've sold all the stuff you bought with that money, and your money is somewhere around the range of what you had, then by all means do so)...yeah, you get the point. It shouldn't happen, but I'm just letting you know (I myself have been hit with the bug at this exact time several points on my cart...) Now just continue on as normal, watch the plot scenes, beat Kefka with ubered Leo, yada yada yada. Now for more Preparations! First off, I'd keep White Dresses in your inventory for Terra and Celes. The +5 to magic Power might come in handy at times, especially for your two characters who have the Magic Command. Buy the same stuff for Celes that you did for Terra, for the shear fact that, well, equipment wise, they are identical (unless you think the Cotton Robe matters...) If you plan on using Terra, then prepare for Celes ESPECIALLY since she's forced into your team at one point (if you don't plan on using Terra, then just de-equip her, and give that to Celes for when she joins) Locke should have been already taken care of back in Thamasa. Same goes for Strago too, probably. If you didn't for Relm...well, buy her a Mystery Veil, and the same stuff you did for Strago otherwise (don't bother with the White Dress, she can't make any decent use of it) Now, for the characters who weren't in your party: Well, don't bother buying a Stout spear for Edgar. Chain Saw probably still does more damage, and doesn't take a turn or a Relic slot. He should have a Gold Armor (mind, Terra, Celes, and Mog should have Gaia Gears on, that will be more useful than Gold Armor in the next area), Gold Shield, and Green Beret (or Bard's Hat) Mog...well, buy him a Stout Spear if you plan to use his Physical (Which implies give him Dragoon Boots too, since you'll be greatly disappointed otherwise) Gaia Gear is better than Gold Armor, in the next area, Gold Shield is just "duh" and Green Beret vs. Bard's Hat comes down to preference, while the Gold Helmet just plain sucks Sabin...get him Gaia Gear if he doesn't have one already. Tiger Mask you may or may not want, depends, I'd say "nay" though, and give him the generic Male head gears of Green Beret or Bard's Hat. Same applies for Gau too. Setzer...basically, see Mog, and don't bother buying him Darts. His Physical will suck regardless in the WoB. For Shadow, buy him all the same Armor you did for Sabin, nixing the potential possibility of the Tiger Mask, which he can't use. Mind, prepare for Shadow especially, since he is more or less guaranteed to be in your party (unless you want to do a 3 person party on the FC, which isn't recommended...) Mind, don't bother with a weapon, Shadow probably wants the Assassin (Stat Boosts, and random instant death), or a Thief Knife (Boost to M. Block and speed), and he will most likely be doing nothing but throwing kitchen sinks at people anyway, since it does far more damage than his physical does, and ignores Back Row damage penalty to boot. Cyan should have more or less what Edgar has, but maybe a Power Sash instead of a Gold Armor, your call. Alright, got all the equipment you need? Now, stock up on throw ammunition. First off, buy 99 shurikens. They are so cheap, getting 99 is extremely easy (Fun Fact: If you don't use Edgar in Figaro, 99 Shurikens costs less than the Drill, and they are generally stronger to boot) Buy some skeans as well, those will be doing some pretty sickening Multi Target damage, especially if you apply Weakness (they do damage equal to a level 2.5 spell (stronger than a level 2, weaker than a level 3, basically), more or less) Also, while your at it, stock up on some Blossoms and Tridents, since there is no Wind or Water elemental weapons in the WoR that can be bought (well there are Water Skeans, but Tridents do more damage...) Getting a few Shadow and/or Invis Edges can't hurt too. Oh, and Poison Rods you might want a few of as well, since you can't buy any poison weapons (Well, Throwable ones) in the WoR either, though, there aren't many enemies that are weak to Poison. Done getting that entire throwing Munition? Good. Make sure you go to all the places you can't visit in the WoR, so that you know you have everything. You probably don't have to do this, but you get the point. Now, make one last trip to the Veldt. Bring Gau, for obvious reasons, Terra for reasons I explained above earlier about Morph, and this time, Relm and Strago. Why? Well, Veldt is always a good place for Strago to learn Lores, and Relm is always a good character to use to help get him more Lores. Should you really want to build up Terra's Morph, then go fight Intangrs, bring Gau with you and use Rhodox Rage, and DO NOT HAVE A CURE RING! Just trust me on this, Cure Ring = Bad, when it comes to using Snare/X-zone/"Dice" attacks (not the weapon, I mean when the enemy splits in two, ala Odin)/etc. on enemies with Final Attacks. Once you're satisfied Terra has enough Morph power to build up this method, then go. Granted, you shouldn't need to do this, but there are those who are paranoid, and thus, they want to do things as fast as possible, or get Morph to last as long as possible... Anyway, now which 3 characters to use? Mind you, even if you WANT to use less than 3, the game requires you to use 3. Of course, the game doesn't stop you from arbitrarily killing an ally if you want to have less, for god knows what reason... So, let's see whose good, who is not, and who you just want to kill. Let's do this the same way as the Sealed Cave... Terra: Let's1 see. She has Magic, and should she have reached level 22, she will know Fire2, which means bad things for the enemies. Mystery Veil is probably the best Helmet in the WoB, and she has that. Having Gaia Gear is always something to check for in the WoB, and that she has as well. Oh, and then there's Morph, making her an excellent Boss fighter. That Draw of Elemental Weapons (Blizzard, Flame Sabre, and Thunder Blade), especially if paired with Dragoon Boots, makes her a good fighter as well as a mage. Oh, and she can use the Gold Shield as well (best WoB shield) I think its clear Terra is a very good choice for the Floating Continent, especially considering nearly every enemy is weak to one of the Big 3, and a lot of them don't like Fire (Terra's main damage) Lets not forget that Drain makes her a pain to kill as well. Locke: Alright, really, the only thing he has going for him is, to be honest, Hawk Eyes. High Speed isn't much of an advantage, all things considered how FF6 AI works, that, and besides Genji Gloves (and Shadow can steal anyway.) Those elemental weapons can be used by Terra, Celes, and Edgar, 3 characters who have other things going for them, and Strago has his own supplements as well as his Lores (not to mention Relm does too...). Honestly...again, Locke will be lagging on the FC, and unless you REALLY want to use him, I can't recommend him, since there are far better options available. To be fair, he does have access to Gaia gear, which is a nice piece of armor for the FC, but then again, so does every other non Edgar or Cyan character. Mog: Now, again, Mog lucked out on the Conditions. Wind Song is just a phenomenal dance for the IAF Sequence, especially since it's the home terrain. Then Earth Blues just kicks ass in general, also being the home dance of Floating Continent. Spears w/ Dragoon Boots make him solid at physical damage, and believe it or not, he has best Defense Potential too, albeit not by as much as he will have in the WoR once Snow Muffler is available. Anyway, both dances have healing, and both dances do brutal damage, and to top it off, Mog has Gaia Gear as well. This makes Mog a prime choice for the next part of the game. Edgar: Chain Saw and Drill are still strong attacks, though, with Terra getting Fire2 and Celes getting Ice2, as well as Strago coming with Aqua Rake and Gau having his rages, and such, its not as amazing as it was when you first got it. Though, its still free, and can be targeted. Edgar also has 2nd best Defense (only to Mog) in the WoB, another plus, but lacks the magic Defense, especially since he can't use Gaia Gear, which kind of hurts him. Not a bad choice, but not the best either. Basically, Edgar will be one of those "no Penalty in using, but no exact reason to use either" characters... Sabin: As usual, a prime source of Offense, the lack of Gold Shield makes his defense lower than you'd want, but not too bad. Solid source of damage as normal, Sabin's a good choice for the FC. Sure, not the best, but defiantly nothing close to a bad one either. Cyan: Well, Cyan has...the Tempest (maybe 2), and...that's about all he has. Edgar matches him in just about every other way, and out does him in some senses (attacks go off insantly, able to target his enemies, etc.) He is decent for the IAF scene in theory, but Gau and Mog can do what he can, and better (namely Wind Slash) for that part. Gau: Not much to say about Gau, besides the fact that he just plain kicks ass. If you're keeping your rages up to date, then Gau should kick ass. If you are lazy and have not been getting any good rages, then Gau will just plain suck. So...yeah, depends on how you've been treating Gau. Assuming you HAVE kept up on your Rages, Gau is a GREAT choice here. Personally, I'd choose between him or Mog, since having 2 Uncontrollable characters can be messy, but don't underestimate him nonetheless. Celes: Well, one thing about Celes is that while getting Terra to learn Fire2 is easy, Celes doesn't learn Ice2 til 4 levels later (ew...), so her Offense is probably lower than you want, though, she can always be used Physically, but then again, so could Terra, Edgar and Locke. Really, no matter how you look at it for Celes, she ends up being a weaker Terra, and unlike Celes, using Terra has no penalty. What's the penalty of using Celes? No 4th Character for the escape from the FC. Granted, its easy enough to escape with 3, but keep in mind your offenses aren't as high as you'd expect in a normal game (Not everyone has Fire/Bolt2 for Naughties), so you might want to have that extra body there to dish out damage. Sorry to say this, Celes, but as usual, you're stuck in Terra's shadow. Why do I keep comparing her to Terra? Well, her equipment is the same, as is her skillset very similar. Heck, the only real advantages she has is Imp (limited Use) and Safe (also not as useful as you'd want) Setzer: If you've learned to use his Slots effectively, he'll basically be similar to Sabin for Multi Target damage, and generally BETTER for Single Target damage (7-Flush > Aura Bolt), and if you can somehow use H-bomb consistently (might need to rig slots a bit, not going to get into that), then you've basically got yourself a level 3 Spell being used every turn (mind, that's harder than you think) The good options of equipment are nice too (namely Gaia Gear, and Gold Shield) Obviously a good choice if you can use his Slots. If you can't...let him sit on the Airship and play poker with the likes of Locke and Relm. Strago: Lores are a good source of damage, and Pearl Wind is an excellent source of healing, as long as his HP is high enough anyway of course. Just know that some of his skills are a bit expensive. His elemental rods make his physical damage better than you expect, since the FC has lots of enemies weak to the Big 3 elements (and every enemy in the IAF sequence except for Ultros and Chupon are weak to Thunder to boot), especially with the Random level 2's kicking in. Obviously, a good choice. Someone you should at least consider bringing. Relm: ...alright, lets think about this logically. She can use all the weapons Strago can (and the crappy Chocobo Brush), and armor wise, the only advantage she has is the White Dress, which its applications are useless in this challenge for Relm (+5 to Magic Power for a character without any Magic Power based attacks!), and the Mystery Veil which is similar situation (though, less useless, since its still good defensivly). A Mage without magic, tell me how useful she's going to be? That's right, she's going to be extremely bad, easily the worst choice here (well, no, actually, if you average the damage out with her random spell castings, she ends up doing MORE than Locke on Average, but lets not get into that) So yeah...Relm isn't going to much use, and only use her if you really really REALLY like her, and can't go on without using her for some odd reason. Chosen your 3? Good, again, I'm going to assume you chose all of them, so I can just give strategies for every situation >.> #IAF Battle Sequence# Fairly simple. Sky Armors and Spit Fires are all you fight here, as normal, and both have weaknesses to Lightning and Wind. So...unload with Thunder Blade Smackings (or use Jump), Wind Slash via Wind Song, Tempest (the weapon), or Marshall Rage, Aqua Rakes, what have you. Since they both Fly, Locke's Hawk Eye's when thrown do some pretty high damage too. Edgar's Chain Saw, as usual, is a solid form of damage, as is Setzer's 7-Flush, if you're using either one. This should go without saying, but heal when necessary, preferably between fights. After a few fights, be prepared to fight... %Ulros 4 and Chupon% Utterly Pathetic, really. Terra Morphed with the same Magic Set up as against Flame Eater can dish out over 8000 against Ultros with Fire 2, killing him in 2 hits (providing someone else actually did some damage) Chupon is weak to ice, so smack him with the Blizzard Sword (don't have to genji Glove it) Mind, that's assuming you have Terra. For other characters, Edgar just use Chain Saw/Drill, as usual. Sabin should use his physical, not Blitzes, on Ultros, for optimal damage (his Defense is complete crap, and he's weak to Fire), then use Aura Bolt or Pummel (whatever is stronger) on Chupon. Relm should attack Ultros with a Flame Rod (Genji Glove it if you wish), and then Swap to Ice Rod with Chupon (though, God only knows why your using Relm) Strago should also open with Flame Rod smackings on Ultros, but Chupon you can nuke with Aqua Rake, since he's weak to Water as well as Ice. Celes...Flame Sabre on Ultros, swap to Blizzard on Chupon (or if she knows it, cast Ice2) Cyan should just use Dispatch or Quadra Slam, whatever your more comfortable with. Mog w/ Wind Song will provide great healing, though, the damage might seem a bit lacking. Locke should hit Ultros with Flame Sabre, then either Blizzard or Hawk Eye on Chupon (he's weak to Ice and flies, so either one works well, Hawk Eye might be better for Back Row compatability.) Setzer just unloads with his slots, Gau use whatever Rage you want, just avoid a Water Rage (That heals Ultros), or a Fire Rage (that'll heal Chupon), so Stray Cat or Aspik are good choices. Oh, and even though you have a boss fight next, just go all out, at least MP wise, for Terra, Celes, and Strago (items you still have to worry about), since in the next fight, somehow, Chupon's "Sneeze of DOOM!!!" fully heals your team as if they just slept at an inn. Just note that before hand, you might not want to Morph Terra. Why? Morphing Terra now against this scrub boss fight will mean less time of Morph against the next formidable boss, whom you'd rather use Morph for. So...only use Morph if you really really need to, despite how I mentioned it earlier being stupidly powerful... %Air Force, Laser Gun, and Missile Bay% Two ways to go about this. Kill off the Laser Gun or Missile Bay, taking out one side (which he will not recover), or both, and then being able to focus on he himself with Minimal healing. Doing this is good, just remember he'll start nuking you with Wave Cannon, which hurts. The other is to just try and destroy the Air Force himself ASAP. First off, if you still have that Thunder Rod from the South Figaro Cave (ones bought in Thamasa don't count) this is probably the best place to use it. If you have Terra, having her Morph and using that will do some pretty nasty things, given the whole Rod deal and all. Its not necessary, but it works. Though, keep in mind that because there are multiple parts, the damage will be half its potential, so don't expect 9999 (also, doing this probably kills one, or both of the other parts) Don't have the Thunder Rod (or after using it), have Terra smack the guy with the thunder Blade, preferably morphed. Mog should use Wind Song, for healing and damage, and Plasma also is lightning which is his weakness. Gau should use Aspik Rage, since Giga Volt vs. a Lightning Weak Monster = Lots of pain. Sabin you can either play it by luck using Single Target Blitzes, hoping it hits the right Target, or using Fire Dance just to hit everything (or if you are somehow leveled up this high, use Air Blade, which is better in either situation) Edgar should use Chain Saw and/or Drill on the desired Body Part. Locke attack with Hawk Eyes or Thunder Blade, Celes should also use Thunder Blade, and Relm should use a Thunder Rod (as a WEAPON! NOT AN ITEM!) Strago cast Aqua Rake, since the guy is weak to Water, and Aqua Rake is water elemental. Setzer just use 7 Flush, as always. Cyan probably should use Tempest, and hope the Wind Slash kicks in more often than not, or use Dispatch/Quadra Slam, and hope the desired part is hit. This fight won't be an easy one (obviously, heal when necessary), but its far from insanely hard either, just muscle it out with your healing (Strago's Pearl Wind will be useful, if your high enough leveled, so will Terra's Cure2) Once Air Force is beaten, your on the Floating Continent, yeah! #Floating Continent# First things first. GRAB SHADOW AND SAVE! Done that? Good. Now equip Shadow, so he can live and be useful since a dead Shadow won't prove to be very much help. Now, enemies here are mostly weak to one of the big 3 Elements, so try to apply that damage in some manner. I won't go through each character separately, but just basically know that Gaia Gears are your friends (Life Shaver can be annoying, might as well turn it into healing), Brainpans are weak to Fire and Thunder, and the Gigantos is pure physical and weak to Poison (Hint: Invis Edge) Oh, Behemoths are vulnerable to instant Death (Hint: Assassin or Chain Saw) And don't forget the Earth Blues is the main dance here. And finally, you can't run from Ninja fights, so always be fully healed in case you fight 2, who like to throw their Skeans at you. Its easy to kill those Ninjas, just smack them with Holy attacks (Aura Bolt) or Thunder attacks (Bolt Edge, Thunder Blade, Giga Volt from Aspik Rage, or Thunder Rod), and they'll die fast. %Atma Weapon% You think this guy is going to be really hard, right, given how much of a pain he is in SCCs? Well, not really, since a few of his main evils in SCCs aren't so bad here. First off, Flare Star does damage based off your levels, yes, but it also does damage based on how many targets it hits. With one character, they die if Hit, hence why its so painful in an SCC. Against 4, they take 1/4th the damage one person would take, which is now cleanly survivable. Anyway, first off, Shadow w/ Memento Ring and Ribbon is almost totally immune to Mind Blast (his big evil). Relm can use a similar set up too (if there is another Ribbon to be found, anyway), but chances are you are not using Relm. Gau's Ing Rage is very much a bane on Atma Weapon completely, I won't explain why, just know it's a great Rage here (JUST AVOID USING HEALING SPELLS! If you must heal him, attack him with the Assassin, or use a Fire attack on him (he's an undead that absorbs Fire, do the math)) Mog using Earth Blues is a good idea, unless he likes to use Sonic Boom consistently (otherwise, Land Slide is his best damage (sans the rare as hell Wombat used from Forest Suite), and he occasionally uses Sun Bath) Terra...you can Morph if you want to, you don't need to. Drain will keep her alive, and Fire2 will be her main source of damage. Celes should cast Ice2, and maybe cast Cure every now and then the allies. Sabin use Aura Bolt (or Air Blade if you have leveled up enough), Locke attack with Hawk Eyes, Edgar his Chain Saw, and Cyan use Quadra Slam or Dispatch. Setzer use 7 Flush, Relm use her any of the elemental Rods (preferably Ice Rod, since Ice2 is SLIGHTLY stronger than Fire2 or Bolt2), and Strago use Step Mine (if you don't have that, cast Aqua Rake) Shadow should just throw whatever he feels, doesn't matter. If you can avoid Mind Blast (easily the most damaging move he has), and keep your HP up and damage him a lot, Atma Weapon will fall. Wait? How to deal with Quake? Ah, if you were wise, you'd have kept Gaia Gear on those who can use it. Oh, Wall Rings might prove useful in this fight too, so use those if you wish, its not needed, but it can help. Alright, with Atma Weapon gone, now just prepare for the "Escape the Floating Continent" scene. Basically, get your best Fire, Lightning and Pearl attacks ready, since Naughties are weak to that. Terra and Celes (the latter of whom your guaranteed to have soon anyway) should have White Dresses to optimize their offense. Locke can keep his Hawk Eye, since those Naughties Float. GP Rain actually will do some good damage here, so have Setzer equip a Coin Toss. #Escape from the Floating Continent# I'll go with this character by character, since its easier that way, but first, starting with Celes, since your guaranteed to have her: Celes: Smack him with Thunder Blade or Flame Saber. Either works, just choose one, or heck, choose both with Genji Glove if you must. If you fear the guys offense, cast Imp on them, to stop them from using annoying moves like Cold Dust or Blizzard, which waste more time. Now, for the others you are not guaranteed to have... Terra: Fire2. This should be a no brainer. 2 Earrings/Hero Rings are a good idea too Locke: Flame Saber, Thunder Blade, or Hawk Eye. Any of those work, just CHOOSE ONE! If your using the former two, use Front Row, or Dragoon Boots, so your damage doesn't get nerfed (Hawk Eye, do NOT equip Dragoon Boots. You want that 3x damage vs. Flying enemies) Genji Glove over dragoon boots isn't a bad idea either. Mog: Earth Blues, hope for Land Slides, no other comments otherwise Edgar: Chain Saw or Drill, whatever you feel more confident with. Should be obvious Sabin: Aura Bolts, or Genji Glove w/ Fire Knuckles + Kaiser, to do your best damage. Cyan: Dispatch, or if you feel bold, Quadra Slam. Do not attack with Tempest, the *****es are immune to wind. Gau: Use Aspik Rage, get lots of Giga Volts, watch them die... Setzer: GP Rain has a use, so take advantage of that! Bwahahaha! ...what? I can't laugh at how a normally worthless attack actually has use? Bah, you're no fun. Strago: Step Mine, Fire Rod/Thunder Rod smackings, whatever. Just do NOT USE AQUA RAKE! Those *****es are immune to BOTH elements (though, they need only be immune to one >_>), making you look like an idiot doing 0 damage to them. Whee, wasn't that fun? Relm: Thunder Rod or Fire Rod. Relm doesn't have many options, so its not hard to figure out what to do with her -_- Just hope the Level 2 spell kicks in... Well, now you should wait for Shadow. Why should you wait for Shadow? Oh come on, you DID NOT JUST ASK THAT! Fine, I'll give you a few reasons: A. Your being a nice guy, and don't want Shadow to die, which leaving now insures he will B. Shadow is useful in the WoR, you want to make use of him. A dead Shadow is not useful, a living one is useful. Waiting makes Shadow Live, leaving makes Shadow die. I think its obvious C. Shadow is just too uber l337 c00l pwnage and lokos so bad @$$ cause he's a ninja, w007!!1!1! D. You don't want to be forced to use Umaro OR Relm in the Final Level as your 12th character. Shadow will insure that you won't have to. Trust me on this. Even if you like Relm, she WILL suck by the end of the game in this setting. ...ok, Ignore C, but A, B, and D are all good reasons to wait for Shadow, especially B. Just wait for Shadow, you'll be thankful you did. Watch the world blow up, and thus, it's the end of the World! Yeah! Go have a snack or something, I dunno. *World of Ruins* #Solitary Island# Not much to say here, kill Cid, or save him, either way doesn't change a darn thing besides what plot scene happens, and whether or not you can meet Cid and here is useless "Thank you Celes" Dialogue scene. I'd go with killing him, only cause it's the faster route, and faster = you get back to the actual game sooner. Now, after leaving the Solitary Island, MAKE SURE YOU EQUIP CELES! Somehow, falling off the floating continent stripped her completely naked, and gave her the equipment of all her allies as well. Don't you just love RPG logic? Equip Celes however you see fit, shouldn't matter all that much, mind. I recommend against using Atma Weapon though. If Celes is level 26, she'll know Ice2 (given she is automatically raised to cast Average, there's a good chance she'll be that high) Albrook has nothing worth your time, so go straight to Tzen. Why? Sabin is there, Sabin is another ally, 2 characters is better than 1, unless you want more EXP faster. #Tzen# Alright, first off, equip Ribbon to defend against status attacks used in the house (well, I think only Stone is there, but Ribbon is just being safe), Equip Sprint shoes to run faster, equip White Dress, Mystery Veil and a Blizzard/Flame Sabre/Thunder Blade (or if you bothered to go out of your way all the way to Nikeah and upgrade Celes' equipment, then the Enhancer), that way, Celes' damage is optimized (you want to do things As Quickly as possible, which means you want to KILL KILL KILL! Priority over outlasting enemy strategy) There are several enemies weak to Ice, which is good for Celes, since that's her prime element (it's pretty obvious they wanted you to do this now.) Mind, don't be afraid to run if battles are kicking Celes' ass. Try and grab as many items in the house as well Got Sabin? Hurray! Now equip him, buy 2 Poison Knuckles (you'll see why later), and head to Mobliz, which is just a boss fight, so... %Phunbaba% Alright first off, have Terra kill herself, just to speed the game up, since its faster then letting him pound on her. That said... Equip Celes and Sabin with Wall Rings, those will protect against his lightning attacks. Genji Glove on Sabin w/ 2 Poison Knuckles should be nightmarish for the Poison weak enemy, especially if the random Poison castings kick in. Don't got Wall Rings? Well, just use a strategy of "Celes uses Runic, Sabin does everything else" Sound familiar? That's the generic strategy used on TunnelArmr, having more or less the same applications here. Oh, just beware of Blow Fish, so keep HP above 1000, otherwise, it WILL kill one of them, though, Fenix Down will fix that, it's just better if you can survive the attack. What should Celes do if you DO have Wall Ring? Attack him with whatever she has...as long as its NOT the Thunder Blade (he absorbs lightning) Mind, I'm probably making this fight sound harder than it is, so keep in mind, it's a fairly easy fight. Good job, you got Fenrir, which is useless! Mind, your beating Phunbaba here is not worthless, since you want to get Terra back later (Trust me, you do), and to get her back ASAP, you need to do this sequence ASAP, so yeah, don't think you just wasted your time. Alright, to speed things up, go the forest south of Mobliz, find the Chocobo Stable there, use it to go to Nikeah, since walking across the entire Serpant Trench is long, boring, and not rewarding (unless you need the money) #Nikeah# Don't bother buying anything here. Whatever you can get here will be available in South Figaro, which you are coming too next. It's a good idea to make sure you have 2 pairs of Running Shoes (you should too, given you find 2 in the WoB in chests (one in South Figaro, one in Zozo)) So just talk to Gerad, jump on the ship and, you're off too... #South Figaro# Alright, NOW upgrade on equipment. Now, you have only Celes and Sabin, right, so only upgrade equip with those two in mind, right? WRONG! See, you also want to keep Edgar in mind, since he joins in the beginning of the fight, and the game is nice enough to use "Optimum" on Edgar, so he starts the fight with weapons and armor (Shame no Relics though) So, let's go character by character, kind of a check list: Celes: Enhancer. This *IS* her best weapon until you get Ragnarok/Illumina, thanks to +7 to Magic Power, and +20% to M. block, though, it sucks on fight damage (by end game), but that's not why you use the Enhancer. Buy a Diamond Shield, which is just and upgrade from the Gold Shield. Diamond Helm sucks. Why? Equipping Diamond Helm over Mystery Veil (best WoB helmet for the girls) yields 3 more points of defense, which sounds nice, right? No, cause its hardly noticeable, and when you consider you lose 8 points of magic Defense, 3 points of Magic power, 1 point of speed (Well, you can ignore this one), and a whole 10% M. Block. Pretty bad Trade Off, if you ask me. Diamond Armor should be bought for Celes as well. Finally, a raw defense Armor is worth using! Diamond Armor's jump in defense increases is quite noticeable over Gaia Gear, and they are quite big a jump compared to White dress too. I suggest keeping that Gaia Gear (unless you have more than 4), since its still got some situational use (Read: Dirt Dragon), but sell the White Dress, reasons being you want the money, the defense loss is too much for a trade off of 5 points of Magic Power (compared to the WoB equipment, where the defenses were only marginally different), and Celes can get a really kick ass Armor soon, which renders the White Dress COMPLETELY useless (well, Diamond Armor also becomes useless too, for that matter, but it has Short Term use applications) What armor is that? You'll just have to wait, yes, I'm an evil bastard Sabin: Seeing as the only equipment upgrade he can get here is Diamond Vest, I suggest getting that. Better than Gaia Gear in everyway, besides the lack of Earth absorption. No real comment otherwise. Edgar Preparations: Alright, first off, excluding Atma Weapon and Drainer (ignored in the Optimum Command), try to make it so Edgar's strongest weapon (highest Battle Power, IOWs) in your Inventory is the Enhancer (meaning, no spears, basically, since Enhancer > all swords until then) You want Edgar to come automatically equipped with Enhancer, since Chain Saw still beats his Fight damage, and he can't even use Jump (which is still out damaged by his tools), so the Enhancers +20% to M. Block is far better than any other weapon as this point (the +7 to Magic Power is wasted on Edgar, raising the power of 2 of his weaker tools) For Helmets, do the same thing, only making sure that Bard's Hat and/or Green Beret are his (in terms of the Defense stat), since the M. Block/HP Boost will be more useful than the defense boost from Diamond Helm, let alone Bard Hat's higher magic defense. Likewise, Edgar wants the Diamond Armor, even more so than Celes, since his best armor before then was the Inferior in everyway Gold Armor. Done all that? Alright, go to South Figaro Cave in one of two ways: A. Take the long, dangerous path of about 20 steps (if that much) to the cave, fighting weak enemies along the way, just note that Latimeria in the forest use Magnitude 8 which COULD be painful, but that's why you go in there prepared with Gaia Gear, making it a healing spell (see? Told you those were still useful) B. Be an ass, and rent a Chocobo for that extremely short distance between South Figaro and the Cave #Figaro Cave# Doesn't matter which way you take, since well, you get there fine either way. The cave of South Figaro now is filled with fire weak enemies. Fire, weakness, something fire elemental should help. Darn we don't have Terra, nor do we have Gau or Shadow. Wait! We have Sabin, who has Fire Dance! Use that, and watch enemies die. Well, some will live, but you should be able to kill those easily. I suggest equipping a Ribbon on Sabin or Celes, since there are some status attacks used here (Mad Sickle causes Confusion), so you might as well avoid them. #Figaro Basement# More or less the same enemies here, use same strategies. Keep in mind that there is a Crystal Helm and Regal Crown here...you do NOT want these, at least not yet. Grab them on your way OUT of the place. Why? Those 2 things have higher defense than Green Beret and Bard's Hat, and you want Edgar to have either of those against the upcoming Boss fight, so just skip them for now. Those chests aren't going anywhere. %Tentacles% Alright, Wall Ring + Running Shoes on Celes and Sabin, and now either one of them can take this fight on solo (that's actually the strategy used in their SCCs, if your curious) Edgar can't get that level of preparation, though. Why Running shoes? The grabbing Sieze can only be used on characters under the Slow status (well they can, just their Attack script doesn't let them), which is caused by the special Sieze, and Entwine. Well, Running Shoes make you immune to Slow (which is more important than the Auto Haste gives, in this case), so Celes and Sabin won't ever be Siezed, which just about takes care of the hardest part of the fight. Wall Ring will protect against all their attacks besides their Physical. Edgar, sadly, can still get beaten down pretty badly, though; he can still be made of some use. One of the Tentacles can be hit with Instant Death, so if you luck out on Chain Saw, you can kill one instantly. 3 of them are Vulnerable to poison, so opening with Bio Blaster will help speed the battle up itself. As usual, Drill and Chain Saw are good sources of damage. Sabin should use Fire Dance (or Air Blade if he knows it) til only the One Tentacle remains (especially if it's the fire absorbing one), switch to Pummel or Aura Bolt (again, whatever is stronger) Celes should cast repeated Ice2s (she should know it by NOW) unless the only one remaining is the Ice absorbing one, in which case, start beating him to death. Extremely easy fight, as long as you prepared for it properly. Just, as usual, don't get too confident to the point where you just keep attacking even when your HP is reduced to near nothing, getting you killed. Obviously (This goes for all fights, of course), heal when your HP goes get low, though it shouldn't if set up properly, its not impossible. Now that you got Edgar back, grab the Soul Sabre (good replacement of Osmose, in this challenge, if you need an incentive to grab it, which means MP issues Terra and Celes may have becomes somewhat moot before Econimizers) Now you can grab the Crystal Helm (which you probably won't ever use), and the Regal Crown (also likely not to see much use), and continue on. Give Edgar whatever Relics you want, since he doesn't have any. Well, you don't HAVE to, but might as well, right? On your way out of Figaro, put Edgar in the front of your team, and grab a Debilitator at half price, if you didn't steal one earlier (and sell the Crystal Helm for quick cash while you're at it) You might be inclined to stock up on items with Edgar's discount, but I digress, you want money for equipment first. Before going to Kohlingen, actually, make a stop back at South Figaro. With Edgar as your lead, you can buy stuff at half price there, just like Figaro Castle (don't get a "I can't take money from the king" dialogue snipit, which might let you to believe otherwise) So what's so good about this? Well, any armor you can get in Kohlingen, you can get in South Figaro too (IOWs, Diamond class equipment), so grab a Diamond Shield and Diamond Armor there at half price, and if you don't have enough of them, buy another Bard's Hat (or Green Beret) Setzer is joining soon, and he can use all this stuff, and he wants them too. Might as well get it at half price, right? #Kohlingen# Alright, if you took my advice, you won't need to buy any Armor for Setzer here. If you didn't, buy a Diamond Armor and Diamond Shield here (at full price...) Keep Edgar with his Enhancer (his Tools are better than Jump, which should explain everything right there) What weapon for Setzer? Well, he'll primarily be using Slots, so it doesn't matter. Keep the following in mind: Lots of undead in Daryl's tomb, making Trump nigh useless (You'll be healing enemies there, instead of kill them...) Dice just suck. Do NOT listen to anybody who suggests a combo of Dice + Fixed Dice w/ Offering combo. No, Fixed Dice aren't bad (they beat the hell out of Setzer's other weapons), but Dice are a totally different story. Not only is their max damage kind of disappointing, the weapon is completely inconsistent. So between Dice and Trump, I'd go Dice, actually (if you must force him to have a weapon). If you can do his Slots constantly (7 Flush and Chocobop, at least), he shouldn't use his fight command at all, so it doesn't matter. It's cheaper than Trump, and despite sucking in damage, at least doesn't heal the enemies there. Basically, to be blunt, Setzer's weapon does not matter, he should be using Slots! Setzer's Fight Command = Crap, until he gets Fixed Dice. #Daryl's Tomb# Alright, I was going to say go to the coliseum, but first, lets go to Daryl's Tomb, and get some items first (mind, Coliseum is optional, just nice way to get some good equips early on, if you have patience) Alright, enemies here do not like Sabin's fire dance, since lots are weak to fire, or if one enemy lives, opt for Aura Bolt instead, since most are also weak to Pearl as well. Likewise, they won't very fond of Celes attacking with a Flame Sabre (or 2) Fenix Down or Revivifies can be used to kill just about every enemy here Mad Oscars, and I think one other, whose name eludes me (I believe its Ogor, but don't quote me on that) Grab the Crystal Mail, and give that to Edgar or Setzer, not Celes (you'll find out later), Genji Helmet and give that to whoever you want (I recommend not Celes again, since she benefits the least (one could argue Mystery Veil > Genji Helmet, actually)), or just keep it in your inventory if you prefer the Bard Hat's M. Block boost. Get the EXP Egg, and Czarina Gown. Now, you can either skip the next section, and just continue on with the game, or take a side trip the coliseum, which is where we are going next! Again, this is totally unnecessary, just makes life easier *COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY OPTIONAL! SKIP THIS IF YOU JUST WANT TO CONTINUE THE CHALLENGE!* #Colosseum# Alright, your wondering why you are here, right? A lot of the good stuff can't be gotten yet, why bother being here, correct? WRONG! There's actually a few nifty pieces of equipment you can get here. First off, make sure you save before entering a fight, since in case you lose, reset, and try again, so you don't lose the item, in case things mess up. Done that? Good. Keep in mind: Outside of being really lucky, I am NOT certain as to whether some of these fights are winnable or not, at this current point in the game. So don't start bashing me because you keep losing a fight. For fights I am certain are winnable, I'll note the strategies to beat them. Now, the best reward you can get here at this point in time, and probably the easiest to boot, is the Minerva. That's right, arguably the best armor in the game (Snow Muffler and Force Armor being its competition) can be gotten BEFORE the Falchon! What? Think I'm lying about the Minerva, with its +4 to Magic Power, immunity to 4 elements while halving the other 4, almost Genji Armor level defenses, +10% M. Block, and 25% MP Boost, being gotten this early and extremely easy? Well, that Czarina Gown you might think seems useful, but considering that: A. It's usable only by Relm, whose not in your team B. It's totally outclassed by Behemoth Suit, which chances are, you get BEFORE Relm, which is also usable by Relm (and its easy to get 2 of them anyway) C. It's used only by Relm, the character who you are likely to NEVER use, unless it's for purposes of raising characters equally, in this challenge Lets compare that to the Minerva, shall we? A. Used by Celes, who IS in your team B. Is arguably one of the best armors in the game, with all its benefits, only armor that matters (in comparison for these purposes), is the Force Armor, which you can't get yet, and is shared by 6 characters, Minerva is used by only 2 C. Elemental Resistances = Very useful, since a good deal of elemental resistance (namely the shields) is illegal in this challenge, let alone resistance/immunity to all 8 elements at once D. Is used by Terra, who is arguably your best character in this challenge. So, convinced it's a worthwhile trade off? I know I am. Anyways...what? You keep getting killed instantly by the Sky Base's opening "Doom" Spell? Don't get ahead of yourself, you can kill him with ONE piece of equipment: Wall Ring The guy can only use battle, and has 3 slots to use Doom (meaning 75% chance he'll cast it, and 25% chance he'll use Battle), so chances are, he'll use Doom by turn 2, if not turn 1. Doom will be reflected, and funny thing is, the guy himself is NOT immune to it. Thus, he kills himself (Doom should hit him more often than not), and you get this really nifty piece of armor, and you haven't even gotten the Falchon! What other worthwhile rewards can you get now, you ask? Well, betting a Charm Bangle, if you managed to get it from Gestahl, can be traded in for a Dragon Horn, which finally gives Edgar a reason to use a Spear (Dragoon Boots + Dragon Horn + Half Decent Spear = Edgar's best damage, most likely, and yes, this DOES include Genji Glove + Offering set up) Next, Genji Gloves and Gauntlets will yield Thunder Shlds. If you have a Gauntlet (since you probably got the Genji Glove, chances are you don't), bet that, since it's a bad relic, and the Vectagoyle is a lot easier to beat than the Hemophyte. Vectagoyle has Blaze (Fire), Giga Volt (Thunder), and Surge (Ice). Well, look at that, 3 elements the Minerva is immune to, meaning he's forced to use his physical. Obviously, Celes is your choice for that fight. Equip her with her best defensive stuff (your call between Genji Helmet and Mystery Veil), and either Enhancer (for the M. Block) or Drainer (for healing) Should be able to out last him. Hemophyte? He uses Shockwave, Pearl, and Cursed Gaze (Siezure status). Pearl can be dodged with Wall Ring, Cursed Gaze with Cure Ring (it gives Siezure immunity, so that with the Auto Regen make it a pretty good idea to equip), and Shock Wave with high M. Block and magic defense. Since Celes has the best M. Block, and defensive gear at this point, she's a good choice. So just fight him and hope you win. Should be doable, not sure if it's going to be easy though. What? Thunder Shield is a banned item? Oh yeah. So doing that is worthless, right? Wrong! Thunder Shield can be bet for the Genji Shield, which is the 2nd best Shield in terms of raw defense (not including Tortoise Shield on an Imp), along with giving +20% M. Block and a nice high Magic Defense score. Obviously, something you want. However, note that the enemy you fight isn't an easy one. Outsider is fast, and can likely kill you with X-zone before you do anything. However, there are ways to beat him, it just involves lots of luck. Basically, survive X-zone (either dodge via M. Block/Stamina or hope he doesn't cast it), and then hope you can kill him before he either X- zones you, or throws Shurikens, Tack Stars, whatever at you, which WILL kill your characters at this level. So...with that offense, speed, inability to get around his attacks, how would you beat him? Lucky for you, this is guy is vulnerable to Instant Death! What forms of instant death do you? Well, you have Chain Saw, but that's unreliable, due to being part of a skill set (which you can tweak via selling the other tools then rebuying them (just NEVER sell the Chain Saw, its one of a kind)) You do have Trump and Soul Saber though! Trump is probably best, since you just have Setzer go in there, and he will probably use his Fight Command (I forget if Slots can be used in the coliseum or not), and thus, you have a chance to win right there. Mind, its only a 1/4 chance for the ID, so its not insured, obviously, but if your patient enough, and don't mind constant resets, you'll eventually win. You can use Soul Saber, but its painful, just cause it involves some extra preparation, and just plain isn't worth it. You have the Trump, use it, it makes life easier! Betting Elixir will get you a rename card. To win this easily, I suggest using Edgar, equip him with Sniper Sight (the Cactrot can Beserk you, which can be a GOOD thing in the Colosseum, if you prepare properly. Against Cactrot w/ Sniper Sight, it probably is), and he just needs to hit the guy 3 times (any of those can be substituted by Autocrossbow, same results) or just get a successful Chain Saw or Drill will kill him instantly. To increase your chances of success, sell Noiseblaster and Debiltator, so Edgar has only offensive Tools, and is insured to hurt the guy (unless he uses Instant Death Chain Saw), since his Tools have perfect accuracy, which overrides perfect Evade, and Sniper Sight lets his physical do the same. What do with that Rename Card(s)? Bet it for a Marvel Shoes, the Relic that gives Auto Regen, Safe, Shell, and Haste! How to beat Doom Drgn? Alright, his attacks consist of Battle (basic physical), Fallen One (Kefka's trademark HP -> 1 attack), N. Cross (Causes Freeze status, 90% hit rate, 50% chance of actually targeting the enemy (odd, I know)), and S. Cross (Fire Elemental attack, a bit weaker than Fire3) Seems like a hard fight, right? Well, if you're doing this in order, you should already have a Minerva, and maybe a Genji Shield. Both of those will prove quite handy against him. Minerva will completely null out S. Cross, which is good since it means Fallen One becomes a bit less deadly, AND, S. Cross is beneficial in that it means one turn he's basically wasted when he could have used Fallen One, as well as it knocks you out of Freeze status if N. Cross hits (given how long Freeze lasts, this is not only good Gameplay wise, but sanity wise too) And given that Genji Shield and Minerva end game equipment, and you already have the Genji Helmet, Celes' defense is as high as its ever going to be in this challenge, nixing the Thornlet (bad!), and Genji Armor (not so much bad, just Minerva is better overall), and with shoving her in the back row, she should be able to take the physical hits with no problem. So that leaves Fallen One to deal with. There is no way around Fallen One besides hoping a character uses Jump the turn before Fallen One is cast, and that's not something to rely on. However, recall that Fallen One can't kill you, and with Minerva, his only lethal attack is his fight Command, which is blockable. Celes w/ Minerva, Enhancer, Genji Shield and Mystery Veil has 69% M. Block (over half the max!), and of course, relying on Celes to cast Cure whenever she's hit with Fallen One is a bad idea (as is hoping she uses Fight with a Drainer, so no, I didn't forget about that) Cure Ring should be your relic of choice in this fight, since it insures you'll always be healing from Fallen One, and that with Celes' Evade and Defenses, might be able to outdo the fight command's damage, especially considering he only has a 1/4 chance of using Fight, and he wastes turns using S. Cross. At that point, it comes down to luck, basically. If you want to increase your chances of success, throw on a White Cape, so Celes gets another 10% M. Block, and 5 more Defense. Again, this fight sounds harder than it is, as it's easily doable, but its far from 100% chance of victory, obviously. Granted, getting Marvel Shoes this early is a BIG help. Following the Marvel Shoes, you can get another Genji Helmet by betting the Regal Crown, which you fight an Opinicus (a fairly straight forward enemy, use Celes since she has the best equipment by far at this point, if you were smart and got the Minerva first) Mind, Genji Helmets aren't all they are cracked up to be, but they aren't useless either, so whether you think its worth bothering for is up to you. Lastly, you can actually get Genji Armors now (useful for Setzer and Edgar, Celes doesn't need it with her Minerva), though its pretty long and annoying, involving you to bet Tabby Suit, and Chocobo Suit, and keep betting what you win all the way til Nutkin, which becomes Genji Armor, and some of the enemies you fight are nasty, and might not be beatable as of now. Alright, finished your Colosseum Binge? Good, now that you have all this great stuff this early on, time to go continue the game. *END OF THE OPTIONAL COLOSSEUM SECTION, NOW BACK TO DARYL'S TOMB* After grabbing all the chests, make sure you save at the save point, since if you know this game, you'll know there's a monster in the box. So, yeah, just save. %Presenter% Alright, you can either try to cheese this out by just having Setzer use Trump and hope the instant Death kicks in, as well as trying a similar thing with Edgar and his Chain Saw, Celes with the Soul Sabre, or either character with the Break Blade (The guys vulnerable to instant death AND petrification) Or you can fight it normally involving the usual bashing his head plenty of times, knocking out all 9845 of his HP. Remember, he's weak to Fire, so Celes with a Flame Sabre is probably the best damage she's going to do, and Sabin's physical can rack up some decent damage (especially if you give one of them/both Genji Gloves and Atlas Armlets/Hero Rings) Remember, the Shell likes to counter when hit, though, your rewards for killing it AND the head (reducing both HP to Zero on the same turn) nets you *2* Dragon Claws, something Sabin might like (if you plan to give him a Genji Glove when he needs to apply Pearl Weakness, I guess, maybe...) Anyways, should you want to take out the shell, keep in mind he counters with Giga Volt, so if you got Celes' Minerva (explained in the Coloseum section previously), that'll be helpful. He also can cast Magnitude 8 in his shell, which is pretty painful, so Sabin and Setzer might want to equip Gaia Gear to absorb it (Celes will halve it with the Minerva, though she too can use Gaia Gear if you so please) Shouldn't be too hard if you stay focused and such. Give that dragon claw to Sabin. Why? I'm not going to dignify that question with a response -_- Anyway, grab the Man Eater, best give it to Setzer, since its better than the weapons he has now, what with all the undead running around, Dice being a crap weapon, and Man Eater giving +10% M. Block to boot, while Edgar and Celes are using Enhancers that are superior, seems like a logical idea (Why not Sabin? Maybe cause, I dunno, he can't use it!) %Dullahan% First and foremost, make sure you are prepared not to be hit with L? Pearl. What do I mean? I mean make sure the last digit of your GP is not a factor of your characters levels. Walking in with 13825 GP and being level 30 is just ASKING to be killed by him. Likewise, so...if you can get your characters all to prime number levels (levels divisible only by 1 and themselves), then you'll be immune to it unless your GP ends in a 1. I think if it ends in a 0, it can't hit you, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, just try and get it so as little of your characters can be hit with L? Pearl as possible. If worst comes to worst, walk back to Kolingen, then sell a few 1 GP items (Elixirs, X- potions, ethers, etc.) til you get the last digit to exactly what you want, then just run from the every fight, so your GP amount doesn't change. Alright, once you've gotten around L? Pearl, lets see what this guy has. Well, he has several Ice attacks, one being Absolute Zero which means Wall Rings can't save your ass entirely, he knows Pearl, he has a physical used only once he attacks directly, and he has Reflect ??? for characters that use Reflect, as well as of course L? Pearl. And he knows N. Cross too. Well, wouldn't you know it, Minerva Celes is immune to some of his most damaging attacks, halves Pearl, and...yeah, if you have the Minvera, its quite helpful here. But anyways, have Celes use Runic to dodge his more annoying attacks, Edgar use Chain Saw, Setzer use Slots or Fight, and act as a utility, and have Sabin equip Fire Knuckles (he's weak to Fire) and attack him physically (should do more than Fire Dance) If you want, try have Edgar get Debilitator to get him weak to Pearl (or Wind if you have Air Blade), so you can use Dragon Claw (which is a good deal stronger than Fire Knuckles), or use a stronger Blitz like Aura Bolt (or Air Blade) to apply better damage. Just keep your HP high, and just be careful of "Morning Star" (it's a move that, you know, doesn't ignore back row. Thought that little info might help you think of a way to take less damage), and Absolute Zero, you should be able to beat him. Or... You could just sit there, with a Wall Ring on one or more characters (if you have Minerva, Celes should be one of those characters), and wait for him to lose all his MP (he won't use Morning Star or Battle unless you physically attack him, so he'll be bombarding you with Nothing but Magic), with Wall Rings, the ONLY attack he has that can hurt you is Absolute Zero, and if you nabbed a Minerva, Celes is immune to that. Basically, just wait him out (he has less MP than you think, and casts high level expensive spells like Ice3 and Pearl, so it falls even faster), and he'll eventually run out of MP. When he has "Not enough MP" to cast spells, scan him, see how much MP he has (Celes SHOULD know Scan by now), and then keep casting scan (you could do this while he's busy nuking you with useless spells, to see how close you are to beating him) til Celes' Current MP subtracted from her Max MP is equal to or more than his MP, then smack him with the Soul Sabre. Remember, with Wall Ring he WILL cast Reflect???, which causes Silence, meaning Celes won't be able to cast Scan, so have a White Cape or Ribbon available if you plan on using this strategy. Now go get the Falchon, and yay! FF6's Linearity has just ceased to exist, and thus we start the REAL part of the WoR. Enjoy the Falchon coming out of the water, and the song Searching for Friends kicking and replacing "Dark World" as the overworld theme! At this point, you can do things in whatever order you feel, I'll just be suggesting things in the order I feel is best, but you don't have to follow it event by event. So if I suggest, say, doing Cyan's soul last, and you want to do it the instant you get Cyan (attempting it before Cyan is just plain moronic for a number of reasons), be my guest. Want to get the Moogle Charm ASAP for easier dungeons? Have a blast. See? So yeah, this is just my preferred way of doing things. I personally suggest going to Mobliz and getting Terra first. Well, ok, you can make a pit stop and grab Gau from the Veldt (to make room, go to Phoenix Cave or Kefka's Tower, and exit them instantly. It'll make you have a team of Setzer alone, then you can make a 3 person party from there), and frankly, I'm going to assume you get Gau whenever , since he's so easy to get, he doesn't deserve his own section. Grab Bum Rush if you want to as well, for obvious reasons. ANYWAY, as I said, probably good idea to get Terra, as she's your main healer and a prime damage dealer. #Mobliz# Here, it doesn't matter who you bring, though, I'll note that its probably a good idea to NOT give Celes the Minerva, so when Terra joins for the 2nd fight, she'll have it automatically equipped (unless you have a Genji Armor, so I suggest you do NOT have that in stock. You probably shouldn't either, though its possible), and thus, make the fight that much easier (it nulls out all his damage but Solar Plex and Blow Fish) Beyond that, just make sure you enter the fight without lightning damage as your primary offense... %Phunbaba% First fight isn't much. Just watch out for Blow Fish, as that might be strong enough to kill a character, so have Fenix Downs ready. If you have Gau, have him use some sort of Rage that nulls or absorbs Lightning, but does NOT use Lightning attacks itself (Rhinox is an example, which uses Life 3 to boot, so he covers some defenses too, if you don't mind the lack of offense) Sabin should spam Bum Rush, if you have it, otherwise Aura Bolt or Air Blade (depending on what level he is) if you don't, Celes can either Runic away his spells, or attack with Ice 2, and Edgar can opt for a Dragon Horn + Dragoon Boots strategy (if you got a Dragon Horn from the Coloseum Already), or just use Drill. Setzer should use Slots, unless you have Fixed Dice (I personally suggest waiting til you get Mog to get those), in which case, use that. Wall Rings help in this fight too, as they stop a bunch of his attacks, and they also let Celes not have to care about Runicing either (all of his Runicable stuff is also Reflectable) At end of fight, he'll knock away two characters as usual, and you'll get Terra. Now the fun begins. If you took my advice, Terra will be immune to lightning damage (I suggest Terra having the Minerva as she WILL be in your team for this fight, Celes has a 50% of not being there, so its risky) Have her Cast Fire 2, and the other character do what they were doing in the fight before. If you want to make him cry, Debilitator him til he's weak to Fire, and watch Terra dish out over 8000 damage. Not a hard fight at all, really, especially if you have the Minerva. After Phunbaba dies, if you don't have Gau, I HIGHLY recommend you get him now, especially since your team is automatically set to 3 people, so its not like your going out of your way to make a small party :P Anyway, getting Mog and the Moogle Charm is probably the next good idea (so you can raid Kefka's Tower and get all the goodies there early <_<) so its off to Narshe! #Narshe# Highly recommend you bring Terra here due to Cure 2, but again, it shouldn't matter much. I should note from now on, Terra and Celes likely should use no other weapon but Enhancer (UNLESS said weapon is Illumina or Ragnarok, of course), so assume that's stapled onto them. Narshe is fairly straight forward; enemies don't really hurl much that's dangerous at you, especially in an NMG (OH NOES! MUTE ON CHARACTERS WITHOUT MAGIC! Maybe they'll be lucky and hit Terra or Celes with it (or Gau in certain rages) <_<), though, do NOT use a Rage that has "Dies if MP = 0" on it here, as there are enemies with Rasp and Osmose, and those moves will one hit kill Gau, so just be careful. When you grab Mog and the Moogle Charm, head out of Narshe. At this point, it'd be a good idea to raid Kefka's Tower. Do NOT use any team other than the one with Mog in it, who should have the Moogle Charm, and make sure you do NOT go too far in path 3 or you'll be eating a fight with Inferno. When your done with that, now I'd suggest heading to get Cyan, since the rewards there are worth it and such #Mt. Zozo# After upgrading your equips in Miranda and Tzen (Crystal Shields, Circlets, and possibly the Crystal Mail and Dark Gear for those who need it), after that, head to Mt. Zozo. Why are we going here? Well, yes, Cyan might not be that stellar, but the rewards at Mt. Zozo absolutely rock, since you get the Red Cap, Aegis Shied (you should already have one from Kefka's Tower, mind, from a hidden room in Party 3 in the first conveyor belt room), and Force Armor. Suggested team? Terra and Celes since we're fighting Storm Dragon, and you'll want that Wind immunity from the Minerva (and they'll have high defenses due to Minerva + Crystal Shield + Enhancer + Mystery Veil overall). Gau since he's as usual a solid choice (Aspik Rage would be good for offense on the guy), and probably Sabin for raw offense. Mind, you can bring whoever you want, but that's just who I recommend. There really isn't much to watch out for here, just be sure to fight Lurdians so Gau can get that Rage (Earth Slide and such) later. Be sure to pick up the Gold Hairpin (without Osmose, that's an actually worthwhile Relic for Terra, Celes, Strago, and possibly Gogo), Red Cap, and Aegis Shield. Now its time to assault... %Storm Dragon% Yeah, no Thunder Shields being legal can be a pain on this guy, but that's why we have the Minerva girls to stop it :P Gau can either go defensively with a Rage that's immune to Wind and/or instant Death, while Sabin will just Bum Rush like crazy. Terra Morphing isn't a bad idea, as it lowers the damage from Rage, and be sure everyone's in the back row, as Wing Saber is quite painful (though, if you got a Snow Muffler already from doing the Veldt Cave ark, then Gau will laugh), unless hitting Terra or Celes (Minerva and Crystal shield does that) Terra should heal with Cure 2, and watch out for Cyclonic as it knocks your HP down to fatal levels, assuming it hits (Gau's ID immune Rage helps here, if you feel like using one) If you have Edgar, use Chain Saw or Drill, while Setzer should just toos Fixed Dice. Might take a while due to this guy's high 40k Hp for the time, but he should fall eventually. When Stormy is dead, claim that Force Armor and give it to whoever (recommend NOT Terra and Celes, as Minervas are overall more useful in this challenge due to limited elemental defenses), then just grab Cyan and head out. Probably good idea to do the Veldt Cave now, so... #Veldt Cave# Celes and Terra again are good options, though for different reasons (Terra being a healer, Celes...you'll find out why later), as is of course Gau. Whoever the 4th character is shouldn't matter, but Sabin's still in his prime, so he's probably best. This cave has some annoying enemies to be careful of, like Rhyos, though, the two girls and their Minervas will help soften up some of the pains here. When you get to... %Allo Ver% You can go about this two ways. Cheaply drop a Fenix Down or Revivify, or have Terra cast life on him, and he'll die...OR do it the legit way and fight him outright. Being undead, he's weak to Fire, so Terra should be using Fire 2. The guy likes Condemned, so an undead Rage on Gau (so long as you remember not to heal him) might not be a bad idea; Overmind or Vaporite work well (cast Elf Fire and Blaze respectively, and are Undead) Sabin Bum Rushes, Edgar Chain Saw or Drill, Cyan uses whatever Sword Tech your comfortable with (NOT EMPOWERER), and Setzer hurls fixed dice. He's dead, give Sabin those Tiger Fangs, and continue on. Don't miss the Striker so you can, you know, get Shadow later. Now its time for... %Sr. Behemoth% If you have Celes, this fights a joke. Cast Imp, and watch him struggle to kill you. Yes, he'll heal himself from the status here and there... but then just reapply the status. That's the first part of the fight. If you don't have Celes...just hit him with your best attacks, heal when necessary. If you have someone with a Wall Ring, he'll repeatedly try to remove it and fail with a weak physical, so that's an idea too. His second form...well, its undead, so you can be nasty and just hit him with a Fenix Down, Revivify or Life Spell. He's also vulnerable to Instant Death, so if you have Edgar, have him use Chain Saw until it connects (do NOT use Trump as that will just heal him), or have Mog use Dusk Requim Rage and Snare will get him (Cave In also works, if you're curious) Gau's Rhodox Rage (if you don't mind Killing him and reviving him to re apply his Rage) Works too. If you want to fight "Fairly"...well, he's weak to Fire and Pearl, so hit him with your strongest fire attacks (you don't have much in the Pearl Department), Bum Rush, what have you. Heal when necessary, and just watch out for Doom (if he reflects this off himself, he'll fully heal, so another thing to be careful about) Meteo might be threatening, so have a high M. Block character around just in case too (Edgar, Terra, and Celes are prime choices since they can use Enhancer, combined with Aegis Shield, Bard's Hat/Mystery Veil, and Minerva/Force Armor, they'll have some high M. Block) When Sr. Behemoth falls, you'll get sent to Thamasa, and just go grab Shadow as you normally would, he's an easy fight and such. Yay! Another high Offense Character! At this point, I suggest fighting on the Veldt til you get 3 more Behemoth Suits (you already have one) This won't take as long as you think, since when you fight one Sr. Behemoth on the Veldt, you'll not only have 100% chance of winning a Behemoth Suit, but also, the next fight is GUARANTEED to be an Sr. Behemoth too, so you get two in one run through right there. FURTHER MORE, if you fight that first set of Sr. Behemoth's, you are guaranteed at least one Sr. Behemoth per cycle! Once you get those, go the coloseum, and bet two of them for Snow Mufflers (one for Mog, and one for Gau) Easy way to beat the Outsider? Send Shadow in there with the Striker (Genji Glove and Assassin is a good idea) and hope the Instant Death kicks in. If it doesn't, reset and try again. Setzer and Trump works just as well, if you prefer that (don't worry about defense here, the guy uses Throw, so he'll laugh at any defensive set ups you send at him) With Snow Mufflers, Mog and Gau have all their Armors they'll need for the rest of the game. At this point, it's a good idea to start buying a bunch of throwing muninition for Shadow. Start with just 99 Ninja Stars since they're cost effective, then grab Falchions and elemental weapons for Shadow. The former is Shadow's best weapon for raw damage that he can get in Bulk (Tack Stars are a pain), and the latter just do massive damage when hitting weakness. With Snow Mufflers in tow, now its good idea to go back to Narshe... but first lets go to the Opera House and kick Dirt Dragon's but! %Dirt Dragon% Dirt Dragon uses a lot of Earth Attacks, so Cherub Downs are a good idea. Why not Gaia Gear? Those things leave you open to get your ass kicked by Horned Tusk, AND they don't provoke him into wasting turns using 50Gs either. If you must know, Mog w/ 255 Defense (Snow Muffler, Aegis Shield, and Genji Helm SHOULD let him hit that bench mark) in the Back Row with Snow Muffler is IMMUNE TO ALL HIS DAMAGE. Basically, if its not obvious use Mog. If you can get Gau's defense to 255, then he too can pull off a similar feat. Seeing as he can't hurt either, there...really isn't much of a strategy needed from here on in. Ok, have Shadow hurl his strongest Wind or Water elemental weapons (or Falchions/Ninja Stars if you have none. No, Water Edge probably doesn't count here), Edgar use Chain Saw, Terra and Celes cast spells, Sabin use Bum Rush, and Cyan use whatever Swordtech. Gau should use whatever Rage does most damage, and Mog...well, just have him Dance or something. Doesn't matter which, mind, since Mog can't die. #Narshe# Ok, not much to say here, just head for the hills (I don't mean this as a joke...I SWEAR!), and bring Terra, Celes, Gau and Mog, since you'll be fighting... %Ice Dragon% As his name implies, he just hurls a bunch of Ice spells at you. Well, Minerva and Snow Muffler make those spells worthless, so all you have to be careful of is his Freeze Status and his weak physical. From here on, just have Terra cast Fire Spells, Celes smack him with the Flame Saber (Since her own spells are worthless), Gau use some Fire elemental Rage, while Mog does whatever (probably Dragoon Combo on him is a prime idea at this point, since should be able to nab a Dragon Horn by now) Should you want to use anyone else...Edgar, Cyan and/or Setzer should have a Force Armor on for some Ice Protection, and use their best attacks, Sabin use Bum Rush, and Shadow hurl Flame Sabers. With Ice Dragon dead, you get a (worthless in this challenge) Force Shield. Pat yourself on the back or something since now you have only 5 dragons left ...or something...ok, I got nothing, just go kick some esper ass when you meet up with... %Tritoch% Guy likes to hurl Ice spells (duh?) and Rasp/Osmose at you. That...basically tells you this fight is a joke, especially when you consider his abysmal magic defense score which lets Terra dish out obscene damage to him. Shadow can do some massive damage by hurling Fire Skeans too (they hit Magic Defense), Gau should use a Fire Rage, Sabin use Bum Rush (even hitting weakness and the low magic defense, Fire Dance is STILL weaker), Celes attack with the Atma Weapon (his defensive is obscene, and she has nothing but Ice damage which doesn't work on him, so this is her only means of doing something that can be considered damage), Cyan use Dispatch or Stunner (if you have the latter anyway), NOT Quadra Slam (Slice is alright if you have it though), since that doesn't ignore defense and he'll laugh at that. Edgar should use Drill and Setzer use his Slots or Fixed Dice. Wall Rings, Minerva and Snow Mufflers make this fight an utter joke. With Tritoch dead, you now get a worthless Esper (unless you're playing a Pseudo NMG),and thus, now its time to get Umaro. Why? Because I said so and you want to get it out of the way. You don't? TRUST me, YOU DO! EVEN IF IT SERVES NO PURPOSE! MWAHAHAHAHAH! ...ok, sorry about that lets just get back to stuff that matters <_< I'm doing Umaro's section now only cause it fits, if you must know, and hence, another good reason to bring Mog to Narshe (if Snow Muffler single handedly beating Tritoch and Ice Dragon wasn't enough of a reason...) #Umaro's Cave# Yeah, not the name of the dungeon, but I seriously forgot what it is called, and this at least tells us what it is! So...what to do? First and foremost, White Capes and Ribbons are your friends. Enemies love to hurl Imp status at you, so you want to avoid that. If you don't have Imp Protection, Celes' Imp Spell and Green Cherries will be helpful here and such. I suggest NOT fighting the Pugs now, as they aren't exactly going to be friendly to you, and you don't get anything from them (you already have two Minervas). If you wish to beat them, come back later when you've got better equips, high levels, etc. As of now, lets just go beat up a certain yeti %Umaro% Absolute joke. If you want, hit him with Bio Blaster, and he'll be poison. Fire and Poison are his weaknesses, so it should be obvious what to do. Really, this fight is too pathetic to really go into depth, though, if I must, Terra cast Fire 2 (or Fire 3 if she's somehow learned that yet), Sabin use Bum Rush, Gau use his strongest fire Rage, Mog use some sort of dance, Cyan use whatever Sword Tech, Shadow throw Ninja Stars (don't waste expensive stuff on him), Celes smack him with the Flame Saber (he's immune to her Ice magic)...he's a very straight forward fight in general. Beat him, get him to join you, get the useless Terrato Esper in the mix and stuff, now lets go grab Gogo! #Zone Eater Cave# Why do we want Gogo now? Well, here's a few reasons: A. Gogo is useful in the NMG for a number of reasons, be it cause he can use Lores, Bum Rush for damage, or whatever, he's a decent character B. The rewards here are good, mainly the Red Jacket for Sabin a Genji Armor (if you don't have one already) for Shadow. You also get a Tack Star here, if that means anything. Enemies here hurl Zombie status, so protect your self with Ribbons and stuff, as well as Coverts like to use Wind Slash. Do NOT bring Shadow here; enemies here like to counter Throw with a Throw of their own which is not going to feel good, so I recommend against using him. Or you could cheese it out with the Moogle Charm ...but that goes without saying. Not surprisingly, Terra and Celes with their Minervas are useful as usual. Grab Gogo, leave this dungeon, give him the Tao Robe, and probably the Magus Rod, and lets get going! So who do we have left? Well, Relm, who nabs us Strago, and Locke who...gets us the useless Phoenix Esper. I say we go for Relm now, since Owzer's house is somewhat easier than the Phoenix Cave, and Strago is a lot more useful than the Phoenix Esper. More to Come... ------------ 7. More Tips ------------ Alright, a few things to think about in general throughout the game that might have later use and such. First off, Gau's Rages that are useful. You should try to keep up with this list. I'm not going into why Rages are useful, since it can get a nuisance, and such, but should people demand it, I'll post it in a later version: NOTE: This order is listed in the order I think of them, so until I can actually remember the order of appearance, just bare with it for now Aspik Stray Cat Templar Marshall Bomb Overmind Ing General Anguiform Chimera Hazer Retainer (even if Overrated, Shock is not a bad attack, being slightly better than a level 3, and Non elemental) Wooley Magic Urn Vectaur Luridan or Prussian (You can get both, but there generally isn't much of a reason too) More Rages likely to be added to that list in later Versions: Rages you should avoid and reasons why: Intangir: Alright, full Elemental Absorption, vanish, lots of positive status effects, and almost total status immune...wasted by the shear fact that this rage uses Pep Up. Balloon: Uses Exploder. That more or less explains everything here... Repo Man: See Balloon Night Shade: Well, ok, this Rage is great, but to keep the "Spirit" of the challenge, I recommend not using this Rage, since it will make bosses just a bit TOO easy. Use it if you want to, but just warning you this Rage = game becomes too easy Doom Drgn: Same thing as Night Shade, basically, only hits less often. NOTE: Again, there is no RULE against using the above rages, its just they either suck, or suck some of the fun out of the challenge. Use them if you want to, but just letting you know before hand. Next, build up Morph a bit. By this, I mean during anytime your going to gain skills, get GP, etc. I suggest bringing Terra (unless your going to level up, in which case, bring whoever you wish to Level), especially if its for Rage hunting. Terra is the only character who can consistently benefit from fights that don't give EXP. A prime example would be in the WoR, actually. Cactrots are a great source of GP that don't give any EXP (especially if you have Relm to double the amount of GP you get with her Cat Hood.) They also give 10 Magic Points which is normally useless. However, bring Terra there, you can make use of those Magic Points they give by building up her Morph Gauge. Morph will prove valuable for wrecking Bosses. Drill vs. Chain Saw. You'll notice that when I say have Edgar use a tool, I always say use one or the other. Well, how to know which is better? Well, its not that hard: If enemy is vulnerable to instant death, then use Chain Saw. Chain Saw is stronger (252 Battle Power compared to Drills 192), and should the non Damage Instant Death form kick in, then there's a good chance it'll kill them (in fact, the only way they will live is if the Stamina check saves their ass) Against an Instant Death Immune? Well, that ones a bit harder of a call. Chain Saw does more damage, but when it uses its Instant Death version, it's useless. I'd go with Drill, unless you really need the extra power. Why? Over 4 uses of the 2 Weapons, you get 3 Damage Chain Saws, and one Instant Death failure, or 4 Damage Drills. The 4 Drills will do more total damage than the 3 Chain Saws in damage. Now, you could get lucky and have nothing but damage Chain Saws, in which case, Chain Saw is better, but why play with Luck? Though, to be honest, it shouldn't matter all that much. The only time it matters is if the Chain Saw hates you, and keeps using its instant death, thus meaning lots of wasted Turns. Basically, Chain Saw is stronger of the two tools, but Drill is a safer bet. Either one works, just know the downside of using Chain Saw on an instant death immune. Get Bum Rush as soon as possible. Its Sabin's best selling point, and his best damage, this should be a pretty "Duh!" Statement. And another incentive, it gets Gogo's his best damage (besides maybe Imp Halberd throwing) too! Not a bad idea really. And related to that, Gogo is a better Bum Rusher than Sabin. In a normal game, Sabin has the advantages of Espers, so such the case is not necessary. However, in this game, Sabin's stuck with his 28 Magic Power. Gogo only has 26, but now lets look at this. Equipment plays a HUGE role in the stat. Keep in mind Bum Rush is magical, hence why we only care about Magic Power: NOTE: I'm ignoring the Circlet. Both characters can use it, so it shows nothing about either character, be it good or bad. I'm not bringing the Magus hat in either. Do you really think 1 point of Magic power is worth the lower defenses, and lower stat boosts? If that were the case, the White Dress MUST be better than Minerva, right? No, its not, thought so. So SHUT UP! Base Gogo: 26 Gogo after Magus Rod: 33 Gogo after Tao Robe: 38 Base Sabin: 28 Sabin after Tiger Fangs: 31 Sabin after Red Jacket: 32 Gogo has the 6 point lead in Magic Power to Sabin. However, Sabin DOES have higher speed (not that it means much) and Defense (this is noticeable however) Gogo, though, has higher M. Block that Sabin, even if Sabin uses 2 White/Zephyr Capes, Gogo will still have a slight Lead. Just to give you exact numbers: (Assume both using the same helmet, since its the same situation as the circlet. Same goes for Shields too, as well) Base Gogo: 6% Gogo w/ Magus Rod: 36% Gogo w/ Tao Robe: 46% Base Sabin: 4% Sabin...oh, it doesn't matter, none of his equips add to M. Block (armor or weapons anyway) Quite a big difference, isn't it? Both can also use 2 Earrings/Hero Rings, to augment their damage to best. So oddly, the "imposter" outdoes the Original, for once. Gogo is indeed better for Raw damaget than Sabin and with higher M. Block, he is arguably better defensivly to boot. Factor in the ability to use Lores (healing, if nothing else), Rages (lots of stupidly good Variety), Magic (w/ Terra or Celes in team), etc., Gogo is clearly the better option. Don't this discourage you from using Sabin. Level him up a bit at least so he can be useful in Kefka's Tower, just note that when you need someone for the shear sake of Damage (especially if its Bum Rush), Gogo is most likely the better option. More tips to come later... ----------------------------- 8. Frequently Asked Questions ----------------------------- This will be done in a Q and A type session, only cause its easier... Q. What is a Pseudo NMG? A. Basically its your typical NMG, but with a little catch to make it easier (and maybe more fun). Terra and Celes can use Espers to teach spells they learn naturally faster, similar to how Sabin learns Bum Rush from Duncan earlier than level 70 and all. Thus, you can Teach Terra Ultima via Ragnarok Esper or Paladin Shield, if you please, Celes Meteor via Crusader/Odin Esper, etc. Some might take this a step further and let characters equip Espers only for a battle where they level up, to make use of stat Bonuses. Basically, its not abusing the Magic system, but being able to take advantage of some of its benefits at the same time, kind of. Q. What other challenges are there in FF6? A. Well, there's the "Low Level Game" (LLG) which is basically beating the game at as low a level as possible. There's the "Single Character Challenge" (SCC) where, whenever possible, you play the entire game through with one character, and it uses lots of NMG like rules to change them from each being "Teach character Ultima, and spam it to hell!" Some people have tried a No Equipment Game, but I haven't heard of their progress on it. There's the "Celes Edgar Setzer" challenge (CES) which is basically playing the WoR without getting any characters besides the ones you are forced to get (namely, Celes, Edgar, and Setzer, hence the name of the challenge) Q. Why are you so hard on Relm and Locke? I actually like them! A. Well, in a normal game, their flaws aren't so apparent, since you can give them magic and/or stat boosts. However, in an NMG, they will lag noticeably. Locke really does lack any decent form of damage until Hawk Eyes, and once he get those, his damage is just too inconsistent to rely on, your better off using someone like Edgar. Steal also have very limited uses. In the WoRs, though, this becomes less of a problem, when he gets the Valiant Knife, making his damage somewhat better, both consistently, and in general, and the Offering helps make him do more damage too. In a normal game, you could give Locke spells early on, given he's forced into the Magitek Factory sequence, so he has a head start on some other characters, kind of, and while his Magic Power is low, its still a nice boost in damage. Relm is the same idea. Normally, you'd give her spells quickly, and she becomes quite a magical Powerhouse with her game's highest starting Magic Power and best Magic Boosting equips, but...well, think about how good a Mage w/out Magic would be? Yes, not very useful. And Sketch...is never something really to Rely on. Heck, its so random as to its effects. Sure, enemies always produce the same 2 attacks when Sketched, but unless you know exactly what each sketch does, things can be messy. How random can sketches be? Sketching Ice Dragon casts Fire3! So it's really these 2 characters were quite reliant on the Esper system more than the others. Every other character makes due some other way: Terra has her equipment options and Morph around, and gets Fire2 not too late either. Edgar has his tools, Mog his dances, both of said characters have Spears for the Dragoon Boots + Dragon Horn combo later on. Gau's Rages haven't lost any use, actually gotten better, Sabin's Blitzes also got a slight boost too, given that no magic means less offense, and all Sabin really had was his offense. Same with Setzer and his Slots, and later, he gets Fixed Dice. Strago's Lores are also more useful in that they no longer completely hindered by being in competition with Magic Skillset, which tended to outdo it in almost everyway. Gogo...should go w/out saying, Umaro sucks as usual, and Cyan at least has the Tempest and good early game damage (even if totally outclassed by Edgar and Sabin) with Dispatch. Celes ends up just being inferior to Terra, I'll admit, though she's not a bad choice, just its hard to find a use for her that Terra can't do better (well, applying Ice damage I guess...) Use Relm and Locke if you want, but I'm just warning you that you are making your life harder. Q1. Who should I use for the Fanatics Tower? I don' have magic! Q2. How do I have Gogo use Magic in the Fanatics Tower, I gave him magic and Item, but he has only Mimic and Item, WHAT IS THIS! A. Alright, until I get that far in the Walk through, I'll just make my own section here (this appears a lot of times on the boards) First off, the team you should use is fairly obvious, but I'll list them anyway: Terra: She knows magic. Obvious use here. She's in. Celes: Basically, the same reason as Terra, also in. Gogo: Mimic can be used in the Fanatics Tower, meaning he right there can do more than allies. He can use Magic too, with Terra AND Celes in your team. But do NOT give him Magic. This is where people go wrong. Fanatics Tower erases any skillset that's not Item, Mimic, or Fight/Jump. Why can't you use Fight/Jump? Well, that's the thing, the game turns Fight/Jump into Magic. So, just give Gogo the Fight command, hurrah! He can use Magic like normal! Yes, its weird, and messed up, but if it works, its all good, right? Umaro: Alright, usually, people who say "Use Umaro!" in the Fanatics Tower are just thinking this cause he can use Fight, which is usually not a good idea there (enemies have high Defense...). In this case, however, given that Umaro can do something, and the other 10 characters can't do squat (besides throw items randomly), Umaro becomes all of a sudden a useful character here! So yeah, the other 10 characters can use item, and nothing else. They lack any form of offense, are will just be sitting their twiddling their thumbs while you could have taken the (adult) Girls who can be blasting things left and right, Gogo to aide in that, and have Umaro SMASH puny Fanatic Tower enemies. Q. Is there a faster way to beat Magi Master than just waiting his MP out? A. Yes, there is. There are a few ways. First off, you could just try some random arbitrary luck, and pray you go that summon Palidoor using a "Magicite" item when he's on Low HP, but the chances are incredibly against you, I wouldn't count on it. Otherwise, you need to be creative. Makes sure you have the soul Saber, and in some cases, a Merit Award. Situation A: Give Gogo a Heal Rod, and give Terra (or Celes) Genji Glove, and Safety Bit (protect against his "Death" Spell) Have Terra equipped with Rune Edge (weakest MP Critical Weapon) in first hand, and Soul Sabre in the 2nd. Do NOT have a Wall Ring on her, you'll see why Later. Give her the Minerva for insurance. Now, why use Genji Glove in the Fanatics Tower? Stupidest Idea you've ever heard? Well, no, see, Celes has a move called "Beserk" which will let you make the target go Beserk! Now, before doing anything, a wise idea would be to kill Umaro off, be it through something like Breaking a Pearl Rod on him, having Magi Master kill him with Doom, what have you. Just make Sure Umaro Dies, since Umaro living might kill the Magi Master by accident. Another good idea is to have Terra (hence why I suggested her over Celes) keep using Cure2 or whatever til she's out of MP. Yes, you heard me, just do it. Now, have Celes cast Beserk on Terra (or herself if you chose her). Terra will attack with Rune Edge and Soul Saber each turn! Now, Soul Saber's MP Draining is restricted to your MP loss, so normally, this would stop working eventually. However, the Rune Edge says differently. Since it uses MP to get critical hits, it'll insure Terra (or Celes) loses MP EVERYTURN! Thus, you can shave off a bit extra MP besides the 53 or less he does everyturn by casting spells. Now have Gogo mimic Terra (just have Celes skip turns), and he'll smack Magimaster with a Heal Rod. Why do this? So Terra doesn't accidently kill the guy with her weak ass physicals (Weak ass cause of her Weapon combined with his Defense...), thus prompting him to use Ultima, which nukes your party, and you just wasted your time, great job! Situation B: Give Gogo Merit Award, and Wall Ring (to protect against everything he'll throw at you) Have Umaro dead at the beginning of fight, preferably, and have Terra and Celes just skip their turns (DO NOT USE DEFEND!) Have Gogo continually switch between the Rune Edge (or Punisher, if you wish) til his MP is low, Soul Sabre to rasp that away, then Heal Rod to heal any damage He might have done to the guy. Keep having Gogo use Mimic (this is why Terra and Celes can't do a single thing) and after plenty of smackings, you'll have just gotten his MP down. There are probably otherways to use the Soul Sabre to your advantage, but those are just examples. Basically, it involves using either Gogo's Mimic Command w/ Merit Award, or Celes' Beserk, both using Soul Saber. Just get his MP to below 80, and you'll have won. Q. What spells, and at what levels, do Terra and Celes learn their magic naturally? A. Alright, I feel stupid for not putting this in the original version, so, yeah, its logical it should go somewhere, so I'll just put it here. And cause I'm nice, I'll asterisk the ones that are useful in general (Which means anything gotten above level 50 is generally not useful, given its too high to get, hence why I'm not noting Ultima for Terra or Meteor for Celes...), as well as quick overviews Terra: *Cure: Level 1 (given she starts at level 3) *Fire: Level 3 (See above) Antdot: Level 6 *Drain: Level 12 *Life: Level 18 *Fire2: Level 22 Warp: Level 26 *Cure2: Level 33 Dispel: Level 37 *Fire3: Level 43 *Life2: Level 49 Pearl: Level 57 Break: Level 68 Quartr: Level 75 Merton: Level 86 Ultima: Level 99 Overview of Skill set: Alright, you should know what Terra's like early on. Later, she gets Life, which is handy, but Fenix Downs make it less so. When she gets Fire2, she'll be a lot more useful, given she now has good offense (Just hope the enemy doesn't null/absorb Fire) Cure2, however, is probably her most used spell. She'll become quite a powerhouse when she gets Fire3, and if you get Life2, all that much better. Pearl would be helpful if gotten earlier, and obviously, so would have Ultima. Merton though sucks in an NMG, given you can't use Flame shields or Paladin Shields (means only Umaro, and Gau/Gogo using proper Rages can benefit) Oh, and Drain makes her a pain to kill, so its good for Bosses. Celes: *Ice: Level 1 (Given the lowest she can start is level 5...) *Cure: Level 4 (see above) Antdot: Level 8 *Imp: Level 13 Scan: Level 18 *Safe: Level 22 *Ice2: Level 26 *Haste: Level 32 Muddle: Level 32 Beserk: Level 40 *Ice3: Level 42 Vanish: Level 48 Haste2: Level 52 Pearl: Level 72 Flare: Level 81 Meteor: Level 98 Overview of Skill set: A bit disappointing compared to Terra's, in general, but not totally worthless. Ice2 gives her an offensive punch, though she learns it 4 levels after Terra learns Fire2. Plus side is she learns Ice3 one level BEFORE Terra learns Fire3, so she has quicker access to her best damage. Most of her skill set is support, as you can see, and it's a shame Flare is gotten so late. Also, her best healing spell being Cure = Not good, obviously. Not bad, really, but still kind of disappointing. ---------- 9. Credits ---------- Ok, first, I'd like to thank Squaresoft for making such a great game. Even after 8 years, people are still playing it and considering it along with the greats of now. Next, I'd like to thank CjayC for creating Gamefaqs, and putting my FAQ up there. I give my regards to Grefter, Zelgaddis (did I spell that right?), NeoElfBoy, and SageAcrin for looking over a few things I randomly Copy and Pasted them, and for their support. Also, thanks to Gourry who did quick read through of my Guide and helped make the grammer a bit better. If there's anybody I'm missing, well, I thank you too, and should I have forgotten you and you want to see your name here (and you think you actually DESERVE IT), then you can yell at me by IMing, E-mailing, what have you. Well, I hope this FAQ helped you out on one of the most basic of challenges in FF6. Hopefully, you'll look at some characters with different light than you did your first time through, and you'll get a better feeling for some abilities, skills, etc. that you didn't normally use when you were just spamming Ultimas. Well, basically, I just hope this guide was helpful. Should there be a problem, again, E- mail me at my addresses listed above in the first paragraph or so, and tell me your complaints (by that, I mean constructive ones), requests, personal strategies, questions, etc. I will NOT respond to out right flames or just someone going on about how my FAQ sucks. I will only respond to E-mails that show signs of intelligence, and are clearly there for benevolent reasons. This is Meeple Lard, saying good bye, and good luck in the future. Keep a heads up for the updates, as they'll be coming around every now and then.