Final Fantasy 3/6j Single Character Challenge FAQ Meeple Lard Date: 7/11/05 Version: 4.0 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 SCC 5. Characters and all that stuff 6. Mini Walkthrough 7. More tips 8. Frequently Asked Questions 9. Credits FAQ History: Version 0.1: -Guide's First Creation, not much to say. Version 0.2: -Started the Walkthrough -Made some Grammatical Corrections -Added the Myth about Morph in the Terra part of Section 5. Version 0.3: -Grammatical Corrections here and there -A few mistakes made earlier fixed -Some other arbitrary changes -Added Rule 11 to the SCC -Changed some Boss Fight strategies -Added in a new tip for Gau (about rages NOT to use) Version 0.4: -Changed Rule 11 -Changed Some tips for the Sealed Cave -Continued on the Walkthrough -Added some more tips in section 7 -Added a bit to the Frequently asked Questions -Changed a bit of Info about Locke Version 0.5: -Huge Grammar Upgrade, thanks to some outside help (don't worry, you get Credit later in FAQ) -Continued Walkthrough -Added the point about Cold Dust in the Escape from Floating Continent Version 0.6: -Deleted the strategy Shadow Edge against Dadaluma (learned Throw ignores Image status, so yeah, its important) -Updated Walkthrough some more -Added a few more questions and answers in section 8 Version 0.7: -Added the spell list for Terra and Celes -Added the strategy on how to beat Atma Weapon easily in Section 7 -continuted Walkthrough Version 0.8: -Added another comment to Celes' Physical prowess -Added some more Questions in section 8 -Continued Walkthrough a bit -Redid Edgar's Strategies for beating Tentacles -Changed some strategies for beating Atma Weapon with Edgar and Cyan -Added comment about Marvel Shoes in WoB Version 0.9: -Continued Walkthrough -Made some Grammer Corrections Version 1.0: -Continued Walkthrough -Added True Gogo SCC and info about it -Changed a few strategies -Removed the Flame Shld Strategy -Edited some clauses on equipment -Added some more Q and A Version 2.0: -Continued the Walkthrough Version 2.5 -Some grammatical and layout fixes -Continued the Walkthrough -Made some random corrections here and there Version 3.0: -Finished the Walkthrough, every boss and section of the game has a strategy for every character. FAQ is essentially "Complete" besides the random odds and ends that may come up later. Some grammar changes made here and there, as well as a few random content changes that are negligible. 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 ------------------------------ 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 -------------------------------------------- If the name of the FAQ didn't give it away, then this is the right place to go if you wish to learn about what this FAQ is about. Anyway, the Single Character Challenge (or SCC as it will be called from now on, for simplistic purposes) is, as the name implies, playing the game all the way through using only ONE character. Basically, before you play, decide which Character that's going to be, and then play the game using only them. Where did I come up with this idea? Well, I was assessing all the characters, and thought "Hmmm...I wonder how each character would stand on their own using normal, maybe a bit above average, end game levels?" Also, having done many SCCs in Seiken Densetsu 3, I decided I'd give it a shot, with at least one Character. Basically, the point of the SCC is to TRULY show the characters strengths and weaknesses. I notice a lot of people on the Message Boards tend to like certain characters only cause they have one cool attack. The question is, can one attack really be THAT good to merit a character being great? Well, of course, it depends on the attack. Sure, if it's some attack that does High Damage and Heals the Character a lot for little costs, then perhaps you got something going, but if it's just some powerful attack gotten late in the game, chances are that character is going to need some other forms of support. Please Note that I am NOT certain if all SCCs are possible. Some of them definitely are, while others I am not quite sure. As far as things can appear, all SCCs with the exception of Umaro can be done in (relative) entirety. Basically, point is that when you can, play as that one character Solo the entire game (remember, some points you can't use that character, but I'll get to that later), and try to get by using only what they have. Now, onto the exact Rules! ------------------------- 3. Rules of the Challenge ------------------------- This section describes the rules and such to follow an SCC. Why do we need rules besides the general "Play as One Character" Rule. Well, for starters, when you think about it, is it REALLY a challenge when all characters have access to everything normally? Every Character can, more or less, just blast through the game if you teach them Ultima, Cure3, Osmose, etc. Not much of a challenge is it when all your characters do 9999 and can completely heal themselves w/out much problem? Nor does is it really make any SCC really different from the last, especially once you reach the World of Ruin. So, thus, there are a few extra rules besides the obvious one. These rules are subject to change in later versions. These rules are also taking into account you're playing an UNPATCHED version of the game. Also, I realize some item names were changed from the SNES version to the FFA version, so in case you're curious, I'm using the SNES names, since I am A LOT more familiar with them. 1. Obviously, as has been stated before and is quite obvious by the Challenge's name, you choose ONE character only, and play as that character throughout the entire game alone. This includes all the Side Quests in the WoR. However, due some relatively Obvious reasons, if you're not playing as Terra or Celes, you don't have to do the Fanatics Tower (unless you want to go to hell and beyond) Also, due to the sheer boredomness (if that is a word) and mass amount of Patience involved, Terra and Celes don't HAVE to fight the Magi Master (Simply, don't get the Gem Box, I know it sounds hard to give up, but believe me, you won't need it), so get to the top floor, and go back down. 2. Espers and Magic Teaching Equipment are FORBIDDEN! That's right, this isn't just an SCC, but it's also a Natural Magic Game (NMG) as well. However, unlike a normal natural magic game, there is some leeway involved. Terra and Celes are both learning spells upwards to level 99 and level 98 respectively. Obviously, leveling up this far just to get their best spells wouldn't be quite so fun, or worth it (Considering you're already probably doing 9999 as it is), now would it? For that reason, I'm allowing Terra and Celes to use Espers/Spell Teaching Equipment to learn spells they normally learn naturally at earlier Levels. However, they can NOT use the equipment beyond teaching the spell. So for example, while you could use the Paladin Shld to teach Terra Ultima, it is illegal to keep it on her for anytime Longer than actually teaching it. In Fact, if you DO equip it for teaching Ultima, then you may ONLY equip it on a "Learning Ultima Side trip" or something, not during the Main quest. Same goes for Celes, and Gogo as well (might bend the rules for True Gogo, though) NOTE: Some spells that they don't normally learn will also be taught to them as well. This is unavoidable in some cases, like Trying to Teach Terra Break (a spell she learns naturally) Shoat teaches it at a rate of x5, fine, use it if you please. HOWEVER, understand that Shoat Also teaches Bio at a rate of x8, meaning she WILL learn Bio if you teach Break in this fashion, a spell she normally doesn't learn. If this is the case, just refrain from using the spell altogether, so in this case, Terra may know Bio, but act as if it's not there. 3. Related to the above Rule, due to the fact you're encouraged to do all parts of the game, there is one part that, by law, is SCC impossible to do Fairly. That boss is Wrexsoul. It would be a shame to have to ignore a pretty big dungeon thanks to one impossible Boss. For that sake, you can do one of 2 things. Either teach that Character X-zone, and then, just use it then, and ONLY then (in other words, they should only learn X-zone for that occasion), OR you can fight the battle normally, with all 3 characters. I'd go with the Former, since it's easier, takes less time, chances are your other characters aren't developed (you've been leveling up only one, for crying out loud), and you're STILL beating him solo, but you get the point. Besides this fight, all other fights are conceivable to do solo. Just the nature of the Wrexsoul fight makes it impossible. NOTE: if there is some weird exception that when he possesses the last living Character on the team, and that you only need to bring them down to NEAR Fatal, then disregard this rule altogether, however, I don't believe such a case exists. 4. There WILL be parts of the game when you can't do the SCC, such as before you get Such character, or certain Character leaves temporarily *Glares at the Shadow SCC* in that case, try to play the game normally, and try to refrain from using Espers as well. If things get too hard (say, you're way too under leveled with those characters since you've been using only one. I realize that's happened in LLGs, so that shouldn't be the case. If it is, just refer to an LLG FAQ for tips), then I guess either level up (try not to surpass the SCC character, so they don't get any free levels), or you can use Espers, but not too excessively. Basically, if you can't use the character, then play the game normally. So in, say, a Celes SCC, the part of the when she leaves right after the Magitek Factory, you are to play the game normally up until after the whole Thamasa Sequence, which is when she rejoins; after that, it goes back in progress. 5. There is no rule about having fun. I don't believe in them; you do a challenge because you want to. You don't HAVE to have fun doing it. Thus, there technically is no rule 5. You don't HAVE to be obliged to have fun. So don't feel pressured :P 6. Obviously, glitches and Game Shark are not allowed. Though, I guess Psycho Cyan CAN be allowed if it's solely for the purpose of getting back to your SCC from your current Stall Point (explained later) ASAP, but no, a Relm SCC is NOT allowed to do the Relm Sketch Glitch to get a whole lot of ultimate Equipment early on, or any SCC for that matter -_- 7. Try to refrain from using Elemental Rods as items. These things pack quite the punch, yes, but since any character can do them, and they are powerful, it kind of defeats the purpose. However, you can use Rods you've found in a chest, so if you can have Locke in his SCC against Flame Eater use ONE Ice Rod since there is one found in a chest prior to that. However, any other Ice Rods used after that is forbidden. I'm on the fence about Rods found in battles, seeing as yes, they weren't just bought, and you found them, on the other hand, someone CAN try to abuse this, and fight a lot of battles till they have enough rods. I'm leaning towards No, but have not yet fully decided. For the same reason, Super Balls should also be disused. However, if it's a Shadow (or Gogo) SCC, and you're buying a crap load of weapons for the sheer purpose of THROWING them, then you CAN stock up on Rods in that way. Using them as items are forbidden if you buy them, but using them as blunt objects for Shadow to impale his enemies with (does that even make any sense?) is a different story. Also, try to avoid using Elemental Shields too. I'm not saying they aren't allowed (There are only so many in the game), but they are pretty darn powerful, and if anything, be used as a last resort. Elemental Shields, if you didn't know already, cast level 3 Magic that ignores Defenses, and does the best potential damage it can possibly do (Same as with Rods and their respective spells (IE Fire Rod does Fire2 which ignores Defenses and Random Damage)) 8. The SCC should be done at level below 60, preferably 50 max, but I'll allow Leeway up to level 60. If for some characters, you can't seem to do it every way you've tried with a certain character (possible in a case like Relm...), and the only way to win seems to level Up, then I GUESS you can do so, but otherwise, think of the Level limit as 60. I know it sounds pretty high, but remember, you ARE using one character; that means s/he gets 4x EXP, and that means they level up pretty darn quickly (don't be surprised to see "Setzer has gained a Level" every 3 battles in a Setzer SCC; that's how much faster leveling up will be in some parts of the game). If you think you're getting too high leveled, remember, there always is the option of Running away to avoid getting EXP. 9. Try to avoid being overly cheap. I purposely avoid getting Illumina in an SCC since, well, it's a REALLY powerful Weapon in so many ways. That's just an example. Try to avoid getting those 128% M. Block Set ups as well. This is more a personal Rule I follow; you don't have to do it, but it adds to the enjoyment of the quest. Also, though I said I don't use Illumina, I never said anything about using Ragnorak :P (obviously, the sword, NOT the Esper, unless its for Teaching Terra Ultima in her SCC) 10. Remember, this is about beating the game using abilities that are unique to the characters. That also means using Equipment only they can use. Thus, for this reason, the Merit Award is excluded. Come on, how different can SCCs be when all characters are now immune to anything blockable due to obscene M. Block? 11. Battle Speed Should be set no higher than 3. Originally, I said you should use Battle Speed 1, but then it occurred to me that the game starts at Battle Speed 3 as a default (courtesy of NeoElfboy). Well, I also discovered Enemies are a bit too difficult at Battle Speed 1 in some SCCs (I'm talking double turning LOCKE, the game's fastest character). So it make things easier, I'll let you choose between Battle Speed 1 to 3; only go higher (numerically speaking) if you find things are too difficult. Well, that about wraps up the rules. --------------------------- 4. General Tips for the SCC --------------------------- This section is just giving Tips that will help pretty much all SCCs and such. So, don't think these strategies are intended for Edgar, and you're doing his Brother Sabin's SCC, and thus, they are null, as they SHOULD be helpful for pretty much all characters. -You're using ONE character; make sure you choose wisely. Don't use a character that you don't know the ups and downs of, or don't use a character just because "they are cool." Do one you feel is possible and within your power. -Ribbons are your friends. Nothing is worse than having one character getting continuously spammed with dangerous Status effects, especially if that Status effect happens to be Stone or Zombie. -Remember, you CAN smack your allies. If you have access to your SCC character, but you are forced to use others in the process (Floating Continent for example: you MUST use 3 characters there, otherwise, Setzer yells at you), then just help the enemies kill them off one by one, and then kill the enemies. Remember, just because you have allies doesn't mean you can't do things solo; playing with 1 live character and 3 wounded ones is the same as playing with a party of 1 living character. -Sleeping Bags are as good as tents. Face it, if you have only one character, what good will a Tent do that a Sleeping Bag won't? Also, it's encouraged NOT to use a tent, as if you're in one of those "Forced to use Member" situations, where you kill your characters, you'll accidentally resurrect them, thus meaning you gotta go back to your Treacherous ways of killing your comrades. -Safety Bits are your friends, as is the Memento Ring for those who can use it. Instant Death is not fun in general, but it's Game Over in an SCC, for the most part. Rather than praying for it to fail, just use a Safety Bit and avoid the whole mess altogether. -Evade is useless. Remember this; equipping something for its Evade means you're being stupid. Likewise, M. Block is one of your best friends. Cherish M. Block, get to know M. Block, maybe even Love it...ok, don't go that far, but basically, when equipping things, if they raise M. Block, that's a good idea to equip them. No, I'm not being hypocritical towards the rule I said don't use 128% M. Block. There's a fine Line between High M. Block and 128%. See, having 87% M. Block means your character is hard to kill, having 128% M. Block means they are near invincible. Quite a difference, isn't it? Also, this is NOT against the Bug Abuse Rule either. The Evade Bug is in all unpatched versions of FF6, and the Relm Sketch Bug is not, just to give you an idea. Many other challenges have accepted the Evade Bug as simply something to deal with, and play as if it's normal (even though it's not), and this Challenge will be no exception. -For the sake of your sanity (Which is an overrated Concept as it is...), don't even bother trying the Umaro SCC. It's just, well, more like watching the game play itself, and healing after battles, and in some cases, I don't even think it's possible. Even at level 99, things don't see to be going too good for Umaro. -Get your character's best equipment ASAP. If it involves giving something else up that's NORMALLY useful, don't worry, since you have ONE character, if that useful thing was for ANOTHER character, is it really going to change things? -Make sure you have a few items reserved for those few areas you are required to play normally. This is pretty much more of a no-brainer than anything thing else. -Let's see, you should have made friends with the Ribbon, Safety Bit (or Memento Ring), and M. Block. That's still not enough; learn to like Elemental Protection, especially Nulling and Absorbing them. Nothing can be more satisfying than watching the enemy successfully attack you, but instead of being hurt, you either see Green Numbers, or a Big Fat 0 on your character :P -Keep characters in the back row. Most characters have ways of attacking long range anyway, so taking 1/2 damage is a nice commodity. If you find your best method of fighting is using the "Fight" command, then in that case, it MIGHT be better to fight head on. -Moogle Charm. This is useful in all SCCs, besides the Mog one. Why? Well, in Phoenix Cave AND in Kefka's Tower, you need to split into groups. Well, instead of having to play normally with one Group, that's totally underdeveloped and sucks, why not just use the Moogle Charm on Mog, and avoid enemies altogether? For Kefka's Tower, this will solve one team's Problem, your best bet is to take somebody who can get the 128% M. Block limit easily, and muscle through the rest of the Tower, running when they can (that's a problem with Gt Behemoths, as they actually have to FIGHT them now, and they know Meteor (PAIN!)) -It's suggested you do Kefka's Tower in multiple Runs. To get the FULL experience of the SCC, it would be wise to beat ALL the bosses in that tower with that one character. Obviously, since by nature of the tower, you can't possibly fight all bosses in the tower with one group on ONE run through, you'll have to do it in several. As a good suggestion, start by Doing Team 3. Why? Because that's the only one with a FORCED Boss Fight BEFORE the Goddesses (the point where you can start switching and such) This just saves a whole extra normally annoying run through, obviously. -Sprint Shoes. Really, just use these for those timed areas. They aren't needed, but they do help. -Running Shoes. Is it not annoying when an enemy consistently double turns you? These solve that problem, at least early on, cause later... -Marvel Shoes are available. Haste, Safe, Shell, and Regen, 4 Great positive statuses all shoved onto ONE relic (as an added bonus indirect bonus of Auto Haste, you're immune to Slow as well ^^). This is also nice in all those SCCs where characters lack ways of healing themselves. -Be creative. Some battles can be won if you do a few things unorthodox. An example is in a Shadow SCC: try using Gaia Gear and throwing Gravity Rods at yourself if the enemy keeps overpowering him. You'd be surprised when you do such odd ball things as that :P (in this case, this is a great form of healing for Shadow; just remember the sacrifice in defense) -Leveling up. This has obvious applications, and shouldn't really need to be stated, ESPECIALLY since your character is gaining level 4x faster than normal. But I thought I might throw it in. -When in doubt, RUN LIKE HELL! Some battles are just plain not worth fighting. Then again, some battles are unavoidable (and those happen to be the more annoying fights, unfortunately), better than running, if you can afford it, Warp Stones (or Warp Spell in characters who know it), and Smoke Bombs are even better, as they will get you out of there Faster, AND make getting out of Pincer attacks easier. -Wall Rings are good. Since all but 2 SCCs (3 if you count Gau's) won't be using Magic on themselves, EVER, Wall Rings should do nothing but be helpful. At least, in some parts of the game *Points to the battle with Atma Weapon*. -Don't bother uncursing the Cursed Shield. Only Terra and Gogo, due to these Rules, are allowed to use it, so unless you're playing as one of them, don't even bother trying to uncurse it. And even if you are playing Terra or Gogo's SCC, its kind of grey on allowing it due to the shear overpowering aspect, though for shear sake of teaching Terra Ultima, its all good (meaning equip it til she learns Ultima, then unequip it instantly) -Raising the Dead. Well, ok, it's really killing the undead, but remember that pretty much all undead enemies are vulnerable to Fenix Downs and Revifies, yielding instant death in both cases. This can save time and trouble in some boring and annoying fights, and potentially hard ones as well. More tips might come in later versions. For now, this will do. -------------------------------- 5. Characters and all that stuff -------------------------------- All right, now, which character to choose for an SCC? Well, before that, it's good to know their Ups and Downs, isn't it? Especially when there are restrictions placed on the characters. Well, this part is to help you out to find the right character to attempt the SCC with, discussing what they have, what they don't have, tips on that character, etc. Lets get started... NOTE: I'm doing this in order of appearance, appearance meaning you either get to play as them or name them, not just randomly being scene in a flash back *looks at Celes in the Terra Flash Back early in the game* so don't feel I'm discriminating against some characters (unless I happen to forget them, in which case, yell at me, and I'll be sure to feel stupid and put that character in) NOTE2: I am purposely skipping Umaro, cause frankly, the only tips involved are what Relics to give him, and level up like mad, not to mention you must be EXTREMELY patient and Lucky to even think you wanna try one. NOTE3: With my Suggested Set Ups, I am totally disregarding 128% M. Block set ups, cause frankly, it doesn't take a genius to figure out how to do that. Obviously, Merit Award set ups are excluded, as are Magic teaching Equipment UNLESS they fall into one of those exceptions (already know the spell, is Gogo, etc.) Also note that a "/" means to swap between weapons based off Situation, like with, say Locke, use the Valiant Knife if you need damage or The Drainer if you need to Heal. Finally, a lot of set ups say Hero Ring. I am just putting that down even on characters that only use Physical Fighting/Magic. Why you may ask? Simply Cause, it makes life easier, and the Hero Ring will also avoid problems like "Wait, Such and Such attack is Magical! Earrings would be better!" seeing as Hero Ring is literally a Fusion of Earrings and Atlas Armlet, nothing less (Well, you can't sell it for as much, but you get the point) ~~~~~ Terra ~~~~~ Pros: High Magic Power Decent overall stats Great Equipment MAGIC! The ability to use Morph. The Minerva The Paladin Shield (if you don't view it as overpowering) And last but defiantly not least, ULTIMA! Cons: None that I can think of right now. And I am not just being biased towards Terra; you'll see WHY I say she's got no real cons. SCC Difficulty Rating: Ridiculously Easy (and I am not kidding) SCC Description: All right, it figures that the main character (face it, she is the closest thing to a main character) and the first one available is also one of the best Self Supporting characters around. For starters, though she'll probably be acting like a Mage in the SCC using mostly what she has in her Magic Reserves, she won't at all suffer in equipment, and if you need her to hold back on her MP, she does a nice job of converting from Mage to Fighter in an instant. What's that? You equipped the Enhancer to boost her magic power, but she needs to go physical and you need a stronger weapon? Remember, you can swap equipment in battle, so just take off the Enhancer, and put on, say the Atma Weapon :P Amongst other advantages Terra gets are healing, great offenses, and topping all that off, ULTIMA! You heard me, she gets Ultima! Only character who's allowed that might spell. Tips for Terra: -"Become one with your pyromaniac instincts!" Basically, until 3/4's of the way through the game, Terra's main offenses will come from her magic supply, all of which, until later on, will be Fire Based. Well, there are a few areas *coughSealedCaveCough* where this can be a problem, but overall, it's not. There are a bunch of enemies who are weak against Fire, and not as many as you'd expect who absorb it. So really, all you're going to be doing with Terra is randomly burning enemies. -"Tonics? Potions? What are those?" Well, you might be saying this later on anyway. Terra has Cure and Cure2, which do a great amount of healing to last you the entire game, and even better, in battles, she has Drain, so you can attack AND heal on the same turn, let alone use, say, the Wall Ring. Harvest your money for Tinctures, since healing Terra's Magic will basically be all you need. -"Your MP is MINE!" In the WoR, if you need a faster method of healing MP besides Tinctures, and your Elixir, Ether, and X-ether stocks are running short, equip Terra with the Soul Sabre for a bit, smack enemies, and heal your MP that way. A nice way to save money later on (not that you'll need it in the WoR, though). -"Wait, what? Generic Storebought Weapons are more powerful than Legendary Swords of DOOM?" I know you're probably wondering what I'm talking about, but I'm referring to the Enhancer and the Atma Weapon. Yes, that buyable sword in Nikeah and South Figaro IS better than the Atma Weapon, the one of the kind (practically speaking) Sword found in the Sealed Cave with 255 Defense Ignoring Battle Power. Since Terra will be, for the most part, using her Strong Magic for offenses, it's best to equip her with stuff that increases her Magic Power. And she gets a nice bonus to M. Block as well. Should Terra need to go physical, that's when you swap for the Atma Weapon, but in actuality, I'd prefer to stay with... -"Ragnarok." Since I advise against using Illumina, due to its overpoweringness (is that a word?), this Sword is easily Terra's best Weapon. Yielding the same Battle Power as the Atma Weapon, it comes along with the same+7 to Magic Power from the Enhancer, as well as +3 to Speed, and +7 to Vigor (thus increasing its own power) and +7 to Stamina (thus something you really don't care about), AND it also boosts M. Block by 30%. How does it fair as weapon being used Physically? Well, it does Sport games highest Attack power (255, or at least boosts Terra's Attack that high. This is rivaled only by Illumina, Atma Weapon, and Imp Halberd on imps), has a 100% Chance to do a critical hit for 10 MP, and randomly Casts Flare. I'd say this is a Sword you'll be keeping Terra with the entire game (unless you think it's not fair to Ban Illumina, and use that anyway, in which case, that'll be the sword of choice obviously :P) -"Usage of the Paladin Shield, if only for only 100 magic Points!" Terra can use the Paladin Shld, yes, BUT, only for the sole sake of learning Ultima. Should Terra use it for anytime afterwords during the actual quest, you are breaking SCC standard rules. Therefore, as a suggestion, to speed up Learning Ultima in this method (Since you probably want the Ragnorak Sword), equip the Shield, go Maranda's Desert, beat the **** out of several Cactrots (Fastest Method is Atma Weapon + Sniper Sight Combo), avoiding Hoovers (just so you don't over level, you know, cause Hoovers give EXP and focused on one Character is...yeah) Mind, you are not abusing the Paladin Shield in anyway here, just learning Ultima (Cactrots have nothing but Blow Fish, which is set damage that is unblockable and non Elemental, making any defense against beyond Jump impossible) Understand how to use the Paladin Shield? Got Ultima? Good, now shove it in your inventory as a War Trophy. NOTE: On a more serious note, you probably don't NEED Ultima, its more just novelty if anything else. Morphed Fire3 hits 9999 nearly as good damage for Bosses, and Terra's main selling point are Drain and outstanding Lasting Power, as well as many Elemental Protections and Evasion. The fact that the Celes SCC (same basic idea, just no Drain or Morph) is also easy more or less proves that Ultima is just excess. -"Brush off Vanity and Show Reality...Ultima!!!" Ok, sorry about the FFT reference, but anyway, clearly one of Terra's BIGGEST advantages in the SCC. She has the best damage output of any character overall. Ultima should consistently hit 9999 against bosses, and does a good 5000 vs. all enemies, at least. Why is Terra allowed Ultima and nobody else? Simply Put, Terra learns Ultima at level 99! I'm not kidding, it's true. Level her up that high w/out Teaching Ultima if you please, and you'll find out that she does. So have fun using the Big Blue Radioactive Energy Blast that does 9999 to any boss, as this is the only SCC where it's legal. -"Warp Speed ahead!" Ok, stupid name, but you get the point. Terra naturally learns Warp -- USE IT! Well, ok, let's just say it saves money from Smoke Bombs and Warp Stones, and is a faster way of escaping battles than running like a mad man (or woman in Terra's Case). -"Its Elementary, my dear Wattson." In some parts of the game, there will be enemies weak vs. Ice and weak vs. Thunder. Why is this good knowledge for Terra? Well, ok, sure, later on it's useless, but earlier, Terra CAN apply these elements. Equipping the Thunder Blade against Thunder Weak enemies (Say every enemy bar Chupon in the whole AIF scene), and Blizzard vs. enemies weak against Ice will sure prove to increase damage significantly. -"It's Morphing Time!" Ok, I apologize for that random cheesy Power Ranger Reference, but you get the point. Basically, until Terra learns Ultima, Morph should destroy nearly any boss she's up against. Don't use it TOO often, as it will never last enough otherwise. However, if you find she's not lasting long enough, head out and battle for some "Magic Points" (the ones you find at the end of battle). This will increase her Morph time. A Morphed Terra can easily Off Bosses within only a few attacks, faster than Morph will Run out. However, don't disregard using Morph because of the... NOTE: The Myth about Morph. Most people think Morph is pointless cause it wastes a Turn of Terra's and thus, causes her to do nothing. Really, these people are wrong, paid attention to the turn order. It's not hard to make this misconception in a normal game, where when Terra Morphs, another character's turn comes up, so it gives the Illusion that Terra has to wait for another turn. However, it does NOT reset Terra's ATB gauge, and thus, gives her another Free Turn instantly after she Morphs (Same applies for Revert, in case you're curious). It's a lot easier to notice in an SCC. Try, in a normal game, make a party of only Terra (gotta love how FF6 doesn't force you to make full teams), and use Morph. Interesting, she has got a turn IMMEDIATELY after Morph's animation. This isn't a Bug; it's a how Morph Works. -"The Good old Minerva." 10% to M. Block, Boosts Magic Power by 4, and some other stats minimally, immunity to Fire, Ice, Thunder, and Wind, while having the other 4 elements, 1/4 increase in MP, and 2nd highest Defensive value of Terra's Armor. I think we can see why this is useful :P -"What's so mysterious about that Veil?" Yes, that was a play on words. Despite how relatively early you get it, the Mystery Veil is Terra's Ultimate Helmet, EVEN in a Normal Game. Don't believe me? Check the defense differences between it and other high end Helmets, and then compare Bonuses. -"Break! *Enemy turns to stone* That was quite unexpected..." Ok, sure the name doesn't make much sense with the attack, but the Spell "Break" is another asset Terra has. It'll prove more useful than you think early on as it's a nice way to instantly kill enemies right there and then. It does lose use later on, but in the WoB, this is still a nice spell to handle annoying enemies that just won't die, providing they aren't immune. I still prefer the enemy shattering than turning into stone though ^^ Wow, that was a lot of tips on Terra. As we can see, Terra is VERY well set for an SCC. She can do pretty much anything you want her to. If you play your cards right (and they are easy to figure out as well), you'll hardly believe you're even playing a challenge at all. Probably the easiest SCC out there. What? You hate Terra and think she sucks completely? Alright then, I challenge you to compare this SCC to the Sabin or Cyan SCC, and tell me which is easier! Thought so... Ending Suggested Set Up: NO Paladin Shield Set Up Ragnarok/Soul Sabre Aegis Shield Mystery Veil Minerva Ribbon Safety Bit/Gold Hairpin (if you're Bold, go for Economizer)/Gem Box Paladin Shield Allowed Set Up: Ragnarok/Soul Sabre Paladin Shield (Duh!) Mystery Veil Genji Armor Ribbon Gem Box/Safety Bit/Gold Hairpin (if you're Bold, go for Economizer) ~~~~~ Locke ~~~~~ Pros: Highest Speed Decent Vigor Good Overall Equipment Easy Way to make Money w/out leveling up Cons: Low Magic Power (not that it matters much in his case) Is Completely One dimensional in terms of his offense Some of his better stuff can't be gotten till MUCH later. SCC Difficulty Rating: Fair SCC Description: Locke is basically forced to be a pure fighter by SCC terms. Thankfully, this isn't as bad as you'd expect, since one of Locke's Strong points is his versatility in Weapons. That's what his SCC is all about, taking advantage of what he has. Tips: -"Faster than a Speeding Bullet!" Ok, Locke's not that fast, but point is, his speed is higher than the rest of the team, especially with all his speed boosting equipment he can get. This also helps him escape from battles easier. -"My name is Atma!" Seeing as Locke is going all out Physical, it might be a good idea in some areas to use the Atma Weapon. This is probably only helpful at later times because of a certain other weapon. -"And the strike of the Knife was Valiantly cutting the monsters throat." Ignoring that horribly lame hint title, this is why Atma Weapon is less useful early on, at least early WoR. Valiant Knife probably will do more damage, since it also ignores defenses, and gets a boost of power as well when his HP is low. Clearly a Weapon of Great use. But then again, it's still probably better using... -"Ragnarok...AGAIN!" Yes, the Doom of the Gods is probably overall Locke's best Weapon to cut down enemies with, and Cut Down he can. 30% To M. Block, Strong overall Stat Increases, high Damage, randomly Casts Flare, you get the point. Even if the damage out put is less than Atma Weapon or Valiant Knife, the Stat bonuses are well worth the power loss. But against Regular enemies, you might wanna consider... -"Wing Edges...of DOOM!!!" Ah, good old Long Range Weapons, allowing Locke for Maximum defenses with good overall offenses. The increase to Speed is really nice, as is the random instant death. Just don't use this weapon on Undead Enemies. This is a great weapon that works well With Offering, a very suggested Relic for Locke mind you. However, there's still the problem with his HP getting too low, but don't worry, as there's the... -"The Drainer" A sword almost everyone forgets. This WILL be Locke's best way of Healing late in the game, and he still hurts the enemy when he heals. Don't be afraid of the Power loss, since remember, Surviving is more important than damage in an SCC. Then again, X-potions and Elixirs are still better forms of healing, but those are limited supply, or... -"Face it, you're a thief, damn it! I don't care WHAT Locke claims!" This is a great way to save money, and get a whole bunch of supplies and such w/out having to make Locke get too excessively leveled where the game is no longer a challenge. This is pretty nifty throughout the entire game. Why so late in the game when Cactrots are available and Money w/out EXP is no longer a problem? I'll tell you why, Locke can pillage Elixirs! Don't forget Peepers, and their buddies, Earth Guards, on the Solitary Island. Locke can grab Elixirs and Megalixirs from each one respectively, if you're fast and lucky. Don't worry if you're fighting too many, as 4 EXP isn't that much when you're working with 10,000s. Use this to increase Locke's amount of healing, if you don't think the Drainer is working out. -"Proof he's not a treasure a hunter..." lies in the fact that he can use the Thief Knife and the Assassin. Thief Knife is good for boosting his M. Block AND Speed if you're just running from battles, and Assassin is like a Poor Man's Wing Edge, well, ok, it's good until you get the Wing Edge, but you get the point. Remember these weapons, don't just use a weapon at face value, think about how else they can be useful. Speaking of which... -"Weaker Long Range Weapons are stronger than Strong Close Range Weapons." Well, considering Locke SHOULD be in the Back row most of the game (since that way, you'll have more time to heal if need be), Boomerangs and such will often do more than his high End Swords and Knives. Remember to take this into consideration. Of course, if Locke is going to fight in the Front Row, this whole entire tip is useless, obsolete, and a piece of junk. -"Use the Force, Luke...errr...I mean Locke!" Well, it's armor anyway. True, he can use the Genji Armor with its Stat Boosts and higher Defense, but the Elemental resistances, high Magic Defense and 30% M. Block are worth the trade off. What's better? Taking Less damage, or getting hit less often? I'd go with the Force Armor. Just remember, while Locke CAN use the Force Armor, he can't use the Force Shield. -"Elemental Science 101." Locke can use the Air Lancet for Wind damage, Thunder Blade for Thunder Damage, Blizzard for Ice Damage, and Flame Sabre for Fire Damage. Remember this when you're up against enemies, as applying the right weapons should make things easier. Well, ok, the Air Lancet might be a bit piddling in Battle Power, but you can see where I'm going. -"Doesn't look like much of an Offering to me..." Seeing as Locke is doing nothing but Fighting, the Offering is one of his Best Relics to use. I brought this up earlier, but I'm advancing on it now. Locke has a bunch of Replacement Effect weapons, most notably a few instant Death ones, and using the offering lets Locke have 4 chances of applying that effect. Even though Damage is only doubled, it's still something to remember. And even then, Double Damage is nice, especially for a character that has no other means of doing damage. -"Two Fisted Monkey Style!" Tired of having to repeatedly Swap between the Drainer and some other sword for Locke to do good damage? Well, why not equip the Genji Glove, put the Drainer in one hand, and another good Sword in the other. You deal Good damage AND heal on the same turn. Two good ways to go about this. Equip the Drainer in the Top Hand, and the Atma Weapon in the bottom hand. Make sure in THAT order for best effects. Now, Locke will regain his health, and then attack with Atma Weapon at Full power. At lower levels, a better strategy might be to use the Valiant Knife, however, REVERSE the order. Why? Well, you want Locke to hit with LOWER HP when you have the Valiant Knife, seeing as it does more damage. First hit will be a powered up Valiant Knife, the other hit will be an HP restoring Drainer. There is a catch to this of course, the fact that Locke can't take nearly as many hits as he could before between turns. LikeWise, if enemies can't take him down by the time he gets a turn, he should be fine, but just remember that when up against enemies with Strong attacks. NOTE: Thank you NeoElfboy for pointing out such set ups. Ok, as we can See, Locke has a few problems here and there with regards to his SCC. He'll be totally reliant on his Weapons so make sure you know what you're up against, and that you have all weapons you'll need for Locke. Picking the Right Weapon for Locke is crucial. If you don't, you may end up finding things MUCH harder than they should be. This isn't exactly an SCC I can recommend on your first attempt, but it is possible, just might take a while and some patience, seeing as Locke lacks any big powerful forms of damage. Despite being a Pure Fighter, Locke's SCC, though not one of the Easiest, is much easier than you'd expect. Ending Suggested Set Up: With No Genji Glove: Ragnorak/Valiant Knife/Atma Weapon/Drainer/Wing Edge Aegis Shield Red Cap Force Armor Ribbon Safety Bit/Marvel Shoes/Offering With Genji Glove, Mark 1: Drainer Atma Weapon Red Cap Force Armor Ribbon Genji Glove With Genji Glove, Mark 2: Valiant Knife Drainer Red Cap Force Armor Ribbon Genji Glove Unlimited "X-potion" Set Up: Wing Edge Aegis Shield Red Cap Force Armor Relic Ring Ribbon (To Figure out the scheme behind this set up) ~~~ Mog ~~~ Pros: Decent Equipment Dances can do some damage and heal Pretty good Speed Rating Snow Muffler Moogle Charm Cons: Dances are Too Random Weapons might be a bit weaker than you want Snow Muffler isn't gotten till much later Forces you to go through Kefka's Tower with 2 Underdeveloped Parties... Ultimate Weapon can't be gotten till near the end of the game SCC Difficulty Rating: Doable SCC Description: Ok, Mog has some strong points, and some bad ones. He'll have the highest defenses in the game, and has some neat tricks to make him strong physically, as well as strong attacks in his dances. Problems? Dances are a bit random and they may end up being his down fall. Tips: -"He's called a Slam Dancing Moogle for a reason..." Mog's Dances do some really nice damage, if applied properly, and they also can heal him. Make sure you are familiar with his dances before using them. Also, remember, if Mog ends up not doing what you want him too, it could potentially kill you. -"And you thought Kain was a great Dragon Knight..." This little Moogle given the Dragoon Boots does some really nice damage overall, and while jumping, he's temporarily invincible. Just beware of the "Launcher" attack, supposedly that glitches the game up and will potentially **** Mog up, and the rest of the game, while he's aire borne. -"Wait, How does that make Mog better than Kain again?" Can Kain use a piece of Armor which raises his defenses up to Max, increases M. Block by 10%, gives a REALLY nice boost to Mag Defense, and gives some elemental properties too? Ok, fine, he can, in Adamant Armor, but that doesn't count! So what does this have to do with Mog? Well, simply put, Mog has the Snow Muffler, possibly the best armor in the game, and is actually SANE to get. With this on, along with a Steady Shield (Genji Shield is his best under these restrictions), and a good Helmet allow Mog to take 0 Damage from all attacks, when in the back row, and 1 point of damage in front row. Magic Attacks also get greatly reduced as well. So while Mog is on the ground leading that one moment of vulnerability, the enemies will start having problems trying to hurt him to begin with. This is one Moogle they aren't killing very fast :P -"Know your Terrain." Just cause Mog has a 100% Success rate dance on a certain field doesn't mean use it. Some areas, such dances are actually a BAD thing. Take Dusk Requiem for example. It does Elf Fire, and Poison Frog, 2 things enemies in the Sealed Cave protect against. I wouldn't use that move if I were you, especially since you lose TOTAL control of Mog. -"Remember the Fire Emblem Weapon Triangle; Lances > Sword!" Despite its lower Battle Power, Pearl Lance is overall better than the Gradeus. The Increase in Magic doesn't mean much (seeing as it only helps his dances w/ no Magic Around), but the random casting of Pearl offsets the extra damage done by the Gradeus. -"More Elemental Fun!" Besides the Pearl Lance and the Gradeus' Pearl elemental aspect, Mog can also do water Elemental Damage with his Trident. This is good in areas where you don't want to risk using Water Rondo, and failing. -"Moogle Charm." Enemies too hard for Mog in some areas? No problem, just avoid them altogether, and make up for much needed EXP in other areas. This can also be applied as a means of healing outside of battle. Use the Moogle Charm with the Tintabar, and Mog can run around healing HP w/out worrying about being attacked. That's basically the jist of what Mog has to offer. It's not much, but it's enough to get him by. You might struggle a bit in the WoB, but things get easier once the Snow Muffler is available. Albeit, his Offenses could be better, but Mog still might be able to last long enough till the final show down with Kefka. Ending Suggested Set Up: *Aura Lance Aegis Shield/Genji Shield (this comes down to Preference) Red Cap Snow Muffler Ribbon Dragoon Boots *Because of how late you get the Aura Lance, use the Pearl Lance here instead for a while. ~~~~~ Edgar ~~~~~ Pros: Tools Great Equipment Strong overall attacks Effective from time you get him. Cons: Not as fast as you'd like Tools are a bit lacking later in the game (but still do decent damage) Lack of strong multi target attacks SCC Difficulty Rating: Easy SCC Description: Ok, the good old King is pretty set for an SCC. Sure, it's no walk in the park, but he still shouldn't have that many Problems. His tools combined with his Equipment allow him to hold his own in many situations. Tips: -"Oh I'm a Lumberjack, and I'm OK, I sleep All Night and I work all day!" Well, Edgar should be singing this when he chops the enemies down with his Chain Saw like a mad man. Due to his Chain Saw, his weapons are near obsolete for Damage. -"Let your Vampiric Tendencies Take you OVER!" Not much to say here. Wait, you don't understand the title? Alright, Edgar's best form of Healing will be the Drainer late in the game. This should be a weapon has equipped throughout most of the game, since really, his Weapons are obsolete for Damage, the HP received from using the Drainer is far more valuable. However, there are a few other weapons I'd consider using, such as the... -"Pity it doesn't enhance...I'll shut up." Sure, the Enhancer's +7 to Magic Power only boosts the Flash and Bio Blaster's power, making it near worthless, but the +20% to M. Block is still rather nice, wouldn't you say? What? It's not? Ok, the only reason you would be saying that is because of the... -"More Ragnarok Goodness!" Again, a really good Weapon for Edgar Overall. 30% to M. Block, boost to Speed, and +7 to Vigor make this weapon worth using, as it increases his Defenses, the damage his tools do, and makes him a bit quicker on his feet. Once you get this, really, you should swap between this fine sword and the Drainer, depending on situation. Only use the Drainer over this weapon if you are actually going to fight with it... -"The Force will be with you, Always!" Well, ok, not always, only once you get the Force Armor and equip it on Edgar. This will allow Edgar to survive Longer than if he had an armor with Higher Defense values, since the Elemental Resistances combined with the high M. Block and Magic Defense will prove useful. -"Who here wants to be a mole?" Well, against Bosses, Edgar might seem like one. It's probably better to use the Drill on bosses, though doing less damage, it's more reliable than the Chain Saw, since the Chain Saw randomly does instant Death, which of course, will fail against most bosses, if not all, bosses. -"TURN THAT RECORD OFF!" Well, that's probably what the enemies are saying when they hear the sound of Edgar's Noise Blaster blasting at full volume, confusing the hell out of them. Sure, enemies don't do much in terms of attacking themselves, but at least they won't attack you. Personally, I think it's worth it. Just beware of enemies with Unfocusable attacks, like Chickenlips w/ Quake, as in a case like they, they will still kill you with it. -"Hoist the Anchor! Captain I can't do it! I don't have the Power!" Well, Edgar's Air Anchor doesn't need power, it simply needs to hit. Once it hits the enemy, all Edgar has to do is sit there, and watch the enemy do an action, and they are dead. What can be more fun than watching the enemies stupidly kill themselves? -"Don't worry about the big green Gaseous Cloud hovering over us." Sure, damage done by the Bio Blaster is a bit unimpressive, but poisoning the enemies can make things easier, especially when there are a few bosses who are vulnerable to it. A good way to start many battles, just make sure the enemy doesn't absorb poison first. -"I can't take money from the king!" Remember Edgar can get Discounts at Figaro and South Figaro from shops, so you can save a good deal of cash by taking an extra trip to those shops, and buying things there, than just going to the nearest shop. Sure, this doesn't help much in battle, but still is a nice little feature to have. -"Red Cap". This is probably Edgar's best helmet overall in an SCC. The increase to HP and Increase to Vigor and Speed will help him greatly in travels solo to destroy Kefka. Sure, it doesn't boost M. Block, but I think it's a pretty nice piece of an equipment, wouldn't you say? -"Grappler's Spirit? The ****?" Though the Force Armor will almost always be better, and lesser so, the Genji Armor (cause you'll be using the Force Armor more), the Red Jacket isn't really all that great, but it does make Edgar immune to Fire. This is good for enemies like Red Dragon who use a lot of Fire based spells. Also, good if you know there's an enemy coming up who knows something like Merton. This might not be of all that much use, true, but still remember its existence, as it CAN save your life every now and then. So, the good old (perverted) King of Figaro is pretty well set for an SCC. Having a decent form of healing (Which is also parasitic), nice decent defense ignoring unblockable attacks, and a few decent status Effects to throw at the enemies, he seems ready to take on Any Challenge. Well, ok, that's going too far, but you get the point. Edgar is one of the easier SCCs (not the Easiest mind you) out there, so if you like him a lot, he's a good choice for your First SCC. Just remember that Edgar is more than just Tools, and you should do fine. Ending Suggested Set Up: Ragnorak/Drainer Aegis Shield Red Cap Genji Armor/Force Armor/Red Jacket Ribbon Hero Ring/Marvel Shoes ~~~~~ Sabin ~~~~~ Pros: High Vigor High Speed Blitzes Gets strong weapons early on Can use some decent Multi Hitting attacks Cons: Magic power isn't as high as you'd want (most of his Blitzes are Magic Reliant, so this is a bad thing) Bum Rush can't be gotten till the WoR Weapons lose use later on (Not such a big deal if he's doing nothing but Bum Rushing) Armor isn't too great Lacks form of Healing himself outside of items SCC Difficulty Rating: Hard, but conceivable. SCC Description: Sabin will probably be breezing through the first parts, what with killing enemies in one shot due to his strong early game blitzes, and dealing high Damage to bosses, he's set, especially with his High Speed for healing. Later in the game, things become increasingly harder, as though he gets Bum Rush, enemies will be doing some high damage to Sabin, and without a decent way to heal, this could be a problem. Tips: -"BLITZ!!!" Obviously, if you're choosing Sabin, this is the main reason. Sabin should never need his physical attack, so just go nuts using Blitz. Be sure you don't mess them up, as that could potentially Screw Sabin up. -"A Magical Monk? BLASPHEMY!" Sure, Sabin has higher Vigor, and he's set up like a generic FF Monk, but the interesting thing is apart from Pummel and Suplex, all his Blitzes are Magical. Thus, it would be more worthwhile equipping Sabin with things that raise his Magic Power instead of things hat Raise his Vigor, as well as the fact that Earrings would be more useful than Atlas Armlets (then again, with a Hero Ring, this point is moot) -"Potions, Potions, POTIONS!" Lots of them will probably be needed. Seeing as Sabin has absolutely no way of healing, such things will be needed Badly. Try to conserve X-potions and Elixirs as much as possible too. -"Cure Ring and Marvel Shoes." These are especially important for Sabin, or any character who can't heal, seeing as they give Regen Status, that MIGHT just be what Sabin needs to help him survive some fights. Marvel Shoes also give Safe, Shell and Haste, the 2 former lowering Damage, and latter giving him turns faster. Sabin MIGHT just make due to with all of this. -"If all else isn't fails...Level Up!" Undoubtedly, this might be Sabin's last option is too Level Up. Seeing as Sabin will probably have to take a strategy of "Kill Enemies before they kill you" since he doesn't quite have the defenses or strats to employ to reduce Damage like many other characters, as well as no decent way of healing, his only possibility might be to Level up to maximize his Damage Potentials, along with increasing his HP which, obviously, increases his chances of Survival. -"Don't Forget Magicite!" I am referring to the Item, not the actual things themselves. This might be good for a last resort if Sabin's dying as it is. If you're lucky, you MIGHT just pull off something you very much needed, like Palidoor (Which, IIRC, still allows Regen to Work, so it's good for marvel Shoes), or something like Starlet or Sraphim, 2 Espers that have healing. This is a gamble, yes, but that's why you use it as a last resort. Obviously, you don't want to end up summoning Crusader, thus killing you outright. Golem is another Esper you can pray it summons, seeing as at least THAT will allow Sabin to avoid attacks. -"Circlet vs. Red Cap." This is a tough one to choose. The Red Cap increases HP by 1/4, and gives Sabin better Speed Boost (the Vigor and Stamina Boosts aren't too helpful for Sabin) Circlet, though, increases Magic Power by a considerable amount over the Red Cap, thus increasing Bum Rushes damage. Which you find more useful is up to you, but consider them both. Then again, you may end up using... -"Well, it does make him that much more spooney..." Sabin lacks means of Getting Decent M. Block rating, so he'll need whatever he can get. If you find your problems are coming defensively, the Bard's Hat might be your best Option for Sabin with regards to his Helmet. -"Well, at least the item description makes sense here!" Red Jacket is Sabin's Best Armor, bar none. It increases all his stats (most importantly, Magic Power and Speed), raises his defense highest of any Armor he can equip, and gives him immunity vs. Fire. Basically, get this Item ASAP! -"Get Ready for an all out BUM RUSH!" This is a bit obvious, but I'll point it out. Get Bum Rush ASAP! Bum Rush can be obtained in the WoR the INSTANT you get the Falcon. What's this? Why am I apparently being so mean to L337 Sabin? Come on now, do you really think ONE Strong attack would make things easy when enemies have high HP and strong attacks, and when Sabin lacks any form of innate Healing? Point made. Doing Damage isn't going to be a problem for Sabin, heck, it never really is. However, Surviving, that'll be a problem. Early on, Sabin can make do just fine, but by the WoR, the concept of Pain will open up, cause good Equipment set ups are needed, and Sabin's are VERY limited. Ending Suggested Set Up: Tiger Fangs Aegis Shield Red Cap/Bard's Hat/Circlet Red Jacket Ribbon Marvel Shoes/Hero Ring ~~~~~~ Shadow ~~~~~~ Pros: High Overall Stats Throwing Stuff Hurts Nice Supply of Interesting Weapons with Interesting Effects Can Apply Damage from ALL elements by throwing stuff in a rather decent fashions Decent Multi Target Damage Interceptor High Speed Can completely shut out physical attackers Cons: Armor leaves a bit to be desired Form of Healing involves sacrificing a lot of defense VERY Expensive Character to play as In the WoB, will Run away often after battles, in some parts. SCC Difficulty Rating: Doable SCC Description: Shadow won't have the easiest time in an SCC, but he won't have the hardest time either. Throwing stuff hurts, so if you have a healthy supply of Ammunition for Shadow to throw, his damage is well off. Tips: -"PULL!!!" If you have extra money left, put it all into buying more weapons for Shadow to throw. If you can manage to do so, he should never need his basic attack if you have enough weapons around. However, the hard part IS affording them, but in the WoR when Cactrots open up, such things are easier. There are other things to throw besides Stars and Skeans. Throw a Falchion and you'd be surprised by how much damage it does. -"Use the power of the elements!" Shadow is one of the few (if not the only) character who can Apply All elements at once w/out giving up anything. How so? Using Weapons that are elemental, that's how! This is a list of Suggested throwing stuff to use for Elemental Damage (In other words, I am purposely not listing all possibilities): Fire: Flame Sabre (buyable in Albrook, WoR) Ice: Blizzard (Buyable in Albrook, WoR) Thunder: Thunder Blade (Buyable in Albrook, WoR) Pearl: Pearl Rod (Buyable in Thamasa, WoR) Wind: Blossom (Buyable in Albrook, WoB) Earth: Gravity Rod (Buyable in Thamasa, WoR) Water: Trident (Buyable in Maranda, WoB) Poison: Poison Rod (Buyable in Narshe (after you get Terra back), WoB) NOTE: Some of these items can be found in more than one place besides where I listed. Just to let you know, so don't go E-mailing me that "Gravity Rods are also found in Maranda!" cause I know that. NOTE2: Notice how some of those Weapons are buyable ONLY in the WoB? That means when you have the Chance, stock up on them, NOW! Need Money w/out Leveling Up? Just spend a good while on the Veldt. And use Locke to steal some stuff to sell as well (Understand that Shadow is NOT going to be in your team when you go out to hoard this stuff, simply cause he's not available at any of those points) -"Train Robbers of the Century...Shadow?" Shadow use to be a thief, remember? Why does this matter? Well, remember, he CAN use the Thief Knife to gain a Boost to M. Block and be able to steal at random as well. A handy item from time to time if you ask me, especially if you plan to use nothing but Throwing stuff. The Boost to Speed and M. Block will prove helpful at times. -"He's called an Assassin for a reason, you know..." Shadow's Assassin and Striker are probably the 2 best weapons to use for the "Fight" command. Why? They will randomly Kill enemies instantly. Shadow throwing stuff like a mad man will probably do more than him Slashing a guy's Throat out, so why not try to just Kill the guy outright and hope it works? -"Poking Yourself with a Stick heals you...interesting..." You heard me, Shadow has a means of Healing himself! Gaia Gear, though weak defensively, absorbs Earth. Shadow can Throw Gravity Rods, which are Earth Elemental, at himself (as strange as that sounds) to give him a nice form of healing. The advantage of this is that Shadow won't have to rely on Conserving X-potions and Elixirs while using those feeble 250 HP recovering potions. Bad news is it hurts him Defensively, as Gaia Gear doesn't exactly have a very good Defense rating, at least late in the game. -"Quite maneuverable, aren't you?" Of all the characters in the game, Shadow has the Highest M. Block rating in the WoB. With Thief Knife and 2 White/Zephyr Capes, combined with a Bard's Hat, he can get an M. Block of 49%, which is 1 point higher than Gau, who has 48%, but still, for a WoB M. Block rating, that's pretty nice, wouldn't you say? Sure, Locke can get a High M. Block too, problem about Locke was that Locke is a Pure "Fighter" while Shadow can just take his Weapon for Granted and throw all the other stuff at the enemies till they are protruding with Knives, Swords, Boomerangs, Spears, Rods, etc. (if that makes any sense), not having to care about his weapon one bit at all, with regards to its power :P -"You can't hit what you can't see!" When going into an area with a lot of Physical Enemies, use the Invis Edge, and laugh at enemies trying to kill Shadow. If you fear there are instant Enemies, you might be better off just throwing a Shadow Edge each fight to avoid them. Just remember Shadow Edges are very short lived compared to Invis Edge. -"Invoke the power of the Scrolls!" If not for any other reason, Throw Skeans at enemies to do some decent Multi Target damage. This is pretty much Shadow's only way to hurt many enemies at once. -"Don't Keep what you don't need, SELL SELL SELL!" Shadow is by far the most expensive character in the SCC, let alone the entire game, to make effective. Keep ONLY what you need, which means stuff for Shadow, and stuff for Characters you're going to play as when you can't use Shadow. This more just a way to save time and boredomness. -"Imp Halberds...HURT!" Keep this in mind if you get a bunch of them. Even though they are rare, they WILL hurt hell, heck, only Ultima probably will do more impressive damage than Throwing Imp Halberds in an SCC. Why does it work this way? Cause Throwing stuff takes things as Face Value, doesn't take into account that "Imp Halberds are only that strong when character is an Imp" So hoarding some Imp Halberds isn't such a bad idea, just don't get TOO leveled up, so it'd be better to steal them via Thief Knife, if you can. Shadow is pretty multisided in his SCC. Sometimes, he'll be breezing through, other times, he might struggle a bit. He'll be a lot of fun once you finish getting all your stuff, problem is, hoarding all the money to do so can take eons longer than getting even the Paladin Shield. I do not advise you attempt this SCC unless you have a lot of patience and time, cause you'll need that when getting money to buy all those weapons such form Shadow to throw, which is by far his best means of offensive attacks. Ending Suggested Set Ups: Thief Knife/Striker Aegis Shield Red Cap Genji Armor Ribbon Marvel Shoes/Hero Ring ~~~~ Cyan ~~~~ Pros: Dispatch is decent quick defense ignoring Damage High Physical Stats Good Armor Ability to use Tempest and Scimitar Cons: Apart from Tempest and Scimitar, his weapons suck Crap Speed His GOOD Sword Techs take too long too use Dispatch isn't as strong as you'd like at some points Lack of fast efficient Healing SCC Difficulty Rating: Very Hard SCC Description: Cyan is defiantly not going to be an Easy SCC, I can tell you that. His Sword Techs, had they charged faster, would be useful, but seeing as they take forever get up there, and the enemy is smacking Cyan in the process, it's not that advisable. Worse yet, he can't heal himself besides Empower, his level 5 Sword Tech. Tips: -"Tempest Break!" This is Cyan's overall best weapon (...pretend the word "Break" isn't there <_<; ). Why? It's his only means of doing good and efficient Multi Target Damage to enemies, even if Elemental. Sure, he could use one of his Sword Techs and possibly do more, but the time it takes isn't quite worth it, especially when you don't have any characters to take control of. -"Scimitar". Cyan's other good weapon. This weapon is noteworthy only cause it works well with the Offering, randomly killing enemies with each attack. Though it only works 1/4 attacks, it's still better than nothing. -"The Force is Stong with this one!" Since Cyan can't do much offensively, take a lot of consideration into his Defenses. Raising M. Block is very helpful, thus the Force Armor will prove to be a valuable piece of equipment for Cyan, as not only does it raise M. Block by 30%, but also increases Mag. Def. Greatly, and makes your character resistant to a several elements as well. -"Sword Techs ignore Swords, never would have guessed it." Believe it or not, upgrading Weapons for Cyan will not increase the damage done by his Sword Techs. They all have set battle powers, so you can save money to opt for Items, and equip potentially more useful Weapons like the Tempest or Scimitar. -"Retort MIGHT come in handy." This is the only Sword Tech I'd consider using beyond Dispatch. This takes time, yet, but at least it's short enough time to bare. Against enemies who fight physically this can prove good for high damage over Dispatch. -"Psycho Cyan does not work." Sorry, but since Cyan cannot Imp Himself, nor get himself Killed after Retort and being Imped and revive himself, you ain't getting out of certain hard fights the easy way, I'm afraid. -"Level, Level, Level!" This will probably be Cyan's best option in some cases. He'll probably be some of the few characters who'll need to go beyond the Level Limit, just do to his inefficiency. Again, I encourage you to try WITH the Limit First, and only go beyond if all else failed. -"What's so Marvelous about those shoes?" Well, they (The Marvel Shoes) will allow Cyan to Last Longer, via Protect, Shell and Regen, and to an extent, make up for his low speed. Now we have the problem of beating the Doom Dragon at the coliseum with Cyan, just pray he succeeds, I guess I can allow you to use a Flame Shield for THAT one area. Simply Put, Cyan Sucks in an SCC. His damage out put isn't too great for what he can use, he's slow, the moves that would be good take too long (and that's really important in an SCC when you don't have Allies), and he can't heal to boot. This SCC is truly one I'd stay away from unless you want a REAL challenge. Ending Suggested Set Ups: Tempest/Scimitar Aegis Shield Red Cap Force Armor Ribbon Hero Ring/Offering ~~~ Gau ~~~ Pros: Versatility beyond belief Snow Muffler Great Starting Stats Can become nearly impossible to kill under right Set Up Cons: Choosing Wrong Rage in battle WILL kill you Making Gau nearly invincible means battles will take forever Can be a pain to raise. Can't use Weapons to boost his effectiveness NOTE: Obviously, due to how you raise Gau on the Veldt, you'll need to bring in at least ONE ally. For this matter, building up Gau, I'll allow you to break standard SCC rules, but once you leave the Veldt (or if you're on the Veldt for reasons other than Rages), then the rules apply again. SCC Difficulty Rating: Doable SCC Description: Ok, simply Put, Gau's SCC will probably fluctuate a lot between Easy and Hard. The SCC can be a lot of fun what with it just being Select Rage, and watch Gau due all the work. Then again, it can be frustrating if you choose the Wrong Rage, or if Gau is not doing the Special Attack you want him too. This is probably one of the more fun and interesting SCCs to do. Tips: -"Snow Muffler." Gau can use this, be sure to pick one up during your ventures. With Highest Defense rating and +10% to M. Block, this has obvious uses, and then there's the elemental Features :P -"Control your Temper!" Well, ok, Rages aren't exactly Temper but you get the point. Anyway, be sure you choose the Right Rage. That's really all there is to the Gau SCC, along with Proper Set Ups. Choosing the Right Rage will make battles a breeze, but choosing the wrong Rage can make them last forever, or potentially kill him. Here's a list of some decent rages to get: Stray Cat: Uses Cat Scratch, despite how early you get it, this is the strongest Physical Attack that Gau can use, IIRC, along with perhaps his Strongest Attack. Chicken Lip: Combined with Gaia Gear (Means no Snow Muffler), this becomes a somewhat effective way for Gau to deal Damage AND heal himself, due to Quake. Just remember that it won't work on flying enemies. Magic Pot: This is the ultimate in Defensive Rages. First, it casts Cure3, which has obvious uses. Next, it makes Gau absorb all 8 Elements and be immune to every single possible status effect in the game! Combined with Gau's potentially maxed out Defense, that makes Gau nearly Unkillable! What's the Flaw? Still Stuck with his relatively weak Physical Attack to do damage, which he'll only use 50% of the time, and he's still vulnerable to enemies with Defense Ignoring Non elemental attacks. Wooly: Basically, this is kind of a bit of Stray Cat and Magic Pot. Comes with several elemental Absorptions/Immunities, as well a bunch of status immunities as well, and it casts Ice3, letting Gau not only become quite durable, but deal some pretty Decent Damage in the process. Retainer: This is just more or less a novelty Rage (especially since you get it really late), as it does General Leo's Shock! Just note that Shock isn't the greatest of attacks, but it's still something that might be fun to play with. Rhodox: Casts Snare, which is an instant Death attack, which is a good thing. Just make sure all enemies in the battle aren't immune to instant Death when using this, and make sure you're not up against any boss either (this will be an insured Failure otherwise) Templar: A good overall Rage early on. Casts Fire2, and gives Gau the Safe the Status. Pretty nice, if you ask me. Overmind: Undead Rage, making it good against enemies who use instant death spells (as now they heal him!) or enemies that use a lot of Draining attacks (he reverses them), and it uses Elf Fire, a pretty nifty attack. Dark Side: Another Undead Rage, this one uses Ice2, which will help you get through most of the early parts of the game Hazer: Just for completion purposes, this is how you use Bolt2 early on. This is still a good rage for bosses like Number 128 who are weak to thunder, then again, so is... Aspek: Uses Giga Volt, which is stronger than Bolt2, a great spell for blasting through the Magitek Factory, where nearly all enemies are weak against Thunder! Goblin: Casts Bolt3, auto Reflect, need I say more? And etc. etc. Gau has a lot of Rages, just experiment with them, or use a FAQ, and see which ones will be useful and such. -"Killing Yourself gets you nowhere." Here's a few rages that you should NEVER use, under NO circumstance: Intangir: Uses Pep Up, which kills character and heals the target. Obviously, this is useless in an SCC. Balloon: Sure, the float and absorption to Fire Aspects are nice...until you remember that you are also prone to use Exploder anytime soon, which will kill off Gau right there and then, making it a game over. -"For once, the Ribbon is not a necessity!" Not to say it won't be useful, just saying that Gau doesn't need the Ribbon as much as other characters, since he has other ways of getting around Status effects (Magic Pot Rage anyone?) -"Hero Rings will prove useful." Since Gau is constantly switching between a Physical Position and Magical Position fighter based off what Rages you let him use, instead of having to switch between. Sure, for most characters, a Hero Ring helps, but it's especially nice for Gau, since it boosts all his Rages potency (even ones that use Step Mine or the Like, it still boosts his Physical Attack when he uses it) -"Those Darn Shoes won't leave me alone!" Well, ok, so you've given Gau maxed out Defenses making him immune to Physical Attacks, are using the Magic Pot Rage to make him immune to all elemental damage and status magic, seems there's but one thing missing...Positive Status'! Marvel Shoes will allow those few Non Elemental Non Defense Ignoring Spells to do less damage, has Regen so he's healing even when Attacking (which happens only 50% of the time), and now his Speed is boosted as well! Just cause I used Magic Pot Rage, as an Example doesn't mean it's not useful for other Rages. Heck, it's a great Relic for Rages that don't use Healing abilities, simply because it gives Regen and Positive Status effects. Just don't use an Undead Rage, though, as that will hurt him, not much albeit, but on a compounded level, it can change the overall out come. -"Know your Enemy." This is especially vital for Gau. Again, with Gau, unless you're using Items for whatever reason, your first action is the last one you give to him battle. That's not meant to sound negative, I mean that once you tell him to Rage, you lose TOTAL control of him, and there's no turning back until battle is over. Make sure you know exactly what you're up against, and you know exactly what kind of Rage you want for them. -"Remember, meeting the enemy is enough convince them to join the Veldt." Find an enemy you want to learn the Rage of, but they are just too hard to beat right now? Simple, as long as you encounter the enemy you they'll appear on the Veldt, so don't worry about not being able to beat him. Now if you can't run from that fight (one of those "Can't Run Away" battles), then you've got problems, and I'm sorry, but you'll just have to Muscle is out, or Die trying. -"WTF? Terra with a Mystery Veil still can't dodge attacks as well as Gau?" Yep, it's true. Gau has the highest natural M. Block in the game, with a whopping 18%, beating Mog by 6% (this is only Permanent Characters) In the WoB, he can get the 2nd highest M. Block Rating at 48%, which is just 1% behind Shadow (who had help from a Thief Knife) This leads Gau to last longer in the WoB as well. -"He should have AT Least asked the monsters to be his master." Sorry, but Gau wasn't smart enough to figure out how to use any weapons outside of the Imp Halberd. It's not that he needs it though, but just something to remember. -"No Blasphemous Actions!" I know you're wondering "WTF is he on?" Well this is a reference to a certain set up called "Wind God Gau" Which involves Equipping Gau with a Tempest through use of the Merit Award, and having him use Stray Cat Rage. This not only increases damage done by Cat Scratch (which does 4x physical damage), but also can be used to do 4x damage w/ Wind Slash to ALL enemies on occasion. Now, I would allow such a cheap combo like this, but there is one major problem: It requires use of the Merit Award. That alone should be obvious why it's banned. However, some people who use that combo often might end up using it with the Gau SCC, when it goes against the Guide Lines. -"When in doubt, Magic Urn Out." If you're unsure of what Rage to use in a fight, use Magic Urn. Chances are you'll live with maxed defense and total Elemental and Status Immunity, along with random castings of Cure3. This is not a guaranteed win, but it's the closest thing you can get, and its always a safe bet go bye, unless the enemy is capable of killing Gau in one shot. As we can see, the Gau SCC can be really fun and really frustrating. This little Kid has a lot of neat tricks up his sleeve; too bad you don't have exact control over him. The Gau SCC, by far, involves the Most Insight of ANY SCC this game has. This is only cause while other characters can remedy some problems by quickly doing another action, Gau is stuck with that one command you told him to do the entire battle. This is not necessarily a hard rage, but make sure you know a good deal of what you're up against in this game, and you know what Rages to use when. If you don't know enough about Rages, well, there are always FAQs, but it's best to have the Knowledge on hand or whatever the expression is. Gau simply has the most variety of any FF6 Character...well, besides Gogo of course, just cause he has all of Gau's Rages and a bunch of other skills. But Gogo doesn't have the Snow Muffler or Gau's stats to work with, now does he :P Ending Suggested Set Up: Nothing Genji Shield/Aegis Shield Red Cap/Circlet/Genji Helmet Snow Muffler Hero Ring/Marvel Shoes/Ribbon/Offering Any one of the 3 not chosen from the above ~~~~~ Celes ~~~~~ Pros: Ability to use Magic Great Equipment Decent Overall Stats Can work well as Fighter or Mage Minerva Can use Imp Equipment Cons: Magic Isn't as Strong or useful as you sometimes want it to be Runic lacks any form of Practical Use in such situations SCC Difficulty Rating: Easy SCC Description: Celes is kind of a Variation of the Terra SCC, in a sense, only harder. Though, considering how easy the Terra SCC is, that's not saying much. Celes shares everything Terra has in terms of equipment, bar a few minor things here and there (Cotton Robe...) Her spells are mostly supportive, but she does have a few Attack Spells thrown in so she can manage. Tips: -"Winter Wonderland Fun!" Well, ok, not really, but Celes can just Ice2 most things to death in the WoB, and later in the WoR, use Ice3 when Tritoch is available (or when she levels that high) Ice3 will probably be her strongest spell throughout the game to use on bosses, with possible exceptions of... -"Flare!" Yes, that nice little spell Bahamut Teaches and the Atma Weapon likes to blast you with. This is another strong Spell in Celes' Arsenal. Which is better between it and Ice3 depends on Enemies Magic Defense though, but also, this is good on enemies strong to Ice element as well. -"She wouldn't be that pure hearted if she couldn't hold pearls." Well, why hold pearls when you can turn them into purifying bombs at your enemy? Those enemies who don't like light will hate Celes when she blasts them with the spell Pearl. Probably her 3rd strongest Spell in terms of Raw Damage, but in some cases, does more. -"Meteor DOOM!" Random reference to Brigandine, but anyway, Summoning Meteors on your enemy to totally blast the **** out of them is Celes' best means of taking out groups of enemies. Celes learns the spell Meteor naturally. It's kind of useless on Bosses (Especially cause of Flare), but seeing as it does Defense Ignoring Unblockable, Unreflectable, Non Elemental, Non Focused (in that it ignores Multiple Targets), it's an Ideal Spell to kill mass hordes of Demons trying to take advantage of this young Beauty. -"Your Soul is MINE!" This applies to Celes in 2 cases. For starters, Celes' main offenses are her magic, which are overall more powerful than her Physical attacks, you'll be using A LOT of MP. Tinctures won't help much in fights where Celes Is running low, and sometimes, you can't wait til the end of Fight to restore. Soul Sabre fixes that Problem, just smack enemy with it, and her MP should be refilled in no time. Then there's the added bonus of randomly casting doom. What's the other way Celes uses her Enemies to her advantage? Why, the Soul Sabre's counterpart, the Drainer! This is Celes' best form of healing, no questions asked. Early on, Cure will get her a while, true, but face it, can you really do much healing battle with a Basic Level 1 she's known since the beginning of the game? Thought not. She doesn't learn any healing beyond Cure, so the Drainer's effectiveness jumps a few Points. -"Pretending to be Athena, is she?" Celes can use the Minerva, which is always a plus. All those elemental Advantages and 1/4 Extra MP, combined with 10% M. Block and high defense ratings make it overall her best Armor (in these cases anyway), not to mention those stat increases as well, especially to Magic. It's especially useful using the Ice Shield + Ice3 strategy for healing, since it nulls out the Ice Shields One Weakness: Wind. What do I mean by the title of this point? Well, Minerva is the Roman Equivalent of Athena, so you do the math. What? Stupid name still? Bah, you're no fun... -"Long Live the Enhancer!" Like with Terra and Edgar, Celes should make full use of this sword's specialties. Well, at least long enough until... -"The Doom of the Gods has arrived!" Ragnarok, like with Terra and Edgar, will be the best Sword Overall for Celes. If you don't need healing for MP or HP, then this Sword's Stat Bonus' will serve you well. Also does nice high damage too, what with its 100% Critical hit rate (at cost of some MP), highest Attack Power, and randomly casting Flare, with its +7 to Vigor no less. -"I'm out of 'witty' comments for Elemental weapons ;_;" Like With Terra, Celes can apply several elements early on using proper weapons. The Thunder Blade for Thunder, and Flame Sabre for Fire. Always nice to have these around, at least til Celes' non elemental magic comes around (in which case, this stuff is obsolete) -"Stupid Veil and its Mystery!" Yep, that Mystery Veil comes back and appears Celes' best Helmet overall, despite being gotten only half way through the game, like with Terra, it'll prove to be Celes' best helmet overall. -"Just remember, Mages don't use swords, they use Rods!" Well, that's great, cause Celes isn't a Mage. Remember that Celes can do some damage physically, she's not just restricted to her magic. True, her Magic hurts more than her physical attacks, but she can still conserve some MP with fighting Physically! Celes is an all around balanced Character, so take advantage of that. I've heard actually that Celes can just pound her way physically through most of her SCC, actually, using the right set up (Genji Glove + Ragnorak + Atma Weapon I heard is generally effective), without much difficulty. -"I just want you to remember, Magitek Knights don't die, they just fade away!" Ok, like with Shadow, Celes can become impervious to any and all physical attacks, at the cost of opening herself up to all possible Magic attacks. She learns Vanish, which is a nice handy spell. What's even better is she learns beserk, so enemies who have Magic that are vulnerable to it can be forced to fight Physically, then Celes disappears, now what are they going to do? I'll tell you what, die a painful and gruesome death while they are busy swinging at Air :P -"Target Locked on, Scanning Area!" Celes Learns Scan; this ability has obvious uses, namely, being able to see how much more of your enemy is left until they die. Or it's good against Dullahan to see how much more MP he has left until he's out, or whatever, it's a nice little convenience, if nothing else. -"How can I make Runic Useful in an SCC?" Well, one method could be to use the Black Belt. Celes can just sit there with Runic absorbing every spell thrown at her, and if the enemy attacks physically, she smacks them back. This does have a problem if Celes needs to break the trend when she needs to heal, but it can prove effective in some fights where Runic is normally helpful. Overall, a Celes SCC shouldn't cause too many problems. There may be a fight or 2 that is a bit annoying, and aren't necessarily easy, but nothing too Serious. She's pretty well set with good Magic, Great Equipment, and a few methods of Healing. She's a good SCC for a beginner. If you like Celes, then you'll be satisfied with her performance in an SCC. Don't like Celes and think she sucks? Too Bad, she's still easier than most of the other characters' SCCs :P Ending Suggested Set Ups: Normal Celes: Ragnorak/Drainer/Soul Sabre Aegis Shield/Ice Shield Mystery Veil Minerva Ribbon Hero Ring/Gold Hairpin (Economizer if you're Bold) Celes as some weird Green Turtle Thingy (aka an Imp): Imp Halberd Tortoise Shield Titanium Imp Armor Dragoon Boots Dragon Horn ~~~~~~ Setzer ~~~~~~ Pros: Fixed Dice Good Armor Instant Death Weapons Slots can be helpful at times Cons: Weapons early on Suck Slots bring up mostly Crap Speed could be a bit better No decent form of consistent healing (I laugh at Lagomorph) GP Rain is weak SCC Difficulty Rating: Fair SCC Description: More or less, Setzer's SCC will be "Kill enemies before they kill you" Strategy. His main flaws are his lack of good healing (he can be lucky and pull up Starlet or Sraphim on 3 Bars during slots), and the fact that early on, he doesn't have many offenses. If you get him past the first few parts of the game, then the rest should all be alright, not necessarily easy, but not all that hard either. Tips: -"That darn cheater!" Fixed Dice is Setzer's Best Weapon hands down. Ignores defenses and does high damage, the latter of which Setzer generally never does otherwise. Basically, as soon as you get the Airship, head to Kefka's Tower, and grab the Fixed Dice, and get out of there. It might be hard with an under leveled Character vs. Strong enemies (Especially the Gt Behemoth whom you cannot run from), but the rewards are well worth it. -"Offer up your half of the sum to the Gods." Fixed Dice are NOT affected by Offering in terms of Half Damage! That means they CAN do do potentially 4x damage at lower levels (as oppose to the usual 2x) Setzer should equip this relic to maximize his Offenses, seeing as there is no other reason NOT to use it. -"Bulls Eye!" Trump and Doom Darts instantly Kill, and Trump's Effect is compatable with the Offering. These are 2 good weapons to take into consideration if you're up against large Hordes of enemies, and don't wanna risk getting Low Rolls on the Fixed Dice. -"Since when can Han Solo use the force?" Well, he couldn't, but the FF6 character that can be identified with him, kind of, can use the "Force" Well, ok, it's the Force Armor, but still, you get the point. -"Wanna try your luck?" Sure, Setzer's Slots are Free, but then again, that's only taking money into account. Taking the fact that they are Random and half the time don't do much (Lagomorph's 2 Digit Healing...), they should only be used as a Last Resort. Some places, though, this might be Setzer's only method of succeeding. -"No Cheap Tricks!" Sorry, but using Save States to keep trying slots til you get something good is not allowed. Defeats the Purpose of Slots, does it not? -"What do you expect, HE'S THROWING MONEY!" GP Rain is expensive, weak, and wastes a relic Slot. Obviously, don't bother with the Coin Toss Relic, unless you have too much money you don't know what to do with and you're up against a bunch of weak enemies. Alright, short and simple, Setzer is probably going to have to be all out Physical this game, since Slots are a bit too random to be worth using, and GP Rain, simply put, sucks. If you can get the Offering and Fixed Dice early, then you should be set for a good deal of the game, but getting up there is the hard part. Harder than, say, Celes, but probably easier than Mog or Locke. Just note that later on, this SCC might get INCREDIBLY boring, since, well, it's just the same "Find Enemy, use X-fight + Fixed Dice, do repeat til enemy dies" thing over and over again, not to say it's not an effective strategy, but can get tedious and boring after a while. Ending Suggested Set Up: Fixed Dice/Trump/Doom Darts Aegis Shield Red Cap Force Armor Offering Ribbon ~~~~~~ Strago ~~~~~~ Pros: Lores have a lot of variety Attacks are fairly impressive Decent M. Block Equipment Can Heal Himself in different ways Cons: Weak Physical Attack The Good Lores aren't found til later Slow SCC Difficulty Rating: Fair SCC Description: Strago has a lot of Variety, so try to take advantage of that by getting his Lores to use it with. A lot of Lores don't do much, but there are a few ones that are worth using. Though his attacks aren't as strong as you'd like, he does have his Fair Share of healing. He is a bit MP Reliant though. Tips: -"Strago vs. Hidon, rivalry match at Ebots Rock, SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!!" If the name didn't give it away, basically as soon as possible FIGHT HIDON! Why? He knows Grand Train, Strago's strongest Lore, thus his strongest attack. Just make sure he can survive Grand Train in the beginning though. -"Life's Refreshing Breeze, Heal from the sky!" Ok, another cheesey FFT reference, I know <_<; but anyway, Strago's Pearl Wind is a nice way of Healing...as long as his HP is high, other wise, it's Utter Crap. But if that's the case, then... -"More Masochism as a way of healing." Strago at Low HP thus making Pearl Wind Useless is in trouble, right? Well, not really, the Heal Rod can be a nice substitute, as smacking yourself with that is good healing. Normally, I find this weapon useless, but when you have One Character with Limited healing otherwise, it's a pretty decent weapon, and a good form of healing. -"Strago Magus, the Magus Rod, Coincidence?" Despite the fact that it's not Strago's Strongest Weapon, it's probably his overall best. It raises Magic Power +7, which is nice seeing as Strago should be treated as a Mage, and raises M. Block by 30%, which is also nice, for obvious reasons. You can get this either by beating the Dirt Dragon, or by betting one of your Heal Rods (There are 2, don't worry) at the Coloseum. Try to get this ASAP. -"Elemental Fury!" Strago can apply a lot of elements with a combo of his Weapons and Spells. Clean Sweep for Water, Aero for Wind, Fire Rods for Fire, Ice Rods for Ice, Thunder Rods for Thunder, Poison Rods for Poison, Pearl Rods for Pearl (as well as the unreliable Level ? Pearl), and Gravity Rods for Earth. Sure, most of this obsolete when you have Grand Train, but still good to know. -"Don't want to know what he is eating..." Sour Mouth is an interesting attack and can be fun to play around with, so try it out on a few enemies. -"Watch your Steps!" Greasemonks when confused use Step Mine, which is a good spell early on with its Set damage. Though, it can still cost a lot. -"Behemoth Suit." Strago's best Armor, raises Defense by the highest amount (3rd overall, beaten only by the Snow Muffler and Imp Armor (When on an Imp)), nice Magic Defense boost, and gives +6 to All stats! I think we can see WHY this is a good armor. What's more, it's really easy to get as well (and if you didn't wait for Shadow, you'll have it by the time you get him back :P) -"If I go down I'm taking you With me...and getting a game over in the process." Exploder, for obvious Reasons, is pointless, as even if it will do good damage, what good is damage when you kill yourself, and don't have Life3 for back up? Like wise, Pep Up is useless as well, for similar reasons. -"Strago isn't the gambler, Setzer is!" So don't go ahead and start playing "Roullete" with the enemy, unless you think you're REALLY lucky. -"Strago isn't a Fighter either, he's a piddling old Man." Thus, equipping weapons like the Gradeus are pointless, since Strago should NEVER be fighting. He's got a versatile and Decent Skill set, USE IT! -"This old man finds nothing spoony about Bards." Hence, it's not a bad idea to equip him with a Bard's Hat. The Boost to MP and Magic Block are both nice, especially since Strago is pretty MP intensive. Then again, there's also the... -"Circlet." Boosts all stats, especially Magic Power. This is good if you plan on beefing up Strago's offenses, but then again, there's still ... -"Wit this Cap, I dub you the FF1 Red Mage!". Ok, fine, the Red Cap does little to make Strago like the FF1 Red Mage, beyond hypothetical appearance, but lets not get into that. It Boosts HP and gives him a nice Speed Upgrade along with Decent Defense, this should be pretty obvious why it'd be useful. The Strago SCC is pretty standard. You have Offenses, some decent Healing, and some good equipment to choose from. Again, this is not the easiest SCC, but it's by no means the hardest. Also, since it can be a pain to Learn Lores, I guess you can be allowed to use characters like Gau or Relm to help Strago Learn Lores, but ONLY for that purpose, otherwise, send their asses back to the Air Ship, NOW! Ending Suggested Set Up: Magus Rod/Heal Rod Aegis Shield Red Cap/Circlet/Bard's Hat Behemoth Suit Ribbon Hero Ring/Gold Hairpin (or Economizer if you're bold) ~~~~ Relm ~~~~ Pros: High M. Block Good Speed Cat Hood Healing Cons: Weak No Forms of healing Almost a pure fighter with little to no power Sketches and Control are too unreliable SCC Difficulty Rating: Very Hard SCC Description: I can't suggest this SCC, sorry. It's doable, maybe, but would involve a lot of pain and stress in the process. Sure, she can heal, but that's about it. She has the games highest Magic Power, and doesn't have anything to use it with. Stay Away from this one, unless you want a good challenge. Tips: -"Heal Rod." Relm WILL need this. There's no way she will off enemies fast enough not to use this. Thus, make sure you always have this available. -"Aww...look at the cute little kitty." The Best Helmet in the game overall, the Cat Hood, is restricted to Relm and Relm alone. Try to grab this if you can. It isn't going to be easy fighting in the Coloseum with Relm, but it still should be something you try to get. -"Gradeus." Since Relm is doing mostly Fighting, Battle Power is pretty important, and this has her highest. -"Draw a portrait, you take the persons soul." Ok, try sketching a whole bunch of enemies, and even some bosses. You might be surprised with your results. Don't expect anything that amazing (though, Sketching Kefka does lead to a weak (by its standards) Ultima), though. -"Randomly Spell Casting Weapons." Weapons like Pearl Rod and such should be taken into account. Why? Cause they randomly cast spells, probably the only way Relm can use her High Magic power. This will allow Relm to do some OK damage, but then again, it is a bit random, and Random = Unreliable. -"Behemoth Suit." Not much to say, boosts her stats the best of any Armor, and has highest defense value, but seeing as this is Relm, you might be better off with... -"Tao Robe." Weaker than Behemoth Suit, nor does it have the Stat Upgrades, but it does Boost M. Block. Seeing as Relm can't kill enemies very fast, her best bet is to out last them. M. Block is probably the way to go. -"Magus Rod." Mostly for its 30% M. Block, if nothing else. -"Don't bother with Control." It doesn't work on bosses, and it wastes a relic Slot. Better off with Sketch, in actuality (Just pray a glitch doesn't occur) -"How far do you expect to get when you smack people with Brushes?" Well, come on, think realistically Relm! Don't bother equipping ANY brushes, they aren't anything useful. -"Level Level LEVEL SOME MORE!" Relm will be one of these SCCs where High Levels might be in order, and she might need to break the Level Limit to succeed, due to her very Crappy Damage. Not much to say, Relm as an SCC sucks! Normally, she's just plain an Underrated character, with uses that are not so obvious, but in an SCC, well, w/out Magic, she doesn't have much going for her. Can't really recommend you do this one. Similar to Cyan, this is an SCC that'll be more of a pain than it's worth, and will require lots of leveling. Ending Suggested Set Ups: Magus Rod/Gradeus/Pearl Rod/Heal Rod Aegis Shield Cat Hood Tao Robe/Behemoth Suit Ribbon Hero Ring/White Cape ~~~~~~~~~~~ Skills Gogo ~~~~~~~~~~~ Pros: Can do anything but Magic and Morph (remember, one character only, that means NO Terra or Celes in your team) Cons: Subpar stats and Equipment Can't be started til VERY late in the game (though, that's not Gogo's problem, that's yours for choosing this SCC :P) SCC Difficulty Rating: Easy SCC Description: Gogo is basically Strago w/ lower stats, and swapping Suits for a whole lot of new abilities. Want Blitz? Go for it. Want Tools? Give it to him. Gogo SCC will basically be a combo of a several other characters SCCs, and for obvious reasons. Tips: -"The Apprentice out does the Master." Well, in the case of Bum Rush, Gogo's *IS* Stronger than Sabin's! How does this work? Bum Rush is based off Magic, Gogo has a lot of Magic Boosting Equipment, Sabin does not. Sabin's base Magic Power (Which some people claim is high...) is only 2 points more than Gogo's base. Do the Math. -"Remember to apply FIGHT to him." Since Gogo can use the Heal Rod, this is not necessarily a bad idea. -"Mimicing things are better than using them." At least in the case of using something like Grand Train which Costs MP, Mimicing it means you get a few Free Castings of it in the Proccess :P Or with Bum Rush, you won't have to worry ever again about pulling the command off. Best yet, if you please, have Gogo use, say, Quadra Slice, and what do you know, he can mimic it, AND he will have to wait ONLY for the initial one to charge! I think you get the point, don't underestimate Mimic. -"Make sure Gogo is set up properly." This is obvious, similar to Gau, only not as crucial, since at least you MAY be able get away with a bad set Up, chances are Gau will die if you choose the wrong Rage. -"Building up other characters a bit is allowed." Why? Only if it's for the sake of having Gogo use more skills, I think I'll allow you to spend time on the Veldt, or wherever, to have characters learn new abilities (this mostly applies to Strago w/ Lores, Mog w/ Dances and Gau w/ Rages) However, Gogo may never use the Magic command, so don't bother building up Terra or Celes. Also, note this includes Teaching a Character X-zone so Gogo can use it for the Wrex Soul Battle. -"A lot of what can be said for Gogo has been said before on another Character." Thus, a good tip would be to read up on other characters, at least their NON equipment aspects, unless that Character is Strago, and try applying them to Gogo. Chances are if they work for the character, they'll work for Gogo, as long as they aren't Magic, Morph, or based off Equipment. -"Remember, Gogo can't uncurse the Cursed Shield." Due to this, I advise that he shouldn't use the Paladin Shield (especially if Terra's not using it either, though that's open to your decision, I chose not to) However, if you plan to use the Paladin Shield, you have use at least one NON Gogo (or Umaro) Character for that matter. And considering I say the Shield itself is invalid for Terra's already... Yes, Taking Versatility to The Extremes, I thinks it's obvious WHY Gogo should do well in an SCC. Sure, his stats suck, but he still has a better Bum Rush than Sabin. Only reason I suggest not doing it is because it'll take a while to start. Ending Suggested Set Up: Magus Rod/Heal Rod/Gradeus Aegis Shld Red Cap Tao Robe Ribbon Marvel Shoes/Hero Ring *IMPORTANT NOTE* My FAQ assumes you are being lenient with Gogo, and allowing him any skills he wants, no matter how they are acquired, EXCEPT for Magic since that requires Terra and/or Celes be in your team, which kills the charm of being alone in an SCC (Sometimes, its unavoidable to use characters, but when possible, you are to not use them.) So yeah, even though Strago technically must learn the Lores, or Gau the Rages, I'm assuming you are taking a bit of an optional stall point to go out and learn those (should be noted that Grand Train is fairly worthless for Gogo in an SCC; Throw and Bum Rush do more damage, and don't cost MP, so the whole keeping Strago alive long enough vs. Hidon is nothing something to worry about.) Should you want to be more restrictive, strategies for Gogo will change of course, such as allowing Gogo only skills he can get without other characters learning them (This leaves Tools, Sketch/Control, Slots/GP Rain, Steal/Capture, Throw, Runic, and of course, Mimic, Fight and Item.) Just noting it here for people who might complain about Gogo getting too much in his SCC. If you want to restrict him in some manner that's not "True Gogo", be my guest. Just noting I'm assuming rather lenient restrictions for Gogo. ~~~~~~~~~ True Gogo ~~~~~~~~~ Pros: Decent M. Block Healing Cons: Crap Stats Low Defense Horrid Magic Defense Nothing resembling decent Offense Just about Worst at everything SCC Difficulty Rating: VERY STUPIDLY HARD! SCC Description: A True Gogo SCC is forcing Gogo to use nothing but Fight, Mimic and Item. Why those? Well, Mimic your stuck with, and Fight/Item are both generic Commands that Gogo should be allowed to use (and his SCC is IMPOSSIBLE without Item) Anyway, simply put, of the conceivably doable SCCs, True Gogo is the single Hardest of them all. Those familiar with the FFT SCCs can probably guessed why I named it "True Gogo", but for those who don't know, this was spawned from the FFT "True Calculator SCC" which was a similar Concept (Can't use Math Skill, in a nutshell), which was deemed the hardest SCC around, and was not completed until relatively recently. True Gogo is the equivalent of that, I feel. This SCC will make Relm and Cyan's look bareable, if your curious. Tips: -"Your Life and Blood comes from smacking yourself." The Heal Rod is Gogo's friend. He likes having unlimited healing, so to speak. You will be using this A LOT. -"Go Go M. Block!" Gogo has low defense no matter how you try to tweak him, so opt for M. Block, so you have a better chance of living since enemies will miss him. Hence, Magus Rod, despite its low power, is Gogo's best weapon, especially since Gogo will never do good damage outside of Man Eater vs. Human Targets, and an Elemental Rod kicking in its Spell. -"Some laws might have to be disregarded." Some of the basic Laws MUST stay, mind you, such as no Merit Award, and such, BUT the M. Block basis one probably can be withheld, if this is just too hard for Gogo to get around w/out having his 126% M. Block to rely on. -"You can still do the Fanatics Tower, remember." Yes, Mimic still works there, I suggest doing it AT LEAST as far as the Safety Bit so Gogo can be immune to Instant Death w/out sacrificing healing (at least, from X- potions and Revivifies) -"SAVE SAVE SAVE!" True Gogo SCC will defiantly require the most amounts of Resets of ANY SCC by far. Simply put, it's the hardest SCC around, with no Exception. If you beat a hard boss, do not do anything until you save! I swear, you don't wanna have to fight one of the Goddesses that you had to struggle like hell to beat, do you? -"If I were you, I'd have some sanity insurance." This is only cause this SCC will drive you nuts how often you will probably die in comparison to the others. Simply put, the ONLY reason to do a True Gogo SCC is if you really want a hard but possibly doable challenge. It requires a lot of Luck, PERFECT equipment set ups, and lots of time. You'll probably be strayed from it time and time again. I would NOT touch a True Gogo SCC w/out doing Relm's first, considering her's is basically an easier variation of this (she's better at just about everything) This SCC will cause pain and suffering, unless you level up to 99 ASAP, and doing that alone w/out breaking SCC rules can be hard itself. Ending Suggested Set Up: Following the rules... Magus Rod Aegis Shield Red Cap Tao Robe Marvel Shoes (Gogo NEEDS defense badly) Ribbon Tweaking some rules.... Magus Rod Force Shield Bard's Hat/Red Cap Tao Robe Marvel Shoes/White Cape Ribbon/White Cape ~~~~~ Umaro ~~~~~ Pros: High Strength Tackle Hurts Rage Ring Blizzard Orb Cons: Can't be controlled Middlish Weapon No Versatility Can't use Item Command SCC Difficulty Rating: Is this even possible? SCC Description: Literally, the only thing you'll be doing with Umaro is changing his Relics around. Not a very fun SCC, is it? At least with Gau, you CAN choose what kind of random Actions he has. Tips: -"The only tip I can give about the Umaro SCC." DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS SCC! IT'LL DRIVE YOU INSANE, AND CHANCES ARE, IT'S NIGH IMPOSSIBLE! Heck, you're hardly even playing the SCC! Umm, yes, you get the point. Don't do this SCC, even if your life depended on it. At least Cyan and Relm have a chance of succeeding, Umaro does not. If you want a really hard SCC, choose the True Gogo SCC. Ending Suggested Set Up: Bone Club -------- -------- Snow Muffler Rage Ring Offering (Heck it doesn't Matter WHAT you give him; he's screwed as is) Ok, that's all the characters, their Pros, Cons, what they have, tips for them, etc. So, you know what each character has, you should be able to make your decision. Choose your character, and enter the world of SCCs...ok, that line sucked, but you get the point. ------------------- 6. Mini Walkthrough ------------------- Ok, this is to help people get past some hard parts of the game, bosses, etc. I'll list it based off characters and such. It's best you just read on and you'll understand as things go on. Things you should know: *NAME* = SCC Start or Continue Point = SCC Stall Point #Name# = Section of game name thingy. Just there to help for organization. %Name% = Boss Fight. Again, for Organization. Also, during any Characters Stall Points, just assume "Play as Normal." It's hard enough having to get specific for each character, but then have to say "For those who are at a stall point, yadda yadda yadda" is just plain annoying, see? So again, just refer to an LLG FAQ or something if you're up to a stall point. Ok, so lets go! #Narshe# *Terra* Terra: Well, the advantage of choosing the Terra SCC is you start right off the bat. The disadvantage is you start right off the bat. First things first, get rid of those 2 jokers, Vicks and Wedge. 2 Ways to Do this. Either the fast way, which is have Terra blast them with Fire Spells til they die. Or you can conserve MP by having Terra keep using Heal Force, and let Vicks and Wedge stand there until they are killed Normally. Either way is fine, use the 2nd only if you feel you can't live with the MP Loss, as it will take a while. To get past here, use Terra's Bio Blast. Should kill all enemies on Screen. If she needs healing, use Heal Force. %Whelk% Terra: Joke fight, really. Just spam the head with Tek Missile, and when he goes into his shell, use Heal Force. You should be able to use One Tek Missile per each time his head appears. 3 Tek Missiles should do the trick. If you're REALLY bold, try and take out the Shell's 50,000 HP. This is easier than it sounds, just takes a while, and you gotta be REALLY careful about HP, but after a certain point, he'll run out of MP, so megavolt isn't a problem. Why kill the shell? You get a Tincture, which is more valuable for Terra than a Potion. #The Mines# Before you head out of Arvis' house, pick up the Elixir, this will be good for any SCC, for obvious reasons. Terra: This part of the game is no different from any other game, even a normal play through, so this part goes without saying. #Save Terra!# *Locke* *Mog* First things first. Unless you're doing a Mog SCC, Unequip Mog. This gives you a free Mithril Pike and Mithril Shield. The Pike is worthless, really, but good for getting a bit of extra money (only Edgar can use it, and he always does more damage with Tools), but the Shield is the best you'll have throughout the whole WoB, at least until Gold Shields are available to those who can use them. Locke: First, Equip him with that Mithril Shield you stole from Mog. Next, get into a fight, and kill off all the Moogles. If that's too hard, kill the Vommamoth, AND THEN the Moogles. Now, go fight Marshall. If you want, try and steal his Mithril Knife and equip it on Locke. It will make things a bit easier for him. This isn't exactly easy, so if things are a bit too hard, I guess you can play this part normal. Mog: Ok, before taking on Marshal, Make sure Mog learns Dusk Requim. Learned it? Good, now just use that on him, and Mog should teach the Marshal what it means to take on a Moogle. Of course, you gotta kill Mog's Allies in a previous Battle, but oh well, that should go without saying. Not all that hard. Oh yeah, stick him in the Back Row. He has no reason to be in the front, since his Dances are not effected by Row, so might as well get a 50% Boost to defense, right? *Terra* Ok, at this point, it's pretty obvious. If you're playing as Terra, kill Locke. If you're playing as Locke, kill Terra. And then venture to Figaro. #Figaro# *Edgar* Ok, first things first. Do NOT Buy Tools. There's no point. That is, unless, you're doing an Edgar SCC. In that acse, Buying tools is useful. Just don't buy an Auto Cross Bow, as you'll get one instantly through the story, though the game doesn't tell you. Now, whoever your SCC character is, put them in the FRONT Row. That way, when the battle begins, they'll be placed in the Back Row since it's a back attack. When you get to control Edgar during the 2 sections he speaks to Kefka, unequip him. This will net you a free Mithril Blade for Terra and Locke. If you're doing an Edgar SCC, obviously, Don't unequip. Take this time to stock up on some Tonics, Sleeping Bags (NOT Tents), and other useful items. Also, if you're doing a Locke SCC, DO NOT SAVE during the section you play as Terra alone here. If that's the case, you might potentially have a hard time to beat Magitek Armors, w/out the ability to Level Locke up, if it resorts to that. %Magitek Armors% Terra: All right, this is a pain, first off, have the Armors kill Locke and Edgar. You should have had Locke and Edgar Unequipped so it's not all bad. But then there's a problem of having Terra survive long enough. Their Physical attacks aren't a problem, Tek Laser is. Just blast away with Fire and healing with Cure or just use Items, and eventually, you'll win. If this fight is too hard, have Terra level up a bit, then try again. Locke: This is like Terra's only harder, cause you lack the offenses. Just fight, heal, and pray they don't use Tek Laser too much. If worst comes to worst, Level Locke Up. Yes, I know, Locke has the hard battles early in the game, but that's your fault for choosing his. Edgar: ...*Yawn* These guys are vulnerable to Confuse. Wait, Noise Blaster Causes Confuse...To BOTH! Use it, and then spam them with Bio Blaster. This fight is pretty easy, and the only difference is that Edgar's the only target, but when enemies are confused, does that change much? Also, it'll probably be best that Terra and Locke Kill themselves, so we don't have Edgar waiting for his ATB gauge to raise up to full while he gets spammed with 2 Tek lasers. #South Figaro Cave# Alright, just don't pick anything up here. Get the items later. Trust me, you'll be happy when you have a Thunder Rod handy to blast an enemy with. Nothing else to say otherwise. So just rush the cave, in otherwords. #South Figaro# Pillage this place for everything it's worth. Then, go buy the best equipment for Each Character. Pretty much obvious what to do here. Oh yeah, be sure to pick up those Running Shoes and Hyper Wrist in the Basement, and Equip them on whoever. Extra Power and Speed is always handy. #Mt. Koltz# Terra: Just fry everything here with Fire, or run. Annoying? Yes, but who said it was going to be easy? I said the Terra SCC is a joke? Oh yes, I did. Well, you'll see why later. Locke: Fight, A LOT! Make sure you grab the Guardian, and Atlas Armlet, and equip Both (Atlas Armlet tends to give larger boosts to Damage than Hyper Wrist) If you can, steal a Bandana from a Brawler, and Equip it. Edgar: Same old, same Old. Auto Crossbow, Noise Blaster, etc. His usual tools frenzy, nothing special. %Vargas% Terra: This fight looks hard, and believe me...it's not! Terra in the back Row should be able to survive attacks, just watch out for Gale Cuts. Kill the 2 Ipoohs with Fire Spells. When they're gone, the fight goes down hill. Just keep HP high, and you'll be fine. Locke: Fight the 2 Ipoohs til they die. Heal when necessary. Nothing much I can say here. You did remember to grab that Guardian and Running Shoes, right? Those speed boosts will help, and Guardian's power (hopefully being Augmented by the Hyper Wrist or Atlas Armlet) should be able to Carry Locke. Having too many problems? Solution: Level Up! Edgar: Auto Crossbow until Ipooh's Die. Bio Blaster Vargas til he dies. Keep HP high so Edgar doesn't die. I shouldn't really have to say this. Sabin: Well, this is normal. Just Use Pummel, duh. If you don't know how to do Pummel...why are you even doing an SCC to begin with? #Returners Hideout# Alright, not much to say here. Make sure you get the Air Lancet (if it's not a Locke SCC, at least it's more selling money), and the White Cape. Stocking up on some items can't hurt either. Don't bother with Eye Drops, since well, blind status does nothing really worth caring about. When you get control of Terra, I suggest getting the Genji Glove from Bannon, as it's far more useful than the Gauntlet. Besides that, do what you feel. #Lete River# First things first, kill off all characters besides Bannon and your SCC character. I know some people are curious how to treat Bannon. Well, since he MUST be alive (or it's a game over), you might as well treat him normally, so basically it's a normal game with just Bannon having one sole body guard instead of 3. If you want, Level Bannon up some to make things easier. Kill off your SCC Character, go outside the Returner's Base, and have Bannon beat those enemies solo to gain EXP w/out leveling your other characters up. Besides that, there isn't much to say. Oh yeah, it's best NOT to save at the 2nd save point. Why? Because if you're Underleveled, and you end up needing some more levels, you can't apply the Lete River trick. Terra: Have Bannon do nothing but Health. Terra can either Fight or cast Fire on enemies, your choice. Battles might take longer than you'd want, but isn't too hard. Just beware of 2 Pterodans, though, it's probably best to Run from those, since 2 Fire Ball spells isn't fun. Edgar: While Terra might not find it fun fighting 2 Pterodans, Edgar simply laughs at them. Well, ok, he first busts out his record player (aka the Noiseblaster), confuses them, and then laughs at them. Though it does less damage, it's better to use the Bio Blaster, since it won't null out Confuse. Just watch as those Pterodans blast themselves with Fireballs :P Sabin: Ok, if you happen to be high enough leveled to use Fire Dance, then do so. If not, then just use the Typical Aura Bolts and Pummels. Also might be a good idea to avoid dual Pterodan fights. %Ultros% Terra: Ok, it's best to have Terra "Defend" until he hits her with his Tentacle, as one smack of a Tentacle MIGHT kill her, though in the Back Row, it shouldn't. Afterwords, blast away with Fire Spells like there's no tomorrow, and likewise, have Bannon keep using Health. After a bunch of "Ouch! Seafood Soup!" lines, Ultros will be beaten. Edgar: Alright, just spam Auto Crossbow (does more than Bio Blaster against him) like there's no tomorrow, keeping his HP high with Health. Sabin: Have Bannon use Health while Sabin just goes along and Aura Bolts the crap out of the guy. 10 Aura Bolts should be enough to waste this Octopus. If you have it already, use Fire Dance instead, since Ultros is weak to Fire. Do the math. #Scenario Split Sequence# Ok, there isn't much to say here. I will recommend that you go in the order of Terra, followed by Sabin, concluding with Locke. There are several reasons for this. For starters, doing Terra first gets you more Rages for the Veldt (and useful ones like Dark Side), so it's good for a Gau SCC, as well as gets you a Rune Edge, which even in an SCC where it's useless (any Non Terra, Edgar, or Celes one, in otherwords), nets you a good 3750 GP, good for spending in Nikeah. That's more or less the reason to go to Sabin's Scenario next. Stock up on Supplies. What? You don't know what Celes will be able to Equip for Her SCC? Well, actually you will, just not directly. See, lets remember, Celes' Equipment is IDENTICAL to Terra's, so just check if Terra can equip it. If Terra can use it, then Celes can equip it, if not, then don't bother, it's that simple. Why Locke's last? Well, with underdeveloped Locke and Celes, TunnelArmr is a pain, so you want to be as prepared as possible. Also, if you're doing a Locke or Celes SCC, this will get them the edge in Equipment needed to beat this Tough SCC Boss. You DO NOT have to do it in this order, but that's the way the FAQ is going to be formulated. #Lete River 2 and Narshe# Nothing Special here. I mean it, all it is playing this area with ONE less Character, since you have 3 characters, one dies, and Bannon must live, as does your SCC character. Just get into a fight with a Dark Side during the Trailing the Light puzzle thingy, as Dark Sides are a nice Rage for Gau, who's good for Stall Points, or just if you're doing his SCC. Also, make sure you remember that Rune Edge near the Moogle Village. For Terra and Celes, this is the best weapon they will have for a while (Even though only SLIGHTLY stronger than the Regal Cutlass, its critical hit rate is 100%, at cost of some MP), and for other characters, it sells for a surprisingly high amount early in the game. Trust me, that's more valuable than a Ribbon, especially considering you only need 1 Ribbon at most, and there are plenty throughout the game. #Sabin's Scenario# *Sabin* *Shadow* Alright, if doing the Shadow SCC, just grab Shadow, and start your Money spending spree NOW! If not, then unequip Shadow of everything he has. Ninja Gear is the best Armor for Sabin, Locke, and Gau throughout most of the WoB, and otherwise, it's good for a bit of extra Cash. Don't forget to stock up on items at the Traveling Merchant. #Imperial Base Camp and Doma# *Cyan* Not much to say here, basically, play this through. Telstar might be a pain, so I'll give Tips to beat him: Sabin: it's best not to blitz him, since that provokes a Megazerk Counter attack, causing Sabin to go Beserk, which we know is not fun. Well, equip a Black Belt and Atlas Armlet on Sabin to increase how much damage he does, and to give him Counter attacks too. Shadow: Throw Shurikens like a mad man. Hope Interceptor Blocks attacks. Atlas Armlet and Running Shoes allow for more Damage and Faster Turns. Obviously, heal when necessary with Items. After you beat Telstar, and relinquished his Green Beret, grab the Barrier Ring. This is a VERY Crucial Relic, I might add, if only useful for ONE fight, trust me, it's worth getting. After that, just continue this as normal, besides the obvious "Play as one person aspect" When your team Jumps into Magitek Armors, just use a similar strategy as suggested in the Terra SCC: Let the enemies kill off your team while your SCC Character Heal Forces til they are alive. Takes a while? Yes, but oh well, you don't want to cheat, do you? #Phantom Forest and Train# Nothing much to say here. Well, just make sure you grab all items possible, stock up on stuff, etc. The usual Treasure Pillaging. However, just remember, in the forest, there's a Chance Shadow CAN leave, so it's best to avoid those fights by running in a Shadow SCC. Shadow never leaves on the Train, though, so don't worry. Also, getting ghosts (the "?????" characters) is NOT allowed (unless this is a stall point), for pretty obvious reasons. Phantom Train can be beaten using a Fenix Down in one shot, but if you want to take him down honorably, then follow these Guide Lines: Sabin: Just Aura Bolt like a mad man, and heal when necessary. Shadow: Throw Shurikens like no tomorrow, and hope Interceptor joins in and helps speed up the battle. Cyan: Dispatch like crazy. Or if you want to try, use Retort, and hope that pulls through. Heal when necessary as well. #Barren Falls# Ok, every enemy here dies in one shot, so it's not hard. Before entering here, it's suggested you fight at least ONE fight with a Stray Cat, ESPECIALLY if you plan to do a Gau SCC. Besides that, there's nothing to worry about besides Rizopas. Rizopas isn't a hard fight, let me point out, just has El Nino, that can kill you if caught off guard. Several Strings of Aura Bolts or Dispatches (depends which SCC) will take him down fast. #Veldt# *Gau* Ok, nothing much to say here besides the usual Stock up on Items, grab Gau, etc. However, if you're doing a Gau SCC, pick up as many rages as possible. Rages to look out for are Stray Cat, Marshall, Dark Side, Templar, Overmind, Rhodox, Ghost, Hazer, Pterodan and Vaporite. Got all those Rages? Good. Now, get as much money as you think you'll need, and head to Nikeah, as normal, through the Serpant Trench. IMPORTANT NOTE!!! For the Sabin and Cyan SCC, understand that BOTH must be alive for Gau to arrive your first time on the Veldt. Otherwise, he won't come if either of them are Dead. Thus, play the Veldt normally (aka keeping both characters alive) until Gau comes, then Kill the others off. Don't go spending 2 hours on the Veldt searching for Gau alone with Sabin while Cyan is feeding the worms, since Gau isn't attracted to Dead People, or so It would appear :P #Nikeah# Nothing much to say here, just stock up on strong Weapons and armor. What to get? Well, here's what you should have by Narhse. Why am I telling you this now? Well, once you finish this area, if you have forgotten anything, sorry, you can't turn back, so this is a check list for later, good to take care of now while you still can. Terra: Rune Edge: Found in Narshe Mithril Shield: Unequip from Mog in the Save Terra Sequence Green Beret: Gotten from Telstar, or from the Serpant Trench Cave 2 Silk Armor: Buy in Nikeah OR Iron Armor: Find one in South Figaro (or buy one in Nikeah or Mobliz, but that costs Money) Locke: Air Lancet: One found in Returner's Hideout, other found from Stealing from TunnelArmr (Common. Rare is Bioblaster) Mithril Shield: See Terra Green Beret: See Terra Ninja Gear: Unequip this from Shadow Edgar: *Mithril Pike: Unequip from Mog in Narshe, or just buy one in Nikeah Mithril Shield: See Terra Green Beret: See Terra Iron Armor: See Terra Sabin: *Mithril Claw: Buy at Nikeah or Mobliz. If you're Lucky, you might have swapped it from Vargas as a Rare Steal (Common is a Tonic) Mithril Shield: See Terra Green Beret: See Terra Ninja Gear: See Locke Cyan: *Kotetsu: Buy in Nikeah or Mobliz Mithril Shield: See Terra Green Beret: See Terra Iron Armor: See Terra Gau: Nothing: Ummm...no comment Mithril Shield: See Terra Green Beret: See Terra Ninja Gear: See Locke Celes: Rune Edge: See Terra Mithril Shield: See Terra Green Beret: See Terra Silk Robe: See Terra OR Iron Armor: See Terra *Weapon mentioned for completion purposes, and simply suggested since it's their Strongest weapon. Such characters do more with their special attacks as is, so Equipping Weapon isn't necessary. At least, not now. Ok, got all the stuff needed for your SCC character? Good. Now, continue the game. Don't bother buying the relics there, just status guarding Stuff, which either you already have, or will become obsolete, as you'll have a Ribbon Soon. #South Figaro# *Locke* *Celes* Ok, just do this place normally until you get Celes. When Celes is back, kill off the non SCC Character, and deck out that character with the Best Equipment you have thus far. Locke: I suggest Equipping him with a Genji Glove and Atlas Armlet, shoving on an Air Lancet and Guardian in each Hand. This should allow Locke to kill pretty much anything in one attack. Celes: Give her Earrings, and a 2nd one when you find it (it's also in the Basement), and cast Ice. This should be killing things there with little difficulty. Then again, the enemies here themselves aren't too hard, but you never know. Remember, Celes knows the Cure spell, so use that to keep her alive at times. Make sure you pick up that Ribbon in a that Hidden Room. Ribbon will be one of the most valuable Relics in the SCC, simply cause Status Effects can really **** you over (especially something like Stone or Zombie which means instant Game Over.), and this will let you not worry about pretty much all of them, with a few small exceptions. When you reach the cave, remember how I said NOT to grab any items there before? Well, now do so, and make sure you pick up that Thunder Rod, it will prove quite Valuable. %TunnelArmr% If you think you can do without it later, use the Thunder Rod now on a Character w/ 2 Earrings (whoever your SCC Character is no doubt), and you might just get away with Killing him in One shot. There's a pretty good chance of it actually, especially in Celes' Case. If you wish to save your Thunder Rod, then this fight becomes really hard and annoying Fast. Locke: Equip Ribbon and Barrier Ring, and have equip all his best stuff (should be Air Lancet, Green Beret, Mithril Shield and Ninja Gear) Attack him, and heal when HP gets low. Eventually, he'll switch to using the attack "Drill." This attack, believe it or not, is actually a GOOD thing for you, since it does, with this set up, considerably less damage than any one of his spells. If you can keep this momentum up, and he uses several drills, you'll eventually win, and you didn't even need that Thunder Rod. Celes: Well, you could try to be Creative, and use a Strategy of Runic + Black Belt, allowing that whenever he doesn't fight Magically, Celes will Counter attack with a Critical Hit from the Rune Edge, and if tries to attack you magically, you'll just absorb it, and of course, heal whenever Celes' HP gets low. However, that might take awhile, so it might be better to apply similar strategy used with Locke, only blasting with Ice Spells, and Equipping the Earrings instead. Barrier Ring should still be used (and it still boosts her Magic up slightly, as an added Bonus, albeit, not nearly as much as a 2nd Earring) This fight, like with Locke, will prove to be a long battle of attrition, involving a lot of attacking, healing, and hoping. Leveling up might be the best Method. Well, if you're doing a Locke or Celes SCC, I think it would be best to use the Thunder Rod here, since other fights where it might be useful, you won't have to be so Creative, and have other means getting around and such. This is the advantage about Other SCCs is fighting this fight normally, a battle where you're suppose to use Team Work of Celes Runicing (is that a word?) his attacks, while Locke takes the Offensive and Healing. You get the point, Thunder Rod is your best friend if you're forced to SCC this fight. #Battle for the Esper# First things first, make sure you got all that Stuff from Nikeah equipped on your SCC character. Done that? Good. Now, make sure you have the Barrier Ring and Ribbon in your inventory, at least. Have that? Also good. Now, when asked to make a Party, make Team 1 with your SCC character, and the other 2 teams whatever you want. If things go well, those 2 teams should be doing jack Squat, besides standing there and freezing their asses off while Bannon waits for his death. When the battle starts, have your Character rush all the way to Kefka, avoiding as many troops as possible. I would explain how to avoid them all, but unfortunately, my Skills kind of suck. Thankfully, both Low Level Game FAQs explain how to avoid them pretty well, so I suggest if you're having problems avoiding enemies, then go there. You don't need to avoid them all, just remember that getting into a Fight Wastes time, and thus, more time for those Troops to Slaughter Bannon (at least in my case, my other teams were made of jack squat, another incentive to rush) Should your character run into a battle, here's how I suggest you go about it: Terra: Cast Fire on anything BUT Heavy Armors, who have Tek Barrier (gives them Reflect status) Equip her with Earrings to boost her damage further. Should her HP get low, use Drain (This is a non reflectable spell, so it works on Heavy Armors) Not all that hard, just make sure she has MP, and is in the back row, to lower damage. Use the Rune Edge to take down Heavy Armors as well. Locke: I suggest equipping a Genji Glove and Atlas Armlet, with 2 Air Lancets (if you didn't get the Second, replace one with the Guardian) Locke should be killing guys one at a time in each attack. Takes a while, yes, but probably most effective Method. Edgar: Bio Blaster works well here. VERY WELL. It easily takes down Troopers in one hit, and thus, that's 2 Battles right there with enemies defeated w/out much trying (The 4 Trooper Fight, and the 2 Trooper + 1 Bounty Man (the small dog anyway) fight. The former, 2 will Troopers die, and the other will usually retreat w/out its allies) Edgar will just have a blast (no pun intended) here, as enemies die left and right. Sabin: If you have Fire Dance, use that like a Mad Man. Otherwise, use Aura Bolt, and equip the Black Belt so that he can get Extra attacks whenever enemies hit him. Running Shoes to boost his speed, or Earrings to boost his damage won't hurt either. Cyan: If you have Quadra Slam, you might wanna try that. If you feel that's taking too long, you just don't have it, then go with Dispatch. Equip an Atlas Armlet and/or Hyper Wrist to boost Cyan's Damage, as well as maybe a Black Belt if you want Cyan to get some extra attacks in, or Running Shoes to boost his speed. Gau: Remember how I suggested getting Marshall earlier? Well, this is why. Wind Slash rips enemies apart here even faster than Edgar's Bio Blaster. Another strategy is use Templar, and equip 2 Earrings. Gau in Back Row, w/ Safe Status on, should take very little damage from attacks, while Fire2 rips them all in 2. Celes: Similar Strategy as with Terra, only use Ice instead of Fire, of course. Also, cast Cure (or use a Potion) when her HP gets Low, seeing as she doesn't have Drain. Use Rune Edge against those annoying Heavy Armors when they use Tek Barrier. %Rider% Ok, you can avoid this fight, and I suggest you do avoid it, but if you can't, fear not, this fight is easy. Here's how to go about it. First, it won't matter what Row you are in (Back or Front) since this guy know R. Polarity, which Forces characters to use the "Row" command, in a sense. Terra: Just bombard with Fire spells and use Drain when her HP gets low. Use Tincture when you see her MP start dwindling Away. Shouldn't pose much difficulty. Locke: Genji Glove + Atlas Armlet combo probably works best here. Heal when necessary. Just remember, Locke has decreased Defense while not using a Shield, so be cautious. Edgar: Have you learned to love your Bio Blaster yet? No, well, too bad, cause it's still useful here. Just keep hitting the guy with Poisonous Gas Clouds. This is one of the few times I say this, but equip Edgar w/ Earrings. Bio Blaster is based off Magic, so this will increase its damage, speeding up the Fight. Sabin: Just blast him with whatever your most damaging Blitz is. Aura Bolt or Suplex would do most damage is my guess, but I could be wrong, so just hit him with whatever Blitz you feel. Of course, heal when necessary. Equip appropriate Relics to boost his damage (Earrings for Aura Bolt and Fire Dance, Atlas Armlet and Hyper Wrist for Suplex and Pummel) Black Belt isn't necessarily a bad idea either. Cyan: Just Dispatch him to death. Or for more Fun, Retort him to death. See, he generally fights Physically, so Cyan going with Retort will most likely end in success, ESPECIALLY cause he's the only character around to be hit. Gau: Remember how I said get Stray Cat? Well, here's the first reason why. If you've used it in a normal game, you'll know that Cat Scratch is the strongest attack you have at this point in the game, by far. A few Cat Scratches will slaughter this guy, and just to make things go faster, Atlas Armlet and Hyper Wrist are always nice. Interesting how Gau is already doing close to (if not already above) 1000 damage well before anybody else, isn't it? Never doubt the power of those felines again :P Celes: Blast him with Ice Spells, equip 2 Earrings to boost Her Damage, and use Potions to heal HP (this conserves MP) Not the easiest way to beat him, but still goes down pretty fast. %Kefka% Ok, this is the 2nd hard Fight in the SCC, and in most cases (the Non Celes and Locke ones up to this point), the first REAL hard fight as well. See, Kefka's Ice2 does around 400 points of damage. A character at level 14 with Green Beret has just below that...OUCH! Now, you can either level up higher for this part (if you've already saved at the Save Point in Narshe, remember, your levels are conserved when you die, so you're not totally ****ed), pray he doesn't use it, or find some creative Method Around it. Remember that Barrier ring I told you about? This is why I said it's important. Start the battle off and just let Kefka smack you into Near Fatal, that will trigger Barrier Rings effect, and thus, you'll have Shell. Now, if you keep your HP high, you should consistently survive Kefka's Ice2! Now, Ice2 isn't Kefka's only threat, he also has Muddle and Poison, 2 status effect spells, and in an SCC, Status Effects are especially bad. Solution? Use the Ribbon, of course. Also, it is a good idea to note that Kefka has a 33% chance of using Ice2 once every 4 turns after the 3rd (First turn in the cycle where Ice2 is available), and every 4 turns has a 33% chance of Drain as well, after the 4th turn. Now, for personal Character strategies: Terra: Believe it, or not, I suggest putting her in the FRONT Row. Why? Her Rune Edge with its 100% Critical Hit rate generally does MORE than her Fire Spells, so maximize this by putting her in the front. Besides, Kefka's Physical attacks aren't that damaging, and he usually casts spells anyway. Once you actually start the fight (IE the Shell Status is up), attack Kefka if Terra's HP > 300, and cast Drain if it's otherwise. Use MP Healing Items when her MP is getting low (Remember, Rune Edge uses Critical hits), and ONLY if her HP is still high, otherwise, use a Potion first, or if you don't think it's that much of a waste, use an Elixir. After a long boring Battle of Attrition with Kefka, if you've fought smart, timed thing right, and didn't have Kefka get a Cheap double Ice2 on you (this is rare, though), Terra should have single handedly gotten her revenge on Kefka for the slave Crown incident, and all the pain she's been having so far. Locke: Ok, since Locke can't use the Genji Glove + Altas Armlet Strategy (Both Relic slots are taken up), he'll have to do this the hard long boring way, and fight him normally. Just keep attacking, and healing when his HP is low through use of a Potion. If you're lucky, Kefka will waste a few turns casting Muddle (if you have a Ribbon, it WILL Fail) If you can't seem to out power him, or such, you can try to play a waiting game, and hope Kefka runs out of all 3000 of his MP, at which point, his offenses are more or less nulled (and IIRC, enemies still try cast Magic w/out MP, which of course leads to failure) Locke is fast enough that he MIGHT just be able to pull this off, just have enough Potions and heal items, and don't be TOO aggressive with healing. Or if you REALLY wanna try and press your luck, use the Genji Glove on Locke, but keep the Ribbon on (Muddle and Poison are still around), and keep attacking and healing, and just hope he doesn't use Ice2. You might just win by shear fighting. Edgar: Ok, just keep firing the Auto Crossbow/Bio Blaster on him, and heal when Edgar's HP gets below 300. Keep repeating this, and eventually, Kefka will fall. This is the one fight in this whole Narshe Battle sequence that Edgar won't walk right through. Sabin: Aura Bolt or Pummel, or whatever Blitz is doing the most damage like a Mad Man, and heal when your HP gets Low. It should take about 10 Blitzes or so to waste away Kefka's 3000 HP, causing him to run like the Coward he is. This sounds easier than it is, though, just be warned. Cyan: Just use Dispatch, A LOT! If you have Quadra Slam, probably be better to opt for that. As usual, make sure HP is above 300 before attacking. This isn't going to be a very simple fight, mind you. Retort Strategy won't work well here, since Kefka likes to use Magic more often than fighting. If you feel Bold, and you think Kefka's going to use a Physical attack, then try Retort and pray he does attack Physically. If he just so happens to, you'll have gotten a nice strong hit on him. Gau: Ok, since Gau can't heal once he's raged, his best bet is to just Kill Kefka before he kills him. Obviously, Stray Cat Rage is the way to go. Use that, hope for consecutive Cat Scratches, and Kefka should be beaten. Hopefully, Kefka won't use Ice2, and if you're even luckier, he'll use Muddle at least once wasting one his turns. It should take about 3 cat scratches to beat Kefka, maybe 4; just make sure Gau is in the Front Row to maximize his damage. Celes: Celes can try to have a little fun with Kefka. You can try to out last Kefka's MP using Runic, since all his attacks besides his Basic one are runicable. As a Bonus, if you try this, you can also neglect the Barrier Ring (don't give up the Ribbon, though), so equip the Black Belt instead, so anytime Kefka decides to get around your Runic, Celes will just smack the stupid clown back, and show him why She was a General, and why he is not. Well, ok, it takes a while, but this might prove a bit better, since it allows you to get around Ice2 w/out worrying about your HP too much. However, don't totally forget your HP, since Kefka will get a free shot on you every now and then (he IS faster than Celes), and sometimes goes Physical, so just keep close eye on your HP, and when you go to Heal, PRAY he doesn't use Ice2. If you feel this is a bit of a complicated Proccess, then do what other characters do. Start with the Barrier Ring strategy (if your HP is too low), and then Heal when HP is below 300, and attack Physically using Rune Edge. Whew, you got through one of the hardest fights in the game. Good Job! Now, watch Terra go beserk, and become her Esper form for the first time, and FINALLY gain access to travel around Narshe at will! Yeah! #Narshe# Ok, not much to say here. Just stock up on whatever weapon's Best. I suggest NOT getting a Flail for Celes, since the Rune Edge generally does more damage as is, and she can't use Runic (If she needs to) if you want her to either. It's also a bit of money wasting. Also, make sure you pillage that house full of Treasures. Sure, that extra Earring won't be useful (you already have 2), but then again, it might help on Stall Points, or it can also net you a good 2500 GP as well. The Wall Ring is the main reason for grabbing it, and the Thief Knife is also great for the Shadow SCC. Besides that, just do the usual. Oh yeah, if you're playing as Edgar, don't bother buying items here, weapons and armor, though, that's a different story. Oh yeah, of the party you should make, it should be pretty obvious: take ONLY the character you're SCCing. If you're doing the Shadow SCC, take your lowest level Character solo (Since they are easiest to kill off :P) and play with them (do a LOT of running if need be) til you get Shadow. NOTE: Despite Popular Belief, and for reasons I don't know either (I mean why it's so widely Believed), Locke is *NOT* required, by any means, to be at this part of the game. Only use Locke if it's a Locke SCC, for obvious reasons. If you want, you can use him if it's a Stall Point too. #Figaro# You shouldn't really do much here; just grab items if you didn't get enough stuff at Narshe. I told you not to buy items in the Edgar SCC from Narshe? Oh yes, I did. Well, reason being you can buy stuff at half Price with Edgar in Figaro! I know most people know this, but it's often forgotten as well. Also, of course, if it's the Edgar SCC, make sure you pick up his Drill and Flash. Drill should be useful throughout the game, while the Flash will prove valuable for the Magitek Factory, at least. #Kolighen# *Shadow* Again, not much to do here. Check stores to see if anything Worth buying. If you're doing the Shadow SCC, I suggest you grab Shadow NOW, and not during the Opera Scene. Why? Well, you'll have Shadow for an entire part of the game (thus longer SCC fun) if you choose him now, but if you choose him for the Opera Sequence, he'll be gone before you have the chance to do stuff, leaving you with 3 a bit underdeveloped characters instead of the usual 4 (Though, they shouldn't be THAT underdeveloped, due to the nature of the Shadow SCC) If you're doing the Locke SCC, by all means see his scenes with Rachel, if you feel like it. After you're done with Kolinghen, head north to the house with the guy who wants a coloseum, and grab the Hero Ring, a very useful Relic for pretty much ALL SCCs. Then jump into the Forest, and find a hidden Chocobo Stables, and ride that to Jidoor. NOTE: it's suggested that you fight as little as possible in the Shadow SCC, cause he can run off whenever he wants. Thus, save after each fight, and in Zozo (where you can't save), just keep running. I guess I'll allow a bit of Saved State tweaking for this part, simply cause it's a pain in the ass and such, and it'd be annoying if you can't raise Shadow for such a thing. Still, this does NOT mean cheat, just means you can "abuse" Saved States so you get a situation where Shadow does NOT leave after a fight, if you don't want to run from all battles. #Jidoor# Usual, stock up on more equipment. Ninja Gear you should have already gotten from Shadow, but that White Dress is probably Celes and Terra's best Armor throughout the entire WoB, so make sure you pick that up for their SCCs. Upgrade Weapons, stock up on new weapons if need be, etc. When you're ready to depart, it's probably best to just take things easy, and rent a Chocobo and take that to Zozo. #Zozo# This is probably a pain. If you're playing as Edgar, then you have it easy. When you fight some Gabbledaks (SP?), use a Noise Blaster on them, and chances are, they will Vanish Him! This will make him immune to all attacks from enemies here besides Magnitude 8 from a Hades Gigas, and those Level 2 spells from Slam Dancers. Other Characters should equip Wall Rings, to protect against the Level 2 spells from Slam Dancers, since those HURT! Amongst the things to get here are the Chain Saw (obviously good for the Edgar SCC, and good for Stall Points where you can use Edgar as well), and the Fire Knuckles for the Sabin SCC (his 3rd strongest Weapon in terms of Battle Power), or just to make some quick cash. Besides that, just scale the whole Town with your Solo character, til you fight Dadaluma. %Dadaluma% Alright, I overrated this guy in previous versions. Apparently he only uses Throw if you use Fight or Magic command on him. That means only Locke, Celes, and Gau have to worry about him throwing stuff at him. Everybody else just treat like its any other fight. What? Want strategies anyway? Fine... Locke: As usual, smack him with your strongest weapon, use whatever you can to get Locke's offenses up to par (Atlas Armlet, Genji Glove, Hyper Wrist, etc.), and heal when his HP is low. Locke also has the Liberty of being able to pick up some nifty Dragoon Boots by stealing from Harvesters. If you want, you can try to time your jumps correctly, and hope you plainly avoid the Throws altogether. This isn't all that easy, it gets even more complicated when he summons his 2 allies and casts Safe on himself (as well as heals) Just gotta keep at it. IF you still have the Thunder Rod, this might be a good time to use it. Edgar: For some fun, try starting the fight vanished, stopping most of what he can throw at you besides Shockwave (which will break the status) How to do that? Cast Noiseblaster on some Gabbledegaks, one of them might cast Vanish on Edgar. You don't have to, but its fun to mock bosses isn't it? What about Offense? Well, use Chain Saw or Drill (Chain Saw does more damage, but Drill is more reliable) til his HP widdles away, which will be pretty fast. Sabin: Hit him with Aura Bolt after Aura Bolt after Aura Bolt and he'll die fast. To speed up the process, equip Dual Earrings/Hero Rings on him. Be sure to remove a Black Belt if you have it on him, you don't wanna attack him with the "Fight" command thanks to a Counter Attack, causing you to provoke a throw, allowing him to kill you outright. Shadow: Use Invis Edge will make him immune to pretty much all of Dadaluma's attacks. After that, this battle is cheese. Throw Shurikens like a mad man, watch him die a painful and bloody death. What's best is Shadow totally avoids ALL of his attacks besides Shock Wave, INCLUDING his throws, but Shadow shouldn't provoke him to do that, since he's not using the Fight Command, now is he? Shadow is lucky in that he can totally avoid Dadaluma's strongest attacks as is though. Cyan: Use Dispatch or Quadra Slam. After he casts Safe, I'd probably use Dispatch, since it's faster and ignores Defense (Quadra Slam does not) Shouldn't be too hard, just as usual heal when your HP is low. Gau: your probably saying "Just use Stray Cat and call it a day" right? WRONG! Catscratch is a good strategy, but risks Throw still if Gau is stupid and doesn't kill the guy fast enough. Likewise, though, Gau has a better way to deal with him. Have Gau use Primordite Rage. This uses Numblade. What does Numblade do? Well, see, Dadaluma is vulnerable to the Stop Status! What does Numblade do? STOP! So chances are, Gau uses that, and slowly beats the guy to death. You should win this fight with ease, unless Luck is not on your side and Gau decides to keep punching him... Celes: Ok, you'd THINK Celes would have it hard, being one of the only 3 characters who would provoke Throw, right (She has only Magic AND Fight, both which provoke Throw). Why is that? WRONG AGAIN! Celes actually has probably the easiest time beating him. Why is that? Like Gau, she can take advantage of him being vulnerable to a status effect, only this time, its Imp that's killing him, not Stop! Dadaluma is susceptible to Imp! You heard me, that move that makes all possible special attacks completely nulled out, and Throw just HAPPENS to be one of them. And guess what? Celes LEARNS Imp! Just cast that, and once it works, beat him down with your Sword, Flail, Magic or whatever you want, his main threat is over. Mind you, Celes also learns Vanish, but chances are, you won't be that high leveled at that point, Imp is learned relatively early, and its VERY conceivable to have it by this time. After you beat Dadaluma, you've gotten Magicite, and hopefully, remembered to Grab those 2 relics in the room where you find Terra. Granted, though, Magicite are pointless in an SCC (bar for Terra and Celes who can use them to learn certain spells faster than leveling up) #Zozo after Terra# Ok, just wonder the town and grab anything you've missed, maybe, and kill off your Party Members (remember, you're FORCED to use Locke and Celes) Finished that? Good, now go to Jiddoor. #Jidoor# Meh, just do the usual Here, and stock up on more supplies, if need be. Nothing special. #Opera House# Due the usual stuff here, til the whole get Ultros Situation. Since you have ONE character, obviously, using maximizing your Offenses is best when you have a Time Limit. Heal ONLY outside of battle, and FAST (Hint: Put Potions and/or Tonics (and Dried Meats as well) at the top of your item List) Avoid as many rats as possible, since you're timed, and equip the Sprint Shoes to save time as well. If you can do this right, then you'll have to deal with Ultros. %Ultros% First things first, for this fight, I suggest using White Cape instead of Ribbon. Ultros uses Imp, White Cape defends against that, AND it gives you some minor defense boosts (most useful being its +10% to M. Block) He also uses Level 3 Muddle, but if you're smart, you'll know to avoid that by being a level that's NOT Divisible by 3. The other Relic varies depending on Character. Locke: Fight is easier than it looks. Equip Locke with Genji Glove, and 2 Full Moons (or if you want, a Thief Knife instead, and get a boost to M. Block and Speed (2 if you were lucky to pick one up from Dadaluma)) And just keep attacking, and healing when HP is low. With Imp out of the way, he shouldn't be too hard. The fight takes a bit longer than you'd expect, but it's overall easy. His strongest attack, Tentacle, does about 250 to Locke, so Locke should be able to take at least 2 hits of those before going down, giving you plenty of time to Heal in between. Edgar: Chain Saw and/or Drill the stupid Octopus to Death. Shouldn't take too long. Hero Ring will help in doing more damage as well. Heal when your HP gets low, of course. Sabin: For once, using Blitz's is NOT the way to go. Instead, shove on that Hero Ring. The Hero Ring works in 2 ways. It allows more damage from Sabin's Fight Command, AND it allows more damage from the Special added on "Fire" casting done to him. Why do I suggest using Fight over Blitz? Well, Ultros' Physical defense isn't that great, and he's got a weakness to Fire! Sabin's strongest weapon at this point is the Fire Knuckles, and Sabin's got high Vigor. Also, using Blitzes on him provokes him to counter attack with Acid Rain, which isn't fun. After smacking him a few times with Sabin's Fire Knuckles, and doing some healing in between a few times, Ultros should run away, as usual. And of course, Locke takes all the credit, as usual. Cyan: Just use Dispatch, or Quadra Slam him to death. Boost damage by equipping a Hero Ring. And of course, heal when necessary. Shouldn't be too difficult, but it's not going to be necessarily all that easy as well. Gau: Seeing as Ultros is weak to Fire and Lightning, you can go about this 2 ways. Either go Templar, giving him Safe Status allowing for an extra layer of Protection against his Tentacle attacks, as well as allowing Gau to Fire2 his ass off. Or before you go to the Opera House, take a quick trek to the Veldt, and grab the Aspik Rage. Aspik uses Giga Volt, the strongest Thunder Attack you'll have til Bolt3 (which you won't get for a while) This, of course, is bound to do some really high damage to Ultros, especially if Gau is decked out with a Hero Ring. Once Ultros is done for, you get the Air Ship...kind of. And thus, you're now on the Southern Continent. #Albrook, Tzen, and Maranda# *Celes* Since all 3 towns are more less just places to stock up on stuff, I've combined all 3 into one area. Basically, just buy the usual stuff; upgrade armor, weapons, etc. Don't bother buying any Mithril Helms, since the +1 to Defense isn't worth sacrificing 1/8 HP boost from Green Berets, OR 10% M. Block from the Bard's Hat. With regards to Mithril Mails, only buy them for characters who can't equip anything superior to Mithril Vests. Sure, the defense boost is nice, but it isn't worth Sacrificing the bonus' given from the White Dress and the Ninja Gear. So Celes (and later, Terra) should stick with the White Dress, as should Locke, Gau, and Sabin with the Ninja Gear. If you want, buy a Bard's Hat for your character. The +10% to M. Block will come in handy. Whether you want 1/8 more HP or 10% more M. Block is up to you. #Vector# Well, same old, same old. But something to do here at least is to beat those 2 Guard dudes in that small house with the old lady. This is good if you need to train your characters a bit, since it merits you free healing. Anyway, besides that, nothing much to say here. Obviously, do NOT go the Castle, as that means fighting Guardian. Granted, you can fight and live (Run), but still, why do anything unnecessary? #Magitek Factory# Alright, FINALLY, a place to do some explaining and stuff. Get everything you can here, especially Elemental Weapons for Terra, Locke, and Celes SCCs (Edgar won't need them with his Chain Saw and Drill) Here's strategies for Each Characters in this place: Locke: At first, it's best not to fight. When you get the Thunder Blade, then maybe try fighting if you please. Enemies here are Weak against Thunder, and thus, you might be able to pull off some decent Damage with that weapon. Genji Glove, Hero Ring, or Hyper Wrist Wouldn't hurt either. However, remember, enemies still have high extremely high defense, so your attacks will still be doing much lower than desired damage. Edgar: Use Flash on big groups of enemies, Chain Saw on small ones (Like 2 Proto Armor fights) Equip the first Elemental Weapon you get, just to boost his Magic if anything, since well, it DOES at least boost the power of Flash, even if minimally. When you get the Gold Armor and Gold Shield, naturally, equip those on him. Gold Helmet, though, don't bother, though higher defensivly, the lack of M. Block or HP Boost (Depends on what helmet you chose) isn't worth a few points in defense. Sabin: Just Fire Dance like a crazy. That's Magical. Enemies here have over 200 Physical Defense (Yes, that's high), so it's best to just go all out Magical if you can, which Fire Dance just happens to be, and multi Target. Earrings and/or Hero Rings aren't a bad idea either to boost power. Cyan: Just use Dispatch like a mad man. Even though it's physical, it ignores Defenses, and it's pulled off Quickly. Should off most enemies in one hit, unfortunately, can only do it one at a time. Quadra Slam won't be too helpful, since though normally a strong attack, it doesn't ignore defenses, meaning enemies won't take much damage from the attack. Like with Edgar, Equip him with the Gold Shield and Gold Armor when you get them, but not with the Gold Helmet. Gau: Enemies here don't like Magic or Thunder Attacks. Hmmm...wait a minute, Gau can use both! Just let him use Aspik, Ghost or whatever you best Rage that uses Thunder elemental attacks is, and laugh at enemies as Gau just zaps them into nothing. Likewise, Keep Gau in the back row, since this will boost his defenses. Celes: Mostly get by through hitting enemies with countless Ice Spells. If you're leveled up enough, she MIGHT know Ice2 by this point, but that would mean you're leveled up a bit too high, IMHO, but anyway, if you have Ice2, obviously, use it. Equipping the Thunder Blade when you first find it helps (Elemental Physical Attack, and boosts Magic Power by 2), as does equipping Hero Ring to boost damage. Make sure you keep at least ONE Non Elemental Weapon in Celes' Inventory as well. Finally, equip her with a Gold Shield when you find it, but do not bother equipping the Gold Armor, it's not worth sacrificing 5 points of Magic Power over from the White Dress. Anyway, just keep going and make yourself to that Garbage Chute thingy, and eventually, you'll get to your next boss. Save if you please, remember, you CAN leave, so it's probably best to Save. If you're curious how to leave, grab on of the Anchors and you'll be brought back to the Upper Levels. %Ifrit and Shiva% Both of these Characters fight mostly magically. How to get around that? The Wall Ring of course. In fact, apart from Blizzard (not that Strong), and Blaze (more powerful than you expect), all their attacks can be reflected, I believe. So, Equip a Wall Ring and Hero Ring to boost your Offenses and Defenses to maximum, so to speak, and then follow the guidelines below for Each Character. Locke: When you're fighting Ifrit, smack him with a Blizzard. When you're fighting Shiva, smack her with the Flame Sabre. Do NOT use Genji Glove here with both weapons, as all damage you'll do will just be offset, so you get the point. Of course, use potions to heal when his HP is low. Edgar: Just use Drill and/or Chain Saw like a Mad Man. Naturally, heal when need be. Should be pretty straight forward. Sabin: Use Fire Dance or your Fire Claws on Shiva, and Pummel Ifrit. I know Pummel sounds a bit weak, but seeing as Ifrit has high Defense AND absorbs Fire, and IIRC, Holy Elemental attacks do jack squat, that leaves you with Pummel. Naturally, heal when his HP is low. Cyan: Just keep using Dispatch, and heal when his HP is low. More or less the same strategy with Edgar, in a Sense. Gau: Alright, equip a Wall Ring and use Bomb Rage. Now, Gau reflects all attacks except Blizzard and Blaze. Well, he might be weak to Blizzard, but its damage is pretty low, and Blaze now heals him! Though, Blaze heals Ifrit too (that's the spell it uses), but what can you do? Blaze also does REALLY mean things to Shiva, making it a good rage. If Blizzard ends up killing you too often, though, I'd go with the usual Stray Cat and hope to overpower them. Celes: Cast Ice (or Ice2 if you have it) on Ifrit, and Smack Shiva with the Flame Sabre. Just heal when HP is low, obviously. Not all that hard, really. When Ifrit and Shiva are down, well, yeah, you've gotten more (useless) Espers. If you're doing the Celes SCC, equip Shiva, and keep fighting til she learns Ice2. That'll help greatly...well, maybe not so, since you have one more Boss Fight left, and this guy LOVES to change his Elements, so oh well. Still, might as well get it out of the way now, right? %Number 024% Ok, first off, going Elemental on this Guy isn't smart. Next, he can Confuse your Characters, so Ribbons are useful. Wall Rings might help too, since he uses some Magic on you. Prepared? Good, now let's see how to take him on. Locke: Equip the Boomerang, and just keep throwing it at him. Why the Boomerang? It's Locke's Strongest Non elemental at this point. Naturally, Heal when his HP is low. If you want, try and steal his Drainer. He usually drops a Rune Edge when you steal from him, but if you get a Drainer, then lucky you, it's Locke's Best Form of Healing throughout the game, so naturally, it has some really nice uses getting it this early. If you pick up the Rune Edge instead, well, either say screw it and beat him, or reset and try again. Worth it you ask? Well, that's all up to you. Once you grab the Drainer, swap between that and the Boomerang, and keep attacking him. Note that it can be annoying at times, because he sometimes goes on healing frenzies, offsetting damage done to him. Thankfully, sometimes, he scans himself showing his HP left, and a weakness if he has any (if it's Fire, Ice or Thunder, apply the proper weapon til he wall changes) Edgar: Ok, same old strategy of just beat the **** out of him with Chain Saw and/or Drill. Pretty straight forward if you ask me. Sabin: Just use a lot of Pummels. Aura Bolt and Fire Dance are elemental, so using them is risky. Shouldn't be too hard, and of course, heal when your HP gets low. This should go w/out saying. Cyan: Lots of Dispatching. Sounds familiar? Well, it should, seeing as it's Cyan's Strategy pretty much for all other bosses. Don't bother with Quadra Slam, it'll do less damage and takes too much time, thanks to this bosses high Defense score. Gau: Again, the great Stray Cat with its lovely Cat Scratches comes and destroys its foes. Well, ok, it won't outright kill him, but it's pretty much the best way to beat him senseless. Unfortunatly, his high Defense makes him annoying to kill with a physical rage, so it'll probably be better to use a Non Elemental magic rage, if one exists at this point. So far, all I can think of is Brawler's "Stone" though, there might be better ones out there at this point (its Low Hit rate isn't very nice either) Celes: Ok, before, I just suggested smacking him to death with Celes' best weapons. However, there's something interesting about 024. What's that? He's Susceptible to Imp! That's right, that nice little spell that turns enemies into Turtle like creatures. Use that on him, and this fight is a joke. After that, just beat him down however you like. Heck, mock him by hitting him with Celes' Fists, it shouldn't matter, an Imp is nothing to be afraid of. Come on, what can be more fun than pounding on a poor defenseless Boss with nothing but your fists? Bah, you're no fun. Just don't get too cocky, and remember to heal, since his attacks (Though weak) can still kill you (eventually...) if you're not careful. #Mine Cart Riding Sequence# All right, this part is basically a bunch of Forced Fights, and then a boss. So, I'll just tell you how to get past each fight easily with each character, all right? Remember, you fight nothing here but Mag Roaders, sometimes Small and Big, other times just big, it depends on your Parties Formation and such. Doesn't matter, just follow my guidelines, and they'll all die. Also, remember to prepare your relics NOW. I suggest Wall Rings on all Characters (since you can't use the Vanish Strategy, might as well protect against Number 128's Magic attacks, right?), and Running Shoes, since you want to be able to Move Faster here, or Hero Ring, to increase the damage you do with attacks. Locke: This is the first area where you'll see the true prowess that is the Drainer. Equip it on Locke, along with a Black Belt, but I wouldn't use Genji Glove for offensive Reasons, since Locke needs the Defense. Equip either Drainer or Flame Sabre and head into battles. Drainer will make Locke consistently heal himself, even when smacked, the Black Belt causes him to smack back gaining back his HP. Flame Sabre will just kill the Mag Roaders outright. Edgar: Chain Saw the **** out of all them of. Sure, it can only be done one at a time, but that's probably the best way to do this. Sabin: Fire Dance seems to be the most effective Method, as it kills the Big Purple Ones with little to no problems at all. Or you can knock them off one at a time with his Fire Knuckles. The Small Blue ones, use Aura Bolt or Pummel, I guess. Cyan: Just Dispatch like there's no tomorrow. Nothing new going on with Cyan *Shrugs* Gau: Templar is probably the best way to go. Fire2 will rip them all in 2, and you get a nice fat Bonus to your Defenses with Safe status. Just remember that heal at the BEGINNING of Battles, if need be, since unlike the others, Gau can't heal in the middle if need be. %Number 128% Ok, this fight can be a pain in the ass, what with his assorted strong Physical attacks and such, and you can't use your Vanish Strategy here you did before (a shame you can't do a Shadow SCC here...). On the Bright Side, at least his Ice Spells won't hurt with your nice Wall Rings on. He's weak vs. Thunder and has 3276 HP, so how you go about beating him is up to you. These are ways that seem to work best, IMHO, though, there might be others. If none of the Below Strategies work, your best bet is to use that Thunder Rod you've been keeping concealed up. Also, remember, this guy knows Net, which puts stop on your character, and you want to avoid that like the Plague. Locke: Now, first things first. Locke is out numbered 3 to 1, so your best bet is to destroy the 2 hands first, so at least only 128 is left alone. Thunder Blade does that job best, but Drainer again might be better as every time Locke takes damage, he'll counter attack and heal himself. Keep this up, and #128 will die eventually. Basically, use Drainer if you're taking Damage, Thunder Blade if you need to do damage. Edgar: As usual with Edgar, you just have to repeatedly Chain Saw/Drill the Center Section until he dies. Nothing new, really, but he's not necessarily easy. Sabin: Use Aura Bolt a lot, or use Fire Dance and try to destroy his 2 Arms, allowing you to focus all of Sabin's Blitzes with Aura Bolt and/or Pummel on the Center. Naturally, Heal when HP gets low. Cyan: Well, if you want, try to Quadra Slam him, and maybe you'll take out his arms on one of the later Tries. If that isn't working (Since Quadra Slam takes a while to build up), then resort to the usual Dispatch Strategy. However, just remember that unlike Edgar with his tools, you can't Target Dispatch, so you might end up taking out the arms instead of hitting the Center Body portion. Gau: Use your Best Rage with Thunder Elemental Magic on him. I suggest using either Aspik for Raw Damage, or Ghost, cause though a weaker attack, Gau is undead, allowing Red Feast to work in reverse. Hope Gau strings a bunch of Bolt2's/Gigavolts on the center Section. %Cranes% *Setzer* Ok, this is another hard fight. Basically, learn that these guys use a lot of evil and Strong attacks, and Wall Ring won't do much, since you'll just reflect spells back at them that heals. This might be one of those fights that leveling up may be your only way out, ESPECIALLY in Setzer's case, since he can't do any preliminary preparations. Know that the Right Crane is weak to thunder, but absorbs Fire, and the Left Crane absorbs Thunder. Not surprisingly, if you managed to beat Number 128 w/out using the Thunder Rod (or in Locke's SCC, the TunnelArmr as well), then use that on the Right Crane to kill one off instantly, if worst comes to worst. Equip the Hero Ring to boost your damage is a pretty smart idea, and maybe something along the lines of a White Cape to boost your overall Defenses as well. Locke: Right Crane is weak to Thunder, so Thunder Blade is pretty obvious. Left Crane...absorbs Thunder, and it makes him stronger. Not good. Well, first things first, Genji Glove and Wall Ring will be your relics. Wall Ring will allow Locke to nudge off most of their attacks, and Genji Glove allows you to use Drainer and Thunder Blade at once. This is the set up to take out the Right Crane. Thunder Blade does Damage, the Drainer attack (Equip it Right hand for best effects) heals Locke, so it's all good. The healing WILL offset the Defense Loss, so don't worry. As soon as the Right Crane dies, immediately swap the Thunder Blade with something else, your strongest non Thunder elemental weapon. Continue the same strategy here. It'll take longer though, since you're not applying elemental damage, and the remaining Crane LOVES to cast Tek Barrier (Reflect and Safe on character), so your attacks do considerably less. Still, he goes down pretty easily. Edgar: *Sigh* Just the usual Chain Saw/Drill Strategy. As usual, heal when HP is low. Sabin: Aura Bolt like a Mad Man. That's really all there is to it. Fire Dance is risky since it if hits the Right Crane, you heal him, and now, he's gone up a heat Source, smacking you back even harder, and its weaker than Aura Bolt anyway, so forget it exists. And for that reason, do NOT equip the Black Belt Either, since if they do smack Sabin, he may counter attack the Right Crane with his weapon, healing it...well, ok, you could give Sabin a weaker Weapon and try that, but in general, using a relic Slot for Black belt isn't worth it here. Cyan: Either Dispatch or Quadra Slam them to death, and heal when HP is low. Nothing much else to say here, really. Gau: Ok, first off, get into a fight BEFORE the battle with the Cranes, and use Pterodan. This will give Gau the Float Status. Now, Gau is immune to Magnitude 8, though not the most painful attack, still nulling out anything is helpful, right? Next, go with Stray Cat and hope Gau uses a lot of Cat Scracthes. Setzer: This fight might be a little hard, since you've just gotten Setzer, and don't have the time to Prepare him. What's especially hard is offing your Allies w/out getting killed yourself in the beginning. For this reason, if it's just plain too hard, I'll allow you to fight this battle normally, as if it were a Stall Point. If you want to be honorable, though, and fight this battle normally, well, it's probably best to let the Cranes do the work of killing your Allies, and just focus on Setzer healing himself every turn through Potions. Once your allies are dead, best bet is just keep using Slots, and hope you hit some good ones. If you're lucky, or have the timing down good, you should be able to pull off several Sun Flares (3 Dragons) or H-bomb (3 Airships), both do great damage. Heal when your HP is low via Items, Lagomorphs Healing is unimpressive, and wouldn't offset the damage they are doing. Ok, you've just finished Vector, probably the most annoying Section of the game thus far. Well, now, you can get back to doing things at a bit of a leisurely pace...sort of, bah, you're forced to go to Zozo, so lets just go. #Zozo# *Terra* Not much to say here. Just that the Terra SCC can continue. Related to that, take time to teach Terra a few of her spells that she'll learn. Give her Ifrit (Which teaches nothing BUT Spells Terra learns Naturally), and teach her Fire2, Give her Shoat for Break (just remember NOT to cast Bio, EVER!), and I guess Seraphim (gotta buy it first for 3000 GP at Tzen) for Cure2, though, with Drain, it shouldn't be that necessary. For Gau, take this time to get some new rages on the Veldt. Well, ok, you can do this after Narshe and you've gotten some new superior Equipment, so you might as well wait until then, right? #Narshe# *Mog* Ok, first things first. Even if you're NOT doing the Mog SCC, do the small Mog related Quest. If your doing a Terra, Celes, or Strago (maybe even Gogo) SCC, the Gold Hairpin will prove to be a valuable Relic. Otherwise, it's just good for a nice extra few thousand GP. Obviously, if you're doing the Mog SCC, Grab Mog Now, and finally start the SCC. Now, in Narshe, you have Access to a whole bunch of new and strong equipment, joy! So just stock up on what you want, and be on your merry way. I still suggest Keeping Terra and Celes with White Dresses, though, but those who were Using Ninja Gear now have access to the Power Sash, as does Cyan as well, which though not raising speed as much, it does give a boost to Vigor and gives higher Defense to boot, so it's worth the Trade off. And don't bother upgrading your Helmets either. For those who can use the Gold shield, well, you should already have one from the Magitek Factory. What to do next? Well, do the things I Suggested in the Zozo section. Stock up on more Healing items, obviously, and maybe spend a bit of time training. If you're doing the Shadow SCC, this might be a good time to start getting some money. If you're doing Mog's SCC, grab as many dances as you can, ESPECIALLY get Water Rondo now, since it's not only a dance that if you miss it, you can't ever get it again, but it will prove valuable in the Sealed Cave (next section) If you're doing the Edgar SCC, then fly to Figaro, and stock up on items there, since you get them for half Price. Also, remember the Black Jack (Setzer's Air Ship, if you didn't know its name) has a Shop and an a Free Full healing, so use those. It's also a good idea to stock up on Warp stones and/or Smoke Bombs, especially seeing the area coming up against isn't a fun one either. Also, in a Locke SCC, take this time to grab some Gaia Gear from Baskervors on the Crescent Island (where Thamasa is), as they will help in the next area. #Sealed Cave# Ok, first things first, if you're doing a Terra SCC, grab your Lowest Level Character, kill them, and then go in. In any other SCC, grab your SCC Character and Terra, kill her, and go in. Done that? Good, now enter the cave. This place is a pain, cause nearly every enemy here absorbs fire and they are undead, and they fight in huge packs. It's probably best to run from fights. Here are strategies for Surviving with Each Character. Terra: Ok, for starters, this is the one place where Terra can't just nuke every thing with Fire2. What's worse is that since most enemies are undead, her Safe Haven from Drain also isn't very good. Well, you could spam Life Spells killing them one by one, but that takes a lot of MP, and the Blizzard (lots of fire enemies here) isn't as effective as you'd expect, since only Aparites and Coelecites are weak to Ice. So, what to do? Well, you COULD try Cure 2, but that probably won't do as much damage as you'd like. I think it's best just to cast Warp, or run from battles. However, Zombones do NOT absorb Fire, and Colecite (or whatever the Scorpion like enemies are called) are not undead, so you can battle Zombones with Fire2, and Colectie with Drain. Be sure to pick up the Atma Weapon, as if you miss it, you can't get it ever again. Locke: Ok, he gets a nice weapon here called the Assassin, with its instant death, relative high power, and boosts to stats. DON'T USE IT! Why? You'll just be helping the Enemies out here. Best is to just run a lot. If you wish to fight, you'll probably be best off using Blizzard or Hawk Eye, or using Fenix Down's/Revivifies on the enemies here. And Locke's Drainer is more or less useless here. Don't miss out on the Atma Weapon here either. Also, equip the Gaia Gear here (you did remember to steal one like I suggested, right?). There are enemies who use Life Shaver her Mog: Use Water Rondo Dance. El Nino just plain rips enemies in 2 here. Sure, you have a 50% Chance of successfully pulling off Water Rondo, but it's worth it. Also, Mog's Trident w/ a Dragoon Boots will do some major Ass Wiping here (2x damage from jump, and 2x damage from Water Damage), though, not as much as you'd expect. To insure that enemies die from Water Rondo Dance, equip Mog with a Magus Hat, giving him a nice +5 to his Magic Power. Whether that's worth 10% M. Block or 1/8 HP (depends whether you were using Green Beret or Bard's Hat) is up to you. Edgar: As usual, just use tools on the enemies Here. Chain Saw, Drill, Noiseblaster, whatever. In some cases, try using Dragoon Boots + Trident Combo. Lots of enemies here are weak to Water, and Dragoon Boots greatly increase the power of Spears, so like with Mog, Edgar's physical attack can be incredibly painful. Sabin: Most enemies here are undead, so Aura Bolt should be effective. Too bad it's not as much as you'd expect, and it's only Single Target. Fire Dance is utter crap here as well as Sabin's Fire Knuckles. Though, you might want to try a Genji Glove + Kaiser strategy, since Kaiser is Pearl Elemental, thus doing extra damage to the Undead enemies here. Cyan: Just use a lot of Dispatches, Retorts (if you're Bold), or Quadra Slams. Actually, better yet, grab that Tempest early in the cave, and attack with that. IF you're lucky, it will pull off Wind Slash, hitting all enemies for some nice decent damage. Tempest is Cyan's best weapon throughout the entire game, only thing to consider using over it is the Scimitar, so once you grab the Tempest, and keep It equipped throughout the rest of the game, more or less. Gau: Most enemies here dislike Water and Holy elemental. Well, that's exactly what the Anguiform Rage has, a Water Attack. More Specifically, Aqua Rake (which is Water + Wind, but enemies here are neutral to Wind). Gau, like Mog, is one of the few characters perfectly suited to take on the Sealed Cave. Figures, as he's the OTHER Snow Muffler user as well (probably a bizzare Coincedence) Setzer: Slots is his best bet. Grab Coin Toss relic, but I wouldn't suggest Equipping it, since it doesn't do enough damage and puts a few holes in your wallet as well (that wasn't the best analogy, was it?) Anyway, it's probably best for Setzer, like the other characters not named Mog or Gau to run, but if you're good at the timing, you may want to fight and blast through them with H-bomb and/or Sun Flare. Ok, don't bother fighting the Ninja, and get whatever items you want. If you're doing the Celes SCC, this is a stall point, yes, but still, make sure you grab the Atma Weapon for her. Why didn't I mention it in the Edgar SCC? Atma Weapon is generally useless with Chain Saw and Drill lying around, so it's not really much to worry about missing. Also, don't bother fighting that Ninja, as it's a pain in the ass, and not worth the battle. When you reach the end, smack Kefka once, and the game will continue. #Vector Returned# Nothing much to say here. Just that it's best to find the hidden Chocobo Stable to ride to Vector in the fastest way. Equipping Sprint Shoes and talking to as many people as possible to get points. Just make sure you AT LEAST unlock the Imperial Base so you can get the supplies there. Also, grab whatever you can, but do that AFTER you lose your party members. This part is pretty straight forward, nothing new here, just doing it alone. If you fight one of the soldiers, use your strongest Attacks, like Terra's Fire2, Sabin's Suplex, Edgar's Chainsaw/Drill, etc. #Albrook and such# Stock up on more supplies, buy what you need, level up a bit if you feel you need to do so, etc. Grab the items from the eastern Imperial Base. If you feel like it, head towards the airship and watch Setzer's Scene about Daryl. You don't get anything out of doing this, but hey, why not? #Thamasa# *Shadow* Yeah! We can continue the Shadow SCC! Really, I can understand not bothering to continue the Shadow SCC at this point, since well, it's more trouble and annoyance than it's worth. You have him for 2 seconds, not long enough to matter really. However, on the other hand, this IS a good time to level up Shadow (as well as Terra and Locke for their SCCs), since you won't get another chance to do so until the Floating Continent, and believe me, it's better to level up now, even if It takes longer, the enemies are MUCH easier here than the Floating Continent. Understand that for Terra and Locke, you don't have to level them up now, since you'll still have chances before the Floating Continent. Shadow won't. Anyway, in Thamasa, just upgrade Equipment. Terra will FINALLY get something Superior to the Green Beret and Bard's Hat, that being the Mystery Veil! This is probably Terra's best Helmet in the game, and you're not even half way through! Besides that, make sure to pick up a Gaia Gear. Don't equip it, but just have at least one, as it's valuable in a few key Boss fights. Other than that, just do other upgrading and such, and then go to Strago's House. #Burning House# *Strago* This place is relatively easy. Just try to avoid flames, and even if you hit them, they aren't too hard to beat, and you can run from them if need be. Just Keep HP high incase they hit you with Exploder, an attack that you have no way of Defending against besides having High HP. What? Want strategies with each Character here? Alright, fine, I'll give you some. Just remember to pick up the Fire Rod and Ice Rod in this place, as both will be useful regardless of SCC. Careful, though, as if you get carried away, sometimes, 2 completely healthy Bombs will blow up, and kill off your character that way (a Bomb at max HP does 550 with Exploder) Terra: Equip her with the Blizzard and Hero Ring, maybe even a Hyper Wrist too. She should be able to kill each Balloon in a single attack. Sure, fights might take longer than they are worth, but they are by no means hard. Just NEVER use her magic on them, unless it's Drain. Her Fire spells will just heal them, and prompt them to using stronger attacks. Locke: Well, just equip the Blizzard or a Hawk Eye, and attack. Similar strategies to Terra. Better yet, equip Blizzard/Hawk Eye in one hand, and Drainer (if you have it) in the other, using the Genji Glove. Preferably, equip them in Reverse Order, for best effects. First hit will Heal Locke, 2nd hit will kill the enemy. Pretty nice, eh? Strago: If you don't remember from regular play throughs, Strago more or less SCCed this place as is, while Terra and Locke were there just as extra meat Shields, so to speak. Just Aqua Rake each Balloon, and battles will be over fast. %Flame Eater% This guy can be a pain, so just equip your best Offensive abilities, and be ready. He's not hard, but not easy either. Terra: Ok, I lied, Terra makes this guy look like NOTHING! Hero Ring + Earrings, Morph her, equip her best Magic Boosting Equipment, and use that Ice Rod. If he doesn't have any ally Balloons, don't be surprised to see a big fat 9999 appear on him. You heard me, 9999. If he did have allies, and only took like 7000, well, panic not. Equip Terra with a Blizzard, and her Morphed Attacks, doing 4x damage (Morph Doubles power, he's weak vs. ice) should waste away the small bit of HP he has left. Locke: Probably best to use a Drainer + Blizzard Combo on this guy w/ a Hero Ring and Genji Glove Equipped, as well as best Vigor Boosting Equipment (Namely the Power Sash) This should allow Locke to do high consistant damage AND Heal each turn. If worst comes to worst, blast him with an Ice Rod. That should take care of the Damage...kind of. It's better to use Ice Rod LATER in the fight, cause he will apply some nasty strategies when he's on Low HP. Pretty easy fight with this combination. Strago: Equip that Ice Rod on Strago, and use Aqua Rake to take out his Balloon Buddies, and attack him physically with the ice Rod when he's alone, that should do more than Aqua Rake. If you're lucky, he should get a few random "Ice2's" cast on him. If you were smart and bought one for Strago, then use a Genji Glove on him, and waste him away pretty fast, especially if you get Several Ice2 Castings. Equip a Hero Ring to boost damage as well. #Mountain Cave# Nothing much to say here. Just be sure to grab that Heal Rod for the Strago, Relm, and maybe even Gogo SCCs, as it will prove useful. Admanchyt's here have exteremly high defenses, so it's best to take them out with Magic, or in Locke's Case, equip the Atma Weapon, and use that (Atma Weapon ignores Defenses, remember?) Anyway, just keep pressing forward til you reach the 3 Golden Statues. %Ultros% *Relm* Ah, everyone's favorite Octopus back again, and better than ever...kind of. Anyway, remember, he comes packing with some strong spells, so be prepared. I suggest equipped Wall Rings to protect against his level 3 magic, and then choose any Relic of your choice. Well Relm appears, just ignore the SCC rules and have her Sketch him, since that's what you're supposed to do. Terra: Just keep casting Fire2, and use Drain when her HP gets low. He's weak to Fire, so this shouldn't be a problem. Heck, since she's not going to need it, just for kicks, throw the Fire Rod on him (the one you got from the Burning House) just to watch him take even more damage. I wouldn't even bother Morphing, though, it's just a waste of valuable Morph time and it isn't needed. After he's dead, Kill Relm off like the other 2. Locke: Probably best to go with Genji Glove equipped with a Thunder Blade and/or Flame Sabre in each hand. Ultros is weak to both elements, so it doesn't matter. Swap to Drainer every now and then when Locke's HP gets Low. Pretty straight forward, if you ask me. Strago: Come Equipped with a Thunder Rod and/or Fire Rod, and attack him physically. If you're lucky, a few Fire2/Bolt2's will be used on consecutive Occasions. Relm: when she arrives, just sketch Ultros once. Nothing different about this fight, really. Just like Sabin against Vargas, this doesn't change between SCC and Regular game. After Ultros is gone, continue forward, and remember to Equip Relm with whatever the best stuff you have for her at this point (Elemental Rods are her best weapons, no doubt) Make sure to remember to Grab the Chocobo Suit and Tabby Suit, at least for a Relm or Strago SCC. If not for that, well, they can still be used to get early Genji Armors for characters in the WoR, if you feel like an early trip to coloseum. Anyway, once you reach the espers, game continues as normal, you play as Leo, he dies, yada yada yada, and oh fun, you're up to the Floating Continent Section! #Preparing for the Floating Continent# *Mog* *Edgar* *Sabin* *Cyan* *Gau* *Celes* *Setzer* Ok, finally, you can get back to your SCCs if they weren't Terra, Locke, Strago or Relm. This section will basically tell you things to prepare to get for the Floating Continent that will prove mighty helpful. First off, make sure you have at least ONE Gaia Gear in your inventory. Then, get any chests you might have missed so far. Also, make sure you have a Wall Ring, Ribbon, and Dragoon Boots in your inventory as well, since all of those will be valuable. Next, make sure you have all the necessary things for each SCC. Also, it's a good idea to have some Sprint Shoes on hand, just in case you might have problems rushing out the Floating Continent in the end. Terra: Make sure you have her elemental Weapons, or at least Thunder Blade and Blizzard (Flame Sabre not so much, since her Magic is fire Elemental) White Dress should still be equipped, and Make sure she has her Mystery Veil if you didn't buy it before. Buy the Gold Shield for her, if you don't already have one, only cause it's the highest Defense shield at this point. Make sure she knows the Warp Spell as well (taught via Carbuncle, along with many others, though, she learns it at a relatively low level), since that will come in handy. Break is also a useful spell to have, so make sure she has that. Locke: Have the Blizzard, Thunder Blade, and Flame Sabre in the inventory, as those will surely come in handy. He should be equipped with a Power Sash right now, since though weaker than the Gaia Gear, its stat bonus' more than make up for it. Have his Assassin available too, since its Random Instant Death can sure come in handy. If you managed to pick up the Drainer earlier, then that will be a big help. His helmet should either be a Bard's Hat (For the M. Block boost) or a Green Beret (For the HP Boost) His best Shield at this point is the Mithril Shield. Having a Hawk Eye available for good Long Range damage, especially against Flying enemies, is a good idea, as is having the Atma Weapon around for anything with high Defense. Mog: Grab his Stout Spear (his strongest weapon at this point), along with a Gold Shield (strongest Shield at this point), and Gold Armor (his best Armor in terms of Defense.) His Helmet should either be the Green Beret or Bard's Hat, for reasons explained in Locke's description. Finally, make sure you have all the dances you can get at this point, ESPECIALLY Wind Song and Earth Blues, as those will be of most use for the next parts. Have a Trident Ready as well, as though weaker than the Stout Spear, the Water Elemental aspect might come in handy later. Edgar: Make sure he has all his tools he can have a this point (That means all but Air Anchor and Debilitator, though, the latter is kind of useless in an Edgar SCC) Give him whatever his best weapon you think will be based soley off the Bonus' they give (he'll be using his Tools for damage anyway) A Cherub Down for Edgar (one is found in the Imperial Base) is also very much a good idea, seeing as Edgar cannot use the Gaia Gear. Sabin: If you didn't get his Fire Knuckles yet, do so now. Equip him with the Power Sash for some extra stat boosts, Mithril Shield because it's his best at this point, and either Green Beret or Bard's Hat, depending on if you want a boost to HP or M. Block. You could also equip the Tiger Mask, if you want to boost Sabin's stats some more, but even though it has higher Defense value, your overall defenses will go down compared to the Green Beret and Bard's Hat. Finally, go grab a Poison Claw or 2 from Albrook, as those might come in handy as well. Shadow: Thief Knife is probably Shadow's best weapon, due to having the best overall stat increases. Bard's Hat or Green Beret, doesn't matter, for helmet, and Power Sash for Armor. Though you don't have Shadow Now, I still advise stocking up on as much money as possible and grabbing as many Blossoms, Tridents and Poison Rods now, since they won't be available later, in stores anyway. You don't have to do this, but they can make some boss fights later considerably easier. Remember, if you chose the Shadow SCC, that means you have a lot of time on your hands to invest in (bad pun intended), due to the fact that the Shadow SCC requires A LOT of money. Cyan: I sure hope you remembered to pick up that Tempest, as it's pretty much Cyan's best bet the entire game. Power Sash is his best Armor for this point, as it's only slightly weaker than Gold Armor, but also boosts stats, so it's worth the trade off. As usual, Gold Shield since it's the best around, and Green Beret or Bard's Hat, your choice. Like with Edgar, have a Cherub Down handy, since Cyan can't use the Gaia Gear either. Gau: Weapon wise...goes without saying, seeing as he can't use any (besides the Imp Halberd, but that's not available) Helmet is the same as always, but if you want to, use Tiger Mask instead if you like stat Boosters. Mithril Shield for his Shield, and Power Sash for his armor. Now, Gau is more than Equipment, make sure you get as many rages as possible. Get Bomb/Grenade, since they absorb Fire, and trust me, you'll be thankful you did when you get that. If you didn't get Marshal yet, do so now. Rhinox Rage with its random Castings of Life3 and Absorbing Thunder attacks also deserves some mentioning. So Spend some serious time on the Veldt. Celes: Like with Terra, have her Mystery Veil on, as it's her best Helmet overall. Have the Flame Sabre and Thunder Blade handy, as those are likely to become useful later on. White Dress is probably best here, but still having a Gold Armor handy in case you feel her Defenses are a bit lacking can't hurt. Naturally, Gold Shield for Defense. Also, it'd help to have the Atma Weapon available for a strong Non Elemental weapon. Setzer: Get his Darts. Got them? Good. Now, grab some Gold Armor for him, a Gold Shield, and a Green Beret or Bard's Hat. Got those too? Well, that's all the advice I can give for Setzer now, the rest is up to you and his Slots, really. Strago: Be sure to have one of each Elemental Rod in your inventory (not including ones found in chests, those are good for using as items, since they are legal), or heck, maybe even 2 since Genji Glove in this case might be a good idea at some points. Mithril Rod, believe it or not, isn't a bad idea, as it does up Magic Power by 2, so any time Strago is not attacking, it helps. Also, have that Heal Rod handy, as it's probably Strago's best method of healing thus far. Now, take this time to learn some Lores. You can get Step Mine from Grease monks, probably Strago's best pure Damage Lore at this point, just watch your MP (Gold Hairpin can't hurt) Strago's Best Helmet, like all the other males, is the Bard's Hat or Green Beret, at this point. His best Armor would be the Chocobo Suit, which if you missed, go back to the Mountain Cave west of Thamasa and pick it up. shield, just use Mithril Shield. Try to grab as many Lores as possible, again, but only one that'll really be helpful at this point is Step Mine. Don't bother with Exploder, for somewhat obvious reasons. Grab a Poison Rod or 2 as well from Narshe. Relm: Make sure you have one of each Elemental Rod (in addition to ones found in the chests), 2 is more preferable, seeing as Relm has no other offenses, generally, as well as the Heal Rod. Chocobo Suit is her best at this point, as is the Mithril Shield as well (unless you're using the Genji Glove). Her best Helmet is the Mystery Veil at this point. Grab a Poison Rod or 2 as well from Narshe, as those will prove useful from time to time. Ok, after you've gotten everything you think you need, it might be a good idea to go through the Serpent Trench a few times and pick up some X-potions from the Aspiks that randomly drop them. Understand that you only have a 1 in 8 chance of them successfully dropping them, so even after, say, 10 runs; don't be surprised if you have only 4 additional X- potions. This isn't a must, but it's a good idea to gain some extra healing items. When you think you're finally ready, you know what to do. Head towards the Floating Continent! #IAF Battle Sequence# First things first, grab your SCC character, Celes, and your weakest member. In the first fight, have both die. The weakest member is obvious, but why Celes? Well, she'll come later on the FC anyway, and then, you don't have the time to kill her off AND escape the island, so it's best to just let her die now, and make things easier on yourself. Wait, why 3 characters? Well, it's annoying, but unless you take 3 characters, Setzer will yell at you, and you gotta reform, and you won't be allowed to continue until you make a party of 3 characters. Now, each Character will have different strategies for fighting these battles. Just remember that you can heal in between Fights, unlike the Mine Cart in the Magitek Factory, so use that time to restore HP, saving time in battles. Terra: Equip the Thunder Blade. All enemies here are weak to Thunder (The Sky Armors and Spit Fires), and equip her with the Ribbon (to guard against Backlash, which Silences her), and a Hero Ring or Running Shoes (obvious reasons) First, take out the Spit Fires. They can cast Absolute Zero, which is not a fun spell when you're going Solo, or just in general. It shouldn't kill you, but it still hurts, so take them out. It's best to just smack each one to death with her Sword. When her HP gets low, Cast Drain (preferably on the least Injured enemy for best results) All and all, it shouldn't be too hard. Actually, if you do things correctly, it's really easy. Locke: Equip either the Hawk Eye or Thunder Blade, along with that Drainer (if you have it) Genji Glove obviously if you plan to use this set up. Running Shoes or Hero Ring, your choice, but I'd go with Running Shoes preferably to take advantage of Locke's speed. Anyway, why between Thunder Blade and Hawk Eye? Well, Hawk Eye is stronger, and has this little nifty feature of randomly being Thrown instead of Locke simply wacking the enemy with it. Normally, when thrown, it does 1.5x damage, but against flying enemies, its Damage Triples! All the enemies here are flying, so it's got a nifty little use here. The Thunder Blade is there since it might be doing more Average Damage. Both are good weapons. I suggest Equipping them in his Left Hand, so the Drainer attacks first, getting full benefits of HP, and then you finish enemy off. Remember, you can only Drain as much HP as the enemy has left. If you don't have the Drainer, well, just equip both Weapons (Hawk Eye and Thunder Blade) and heal when necessary. Mog: Just use Wind Song, nothing more. This area, for some odd reason, is considered a Plains field, which is Wind Song's home terrain, so it has a 100% Success rate here. That's 1 reason to use Wind Song. The others are because of its abilities. Wind Slash is just a killer to all enemies here, probably ends Battles in one shot, Plasma, though not as good as Wind Slash, should off any enemy it hits. Finally, Wind Song uses Sun Bath relatively frequently, which will completely heal Mog. If you see his HP dropping low, heal outside of battles, remember, you have sometime between fights to do so. Edgar: Just Chain Saw the enemies. They are not immune to instant death, so Chain Saw here is superior to the Drill in all cases. Just keep using it, and you'll kill enemies slowly and surely. Just heal when necessary. Sabin: Fire Dance like crazy. Equipping the Black Belt isn't a bad idea, as it will give Sabin a few extra attacks, since these guys like to hurt him. Hero Ring is probably best here, since it will increase the damage done by Sabin's Counter attacks, and increase Fire Dance's damage as well. Cyan: Remember that Tempest? Just attack with that. Dispatch can only off guys one at a time. Tempest has a 25% chance of using Wind Slash, which as I said with Mog, is a killer here. Heck, equip the Black Belt here so Cyan gets some extra smacks in there, raising your chances of him using Wind Slash. Use Dispatch only one there is one enemy left. Running Shoes is probably best here, so Cyan gets more turns, thus more chances of Wind Slash, or heck, maybe a Cure Ring could help a bit as it saves time from Cyan needing to heal in battles. Gau: Remember my suggestion to get Marshal Rage? This is why. Have Gau use Marshal Rage, and he'll use, OMG, WIND SLASH! Yes, that fun little attack that slaughters enemies left and right here! Well, ok, he only has a 50% chance of using it, but still, the fact that he can use it helps considerably. Running Shoes and Cure Ring are my suggestions, so Gau can heal, to some extent, while under Rage, and Running Shoes allow him to get turns up faster, of course. Celes: Like with Terra and Locke, Equip the Thunder Blade, and smack Enemies with it. Unfortunatly, Celes doesn't have the Luxury of parasitic healing that Terra (Through Drain) and Locke (through his Drainer) have. Cure might be enough, in some cases, it might not be. Hero Ring and Running Shoes are my suggestions here, since they'll allow Celes to act Quicker and attack stronger. Setzer: Just use Slots a lot. If you're lucky, and know the timing, you might be able to consistently pull off H-bomb (3 Air Ships), or possibly even Sun Flare (3 Dragons), which do some nice massive Damage. Likewise, Equip Hero Ring and Running Shoes to boost your speed and damage. How hard Setzer's is varies on how lucky and good with Slots you are. Strago: Equip a Thunder Rod, and the usual Running Shoes and Hero Ring, that should be enough to kill enemies left and right. Not killing them fast enough you say? Genji Glove with 2 Thunder Rods should do it. Which relic to get rid of? The Hero Ring, I'd go for. If Strago needs a quick boost in HP, use the Heal Rod. Just remember, though, that if you're using the Genji Glove Combo, UNEQUIP BOTH THUNDER RODS! You don't want to kill Strago by accident in an attempt to heal him. Also, understand that, due to some odd reason with the algorithms, the Heal Rod's effectiveness will go Down if it is your only weapon. Just a few things you should know. An alternative (and probably easier) strategy to employ here is equipping 2 Earrings/Hero Rings, and your best Magic boosting equipment (Mithril Rod for example), and cast Aqua Rake on the enemies. Just beware of Backlash, since like magic, Lores are affected by Silence. Remember, Aqua Rake, despite how it looks, is DUAL elemental, one of those elements is Wind, hence why it's that effective here. Just watch your MP though. Either Strategy will work. Relm: Equip a Thunder Rod, and the usual Running Shoes and Hero Ring, that should be enough to kill enemies left and right. Not killing them fast enough you say? Genji Glove with 2 Thunder Rods should do it. Which relic to get rid of? The Hero Ring, I'd go for. If Relm needs a quick boost in HP, use the Heal Rod. Just remember, though, that if you're using the Genji Glove Combo, UNEQUIP BOTH THUNDER RODS! You don't want to kill Relm by accident in an attempt to heal him. Also, understand that, due to some odd reason with the algorithms, the Heal Rod's effectiveness will go Down if it is your only weapon. Just a few things you should know. (What, this looks familiar? Yes, I got lazy and just copied and pasted this part from Strago's section, since really, it's the exact same strategy. So what if it's the same, what are you going to do about it?) %Ultros and Chupon, the Dynamic Duo% Yeah! Ultros is back and better than ever. Wait, why are we cheering again? Anyway, this fight, you must understand, do NOT only prepare for this fight, but keep in mind that IMMIDIATLY after these 2 are beaten, you have to fight Air Force (Worry not, you'll be fully healed, HP, MP, and Status Wise, so at least that much is good), so prepare for that fight. So keep in mind if I say to equip something but don't explain its usefulness now, it's for the Air Force fight. Terra: Alright, first, Equip Terra with all best Magic Boosting Equipment, (well, ok, don't equip that Magus Hat from Nikeah. An extra 2 to Magic Power isn't worth trading Speed and M. Block, as well as a bit of Defense). What's that? 3 Weapons are in contention for that aspect? Equip the Blizzard, you'll see why. For her Relics, go with the Hero Ring, and for the other, either an Earring/Hero Ring or a Running Shoes, your choice. When the battle begins do NOT Morph. Trust me, it isn't worth it; you'll just be wasting valuable Morph energy. Now, Ultros has low Magic Defense, and as always, is weak to Fire and Thunder. Fire, Fire, why does that sound so intriguing? Well, Fire magic is what Terra specializes in! Just blast away like a Mad Man with Fire2, and Ultros will die quickly. Don't be surprised if Terra is doing over 4000 against, heck, it's possible to maybe even get as high as 6000, if you're leveled up enough. It won't be long until Ultros calls Chupons Help. Focus your Fires ONLY on Ultros, as you'll be healing Chupon otherwise. Ultros will die pretty fast otherwise. Now, for taking down Chupon, magic won't really help, since Terra has only Fire2 for main offenses. Well, remember I said to Equip the Blizzard? This is why. Being a monster of Fire, Chupon is, not surprisingly, weak against Ice. Thus, just bash him in with her Blizzard, and cast Drain on him her HP gets low. This fight is actually pretty easy, and also, pretty fun, at least I thought it was. Locke: Locke, as always, should have the Genji Glove on, and I suggest Running Shoes as his other option. Start the Ultros Fight with a thunder Blade and/or Flame Sabre in each hand. Remember, Ultros is weak to BOTH elements, so you'll be racking up some high damage. Should Locke need healing, switch to Drainer to heal. Now, when Ultros summons Chupon, stick to beating Ultros. One at a time is the best way to go. Once Ultros dies, swap those Thunder Blade and Flame Sabre (Especially the latter) for 2 Blizzards (if 024 dropped a 2nd one, like he often does, though, he may have dropped a Flame Sabre instead), and use both on Chupon. As usual, switch one of those Blizzard's to the Drainer when his HP gets low. Too annoying? Well, you could just use the usual "Drainer in Right Hand, Damaging Weapon in otherhand" strategy. That works too, just that the previous ones generally allow these 2 to die faster. Once the word "Sneeze" appears on the screen, congrats, Locke, you've just beaten the 2 Comic Relief characters of the game once and for all (well, at least Ultros) Mog: First things first, make sure Mog is NOT equipped with the Trident, at least the beginning of the fight, as that will heal Ultros. Next, equip Mog with Dragoon Boots and preferably a Cure Ring, if you plan to use Dances, since that way, Mog gets at least SOME form of healing when he doesn't use a healing dance. Now, you CAN use Wind Song, and hope for the Best. You might succeed, as there is no attack that'll really hurt you in this fight, just remember that losing control of Mog can hurt you. Now, if you fear about Losing control of Mog, then just beat Ultros down using Dragoon Boots + Stout Spear on him. Continue this til Ultros is gone. Now, for Chupon, if you're bold, you can try for Water Rondo dance, and hope that kills him. If you want to play it safe, continue the Jumping Strategy, but swap Trident for Stout Spear, since Chupon is weak against Water. Eventually, the little Moogle should succeed, only problem is, Chupon still knocks him over board with Sneeze. Edgar: You should know the drill by now (mind the pun) Grab Edgar's Drill and Chain Saw, and just use that to finish Ultros and Chupon off one by one. Now, what to equip for the next fight you might ask? Well, Running Shoes for extra speed, and Cure Ring for extra Healing, that should be all you need. Nothing much else to say here, just equip Edgar with his best Defensive Stuff too. Sabin: Ok, first, give him the Cure Ring for extra healing, and Hero Ring to increase his damage. Now, Ultros goes down fast from Sabin repeteadly smacking him with the Fire Knuckles, as he did last time Sabin fought him solo (the Opera House) Chupon, though, does not. This is why the Black Belt isn't a good idea, since if Chupon attacks Sabin, Sabin Counters, and heals Chupon. Anyway, to beat Chupon, either Pummel him to death, or Aura Bolt him to death. Either Strategy is effective, just use whatever does more damage. Cyan: Running Shoes won't be very helpful here, if you plan to use Cyan's Higher level Sword Techs especially. Cure Ring and Hero Ring are his best bet, IMHO. Just hit Ultros with Dispatches and/or Quadra Slams. When Chupon Appears, keep using Quadra Slam. Or, if you want, attack with the Tempest on Ultros, and if you're lucky, you may get a Wind Slash thrown in hitting them both. When Ultros Dies, just repeatedly use Dispatches on Chupon, and he'll go down Sneezing. Gau: Running Shoes and Cure Ring are best bets for Gau, I'd say. Just use Stray Cat here. Thunder attacks work on Chupon, but don't do as much as Cat Scratch does. This way, you'll be doing High Damage all the time, and you won't have to worry about Elemental Problems either. Celes: Equip Hero Ring and Cure Ring is probably best for Relics. Armor wise, stay with what she's been using (White Dress, Mystery Veil, and Gold Shield preferably) Weapons, just have the elementals handy. When the fight vs. Ultros Starts, smack him to death with the Flame Sabre or Thunder Blade, doesn't matter. When he dies, and Chupon is there, blast Chupon with Ice2 a lot. Chupon will go down pretty fast. Obviously, heal when necessary. Setzer: Cure Rings and Running Shoes, I'd suggest, along with his best equipment I've suggested above. Just use Slots repeatedly, and hope for good results. How hard this is depends how lucky your slots are. Obviously, heal when necessary. Strago: Equip Genji Glove and 2 Elemental Rods are the best bet for these fights. Have 2 thunder Rods (The thunder Rods will be useful in Air Force fight as well, hence why they are preferred over the Fire Rod) and 2 Ice Rods Handy. Equpping best armor also helps. Ultros goes down quickly with 2 Thunder Rods attacking him, and Same to Chupon with 2 Ice Rods. Nothing special really. Do NOT use Aqua Rake, that'll just heal Ultros. Relm: : Equip Genji Glove and 2 Elemental Rods are the best bet for these fights. Have 2 thunder Rods (The thunder Rods will be useful in Air Force fight as well, hence why they are preferred over the Fire Rod) and 2 Ice Rods Handy. Equpping best armor also helps. Ultros goes down quickly with 2 Thunder Rods attacking him, and Same to Chupon with 2 Ice Rods. Shouldn't be hard (Yes, again, I got lazy and just Copied and pasted this) %Air Force% You've just beaten an Octopus and a big flying whachamacallit, and what's your reward? Fighting a big flying airplane with 3 Parts. *Sigh* There is just no pleasing anyone. On the Bright Side, you're fully healed! On the otherhand, your 2 Characters are also alive, so you gotta kill them before you can kill Air Force. So do that (or better yet, just heal like crazy until Air Force kills them. Having them attack each other isn't a bad idea) Anyway, here's suggestions for beating him with each Character: Terra: Ok, if you're doing a Terra SCC, you should have been able to make it thus far without using that Thunder Rod you got a while Back. This is when to use it! Do the same thing you did to Flame Eater, and you'll just be awed, again, at how much damage Terra can do and it's not even half way through the game! Note that the damage will be a bit lower than Flame Eater, since you're spreading it amongst 3 parts, but meh. So you kill Laser Gun, and MissileBay, and dealt a good 6000 to Air Force. How to take out that other 2000 now? Well, while Terra is still Morphed, just smack him with the Thunder Blade a few times. Fire2 MIGHT do more, however, remember, without Air Force's 2 Turrets, so to speak, chances are, he'll summon one of those Spec thingies, which absorbs all magic, thus forcing Terra to go Physical. No problem, again, Terra does good physical damage. This does, however, make healing a bit of a pain, since she can't cast Drain and such. What about if you don't have the Thunder Rod? Well, Morph Terra still (the 2x Damage and 1/2 Magic Damage will help greatly), and blast him with Fire2 or smack him with the Thunder Blade (Whatever is stronger), and hopefully, you'll kill him before Morph Wears out. Likewise, cast Drain when HP gets low. Locke: Equip Thunder Blade and Drainer (you did remember to use the Genji Glove, right?), and just keep smacking him. Keep this up, and he'll eventually die. Shouldn't be that hard. If you don't have the Drainer, just keep smacking him with your strongest Weapons, and heal when necessary. Mog: Use Water Rondo Dance on him, if you're bold. That'll likely do some pretty high Damage to him, especially if you get several Castings of El Nino. If you're afraid of losing Control of Mog, shove on the Trident, and use the Jump Strategy. Why the Trident over the Stout Spear? Well, that's cause the Trident is water elemental, and one of Air Force's Weaknesses is Water. Just remember to Heal if Mog's HP gets low. Edgar: Oh no, It's Edgar! What to do with him?? It should be obvious at this point. Use Chain Saw and/or Drill on this guy, and heal when necessary. Nothing all that different about this fight, really. Sabin: Use Fire Dance to hurt all sections, and then Follow up with Aura Bolt or Pummel on the Mid Section when both smaller Sections are dead. However, the one flaw with this it provokes him to use his Count Down trick, which could potentially kill Sabin. So, if you're afraid you won't kill him fast enough, just use Sabin's Fire Knuckles on the Mid Section, and disregard the other parts. Heal when necessary, of course. Cyan: The usual use Dispatch and/or Quadra Slam. Just remember the one flaw of using this is that you can't Control what Cyan Targets. Also, you might get him into his Count down Phase, which could potentially mean a race for time. If you managed to get this far w/out using the Thunder Rod, this would be a good time to use it. This isn't necessarily an easy fight, simply cause you can't control which way Cyan attacks. Also, if you plan to just use Fight on the center portion, it MIGHT be a good idea to equip the Forged instead of the Tempest, simply cause of the Random Wind Slashes might hurt the overall grand Scheme of things. Gau: Just go on and use the Aspik Rage for Giga Volts. This will likely destroy Air Force pretty quickly. Also, I believe Aspik absorbs Thunder elemental, which Tek Laser and Diffuser both are. Just hope Gau aims his Giga Volts at Air Foce, and not his other 2 parts. Celes: Equip the Thunder Blade, and keep attacking the mid section. Or, if it does more damage, cast Ice2. If you still have that Thunder Rod around, use it. Heal when need be with Cure or a potion. Shouldn't be all that hard. Setzer: Use Slots, and hope you get lucky. Heal When Need be. That's pretty much your best bet. Though, if you're afraid of the count down aspect, then just fight Physically, though, this will take MUCH longer, and involve a lot more healing. Strago: Use the Dual Thunder Rod strategy here. That should rack up some really high damage. Just keep smacking him over and over again, and heal when need be w/ the Heal Rod (remember, take off BOTH Thunder Rods when you want to heal) If you're lucky, you'll get several Bolt2 Castings on him as well. Relm: Use the Dual Thunder Rod strategy here. That should rack up some really high damage. Just keep smacking him over and over again, and heal when need be w/ the Heal Rod (remember, take off BOTH Thunder Rods when you want to heal) If you're lucky, you'll get several Bolt2 Castings on him as well. (you guessed it, I got lazy again) #Floating Continent# *Shadow* First thing is first. Grab Shadow, Equip him with the Assassin, kill him next fight, and then Save (That is, of course, unless you're doing a Shadow SCC) Remember, we're trying to do as much of the game as possible, that includes Rescuing Shadow. Now, the Floating Continent is, by far, the hardest place in the SCC you've reached. Enemies here are much stronger than any of the previous ones, and none have really exploitable weaknesses. Now, Avoid Ninja's like there's no tomorrow! Why? Because any other fight can be escaped from if things aren't going so well, but Ninja's you can't run away from, thus you must fight them outright. Hence, it's a good idea to save at the Beginning of the FC right here. If you want, I'll let the Saved State rule (not abusing it) fly here, since, well, fighting Ninja's aren't fun. Anyway, if you use Saved States, remember that it saves BATTLE Data as well, so you'll just run into the same fight again. How to get around that? Well, if you alter the teams order, the game will register it as another fight altogether, thus, you MAY just change the fight altogether. It's probably best to run here, but if you want, I guess here are strategies for getting through: Terra: Cast lots of Fire2s, Drains, and Breaks. There are many enemies here that are succeptible to Break, believe it or not, so it'll come in handy. One of those enemies is the Gigantos, that Monster in the Box. This turns a rather annoying fight into a one hit kill, just remember that Break doesn't work 100% of the time, but it's still pretty reliable. Also, Equip Gaia Gear. Some enemies here know Life Shaver, which is an Earth Attack, so using this will actually HEAL Terra. Locke: Use the Genji Glove to equip Assassin and Drainer at same time. He'll heal and do some decent damage, with a chance of Instant Death as well. Just remember, there are some Undead enemies here, but those are taken care of with Revifies and Fenix Downs, so it's all good. Gaia Gear's aren't a bad idea either, since Life Shaver's Effect will be reversed. If an enemy is one that regenerates from the Instant Death effect of the Assassin, you can always swap to a Hawk Eye or some sort of weapon like that. Mog: Using Earth Blues is probably your best bet. Earth Blues is one of Mog's best overall Dances, and the Floating Continent is one of its Home Turfs (aka works 100% of the time, no chance of Stumble) If you don't want to Lose control of Mog, I suggest using Dragoon Boots with him so he gets a Damage Boost and can be temporarily untargetable. Gaia Gear isn't a bad idea for Mog here, as Life Shaver will just reverse its effects back on the enemies. Edgar: Use Drill and Chain Saw A LOT! There is other easy way around this, Edgar doesn't have access to the Drainer (Legally anyway) at this point like Locke Does, nor does he have Terra's Magic Supply. Heal outside of Battles if you can, and if things in battles aren't looking so well, run. Against the Gigantos, it's best to start off with Bio Blaster, since he's weak against Poison, though the Bio Blaster's damage is unimpressive, the Poison Status will help, if only in that when Edgar needs to Heal, the guy will still take damage (and he can't counter attack that damage as well), and follow up with constant Chain Saw attacks. Unfortunately, Edgar doesn't have access to the Gaia Gear. Sabin: Fire Dance, Aura Bolt, Pummel or whatever your best Blitz for Given situation is. Gaia Gear again will help against enemies that know Life Shaver. Use Poison Knuckles on the Gigantos, or heck, double up on them with the Genji Glove. If you're lucky, he'll get a few Poison Spells, ultimately Poisoning him as well. Shadow: Just throw everything except the kitchen Sink (unless you really need to) Gaia Gear, again, will help against those annoying Life Shavers. The Gigantos is a joke, mind you. He has nothing but Physical Attacks, Shadow has the Invis Edge, use it. Then, keep throwing Poison Rods at him, and he'll die pretty fast, and his attacks can't touch you either. Cyan: Best bet is to use the Tempest and hope it gets Wind Slashes. Running Shoes can't hurt to get him more turns either. Even though it might seem tempting to give Cyan the Murasame, do not. Tempest's Wind Slash is far more valuable than the Murasame's upgrade in battle power. Besides, Dispatch does more as is, and it doesn't matter what Weapon is equipped as is. Against the Gigantos, I guess Dispatch him to death. I don't know for sure if Slash works on him or not, but if it does, then use it to halve his HP and cause Siezure Status (if that works on him) You could also try Retort, since this guy does nothing but physical attack. Gau: Well, just use whatever Rage you feel is best for situations. I can't exactly say what is best, since the enemies here are quite diverse, there is not one Rage that works well overall. Celes: Blasting away with Ice2 is probably your best bet. Nothing much else I can say here. Against the Gigantos, just use Vanish on yourself, and watch him try, and eventually die, hurting Celes. Setzer: Just use Slots and try to time it so he gets H-bomb and/or Sun Flare (3 Airships and 3 Dragons respectively) often. Nothing much else to say, otherwise. Strago: Use your best Lores, such as Aqua Rake or Aero, here to blast through enemies. There isn't much else to say. Against Gigantos, best bet is double up on Poison Rods. Relm: Just use her Best Rod, Genji Glove it if possible. Unfortunatly, Relm doesn't have any easy method of getting around. She lacks a way to do damage and Heal at the same time (like Locke does), and a way to hit multiple enemies (see everybody else) Running is probably your best option. Yes, Running is a good idea, just pray you don't fight any Ninjas. %Atma Weapon% Ok, when I say this, I am being quite serious. This is, in high probability, the hardest Fight in an SCC. You have several problems. First there's all his Magic he sends at you, most of which can be reflected, so Wall Ring will help out here. Next, he's got Quake, this spell will deal high damage to you. Best away around that is through Gaia Gear (or one of Gau's Rages that gives Float Status) Unfortunatly, Cyan and Edgar can't use Gaia Gear, so they'll have to use Cherub Downs (which is a bad thing, mind you, since that means you lose another relic slot) Then, he's got an attack, Mind Blast I think it's called, though not sure, that causes a whole bunch of random Status effects, including Condemned (which Ribbons don't help against). Sometimes, you'll be lucky, only imped or Poisoned (Trust me, being imped IS lucky). Lastly, and this is the REAL killer in the most literal sense, is Flare Star. Sure you can see this attack coming, as the message "Vast Energy Stored" appear, and then Glows 2 times before it, but even at Max HP using a Green Beret, your characters shouldn't have more than 1200 HP, but it doesn't matter what level you are, as Flare Star just keeps getting Stronger as you level up, 80 points of unblockable and Defense Ignoring Damage (So Much for Morph and hoping Zone Seek is summoned via Magicite to save Terra's ass) per each level that character is, so unless your character's HP is more than 80 times their Level, Flare Star WILL kill them. Only way around this attack is to level up ludicrously high so your HP (helped out with a Green beret) is more than 80 times your level, which Is kind of breaking the point of an SCC right there, absorbing/nulling Fire (something only Gau can do at this point), or using "Jump" via Dragoon Boots to avoid it. If you are having problems winning this battle using these methods, you could try an alternative, long boring strategy that will null out Flare Star Altogether. What's that? Just keep your Character alive for as long as you can until you get signs of "Not enough MP" on Atma Weapon. That means he'll have run himself down to such a low amount that he won't be able to use Flare Star! What's more, he won't be able to cast ANY Spells. Whats the hard part about this? Without Rasp or Osmose, this can take A LONG time. Though, if you're lucky, he'll get himself down to EXACTLY 0 MP and die. READ! VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW! Atma Weapon's 2nd Phase (the hard one with Flare Star and Mind Blast) Has an ATTACK PATTERN! He always goes in this order: Quake, Meteo, OR Bio Attack or Full Power Fire2 Mind Blast "Vast Energy Stored" *Glows First time* *Glows a Second time* He'll glow a 3rd time, but he'll use Flare Star RIGHT after, no time to do anything. Here's my suggestion with ALL characters (besides Gau, who can't use Dragoon Boots): Use the Wall Ring AND Dragoon Boots. Wall Ring will Protect you against Bio (if he casts it) and Fire2, as well as most of his Attacks in the first phase. Gaia Gear (Edgar and Cyan can't use this, remember) protects against Quake when he uses it, Meteo has a low Hit Rate, so it shouldn't kill you. If he uses Meteo, Heal VERY fast. Now, once the words "Fire2" appear at the top of the screen, use Jump. Your character will avoid Mind Blast, and then come down around the time the "Vast Energy Stored" message appears. Your character should then be able to get a 2nd jump in around the time of his 2nd Glowing, avoiding Flare Star altogether (NOTE: Edgar and Cyan should wait a bit first since they MIGHT be able to avoid Quake with this) If you keep this timing correct, Flare Star and Mind Blast will NEVER harm you. How to avoid Full Power (a phsical attack that does high Damage)? Stick Character in Back Row, and you'll be able to take the brunt of the attack. Maybe during hte first phase, use that Magicite you have, and hope it summons Kirin for Regen (this will heal you, even while Jumping) Now, for the actual in depth character strategies: Terra: Don't bother Morphing, it won't do any good in this fight. Equip Dragoon Boots and Wall Ring on Terra. Drain whenever he uses Blaze or his Physical attack, and the other attacks will be reflected back at him. For the most part, most of the damage he'll be doing will come from hurting himself. So don't worry about doing damage to him, just keep Terra healed. For the 2nd Phase, use the General Strategies I gave for ALL characters. Once he starts using attacks like W. Wind and Quatr on you, that's it, you're home free! Just use Drain to keep HP high, Gaia Gear will protect you from Quake, and that's pretty much it. Oh yeah, Atma Weapon is probably best Sword to use against him (interesting coincidence) since you want your Damage as high as Possible. Once you get past the whole Flare Star Section, this fight becomes just a battle of Attrition, one that is in Terra's Favor (Morphing wouldn't hurt now, actually) NOTE: For an interesting alternative, go to section 7 for a way for Terra to beat Atma Weapon relatively easily. NOTE2: I've been told that if you are quick enough and use Morph and bomb away with Fire 2 like there's no tomorrow, you could actually out power him BEFORE he lets off Flare Star. Locke: He is best, like all characters, with Wall Ring and Dragoon Boots; his weapon SHOULD be Drainer (the healing is too valuable NOT to use). Just keep Jumping Like Crazy, and hope you miss his most Dangerous Attacks. Once his 3rd phase starts (where he starts spamming you with random Gravity based spells), just Keep HP high and dish out whatever damage you can. Gaia Gear, of course, will protect you from Quake. Basically 3rd section is a battle of Attrition, just not as easy as Terra's, though. Mog: First off, do NOT use Earth Blues until the 3rd section, since you NEED Mog under your control this entire fight. Dragoon Boots w/ Wall Rings are your best bet. Use similar strategies applied with Locke, and you'll eventually win, if you can pull it off anyway. Once he goes into his 3rd stage, use Earth Blues, as now Mog will be doing more damage, and he'll occasionally use Sun Bath to heal himself. Gaia Gear, as always, will protect against Quake. Edgar: No Gaia Gear, OUCH! Probably Edgar's Best bet is to level up so Quake can't kill him, and horde X-potions from the Serpent Trench trick to heal from W. Wind and such. See, Cherub Downs aren't a good idea, since that means either no Wall Rings (thus, first Phase is a problem) or No Ribbon (Say hello to Mind Blast), depending which strategy you use. Thus, basically, get by the 1st stage using Chain Saw and/or Drill, 2nd stage by timing Jumps, and 3rd stage by praying you can either off him before he uses Quake, or just that you can keep HP enough to survive it. There is a way to ease the pain, though. If you use an Emulator, I SEVERELY suggest you use Save states here (it'll make things A LOT easier) Start the battle off using those 3 Magicite Items you got from the Sealed Cave. Use them until you get either Kirin (Regen status) or Golem (temporary immunity to physicals, also seems to increase your evade rate (in that you will block attacks with your Shield/Sword instead of him taking hits for you)) With Golem, his physical attacks nad Full Power can't hurt you in the 2nd phase (timed correctly, Edgar would fall JUST after Quake/Bio/Meteo, and Fire2 is Reflectable), so you can get bye the 2nd phase easily (3rd Phase is no picnic though) With Kirin, you get some low level auto healing which helps Offset the damage he does with his physicals. Either summon works, but just make sure you have one of them. You COULD do Fenrir, but that's basically playing with a 4 sided dice and hoping a 1 never comes up whenever he hits you with a Physical. Phantom will just get you dead as now you no longer have Reflect to help you block that Flare spell and it dies as soon as he hits you with Magic, which he LOVES to do. In all honesty, Edgar has one of the hardest matches against this guy, with his combo of low speed and no Gaia Gear, its not going to be easy. Sabin: Not much to say here, use Dragoon Boot strategy to avoid Flare Star, Wall Ring to avoid a good deal of his Magic. Thankfully, Sabin, unlike his brother, CAN use Gaia Gear, so surviving Quake is trivial. Best use Aura Bolt or Pummel (whatever is stronger) to take him down. Again, this fight isn't going to be easy. Shadow: Gaia Gear again is your friend, use it. Same Relic combos as everyone Else. Shadow's best way of doing damage is just throwing Shurikens or whatever your strongest weapon is. Also, Shadow can avoid the Full Power attack with Shadow Edges (Invis Edge is risky) Something to Shadow's advantage, though, is his relatively high M. Block might make this easier. This will give him a 29% M. Block, allowing him to MAYBE avoid attacks here and there, letting him have a Free Shot. Though, Shadow Edges are still better, since if Atma Weapons attacks physically, Shadow will get a free shot, so to speak, on Atma Weapon, or another turn to heal. To get that M. Block, btw, use Thief Knife and Bard's Hat. You could try this with Locke too, problem is, Locke doesn't have Shadow's Throws to fall back on, since he's strictly a fighter, so it's best not to attempt this. Besides that, the usual "Timing Jumps" to avoid Flare Star, and getting by Mind Blast with anticipation and Praying will help you. At least the bring side is Full Power and his physical attacks are completely nulled out. Cyan: Oh boy, another person who can't use Gaia Gear. Thought Edgar was hard? Then your in for a treat, Cyan has it even worse. See, Cyan is like Edgar with Weaker attack. Best bet is to employ same strategies Edgar had, swapping Chain Saw/Drill for Dispatch and/or Quadra Slam. Just hope that you can survive Quake (For this reason, Green Beret's are defiantly the better choice) There is no easy way around this, I'm afraid. Use the same Magicte Strategy Edgar had too, since Cyan has the same issues (Low Speed, no Gaia Gear, etc.) If worst comes to worst, Level Up. I heard somebody needed to get Quadra Slice to win this fight just so he could out power him. This shows how suited Cyan is NOT for taking out Atma Weapon. Gau: Ok, Gau probably has the easiest time taking on Atma Weapon. He can't use Dragoon Boots, yes, but Gau doesn't need them. Lets remember 2 important things. Flare Star is Elemental (Fire), and Gau's Rages take on Elemental AND Status properties of monsters. Wait a Minute, that means with Proper Rage, Gau can ACTUALLY survive a head on Flare Star! And what's more, with another proper Rage, he can take the blast of Mind Blast too! What Rage would be perfect? Well, Condemned is the only problem (other wise, just use Ribbon) with Status Effects, so a great Rage would be one that can Heal, Nulls out Fire (and Bio as well), as well as being Undead. Why Undead? Remember, Doom on an undead instantly Heals the enemy, and that's more or less (Minus all those little nitpicky things) what Condemned status does. What Rage is like that now? Well, Ing Rage of course! Under Ing, Gau uses Life Shaver (Earth attack that ignores the "Float" status and acts like Drain), absorbs Fire (Bye bye Blaze, Flare Star, and Fire2) AND Poison (bye bye Bio), AND he's immune to everything that Mind Blast dishes out EXCEPT for Confuse (at worst, he'd smack himself, and get out of the status, no biggy unless his HP is low (and after Flare Star, it WON'T be), Stop and Slow (2 status effects you can't do anything about anyway, the latter isn't that big of a deal as well), AND Condemned will HEAL Gau. So, all he has left is Quake (Which the float Status provided by Ing dodges), his Physical attacks (no comment), Meteo (Low Hit Rate, but can still hurt), and his Gravity like spells (Quartr and W. Wind) it really comes down to how smart Gau acts, in the end, and whether you're lucky that Mind Blast doesn't use Stop on you or not. Oh yeah, and there is normal Flare, but Wall Ring takes care of that, but that would mean Fire2 and Bio won't heal Gau anymore (instead hurt Atma Weapon), so if you want to use it or not is up to you. Celes: Just do the same strategy as other characters for 2nd phase. First Phase, just due the usual Heal when neccessary through Items and such, let him kill himself through his Own Magic aspect. 3rd Phase, just Cast Spells on him (ice2 and such) and heal with items (Cure can't do anything under Wall RIngs, remember that), so just keep that up. This isn't exactly an easy battle, remember that. Setzer: Not much different from other Characters. Use the same strategies here as with other characters. Use slots often though, and pray something like 3 Bar's summoning Crusader doesn't come up (Which is bad, REALLY bad) If you're REALLY REALLY lucky, or just plain REALLY good with Slots, your best bet is Joker Doom. If you can get that, well, congrats, you've turned the hardest SCC fight in the game in the biggest Laugh Fest. You could also try to imploy the Ribbon Strategy, and keep trying to use 3 Bars until Carbuncle is summoned, which will let you have Reflect. Though, this is a bit risky however, so you might be better off just applying the general "Time Your Jumps Carefully" strategy in the 2nd phase. Strago: Nothing different here, really. Same old Equip Gaia Gear to avoid Quake, Dragoon Boots to avoid Flare Star, and Wall Ring to avoid most of his spells. For offenses, though, Strago's Best damage will probably come from Step Mine, if you listened to me and got it. Unfortunatly, you can't jump on yourself (though, that would be hilarious to watch), so Strago can't use the Heal Rod, thus has to heal through items like everyone else. Relm: Relm has nothing different from any other character, so just use the same old Dragoon Boots + Gaia Gear + Wall Ring/Ribbon strategy, and time your jumps to avoid Flare Star (and Mind Blast if you opt for the Wall Ring) There is no easy way around this, I'm sorry. If you beat Atma Weapon, CONGRATULATIONS! You've beaten probably the hardest fight in the game nearly all the SCCs. Doesn't mean you can quit now and say "I beat an SCC!" since you still have half the game left. Anyway, heal your wounds, reconfigure your set up, as remember, next chance you get, you'll be timed. #Preparations for leaving the Continent# This Section is just to save time from the point when the Continent is about to blow up. Best bet is to prepare what you can now, and do as little equipment changing as possible (pretty much, only change for the Nerapa Fight) I'll basically be telling you what to outfit your characters with what. Terra: Hero Ring (or Running Shoes if you prefer) and Sprint Shoes, along with Blizzard, Mystery Veil, and White Dress. Blizzard or Thunder Blade, specifically, since it will allow her to destroy Nerapa. Fire2 will help her the other areas. Locke: Genji Glove w/ 2 Flame Sabres OR Thunder Blades (or one of each, if you prefer), and have a Blizzard on reserve. Sprint Shoes so you won't be AS pressed for time, and equip that Power Sash back on, along with whatever Helmet you had on and the Mithril Shield. Mog: Running Shoes and Sprint Shoes (how he can wear both (or any character for that matter) is beyond me.) That should really be all he needs. Just make sure you have all his best stuff equipped on him as well as maybe a Dragoon Boots in the reserves. Edgar: Just outfit him with your best stuff, that's all. Hero Ring or Running Shoes along with Sprint Shoes is probably best bet. Sabin: Hero Ring and Sprint Shoes are probably his best bet at this point. Power Sash on, AND use that Tiger Mask I said that might come in handy as well. Besides that, nothing much else. Cyan: Just equip him with Running Shoes and Sprint Shoes, as well as Power Sash to boost his stats. Besides that, nothing much else to put on him. Gau: Running Shoes and Sprint Shoes for Relics, Power Sash and Tiger Mask for equipment (as well as Mithril Shield, obviously), since they raise stats, that should be all that's needed. Celes: Genji Glove and Sprint Shoes. Have her with a Thunder Blade and a Flame Sabre in each hand, as well as a Blizzard in reserves (though, they aren't THAT necessary, and you may only have one) Equip her with the Mystery Veil and White Dress as well. Setzer: Running Shoes, Sprint Shoes, and whatever his best equipment is at this point. Nothing special really, just makes him his fastest in and out of battle. Strago: Genji Glove and Sprint Shoes for Relics. His weapons should be 2 Thunder Rods. Sounds Familiar? Why do I keep suggesting similar set ups? It just makes sense. Equip him with the Chocobo Suit as well. Relm: Ok, I'm really lazy, so, just refer to Strago for what to do, since she's not going to be any different. Oh, and equip her with the Mystery Veil as well as the Chocobo Suit. Wow, and actual difference between Relm and Strago! Prepared? Good, if you want, run back and save (or just Saved State, if you feel like it) If you don't have all the necessary equipment, you may want to leave the Continent, buy what you need, and return, as grueling and annoying as it may be. This section isn't required to look at, it just helps in getting prepared and saving time. Chances are, you'll have enough time to make adjustments during that scene, but why even Risk it? #Escape from the Floating Continent# Yippee! Kefka's Blowing up the world, FUN! Getting rid of the optimistic point of view, you're stuck on the Floating Continent with only 6 minutes to spare, so RUN LIKE A MANIAC! Also, something else isn't good here. Naughties know Cold Dust. If they use that and they succeed, your screwed, since the Freeze Status takes a while to undo, and you don't have the time to wait it out, at least, here you don't. If you get it, your screwed, so just pray they don't cast it. Here's strategies on how to beat Naughties and the Nerapa: Terra: Naughties are Weak to Fire, Terra has Fire2, Terra Use Fire2, Naughties Burn, Naughties Die, Good Terra. Nerapa, though, has reflect and absorbs Fire, so it's not very helpful. What Nerapa doesn't like is Ice. Terra just happens to have a Blizzard Equipped, so smack him with that a few times and he dies. To speed process up (since you're against a Condemned time limit as well as the normal one), Morph her, and smack him more with the Blizzard or Thunder Blade, since he's weak to both. He dies. You should be able to get to the end with enough time to wait for Shadow. If you want, use a Genji Glove to speed up the Proccess, can't hurt. Locke: Just use that Genji Glove with the 2 weapons I suggested, and Naughties Die Fast. Against the Nerapa, Equip Running Shoes and change those Flame Sabres to Blizzards, but keep the Thunder Blades on (he's weak to both Elements, but absorbs Fire), and continue smacking him with them. He should go down pretty fast. Mog: Just keep using the Earth Blues dance on Naughties, and hope he uses a lot of Land Slides. Nerapa you can either continue using Earth Blues, or if you're a afraid that's not doing enough damage, have Mog Jump and kill him that way. Edgar: Just repeatedly use Drill on the Naughties, it'll kill them as Fast as Chain Saw (2 Hits), and won't have a chance of Failing like Chain Saw does (if its ID version kicks in, and they are immune to ID). Nerapa...just use Chain Saw. The guy is NOT immune to Death, believe it or not, so if you get the Instant Death version of the Chain Saw appears, he may die right there and then. If not, you'll probably wipe out his HP before your time runs out. Sabin: Naughties won't like Sabin's Fire Knuckles, since they are weak to Fire, and Fire Knuckles have High Battle Power combined with Sabin's high Vigor, and the random castings of Fire can't help them either. To speed up the process, also try equipping a Kaiser on the otherhand, since they don't like Pearl either, so you increase your damage further. Against Nerapa, spam him with Aura Bolt as much as possible, and he'll die. Cyan: Dispatch might be a little weak, but it's all he has, so keep using it. If you think you have the time, use Quadra Slam, and see if that does more. Dispatch Nerapa til he dies as well. Gau: Tell him to use the Aspik Rage, and he'll use nothing but Giga Volt on the enemies. Against Nerapa, best bet is just to use Stray Cat, and pray for many Cat Scratches before Condemend gets you. Celes: Have her use her Genji Glove to kill Naughties with the Thunder Blade and Flame Sabre, since they dislike both elements. When you reach the Nerapa, swap that Flame Sabre with the Blizzard, and continue that strategy. Just be careful of Condemned, and avoid it at all costs. Setzer: Just use slots like a Mad Man, and try as hard as you can to get Good Results, no matter what they are. IF you still have that Fire Rod around, it'd be good to use that in one Fight. Setzer just doesn't have any easy way of getting around this area. Nerapa isn't any easier. If you're REALLY lucky, you might just pull off a Joker Doom on an enemy. Strago: Thunder Rods kill Naughties Fast and the Nerapa Too. So, Genji Glove them, and have fun. Relm: *Yawn* Seeing as she can use everything Strago has in terms of Weapons, I think it's quite obvious. Thunder vs. Naughties AND the Nerapa. Though, if you fear condemned, remember that Relm does have a little thing called the "Memento Ring" which will protect her even if her Time Runs out. However, she shouldn't need it, but remember its existence just in case Condemned is giving you problems. Once you've beaten Nerapa and gotten to the end, if you have time, Wait for Shaodw, and let him live. Otherwise, just so you don't have to do it again, just get off the Island ASAP. CONGRATULATIONS! You've beaten half of the SCC! Now all you have left is the World of Ruin. #Solitary Island# Yeah! If you're doing a Celes SCC, it's NOT a Stall point! If you are doing any other character, well, live with it. You've got an underdeveloped Character, go you. Anyway, regardless, it's best to just let Cid die, unless you're a "nice Guy" simply cause it's just easier. Out Fit Celes with her best Stuff, and leave the Island (and Cid's dead Carcass) ASAP. #Albrook# Nothing goes on here. Just grab whatever Items you feel you need, and whatever weapons, etc. You still have Celes Solo, so if you don't have what's needed to outfit Celes, take this time NOW to get what's needed. #Nikeah# NOTE: I purposely Skipped Tzen and Mobliz. I have reasons why, you'll see them later (once the Lineararity in the WoR Dies, in otherwords) If you're doing a Celes SCC, though, it would be a good idea to do Tzen at this point, but refer to it later. Also, check out Tzen and Mobliz for when to do them, since they are somewhat dependant on your SCCs, in a sense. Here, grab an Enhancer, as this will be Celes' best weapon for a while, and equip it. Grab a Diamond Shield as well for Celes. Is a Diamond Vest Worth it? IMHO, no, for starters, you'll get Diamond Armor in South Figaro so soon later, it's not even funny, heck, you won't EVEN get into a fight. If you're doing an Edgar SCC, well, still grab that Enhancer. Same goes for a Terra SCC. Why wait til later when you can get it now? Well, ok, if you're doing a Terra SCC, wait a bit, til you get Edgar, go to South Figaro, and buy it at a reduced Price. Now, talk to Gerad, and get on the boat, and head to South Figaro. #South Figaro# More stocking up on supplies and such. First off, let me tell you that the Gold Spear is utter CRAP! The Enhancer is a better weapon for Edgar, with its +20% to M. Block, and by the time you get Mog, you could already have (or get very soon) superior Partisan from Jiddoor. That said, just grab Diamond Armor, and be on your merry way. If your doing an Edgar SCC, sell any helmet with a *Defense* Value higher than the Green Beret or Bard's Hat. Make sure those are your strongest Defensive Helm, so Edgar gets automatically equipped with them. Also, grab Diamond Armor and Diamond Shield for Edgar if your doing his SCC, in addition to the ones you got for Celes. This way, Edgar can be fully outfitted for the Boss fight where his Stall Point ends. #Figaro Cave# Sheesh, we're soloing a lot of the game as Celes, and you're not even doing a Celes SCC!! Well, ok, Sabin SCCers are lucky, as it's not a stall point here, as well as Celes SCCers, but everyone else...ok, I'll shut up. Anyway, Celes should just run from battles here, it makes things easier. Oh, and I'd equip Running Shoes on her Now, it just makes life a lot easier, as well as the next Boss fight. #Figaro Castle# Loot the Place, don't bother equipping the Crystal Helm (it's worthless for its equipping Value, trust me), and go to fight Tentacle. Also, if doing an Edgar SCC, do NOT pick up Crystal Helm or Regal Crown. I can't stress this enough, if you want Edgar to be fully prepared (The game prepares him for you) for the battle with Tentacle, do NOT get those Helmets, as he'll be using one of them, and they aren't nearly as useful as the other potential ones. %Tentacle% *Edgar* This Fight can be a pain, and hard, unless you're properly Prepared. Celes or Sabin (depending on which SCC) should have Running Shoes on. Tentacles will ONLY sieze a character if they are Slow, which Running Shoes prevents against, so their most dangerous move is gone. And Whatever Character is being used (Sabin in his SCC, Celes in the others) Should have Wall Ring to protect against their Magic. Edgar: Ok, I GREATLY exaggerated how hard this fight will be with Edgar. First off, it is imperative you do NOT pick up the Regal Crown or Crystal Helmet in the Basement, otherwise, Edgar will be auto equipped with them. Make sure your best Helmet, in terms of Raw Defense is the Bard's Hat or Green Beret (preferably Bard's Hat, but Green Beret works too), so that Edgar will be equipped with it. Weapon and Shield don't matter; you can swap that in fight, just have an Enhancer in your inventory at least. Armor...if you were smart, you'd have bought a Diamond Armor for Edgar before hand, if not, well, your loss. Anyway, if you followed my advice earlier, you should have been prepared. So, Edgar is out numbered 4 to 1, and he can't use the Wall Ring + Running Shoes set up Celes and Sabin can to nerf off most of their Attacks. What to do? Well, you gotta go all out on them. FIRST, the Bottom Left Tentacle is vulnerable to Instant Death. Therefore, Open up with Chain Saw on him, and hope it uses the Instant KO version it and it succeeds. There, now you've killed one guy off the bat, but your still being hit many Siezes, Bios, etc. Well, since they are poisoning you, why not Poison them back? The 2 Right Hand Tentacles are vulnerable to Poison, so hit them all with Bio Blaster. There, now remember, FF6 Poison graduadly keeps doing more and more Damage, therefore, after a certain amount of time, with their lowish HP, they'll EVENTUALLY run out from Shear poison, and the damage poison does will offset how much they heal when they grab Edgar. If you can kill the 2 Right Tentacles this way, just by keeping yourself alive with X- potions/Elixirs, you're now down to merely a war of Attrition with that one living Upper Right Tentacle. At this point, things become fairly simple. When he grabs you, its basically just having the same effect as a Drain Spell that takes a while, so its not much to worry about. They'll sap about 500 HP from you at a time. Anyway, this fight CAN be a pain, and it comes to hoping things fall into place, but it IS doable, unlike I said before, if only cause of Edgar's Bio Blaster working on some of the Tentacles, and the ability to kill one Tentacle right off the Bat if your lucky. Oh yeah, Enhancer helps a lot here, as you'll see Poison missing more often than you'd expect, hence why I STRONGLY SUGGEST you keep it on him. Sabin: Running Shoes protects against his Dangerous Seize ability, Wall Rings vs. everything else. At this point, just pound away with your best attacks, Pummel, Fire Dance, Aura Bolt, whatever (or even Air Blade if you have it) Shouldn't TOO hard, just watch your HP, and heal when neccessary. NOTE: Though I haven't covered the Sabin joins part, just remember that Sabin's SCC CAN potentially continue by this point, and its urged you do. Remember, you wanna get out of those Stall Points ASAP, so take advantage of that! Celes: Similar to Sabin, only a bit easier. Why? The Drainer of course! If you were smart, and listened to me, looked ahead in my FAQ, you'd see that you should have done Tzen if you're doing a Celes SCC. This is the exact Reason why. First off, it's NOT against SCC standard rules (you must do as much of game as possible with that character alone. Since Celes is alone at that point anyway...), so it's allowed. Anyway, that should be Celes' Weapon of Choice. Keep attacking the tenatcles with it, since it'll insure Celes' HP doesn't drop. The tentacles like to cast Magic, Wall Rings stop that, and one of them is even Vulnerable to the Poison Status effect! This fight is really a piece of cake. Once you beat Tentacles, Grab the Soul Sabre, and get out of there. Stock up on supplies, and head to Kolighen. Yeah! Finally, we get another character, and another SCC opens up! Wait, why are we cheering? There are still 11 SCCs out there that are STILL on Stall Points... #Kolinghen# *Setzer* Ok, the usual stock up on supplies, grab this, grab that, yada yada yada. Edgar and Celes should still be using the Enhancer, and having a Drainer handy in case they need it, as well as that Trust Soul Sabre. Also, Edgar, Sabin and Setzer (depending on your SCC character) Should all be Taught X-zone by now, esepcailly Edgar (you'll see why) Having a Rune Edge handy for Edgar isn't a bad Idea either (again, you'll see why) Setzer should grab Dice. Trump is a good weapon, yes, BUT there is a major flaw with it: Next area, lots of undead enemies exist, and X- death Weapons are Bad there, VERY bad. #Daryl's Tomb# The usual PIllage place, grab whatever is needed, etc. However, remember to equip the Ribbon here, since enemies here like Status effects (especially Zombie. Mad Oscars use Sour Mouth occasionally as well) Each character shouldn't have too much problems getting through here. Edgar uses Tools, Sabin w/ Fire Dance or Aura Bolt (maybe even Air Blade if you have it), Celes using Magic, and Setzer using Slots. The Genji Helmet you get here is nice, though, the sacrifice of M. Block from the Bard's Hat/Mystery Veil might not be worth it. What's this Czarina Gown we've found? It's a useless piece of Armor, even in a normal game, since only Relm can use it, and Relm has MUCH better stuff (Nutkin Suit, and even better, the Behemoth Suit) that it as is, so it's completely pointless. Why did I mention it? Well, if it's a Stall Point, or Celes SCC, I suggest you take a little detour and exit the Tomb now. #Random Detour to Coloseum# NOTE: If doing Edgar, Sabin, or Setzer SCC, disregard this totally, as there IS no point to doing it. Equip Celes, or whatever character you wish to use in the Coloseum with the Wall Ring, and bet the Czarina Gown. What's that you see? The Minerva? Terra and Celes' overall best Armor (arguably), possibly the best Armor in the game? Yep, the same one, and you're hardly even a quarter of the way into the WoR! Anyway, the enemy you fight is Sky Base, he specializes in Instant Death, knowing Doom and Blaster. He LOVES to start fights with Doom as well. Funny thing is, he himself is not immune to instant Death. Have your character with a Wall Ring walk in there, he casts Doom at the beginning, and chances are, he'll kill himself. Didn't work? Reset and retry; eventually, you'll get it. Minerva is great since in Stall Points, underdeveloped Characters will have a bit of an annoying time fighting Dullahan. Celes SCC? Minerva makes that battle Cake, as now all his Spells are reflectable, L? Pearl can be avoided with thinking, and Minerva nulls out Absolute Zero. #Back to Daryl's Tomb# Ok, now lets finish this stupid cave. Get to the save point, and umm...save. Go fight Presenter. Why? Cause it has Sabin's 2nd best weapon. What if you're not doing a sabin SCC? Do it anyway, cause you feel like it, darn it, and it's STILL something in an SCC to do. The battle is pretty straight foward, so I won't be giving really many tips for it. I will say that watch out for Giga Volt (Celes with a Minerva will laugh at the attack), don't attack his shell, and watch out for Magnitude 8 (Gaia Gears or Cherub Downs will take care of that) Beaten Presenter? Good. Grab the Man Eater, equip it on Setzer (if Stall Point or Setzer SCC) and go fight Dullahan. Also, it'd be a good idea for Edgar to spend some time getting his MP down to as low as possible using the Rune Edge (or any other MP Consuming Weapon. I believe Ogre Nix is available as well at this point). So why learn X- zone then? Well, X-zone is a spell you're going to have to learn anyway, and for some reason, if your character does NOT know any Magic (or at least, has access to the Magic Command, not sure which), the MP Consumption aspect of such weapons doesn't work. It's odd, I know, but it's true, supposedly. So just do what I said, and make your life easier. Also, MAKE SURE NO CHARACTERS LEVEL is a multiple of the last digit of your GP. Why? The next boss knows Lv? Pearl, and it can hurt you. %Dullahan% Wierd Skeleton Horseman guy who likes to use a lot of random Ice Magic, Pearl elemental attacks, and stuff. Ok, this is a fight worth going into detail with each character, so I will. Edgar: Equip him with a Wall Ring. That'll make it so Dullahan can't do damage with anything outside of Absolute Zero (or Lv? Pearl, if you didn't listen to me like you should have) Now, the ONLY action Edgar should take is healing his HP when Dullahan uses an occasional Absolute Zero. Do this through ITEMS, NOT by the Drainer. Dullahan will ONLY cast Magic UNLESS you attack him (this does not include spells shot back at him by Reflect) If you attack him, he starts throwing in a few Physical attacks as well, which, simply put, HURT. Once you see the message "Not Enough MP" or whatever, that Mean's Dullahan has exahausted himself. What to do now? Equip that Soul Sabre on Edgar, and smack Dullahan with it. Don't you just love enemies who die from lack of MP? Dullahan is one of them. What? This fight will take forever? Not really, Dullahan uses some expensive Spells (like Ice3 and Pearl, both which cost 52 and 40 MP respectivly), and his MP is 1850 or so (VERY low for a Boss, especially this late in the game), so this strategy will take A LOT less time than you think. Easy fight, if you have some patience. Trust me, it's A LOT easier than trying to just fight it out the usual Edgar strategy of "Chain Saw/Drill like a mad man" Sabin: Unlike his Brother, Sabin does not ahve it easy. You'll have to fight this out normally. Worse yet, Sabin's Defenses are, well, Low, since he's still stuck with that Mithril Shield, and his Armor isn't exactly spectacular. So, Shove him in the Back Row, and Fire Dance the guy like Crazy (he's weak to Fire) If you want to chance it, buy a 2nd pair of Fire Knuckles, and equip the Genji Glove on Sabin, and keep smacking him til he dies. This fight is NOT easy, mind you. In case you're curious, Dullahan has 23450 HP. Running Shoes, though, might be better here than Genji Glove, ESPECIALLY cause if you have Reflect Status on, he casts Reflect??? which causes Slow status (doesn't really matter in Celes or Edgar's case, who literally just sit there, with occasional healing), and Sabin can't afford to lose ANY Speed in this battle, he'll need all the turns he can get for healing and such. Yuo might have to level up a bit for this fight as well. Celes: Celes is identical to Edgar, really, only Easier. Heck, you can lower your MP in THIS fight. Scan does NOT provoke him to go Physical on you. So use that to Lower CEles' MP and too see how close he is to running out of MP as well. Funnier yet, if you listened to me about Lv? Pearl, and did that little Detour, Dullahan CAN NOT HURT CELES AT ALL! With Minerva, only his Pearl elemental attacks can hurt you (Pearl and Lv? Pearl, and I already told you how to avoid the latter), with Wall Ring, only Absolute Zero can hurt you (and Lv? Pearl, BUT I TOLD YOU HOW TO AVOID THAT!) Put Wall Ring and Minerva together, alogn with NEVER touching him (outside of Soul Sabre), Dullahan, simply put, WILL be blasting CEles with everything he has...and failing miserably in the proccess. See why I said grab the Minerva? Anyway, so if you don't provoke him to go physical, he can't touch Celes. Just equip a Ribbon so his Reflect??? Won't Silence Celes, forcing her to stop her arbitrary Scanning for a bit. It's just easier that way. Now what to do? The same as Edgar! Wait for him to run out of MP, smack him with the Soul Sabre, and he's dead. Setzer: Like Sabin, Setzer doesn't exactly have an easy time, unless you've got the luck of 10 Devils and pull off Joker Doom in this fight. Really, just use Slots and hope you get good results. The Man Eater with its 10% M. Block might help a bit as well. However, this fight is NOT EASY! Just use Slots, and try to get H-bombs or Sun Flares, and Heal when neccessary. Running Shoes helps, as like wiht Sabin, Setzer can really use more speed, and can't afford to lose any to the Slow Status. That's it! You've beaten the last strip Linearity in this game! Alright, it's time to start getting to the confusing Section of the World Of Ruin. First off, if you have already continued your SCC, then play the WoR however you like. HOWEVER, if you have not, your FIRST GOAL BEFORE ANYTHING is to GET RID OF THE STALL POINT, AND FIND THAT CHARACTER! Now, this is how this section is going to be set up. I'm listing the events in order of Characters based off how I've been listing them before (Order of introduction in the game), so this is NOT neccessarily the required order ot in the game, just the way I'm listing things. Also, despite the order, I WILL list strategies for ALL SCCs in these parts that CAN have plausible access (so, you will see Gogo against the Sr. Behemoth even though most people get Gogo AFTER that fight, but you won't See Strago against Chardarnook, since Strago hasn't a chance in hell of even encountering that boss, due to the nature of the game) NOTE: When I say Gogo, assume its for Skill Gogo SCC. True Gogo SCC I am not doing strategies for, cause I haven't actually tried them out, and don't want to think about what's legal for bending rules and such, so until then...yeah. Gogo = Skill Gogo, in this case. #Mobliz 1# When to do: If you're doing a Terra SCC, do this Right after you getting Edgar preferably (you are NOT allowed to Get Sabin, and it's easier to do this with 2 characters, especially if Underdeveloped and lacking the HP needed to take on Blow Fish), so RIGHT when you get the Falcon, you can do Mobliz 2, and continue the SCC ASAP. If you're doing a Celes or Sabin SCC, again, do this ASAP, just cause it'll get you Fenrir Esper early (the one useful Esper for ALL SCCs, since it teaches X-zone (required for beating Wrexsoul)), and they have access to it now, why not just do it? Edgar should do this as soon as you get him back (aka after Figaro sequence), and same goes for Setzer after you get him Kolighen. All other characters do this when you feel like it, BUT BEFORE the Doma Sequence, since X-zone is a MUST! Unless you want to do it through the Cursed Ring (Which you should get by betting the now useless Cursed Shield (no one but Terra and Gogo have use for it, IF you allow it that is)), in which case, you can ignore this, but I prefer this way, since the other method involves getting Locke, who is MUCH harder to get than the Fenrir Esper. Not much here, just fight Phunbaba, that's all. %Phunaba% Ok, just let Terra lose so we can do the REAL fight. First off, Green Beret (Or Red Cap if you have it) WILL be your best friend here. Why? You MUST have a Max HP above 1000 if you even want the SLIGHTEST chance of winning (in the Terra SCC, this fight should be done with 2 characters as I said above. Preferably, Celes and Edgar (maybe too, if you want to go a bit further than Come back) now for Strategies! Locke: Equip the Valiant Knife and smack the Tub of lard with it. Have the Drainer handy just in case. Wall Rings will allow you to survive any of his thunder attacks. Genji Glove might be helpful too, as you can equip Valiant Knife AND Drainer. Equip Valiant knife in First hand, so it's doing damage with the lower HP. Not really hard, just make sure Locke's HP is always above 1000. Mog: Just use Jump w/ your strongest spear. Snow Muffler will help if you manage to get it by now, as Mog will laugh at all his Physical attacks, combined with the Wall Ring, onyl Blow Fish can hurt Mog. Heal when need be through items. I wouldn't dance, since losing control of Mog means no potential recovery from Blow Fish. Edgar: Drill or Chain Saw like a Mad Man (Great to here the Strategy again, isn't it?), use Drainer when Edgar's HP is below 1000 to heal, and keep it up. Wall Ring will insure Edgar can't take damage from any of his thunder attacks (Bolt3 is something to worry about Early on) Sabin: Equip Wall Ring, no surprise here. If you're doing this early on, use Suplex or whatever Blitz seems to do most damage. Actually, in some cases, Poison Claws (buyable at Tzen) will do more than Blitzes, ESPECIALLY if the random Poison Spell kicks in. Likewise, heal if your HP drops below 1000. If you want to do this after you got the Falcon, well, I guess you should know what to use. Sabin's sole reason to exist in the World of Ruin: BUM RUSH! Use that like a there's no tommorrow! Shadow: If you listened to me, you'd have a lot of Poison Rods here. THROW THEM LIKE CRAZY! Phunbaba is weak to Poison, so it makes sense, doesn't it? I'd advise using the Gravity Rod + Gaia Gear strategy to heal, since it WILL offset the damage done by Blow Fish. Pretty easy battle, really. Cyan: Wall Ring again is your friend. Keep attacking him wiht Dispatch, or whatever Swordtech you find most helpful, and Keep HP above 1000 in case of Blow Fish. Gau: Use a Rage that Absorbs Thunder, something like Rhinox (especially cause it casts Life3) Now, chances are after a Blow Fish attack, Phunbaba will blast Gau, and he'll heal that damage he lost. This battle is somewhat fighting out of Luck, and hoping things go the right way. If you want, you could chance it, and equip the Wall Ring, and heck, MAYBE even the Offering if you have it, and use Stray Cat rage to gun him down, praying that he never doesn't use Blow Fish that often. Celes: If you wish, you can do this fight later on, which might make things easier. Why? Just grab the Minerva, and you can allow Celes to make another Relic Slot open (since now, his magic attacks are all nulled out, and his Physical attacks will do piddling damage) Drainer will take care of the healing, Ice2 should take care of the damage. This fight is pretty darn easy. No Minerva? Use Wall Ring instead, like everyone else. Setzer: Wall Ring again. Above 1000 HP again. I'd suggest doing this fight AFTER getting the Falcon actually, since you can have the Fixed Dice by then, Setzer's greatest offensive capabalities. If you manage to grab the offernig by then, use that as well. This fight shouldn't be too hard. Strago: Trying to Double up on Poison Rods and smack him with Both. Damage should be fairly decent. Wall Rings + High than 1000 HP = Your friend. Heal Rod will keep his HP high, just remember to take BOTH Poison Rods off with the heal rod. If you have Grand Train, I'd say use that instead, since chances are its damage is considerably higher. Relm: Here, use the dual Poison Rod strategy. Unlike Strago, Relm doesn't have any alternatives, so it's best to maximize what she has best. Heal Rod will keep her HP high as well. Gogo: I'd say just use Bum Rush, since if you've got Gogo, you should get Sabin first, and then grab Bum Rush, since it IS Gogo's strongest attack in an SCC, might as well get it ASAP, right? There's nothing that says you have to fight Phunbaba BEFORE getting Bum Rush, is there? Anyway, if you didn't notice, all of Gogo's Fights will be just him pretending to be another character Skill Wise, so just know in the future, if my Gogo strategies seem half assed, that's why. Just refer to another character's strategies as long as it doesn't involve Equipment (unless it's Strago or Relm, who share a lot of the same stuff, but careful, they get a handful of stuff he doesn't, but they DO share all the same weapons), Magic Skill set (since you are not allowed to carry even dead Allies, and no Terra or CEles = No Magic), or Morph (the only ability Gogo can't use), and chances are, it'll work for Gogo. So yeah, typing Gogo's strategies are pretty repetative, if you ask me *Shrugs* Umaro: Rage Ring will null out Lighting Damage, Cure Ring will give him a way of Healing...kind of. After this, just PRAY he can kill Phunbaba before Phunababa uses several Blow Fishes in a row on him. *Sigh* All of Umaro's fights are pure luck, really, and some smart relic preparation. Wait, why are you doing an Umaro SCC? How many times do I have to tell you NOT to do an Umaro SCC??? #Mobliz 2# No comment, just enter this place with your SCC character. Do the usual, prepare the same way you did for the first fight. %Phunbaba% *Terra* Same guy, just more HP. Nothing new he throws at you now, so just use same tactics against this guy you did in the first Fight. Note that Bababreath will NOT blow away your characters if you have ONE guy fighting. So don't worry, also, in the 2nd part of the fight, kill off Terra ASAP (and see the one part of the game where you can See Esper Terra's Wounded Sprite) I'll list strategies for one character, though, since you didn't have them for the first fight: Terra: Ok, if it isn't apparent to you yet, this fight should be the first proof as to how valuable Morph is. If you were wise, you would have NOT Equipped Celes with that Minerva, so Terra can start the fight with it. With the Minerva, all of Phunaba's Thunder Spells do 0 Damage, Blow Fish will do 1000, not that it's a problem to Terra, since she has Drain to come back instantly. His Physical attacks? Ha! If you thought ahead, you should have also come here with a Crystal Shield (best Shield you can get without going to any extra Dungeons) in your inventory, as well as the Minerva, making its damage do little bit. How is Terra to kill this guy now? Just nuke him with Fire2s. This fight will prove to be easy and rather fun, if only Cause Terra is permanantly Morphed the entire time. I really don't see how this fight can be challenging, even with no Relics, considering that even if you forgot the Minerva, Terra takes Half Damage from his attacks as is. Now you've got Terra Back, you can continue her SCC! For those doing the Terra SCC, you do realize that the Challenge in the game isn't...really...there. I said it before, but just as a reminder, Terra has the single Easiest SCC in FF6 by far, pretty much having EVERYTHING you need. So, like with the entire WoB bar Atma Weapon and the Sealed Cave, Terra will pretty much breeze (especially once you get Ultima), through the WoR. #Phoenix Cave# *Locke* Ok, before you come here, Grab Mog, so you can have one Solo Team, and one Team with Mog and Moogle Charm, so you won't have to worry about an Underdeveloped Team. Also, if your doing a Locke SCC, yes, you MUST come through this place with Only Celes, Edgar and Setzer. My suggestion is Making a team of Celes alone, and Edgar and Setzer in the other. Why? Celes with her Minerva has the best chance of the 3 underdeveloped characters soloing this place, while the other 2 don't have anything close. I suggest teaching them a few imperative spells to take on this place. Oh, and avoid Phases like there's no tomorrow, if your in the Stall Point. If you're not, just have the character heal anytime they use Blow Fish, and pray you don't get hit with "Smirk" (Causes Stops status) Terra: With her Minerva, she'll be protected against A LOT of attacks here. There aren't, as many enemies who are immune or Absorb Fire here, so don't worry. Nothing really hard here, if you're attacked by Phases, takes them out ASAP, and use Drain to heal her. Fighting a Necromancer? Well, kill them ASAP! These guys know X-zone! Well, if you went to the Fanatics Tower With Terra already, or part of it, she'll have nothing to fear. You can take Out Necromancers with a Single Life casting. Overall, pretty routine (pretty Much everything with Terra is Routine) Locke: Come in with Ragnorak in hand, and Force Armor as his armor, and Just stab your way through, and run when need be, using Drainer every now and Then to heal. Why do this with Locke? For Red Dragon of course! Mog: Just run through this place with the Moogle Charm and make your life easier. The other team should have your 4 strongest Characters so it'll have its best chance of surviving. Don't wanna cheap it with the Moogle Charm? Well, first grab a Snow Muffler, which will make Mog quite the tank, and Your only real problems being Blow Fish. Your Relics should be Dragoon Boots and(if you got them via Coloseum) Dragon Horn. If not Dragon Horn, then Ribbon or Safety Bit (you did climb the Fanatics Tower with a Moogle Charm, right?) Edgar: Grab Force Armor if you can from wherever. If you can't, then use Either Genji Armor or Red Jacket (Fire enemies here, hence Red Jacket may Come in handy) Just try to muscle your way through with Chain Saw, Drill, and The like, and pray you don't fight many Phases. Sabin: Get His Red Jacket before entering this place. Got it? Good. I Hope you have Bum Rush and Air Blade, those 2 will REALLY come in handy here. Basically, just use Sabin's usual "Kill Enemy before they kill you" Strategy. That's really all Sabin's SCC is, and this place is no exception. Shadow: Have his Genji Armor from the Zone Eater's cave on, and equip that Memento Ring (To guard vs. Necromancr's X-zone at least), bring along Skeans and Shadow's Thief Knife, and as usual, just force your way through those enemies. Cyan: Equip Tempest, Force Armor, and just try to muscle your way through. Probably easier if you run from fights. Cyan doesn't really have any easy Way to do things. Gau: Grab that Snow Muffler and put it on. Then, come here with the Wooly Rage, and destroy things left and Right with Ice3. Have other decent Rages on Hand, in case you fight enemies are strong vs. Ice3. Magic Pot also helps, if you've gotten it. Celes: Minerva will be your best friend (as it was with Terra) so equip it On her. If you gotten Tritoch Already (a suggest idea) and Taught Celes Ice3, that will help A LOT! Basically, bombard this place with Ice3s, and watch Her HP. Setzer: I suggest getting the Offering and Fixed Dice before this part. Probably easiest method, along with having Force Armor, or if that's too had, Genji Armor on. Strago: Having his Magus Rod and Behemoth Suit really help, so use those. If you have Grand Train, USE IT! If not, use Clean Sweep, Aqua Rake, Aero or whatever you have. Relm: I guess Ice Rod would be her best weapon for this area, so Equip it. It would also help if you managed to grab a Cat Hood, as the elemental Protections and such should really come in handy. Gogo: Tao Robe, Magus Rod, and use whatever skills you find work best Outside of Magic (which he can't use), again, Gogo's strategies are really just combinations of OTHER character's, so do what fits best. Umaro: No comment... %Red Dragon% Ok, the big bad Dragon himself...well, ok, one of the big bad 8 Dragons. First off, let me JUST say that in a Locke SCC, you MUST avoid this fight until You come back to the Phoenix Cave with Locke solo. Sure, it maybe a pain, but still a "Quest" that Locke needs to do alone. Good idea to enter this fight NOT at a level divisible by 4, since Level 4 Flare can hurt...Remember, you CAN get the Dragon Horn w/out fighting Red Dragon, just avoid him, grab the chest, and then fight him. Terra: Terra's only problem in this fight is he absorbs all her fire Magic. Well, if taught Terra the "Pearl" spell, then that's not a problem, since Just use that spell. If you didn't, well, just keep attacking, he's still not hard, just might take a little while. Minerva will guard ALL his spells bar Flare and L4 Flare. Equip a Wall Ring to guard against flare. The rest of this fight is pretty straight forward. Locke: Force Armor will protect against his few Fire Elemental spells that Go right through Reflect, which is applied via Wall Ring. Just keep attacking and use the Drainer to Heal Locke from time to time. Not hard. Mog: Snow Muffler should protect against Most of his Attacks, especially if you jacked Mog's Magic Defense up as high as you could using Legal Equips. Dragoon Boots are the way to go in this Fight. Wall Rings will protect against Flare and several other spells he chucks. If you can, try to pull off Water Rondo dance if you want to, since that will put some major pains on him. Oh, Mog might wanna opt for the Trident in this Fight, since he's Weak against Water, and it might just do more damage than the Partisan (though, if you have the Pearl Lance, best stay with that, since the random Pearl Castings will probably do more damage overall combined with the higher attack power) If you grabbed the Dragon Horn before fighting him, try using Dragoon Boots + Dragon Horn Strategy if you want to end this fight fast. Edgar: This is why Edgar should have the Red Jacket handy. It'll null out All his dangerous Fire Spells like Flare Star and S. Cross. Wall Ring to guard vs. Flare, Chain Saw or Drill for Damage. Sounds easy, doesn't it? It more or less is. Sabin: Red Jacket + Wall Ring for Defenses against nearly all his attacks, And Bum Rush him to death. Shadow: Throw Blizzards (you did buy a few at Albrook or Nikeah, right?) At him, as well as Water Edge's. Wall Ring should protect against most of His attacks, but still beware of Flare Star and S. Cross, those can STILL hurt. Should he use them, I'd say throw a Gravity Rod as yourself while equipped with Gaia gear for Healing. Alternativly, you could have Shadow equipped with Striker or Assassin Equipped and have him attack himself while equipped with a Relic Ring. That's basically the same as using an X-potion. Won't get into why it works, it just does, trust me. Cyan: Force Armor for Defense vs. his few Fire Spells that go through Reflect, and attack him with your strongest attacks you find effective. No real Tricks to winning this fight, really. Gau: Time for some FUN! Snow Muffler Halves Fire damage, so that's good here. Now, using Wooly Rage, Gau will cast Ice3 on the guy occasionally, insuring some major damage. Pair that with a Wall Ring, you shouldn't have much problems. Though, beware of Flare Star, even cut in half, that attack hurts. Fight being too hard? Use a Rage that absorbs fire then, while not using a Fire attack itself (DEFINATLY NOT BALLOON OR INTANGIR!), and this fight is an utter Joke. Magic Pot Rage might be good, though, his Cure3's will be reflected, so Maybe not. Celes: For once, Celes has a Fight "Easier" Than Terra! Why is that? Celes can use all the same armor Terra has, for starters, so that includes that Nice little Minerva that guards against Fire (only useful one in this case) Now, Red Dragon is weak to Ice, Celes KNOWS Ice spells (should know Ice2 at least, Ice3 if you got Tritoch Already) Do the math :P If you have problems beating Red Dragon with Celes, your either Unprepared, or you should just give up now. Celes is basically a Red Dragon bane, in a sense, since Minerva + Wall Ring = He can't touch her. And Ice2/3 = Celes Eats Red Dragon alive. And if he does Touch her (like with a Physical), well, Drainer will make sure she gains back that little HP she lost. Setzer: Force Armor + Wall Ring combo again. Then attack with Fixed Dice Non stop, having Offering will help a lot here too. Nothing much else to say. Strago: Wall Ring helps vs. most of his spells, but he still has a few that go RIGHT through it. Have Heal Rod ready (well, in your inventory anyway) so Strago can heal himself if he's being bombarded to often. Cast Clean Sweap or Grand Train on him, and eventually, you'll wear him down. Relm: Smack him with Ice Rod, equipping Cat Hood to help fend of Flare Star and S. Cross helps, as does Wall Ring against all that other crap he throws at you. Heal Rod to...heal...her. Just keep fighting and smacking herself with Heal Rod occasionally, and you'll eventually win. Hope you get several Ice2 castings in. Gogo: Ok, equip whatever you find best for this situation (if you allow him, he can use Force Shield, technically, always a Plus!), and use one of the Non Terra/Celes Strategies above to beat him. I'd go with Bum Rush or Gau's alternative "Absorb Fire" Rage, but that's just me. Umaro: Well, Rage Ring + Wall Ring does make this Fight Trivial, and Umaro Has an easy time here. Still...just cause one fight is easy doesn't make the Whole bleeding SCC Easy >.< Ok, with Red Dragon gone, you've basically beaten the Phoenix Cave, yeah! Rejoice Locke SCCers, his SCC can continue. Rejoice those doin Celes and Edgar SCCs too, as you can go get Ragnorak sword. And Especially Rejoice Terra SCCers (if for whatever reason your having problems), as you can FINALLY Get Ultima (Come on, you know that's the whole reason your doing the Terra SCC, just so you can use Ultima :P) #Narshe# *Mog* Ok, Narshe gives you a few good things. Most importantly is Mog, and his Moogle Charm. These REALLY help when doing Phoenix Cave and Kefka's Tower, 2 places where you MUST use Multiple Parties. I can't stress how much Trouble the Moogle Charm will save. Ok, fine, it also helps to get Mog if you're doing his SCC, for obvious reasons. This place is pretty straightforward, no hard enemies, nothing that shouldn't be taken down hard, etc. A few notes about SCCs though (only listing ones that matter) Terra: Come back here with Locke (make sure you kill him first, though, so He doesn't fight in battles), and grab the Ragnorak SWORD and the Cursed Shield. Ragnorak is Terra's best SCC weapon (as I said, I personally don't allow Illumina, even if I did, you still need to get Ragnorak anyway...), and The Cursed Shield, spend an extra bit of time uncursing it on the Solitary Island, and then head to Maranda, equipped with the Paladin Shield, and teach her Ultima. What you do with the Paladin Shield (keep it on her, or use leave It in your inventory since its too overpowering), is up to you, regardless, At least get it for these purposes. Likewise, though, if you feel you don't Want to get Ultima this way and it takes too long, you might just wanna use the Ragnorak Esper to teach Ultima, and try getting through the game using the Enhancer. Locke: Come here, grab Ragnorak, don't bother with the Cursed Shield. Likewise, MAKE SURE IT'S THE SWORD YOU GET! The Esper is WORTHLESS! Edgar: Like Terra, come here with Locke (dead), grab the Ragnorak (Sword) Don't bother with Cursed Shield, since Edgar isn't allowed to use Paladin Shield. Celes: More or less the same as Edgar, so refer to him. Ok, now, make your way through the mines and grab Mog AND MAKE SURE YOU GRAB HIS MOOGLE CHARM TOO! After that, head to the hills, and if your ready, Its time for another boss fight! %Ice Dragon% Oh joy, another Dragon Fight, this one is like Red Dragon, only...he uses Ice attacks. So...equip your best Ice Elemental Protection, and...ok, fine, I'll give you character strategies...Oh yeah, beware of N. Cross. If it hits (which it often does not), your character's a sitting duck (Though, for Terra, Mog, Gau and Celes, who are all more or less immune to a good deal of his attacks, this isn't really that big of a deal), so just hope he doesn't use it. Terra: Could you ask for a more Perfect Fight for Terra? Lets see. What Does Ice Dragon Have? Weakness to Fire, and Ice Elemental Attacks. What does Terra have? Fire spells? Check. Ice Protection? Check, through the Minerva (or Flame Shield if you prefer) And for kicks, she has Morph as well. Basically, the battle here is Simple. Blast away with Fire2 (or Fire3 if you have it already), and laugh as he tries to hurt you. If he hurts you, just heal Via Drain if her HP gets low. Seriously, you gotta pity this guy, going Against someone immune to his best attacks, and can maximize on his weakness. To Morph or not? Its up to you. You can Morph and make him look even more pathetic, but its not needed. Locke: Locke's best bet is the Trust Force Armor to have Damage. After this, I suggest a Genji Glove + Ragnorak/Valiant Knife (your choice) + Drainer Combo. Equip Hero Ring just to boost damage further. He shouldn't be that difficult, just as long as you watch what your doing. Then again, in battle, Locke doesn't have many options. Mog: Snow Muffler makes this battle a Joke. Why? Absorbs his Ice Magic AND gives him Ungodly High Defense that his physicals do jack squat. Now all We need is offenses. I guess the typical Dragoon Boots + Dragon Horn + Best Spear combo works best for Mog. Edgar: Force Armor is your best bet here. Have the Drainer handy to gain HP back in case he does significant damage to you. Either use Dragoon Boots + Dragon Horn strategy w/ a Spear (or Drainer when healing is needed) like with Mog, OR attack him with the Chain Saw/Drill to waste him away. Apparently, Ice Dragon is vulnerable to Poison, so use Bio Blaster at start of match, and that'll help speed the battle up considerably. Gotta love bosses vulnerable to status effects. Sabin: Bum Rush like a Mad Dog on Steroids. Ok, that doesn't make much sense, but you get the point. Maximize Sabin's Damage by using a Hero Ring, but also, equip Cure Ring (or better yet, Marvel Shoes, if you have them) to give Sabin some minor but perhaps critical healing. Sabin's major problem here is he has no way to fend off Ice Dragons attacks. Shadow: I hope you prepared well, cause like Sabin, Shadow doesn't have a Very good means of beating this guy defensivly. Or does he? Here's a fun Little trick to try on him. Shadow doesn't have very obvious healing, but here's a few ways you can try. First, as I mentioned earlier, stock up on Gravity Rods,and Equip Gaia Gear, and throw them at yourself. Shadow will gain a good deal of HP Back. Flaw with Strategy? Costs a lot of Money, and hurts Shadow's Defense a lot. Well, there's an alternative. Equip Shadow with the Relic Ring, if you have it, as well as either the Assassin or Striker (preferably Former, for minor stat boosts) Smack yourself with the weapon, and Shadow gains ALL his HP back, EVERYTIME! I won't get into why it works this way, but trust me; it's a very useful tactic to learn for Shadow. Basically, Unlimited X-potions! If you can manage to at least stay alive, with getting a few hits in here and there, EVENTUALLY, Shadow will come out on top. How to attack this guy offensively? Well, Throw Flame Sabres at him for massive damage, as well as Fire Rods if you have any extra (Do NOT Confuse throwing Rods with BREAKING them. By Throw, I mean using the THROW Skillset), and follow up with Fire Skeans if you start running low. Basically, with some patience, Shadow will eventually win. Cyan: Like with the other male armor uses, Force Armor is the way to go defensivly. How to Go offensively? That's the tough part. Well, you can try to tough it, and hope you can pull off Quadra Slam (or if you have it, Quadra Slice), if that's not working, just keep using Dispatch, and heal when necessary. This fight might take a while. Gau: Snow Muffler is Gau's best friend here, like with Mog. Now, which rage to Choose? Well, with Ice Protection taken care off, all that's left is what special ability. Sr. Behemoth and Brontaur both have Fire3, which could come in handy, or you could use good Old Stray Cat, which when paired with the Offering, does massive damage. Either way will work. Celes: Celes, like Terra, comes into this fight with no problems defensivly. Heck, Ice Shield makes Ice dragons spells HEAL her, so you may wanna opt for that instead of the Aegis Shield like usual. Anyway, Ice Shield or not, you still have the Minerva, which nulls out Ice (Mind you, if you have Both Equipped, the "BETTER" Effect always wins, so you'll still absorb damage, don't worry) If you taught Celes Flare or Pearl, use those spells here, since her Ice spells can't be used, seeing as he absorbs them they are the best way to go. Well, chances are, they are the best way to go for now anyway, since she shouldn't have Ice3 yet (this is assuming you're fighting this guy BEFORE Tritoch, and haven't leveled up higher enough) Not a hard fight at all, But might take a while. Keep that Drainer handy, of course. If Celes doesn't Have Pearl or Flare, well, best go offensively with physicals. Having Ragnorak around will sure help A LOT. Setzer: Force Armor like the other male armor users, and use the Offering + Fixed Dice Strategy to just beat him fast and hard before Setzer takes any real damage. If you must, Setzer can apply a similar strategy shadow has, using his Trump weapon (buyable at Kolighen) in conjunction with Relic Ring for lots of healing. What's the problem with this Strategy? It REALLY hampers his offenses A LOT. If you still have that Fire Rod from the burning house around, this would be a good time to use it. Strago: If you have Grand Train, that'll sure help a lot here. If you have Big Guard, use that as well. If you don't have either? Well, I guess use Aero, or Step Mine, or whatever the strongest Lore you have is, or perhaps attacking him with Dual Fire Rods with a Genji Glove. Pearl Wind comes in handy here, as does the Heal Rod as well. Strago suffers a bit in that he has no Elemental protection of any kind for this fight. Relm: Interesting fact is that if you sketch Ice Dragon, half the time it'll be Ice3, thus HEALING him, the other half it'll be Fire3, doing good damage to him. Feeling Lucky? You can try that strategy. Not feeling lucky? Well, equip Relm with the Cat Hood for anyway, for some Ice Protection, as well as Behemoth Suit and Aegis Shield for best overall defense. Shove on a Fire Rod, and equip a Hero Ring and a relic of your choosing and keep bashing him over the head with it. If your lucky, a few Fire2 castings will hit him. Low on HP? Use the Heal Rod to get yourself back into shape for a while, and then continue the Fire Rod Bashing Ceremony. Gogo: I guess Bum Rush is his best off here, and Heal Rod is his best Healing, and...bah, you should already know how to do this. Though, his best bet might be to use a Rage that provides Ice Elemental Protection. Magic Pot Rage might be good, but the battle has a potential to last forever (though, Fire Rod can speed things up considerably) Meh, as usual, play this fight out however you want. What to equip for Armor and such? Magus Rod or Fire Rod (Depends what strategy you use) for Weapon, Force Shield for Shield (the one character who can use it, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!), Red Cap for helmet (refrain from Bard's Hat, with this Set Up, you'll have 96% M. Block, Bard's Hat pushes it to 106%, which I believe is too high for an SCC), and Tao Robe for Armor. Should be relatively Easy Umaro: Well, he already has the Snow Muffler On. Using Rage Ring Couldn't hurt, Using Blizzard Orb CAN hurt (well, more like HEAL him) I still wonder why I'm listing Umaro strategies. For completion purposes I guess *Shrugs* To his credit, this is a rather simple fight that he should win with relative ease. After you've slain the dragon, just go fight Tritoch. You shouldn't need directions to get there, unless this is your first time playing the game, in which case, why are you playing an SCC? Oh yeah, a good idea would be to use that save point nearbye to heal and...save... %Tritoch% All I can say is use Wall Rings. Curious how to beat this relatively Easy Boss fight ASAP? I'll tell you how! Terra: Wow, this guy has such pathetic Magic Defense, Morphed Fire2 does 9999! You heard me, 9999. Granted, apart from Novelty reasons, that's a waste of Morph, but still could be fun to see a moderately leveled character hit such high Damage potentials with a simple Level 2. So yeah, blast away with Fire2 Even if you have Fire3, don't bother, as it's a waste of MP. Locke: This guys defense is high, so its not fun to fight with a Physical character. That is, unless that Physical character has access to something called the Valiant Knife that just happens to ignore Defenses. So use That weapon. Mog: Mog's Jumping Strategy won't be too effective, so you might wanna try a dance, and hope It succeeds. Do NOT use Snow Man Jazz though. Dusk Requim and Love Sonata are Good choices, simply cause they use Elf Fire, which happens to be his weakness. Howvever, if you wish to use the Jumping Strategy, do NOT use Pearl Lance on him, as he nulls out Pearl Damage, along with all other elements besides Fire (Which he's weak to) So unfortunately, your stuck using the Partisan on him. Edgar: Just Chain Saw or Drill the guy like crazy. No comment otherwise. Sabin: Like Edgar, only replace Chain Saw/Drill with Bum Rush Shadow: Throw Fire Skeans. At level 33, w/ no Earrings/Hero Rings, or Magic Power boosts, they do almost 6000 to this guy! I think its quite obvious why you should throw them at him. Cyan: Well, if you have the time, build up to Quadra Slice, and use that. Otherwise, stick to Dispatch. Gau: Sr. Behemoth Rage is probably the best way to go, what with his Low Magic defense your casting Fire3...I think you get the point. Celes: Seeing as he's immune to Celes' Ice spells and Pearl, I sure hope You have Taught her Flare by this point. Otherwise, smack him with the Atma Weapon (it ignores defense, so it's the best weapon here, seeing as Tritoch has a Ludicrous defense of 254), and keep this up. Flare is just so much easier And faster, though. Setzer: Keep chucking those Fixed Dice at him. Forgot to get Fixed Dice? Throw Regular Dice at him instead. Sure, their damage sucks, but it's a Lot better than what you'd be doing with any other weapon. Or of course, you Could try your hand at slots, since his Magic Defense is low, they might do Decent Damage. Umm...yeah, this is why I say make a quick stop at Kefka's tower To get Fixed Dice, it just makes life easier. Strago: Grand Train is your friend here. Don't got it? Step Mine is your Best friend then. Don't got that? Well, then don't that just beat all, you'd Have to use a Fire Rod on him, and hope you get many "Fire2" Castings. Aero, Aqua Rake, and Cleansweap all won't do jack since he's immune to those elements, unfortunately. If you, for whatever reason, happen to have Quasar, use that. Though, how did you get Quasar, or rather WHY did you get Quasar, before getting Grand Train (Which is just plain better), or Step Mine (which can be gotten a good deal earlier) is beyond me... Relm: Unfortunatly, Relm has nothing but her basic attack to work with. And unlike Locke, she doesn't have any defense Ignoring weapons. So, she'll Just have to use Fire Rod, and hope she can pull off many random "Fire2" Castings on him. This might take a while, or it may not, depends on how lucky you are. Not hard, but could be long and boring. Gogo: As usual, just use any strategy listed above that does not involve Equipment or the Magic Skill Set. Whatever suits you best, I guess, I'd personally go with Fire Skeans, since they do most Raw Damage against him, but that's just me. Congratulations! You've beaten Narshe! Why do you deserve a congrats? I dunno, but at least Celes can learn Ice3 (just remember NOT to use Fire3 and Bolt3, which she WILL learn in the process), one of her strongest (if not THE strongest) spells she'll the entire game. If you didn't get Phoenix Esper yet, Terra can learn Fire3, along with the "You should never cast this, and pretend they aren't there" Ice3 and Bolt3. Oh yeah, lets not forget you also have access to get Umaro! See, I skipped him for a legitamate reason in the battle against Tritoch, simply cause, under normal circumstances; you cannot have Umaro vs. Tritoch. Anyway, just cause it works in continuity and linearity reasons, lets go to straight to getting Umaro. #Umaro's Cave# *Umaro* Alright, lots of enemies here use Imp, so it'd be wise to equip a White Cape or Ribbon if you didn't have one on already. Enemies here are quite simply defeated, just make sure to remember some enemies here are Immune/Absorb some elements (like Ceratops with Lightning, if that's not the only one) Just remember that if you want Umaro, Mog's gotta be in your team, so just keep him at 0 HP...unless it's a Mog SCC of course. %Umaro% Pathetic Boss, but fine, I'll go into how to beat him with each. Relic combos...use whatever you like. Terra: *in Sing Songy Voice* Frosty the Snowman...met Terra and melted as she fried his ass with Fire2/3. Well, ok, Umaro's not exactly Frosty, but it's a very similar situation. Just blast him with your strongest Fire Spell, and he'll fall quickly. Locke: Use your strongest weapons and smack him with it. Pretty obvious, I think. Not sure if Flame Sabre will be stronger than other weapons or not here, but meh, you can experiment, its not hard. Mog: Dusk Requim Dance. Yes, it uses 2 Dances often that are worthless, but given Mog's 255 Defense Potential, he's not doing much damage, and it uses Elf Fire and Poison Frog anyway. Or you can fight him normally. Either way works. Edgar: Open with Bio Blaster, and laugh as he's vulnerable to Poison, then hit him your strongest attacks *Yawns* Sabin: Bum Rush, nough said. Want a bit more fun? Hit him with Poison Claws til the Poison spell kicks in, and laugh at him some more. Shadow: Throw Flame Sabres at him, watch him take massive Damage, laugh at him as he takes lots of damage, and walk away victorious Cyan: You know his offenses are so low; you probably have the time it takes to use Quadra Slice. Might as well, right? Gau: Just use any Rage that uses a Fire or Poison Attack, and he'll die fast. Heck, even "old skool" Templar will take him down with relative ease. Celes: Since he's immune to her Ice Spells...either go physical on his ass, or blast him with Flare. Does it matter? I highly doubt it, it just might determine how long it takes for Celes to kill him Setzer: If you have Fixed Dice, use those, if you have Offering, use that too, if you have Neither, use whatever you want (Maybe Slots or GP Rain?), it shouldn't matter, fight this fight normally. Strago: Open with Bad Breath, he's now poisoned. Hit him with your most damaging attacks, he's now dead...or he soon will be. Relm: Start by smacking him with Poison Rod til the random Poison spell kicks in, then start beating on his ass with whatever weapon is doing the most damage (Probably the Man Eater, but not certain) Gogo: Choose any strategy above Gogo can employ, and use it. He beats his fellow "secret" character with relative ease, like everyone else. #Tzen# *Sabin* Ok, just to let you know, if you are NOT to do this part, despite how early it is, until your SCC comes out of its Stall Point (meaning Celes can do it whenever, Edgar right after Figaro sequence, and Setzer right after Kolighen, though you don't HAVE to do it then, those are the only SCC you can do it before the Falcon is available) Likewise, though, if your doing a Sabin SCC, do this ASAP, so you can end the stall point NOW, and continue on with the SCC, meaning right after you get to the Mainland, have Celes go at it alone, as usual, and grab Sabin, and then Kill Celes off next fight. Now, how to get around this place? Well, pretty simple really, just follow my steps: First off, have a Ribbon or Amulet. Enemies like to cast nasty status effects here, so it's good to use them to avoid it. Next, Sprint Shoes are a good idea, since faster movement = less pressed for time. Ok, fine, this si stuff you do normally, since Celes usually does this alone, but meh, lets see how characters can get around...I guess. Terra: Spamming Fire2 or Fire3 if you have it then is your best bet. Heck, if you were too lazy to do this and somehow have Ultima Already, you could use that for kicks, just remember Ultima has a relatively long animation. Not much different from Terra's usual Strategies. Locke: Lacks good forms of Multi Target damage unless you have the Offering already, so your probably best just running away from fight. Mog: Eh, just avoid fights altogether with the Moogle Charm. Its not like Your building Gau's rage list up anyway. Normally, I wouldn't say use Moogle Charm, since you don't need it, but meh, why bother fighting when your pressed For time, right? Edgar: Well, if Auto Crossbow or Flash are doing decent damage here, then Use those. Otherwise, I'd just not bother and run. Shadow: Throwing Skeans are your best bet. Too bad enemies here are weak against Ice and Shadow can't apply that damage in Multi Target fashion *Drop Kicks Water Edge for being the odd ball in the trinity* Though, at a decent Level, Shadow might kill them using pretty much any Skean. Cyan: Well, if you feel lucky, try using the Tempest here. If you don't Feel lucky, then I guess just run. Quadra Slam and Stunner take WAY too long To merit using here, with the time limit and all. If you have the Offering, Tempest Strategy is even better Gau: I suggest using Dark Side rage, or SOME Rage that casts Ice Magic. Lots of enemies weak against Ice here, at least, PM Stalkers are I believe. So Use any Rage that casts Ice2 (like Dark Side), Ice3 (like Wooly), or whatever here, they'll all work. Or you could just run, if you think Gau is gonna fight more often than use his Rages specials Celes: OMG! Celes has to do this place alone! The Pain! The Horror! The Blasphemy! Ok, jokes aside, Celes solos this place in pretty much every NORMAL playthrough of FF6, besides the CES challenge (beating the Whole WoR with getting only Celes, Edgar and Setzer to see the ending in its Most butchered form :P), seeing as there's no reason not to get Sabin here normally. Since she does this easily by herself anyway, I'll just be concise: Cast Ice2. Got that? Good. Now I gotta sit down and take a cold shower from thinking of the tortures this will be... Setzer: Still remember the timing to those Slots? Good, they will be Useful here. If you're high enough leveled and have a fat enough wallet, might Wanna try GP Rain to save some time. Strago: Just use some MT Lore like Grand Train or something. I forget how these guys react to Water and Wind, hence why I didn't suggest Aqua Rake, Aero, or Clean Sweep. Relm: seeing as she has no form of Multitarget attack, not even a totally random one like that of Edgar's, running is a good idea. No one will call you a coward for doing so here. Gogo: I really shouldn't have to keep saying this, just use any Aforementioned strategy above, like Gogo almost always does. Umaro: Umm...Blizzard Orb, I guess, and no Rage Ring, and PRAY he uses lots of Storms. Or you could just not do the Umaro SCC, and save yourself the Trouble... Alright, now you got Sabin back. Sabin SCCers, Rejoice, not that the WoR Stall Point was all that big for you guys. A whole frigging scene of Cid dying (or Living), and Celes traveling through a house. WOW! You guys really had to go through a lot didn't you? Wait, no, don't go! I'll stop being sarcastic and sadistic, please? Yeah, your back! Ok, so yeah, Sabin SCCers can continue, and Celes and Edgar ALSO got their Nifty Drainers as well. #Veldt# *Gau* First things first...grab Gau, just cause I said so. Why? I just Answered that darn it. There is literally nothing to do here except Grab Gau. Yes, I realize its out of order, but eh, it makes sense to list this now. Goody for you Gau SCCers, you can continue his SCC... #Veldt Cave# Ok, this place is pretty Standard, just keep your HP high, beat enemies ASAP etc. As a little tip, those blue mantis things are weak to Fire. Anyway, usual stuff like Sabin using Bum Rush, Terra blasting with Fire Spells, Locke smacking, etc. Fight against Allo Ver, you can either do it honorably (in which case, it's a race against Condemned), or do it the sneaky evil way and just use a Fenix Down or Revivify on him, and win the battle instantly. Why would you fight him? Just for completetion purposes, or if your doing Sabin's SCC, this is where you get his best Weapon, so it has obvious reasons. Make sure you grab that Striker (especially for Shadow SCCers), and head out to fight Sr. Behemoth. %Sr. Behemoth% Ok, time for the usual break down into Characters and such... Save yourself trouble and just use a fenix down or Revivify on his 2nd form. Terra: Minerva + Aegis Shield + Enhancer (or Ragnorak if you have it) + Mystery Veil = SrBehemoth not hurting you much. Meteo with its low hit Rate will be dodged consistently, and his Ice spells will be doing nothing. Blast away with (Morphed) Fire2 (or Fire3, if you already have it) and Drains and he falls rather fast. If you somehow already have Ultima, then use that, and watch him Die in 2 Castings...A joke fight, like nearly all of Terra's fights in the WoR. Locke: Best bet is to equip Ragnorak and smack him with that, and Swap to Drainer everytime you need healing. I don't advise Genji Glove, if only Cause that extra 40% from the Aegis Shield really helps avoiding Meteo. Not That hard of a fight, really. Mog: With Snow Muffler, you laugh at his Physicals and his ice Spells heal you. That said, Routine Mog jumping on this guys head over and over again should take him down fairly fast. Edgar: Give him his best M. Block set up (and try to keep it below 100%), And attack away with Chain Saw, and attack with the Drainer when you need healing. The usual strategy Edgar uses, this doesn't change much between fights, really. Sabin: Sabin has the problem of not getting high M. Block to stop Meteo. Oh well, 4 or 5 Bum Rushes should take him down, so do that, and have a Cure Ring or Marvel Shoes on for Regen so he can have minor healing. Cyan: Force Armor + Aegis Shield are your best bets for Armor and Shields. Just use whatever Swordtech you find is working best, be it Dispatch or Quadra Slam (or Quadra Slice if you already have it) He only has 19000 HP, so it shouldn't be THAT hard Gau: He's weak to Fire, likewise, try using a Rage with Fire Elemental attacks. Snow Muffler will protect you against his Ice attacks, so that's not aproblem. Overmind is a good rage here, since Elf Fire does decent damage,though, if you have a Rage with Fire3, that would also be a good idea. Celes: Imp the Bastard. Yes, he's impable. That's how you kill his first form. 2nd Form, just drop a fenix down on him. You can mock this boss now. Just be sure to follow Logical SCC strategies that if you find yourself dying, don't keep attacking assuming you've won, obviously, if CEles = Near dead, cast Cure or throw an X-potion or SOMETHING. Setzer: Usual Throw Fixed Dice at him like crazy, and if you have Offering, use that as well. More or less same strategy as Sabin, only with higher M. Block (thanks to Force Armor) and Fixed Dice + Offering instead of Bum Rush Strago: If you have Grand Train, use it. If you don't, you could try Smacking him with a Fire or Poison Rod and see the results. Not satisfied? Use Your most damaging Lores and have the Magus Rod on to protect you from Meteo And such, as well as Heal Rod ready for healing in case you get your HP too low for Pearl Wind to take care of. Relm: Use whatever weapon is doing most Damage. Probably Fire Rod since he's weak to Fire and it randomly Casts Fire2. Have Heal Rod ready in case Relm needs to heal herself. Gogo: As usual, take a strategy listed above, and apply it here, more or less. Umaro: Seeing as you can't do much with him, just pray he doesn't mess up. So, you got Shadow Back...kind of, well, its obvious where our Next stop is! #Coloseum# *Shadow* Bet Striker here, and get Shadow. If your SCC character has problems Soloing Shadow, then...I dunno, how'd you beat him in a normal Game then? Ok, fine, if your using Strago and he's stupid and uses Exploder or something, then its possible, but otherwise...yeah, this fight doesn't even deserve mentioning. Only bringing it up cause technically, you gotta do it, and Shadow SCCers can FINALLY start the Shadow SCC w/ no more random Stall Points. #Mt. Zozo# *Cyan* Quite Simple, really, do everything the same way you'd normally do it...only with one Character of course. Nothing much to say here. Just don't miss that Red Cap and Aegis Shield, since they are arguably the best Helmet and Shield in most SCCs. However, beware of... %Storm Dragon% This guy, as always, is the hardest Dragon in the game, and being with one character doesn't make it any easier. Worse, you have no Thunder Shields to help you avoid Wind Slash and Aero. Wing Sabre, as always, HURTS like hell, and what's worse, this guy likes to Counter with his fairly decent physicals. And then there's Cyclonic, knocking your HP down to the point where he'll slaughter you... So, how to beat him? Well, here's the strategies... Terra: Figures that the already easiest SCC is one of the most suited for This fight. Minerva blocks his wind Magic, she has high Defense and M. Block, making Wing Sabre that less threatening, and Drain to recover from all those hits. That leaves Rage which you can't...wait, no, Morph cuts that in half. So yeah, what was that about being a Hard Dragon? How to actually hurt him? Just use her strongest spells, be it Fire2, Pearl, Ultima, or whatever. Terra,as usual, turns a potentially hard fight into extreme easiness. Have Safety Bit on if you think Cyclonic will get you before you can heal with Drain. Locke: Ok, one hard thing about this fight is that Locke probably doesn't Have his Force Armor, being that this is probably where you'll get it. So, If I were you, I'd grab that Genji Armor from Zone Eater's Cave first, so Locke Will have high Defense and Magic Defense, letting him live longer. Now, Locke should have Drainer on, so he can heal from every hit. Do NOT use Genji Glove, Wing Sabre would utterly DESTROY Locke w/out a Shield, since his defenses Would be hurt too much that Drainer would NOT offset the damage. Interesting Strategy is to equip Black Belt, so everytime he attacks Locke with Wing Sabre or a Physical, Locke counters and heals some of that damage back, so to speak. With patience, and strategy, Locke should come out victorious. Cure Ring can't hurt, or even better, Marvel Shoes. Mog: I suggest you wait til you have his Pearl Lance AND Dragon Horn to do This fight. That Damage Boost AND Random Pearl Castings REALLY make a Difference here. Obviously, Dragoon Boots + Dragon Horn is the way you should go. If you're afraid of Cyclonic, opt for Safety Bit to avoid it (use Moogle Charm in Fanatics Tower to pillage the area) Having Snow Muffler helps A LOT, as it will cause Wing Sabre and his Physical Counters to do 0 damage in the Back Row if Mog has 255 Defense. That really helps out a lot. Edgar: Like Locke, grab his Genji Armor First, and use Drainer as a weapon For a means of healing. Similar Strategy, only when you probably won't need to use Drainer attacks as much since Edgar can do damage with his Chain Saw or Drill, but still, similar strategy nonetheless. Drainer + Black Belt helps more than you expect. Sabin: As usual, bet Defensive Stuff, and stick him back Row. Use Bum Rush a lot, and heal when necessary. Marvel Shoes or Cure Ring can't hurt, since Sabin has no way of healing (Unless you harvested X-potions) Not much to say about this fight, just keep pushing forth, and you will eventually win. Shadow: Genji Armor is nearly a must, since Shadow doesn't really have the defenses to take Wing Sabre otherwise. Or you could use Shadow Edge and avoid his Physicals, which works too. What's great about Shadow is his Memento Ring allows him to Avoid Cyclonic. Keep throwing Thunder Blades at him to do Some nice high damage. If you run out of Thunder Blades (cause you didn't Harvest them before hand or something), opt for Bolt Edges then. Shadow should overpower Stormy before he loses. If you REALLY need healing, use the Relic Ring + Assasin Set Up, so you don't hurt your defenses at all by using a Gaia Gear + Gravity Rod combo. Marvel Shoes or Cure Ring should suffice though. Cyan: As usual, Genji Armor helps a lot here, since you probably don't Have Force Armor yet (others are found in Fanatics Tower and Kefka's Tower) If You can take the hits, and have the time, use Quadra Slam and Empowerer to Stay alive, or if your bold, use Quadra Slice. Otherwise, stick to Dispatch. Cure Rings or Marvel Shoes are your best bet when it comes to staying alive, or If you've harvested X-potions, use those Gau: Snow Muffler set up should allow Gau to hit 255 Defense (use Genji Helmet and Genji Shield to get it), making Wing Sabre and his physicals do 0 damage. Now, you should use a Rage immune to Instant Death (to avoid Cyclonic) and Wind (to Avoid Wind Slash and Aero) Well, Magic Pot is the surest way to go since it avoids Both, and casts Cure3, however, that one will take a long time, Storm Dragon has the most HP of any dragon, by far. Wooly is a good alternative, however, isn't immune to Instant Death, but gives higher damage output, and you can hope he just uses Aero after Cyclonic, which will heal Gau. I would have suggested Io, whose immune to Wind and has great damage output (Flare Star vs. level 74 enemy *Drools*), but the fact is, he's still vulnerable to Cyclonic, and thus, if hit with it, can't recover, even if lucky, from the move if he uses Rage anytime after. So yeah, Magic Pot or Wooly are your best ways to go. Do NOT, and I repeat Do NOT use Intangir or Muu on him, since even though immune to both wind and ID, they use Pep Up, which kills Gau outright as is. Shouldn't be too hard, really, probably easy as long as you don't get royally screwed somehow... Celes: Ok, use the same set up as Terra, only have a Drainer on instead of something like Enhancer or Ragnorak, since Celes doesn't learn Drain. Blast him with Ice3, Pearl, Flare or whatever spell is your most damaging Against him, and attack with the Drainer to Heal. Black Belt also helps in that It doesn't take up a turn for Celes to heal if she's hit Physically. Minerva Will let you avoid Wind Slash and Aero altogether, which is obviously nice. Shouldn't be too hard, just don't get careless (That's what the Terra SCC Is for :P) Setzer: Like all future Force Armor users, grabbing Genji Armor helps loads. If you've gotten the Offering and Fixed Dice already (I'd suggest not continuing Setzer's SCC til you get the Fixed Dice...), this fight will be a LOT easier, since he can finish it faster (unless you have bad luck) Use that combo against him, and heal when necessary. As usual, Cure Ring/Marvel Shoes help out from time to time as well. Strago: Magus Rod is great for healing here. If you somehow managed to Get Force Field from Doom (EXTREMELY Doubtful), then you could try using that Til it nulls out Wind, but chances are, you don't have that yet. So, use his Strongest Lore's, be it Step Mine, Grand Train, or whatever on him, and Heal with Pearl Wind. Remember, though, Pearl Wind can only heal by as much HP As you got, meaning Cyclonic will destroy Pearl Wind's use. If you get hit With Cyclonic, immidiatly switch to Heal Rod and have Strago heal using that. A battle of Attrition, so just keep up your HP up, and you should eventually win. Behemoth Suit helps greatly here as well. Relm: Thunder Rod is probably her best weapon, with him being weak to Thunder,and it randomly casts Bolt 2, and her high Magic Power makes that spell do more and such. Cat Hood helps A LOT here, since it halves wind Damage, Effectively letting Relm take more Aero's and Wind Slashes before needing healing. The problem Relm has is she pretty much must be in Back Row if she wishes tosurvive Wing Sabre, so she should be there. Memento Ring will Help, since Cyclonic won't do anything to her, meaning you won't have to worry about Being hit with Rage at low HP. When her HP drops, swap on the Heal Rod and use That to heal. Gogo: Still haven't gotten the point? Sheesh, just use any above Strategy That does not need Magic or Equipment and you'll be fine. Ok, it is a problem That Gogo can't use any of the equipment mentioned above, so yeah, use Tao Robe. Just improvise on whatever Strategy mentioned above to fit Gogo, or do a Combo of the 2, or whatever. Umaro: ... With Stormy dead, you've now pretty much done everything on the Mountain Except get Cyan if you haven't gotten him already. Well, get him, and yeah, Cyan SCCers have finished his biggest Stall Point. Now you shall dance and eat cake. Don't want to? Bah, nobody wants to have fun anymore... #Owzer's House# *Relm* Yes, I realize going from Cyan to Relm is quite a jump in characters, but lets look at it this way. I already said how to get Gau, who would be next. Celes and Setzer, the following 2, are both already gotten, whether you like it or not, and you NEED Relm to Get Strago. Yeah... Anyway, this place is fairly simply, just get through this place through wahtever means you see fit, be it Ultima, Meteor, Air Blade, whatever. For all SCCs outside of Terra, Celes, Shadow, Mog, Gau, Umaro, and Gogo, make sure you pick up that Relic Ring, it's the only means of avoiding things like Condemned in an SCC for those characters (Shadow and Relm have Memento Rings, Gau has Rages, the other 5 can get the Safety Bit in the Fanatics Tower legally) %Chardarnook% Yay! An annoying Boss who you have to fight sequentially. How utterly...not...fun. Well, it can be. Bah, fine, it depends on the SCC. Anyway...yeah, refer to my Suggestions how to beat him. This guy has 30,000 HP, in case you wanna keep track. Terra: Wow, another Laughable boss fight for Terra, who'd have thunk it? Anyway, Flash Rain and Bolt3 are both nulled by Minerva, and her High M. Block defends against other things. Smack the demon Form with Morphed Fire2's, or better yet, if you have it, Morphed Fire3 (Should do 9999) He'll die fast. Have the Safety Bit handy in case he uses Doom Kiss (Condemned Status) though. And do NOT attack the goddess form, to avoid annoying couners and such. If your HP does manage to get low...by now, you should know how to heal Terra, you've only been doing it since Lete River Ultros... Locke: Force Armor is your best armor...big suprise there. Use Ragnorak or Valiant Knife to attack, and MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RELIC RING. To heal, either attack yourself with Wing Edge or Assassin, or use the Drainer. If your hit with Charm, just hope the affects wear off soon. This fight can either be relativly easy, or extremely Hard. Mog: Dance. That's all I can say. I've actually won this fight that way by using earth Blues and hoped for the best, while having the Safety bit On. OR, you can use Dragoon boots + Pearl Lance on the Demon Form, and heal while he's in the goddess form. Do NOT use Dragon Horn, which leaves you open for Doom Kiss which is a VERY bad thing, keep that Safety Bit on. Edgar: Relic Ring is your best bet for protecting against Doom Kiss, meaning your only means of healing is through the Drainer, so yeah, use that when Edgar's HP gets low. Force Armor should be equipped to lower Flash Rain's and Bolt3's damage, though, Wall Ring couldn't hurt either. Sabin: Well, you COULD try to use Genji Glove + 2 Dragon Claws and see if that does more than Bum Rush (he's weak to Holy)...or you could just give Bum Rush treatment, and using some other Relic. Though, I suggest Bum Rush, since Wall Ring is Sabin's only means of avoid Bolt3. True, he, like most others, can survive it (unless Underleveled, which goes w/out saying), but if you can avoid an Attack altogether, why not, right? You should do more damage than that heals him with a reflected Bolt3 anyway. Again, make sure you have the Relic Ring on in case of Doom Kiss. With genji Glove Set up, you have only 1 relic slot available, meaning it MUST be RElic Ring (unless you chance it), but its just safer to use Wall Ring Shadow: Well, actually, Shadow might LIKE that Relic Ring over his Memento RIng. Why? Well, now, using the Striker or Assassin, he can keep healing himself via Attacking himself the same way Locke does. Anyway, throw Pearl Rods at him, if your running low, switch to Flame Sabres. Low on those? Throw Falchions or Ninja Stars, or WHATEVER. Point is, throw your stronger Pearl Fire Elemental stuff at him, then your non Elemental cheese. This fight isn't all that hard...at least doing damage. It should take about 6 Pearl Rods/Flame Sabre's to down him. And when your low on HP, smack yourself with the Striker/Assassin. Wall Ring will help guard against Bolt3. Cyan: Force Armor helps alot, as does Relic Ring + Wall Ring, as usual. Just keep using whatever you find to be the most effective attack. However, Cyan runs into a bit of a problem: Healing. Normally, Cyan could get by with stocking up on X-potions and Elixirs, but not here, those will kill him. Your best bet is to use Empowerer when your HP is half way, giving you enough time to build your Gauge up before you die. This battle isn't going to be pretty, that much I can tell you. Gau: Magic Pot rage makes this a Long Boring fight that Gau probably should win with 255 Defense, absorbing THunder, and being immune to all elements. That's the safest way to go. Other means of winning this fight are using an Undead Rage that casts Fire or Pearl attacks, like Overmind (Undead, Casts Elf Fire) and such, or Ing with its Parasitic Healing, or something. As usual, just experiment. Should you opt for one of the Undead or Death Immune Rages NOT named Magic Pot, use Wall Ring to guard against Bolt3. Using Magic Pot rage makes this fight easy, but it'll take a LONG time (do NOT use Wall Ring if you use Magic Pot Rage, otherwise, you'll be casting Cure3 on him) Using a different rage...well, that depends on what Rage you use. Celes: Use the same exact Set up as Terra, IOW Minerva + Safety Bit + Best M. Block weapon (Enhancer or Ragnorak, depends if you got Locke or not) The difference is how you go about beating him. Flare works, as does ***** slapping him with the Ragnorak, and for healing, we still have that nice little Drainer around. Should be pretty easy fight, if you ask me. Setzer: Force Armor, Relic Ring, Wall Ring, *yawn* We've seen this before. Now, do NOT use Offering, if you think you can take Bolt3 and wanna overpower him. This is because Setzer may still need healing, and with Offering, he can't target himself. Why does this matter? Well, like Shadow and Locke, Setzer can imploy the same Relic Ring healing using his Trump weapon. So to heal, swap that on and attack yourself, then go back to Fixed Dice and chuck those at him. If you feel bold or lucky, or are just darn good at them, you could try slots if you don't like using Fixed Dice. Or throw Doom Darts. How you go offensivly is up to you, just remember how to heal. Gogo: Offensivly...is up to you, Gogo has a million and 1 ways to hurt this guy, you just gotta find out which one you like best (Throw, Bum Rush, whatever). I suggest Relic Ring here, since Condemned will heal you instead of hurt you. How will he heal himself? Simple! The Heal Rod IGNORES the Undead Status. That means smacking yourself will still heal Gogo, despite being undead. So make sure Gogo's "Fight" Command is one of his options for this battle. Umaro: Relic Ring (Since Doom Kiss will heal you), Rage Ring (For Bolt3), and lots of praying all goes well. Now that he's dead, pick up your worthless Starlet Esper, and Relm SCCers can now continue thier SCC! Oh fun! Oh Rapture! Oh...wait, your not doing a Relm SCC? Ok, forget I said that then... #Fanatics Tower# *Strago* At some point in time, come here with Relm to get Strago. And now, Strago's SCC can now continue, so go have fun learning lores...and...stuff. I suggest coming here earlier with Terra, Celes, Gogo and Mog at least as far as the Safety Bit, since that will prove helpful. Anyway, for this section, I am only going over Terra, Mog, Celes, Gogo, and Umaro Strategies. Why? For shear sanity purposes, I am allowing anybody whose NOT doing those SCCs to skip this part entirely. NOTE: For Gau's SCC, I'll allow you to come here with Terra, Celes and Gogo for the shear purpose of fighting a Magic Pot. Be ashame for Gau to lose out on arguably his most useful Rage in an SCC. So go to the first treasure room, fight your Magic Pot, then leave. Terra: Wall Ring, as usual, is Vital. Having Ultima is probably the most valuable thing you can have here, due to all the enemies with Reflect on which hurts Fire3's damage. So...blast away with Ultima while using Drain to heal, or just heal outside of battle. Not hard at all. What'd you expect from a Terra SCC? A Hard fight? HA! Oh yeah, Minerva helps against L90 Magics who cast Merton, what with Nulling it and all...Ragnorak or Enhancer should be equipped to boost your damage further, as should Cherub Down to avoid quake Spells used by those lv 50 Magics Mog: Just use the Moogle Charm to pillage this entire place, however, AVOID White Dragon. Sure, with a Wall ring you won't lose, but you won't win either, since Mog can't possibly touch him, what having no magic and all. Want that Pearl Lance? Just bet Strato at the Coloseum and win it that way. Not hard. Celes: Same set up as Terra, Same Strategy...only use Meteor instead of Ultima, since that's what she's got. Battles won't end as fast, but they shouldn't be much harder. Heal using Items if neccessary. Gogo: Ok, this can be messy, but anyway. Gogo can use Mimic here to hurt things. He will attack physically, but hey, its better than nothing. Anyway, Wall Rings help A LOT, as does Marvel Shoes, since Gogo can't target himself, lowering Magic Damage + Regen will help compensate for lack of Heal Rods. Also, Gaia gear are probably better for this place, since this will help avoid those occassional Quake Castings. This...isn't fun for Gogo, I can tell you that much, but with persistance...and Luck...you can pull this off. Umaro: wall Ring, Rage Ring, and Luck (and Lots of it!) Will get your through this place. %White Dragon% I am not gonna bother with Mog's SCC, only cause his SCC in the Fanatics Tower is "PIllage Everything" with Moogle Charm, not being able to actually fight, he can't take on any bosses. Ok, I'm not gonna bother giving strategies. 2 words: Wall Ring. His ONLY offense is Pearl, which is reflectable. He likes to counter with Dispel, but oh well, its not gonna do a thing. So hit him with your strongest NON Pearl Elemental spells, and this guy dies. I laugh at people who think this fight has potential to be hard. %Magimaster% Ok, this guy is a REAL pain in an SCC, and believe it or not, Gem Box isn't as worth it as you expect (only Terra and Celes can make use of it, and they are better off with Defensive Relics), you can skip him altogether, since this isn't a fight of skill, just a boring fight of patience to see what goes down first, his MP or your Sanity... Still wanna beat him? Don't say I didn't warn you... Basically, with one Character, you will NOT have enough HP to survive his Ultima, which does 9999 ALWAYS when focused in his case, good thing he only uses it when he dies. Also, you can't pray for Palidoor, since you need at least 2 Characters to use that strategy (remember, you still have the Magicite Item, so otherwise, using Palidoor IS possible) So your only method is to get his MP down to below 80 (Ultima's Cost) And you can't use Osmose since its an illegal spell, nor can you use any of those Neat Soul Sabre tricks in this either, since the require another character or Merit Award (both illegal)In other words, you'll have to actually WAIT for his 50,000 MP drops to below 80. First off, for Umaro, this fight IS Impossible, seeing as you can't let Umaro sit there and do nothing, he'll outright kill Magimaster, and then Magimaster Ultima's him...yeah, not a pretty site. So those (insane) people doing an Umaro SCC, you MUST skip this fight, as it IS impossible. Ok, here's what you do. IIRC, his only offenses are Fire3, Ice3, Bolt3, Bio and Doom, which means Minerva + Safety Bit should stop all but Bio (his weakest attack) entirely, that spell being halved. This is good, since now you won't have to worry about Magimaster killing himself with Reflected spells while being immune to everything he throws at you, except Bio, which you should be able to heal from (it should not only do low damage (even if he double casts it), but it should miss every now and then vs. high M. Block, and both girls have healing spells). Now, it's a matter of whether your patient enough to sit through 1000 castings of Fire/Ice/Bolt3, or not. Gogo...use Wall Ring to guard against it all, and keep hitting him with the Heal Rod so that he never actually kills himself. Have Terra and Celes use a similar strategy Of healing him if he starts taking damage (say cause you accidently used a Wall Ring). As I said before, this fight is Long and BORING! Not worth it, really, just skip it altogether, you'll find the Gem Box going to waste anyway. Once his MP is down ("Not Enough MP" appears when he tries to cast Fire3 or something), go all out offensive using your strongest Non Elemental Attacks (Ultima with Terra, Flare with Celes, whatever weapon with Gogo) when he tries to cast Ultima, he'll fail miserably ^^ That said, you just beat the Fanatics tower, goody you...well, once you make it all the way down anyway. Again, you CAN fight Magimaster in Terra, Celes, and Gogo SCC and WIN, its just a VERY long fight and its probably easier to just skip it. Winning this fight proves nothing, again, except that you had a lot of time and patience (or you just left the game on for an hour, left, and came back when his MP is much lower...), since it involves nothing BUT Patience to win. I'd personally just skip it altogether, meaning as soon as you get to the final floor, head back down (do not go in the room with the Gem Box), but again, if you want to take on Magimaster, by all means do so. #Ebot's Rock# Wait, why am I doing this next out of all the side quests? Well, I figured since you just got Strago back, you may as well go with the Continuity and go to the side quest he opens up. That said the enemies here are relatively routine and should be taken care of with relative ease. So...I'll skip straight to the boss! %Hidon% Alright, Hidon will keep using this move whose name eludes me at the time which turns your dead characters into Zombies. So, just use an Amulet on Strago and/or Relm to avoid the attack should take care of that, right? Well, not really, he'll keep using it on them and failing, thus meaning either you have him keep using that or force it so there will be 2 Zombied characters (Strago and Relm SCCers are lucky, you can get away with 1), which means 2 more targets for the enemies to attack, OR you can just let Hidon try and fail and waste turns that way, while his Hidonites attack your SCC character only, by giving then Amulets or Ribbons. Either way works, just know this exists before hand. Now, for the strategies! Note that he is Undead, so you COULD just use a Fenix Down on him and call it a day, but if you wanna fight this battle fairly, I'll give you strategies to do so. Terra: He's weak to Fire. That right there proves how pathetic this fight is. It should be obvious how to kill him. Morph -> Fire3 -> Magic Power Boosting equips (Enhancer, Minvera, etc.) -> Hidon -> More or less insured 9999 damage to him. As usual, Terra laughs at his patheticness as she walks away from ANOTHER wimpy boss...(well, its not that he's wimpy, more that she just makes him look that way) Locke: Muscle it out, as usual. Use X-potions/Elixirs to heal, Valiant Knife or Ragnorak when you get a chance to attack, etc. If you wanna conserve your resources, Equip Locke with a Relic Ring and have him attack himself with the Wing Edge. Eventually, Hidon will fall. Note that you should NOT attack Hidon with the Wing Edge (or the assassin). Doing so, thanks to him being undead, will fully heal him, obviously not a good a thing. And have high HP ready for when he sues Grand Train, Locke may not be strong enough to take him down before that. Mog: Pearl Lance + Dragoon Boots + Dragon Horn = Hidon in lots of pain, especially considering his weakness to Pearl Elemental damage. Edgar: Just Chain Saw his ass to death, nothing really all that interesting about it. Well, ok, use Drill if you think Chain Saw is Unreliable, but you get the point. Sabin: Use Bum Rush and watch him cry. Well, if you're afraid he won't Bum Rush Hidon, then equip 2 Dragon Claws, and smack him with those for some Nice good damage. Not too hard here either, just watch out for Grand Train. Shadow: Throw Flame Sabres, Pearl Rods or whatever you're strongest Pearl or Fire Elemental Weapons are (if you're not afraid of losing them) You'll be dishing out some major damage to him, the likes he'll be crying at. Shadow can heal in a similar method as Locke, just use the Assassin or Striker instead of Wing Edge (do NOT attack him with either weapon, of course) Cyan: Use whatever Swordtech you find most affective against him, however, Avoid using Empower. That will just back fire and cause Cyan to run hurt himself. This might take a while, but it shouldn't be that hard, just make sure you have the HP to Survive Grand Train. Gau: Use some Rage that casts Fire3 or Pearl and you'll eventually wear him down with that. Or just use Magic Pot Rage, and after a long boring fight, you'll outlast him, most likely, given the full elemental and status Immunity (allowing you to clear up some Relic Slots), and with the random castings of Cure3, victory shouldn't be that hard. Just, as usual, watch out for Grand Train, as that gets through all of Gau's defenses (sans High HP, of course) Celes: Cast Pearl, and try to out last him. Heal when necessary. Shouldn't be too hard, really, and Pearl should do some good damage to him (I would say Big, but his Magic Defense is pretty high) DON'T use the Drainer to Heal, unless you have a Death Wish. Setzer: Throw Fixed Dice at him. If you don't wanna attack the Hidonites, take off the Offering so you can aim. Another advantage of doing that is that Setzer can now heal the same way Shadow and Locke can, using his Trump weapon (attack Self with Relic Ring on), but do NOT attack him with said weapon. Or just use Joker Doom, if your feeling (very) lucky. Strago: Blast him with your strongest Lore, or smack him with a Pearl Rod or Gradeus, and out last him. Casting Big Guard can't hurt, just be on the look out for Grand Train...and do NOT kill him before he casts it. Why? Strago wants to learn the Lore, and he wants it badly, considering its his best damage. Relm: Smack him with either a Pearl Rod or Gradeus, and keep your HP high using a Heal Rod. After a long grueling battle of smacks on both Relm and Hidon, you should eventually emerge victorious. Gogo: The usual "Choose a characters strategy that Gogo can employ and use it" idea. As usual, this isn't hard, not hard at all, or something...*runs* Umaro: No Comment... Now that you've killed Hidon, what have you actually gained from this? Well, Strago SCCers gained Grand Train, probably his best Damage attack besides an Ubered (and I mean REALLY ubered) Step Mine, along with the satisfaction of having Strago beat his arch Rival. Other SCCers...gain jack squat. That's right, NOTHING! There are NO treasures besides random useless stuff enemies drop and EXP you could get from this. Why do it? For the sake of Completion, of course! *Rolls eyes* Alright, now all we have left is Gogo, so... #Zone Eater Cave# This place is a pain. Well, ok, most encounters aren't much, and you can run from them, just make sure you have a Ribbon on to protect against some status. HOWEVER, one encounter you should be aware of is the one with 2 Coverts and that slam dancer look alike. They use Skeans and Wind Slash, I believe, so...Terra and Celes won't have much difficulty, with Minervas, the Force Armor users and Relm should be able to cushion the damage with Force Armor (duh) and Cat Hood. Shadow and Strago have no means of protecting themselves, Gau and Mog pretty much are only guarded vs. Fire initially (no Ice skean), though, Gau can protect with different rages. Gogo...basically Gau only no initial Fire resistance. Umaro is lucky, he's immune to Fire AND Thunder thanks to his Rage ring. Sabin only gets Fire immunity, so hope they throw Fire Skeans. Now, first off, if you're playing Shadow, DO NOT USE THROW! Using Throw, unless you are certain it will be fatal, is asking you to be killed (likewise, this applies to Gogo as well, but he can opt for Bum Rush and make the damage loss (if any) negligible. Granted, you shouldn't have Gogo here (well, ok, on the way out, if you don't want to just use a Warp Stone)), since they will counter Shadow's throw by chucking stuff at him. Basically, you just don't want to get into this fight. It's a pain. It's not unbeatable, but it can be hard, worst part is, you can't run from it either. Best way around it is to attempt to overpower them as best as possible. Anyways, just grab whatever is necessary, get Gogo, and rejoice, you have every character. No boss strategies you say? No Boss to give strategies on, I say! Now, you can either go do Cyan's Soul, or Ancient Castle. Well, seeing as most of the rewards in Cyan's Soul are worthless here (elemental Shields = Illegal), and the one who benefits most from here, Cyan, is ironically the one who is forced to have a stall point here, Ancient Castle seems to be the best one, so head off to Figaro, we're going on an underwater adventure thingy...bah, you know what to do... Lets kick Dirt Dragons ass first, though, we haven't done THAT yet, he needs a good thwapping. %Dirt Dragon% Alright, I'll go straight to the actual character stuff: Terra: No, not Gaia Gear. That'll make her die horribly against Horned Tusk (massive physical attack) with that butchered Defense. Just equip Cherub Down (this will also prompt him to use 50Gs, wasting a turn), any other Relic you want, best physical defensive Gear you have (remember, M. Block is a physical defensive stat), and beat him down with your best magic, casting Drain or Cure2 for healing. Morphing is for the weak, in this fight. Locke: Force Armor or Genji Armor, either works, you'll want SOME defense against his big physical attack. Hit him with physicals, while equipping Cherub Down to kick his ass further. He should fall quickly. Use Drainer should you need healing, as usual Mog: Alright, 255 defense (that means Snow Muffler, yes), Back Row, and Cherub Down, MOG CAN NOT POSSIBLY LOSE THIS FIGHT. Horned Tusk will do 0 damage, his earth attacks can't touch you, just have Mog use a Dance, go do something else, come back about a half hour later, Mog should be victorious (or if you chose a stupid dance like Love Sonata which has not much damage, he might still be fighting >.>) Want to speed this fight up? Dragoon Boots, Trident (he's weak to water) if you have one, he cries like a baby. Edgar: Well, without Dragon Horn, Dragoon Set up isn't going to be much better than Chain Saw, given Edgar's only defense against earth is Cherub Down (Force Armor halves it, I believe) Chain Saw the bastard til he dies, Drainer should be used for healing, best defensive armor for living...yeah... Sabin: Cherub Down, beef his defenses up, Bum Rush the snot out of him. Since Sabin doesn't have much in the healing department, you want to conserve those X-potions and Elixirs, best bet? Try to overpower him as quickly as possible, so equip Earrings/Hero Rings to increase damage further, and maybe a Circlet as well Shadow: Alright, Shadow I DO Suggest equipping Gaia Gear. Why? Well, with Shadow Edge, basically, he's now immune to Horned Tusk. So equip Gaia Gear to laugh at his damage, Atlas Armlet + Hyper Wrist/Running Shoes (or Marvel Shoes if you already have them) to increase your offenses, throw Wind or Water elemental weapons (Blossom, Trident, Water Edge comes to mind), and just keep reusing Shadow Edge everytime he knocks Shadow out of the status. Really easy fight Cyan: Similar to Edgar, basically, only use Dispatch or Quadra Slam/Slice (preferably Dispatch, you don't want to be hit with 2 Horned Tusks w/out healing, do you?), and since you want to conserve X-potions and Elixirs, Marvel Shoes or Cure Ring are a good idea here. Gau: Like Mog, 255 Defense, Back Row, Cherub Down (or a Rage that gives Float Status), you can't possibly lose. So...yeah, have fun Celes: Basically, use Terra's strategy, substituting Cure2 and Drain for the Drainer and Cure. Setzer: Cherub Down, high Defenses, hurl your best weapon or use Slots, shouldn't be too hard. Should you need healing, best bet is probably Trump + Relic Ring combo. Strago: Pearl Wind is your source of healing, use that, unless Low HP, so use Heal Rod there. Cherub Down + High Defenses as usual, and blast the guy with Aero. See, with an attack that has a high spell power like Aero, and a guy whose weak to it like Dirt dragon, he's bound to be reeling in lots of pain. Relm: Cherub Down, High Defenses, Heal Rod for healing, physical beat downs. No simple way to do this. Gogo: Apply the usual Gogo strategies here. Don't know them? Then check Gogo's OTHER boss strategies, they almost never change -_- Umaro: Cherub Down, Marvel Shoes, pray Umaro doesn't screw up #Cave to Ancient Castle# Not much to say here. Well, yes there is. Enemies here have Reflect status (well, some do), and high ass magic defense, so...if your going to use Magic based attacks, I HIGHLY recommend said magic can't be reflected (meaning, basically, don't have Terra or Celes use Fire or Ice spells respectively) and ignores defense (So moves like Bum Rush, Grand Train, and Ultima fall into this category) Otherwise, use physicals, especially if said physical is Holy elemental. Lots of enemies here hate that element, go ahead and mock them with it! ...well, fine, only Pearl Rod (Strago, Gogo, and Relm), and Pearl Lance (Mog and Edgar) are worthwhile Holy elemental weapons, since the others are either used by Sabin (making it worthless since Bum Rush > Fight command), or you haven't gotten it yet *CoughExcaliburCough*, one of which you are going to get midway throughout the cave (Gradeus from Master Pug. You might want to equip that) Enemies here also have low physical defense, more reasons why this is one of the few places where Physicals > Magic. What? Want more character specific strategies? You just can't have it easy, can you -_- Terra: Bash their brains in with the Ragnarok. What? Flare is reflectable? No, its not, at least when its randomly cast from a weapon, like Ragnarok does. If you're a stickler and think Ragnorak shouldn't be allowed, well, go kill Master Pug ASAP, get the Gradeus, and smite with that. If you have Ultima though, then her strategies become obvious >.> Locke: Use the same strategy as Terra. You could use a different weapon like Valiant Knife, if you prefer, but either works Mog: Dragoon Set Up, Pearl Lance, enemies cry. Don't equip Gradeus, since while stronger, it'll do less with Jump, since Spears double damage with Jump, other weapons just get 1.5x damage. Edgar: Basically, follow Mog's strategy. You can use Chain Saw if you want to play it defensivly with the Enhancer or Ragnarok on instead of the spear, but shouldn't matter either way, enemies here will die easily. Sabin: Bum Rush happy fun! Come on, its Sabin. You actually expect his strategy to change? Want something different? Equip Dragon Claws (2 if you managed to win both from Presenter), kill with that, since your probably getting Bored of watching Bum Rush OVER and OVER and OVER again. If you want to Genji Glove Sabin and only have 1 Dragon Claw, equip the Kaiser, which is weaker, yes, but still the same element. Shadow: Throw Shurikens. At this point, with Atlas Armlet, Shurikens should kill these enemies who haven't progressed much in HP since the other dungeons of the WoR. Why Shurikens and not Ninja Stars? Cause Shurikens cost less, of course, but if you must, throw Ninja Stars if you want to make sure enemies die, or hell, throw whatever you don't care about. Cyan: Dispatch or Quadra Slam, either works, just choose one. Quadra Slice isn't worth it, since you're wasting more time, and due to enemies defense here, Quadra Slice's damage won't be all that much higher than Quadra slams, at least not high enough for the time to be worth it. Gau: Use Stray Cat, Gau's best physical Rage, to kill here. Or use a defense ignoring, reflect ignoring magic rage such like one that uses Meteor (I think Tyranosaur does, but don't quote me on that) Celes: See Terra, basically. Considering both their Magic is worthless (besides Ultima, Celes by definition can't have Meteor here, if this is your first visit), the two more or less have become the same character with SLIGHT differences in stats. Yeah, should be fairly obvious Setzer: if you got Fixed Dice, throw those. Don't have Fixed Dice? Use Chocobop (Defense ignoring Pseudo-Magic) or his strongest weapon. 7-Flush will, for lack of a better word, SUCK here. Strago: Smite with Pearl Rod, or use Grand Train. Either method works. You might think L? Pearl would be a good idea, alas, its not. Why? High Magic Defense makes spells like L? Pearl do crap damage, unless they ignore defense, but L? Pearl does not do that. Relm: Bash with the Pearl Rod. When you get Gradeus, use that. The high magic defense here will offset the Pearl Rod's main advantage over Gradeus (Random Pearl castings), making it a rare case where it's the better weapon. Gogo: Basically, see Shadow, Sabin, and Strago, more or less. Umaro: He has strategies? Now time for... %Master Pug% Master Pug has a few things to be aware of. Basically, Step Mine hurts a lot, so keep your HP high. Next, he has Wall Change, so do NOT use Elemental attacks, unless you want to guess his element, which is easier than you think. Basically, he casts the spell of the OPPOSITE element he's weak too. The spell he casts for each element is: Fire: Fire3 Ice: Ice3 Thunder: Bolt3 Wind: W. Wind (yes, not wind elemental, I know) Earth: Quake Water: El Nino Poison: Bio Pearl: Pearl (bet you didn't see that coming >.>) Now, what's each "Opposite" element? Well, if you've played FFX, you're probably thinking "Ha! Fire and Ice, and Lighting and Water! That's obvious" and fact is, your wrong, on that 2nd count. See, remember, there are 8 elements in FF6, and only 4 in FFX, that, and Lightning and Water are NOT opposites in FF6..., it looks more like this: Fire <-> Ice Thunder <-> Wind Poison <-> Pearl Water <-> Earth So if your hit with, say, Pearl, he's weak to Poison, and congrats, that's an element you probably can't apply. Get the picture? Good. If your going to apply elemental damage, make sure you know this chart. Now for character strategies. Terra: Well, if you have Ultima, this fight becomes "Duh" No Ultima? Repeated Castings of Drain until he casts Ice3, where you can smite with Fire3 to kill him. If you have Pearl, use that when he casts Poison. Should he not be weak to Fire, and Terra not be injured and have a free turn, ***** slap him with a weapon, preferably a non elemental one, or of the element he's weak too. Morphing should not be needed here. Minerva will protect against most of his elemental magic too. Locke: Valiant Knife, keep hitting him with that, use Drainer to heal. Considering a lot of his magic ignores defense, or is elemental (making it force Armor bait)...or in the case of poison, just downright sucks, you might want to Genji Glove w/ Valiant Knife/Drainer strategy (Valiant Knife in the right hand for optimal affects) You could also try a Wing Edge + Relic Ring strategy if Drainer's healing isn't enough. Mog: First off, make sure Mog has a non elemental weapon equipped. You don't want to hit the bastard with Pearl when he's immune to it, now do you? Or you could play your luck with Dances using Earth Blues (Completely non elemental, and has Sun Bath), but that is risky for a number of reasons. Avoid Dusk Requim, since that has Instant Death (he's immune to that), a gravity attack (also immune), and 2 elemental attacks (and random Elemental attacks vs. Wall Change =/= fun) Go with the Dragoon Combo for optimal damage, unless your planning on trying Earth Blue Edgar: If you want, opt for a similar strategy as Mog with a Dragoon Set Up, otherwise, use Chain Saw/Drill on the guy, smacking him with the Drainer to heal yourself Sabin: By now, Sabin's strategy should be obvious: BUM RUSH! Need I say more? Ok, fine, make sure you keep your HP above # of Steps/32, because that's how much Step Mine will do to you Shadow: Hurl stuff like a mad man. If you know what he's weak against, hit him with that elemental weapon. Cyan: Use Dispatch or one of the Quadras, and hope you have enough healing to keep yourself plentiful. Gau: Given he uses lots of elemental magic, Magic Urn Rage should be an obvious choice. Though, that's going to take a while, so you MIGHT want to opt for Stray Cat (Cat scratch, strongest physical Rage Gau has) or Prussian/Luridan (Earthslide, non elemental defense ignoring magical attack, stronger than Flare), either one works. Basically, as usual, Magic Urn is the safest route, the latter two are far less time consuming Celes: Hit him with her strongest NON ELEMENTAL weapon, or cast Flare on him. If he's weak to Ice (casting Fire 3, IOWs), hit him with Ice 3 for some nice high damage. Heal with the Drainer if he sneaks a Step Mine in there. Setzer: Just hurl Fixed Dice, and heal with the Trump + Relic Ring combo. If you don't have Fixed Dice, opt for Slots or GP Rain. Strago: Grand Train him til he dies, heal with Heal Rod if your getting hurt...wait, don't got Grand Train yet? Well, then, use Step Mine or your strongest Non Elemental weapon (given this is Strago, don't expect very much), or try to play his Elemental Guessing game. However, NEVER use Aqua Rake. If he's weak to Wind, he'll be immune to Water, and vice versa, thus nulling the entire attack. Relm: Equip her best non elemental weapon, and give him a nice stick beating. Or play his elemental guessing game, either way works. Use heal Rod to heal. This fight could take a while, but then again, almost all of Relm's fights do. Gogo: *Points above* See those strategies? I'm sure you're bound to find ONE of them that works for Gogo Umaro: ...you haven't given up? With Master Pug suffering a horrible defeat, you get the Gradeus, hurray! ...pity its not a very worthwhile reward, even for Relm, the one character who actually has use for it (Mog's better with Spears, Locke has better weapons to deal with, Cyan and Sabin can't use it, the others all don't need weapons and would rather use something that gives something other than high Battle Power) Oh well, at least that's another "boss" out of your way. Just continue through as you have been before, and you'll be at... #The Ancient Castle# well, save, and go fight Katana Soul for that offering, even if you don't plan on using it (whether you actually have a use for it or not depends on the SCC, mind) so yeah, he's next on your "people to kill" List %Katana Soul% Terra: Go all out on him, using your strongest magic, drain, etc. The only actual threat here is are his Water Edges, I believe. Slayer's Edge will have problems getting around her M. Block, and he can only use it VERY late into the fight, a point where he'll likely be dead. What about his other skeans? 1 word: Minerva Locke: Beat him with the Ragnarok or the Valiant Knife (or Both!) Force Armor should soften up some of elemental damage. Sniper Sight might be handy, as when he powers up, he gets Image Status, something that's just downright nasty for Locke. Mog: Use Love Sonata, hope you get Spectre. Why? He's vulnerable to Confuse! When confused, 75% of the time, he'll hit himself with Slayer's Edge, a nifty Instant Death attack that ignores Immunity! Heh, watch him kill himself with his own trump card Edgar: If you thought Mog was easy, then your in for a treat. Have Edgar use Noise Blaster, and you've practically won. Unlike Mog, you have full control over Edgar, so...yeah... Sabin: Bum Rush him to hell and back, this is Sabin, things aren't going to change anytime soon. If you want to try your hand, you can attempt to poison him with Poison Knuckles, but probably not worth it. Shadow: Hurl Poison Rods at him, and watch him cry. Out of Poison Rods? Chuck Falchions or whatever expendable stuff you have (IOWs, don't go throwing something like the Striker) Use Striker/Assassin + Relic OR Gaia Gear + Gravity Rod combos if you must heal Cyan: Dispatch or use Quadra Slam/Slice, and keep your HP up. There's no real trick to this, just be persistent Gau: Use a Rage that causes a confuse affect. I don't know any off hand (check a future update, it'll be here), so for now, I'll say check a Rage FAQ or something. And as I said, keep on the look out for later updates Celes: Cast Muddle, and refer to Edgar's situation for how this will work. Fun stuff, innit? Setzer: Throw Fixed Dice for damage, heal with the Relic Ring + Trump Combo, use GP Rain or Slots if you don't have Fixed Dice, and Force Armor should help cushion some of the damage. Keep in mind if your using Fixed Dice, they ignore evade, and thus his Image status when he gets it. Strago: Hit him with Sour Mouth, watch him kill himself, take a cool shower as that fight was impossible *rolls eyes* Relm: OH GOD! The Horror! Relm vs. Katana Soul! ...that might be what I would be saying if Relm couldn't just sketch him and go for the kill with Slayer's Edge similar to the Confusion method. I think he might also be succeptible to Control too (in which case, your probably better with that) Point is, for once, Relm has an easy fight. Gogo: *sigh* Must you ask? Umaro: >_> <_< Now Grab Odin, give it to Celes if you want her to learn Meteor ASAP, just unequip it when she's going to gain a level. Otherwise, let him rot in your inventory. Next, loot the castle, and then go fight... %Blue Dragon% Yay! Another Dragon! How Fun! ...I'll cut to the chase Terra: First off, don't bother Morphing, this guy has Rippler, he'll just steal that status from Terra. So just beat the **** out of him with your best magic, heal with Drain, etc, you know, the typical "Have Terra make the Boss look bad" strategy. Locke: Equip his strongest weapon, and beat him with that. Use Drainers or Assassin/Wing Edge + Relic Ring Combo to heal when need be, Locke should be able to out last the guy. Mog: Mog's immune to Flash Rain with that snow muffler. That's good! That's just about all he's immune to. Oh well, simple Dragoon Combo and high Magic defense makes short work the reptile. Edgar: Get your M. Block up, Chain Saw/Drill beat downs, typical Edgar Strategy. These are getting old, aren't they? Sabin: If you aren't thinking "Bum Rush like mad" with Sabin yet, then...I don't want to know WHAT you are thinking. Shadow: Chuck Thunder Blades/Thunder Rods at him, or Bolt Edge's, to do some really high nasty damage to him, and well, the guy is going to be in lots and lots of pain after a few chuckings of it. Cyan: Dispatch or Quadra's on him, heal, hope for the best, yada yada yada, boring stuff Gau: Aspik Rage, and this guy cries. Why? Aspik Rage absors Water, so most of his offense is gone as is. Then he also uses Giga Volt, which just happens to be a slightly weaker Bolt 3, and he just happens to be weak to lightning. I think you can see where this is going. Though, I don't remember if Flash Rain is dual elemental or not...though it doesn't matter in the least, since Snow Muffler gives Ice Absorption anyway, which Flash Rain is. Celes: If you want to allow Spell teaching equipment if said character knows the spell, Minerva + Tortoise Shield = this guy loses. Otherwise, if your like me and don't allow them, use a typical Celes Strategy. Minerva should soften his damage, High M. Block makes him even harder pressed to kill you. For damage, Flare is probably your best bet. Setzer: Fixed Dice like crazy, and since you have the Offering Now, you probably want to use that, unless you plan on using Trump + Relic Ring combo for healing (can't target yourself with Offering) Strago: Grand Train, heal Rod to heal yourself, standard Strago Strategies work here. Relm: Smack him with the Thunder Rod. That's probably Relm's best bet. Cat Hood helps soften the damage he'll be doing to you here too, as will Heal Rod for healing Gogo: -_- why do you ask? I think you know the answer Umaro: *ignores the random Umaro questions thrown at him* Well, with Blue Dragon dead, grab that Scimitar, maybe give it to Cyan if you're doing his SCC (the only weapon that has potential use on Cyan over the Tempest, probably not better, but at least has a reason to be used over Dispatch in some cases), and thus, loot whatever you don't have, and leave, and thus, you are one whole dungeon closer to beating the SCC! Now you can dance...don't want to dance? Bah, you're no fun -_- #Cyan's Soul# Alright, now for the last thing I'm covering. Again, you can do this whenever you want, I just arbitrarily decided to cover it last. Hate me if you want to for that, I don't care. Odd as it may seem, this is clearly one of the side quests you should do for Cyan's SCC, despite how it's a stall point for him, since it gets him his full set of Swordtechs...funny how that works... Now, first off, before people start complaining about why they can't start this quest, there's a certain requirement needed:YOU MUST HAVE CYAN AND 3 OTHER PARTY MEMBERS IN YOUR TEAM! That's right, so IOWs, grab your SCC character, grab Cyan, and grab 2 characters of your choice. Personally, I recommend Mog (Moogle Charm, in case he's the character you start with (its randomly chosen)) and either your lowest level character (so they can be killed off quickly due to low HP), or someone who can attain high M. Block (because they can live long enough to get you out of your stall point ASAP, just remember to strip them as soon as your SCCer is found) Mind, it won't matter much if you start with your SCC character from the get go, but you get the point. Anyway, before you do this quest I recommend considering how you are going to beat Wrexsoul. The only possible way to solo him is cheese him out with X-zone, as the very nature of the fight makes it impossible. However, if you don't want to teach your character X-zone (this is the only "Illegal" spell I allow, and for this purpose only), cause your playing, say, Locke or Edgar's SCC (this would give them MP (the game doesn't consider you to have MP unless you have the Magic or Lores skillset. Magic doesn't appear unless you either have 1 Spell learned or an Esper equipped) and want to avoid Ragnorak getting a boost from the Critical Hits it shouldn't get or something. So yeah, Wrexsoul can't be beaten legitly. So decide now if you want to X-zone him, or Stall Point him. When you start the quest, you might be given a different character from your SCC one. If its your SCC one, continue as normal. If not, well, pray that character is Mog cause your life will be easier if it is (blame the Moogle charm) Not Mog? You'll have to do the old fashioned "Muscle it out" strategy. Regardless, find your SCC character ASAP, to get out of the stall point, then go fight the 3 stooges: %Curley, Larry, and Moe% A few things you should know. First off, Larry (The blue one) often runs in the fight. If you kill the other 2, and he runs or has already ran, you win. So save him for last. Next off, these 3 have petrification that laughs at M. Block, so Jewel Ring, Ribbon, Safety Bit, or Memento Ring are basically musts (or just a Rage with Stone immunity) Now, you MUST kill Curely (the top one. If that is Moe, sorry, I get them confused <_<) first, as he has Life 2. If he lives, well, have fun killing them over and over again. The fight is fairly simple otherwise. Get your best elemental defenses up, attack with non elemental attacks (you can try to apply weaknesses if you want to, but that's up to you), and Wall Ring should serve you well as usual for extra protection. Heal when need be, of course. I don't feel this needs total character strategies, as it's the same usual "use best attacks!" which gets old, but you get the point. As I said earlier, it'd be in your best interest to leave Larry alive, and let him "kill himself" by running. So...kill the order is Red, Yellow, then Blue, for smiting. The rest of the dungeon is fairly straight forward. No real tough enemies (there's some status whores here, I believe, but Ribbon takes care of that. I think one enemy knows Love Token, so Locke SCCers watch out, (Relm and Setzer can get away with Control/Sketch and Slots/GP Rain, likely, and Gau is just immune to his own attacks >_>)), so just keep heading on. Next part, you get Magitek Armors, so have fun with those while you can (yay! Relm gets to finally make use of her Magic Power!), especially if your playing with Terra, due to her 4 extra commands. When Wrexsoul comes, there are only 2 ways of beating him: A. Use X-zone. Again, this is the ONLY time I'd let an illegal spell be used, just due to the nature of the fight. Just remember that if the character ever uses the attack in the Coloseum, reset and such (likewise, the character will learn Warp, which is a pain in the ass, since they often cast Warp, and lose the fight that way -_-;)B. Treat it as a stall point. Since the very nature of the fight (forcing you to kill your own allies and all) makes it impossible for an SCC to do this (legitly), just bring back your other allies, and fight him normally. This is similar to the Lete River, where Sabin, Terra, and Edgar all technically must fight along side Banon, due to the little "Banon dies, Game over" feature and all. Now that you've beaten this, ask yourself what items you got here that were actually useful? Well, if its Cyan's SCC, you just got him the Aura (yay! more worthless weapons!), and all his Swordtechs. Everyone else? Uhh...what's that!? *runs* Well, that wraps up all the SCCs, I believe, in the WoR and such. What? I'm forgetting something? Huh? Oh! Right! We still have Kefka's Tower to finish! How could I be so careless <_< >_> #Kefka's Tower# Alright, Kefka's tower must be done in at least 3 different runs. Why? Well, there are forced Bosses in each path, and in order to do the SCC properly, your character MUST fight all these bosses, so its three runs at least. What order do you go in now? Here's my suggestion for quickest run through. First and foremost, unless its his SCC, Mog should be the one going to Path 2 or 3, whatever team you are NOT. Those paths are longer than Path 1s, so you want to avoid combat with the under leveled weak PC. As far as the other path goes...use whatever you want there, HOWEVER, for the last runthrough, I recommend taking one person with 128% M. Block (Terra and Celes are good candidates here), and rushing through it. Why? When you fight final battle, you'll have only Mog (unless its his SCC) and that 3rd character accompanying your character, so more characters = more people to kill and such. Mind, with the 128% M. Block, you still have a few things to fear, mainly Gt Behemoths (So I suggest taking your highest level 128% potential character and shoving on any HP Boosters if possible), who cast Meteor (unblockable and ignores defense, nasty on low HP characters) AND you can't run from. So put that 128% M. Block character on path 1 (assuming your SCCer isn't doing that path) so the character has the smallest path and such. Now...which path to do first? For quickest run through the tower (in terms of least amount of returns), I suggest going Path 3 first. For starters, that's the ONLY path with a forced Boss BEFORE the Goddesses/Guardian (Atma and the Dragons can be skipped), so if you try another path first, you'll be stopped short, and just have to go back then anyway as one of the paths will into Inferno and such. Just take my word for it: DO PATH 3! Now, when you hit the end, with the switches, decide to go Left or Right, and ALWAYS choose that path EVERYTIME. This consistency will get you to go to a different path each time, and fight a different statue, exactly what we are aiming at. Doesn't matter who you choose First, though, I will make a recommendation depending on SCCs (solely based on how some characters like the drops of certain goddesses, and such) Anyway, after doing path 3, I suggest Path 2, only cause its consistent and such, and finishing up with Path 1. Mind, you can do it in a different order, but this tends to be the fastest method, which is good. Be my guest if you wish to mix up the order though. Alright, now that that's out of the way, I'm doing this in order of path 3, then path 2, then path 1. Kefka's Tower has random encounters that are considerable upgrades from the things you've been fighting before. Yes, you may get lucky with an occasional 4 Vectaur fight, though, you can't count on that. Its might be best at times to just run from these encounters instead of muscling them out. Though, be warned. You can NOT run from Gt. Behemoths, and those tend to be one of the harder encounters as well. IF you run into one, try tomuscle it out as best as possible, and keep your HP high in case they cast meteor. Outsider fights can also be brutal, with their throws. If you run into them, kill them ASAP, or run. Smoke Bombs/Warp Stones will be useful here. Anyway, onto the first boss: %Inferno% First off, Petrify Immunity IS A MUST. Without that, you lose, more or less. Delta Hit will just hit your character, you get petrified, its gone. Next off, Inferno uses lots of Lightning and Fire based attacks, so having protection to that will be useful. He absorbs fire, so for anybody who is somewhat reliant on Fire based attacks (Terra, maybe?) should keep that in mind. He's weak to lightning on the flip side, granted, that's not exactly easy to apply in SCCs besides Gau. Wall Ring should soften the blow, as it stops some (not all, though) of his attacks, giving you more time to recuperate from any problems he might get you into. Lastly, do NOT attack him if you have low HP, at all, cause the guy can counter with Sobat (3x Physical damage) Note that one of his parts has Shrapnel which there is absolutely no defense for besides high magic defense or M. Block (as well as Shell), so just be prepared for that at all times. Its not THAT lethal, but still something to be aware of. Anyway, character strategies and such: Terra: Minerva, Ribbon, now the ONLY moves this guy can hurt you with is Shockwave (weak attack, might have problems getting through high M. Block), his Sobat counters (with Drain, this shouldn't be a problem), and Meteor. With that in mind, all you do is the usual "Drain til he's dead" Strategy. If you are not using Ultima for whatever reason, use Pearl on the midsection, as its your next best spell on him (He's immune to Fire 3 and Merton). If you do allow Ultima, that should obviously be your attack of choice. Don't bother Morphing this fight, its easily won in a battle of attrition, better to save it for a battle where it might matter. Locke: Force Armor should help against Giga Volt and Atomic Rays. If you prefer, give him Marvel Shoes to soften the damage further, instead of a Wall Ring. Your choice really. After that, smack the mid section with the Valiant Knife or Ragnarok, swap to Drainer when healing is necessary, and use standard SCC procedures (IE throwing X-potions/Elixirs in desperate situations) Shouldn't be too hard Mog: Alright, first off, he halves his fire damage, AND he's immune to Sobat, as well as good magic defense lowers Giga Volts damage. Marvel Shoes or Wall Ring, either works for this fight (assuming Jewel Ring/Ribbon/Safety Bit is the 2nd relic) After that? Just fight defensively, he shouldn't be too hard. Smack him with the Pearl Lance, hoping its random pearls kick in so the battle ends faster, what have you. If you want, use Dragoon Boots over the non petrify protection relic, if you feel you can do without a bit of offense. Edgar: Red Jacket or Force Armor works here. I'd say Force Armor, as while yes, Red Jacket does completely null out Atomic Rays, it leaves you open for Giga Volt. Force Armor halves them, and does the whole "+30% to M. Block" thing as well, protecting you from his non Fire/Lightning attacks. After that, just smack the midsection around with Chain Saw/Drill, and using the Drainer for healing. Sabin: Red Jacket stops Atomic Rays, so that's something. No defense for Giga Volt, though, beyond Marvel Shoes, so just keep your HP high and you should be fine. Just Bum Rush him like crazy. If you prefer to kill off his support, throw a few Air Blades at him, then start Bum Rushing. Shadow: No elemental defense at all, this isn't particularly pretty. So... what does Shadow do? Probably best bet is to try to end things as fast as possible. Throw Thunder Blades at him like crazy, Marvel Shoes should let you last long enough. Cyan: Force Armor + Marvel Shoes again should soften up most damage on him. If you feel bold, try to charge up to Quadra Slice. If you don't...use your BASIC PHYSICAL on the mid section. Yes, a case where the physical might be better, blame the fact that you can't target Dispatch. Empowerer might be good for healing, just make sure that when you plan on using it, use it when thing seems somewhat early (IE if Cyan can take one more hit, start charging for it then, instead of waiting until he's low on HP like you'd normally do with healing), so you know you have the time to build up it up...though probably better to use Items for healing if only cause Empowerer might hit one of the arms or something. Gau: As usual, when in doubt, Magic Urn out. With that, you really can't conceivably lose outside of some atrocious luck. Basically, you'll HEAL from all his attacks, sans Meteor (used only when one of his arms die), Shrapnel, and Shock Wave (not threatening). You're immune to Sobat with 255 Defense, so don't worry about those counters at all. Since Magic Urn is immune to Delta Hit, probably better to use Marvel Shoes for some extra insurance, along with some other Relic (Offering, maybe?) to boost offense, as, along with any case of using Magic Urn rage, this fight is going to take a while. Regardless, the insurance of winning should be all that's needed, right :) Celes: Like Terra, Minerva covers most of his big damage, as does high M. Block. Just hurl Ice 3's at him, and smack him with the Drainer for healing. Shouldn't be too hard. Setzer: Again, Force Armor covers the elemental protection. After that? Throw Fixed Dice at the Mid Section, and as usual, play defensively. If you're bold, try the Trump + Relic Ring Combo for healing, if you think you can do without the Wall Ring's/Marvel Shoes defensive applications. Strago: He should use Wall Ring, as due to Big Guard, the need for Marvel Shoes... really diminishes. That, and he has enough healing anyway. Though, he lacks elemental protection, so things might be a bit annoying here. Anyway, believe it or not, L? Pearl, if you've tweaked it out so you have something like xxxxx1 GP (No enemy gives anything different than xxxxxx0 GP, so that 1 will never change) Yeah, probably best to use that til his arms are dead, THEN use Grand Train. This is only cause of how L? Pearl ignores split damage, and Aero/Grand Train do not. Ok, that out of the way, just use the typical Strago strategies to beat this guy. Relm: Probably best opting for the Thunder Rod for damage, as it hits weakness (though, not sure if that really is her best option or not) Cat Hood helps make life easier with its elemental protection, Heal Rod helps for healing, and...that's really all the advice I can give. Fight Defensively, and don't let your guard down. Gogo: *yawns* The usual "Copy another character's non equipment related strategies" I suggest Strago's cause most of the others rely on elemental protection or something, Strago's does not. For offense, use Throw, as its high damage, and can be targeted. Umaro: Well, he's immune to his elemental attacks! ...yeah, if you are seriously doing an Umaro SCC (Why?), use Rage Ring + Ribbon, I guess, and hope for the best. With Inferno gone, you can heal up at the save point and such. Anyway, continue on as you would, and you should run into... %Skull Dragon% Alright, Skull Dragon uses status, Condemned, and Elf Fire as attacks. Obviously, Ribbon, some sort of Instant Death protection (Safety Bit, Memento Ring, Relic Ring, whatever) If you guard those, you really have little to fear. Character by character strategies? Fine be that way <_< Terra: Safety Bit you got from Fanatics Tower, Minerva, Ribbon. Now this guy cries as he can hardly hurt you. Just hurl Fire 3 at him, and he'll cry (don't bother with Ultima or Morph. Morph won't help defensively, and you're likely hitting the Damage limit with Fire 3 anyway) Pretty simply fight. Locke: Equip Relic Ring, Ribbon, and Force Armor. Since you have Relic Ring, probably best using the Wing Edge + Relic Ring healing combo if necessary, though it typically shouldn't be, especially if he condemns you (yay! Delayed Full healing!) To take him REALLY cry, equip the Gradeus, go in the front row, and smack him with that (he's weak to Pearl, and Gradeus is the strongest Pearl Elemental Weapon you have at the moment) A few nice smackings, and healing, you should be fine. Mog: Snow Muffler halves fire, and as a bonus, stops his scrub physical. Safety Bit you pillaged from Fanatics Tower stops condemned, and Ribbon stops Disaster and Specter. After that, its just a simple case of smacking him around with your Pearl Lance. How long the fight lasts now is dependant on how often Mog gets the random pearl castings. As usual, throw items to heal. Edgar: Red Jacket kills Elf Fire, Ribbon kills his status, Relic Ring kills his condemned, and Pearl Lance just flat out kills him. Ok, if you like to stay in the back row, Chain Saw/Drill might be better, but lets not get into that <_< >_> Sabin: Use more or less the same set up as his brother did, and just smash him to hell with Bum Rush (I doubt Dragon Claw, even with weakness, will be doing more damage) Shadow: No fire protection...not that it should matter, since yes, I was mentioning protection against Elf Fire, but the move is hardly life threatening, its just an insurance policy <_< >_> Anyway, hurl Pearl Rods and/or Flame Sabres at him, Memento Ring stops condemned, or if you prefer, Relic Ring so it'll heal you, and if you really are cautious, throw a Shadow Edge to stop his physical. Of course, Ribbon to stop any status move he might try to pull out of his seemingly pseudo undead ass. Cyan: Similar set up as Locke, really. Shouldn't be too difficult, just remember your only healing comes from Empowerer, so keep that in mind if things are getting a little rough. Though, given his Condemned spells heal you, they shouldn't get too hard *whistles* Gau: Let me be blunt. With Magic Urn YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY LOSE THIS FIGHT. Snow Muffler = No physical damage. Fire Absorption = Elf Fire heals you. Instant Death immunity = Good bye condemned Status Immunity = Good bye disaster and specter. If you feel like going offensively, white Dragon should work with its random pearl castings, so long as you make sure you give yourself a White Cape in case Disaster hits you mute. Celes: Use the same Set up as Terra, and hurl Pearl Spells at him. Drainer for healing in very drastic situations. Setzer: Set up similar to Locke. Like Locke, he can use the Relic Ring in a healing set up (Swap Wing Edge with Trump) Just hurl Fixed Dice at him til he dies, basically. Strago: No elemental protection again...awww...ah well, typical Relic Ring + Ribbon set up, and just shove Big Guard up if you're paranoid. Smash the draconic incarnation with Grand Train. Relm: Cat Hood, Memento Ring (or Relic Ring, if you prefer, doesn't really matter since Heal Rod ignores undead status), Pearl Rod, and Ribbon...that's all you really need to make this guy cry. Gogo: Again, probably best to look at Strago for equips, and then apply someone elses (preferably NOT Gau's) non equipment related strategies. Most likely, Pearl Rod throwing will be your best offense here, so use that, unless you don't want to "waste" those, in which case, Bum Rush is probably better. Umaro: Ribbon, Safety Bit/Relic Ring (he can technically do the Fanatics Tower, at least as far as the Safety Bit), and luck, you could win this. If it wasn't obvious, beating Skull Dragon is just "Set yourself up defensivly, and he can't touch you" more or less. Now, at this point, you choose which Goddess to fight. From path 3, you can do either Poltrgeist, or Doom. Since there's two bosses onto the way of Poltrgeist, and a theoretically more useful weapon from him (Aura Lance has use in at least Mog's SCC, Cyan will pretty much NEVER use Sky Render, at least, before Kefka) To get to fighting Poltrgeist first, whoever is Party 1, go LEFT (ie the direction party two is in) this means, everytime you get to that point, ALWAYS head to the left. This will lead you to doing the Tower in the least possible amount of runs (three) %Guardian% Alright, this fight is tough. Why? Remember Dadaluma's warning about him hurling stuff at you? Well, Guardian will start mimicking him at some point, and do the same to...and it hurts FAR more here than it did against Dadaluma. Basically, your best bet is to take down all 60k of his HP before he gets there, and that's not either. Convsersly, you can hope to dodge the throw in some manner (Shadow and Celes using Vanish status, Jump for others, Gau using Rhinox Rage if you're really desperate, what have you) Alright, things to prepare for. First off, this guy uses a lot of blockable attacks, so M. Block should be rather useful here. This doesn't help against Tentacle, or Mithril Knife/Ashura, but whatever you can get to help you'll take, right? He uses Diffuser, Wave Cannon, Tek Laser Flare Star and Atomic Rays in the area of Elemental attacks (IE all Fire and Lightning) though, that tends to be the least of your worries, as besides Flare Star (which is predictable, in the same way it was against Atma Weapon), none of them are TOO dangerous, but if you can protect against elemental attacks without hampering your current set up, it'd be something to look into. Basically, Guardian comes down to a fight against time. Load up on your best defensive gear, optimize your relics for offenses, and let loose your attacks! Note that Dadaluma mode, he just says "Loading Battle Program" or something, unlike, say, Ultros where he outright states "Loading Ultros Battle Data" Terra: If you have Ultima, USE IT. Just hurl it like nothing else. No Ultima? Morph Fire 3 is your best bet, if that's not hitting 9999, it should be close. You could probably avoid the throwing phase altogether. Locke: Valiant Knife + Offering + Hero Ring is your best bet for damage. Go in the FRONT Row, as its more important you get this guy down as much damage as possible. Try to keep Locke's HP at the bare minimum needed to survive his attacks, so Valiant Knife is that much stronger. If you find winning a slug fest isn't working, try a strategy similar to that of what you used on Atma Weapon, involving Jump + Drainer. If you can avoid the Throws, you should be fine. Swap off the Drainer whenever you don't need healing. Mog: Mog should resort around timing his Jumps properly. He should be fine from most of the attacks, but the Throwing ignoring his defense could be quite dangerous. All in all, Mog comes to timing. When you see him go Dadaluma mode, probably best to wait a bit, THEN jump. Edgar: Similar strategy to Mog, though, Drainer probably is a good idea for healing thrown in. More or less timing jumps. Sabin: Dual Earrings, and just keep hurling Bum Rushes. Very similar to Terra's strategy of trying to overpower him, more or less, before he starts throwing stuff. As usual, heal when your HP is low. Shadow: Throw Thunder Blades. This hits his weakness, so it should be doing some nasty damage. When he goes Dadaluma mode, use an Invis Edge, and you should avoid his Throws. If he knocks you out with something like Shockwave (unsure if he can use this), use it again. Probably the easiest fight with Guardian, only cause of Invis Edge + the high offense from Thunder Blade throwing. Cyan: Marvel Shoes, and Dragon Horn, and time your jumps to avoid throw. That's really all Cyan CAN do. Any Swordtech but Dispatch likely is taking too long in a fight like this. Gau: You're best bet with Gau is to, for the most part, pray. Give him 2 Earrings, and use a Rage with Bolt 3, and just hope he gets those to kick in repeatedly. There's not much Gau can do besides hope Rage doesn't decide to kill him. Magic Urn won't help, mind, as Throw will just smash through all those nice defenses Celes: Fire away with Flare or Ice 3, whatever seems to be doing more damage, and use the Drainer to Heal. When he swaps to Dadaluma mode, cast Vanish on self, akin to Shadow's Invis Edge, and dodge throw altogether. Its nice that Celes has Vanish as she really can't just beat him in a straight up slugfest, so its easier than timing Jumps. Setzer: offering, Fixed Dice, and hope for the best, is probably best strategy. Luck hating you? Go with a typical Jump strategy then, but overpowering the enemy is often better when the guy has a big damage move coming up sometime. Strago: 2 Earrings, and hurl Grand Train after Grand Train at him. If you need more speed (which Strago might), go for Marvel Shoes, and continue giving it your all. And if you can't seem to avoid the Throwing stage...again, timing Jumps is your best bet. Relm: Equip a Thunder Rod, equip Dragoon Boots, and just keep attacking, hoping you get several Bolt 2's coming into the mix, and time your jumps so you avoid his Throws, not much else to say there. Gogo: Probably best to just use Shadow's strategy, as it's the safest route. That's all I'll say <_< Umaro: Start praying, as Umaro needs lots and lots of Luck to beat this guy After you beat Guardian, save, as you do NOT want to do that again. Now, you fight yet ANOTHER Boss, that one being... %Poltrgeist% Alright, first and foremost, Wall Rings are a MUST, if you can't get instant death immunity, and if you can...its still preferable. See, Poltrgeist has this nasty combo of casting Stop on you, and then instantly hitting you with Blaster, which kills you. Since he stops you, there's no way you can actually defend against the attack, M. Block wise. So yeah, Wall Rings or Instant Death immunity is an absolute must. Why does Wall Rings help against Blaster? Well, two reasons. One is the way Poltrgeist's script works. He will ONLY use Blaster on an enemy target if they have the Stop status, so not having stop status means he won't use it. 2ndly, he himself is vulnerable to stop, which means you get a free turn or so on him while he's unable to move. This, combined with avoiding stop status completely, is why Wall Rings are preferable over Memento Ring/Safety Bit this fight. What else does Poltrgeist have? Weak physical damage, and some elemental magic, namely, Fire (Flare Star, S. Cross, and Fire 3), Wind (Aero), and Lightning (Wave Cannon...not that this move is usable like once every 8 turns after he is reduced to half HP, so you shouldn't worry about this) He also has Shrapnel, which is roughly on par with Fire 3 and Aero for damage, and is non elemental, so besides High M. Block or Magic Defense, there's no real defense for that, you'll just have to muscle out the hit (It shouldn't One Hit kill you, but it still can take off a nice chunk of HP) He also has Meteo, which can be a bit painful, though, good M. Block scores should make take care of that. Anyway, each character has different means of beating him, so...yeah <_< Terra: Minerva kind of kills ALL his damage except his laughable physical (Stopped mainly by M. Block anyway), and Shrapnel, which isn't too scary itself (especially morphed) End result? This fight should be fairly simple with Wall Ring + Minerva. Just use Drain if you are running out of HP, shouldn't be too hard. Avoid casting Fire 3 on him, as he absorbs that, so use Pearl instead, of attack physically... assuming you don't have Ultima, which if you do, should be your "weapon" of choice. Locke: Valiant Knife, Offering, and beat the snot out of him. Swap for Drainer if you need some extra healing. Force Armor should be armor of choice, as it makes Flare Star that much more bare able, as well as lowering his other damage, and giving you that M. Block boost. If you prefer, you could try the Relic Ring + Wing Edge combo, and try to fight defensivly, but that might be a bit risky, but still an option. Mog: Snow Muffler will help reduce the pains of Flare Star a bit, as well as Fire 3 and S. Cross, though you're still open for all his other moves. Probably best putting on some Marvel Shoes, and either smacking him physically with the Pearl Lance, or try a dance (Earth Blues is the home dance there, which isn't too bad an idea. Avoid Wind Song and Desert Aria, those will heal him consistently. Dusk Requiem is a bad choice as well for similar reasons, as is Love Sonata) Not exactly an easy fight as a lot of Mog's offense is hurt by not being able to use Dragon Horn, and worse, this guy has good defense and Auto Safe, so going physical route might take a long time. Edgar: Red Jacket is probably best bet, as it stops Flare Star altogether, which is the biggest threat (the other moves are barable), though, Force Armor does lower the damage of his other elemental attacks, while protecting vs. Meteo. Marvel Shoes probably a good idea to lower the damage of his other moves, and give some minor periodical healing. After that, just smash him with Chain Saw or Drill. Using physicals on him isn't a good idea, as he's built like a tank, so using defense ignoring attacks is your best bet. Sabin: Similar Strategy as Edgar, just replaces "Chain Saw or Drill" with Bum rush, and ignore anything regarding Force Armor. Sabin doesn't have much M. Block though, so Meteo is likely to hit, not that it's a big threat, but just be careful. Shadow: He has no Elemental Protection, so Flare Star is going to sting. Probably your best bet is to hope you can survive Flare Star with a Red Cap equipped, and hurl Poison Rods at him, or whatever ends up doing most damage (Poison Rods hit a weakness, hence why it was an intuitive thought) If you need healing, use the Assassin/Striker + Relic Ring combo, if you think you can get around with Marvel Shoes anyway. IF you somehow got the Stunner from the Fanatics Tower, using that on him might not be a bad idea, if you feel lucky enough for the stop status to kick in. Cyan: Force Armor is best bet for lowering his elemental attacks, Dispatch or Quadra Slice (if you can take the waiting) is good idea for damaging him, or if you feel lucky, use Stunner and hope the Stop status kicks in, but that's somewhat risky. Healing, best bet is items. Empowerer probably won't cut it in this fight, all things considered (he's too fast for charge time healing to be worth it) Gau: Don't use Wall Ring with him. Why? Go with Magic Urn. With Snow Muffler, it shuts down ALL his attacks but Shrapnel and Meteo, which on average, will be undone by Cure 3, or one of his elemental attacks. Why not Wall Ring? You want that extra bit of healing, and you don't want to be healing him, since your Cure 3's will likely be healing him for an amount MORE than you can do over the course of SEVERAL turns. Celes: Like Terra, she has a pretty easy pass, given she can avoid his elemental attacks with the Minerva, and High M. Block stops his non elemental ones. Drainer for emergency healing isn't a bad idea, might need offering to make it worthwhile though. Setzer: Force Armor will see use here for stopping his attacks in general. You could either try to overpower him like Locke and hurl Fixed Dice with Offering, or try to fight defensivly with Relic Ring + Trump combo. Very similar fight to Locke's, all things considered. Strago: He lacks elemental protection, so he's going to need to need to survive Flare Star on raw HP. Big Guard helps stop most of the other attacks, though. Best bet is to blast him with Grand Train and hope you can outslug him, using Heal Rod to keep yourself alive. If you've already fought Doom and have Force Field, it might be worth your while to keep casting that til you null out all 3 elements might not be a bad idea. Relm: Cat Hood for elemental protection, Heal Rod for healing, and use whatever weapon seems to do most to him for damage (probably pearl Rod) Not an easy Fight due to Relm's total lack of offense. Gogo: Use one of the above strategies, keeping in mind Gogo lacks elemental protection or good equipment (probably making Shadow his best bet, swapping Relic Ring healing combo with Heal Rod) Umaro: Again, luck (and the Rage Ring <_<) is probably all that can help you win this fight. Alright, warp out of the dungeon, and then send Mog (assuming its NOT his SCC) to Path 3 (cause its longer, and you want to avoid as many Stall Pointish battles as possible), your SCC character down Path 2, and the 3rd character(s) down Path 1 again. Now, you will pass a certain boss, whose technically optional, but lets fight him anyway, cause I said so! %Atma% Alright, Atma uses a lot of elemental magic, a lot of which is reflectable so Wall Ring is obviously useful (though, not all of it is reflectable) He also uses Ultima, however, thankfully, its predictable, so you can easily avoid it with Dragoon Boots, if you can't manage to just outslug him before he uses it. Terra: Ok, forget the Wall Ring. Minerva destroys pretty much all his damage that the Wall Ring would cover, so just bombard him with your best attacks, and cast Drain or Cure 2 when you need healing. Not worth Morphing unless you wanna see Fire 3 hit the damage limit (his magic defense is pretty bad) Just be on the look out for Ultima, at which point, go all out and try to gun down his last bit of HP, or just Jump after the 2nd Glowing Locke: Equip Force Armor to stop his non reflectable Elemental magic (doesn't cover Cleansweep, but that's one of his weaker spells anyway), and go with the Drainer over the Relic Ring + X-death weapon strategy, as it leaves you with Dragoon Boots to avoid Ultima (and still heals you to boot) If you want to be bold, though, give him Offering, and Valiant Knife, enter with Low HP, hope he only uses the likes of Fire 3, and just try to outslug him...but I can't recommend that. Mog: Usual use Jump, and heal when necessary for damage. Do NOT use Dance, as that's leaving you open for Ultima, and the damage loss isn't worth it. No special equipment options to really recommend here. Edgar: If you want to have some fun, Debilitate him so he's weak to Fire, Ice, and Lightning, so he can hit himself with his weakness...besides that? Use a strategy similar to Locke's, involving Drainer Jumps for healing, and such. If you want, swap to Pearl Lance and use that when you don't need healing after you make him weak to Pearl. Sabin: Usual equipment, Wall Ring, Dragoon Boots, and Bum Rush like crazy, heal when necessary, Jump when you see Ultima coming...should be fairly simple. Shadow: Like Sabin's, only note you are not immune to S. Cross or Flare Star, so be careful there. If you think you can handle the defense loss, use a Gaia Gear (which stops Quake to boot) and throw Gravity Rods at yourself for healing. Cyan: Force Armor to stop the elemental threats, and then use whatever you find is your best means of offense. Jump when you see Ultima coming, but you should know that by now. Gau: Alright, this ones a bit of a doozy. Gau can not use Jump, so...you'll just have to tough out Ultima. Best method is probably with Muscle Belt, and use Magic Urn, and hope your HP is high enough when hit with it. Otherwise, there really isn't many options here besides just hoping things go right. Hopefully, all the elemental damage he's hurling out, Gau shouldn't take much damage, and should be at full most of the fight. Celes: Like Terra, equip the Minerva. Celes actually shouldn't use Dragoon Boots. It'd be easier to just use Runic when you'd use Jump, and absorb Ultima, as it means a bit more control over her. Wow, a use for Runic finally since...well, god knows when the last time we used it in this challenge. As usual, don't forget to heal, which Drainer should cover nicely. Setzer: You could try to be bold, and give him offering and Fixed Dice, and try to just overpower him before Ultima comes up, but to play it safe, use Force Armor (Which should be on anyway), and give him Dragoon Boots to avoid Ultima. Strago: If you want, open with Big Guard, to stop the few spells that can't be reflected, and use Pearl Wind to heal. Again, Jump when you see Ultima coming. Not surprisingly, use Grand Train as your main source of offense. Relm: Cat Hood should help soften the damage of some of his unreflectable attacks. Besides that, use similar strategies as other characters, using items for healing when need be. Gogo: Need I say it? Ok, fine, cause someone will yell at me if I don't. Just use non equipment related strategies to a character mention aboved, and you should be fine. Umaro: Rage Ring and Cherub Down stops most of his damage...then just pray you survive/avoid Ultima somehow...can't give much more advice beyond that. Alright, with Atma gone, you can feel proud that you wasted a good 5 minutes of your life fighting a totally optional and worthless boss. Good job and such. Anyway, now that you beat him, you'll have the chance of fighting... %Gold Dragon% Trust me when I say this. Gold Dragon is the single wimpiest Dragon that every SCC can face legally (if White Dragon wasn't in fanatics tower, he'd be #1, but as is, he's saved by the fact that only 4 people can face him legitly) This guy uses NOTHING but Lightning attacks, so if you null/absorb Lightning, you win off the bat. If you don't? His best damage is Bolt 3! ...which he has to CHARGE UP TO USE. Basically, this guy sucks ass, but if you want strategies, then... Terra: Equip Minerva, you win. I can't get more blunt than that, I'm sorry. Its kind of hard to lose a fight when you null Thunder and the enemy uses nothing but those attacks. Locke: Equip Force Armor, and then beat him with the Drainer. Yeah, sure, this might take a while, but he's not out damaging your healing. Ok, if you want to speed up this fight for sanities sake, swap to the Valiant Knife or something and beat him with that. Mog: Aww...Mog can't null resist, what a shame. Oh well, looks like you'll have to resort to equipping the Trident (since he's weak to it), Dragoon Boots and Dragon Horn, and beating the electrical...uhh...well, I can't think of a good word that works as a pun or something, but you get the point. Edgar: Just for fun, equip Wall Ring, and use Debilitator on him til he's weak to Lightning and watch him kill himself (healing yourself of course when he uses a move that's not reflectable). Oh come on, where's your sense of humor? Want to do this fight in a serious way? Bah, you're no fun, but if you must, just use the same strategy as Locke, only use Chain Saw/Drill instead of swapping to a different weapon, just cause its easier or something. Sabin: Aww...Sabin can't resist Lightning too, looks like you'll just have to outslug the poor Jurassic Park reject looking dragon with Bum Rushes. Shadow: See Sabin, but swap Bum Rush with "Throw Trident's and Water Edges at at him." Cyan: Force Armor, and then beat him with Empowerer, only cause its fun to beat someone with wimpy attacks or something...ok, maybe that won't work, so just use Dispatch/Quadra Slam/Quadra Slice/whatever, and heal when need be...if you need to. Gau: Just use some thunder absorbing/nulling rage that doesn't use Thunder attacks itself, and you've won, for the same reason Terra has. Celes: ...this is the exact same strategy as Terra, so...*points up* Setzer: Force Armor, Offering, Fixed Dice, the big freak doesn't stand a chance in hell. Strago: If you have Force Field, spam that til it nulls out Thunder, then beat the crap out of him with whatever you feel like. If you don't have Force Field...Big Guard, then beat the crap out of him, healing if you ever need it. Relm: Cat Hood, and beat downs, with Heal Rod for healing occasionally, seems simple enough. Gogo: See non equipment related strategies above *yawns* Umaro: Rage Ring, you win for...ok, you get the point. Now, when you reach the crossroads where the teams meet up or something, as with before, have party 1 move to the left hand side again. This will have you fighting Goddess this time (since the other option is Poltrgeist, who is already beaten, it'd be silly to go that way) Mind, if you prefer going to the right, that's fine, so long as you went to the right the first time as well (That way, Doom was your first Goddess, not Poltrgeist, and it'd be suggested to fight Poltrgeist now for a few reasons I won't get into, just think about it and they'd appear) That said... %Goddess% Alright, first and foremost, Goddess uses some nasty stuff. Quasar is unblockable, defense ignoring high damage, so always have high HP so you're ready for it. She also has Charm, which if you are hit with it, is an instant loss, the only way around it is high M. Block, so the Aegis Shield is somewhat of a must in this fight. She likes lightning attacks, like Gold Dragon, so equip to resist them like you did with him, just note that unlike him, she has ways of getting around lightning resistance, so its not an instant win. Goddess is also blazingly fast, so you'll have to act quickly in this fight, or you might be eating two of her turns between your one. I should also bring up her defenses too, as unlike other enemies, these are quite extreme. Her magic defense is painfully high; she innately has good magic defense, AND starts off with Auto Shell. However, lucky for some people, she has low physical defense, so if the character lacks defense ignoring attacks, physicals are likely the way to go. Oh, and there's the evil that is Overcast; condemned that leads to turning your character into a Zombie, which ignores zombie immunity. Only way around that is to equip the Memento Ring (Shadow and Relm only) or Safety Bit (which only Terra, Celes, Gogo, Umaro, and Mog can get legally in an SCC, as well as Locke and Shadow if you've already fought Doom. There are a few other ways, but they are totally impractical, and typically not worth it) For characters who use nothing but physicals, Dragoon Boots be prime option here, as Goddess randomly counters "Fight" with Love Token, which makes her force the character to cover attacks for her...obviously this spells doom for certain characters, Dragoon Boots will help you get around this. Thankfully, she has low HP (by the Statues standards anyway), so attempting to just do a quick beat down might be the best solution, especially for characters who can't avoid Overcast. That said... Terra: Hurl Ultima if you have it at her, and heal when need be (better to use Cure 2 or Drainer here than Drain, due to her magic defense). Minerva can help soften up some of the damage, and Safety Bit is good insurance. If you don't allow Ultima, Morph Terra, and smack her with whatever weapon you find most damaging (probably Ragnarok.) Oh, Force Armor is a viable option if you really need the M. Block, though, Minerva, Mystery Veil, Ragnarok and Aegis Shield is already 90% M. Block right there, which means 97% M. Block total on Terra (and I personally try to avoid M. Block over 100%, but that's just me), so its probably not needed (Charm has a low relative hit rate to boot) Locke: Locke MUST have Dragoon Boots, or he's in danger of being hit with Love Token. With this in mind, give him Ragnarok (it'll do considerably more than Valiant Knife due to her low defense, and since VK Ignores Jump's multipliers too), and Dragon Horn, and hope to beat her before Overcast gets you. Oh, Force Armor should be equipped to lower the odds of Charm. If you've fought Doom, and got his Safety Bit, then you could try to win this fight defensively, as now you won't have to worry about Overcast, so if that seems to be a better idea, go for it. Mog: Safety Bit is probably a good idea, equip that Aura Lance you got from Poltrgeist (or by betting Sky Render at the Coloseum, there's a good chance you've beaten one of the other two by this time), and beat her down with Jump. You could try a Dance, but...that's risky. Edgar: Use a similar strategy as Locke, only note that he won't have Safety Bit, so you'll have to go with the raw offensive strategy. Luckily, he does have option of the Aura Lance, which is probably stronger in this case (than Ragnarok, that is), just note that you take a big M. Block loss using it, so beware of Charm. That, and he could use Tools to avoid Love Token, though that might not be enough offense to avoid Overcast. Sabin: Sabin's a bit of hoping. He can't achieve a very good M. Block score, though, thankfully, he easily has the offense to avoid Overcast, and doesn't mind Love Token thanks to Bum Rush, so he can use his Relic Slots to up his M. Block a bit. After that, it's a usual out slug her, and remember to heal. Marvel Shoes might be a good idea. Shadow: Equip Memento Ring (or Safety Bit if you stole it from Doom via Thief Knife...though, why you would when the identical and far easier to get Memento Ring is lying around is beyond me), and that'll stop worries about Overcast, though, you shouldn't worry about it anyway, since like Sabin, Shadow's damage is high enough to avoid it. Also like Sabin, Shadow's M. Block isn't too hot, though, it's not as bad (he at least gets an M. Block weapon in the Thief Knife or Man Eater), so beware of Charm. Cyan: Equip Force Armor for the M. Block, and then use Quadra Slam (Slice might take a bit too much time, and her defense is bad enough to make Quadra Slam better overall than Dispatch) is likely your best means of offense here. It should be noted that Goddess uses Overcast after you hit her 8 times, so the charge times won't be an issue of provoking Overcast. Just make sure your HP is high enough to survive whatever she hurls at you, and hope Charm doesn't hit. Gau: Gau...really just has to hope Charm never hits. High M. Block is crucial. Magic Urn can take care of most of the other threats (Overcast included, though, surviving Quasar is a bit of luck based on what Gau gets hit with and what he does) Celes: Similar to Terra's strategy, really, just replace "Ultima" with "Flare" and the fight is essentially the same...only ignore the fact I mentioned Morph and Cure 2. Casting Haste can't hurt, of course, if you aren't already using Marvel/Running Shoes. Setzer: Force Armor again is your best bet for guarding against Charm. Then its probably best to overpower her with Fixed Dice and Offering, which I believe ignores cover. If Fixed Dice doesn't, then use the Dragoon Boots strategy for avoiding Love Token. Strago: Tao Robe is probably better than Behemoth Suit here due to the 10% M. Block for avoiding Charm. After that, just hurl Grand Trains like there's no tomorrow, and kill her by your 8th to avoid Overcast. Relm: Relm's offense really sucks, sucks to the point where she might see Overcast. THANKFULLY, Relm also has Memento Ring to avoid that. Since Relm is pure physical, she's going to want Dragoon Boots to avoid Love Token. Tao Robe is again likely more useful than Behemoth Suit here. Relm should equip Magus Rod, even if its not her best damage (though, do NOT use Pearl or Lightning elemental weapons, Goddess absorbs that), for the M. Block. After that, just win this in a war of attrition, and pray Charm never hits through your M. Block. Gogo: I'll be blunt; use Strago's strategy, it's the one that Gogo adapts the easiest. Ok, fine, if you want, replace "Grand Train" with "Bum Rush" since its stronger, but you get the point. Gogo also has access to the Safety Bit, in multiple ways, (Fanatics Tower (not that getting up there with just Fight is easy) and stealing from Doom if you've fought him already); so if you got one, use it. Umaro: This fight is the epitomy of "pray Charm never hits" Umaro's best possible M. Block is 35%, and that means he has low offense and no Safety Bit, so he's likely going to be hit with Overcast...yeah, this fight really is the be all, end all of pure luck, nixing the final boss. With Goddess down, leave the Tower, and now repeat the Tower one more time, this time having your SCC character in party 1. Not sure which path is shorter between Path 2 and 3, but whatever you feel more confident taking a "weak" character through and rushing it, put them there, and send Mog w/ Moogle Charm down the harder path (unless its his SCC) Not much to say here, just do the same thing at the "Cross Roads" that you did the other time (Party 1 heads to the left) so I'll skip directly too... %Doom% Doom is a lot more straight forward than the other two Goddesses. He starts the fight spamming Ice magic, and nothing but that (ok, N. Cross technically isn't Ice magic, but it doesn't do damage either), and half way through the fight, resorts to a totally different strategy involving a strong unevadable physical in Demon's Rage, and Force Field. He's weak to Pearl, so that's something to keep in mind prior to the Force Field Stage. It should be noted that before he uses his big bad physical (Demon's Rage), he always uses "Targetting", so it's easy to see coming. Oh, when he glows (with the message "Doom's Aura is Shaking"), he gets Image, Haste and Reflect status. If you can totally avoid this in some manner, or Dispel them, then great, but if the character can't get around them innately, then you'll have to remember about this. It should be fairly easy to tell how to deal with him, but if you insist... Terra: Minerva guns down the entire first part, since she's immune to Ice. 2nd half...Drain and Pearl should be enough to win a war of attrition here. Worse comes to Worst, when he uses "Targetting" on Terra, have her Defend, to soften the blow, then Heal from it, and keep that strategy up. If you want to make life easier, use Dispel on him, to undo his Haste and Reflect after Aura Shaking (Mind, if you plan on using Pearl (since you don't have Ultima or something), you MUST use Dispel, unless you feel like eating your own Pearls <.<) Just don't use the elemental magic that he nulls out with Force Field, of course. Overall, a fairly simple straight forward fight, like most of Terra's, despite the size of this strategy <_< Locke: Force Armor cuts down the Ice damage and stops the chances of him hitting with N. Cross. Excalibur (assuming you beat Goddess) or Ragnarok are your best sources of damage here, so use those. Offering is a good idea, as it'll let you get around his Image status. Oh, if you can, try to nab his Safety Bit. It might be helpful against the Tiers and Goddess (if you haven't fought her yet anyway) If you don't use Offering, then the Relic Ring + Wing Edge strategy is a good idea for healing after Demon's Rage, otherwise, use Drainer to heal. Mog: ...I'll be blunt. MOG CANNOT LOSE THIS FIGHT. In the back row, with 255 Defense, he's immune to Demon's Rage. Snow Muffler makes him absorb Ice. To be frank, Doom's not doing any damage to Mog, so he has a free pass here. Equip Pearl Lance to kill him fastest, swapping to Aura Lance (if you have it. If you don't, then use Partisan) if he nulls out Pearl with Force Field. Edgar: Similar strategy as Locke, really. Just that he has tools to avoid Image status completely. Drainer, as usual, is effective for healing. Sabin: Just blitz like crazy, defend when he uses "Targetting" to minimize damage from Demon's Rage, and heal when need be. Shadow: Hurling Pearl Rods at him is mean, but effective none the less. When he uses Targetting, have Shadow hurl an Invis Edge on himself, and he'll dodge Demon's Rage entirely. So getting around the first section is the only hard part, just tough it out, and hope you don't get unlucky and hit with N. Cross (which has a bad chance of hitting you anyway) Cyan: Like Edgar, Force Armor helps a lot here, use Sword Techs to get around Image, and defend when you see targeting. Heal when need be, of course. Gau: Like Mog, Gau can't really lose this fight unless you use something silly like Balloon on him. Use a sensible Rage, and with 255 Defense, Gau's pretty much immune to everything the sucker has. Celes: Same strategy as Terra, more or less. If you want, do something similar to Shadow's to avoid Demon's Rage, using Vanish when you see "Targetting" though probably not necessary. Setzer: Force Armor, Fixed Dice to get around Image and such...yeah, we've seen this before, I'd defiantly recommend the Relic Ring + Trump strategy, if you don't mind the offense loss. Strago: Open with Big Guard, and then muscle out this fight with Heal Rod for healing, Grand Train for damage, etc. No real easy way to go about it. If you want, use Rippler on him when he uses Aura Shaking, to gain Haste (Image and Reflect are somewhat moot.) Just remember to recast Big Guard as you gave him that status now (though, shouldn't matter, Grand Train ignores defense) Relm: Cat Hood should help out the first phase, the 2nd phase...you just have to muscle it out, with defending when he uses Targetting, healing with Heal Rod, what have you. Pearl Rod/Gradeus is likely your best source of damage here, unless he nulls it out with Force Field, at which point, use your strongest non elemental weapon. Gogo: ...if you don't know what to do by now, you haven't been reading this FAQ, and clearly were just a jerk and skipped to this guy for no particular reason, for shame (don't mind my nasty attitude here <.<) Umaro: Well, the first part's a breeze, since he can't hurt Umaro there...2nd part is basically hoping Umaro can outslug Demon's Rage and such. With that, we now have the whole SCC beaten! ...except of course for the FINAL BOSS! This will require a lot of preparation, so make sure you are absolutely ready with the right Helmet, Armor, and Relics, as you'll be stuck with them (you can change weapons and shield mid battle, so don't worry if you have the wrong ones there, so long as you have the proper weapons in your inventory) %FINAL BATTLE% Alright, I'm going to do this section one character at a time. Preparations, how to fight them, etc. This is probably the biggest challenge in the entire SCC. Just know that whatever you equip (besides Weapon and Shield), you're stuck with the entire fight. Oh, as expected, first goal would be to kill your living allies, but that should go w/out saying. *Terra:* Alright, give her the Ragnarok (or Enhancer, if you are adamantly against Ragnarok), Aegis Shield, Mystery Veil, and Minerva. This gives her High M. Block, good defenses, and resists all elements, including nulling some key ones (Fire comes to mind) Relics should be Ribbon and Safety Bit. With those two, you won't get hit with any cheap status' (besides Freeze on Tier 2, which you can't do anything about), and thus, you should be set defensivly. Also, make sure you have enough Elixirs, or the Soul Saber, in case you run out of MP. Oh, and don't morph until I say so. Trust me on this. Tier 1, kill Face first (should be obvious which one that is) Don't worry about the status he throws at you, Ribbon and/or Safety Bit should stop them. Cast Drain or Cure 2 for healing. Best to kill Face with Fire 3, then use Ultima on the arms. If you kill Face last, he'll counter with Quake which can be painful, while the others counter with nothing and Shock Wave, which aren't nearly as painful. After you kill Face, for fun, cast Break on Long Arm (the arm that is longer...), for an instant kill ^_^ Tier 2, take out Magic (Left Hand side enemy) or Tiger (Lower Right hand side) enemy first. The former has a few moves that can hurt you (like Flare), while the latter has N. Cross, which can just be a pain. Tools (mid enemy) simply can't harm you at all with your current set up, and Hit...well, Hit sucks. Just take them out as you would normally, healing and replenishing MP when need be. Tier 3 has nothing really threatening throughout most of the fight. Besides Meteo, none of their attacks are that painful, and Meteo shouldn't be that strong, or misses a lot too. Just be sure to kill Girl before anything else, as she'll keep bringing back Sleep. Thankfully, she only has 9999 HP, though Pearl Wind too. However, the fight isn't over yet. When Sleep dies, he has one last trick up his sleeve; Calmness. This is an instant death attack that laughs at the Safety Bit. You just have to hope your M. Block kicks in, and stops the attack, otherwise, you are screwed. Now, Kefka himself is not as easy as the Tiers. See, in the case of the Tiers, Terra simply just was immune to anything dangerous though, here...its an all out slugfest between the two. As usual, Kefka opens with Fallen One, so you're first move should be Morph, and then use Drain to recover. Kefka's main threat this fight is Havok Wing, which is massive physical damage, so stay healed, and since his hit is 190%, relying on M. Block isn't totally wise. Once he starts charging up Goner, he won't use Fallen One anymore...however, he now can counter with his physical or Hyper Drive (unblockable Defense Ignoring Magic Damage), so don't attack him at just any time. After being hit with Goner, its probably best to Heal up with Cure 2 instead of Drain, or use "Defend" to take less damage from Havok Wing. When do you attack him then? Any time after he starts charging up Goner is the ideal time to attack him with whatever (Drain, Ultima, Fire 3, etc.) When he charges Goner, he can't use his counters, so then would be the ideal time to attack. Later in the fight, he'll start using nothing but Meteor and Goner, and his counter will change from Hyper Drive to Ultima (which is a bit stronger) At this point, he's only got about 10k HP left, so just blast him with everything you have. Note that even if you do everything correctly, the battle is not an insured win. At some points, Kefka can use Havok Wing TWICE (This applies to all SCCs), and if he does, that typically means death if both hits go through. If you ever get the chance, use defend (basically, if you have Full HP at any time before Kefka starts charging Goner) *Locke:* Locke's going to want the Force Armor here, so he can resist elemental damage, and have high M. Block. I'd suggest Genji Shield over Aegis Shield here, as it'd help compensate for the low defense, and he's going to need defense against Kefka. Ribbon is obvious, and Relic Ring will help against Condemned on Tier 3, as well as give Locke unlimited full healing. Weapon...just keep swapping based on what you need. Valiant Knife and Ragnarok are good for damage, as well as the latter being good for M. Block. Wing Edge is helpful for healing too, and its Instant Death can come in handy too, as can Drainer if you feel you are't getting anywhere with normal healing and need it to be parasitic (just note that Drainer at this point probably won't be enough). Helmet? Red Cap. The HP boost should be more helpful than anything else for Locke here. Tier 1, kill Face first. That way, you won't eat the Quake final attack. Then attack Long Arm with the Wing Edge, and he'll die from the Instant Death eventually (easier than killing him with Damage) To beat Short Arm, use standard SCC procedures and such. Tier 2, kill Tools first, since him and Magic are probably the biggest threats, and its easier to kill Tools ASAP, and lowering the amount of threats early = good. To do that, hit him with the Wing Edge a few times, and he'll die to the instant death. After that, you'll just have to muscle this fight out like you normally would. Tier 3, kill Girl first. This is a must, or else she will keep healing and reviving Sleep. This might not be easy though, as she has Pearl Wind, so you'll have to hope she doesn't use that often, at least until her HP is low enough that you can offset the healing. Might take a while, but it's a must. After that, make sure you keep an eye on what weapon you're using. When you attack, use Ragnarok, so if you put Wing Edge or Drainer on for healing for a turn, be sure to make sure you swap back to Ragnarok. That way, when he uses his last turn in Calmness, you'll be as prepared as you can be. When he uses Calmness...at that point, you have nothing but to hope it doesn't hit (it ignores the Relic Ring too) Kefka is an all out slug fest now. As expected, first action should be to heal from his opening fallen one. From then on, just try to out last him. Basically, just keep your HP high, and when he starts using Goner, only attack him when he's charging Goner (when the screen is shaking) and not anytime else, and on your other turns, heal or defend. Keep that up the rest of the fight, even in the last phase (unlike Terra, Locke's raw offense isn't enough to just kill Kefka from that point), just don't defend ever. Ultimatly, keep your HP high, and don't get careless. You can't afford to make a mistake, Kefka's offense is too good, and he's fast so make sure each of your attacks are pulled off fast too. Like with Terra, double Havok Wing is something to be feared, so if you can get a chance to defend, do so. *Mog:* Unfortunatly, Mog doesn't have much in the way of M. Block, so you'll have to make due with whatever he has. Snow Muffler and Aegis Shield are obvious choices, between Bard's Hat and Red Cap...your call, just make sure you have 255 Defense, that will be exceedingly useful. Safety Bit, and Ribbon should be your relics of choice here. Yeah, means no Dragoon Combo, but Mog needs to fight this battle defensivly, too much overall HP to try and blitzkrieg it. Oh, and make sure you have an ample supply of X-potions and Elixirs. You're going to need them, as Mog has no means of healing besides dances. Tier 1, hit Face with whatever your best damaging physicals are (Pearl Lance or Aura Lance. Not sure which comes out stronger on average, shouldn't matter much though) When that dies, take out the other two arms. You could try using Wind Song on them, so you can get use of Sun Bath (and perhaps hit Long Arm with Cokatrice if you are lucky), so it saves some healing, but it might be risky. Tier 2 is not easy. You really can't do much here but try and muscle it out, healing and damaging as you go. Don't dance until you are certain you've knocked out all threats. Though, if its consolation, Hit can't hurt Mog at all. Tier 3, kill Girl first, as usual. Do NOT use Pearl Lance on her; she absorbs it. When Girl dies, you can try the Wind Song strategy on Sleep (and I personally would), and hope you avoid Calmness when he uses it. Beyond that? Not much you can do. Mog isn't really suited for the Tiers, however... Mog is VERY WELL suited for taking out Kefka. Why is that? Mog is immune to Havok Wing, Kefka's best damage by far. He also absorbs Ice 3, and resists Fire 3, so that helps too. Basically, if you have enough X-potions, Mog should be able to win this fight fairly simply, just don't provoke his counter attacks in the 2nd and 3rd phase, and you'll be fine. Funny that what usually is the hardest section of the tiers in an SCC ends up being the easiest for Mog, heh. *Edgar* Edgar's fight is going to be a bit of a doozey. First and foremost, equip Ragnarok, Force Armor, Red Cap and Genji Shield default. This gives him high M. Block with Good Defense (Force Armor has low defense, so Genji Shield compensates; he needs the defense for Kefka himself.) For Relics? Give Edgar the Ribbon to guard against all the status hurled at you, and then, either Marvel Shoes for Defenses, or Relic Ring for the Condemned spell on Tier 3. Which one you choose is up to you, while Marvel Shoes is better overall, especially since it doesn't limit your healing, you're not playing with Luck with the Relic Ring since you don't have to avoid being hit with Condemned. Make sure you have a Drainer handy if you use the Relic Ring strategy as its Edgar's only means of healing. Tier 1, kill fast first, that way, he won't finish you off with Quake near the end of the fight. Then hit Long Arm with Air Anchor and he'll kill himself, followed by normal SCC procedure for killing Short Arm. Tier 2, open with Air Anchor on Tools (The guy in the middle). After his first move, he'll die, and he was one of the bigger threats, so that leaves you some breathing room. Next, use Bio Blaster. This won't do much damage, but it will poison Tiger (the bottom right enemy), who while usually uses Dispel, does have Flare Star, which can be a pain (unless you used Red Jacket, but that's probably not worth the overall losses), so it helps when you are on the defensive, as he will slowly die from poison at least. Now, take out the Drainer, and start attacking Magic (Left hand enemy) with it, swapping to Ragnarok and using Chain Saw when you don't need healing. Probably a good idea to go in the Front Row for this fight, since only Hit has physical damage, and its not much to worry about, so the doubled healing helps. This fight will be a lot easier with Marvel Shoes if only cause you'll be taking less damage and can use X-potions here and there. Tier 3, if you are using Relic Ring, this fight is a joke, since for the most part, the attacks won't be damaging, so worst comes to worst, fight defensively until one of them runs out of MP (this WILL take a while, and is only worst case scenario) If Marvel Shoes...you'll have to kill Girl fast, and hope no Condemned appears, as if it does, YOU DIE. Killing Girl with Edgar isn't so easy, as his offense isn't that good, so you'll have to pray she doesn't use Pearl Wind at higher HP intervals offsetting your hard work. Why not kill Sleep First? He has more HP, and Girl just revives him with Life 2 anyway. One thing you CAN try to do is hit Sleep with Debilitator until he's weak to Wind and/or Fire, so when he uses Merton, it really smacks him around (this won't work on Girl, mind) When Sleep falls, he'll use Calmness (sometimes twice), so just get your Ragnarok out when you are ready to kill him, and hope you can M. Block out the hits. Now for Kefka himself. This fight is extremely hard with Relic Ring, since Kefka's offense is just that brutal and Drainer isn't enough. Its easier with Marvel Shoes since Edgar can tank better, and heal with X-potions. General Strategy will be never attack unless you are certain you can survive Havok Wing first stage (or use Drainer to attack with, to get some shots in; especially necessary with Relic Ring.) When he starts his Goner phase, do not attack him unless he is charging Goner, otherwise you risk eating a Hyper Drive Counter, which if that doesn't kill you, a follow up Havok Wing will. Its not insured death, no, but its very risky, best to avoid it. This fight is a major pain in the ass with the Relic Ring to the point where you MIGHT want to start hurling Magicite Items, and hope Golem, or Fenrir is one of them. If you have Marvel Shoes, this fight should be fairly doable, if only cause you can use X-potions at will and have higher defenses (and are hasted so less double turns are likely to happen) *Sabin* Sabin should use Red Jacket, Aegis Shield, Tiger Fangs, and Red Cap. This will be his best overall defenses, though, leaves him with little M. Block, granted, he can only really boost that further with a Bard's Hat which probably isn't worth the HP loss here. Unlike Edgar, Sabin CAN NOT use Relic Ring here; he has no means of healing that way, and thus, will simply die from running out of HP. Marvel Shoes is recommended (with the Ribbon, obviously), as the combination of Shell, Safe, and Regen will help Sabin's durability out that much. Conserve your X-potions and Elixirs to only when you really need them, so make sure you are good at reading damage and such. Tier 1 is standard; have Sabin kill face with his Physical (after a few smacks, you can change to using Air Blade instead, if you want too), to avoid the Quake spell final attack. Remember, Blitzes can't be targeted, so that's risky, and Face has higher HP than the other body parts, so using an MT Blitz won't work either. After that, standard SCC Procedure should beat the other hands. Tier 2 is a bit of a pain. He has no means of taking out Tools quickly, so Sabin's going to have to rely a bit on luck for where Blitzes fall, or use Air Blade and hope to beat everyone all together, in a sense. It might not hurt to smack Tiger (bottom right) with the Poison Knuckles until Poison kicks in, but not worth it. Just hope N. Cross doesn't hit as that might be annoying (though, you'll likely get it undone by Fire 3, S. Cross or Flare Star) All in all, use Standard SCC procedure for this fight, and hope things fall into place, as there is no easy way to do this. Tier 3, use Bum Rush like crazy and hope you hit Girl twice in a row without Pearl Wind in the middle; that SHOULD take her down. Of course, if she casts Condemned, if won't matter what happens, so just pray she doesn't use that. As usual, Sleep will cast Calmness when he dies, so you MIGHT wanna try throwing Magicites in hopes that you get Golem or Fenrir (Phantom isn't cutting it here, since he loves to cast magic), if you don't get that, just hope Sabin's M. block kicks in. Kefka himself is pretty straight forward; back row, Marvel Shoes, and put on Genji Shield instead of Aegis Shield for a bit more defense, and then just spam Bum Rush like crazy and heal when possible. 2nd phase, probably a good idea to time Bum Rushes and defend or heal after Goner/Havok Wings to avoid counters, though that might not be necessary. If he starts casting Meteor, then you're basically in the clear as it means he has less than 10000 HP or so, so 2 Bum Rushes will most defiantly finish him off from there. *Shadow* Shadow's equips are straight forward; doesn't matter which weapon you start with, just have Thief Knife (for M. Block) and Assassin (for instant death) in your inventory at least. Striker and Man Eater work as supplements if you lost those 2 weapons somehow, but the others are better if only for more speed (negligible? Yes, but doesn't hurt.) Have Shadow Edge's in your inventory, as they'll make a certain part of the fight MUCH easier. Genji Armor, Aegis/Genji Shield, and Red Cap are the equips to use for pretty obvious reasons. Also, have a bunch of elemental weapons on too. Equip the Ribbon, to stop status, and the Relic Ring. Yes, he has Memento Ring for that Condemned later, but for Shadow, Relic Ring is better since the main flaw of the ring (no healing) actually is the reverse in Shadow's case, due to the X-death Weapon + Relic Ring Combo (leads to having Limitless X-potions.) Because its easier to say it here than keep saying it later, I'll just say "whenever you're low on HP, hit yourself with the Assassin (or Striker) to heal yourself" and such, but that should be obvious by this point. Tier 1, throw Blossoms at Face if you have them (he's weak to Wind), otherwise, throw Falchions, Tack Stars, or whatever your strongest throw that you don't mind losing for now. This avoids the Quake castings and such. His Long Arm with the Assissin (or Striker) until the Instant Death kicks in, to quicken this fight further (if you want, you can kill them in reverse order, doesn't matter; just don't let Face die last. This applies to all SCCs, if I haven't made that clear yet.) Short Arm should just be hit with lots of Tridents (weak to Water) if you have them, or whatever your best throw is. Tier 2, hit Tools (mid section) with the Assassin (or Striker) until the Instant Death kicks in. Tiger or Magic should die next, Tiger is easier to kill, so just hurl Blizzards at him (he's weak to Ice) and such, and he'll die within a few rounds. Then Hurl Gravity Rods at Magic after that, and finally, use an Invis Edge against Hit for a laugh. Tier 3, throw Falchions like no tomorrow (healing when you need too) until Girl is dead. After that, throw about 3 to 4 Falchions at Sleep, and then use a Shadow Edge; this is in case you need to heal in the mean time, and you don't wanna kill the guy. When he uses Calmness, Shadow will avoid it, only way to lose is if he double casts it, the first hit undoes the status, and the 2nd hit breaks through Interceptor and the M. Block, but odds are very against that happening. For Kefka himself, do NOT use a Shadow Edge, as it'll kill your healing, for all that stopping Havok Wing sounds like a good idea. Invis Edge is a wasted turn, typically, and does similar results anyway. Instead, hurl your strongest stuff at him when you can, when he starts the Goner phase, keel smacking yourself until he starts charging Goner, and then hit him with a Falchion. Keep this up, and the fight should go fairly fast. *Cyan* I'll be blunt; Cyan has no easy way of doing this. A lot of it comes down to luck, patience, and somewhat, just having high levels. Force Armor and Aegis Shield for M. Block, Red Cap for HP, have at least the Scimitar around for the instant death. Given how slow the healing from Empowerer is, you probably want Marvel Shoes instead of Relic Ring, and of course, the Ribbon. Tier 1, as usual, kill Face first using physicals (you can't target Swordtechs.) Then smack Long Arm with the Scimitar until the Instant Death kicks in, and as usual, fight Short Arm using standard procedure. Tier 2, kill Tools with Scimitar's ID. Then, you'll have to fight defensively, so hope you have the items and time for Empowerer to last. Probably best to use Stunner here since you don't want to waste too many hits on Hit (who sucks ass), and want to be mainly aiming at Tiger and Magic, but use whatever you find best. If Tiger or Magic falls, the fight becomes that much easier, as they are easily the biggest threats. Note that you never quite have a free pass until all but Hit are dead, as Hit just sucks ass. Tier 3...only hope is to charge up for Quadra Slice, and hope enough hits are on Girl, so that she falls, before she uses Condemned. If you get that far, standard SCC procedure to beat Sleep, and hope Calmness doesn't hit. Kefka, no real strategies besides keep HP high, and avoid counters through means I've been saying before. You could try to time sword techs to happen so you get big damage, but hard to say what is best to use. Just use whatever feels best, though, remember, Kefka is fast, and Havok Wing is a fast animation, so he's likely to get several turns on you. *Gau* Gau should have Snow Muffler, Genji Shield, and Red Cap on. I believe that hits 255 Defense, which is what Gau needs, if not, give him Genji Helm instead. Anyway, Marvel Shoes should be used, as should Ribbon. Yes, Gau's Rage's guard status, but there are cases where you might have holes in that status defense. For Tier 1 AND Tier 3, Magic Urn is pretty much a safe deal. Might take a while, but neither have anything that scary. Tier 2, though, Magic and her Rasp spell can kick Gau's ass, since it has Death to MP. Probably best idea is to use Wooley here, as he covers most Elemental resists, and with Snow Muffler and Marvel Shoes, Fire defense should be doable overall. This is a bit of a lucky fight, and other Rage's might work better, but just DO NOT USE ANYTHING THAT CAN DIE FROM MP DAMAGE. Kefka might be different with Fallen One in the mix, along with Non elemental defense ignoring Magic Gau has problems dealing with. If you feel like being a cheap bastard, use Night Shade Rage (but that's kind of cheating <_<; ), otherwise? Try to find a Rage that seems best fit, and use that. One with Parasitic Healing should work. As a reminder, unless I'm mistaking, Gau CAN swap rages between Tiers. *Celes* Celes' equips are pretty obvious, all things considered. Minerva, Mystery Veil, Aegis Shield, and Ragnarok, much like you've been using the entire game. Safety Bit you got from Fanatics Tower and Ribbon are what you'd use for Relics, have lots of Elixirs and X-potions, and keep that Drainer around, along with either Soul Saber or Scimitar (preferably latter for MP Healing) Tier 1, hit Face with your strongest attacks (Flare or Ice 3 probably), then smack Long Arm with the Soul Saber or Scimitar til the Instant Death kicks in. Then just beat the stuffing out of Short Arm normally. You could cast Safe and Haste now if you want too, but just remember these spells might be dispelled on Tier 2. Tier 2, Soul Saber/Scimitar Tools (mid section), then kill Magic (Left hand side), since Tiger is totally unable to harm you, and N. Cross is his only trick that can do anything to Celes and its unreliable. After that, just beat down on whoever you feel like, healing when necessary. Tier 3, smack Girl with Flare (she absorbs Ice 3 and Pearl) until she's dead. Then beat on Sleep as you normally would. Remember, beware of Calmness. If you think you can get Celes' turn up fast enough, you COULD try Vanish, but I don't recommend it. Kefka's difficulty will probably come down to how many Elixirs/X-potions you have left. Basically, cast Flare or Ice 3 (which you find doing more) on him, heal when you're low on HP, and avoid counters by only attacking him when he's charging Goner, healing or defending between them otherwise. If you have you used X-potions and/or Elixirs conserving, you should be fine here, if you were like me and used them when you probably shouldn't have, this fight could be hell <_<; *Setzer* Force Armor, Aegis shield, Red Cap...all this should seem familiar. Fixed Dice and Trump should be around in your inventory, starting off with whatever you want. Relics...Ribbon for status, Relic Ring for stopping Condemned an giving Setzer limitless healing with the X-death + Relic Ring combo. Having a Man Eater around can't hurt either. Tier 1, hurl Fixed Dice at Face til he's dead, then hit Long Arm with Trump til the Instant Death kicks in, then beat Short Arm normally. Tier 2, Trump on Tools til he dies, then fight defensivly perse, using Fixed Dice for damage. If...its not that obvious yet, you'll note this is more or less the same strategy with some minor tweaks to Locke's. Tier 3, Fixed Dice on Girl. Don't worry if she keeps healing; eventually, Fixed Dice will hit for 9999 anyway, and kill her there and then. Beat Sleep normally, though, when he's close to dead, equip Man Eater for that extra M. Block push for Calmness. Kefka...use standard SCC Strategies, only be a bit paranoid on healing due to his high damage. Probably best to swap to Genji Shield so surviving Havok Wing is a bit easier. Keep your HP high, and avoid those counters as I've been explaining in earlier SCCs, and he should fall. *Strago* Strago should start off with the Behemoth Suit for defenses and stats, Red Cap for the extra HP OR Bard's Hat for some extra MP and M. Block, and Aegis Shield for the M. Block (Genji Shield in inventory in case you need more defense.) Magus Rod should be his starting weapon for the M. Block and Magic Boost, but have Heal Rod handy just in case. Relic Ring will be useful for the Condemned immunity (and Heal Rod can still heal under it), and Ribbon as usual will come in handy. Have lots of Ether's available as Strago is likely to run out of MP this fight, and unlike Celes or Terra, no Soul Saber to make use of. Tier 1, use Condemned on Long Arm, and hit Face with your best ST damage (Step Mine is probably a good choice here.) When that's done, fire Grand Train's til Short Arm is dead, using Heal Rod to heal, and use Ethers to heal the loss of MP. If you can, try to do as much damage without wasting MP. Oh, open with Big Guard too; that should come in handy here. I'm not sure if it caries over to the other Tiers, but casting Force Field til all elements are nulled should help somewhat (stops a lot of Tier 2's offense for starters, and you have more time in Tier 1 to pull it off) Tier 2, cast Sour Mouth on Magic (far left enemy); it's vulnerable to Mute, and has nothing but magic, so this guns down EVERYTHING it has. Follow that up with Condemned on Tools (mid section), and it'll die after some time. Sour Mouth Tiger if you want to conserve some MP and try to win by merely hitting yourself with Heal Rod until Poison kills him; this is going to take a while, but its conserving MP, so its worth it. When Tiger is gone, kills Hit and Magic with Physicals, if only to conserve MP. Tier 3 might be a pain, since Strago's Single Target offense isn't much. Fire Step Mines at Girl and hope she doesn't use many Pearl Winds at higher HP so that you can kill her. When she dies, you should be able to take out Sleep with standard procedure, just make sure you have the Magus Rod on when you are ready to kill to up your chances of living through Calmness. Now for Kefka, you'll just kind of have to slug it out, as Heal Rod's healing is probably not enough here (hard to say), so don't try to play it defensively too much. As usual, avoid his counters in the 2nd phase as much as possible, and try to end it fast. If you conserved MP in the earlier parts of this fight, that should help a lot too. *Relm* Magus Rod, Behemoth Suit, Cat Hood, and Aegis Shield should be Relm's equips for fairly obvious reasons. Memento Ring will help as it means Relm can use X- potions and Elixirs to heal with, and Ribbon will stop all status damage. Having a Gravity Rod available MIGHT help somewhat, as can a Poison Rod. Alright, as it might be expected, all of these fights are going to be hard. Relm has no tricks to work with, and unlike Locke, no real weapon combos to save her ass beyond the Heal Rod for some indefinite healing. Tier 1, beat Face down first to avoid his Quake final attack. For Long Arm, since Relm has no means of Instant Death or any special offense, I suggest equipping Gravity Rod and hitting it with it, as it can be hit by Quartr; when Quartr does hit, it should speed up the fight somewhat, as its probably better damage than anything else Relm has. Short Arm gets beaten through standard procedure and stuff. Tier 2...you'll have to rely on fighting very defensively. First off, since you can't just Instantly Kill Tools like other characters can, I suggest grabbing the Poison Rod, and then beating Tiger with it til he gets Poisoned. THAT way, at least when you're sitting back and healing from all that damage, Tiger may eventually fall. That'll help the fight out tremendously. Next, probably best to aim at Tools (middle) with the Gravity Rod, since that's your best offense. If that's not working, try Magus Rod and hope the extra M. Block saves you. If you use Magus Rod, maybe attacking Magic (far left) might be a better idea. Really, just need to keep your HP high and hope something like N. Cross doesn't hit. There's no real way to get around this otherwise. Tier 3, attack Girl with the Magus Rod, and hope she doesn't use Pearl Wind too much, and you get some critical hits. Luck is going to be what you need to kill Girl, or a lot of patience for her to run out of MP (and hoping Heal Rod can keep you healed long enough by then); when Girl finally does, this fight should become fairly trivial. Just make sure you have your Magus Rod on when Calmness comes around. Kefka...no easy way to take this guy on. You just have to keep your HP high, and keep smacking him. Its not an easy fight, you'll just have to keep pressing on and hope things fall into place. Again, Relm's SCC is one that might require more levels to beat the final boss than a standard SCC, so if you must, drop the level barrier I placed here. *Gogo* Alright, this is one part of the Gogo's SCC that actually requires more than just "use other's strategies." First and foremost, Gogo has ASS for equip options, at least on armor. Tao Robe is his best, be thankful it at least gives M. Block. Due to that, you'll probably want Lores on if only for Big Guard so he can have SOME defenses. Give him Throw for damage; yes, Blitz is a bit more, but you can Target Throw, which helps in some areas (Girl of Tier 3 comes to mind.), and gives you the ability to get Shadow Edges too. Lastly, Fight should be used if only for the Heal Rod, which should be around somewhere for Gogo to access, OR give him Item if you think you have enough X-potions, and Elixirs (with Lores, you have Pearl Wind too, so be sure to remember that, but also remember that you have to have some HP for it to be useful, unfortunately). Magus Rod should be on usually, Red Cap and Aegis Shield should be on for Helmets and Shield, with Genji Shield being on reserves. If you have the Safety Bit (either you stole it from Doom, or got it from the Fanatics Tower), equip that, otherwise, go with the Relic Ring, and hope the Heal Rod is enough Tier 1, have Gogo cast Big Guard. That should help cover his defensive woes to some extent. Next, cast Condemned on Long Arm, as this will kill him eventually. Then start hurling whatever your most damaging weapon Face is. With them gone, take out Short Arm like you would any other boss. If you want, cast Force Field until all elements are nulled so the next few Tiers are easier (assuming Force Field DOES carry over) Tier 2, hit Magic (Left area) with Sour Mouth so it's muted and thus makes it worthless the entire fight. Then use Condemned on Tools (mid section) so it'll die on its own, and if you want, use Sour Mouth on Tiger to poison him. At this point, you might wanna sit back and let Poison kill Tiger while Gogo plays defensively. If Force Field does carry over, well, just kill Hit for now, since he's the only one who can do much, and then kill the others. You MIGHT want a Shadow Edge before Hit dies if only to avoid "10 hits." Tier 3, Throw non elemental weapons at Magic, and she should fall fast. Shadow Edge to stop Calmness, and beat Sleep like you normally would. As for Kefka himself, you...just kind of have to muscle it out. With Revenger around, you can't hide behind Big Guard or Shadow Edge's from Havok Wing, and with Gogo's Low Defense, Havok Wing will likely be incredibly brutal. Use the same general strategies for other characters listed above, and Gogo should come out on top eventually. *Umaro* Alright, I'll say this; Umaro's fight against the Tiers is PURE luck. He requires being high leveled so he can take a punishment, Ribbon to avoid status' (Doom Tusk on Tier 2 comes to mind), and probably Marvel Shoes for SOME Healing and more defenses, since he has no means of avoiding that. Umaro's strategy after that? PRAY. You can't control Umaro after all, so just hope everything goes fine. Oh, and you know Calmness? That's going against 14% M. Block so its likely going to hit a lot more often than miss, so you MIGHT wanna save state abuse that if you have (I don't normally support that, but...I can't see being sane enough to do this fight over and over again.) If for no other reason, this is why you shouldn't do Umaro's SCC; the final battle is nothing but a game of luck, and the odds are against you. If you want, you can still try, but I'm just giving you that warning. ------ With that, you now have...BEATEN THE SCC! Congrat yourself, brag about it, whatever, what do you do from here? Well, you can try another SCC, one that you think might be harder/more fun/easier/more boring cause you feel like torturing yourself, whatever, or try another challenge of sorts (Natural Magic Game (granted, if you beat an SCC, you effectively did an NMG), Low Level Game, whatever.) Whatever you decide to do, I don't care, its your life, waste it however you want <_<; If you still feel like reading my FAQ after having beaten the SCC for whatever reason (Say you are planning on doing another one), well, there is some stuff below, so yeah! Knock yourself out...I DID NOT MEAN THAT LITERALLY ;_; ------------ 7. More tips ------------ Ok, the first Tip I'll throw out is what order to do things in the World of Ruins, at least to get your character Prepared to be ready to take on most things. Terra: First off, if you didn't grab the Minerva when you were during that Stall Point, go grab it from the Coloseum now. Next, I'd suggest Going to Mt. Zozo, grabbing the Aegis Shield. Combined with the Buyable Enhancer (South Figaro/Nikeah) and Mystery Veil (Thamasa), Terra will have her best equipment throughout the game. Once you're finished with Mt. Zozo, I'd go to Narshe and pick up Mog, so you can do Phoenix Cave and grab the Phoenix Esper (Fastest way to Learn Fire3, and you don't get any "Illegal" spells in the proccess) Locke: Ok, go to Narshe and grab the Ragnorak (Sword, Esper is entirely useless here), and equip it. Now you have Locke's best Weapon in an SCC overall. With that, head to Zone Eater, and AT LEAST go as far as to pick up Genji Armor, that'll be Locke's best Armor until he can get Force Armor (Storm Dragon isn't exactly easy) Now head to Mt. Zozo. Beat Storm Dragon if you feel you can (To get Force Armor), and grab Aegis Shield and Red Cap, equipping them both. You've basically got all of Locke's best Equipment now. Mog: Ok, first off, try to get the Dragon Horn from the Phoenix Cave, might be hard, but you'll have to tough it up. Next, go to Fanatics Tower, using the Moogle Charm, stock up on LOTS of Super Balls, so you can actually beat White Dragon (I'll let you get by the rules in this battle, since otherwise, you can't possibly beat him without Terra, Celes, Umaro, or Gogo) so you can get the Pearl Lance and Genji Shield while you're at it. Get the Behemoth Suit from Veldt Cave and bet it at the Coloseum. Mind you, this may take several attempts, since the enemy you fight (Outsider, I believe) isn't easy, but trust me, Snow Muffler is worth it. Finally, grab the Aegis Shield and Red Cap from Zozo, and you should be set for a while. Edgar: He should already have the Enhancer on. Genji Armor is easily gotten from Zone Eater, Aegis Shield and Red Cap from Zozo. Edgar's Set for a while, at least til he can manage to get a Force Armor. Sabin: First off, head to Veldt Cave, and kill Allo Vera to gain Tiger Fangs. Following that, head to Zone Eater and grab his Red Jacket. As usual, Red Cap and Aegis Shield found in Mt. Zozo. But Before all that, head to Duncan's house and grab Bum Rush, since that's Sabin's best attack. Shadow: Ok, first off, Shadow probably isn't gonna be able to get his Stunner, and then again, why would he need it? His Throws always do more damage, so you should always have a healthy supply of things to throw (Falchions are best for Non Elemental Damage, of items not in limited quantity anyway) That said, you should already have the Thief Knife, which is Shadow's Best Weapon in terms of its bonuses. Grab Genji Armor from Zone Eater, Aegis Shield and Red Cap from Mt. Zozo, and I think this seems a bit familiar, doesn't it? Cyan: You should already have Tempest, his best overall weapon bar MAYBE the Scimitar. Grab Genji Armor from Zone Eater, Mt. Zozo has the needed Aegis Shield and Red Cap. If you want, try to beat Storm Dragon, or some of Kefka's Tower, to get the Force rmor. Gau: Try to get Snow Muffler ASAP, if you can manage to beat Outsider. That's not an easy Task, but well worth it. If you can do that, also bet Thunder Shield at Collosseum that you got from Mt. Zozo (you won't be using it anyway) for the Genji Shield. Got that? Good. Now, equip that Red Cap, and Gau should be set for his armor. Celes: In all Seriousness you can get all her best stuff (outside of Ragnorak and Aegis Shield) BEFORE Daryl's Tomb. That said, there you can pretty much go in whatever direction you want to. Setzer: Grab Fixed Dice from Kefka's Tower; this isn't as hard as it sounds, trust me, and try to Get the Offering ASAP. That will let Strago be Set Offensively the rest of the game. Grab Genji Armor to hold you over until you the Force Armor, and Aegis Shield and Red Cap from Mt. Zozo, like everyone else. Strago: Grab Behemoth Suit from Sr. Behemoth ASAP (if you didn't say Shadow, however, you'll already have it) Magus Rod from Dirt Dragon is also a good idea to get. Grab the usual Aegis Shield and Red Cap from Mt. Zozo as well, and Strago is ready. Relm: Basically the same as Strago. Nothing different really *Shrugs* Gogo: See Strago, only replace grabbing Behemoth Suit with getting a Tao Robe, since he can't use it. Umaro: ...no comment... *Get Marvel Shoes in the WoB!* This might not be worth it, but its still possible. Basically go fight Slam Dancers in Zozo, and use Magicite (or if Setzer SCC, use Slots and get 3 Bars), and keep trying until Ragnarok is summoned, says "You best be Marvel Shoes" and it successfully hits. This could be especially useful in some areas for characters who lack healing and need more defense. Whether you want to take the time to do this or not is up to you, but still possible. Just make sure you save right before doing this, so you can keep resetting and try again. It might take a while though, given there are nearly 30 espers it can summon, and it has only 25% chance of Ragnarok actually getting "you best be Marvel Shoes" (the other 75% are tonics), and the hit rate isn't perfect either. NOTE: Thanks to Sabin47 for reminding me of this. ----------------------------- 8. Frequently Asked Questions ----------------------------- Q. Where do each Character's SCCs Start and have Stall Points? A. Ok, here's the full list: NOTE: When I mention the Scenario part of the game where it branches into 3 directions temporarily, I obviously mean ONLY for the parts NOT including that character. NOTE2: unless said otherwise, assume you can continue the SCC immediately after the Falcon in the WoR. Remember, there is no SET Order in the WoR, even though the game wants you to do it in a certain order, so to speak, it can be done however you want. Terra: Starts RIGHT when the game begins, stalls only during the Scenario Sequence, right after the Narshe Battle for the Esper, and the first parts of the WoR. Locke: Soon after you meet Terra, stalls a bit during the Triple Scenario sequence, and continues through the entire WoB, then stalls for the first parts of the WoR. Mog: Starts for a (very) Short while in the Locke + Moogles Save Terra sequence, continues right after you get Terra back and head to narshe. Stalls during the Thamasa Sequence, and then again during the Pre Falcon WoR. Edgar: Starts right at the battle w/ the M-TekArmrs, stalls a bit during the Triple Scenario section, continues til the Thamasa Sequence, where it Stalls again. Continues during the fight with Tentacle. Sabin: Starts right at the fight with Vargas. Stalls during the Triple Scenario Section a bit, continues until Thamasa Sequence, and then Stalls once More in the WoR until you get to Tzen. Shadow: Ok, pretty much, every part in the WoB bar Sabin's Scenario, Zozo, First part of Thasama Section and the Floating Continent is a Stall Point. The SCC I guess REALLY begins in the WoR, when you pick him up in the coloseum (Still gotta use him solo at those parts before though) Cyan: Starts right after Doma, stalls during the Non Sabin Scenarios, and then again during Thamasa Sequence, and one last time in the Pre Falcon WoR up until you finish Mt. Zozo Gau: Starts on Veldt, Stalls during Non Sabin Scenarios, continues til Thamasa, where another Stall. Then Stalls once more in the Pre Falcon WoR. Celes: Starts right when Locke rescues her. Stalls during the Non Locke scenarios, and again during the Opera House (Ironic as it sounds). Then Stalls after Battle w/ 024 (kind of) all the way til the FC, where it continues throughout the rest of the game. Setzer: Starts with the battle against the Cranes, stalls only during the Thamasa Sequence, and the WoR up til Kolinghen. Strago: Starts in the Burning House, Stalls only in the WoR up til you can get him back, but remember, you MUST get Relm first to get Strago, so it involves doing Jidoor, at least. Relm: Starts in Ultros Fight 3, stalls during the Pre Falcon WoR and until you complete Jidoor Gogo: Starts right when you get him in the Zone Eater, and then NO Stall points. Umaro: Starts right when beat him and he joins, No Stall Points NOTE: Stall Point means a part of the game you must play normally, since you don't have the character. Q. What about the Continuation Points in the WoR? How early can you get those? A. Ok, here's another List: Terra: Right after the Falcon is available, head to Mobliz. However, you gotta beat Phunbaba the first time, preferably before you even get the Falcon (Suggestion: Get Edgar BEFORE taking on Phunbaba Fight 1. This is cause you're supposed to Skip Sabin until your character can SCC that spot) Locke: Once you beat the Phoenix Cave, he joins you, so it continues then. You can do Phoenix Cave RIGHT after the Falcon is available. Mog: Just head to Narshe after getting the Falcon and find him in his usual place. Edgar: Right at the battle with Tentacles, this is impossible to miss, obviously. Sabin: Get him the way you usually do, right after Celes gets off the Solitary Island and going to Tzen, obviously. SCC continues Earlier than all others, with one obvious exception. Shadow: Go Grab Striker from Chest in Veldt after getting Falcon, beat Sr. Behemoth, and then Bet Striker at Coloseum. After that, it's back to Shadow Soloing. Cyan: Basically, listen to Celes, and go to Maranda, and do the whole Mt. Zozo-sequence-thingy, and Cyan joins. Most people do this first anyway, since the game more or less tells you to. Gau: If you were listening, you knew NOT to get Sabin with Celes, thus, you'd only have 3 Characters (Celes, Edgar, and Setzer), so you can pick up Gau on the Veldt Right there and then. Just gotta do the usual "1 Living character w/ 3 Dead ones" situation until you get another Character. Celes: Continues RIGHT when the WoR starts. This I really shouldn't have even be needed to been said (pardon my Grammar) Setzer: Seeing as you always get Setzer in the same spot, linearly, it's pretty obvious. Right after you speak to him in Kolinghen. Strago: If you saved Shadow, go right to Jidoor right after you get the Falcon. If not, go to Veldt, beat Sr. Behemoth, then go to Jidoor. Grab Relm there, bring her to Fanatics Tower, and Strago can continue his lone quest to Kill Kefka :P Relm: If you saved Shadow, go right to Jidoor after getting the Falcon. If not, go to the veldt Cave and beat Sr. Behemoth, then go to Jidoor. After Chardarnook dies, Relm can continue her journey to beat that mad man. Gogo: Just go to Triangle Island do his Dungeon as soon as you get the Falcon. Not only does Gogo continue his SCC there, but he starts it as well ^^ Umaro: Go to Narshe once you get the Falcon, grab Mog, go beat Tritoch (avoid Ice Dragon), do his Dungeon, Beat Umaro himself, and continue his SCC...heck, like Gogo, he also starts it here :P Q. What do I do in the Banon Section? I can't Kill Banon There, so how do I do the SCC? A. Well, ok, this is KIND of a Stall Point, kind of not. Basically, keep your SCC Character and Banon Alive, while the other(s) alive. It's annoying you have to let this old fart live and you can't REALLY Solo Ultros, but hey, what are you going to do? Q. What SCC is the easiest? A. Terra, no questions asked. She has everything you could possibly want...AND Ultima. Seriously, Terra's SCC is ridiculously Easy. If you know what you're doing, you should never have any problems besides a few Key fights where everyone has problems (Atma Weapon and Kefka (Narshe) are the big offenders here) What's best is in the WoR, Terra will pretty much NEVER have to Change her Equipment, outside of Crystal Shield once she gets Aegis Shield and Enhancer once she Gets Ragnorak. Q. What SCC do you recommend starting with? A. Well, if you want an Easy time, obviously, choose Terra. If you want a bit of a challenge, but don't want it to be too hard, I'd go with Celes and Edgar. Both are solid characters who shouldn't have too many problems in the game, though, they can't quite coast through the entire game the same way Terra does... Q. Is Speed really as important as some people say in an SCC? A. In actuality, Speed doesn't really change as much as you think. Yes, It DOES change some aspects, like timing the Jumps for Atma Weapon for Example; all characters will need different timings. However, in terms of does it really make an overall impact in battle, in all actuality, it does not. After completing a Locke and Mog SCC, I noticed that Mog wasn't being double Turned any more than Locke was (Locke has considerably higher Speed), and that it was all the other factors that decided out come of fights. Truth be told, I Play SCCs at battle speed of 1 (making my life harder cause I'm a moron), which could have an Impact as to why, but even then, I don't expect speed to change all that much. Still, if you can raise speed, it doesn't hurt to do so, as long as your not sacrificing something instead that could be important. Q. How can I get the Pearl Lance for Mog? He doesn't have Magic, I don't Have enough Legal Rods, and Super Balls are Illegal, what do I do? That partisan is kind of weak. A. Ah, yes, this is something I thought of while playing the Mog SCC. Yes, beating White Dragon is sort of impossible to do in a Mog SCC, just due to the nature of the fight, however, fear not, there's another way to get the Pearl Lance! First off, beat Red Dragon, and walk away with the Strato as your trophy (and pick up the Dragon Horn while your at it, very good relic for Mog) What to do with this useless Weapon for Cyan that Mog has no use for in His SCC? Trade it at the coloseum, that's what! And just what does it give? A battle against an Aquilla with the reward of a Pearl Lance! Win this fight, and you get yourself a nifty little Pearl Lance, which will prove VERY useful throughout Mog's SCC. Q. What of the Minerva? Should I cheap my way through Kefka's tower, or what? Pugs are kicking my ass too... A. I told you before, but oh well, here it goes again. You can get the Minerva for the Terra and Celes SCCs BEFORE the Falcon. How to do so? In Daryl's Tomb, there's a Czarina Gown, which you can trade in for the Minerva at The Coloseum by beating a Sky Base. Mind you, Sky Base is an utter Joke, just start the fight with a Wall Ring, chances are he will kill himself with his own Doom Spell. Q. ARRGH! I can't beat the Outsider for my Snow Muffler! What should I do? A. Sadly, there isn't much you can do but pray things go your way. Basically, hope Mog uses something like Dusk Requiem's Snare, or something, and that it hits him. For Gau, its even more painful, just cause of all his Rages. Just keep trying, even if it takes forever and a day, until Gau uses something that ends in his favor like Rhodox Rage. Really, there is no set up that is Good for an Outsider in a Gau or Mog SCC (if it was Shadow or Locke, it'd be easy, since they have Instant Death weapons and they do nothing but fight, really) This can take hours mind you, but personally, I think its worth it. Q. How do I avoid Calmness in an SCC? This move ignores the Safety Bit, And keeps kill me? What to do? A. Ok, good old Sleep of Tier 3 of Kefka's Tower uses Calmness as a final attack. And yes, it does ignore Instant Death protection, but there are still ways around it. For starters, it's a physical attack. This is GREAT news for Shadow and Gogo, who can just use Shadow Edges (preferred over Invis Edge here, since Sleep likes to spam magic, thus making Vanish Status worthless) and avoid the attack altogether (Well, avoiding the first is no problem, just hope that the status doesn't end, in case he casts a 2nd one) If you managed to pick up the Gem Box for Celes and have it equipped, I suggest using Vanish on Celes, and blasting him with Flare or something, so that he uses nothing between the Vanish casting and Calmness to offset things. Without Gem Box, well, you can always pray, but chances are, things won't go your way. Everyone else should use the best M. Block Set Ups they can use legally (though, I can understand breaking the rules to use a Force Shield for here ONLY! I'll allow that leniency), at least with Weapon and Shield since you can switch those in battles for this fight. With a high M. Block, you should be able to avoid the attacks. Those who can use Ragnarok or Magus Rod SHOULD use those Weapons, Aegis Shield is a must as well (if you feel like playing fair, that is) Basically, just a high M. Block and pray Calmness doesn't break through. If it does, well, I guess you gotta start back at Tier 1, unless you use Saved States, which I can understand abusing them here. Calmness is seriously one of the biggest annoyances in an SCC. Q. What spells do Terra and Celes Learn Naturally, and what's the fastest Way to teach them to each character? A. Ok, here's a list of spells they learn which I should have put in a Long time ago, so forgive me: Note that when I say Don't Bother, its cause the spell has no use in an SCC (what good is Life in an SCC?), though, in some cases (like Dispel) it just plain isn't worth getting Illegal spells for. Terra: Level 1 - Cure (she comes with this, seeing as she starts at level 3) Level 3 - Fire (See above) Level 6 - Antdot (should learn this pretty early) Level 12 - Drain (should get this by the Narshe Battle Scene) Level 18 - Life (Don't even bother, worthless for these purposes) Level 22 - Fire 2 (Use Ifrit Esper) Level 26 - Warp (probably best to just learn Naturally) Level 33 - Cure 2 (Sraphim Esper, you'll also learn Regen) Level 37 - Dispel (just wait to learn it) Level 43 - Fire 3 (Phoenix Esper) Level 49 - Life 2 (Don't bother) Level 57 - Pearl (if you must, Alexandr Esper, also gets you Remedy, Safe, and Shell) Level 68 - Break (Shoat Esper, you'll learn the Illegal Bio in the Process) Level 75 - Quartr (Terrato, you'll also get Quake) Level 86 - Merton (Crusader Esper, also gets you Meteor) Level 99 - Ultima (Paladin Shield or Ragnorak Esper, your choice, I say Shield so you can get the Sword) List of Illegal Spells Terra will probably learn (in other words DO NOT use these): Regen, Remedy, Safe, Shell, Bio, Quake, Meteor Celes Level 1 - Ice (Comes with it) Level 4 - Cure (she starts at level 4, so...) Level 8 - Antdot (chances are, she'll come with this, but if she doesn't, you'll learn it soon after) Level 13 - Imp (probably get it by Zozo, if not earlier) Level 18 - Scan (use Kirin Esper) Level 22 - Safe (Golem Esper, also teaches illegal Shell and Cure2) Level 26 - Ice 2 (Shiva Esper) Level 32 - Haste (Carbunkl Esper, also learn illegal Reflect) Level 32 - Muddle (Stray Esper) Level 40 - Bserk (Phantom Esper, also gains Demi) Level 42 - Ice 3 (Tritoch esper, comes with Bolt3 and Fire3) Level 48 - Vanish (See Bserk) Level 52 - Haste2 (Don't Bother) Level 72 - Pearl (if you must, Alexandr Esper, also gets you Remedy, Dispel, and Shell) Level 81 - Flare (Bahamut Esper) Level 98 - Meteor (Odin or Crusader, Preferably Odin due to availability) Illegal Spells Celes learns that you should never cast: Cure2, Shell, Demi, Bolt3, Fire3, Remedy, Dispel, Shell, and Reflect Granted, in Coliseum, they may cast some of those spells, hence why its best to try and avoid getting as many Illegal spells as possible. Also, if you're like me, if you win due to an Illegal Spell, then opt to try that Coliseum match again, since its kind of not fair. Q. You mentioned that Celes can just pound her through the game physically. Why can't Terra, who uses the exact same equipment? A. Well, yes, Terra CAN also use any set up Celes can, in general, and probably just as effectively. The reason I didn't mention it is because, well, does she need it? Ultima just obliterates things as is, and her Magic is considerably more damaging than Celes' (due to Morph and Magic Power actually meaning something unlike Vigor), so often, it's best she sticks to a defensive Set Up and stays as a mage. Though, if you wish to use her physically, by all means do so, she's just as good (Well, slightly worse, due to a bit lower Vigor, but its negligible) having access to all the same weapons. Q. What to do about Hidon's Chokesmoke? A. Well, by defintion, your forced to live with this, and there's no way you can get by it either. Why not just a Ribbon or something similar on the dead characters? Well, Hidon, like an idiot, will keep using Chokesmoke on them and fail every time. This makes the battle A LOT easier than it should be, so its best to just let Relm and Strago get Zombified. And remember, there are 4 Hidonites as well, so the Zombified characters have many options of whom to hit. Mind you, this fight is a relatively easy one as is (if your properly prepared), so it shouldn't change much. Why not petrify? Well, remember, while in most games, Petrified characters are viewed as dead, FF6 Petrify means the character is dead but still able to be targeted, effectively speaking, so enemies sometimes still attack them, and do 0 Damage to them. This ultimately results in a similar situation to letting your characters be zombified. Q. Why are you so hard on Sabin? His SCC is really easy? A. Ok, so are most of the other SCCs. Really, I've done comparisons and such, and Sabin ends up having a harder time beating many battles than others. I know some people accuse me of hating Sabin, but...lets not get into that. People basically rant about Sabin's Bum Rush being godly in an SCC, yet, damage from the Swordsman using Ragnarok does about the same, Mog's Dragoon Combo does MORE, Offering + Fixed Dice makes Bum Rush Cry in damage, and Shadow's Throws do about the same damage and they are TARGETTABLE. That's to say nothing of how Gogo has Bum Rush too and his is STRONGER in practice (after Equipment his Magic Power will be higher) than Sabin's. Oh yeah, and before you bring in defenses, Sabin has some of the lower Defenses in game, especially when it comes to M. Block. HP? Pfft, the biggest HP stretch is Umaro (highest) having 50 points more than Strago (Lowest), and when you have 2500 HP, that's nearly nothing. Bum Rush is good, but it's all he has. Every other character outside of Relm, Cyan, and Umaro have means of doing high consistent Damage in an SCC, its just a matter of discovering how to get it. Q. For Gau's section, why didn't you mention Night Shade Rage? That Rage kills bosses easily! A. Because it makes the game too stupidly easy and you really don't need it. That and it takes the challenge out of the game entirely. At least put some THOUGHT into fighting enemies, instead of going "Charm, I win!" Use it if you want, but it's not totally advisable (That, and against the Tier's, it can potentially kill you, given that if he charms Hit, then YAY! You wasted your Charm on the WORST POSSIBLE TARGET! You can only Charm one target at a time. That target must die first to Charm another) Q. What the? Number 024 Kicked my Celes' ass thanks to those Auto Critical! You said it'd be easy once it was Imped! What are you trying to pull? A. *Sigh* it is easy, and to be frank, and I'm sorry to say this as people advise me not to, but you must really suck. There's no other excuse beyond incompetence for losing this fight. If you had followed my guidelines, Celes with her best equips at the time (Gold Shld, Green Beret, and Gold Armor/White Dress), in the Back Row, should have taken no more than 120 damage a hit from the guy, and she should easily have more than 600 HP. That's being able to take *5* hits, and that's assuming you don't have any other defense boosters on (like Mithril Gloves or White Capes) her healing via Potions and Cure MORE than Offset the damage. Seriously, if you lost to an Imp, you were unprepared, you got cocky (Which I told you to avoid), or you didn't follow one of my guidelines. Also, if you were using the "Punch him to death" strategy, that was obviously meant as a joke, and your taking that seriously is just plain idiotic. Q. You never said to be in the Back Row for *insert fight here* and I lost thanks to his Physicals! Oh sure, I COULD use "Row" but that wastes a Turn. Add that in your FAQ NOW! A. ...no, just no. First off, calm down. Secondly, READ THE GENERAL TIPS SECTION. General Tips means "Useful for all SCCs unless specified otherwise." It says "Use Back Row," and if your doing an SCC, you should at least have half a brain to know that Back Row = Beneficial. Only characters who get hurt by Back Row are: Locke, since he has no Long Range attacks, and even he often has a Long Range Weapon to take advantage of the Back Row. Gau using a Physical Rage, but that comes down to judgement really Relm, who, well, simply put, is a Hard SCC in general. And Even Relm can use Back Row by equipping Dragoon Boots and getting MORE damage while still retaining the 50% damage reduction the Back Row gives. Its called STRATEGY. If you're playing an SCC, I half expect you've beaten the game at least once and know some of the basics. If your playing an SCC just to prove how good you are and you only know so much about the game, I have problems feeling pity for you. Q. Explain how Back Row is Beneficial for every other character besides Locke w/ Short Ranged Weapon and Relm then, Big Shot! A. Your asking to be smacked, but fine, I will. And in the process, you might learn something. Observe as go through each character one by one! First off, remember that anytime after the Magitek Factory, Dragoon Boots are available, so Long Range can be made for those who are forced to sue the "Fight" Command with that. Understand? Good. Terra: Back Row ONLY affects Physical attacks. Terra has Magic, which is 9/10 times, stronger than a Physical Attack. Not a very hard choice where Terra goes. And more interesting, for the last section of the WoB, Terra's strongest Raw Battle Power weapon is the Morning Star, which is *Gasp* Long Range! Mog: If he's going physical, he SHOULD have dragoon boots, in which case *points up* Beyond that, say it with me: Back Row only affects Physical attacks, if that. Now, Dances are magical. Do the math... Edgar: Tools, while Physical, ignore Back Row damage aspect, meaning they are "Long Ranged" and thus, Edgar would be a total Jerk if he was in the front Lines firing arrows when he could be hiding behind a Rock sniping enemies dead with his Auto Crossbow for the same damage (and yet, that Logic still works with something blatantly close Range like the Chain Saw or Drill. How Edgar snipes with those is beyond me, doesn't change the way you should use them, just something to thing about...) Sabin: First off, his Physical Blitzes are basically the same as Edgar's physical tools only you can't actually target who you hit. That right there says something. The others, well, they are Magical. Should I go on? Oh, and lets not forget that Sabin is reminiscent of a, dare I say it, DBZ character, or a Street Fighter one, does Range affect their hurling Ki Blasts/Fireballs at each other in their respective games/Show? Didn't think so, same logic applies to Sabin here... Shadow: He's throwing crap for crying out loud, you'd EXPECT that to be Long Ranged. Well it is, so good show putting him in front making him take 2x the damage, while dealing the same as he would in the Back Row, yeah! Cyan: I'll be blunt: Everyone of his Sword techs ignore Back Row. Why am I not being witty here? Cause I can't think of a clever line here, I'm sorry. Celes: *Points to Terra* That's all I can say... Setzer: ALL of his unique weapons have "Same Damage from Back Row" on them, and ALL his Slots are Magical, and GP Rain is Set Damage. Now, give me a good reason to put Setzer in the Front Row beyond assuming your correctly your gonna have a Back Attack and that you want him in the Back Row there? Uh huh, thought not, and no, using the Man Eater is not a good enough excuse. Strago: Strago is a Mage, he's sucks as a fighter, using his Physical means you = Die, most likely (ok, that's being extreme, but you get the point!). Now, Strago doesn't have Magic, but he does Have Lores, which are just about as close as your gonna get to having Magic w/out using Terra, Celes, or Gau (w/ Proper Rage.) That means Strago would be senile to EVER be in the front row. Gogo: *Sigh* I'll use the same idea I used for his strategies. See other characters? All his reasons are listed there. Good show laddy! Umaro: Don't put Umaro in the Front Row on shear fact that you shouldn't be playing an Umaro SCC. That = Stupid to begin with. Seriously, Forget the existance of the Umaro SCC, for sanity purposes... Q. Why are some words randomly capitalized? A. Well, a few reasons. For starters, it's a bad habit I have to just randomly capitalize words that seem arbitrarily important (even if they aren't), and subconsciously, I want those words to stand out (when I want a word to stand out on purpose, its often entirely in caps, such as when I want to emphasise, say, use front row, I'd say "use the FRONT ROW", for example), and such. The other is cause when I copied my FAQ to another computer, the layout got a bit messed up, with lines ending much earlier than they should be and such. Over the course of the FAQ, I've been slowly correcting these, but sometimes when I was fixing it, the words would randomly capitalize, and me being a lazy bastard to no end, didn't feel like taking 2 seconds out of my life to change it. So yeah, I'm sorry if those annoy you, but its not entirely my fault, and I'm not trying to be a jerk (well, yes, I am...wait, was that out loud?), I just either do these things subconsciously, or they just happen, and I either don't notice it, or am too lazy to do anything about it. Q. Is there anyway I can contribute to this FAQ? A. Yes. A few things you can do. 1. Find strategies that work well, and are either good alternatives, or easier than the ones I listed, for beating bosses. Just cause I gave a sound strategy doesn't mean that's the only one outer there 2. If you think there's a certain aspect of the SCC, say in the rules, that I haven't covered, and you think it should be noted, send it to me, and I'll consider it. 3. Corrections, be it content wise (like me claiming an enemy has a spell they really don't), or grammar correction would be nice. I like my FAQs too look at polished as possible, and well, my grammar skills < most people's, so yeah, help there would be nice. Q. How can I contact you? A. I have it listed several times in the FAQ. In fact, if you scroll down a bit, you'll find out exactly how. What? I'm lazy for not just telling you here? Yes, yes I am <_< Q. What kind of comments are acceptable? A. Well, there are a few and such, so I'll just give a few brief examples or something: Basically, anything regarding things mentioned in contributions would be acceptable obviously. Note that if what you wanted to contribute has already been covered, or there's something wrong with it (like, just as a wild shot example, someone recommending Sabin buy stuff in Figaro cause he gets a discount. This is false information, since while Sabin DOES get an extra bit of dialogue, he doesn't get a discount like his brother does) Criticism on the FAQ in general isn't bad either, though, I don't necessarily respond to those. If you need help with a specific area, and you feel my FAQ didn't cover your exact problem, you can contact me and I can help you out exactly there to the best of my knowledge. For things that are NOT acceptable... While negative criticism is acceptable, I will NOT accept flaming. What's the difference? Negative Criticism: I read over your FAQ, and quite frankly, I didn't find it all that helpful. You missed a lot of key points I felt, and I don't agree with a lot of what you said. Negative Criticism with Flaming: DUDE! Your FAQ just plain SUCKS! What kind of MORON ARE YOU? Go **** yourself, you ****ing ******! I could right a better FAQ than your stupid brain could comprehend in less than 5 minutes! See the difference? The first guy just put down the FAQ, saying it wasn't that great. That's fine, that means I obviously failed somewhere, I would like to know how to make my FAQ better (if you plan on giving me Negative Criticism, be sure to tell me what you want to change) The latter just said the FAQ sucked, then ranted about how the author is a total moron. Not helpful at all. I likely will ignore Flaming e-mails, mind, so don't think your accomplishing anything. With regards to Negative Criticism...case by case basis, depends on what it says, I guess. I also don't accept strategies that are either: A. Illegal (say suggesting Locke kill some guy with 5 Ultimas) B. Are wrong, and just clearly thought up cause they wanted their name in the FAQ, and didn't help at all, or the Strategy just plain isn't all that useful as is (for starters, don't expect to see me "validate" any strategy involving Setzer using the weapon "Dice", since everyone knows my opinion on that piece of Crap weapon on the Message Boards (Fixed Dice are a different story)) Lastly, if you tell me something that was a mistake in the FAQ, but in the latest update (one that hasn't been uploaded yet, I mean), it was already corrected/pointed out by someone else before you, don't expect to see your name in the credits. I will respond to you nicely saying that it was discovered already, and I am grateful that you tried to help, but I am just warning you that because you pointed it out doesn't mean you deserve credit for it, if its already been taken care of. And yes, I am aware that I know its not your fault for noticing this mistake too late, there's no way for you to know what I've corrected since my last update, or for you to know who I've spoken to since this as well, so don't feel insulted by this either... Basically, I accept e-mails that have some reason behind it besides randomly flaming me. Generally, if the E-mail has something to do with helping in general (either helping make this FAQ better, or me helping you or whatever), then its going to accepted. If its just a way to relieve yourself of some steam on me, then don't expect me to look at you very highly. More to come in later updates... ---------- 9. Credits ---------- Ok, first, I'd like to thank Squaresoft for making such a great game. Even after 10 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'd like to give my regards to Mnrogar for checking a few things I asked him to on the game that I couldn't do myself. You Rule Man! Also, I'd like to thank NeoElfBoy for several things. First for giving me the idea to use that Genji Glove + Drainer Strategy. Next, those arguments we had in the past really gave me more insight in the game than I use to have. And finally, for reading this FAQ beforehand and supporting me all the way through. Thanks a lot, man. Another person I'd like to give mention to is Kusanagi, who looked over my guide, and made some grammatical changes. Thanks a lot, man. Also, I'd like to give my Regards to Assassin17 who did some MAJOR work With the grammar for this FAQ. Way to go man! Fated Midnight, you deserve some merit for discovering and pointing out that Gau will NOT appear on the Veldt the first time unless Sabin AND Cyan are both alive. Nice find. I'd like to give credit to Eternal Spirit for giving me the inspiration to make such random humor (even if my attempts were sad and not funny at all) in this FAQ. Well, I hope this FAQ has helped you get the idea of playing the game through using ONE character the entire game, and being able to see really the ups and downs of a character based off their uniqueness. If you wish to contact me, you can E-mail me at Dbzfflord@aol.com, or you can IM at my AIM address of Dbzfflord or my MSN address at MeepleLard@hotmail.com (E-mail there if you want to as well; in fact, I encourage you use this one) 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.