The Phantasy Star 4 cast takes on FF6: Beyond Chaos

[DragonKnight Zero]

Every now and then, I get this urge to rampage through a game crushing all opposition with overwhelming power.  Beyond Chaos has several optional settings that can enable this but the one that becomes the primary feature of this playthrough is the one that makes desperation attacks far more frequent.  Normally, desperation attacks don't show up as commands or options within R-command skills,  With good reason, their unblockable defense-piercing nature will overshadow nearly every other option in the game.  But this optional setting adds them to the command pool and guarantees at least one character will have a Limit command (uses random desperation attack).  It took a few tries before I generated a randomized game that was up to the power levels I was aiming for.  And with that, onto playthrough highlights (and any lowlights that come up)

  Terra started at Lv 7, an auspicious start for a playthrough aiming for big numbers.  Vicks and Wedge start at Lv 9.  Terra has Heal Force so no trouble whatsoever for the intro.  Bolt Beams at Whelk's head and ATB didn't tease me into accidentally hurting the shell.  Terra wakes up with a MithrilBlade and a Barrier Ring in the inventory, neither of which she has much use for.  Not with a command set of Steal, SwdTech, and Magic.  This may be a powertrip playthrough but it's not starting here.  So she doesn't get named after an overpowered character.  I randomly set her name as Krissy, after one of the counselors from NES Friday the 13th who doesn't suck.

Steal: Steal is Steal and works exactly the same as the vanilla game.  It's worth will be determined entirely on what the enemies are carrying.  At earlygame levels and no Sneak Ring, the success rate is also going to be disappointing until later.

SwdTech: Beyond Chaos makes every weapon SwdTech compatible, for a bit of added convenience.  Also, it skips the weapon check in regular battles so the command is usable even without one.  Only in the coloseum is a weapon required for SwdTech to be used.  Otherwise still the same as vanilla with the same major issue of not being able to enter commands for anyone while waiting for it to charge while the ATB continues to run.  So verdict is still "mostly scrubby."

   Arvis' clock has a Gold Hairpin.  And it has auto-reflect so will be of some use once I have someone who uses MP.  Solo Krissy just spams Dispatch; with no source of recovery, not worth spending turns on Steal.

  Meet Locke, who has Morph, Bolt3, and Item as a command set. 

Bolt 3: Free Bolt 3 at zero MP cost.  Sounds broken but numerous things will thwart it.  Elemental resistance, reflect status, Runic, or just insane magic defense will thwart the power of this command.

She (female sprite) slings Bolt3 for free.  Or can Morph for stronger Bolt3.  Raiden felt like a fitting name for how one-note she is.  Enemies able to thwart Bolt 3 spam, she becomes deadweight  Moogle segment was a bit spicier than usual with a number of Cursed shield users and another with a Cursed Ring but still earlygame speedbump.  2 out of 3 enemies resist lightning so took a few extra turns to clear randoms.  Mog has nothing interesting to steal so I leave his equipment alone.

  On the way to Figaro Castle is Krissy Steal and Raiden oneshot everything with Bolt 3.  Zzzz...  Saw regular priced Tonic at the Figaro castle shops to spent some of my starter cash on 20 of them.  Regular price Phoenix Down on sale too but I made the tough choice (tough because there won't be another chance at this shop) to skip them as it would have emptied the team's wallet.  Went outside to safety save with Edgar.

  Edgar's commands are Throw, Bio + TigerBreak, Item.  Oh yes, this is what I'm talking about. 

Throw: As noted from previous posts, BC enables throwing all weapons.  Targeting will be affected by whatever spell each weapon has attached.  If a weapon's spell can be MT'ed normally, throwing the weapon will also multitarget.  If an attached spell is ally only, (Antdot, Remedy, and the like) such a weapon can only be thrown at an ally.  And so on.

Bio + TigerBreak: Regular Bio spell followed by Sabin's desperation attack.  If MT'ed, TigerBreak will fire on a random living enemy.

I set his name to Ryu, specifcally referencing Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden NES and its Jump and Slash art which decimates boss fights.  With Tigerbreak on demand, Throw isn't seeing a lot of action besides scrolls for utility and MT functions and enemies with auto-reflect when I don't want to deal with reflected damage.  Cannot use weapons but with that skillset, when will he ever need a standard physical?  Magitek armors are oneshotted by Bolt 3.

  Everything in the cave to South Figaro resists lightning so Raiden only has knife stabs to add.  MT Bio does enough to handle everything though so another run through skipping all the treasure scenario.  There are enemies on the South Figaro plains which can poison.  Bit of a nuisance since I have very few Antidotes but Duncan's cabin is right there so it's just a few extra battles before I make it to South Figaro safely.

  I will maintain that randomizer really doesn't begin until South Figaro and everything before then is going through motions.  This trip turned out profitable.  Monsters-in-box live survive a Bolt 3 but the followup Bio finishes them and they leave two Red Jackets, a nice defensive boon.  Thunder Rod is Raiden only.  Not useful since if Bolt 3 is failing to damage, the Thunder Rod won't either.  Coin Toss changes Item to Mimic.  So it may be of some use for a weaker character to mime a strong attack from an ally.  Also acquired some miscellaneous defense upgrades from around town though nothing as impactful as those Red Jackets.

  Took two trips to clear Mt. Koltz.  Got pincered by monsters-in-box and they got an attack off as well as nailing the one unit who couldn't wear a Red Jacket with Fire.  With Ryu at 19 HP, I'd planned to leave after grabbing the Atlas Armlet box anyways so I didn't bother to heal him.  Then the very next fight, a monster got a turn first due to ATB randomness and smacked his remaining HP down.  Cue scrambling back to Duncan's cabin because I have no revival.  The second trip went according to plan though.  All the enemy formations die to MT Bolt 3 so randoms end as soon as Raiden gets a turn.  Krissy Steals since she's not needed for offense.  Took some scratch damage due to ATB hax but with this much offense, didn't feel a need to dig into my Tonic stash.  Found a Gold helmet, which like the Coin Toss, changes Item to Mimic, and a thunder elemental Poison Rod, so the team still has no use for it.  Vargas' bears survive a MT Bold 3 so I need Ryu to finish them with MT Bio.  This allows Vargas enough time to get a Gale Cut off but whatever.  Krissy Steals, nabbed a Shuriken.  TigerBreak from Ryu takes Vargas down to zero HP which suits me fine as Sabin isn't really up to the task.

  Sabin rolled R-Esper, Magic, Item.  Sounds neat on paper but like the Magicite item, not amazing in practice.  Most offense Esper summons are low power and therefore not great at sweeping randoms.  Defensive summons tend to be situational rather than something one wants to see every fight.  R-Esper leads to too many situations such as rolling Carbuncle against opposition with no reflectable magic, Odin/Raiden on bosses or monsters immune to ID, or Phoenix with no dead allies.  Or just screwing you over with Crusader.  Fun command to play around with from time to time but not one highly desired for effectiveness.  Sabin came with a Flame shield, kind of neat.  I rename him Shania, after Shadow Hearts 3's harmonixer.  Also rolled a female sprite so maybe her is the proper pronoun.  Joined at Lv 14 with natural magic: Cure 2, Life, Ice, Berserk.  The recovery stuff is a nice backup option at least.  She gets the Coin Toss relic since miming Raiden or Ryu is far more reliable than uncontrollable summons.

  Returner's hideout shop is double priced so I pass on buying from there as there's nothing I desperately need right away.  The reward options from Banon are either a Rage Ring or a Bone Club.  Rage Ring is by far the more useful option here.  Even if I had someone able to equip it, Bone Club is rather meh as a weapon option.  Other useful loot from the Returner's hideout are a Star Pendant (more for out-of-battle poison removal) and Cards to replace Krissy's MithrilKnife.  Banon comes with Jump and R-Esper to go along with the requisite Item.  Using R-Esper with someone whose death results in a game over is a dangerous venture.  Banon comes with an Imp Halberd so Jump is doing less harm than being poked by a needle, even more so with his single digit Vigor.  The main perk of Jump is that it keeps him from harm for a bit.

  I have Shania swipe the Gold Helmet that Raiden was using before setting out.  First chance I get, Ryu tosses an Invis Edge and Shania Mimics so that I have two invisible people on the raft.  This cuts down on the scratch damage since it will add up and my healing supplies are very limited.  Ryu does most of the heavy lifting here with Shania and Krissy chipping in small amounts with Fight and Dispatch.  Banon Jumps a lot for defense.  I did get two Genji Helmet drops while trying to get all three enemy types to show.  Did get a Bio reflected back at me but I kept it instead of resetting as I would have lost the Genji Helmets.  They have a rogue holy immunity but also -10 Evade so not as exciting to see as they might be otherwise.  Ultros goes down like a chump to a Tigerbreak and Shania Miming it.

[DragonKnight Zero]

The scenarios:

  Nothing of note on the Terra, Edgar, Banon path really.  Ryu and Krissy bash through monsters with whatever offense is suitable to what they're fighting.  Banon risks an R-Esper or two early but mostly Jumps to keep his hide out of reach.  The team has no healing besides items so I take the safe path through the security checkpoint rather than the short one.  De-equip all Relics upon reaching Arvis'

  Locke next.  One Bolt 3 removes the heavyarmor on the map but I still end up detouring for the item shop to pick up some Dried Meat now that I have more cash to afford them.  Rescue Celes who comes with Dischord + Bolt3, Tritoch + Bolt 3, Item.

Dischord + Bolt 3: Forced single target, this is handy for when fighting something bulky enough to not die right away that's also vulnerable to instant death.  Or if I need to focus on a particular enemy or avoid hitting a different one because...

Tritoch + Bolt 3: Forced multitarget.  Primarily a random sweeper though the tri-element nature of Tritoch means it's not that uncommon to fight something that resists it.  Does good damage when the targets don't though.

  With all the Bolt 3, I rename Celes Jade.  Both because it's a gender flexible name and also to reference the bug from Breath of Fire who loves his BoltX.  Gets to use the 3rd Red Jacket I won on Mt. Koltz for a welcome defense boost.

  Enemies in the basement are cooperative and die as soon as either fighter gets a turn.  Useful loot includes a Pearl Rod (finally something non-lightning that Raiden can use to bash things that resist Bolt 3 spam) and another Heavy Shield, which likely will come in handy on the Sabin scenario.  Rest up at the cabin and then plow through the cave to South Figaro.  Early on, I encounter randoms who can counter damage with a vanish Special, even when the damage is fatal.  So at the price of 12 damage, both characters end up invisible quickly.  Enemies are cooperative again and die to being zapped.  And they don't use anything but physicals. (if they have magic, they're dying too quick to use it)  TunnelArmor uses its initiative turn to Bolt both members for about 90.  At least it's not oneshotting with Poison; that might create danger.  One Bolt 3 reduces TunnelArmor to scrap and I win a SwordBreaker for the minute effort required.

  Sabin up.  Recruit Shadow whose command list is Sand Storm + Bolt 3, Missile + Quadra Slice, Item.  Yeah, this randomized game seems really fixated on handing out Bolt 3 in the custom commands.

Sand Storm + Bolt 3: Standard forced MT random sweeping.  Sand Storm I regard as rather meh as far as MT offense options go as its accuracy is lower than nearly everything else and its spell power is merely on par with Wind Slash.  Decent enough for early WoB sweeping but looks positioned to fall off later on.

Missile + Quadra Slice: Now this is pretty neat and complements Shadow's other command well.  It's fun on single targets, moreso if they don't immune instant death.  Missile softens them up and then Quadra Slice inflicts defense-ignoring damage.  And due to the physical attack formula, this will be climbing faster in power as levels increase.  So as Sand Storm + Bolt 3 falls off in effectiveness, this skill will be catching up to keep Shadow relevant.  Being reliable damage, this puts Shadow above Raiden and Jade in my view.

  He joins at Lv 18, which is insanely high for this part of the game.  I rename him Wrath, for reasons that are a spoiler to disclose.  Buy two Mithril Vests from the Chocobo merchant for the raw defense increases but none of the consumables interest me.  Wrath solos randoms on the way to the Imperial camp, no surprise here.

  Over at Doma Castle, a new character is introduced.  She comes with Control, Jump, and Magic and natural magic.  Joining at Lv 14, her spell list is Fire, Poison, Bio, Rasp, and Float.  Mostly whatever though Float is of interest to circumvent Magnitude 8 death counters and Fire and Poison may end up helpful backup options for high defense enemies.  Rasp is unlikely to cripple casters in one cast at this point.  So it sucks now since if I'm not crippling a caster in one cast, I'm more apt to go for HP violence to neutralize them.  I rename her Naroha because I had anime on the brain when I was playing this segment.  First character able to equip that SwordBreaker from TunnelArmor so she gets it.  Try out Fire and Poison on Leader then Jump only to find that Jump would have oneshotted.  The Goggles he drops are probably relegated to filler until more useful Relics enter the picture.
   Fight the Dobermans to clear their Rage.  I haven't encountered a Rage command and it's not even guaranteed but I do it on principle.  Missile + Quad Slice KOs Kefka in the scripted encounters.  Not that it changes anything; I just find it entertaining.  Battles are pretty much Wrath carries and Shania chips in MithrilBlade physicals because I'm unwilling to risk death by Crusader from R-Esper deep in the camp.  Loot was mostly uninteresting.  Barrier Ring provides a small Magic boost.  The Kaisers were mostly pointless as no one on the team can equip them but they are elemental ammo for Ryu's Throw if a holy weakness is present.

  Took a few resets before I managed to reach the train without Wrath getting bored and leaving early.  Save before recruiting a ghost because I have been trolled by ghost with Moogle Charm before which interferes with my objective of encountering all enemy types.  Ghost comes with Mimic, SwdTech, Item.  Very so-so all around with limited options I'd care to mime.  Enemy encounters were pretty much mundane though getting nailed by a Shimsham was annoying due to my limited healing.  The ghost merchant has regular priced Phoenix Down and I finally purchase my emergency stash of 10.  Also been getting fairly frequent Tonic drops which is nice enough this early in the game.
   Most of the treasure is trapped, including the invisible one in the caboose with the first save point.  Wrath carries, the others chip in/disable someone with Control, zzzz. Waterfall boss fight is stuffed in a box here in open defiance of physics and that's the trapped chest that takes the longest because there's no choice but to wait out the wave of pirhana.  Found a ThunderBlade so Shania now has a decent weapon to swing around unless enemy resists lightning.  Found a Black Belt too, which isn't really useful for my current party as they all have no reason to be using Fight or have elemental weapons.  Also, FF6 physical hahahaha.  But maybe later on someone will have suitable weapon options to consider it.  Also won another Red Jacket off a random so Naroha gets to take advantage of a defense boost.
   Missile works on train boss and Quadra Slice removes most of its remaining HP so a couple more swings from the others and it's done without getting to do much.  Waterfall boss was a bit more eventful as I found out Rizopas absorbs lightning.  I still won with two Jumps but Shania got imped so I did reset to spin for a better outcome.  Thankfully didn't see El Nino as that would have splattered the water weak Shania.

  Gau joins.  Sprite is a nun but that's not a conclusive indication of gender as pre-transition Bridget has shown the internet.  I rename them Hope, an utterly generic name of genericness.  Command list is Poison, Dance, Item.  Doesn't make the cut for my "overpowered" threshhold.

Poison: It's a free Poison spell, whee.  Still subject to the same limitations as spending the 3 MP to cast it through Magic would have.  Tremble with fear, mortals.

  Hope's Dance list is very so-so overall.  Some are decent, others are terrible.  They are as follows.  I do have the Dance names randomized but will be referring to the by vanilla names for ease of conveyance.  Also, only including the two most frequent ones as they're generally the only ones I look at when evaluating a Dance with a few exceptions.

Wind Song - Harvester and Rage
Forest Suite - Pearl Wind and Absolute 0
Desert Aria - Plasma and Storm
Town Sonata - Sunbath and Wind Slash
Earth Blues - S. Cross and Poison Frog
Water Rondo - Kitty and Lullaby
Dusk Requiem - Megazerk and Revenger

Water and cave dances are basically useless under Dance due to lack of damage and not having effects worth losing control over.  Plains dance is bad too as 7/16 Harvester is often a wasted turn.  Mountain Dance is overall stronger on offense but desert does have the advantage of having no moves in the other slots that hit allies so it can be safely used under the effects of Phantom.  The other two are similar levels of useful with a MT heal and an MT attack.  Forest is stronger on offense while town has more dependable healing.

  I do make it a point to use forest until Pearl Wind shows up to log it under learned Lores.  Stopping by to help the wounded soldier in Mobliz was worth it as I gained a Ribbon for that quest, a good trade for 2500 GP.  Bought a Trident for Hope simply because it's stronger than the starting knife as well as some armor upgrades.
   On the way to crescent mountain, monster gets an Acid Rain off, tearing away nearly all of Shania's HP.  The sane thing to do afterwards would be Cure2 on the party.  But I chose to live life on the edge and try to get Hope to do a Sun Bath through dance.  Game actually obliges me in the trench and before Shania dies to chip damage from monsters.  Power Sash from the trench has a rogue half ice effect, which is neat but the defenses are significantly lower than the Red Jacket and for the people that can't use Red Jacket, Shania doesn't care because her shield already nulls it and Ryu can't equip it.  So obsolete.  Flail is weaker than what its available users already have access to so it's use is going to be limited to a non-element backup weapon for Raiden at this time.  Nikeah inn clock has monsters.  They drop to a single Wind Slash from the town dance but the clock being trapped means the randomizer has denied me a high grade item.  Nothing I particularly desire in the shops so muck around outside town a bit, stay at the inn to refresh MP (important for the two magic users here since Narshe snowfield will not give them an MP recharge) and take the ship to  Narshe for the showdown to occur there.

[DragonKnight Zero]

At the Narshe snowfield, pass out what gear upgrades I have and distribute the few Relics I'll be using.  Having a long range weapon, Krissy gets the Black Belt while the Gold Hairpin is passed between the spellcasters on demand.  Hope was designated as the unit to sit out due to being tied for highest level with Shania and losing the tiebreaker.  The other two teams are Shania, Jade, Krissy and Naroha, Ryu, Raiden.

  Enemies are nice and cooperative and carry no resistance to mass electrocution.  So I can just smash my way through.  Raiden and Jade either oneshot every formation or leave them close enough to dead for followup attacks from the others to finish off.  Naroha's group uses Tonics to recover from the few hits they're taking while Shania's holds out as long as possible before I use a Cure 2 to top off.  Krissy isn't needed for offense so I have her Steal if she gets a turn before Jade but only pick up low level stuff like Antidotes and Hair Bands.
   For Kefka, I send in Shania, Jade, and Krissy first to try for a Steal with plans to make an attempt with the other group if this one loses.  Shania gets Gold Hairpin and Coin Toss.  First round has Krissy steal and Shania Mimic, succeeding in nicking a Thief Glove on that mimed steal.  Jade BoltX's.  Another round of attacks from my team is enough to send Kefka running, having done nothing other than a physical and MT Ice (with Shania reflecting it back at him for a mighty 45 damage).  Kefka drops a Morning Star; eh, whatever.  It will sell for a decent amount if I don't end up using it.

  Round up a party of Hope, Ryu, Raiden, Jade and run to the world map to save.  Then it's time to check out the town's goodies.  Treasure room provides among its spoils an Amulet, which is overall useful, and a Blossom, which is better than MithrilKnife stabs for Jade for those moments where Bolt3 won't work.  The armor shop also has Mithril shields for sale and I pick them up for the three members that can use them.
   Before moving on, I'm going monster hunting at the security checkpoint for the unique monsters there.  I get the formation with all three on the 3rd attempt.  Oneshot the whole pack with Jade at the expense of a counter Giga Volt sending him into the ground.  After running back to a healing spot, I look at my party composition and decide I will hire Wrath.  Drop off Jade at Arvis' before heading out.

  Figaro Castle has some new Tools for sale.  Looking at my bankroll (and also the lack of Tools users), I pass on them though.  Hire Wrath's services and grab loot from Kohlingen; the Charm Bangle in Rachel's house is a prized find that I will be using frequently.  -10 evade though so it will find itself on the member with the lowest evade when I want it.
  First random I get into turns up with enemies with auto-reflect, thus sending spells from Raiden, Wrath, or Ryu flying back at my party.  Scramble back to Figaro castle for recovery.  Next time I see that particular monster... well Throw and Missile + Qaudra Slice deals with them with no pushback.  Crazy man house has an Imp Halberd to nick, well OK it's great Throw ammo and maybe trades for something nice when coloseum comes online.  Ride chocobo to Jidoor.
  Do some shopping at Jidoor.  Pick up two Diamond shields from the armor shop.  Also wanted to grab a Tiger Mask but didn't have enough funds.  Potions, Phoenix Down, and Revivifies are for sale at the item shop and at non-inflated pricing.  Didn't grab any just yet but I do intend to come back with more cash for a stash of Potions.  Hit up the Inn and then take a Chocobo to Zozo.

  With the amount of MT offense my party has, randoms go down in a single round of mashing A.  The enemies do get some hits in because ATB randomnes though to wear down the team.  Shimshamm landing is especially annoying.  Mostly rely on Sun Bath from the native terrain Dance for HP upkeep though will reluctantly guzzle some Tonic is someone's HP gets really low.  Got the Tiger Mask I was eyeing from a treasure box.  It comes with a rogue +20 M. Block, which is cool.  Ryu gets it though going from 1 to 21 isn't that significant.  TunnelArmor is lurking in a chest and yields another SwordBreaker after being scrapped.  Also notable is that I got a bunch of Red Jacket drops from enemies lurking around, enough to outfit everyone who might want one.  I don't normally give Shadow limited gear because he might run off with it but this time, I have enough spare Red Jackets to let him have one.  Dadaluma gets pounded with my team's level of offense with Wrath, Ryu, and Raiden adding a morphed Bolt 3 doing him in in one round.

Amazingly, Wrath has stayed in the party the whole time and only takes off after the cutscenes.  I choose Ryu and Naroha as my companions for the trip to the southern continent.  Before leaving, I finish up with gathering the clues for the clock.  The Murasame I find for doing so is ironic as the character that could use it has just left but OK.  Hike back to Jidoor.  Scenes and purchase 10 Potions before leaving for the opera house.

  Rats provide some trouble as they don't all die to a combo of MT Bolt 3 and MT Bio.  Some may death counter with Elf Fire.  And of course, they nail the one member of the group that isn't immune (Ryu) sending him face down into the planks if two of them go off.  Well, this is what I have that emergency stash of Phoenix Down for so I don't need to resort to restarting or being down a member.  Naroha learns Cure from natural magic during this segment so she can play post-battle medic.  Thankfully, only one death.  Ultros goes down much easier.  Didn't randomize away his vanilla lightning weakness so morphed Bolt 3 zaps him for 2500 and once Ryu adds over 2000 from Tigerbreak, he slithers away having done nothing.

  Treasure raid in Albrook is so-so.  Sneak Ring is OK for later.  FakeMustache from the clock changes Mimic to W-Limit.  No one able to use it just yet but it has potential when a native Mimic user becomes available.  Do my usual sweep of Tzen and Maranda shops but nothing really catches my eye.  Fights along the way are routine other than being wary of auto-reflect.  Onto Vector.  Fight one formation in Vector; find out there's a Magnitude 8 death counter.  At least I know now for the Magitek factory.  Naroha has Float to nullify that threat.
  Jade oneshots every formation on the upper level of the factory but Raiden isn't up to that level of power to win solo.  So the enemies are able to get some licks in to wear down my resources.  Except another enemy drops Dried Meats and Potions so real attrition doesn't seem likely.  Monster in a box is more of a threat with auto-reflect to do more to my team with a Bolt3 than the enemies are doing.  Treasures grabbed before fighting Ifrit/Shiva are unnotable.  Light Robe that halves wind and weak to lightning just doesn't stand up when I have a surplus of 93 defense Red Jackets.  Hyper Wrist is only marginal increase in physical damage and the -10 M. Block makes it less attractive.
  Ifrit is mostly a non-issue as 3/4 of my team nulls fire.  Granted, the one member who doesn't is the one with the offense so mild complication.  I set up Raiden or Jade with a command changer for a Mimic command.  Have Ryu use TigerBreak and Mimic.  As long as Ryu doesn't bite it to a Fire 3, I'll take the result.  Ifrit has a +1 Mag bonus and Shiva comes with a +1 Speed, both of which are more meaningful than +1 Stamina or HP/MP +10%.  Finish raiding the treasures afterwards, mostly meh.  Trapped chest encounter drops three RunningShoes.  Not something I value overly highly but at least they'll sell for a decent chunk if I don't find a use for them.

  On my way to #024, there's a few complications to just smashing through with high damage skills.  One is an enemy that comes in a group of 3 and has a strong Ice Beam that kills in two shots at most and they seem to be fast enough to get a turn to use it.  So if the RNG is feeling mean, someone will die.  The other is that the BreakBlade spot is trapped with a Presenter.  And because this area becomes inaccessible, I don't have the option of putting it off for later.  Either find a way to kill it now or lose the chance at its item drops.
  My team does have the tools to win though.  Dischord + Bolt 3 on the head to open.  It absorbs lightning but Dischord still weakens anything it tries.  Tried it on the shell too but the shell isn't ID vulneralbe so no go.  Ryu attacks the head with Tigerbreak.  Naroha heals or casts Slow on the parts.  Jade can't contribute offense with his skills so after Dischord, he's limited to items to be productive.  Raiden is also similarly handicapped though a command changer to give her Mimic changes that.
  The shell has a few things to lash out with if it chooses to act.  Magnitude 8 is good for me; misses my floating team.  Mega Volt is low damage, just heal up with Cue or items.  Giga Volt, probably kills so hope I don't see it.  First attempt, while I do win, I did damage the shell by mistake and it countered a Slow with a Blow Fish.  Decided to reset for a better result.  On the successful attempt, was more careful to not attack the shell by accident.  Jade opens with Dischord + Bolt 3 on head, Ryu TigerBreaks head, Raiden Mimics Ryu.  Naroha cast Slow on whatever.  When the head retreats, just sit tight and do nothing but heal and maybe Slow. (which doesn't risk a Blow Fish counter if the shell hasn't been damaged)  When the head comes out, Jade breaks a Mithril Vest for Missile.  After which Ryu launches a TigerBreak, Mimic from Raiden and it's done.  Got another Moogle Suit for my efforts, oh well.

  Actually, I left something out.  The randomizer can randomly and rarely flag equipment that breaks for spells as unbreakable.  Secret items that break for spells also get this unbreakable property.  In this case, the Mithril Vest got that property assigned to it so it wasn't actually consumed when used.  Not permanently anyways.  There are some circumstances where an unbreakable item is still consumed, one of them being the user getting statused after entering the command, as well as some others.  But on paper, an unbreakable item has unlimited use.  Any skill that can show on an item is fair game.  Drain on an unbreakable item is highly busted, as one might guess, though it's very unlikely to appear in the first place.

  Moving on to #024, it's a straight damage race.  Most of my damage is elemental so I want to pound it before WallChange kicks in.  Confuse Special is a potential issue so Naroha is on standby to smack people out of it if it ever comes up.  To my relief, no confuse Special showed, leaving my team to pound it into scrap in two rounds.  The ThunderBlade it drops is meaningless to me except as elemental Throw ammo.

  Scenes and then save at the mine cart.  Party order is 1st slot empty, then Naroha, Raiden, Ryu as I want to encounter both enemy types.  Also change Espers now that I have a new batch.

  The most common monster on the mine cart has auto-reflect.  Ryu has Throw to bypass it but Raiden is limited to physicals, reflecting Bolt 3 off Naroha's auto-reflect for half damage (still better than hurting my team), or Mimicing Ryu's Throw.  I went with giving Raiden a Thief Glove for Mimic.  That same monster busts out Fire 2 on its second turn so dallying isn't desirable.  Still, I have the tools to deal with them.  Two of them are handled by Naroha controlling one, taking down the other with Throw and mimicing it, and repeating the Throw/Mimic combo for the second.  Boss does not have auto-reflect or lightning resistance so pounding it before Blaster can ruin my team is the way to go.  Net on Ryu is the worst that can happen but Naroha can remove it with Remedy so just delays the execution.  Boss drops a Fairy Ring, same as vanilla other than being Ryu only.

  Got into a fight before using the save point and it's those nasty Ice Beaming beasts for the stairway.  Ryu gets dropped and a Bolt 3 also comes out, mercifully only targeting auto-reflect Naroha.  Being two step away from the save point, I accept the death rather than reset for a better outcome.
  Party is at Lv 19, which I consider very high for this point of the game.  Thrashing a random or two on the way out bring Naroha from 19 to 20.  I was getting psyched to unload a Morphed Bolt 3 on the right crane but its elemental resistances got randomized to absorb lightning instead.  Boo, you're no fun game.  Aqua Rake from Setzer's Lore command along with TigerBreak from Ryu are enough to take out a crane.  Repeat for the second, battle over.  I wanted to have Naroha cast Float on her first turn but ended up opting to Cure when a crane opened up with a Fire 3 on Setzer.  Which didn't kill but still did a big chunk of damage.  But I still won before they could shake the deck so no long term harm done.

  Scenes and then control of the airship.  Setzer's command list is Lore, ?-Chaos, Item.

?-Chaos: This command I feel conveys the spirit of Beyond Chaos more than any other.  Totally random abilities that continue until the game decides to stop.  This includes gamebreaking stuff like Sneeze and Cold Dust, to the suicidal and counterproductive like Crusader and Spiraler, every skill in the game is on the table with the Chaos command.  Fun command to play around with but also dangerous if one's at risk of losing a lot of progress.

  I name him Gig, after a Disgaea character who has enough raw power to stand toe to toe with Overlords and call it light sparring.  Only a small selection of Lores; one side consequence of murdering things so fast is that the enemies barely get turns to use such skills to teach a Lore user.  Does start with Reflect???, which actually is useful for checking for auto-reflect status given how often reflectable magic is showing up in my characters' commands.

[DragonKnight Zero]

Airship acquired.  Time for a party change.  Krissy is required for the next segment regardless.  Joining her are Gig and the other two members who didn't go to Vector, they could see some action.  Also, they're at Lv 18 while the Magitek factory group is at 19-20 so I give them priority.  I have enough cash to obtain all 3 Espers available at this point so they're the next priority.  Do a bit of grinding for some extra funds to upgrade defensive gear, no one is moving on with Bucklers unless they have no other option.  Make the required stop in Narshe and recruit Mog.  Mog is at Lv 23 so will be chilling on the airship for a while.

  First chest in the Sealed Gate cave is a Genji Armor.  Genji Armor with 51 Defense is highly underwhelming but I still like its stat distribution better than what Shania is already using so she swaps to it.  Grab the treasure in the next room and walk out.  Fight a few battles to expand the Rage list on principle (Rage command hasn't appeared yet).  Rest up and return.
  Once on the lowest level, the enemies only use physicals so I can summon Phantom and turn randoms there into a non-issue (one has Sun Bath but it's not being cast on my team so still harmless)  Hope Dances the snowfield dance, others use physicals/SwdTech/Steal.  When the enemies are not able to do damage whatsoever it's not like it's vital to kill things quickly.  Finding a Guardian elicits a groan as it's pretty much worthless as-is.  Bash my way to the save point with no issue.
  The randoms may be unnotable but some of the monsters-in-boxes made me pay attention.  Specifically the pair that can pull out Chokesmoke to zombify my invisible characters.  And they use a Zombie inflicting Special so can't avoid it that way either.  Having two zombie characters was a bit perturbing with only 2 Revivifies in my inventory as I was lax with keeping a stock of those.  However, I have plenty of Hair Bands that break for Tapir so I opted to use one when the time was right and just heal up the 0 HP no-longer-zombified after combat ended.  Treasures were a trolllish batch.  Cure Ring is Raiden only.  Scimitar is generally whatever but in this case was a better blade for Shania to swing.  Blizzard Orb is Hope only which likely means Umaro will be even worse than usual.
  The trip brought the group from Lv 18 to 20.  Once back in the airship, swap out Gig and Shania for the Lv 19 Raiden and Ryu.  Krissy has finished learning Float by this time and I make use of it in Vector to avoid damage from Magnitude 8 death counters.  Sp Forces die to a single MT Bio from Ryu.  The items from doing the banquet perfectly are another Rage Ring (useful for elemental resistance) and a Tao Robe.  Above vanilla values in both Defense and Magic Defense and no drawbacks, it's a decent piece but when it's competing for the same slot as the dozen Red Jackets I have, gets overshadowed.  The Crystal shield I found in Vector is of somewhat more use.  Just a straight stat upgrade but still better than Raiden's current shield.
  Make my way to the imperial base treasure hoard.  Despite no traps, it turns out to be disappointing.  Mostly just duplicates of stuff I already have enough of like RunningShoes (when I already have 5 of them) and Thief Glove (all but the first are extraneous).  Off to Thamasa with nothing of note occurring until I get there.  I was fighting outside of town a bit before using the inn and ran into FlameEater in the forest.  Yes, bosses sometimes occupy the 1/16 chance battle; it's part of Beyond Chaos' identity.  Wrath's Quadra Slice did the bulk of the damage, the other two mostly relegated to utility/picking off the summoned monsters.  Full team fire immune so only danger was random Flare or whatever the summoned enemies pull off.

  Strago joins at this point.  W-Limit, Quadra Slice, Item

W-Limit: 2 desperation attacks on random targets.  Now this is what I'm talking about.  Tears things apart other than the rare occasion where it goes for dual Soulsabre/Star Prsim on instant death immune enemeis.  Gamebreakingly overpowered offense.  And since desperation attacks abort on characters, a freak confusion after inputting the command will not result in the user murdering their allies.

Quadra Slice: It's SwdTech 7 without the obscene charge time.  Non-elemental and ignoring defense makes it very dependable damage.  I'd be more excited about this if the character didn't already have a Limit command.  It still has its moments against ID immune enemies (whereas Limit has a chance of whiffing) or hitting more than 2 low HP enemies in one turn.

  I named him Gio, after Arland's strongest swordsman and will be referred to as such going forward.  He cannot use the Red Jacket which leaves his defense very suspect (though with this much offense, I'm not overly upset).  Among his remaining options, went with Genji Armor.

  One would think this dungeon would be a pushover.  Hahahaha no, Beyond Chaos pulls a Beyond Chaos and pulls a mean one.  First fight is a pack of six which Raiden nukes with Bolt 3.  All six fire off a Sand Storm death counter which flattens Krissy and Raiden.  Gio only lived through the storm because of his very high Magic Defense.  I decide that two casualties in the first fight is unacceptable and reset to my last save.  Next go, I stick to single target Bolt 3.  Still getting Sand Stormed but only one at a time so it's not wiping out the party.  Still, less than ideal.  Turns out Raiden's physical also oneshots and doesn't trigger a Sand Storm.  So I'm taking out enemies in one or two at a time.  Krissy doesn't quite kill in one attack either until I wise up and give her a Hyper Wrist which is enough of a damage increase for Dispatch to kill.
  The enemies are not complete jokes either.  Schiller is a nuisance and Phantasm eats into my resources faster but it's the confuse Special which gets me to respect their danger factor.  After a few false starts, settle into a groove and pound my way through the house.
  So FlameEater. Already seen it and know its capabilities and this time I can prepare.  Gold Hairpin on Krissy and my one Wall Ring goes on Gio.  Give Gio a Rage Ring as well and FlameEater can do nothing to him.  Pretty much just a matter of how many uses of W-Limit it takes until it lands the three damage shots needed to reduce its HP to zero.  Stole a Power Sash off it, yawn.  The Tempest it drops is similarly unnotable, being the 5th one acquired.

  I do need to be wary of lightning resistance and auto-reflect but otherwise randoms crumble under the overwhelming offense of Gio and Raiden.  Ultros is a bit more notable in that he's arsorbing lightning, reducing Raiden to item monkey and knife stabs.  Though with Gio's sheer offense, it just takes a few extra turns.  When Relm shows up, she has Mimic so having her mime W-Limit puts out big numbers.  Krissy Steals when I don't need her to run utility but doesn't succeed in nabbing Ultros' item before the Thamasa duo bury Ultros.

  Relm has Mimic, X-Magic, and Item as her command list.  X-Magic always has the potential to become extremely strong.  Mimic is dependent on what allies are present: however the FakeMustache from way back in Albrook changes Mimic to W-Limit which I feel is worth the Relic slot outside of oddball circumstances where I'd rather have Mimic.  As someone with high gamebreaking strength, I named her Yukari, after Touhou's gap youkai who is overpowered even by that series' standards.
  With two W-Limit users, randoms get smashed.  Among the treasures are a Back Guard (convenience) and a Pearl Lance, a better poking stick for the next time I use any of the spear users.

  Leo has W-Limit so smashed his fight in one shot.  Also has Throw but that's not outdamaging a desperation attack at Lv 22, let alone two.

  Airship reacquired with the rejoining party members at Lv 22 (save for Mog who joined at 23).  This puzzles me given my team's 22/22/23/20 distribution but I'll take it.  Gio takes a rest and I bring out Hope to fill the slot while I tie up the loose ends in the WoB.  Remember to check the Jidoor auction house but the DaVinci Brush and Rune Edge I consider worthless.  Raid Doma for treasure; it's all so-so.  Hunt Intangir.  It just sits there doing nothing while Yukari pummels it with desperation attacks.  Maybe it started with auto-stop or auto-sleep; I don't know.  Just in case of starting sleep, I don't use any physical damage on it so Krissy isn't contributing damage while Raiden and Hope only do around 300-600 a shot due to high magic defense.  At least I steal Fixed Dice off it so that was a welcome boost in Krissy's damage potential.  Also hunted down some additional monsters to fill in the non-existent Rage list just because.  Sell off a bunch of low-tier weapons and buy a bunch of Shuriken and Invis Edges as I don't know whether they'll still be for sale in the WoR.

  Wrath not having a Magic command tilts the AtmaWeapon decision in favor of going for HP damage.  Lottery landed on the Krissy, Raiden, Yukari group and I deem them up to the task.  Swap in Jade to get him geared up and purchase some gear so that Wrath will have the most up-to-date equipment available for a dungeon I expect to be challenging.  The IAF monsters are of the only-use-physicals variety so summon Phantom and cruise.  Give Krissy Zoneseek before engaging the boss fights.
   Ultros retains his vanilla lightning weakness this time so Raiden does disgusting amounts of damage to him.  Chupon absorbs lightning though.  And the casters haven't gotten around to learning any of the key status spells that shut down Chupon from using magic.  But Yukari's raw damage output ends things before any Fire Balls come out.
  Air Force is a race to get Zoneseek out and pray not to get buried in high powered MT magic before casting it.  Once Shell is up, it's easier to keep up with the damage.  Yukari gets a turn after seeing one Tek Laser at the start and I opt to risk a W-Limit.  Takes out Missilebay in one shot which is a decent start.  Whole team gets WaveCannoned before Krissy can summon Zoneseek and I'm expecting a party wipe.  Get lucky and Lasercannon does the most useless thing possible: an Atomic Ray on a full team of fire immune.  This allows enough time to get the team's HP back up to safe levels.  Raiden Morphs and lobs Bolt3s at the main body.  Krissy Steals if free but her first job is support.  Yukari is secondary support but her offense is the best so I want her attacking more often.  Did snag a Czarina Ring, which is worthless to me as-is but at least sells for a good amount of cash.

  Randoms on the floating continent are a rather big step up from what I've been encountering so far.  The enemies have enough bulk to endure a round of my team's MT oriented violence so mashing A isn't an instant win.  The most dangerous foe can counter anything with Doom (even fatal blows) and has enough HP to survive one Limit, though not two.  It has low MP so Rasp is the main tool to neuter it.  Another enemy can randomly Charm.  Another always ambushes and can wither my caster's MP with Rasp or harass the team with status spells.  There's also a monster lurking around with a berserk Special and counters physical attacks with its own.  A few shots with W-Limit would take it out but the one time I encountered it, it berserked Yukari right off forcing a longer slugfest.  No auto-reflect or auto-Runic to beware of so that was convenient at least.

  katanaSoul was lurking in the Gigantos chest and it's a tier or five above my party's weight class.  Typically opens with Water Edge which either obliterates the party or leaves them on the brink of death.  Yukari and Wrath always die.  Krissy or Raiden might go down or not depending on random variance and how much chip damage they took on the way over.  Pretty much not winnable in a straight brawl.  Getting a win on this things involved hoping it didn't open with Water Edge, then taking advantage of its confuse weakness.  I've got access to three different item breaks that all do MT confusion so even lacking access to the Muddle spell wouldn't be an issue.  Pummel it with magic attacks until it kills itself with ID Special or my team wears down its HP first.  For cheesing it out, the game seemed to notice and it dropped a mere Super Ball.