More Final Fantasy

[T-hawk]

Nice, I enjoyed reading that, even though I hardly remember most of the bosses (and never knew any of those stat formulas) from a game I last played 20 years ago.  Did get satisfaction from that last shot of 4200 damage on Arsenal, though.

[English Language]

Oh hey, good to see updates here again.

Might do another post on something, not sure if FFVIII or FFX. Both lengthy, but I can streamline them if needed. My FFX run is more interesting tho, consisting of using Rikku only, never touching the Sphere Grid, and never using Overdrive. Not really all that tough, but neat all the same.

Might be a while. The Switch and other new games are taking up most of my time.

[Coeurva]

FFV "Tiny Mages"
----------------

A variant run through Final Fantasy V Advance on 2/2/2/3 party levels (one of two configurations that can claim to be as low as possible; 2/1/1/4 is lower on average, but Faris would be more powerful), with only the "robe jobs" permitted, which I've arbitrarily defined as the following: Black Mage, White Mage, Blue Mage, Red Mage, Time Mage, Summoner, Geomancer, Bard, Mime, Oracle and (in theory) Necromancer. Tentatively, I'll also allow the Chemist. The Beastmaster will be necessary to bypass experience gains, but shall not be used otherwise, neither in combat nor to obtain Blue Magic via !Control. Likewise, I might need the Thief due to monetary constraints -- it's a finite resource in World 1 for low-level variants, discounting the absurdity of slaying 200,000 Jackanapes, the only monster to yield money but not experience. The Thief will only be used to abstrahize that process, though; swiping items for keeps, in spite (or rather because) of its great utility to variant runs, is forbidden.

Also forbidden are Phoenix Downs in battle, which will hopefully make death more interesting than a nuisance to toss incandescent plumage at. Evidently not forbidden, though, is the use of thesaurus.com. Bear with me.



But first, we discover the bliss of player choice and purely internal voice-acting. A hateful name for a hateful person. It is also a kingly name, but I did need a royal vibration.



The lone goblin from Thule (strange name for a cozy and temperate starting village) gives 2 XP per party member, which will not push us over the level-up threshold later. This allows the party to learn Goblin Punch. The mandatory spells to purchase here are Fire and Thunder; I decide to take Cure as well.



Six Thunder spells take out Karlabos, whose only threat is Feeler; the scarcity of MP already makes itself known, as Lenna and Galuf cannot manage more than a single casting despite Thunder costing 4 MP. With a party of four Black Mages, our MP totals clock in at 13/5/5/22 and will not increase by much over the course of the entire game.



Siren wins if she casts Silence, Thunder or Blizzard too early (1/3 chance on each of her turns); other spells do little harm. Anyone hit with Sleep should be woken up with bare fists. Only the undead form takes damage from Fire spells. Lenna and Galuf cannot survive its physicals without Defending, but Bartz and Faris can tank a single hit when properly equipped. In that event, the squishier mages should toss them a Potion if they last that long; when that isn't necessary, they can Defend to give Siren more targets to pick from.

At Carwen, I follow the secret passage in the pub, which leads to 1000 gil (also mind that chest in the Ship Graveyard for 990 more); purchase Blizzard, Sleep and Silence and pick up the Frost Rod before I head for North Mountain. The pair of Magissa and Forza can be defeated without rod-breaking or even Phoenix Downs, conserving our resources; everything must go our way for that to happen, though. The party consists of two Black Mages (Bartz/Faris), one White Mage (Lenna) and one lightningrod (Galuf). Faris equips the Dagger and makes her stand in the front row (for now), while Bartz takes the Frost Rod initially. Lenna needs the Flail, whose damage isn't lowered in the back row and whose low accuracy will prove vexing in the upcoming battle.



Said battle always begins with Magissa casting a spell, which must, at the RNG's mercy, hit Galuf, knocking him out of commission. Faris can survive Thunder or Fire, but she needs her HP to survive a potential Black spell from Magissa later, and we'll probably miss a certain damage range in short order if we heal her. Full disclosure: I saved state after Galuf keeled over, essentially eliminating a 1/4 chance.

Lenna casts Silence, then hacks away twice with the Flail (or tosses a Potion instead, if necessary); Faris attacks with her Dagger; Bartz needs to fire off two Blizzards (the third cast is needed against Forza), then contributes a Frost Rod physical. If the dice are reasonably kind, after these three turns, Magissa will have sustained enough damage to make her summon Forza, shuffling herself into the back row, and spending her next turn on a (silenced) Regen.



As soon as Forza appears, Faris must cast Sleep on him at once, since all his physicals are lethal on contact, no matter what. Lenna's action must be delayed until after Magissa casts Regen (which whiffs), so she can immediately reapply Silence. Bartz casts his last Rod-boosted Blizzard on Forza, then rotates out the Rod for Faris to equip it as soon as possible. The party hits Magissa with physicals (not spells; we desperately need every cast against Forza), which will hopefully remove her from the battle before the second Silence wears off. At full health, Faris could survive a possible Black spell here, should one get unlucky with the damage rolls and fall just short.

By tossing her the only available Ether, Faris can cast nine rod-boosted Blizzards at a sleeping Forza, shaving off upwards of 700 HP; unfortunately, Forza has 850. Fortunately, Faris has the MP to inflict Sleep once more during this ordeal; this gives Bartz and Lenna, having used their downtime to move into the front row, the opportunity to rack up some more damage before we have to wake up the behemoth.



This is the most unlikely screen in the game so far.

Our mages can whiff their vital status spells, from which there is no recovery. The damage ranges of both the Flail and the Frost Rod are ridiculously wide, with especially the Rod dealing anywhere from 0 to 60 damage to Magissa, and both weapons have imperfect accuracy to boot. If Magissa hits front-row Faris with a Critical Attack, that can get her killed; we cannot possibly break through Forza without her. If we miss either of our damage milestones against Magissa, Silence might wear off too early, and Lenna only has the MP to cast it twice; ABP are tightly restricted in low-level games until right after this battle (obtainable from roaming Garula near Walse), so nobody can learn !White LV2 in time. Most egregiously, if Magissa ever gets the bright idea to select Aero (1/3 chance every other turn), which ignores Mute status, the battle ends right there, as none of the characters survive it.

Including my figuring out a working approach, this took over two hours to accomplish. World 1 is unforgiving on this variant. This is far from the worst of ordeals it offers.

Tycoonian national and lesser treasure appropriated, the adventurers head for Walse, where the Quicksave glitch allows access to the Elven Mantle and 2000 gil. I purchase the Protect spell at Carwen and change the party composition; Faris, as a Blue Mage, wields the Frost Rod, while everyone else dons the White Mage outfit (with Bartz on Healing Staff duty) before climbing the Tower of Walse, where we face a breather boss by comparison:



Garula takes 256 damage from LV3 Faris Goblin Punching her with the Frost Rod; five such blows suffice. Cast Protect on Bartz first, then Faris, then on everyone else still standing. It's important to time everyone's actions so that Bartz can heal Faris in the event of Rush inflicting Sap on her, and to refrain from unnecessary chip damage, because Garula mostly threatens the party with counter-attacks.

They are rewarded with the Bers... They obtain the Berserker shard. Also Time Mage, Red Mage and Summoner; all of these shall prove useful. The Mystic Knight will have to sit this one out, unfortunately -- reliable status spells would have been handy.

------

Karnak gives me the one-time opportunity to receive an item for free; I pick the Thunder Rod; might not have been the best choice. In addition, I purchase Blizzara, which gives me a fighting chance in the next battle.



Against Liquid Flame, Lenna and Galuf play Time Mages, using their 5 MP for a single helping of Haste on each of the Black Mages. Physical attacks hopefully coax her into the Tornado form; as usual, one can simply wait until it depletes its self-healing. Bartz wields the Frost Rod initially, casting Blizzara once for 10 MP and 600 HP of damage; Faris, taking over the Rod, can get four shots in afterwards, thanks to a timely Ether toss. It's best to leave the Healing Staff unequipped at the outset, allowing whatever Time Mage survives for longer to grab it from the inventory.

No matter what, the Hand form can end the battle instantly if it appears and the Fira counter elects to hit Faris. There is no choice but to provoke its mutation with paltry physicals, since it nullifies or absorbs all elements (which includes any Rod physicals) and threatens the party with Ray (a physical hit that paralyzes). By contrast, the Human form can Rush a non-Defending Time Mage for lethal damage on occasion, but is harmless otherwise.

Edit: I've since found out that Liquid Flame is vulnerable to Confuse, trivializing the battle if it hits the Tornado, as the form changes will not occur.



The Sergeant battle is notable only because it is the penultimate fight in the game to force XP upon the party. The Cur Nakks will flee as soon as the Sergeant keels over, avoiding their unwanted gifts, but the Sergeant disintegrates into 10 XP no matter what, allowing Lenna and Galuf to level up for the first and only time. This allows them to cast spells ending in "ra" -- once per battle, that is.

The Sergeant is vulnerable to Sleep; four castings of Blizzara with the Frost Rod suffice to take him down. The Cur Nakks only attack when the Sergeant gives them orders, and as such, are entirely harmless unless Bartz whiffs his cast. Convenient, that, as I cannot allow any of the characters to fall here; otherwise, the final mandatory XP gain would push them ever so slightly across the threshold.

The Geomancer joins the roster of jobs. The most notable perk of !Gaia is that it doesn't require MP to cast, but most bosses take insignificant damage at best from the spells that it could conjure up, although Byblos is not among them. Note that I can never draw the spells outside of slot 1, as the selection depends on the caster's level.



Before I can face Byblos, however, I must defeat Ifrit. He's similar to Liquid Flame, in that five Rod-boosted Blizzaras, hitting for 600 HP apiece, force him to surrender; while I could exploit his vulnerability to Paralysis with Remora, obtaining another summon at this point would greatly decrease my chances in another battle. High Kick can be survived at full health, if barely, with the Defend command. No such luck with Fira, though. Unlike Liquid Flame, he never gains an immunity to the most potent spell that Faris can fling at him, and less chances to pick her off with Fira, especially when Hasted. The Elven Mantle helps to immunize her against High Kick as well.

Byblos has a Blue spell for the party to learn: Magic Hammer. He also has a spell that kills the entire party and cannot be dodged (Wind Slash). I decide to give Garula the time of day, assembling 30 ABP so that everybody can equip the Learning ability (Blue LV2); this increases my chances of making short work of Mr. Demon Bible while still acquiring the spell. This is far from the most tedious grind the variant will require.



This did not work. Ignus Fatuus is all that Gaia will ever procure in the Library at our levels: a weak Fire-elemental spell that deals wildly-varying damage -- anywhere from 40 to 400 HP to Byblos (3600 total). He can use Wind Slash, one of the greatest threats in a low-level game, as Air-elemental damage is nearly impossible to absorb and the spell always hits (and wipes, given our HP totals) the entire party, not even consuming MP in the process. Faris was assigned Summoner to finish Byblos with Ifrit once he reaches the Drain phase, but in consequence, she stood around with nothing to do for most of the battle. Dead giveaway that something can and must be improved.



In fact, one can defeat Byblos in a single quick "turn" if everything goes right. His infamous lack of the Heavy flag helps tremendously. Two Time Mages (Lenna, Galuf) cast Gravity, bringing him down to 900 HP, just above the Drain threshold (800), if they both connect (at decent odds); Faris, wielding the Flame Rod, casts Ifrit for 600 damage, hoping that Drain whiffs or just doesn't come up; Bartz casts Ifrit for game. No sweat.

Byblos has a 1/3 chance of opening the fight with Magic Hammer; besides, he has a few harmless attacks as well: nobody cares about Dischord in this variant. All in all, I pick up the spell without much trouble (about a dozen retries). I immediately wonder what Magic Hammer can do that Hide cannot do better, but actually find an answer, if a vague one: !Blue can be used for other spells in the same battle, while !Hide consumes the sole ability slot I can get before unlocking Mimes. Let's see if that will actually come into play.

-----

The Sandworm beckons. It might take a while. Quicksand kills the party, but I might know a slightly hidden way around it; the real problem is dealing damage to the Worm.

[Fenn]

Very nice reporting And I always enjoy reading these FF5 challenges. Keep us posted!

[T-hawk]

Hey, great, yeah, keep it coming. I've started low-level games a couple times myself, but just got tired of the tedium of setting up the warriors at low life for the Cover/Guard combo, which seems to be the key for almost everything, no idea how you'll get past things like Minotaur without that using only magely jobs.

[Coeurva]

Thanks; glad you enjoy it, Fenn and T-hawk!

I do have no idea whether this variant can be finished, but it's been fun so far. Apart from Minotaur (for whom my planning notes currently read "???"), the greatest roadblock I see, which might end my effort, is

Archaeoavis.

Almost exactly a year ago, I completed the reverse side of the challenge using only "physical" jobs (notably, Thief and Beastmaster permitted); but I lost the report, although most screenshots still exist if you're interested.

There were a few really fun battles I recall, though, and I think I only used Cover once after Liquid Flame, against the Crystals inside the Guardian Tree. (Guard is actually not necessary there, as the Bone Mail plus some further equipment is enough for Dragoon Faris to take 0 damage from their physicals.) -- One can defeat Chimera Brain / Manticore with three low-level Dragoons, for example, jumping over Aqua Breath (I think I had Flame Rings against Frost?). Since I allowed myself to use !Catch, I also had fun with such cheeky plays as tossing Byblos into the Rift (releasing a Page 32 gives Banish; he's not Heavy). One of the wildest fights was actually the Covert monster-in-a-box at the Island Shrine: it threatens Wind Slash, and its tremendous speed means that Dragoon jumps will "de-synch" from its pattern soon enough.

You could always try a LLG with Guard/Cover forbidden. I'm sure it's possible.

[T-hawk]

Well, I also got tired of other bits of tedium - stealing to get gold and Beastmaster catching to avoid experience on the Big Bridge. There's any number of combinations that are possible, just none that grabbed my interest enough to push all the way through. Happy to read about you doing it, though.

[Coeurva]

Well, I also got tired of other bits of tedium - stealing to get gold and Beastmaster catching to avoid experience on the Big Bridge.

Coming soon to your local 16-bit theatre: The Men Who Stare At Garula (and ladies; and ladies who dress like men).

The catching is only required once, as I recall (three Jackanapes for the Little Chariots; all other Big Bridge battles are avoidable and the Pyramid asps can be wiggled around), and figuring out a way to catch Jackanapes under restrictions was entertaining, but the stealing is something I'm hoping to limit for that exact reason.

In other news, although the Algorithms Guide lists the Sandworm's Quicksand spell as Earth-elemental, it is not nullified by Float. This makes the upcoming battle much more dangerous than I'd anticipated. (In an otherwise-unrestricted LLG, the Worm just falls to three Water Scrolls.) Fortunately, I have a plan to proceed without any rod-breaking -- the six or seven I'd require would consume my entire budget at this point, too. It'll take some time for me to obtain the means necessary, though.

[T-hawk]

That was what stopped me, I remember now, the three caught Jackanapes for the Lil Chariots. You have to catch all three ahead of time in world 1 and keep them caught until the big bridge. I hadn't read far enough ahead to know to do that, didn't keep a save from world 1 to go back, and didn't want to restart the whole game over.

[System Error]

Nice, I enjoyed reading that, even though I hardly remember most of the bosses (and never knew any of those stat formulas) from a game I last played 20 years ago.  Did get satisfaction from that last shot of 4200 damage on Arsenal, though.

Glad you enjoyed it. The FFL series deserves more love. I'd love to see someone else try their hand at a variant in one of those games.

Like the low level FF5 robe challenge so far.

I thought about suggesting Rainbow Wind and trying the "sap on a form of an enemy stops it from proceeding to the next one" trick on Archaeoavis, but you can't get it that early. You could use Beastmaster to inflict it as an exception to sneak on by this fight, though - if it proves interesting enough to keep playing beyond. That is, if it's necessary.

And solo robot is now done


Robots are a flexible class, able to shift from being immovable objects to unstoppable forces just by changing what they're equipping. Due to stacking equipment, they can become stronger at this than any other class in the game.


Of course, they have a couple flaws. They're not good at being jacks of all trades, and having zero MANA aside from any MAGI bonuses can cause problems.


That said, this was a very easy solo regardless. With an astrisk beside it, but regardless, I'd put it as probably the easiest if you're willing to snap things in half from the get-go. If you hold back like I do, it's still probably easier than human. But only slightly behind mutant.


And of course, if you like big damage numbers, know that what the mushroom did was just the prelude.

Might do some more FF5 myself next, though it'll take some setup. Have had something in mind for the longest time. Or maybe I'll clean up one of my unfinished pieces of business.