Final Fantasy VI Fewest Steps Challenge

[Life]

I enjoy FF6. It's one of the two FF games that I've actually beaten (9 is the other one) and is quite easy and fun at the same time since many of your characters become all sorts of broken.

However, I want to try an unorthodox style of challenge run. Many people speak about the Low Level Game or the Natural Magic Challenges but not many talk about beating the game in as few steps as possible. FF6 has a step counter right on the Start screen and most runs usually take around 40,000 steps if not more. Probably many more, especially if you are trying to get some of the nicer goodies like the Paladin's Shield or more than 1 Lightbringer. So why don't we try beating the game in as few steps as possible?

For the record, I am using this guide as reference points only (along with boss strategies for the harder bosses). It is the only way to make sure that I'm taking as few steps as possible. If I'm under o_chew's final number 9017 steps, then great. If I'm above it, I'll find where I made my mistake and rectify it. Pictures will come along with a pretty detailed explanation of what I'm doing.

Currently at: Killed Kefka in 9017 Steps. Challenge over. Final update is posted. Thanks for reading!

Edited November 1, 2011 by Kefka

[General Horace]

Should be interesting. I might try this myself sometime actually.

[Life]

So here we are, Final Fantasy VI. Home to espers, humans and Gestahl, the freakishly looking emperor who reminds me of a shaggy dog. Kefka also lives in this world, waiting for the day that his insanity can destroy everyone and everything.

So the game starts up and Biggs, Wedge and Terra all head for Narshe. The first battle has this happening.

No, this isn't an accident. If Biggs and Wedge both die in the first battle, Terra should gain enough Exp between now and Valigarmanda in order to hit level 6. If she does this, Locke will join at level 8, something that I definitely want to happen (makes the Heavy Armour battle much easier).

I will miss the Bioblaster. A lot. This is my only chance to see it (unless I snag it from Tunnel Armour).

Anyway, after I pass through the town and the mine, I reach Ymir after 118 steps. Time for a fight!

Ymir's quite pathetic, like usual. Three Magitek Missiles do him in and you can actually pump out two of them on your second go-around with the snail.

Twenty steps later, Valigarmanda blows up my awesome Magitek Armour. Aww, damn. Terra wakes up in Arvis' house and has to run out ASAP. Yes, that means no Elixir from the clock.

A bit through the caves, you'll find a save point. This is the first time (and not the last) that a save point could save me a lot of frustration but I cannot access it without going out of my way. So I pass by it and the treasures.

At the end of the cave (255 steps), I yank the Mythril Knife (I forgot the Buckler to be honest but Mog's Mythril Shield exists) off of Terra to give to Locke. It's a pretty standard move but the fact of the matter is that Locke absolutely needs it for the next sequence of events. His Dagger just can't quite cut it against the Guard Leader and I'm not planning on snagging that Mythril Knife (I just want to get out of that battle alive). After doing this, one more step knocks Terra out for good and introduces me to my new best friend.

Yeah. He hunts the treasure from my enemies and grabs it for me. You damn thief.

Honestly, Locke is probably the most important person in this run. And he's not even going to exist in the World of Ruin. That's saying something. There's quite a few stealable items in this game but some of these (Dragoon Boots, Blood Sword, Golden Shield...) are absolutely necessary for this run. And without Locke... yeah.

Now comes one of the hardest challenges in this run. The Defend Terra sequence. On any other run, Mog will dominate here without even trying. But guess where Mog's placed?

That's right. Mog's party is an extra 2 steps away from the Guard Leader. And not only that but Locke's party would then have to move out of the way to let Mog through. So... Locke's fighting the Guard Leader.

Now, this isn't a problem in normal runs except for the fact that Locke and his moogles are going to be eating this.

Snowstorm hurts and nothing blocks it this early in the game. I manage to eat only two Snowstorms on my way to the Guard Leader which is a big help.

Before fighting the Guard Leader, strip Mog bare of his Mythril Spear and Mythril Shield. Most people do this anyway but from now on, this Mythril Spear will always have a special place in my heart. The fact of the matter is that until Demon drops the Radiant Lance, I will not have a better lance available. And I get this one twenty-one minutes into the game.

Walk up and challenge the Guard Leader.

On a side note, this guy's Rage is awesome. But it doesn't appear in the old FF3 game (SNES version).

Anywho, Guard Leader has Net which inflicts Stop. As long as it doesn't hit Locke, you're good. Locke's job here is to grab the Potions off of the Silver Lobos and then help on the offensive. The three moogles kill off one Silver Lobo (after Locke has robbed it blind) and then finish off the Guard Leader. The reason why the other Silver Lobo must live is because when both go down, the Guard Leader starts using !Charge which does a shitload of damage.

That being said, this guy is either next to impossible (from eating at least three or more Snowstorms) or downright pathetic (two or less Snowstorms to the face). I've seen both versions and believe me, the less Snowstorms you eat, the better. He drops a Hi Potion after croaking which is very nice.

Locke rescues Terra and the pair hightail it to Figaro Castle where a virtual god exists. His name is Edgar Reno Figaro and he is fucking incredible.

292 Steps.

[Life]

The trip to Figaro doesn't really amount to much. Locke's basically stealing Potions since you can never really have too many in this game, especially when you only visit 2 shops. Terra can Fire shit to death but she's really going to want to conserve her MP unless it's for groups.

Welcome to Figaro Castle! Usually, this is the place where we can buy Edgar's Tools. I say usually because... I'm not. Going north through the doors has us landing up in Edgar's throne room.

Before talking to Edgar, change Locke's shield to the Buckler. Don't stick either of them in the front row even with a rear attack.

Yes, we know. You're the resident pervert. Now go off and be awesome, will you?

Ok, I'm no Paperblade and I can't come up with snappy answers. But beauty? Terra Branford the furry? What are you, blind or something?!

Anyway, Edgar and Locke both leave and my next job is to uncover the tragic story of Figaro. It's a bit of a walk to the priestess with a very corners that can be cut. Speaking to her lets us name Sabin. Afterwards, head outside and LEAVE the castle.

See, I actually did the math myself here. If you leave Figaro by going West or South and then re-enter, you'll save 10 steps over traveling back through the castle. Nifty, huh?

Talk to Edgar in order to introduce...

I've realized something about Kefka specifically in this game. By taking out all of the swearing that Ted Woolsey had Kefka doing (Kefka basically swore every other sentence which is more than Relm, mind you), Kefka suddenly got creepier. In the SNES version, I could never take Kefka seriously until he managed to fuck up the world. Here, Kefka seems insane and sane at the same time. That's a scary thought since this is a crazy guy who knows what the fuck he's doing.

We finally get control of Edgar! Give him the Mythril Spear that we stole from Mog a while back. Edgar's basically going to end up making love to this thing at this point. Also keep him in the front row to anticipate the boss.

Clearly math was not Edgar's strong point in school.

I love how Kefka always claims that Terra took something that isn't really important but desperately wants her back (and burns Figaro in the process). Do you think it was his virginity because that would then make sense...

Locke, the next time you say "Follow me", make sure you're in FRONT of the person that you're leading. Anyway, Locke takes a hilariously long way to get to Terra's room while I can just cut a corner for 2 less steps.

Right... You sound less convincing than me in a Mafia game.

Kefka: I'm busy sipping on this herbal tea right now. Why, is something the matter?

Forget Kefka and just speak to the soldier in front of the main castle. This will prompt a whole long scene which culminates in this.

Two fearsome Magitek Armours will attack you. These things can hit pretty hard so the best way to deal with them is by confusing them with the Noiseblaster... until you realize that we can't buy it. This is just the start of our problems, mind you.

That being said, Edgar still two hits these things with his Auto Crossbow. How he got that into my inventory, I have no idea. Thank god he did, though. They'll drop Hi Potions after the battle which ALWAYS help.

In all seriousness, I can't find the "son of a submariner" line in the old FF3. So I'm going to assume that it doesn't exist and only this version does.

Ride the Chocobo to the start of the Figaro Cave and hop off. Put everyone in the back row (Locke's just going to be stealing right now) and save.

688 Steps.

[Integrity]

Will it be...

UNDER NINE THOUSAAAAND?

Also: FF6 Advance. Everybody always talks about the SNES version, so this is a nice change for me.

[Life]

Will it be...

UNDER NINE THOUSAAAAND?

Also: FF6 Advance. Everybody always talks about the SNES version, so this is a nice change for me.

I really like the layout of the menu and everything in the GBA version. The SNES version is... eh. You have to realize that Evade was broken (literally, the stat meant nothing in that game while MBlock was god) and it had bugs up the wazoo. This game still has bugs (Rippler is the famous one) but it's a much better version. It also has a couple of new Espers (well, Cactuar sucks but Gilgamesh and Leviathan are both great while I can't remember what the last new one is) and other goodies.

[Life]

Walking into the Figaro Cave leads us to the Recovery Spring, which heals HP, MP and KOs. This is really good since this won't happen again for a LONG time.

Ok, Edgar is so good in this game that it's not even funny. He's the best source of MT damage from now until Sabin gets Rising Phoenix in a normal game. Hell, he even outdoes earlygame Gau in a regular run. This guy is so fucking key in FFVI that it's not even funny. Just imagine what he's going to do on this run.

Anyway, the key in this cave is to cut corners as short as possible and abuse the Auto Crossbow. Locke's only stealing Potions right now while Terra should NOT waste her magic. Locke should also equip the Mythril Sword while Terra now has the Mythril Knife. Ix nay on better armour though. Sorry.

South Figaro is the first town that we're going to completely skip. The only thing of real note there is shopping and naming Shadow, something that automatically gets done on the way to Thamasa. Which means that it's worth passing over. Head northeast to Mt. Kolts. See why saving Terra's MP is good?

If you thought that Defend Terra was bad, here comes the beginning of the awful parts of this style of run. I NEED to steal two Bandannas from Zaghrem. While Zaghrem can be found quite commonly inside Mt. Kolts, getting them to drop Bandannas is quite annoying. Considering that it's a Rare drop (note that Locke at best will steal this thing 12.5% of the time) and that these things are a much higher level than Locke... yeah, this is going to be fun.

This is actually the second successful steal since I missed capturing the first. It's the first time that I've ever grabbed this thing and thank god that I did. Only cost me ~20 MP (4 Cures). Equip them on Terra and Locke for 5 Defense and 3 Magic Defense (beggars can't be choosers when you can't shop for shit).

Here's my next boss. Bastard's tracking me. Can't wait for Sabin to beat his ass up.

In any case, we skip all the good shit about this place. Like the Main Gauche, a Tent, Gigas Glove... Really good stuff that I would kinda like.

I know that it's going to get real boring when I keep showing pictures of Edgar destroying shit with his Auto Crossbow (Cirpius goes down in one hit, Trillium in two while Gorgias just barely escapes being two hit but dies from a physical at this point) but that's really all that's happening. Edgar truly is that good this early.

So close and yet so far... Considering that my last save point is before I spent a while hunting for Bandannas, I really want to use this one. It also means that Vargas is coming up.

Here we go. I kinda forgot to heal up before the battle started which wasn't exactly good. I also really want those Hi Potions that the Ipoohs have so stalling must exist here. Locke does manage to snag both of them in three tries, allowing Edgar to put them to sleep. After that, it was the Auto Crossbow show until...

Guess who?

Shit, I was hoping someone useful would show up.

So Vargas and Sabin banter back and forth for a bit until Vargas goes all Dragonball Z on our asses with Blizzard Fist.

And then Sabin performs the most complicated thing in the world: A Blitz. Rising Fist immediately ends the battle so why not use it ASAP?

After the battle, Sabin joins up with the party and we can finally leave Mt. Kolts. There's a Tent in a chest that I can see and it's so tempting but we have bigger fish to fry. Walk to the Returner Hideout in the Sabre Mountains and save.

1232 Steps.

[Life]

Time to do an analysis of everyone that I have! I'll do one that reflects the full game.

Terra Branford:

Terra is nothing short of amazing in this game. Her earlygame (up to the Narshe Battle Sequence) isn't bad or great but she can dish out pretty good damage with Fire for 4 MP a pop. Having Cure is also really nice too. However, she leaves your party right before one of the more difficult WoB dungeons (Zozo) and doesn't come back until after the IMRF is over. After that, she's underleveled. So therefore, she's bad, right?

Wrong. Terra is now forced into the next two dungeons. She gains Trance which is an amazing boss killer (Trance Blizzara might OHKO Flame Eater but at worst, 2HKOs it) and Esper time with real good Espers rather than the crap that we dealt with before our new additions. We're talking about Shiva, Ifrit, Golem, Zona Seeker, Phantom, Shoat... you name it. By the Floating Continent, she will at least have Blizzara, Fira and possibly even Death (Shoat gives out Bio, Petrify and Death so I can't see a reason why she wouldn't have it). As a result, Terra makes absolute quick work of both Ultima Weapon and Nelapa (bounce Death off of yourself to kill him) along with the rest of the Floating Continent.

The WoR is even funnier. Half of her sidequest can be done as soon as you reach Mobliz which can happen as soon as Celes leaves Solitary Island (the first thing that happens in the WoR). The second half is after you get the Falcon. Both involve beating up Humbaba who is pretty easy in his own right. Therefore, Terra should always be the first person who joins your party in the WoR. Everything after that is just straight up AP training. She hits 9999 with Ultima but Ultima stops making this game fun. She gets the Minerva Bustier, probably the second best armour in the game (Snow Scarf is the best). She can hold the Lightbringer and basically everything dies as a result. Enhancers are store-bought 7+ Mag swords... Basically, Terra is nuts in this game. Bring her to Kefka and let her wreck havoc on the guy who stuck a fancy crown on her in the beginning of the game.

Locke Cole:

Eh... Locke. He's your WoB thief and probably the better WoR thief (Gogo can't hold the Valiant Knife so suck on that). Locke's combat is pretty ass though, especially when you consider that his Mag is too low for him to be a decent mage (c'mon Narga, you build the guy up with either Str or HP). The Valiant Knife is pretty cool since it's almost exactly like FF8 Limits since low HP = high damage (every point of HP that Locke is missing is +1 damage with the VK). The VK also doesn't suffer the 1/2 damage penalty from the Master's Scroll so that's some pretty nice damage that Locke can deal later in the game. Aside from that, Locke's nothing special. He also requires the most effort to recruit in the WoR, especially after you consider his amazing availability in the WoB. He also gets the Lightbringer so... yeah.

Edgar Roni Figaro:

When you walk into your first boss battle in the game after 0 training and 2HKO the boss (who's made up of 2 guys), you are overpowered.

Edgar is fucking hilarious. Up to and including the Narshe Battle Sequence, every single enemy has a counter of Auto Crossbow, Bioblaster or Noiseblaster. Every single one. Edgar destroys the entire earlygame and is your best source of damage (Gau is too inconsistent since 50%, it's just a physical attack). Then Zozo and the IMRF comes and Edgar refuses to slow down after grabbing the Flash, Drill and Chainsaw tools. It's only when he rejoins does the damage from Drill and Chainsaw not look so good anymore.

However, at that point, you should have a Murakamo and Ward Bangle. You can immediately trade those in for the Holy Lance and Dragon Horn (providing that you win the battle) which gives Edgar nuts damage for the rest of the game. So what if he hits enemies only twice 75% of the time? That still does 4x the amount of damage as Attack would (2x for Jump with a Spear and 2x for jumping twice). And that's only jumping twice and not having Holy connect. What if he jumps 4 times and hits Holy? That would be fucking insane and it will happen more often than you think. Oh and Edgar is also a Lightbringer wielder, the third of 4.

Sabin Rene Figaro:

I'm going to make this short and sweet. I like Sabin a lot. I really do. And yet, Sabin isn't incredibly amazing. His defense is horrible and he can't target at all.

That's the bad. Now the good. Phantom Rush is amazingly stupid damage and you get it early in the WoR. Even before that, Sabin is doing really high ST damage with Aura Cannon. Then Rising Phoenix kicks in somewhere around Zozo and there's your MT damage, Fire Elemental to boot. Razor Gale is next at level 30 which should be early in the WoR but before Phantom Rush comes. So he never has damage problems.

The problem comes in his defense. When your best equips are the Red Jacket and Red Cap, you know that you've got a problem. The Merit Award works well on him since he gains a lot more than he loses (he can use the Enhancer for 7+ Mag, equip actual good armour...) with that Relic slot. That being said, he's got to give up a Relic for his defense. I could have put in some Prayer Beads, an Earring, a Zephyr Cloak, Miracle Shoes... You name it, the Merit Award takes its slot.

That's a pretty decent analysis for all the characters so far. I'll do another one of Celes, Cyan, Gau and Shadow in a couple of updates.

[Narga_Rocks]

On a side note, this guy's Rage is awesome. But it doesn't appear in the old FF3 game (SNES version).

What are you talking about? Marshal rage with Wind Slash.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/snes/554041-final-fantasy-iii/faqs/35118

The guy is in pack 1 on the veldt.

In all seriousness, I can't find the "son of a submariner" line in the old FF3. So I'm going to assume that it doesn't exist and only this version does.

Huh? Are you being facetious? It's the exact same spot as the son of a sandworm line, just in the original instead of the advance version.

And Brawler is only level 9. If Locke started at level 8, isn't he 9 by now? Granted, this only gives him like a 50% to successfully "steal" which results in 6.25% chance to get the bandana due to the rarity. Just be glad that there was no "common" steal in the way of getting the bandana. Then you'd have to reset a bunch to make it work. Or abuse savestates. Or get really lucky on however many brawlers you face and get it. Unless you face 16 of them, I guess, in which case on average you can steal 2 bandanas and 14 common items, whatever they would have had if they had one.

And when Terra rejoins she'll have the average level (rounded down, if not an integer) of your party. Granted two characters did not go to the magitek facility so it is quite possible she'll be down a level or two, but it's not like she'll be Tormod, which your statement kinda makes it sound like.

And Snow Muffler only gives ice absorption and fire halving, or something like that. Sure it has more def and mdef than Minerva, but I'd still argue Minerva is better.

Edited January 10, 2011 by Narga_Rocks

[Life]

What are you talking about? Marshal rage with Wind Slash.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/snes/554041-final-fantasy-iii/faqs/35118

The guy is in pack 1 on the veldt.

Personal experience speaking. I hunted on the Veldt for 1.5 hours and didn't find him once in the SNES version (I know what he looks like). I find him about 2 times every half hour during the first Veldt hunt. On average. Hell, I have more problems finding fucking Oversoul than Guard Leader.

Huh? Are you being facetious? It's the exact same spot as the son of a sandworm line, just in the original instead of the advance version.

I swear to God that it isn't there. I remember being visibly disappointed by it.

And Brawler is only level 9. If Locke started at level 8, isn't he 9 by now? Granted, this only gives him like a 50% to successfully "steal" which results in 6.25% chance to get the bandana due to the rarity. Just be glad that there was no "common" steal in the way of getting the bandana. Then you'd have to reset a bunch to make it work. Or abuse savestates. Or get really lucky on however many brawlers you face and get it. Unless you face 16 of them, I guess, in which case on average you can steal 2 bandanas and 14 common items, whatever they would have had if they had one.

I mixed up Iron Fist and Zaghrem. During the time of writing, I thought that Zahgrem was level 15. Which is wrong (duh).

And when Terra rejoins she'll have the average level (rounded down, if not an integer) of your party. Granted two characters did not go to the magitek facility so it is quite possible she'll be down a level or two, but it's not like she'll be Tormod, which your statement kinda makes it sound like.

And Snow Muffler only gives ice absorption and fire halving, or something like that. Sure it has more def and mdef than Minerva, but I'd still argue Minerva is better.

Umm... where did I say the first line? As for the 2nd, the Snow Scarf lets Gau hit 255 Def. That's beyond nuts. Throw in a Force/Thunder Shield and Gau is absorbing/nullifying elements while taking next to no damage from the physical front. Then add Magic Urn...

Edited January 10, 2011 by Life Admiral

[Narga_Rocks]

Personal experience speaking. I hunted on the Veldt for 1.5 hours and didn't find him once in the SNES version (I know what he looks like). I find him about 2 times every half hour during the first Veldt hunt. On average. Hell, I have more problems finding fucking Oversoul than Guard Leader.

He only potentially shows up in one pack. There are 8 different encounters for that pack. After pack 1, you fight pack 2. Then 3, then...well depending on the point in the game you are at there could be like 50 packs. So you have to cycle through all those battles, and then when you reach pack 1 you have a 1 in 8 chance of facing him. And if you face one of the other 7 encounters, you have to go through all those other packs again before you get another shot. In the original you could do a map save and I think it remembers what pack you are at. So you could get to pack 1 and force it to give you Marshal. I don't know if that works on the GBA.

I doubt they made it any nicer for the gba version (and could have made it worse). It's possible when you tried on the snes you had more packs unlocked and more pack 1 encounters unlocked. If you only had, say, 5 encounters in pack 1 and 7 packs unlocked, it won't take too long to meet Marshal. If you have 25 packs unlocked and all 8 encounters in pack 1, well, glhf.

And of course it is possible you've just gotten lucky on the GBA and pack 1 gave you marshal a bunch.

I swear to God that it isn't there. I remember being visibly disappointed by it.

I've seen it. Don't know how you missed it.

Umm... where did I say the first line?

Terra is nothing short of amazing in this game. Her earlygame (up to the Narshe Battle Sequence) isn't bad or great but she can dish out pretty good damage with Fire for 4 MP a pop. Having Cure is also really nice too. However, she leaves your party right before one of the more difficult WoB dungeons (Zozo) and doesn't come back until after the IMRF is over. After that, she's underleveled. So therefore, she's bad, right?

Underleveled? Maybe by like 2.

As for the 2nd, the Snow Scarf lets Gau hit 255 Def. That's beyond nuts. Throw in a Force/Thunder Shield and Gau is absorbing/nullifying elements while taking next to no damage from the physical front. Then add Magic Urn...

Why add magic urn? You don't like killing stuff? Now sure, 255 def is kinda nice and makes physical damage (the non-defence ignoring kind) do 0 or 1 damage depending on row. But I rather like the idea of nullifying 4 elements and leaving the shield slot open. Like, 2 weapons. Or in the snes version a force shield if I can get to 127 mblock.

Oh, and Valiant Knife doesn't completely ignore the damage lost from offering. It's only the (max hp - current hp) part that ignores offering. The part that comes from the weapon still gets chopped in half. And it's actually a fairly large chunk of damage considering the weapon ignores defence.

And as for the choice of +str or +magpwr for Locke, it depends on what kind of game you are playing. Everyone can be a decent mage when you consider that 30 levels of Zoneseek gives you +60 magic. 90 magic power or 100 magic power isn't that big a difference, really. But if you aren't getting that many levels, then sure Locke would be better off gaining str for his levels since he's mainly a physical attacker.

Oh, and make sure you use the (barely) hidden chocobos. They tend to save more steps than it costs to reach them. I read that guide (or one like it. Probably one written for the snes version) years ago and don't remember if the dude used them.

Edited January 10, 2011 by Narga_Rocks

[Life]

He only potentially shows up in one pack. There are 8 different encounters for that pack. After pack 1, you fight pack 2. Then 3, then...well depending on the point in the game you are at there could be like 50 packs. So you have to cycle through all those battles, and then when you reach pack 1 you have a 1 in 8 chance of facing him. And if you face one of the other 7 encounters, you have to go through all those other packs again before you get another shot. In the original you could do a map save and I think it remembers what pack you are at. So you could get to pack 1 and force it to give you Marshal. I don't know if that works on the GBA.

I doubt they made it any nicer for the gba version (and could have made it worse). It's possible when you tried on the snes you had more packs unlocked and more pack 1 encounters unlocked. If you only had, say, 5 encounters in pack 1 and 7 packs unlocked, it won't take too long to meet Marshal. If you have 25 packs unlocked and all 8 encounters in pack 1, well, glhf.

And of course it is possible you've just gotten lucky on the GBA and pack 1 gave you marshal a bunch.

I always find Guard Leader pretty early into my Rage hunts. That's at least 7 runs at this point.

I've seen it. Don't know how you missed it.

If you have an SNES emulator, do you mind screenshotting it for me? I don't like the SNES version.

Underleveled? Maybe by like 2.

The average player looks at her level (pretty sure that it's about 3 levels actually but we'll find out soon) and thinks "underleveled". Besides, she's the opposite of Tormod. If anything, she's like Othin/Halvan. She's good in the start but overshadowed by better (Fin, Dagda, Eyvel) but when she comes back after missing some action, she's fucking amazing even if a bit behind on levels.

Why add magic urn? You don't like killing stuff? Now sure, 255 def is kinda nice and makes physical damage (the non-defence ignoring kind) do 0 or 1 damage depending on row. But I rather like the idea of nullifying 4 elements and leaving the shield slot open. Like, 2 weapons. Or in the snes version a force shield if I can get to 127 mblock.

Well, I could have said Io or Holy Dragon or anything with a strong offensive Rage but why worry about healing when Magic Urn does it for me?

Oh, and Valiant Knife doesn't completely ignore the damage lost from offering. It's only the (max hp - current hp) part that ignores offering. The part that comes from the weapon still gets chopped in half. And it's actually a fairly large chunk of damage considering the weapon ignores defence.

And as for the choice of +str or +magpwr for Locke, it depends on what kind of game you are playing. Everyone can be a decent mage when you consider that 30 levels of Zoneseek gives you +60 magic. 90 magic power or 100 magic power isn't that big a difference, really. But if you aren't getting that many levels, then sure Locke would be better off gaining str for his levels since he's mainly a physical attacker.

I didn't know that (bolded part). Thanks. I will say that Genie Glove Locke with the Lightbringer and Valiant Knight is not a great idea (flashy but I like having the Thief's Bracer on him at all times and even without that, there are better Relics around).

Oh, and make sure you use the (barely) hidden chocobos. They tend to save more steps than it costs to reach them. I read that guide years ago and don't remember if the dude used them.

He does but thanks for reminding me. I think the first one is the one by the Colosseum which should get me to Zozo.

[Narga_Rocks]

I always find Guard Leader pretty early into my Rage hunts. That's at least 7 runs at this point.

Well, if you do it early in wob then marshal will show up a lot earlier than if you try to find him after the research facility or even later.

Like, it shouldn't take long at all if you go to Sabin's scenario first and then hang around in the veldt.

If you have an SNES emulator, do you mind screenshotting it for me? I don't like the SNES version.

Maybe, though I'd probably have to get to there from the start. I don't have saves that early. I'll think about it.

The average player looks at her level (pretty sure that it's about 3 levels actually but we'll find out soon) and thinks "underleveled". Besides, she's the opposite of Tormod. If anything, she's like Othin/Halvan. She's good in the start but overshadowed by better (Fin, Dagda, Eyvel) but when she comes back after missing some action, she's fucking amazing even if a bit behind on levels.

Well, it's been so long since I played without running all the time. Are you sure about the level difference?

You'll have Gau, Cyan, Locke, Edgar, Sabin when Terra reappears. Assuming you leave behind Cyan and Gau for both spots (which I assume you will) I suppose you'll have them relatively low in level. But still, let's say three level 15s and two level 10s. That's 65/5 = 13. Terra arrives only two levels under. You might get to 3 depending on just how many levels are gained, though. But in your case with minimum steps, you might find that she's within 2.

And like you said, she's forced for the next two parts. She'll probably end up with a level lead on all but Locke after the end of the thamasa sequence. And that's assuming you don't use different units for Zozo than for the magitek facility.

I didn't know that (bolded part). Thanks. I will say that Genie Glove Locke with the Lightbringer and Valiant Knight is not a great idea (flashy but I like having the Thief's Bracer on him at all times and even without that, there are better Relics around).

I love the sneak ring, too. It's nice. x2 for steal rate, so against an equal level enemy he's looking at 100% "steal" success, though obviously it can still fail if he picks an empty slot between common and rare (should there be an empty slot).

And this is so much nicer than the 10/256 chance of a rare item in ff5. Or 16/256. One of those numbers is for drops the other is for steals. I forget which is which. And you can't ever get past like 75% in ff5. Bright side is that level is irrelevant and there is a static chance of successfully "stealing" from a slot.

Edited January 10, 2011 by Narga_Rocks

[Life]

Now it's time for something I've been dreading.

See, there's two ways to go through South Figaro during the invasion. One is to disguise Locke as a merchant and the other is to beat up the Heavy Armour in front of an alley. Guess which one yields less steps!

So basically, Locke has got to be about level 12+ before I feel comfortable to take on the Heavy Armour. That being said, how can I train and still keep my number of steps down?

The answer is suicide. If your entire party dies in this game, you revert back to your last save with only your levels and experience intact. Basically, it's a "if you got far but failed, the next time you try this, you'll be stronger" style of thinking. And I can abuse it to level since stuff like magic learned, items gained and most importantly STEPS get reset.

If you don't think this is legit, I could train on the Lethe River but I really don't want to so fuck that. I train Locke up to 11, kill off my party and then restart the file. Hopefully I can get by with heavy Hi-Potion abuse.

Walk into the Returner Hide-out and talk to the soldier to get taken (most of the way) to Banon's room.

Shame... she can barely kill Mus in one hit!

Yes Banon, but it might not be a good idea not to tell Terra that she's a mass murderer.

Evil clowns, dumb people, monsters, bad hairdoos... am I missing anything from this list?

Anyway, Terra will wake up in a bed and she needs to talk to Locke, Sabin, Edgar and Banon in that order. Locke is right by Terra when she wakes up, Sabin is in the next room while Edgar is a bitch.

See, Edgar moves around the room. And it's SUPPOSED to be possible for him to be in the spot right beside Terra when she enters the door. If it's possible, then I ain't moving. The thing is, the bastard rarely comes over here.

In truth, it actually all comes down to luck. Edgar has a set path that changes on reset.

See? Luck.

Anyway, time to head to Banon. At this point, I don't want to screw up since Edgar's a bitch.

I know what you're thinking. The Genie Glove is much better than the Gauntlet. That being said, the Genie Glove costs an unholy amount of steps while the Gauntlet does not. The Gauntlet is also going to help against Heavy Armour.

Who, Edgar? Edgar's godly so I don't think Terra would honestly mind if he molested her.

At this point, Banon joins your party at a good 4 levels below the average. Fuck him. We jump onto a raft and escape down the Lethe River.

Once again, here's the obligatory "Edgar fires his Auto Crossbow" picture. He turns Nautilus and Exolite into bite sized morsels for Terra and Sabin (I mean OHKO fodder).

This is starting to become a tease. This one is a step away. Luckily, there's a forced one later along the river. I save at that one and pull all the stuff that Locke needs off of Sabin (Mythril Sword, Bandana, Kenpo Gi, Mythril Shield). Time to fight...

Let me get this out of the way. I love Ultros since the guy has some of the best lines on the face of the universe. Sometimes, I wish that he's the bad guy and not Kefka because he's just that funny.

That being said, Fire, Auto Crossbow and Aura Cannon make quick work of the guy. Banon's nice for MT healing but that's pretty much it.

And here we are. I love this selection screen... except for the fact that my steps count here too... Save since I'm going to need it.

1392 Steps.

Edited January 11, 2011 by Life Admiral

[General Spoon]

Why are you going out of your way to get Terra if she isn't required?

Edited January 11, 2011 by General Spoon

[Narga_Rocks]

At this point, Banon joins your party at a good 4 levels below the average. Fuck him. We jump onto a raft and escape down the Lethe River.

Actually I think it is -3. I wasn't counting him earlier since none of the PCs (defined by ability to move at least some items) are ever -.

Now imagine when your average level is 5. Terra 3, Locke 5, Edgar 6, Sabin 6. Yeah. Fun.

Of course, on an LLG there is no reason to keep your steps low, so I generally make Banon get a few levels (others run when only one enemy remains) so he can actually survive a direct tecntacle attack in the back row while defending. Yeah, at level 2 he can't. Fun that.

I'm guessing he doesn't think that he can beat Kefka's Tower with just Celes + Setzer + Edgar, obv. Every unit requires steps. Terra doesn't require all that many. Most of the rest require at least twice as many, I'm sure.

Edited January 11, 2011 by Narga_Rocks

[Life]

Why are you going out of your way to get Terra if she isn't required?

I'm not. After the Esper Caves, it's to the bench with her.

[General Spoon]

I'm not. After the Esper Caves, it's to the bench with her.

I take it you plan to abuse Joker Death for Kefka's Tower, right?

[Life]

I take it you plan to abuse Joker Death for Kefka's Tower, right?

I might unrig the Slots but I doubt it. I think I'm going to Death anything Death-able, toss the Fixed Dice for damage and... yeah, Dragoon Boots.

EDIT: Narga, do you know why two of my images aren't working? I just checked the links and they should be fine.

Edited January 11, 2011 by Life Admiral

[Narga_Rocks]

Which ones? I can't see any gaps.

Oh, and spoon edited his post to include a pic with the son of a submariner line.

[Life]

I need to be honest. I kinda forgot to unequip Terra's Mythril Sword which means that I'd have to fight the Heavy Armour without it. So... looks like I'm going to Terra and Edgar's scenario first. It's going to kinda screw with my numbers but they should all add up at the end.

Ride the rest of the Lethe River and then head to Narshe. It's just a hopskip away.

Head west to the wall where Locke and Terra exited from to go back in. Keep going until...

Shit, this place. The fastest route involves NOT following the light so... we're not following it. Instead, we get to have some fun!

This is the security part. Tag the orange light to continue walking. Hit anything else and you get a battle and sent back to the start. So do yourself a favour and don't mess up.

Afterwards, just retrace all of Terra's earlier steps to get back to Arvis' house. This scenario is always pretty easy and short.

1706 Steps.

Locke starts his scenario off with a boss. Well, not really but the Heavy Armour is really tricky at this point in time.

This guy is hard. Locke only deals ~25 damage to him at this point while the guy can basically 4HKO Locke with almost any combination of attacks. In addition to this, Magitek Laser will usually kill Locke if he has 160 or less HP. Yikes.

Honestly, this is a really hard fight. It's nearly impossible to anticipate Magitek Laser and there's a very good chance that Locke won't be living after it hits. I almost went back to an earlier save to redo the Returner stuff... when this happened.

Yes. Mirage Dive. OHKO'd the bastard. Thank fucking god too since I actually didn't use up a single Hi-Potion.

Come on. You know that's cool. In any case, Locke now has access to the rest of South Figaro.

There's a hidden bridge here that Square put in for some weird reason. Head to the pub and go downstairs to grab some Cider.

I love how the Merchant went from fat to skinny by losing his clothes. He also shrank a bit. Head back to the old man's place and give him some Cider.

You'll end up in the boiler room of the rich man's house afterwards. There's an Elixir in the clock and like most other great things, I just can't get it. Shit.

That's the guy who sold out South Figaro. Fuck you, matey. Also, there's a secret passage behind the bookshelf. Fastest route is through the bed (why does this sound stupid?). Head downstairs to witness a scene with Celes.

I kinda remember that guard smacking Celes around for a bit before saying that line. Which makes a lot more sense, I guess. Chat to Celes and grab the key from the soldier. I can't stress this enough simply because it's one of those things that you just forget. Afterwards, head to the last door.

Finally! A chest I can grab! There's two chests in here on the way to the non-ticking clock and together, they contain 1500 Gil. It's better to do Locke's scenario before Sabin's because Sabin will actually go shopping.

After winding the clock, navigate the underground and then leave South Figaro. We'll be back one more time, I promise. Save on the world map.

2254 Steps.

[Life]

Note: I screwed up my steps in the Locke scenario and had to restart from the Returner Base (thank god for that second save that I made there). In the 2nd run, Locke's scenario happens first (I still hit Mirage Dive on the Heavy Armour) with Sabin's 2nd.

Figaro Cave is nothing special so I just skipped all the way to Tunnel Armour. This battle is exactly the same as the normal except for the fact that my goal is to steal the Bioblaster (maybe I do get to see that thing).

Fuck Tunnel Armour for having an Air Knife in his common slot. This thing will destroy the Narshe Battle Sequence. Afterwards, it's your typical TA fight. Celes is on Runic duty while Locke fights. Tunnel Armour drops an Elixir afterwards. Cool!

2334 Steps.

Screw Shadow and the old man. They're not important. Sabin's gonna solo this shit from now until Doma.

Trust me, if Kefka hears you insulting him, worse things will happen. You might just join the choir invisible.

I can't think of anything witty to say so boingo boingo whoopsie knickers.

Ok, I don't get this. You have guns and machines and your method for infiltrating Doma Castle is banging your heads against the wall?

YOU don't need to do anything. Half of those soldiers are running around doing nothing in front of the castle while the other half can barely make it up three feet. Son, I am disappoint.

"And I bet that they won't shoot me during this 1-on-1 duel because they have lots of honour!"

Anyway, defeat the Captain (2 Fangs to the face should do it) and grab the Black Belt. That thing is actually important in this run and it's only a Common Drop. Basically, it's possible not to get it.

Christ sakes, Leo, why the hell are you even attacking Doma in the first place? That shaggy dog doesn't give a shit about his soldier's lives.

Kefka, you are amazing.

Another golden line from Mr. Palazzo.

If Metric ain't headlining at this concert, then I won't come. Sorry mate.

Why isn't LSD ever considered an option? Those soldiers might just be trippin' something hard.

Anyway, run to the king, watch him die, run to Cyan's room and watch his family die and yep. Speak to Cyan from the side to initiate battle. Do this three times to continue.

Ok, time to kill shit again. Move through the camp towards the exit, fighting three battles as you go. Once you get to the end, you're out on the world map. Head to the Phantom Forest and save.

2585 Steps.

[Shadow Mir]

I prefer the GBA version because of the menu look, as well as autodash.

[Life]

Well, here we are. Phantom Forest. The Recovery Spring is one screen in so head there. After this, I gotta stay alive between now and the next shop.

And here's the main attraction. The Phantom Train. Too bad that I'm not going to be finding any of the nicer things here (Sniper Eye, Earring) but the goal is to get on, shop and get out.

So Sabin hops onto the train, Cyan follows him and both get stuck with a one-way ticket to the afterworld. Hades would be pleased at the stupidity here.

Without Shadow around, this formation becomes the stuff of nightmares. See, neither Sabin and Cyan can target their OHKO moves, giving the Angel Whisper ample time to sling Gravity around. Clouds aren't dangerous (they like using Drain but they don't have inherent Sap and will get OHKO'd by Sabin and Cyan and !Unseen Damage does crap) but the Angel Whisper is one of my most hated enemies out there (I hate Gravity spells).

See what I mean? This guy managed to get in two in this battle alone, forcing a Hi-Potion use on Cyan.

Ah, the first of two shops in this game that I can visit. Thank fucking god. 19724 Gil better be able to buy some stuff.

I buy 31 Phoenix Downs and 14 Hi-Potions. It's important to realize that I won't be learning Raise in this run. Therefore, if someone dies, it's Phoenix Down time. 30 (I bought an extra one for the Phantom Train) should be enough to last me for the rest of the game (I don't die often) and when I get more money (between now and Mobliz), I can buy a couple more at the next shop. As for Hi-Potions, they're always handy to have around in the early game.

I'm forced to enter this car in order to jump over the next bunch. That jump scene actually gives me extra steps which is quite... eh. If it didn't, I would be 7 steps away from beating 9000 steps.

With the exception of the Narshe Mines save point, this one bothers me the most. I dislike the Phantom Train a lot and the last thing I want to be doing is shopping... again. But it's not worth those 2 extra steps.

I never realized how scary Bombs were until now. Two Blazes (one MT and one to Cyan) knocked out Cyan when he started with ~200 HP. Phoenix Down uses = 1. I do manage to snag a Hi-Potion from that battle which tops off Cyan's HP so it's all good... sorta.

At the request of someone (I can't remember who), here's Sabin suplexing a train. Afterwards, all it takes is a single Phoenix Down to end the battle (I am NOT going to try to beat out a possible Acid Rain). Also note that Sabin can suplex a train but he can't lift up little squirrels (Mus). It makes sense when you're high.

Afterwards, watch the scene and you'll find yourself on the world map. We're almost at Baron Falls!

Once you get the falls, leap off of them to arrive on the Veldt. In a normal run, Shadow will leave you at this point if he hasn't run away before this.

Time to go fishing! Opinicus Fish will appear for 60 seconds and then the Rhizopas will show up. He's considered to be one of the harder bosses in this game since El Nino will kill both Sabin and Cyan but he also falls in three shots so it's a bit of a moot point. He drops a Remedy after the battle while Opinicus Fish drop Potions. Not bad.

On a side note, you start this battle at full HP. I know this since Sabin was supposed to have around 100 HP walking into this battle.

Welcome to the Veldt! Most runs usually consist of hours of AP training and Rage searching here but to me, Gau is fucking useless. Especially in this run. We do have to recruit him though since there's no other way possible off this God forsaken spit of land. Which means that we need Dried Meat.

Welcome to Mobliz! Or specifically, the Mobliz item shop. Aside from the Phantom Train Shop, this is the only other place where I will spend Gil in this game (as much as I want it, I'm not getting the Heiji's Jitte which would be AWESOME). We can sell any useless shit at this point of the game (Sabin's and Cyan's weapons, other weapons) since we're pretty much not going to need them after this. Buy a Dried Meat and then empty your pockets. I snagged one more Phoenix Down, three Green Cherries, an Eye Drops and six Hi-Potions. That should last me for the rest of the game. Leave Mobliz afterward and SAVE (this one is extremely important right now).

There are 51 steps between Mobliz and the entrance of Crescent Mountain. Gau will show up after a battle around 57.5% of the time (it's a number similar to that at least). Now, if he doesn't show up by the time I hit Crescent Mountain, I have to reset because it's impossible to continue along. Saving outside of Mobliz after doing everything will ease the frustration of not finding the kid. It still is frustrating when you don't though.

Toss him the Dried Meat and head on over to Crescent Mountain. Forget about Rages, Gau's hitting the bench as soon as we make it to Narshe. Belmodar and Zahgrem should be all that he needs for the Serpent Trench if he doesn't die (who cares if he does).

This is the reason of why we bothered with the Mobliz trip in the first place. Without Gau, you can't jump into the Serpent Trench. Hop in and we're home free! Just make sure that you go left both times.

Fighting wise, Sabin's your best guy unless Gau nails Stone on the Anguiform (same level means 8x damage). Even weaponless (since Blitz is based on Magic), Sabin will OHKO all the enemies. Aspiran likes countering with Gigavolt which WILL kill whoever it hits so I'd suggest restarting if it connects on Sabin. Oh and Anguiform might whip out Aqua Breath after a bit so kill him off as quick as possible.

Once you get to Nikeah, head for the boatman and shove off. Unequip Gau and Cyan first if you need to.

3212 Steps.

[Iced]

At the request of someone (I can't remember who), here's Sabin suplexing a train. Afterwards, all it takes is a single Phoenix Down to end the battle (I am NOT going to try to beat out a possible Acid Rain). Also note that Sabin can suplex a train but he can't lift up little squirrels (Mus). It makes sense when you're high.

I'm honored.

I'm quite impressed that you truly are trying to get the lowest possible, giving up shopping too lose 2 steps must have been hard.