Hunter Single Class Challenge - Version 1.01
Final Fantasy III (NES) - Fan Translation by Alex W. Jackson, Neill Corlett,
and SoM2Freak
Copyright 2013 John Scheving
aka john360 (available by PM)
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Table of Contents
001 Introduction
002 What is a Single Class Challenge? Da rulez.
003 Why a Single Class Challenge?
004 The Hunter? Really?
005 The Way of Hunter - Or, What You’re Getting Yourself Into
006 General Tips
007 The Walkthrough
007a Before Unlocking Hunter
007b Yay, I haz Bow! - The Main Challenge Begins
007c Hynes Castle
007d Off the Floating Continent
007e Sewers and Mansions, All in a Day’s Work
007f Some Small Errands
007g Leveling, Salonia, and the Big Bad Bird Garuda
007h Magic Circle Cave and Mini Power!
007i Goin’ on a Bear Hunt! – Temple of Time and Optional Areas
007j Cave of Darkness
007k Earth Crystal, Dorga’s Cave
007l Ancient’s Labyrinth and Forbidden Land Eureka
007m Mucho Leveling - Sylx Tower and World of Darkness!
008 Legal Stuff
001 Introduction
The purpose of this guide is to assist players in playing through the beloved
Final Fantasy III for NES using only the Hunter (Ranger in the DS remake)
class. I play FF3 using the wonderful fan translation by Alex W. Jackson,
Neill Corlett, and SoM2Freak as this game wasn’t released in English until
the DS remake much later, and deserves to be played in its original glory.
The names of monsters, people, etc. will mostly use the names given in the fan
translation, with a few exceptions, such as the use of "Mage" where "Wizard"
is when concerning the player classes. Sometimes I will include the names of
items/spells/etc. given in alternate versions of the game or their equivalents
in other games for convenience.
Of course, without some sort of hacking, this challenge can’t start until you
unlock the job after receiving the fire crystal jobs a fair amount into the
game. For the purposes of this FAQ, the guide will assume you start playing
the Hunter at this point in the game. Before unlocking Hunter, you can use
any class as long as that class has equal or lesser Vitality growth at any
given experience level as HP growth carries over between classes in FF3 and
it is the only stat that does so. This only excludes the Monk class.
This guide is designed for players who have played through the game at least
once. Therefore, this guide will usually only go into detail on things that
exclusively pertain to this challenge. Refer to a generic walkthrough if you
need more detailed help on the game/plot/order of events, etc. I personally
like System Error’s guide here on Gamefaqs.
002 What is a Single Class Challenge? Da rulez.
A Single Class Challenge (SCC) involves playing through a game using only one
class/job and only the abilities from that class. I believe the SCC got
popularized originally through the Final Fantasy Tactics (PSone) game. These
challenges are done for fun (I’d hope) and to play through a game in a
different way than intended, and making the most of each job. An SCC is very
similar to a No Class Change challenge, except that you use only one class
and can use any class in the game, not just the Wind Crystal jobs.
These are the rules that I will be following for this challenge. You are free
to do whatever you want through your playthrough, but these are the rules that
I and this guide will follow.
1. Starting at the time you unlock a class, you can only use that class. For
the Hunter class, the minute you unlock the job, switch all four characters
to the Hunter class, where they will remain for the remainder of the game.
2. Prior to unlocking that class, you can use any class as long as that class
has equal or lesser Vitality growth at any given experience level. This is
done to negate the advantages of leveling in a separate class before the job
is unlocked. For the Hunter class, this means that the Fighter and
White/Black/Red Wizard classes are all fair game until the Hunter class is
unlocked.
3. No exploiting special class abilities to gain access to items you wouldn’t
receive otherwise. This would only really applies to the Thief class and its
steal/opening door skills, but this doesn’t apply anyways for this guide as
the Hunter is unlocked at the same time as the Thief, so using the Thief would
be impossible anyways.
4. No hacking/duping items/upgrading items/exploiting bugs/save states/
rewinding/etc. so that the challenge is not diluted. An exception can be made
if you want to unlock and play the Hunter class earlier than intended (I
didn’t). Personally, I use save states as a complement to the built-in battery
save for convenience, but only load a save state that I made immediately
before I quit the game, and I don’t load it again afterwards, similar to
portable games’ "Quick Save" features. Save often as you will be relying on
the built-in game battery save alone when you get a game over. :P
003 Why a Single Class Challenge?
Playing a Single Class Challenge can be fun for those who enjoy a challenge
while getting the most out of individual classes. My first SCC’s I played on
Final Fantasy Tactics, completing SCC’s with about ten different classes, as
well as a hacked solo SCC (or SSCC) where I played using only the Zalera class
and its two sets of abilities. Recently, I played through a Thief (no class-
change) SCC for Final Fantasy I, following Aspie Giraffe’s wonderful guide on
the challenge. It should come to no surprise that the challenge involved a lot
of grinding, which cut down on the fun, but it turned out to be satisfying
enough. I play my NES games on an emulator with my 4x turbo speed button used
very very frequently, otherwise the challenge would have been unbearably
boring.
004 The Hunter? Really?
But enough about that. This guide is about the Hunter. Why the Hunter? Well, I
wanted to pick a class that didn’t get a whole lot of usage in Final Fantasy
III, as well as picking a class that didn’t take too long to unlock in the
game so that I could have a decently long challenge. The Wind Crystal jobs
(Fighter, Monk, and Red/White/Black Wizard) I just wasn’t feeling like using
so I thought the Hunter would be an interesting run. With medium-ish offense
and some healing (L1-L3) capabilities, I thought it would be a decently
challenging run through the game. Read the next section for how this all
turned out.
005 The Way of Hunter - Or, What You’re Getting Yourself Into
This challenge varies quite a bit in difficulty throughout the game from easy
to ridiculously hard. Overall, my guess is that I spent 35-45 hours playing
this challenge with the ability to emulate at 4x speed. It may have taken
longer, but it certainly didn’t take any less. If you follow this guide and
the insights I gained that I didn’t have going into the challenge, you can
probably reduce that by 5-7 hours. I’d estimate around 40-45% of the total
time for this challenge was spent grinding from level 50 to level 97 to get
through Land of Eureka / Ancients Labyrinth / Sylx (Crystal) Tower / Land of
Darkness, as well as a few failed attempts through the last two dungeons. At
least it seemed like it took that long anyways.
Before you unlock the Hunter, being able to use any class but Monk isn’t too
bad at all. After getting Hunter, they are a decent class for a while that
slowly loses power throughout the game as their equips become obsolete and
Cure2 goes from being quite useful to ineffective in battle by the end of the
game. Not being able to run means they must fight every battle and spend their
precious arrows, for which you can only carry a limited amount.
Garuda is the first big challenge, and I had to level from 18-29 to beat him.
As a non-magic class, grinding Storopers for attack items is necessary to get
through the Magic Circle Cave where you are Mini’d. They get a significant
boost in power once you can purchase Yoichi Bows and Arrows, though these
quickly become more of a necessity than a luxury.
006 General Tips
Here’s a list of some general tips to keep in mind throughout the challenge.
Most of them are common sense, but it doesn’t hurt to list them, right? ;)
1. Conserve arrows when possible. You can only carry 99 of each arrow, along
with up to 20 of one type of arrow per archer. Fighting monsters with your
fists is not fun :( Remember that on the Overworld map, you can save at any
time and reload if you get into a battle that you don’t want to fight. Also,
keep your Medusa Arrows until you clear the Cave of Darkness.
2. IMPORTANT: Know the sections of the game where you can’t buy arrows. Unlike
every other class in the game, Hunters can’t simply restore themselves
completely by resting at an inn as they need arrows for every attack that they
make.
3. Hunters cannot use the run command. You have to fight every battle out to
the bitter end!
4. Ancients' Village is your friend, as it is the only village with a weapon
shop that sells arrows (until you get the Invincible, which sells Yoichi
arrows). It sells Fire, Bolt, and Ice arrows for 30G each. By the time you
unlock the Hunter class, this isn’t too bad of a price. If you are low on
money, fight weaker monsters with your fists to gain gold and/or go treasure
hunting if you skipped any treasures in previous areas.
5. Commands for Hunter:
Fight - You will use this a lot. Shoot pixelated arrows of various elements
at their foes, hope they die. Rinse and repeat.
Defend - Raises your physical defense, or something. Useful for when you want
to save arrows.
Magic - Cast lesser White Magic spells (L1-3, excluding Aero) to mend your
woodsmans’ battle wounds. Cure and Cure2 become less useful in battle as the
game progresses. The Hunter can use:
L1 - Cure, Pure (Poisona), Sight
L2 - Toad, Mini (no Aero)
L3 - Cure2, Exit, Wash (Blindna)
Item - Used for curative items to mend your wounds or restore statuses, the
occasional offensive item to wound your foes, and to switch out/refill arrows.
Switching arrows mid-battle is very inconvenient but must be done at times.
For the confused, you must:
1. Select the arrows in your hand
2. Select the corresponding arrows in your inventory
3. Go back to the now empty hand, select your empty slot
4. Select the arrows you wish to switch to (or refill)
Very annoying, especially when fighting Hyne.
6. Conserve, at all costs, Elixirs and Gods’ Wines. FenixDowns you should use
very sparingly. Medusa Arrows and BlackHoles offer single-target
petrify/instant death in random battles. Save these for special occasions.
7. PM me on gamefaqs if you need any additional help concerning this
challenge. I’d be happy to help, or simply discuss the challenge with you. :)
007 The Walkthrough
007a Before Unlocking Hunter
So, let’s get started.
As the Hunter job isn’t unlocked until you defeat Salamandr and receive the
Fire Crystal jobs, the core of the challenge doesn’t really start until then.
However, as HP gains carry over between classes, (and are the only stat that
does) to prevent any "unfair" advantage for the challenge, I recommend
limiting yourself to classes with equal or lesser growth in Vitality than the
Hunter. Referencing Fantasy Gamer’s wonderful Job Evaluation Guide, you can
see that the only class this eliminates is the Monk. This means that the
Fighter and Red/White/Black Wizard are all fair game before you unlock the
Hunter class. Oh, and Onion Knight. Don’t use Monk. (see rule two in section
002)
As the Hunter has higher Vitality (and thus, HP) growth than
Onion Knight/Fighter/Mages I attempted to unlock the class at the lowest level
possible to make the game easier in the long run. Quite honestly, this was
probably more trouble than it was worth, as the HP gain differences for these
initial levels are negligible in the long run for this challenge. I do
recommend using mostly the Fighter class for the first part of this challenge,
as it has the highest HP growth, as well as good defense and physical attack.
Of course, for the Mini sections before you unlock the Hunter, you will need
a Red or White Wizard to Mini yourself. Most likely you will need 1-3 Black
Mages as well for the offensive magic, which I used for these parts along
with a Red Mage. You also have to Frog yourself for a couple parts, such as
the sewers, but can un-frog yourself immediately upon entering, but you knew
all that, right? ;)
Save the following items:
1. FlameMail. Hunters can wear it!
2. Keep the Holy and Iron Arrows if you wish, along with the Greatbows you
find.
3. Save the Levels 1-3 White Magic you find along the way, except Aero which
the Hunter can’t use.
4. SouthWinds, BombFragments, ZeusRages (for Hyne)
5. Gods’ Wines (I think you can only pick up one before you get Hunter)
6. All Elixirs. You’ll need them for the final dungeon.
Personally, I threw away the Wooden Arrows and regular Bows because I needed
room.
I was somewhere around level 12 when I unlocked Hunter. My attempts to stay a
low level prior to unlocking Hunter for extra HP after I unlocked Hunter were
mostly in vain. :P Oh well.
007b Yay, I haz Bow! - The Main Challenge Begins
Level: 12+
Once you defeat Salamandr and talk to the Fire Crystal, switch everyone to
Hunter immediately and put everyone in the back row. If you don’t have
capacity and/or you have dead party members that can’t change jobs, reset. I
personally had to use a FenixDown before changing classes as my Black Wizard
died fighting Salamandr :/.
Go back to Dwarf Cave, get your phat loot, including a Killer Bow.
Now that you have your beloved Hunter, it’s time to buy the best gear and
spells that your little guys can use at this time. Here’s our pit stops:
1. Ancient’s Village:
a. Buy 2-4 Killer Bows (depending on if you kept the bows from Dwarf Cave and
Castle Argaas/Argus) so that you have a Killer Bow for everyone.
b. Fill your inventory with 99 Fire, Ice, and Bolt Arrows, in addition to your
quivers (aka R or L hand) with 20 arrows. To save the most money, buy bulks
of 10 until you can’t anymore, then buy bulks of 4, then groups of 1 for the
remaining arrows of each type.
c. Importantly, buy Cure2 (Cura) for each Hunter. 1500G each.
d. Buy Exit (Teleport) for each Hunter. 1500G each.
e. Optional: Buy Sight for one or all Hunters if you wish to use it. 100G
each.
2. Dwarf Cave - Buy an Ice Helm and an Ice Mail for each Hunter if they don’t
have it already. Enjoy your Ice Mail, you’ll be wearing it for the entire rest
of the game! Your single Flame Mail can be substituted for one of them if you
wish. (I rarely used it after I got Ice Mail)
3. Canaan - Buy those who don’t have it already a Cure spell. 100G each.
4. Ur - Buy Pure (Poisona) for each Hunter. Not entirely necessary, but
they’re only 100G each so you might as well.
5. Gishal/Gyshal - Buy Mini and Toad for each Hunter. You can probably get by
with the Mini and Toad you get through story events, but it doesn’t hurt to be
prepared, right? :P You can also buy Mini in Viking’s Cove.
After all this shopping, the ideal Hunter should look like this:
Back Row
R Hand - Killer Bow
L Hand - 20 Fire/Ice/Bolt Arrows
Head: Ice Helm
Body: Ice Mail (or FlameMail for one)
Accessory: Empty for now :(
Spells:
L1 - Cure, Pure (Poisona), Sight
L2 - Toad, Mini
L3 - Cure2, Exit, Wash (Blindna)
007c Hynes Castle
Level: 13+
Level up a bit if you’d like. I leveled to 13 or 14, as well as gaining a few
skill levels in the Hunter class. Skill levels play a decent part in the
damage formula for your Hunter’s attacks. According to instructrtrepe’s
excellent Damage Formula FAQ here on GameFAQs:
Base Damage = Weapon Base + (Strength/4) + (Skill/4)
Go through this short, leafy dungeon. Make sure you grab the Rune Bow and
equip it before battling Hyne.
Boss Battle - Hyne
Hyne himself is tricky, but is more annoying than difficult. He has 1600 HP
(courtesy of System Error’s Guide for all Boss HP values in this FAQ), and you
should be doing around 90-100 damage when you hit his element he’s weak to at
the moment. Every three turns, he changes his elemental weakness (though he
can "change" it to the same element as before). Just keep healed, and test all
three elements (Ice, Bolt, Fire) to see which one he’s weak to at the moment.
For some reason, I found myself missing half the time even when I was hitting
his weakness, making it harder to determine what his weakness actually was at
the moment. Use Southwinds/ ZeusRages/ BombFragments as needed to speed up
this frustrating battle. I accidentally healed him with these a couple times,
and had to use a couple FenixDowns, but still prevailed on my first try. If
you really need to, you can always level up to boost your stats.
007d - Off the Floating Continent
Level: 15+
Restock your arrows. Get the WindFang from the Faeries in the Living Forest,
go to Argass Castle and get the Time Gear, get the ship from Cid, leave the
Floating Continent. Find the Shipwreck, cure the girl with Antidote, take her
to water temple and get the shard.
NOTE: After you clear the water temple, you’ll be unable to buy arrows for a
short time while your airship is chained up. I leveled up a bit with my fists
around Amur to ensure I could make the most of my arrows, but you shouldn’t
have too much off a problem making it through the sewers and through Goldor’s
Mansion provided that you restocked your arrows before entering the water
temple.
Boss Battle - Kraken
Extremely easy. Use Bolt Arrows. :)
007e - Sewers and Mansions, All in a Day’s Work
Level: 17+
Rest and restock potions as needed in Amur. Clear the sewers, and make you
sure you grab and equip the Power Bracelet!
Go southeast to Goldor’s Mansion, grab lots of Shiny Swords. I used EXIT and
saved after pillaging the mansions swords. Use a magic key to unlock the top
right door, then give Goldor a hug, he’s lonely.
Boss Battle - Goldor
Not too hard, really. Keep healed and fire lots of arrows and he should be
down in no time. He has 2250 HP.
007f - Some Small Errands
Level: 18+
Get the treasures, including two Elixirs and a FenixDowns, in Leprit. It's
directly south from the Floating Continent, which itself is directly west of
Goldor's Mansion.
Buy four feather hats in Dastar. This increase your Defense value, as well as
giving +5 Agility. This increases your damage multiplier on certain levels
over what it would be. Your equipment should now look something like this:
Hunter 1
R Hand: Rune Bow
L Hand: Arrows
Head: Feather Hat
Body: Ice Mail
Accessory: Power Bracelet
Hunters 2-4
R Hands: Killer Bow
L Hand: Pointy sticks to shoot with
Head: Feather Hat
Body: Ice Mail
Accessory: None
007g Leveling, Salonia, and the Big Bad Bird Garuda
Level: 29+
The easy part of this challenge is officially over.
Before tackling Salonia, note that you will NOT be able to buy arrows after
you crash in Salonia until you beat Garuda. And Garuda is hard. Don’t do what
I did and be forced to level up with your fists to save arrows after you find
out you can’t beat Garuda. Level up to 29 or so as Garuda is VERY strong!
A good place to level is south of Arum on the opposite peninsula: kill the
DthNeedles and enjoy 800 Exp per death needle per Hunter!
My hunters were skill levels 74-75, but that is only because I leveled them up
eight or so levels with my FISTS. I noticed when they fight with their fists,
they gain a skill level almost every battle. Maybe because they have to attack
several times each?
Boss Battle - Garuda
With 5000HP and the ability to do roughly 320-390 damage to each party member
every round, Garuda is a beast. Without Cure2, your hunters would be hopeless.
I advise, if all possible, NOT using a Gods’ Wine like I did and instead save
all four of them for the final battle against the Cloud of Darkness. The
problem with not using a wine though, is that your main Hunter is dealing
about a third of the damage he could be and you may have to level up further
than the level I did (29). Either way you choose, my winning strategy went
something like this:
Round 1: Used a Gods’ Wine on Hunter 1 (with the Rune Bow and Power Bracelet)
on round 1 so that he could deal 340-490ish damage instead of 50-160. The
other two hunters attacked that round.
Round 2-6 (approximately):
For the next 5 rounds, Hunter 1 attacked and the others used Cure 2 on the
whole party, nearly negating Garuda’s attacks. From levels 26-30, hunters have
5 maximum L3 spell charges for Cure2. After Hunters 2-4 ran out of Cure2
charges, I spent a round with Hunter 1 using Cure2, Hunters 2-3 using Cure,
and Hunter 4 attacking.
Round 7ish:
I attacked with Hunter 1 and used HiPotions with the others.
Round 8ish and beyond:
Hunter 1 used Cure2 a second time before Garuda finally died. Yay!
007h Magic Circle Cave and Mini Power!
Level: 29+ (I was 36 after farming attack items, etc.)
So, Dorga’s house and Magic Circle Cave is next. The problem is you have to be
mini’d through the entire dungeon, though fortunately it is small. The
enemies have 400-600ish HP now, so dealing 1-2 damage per hunter each round is
not an option. So this brings us to... Attack Items!
The best way I’ve found to get attack items is battling the Storoper’s in the
sewers of Amur. I used about 20-25 Gods’ Rages to get through Magic Circle
Cave, though this can vary depending on how many / the kinds of enemies you
fight. Farm 35-40 of them just in case if you wish. I was Level 36 (with a
maxed out skill level of 99 for each Hunter) by the time I was done with
everything, though any level will do as long as you have enough Gods’ Rages.
I used them on individual monsters, and ¾ of the time they died with just one
use.
Now the Nautilus can go underwater! You may want to wait until you can buy
Yoichi Bows and Arrows before going through these dungeons for the sake of a
faster clearing time. You have access to the optional Undersea Cave. It only
has a Gods’ Wine and a Blackhole, along with tons of treasures you can’t use
and enemies that split. You can also now go to the Salonia Catacombs and pick
up 4 Elixirs and 4 Fenixdowns. Not bad! No splitting enemies here as well.
Ouroboros, which guard the elixirs, are weak against bolt arrows. Lastly, you
have access to Dorga’s Village, but there’s nothing new here for a Hunter SCC.
007i Goin’ on a Bear Hunt! - Temple of Time and Optional Areas
Level: 30+ (mine were 37 when first boarding the Invincible)
Trudge through the Temple of Time. It should be an easy dungeon. Make sure you
get the two Protect Rings (Bracelets?).
After you get the Lute, go north to Unne’s Shrine and wake Unne up. You can
get rid of some Fangs now at the first three statues. Go to the Ancient Ruins
West of Salonia. None of the treasure is worth picking up unless you want to
sell them. The Azrael’s and Deathclaws are VERY annoying, but spread out your
damage as much as you can and they’ll fall eventually.
The Invincible sells the awesome Yoichi arrows, so make sure you’re stocked up
on them from now on. I’d still buy 99 bolt/fire/ice arrows for backup though.
You now access to several more optional areas. Go to Lake Dol if you would
like to pick up one Elixir, FenixDown, and God’s Wine. Fargabaad Cave has
nothing you can use. The Cave of Bahamut has a Gods’Wine and an Elixir.
IMPORTANT: You can now access Fargabaad and buy 4 Yoichi bows. Do it. Score!
Disclaimer: This section has no bears. No bears, real or fictional, were
harmed in the making of this guide.
007j Cave of Darkness
Level: 40+ (I was level 49 when I finally beat this dungeon)
I leveled up inside the entrance of Bahamut’s Cave.
Splitting enemies! Fortunately, most enemies here die in 2 or so hits with
Yoichi Bows/ Arrows. Stock up on Yoichi Arrows and HiPotions. At level 49,
your # of hits will increase from six to seven (with feather hat), though this
didn’t seem to make that much of a difference. At level 50, you get your 8th
hit, which might make things a bit better, though I was only level 49 when I
cleared the cave. With all splitting monsters (except HellHorses towards the
end), this cave is very tedious, as well as very long. Spread your attacks
out, and don’t be afraid to Defend if you need to, to be selective about your
hits. Once I had less than 40 Yoichi Arrows total, I used defend for my last
two hunters while my other two used up the last of the Yoichi arrows.
Elemental arrows aren’t good as they do 200-350 damage to enemies with 1000+
HP that are constantly splitting. Especially be selective in your hits when
you are back attacked – My first try through the cave I got 80% of the way
through only to die by a back attack. Once you’re out or very low on Yoichi
Arrows, its time to bust out the Medusa arrows, which can take out any enemy
in here with one hit (petrify). Don’t waste ‘em though, you might need them
later as well.
Do yourself a favor and use a map such as the one at
http://shrines.rpgclassic
s.com/nes/ff3/maps/darkness.shtml to make your trek as easy as possible.
Besides the treasures in the first and the third room (especially the
Gods’Wine), none of the treasure here is worth getting for a Hunter SCC.
Boss Battle: Hekaton
He has 6500 HP and can deal up to 800ish to one person per round at a time
when your max HP should be in the 3000s. He shouldn’t be too hard at all. Kill
him, obtain the fang and get out.
007k Earth Crystal, Dorga’s Cave
Level: 40+ (I was 50)
Go to the Earth Crystal.
Boss Battle: Titan
A pushover.
Go to Dorga’s Cave. The enemies here are easy, and give decent experience to
boot. Grab the four barriers just incase you may need them. Heal up before the
back-to-back boss battles begin.
Boss Battle: Dorga
Easy as long as you don’t get petrified. Dies in about 2 rounds at level 50.
Boss Battle: Unne
Potentially a hard battle, though I had little problem taking her out in 2-3
rounds. WhiteWind reduces a member’s health to less than 10.
Yay, you got two keys (talk to Dorga and Unne after the battles).
007l Ancient’s Labyrinth and Forbidden Land Eureka
Level: 50+ (I was 67)
At level 66, your hunters get their 9th hit (with Feather Hat equipped).
I leveled up at the entrance of Bahamut’s Cave in anticipation of the Cloud of
Darkness fight. Bored stiff of leveling, at level 67 I played through Eureka
and got the Ribbon, FenixDowns, and Elixirs. Watch out for the Sleipnirs’ Toad
spells and remember that frogs can cast Toad on themselves to recover. Besides
that, not much else to worry about here as long as you keep everyone healed
and don’t run out of arrows. With the exception of the Ninja fight for the
Ribbon, none of the boss fights are worthwhile. Fight all the way to the shops
to get your last two Elixirs from here. You’ll have to fight your way out as
Exit doesn’t work here or in the Ancient’s Labyrinth. I escaped completely
from the dungeons and refilled on Yoichi and elemental arrows.
007m Mucho Leveling - Sylx Tower and World of Darkness!
Level: 76+ (I finally won at Level 97)
I had to level up to 97 to get all of the Hunters their valuable 13th damage
multiplier to beat the Cloud of Darkness. It (some might call it a “she”) is
probably beatable at Level 90 with all Feather Hats, but you’ll have a bit
harder time of it. At a lower level than that, I was unsuccessful, but beating
the CoD is theoretically possible if everything goes right. Either way, you
will have to do lots of leveling. My estimate is that I spent about 16 hours
total in Bahamut’s Cave leveling from 67 to 97, on an emulator capable of 4x
Speed at will (which I used most of the time). I didn’t do this in one
session, however.
Here’s a summary of Levels 76-97:
Level 76: 10th damage multiplier for non-Ribboned (Feather Hat) Hunters.
Around Level 80: 10th hit for Ribboned Hunter regardless of equips
Level 81: For some reason, all Hunters get their 11th hit here
Levels 82-83: My Hunters hit the maximum of 9,999 HP, though HP growths vary
(unlike other stats).
Level 90: Non-Ribboned Hunters get their 12th damage multiplier
Level 96: Ribboned Hunter receives his 12th damage multiplier
Level 97: All Hunters receive their 13th damage multiplier. Yay!
In order to inform my readers on by far the most challenging section of this
challenge, I will summarize some of my runs I made through Sylx Tower and the
Land of Darkness. More detail about some of the Boss Battles is found in their
respective section. I advise doing a preliminary run, similar to what I did,
to get some Elixirs and FenixDowns as well as getting a feel for the enemies
found in Sylx (Crystal) Tower.
Preliminary Run 1 (Level 67): Death by Qumqums
I was Level 67, I think, on my first trek through the Sylx Tower. I didn’t
want to use any FenixDowns, so when Qumqums destroyed all three of my
non-Ribbon bearing Hunters in one round, I thought I might be able to trek
back with my status-immune Hunter to minimize the spending of resources but
still gain Experience. This was somewhat of a mistake, as he got teamed up on
and died. Atleast I didn’t have to use any of my 21 FenixDowns. :P
Preliminary Run 2 (Level 67): Successful Treasure Hunting
Not too much to say here. I gathered all of the Elixirs and FenixDowns up
until and including the 2nd trek through the 4th floor room where you must go
all around, from top right to top left in a U shape. I believe I only missed
the 2 FenixDowns that were further in the tower in this run.
Run 1 (Level 67 [not completely sure]): Death by Echidna
At this level, Zande was relatively easy. Cerberus was challenging. Echidna
slaughtered me, and I only had 2 Ribbons equipped.
Run 2 (Level 72-76 [not completely sure]): Death by Echidna Encore!
Zande was much easier. Cerberus was a bit less challenging. Echidna
slaughtered me again, and I only had 1 Ribbon equipped to save Yoichi Arrows
fighting the ZandeClns. Big mistake.
Run 3 (Levels 82/83): The First Cloud of Darkness Battle
I used around 8 Elixirs and a couple FenixDowns fighting the four Dark Crystal
bosses. I had 4 Ribbons equipped and only 19 Yoichi Arrows, all of which were
on one Hunter unfortunately. I’m not sure how much damage I did before I lost.
A rough guess would be about 15,000 damage. Simply put, I lost a battle of
endurance against the CoD as I was screwed when ran out of Elixirs as
single-target Cure2 can only heal up to 1200, while CoD was dealing something
like 1700-2300 a round. It may have been 1600-2100 a round, like in my final
run, as magic defense isn’t supposed to increase with level, but it seems like
she did less damage when I was Level 97.
Run 4 (Level 97): The Winning Run!!! :)
Defended every random battle (except Qumqums) while waiting for the enemy to
flee in the Sylx Tower. With Qumqums, I used my 6 BlackHoles to defeat them
instantly, and may have used a couple Yoichi Arrows when I ran out. I got
pretty lucky though to not face too many Qumsqums this run. All 18 Elixirs and
21 FenixDowns remainined, as well as 56ish Yoichi Arrows at the start of
fighting CoD.
Notes-
At levels 82-83, the enemies in the Ancient’s Labyrinth, Sylx Tower, and Dark
World were running a decent amount of time and missing often. At level 97, the
enemies will run VERY often, but unfortunately will not be successful most of
the time. :/ Please don’t attempt to level in one or two sessions -- spread it
out! When you do level, turn up some tunes and/or do something else at the
same time. Remember to eat and drink at regular intervals. Feed your pets.
Don’t forget all your friends and family, especially your children if you have
any. They need you. :P
Preparation -
Buy 99 Yoichi Arrows, Elemental Arrows, Potions, HiPotions, Softs, EyeDrops,
etc. Any BlackHoles and Medusa Arrows you still have may prove quite useful
for instant kills. Hopefully you have atleast three Gods’ Wines for the final
fight. If not, the fight will drag out. Hopefully you still have most or all
of your Elixirs and FenixDowns. After some preliminary raiding of Sylx Tower,
I had 18 Elixirs and 21 FenixDowns. On my winning run through the Land of
Darkness, where I was Level 97, I was able to save all 18 of my Elixirs for
the final Cloud of Darkness battle, and actually only ended up using around 8.
I didn’t end up using any FenixDowns on my final run.
Equipment should look something like this, though the Power Bracelet and the
Ribbon can really go anywhere:
Hunter 1
Yoichi Bow
20 Yoichi Arrows
Ribbon
Ice Mail
Power Bracelet
Hunters 2-4
Yoichi Bow
20 Yoichi Arrows
Ribbon
Ice Mail
Protect Ring
Ancient’s Labyrinth and Sylx Tower ---
The Strategy -
Here’s my strategy to get through Ancient’s Labyrinth, Sylx Tower, and the
Dark World in your final run. The lowest level I was able to use this
strategy (as I noticed the enemies were running a decent amount of the time)
was my level 82/83 run:
Defend in every random battle so that the enemy runs away and you can keep the
20 Yoichi Arrows in your valuable quiver space, in addition to the 99 in your
bag. You will need as many Yoichi Arrows as you can. For Qumqums, use
BlackHoles or whatever you wish to dispose of them so you don’t die.
Sometimes, it will seem as if an enemy will never run away successfully. They
will eventually, but use your own discretion if you’re impatient. Once you
have used all of the Yoichi Arrows in your quivers, which should be mid-way
through the Land of Darkness, you can use elemental arrows in random battles.
Make sure they’re not Yoichi Arrows!
Boss Battle: Zande
He has 21,000 HP. Success in this battle depends on how often he chooses to
use Libra, as well as your levels. In the early 70s, I used a mix of elemental
and Yoichi arrows on this guy, and took a good amount of damage and had to
heal. At levels 82/83, I used only Yoichi arrows as I still had the initial
ones in my quivers and didn’t have to heal at all. At Level 97 (my winning
run), he fell easily with Yoichi Arrows.
Boss Battle: Cloud of Darkness (1)
Just defend, you can’t win. You get HP/MP restored after this battle. Yay.
Dark World ---
You’re now in the Dark World, and need to reach each of the four crystals and
defeat the bosses. These bosses can be done in any order, though I’d advise
fighting Ahriman and Echidna last, after you can equip four Ribbons.
Three Boss Battles: ZandeClns
You’ll want a total of four Ribbons for status immunity and increased magic
defense, meaning you’ll pick up three out of four of them here while fighting
a ZandeCln for each. ZandeClns have 10K HP and are a weaker version of Zande.
Use whatever strategies you care for while saving as much resources as you
can. In my final run, I just used about 8ish Yoichi Arrows for each and they
died.
Boss Battle: Cerberus (top left crystal)
He has 23K HP. I hate this guy, as my first run through I used a lot of arrows
and a few Elixirs to get through the fight. Ahriman is stronger though. On my
level 82/83 runs, I took him out with a few rounds of Yoichi arrows with
little problem.
Boss Battle: Two-Headed Dragon (top right)
29,000 HP. His attack does a few thousand to a single target. Be conservative
with Yoichi arrows if possible.
Boss Battle: Ahriman (bottom right)
He has 35,000 HP. Hopefully you still have plenty of Yoichi arrows. I fought
him third and had about 50 total arrows left after the end of the battle. Heal
and dish damage, and don’t be afraid to use some Elixirs if you need to.
Boss Battle: Echidna (bottom left)
Four ribbons will be quite useful. With 32,000 HP and the ability to deal up
to 2500-300 damage to each character in a single round, as well as petrifying
with Brak2 and killing instantly with Death, this is a tough fight. She was
the bane of my existence my first time through the Dark World in the early 70s
as I ran extremely low on Yoichi arrows and decided I didn’t have enough to
make it through the Dark World. My second run, she defeated me because I was
too stingy with my Elixirs and FenixDowns, as well as only wearing one Ribbon
leaving me vulnerable to Brak2 and Death. On my final run, at Level 97, she
wasn’t too bad.
Preparing for the last battle, your equipment should look like this:
Hunter 1
Yoichi Bow
Yoichi Arrows
Ribbon
Ice Mail
Power Bracelet
Hunters 2-4
Yoichi Bow
Yoichi Arrows
Ribbon
Ice Mail
Protect Ring
While the Cloud of Darkness doesn’t use any status effect attacks, I had all
Ribbons equipped for this battle because of the extra 2 Magic Defense they
provide, and the fact that at Level 97, your Hunters have 13 Hits regardless
of whether they have the Feather Hat equipped or not. On my winning run, I had
all 18 Elixirs, all 21 FenixDowns, and 56ish Yoichi Arrows (with 8+ on each
Hunter) at the beginning of my fight.
Final Battle: Cloud of Darkness (2)
This is it, the final battle! And the hardest one in the game at that: this
battle is why I endured the grueling leveling to 97. It has 45000 HP. At Level
97, she deals about 1600-2100 damage to each member every round. I won on my
4th try into the Land of Darkness overall, my 2nd time fighting the Cloud of
Darkness, and my first time fighting her at Level 97 (the first time I was
level 82/83).
Here’s the strategy: On the first round, Hunter 1 Attacked. Hunters 2 and 3
used a Gods’ Wine on themselves, while Hunter 4 used a Gods’ Wine on Hunter
1. After that, I attacked whenever possible, and used an Elixir whenever a
Hunter reached 4200 HP or less. This is because, at the most, CoD seemed to
deal around 2100 damage. Since the order of turns is somewhat randomized, this
gives you insurance in the event CoD deal 2100 damage to the same Hunter two
round in a row and before you have the chance to heal. Hunters that deal the
least damage should be the first in line to heal a comrade, but don’t be
afraid to use all four Hunter to heal if needed.
My winning battle went something like this. I apologize for the vagueness of
the numbers, as I wasn’t originally planning on putting these into the guide
until I hit round 7. Round "4ish" may have been the 5th round, and the rounds
after that 1 round later than listed. I messed up on my entrants to the
calculator I was using so values from the 4thish round forward may be off by a
few hundred. I also made an error on the HP value for round 7, though I think
it is correct now.
1: 45000 HP for Boss - 18 Elixirs
4thish round: 26239 HP
5: 19816 HP
6: 14965 HP
7: 10315 - 13 Elixirs left
8: 8651 - 10 Elixirs
9: 3804 - 10 Elixirs
10: VICTORY
Congratulations on completing this challenge! Let me know how your challenge
went if you wish, and enjoy the ending (or not). :)
I am considering doing an M. Knight (aka Dark Knight/Paladin) SCC next. If I
do, you may see another FAQ. Cheers!
- john360
6/5/2013
008 Legal Stuff and Credits
"This guide may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright."
I own this guide. I do not own Final Fantasy III or any of the guides I have
used or referenced for this challenge. This guide is currently only available
on GameFAQs. Please don’t copy this guide without permission. If you wish to
simply reference a section that is 400 characters or less, just give credit
where it is due and we’re all good. :)
I would like to thank those who created the resources that assisted in the
creation of this guide. My playthrough of this challenge would not have been
possible without them. :)
SquareSoft (now Square Enix) - Creators of Final Fantasy III. Copyright 1990
Alex W. Jackson, Neill Corlett, and SoM2Freak - Created the English fan
translation that I and this guide use.
System Error’s Guide (GameFAQs) - This guide assisted me on the order of
events when playing the game and the HP and weaknesses of bosses.
instructrtrepe’s Damage Formula FAQ (GameFAQs) - Referenced several times in
my personal playthrough, as well as a couple times in this guide where I have
indicated.
Fantasy Gamer’s Job Evaluation Guide (GameFAQs) - Referenced extensively in
my personal playthrough, as well as a couple times in this guide where I have
indicated. The one thing that confused me and that didn’t seem consistent was
the damage multiplier of the Hunter. At times, my damage multiplier was half
of what he had listed, and the multiplier with my fists equal to what he had
listed. Other times my multiplier was a bit off. All other values and other
things referenced personally were 100% accurate as far as I recall.
Final Fantasy Wikia (
http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_III) -
I referenced this awesome resource concerning monster drops and weapons/armor
stats, among other things. Take care when using this resource as much of the
stuff references the DS version of the game without specifying this fact.
Final Fantasy III Shrine (
http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/nes/ff3/) by Cidolfas
and Epicgamer - Awesome maps, job descriptions, and monster stats/drops (if a
bit off at times).
Thanks for reading!
