Final Fantasy IV Perfectionist's Guide
Version 1.7
By CronoLV99
10-01-01
This guide may be useful for the following games:
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy 2 (US version)
Final Fantasy Chronicles
Final Fantasy Collection (Japanese Release)
Purpose:
The purpose of this guide is 2-fold. In Final Fantasy IV (2), there
are five natural statistics:
Strength, Agility, Stamina, Wisdom, and Will.
First, these stats influence every character's attack power, defense,
and magic power. I will discuss how. Second, there is a method I've
found that can max out most of these through a time-consuming method.
I'll share that, too. This is not a walkthrough for the entire game;
this only covers the best ways to make use of your characters' stats.
Contents
Section 1. Updates
Section 2. Natural stats and their influences
Section 3. Max out your characters
Section 4. Strange Info
Section 5. Rare items
Section 6. Game genie codes
Section 1. Updates
Version 1.7 Added Life Trick and level 70 stats/level-ups for all
characters. Updated various other minor things. Updated contribution
list at end of guide.
Version 1.6 Added a simplified description of the maximization process
in section 3 (suggestion by Sailor Bacon of GameFAQs), added a few
extra pieces of armor to the list of rare items. Tightened up the
wording of some parts of the guide. 7-14-01
Version 1.5 Formatted the whole piece to make it meet submission
requirements for certain sites. 04-18-01
Version 1.4 Updated section 3 with Lord Leandreus's help, added Medusa
Sword note. Added another game genie code and a few things here and
there. 10-24-00
Version 1.3 Added Rare Item list (thanks Lord Leandreus), added Game
genie code 9-26-00
Version 1.2 Redid format to make it more pleasing to the eye. 9-5-00.
Version 1.1 Made section 4. Included level 70 stats for Cecil, Kain,
and Rosa. Added copyright date.
Version 1.0 This is the first version, so everything's new. The
updates I will be submitting soon include level-up types for Rydia,
Rosa, and Edge, as well as level 70 stats for characters.
Section 2: The natural stats and their influences
On the status screen, you see this below the character's name, class,
and hp/mp:
Str. ATTX...att
Att%
Agil. DEFX...def
Def%
Vit. MDEFX...m.def
Mdef%
Wis.
Will
Str.= Strength (primarily attack power)
Agil.= Agility (affects all multipliers)
Vit.= Vitality (affects defense power)
Wis.= Wisdom (affects black magic power)
Will= Will (affects white magic power)
ATTX= attack multiplier
Att= attack power
Att%= attack percent (hit rate)
DEFX= defense multiplier
Def= defense power
Def%= defense percent (dodge rate)
MDEFX= magic defense multiplier
M.def= magic defense power
M.def%= magic defense percent (dodge magic rate)
Now, here is how the stats (strength through will) affect the attack
power through magic
defense percent:
Strength-
Every 4 points of strength gives 1 attack power (exception Yang)
Every 8 points of strength gives 1 attack multiplier
Agility-
Every 8 points of agility gives 1 defense multiplier
Every 16 points of agility gives 1 attack multiplier
Every 32 points of agility gives 1 magic defense multiplier
Vitality-
Every 2 points of vitality gives 1 defense power
Wisdom and Will-
Add values for wisdom and will together.
Every 8 points of wisdom + will gives 1 magic defense percent
Every 32 points of wisdom + will gives 1 magic defense multiplier
Levels of Experience-
Every 4 (beginning at level 4) level-ups gives 1 attack percent
Every 4 (beginning with level 4) level-ups gives 1 attack point
Every 16 (beginning with level 16) level-ups gives 1 defense multiplier
ONLY if shield equipped
All values are always rounded down in the case of fractions. Thus, if
you add wisdom and will together and get 35, 35/8= 4.375, and the game
will register 4 for a magic defense percent without armor.
Notes:
The bonuses are simultaneous in nature. Thus if you get an agility to
32, you will gain 1 defense multiplier (every 8 agility), 1 attack
multiplier (every 16 agility), and one magic defense multiplier (every
32 agility) all at once. If you get 32 agility at level 48, you would
also get an attack point and percent (every 4 level-ups) and another
defense multiplier (every 16 level-ups) all at once.
There is no stat that affects defense percent. All characters have a
base rate of 30%. Armor can increase or decrease this. Items like
metal armor drop it to zero, whereas robes and lighter pieces can
increase it. The glass helmet and adamant armor increases it to 99%.
Shields are the only way a character wearing armor, a helmet, and a
gauntlet can dodge an attack. You'll notice Cid usually gets hit since
his Hammer takes two hands...no shield.
There is no stat that affects magic power defense. The value is only
the sum of the armors' values.
Attack percent is 50% for all characters at level 1. Weapons can add
to this value. Every four levels of experience also increases this by
1%.
All characters begin with 1 attack multiplier and 0 defense and magic
defense multipliers. So the max attack multiplier can be 19 with a 96
strength and 96 agility.
This being said, a level 99 character with no items equipped and 99 for
all stats will look
like:
Str. 99 19X...48
74%
Agil. 99 12X...49
30%
Vit. 99 9X...0
24%
Wis. 99
Will. 99
Armor that gives bonuses such as strength and agility will have these
stats factored into the calculations. For example, if you equip a
crystal ring which gives a bonus of 5 to agility, and this pushes your
agility from 91 to 96, you will gain the attack, defense, and magic
defense multipliers. If you remove the ring, you will lose these
bonuses.
If you follow how the calculations work, you'll realize that there is
no difference between a strength of 96 and 99, an agility of 96 and 99,
and a stamina of 98 and 99. Is this true? Yes, it is. The stats
listed above would be identical if your strength and agility were 96
and stamina of 98. Wisdom and will are slightly different since they
are added together. If you had a will of 99 and a wisdom of 5, you
would get a 13 magic defense percent. (104/8=13)However, if one of
these is at 99, the highest the other can get before it stops giving
you bonuses would be 93. So there would be no need to get the second
to 99. This all being said, is there any reason to get a stat such as
agility to 99? Not really. It just looks nice.
I've noticed there are some excellent damage calculations for FF4 in
Bsiron's walkthrough at www.gamefaqs.com for those interested.
Section 3: Max out your characters, no need for game genie.
BRIEF OVERVIEW
Basically, beginning with level 71, characters can level-up in
different ways. Some level-ups increase your stats, other level-ups
can actually decrease them. In short, you need to save your game
before a character levels-up, gain the level, and if you are not
satisfied with what you got, reset and try again. Do this until you
gain the stats you want, then continue gaining experience until the
next level-up.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
This next set of information is by my own finding back in 1992. Lord
Leandreus has helped me to rediscover some of the information. If you
reproduce this or any other part of my FAQ, please give Lord Leandreus
and myself credit for this.
Now, before I begin, I want to warn you that this will test your
patience. This info is probably most helpful to those that absolutely
have to have the best characters possible. Such as myself.
So, you have a level 99 team about to fight in the Lunar Palace, right?
Think your team is unstoppable? That they are the best team ever
created? They may be, but unless you follow the next section's advice,
chances are they are not.
Have you ever noticed that when you're leveling up, sometimes your
stats go down? Frustrating? Annoying? I was annoyed too, and after
one such level I got angry and reset the game. When I got the level
again, my stats increased! So the bottom line from this is:
After level 70 (beginning with level 71) you can reset the game at
times when you level up in order to get better stats. You have 29
opportunities to do this.
Here are the final five characters' stats at level 70:
Cecil (with crystal equipment)
Str: 99 Agil: 41 Vit: 85 Wis: 36 Will: 68
Kain (with dragoon equipment)
Str: 73 Agil: 48 Vit: 63 Wis: 12 Will: 39
Rosa (not equipped)
Str: 48 Agil: 32 Vit: 42 Wis: 22 Will: 71
Rydia (not equipped)
Str: 36 Agil: 33 Vit: 34 Wis: 63 Will: 54
Edge (not equipped)
Str: 59 Agil: 54 Vit: 47 Wis: 34 Will: 25
There are a number of pre-determined level-ups for each character, all
of them different.
For example (not a complete list):
Cecil can gain
+2 strength, 2 agility, 2 vitality, 2 will
+1 in all stats
+1 in all stats except wisdom
+1 in all stats except will
Kain can gain
+2 strength, 2 vitality, 2 wisdom, 2 will
+1 strength, 1 vitality, 1 will
+1 strength, 1 agility, 1 vitality
+3 strength, 3 agility, 3 will
+2 agility, 2 vitality
-1 all stats
-1 agility and will
Rydia can gain
+3 strength, 3 agility, 3 wisdom, 3 will
+2 strength, 2 vitality, 2 wisdom, 2 will
-1 strength, wisdom, will
-1 strength, agility, will
-1 strength, vitality, will
+1 all
+3 wisdom, 3 will
Rosa can gain
+1 in all stats
-1 str, vit
-1 vit, wis
+1 str, vit, will
+1 str, agil, vit, will
+1 agil, vit, wis, will
+2 str, will
Edge can gain
-1 strength, agility, wisdom
+1 agility
+1 strength
+1 strength, agility, wisdom
+1 strength, vitality
+2 strength, vitality
+3 agility, wisdom
What does the above mean? It means if you have Kain about to gain a
level, you should save the game. Get the level. If your stats do not
decrease, you will get one of the above level types. (There are
additional types not listed.) Wait for the type that you want (reset
the levels you don't want), then save the game and fight until Kain or
someone else is ready to level up. Remember, this works for level 71
and above. The stats are identical for all characters every game up to
level 70.
Doing this, these are the best stats I can create without resorting to
game genie.
CECIL equipped with all Crystal weapons and armor:
Str: 99 Agil: 96 Vit: 99 Wis: 38 Will: 99
Got 26 level-ups of 2 str, agil, vit, will
Got 3 level ups of 1 to all stats
KAIN equipped with all Dragoon weapons and armor:
Str: 99 Agil: 96 Vit: 89 Wis: 38 Will: 99
Got 16 level-ups of 3 str, agil, will
13 level-ups of 2 str, vit, wis, will
NOTE: If you want vitality at 99 and don't care about wisdom and will,
do this for Kain. It will mean your magic defense percent will suffer
greatly, since your will will be 70 and your wisdom will be 16.
However, Kain doesn't use magic so it's your preference.
KAIN equipped with all Dragoon weapons and armor:
Got 9 levels +3 str, agil, and will
Got 18 levels +2 agl and vit
Got 2 levels +2 str, vit, wis, will
EDGE equipped with Masamune and Murasame, crystal ring, Ninja suit, and
Genji Helm:
Str: 96 Agil: 99 (94 without ring) Vit: 84 Wis: 78 Will: 20
RYDIA equipped with Dragon whip, ProRing, Ribbon, and Sorceror's Robe:
Str: 99 Agil: 99 Vit: 70 Wis: 99 Will: 99
Got 8 level-ups of 2 str, vit, wis, will
Got 21 level-ups of 3 str, agil, wis, will
NOTE: If you want Rydia with an extra defense point:
Got 9 level-ups of 2 str, vit, wis, will
Got 20 level-ups of 3 str, agil, wis, will
But you must equip the Dragon Whip to get agility above 96.
This will give Rydia with:
Str: 99 Agil: 98 (natural 93) Vit: 72 Wis: 99 Will: 99
ROSA equipped with Silence Staff, Ribbon, ProRing, and Heroine Robe:
Str: 96 Agil: 72 Vit: 97 Wis: 32 Will: 99
Got 29 +1 all
Notes:
I have found Rydia to benefit most from this. She has 99 in the four
major stats (96 without the whip in strength and agility) and has maxed
out multipliers. She has a 19X attack, 12X defense, and 9X magic
defense multipliers. If you do the trick where she can equip a shield
(thanks to Edge's steal technique), she'll have an 18X defense
multiplier!
I have found Rosa to be the weakest character of the final 5. I try to
get everyone to have at least a 96 agility to get the most out of the
multipliers, but Rosa's best level seems to be a +1 in everything.
Kind of sad.
You may take into consideration the bonuses you gain from weapons. For
example, the dragon whip gives Rydia +5 strength, agility and vitality
while decreasing wisdom and will. If you know she will have the whip
at the end of the game and you are sure you never want to give her
another weapon, you only have to raise strength and agility to 91. The
whip will then boost them to 96 and give the bonuses to the multipliers
(recall that there is no statistical difference between a strength or
agility of 96 and 99). Normally you would have needed to spend two
levels to raise strength and agility from 91 to 96 (+3 per level-up),
but now you don't need to waste those two levels because the whip
raises those stats for you. This means the two levels you saved by not
raising the stats to 96 can be spent on raising vitality some more.
I find it's easiest to kill off 3 members and roam around in the Lunar
subterranian area with only 2 people. I always begin with Cecil and
Kain. This way, when one character is about to gain a level, chances
are the other will not be getting one anytime soon. That way, you
won't be overjoyed when Kain gains the level you've been waiting for
only for you to discover that Cecil's stats went down (simply
unacceptable for the perfectionist). Then, when Cecil and Kain are at
level 99 and simply too powerful for anything to kill, slay one of them
and revive one of the remaining 3 people. Then you only have 1 person
gaining levels at a time. Cecil or Kain alone at level 99 can fight
any enemy in the final dungeon (the one with Behemoths, EvilMasks, and
Red Dragons). Have your other person in the back row parrying until
he/she is at a high enough level to attack. After a while, you'll be
able to kill EvilMasks with only 2 people before they can even cast an
attack spell. Run from EvilMasks when you first begin, though.
When using 2 characters, have them both equipped with Ribbons and
Prorings. It'll make things easier.
Remember what stats you had before you get the level-up. I've had to
reset a few times simply because I got a level and couldn't remember
what the prior stats were. Didn't want to risk getting a bad level.
There is no limit to how many times you can gain a particular level.
If you wanted to get 29 levels of +3 str, agil, wis, and will to Rydia,
so be it. There's no need to since stats max out at 99, but you could
if you really wanted to. Furthermore, it may take many tries to gain
the particular level you want. You may have to reset 10 or 20 times
(or more) to get that one level type. Other times, you'll get it first
thing.
If you do have a game genie or have incredible luck, adamant armor
gives +15 to all 5 stats! If all of your characters have adamant
armors, you can save a lot of time by not gaining levels you ordinarily
would, and focusing on the weaker stats. In other words, you could get
Cecil and Kain to have wisdoms far higher than the ones I listed above,
and Rydia should be able to have 99 for every stat except vigor, which
would be around 95. A guide to characters with adamant armor will be
included here soon.
Summary:
Get a character to level 70. Save the game right before they reach
level 71. Go out, fight a battle, and gain that level. If it's an
acceptable level to you, keep it and fight until you're about to gain
another level. If it's unacceptable, reset and get the level again.
Keep resetting until you get the level you want.
Section 4: Strange Info
There is a way to get a stat to 0. I find it easier to do with Kain.
Just equip the Drain Spear (or Lance) when his will is at 10. It will
go down to 0. If it's at 9 or less, it's going to go down to 1. (Tip by
Etienne Santerre)
Ever wondered what some of the other characters are like at high
levels? Well, here's some insight. No game genie used!
Yang at level 99 (2 Catclaws, Gaia Helm, Karate Suit, Silver ring)
HP 6000. (Never went higher)
Str: 99 19X...224
99%
Agil: 96 12X...60
36%
Vit: 99 3X...9
9%
Wis: 11
Will: 3
Tellah at level 79 (Charm Rod, - Helm, Karate Suit, Silver ring)
HP 1849. MP 90.
Str: 4 3X...35
69%
Agil: 35 4X...17
37%
Vit: 10 3X...11
19%
Wis: 41
Will: 36
In addition, Etienne Santerre has compiled a list of all the FF2/4
characters at level 70, and their level-ups. Great job, and great info
to have! I have paraphrased the information he has sent me to keep
this guide short. As an aside, I do not know if the level 70 stats
include any bonuses from equipped weapons/armor or not.
Dark Knight profiles:
Level 70 stats:
Str: 61
Agil: 41
Vit: 41
Wis: 24
Will: 1
Dark Knight can get:
agil, vit, (will), wis -1
agil, vit, (will), wis -1
vit, (will) -1
str, agil, vit +1
str, agil, vit, wis +1
str, agil, vit +2
str +3
Dark Knight's best combination would be :
26x str, agil, vit +2
3x str, agil, vit, wis +1
Cid:
Level 70 stats:
Str: 77
Agil: 29
Vit: 75
Wis: 5
Will: 5
Cid can get:
str, agil, will -1
agil, wis -1
str, agil, vit, wis +1
str, vit +2
str, agil, vit +2
str, vit +3
Cid note: only character who can consistantly get 9999 HP!
Yang:
Level 70 stats:
Str: 77
Agil: 29
Vit: 75
Wis: 5
Will: 5
Yang can get:
str, agil, wis, will -1
str, agil, vit +1
str, vit, will +1
str, agil, vit, wis +1
str, vit +2
str, agil, vit +2
Yang Note: His HP stops growing at level 60.
Palom:
Level 70 stats:
Str: 33
Agil: 30
Vit: 40
Wis: 75
Will: 23
Palom can get:
str, will -1
str, agil, wis +1
agil, vit, wis +1
agil, wis, will +1
str, agil, vit, wis, will +1
str, wis +3
Porom:
Level 70 stats:
Str: 23
Agil: 33
Vit: 28
Wis: 22
Will: 75
Porom can get:
vit, wis -1
str, agil, wis +1
str, agil, will +1
str, vit, wis, will +1
str, agil, vit, wis, will +1
will +3
Tellah:
Level 70 stats:
Str: 1
Agil: 26
Vit: 1
Wis: 24
Will: 24
Tellah can get:
(str), agil, (vit), will, wis -1
nothing
str, agil +1
agil, wis +1
agil, will +1
agil, vit, wis, will +1
Tellah Note: It is possible to lower all of his stats to 1.
FuSoYa:
Level 70 stats:
Str: 10
Agil: 20
Vit: 10
Wis: 40
Will: 40
FusoYa can get:
str, vit -1
wis -1
nothing
str, vit +1
agil, wis +1
agil, will +1
agil, wis, will +1
FuSoYa: His MP begins to grow only at level 71.
Edward/Gilbert:
Level 70 stats:
Str: 42
Agil: 41
Vit: 26
Wis: 28
Will: 28
Edward/Gilbert can get:
str, agil, vit, will, wis -1
str, vit, wis, will -1
str, agil, vit, will +1
agil, vit, wis +2
str, agil, will +3
str, vit, wis, will +4
Edward Note: Only character to gain 4 points in any stat, let alone 4
at once!
Section 5: Rare Item Information
The info presented here allows you the freedom to customize your
characters even more. For example, if you know Rydia will use the whip
as her final weapon, why bother to get her agility up to 96 when you
can raise it to 91 then give her the whip? This will free her up to
gain levels that raise other stats instead of gaining agility levels.
So use the info from this guide in order to customize the characters
even further. This is especially helpful if you use the game genie and
give your team lots of adamant armors. (I'll include maxing out your
team with the help of game genie in a later version.)
Note: A lot of this info is from Lord Leandreus
Weapons
Weapons note- The hit rate is added on to your character's attack
percent. The attack power may seem higher when you equip an item, if
so, this may be due to the strength bonus of an item. Along the same
lines, if a weapon gives you vitality, you'll see an increase in your
defense power, too. Same applies to armor with stat bonuses.
Artemis Bow- 69 attack power. 20%hit rate, +10 str, agl and vit, -10
wis, will. Get from Kary (moon goddess). Note- remember to give
right-handed people bows in their left hand.
Dragon Whip- Won from blue dragons. Attack: 55 Att%: 25% Paralyzes
Enemies, strong versus Dragons. +5 Strength, Agility, Vitality, -5
Wisdom Will.
Dragoon Spear- Won from Red Dragons. Attack: 99attack power, 30% hit
rate, efective against dragon type creatures. No stat bonusus.
Lilith Rod- 13 attack power, -40%hit rate, drains hp, psych when used
as item, +5 wis. Get from lilith on Mt. Ordeals.
Medusa Sword- 77attack power, 16% hit rate, petrifies enemies(at least
it's supposed to do so, but I hit enemies with it and appears a
msg:"turned into stone?"and nothing happens, didn't check in jap
version). Get from medusas, but I heard you can get or even steal from
those black lizards in the underground but never got it. NOTE:
[email protected] mentions that if you use the Medusa sword 3 times
on an enemy, it will turn them to stone.
Rune Axe- 100attack power, 10%hit rate. Strong vs. Magic users. Won
from Red Giants. No stat bonuses.
Silence Staff- 52 attack power, 10%hit rate, mutes target, mute when
used as item, +10 will. Get from the conjurer at land of phantom
beasts(summoned monsters), you can get too from weaker versions of this
enemy. Best attack power staff, but the life staff gives +15will.
Masamune- 65 Attack Power, 99% hit rate, +3 agility.
Murasame- 55 Attack Power, 99% hit rate, +5 str, vit, wisdom, -5 agil
and will.
Armor
Adamant armor- 100 defence power, +99def rate, 20 def mag, +15 all
stats! Get a pink tail from Pink Puffs. Very hard to find, you can
see why. Use a game genie to get this one.
Cursed Ring- 0 def, -10%def rate, -15 all stats. Get from skelton type
or d.fossil.
Crystal Ring- 20defence power, +5def rate, 12 def mag, +5 agl. Won
from Red Dragons (and Fatal Eyes?). Note- For some reason, when
equipped with this, my team takes more damage from element-based
spells. I never use crystal rings, I prefer protect rings despite less
defense and agility.
Glass helm- 30 defence power, 99%defence rate. Won from EvilMasks. No
magic defense, no stat bonuses.
Protect Ring- +15 vitality. Won from Fatal Eyes?
Ribbon- Won from Warlocks.
Zeus Gauntlet- 10 defense power, -10%def rate, 0mag def, +10 strength
and vitality. Get from skeltons at eblan cave.
Trick to get Rare Items Easier (by Lord Leandreus)
Life trick:
This is a trick to increase the chances of getting the so wanted rare
items, it doesn't work on some enemies like the ones in the core,
undead enemies and unfortunately, on the pink puffs.
The trick consists on keep reviving the same enemy in the same battle,
this will make the game consider each revived enemy as another enemy,
and you get all the xp and gp as if you had defeated the number of
enemies you revived.
Also, the chance of coming and item after the battle increases, in the
proportion of the time you spend.
So how do you revive enemies? With the spell Life 2. But there's a
timing you must learn to do it. The easiest way to do is kill everyone
except Cecil and Rosa, and then attack with Cecil, before he hits the
enemy, rosa's menu must come. You have to wait a little time with
Cecil's menu open to fill Rosa's gauge.
Select the spell while Cecil is hitting the enemy and target it before
it disappears. Rosa will cast the spell and the enemy will reappear.
Of course, there must be at least two enemies on the screen, if not the
battle ends.
The more time you spend reviving the enemy the higher the chance of
getting that awesome artemis bow and all other rare items.
For the enemies which can't be revived like pink puffs the best thing
to do is use some 10 alerts, reset if you don't get the item, and do it
again.
Section 6: Game Genie Codes
The only helpful game genie code for a perfectionist is the
Gunslinger's Code.
For American Easytype (FF2): 00CE-6D69
For Japanese Hardtype (FF4): 00CF-A469
When this code is in use, put a worthless item (rubyring, e.g.) into
the very first slot in the item list. Have some potions (cures) in the
slot to the right. Select a potion and use it on the middle character
in a five-person team. You'll notice after using it, the item in the
first position became something else. Repeat using the potions until
you get a good item. This is the best way to get five adamant armors
for your team if you don't mind using game genie. Some emulators make
use of game genie codes.
An additional game genie code I have not yet tested is an experience-
boosting code. It was suggested by Bob the Almighty from gamefaqs. It
has been tested by others and for them it works.
For Japanese Hardtype (FF4): 7E35-9363
End guide.
All info was derived from mad gaming by CronoLV99. Some rare items
info provided by Lord Leandreus. Many level-70 stats submitted by
Etienne Santerre . Copyright 2000-2001. If you reproduce any of this, please
give me, CronoLV99, credit.
Thanks to www.RPGamer.com for posting this FAQ.
Thanks to www.GameFAQs.com for posting this FAQ.
Thanks to www.gamedirectory.f2s.com for posting this FAQ.
Others may with prior consent by me, Crono LV99.
Correspondence:
[email protected]
Lord Leandreus:
[email protected]
