NoWorries presents:
the "How to" for the Absolutely Shortest Step Challenge
Game: Final Fantay 3/6
System: Super Nintendo (rofl use an Emulator)
FAQ: Beating Final Fantasy 3/6 and Kefka in less than 8700 steps
Written By: NoWorries
Allowed Website: www.gamefaqs.com
www.neoseeker.com
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Version History: 1.0 Submitted 30 of September of 2014
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-Who should be reading this FAQ?- #The NoWorries Contract to Greatness
I put this in every faq I've ever written, and it goes something along the
lines like this. By writing this, I commit to you the reader that I will bring
to you not only my vastness of knowledge but do it with a sense of humour. I
understand it's easy to get bogged down in detail as well as a mush of opinion
but I strive to bring you something more than just a guide to greatness.
So who should be reading this? EVERYONE! Well, everyone who likes to play
Final Fantasy so much they are looking for a new way to beat it. I mean, we
have Low Level, Natural magic, LLNMG, LLNGMPS, LLMHCDHAUIDUDU and a plethora
of other acronyms. Then there's speed running, the 100% verse any percent. It
never ends. This game is adored and loved and still gets played by fans every
where across the globe.
So this challenge came across my desk when Ilsoap pushed "The fewest step
challenge" across my desk. His idea was to limit the number of steps but using
a varying amount of liberal tendencies. He collected 3 extra characters in the
World of Ruin as well as took a number of extra steps for items. Against most
bosses Doom was never casted. He went forward to list some ideas for the
"Truly Fewest" steps but nothing came of it. I tried his way, it was fun; so
I went ahead and tried the "Truly Fewest" where you get C.E.S. and head to
fight Kefka. It's a bit hard and you are forced to grab a couple items to
make beating it possible, and I took around 9500 steps or so. It was 1000 less
than what he did so it seemed cool to me. But... then something happened.
I learned you can skip Celes. Yeah, crazy. And thus, the absolutely
shortest step challenge was born as you now severely cripple yourself by not
grabbing the character most essential to beating the game previously. Read
on below if you are interested... (and who wouldn't be)
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I just want to preface this with, this is not for the weak hearted. This is
something to be done by the perfectionists. This is something to be done by
those who enjoy taking the game and bending it over and having their way with
it. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Absolutely Shortest Step challenge.
How many you may ask? Well, prior to some glitch-know-how, I'd say about
9500. And then I learn you can skip Celes.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT
It completely changes the game. This is now a complete 180 as everything
changes. No longer are we getting Celes? Sure, we get Kutan instead, but
Kutan is a raging POS. Can't get worse? Sure can; once they unequip Kutan
of what terrible equipment he had.
BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT
I'm getting ahead of myself.
So you should all be familiar with that 'ol little counter there. This game
actually measures the steps you take. Now, besides factoring into ONE spell,
it seems infinitely useless. We're not beating the game quickly, we're not
challenging to no magic or to no equipment at all. So what's the challenge?
Oh, my friend, is there a challenge.
See, if we don't take steps, something happens. We don't get items, or
weapons! Or armor! Or relics! Or experience! Or people!
Ahem
Yeah so basically, by limiting our steps, we find that we are extremely
poor off in terms of actually trying to win the game. I mean, hell, can you
picture a scenario with an unequippable Moogle (that you don't actually get)
alongside Setzer and Edgar with some Mithril Vests that people brought trying
to win the game???
Yeah I don't either.
Luckily, we have some serious advantages at our disposal.
ADVANTAGE #1
WE KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE FACING
Yeah, so basically we've beaten the game right? (If you haven't stop now)
We know exactly what is ahead of us. That means there aren't any surprises
besides learning how unprepared we are. But it's not like an Octopus is
going to come down the river and attack us! Oh, I mean... anyway
ADVANTAGE #2
FREE ESPERS
Boy are we limited. See, there are exactly 8 Espers that we get, "for
free", in that they cost us no time and no steps. They are:
Ramuh, Shiva, Unicorn, Phantom, Shoat, Maduin, Carbunkle, and Bismark
See, Stray, Kirin, and Siren all require time and effort to go find them.
Plus, they don't teach anything valuable. Actually, Mute is extremely
valuable but to hell with that!
See, Ifrit requires extra steps! To go to Shiva, to Ifrit, and then out
takes more steps than to go to Ifrit and then to Shiva! You may ask of me,
why does it bloody matter if I'm taking two more steps? And that's the
whole point. We can only take steps in which we move the game forward. And
to be more specific, we can only take the MINIMUM number of steps in which
to move forward
ADVANTAGE #3
VANISH DOOM
If you're one of those "I'm ABOVE glitches and programming errors" then
allow me to show you the door
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Because, the game is PRACTICALLY unbeatable if you don't. I say
practically, because I'm sure there's a magic goodie bag somewhere that
in an alternate universe would allow us to beat both Doom and Goddess
without using Vanish/Doom. However, in our current reality, an Edgar with
at best 11 magic block and an extremely limited number of spells is not
going to be able to beat Doom by himself. Nor is Gau with 7 basic rages
and no outstanding magic to speak of with his slightly higher magic block
going to be able to beat Goddess by himself.
So yes, we are going to use Vanish/Doom. Only twice probably, on those
two statues. The other battles are going to suck a little bit more
ADVANTAGE #4
JOKER DOOM
Alright. You probably know all about Joker Doom. If you don't, here is
a quick rundown. Setzer's Slots appear random but in fact there is nothing
random about them. They are 100% controllable. They operate on a RNG, 256
bit process (for the most part). Most things you do in the battle affect
this RNG which leads to the most well-known exploit in the game, Echo
Screen + Joker Doom.
See, to get to Joker Doom, we have to understand how it works.
Slots work on a "RNG System" from 0 to 255. If you get over 256 it then
resets. There are a number of potential set ups to get Joker Doom to
work: 16, 62, 87, 102, 106, 141, 228, or 250
These numbers refer to the "RNG" of the battle. When you start the battle
it is always 0. Now, when certain abilities are used, the number increases
which is why, Echo Screen is 16 (10 in hexadecimal) and strangely enough
there is 16 for Joker Doom (why it works)
Now, you may ask where is the Echo Screens? We don't ever get them in this
game, in all seriousness. There are 3 opportunities to find Echo Screens
in this run. You can:
Win them from Weedfeeder (found in a couple spots in World of Balance)
Except in those areas we ride Chocobos
Win them from Osprey (found in World of Ruin walking towards the Chocobo
that is north of Tzen and south of Phoenix Cave)
Except Kutan sucks and could literally die fighting them and there is
no guarantee that we find them anyway
Steal them from Insecare in the Gathering Place of the Espers
Except you will likely never see one, ever, in your trip through
much less 3 of them (Inferno, Guardian, and Poltergiest)
So we need to figure something else out. Luckily, Master Zed is an
outstanding individual and has given us everything we need. At the time
when we go to fight in Kefka's Tower there are a couple of ways we can
increase the number. We have:
Rasp (48), Osmose (30), 7-Flush (20)...
I'd go on, but we only need just one up there, and then one other one,
Cards (Fight) (6)
See, 48+48+6 is 102, which just so happens to be a trigger for Joker Doom
You may ask about the other numbers, maybe 62. Well I've tried a couple
but have had success with just one, which is Rasp+Rasp+Fight with Cards
There are enemy attacks, but none of them will ever occur quick enough to
get in our way. As a result, we can now win through a number of tough
battles without good equipment. We've got Vanish/Doom for Doom and
Goddess, and now Joker Doom for Inferno, Guardian, and Poltergiest.
What about the end battle with Kefka? We've got this as well
ADVANTAGE #LAST ONE
LETE RIVER
So you probably all know how to get to 99 right? DO IT. How low can you
go? I don't know. In my previous run, my party was severely crippled by
not doing any leveling (see, see this is the only part of the run where
you can actually level as no steps are taken). I still won, but it was
a frustrating, tedious mess. So for this first attempt, I went to 93. Why
not 99? Because I'm a dingus. It doesn't matter a whole lot, as my final
levels were 93/83/73 and if you do go to 99 it just ends up 99/89/79 which
makes just as little difference as one might suspect as any characters
who actually get better by levels (except Fixed Dice) are not found in
this particular quest. You probably are bored. It takes about 2 real hours
to get to 99 if you use an Emulator and speed the game up. I STRONGLY
advise using an Emulator otherwise you will punch babies in the throats.
That aside, using speed up doesn't take long and it's kinda amusing in
all honesty. Plus with save states you can even check your progress which
is kinda cool.
Just to add on; how high do you need to go? It's essential that everyone
has at least 5000 life (so Edgar would need to be at least 60+ so that
in the end, everyone ends up over 50) simply because that provides a
buffer to not die from anything and everything that hits you. 8000+ is
quite a bit better, but at least 5000 is no 1000-1500 range.
It's also essential that Edgar can take out the Tentacles with 1-3 shots
from his crossbow. As Kutan is a raging boner of terribleness and Edgar
can't equip relics (not that we have Runningshoes) the battle becomes a
bit harder when we look at a level 20-30 Edgar trying to beat it by
himself as opposed to a 50+. At 93, one shot took out three of them so
there you go.
I'd also like to mention that in terms of "battle buffering" (which we
will get to later) is way easier to use when your team doesn't die to the
monsters in Kefka's Tower. We actually need to fight those for experience
(well, magic points) and fighting them is way harder if your life total
is less than 5000. So, take heed and level them up on the Lete River. I
will not be experimenting with "how low can you go" because I already did
that once and it was terrible. At high levels, you can actually just win
battles instead of rasp rasp rasp rasp rasp till the cows come home, and
then rasp some more.
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| Dar Rulezzzz |
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Cause everything needs rules
1) No STEPS! Taken that aren't pushing the story forward. You must go
go in STRAIGHT LINES to places. Turning isn't a step, so if there
is an item within reach by turning, that's fine. But if you must
step to it; no can do that.
-Except to get Gau
Cause everything needs exceptions
2) That's IT!
I think
Seriously, I beat the game in 8637 steps. World of Balance in 6616. Seriously
you can do the World of Ruin in almost less than 2000 steps. It's that short.
I know there is room for improvement, like finding Gau more quickly, and there
might be a spot or two for improvement, but needless to say, 8623 is probably
the lowest feasible step amount to beat the game. That is a 2 step recruitment
of Gau, the only extra steps we ever take. It takes 53 steps to get the Force
Stuff, but as Kefka can be beaten with just good ol crappy equipment, then
don't bother to grab them.
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| How dis is gunna work |
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I'm not a huge fan of walkthrough walkthrough walkthroughs; so it won't be.
Things like "advance the story" should be pretty self explanatory. If they
aren't, then you aren't going to do well in this challenge. I'll list what I
did and you can see if you can improve upon it and do it yourself. It is a fun
challenge when you win with such a severely handicapped team.
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| Darrr Table of Contents |
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1. Questionable Beginnings (Terra to Locke)
2. Where'd Terra go (Edgar to Banon)
3. Well, this is fun (Leveling to Gau)
4. Where'd Celes go (Locke's Scenario to Narshe battle)
5. Do I really need to (Figaro, Zozo, Jidoor, Opera, and Magitek)
6. We're halfway done, really? (Trains, Planes, and Autobots)
7. Where'd the world go (Floating Continent through Daryl)
8. The end of the Game (Kefka's Tower)
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| The Complete-In-Complete Walkthrough |
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[CHAPTER ONE]
[QUESTIONABLE BEGINNINGS]
So the game starts off yadda yadda we all know how this works. I'd tell you to
put Terra in the backrow and kills off Wedge and Biggs/Vicks. You may ask me
why and I'll tell you, we need Locke to hit 11 before Sabil Mountains. You may
say OK without really knowing why; you may also scratch your head as you know
that doesn't really happen; that Locke never gets above 10 without leveling.
But there is a reason to this madness.
Anyway, go straight up and kill things. Just before entering the mines your
step count should be 85. If it's more you messed up start over. If it's less
you are cheating, stop it.
Inside, move forward some more, kill Whelk and watch some storyline. After you
wake up and before you move, your step count should be 138. Again not higher
or lower. Cool, moving along you can get Terra into position and let her fall.
I'd unequip her sword, but that's it. Locke gets a better shield so she can
hang onto that Buckler. This means ignore the treasures that are nearby.
So bring in Locke. Normally, any run of this game LOVES to see Locke. He's
the "potion monkey" to the "valient slayer" but in this challenge he's kinda
driving me nuts. Anyway, let's talk about this Moogle Battle.
So nobody moves, except Locke's party. I'd unequip Mog and toss that Shield
over to Locke. Alright, let's prepare. We're going to want to fight every
battle. We also want all the moogles dead so Locke gets all the experience.
Seems crazy right? Like I said before, you need Locke to be 11 before Sabil
Mountains and mine hit 11 at Vargas so there's your window of experience AND
I was saving to manipulate more battles so ye be warned.
There is a chance; albit a small one, that Locke will level from the town of
South Figaro by the time he gets to TunnelArmr. Problem is, those battles are
way harder and there is no guarantee, so do it this way. I'd like to mention,
that this is the only time I ask you to do something that is 100% RNG
dependent, triggering Locke's desperation attack. Read on
Anyway, if Locke is in the backrow the Vomammoth can't hurt him after it
uses just a single Blizzard. So each battle should consist of steal the Tonic,
then slay the Lobo, then steal the Tonic, then slay the Vomammoth. The first
battle of course, consists of Moogles slaying each other. If Locke has less
than 100 health, use a Tonic. There are 5 battles. Once you win, head down to
Marshal. Now, this battle is tough. Actually it isn't. You just need to be
lucky. See, Ensnare, or Snare, or whatever the spell is actually called, stops
Locke for too many turns. Now, as long as at least one Lobo is alive, the
attacks from Marshal hurt a lot less. Regardless, the plan is to kill off one
of the Lobos to reduce how much damage you take; and then let the battle go
at least 25 seconds. Now get Locke into near-fatal and rig it/rng it so Locke
desperation attacks and murders the Marshal. It's about the only way to make
it work, and like I said, if you don't do this Locke may not hit 11 and he
needs that health otherwise Fire/Bolt may kill him.
Once you win, some more stuff happens and you find yourself standing in a
spot known as "Just found Terra" spot. Your step count should be 290. No
lower, no higher. If you're struggling to lower it, go right instead of left
at the forks in the Moogle battle; only spot I could think of that may add
to your amount. Ready? Cool let's move along
[CHAPTER TWO]
[WHERE'D TERRA GO]
Alright so make sure Locke has everything awesome and now get Terra killed off
as soon as you can. Actually, save your game as soon as you leave Narshe. Save
not save state, because you need to manipulate RNG. I mean, you may not need
to, but I did it and I fought 5 battles getting to Figaro when normally you
fight 2-3. The experience matters. The way this works is simple. When you walk
you add to your "battle counter" which things like Charm Bangle and Moogle
Charm affect. But saving and resetting also changes it up. For instance, you
might walk to Figaro and fight three battles. But you reset and try again and
this time you fight three battles but two of them are lone Leafers. You reset
again and fight double Leafer double Dark Wind. You save and reset and get
into a battle almost immediately against double trouble again. You repeat this
process and thus you can "milk" or "manipulate" extra battles. It's something
we don't need to do often, but right now it's fairly important to get Locke
as much experience as possible.
Now, this does mean Terra is not ever getting revived until the game does it
for us. That's fine; we'll kill her off again. Until the game revives her.
Then we'll use her as she'll be like level 80 or something crazy.
Anyway, head to Figaro. As you just enter your step count should be about
354. It's not an exact science, as long distance traveling is tricky, but
that's what I got so you should match it as well. Inside Figaro, go talk to
Edgar and Matron and name Sabin and all that fun stuff.
A couple notes. When going outside the castle, those patrolling guards can
block you if you aren't careful. Also, with Kefka, the second time you see
him, you can just leave and go talk to the Sentry. No need to see Kefka.
Anyway, the rest of the game plays out rather smoothly. Take down the
Magiteks, and move forward. The game revives Terra with the Spring; I'd go
ahead and kill her off. She consumes 33% of the experience and Locke needs
every last drop he can get.
In South Figaro, there's a Tonic you can grab for free on your way to the
Chocobo stable. Rent it, go to Mt. Koltz. Inside Mt. Koltz, there's nothing
worth stealing and we don't get to collect any of those treasures. The battles
are pretty simple as well. Until Edgar levels, Locke will pretty much need to
attack everything once to finish it after he crossbows. It's pretty straight
forward. If you get poisoned you are screwed, reset and RNG that poison away
because we have no antidotes or Terra. You could steal one from the enemy, but
it's easier to just RNG it away.
Once you see Vargas and can kiss him, your step count should be right around
1177. The fight against Vargas is pretty easy. I just put Locke in the front
row and have Edgar crossbow alot. If someone gets below 50 you can heal them
but otherwise the battle is short. If Locke is already 11, he can die in this
battle as the game will heal him for us later.
Sabin shows up with no equipment; luckily that Buckler Terra isn't using can
go to him. Head on up to the Sabil Mountains. Now, I know there is so much
tempting treasure here, but ignore it all. Even that Fenix Down which is
like two steps away, skip it. As for talking, you can talk to Locke, and then
Sabin, and then Edgar. Now regarding Edgar, you can take just 2 steps into
that room as he will wander all the way up to you, eventually. You may want
to save state outside just to make sure he doesn't like trap himself or
something but anyway, don't take more than 10 steps to talk to him.
Go talk to Banon and say yes right away. That Gauntlet is fancy, helpful, and
saves us like 14 steps. Watch the Returners talk and get ready to Lete River
yourself. Are you ready? I don't know if you are. By the way, just as I was
about to Lete River I was sitting at 1407.
[CHAPTER THREE]
[WELL THIS IS FUN]
So a couple pieces of advice. Give the Gauntlet to Edgar but give him a shield
for now. Also don't put people in the front row. Once you feel comfortable,
begin the leveling process. I'd say at least 50 is the minimum as you really
need the health. But, no reason not to go to 99. I screwed up and stopped at
93 which was fine, but at that point you're so close there is no reason not to
go all the way. Just for reference, about one hour of real time put Edgar,
Sabin, and Banon at 77. If Terra were alive, it would add 25% to the time
which is what, about 30 more minutes to go to 99? Problem is we have no Fenix
Downs and Locke needs the experience. SO LEAVE TERRA DEAD.
Anyway, some 86-90 game hours later, you should be rarin' to go. For now,
fighting will yield much more damage than anything else. Autocrossbow is God,
Sabin can Pummel. Everything else is strictly for AOE (like Fire Dance).
Do Sabin's scenario first. Skip Shadow. Just keep walking along to the camp.
Make sure to save outside, that Blackbelt is vitally important. My Cyan
joined at 52 with 7 of his Swdtechs. If only I were planning on using him.
This part is pretty easy; it's just that Locke gets a bit more complicated.
Anyway, the last time I spoke to Kefka my step count was 1537. From there we
get to march along to the Phantom Train.
Normally this thing sucks. But with Fire Dance/Air Blade, you can annihilate
everything in your path. The only real thing to note here is if you can go
over the cars as opposed to through them, you save steps. It's less treasures
and stuff, but life is hard sometimes. After completing the train my step
count was 2012, no joke. Also I was going to Suplex the train but Sabin
countered for like 4500 damage or something and killed it before I could
Suplex an entire train. Life is sad sometimes.
Head to the falls and laugh as things melt. Now we're on the Veldt. This is
literally the only shop we get to visit ever. I'd say buy 99 of everything you
can, you should have over 5 million GP so money isn't an issue. It's also
worthless as we don't ever get to spend it. Now, once outside save your game
again. The reason behind this is twofold.
First, to get Gau before we hit the mountains.
Second, to actually Leap Gau before we hit the mountains.
I have not been able to do the second as that requires running into 3 battles
in a short distance but honestly, it's not a big deal. Gau will probably never
rage so don't stress about it too much. The most important thing is finding
him without being forced to walk back and forth.
Head to the trench, go left at both forks, and end the scenario. I'd unquip
everyone just for good measure. After finishing Sabin's scenario I was 2296.
[CHAPTER FOUR]
[WHERE'D CELES GO]
Alright, time for Locke. Now, normally you find some cider, give some password
to a child and find a blondie named Celes. We don't do that. So here is how
this works. If you hit X (or whatever) to bring up the menu, you are
"temporarily" clear. So from where you start, there is that guard that blocks
your path on the right. He goes up, you go down, and as he comes down towards
you; walk up and MENU, and then when you exit the Guard should pass through
you. Might take a couple tries, but that's what save states are for. Leave the
town and wave goodbye to Celes forever as she is killed and reincarnated as
the worst Moogle ever. Like, literally the plan was to execute her so if Locke
never saves her...
Oh... my God...
That's why you get Kutan! And that's why he sucks so hard! It all makes sense
now! Kutan is the reincarnated body of Celes! But clearly the process isn't
perfect, and since Celes is a spirited individual that is bitter over being
killed... that's why you can't equip her! She's stuck using the most basic of
weapons and armor! Until that is, Locke accuses her of being a spy so she then
forsakes all armor and weapons out of guilt... for even in the afterlife she
is still considered a treacherous spy. How else do you explain Kutan's body
shifting back to Celes's model after the Opera? She's starting to regain
control and she just might make it... but then Locke and Kefka...
Ahem, sorry about that. Anyways it's all theorycraft and speculation.
Until you hit TunnelArmr I'd run from every fight. You most likely won't level
anyway and Locke sucks pretty hard at level 11 with 249 life. Once at
TunnelArmr, equip Locke with Gauntlet/Blackbelt, Mithril Shield/Hat/Kung Fu.
Your weapon will become the Air Lancet you steal. With this set up, you have
good defense and you have plenty of healing. From the backrow, you deal ~90
damage and TunnelArmr has 1300 life so you need 15 attacks to land. If you go
to the front row, you only need 8 attacks to land but you also have to heal
after every attack. When in the back row, you only need to heal when your
health drops below 220. That's basically every attack for the most part, but
sometimes he just attacks you for 10-20 damage so you actually don't have to
heal. Now Fire does ~220 and Bolt about the same. Poison did 250 damage so if
that comes up RNG it away. Shouldn't take that hard.
Now I realize, that you might ask what do you mean RNG it away? So the way
the enemy works is kind of predictable. For instance, you might run into a
battle. You say NO and reload save state. Same battle. That's because the RNG
has it coming up that you are getting into a battle. It's kinda the same way
in battle. But battles can be manipulated. For instance.
Suppose I attack for 90. TunnelArmr responds with an attack of Drill dealing
50. I heal myself. TunnelArmr attacks for 15. I attack for 90. TunnelArmr
casts Fire which rolls high and kills me. I rewind the battle to my previous
attack and instead use a Tonic. TunnelArmr uses Fire again but I live.
Now.
Suppose the same situation, except, I attack for 90. TunnelArmr responds with
Poison dealing 250 damage. I reset to my previous turn and use Tonic. He still
uses Poison. I reset again. I simply wait without queing anything. TunnelArmr
attacks for 20.
So each enemy has Battle Orders. This is something to get familiar with.
Here, we need Locke to not die and that's it. Once that's done, you can do
the other scenario. By the way, after finishing Locke I was at 2428. You
can see, Locke's scenario is now done in 132 steps. It's a massive reduction
of steps. Sure Kutan sucks shit but we will make it work.
Anyway, the trio scenario is super easy. Use save states to get yourself
through the checkpoint to save steps, and don't go see the Moogles to save
steps as well. Takes like 3 minutes. Step count just as finishing was 2745.
Alright time for the big surprise. Celes has been replaced with Kutan. It's
due to the game needing her to be there but since she isn't; it calls the most
recent character to fill it... Kutan. He sucks. He is level 7. He sucks. You
don't get to equip him, his stats are terrible, and he loses his equipment
later in the game. It's a small price to pay as we save well over 300 steps
to then later add 2-20 steps to recruit Gau. It definitely makes the goal of
shortest steps much more achievable.
Now, there's a couple of options coming up. I elected to bring along Kutan to
level him up (basically just Sabin and Kutan) but you could do others as well.
Kutan and Locke will have their levels reset eventually but for now, this is
what I ended up doing. (There is a reason to this)
I put Kutan/Sabin in group 2 and just a single person in each 1 and 3. Take
them down, fighting everything in your path and end it quickly. You can't
just fight everything as the enemies can bypass your grid which is stupid.
Anyway, watch everything go crazy and get ready for the next chapter. Against
Kefka you can Pummel or Attack for a single attack win. Also, note you don't
need Locke to steal anything here. The Ether/Elixir is meh and the Mithril
Vest is wasted as we get two for free later in the game.
[CHAPTER FIVE]
[DO I REALLY NEED TO]
For this next part, I used Sabin, Kutan, and Locke. I killed Locke off so that
Kutan could scrape some more experience to hopefully buffer Setzer (that was
the goal anyway) as Sabin isn't going to level nor will any 50+ person. Just
outside Arvis's house my step count was 2791, which by the way go straight
down to leave Narshe; it's the fastest. Make your way to Figaro and go
underground. From here, head north. There's the house on the dragon neck.
It's well known for the Hero Ring inside. Well go ahead and skip the ring
and the house completely. Our destination is some woods past it where
there's a Chocobo. Hop on and ride all the way to Zozo. One step inside
Zozo I was at 3014.
This is pretty simple here; just go to the Relic shop and work your way to
Dadaluma. Now (3286 at Dadaluma) this battle is tricky. It's tricky, because
Locke has to steal the Jewel Ring for anti Petrify action. It's pretty hard,
and honestly this last runthrough it took two tries which is INSANE luck but
regardless, revive Locke and steal it. Heal him up if he dies. Once you do
steal it, attack once and Dadaluma should go down to your 90+ Sabin.
As a side note, having Locke alive to steal from Harvesters could be very
nice, as there is a 1/8 chance you could steal Dragoonboots. Now, there are
two other opportunities to steal Dragoonboots (the easiest we probably won't
have Locke) so if you run into a Harvester I'd revive Locke and try for it.
If it feels like too much stress, then you don't have to. Edgar jumping in
the final battle is not required.
Head inside and watch Ramuh do his Esper thing. Normally you'd go grab those
other Espers. Today we don't. Today we just grab Ramuh. Kinda sucks. Go ahead
and throw it on Gau and head south to Jidoor. Oh right, I brought along
Edgar with Gau this time around. As the experience is poor, there is no
reason not to especially as Kutan is leaving and as we barely fight in the
Magitek facility. Most anyone else is a better choice than Gau, but when we
get our new Espers he matters most so it is important to have him.
Go to Jidoor, name Setzer, grab a Chocobo, and head to the Opera. You might
be getting bored of Chocobo's but there are still a couple more uses from
them.
Go do the Opera. If you forget, the lines are 1-2-1 so like it's super easy
mode. "Oh my hero" "I'm the Darkness" "Must I forget" if you don't like
numbers for some reason. Careful here as steps count so make minimum
movements with Celes who is Kutan who is Maria. Wrap your head around that.
The rafters are simple and Ultros dies in two attacks. Watch Setzer steal
Kutan/Celes and laugh as the game now replaces Kutan with Celes, except that
Kutan still is here sucking.
Anyway, you regain control near Albrook. Appreciate how Celes has made a near
full comeback except she sucks. Head to Vector. Inside just go talk to the
Sympathizer and enter the Facility. Once inside, my count was 4019.
Sadly, all this good equipment and we get NONE of it. Just ramp along down
to the Espers. Talk to Ifrit be launched into a battle. Being as strong as
you are, it won't last long. Now talk to Ifrit and then Shiva. Grab Shiva and
then leave the room. You are probably wondering why we don't reverse the order
but the answer is simple. To do Shiva then Ifrit, adds 2 steps. Seeing as we
don't need Fire2 ever, skip Ifrit, please. Also, you could steal a Flash
coming up ahead, but there is no point as Autocrossbow reigns supreme.
Now you normally unequip Celes here but you can't do that to Kutan not that
you would want to as you can't re-equip him later. Anyway, this fight is easy
and we can prepare for the next chapter. Also, don't worry about stealing here
as both the Drainer and the Rune Edge are worthless items to us. We DO however
want to win the Blizzard so if we don't reset and try again.
[CHAPTER SIX]
[HALFWAY DONE ALREADY]
Alright so we get some cool new Espers. First thing to note is my count is at
4249. From here on out, we have all of our Espers so we need to always be
thinking about who is needing to learn what.
Edgar absolutely needs Vanish/Doom
Setzer absolutely needs Rasp
Gau absolutely needs Vanish/Doom
A rather short list, but important nonetheless. As for potential other
spells...
Edgar wants Cure2 --> Rasp/Osmose --> Life
And in that order. With 99 Fenix Downs, Life is not as important
Gau wants Cure2 --> Rasp/Osmose --> Life
Just the same as Edgar. In fact, Gau wants as much magic as
possible as that will be all he does against Kefka. In fact, Cure2
is about the extent of what he will be doing
Setzer could use Osmose --> Cure2 --> Life
Once he knows Rasp/Osmose and Cure2, he probably doesn't need any
other spell
Oh and knowing Fire helps. If we get frozen Fire is our best answer
Terra rejoined at 63. Awesome. She doesn't care. Locke likewise doesn't
care or need Espers. Strago and Relm don't care either.
That just leaves Kutan who can't equip them. Oh I guess there's Sabin
but he fits into the "doesn't care" category either.
As such, Shiva is really important, as is Phantom and Shoat. Unicorn
teaches Cure2 at x4 which is the next best thing once they have those.
I'd argue it's more important than Life just because you have 99 Fenix
Downs but either way.
Do what you need to do and destroy the train. Escape and go find Setzer and
get attacked by Cranes. Kill those as well. Now we get to meet Terra's father.
Sadly, this counts against our steps so be real careful with Maduin as he
sprints around.
Once that is all done, you need to go to Narshe. You need Terra but not yet.
Go to Narshe. After that scene, then climb aboard the ship and change members.
There's 3 people that need magic and you have to have Terra. Suffice to say,
I went Edgar/Setzer/Gau/Terra. After making this new team, my count was 4595.
The reason we need Gau, is that he is the quickest recruit in the World of
Ruin to replace Kutan. Kutan sucks and actually can't fight Kefka, much less
any of the statues. Because of this, use Gau. If he somehow learns Vanish/Doom
quickly, get him learning Cure2 before Life. For Terra, if nobody is using
Shiva, she'll take Shiva as she would love some Ice magic. Bismark isn't bad
either. However, S.E.G. take priority here for spell learning over Terra.
Inside this cave, there isn't much to do but just race through it minimizing
steps. Fight everything, we need the magic. After the scene with Terra, you
can Warp out thanks to Terra. Saves a few steps, but it's still cool. (It's
actually frustrating as we need magic and now Terra is forcing us to Warp)
So we watch the Espers go nuts and the Blackjack crashes. Crap, long way to
walk right? Nah, there's a Chocobo right there. Ride it to Vector.
Now inside Vector, going left at the staircases is quicker due to how you
are placed; keep that in mind. Now, as you approach Gestahl (5210 in front
of him by the way) normally we race around like mad. Here, we do nothing. In
fact, the game unequips everyone anyway so you can literally just do nothing.
Also answer however you want; we're not going to explore any of that nor reap
any rewards. It actually makes for the shortest banquet now.
Now Locke rejoins, man he kicks ass all of a sudden. This is so helpful. Now
here is yet another potential opportunity to steal some stuff. We can steal
Green Beret (Joker) Tiger Mask (Ralph) and Dragoonboots (Wyvern). Sadly these
are all rare steals and we probably will fight just a single battle. Of them,
Dragoonboots help the most but like I said before, not required. Head to
Albrook and ride a boat (by the way, name Shadow, and enjoy him for all of
two minutes). Once touching down on the new island, save.
It really helps to steal some Gaia Gears here. Since Locke is such a high
level now it actually isn't all that hard. Once inside Thamasa, just go name
Strago and Relm, do the sleeping thing and hop into a fiery house.
Inside, we don't need the experience or the trouble; just make it through
using minimal steps. Against Flame Eater, steal the Flame Sword before killing
it. A Morphed Terra annihilates it quickly, at high levels or not.
Now we head to find the Espers. Once again, there is an opportunity for some
items (again they aren't easy but I'm just giving you the option)
Chimera (in the forest) you can steal Hyper Wrist (which is worthless) but
more importantly you can win Gold Armor. As this would be your best armor you
ever get, could be worth trying for. Similarly, Adamanchyt inside the cave
you can steal Gold Shields from (better than Mithril). I tell you this, as
it will help. None of it is required so don't stress if you don't (my team
has Plumed Hats and Mithril Vests, we suck). Also, Insecares have Echo Screens
that we could take. I never found one, so don't worry about it.
Blah blah blah, stuff happens. Once Shadow leaves and you regain control my
count was 5884. Head on over and do the Esper thing. Skip all the treasure.
Against Ultros, Locke with Flame Saber pretty much OHKO (or Terra using Fire3)
and Relm shows up quickly. Before winning make sure to steal the White Cape,
we need it. Continue onward and we find ourselves in a new chapter. Also,
with Relm at a high level you can pretty much never miss sketching which is
nice for a change.
[CHAPTER SEVEN]
[WHERE'D THE WORLD GO]
Alright, so Esper thing blah blah (fall down the nearby hole) we find
ourselves in Thamasa making final preparations. Once Leo is dead and we can
move, unequip everyone and elect to find the floating continent. Care to
guess who we are using? Not the level 70 Kutan; use Edgar, Setzer, and Gau.
The Floating Continent is a lot less dramatic when we skip everything; but
as it is, kill everything for magics and make your way to Atma. I was at
6510 in front of him. Normally you need to be careful with Atma but I just
full metal jacket(ed) him and brought him down very quickly. Edgar being so
high makes it a tad easier I'd say.
Now, you're probably shaking in your boots. If all Setzer needs is Rasp, then
why not use Locke to steal items? Good question. Here's my thoughts:
You can steal Cure Ring, Runningshoes, Earrings, Dragoonboots, and Genji Glove
Cure Ring and Earrings are both worthless
Genji Glove, in addition to being a rare steal from a Dragon, is worthless
Runningshoes are always helpful, but very much not needed
Dragoonboots, same story. Also Cyclonic is dangerous so sticking around to
fight Wirey Drgns can be a nuisance. I don't bring Locke. If I can guarantee
that my people will know what they need to know, I'd think about it. But
spells > equipment and the Floating Continent gives a bunch of magic. Not to
mention that once again, Edgar doesn't have to be jumping against Kefka.
Anyway, enjoy Kutan showing up "I'm going to save you" and enjoy some
cinematics. Now Kutan is back in our party but whatever; a single front row
attack from Edgar slays Naughty, so make our way to the back. Remember, that
with the Elixir chest, you need to go around as though to grab it; but don't.
We do this because to go forward results in a broken platform and more steps.
When you get to the end, you can wait for Shadow but it doesn't matter. I'd
just jump. Take note of your count, my final World of Balance was 6616.
Once you regain control, try not to panic as you have a 70+ Kutan who hits
for about 600 in the front row. He sucks. His equipment is gone. It's fine.
Head outside, let Cid die, go back inside and float to the mainland. Make
sure Kutan is in the backrow. Run from everything. Head Northwest towards
Tzen. Don't go inside, rather, past the mountains and water is another
Chocobo (the almost last one). Ride it to Nikeah. Step count by Nikeah was
6913 so about 300 steps from the end World of Balance to finding the Chocobo.
Observe that here is the LAST CHANCE to get Echo Screens, as we can win them
from Osprey. However, considering how terrible Kutan is; I wouldn't bother.
Rigging to Joker Doom isn't that hard but fighting with Kutan is.
Inside Nikeah, be extremely aware that all those shops are right there and
we don't get to go to ANY OF THEM. ERGH. If the Armor guy would walk one more
spot to the left we could but sadly, nothing. Still stuck wearing crappy
Plumed hats and Mithril vests, IN THE WORLD OF RUIN. Sheesh.
Anyway, go talk to the bandits, then go to "Gerad" and follow him to the boat
and sail to South Figaro. Just inside Figaro my count was 6913. Now you have
to find Edgar in the Inn. Use the cafe to enter and leave, it's faster than
the Relic shop. It makes us officially only ever visiting the Item Shop in
Mobliz as our only shop experience. Sad.
Now we purchase our last Chocobo from a legal shop (not from a stranger in
the woods) and head to the cave. By the way, 7023 at purchasing the animal.
So we do more running. Kutan still sucks. Head through the caves to Figaro
Castle. Inside, skip all the treasure still, and find Edgar. Normally this
battle is tricky but Auto Crossbow slays everything. Now you finally are
appreciating a 90+ Edgar hopefully. You are probably thinking being 90+ is
overkill, but soon you shall see that we needed every bit of experience.
Get Edgar and equip him however you want. My step count here was 7246. Head
to Kohlingen. Recruit Setzer (7371). Enjoy your uber team. We're almost done
here. I say equip them however you want; the equipment doesn't matter so
much, the Espers do. Never forget that list of what magic they need to know.
Daryl's tomb is quite easy here. Autocrossbow slaughters everything. Go NE
first, then down SW, then to the main room. Make sure to grab the Maneater
on your way to Dullahan; it's Setzer's best weapon.
Now, there is something to consider here. Befure Daryl's tomb is the last
chance to save (a real save, not save state). I would highly consider going
it. The reasoning being, that if you get through Daryl's tomb and then head
to the Veldt, you may be in for a hard time finding Gau if your battle count
is really low. For instant, I fought a battle AFTER Dullahan on my way out.
When I went to the Veldt then, it took some carefully manipulating and saving
and resetting to find Gau in 16 steps. In retrospect, if I had saved before
Daryl's tomb, I could have reset and gone back through (it really doesn't
take long to redo) and hopefully, be on the verge of a battle when I leave;
that way finding Gau is much more quick. Note, this is purely for novelty
sake as we know the faster way to get Gau is 2 steps, but anything from 2 to
20 (or whatever you're OK with) is quite fine.
Against Dullahan, Edgar+Fire Saber brings it down pretty quick. An easy
battle again. Now, let's prepare for the end.
[CHAPTER EIGHT]
[KEFKA'S TOWER] [THE END OF THE GAME]
Alright, so my team is Edgar 93, Setzer 83, Kutan 73 (Gau 83). So before we
can go to Kefka's Tower, we have to get Gau. Fly to the Veldt, land, and
save. The lowest you can do is 2 steps. My absolute best fight was 4 but Gau
never showed up. I ended up taking 16 steps to get Gau (one fight). Sucks but
I'm not going to redo that bit for hours just to save 14 steps that I can
simply account for later. For an interesting take, whenever you reload the
game, 13 gets added to the group number you'll fight (of the 70 something) so
there is something to be said for manipulating how Gau joins you. Like I said
before though, all he is going to do is cast magic.
Anyways
Remember that magic list? Here it is again:
GAU - VANISH/DOOM/CURE2/RASP/OSMOSE + LIFE
SETZER - RASP/OSMOSE/CURE2 + LIFE
EDGAR - VANISH/DOOM/CURE2/OSMOSE/RASP/ + LIFE
The first spells listed are the ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVES. If they don't have them
then you cannot win. It's extremely simple. As such, we are going to
manipulate battles so we can always have the right person fight them. All that
means is that we want to make sure we feed magic. As Setzer pretty much needs
Rasp/Osmose/Cure2, he is a fairly good choice to always move forward until a
battle. Once you encounter a battle, reset to one square before it and then
move someone else, Edgar or Gau depending on who needs magic. And really, Rasp
and Osmose on Gau and Edgar is not as important simply because we have so much
magic so keep that in mind.
Anyway, put Edgar in party 1, Gau in 2, and Setzer and Kutan in 3. As my
Setzer is good to go, I always move him forward first. I'd probably move Gau
over Edgar simply because Edgar has to have his way cleared first before he
can make it through to letting the others through.
Just keep going forward, ignoring all the treasure. I mean, ALL the treasure.
Yeah man, it sucks. But now we are going to appreciate being level 99 here
pretty soon. Oh, if you don't have a Jewel Ring, you probably need the Ribbon
(it's by the switch in Party 2) as Inferno uses Delta Hit and if it lands on
Setzer then GG
You are probably asking about the enemies. As the fights almost always happen
outside, we're going to see a lot of Vectaurs, Evil Oscars, Brontaurs, and
GtBehemoths. Ice2/Auto > Vectaurs, Evil Oscars a good attack, Gaia Gear >
Brontaurs and against GtBehemoths bserk them to avoid Meteor. If you have
Vanish/Doom, do so liberally.
FIRST MAJOR FIGHT, Inferno
Alright so remember what we talked about earlier? Let's do this. Make sure
Kutan is in the first position, backrow. Setzer also in the backrow. He needs
White Cape+Jewel Ring. Equipment-wise, Maneater, Mithril Shield, Plumed Hat,
and Mithril Vest is what I had (if you have better, use it). The battle goes
something like:
Kutan defends, then stands there
Setzer uses Rasp, Rasp, then switches weapons to Cards and fights. On his
next turn, Joker Doom. If Inferno used S. Cross, Wave Cannon, Meteo, Atomic
Ray, Fireball, or Virite during this, reset and try again. When I fought him
I faced a bunch of strong elemental magic and shrapnel. Pretty cool eh? By
the way, if you do have Echo Screens, use them in Poltergiest > Inferno >
Guardian in terms of how hard they are to rig against.
Go on and make your way to the "tree" section. We want Setzer to end up in the
middle so Edgar needs to let up Gau first, and then Setzer. The enemies here,
are annoying. Scullion isn't bad, just kill it and quickly. Innoc on the other
hand is very dangerous. Edgar can Auto to kill them but that's it.
Once you are in position (Edgar against Doom, Setzer in the middle, and Gau
against Goddess) you can fight however you want. I went ahead and sent Gau
first to beat Goddess. Just Vanish/Doom. The Excaliber will help Edgar pull
off his Vanish/Doom more quickly. Depending on who needs magic, move either
Setzer or Edgar. Against Doom, just use Vanish/Doom. Against Guardian and
Poltergiest, it is the same strategy as before, Rasp+Rasp+Fight with cards.
After those three actions you can Joker Doom and win the battle. Poltergiest
is easily the most difficult but hell shit happens.
Hooray! We're almost done! At the Save Point heal everyone up with
Sleeping Bags and get equipped. Here's how I am equipped:
EDGAR - Gauntlet/Peace Ring| Aura Lance/None/Plumed/Mithril Vest | None
SETZER - Black Belt/Peace Ring | Fixed Dice/Mithril/Plumed/Gaia Gear | None
GAU - White Cape/Jewel Ring | None/Mithril/Headband/Gaia Gear | Unicorn
KUTAN - Performs a magic trick and disappears
Regardless, your final step count you can get before moving forward (just add
1 for that step) which puts mine at 8637. Like I said, it could be 14 steps
lower if Gau had joined faster but regardless, we still have to win here to
make if official. Also, just take some time to appreciate my crappy items.
Double Plumed Hat?? Sigh. Mithril Vest? Ergh. For the battle order, have
Setzer as #1, Gau as #2, and Edgar as #3 (put Edgar in the front row). The
general plan here, is to have Gau Cure2 every turn. It heals about 2500
health and most anything hits us for more than that so it is really important
to have. Edgar hits for 9999 so he wants to fight, every single turn unless
you drastically need to heal. Setzer can do 9999 if you roll well, but he
mostly will be healing. He gets the blackbelt over Edgar simply because
Setzer can be in the backrow but still counter for 9999, Edgar can't. If
you have better gear, use it! If you have Dragoonboots, then Edgar doesn't
need the Gauntlet (just equip it for 5 defense). Otherwise, we are ready to
rock and roll.
TIER ONE
Have Gau cast Break on the Long Arm and then cast Cure2 every turn. Setzer
and Edgar should double team whomever they can. Battle goes pretty fast. The
only thing to note here is that if someone gets seizure status, you need to
kill them and then revive them as seizure stays with us and Fallen One sets
up then into an instant death.
TIER TWO
This part can get tricky depending on how dangerous Tiger and Magic decide to
be as well as how often you miss with Doom. Tools, the thing in the middle,
can be Doomed so go ahead and do that with either Setzer or Gau, preferably
Gau. Setzer and Edgar need to take down Magic asap as some of his stuff
really really hurts. Once those two are down, finish off Hit before Tiger
because 10 hits could kill Edgar if you get unlucky. Tiger does use some
dangerous magic but only sometimes so once Tools, Magic, and Hit are down,
make sure you are healed up as this next part gets super tricky.
TIER THREE
Hooray! Edgar can OHKO Girl which saves like 25 minutes in this battle. Also
Sleep goes down extremely quickly to Edgar + Ice2 from Gau. Be very careful
of Calmness. If it lands, you are in trouble unless it hits Setzer. I actually
beat Kefka with just Gau and Edgar mind you. We would prefer it hit no one,
but sadly, there's not much we can do. I think Vanish protects from it but
the timing is so hard to pull off... ergh
If you feel a bit more reckless, you can have Edgar Auto instead of attack
to try and keep Girl down at 2000-3000 life so her Pearl Wind doesn't hurt
nearly as much. The reasoning obviously, is to kill Sleep off first so that
if Calmness lands, the battle isn't over yet. Now, Girl will probably cast
life and save Sleep so you have to do it again, but honestly it's a small
price to pay for guaranteeing not losing anyone before Kefka as Kefka can
become extremely tricky. I have tried this a couple of times and only once
did it work for me. The other times Girl kept casting Life2 which is really
bad. Now, if you could have Girl at ~1000 life when you kill Sleep; that
gives you a very tiny window of opportunity to heal anyone who died and then
finish off Girl before she casts Life. As Kefka tends to open with Fallen
One (I had 2 Elixirs, I would use them on Setzer and Gau if that happens)
you don't have to be at full health. If Train mutes anyone, have Gau call
Unicorn.
KEFKA
Normally you need to Rasp Rasp Rasp. Luckily here we don't. Edgar does 9999
so he requires 5-6 attacks alongside some attacks from your allies. Gau should
heal every turn (havoc wing does 5500 in the back row) (goner does ~2000 to
everyone) so keeping health up is important. With Edgar and Setzer wailing
the battle goes down very quick. Once Kefka starts shaking then he is only
a few hits from death. Congratulations! We have beaten the game in less than
9000 steps.
It's, UNDER 9000!!!!
----------------------------------
[ENDING+CONCLUSION+STUFF]
This is the end of the faq. It's a short guide, but that's because there is
a lot that isn't needing to be explained. If this was written to try this at
level 20 I imagine I would need to invest more time into explaining things,
but it isn't really feasible to beat the game at 20 so don't try it. I put
details into spots that I think matter and left other things out in spots that
frankly you should be able to figure out on your own. The game is pretty
straight-forward and after the Lete River the game becomes easy until the
last 2000 steps or so (for the most part). And the thing is; that even if you
don't level all the much the game is still pretty easy until the last 2000
steps or so even with no equipment or magic. It's just a fact of life. IAF
and Air Force can be tricky; Ultros against Strago/Locke/Terra can be hard if
you are less than 20; and Dadaluma can give you trouble at very low levels.
But we Chocobo to most places, and use Edgar to Auto things out of our way.
And regardless, we don't even get Force Equipment so we need the higher
health to avoid dying instantly.
If you want to contact me regarding this FAQ, do so at
[email protected]
And put "Final Fantasy 3 Steps" or Shortest Steps in the title so I know what
you are talking about. It also lessens the chance that I delete it as spam as
that email is used exclusively for guide writing purposes. Also, don't steal
this. Ilsoap has his guide there, and this one is pretty much completely
different despite having similar goals, so don't mess with either. I am pretty
open regarding where it ends up but that's why permission emails are always
appreciated. As for thanks, I have quite a few
I'd like to thank Ilsoap, because without him I never would have tried this
in the first place. Maybe you can try out this challenge ma friend.
I'd like to thank Egoraptor for showing me that sometimes humor can trump
being profesional depending on the environment.
I'd like to thank the FF3 Gods, Master Zed, Djibrel, and bover_87 as your
guides were essential to many aspects of this challenge. The Monster Guide
being the most used; along with rages and monster scripts being very
very useful as well. Oh and that Slot Guide. Made it possible to drop
53 more steps by skipping Force Equipment.
I'd like to thank the random youtube video that showed me how to skip Celes.
If I had never seen it; never would've tried to lower the steps more.
Lastly, Gamefaqs, Squaresoft, and the gaming community. I've gotten quite a
bit more into writing Faqs now and this one is no exception. The guide is
to share the information. I've already done this; but it is fun and I'd
like to share it with you as well.
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