O=====================================================================O
|Final Fantasy I&II - Dawn of Souls Level 11 Challenge FAQ |
|Written by: blacksniper (Jordan Mepham) |
|E-Mail: the_soul_of_archangels AT yahoo DOT com |
|Started on: Thursday, February 24, 2005 10:56:00 PM |
|Last revision on: Friday, January 19, 2014 3:02:00 PM |
|Version: 3.0 |
|Created in Microsoft Word using Courier New, 10 point font |
|ASCII art created in Courier New, 9 point font |
O=====================================================================O
Hello, salut, buon giorno, hoi, guten tag, konnichi wa, annyong
hashimnikka, buenos dias. This is version 3.0 of my guide. First and
foremost I want to thank the GameFAQs Dawn of Souls community for being
there for me in the primary stages of the guide.
If it wasn't for the people who got my two topics to 500 posts I
wouldn't have had the ambition to do this guide. I would like to thank
the people that helped with boss tactics and the preliminary tactics
used in Version 1.0 - 1.2.1 because without them version 3.0 would not
be here today.
Additonally without seeing GameFAQs had somehow lost my guide the
willingness to write up the 3.0 version would not have come to me.
So, thanks for that GameFAQs! Couldn't have done it without you
and the second time you have eaten my guide mysteriously.
The Credits section of my guide will thank those more deserving than
others. To those people I say kudos, kudos indeed. You guys, with your
great information, code hacking and reading and all the oh-so-useful
information have been a giant help.
Basically I made this guide to give people a decent challenge. I also
hope that this guide will inspire further challenges to be taken. Dawn
of Souls is, admittedly, an easy game to complete and as such there can
be many additional steps taken to rectify this.
This guide will only go as far as the class change, obviously. If you
want to continue on through the final stages of the game in the lowest
level rest assured that it is very possible. I also recommend it due to
the added challenge.
Well, anyway, we have a few rules to go over and I'll also explain why
you should do this challenge. And with that, on to the rules!
O=====================================================================O
| The Rules (RUL)|
O====O===========================================================O====O
| Rule #1 |
O====O===========================================================O====O
|You are not allowed to finish bosses with any of your team dead. It's|
|okay if they die during the fight provided they are alive at the end.|
O====O===========================================================O====O
| Rule #2 |
O====O===========================================================O====O
|Random fights are very simple. You will run from them. You will never|
|actually kill any random group of monsters. |
O====O===========================================================O====O
| Rule #3 |
O====O===========================================================O====O
|Be equipped adequately. Always buy the best weapons and armor. Spells|
|are not important and I will list which ones you need to worry about.|
O=====================================================================O
Okay, now you may be wondering "Why would I want to take the time to do
a challenge for this game. I'm not into that sort of crap" and that's
perfectly okay, but before you make up your mind I should let you know
this challenge is perfect for power leveling.
Yeah, that's right. This challenge is perfect for those of you that
really want to max their characters. I'm going to briefly touch on
exactly what kinds of benefits this will lead to.
First of all, and most importantly, the Monk has bad magic defense
growth. In fact he has the worst growth in the game. The Master has
better magic defense growth, but still poor in comparison to the other
classes. Obviously this is a good reason all by itself it you plan on
using a Monk.
The Monk/Master will never reach max magic defense. He is, in fact, the
only character this will happen to even if you class change him at
level 1. However, with this early class change it will result in much
higher magic defense. And all other classes will be gaining better
magic defense.
One other obviously noticeable change is, very simply, that the Warrior
and Thief do not gain MP while the Knight and Ninja do. Granted, MP is
not really a vital stat for these classes but it's worth noting because
it can add up to several hundred extra MP gain.
The final changes are more subtle. I, in fact, do not know the exact
changes but I have a general idea thanks to Terence. Basically you do
not gain more stats per level up. This is a common misconception, one I
was guilty of until Terence corrected me, and I hope to help clear up
the issue a little bit.
When you class change the core stats agility and stamina are now
calculated differently into your characters battle stats accuracy and
evasion. The result of this is better battle stats without gaining more
core stats.
I should point out that the class change does not change those formulas
on stat gains you have already received, as far as I know. It only
works on future gains. So class change early even if you don't want to
do a level 11 challenge. I suggest before level 30 at the very maximum.
Oh, and the Red Mage is an exception to this. It gains exactly the same
stats before and after class change. So, if you want to go Solo Red
Mage while using my guide to have three people class change at level 1
and your Red Mage a few levels above 11 feel free. All tactics I
provide will work for a Solo Red Mage.
One last thing, during the course of the game (but not during this
challenge) you will undoubtedly find items to increase your stats. Do
not use the items that raise your agility. The agility gain it gives
you is worth half a real level. Just get 99 AGL through natural gains
to be assured of max stats.
Before going to the Chaos Temple do a bit of shopping. Fully outfit all
your characters with the best equipment the shops sell. Then sell your
old equipment for the extra cash because you are going to need it.
If you have a Mage of some sort you will need a few spells. I suggest
the following:
White Mage - Get Cure
Black Mage - Get Thunder
Red Mage - Get Cure or Thunder or both
All areas where there are encounters should be handled in roughly the
same fashion. Save after every dangerous battle that you get out of
roughly unhurt. Reload if you think you took too much damage that you
won't be able to restore for the boss fight.
Before each boss strategy I will be listing every treasure chest you
can get, and some you will not be able to get due to experience gains
being forced upon you. I would like to think my directions are easy to
follow. Given that I haven't been emailed on this since version 1.0
I'm inclined to say that you are bad at directions if you can't find
a chest.
From where you start head west and you will come to a room with a
Leather Cap. From this room head north to find another room with a
Potion and a Tent. Garland can be found straight north of the start.
Garland is a good idea of how much trouble you are going to have during
this challenge. If you can not kill him in around 4 attempts you can
expect trouble later on.
He isn't particularly challenging since you have 4 people, but he may
be a bit of a jerk and attack one of your people over and over. The
strategies we have are very limited right now but I'll try my best to
draw out a nice one for you.
The Easy Way:
The fight is simple enough. Melee characters should only need to
attack. Your White or Red mage should focus on curing whoever really
needs it.
At your current levels Garland is very capable of killing some
characters in 1 attack and others in just 2. Fight cautiously because
you don't want to actually lose to Garland, do you?
The Hard Way:
Get used to seeing Garland. See that Longsword? You're going to get it.
It may take you around 50 kills, if you have average luck, before he
gives it up but there are two very good reasons for getting it.
If you have a Warrior or Red Mage you instantly have a free, very good,
weapon that would have cost you 1200 Gil later on. If you do not have a
Warrior or Red Mage you just got an additional 600 Gil that will come
in handy later.
The O'Riley Way:
Firstly, I have to thank "Kane O'Riley" for his e-mail. Kudos, Kane,
thanks a lot. According to Kane you are able to gain exp up to level 4
and still achieve the level 11 change as long as you do not exceed 173
exp. points.
This can be taken one step further for those who really want to make
things easier. Kane assumed you are going to kill the Dragon Zombie in
the Citadel of Trials. If you choose not to kill him you can snag 755
total exp. which is enough to give you a few more levels earlier on and
still make the level 11 class change.
I'm going to assume you do not do the O'Riley way because I like a good
challenge and you might too. Well, whatever. Let's continue.
O=====================================================================O
|Aftermath: |
|Party levels - 2 |
|Current EXP per person - 32 |
|EXP to next level - 10 |
O====O===========================================================O====O
|Make sure you have the aftermath levels and experience. |
O===========================================================O
Provoka is simple enough, but do not upgrade your items just yet. All
you need to do is kill the pirates and then move on to the next town
for better items. Come back here once you visit Elfheim and get
whatever items you still need. It won't be much, probably just gloves,
but it will help and you won't be so poor that you can't afford it.
As for spells, you should buy them now if you can:
Provoka
White Mage - Get Silence if you do not intend to use the 15 puzzle game
Black Mage - Get Temper and Sleep for the next fight
Red Mage - Get Silence if you do not intend to use the 15 puzzle
game, Sleep for the next fight and Temper
Elfheim
White Mage - Nothing
Black Mage - Nothing
Red Mage - Nothing
This fight is going to vary in difficulty depending on if you know
Sleep. Without Sleep it will be slightly harder, but still not overly
hard. If you have Sleep just cast it and you will instantly take out
around half of them and if you are very lucky all of them.
The same tactics we used for Garland still apply here. It's up to you
if you want to get the Leather Shield. Personally, I suggest you do 2
fights total because it's not all that rare and the Pirates are very
weak.
The shield won't really save you a lot of money, as it only costs 12
Gil, but nevertheless its money saved or money earned with very little
extra effort.
Once the fight is over you have a big decision to make. Now that you
have the ship you have access to the 15 Puzzle. It's up to you to
decide if you are going to use it or not.
I highly suggest it for many reasons. Here are some pros and cons for
the ship game:
Pros
Astos may take 1 turn to kill
Lich will be much easier
The Piscodemons will be much easier
The Vampire will be much easier
You can skip the Dragon Zombie entirely
It is a good source of Gil for those hard up on cash
I have a section to help you get good at it
You can achieve the lowest experience total
You can do the 755 exp. version of The O'Riley Way
It's a puzzle! Everybody likes puzzles!
Cons
Several fights will be more challenging
You may not be any good at it
It will take practice to get good at it
It will take time to get the items you need based on your skill
You can not achieve the lowest experience total
You can not do the 755 exp. version of The O'Riley Way without it
It's a puzzle! Who actually likes puzzles anyway!?
As you can see the cons do not really come close to the pros of doing
it. There is really no reason not to do it unless you want a harder
challenge. In which case, I suggest you ignore the 15 Puzzle because
without it the difficulty will be drastically increased.
If you choose to do the 15 puzzle you need to get the following items:
1 to 2 Emergency Exits. Let's you skip the Dragon Zombie.
1 Cockatrice Claw. One shots Astos.
10~ or so Red Fangs. Useful against the Vampire and Lich.
2 Blue Fangs. Useful against the Piscodemons
1 Blue, White and Red Curtain. For Lich.
While you are getting these items you will likely have some
White Fangs.These aren't totally needed but they can do some quick
damage if you don't have the other Fangs in the supplies I list.
Consider substituting 2 White Fangs in place of 1 of the other listed
Fangs.
I will try to remind you of your shopping list before boss sections.
O=====================================================================O
|Aftermath: |
|Party levels - 4 |
|Current EXP per person - 122 |
|EXP to next level - 74 |
O=====================================================================O
The Marsh Cave is your first taste of a real challenge. The Piscodemons
can be a pain in the ass regardless of your team. They are so powerful
that killing a fully equipped Warrior in two hits is not uncommon.
The Marsh Cave will also be your first taste of avoiding forced fights
when you come back with the Mystic Key. A fixed fight, as you probably
already know, is a tile that always results in a battle when stepped
on. This cave has a lot of them you will need to avoid.
The cave is also your first taste of duplicate treasures. A duplicate
treasure is simply a treasure box found in multiple rooms of the
dungeon all holding the same item. When one box is opened the rest of
the boxes that are duplicates of that box also open and you will find a
chest that was seemingly opened by a previous adventurer later on in
the dungeon.
Not many people are aware this is happening and a lot of guides
incorrectly list treasure chests as empty when they are actually just
duplicate treasures. I will be pointing out what treasures are
duplicates by marking them with asterisks. I realize not all of you
know what those are so here are ten of them so you know. **********
Before going into the Marsh Cave you will want to get 2 or 3 Blue Fangs
from the 15 Puzzle. They will make your coming boss fight very simple.
They must be Blue Fangs too. Piscodemons are strong against Ice and
Fire elements but are not strong against Thunder.
The dungeon starts off with a forked path. Start off by heading north
to reach a dead end with several treasure chests. They will pay off
later so be sure to get all of them.
North of the entrance in B2:
This room is almost a square so my directions shouldn't be too
confusing. There's a Dagger in the northeast room. In the room west of
that room is *680 Gil* that can also be picked up in the southern B2.
In the room south of that room is a *Broadsword* that can be picked up
in a few other spots and 620 Gil.
South of the entrance in B2:
This room is also square-like in design. If you got the chests from the
northern room these chests will all be empty. In the far southwest is
*680 Gil*.
To the room east of that is a *Broadsword*. The room east of that also
has a *Broadsword* but as you can see they are duplicate chests. If you
went north like I said I wouldn't have needed to type these two
paragraphs. It would have only been one explaining why you are so cool
because you listened to me.
B3:
This room is a giant room with 4x4 smaller rooms in neat little rows.
In the room you start by, room 1x1, is a *Phoenix Down*. Continue east
past the next 2 rooms and enter the 4th room, room 1x4, of the top row
for 295 Gil.
Go 1 room south and to the 3rd room to the west, room 2x2, for a
Cottage and *Phoenix Down* if you didn't get the one by where you
started. Continue to the room to the west of that, room 2x1, for a
Copper Armlet. Now go 1 room south and to the 2nd east, room 3x2, to
get the Crown but keep in mind the space directly in front of the Crown
is your next boss fight so you may want to finish the treasure hunt
first.
Continuing to the east, room 3x3, is 385 Gil. There is another chest in
the final room to the east, room 3x4, containing that same *Phoenix
Down* in the other rooms. All other doors are "bound by the mystic key"
as of now or contain no treasure so you should head back to the Crown
room for a serious fight.
Strategy:
Congratulations, you have made it to the first real challenge of this
guide. I hope you are prepared because if not you have that oh-so-
joyful walk back out to get prepared. If you feel you are ready read
on. If not, head back out and get what items and spells you still need
then come back and read on.
Before you go into a frenzy and kill, kill, kill you need to force a
battle with only 2 Piscodemons. Save right before the square the
triggers the fight. If you don't know what spot that is, it's the
square directly in front of the chest. If you do not fight just 2 shut
off your GBA and reload your file.
Once you manage to manipulate them into giving you just 2 we can
discuss the strategies. This fight will either be fairly painless or a
pain in the ass. Those who have Blue Fangs will have a much easier
time.
Those who used the 15 Puzzle:
Now, if you have Blue Fangs this fight is very simple. Simply have your
team use them and you will win in one turn. If you have magi make sure
they use them instead of your fighters, unless you have 4 Fangs.
Remember, if they kill anyone you need to restart the fight.
Those who did not use the 15 Puzzle:
To begin with figure out which character does the most hits, not
damage, when he attacks. He is the character who has the most accuracy.
This character will be your muscle. Start the fight by having everyone
who knows Temper cast it on that character.
Hopefully this will push his damage to the point that he can kill a
demon in one attack. If not, it's assured to give him the power to kill
them in 2 attacks. Have any characters not casting Temper attack the
same Piscodemon that your muscle attacked.
Hopefully at the end of turn 1 you will have killed one of them. If not
have your muscle attack the demon he didn't attack the first time to
soften him up and have your other characters finish off the first
demon.
If that tactic doesn't work, because you can't kill them in one hit,
you can try casting it on the character with the most attack and hope
for better results. Also, on turn 2 the characters should not need to
cast Temper, but instead should cast Thunder.
If you do not have Temper just attack them normally and hope for the
best or go get a few Blue Fangs from the 15 puzzle. If you know
Thunder, use it since they are not resistant to it. Without Temper and
the 15 puzzle you will be fighting the hardest version of this fight.
If you are having serious trouble with this fight, remove all of your
armor. As odd as that sounds, it's actually a very good tactic. All
armor you have lowers your evasion so if you take it off your evasion
will shoot up a little bit.
It's a bittersweet tactic because if you get hit it's going to hurt a
lot more than normal. But hopefully the evade boost will push you over
the top and you'll come out alive. Anyway, good luck, best wishes,
blah, blah, blah and other words of encouragement.
O=====================================================================O
|Aftermath: |
|Party levels - 5 |
|Current EXP per person - 260 |
|EXP to next level - 90 |
O=====================================================================O
O=====================================================================O
| Western Keep (WES)|
O=====================================================================O
There's nothing to really do here just yet, but shortly after the fight
we will be coming back for the treasure you can't get right now. Just
make sure you are healed up and ready for the fight.
Make sure to bring a Cockatrice Claw for an easier kill.
Strategy:
Astos is a pretty challenging fight for the unprepared. Good thing you
have me, eh? 15 Puzzle users will want a Cockatrice Claw before coming
here. Those of you not using it should get Silence and Temper. Those
not using them should stock up on curing items and curing magic because
you are going to need it. God help you.
15 Puzzlers:
This is so unfair it's not even funny. Save before the fight and open
with your Cockatrice Claw. It has a pretty good chance to hit and if it
does, you win.
Non-15 Puzzlers with Silence:
Open with Silence and hope it works. If it does not work continue using
it until it does. We don't want him casting Death and all his other
goodies on us while we beat away. Focus temper on one character since
Astos doesn't really have that much HP and should go down with ease.
Non-15 Puzzlers without Silence:
Be ready to use curing items and revive people as soon as possible. You
are probably going to witness deaths in this battle. Possibly even a
few Game Over screens if his spell wheel gets into his dangerous
spells. Otherwise just cast Temper and attack away. He doesn't have
that much life so he will die pretty soon.
Non-15 Puzzlers without Silence or Temper:
What the heck is your team made up of!? Are you some sort of masochist
that likes to complicate things? Seriously, this fight still isn't too
hard and since you don't have those 2 spells you probably have a lot of
good fighters on your team. Take advantage of that and his hp will be
gone soon.
Otherwise this battle is like the fight without silence because you
need to be ready to cure or you'll get to see the Game Over screen a
few times. If you were only choosing not to have Temper and have the
ability to learn it, go learn it because Lich will be a very hard fight
without Temper and the ship game.
O=====================================================================O
|Aftermath: |
|Party levels - 7 |
|Current EXP per person - 822 |
|EXP to next level per person- 60 |
O=====================================================================O
After you visit have visited Motoya, and looted her place, and gave the
Elven Healer the Jolt Tonic you are given the Mystic Key. This key item
lets you open doors previously locked when you tried to enter them.
There are several good items you can backtrack to get now. I highly
suggest you do so and the guide will also assume you do.
From now on there will be chests protected by monsters. I will list
what chests have them, and how to avoid them when possible. Unless
specifically stated by me each forced fight that you can't avoid can be
run from. You should save before trying to get any treasure with a
forced fight guarding it, you might mess up and Game Over and we don't
want that.
Chaos Shrine:
From where you start head east to a room containing a Rune Blade. The
Rune Blade has a fixed fight directly in front of it. After getting the
Rune Blade head to the room north of you to get a Werebuster and Gold
Needle. The chest directly above the door has a forced fight directly
in front of it. It's another fight you can run from though.
Marsh Cave B3:
Remember how B3 is a 4x4 grid of rooms? Head south to room 4x1.Upon
entering the room walk north until you hit the wall. Then go east two
spaces. Now go south until you hit the wall. Make sure you open the
chest from the front to get a Silver Armlet. Make sure when you leave
the room you follow your steps the same way you got in to avoid the
forced fights this room has.
Go to the room east of you, room 4x2, for a chest containing an
Antidote. This chest has forced fights on the left and bottom of the
chest. The right side is safe so make sure you open the chest from that
direction if you actually want the Antidote.
There is one more treasure here, but getting it will result in an exp
gain. So wait until you class change and come back later for it.
Western Keep:
From the starting spot head east and follow the path to the north and
around to the west and south until you reach a room. Don't approach any
of these chests from the front. All three are protected with forced
fights. The sides are safe though, so you can get them without any
fights. They contain, starting from left going to the right: Power
Staff, Falchion and Steel Gloves.
Elven Castle:
From the exact spot you start head east until you can head north around
the outside wall of the castle. Head north when you reach that spot.
You will come to a "hidden" room. The chests contain, starting from
left going to the right: Mythril Hammer, 800 Gil, 700 Gil and Bronze
Gloves
Mount Duergar:
Once you enter head to the room directly north of your starting spot
for two chests containing 575 Gil and 450 Gil. Now enter the room next
to Nerrick for chests containing, starting from left going to the
right: Tent, Great Helm, Wyrmkiller, Ether, Potion, Mythril Mail, 575
Gil and Cottage.
Castle Cornelia:
You should know how to get these chests because it is story line
required. Nevertheless they contain, starting from the left room and
the left chest going to the right room going to the right: Iron Armor,
Tent, Nitro Powder, Cottage, Saber and Mythril Knife.
Melmond:
Buy anything you think you may need.
Crescent Lake:
Take a side trip to this town. They have some very good items that will
be of use to you if you can afford them.
Okay, that's all the optional gear you can get up to this point in the
game. The rest of the guide will assume you did this since it's very
oh-so-helpful.
O=====================================================================O
| Cavern of Earth (CAV)|
O=====================================================================O
Before Coming here make sure you have at least 3 Red Fangs. Lich is
Not coming up so you will not need the full 10 just yet. If you got
2 Emergency Exits this area will be considerably easier.
B1:
This room has several paths you can take at the start. To your west is
the Hall of Giants. Avoid it like the Black Death.
North path of B1:
Approach the chest from its front to get 1975 Gil. The right side is a
forced fight that you can not run from.
East then South then West path of B1:
The chest on the right has a fight you can not run from at its front.
All other spots are safe in that room. The chest on the right is a
Potion and the left is 880 Gil.
East then South then East path of B1:
If you approach the left chest from its front you can get both chests
without a fixed fight. The top of the right chest/right of the left
chest is a fixed fight you can not run from. The left chest contains an
Antidote and the right chest contains 795 Gil.
B2:
This floor is set up like a maze. If you follow the walls around you
will come to two rooms.
The south room:
This room is guarded by a fixed fight you can NOT run from and can NOT
avoid. You can NOT get its chests until you class change because you
must kill the enemies in the fight to get the chests. If you would like
to come back after you class change you can get, starting from the left
going to the right: 5000 Gil, Leather Shield and 575 Gil.
The room to the east:
This room has no forced fights. This room has, starting from the left
going to the right: Coral Sword, Tent and 330 Gil.
B3:
This room reminds me of a spiral in its shape.
East of the stairs:
This room has a Sleeping Bag.
Room directly north of that:
To get to this room you will need to head north and then east a short
way and then south. Approach the chest from the right for a Gold
Needle. The front of the chest has a forced fight you can not run from.
First room on the path to the boss:
Approach the chest from the right to get 3400 Gil. The front of this
chest has a forced fight you can not run from.
Room further down the path towards the boss:
Approach from right or left but not the front for 1020 Gil. The front
of this chest has a forced fight you can not run from.
Strategy:
This guy can be a pain. He's simple enough but he has a few really
annoying habits. Mainly he likes to hit with a lethal attack and cast
spells that paralyze your people.
Once again Red Fangs are very helpful. A round or two of them and you
win. Like I said before the ship game is incredibly helpful.
As usual Temper is also a very good choice. It becomes a bit trickier
because of his habit to paralyze your people. He often paralyzes your
chosen Temper target due to them traditionally being in the top two
slots. I don't suggest moving them down a few spots because that will
leave a weaker person to take his hits and usually they can't live
through a single one. Use your own judgment on who you think could
benefit from temper the most.
Of course you can always go all out and just have everyone attack.
Hoping you get in the damage you need to take him out. If you are
having serious trouble with this go buy the spell Fire for your Black
and Red Mage and Dia for your White Mage. They will help out a little
but not a whole lot. It's best to just get 4 or so Red Fangs from the
tile game and waste him with them.
As a last resort you may also consider getting Protect. That spell can
do a lot of good in a fight where the enemies' biggest advantage is his
brute force. This fight is certainly one of those fights.
All in all this fight is not a hard fight. It's just a matter of luck.
Sometimes the fight will go perfect and other times you'll cast Temper
and he'll paralyze the person you tempered... three turns in a row.
Just don't worry a whole lot about curing. If a person dies revive them
just don't bother curing because usually he can one hit kill you anyway
unless he attacks your Thief or Warrior and possibly your Red Mage if
its levels have been kind to your HP values.
O=====================================================================O
|Aftermath: |
|Party levels - 8 |
|Current EXP per person - 1122 |
|EXP to next level - 166 |
O=====================================================================O
Now go all the way back out. I know it sucks. Your next stop is...
Talk to the old, wise and venerable one to get the Earth Rod. I only
listed this because technically the Earth Rod is an item... and I'm
bored. <(*_*<)
O=====================================================================O
|Cavern of Earth - revisited (CA2)|
O=====================================================================O
Lich is forthcoming. Bring those Red Fangs. You are going to want them.
Also bring those Curtains. Lich is serious business.
B4:
This is another maze like B2.
Room to the north:
For the two chests on the right go into the middle of the two. Each one
of them has a fixed fight to the front of the chest that you CAN run
from. The chest on the right has a Staff and the left has 3400 Gil.
For the three chests on the left approach them in the middle as well.
The bottom chest has a fixed fight above and to the right of it. Both
fights you CAN run from. The top left chest has 5450 Gil. The top right
chest has 1520 Gil. The bottom chest has 1455 Gil.
Room to the south west:
If you want to avoid the fights in this room approach the bottom chest
from the right and approach the top two chests from the middle. There
are a few forced fights here but all CAN be run from. The chests
contain, starting from the bottom going to the top: Tent, Mythril
Shield and 1250 Gil.
Strategy:
Well this is IT, the hardest fight of the challenge. Once this fight is
over its smooth sailing from this point on out. Obviously since this
boss is so hard there are many ways to tackle her. I couldn't possibly
list all of them myself so I'll leave this area open for suggestions.
Please contact me at my email address just a little ways down past the
not using the tile game method.
If you use the tile game:
Lich has a rather nasty array of spells. Some of her spells are
Blizzara, Fira, Thundara, Haste and even things like Sleepra. She has
others though, all of which can be deadly. The main thing you want to
have in this fight is one of each of the Curtain items. They can all
be obtained via the tile games 3rd place prizes. This will help you
halve the damage she can do with her elemental spells. This is a good
thing because Blizzara can and will usually kill your entire team in
one casting without a Nulfrost spell up. The bad thing is your White
Mage can naturally cast all the Nul spells. Just not all of the ones
you need to have up yet.
Red Fangs are a good option for one or more of your people to use. They
do a good deal of damage and are easy to get. Of course you will want
to use Temper if you have it because it is the fastest way to take her
out. Ideally your first turn will look something like this:
Character 1 uses White Curtain
Character 2 uses Red Curtain
Character 3 uses Blue Curtain
Character 4 uses Temper on Character 1, 2 or 3 or uses Red Fang on Lich
Then on the rest of the turns one or two character(s) curing/using
Temper and two attacking/using Red Fangs.
If you don't use the tile game:
This is going to be a lot harder than usual. As far as seen you will
need Temper. If you do not have Temper then it could very well be
astronomical odds against you. I wouldn't call it impossible because
that's not the way a game like this works. Eventually you can win even
without Temper but I'd imagine you would have to have Lich attack well
over 20 times in a row. If you don't have Temper then you should check
the section on how to beat her with the tile game. All Lich will need
to do is cast Blizzara and she wins. That makes a win pretty simple for
her really. All you have to do is 1200 damage before she casts
Blizzara. That's very hard to do because she will always cast Blizzara
as her first spell as far as I know. That doesn't mean that will be her
first attack. Basically you'll need to cast Temper on one person over
and over and hope she only attacks for however many turns you need to
kill her.
If you have a success story against Lich (or of course any of the
bosses, even Garland) you would like to share email me at
"the_soul_of_archangels AT yahoo DOT com" with details of how you beat
her as well as what team you were using. In future updates I may
include your methods and give you credit, of course. Just be sure to
type like an intelligent person. Use proper spelling and hopefully
grammar or you won't even have much of a chance of me reading your
email let alone putting it in my FAQ.
Lich is easily the most difficult battle in a Level
Eleven Class Change Game, mostly due to the fact that
he can cast Blizzara (as wel as the other 'ra' black
magics and other nasty spells). My first Lvl. 11 CCG,
I had to face Lich around 75 times before beating him,
without using the ship game. Here's some
tips/strategies.
~Lich's Blizzara doesn't always mean instant death, it just means that
AT LEAST one of your characters will die, maybe all of them. If only
one or two characters die, it might be worth your time to try to
revive them, since Lich usually doesn't cast Blizzara again for
awhile.
~Your Black Mages and Red Mages should spend EVER SINGLE TURN casting
Temper, because it is your only path to victory.
~If your White Mage isn't healing, toss in the extra Dia spell, it does
help a little.
~Mostly, just be patient, and if it's not happening, turn the game off
and try again in an hour or so, when you're calmer.
***From: Mike pierce***
Lich can be a real pain without ship items, but I found one technique
that seems to help considerably. If you have two physical characters
and two mages capable of casting Temper, it is possible to make use
of a mathematical advantage.
One thing people make the mistake of is buffing only one character and
hoping to win, but if you have the ability to buff two chars up it
would most certainly be easier. Why? Because at level 11 characters
are beginning to score multiple hits... and because overall power is
low, the number of attacks is what makes temper useful. And thus if
you have two sources of temper, one should temper the main combatant
(usually a fighter) while the other should use temper on the second
physical character (black belt, thief, red mage) TWICE, then switch
to buffing the main one.
Keep tempering and attacking... but be sure to mentally estimate how
close Lich is to croaking off. Once he has low HP, start to slam him
with any damage spells available to you with your mages. When towards
the very end, do not waste your mage's turns tempering. At this point
in the game, a single temper is not going to equate the damage of an
offensive spell in an isolated turn... plus there is the remote chance
your mages could go first and deliver the finishing blow, which is
nice because this fight is extremely luck based.
Hope that helps, good luck!
O=====================================================================O
|Aftermath: |
|Party levels - 9 |
|Current EXP per person - 1672 |
|EXP to next level - 134 |
O=====================================================================O
Now it is time for the hardest dungeon of the challenge and in my
opinion the hardest part of the NES version of this game. You can do
the Citadel of Trials first if you want. I am going to assume your
doing the Cavern of Ice first just because that is how I would do it.
O=====================================================================O
|Cavern of Ice (ICE)|
O=====================================================================O
If you happen to have leftover Fangs, they can be put to good use here.
Should you have yet another SPARE Emergency Exit consider yourself
somewhat lucky.
Room with levistone on B2:
The chest on the right has an unavoidable fixed fight by it that you
CAN run from. It contains Clothes. Wahoo! The chest on the left
contains a Flame Sword.
B3:
From the room you start in head west to come to a room with two chests.
Be careful when entering this room because a very dangerous fight with
a White Dragon(s) in front of right chest. You CAN run away from them
but they have a nasty breath attack that can easily kill your party.
The chest on the right has Ice Armor and the left chest has Mythril
Gloves.
From that room your in head back out to the main area and head south
until you come to a fork. Take the right path and then you'll come
across another branch in the path. This time go south until you come to
yet another fork. Take the left path to your next room. There is a
fixed fight in between the top right and bottom right chest. If you
take a look at the room you'll notice they are all obtainable without
having to touch the fixed fight square. They have 9900 Gil, 5000 Gil,
12350 Gil, 180 Gil, 7900 Gil and 5454 Gil.
B1:
The first chest you come across contains Ether. The room south of you
has 10000 Gil. And the room that drops you into the room with the
Levistone has, starting from left going to the right: 9500 Gil,
Sleeping Bag and Ice Shield.
Strategy:
Hmm. What to say? Oh! How about "easier than Garland"?
Seriously this fight will most likely not take two turns. The only
thing he does have going for him is his ability to cast a few dangerous
spells. Most likely you won't see them though. Just expect to rip
through him like a wet paper bag.
In the event you actually do need told how to kill it just cast Temper
or use any of the Fang line of items. If you don't have either just
have your people attack it until it dies. It couldn't be any easier.
A really cool thing to do after you pick up the Levistone is to use the
item Emergency Exit to leave the place instantly. Just like using exit.
You get that item through the tile game. If you Dont't have it, don't
worry. It's a short trip and you've made it this far.
O=====================================================================O
|Aftermath: |
|Party levels - 11 |
|Current EXP per person - 2478 |
|EXP to next level - 756 |
O=====================================================================O
*NOTE*
This is the point where you decide if you want to have the lowest
possible exp. or just the plain old lowest level. Either way you will
be level 11. The only change is with the lowest exp. possible you
will skip the next boss fight by getting an Emergency Exit item from
the ship game before you go to the Citadel of Trials. Once you have the
Rat Tail all you have to do is use the Emergency Exit and you are done.
No having to fight the Dragon Zombie.
*END NOTE*
O=====================================================================O
|Citadel of Trials (CIT)|
O=====================================================================O
If you didnt read the above you want an Emergency Exit.
When you are in the teleport maze always take the lowest teleport to
get to the next area.
The room you can't miss in 2F:
I would personally suggest not going into that room. It has a chest
with a fixed fight in front of it that you CAN run from and the chest
contains Gauntlets which are one of the best items in the game. However
you have to go out of your way to get them and in the next room you get
them right on your path anyway (you either get them now or later. You
cannot get two here) so just wait until the next room.
3F:
Upon going through the first door is a fixed fight with one or more
Nightmares. You CAN run from them so do so. The chest to the right of
the door contains a Healing Staff. Make sure you get it.
Further along the path is three chests containing, starting from the
top going to the bottom: Ruby Armlet, Ice Brand and Steel Gloves.
Even further along the path is four chests containing, starting from
the right going to the left: Gauntlets, Cottage, 1455 Gil and 7340 Gil.
Even further than that along the path is what you came here for. The
Rat's Tail and the final treasure in this guide.
Strategy:
Well here we have another really easy boss. Being your average undead
enemy he is weak to Fire and Dia so whip out a few Red Fangs if you
have any and cast Dia if you purchased it at some point. If you have
none of those things just attack and Temper somebody if you have it.
The only thing I need to really point out for this fight is you must
only fight 1 Dragon Zombie. Any more and I can promise you will be in
level 12 at the very least.
O=====================================================================O
|Aftermath: |
|Party levels - 11 |
|Current EXP per person - 3060 |
|EXP to next level - 174 |
O=====================================================================O
Well that's all there is to it. Congratulations if you made it this far
in the challenge. All you need to do now is class change like usual and
brag to your friends and family that you did what you did. I hope my
FAQ helped. If you have any suggestions for the FAQ please feel free to
email me at "the_soul_of_archangels AT yahoo DOT com" just make sure
you use correct spelling and try to have proper grammar as well. I'm
not too picky really I just want to be able to read what you write me
without having to weed through stuff like "elite speak".
Well, here it is, the hardest part of the challenge, in my opinion, and
my advice to get you through it. I am by no means a pro at this but I
can get 1st place record with relative ease. The main thing you need is
to just practice. If you have to spend 20 minutes, at first, practicing
the basic theory of this then, by all means, do so.
To start the 15 Puzzle you must first defeat the 9 Pirates. Defeating
them earns you the ship. While on the ship, hold down A and keep
tapping B and very shortly the mini-game will begin.
It's actually a very simple puzzle and a very simple concept. You will
see a grid 4 squares wide by 4 squares high with the numbers 1 - 15
placed around randomly with an extra square left over to allow the
other pieces to move around the grid.
The goal is to get the numbers aligned in the correct order as fast as
possible under normal conditions but for this guide you won't really
need to ever break the 2nd place record. All the Fangs and Curtains can
be acquired by breaking the 3rd place record. However, with enough
practice and a little luck in the placement of the numbers you should
be breaking 1st place later on in the game.
To begin with you will want to press start to pause the game as soon as
you start the game. That will allow you time to plan where you need to
move the numbers. You can press start to pause the game at any moment
so I suggest you pause whenever you need to think about where things
need to go.
When the game begins you need to check for where the numbers 1, 2, 3
and 4 are because those are the numbers we want to work on first. When
you figure out where they are find a way to move them so the 4 leads
the 3 and the 2 leads the 1.
You want to position the 4 (or the 2. Whichever you are working on at
the moment) so it is under the spot the 3 will end up (or the spot 1
will end up if you are moving the 2).
Like so:
X,X,X,X
2,1,4,3
X,X,X,X
X,X,X,X
Or:
X,X,X,X
2,X,4,X
1,X,3,X
X,X,X,X
Or, a combination of those two:
Then move the 4 up into the 3s position (or the 2 into the 1s position)
and have the 3 follow the 4 (or the 1 follow the 2).
2,X,4,X
1,X,3,X
X,X,X,X
X,X,X,X
Then move the 4 (or 2) into its spot and the 3 (or 1) into its spot.
1,2,3,4
X,X,X,X
X,X,X,X
X,X,X,X
You do not need to UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES move 1, 2, 3 or 4 now
because they are in the correct position and the rest of your moves
will never need to use the top row.
Now for the next you need to locate the 5, 6, 7 and 8. When you figure
out where they are find a way to move them so the 8 leads the 7 and the
6 leads the 5.
You want to position the 8 (or the 6. Whichever you are working on at
the moment) so it is under the spot the 7 will end up (or the spot 5
will end up if you are moving the 6).
Like so:
1,2,3,4
X,X,X,X
6,5,8,7
X,X,X,X
Or:
1,2,3,4
X,X,X,X
6,X,8,X
5,X,7,X
Or, a combination of those two:
Then move the 8 up into the 37s position (or the 6 into the 5s
position) and have the 7 follow the 8 (or the 5 follow the 6).
1,2,3,4
6,X,8,X
5,X,7,X
X,X,X,X
Then move the 8 (or 6) into its spot and the 7 (or 5) into its spot.
1,2,3,4
5,6,7,8
X,X,X,X
X,X,X,X
You do not need to, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, move 5, 6, 7 or 8 now
because they are in the correct position and the rest of your moves
will never need to use the 2nd row.
The next part is much more tricky... depending on where your pieces are
now is pretty random depending on how you had to do the previous rows
and since you are going to work on the last 2 rows at the same time I
can't give you a great method for doing them.
However, if you can get the bottom row to look like:
1,2,3,4
5,6,7,8
X,X,X,X
10,9,13,X
You're on the right track. If you can get that row to look like that
just move them to look like:
1,2,3,4
5,6,7,8
10,X,X,X
9,13,X,X
Then:
1,2,3,4
5,6,7,8
9,10,X,X
13,X,X,X
If you have gotten lucky the rest of your numbers will be in the
correct spot. If not before doing the above two steps you need to
figure out a way to get the rest of them to line up when you do the
above two moves. Just remember to press start to pause your game when
you are thinking so the timer stops.
Oh and speaking of the timer. Like I said before you only need to break
3rd place. If you end up getting a time of 15 seconds, for example,
you're going to have a hard time breaking it so I suggest the first
time you break 3rd place you get a time very close to the existing
record. Make it close enough to break it so you leave yourself a nice
big window when you break it again.
O=====================================================================O
|Submissions |
O=====================================================================O
From: Shintaun | Posted: 3/21/2005 4:49:45 PM
I'll just post my shipgame info right here
X means the numbers here dont matter yet
Steps show what even the most new guy should be able to get the setup
too.
Its not too reader friendly at the moment ^_^;; I might think of a way
to fix that later
Step 1
1,2,X,3
X,X,X,4
X,X,X,X
X,X,X,X
from here move 3 left and 4 up
Step 2
1,2,3,4
5,X,X,X
13,9,X,X
X,X,X,X
from here move 13 down and 9 left
Step 3
1,2,3,4
5,6,X,7
9,X,X,8
13,X,X,X
move 7 left and 8 up
Step 4a the tricky one (idea is to get 10 to trail just behind 14)
1,2,3,4
5,6,7,8
9,14,X,X
13,X,X,X
Step 4b
1,2,3,4
5,6,7,8
9,14,10,X
13,X,X,X
from here move 14 down and 10 left
Step 5 rotate the final 3 pieces into their respective spots
O=====================================================================O
|Prizes (YAY)|
O=====================================================================O
For winning at the ship game you are awarded 2 prizes. The prizes vary
depending on what record you break (or fail to break). The following is
a list of various prizes I have received and whether it was the first
or second item listed. That should give you an idea of the chances of
each item to be awarded.
3rd Place,
1st Slot:
Blue Fang -------------------------------------- Casts Thundara
Red Fang --------------------------------------- Casts Fira
White Fang ------------------------------------- Casts Blizzara
Blue Curtain ----------------------------------- Casts NulShock
White Curtain ---------------------------------- Casts NulFrost
Cockatrice Claw -------------------------------- Petrifies one foe
Vampire Fang ----------------------------------- Paralyzes one foe
Spider's Silk ---------------------------------- Slows down all foes
2nd Slot:
Phoenix Down ----------------------------------- Revives one KO'd ally
Echo Grass ------------------------------------- Cures silence
Eye Drops -------------------------------------- Cures darkness
Gold Needle ------------------------------------ Cures stone
100 Gil ---------------------------------------- N/A
Potion ----------------------------------------- Restores 50 HP
Ether ------------------------------------------ Restores 50 MP
2nd Place,
1st Slot:
TO DO
2nd Slot:
Phoenix Down ----------------------------------- Revives one KO'd ally
Echo Grass ------------------------------------- Cures silence
Eye Drops -------------------------------------- Cures darkness
Gold Needle ------------------------------------ Cures stone
100 Gil ---------------------------------------- N/A
Potion ----------------------------------------- Restores 50 HP
Ether ------------------------------------------ Restores 50 MP
1st Place,
1st Slot:
TO DO
2nd Clot:
Phoenix Down ----------------------------------- Revives one KO'd ally
Echo Grass ------------------------------------- Cures silence
Eye Drops -------------------------------------- Cures darkness
Gold Needle ------------------------------------ Cures stone
100 Gil ---------------------------------------- N/A
Potion ----------------------------------------- Restores 50 HP
Ether ------------------------------------------ Restores 50 MP
O=====================================================================O
|Magical Statistical Enhancements (MSE)|
O=====================================================================O
The follow is a list of spells or items that have what I call Magical
Statistical Enhancements (MSE's (I told you to type the code in
EXACTLY, didn't I?)). All MSE's (that I have listed) of similar effect
do stack, but are not cumulative with the other spells... I probably
worded that wrong... but here's what I mean.
Let's say I cast Blink, followed by Invisra and for good measure,
Invis. This combo does not set up an evade increase of 80%/40%/40% in
the games data. It makes an increase of 160%. The game uses the same
exact spot in the data for all 3 spells increases is what I'm trying to
get across.
You can't use Blink up to a 255% increase and then follow up with an
Invis increase of another 255%.
NOTE: Once a stat has been pumped by 255 it has reached its max.
If you wonder how I have this info, when no other FAQ does (for some
reason (and to my knowledge, since I haven't read all of them)), it's
because I have a basic ability to hack codes for video games. I simply
turned the game on, turned on a program to watch the data values and
found the ones I needed. I am posting this because I am 99% sure it's
correct. If it's wrong, it should only be wrong due to a typo on my
part, or a spell raising more stats than I was aware of.
NATURAL MAGIC:
Blink - Increases *only casters* evade by 80% for one battle
Invis - Increases *any friendly targets* evade by 40% for one battle
Invisra - Increases *entire party's* evade by 40% for one battle
Protect - Increases *any friendly targets* defense by 8 for one battle
Protera - Increases *entire party's* defense by 12 for one battle
Temper - Increases *any friendly targets* attack by 14 for one battle
Saber - Increases *only casters* attack by 16 and accuracy by 10
Giants Tonic - 200 max HP increase for *any friendly target* for one
battle
Fairie Tonic - 200 max MP increase for *any friendly target* for one
battle
NOTE: The two items above cannot take your values past 999, but can be
stacked that high
Strength Tonic - Increases *any friendly targets* attack by 10 for one
battle
Protect Drink - Increases *any friendly targets* defense by 10 for one
battle
Speed Drink - Increases *any friendly targets* accuracy by 32 for one
battle
The Monk is a very interesting class. His stamina and strength greatly
change his stats. Depending on how he levels and if you have gear on
him could, in fact, handicap him to a degree. The following is a basic
breakdown (thanks to Terence) of how the Monk actually works.
First, when equipping a weapon, Monk/Masters get an additional *1* ATK
for equipping it.
So for a Monk, their DEF will change every 4 STA, while for a Master,
it will change every 2 STA.
[x] means to truncate a number or round towards 0. So [5.9] = 5, [8.3]
= 8, [9.0] = 9.
The above is slightly more accurate than what I've posted before, which
were off for Monk ATK and ARM def (since they use slightly more complex
formulas). They should be correct now.
In any case, you should take the following into account. It does mean,
for example, that a Monk would actually need 133 STA to equal the
Ultima Weapon, while a Master would need 100 STA (remember, when a
Monk/Master equips a weapon, they get an extra point of ATK)
Thank you, Terence.
Now for those of you either not good at math or unaware of how to use a
formula I'll explain that a bit.
Let's say that we have a Monk with 32 Stamina and we want to know
whether or not equipping an item will help us. The simple way is to
just go into the equip screen and try it on. The downside to that
method is when you get a point of stamina that piece of armor that used
to help you may, in fact, now handicap you. It's good to know when an
item will help and when an item won't.
So, again, we have a Monk with:
12 Strength
5 Agility
1 Intelligence
32 Stamina
5 Luck
He is currently equipped with nothing.
Now we want to know if equipping an item will help. First let's find an
item we want to equip. I'm going to equip the Silver Armlet (defense =
15). Now that the Silver Armlet is equipped my Monk has 23 Defense.
Now let's find out if equipping that item was worth it by using the
formulas.
Monk Unarmed ARM = [[32 / 4] * 3 / 2] = 12
So as you can see the Silver Armlet did in fact help me. It gave me 3
additional defense points. Now let's change his stamina to 45.
Monk Unarmed ARM = [[45 / 4] * 3 / 2] = 16
Now the silver Armlet does not help. So you really have to be careful
when you use items on the Monk and Master. Not nearly as much during
this challenge as would during a normal game but still enough that you
should be cautious.
Now let's use the same stats for a Master.
Master Unarmed ARM = [45 / 2] = 22
As soon as you class change (and every time you see him gain a point of
stamina) check all the gear you may have had on your Monk because it is
possible that it will no longer help.
Now, for the weapons of a Monk/Master you should never use anything but
his hands. While using his hands he gets twice the amount of hits any
weapon can provide. He even gets twice the max amount of hits the other
characters get. The easy way to put it is that Monks/Masters have an
Auto-Haste feature built right in. The plus side to them is haste still
works on them, effectively doubling the amount of hits they get.
It should also be noted that while Terence said the Master will need
100 stamina points to reach the power of the Ultima Weapon he did not
mean that the Ultima Weapon is more powerful. Remember that equipping
the Ultima Weapon will HALVE the number of hits the Monk and Master are
able to land.
This document is Copyright 2014 Jordan Mepham. You may not distribute
it in any way, shape or form without the authors' permission. The
author has nothing to do with Square-Enix or any of its affiliates.
The only sites that may use this FAQ are:
www.gamefaqs.com (always newest version)
www.neoseeker.com (probably newest version. I don't know how they
handle updates and I don't really care.)
If you see this FAQ anywhere else contact me at "the_soul_of_archangels
AT yahoo DOT com" so I can take legal actions against them.
O=====================================================================O
|CREDITS (THX)|
O=====================================================================O
*CONTRIBUTORS*
Shintaun - with his 15 puzzle chart and tactics.
Terence - with the equations for the Monks\Masters stats.
Robb Johnston - For his Lich submission.
*END CONTRIBUTORS*
I would first and foremost like to thank Square-Enix for making this
game and all their other games. You rock Square-Enix! Keep up the great
work.
I want to thank all the people in the GameFAQs forums that have posted
in the topic that I originally made for this challenge and the ones who
"bumped" it when it needed a good hard bumping.
If I tried to thank people who helped with this FAQ individually I
would fail miserably so thanks to all the people who know they are
deserving of thanks.
