AtmaWeapon
12-06-2005, 04:34 PM
So I started playing another FF3 game the other day. I've been wanting to for a while but just couldn't bring myself to do it for some reason. So, I decided to go for a challenge.
First I considered the Natural Magic Challenge, where the only magic you can use is the magic learned naturally by Terra and Celes as they level. This seemed a little to restrictive to me since you are not allowed to use espers for stat boosts or even equipment that taught spells, so I decided to make my own challenge to try and eliminate the things I thought ruined the game.
See, my normal strategy in FF3 is as follows:
At South Figaro I powerlevel like a faggot. I do that until the enemies are pushovers. Sometimes Sabin knows Fire Dance when he first joins the party; that should show you how serious I mean powerleveling. The next powerlevel stop is at Vector, where I do not stop until every character in my party (typically Edgar, Sabin, Cyan, Locke for the owie factor) knows every available spell. After Magitek Research Facility, I repeat the process.
AtmaWeapon falls to Rasp, floating continent is a pushover due to my advanced levels. Some people beat the game at level 40 or so, I don't hit WoR until 35 minimum. I spend the first half of the WoR wishing I had leveled Celes in WoB. Once I get the Falcon, it is a mad dash to gain Ultima ASAP. Once a character learns Ultima, I pump their Magic Attack until Ultima does 9999. Next, I get Bahamut for the 50% HP boost. Once two 9999 casters exist, it is off to Jurassic Park to kick some Tyrannosaur tail. Once a single character can survive Meteo, that character gets an Exp. Egg and fights alone. The goal is to reach 9999 HP and get a few economizers from the brachosaurs.
Next I get a Gem Box.
My strategy at this point in the game is simple:
if (I am dying)
Cast Cure3
Cast Ultima
else
Cast Ultima
Cast Ultima
I've always wanted to level everyone to 99 but usually lose patience. Usually I get two strong parties and a weak party that uses Moogle Charm to storm Kefka's tower; I do it in two trips so the weak party doesn't have to face the third statue. The final battle is a joke when I'm spitting 40K-50K of damage per 4-character round.
While this is an effective strategy, it is not a fun one. Every enemy falls fast to Ultima, and I'm known to end battles with Vanish/Doom just to spare the long process. I decided I did not want to do this.
What got me interested was I did some reading about Gau and decided he was worth a shot. He was usually my weakest character as I never put the effort in to getting his Rages. So, I decided to play a game that revolved around him and removed some of my cheap tricks.
Atma's Current Challenge
Terra, Celes, Relm, and Strago are the only characters that can use magic. Other characters can equip espers for stat boosts but are forbidden from using magic.
Ultima is forbidden.
Vanish/Instant Death is forbidden.
Rasp is forbidden against AtmaWeapon.
Powerleveling is frowned upon; If a difficult situation arises leveling may be required but fighting for the sake of gaining levels should be avoided. On a related note, when magic tutoring is being done fights must happen on the veldt to avoid gaining XP (Cactrot desert is OK in WoR if only Cactrots are killed). This has an added bonus of avoiding unwanted level gains when inappropriate espers for a character are equipped.
Gau is to be in the party at all times when he is available.
The Edgar/Sabin/Cyan combo is forbidden; at least one of the three must be replaced by another character.
Basically, I am denying myself some of my most frequent abuses that make the game incredibly easy. I thought this would be quite challenging for me.
Results
This 'challenge' actually makes me cry because it has taught me that Cyan, my favorite physical fighter, is probably one of the most useless characters until late in the game and Gau, the character I placed above only Umaro and Relm, is probably one of the most powerful characters in the game. Several of Gau's rages inflict ailments or damage that is unprecedented at the point in the game in which they occur. Dadaluma is usually a long fight for me; he didn't hit me once and died in 3 turns since Gau Stopped him and Celes Imped him. Magitek Research Facility is usually a challenge since it is the start of high physical defense in enemies; Gau one-hit swept the field with Aqua Rake. Number 128 usually takes me 5 minutes of near-fatal status; he lasted 2 1/2 rounds. The Cranes went down in 2 hits. Cave to Sealed Gate usually takes me about 45 minutes due to strong enemies; this time I took Mog and Gau with me and tore through the cave in 10 minutes.
Basically I have learned that I have not been exploiting some very good characters to their full potential. There is almost no need for Magic support from Terra or Celes other than healing because for every enemy Gau has a killer attack. When Gau and Mog team up very little can stand against their magic assault. I will not miss Ultima. I'm a little worried about how the WoR will run; I haven't made it to the Floating Continent yet. However, at the rate Gau is advancing, I think I'll end up altering my next challenge:
Gau's rages cannot be collected but his use in the main party is forbidden; he can only be used in the multi-party scenarios.
Complete the game in under 30 hours.The last one there I may meet this time; I am about 10 hours faster than usual and moving way faster than usual this run; I'm usually in position to threaten Kefka at 45 or 50 hours with at least 12 of those hours powerleveling. I think I'm at ~12 hours and I'm heading to Thamasa after I finish the banquet. I have spent about 4-6 hours on the veldt gaining rages.
Does anyone else care to add some bullets to my challenge? Anyone care to challenge my stance that Gau is possibly the most powerful character in the game? Let's discuss my favorite game.
First I considered the Natural Magic Challenge, where the only magic you can use is the magic learned naturally by Terra and Celes as they level. This seemed a little to restrictive to me since you are not allowed to use espers for stat boosts or even equipment that taught spells, so I decided to make my own challenge to try and eliminate the things I thought ruined the game.
See, my normal strategy in FF3 is as follows:
At South Figaro I powerlevel like a faggot. I do that until the enemies are pushovers. Sometimes Sabin knows Fire Dance when he first joins the party; that should show you how serious I mean powerleveling. The next powerlevel stop is at Vector, where I do not stop until every character in my party (typically Edgar, Sabin, Cyan, Locke for the owie factor) knows every available spell. After Magitek Research Facility, I repeat the process.
AtmaWeapon falls to Rasp, floating continent is a pushover due to my advanced levels. Some people beat the game at level 40 or so, I don't hit WoR until 35 minimum. I spend the first half of the WoR wishing I had leveled Celes in WoB. Once I get the Falcon, it is a mad dash to gain Ultima ASAP. Once a character learns Ultima, I pump their Magic Attack until Ultima does 9999. Next, I get Bahamut for the 50% HP boost. Once two 9999 casters exist, it is off to Jurassic Park to kick some Tyrannosaur tail. Once a single character can survive Meteo, that character gets an Exp. Egg and fights alone. The goal is to reach 9999 HP and get a few economizers from the brachosaurs.
Next I get a Gem Box.
My strategy at this point in the game is simple:
if (I am dying)
Cast Cure3
Cast Ultima
else
Cast Ultima
Cast Ultima
I've always wanted to level everyone to 99 but usually lose patience. Usually I get two strong parties and a weak party that uses Moogle Charm to storm Kefka's tower; I do it in two trips so the weak party doesn't have to face the third statue. The final battle is a joke when I'm spitting 40K-50K of damage per 4-character round.
While this is an effective strategy, it is not a fun one. Every enemy falls fast to Ultima, and I'm known to end battles with Vanish/Doom just to spare the long process. I decided I did not want to do this.
What got me interested was I did some reading about Gau and decided he was worth a shot. He was usually my weakest character as I never put the effort in to getting his Rages. So, I decided to play a game that revolved around him and removed some of my cheap tricks.
Atma's Current Challenge
Terra, Celes, Relm, and Strago are the only characters that can use magic. Other characters can equip espers for stat boosts but are forbidden from using magic.
Ultima is forbidden.
Vanish/Instant Death is forbidden.
Rasp is forbidden against AtmaWeapon.
Powerleveling is frowned upon; If a difficult situation arises leveling may be required but fighting for the sake of gaining levels should be avoided. On a related note, when magic tutoring is being done fights must happen on the veldt to avoid gaining XP (Cactrot desert is OK in WoR if only Cactrots are killed). This has an added bonus of avoiding unwanted level gains when inappropriate espers for a character are equipped.
Gau is to be in the party at all times when he is available.
The Edgar/Sabin/Cyan combo is forbidden; at least one of the three must be replaced by another character.
Basically, I am denying myself some of my most frequent abuses that make the game incredibly easy. I thought this would be quite challenging for me.
Results
This 'challenge' actually makes me cry because it has taught me that Cyan, my favorite physical fighter, is probably one of the most useless characters until late in the game and Gau, the character I placed above only Umaro and Relm, is probably one of the most powerful characters in the game. Several of Gau's rages inflict ailments or damage that is unprecedented at the point in the game in which they occur. Dadaluma is usually a long fight for me; he didn't hit me once and died in 3 turns since Gau Stopped him and Celes Imped him. Magitek Research Facility is usually a challenge since it is the start of high physical defense in enemies; Gau one-hit swept the field with Aqua Rake. Number 128 usually takes me 5 minutes of near-fatal status; he lasted 2 1/2 rounds. The Cranes went down in 2 hits. Cave to Sealed Gate usually takes me about 45 minutes due to strong enemies; this time I took Mog and Gau with me and tore through the cave in 10 minutes.
Basically I have learned that I have not been exploiting some very good characters to their full potential. There is almost no need for Magic support from Terra or Celes other than healing because for every enemy Gau has a killer attack. When Gau and Mog team up very little can stand against their magic assault. I will not miss Ultima. I'm a little worried about how the WoR will run; I haven't made it to the Floating Continent yet. However, at the rate Gau is advancing, I think I'll end up altering my next challenge:
Gau's rages cannot be collected but his use in the main party is forbidden; he can only be used in the multi-party scenarios.
Complete the game in under 30 hours.The last one there I may meet this time; I am about 10 hours faster than usual and moving way faster than usual this run; I'm usually in position to threaten Kefka at 45 or 50 hours with at least 12 of those hours powerleveling. I think I'm at ~12 hours and I'm heading to Thamasa after I finish the banquet. I have spent about 4-6 hours on the veldt gaining rages.
Does anyone else care to add some bullets to my challenge? Anyone care to challenge my stance that Gau is possibly the most powerful character in the game? Let's discuss my favorite game.