FF3 Solo Red Mage (NES) Part I
Been sitting on this one's start for a while. A year, to be exact. In the name of stupid challenges, I figured I may as well proceed with more Final Fantasy III NES.
The Red Mage/Red Wizard is much as you'd expect if you've any sort of experience with FF1 and/or FF5. He's capable of using White and Black Magic from Levels 1-4. Very disappointing Vitality. I know this one can be done on the remake, as my friend has done it. Or gotten close to it. Can it be done on the original? Let's find out.
That one guide I talked about at the end of solo Monk, the really crappy one? It had simply this to say on the Red Wizard: "Possible, but lots of leveling will be needed. Worse than Fighter, better than Onion Kid." It does not cover either of those two classes in the guide. It also suggests that both will need "insane amounts of leveling early on to complete", from Black Mage's description. Ha! We shall see, my friend.
Did you know that in many of the translated Final Fantasy games, due to characters that combine combinations of L and I into one character, you can name a party member Ulillillia? The infamous stat maxer felt as good a namesake as any for a Red Wizard. That said, he himself would probably want to be a Monk, because HP carries over between classes and Monk most easily maxes it out.
Ulillillia got a basic set of spells, then went off to fight this. This thing guards the W.Slayer, a strong earlygame weapon that is Red Mage exclusive. Not too difficult from the back row. He then into Jinn's Cave. The opposition, unlike with Solo, was a bit more managable.
He could also use Cure to damage the legions of undead in here, as well as heal himself.
Jinn wasn't an issue. Ulillillia ran out of 50ish damaging Ices against him, but had no issue. I forgot exactly how it went, besides that.
Level 2 Black Magic was available in the next town. Bolt is Bolt - a spell that does electrical damage! Blind turned out to be worthless, but little did I know at the time that Venom would become a very valued spell...
About a year later according to the timestamps on that last image, and here's where I started playing again. Aero is a level 2 White Magic spell. It deals wind-elemental damage to enemies.
Do note that FF3 is much like FF4 in spreading around spell damage. That is to say, a spell's power is divided by the number of targets, rather than half as you might expect from other games in the series. This generally makes it more prudent to single-target if you can kill in one hit.
Ulillillia got away from Bahamut on the first try.
Another thing to note. While weapons don't work while mini, shields do. Still, I equipped a Burning Staff through the next dungeon and used it to use Fire instead of using spell charges.
Big Rat was a still an issue until I added a couple levels. After that, Ulillillia could just heal up. He still threw out the attacking items, as they dealt more damage than his spells, but he wasn't in for pain after they ran out.
Up the Tower of Owen, he got silenced by these PutiMage enemies. I hadn't bought EchoHerbs, so he had to go without. Which wasn't too big a deal, since his spells were weaker than his physical attack. There were a few cases where magic may have been desired support-wise, but it wasn't strictly necessary. I did find some later on in the dungeon, but chose to hold onto them for the time being. Besides, he might just get muted again after.
Also in the tower, Ulillillia found his ultimate weapon. Yes, so soon. This right here is the strongest weapon a Red Wizard can equip in this version of the game. The Tyrving Sword is, much like the Wightslayer from before, Red Wizard exclusive and deals respectable damage for this point. That's one good thing about the remake: classes are much more diverse in both utility and equipment options.
I did use an EchoHerb before Medusa so magic would be on the table, but Ulillillia's physical fighting skills turned out to be the best option on her. He pumped around around 200 damage on average, while she did weak hits and failed to inflict petrification. This one didn't take too long.
In the Dwarves' Cave, the only notable incident was a run-in with these guys, stunlocking my character over and over and over until he finally broke out. I ran into Boulders, but avoided their petrification. Unlike Medusa, theirs is quite accurate and instant instead of gradual. Strange how the random encounters can be far more dangerous in that regard!
Guzco himself was no big deal. Ulillillia equipped an Ice Shield. This also takes a cue from FF4, and though it unfortunately makes him weak to ice attacks, he is quite sturdy against fire ones. I was a bit silly though and did not save enough spell charges for Exit. Luckily, the walk out was fine.
Bombs in this game are like in FF2: they only explode if they're below full HP. Going into the front row and attacking physically was the best strategy! This was especially screwy in the Flame Cave, where he'd encounter bomb enemies alongside slime enemies. He beat the latter with magic, then moved up front to take down the former. Oh, and I did remember to move to the back every time.
Ice Shield made Salamander a non-issue. His Flame was neutered, and his physicals were as strong as bug bites.
In Castle Hyne, the W.Slayers occasionally came out again. They were more damaging on the undead enemies than the Tyrfings.
I was a bit annoyed to find that Libra doesn't detect enemies' weaknesses. Made the Hyne battle stupider than it should've been, but it only took a few guesses to beat him.
Mass-damage came in handy in the Water Cave. Most of the enemies in here are naturally weak to lightning, so it was the element of choice despite my using Ice in this image.
Kraken is not weak to lightning, but otherwise routine. Attack, and heal as necessary. No problem.
Nothing to note in the Sewers, except this fun stuff. Goldor's Mansion was a bit more annoying than it was for Solo.
Goldor himself was tricky. His magical resistance called for physical fighting, but soon, I ran out of Cure2. HiPotions were still around, of course, but I couldn't outheal his damage with those. Then I got the idea to use dual Ice Shields. Any Ice2 was going to hurt, sure, but Fire2 would hurt a lot less. And that opened up a possibility to heal up gradually. It took a while and some luck to get this one down, but soon, it was done.
A quick first part of the game. But after this, the Red Wizard begins to outlive its usefulness. The other magic classes move ahead where it gets left behind. Or so the story goes. Whether or not it matters remains to be seen.
Next | Index
The Red Mage/Red Wizard is much as you'd expect if you've any sort of experience with FF1 and/or FF5. He's capable of using White and Black Magic from Levels 1-4. Very disappointing Vitality. I know this one can be done on the remake, as my friend has done it. Or gotten close to it. Can it be done on the original? Let's find out.
That one guide I talked about at the end of solo Monk, the really crappy one? It had simply this to say on the Red Wizard: "Possible, but lots of leveling will be needed. Worse than Fighter, better than Onion Kid." It does not cover either of those two classes in the guide. It also suggests that both will need "insane amounts of leveling early on to complete", from Black Mage's description. Ha! We shall see, my friend.
Did you know that in many of the translated Final Fantasy games, due to characters that combine combinations of L and I into one character, you can name a party member Ulillillia? The infamous stat maxer felt as good a namesake as any for a Red Wizard. That said, he himself would probably want to be a Monk, because HP carries over between classes and Monk most easily maxes it out.
Ulillillia got a basic set of spells, then went off to fight this. This thing guards the W.Slayer, a strong earlygame weapon that is Red Mage exclusive. Not too difficult from the back row. He then into Jinn's Cave. The opposition, unlike with Solo, was a bit more managable.
He could also use Cure to damage the legions of undead in here, as well as heal himself.
Jinn wasn't an issue. Ulillillia ran out of 50ish damaging Ices against him, but had no issue. I forgot exactly how it went, besides that.
Level 2 Black Magic was available in the next town. Bolt is Bolt - a spell that does electrical damage! Blind turned out to be worthless, but little did I know at the time that Venom would become a very valued spell...
About a year later according to the timestamps on that last image, and here's where I started playing again. Aero is a level 2 White Magic spell. It deals wind-elemental damage to enemies.
Do note that FF3 is much like FF4 in spreading around spell damage. That is to say, a spell's power is divided by the number of targets, rather than half as you might expect from other games in the series. This generally makes it more prudent to single-target if you can kill in one hit.
Ulillillia got away from Bahamut on the first try.
Another thing to note. While weapons don't work while mini, shields do. Still, I equipped a Burning Staff through the next dungeon and used it to use Fire instead of using spell charges.
Big Rat was a still an issue until I added a couple levels. After that, Ulillillia could just heal up. He still threw out the attacking items, as they dealt more damage than his spells, but he wasn't in for pain after they ran out.
Up the Tower of Owen, he got silenced by these PutiMage enemies. I hadn't bought EchoHerbs, so he had to go without. Which wasn't too big a deal, since his spells were weaker than his physical attack. There were a few cases where magic may have been desired support-wise, but it wasn't strictly necessary. I did find some later on in the dungeon, but chose to hold onto them for the time being. Besides, he might just get muted again after.
Also in the tower, Ulillillia found his ultimate weapon. Yes, so soon. This right here is the strongest weapon a Red Wizard can equip in this version of the game. The Tyrving Sword is, much like the Wightslayer from before, Red Wizard exclusive and deals respectable damage for this point. That's one good thing about the remake: classes are much more diverse in both utility and equipment options.
I did use an EchoHerb before Medusa so magic would be on the table, but Ulillillia's physical fighting skills turned out to be the best option on her. He pumped around around 200 damage on average, while she did weak hits and failed to inflict petrification. This one didn't take too long.
In the Dwarves' Cave, the only notable incident was a run-in with these guys, stunlocking my character over and over and over until he finally broke out. I ran into Boulders, but avoided their petrification. Unlike Medusa, theirs is quite accurate and instant instead of gradual. Strange how the random encounters can be far more dangerous in that regard!
Guzco himself was no big deal. Ulillillia equipped an Ice Shield. This also takes a cue from FF4, and though it unfortunately makes him weak to ice attacks, he is quite sturdy against fire ones. I was a bit silly though and did not save enough spell charges for Exit. Luckily, the walk out was fine.
Bombs in this game are like in FF2: they only explode if they're below full HP. Going into the front row and attacking physically was the best strategy! This was especially screwy in the Flame Cave, where he'd encounter bomb enemies alongside slime enemies. He beat the latter with magic, then moved up front to take down the former. Oh, and I did remember to move to the back every time.
Ice Shield made Salamander a non-issue. His Flame was neutered, and his physicals were as strong as bug bites.
In Castle Hyne, the W.Slayers occasionally came out again. They were more damaging on the undead enemies than the Tyrfings.
I was a bit annoyed to find that Libra doesn't detect enemies' weaknesses. Made the Hyne battle stupider than it should've been, but it only took a few guesses to beat him.
Mass-damage came in handy in the Water Cave. Most of the enemies in here are naturally weak to lightning, so it was the element of choice despite my using Ice in this image.
Kraken is not weak to lightning, but otherwise routine. Attack, and heal as necessary. No problem.
Nothing to note in the Sewers, except this fun stuff. Goldor's Mansion was a bit more annoying than it was for Solo.
Goldor himself was tricky. His magical resistance called for physical fighting, but soon, I ran out of Cure2. HiPotions were still around, of course, but I couldn't outheal his damage with those. Then I got the idea to use dual Ice Shields. Any Ice2 was going to hurt, sure, but Fire2 would hurt a lot less. And that opened up a possibility to heal up gradually. It took a while and some luck to get this one down, but soon, it was done.
A quick first part of the game. But after this, the Red Wizard begins to outlive its usefulness. The other magic classes move ahead where it gets left behind. Or so the story goes. Whether or not it matters remains to be seen.
Next | Index
