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FF1 Hardworking Capitalists Part I
Mar. 6th, 2015 08:55 pmThe original Final Fantasy was, near the time of starting this, obliterated in record time (seven minutes and twenty seconds to be exact by a game-destroying glitch. That got me in the mood for more of that game, so searching for an unexplored variant I went.
I recalled Sullla's Living off the Land variant. While a desperate struggle in the early game, by the end of the game, it really wasn't all that difficult. The game hands all the great equipment to you: Ribbons, armor, spellcasting items, and all the best weapons of the game. At the end of their journey, it played out like almost any other four Fighter party, just with a lack of potions, which isn't that big a deal due to the Heal staff and the such. So why not do an inversion of circumstances?
This party will not be scroungers at all: in fact, their one policy is that opening treasure chests is strictly prohibited unless they need to do so to advance. These hardworking capitalists will have to earn their way through this game by battling monsters and spending money at the store, living off their wallet instead. Never chests, only what they buy along the journey. For similar reasons to LotL, the Black Belt will be excluded from potential consideration. A class that has no use for its wallet defeats the purpose of this variant! Because this by extension is a no class change game, the Thief is out.
So what do we want? We'll start with a White Mage. ARUB is the only way to protect against the nasty instant-death attacks out there, including CRACK. We'll want at least one Fighter, and we want something to use FAST. Red Mage vs. Black Mage is a good question. Without class change, Black Mage doesn't get NUKE, but Red Mage only gets FIR3 at best. Best if one of our party members is a Black Mage. And with our low offense (Silver Axe is our strongest weapon!), a Red Mage might end up a liability short of strength manipulation (read: resetting a lot until it goes up at every reset).
So two Fighters, a White Mage, and Black Mage. I would ironically consider a Thief in place of the second Fighter if the TAIL were mandatory, just for the hell of it and because their Strength turns out higher on average than Red, I'd still have two FAST users and I'd still end up with two attackers. I can't afford it here due to weaker weapons. Oh well, some other time.
In keeping with the spirit of money, I've given every character a name that's related to it. Rich, Buck, Mint, and Zeni. That's our party!
The starting 400 Gold was easy to figure out. Two Rapiers, Two Chain Mail, Two Cloth, a FIRE spell, and...an Iron Hammer! Yeah, see, if I had gone with a CURE spell, Mint's turns this early on in the game would be wasted. With a Hammer, she can fight. Even though the difference is one battle, it made that one battle a bit less of a pain.
Because of the nature of this variant, this party is going to play like almost any other Fi/Fi/WM/BM party, up to looting the Mystic KEY. The only thing notable about Garland, who I fought at Level 2, was Mint getting the kill off a critical hit. The trip to Pravoka was annoying due to several missed hits, but not dangerous. The Pirates couldn't put up any resistance, though took four rounds to kill because of missing repeatedly.
The two weapons competing for early game attention happen to be found in the same spot, here in Provoka. Short Shord has 15/10 attack/hit, and Hand Axe has 16/5. Which one Rich and Buck want to use depend on their level. Here's a spreadsheet of all the data. Instances where 5-hit% weapons deal less hits than 10-hit% weapons are noted in rad, and instances where 15-hit% weapons deal more than 10-hit% (Silver Sword vs. Silver Axe) are in green.
As you can see there, levels 5-6 is where the Hand Axe will be inferior to the Short Sword, but after that, it has a point more of damage and critical hit percentage. It's worth skipping them; those two levels are at a point where it'd make a difference, it's only a single point of damage, and by the time I'm past that point, it'd be more prudent to save up for stronger weapons.
This has got to be the earliest time my party's experience was made unequal. A GrWOLF took out Zeni, and on the way to Coneria's clinic, a single KYZOKU attacked on the seas. Can't run! Not worth stressing over, though, especially when it's only a difference of 20.
Before heading to Marsh Cave for the first time, I did a bit of cash grinding and made the following purchases: two Short Swords, a LIT spell, a HARM spell, 6 HEAL potions, 2 TENTs, 2 PUREs. This definitely isn't enough, but I decided that I may as well try with what I have. Besides, I can't always abuse the peninsula of power. I upped it to 28 HEAL potions and 6 PUREs after a bit of moving around Elfland.
Ways not to earn money, by the way: 15-tile puzzle. It's really abuseable in some of the remakes if you're fast at solving it, but here, it's not worth it for all but people who demand low levels with as much money as possible. Which is its best use in the remake too, but you don't have to do it 100G at a time.
I ran into a GrOGRE/OGRE pack close to the Marsh Cave, which paid off quite handsomely. The variant sort-of begins from here, as there's nothing to loot but the CROWN. The first trip into the cave ended in failure at the WIZARDs (which came in a pack of three and was a close fight), which is fine by me because that trip in was stupid, featuring 3/4 monsters strike first and very unprofitable fights. I reset the second instantly because of the same two steps in, and the third died to four WIZARDs.
So I went back and got some Iron Armor. These sturdy things would be on Rich and Buck's torso for a while. 24 Defense for just 800G? Yes, please! The Steel Armor isn't a practical investment right away, and the Silver Armor's only advantage is having less of an evade penalty.
By the way, Copper Bracelets are not worth the price tag on them. Iron Shield and Wooden Helmet get outclassed eventually. I should get Caps eventually since they're the best the Mages get, though.
With Iron Armor, and the minimum draw of two WIZARDs, this fight was a snoozer. The only thing was that I had forgotten to heal Zeni on coming in due to liberal use of speedup and the fights generally also being snoozefests. Not as bad as the first trip through the cave, which consisted of five SHADOWs, two groups of three SCUMs, and a MUCK, but still could've been better.
The only encouter of note was this sad scenario, where a deceased CRAWL paralyzed Mint, so she couldn't HARM away all the BONEs. Had to clean them up manually.
3303G by the time I got back to Elfland and saved. I was one fight removed from Level 7, so I went and did that. How to spend it was a good question! All I got for now was FIR2 for Zeni, as well as some supplies. I got to fight a lot of OGREs and even three KYZOKUs on the ship, so I'd made it back by the time I reached the northern castle.
ASTOS was a silly fight. My first go at him, he skipped using a spell on all three turns that he got at 1/4 odds each time. I would've reset if RUB connected anyway, but this made things a lot easier. Zeni carried with FIR2 for around 50 damage each time, but the Fighters chipping in and finishing with this critical also helped to deplete his 168HP.
Now the variant really begins.
Normally, the advent of the Mystic Key means a looting tour for a party. Notso here. These shopaholics have one thing to get: the TNT. Anyway, their gold count was 6352. I actually decided to skip out on Silver Swords for the time being. Silver Axes are better, except on Levels 14-15 by which time I'd have enough money to have both. They cost 4500G apiece.
So I went and did that, and by the time I got there, I had made enough from the random battles to give both one! The Fighter's damage jumped up to 38! Of course, this town had other nice things in it as well. Silver Shields and Silver Helmets in particular are the best equipment of their kind for this party. Next though, I figured doing something about the mages' 1 Absorb might be wise. That meant saving up for some 5000G Silver Bracelets, which will be a mainstay for a while given the absurd price tag on Gold Bracelets.
Because these were such a high priority, I got these before heading to the Earth Cave. It wasn't so bad to build up the necessary cash for them. With their new axes, the Fighters could reliably take out OGREs in a single attack.
I chose to conserve Zeni's last FIR2 against the VAMPIRE, in case I needed it later. I underestimated his defense, I suppose. The fight lasted longer than a round because of it, and he smacked Buck for 104 damage.
Pictured: why you don't enter a dungeon in a variant such as this one with only 6 HEAL potions. It wasn't so bad: I fought the more appealing enemy groups like OGRE/GrOGREs and BULLs, and ran from the less appealing ones like wolf and spider enemy groupings. The trip in was easy, but the trip out was a bit tense because of this. Still, I did it with no causalities thanks to 2 PUREs and general continuing my fighting habits, though it came down to the wire at the end there.
Now there's 9271G in the bank. Our priorities are a bit harder to figure out at this point, so let's whip up a list of everything these capitalists might immediately want.
- Silver Shield x2: 5000G
- Silver Helmet x2: 5000G
- Silver Sword x2: 8000G
- Silver Hammer x1: 2500G
- Silver Knife x1: 800G
- CUR2 & HRM2: 3000G
- ICE2 & FAST: 8000G
- FIR3: 8000G
We're still a ways from Level 14-15, so we can rule out the Silver Swords. Mint's actually gained every point of strength possible so far, but the Hammer won't be too big of an upgrade at this point. But since she has only CURE and HARM, it made sense to get more spells for the White Mage. Speaking of, while FAST is nice, Zeni is probably going to be better off with a FIR2/FIR3 or two on LICH, so we'll rule out FAST.
So I decided on the Shields next, but by the time I got there, I'd made enough money from the fights around Crescent Lake to get more, so I picked up the Helmets too. This took the Fighters to 38 Absorb. As the party was only Level 11, that meant no level 5 charges. I did get ICE2 to go along with everything, however, as well as buying LIT2 in case of WIZARDs. A few HEALs and PUREs, too!
The rest of Earth Cave in two words: screw COCTRICEs. I neglected to buy SOFTs, and didn't feel like spending money on them. They killed three runs into the cave, including this one outright. Next on the crap list was any large group that have a low payout. WrWOLF/GrWOLF groups, ASPs, ARACHNIDs, and so on. Obviously, GIANTs, OGREs/GrOGREs, and WIZARDs were welcome sights.
LICH wasn't too hard. The Fighters' performance was a bit disappointing, especially Rich who only did 21 on the first round. The first round saw a total of 208 damage from my side, and an ICE2 from the boss that, in particular, did high damage to the mages. Before he could attack again, Mint pulled out this strong HRM2 on the second round to seal his fate.
Next up is the midgame...duo!! That's right, Ordeals isn't even worth setting foot into for this party, as the only reason to go in there are optional chests. This party can't open optional chests! But first, we have 21664G to spend. I chose to spend it on LIFE for Mint, FIR3 for Zeni, and 99 HEAL potions.
With that in mind, I chose to send the party through the Ice Cave first. They won't be fighting much at all in Gurgu Volcano, so the extra levels they get from this will help against KARY.
It was good and hilarious fun. Frost Ds kept showing up in random battles, once ending my attempt by killing Mint. The SORCERERs went on stunlocking rampages, the undead trap once had a single enemy, and so on. I once got through with just Rich and Zeni, but decided to reset that. Another time I accidentally walked off where the FLOATER was instead of fighting the EYE. Not a problem, until Buck and Zeni got petrified. Yeah, COCTRICES were still around, and I still refused to buy SOFTs. 800G is highway robbery!
Because the game was being obnoxious, I left to pick up Silver Swords due to the Fighters being close to Level 14. I also got AICE because of those Frost Ds. First fight in: Frost Ds!! Who used BLIZZARD before AICE could be used. Mint was killed by a physical on the next turn. That's got to be some sort of record for fastest failed attempt at the Ice Cave.
Eventually, things lined up. The Fighters hit 14, and took their Silver Swords in-hand for 3 hits. The most notable encounter of the winning run was this solo MAGE who refused to cast magic. He died without doing much of anything. The EYE used XXXX on Buck. That spell only works if the target has under 300HP. I made sure to heal before the battle this time so he didn't get offed.
A bit of preparation later, and I was ready for the Volcano. It's a ridiculously short dungeon when you're just passing through without getting the treasure, thanks to all the lava tiles. Even mostly avoiding them, I had minimal encounters. I did fight one more battle before KARY to get my party to Level 15.
The six-armed snakelady got off a FIR2 to begin that did 116 to Rich and paltry damage on everything else. Mint threw up AFIR to make that damage even less. Then Zeni stepped in with HOLD. Where your party can recover from paralysis at a 25% chance every turn, enemies only have a 9.8% chance to do so. So she was more or less done as soon as this was down. With nothing else to really do, Zeni then gave FAST a whirl, the Fighters already having done around 300 damage in the meantime between themselves. They somewhat disappointed from here. Ultimately, it was Mint who got the kill.
Next, cash grinding for the BOTTLE. Not opening chests leads to a money shortage. The game really actually begins next time.
Next | Index
I recalled Sullla's Living off the Land variant. While a desperate struggle in the early game, by the end of the game, it really wasn't all that difficult. The game hands all the great equipment to you: Ribbons, armor, spellcasting items, and all the best weapons of the game. At the end of their journey, it played out like almost any other four Fighter party, just with a lack of potions, which isn't that big a deal due to the Heal staff and the such. So why not do an inversion of circumstances?
This party will not be scroungers at all: in fact, their one policy is that opening treasure chests is strictly prohibited unless they need to do so to advance. These hardworking capitalists will have to earn their way through this game by battling monsters and spending money at the store, living off their wallet instead. Never chests, only what they buy along the journey. For similar reasons to LotL, the Black Belt will be excluded from potential consideration. A class that has no use for its wallet defeats the purpose of this variant! Because this by extension is a no class change game, the Thief is out.
So what do we want? We'll start with a White Mage. ARUB is the only way to protect against the nasty instant-death attacks out there, including CRACK. We'll want at least one Fighter, and we want something to use FAST. Red Mage vs. Black Mage is a good question. Without class change, Black Mage doesn't get NUKE, but Red Mage only gets FIR3 at best. Best if one of our party members is a Black Mage. And with our low offense (Silver Axe is our strongest weapon!), a Red Mage might end up a liability short of strength manipulation (read: resetting a lot until it goes up at every reset).
So two Fighters, a White Mage, and Black Mage. I would ironically consider a Thief in place of the second Fighter if the TAIL were mandatory, just for the hell of it and because their Strength turns out higher on average than Red, I'd still have two FAST users and I'd still end up with two attackers. I can't afford it here due to weaker weapons. Oh well, some other time.
In keeping with the spirit of money, I've given every character a name that's related to it. Rich, Buck, Mint, and Zeni. That's our party!
The starting 400 Gold was easy to figure out. Two Rapiers, Two Chain Mail, Two Cloth, a FIRE spell, and...an Iron Hammer! Yeah, see, if I had gone with a CURE spell, Mint's turns this early on in the game would be wasted. With a Hammer, she can fight. Even though the difference is one battle, it made that one battle a bit less of a pain.
Because of the nature of this variant, this party is going to play like almost any other Fi/Fi/WM/BM party, up to looting the Mystic KEY. The only thing notable about Garland, who I fought at Level 2, was Mint getting the kill off a critical hit. The trip to Pravoka was annoying due to several missed hits, but not dangerous. The Pirates couldn't put up any resistance, though took four rounds to kill because of missing repeatedly.
The two weapons competing for early game attention happen to be found in the same spot, here in Provoka. Short Shord has 15/10 attack/hit, and Hand Axe has 16/5. Which one Rich and Buck want to use depend on their level. Here's a spreadsheet of all the data. Instances where 5-hit% weapons deal less hits than 10-hit% weapons are noted in rad, and instances where 15-hit% weapons deal more than 10-hit% (Silver Sword vs. Silver Axe) are in green.
As you can see there, levels 5-6 is where the Hand Axe will be inferior to the Short Sword, but after that, it has a point more of damage and critical hit percentage. It's worth skipping them; those two levels are at a point where it'd make a difference, it's only a single point of damage, and by the time I'm past that point, it'd be more prudent to save up for stronger weapons.
This has got to be the earliest time my party's experience was made unequal. A GrWOLF took out Zeni, and on the way to Coneria's clinic, a single KYZOKU attacked on the seas. Can't run! Not worth stressing over, though, especially when it's only a difference of 20.
Before heading to Marsh Cave for the first time, I did a bit of cash grinding and made the following purchases: two Short Swords, a LIT spell, a HARM spell, 6 HEAL potions, 2 TENTs, 2 PUREs. This definitely isn't enough, but I decided that I may as well try with what I have. Besides, I can't always abuse the peninsula of power. I upped it to 28 HEAL potions and 6 PUREs after a bit of moving around Elfland.
Ways not to earn money, by the way: 15-tile puzzle. It's really abuseable in some of the remakes if you're fast at solving it, but here, it's not worth it for all but people who demand low levels with as much money as possible. Which is its best use in the remake too, but you don't have to do it 100G at a time.
I ran into a GrOGRE/OGRE pack close to the Marsh Cave, which paid off quite handsomely. The variant sort-of begins from here, as there's nothing to loot but the CROWN. The first trip into the cave ended in failure at the WIZARDs (which came in a pack of three and was a close fight), which is fine by me because that trip in was stupid, featuring 3/4 monsters strike first and very unprofitable fights. I reset the second instantly because of the same two steps in, and the third died to four WIZARDs.
So I went back and got some Iron Armor. These sturdy things would be on Rich and Buck's torso for a while. 24 Defense for just 800G? Yes, please! The Steel Armor isn't a practical investment right away, and the Silver Armor's only advantage is having less of an evade penalty.
By the way, Copper Bracelets are not worth the price tag on them. Iron Shield and Wooden Helmet get outclassed eventually. I should get Caps eventually since they're the best the Mages get, though.
With Iron Armor, and the minimum draw of two WIZARDs, this fight was a snoozer. The only thing was that I had forgotten to heal Zeni on coming in due to liberal use of speedup and the fights generally also being snoozefests. Not as bad as the first trip through the cave, which consisted of five SHADOWs, two groups of three SCUMs, and a MUCK, but still could've been better.
The only encouter of note was this sad scenario, where a deceased CRAWL paralyzed Mint, so she couldn't HARM away all the BONEs. Had to clean them up manually.
3303G by the time I got back to Elfland and saved. I was one fight removed from Level 7, so I went and did that. How to spend it was a good question! All I got for now was FIR2 for Zeni, as well as some supplies. I got to fight a lot of OGREs and even three KYZOKUs on the ship, so I'd made it back by the time I reached the northern castle.
ASTOS was a silly fight. My first go at him, he skipped using a spell on all three turns that he got at 1/4 odds each time. I would've reset if RUB connected anyway, but this made things a lot easier. Zeni carried with FIR2 for around 50 damage each time, but the Fighters chipping in and finishing with this critical also helped to deplete his 168HP.
Now the variant really begins.
Normally, the advent of the Mystic Key means a looting tour for a party. Notso here. These shopaholics have one thing to get: the TNT. Anyway, their gold count was 6352. I actually decided to skip out on Silver Swords for the time being. Silver Axes are better, except on Levels 14-15 by which time I'd have enough money to have both. They cost 4500G apiece.
So I went and did that, and by the time I got there, I had made enough from the random battles to give both one! The Fighter's damage jumped up to 38! Of course, this town had other nice things in it as well. Silver Shields and Silver Helmets in particular are the best equipment of their kind for this party. Next though, I figured doing something about the mages' 1 Absorb might be wise. That meant saving up for some 5000G Silver Bracelets, which will be a mainstay for a while given the absurd price tag on Gold Bracelets.
Because these were such a high priority, I got these before heading to the Earth Cave. It wasn't so bad to build up the necessary cash for them. With their new axes, the Fighters could reliably take out OGREs in a single attack.
I chose to conserve Zeni's last FIR2 against the VAMPIRE, in case I needed it later. I underestimated his defense, I suppose. The fight lasted longer than a round because of it, and he smacked Buck for 104 damage.
Pictured: why you don't enter a dungeon in a variant such as this one with only 6 HEAL potions. It wasn't so bad: I fought the more appealing enemy groups like OGRE/GrOGREs and BULLs, and ran from the less appealing ones like wolf and spider enemy groupings. The trip in was easy, but the trip out was a bit tense because of this. Still, I did it with no causalities thanks to 2 PUREs and general continuing my fighting habits, though it came down to the wire at the end there.
Now there's 9271G in the bank. Our priorities are a bit harder to figure out at this point, so let's whip up a list of everything these capitalists might immediately want.
- Silver Shield x2: 5000G
- Silver Helmet x2: 5000G
- Silver Sword x2: 8000G
- Silver Hammer x1: 2500G
- Silver Knife x1: 800G
- CUR2 & HRM2: 3000G
- ICE2 & FAST: 8000G
- FIR3: 8000G
We're still a ways from Level 14-15, so we can rule out the Silver Swords. Mint's actually gained every point of strength possible so far, but the Hammer won't be too big of an upgrade at this point. But since she has only CURE and HARM, it made sense to get more spells for the White Mage. Speaking of, while FAST is nice, Zeni is probably going to be better off with a FIR2/FIR3 or two on LICH, so we'll rule out FAST.
So I decided on the Shields next, but by the time I got there, I'd made enough money from the fights around Crescent Lake to get more, so I picked up the Helmets too. This took the Fighters to 38 Absorb. As the party was only Level 11, that meant no level 5 charges. I did get ICE2 to go along with everything, however, as well as buying LIT2 in case of WIZARDs. A few HEALs and PUREs, too!
The rest of Earth Cave in two words: screw COCTRICEs. I neglected to buy SOFTs, and didn't feel like spending money on them. They killed three runs into the cave, including this one outright. Next on the crap list was any large group that have a low payout. WrWOLF/GrWOLF groups, ASPs, ARACHNIDs, and so on. Obviously, GIANTs, OGREs/GrOGREs, and WIZARDs were welcome sights.
LICH wasn't too hard. The Fighters' performance was a bit disappointing, especially Rich who only did 21 on the first round. The first round saw a total of 208 damage from my side, and an ICE2 from the boss that, in particular, did high damage to the mages. Before he could attack again, Mint pulled out this strong HRM2 on the second round to seal his fate.
Next up is the midgame...duo!! That's right, Ordeals isn't even worth setting foot into for this party, as the only reason to go in there are optional chests. This party can't open optional chests! But first, we have 21664G to spend. I chose to spend it on LIFE for Mint, FIR3 for Zeni, and 99 HEAL potions.
With that in mind, I chose to send the party through the Ice Cave first. They won't be fighting much at all in Gurgu Volcano, so the extra levels they get from this will help against KARY.
It was good and hilarious fun. Frost Ds kept showing up in random battles, once ending my attempt by killing Mint. The SORCERERs went on stunlocking rampages, the undead trap once had a single enemy, and so on. I once got through with just Rich and Zeni, but decided to reset that. Another time I accidentally walked off where the FLOATER was instead of fighting the EYE. Not a problem, until Buck and Zeni got petrified. Yeah, COCTRICES were still around, and I still refused to buy SOFTs. 800G is highway robbery!
Because the game was being obnoxious, I left to pick up Silver Swords due to the Fighters being close to Level 14. I also got AICE because of those Frost Ds. First fight in: Frost Ds!! Who used BLIZZARD before AICE could be used. Mint was killed by a physical on the next turn. That's got to be some sort of record for fastest failed attempt at the Ice Cave.
Eventually, things lined up. The Fighters hit 14, and took their Silver Swords in-hand for 3 hits. The most notable encounter of the winning run was this solo MAGE who refused to cast magic. He died without doing much of anything. The EYE used XXXX on Buck. That spell only works if the target has under 300HP. I made sure to heal before the battle this time so he didn't get offed.
A bit of preparation later, and I was ready for the Volcano. It's a ridiculously short dungeon when you're just passing through without getting the treasure, thanks to all the lava tiles. Even mostly avoiding them, I had minimal encounters. I did fight one more battle before KARY to get my party to Level 15.
The six-armed snakelady got off a FIR2 to begin that did 116 to Rich and paltry damage on everything else. Mint threw up AFIR to make that damage even less. Then Zeni stepped in with HOLD. Where your party can recover from paralysis at a 25% chance every turn, enemies only have a 9.8% chance to do so. So she was more or less done as soon as this was down. With nothing else to really do, Zeni then gave FAST a whirl, the Fighters already having done around 300 damage in the meantime between themselves. They somewhat disappointed from here. Ultimately, it was Mint who got the kill.
Next, cash grinding for the BOTTLE. Not opening chests leads to a money shortage. The game really actually begins next time.
Next | Index
