FF1 Hardworking Capitalists Part II

Time to get back into this. Notice a problem here? We need 50000G to purchase the BOTTLE to proceed with the game. We need to grind up the money for that, plus there’s a lot of other things we may want to purchase too!

Thankfully, that which was part of the reason for this next part taking so long (the others being games like Monster Hunter 4 and general laziness) wasn’t so bad. I started off by running through the Waterfall. This was fairly easy and nonthreatening compared to the Spellslingers, who had to use QAKE of all spells to reliably deal with MudGOLs. Rich and Buck could just hack them down with their swords. It was usually better to focus on one, as my luck when splitting the duties was less than reliable. Then again, when I did focus, I got critical hits. This game.


The spike was no problem, and of course with no WARP/EXIT, I had to walk back out after retrieving the CUBE. The Fighters hit level 16 at this point. Since they now would have 3-Hits with the Silver Axes, they switched back to the stronger weapon.


There. So let’s get a list of other expendatures we may want to consider making.

CUR3, HEL2: 16000
LIT3: 20000
FOG2, INV2: 40000
ICE3: 45000
ARUB: 45000
Steel Armor x2: 90000
ProRing x4: 80000
Gold Bracelet x2: 100000

In a word, yikes. I pick up LIT3 after a trip through the upper wing of the Sea Shrine for the SLAB, and after a partial trip into the lower wing, get HEL2 and CUR3. We may have to end up skipping some of this, depending on how things go. Particularly the overexpensive armors and bracelets, though the ProRings are high priority purchases. And again, I will want ARUB for defensive purposes, so that’s mandatory. At least I don’t need to look at those 65000G Catclaws - none of my classes can equip it due to no class change.


Anyway, the Sea Shrine. Not too difficult, though I have a few hair-raising moments. The dungeon romp raised around 20000G from going from the start to the SLAB and back out - remember, no class change, no WARP or EXIT. That was enough to fund LIT3, which I used to get deeper in. I turned back eventually with 30000G in-hand and made a few more purchases.


At least, I thought it wasn’t going to be too difficult. But the worst things kept on happening, particularly with the GHOSTs getting lucky enough to kill characters. From the retreats I had to make, I eventually earned enough gold to get Rich, Mint, and Zeni their ProRings. Sheesh.


The cusp of it all was this ugly situation. Buck had to make actual use of the DRINK command in order to stay alive in this encounter on the way out. He failed to get out anyway, sadly.


By contrast, Kraken was simple. It took two rounds of combat to get up a SLOW, and at that point the fight was a joke. Kraken used an INK on the first round, and his physicals were almost as futile after this. My own were a bit iffy, though (6 hits/53DMG). So instead of using FAST, the better option for Zeni was to LIT3 away; he had three charges of the spell. Didn’t take too long.


Notice anything wrong here? I forgot to save after beating KARY! No problem though, a quick trip back into the Volcano later, the only incidents being having to run from BULLs due to forgetting to heal, and that she actually rolled the paralysis escape to get off a final FIR2 before dying. It didn’t matter though, since Mint had gotten up AFIR, and Zeni had hit her with SLOW to prevent any physical shenanigans for just such an occasion.


With this, everyone was Level 21 going on Level 22. Nothing special to report, other than Mint still having gained every Strength point so far. Yeah, I know, I complain about needing to do that for the Red Mage, then this happens half due to luck, half due to following along after said luck. It wasn’t especially useful though - you really need Hit% to deal damage, of which she is three levels away from getting two hits, so even that 24 attack turns out not to be overly powerful.


No nonsense with forgetting to save a third time after taking another big break. Up the tower! ANKLYOs on the way to the tower were annoying for how they paid out absolutely no money, but nothing was of note. Blue D was neutered by ALIT. I didn't see any SORCERERs along the way. Sky Castle is actually pretty short if you head directly to your goal. AIRs were annoying - the weapon sagging started to show for the first time here, with them needing multiple attacks to take down. WarMECH didn't even need to show up for me to have a bit of trouble..


But he showed up anyway. May as well try to fight it.


Things did not get off to a good start. I actually did have enough foresight for just this occasion, saving up four charges of FAST. I did aim it for Buck, though in that screenshot, it hadn't triggered yet. Still, this is not good. Aside from crits, he couldn't break the robot's defenses. I didn't have any insta-kill moves this time, because money was tight. I did try to have Mint use MUTE, because between that and RUSE, she just might be able to get the job done...


But in the end, I was left in the same spot as last variant. One Black Mage left standing, because I just had to try to fight the robot. And this time, I had no BANE or BRAK to smash through TIAMAT. Now for any hope of survival, I had to go back. Luckily, a look at my position in the encounter table said it would be possible: there would be little threat of SORCERERs, but I'd still be in for a tense run out.

It wasn't pretty. NAOCHOs opened the proceedings before I could get out of the room. Zeni managed to escape, as did he get away from four R.HYDRAs. A GUARD/SENTRY pair was up next, which inflicted a few potions worth of damage, and then...six MANCATs and three MEDUSAs!!!


Chance to strike first! We're out! We made it out. On the second room, there was a lone GrNAGA. It cast RUSE as Zeni fled. Then came the scariest moment of the run: a BADMAN group of five almost killed off my Black Mage, but he made it out of there with minimal HP. The rest of the castle produced no encounters, and then-


Oh, crap. Forgot about this clown. Ghk. It's fine! It's fine! We can do this! Zeni ran from a WYVERN/WYRM group, healed up, and prepared for battle! The first exchange went well, with it doing an attack that inflicted minimal damage and Zeni's FIR3 inflicting 150! Next turn, another exchange that included a THUNDER, bringing Zeni to 17HP. Okay, maybe we can't do this.


UNLESS THAT HAPPENS. Still, not quite a win yet. Zeni was out of the powerful FIR3, and had to fall back on FIR2. He had to go first, and it had to do 58 or more damage. Here we go!


He's going first...


And 61 damage! Got'em! WE LIVE!!!!!


Of course, that's just permission to move forward, and this CATMAN group was aiming to make sure I didn't make it. They all moved before Zeni! The good news is, they didn't get the job done. The bad news is, I had only one potion left after that.


Next up to bat were two GUARDs. Their attacks amounted to scrapes, but one of them paralyzed Zeni! But he recovered immediately like a champ, and got out of there on the next turn!


He popped his last potion. Three CATMANs teamed with two Saber Ts. But Zeni escaped!


AND WE SURVIVE.

But seriously now. Why is it that I've run into that robot three times in three variants, and he's been easiest in the goddamn hardtype hack?

All right. Now what? I have 60194G. That's enough for exactly one big purchase: ARUB, ICE3, a Steel Armor, or a Gold Bracelet. After a bit of thought, I went with a Bracelet. Some of the things I'm up against really physically hurt, and having Mint be a bit more durable could help stave off disaster. ARUB wouldn't be needed for a bit yet. ICE3 would be great for the grind that's coming up, but not for getting through Sky Castle. And if of course, god forbid, if we end up in that situation again, we have a better chance of survival.


The bad news about my first trip back in was that it was ended in the tower by my nemesis, petrification! The good news was, I got some encounters against VAMPIREs and watched the money pour in. I think I know where I'll be cash grinding!


I managed to avoid seeing the robot a second time unintentionally. I did run into the SORCERER/MudGOL combo, though. The SORCERERs got the two fighters before being killed by LIT3 followed by LIT2. Mint had to pick up the slack on the MudGOL. She got her second hit from the payout from this fight. A few AIRs later, and I was at TIAMAT. It's a shame that ARUB has no use in this fight - it does not protect against POISON.


And right away, I run headlong into a problem. 45 damage can't break 80 defense without critical hits. That's why I do need a grinding session later, in honor of CHAOS. Good thing I have three uses of FAST. Mint got up the barriers as best she could, before joining in the melee. Zeni unfortunately died to the POISON.


The melee...did not go very well. He beat down Buck next turn, and it was up to Mint.


Nope, didn't happen: but what's worse is that right there. 1HP left according to the data.

The third go up the tower had nothing dramatic. Zeni just instantly died at the end due to THUNDER and turn order. That was the end of that. I tried to go for a MUTE, but it didn't take. Hm. I guess a bit more firepower could help. So let's go do that.

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