FFR: Solo Thief (Classic) Part IV
Jan. 15th, 2024 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sirsystemerrorNot much left to do here. Let's get right into it.
I did a grind pattern in Mirage after all. The first four encounters were 2-5 VAMPIREs (Mage Staff), 1-3 CHIMERAs (Black Shirt), 2-5 VAMPIREs, then 2-5 GUARDs (Thor Hammer). Then I went upstairs and fought two more 2-5 VAMPIRE groups. This was insanely fast and every single encounter paid out thousands of experience; I actually spent more time trying to get optimal level ups than I did getting there in the first place.
46 was the last strong HP up. I skipped AGI here, and once again got the max amount of HP. James ultimately didn't drop a single point of it since I started paying attention. Gaining VIT and HP rolls absolutely do make a difference. Thief's average level 50 HP is 660, and it can have as much as 866 at max. To contrast with Sullla's run which I looked at after, his solo Thief ended with 814. As a more extreme example showing the power of VIT grinding, Aleph my solo Evoker ended with 586HP. But Tandle who did it with NG+ Summoner ended with 715HP. Pretty noticeable. It might seem like going for a large strong HP up doesn't matter, just remember that's only true until it does matter.
Achievement earned, and here's his level 50 stats. I skipped the last level of VIT since it wasn't going to affect anything. The most important thing was max STR. 46 attack is pretty pathetic for a level 50 physical character, but it's the best Thief can do until the second to last room in the game.
Now time to hunt a robot. I will be using the Power Gauntlet here. As you can see above, James' has 46 attack. WarMECH has 80 defense, the same as TIAMAT has. So it's basically critical hits or nothing. You saw how bad my luck on the fiend was. The machine shows no mercy, especially to me across all my challenge runs, so it's only fair that I do the same, right?
The battle started out with Not An Ambush which is always good to see. WarMECH hit hard the first turn even through Defense, and again through two stacks. But after the third, it was never hitting James ever again unless it used NUCLEAR. 80-320 damage with 48 accuracy. The chance of magic dealing double damage uses the same formula as status spells hitting; so in this case: 148 + 48 - 113. So around 41.5% of hitting in the upper range.
James used the Power Gauntlet twice and began the attack. In order, he did: 124, 168, 204, 172. The problem: WarMECH is a regenerative enemy with 1000HP. So it was healing 50 of that at a time. The good news was, it kept on using its physical attack instead of NUCLEAR at a 25% chance. I wondered how long that luck would last, so I had James use Power twice more. WarMECH continued to just spam physicals, and James did another attack.
Now we're tal--
--king??
That's it? That was enough??? It shouldn't have been. Unless in FFR, a regenerative enemy only recovers 2HP at a time instead of 5% like it does in later revisions. It's unclear how much it was supposed to in the original version; the 2HP at a time thing comes from AstralEsper's speculation and how poison deals 2HP at a time. So what gives? And what was with that insane luck with not seeing NUCLEAR?
I genuinely had to test that. Was it a bug like how Frost Ds in earlier versions weren't using BLIZZARD? Hard reset, climb up, wait until encounter 20 again.
Okay, I did get insanely lucky. Jeez. I was right here though so I fought it again. It actually used four in a row just to drive the point across, all low rolls thankfully. Again, I used three Defense Sword RUSEs and two (and only two) Power Gauntlet SABRs.
I'd say that now no one can say I was just lucky the first time, but well, I still was. One hit did half the thing's health. That's kind of the big problem with the solo Thief in vanilla: it is damned into using critical hits to damage some of the late game bosses. Given what just this spellcasting item alone did though, is interesting to think about how differently the challenge meta in FF1 would have been if TMPR/SABR worked as intended. Basically every single one that lets you use it in the first place would've been much, much easier in the late game. Maybe in a strange sense, the game turned out better that way.
Anyway, like I said, screw that (mostly). Final dungeon time, and you better believe I'm going to watch my encounters (and probably get boned by FFR anyway).
With that and prep I got to the black ORB on encounter 22 (had two encounters after the robot).
Encounter 22: slot 2. 1 WORM on the upper floor, as it's supposed to be. Defense 3 times and kill it with Bane Sword out of spite when it hits through two Defense stacks. Encounter 23: slot 4. On F3, this should be Gas Ds. It is instead MAGEs/FIGHTERs. Just run. A slot 7 is next.
And that's the first time I've seen a slot 7 encounter be wrong. I was caught unawares here. Anyway, James moved first and killed them all with the Bane Sword. You might think the POISON-spewing dragons would not be vulnerable to poison, but they are. I can't take credit for this one, that was Wrolyn. I am still surprised this works given they're supposed to have 200 MDef; another bug? FFR's in-game bestiary lists all monsters as having only half the MDef they're supposed to, but this could be another situation like with crit rate where half of what is listed in most guides is technically correct. Still, this is funny and cathartic.
Next was PHANTOM. Three Defense uses and the battle was over: unless 1/201 odds are still a thing in FFR, it could never hurt James ever again. He hacked it up and moved on.
Encounter 25: slot 1. ZombieDs. No! Frost Ds and FrWOLFs. Still, the strategy was relatively unchanged: I just had James use the Mage Staff first to wipe the dogs, then use Defense thrice, heal back to full with the Heal Staff (which I had switched in over Bane Sword) before polishing the giants off. Encounter 26: slot 4, ZombieDs. Defense, heal, kill. Down to ground level, slot 2 is up next. Will it be WORMs or Frost Ds? It was Frost Ds, the wrong thing, on a chance to strike first. Just run.
Earth floor time. The unrunnable encounters here are EARTHs in slots 5, 6, and 7. Slot 1 is next: incorrectly GrMEDUSAs. Slot 4: incorrectly MudGOL/RockGOL. Run from both. I ran into EARTHs correctly on slot 6 after this. Convenient: right before LICH. HEALs are for drinking, but there's no reason not to use the Heal Staff while here.
I switched up James' equipment before LICH: Light Axe and Rune Sword go on.
James started out with a 98 damage hit. LICH did a physical for 27, excellent. The Thief did 131 next. LICH did another physical for 30. Huh? Then the NUKE showed: just 165. James retaliated with 125. LICH used his third physical of the fight for just 45 damage. James did 85. Stylish finish with the Light Axe which did 180, the screenshot of which failed to properly save. Actually, if I have to do this again, this might be optimal.
I switched Dragon Sword back in, as well as Thor Hammer. Up next is another slot 6: supposed to be AGAMAs. But it could be multiple FIREs knowing this so far. I used some HEALs because of it. But it was AGAMAs, so I just had James run. One encounter fire floor, so it was just over to KARY.
Her physicals do hurt, so three Defense uses was in order. Again, I was able to confuse her with the Wizard Staff: she is not weak to status this time but she's not resistant either. Again, she did herself in, though James did help with a big critical of his own.
Black Shirt and Thor Hammer come in for the Water Floor. WATERs should be next. Should being the operative word: it's a LOBSTER/SeaSNAKE/SeaTROLL mix. On a chance to strike first. Zip! Encounter 34, which is slot 7. It's just GrSHARK/BigEYE, and is in fact those. Chance to strike first, poof. A slot 1 up next: should be WATERs and are. Defense thrice, Heal to full, Black Shirt - they're weak to ice, not lit.
As KRAKEN was up next, I had James put the ProCape back on as well as the Coral Sword. Any extra point of absorb will help before I can get Defense up.
KRAKEN moved first with...LIT2. 21 damage. Defense 1, Defense 2, and he used a physical for 130, but it was too late. It was all missed attacks and weak LIT2s from here on out. Easy victory.
A slot 2 was next on the air floor: supposed to be WORMs, instead RockGOLs. If you want proof of how in-control I felt despite all this encounter slot mangling: encounter 37 is slot 7. Or, the infamous SORCERER encounter. I wasn't scared of them: their instant kill physicals could no longer defeat James since he was over 100 MDef. The three all ran from the fight anyway.
Then it was time to claim the ultimate weapon for anyone who doesn't punch stuff. Any and all classes can use the Masmune. It was a massive, massive offensive upgrade. He lost no crit% from this weapon compared to the Dragon Sword and got a fifth hit.
Next slot was 1, this turned out to be the VAMPIRE/WzVAMP group in FFR. Should be a GrSHARK/SHARK group and should actually probably be AIRs. They did show up next in slot 4: I guess that one can be filed under a bugfix. Then the NITEMARE/EVILMAN group, where it was supposed to be in slot 5. Maybe the only dangerous thing here at this point if the latter somehow cast twice at 25% odds and use NUKE, but it was a chance to strike first so it didn't matter.
TIAMAT wasn't even worth writing about at this point. I did still use Defense three times because of what happened with my solo Evoker getting one-shot by her physical criticals. Speaking of, dayum. He would do 832 right after. Though I would've liked to see these after.
Nothing else was in the way, so that meant only CHAOS stood between James and victory.
Round 1: Defense. CHAOS used ICE3 for 44. CHAOS then used a physical for 181. This is why you still might want to Defense here. A third time as CRACK fell ineffective.
James' first attack was 5 hits/123 damage. CHAOS used INFERNO for 86. Then SWIRL for 176. Then James just said "lol" and smashed off close to half his health. He did 157 on the next turn. CHAOS used LIT3 for 42. James did 128. CHAOS missed a physical. Still, 314 health is suspect.
Heh. Speaking of 314.
Oh, screw you.
I knew this could happen and I came prepared with a countermeasure that I intended to use only in this situation. He used TORNADO, then a physical, as I used it twice. James swung for 78 damage, then CHAOS used CUR4. Still not giving up. I used some more, and chugged HEALs.
But it wasn't enough to survive a high-rolled NUKE. James was sent blasting off again.
I just rampaged through the temple. No need to think too hard about it, just kill everything and use HEALs liberally. I still had 17 of them left by the end; no Heal staff needed (although LICH not using NUKE helped that). And really, I was encounter counting just for demonstrative and showy purposes. Going through as usual worked just fine too. It didn't take me long to make it back to the big boss, though something funny happened that I wish I caught: I had another slot 7 encounter on the air floor. I just hit run because why wouldn't I? James failed to run at like 1/65 odds. That is insanely rare on a high-level Thief. The battle ended there anyway because all the SORCERERs ran instead. Told you it wasn't scary.
CHAOS, take 2. ICE3 for 63, Defense cast 1. CRACK, Defense cast 2. INFERNO for 57, Defense cast 3. Sticking to no Power Gauntlet unless SLO2 hits again. THEN I will try. CHAOS missed a physical, James did 90. SWIRL for 246, sheesh. That was close to max damage there. James did 111. CHAOS misses a physical...
...and James does 514. That's more like it. Turn 7: 167 from James, CHAOS misses another physical. Turn 8: TORNADO does 144, James does 172. Out comes LIT3 on turn 9 for 37, James does 102. Then 164 on the next turn. 680HP left, and here comes SLO2...
Ineffective! But CUR4 is on the way, so James is not out of the woods just yet.
Except he said "screw that noise" and put an end to it on turn 11.
That was certainly a challenge of all time. I uh, definitely got a little deranged there, didn't I? This was my first time using encounter watching, a very advanced strategy in challenge running, but I wasn't expecting it to be foiled by FFR's inaccurate coding. Hopefully it's something Ozmo is able to take a look at in the future, but I'd understand if it's a hassle to fully fix. It is insane, no doubt. But then again, there's nothing else you can really do to help with solo Thief. The class has nothing going for it but FIGHT and the usual ITEMS command that every class can use. I'll probably use it again in future challenges, just on a much smaller scale.
Some other assorted comments: the crit bug being fixed complicated this compared to doing it on NES. And yeah, I'm still not sure how to feel about the Power Gauntlet. It's a game breaker. No regrets about mostly ignoring it at the end of the day. The challenge wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, but make no mistake, that grind before ASTOS was horrid. Can you really blame me for encounter manipulation with the grinds? I've done it before. Anyone who's used the KYZOKU trick has done it before. But it was fun figuring out where and how were the best spots. As usual, things became less involved after getting the Airship; it can't be understated how much of a game-changer Ribbons are.
That said, FFR is always changing, so this run won't play out the same way if done on a different version. Like the Power Gauntlets being reined in on earlier versions, or if that encounter slot placement thing gets fixed. Maybe enemy MDef if that's actually not intended either, but it's less noticeable with this class compared to one who can use status.
Now, what if I was to do this in Renaissance mode? Well, I'll leave that to someone else, but there would be only a few changes. The Thief is still the same limp-wristed and inferior physical attacker as it always is. It gains the MUG command, but it doesn't need money. The SEARCH ability would be a moderate game-changer in the following ways:
- A Scimtar can be obtained in the Temple of Fiends, giving a minute boost sooner and saving a bit of cash you probably have tons of anyway.
- The Med Cap can be obtained in the Marsh Cave (in 2.0), giving 2 absorb while being heavier. And poison immunity if you're allergic to PUREs for some reason.
- The Spirit Cap can be obtained on Earth Cave B4 (also in 2.0). This is a bit late; most of the way through the second dungeon with lots of stunning undead, but it renders a lot of the threat of the Ice Cave irrelevant. Same for the Slime Cap in the pit room in the Ice Cave: encounter table gaming can help for knowing when to swap it in for COCTRICEs.
- The biggest thing would be the Assassn Dagger, which can be obtained in Castle Ordeals. Its 16/20/30 offenses blow anything else Thief can use (Masmune notwithstanding) out of the water and turn it into a passable physical force.
- Fire and Ice Gloves in Gurgu/Ice Cave can be found for minor resistances before the Ribbon is obtained.
- A Red Shirt can be obtained in Mirage to cast SLO2. Inferior to using the Defense Sword, but it exists I guess.
- It can get the Diamond Bracelet in ToFR for 42 absorb at the very end of the game.
Achievement obtained. I'm certainly taking at least a couple weeks break from FFR after this, though. There's plenty of other games I'm really overdue in getting around to. But I'll spoil the name of the other Classic Mode challenge I have in mind: martial mages. Until then, thanks for reading.
Index
I did a grind pattern in Mirage after all. The first four encounters were 2-5 VAMPIREs (Mage Staff), 1-3 CHIMERAs (Black Shirt), 2-5 VAMPIREs, then 2-5 GUARDs (Thor Hammer). Then I went upstairs and fought two more 2-5 VAMPIRE groups. This was insanely fast and every single encounter paid out thousands of experience; I actually spent more time trying to get optimal level ups than I did getting there in the first place.
46 was the last strong HP up. I skipped AGI here, and once again got the max amount of HP. James ultimately didn't drop a single point of it since I started paying attention. Gaining VIT and HP rolls absolutely do make a difference. Thief's average level 50 HP is 660, and it can have as much as 866 at max. To contrast with Sullla's run which I looked at after, his solo Thief ended with 814. As a more extreme example showing the power of VIT grinding, Aleph my solo Evoker ended with 586HP. But Tandle who did it with NG+ Summoner ended with 715HP. Pretty noticeable. It might seem like going for a large strong HP up doesn't matter, just remember that's only true until it does matter.
Achievement earned, and here's his level 50 stats. I skipped the last level of VIT since it wasn't going to affect anything. The most important thing was max STR. 46 attack is pretty pathetic for a level 50 physical character, but it's the best Thief can do until the second to last room in the game.
Now time to hunt a robot. I will be using the Power Gauntlet here. As you can see above, James' has 46 attack. WarMECH has 80 defense, the same as TIAMAT has. So it's basically critical hits or nothing. You saw how bad my luck on the fiend was. The machine shows no mercy, especially to me across all my challenge runs, so it's only fair that I do the same, right?
The battle started out with Not An Ambush which is always good to see. WarMECH hit hard the first turn even through Defense, and again through two stacks. But after the third, it was never hitting James ever again unless it used NUCLEAR. 80-320 damage with 48 accuracy. The chance of magic dealing double damage uses the same formula as status spells hitting; so in this case: 148 + 48 - 113. So around 41.5% of hitting in the upper range.
James used the Power Gauntlet twice and began the attack. In order, he did: 124, 168, 204, 172. The problem: WarMECH is a regenerative enemy with 1000HP. So it was healing 50 of that at a time. The good news was, it kept on using its physical attack instead of NUCLEAR at a 25% chance. I wondered how long that luck would last, so I had James use Power twice more. WarMECH continued to just spam physicals, and James did another attack.
Now we're tal--
--king??
That's it? That was enough??? It shouldn't have been. Unless in FFR, a regenerative enemy only recovers 2HP at a time instead of 5% like it does in later revisions. It's unclear how much it was supposed to in the original version; the 2HP at a time thing comes from AstralEsper's speculation and how poison deals 2HP at a time. So what gives? And what was with that insane luck with not seeing NUCLEAR?
I genuinely had to test that. Was it a bug like how Frost Ds in earlier versions weren't using BLIZZARD? Hard reset, climb up, wait until encounter 20 again.
Okay, I did get insanely lucky. Jeez. I was right here though so I fought it again. It actually used four in a row just to drive the point across, all low rolls thankfully. Again, I used three Defense Sword RUSEs and two (and only two) Power Gauntlet SABRs.
I'd say that now no one can say I was just lucky the first time, but well, I still was. One hit did half the thing's health. That's kind of the big problem with the solo Thief in vanilla: it is damned into using critical hits to damage some of the late game bosses. Given what just this spellcasting item alone did though, is interesting to think about how differently the challenge meta in FF1 would have been if TMPR/SABR worked as intended. Basically every single one that lets you use it in the first place would've been much, much easier in the late game. Maybe in a strange sense, the game turned out better that way.
Anyway, like I said, screw that (mostly). Final dungeon time, and you better believe I'm going to watch my encounters (and probably get boned by FFR anyway).
With that and prep I got to the black ORB on encounter 22 (had two encounters after the robot).
Encounter 22: slot 2. 1 WORM on the upper floor, as it's supposed to be. Defense 3 times and kill it with Bane Sword out of spite when it hits through two Defense stacks. Encounter 23: slot 4. On F3, this should be Gas Ds. It is instead MAGEs/FIGHTERs. Just run. A slot 7 is next.
And that's the first time I've seen a slot 7 encounter be wrong. I was caught unawares here. Anyway, James moved first and killed them all with the Bane Sword. You might think the POISON-spewing dragons would not be vulnerable to poison, but they are. I can't take credit for this one, that was Wrolyn. I am still surprised this works given they're supposed to have 200 MDef; another bug? FFR's in-game bestiary lists all monsters as having only half the MDef they're supposed to, but this could be another situation like with crit rate where half of what is listed in most guides is technically correct. Still, this is funny and cathartic.
Next was PHANTOM. Three Defense uses and the battle was over: unless 1/201 odds are still a thing in FFR, it could never hurt James ever again. He hacked it up and moved on.
Encounter 25: slot 1. ZombieDs. No! Frost Ds and FrWOLFs. Still, the strategy was relatively unchanged: I just had James use the Mage Staff first to wipe the dogs, then use Defense thrice, heal back to full with the Heal Staff (which I had switched in over Bane Sword) before polishing the giants off. Encounter 26: slot 4, ZombieDs. Defense, heal, kill. Down to ground level, slot 2 is up next. Will it be WORMs or Frost Ds? It was Frost Ds, the wrong thing, on a chance to strike first. Just run.
Earth floor time. The unrunnable encounters here are EARTHs in slots 5, 6, and 7. Slot 1 is next: incorrectly GrMEDUSAs. Slot 4: incorrectly MudGOL/RockGOL. Run from both. I ran into EARTHs correctly on slot 6 after this. Convenient: right before LICH. HEALs are for drinking, but there's no reason not to use the Heal Staff while here.
I switched up James' equipment before LICH: Light Axe and Rune Sword go on.
James started out with a 98 damage hit. LICH did a physical for 27, excellent. The Thief did 131 next. LICH did another physical for 30. Huh? Then the NUKE showed: just 165. James retaliated with 125. LICH used his third physical of the fight for just 45 damage. James did 85. Stylish finish with the Light Axe which did 180, the screenshot of which failed to properly save. Actually, if I have to do this again, this might be optimal.
I switched Dragon Sword back in, as well as Thor Hammer. Up next is another slot 6: supposed to be AGAMAs. But it could be multiple FIREs knowing this so far. I used some HEALs because of it. But it was AGAMAs, so I just had James run. One encounter fire floor, so it was just over to KARY.
Her physicals do hurt, so three Defense uses was in order. Again, I was able to confuse her with the Wizard Staff: she is not weak to status this time but she's not resistant either. Again, she did herself in, though James did help with a big critical of his own.
Black Shirt and Thor Hammer come in for the Water Floor. WATERs should be next. Should being the operative word: it's a LOBSTER/SeaSNAKE/SeaTROLL mix. On a chance to strike first. Zip! Encounter 34, which is slot 7. It's just GrSHARK/BigEYE, and is in fact those. Chance to strike first, poof. A slot 1 up next: should be WATERs and are. Defense thrice, Heal to full, Black Shirt - they're weak to ice, not lit.
As KRAKEN was up next, I had James put the ProCape back on as well as the Coral Sword. Any extra point of absorb will help before I can get Defense up.
KRAKEN moved first with...LIT2. 21 damage. Defense 1, Defense 2, and he used a physical for 130, but it was too late. It was all missed attacks and weak LIT2s from here on out. Easy victory.
A slot 2 was next on the air floor: supposed to be WORMs, instead RockGOLs. If you want proof of how in-control I felt despite all this encounter slot mangling: encounter 37 is slot 7. Or, the infamous SORCERER encounter. I wasn't scared of them: their instant kill physicals could no longer defeat James since he was over 100 MDef. The three all ran from the fight anyway.
Then it was time to claim the ultimate weapon for anyone who doesn't punch stuff. Any and all classes can use the Masmune. It was a massive, massive offensive upgrade. He lost no crit% from this weapon compared to the Dragon Sword and got a fifth hit.
Next slot was 1, this turned out to be the VAMPIRE/WzVAMP group in FFR. Should be a GrSHARK/SHARK group and should actually probably be AIRs. They did show up next in slot 4: I guess that one can be filed under a bugfix. Then the NITEMARE/EVILMAN group, where it was supposed to be in slot 5. Maybe the only dangerous thing here at this point if the latter somehow cast twice at 25% odds and use NUKE, but it was a chance to strike first so it didn't matter.
TIAMAT wasn't even worth writing about at this point. I did still use Defense three times because of what happened with my solo Evoker getting one-shot by her physical criticals. Speaking of, dayum. He would do 832 right after. Though I would've liked to see these after.
Nothing else was in the way, so that meant only CHAOS stood between James and victory.
Round 1: Defense. CHAOS used ICE3 for 44. CHAOS then used a physical for 181. This is why you still might want to Defense here. A third time as CRACK fell ineffective.
James' first attack was 5 hits/123 damage. CHAOS used INFERNO for 86. Then SWIRL for 176. Then James just said "lol" and smashed off close to half his health. He did 157 on the next turn. CHAOS used LIT3 for 42. James did 128. CHAOS missed a physical. Still, 314 health is suspect.
Heh. Speaking of 314.
Oh, screw you.
I knew this could happen and I came prepared with a countermeasure that I intended to use only in this situation. He used TORNADO, then a physical, as I used it twice. James swung for 78 damage, then CHAOS used CUR4. Still not giving up. I used some more, and chugged HEALs.
But it wasn't enough to survive a high-rolled NUKE. James was sent blasting off again.
I just rampaged through the temple. No need to think too hard about it, just kill everything and use HEALs liberally. I still had 17 of them left by the end; no Heal staff needed (although LICH not using NUKE helped that). And really, I was encounter counting just for demonstrative and showy purposes. Going through as usual worked just fine too. It didn't take me long to make it back to the big boss, though something funny happened that I wish I caught: I had another slot 7 encounter on the air floor. I just hit run because why wouldn't I? James failed to run at like 1/65 odds. That is insanely rare on a high-level Thief. The battle ended there anyway because all the SORCERERs ran instead. Told you it wasn't scary.
CHAOS, take 2. ICE3 for 63, Defense cast 1. CRACK, Defense cast 2. INFERNO for 57, Defense cast 3. Sticking to no Power Gauntlet unless SLO2 hits again. THEN I will try. CHAOS missed a physical, James did 90. SWIRL for 246, sheesh. That was close to max damage there. James did 111. CHAOS misses a physical...
...and James does 514. That's more like it. Turn 7: 167 from James, CHAOS misses another physical. Turn 8: TORNADO does 144, James does 172. Out comes LIT3 on turn 9 for 37, James does 102. Then 164 on the next turn. 680HP left, and here comes SLO2...
Ineffective! But CUR4 is on the way, so James is not out of the woods just yet.
Except he said "screw that noise" and put an end to it on turn 11.
That was certainly a challenge of all time. I uh, definitely got a little deranged there, didn't I? This was my first time using encounter watching, a very advanced strategy in challenge running, but I wasn't expecting it to be foiled by FFR's inaccurate coding. Hopefully it's something Ozmo is able to take a look at in the future, but I'd understand if it's a hassle to fully fix. It is insane, no doubt. But then again, there's nothing else you can really do to help with solo Thief. The class has nothing going for it but FIGHT and the usual ITEMS command that every class can use. I'll probably use it again in future challenges, just on a much smaller scale.
Some other assorted comments: the crit bug being fixed complicated this compared to doing it on NES. And yeah, I'm still not sure how to feel about the Power Gauntlet. It's a game breaker. No regrets about mostly ignoring it at the end of the day. The challenge wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, but make no mistake, that grind before ASTOS was horrid. Can you really blame me for encounter manipulation with the grinds? I've done it before. Anyone who's used the KYZOKU trick has done it before. But it was fun figuring out where and how were the best spots. As usual, things became less involved after getting the Airship; it can't be understated how much of a game-changer Ribbons are.
That said, FFR is always changing, so this run won't play out the same way if done on a different version. Like the Power Gauntlets being reined in on earlier versions, or if that encounter slot placement thing gets fixed. Maybe enemy MDef if that's actually not intended either, but it's less noticeable with this class compared to one who can use status.
Now, what if I was to do this in Renaissance mode? Well, I'll leave that to someone else, but there would be only a few changes. The Thief is still the same limp-wristed and inferior physical attacker as it always is. It gains the MUG command, but it doesn't need money. The SEARCH ability would be a moderate game-changer in the following ways:
- A Scimtar can be obtained in the Temple of Fiends, giving a minute boost sooner and saving a bit of cash you probably have tons of anyway.
- The Med Cap can be obtained in the Marsh Cave (in 2.0), giving 2 absorb while being heavier. And poison immunity if you're allergic to PUREs for some reason.
- The Spirit Cap can be obtained on Earth Cave B4 (also in 2.0). This is a bit late; most of the way through the second dungeon with lots of stunning undead, but it renders a lot of the threat of the Ice Cave irrelevant. Same for the Slime Cap in the pit room in the Ice Cave: encounter table gaming can help for knowing when to swap it in for COCTRICEs.
- The biggest thing would be the Assassn Dagger, which can be obtained in Castle Ordeals. Its 16/20/30 offenses blow anything else Thief can use (Masmune notwithstanding) out of the water and turn it into a passable physical force.
- Fire and Ice Gloves in Gurgu/Ice Cave can be found for minor resistances before the Ribbon is obtained.
- A Red Shirt can be obtained in Mirage to cast SLO2. Inferior to using the Defense Sword, but it exists I guess.
- It can get the Diamond Bracelet in ToFR for 42 absorb at the very end of the game.
Achievement obtained. I'm certainly taking at least a couple weeks break from FFR after this, though. There's plenty of other games I'm really overdue in getting around to. But I'll spoil the name of the other Classic Mode challenge I have in mind: martial mages. Until then, thanks for reading.
Index
