Final Fantasy (PSP Anniversary Edition)

2011-09-08 12:32:50 pm

Quote:

Lich 2: Died in 5 hits. No haste/saber/temper.
Maralith 2: Died in 5 hits. No haste/saber/temper.
Kraken 2: Died in 6 hits. No haste/saber/temper.
Tiamat 2: Died in 9 hits. No haste/saber/temper.

This should seem obvious, but definitely cast Haste now that you know how long they will take. Haste is a short animation, and it will make up the time on at the very least Kraken 2 and afterwards. Smiley

Terribleno

2012-10-03 11:27:40 am

Epic bump of futility!

Got a question for you, VG. Did you do your RTAs with a 3000 model?

Sir VG

2012-10-03 01:45:10 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

Yes, I use a PSP-3000 using component out.

http://www.twitch.tv/sir_vg/b/334306892

Here's a video, BTW, about the Equipment glitch and showing it off and how to do it. And all that jazz.

Terribleno

2012-10-04 01:28:15 am

"You can't already have the item in your inventory." <-- I'll bet that's why I never managed to execute this bug. I had an end-game save with I think everything there was. Rad, thanks for the link, looks as easy as I thought it was. Cheesy

Sir VG

2012-10-04 02:02:10 am

Fucking Weeaboo

Well, you can have it in inventory, it just pulls the item from there first instead of creating it from thin error.

(Yes, that typo was intentional.)

Terribleno

2012-10-18 03:05:04 pm

Ok, I'm curious about something. Your goal is sub-1:57 (I assume realtime, but if it's gametime I already have it beat), and I can't really seem to figure out what your route is.
My route:
Cornelia, buy 1 Hammer, turn it into 16 Knight's Armor, sell 4 of them. Buy Cure for mages. Buy at least 20 Antidote and Phoenix Down (safety!)
Shrine of Chaos: Get Leather Cap, turn into 4 Judgment Staff. Beat up the guy.
Pravoca: Flare-spam Pirates, get ship.
Elf land: Buy 1 Dagger, turn into 16 Dragon Mail, sell 4 of them, sell rest of Knight's Armor. Buy at least 20 Gold Needles (safety!)
Marsh Cave: Get Cottage, Flare-spam Piscodemons, get crown.
Northwest Castle: Beat Astos, get crystal eye.
Matoya's Cave: Get jolt tonic.
Elf Castle: Get mystic key, get Mithril Hammer, turn it into Thief's Armlet, equip on attackers. It raises evade and accuracy enough that it matters, and losing 6 points of defense would not affect anything.
Cornelia Castle: Get nitro powder.
Dwarf Cave: Blow up canal.
Melmond: Buy 1 Steel Gloves, turn it into 4 Barbarian's Sword. Note: Sometime between now and the second trip into the Earth Cave the cottage will be used. Depends on how much HP/MP you have left.
Earth Cave: Beat up Vampire, get star ruby.
Titan's Tunnel: Just passing through...
Sarda's Cave: Get earth rod.
Earth Cave: Beat up Lich.
Crescent Lake: Buy 99 Ethers, get canoe.
Ice Cave: Sometime between entering and getting to the levistone, two characters (not the white mage) must die somehow. Get levistone, farm Evil Eye until level 33.
Ryukahn Desert: Get airship.
Get Bottled Fairie, get Oxyale, go to Waterfall.
Waterfall: Get Ribbon (optionally equipped), get warp cube.
Onrac: Get Healaga.
Sunken Shrine: Get rosetta stone, beat up Kraken.
OMG RETURN TO MELMOND, learn Lufenian language.
Lufenia: Get bell, get trolled by townsfolk.
Mirage Tower: Just passing through...
Floating Castle: Beat up Tiamat.
Volcano: Beat up Marilith.
Temple of Chaos: Beat up Death Eye, Lich, Marilith, Kraken, Tiamat, and Chaos.
Huh?

Profit!

Still feel like I'm missing something.

Ok, I'm curious about something. Your goal is sub-1:57 (I assume realtime, but if it's gametime I already have it beat), and I can't really seem to figure out what your route is.
My route:
Cornelia, buy 1 Hammer, turn it into 16 Knight's Armor, sell 4 of them. Buy Cure for mages. Buy at least 20 Antidote and Phoenix Down (safety!)
Shrine of Chaos: Get Leather Cap, turn into 4 Judgment Staff. Beat up the guy.
Pravoca: Flare-spam Pirates, get ship.
Elf land: Buy 1 Dagger, turn into 16 Dragon Mail, sell 4 of them, sell rest of Knight's Armor. Buy at least 20 Gold Needles (safety!)
Marsh Cave: Get Cottage, Flare-spam Piscodemons, get crown.
Northwest Castle: Beat Astos, get crystal eye.
Matoya's Cave: Get jolt tonic.
Elf Castle: Get mystic key, get Mithril Hammer, turn it into Thief's Armlet, equip on attackers. It raises evade and accuracy enough that it matters, and losing 6 points of defense would not affect anything.
Cornelia Castle: Get nitro powder.
Dwarf Cave: Blow up canal.
Melmond: Buy 1 Steel Gloves, turn it into 4 Barbarian's Sword. Note: Sometime between now and the second trip into the Earth Cave the cottage will be used. Depends on how much HP/MP you have left.
Earth Cave: Beat up Vampire, get star ruby.
Titan's Tunnel: Just passing through...
Sarda's Cave: Get earth rod.
Earth Cave: Beat up Lich.
Crescent Lake: Buy 99 Ethers, get canoe.
Ice Cave: Sometime between entering and getting to the levistone, two characters (not the white mage) must die somehow. Get levistone, farm Evil Eye until level 33.
Ryukahn Desert: Get airship.
Get Bottled Fairie, get Oxyale, go to Waterfall.
Waterfall: Get Ribbon (optionally equipped), get warp cube.
Onrac: Get Healaga.
Sunken Shrine: Get rosetta stone, beat up Kraken.
OMG RETURN TO MELMOND, learn Lufenian language.
Lufenia: Get bell, get trolled by townsfolk.
Mirage Tower: Just passing through...
Floating Castle: Beat up Tiamat.
Volcano: Beat up Marilith.
Temple of Chaos: Beat up Death Eye, Lich, Marilith, Kraken, Tiamat, and Chaos.
???
Profit!

Still feel like I'm missing something.

Sir VG

2012-10-18 03:29:22 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

The Sub 1:57 is in-game time, which is what would be used anyways. I know it's beatable, but I haven't really devoted time to it in a while.

It appears you're doing more duping/glitching then I did. Also, I farmed the Blue Dragon at the top of Mirage Tower. I don't know off hand how much different the EXP is, but I see your idea why - you can get the Healaga at Onrac while you're there instead of going back as I do.

Most of the route though is pretty straight forward. I see you're also saving Marilith for last, which is what I do too.

Terribleno

2012-10-18 03:45:58 pm

While the Evil Eye gives 49 less experience per fight, both attacks that it does (that it can do on the first round) have far shorter animations, and are overall less threatening than Blue Dragon's Thunderbolt. Slightly riskier since the entire Ice Cave can slaughter you on that floor, but once you're high enough the chance is negligible.

Terribleno

2012-11-18 07:26:27 am

After a marathon practice run yesterday, I can confirm that picking up Haste is always going to be worth it. The Speed Tonics are only temporary, and don't help that much, and although I can't 100% confirm it yet, I suspect Steel, Saber, and the Strength Tonics don't do anything (a la NES version).

Terribleno

2013-01-16 01:52:05 pm

Since marathon strats are out now, I'm strictly concentrating on destroying this game. The goal is sub-1:50 real time, on the premise that RNG is controlling what time I get. However, today I managed to squeeze out a 1:53:53 (1:45 game time on final save), which is single-segment. I won't be doing any RTA attempts, since if I'm just going for RNG I may as well do segmented instead.

That said, I'm contemplating submitting this run, but I would reject it for one reason: route fail. After the Ice Cave, I went to Elfland to get Haste for my Red Mage, but Red wasn't high enough level, so I ended up wasting close to a minute first losing my bearings getting to Elfland, then in Elfland itself by not being able to get the spell.

Sub-1:50 is possible, and I'm going to keep trying for it. If it comes easily enough, I may have an even more insane goal in the future. :p

Sir VG

2013-01-16 01:57:18 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

Congrats. I mean DAMN YOU. YOU SUCK. Tongue

Terribleno

2013-01-21 12:41:22 pm

ROUTE UPDATE!

Thanks to Nitrodon, two route alterations are coming into play, and 1 derp moment has been erased as well.

In Crescent Lake, buy 1 Mythril Axe (it's right there since I buy 99 Ethers anyway), glitch that into 2xBlack Garb for White Mage and Red Mage, maybe to reduce menu time take one off of them and put on my Thief. The Black Garb gives +10 Agility, which is better than the +5 the Thief's Armlet gives.

In the Sunken Shrine, pick up the Light Axe found on the Ribbon floor, glitch that into 2xSurvival Vest for the White Mage, White Mage, and Thief. I'll be doing some testing to see how quickly and effectively I can glitch, but I suspect that the Thief will only get 1 Survival Vest/Black Garb, though at least he'll still have the Thief's Armlet since it'll be on his head.

Both of these will max out the Thief's accuracy much quicker, and since everyone is getting an agility boost, preemptive and fleeing rates should be much better, at least in theory. This should help to mitigate some of the RNG hell that I will encounter. If it proves to be necessary, I could double-glitch the Black Garb/Survival Vest into the Mythril Axe/Light Axe onto whoever is next to the Fighter, and glitch the Garb/Vest onto my Fighter. Again, only if necessary.

As for my derp, I never realized that the Red Mage can naturally equip the Barbarian's Sword, and I was always glitching the sword onto him when I never needed to. Thanks again, Nitrodon! Cheesy

ROUTE UPDATE!

Thanks to Nitrodon, two route alterations are coming into play, and 1 derp moment has been erased as well.

In Crescent Lake, buy 1 Mythril Axe (it's right there since I buy 99 Ethers anyway), glitch that into 2xBlack Garb for White Mage and Red Mage, maybe to reduce menu time take one off of them and put on my Thief. The Black Garb gives +10 Agility, which is better than the +5 the Thief's Armlet gives.

In the Sunken Shrine, pick up the Light Axe found on the Ribbon floor, glitch that into 2xSurvival Vest for the White Mage, White Mage, and Thief. I'll be doing some testing to see how quickly and effectively I can glitch, but I suspect that the Thief will only get 1 Survival Vest/Black Garb, though at least he'll still have the Thief's Armlet since it'll be on his head.

Both of these will max out the Thief's accuracy [i]much quicker[/i], and since everyone is getting an agility boost, preemptive and fleeing rates should be much better, at least in theory. This should help to mitigate some of the RNG hell that I will encounter. If it proves to be necessary, I could double-glitch the Black Garb/Survival Vest into the Mythril Axe/Light Axe onto whoever is next to the Fighter, and glitch the Garb/Vest onto my Fighter. Again, only if necessary.

As for my derp, I never realized that the Red Mage can naturally equip the Barbarian's Sword, and I was always glitching the sword onto him when I never needed to. Thanks again, Nitrodon! :D

Terribleno

2013-01-23 02:48:56 pm

1:46:49. This is getting submitted, but with the basis that I will still try and improve it.

Terribleno

2013-03-05 10:23:17 am

Yay, the 1:46:49 was accepted! Cheesy

Time to update the route! Currently, Ashe_bug and myself are experimenting with picking up a Leather Shield in Pravoca, and turning it into 3 Mage's Staves. The idea is Fira is a faster cast than Flare (about 4.9 seconds vs 8 seconds), but the damage drop is bigger than I expected. Fira only did about 40 damage to the Pirates (they have 24 HP, so no biggie there). An idea was to use Fira against the Piscodemons, but a quick test threw that out the window immediately.

The next change is to pick up an Iron Shield in Elfheim, and glitch that into 2 Defenders (one on the Thief, one on the Red Mage). Two purposes for this, and unfortunately the first is RNG-dependent. Hope you get 2 Piscodemons when you go for the Crown, then let your Defender-wielding members bop them over the head. The second is for Astos. Two people should be wearing a Judgment Staff, the other two should be wielding a Defender. Bop Astos over the head. An optimal fight should take about 28 seconds. By comparison, the Astos fight in my 1:46:49 that spams Flare takes 54.1 seconds.

The third change is picking up the Mithril Knife in Cornelia Castle and glitching it into 4 Black Robes. We're thinking that Blizzara with a faster cast than Flare (about 3.69 seconds vs 8 seconds), it can kill fodder just as quickly. I'm not sure on damage yet, since I don't have a file at any point that can be reliably tested for it. That said, it's going to take a full run to test this and the Mage's Staff to see if elemental weakness will make up any differences.

The only two places I see the Robe getting use are the Sunken Shrine and Water Floor of the final dungeon. The Mage's Staff will likely only get used against that angry pack of wolves that won't let you run, almost everything in the Ice Cave, some stuff during the Lufenian trip, and the Earth Floor of the final dungeon.

Yay, the 1:46:49 was accepted! :D

Time to update the route! Currently, Ashe_bug and myself are experimenting with picking up a Leather Shield in Pravoca, and turning it into 3 Mage's Staves. The idea is Fira is a faster cast than Flare (about 4.9 seconds vs 8 seconds), but the damage drop is bigger than I expected. Fira only did about 40 damage to the Pirates (they have 24 HP, so no biggie there). An idea was to use Fira against the Piscodemons, but a quick test threw that out the window immediately.

The next change is to pick up an Iron Shield in Elfheim, and glitch that into 2 Defenders (one on the Thief, one on the Red Mage). Two purposes for this, and unfortunately the first is RNG-dependent. Hope you get 2 Piscodemons when you go for the Crown, then let your Defender-wielding members bop them over the head. The second is for Astos. Two people should be wearing a Judgment Staff, the other two should be wielding a Defender. Bop Astos over the head. An optimal fight should take about 28 seconds. By comparison, the Astos fight in my 1:46:49 that spams Flare takes 54.1 seconds.

The third change is picking up the Mithril Knife in Cornelia Castle and glitching it into 4 Black Robes. We're thinking that Blizzara with a faster cast than Flare (about 3.69 seconds vs 8 seconds), it can kill fodder just as quickly. I'm not sure on damage yet, since I don't have a file at any point that can be reliably tested for it. That said, it's going to take a full run to test this and the Mage's Staff to see if elemental weakness will make up any differences.

The only two places I see the Robe getting use are the Sunken Shrine and Water Floor of the final dungeon. The Mage's Staff will likely only get used against that angry pack of wolves that won't let you run, almost everything in the Ice Cave, some stuff during the Lufenian trip, and the Earth Floor of the final dungeon.

Terribleno

2013-03-19 12:35:54 am

So yeah, that happened. Why yes, this is Mecha Richter calling. :p

Things to note: I completely forgot that I had Black Robes in the Sunken Shrine, and as little as I needed them, I can probably cut them from the route. It didn't help that I almost forgot to get the Mythril Knife to get Black Robes in the first place...

There's more to pick apart which I'll be doing with my submission notes. Cheesy

Lenophis

Edit history:

Lenophis: 2013-05-27 09:10:12 pm

Lenophis: 2013-05-27 09:09:46 pm

Lenophis: 2013-05-27 09:09:06 pm

2013-05-27 09:04:39 pm

0-10

Time for the ol bump of route updates.

First, Cure is out, and buying 99 Potions is in. Why 99 instead of a lesser number? Well, I figure you'll need at minimum 60 to safely get to Onrac when you pick up Healaga, and 99 is so close to 61 it's really nothing to press up a couple more times.
Second, buying Ethers in Pravoca is out, instead you can buy them in Onrac when you pick up Healaga. This is more of a menu-management thing.
Third, an issue was brought up in the accepted thread of my 1:37:57 (1:29):

Quote:

Temple of Chaos is good but questionable use of haste, or at least bad luck with who goes first after haste.

If I swap out the Dragon Mail for a third Survival Vest on my Red Mage, he will just barely have more agility than the Thief. This will lead to my Red Mage going first more often, but will not guarantee it. However, with some luck, Marilith and Kraken refights can both be finished in one round with proper hasting.

I had been experimenting with the Giant's Gloves. While the attack boost it gives is useless with the Barbarian's Sword (I don't know why, but I'd wager a guess that it uses its own formula for damage), the accuracy boost is still very helpful. However, since it would be silly to use a round to boost accuracy instead of doing damage when just about everything dies quickly, that meant the only enemy this could be conceivably used against was Chaos. Given a normal battle scenario, you'll save approximately 6 seconds during the battle with Chaos. Unfortunately, it'll take between 20 and 50 seconds to pick up in the Sunken Shrine.

I had been tinkering ever-so-slightly with a possible "all dungeons" category, but after testing a theory route, I realized that it would inevitably have to include the Labyrinth of Time... That place is hell, and very much anti-speed. So no "all dungeons" category. Feasible on Dawn of Souls, since you only have the 4 Soul of Chaos dungeons to deal with. Doesn't make it any easier with Shinryu and Omega breathing down your necks, though!

Another bright idea (sic) I had was a potential "all bosses" category. However, that is even worse than the above, since it involves completing Earthgift 4 times, Hellfire and Lifespring twice each, and the Labyrith of Time a whopping 8 times.

Sadly, 100% would probably fall under something close to the "all dungeons" category.

Time for the ol bump of route updates.

First, Cure is out, and buying 99 Potions is in. Why 99 instead of a lesser number? Well, I figure you'll need at minimum 60 to safely get to Onrac when you pick up Healaga, and 99 is so close to 61 it's really nothing to press up a couple more times.
Second, buying Ethers in Pravoca is out, instead you can buy them in Onrac when you pick up Healaga. This is more of a menu-management thing.
Third, an issue was brought up in the [url=/post/final_fantasy_anniversary_edition__april_29th_2013.html]accepted thread[/url] of my 1:37:57 (1:29):
[quote]Temple of Chaos is good but questionable use of haste, or at least bad luck with who goes first after haste.[/quote]
If I swap out the Dragon Mail for a third Survival Vest on my Red Mage, he will just barely have more agility than the Thief. This will lead to my Red Mage going first [i]more often[/i], but will not guarantee it. However, with some luck, Marilith and Kraken refights can both be finished in one round with proper hasting.

I had been experimenting with the Giant's Gloves. While the attack boost it gives is useless with the Barbarian's Sword (I don't know why, but I'd wager a guess that it uses its own formula for damage), the accuracy boost is still very helpful. However, since it would be silly to use a round to boost accuracy instead of doing damage when just about everything dies quickly, that meant the only enemy this could be conceivably used against was Chaos. Given a normal battle scenario, you'll save approximately 6 seconds during the battle with Chaos. Unfortunately, it'll take between 20 and 50 seconds to pick up in the Sunken Shrine.

I had been tinkering ever-so-slightly with a possible "all dungeons" category, but after testing a theory route, I realized that it would inevitably have to include the Labyrinth of Time... That place is hell, and very much anti-speed. So no "all dungeons" category. Feasible on Dawn of Souls, since you only have the 4 Soul of Chaos dungeons to deal with. Doesn't make it any easier with Shinryu and Omega breathing down your necks, though!

Another bright idea (sic) I had was a potential "all bosses" category. However, that is even worse than the above, since it involves completing Earthgift 4 times, Hellfire and Lifespring twice each, and the Labyrith of Time a whopping [b]8 times[/b].

Sadly, 100% would probably fall under something close to the "all dungeons" category.

Lag.Com

2013-05-28 12:16:32 pm

sda loyalist

I'm glad you decided to get rid of Cure. I've been doing that ever since I first started running FFAE, because I didn't get the point.

How much time does Haste actually save on the Fiend refights? It seems very small.

Lenophis

Edit history:

Lenophis: 2013-05-29 09:42:52 am

Lenophis: 2013-05-28 07:08:42 pm

2013-05-28 02:59:05 pm

0-10

For Marilith and Kraken, the difference is 2-round kill vs 1-round kill. If the turn order is kind, neither will move. If the turn order sucks, you could see Firaga, Ink, or Thundara. For Tiamat, it's 2-round vs 3-round. Tiamat tosses Thunderbolt, Scourge, and Poison Gas. Overall, it's between 20 and 40 seconds saved on those three fights. Chaos saves the most time, at least 1:10.

I have also been toying with the idea of just sticking with Healra instead of Healaga. However, this requires insanely good luck for Chaos. The benefits of this would be:
1) Less grinding at the Evil Eye, could get the White Mage to 25 or so instead of 33. I could even deflect some of that experience to the other three, maybe.
2) In theory, it could save about 5-8 minutes overall.

I'm still thinking about how the experience should be divided. I'm thinking that the Thief can start off, so it gets to about 23 in a hurry, then I revive the White Mage so she gets up to the mid 20's, which should allow the Thief to get to 28. Why 28? With the current equipment glitch setup, and if my math is correct, the Thief will get to 8-hit threshold after you get the Survival Vests at level 28.

The downsides:
1) My healing potential is cut by 55%. If Chaos decides he likes to use his skill moves (Blaze, Tsunami, Cyclone, and Earthquake), I'm dead. If Chaos decides to just target 1 person over and over with physicals, it's very bad. Worse if he targets the main damage dealer.
2) The Rune Staff. It's a rare drop from Tiamat at the end of the final dungeon. If I decide to farm for it, my healing potential is only cut by 30%. However, it's a bunch of time wasted killing Tiamat over and over like that. Alternatively, I could hope for the drop the one time.
3) If my turn order sucks and the White Mage heals before any damage is dealt (probably only an issue for the first round), I'm dead.

Originally when I was routing this way back when, my party setup was extremely suboptimal. Now with better setups, this route could be feasible. I'll do a few test runs and see what happens.

Bam. Not consistent enough for a SS, but definitely there for a segmented run.

For Marilith and Kraken, the difference is 2-round kill vs 1-round kill. If the turn order is kind, neither will move. If the turn order sucks, you could see Firaga, Ink, or Thundara. For Tiamat, it's 2-round vs 3-round. Tiamat tosses Thunderbolt, Scourge, and Poison Gas. Overall, it's between 20 and 40 seconds saved on those three fights. Chaos saves the most time, at least 1:10.

I have also been toying with the idea of just sticking with Healra instead of Healaga. [i]However[/i], this requires insanely good luck for Chaos. The benefits of this would be:
1) Less grinding at the Evil Eye, could get the White Mage to 25 or so instead of 33. I could even deflect some of that experience to the other three, maybe.
2) In theory, it could save about 5-8 minutes overall.

I'm still thinking about how the experience should be divided. I'm thinking that the Thief can start off, so it gets to about 23 in a hurry, then I revive the White Mage so she gets up to the mid 20's, which should allow the Thief to get to 28. Why 28? With the current equipment glitch setup, and if my math is correct, the Thief will get to 8-hit threshold after you get the Survival Vests at level 28.

The downsides:
1) My healing potential is cut by 55%. If Chaos decides he likes to use his skill moves (Blaze, Tsunami, Cyclone, and Earthquake), I'm dead. If Chaos decides to just target 1 person over and over with physicals, it's very bad. Worse if he targets the main damage dealer.
2) The Rune Staff. It's a rare drop from Tiamat at the end of the final dungeon. If I decide to farm for it, my healing potential is only cut by 30%. However, it's a bunch of time wasted killing Tiamat over and over like that. Alternatively, I could hope for the drop the one time.
3) If my turn order sucks and the White Mage heals before any damage is dealt (probably only an issue for the first round), I'm dead.

Originally when I was routing this way back when, my party setup was extremely suboptimal. Now with better setups, this route could be feasible. I'll do a few test runs and see what happens.

[img]http://slickproductions.org/forum/Smileys/FF6/edit.gif[/img]
[url=http://www.twitch.tv/lenophis/c/2346111]Bam[/url]. Not consistent enough for a SS, but definitely there for a segmented run.

Fionordeguester

2013-09-29 12:13:53 am

Leno! Two questions! One, how high can you buff someone's attack, and two, how does running work in this game?

Lenophis

2014-05-05 10:42:28 pm

0-10

Oh wow, I completely forgot about answering you, Fionorde. Sorry. Sad

I'll answer your questions:

Quote:

how high can you buff someone's attack

I believe the cap is 255. Note that you cannot buff a character equipped with the Barbarian's Sword.

Quote:

how does running work in this game?

I'm not sure, it still seems like Luck is involved, but maybe I'm just noticing a coincidence, but perhaps agility plays a role too. I have no idea to be certain.

In any event, I am bumping this to post an update to the route. Very recently, Nitrodon asked me a question about putting non-shields on the shield slot. I referenced Sir VG's tutorial on the equipment glitch, and he mentioned in his video that putting non-shields on that slot would lead to Very Bad Things™.

In any event, while I was talking to him about it, I mentioned that I hadn't actually tried it myself, maybe out of fear or whatever it was. Well, testing happened:

I found 3 pieces of gear that will not crash the game. The Survival Vest (!), the Ribbon (hello donation incentive), and the Feathered Cap (same as Ribbon). It's not a significant route change, but it should make the final dungeon a smidge easier for luck-based stuff. By putting 4 Survival Vests on the Red Mage between Lich and Tiamat, the Red Mage is almost 99% guaranteed to go first. Granted, the Thief will probably want at least 1 fewer Survival Vest equipped.

At some point, I'll test all of the gear on the shield slot to see what else can be done. At the moment, I don't have a master file, otherwise I'd have tested a lot more. Cheesy

Oh wow, I completely forgot about answering you, Fionorde. Sorry. :( I'll answer your questions:

[quote] how high can you buff someone's attack[/quote]
I believe the cap is 255. Note that you cannot buff a character equipped with the Barbarian's Sword.

[quote]how does running work in this game?[/quote]
I'm not sure, it still seems like Luck is involved, but maybe I'm just noticing a coincidence, but perhaps agility plays a role too. I have no idea to be certain.

In any event, I am bumping this to post an update to the route. Very recently, Nitrodon asked me a question about putting non-shields on the shield slot. I referenced [url=http://www.twitch.tv/sir_vg/c/1625096]Sir VG's tutorial[/url] on the equipment glitch, and he mentioned in his video that putting non-shields on that slot would lead to Very Bad Things™.

In any event, while I was talking to him about it, I mentioned that I hadn't actually tried it myself, maybe out of fear or whatever it was. Well, testing happened:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrCkzK7yceQ

I found 3 pieces of gear that will not crash the game. The Survival Vest (!), the Ribbon (hello donation incentive), and the Feathered Cap (same as Ribbon). It's not a significant route change, but it should make the final dungeon a smidge easier for luck-based stuff. By putting 4 Survival Vests on the Red Mage between Lich and Tiamat, the Red Mage is almost 99% guaranteed to go first. Granted, the Thief will probably want at least 1 fewer Survival Vest equipped.

At some point, I'll test all of the gear on the shield slot to see what else can be done. At the moment, I don't have a master file, otherwise I'd have tested a lot more. :D

Lenophis

Edit history:

Lenophis: 2015-09-14 10:08:44 pm

2015-09-14 12:12:39 pm

0-10

Time to bump this here thing. Apparently a new route is floating about on the internet, however I cannot find it, since it was used for the relay race and that's my only knowledge of it. The strategy wiki hasn't been updated, so I'm not sure where this route is being kept track of. However, based on what I saw, I noticed a few flaws with it:

Judgment Staff's Flare gets used everywhere. This one should be obvious, but an 8-second cast time used all the time is just too much of a timesink.
Keeping the Knight's Armor equipped, skipping Elfheim entirely. A good idea, but one reason I picked up the Dragon Mail because it has more defense than the Knight's Armor, and a much smaller evade penalty. Fire/Ice/Lightning elemental protection is a big bonus. Keeping the Knight's Armor equipped turns everyone into punching bags. This also adds a bit more RNG to the early-game part of the run. It's counting on your turn order for Lich to not COMPLETELY SLAUGHTER YOU because Blizzara will do that.
Foregoing agility boosts by skipping Thief's Armlet, Black Garb, and Survival Vest. I've said this before and I'll say it again. Agility has some role in turn order. I can see skipping the first two/skipping Thief's Armlet if you pick up Black Garb, but the Survival Vest is a must.
Using Steel and Sabre. Unfortunately, these two spells are nigh-useless with the Barbarian's Sword. It uses its own damage formula, so the buff is ignored entirely!

I probably have to watch that video again, but IIRC the final equipment setup is Barbarian's Sword, Ribbon, Gaia Gear, Lordly Robes, and Knight's Armor. This new route goes to the Citadel of Trials to pick up the Healing Staff and Rat's Tail. The Healing Staff glitches into the Lordly Robes, which gives Regen status, boosts magic, and elemental damage. This actually puts more emphasis on getting the Black Robes, and then picking up the Gauntlets in the Citadel, since Thundara and Blizzara damage increases dramatically, almost completely negating the need of Flare.

Over the weekend I was testing various aspects of this route, and even came up with something stupid to try. Specifically, here's a video of Fighter/Thief/Black Mage/White Mage:

Note that the encounter rate was atrocious throughout. If it had been average at all for any part of the run, I probably would've crushed my 1:37:57. Here are my splits for comparison:

Ultimately, I like a lot of the changes made, and it has a lot of potential.

Time to bump this here thing. Apparently a new route is floating about on the internet, however I cannot find it, since it was used for the relay race and that's my only knowledge of it. The strategy wiki hasn't been updated, so I'm not sure where this route is being kept track of. However, based on what I saw, I noticed a few flaws with it:

[i]Judgment Staff's Flare gets used everywhere.[/i] This one should be obvious, but an 8-second cast time used all the time is just too much of a timesink.
[i]Keeping the Knight's Armor equipped, skipping Elfheim entirely.[/i] A good idea, but one reason I picked up the Dragon Mail because it has more defense than the Knight's Armor, and a much smaller evade penalty. Fire/Ice/Lightning elemental protection is a big bonus. Keeping the Knight's Armor equipped turns everyone into punching bags. This also adds a bit more RNG to the early-game part of the run. It's counting on your turn order for Lich to not COMPLETELY SLAUGHTER YOU because Blizzara will do that.
[i]Foregoing agility boosts by skipping Thief's Armlet, Black Garb, and Survival Vest.[/i] I've said this before and I'll say it again. Agility has some role in turn order. I can see skipping the first two/skipping Thief's Armlet if you pick up Black Garb, but the Survival Vest is a must.
[i]Using Steel and Sabre.[/i] Unfortunately, these two spells are nigh-useless with the Barbarian's Sword. It uses its own damage formula, so the buff is ignored entirely!

I probably have to watch that video again, but IIRC the final equipment setup is Barbarian's Sword, Ribbon, Gaia Gear, Lordly Robes, and Knight's Armor. This new route goes to the Citadel of Trials to pick up the Healing Staff and Rat's Tail. The Healing Staff glitches into the Lordly Robes, which gives Regen status, boosts magic, and elemental damage. This actually puts more emphasis on getting the Black Robes, and then picking up the Gauntlets in the Citadel, since Thundara and Blizzara damage increases dramatically, almost completely negating the need of Flare.

Over the weekend I was testing various aspects of this route, and even came up with something stupid to try. Specifically, here's a video of Fighter/Thief/Black Mage/White Mage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOIMU8fV30E

Note that the encounter rate was atrocious throughout. If it had been average at all for any part of the run, I probably would've crushed my 1:37:57. Here are my splits for comparison:
[img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/cajig5lusyilszv/FF1%20splits%20wide.png[/img]

Ultimately, I like a lot of the changes made, and it has a lot of potential.