Massive Game-Breaking FFVI Advance Downgrade Glitch

Edit history:

FatalPhantasms: 2009-07-10 10:56:28 pm

2009-07-10 10:43:29 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

I kid you not. I will raise my right hand and swear in the name of whatever god(s) you believe in, that the following is true. The reason I'm posting in 'New Consoles' is because I tested this in FFVI Advance as I do not own the SNES cart, and if I were to speedrun it, I would have to obtain a Gamecube with a Gameboy Advance cart player, and plug in FFVI Advance into the Gamecube and record it like that, which is the only way I know to capture a GBA game. If I recall, the SNES version does not have a Quicksave system, which is instrumental to the glitch. Only the PS1 version and the Advance version do. I do not own the PS1 version anymore, someone who still has that should go test it. At the moment I can confirm only the GBA version.

Got the idea from this GameFAQs discussion http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=930370&topic=44925962 and I tested it myself just now. It works as advertised!

The premise of the glitch:

Quote:

1) Take any file and do a hard save first, then a quick save. The characters in your party do not matter.

2) Start a new game.

3) Never save your game. Proceed with the story until you have recruited the characters that you want to lower levels.

4) Die once you have recruited the character(s). The people in your current party also doesn't matter; all characters you have obtained will be affected by the bug.

5) The old file will load after you die in the new file, as if you died in the old file. Your old file characters are now the same level as the characters in the new file (with more HP/MP than they should have for their level), and they keep all Esper boosts they gained in the old file.

My test result: I started a new game on my VI advance cart. Beat "Ymir" and confronted Tritoch or whatever the heck they changed his name to for Advance. Terra wakes up, you get to rename her. Fought in the mines until I reached Level 6, and did a hard save at the first save point in the mine into my File 1, and then did a Quick Save. Once you Quick Save, you are returned to the main menu. I selected New Game. It gave me the warning message that the Quick Save file will be deleted. Ignored the message and started a new game. Repeated introductory scenes, beat "Ymir" again. Terra awoke. I ran her to the mines, got into the first battle there, and attacked myself until I died. The game automatically loads from the supposedly "erased" temporary Quick Save slot. Open the menu, and lo and behold:

I had succeeded in "downgrading" Terra from Level 6 with pitiful less than 100 HP to Level 4 with
HP 3703 / 3703
MP 999 / 999

I don't know if the rest of her stats are normal for that part of the game, but here is what they are:
STR 31; SPD 33; STA 28; MAG 39; ATK 42; DEF 97; EVA 15%; MDEF 69; MEVA 7%; and she has her initial equipment.

Realistically speaking, I imagine you would do the downgrading thing only once. Play through the game normally once, recruit Terra, Locke, Mog, and Edgar (Mog leaves until WOR if I recall). Immediately after getting Edgar, kill yourselves and start through the game again. I imagine the result will be that those four will at that point be godly once your game automatically reloads (I assume you'll have saved near Figaro). I believe for the glitch to work, your party members have to be in the roster, meaning formation and "in" the party. There are some points when for example, Terra has just gone wild in morphed form and is not in your party.

It doesn't take that long from the beginning of the game to Figaro, so if you just do the downgrading once for the sake of speedrunning, you're super-powerful and can literally dominate the rest of the game. Imagine having a party with 3000+ HP and 999 MP from the beginning of the game. Granted you don't recruit Mog until WOR, and you'll probably have to change your endgame strategy from initial WOR party of Celes, Setzer, Edgar, and Sabin to recruiting Terra, Locke, and Mog (if that's even feasible, don't see why not). I imagine it would mean less grinding and magic learning for Celes, Setzer, and Sabin.

The main question is, will this glitch be allowed as a separate speedrun category? Technically we wouldn't be doing something illegal like shoving the cart halfway in or opening the PS1 disc cover, we're abusing a glitch in the software. We're going to need other people who also own the VI Advance cart to verify the glitch which I physically tested myself just now and confirmed. Real easy to do if you do it with Terra, takes about twenty minutes. I wonder if it's possible to beat Essentia's impressive and masterful 4:48 single-segment speedrun time?

Thread title:

I kid you not.  I will raise my right hand and swear in the name of whatever god(s) you believe in, that the following is true.  The reason I'm posting in 'New Consoles' is because I tested this in FFVI Advance as I do not own the SNES cart, and if I were to speedrun it, I would have to obtain a Gamecube with a Gameboy Advance cart player, and plug in FFVI Advance into the Gamecube and record it like that, which is the only way I know to capture a GBA game.  If I recall, the SNES version does not have a Quicksave system, which is instrumental to the glitch.  Only the PS1 version and the Advance version do.  I do not own the PS1 version anymore, someone who still has that should go test it.  At the moment I can confirm only the GBA version.

Got the idea from this GameFAQs discussion http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=930370&topic=44925962 and I tested it myself just now.  It works as advertised!

[b]The premise of the glitch:[/b]

[quote]
1) Take any file and do a hard save first, then a quick save. The characters in your party do not matter.

2) Start a new game.

3) Never save your game. Proceed with the story until you have recruited the characters that you want to lower levels.

4) Die once you have recruited the character(s). The people in your current party also doesn't matter; all characters you have obtained will be affected by the bug.

5) The old file will load after you die in the new file, as if you died in the old file. Your old file characters are now the same level as the characters in the new file (with more HP/MP than they should have for their level), and they keep all Esper boosts they gained in the old file.
[/quote]

[b]My test result: [/b]I started a new game on my VI advance cart.  Beat "Ymir" and confronted Tritoch or whatever the heck they changed his name to for Advance.  Terra wakes up, you get to rename her.  Fought in the mines until I reached Level 6, and did a hard save at the first save point in the mine into my File 1, and then did a Quick Save.  Once you Quick Save, you are returned to the main menu.  I selected New Game.  It gave me the warning message that the Quick Save file will be deleted.  Ignored the message and started a new game.  Repeated introductory scenes, beat "Ymir" again.  Terra awoke.  I ran her to the mines, got into the first battle there, and attacked myself until I died.  The game automatically loads from the supposedly "erased" temporary Quick Save slot.  Open the menu, and lo and behold:

I had succeeded in "downgrading" Terra from Level 6 with pitiful less than 100 HP to Level 4 with 
[size=14pt][b]HP 3703 / 3703 
MP 999 / 999[/b][/size]

I don't know if the rest of her stats are normal for that part of the game, but here is what they are:
STR 31; SPD 33; STA 28; MAG 39; ATK 42; DEF 97; EVA 15%; MDEF 69; MEVA 7%; and she has her initial equipment.

Realistically speaking, I imagine you would do the downgrading thing only once.  Play through the game normally once, recruit Terra, Locke, Mog, and Edgar (Mog leaves until WOR if I recall).  Immediately after getting Edgar, kill yourselves and start through the game again.  I imagine the result will be that those four will at that point be godly once your game automatically reloads (I assume you'll have saved near Figaro).  I believe for the glitch to work, your party members have to be in the roster, meaning formation and "in" the party.  There are some points when for example, Terra has just gone wild in morphed form and is not in your party.

It doesn't take that long from the beginning of the game to Figaro, so if you just do the downgrading once for the sake of speedrunning, you're super-powerful and can literally dominate the rest of the game.  Imagine having a party with 3000+ HP and 999 MP from the beginning of the game.  Granted you don't recruit Mog until WOR, and you'll probably have to change your endgame strategy from initial WOR party of Celes, Setzer, Edgar, and Sabin to recruiting Terra, Locke, and Mog (if that's even feasible, don't see why not).  I imagine it would mean less grinding and magic learning for Celes, Setzer, and Sabin.

The main question is, will this glitch be allowed as a separate speedrun category? Technically we wouldn't be doing something illegal like shoving the cart halfway in or opening the PS1 disc cover, we're abusing a glitch in the software.  We're going to need other people who also own the VI Advance cart to verify the glitch which I physically tested myself just now and confirmed.  Real easy to do if you do it with Terra, takes about twenty minutes.  I wonder if it's possible to beat Essentia's impressive and masterful 4:48 single-segment speedrun time?

Zurreco

2009-07-10 11:17:25 pm

Just call me the cynicism machine

I think this is going to end in one of two decisions: the glitch is either too game breaking to be accepted, or you just uncovered the new NG+ method for this game.

FatalPhantasms

Edit history:

FatalPhantasms: 2009-07-10 11:29:00 pm

2009-07-10 11:23:50 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Edit: You don't technically "recruit" someone until you're given the chance to rename them, so Mog doesn't count. I had forgotten that you get to "recruit" Sabin in the flashback in Figaro because you're allowed to rename him then.

This means, the final game party can consist of a max HP/MP Sabin and a max HP/MP Edgar, but pitifully weak Celes and Setzer. You may not have to recruit Terra and Locke, if it's feasible to go to Kefka's tower with Sabin and Edgar. You would have Sabin and Edgar lead one team each, with Setzer/Celes in the other team to do the Joker Doom trick (if it works in the VI advance cart).

I hope it's not too game breaking though. But I can see how it has the potential to shatter the speed record. Your HP and MP are the only stats that are maxed out, your other stats seem to remain low leveled. It's not a cheat but a glitch. Essentia was allowed to mix 99 Underdogs and pwn the rest of the FFX game by Mixing with Rikku (which in my opinion is pretty much the same thing, giving yourself 9999 HP or the ability to do massive damage way beyond the scope of your current level), so I hope this might qualify as a "New Game+" run.

The difference is, Terra being Level 5 at the moment doesn't do massive damage, and seems to take the full damage from enemies, albeit having 3000 more HP than normal at this point in the game. Imagine never having to worry about healing.

Edit: You don't technically "recruit" someone until you're given the chance to rename them, so Mog doesn't count.  I had forgotten that you get to "recruit" Sabin in the flashback in Figaro because you're allowed to rename him then.

This means, the final game party can consist of a max HP/MP Sabin and a max HP/MP Edgar, but pitifully weak Celes and Setzer. You may not have to recruit Terra and Locke, if it's feasible to go to Kefka's tower with Sabin and Edgar.  You would have Sabin and Edgar lead one team each, with Setzer/Celes in the other team to do the Joker Doom trick (if it works in the VI advance cart).

I hope it's not too game breaking though.  But I can see how it has the potential to shatter the speed record.  Your HP and MP are the only stats that are maxed out, your other stats seem to remain low leveled.  It's not a cheat but a glitch.  Essentia was allowed to mix 99 Underdogs and pwn the rest of the FFX game by Mixing with Rikku (which in my opinion is pretty much the same thing, giving yourself 9999 HP or the ability to do massive damage way beyond the scope of your current level), so I hope this might qualify as a "New Game+" run.

The difference is, Terra being Level 5 at the moment doesn't do massive damage, and seems to take the full damage from enemies, albeit having 3000 more HP than normal at this point in the game.  Imagine never having to worry about healing.

Master ZED

2009-07-10 11:52:54 pm

Quote from FatalPhantasms:

Edit: You don't technically "recruit" someone until you're given the chance to rename them, so Mog doesn't count. I had forgotten that you get to "recruit" Sabin in the flashback in Figaro because you're allowed to rename him then.

A lot of people make that mistake, but you do really have to recruit Sabin to reset him. This is weird since Shadow can be reset by naming him in South Figaro, but that's how it works.

Quote from FatalPhantasms:

You would have Sabin and Edgar lead one team each, with Setzer/Celes in the other team to do the Joker Doom trick (if it works in the VI advance cart).

Echo Screens are no longer necessary. Hell, Confuse/(ailment cure)/7-7-BAR is no longer necessary; the new bug goes as far as to ignore triple 7 bans.

slowbro

Edit history:

slowbro: 2009-07-11 05:25:03 am

2009-07-11 04:13:03 am

My guess is that SDA would add together the time of the two games, not that that would mean much.

It's an amazing glitch. Does her max HP continue to rise if you keep playing?

edit: String of Beads was ruled acceptable in Okami. I know it's not a glitch, but it is truly game-breaking (10X attack and infinite HP). Crazy-level glitch-acquired pokemon are allowed I think. Over the years SDA has come to allow more and more things; my guess is that this will be allowed (separate category of course).

In_Pieces

2009-07-11 10:28:41 am

...?

Very interesting find.
Obviously it should be a separate category but i don't see any grounds for banning the glitch altogether. And furthermore, I don't think it should be considered a NG+ run, because NG+ runs don't include the time taken in the first run through to max your characters. This seems like it would include both the time it takes to play through a little bit first, and then the restarting sequence and all of that. It should simply be called just the "with downgrade glitch" category(assuming that's the appropriate name for the glitch)

That's just my two cents though...

Psyknux

2009-07-11 11:33:13 am

Sub-Terrania!!!

I'd like to note that this doesn't work with the Anthology (PSX) version of FFVI. The Memo/Quicksave data isn't deleted when you start a new game, and when you die after setting everything up, instead of loading the Memo file the game returns you to the opening cinema.

HalfMillennium

2009-07-11 02:14:10 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

What about the standalone PSX version? As far as I know it's the same as the American Anthology version.

FatalPhantasms

Edit history:

FatalPhantasms: 2009-07-11 05:02:59 pm

2009-07-11 03:30:50 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Then we've confirmed that it is a glitch exclusive to the GBA version. After doing it once with Terra, I tried to do it again but failed. I recruited Locke, and then went to Figaro and recruited Edgar, and then killed ourselves in the fight outside Figaro with the Magiteks. Perhaps I have to have Locke die in the Moogle tactical battles in Narshe, and then recruit Edgar (he leaves your party) and then have Terra die before the Magitek battles.

I did some more snooping on GameFAQs and unearthed the following notes:

Quote:

6) A character's HP and MP will only be modified if the character's level during the Game Over sequence is lower than that of the Save data (read: not the Quicksave data).

7) Characters that are affected by this bug will have their level and experience restored to whatever it was before the party was annihilated, not what it was when you first met them.

So I'm probably going to have to level Terra, Edgar, and Locke in my real game to further exploit the downgrade glitch.

Edit: Apparently you can glitch Terra before you officially rename her. Just have her die in the first battle in Narshe while her name is still "? ? ? ?," she's still in Magitek armor and accompanied by the two douchebags.

Then we've confirmed that it is a glitch exclusive to the GBA version.  After doing it once with Terra, I tried to do it again but failed.  I recruited Locke, and then went to Figaro and recruited Edgar, and then killed ourselves in the fight outside Figaro with the Magiteks.  Perhaps I have to have Locke die in the Moogle tactical battles in Narshe, and then recruit Edgar (he leaves your party) and then have Terra die [i]before[/i] the Magitek battles.

I did some more snooping on GameFAQs and unearthed the following notes:

[quote]
6) A character's HP and MP will only be modified if the character's level during the Game Over sequence is lower than that of the Save data (read: not the Quicksave data).

7) Characters that are affected by this bug will have their level and experience restored to whatever it was before the party was annihilated, not what it was when you first met them.
[/quote]

So I'm probably going to have to level Terra, Edgar, and Locke in my real game to further exploit the downgrade glitch.

Edit: Apparently you can glitch Terra before you officially rename her.  Just have her die in the first battle in Narshe while her name is still "? ? ? ?," she's still in Magitek armor and accompanied by the two douchebags.

HalfMillennium

2009-07-12 12:19:55 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Quote from FatalPhantasms:

we've confirmed that it is a glitch exclusive to the GBA version.

Not necessarily, we haven't checked the standalone PSX version yet. If no-one else is going to I can give it a go.

yoshmaster5

2009-07-12 06:50:43 pm

Also tenkiforecast

I've known about that one for a bit, I belive Moogleboss has it on his youtube page.

It would definately be NG+, no way considered New Game. That, or as slowbro mentioned, adding both the times for the leveling-up run and the actual one.

If it was done... well...

The most likely characters to level up would be:
Terra (lol first character, used for most WoB)
Sabin (His Scenario, and fast WoR recruitment)
Edgar (Also for Terra's reasons, WoB game-breaker anyway, and required WoR recruitment)
Celes (Possible? But with Sabin and Edgar for WoB, her usefulness is diminished. Or, she is needed instead of Locke who takes a lot to get in WoR for his WoB scenario)

Everyone else isn't that useful. Locke's scenario isn't even combat-heavy, it's steal clothes, rescue Celes, THEN we get to fighting. Yes, he's required for a number of WoB areas but his WoR recruitment takes a ton of time, and is not helpful for a speedrun.

Setzer, well, he has slots. I don't know if Joker Doom can be reliably pulled off on the GBA port, but if so, he doesn't need levels anyway.
Mog for the Moogle charm, not much else. *shrug*
Gogo is a possibility, but it would be the same as setzer, or for other various reasons. However, if characters are really leveled up, his usefulness isn't that high.

Then again, leveling up Terra and Celes to levels where they learn Ultima/Meteor will leave the game broken, and the other characters worthless.

I've known about that one for a bit, I belive Moogleboss has it on his youtube page.

It would definately be NG+, no way considered New Game.  That, or as slowbro mentioned, adding both the times for the leveling-up run and the actual one.

If it was done... well...

The most likely characters to level up would be:
Terra (lol first character, used for most WoB)
Sabin (His Scenario, and fast WoR recruitment)
Edgar (Also for Terra's reasons, WoB game-breaker anyway, and required WoR recruitment)
Celes (Possible?  But with Sabin and Edgar for WoB, her usefulness is diminished.  Or, she is needed instead of Locke who takes a lot to get in WoR for his WoB scenario)

Everyone else isn't that useful.  Locke's scenario isn't even combat-heavy, it's steal clothes, rescue Celes, THEN we get to fighting.  Yes, he's required for a number of WoB areas but his WoR recruitment takes a ton of time, and is not helpful for a speedrun.

Setzer, well, he has slots.  I don't know if Joker Doom can be reliably pulled off on the GBA port, but if so, he doesn't need levels anyway.
Mog for the Moogle charm, not much else. *shrug*
Gogo is a possibility, but it would be the same as setzer, or for other various reasons.  However, if characters are really leveled up, his usefulness isn't that high.

Then again, leveling up Terra and Celes to levels where they learn Ultima/Meteor will leave the game broken, and the other characters worthless.

FatalPhantasms

2009-07-12 09:57:44 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

From my testing, I have been able to get the character to glitch if they were Party Leader, and if the dying in battle happened immediately after you first recruit the character.

I can guarantee the glitch works at the following times:

• Have Terra off herself in Narshe Mines right after you rename her.

• Have Terra's party defeated while she's still named ? ? ? ? and is in Magitek armor with Biggs and Wedge by her side.

• Have Locke lose the tactical battles in Narshe cave. Just move the moogle pair up, move Locke up, and let the enemies reach Terra. It results in game over. Much faster than waiting for three parties of moogles and Locke to die.

• Have Edgar's party lose the battle against the two Magiteks right after Figaro castle is sunk. This occurs while they're fleeing on Chocobos. Edgar is automatically party leader in this situation.

But I thought whoever was in your party didn't matter? I failed to do the glitch once, even though I thought I had done it correctly, so that's why I researched at what point exactly I could guarantee the glitch to work. Also, since the glitch will only work if your current game's level is higher than your new game's level, this means you'll have to grind and gain at least one level in your current game after it resets, in order to reset it again.

I'm thinking for Speedrun's sake, it would go something like this: start a brand new game. Save in the save point in Narshe Mines before Ymir battle. Terra should gain at least one level from the forced battles in Narshe town. After saving, quicksave, start another new game, go into the first forced battle in Narshe and just have Terra cast FIRE on Biggs, Wedge, and then herself (you can't target your own party with Magitek skills) until game over. The game will shift to the saved point in Narshe Mines. Terra will instantly have HP 3703 / 3703 and MP 999 / 999, which IMHO is more than enough to beat the WOB.

What we do next is forgetting about Locke, just play through until you recruit Edgar. Do the new game glitch at least twice, until Edgar's HP is 7000+. Do it a third time if you want to get 9999. He'll have no MP because the Magicite system isn't handed over to us yet. Or, just proceed through the game until Magicite is given and MP stats are added, then do the New Game+ glitch if necessary to bring his MP up to 999. I was thinking, do it once early to give him 3000+ HP so he never has to worry about healing, and then on the second glitch done after Zozo, he'll have 7000 HP and 999 MP.

After that, breeze through the game using the regular tactics and exploits, and once you reach WOR, you'll at least have Edgar as the powerhouse, forgetting about Locke and Terra at that point. If you managed to teach Edgar Cura, just give him the Ultima Weapon (he can equip it, right?) and have him Autocrossbow everything to death.

I had forgotten how Terra and Locke will be too time-consuming to recruit in WOR. It will also be impractical to glitch Sabin, unless the glitch really can affect all party members and can be done with just Terra dying in the mines (haven't tried it out yet). If that is the case, we'd need to wait until Sabin is recruited after Vargas to start glitching Edgar and Sabin at once.

From my testing, I have been able to get the character to glitch if they were Party Leader, and if the dying in battle happened [b]immediately[/b] after you first recruit the character.

I can guarantee the glitch works at the following times:

• Have Terra off herself in Narshe Mines right after you rename her.

• Have Terra's party defeated while she's still named ? ? ? ? and is in Magitek armor with Biggs and Wedge by her side.

• Have Locke lose the tactical battles in Narshe cave.  Just move the moogle pair up, move Locke up, and let the enemies reach Terra.  It results in game over.  Much faster than waiting for three parties of moogles and Locke to die.

• Have Edgar's party lose the battle against the two Magiteks right after Figaro castle is sunk.  This occurs while they're fleeing on Chocobos.  Edgar is automatically party leader in this situation.

But I thought whoever was in your party didn't matter? I failed to do the glitch once, even though I thought I had done it correctly, so that's why I researched at what point exactly I could guarantee the glitch to work.  Also, since the glitch will only work if your current game's level is higher than your new game's level, this means you'll have to grind and gain at least one level in your current game after it resets, in order to reset it again.

I'm thinking for Speedrun's sake, it would go something like this: start a brand new game.  Save in the save point in Narshe Mines before Ymir battle.  Terra should gain at least one level from the forced battles in Narshe town.  After saving, quicksave, start [i]another[/i] new game, go into the first forced battle in Narshe and just have Terra cast FIRE on Biggs, Wedge, and then herself (you can't target your own party with Magitek skills) until game over.  The game will shift to the saved point in Narshe Mines.  Terra will instantly have HP 3703 / 3703 and MP 999 / 999, which IMHO is more than enough to beat the WOB.

What we do next is forgetting about Locke, just play through until you recruit Edgar.  Do the new game glitch at least twice, until Edgar's HP is 7000+.  Do it a third time if you want to get 9999.  He'll have no MP because the Magicite system isn't handed over to us yet.  Or, just proceed through the game until Magicite is given and MP stats are added, [b]then[/b] do the New Game+ glitch if necessary to bring his MP up to 999.  I was thinking, do it once early to give him 3000+ HP so he never has to worry about healing, and then on the second glitch done after Zozo, he'll have 7000 HP and 999 MP.

After that, breeze through the game using the regular tactics and exploits, and once you reach WOR, you'll at least have Edgar as the powerhouse, forgetting about Locke and Terra at that point.  If you managed to teach Edgar Cura, just give him the Ultima Weapon (he can equip it, right?) and have him Autocrossbow everything to death.

I had forgotten how Terra and Locke will be too time-consuming to recruit in WOR.  It will also be impractical to glitch Sabin, unless the glitch really can affect all party members and can be done with just Terra dying in the mines (haven't tried it out yet).  If that is the case, we'd need to wait until Sabin is recruited after Vargas to start glitching Edgar and Sabin at once.

FatalPhantasms

Edit history:

FatalPhantasms: 2009-07-13 07:18:11 pm

2009-07-13 07:07:53 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

I just realized you can finally beat the Magitek Armors in South Figaro with Locke alone, now that he has 9999 HP. LOL @ if you beat the heavy armor guarding the port, you can board the ship and talk to the captain. He says, "This ship isn't going anywhere."

But to the point, since you can fight the heavy armor blocking your path, you can bypass killing the green guard to steal his armor. You can just steal a Merchant's clothing, kill a heavy armor, then go into the room below the inn and steal the cider. So that's at least one reason for glitching Locke to at least 3000+ HP.

Dragondarch

2009-07-14 01:52:51 am

Pudding%

Quote from FatalPhantasms:

I just realized you can finally beat the Magitek Armors in South Figaro with Locke alone, now that he has 9999 HP. LOL @ if you beat the heavy armor guarding the port, you can board the ship and talk to the captain. He says, "This ship isn't going anywhere."

But to the point, since you can fight the heavy armor blocking your path, you can bypass killing the green guard to steal his armor. You can just steal a Merchant's clothing, kill a heavy armor, then go into the room below the inn and steal the cider. So that's at least one reason for glitching Locke to at least 3000+ HP.

...I have nothing productive to add to the glitch info, but I will say that beating the Heavy Armor with Locke by himself is entirely possible without this glitch. It's certainly not easy, and is a bit luck dependant (and wouldn't be useful in a speedrun due to how long the battle takes), but it's entirely doable.

Essentia

2009-07-14 09:44:49 am

Everything's better with Magitek

Quote from FatalPhantasms:

But to the point, since you can fight the heavy armor blocking your path, you can bypass killing the green guard to steal his armor. You can just steal a Merchant's clothing, kill a heavy armor, then go into the room below the inn and steal the cider. So that's at least one reason for glitching Locke to at least 3000+ HP.

I take it the glitch that I used in my run (where I walked through the soldier) doesn't work in the Advance version? I haven't played the Advance version, so I don't really know anything about it. Also, unless the Advance version is different somehow, I'm pretty sure you don't have to steal the green guard's clothes. (I wish I could remember for sure, but it's been too long since I've done Locke's scenario the normal way. ;))

Dragondarch

2009-07-14 12:54:59 pm

Pudding%

Quote from Essentia:

I take it the glitch that I used in my run (where I walked through the soldier) doesn't work in the Advance version? I haven't played the Advance version, so I don't really know anything about it. Also, unless the Advance version is different somehow, I'm pretty sure you don't have to steal the green guard's clothes. (I wish I could remember for sure, but it's been too long since I've done Locke's scenario the normal way. ;))

No, you don't. You can just walk on that hidden path over the water and skip it entirely.

Master ZED

2009-07-14 01:09:45 pm

Quote from Essentia:

I take it the glitch that I used in my run (where I walked through the soldier) doesn't work in the Advance version?

Oh, it does. They just didn't know about it. Tongue

Quote from Essentia:

I haven't played the Advance version, so I don't really know anything about it.

The major differences are as follows:

1. Dash ability, just like in Anthology. Combining this with Sprint Shoes creates a really nice, but kind of hard to control, speed boost.

2. Evade is fixed. It works now.

3. Vanish/Death is also fixed, legitimately this time. There are also a few enemies that now have Invisible immunity that didn't have it in previous versions, for seemingly no reason I can think of.

4. Contrary to Vanish/Doom's absence, Slot has gained a new rigging bug that's triggered during attack setups. The result is worse than Echo Screen, as not only can you pull this anytime you please, as I said before, it ignores triple 7 bans. You wouldn't need Confuse/cure/7-7-BAR this time around. You'd still want Gogo, however, since Vanish/Death is gone.

5. The Sketch bug is, of course, gone. How much of an effect this has depends on whether it would be allowed on SDA now with the rule relaxings left and right, and whether a mess of Illuminas, Paladin Shlds and some other garbage like Megalixir, Gem Box, Flame Shld and ValiantKnife, or perhaps Ribbons, would be useful for the Tower. I'm referring to the very nice variant of the bug that can be triggered against, amongst others, Zone Eater, making this possible almost immediately upon recruiting the mimic. I've used that one on my own cart with no ill effect. You should read up on it here and tell me what you think. The variant you want is under mould 7, 41FFh, though 41BFh may also work. Both variants have very little graphic error, so little that you'd think nothing happened if you blinked until you saw the inventory list.

[quote="Essentia"]I take it the glitch that I used in my run (where I walked through the soldier) doesn't work in the Advance version?[/quote]
Oh, it does.  They just didn't know about it. :P

[quote="Essentia"]I haven't played the Advance version, so I don't really know anything about it.
[/quote]
The major differences are as follows:

1. Dash ability, just like in Anthology.  Combining this with Sprint Shoes creates a really nice, but kind of hard to control, speed boost.

2. Evade is fixed.  It works now.

3. Vanish/Death is also fixed, legitimately this time.  There are also a few enemies that now have Invisible immunity that didn't have it in previous versions, for seemingly no reason I can think of.

4. Contrary to Vanish/Doom's absence, [url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/file/930370/48009]Slot has gained a new rigging bug that's triggered during attack setups[/url].  The result is worse than Echo Screen, as not only can you pull this anytime you please, as I said before, it ignores triple 7 bans.  You wouldn't need Confuse/cure/7-7-BAR this time around.  You'd still want Gogo, however, since Vanish/Death is gone.

5. The Sketch bug is, of course, gone.  How much of an effect this has depends on whether it would be allowed on SDA now with the rule relaxings left and right, and whether a mess of Illuminas, Paladin Shlds and some other garbage like Megalixir, Gem Box, Flame Shld and ValiantKnife, or perhaps Ribbons, would be useful for the Tower.  I'm referring to the very nice variant of the bug that can be triggered against, amongst others, Zone Eater, making this possible almost immediately upon recruiting the mimic.  I've used that one on my own cart with no ill effect.  You should read up on it [url=http://masterzed.cavesofnarshe.com/GameDocs/ff3sktch.txt]here[/url] and tell me what you think.  The variant you want is under mould 7, 41FFh, though 41BFh may also work.  Both variants have [i]very[/i] little graphic error, so little that you'd think nothing happened if you blinked until you saw the inventory list.