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Final Fantasy 1 (NES) level recommendations


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JRA
Joined: Sep 17 2007
Location: The Opium Trail
PostPosted: May 15 2011 01:23 pm Reply with quote Back to top

I'm at the crossroads where I can choose between going after the Fire Fiend, going to the Ice Cavern, or going to the Castle of Ordeals. I have a party of two fighters, a white and black mage. What level should they be at?


There are a lot of what if's in life Donny. What if I hit you really hard in the face, knocked yo shit to the back of yo skull? What if I....had you girl gargle my nuts? The fact remains, you are a fuckin mutant.
 
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SoldierHawk
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Title: Warrior-Poet
Joined: Jan 15 2009
Location: San Diego, CA
PostPosted: May 15 2011 01:39 pm Reply with quote Back to top

Hum. I'd say shoot for level 16-18ish, 20 if you want to be super safe.

Also, my usual course of action is to hit the Ice Cave for the Floater, get the Airship, class change at the Castle of Ordeal, then take out Kary. But that's me.


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Syd Lexia
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Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
PostPosted: May 15 2011 02:45 pm Reply with quote Back to top

Ice Cave first, because you can get Ice Armor and Ice Sword, which are good against Kary (don't question it), then fight Kary, then the Castle.
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jprime
Title: Ex-GameWinners
Joined: Jan 27 2008
Location: Southern Ontario
PostPosted: May 15 2011 02:55 pm Reply with quote Back to top

Actually, the Ice Sword is in Gurgu Volcano. You're thinking of the Flame Sword.
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Syd Lexia
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Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
PostPosted: May 15 2011 03:12 pm Reply with quote Back to top

You know, I thought maybe the Ice Sword was in the Volcano, but then I was like, no, that can't possibly be right.

I guess the lesson is this: trust your first instinct.
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JRA
Joined: Sep 17 2007
Location: The Opium Trail
PostPosted: May 15 2011 03:48 pm Reply with quote Back to top

FYI I wasn't wondering where I should go, I have a strategy guide for that. But what these strategy guides aren't telling me are the levels I should be at, aside from don't go to the power peninsula under level 9.

Also, neither black nor white mages can learn exit until the class change? Suck my ass Square.


There are a lot of what if's in life Donny. What if I hit you really hard in the face, knocked yo shit to the back of yo skull? What if I....had you girl gargle my nuts? The fact remains, you are a fuckin mutant.
 
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Douche McCallister
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Title: DOO-SHAY
Joined: Jan 26 2007
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PostPosted: May 15 2011 04:22 pm Reply with quote Back to top

I never really fought in the Ice Cave except for the eye thing protecting the floater over and over again. He was easy and gave decent exp. Then I did the same thing for the castle of Ordeals with the Zombie Dragons. It's been awhile but if you can't take out 4 centipedes without getting heavily damaged or using spells then I would say you aren't ready for any of them.


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UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
PostPosted: May 15 2011 10:46 pm Reply with quote Back to top

Ice Sword in the NES version does not do extra damage against Kary. Not only do the elemental weapons not work, but Kary isn't weak to ice. It is, though, probably the best weapon an unpromoted Fighter can use.

Go after the Castle of Ordeals. You can get an Ice Sword there, and it's easier than the Ice Cave (sure, there's "game over" groups of monsters, but they fuck you up no matter what level you are, and Ordeals is short). I can't remember levels, but if your Black Mage can throw out some FIR3 spells, you're good. On my YouTube walkthrough, I was Level 14 at this point.
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Syd Lexia
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PostPosted: May 15 2011 11:11 pm Reply with quote Back to top

I have a tendency to overlevel outside Elfland and in the Earth Cave, so I can't give a good level suggestion. But if you've spent time grinding to buy the best spells and equipment in every town, you should be mostly fine.
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JRA
Joined: Sep 17 2007
Location: The Opium Trail
PostPosted: May 16 2011 04:08 pm Reply with quote Back to top

In any case I've squashed both the Ice Cave and the Castle and am about to go into the volcano. I believe my party is at level 18.

The fact that you can't kill Kary with Ice is bullshit.


There are a lot of what if's in life Donny. What if I hit you really hard in the face, knocked yo shit to the back of yo skull? What if I....had you girl gargle my nuts? The fact remains, you are a fuckin mutant.
 
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Syd Lexia
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PostPosted: May 16 2011 05:27 pm Reply with quote Back to top

Ha, it's funny. I always used the Ice Sword and Ice 2 on Kary because I assumed they'd be effective, and they absolutely were. I don't think I ever realized that they weren't designed to be super effective against her. I also never realized just how much harder she is than the Castle of Ordeals. I guess I was going in the wrong order...
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Douche McCallister
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Title: DOO-SHAY
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PostPosted: May 16 2011 06:53 pm Reply with quote Back to top

Same here Syd, but she is also weak to Stun and Sleep. I never bothered though. Just held the attack button and casted Fast on my Martial Artist and Fighter.


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UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
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PostPosted: May 16 2011 07:08 pm Reply with quote Back to top

The Ice Sword and ICE2 are effective on Kary because the Ice Sword is a strong sword and ICE2 is a strong spell.

Kary's actual weakness is to status effects. Slow, Mute, Hold, and the like.
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jprime
Title: Ex-GameWinners
Joined: Jan 27 2008
Location: Southern Ontario
PostPosted: May 16 2011 08:11 pm Reply with quote Back to top

I don't so much as attempt to go to the Northern Hemisphere until two of the Orbs have been lit.
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JRA
Joined: Sep 17 2007
Location: The Opium Trail
PostPosted: May 16 2011 10:37 pm Reply with quote Back to top

I casted Sleep2 on the bitch and it was ineffective.


There are a lot of what if's in life Donny. What if I hit you really hard in the face, knocked yo shit to the back of yo skull? What if I....had you girl gargle my nuts? The fact remains, you are a fuckin mutant.
 
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UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
PostPosted: May 16 2011 10:54 pm Reply with quote Back to top

JRA wrote:
I casted Sleep2 on the bitch and it was ineffective.

Status effects don't always work. However, they have a better-than-normal chance of working on Kary (and considering the chance on every other boss is "0%", that's pretty good). And don't use Sleep on her (in fact, don't use SLP2 at all). MUTE, SLOW, and HOLD are far better choices, in that order.
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Syd Lexia
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PostPosted: May 17 2011 11:53 am Reply with quote Back to top

Douche McCallister wrote:
Same here Syd, but she is also weak to Stun and Sleep. I never bothered though. Just held the attack button and casted Fast on my Martial Artist and Fighter.

Aside from Dawn of Souls, which was way too easy, I haven't played Final Fantasy 1 in quite awhile. I never really appreciated the non-damage non-healing/resurrection non-Exit spells in the original game. I always rented it, and I never really bothered to learn what the other spells did. If they didn't produce a drastically noticeable effect - and many of them didn't - I'd reset and buy something else instead. It wasn't until I played later games that I finally realized those other spells weren't so useless.

So, my parties in the olden days always consisted of a Fighter, 2 Red Mages, and a Black Mage. It wasn't a clever strategy, or a nuanced strategy, but it was effective. Aggro, aggro, aggro, healing only when absolutely necessarily.

I still do that to a large extent. I'll cast Wall or Cure during battle, but I really don't like using spells like Fast, because it feels like a waste of a turn to me, even though I know it's a viable strategy. This comes into play a more lot in Pokemon. I won't use attacks where the only effect is to raise or lower a Pokemon's attack or defense. I also won't use spells that have any chance of failure. Like say, Sleep.
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UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
PostPosted: May 17 2011 12:20 pm Reply with quote Back to top

I think Syd's right for the most part, except for a few situational uses, the status spells in FF1 aren't too useful. You put the Pirates to sleep, hope you can Mute Astos and Kary, and throw as many instant-death things as you can at Tiamat. That's it.

But not using Fast? That spell is probably the best in the game. Throw it on your Black Belt or Fighter, and you're doing at LEAST twice as much damage with double the chance of a crit (so it's probably triple), and it turns bitchy boss fights into simple ones. Against a single enemy, you get far more damage out of a single Fast spell than any other spell.
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Syd Lexia
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PostPosted: May 17 2011 02:28 pm Reply with quote Back to top

Yeah, as I said, I know that Fast is good. I've seen YouTube videos of people using it to great advantage. But I got into the mindset early on that it wasn't useful, and I've never been able to force myself to use it. I'd rather just waste my time grinding, apparently.
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JRA
Joined: Sep 17 2007
Location: The Opium Trail
PostPosted: May 17 2011 04:11 pm Reply with quote Back to top

Fast is absolutely useful (which is more than I can say for TMPR Evil ). The problem is when I get into a boss fight; usually my strategy is to either have the black mage cast the most powerful spell against the enemy or cast fast on one of the two fighters, but the two fighters already launch their attacks by the time the spell gets cast on them. And then during the second round usually the boss will die right before the Fast enhanced fighters can do any damage.

Anyways, I whooped Kary's ass, and now I'm about to go after Kraken. What level should I be at?


There are a lot of what if's in life Donny. What if I hit you really hard in the face, knocked yo shit to the back of yo skull? What if I....had you girl gargle my nuts? The fact remains, you are a fuckin mutant.
 
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UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
PostPosted: May 17 2011 04:39 pm Reply with quote Back to top

TMPR is bugged in the NES version, it doesn't work.

I was about 20 when I went after Kraken, but I go after everything else first. The Waterfall, the top half of the Shrine, Leifin, the Mirage Tower, and maybe even the Sky Castle should be visited before you take on Kraken.
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JRA
Joined: Sep 17 2007
Location: The Opium Trail
PostPosted: May 17 2011 04:50 pm Reply with quote Back to top

I didn't know you can go do the Sky Castle before the Sea Shrine.


There are a lot of what if's in life Donny. What if I hit you really hard in the face, knocked yo shit to the back of yo skull? What if I....had you girl gargle my nuts? The fact remains, you are a fuckin mutant.
 
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Douche McCallister
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Title: DOO-SHAY
Joined: Jan 26 2007
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PostPosted: May 17 2011 05:23 pm Reply with quote Back to top

You just gotta get the Rosetta Stone or whatever it's called from the Sea Shrine.


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Drew Linky
Wizard
Joined: Jun 12 2009
PostPosted: May 17 2011 05:40 pm Reply with quote Back to top

I'm actually just now getting into the first Final Fantasy, please tell me it gets better than running around with no real goal in mind... I just got the damn boat from the pirates and have no idea what I'm doing.


https://discord.gg/homestuck is where you can find me literally 99% of the time. Stop on by if you feel like it, we're a nice crowd.
 
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SoldierHawk
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Title: Warrior-Poet
Joined: Jan 15 2009
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PostPosted: May 17 2011 06:40 pm Reply with quote Back to top

Drew Linky wrote:
I'm actually just now getting into the first Final Fantasy, please tell me it gets better than running around with no real goal in mind... I just got the damn boat from the pirates and have no idea what I'm doing.

Talk to the people in Pravoka. One in particular will give you a clue about a kingdom that needs your help, now that you have the means to reach it.

Hand holding version:
[SPOILER:6a653da5ff]Sail Southwest. You'll find a port, and the kingdom of Elfland. Their prince is under a spell and heroes are needed to help revive him.[/SPOILER:6a653da5ff]
It does get a LITTLE better, but in FF, you need to seek out clues and information and put them together yourself. The game will give you hints and ideas, but no one's gonna tell you "go here, do this" ever. Honestly that's half the fun, and a large part of what makes it so classic.


militarysignatures.com

William Shakespeare wrote:
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.

 
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