SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Final Fantasy

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Oct 05 2011 11:00 pm

As the chat room denizens know, I've been attempting another Final Fantasy challenge run. I'm not recording this one, but I am taking screenshots. I'm taking a Black Belt through by himself, here's some pictures of his journey.

A Black Belt is interesting because, late game, he is going to absolutely wreck anything in his path (a L50 Black Belt can do enough potential damage to one-shot Chaos), but early on he's pretty weak. It was Level 8 before I could reliably grind on anything but the Cornerian Imp Brigade, and even now, while I can tear through almost any monster pack in the overworld I don't have a lot of longevity. Still, I don't have to shell out for weapons.

Garland was the first real challenge, I was able to take him out at around Level 7.

The Pirates also went down at around Level 7. They actually pose a threat to a solo character with no armor, but I got them before they got me.

At Level 10 I had 4 attacks with my fists, so I took a shot at the Marsh Cave. It didn't go well, I couldn't even put a dent in a 2-Wizard pack. So, at Level 12, I tried again. I got better results.

Then at L13 it was on to Astos. This guy is a bastard and a half to any solo, and three times that to a Black Belt (A Thief must be a fucking NIGHTMARE to fight with him). His first spell is RUB, which ends the fight right there most of the time, and his second is SLO2, which neuters your attacking power (BBs tend to rely on critical hits). Then he breaks out FIR2 and LIT2 which can do 3 digits of damage apiece. I took about 50 shots at them, and maybe 40 of them went like this:

But in the end, both his RUB and SLO2 missed, and he went down.

(I got caught off guard and missed the finishing blow, it was 4 hits for 12 damage).

Here's a look at his stats:

I'll take pictures of any more significant accomplishments, and update this accordingly. Until then, good luck, Chuk!

Posted: Oct 05 2011 11:09 pm

Cool stuff man.

Indeed Good Luck Chuk.

Posted: Oct 05 2011 11:35 pm

Heh...Chuk the Blackbelt. Is he a Ranger?

Posted: Oct 06 2011 12:26 am

I love it! Can't wait for more.

Title: Alexz Aficionado Joined: May 21 2008 Posts: 2889

This looks awesome! Definitely keep us updated Satsui!

Posted: Oct 06 2011 01:17 am

Cool project! Will be keeping tabs on this one.

Posted: Oct 06 2011 05:08 am

Aww fuck, now you're making me want to do this. I might actually. The black belt is my favorite character. I once grinded to level 50. The black belts were doing about 10 or 12 hits.

Posted: Oct 06 2011 10:23 am

Awesome. Looking forward to more of this.

Posted: Oct 06 2011 02:09 pm

I've actually done this before. Basically, Black Belt is extremely hard to use early on, but transforms into a God after a healthy amount of grinding.

Good luck! The going is hard.

Posted: Oct 06 2011 02:28 pm

I don't think I've ever played a Black Belt or a Thief for more than 20 minutes. I don't think I ever played a White Mage properly, or completed the game with a WM in my party.

Usually I run some mix of Fighters, Black Mages, and Red Mages. Red Mages were probably my favorite because they had higher HP than other Mages, had access to better weapons and armor than other Mages, had access to healing spells (which were the only WM spells I ever used), had access to offensive spells, and could throw down in a battle instead of wasting MP during a long dungeon or a long grind.

To this day, I still don't use status change spells (outside of "revive" and "wall" effects) in my gaming. I rather use an offensive spell that always hits than waste a turn on a spell that doesn't do damage and might not even connect.

Since I'm all about brute offense, I should probably love the Black Belt. I am interested to see how this goes. I'm surprised at how low your levels are. If I had trouble with a boss, especially Astos, I'd grind two more levels instead of trying 50 times and hoping to get lucky. Especially since raising your level raises your resistance to spells like RUB. At least, it does in most RPGs. I know FF1 has some issues in that regard.

But my general feeling is that you shouldn't enter a battle unless it's more likely than not that you'll win.

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Oct 06 2011 03:36 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

Since I'm all about brute offense, I should probably love the Black Belt. I am interested to see how this goes. I'm surprised at how low your levels are. If I had trouble with a boss, especially Astos, I'd grind two more levels instead of trying 50 times and hoping to get lucky. Especially since raising your level raises your resistance to spells like RUB. At least, it does in most RPGs. I know FF1 has some issues in that regard.

But my general feeling is that you shouldn't enter a battle unless it's more likely than not that you'll win.

The thing is, Astos is just a "Fuck You" to solo players in general. He's gonna lead with RUB, and it's going to work most of the time. And unless you're a Red Mage or White Mage you just have to fucking deal. If that misses, the follow-up SLO2 is going to kill your offensive power.

With him, it's really not about grinding levels, it's about luck. If both his spells miss you, he's a piece of cake. In fact, once he finally whiffed on both of them, that's when I got him.

Posted: Oct 06 2011 04:04 pm

Now here's the real question... Did you use save states or did you actually have to start over from your tent every time Astos wrecked you?

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

This is actually a great read. I am curious to hear the answer to Syd's question.

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Oct 06 2011 05:21 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

Now here's the real question... Did you use save states or did you actually have to start over from your tent every time Astos wrecked you?

Save states are for wimps. I'm playing on double-speed, but I'm using legit saves. It's not like it's a long walk to Astos anyways.

Posted: Oct 06 2011 06:19 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

I don't think I've ever played a Black Belt or a Thief for more than 20 minutes. I don't think I ever played a White Mage properly, or completed the game with a WM in my party.

Usually I run some mix of Fighters, Black Mages, and Red Mages. Red Mages were probably my favorite because they had higher HP than other Mages, had access to better weapons and armor than other Mages, had access to healing spells (which were the only WM spells I ever used), had access to offensive spells, and could throw down in a battle instead of wasting MP during a long dungeon or a long grind.

To this day, I still don't use status change spells (outside of "revive" and "wall" effects) in my gaming. I rather use an offensive spell that always hits than waste a turn on a spell that doesn't do damage and might not even connect.

Since I'm all about brute offense, I should probably love the Black Belt. I am interested to see how this goes. I'm surprised at how low your levels are. If I had trouble with a boss, especially Astos, I'd grind two more levels instead of trying 50 times and hoping to get lucky. Especially since raising your level raises your resistance to spells like RUB. At least, it does in most RPGs. I know FF1 has some issues in that regard.

But my general feeling is that you shouldn't enter a battle unless it's more likely than not that you'll win.

I used to play with that general party setup, but I found later that I preferred to have one White Mage on the party just to hold things together. The ideal setup for me was 2 Fighters to do the heavy lifting, a Red Mage that could save up black magic instead of using it all too early and a White Mage to make sure that nobody dies. Especially after the class shift, they were unstoppable.

As for Black Belt...in the solo run, the worst parts were the Marsh Cave, Astos and the Ice Cave (and oh, how I hate the fucking Ice Cave). By the time I got to the Sky Castle, even Warmech was powerless to stop me. When he soaks up all the experience, Black Belt's stats multiply so fast on leveling that he becomes a total walking death machine. He can one hit just about every boss in the game and only really struggles with groups.

Black Belts have no skills, start weak and can't use any equipment. Their only advantage is that they become retardedly powerful over time.

Posted: Oct 06 2011 06:41 pm

I used to always pick the default set-up, it wasn't until later that I realized that removing the nunchucks actually made a Black Belt better. Now though I never use fighters and always have 2 Black Belts and 2 Thiefs.

Posted: Oct 08 2011 03:52 am

Yeah I wish Squaresoft could explain to me why the blackbelt is more dangerous WITHOUT a weapon in his hand.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

slapolakinkaido wrote:

Yeah I wish Squaresoft could explain to me why the blackbelt is more dangerous WITHOUT a weapon in his hand.

You ever hang out with talented martial artists?

I saw a 4th degree blackbelt disarm a guy with a Katana (Bokken) swinging at full speed followed by placing the attacker on the ground at a rapid pace. The total amount of motion in the black belt was extremely limited, he simply put himself into the correct spaces at the right times.

Now... against a monster... I am not sure it would work... but I could buy it against ad pirate or some other humanoid.

Posted: Oct 08 2011 11:59 am

Plus, equipment makes it difficult to perform technical arts such as hadoukens and shoryukens. Razz

Posted: Oct 08 2011 11:59 am

^I want to know how it qualifies him to crush a certain pink metal death machine like a beer can.

Posted: Oct 08 2011 05:26 pm

Can you post a video of a full run once you're finished?

Posted: Oct 08 2011 05:54 pm

Pretty sure he's just doing a screenshot run.

Fighter_McWarrior wrote:

I want to know how it qualifies him to crush a certain pink metal death machine like a beer can.

I would assume that they work their way up from tricycles and motorbikes!

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Oct 08 2011 05:58 pm

The-Excel wrote:

Can you post a video of a full run once you're finished?

That wouldn't be very exciting, though I will likely record my go at Chaos. I'm just going to be posting screenshots (and for those curious I haven't made any significant progress yet). If you want to see a challenge FF run, you can check my White Mage/Black Mage Duo run out here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5748C59E703AFD11

Posted: Oct 09 2011 02:11 am

GPFontaine wrote:

slapolakinkaido wrote:

Yeah I wish Squaresoft could explain to me why the blackbelt is more dangerous WITHOUT a weapon in his hand.

You ever hang out with talented martial artists?

I saw a 4th degree blackbelt disarm a guy with a Katana (Bokken) swinging at full speed followed by placing the attacker on the ground at a rapid pace. The total amount of motion in the black belt was extremely limited, he simply put himself into the correct spaces at the right times.

Now... against a monster... I am not sure it would work... but I could buy it against ad pirate or some other humanoid.

I've seen it all. In fact I've done martial arts for about 20 years myself. A martial artist can absolutely be lethal with his bare hands. However a good nunchaku (nunchuck) practitioner can generate up to 1000 lbs per square inch of pressure with certain strikes. It takes only about 20 lbs per sq. inch of pressure to crack a human skull. Not sure about the Anklo shells though...

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Oct 09 2011 10:27 am

slapolakinkaido wrote:

GPFontaine wrote:

slapolakinkaido wrote:

Yeah I wish Squaresoft could explain to me why the blackbelt is more dangerous WITHOUT a weapon in his hand.

You ever hang out with talented martial artists?

I saw a 4th degree blackbelt disarm a guy with a Katana (Bokken) swinging at full speed followed by placing the attacker on the ground at a rapid pace. The total amount of motion in the black belt was extremely limited, he simply put himself into the correct spaces at the right times.

Now... against a monster... I am not sure it would work... but I could buy it against ad pirate or some other humanoid.

I've seen it all. In fact I've done martial arts for about 20 years myself. A martial artist can absolutely be lethal with his bare hands. However a good nunchaku (nunchuck) practitioner can generate up to 1000 lbs per square inch of pressure with certain strikes. It takes only about 20 lbs per sq. inch of pressure to crack a human skull. Not sure about the Anklo shells though...

It's because Final Fantasy is a blatant ripoff of Dungeons and Dragons in several places, and the Monk is one of those places. D&D monks eventually gain the ability to do insane damage bare-handed as part of their class abilities.