FF3/6j LOW LEVEL FAQ
--------------------

Version 2.0 (Last Updated 04/07/02)

Written by Robert Page (rjpage@hotmail.com) and Jay Yamamoto
(everyonesgrudge@hotmail.com)

This FAQ is copyright Robert Page and Jay Yamamoto (C) 2002

--------
Contents
--------
1. Introduction: READ FIRST!
     1.1 What is a low level game?
     1.2 Can anyone attempt it?
     1.3 General Tips/Points

2. Walkthrough
     World Of Balance
       2.1 Opening Section - Lete River
       2.2 Scenario Choice - Zozo
       2.3 Jidoor - Sealed Cave
       2.4 Gestahl Meeting - IAF
       2.5 IAF - Floating Continent
     World Of Ruin
       2.6 Solitary Island - Colosseum
       2.7 Maranda - Narshe
       2.8 Jidoor - Illumina
       2.9 Veldt Cave - Doom Gaze
       2.10 Ebot's Rock - Kefka's Tower

3. Boss Tactics
     World Of Balance
       3.1 Whelk
       3.2 Marshal
       3.3 Vargas
       3.4 Ultros 1
       3.5 TunnelArmor
       3.6 Ghost Train
       3.7 Kefka
       3.8 Dadaluma
       3.9 Ultros 2
       3.10 Ifrit/Shiva
       3.11 Number 024
       3.12 Number 128
       3.13 Cranes
       3.14 Flame Eater
       3.15 Ultros 3
       3.16 Ultros & Chupon
       3.17 IAF
       3.18 Atma Weapon
       3.19 Nerapa
     World Of Ruin
       3.20 Phunbaba
       3.21 Tentacles
       3.22 Dullahan
       3.23 Phunbaba 2
       3.24 Chadarnook
       3.25 SrBehemoth
       3.26 Tritoch
       3.27 Umaro
       3.28 3 Stooges
       3.29 Wrexsoul
       3.30 MagiMaster
       3.31 Hidon
       3.32 Inferno
       3.33 Atma
       3.34 Guardian
       3.35 Goddess
       3.36 Poltergeist
       3.37 Doom
       3.38 Final Battle 1
       3.39 Final Battle 2
       3.40 Final Battle 3
       3.41 Final Battle - Kefka

4. Other Information
     World Of Balance
       4.1 Avoiding Fights In Mog Multi-Party Battle
       4.2 Avoiding Fights In Kefka Multi-Party Battle
       4.3 Avoiding the Rats In The Opera House
       4.4 Fighting Spit Fire & Sky Armor
     World Of Ruin
       4.5 Dirt Dragon
       4.6 Storm Dragon
       4.7 Ice Dragon
       4.8 White Dragon
       4.9 Master Pug
       4.10 Blue Dragon
       4.11 Doom Gaze
       4.12 Red Dragon
       4.13 Skull Dragon
       4.14 Gold Dragon
       4.15 Stealing Economizers
       4.16 Get Merit Award

5. Final Notes
     5.1 Experience List
     5.2 Inescapable Monsters
     5.3 Equipment To Use For High Magic Evade
     5.4 Forced Re-averaging of levels

6. Credits/Acknowledgements

7. Legalities

Version History
---------------

2.0 (4th July 2002) Added perfect low level game strategy. Changed many boss
strategies, including adding a non-economizer strategy. Added Inescapable
monsters and forced party level re-averaging lists. Added boss HP/MP and fixed
errors.

1.0	(29th August 2001) The original version

---------------
1. Introduction
---------------

This FAQ describes how to achieve a low-level game in Final Fantasy 3 for the
SNES. It is recommended for your sanity that this guide is followed by playing
the game via an emulator rather than using the cartridge. However, everything
described in this FAQ is possible by playing the game on cartridge (excluding
save-states).

1.1 What is a low-level game?
-----------------------------

For the purposes of this FAQ a low-level game is defined as playing FF3 trying
to achieve as low a level as possible with each of your characters, using any
means possible excluding hacking/cheating/glitches. Ultimately, you are trying
to attain the lowest possible party average of levels. The perfect low level
game which nets the lowest possible party average is outlined in this FAQ. For
the purposes of this FAQ, these limitations have been set:

-Do not throw rods that were bought

-Do not throw elemental shields

-Do not throw superballs

-Do not use vanish/magic to win a battle

-"Psycho Cyan"* is considered a glitch and may not be used to win a battle

No strategies in this FAQ use any of these methods to win a battle.
It is possible to use any of these means to make fighting boss characters
easier. If you wish to use any of these, substitute the main attacking move in
the boss strategy with your choice from above.

This FAQ also requires that each character be collected, and that all
subsequent side-quests be completed as well.

* Thanks to Terii Senshi for the Psycho Cyan description: Have Cyan use
Retort. Kill off Cyan with magic, and then revive him. Turn Cyan into an Imp
(You can turn Cyan into an Imp before you kill him too). Now the next time
anyone attacks (including Cyan), Cyan will keep attacking all the enemies
until they're dead.

1.2 Can anyone try?
-------------------

Anyone who has patience can attempt a low-level game. It is highly
recommended however that you have completed the game at least once, as this
FAQ does not detail how to go about completing some of the tasks; it is
assumed that you know how to proceed through the plot. This FAQ details what
is completely necessary to win the game at the lowest levels possible;
specifically, the gear, relics, and spells that are necessary, and their
corresponding strategies. You do not need to have played the game for hours
and hours, nor do you need an intricate working knowledge of the more detailed
aspects of the game. Patience is all that is really needed (especially if
you are playing on cartridge!).

1.3 General Tips/Points
-----------------------

General tips are placed here, to avoid repetition within the FAQ. The FAQ
assumes you adhere to each of the following points throughout attempting a
low level game:

-Always run from random encounters. If you get into a pincer attack, you can
run from it so long as you kill one half of the enemies (either the left or
right side). You will receive no experience points for such a fight.

-To avoid major headaches, you can buy smoke bombs for 300GP each. They are
available in Nikeah in the WOB, and in Albrook and Thamasa in the WOR.
When used in battle, they are an instant escape even from pincer attacks.

-Some battles simply cannot be escaped from. If there are inescapable battles
in a particular part of the game, that section will be asterisked (**   **)
like so, and you will be referred to see section [5.2] for details.

-Always upgrade your armor to the best available at the town you are in.

-Always place all of your characters on the back row (double select them from
the menu) unless their magic evade statistic is greater than or equal to 128%

-This FAQ assumes that the evade bug (read: evade% does nothing, dark does
nothing) has not been fixed, and that mblock% still determines both evade% of
both physical and magic attacks (this bug is present in all SNES cartridges
and un-patched ROM files).

-Any reference made in square brackets, [ ], is a number reference to a latter
section of the FAQ if you require more detail, such as boss fight tactics, or
more complicated sections of the game.

-No bosses give you experience points (one monster-in-a-box does, so he has
been ignored in this guide).

-You can fight on the Veldt without gaining experience points.

-If you are using save states, and wish to change the fight parameters of your
next fight, you can either save the game, or de-equip/re-equip armor or
relics. This will sometimes change your start status (type of fight).

-Characters levels are calculated from your party's average level.
When characters enter your party, their level is the party average plus
a certain number. Terra, your first character, is the initial party average
(lv.3). Therefore, when Locke enters, his level is 3 (party average) plus
2 (level addition), which gives his start level, 5. Each time a new member
is added to the group, they affect the average. When Locke enters at lv.5,
the new average is (3+5)/2, or 4.

-Every character you have, not just the characters in your party, are used in
calculating your party's average experience level. However, if you leap Gau
off in the Veldt, he is not included as he is no longer a member of your
party. This way you can keep the average of your party down.

-When you consult this FAQ for progression through the game, be sure to check
the boss strategies for your section as well as the next section; you don't
want to go too far and be poorly equipped in spells and items and be unable
to progress. (For example, if a strategy calls for the spell rasp, and you
don't know rasp because you didn't learn it at the veldt, you're stuck!)

--------------
2. Walkthrough
--------------

2.1 Opening Section - Lete River
----------------------------------

As soon as you start the game, in the first fight with Terra, Wedge and Vicks,
cast fire on Terra to kill her. This will stop you gaining any experience from
fights in the first section with Terra. Win each fight with Wedge and Vicks,
or run from the fights, it does not matter. If you choose to fight, using Bolt
Beam is best. Remember you can use Heal Force to heal your characters to avoid
using Tonics. You can revive Terra if you wish before the fight with Whelk
[3.1], however it is not recommended, as it is not necessary.

Once this is finished, you will wake up with Terra inside the house in Narshe.
Firstly take the Elixir from the clock in the house, then make your way into
the caves. You can safely collect the chests in this area. Use Cure magic on
yourself when you need it.

When you are backed up into the corner by the guards, and Locke and the
Moogles come to help you, you will face a multi-party battle. Move the Locke
team, and the Mog team up behind Terra, and remember to de-equip Mog of his
Mithril Pike and Mithril Shield. Take the remaining team of 4 Moogles down
the left hand side, dodging all of the guards [4.1] and on to Marshal [3.2]
right away. This stops you from collecting any experience points from any
of the battles. If you do get into any fights, characters that do not
matter will collect the experience.

When you make your way out of the caves with Locke and Terra. Go into the
first house in Narshe, the classroom. Heal yourself with there, and empty
all of the chests in every room in the classroom, except for the monster-
in-a-box in the far right room.

Head out of Narshe and on to Figaro Castle. Once at Figaro Castle, make sure
you pick up the Bioblaster and Noise Blaster. Remember that items are half
price in Figaro Castle if Edgar is your lead character; this information
will save you money later on. Once you have escaped the castle you
will be chased by MagiTek Armors. Attack these as normal, making sure to use
Fire with Terra.

Once this fight is over make your way over on the Chocobo to the South Figaro
cave. Do not collect any items in this cave on your way through (remember to
heal yourself as soon as you get in using the recovery spring in the water).
Once you are out of the cave, make your way over the South Figaro. Check all
of the barrels and boxes. Buy some sprint shoes - these will almost certainly
be needed even if you are playing on an emulator. Upgrade all attacking
weapons too. If you need money, you can steal Bucklers from Greasemonkeys, and
Mithril Claws from Rhinotaurs just outside. These can be sold for 100GP/400GP
respectively. You can also get lots of Tonics, and Antidotes from the
creatures outside the village. Don't forget you can sleep for free in Sabin's
House to restore your HP/MP/Status. It is a good idea to get a few Antidotes
(a common steal from the enemies around here). Remember to get all the money
from the secret area in the drafty room (top floor of the mansion, behind the
bookcase). You can also pick up the RunningShoes - these are hidden in
Basement 2. Basement 2 can be found if you walk straight down past the first
set of bookcases. Turn off layers (if you are using an emulator) if you are
really lost, to reveal where the staircase is. Once you have some Tonics,
Antidotes, and are rested up in Sabin's house, you are ready for Mount Koltz.

Once you arrive there, collect any items, and make your way through the cave.
It is worth noting you can steal bandanas from the Brawlers (although it is
very hard), and these do improve your defense slightly. If you decide to do
this, make sure you head back to Sabin's House for a rest before finishing the
dungeon! Use the Antidotes as necessary along your way. Once you get to Vargas
[3.3], heal yourself up with Tonics.

Next up is the Returner's Hideout. When you get to there, examine the room on
the top left for some items, as well as a White Cape hidden in the wall to the
right. Before going out to the river, you can make your fight with Ultros
easier if you go out onto the field and collect experience with Banon only.
Knock your other characters out and allow Banon to gain a few levels. However,
it is possible to beat Ultros with a level 2 Banon, so this isnt compulsory.
When you are ready to go out to the river, remember to
stay a night to heal your people (it is free). On the river, run from each
battle, and save as necessary.

When you reach the final (second) cave in Lete River, heal your party up and
save. Ready yourself for your first encounter with Ultros [3.4].

If you have done all of the above sections correctly, your party should be at
the following levels (and have collected no experience points):

Banon Level 2, Terra Level 3, Locke Level 5, Sabin Level 6

2.2 Scenario Choice - Zozo
-----------------------------------

I find the best way to do these scenarios is in the order: Edgar/Banon/Terra
then Locke then Sabin. This way you get the least items for the easiest, and
the most items for the hardest. This also means that you can get the maximum
possible number of rages with Gau in the Sabin scenario (this is because you
will have fought the maximum number of monsters).

In the Edgar/Banon/Terra scenario make your way to Narshe, once there go
through the cave like Locke showed you near the beginning of the game. You
can and should collect anything in the chests.

In the Locke Scenario, collect all the chests you can. Remember to collect
the ribbon. To do so, go downstairs from the basement with the fights.
The ribbon is hidden in a chest. Turn off layers to find this relic. Now
you can get all the chests in the South Figaro cave, including the Thunder
Rod (replaced a tincture) - this will come in useful later. Next up is
fighting TunnelArmor [3.5].

In the Sabin Scenario, collect all the items in the tents in the Imperial
Camp. You can get a Mithril Glove and a Barrier Ring in tents (you can jump
down from a wall to get into one of the tents). There is a Telstar in a
monster-in-a-box here also. Beating this gives you a Green Beret, and the
ability to fight them on the Veldt. Beating this is useful, so equip the
ribbon on Sabin to avoid Magizerk, and just use aurabolt repeatedly.
If you have problems beating the Telstar, simply skip it, but the Green
Beret gives an HP boost that is very helpful especially in this low-level
game.

When you turn into Cyan and need to fight the leader, just use retort once.
Next, help out Cyan with all the fights (you don't get any exp. for these).
Then get in the MagiTek armor and kill the rest of the guards. Escape, and
head towards the Phantom Forest. Before you enter, however, you must encounter
a group of stray cats! In order to find their rage, you must fight their
group first! Refill your life with the recovery spring in the water, then
head onto the train. Pick up a ghost for your team in the back room (turn
right into the back-most room upon entrance). You will fight a monster-in
-a-box (a Spectre) later in the train - I simply possessed him to kill him.
Collect all the items in the chests, and move onto the Phantom Train [3.6].
After the train head for Barron Falls. Shadow should leave your party now
(Be sure to de-equip him of his Ninja Gear!). When you jump over the edge
you will fight a bunch of monsters, finishing off with Rizopas. Using
Aurabolt and Dispatch on each of the enemies in this section is the best
thing to do. Rizopas can be a slight pain, but you best bet is to just
use Dispatch and Aurabolt. If you die, just try again. Don't bother with
healing - just pound him. Using Aurabolt and Dispatch twice should be enough
to kill Rizopas.

When you arrive at the Veldt make your way to Mobliz. Once you are there buy
some dried meat. After getting Gau, go out and fight on the Veldt for a good
hour or so, gaining as many rages and as much money as you can. This is the
best
chance you get to gain some money. Make sure you pick up Templar (Fire2),
Hazer (Bolt2), Overmind (Elf Fire) Pteradon (Fire-ball) and Stray Cat
(Catscratch) rages. Also, you can sleep for free in the house right
at the top of Mobliz where you can buy relics. It might be a good idea to pick
up a couple of white capes too (5000GP each). Also pick up the best armor for
each of your characters.

Next, head to Crescent Mountain. You can pick up a Green Beret from the caves
in the Serpent's Trench. Once this section is over, you will end up in Nikeah.
Once there simply take the boat and you will end up in Narshe for the big
meeting of each parties' members.

Next up is a multiparty battle with Kefka. For this battle, simply make one
good team (Sabin, Edgar, Cyan, Gau) and equip them with all the best equipment
you have. You can avoid every single battle [4.2] and go straight to Kefka
[3.7]. You will go and approach the Esper next, and Terra will scream off.

To search for Terra, make a party that includes Locke - you are going to want
his steal ability to raise cash. Remember to get all the chests in the house
just below the house you leave in Narshe, you can get a Wall Ring there, as
well as a Sneak Ring.

Now once you get to Kohlingen remember you can always rest for free in Figaro
Castle, as well as buy things very cheaply there (when Edgar is your lead
character). Also make sure you buy the Drill and Flash tools. Buy all the best
equipment you can afford from Kohlingen, and then head for Jidoor. Buy all the
best equipment you can afford in Jidoor. Buy as many Potions/Fenix Downs as
you can also in Figaro Castle.

Now make your way to Zozo, save just outside the town. Right here you want to
make sure that you used up ALL your money buying stuff.  Enter Zozo, and enter
any building and start fighting in there. Steal from Harvesters then run, and
run from anything else. Be very wary of Slamdancers - they can kill everyone
in one go with elemental spells. To evade slamdancers, you can either equip
your 1 wall ring on someone, and that 1 person will survive an attack,
or save state after every battle, and open state to fight outside to avoid
fighting the next slamdancer. You can steal Goggles (not so good) or
DragoonBoots (very good) from Harvesters (If you have money, the harvesters
will
counter-attack by stealing it). Steal as many as you can before you run out
of Fenix Downs and Potions. Then leave and head back to Jidoor to sell Goggles
for 250GP a piece, and DragoonBoots for 4500GP apiece! Now buy all the best
equipment you can, lots of Potions, lots of Fenix Downs and repeat until you
are happy about your money situation. I got around 50000GP here, and bought
30 Tents, 99 Potions and 99 Fenix Downs! Remember to buy the stocks from
Figaro Castle. Once you are ready to continue with the game collect the
Chainsaw and head up the tower in Zozo (6:10:50 is the time). At the top of
the tower you fight Dadaluma [3.8].

If you have done all of the above sections correctly, your party should be at
the following levels (and have collected no experience points):

Locke Level 5, Celes Level 5, Sabin Level 6, Edgar Level 6, Cyan Level 7, Gau
Level 7

2.3 Jidoor - Sealed Cave
------------------------

Head back to Jidoor with Celes, Locke, Cyan, and Gau.
Next up is the opera house. Do the performance, and then when you get to the
rats above the opera, avoid every battle [4.3]. This can be done - it just
requires patience. Next up is Ultros [3.9] again.

Setzer will fly you to the Island containing three towns, and the Magitek
Research Facility. You can steal DragoonBoots from Wyvern on this island,
although it is pretty difficult. You will need a lot of money here to upgrade
all of your armor and weapons, and ensure you have 4 Wall Rings (probably
over 30000GP). Once you are ready, head for Vector, where you can find the
Magitek Research Facility.

Once inside, you should collect the Flame Sabre, the Thunder Sabre and the
Gold Shield. You can also get a set of DragoonBoots in here. If you want,
check the bottom of the facility for two secret doors with gold armor and
a gold helm. Make your way over to Ifrit and Shiva [3.10]. Save, and then
head on. Next up is Number 024 [3.11].

Now onto the mine cart ride. Put the party in the following order:
Locke/Gau/Cyan. This way you fight Mag roaders in this order:
1 red and 1 blue, 2 blue, 1 blue, 2 blue, 2 blue. Make sure you have wall
rings on everyone. Ultimately, you want to make it through this without
gaining any excess levels. You can get through the fights with 2 level
gains by fighting the battles like this.

1st battle: 1 red, 1 blue - All three conscious, 147 exp each

2nd battle: 2 blue - Only Gau conscious, 464 exp for Gau. He levels up.

3rd battle: 1 blue - Gau and Locke conscious, 116 exp each

4th battle: 2 blue - All three conscious, 154 exp each, Locke levels up.

5th battle: 2 blue - All three conscious, 154 exp each.

Note that on the second battle, you need to knock both Cyan and Locke
out. When you reach the next battle, be careful when reviving Locke;
he will not have reflect up, and is vulnerable to fire spells of the Mag
roaders. The same thing applies to the next battle when you need to revive
Cyan. With a little luck, you will be able to succeed in all of this, and
have everyone at top health at the end of the battles with Mag roaders.
Number 128 [3.12] lies at the end of the mine cart ride. Once you leave
the Magitek Research Facility, put two earrings on Gau. Setzer will
pick you up, and you will be attacked by Cranes [3.13] in the Airship.
Only 2 levels will have been gained (Locke and Gau). If you check your
status, Cyan Locke and Gau will all be close to a level up. This will all
be factored away soon. See [5.4] for more details.

Now the Airship is working it is a great time to get everyone in your party
up on using spells. Teach as many people as you wish as many spells as you
wish on the Veldt. At the same time you will be gaining some money, which
will be useful. Also, (thanks Alex Miles) you can go to the triangle in the
upper-right hand corner of the map. Walk around for a bit and you will
find the Intangir, already vanished for you. Cast doom for an easy win and
10 Magic points (the only drawback it that Intangir aren't the easiest
things to find, and as a dying move, will cast Meteo and kill the caster
of Doom). It is a good idea to teach Terra the main Elemental attacks,
as well as the best Cure and Life spells. Do the same for one other character,
preferably Edgar. Teach Gau or Locke some of the other spells while you do
this. Also you should make sure Terra and Locke know Osmose and Rasp. It is
vital that they know these!

Make your way over to the auction house in Jidoor. Now is a good time to
purchase the Espers Zoneseek (10,000GP), and Golem (20,000GP). These will
come in handy. When you are ready you need to head over to Narshe and have
a talk with Banon, before going to the imperial base.

No soldiers will be at the imperial base anymore, and you can make your way
over to the Sealed Cave. Inside the Sealed Cave make sure you pick up the
Assassin, Tempest, Coin Toss, Atma Weapon and Genji Glove. Fights in here
can be pretty hard, so you might need a few Potions and Fenix Downs. Don't
worry though; there are no boss battles in here. Once you have finished the
cave, and let out all of the Espers, make your way out and through the base
again. After a scene, the Airship will crash, and you will end up on the
imperial continent. You will be nearby Maranda.

If you have done all of the above sections correctly, your party should be at
the following levels (having gained 2054 exp.):

Terra Level 6 (goes up from 3 when she rejoins your party), Locke Level 6,
Setzer Level 6, Sabin Level 6, Edgar Level 6, Cyan Level 7, Gau Level 8

2.4 Gestahl Meeting - IAF
-------------------------

From Maranda, take the party Terra, Setzer, Sabin, and Edgar, and ride a
chocobo to Vector (look in the forest near your crash site). When you
arrive at Vector, Gestahl greets you wanting a meeting. You now have a choice.
If you wish to open the locked door in the imperial base, you can fight one of
the Guards. If you fight a normal guard (Commando), and not one of the other
M-tek Armor style guards, you will receive 252 Exp. points. You can take this
without gaining a level. I simply absorbed the experience between each of my
four characters. On the other hand (thanks Sam Shaw), you can also talk to and
run from the three fighting guards (not the one in M-tek Armor), and gain
three
points towards the banquet instead of four, and no exp. points  Either way,
if you answer all of Gestahl's questions correctly, you can gain just enough
points to have the locked door in the imperial base unlocked. The items you
can get from the room in Vector include a Flame Sabre, Wall Ring, Cure Ring,
Back Guard, Running Shoes, a hidden elixir in the lower right hand corner,
and 41000GP. Even if you gain experience, the experience will simply
disappear.
See section [5.4] for more details.

Head back to Nikeah and you will go on a boat ride over to Thamasa with Leo
and Shadow. As soon as you arrive here, go outside, and try to steal from the
Baskevors there. You can steal Gaia Gear from them, which you will want to
keep. However, Locke is at such a low level, you may not have any success at
stealing these, even with a Sneak Ring.

Watch the two people cast magic behind the houses in Thamasa, and then meet
Strago and Relm. When you go to sleep that night you will wake up to a
house on fire with Relm stuck inside. When you go in to save her, run from
every fight. Just before you reach the final boss get ready to set your people
up for the fight with Flame Eater [3.14], he is a pain.

Once this is done, you move onto the Espers' Gathering Place. Inside the cave,
you should pick up all the items you can (making sure you get the Heal Rod)
and then prepare yourself for another fight with Ultros [3.15]. After this you
meet up with the Espers, and then with General Leo back in Thamasa.

Now, you will gain control of General Leo. This section can be a pain, but
make sure you save state, and then just use General Leo's Shock command, and
eventually you should win out (you might need to use a Potion or two). After
General Leo's death, the Floating Continent becomes available.

Next, I recommend going to the Veldt and learn some more spells and rages.
Make sure most of your characters know Rasp and Osmose, and all of the level 2
spells (Fire, Cure etc.). You will need them later. Remember once you have
finished with the Floating Continent you will not have another chance to learn
spells until you get the airship in the World Of Ruin. This is a great
opportunity to earn a load of money too. Above all, beefing up Celes with
spells is a necessity.

When you are ready, it is time to give the Floating Continent a go. Remember
before you get to the Continent you have the IAF to worry about. Use the party
Strago, Cyan, and Gau. These three can absorb the most experience. Next, you
will fight 6 random encounters against Spit Fire & Sky Armor [4.4]. These
random encounters give you a random total; the battles are randomly
predetermined. In the battles, you can fight 2 sets of monsters:

1) A sky armor and a spit fire (900 exp. points)
2) 2 sky armors and a spit fire (1250 exp. points)

Because Cyan and Strago should not gain levels (their levels will be factored
into the WOR) it is best to give Gau all the exp. Gau can be leapt off at the
veldt and won't affect the rest of the party. All that needs to be done is
2 things: (1.) you need to split one battle with 2 sky armors and a spit fire
between all three, and (2.) you need to run into at LEAST one battle with
only one sky armor (instead of two). Cyan and Strago will not gain a level
from
the battle that is split, and at the end (if you fight a battle with two
enemies instead of three) you will have a total of 7150 exp. By splitting 1
such battle and letting Gau absorb the rest (by knocking out the other two
guys),
Gau will be level 13. GIVE GAU THE ZONESEEK ESPER! It gives him a +2 bonus to
magic at level up. This makes him by far your best character at the end of
these fights. Next up are Ultros and Chupon [3.16]. After these come the IAF
[3.17].

If you have done all of the above sections correctly, your party should be at
the following levels (having gained at most 9276 exp. points):

Celes Level 6, Locke Level 6, Relm Level 6, Setzer Level 6, Terra Level 6,
Edgar Level 6, Sabin Level 6, Cyan Level 7, Strago Level 8, Gau Level 13

2.5 Floating Continent
----------------------

(**See section [5.2] for inescapable monster info: Ninja**)
Now you should be on the Floating Continent. Do NOT pick up Shadow; just
leave him right where he is (If you do, Gau's level will be factored into
his, and he will enter at lv.7.) You will want to be using the Back Guard
and Gale Hairpin too to try and help yourself run away from fights quickly.
Do not fight the monster-in-a-box here, as you will receive experience points
for it. Go all the way through the Floating Continent until you can get back
to your airship. Go back to your airship.

Now gain all the spells you can with all the characters you can. You will want
the main elemental spells (Bolt2, Ice2, Fire2) with basically every character.
You will also want Rasp and Osmose with just about every character (maybe
except Relm). When you are ready, leap Gau off at the Veldt, redo the Floating
Continent with any old party, pick up Shadow (lv.6) and once again, leave the
floating continent. Now, pick Gau up again, and again, redo the floating
continent with the party Gau, Edgar and Sabin (check the tactics for Atma
Weapon before choosing your team). Now go all through the Continent until
you reach Atma Weapon [3.18]. Once he is killed, go back and jump onto the
Airship. Now leap off Gau again (you don't want his experience factoring into
your characters in the WOR!). Redo the Floating Continent with Edgar,
Sabin and Terra. This time, before you leave, make sure to equip Celes with
good stuff. Also, set tincture to the top of the item menu. Everyone needs
to know rasp and osmose!

Once you have finished the scene with Kefka realigning the statues and Shadow
saving the day, Celes will join you and you will have a very hard set of
battles. You will need to kill numerous Naughtys and still leave enough time
for Nerapa. Naughties have 3000 HP and 195 MP, so you can dispose of them in
two ways. You can deplete their HP by casting Bolt2 with Celes and Terra,
Drill with Edgar, and Aurabolt with Sabin. Naughties die when their MP reaches
0, so you also could just rasp them. 4 rasps should be enough. Do not try to
collect any items along the way, just head as fast as you can for Nerapa. If
you find that you are running low on time, you'll probably want to open
state. You should have approximately 1 minute 15 seconds left when you reach
Nerapa [3.19] if you want to win. If you have about a minute, consider the
second boss tactic. If you less than 46 seconds, you can't win. Once he is
dead, go to the edge, select wait, and wait for Shadow (with 5 seconds left)
and then watch the world get ruined.

At the end of the World Of Balance, if you have done all of the above sections
correctly, your party should be at the following levels (having gained at most
9276 Exp. points):

Celes Level 6, Locke Level 6, Relm Level 6, Setzer Level 6, Terra Level 6,
Edgar Level 6, Sabin Level 6, Shadow Level 6, Cyan 7, Strago Level 8.

2.6 Solitary Island - Colosseum
-------------------------------------

Now you will take control of only Celes on the Solitary Island. She should be
level 6 (she is level 7 if you didn't leap Gau from your party). If you wish
to keep Cid alive, feed him the fast fish; else just keep exiting/entering his
house and talking to him to let him die. It doesn't matter which you decide to
do. Once you get the raft you will float over to another island. When you
arrive there, equip yourself with the Back Guard and Gale Hairpin, and make
sure you have the best armor equipped. Make your way up North to the town with
Sabin in.

When you meet Sabin, you will have to rescue the child from the house. Collect
all the items you can, and avoid all the monster-in-a-box fights. Collect the
child and then exit. Use potions as and when required. You should now collect
a level 6 Sabin. Next, make your way over to where Terra is. It is a long
walk, so walk north of Tzen into a square forest, where there is a hidden
chocobo stable.  Get a chocobo for a 100GP, and ride to Molbiz.

When you reach Terra, talk to her, and then exit. Phunbaba should show up.
Save state before exiting, so you have time to sort out your equipment. Then
fight Phunbaba [3.20]. Once he is defeated you will get Fenrir, and then exit.

In the forest just south of here there is another Chocobo Stable. Since
you need to walk quite far, it is well worth the 100GP it costs. Get a
Chocobo over to the town where Gerad is. Progress the story by talking to
all of Gerad's hired help, and then get on the Boat, and make your way over
to South Figaro cave, and then Figaro Castle. Collect all the items from
here, including the Debilitator from the Tool shop, and prepare for
Tentacles [3.21].

Next up is Daryl's Tomb. Collect all the items in here, even the Exp. Egg if
you want. When you get to the end you will get a monster-in-a-box (Presenter).
He can be easily killed with petrify. Use Shoat on him for an instant death
(this will also give you 2 dragon claws if you hit both the shell and the
creature itself). Next up is Dullahan [3.22]. Now you have the airship you
are free to go where you want!

Firstly, go to Duncan's house, north of Narshe in an "x" made of 5 trees.
Here you get the Bum Rush blitz for Sabin. This will be the only blitz
you use from now on.

Next on the list is the colosseum. Here you can bet your Czarina Gown in order
to get a Minerva. Equip Sabin with a wall ring, and bet the Czarina Gown. Your
opponent (Sky Base) will at some point in the fight use doom, which is
reflected back to him and kills him. The Minerva will come in very handy from
now on.

Current Levels:

Celes Level 6, Setzer Level 6, Sabin Level 6, Edgar Level 6

2.7 Maranda - Narshe
---------------------

Now you have the airship, it is time to get some magic and money. Fly to the
desert south of Maranda, and save and prepare yourself for some real fighting!
You will need to run from the Hoovers, but fight the Cactrot. These guys will
die from a single Bum Rush. They give you no experience points, 10 MP and
10000GP - just what we need! Fight a few of these to upgrade the spells all
your main characters know. Now it is time to get Cyan.

Fly to Maranda, and talk to the lady in the top right corner with carrier
pigeons around her house. It will prompt you to go to Zozo. Go there; buy the
Rust Aid from the guy just south of the Cafe. Now you can dissolve the rust on
the door at the top of the Cafe. Go up there and prepare for some fights. Make
sure you don't get all your money you just earned from the Cactrots stolen by
the ursus. Go through the cave, but don't fight the Dragon at the end. Pick
up all the items, and get Cyan.

Now earn more money and magic from the Cactrots as necessary - make sure you
know Bio with at least two of your characters (other than Sabin). Take these
two (preferably Edgar and Celes) and Sabin to get Terra back. Prepare yourself
for another fight with Phunbaba [3.23]. Now you will have Terra.

(**See section [5.2] for inescapable monster info: Phase**)
Next up, unfortunately, is Pheonix Cave. Locke is another low level character
left (was at 6) so we should go after him now. Make two parties relatively
equal (Edgar, Terra, Setzer and Sabin, Celes, Cyan). Get Locke, and then
escape.

Now you have Locke, you should go and get the Ragnarok sword, and Cursed
Shield from Narshe. These will come in very handy indeed!

Here is a point where you can make a choice. You can elect to go and obtain
some economizers right here. Economizers are very powerful relics which
make this game much easier (all spells cost 1 MP). If you wish, you may get
these relics [4.15a]. If you feel that such relics would give you an unfair
advantage, or wish to have a greater challenge, save getting economizers
for later. If you choose to get economizers now, uncurse your shield to get
ultima by fighting 256 enemies (the shield can be uncursed quickly on the
Solitary Island - a four man team can absorb the 256 exp. points each they
will receive from the Peepers). Teach Ultima and Life3 to everyone who you
plan to use.

Current Levels:

Celes Level 6, Setzer Level 6, Terra Level 6, Locke Level 6, Sabin Level 6,
Edgar Level 6, Cyan Level 7.

2.8 Jidoor - Illumina
---------------------

Next we need to get Relm, since she was also of low level. So we need to
head for Jidoor. This is the next and final point in the game where we are
forced to gain some experience. We don't want this to affect our overall
average, so the best thing we can do is go and pick up Gau first. Pick up Gau,
and make a one-man party of Gau. Enter the mansion in Jidoor, and kill the two
Dahlings. If you equip a wall ring first, this should be easy enough. Make
sure you give Gau the Esper ZoneSeek, so his Magic Power will rise by 2 for
every level he goes up. This will give you 2302 experience points, raising Gau
to level 14. Now, give Gau the Back Guard, and Gale Hairpin, and leave the
mansion. Get 3 other characters for support in case Gau dies; you don't want
to get annihilated by the dancers that throw dirks. Now head back into the
mansion, and make your way through the basement, running from every fight.
Next up is still life (in the painting in the room with the floating chests
- don't bother getting any of these). Before fighting still life, give Gau
two pairs of Earrings and kill your support characters. Three Fire2's and
still life should be dead. This will give Gau another 2328 experience
points, raising him another level to 15. Now exit the mansion by going in
the door, and then choosing the left door bringing you back to near the
beginning. Exit, and then leap Gau off in the Veldt (be sure to de-equip
him first). Make a party of Edgar, Sabin, Terra, and Celes. Re-do the
mansion, and kill Chadarnook [3.24]. Pick up the esper Starlet. Relm will
now join your party.

You can easily finish off the Dirt Dragon now also [4.5]. This will give you
the Magus Rod.

Now is a good time to get your Cursed Shield un-cursed, it will certainly help
for the following fights. If you are lazy, you can get four members to fight
on the Solitary Island for 1 experience point each per fight. This is the
quick method, however you will gain 256 experience (not enough to raise
anyone up a level though). Alternatively you can fight on the Veldt to remove
the curse, but this takes a long time, as fights can be very tough there.
Another method is to fight Cactrots to un-curse it - this will also give you
lots of money and lots of magic points, but will take an age. When you get the
Paladin Shield, you can learn ultima.

Next up is Storm Dragon [4.6]. He is in Mt. Zozo (where you picked up Cyan).
Now you have the Force Armor, you can finally create a character with over
128% magic evade, so we can now pick up the Illumina.

Set up Celes with an Enhancer (you can buy these), Paladin Shield, Mystery
Veil, Force Armor and two White Capes and she will have 129% mblock.
Bet the Ragnarok at the Colosseum, and fight. Didalos will not be able to
touch
you, and so all it takes is time to win this fight.

Current Levels:

Celes Level 6, Setzer Level 6, Terra Level 6, Locke Level 6, Relm 6, Sabin
Level 6, Edgar Level 6, Cyan Level 7.

2.9 Veldt Cave - Doom Gaze
--------------------------------

Set-up one of your characters to have over 128% magic evade - this is easy now
you have the Illumina. I chose Edgar with Illumina/Paladin Shield/Force
Armor/White Capes.

(**See section [5.2] for inescapable monster info: Rhyos**)
Make your way over to the injured Shadow in the Veldt Cave. A SrBehemoth
[3.25] will attack you from behind when you reach Shadow. Once these are dead,
you will fly over to Thamasa. You can leave this town, and now go and pick up
Shadow from the Colosseum by betting the Striker (you got this from the Veldt
Cave). Kill
Shadow, and he will join your party.

It is now safe to go and pick up the final characters, starting with Mog.
Once you have Mog, remember to pick up the Moogle Charm behind him, and then
pick up Umaro. In order to get to Umaro, you have to defeat Tritoch [3.26] and
Umaro himself [3.27] first. The Ice Dragon is also here [4.7].

Now take Relm to the fanatics tower and get Strago back.

(**See section [5.2] for inescapable monster info: Covert**)
After you get Strago, take a party to Triangle Island and get Gogo.

Once you have Gogo, it is safe to pick up the final character - Gau. This
gives you the final levels of every character as the following:

Celes Level 6, Setzer Level 6, Terra Level 6, Locke Level 6, Relm Level 6,
Sabin Level 6, Edgar Level 6, Shadow Level 6, Umaro Level 6, Cyan Level 7,
Strago Level 8, Gogo Level 8, Mog Level 11, Gau level 15.

Average Party Level: 7.36

Now we have some final loose ends to tie up. If you didn't before, now would
be a great time to pick up economizers. [4.15] If you want a great challenge,
or still think they give an unfair advantage, go without them. Next, in order
to make the rest of the battles a little easier, we can retrieve some of the
great items from Kefka's Tower. Now we have Mog, we can use the Moogle Charm
and walk around the tower without fear of being attacked. Put Mog alone in
team 1 and bring out the Coronet, and the Fixed Dice with you. With Mog in
team 2 you can bring out the Force Shield, Minerva, Ribbon and Force Armor.
With Mog in team 3 we can bring out the Red Cap, Hero Ring, Nutkin Suit and
a Gauntlet. Be sure not to get in any fights during this time
(with Dragons/Inferno/Atma).

Now we have such great equipment, we can make multiple members of the team
with greater than 128 magic evade %. This makes all of the next areas of the
game much easier. First up is Doma Castle. Complete the castle by beating the
3 Stooges [3.28] and Wrexsoul [3.29].

Now it is time for Fanatics Tower. To avoid a major headache, use Mog and the
Moogle Charm to head right up to the top. If you want to fight the hard way,
make sure you equip a wall ring on everyone. When you get to the top it is
time for Magimaster [3.30], you will need Life3 for him, if you don't have it
 go learn it! You will also fight the White Dragon here [4.8]. Make sure you
pick up the Safety Bit, and the Air Anchor (press an invisible switch on the
right hand side of the first treasure chest in the tower, to make a new door
appear one level down on the tower), and another Force Armor.

Now lets head over to the Ancient Castle, and collect all the items there,
including the Esper Odin. If you want the Offering, you will have to fight
Katana Soul. If you have over 128% magic evade it helps. He can easily be
defeated by poisoning, or just muddle him and he will slay himself. Master Pug
[4.9] is also here, and you get a Gradeus for beating him. Lastly, if you
unlock the downstairs passage by clicking a secret switch a few steps down
from the right throne, you will fight Blue Dragon [4.10], and can turn your
new esper Odin into Raiden. If you have chosen not to use economizers,
however, don't bother going up to the queen to level up Odin; you'll never
have enough MP to do the spell quick! Also, Odin is the only esper which gives
+1 speed on level up, so if you are using the low level game as a means to
create an ultimate party, it is worth keeping Odin.

Now, fly about in the airship all over the map waiting to be attacked by Doom
Gaze [4.11]. Once this is over, it is time to kill off the Red Dragon [4.12]
we skipped in Pheonix Cave. Now there are just two dragons left, and these are
both in Kefka's Tower.

We have just Ebots rock to do now, and then it will be time to finish Kefka
off.

2.10 Ebots Rock - Kefka's Tower
--------------------------------

Make your way through Ebot's Rock collecting the Coral, until you get through
to Hidon [3.31]. Make sure you let him cast GrandTrain before you kill him, so
that Strago will learn it.

Now we are onto Kefka's Tower. Firstly however, we should kill all of the
dragons and bosses, in order to prepare best for the final fights of the game.
To do this, send in a party of Edgar, Sabin, Terra and Mog as Party 3. Use the
Moogle Charm to avoid any fighting. Make your way through the Tower, fighting
Inferno [3.32] and Skull Dragon [4.12] along the way. Once these are killed
collect any chests you can until you can go no further. Switch parties, and
escape from the Tower. Then make your way back in again with Edgar, Sabin,
Celes and Mog as Party 2. Again make your way through the tower, ignoring Atma
but fighting Gold Dragon [4.13] along the way. Collect any chests again, and
escape again. Now you have killed every dragon in the game, and so collect
Crusader for your efforts.

If you are using economizers, refer to the economizer strategies for the rest
of this FAQ. If you are not, refer to non-economizer strategies only.

..............................................................

ECONOMIZER STRATEGY:

We now need some preparing for the final fights. Learn all the spells you can
with most of your characters - most will need to know the basics, like Life3
and the main elemental spells. You will want your best magic users
(Terra/Celes) to know Ultima. Also make sure you get four Economizers [4.15].
If you still wish to complete a no-economizer game, there are still
appropriate strategies in the boss sections.

There is one last thing we must do before finishing Kefka's Tower and
completing the game, and that is to take out Atma [3.33].

Now it is onto Kefka's Tower - you will need Life3, Vanish, Doom and Ultima
with all of your most powerful characters. Split your party up into the
following teams:

Team 1: Edgar/Sabin/Setzer/Strago
Team 2: Terra/Cyan/Shadow/Gogo
Team 3: Celes/Mog/Locke/Gau (give Mog the Moogle Charm).

**See [5.2] for inescapable monster info: Land Worm**
Make your way through Kefka's Tower casting Vanish/Doom on Behemoths and
then running whenever you face them. You will need to rotate all your
equipment every time you change parties, to make sure you have people with
over 128 magic evade.

Throughout each of the following battles, you will need to equip your
strongest magic user (Celes/Terra/Edgar) with Illumina/Force Shield/Bards
Hat/Force Armor. Then give them the gem box and economizer. They will still
have a magic evade of greater than 128 and will be your main damage provider.

You will face Guardian [3.34], Goddess [3.35], Poltergeist [3.36] and Doom
[3.37].

Once they are over you are onto the final battle. Set-up
Sabin/Edgar/Terra/Celes as good as you can for this fight - you will want
Terra/Celes/Edgar all to have over 110 magic evade. You also want Terra to
have the gem box and economizer, and also for Celes and Edgar to have
economizers if possible.

................................................................

NON-ECONOMIZER STRATEGY

If you are completing the game WITHOUT economizers, set your line up in
this way; you will be leaving and coming back 2 times.

Team 1: Mog
Team 2: 4 characters with strong magic (basically, vanish and doom)
Team 3: Terra/Celes/Sabin/Relm

Teach Terra, Celes, Sabin, and Relm all the spells that are necessary:
Life3, Main elementals, Ultima, rasp/osmose, vanish, doom, and cure spells.

Make your way through Kefka's Tower casting Vanish/Doom on GtBehemoths and
then running whenever you face them.

When you reach the end (pressing the switch to open the doors) make sure
that Terra's team makes it through the appropriate door. Fight Guardian
[3.34] and Poltergeist [3.36], then leave with the warp spell. Return and
let Terra's team face Goddess [3.35]. Finally, leave again, and set up
Terra's team to face Doom [3.37].

Now that these Statues are out of the way, prepare for the final battle
with the equipment that was set in Guardian's strategy for Relm, Sabin,
Terra, and Celes.

.................................................................

FINAL BATTLE

The final battle consists of Battle 1 [3.38], Battle 2 [3.39], Battle 3
[3.40] and then finally Kefka [3.41].

It is also recommended that you use only level 6 members of the team.
Anyone above lv.6, especially Gau, would give you an "advantage."

Once he is done, the game is over and you have saved the world!
Congratulations!

Final Game Levels:

Celes Level 6, Setzer Level 6, Terra Level 6, Locke Level 6, Relm Level 6,
Sabin Level 6, Edgar Level 6, Shadow Level 6, Umaro Level 6, Cyan Level 7,
Strago Level 8, Gogo Level 8, Mog Level 11, Gau level 15.

Average Party Level: 7.36

--------------
3 Boss Battles
--------------

3.1 Whelk
---------

HP: 1600
Cast Fire Beam on the head as many times as you can before it goes into its
shell (usually twice). Use the time the head is in the shell to cast Heal </pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
Force on each of your characters.  When the head pops out again, repeat. This
boss should easily fall.

3.2 Marshal
-----------

HP: 420
This fight can be slightly tricky with just 4 Moogles, but just keep hitting
him with them all. It is probably a good idea to save just before this fight.
Dont bother with any healing, just attack him and you will win. Keep in mind
that you should put all your Moogles into the back row!

3.3 Vargas
----------

HP: You must hurt him for 1000 damage
When fighting Vargas, you need to kill the two bears first. Use Autocrossbow
with Edgar, Fight with Locke, and Fire with Terra. Heal with Terra as
necessary. Use the same combination to kill Vargas. This might take a few
attempts depending how unlucky you are with Vargas's main attack: a wind
attack that hurts everyone. Once you have dealt 1000 damage to him, Sabin
arrives. Take a sigh of relief, and get ready for a single pummel to kill
Vargas..

3.4 Ultros 1
------------

HP: 3000
Get ready for the fight of your life with Ultros. This may take awhile!
Banon needs to use 'def' (press the right direction from the fight command)
before being hit with a Tentacle (unless it hits all of your party, then you
can just survive sometimes). Banon should heal any other time. Always use Fire
with Terra, Autocrossbow with Edgar and AuraBolt (down, down, left) with
Sabin. You need quite a lot of luck with this fight. Terra is usually the
first to go with a Tentacle to the face. There isn't much you can do about
this; if she dies, don't revive her. Next will be a Tentacle to all members,
Health after this. You will be able to tell who he is going to strike next by
his words. If Ultros says, "You frighten me!" and you did not set Banon to
defend, you must open state. Sabin, Edgar, and Banon will need to stay alive.
When either Sabin or Edgar die, revive them and have Banon do health.
Hopefully you will be able to stay on top of things and send Ulrtos running.

3.5 TunnelArmor
---------------

HP: 1300
Killing the TunnelArmor takes some patience. If you can save state, this is
very handy. Make Locke attack with every hit, unless one of your characters is
nearly dead - then use a Tonic/Potion. Runic every time with Celes unless you
are feeling bold (and have a state saved!), in which case use Ice. If the
TunnelArmor uses magic and you haven't used Runic, someone will die, so it is
important to never let this happen. So long as you always Runic the magic
TunnelArmor throws at you, and make sure no one is ever under about 40 health
(else Drill will kill you) you will be fine.

3.6 Ghost Train
---------------

You can kill the train by using a Fenix down.

3.7 Kefka
---------

HP: 3000
He isn't too hard at all; just use AuraBolt, Catscratch, Autocrossbow and
Dispatch. You should beat him easily. (Make sure everyone is on the back
row!).

3.8 Dadaluma (help from rking)
------------------------------

HP: 3270
This isn't very hard at all; Aurabolt with Sabin, Drill with Edgar (too risky
using chainsaw because of the instant kill chance, which will just miss)
get Locke healing people, and do a suitable rage with Gau (either stray cat
or templar work well). When Dadaluma calls for help, don't bother attacking
the two guards, he will simply call more if you kill them. Aim any aim-able
attacks at Dadaluma. You shouldn't have too much trouble with this one.

3.9 Ultros 2 (help from rking)
------------------------------

HP: 2550
When you fight Ultros use Dispatch with Cyan, templar with Gau (1 earring),
and use Locke (RunningShoes) to restore the other characters all the time
with Potions and Fenix Downs. This fight shouldn't be too hard. Make sure
you have a White Cape equipped on everyone and you will get a free turn
every time Ultros decides to do Imps Song.

3.10 Ifrit/Shiva (help from rking)
----------------------------------

Ifrit: 3300
Shiva: 3000
This battle wasn't so hard at all, so long as you have 4 wall rings equipped.
Make sure each of the other characters have the White Cape, and you should
cruise through this fight. Use dispatch with Cyan, and use stray cat with Gau.
You can use Locke equipped with the Flame Sabre against Shiva, just watch you
don't hit Ifrit. Locke can also be the healer of the party - use Potions and
Fenix Downs as required. You should make your way through this fight without
too much trouble.

3.11 Number 024
---------------

HP: 4777
He wasn't too much trouble either. Use dispatch with Cyan. Gau will need to
do catscratch, and Locke heals as necessary. Celes can also heal; she isn't
of much other use. This fight shouldn't cause too many problems.

3.12 Number 128
---------------

HP: 3276
Number 128 is a pain, but possible to defeat. Cyan and Locke must both become
healers for this fight. The sole source of damage for this fight must come
from Gau's Templar rage. Pray for fire2. If you die, you have to go through
the minecart scenario again, or reload your save state.

3.13 Cranes
-----------

Left HP: 1800
Right HP: 2300
Use the Thunder Rod on the right crane for about 2400 damage (try to
get Gau with two earrings to do this for really good damage). This will defeat
that crane. Now you have one crane left which is weak against fire. To avoid
Magnitude 8, have Gau use pteradon; it does fire ball, for a good 400 damage
or so. Setzer usually dies right away, but if he doesn't use his slots and
heal
the others. Just use Dispatch and Locke heal. It is important to have wall
rings on Cyan and Locke before this fight begins, but you will already
have them on anyhow from fighting the Mag Roaders and Number 128 if you
followed this guide. This can be a pain if he uses magnitude 8 and then
uses fire 2 to defeat your undefended Gau, but keep trying.

3.14 Flame Eater
----------------

HP: 8400
MP: 480
There is a way of avoiding all experience in this fight, and this is to kill
none of the Bomblets. Because they can explode at any point, you have to stop
this. Casting silence, via the Esper Siren, can stop explosion. This way you
can focus all your energy on taking out Flame Eater and not gain any
experience. In order to do this, when the fight starts cast Siren. For extra
backup you can also cast ZoneSeek (shell) and Golem (no physical attacks).
Golem in particular will help against the constant attacks from the Bomblets.
Now just rasp and osmosis with Locke and Terra, making sure you heal yourself
up with potions with Strago. Fireball will damage you a lot, so make sure you
heal right up after this. It should take 4 - 5 rounds to rasp Flame Eater to
death. You need to ensure every character has a wall ring on also, this will
prevent Flame Eater's fire spells from killing you.

3.15 Ultros 3
-------------

HP: 22000 (You don't need to cause this much damage)
MP: 750
The third incarnation of Ultros is a real pain. He still has the ability
Tentacle, and now it is strong enough to kill every team member. Everyone
needs Gaia gear to defend against Magnitude8. Terra needs a wall ring.
Also, what you have to do, is equip Strago (he has the most life, and
is your healer) with the Mithril Glove, this will cast Safe on you at
low health. Now if Strago survives the first Tentacle, he will have safe,
and can easily survive tentacles for the rest of the fight. You will need
a lot of Fenix Downs. Continuously cast Fire2 with Terra, using Osmose
when you need MP. Equip Locke with the Flame Sabre and just attack with him,
or (better) have him heal. When it says that Ultros is beginning his
tri-elemental attacks, smile, since Ultros is now going to cast fire3 on
himself! Every fire2 you use on him, he counters with a fire3, which will
simply refect off Terra's wall ring and hit him. Strago should have the
heal rod, and heal the other members always. Eventually, after about
20 - 30 Fenix Downs,you should reach the point where Relm joins in. Now
this _should_ be easy - you simply have to sketch him to end the fight.
However, sketch misses a lot since its accuracy is based upon level, and
with Relm having poor armor, this part can turn out to be nasty. Simply
keep it together, sketching as often as you can and you should eventually
perform a sketch, and show Ultros who he really is!

3.16 Ultros & Chupon
--------------------

(Read the Strategy for IAF before initiating battle with Ultros, since
these are back to back boss battles)

Ultros' HP: 17000 (Cause about 6000 for him to call Chupon, don't defeat him)
Chupon's HP: 10000
Gau will need 1 earring and RunningShoes. Give Strago and Cyan RunningShoes
as well. Keep in mind that this is the easy fight. Worry about the next one.
You can cast Golem and Zoneseek for backup, but neither is necessary. Now
you have a super powerful Gau, this fight is a walkover. Firstly Fire2
Ultros twice. This should make Chupon arrive. Now you simply need to use
Gau and Ice2 on Chupon a few times. Use the other two characters for
healing/reviving.

3.17 IAF
--------

HP: 8000

Tactic 1

This fight is not so easy. The key to winning this battle is to get enough
Bolt2 spells off with Gau. Aim to use 3 of these, backed up with a few Bolt2
spells from either Strago or Cyan. I ended up winning this fight by not
casting any Espers, and using an all out approach. With save state, this isn't
such a bad method to use, since the attacks that it uses can be changed.
Cast Bolt2 every round with Gau, unless he dies, and then revive him. Cast
Bolt2 whenever you can with the other characters (make sure you aim for
the main body). If you can survive three rounds, you will win. I managed
to win the fight using this method.

Tactic 2

Cast Zoneseek immediately to lower the damage done by Mtek Laser. If he does
Atomic Ray, however, everyone will die but Gau, and unless you have damaged
the main body sufficiently, you are toast. Concentrate on Bolt2 on the main
body, making Cyan and Strago healers. Since Cyan and Strago are slower, and
aren't really good magic users, you might have to try again.

3.18 Atma Weapon
----------------

HP: 24000
MP: 5000
The idea here against Atma Weapon is to kill him from rasping him. He has
5000MP so it can take awhile. It is important to have Wall Rings on everyone
(to avoid Flare, and his other reflect-able spells). Now you will just need to
continuously use Rasp/Osmose and heal when necessary. This can take quite
a while! It is very helpful to save state in battle, as he has some moves that
can wipe out the entire party (if you do different moves, Atma may not do the
same things in battle).

3.19 Nerapa
-----------

HP: 2800
MP: 280

Tactic 1

This guy is only a problem because of time - you will have about 50 seconds to
kill him once Condemned is finished (including time needed to walk to the end
of the island). The method used in this battle is Bolt2 with Terra (morph her
in her first turn) and Celes, and Chainsaw with Edgar and Aurabolt with Sabin
(as usual). Make sure you cast Bolt2 on one of your own characters who is
equipped with a wall ring. This will ensure the spell is bounced back onto
Nerapa. He only has 2800 health, so will die quickly, which is just as well
because you don't have much time! A couple of Bolt2's with a morphed Terra,
and Celes, and a couple of Chainsaws and Aurabolts is enough. Do not bother
trying to heal people; you will not have enough time. If Terra dies, you will
probably have to restart. If you are lucky, Nerpapa will die from a death
attack from Edgar's Chain Saw.

Tactic 2

Everyone should know doom. Continuously cast doom on a person with a wall ring
and eventually one of the reflected dooms will hit Nerpapa, killing it. If you
have little time, this is a good strategy (this can be accomplished with 45
seconds left with enough time to collect Shadow).

3.20 Phunbaba
-------------

HP: Cause 8000 damage for him to escape
This fight is more an exercise of patience than anything else. You can use
Espers to help, but they wont help you out much, you basically need a lot of
time and a lot of Fenix Downs. Give both Sabin and Celes a Wall Ring, and
Running Shoes. You will want to attack as often as possible. You will need to
deal about 8000 damage before Phunbaba escapes. This will be done mainly
through Sabin's Aurabolt. As soon as either member dies, instantly use a Fenix
Down on them. With Celes, you can do whatever you see fit, but I used
Fire2/Osmose/Fire2/Osmose etc. Just make sure you use a Fenix Down on any
member that dies, and you will be ok. Phunbaba doesn't have any moves that can
kill both members at the same time. Once 8000 damage is done, he will escape.

3.21 Tentacles
--------------

HP: 7000, 6000, 5000, 4000
This battle can be very easy if you use the right equipment. First give both
Celes and Sabin RunningShoes - you will not be grabbed if you do this, since
only slowed characters can be seized. Secondly equip Golem onto someone, and
use this at the start of the fight. Use Wall Rings for your other relic slot
for both characters. Now, when the fight starts, open with Golem, and then
just sit and wait, healing if you get hurt. If Edgar dies, don't bother
reviving him. Tentacles cast poison attacks, which will bounce off you and hit
them. Eventually, they will be hurt a lot from the poison, and kill
themselves.
Only the top left Tentacle is immune to poison (it is the one that has 4000HP,
so once the other tentacles are gone, just use aurabolt/ice2 to finish it off.
Golem will probably run out just before this fight ends, so if you start
getting hit by the Tentacles, just use Celes for healing/reviving. If either
of these characters dies at any point, instantly revive them with the other.

3.22 Dullahan
-------------

HP: 23450
MP: 1721
This is probably the most boring fight so far, so you will have to be patient.
The problem with this boss is that every time you attack him, he will counter
attack back killing a character. Therefore, the safest thing to do against him
is nothing. Use Runic with Celes to absorb his magic until he has run out of
MP. Then you can rasp him once to finish off the remainder of his MP and kill
him. You should give every character a wall ring in case you miss time the
runic, and you should also give Celes RunningShoes.

3.23 Phunbaba 2
---------------

HP: 28000
MP: 10000
Do Bio with Edgar and Celes, and Bum Rush with Sabin. Use Cyan for healing
purposes. Make sure you have Wall Rings on everyone, and Gold Hairpins on
Celes and Edgar. I used RunningShoes on Cyan and Sabin. As soon as you have
done enough damage, Phunbaba will blow away two random characters and Terra
will join in. If Edgar blows away, you may want to restart. Now Terra
doesn't have a Wall Ring, but she is your best magic user by far. She
should also know Fire2, Ice2, Bolt2. However, Phunbaba isn't weak against
any of these. If you have Edgar, have him use debilitator. Eventually, he
will make Phunbaba weak against thunder, making Phunbaba self-destructive.
Celes can back up Edgar by casting the element that Edgar made Phunababa
weak against. Sabin should Bum Rush. If you have Cyan, well... not much he
can do. Once you make Phunbaba weak against an element, revive Terra and
have her cast her strong magic for 1200 damage or so.

3.24 Chadarnook
---------------

HP: 30000
MP: 7600
Make sure you only attack the black painting, and not the white incarnation
and you should be fine. Equip all your best armor on each character (making
sure someone has a shield that absorbs Ice, and someone else has a shield that
absorbs Thunder). Give Terra and Celes a set of Earrings each, and a Gold
Hairpin. Terra should have the Minerva. Sabin should have two earrings, or
earrings and a hero ring. Edgar should have two white capes. Now whenever the
black painting appears use Fire2/Fire3 with everyone (morph Terra first) and
Bum Rush with Sabin. Keep attacking until the painting changes. Make sure you
heal yourself up when the white painting appears, and prepare yourself for
another onslaught. Chadarnook has 30000HP, and a set of Fire2/Fire2/Fire3/Bum
Rush can take off at least 5000HP, so he doesn't take too long. Just be
careful for Flash Rain, and attacking the wrong painting.

3.25 SrBehemoth
---------------

HP: 19000
MP: 1600
You have only one problem against SrBehemoth, and that is the spell Meteo. If
this hits your characters, they will surely die. So all you have to do is make
it miss someone. Setup your characters with as high magic evade as possible,
making sure you set up one character with a magic evade of 128 or greater.
This person will definitely survive the Meteo, since it will miss them. So
after a Meteo, just revive the other characters. You main damage provider here
will be Sabin and Bum Rush as usual, so make sure you give him two earrings.
SrBehemoth only has 19000 HP, and a Bum Rush does nearly 2000 damage, so he
dies very quickly. He is also weak against Fire, so morph Terra and do your
best Fire spells with her. SrBehemoth will fall very quickly. It is worth
noting that SrBehemoth does mainly Ice spells, so make sure every character
either absorbs Ice, or it doesn't affect them (give them Ice Shields/Paladin
Shield/Minerva). When the second one appears, simply use a Fenix Down on him
to kill him. If you chose to use economizers, you should have nothing to worry
about at all. Get Life3 on everyone, and just Bum Rush the enemy, using Ultima
with everyone else.

3.26 Tritoch
------------

HP: 30000
MP: 50000
With a character having over 128 magic evade %, Tritoch cannot touch you. Use
Fire spells on him with everyone except Sabin, who should use Bum Rush. He
will perform Ice Spells on you, so make sure you have Ice Shields, Minerva and
Paladian Shields on so that it doesn't affect you.

3.27 Umaro
----------

HP: 17200
MP: 6990
See above tactics for Tritoch, they all apply here.

3.28 3 Stooges
--------------

Larry HP: 10000
Curley HP: 15000
Moe HP: 12500
Take Edgar, Celes, Terra and Cyan with you to Doma Castle. Setup Terra, Edgar
and Celes to have above 128 magic evade. Use Sleep on the Top Stooge and kill
him using Ice spells. He has 15000HP. If he ever wakes up, sleep him right
away again. Once he is dead, this fight becomes a lot easier. Make sure you
use Soft on anyone who is turned to stone. Next cast Fire spells on the bottom
left Stooge. He has 10000HP. Once there is only one Stooge left, this fight is
easy, you can do anything you want to him. I used Debilitator, making him weak
against Ice, and then used Ice magic on him to kill him.

3.29 Wrexsoul
-------------

As soon as the fight starts, cast X-Zone with someone, this will finish the
fight. If X-Zone misses anyone, try again.

3.30 MagiMaster
---------------

HP: 50000
MP: 50000
He has to be the easiest boss around! Simply equip Wall Rings on everyone,
cast Life3 with someone, and then just sit there. MagiMaster will proceed to
cast magic on you, which is deflected off onto himself, killing himself. He is
very powerful and so his magic hurts himself a lot! If you want to go through
the trouble, you can also berserk him and use phantom on your characters, and
easily crush him using normal magic. This takes a much longer time, but you
can evade ultima (helpful if you don't have Life3).

3.31 Hidon
----------

HP: 25000
MP: 12500
Hidon is incredibly easy if you use cure items on him. Elixirs will do 9999
damage to him, and you should have a few (they aren't too useful anyway.)
So hold out for GrandTrain (making sure someone has above 128 magic
evade/life3) and then use 3 Elixirs on him to kill him.

3.32 Inferno
------------

HP: 30800
MP: 9700
Inferno is not very strong at all. He is weak against Bolt, and so use that.
Only attack the body part, and use Bolt spells and Bum Rush. Revive characters
as necessary. This shouldn't be very difficult.

3.33 Atma
---------

HP: 55000
MP: 19000

Tactic 1

Create the ultimate party for team 2, Sabin, Edgar, Terra and Celes. Give
Edgar, Celes and Terra all economizers, and try to max out their magic evade.
I managed to make Terra greater than 128, Celes 127 and Edgar 121. This means
practically nothing will hit you. Give Sabin two Earrings. Terra should have
Gem Box also, which means she needs the Illumina (to make her magic evade so
high). Start out by giving everyone Life3, now from now on whenever anyone
dies, they will come back to life, but will need Life3 again so make Celes
always cast Life3 on herself, Edgar always cast Life3 on himself, and make
Terra cast Life3 on herself and Sabin (she has Gem Box). Now we can start
hurting Atma. Cast Ultima with everyone apart from Sabin who should Bum Rush.
Continue this until he uses Ultima or Quake. This will kill most/all of your
party. Life3 will bring you back, cast Life3 on everyone and repeat.
Eventually Atma will die.

Tactic 2: No economizer

Atma has to be one of the longest battles as of now to win without an
economizer. As soon as you drop its HP to a certain point, he will use some
mean counters to annihilate your party. In addition, without an economizer,
you cannot cast life3 as easily. So to avoid those counters, you must defeat
Atma by MP. You will need to have Relm, Terra, Celes, and Sabin in your party.
See below at Guardian's strategy for the equipment. Only Sabin can be hit, but
it is unlikely. Fill Terra's blank relic slot with a gem box. The very first
round, life3/osmose with Terra, and have Sabin, Relm and Celes rasp.
Do the same the next 4 rounds to get life3 on everyone, and from here on,
just rasp. This is important; once the message appears that Atma is beginning
to do ultima, Celes must runic, and then sit (do not cast any spells after you
command Celes to Runic). Ultima can be absorbed by Celes. If you miss,
Life3 will save you. Continue this pattern of rasping with everyone until
Atma is preparing to do Ultima, then Runic, then repeat. This will take a
long time (you're hacking away at 19000 MP with 70-100MP damage a rasp)
but get used to it; without an economizer for both Goddess and Kefka it
will take much longer!

3.34 Guardian
-------------

HP: 50000
MP: 5200

Tactic 1

As soon as the fight starts cast Life3 with your main magic user onto
yourself. Every other turn, ultima twice with this person. If you have Gogo on
the team, mimic this. If you have Sabin, Bum Rush. As part of the Ultros
battle program, Guardian will sometimes do Tentacle - this annihilates you.
Life3 will save you from this. Continue casting Ultima continuously, and you
should win this fight ok.

Tactic 2: No economizer

Use Sabin, Terra, Relm, and Celes, the ultimate lv.6 party. You must equip
your characters as follows:

Sabin
      Enhancer          Merit Award
      Force Shld        White Cape
      Bard's Hat
      Force Armor

Terra
      Illumina          Gold Hairpin
      Aegis Shld     ***Can be anything***
      Bard's Hat
      Force Armor

Celes
      Enhancer          White Cape
      Paladin's Shld    White Cape
      Bard's Hat
      Force Armor

Relm
      Magus Rod         White Cape
      Force Shld        White Cape
      Bard's Hat
      Tao Robe

This will drive your Mblock up to 124, 137, 129, 129 for Sabin, Terra,
Celes, and Relm respectively. If necessary, you may need to shuffle
equipment to give specific elemental defense, such as equipping one of the
girls with Minerva.

For this battle, you will need to change a white cape on either Celes or
Relm into a Gold Hairpin. Bum Rush will be the main source of damage. Have
Terra and whoever else you gave a gold hairpin on to use Life3 immediately,
and the other person do Haste2. After everyone has Life3, stay on guard for
the Ultros program (tentacle) and repeat with the life3. Guardian should
go down after a long time; other than tentacle, there isn't much to look
out for. After you win, go to Poltergeist [3.36].

3.35 Goddess
------------

HP: 44000
MP: 19000

Tactic 1

The important difference with this fight is to equip someone else (other than
your main magic user) with greater than 128 magic evade, or over 120 at the
very least. Then give them the safety bit. This is the person that will
survive Goddess's main attack - Overcast. Fight as usual, but cast Life3 on
the person with safety bit before casting Ultima constantly with your
strongest magic user. Once Overcast is cast, the character with safety bit
should revivify your main magic user who should right away Life3 your safety
bit user (if necessary) and then continue using Ultima. This process can be
repeated until Goddess is dead.

Tactic 2: No economizer

You did leave and come back, right? You should have the same party as you
did with Guardian [3.34]. Goddess is the most difficult of the three statues
to defeat. Her main offense is Overcast, which will condemn you and make
anyone who dies a zombie. At lower HP, she will cast quasar, killing your
entire party. Put on Relm her Momento Ring, and on Terra the safety bit;
this way both will not be affected by overcast. When Celes and Sabin turn
into zombies, revitify them. In order to avoid quasar (you can't cast life3
fast enough) you must now rasp away her MP. She has 19000MP, and rasps will
do between 26 and 40MP damage. This will be a long fight. Once out of MP,
Bum Rush her to death; she can't even touch you without MP.

3.36 Poltergeist
----------------

HP: 58000
MP: 18900

Tactic 1

Poltergeist is easy - Ultima constantly with your main magic user.

Tactic 2: No economizer

Poltergeist is very simple. He has one spell, flare star, which is a
guaranteed
hit, but it will hurt you 60 points of damage. No sweat, right? If you
want, you could even cast stop on it. Just keep with Bum rush with Sabin and
you will win.

3.37 Doom
---------

HP: 63000
MP: 4800

Tactic 1

Doom is easy - Ultima constantly with your main magic user. He will cast
Condemned on your members at some point. Just wait until they are dead, and
revive them right away.

Tactic 2: No economizer

Doom is quite simple, but after you drop its HP to a certain point, Doom will
target your characters individually, and in the next turn, kill them. This is
not too much of a problem; he can't kill everyone at the same time. Just
use a fenix down on anyone who dies from Demon Rage.

3.38 Tier 1
-------------------

Tactic 1

Cast Life3 on everyone exactly how you did against Atma. Now focus on Bum Rush
with Sabin and Ultima with everyone else. Cast Life3 on anyone if they die and
are revived. Continue until this fight is over.

Tactic 2: No economizer

Your equipment for the final battle is as follows:

Sabin
      Enhancer          Merit Award
      Force Shld        White Cape
      Bard's Hat
      Force Armor

Terra
      Illumina          Gold Hairpin
      Aegis Shld        White Cape
      Bard's Hat
      Minerva

Celes
      Enhancer          White Cape
      Paladin's Shld    White Cape
      Bard's Hat
      Force Armor

Relm
      Magus Rod         White Cape
      Force Shld        White Cape
      Bard's Hat
      Tao Robe

The Minerva on Terra is vital for her to survive Merton, which will be cast
during the third tier. Cast Life3 with Terra for four turns to get everyone
with Life3 status. Now have Sabin always bum rush, and Terra Ultima/Osmose.
Relm and Celes are spectators for this tier. Pretty much nothing will touch
anyone (except a small chance for Sabin and an even smaller chance for
Terra). This tier should be easier than the rest.

3.39 Tier 2
-------------------

Tactic 1

Cast Life3 on everyone exactly how you did against Atma. Now focus on Bum Rush
with Sabin and Ultima with everyone else. Cast Life3 on anyone if they die and
are revived. Continue until this fight is over.

Tactic 2: No economizer

Everyone should have their Life3 status. The only unblockable spell this round
is flare star. If Sabin dies, revive him. Just let Relm die. Again, Sabin
should always Bum Rush, and Terra should Ultima/Osmose. This Tier is not too
difficult. Keep in mind that once you have only one enemy left you should
revive Relm. This will keep her from disappearing after this Tier is over.

3.40 Tier 3
-------------------

Tactic 1

Cast Life3 on everyone exactly how you did against Atma. Now focus on Bum Rush
with Sabin and Ultima with everyone else. Cast Life3 on anyone if they die and
are revived. Continue until this fight is over. Merton can be cast in this
battle, which will probably take out a couple of your members, but don't worry
- just recast Life3 on those that are taken out, and continue with the
previous pattern.

Tactic 2: No economizer

The girl will cast pearl wind, making it impossible to kill either of the two
enemies. In addition, the man will cast Merton, wiping out Sabin and Relm if
they were alive. To make things worse, both condemn your characters. Only
Celes and Terra are up, and together, they cannot kill the girl. So, again,
it is a matter or rasping the girl until she runs out of MP, and thus is
unable to cast Pearl Wind. Once you rasp away all 10000 MP, start rasping
the other enemy. The Man which casts Merton must also run out of Mp during
this very long battle. When Celes or Terra dies from condemned, and is
revived,
put Life3 on them again. Only when the Man is out of MP is it safe to revive
Sabin and Relm since Merton can no longer be cast. He too has 10000MP. Once
both enemies are out of MP, and everyone is conscious and has Life3, Bum
Rush with Sabin and Ultima/Osmose with Terra.

3.41 Final Battle - Kefka
-------------------------

HP: 62000
MP: 38000

Tactic 1

Kefka is a pain. He has a couple of spells that will really annoy you.
Firstly, as usual Life3 everyone and start off with the usual Bum Rush/Ultima
strategy. Once he loses enough life he will start using Goner every few turns.
This spell will kill everyone. Life3 will revive everyone, then you will have
just enough time to recast Life3 on everyone, and then get in a few Ultimas
and one Bum Rush before he does it again. Use Edgar as a utility man in this
fight - he should Echo Screen Terra if she gets muted (from Train) (everyone
else is protected from their White Capes, they should have on). He can also be
used to Tincture Terra or Celes if they have run out of magic points (you need
to ensure this doesn't happen after a goner!). Continue this for a while - you
can damage him about 5000HP before he does Goner again and you have to repeat
the procedure. If he uses HyperDrive on anyone, you will need to Life3 them
again before he does Goner. Continue with this procedure and Kefka will fall -
and you will have completed the low level game!

Tactic 2: No economizer

Kefka does ultima and goner after a certain amount of HP is gone. So to evade
these attacks, prepare for a REALLY LONG battle. You must rasp away all
Kefka's MP since you can't cast Life3 fast enough to keep up with goner and
ultima. You are rasping away 38000MP with 40-60MP damage a rasp! Don't bother
with healing from Fallen One, just keep on rasping. You should also be
protected from train's mute with your white capes. After he runs out of MP,
just Bum Rush him to death. Just pay attention for when Kefka does Hyperdrive
(he can do this even at 0MP); revive anyone who gets hit by it. When he goes
down, you will have completed a Low Level Game - without economizers!!

-------------------
4. Other Strategies
-------------------

4.1 Avoiding Fights In Mog Multi-Party Battle
---------------------------------------------

Move two of your parties up above Terra, and move the other party down and
left. Move right down to the bottom left corner and save state. Now let the
guards all move up and observe. Move up with the leftmost guard to avoid him
from getting you. You will see that you have just enough time to skip past the
second leftmost guard before the leftmost guard moves up enough to get you.
You will need to be quick, but you can just make it over to Marshal before the
first guard can make it up to Terra.

4.2 Avoiding Fights In Kefka Multi-Party Battle
-----------------------------------------------

Each "o" on the map represents one tile. If your tile is adjacent to a
soldier's tile, you will initiate a fight, which you want to avoid at all
costs. Kefka is the "K" at the bottom, Banon the "B" at the top.
Immediately move your party straight, so you are at the point marked
"S" on the map. The point marked "1" is a safe point; no soldier in the
first wave moves through that point, so you now need to now move to that
point. Once the green soldiers pass you by, start moving to the point
marked 2, and wait for a brown soldier to pass you by. From
here, go straight to Kefka.

In order to miss the final fight with the guard who moves left and right
in front of Kekfa, stand in front of Kefka, but far enough back so that the
guard doesn't get you. Then run forward as fast as you can towards Kefka,
continuously pressing A. You should then fight Kefka just before the Guard
starts fighting you.

                          B

                        ooSooooooooo
                     oooo    o     oo
                     o  o    o      o
                   ooo  o   ooo     o
                       oooooo    oooo
                       o    o    o  o
                       o    o    oooo
                       o    o     o
                      ooooooooooooo
                      o        o
                    ooooo      o
                   oo   ooo   oo
                   o      oo1oo
                   o      o   o
                   ooo    o  oooooo
                     o   oo  o    o
                     ooooo  oo
                 ooo2o   o  o
                         o

                           K

4.3 Avoiding the Rats In The Opera House
----------------------------------------

The rats in the opera house appear in the same general positions whenever you
try it, but they can move very far from their start positions. In order to
skip
each rat you need to lure it into a position you can safely pass from.

It helps to equip the sprint shoes before trying this. Now a rat will try to
move towards you either vertically or horizontally. If you stand above the rat
vertically, it will move up to come after you. If we have the following floor
pattern:

x-|   |
  |   |
  |---|
      r
      |
      --------

The rat is in position r, and you wish to get past it from position x (this is
exactly how you get past the second rat). You can lure the rat up in order to
move past it. See diagram below:

--x   r
  |   |
  |---|
      |
      |
      --------

If you stand in position x, the rat will move vertically up towards you and
sometimes randomly move up instead of across at the junction, and so end up at
the dead end. You can use turbo function on the emulator (if you are using
one) to help here (to wait for it to move, NOT to attempt to run past it in
turbo mode!). Now you just have time to sprint down and past it.

The second rat (as described here) I found the most problematic to get past,
and above describes how I did it. The same technique can be used to get past
any rat. You get quite a lot of time to wait about for this because you won't
be getting into any fights to waste your time. Remember to use save state a
lot (and multiple states as you get past each rat) and load if you use up too
much time.

4.4 Fighting Spit Fire & Sky Armor
----------------------------------

The spit fire can cast Absolute Zero which will kill you instantly, so the
first thing you have to do is use Sirin Esper with someone to silence them.
The best thing to do is to equip Strago with the running shoes, and then use
Siren as quickly as you can. If you keep dying before using this, remember the
de-equip/equip trick stated at the beginning to change the fight parameters.
Once this is done, the fight becomes easy. Propeller will kill anyone
instantly, just
revive them if necessary. Use Bolt2 with Gau, and keep all your guys alive for
1 battle as described in the strategy (to share out the exp.)

4.5 Dirt Dragon
---------------

This dragon is incredibly easy, so long as you equip everyone with Gaia Gear.
This will absorb Earth Damage, so by constantly healing everyone. Use Bum Rush
with Sabin, and then Healing (he will counter attack any time you hit him) and
he will go down in about 10-15 turns (22500HP) so long as you put two earrings
on Sabin.

4.6 Storm Dragon
----------------

Storm Dragon is pretty easy except for one spell he has - Rage. This spell
will almost certainly kill everyone at the levels you are at. The only way to
survive this is to cast Life3 on someone. Since you have the Pheonix Esper,
you can learn this spell. It costs a lot of MP however, so make sure you equip
a Gold Hairpin to the person you want to use it. Use the standard Bum Rush and
two earrings with Sabin, and use Terra and Celes as your magic users. Storm
Dragon is weak against Thunder, so use Bolt2 with Terra and Celes. I used
Edgar for Life3. If you are lucky Storm Dragon won't cast Rage at all (he
didn't with me), but if he does, you will have to have used Life3 else
everyone will die. Once you are revived with Life3, revive some of the other
party members, and cast Life3 again on yourself in order to survive if he does
another Rage spell.

4.7 Ice Dragon
--------------

Now you have the ability to get someone with magic evade of over 128 so Ice
Dragon can't touch you. Use Fire spells and Bum Rush with Sabin. Remember to
use Osmose to get your MP back. Ice Dragon will only use Ice spells; so use
Ice Shields, Paladin Shield and Minerva so that the Ice spells do not affect
you.

4.8 White Dragon
----------------

With high evade, this Dragon will have an impossible time touching you. Use
your most powerful spells, and eventually he will die.

4.9 Master Pug
--------------

Master Pug is a real pain. Despite your evade, Step Mine will almost always
kill you outright, and so will Quake. Give someone Gaia Gear to absorb the
Quake, and set about rasping him until his magic has gone. He only has 1200MP,
and once it is gone, he is useless. Whenever someone dies from Step
Mine/Quake, instantly revive them. Once his MP has gone, just attack him with
your sword and eventually he will die. A good tip here is not to heal your
party members after bringing them back. This will mean they are all in the low
health status, where they can perform desperation attacks. If you just keep
attacking him once his MP is gone, you will do quite a lot of the desperation
attacks and kill him a little quicker. He has 22000HP so this can take awhile.

4.10 Blue Dragon
----------------

Yet again, high magic block evade will be your winner here. He is weak against
Bolt, so just use Bolt spells against him. He has 26900HP, so takes awhile to
kill. All of his attacks will miss you, so you have no worries about dying
here.

4.11 Doom Gaze
--------------

Doom Gaze can take awhile to kill. He is weak against Fire, so use all the
Fire spells you can (he has good magic defense though, so they wont hurt him
too much). Bush Rush with Sabin is the most useful attack. He has 55555HP, and
so takes a good while to kill - he will escape a few times. Just fly around
after him again. After about 4 fights, he should go down. Make sure you heal
and revive any character that dies. Characters with high magic block again win
the day.

4.12 Red Dragon
---------------

Red Dragon will be unable to hit anyone with over 128% magic evade. So again
it is a case of using Ice magic, and Bum Rush until he is dead.

4.13 Skull Dragon
-----------------

Skull Dragon is weak against Fire, so the priority is to blast him with that.
Putting Gem Box and Gold Hairpin/economizer on Terra helps for this - you can
cast 2 fire3s, or Fire3/Osmose, or whatever is best in the situation.
Bum Rush with Sabin as usual. Skull Dragon has one attack that can be slightly
problematic - he will condemn members of your party. Just wait for them to
die, and then revive them. He cannot touch your characters with 128% magic
evade or over, with anything other than condemn, so he will fall pretty
quickly.

4.14 Gold Dragon
----------------

Gold Dragon is pretty weak. The usual tactics of high magic evade will
prevail. Use Bum Rush with Sabin. Gold dragon can be poisoned as well and
after a while, it will do thousands of damage. This fight shouldn't take
long.

4.15 Stealing Economizers
-------------------------

To steal an economizer early on, simply look at the below strategy. For the
team where Mog is needed, simply substitute a few other people, and for the
team with Gogo and Locke, simply use Locke supported by a few others. At this
point, no characters can have 128 Mblock. For this reason, you should take
special care when running. As always, having smoke bombs is important.

Go to Pheonix Cave. Setup one party of Gogo and Locke, and give Gogo Steal
ability, and the sneak ring and give both Gogo and Locke RunningShoes. Make
Locke have > 128% magic evade, and Gogo as high as you can. Set the other team
up with Mog. Walk Mog onto the switch, and let Locke and Gogo walk through and
then up and left and downstairs. Save here. We want to be fighting Aquila, and
we want to steal from them one of the most powerful relics in the game - the
Economizer. The tactic to do this is slightly complicated because we want to
avoid fighting Phases. What you do is get downstairs, and then save state. Now
walk upstairs and fight. If you don't fight a Phase, or an Aquila, run. If you
fight a phase, reload the save state and fight downstairs instead and run,
then resave. Now retry fighting upstairs. Continue this strategy until you get
to an Aquila (they will fight with two Chaos Dragons). Now use both Gogo (with
Sneak ring) and Locke to steal from the Aquila. You will steal either an
Economizer or a Fenix Down. If it is a Fenix Down, reload the save state and
try again. Eventually you will get an Economizer (Aquila are not too difficult
to steal from). Repeat this to get 4 Economizers.

Alternate method of stealing economizers (By Master ZED):
Gat a merit award (4.16), and then go to the colosseum.  Also make sure you've
gotten either a Strato or a Pearl Lance, one from the red dragon and one
from the White dragon.  Now, set Gogo up with the Merit Award, Illumina,
Force Shield, Bard's hat, Force Armor, and Sneak Ring, with Mimic,
Steal, Steal and Tools. Now, bet the Strato to fight an Aquila, and
whenever you actually steal an economizer, hope that you win.  If you steal
a Fenix down simply load your state that was saved right before the fight.
If you win the fight, bet the Pearl Lance you win, win that fight, and you
will re-obtain your Strato. Rinse and Repeat for a set of Economizers.

4.16 Get Merit Award (rking)
----------------------------

First, bring Terra, Celes, Gogo, and Locke to somewhere around Narshe so you
can fight Geckorex. Have Gogo and Locke steal from one until you have a
Tortoise Shield. Go to the Colosseum and prepare for a long fight.

Set Terra up to have over 128 magic block (Illumina/Paladin Shield/Mystery
Veil/Minerva/White Cape/White Cape). Bet the Tortoise Shield and fight
Steroidite for a Titanium Hat, that fight should be pretty quick depending on
how many times Illumina does Pearl. Now that you have a Titanium Hat bet it
for a Cat Hood and fight Brachosaur (this is a LONG fight). Bet the Cat Hood
to fight a Hoover, put on turbo mode, and go away. Come back and you will
have won the Merit Award!

The Merit award allows you to equip almost any armor or weapon in the game.
Some special armors are excluded, like those only for Relm and Strago.

--------------
5. Final Notes
--------------

5.1 Experience List
--------------------

MagRoaders: 2054 Exp Points.
One Guard: 252 Exp Points (optional).
Spit Fire/Sky Armor: 6450-7150 Exp Points.
Dahlings: 2302 Exp Points.
Still-Life: 2328 Exp Points.
256 groups of peepers: 1024* Exp Points (optional: to uncurse shield quickly)

*This is true if you have 4 characters when on Solitary Island.

5.2 Inescapable Monsters
-------------------------
Certain monsters in the game cannot be run from. When encountered in groups
including the inescapable monster and other monsters, you can escape by
vanish/dooming the monster you can't run from; in this way, you can escape
from the other monsters, gaining zero exp. points. However, if you run into a
group of monsters that include only the inescapable monster, this sort of
battle cannot be run from and you must restart/open state. Here is a list of
inescapable monsters and their location.

Ninja:       Found at the sealed cave on the way to the esper world (1),
             floating continent. The one in the sealed cave can be avoided
             completely; on the floating continent, open state if you run into
             them. Since the battles on the floating continent are random,
             doing so will usually net a different battle.

Covert:      Found in ZoneEater on the way to Gogo. It is advisable to bring
             Mog and his Moogle Charm to avoid these altogether.

Rhyos:       Found in Cave on the Veldt in the WOR. If you run into one, you
             must restart/open state, since they appear in groups of one. If
you
             do run into a rhyos, you must open state to a save outside the
             cave, and run into enough random battles outside to evade that
             rhyos.

Land Worm:   Found in Kefka's tower in tunnels. If you run into them, you
             must restart/open state, since they appear in groups of one. A
             helpful strategy is to save state outside each tunnel. If when
             you are passing through you encounter a land worm, open state
             and run into a battle outside the tunnel, and run from that
fight.

Phase:       Found in Phoenix Cave. The only problem you will face all
             throughout phoenix cave is sets of 2 phases. You cannot run from
             Phases, so you cannot ever face this battle. If you face 1 Phase
             and other people, Vanish/Doom the Phase, and then run. The way
             around fighting two is luck and using the following two rules:
             (1) saving changes the number of steps to a fight, and (2) you
             don't fight phases downstairs. The trick is to walk all the steps
             you can just before fighting, save state, and then switch parties
             to a party downstairs, and then fight someone there, then switch
             back and repeat as necessary. You will have to experiment, and be
             patient, because there are a couple of sections (start and near
             end) where both parties need to be on the top level. Use the
above
             rules, and you should be able to avoid facing 2 Phases alone at
any
             point.

5.3 Equipment To Use For High Magic Evade
-----------------------------------------

Weapons:

  Illumina       +50%
  Ragnarok       +30% (For a short while)
  Magus Rod      +30% (Thanks for the reminder Bionic_Gecko)
  Enhancer       +20% (buy from Nikeah in WOR)

Shields:

  Paladin Shield +40%
  Aegis Shield   +40%
  Force Shield   +50% (x2)
  Genji Shield   +20%

Helmets:

  Mystery Veil   +10%
  Bard's Hat     +10% (buy from Albrook)
  Cat Hood       +10% (Relm only)

Armor:

  Tao Robe       +10%
  Minerva        +10%
  Force Armor    +30% (x3 in a LLG)

Relics:

  White Cape     +10%
  Zephyr Cape    +10%

5.4 Forced Re-averaging of levels
---------------------------------

Some places in the game you are forced to have your levels re-calculated
and re-averaged.  Though levels will never go down, levels WILL GO UP.
When levels are re-averaged, any exp. that was gained toward a level is
lost (if you were at lv.6 with 180 exp. to go to lv.7, at this point your
exp. would DROP and you would be at lv.6, needing 384 exp. to lv.7.) This
fact is vital to attaining the perfect low level game. Here is a list of
places where levels are re-averaged and exp. drops.

  1. Once you get Terra back after the Magitek research facility

     -This is why Terra goes up to level 6 when you get her back; your
     party average when rounded is 6, so that is her new level.

  2. After the Imperial banquet.

     - Note that as close to a level gain Locke, Cyan and Gau
     were after the Minecart scenario, this exp. has been factored
     away.

     - Also note that at this point in the game, if Gau had taken
     all the experience, he would be lv.9 after the minecarts. Even
     if you had leapt Gau off, you party average would be 6, meaning
     Locke would level up at this point (from 5 to 6). For this reason,
     Locke could safely be leveled up at the minecarts.

     - Finally, because experience is reset after the banquet, it was safe
     to fight a guard and gain experience.

  3. Each time you pick up a character in the WOR for the character
     you are picking up.

     - Here you can note that any experience towards the next level for
     Cyan, Strago, and Gau from the IAF is lost.

---------------------------
6. Credits/Acknowledgements
---------------------------

SharkESP
   For the inspiration to attempt a low level game and plenty of tips and
   strategies.

rking
   For draft reading/ideas/help/tactics for many bosses - thanks a lot!

Zidane14
   For guidance throughout the game including draft reading.

Master ZED
   For the boss statistics and information on monsters that cannot be run</pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
   from - very helpful, thanks a lot!

GameFAQS FF3 Board
   Everyone on the FF3 Message Board for help along the way.

To each of the following contributors of tips and strategies:
   Alex Miles
   Bionic_Gecko
   Sam Shaw

-------------
7. Legalities
-------------

     No part of this FAQ shall be copied or distributed without the permission
of the authors. This FAQ shall never be sold in part or whole for profit or
other personal gain. No web pages other than GameFAQs may feature this FAQ
without the permission of the authors. In addition, no part of this FAQ may be
changed or altered from its original form. This FAQ is limited to personal use
only.

This FAQ is copyright Robert Page and Jay Yamamoto (C) 2002