Condensed Lore Guide 3.7

By Skoobouy <skoobouy at hotmail dot com>

Compiled and useful
for Final Fantasy III for the Super the Super Nintendo
or Final Fantasy VI for the Sony Playstation.

*** Introduction

Strago comes within a hair's breadth of not being cool. Thankfully, he has a
few saving graces, like Pearl Wind, L.? Pearl, Aero, Big Guard, Aqua Rake,
Quasar and GrandTrain. However, the quest to collect all of Strago's Lores is
an end in itself, rather than actually being useful. This guide should help
you get all of the Lores in the fastest time, and save you a lot of paper to
boot ('cuz I'm just efficient like that, yo).

*** Revision History

3.7, October 10th, '06 - Reformatted Section I into a step-by-step list, and
                         incorporated Assassin17's and Ebmid2's advice. Also,
                         reformatted Section II for readability.
3.6, July 17th, '06 -    Section II now indicates when monsters are immune to
                         Muddle, and other small corrections and notes.
3.5, March 5th, '05 -    Added the Chart of Lores by Skill (kick ass, IMO), as
                         well as a dozen of Assassin's "ninja-star" corrections
                         (as in, small but deadly)
3.4, March 3rd, '05 -    Various corrections and additions. (Thanks to
                         Assassin's super-human editting skills).
3.3, March 1st, '05 -    Revived Lore material as a separate guide (hence the
                         new version number). Made several corrections based
                         on Assassin's advice.
3.2, February 1st, '05 - Removed all Lore material. Cleaner, nicer guide to
                         Rage.
3.1, January 31st, '05 - Added information on some Rages and modified
                         formatting and rewrote some paragraphs.
3.0, January 30th, '05 - It returns! I FINALLY filled in the status effects of
                         Rages, and redid the tables. Also, modified
                         formatting, and other minor changes.
2.5.5, May 5th, '03 -    I skipped a number. Rewrote the Lores guide and chart.
                         Made lots of minor corrections.
2.3, April 25th, '03 -   More niceties, rearranged the order of the guide.
2.2, April 24th, '03 -   Added to Rage skill descriptions, and a brief
                         explanation of column titles, and changed Gau's
                         "Minimum of Fuss" guide.
2.1, April 22nd, '03 -   Filled in gaps, corrected some mistakes.
2.0, April 20th, '03 -   Complete rewrite, added Strago section.
1.0, April 9th, '03 -    Added to "Important Rages" section, updated
                         Introduction, and modified Strategy section.
0.9, April 8th, '03 –    Microsoft Word version.
0.8, April 7th, '03 -    The first draft! Lists Rages in a few ways; not easy
                         to read and not convenient to print.

*** Other Lore Resources (and their specific contributions)

Lores Acquisition Guide 1.4 by Assassin:
Assassin (Assassin17 to yous thugs) has shown a huge enthusiasm for this guide,
and has provided lots of data and filled many potholes. So remember kids:
Assassin = free labor. Good.

(In)Complete List of Monsters 3.0 by Garry Dobson:
A very thorough Monster by Order of Apppearance list. Helpful!

FF3us Monster Stats Guide 1.1 and
FF3us Attack Guide v1.1 by Master ZED (cytekzed at aol dot com):
Correct spellings of monster names, accurate locations, filled in nasty gaps
of information and immense help for the Lore Locations Chart. Also special
thanks for suggestions for improvement.

Algorithms FAQ by Terii Senshi (teriisenshi at aol dot com):
Accurate information on the effects of Lores.

Lord J's FF3usME v. 6.2 (lord_j at hotmail dot com):
Accurate information about enemy scripts, which I scanned for hours looking
for Lores.

*** Table of Contents

CHAPTER I: All of the Lores with a Minimum of Fuss
    A. WORLD OF BALANCE
    B. WORLD OF RUIN

CHAPTER II: Chart of Lores by Monster Order of Appearance
    A. WORLD OF BALANCE
    B. WORLD OF RUIN

CHAPTER III: Chart of Lores by Skill

APPENDIX: On Dark Force

CONCLUSION

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I. All of the Lores with a Minimum of Fuss Walkthrough

Once you have control of Strago, you're already at the end of the World of
Balance. That means that you can get gobs of Lores right away. The following
guide is a barebones step-by-step guide that should allow you to have collect
each of the Lores in each "World" within just a few minutes. How's that for
efficiency? Just be sure to have Strago (a) in your party and (b) alive at all
times.

A. WORLD OF BALANCE

Lores to Collect:
Aqua Rake   Stone       Revenge     Exploder    Pearl Wind
Condemned   Pep Up      Step Mine   Dischord    L.3 Muddle
L.4 Flare   L.5 Doom    Roulette    Blow Fish

1. Strago begins with Aqua Rake, Stone, and Revenge.

2. In the burning house in Thamasa, cast any fire-elemental spells on Balloons
   until one of them uses Exploder.

3. Go to Esper Mountain (northwest of the Thamasa peninsula, past the forest)
   and fight an Abolisher. After fighting for three turns, it will use Pearl
   Wind.

4. When you regain control of the airship, switch Gau into your party along
   with Strago. Have Gau perform the Zombone|Condemned and Intangir|Pep Up
   Rages, and Stago will learn them. Also, if Gau happens to have the
   Trapper|L.3 Muddle Rage, he can 'teach' it to Strago, too (but not
   dreadfully necessary, since we will need to find real Trappers again soon).

5. Fly in the airship to the plains outside of South Figaro, and fight
   Greasemonks. Use Muddle, Cait Sith (sorry, "Stray"), or Edgar's NoiseBlaster
   until the Greasemonks use Step Mine.

6. Now, fly to the Veldt and walk around until you find either Telstar or
   Chaser (they are both flying saucers with arms). Do not kill Telstar for ten
   turns, and it will use Dischord. Chaser may use it sooner. Also, Trappers on
   the Veldt will eventually use all of L.3 Muddle, L.4 Flare, and L.5 Doom if
   you wait long enough--just make sure you can survive them! Finally, with
   Relm in your party, scour the Veldt for Pipsqueaks. Sketch a Pipsqueak for
   Roulette.

7. Now, go to the Floating Continent. When you see Brainpan, kill all the
   monsters except for the Brainpan. It will use Blow Fish.

B. WORLD OF RUIN

Lores to Collect:
Big Guard   Rippler     Aero        Sour Mouth  CleanSweep
L.? Pearl   GrandTrain  Quasar      Reflect???  ForceField

1. After you use Relm to rescue Strago, fly all the way back to the Solitary
   Island (where you began the World of Ruin) and Sketch an EarthGuard for Big
   Guard.

2. Zip over to the land outside Maranda and fight a Reach Frog until you learn
   Rippler.

3. Fly to the plains outside Kohlingen and fight a Harpiai until you learn
   Aero.

4. Run into Daryl's Tomb, just south of Kohlingen, and fight Mad Oscar until
   you learn Sour Mouth.

5. Fly to Figaro Castle, and use it to burrow down to the Ancient Castle. In
   the underground pathway, an Enuo will use CleanSweep when you kill its
   buddies.

6. L.? Pearl gives you a couple of options. If you haven't done the Phoenix
   Cave, I recommend going there and letting Relm Sketch the Red Dragon.
   Otherwise, take Strago into Cyan's Dream and fight some Critics until you
   learn it. If both events are gone, you can look for Critics in the Veldt, or
   fight Innoc in Kefka's Tower. Finding Critics will probably be easier,
   depending on your party's strength.

7. For GrandTrain, go complete Strago's side quest by talking to his friend in
   Thamasa. When you reach Hidon, make sure to kill all the little Hidonites
   first, and Hidon will use it.

8. On Kefka's Tower, Dark Force has a one-in-three chance, every seven turns of
   casting Quasar and Reflect??? (along with several other Lores you might have
   missed--see below), so be patient. As an alternative for Reflect???, Didalos
   will cast it if any of your characters have the Rflect status (e.g., wearing
   Wall Rings).

9. Sadly, the only way to learn ForceField is to fight (and win against--duh)
   Doom - the first statue. Make sure Strago is in Team #1 when you enter
   Kefka's tower.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

II. Chart of Lores by Monster Order of Appearance

This chart is very simple. It is organized in rough chronological order by
monster. However, there are many variables which I will describe in the
'Situation' column for each monster's Lore skill. They are as follows:

KEY:

Rg - Obtain Lore by performing the Rage of this monster.
Sk - Obtain Lore by targetting this monster with Sketch.
Ct - Obtain Lore by targetting this monster with Control (or the
     "Nightshade|Charm" Rage).
Md - Obtain Lore by targetting this monster with Muddle.
Bt - Obtain Lore by Battle--no special strategy necessary.
Nt - See note below for a special strategy needed to obtain Lore.
Vd - One-time-only monster; look for it on the Veldt.
! - Best/earliest monster to learn from.

A. THE WORLD OF BALANCE

Locale             Monster      Lore        Obtain With
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Narshe             Repo Man     Exploder    Rg
Outside S. Figaro  Greasemonk   Step Mine         Ct Md          !
Imperial Camp      Telstar      Dischord                   Nt Vd !
Phantom Forest     Bomb         Exploder       Sk Ct Md    Nt
Vector/MagitechRF  Chaser       Dischord          Ct Md Bt    Vd
                   Trapper      L.3 Muddle  Rg Sk Ct Md Bt    Vd !
                                L.4 Flare         Ct Md Bt    Vd !
                                L.5 Doom       Sk Ct Md Bt    Vd !
                   Pipsqueak    Roulette       Sk             Vd !
                                Exploder                   Nt Vd
Forest w/of Veldt  Grenade      Exploder                   Nt
Sealed Gate        Zombone      Condemned   Rg                Vd !
Burning House      Balloon      Exploder    Rg Sk Ct Md    Nt Vd !
Esper Mountain     Abolisher    Pearl Wind                 Nt    !
Triangle Island    Intangir     Pep Up      Rg    Ct*            !
                                Step Mine      Sk
Floating Contnt    Brainpan     Blow Fish   Rg Sk Ct Md    Nt    !
                   Apokryphos   L.3 Muddle  Rg Sk Ct*      Nt
                                L.4 Flare   Rg Sk Ct*      Nt
                                L.5 Doom                   Nt
                   Nerapa       Condemned               Bt
                                Roulette                   Nt

* These skills can technically be acquired using Control/Charm/Muddle; but
  since their monsters are immune to Muddle, and there is no way to Control or
  Charm in the WoB, it is a moot point.

Strategy for Obtaining Lore (alphabetical by monster name):

-Abolisher casts Pearl Wind on its third turn.
-Apokryphos may cast L.3 Muddle, L.4 Flare, or L.5 Doom, only when attacked,
 when alone.
-Balloon may cast Exploder every third turn, or when attacked with Fire Magic.
-Bomb may cast Exploder after any attack.
-Brainpan may cast Blow Fish only when alone.
-Grenade may cast Exploder when hit with 'Fight'.
-Nerapa casts Roulette when hit with 'Fight' six times.
-Phase may cast Blow Fish when attacked or when alone.
-Pipsqueak may cast Exploder when hit with 'Fight'.
-Telstar casts Dischord on its tenth turn.

B. THE WORLD OF RUIN

Locale             Monster      Lore        Obtain With
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Solitary Island    EarthGuard   Big Guard   Rg Sk                !
                   Peepers      Pearl Wind  Rg Sk
Southern Contint   Mesosaur     Step Mine   Rg Sk Ct Md
Serpent Trench     Lizard       Dischord          Ct Md
Figaro Cave        Dante        L.3 Muddle  Rg Sk Ct Md    Nt
Outside Kohlingen  Harpiai      Aero        Rg Sk Ct    Bt       !
                                Pearl Wind              Bt
                   Muus         Pep Up      Rg Sk Ct    Bt
Daryl's Tomb       Mad Oscar    Sour Mouth  Rg Sk Ct Md Bt       !
                   Presenter    Blow Fish               Bt
Airship            Doom Gaze    L.5 Doom                Bt
                                Aero                    Bt
Outside Maranda    Cactrot      Blow Fish   Rg Sk Ct    Bt
                   Reach Frog   Rippler                 Bt       !
Mt. Zozo           Storm Drgn   Aero           Sk       Bt
                                Pearl Wind     Sk
Cave in Veldt      Rhyos        Aero              Ct
                   Allo Ver     Condemned               Bt
Outside Thamasa    Harpy        Aero              Ct Md Bt
Owzer's House      Still Life   Condemned         Ct       Nt
Phoenix Cave       Phase        Blow Fish   Rg Sk Ct Md
                   Red Dragon   L.? Pearl      Sk                !
                                L.4 Flare               Bt
Narshe             Mag Roader   L.4 Flare   Rg
Umaro's Cave       Tomb Thumb   Step Mine   Rg Sk Ct Md
                   Pug          Step Mine               Bt
Triangle Island    Wart Puck    Exploder    Rg Sk Ct
                   Ogor         Pearl Wind        Ct Md
Mobliz             Phunbaba     Blow Fish               Bt
Outside Doma       Sprinter     Aero        Rg Sk
                                Pearl Wind              Bt
                   Crawler      Step Mine   Rg Sk Ct Md
                                Dischord                   Nt
Cyan's Dream       Critic       Condemned   Rg Sk Ct Md Bt    Vd
                                Roulette                Bt    Vd
                                L.? Pearl               Bt    Vd !
                   Curley       Pearl Wind              Bt
Ancient Castle     Enuo         CleanSweep  Rg Sk Ct       Nt    !
                   Figaliz      Dischord    Rg Sk Ct Md    Nt
                   Goblin       L.3 Muddle                 Nt
                                L.4 Flare                  Nt
                                L.5 Doom                   Nt
                   Master Pug   Step Mine                  Nt
                                CleanSweep                 Nt
                   Blue Drgn    CleanSweep              Bt
                                Rippler                 Bt
                   KatanaSoul   Blow Fish                  Nt
Ebot's Rock        Hidon        GrandTrain                 Nt    !
'Jurassic Park'    Tyranosaur   Aero           Sk
                   Brachosaur   Step Mine      Sk
Kefka's Tower      Mover        Big Guard         Ct       Nt
                                Blow Fish                  Nt
                   Guardian     Big Guard      Sk
                   Dark Force   CleanSweep  Rg Sk Ct
                                L.5 Doom       Sk Ct    Bt
                                Pearl Wind        Ct    Bt
                                Condemned               Bt
                                Roulette                Bt
                                L? Pearl                Bt
                                Step Mine               Bt
                                Dischord                Bt
                                Sour Mouth              Bt
                                Aero                    Bt
                                Blow Fish               Bt
                                Exploder                Bt
                                Rippler                 Bt
                                Quasar                  Bt       !
                                L.4 Flare               Bt
                                L.3 Muddle              Bt
                                Reflect???              Bt       !
                   Retainer     Condemned         Ct
                   Veteran      Condemned      Sk       Bt
                                Roulette    Rg Sk Ct Md    Nt
                   Scullion     Dischord    Rg
                                Exploder       Sk
                   IronHitman   Dischord    Rg Sk Ct Md Bt
                   Sky Base     L.5 Doom                Bt
                   Junk         Exploder          Ct Md Bt
                                Pep Up      Rg    Ct Md Bt
                   Innoc        L.? Pearl      Sk Ct Md Bt
                   Vectaur      Pearl Wind  Rg Sk Ct
                   Evil Oscar   Sour Mouth     Sk Ct Md    Nt
                   Dueller      L.4 Flare               Bt
                                L.5 Doom                Bt
                   Didalos      L.5 Doom                Bt
                                Reflect???                 Nt
                   Atma         CleanSweep              Bt
                   Skull Drgn   Condemned               Bt
                   Doom         ForceField              Bt       !
                   Poltrgeist   Aero                    Bt
                   Goddess      Quasar                  Bt

Strategy for Obtaining Lore (alphabetical by monster name):

-Crawler may cast Dischord only when alone.
-Dante may cast L.3 Muddle when attacked with Magic.
-Didalos casts Reflect??? if your character(s) are 'Rflect'ed
-Enuo may cast CleanSweep only when alone.
-Evil Oscar may cast Sour Mouth only when alone.
-Figaliz may cast Dischord only when alone.
-Goblin may cast L.3 Muddle, L.4 Flare, or L.5 Doom, only when alone.
-KatanaSoul may cast Blow Fish only if not attacked long enough.
-Hidon casts GrandTrain when all Hidonites are dead.
-Master Pug may cast Step Mine when attacked.
-Master Pug may cast CleanSweep if it assigns itself weakness against 'earth'.
-Mover casts Big Guard or Blow Fish only when alone.
-Still Life casts Condemned when attacked.
-Veteran may cast Roulette when attacked with Magic.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

III. Chart of Lores by Skill

What would a Lore guide be without a chart of the Lores themselves? Here they
are in all their alphabetical glory. Pay close attention to the KEY if you want
to have any idea what the heck's going on. I had to do a lot of funky things to
save space, but look ma: no footnotes! This is one of the densest charts I've
ever done; I'll tackle anyone who don't appreciate it!

KEY:

MP -  Magic Points necessary to cast the spell.
Pwr - Power; Non-damage-dealing spells and spells whose "Pwr" does not reflect
      their actual strength are n/a.
Hit - Hit Rate; unblockable skills are n/a.
El -  Element of attack, as follows:
      f - Fire            p - Poison          e - Earth
      i - Ice             a - Air/Wind        w - Water
      b - Bolt/Lightning  h - Holy/Pearl      - - Non-elemental or n/a

I -   Ignores Defense; sometimes means that a skill is very powerful, but
      sometimes refers to healing or to a special mode of damage
      calculation. Non-damage-dealing spells are n/a ("/").
U -   Unblockable; these skills won't miss except in cases of enemy immunity.
      Untargetted spells are n/a ("/").
N -   No Split Damage; these spells do not become less effective when cast on
      multiple enemies at once. Single target and non-damage-dealing spells are
      n/a ("/").

Unless stated otherwise, all Lores target one enemy.

                                       Effects
Skill       MP  Pwr  Hit  El  I  U  N    Monster Sources
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aero        41  125  150  a   N  N  N  Targets all enemies
                                         Harpiai, Doom Gaze, Storm Drgn, Rhyos,
                                         Harpy, Sprinter, Tyranosaur,
                                         Dark Force, Poltrgeist
Aqua Rake   22  71   150  aw  N  N  N  Targets all enemies
Big Guard   80  n/a  n/a  -   /  Y  /  Causes Safe and Shell on all allies
                                         Earthguard, Mover, Guardian
Blow Fish   50  n/a  n/a  -   Y  Y  /  Damage is 1000
                                         Brainpan, Presenter, Cactrot, Phase,
                                         Phunbaba, KatanaSoul, Mover,
                                         Dark Force
Cleansweep  30  50   150  w   N  N  Y  Targets all enemies
                                         Enuo, Master Pug, Blue Drgn,
                                         Dark Force, Atma
Condemned   20  n/a  n/a  -   /  Y  /  Causes Condemned/Countdown
                                         Zombone, Nerapa, Allo Ver, Still Life,
                                         Critic, Dark Force, Retainer,
                                         Veteran, Skull Drgn, Sleep
Dischord    68  n/a  100  -   /  N  /  Reduces target to 50% its prior level
                                         Telstar, Chaser, Lizard, Crawler,
                                         Figaliz, Dark Force, Scullion,
                                         IronHitMan
Exploder    1   n/a  n/a  -   Y  Y  /  Damage is caster HP; kills caster
                                         Repo Man, Bomb, Pipsqueak, Grenade,
                                         Balloon, Wart Puck, Dark Force,
                                         Scullion, Junk
ForceField  24  n/a  n/a  -   /  /  /  Nullifies all spells of a random element
                                         Doom
GrandTrain  64  66   n/a  -   Y  Y  N  Targets all enemies
                                         Hidon
L.? Pearl   50  120  n/a  h   N  Y  Y  Targets enemies of level divisible by
                                       last digit of GP total
                                         Red Drgn, Critic, Dark Force, Innoc
L.3 Muddle  28  n/a  n/a  -   /  Y  /  Targets enemies of level divisible by
                                       3; causes Muddle
                                         Trapper, Apokryphos, Dante, Goblin,
                                         Dark Force
L.4 Flare   42  n/a  66   -   Y  Y  Y  Targets enemies of level divisible by 4
                                         Trapper, Apokryphos, Red Drgn,
                                         Mag Roader, Goblin, Dark Force,
                                         Dueller
L.5 Doom    22  n/a  n/a  -   /  Y  /  Targets enemies of level divisible by
                                       5; causes Death
                                         Trapper, Apokryphos, Doom Gaze,
                                         Goblin, Dark Force, Sky Base, Dueller,
                                         Didalos
Pearl Wind  45  n/a  n/a  -   Y  Y  Y  Heals all allies; amount is caster HP
                                         Abolisher, Peepers, Harpiai,
                                         Storm Drgn, Ogor, Sprinter, Curley,
                                         Dark Force, Vectaur, Girl
Pep Up      1   n/a  n/a  -   /  Y  /  Heals one ally; amount is caster HP;
                                       removes caster from battle
                                         Intangir, Muus, Junk
Quasar      50  57   n/a  -   Y  Y  N  Targets all enemies
                                         Dark Force, Goddess
Reflect???  0   n/a  n/a  -   /  Y  /  Targets Rflect'd enemies; causes
                                       Dark, Mute, Slow
                                         Dark Force, Didalos
Revenge     31  n/a  n/a  -   Y  Y  /  Damage is caster max HP - current HP
Rippler     66  n/a  111  -   /  N  /  Trades caster status and target status
                                         Reach Frog, Blue Drgn, Dark Force
Roulette    10  n/a  n/a  -   /  Y  /  Causes Death to random target
                                         Pipsqueak, Nerapa, Critic, Dark Force,
                                         Veteran
Sour Mouth  32  n/a  100  -   /  N  /  Causes Dark, Poison, Imp, Mute, Sleep
                                         Mad Oscar, Dark Force, Evil Oscar
Step Mine   /   n/a  n/a  -   Y  Y  /  MP is minutes played divided by 30;
                                       Damage is steps divided by 32
                                         Greasemonk, Intangir, Mesosaur,
                                         Tomb Thumb, Pug, Crawler, Master Pug,
                                         Brachosaur, Dark Force
Stone       22  40   75   -   N  N  N  Targets one or all enemies; causes
                                       Muddle; multiplies damage by 14x if
                                       caster and monster at same level

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

APPENDIX: On Dark Force

Dark Force is an enemy in Kefka's Tower that uses 19 of Strago's 24 Lores,
*excluding* Big Guard, CleanSweep, ForceField, Pep Up, and GrandTrain (but he
can still teach CleanSweep using Rage, Sketch, or Control). He has a cycle of
seven turns, each of which selects randomly from a pool of three skills.
Launcher and Imp Song, sadly, are not Lores. Here is the Dark Force battle
script, dumped from Lord J's FF3usME:

Turn           Chooses from one of these three
------------------------------------------------
First turn:   Condemned | Roulette   | Aqua Rake
Second turn:  Revenge   | Pearl Wind | L.5 Doom
Third turn:   L.4 Flare | L.3 Muddle | Reflect???
Fourth turn:  L? Pearl  | Step Mine  | Launcher
Fifth turn:   Dischord  | Sour Mouth | Imp Song
Sixth turn:   Aero      | Blow Fish  | Exploder
Seventh turn: Rippler   | Stone      | Quasar
Repeat

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

CONCLUSION

If you liked this guide, write me at (skoobouy at hotmail dot com) and let me
know--I won't feel like such a yutz for wasting so much time. My thanks
again for the hard work of so many FF fans. Bye!

Copyright 2006 Jeffrey Zimmerman