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Strategies
Party order matters
If you've ever hit the SELECT button on your controller, you've noticed that you can change the order of the characters your party. So what, you ask? Well, the people at the top (front) of your party will receive more of the enemies attacks than those in the back. So, put the member with the highest HP, or the best armor, in the front to take most of the attacks; let your mages stay in the back, out of harm's way.
Fight fire with... ICE?
Throughout the game, you'll encounter a whole lot of elemental enemies. Elemental enemies are almost always weak against spells of the opposite element. That is, use ICE on Fire monsters, use FIRE on Ice monsters, and use LIT on water monsters. (Air elementals unfortunately aren't weak against any elemental magic.) Using the right magic on the right elemental monster will make many battles alot easier.
UnDead + FIRE = Dead
There are about a trillion Undead monsters in Final Fantasy. You'll find big gangs of them in just about every dungeon. The best way to deal with them is to use FIRE magic. FIR2 and FIR3 in particular will almost always wipe out all the Undead in one shot. The White Mage's HARM Magicks are just as effective. Use them wisely and Undead will not be a problem.
Ineffective?!
One major flaw in Final Fantasy (that was fixed later in the series) is that if two characters both attack the same monster, and the first character kills the monster, the second character will swing his sword in the air like an idiot, or shoot a FIRE spell at nothing, and the message INEFFECTIVE will appear. This is not good. To get around this, try to estimate when a monster is about to die, and only have on character attack it. And spread out your attacks. For example, if you have a Fighter, Thief, Black Mage, White Mage party, and you're fighting three Imps, have your Fighter attack the first one, your Thief attack the second, and both your Mages attack the third. That way, each character should do at least some damage to one Imp.
Potions are a must
Perhaps the single most important thing that you can to do to prepare for entering a dungeon is to buy 99 Heal Potions. You will definitely need to heal a lot in almost every dungeon you go through; use Heal Potions and save your healing magic for use during battles. Almost as important as Heal Potions are Pure and Soft Potions. If you become stranded far from a town, poisoned or petrified, without any Potions to heal yourself, you're as good as done. So make sure to keep about 20 of each of them in stock, especially early in the game, before you learn the PURE and SOFT spells.
Choose your battles wisely
Generally, you should not run from battles; the EXP and G you gain from constantly fighting monsters is essential in Final Fantasy. However, there are some monsters that it is always best to run from. A key example is the Sorceror. Sorcerors have the ability to kill a party memeber instantaneously if they hit you for even 1 DMG. The Ribbon can help protect you somewhat, but it's still best to run from them, unless you want your party to be wiped out. It's also a good idea to run from large groups of monsters with one-hit killing spells, like Coctrice, Perilisk, Medusa, Mages, Fighters, and Sand Worms. The EXP gained from these battles is not worth the risk of having your party wiped out in 5 seconds.
Fight!
How easy Final Fantasy will be for you depends basically upon one thing: how much time you spend leveling up. If you spend time fighting monsters to gain levels, you will breeze through the game in no time; as an added bonus, you'll be filthy rich from all the monsters you killed. On the other hand, if you try to get through the Marsh Cave at Level 4, you had better get used to running from battles and getting your butt whooped. Taking time to gain levels is the key to success in this game.
Fight in the right places
There are some key places that make gaining levels and getting G much easier. One of these is the grassy plain just to the east of ElfLand. Ogres and Creeps abound there. Walk around in that area for awhile, kill a couple Ogres, and rake in the cash. Another good place to level up is a hallway on the first floor of the Earth Cave where you'll fight a Giant every step. Giants are worth a decent amount of G and EXP, so spend some time there. Fighting the Eye in the Ice Cave over and over is also a good way to level up. In general, find a place with monsters that are rather easy to kill, but give a large amount of EXP and G, and you're set.
Save all the time
You should save your game constantly. Save after buying a new weapon or spell, save before entering a dungeon, save after leaving a dungeon, save for no reason at all, just SAVE. It is very easy to loose track of time, go for awhile without saving, and get killed by a wandering monster, thus loosing hours of hard work. So, stock up on Tents and Houses, and make yourself a regular at the local Inn.
The Ribbon
There are three Ribbons in Final Fantasy. They count as a helmet, so if you equip a Ribbon, you'll have to do without any other head gear. The Evade and Absorb of the Ribbon is pathetic, making it almost useless as a piece of armor. Trying to sell a Ribbon will get you 1G. So what's so great about them? They are the BEST PIECE OF ARMOR IN THE GAME! You see, a Ribbon protects it's wearer from enemy magic and status attacks. Enemy magic will hurt you less, and you'll find yourself being poisoned, petrified, and paralyzed far less often. Often times, a Ribbon is the only thing that will keep a character alive in the face of an enemy spell. So find the Ribbons, and give them to your three favorite characters.
ProRing
The Proring is another must-have piece of armor. It counts as a Gauntlet, unfortunately, but it's worth getting one for each of your characters. ProRings block enemy RUB and XXXX attacks. Many enemies later in the game use these one-hit killing spells, and the ProRing is about the only thing that will protect you from them. Luckily, ProRings are for sale in Gaia, so get one for each of your characters as soon as possible.
Fast gold strategy
Many people have emailed me this strategy to gain levels and get gold quick. Get four ProRings for your characters, and head to the Ice Cave. Go to where the Eye guards the Floater stone. By walking back and forth on the square where the Eye appears, you can fight it an infinite number of times. The Eye's main attack is RUB, and with the ProRings, you'll be virtually immune to it. The Eye is worth 3225 EXP and G; a couple battles with the Eye and you'll be rich in no time.
Save money, go to Coneria
When fighting Ogres near Elfland for money, instead of using the Inn at Elfland, use the one at Coneria. You'll save 70 G by making the journey to Coneria every time you want to save, plus the enemy battles you'll face getting to Coneria will more than pay for the stay at the Inn. Sacrificing a little time, you'll save alot of money.
An alternative to Ogres
One of the most boring and repetitive parts of Final Fantasy is fighting Ogres near Elfland to gain G and EXP. A nice alternative to Ogres is the Kyzoku. Kyzoku are pirate-like enemies encountered while aboard the ship. They aren't worth much EXP, but they are worth a whopping 120G apiece. And they usually appear in groups of at least 4, sometimes 5. That ammounts to 600G for one battle! They aren't especially strong, either. One shot of LIT2 will kill them all, usually. One problem, though, is that you won't encounter them as frequently as you'll find Ogres. But you might get lucky and find 4 groups of them in a row, in which case you'll be filthy rich.
Another alternative to Ogres
In the Northwest Castle, you'll find some rather powerful enemies guarding the treasure chests. In particular, one of the chests is guarded by Images. These powerful undead are worth 20G apiece! And they often appear in groups of 4 or 5. This is an excellent place to make money quick, especially if you have the FIR2, HRM2, FIR3, or HRM3 spells. Of course, you won't be able to use this spot until you've found the Mystic Key.
An alternative to Heal Potions
Later in the game, you'll eventually pick up a couple items with magical healing properties. Namely, the Heal Staff, and the Heal Helmet. These items, when used in battle, restore HP to ALL of your characters. Using these items is free, and they never run out of charges. If you give each of your characters one of these items, you'll never need to worry about Heal Potions again.
Take the Ship to the Castle of Ordeals
The Airship, as you probably know, can only land on grassy plains. Well, there are no grassy areas anywhere near the Castle of Ordeals. That means a very long walk if you take the Airship; what's worse, there are some very powerful enemies in the area around the Castle. To avoid this long and dangerous walk, take the Ship. You can dock it at the river just north of the Castle, and walk a very short distance south to the Castle. The Ship might be slower than the Airship, and you'll have to fight sea battles along the way, but in the long run, it's a lot safer to take the Ship.
Another EXP and G making spot
Another great place to make EXP and G quickly and easily is in the Waterfall. Just inside the Robot's room, you'll find a group of Perilisks, Coctrices, and Mummies. If you each of your characters has a ProRing, the Perilisks are harmless; and if you get a shot of FIR3 or FIR2 off fast enough, the Coctrices will be dead before they can petrify you. This is a great spot for building levels later in the game.
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