Monks and Weapons

[Tabris]

I am playing FF I on PSX for the first time, and my party consists of Warrior, Monk, Red Mage and White Mage. I'm about to return to the Earth Cave with the Rod, and I'm on level 15. I've equipped my Monk with Iron Nunchaku, but from what I hear (read on the net) he shouldn't have any weapon? Or is that only after the class upgrade? I feel slightly confused.

[Crossblades]

You should NEVER equip a Monk with a weapon. Monks don't do much damage when equipped with a weapon, so just stick their fists. They do more damage.

[Captain Maxx Power]

You should NEVER equip a Monk with a weapon. Monks don't do much damage when equipped with a weapon, so just stick their fists. They do more damage.

Actually this isn't strictly true. At lower levels Monks usually benefit from their Nunchuck weapons rather than going bare fists. After a certain level however (it differs slightly, but around the middle ten's) the Monk's barehanded damage overtakes his physical damage with any weapon in the game.

[Tabris]

Thanks. I'm at level 16 now, soon approaching 17 (thank God I'm done with the Ice Cave!), so I guess I should try him without weapons and see how he does.

One more question: How many hours would you say it takes to beat this game? I've spent ninteen hours so far, and I only just got the airship.

[Dr Unne]

Thanks. I'm at level 16 now, soon approaching 17 (thank God I'm done with the Ice Cave!), so I guess I should try him without weapons and see how he does.

One more question: How many hours would you say it takes to beat this game? I've spent ninteen hours so far, and I only just got the airship.

It varies wildly depending on what party you took, how familiar you are with the game, and how lucky you get. I can beat it in around 20 hours most of the time if I take an easy party, but that's after a decade and a half of playing. My first time probably took me weeks.

But no matter your party, there's ALWAYS a chance you'll be wiped out 2 steps away from the Ice Cave exit. Or that a boss will get in a cheap shot and kill your whole party after an hour of walking through the dungeon.

I find that things go much faster after you get the airship. You can immediately go get very good armor and weapons. I generally never have to level-grind after getting the Airship (with the exception of sometimes preparing for the final dungeon).

[Tabris]

Thanks. Well, this is my first time playing the game, so I'm not that used to it yet. I guess I'm about halfway when I got the airship? That goes faster, true, but since I'm only at level 16 I probably have a lot of leveling up to do....? Or, like you said, I might not need too much leveling up besides the battle I go through just playing?

[Dr Unne]

Thanks. Well, this is my first time playing the game, so I'm not that used to it yet. I guess I'm about halfway when I got the airship? That goes faster, true, but since I'm only at level 16 I probably have a lot of leveling up to do....? Or, like you said, I might not need too much leveling up besides the battle I go through just playing?

I'd say once you get the airship you about halfway done, yes; possibly a bit more than halfway done, depending on whether you did Gurgu Volcano and the Castle of Ordeals before or after the Ice Cave.

Generally you don't need to do TOO much leveling after you get the airship. Your goal is to get to level 25ish by the time you beat the game. If you fight your way through dungeons rather than running all the time you should easily get there.

If you feel the need for extra leveling, there are some very nice spots available to you post-airship. The "final bosses" in the Castle of Ordeals for example are good for some very fast leveling. It's generally a good idea to go to the Waterfall right after you get the airship, because there are tasty weapons and armors in there, and it's also a good leveling spot (the encounter right inside the final room is nice, just bring some soft potions; sorry for being vague, I don't know how far you are or how spoiled you want to be). The final dungeon itself is also a great leveling spot; arguably the best, if you can survive in there.

[Grendal]

Also remember that Monks benefit without armor, as well. They have naturally high defense, (depending on their stamina) and equipping them may actually encumber that. But again, I think this is only near the higher levels, after their stamina has managed to stack up quite a bit. About the only thing you'll want your Monk to wear toward the end of the game is a Ribbon. (merely for the status / magic protection)

[Tabris]

Thanks for replying, everyone. No, I haven't done anything after the Ice Cave (except getting the airship. of course), so I was thinking about the Ordeals-quest now, to get the class changes. I'm quite curious about that. But maybe getting the weapons at the Waterfalls would be interesting to do first?

Yes, I did use the small spot northeast of Pravoka to level up, so thanks for other tips!

[Martyr]

This is a little late, I guess, but your monk does damage with fists equal to damage with Iron Nuinchucks at lv. 11 or 12.

All you have to do is check your status screen with and without the chucks equipped.

[Tabris]

No worries, I haven't played anymore after I started this thread, so I will remove the weapon (and armour) on the Monk when I continue.

[Pancaek]

Also remember that Monks benefit without armor, as well. They have naturally high defense, (depending on their stamina) and equipping them may actually encumber that. But again, I think this is only near the higher levels, after their stamina has managed to stack up quite a bit. About the only thing you'll want your Monk to wear toward the end of the game is a Ribbon. (merely for the status / magic protection)

Actually, if you do that, you'll destroy the BB's natural defence. It'll get bumped down to 1, because that's all the defence that the Ribbon has. If you want the BB to wear armour, you have to either load him up completely so his defence is comparable to that of other characters, or just take everything off. It depends on his level.

[Grendal]

Actually, if you do that, you'll destroy the BB's natural defence. It'll get bumped down to 1, because that's all the defence that the Ribbon has. If you want the BB to wear armour, you have to either load him up completely so his defence is comparable to that of other characters, or just take everything off. It depends on his level.

No, it will only decrease his defense by a few points. As well, the Monk's defense depends on his stamina, not his level. If you like, I can dig up the statistics for you. I know they're available on GameFAQs.

On my current game, my Monk / Master has 73 bare defense. With a Ribbon equipped, it drops to 62. The Monk has incredibly low magic defense, though. The Ribbon helps to raise this, as well as adding resistance to various status effects. It's a must-have.

[Dr Unne]

No, it will only decrease his defense by a few points. As well, the Monk's defense depends on his stamina, not his level. If you like, I can dig up the statistics for you. I know they're available on GameFAQs.

On my current game, my Monk / Master has 73 bare defense. With a Ribbon equipped, it drops to 62. The Monk has incredibly low magic defense, though. The Ribbon helps to raise this, as well as adding resistance to various status effects. It's a must-have.

A = 0 for all classes, except...
= LV for a bare Bb/Ma*

Unarmored BB gets armor = level, armored BB gets 0. That's for the NES. This is due to a bug, it may be fixed/different in the remakes. I wouldn't know.

[Grendal]

Well, yes. That's the NES version. The topic-starter is reffering to the bug-fixed PSX version. ;)

Most everything now depends on the Monk's stamina:

Monk Hands ATK = [STR / 2] + [(STA + 1) * 3 / 4]
Monk Unarmed HLM = [STA / 8]
Monk Unarmed GLV = [STA / 8]
Monk Unarmed ARM = [[STA / 4] * 3 / 2]

Master Hands ATK = [STR / 2] + STA
Master Unarmed HLM = [STA / 8]
Master Unarmed GLV = [STA / 8]
Master Unarmed ARM = [STA / 2]

[Dr Unne]

That's interesting info. Where did you get it? Do you know if they fixed INT too? In the NES version it seemingly did nothing at all.

[Grendal]

That's interesting info. Where did you get it? Do you know if they fixed INT too? In the NES version it seemingly did nothing at all.

A Guide to Monks and Masters (http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=920240&topic=31108659)

As for the INT bug, was there one? I haven't noticed. But magic power obviously does increase with INT, so I guess that answers your question. My Red Wizard, who has 99 INT, can heal up to 400 HP with a single cast of Cura. My Knight, having much less, can only heal around 200 with Cura.

[abrojtm]

I don't believe INT was greatly changed on PSX, but in the GBA remake, INT drastically affects spell damage which makes RMs/RWs a lot less useful than previous versions (rightfully so).

[Grendal]

I don't believe INT was greatly changed on PSX, but in the GBA remake, INT drastically affects spell damage which makes RMs/RWs a lot less useful than previous versions (rightfully so).

Hmm? My Red Wizard (GBA) is a more effective healer than most White Wizards. (PSX) With a cast of Curaga, he can heal 500 HP. With a Rune Staff, he can heal 300 HP to every member. With a single cast of Fir-, Blizz- or Thundaga, he can inflict 800 damage to all enemies. With a Ragnarok blade, he can inflict nearly 1,000 to all enemies. As for his physical skill, his average attack damage is over 1,000. Ineffective? I think not. He replaces everyone. :p

Ahem...

Jacque, Lv.99 Red Wizard - EXP. 2,000,000
HP 999/999 | MP 999/999

STR ... 61 ATK ... 78
AGL ... 53 ACC ... 255
INT ... 99 DEF ... 43
STA ... 67 EVA ... 180
LCK ... 49

WPN - Lightbringer
SHD - Elven Cloak
HLM - Ribbon
ARM - Sage's Surplice
GLV - Protect Ring

[abrojtm]

Well, duh. He's level 99. Red Mages/Wizards have much lower INT growth than WMs or BMs making their spells weaker for the majority of the game. Of course, stat rolls are random and it's possible for him to have higher INT. In my first playthrough on GBA-Fi/WM/BM/BM-my WM ended up with by far the higheset HP. BM1 had a significantly higher INT, so he was the main spellcaster whereas BM2 was set Haste/Temper/etc.

[Grendal]

Yeah, the GBA version was a bit... slaughtered. The statistics are pretty close to the easy mode found in the PSX version, where the game allowed characters to progress to the 99th level of experience. But the stats aren't really random -- character have a chance to get a "weak" or "strong" gain depending on their specific class. (i.e., Fighters are more likely to gain high amounts of STR and HP) Red Mages are somewhat slow to progress, but if you build them up just right, they can replace almost any character. It's just a matter of paying attention to their growth pattern and trying to influence it in another direction.

As for magic, I don't think Temper depends on INT, nor has it ever. It's one of those spells were you get a random value between 8 - 16, I believe. Haste merely increases a character's number of hits, and has a generally static effect. Some people have this misconception that having a Black Mage / Wizard to support melee characters is ideal, but it's really not. There's no difference between Temper / Haste regardless of which class uses them. Aside from this, there's really no point in having a Black Mage for higher level spells, either. You can gain access to unlimted uses of Berserk and Flare through some of the magic items found later on in the game. And really, there's no point in a Black Mage even having the Berserk spell in the first place -- it can only target the caster!

Sorry. End rant. :p

[,,,]

My first play through I had no idea that the BB was better without weapons. I always wondered why the attacker of my party did about 16 damage on a good day as I waited desperately for a nunchuck upgrade that never came.

To make matters worse, I didn't have a fighter. My best attackers were my thief and red mage. To this day I don't know how I finished that game.

[Grendal]

Thieves are pretty good substitutes for Fighters. They share most of the same equipment, after all. Thieves are just built to be more agile, but have overall good attack power. Later on in the game, (after class upgrade) they can be compared side-by-side with the Knight.

[Fireblade13]

Yeah I've never found much uses for BM in GBA as they have low HP and Def and their spell power is usually overkill and can be taken up by the RM who can actually do something when he rujns out of MP. I am always checking my BB every few lvl or so when I take one to wait for his unarmed to overthrow his nunchack.

This has gotten way off topic. FF1 may have the most meticulous group of followers probably due to simpleness and the remakes. I'm not meaning an offense just commenti ng on the fact we have the exact formula's for damage and armor posted.

[Dr Unne]

I think FF1 has strong roots in table-top RPGing where you roll dice for damage. That may be why the game mechanics are so simple and often fun to manipulate. May be why the plot is so bare too; in table-top you make your own plot, the game mechanics are just a tool to move things along.