A FFIV no equipment challenge

[ScottNUMBERS]

...would be quite difficult but let's forget about that concept because I'm going to try;


A Final Fantasy IV lowest possible level challenge.

Rules:
There is one one rule; Experience from random encounters is not allowed.

I don't intend to complete this challenge all the way I predict that it will be impossible to defeat Zeromus, but I will give it a damn good shot and try to get as far as I possibly can.

I've already started this challenge here's what's happened so far;

I got through the boring easy parts, Mist Dragon, that eight legged octopus thing etc. and now I'm beggining to feel the burn a little. I didn't expect Antlion to put up so much of a fight, I had no trouble with him, but I actually had to use three or four potions - against Antlion!

Not exactly challenging yet but it will certainly get harder. I'll work on it some tonight and update if anyone's interested.

[Ultima Shadow]

Give it your best shot, baby! I'll follow your progress! :cool:

[abrojtm]

You won't make it past Scarmiglione-this is my prediction.

:D

[ScottNUMBERS]

I got some more done, here's the lowdown.

After the Antlion I went back to Rosa and gave her the Sand Ruby, endured the story parts for the millionth time then set off on my journey to Mt. hobs, met Yang and defeated that poor excuse of a boss - Mom Bomb who went down just as easy as it would on any normal save file.

After I egressed the mountain then proceeded to Faboul. This was a good place to get some forced exp and gil via those guards from Baron, which - may I add - were easy as pie.

Now it ws time to get on the boat to persue some much bigger game - Scar-what's-his-face. Well at least I thought I was persuing bigger game, untill it came to actually fighting him - he was pathetic (Yeah, that's right oh ye of little faith). All I did was keep Blink up on Cecil and Attack with him and cast Black Magic with Tellah (I managed to squeeze in one or two spells with Palom and Porom while they were still alive).

Still the challenge has not begun yet, although, the difficulty is about to raise significantly as equipment prices rise and my gil decreases. My next victim will be Yang.

Levels so far.
Cecil Lv1
Palom Lv 11
Telah Lv20
Porom Lv11


Update!

Yang
This guy was pretty easy, although I was fighting him for ages, it turns out you have to get Cecil to deal the final blow.

Baigan
First time 'round I dived into the fight with no preperation or strategy, this just turned my party into a messy pile of bodies fairly quickly. I decided to have another try and planned my strategy this time. I placed Cecil, Tellah and Porom in the back row, I destroyed Baigans arm (The one that hits hard) Baigan easily disposed of the twins, so it was just Cecil, Yang and Tellah left. Cecil Covered Tellah and gave healing, until he ran out of MP - which was fast as he was level 1 at which point he switched to potions. Yang attacked and gave Ethers to Tellah when needed, while Tellah alternated between casting Reflect and an "aga" spell on himself.

Levels so far:
Cecil Lv9
Tellah Lv21
Porom Lv11
Polom Lv11
Yang Lv15

[Rydia Forever]

This sounds pretty cool. :) Any new progress?

[nik0tine]

I have faith that Zeromus is beatable. In fact, I'd be willing to wager money on that. There is always a way to beat a boss. Especially if you don't have any restrictions on equipment, magic, or items.

[Zeromus_X]

It's actually quite possible. (http://forums.eyesonff.com/showthread.php?t=92629&highlight=low+level+zeromus)

[boys from the dwarf]

so scottyboi? (i will never call you that again.)

how are you doing so far?

[Rydia Forever]

I sure hope you have not gave up yet. :( Keep going! ^_^

Hmm, now I want to do this challenge . . .

[eestlinc]

you should share tips and experiences with Goldenboco (http://forums.eyesonff.com/showthread.php?t=93928).

[Lawr]

Valvalis will crush you.

[Elite Lord Sigma]

I predict that you'll probably are going to lose more than once against Barbariccia.

[Lawr]

Same thing.

[ScottNUMBERS]

Update!
(Starting from the Dark Elf fight on wards as I can't remember anything before then ><)

Gil trouble!

At this point I am starting to feel the burn of not fighting random battles, no gil - not to mention losing gil after every fight. After a quick run through Mythril town I grabbed some Mythril items lying around and managed to scrape up some nice gil which allowed me to buy a new Armour piece and Sword for Cecil along with some essential healing items.

The Dark Elf

I always had trouble with this boss without a disadvantage, but I just stuck to my old strategy of hacking away at him whilst healing with Tellah and as luck would have it I prevailed after a few tries. :</>D

Tower of Zot

It was hard to decide whether to farm the area for Treasure Chests or leave them in fear of being attacked by brutal fiends that would leave my party as a very thin smear on the ground. So, I came across a chest and I gave in, I thought I was dead as soon as I saw that a monster poped out, but I actually handled the monster (Although it left me on my last legs) and nabed myself a Fire Sword for Cecil. that was the only problem traveling through this area, I found other chests that yeilded only Treasure and made it to the Save point at the top safely.

The Magus Sisters

Easy. Focus on the chubby one and this job is as good as done.


Barbariccia

I tried it once with no effort (I didn't even use a tent after the Magus Sisters) but as you can imagine at low levels with all your MP slightly defiled, and with shoddy equipments this fight didn't go too smooth. She's nothing a good strategy won't sort though, I'll have her beat by tonight.

Sorry about the late update and sort of reviving a semi-old thread, I'll have more motivation to complete this challenge and update more freaquently now that some people are interested.

Edit~ Barbariccia 2nd attempt

I don't dissapoint, it would seem you over-estimated her difficulty - she weren't all that hard. I was somehow able to very accurately estimate when to use Jump to get rid of her Tornado wall, this is what won me the fight. I kept Cecil in the back row and Covered Rosa while she tops up my HPs with Cura. The rest of the team just hacked away at Barbariccia using items when neccessary. She only managed to squeeze one "Tornado" spell in due to my timing with Jump and her normal attacks are pretty feeble so Rosa was more than able to heal and even throw a Slow spell here and there.

[Zeromus_X]

Good job! I want to see you carry this on to the end! :) :cat:

[Cruise Control]

Scott seems to have dropped this, but over vacation, I picked it up and ran with it. I am playing the GBA version though. I'll continue from where he left off. I'm not sure if he did. But I made sure to strip people of their equips, right before they leave. Even if I have a boss fight coming up. I can give them to other chars, and sell them later.

Also, until I reach endgame (moon second time), in towns I will only purchase Weapons, and Armor. I will not buy Helmets, gloves, shields, etc. That way, when I reach teh end of the game I will have enough gil to purchase the best stuff.

Calcobrena was the hardest boss fight thus far. I'm taking lots of damage from multiple enemies. Cecil attacks a Brina with his firebrand, and Yang attacks the same one it dies. Kain targets a Calco. Rosa uses Cura on all. Cecil and Yang defeat a second Brina. Kain keeps focusing on the same Calco. Cecil, Yang, and Kain go all out on the Calcos, leaving the final Brina untouched. That way, I don't have to fight the big one.

Lugae and Barnabas were pie. I focused on Lugae. The second Lugae fight was cake too.

Rubicante was easy to defeat. It was just very time consuming. Cecil and Kain attack with Ice Brand, and Ice Lance. Edge uses flood. Rydia uses Blizzara. Rosa is still using Cura all. Just kept wailing away till he died.

Sealed cave was tough. I just saved outside, and kept resetting whenever I killed a non-required door. It was hard not to break down the door and get the sword for Cecil. Demon Wall, easy. Everbody has problems with him. I never do. I just had everybody go all out. Using a Baccus Cider on Cecil and Edge (who is god in this challenge). Rosa revives whoever needs it. Rydia attacked too, since magic is innefective on him.

Right after this, I went and got Excalibur, so Cecil can stop sucking ass.

The four Elemental Lords were almost unbearable. It was some massive endurance test, that took me three tries. Edge attacked (he does 400 more damage than Cecil), Rydia used the appropriate -ara spell, Rosa healed, FuSoYa used his -aga spells. Cecil fed Ethers to my party, and acted as a secondary healer. FuSoYa was the last one standing. I love my moon-man.

CPU, and nodes.
Round 1: Edge, Rydia, Cecil, and Rosa defended. FuSoYa used Herme's shoes to haste himself.
Round 2: Edge, Rydia, Cecil, and Rosa defended. FuSoYa cast reflect on himself.
Round 3: Edge and Cecil attack CPU. Rydia casts Thundara on FuSoYa (hits CPU), FuSoYa casts Flare on Defense Node. Defense Node dies.

For the rest of the fight, Edge and Cecil beat down CPU, FuSoYa keeps using flare on it, Rosa heals, and Rydia gives FuSoYa ethers or uses Thundara.

I went to the Land of summons, purchased the best equips I could, and gave Cecil the Genji set since he does more damage than Kain (which makes him more valuable).

I'm about to enter crystal palace. My setup follows:

[tr][td]Character[td]Edge Lv: 30[td]Rydia: Lv: 26[td]Cecil Lv: 29[td]Rosa Lv: 27[td]Kain Lv: 29
[tr][td]L. Hand[td]Kikuichimonji[td]Blitz Whip[td]Excalibur[td]Kinesis Staff[td]Aegis Shield
[tr][td]R. Hand[td]Kotetsu[td]N/A[td]Genji Shield[td]N/A[td]Gungir
[tr][td]Head[td]Green Beret[td]Sage's Miter[td]Genji Helm[td]Sage's Miter[td]Diamond Helm
[tr][td]Body[td]Black Belt[td]Light Robe[td]Genji Armor[td]Light Robe[td]Diamond Armor
[tr][td]Arms[td]Diamond Armlet[td]Diamond Armlet[td]Genji Gloves[td]Diamond Armlet[td]Diamond Gloves

[obsessed_wif_yuna]

wow..

umm.. how do you get those weapons and acc's? do you just buy them.. and if you do,, where do you get them from and how much do they cost?
um.. im not talking about cecils things im tlaking about the other things.. i havent heard of these before:
Kikuichimonji, Blitz Whip, Kinesis Staff, Gungir, Aegis Shield
and some diamond things.

[Siegfried]

Since he is playing on the GBA i think those are all the added items from the GBA version, if i am not mistaken

[ScottNUMBERS]

I haven't dropped this challenge, I've just been sucked into the vortex that is FFXI. Also, I was a little put off by how easy this challenge is, I wanted it to be unbarebly hard but you actually gain lots of levels soley from boss exp. Still, I'll finish what I started.

I'd update but I can't remember for the life of me my past experiences with the challenge (I blame FFXI again for that).

I'll try my best to update in future, I'll start playing some FFIV tonight and hopefully have an update for tomorrow.

Cruise Control, try not to slack on your updates like me, keep us posted please. :D

[Cruise Control]

Well, gimme a bit. Someone overwrote the file. This time round I'm killing all the doors and storming Eblan.

At tower of Babel.
Sealed Cave.

[ScottNUMBERS]

I was playing the other night just after beating Lugae and then I do all the story parts where it leads you to believe Yang and Cid die. Then I find myself roaming the overworld in an Airship for half an hour with no clue where to go, someone throw me a bone here?

[Cruise Control]

Dwarf castle. Go talk to the king, get the key to the sealed cave. Then go the infirmary, and Cid will pimp your airship.

I'm right there too! Go buy equips in the Land of Summons.

[ScottNUMBERS]

But the hole that leads to the underworld is sealed off. :(

[Cruise Control]

Baron, talk to the engineers. Then get the hovercraft and go to Eblan.

[feioncastor]

I didn't expect Antlion to put up so much of a fight, I had no trouble with him, but I actually had to use three or four potions - against Antlion!

Why would you expect anything like that out of Antlion? Do not worry. Antlion is tame. Edward will take the Sand Ruby.

[ScottNUMBERS]

Just droppin' a post in this thread just to say I have not neglected it, I just haven't encountered many bosses, although now I'm very close to Rubricant. I'll update properly soon.

[Cruise Control]

Alright. Ready for the final battle. I opened every Monsters! chest in the game, got all the summons (Odin was HARD), and got every sealed weapon. Let me tell you Dark Bahamut was the toughest fight thusfar. I used 35 Phoenix Downs, and tried 12 times.

Rosa survived Mega-Flare with 215 HP. I had her revive Edge. Edge started reviving, and Rosa started casting reflect. Once everyone was up, I started laying on the offense. When someone died, revival was top-priority.

I'm prepared for my final descent. 99 Hi-Potions, 99 Phoenix Downs.

I have lots of stuff to throw.
1 Shuriken
17 Fuma Shuriken
Defender
Light Sword
Excalibur
Gungir
Spoon

Levels and equips are as follows:
[td][td]Edge[td]Rydia[td]Cecil[td]Rosa[td]Kain[td]Level[td]41[td]38[td]41[td]40[td]41[td]R. Hand[td]Murasame[td]Blitz Whip[td]Ragnarok[td]Sage's Staff[td]Dragon Shield[td]L. Hand[td]Masamune[td]N/A[td]Crystal Shield[td]N/A[td]Holy Lance[td]Head[td]Genji Helm[td]Ribbon[td]Crystal Helm[td]Ribbon[td]Dragon Helm[td]Body[td]Black Garb[td]Minerva's Plate[td]Crystal Helm[td]White Robe[td]Dragon Mail[td]Arms[td]Genji Gloves[td]Diamond Armlet[td]Protect Ring[td]Protect Ring[td]Dragon Gloves
Rydia has Blitz Whip instead of Stardust Rod, because of the 2 point defense boost.

EDIT: Only Cecil survived big bang. This is obviously not going to work. Where can I get Lunar Curtains, and Hermes Shoes in abundance?

[ScottNUMBERS]

There are quite a couple Hermes Shoes at the start of the game, that's the only way you can get your hands on them unfortunately (Since getting them to drop from random encounters is off-limits).

It might be worth plowing the caves in hope of some, unless you know you got them all whilst at the point in the game.

Good job getting this far, (and not to mention overtaking me twice), I'm sure you can beat Zeromus somehow, don't give up.

As for me, I tryed my hand at Rubricant a few times, he catches me out with that strong fire spell he likes to use, and with my weak weapons (I didn't pick up new equipment, due to insufficiant funds) slowly chewing at his HPs the battle goes on for quite a while.

[Cruise Control]

Unfortunately, I got them all, and I only have two. My only hope is to use Kain. The plan is to have Cecil live, phoenix down on Kain. Kain uses hermes shoes. Jump. I saw a video a little back that if you use magic on Zeromus, he counters with flare. So I think I'll Lunar Curtain+Zues Rage (and the like). EoFF doesn't have a steal guide though.

[Cruise Control]

I GIVE UP. I make it like 15,000 damage into the fight, but mess up my timing and get Banged (so terribly clever). But, whatever. I declare this challenge over.

[Frostwake]

Not trying to bash or anything, but the GBA version is NOTHING compared to the original... NOTHING! Bosses in the original version attack 5 or more times before your whole party has time to do anything... I dont believe someone can do this in the original

[Cruise Control]

Yeah, but you can't play the original while your taking a crap. GBA>Orig