I really want to beat this game.

First, let me say that I love this game. My second favorite in the series. The level up system's great, the story's amazing, and the World of Ruin is beautiful even now in 2010.

The One problem I have with this game though is the FINAL FRIGGIN' DUNGEON! Seriously, I hate having to split the party. I couldn't stand the Phoenix cave, what makes them think I'll enjoy this area?

I really don't want to train 3 different parties; I only have 5 different characters at levels 38-45, I don't want to level grind the characters I don't like.

Did this problem bother anyone else, or is this the one exception to my taste in retro-jrpgs?

If you level up your characters in the Tyrannosaur Forest (it's just a little bit east of Narshe if memory serves correctly Gau's father's house, which is on the island east of Narshe) it doesn't take very long to get your characters ready for the final dungeon. I never had a problem with it. Really, by the time you finish teaching spells to your characters by fighting monsters there they should probably be ready to take on the final dungeon, unless they're really underlevelled.

That always bothered me a bit too, more so now than when I first played it. There are ways to make it somewhat easier.

One group doesn't need to be leveled at all really if you stick Mog in it and use the moogle charm (hopefully you have Mog). Without random encounters you only need to worry about bosses, but if you make a few runs through with your main party clearing the bosses then Mog party can eventually fly through without any trouble. It's a little more time consuming, but generally not as boring as leveling a third party.

Another thing you can do is pick two to four people outside your main party and level them and teach them some high level spells. If you make one of those four Gogo you save on the time spent learning spells. I wouldn't spend too much time leveling them either. As long as their levels are decent you should be able to put two of your main characters on each team and fill out the parties with the secondary groups and be just fine. Teaching them high level magic will be more important really than leveling them up to match your main party. So long as they can hit hard and heal lot's of damage they should manage pretty well.

I think two well equiped lvl 40+ characters in each party is all you need to finish the dungeon. Added with the moogle charm in the party that fights the weakest bosses (probably the first party)

You can really complete this game at level 30 (well, 30 at the start of the final dungeon, you gain some levels in there). If Celes is level 30 at the start of the WoR, everyone else will start at 30 or above too.

All you need is some good gear, and to prepare well for the bosses. Put Mog in the weakest party, and use the moogle charm to avoid enemies, then when you have to fight a boss with that party, unequip everything from the other parties and pimp them out.

Alright, thanks guys, it's a good thing I saved Mog. I'll probably beat the game this summer.

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Without random encounters you only need to worry about bosses, but if you make a few runs through with your main party clearing the bosses then Mog party can eventually fly through without any trouble. It's a little more time consuming, but generally not as boring as leveling a third party.

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Once I check the dungeon's layout again, that might make more sense. I thought everyone had strictly isolated routes?

Yeah, but by going in a few times and putting characters in different positions each time you can have the strongest party clear out all of the bosses, although it requires quite a bit of backtracking to do so. I forget how many trips it takes to have one party clear out all the bosses, but it's doable in about six if memory serves correctly. I always found it less irritating simply to level up everyone to the requisite levels though; Tyrannosaur Forest levels your characters up really quickly.

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Originally Posted by Edge7

Alright, thanks guys, it's a good thing I saved Mog. I'll probably beat the game this summer.

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Without random encounters you only need to worry about bosses, but if you make a few runs through with your main party clearing the bosses then Mog party can eventually fly through without any trouble. It's a little more time consuming, but generally not as boring as leveling a third party.

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Once I check the dungeon's layout again, that might make more sense. I thought everyone had strictly isolated routes?

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They do have isolated routes, but if you dump all your best gear on the weakest party, even they are gonna be able to defeat the bosses. Also, you can at any time go back to the ship and regroup, without any of the bosses respawning. So is there is a boss you absolutely cannot kill with your weakest party, go back and send your best guys at it.

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Originally Posted by The Man

Yeah, but by going in a few times and putting characters in different positions each time you can have the strongest party clear out all of the bosses, although it requires quite a bit of backtracking to do so. I forget how many trips it takes to have one party clear out all the bosses, but it's doable in about six if memory serves correctly.

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That is how I did it the first time, except I had two parties and one Moggle party that I had to keep starting over so they didn't face the bosses.

What I did was fight on the veldt with gau and learned all the spells I could without gaining EXP. Then I went to the forest with T-rex battles and leveled up as much as I could. If you put in 1 person with the EXP egg and the gem box, you can level up every battle. Have the character learn vanish doom and cast it on the dinosuars in that order. Quit when your not leveling up every battle and you should be on a level good enough to fight the final dungeon.

If you don't want to do the Veldt then the cactur desert is better for AP.

The Cactuar desert is south of Maranda, by the way. Due to their high Evade and defence, it's best to use attacks that ignore defence and can't be blocked. If memory serves, equipping the Offering is one way to kill them. Blitz, Bushido/SwordTech, Tools, and Ultima also work, I think, and I'm pretty sure the Atma/Ultima Weapon also works.

Maybe you should just cheat.....:choc:

YouTube - Greatermaxim's Channel

Mwha, ha, ha. I have an excuse to show the video. It's been awhile since I've viewed it myself. This is based on the original version.

This is already in the FAQ's. The way to learn the spells without leveling up is to fight on the Veldt or in Fanatics Tower. I did Tower because Veldt is too random. You also get 5-7 Magic Points a round. Equip Wall Rings you can buy and Golden Hair Pins and the enemies can't touch you. You can attempt to X-Zone level 20 Magics but you'll have to vanish doom level 10 and 30's. Save every once and while because it is riskier.

To level EXP I went into Tyrano Forest and you can cast 'Sleep' on the dinosaurs minus the Bracosaur. I had Locke go with people to steal Ribbons on the side. The Tyranos are weak against ICE.

There are low level FAQ's that beat specific bosses. At level 19 it is more of a challenge. I actually entered the World of Ruin at level 13 but it feels too hard for me to attempt.

There's one major problem with trying to beat the game with less than half the characters. These Samurai "Spoiler" have a tradeoff attack that can wipe someone out.

With five people you might as well clear out Kefka's Tower one party at a time before spliting them up for the final battles. Four people at level 40 is good enough even with only the attack command and best equipment. Oh, and at least one way to heal.

Edit-basically it's a two-way street. The game can be as hard or as easy as you like it. Some people will learn everything about the game before beating it while others will go straight for the boss.

If you feel like training up all three parties sounds too time consuming, remember that your level is not as important as it is in other Final Fantasy games.

Equipment and spell selection are more important than your level, as there have been numerous low level games cleared just by having the right equipment on a character. So, I think it is more important to collect all of the great equipment in the various dungeons and sidequests to attain three adequately powerful parties for the final dungeon rather than constantly training like you would in other games.

I find the quickest way to power level is to take a lone party member to the area around Cyan's home. Have the character equipped with the Exp. Egg and have them cast vanish on themselves (if trying to level up someone like Umaro, have a secondary party member cast the spell and then just have that party member kill themselves) after that the enemies only have one spell that can knock you out of vanish and its rarely used so your guy is invincible. You get a crapload of XP and the enemies are weak enough to allow you to quickly decimate them with abilities, low level magic, or some Genji equipped physical attacks. You almost literally gain a level every second or third battle and the battles are fast enough that you can get quick level gains without wasting a whole evening.

For AP, fight Cactuars in the desert near Maranda, the Sandworms are weak to Doom (don't even need Vanish, assuming this is the old SNES/PSOne version) and the Cactuars are easy to dispatch if you follow The Man's advice.

The easiest way, if you want to be really boring and not bother with game mechanics is to just teach everyone Ultima and then spam the hell out of it in the final dungeon. Due to the broken mechanics of the spell (ignores all defense, doesn't split damage against multiple targets, has an attack rating of 150) even guys like Cyan with crappy Magic can still do close to 5000hp of damage with the spell. Relm and Terra are guaranteed 9999hp damage.