Any tips for a first time FF3-er?

[Pike]

Hallo everyone!

I've recently acquired Final Fantasy III DS and have just started playing it. (As in, I haven't left the first town yet.) I've never played any version of this game before and am curious if there are any big tips I need to know before I really dig into this game.

[VeloZer0]

In this game you are really rewarded for not jumping around in jobs. Job levels really affect how powerful a class is, so pick the ones you want and stick with them.

If you want the best spear in the game you have to steal it from an optional boss, and that requires a lv79 or higher thief. It takes forever to build up a thief to that job level, so if you are interested you should basically just stick one character in that class for the whole game. Lances are only used by dragoons. (My favorite FF class, so I make sure to get it every time)

Many guides say that you should keep you monk/black belt unarmed. While this is true for the NES it isn't for the DS. I tested it myself by constantly comparing my monks armed/unarmed damage as I made my way though the game.

[Pike]

Thanks for the tips, bro. I don't seem to be able to change jobs yet, but I'm still pretty early in the game.

[VeloZer0]

In the DS version they changed it so that you have to beat the first dungeon before you get to change jobs.

[Pike]

Gotcha. I'll keep that in mind and try to remember to do that after the first dungeon.

[Yar]

Yeah the thief is really useful. I think I had one character as a thief the entire game. USE IT

[VeloZer0]

I actually didn't find the thief all that useful, I just gave up on the steal command entirely.

The one saving grace is what I was talking about with job levels. Because one character stayed thief the entire game there were a lot of times when they were doing the most damage out of anyone in the party simply by virtue of being able to land a ridiculous amount of hits every attack.

[TrollHunter]

My team is always the same up to the 4th job crystal now, it's flawless and amazing.
Dragoon
Knight
Thief
White mage

I always thought the thief sucked at first, but then I was training it one time for odin... and it was kicking some serious ass and my opinion for them forever trained.
Knights are a freaking must now for me, seeing as they auto-guard near-dead members and can wield excaliber and the other really good end-game sword at once.
Dragoons are just my love really... this is the game that got me in love with them. Their jump ability allows for good damage and ability to avoid attacks for most the fight, and they look sexy!
White mage is.... it's a white mage.

[VeloZer0]

That is almost identical to my standard, except I switch out the Knight for a Dark Knight in the middle of the game. Since the Knight hasn't out-geared the Dark Knight by that point I find the AoE to be huge boon.

[TrollHunter]

Dark knights are awesome, I love the aoe to death, but I've beaten the game so many times I just stick to classes I like the most. Excluding the white mage of course.
Hm... might do a playthrough without a white mage soon... maybe.

[VeloZer0]

I read a guide that was very adamant that you didn't need a dedicated healer to go through this game. I've never tried it myself though. That said I have only ever beaten this twice.

[TrollHunter]

I may actually give it a shot, when I get around to it is an entirely different story though.
That said I also do want to do a full freelancer run as well.

[Pike]

I'm excited to try some of these later classes. Is this like FFTA where you have to have a certain amount of skill in certain jobs to be able to be a new job? Or can anyone be anything?

[VeloZer0]

Get New Crystal -> Get New Classes. That simple. It is just like FF5 in that way.
There are 4 crystals in total in the game. (Wind, Fire, Water, Earth).