III NES Playthrough

[Depression Moon]

I started a bit ago on playing the classic NES version of III on an emulator. I've been mostly quiet for a while, but what got me to start this thread is the random damage I'm starting to see in the game. Right now I'm up to the Water Crystal where I'm in the cavern where the Chimera and frogs are. The cave has an extremely annoying encounter rate and it seems like you can't run away from battles that you don't start out with the First Strike. In battle my Scholar and White Mage have been dealing some quite strange damage. Most of the time my white mage misses, but every so often when it hits she does 24 damage. Just a second ago she dealt over 5000 on a chimera, and a bit earlier she only dealt 1 point of damage ??? My scholar is acting similarly dealing around 124 every time, but every so often does about 84 damage, then about 5000, then even more rarely he does 9999.

In the last dungeon the 9999 damage attacks came more frequently against the undead monsters. I had Refia as a Hunter and she was dealing that amount every so often too. What's with the weird damage output with these three classes?

[Alpha2099]

That's weird. I don't think that ever happened to me. I would guess some of it has to do with the skill level of your classes, and maybe some critical hits, but that's just a guess.

[Depression Moon]

Majority of the time when I do critical hits with my monk it barely does more damage than his regular hits lol.

Right now I'm in the sewer dungeon. I got pretty mad when I found three free equipment in the city after spending money on almost all the same items.

Also, is it just me or do you enemies get more viscous when you attempt to run?

Edit: I also just got 11 shiny swords/ What the hell am I supposed to do with them?

[Alpha2099]

To me, the enemies are always vicious, running or not. The whole friggin' game is vicious. It's a test of your will as much as your skill (and I didn't intend for that to rhyme). And yeah, you'll get screwed by the free equipment thing a lot. It's the game's way of saying "Hey! Listen! You need to use this class for the next part of the game or you're gonna get roasted!"

As far as I know, the Shiny Swords have no practical uses in combat. They exist to be sold. And BTW, I know you're still early in the game, but start thinking up a plan to conserve money. You'll be needing a lot of it for the end parts of the game.

[Depression Moon]

I just walked through a forest on the world map with my chocobo when I was suddenly killed and got a game over. What the smurf?

[Alpha2099]

Wha???

That sounds really weird. Can you explain that a little more? Like, where were you on the map, where were you heading, what exactly happened on the screen to give you a game over, things like that. Sounds like a glitch, but that's one hell of a glitch if so, and I never had that happen to me when I played.

[Depression Moon]

http://i.imgur.com/rPfRD.png

Right in between those statues.

[Elpizo]

Yeah, those statues kill you unless you have all four fangs that let you pass.

[Alpha2099]

Yeah, those statues kill you unless you have all four fangs that let you pass.

Yup, what he said. Really, it's not necessary to go anywhere near that place until you have the first 3 fangs. One of the more irritating things about FF3 is the lack of inventory space, and this is one of the spots where it comes into focus. The fangs take up precious space, and don't go away until you use them up on the proper statues. What I have found works best (based on walkthroughs) is to wait until you have 3 fangs, then go up there and walk through the first 3 sets of statues ONLY. Those fangs will get used and now you have 3 free spots for inventory. But trust me, you'll fill them up fast, lol.

[Depression Moon]

Help.

[Alpha2099]

I believe this is Garuda, yes? If so, then judging by that screencap you're doing it all wrong. The easiest way to beat him is to have 4 dragoons. Equip them with Wind Spears if possible. You should have found some dragoon equipment -- both armor and weapons -- before entering the tower where he's located. You probably don't have enough money to deck everybody out, but you probably don't need it, either. Just get 4 dragoons, equip them with Wind Spears, then spend some time building their skill levels. You don't need to do much, so do whatever you think is best. When you've done that, get to the boss fight, and just have everybody jump. Garuda is weak against wind, so with the Wind Spears everyone will do a ton of damage.

[Depression Moon]

Where can I find the dragoon armor. I only recall a single weapon shop being open and it only had two spears.

[Alpha2099]

You're going to have to do the Dragon Tower to get most of the stuff. I was going to copy a section of a walkthrough to explain what to do, but it was lengthier than I remembered. However, there are one or two pieces you can get in Southwest Salonia before the Tower. Here's that paragraph (sorry about the formatting):

Southwest Salon's where it's at. Enter and go straight up.
Talk to that guy you see just across that bridge. He'll tell you to
go into the bar. Do what he says- it's a trap, but a pathetic one
so you've nothing to worry about. Some dudes seem to be making life
kinda difficult for some kid. Go to save him from future torture.
Some GoldKnights will confront you. Kick their asses. The kid's
gonna follow you around. Prince Allus (the kid you just saved) was
banished from the castle for some reason. Leave the pub and cross
the bridge left and head into the water. Go down to the unmarked
house you see, and get down to the lower left corner of the town.
Talk to the man to receive a WIND JAVELIN. Head back on up, go into
the water and make your way due east to that guy an the island.
He'll give you a DRAGON ARMOR when spoken to. It should also be
noted that there's a free Fat Chocobo for you in lower right house
here. In that room, go through the left indentation to find several
CARROTS within chests. Now leave the town.

If you want the Dragon Tower section, let me know and I will post it. I didn't want to do it here because it is kinda long.

[Depression Moon]

Thanks for letting me know about the dragon armor. I didn't have enough money to make everyone dragoons. The random damage this game does is still irking my nerves. Most of these jumps I'm doing are missing. I've been on this fight for about ten minutes now just watching continuous missed jumps. Is this dragon tower a separate dungeon?

[Alpha2099]

Yes, the Dragon Tower is a different place from where you fight Garuda. It takes a bit of time to get to the top of it, and there are lots of fake walls to go through, but if you get to the top you'll find a good stash of dragoon armor that will hopefully round out your group. It's also a good place for your newly made dragoons to gain skill levels. That should cut down on the missed jumps.