Did we ever find this out?

[DJZen]

What does Intelligence do in FF1? I hear the Bradygames guide has "detailed stat descriptions" or somesuch. Does it really have no effect? I'd think it'd do SOMETHING, otherwise why put it in the game at all?

[Bahamut2000X]

Intelligence I think is for magic effect. At least that's what it generally is. Or it could be magic resistance.

[robfinalfantasy]

I am going to assume that it affects the success rate and potency of magic spells (like in FF2). Noticed how the mages have higher intelligence than the other characters? That tells us that it has something to do with magic.

[blue_midget192]

hmm, *reads instructions* nope it dont actualy say anywhere in the manual but i presumed that it was for magic aswell (like in FF2) but hey its one of lifes unanswered questions

[Disch]

For FF1 on the NES, it does absolutly nothing... or at least... it has no known use.

- It does not affect MP gain rates (that's fixed)
- It does not affect magic strength (a level 50 BW casting Fir2 will do just as much damage as a level 1 Fighter using the Mage Staff)
- It does not affect magic resistance (there's actually a 'hidden' magic defense stat which does this... and it's unaffected by any other stat).


I don't think it affects the success rate of insta-death or status spells either... but I'm not 100% on that one.

[Garland]

It's only there to reassure you that the Black Mage is more intelligent than the fighter, in the event that you were wondering why the Fighter isn't good with magic.

[DocFrance]

I think it has to do with the range of magic spells. Every spell that does damage or heals damage has a range on it, like 16-32 HP or something. I think the higher your Int, the closer the damage will be to the maximum of that range. So a mage with 20 Int will have a much more likely chance of doing 100 damage with a Fire spell than a Fighter using the Mage Staff.

[DJZen]

I had a thought..... what if it was magic success rate? I really have a hard time imagining Square would throw it in for no reason. Especially considering the memory constraints of those days.

[black orb]

Originally posted by DocFrance
I think it has to do with the range of magic spells. Every spell that does damage or heals damage has a range on it, like 16-32 HP or something. I think the higher your Int, the closer the damage will be to the maximum of that range. So a mage with 20 Int will have a much more likely chance of doing 100 damage with a Fire spell than a Fighter using the Mage Staff.

>>> I think the same..

[Chzn8r]

Originally posted by Garland
It's only there to reassure you that the Black Mage is more intelligent than the fighter, in the event that you were wondering why the Fighter isn't good with magic.

No, I definately think this guy has got it. Right on. You hit the nail on the head.

[VashtheStampede]

And yet, Fighter got out of the web first

[FEOK]

Luck is the useless stat. Anyway, I think it affects the probobility of the spell doing it's max damage.Like if a BM casts Fire, he has a %20 [ the initial int level] of doing the max damage, 40. This is just a guess though.
Edit: oops didn't see DocFrance's post.

[VashtheStampede]

No, luck is by far one of the best stats. Combined with your speed, it determines if you can run. It also decides if you get items from enemies or not. It also is the same as accuracy. The higher it is, the less you miss. It also combines with strength and intelligence for critical hits!

[DJZen]

Vash seems like the resident stat expert. How'd ya figure all this out?

[Dark Jaguar]

Um, but enemies don't drop items in FF1... or have I had some TERRIBLE luck each and every fight I've ever had?