i just equiped cloud with ultimate weapon , ziedrich armour , ribbon and mastered counter attack (purple) , enemy skill (with big guard), 4x slash and restore ( with regen) and as many hp / mp plus's as i needed and bought as many ethers as i could (just in case). I just cast regen and big guard on while i was on the first monster and the only handicaps you really have to worry about are accessory and weapon break. Did anyone here use any items at all? (except ether) and do handicaps still give you points if you have an accessory that cancels them out or if you've had that handicapp more than once?