Quote Originally Posted by Ender View Post
a) What should I get my HP, MP, and main weapon stats to before I actually start on the game in earnest (ie go to retrieve the Mithril),
I don't think I leveled up much for the Mythril Mines. I probably had about 100-200 HP for everyone, if even that.

b) and what should I be shooting for in the above stats by the end of the game?
Depends on how you level up your characters. You don't need much HP if your defence and evade are extremely high so you never get hit, and you don't need much MP if your spell levels aren't very high. I had something like 4000 HP. On my NES game, I had about 150 MP, and on GBA, I had about 500 MP.

c) is there anywhere that a good amount of gold can be had by fighting something a step up from goblins and hornets...before I leave for the mithril?
You may want to try fighting the monsters NW of Phin. They can be quite tough, but they're good for leveling up and they drop spell books that can be sold for a lot of Gil.

d) should I just suck it up and use the Select/Cancel trick? I hate excessive cheating, but if it's the only way to not go insane later on...
The action & cancel trick doesn't work in DoS version anyway. As for other versions, it's up to you. If you use it, Maxx Power will call you spineless and weak. I think it's better to be spineless and weak than to go insane, though. Really up to you.