Messages

2206

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: ff2/4 "reference book" website - now with an address!- site's "finished"!

« on: July 31, 2008, 10:44:54 PM »

I'm a little picky on credits.. that's just me.

On the other hand, a lot of the "docs" seems to be mediocre cut+paste job of the forum posts... not that it ultimately matters (eventually, I'll end up rewriting bits and pieces for clarity's sake in newer docs).. it's not as useful as it could be I guess.

2207

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Expanding On Monster Location Topic

« on: July 31, 2008, 10:18:58 PM »

Other than the Pinkpuff relocation in FF4ET, which Dragonsbreathren pointed me in the right direction.. is there any other monster formation location changes in FF4ET? I don't think there were many at all.

2208

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: Monster Encounter Group Doc Translation

« on: July 31, 2008, 10:11:43 PM »

Recommendations:

1) List the actual monster group encounter probability at the beginning.
2) Elaborate on the location better (floor, description of location helps relative to a specific object/treasure chest is handy).
3) FF4ET doesn't follow these in it's entirety. I remember back in the old forum that discussion about "Pinkpuff" aka Flan Princesses are relocated.. to the areas where you get the Heroine Robe and the White Robe. A separate section would be useful here for distinction differences.
4) "08: 011(00B): SandWork x1"
5) Where are the credits?

I'm referencing off what was posted @ Gamefaqs.

2209

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: ff2/4 "reference book" website - now with an address!- site's "finished"!

« on: July 31, 2008, 10:05:15 PM »

This is eerily missing a credits section.

2210

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: Writing a FF2/4/4ET/A Document/FAQ

« on: July 31, 2008, 09:52:44 PM »

I guess I should be onto the next document.. I'm not sure what should be done next...

1) Update the Magic Guide to include Item Magic Info and perhaps a list of equipment that cast spells...
2) Write the Algo Guide... dealing with the physical and magic attack algo... it will have to include explainations to elemental and monster type modifiers...
3) Write the Command Guide... though some info needs to be looked into, such as how the Steal command works (really, I mean it)
4) Write up the Status Guide.. though it probably will have to attach itself to another guide, because it's not actually useful info by itself, suggestions welcome of what I should do there
5) Write up a Bug Guide... this may be tough since so many random shit has been posted here and I don't quite have the patience to resift through it...


Stuff that needs to be figured out that fits into one of more of these catagories
1) How the Steal command works
2) How the level spells like Odin and Sleep works... maybe including Weak (although, I could be wrong with that spell there).. there are probably a few other spells that apply here... I'm pretty sure that weapon/attack inflicted status effects are based on this behavior...
3) Figuring out how the armor for monster type protection actually works... my guess still primarily revolves around a 1/4 reduction in attack power, but that's it.
4) The actual order of all the checks in my physical and magical algos...

2211

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: Writing A Magic Guide

« on: July 31, 2008, 09:32:48 PM »

Ok, I've updated the guide a little more, explaining how Odin works. Some guy e-mailed me which prompted an updated version (it will be posted sometime tomorr0w on Gamefaqs). I did update the Palom/Porom/character summons section to reflect what FF4A did (though, I should actually remember to test it, but I'm quite sure that the character shown is directly linked to their position in the Tower of Prayers).

2212

Slick News / Re: Update at the trade deadline!

« on: July 31, 2008, 09:28:42 PM »

He was traded, to the LA Dodgers.

Oddly enough, when I posted that the Cubs/Brewers announced a rumor that he had been traded to the Dodgers, and not less than two minutes later ESPNews announced that it was a done deal. How's that for egg on the face?

I recommend waiting 30 minutes post deadline time for the final say. For a moment there, I didn't even think the deal would go down... freaking Marlins backed down and I thought for a moment that he was the Rays got Jason Bay...

2213

Slick News / Re: Update at the trade deadline!

« on: July 31, 2008, 07:02:05 PM »

Ok, corny joke. My apologies, but Manny Ramirez just isn't gonna get traded. *attempts to dodge pies thrown in his direction*

* Deathlike2 throws Lenophis into pie chamber.

Pies away! 

He was traded, to the LA Dodgers.

Good luck to the Dodgers, because that crappy division needs to stop sucking.

2214

Gaming Discussion / Re: FF4 - Equipment Distribution

« on: July 30, 2008, 12:54:38 PM »

I usually throw Cecil's genji helm on him once I get crystal.

I used to give Edge the Genji Helm early on, but I never gave a piece of the Genji Armor set to Cecil at all.

Ribbon - It's hard to argue over status protection in general, so this is no exception. Unfortunately, Charm status is not part of it (until FF4A, where they now make it overpowered, in addition to Berserk protection, which is lame IMO).

Yeah, the lack of confusion protection is very strange.

I chalk that up to FF5-ish status protection. Protect most stats, not all.

Masamune - Free Fast/Haste is awesome... can't argue against the usefulness of it.

Would have been far cooler if it was a multi-target haste instead of having to waste five turns to apply it to everyone though...

Well, targeting is chained to what the spell does, so bah.

I actually wonder if the Power Robe was supposed to be sold @ Baron though.. because it would be the ideal time and place to have this armor available... either that or a revised Ogre drop list...

Also, the Shadow-Iron set of weapons+armor.. if you look at how the DK equipment tables are, it seems rather intentional to me...

2215

General Discussion / Re: Gamefaqs + eternal stupidity

« on: July 29, 2008, 11:06:07 PM »

* Lenophis summons Sylph

 

*chants* Bring back Sylphs! 

2216

General Discussion / Re: Gamefaqs + eternal stupidity

« on: July 29, 2008, 10:36:34 PM »

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=929937&topic=44525287 - What part of "don't use summons" do you not get?

2217

Gaming Discussion / Re: FF4 - Equipment Distribution

« on: July 29, 2008, 10:07:21 PM »

For the final bits...

Ninja Hat - Probably the few sources of equipment that gives Agility.. well there you go. The Sleep attribute is a bonus, yet unhelpful at this stage of the game.

The Extra Stuff

Excalibur - The first sword that finally distinguishes Cecil from Kain even though Kain is stronger with Jump.

Genji Armor Set - I probably need to examine the defensive difference more on Edge, it's actually pretty crappy overall for Cecil.

The Final Battle

I'll just itemize some of the final equipment that will be come across in between, with a few other notes that I forgotten somwhere...

Ninja Robe - I don't know why they decided just now to just up his pathetic magic defense stat now, but it's great. Can't argue with the defensive properties with the armor.. though it's probably missing elemental resistances...

Murasame Katana - Casting Protect is a bonus.. and although most people may dislike this weapon.. there are some less obvious stuff that people are not considering.

1) You get more stats than you lose, the overall gain is +5.
2) The Agility loss is eventually compensated by the Ninja Robe and Masamune.
3) Wisdom is more useful to Edge, since it powers his spells, plus he's not really going to have many changes in Will Power/Spirit post level 70. However, this makes him the most suceptible to Paralysis and Sleep since those stats rely on this value to reduce the effect/duration of the status.

Flame Whip - The elemental property is the most negative point, since it is useless both Red+Blue Dragons... this is arguably the most disappointing weapon since its impact is minimal ultimately.

Dragoon Armor Set - One of the few things worth doing is not giving the entire set to Kain or Cecil.. give one away to the other (probably the Gauntlet) so they can actually benefit from both elemental and Dragon resistance. It probably benefits Cecil more since Kain can Jump...

White Robe - One may argue it's worse than the Sorceror's Robe. Sure you get a boost in defense.. but you lose a bit of magic evasion for the most part, and you can gain the Will Power/Spirit by other means... and IMO, the Heroine Robe is better overall if you want Rosa to live longer.

Crystal Armor Set - There's not much to say about it, other than the Crystal Shield is not that useful IMO and that it doesn't even cover the entire range of status resistances... so you end up trading the Crystal Helmet for a Ribbon and Protect Ring for elemental protection... or even better, use the Dragoon Shield for elemental protection in addition to the Crystal Ring, which is optimal IMO... but whatever. It's still a solid set with some hole in protection...

Heroine Robe - It's the best armor for both girls.. though more useful for Rosa, since she's always been underpowered (when you look at the stat growth potential for Rydia, it's disgusting a different)... Rydia tends to benefit less, unless you abuse the shield-Steal bug. It's arguable that the Heroine Robe is better than whatever else you can give for Rydia...

Protect Ring - This is the only way elemental protection is available for the girls and Edge. It tends to be less useful for Cecil+Kain because their Vitality growth tends to be pretty high naturally, and don't really need as much outside help.

Crystal Sword - I don't think I need to explain it, other than the Will Power/Spirit bonus tends to be the most useful attribute of the bunch...

White/Holy Spear - This weapon seems alright on the surface, but disappointing. The Holy attribute is handy, but it being a Spirit killer is a totally useless attribute.

Ribbon - It's hard to argue over status protection in general, so this is no exception. Unfortunately, Charm status is not part of it (until FF4A, where they now make it overpowered, in addition to Berserk protection, which is lame IMO).

Masamune - Free Fast/Haste is awesome... can't argue against the usefulness of it.

Other Equipment That Either Haven't Been Mentioned Yet... (Going Down The List of Forgotten Stuff)

Medusa Sword - Strangely enough, it's a nice neutral weapon that is a better han the IceBrand and Fire Swords. Too bad it's a rare drop, and may be worth someone's while if they are lucky. Unfortunately it inflicts gradual petrification, which has relatively little impact, like Poison.

Stardust Rod - I'm not a fan of the rods, and I guess if you are going rod, you want the Heroine Robe, since you want additional evasion. You lose the potential to max the magic defense, but given that you are already compensating one of the stat penalties via this method, I can't argue against this..

Lilith Rod - This weapon IMO could not possibly be that bad.. but it is. I think it helps Tellah the most, since his MP pool is rather weak, and you can't argue that. The only real negative is that the longevity of the weapon is pretty bad by design.

Life Staff - Having the power of Life1 is useless, period. If a Staff is the preference, you really should be using the Heroine Robe.. simply like the Stardust Rod, the stat gain will negate the Spirit penalty, so it's not that bad. This staff is actually more reliable than the Silence staff in producing overall damage (primarily due to hit rate).. not that the Silence Staff is worse by that much, since the anti-Mage property of that makes it more useful. Then again, the Silence Staff prevents critical hits... so take that for what it is worth.

Dragoon Spear - Luckily this isn't an ultra rare item, so it's value is actually better than the Holy Spear, despite the lower attack power. Anyone that has a brain can figure out that anti-Dragon weaponry is a good thing... do people actually notice the insane frequency of Dragons?

Gungnir Spear - This is the closest thing to the Defense Sword.. minus many different obvious attributes.

Dragon Whip - This is the only weapon that makes Rydia competitive... and arguably close if not better than Rosa (though that requires a lot of levels obviously) but the gap easily shortens up.. to the point where even Rosa's best combo barely outpaces Rydia with this weapon. That's why I'm ultimately disappointed with Rosa's offensive output late game (not just her stats).

RuneAxe - The best place to acquire is in the Giant.. since the Searcher that summons the monster that drops it makes this weapon enticing. Too bad the effort to get this weapon isn't worth it, but the EXP while you do so is great. It's an easy formation to recognize to boot (the Searcher is alone initially).

Artemis Bow - Is the rare drop worth this? I kinda doubt it. It's more like the Heroine Robe, but doesn't have the impact it could have. Additionally, it's only awesome in the FF4ET version, where it kills Dragons with ease. Probably the most disappointing ultimate weapon of the entire bunch...

Artemis Arrows - Probably the only arrow that deserves the most attention.. though requires some patience to get en masse. Oh well, at least the best option doesn't suck.

Glass Hat - The only redeeming property of the hat is high defense plus perfect evasion (though perhaps that was unintentional, but who knows). The Immune Property seems to be handled in a special way, so the benefits of a Glass Hat+Protect Ring are non-existant. Oh well.

Adamant Armor - Overpowered, but deserving due to rarity I guess...

Crystal Ring - Probably the best complementary armor for Cecil+Kain... plus the status protection set is actually complementary to the Ribbon... strongest ring of them all.

Cursed Ring - You can get it as early as Mt. Hobs, but you actually start benefit once you've reached the Tower of Zot. The purpose of the armor revolves around taking lots of elemental damage relatively frequently... so it reduces your stats so you can absorb more.. which is how the stat loss makes a lot more sense.. (which is different from the Drain weaponry, that reduces your stats because you get full healing for every point of damage).. Too bad it seems more gimmicky than anything else, and the Adamant Armor doesn't benefit (Immune has a greater priority than Absorb.. this is different in FF4A).

Power Robe - This armor is more useless than the Glass Hat.. and at least the Glass Hat has some use. It almost seems like it was designed as an afterthought.

Ok.. that's pretty much every  opinion I have on the topic. I'll  for a little bit... because my brain is operating like... 

2218

Gaming Discussion / Re: FF4 - Equipment Distribution

« on: July 29, 2008, 07:36:43 PM »

you buy all the diamond equipment?  i usually pick up a pair of the helmets, and add those to the mixed ice/flame equipment cecil and kain already have, so that they resist all 3 elements.

I end up just buying the Shield+Armor... The mixed resistance sounds nice, except when you realize that number of monsters that use them are kinda minimal. Rotating the shields tends to be a better option.. but whatever I guess.

I've already mentioned that I upgrade the dancing dagger to a chain whip here, Rydia does better damage and paralysis occurs fairly often. What I don't understand are the people who say you should never give her whips because she isn't an attacker...how much ether do these people burn through? If I had her cast magic every battle I doubt I'd make it through any of the dungeons down here without running out of MP, even the Cave of Summoned Monsters.

I don't remember burning much MP (in fact, I play the game as if I was losing MP per second, so I'm nuts that way). I'm Psych/Osmose biased though... the paralysis does make up for her offensive impact, but I kinda wished her offensive impact was better than that. Oh well... Bio's alreadys a cheap spell to use at anytime...

The diamond equipment is something I buy out of habit that I should really stop doing, just pick up the shield.

The Diamond Armor+Aegis Shield is still good.. unless that extra Black Belt is preferable...?

I have the avenger equipped on Kain from the time I get it until he leaves, then when he comes back for most of the battles. It's the best weapon in the game but most people overlook it for some reason. When I was reading the DS version walkthrough they actually said it was a "novelty weapon," then suggested using berserk on fighters during the demon wall battle...see the problem here? It may be a few points weaker than what else you'd be using (Probably the poison axe believe it or not, when it's not two-handed it's actually pretty good) but you certainly get an edge by not having to wait for Rosa to cast Berserk on him.

It's not a novelty weapon if it's the best mindless weapon ever that needs a slight attack power boost.

Nothing to add really. You didn't mention the light sword, that might be coming in the next post but I find it outclasses the defender in the sealed cave, and that's the last place I use it because of Excalibur. Part of me actually wishes it wasn't possible to get Excalibur before the Giant of Babil, so some of these weapons would last a little longer.

I actually forgot about it for a bit... the Light Sword is weaker than the Defender, unless you want to factor in the Holy elemental property... still, I don't find it dramatically better. Only one monster can be taken advantage of in the Sealed Cave.. whereas you can do better with the Mute Knife with Edge...

Light Sword - It's lasts long enough to leave virtually no impact..

Mute Knife - It's the best option for Edge, since his weapons are usually weak themselves, and the attack power isn't wasted.

Kain's elemental lances bother me. Or maybe it's the elemental swords, either way it seems like a real waste to have two nearly identical weapons for both elements. The lances are a little better with their anti-aerial element and level 2 magic. Maybe it's just the fact that Kain can equip both the swords and lances that bothers me.

Well, the lances are better in general, since like one monster resists the Air elemental. His weapons are just better.. and cheaper. I'm not sure if that's the spite Cecil or anything.

The dwarf axe is really cool, it is odd that it's not anti-aerial. I used to equip this on Cecil and throw him in the back row until I got the icebrand, of course now that I know about the back row bug I could easily leave him back there with the icebrand... It's too bad there's nothing this is really good against, it got an upgrade in the DS version so it's stronger than the ice-elemental weaponry at least, so you'd want to use it over them when not hitting a weakness.

The unfortunate tradeoff is losing the ability to dish critical hits. Cecil's ultimate sword enforces that anyways, but it doesn't have to be the case for Kain. Then again, the Silence Staff has this attribute too (so it's a second thought for Rosa)... Rydia's Whips enforce no crits at all, so go figure there.

2219

Gaming Discussion / Re: FF4 - Equipment Distribution

« on: July 29, 2008, 06:06:26 PM »

Ok, back to Tomra..

The Town With Lava is Water...

Drain Sword - I forgot about this, but this weapon is better than its counterpart, the Drain Spear. At least it doesn't share the same negative properties...

Ogre Axe - If you don't have an appreciation for the Drain weaponry, you get this. If we go by the FF4 stats, this weapon primarily is supposed to be an Ogre option, not the "Ice Weaponry Replacement" that it is in FF2 or FF4ET...

Chain Whip - It becomes a tough decision to try this weapon over the Dancing Knife, but the Dancing Knife's impact has diminished at this point...

Mute Arrows - Useless once you get the Elven Bow, but it is a good option if the Elven Bow didn't exist... Mage killing is worth it, given its distribution at this point of the game.

Diamond Armor Set - It's actually not that good, outside of the shield and the armor... the bulk of it is pretty unimpressive, especially when all of the armor pieces have lightning protection. The Diamond Ring is most beneficial on Edge, since the Tiara already covers such protection, plus it's not that much better overall defensively.. let alone the stat boosts (which they are non-existant)... I don't understand why there isn't any Mech protection.. which would've been useful later...

If You Like Areas That Abuse Statuses..

Elven Bow - These make every arrow insta-Mute Arrows. It is the best bow overall, particularly late game where you don't need Aim anymore... plus you get a free Shell...

Charm Rod - Underrated and underused... I don't know how to explain this weapon further.

Avenger Sword - Probably the best weapon if you don't need to do monster harvesting... it's a great Sealed Cave option, especially when you need to make every hit count.

Fullmoon Boomerang - This is a dramatic upgrade, up to the level of the Long Sword, with a slightly lower hit rate. Plus, "it's good to keep up with the Joneses" or whatever that quote was supposed to be.

The Three Headed Bitch and The Tidal King..

Samurai Bow/Arrow - Nothing worth speaking about, although the Bow is strong.. it's not that impressive IMO.

Defense Sword - It's hard to argue against one of the stronger weapons, plus the additional free Protect magic is always an awesome bonus.

Poison Axe - One of the more disappointing weapons that exist... the additional Poison weapon-spell doesn't excite anyone. Being 2-handed is a drag... but if you need the extra anti-Giant power, go for it.

Ninja Katana - This is a nice weapon since you have to get out of your way to obtain it.. just like the Defender.

Long Katana - It's not special, and you can't throw it.. and you eventually get a free pair of them in the end... completely useless IMO compared to the Fullmoon Boomerang.

Lunar Staff - It's unimpressive, since Dispel is unimpressive, and the Silence Staff is better.. but this weapon is overall unimpressive... just like FuSoYa too. Doesn't it feel wrong to put down shitty equipment?

Charm Arrows - It's nice, but I get the feeling it's unimpressive, yet underrated. Killing a few Giant monsters is nifty, but Charm status itself is the most unimpressive at this point in the game.. and the damage isn't too worthy of mention IMO.

Blitz Whip - Unimpactful, but I guess that's better than all other previous Whip options... the elemental property isn't useful either

Aegis Shield - This is probably the best shield in the game... if only because it provides a decent status to protect (don't want those Karys/Moon Goddesses to be that close) and provides the most magic defense of any shield (not magic evade, but it's not that bad either way). Plus, the extra Wisdom/Intelligence can't hurt magic defense.

Sorceror's Robe - Good for everyone that can use it, and strangely, it has better stats than some of the late armor you can get. Strange, but true.. Undead protection and Lightning resistance is hard to argue against... better than the Diamond Armor.

Final Equipment and End Rants To Be Addressed Later...

2220

Gaming Discussion / Re: FF4 - Equipment Distribution

« on: July 29, 2008, 04:42:58 PM »

There was this one point in time where I thought having two FireClaws was better than one. 

Anyways..

If you bothered with Eblan Castle..

Slumber Sword - It's certainly worth the gamble, since it is a gap weapon between the Fire Sword and Silver Sword. Since Sleep is primarily level based, it's success is tough to gage sometimes.. although FF4A made it pretty overpowered by design (making Sleep work 100% of the time).

Mute Arrows - You'll buy them later, but for only a small set, it's primarily non-impactful.. although it's best day is if you use it vs the Magus Sisters. It's amazing how a 4x attack power modifer shreds stuff quickly.

Drain/Blood Spear - There was a point that I used this exclusively, but stopped when I wanted reliability. I guess it's the answer for the Flans/Pudding you meet at the Tower of Bab-il (underground), but meh. Although, this is my favorite weapon vs the Mad Ogres... especially when it comes to monster harvesting. There's a lot to be said when it comes to "free healing"... though the Ogre Axe and its complement, the Blood Sword is actually more reliable.. which make shock some people.

A Lot of Trash Later and the Invisible Tower of Zot

Prisoner's Robe - I forgot about this, but the Sleep property may be worth it, but it's more or less like a Cloth that actually has some value. It's nice that you get a pair, (Is Rosa sexier in stripes? Cid probably says no.)

Charm Claw - It's got to be the most awesome, overpowered, and yet perhaps balanced weapon for Yang. The hit rate is the equivalent of fist, but Charm status is worth the bonus, even if your overall damage is lowered as a result.. you can trash Ogres and other Giants like candy. Plus, it boosts Agility, which cannot be said for any weapon up to this point in the game.

Strength Ring/Power Wrist - A common drop by Ogres is actually worth over the crappy Mythril/Silver Gloves. You're not giving up much... too bad it's still metallic.

Zeus/Giant's Gloves - Even better than the above option, and isn't metallic.. it's actually pretty damn good for gloves, until late game. The lack of magic defense is not a big deal, considering the alternatives, plus feeling overpowered is good. However, this is a rare drop and is "much easier" to obtain in the Tower of Bab-il via Cave Eblana...

Fire Armor - It is put in the most interesting spot, if only to allow you to rape yourself when you fight the FlameDog for the Fire Sword. Amusing nonetheless.

Fire Sword - Burrrrnn. Its best attribute arguably can be its worst attribute later on. Go figure.

Flame Shield - This is handy if you want to use this later for elemental protection... it's best in shield form IMO.

Poison Claw - The status effect is useless, which is the same as my opinion on Poison Arrows, which I forgot to mention earlier, but it's worth pointing out here... the major benefit is increasing the hit rate, if not allow balancing out with the Charm Claw, which has a weak hit rate. Strength boost is more of a "meh" bonus.

Poison Arrows - Dropped by the entire set of Hydra enemies (and a few Naga varients)... it's stronger for when you have it, but Poison is the most non-impactful status on a weapon that there ever was, unless used against you...

Earth Hammer - Making it Fire elemental is perfect for what you need it for.. plus a free Quake spell is insta-Flan killer (it's better than other alternatives, which includes Yang using is Build Up/Power command).

Wizard Robe - This is the only time that Tellah looks actually competant with his Cure3/Curaga (well, particularly if it is single targeted)... too bad he still sucks.

Rune Ring - If you fight a lot of those Marion guys, you may get a few of these. The longevity of this ring can extend to the Lunar Subterraine as the Diamond Ring is not really impressive. Silence protection plus some stat boost may even make Tellah look like a genius.. for two seconds. Plus, the Mage protection would be a bonus if you do a lot of monster harvesting to boot.

Silence Staff - This is one of the few weapons worth looking to acquire, given that relative to Rosa's other weapons for a time period, this is actually a good weapon (well, you will auto-abuse the back row bit right?) Plus, Silence is a handy spell (although it's cheap to cast) plus it will be better than any staff you could buy, up to a point. This is worthy of a look. At least you are given many chances of acquiring this....

Wind Spear - I wonder why it can't be thrown (I mean who's dumb idea is this?)... it's only close to the Slumber Sword, but not by much.

The Dwarves and Their Freaky Eyes

Flame Spear - Free Fire2 makes killing Dark Imps a breeze. It's not that handy overall, but I like free stuff...

Dwarf Axe - I often wonder why this doesn't have the Air elemental, especially given the weapon itself. Oh well, at least there's a nice axe throwing animation (via the Throw command) that normally gets seen in FF4ET... This weapon is underrated, but annoying at the same time. I don't like the Agility loss in addition to the Wisdom/Will/Intellgence/Spirit loss... but oh well. These are better weapons vs those FlameDogs, and particular the damned Chimera.

Darkness Arrows - As I said before, they are underrated primarily because Ice Arrows tend to be more effective at killing many of the underground's vile. This is one of the few status afficting weapons that are worth it if you want a monster's counter or spell to become far weaker... if they aren't resistant.

Wizard Hat - Undead resistance is a nice bonus.. anyone who doesn't recognize the massive undead usage is crazy. Plus, Cecil can equip this.. which is an improvement over all the previous options.

Medusa Arrows - Very powerful stuff, if you are overleveled...

Black Belt - It's an improvement over the Karate Robe (I didn't realize it until many years later) but can be used to improve Rosa's offense, though sacraficing Will Power/Spirit bonuses... though Kain+Cecil can definately benefit...

I forgot to mention...

Charm Harp - This harp is better for Edward obviously.. but for the Battle @ Fabul.. it is useless vs the General.. since he'll make his soldiers attack. The Dreamer Harp is still better for stopping the General...

Back to everything else...

CatClaw - You could probably get it early via lucky drops.. but it's a pretty damn good option for putting most monsters to Sleep.. since Yang tends to gain levels quickly, he will make short work of monsters anyways.

IceBrand - Better than the Fire Sword, but the Fire Sword may have a few uses before you really want to sell it.. elemental blades vs Chimera = poop.

Blizzard Spear - Ice2 is a nice Tofu killer.. especially in the few formations they appear in. Still sucky vs Chimera.

Ice Shield - The best attribute is protection against Reptiles.. but an even better idea is to use them in conjunction with the Fire Armor for great elemental protection (except if Cecil or Kain hit themselves, which actually can be very devastating).

Ice Armor - The shield is better.. but it's best to pair with the Fire Shield. You know, those Chimera and FlameDogs don't look so tough then (except everyone that is not named Kain or Cecil will be torched).

Bandanna - It's an improvement over the Headband, but I'd still keep the Headband for later...

Archer Bow - Another Meh.. even though the boost is nice.

After The Cannon Goes Kaboom!...

Black Robe - The weirdest armor ever when it isn't the original FF4... go figure. Ultimately I believe this was supposed to help Rydia survive Rubicante.. but eh.. it's not that helpful.

Boomerang - This weapon is perhaps worth a look. There's a number of enemies that can be exposed by it, despite it being weaker overall, but can easily expose the Back Row bug for Edge... probably one of the few underrated weapons.

Power Staff - If they kept the Berserk spell of this staff, it would've been more useful. There are very impactful consequences when Berserking enemies on hit, even though this allows Rosa to be a better fighter.. with a staff... it may not be worth that hassle. Berserk tends to be a benefical status, and people who don't realize that need to rethink the number of times they use the Fight/Attack command...

Middle Katana - If it's actual impact is to allow the Short Katana to be thrown away, that's about it.. I don't get why more of his Katana can't be thrown away. I can understand the elemental swords, but not this? Go figure.

More to come later... in a separate post starting @ Tomra.