- Emulator used: Snes9x v1.43+ Improvement 9
- Aims for fastest time
- Takes damage to save time
- Uses death as shortcut
- Heavily manipulates luck
- Abuses programming errors
Configurations:
- Battle Mode: Wait
- Battle Speed: 4
- Message Speed: 1
- Commad Set: Short
- Gauge: Off
- Cursor: Memory
The Battle Mode set to wait is because with the Battle Speed set at 4 doesn't give you much time, even with frame advance.
The Battle Mode set to 4 is because is the fastest you can go w/o making the enemies to fast for you (i.e. The Wingrapter could defend before I get my 3rd time with Faris to attack...).
Message Speed at 1 shows the text the fastest.
Command Set to Short allows me to chose any of the 4 commands in 1 frame, instead of sometimes 2.
The Gauge bar is removed because IMO looks better that way & might save lag.
The Cursor set on Memory really saves time when you are choosing something, like an item or magic.
Boss Strategies:
Here I'll mention what & why did I manipulate in each boss fight.
- Wing Raptor: I just couldn't get him to use his Fight command, that would had save some time. BTW, I equip Galuf with the BroadSword I just got, to deal more damage & be able to kill him before he gets the chance to defende. (I wasn't that familiar with luck manipulation yet)
- Karlabos: Tailscrew is faster than Fight, though he only can make it on his 2nd move. So I got his fastest attack animations. Still not very familiar with luck manipulation, so I have to use the Thief's Steal command... (this repeats several times over the curse...)
- Siren: Mute was the best option out of her 3 possible attacks on the 1st round. Cure is faster, so I use Faris to attack to manipulate her. Butz attacking w/o using Goblin Puch was faster than with it.
- Magissa: She starts with magic attacks, so I can barely survive her attack, that's why I need to heal. Don't remember if Fire was faster than lightning, though. I attack breaking an Ice Rod I found earlier.
- Galura: Whenever I attack him, he counters. However, using the whip I got from Magissa, I can paralize him.
- Liquid Flame: Fight is Faster than Flame. Then, since he always counters with Flame, it can't be helped. So I let Faris and Galuf die & use the Pot instead of items to revive them & replenish of MP too.
- Iron Claw: I have to kill someone becuase I need to learn Lv5 Doom and the boss does give me Experience. So I choose Butz, since he'll be damaged with Death Claw anyways.
- Ifrit: Flame is the only attack that didn't killed someone, so I have to get that.
- Byblos: He's the only boss in which I can get a Pre-entive attack, so he doesn't even get the chance to attack.
- Sandworm: The holes that also appear will counter with Demi. For who knows what reason, I don't get counter once, which is good, but might be able to exploit it if I knew the reason...
- Cray Claw: Again, Tailscrew is faster than Fight. Also, I had to break the rod with Galuf since Lenna & Butz where short in damage.
- Adamantoise: Since I can survive his Attack, I let him hit me once. And yes, he attacks twice the first time.
- Soul Cannon: He doesn't get the chance to attack.
- Archeoavis: For those that don't know, he has 5 forms. The 1st 4 have 1600 HP but the damage won't be carried from one to the next.
- Manticore: Same, I can survive his attack, so no need to evade.
- Titan: Lenna will die anyway, so I let Titan hit her.
- Purobolos: Gil Toss kill them all at the same time, so no one revives. In the patched run I learned here the Blue Magic Explosion, but I don't need it now.
- Abductor: I could had used Explotion here, but learning it was really slow... So instead, I make him to use Hurricane & then I kill myself. This is faster than trying to kill him with the current level...
- Gilgamesh (Dungeon): A missile takes him before he can even attack.
- Gilgamesh (Bridge): His Jump attack can't be evaded, so someone has to die.
- Tyrannosaur: I can withstand his attack.
- Abductor: Same as above.
- Dragon Pod: I don't allow him to attack.
- Gilgamesh (Ship): I think this time being attacked was faster than evading...
- Atomos: Even if it doesn't look like, I manage to avoid his attack 3 times by making him doing nothing. That's why it looks like it takes lot more time to begin the fight.
- Crystals: Their attacks where as fast as blocking them, so no need to manipulate it.
- Exdeath (Great Tree): Galufs dies with a Fenix Down because he's wearing the Bone Mail. Exdeath doesn't even get a chance to attack him.
- Exdeath: Can't take damage & Condemn is slower, so I avoid his attack. (Well, actually I think they could be revived once I stay at Tycoon Castle, but this way looks more impressive.
- Antlion: I think his Sonic Wave gets evaded by the Aegis Shield, but not sure. Well, at least it's faster than taking damage.
- Gargoyle: As usual, evaded the attacks with the Elf's Cloak.
- Mummy: Same as above.
- Melusine: I manipulate Merugene to do nothing, that's why she stands still.
- Calofisteri: Out of her 3 commands, Old was the fastest & was kind of funny as I also use Old on her.
- Apanda: He counters each time he gets hit (although he can also do nothing). Since he uses Toad, I manipulate it to hit Faris, since she can't equip a Ribbon for Halicarnass' battle.
- Catastrophe: My thiefs where faster than him, so I don't even allow him to attack once.
- Halicarnassus: She starts with Kurururu, so that's why I equiped some Ribbons & made Faris a frog. Also, with only 3% of success with Old, I could only manipulate it the way is shown on the movie.
- Twintania: I let Lenna die as he later uses Atomic Ray to kill the other 2 members.
- Exdeath: I make him do nothing. Also, I have to rely on the same luck manipulation as with Hali (attemping to run away), DarkShock only had 1% of hitting.
- Neo Exdeath: Since I use the Mix "Kiss of Blessing", Exdeath can't transform into Neo Exdeath.
Note: Names where taken from the GBA version.
FAQ:
I've decided to mention some of the most frequent question I could be asked.
- Why is the run only around 13 minutes faster than the SDA run?
- That's because in the SNES version you can't run as fast as in the PS. You have to walk a lot, so it's where I lose some time compared to the other run.
- Why do you decided to run accross the lava & not over the flowers at the North Mountain?
- This is because crossing either will make me lose a frame per square. At the Mountain, I can't get healed of Poison, so I must avoid it, but on Exdeath's Castle, changing into a Elementalist is slower.
- What is faster, evading or taking damage?
- Evading using the Elf's Cloak is faster than evading using a shield (and easier to manipulate too). Taking damage is around the same as evading with the Elf's Cloak, though it varies sometimes.
- Do you really buy something at Karnak Town?
- Yes, in fact I buy 1 Ice Rod at half price.
- How can you use Ice 3/Lightning 3 so early and not using a Black Mage?
- This is because I break some Rods & they have that effect.
- What do you do in that battle against a robot that looks just like Omega
- I fight against a Prototype. I perform the Infinite Item Glitch to get lots of money quickly.
- Is this the same thing against that Zombie Dragon?
- Yes, though this time I steal a rare item.
Improvements/Blunders:
Despite trying to avoid any mistake, I still had some minor errors that should be taken into account if someone decides to obsolete this run.
- Even better luck manipulation to reduce "lag" (Use shortest commands always to manipulate luck).
- Avoid winning dropped items that aren't needed.
- With better luck manipulation, it's possible to make Wing Raptor attack with Fight instead of Breath Wing.
- Fighting a (Killer Bee x2 + Goblin) might be faster than fighting (White Snake + Black Goblin) & (Goblin), since I ended up not using the items at the beginner's house as I think I would. Though you would need to trigger the battle quick.need to get the fight quick...
- Moving the cursor fast (as shown in the M-i-a-B fight with a Goblin) might look good, but it creates lag. So it should be avoided, unless you manipulate luck that way.
- After I receive the ship, I equip Learning to both Lenna & Galuf. I wasn't that good with luck manipulation, so I just increased the chances.
- If someone knows why 1 hole didn't countered with Demi, this could be used to avoid more counters...
- At the Quicksand Desert, with luck manipulation with enemies group encounters, I could avoid the detour I made to fight against those Sand Bears. If it isn't possible to get them quick, then Probably breaking a rod or two on Gigamesh(Bridge) battle would be possible.
- Buying less items, maybe. I would think it's faster if your inventory is reduced, though I'm not sure.
- When fighting the Rocket Launchers, learning Missile should be skipped. You can use Gill Toss to dispatch Gilgamesh with Galuf.
- With a better luck manipulation, it's barely possible to avoid letting Archeoavis attack even once. However, it highly depends on how fast is your team.
- I overlooked the fact that Lenna wasn't in the Team when I fought the Gargoyles, so only Butz could use Mix. At least I found a way to deal with it.
Thanks to:
- Boko: She started the idea of having a run for this game. Her topic made me join this forum.
- /*-: He decided to take serious Boko's thread & gathered all the strategies into 1 post. This helped finishing the strategies for latter bosses.
- Maza: He's working on making some subtitles for the movie. Also, we discussed stuff about the run & often he checked my advances.
- bmgenji: Posted some strategies on Boko's thread.
- GameFAQs FAQ authors: The Algorithm FAQ was incredible helpful. My LLG FAQ helped before I joined the site too.
- SDA page: It helped other people with some ideas before I came.
- RPGclassics page: Their maps where really helpful. Also, their ABP Monster List was useful to plan the route taken.
- Snes9x's cheat searching & watch features: I could find some helpful addresses like the Enemy's HP, Lv & Attack Gauge.
- RPGe's Patch: Since I know zero Japanese, this patch was really helpful to quickly check if I had the correct equipment & items instead of using memory addresses.
- Ebmid (from GameFAQs): Save me the trouble to test if the Ancient Sword had the same % when it uses Old as just using the Time spell.
- SilverLance(From CavesofNarshe): He explained me how does stealing works, and explained me about the random fights.
- Anyone I forgot who helped on Boko's thread.
- & everyone else that kept interest on this run, thanks.
adelikat: Congrats on having your first submission accepted for publication.