~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ F I N A L * F A N T A S Y * T A C T I C S ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ LEVEL 1 GUIDE ~~~ written by Shinmen Takezo 01 DEC 2006 Version 1.0 *********1*********2*********3*********4*********5*********6*********7**EOL This FAQ is written in notepad, and is formatted to be no more than 75 chars wide per line. The line of asterisks and integers above acts as a ruler; if 'EOL' is visible at the end of line then you will be fine. 640x480 screensize compatible. Copyright: I wrote this FAQ, with the contributions of those mentioned in the Acknowledgements section. Feel free to rip the info in this FAQ as long as you mention where you got it from. ___________________________________________________________________________ [ CONTENTS ] ___________________________________________________________________________ Introduction.........................[1] Rules................................[2] Variations.......................[2.1] Discussion.......................[2.2] Walkthrough..........................[3] Outline..........................[3.1] Build Up.........................[3.2] Story Battles....................[3.3] Summary and Analysis.................[4] Job Classes......................[4.1] Abilities........................[4.2] Strategies and Other Notes.......[4.3] Acknowledgements and References......[5] * Note: to quickly go to a section just do Find on "[n]" where n is the appropriate section number. ___________________________________________________________________________ [ INTRODUCTION ] [1] ___________________________________________________________________________ The mechanics of leveling up in RPGs generally lend themselves to the challenge of beating a game at level 1. This guide takes a look at the level 1 game in the context of Final Fantasy Tactics. Several rules variations are presented, followed by a detailed level 1 walkthrough, and finally an analysis of the functionalities of jobs and abilities at level 1. ___________________________________________________________________________ [ RULES ] [2] ___________________________________________________________________________ ____________________ [ Basic Rule ] ____________________ There is only one fundamental rule: All story battles must be completed using only level 1 player units; the units cannot exceed level 1 during the battle, and must never have exceeded level 1 in the past. Story battles are defined as any battle that must be won in order to complete the game (excluding the introductory Orbonne Monastery battle for obvious reasons). This means that under the basic rule, high-level units are allowed for random battles, and they can use Steal XP to keep other units at level 1. Also, guest units may exceed level 1. _________________________ [ Variations ][2.1] _________________________ These variations are additional restrictions that make the challenge more difficult. 1. Pure Level 1: NO units may EVER exceed level 1. Theoretically possible, but not exactly practical. 2. Gameshark Level 1: Use gameshark codes to prevent units from leveling up. 3. Fixed Party No Steal XP Level 1: This is the level 1 ruleset originally presented by DreemZ. A fixed party of Ramza and 4 units must be used, starting at Slums of Dorter. Additionally, the Steal XP ability is banned. This means that you get Ramza and 4 generics, each with only 99XP worth of actions allowed for the ENTIRE game. High level units are still allowed for random battles, it's just that they can't steal XP from the fixed party. 4. Story Line Equipment Only: only equipment obtained through story battles, stores, or main story line guests are allowed. This is mainly a further restriction to variant 3. 5. Level 1 SCC: this was introduced by Metroid Composite on the Challenge message board at gameFAQs.com. Basically, Gameshark to prevent leveling up, then play as a Straight Character Challenge. _________________________ [ Discussion ][2.2] _________________________ [Regarding Variation 2] The gamesharked level 1 challenge was first completed by CirclMastr. According to his posts, math skill was used to great effect. [Regarding the Basic Challenge] The basic level 1 challenge would play out in almost the same way. The only difference would be that there is only a finite amount of actions allowed per battle, since there is nothing artificially preventing the characters from leveling up. However, math skill should be sufficiently powerful that even a couple of actions are enough to beat any battle. Between battles, high level units would be used to steal-XP from the level one units to prepare them for the next battle. The only other difficulty would arise from consecutive story battle sequences. This can be mitigated by creating multiple level 1 units, and swapping out units that are close to leveling up between each battle. Even the final battle sequence should not be a major problem, as the majority of those are assassination battles. [Regarding Variation 1] The pure level 1 challenge is perhaps the most difficult. Powerful abilities are needed to complete the game at level 1. However, with the additional restriction that NO character may level up at ANY time, the process of gaining those abilities becomes quite difficult. The following is a theoretical strategy on how this could be accomplished. Although it is theoretically possible to put into practice, the rarity of the events means it would take a very long time to complete. >>> Getting money: 1. Find a random battle at Sweegy with only two black goblins. Use a combination of units with counter-tackle and a wizard with ice to win the battle. The battle must be won with only a single spell; the monsters' elemental weakness combined with black magic's AOE makes this possible. The counter-tackle should soften up the enemies prior to the kill. Unfortunately, getting the black-goblin-only battle does not occur very often. 2. Assuming the Black Goblins are at level 3, and you kill 2 black goblins, you should get 600 Gil for the cost of 22 exp. 3. Before the wizard maxes out her exp, buy another female unit with 190+ chemist JP. Have her be a chemist in the next battle, and perform one action on herself or an ally in order to open up the wizard job. 4. A newly purchased unit will use 10 exp to open wizard, and can win four battles (4x22exp). For 98 exp, a unit will therefore make 2400 gil. Again, this assumes two level-3 black goblins killed per action. Since a female unit only costs 1400 gil, this is a net gain. 5. Repeat steps 1 through 4 to gain money. >>> Getting a unit with Steal XP: 1. Buy a new unit. 2. The new unit needs to have 190+ squire JP AND 190+ Archer JP. Again, while this is possible, it is highly unlikely. Also, the only way to tell if the unit has 190+ Archer JP is AFTER it has opened up archer. This means it is necessary to keep a recovery save, since the amount of JP won't be known until several battles later. 3. Have the new unit use 1 action in Squire to open up Archer. Then in a different battle, use 1 action in Archer to open up thief. Do some actions as a thief, to cause spill-over thief JP to one other unit. 4. Discard the thief unit that performed actions, since it will be close to leveling up. 5. Repeat steps 1 throught 5 for more spill-over thief JP. 6. After many cycles of this, eventually the unit that is receiving all the spill-over thief JP will have be at 0 XP, and have enough JP to learn Steal XP. With Steal XP, this 0-XP thief can steal XP 4 times before needing to be discarded. Why a single unit cannot get Steal XP on its own: Suppose it has 190+ Squire JP, 190+ Archer JP, and 190+ Thief JP. This means 8 actions are needed to get Steal XP. That leaves only 20 XP. But, using Steal XP once would give 10XP + the amount stolen, the minimum of which is 10 XP. That would cause a level up. Therefore, you need to use spill-over JP to train a 0-XP thief. >>> Getting abilities: By repeatedly gaining money, and building up thieves with steal XP, you can slowly train other units. They simply perform actions in the job class they want to learn abilities in, then the thief steals their XP. Eventually the units will be able to learn all the abilities they need. Again, while the above strategy is theoretically possible, it is unlikely to the point of not being feasible at all. [Regarding Variations 3 and 4] Variation 3 was originally presented by DreemZ. Essentially, starting from Slums of Dorter, 5 units must be used for the entire game, and no other units may steal XP from them. This means that effectively you will have to rely mainly on reaction abilities to win battles. Since high-level units are still allowed in random battles, it is possible to use the high levels to abuse the hunting of equipment. To address this, variation 4 restricts equipment to story-line available gear. This means it is no longer possible to equip-hunt for better equipment in random battles. This guide focuses mainly on variations 3 and 4. The reasoning is as follows. Variations 3 and 4 are more restrictive than the rules for variation 1 and the basic challenge. Therefore the strategies developed is easily adapted to those applications. Additionally, the main difficulty of the pure level 1 game is in the learning of abilities. However, once the abilities are learned, the pure level 1 game would essentially follow the same development as variations 3 and 4. In addition, since the majority of game relies on reaction abilities, many of the strategies are also applicable to a reaction-only challenge (as created by Metroid Composite/Neo Elf Boy, and documented in the FFT Challenge FAQ by Philsov). [Regarding Variation 5] I don't have much to say about this. An entire FAQ exists on the SCC, written by MunkiBleedsGreen, and available at gameFAQs.com. I have not done a level 1 SCC yet, so there isn't much I can comment on. ___________________________________________________________________________ [ WALKTHROUGH ] [3] ___________________________________________________________________________ The following describes a walkthrough of the Final Fantasy Tactics Level 1 challenge, played using the additional restrictions from variations 3 and 4. Specifically: * Every story battle starting from Magic City Gariland was completed by level 1 units; the units have never exceeded level 1 in the past (i.e. no level-up/down trick, which defeats the whole purpose of the challenge). * Starting from Slums of Dorter, some subset of a fixed party of 5 units (one of which is Ramza) was used to win every battle in the game. * Steal XP was never used at any point in the game. * Only equipment obtained from story battles, main-story line guests, and bought from stores were used. For each battle, the suggested character setups are given, as well as enemy starting levels and a strategy for the battle. For easier battles, a general approach is provided. For more difficult battles, a step-by-step description is laid out. __________________ [ Outline ][3.1] __________________ The following is a quick outline of the strategy for the entire game. 0. Ramza is Capricorn. 1. Beat the first few battles at level 1. Ramza uses up most of his actions doing so. 2. After Sweegy, level up a couple of Cancer units in random battles. 3. Use the high level units to give spill-over JP to level 1 units. The level 1 units are all Capricorn, and consist of 3 males and 1 female. 4. Use reaction abilities to win story battles. Actions are used in the following battles: * Golgorand Execution Site (break Gafgarion's sword) * Gate of Lionel Castle (break Gafgarion's sword) * Goland Coal City (break chemists' guns) * Grog Hill (break chemists' guns) * Bervenia Free City (steal Meliadoul's Chantage) * Germinas Peak (threaten self twice) * Lost Sacred Precincts (invite chemist) 5. Before Yuguo Woods, fight plenty of random battles to save up Gil, then discard the non-level 1 units. _______________________ [ Build Up ][3.2] _______________________ The first step is to finish the battles up through Sweegy Woods, then build up your level 1 characters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[CHAPTER 1]~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The Meager" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Magic City Gariland]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before you start, the first thing you'll notice is that your initial units already start with a random amount of experience. If your units start with too much experience, you won't be able to finish even this first battle without exceeding level 1. Unfortunately, the only way to generate different starting units is to start all over from the very beginning of the game. There's not much you can do about this; just hope your units start with fairly low amounts of exp. Anywhere from 30 to 50 should be OK. Luckily, Ramza always starts with 0 exp. ----------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Lvl | -----------------------------| Male Squires x3 | 1 | Female Squire | 1 | Chemist | 1 | Delita | 1 | ----------------------------- * Unit Setup: * Ramza, 2 male squires, 1 female squire with sword, 1 chemist For this first battle, make all of your actions count. Don't let the enemy chemist heal any units; gang up and kill your targets quickly. Maximize the amount of damage you deal. Don't waste exp using dash, and don't use throw stone unless it's needed to kill an enemy. You will need to rely heavily on Ramza, since he has the most amount of actions remaining. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ Trading Up ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After Magic City Gariland, drop all of your old units. Sell your unused gear except for potions and phoenix downs; you should have enough money to buy new units. Buy 3 high brave male characters. Zodiac doesn't matter. After buying each one, check to make sure they have at least 180 Squire JP for counter tackle. If not, reset. After buying the 3 units, you should have at least 3600 gil. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Mandalia Plains]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Lvl | -----------------------------| Thief | 2 | Squires x4 | 1 | Red Panther | 1 | Delita | >=1 | Algus | 2 | ----------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Ramza & 3 males | Item, Counter Tackle | - Squires | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Delita - Squire | Item | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Again, maximize damage with your actions. Attack good compat enemies when possible. The counter tackle should help. Guests are allowed to level up, so let them deal the death blows. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ Trading Up 2 ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At this point you should have at least 4300 Gil. Buy 3 high-faith female units. After buying each one, check to make sure they have over 190 Chemist JP. Otherwise, reset. Bring one male squire, 1 male chemist, and the 3 new female units into Mandalia plains. Fight an easy battle, and use Spill over JP from the male chemist to open up wizard for the females. Since this is a random battle, it is ok for the male generics to level up. Do not perform any actions with the females. Afterwards, have the female wizards learn bolt and ice. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Sweegy Woods]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Lvl | -----------------------------| Black Goblin | 2* | Goblins x2 | 2* | Bombs x2 | 2* | Red Panther | 2* | Delita | >=1 | Algus | >=2 | ----------------------------- * Enemy unit levels based on highest unit level in player formation. In this case, the enemies will be level 2. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Ramza - squire | Item, Counter Tackle | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| 3 Females - wizards| Item | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Delita - Squire | Item | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Use black magic to kill the monsters easily. Goblins are weak to ice. The high damage and AOE of black magic should allow the wizards to win the battle at level 1 with no problems. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ Building Up Auxiliary Units ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After Sweegy, the goal is to build up some high level characters so that they can easily transfer spill-over JP to the level 1 units. First fight random battles with your existing units (NOT Ramza) to get money. Once you have enough money, buy 4 units: 2 male, 2 female, all Cancer. They should have high Brave and high Faith. These will be your high-level build-up characters. You can discard the 3 wizards and 3 squires you used in the earlier battles at this point. Level up your 4 new build-up characters in random battles until they have at least the following abilities: -------------------------------------------------- Male 1, Female 1: | --------------------------------------------------| * Punch Art (Chakra, Wave Fist, Earth Slash) | * Battle SKill (Power Break, Speed Break) | * Basic Skill (Accumulate) | * Talk Skill (Praise, Threaten, Solution) | * Speed Save | * Bladegrasp | * Monster Talk | * These two units should also have 90+ brave | -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- Male 2: | --------------------------------------------------| * Punch Art (Chakra, Wave Fist, Earth Slash) | * Battle SKill (Power Break, Speed Break) | -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- Female 2: | --------------------------------------------------| * Yin-Yang (Petrify) | * Move MP Up | -------------------------------------------------- The amount of JP gained is determined in large part by their experience level. To make it easier for the level 1 units to learn abilities, you want to maximize the amount of JP that the high-level units are spilling over. To do that, the next step is to level up the Male-1 and Female-1 units to level 99. Listed below is a strategy for quickly leveling up. Units to Use: * Male-1: Monk: Punch Art, Basic Skill, Speed Save * Female-1: Knight: Battle SKill, Basic Skill, Speed Save. Fists only, no shield. * Male-2: Monk: Punch Art, Battle SKill * Female-2: Oracle: Yin-Yang, Move MP Up Fight at Mandalia: 1. Kill all enemies but a goblin. Trap the goblin in an alley with only one opening using male-2. Power break and speed break the goblin down to 1 PA/Spd. 2. Move the units with speed save next to the trapping monk, and have him power break them to 1 PA. 3. Have the oracle petrify the trapping monk, then herself. Use Move MP Up as needed. 4. Now only the speed save units remain; they have PAs of 1. Have them punch each other to boost speed. Heal with chakra every few hits; Chakra doesn't heal much at 1 PA. 5. Once they reach speed 50, start to accumulate. Accumulate up to 99. 6. Once they reach 99, have the female knight power break the monk, while the monk continues to accumulate. Continue until both reach level 99. 7. Wavefist the goblin to end the battle. If you navigate the menus quickly, this should take about 3 hours or so. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ Building up Level-1 Team ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now buy your level-1 team units: 3 males and 1 female, high brave and low faith, all Capricorns. Take your two level-99 auxiliary units into battle with two level-1 units of the same gender. This means you'll either be brining in a pair of males or the female by herself. It's best to fight at Mandalia plains from the Igros entrance. Units: 1. Lvl 99 Monk: Gender opposite of the level 1 units. Punch Art, Talk Skill, Blade Grasp, Monster Talk 2. Lvl 99 : Basic Skill, Blade Grasp 3 and 4: Level 1 units. From Igros, you start off immediately in a little fort, with the level 99 units in front and the level 1 units in the back. The monk simply kills most enemies with punch art, then threatens the last enemy to buy time. After the last enemy is chickened, the monk can start praising and solutioning the level 1 units. Having best compat gives really good accuracy. The other level 99 unit uses accumulate to get spill over JP for the level 1 units. Listed below are the abilities that all level 1 units should learn. ------------------------------------------- Reactions | Support | Movement | -------------------------------------------| Hamedo | Defense Up | Move HP Up | Counter Flood | Defend | Teleport | Damage Split | Concentrate | | Counter | Martial Arts | | Sunken State | Attack Up | | Abandon | Maintenance | | ------------------------------------------- In addition, some of the units should learn additional abilities: ------------------------------------------------ Ramza | 3 Males | Female | ------------------------------------------------| Auto Potion | Weapon Break | Invite | MP Switch | Steal Accessory | Equip Shield | Move MP Up | Threaten | Equip Crossbow | | Move Find Item | Equip Change | ------------------------------------------------ At this point you should have Ramza, 3 Males, and 1 Female, all with 97 Brave and 3 Faith. Ramza already has most of his Exp used up. The other units have 0 Exp. All are Capricorn and level 1. ____________________________ [ Story Battles ][3.2] ____________________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Slums of Dorter]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Levels | -----------------------------------------| Knight | 4 | Archers x3 | 3, 3, 3 | Wizards x2 | 2, 3 | Delita | >=1 | Algus | >=2 | ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Ramza & 3 males | Hamedo, Defense Up, Move HP Up | - Ninjas |-------------------------------------------------| | Fists, Feather Hat, Leather Outfit, Battle Boots| ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Delita - Knight | Item | |-------------------------------------------------| | Long Sword, Escutcheon, Bronze Helmet, Linen | | Cuirass, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Algus - Squire | Item | |-------------------------------------------------| | Long Sword, Feather Hat, Leather Outfit, Battle | | Boots | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Delita and Algus will slowly advance on the roof archer and kill him. Meanwhile, rush forward, hamedo everyone but the last archer. At 3 Faith, enemy wizards attack physically. Defense up limits damage from the last archer; Move HP Up is for healing. Move back and let Delita and Algus kill the last archer. In a level 1 game you really don't have the luxury of power leveling Delita. Not that it's needed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Sand Rat Cellar]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Levels | -----------------------------------------| Knights x3 | 3, 4, 5 | Monks x2 | 3, 4 | Archer | 3 | Delita | >=1 | Algus | >=2 | ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Ramza & 3 males | Hamedo, Defense Up, Move HP Up | - Ninjas |-------------------------------------------------| | Fists, Feather Hat, Leather Outfit, Battle Boots| ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Delita - Knight | Item | |-------------------------------------------------| | Long Sword, Escutcheon, Bronze Helmet, Linen | | Cuirass, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Algus - Squire | Item | |-------------------------------------------------| | Long Sword, Feather Hat, Leather Outfit, Battle | | Boots | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rush forward, hamedo everything. Defense up and Move HP up helps to limit damage from the archer. Let Delita and algus kill the archer. I discovered one interesting trick in this battle that would be useful for later battles: by surrounding an enemy archer (who is armed with a bow), and placing a bait unit a few steps DIRECTLY behind a trapping unit, the archer will try to hit the bait unit using the arc of the bow. In doing so, the trapping unit's hamedo will go off and hit the archer. Later I found this occurs very often if the bait unit is on a lower height panel than the archer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Thieves Fort]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Levels | -----------------------------------------| Miluda | 7 | Thieves x3 | 4, 5, 6 | Priests | 5, 6 | Delita | >=1 | Algus | >=2 | ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Ramza & 3 males | Hamedo, Concentrate, Move HP Up | - Ninjas |-------------------------------------------------| | Fists, Red Hat, Leather Vest, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Delita - Knight | Item | |-------------------------------------------------| | Long Sword, Escutcheon, Bronze Helmet, Linen | | Cuirass, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Algus - Squire | Item | |-------------------------------------------------| | Long Sword, Red Hat, Leather Vest, Battle Boots | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Hamedo everything. Concentrate will bypass Miluda's and thieves' evade. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Lenalia Plateau]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Levels | -----------------------------------------| Miluda | 8 | Knights x2 | 5, 6 | Wizards x2 | 5, 6 | Time Mage | 5 | Delita | >=1 | ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| All 5 Units | Hamedo, Concentrate, Move HP Up | - Ninjas |-------------------------------------------------| | Fists, Red Hat, Leather Vest, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Delita - Knight | Item | |-------------------------------------------------| | Long Sword, Escutcheon, Bronze Helmet, Linen | | Cuirass, Battle Boots | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Again, this is a very easy battle. Just move up next to enemies, and they will die on hamedo. Concentrate once again is used to bypass enemy evade. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Windmill Shed]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Levels | -----------------------------------------| Wiegraf | 9 | Boco | 7 | Knight | 6 | Monks x 2 | 6, 7 | Delita | >=1 | ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Ramza & 3 males | Damage Split, Move HP Up | - Lancers |-------------------------------------------------| | Iron Helmet, Chain Mail, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Delita - Knight | Item | |-------------------------------------------------| | Mythril Sword, Bronze Shield, Iron Helmet, | | Chainmail, Battle Boots | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Armor is used for the high HP. Lancer isn't important; knight or even monk with equip armor works just as well. Start with the lancers on the right (toward the windmill) such that they are all on the same height. Wiegraf goes, sword skills Delita. Boco runs up and attacks Delita. Other enemies move. Move Ramza next to the lead lancer; they should all be on Height 3 in a zig-zag line. Others double wait. Delita moves, usually healing himself. [R][L][ ] [ ][L][L] <- Zig Zag line Wiegraf moves up and stasis-swords Ramza and the front lancer. Make sure no stop status occurs; 2 damage splits will go off. Boco will kill Delita. Move the lancers around to heal, but make sure 3 are in an "L" shape on height 3. Wiegraf will move and use stasis sword on all three. Hopefully stop status doesn't occur; 3 more damage splits should make him run. In this battle, luck in avoiding STOP is necessary, since the status prevents damage splits from going off. Since units are Capricorn, good compat will do 32 damage per damage split. Normal compat only does 27 damage. 5 good compat damage splits (32x5) kills wiegraf; 4 should make him run. NOTE: it's important to NOT have defense up in order to maximize damage split damage. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Fort Zeakden]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Levels | -----------------------------------------| Algus | 10 | Knights x3 | 7, 8, 8 | Wizards x2 | 8, 9 | Delita | >=1 | ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Ramza & 2 males | Hamedo, Defense Up, Move HP Up | - Ninja |-------------------------------------------------| | Red Hat, Chain Vest, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Female - Ninja | Hamedo, Equip Crossbow, Move HP Up | |-------------------------------------------------| | Night Killer, Red Hat, Chain Vest, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Delita - Knight | Item | |-------------------------------------------------| | Mythril Sword, Bronze Shield, Iron Helmet, | | Chainmail, Battle Boots | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Start with Ramza and 1 male in team 1, and the female and the other male in team 2. First, trap Algus against an edge somewhere using the 3 hand-to-hand units; the ninjas on the right side should be able to reach the left quickly thanks to their high speed and move. Defense up and Move HP Up should allow them survive against any shots from Algus. Keep the crossbow ninja away from knights for now. Then, wait for everything to die by hamedo. After everything else is dead, bring the crossbow unit into range, and let Algus die by crossbow-hamedo. It takes a while to trap Algus, so Ramza will lose 2 permanent brave. Not a big deal. NOTE: need to make sure Algus doesn't have punch art, item, or dash. Punch art and dash will hurt the trapping units, and item will prevent the crossbow unit from being able to kill Algus. About half the time he has other secondaries like elemental (no blizzard though), charge, or nothing at all. So, it shouldn't take too many resets to get a killable setup on Algus. NOTE 2: sometimes when Algus is trapped, he will NO LONGER ATTACK, even with a clear line of sight to a target. In this case, once all the other enemies are dead, just have the trapping ninjas run for cover, and let the crossbow unit duel Algus one-on-one. The other ninjas should be able to easily stay out of Algus' range. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[CHAPTER 2]~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The Manipulator and the Subservient" Make sure that Agrias has Hi-Potion; otherwise restart from the end-of- chapter 1 save. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Dorter City]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Levels | -----------------------------------------| Thieves x2 | 9, 11 | Archers x2 | 9, 10 | Wizards x2 | 9, 10 | Agrias | 10 | Gafgarion | 10 | ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Ramza & 3 males | Hamedo, Defense Up, Move HP Up | - Ninja |-------------------------------------------------| | Red Hat, Chain Vest, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Agrias - Holy | Item | Knight |-------------------------------------------------| | Mythril Sword, Mythril Shield, Gold Helmet, Gold| | Armor, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Gafgarion - Dark | Item | Knight |-------------------------------------------------| | NO Sword, Gold Shield, Iron Helmet (Save the | | cross Helm), Platemail, power wrist | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Note that Ramza only has 95 Brave at this point. Rush up and Hamedo things. Make sure Agrias gets enough JP to learn Gained JP Up. This will make it easier for Agrias to power up in Araguay. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Araguay Woods]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Levels | -----------------------------------------| Black Goblin | 13 | Goblins x5 | 8, 8, 9, 9, 10 | Agrias | >=10 | Gafgarion | >=10 | ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Only Ramza - Ninja | Auto Potion, Defense Up, Teleport | |-------------------------------------------------| | Head Gear, Mythril Vest, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Agrias - Holy | Item, Gained JP Up | Knight |-------------------------------------------------| | NO Sword, Gold Shield, Cross Helm, Gold | | Armor, Leather Mantle | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Gafgarion - Dark | None | Knight |-------------------------------------------------| | NO Sword, Mythril Shield, NO helmet or armor, | | Leather Mantle | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Save Boco of course. Ramza starts on the far right of the PBF (toward the corner where Boco hides). Then, Ramza should be able to reach Boco in the corner in 2 moves (6-tiles each). Ride Boco on Ramza's second move. The teleport is to prevent being blocked by goblins. After Ramza's second move, the black goblin will trap Ramza/Boco and spin. On the black goblin's next turn, it will spin again and then move away. Auto Potion protects against black goblin's spin punch. Now Ramza/Boco can get out of the corner and run from everything while Agrias slowly kills the goblins and gains a lot of JP in the process. NOTE: do NOT put Ramza on autobattle, even on run like a rabbit; the AI will cause Ramza to attack if an enemy is close enough. After the battle, have Agrias learn Holy Explosion and Move +1. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Zirikile Falls]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Levels | -----------------------------------------| Knights x5 | 8, 8, 9, 10, 11 | Delita | 11 | Ovelia | 5 | Agrias | >=10 | Gafgarion | >=10 | ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Ramza & 3 males | Hamedo, Concentrate, Teleport | - Ninja |-------------------------------------------------| | Head Gear, Mythril Vest, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Agrias - Holy | Item, Gained JP Up, Move +1 | Knight |-------------------------------------------------| | Mythril Sword, Gold Shield, Cross Helm, Gold | | Armor, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Gafgarion - Archer | None | |-------------------------------------------------| | None | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Teleport gets around Gafgarion on the first turn; concentrate bypasses the enemy knights' evade. Protect the princess if she's in danger; otherwise just let knights get killed by hamedo. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Zaland Fort City]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Levels | -----------------------------------------| Knights x2 | 11, 13 | Wizards x2 | 11, 12 | Archers x2 | 11, 12 | Mustadio | 10 | Agrias | >=10 | ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Ramza & 3 males | Hamedo, Defense up, Move HP Up | - Ninja |-------------------------------------------------| | Head Gear, Adaman Vest, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Agrias - Holy | Item, Gained JP Up, Move +1 | Knight |-------------------------------------------------| | Coral Sword, Gold Shield, Cross Helm, Gold | | Armor, Spike Shoes | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Don't save Mustadio. This will still give a +1 permanent brave boost for Ramza. Even if you choose to save Mustadio, Ramza cannot get more than +1 permanent brave since he already starts at 95; so saving Mustadio is pointless. In addition, at the very beginning of the battle, check and make sure that Mustadio has Seal Evil, or enough JP to learn Seal Evil. Otherwise, reset. This will be very helpful at Zigolis Swamp. Rush forward and Hamedo things. The ninjas' natural evade, defense up, and move HP up should be sufficient protection against the archers. After killing the other enemies, let Agrias kill the remaining archers. The hamedo trap I mentioned earlier can be useful here. However, Agrias will most likely kill the archers quicker. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Bariaus Hill]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Levels | -----------------------------------------| Knights x2 | 13, 14 | Summoners x2 | 11, 12 | Archers x2 | 11, 13 | Agrias | >=10 | Mustadio | >=10 | ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Ramza & 3 males | Hamedo, Defense up, Move HP Up | - Ninja |-------------------------------------------------| | Head Gear, Adaman Vest, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Agrias - Holy | Item, Gained JP Up, Move +1 | Knight |-------------------------------------------------| | Coral Sword, Gold Shield, Cross Helm, Gold | | Armor, Battle Boots | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Mustadio | Item | - Engineer |-------------------------------------------------| | Romanda Gun, Head Gear, Mythril Vest, Battle | | Boots | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rush forward, and hamedo things along the way. Make sure to stay out of Agrias' Holy Explosion path of fire, or she WILL hit the ninjas. Trap the archers, and if possible use the hamedo trap. The knights should die to hamedo relatively quickly, and hopefully Musty survives. Agrias should polish off the remaining enemies. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Zigolis Swamp]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Levels | -----------------------------------------| Bone Snatch | 14 | Skeletons x2 | 13, 14 | Ghouls x2 | 12, 13 | (Flotiball *) | 13 | (Morbol *) | 12 | (Uribo *) | 11 | Mustadio | >=10 | ----------------------------------------- * Only one of these will be present. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| All 5 units | Damage Split, Defend, Move HP Up | - Lancer |-------------------------------------------------| | Gold Shield, Gold Helmet, Gold Armor, Wizard | | Mantle | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| Mustadio | Item | - Engineer |-------------------------------------------------| | Romanda Gun, Head Gear, Mythril Vest, Battle | | Boots | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Starting Formation: [ ] [ ] [o][ ][ ] [ ] [o] [ ] o = leave open Leave tiles available on the left-side of the right portion of the PBF. This allows mustadio to go there on his first turn and attack. Otherwise, he gets clogged up on the left side and put to sleep. The undead like to use ranged attacks, which aren't countergraspable. Also, existing equipment has poor magic evade. So, use damage split instead. Lancers are used for the high HP and evade; knights are fine too. Let Mustadio petrify everything with Seal Evil. Otherwise, this will be a LONG damage split battle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~[Goug Machine City]~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------- Enemy/NPC Units | Levels | -----------------------------------------| Summoners x2 | 12, 14 | Thieves x2 | 13, 15 | Archers x2 | 14, 14 | Mustadio | 12 | ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit - Job | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 All 5 units        | Counter Flood, Maintenance, Move HP Up          |
 - Geomancer        |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Gold Shield, Green Beret, Wizard Outfit, Wizard |
                    | Mantle                                          |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Stand on carve model tiles, and hope for petrifies from counter flood. 
This battle could take a short while or a long time depending on luck with 
petrify. Maintenance is used because otherwise the thieves will be too 
busy stealing to attack, meaning they won't die. High evade combined with 
Move HP Up gives sufficient protection.

Note that using hamedo, even with ninjas, is not very effective in this 
case. The summoners' Moogles combined with any enemy units that might have 
item means that hamedo won't be able to kill enemies fast enough. It is 
much faster to get petrifies using counter flood on all 5 units. 



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Bariaus Valley]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Knights x2            | 14, 15          |
 Archers x2            | 14, 15          |
 Wizards x2            | 15, 15          |
 Agrias                | 12              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 All 5 units        | Hamedo, Defense Up, Move HP Up                  |
 - Ninjas           |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Green Beret, Wizard Outfit, Battle Boots        |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Alternate Setup:   | Counter Flood, Defend, Move HP Up               |
 All 5 Units        |-------------------------------------------------|
 - Geomancers       | Gold Shield, Green Beret, Wizard Outfit, Wizard |
                    | Mantle                                          |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Team 2 should bait the wizard and archer, and pull them toward the rear of 
the map. This is to prevent them from crossing the river and joining the 
main fight too early. Defense up and Move HP up keeps them safe; they 
might even be able to hamedo the wizard.

Team 1 should simply rush forward, and block the knights from reaching 
Agrias. Agrias should be able to kill the wizard in a few turns, while the 
knights get hit by hamedo. The archer tends to target the ninjas instead 
of Agrias. After the wizard is dead, send one ninja up to trap the archer 
at the peak. Once she is trapped, a bait ninja near the river should allow 
the trapping ninja to hamedo her. The other ninja should try to hamedo any 
remaining knights. Otherwise, Agrias needs to kill the archer.

After team 1's side is cleared out, take out any remaining enemies on 
team 2's side. Agrias will be needed to help kill the last archer.

Alternate Setup Strategy:

Here, use defend and stand on carve model/river tiles. Team 2 should still 
pull the wizard and archer away from the main fight. This setup relies on 
petrify and frog status to eliminate the enemies. NOTE: attacks by a frog 
will still trigger counter flood, which is good.

Both strategies work just as well. However, since not many enemies will be 
able to heal on average, and petrify status might not occur too often, the 
ninjas tend to be slightly quicker. 



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Golgorand Execution Site]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Gafgarion             | 17              |
 Knights x3            | 14, 15, 16      |
 Archers x2            | 15, 16          |
 Time Mages x2         | 14, 15          |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza & 2 males    | Hamedo, Concentrate, Move HP Up                 |
 - Ninjas           | The two males also have Battle Skill            |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Green Beret, Wizard Outfit, Battle Boots        |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 1 Male & 1 female  | Counter Flood, Defend, Move HP Up               |
 - Geomancers       |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Gold Shield, Green Beret, Wizard Outfit, Wizard |
                    | Mantle                                          |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE: If Gaf or a generic has elemental or punch art, reset. Also, if 
more than one or two enemies have item, might want to reset as well, since 
the battle will take a long time. 

Ninjas in team 1, geomancers in team 2. Ramza starts one step to the right 
of his default. The other ninjas are in the back row, to the left of Ramza.
In Team 2, both start on the back row. If no one is within reach of Gaf, he 
attacks team 2 instead, which is bad. If too many units are on the right
side in team 1, then the fake princess archer attacks team 1, which is bad.

Team 1:
   [ ][R][ ][ ]
[M][M][ ][ ][ ]

Team 2:
[ ][ ]
[M][F] Back row

Gaf attacks Ramza. Ramza moves two steps left, so that all the ninjas are 
in an "L" shape in the corner. The other ninjas full wait. If they try to 
break Gaf's weapon now, the princess archer will attack team 1. A full 
wait allows them to go AFTER the princess archer, but BEFORE Gaf (even if 
he gets hasted). Princess archer will attack team 2. 

Team 2 moves one step forward and defends. The other enemies go, and the 
other archer will also attack team 2. 

Now the two ninjas can go; break Gaf's sword with ONE of them, which gives 
26 EXP. You can also steal it, but break has a higher chance of success. 
After breaking Gaf's sword, princess archer will come back and attack 
team 1. Move around, dodge and heal as much as possible, while trying to 
hamedo knights and Gaf. If necessary, climb the top of the walkway, which 
should cause the archer to attack team 2 again.

Team 2 defends, and uses counter flood. The archers, one knight, and one 
time mage should be attacking team 2. Hopefully they miss often, and 
carve model petrifies them quickly. Team 2 should have sufficient space 
under the arch to move around to heal while still maintaining good evade. 

NOTE: ONLY the area under the arch (where team 2 starts) is carve model. 
The other stone looking tiles are kamataichi or local quake. 

----------------------
 EXP Update           |
----------------------|
 Ramza : <=99         |
 Male 1: 26           |
 Male 2: 0            |
 Male 3: 0            |
 Female: 0            |
----------------------



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Gate of Lionel Castle]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Gafgarion             | 18              |
 Knights x3            | 15, 15, 16      |
 Archers x2            | 15, 17          |
 Summoner              | 16              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza - Lancer     | Hamedo, Concentrate, Move HP Up                 |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Spear, Gold Shield, Cross Helm, Gold Armor,     |
                    | Battle Boots                                    |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 The male with 26   | Battle Skill, Hamedo, Concentrate, Move HP Up   |
 Exp - Ninja        |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Green Beret, Wizard Outfit, Battle Boots        |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 2 Males & 1 female | Counter Flood, Defend, Move HP Up               |
 - Geomancers       |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Gold Shield, Green Beret, Wizard Outfit, Wizard |
                    | Mantle                                          |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Gaf hits Ramza with nightsword. The ninja with battle skill teleports back, 
and must break Gaf's sword (27 EXP). Then hamedo Gaf, and carve model all 
the enemy generics with defend and counterflood. Not too bad. After this 
battle, the one male should have 53 EXP: 27 from this battle, 26 from 
Golgorand.

----------------------
 EXP Update           |
----------------------|
 Ramza : <=99         |
 Male 1: 53           |
 Male 2: 0            |
 Male 3: 0            |
 Female: 0            |
----------------------



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Inside Lionel Castle]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Quecklain             | 20              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Only Ramza - Ninja | Hamedo, Martial Arts, Teleport                  |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Head Gear, No Clothes, Defense Ring             |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

With Ramza naked, Quecklain will use physical attacks, and get hit by
hamedo in the process. Just move around a bit to force Quecklain to move
and act.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[CHAPTER 3]~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  "The Valiant"



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Goland Coal City]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Mediator              | 18              |
 Thieves x3            | 19, 20, 21      |
 Chemists x2           | 21, 21          |
 Olan                  | 18              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza & Male with  | Hamedo, Maintenance, Teleport                   |
 53 Exp - Ninja     |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Hidden Knife x2, Green Beret, Brigandine,       |
                    | N Kai Armlet                                    |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 2 Males with 0 Exp | Battle Skill, Hamedo, Maintenance, Teleport     |
 - Ninja            |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Hidden Knife x2, Green Beret, Brigandine,       |
                    | N Kai Armlet                                    |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Ninja     | Hamedo, Maintenance, Teleport                   |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Hidden Knife x2, Green Beret, Brigandine,       |
                    | Battle Boots                                    |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Maintenance is to protect against stealing, N Kai against charm. Rush 
forward and break the chemists' guns as quickly as possible using one of 
the male ninjas with weapon break. This might take a few tries due to the 
chemists always being Gemini (bad compat). Make sure to use ONE of the 
units to break BOTH guns (30 EXP x2). Both having battle skill is just to 
give a better chance of breaking the first one; after that, the same unit 
has to break the second. Send Ramza and the female up on the roof to 
protect Olan. Then Hamedo everything else. 

This battle is also possible without gaining EXP. Use Move HP Up instead
of Teleport. Move forward, hamedo things. When ninjas are shot, keep them 
away from chemists by staying on the opposite side of the building. 
Eventually, trap the chemists using the ninjas, and hopefully with the 
right combination of Galaxy Stop and Dictionary attacks Olan will kill 
them. So, it's possible to win this battle without acting. However, in 12 
tries I only won 3 times this way, and it took a long time.

The problem is Olan is an idiot. He likes to charge Galaxy Stop when it's 
guaranteed he will get hit by multiple enemies midcharge. He likes to NOT
attack trapped chemists when a single attack will kill them. He also 
likes to attack chemists when they won't die, thus guaranteeing he gets
shot.

Instead, it's MUCH easier to just use a couple of actions.

At the end, one male should have 53 XP from chapter 2, and another male 
should have 60 XP from this battle.

----------------------
 EXP Update           |
----------------------|
 Ramza : <=99         |
 Male 1: 53           |
 Male 2: 60           |
 Male 3: 0            |
 Female: 0            |
----------------------



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Back Gate of Lesalia Castle]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Zalmo                 | 24              |
 Knights x3            | 22, 22, 20      |
 Monks x2              | 21, 21          |
 Alma                  | 3               |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza & 3 males    | Hamedo, Concentrate, Move HP Up                 |
 - Ninja            |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Fists, Twist Headband, Brigandine,              |
                    | Diamond Armlet                                  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Ninja     | Hamedo, Concentrate, Move HP Up                 |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Hidden Knife x2, Twist Headband, Brigandine,    |
                    | Diamond Armlet                                  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Walk up and hamedo things along the way. Eventually surround Zalmo and 
hamedo him. As long as the monks don't use their punch arts too often 
there shouldn't be a problem. 

After this battle, you get to strip the Barette from Alma.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Underground Book Storage Second Floor]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Lancers x3            | 24, 25, 25      |
 Time Mages x2         | 22, 23          |
 Chemist               | 24              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 All 5 units        | Hamedo, Concentrate, Move HP Up                 |
 - Lancer           |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Mythril Spear, Flame Shield, Diamond Helm,      |
                    | Diamond Armor, Diamond Armlet                   |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

This is another straight forward battle. Hopefully the lancers don't jump, 
and the chemist doesn't have Phoenix Down or X-potion. Luckily, they
don't very often. Aside from that detail, just walk around and hamedo 
everything.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Underground Book Storage Third Floor]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Izlude                | 26              |
 Archers x2            | 21, 23          |
 Knights x2            | 23, 24          |
 Summoner              | 22              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza & 3 males    | Hamedo, Concentrate, Move HP Up                 |
 - Ninja            |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Fists, Twist Headband, Judo Outfit, Diamond     |
                    | Armlet                                          |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Ninja     | Hamedo, Concentrate, Move HP Up                 |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Hidden Knife x2, Twist Headband, Judo Outfit,   |
                    | Diamond Armlet                                  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Have all the units hop over the book shelves and rush Izlude. As long as 
you keep your units close to Izlude, he will tend to attack physically 
rather than jump. Two hamedos activated against him should be enough to 
win.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Underground Book Storage First Floor]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Wiegraf               | 27              |
 Archers x2            | 21, 23          |
 Knights x2            | 24, 24          |
 Wizard                | 22              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 All 5 units        | Damage Split, Move HP Up                        |
 - Lancer           |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Flame Shield, Diamond Helm, Diamond Armor, Elf  |
                    | Mantle                                          |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Starting formation:

[ ]   [ ]
[M][R][M]
[ ][M][F]

Wiegraf walks up and uses stasis sword, centered on Ramza. Make sure no 
one gets stopped; otherwise, reset. Damage split should do 4x66 damage to 
Wiegraf due to good compat. Enemies move; hopefully no one heals Wiegraf, 
and any arrows miss. 

Now, move the female (who is undamaged) and one male within range of 
Wiegraf, and put them next to each other on tiles of the same height. Have 
the other lancers move to the sides and spread out. The reason is because 
Wiegraf sometimes uses Lightning stab for his second attack; damaged units 
won't be able to survive even after move HP up. 

So, now Wiegraf will stasis sword or lightning stab the male-and-female 
pair. As long as one more damage split goes off (66 damage for stasis
sword, 77 damage for lightning stab), Wiegraf should be dead. He usually 
has less than 330 HP.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Grog Hill]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Chemists x2           | 26, 27          |
 Squires x2            | 25, 27          |
 Thief                 | 26              |
 Archer                | 26              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza - Ninja      | Hamedo, Defense Up, Move HP Up                  |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Fists, Twist Headband, Power Sleeves, N-Kai     |
                    | Armlet                                          |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 2 Males with 53    | Battle Skill, Hamedo, Martial Arts, Move HP Up  |
 and 60 Exp - Ninja |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Fists, Twist Headband, Power Sleeves, N-Kai     |
                    | Armlet                                          |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 1 Male with 0 Exp  | Hamedo, Martial Arts, Move HP Up                |
 - Ninja            |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Fists, Twist Headband, Power Sleeves, N-Kai     |
                    | Armlet                                          |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Ninja     | Hamedo, Equip Crossbow, Move HP Up              |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Hunting Bow, Black Hood, Power Sleeve, Germinas |
                    | Boots                                           |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

N-Kai to protect against charm. Stealing won't be much of a problem;
the single thief tends to attack physically. High PA combined with 
Martial Art ninjas means most enemies will get OHKO (one-hit KO) by
Hamedo. 

Starting formation: Ramza in the middle (he starts in the center no matter
what), two ninjas against the left edge, and two ninjas against the right
edge. Ramza will get shot; this is why he has defense up. No other enemies 
will attack. Have everyone spread out and hug the bottom walls. This 
provides cover against guns. Heal by moving side to side behind the wall. 
Often times the archer has a crossbow instead of a bow, meaning he won't
be attacking. 

Eventually the enemies will walk down. Be patient; let them get real 
close. Run up, break the chemists' guns, using BOTH ninjas: one ninja per 
gun. After this, the two males should have 88 and 96 XP or 89 and 95 XP, 
depending on who broke which chemist's weapon. Obviously reset if the 
chemists have maintenance.

After that, hamedo everything, trap the archer, and use crossbow hamedo to 
kill the archer. It helps if the chemists don't have Phoenix Down.

----------------------
 EXP Update           |
----------------------|
 Ramza : <=99         |
 Male 1: 88 or 89     |
 Male 2: 96 or 95     |
 Male 3: 0            |
 Female: 0            |
----------------------



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Yardow Fort City]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Malak                 | 23              |
 Ninjas x3             | 24, 25, 26      |
 Summoners x2          | 27, 28          |
 Rafa                  | 23              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza & 3 males    | Hamedo, Defense Up, Move HP Up                  |
 - Ninja            |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Short Edge x2, Green Beret, Power Sleeves,      |
                    | Germinas Boots                                  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Ninja     | Sunken State, Equip Shield, Move HP Up          |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Diamond Shield, Green Beret, Power Sleeves, Elf |
                    | Mantle                                          |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Starting Formation:

	   [M][R]
	   [M]
	[F][M][ ]
	[ ]   [ ]
	[ ][ ][ ]

After Rafa runs back, the female unit should clog the door way. With her
high evade it is easy to turn invisible and not get hurt too bad. This
prevents the enemy ninjas from running outside the fort and attacking
Rafa. Have Ramza and the 3 males climb the wall and hamedo everything. 
Try to surround Malak early on and hamedo him; remember that everyone has 
3 faith, so Malak's spells will hurt more than usual.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Saving up Money and Saying Goodbye ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before you wander off into Yuguo Woods, take the time to fight random
battles with your high-level support characters. Make enough money to buy
all the needed equipment currently available. On top of that, save up 
money for chapter 4 as well. 1 million gil should be more than enough. At
high levels, it shouldn't take too long to build up a lot of money. After
you have all the equipment and money you'll need, discard all the extra
units; from this point on, you will only use the five level-1 units. 

The main reason for discarding the high-level support units at this point
is that the monsters at Yuguo Woods have levels equal to the highest level 
in your formation. Fighting evel 23 monsters (since Rafa is level 23) is 
bad enough; fighting three level 99 monsters will be much more difficult.
Besides, once you have enough money for chapter 4, there is no purpose to
having the high-level units anyway. So, say goodbye; don't let their
departure quotes dissuade you from doing what must be done.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Yuguo Woods]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Wizards x2            | 27, 28          |
 Time Mages x2         | 27, 28          |
 Ghoul, Gust, Revnant  | 21-23*          |
 Rafa                  | >=23            |
-----------------------------------------

 * Enemy unit levels based on highest unit level in player formation.
   These values are based on the assumption that Rafa is still level 23.

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 All 5 Units        | Counter Flood, Defend, Move HP Up               |
 - Geomancer        |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Diamond Shield, Golden Hairpin, Power Sleeves,  |
                    | Dracula Mantle                                  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Rafa - Knight      | Item                                            |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Platinum Sword, Aegis Shield, Circlet, White    |
                    | Robe, Dracula Mantle                            |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

This stage has lots of carve model tiles. Have the geomancers stand on 
those and defend, with their backs against the edge. They should be nearly 
untouchable, even against throw spirit. Note that throw spirit triggers
counter flood, but drain touch does not. Just defend and let counter flood
do the work; eventually counterflood damage and petrifies will wipe out the
undead. If the revnant insists on using drain touch, leave it for last,
then move slightly out of range to force it to use throw spirit.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Gate of Riovanes Castle]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Malak                 | 24              |
 Archers x3            | 27, 28, 29      |
 Knights x3            | 27, 28, 29      |
 Rafa                  | >=23            |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 All 5 Units        | Counter Flood, Defend, Move HP Up               |
 - Geomancer        |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Diamond Shield, Golden Hairpin, Power Sleeves,  |
                    | Dracula Mantle                                  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Rafa - Heaven      | None                                            |
        Knight      |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | None                                            |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Use the same strategy as Yuguo. Sit on the carve model tiles, defend and
let counter flood petrify the enemies.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Inside Riovanes Castle]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Wiegraf               | 28              |
 Velius                | 31              |
 Archaic Demons x3     | 27, 28, 29      |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza - Squire     | Hamedo, Concentrate, Move HP Up                 |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Platinum Sword, Diamond Shield, Circlet,        |
                    | Chameleon Robe, Bracer                          |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 3 Males - Ninja    | Hamedo, Martial Arts, Move HP Up                |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Fists, Twist Headband, Power Sleeves, Bracer    |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Note that the strategy for the Wiegraf portion of the fight is adapted 
from a strategy that was posted on Youtube as a video clip. The video was
created by "un
-----------------------------------------|
 Ninja                 | 38              |
 Thieves x2            | 36, 37          |
 Archers x3            | 35, 36, 37      |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza & 2 males    | Hamedo, Defend, Move HP Up                      |
 with 80+ Exp       |-------------------------------------------------|
 - Geomancer        | Rune Blade, Crystal Shield, Twist Headband,     |
                    | Power Sleeves, Feather Mantle                   |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Male with 44 Exp   | Talk Skill, Abandon, Defend, Move-Find Item     |
 - Knight           |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Excalibur, Crystal Shield, Crystal Helm,        |
                    | Reflect Mail, Feather Mantle                    |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Mediator  | Hamedo, Maintenance, Teleport                   |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Mythril Gun, Barette, NO Clothes, Chantage      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Start with Ramza, one geomancer, and the knight in team 1. The female and 
the remaining geomancer are in team 2.

The knight should threaten himself twice (+20 EXP total), down to 56 
brave. Quickly get the vanish mantle; if you get ether instead, reset. 
After that, have the geomancers hamedo the thieves and the ninja, while 
using defend against the archers. They should be targeting the female 
anyway, who will gun-hamedo them. Hopefully the archers don't use any 
healing abilities too often. The terrain allows many opportunities to
use the hamedo-trap on the archers, which allows for more damage to be
dealt quickly.

The knight unit should have 87 permanent brave and 64 EXP after this 
battle.

----------------------
 EXP Update           |
----------------------|
 Ramza : <=99         |
 Male 1: 88 or 89     |
 Male 2: 96 or 95     |
 Male 3: 64           |
 Female: 0            |
----------------------



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Poeskas Lake]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Revnants x2           | 1*, 6*          |
 Archers x2            | 37, 37          |
 Oracle                | 38              |
 Summoner              | 36              |
-----------------------------------------
 * Enemy unit levels based on highest unit level in player formation.
   Note that one of the Revnants is level 6, even though the maximum
   unit in the player's formation is 1.

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 All 5 units        | Damage Split, Defend, Move HP Up                |
 - Geomancer        |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Crystal Shield, Flash Hat, Black Costume,       |
                    | Feather Mantle                                  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Damage split works the best here. Between the oracle's stick, the archers,
and the revnants' drain touch, hamedo doesn't work well. Also, counter 
flood doesn't do much damage, and there are no carve model tiles.

Move forward, defend and damage split enemies. Defend and move around to 
heal. The low level revnant should OHKO himself if he drain touches. The 
other one won't die immediately; after one drain touch, stay out of range 
to force him to use throw spirit. Clogging the "pier" with player units 
works well for this purpose. This is a drawn out battle, but not difficult.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Gate of Limberry Castle]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Celia                 | 38              |
 Lede                  | 37              |
 Apandas x4            | 1*, 1*, 1*, 1*  |
-----------------------------------------
 * Enemy unit levels based on highest unit level in player formation.

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza - Squire     | MP Switch, Move MP Up                           |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Vanish Mantle                                   |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Ninja     | Hamedo, Attack Up, Teleport                     |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Spell Edge x2, Barette, Power Sleeves, Chantage |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Simple battle. Since Ramza starts off transparent, just follow the 
assassins around and use hamedo.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Inside Limberry Castle]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Elmdor                | 41              |
 Celia                 | 39              |
 Lede                  | 38              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 All 5 Units        | Damage Split, Move HP Up                        |
 - Lancer           |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Crystal Shield, Crystal Helmet, Reflect Mail,   |
                    | N-Kai                                           |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Formation: setup in the traditional hollow cross formation.

   [F]
[R][ ][M][M]
   [M]

Elmdor will teleport to the space in the middle and muramasa for 162 
damage. 5 damage splits should go off, doing 5x81 damage. The assassins 
will move up and stop 2 lancers. Everyone wait in place. Elmdor will go 
again, and muramasa. 2 more damage splits should kill Elmdor (7 total).



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Underground Cemetery of Limberry Castle]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Zalera                | 44              |
 Knights x2            | 1*, 1*          |
 Skeleton, Bone Snatch,|                 |
     Living Bone       | 1*, 1*, 1*      |
-----------------------------------------
 * Enemy unit levels based on highest unit level in player formation.

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza - Squire     | MP Switch, Move MP Up                           |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Vanish Mantle                                   |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Ninja     | Hamedo, Maintenance, Teleport                   |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Spell Edge x2, Barette, Power Sleeves, Chantage |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Have Ramza stay out of the way, and follow Zalera around using the female 
unit. Zalera will eventually die from Hamedo.

Accept Meliadoul and strip her of equipment.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Inside of Igros Castle]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Dycedarg              | 43              |
 Adramelk              | 46              |
 Knights x5            | 37,37,38,38,39  |
 Zalbag                | 42              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza - Squire     | MP Switch, Teleport                             |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Thief Hat, Vanish Mantle                        |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 1 Male - Geomancer | Sunken State, Defend, Teleport                  |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Crystal Shield, Thief Hat, Chameleon Robe,      |
                    | Feather Mantle                                  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Knight    | Hamedo, Maintenance, Teleport                   |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Excalibur, Crystal Shield, Barette, Chameleon   |
                    | Robe, Chantage                                  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Dycedarg should attack Zalbag instead of your units thanks to the 
Chameleon robes. Have the lancer defend, then attack him but MISS using 
the female. This triggers sunken state without causing the female to gain 
any Exp. Then, use the two invisible units to separate Dycedarg and the 
knights by blocking off the 2-tile-wide walkway. All the knights should be 
on one side, and Dycedarg on the other; it doesn't matter which. This is 
because the knights tend to heal Dycedarg, and generally make it difficult 
for the female to kill Dycedarg. 

After Dycedarg is singled out, the female just stays close and lets 
Dycedarg activate hamedo. Once Adramelk appears, do the same thing; move
around a bit and let Adramelk get hamedo. It will take a while, since even
with an Excalibur the female unit won't be doing much damage.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[St. Murond Temple]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Priest                | 40              |
 Summoner              | 39              |
 Geomancers x2         | 39, 40          |
 Mediators x2          | 38, 39          |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza & 3 males    | Counter Flood, Defense Up, Move HP Up           |
 - Geomancer        |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Rune Blade, Crystal Shield, Thief Hat, Black    |
                    | Costume, Feather Mantle                         |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Mediator  | Hamedo, Maintenance, Teleport                   |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Mythril Gun, Barette, Black Costume, Chantage   |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Start with Ramza and 2 geomancers in team 1. The female and the remaining
geomancer start in team 2.

Team 1 should stand on carve model tiles and petrify the enemy geomancers
and summoner using defend + counter flood. The enemy mediators should be 
busy targeting the female, and getting gun-hamedo. Hopefully the priest 
doesn't heal too much, and misses his raise spells. Petrify or kill the 
priest with counter flood. Depending on how often he uses magic, you may 
have to wait for him to run out of MP.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Hall of St. Murond Temple]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Kletian               | 44              |
 Vormav                | 46              |
 Rofel                 | 45              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 All 5 units - ninja| Hamedo, Maintenance, Move HP Up                 |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Spell Edge x2. Twist Headband, Power Sleeves,   |
                    | Bracer                                          |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Maintenance protects against Mighty Sword. Just walk around and let hamedo 
activate. 



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Chapel of St. Murond Temple]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Zalbag                | 47              |
 Archaic Demons x2     | 1*, 1*          |
 Ultima Demon          | 1*              |
-----------------------------------------
 * Enemy unit levels based on highest unit level in player formation.

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza - Squire     | MP Switch, Move MP Up                           |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Excalibur, Thief Hat, Vanish Mantle             |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 1 Male - Lancer    | Damage Split, Defend, Move HP Up                |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Crystal Shield, Crystal Helm, Reflect Mail,     |
                    | Feather Mantle                                  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Ninja     | Hamedo, Concentrate, Teleport                   |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Spell Edge x2, Barette, Power Sleeve, Chantage  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Due to Zalbag's move HP up, you need to trap him to kill him. But, with 
the demons alive and using magic, the female by herself won't be able to
stay alive for long. So, first use the male's damage split to kill the 
demons, since they generally refuse to attack physically. Remember to keep 
the lancer on bloodsuck-proof panels. Then, trap Zalbag in a corner with 
the female and invisible Ramza, and let him activate hamedo.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Underground Book Storage Fourth Floor]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Knights x3            | 48, 49, 49      |
 Monks x2              | 50, 51          |
 Archer                | 48              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza - Squire     | MP Switch, Move MP Up                           |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Vanish Mantle                                   |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Knight    | Counter Flood, Defend, Teleport                 |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Save the Queen, Crystal Shield, Crystal Helm,   |
                    | Reflect Mail, Chantage                          |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Have the female stand on the handful of carve model tiles in this stage, 
and use Defend with her back to a wall. Wait for counterflood to petrify
everything. Reset if enemies refuse to attack physically, or if too many 
units can cancel petrify. This may take a while, but it is easy.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Underground Book Storage Fifth Floor]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Rofel                 | 54              |
 Wizards x2            | 50, 52          |
 Summoners x2          | 50, 52          |
 Time Mage             | 52              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza - Squire     | MP Switch, Move MP Up                           |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Vanish Mantle                                   |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Ninja     | Hamedo, Maintenance, Teleport                   |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Spell Edge x2, Barette, Power Sleeve, Chantage  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Maintenance protects against Rofel's Mighty Sword skills. Just walk around
and let hamedo kill everything.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Murond Death City]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Kletian               | 54              |
 Ninja x2              | 51, 53          |
 Samurai x2            | 52, 53          |
 Time Mage x2          | 51, 52          |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza - Squire     | MP Switch, Move MP Up                           |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Vanish Mantle                                   |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Ninja     | Hamedo, Concentrate, Teleport                   |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Spell Edge x2, Twist Headband, Power Sleeves,   |
                    | Chantage                                        |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow Kletian around and let him activate hamedo. His support units will
likely die from hamedo relatively quickly as well.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Lost Sacred Precincts]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Balk                  | 55              |
 Chemist               | 49              |
 Hyudra                | 48              |
 Hydra                 | 47              |
 Tiamat                | 50              |
 Behemoth              | 51              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza - Ninja      | MP Switch, Teleport                             |
 - Geomancer        |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Thief Hat, Vanish Mantle                        |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 3 males - Geomancer| Sunken State, Defend, Teleport                  |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Fists, Crystal Shield, Thief Hat, Black Costume,|
                    | Feather Mantle                                  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Mediator  | Hamedo, Equip Change, Teleport                  |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Fists (Mythril Gun), Thief Hat, Black Costume,  | 
                    | Chantage                                        |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Start with Ramza and 2 males in team 1, and the female and remaining male
in team 2. Both teams should start in the back row. After getting shot for 
negligible damage, have one male defend and the other male punch and MISS 
to activate sunken state. The punching male (still visible) should move to 
the back corner. 

In team 2, have the male defend and the female punch and MISS to activate 
sunken state. The female should move toward the visible male, but stay 
away from invisible units. 

The visible units will get shot some more, and the female will likely get 
fried by the hydra's triple flame. Hopefully it doesn't hit any invisible 
units. Next turn, have the remaining visible male defend, and have the 
female punch and MISS to activate sunken state. Make sure they are on 
different height panels, so the invisible unit doesn't get fried by triple 
flame. 

After that, the female should equip change to a mythril gun. First, invite 
the Chemist so that he can't heal Balk (58 Exp). Then, trap Balk with the 
invisible units, and gun-hamedo him. The best spot is to trap Balk on the 
bridge. Then the female unit can stand on one of the ledges, and not worry 
about monsters blocking line of sight, since there is a big gap of open
space.

The female will get killed very often, but since Balk is faster than the 
monsters, he will get hamedoed every once in a while between the female's 
revivals. Eventually he will die.

It's possible to try to trick the monsters into attacking each other. For 
example, by standing on a tile diagonal from a behemoth, the hyudra's 
physical would hit both the female and the behemoth. The behemoth's 
counter will kill the hyudra. Generally though, it won't be possible to 
kill many monsters this way; the main strategy is to wait for Balk to 
hamedo himself to death.

----------------------
 EXP Update           |
----------------------|
 Ramza : <=99         |
 Male 1: 88 or 89     |
 Male 2: 96 or 95     |
 Male 3: 64           |
 Female: 58           |
----------------------



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Graveyard of Airships]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Hashmalum             | 59              |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza - Squire     | MP Switch, Move MP Up                           |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Vanish Mantle                                   |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Ninja     | Hamedo, Attack Up, Teleport                     |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Spell Edge x2, Twist Headband, Black Costume,   |
                    | Chantage                                        |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hamedo. Simple.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~[Graveyard of Airships]~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------------------
 Enemy/NPC Units       | Levels          |
-----------------------------------------|
 Altima I              | 56              |
 St. Ajora             | 66              |
 Ultima Demons x4      | 30, 33, 36, 39  |
-----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Unit - Job         | 2RSM Abilities / Equipment                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Ramza - Squire     | MP Switch, Move MP Up                           |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Vanish Mantle                                   |
----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Female - Ninja     | Hamedo, Attack Up, Teleport                     |
                    |-------------------------------------------------|
                    | Spell Edge x2, Barette, Power Sleeves, Chantage |
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Altima will usually attack physically, so let hamedo do its job. The 
demons will quickly kill the female. Often, they will cast nanoflare on 
the dead female just before she revives; in that case, try to redirect on 
any available targets. If Altima casts grand-cross, hope that it doesn't 
inflict frog; the Barette should protect against most of the other 
dangerous statuses. Eventually the hamedos will kill form 1. Hopefully the
spell edges don't inflict Don't Act on Altima too often.

Form 2 is the exact same thing. Move around in between attacks to 
force Ajora to follow you; he will attack physically most of the time, so
just let Hamedo do the damage. He will occasionally use Grand Cross. If he 
uses All-Ultima, try to redirect. Eventually he will go down to Hamedo as 
well.

-------------------------
 Final EXP (All Level 1) |
-------------------------|
 Ramza : <=99            |
 Male 1: 88 or 89        |
 Male 2: 96 or 95        |
 Male 3: 64              |
 Female: 58              |
-------------------------





___________________________________________________________________________

 [ SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS ] [4]
___________________________________________________________________________

__________________________

   [ Job Classes ][4.1]
__________________________

A table showing the stats of all jobs for generic units at level 1 is 
given below. These values were generated by a chunk of C code I wrote, 
using raw values described in the Battle Mechanics Guide. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
            |   Male                      ||   Female                    |
------------|-----------------------------||-----------------------------|
 JOB        |Spd|  HP   |  MP   | PA | MA ||Spd|  HP   |  MP   | PA | MA |
------------|---|-------|-------|----|----||---|-------|-------|----|----|
 Squire     | 6 | 30-31 | 10-11 | 4  | 3  || 6 | 28-29 |  11   | 3  | 4  |
 Chemist    | 6 | 24-25 | 10-11 | 3  | 3  || 6 | 22-23 |  11   | 3  | 4  |
 Knight     | 6 | 36-38 |  11   | 6  | 3  || 6 | 33-35 |  12   | 4  | 4  |
 Archer     | 6 | 30-31 |  9    | 5  | 3  || 6 | 28-29 | 9-10  | 4  | 4  |
 Monk       | 6 | 40-43 |  11   | 6  | 3  || 6 | 37-40 |  12   | 5  | 4  |
 Priest     | 6 | 24-25 | 16-17 | 4  | 4  || 6 | 22-23 | 18-19 | 3  | 5  |
 Wizard     | 6 | 22-23 | 16-17 | 3  | 6  || 6 | 21-22 | 18-19 | 2  | 7  |
 Time Mage  | 6 | 22-23 | 16-17 | 2  | 5  || 6 | 21-22 | 18-19 | 2  | 6  |
 Summoner   | 5 | 21-22 | 17-18 | 2  | 5  || 5 | 19-20 | 18-19 | 2  | 6  |
 Thief      | 6 | 27-28 |  7    | 5  | 2  || 6 | 25-26 |  7    | 4  | 3  |
 Mediator   | 6 | 24-25 | 9-10  | 3  | 3  || 6 | 22-23 | 10-11 | 3  | 3  |
 Oracle     | 6 | 22-23 | 15-16 | 2  | 4  || 6 | 21-22 | 16-17 | 2  | 6  |
 Geomancer  | 6 | 33-35 | 13-14 | 5  | 4  || 6 | 30-32 | 14-15 | 4  | 5  |
 Lancer     | 6 | 36-38 |  7    | 6  | 2  || 6 | 33-35 |  7    | 4  | 2  |
 Samurai    | 6 | 22-23 |  13   | 6  | 3  || 6 | 21-22 |  14   | 5  | 4  |
 Ninja      | 7 | 21-22 |  7    | 6  | 3  || 7 | 19-20 |  7    | 4  | 3  |
 Calculator | 3 | 19-20 |  11   | 2  | 2  || 3 | 18-19 |  12   | 2  | 3  |
 Bard       | 6 | 16-17 |  7    | 1  | 4  || . . . Not Applicable . . .  |
 Dancer     | . . . Not Applicable . . .  || 6 | 16-17 |  7    | 4  | 4  |
 Mime       | 7 | 42-44 |  7    | 6  | 4  || 7 | 39-41 |  7    | 4  | 5  |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The most-used jobs in the walkthrough section are ninja and geomancer. 
Other jobs are used a few times each: lancer, knight, mediator, and
Ramza's Squire job.

The ninja, with its high speed, movement, PA, and innate two-swords, makes 
the perfect offensive unit. Counting equipment, the ninja easily has the
highest overall speed of any job, which allows it to move before high-
level enemies as late as chapter 3 and 4 (e.g. Rooftop of Riovanes Castle,
and Church Outside of Town). Its only disadvantage is its low HP; but, at
level 1 a unit's natural HP is such a small portion of its overall HP that
this is really not an issue. 

The geomancer is the other heavily-used job. Its ability to equip shields
makes it an incredibly evasive unit later on in the game, when good 
shields and mantles become available. Furthermore, its movement of 4,
versatility in equipment choices, and well-rounded stats means it is 
mobile and survivable. While not as offensively devastating as the ninja,
the geomancer shines in more defensive battles.

The lancer and knight are the heavy units, used primarily when a high 
amount of HP is necessary. The purpose of high HP is mainly to allow for
high-damage damage splits. In addition, the lancer's ability to innately
equip spears makes it useful for hamedo-ing enemy lancers. Late in the 
game, the knight's ability to use knight swords comes in handy for a 
couple of battles. However, knight swords are never really necessary, and
are really more of a convenience. 

The mediator job is used rarely. Its main purpose is to provide anti-range
support using a combination of gun-hamedo and low-HP setup. Chemist can
be used as well; it really comes down to personal preference regarding the
sprites. While mediator has the advantage of being able to equip robes, 
this ability isn't really taken advantage of.

Ramza's Squire class is used near the end of the game. It is essentially
a combination of geomancer and knight, and is a very powerful job. However,
it's not necessary at all for the level 1 game. The only time I used it was
when Ramza was wearing the vanish mantle, meaning he was essentially 
sitting out anyway. I simply set his job to Squire because that is his 
"default" job. He could have been any other job and it would not have
mattered.



________________________

   [ Abilities ][4.2]
________________________

[Offense]

There is no contest when it comes to offense: Hamedo is easily the king
of battle. Well, story battles anyway. It easily defeats most hand-to-hand
opponents including Lucavi, especially when combined with two-swords. It 
is also effective against archers and enemy gunners when used with a gun. 
In addition, Martial Arts, Concentrate, and Attack Up all help to boost 
the effectivness of hamedo.

However, hamedo has a few draw backs. First, there are several special 
attacks, not to mention all monster attacks, that don't trigger it. Second,
for battles where hand-to-hand and ranged enemy units are grouped together,
hamedo tends to be overwhelmed by out-of-range enemy attacks (archers
hitting hand-to-hand hamedo, hand-to-hand enemies attacking ranged-hamedo).
Finally, occasionally the enemy will have sufficient healing such that
hamedo simply cannot deal enough damage. 

When hamedo isn't enough, counter flood is the alternate reaction ability
of choice. Though its damage output is low, its main purpose is to petrify
enemies with the help of carve-model tiles. Enemies generally won't be
able to recover from the petrify status, since stigma magic and soft are
much rarer than HP healing. In addition, petrified undead won't be able
to revive themselves from death.

For battles where there simply aren't any carve-model tiles, damage split
is the final option. While its use against regular enemies is more of a
fall-back plan, damage split is actually very effective against bosses
that have AOE attacks, namely Wiegraf and Elmdor.  

I never used Meatbone Slash. The main reason is because at level 1, units
do not have high enough HP to be able to kill assassination targets in
one hit. In addition, Meatbone Slash only activates when in critical; at
that point, the unit will easily get overwhelmed and killed by the enemy.



[Defense]

Defense Up is the main defensive ability, until good quality shields and
mantles appear. At that point, defend helps to maximize evade. It's 
important to remember NOT to use defense up when using Damage Split. 
Abandon is helpful when units will be expected to take enemy fire before
they can act. In addition, abandon combined with defend, good shields,
and mantles makes for an essentially untouchable unit.

Sunken State is extremely helpful for a few battles. Essentially, it lets
you alter the layout of the battlefield by using transparent units to
block off certain areas from the enemy. This can be used to protect 
guests, prevent enemies from healing an assassination target, or simply
to pin down a particular unit. 

Maintenance is useful against bosses with Mighty sword, and also to force
thieves to attack instead of constantly attempting to steal.



[Movement]

Move HP Up will be your primary source of healing, and is used for 
practically the entire game. However, occasionally you'll need to get 
somewhere fast, in which case teleport is used. Other than the single 
use of move-find item for finding the vanish mantle, no other movement
ability really gives any advantage over Move HP Up or teleport.



_________________________________________

   [ Strategies and Other Notes ][4.1]
_________________________________________

[Hamedo Archer Trap]

This is a method of using hand-to-hand units to damage an enemy archer
equipped with a bow. First, surround the target archer using two or three 
units that have Hamedo. Then, move another bait unit a few steps directly 
behind one of the trapping units. It helps if the bait unit is at a lower 
height than the target archer. An example is illustrated below.

 ___________
      [H][A]|  <-- Corner of battle field
         [H]|  <-- Height 10
 ~~~~~~~~~~~|
            |
         [B]|  <-- Height 2

 A = enemy archer
 H = hamedo units
 B = bait unit

The enemy archer will try to hit the bait unit using the arc of the bow.
However, this will instead activate the trapping unit's hamedo, who will
proceed to hit the archer. This allows hand-to-hand hamedo units to take
out enemy ranged attackers.



[Jumping on Transparent Units]

I actually first noticed this phenomenon in a previous playthrough of the
game when facing Izlude. In the level-1 game I noticed it again at 
Underground Book Storage 4 when the enemy archer had jump as a secondary. 
Basically, enemy units seem to ignore transparency when using Jump. This
isn't really a big deal, just an interesting thing to point out.



[MP Switch and Transparency]

You'll notice that near the end of the walkthrough I setup Ramza with
MP Switch and the Vanish Mantle. Normally units lose transparency when 
they take HP damage. With MP Switch, damage goes to MP instead, meaning
even if Ramza accidentally gets hit, he won't lose transparency.





___________________________________________________________________________

   [ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND REFERENCES ] [5]
___________________________________________________________________________

[Acknowledgements]

Bloodstained Agar: for keeping an archive of old message board topics.
                   Unfortunately I do not have the most current URL to the
                   archive. 

CirclMastr: first finished the gameshark level 1 FFT challenge.

DreemZ: first posted the fixed-party, no steal XP level 1 ruleset (which 
        I call variation 3 in this guide). DreemZ began the challenge,
        but I do not know if s/he completed it, as Bloodstained Agar's
        archived topic containing this information ends with DreemZ
        still in the process of building up units.

un. Feel free to contact me if there are 
glaring errors or you want to contribute something to this FAQ. I'll make 
the changes and acknowledge your contributions in section 5. Please
make a note of Final Fantasy Tactics in the subject line so I know it's 
not spam.