Warriors of Light: Let's Play Final Fantasy I: Mod of Balance v3.3!

[Validon98]

Yes, the Tiger Mask was an amazing find.
Also, just to let you guys know, I have almost all of the rest of Act 2 screenshotted. It'll be split into three more updates. I just have to finish the dungeon I am going through now and I'll have the entire rest of Act 2 done. I probably will start getting those up by Sunday night. We're getting really close to finishing the main game.

[AnonymousPondScum]

Tonight I dine on Warmech soup.

[Validon98]

Hey everyone. I know I haven't updated in a couple of days, and that's a combination of laziness plus the fact that I have been actually attempting to finish screenshotting the entire rest of the main game. Which I have done. I have as of about ten or so minutes ago defeated the final boss and beat the game. Of course, I have not actually posted updates for anything beyond getting the airship. So for now I'm going to take a break from rushing through the game and instead I'm going to begin the process of writing up five (yes, five) updates that will cover everything from when we last left off to the end of the game.
Now, as for where the LP goes next, there's a few things we can do. The first thing is that I continue on with the Soul of Chaos dungeons directly and focus on them for the time being. I could also switch to Final Fantasy II at this point if I wanted to and hold off on the Soul of Chaos dungeons until the main storylines of both games are completed. Or I can do both at the same time. I am going to chose the last of these. So, my plan is to first get these updates written and up. Then I will create another thread for Final Fantasy II, while at the same time continuing this thread for the Soul of Chaos dungeons. And of course, I also have to get work done on Valkyrie Profile. Expect most if not all of this to be done by the end of Sunday (I have a lot of time to spare tomorrow, I can get stuff done).
With that said, wow, I can't believe how fast I breezed through that. Final Fantasy II will not end the same way. Just a fair warning. ^^;

[Validon98]

Just to let you guys know, I have been using maps from the Cavern of Ice on to save some frustration. Here's the link to them if you're interested. Note that they are for the NES version of the game. The maps have the same layout in the GBA version, however, so this is still a reliable guide for getting through these areas.

A Fiendish Plot- Part 2: I'm On Fire

So, we're headed to Mount Gulg, huh? Before we do that, there's a bit of exploring I want to do in the north.



I didn't catch the location of this place on the world map, but there's a bunch of islands to the north with caves. This is one of those caves.



You can tell because the game told us that when we entered.



I wonder if the Prince of the Elves came here before he was cursed.



It's those statues, man.



We'll do this. Later. Definitely not until after the game.



Instead let's check out this town.



It's right here on the world map. Also those islands on the right are the ones I was talking about.



Uh... they sure are. This is the town of Onrac, by the way.



Are you okay? Have you been taking your meds?



We're going to have to check that out, definitely.



No, not really.



Didn't the Fiend of Water awaken at about that time? If so then that makes perfect sense.



Huh, really? Well, we can't really breathe underwater, so, uh, we can't confirm that.



So that's where the caravan is.



Right, I have to go get that fairy at some point.



It's a pretty dangerous journey from here to there, but he might make it. Key word here is "might."



Whoa, a dragon!



Oh right, we checked that out a while ago. Maybe we should see this Dragon King first?



Okay...



So it's like Atlantis. That's just great.



That's oddly specific for a legend. And as we all know, all legends in JRPGs are true. Absolutely!



Oh right, someone mentioned that earlier.



Unne? You mean the scholar back at Melmond? Huh. If we find this Rosetta Stone, we can give it to him, no problem. Of course we have to actually find it first.



Yes. Why?



That's because at this point most aquatic life is probably dead due to the Fiend of Water. Also WHERE'S THE BAR.



Wonderous censorship you got there, Square.



Someone in Gaia mentioned something about seeing something fall out of the sky too. A conincidence? Perhaps not.



Gee, I wonder why.



Okay, let's just head for Mount Gulg now. The nice thing is that now that we have the airship, we can land directly in front of it instead of having to put up with the river maze.



And here it is.



It's a volcano. Go figure.



Horned Devils are a bit tough, but not too bad. To be honest, though, most enemies here will be a cakewalk after having done the Cavern of Ice.



Just like their Earth Elemental brothers, Fire Elementals go down really easily. It's a shame, honestly.



Pyrolisks of course can scratch your eyes out but they're weak to Blizzard and otherwise not too powerful.



Ogre Mages are stronger Ogres. I think they might be able to cast some spells, but nothing worth writing home about.



Lava Worms are worms. That are weak to Blizzard. And don't do much else.



Who the hell leaves this much treasure in one room? Seriously?



Fire Hydras can Blind you with their physical attacks, but once again Blizzard takes them down.



Fire Lizards are as unremarkable as always.



Fire Gigases are somewhat powerful, but they're still a bit less powerful than the Ice Gigases.



Uh-oh, a Red Dragon. Much like the White Dragons, they know powerful all-targeting spells. Kill it quick!



Well, that wasn't too bad.



Uh, yeah. Do you have a problem with that?



Attack of The Giant Shadow: Episode 2: I Have No Clue What the Hell.



That's a lot of swords. Can I have one?



I've already burned in hellfire. Or at least my RP character has.



For some reason Marilith has a new boss theme: Boss Battle B. It's like Boss Battle A, but it sounds kind of different.
As for Marilith herself, she has physical attacks and Fire attacks. If you care about defense, obviously use NulBlaze and Protect, but other than that, Haste and Temper on whichever physical fighters you have plus physical attacks equals a dead snake girl.



Just like with the Lich, it took three turns to beat her. Three.



Let's light 'er up.



There we go!



And back here...



The statue here is gone too! Now we can access this place if we want to.



We're halfway there. Sort of.



And thankfully we also get a free ride to outside here too.



This is the Wing of the Hawk over here, so let's head there, shall we?



Getting here requires landing the airship somewhere else and then walking the entire way here. It's a little annoying but, well, it's the only way.



Welcome to the Wing of the Hawk, also known as Lufenia.



Looks like we can't talk to these people either. Maybe if we can find that Rosetta Stone and give it to Dr. Unne?
Also, there's another place I want to explore quickly before the end of this update.



The Dragon Caves! These caves are those holes strewn about those islands between the two northern continents.



Well, not anymore, it seems.



Well it wouldn't be "courage" otherwise.



It doesn't look that much more impressive than the south at this point.



Technically it was only a couple hundred years ago, but that's a long time, I guess.



Well that's good. There are some dragons who don't believe in that, it seems.



Well, apparently people don't know how to land a ship without a freaking port. That and humans generally avoid dragons.



Bahamut's here somewhere? Well, we should definitely look for him!



Not yet. I will, though!



I see. That might be helpful to us.



We've been there before. Perhaps maybe we should go deeper inside?



Ah, I see. We'll have to do that, then.



Uh... sure?



Understood.



Within, eh? We're more crazy than brave, though. Just ask any of us. :V



Hello there Bahamut.




Yes sir! We have to go look for that token of courage, huh?



Indeed. But that's it for here and for the update. Next time we'll head for the Citadel of Trials as well as keep looking for the remaining Crystals.

Summary:

Enemies: Horned Devil (Flame Mail), Fire Element (Flame Shield), Pyrolisk (Feathered Cap), Ogre Mage (Power Staff), Lava Worm (Red Cap), Fire Hydra (Genji Helm), Fire Lizard (Flame Staff), Fire Gigas (Flame Sword), Red Dragon (Red Jacket), Marilith (Ashura)

Treasures: Mythril Helm, 4150 gil, 750 gil, 795 gil, Mythril Gloves, Knight's Armor, Hi-Potion, Tent, 1975 gil, 1455 gil, Mind Balm, 1520 gil, 1760 gil, Mythril Axe, Mythril Shield, Phoenix Down, Holy Water x2, 2750 gil, 1760 gil, Mythril Sword, 7340 gil, Flame Shield, Ice Brand (Serela), 880 gil, 155 gil, Black Cowl, 1250 gil, Flame Staff, Flame Mail, 2000 gil, 2750 gil, 1455 gil, X-Potion, 9500 gil, 2750 gil, 1520 gil, Elixir, Cottage, 500 gil, 7600 gil, Dry Ether

Drops: Hi-Potion, Power Plus x3, Red Cap (Serela), Flame Staff (Ikari), Great Axe, Ashura, Giant's Tonic x2, Ice Shield, Viking Axe x2

Bought Items: Tent x15, Hi-Potion x10, Kenpogi (Meguka)

Learned Spells/Skills: Blizzard (minor Blizzard damage to one enemy, Ikari), Blizzara (moderate Blizzard damage to all enemies, Ikari)

TPKs: 0 this update, 5 overall

[Validon98]

A Fiendish Plot- Part 3: Swim With the Sahagins

Okay, time to head for the Citadel of Trials again!



Of course Sand Worms get in our way. They aren't that dangerous, though, so let's just kill them quickly.



Back here there's a throne. Let's sit on it!



Oh right, I got killed that one time before. After I talk to the old man again, though...



The throne will bring us here. Essentially this dungeon is a teleporter maze. You'll have to use trial-and-error to figure out the correct path.



This Clay Golem here isn't much of anything, really. I think it might use Haste, though?



Medusa can try to inflict Stone, but they are probably not going to.



Rakshasas are REALLY dangerous, however. They can cast Fira on us, and it hurts. A lot.



Nightmares are simply more powerful versions of the Mad Ponies. Just thwack them on the head.



And for completing this dungeon we get a... rat's tail. Uh... really?



And of course there HAS to be an encounter space right before the teleporter out of here. Dragon Zombies are very tough, but of course Firaga can bring them down.



Meanwhile on the way back we run across an Elm Gigas. It's one of the most powerful Gigases you can find in the game. Also, I forget if I covered Basilisks or not. They can inflict Stone, obviously. Not much of a threat, though.



Why thank you.



"Would seem?"



...Of course. Why the hell not?



Okay!



Now, in the original version of the game, this is where you get your class upgrade. Of course, I would have if I did that version rushed here after the Cavern of Ice to get it as early as possible, because stat growths increase faster in the upgraded classes. However, because this is Mod of Balance v3.3, instead everyone gets an extra 50 max HP, which is worth a couple levels worth of HP boosts. Not bad.



This is the Desert Baretta. It's weak to Blizzard. Do. The. Math.



Now, seeing as we have the chance, let's go look for that caravan and save the fairy.



Ah, here we are.



40000 gil?! Are you crazy!?
Nevertheless, I have enough leftover junk to sell that I can buy the fairy.



Here you are, home sweet home!



Yes, yes we are!



Being forced into a bottle does that to you. Not that I know how it feels.



Thanks, I guess. Don't know what we can do with that, though.



Well, I guess we could do something with it...



Oh, really? Will that let us breathe underwater?



Back in Onrac now. Let's hear about it, Koppe.



We'll check that out later.



Oh? That sounds interesting. We'll have to wait for now, though.



Yes we do.



Huh?



Okay...



Hey, where're you going? Who are you?



...Our method of going underwater in this game... is a barrel. Great job guys. At least it doesn't have to be entirely sealed in if we have oxyale.



Glub glub glub.



Looks like that Sunken Shrine is here.



And there just happens to be a convinent rope that we can use to climb up on the shrine.



New enemies, as always. Sahagin Princes can use Thunder spells and that's about it. Nothing major.



Water Elementals and Water Nagas are both weak to Thunder, both the Water Nagas are especially hard to kill. They can also inflict Poison, I think. The Water Elementals just attack or use a full-party Blizzard-like spell.



Trolls now live in the sea and thus are called Sea Trolls. They still regen but at this point they're not that powerful. Sea Snakes and Sea Scorpions can still inflict Poison, but they're still easy to kill.



Who're you?



Yikes...



Uh... about that...



...I'm sorry. She just disappeared...



*shows her oxyale* This stuff.



Become an environmentalist.



The Warriors of Light. If you knew the legend, you should know we're supposed to be the guys who are somehow supposed to save you.




Okay, so we need to go down. Right. No, not right. Down.



That doesn't sound so surprising.



Hmm... Well if you try going into the tower right now, you can't.



Well, it's up to us to stop him, right?



So here's the Rosetta Stone! We'll have to stop by Melmond afterwards.



New enemies, the Deepeyes and the White Shark. Deepeyes still try to inflict Sleep and I think Death, while White Sharks are just physical powerhouses. Thunder works as always.



Ghosts are just stronger versions of those other undead mages. Nothing extraordinary.



I guess I can see why you thought we wouldn't be here. Of course, we were somewhat lucky to find that fairy.



I don't think I can make another shadow joke.



Yes. We have fire. And electricity.



Not while I have anything to say about it!



Kraken here can be taken down in three turns. Like the other two. With the same method. Do I really need to repeat myself?



I don't think I do.



It's so blue here. One could also say it's so ao here.



BELATED CELEBRATION.



Hey there Kraken statue.



Bye there Kraken statue.



Let's roll out.



With another Crystal lit up! One more to go! But first, let's go see Unne about that Rosetta Stone.



No problem.



Yup! We heard you needed it to learn Lufenian, so we figured we might as well give it to you.



That'd be helpful!



Was there seriously only one thing keeping you from translating it?



Thanks!



Right! Now we can understand what the people in Lufenia say. What do they have to say to us? What about the light near the waterfall near Onrac? And where could the Wind Crystal be? All of that will be revealed next time in the Act 2 finale.

Enemies: Sand Worm (Mirrorplate), Clay Golem (Speed Plus), Medusa (Elven Cloak), Rakshasa (Cat Claws), Nightmare (Black Cowl), Dragon Zombie (Strength Tonic), Elm Gigas (Mythril Axe), Basilisk (Holy Water), Desert Baretta (Golden Apple), Sahagin Prince (Luck Plus), Water Naga (Enhancer), Water Elemental (Crystal Mail), Sea Troll (Dark Claymore), Sea Snake (Blue Fang), Sea Scorpion (Silver Apple), White Shark (Wyrmkiller), Deepeyes (Diamond Shield), Ghost (Ribbon)

Treasures: Gauntlets, Priest's Staff, Protect Ring, Ice Brand, Cat Claws, 7340 gil, 1455 gil, Cottage, 2000 gil, Kenpogi, Light Axe, 12350 gil, 1760 gil, Minerva's Robe (Serela), 9000 gil, 2750 gil, 4150 gil, Mind Balm, Diamond Shield (Al), 5000 gil, Diamond Gloves (Al), Crystal Helm, 110 gil, 450 gil

Drops: Strength Tonic, Kotetsu, Hi-Potion x2, Luck Plus, Red Curtain, Blue Fang x3, Silver Apple x2, Holy Gloves

Bought Items: Ether x30

Learned Spells/Skills: Exit (warps the party out of dungeons, Serela), Esuna (heals all statii except for KO, Serela), Vanish (raises party's evasion, Serela), Destroy (deals 1500 damage to a target regardless of defenses or resistances, Ikari), Qi Strike (an Instant Death attack that ignores Death resistance or immunity, Meguka)

TPKs: 0 this update, 5 overall

[AnonymousPondScum]

RELEASE THE KRAKEN!

<Kraken gets his ass whupped>

Ok put the Kraken back away now.

[Jq1790]

Wait...Qi Strike...It's a skill that ignores resistance/immunity to Instant Death?  Doesn't that mean even bosses could be killed by it?  Sounds kinda ridiculous, hm?

[Validon98]

It ignores Death resistance, but NOT the Resist stat. So it can still miss, but yeah, it's really ridiculous. I have refrained from using it on the final boss, however. I wanted to at least have some challenge.
I'll be getting the next update up in a moment. I do want to say however that as I played through the last parts of the game, I felt overpowered. Like really overpowered. My opinion as of now is that Ludwig, upon introducing v3.0, somewhat forgot the original purpose of trying to make the game more difficult. If anything he made the game somewhat easier. If I were to go back and redo this LP, I would either do v2.2 of the mod or just do the NES version of the game instead. I know you guys wanted to see it, and I wanted to see it myself too. But my opinion at this point is that it just doesn't seem that much harder than the GBA version, to the extent where it ISN'T harder at all. For that, I'm disappointed. The flipside of that is that Final Fantasy II wouldn't be easier at all, seeing as all Ludwig did was "unbreak" the leveling system in order to make it play more or less like it should have on paper (read: Stop bashing yourself in the face, I know you like being masochistic but still).

[Validon98]

A Fiendish Plot- Finale: Sky High

Well, there's only so much we can do right now.



Let's head to that waterfall first.



Looks like a normal waterfall to me.



Oho, it's actually a cave! I wonder what's in here...



Besides Green Dragons. These guys can use a powerful move you that can inflict Poison. Be careful around them for sure.



What the hell...?



Uh... okay? Sure?



This seems out of place in a fantasy game, but okay?



Looks like he's done, too...
After this, I return to Lufenia to check things out.



Sounds like a powerful group of people.



Yeah, we found it buried in a desert.



Cid, huh? Well, I'm sure he's not that important. We can all just forget about him, hahahaha. *sighs* Oh Dissidia...



Yeah?




Lukahn had a similar prophecy himself. Everyone has been waiting for us, huh?



Yes! We're here to help and hopefully not burn down your town at the same time.



Wasn't it like the Flying Fortress or something?



Ahhh.



Someone else? But the Four Fiends are the ones absorbing the power of the Crystals. What else could there be beyond that?



They're gone, huh...



By the way it sounds, they might have been hurt.



That's what that robot back at the waterfall was talking about, huh?



Yeah. We need to get up there and fix things.



You didn't have anyone else?



Turned into bats? Wait... we've seen lots of bats in this game, but the first time was in the Chaos Shrine. Are those the Sky Warriors?



Yes. She sounds dangerous, though.



Ah? What does this do?



Oh yeah, that mermaid mentioned a chiming sound.



And now we can go to that tower!



The usual elements.



Which is why the Wind Crystal is at the Flying Fortress, correct?



That actually sounds kind of beautiful.



They really did too, if you read some of the stuff in Dissidia.



Yeah. Dark times have certainly beset the north.



Oh?



That's not good. Again, this is brought up in Dissidia. There is so much of Final Fantasy's plot and setting expanded on in Dissidia that it's not even funny.



We know that.



Well, one sort of is now memoriless, essentially. But it still functions somewhat.



Let's finally go to the Mirage Tower now, shall we?



Barettas are actually stronger than the Desert versions. I think. They still go down to Blizzard spells.



Well here we are.



Gotta stop screencapping the save state message.



Black Knights are just kind of there. Nothing too major, although I think they might cast buffs on themselves? Not sure.



Guardians are weak to Thunder but hit for a decent amount of damage, so be careful.



Vampire Lords are not only more dangerous than Vampires, but they can cast NulBlaze to cover their weakness to Fire. These guys take a while to go down, but they will at some point.



I forget if I covered Hellhounds earlier. They aren't that impressive, though, so I guess it doesn't really matter.



Oh, did he? That must have been the robot back at the waterfall.



Master? What master? Well, he had the warp cube, but... who? I don't think they ever explain who it was.



Chimeras have a full-party Fire attack, but it isn't too powerful. They're weak to Blizzard, so knock them down with that.



Blue Dragons aren't that bad, but they, like other dragons, have multi-target skills, so watch out.



Uh, sure.



Ah, okay. Yeah, if you didn't get the warp cube from the Waterfall Cavern, you can't go up to the Flying Fortress.



Let's go!



The Flying Fortress has another new theme. Sounds appropriate to me.



Black Flans are weak to Fire. One Fira will wipe them out.



Manticores are stronger Sphinxes, which means you'll probably be healing status effects after the battle.



This is what the stairs are in this dungeon. It's amazing these things still work after being untouched for about 400 years.



Spirit Nagas are stronger Water Nagas, which makes them dangerous foes.



Rhyoses are also pretty dangerous. At this point, target them with Qi Strike to finish them off quickly, otherwise you'll have a tough time dealing with them.



What's this?



Oh hey, adamantite! That Smyth guy wanted some, didn't he? Looks like I'll have to go back later and see him.



Air Elementals can cast Aero as well as Tornado, which can hurt. A lot. Be careful around them.



Oh really? The view must be beautiful...



We're REALLY high up, aren't we?



Wait, what do you mean by that?



The Chaos Shrine!? What?



The four Altars on the outside and the Chaos Shrine in the center... what could this mean?



Whoa! All of the energy of the Crystals is being focused there, but... why? We defeated three of the Fiends. Why is the energy still being sucked from the Crystals? Were the Lufenians right in guessing something was at the Chaos Shrine?



On this floor, there's repeating walkways. Go up two intersections and right two more in order to make it to the next floor.



Soldiers are stronger Guardians, which means they hit HARD. Just hope they don't gang up on your mages.



Here it is... the long walkway. Now, as suicidal as it might be, we're going to try to encounter a certain enemy here.



Okay not these gus. Weak to Fire, but they can poison you like crazy.



THIS is who we're looking for. WarMECH, also known as the Death Machine, should be treated more or less like a boss in that you should spam Haste and Temper while also spamming Destroy if you can.



...He drops the Ultima Weapon. HE DROPS THE ULTIMA WEAPON. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...
As a note, in the normal version of the game you can't even get that until the end of Whisperwind Cove. So we've just sort of broken the game even more than we already had with Destroy, Haste, and Temper. As I said in my last post, yeah, the game is just so unbalanced at this point it's not even funny.



Yeah, we've taken them all down.



Indeed.



No use hiding behind your shadow. We know exactly who you are!



Bring it on!



Tiamat isn't too hard either. She'll go down as all the other Fiends did. Of course, she has a powerful AoE spell called Thunderbolt which will hit pretty hard, so be careful.



Still, once more, down in three turns.



The last Crystal. Finally.



We did it!



The last Soul of Chaos dungeon.



It's now open! We have access to all four now!



Let's get out of here!



With all four Crystals lit, let's go tell the sages back at Crescent Lake. They said they had something to tell us after we lit the four Crystals.



Yeah, we saw that from the Flying Fortress. Why are they still gathering there? We defeated the Four Fiends! It should be over, right?



The root of darkness? There's still something there?!



Yes, but apparently that's not the end of it.



The wall of time? So, we had to do all of this just to be able to have enough power to...?



You mean we have to go back in time? You could have just said everything from the beginning instead of leading us to think that lighting all of the Crystals was the end of it.



Really? You mean us showing up in Cornelia affected the timeline or something?



So are we like a time anomaly or is it something else?



What do you mean by that?



The cycle of wrath... that was what Lukahn was referring to!



With Tiamat...



Wait, what? Something within the span of the game happened to cause all of this chaos?



I see... But who could have gone back into the past to start this all?



Spiralling...



No kidding. We need to go back there and take him or her down!



It repeats itself...



We're trapped in an eternal time loop, aren't we? So wait a minute, if we're trapped in a time loop, then has this happened all before? That means... oh no.



It's a grim situation, and it doesn't seem like it will ever end...



Right! We have to go to the Chaos Shrine and end this once and for all! Even if this has all happened before, even if we've done this before, and even if we've failed to stop it in previous cycles, we can't give up now! We'll break the cycle this time! Next time, we'll begin the final act of the game, which also happens to be the shortest.

Summary:

Enemies: Green Dragon (Genji Gloves), Baretta (Giant's Gloves), Black Knight (Deathbringer), Guardian (Light Curtain), Vampire Lord (Vorpal Sword), Hellhound (Red Fang), Chimera (Cottage), Blue Dragon (Dragon Mail), Black Flan (Stamina Plus), Manticore (Werebuster), Spirit Naga (Wizard's Hat), Rhyos (Wizard's Staff), Air Elemental (Protect Cloak), Soldier (Lunar Curtain), Neochu (Gaia Gear), WarMECH (Ultima Weapon), Tiamat (Orichalcum)

Treasures: Ribbon, Wizard's Staff (Ikari), 13450 gil, 6400 gil, 5000 gil, Defender (Al), Tent, Aegis Shield (Al), 2750 gil, 18010 gil, Vorpal Sword, 800 gil, Healing Helm x2, 3400 gil, Dragon Mail, 10000 gil, Sun Blade, Ogrekiller, Cottage x2, 13000 gil, 12350 gil, Mjolnir, 7900 gil, 8135 gil, 180 gil, 6720 gil, Protect Ring (Serela), 5000 gil, Razer, Mythril Helm, 880 gil, 13000 gil, 4150 gil, Holy Water, 3400 gil, Sasuke's Blade

Drops: Great Sword, Coral Sword, Cockatrice Claw, Crosier, Viking Axe, White Fang, Light Curtain x6, Red Fang x2, Mind Plus, Ultima Weapon (Al), Orichalcum

Bought Items: Ether x15, Sun Blade (Serela)

Learned Spells/Skills: Blizzaga (major Blizzard damage to all enemies, Ikari)

TPKs: 0 this update, 5 overall

[Validon98]

Dawn of Chaos- Part 1: Where It All Began

There is one last thing we need to do before heading back to the Chaos Shrine. We need to give Smyth the adamantite.



Yup. It was kind of out of the way, but we found it!



Thanks!



Well, you did have access to the strongest material in the world.



I'm surprised you don't want to give that to a museum or something, but sure.



Sadly, Excalibur is not as powerful as the Ultima Weapon. If I hadn't gotten that, then I would put Excalibur on Al for the entire rest of the game. Oh well.



Here we are once again, back to the Chaos Shrine.



Hey, the bats were the Sky Warriors after all!



Yikes... you've been trapped here for 400 years?



So that's why you were silent before.



Well, hopefully you guys are on your way to recovery. It would suck to stay in this form forever.



You mean that orb there? Well, maybe we can use it to open a portal to the past ourselves and cut the flow of power between the past and present from there.



Right... it's all gathering here. The immense power of the Crystals, all being fed here. I wonder why we didn't notice it before.



Right... this won't be easy, I take it?



Yeah... we've come a long way. We thought we were just a bunch of crazy no good travelers who happened to hold a few shiny rocks. But no. We've gone to each of the Altars and restored the Crystals. And we can go back in time and fix this entire mess and wipe the time loop from the pages of history!



Yes. We'll do it. You guys stay here, we'll handle the mess.



We knew that, but thanks for reminding us.



Right!



So this place is the final dungeon? You never would guess it at first...



Here! Have our light!




Here we go!



Let's do this!



That's bright... I don't think it would be that unless we brought the Crystals like this.



To the past!



Here we are, 2000 years in the past. It even has a new theme. This sounds a lot more appropriate for the final dungeon.



Looks like we've got some old friends again. This time we can handle them, though.



Purple Worms can use an ability that inflicts Instant Death, but it doesn't use it often.



A bunch of new guys here. I'm not exactly sure who does what, but they buff themselves and combine it with powerful physical and magical attacks. Thankfully, if you have Flare from Lufenia, then you care take them and pretty much most other encounters here with ease.



The Death Eyes can inflict Instant Death and can use X-Zone, but other than that they aren't that powerful.



Hey... we're playing the lute that Sarah gave us.
...The song... it's familiar...



Looks like playing the Prelude revealed the way further down. Let's go!



Stone Golems here also will make use of Haste, but other than that they aren't that strong.



On each of the floors, there is an encounter space that makes us fight stronger versions of the Four Fiends. Lich here can use Flare on us, so be careful of that. Use NulMagic if you have it. Also, the Four Fiends here  in the Chaos Shrine are the only bosses that I used Qi Strike on. Sorry. I won't use it on any of the Soul of Chaos bosses, because it's too overpowered, even compared to Destroy.



Marilith doesn't do that much more. She's easier to take down.



Kraken also isn't that much more powerful.



Tiamat, on the other hand, is very dangerous to fight. Use NulShock. If you don't, you will die.



Like so.



Back in Lufenia, you'll notice a little hole here...



That'll take you here to where you can buy the ultimate spells of the game, including Flare. Get it. Don't hesitate to do so.



Me using Qi Strike to finish off Marilith. Every time I use it on a boss I will be ashamed.



Just to let you know, in the Mod of Balance, you actually fight enemies from previous dungeons that are tied to the Fiend found on each floor. On the bottom floor, however, you start fighting enemies that only start showing up in the Soul of Chaos dungeons. Every encounter here, therefore, is a life or death battle. For example, these guys can use Instant Death stuff on you. Be careful.



These guys will overpower you with magic and other dangerous attacks if you're not careful. Thankfully, they're all undead, so Firaga will do a lot of damage to them.



Of course, they can kill me first.



Well I screwed up that time, didn't I?



These guys can inflict Poison and murder you with multi-target attacks. Be extremely careful.



And these dragons can cast stuff like Flare on you. One of them can even cast Destroy. I don't capture it, but these guys also wipe me out.



Again, these guys are improvements over past enemies. Be wary of their powerful physical attacks.



Oh great, there's a Poison Naga too. Can things get any worse?



Of course.



Iron Golems aren't that much more powerful than Stone Golems. You'll be fine.



Remember the Death Eyes from earlier? They are actually from an encounter tile in the room where we had to play the lute. You can repeat this battle over and over and over again. Flare will wipe the entire encounter each time. Seeing as the Death Eyes also drop Elixirs, you can just use one when you run out of MP to cast Flare. Rinse and repeat until you get to the level you want. I went from about the mid 40s to about level 55 this way, which should be enought to survive the encounters on the bottom floor.



Just more powerful versions of older enemies. I really don't see how I could describe them in any other way. Well, except I think the Rock Gargoyles can inflict Stone.



Here we are. Beyond this door lies the root of evil that has caused all of the destruction in the present. But who or what is it? Next time, we'll find out who it is and bring everything to an end.

Enemies: Purple Worm (Emergency Exit), Death Knight (Razer), Dark Fighter (White Robe), Death Eye (Elixir), Stone Golem (Stamina Plus), Dark Elemental (?), Death Elemental (?), Pharaoh (Kikuichimonji), Reaper (Crystal Ring), Revenant (Phoenix Down), Bonesnatch (Enhancer), Hundlegs (?), Earth Plant (?), Silver Dragon (?), Yellow Dragon (?), Holy Dragon (?), Black Dragon (?), Blood Tiger (?), Mad Ogre (?), Poison Naga (?), Iron Golem (Genji Armor), Mage Chimera (Hermes' Shoes), Mythril Golem (Holy Armor), Rock Gargoyle (Crystal Helm)

Treasures: Dry Ether, Elixir, Protect Cloak, Megalixir, Protect Ring (Ikari), Sasuke's Blade, Masamune (Serela)

Drops: Stamina Plus x5, Strength Tonic, Razer, Luck Plus, Emergency Exit x3, Ice Armor x2, Giant's Tonic x3, White Fang, Hi-Potion, Viking Axe, Genji Gloves, Flame Shield, Holy Armor (Al), Protect Cloak x2, Lunar Curtain, Assassin's Dagger, Elixir x11, Black Robe x2, Ribbon x9, White Robe, Crystal Mail, Crystal Ring (Ikari), Blue Fang, Phoenix Down x2, Kikuichimonji

Bought Items: Ether x163, Phoenix Down x10, Cottage x15

Learned Spells/Skills: NulMagic (reduces damage from magic of all elements except for Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder, Serela), Curaja (Heals a massive amoun of HP to one target, Serela), Flare (deals extreme amountfs of magic damage to all enemies, Ikari), Vivify (fully heals a single party member along with healing status effects, Serela), NulFrost (halves all Blizzard damage, Serela, Al), Clarify (Al), Life (Al), Protera (raises the defense of the entire party, Al), NulShock (Al), NulBlaze (Al), Healaga (heals a moderate amount of HP to all party members, Serela), Full-Life (brings a character back to life with full HP, Serela)

Discarded Spells: Healara (Serela)

TPKs: 5 this update, 10 overall

[Validon98]

Dawn of Chaos- Finale: The Final Fantasy

There is no turning back now. We have to face the root of evil and break the time loop it has caused.



...Wait a minute, I remember you...



Oh no, it can't be...



Garland... how did you end up here?



Yes, we did. We killed you to save Sarah, but, that means...



In other words, somehow we were the ones who instigated this? But, how did they do that?




A time loop without end, triggered by your own death...



Of course not, and yet you still seek shelter in the Chaos Shrine, the focal point of those forces. If we had killed you anywhere else, you wouldn't be able to continue the time loop. Subconsciously, you will know what to do to in the present to continue the time loop, don't you?



Whoa.



What happened to you, Garland?



So... we have failed all of those other times. Every time we've fought Garland here in the past, he's killed us, allowing the cycle of wrath to continue...



...But even knowing that, we can't back down! We just have to fight harder this time! We'll take you down, Garland, and end the time loop once and for all!



Have the final boss theme. You'll need it.
Garland, or more accurately Chaos, is pretty tough. First things first, get all of the magic resisting buffs up. NulBlaze, NulFrost, NulShock, and NulMagic. You'll need it in order to survive his more powerful attacks. He'll use elemental spells along with extremely powerful elemental spells unique to him. You better damn well have Healaga. You'll need it to soften the impact of all of the shit he'll throw at you. Hell even at the level I'm at now, beating Chaos isn't guaranteed if you don't keep track of your HP.



Here's one of those attacks...



Note that's WITH NulBlaze on. If we didn't have that on, we'd be dead except for probably Ikari. If he gets another one of those off now, we're screwed.



And of course, Hinacle punches him one more time. Not with Qi Strike, mind you. A simple punch, boosted with the power of Temper and Haste.



We got him! Yes! We win!



Happy music!
But yeah, we did it this time! The time loop is forever broken, and the entire world is free from it's grasp.



The whole world is safe from the Fiends and from Chaos's wrath, forever more.



Well, there's that crisis averted.



Yeah... we went and we killed him. Somehow that began all of this.



It's amazing what circumstances can do.



Yes... that's somewhat our fault, even.



Yes, the time loop is broken. The darkness is gone.




Yes. Now that the time loop is broken, Garland never went back in time. We never killed him. In fact we never even met him.



I would say it was when we killed him, but we actually don't know what the true origin of the time loop is. Something happened to cause Garland to kidnap the princess, seek shelter in the Chaos Shrine, be killed, become Chaos, kill us, and begin this entire catastrophe over again. Whatever the case, this loop has finally been ended.



Indeed. It's a paradox we can't solve.



Yeah... we would have kept being killed by Chaos over and over again...




The Fiends themselves were the twisted manifestations of the Crystals themselves? That's actually kind of scary how those forces can be used for both good and evil...



True... we may have served our purpose, but by doing that, time is no longer warped around us. No one knows who we are or what we did. In everyone's minds, the Fiends never came. The Crystals never darkened. The civilization of the north never fell. The world was never on the brink of destruction.



I don't know how this could continue on into legend. After all, the prophecy itself heralding our arrival doesn't exist anymore, does it?



That's all different now, isn't it?



Huh?



Right. As long as the Warriors of Light still exist in World A, they won't let it fall into the darkness again.




Indeed. Power must be turned towards its proper end. That's what the sage meant.




I know. I couldn't have done it without you guys, though. Thanks. ^^;



And so the game is finally over. It's been a short ride, to be honest, but it was fun while it lasted. To be honest, I am kind of disappointed this was as easy as it was, what with spells like Destroy and Qi Strike. But it was nice being able to play through this again.



It might be the the end of this story, but it's not entirely over yet.



We're not going to do a New Game Plus with this. Instead, we've got other things to do. What lies in the Soul of Chaos dungeons? And what exciting adventures lie in the other world, where an empire begins to rise, seeking world dominance? Find out next time as well continue Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls: Mod of Balance v3.3!

TPKs: 0 this update, 10 overall

It's not over yet.

[AnonymousPondScum]

Warmech needs more ketchup.

Also I like how it's called the Mod of Balance when it makes it EASIER to break the game over your knee. :V

[Third Eye Lem]

Also I like how it's called the Mod of Balance when it makes it EASIER to break the game over your knee. :V

Yeah, I'm surprised myself...Maybe the next Mod of Balance update should be called Mod of REblance.

Good show, I'm glad to see Chaos isn't a pushover like the fiends were. Now I can't wait to see how the Soul of Chaos dungeons go, with your OP party.

[Hinacle]

None of this run would have been possible without me.  :smug:

Serious: Holy shit, that was a fast LP.

[Validon98]

It's not over yet, though. Still got the Soul of Chaos dungeons to do. I began doing that today a bit, but an update for that won't be for a while. I need to run through the Earthgift Shrine three more times. 0_0;

[Third Eye Lem]

It's not over yet, though. Still got the Soul of Chaos dungeons to do. I began doing that today a bit, but an update for that won't be for a while. I need to run through the Earthgift Shrine three more times. 0_0;

Good thing you only have to do two of them twice and one of them once, eh?

[Validon98]

True, but that's like 120 floors of dungeon combined. That's a lot. ^^;

[AnonymousPondScum]

None of this run would have been possible without me.  :smug:

YEAH WELL FUCK YOUR SHIT TOO, MISTER.

DID YOU WALK AWAY FROM A FIGHT WITH ONLY 1 HP?

[Hinacle]

YEAH WELL FUCK YOUR SHIT TOO, MISTER.

DID YOU WALK AWAY FROM A FIGHT WITH ONLY 1 HP?

Shhhhhh, I can't hear you over how amazing I am.