Condensed Lore Guide 3.5 By Skoobouy Compiled and useful for Final Fantasy III for the Super the Super Nintendo or Final Fantasy IV for the Sony Playstation. *** Introduction Strago comes within a hair's breadth of not being cool. Thankfully, he has a few saving graces, like Pearl Wind, L.? Pearl, Aero, Big Guard, Aqua Rake, Quasar and GrandTrain. However, the quest to collect all of Strago's Lores is an end in itself, rather than actually being useful. This guide should help you get all of the Lores in the fastest time, and save you a lot of paper to boot ('cuz I'm just efficient like that, yo). *** Revision History 3.5, March 5th, '05 - Added the Chart of Lores by Skill (kick ass, IMO), as well as a dozen of Assassin's "ninja-star" corrections (as in, small but deadly) 3.4, March 3rd, '05 - Various corrections and additions. (Thanks to Assassin's super-human editting skills). 3.3, March 1st, '05 - Revived Lore material as a separate guide (hence the new version number). Made several corrections based on Assassin's advice. 3.2, February 1st, '05 - Removed all Lore material. Cleaner, nicer guide to Rage. 3.1, January 31st, '05 - Added information on some Rages and modified formatting and rewrote some paragraphs. 3.0, January 30th, '05 - It returns! I FINALLY filled in the status effects of Rages, and redid the tables. Also, modified formatting, and other minor changes. 2.5.5, May 5th, '03 - I skipped a number. Rewrote the Lores guide and chart. Made lots of minor corrections. 2.3, April 25th, '03 - More niceties, rearranged the order of the guide. 2.2, April 24th, '03 - Added to Rage skill descriptions, and a brief explanation of column titles, and changed Gau's "Minimum of Fuss" guide. 2.1, April 22nd, '03 - Filled in gaps, corrected some mistakes. 2.0, April 20th, '03 - Complete rewrite, added Strago section. 1.0, April 9th, '03 - Added to "Important Rages" section, updated Introduction, and modified Strategy section. 0.9, April 8th, '03 – Microsoft Word version. 0.8, April 7th, '03 - The first draft! Lists Rages in a few ways; not easy to read and not convenient to print. *** Other Lore Resources (and their specific contributions) Lores Acquisition Guide 1.4 by Assassin: Assassin (Assassin17 to yous thugs) has shown a huge enthusiasm for this guide, and has provided lots of data and filled many potholes. So remember kids: Assassin = free labor. Good. (In)Complete List of Monsters 3.0 by Garry Dobson: A very thorough Monster by Order of Apppearance list. Helpful! FF3us Monster Stats Guide 1.1 and FF3us Attack Guide v1.1 by Master ZED (cytekzed at aol dot com): Correct spellings of monster names, accurate locations, filled in nasty gaps of information and immense help for the Lore Locations Chart. Also special thanks for suggestions for improvement. Algorithms FAQ by Terii Senshi (teriisenshi at aol dot com): Accurate information on the effects of Lores. Lord J's FF3usME v. 6.2 (lord_j at hotmail dot com): Accurate information about enemy scripts, which I scanned for hours looking for Lores. *** Table of Contents CHAPTER I: All of the Lores with a Minimum of Fuss A. WORLD OF BALANCE B. WORLD OF RUIN CHAPTER II: Chart of Lores by Monster Order of Appearance A. WORLD OF BALANCE B. WORLD OF RUIN CHAPTER III: Chart of Lores by Skill APPENDIX: On Dark Force CONCLUSION /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// I. All of the Lores with a Minimum of Fuss Walkthrough Once you have control of Strago, you're already at the end of the World of Balance. That means that you can get gobs of Lores right away. The following guide is a barebones step-by-step guide that should allow you to have collect each of the Lores in each "World" within just a few minutes. How's that for efficiency? A. WORLD OF BALANCE Lores to Collect: Aqua Rake Stone Revenge Exploder Pearl Wind Condemned Pep Up Step Mine Dischord L.3 Muddle L.4 Flare L.5 Doom Roulette Blow Fish Strago begins with Aqua Rake, Stone, and Revenge. In the burning house in Thamasa, cast a fire spell on a Balloon and it might cast Exploder. Go to Esper Mountain and fight an Abolisher. Give it three turns, and you have Pearl Wind. When you have control of your whole party, retrieve Gau and have him use Zombone|Condemned and Intangir|Pep Up for those Lores. Then fly to South Figaro and muddle a Greasemonk for Step Mine. Now, go to the Veldt. Fight a Telstar for ten turns, and you will have Dischord. Sit down with a few Trappers to learn all of L.3 Muddle, L.4 Flare, and L.5 Doom. With Relm, sketch a Pipsqueak for Roulette. Finally, on the Floating Continent, battle some Brainpans and slaughter all but one. It will use Blow Fish. B. WORLD OF RUIN Lores to Collect: Big Guard Rippler Aero Sour Mouth CleanSweep L.? Pearl GrandTrain Quasar Reflect??? ForceField Most of these Lores are easy. After you use Relm to rescue Strago, Sketch an EarthGuard for Big Guard. Then zip over to the land outside Maranda and fight a Reach Frog or two for Rippler. Fly to Kohlingen and fight a Harpiai for Aero, then run into Daryl's Tomb to learn Sour Mouth from a Mad Oscar. Burrow down to the Ancient Castle, where an Enuo will use CleanSweep when you kill its buddies. L.? Pearl gives you a couple of options. If you haven't done the Phoenix Cave, I recommend going there and letting Relm Sketch the Red Dragon. Otherwise, take Strago into Cyan's Dream and fight some Critics. If both events are gone, you can muck about for Critics in the Veldt, or fight Innoc in Kefka's Tower. I suggest the former. For GrandTrain, go complete Strago's side quest, and make sure to kill all the little Hidonites first - then you're in business. Dark Force has a one-in- three chance, every seven turns of casting Quasar and Reflect???, so be patient. Sadly, the only way to learn ForceField is to kill Doom - the first statue. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// II. Chart of Lores by Monster Order of Appearance This chart is very simple. It is organized in rough chronological order by monster. However, there are many variables which I will describe in the 'Situation' column for each monster's Lore skill. They are as follows:f KEY: R - Obtain Lore by 'R'age. S - Obtain Lore by 'S'ketch. C - Obtain Lore by 'C'ontrol (or Muddle or Gau's Rage, "Nightshade|Charm"). B - Obtain Lore by 'B'attle--no special strategy necessary. N - Obtain Lore by a special battle strategy. See 'N'otes (below). V - One-time-only monster; look for it on the 'V'eldt. ! - Best/earliest monster to learn from. A. THE WORLD OF BALANCE Locale Monster Skill Situation ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Narshe Repo Man Exploder R Outside S. Figaro Greasemonk Step Mine C ! Imperial Camp Telstar Dischord N V ! Phantom Forest Bomb Exploder S C N Vector/MagitechRF Chaser Dischord C B V Trapper L.3 Muddle R S C B V ! L.4 Flare C B V ! L.5 Doom S C B V ! Pipsqueak Roulette S V ! Exploder N V Forest w/of Veldt Grenade Exploder N Sealed Gate Zombone Condemned R V ! Burning House Balloon Exploder R S C N V ! Esper Mountain Abolisher Pearl Wind N ! Triangle Island Intangir Pep Up R ! Step Mine S Floating Contnt Brainpan Blow Fish R S C N ! Apokryphos L.3 Muddle R S C N L.4 Flare C N L.5 Doom N Nerapa Condemned B Roulette N B. THE WORLD OF RUIN Locale Monster Skill Situation ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Solitary Island EarthGuard Big Guard R S C ! Peepers Pearl Wind R S C B Southern Contint Mesosaur Step Mine R S C Serpent Trench Lizard Dischord C Figaro Cave Dante L.3 Muddle R S C N Outside Kohlingen Harpiai Aero R S C B ! Pearl Wind B Muus Pep Up R S C B Daryl's Tomb Mad Oscar Sour Mouth R S C B ! Presenter Blow Fish B Airship Doom Gaze L.5 Doom B Aero B Outside Maranda Cactrot Blow Fish R S C B Reach Frog Rippler B ! Mt. Zozo Storm Drgn Aero S B Pearl Wind S Cave in Veldt Rhyos Aero C Allo Ver Condemned B Outside Thamasa Harpy Aero C N Owzer's House Still Life Condemned C N Phoenix Cave Phase Blow Fish R S C Red Dragon L.? Pearl S ! L.4 Flare B Narshe Mag Roader L.4 Flare R Umaro's Cave Tom Thumb Step Mine R S C Pug Step Mine B Triangle Island Wart Puck Exploder R S C Ogor Pearl Wind C Mobliz Phunbaba Blow Fish B Outside Doma Sprinter Aero R S Pearl Wind B Crawler Step Mine R S C Dischord N Cyan's Dream Critic Condemned R S C B V Roulette B V L.? Pearl B V ! Curley Pearl Wind B Ancient Castle Enuo CleanSweep R S C N ! Figaliz Dischord R S C N Goblin L.3 Muddle N L.4 Flare N L.5 Doom N Master Pug Step Mine N CleanSweep N Blue Drgn CleanSweep B Rippler B KatanaSoul Blow Fish N Ebot's Rock Hidon GrandTrain N ! 'Jurassic Park' Tyranosaur Aero S Brachosaur Step Mine S Kefka's Tower Mover Big Guard C N Blow Fish N Guardian Big Guard S Dark Force* CleanSweep R S C L.5 Doom S C B Pearl Wind C B Condemned B Roulette B L? Pearl B Step Mine B Dischord B Sour Mouth B Aero B Blow Fish B Exploder B Rippler B Quasar B ! L.4 Flare B L.3 Muddle B Reflect??? B ! Retainer Condemned C Veteran Condemned S B Roulette R S C N Scullion Dischord R Exploder S IronHitman Dischord R S C B Sky Base L.5 Doom B Junk Exploder C B Pep Up R C B Innoc L.? Pearl S C B Vectaur Pearl Wind R S C Evil Oscar Sour Mouth S C N Dueller L.4 Flare B L.5 Doom B Didalos L.5 Doom B Reflect??? N Atma CleanSweep B Skull Drgn Condemned B Doom ForceField B ! Poltrgeist Aero B Goddess Quasar B Kefka, Third Tier Girl Pearl Wind B Sleep Condemned B Notes (alphabetical by monster name): -Apokryphos may cast L.3 Muddle, L.4 Flare, or L.5 Doom, only when attacked, when alone. -Balloon may cast Exploder every third turn, or when attacked with Fire Magic. -Bomb may cast Exploder after any attack. -Brainpan may cast Blow Fish only when alone. -Crawler may cast Dischord only when alone. -Dante may cast L.3 Muddle when attacked with Magic. -Didalos casts Reflect??? if your character(s) are 'Rflect'ed -Enuo may cast CleanSweep only when alone. -Evil Oscar may cast Sour Mouth only when alone. -Figaliz may cast Dischord only when alone. -Goblin may cast L.3 Muddle, L.4 Flare, or L.5 Doom, only when alone. -Grenade may cast Exploder when hit with 'Fight'. -KatanaSoul may cast Blow Fish only if not attacked long enough. -Hidon casts GrandTrain when all Hidonites are dead. -Master Pug may cast Step Mine when attacked. -Master Pug may cast CleanSweep if it assigns itself weakness against 'earth'. -Mover casts Big Guard or Blow Fish only when alone. -Nerapa immeditately casts Condemned. -Nerapa casts Roulette when hit with 'Fight' six times. -Phase may cast Blow Fish when attacked or when alone. -Pipsqueak may cast Exploder when hit with 'Fight'. -Still Life casts Condemned when attacked. -Telstar casts Dischord on its tenth turn. -Veteran may cast Roulette when attacked with Magic. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// III. Chart of Lores by Skill What would a Lore guide be without a chart of the Lores themselves? Here they are in all their alphabetical glory. Pay close attention to the KEY if you want to have any idea what the heck's going on. I had to do a lot of funky things to save space, but look ma: no footnotes! This is one of the densest charts I've ever done; I'll tackle anyone who don't appreciate it! KEY: MP - Magic Points necessary to cast the spell. Pwr - Power; Non-damage-dealing spells and spells whose "Pwr" does not reflect their actual strength are n/a. Hit - Hit Rate; unblockable skills are n/a. El - Element of attack, as follows: f - Fire p - Poison e - Earth i - Ice a - Air/Wind w - Water b - Bolt/Lightning h - Holy/Pearl - - Non-elemental or n/a I - Ignores Defense; sometimes means that a skill is very powerful, but sometimes refers to healing or to a special mode of damage calculation. Non-damage-dealing spells are n/a ("/"). U - Unblockable; these skills won't miss except in cases of enemy immunity. Untargetted spells are n/a ("/"). N - No Split Damage; these spells do not become less effective when cast on multiple enemies at once. Single target and non-damage-dealing spells are n/a ("/"). Unless stated otherwise, all Lores target one enemy. Effects Skill MP Pwr Hit El I U N Monster Sources ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aero 41 125 150 a N N N Targets all enemies Harpiai, Doom Gaze, Storm Drgn, Rhyos, Harpy, Sprinter, Tyranosaur, Dark Force, Poltrgeist Aqua Rake 22 71 150 aw N N N Targets all enemies Big Guard 80 n/a n/a - / Y / Causes Safe and Shell on all allies Earthguard, Mover, Guardian Blow Fish 50 n/a n/a - Y Y / Damage is 1000 Brainpan, Presenter, Cactrot, Phase, Phunbaba, KatanaSoul, Mover, Dark Force Cleansweep 30 50 150 w N N Y Targets all enemies Enuo, Master Pug, Blue Drgn, Dark Force, Atma Condemned 20 n/a n/a - / Y / Causes Condemned/Countdown Zombone, Nerapa, Allo Ver, Still Life, Critic, Dark Force, Retainer, Veteran, Skull Drgn, Sleep Dischord 68 n/a 100 - / N / Reduces target to 50% its prior level Telstar, Chaser, Lizard, Crawler, Figaliz, Dark Force, Scullion, IronHitMan Exploder 1 n/a n/a - Y Y / Damage is caster HP; kills caster Repo Man, Bomb, Pipsqueak, Grenade, Balloon, Wart Puck, Dark Force, Scullion, Junk ForceField 24 n/a n/a - / / / Nullifies all spells of a random element Doom GrandTrain 64 66 n/a - Y Y N Targets all enemies Hidon L.? Pearl 50 120 n/a h N Y Y Targets enemies of level divisible by last digit of GP total Red Drgn, Critic, Dark Force, Innoc L.3 Muddle 28 n/a n/a - / Y / Targets enemies of level divisible by 3; causes Muddle Trapper, Apokryphos, Dante, Goblin, Dark Force L.4 Flare 42 n/a 66 - Y Y Y Targets enemies of level divisible by 4 Trapper, Apokryphos, Red Drgn, Mag Roader, Goblin, Dark Force, Dueller L.5 Doom 22 n/a n/a - / Y / Targets enemies of level divisible by 5; causes Death Trapper, Apokryphos, Doom Gaze, Goblin, Dark Force, Sky Base, Dueller, Didalos Pearl Wind 45 n/a n/a - Y Y Y Heals all allies; amount is caster HP Abolisher, Peepers, Harpiai, Storm Drgn, Ogor, Sprinter, Curley, Dark Force, Vectaur, Girl Pep Up 1 n/a n/a - / Y / Heals one ally; amount is caster HP; removes caster from battle Intangir, Muus, Junk Quasar 50 57 n/a - Y Y N Targets all enemies Dark Force, Goddess Reflect??? 0 n/a n/a - / Y / Targets Rflect'd enemies; causes Dark, Mute, Slow Dark Force, Didalos Revenge 31 n/a n/a - Y Y / Damage is caster max HP - current HP Rippler 66 n/a 111 - / N / Trades caster status and target status Reach Frog, Blue Drgn, Dark Force Roulette 10 n/a n/a - / Y / Causes Death to random target Pipsqueak, Nerapa, Critic, Dark Force, Veteran Sour Mouth 32 n/a 100 - / N / Causes Dark, Poison, Imp, Mute, Sleep Mad Oscar, Dark Force, Evil Oscar Step Mine / n/a n/a - Y Y / MP is minutes played divided by 30; Damage is steps divided by 32 Greasemonk, Intangir, Mesosaur, Tom Thumb, Pug, Crawler, Master Pug, Brachosaur, Dark Force Stone 22 40 75 - N N N Targets one or all enemies; causes Muddle; multiplies damage by 14x if caster and monster at same level /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// APPENDIX: On Dark Force Dark Force is an enemy in Kefka's Tower that uses 19 of Strago's 24 Lores, *excluding* Big Guard, CleanSweep, ForceField, Pep Up, and GrandTrain (but he can still teach CleanSweep using Rage, Sketch, or Control). He has a cycle of seven turns, each of which selects randomly from a pool of three skills. Launcher and Imp Song, sadly, are not Lores. Here is the Dark Force battle script, dumped from Lord J's FF3usME: Turn Chooses from one of these thre ------------------------------------------------ First turn: Condemned | Roulette | Aqua Rake Second turn: Revenge | Pearl Wind | L.5 Doom Third turn: L.4 Flare | L.3 Muddle | Reflect??? Fourth turn: L? Pearl | Step Mine | Launcher Fifth turn: Dischord | Sour Mouth | Imp Song Sixth turn: Aero | Blow Fish | Exploder Seventh turn: Rippler | Stone | Quasar Repeat /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// CONCLUSION If you liked this guide, write me at (skoobouy at hotmail dot com) and let me know--I won't feel like such a yutz for wasting so much time. My thanks again for the hard work of so many FF fans. Bye! Copyright 2005 Jeffrey Zimmerman