In any case, welcome to the final dungeon! Whoisthisgit calls it one of the worst final levels in video game history—but is it really? Find out, today!
Part 29: Breath of Fire II Walkthrough—Crooked Ladder (Infinity/Abyss Tower)
THUMBNAIL ART BY:
The cover of "Pandemonium: Devourer of the Lost" (by "Derek Edgington"). This is a cropped version of the full cover.
WARNING:
The overlays for the Bighands and Wraith Guards are slightly off, regarding their AI and attacks. Find them this description, instead.
RE: "I INVENTED THIS SPEED RUN STRAT" STATEMENT:
My memory was a bit self-serving—the truth is that it was a team effort. A GameFAQs member called "DrugsRBad" discovered that dead PCs did not add to your run chance. I realized the possibilities of that—so I made a test video to confirm that it was true. It was! My Djinni Sten could run from enemies with near impunity!
I brought up the idea to Xujhan (the main Glitchless runner), who then battle-tested the strat. He found that Devil Lin would often outrun things even at LVL 17, hence...the strat! See our conversation, here:
https://lpix.org/4159360/Screenshot.png
WISDOM FRUIT RECIPE (have at least two before the final dungeon):
x2 Stamina Ups + x2 Tunas (If you got Daiye)
SprRib/Sirloin + Fire Spice + x2 Vtmns/Sacred Dews (If you don't have Daiye)
Sirloin is earned by killing a Grizzly Bear in a hunting spot—I recommend fusing Saynie + Synne to Bosch to create Robo Bosch. He has great range, and a fast enough rate of fire to stun-lock the animals you hunt (though you don't want to mash too fast or too slow).
Fire Spices are buyable from Guntz (x2 Fire Spices + x2 Tunas = Stamina). Vtmns/Sacred Dews are buyable from every early-game shop, up to SimaFort/Fort Nageur.
THE RUN FORMULA:
Subtract the average enemy Vigor from that of every living PC, and you'll get these run chances...
-33 or less: 8/64
-32 to -9: 10/64
-8 to -1: 16/64
0 to 7: 22/64
8 to 15: 28/64
16-31: 32/64
32-55: 36/64 (where Solo Djinni Sten is)
56-95: 40/64 (where Djinni Sten + Devil Lin would have been)
96-143: 44/64 (where Devil Lin might have reached)
144-199: 48/64
200-255: 52/64
256-511: 30/64 (*shrug*)
Check your current HP, and see if it's more than 70% of your max HP:
more than 70% HP: x1.0
70% or less: x1.4
Finally, you will gain an additional multiplier (or penalty) depending on where the internal clock was at (viewable via Address $CAC, in RAM Watch on your emulator of choice). Take this graph...
0-3: 32
4-7: 32
8-11: 96
12-15: 96
16-19: 160
20-23: 224
24-27: 160
28-31: 96
And then add it to the average Luck of everyone in your party. Compare the result to this chart here:
0: x0.95 (will only happen if you're Cursed)
1-63: x1.0 (Will not realistically happen, with the party in this video)
64-127: x1.05
128-191: x1.1
192-255: x1.3
Unfortunately, there's not a precise way of observing this on console—but a similar process is used for determining what each character's Condition is. Check Ryu's Condition, and see if he's in Super/Great. If he is, you'll be guaranteed the 10% or 30% boost, with my party—otherwise, it's a crapshoot. With Djinni Sten + Devil Lin alive, and nobody else, that's a 96-100% chance of running away from every single enemy, besides the Ganymedes & Charons.
MONSTER AI:
Humus/Hypnos (Weak to Holy; Halved damage from most else):
1/64 defend
Otherwise, Attack (75%), SwtBrth/Dream Breath (12.5%), or Death (12.5%; Never has enough AP)
Bighand (Weak to Fire; Resists Ice; Moderately weak to status ailments):
75% to Attack Twice
Otherwise, 1/64 defend
Otherwise, Attack Once or Def-Down/Weaken
G.Rider/Cavalrider (50% Critical Hits; Weak to Holy & Fire):
1/64 defend
Otherwise, Attack (75%) or Death (25%)
Racegude/Wraith Guard (Weak to Holy; Halved damage from most else; Immune to Status Ailments):
1/64 defend
Otherwise, cast a spell with probability 17/256 (if over 50% HP), 33/256 (if over 25% and at most 50%), 65/256 (if over 12.5% and at most 25%), or 129/256 (if 12.5% HP or under)
Otherwise Attack
Spell List: Sap/Drain (Steal HP) or Drain/Leech Power (Steal AP)
Ganymede (Always goes first; Full immunity to all spells—but not weapons or items):
1/64 defend
Otherwise, Attack (50%), Cure 2/Rejuvenate (12.5%), Atk-Up/Might (12.5%), Def-Up/Protect (12.5%), or Hush/Silence (12.5%)
Daedalus (Always goes last; Immune to Status Ailments):
1/64 defend
Otherwise, with probability 100% (turn 1), 62.5% (turn 2), 25% (turn 3), or 0% (turn 4+), Atk-Up/Might
Otherwise attack
[Note that in a lead-off attack, the first enemy action occurs on turn 2. As with all enemies who target one of their allies with a spell, if the intended target of Atk-Up/Might is dead, Dadelous will instead attack a random party member.]
Ifeleet/Ifrit (Weak to Ice; Resists Fire):
1/64 defend
Otherwise, Attack (25%), Fire Breath (56.25%), or Fireball/Inferno (18.75%)
Evil Dragon (Weak to Wind):
75% to Attack Twice
Otherwise, 1/64 defend
Otherwise, Attack (50%), Fire Breath (25%), or Curse (25%)
Skeleton (Weak to Holy & Fire; Full Immunity to all spells—but not weapons or items):
1/64 defend
Otherwise, Attack (50%), Poison Attack (25%), or Zombie Attack (25%)
Dragoon (50% Critical Hits; Weak to Ice; Resists Fire):
1/64 defend
Otherwise, Attack (25%) or Fire Breath (75%)
Carm/Charon (50% Critical Hits; Weak to Holy; Halved damage from most else):
1/64 defend
Otherwise, Attack (75%), Freeze/Iceblast (12.5%), or Hail/Blizzard (12.5%)
Conch/Zircon Shell (Weak to Lightning; Full Immunity to all spells—but not weapons or items):
1/64 defend
Otherwise, Attack (75%) or Def-Down/Weaken (12.5%)
Magicmas/Magic Master (50% Critical Hits; Weak to Wind):
1/64 defend
Otherwise, Attack (75%), Typhoon (12.5%), Fireball/Inferno (6.25%), or Hail/Blizzard (6.25%)
Dark Paladin:
If any monster is under 75% HP, Cure 4/Restore on whoever's most hurt. If there is a tie, choose the last monster slot among those qualifying. If no AP, attack instead.
Otherwise, 1/64 defend
Otherwise, Attack or Hush/Silence
Amom/Ammon (Weak to Wind):
75% to Attack Twice
Otherwise, 1/64 defend
Otherwise, Attack (25%) or Typhoon (75%)
-----------------------------------------
THE ROUTE:
Newhaven:
—Buy a weapon for Ryu so you can remove the Emperor's Edge
Township:
Re-do Djinni Sten and create Devil Lin with Synne
Find a Wisdom Fruit in the middle house
—Cook another Wisdom Fruit if this doesn't bring you up to two—or don't. It's not essential.
Warp to Gate
Gate:
—CHANGE PARTY: Ryu/Rand/Lin/Sten
—EQUIP: Speed Shoes + Speed Suit + all your mightiest armor on Sten. Equip Tiara + all Vigor boosters to Lin, or the weakest armor you have (depending on if you allow optional fusions). Equip the weakest armor you have on Ryu & Rand.
Infinity/Abyss Tower, Part 1:
Slay Ryu & Rand (and Lin, if you're banning optional fusions).
Collect the Shiny Helm, Shadowstitch, & Final Blow on your way down
—Get the DreamBR/Hell Brace, if you plan to solo the semi-final boss.
Flee from every random encounter, except for those with Ganymedes—possibly Bighands, Evil Dragons, & x2 Cavalriders too, if you want to be safe.
—Ganymede Swarm: Use Emperor's Edge to ORKO
—Ganymede + Daedalus: Switch
—Bighands, Evil Dragons, or x2 Cavalriders: Switch if you want to be safe—you're not reaching 100% Flee rates unless the game's internal clock was in the right spot before entering. These foes can do enough damage in one round to undo your fusion. x1 Cavalrider can be OHKOed via Ares Shield + Sten Attack (w/Crimson Dirk/BananaDR equipped).
Dologany/Dragnier:
AVOID TALKING TO MEN WITH ORANGE HAIR!
—SELL: Vitamins, Restoratives, Ammonias, Blast Fist, Holy Tears, Ice Shield, Earth Armor, Fire Spices, Crimson Dirk, Rainbow Robe, Circlet, & Bare Knuckle
—BUY: Vitamin & Ammonia stacks till you have 9 open slots left.
Infinity/Abyss Tower, Part 2:
Avoid Infinity for now—that will undo fusions, and we can death warp here later.
Get Riot Staff, Dragon Armor, & Dragon Sword on the way to the dark room
—Switch out Charons & Ammons—maybe Dragoons for safety.
Do your equipment swapping outside the dark room, lest you risk crashing your game :\ ...