SOLO BB JOURNAL by Ottonabs (ottonabs@gmail.com) The story of one brave Black Belt, Derl...Enjoy. Began: 4/30/05 SAT about 11am STATS Derl, LV 1 STR. 5 AGL. 5 INT. 5 VIT. 20 <--higher than lv 32 ninja if im not mistaken...close anyway. LUCK 5 DAMAGE 15 HIT % 5 ABSORB 4 EVADE % 45 Derl's Equipment: weapon E-Wooden aromor E-Wooden by 11:03, the 3 extra guys are dead. Bought 5 heals, out to level on imps. 11:09 Killed by 5 imps. This may be tougher than I thought... 11:10 Level 2 on 2 Wolves. HP 64, hit % 8 Heading to inn. 11:13 - 11:16 fighting. This guy is about 200X better than my 4 thief party already. Well, maybe not quite that good, but I think this will be easier, altogether. My 4 BB party was really good, despite lack of magic. Magic is overrated though. And BB kicks thief's ass any day. 11:19 Lev 3 on 1 Grimp. HP 70. All other stats increasing bit by bit. Although his hit % is 11, he rarely misses. Not like those stupid thieves. They couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a nuke if they tried. Man I hate thieves (can you tell?) 11:24 inn 11:27 inn, buy a heal for a grand total of 8. 11:31 inn, grab a heal 11:32 encounter a madpony, we'll see how this goes. Mad: 2hits, 19dmg Derl: 15dmg Mad: 16dmg Derl: 15dmg Mad: 2hits, 23dmg (Derl is now down to 12 hp) Derl: 16dmg Mad: miss Derl: miss Derl: 14dmg Mad: 8dmg (4 hp... ouch) Mad: 11dmg, Derl is killed. crap. I may have survived if I had used a heal, but I didn't want to lose a turn of damage. 11:35 Continue from inn. 11:39 inn 11:40 Lev 4, hp 96, everything else up 1 or 2. Exp for next level is 617. That will take forever on imps, I'm gonna try Garland. 11:42 inn, grab 1 heal and 1 pure, and off I go 11:43 The fight begins. G: 17dmg D: miss G: 27dmg D: 16dmg (I think) G: miss D: 17dmg D: 17dmg G: 20dmg G: 13dmg D: use heal, up to 42 hp. G: 15dmg D: 6dmg D: 6dmg G: 18dmg D: heal up to 28 G: knock D back to 12hp. G: 23dmg, kills Derl. 11:47 Continue. I will try again, using heal before I get into the 10-20 hp range. 11:49 Begin fight D: 14dmg G: 11dmg D: 13dmg G: miss D: 6dmg G: 11dmg G: 17dmg (Derl is down to 50hp.) D: 11dmg D: miss G: 15dmg D: Heal up to 66 G: 23dmg G: 12dmg D: heal up to 49 G: 20dmg D: heal up to 52 D: heal up to 82 G: miss, I'm in business now G: 11dmg D: 12dmg G: 11dmg D: 12dmg G: 22dmg D: 10dmg G: 19dmg D: heal to 44 G: 13dmg D: heal to 48 G: 18dmg D: heal to 58 D: heal to 81, out of heals G: 26dmg G: 24dmg D: miss D: miss G: 21dmg, I'm screwed G: 22dmg, and I continue back at Corneria. Blah. Looks like I'll have to be level 5. 11:56 back to leveling. 12:19 PM Level 5. HP 102, everything else up 1, except AGL, which stayed at 7. Ok, so level 5 is not much better than level 4, but whatever. The key is probably more heal potions, anyway. I have 12 right now--I'll try with 20. (I never thought I would see the day when I stock up on heals for Garland!) Nevertheless, I am still enjoying this solo BB business better than my 4 thieves (which at the time of this writing I still have not completed. They are level 32 nins, and ToFR just hurts too much at that level. After I beat it with nins, I will finish without class change. Understandably, I grew sick of pathetic ninjas today, so I began this. Ok, time to shutup and get some heal money.) 12:25 fighting for gold 12:44 Taking a break. I have 16 heals now. 12:57 Back to obtain 4 more heals. 1:10 Ok, got my heals. 1:12 The trip there took me down to 57 hp, so after 2 heals to get me back on track, I'm down to 18 before the fight begins. 1:13 The fight starts. D: 21dmg G: 23dmg G: 13dmg D: 14dmg D: Heal to 93 hp. G: 22dmg G: 13dmg D: 21dmg G: 11dmg D: Heal to 65 hp. D: Heal to 88 hp. G: Miss. D: 20dmg G: 18dmg G: 13dmg D: 21dmg D: Heal to 81 hp. G: 18dmg D: Heal to 87 hp. G: 17dmg G: 13dmg D: Heal to 82 hp. D: Miss G: 26dmg D: Heal to 85 hp. G: 22dmg D: Heal to 91 hp. G: 21dmg D: 18dmg, Garland dies. hazaa! 1:18 Lev 6 from Garland. HP 109 >< everything else up 1 or 2. 1:20 inn, and bought a few heals for a total of 15. Gold is exactly 0. I'm off to Provoka (hopefully). The pirates shouldn't be too much trouble, but I guess I'll find out when I get there. 1:22 "And so, their (his) journey begins...what awaits the Four (One), they (he) do (does) not know..." 1:24 Just a few steps from Provoka, 4 wolves and 1 Grwolf kill me before I can act. Trying again... 1:25 Continuing from Corneria inn. 1:26 "And so, their (his) journey begins (again)...What awaits the Four (One), they (he) do (does) not know (although I know quite well)..." 1:27 Ran from 2 Creeps. They managed to do about 50 damage total. Grr 1:27 Encountered 7 enemies (wolves, imps, grimps, and a grwolf) Luckily I got first strike and ran. 1:28 Made it to Provoka. I still have 0 gold, so no inn for me before the pirates. Still got heals though, one will do the trick. 1:30 The fight begins. 1:30 The fight ends, pirates victorious. How humiliating. I managed to kill 2 of them, but they got a few criticals. I never realized how much damage they can do, especially when it's all on one guy. 1:32 Didn't save that whole time, I get to cross the bridge and get there again. 1:35 A very large wolf pack nearly ruins my day. I escape with 10 hp. 1:36 I arrive once again. This time I'll actually save state! Imagine that. 1:37 Fighting pirates again. 1:39 Fighting pirates again. 1:40 Fighting pirates again. I can't believe this. Forgot to heal, now I'm even more screwed. 1:41 Fighting pirates again. 1:43 Fighting pirates again. If I don't get them this time, it's back to leveling. 1:44 Back to leveling after a break to maintain my sanity. Pirates. Who would have thought that these fucking PIRATES would actually be hard?! ... 2:18 Break time is over. Leveling to 7...on imps...jeez 2:24 Almost killed by a Grimp because I wasn't paying attention to my hp. I gotta wake up. 3:17 Holy crap, finally leveled. Lev 7, HP 140. Nice. Everything else up 1 or 2. This better be enough to kill those damn pirates...another level here would wreak havoc on my mental integrity. I never want to see another imp again. The only thing keeping me sane through the imp-leveling is Rushradio.org. 100% Rush, baby. Check it out. I COMMAND YOU TO CHECK IT OUT 3:22 Heading to Provoka with 30 heals and 2 pures. 3:24 Nearly got there without a scratch, but 2 creeps beat me up before I could run. Glad I got all those heals. 3:25 Behold, pirate scum! Derl has come to break you. (Whether he does or not is a whole other story.) Anyway, here goes. What kind of a name is Derl, anyway? I'll tell you--it is the name of my elementary school janitor, Derl Cohorn, who recently died. :'''( He was the coolest janitor ever. AAAANNNYway... 3:30 Managed to kill 3 of them. Woohoo. But I think it's all just a matter of timing when I use my heals. Trying again... 3:31 Fighting again 3:32 Killed 5 of them, not using a single heal. I just don't have enough HP to win that way. 3:33 Trying again 3:35 Once again, no success. I'm off to the grocery store. Back in a few... 4:28 Hello again. I am very hungry, just so you know. Trying again... 4:29 Fight begins 4:30 No dice. They are not hard to kill, there are just too many. The bottom line is that I need more HP. I need to find someplace to level with better exp than imps, but where I'm not utterly slaughtered. My choices are quite limited. Corneria = imps: crap exp Temple = stun jerks: Almost guaranteed death in solo situations. Provoka area = Iguanas, creeps, etc: Too hard. Looks like I'm left with Corneria. This is just cruel. 4:40 After some pondering, I realized that the encounters outside the Temple are a bit different than those right by town. Worth a shot, I guess. 4:43 Nope, the enemies can do a bit of damage, and the exp is not much better. Distance from the inn doesn't help any either. Back to imps, it seems. Unbelievable. 4:45 The emulator I'm using (FCEU) doesn't have a frame skip function, so leveling to this point has been quite trying to my patience. But, it does allow me to disable speed throttling when the sound is off. Normally it is way too fast to control what I select, but with only one guy, it doesn't matter. I just need to watch my HP. This should help things go a lot faster. 4:48 Dinner and a movie. I'll continue afterwards. 7:25 Back. "The Manchurian Candidate" was pretty good, and so was the ravioli. More leveling... 7:39 Level 8, HP only went up to 147. That doesn't help me much. Some other stuff up 1. I'm not even going to bother trying at this level. We'll see how level 9 looks. 7:41 Back to leveling. 7:59 Level 9. HP 154. meh. Some other stuff up 1. Not good enough, I think. Level 10 it is, then. In any normal party I would probably have Astos down by now. Here I am, foiled by pirates. I just can't get used to that. 8:00 Leveling 8:23 Level 10! I like this level because I can ditch my weapon. HP 184. Not bad. I think I can probably teach those pirates a lesson now, but we'll see. After all this fighting, I have 6408 G, a lot of which will go to heals. 8:26 99 heals, oh yeah! 1998 G left over. 8:27 Crossing the bridge "for the first time" at level 10. I never thought I'd see the day. 8:28 Encountered by 3 grimps, 2 imps, and 1 wolf. My average damage used to be about 20-30. My first fist attack deals 105 to the wolf. I love BBs! All you BB doubters/haters out there can eat shit. 8:31 Wolf packs got nothin on me. Just thought I'd tell you. 8:32 Arrived at Provoka in decent shape without healing at all. Time to spend a night at the inn and hand some pirates their asses. 8:33 Fight begins. 8:34 Killed 6 of them. But, in all fairness, I didn't heal once. Trying again, not being reckless. I got this now... 8:35 Fight begins. 8:37 At long friggin last, the pirates are no more. I spit on their carcasses. Only had to use 1 heal. The Ship is mine, and now, I head to Elfland. (finally!) 8:41 Arrive at Elfland. I need to get a bit of money and buy a copper bracelet. 8:49 Nevermind about the copper, my absorb is higher without anything equipped. (Absorb = lev on BB if no armor is equipped.) I should have ditched my wood armor a long time ago. Jeez. 8:52 I've been wandering around outside town, but not for any reason. Nothing to buy, level is ok...it's just habit for me to think that I need something in town before Marsh Cave. Well, I don't! Time to grab myself a Crown, assuming I survive the pit. My only fear is stun jerks. *shudder* 8:56 Made it to the pit with no stun encounters. 8:57 Encountered scorpions?! I never knew they were in here, in all my (approximately) 10 years of playing this game. Weird. Well, they hurt like crap too, running away. 9:00 Gargoyles hurt a lot too. Restarting. 9:03 Foiled by the very same gargoyles. This time I'll run first thing. 9:04 Escaped the wretched gargoyles. On with life... 9:05 Met up with 3 wizards at the Crown. Let's see how this goes. 9:05 I was pulverized, but I took one with me. Trying again. 9:06 See 9:05. 9:07 Didn't even take one with me that time. 9:07 See 9:07(a). 9:08 See 9:07(a or b). 9:10 Guess. 9:14 Level 11 from wandering in the Crown room. (Werewolves to be specific.) HP 192, everything else up 1 or 2. 9:15 Trying again...shit, now there's four of them (instead of 3). Didn't even act. ... 9:21 While leveling, encountered my first stunbitch, a Crawl. Didn't act once. Oh happy day! *begins murderous rampage* 9:23 Trying wizards again, although I didn't level. The good news is that there are only 3 of them now. 9:23 Killed 1, killed me. 9:26 Avoided the Crawl by running. Very lucky. 9:28 Encountered another group with a Crawl, and I'm a goner. 9:29 This time I attacked the Crawl, and it died. Shouldn't have any trouble from the rest of these guys. 9:31 I didn't have any trouble from the rest of those guys. 9:34 Got too brave against 4 Werewolves and 5 Grwolves. 9:34 Ran from them this time around. 9:39 Level 12. HP 200, whatever. Everything else up 1. 9:40 Trying again. 9:40 EXCELLENT, there are only 2 of them. I think I got this one in the bag. 9:41 Sooo close. But I can do this. Trying again. 9:42 Bullshit, now there are 3. sigh. Trying anyway. Killed one first thing, so it's sorta like only having 2. Continuing the fight...no luck. didn't think so. Trying again, hopefully with two. 9:45 Encountered 3. Not even trying, I'm going to restart until there are only 2. 9:48 Good, only 2. Let's go, wizzies. 9:49 Got the fuckers. Time to grab the Crown and get outta here. 9:53 Made it out, now I have to make it back. 9:57 Made it back to town, and with 31 heals left after the ordeal. Ahh. I'm quite glad to be done with the marsh area. Astos shouldn't be too bad, since there's only one of him. The trick will be getting him before he uses RUB, which he often opens with. It doesn't ALWAYS stick though, so I'm pretty optimistic about it. 9:59 Staying at the inn, heading to Corneria for heals, and then I'll go to the Northwest Castle. 10:00 A brush with death, as I encountered 2 OddEyes and some Sahags. Amazingly, neither GAZE stuck, and I escaped unscathed. I forgot about OddEyes...I should be more careful about sea travel. 10:05 Arrived at the Northwest Castle. Here goes... 10:06 Fight begins. Rubbed, first thing. Trying again. 10:08 Rubbed, first thing. I'll let you know when either I get him or I give up for the night. Trying again... 10:11 Got him! His opening RUB didn't stick, and he didn't try RUBbing after that. His SLO2 didn't work, either. His FIR2 did some damage though. But anywhom, he's history. That was about 200 times easier than my 4 Thief party (with which I had to restart, at level 11, until I got 6 Criticals, worth about 20-30 damage each. I HATE THIEVES.) 10:12 Oh, seems I leveled to 13 courtesy of our friend the Dark Elf. HP 228. Other stuff up a bit. 10:17 Returned to Elfland, stayed at the inn, and I'm done for the night. Stay tuned tomorrow as our hero, Derl, returns the Crystal to Matoya, awakens the Prince of the Elves, opens the ancient vaults of the Mystic Key, and aids Nerrick the Dwarf in his cannallery. Who knows, he may just slay a Vampire while he's at it. Perhaps end the Earth's rot too. Derl's a busy guy, after all. Bon nuit, à bientot. 5/1/05 Sunday 8:45 AM: Good morning, folks. Let's see how much I can get done today. I am pretty sure that the Vampire's going down this session, but we'll see. For now, I'm off to stock up on heals and do the Key stuff. Rushradio.org is playing, and I'm ready for action. 8:52 "I'll trade my most powerful HERB to get my CRYSTAL back..." Apparently Matoya and the Prince are druggies. What I don't get is why the Prince needs HERB to wake up instead of CRYSTAL. And why doesn't Matoya use HERB to cure her blindness? HERB is used to treat glaucoma, isn't it? Oh well. The important thing is that they got their fix. 8:57 Yo, Prince, I got yer stuff dude I got what ya NEED. 8:59 FUCK on my way to Corneria, an OddEye + 6 sahags were my slow undoing. Anyway, I'll let you know when I get to Melmond. 9:16 J'ai arrivé au Melmond. Time to sell all this crap and see if I can get through the Earth cave without getting stunned to death. 9:18 I begin the journey to the Earth Cave. 9:21 Killed by stunners before I got there. Restarting. 9:23 Made it there. 9:26 Mummies sleeped me to death. Trying again. 9:28 Bumped into 3 wizards. Damn, I hoped I was done with those guys. Trying again. 9:29 There were only 2 this time around, and they were promptly pulverized. I happen to level on them too. Level 14, HP 237. Other stuff up 1. 9:31 Vampire picks a fight with me. He didn't know what he was dealing with. The Ruby is mine. 9:33 Stoned by 2 Coctrices. Arg. Saved state not long before, though. 9:34 Smashed them this time. 9:37 Made it out. Now I need to get to Titan's tunnel without being stunned. I'll consider myself extremely lucky if that I can do that. 9:40 I'm pretty dang lucky, it seems. But I also have to get to Sarda's place, and back to Melmond without being stunned. That's the trick. 9:43 The Rod is mine, now for the trip back to town. 9:46 Encountered some stunners, but ran before they stunned me. Quelle chance! 9:49 Made it back to Melmond. Whew. Staying at the inn, then sailing to Corneria for more heals. 10:01 Stocked up on heals and pures, and grabbed 99 tents so I can heal before I get to a destination without tapping into my heals. Cabins are pointless since they heal twice as much as a tent, but cost way more than 2 tents. Houses are just ridiculously expensive for how much they heal (only 120 hp. I can get that for 300G using tents.) Anywhom, I'm off to level at Finger Point. I'm pretty sure I'll need more than 237 hp to get all the way through the Earth Cave AND face Lich. Off I go. 10:05 Met 2 OddEyes, was immediately stunned, and I restarted without even trying to get through it. 10:09 Finally made it to Provoka without seeing any fagosexual OddEyes. 10:11 Made it to Finger Point. Let's see if I can survive here. 10:12 Killed by a Tyro. I got some nice hits on it too. They must have higher hp than I thought. Trying again. 10:14 Killed by a Troll + Zombull. Got the Zombull, nearly got the troll. I guess I'm not ready for this place, then. I'll give it one more try. 10:16 It was just a Zombull this time, and I got level 15 from it. HP 246. Other stuff up 1. I'll continue here as long as I can. 10:18 Again, a Tyro had a bone to pick with me. Trying again. 10:20 Ooh, 3 giants! Will I survive? 10:20 Nope. 10:22 4 Zombulls. Managed to make them 3 Zombulls, but they managed to make 0 of me. I give up here. Where else...? 10:26 On my way out of the region, stunners slowly poked me until I was dead. Restarting from another save state, back at level 14. *cries* 10:27 Ok, looks like I'm back at Corneria with all my newly bought tents, etc. 10:39 While thinking about somewhere to level, I proofread what I have of this thing so far. Still don't know of a good place to level. The Hall of Giants may work, but it's awfully far from an inn, and with stunners along the way. Meh. Same goes for Marsh area. The enemies guarding chests at the Northwest Castle might work. I guess I'll try that. 10:46 Arrived at the treasure room. Time to pick my favorite enemy (or go somewhere else). 10:46 Top-left is mummies. Good exp, but they could be fatal. 10:47 Barely survived 3 mummies. Only 900 exp, so they're not so good after all. Checking top-right...more mummies. Got them, since they missed every time but one, which did hefty damage. Mainly, it's the sleep that I'm afraid of, though. Checking bottom chest. Ah, level 15 again. HP 246 if you forgot. 10:50 Bottom chest is Images. I don't think they stun...not sure though. Ah, looks like they do stun, though it is not common. They hurt real bad though. Killed me, in fact. Hm. I guess I'll try to kill them, just to see their exp, but it looks like I'll have to try someplace else. 10:53 Bah, they were more successful in their stunning efforts. Screw it. Where else could I go...? 10:54 Loaded back to Elfland, to ponder...maybe I could do Earth elementals. They hurt a lot though, but there's usually only one of them, but sometimes two. I don't think I've ever seen three. Worth a try. I'm off to the Earth Cave. 10:57 Managed to survive plenty of stuns from an OddEye and his posse of sahags. At Melmond now. 10:58 Done with the inn, now to the Cave. 11:00 Made it to the cave, free of incident. 11:02 Level 15 for the third time, before arriving at the elemental. HP 246. Again. 11:03 Killed one elemental, but I don't know if I'm comfortable with their high damage. I'll do a few more, the levels will come quickly. 11:05 It got me. I've been saving state after each one though. Trying again. 11:08 After a few more of them, level 16 is reached. HP 277. Some other stuff up 1. 11:09 Cool, seems like my damage is a fair amount higher this level. About 20-50 more damage than usual. 11:11 Nevermind, looks like that one fight was just pretty lucky. Damage about the same as usual. 11:12 Killed. The outcome of these fights is entirely based on the order of each turn, since damage is consistent on both ends. The Earth got first hit for each round this time. No biggie. Trying again. 11:16 Level 17, hp 311. Not bad. Some other stuff up 1. 11:18 Killed. Restarting. 11:20 Out of heals, so I'm leaving. This is working pretty well though. I'll stock up and return for another level, maybe two. 11:24 Wow, just found my first Kyzoku. I've barely been in the sea, but it's still surprisingly late in the game to only just now be seeing one. 11:26 Potions full. Returning... 11:30 Back at the Earth spot. Leveling. 11:31 Oh, first one got me level 18, hp 321. Might as well stick around for another level. 11:36 Level 19, hp 356. Nice. Other stuff up 1. I've still got 57 heals, but I only feel comfortable coming back in with 99. Leaving to restock, then I'll return to try my luck against Lich. 11:40 Interesting, stunners didn't have any luck in stunning me. I wonder if I was just lucky or if there's something special about level 19...? 11:43 Wolves are suddenly running away, every single one of them. That makes traveling a bit faster. 11:45 Excellent, OddEyes tend to run too. Thank God! 11:46 Heals fully stocked. Back to the cave, this time to finish, if all goes well. 11:49 Back at Melmond, ready to go. 11:51 At the cave, no stunners. Yay. 11:55 A large group of stunners scared me, but they didn't stun. I hope this is more than just luck. 11:59 A few steps from the stairs to the last floor, and 7 stunners show up. I thought I was doomed, but Derl got up, and the next attempts at stunning him failed. Successful escape. Wow. I was ready to restart, too. 12:02 PM I have arrived at Lich's orb. Manges-tu de la merde, Lich! 12:03 The fight starts. L: Ice2, 120ish damage. eep. D: 122dmg D: 163dmg L: 50dmg L: Slp2 D: Asleep, wake up, just like that. L: 55dmg D: 90ish dmg D: 91dmg, Lich is no more. Awesome. And with 105hp to spare. Ah, level 20! Merci beaucoup, Lich! HP 366. Some stuff up 1. 12:06 On my way back to Melmond. 12:09 Back at Melmond, healed. I've got some stuff to do, then I need to go to my Spring Concert. For those who care, we will be playing: 1. Pas Redoublé, by Camille Saint-Saëns 2. Les Miserables by some other French guy 3. Danse Bacchanale (from Samson and Delilah), also by Camille Saint-Saëns 4. And to top it all off, *vomits* ... The Stars and Stripes Forever...by *vomits again, with rage* John Philip Fucking Sousa. I'm glad he's dead, though I would have liked to kill him. The inventor of disgusting marches, he is one of my very most hated "composers" if you can call him that. All he really did was write one gross march, rename it a thousand times, and re-sell them. Maybe change one note here or there. All his songs are the same. Ugh. So anyway, I'll be back in a bit. 12:53 Ok I won't be leaving for a little while, so I'll continue a bit. Looks like I need to go to Crescent Lake, pick up a canoe, and do the Castle of Ordeals if I have time. 12:57 Haven't gotten to the Lake yet, but I'm starving. Taking a short break. 4:10 Ok, so a short break turned into leaving for the concert. Whatever. Anyway, back to business. Continuing to Crescent. 4:14 Arrived at Crescent. Restocking items, grabbing canoe, resting, then it's off to the Castle of Ordeals. 4:20 Arrived at the Castle, with my Ship parked at the little river nearby. Onward... 4:23 The Zeus gauntlet is mine. Now I can LIT2. This is one of the main reasons to do the Castle before the Ice Cave (when using a magically impaired party). The ability to use any target-all spell is a big help against large groups. 4:25 3 mummies and 1 WzMummy kindly offer me level 21. I accept. HP 376. My VIT. is now 40. That is pretty cool. I think my lv32 ninjas have like 20 VIT. 4:27 Got the Heal Stick. Yes, I said "stick," do you have a problem? 4:28 The Gold bracelet offers slightly better defense for the time being. Equipping it. 4:29 Got the Tail, not that I'll use it. But there it is. 4:30 Bring it, Zombie D! (It was a pushover) 4:31 And I'm done here. Luckily I didn't meet any Sorcerers, that was my main concern, and is also my primary fear in the Ice Cave (which is where I'm off to next, after refilling my heals, of course). 4:33 Catmans and Saber Ts got me. No worries, saved right before. 4:34 Safely back in the ocean. 4:36 Fully stocked, now to the Ice Cave. 4:40 The river navigation begins. 4:43 Well, here we are. This is the test of worthiness for any solo challenge. This place has got it all: rub, sorcerers, stone, XXXX, sleep, and, everyone's favorite, stun. Let's mosey. 4:44 Met up with Wizards, my old nemesis (plural nemeses?). Zeus gauntlet took care of them in 3 turns. 4:49 Hopefully I survive the undead stunner spot. Here goes something. ...And, there's 9 of them. Lucky me. Anyway, on with the fight. Zeus Gauntlet shows 5 of them what-for in the first turn, the main stunners gone. One more zap will do it. Ok, plus a punch. Close enough. That wasn't too bad. And I leveled. Level 22, hp 412. Other stuff up 1 or 2. 4:53 Met up with 2 sorcerers, and was worried. But, luck was on my side, and their stuns did not last long, nor did their attacks -o- death actually kill me. I defeat them relatively unharmed. 4:56 Time to beat the tar out of the Eye. It didn't even touch me. One shot, one kill. Excellent. Gonna stick around for 4 more fights to level, just because I'm close (already...cool). Wups, almost forgot the Floater... *slaps forehead* 4:59 Level 23, hp 423. Some other stuff up 1. I'm tempted to just stay here and level indefinitely, but I have work to do. I'll come back some other time. 5:00 Arrived for the second time at the undead stunner spot. Let's hope the Fates are kind to me again. 5:01 They were. 5:03 I'm out. That was surprisingly easy. In fact, once again, I contend that one BB is better than 4 Thieves. Now I can speak from experience. 5:07 Goodbye, Ship; Hello, Airship! It took me at least one week (slightly longer, I think) to get this far with my thieves--two days with ONE black belt. If anyone is still under the impression that a Thief is better, or more useful, or any other such nonsense, than a Black Belt, they should seek psychiatric help. There is no room for opinion; it is a matter of fact. The Black Belt is better than the Thief. That's all there is to it. 5:13 After resting and restocking, I grabbed a Proring. Next in line is the Waterfall, mainly for the Ribbon. Cube's good too. While I'm flying around, I might as well get the bottle and pick up Oxyale. 5:22 Leveled in the Waterfall (not done yet). Level 24, hp 434. A few other things up 1. 5:26 Got the ribbon. Ribbon + Proring = no more magic/stuatus worries. Hazaa! 5:26 D'oh, almost forgot the Cube. It isn't in a chest, come on. 5:29 Gas Dragon? Psh. Gone in 2 turns. Useless. Gas Dragons are like imps to me (ok not THAT easy, but not hard at all). 5:31 Leveled, again. Jeez, I'm not even trying, either. Level 25, hp 465. Stuff up 1, as usual. 5:32 Out of the Waterfall. 5:35 I figure that since I'm in the area, I might as well try the Sea Shrine. My only real concern is Ghosts. Man those things hurt. Oh, and Kraken. Yeah, gotta watch out for him, too. 5:37 Entered the Shrine. 5:38 I'm dealing a lot of damage (400-600) but I'm getting hit kinda hard too. I'll be running from most fights just to save heal potions. 5:40 Got the Mage Stick. Woohoo. 5:41 Water elementals suck. I died. Looks like I'll need more hp before I can finish this place. I'll be leveling, in that case. But I'm sick of FF1 for a while. I'll probably be back later tonight. For now, taking an extended break. 9:05 If all that's left for me to do for a while is level, I'm gonna call it quits for the night. Got a little homework to do anyway. Later. 5/2/05 Monday 3:32 PM Back from school. Eye leveling. 3:45 Level 26, still haven't gotten to the Eye. HP 477. Stuff up 1 or 2. 3:46 Got to the Eye. 3:49 Level 27, hp 489. Some stuff up 1. 3:54 Sorry, got level 28 but didn't notice. (Watching a friend play GT4.) HP 525, sweet. Other stuff up 1. 3:56 Level 29, hp 537. Damage is going up really fast now, at least 2 per level. Other stuff up 1 or 2. 4:00 Level 30, hp 550. When I get 600 hp I'll try the Sea Shrine again. Other stuff up 1. 4:03 Level 31, hp 583. Some other stuff up 1. I'm gonna do the Volcano, pick up a level while I kill Kary. 4:11 Entered Volcano. 4:17 Arrived at Kary, though I didn't level like I expected. Whatever. 4:18 Kary is no more. 5:58 Ok, had some stuff to do. Back now, trying Sea Shrine after 1 level... Finger point otta do the trick pretty quickly. 6:01 New damage record: 979 to a Zombull. Still got about 20 more levels until max, so my damage will be soaring beyond belief pretty soon. 6:06 Level 32, hp 616. Hopefully that will be enough to get through the Sea Shrine. Other stuff up 1 or 2. (At this level, ninjas have about 400 hp, and do a LOT less damage, and that's with Katana. What's the point?) 6:11 Arrived at the Shrine. Even though my hp is pretty high, I'm still going to run from most fights to save heal potions. This place takes a while. Speaking of which, forgot to restock ><. Restarting in town. 6:13 Got my heals, but Kope is kind enough to block my path to the submarine. 6:14 Ok, he's out of the way. Back in the Shrine. 6:15 Just did 1167 damage to a Water elemental. Sorry, I just find that worth mentioning. 6:17 Killed by ghosts. Can't run from them, and the Light Axe doesn't kill them fast enough. Trying again. 6:21 Got the Mage stick. It should do a bit more damage to Ghosts than the Light Axe. I'm still just hoping I don't encounter any, but I'm sure I will. 6:23 Ah, there they are. But there are only two. First time there were four. Got em. 6:24 Woot, got to the treasure room. No encounters, yay. Opal bracelet is nice, too. 10 more absorb than before. 6:26 "In the treasure box, you found....PURE" Sweet! ... 6:27 The nice thing about lugging three corpses around with you is that you get plenty of storage space. I always enjoyed that aspect of soloing. 6:28 Got the SLAB. 6:30 Damn ghosts. Luckily I saved right before them. Maybe I can avoid them somehow. 6:31 Good, they decided to miss all but once this time. Still took a lot of damage though. 6:32 A horde of sahags. If I was hurt right now, I would use this to heal up with the Heal stick. I'm almost at max hp though. Whatever. 6:36 Fucking ghosts. 6:44 Salut, Kraken. 6:45 à Dieu, Kraken. (He hit me once for over 200, but he decided to INK his second turn. Two attacks and he's gone.) 6:48 Back in Corneria to rest and restock. Afterwards, I'll learn a foreign language in a matter of seconds with the help of my trusty SLAB and an egotistical doctor named Unne. 6:53 On my way to Lefein, level 33. HP 629. Hit % 101, VIT. 52. Stuff up 1 or 2. 6:54 Today, on "Antiques Roadshow..." Well, as I said, my grandmother gave this to me before she died... Ah, yes, well I can see it is quality work. On the bottom, if you look carefully, you can see stamped the message "Made in Lefein." Oh, I see, yes. That's good news. Do you know why? The Lefeinish were the best CHIME makers in history. Apparently they lock towers in deserts. I don't quite get that part, but anyway... Mm hm, very interesting...oh, really...oh, how nice... Judging from the stamp mark, I would judge this CHIME to be about 400 years old. Oh, my goodness. Ma'am, do you know about how much this is worth? Oh, no, not at all. I have no idea. Neither do I. Can't sell it at the Item Shop. ..? 6:59 Sorry. Anyway... 7:05 Welcome to the Mirage Tower. Enjoy your stay. If you look forward you will see a large room with a bunch of crap in it. 7:06 Ok, eating back in a bit. 7:42 Back. Skipping all the treasure here since I have no use for it. 7:45 Blue D didn't touch me. 7:46 Actually I'll go ahead and get the Bane sword, though I probably won't use it much at all. But that's the only treasure I'm interested in here. 7:50 At the Bridge. This place is really short if you skip the treasure. If I run into Warmech, I gladly accept its challenge. If not, I'm outta here! 7:51 Level 34, hp 667. Stuff up 1-3. 7:53 Ran into 2 MudGols and 5 sorcerers. I thought I would be fine with my Proring, however, it seems that the Proring does not protect me from their death attack, just RUB. Or maybe it's just because I forgot to go to the armor screen when I leveled. Trying again. 7:56 Well, I survived a couple of hits from them, but most ran away, so I can't know for sure if it was just luck or my Proring. At least I'm alive. 7:57 How ya doin, Tiamat? Mm hm? Oh really? Ha ha. Yeah, I know how that can go. Look, I hate to say it, but I'm gonna have to slaughter you. 7:59 See you in about 2000 years ago. Later. (Earlier?) Well, that's it for the Fiends, at least for the moment. I've probably got some leveling to do before I go for the Temple, and I don't really feel like leveling right now. Although it really isn't any work at all, I just don't wanna. I may later tonight, but for now, I'm gonna head to town and call it quits. JOIN US TOMORROW AS DERL, ONCE MOCKINGLY KNOWN AS "IMP-SLAYER" AND "PIRATES' BITCH" BRAVES THE PERILS OF TIME-TRAVEL AND APOCOLYPTIC PESTILENCE EXTERMINATION. YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS THE SERIES FINALE OF... F F 1 : A B L A C K B E L T ' S T A L E (costarring 3 dead bodies) Whatever. Later. 5/3/05 Tuesday 5:58 PM I'll try the Temple now, and see how much if any I need to level. 6:02 Level 35 thanks to 3 Gas Dragons (over 12000 exp!). HP 681. Stuff up 1 or 2. 6:03 Phantom's gone. 6:06 Level 36 from 4 Earths, but zey hurting like ze krap. HP 695. Stuff up 1 or 2. 6:10 Buh-bye, Lich. 6:12 Buh-bye, Kary. 6:14 On the Water floor, out of heals. HP at 585/695. I doubt I'll make it, but I'll go as far as I can. 6:16 Kraken got me with a hit for 595 damage. Ok, I'm pretty sure I'll need 999 hp to get through all of this. Eye-leveling until further notice... 7:14 Had some stuff to do. Anyway, level 35 again. HP 681. 7:18 Level 36. HP 695, some stuff up, blah blah blah. 7:21 Level 37, hp 730, stuff up 1 or 2. 7:24 Level 38, hp 745, stuff up 1 or 2. 7:27 Level 39, hp 760, stuff up 1 or 2. 7:30 Level 40, hp 797, some stuff up 1. 7:33 Level 41, hp 812, stuff up 1 or 2. 7:35 Level 42, hp 828, some stuff up 1. 7:38 Level 43, hp 868, stuff up 1 or 2. 7:41 Level 44, hp 884, some stuff up 1. 7:45 Level 45, hp 900, stuff up 1 or 2. 7:46 Eating 9:30 Back after watching some tv. 9:32 Just did my first damage over 2000. 2130! Excellent. 9:33 Level 46, hp 938, some stuff up 1 or 2. 9:37 Level 47, hp 977, stuff up 1 or 2. 9:40 Level 48, hp 994, some stuff up 1. HP is close enough, I'm restocking, resting, and finishing this thing. 9:42 WHAT THE FUCK?! Whatever happened to Proring?! A Mage's RUB worked! FUCK. I haven'tsaved for several levels. Let's see where I am... Level 45, hp 900. Ok, that will work, I guess. If not, fuck it. Anyway, I'm getting out of here. 9:45 My damage is hovering around 1300 instead of 2000, and I'll need every bit I can get for Chaos. I'm pissed right now, so I quit for tonight. Sigh, I thought it would be done today. Fucking Mage. Well, I've got homework I should be doing anyway. I'm in town now. First thing tomorrow, I'm getting re-leveled beating the living shit out of Chaos. Later. 10:22 After doing homework I feel ready to re-level and finish it tonight after all. Returning to the Eye...I won't bother telling you when I level again unless I level more than last time. But I won't. If you want to know the level info, it is just up a few lines. 10:31 Level 48, hp 997 this time. Heading out of the Ice Cave. 10:34 On my way to the Temple. 10:35 And here we are. 10:39 Phantom is punished. 10:45 Jeez, my equipment is slacking off tonight. Just got stoned by a GrMedusa. What the hell? Hello, Ribbon? Anyone home? Restarting, not far from there. 10:47 Level 49 on those GrMedusas. HP 999, of course. Some stuff up a bit. Who knew? If I get level 50 I'll tell you all my final stats. If I don't get level 50, I'll get it after I kill Chaos (be restarting) and let you know then. 10:50 1499 damage to Lich. I don't think it quite knew what happened. 10:51 1500something to Kary. She never touched me. I don't think she quite knew what happened. 10:53 Nearly killed by 5 Waters. I hate those. They do about 100 damage, and there are FIVE OF THEM. They wouldn't be an issue if I had more than one guy to spread the damage around. 29 hp left, after going in with over 800. Ridiculous. 10:56 1153 (I think) damage to Kraken. Got the job done well. 10:58 Level 50 thanks to 5 Airs. Yuck. Anyway, hp is still 999, imagine that. FINAL STATS: DERL, LEVEL 50 BLACK BELT STR. 38 DAMAGE 100 AGL. 35 HIT % 152 INT. 35 ABSORB (with armor) 43 VIT. 69 EVADE % 80 <--oh yeah! LUCK 40 EXP. 991710 Sweet action. Unfortunately, after the fight with those Airs, the last of my Heals could only get me to 689 hp. Let's hope that's enough for Tiamat AND Chaos. 11:02 Got first hit on Tiamat, 1095 damage. Damn, 5 hp off. Second attack and he's more than gone. He didn't damage me though. My 80% evasion and Ribbon foiled him entirely. Not to mention my gargantuan damage. 11:03 I love the final room, it looks so cool. Plus, no encounters. 11:04 Bring it, Chaos. D: 1120 damage C: 60 (I think) damage from Ice3. C: Lit3, 31 damage. Woowoo. D: 1095 damage. Chaos is a festering corpse (or would be if he didn't disintegrate by my fists-o-fury. COMPLETED 11:04 PM, TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2005. SOLO BLACK BELT JOURNAL COMPLETE. HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT, I SURE DID. WELL, THAT'S ONE MORE FF1 ACCOMPLISHMENT UNDER MY BELT. I STILL HAVE TO FINISH MY NINJAS, AND IF I HAVE THE PATIENCE, I'LL DO THE THIEVES. YUCK. I HATE THIEVES. IF THERE IS ANYTHING YOU SHOULD HAVE LEARNED FROM READING THIS, IT IS THAT THE EVER RAGING BATTLE OF BLACK BELT VERSUS THIEF HAS BEEN ENDED, ONCE AND FOR ALL, WITH BLACK BELT THE UNDENIABLE VICTOR. GO FORTH, AND SPREAD THE WORD. SPREAD IT!!! If I do another solo anytime, I'll do a journal of it too. Until then, good luck, and happy FF1-ing! Ottonabs