Breath of Fire 3 - 0 Exp Run Part 13: Angler

Channel:

MoogleBoss

Subscribers:

6,660

Published on May 19, 2015 6:07:17 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N77z2yZwNv0

Game:

Breath of Fire III (1997)

Duration: 3:02

870 views

10

Challenge playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbSv8zSDR9c3B4PywC9BZi6DB276WM3gE

After soloing Gaist, what more can our prodigy level 1 Ryu accomplish in this challenge as the enemies just get tougher and tougher? Well, he does happen to have some interesting utility against this next storyline boss (or mini-boss?)...

Angler happens to be a holy-weak boss, taking 2/3 extra damage from attacks of said element, and it's not an element we can abuse all that easily really, what with the Silver Knife still being the best holy-elemental weapon (Momo's got her Ghostbuster from the FV, but she's also unavailable in this fight). Luckily, Ryu can access his Warrior form via Accession, which can freely use Aura in its generic variants... wait, you say, how do we even use one of the game's most expensive offensive skills with 11 max AP?

There are two problems here:

- Aura costing 20 AP, which is more than what Ryu has at max

This is resolved by Ryu having the Spirit Ring equipped (FV exclusive accessory), halving the AP cost and letting him use Aura when at max AP.

- Ryu staying transformed, reducing his AP when every turn ends, and not having enough AP to use Aura next turn

This is solved by a mix of Speed Boots + speedy setup on Ryu (featuring the elusive Goo King Sword from the FV) + 2 Speed castings from Rei, who knows the spell naturally at base, granting Ryu an EX-turn when he can finally use Aura BEFORE his AP penalty upon the turn ending.

Rei can EX-turn the boss naturally with two pairs of Speed Boots, while Garr needs 28 speed + a Speed boost to achieve the same, functioning as an effective support item afterwards with Vodka Shot + Wisdom Seed + Vitamin utility that's priceless in many ways when Rei takes care of the buffing and then joins Ryu by transforming himself.

While Ryu waits for the setup to be complete, he uses Focus once, increasing the damage his Aura attack will do. Another Focus would ensure a OHKO against the boss without a shadow of doubt, but the longer you continue the battle the more likely you are to see Ryu getting OHKO'd by any of the boss's attacks. Meryleep apprenticeship doesn't really grant Ryu any reliable means of survival, so we mostly depend on Garr "tanking" (he did sacrifice most of his bulk, rather average in 0 exp at this point, to EX-turn the boss more quickly) at the point of the attack formation to make sure Ryu is kept alive before he lands his vicious blow.

Rei attacking in Weretiger just once seems to do the job as far as picking up the kill goes. He shouldn't attack his own allies on the first turn, so no Influence needed.

After this battle, we get access to the Robe of Wind, permitting Speed buffing without Rei's involvement, which is a pretty big buff for this type of run. Quite handy as it's a good idea to EX-turn bosses even in such a run with a very underwhelming party statwise.

Other Statistics