Breath of Fire 3 - 0 Exp Run Part 4: Stallion

Channel:

MoogleBoss

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Published on January 19, 2015 4:44:44 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrkvCVC5tAM

Game:

Breath of Fire III (1997)

Duration: 9:50

2,949 views

30

The dramatic conclusion to the Balio and Sunder saga. Featuring the mandatory non-boss battle against three thugs preceding the Stallion boss.

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

Garr joins the party, finally!... Though he does it only after we're done with the little mandatory fight against generally unmenacing three bosslike enemies. Nina is not forced into the active party anymore (which was the case during the whole arena sequence), so Peco's replacing her. You're seeing Peco being used for the first and also last time in this video.

What advantages does Peco offer that Nina doesn't? Well, he's bulkier due to having 40 HP, but he'll die quickly if somebody aims magic at him anyway (nonexistent Intelligence stat). Still, opting for Defence formation here means hits will be spread out across the party members and Momo will be able to dish out the damage.

I had some leftover item magic casting Sirocco from the arena (which I expected to need for Emitai, but my eventual strategy didn't require any of it), so Momo can make use of her excellent Int stat to nuke these three with item magic - unlike using Blitz, she doesn't lose half of her HP, which would put her at risk.

The three blokes don't take too long to die.

Balio and Sunder transform, and their destructive potential is really bad news for the party - luckily the challenge's second to third best character (because Ryu is more than usable as you shall see very soon) joins our ranks and we are not at such a disadvantage anymore.

To make any comments unnecessary, I will compare Garr's base stats to the bases of the previously strongest character in the party, stat-wise:

Momo (lv. 10) - 52 HP, 40 AP, 30 Pwr, 25 Def, 15 Agl, 50 Int
Garr (lv. 13) - 99 HP, 7 AP, 58 Pwr, 44 Def, 17 Agl, 21 Int

Garr may have a little less AP (which is a pity indeed) and Intelligence, but he's just so much superior in nearly every area. It's true that Momo gets better weapons until way later though (and even then, we abuse everything possible so when Garr gets his Beast Spear Momo still has better toys).

99 HP and access to heavy armour is a clear indication that Garr loves tanking hits from bosses. This lifts the pressure from squishy Momo and lv. 1 Ryu with his hilarious 20 HP, as now around 62% of all attacks striking single-target will be aimed at Garr if he's at the front of the Attack Formation. His defence falls by 20% yet he gets 70% extra attack in return and this is a really big number. Sadly, there was no chance to transfer some of our Blue Magic to Garr, but there's not much he can use with that 7 AP (maybe Double Blow...).

There's a dirty trick that can be exploited here; also possible in the Mikba battle. After the first turn when Stallion has used Barrier (Venom Breath in Mikba's case), attempt to escape and until entering his next phase the boss will repeat that action while we are free to buff up and attack. I promised I'd abuse the hell out of everything just to show off if nothing else (i.e. when survival is not really all that undermined), so I wanted to showcase this rather well-known exploit. I won't be doing this against the (much-harder) Mikba however!

Momo gets the Speed Boots to outspeed the boss (19 over 15 speed; the boss still outspeeds her towards the end and actually OHKOs with a regular attack - this game can be so unpredictable sometimes, especially as concerns turn order) while Garr just gets the heavy stuff + Titan Belts (farmable as a rare drop).

Eventually, the boss will come to his senses and probably use UtmostAttack, knocking Ryu out. This one's multi-elemental, so giving Momo (whose frailty is bothersome) the Ring of Ice with its ice-absorption causes her to receive less damage from the attack. Garr's not too worried with 99 max HP.

This is also the best time to learn the Resist ability - an essential ability for this kind of hardcore challenge. The boss uses it in all of the phases with varying patterns, and the choice when to try copying it depends largely on how dangerous the occurrence of the other actions in that pattern is. I settle for the period immediately following the Barrier exploit.

I learn it surprisingly early on this attempt, which iirc is why I kept this one recording and not the others (it was as tedious as it sounds).

Then the OHKO thing with the surprise outspeeding occurs, but Garr can solo the boss with Vitamins with ease even without Momo by his side providing support utility. He has a really good Reprisal rate when fronting Attack Formation too, even if it's nothing when compared to (a properly trained) Peco.

Rei beats Garr in every regard when he joins but you gotta give Garr some credit for just how good he is at this point.

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