Breath of Fire 4 - 0 Exp Challenge Part 1: Skulfish

Channel:

MoogleBoss

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6,670

Published on October 6, 2015 3:10:23 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvwFpsYAP94

Game:

Breath of Fire IV (2000)

Duration: 2:26

2,441 views

28

I didn't really have this challenge planned until rather recently, but a few months ago one YouTube user kindly suggested that I try it out and my curiosity got the better of me and I gave in to the impulse. I've done at least one kind of low-level challenge in the first Breath of Fire games, and they're all available here on YouTube, with BoF4 being the sole game in the series until Dragon Quarter (with a vastly different combat system) that I didn't have a recorded low-level playthrough of. Since I do believe I am quite at BoF4, too, and I could enrich my knowledge of the game even further by taking this challenge I thought I would go ahead and do it.

Just like in the Breath of Fire 3 0 exp run, this playthrough involves inputting a series of codes that prevent experience gain entirely. This seems to not work all the time, i.e. when Fou-Lu is forced to fight enemies (even with the codes on), Ryu will have a tiny bit leftover in spite of Fou-Lu not sustaining a single point of exp. Since Ryu only has 10 exp left until lv. 2, this is quite a threat. So far, the first Fou-Lu sequence forced Ryu gain a whopping 1 point of exp. Hopefully, I will never get to see Ryu level up and if I do I will find a way to get around it... somehow.

The 0 exp run probably has a much vaster effect on how the battles play out in this game in comparison to BoF 3. With only 1 armour slot instead of 3 and 1 accessory slot instead of 2, it is way harder to protect the party from elements and status. No inoculations are available either (but there are seeds and similar items with elusive availability). The party is also weaker, as Scias and Ursula hardly stand up to the bulk and potential of Garr and Rei, the reliable latergame fighters of BoF3. There are things that provide an advantage for us, too, such as having 6 characters in a battle at the same time, providing backup in case things go badly.

Now, there are many things I could further limit in this run - Ryu's dragon transformations, stamp farming to get ridiculous items like the Render early on in chapter 2, Manly Clothes/Soul Gem providing infinite longevity to the party... I think only the latter are deserving of a ban, because a party with a sufficient number of auto-revive equipment pieces can beat any boss, time being the only issue. Things like early Render will be left to my own discretion - I will probably obtain the stamp items early just to fiddle around with them, but if they just cheese boss fights that aren't necessarily that complicated, I certainly won't be resorting to them. Perhaps I could record separate blooper-like reels to show what it's like to fight with a maxed Render early on for fun. The same probably applies to some of the exploitation involving this game's Fairy Village system.

As for dragons, well... There's really not much Ryu can do with those in the first place, though I don't have much of a clue how powerful a lv. 1 Kaiser can be. One thing that transformed Ryu has over his BoF3 reincarnation is that being lv. 1 renders the cost of transforming and staying in dragon form totally manageable.

So this is yet another new challenge which I'll be updating with new videos every now and then. It feels good to start uploading BoF4 videos, as I've always felt this game's combat system is the best in the series, even if a bit unexplainable at times.

In the first video, we fight the first actual boss in this game (not counting Nina facing Joh), that being Skulfish. Though it occurs early enough in the game for our low levels not to show yet, the limitations caused by going 0 exp shows already. Ryu can be OHKO'd by the boss's attacks, and there are no ways to secure his survival other than having him transform into his Astral dragon form. You might think this makes him a big offensive threat, but without any good daggers or swords in sight at this point of the game, transformed Ryu still deals inferior physical damage to Ershin (who joins at a higher level and with slightly better raw stats). It is therefore a better idea to have him play a supportive role. Ryu first helps Ershin get to max Pwr by using RainbowTrouts on him - a single one boosts the stat by 50%, which is crazy good, and we're lucky to have access to this item via fishing so early.

Before Ershin's Pwr is buffed up, Nina is the best damage dealer with her Heal spell, as Skulfish is undead. So Nina finds effective usage even without learning up-to-date spells and growing magic at ridiculously high rates even masterless as she does in a regular game with level-ups. Afterwards, Ershin is able to surpass her. Ryu should just cast his cheap fire spell before Ershin for a combo, since 24 Pwr renders Flame Strike underwhelming. Speaking of Flame Strike, copying Astral Ryu's skill is how Ershin learns it so early. It is surprisingly powerful, and Ershin is hardly a clutch physical fighter even before all the Deis magic kicks in.

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