Final Fantasy 1 Walkthrough With Dagger

[Dagger Dias]

BOSS BATTLE: Pirate (x9)

If you're at full health and at least level 4 then this is the easiest boss in the game. If you approached them after being weak from traveling to this town, then you might not survive. Just have everyone attack one pirate per character, they are pretty weak. You could also have 2 characters go after the same pirate if you wish. Repeat either strategy until you win. The pirate captain gives you their ship when you win!
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Ice

Spellbook: Black Magic
Level: 2

Similar to Fire and Lit. It does basic Ice damage to an enemy. It is a little stronger than Fire. Recommended for both the Black Mage and Red Mage at this point in the game. You may want to come back to get it for your Ninja late in the game too.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Dark

Spellbook: Black Magic
Level: 2

This has the potential to "blind" enemies. In the original version all it can do is lower their accuracy rating for their attacks. Don't bother with this spell for anyone who is proficient with it. Better options are available.​

 

[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Tmpr

Spellbook: Black Magic
Level: 2

This is one of the most useful spells in the game. Buy it for both the Red Mage and Black Mage as soon as you can. It's also important for the Ninja to get it for him once you are able to. What this spell does is that it increases the damage a regular attack can do for one character in a battle. Cast it on your Fighters. If you do not have a Fighter then cast it on your Red Mage, Thief, or Black Belt. Whoever your strongest attacker with weapons is. Even if that best attacker is a White Mage it still will be effective.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Slow

Spellbook: Black Magic
Level: 2

This spell is not entirely what you might expect. In the original NES version the Slow spell makes an enemy potentially be able to hit less "times" when they attack. That can result in less damage. It's not as useful as it sounds. You can get it for your Ninja later on, but it's not necessary for the Black Mage or Red Mage.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Lamp

Spellbook: White Magic
Level: 2

This spell is the reverse of the Black Magic spell, Blind. It's fairly useless since Blind also was. Ignore it. The Red Mage has much better options between all the level 2 spells he has access to. The White Mage should learn the other spells of this level. The Knight even has better options late in the game.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Mute

Spellbook: White Magic
Level: 2

This can make it to where enemy casters cannot use spells. It's not as useful as you may think, though it's worth a look. The White Mage should learn it but not the Red Mage since he has better options. You can also teach it to the Knight later on.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Invs

Spellbook: White Magic
Level: 2

This can potentially increase a character's evasion in battle to make them avoid attacks more often. Get it for the White Mage if you want. The Red Mage has better options than what this offers. The Knight can learn it although he won't need it.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Alit

Spellbook: White Magic
Level: 2

The most useful level 2 White Magic spell. Get it for everyone who is proficient with it. Alit is short for Anti-Lightning. It boosts your defense against thunder elemental attacks. Even the Knight can learn it later on, so get it for him once you can.
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[Dagger Dias]

DWARF CAVE - SIDEQUEST
My Level: 6

This is a cave you don't have to go to yet, however you have access to it as soon as you get the ship from the pirates. It becomes important later. Sail west of Coneria in the pirate ship and then get off at the port just to the left of the Temple of Fiends. Walk south and enter the cave. Inside are dwarves. The same awesome song from the Witch's Cave plays here. Go north of the entrance to find a house with chests that contain 575 gil and 450 gil. Continue west and you find a dwarf who was digging a path but is out of TNT. The large building next to him is locked by the Key. We wil have to come back here later but at least we got some money from that first house. There is also a blacksmith at the northmost house. He will be important for a sidequest late in the game. That's all there is to do here, for now.


Next up is Elfland. It's not a very popular part of the game. It is where weapons and armor become VERY expensive, compared to before. They will remain expensive for the remainder of the game. The same goes for spells. The good news is that after Elfland you get access to the Hall Of Giants for leveling up and obtaining large amounts of gil. The bad news is, you won't have access to it now. It's going to be a long string of battles to accumulate all that gil, so put on some great music to listen to if that helps pass the time while battling endlessly on the world map.

 

[Dagger Dias]

ELFLAND
My Level: 6

Well, here we are. As I mentioned in my last post, this is the part of the game where stuff starts to get REALLY expensive. I always end up gaining a ton of levels here while getting the gil needed to buy the equipment and spells in this town. The time spent trying to accumulate all the gil for spells and equipment in this town is one of my least favorite portions of the game. You'll need the new gear and spells too because the difficulty skyrockets in the next cavern. Sail south of Coneria then west to find the port. Get out and enter the town. The castle has nothing of interest right now, the prince is asleep and the treasure room is locked by the Key. You can talk to the elves in the castle for hints if you want though this is not required. Let's go to the town. Enter any of them. All four go to the same place.

You'll see there are four magic shops. Two for White Magic and two for Black Magic. The ones near the Inn are for 3rd level magic and the ones in the back of town are for 4th level magic. You'll want new equipment before getting the new spells though. Head to the weapon shop south of the Inn. Buy the Iron Nunchucks for any Black Belt you have, this will be the last time you ever buy a Black Belt a weapon. Buy a Sabre for your Thief. The highly expensive Silver Sword will be needed for Fighters and Red Mages. At the Armor shop you want to buy a Copper Bracelet for White Mages and Black Mages in the party, it is among the few pieces of equipment anyone can equip but functions like armor. Buy a Wooden Helmet and an Iron Shield for Fighters. Buy a Cap for anyone who is not a Fighter. It's not as bad if you work your way down. Start with the Silver Sword, then the Sabre, then the defensive gear. Then spells.

For the 3rd level spells.... Buy Afir (Anti-Fire), Cure 2, and Harm 2 for your White Mage. Buy Fire 2 and Lit 2 for your Black Mage. The Red Mage should get Cure 2, Fire 2, and Lit 2.

For the 4th level spells.... Buy Pure and Aice (Anti-Ice) for your White Mage. Buy Ice2 and Fast for your Red Mage as well as for Black Mages.

Low on money? Stick around town in the forests. Fight Ogres. Lots of them. Then go heal (in Coneria, it is cheaper) as needed. It took me while writing this until I had gained around 4 levels. Then I went to the town to buy stuff. If you did not have enough, gain another level and then go buy what you still needed. Repeat until you are done. By the time you level up is typically a good indicator of when you can go back to the shops. I use this method the whole game as I get to new towns.

Now that you have spent a fortune (I spent around 40,000 gil) on spells and equipment, if you have any gil left over.... Buy several Pure potions, some Heal potions, and a few tents. Trust me. You will be glad you did. That is what bumped me up to 40,000 spent in this town. After that, you are FINALLY ready to proceed.


ERDRICK?

The grave to the left in the graveyard apparently belongs to a character named Erdrick. If you have played the old Dragon Quest games then this might be a reference you'll get. Not sure why they put this here other for making the reference. In other versions it mentions Link from Zelda instead of Erdrick.

 

[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Cur2

Spellbook: White Magic
Level: 3

The full name is "Cure 2" although the more common name for this spell in the series is "Cura". This is the same as Cure only it restores a larger amount of Health. Make sure to get it for everyone who is proficient in learning it. It's one of the best spells for the Knight too once he can get it. Your Red Mage and/or White Mage will be using this spell A LOT.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Hrm2

Spellbook: White Magic
Level: 3

This is just like "Harm" only it does more damage. It works good on large parties of undead enemies. The White Mage is the only one who can learn it so make sure you get it for her.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Afir

Spellbook: White Magic
Level: 3

"Afir" is short for Anti-Fire. This is a lot like Anti-Lightning only it is for protection against Fire elemental attacks instead of thunder. I recommend it for any character who is proficient with it. The Knight can learn it as well, although he might not need it. The Red Mage and White Mage do, however. By the time you do the volcano quest you will for sure want this spell.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Heal

Spellbook: White Magic
Level: 3

This is a cool spell. The "Heal" series in this game work like the "Cure" series with the difference being that the "Heal" spells will restore some Health for the full party as opposed to a single character. My guess why they needed a different set of spells is limitations. Either way, you want to make sure your White Mage learns this spell. She is the only one proficient with it and in the difficult quests to come you may want to be able to heal everyone at once. That's where this spell comes into play. It heals a smaller amount per person than "Cure" does on its single target, so keep that in mind.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Fir2

Spellbook: Black Magic
Level: 3

This is a great spell that remains useful for nearly the whole game. It's a stronger version of "Fire". In most Final Fantasy games it is known as "Fira". In this version of the game the spell will hit every enemy target for decent amounts of damage. Your Black Mage and Red Mage both need this spell. It's an excellent choice for your Ninja later on too.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Hold

Spellbook: Black Magic
Level: 3

Not a very useful spell at all. It has a chance of stunning an enemy to where it cannot move. It's not worth wasting a spell slot on for the Red Mage in any scenario. He has several better options. The Black Mage does as well. Even the Ninjas should ignore this one.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Lit2

Spellbook: Black Magic
Level: 3

Better known as "Thundara" in most games of the Final Fantasy series. This is basically the same thing as Fira (Fir2) but it is thunder based instead of fire for its elemental properties. Why buy both spells? Simple. Some enemies are weak against thunder attacks. That's where you'll need this spell. Go ahead and get it now so you don't forget about it later in quests such as the Sunken Shrine. Get it for everyone who can learn it, which includes coming back for it for the Ninja.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Lok2

Spellbook: Black Magic
Level: 3

This is a stronger version of the "Lock" spell. It's about as useless as that spell was. Ignore this one.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Slp2

Spellbook: Black Magic
Level: 4

This is a stronger version of the "Sleep" spell. It can put a target to sleep in battle and has a stronger accuracy than the basic "Sleep" spell did. I never really use those spells. It's not the worst 4th level spell so go ahead and get it for the Black Mage and Ninja later on if you want. Red Mages should skip this spell.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Fast

Spellbook: Black Magic
Level: 4

Extremely useful spell. Not to be confused with "Haste" from other games, in the original NES version of Final Fantasy this spell actually increases damage from regular attacks as opposed to increasing agility. It's a great choice for the Red Mage and Black Mage. In the Ninja's case late in the game, it's arguably the best spell for that class. You may recall "Temper" having a similar effect. These two spells stack on each other. Casting both on a Fighter or Thief results in a ton of increased damage! Everyone proficient with this spell should get it.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Conf

Spellbook: Black Magic
Level: 4

"Conf" is short for Confuse. This has the potential to make enemies attack each other. It doesn't always work so I rarely ever use it. Not the best 4th level spell, though worse options exist. Get it for the Black Mage and then later on for the Ninja if you'd like. They won't really need it. Red Mages should skip it completely.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Ice2

Spellbook: Black Magic
Level: 4

You may be familiar with this spell by its other name, "Blizzara" from the more recent games in the Final Fantasy series. In this version the spell is a lot like Fira (Fir2) only it is ice based instead of fire. It is also stronger than both Fira and Thundara! Make sure to get this for anyone who is able to learn it. That will make the volcano quest a lot less frustrating. This is especially true due to the fact that you can hold off on that quest until the prestige classes are available, meaning the Thieves will be Ninjas and can also cast it by then. It remains useful for a good portion of the game.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Pure

Spellbook: White Magic
Level: 4

This spell can nullify the Poison status. It's quite useful. Your White Mage absolutely should learn it. If your Red Mage has enough spell slots left you could get it for him too. The Marsh Cave has a lot of enemies that can inflict Poison on your party so you may want to consider getting this spell as soon as you can. Trivial note, this spell has two other names in the other games of the series. Sometimes it is called "Antidote" and sometimes it is called "Poisona". I like the former better than the latter.
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[Dagger Dias]

SPELL SPOTLIGHT: Fear

Spellbook: White Magic
Level: 4

This has the potential to "scare" the enemies into running away. Skip it. Don't even bother wasting money on this spell.
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