Anyone Finished the Endgame of Crystal Tower? What Level Were You?

[Brian (The Schmaltzy Cynic)]

I know one of the biggest reasons why most guides about FF3 say you need a Level 75+ party for the endgame is due to the DS remake giving bosses two attacks per turn, and the final boss already does a crap ton of damage. Right now, I've completed Doga's Circle of Magic dungeon at Level 27 and I've had a comfortably challenging time, so I'm curious if those absurd level/HP requirements are not as bad as they once were.

[Inspector Gesicht]

If Garuda is beaten by a level 29 party then the next mandatory boss Hekaton is 39. He was a rude surprise and a sign I should do the side stuff.

When you face Xande you should be early 50s with 2000+ HP. Xande is 40k, the four bosses are 60-70k, and the big bad is probably 100k.

The numbers are bigger than the NES version but its not padded like the DS version. So long as you are in the early 50s with a healthy buffer of HP you'll be fine.

[RetroAddict]

I beat the last boss at level 54 with my whole team of Dragoons.

Each Dragoon had 2 Blood Lances. All of them used Jump and I used the auto battle.

Automatic Healing using the Blood Lances when attacking.

Job Done

[Brian (The Schmaltzy Cynic)]

Originally posted by Inspector Gesicht:

If Garuda is beaten by a level 29 party then the next mandatory boss Hekaton is 39. He was a rude surprise and a sign I should do the side stuff.

When you face Xande you should be early 50s with 2000+ HP. Xande is 40k, the four bosses are 60-70k, and the big bad is probably 100k.

The numbers are bigger than the NES version but its not padded like the DS version. So long as you are in the early 50s with a healthy buffer of HP you'll be fine.

I've actually gone out of my way to explore for optional stuff. Tried going under Saronia Castle and tackling Odin. That went about as well as you might expect, but I got to Level 28 by that point and all the treasure chests, so it wasn't a totally worthless attempt.

[HandgunAmmo]

I beat Cloud of Darkness at level 49. This was my first time playing this game. I think 75 is excessive.

[Brian (The Schmaltzy Cynic)]

Originally posted by HandgunAmmo:

I beat Cloud of Darkness at level 49. This was my first time playing this game. I think 75 is excessive.

The DS version is a lot more punishing thanks to the fact that the bosses get two attacks per turn because--reasons. Maybe it's tied to the difficulty mode or something.

[DarkGTX]

Beat the Dark Cloud at Level 55. Party was 2 Ninjas, 1 Devout, 1 Magus. It was a pretty easy battle at that level, honestly. I had 10 shurikens and just started throwing them all out with my ninjas. Devout was using Curaja the whole time. Magus was spamming Flare.

[doooooorgassssss]

Beat the game at around level 50 or so, with a Knight, Viking, Devout and Warlock.

Just spammed normal attacks and Flare, while healing and throwing Holy and the fight was actually a breeze.

[FreshMint]

Originally posted by Brian (The Schmaltzy Cynic):

Originally posted by HandgunAmmo:

I beat Cloud of Darkness at level 49. This was my first time playing this game. I think 75 is excessive.

The DS version is a lot more punishing thanks to the fact that the bosses get two attacks per turn because--reasons. Maybe it's tied to the difficulty mode or something.

I don't know if the PC version is that different from DS in terms of difficulty but I remember beating it around the 50s, maybe even 40s.
Level 75 helps but is all but needed.

[Brian (The Schmaltzy Cynic)]

Originally posted by FreshMint:

Originally posted by Brian (The Schmaltzy Cynic):

The DS version is a lot more punishing thanks to the fact that the bosses get two attacks per turn because--reasons. Maybe it's tied to the difficulty mode or something.

I don't know if the PC version is that different from DS in terms of difficulty but I remember beating it around the 50s, maybe even 40s.
Level 75 helps but is all but needed.

The DS version is the 3D Remake that is also on Steam. It's just common to refer to that version because it was the first time this game was localized for the West.

[Jennah]

Won at level 53 with a Ninja, 2 Sages, and a Black Belt at job level 99 that usually out-damaged the ninja. Probably about 5 levels over where I would have been playing normally, since it took me some time to find the last few pesky bestiary entries. (At least an Onion Sword dropped when the Red Dragon finally deigned to appear...)

[AH-1 Cobra]

Ahriman can zip 1500+ off your whole party with meteor, and while you should have enough HP to survive that and heal up, he could potentially use his meteor at the end of a turn, and then proceed to use it again the next turn as the first to act, effectively hitting you with back to back meteors, and unless you got 3-4k HP, you get ripped if he does that.

Turn order is completely random in this game, and doesn't seem to depend on how high any particular stat is, because even a level 99 Ninja with 99 in Agility can act after the enemy does, or before. Even if you have 2 devouts throwing up curaja, they could heal before Ahriman does meteor, and then ahriman can meteor again on the first turn effectively ripping all your HP away, just because they completely randomized turn orders.

The best way to actually beat these bosses, is to blitz them with high damaging attacks, and just take them out ASAP, because the more turns the fight drags on, the more opportunities you have to be back-to-back'd.

The HP required to get a guaranteed win against Ahriman, regardless of bum RNG is probably 3k along with using high magic defense equipment. Low magic defense might get hit for 1800-1900.

So, yeah, if you can't stand ripping to bum RNG, then you might to have to grind some. A case could be made for tossing shurikens at Ahriman for sure, if your party levels are sub-50 for that fight.

[Xenkaroshi]

finished at lvl 70 after onion gear grind, I could have prob just as easily wiped the floor with all bosses at level 60 considering my ninja shurikens.

[Keytee Tamira]

I did a Ninja, Sage(Summoner), Upgraded White Mage and Upgraded Black Mage (I don't know their English names). I healed more than boss could've damaged me, and spammed Flare and Megaflare on it, and Shurikens as well.

[Keytee Tamira]

just don't be afraid to use Elixirs.

Also, Dark Crystals restore all your HP and MP once you talk to them again.

[Gibbeynator]

Originally posted by RetroAddict:

I beat the last boss at level 54 with my whole team of Dragoons.

Each Dragoon had 2 Blood Lances. All of them used Jump and I used the auto battle.

Automatic Healing using the Blood Lances when attacking.

Job Done

Same here.