KH1: Which is the best weapon option at the beginning?

[Mustachious]

I heard Shield is the best to pick because of Leaf Bracer, but what is better to give up? I remember using magic a lot in KH1 (and I love using magic in games as much as I can), but will getting rid of the sword weaken Sora too much?

[JakeDeeJake]

I think magic is the meta if you dont get hit cause all of the early magic abilities are crazy but I say go in blind and pick whatever you think feels right!

If you wanna minmax tho heres a guide
https://www.khguides.com/kh/awakening/dream-weapon-selection/

[Mustachious]

I am a noob who gets hit a lot :)

Thanks for the guide! I will look over it and decide what I want to do :) Game still has 3 hours to download for me so I need something to hold me over, so I'll study the chart ^^

[TheBlueFruit]

Usually giving up the sword is the best option as you don't really need it. For Proud Mode I picked shield and gave up sword but if you want the strongest Sora, pick staff.

[Midnight Sky ✨🌙✨]

What's actually the best kinda depends on how you want to play the game.

When giving up the weapon, it changes your stats. Giving up sword will slightly reduce your starting attack by one (4 instead of 5) and giving up staff will reduce your starting ability points (what you need to equip abilities, it'll be 1 instead of 3)

Here's a video with a lot of detail on all the choices since there's more than just the weapons you keep and give up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_upt4YxIMS0&pp=ygUbYml6a2l0IGtoMSBzdGFydGluZyBjaG9pY2Vz

[Mustachious]

Originalmente postado por TheBlueFruit:

Usually giving up the sword is the best option as you don't really need it. For Proud Mode I picked shield and gave up sword but if you want the strongest Sora, pick staff.

Hmmm... I think I'm going to play normal/finalmix for my first difficulty (never played this version before, just PS2 original version) and since I have played before maybe I'll pick the staff this time ^^

Originalmente postado por Midnight Carnival Snack:

What's actually the best kinda depends on how you want to play the game.

When giving up the weapon, it changes your stats. Giving up sword will slightly reduce your starting attack by one (4 instead of 5) and giving up staff will reduce your starting ability points (what you need to equip abilities, it'll be 1 instead of 3)

Here's a video with a lot of detail on all the choices since there's more than just the weapons you keep and give up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_upt4YxIMS0&pp=ygUbYml6a2l0IGtoMSBzdGFydGluZyBjaG9pY2Vz

Thanks for this :) I think I'll stick to the text guide as those are easier for me than videos but thank you. I definitely don't want to be low on AP at the beginning, so I'm leaning toward picking +Shield -Sword for now... or +Staff -Sword could be an option, too!

[Dragon Master]

The wooden sword.

Oh, you mean the 3 choices. Well, it depends on what you are going for.

You choice will affect your base stats and the order you learn skills. Sword, Shield or Wand are pretty self-explanatory for the stats in question.

Skills for physical attacks or defense (such as seeing an enemy's health or dodge roll) you get a lot sooner if you pick sword or shield and you'll be half-way through the game if you pick wand before you can actually block an attack without timing your own attack.

Shield will let you equip more items and accessories to boost your overall stats.

Wand will give you 2 extra bars of MP. All spells power is determined by your max MP so their spells will always be more powerful than even a magic-based player who picked sword or shield because there is no way to make up for that extra 2 MP that wand gets. You also get more ability points you can equip more skills.

Sword gives Sora a huge boost to his attack power at the start and can see enemies health sooner than anyone else at level 9. Combat focused skills will be front-loaded as you level up so you'll have far more options to fight in combat and be effective at it in the early to mid-game.

[Mustachious]

Originalmente postado por Dragon Master:

Wand will give you 2 extra bars of MP. All spells power is determined by your max MP so their spells will always be more powerful than even a magic-based player who picked sword or shield because there is no way to make up for that extra 2 MP that wand gets. You also get more ability points you can equip more skills.

Oh, I didn't know max MP increased the power of your spells! I definitely want to maximize that then, I think. You still get Scan early enough with Staff (Lv15) and you even get MP Haste way early... seems like the best choice for the offensive to me :)

Thanks for the details!

[Enclave]

Your magic power is based on your max MP and thus taking the staff and giving up the sword is optimal.

You don't need to be optimal though in this game even on Proud.

[Sorensen]

If you're playing on proud mode pick the shield and lose the sword. Getting those life savior skills such as; last chance, and once more early on really help a lot! As for junking the sword it's because you only lose a point in STR which can easily be made up for.

As for choices such as the starting at dawn, noon and night. Those are XP rates. Dawn you gain more XP tell level 30 or 50 can't recall which. Noon your XP rate is the same though out the leveling process. Night, you gain more XP after level 30 / 50.

[Dragon Master]

Originalmente postado por Mustachious:

Originalmente postado por Dragon Master:

Wand will give you 2 extra bars of MP. All spells power is determined by your max MP so their spells will always be more powerful than even a magic-based player who picked sword or shield because there is no way to make up for that extra 2 MP that wand gets. You also get more ability points you can equip more skills.

Oh, I didn't know max MP increased the power of your spells! I definitely want to maximize that then, I think. You still get Scan early enough with Staff (Lv15) and you even get MP Haste way early... seems like the best choice for the offensive to me :)

Thanks for the details!

Wand is my preferred playstyle. Currently doing a replay of the whole series in preparation for Kingdom Hearts 4 (just beat the battle of 1000 heartless in KH2).

I'm a sucker for magic.

Also, the three questions the Final Fantasy kids ask determine the rate of experience points you need to level up at different points of the game.

If your adventure starts at dawn then you level up quickly at levels 1-50 (enough to beat the game) but is slows to a crawl at levels 50-100, so if you want to do the secret bosses it will become VERY grindy.

If it starts in the afternoon then xp is distributed evenly across the board.

If it starts at night it is the exact opposite of dawn. Makes the early game very rough but it requires the least amount of xp to get to a high enough level to do the secret bosses.

[TheRandomGuy]

As others have said, the staff / sword / shield choice at the beginning affects your stats as you level, it also affects WHEN you get certain abilities.

For example, Sword gets sliding dash (close in on faraway enemies) and scan (see locked-on enemies' health bars) really early. Other choices get them later, like MP Haste and MP Rage for Staff (MP Bar Recharges faster / MP restored when you get hit respectively).

Leaf Bracer is really good, as it prevents you from being damaged when healing through either a Cure Spell or an item. If you pair it with Second Wind it can literally make you unkillable in KH1, as casting Cure doesn't deplete ALL your MP like it does in 2 and 3, and if paired w/ MP Rage and MP Haste you can get MP back easily.

[Terra]

If you're min-maxing, Sword is the one to give up since it ONLY costs you stats that you can boost via semi-rare drops. Staff costs you MP permanently, and shield costs you item slots.

[Doom Sayer]

Shield
Shield
Shield
Shield
Shield
Leaf Bracer is invincibility most effective thing in game you get it really early if you pick shield. Is alpha move. Just tank boss attacks.

[Everybody do the flop]

Normally I pick sword and sacrifice magic, but this time I'm going to pick shield and sacrifice sword. That way I still get more MP.

[Koji]

Shield is the best option to choose first because you learn second chance before other options (and you will need it probably). Your second choise depends on your game style (Magic is stronger i think, but its funnier for me to go without the staff)